Part 15

The Government interfered with their plans for living in the manner of the early Christians with community of goods, and their religious meetings were prohibited at the instigation of the clergy. George Rapp decided to lead his congregation to America.

In this great undertaking, as in others of a similar nature in later years, he displayed rare judgment in making his plans and great ability in executing them. He did not underestimate the difficulties of such an enterprise.

He advised his people of the hardships to be expected. He directed those who were determined to follow him to sell their property and prepare themselves for the journey.

He came to America in 1803, with money of his own amounting to 2000 gulden, to choose a site for the proposed settlement. He left behind him in charge of his congregation a young man of high character, Frederick Reickert, who in Pennsylvania was adopted by him as his son and is known in the history of the society as Frederick Rapp.

George Rapp landed at Baltimore and early in September, 1803, was in Lancaster, Pa., considering offers of land for his settlement.

After inspecting several tracts of land, Rapp purchased 5000 acres in Butler County, on the Connoquenessing Creek, about twelve miles from the Ohio River at Beaver. He then sent for his people.

They came in several companies. The ship “Aurora” brought about 300 persons to Baltimore, July 4, 1804.

Another party of 260 persons, headed by Frederick Rapp, arrived on the ship “Atlantic” at Philadelphia in August.

The remainder of the people came in a third ship, the “Margaretta,” but these settled in Lycoming County, under the direction of Mr. Haller, who had assisted George Rapp in exploration for a site.

The settlers who went to the new settlement worked hard to build their town, Harmony. They were sustained in their labors by religious enthusiasm. After a few months they were joined by their friends and on February 15, 1805, the Harmony Society was formally organized.

During the first year fifty log houses were erected, nearly 200 acres cleared and a house of worship, grist mill, barn and shops were built. The following year 400 acres more were cleared, a saw mill, tannery, distillery and brick store house were erected and a vineyard planted.

They raised 600 bushels of wheat more than their requirements and had 3000 gallons of whisky to sell.

They soon made woolen cloth, spinning the yarn by hand. In 1809 they erected a woolen factory for manufacturing of broadcloth from the wool of merino sheep, which they were among the first to introduce in this country. They had their own mechanics and tradesmen.

The society was always a religious community and George Rapp, in temporal affairs was extremely practical, but he was an enthusiast only in religion. He would not allow his authority to be questioned.

While the settlers were prosperous, they were disappointed in their settlement in some respects. In Germany they had raised grapes and made wine, and had hoped to engage in that industry here, but the land was poorly adapted to the culture of the vine. As their manufactures increased their transportation troubles also increased, as they were twelve miles distant from the Ohio River.

They accordingly decided to move, and in 1814 George Rapp, John L. Baker and Lewis Shriver explored the Western country in search of a new site for settlement. They found a suitable place on the Wabash, in Posey County, Indiana, and in 1815 the whole society moved there.

They had lived in Harmony ten years, during which time 100 members had died. They were buried in a small plot, and, as was their custom, the graves were not marked, but only numbered.

This little graveyard, together with the substantial brick buildings of the village, is all the memorial the Harmonists have left of their first home in America.

The society again removed, in 1825, to Economy, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where they arrived May 17, 1825, making the trip by boat, their new home being located on the Ohio River twenty miles from the first home of the society, at Harmony, and eighteen miles from Pittsburgh.

George Rapp died August 7, 1847, aged ninety years. The society remained intact, although reduced in membership, until May 12, 1903, when there were but four members.

----------

Johan Printz Arrives as Governor of New Sweden, February 16, 1643

The Swedes followed the Dutch in settling along the Delaware River, which they called the Zuydt or South River. The Swedes formed several companies for the purpose of trade with the New World, as America was then called.

The first expedition came under Peter Minuit, a Hollander, in March, 1638, and settled on Christiana Creek, near the present Wilmington, Del. Here they built Fort Christiana and gave the country the name New Sweden. Two other expeditions came from Sweden and with them came colonists whose names are still borne by families in Pennsylvania.

In 1642, Johan Printz, who had been kept busy capturing delinquent Finns, who were committing all sorts of depredations in Sweden, and refusing to either desist or return to their own Finland, was knighted by the Swedish Government and appointed Governor of New Sweden.

He had been a lieutenant colonel of a regiment of cavalry in the Thirty Years’ War, and had been dismissed from the service because of what was held to be a too feeble defense of a city in which he had command.

Accompanied by his wife, daughter Armegot, and a minister, the Rev. John Campanius, and two vessels, the Fawn and the Swan, loaded with wine, malt, grain, peas, nets, muskets, shoes, stockings, wearing apparel, writing paper, sealing wax, oranges, lemons and hay, and having on board a number of poachers, deserters and culprit Finns, he arrived at Fort Christiana, February 16, 1643, after a stormy voyage of five months.

This was an unusual expedition in that it was the most important of all those sent out by Sweden and in the further fact that Printz was, next to Minuit, the most conspicuous figure connected with New Sweden.

In the instructions he received with his commission, he was to deal with the English at Varkens Kill, near the present Salem, New Jersey, and the Dutch at Fort Nassau; to treat with the Indians with humanity, protect them, and “civilize” them—especially to sell them goods at lower prices than the English or Dutch.

He was allowed to choose his residence at Cape Henlopen, Christiana, or Jacques Island; but he was ordered to see that his fort commanded the river, and that a good winter harbor for vessels was close at hand.

Printz lost no time in carrying out his instructions. Proceeding up the river from Christiana, he decided to make the seat of government at Jacques Island, the place called by the Indians Tenacong and since Tinicum. Here he built a fort of green logs, mounted on it four brass cannon, and called it Nye (New) Gottenburg.

Thus Printz made the first settlement by white men in what is now Pennsylvania which was destined to survive. Kling was sent to make a settlement on the Schuylkill, and he built a fort near its mouth, called New Korsholm.

Printz, however, was not content with the forts already erected, but a third was built, in 1643, on the east side of the river below Mill Creek, called Fort Elfborg, which was mounted with eight cannon and a mortar, and garrisoned with thirteen soldiers, under Swen Skute. The story is that later the men were driven out by mosquitoes. This fort was intended to shut up the river, a matter which greatly exasperated the Dutch, whose ships, when passing, had to lower their colors and were boarded by the Swedes.

In 1645 these Swedes started what was undoubtedly the first industrial plant in Pennsylvania. That was a small grist mill, which they built on the waters of Cobbs Creek, and when its wheels began to turn the industry of the greatest industrial State in the world began its production.

At Tinicum the Swedish settlements now centered. In three or four years following Printz’s arrival, Tinicum gradually assumed the character of a hamlet.

In 1645, he built a mansion on Tinicum Island, and it long bore the name of Printzhof.

A church was also built at this time, which the Reverend Mr. Campanius dedicated September 4, 1646. This was the first house of Christian worship within the present limits of Pennsylvania.

Indian troubles threatened during 1644. The shocking and unpardonable cruelties of Kieft, the Governor of Manhattan, in which hundreds of Indians, along the Hudson, were slain, caused the belief among the natives that the newcomers were cruel.

In the spring of 1644, two white soldiers and a laborer were killed on the Delaware, below Christiana, and later a Swedish woman and her English husband were killed between Tinicum and Upland. This event was the first tragedy in which white blood was shed in Pennsylvania by the Indians.

Printz assembled his people for defense at Upland, but the Indian chiefs of the region came in, disowned the act, and effected a treaty.

There was a long period during which no ships from Sweden came, and the colonists were destitute for necessities which they depended on receiving from the homeland. There was no vessel from March, 1644, until the “Golden Shark” arrived October 1, 1646.

The settlement of the country, however, proceeded very slowly under Swedish enterprise, while trade was pushed to an extent never before known upon the river. This greatly annoyed the Dutch, and in consequence of having lost this trade to the Swedes, the Dutch Governor, Kieft, sent Hudde to keep watch on the proceedings of Governor Printz and to resist his supposed innovation. These two soon got into angry controversy, but through the negotiation of the Reverend Mr. Campanius, an amicable arrangement was entered into regarding the trade of the Schuylkill.

But the real object of the Dutch was to plant a settlement on the western shore of the Delaware, and to this Governor Printz entered a sharp protest.

Governor Kieft was recalled about this time, and he was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesant, whose Administration commenced May 27, 1647, and continued until 1664, when the American interests of the Dutch passed into the hands of the English.

The disagreement between the Dutch and Swedes continued, giving rise to mutual hatred and jealousy. The Dutch “arms” were set up on the west bank and as promptly taken down by the Swedes.

Printz had requested to be relieved, but he was ordered to remain when new grants of land were made to him, and he remained at his post until October, 1653, when he transferred the charge of the Government to his son-in-law, John Papegoja, and sailed for Sweden.

----------

Captain William Trent Leads First English Armed Force to Forks of Ohio, February 17, 1754

Previous to the French and Indian War, and in fact until the Revolution, Virginia held that the upper Ohio Valley, in what is now Pennsylvania, was a part of their Dominion.

Governor Dinwiddie feared the aggressions of the French in that region and commenced preparations for raising a force to be sent to the “Forks of the Ohio” (Pittsburgh), to occupy that strategic point, and build a defensive work that would enable him to resist the French.

This force, a company of Colonial Militiamen under command of Captain William Trent, marched from Virginia, in January, 1754, and reached the Forks February 17, following.

Work was begun, but proceeded slowly on account of the severity of the weather, and Captain Trent returning to Will’s Creek, left in charge a young commissioned officer, an ensign, named Edward Ward.

This was not, however, the first aggressive action on the part of Virginia.

Pennsylvania authorities believed that the limits of the State were about what they are today, but they had so many internal jealousies and quarrels on their hands at the time the French became active intruders along the French Creek, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, that they delayed making any action against them.

While Virginia was experiencing almost similar difficulties as Pennsylvania, she did, in 1753, take steps to put a stop to the farther advance of the French.

Governor Dinwiddie dispatched Captain William Trent to ascertain the

## activities of the French, but he neglected his duty, and went no farther

than Logstown. In a letter to the Lords of Trade, Dinwiddie said of them: “He reports the French were then one hundred and fifty miles up the river, and, I believe, was afraid to go to them.”

The home government advised Dinwiddie to obtain information and for this purpose to dispatch a messenger. Acting under these instructions, Dinwiddie sent a young man who was destined to become finally the most illustrious figure in American history. This was George Washington.

Following out his instructions, young Washington proceeded to Logstown, and thence with Tanacharison or the Half-King, Jeskakake, White Thunder, and Guyasutha or the Hunter, he set out November 30, and on December 11, reached Fort Le Boeuf, which was on the site of the present Waterford, Erie County, Pennsylvania.

Having accomplished the purpose of his mission, and obtained full information of the strength and plans of the French, and an answer to the letter which he had carried from Governor Dinwiddie to the French commandant, he returned with much hardship to Virginia, reaching Williamsburg, January 16, 1754, where he made his report to the Governor.

This information led at once to military measures for the defense of the Ohio, and the command of Captain Trent pushed forward.

The French were promptly warned of the arrival of Trent’s troops, and were not long idle.

On April 17, when the fort was still uncompleted, Ensign Ward suddenly found himself surrounded by a force of one thousand men, French and Indians, under the command of Captain Contrecoeur, with eighteen pieces of artillery.

By Chevalier Le Mercier, captain of the artillery of Canada, Contrecoeur sent a summons to the commanding officer of the English to surrender, informing him that he, Contrecoeur, “was come out into this place, charged with orders from his General to request him (the English commander) to retreat peaceably, with his troops from off the lands of the French king, and not to return, or else he would find himself obliged to fulfill his duty, and compel him to it.” “I hope,” continued Contrecoeur, in his summons, “that you will not defer one instant, and that you will not force me to the last extremity. In that case, sir, you may be persuaded that I will give orders that there shall be no damage done by my detachment.”

The friendly Half King, who was present, advised Ward to reply that he was not an officer of rank with power to answer the demand, and to request delay until he could send for his superior officer.

Contrecoeur refused to parley, and demanded immediate surrender.

Having less than forty men in a half finished stockade, Ward was unable to resist the force opposed to him, and therefore prudently yielded to the demand without further hesitation.

He was allowed to withdraw his men and take his tools with him, and on the morning of April 18, he left the position and started on his return to Virginia.

This affair was one of the initial events of the French and Indian War, an epoch-making struggle.

The French took possession of the half-finished fort and completed it, naming it Fort Duquesne, in honor of Marquis Du Quesne, then Governor General of Canada.

Captain William Trent who led the first English armed force into the Ohio Valley, February 17, 1754, was a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania. His name is given to Trenton, N. J.

In 1746, Governor Thomas appointed him captain of one of the four companies raised in Pennsylvania, for an intended expedition against Canada. In 1749, Governor Hamilton appointed him a justice for Cumberland County, where in the following year he formed a partnership with George Croghan to engage in the Indian trade, and he went to Logstown.

In 1753, the Governor of Virginia directed him to build a fort at the “Forks of the Ohio,” which seems to be the first time he recognized the authority of Virginia.

Captain Trent again entered the service of Pennsylvania, in 1755, as a member of the Council, but two years later he again entered the employ of Virginia.

In 1763, his large trading house near Fort Pitt was destroyed by the Indians.

During the Revolution Congress gave him a commission as major.

----------

William Rittenhouse, Who Built First Paper

Mill in America, Died February 18,1708

The first paper mill on the American continent was established in 1690 by the Reverend William Rittenhouse, upon a branch of Wissahickon Creek, and from that date until 1710 there was no other paper mill in the American Colonies.

This mill was situated on a meadow along the bank of a stream known as Paper-Mill Run, which empties into the Wissahickon Creek, about two miles above its confluence with the Schuylkill.

The founder emigrated from Holland, where he was born in the Principality of Broich, in the year 1644. He spelled his name then Ryttinhuisen, which is anglicized into Rittenhouse.

His ancestors had been engaged for generations in paper-making, and he had learned the same business. It has been stated that he had a brother who originally came to New York while it was a Dutch Colony; that the brother settled in New Jersey, but William, with his two sons, Claus or Nicholas, and Garrett or Gerhard, came to Pennsylvania prior to or during the year 1690. The Rittenhouses were among “sixty-four of the first Germantown inhabitants,” as they were styled, who were granted naturalization by Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor, on May 7, 1691.

At the time Rittenhouse arrived in Germantown there was a printer, William Bradford, already established in an office in Philadelphia, and it may be that he induced the paper-makers to locate there. Anyway they no sooner settled at Germantown than they began the erection of a paper mill, on property purchased from Samuel Carpenter, of Philadelphia.

It appears from the original deed that William Bradford, Robert Turner and Thomas Tresse were interested with William Rittenhouse in the enterprise. They were deeded twenty acres.

The mill was built, but soon thereafter Robert Turner died, and Bradford and Tresse assigned their rights to William Rittenhouse, who became the sole owner. Their deed for this property was acknowledged December 6, 1693. The term of the lease was for 975 years from the 29th of September, 1705, and the rent reserved was five shillings sterling per annum.

It thus appears that there was at first a company regularly organized to establish a paper mill. Samuel Carpenter and Robert Turner were extensive land owners and were advisers and coadjutors of William Penn. Thomas Tresse was a rich iron monger and William Bradford was the famous printer who established the first printing press in the middle colonies of America, in 1685.

The chief and most important member of this company was William Rittenhouse, who became the sole proprietor prior to 1705, unless the interest of Tresse was purchased by Claus Rittenhouse, about 1701. It also seems that the son bought Bradford’s interest in 1704. Father and son were practical papermakers and the owners.

Bradford got himself into trouble when he printed the charter without leave of the ruling powers, and then for printing a pamphlet of George Keith, a seceding Scotch Quaker. He was arraigned in court, and in 1693 left Philadelphia and established himself in New York, where he introduced the first printing plant in that province.

When Bradford left Philadelphia he was to receive for his share of the mill paper of the value of six pounds, two shillings, and the assurance that he had a monopoly of the entire printing paper that was made in America from September 1, 1697, until September 1, 1707. The quantity is not stated, neither is there anything by which we can determine, at this late day, the capacity of the mill.

All paper was then manufactured by hand, each sheet being made separately. At that early day and long afterward the rags were pounded into pulp in stone and iron mortars by the aid of trip-hammers, and several days were required to furnish a sample sheet of dry-finished paper. At that time a day’s production per man was one and a half reams of newspaper of the size of 20 by 30 inches. Small as was this mill, its importance can hardly be understood, for the greatest commercial metropolis of America drew its supply of printing paper from this mill.

There, in this secluded spot, away from any except the hermits who lived in the caves along the Wissahickon, and with no access to Philadelphia except by Germantown, William Rittenhouse, and his son devoted themselves with untiring industry to their useful and honorable art. They soon acquired a wide reputation as producers of “good paper,” and to this they usually affixed a water-mark.

In 1701 a great misfortune overtook the honest craftsmen. The little stream on which they depended for their water-power experienced a freshet of such fury that the mill was swept away and entirely destroyed, and all machinery, stock, tools and much personal property carried away in the flood.

Nothing daunted they resolved to begin anew. They chose another site a short distance below the first mill and in 1702 a mill, better than the original, was erected.

In the new mill Bradford still retained an interest but Claus Rittenhouse would not renew his monopoly on the mill’s supply. On June 30, 1704, Bradford sold his share in the mill, and from that day the paper mill became a Rittenhouse concern and so continued for generations, until the mill had been rebuilt a fourth time, when it was converted into a cotton factory.

William Rittenhouse died February 18, 1708, and was succeeded in the business by his son, Claus. Both father and son were also Mennonite preachers.

Claus continued to supply not only Bradford in New York, but the home market in Germantown and Philadelphia. Bradford paid partly in fine rags for his paper.

A second paper mill was erected in 1710, in Germantown, by William De Wees, a brother-in-law of Claus Rittenhouse, under whom he learned the trade of papermaking. Claus Rittenhouse obtained possession of this mill in 1713, and it was operated for many years.

When Andrew Bradford established The American Mercury, in Philadelphia, December 22, 1719, the first newspaper ever printed in the British Middle Colonies, the paper for his Mercury was made at the Rittenhouse mill.

Claus Rittenhouse, the second papermaker in America, died in May, 1734, aged sixty-eight. He was born in Holland, June 15, 1666. He was the grandfather of David Rittenhouse, the American astronomer, who was also treasurer of Pennsylvania during the Revolution.

----------

Canal System Started with Committee Report of February 19, 1791

In the earliest days, before railroads and steam power were developed, water communication was the popular mode of commercial transportation. The spirit of the early settlers in Pennsylvania was alive with the idea of internal improvement, and very early they were anxious to reach out toward the western empire that was to become the promised land and furnish food for the world. The ultimate result of this vision was the construction of the grand system of canals connecting the navigable rivers, Delaware and Ohio, by which products of the States and Territories to the westward could be carried to Philadelphia, the metropolitan seaport city of Pennsylvania.