who touted this "Country Abounding in the Sugar Tree."[39] Anti-slave
interests later thought that maple sugar would replace the
slave-produced cane sugar.[40] Mr. Davy described the process as he
observed it at Muncy:
The Maple Trees yield about 5 w of Sugar each on an average
annually, some give as much as 15 ws but these are rare. It is drawn
off in April & May by boring holes in the Tree into which Quills &
Canes are introduced to convey the Juice to a Trough placed round
the bottom of it. This juice is boiled down to Sugar & clarified
with very little trouble & is very good.[41]
Honey also existed in great quantities in the area and was used
extensively. Apparently the "sweet tooth" of the West Branch settlers
was well satisfied by the ample resources for saccharine products.
The trade and commerce of the West Branch Valley were strictly confined
to its own locale. Mountain barriers, limited transportation facilities,
and insufficient contact with the settled areas of the Province only
served to heighten the essential self-sufficiency of the Fair Play
settlers. The result was an economic independence which doubtless had
its political manifestations.[42]
Economic conditions have their political implications, but it was the
total impact of the frontier and not simply the commercial restrictions
of some outside authority which made the Fair Play settlers self-reliant
and independent "subsistence" farmers. The farmers' frontier did not
result from the impact of any particular national stock groups, for
Scotch-Irish, English, and German settlers reacted similarly. As the
most recent historian of the Scotch-Irish, the most numerical national
stock on this frontier, suggests, "authentically democratic principles,
when the Scotch-Irish exhibited them in America, were rather the result
of their experiences on colonial frontiers than the product of the
Scottish and Ulster heritage."[43] The farmers' frontier with its
characteristics of individualistic self-reliance was a product of the
frontier itself.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, p. 18.
[2] Henry Bamford Parkes, _The American Experience_ (New York, 1959), p.
44.
[3] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 59.
[4] Paul A. W. Wallace, _Indian Paths of Pennsylvania_ (Harrisburg,
1965), pp. 66-72, includes two maps.
[5] Chester D. Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," _The
Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings and Addresses_, VII
(1935), 18.
[6] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 400.
[7] _Ibid._, p. 401.
[8] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 472.
[9] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 401.
[10] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1857), p. 454.
[11] _Ibid._, p. 458
[12] Carl and Jessica Bridenbaugh, _Rebels and Gentlemen: Philadelphia
in the Age of Franklin_ (New York, 1962), p. 76.
[13] Barck and Lefler, _Colonial America_, p. 409.
[14] Walter Prescott Webb, _The Great Plains_ (New York, 1931), pp.
238-244.
[15] Herbert H. Beck, "Martin Meylin, A Progenitor of the Pennsylvania
Rifle," _Papers Read Before The Lancaster County Historical Society_,
LIII (1949), 33-61.
[16] Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," p. 19.
[17] Lewis E. Theiss, "Early Agriculture," _Susquehanna Tales_ (Sunbury,
1955), p. 89.
[18] Norman B. Wilkinson (ed.), "Mr. Davy's Diary," _Pennsylvania
History_, XX (1953), 261.
[19] James W. Silver (ed.), "Chauncey Brockway, an Autobiographical
Sketch," _Pennsylvania History_, XXV (1958), 143.
[20] Maynard, _Historical View of Clinton County_, p. 11.
[21] _Ibid._
[22] The probate records of Northumberland and Lycoming counties, found
in the respective offices of the Register of Wills and Recorder of
Deeds, contain entries leaving to the widow the "best room in the
house," or, "her choice of rooms." No doubt, the simplicity of the
earlier home accentuated the value of the additions.
[23] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 259.
[24] _Ibid._, p. 341. The Reverend Philip Vickers Fithian notes the
richness of the land in the journal of his one-week visit to the area in
the summer of 1775. He was also surprised to find that "many have their
Grain yet in the Field," a notation for the 26th of July. _Fithian:
Journal_, p. 71.
[25] Theiss, _Susquehanna Tales_, p. 88.
[26] The Museum of the Muncy Historical Society contains examples of
these early farm implements and offers vivid evidence of their
crudeness.
[27] _Fithian: Journal_, p. 71.
[28] _Ibid._, p. 72.
[29] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 262.
[30] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 469.
[31] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 258.
[32] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 171. Even
in the more settled areas of the Susquehanna Valley markets were slow to
develop as this note from "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 338, reported on Oct.
3, 1794: "At present there is no Market here but if many English
Families settle this will soon follow as there is an excellent supply of
every necessary & even Luxury in the Neighbourhood."
[33] J. E. Wright and Doris S. Corbett, _Pioneer Life in Western
Pennsylvania_ (Pittsburgh, 1940), p. 74.
[34] Arthur W. Calhoun, _A Social History of the American Family_ (New
York, 1960), I, 202.
[35] Wright and Corbett, _Pioneer Life in Western Pennsylvania_, pp.
86-92.
[36] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 405-805.
[37] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 265.
[38] _Ibid._
[39] _Ibid._, pp. 263-264.
[40] _Ibid._, p. 264.
[41] _Ibid._, p. 263.
[42] One student of the commerce of the Susquehanna Valley made sweeping
generalizations about its significance which can hardly be
substantiated. _See_ Morris K. Turner, _The Commercial Relations of the
Susquehanna Valley During the Colonial Period_ (Ph.D. Thesis, University
of Pennsylvania, 1916). This dissertation, although claiming to deal
with the Susquehanna Valley, never gets much beyond Harrisburg and
seldom reaches as far north as Fort Augusta. Its accounts of roads,
navigation improvements, and trade fail to reach the Fair Play settlers.
This lends further support to their independent and self-sufficient
existence. Turner's concluding paragraph is, however, a gem of economic
determinism and bears repeating in full. Found on page 100, it reads as
follows:
"If then, the commercial relations of the Susquehanna Valley were so far
reaching affecting as they did in the pre-Revolutionary period the
attitude of the people on all the questions, practically, of the day it
is only fair to say that it was these relations which promoted the
Revolution in the Province and drove the old government out of
existence. The political issues were aided and abetted, yes, were
created, were born from the womb of the neglected commercial relations
of the Province and no other section at the time had such extensive
relations as the Susquehanna Valley. No other conclusion can be reached
after a serious study of the history of the period."
[43] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 150.
CHAPTER FIVE
_Fair Play Society_
The society of the Fair Play territory, between the year 1769 and 1784,
was indeed simple. There were no towns or population clusters, either in
the territory or within a range of some thirty-five or forty miles.
Furthermore, as we have already noted, transportation and communication
facilities were so limited as to make contact with the "outside world"
an exception rather than the rule. As we have also seen, economic
functions on this farmers' frontier were not highly specialized. Even
the political system, with its tribunal of Fair Play men, operated
without the benefit of any formal code.
But it would be easy, from these indications, to magnify the simplicity
of the social structure and of social relationships in the West Branch
Valley. If we are to consider the development of democracy on this
frontier, we must take into account the various national stock groups
who settled this area and, in so doing, weigh their relative economic
and social status, the amount of intermarriage between them, and the
ease and frequency with which they visited each other. These and other
social relationships, such as their joint participation in voluntary
associations, their prejudices and conflicts, and the assimilation of
alien groups, must all be evaluated. The leadership, the existence of
social classes, and the family patterns must, of necessity, be a part of
our inquiry. And finally, the religious institutions, the educational
and cultural opportunities, and the system of values have to be
considered in arriving at a judgment regarding the democratic nature of
Fair Play society.
Fair Play society was composed of Scotch-Irish (48.75 per cent), English
(20 per cent), German (15 per cent), Scots (6.25 per cent), Irish (5 per
cent), Welsh (2.5 per cent) and French (2.5 per cent) settlers.[1] Due
to the pioneering conditions under which all of these national stock
groups developed their "improvements," economic privilege was rather
difficult to attain. Furthermore, even after the legislature granted
pre-emption in the act of December, 1784, the grants were limited to
300 acres.[2] In consequence of this, massive holdings were impossible
to maintain legally, as the customary holdings of two to three hundred
acres indicate in the tax lists for the years after 1784.[3] In fact,
the tax lists suggest that absentee-owners or persons outside the actual
geographic limits of the Fair Play territory who participated with the
Fair Play settlers were the only ones to possess 700 to 1,000 acres or
more.[4] This fact, combined with the "subsistence farming" which all of
the area settlers pursued, suggests a relatively comparable economic
status for the members of the Fair Play society. Consequently, social
status was not necessarily dependent upon economic status.
Social status on this frontier depended more upon achieved status than
ascribed status. This may have been an influence of the Scotch-Irish,
who judged, and thus classified, a neighbor by the size and condition of
his dwelling, the care of his farm, the work done by the women in the
family, his personal characteristics and morality, and his
diversions.[5] Journalists, pension claimants, and the operative,
although unwritten, code of the Fair Play men all give corroborative
evidence in this regard.[6] Of all these criteria, personal character
and morality seemed to have been most important. The Scotch-Irish, who,
like the people of other national stocks, accepted social classes as the
right ordering of society, shifted their emphasis, as a result of the
frontier experience, from family heritage to individual achievement.[7]
Intermarriages provide a further key to the social relationships of the
Fair Play settlers. If a small sample is any indication, the cases of
intermarriages among the various national stock groups were relatively
high, with better than one-third of the marriages sampled falling within
this classification.[8] The fact that the Scotch-Irish frequently
married within their own group was probably due to their being more
"available" in terms of numbers. Industry and good character were the
prime criteria for selecting a frontier mate, as Dunaway points out.[9]
The ease and frequency of neighborly visits is vividly demonstrated in
the characteristically cooperative cabin-raisings, barn-raisings,
cornhuskings and similar activities in which joint effort was usual. The
women, too, exchanged visits and, on occasion, gathered at one place for
quilting or other mutually shared activities.[10] Furthermore, the
frontier journalists often noted the fine hospitality and congeniality
of their backwoods hosts.[11]
Further evidence of the egalitarian influence of this frontier is found
in the joint participation of Fair Play settlers in voluntary
associations.[12] This is particularly noticeable in their attendance
at outdoor sermons and involvement in the various political activities.
At a time when fewer than 100 families lived in the territory, Fithian
observed that "There were present about an Hundred & forty" people for a
sermon which he gave on the banks of the Susquehanna, opposite the
present city of Lock Haven, on Sunday, July 30, 1775.[13] Although
William Colbert, a Methodist, later "preached to a large congregation of
willing hearers" within the territory, he did not think that it was
"worth the preachers while to stop here."[14] This may have been due to
the fact that they were mainly Presbyterians. Colbert's reception was
apparently fair for he makes a point of saying, "I know not that there
is a prejudiced person among them."[15] No regular church was
established in this region until 1792, so it appears that the settlers
generally participated in group religious activities regardless of the
denominational affiliation of the preacher conducting the services.
However, as we will point out later, this is not to suggest that there
was no friction between denominations.
The political activities of the Fair Play settlers demonstrate the mass
participation, at least of the adult males, in this type of voluntary
association. The annual elections of the Fair Play men were conducted
without discrimination against any of the settlers by reason of
religion, national origin, or property. In addition, the decisions of
the tribunal were carried out, as Smith reports, "by the whole body, who
started up in mass, at the mandate of the court."[16] Special occasions,
such as the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence, were also marked by
the participation _en masse_ of these West Branch pioneers. Mrs.
Hamilton, in her widow's pension application, speaks of "seeing such
numbers flocking there" (along the banks of Pine Creek in July of
1776).[17] Apparently, as Mrs. Hamilton says, most of the settlers "had
a knolege of what was doing," particularly with regard to political
affairs.[18]
These evidences of group participation in religious and political
activities should not mislead one into thinking that conflict, legal or
otherwise, was alien to the West Branch frontiersmen. The cases brought
before the Fair Play "court" and the friction between Methodists and
Presbyterians affirm this strife. The first settler in the territory,
Cleary Campbell, was an almost constant litigant, both as plaintiff and
defendant, in the Northumberland County Court from the time of his
arrival in 1769.[19] His name, along with the names of other Fair Play
settlers, appeared regularly on the Appearance Dockets of the
Northumberland and Lycoming County courts. The cases usually involved
land titles and personal obligations or debts.
The religious conflict is clearly seen in the journal of the Reverend
William Colbert. An incident which occurred about twenty miles south of
the West Branch illustrates this friction:
This is a town [present-day Milton] with three stores, three
taverns, two ball allies. Agreeable to its size it appears to be one
of the most dissipated places I ever saw. I could not tell how to
pass them--I inquired at one of the ball allies if preaching was
expected--A religious old Presbyterian standing by where they were
playing answered that he did not know. I then asked them that were
playing ball, they answered no. I farther asked them if they did not
think they would be better employed hearing preaching than playing
ball. Their answer was a laugh, that there was time for all things
and that they went to preachings on Sundays. I told them they would
not be willing to go to judgment from that exercise--they said they
ventured that. So after a little conversation with the old man I
left them ripening for destruction....[20]
Colbert's journal is filled with snide remarks and caustic comments
about Presbyterians in general and Calvinist doctrines in
particular.[21] He was especially concerned for the "lost souls" of the
Presbyterians of the West Branch Valley. A twentieth-century theologian
suggests that Presbyterian dogmatism had driven the Scotch-Irish to the
frontier; this same problem complicated their social relationships in
the backwoods country.[22]
The process of acculturation of the frontier was marked by the impact of
the aborigines upon the new white settlers in terms of the developing
style of life in the West Branch Valley. In fact, the culture of the
Indian may have affected the white settlers more than theirs affected
that of the Indian. For instance, Mr. Davy says that "the Dress &
manners of the People more nearly assimilate to those of the Indians
than lower down, but the purest English Language is universally
spoken."[23]
The West Branch Valley was a new world whose experiences made new men,
rather than a transplanted old world with its emphasis on heritage and
tradition.[24] However, the English language and Scots Presbyterianism
were basic ingredients in the melting pot of this and other frontiers
where the American character emerged.
The social class structure of Fair Play society is rather difficult to
assess. Extensive land holdings and material possessions were not
characteristic of these "squatter" settlements. Consequently, property
was not the distinguishing factor in stratifying the social levels of
the Fair Play community. Furthermore, there was no slave population or
indentured servant class to be confined to the lowest rung of the social
ladder. Here, each man either owned his "improvement" or operated under
some condition of tenancy. However, both indentured servitude and Negro
slavery existed in the "New Purchase" of 1768 in nearby Muncy.[25] Thus,
it was a two-class pattern, in the main, which constituted the Fair Play
society--landholders and tenants. In addition, though, there was a
further delineation within the landholding class on the basis of
character and morality. This characteristically Scotch-Irish
differentiation may have been due to the predominance of the Ulsterites
in the West Branch population.[26] In consideration of this fact, a
three-class structure, consisting of an elite, other landholders, and
tenants, would best describe the social class system of the Fair Play
territory.
The elite of the Fair Play society were generally the political and
economic leaders as well. They owned the "forts," operated the
gristmills, and held the prominent political positions in the vicinity.
Surprisingly enough, though, they frequently resided on the fringe areas
of the territory and were thus able to acquire more land.[27] A fuller
description of this elite and its leadership is given in the next
chapter.
The frontier family was undoubtedly the key social institution in
transmitting this new "American" culture to subsequent generations.
Regardless of national origin, the families were closely-knit,
well-disciplined units, whose members formed rather complete social and
economic entities. As we have already noted, the agrarian family had its
own division of labor, with each member carrying out his assigned tasks
and, at the same time, learning the practices and procedures of the
farmers' frontier. It was also the cultural and educational core, in
which its members learned their faith, received their education, and
acquired the values which would serve them throughout their lives.
Family loyalty was a marked characteristic on the frontier and,
incidentally, among the Scotch-Irish. The woman's lot was severe but she
accepted it with a submissiveness which can still be seen in some
backcountry areas of Pennsylvania today.[28] Clannish and dependent upon
each other, the frontier family had no use for divorce, which was
practically unknown.[29] If the patterns and values of these frontier
families tended to approximate those of the Scotch-Irish in particular,
and they did, it was because the Scotch-Irish were representative rather
than unique.[30]
The church was probably the second most important social institution in
developing a system of values and a "style of life" in the Fair Play
territory. Here again, the Scotch-Irish with their Presbyterianism
provided the most significant influence, and ultimately the first
regular church--although Methodists, such as Colbert, found little to
favor in Calvinism. Almost without exception, the wills probated in the
courts of Northumberland and Lycoming counties between 1772 and 1830
asked for burial "in a decent and Christian like manner," and committed
the departed soul to "the Creator." A Christian life and a Christian
burial were valued in this frontier society.
Due to the absence of regular churches, religious instruction was
primarily carried on by mothers "abel to instruct," as Mrs. Hamilton put
it.[31] Prayer, the reading of the Bible, and a rudimentary catechism
were all a part of this home worship, conducted by one or both parents.
Baptism and other sacraments of the church were provided by itinerant
pastors who made their "rounds" through the valley. Presbyterians and,
later, Methodists developed the practice of gathering together in their
cabins in "praying societies."[32] Originally consisting of neighbor
groups, these societies, in time, took in areas consisting of several
miles.[33]
Itinerant pastors began to include the Fair Play territory in their
travels in the decade of the 1770's. Philip Vickers Fithian learned from
his host, Squire Fleming, that he was the first "orderly" preacher in
the area.[34] Fithian's visit came about after he obtained an honorable
dismissal from the first Philadelphia Presbytery--as no vacancies
existed--in order to preach outside its bounds.[35] Although in the
territory for only one week in the summer of 1775, Fithian's account of
his Sunday sermon on the banks of the Susquehanna clearly describes the
nature of wilderness preaching:
At eleven I began Service. We crossed over to the Indian Land, &
held Worship on the Bank of the River, opposite to the Great Island,
about a Mile & a half below 'Squire Fleming's. There were present
about an Hundred & forty; I stood at the Root of a great Tree, & the
People sitting in the Bushes, & green Grass round me.
They gave great Attention. I had the Eyes of all upon me. I spoke
with some Force, & pretty loud. I recommended to them earnestly the
religious Observation of God's Sabbaths, in this remote Place, where
they seldom have the Gospel preached--that they should attend with
Carefulness & Reverence upon it when it is among them--And that they
ought to strive to have it established here.[36]
Fithian's recommendation was not carried out until 1792, when the Pine
Creek Church was organized under the historic "independence" elm with
Robert Love and a Mr. Culbertson as the first elders.[37] This church,
along with the Lycoming Church, which was formed in the eastern part of
the former Fair Play territory in October of that same year, was served
by the Reverend Isaac Grier, who was called to serve Lycoming Creek,
Pine Creek, and the Great Island, and ordained and installed by the
Carlisle Presbytery, April 9, 1794.[38] He thus became the first
regularly installed pastor in what had been the Fair Play territory.
It was not until 1811 that the Presbyterian General Assembly organized
the Northumberland Presbytery, which serves West Branch Valley
Presbyterians to this day. In the days of the Fair Play system the area
was assigned to Donegal Presbytery, although in 1786 the Carlisle
Presbytery was formed out of the western part of Donegal.[39]