country by putting claims in which both seemed to be justified, but Penn
did even more than expected. He offered to purchase from Baltimore
sufficient land to give Pennsylvania a harbor at the head of the
Chesapeake. At another personal interview with Baltimore at West River
he suggested a compromise even more favorable to Maryland, by suggesting
that additional territory should be given Baltimore to make up the loss
of the increased length of a degree, which was recently ascertained to
be 69½ instead of 60 miles. This would have placed the northern line of
Maryland about seven miles north of the head of the Chesapeake.
Lord Baltimore refused all compromises offered by William Penn. He
fancied he could obtain great acquisitions of territory, and was
determined his province should consist of the present Maryland, Delaware
and the southern strip of Pennsylvania above described.
The controversy was thrown in the privy council. The case was argued for
two years, the council finally deciding that Baltimore’s charter did not
give him a title to Delaware, because at the time of granting the
charter that region had been in possession of the Dutch, and they
ordered Baltimore and Penn to divide Delaware equally between them by a
north and south line, midway between the Chesapeake and the Delaware.
The decision of the council was confined to the controversy between
Delaware and Maryland, and nothing was said about the disputed boundary
of the 40° between Maryland and Pennsylvania and it remained unsettled.
This condition proved a great hardship, the inhabitants on the border,
uncertain of their position, refused to pay taxes to either government,
and the sheriffs of adjoining counties carried on a warfare of petty
annoyance. This gave the rougher and lawless men an excuse for fighting.
One of the most notable of these was Thomas Cresap. He caused so much
trouble in the southern counties that when he was arrested and carried
to Philadelphia, which he called a pretty Maryland town, his exploits
were known as the Cresap War.
William Penn died July 30, 1718, leaving the question as unsettled as it
was in 1682. Charles Calvert, the fifth Lord Baltimore, was now the
proprietor of Maryland, and the first of the family to show much
cleverness.
He went to Penn’s widow and admitted he had no just claim to the title
of Delaware, and suggested that no more land should be granted near
either of the disputed borders by either government for eighteen months,
within which time they could settle all difficulties. This agreement was
signed in February, 1723, and long after the eighteen months had passed
into history, the agreement was faithfully observed by Hannah Penn, and
after her death by her children. Baltimore also observed it.
William Penn’s widow died in 1726, and her young sons did not
immediately mark the boundary, and Baltimore now assumed the role of an
injured person, and in 1731 petitioned the Crown to compel the
Proprietors of Pennsylvania to join with him in settling the boundaries.
He applied to John and Thomas Penn to meet with him and sign an
agreement of settlement, which they agreed to do, and they also accepted
the terms proposed in it by Baltimore and the articles were signed May
10, 1732.
The southern boundary of Pennsylvania was fixed about seven miles north
of the head of Chesapeake, and the same as William Penn had offered
Baltimore in their interview at West River. By this agreement Lord
Baltimore received more than had ever belonged to him.
A map was prepared, and attached to the agreement, on which the
boundaries were plainly marked. This map was prepared by Baltimore, and
the Penns accepted it as correct.
----------
Captain Stephen Chambers Fatally Wounded
in Duel with Dr. Rieger May 11, 1789
In May, 1789, there was a brilliant banquet given at the public house of
Colonel Mathias Slough, on the southeast corner of Penn Square and South
Queen Street, Lancaster. This social function was attended by a large
number of officers and soldiers who had fought in the Revolutionary War,
among whom were Captain Stephen Chambers and Surgeon Jacob Rieger.
Captain Chambers was neatly dressed in his military uniform, and in
personal appearance was one of the finest-looking officers of that
period. Dr. Rieger was quite the opposite, rather diminutive in stature,
unshaven and otherwise very untidy.
During the progress of the banquet Captain Chambers made some
disparaging remark about Dr. Rieger, which the latter overheard and
deemed insulting. The result was a challenge to a duel, which was as
promptly accepted.
The parties immediately named their seconds, who fixed the following
Monday evening, May 11, as the time. The parties met according to
arrangement on the outskirts of Lancaster, and after the necessary
details were concluded the antagonists faced each other, and at the
command of fire neither shot took effect. The seconds, at this point,
made an earnest effort to reconcile the principals, Captain Chambers and
his seconds being in a mood to offer such terms as they believed to be
proper and satisfactory, but Dr. Rieger would not consent to any terms
of reconciliation.
They took their places and on the command of fire Captain Chambers
snapped his pistol without discharging, but Dr. Rieger sent a ball
crashing through both legs of Captain Chambers. His wounds bled freely,
and for two days it was thought they were not dangerous; mortification,
however, set in and he died in great agony on Saturday morning
following, May 16.
Thus perished one of the noblest patriots and most brilliant legal minds
of the bar, an event which agitated the public mind for years afterward
as an unwarranted and cold-blooded murder.
Judge John Joseph Henry married Chambers’ sister, Jane, and was the
attorney for his executors.
Captain Chambers was a native of Ireland, being born there in 1750. He
came to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolution, and settled at Lancaster.
He studied law and as soon as he was admitted to practice in 1773, he
removed to Sunbury, where he became the first resident attorney of
Northumberland County. Fithian, in his journal under date July 20, 1775,
met him at Sunbury, “a lawyer, serious, civil and social.”
At the outset of the Revolution he entered the service. He was appointed
first lieutenant of the Twelfth Regiment of the Continental Line,
October 16, 1776, and promoted to captain in 1777.
He was chosen to the General Assembly from Northumberland County,
October 2, 1778, and while in attendance thereon was admitted to the
Philadelphia bar, March 6, 1779. In 1779 he was a member of the
Republican Society of Philadelphia, whose object was the revision of the
Constitution of 1776.
In the fall of 1780 he returned to his former home in Lancaster and soon
attained a large and lucrative practice, owned several farms and also
became interested in the iron business. He represented Lancaster County
in the Council of Censors, 1783 and 1784. He also was one of the
original members of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati.
He was a delegate to the convention November 29, 1787, which ratified,
on the part of Pennsylvania, the Federal Constitution. In the debate he
took a most aggressive part, frequently becoming very personal in his
attack upon members of the opposite side, especially toward William
Findlay. Captain Chambers voted with his comrades in arms, and on the
side of the adoption of the Federal Constitution.
It is a matter of interest that Captain Chambers was among the
distinguished patriots who were in the house of James Wilson, in
Philadelphia, when the mob made a disgraceful attack against it, October
4, 1779. Captain Chambers appeared with James Wilson, and others, before
Supreme Executive Council, October 19, 1779, and was bound over to
appear at the next term of court, in the sum of £5000. George Clymer and
Samuel Caldwell becoming his sureties in the sum of £2,500 each.
The evening of the day of the riot at “Fort Wilson,” Captain Chambers
attended the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York
Masons and was installed Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 22, which was
constituted at Northumberland the following month.
At the constitution of Lodge No. 22, about the middle of November, 1779,
Chambers became its first Worshipful Master, and the warrant for that
body was produced and presented by him at “his own proper cost and
charges.”
In July, 1785, he became the warrant Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 43,
at Lancaster, and both of these ancient lodges are still at labor, the
former, Lodge No. 22, now at Sunbury.
Dr. Joseph Rieger was the surgeon of the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment,
commanded by Colonel Samuel Hiles. He was commissioned March 22, 1776.
He was a highly respected physician of Lancaster. He died there in 1795.
----------
War of 1812 Began in Pennsylvania with
Message of Governor Snyder
May 12, 1812
The inhabitants of the infant Nation believed that Great Britain had
wantonly trampled on their rights, and on May 12, 1812, Governor Simon
Snyder expressed the feelings of the people in his call for
Pennsylvania’s quota of 14,000 militia, when he stated that for thirty
years we had lived at peace with all the nations of the earth, while the
storm of war had been desolating many countries of the civilized world,
and that all means which wisdom and patience could devise had been in
vain resorted to in the hope of preserving peace.
“The cup of patience, of humiliation and long suffering,” declared the
Governor, “had been filled to overflowing; and the indignant arm of an
injured people must be raised to dash it to the earth and grasp the
avenging sword. If ever a nation had justifiable cause for war, that
nation is the United States. If ever a people had motives to fight, we
are that people. It would give the Governor inexpressible satisfaction
if Pennsylvania would volunteer her quota.”
Such was the enthusiasm of the hour that in response to the Governor’s
call three times as many troops tendered their services as were
required. The disappointment of some was so great that money was freely
offered to secure a place among those accepted by the authorities.
General William Reed, the Adjutant General of the State, speedily
organized this force, which was formed into two divisions, four brigades
and twenty-two regiments. The first, or Philadelphia division, was
commanded by Major General Isaac Morrell and the second, from Pittsburgh
and vicinity, by Major General Adamson Tannehill.
The differences which had so long existed between the United States and
Great Britain finally resulted in war, which was declared by Congress
June 18, 1812. Every Representative, but two from Pennsylvania and both
the Senators, voted in favor of a declaration and the people at home
proved in demonstrative terms that they approved their vote.
In July a general alarm prevailed in Erie and vicinity, in consequence
of the appearance of a British-Indian force on the opposite side of the
lake.
On July 15 the sixteenth division of Pennsylvania militia was organized
under General Kelso. Four thousand men called for by the President
rendezvoused at Meadville and Pittsburgh looking to a movement on
Canada.
Soon the 2000 men at Meadville were ordered to Western New York, where
they participated in the battles along the Canadian border. After the
unsuccessful efforts of General Dearborn and Wilkinson, the rank of
major general was conferred upon Jacob Brown, of Bucks County, and he
was given the command of the Northern Department.
General Brown at Ogdensburg, October 4, 1812, defeated the British, and
won a signal victory, May 29, when he took Sackett’s Harbor, which he
retained until the close of the war. General Brown also won a brilliant
victory at Fort Erie, which is on the Canadian shore, opposite Buffalo,
N. Y., on July 3, 1814.
Winfield Scott, later the successful commander in the war with Mexico,
was an officer under General Brown. He won the brilliant and important
engagement at Chippewa, under directions of General Brown. Captain
Thomas Biddle, of Philadelphia, commanded one of the three batteries of
artillery engaged.
General Brown then won the severe battle of Lundy’s Lane, July 25, in
which 2600 Americans defeated 7000 British, and captured one of their
batteries. In this engagement General Brown was twice wounded, Major
Daniel McFarland was killed, Captain Biddle and Colonel Hugh Brady, of
Northumberland County, afterward a distinguished general of the United
States Army, were severely wounded.
General Brown defended Fort Erie against two attacks and at the close of
the campaign was honored by the State of New York with a gift of gold
and a decorated sword, “in testimony of the high sense they entertained
of his valor and skill in defeating the British forces, superior in
number.” Congress gave him the thanks of the Nation and a gold medal,
and he was made Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United States.
He died February 24, 1828, from the effects of wounds received at
Lundy’s Lane.
Other Pennsylvanians who were heroes in this war included General Thomas
Bodley and Colonel William Carroll, a native of Pittsburgh, who
afterward served as Governor of Tennessee from 1821 to 1827, and again
from 1830 to 1835.
The defense of Philadelphia was chiefly maintained by volunteers from
Pennsylvania. One camp was established at Shell Pot, north of
Wilmington, where the “Philadelphia Blues” under Captain Lewis Rush
formed a part of the command. He was promoted and Lieutenant Henry Myers
succeeded him as captain of the Blues, or “Bucktails,” as they were more
generally called.
In the summer of 1814, Governor Snyder ordered out troops to serve for
the defense of Delaware and the Elk River. A camp was established near
Wilmington, called Camp Dupont, and was under the command of General
Thomas Cadwalader, of Philadelphia. The infantry regiment was commanded
by Colonel Clement C. Biddle, and a battalion of artillery was there
under command of Colonel Prevost. Another camp was formed near Marcus
Hook, called Camp Gaines. General Snyder commanded this brigade. In this
camp were Colonel William Duane and others. The First or old “City
Troop,” commanded then by Captain Charles Ross, was in Camp Gaines.
Another camp of 5000 troops was established at York under Major General
Nathaniel Watson. When General Ross attempted the capture of Baltimore
these Pennsylvanians marched there and aided in repelling the enemy.
An important event of this war was the blockade of the Delaware River in
March, 1813, by the British fleet under Commodore Sir John P. Beresford.
The closing scenes of the war were enacted in the regions north and
south of Pennsylvania, and the State was not seriously threatened with
invasion.
On August 24, 1814, Washington fell into the enemy’s hands, the city
pillaged and the Capitol burned.
Just as Robert Morris was the financier of the Revolution, so Stephen
Girard also of Philadelphia, was the financier of the War of 1812. The
Government needed $5,000,000 and offered high interest, but only
$200,000 was subscribed, when Girard stepped into the scene and
subscribed the balance. He staked his whole fortune in his trust of his
adopted country, which none other would do, and saved the Nation from a
humiliating defeat. He also took Treasury bills at their face value, and
his example shamed other creditors, who then accepted the money of the
Government.
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Lieutenant Colonel Antes, Soldier and Frontiersman,
Died May 13, 1820
Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Antes died at his stockaded home, long
known as Antes’ Fort, May 13, 1820, aged eighty-three years.
This pioneer statesman and soldier was an early settler on the frontier
of Pennsylvania, a member of a distinguished family in the Province, an
officer of the Revolution, Sheriff of Northumberland County during the
stirring days of the Wyoming controversy, and an ardent patriot whose
influence, both in civic and military affairs, was most potent a century
and a quarter since.
The ancestral home of Colonel Antes was in the beautiful and fertile
valley, called Falkner’s Swamp, in what is now Montgomery County, about
six miles from Pottstown.
Philip Frederick Antes, grandfather of Lieutenant Colonel John Henry
Antes, of the noble family of Von Blume, of Rhenish Bavaria, Germany,
owing to religious persecutions, came from Friensheim, Germany, sometime
between 1716 and 1723, and settled for a short time in Germantown.
On February 29, 1722–23, he bought 154 acres in the Van Bebber tract in
what has since been called Falkner’s Swamp. This was a tract of 500
acres in the original patent made by William Penn, October 25, 1701, to
the Frankford Land Company, and comprised 22,337 acres of the most
fertile land in the State.
On December 16, 1708, the tract was sold by the agent, Daniel Falkner,
to John Henry Sprogel for £500, current money of Pennsylvania and was
paid for in “Silver Coyne.” This was known as the German tract and also
by other names.
In 1726 Henry Antes, the only son, married Christina, the daughter of
William Dewees, who built the second paper mill in America, in 1710, in
that part of Germantown known as Crefeld, near the line of the present
Montgomery County. A flour mill was added to the Crefeld paper mill and
here Henry Antes worked for three years. This was the birthplace of
three of their children, Frederick, William and Elizabeth. Henry Antes
served for more than ten years as one of the Justices of the Province.
September 2, 1735, Henry Antes purchased more than 200 acres about two
miles away, just across the line from the German tract, in what is now
Frederick Township, Montgomery County, and built a grist mill and a
stone mansion, in which the rest of his distinguished family was born,
and which was destined to become one of the valued historic buildings of
the State.
It was in this home that Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Antes was born,
October 5, 1736. Here Reverend George Whitefield, the great evangelist,
preached from the porch, April 23, 1740, to a multitude estimated at
3000 persons.
In 1745 Pious Henry Antes gave up his home to the needs of the Moravian
Society, and his house became the school for boys. He and his wife
removed to Bethlehem. Henry Antes’ home thus became the first boarding
school for boys in America.
It was in this mansion, then owned by Colonel Frederic Antes, that
General Washington made his headquarters, September 18 to 24, 1777,
during his stay at Camp Pottsgrove, the most westerly point ever reached
by the Continental Army.
When still quite a young man John Henry Antes, being of a romantic
disposition, went to the Susquehanna region, being induced to do so by
Conrad Weiser, who was a great friend of the family, and who had made
frequent trips to the West Branch in the interest of the Provincial
Government. He settled on a farm situated on Shamokin Creek, near the
present Sunbury, and soon became one of the prominent men of that
region.
On July 29, 1775, he was appointed a Justice of Quarter Sessions. On
January 24, 1776, he was commissioned a captain in the Second Battalion,
under Colonel James Potter, and on March 13, following was assigned to
the command of Colonel William Plunket, when he made his expedition
against the Connecticut settlers; then Captain Antes was assigned to the
Second Battalion of Associators.
On May 21, 1777, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Fourth
Battalion, of Northumberland County Militia, and in this service
endeared himself to the frontier inhabitants by his active work in
protecting the settlements from the frequent incursions of the Indians.
He established his headquarters in the Nippenose Valley. Here he built
the stockade, called Antes’ Fort, which was the most exposed place on
the frontier. This stockade and the cabin home of Colonel Antes were
destroyed by the Tories and Indians at the time of the “Great Runaway,”
July, 1778.
Towards the close of the Revolution, Colonel Antes was elected Sheriff
of Northumberland County, October 18, 1782, and re-elected. At this time
his jurisdiction extended over what is now thirty counties of
Pennsylvania.
At the close of his political and military career, he removed from his
farm to a tract of land on Nippenose Creek, which he had purchased
September 29, 1773. This site was near the mouth of that creek opposite
the mouth of Pine Creek, near the present Jersey Shore, and here he
built a mill, known as Antes’ Fort. His log mansion built at the same
time, 1785, which he stockaded, and which was later occupied by his son,
Henry, until 1830, is still in use. The grist mill, now in operation, is
the fourth one erected on the original site.
A gap in the mountains, a small town, and other places have taken their
name from this sturdy pioneer.
The Antes Burying Ground is not far distant from the home and mill site,
and in it is the grave of Colonel John Henry Antes.
The numerous descendants of Colonel Antes meet in annual reunion and
recount his many exploits and services so unselfishly rendered in time
of need.
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Provincial Council Hears of Border Trouble
May 14, 1734
Thomas and John Penn, the Proprietaries, arrived in the Province, the
former in 1732, and his elder brother, John, two years later. They were
cordially and affectionately received by the colonists as the sons of
the most illustrious founder.
John Penn remained only one year, as he hurried back to England to
oppose the pretensions of Lord Baltimore, but Thomas Penn remained for
some years in the Province, spending his time generally after the manner
of an English country gentleman. He was cold and distant in his
intercourse with society and consequently unpopular. He returned to
England in 1741.
In the year 1733 the Provincial Government for the first time became
apprehensive of the designs of the French in the Western country, where
they began to establish trading posts along the headwaters of the
Allegheny and Ohio Rivers and claimed all the land on those waters by
virtue of some treaty of which the Provincial Government was not
apprised.
With a view to frustrate their designs, which obviously tended to
alienate the Indians from the English, James Logan proposed that a
treaty should be made with the Shawnee and other tribes, and that they
should be invited to remove nearer the English settlements. In accord
with this suggestion, a treaty was held with the Six Nations at
Philadelphia, when the savages confirmed the fears of the English by
advising them of the French designs, and they promised perpetual
friendship with the English.
Then trouble began on the Maryland border. At a meeting of Council held
in Philadelphia May 14, 1734, Thomas Penn informed the board of some
very unneighborly proceedings of the Province of Maryland in not only
harassing some of the inhabitants of this Province who lived along the
border, but that they extended their claims much farther than they had
ever before pretended they had a right. They went so far as to carry off
several persons, whom they imprisoned, among them being John Hendricks
and Joshua Minshall, who lived on the Susquehanna in what is now York
County. At the time of this report they were still confined in prison at
Annapolis.
Penn advised Council he had engaged Andrew Hamilton, Esq., to appear for
them when they should be brought to trial at the ensuing Provincial
Court of Maryland. Penn said this action of the Marylanders made
settlements along the border insecure and he proposed that the Council
decide on measures for maintaining the peace between his Majesty’s
subjects in both Provinces.
Mr. Hamilton, accompanied by Mr. Georges, private secretary to Governor
Thomas Penn, went to Annapolis on their mission. They were also acting
in capacity of commissioners for the Proprietaries, with the approval of
the Assembly, to execute articles of agreement, and to run, mark and lay
out the lines, limits and boundaries between the two Provinces. They did
not meet with much success, in consequence of which, the Governor, under
date of August 19, 1734, wrote to the Justices of the Counties of
Chester, Lancaster on the Susquehanna, and New Castle, Kent and Sussex
on the Delaware as follows: