Part 10
“This afternoon came to town a man that lived on Juniata, who in his journey this way called at the house where the woolcombers lived, about ten miles from this place, and saw at his door a bed-tick, and going into the house found a child lying dead and scalped. This alarmed us much and while we were consulting what to do, we received the enclosed, which puts it past all doubt that the enemy intend to attack Sherman’s Valley or this place. We thought it necessary to acquaint you as soon as possible, not only to hurry you home, but, if thought needful, that the people of York might send over some aid.”
The “enclosed” referred to in the above, was a long letter written by a soldier in the garrison at “Patterson’s Fort, of Juniata,” dated January 28, 1756, in which the fifteen murders of the Wilcox, Nicholas and Armstrong families were explained in all their horrible details, the writer having visited the several places and witnessed for himself the bodies of the victims.
The letter continues:
“The party that went to bury the dead, found one Sheridan and his wife, three children and a man-servant, all murdered; also two others in another house: these within a few miles of Carlisle.
“I am heartily sorry that I must grieve you with an account of a most inhuman murder committed by the Indians at Juniata and Sherman’s Creek on the 27th of last month. Within three miles of Patterson’s Fort was found Adam Nicholson and his wife dead and scalped and his two sons and a daughter carried off; William Wilcock and his wife dead and scalped; Mrs. Hugh Micheltree and son of said Nicholson dead and scalped, with many children, in all about seventeen. The same day one Sheridan, a Quaker, his wife and three children, and a servant were killed and scalped, together with one William Hamilton and his wife and daughter and one French, within ten miles of Carlisle, a little beyond Stephen’s Gap.”
On March 24, Captain James Patterson with his scouting party of borderers fell in with a party of Indians on Middle Creek, now Snyder County, attacked them, killed and scalped one and put the rest to flight. On their return, Patterson reported that the country from the forks of the Susquehanna to the Juniata was “swarming with Indians, looking for scalps and plunder, and burning all the houses and destroying all the grain which the fugitive settlers had left in the region.”
The Indians who committed these depredations were of the Delaware Nation; there were no Shawnee among them. They had their headquarters on the North Branch at Nescopeck and Wyoming, and were so incited by the craftiness of the French that they threatened “to break the heads of any of their own race who advised peace with the English.”
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John Penn, “The American,” Born in Slate-Roof House January 29, 1700
When William Penn crossed the ocean in the Canterbury to visit his province in 1699, he came up to Chester, December 1. Two days later Penn reached Philadelphia, and made a formal call upon his deputy, Governor William Markham, and other dignitaries of the town and province.
From Markham’s house Penn proceeded to the Friends’ meeting house at Second and High Streets, and took part in the afternoon meeting, offering a prayer and delivering one of those short incisive addresses in which he was so happy.
Penn was very well received by all classes, says James Logan, who had come out with the Governor and was in constant attendance upon him.
After the meeting was over and the Friends had dispersed to their homes, Penn and his suite went to the house of Edward Shippen, and lived there for a month. About January 14 he took up his residence in the “Slate-Roof House,” which was his home during his sojourn in his province.
On January 29, his son John, known as “The American,” was born. John was the only one of William Penn’s children born in his province.
This old mansion when first built was the largest house in Philadelphia, and better known than any other, not excepting the “Letitia House,” of any place of historic interest connected with William Penn and the city he founded.
The Slate-Roof House was built on the southeast corner of Second Street and Norris Alley, the site for many years of the Chamber of Commerce. The house was built by Samuel Carpenter, and it stood until 1867.
Besides being the residence of Penn in 1699, James Logan entertained Lord Cornbury there in 1702 and Governor James Hamilton, Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Graydon were successively its occupants, the ladies using it for a boarding house.
Alexander Graydon, who lived there and whose mother was the Desdemona of the pert British officers of the day and kept the place as a boarding house just before the Revolution, describes the old house, “as a singular old-fashioned structure, laid out in the style of a fortification, with abundance of angles, both salient and re-entering. Its two wings projected to the street in the manner of bastions, to which the main building, retreating from sixteen to eighteen feet, served for a curtain. Within it was cut up into a number of apartments and on that account was exceedingly well adapted to the purpose of a lodging house, to which it had long been appropriated.”
The yard or garden was graced with a row of venerable pine trees, and the association of the place gave it a substantial historic interest. It bore much less the look of a fortress than Captain Graydon’s military eye conceived.
The back building was as peaceful looking as the culinary offices should be and the neat little chambers in the so-called bastions were cozy nooks, with chimney places in the corners. The kitchen had a giant pile of chimney, with a great fireplace and the garrets were high and roomy.
This house was built for Samuel Carpenter by James Portens. It was erected about 1698, and William Penn was probably its first occupant.
Samuel Carpenter had built in 1684–85 a house on Front Street, near his wharf and warehouses, and it is likely he lived there after the Slate-Roof House was completed.
Carpenter was a man of great ability and enterprise, accumulating wealth rapidly and doing much to build up the city of his adoption. He married Hannah Hardiman, a Welsh Quakeress and preacher, in 1684, and held many important positions, member of the Assembly, treasurer of the province, etc. He bought large tracts of land, owned numerous vessels, mines, quarries and mill seats, so much property, in fact, that it impoverished him and threw him into serious pecuniary embarrassment, though he was ranked as the richest man in the province.
Samuel Carpenter died in his house on King Street (now Water Street) between Chestnut and Walnut Streets, April 10, 1714, and the Friends Meeting, after his death, said of him that “he was a pattern of humility, patience and self-denial; a man fearing God and hating covetousness; much given to hospitality and good works. He was a loving, affectionate husband, tender father, and a faithful friend and brother.”
When Carpenter leased his Slate-Roof House to Penn it was furnished and so occupied until his departure for England, when James Logan moved into it.
The Slate-Roof House was sold in the latter part of 1703 to William Trent, the Iverness miller, who founded and gave his name to Trenton, N. J.
Trent paid £850 for the property. In 1709 he sold it for £900 Pennsylvania currency to Isaac Norris, who occupied it until his removal to Fairhill in 1717.
Logan was very desirous that Penn should buy the house when Trent offered it for sale, and said that it was hard that the Governor did not have the money to spare. “I would give twenty to thirty pounds out of my own pocket, that it were thine, nobody’s but thine,” said honest James.
The Slate-Roof House remained in possession of the Norris family until 1807, when it was bought by the Chamber of Commerce and torn down.
From 1717 onward it seems to have been used as a boarding and lodging house, being in the hands of Mrs. Howell and then of Mrs. Graydon.
General John Forbes, successor to General Edward Braddock, died in the Slate-Roof House in 1759, at which time the house was kept by Mrs. Howell. Baron de Kalb lodged there in 1768–69, when he was the secret agent of France. Sir William Draper, the target of Junius’ sarcasm, lodged there during his visit to the colonies. James Rivington, the Tory printer and publisher, ate and slept there.
It is also reported that John Hancock and George Washington lodged there during the first sessions of the Continental Congress. Baron Steuben, Peter S. Duponceau and others lodged there after the British evacuated Philadelphia.
The Slate-Roof House then became the seat of a boarding school, kept by Madame Berdeau, reputed to be the widow of Dr. Dodd, hanged in London for forgery in 1777.
Then this historic old mansion became a workshop, a general place of business, a tenement house, with shops on the ground floor, which were occupied by tailors, engravers, watch-makers, silversmiths, etc. Under one of the “bastions,” a notable oyster cellar was opened, the resort of the merchants and bankers doing business in that vicinity.
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Betsy Ross, Who Made First American Flag, Died January 30, 1836
When Elizabeth Claypoole died at her home in Arch Street, Philadelphia, January 30, 1836, aged eighty-four years, her body was borne to Mount Moriah Cemetery and interred by the side of her husband, who had preceded her in death nearly twenty years. A simple monument records the above facts, but does not tell those of the present generation that this heroine was none other than Betsy Ross.
The school children of today are learning more of the history of our country and its flag, but the story of the woman who made the first American flag is always interesting.
The fact that the flag of our country had its birth in the City of Philadelphia; that it was a patriotic woman of Philadelphia who made the first flag; that it first waved over the United States Congress then in session in Independence Hall, is sufficient incentive for every boy and girl in Pennsylvania to be justly proud.
The story of the flag is told on another day, but the story of how Betsy Ross became associated with it is to be today’s story.
Ever since the Revolution began there was real necessity for an American flag, but there was, however, no national flag authorized by an act of the Continental Congress until June 14, 1777.
The committee appointed by Congress to prepare a design for the new flag consisted of General George Washington, Robert Morris and Colonel George Ross.
Colonel Ross had a relative, Betsy Ross, who lived at 239 Arch Street, and who had previously made flags for the American Army and Navy.
The committee called upon Mrs. Ross, stated their mission, and asked her if she would make a flag such as was ordered by Congress.
“I do not know whether I can, but I’ll try,” was her reply.
The act of Congress did not specify the number of points of the stars, or their arrangement, simply stating: “That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
Mrs. Ross suggested that a star of five points would be more distinct, pleasing and appropriative than the six-pointed star which the committee had designed. Folding a piece of white paper, she cut, with a single clip of her scissors, a five-pointed star, and placing it on a blue field, delighted the committee with her taste, ingenuity and judgment.
The committee decided that the stars, thirteen in number, should be arranged in a circle in a blue field, as the circle is typical of eternity.
So well pleased were the committee with the flag which Betsy Ross made that they authorized her, in the name of Congress, to make the United States flags. Betsy Ross employed many hands to aid her, and made flags for the army, navy and public buildings.
The maiden name of Betsy Ross was Elizabeth Griscom. She was born in Philadelphia in 1752, of Quaker parents. At an early age she married John Ross, son of an English clergyman, an upholsterer. He was a nephew of Colonel George Ross, of Lancaster, one of the signers of the Declaration and one of the leaders of the young republic. Betsy never went back to “Friends’ Meeting,” and was “read out” of meeting for this marriage.
John Ross died soon after his marriage and Mrs. Ross continued the upholstering business at 239 Arch Street, which had once been number 89. This house is still standing, and is one of the most valued of the many historic places in old Philadelphia. It was in this little house, where Betsy Ross, a widow at twenty-five years of age, made the first United States flag.
Betsy Ross was not only noted for her skill with the needle, but quite as well for her piety and patriotism. So widely was her extraordinary skill recognized that she adorned the parlors of the wealthy with draperies, the theatres with curtains, hotels with quilts and even state-rooms of the finest packet boats were fitted up by her. It is also said that she made the handsome ruffled shirt bosoms worn by General Washington, and not a few for other patriots who held high office in the young nation.
At an early date, and before she made United States flags, she made Colonial flags for the army and navy and there is a minute dated May 29, 1777, “an order on William Webb to Elizabeth Ross for fourteen pounds twelve shillings and two pence, for making ships’ colors,” etc.
In time Mrs. Ross married Joseph Ashburn, who was captured on the privateer Luzerene and died a prisoner of war in Mill Prison, England. By this marriage she had two children, Zillah, who died in infancy, and Eliza, who married a Mr. Sullivan. Ashburn sent a farewell message to his wife by a fellow-prisoner, John Claypoole, who later was exchanged for a British prisoner. On reaching Philadelphia he delivered his message and personal effects, and about a year later married Mrs. Elizabeth Ashburn.
In April, 1783, the Stars and Stripes were put to their first national use in the demonstration for peace throughout the new nation. The Flag of Peace was the name given to it in this widespread employment of the ensign.
Two weeks after this occasion Betsy Ross (Ashburn) and John Claypoole were married.
By this marriage five children were born. One, Clarissa by name, the first child of this marriage, married a Mr. Wilson and succeeded to the business of upholstering and making American flags. Subsequently Mrs. Wilson became a member of the Society of Friends, and relinquished the business of making flags for the United States Army and Navy, and thus after many years, the making of the American flags passed from the house and family of Betsy Ross.
Clarissa was thirty-one years old when her father died from war-inflicted diseases.
After about eighty years of making American flags for the United States Government, the contracts passed from the Ross family, when Clarissa Claypoole Wilson made the following public declarations: “From conscientious motives ceased to furnish flags for military and naval purposes,” and “retired from the business on account of conscientious scruples.”
Thus the Ross family discontinued to fill Government contracts a quarter of a century after the death of Betsy Ross.
During all the eighty years women and girls were exclusively employed in making flags, mostly daughters and granddaughters of Betsy Ross and her neighbors, as the work grew in volume.
So the tradition of Betsy Ross, as the maker of the first American flag, known as the Stars and Stripes, has quite as interesting a sequel in the
## action of her daughter.
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Robert Morris, Financier of the Revolution, Born January 31, 1734
Robert Morris was born in Liverpool, England, January 31, 1734, son of Robert Morris, a nail maker, and grandson of Andrew Morris, who was a seafearing man of the British Isles.
Robert Morris, Sr., was the Maryland agent of a London tobacco firm. When Robert, Jr., was thirteen years old, his mother having died, he came to America, rejoined his father and was for a time under the tuition of a clergyman and then entered the mercantile firm of Charles and Thomas Willing.
In 1750, Morris, the father, died leaving a small estate. When Robert, the son, reached the age of twenty-one, Charles Willing made him a partner in the business and turned over his own share to his son, Thomas. The firm of Willing & Morris became famous, and soon their trade was extended to Europe and the West Indies. Long before the battle drums of the Revolution were heard the two partners became wealthy men and were regarded as among the foremost people of the city.
Willing and Morris were among the merchants who protested against the Stamp Act, and in 1766 Robert Morris was one of the Board of Port Wardens.
As soon as the news of Lexington reached Philadelphia, the Assembly appointed a Committee of Safety. Robert Morris was a member and helped greatly to get powder and firearms, to organize troops and to fortify the Delaware.
The Assembly elected him a member of the Continental Congress and his practical knowledge of ships made him a member of the Naval Committee and the first American Navy was soon launched.
April, 1776, he was specially commissioned to suggest methods and provide plans for procuring money to prosecute the war. No other man in Congress, probably, could have succeeded so well, and he was not relieved from this task while the war lasted.
However reluctantly he subscribed to the Declaration of Independence, when the crucial moment came he risked his fortune and faced beggary for his family and he looked at the gallows for himself as bravely as any of his contemporaries. Other Pennsylvanians who voted against it lost their places, but neither Pennsylvania nor the Colonies could spare Robert Morris.
When Congress in a fright fled from Philadelphia to Baltimore, Morris, with two other men, was left in charge of its affairs and the defense of the capital of the infant republic. The two men who were to assist Morris failed to appear, but Morris stuck faithfully to his post, and he became really the ruler of the city.
When Washington defeated the British at Trenton, the English were surprised but not troubled. They expected Washington’s unpaid army to disband and Morris thought so too. He promised $10 extra pay to each soldier if he would remain six weeks longer, then went to his Quaker friends and on his personal credit borrowed the money and turned the cash over to Washington on New Year’s Day. Hope sprang up again in patriotic hearts.
After the battle of Brandywine there remained no hope of saving Philadelphia. Congress fled once more, this time to Lancaster, then to York. The Liberty Bell was hauled away to Allentown, where it was hidden under the floor of the Zion Reformed Church. The State officials went to Lancaster, and Morris traveled there also.
Morris was not eligible for re-election in 1778, but he worked to supply the army. He turned over a cargo of ninety tons of lead for cartridges at a time when the troops sorely needed them. In 1780 he was again chosen to the Assembly, and a year later was chosen by Congress to be Superintendent of Finance.
Some persons had wished Alexander Hamilton to take this post, but Hamilton himself proposed Morris. Until the end of the war Morris had power to appoint and dismiss all employes in his own department and could even fix their salaries. No one else connected with the Government possessed such extensive powers.
Morris counseled with Washington the project of transferring his army southward to block Cornwallis. When the troops appeared in Philadelphia, Washington, Count de Rochambeau and other generals dined with Morris and used his house on Market Street as their headquarters.
During this visit Morris borrowed money which the Count de Rochambeau had brought to pay his own soldiers and gave it to the Americans. He advanced every shilling of his own money and borrowed all he could obtain from his friends.
Robert Morris realized that a national bank was necessary, but few had sufficient confidence to invest in the shares, but just at this time France sent over some hard money, which was landed at Boston. Morris sent two trustworthy men to bring the coins to Philadelphia.
The treasure amounted to half a million dollars. The coins were packed in great oak boxes, which when filled weighed a ton. These chests were set on the axle of a cart and driven by oxen, through country which contained many English troops. After a drive of two months, the coins were safely dragged into Philadelphia. Half the money was used to start the bank, which was chartered December 31, 1781, as the “Bank of North America.”
At the same time the bank opened its doors, Morris reported to Congress that a mint should be established, in which money could be coined of one kind and one standard. The mint was established and has been making coins to this day.
Robert Morris was a member of the convention which framed the Federal Constitution, and he had the pleasure of nominating his friend, General Washington, for presiding officer.
After this Constitution was ratified by the States, Pennsylvania chose Robert Morris and William Maclay as her first two Senators.
Morris owned several magnificent homes, and much desirable real estate, and was regarded as the richest man in America. But he had been too hopeful. Land values did not rise quickly and he and his partners could not sell their properties, nor were they able to pay their debts.
At last the crash came and Morris was sent to prison for debt, February 15, 1798. Close to the prison sat the Congress which, on April 4, 1800, passed the Bankrupt Act, though it was not until August 26, 1801, that Morris regained his liberty. He came out with three millions of debt to be a pensioner on his family.
On May 7, 1806, Robert Morris died and was buried in Christ Churchyard. His widow, who survived him twenty-one years, in 1824 received the first private call made by Lafayette in Philadelphia.
It is sad to think that a man who did so much for his country should at last have done so badly for himself. If we had had no Robert Morris there would probably have been no United States. All he had was at the service of America. There was no truer patriot. It was his confidence in the quick growth of the young nation that ruined him. Our country owes a great debt to Robert Morris, the Financier of the Revolution.
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First Division of Province Into Counties Begun February 1, 1685
After William Penn had spent nearly two years in his new province and had made a trip of investigation as far interior as the Susquehanna River, held many interviews with Lord Baltimore over the vexed question of boundary, made several treaties with the Indians and placed the government of his province in competent hands, he returned to England, where he arrived during August, 1684.