and the winter following, and trading-vessels soon began to frequent
the Delaware. The counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks were
organized in the latter part of 1682, but were not surveyed until
1685. Philadelphia, named before she was born, and first laid out in
August or September, 1682,[788] contained in the following July eighty
houses, such as they were, and by the end of the year this number had
increased to one hundred and fifty. The founders of the city lived in
caves dug out of the high embankment by the river, and the houses which
succeeded these primitive habitations were probably of the very simple
character described in Penn’s advice to settlers.[789] In July, 1683,
a weekly post was established. Letters were carried from Philadelphia
to the Falls of Delaware for 3_d._, to Chester 2_d._, to New Castle
4_d._, to Maryland 6_d._ Notices of its departure were posted on the
Meeting-House doors and in other public places.
On the 26th of December of the same year the Council arranged with
Enoch Flower, who had had twenty years’ experience as a teacher in
England, to open a school. Four shillings per quarter was the charge
for those who were taught to read English; six shillings, when reading
and writing were studied; and eight shillings, when the casting of
accounts was added. For boarding scholars and “scooling,” he was to
receive “Tenn” pounds per annum.
[Illustration: THE SLATE-ROOF HOUSE.
[This was the house in Philadelphia in which Penn lived after his
return to the colony in 1699. It stood on the southeast corner of
Second Street and Norris’s Alley, and was demolished in 1868. A view
of it taken just before its demolition is given in Gay’s _Popular
History of the United States_, iii. 171, with an earlier view, ii.
496. There is an account of it by Mr. Townsend Ward, with a view, in
the _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, iv. 53; but the most extended
account is in _Lippincott’s Magazine_, vol. i. pp. 29, 191, 298, by
General John M. Read, Jr. For other views, see Egle’s _Pennsylvania_,
p. 1016, and Day’s _Historical Collections of Pennsylvania_, p. 556.
The above cut is a fac-simile of one given by Watson in his _Annals
of Philadelphia_, 1845 edition, p. 158; 1857 edition, p. 158. It is
lithographed in his 1830 edition, p. 151. Drawings of the interior are
in the possession of the Hist. Soc. of Pennsylvania.—ED.]]
The demand in trade at first was for articles of the greatest utility,
like mill and “grindle” stones, iron kettles, and hardware. One of
the women ordered shoes, and stipulated that they should be stout and
large. James Claypoole sent his silver-hafted knives to his brother
in Barbadoes, and consigned to him some beaver hats for which he
could find at home no sale. But in less than a year a trade sprang
up with some of the West India Islands, and rum, sugar, and negroes
were ordered, in exchange for pipe-staves and horses. The silver
from a Spanish wreck and peltries furnished the means of an exchange
with Europe, and soon word was sent out to send “linnen, serges,
crape, and Bengall, and other slight stuffs; but send no more shoes,
gloves, stockings, nor hats.” Before Penn sailed for England in 1684,
Philadelphia contained three hundred and fifty-seven houses, many of
them three stories high, with cellars and balconies. Samuel Carpenter,
one of the most enterprising of the early merchants, had a quay at
which a ship of five hundred tons could lie. Trades of all kinds
flourished; vessels had been built; brick houses soon began to be seen;
and shop windows enlivened the streets.
In 1685 William Bradford established his printing-press in
Philadelphia, the first in the middle colonies of North America.
Its earliest issue was an almanac entitled the _Kalendarium
Pennsilvaniense_, printed in 1685 for the succeeding year.
By 1690 brick and stone houses were the kind usually erected, while
only the poorer classes built of wood. Manufactures also began to
flourish. That year William Ryttenhouse, Samuel Carpenter, William
Bradford, and others built a paper mill on the Schuylkill. The woollen
manufactures offered such encouragement that there was “a public
flock of sheep in the town, and a sheepheard or two to attend them.”
The rural districts were also prosperous. The counties were divided
into townships of about five thousand acres, in the centre of which
villages were laid out. In 1684 there were fifty such settlements in
the colony. At first the cattle were turned loose, and the ear-marks
of their respective owners were registered at the county courts. Roads
were surveyed and bridges built. The first mill was started in 1683
at Chester by Richard Townsend and others. The reports regarding the
crops show them to have been enormous for the labor bestowed, and the
development of the whole country seems to have been correspondent to
the increased wealth of Philadelphia, where, in 1685, the poorest lots
were worth four times what they cost, and the best forty-fold. At the
beginning of the year 1684 Penn wrote: “I have led the greatest colony
into America that ever any man did upon a private credit, and the most
prosperous beginnings that ever were in it are to be found among us.”
The early ecclesiastical annals of Pennsylvania are meagre. The wave
of religious excitement which swept over England during the days of
the Commonwealth spent itself on the banks of the Delaware. Men and
women with intellects too weak to grasp the questions which moved
them, or possibly instigated by cunning, wandered through the country
prophesying or disputing. One declared “that she was Mary the mother of
the Lord;” another, “that she was Mary Magdalen, and others that they
were Martha, John, etc.,—scandalizers,” wrote a traveller in 1679, “as
we heard them in a tavern, who not only called themselves, but claimed
to be, really such.”
The Swedish congregations, neglected by the churches in Sweden, were in
1682 falling into decay. The congregations at Tranhook, near Upland,
and at Tinnicum, were under the charge of Lars Lock, that at Wicaco
under Jacob Fabritius. The former was a cripple, the latter blind.
Their salaries were scantily paid, and they were miserably poor. The
Dutch had but one church, which was at New Castle.
The first meeting of Quakers for religious worship in Pennsylvania
was no doubt held at the house of Robert Wade, near Upland. William
Edmundson, the Quaker preacher, speaks of such meetings in 1675. It
was then that Wade came to America with Fenwick. In Bucks County
meetings are said to have been held as early as 1680 at the houses of
Quakers who had settled there. The first meeting near Philadelphia
was at Shackamaxon, at the house of Thomas Fairman, in 1682; but it
was soon removed to Philadelphia, where one was established in 1683.
Early in that year no less than nine established meetings existed in
Pennsylvania.
As early as 1684 or 1685 the Baptists established a church at Cold
Spring, in Bucks County, about three miles above Bristol. The pastor
was the Rev. Thomas Dungan. In 1687 they established a second
congregation at Pennepeck, in Philadelphia County, of which the Rev.
Elias Keach was the first minister. The Episcopalians and Presbyterians
did not own places of worship until a later date.
[Illustration]
The early political annals of the colony show a condition of
affairs perfectly consistent with the circumstances under which the
constitution was formed. While Penn remained in the country his
presence prevented any excess such as might be expected from men
inexperienced in self-government. In 1684, however, Penn was obliged to
return to England, and he empowered the Provincial Council to act in
his stead. Thomas Lloyd was the president of that body, and was also
commissioned Keeper of the Seal. He was a man of prudence, and seems
to have justified the confidence placed in him by Penn. Arrogance on
the part of some of the other officers of the government soon awakened
feelings of jealousy among the people, who were prompt to resent any
violation of their rights. Nicholas More, the Chief-Justice, was
impeached by the Assembly for gross partiality and overbearing conduct.
He was styled by the Speaker an “aspiring and corrupt minister of
state,” and the Council was requested to remove him from office. He was
expelled from the Assembly, of which he was a member, for having thrice
entered his protest against a single bill. Patrick Robinson, the clerk
of the Court, refused to submit to the House the records of the Court
in the case of More, and was restrained for his “divers insolences and
affronts.” When brought before the Assembly, he stretched himself at
full length on the ground, and refused to answer questions put to him,
telling the House that it “acted arbitrarily” and without authority.
The Council was also requested to remove him; but neither in his case
nor in that of More were the prayers granted. “I am sorry at heart
for your animosities,” wrote Penn, when he heard of these troubles;
“cannot more friendly and private courses be taken to set matters to
rights in an infant province whose steps are numbered and watched? For
the love of God, me, and the poor country, be not so _governmentish_,
so noisy and open in your dissatisfactions.” It was the love of
government, the seeds of which Penn had himself planted, which caused
these troubles, and he it was who was to suffer most in that period of
political growth. Hundreds, he said, had been prevented from emigrating
by these quarrels, and that they had been to him a loss of £10,000.
His quit-rents, which in 1686 should have amounted to £500 per annum,
were unpaid. They were looked upon as oppressive taxes, for which the
Proprietary had no need; but the year previous he wrote: “God is my
witness.... I am above six thousand pounds out of pocket more than ever
I saw by the province.”
The want of energy shown by the Council in managing his affairs caused
Penn to lessen the number in which the executive authority rested. In
1686 he commissioned five of the Council, three of whom were to be a
quorum, to attend to his proprietary affairs. By the slothful manner
in which the Council had conducted the public business, the charter,
he argued, had again fallen into his hands, and he threatened to
dissolve the Frame of Government “if further occasion be given.” Under
these commissioners but little improvement was made, and in 1688 Penn
appointed Captain John Blackwell his lieutenant-governor.
* * * * *
CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
THE EARLIEST TRACTS AND BOOKS.—During the first thirty years after
the granting of Penn’s charter (1681), there were various publications
of small and moderate extent, which are the chief source of our
information.
[Illustration: REDUCED FAC-SIMILE OF TITLE TO “SOME ACCOUNT.”]
The first of these is Penn’s own _Some Account_,[790] issued in 1681,
soon after he received his grant. “It is introduced by a preface of
some length, being an argument in favor of colonies,” which is followed
by a description of the country, gathered from such sources as he
considered reliable, and by the conditions on which he proposed to
settle it. Information for those desiring to emigrate, and extracts
from the royal charter, are also given.
This tract appeared at once in Dutch[791] and German[792] editions. The
latter edition contains also letters of Penn to Friends in Holland and
Germany prior to his receiving his grant, which fact tends to show that
the relations he had established by his travels there attracted the
attention of persons in Germany to his efforts in America.
In the same year (1681) appeared César de Rochefort’s account,[793]
which is usually found joined to his _Description des Antilles_. Next
year (1682) Penn published, under the title of _A Brief Account_,[794]
a short description of his province, giving additional information. Of
the same date is William Loddington’s _Plantation Work_,[795]—a tract,
however, by some attributed to George Fox. It was written in favor of
Quaker emigration at a time when many Quakers feared that such action
might be prompted by a desire to escape persecution. In it we have the
earliest descriptions preserved of Pennsylvania after it was given to
Penn. These are presented in letters of Markham, written soon after
his arrival, the date of which is also indicated. The extracts from
Markham’s letters are printed in _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_,
vi. 175.
[Illustration: REDUCED FAC-SIMILE OF TITLE OF “THE FRAME OF
GOVERNMENT.”]
The constitution which Penn proposed for his colony, together
with certain laws which were accepted by purchasers in England as
citizens of Pennsylvania, were issued the same year as _The Frame of
Government_.[796] Both constitution and laws underwent considerable
alteration before going into effect; although this fact has been
frequently overlooked. A little brochure, of probably a like date,
_Information and Direction_,[797] covers a description of the houses
which it was supposed would be the most convenient for settlers to
build.
The Free Society of Traders purchased of Penn twenty thousand acres.
The Society was formed for the purpose of developing this tract, which
was to be known as the Manor of Frank. Nicholas More was president,
and James Claypoole treasurer. The letter-book of the latter is in the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The charter of the Society will be
found in Hazard’s _Annals_ (p. 541), with other information regarding
the Society; and in the same volume (p. 552) a portion of a tract[798]
which is printed in full with a reduced fac-simile of titlepage in
_Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, v. 37.
_A Vindication of William Penn_, by Philip Ford, in two folio pages,
was published in London in 1683, to contradict stories which were
circulated after Penn had sailed, to the effect that he had died upon
reaching America, and had closed his career professing belief in the
Church of Rome. It contains abstracts of the first letters written by
Penn from America.[799]
[Illustration: RECEIPT AND SEAL OF THE FREE SOCIETY OF TRADERS.]
The most important of all the series is a _Letter from William
Penn_,[800] printed in 1683. It was written after Penn had been in
America over nine months (dated August 16), and may be considered as
a report from personal observation of what he found his colony to
be. It passed through at least two editions in London; one of which
contains a list of the property-holders in Philadelphia, with numbers
affixed to their names indicating the lots they held, as is shown on
a plan of that city which accompanies the publication, and of which a
heliotype is herewith given. The letter appeared the next year (1684)
in a Dutch translation[801] (two editions). Of the same date is a
new description of the province, of which we have a German[802] and
a French[803] text. The pamphlet contains an extended extract from
Penn’s letter to the Free Society of Traders, the letter of Thomas
Paschall from Philadelphia, dated Feb. 10, 1683 (N. S.), and other
interesting papers, many of which were published in _A Brief Account_.
All information in it that is not readily accessible has been lately
translated by Mr. Samuel W. Pennypacker from the French edition, and
is printed with fac-simile of title in the _Pennsylvania Magazine of
History_, vi. 311.
A small tract, giving letters from a Dutch and Swiss sojourner in
and near Philadelphia, was printed at Rotterdam, in 1684, as _Twee
Missiven_.[804] The only copy of this tract which we know of is in the
Library of Congress, and will be shortly published by the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania. The copy at Washington, we are told, contains
but one letter. Another, or possibly the same, copy is catalogued in
Trömel’s _Bibliotheca Americana_, Leipzig (1861), no. 390.
The _Planter’s Speech_[805] (1684) and Thomas Budd’s _Good Order
established in Pennsylvania, etc._ (1685),[806] which have been
referred to in another chapter, are of like importance to Pennsylvania
history. What is called “William Bradford’s Printed Letter” (1685) is
quoted in the first edition of Oldmixon’s _British Empire in America_,
p. 158. We have, however, never met with the original publication.
Another Dutch description of the country was printed the same year
(1685) at Rotterdam, _Missive van Cornelis Bom_,[807] and has become
very rare.
In 1685 Penn also printed _A Further Account_ of his grant, signing
his name to the tract, which appeared in quarto in separate editions
of twenty and sixteen pages, followed the same year by a Dutch
translation.[808] After Penn’s letter to the Free Society (1683) this
is the most important of these early tracts.
In 1686 the series only shows a brief Dutch tract;[809] but in 1687
we derive from _A Letter from Dr. More_,[810] _etc_., partly the work
of Nicholas More, president of the Free Society of Traders, an idea
of the growth of the province at that date. Of a similar character is
a tract printed four years later (1691), _Some Letters_, etc.[811] In
the following year (1692) we have a poetical description[812] of the
province, which contains many interesting facts. Little is known of the
author, Richard Frame. It is said that he was a teacher in the Friends’
School of Philadelphia. He was certainly a resident of Pennsylvania,
and the first of her citizens to give his thoughts to the public in the
form of verse. The first four lines will suffice to show its merits as
a poem:—
“To all our Friends that do desire to know
What Country ‘t is we live in—this will show.
Attend to hear the Story I shall tell:
No doubt but you will like this country well.”
The pamphlet was a colonial production. It appeared on paper which was
possibly made here, and was printed by William Bradford.
Soon after the appearance of Frame’s verses, the poetic fever seized
upon John Holme, and he wrote “A true Relation of the Flourishing State
of Pennsylvania.” The poetic taste of the community was either satiated
by the effort of Frame, or Holme shrank from the honors of authorship,
for his poem did not see the light until published by the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania in the thirteenth number of its _Bulletin_ in
1847.
In 1695 one of the party who emigrated with Kelpius gave the public an
account of his voyage and arrival,[813] under the pseudonym of “N. N.”
He dated his letter “from Germantown, in the Antipodes, Aug. 7, 1694.”
[Illustration: GABRIEL THOMAS’S MAP, 1698.]
In addition to Mr. Whitehead’s remarks regarding Gabriel Thomas’s
_Account of Pennsylvania_ (see chap. xi.), we will add that the portion
relating to Pennsylvania covers fifty-five pages, besides eight pages
which are devoted to the preface and title. A person by the name of
the author, probably the same, was in America in 1702, and was then
solicitous of a commission as collector of quit-rents, etc., within
the county of Newcastle. In 1698 he inveighed against George Keith and
his followers, and in 1702 sided with Colonel Quarry in his disputes
with Penn. Most of the statements in his book can be relied on, but
some passages are marked by exaggeration and others by satire. As some
of the buildings in Philadelphia mentioned by Thomas were not erected
until after he wrote, Mr. Westcott, in his _History of Philadelphia_,
suggests that possibly there was more than one edition of the work
bearing the same date.[814]
In 1700 was printed a _Beschreibung der Provintz Pennsylvaniæ_,[815]
the work of Francis Daniel Pastorius, agent of the Frankfort Land
Company, and the most active and intelligent of the first German
settlers, which is of great interest, as it contains the views of
one thoroughly identified with the German movement to America. The
descriptions of the country and of the form of government, the advice
to emigrants, etc., which it contains, are gathered from letters
written to his father. A translation of portions of the work by Lewis
H. Weiss is given in _Memoir of Historical Society of Pennsylvania_,
vol. iv. part ii. p. 83. The original edition is generally found
bound up with a German edition of Thomas’s _Pennsylvania_, printed in
1702, and the tract by Falkner hereafter mentioned. While the works
bear different dates, there appears to have been some connection in
the series. The information in Thomas, originally printed in 1698,
supplements to a great extent what will be found in Pastorius, printed
in 1700. The titlepage of the German edition of Thomas (1702) speaks
of it, therefore, as a continuation of Pastorius, and the same shows
Falkner’s tract to have appeared as a supplement to the German edition
of Thomas.
An agent of the Frankfort Company, who was in Pennsylvania in 1694
and 1700, issued at Frankfort in 1702 a little book, _Curieuse
Nachricht_,[816] which gives some information in the form of questions
and answers, one hundred and three in number. The subjects touched upon
are the country in general, its soil, climate, etc; the inhabitants,
their manners, customs, and religions; the Indians; how to go to
America, etc.
The last of the works to be considered as original authority is J.
Oldmixon’s _British Empire in America_, as it is known that the author
got some of his information from Penn himself.[817] It was first issued
at London in 1708, and again in 1741. The editions differ materially in
the sections on Pennsylvania, so that both need to be consulted.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE QUAKERS.—As we have traced the history
of Penn’s colony from the origin of the religious society which had
such an influence on the formation of his character, and to which
Pennsylvania owes its existence quite as much as to Penn himself, a
few references must be made to the chief sources of information from
which a history of the Quakers can be gathered. The most prominent
of these is the _Journal of George Fox_,[818] the founder of the
Quaker Church. It relates, in passages of alternate vividness and
ambiguity, the experiences of his life. So different, however,
are the opinions entertained, that while Macaulay says that “his
gibberish was translated into English, meanings which he would have
been unable to comprehend were put on his phrases, and his system
so much improved that he would not have known it again,” Sir James
Mackintosh, on the contrary, calls the _Journal_ “one of the most
extraordinary and instructive narratives in the world, which no reader
of competent judgment can peruse without revering the virtues of the
writer, pardoning his self-delusions, and ceasing to smile at his
peculiarities.”
W. Edmundson made three voyages to America before 1700, the first with
Fox, in 1671; his _Journal_[819] has been often printed.
Penn’s own statements about the sect’s origin were given in his _Brief
Account of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers_,
published at London in 1695, and in his _Primitive Christianity
Revived_, 1696 and 1699.
Robert Barclay is considered the most able exponent of the Quaker
belief among early writers of that sect, and his _Apology_[820] is his
chief work. He was the son of “Barclay of Ury,” of whom Whittier has
sung, and was governor of East Jersey (see chap. xi.).
_The Sufferings of the People called Quakers_,[821] by Joseph Besse,
is, as its title indicates, an account of their persecutions in various
parts of the world. It is written from a Quaker standpoint, but its
accuracy can seldom be questioned. It has passed through two editions.
Sewel’s _History of the Quakers_[822] is a work which possesses great
value, not only on account of its freedom from error, but because
it was written at an early period in the history of the Society of
Friends. Its author was a native of Amsterdam, and was born about 1650.
His history was written to correct the misrepresentations in _Historia
Quakeriana_,[823] by Gerard Croese, which had been largely circulated.
Sewel’s work was published in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1717, and a
translation by the author was issued in London, 1722. Gough’s _History
of the Quakers_ is a compilation of nearly all that was accessible at
the time of its publication. The _Portraiture of Quakerism_,[824] by
Clarkson, treats of the discipline and customs of the Society. The
_History of Friends in the Seventeenth Century_, by Dr. Charles Evans,
contains nearly everything that most readers will require. It is an
excellent compilation, and presents the subject in a compact, useful
form. The same can be said of a _History of the Religious Society of
Friends from its rise to the year 1828_,[825] by Samuel M. Janney. The
author was a follower of Elias Hicks, and his work contains a history
of the separation of the meetings caused by the doctrines preached by
the latter. In Barclay’s _Inner Life of the Religious Societies of the
Commonwealth_[826] the attempt has been made to trace the origin of
the Society of Friends to an earlier period than the preaching of Fox.
The author of the work was Robert Barclay, of the same family as “the
Apologist.” The work, which is an able one, was reviewed by Dr. Charles
Evans.[827] A terse criticism was lately made on the book by a Friend,
who in conversation remarked, “Robert Barclay seemed to know more of
what George Fox believed than George himself.”
The chief manuscript depository of the Friends is in Devonshire
House, Friends’ Meeting-House, 12 Bishopsgate Street Without, London,
E.C., England, where what is known as the Swarthmore manuscripts are
preserved. The collection was made under the direction of George Fox,
and many of the papers are indorsed in his handwriting. It consists “of
letters addressed to Swarthmore Hall from the Preachers in connection
with Fox, giving an account of their movements and success, to Margaret
Fell, and through her to Fox. Up to 1661 Swarthmore Hall was secure
from violation, and these letters range over the period from 1651 to
1661.”
John Whiting’s _Catalogue of Friends’ Books_, published in 1708, is the
earliest gathering of titles concerning the Quakers. The work, however,
has been fully done in our own day by Joseph Smith, who published, in
1867, at London, _A Descriptive Catalogue of Friends’ Books_, in two
volumes, with critical remarks and occasional biographical notices; and
in 1873, his _Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana; or, a Catalogue of Books
adverse to the Society of Friends; with Biographical Notices of the
Authors: with Answers_.[828]
In following the history of the Quakers, particularly in America,
the recorder of their career in Pennsylvania must leave unnamed some
of the most important books, because their contents concern chiefly
or solely the story of their persecutions and progress in the other
colonies, particularly New England.[829] Bowden’s _History of Friends
in America_, as it is the most important of the late works, must also
be mentioned. Its author enjoyed great advantages in preparing it,
having the manuscripts deposited in Devonshire House at his command.
In it many original documents of the greatest interest are printed for
the first time, among which we may mention a letter of Mary Fisher
to George Fox, from Barbadoes, dated Jan. 30, 1655, regarding Quaker
preachers coming to America, and of Josiah Coale to the same person,
in 1660, in relation to the purchase of a tract of land, now a portion
of Pennsylvania. The work is spirited and readable, and while it is
written in entire sympathy with the Quakers, its statements are so
carefully weighed that but little exception can be taken to them, and
then only in cases where the fundamental views of the author and of his
readers are at variance.
A defence of the early Friends in America will be found in _Colonial
History of the Eastern and some of the Southern States_, by Job R.
Tyson; see _Memoirs of Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, vol.
iv. part ii. p. 5. For the colonies other than New England, a few
references will suffice. For New York, O’Callaghan’s _History of New
Netherland_ and Brodhead’s _New York_ can be consulted. For those
at Perth Amboy, 1686-1688, see _Historical Magazine_, xvii. 234.
The _Annals of Hempstead_, by Henry Onderdonk, Jr., treats of the
Quakers on Long Island and in New York from 1657 to 1826; cf. also the
_American Historical Record_, i. 49; ii. 53, 73. _The Early Friends (or
Quakers) in Maryland_, by J. Saurin Norris, and _Wenlock Christison and
the Early Friends in Talbot County, Maryland_, by Samuel A. Harrison,
are the titles of instructive addresses delivered before the Maryland
Historical Society, and included in its Fund publications; compare
also E. D. Neill’s “Francis Howgill and the Early Quakers,” in his
_English Colonization in North America_, chap. xvii., and his _Terra
Mariæ_, chap. iv. Henning’s _Statutes at Large_ give the laws passed
in Virginia to punish the Quakers. The _Journals_ and _Travels_ of
Burnyeat, Edmundson, and Fox should also be consulted. A far from
flattering picture of the Quakers living on the Delaware shortly before
the settlement of Pennsylvania, will be found in the _Journal_ of
Dankers and Sluyter, two followers of John Labadie, who travelled in
America in 1679-1680. Their account of the condition of the country on
the Delaware at that time is very interesting.[830] _A Retrospect of
Early Quakerism: being Extracts from the Records of the Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting, etc._, by Ezra Michener, Philadelphia, 1860, is also a
useful work, as it gives the dates when meetings were established.
WILLIAM PENN.—The collected works of William Penn have passed through
four editions;[831] these contain but few of his letters in relation
to Pennsylvania.[832] The biographical sketch which accompanies the
edition of 1726 is attributed to Joseph Besse. It appeared but eight
years after Penn’s death, and has been the groundwork of nearly
everything which has since been written concerning him. The _Memoirs of
the Private and Public Life of William Penn_, by Thomas Clarkson,[833]
was for many years the standard Life. Later evidence has shown that in
some particulars the author erred; but it is generally accurate. It
however treats more of William Penn the Quaker than of William Penn the
founder of Pennsylvania. The same criticism is applicable to _The Life
of William Penn_ by Samuel M. Janney.[834] It also is a trustworthy
book. All that was in print at the time it was written was used in
its preparation, and it is to-day, historically, the best work on
the subject. It contains more of his letters regarding the settlement
of Pennsylvania than any other work we know of, and they are given in
full. The “Life of William Penn,” by George E. Ellis, D.D., in Sparks’s
_American Biography_, second series, vol. xii., is an important and
spirited production, the result of careful thought and study.
_William Penn: an Historical Biography_,[835] by William Hepworth
Dixon, is probably the most popular account that has appeared. Its
style is agreeable, and it is full of interesting facts picturesquely
grouped. In some cases, however, the authorities quoted do not
support the inferences which have been drawn from them, and the
historical value of the book has been sacrificed in order to add to its
attractiveness. Those chapters which speak of the interest taken by
Algernon Sidney in the formation of the constitution of Pennsylvania
are clearly erroneous. These views are based on the part which Penn
took in Sidney’s return to Parliament, and in a letter of Penn to
Sidney, Oct. 13, 1681. Without this last, the argument falls. No
reference is given to where the letter will be found. It was first
printed as addressed to Algernon Sidney, in vol. iii. part i. p. 285
of the _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_. In vol.
iv. ibid. (part i. pp. 167-212) other letters of Penn are printed,
one of which is addressed to Henry Sidney, the brother of Algernon.
To this a note is appended, stating that the letter in the former
volume was undoubtedly written to the same person. As Mr. Dixon used
extracts from these letters, it was, to say the least, unfortunate
that he should have overlooked the importance of the note. _La Vie de
Guillaume Penn_,[836] par J. Marsillac, is a meritorious compilation,
but its chief interest centres around its author, who styles himself
“Député extraordinaire des Amis de France à l’Assemblée Nationale,
etc.” He was of noble birth, and an officer in the French army. He
joined the Friends in 1778. Being convinced of the unlawfulness of
war by the arguments in Barclay’s _Apology_, he determined “to change
his condition of a destroyer to that of a preserver of mankind,” and
studied medicine. During the French Revolution he took refuge in
America, and resided in Philadelphia. He afterward returned to France,
“and threw off at the same time the garb and profession of a Friend.
He devoted himself in Paris to the practice of his profession, and
obtained under Napoleon a situation in one of the French hospitals.”
Chapters in Janney’s _Life of Penn_ and in Dixon’s _Biography_ are
devoted to a refutation of the charges of worldliness and insincerity
brought against Penn by Macaulay in his _History of England_. We
append below the titles of other publications of the same character,
as well as of additional works which can be consulted with profit by
students of his life.[837] The _Penn Papers_, or manuscripts in the
possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, relate chiefly
to the history of the province while under the governorship of Penn’s
descendants. There are, however, in the collection some papers of
personal interest in relation to Penn, and some of his controversial
writings and documents connected with the history of the province at
the time of its settlement. The history of this collection presents
another instance of the perils to which manuscripts are exposed. After
having been preserved for a number of years by one branch of the Penn
family with comparative care, subject only to the depredations of time,
they were sold to a papermaker, through whose discrimination they
were preserved. They were catalogued and offered for sale by Edward
G. Allen and James Coleman, of London, in 1870.[838] The collections
were purchased by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, but not until
some papers had been obtained by persons more favorably situated. The
general interest of the whole, however, was but little lessened by this
misfortune. From 1700 until the Revolution the series is remarkably
complete, and there are but few incidents in the colonial history of
Pennsylvania that cannot be elucidated by its examination. A portion
of the papers (about twenty thousand documents) have been bound and
arranged, and fill nearly seventy-five folio volumes.[839]
GENERAL HISTORIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.—The first historian of Pennsylvania
was Samuel Smith, author of the well-known _History of New Jersey_; but
his work up to the present time has not appeared in a complete form. It
is a history of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. Smith’s manuscripts are in the Library of the New Jersey
Historical Society. What appears to be a duplicate of the Pennsylvania
portion is in that of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Hazard
printed the latter in his _Register of Pennsylvania_, vols. vi. and
vii.[840]
Robert Proud’s _History of Pennsylvania_[841] has long enjoyed a high
reputation, but no more so than its merits entitle it to. For years it
was the only history of the State. In its preparation the manuscript
of Smith’s _History_ was used, and in it extracts are given from
pamphlets that have since been printed in full. Nevertheless, there is
much in it that cannot be found elsewhere. Passages are quoted from
letters of Penn which have never been printed entire, and the notes
regarding the early settlers are of especial value. The care taken in
the preparation of the book is so evident that its statements can as a
rule be accepted. The author, a native of England, was a teacher of the
classics in the Friends’ School, Philadelphia.[842]
Professor Ebeling’s volume on Pennsylvania in his _Erdbeschreibung
und Geschichte von America_, Hamburg, 1793-1799, in five volumes, is
another valuable contribution. Portions of it, translated by Duponceau,
will be found in Hazard’s _Register of Pennsylvania_, i. 340, 353, 369,
385, 401.
Thomas F. Gordon’s _History of Pennsylvania_[843] gives the history of
the colony down to the Declaration of Independence. That part which
treats of the eighteenth century does so more fully than any other
work. It has never enjoyed much popularity. Its style is labored. The
author was one who thought that “the names of the first settlers are
interesting to us only because they were first settlers,” and that
nothing could attract the public in men “whose chief, and perhaps
sole, merit consisted in the due fulfilment of the duties of private
life.” There is a tone of antagonism to Penn in some parts of the book
which lacks the spirit of impartiality. It was reviewed by Job R.
Tyson. See “Examination of the Various Charges brought by Historians
against William Penn,” etc.,—_Memoirs of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania_, vol. ii. part ii. p. 127.
The second volume of Bowden’s _History of Friends in America_[844] is
the best Quaker history of Pennsylvania that has appeared.
Sherman Day’s _Historical Collections_ (1843) and _An Illustrated
History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania_,[845] by William H. Egle,
M.D., both give the history of the State down to the time of their
respective publications. In them the histories of the counties are
treated in separate chapters, general histories of the State being
given by way of introductions,—that by Dr. Egle being very full.
_The Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of
Pennsylvania, from its Origin_, which is attributed to Franklin,
belongs properly to a later period of the history of the province than
we are now considering, and, as it was written to serve a political
purpose, has but slight historical claims. In it, however, the attempt
is made to trace some of the alleged abuses of power back to the
foundation of the colony. It was published in London in 1759, and is
included by both Duane and Sparks in their editions of Franklin’s
writings.
Bancroft’s chapters on the Quakers in the United States and on
Pennsylvania are excellent. Grahame’s _Colonial History of the United
States_ is less flattering in the estimate given of Penn and his
followers, although far from unappreciative of their efforts. Burke’s
_Account of the European Settlements in America_[846] gives nothing
that is new in connection with the settlement of Pennsylvania; but
the opinions of its distinguished author in regard to William Penn
as a legislator will be read with pleasure by Penn’s admirers. The
remarks on the settlement of Pennsylvania in Wynne’s _General History
of the British Empire in America_,[847] are copied bodily from Burke;
but no quotation marks are given, and nothing indicates their origin.
Douglass’s _Summary_ gives nothing on the subject that will not be
found in the charter and a few documents of similar character. From
William M. Cornell’s _History of Pennsylvania_, 1876, nothing new will
be gathered regarding the settlement of the province. It is a mere
compilation, in which Weems’s _Life of Penn_ is quoted as an authority.
LOCAL HISTORIES.—It is only in the history of the counties first
settled that information on the period treated of in this chapter can
be sought. John F. Watson’s _Annals of Philadelphia_[848] is one of the
chief authorities. The plan of the work is not one that can be approved
of at the present day, as sufficient care has not been taken in all
cases to follow the original language of documents quoted, or to give
references to authorities. Nevertheless, it is doubtful if any work in
America has done more to cultivate a taste for historical study. There
is a charm about its gossipy pages which has attracted to it thousands
of readers, and provoked more serious investigations. It contains much
regarding the domestic life of the first settlers and the building of
Philadelphia which has been universally accepted, and many traditions
gathered from old persons which there is no reason to question.
The most important History of Philadelphia is that by Mr. Thompson
Westcott, now printing in the columns of the _Sunday Despatch_. Eight
hundred and ten chapters have appeared up to the present time. It is
an encyclopædia on the subject. Some of the early chapters treat of
the period under review. _A History of the Townships of Byberry and
Moreland, in Philadelphia County_, by Joseph C. Martindale, M.D.,[849]
treats largely of the earliest settlers in that section of the State.
The present Montgomery County is formed of a portion of the original
County of Philadelphia, and the history of some of its sections treats
of the settlement of the colony. For such information, see _History of
Montgomery County, within Schuylkill Valley_,[850] by William J. Buck.
Mr. Buck prepared also the Historical Introduction to Scott’s _Atlas
of Montgomery County_, Philadelphia, 1877. The _History of Delaware
County_, by George Smith, M.D.,[851] is by far the best county history
of Pennsylvania yet published. It is thoroughly trustworthy, and treats
fully of the settlement of the county. Extracts from the records of
Markham’s court are given in it. _Chester and its Vicinity, Delaware
County, Pennsylvania_,[852] by John Hill Martin, is a meritorious work.
The history of Bucks County has been twice written; first by William
J. Buck, in 1855. His investigations were contributed to a county
paper, and were subsequently published in a volume of one hundred
and eighteen pages, to which was appended a _History of the Township
of Wrightstown_, by Charles W. Smith, M.D., contained in twenty-four
pages. A later _History of Bucks County_,[853] is that by General W. W.
H. Davis, an excellent work.
The _History of Chester County, Pennsylvania_,[854] by J. Smith Futhey
and Gilbert Cope, is a work of merit, being the production of two
thorough students, deeply imbued with the love of their subject. The
historical and genealogical portions of it are written with care and
judgment. It contains extracts from the records of the first courts
held in Pennsylvania.
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.—Hazard’s _Annals of Pennsylvania_,[855]
1609-1682, _Votes of the Assembly_,[856] vol. i., _Colonial
Records_,[857] vol. i., _Pennsylvania Archives_,[858] vol. i.,
and _Duke of York’s Laws_[859] are the chief collections of
documents relating to the constitutional history of the colony.
The correspondence which preceded the issuing of the royal charter,
together with the Proceedings of the Lords of Trade, etc., is in the
_Votes of the Assembly_, vol. i. pp. vii-xiii; the same will be found
in chronological order in Hazard’s _Annals_. The royal charter is
given in _Votes of Assembly_, vol. i. p. xviii; Hazard’s _Annals_,
p. 488; _Colonial Records_, vol. i. (1st ed.) p. ix, (2d ed.) p. 17;
Hazard’s _Register_, i. 293. A fac-simile of the engrossed copy at
Harrisburg is also given as an Appendix to vol. vii., second series,
of _Pennsylvania Archives_, and is in the _Duke of York’s Laws_ in the
same form, as well as being printed in that volume on page 81. The
paper known as “Certain Conditions or Concessions,” agreed upon in
England between the purchasers of land and Penn, July 11, 1681, will be
found in Hazard’s _Annals_, p. 516, _Colonial Records_, vol. i. (1st
ed.), p. xvii (2d ed.), p. 26, _Votes of Assembly_, vol. i. p. xxiv,
and Proud’s _Pennsylvania_, vol. ii. Appendix. Penn’s instructions to
his commissioners—Crispin, Bezar, and Allen—are printed in Hazard’s
_Annals_, p. 527. The original paper is in the possession of the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. His instructions to his fourth
commissioner, William Haige, are in Hazard’s _Annals of Pennsylvania_,
p. 637. The Frame of Government and laws agreed upon in England May
5, 1682, were printed at the time. They are also given in Hazard’s
_Annals_, p. 558, _Colonial Records_, vol. i. (1st ed.) p. xxi (2d
ed.) p. 29, _Votes of the Assembly_, vol. i. p. xxvii, _Duke of York’s
Laws_, p. 91, and Proud’s _Pennsylvania_, vol. ii. Appendix. There are
a number of rough drafts of the Frame of Government, etc., in the _Penn
Papers_ of the Historical Society. One of these is indorsed as the work
of Counsellor Bamfield; another bears the name of C. Darnall. Oldmixon
says (edition of 1708) that “the Frame” was the work of “Sir William
Jones and other famous men of the Long Robe.” Penn’s letter to Henry
Sidney (Oct. 13, 1681) shows that Sidney was consulted regarding it;
and Chalmers says (on the authority of Markham), that portions of it
were formed to suit the Quakers.
[Illustration: THE SEAL OF PENNSYLVANIA.]
The Frame of Government, passed in 1683, will be found in _Votes of
the Assembly_, vol. i. part i., Appendix 1, _Colonial Records_, vol.
i. (1st ed.) xxxiv, and (2d ed.) p. 42; _Duke of York’s Laws_, p. 155;
Proud’s _Pennsylvania_, vol. ii. Appendix 3. There was an edition of it
printed in 1689 at Philadelphia, entitled _The Frame of the Government
of the Province of Pennsilvania and Territories thereunto annexed in
America_, 8º, 16 pp. But one copy of this edition is known to have
been preserved,—it is in the Friends’ Library in Philadelphia. It
has no titlepage or printer’s name; but there can be no doubt that it
is from the press of William Bradford; and it was for printing this
that Bradford was summoned before the Council by Governor Blackwell,
on the 19th of April, 1689. Sabin gives an edition printed in London
in 1691, by Andrew Sowle. Cf. Sabin’s _Dictionary_, no. 59,697; also,
_Collection of Charters, etc., relating to Pennsylvania_, Philadelphia
(B. Franklin), 1740.
LITERATURE RELATING TO THE LAWS OF THE PROVINCE.—Under this head may
be classed various works, the titles of which as a rule indicate their
characters, and we note them below.[860]
LANDING OF PENN.—In 1824 a society was formed in Philadelphia
for the commemoration of the landing of William Penn. Its first
meeting was held November 4, in the house in which he had once lived,
in Letitia Court. An address was delivered by Peter S. Duponceau, and
the eighteen members of the Society dined together. In selecting the
day to be celebrated, the Society was guided by the passage in Penn’s
letter to the Lords of Plantation, dated August, 1683, in which he
states that he arrived on “the 24th of October last.” Ten days should
have been added to this date to correct the error in computing time by
the Julian calendar, which was in vogue when Penn landed, and November
3 should have been considered the anniversary. Through an erroneous
idea of the way in which such changes should be calculated, eleven days
were added, and November 4 was fixed upon. The next year, however,
the Society celebrated the 24th of October, and continued to do so
until 1836, the last year that we are able to trace the existence of
the organization.[861] Subsequent investigations have shown that Penn
did not arrive before Newcastle until October 27 (see Newcastle Court
Records in Hazard’s _Annals of Pennsylvania_, p. 596), and did not land
until the following day.[862] It is probable, therefore, that Penn
dated his arrival from the time he came in sight of land or passed the
Capes of Delaware. The first evidences we have of his being within the
bounds of the present State of Pennsylvania are letters dated Upland,
October 29, and this day, allowing ten days for the change of time,
bringing it to November 8, is the one that it is customary to celebrate.
Nov. 8, 1851, Edward Armstrong delivered before the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, at Chester, an able address, which contains
nearly all that is known regarding the landing of Penn. In it will
be found the names of his fellow-passengers in the “Welcome;” but a
more extended list by the same writer is given in the Appendix to the
2d ed., _Memoirs of Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, vol. i. In
1852 an address was also delivered on the same anniversary before the
Historical Society by Robert T. Conrad.
PENN’S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.—This was the subject of a report made
to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by Peter S. Duponceau and J.
Francis Fisher. It will be found in _Memoirs of Historical Society_,
vol. iii. part ii. p. 141. In it the opinion is expressed that the
treaty which tradition says Penn held with the Indians at Shackamaxon
was not one for the purchase of land, but was a treaty of amity and
friendship, and was held in November, 1682. This report has been
followed by historians generally, and has been accepted by nearly all
the biographers of Penn. The subject, however, is one that will bear
further investigation. The writer of this chapter published in the
_Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, vi. 217, an article to show that
the treaty which has attracted so much attention was that described
in Penn’s _Letter to the Free Society of Traders_, dated August 16,
1683; that it was held on June 23 of that year; that not only “great
promises of friendship” passed between Penn and the Indians, but that
land was purchased, the records of which are in the Land Office at
Harrisburg.[863] In connection with this subject, Mr. John F. Watson’s
paper on the “Indian Treaty for Lands now the Site of Philadelphia”
(see _Memoirs of Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, vol. iii. part
ii. p. 129) should be read, as well as “Memoir of the Locality of the
Great Treaty between William Penn and the Indians,” by Roberts Vaux
(see Ibid., i. 79; 2d ed., p. 87). The proceedings of the Historical
Society upon the occasion of the presentation to it of a belt of wampum
by Granville John Penn, which is said to have been given to William
Penn by the Indians at the treaty at Shackamaxon,[864] will be found in
_Memoirs of Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, vi. 205, with a large
colored lithograph of the belt. Cf. _Historical Magazine_, i. 177, and
Gay’s _Popular History of the United States_, ii. 498.
PENN-BALTIMORE CONTROVERSY, AND THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF
PENNSYLVANIA.—In the “Penn Papers” in the Library of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania there are several volumes of documents
bearing upon this subject, being the copies of those used in the suit
between Lord Baltimore and John Thomas and Richard Penn, decided in
1750. Interesting papers are in the State Paper Office, London, giving
accounts of the meetings between Baltimore and Markham and Penn and
Baltimore in 1682 and 1683. Copies are in the Library of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, and will shortly be printed. The following
printed volumes and essays treat of the subject:[865]
_The Case of William Penn, Esq., as to the Proprietory Government
of Pennsylvania; which, together with Carolina, New York, etc., is
intended to be taken away by a bill in Parliament._ (London, 1685.)
Folio, 1 leaf. Cf. Sabin’s _Dictionary_, no. 59,686.
_The Case of William Penn, Proprietary and Governor-in-Chief of
the Province of Pennsylvania and Territories, against the Lord
Baltimore’s Pretentions to a Tract of Land in America, Granted to the
said William Penn in the year 1682, by his then Royal Highness James
Duke of York, adjoyning to the said Province, commonly called the
Territories thereof._ (n. p. 1682 to 1720.) Folio, 1 leaf. Cf. Sabin’s
_Dictionary_, no. 59,688.
_The Case of Hannah Penn, the Widow and Executrix of William Penn,
Esq., late Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania_ (against the
pretensions of Lord Sutherland, London, 1720). Folio, 1 leaf. Cf.
Sabin’s _Dictionary_, no. 59,672.
_Articles of Agreement made and concluded upon between the Right
Honourable the Lord Proprietary of Maryland and the Honourable the
Proprietary of Pennsylvania, etc., touching the Limits and Boundaries
of the Two Provinces, with the Commission constituting certain Persons
to execute the Same._ Philadelphia (B. Franklin), 1733, folio, 19 pp.
and map. In the Library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Another edition was issued from same press in 1736, with the Report of
the Commissioners. Cf. C. R. Hildeburn’s _List of the Issues of the
Press in Pennsylvania_, 1685-1759.
_The Case of Messieurs Penn and the People of Pennsilvania, and the
three lower Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, in
relation to a Series of Injuries and Hostilities made upon them for
several Years past by Thomas Cressap and others, by the Direction and
Authority of the Deputy-Governor of Maryland_ (London, 1737). Folio, 8
pp. Cf. Sabin’s _Dictionary_, no. 5,985.
_Penn against Lord Baltimore. In Chancery. Copy of Minutes on Hearing,
May 15, 1750._ 8º, 15 pp. n. t. p. In the Library of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania.
_Breviate in the case of Penn_ vs. _Baltimore_. Cf. also the title,
with its two maps, given in Sabin’s _Dictionary_, ix. 34,416.
_Indenture of Agreement, 4th July, 1760, Between Lord Baltimore and
Thomas and Richard Penn, Esquires, settling the limits and boundaries
of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Three Lower Counties of Newcastle,
Kent, and Sussex._ Philadelphia, 1851, folio, 31 pp. and map. Privately
printed for Edward D. Ingraham.
“Memoir of the Controversy between Penn and Lord Baltimore.” By James
Dunlop (read Nov. 10, 1825), in _Memoirs of Historical Society of
Pennsylvania_, i. 161, or 2d ed. p. 163.
_Lecture upon the Controversy between Pennsylvania and Virginia about
the Boundary Line._ By Neville B. Craig. Pittsburgh, 1843, 8º. 30 pp.
_Appendix to Case in the Circuit Court of the United States for the
Third Circuit, containing the Pea Patch, or Fort Delaware Case._
Reported by John William Wallace. Philadelphia, 1849, 8º, 161 pp. Cf.
U. S. Senate, Exec. doc., no. 21, 30th Congress, 1848.
_History of Mason and Dixon’s Line._ Contained in an address delivered
by John H. B. Latrobe before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
Nov. 8, 1854. Philadelphia, 1855, 8º, 52 pp.
Colonel Graham’s _Report on Mason and Dixon’s Line_. Chicago, 1859, 8º.
Cf. Pennsylvania Senate Journal, 1850, ii. 475.
_Mason and Dixon’s Line._ By James Veech, 1857.
One of the original manuscript reports of Mason and Dixon, signed by
them, is in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
IMMIGRATIONS.—Independent of the Welsh and Germans, no large bodies
of emigrants came to Pennsylvania during the first decade of its
existence, except from England and some Quakers from Ireland. The
prosperity of the new colony attracted settlers from other parts of
British America and the West Indies; but nearly all, judging from the
religious annals of the community, were either Quakers or in sympathy
with them. In studying the Welsh emigration, _John ap Thomas and his
Friends: a Contribution to the Early History of Merion, Pa._, by
James J. Levick, M.D., should be read; see _Pennsylvania Magazine of
History_, iv. 301. It is a history of the first company which came from
Wales, in 1682. The _History of Delaware County_ by Dr. George Smith
contains much on the subject, with a map of the early settlements;
cf. B. H. Smith’s _Atlas of Delaware County, with a History of
Land-Titles_, Philadelphia, 1880. The agreement entered into between an
emigration party from Wales and the captain of a vessel in 1697-1698
will be found in the _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, i. 330.
The German or Dutch emigration can be studied in _The Settlement of
Germantown, and the Causes which led to it_, by Samuel W. Pennypacker;
see _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, iv. 1. It is a thorough
examination of the question, showing how the emigrants came from the
neighborhood of Crefeld, a city of the Lower Rhine, near Holland. The
several publications we have mentioned printed in Dutch and German must
also be consulted._ William Penn’s Travels in Holland and Germany_, by
Professor Oswald Seidensticker, already mentioned (see _Pennsylvania
Magazine of History_, ii. 237), shows how naturally the event came
about. Professor Seidensticker has also contributed “Pastorius und die
Grundung von Germantown” to the _Deutsche Pionier_, vol. iii. pp. 8,
56, 78, and “Francis Daniel Pastorius” to the _Penn Monthly_, vol. iii.
pp. 1, 51.
SPECIAL SUBJECTS.—There remain a few monographs worthy of mention.
_History of Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations who once
inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States_, by the Rev. John
Heckewelder, Philadelphia, 1819, 8º. This work was first published
as vol. i. of the _Transactions of the Historical and Literary
Committee of the American Philosophical Society_. It was reprinted
by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, with notes by the Rev.
William C. Reichel, in 1876, and forms vol. xii. of its _Memoirs_.
Opinions regarding this work differ widely. It was favorably reviewed
by Nathan Hale in the _North American Review_, ix. 178, and severely
criticised by General Lewis Cass in the same publication, xxvi. 366.
“A Vindication” of the _History_ by William Rawle will be found in the
_Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, i. 258; 2d ed. p.
268. There is a portrait of Heckewelder in the American Philosophical
Society, and a copy of it in the Historical Society; see _Catalogue of
Paintings, etc., belonging to the Historical Society_, no. 85. As a
further contribution to the aboriginal history, we may mention _Notes
respecting the Indians of Lancaster County, Pa._, by William Parker
Foulke; see _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, vol.
iv. part ii. p. 189. This treats largely of the Susquehannocks.
_Contributions to the Medical History of Pennsylvania_, by Caspar
Morris, M.D.; see _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_,
i. 337, or 2d ed., p. 347.
_Notices of Negro Slavery as connected with Pennsylvania_, by Edward
Bittle; see Ibid., i. 351, or 2d ed., p. 365; cf. also Williams’s
_Negro Race in America_.
_Address delivered at the Celebration by the New York Historical
Society, May 20, 1863, of the Two Hundredth Birthday of William
Bradford, who introduced the Art of Printing into the Middle Colonies,
etc._, by John William Wallace. Albany, 1863, 8º, p. 114. Together with
the report made by Horatio Gates Jones at the same time. Cf. Thomas
I. Wharton’s “Notes on the Provincial Literature of Pennsylvania,” in
the _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, i. 99, or 2d
ed., p. 107; and J. W. Wallace’s paper on the “Friends’ Press” in
_Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, iv. 432. The _Brinley Catalogue_,
no. 3,367, gives a considerable enumeration of the issues of Bradford’s
press.
“Historical Sketch of the Lower Dublin (or Pennepek) Baptist Church,
Philadelphia,” etc., by Horatio Gates Jones, in _Historical Magazine_,
August, 1868, p. 76.
“Local Self-Government in Pennsylvania,” by E. R. L. Gould, of Johns
Hopkins University, in _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, vi. 156. It
is a comparison of present local administration in Pennsylvania with
that under the Duke of York’s government.
MAPS.—_A Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia, in the Province of
Pennsylvania, in America_, by Thomas Holme, Surveyor-General. Sold by
John Thornton in the Minories, and Andrew Sowle in Shoreditch, London.
18½ × 11¾ inches.
The original, of which a reduced heliotype is given in this chapter
will be found in Penn’s _Letter to the Free Society of Traders_,
printed in 1683, which also contains a description of Philadelphia,
in which the map is referred to. In one of the editions of the Letter
to the Free Society a list of the lot-owners in Philadelphia is
given, with numbers referring to property marked on the map. This is
the earliest map of Pennsylvania. All issued previous to it show the
country while under a different dominion.
_A Map of the Province of Pennsylvania, containing the three counties
of Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks, as far as yet surveyed and laid
out. The divisions or distinctions made by the different coullers
respecting the settlements by way of townships._ By Thomas Holme,
Surveyor-General. Sold by Robert Green, at the Rose and Crown in Budge
Row, and by John Thornton at the Platt in the Minories, London.
This is the most important of all the early maps issued shortly after
1681. It contains the names of many of the early settlers, and shows
Penn’s idea of settling the country. In some cases the lots front on a
square, which it is presumed was dedicated to public uses. This feature
is still noticeable in one or two of the original settlements. It was
republished at Philadelphia by Lloyd P. Smith in 1846, and by Charles
L. Warner in 1870.
_A Mapp of ye Improved parts of Pennsilvania, in America, Divided
into Countyes, Townships, and Lotts. Surveyed by Tho. Holme._ It is
dedicated to William Penn by Jno. Harris, who, it is presumed, was the
publisher. It measures 16 × 21½ inches, and is a reduction of the
larger map by Holme.
A map to illustrate the successive purchases from the Indians was
published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1875. Cf. Egle’s
_Pennsylvania_, p. 208.
PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.—[The chief instrumentality in
the fostering of historical studies in the State rests with the
Pennsylvania Historical Society, which dates from 1824; and in 1826 it
printed the first volume of its _Memoirs_, which was, under the editing
of Edward Armstrong, reprinted in 1864. The objects of the Society
were set forth by William B. Reed in a discourse in 1848; and again at
the dedication of its new hall in 1872, Mr. J. W. Wallace delivered an
address. Besides its occasional addresses and its Memoirs, and the work
it has done in prompting the State to the printing of its documentary
history, it has also supported the publication of the _Pennsylvania
Magazine of History_.—ED.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: SECTION OF HOLME’S MAP OF PENNSYLVANIA.]