Part 2
Transit of Venus June 3
Treaty of Albany Oct. 26
Treaty Ratified by Congress, Wayne’s Dec. 3
Trent, Captain William Feb. 17
Trimble, James Jan. 26
Tulliallan or Story of John Penn’s First Wife $1
Turmoil in Lower Counties Nov. 1
Typewriter, Sholes Invents the Feb. 14
Unholy Alliance with Indians Sept. 21
Upland Changed to Chester Oct. 29
Venus, Observation of Transit of June 3
Veterans French and Indian War Organize April 30
Vincent, Bishop John Heyl May 9
Walking Purchase Sept. 19
War of 1812 Aug. 24
War of 1812 Begun May 12
Washington and Whisky Insurrection Sept. 30
Washington at Logstown Nov. 30
Washington Leads Troops in Whisky Insurrections Oct. 3
Washington Shot at by Indians Nov. 15
Washington to Command Troops in War with France Nov. 11
Washington Uses Bucks County Homes for Headquarters Dec. 8
Washington, Lady Martha May 22
Waters of State Explored by Europeans Aug. 27
Watson, John Fanning Dec. 23
Wayne Defeats Indians Dec. 3
Wayne Defeats Indians at Fallen Timbers Aug. 20
Weiser, Conrad June 13
Westmoreland County Erected Feb. 26
Whisky Insurrection in Pennsylvania Sept. 30
Whitefield Starts Negro School at Nazareth May 3
White Woman of Genesee April 5
Wiconisco Valley Suffers Indian Attack Mar. 7
Wilmot, David Mar. 16
Wilson, Alexander, The Ornithologist Aug. 23
Wilson’s Indian Mission Oct. 27
Witchcraft in Pennsylvania Feb. 27
Wolf, Governor George and Public Education Mar. 11
Wyalusing Indian Mission May 23
Wyoming, First Massacre Oct. 15
Wyoming Massacre July 3
Yankees Drive Pennamites from Wyoming Aug. 15
Yankees Humiliatingly Defeat Colonel Plunket Dec. 25
Yellow Fever Scourges Nov. 6
York County in Revolution Aug. 19
York, Duke of June 29
Yost Murdered by Mollie Maguires May 4
Zinzindorf, Count Nicholas Dec. 10
Mutiny Broke Out in Pennsylvania Line, January 1, 1781
As the year 1780 drew to a close there were warm disputes in the Pennsylvania regiments as to the terms on which the men had been enlisted. This led to such a condition by New Year’s Day, 1781, that there broke out in the encampment at Morristown, N. J., a mutiny among the soldiers that required the best efforts of Congress, the Government of Pennsylvania and the officers of the army to subdue.
New Year’s Day being a day of customary festivity, an extra proportion of rum was served to the soldiers. This, together with what they were able to purchase, was sufficient to influence the minds of the men, already predisposed by a mixture of real and imaginary injuries, to break forth into outrage and disorder.
The Pennsylvania Line comprised 2500 troops, almost two-thirds of the Continental Army, the soldiers from the other colonies having, in the main, gone home. The officers maintained that at least a quarter part of the soldiers had enlisted for three years and the war. This seems to have been the fact, but the soldiers, distressed and disgusted for want of pay and clothing, and seeing the large bounties paid to those who re-enlisted, declared that the enlistment was for three years or the war.
As the three years had now expired, they demanded their discharges. They were refused, and on January 1, 1781, the whole line, 1300 in number, broke out into open revolt. An officer attempting to restrain them was killed and several others were wounded.
Under the leadership of a board of sergeants, the men marched toward Princeton, with the avowed purpose of going to Philadelphia to demand of Congress a fulfillment of their many promises.
General “Mad” Anthony Wayne was in command of these troops, and was much beloved by them. By threats and persuasions he tried to bring them back to duty until their real grievances could be redressed. They would not listen to him; and when he cocked his pistol, in a menacing manner, they presented their bayonets to his breast, saying:
“We respect and love you; you have often led us into the line of battle; but we are no longer under your command. We warn you to be on your guard. If you fire your pistol or attempt to enforce your commands, we shall put you instantly to death.”
General Wayne appealed to their patriotism. They pointed to the broken promises of Congress. He reminded them of the effect their conduct would have on the enemy. They pointed to their tattered garments and emaciated forms. They avowed their willingness to support the cause of independence if adequate provision could be made for their comfort and they boldly reiterated their determination to march to Philadelphia, at all hazards, to demand from Congress a redress of their grievances.
General Wayne determined to accompany them to Philadelphia. When they reached Princeton the soldiers presented the general with a written list of their demands. These demands appeared so reasonable that he had them laid before Congress. They consisted of six general items of complaint and were signed by William Bearnell and the other sergeants of the committee, William Bouzar, acting as secretary.
Joseph Reed, President of Pennsylvania, who had been authorized by Congress to make propositions to the mutineers, advanced near Princeton on January 6, when he wrote to General Wayne in which he expressed some doubts as to going into the camp of the insurgents. The general showed this letter to the sergeants and they immediately wrote the President:
“Your Excellency need not be in the least afraid or apprehensive of any irregularities or ill treatment.”
President Reed went into Princeton. His entry was greeted with the whole line drawn up for his reception, and every mark of military honor and respect was shown him.
Articles of agreement were finally assented to and confirmed on both sides, January 7, 1781. These articles consisted of five sections and related to the time of their enlistment, terms of payment, arrearages and clothes. It was also agreed that the State of Pennsylvania should carry out its part of their contract.
The agreement was signed by Joseph Reed and General James Potter.
General Arthur St. Clair, the distinguished Pennsylvanian, and General Lafayette went voluntarily to Princeton and offered their services in the settlement of the difficulty, especially as they had learned of the attempt of the British to win the malcontents to their cause.
When Sir Henry Clinton heard of the revolt of the Pennsylvania Line he misunderstood the spirit of the mutineers and dispatched two emissaries—a British sergeant named John Mason and a New Jersey Tory named James Ogden—to the insurgents, with a written offer that, on laying down their arms and marching to New York, they should receive their arrearages; be furnished with good clothes, have a free pardon for all past offenses and be taken under the protection of the British Government and that no military service should be required of them unless voluntarily offered.
Sir Henry entirely misapprehended the temper of the Pennsylvanians. They felt justified in using their power to obtain a redress of grievances, but they looked with horror upon the armed oppressors of their country; and they regarded the act and stain of treason under the circumstances as worse than the infliction of death.
Clinton’s proposals were rejected with disdain. “See, comrades,” said one of them, “he takes us for traitors. Let us show him that the American army can furnish but one Arnold, and that America has no truer friends than we.”
They seized the two emissaries, and delivered them, with Clinton’s papers, into the hands of General Wayne.
The court of inquiry sat January 10, 1781, at Somerset, N. J., with the court composed of General Wayne, president, and General William Irvine, Colonel Richard Butler, Colonel Walter Stewart and Major Benjamin Fishbourne. The court found John Mason and James Ogden guilty and condemned them to be hanged.
Lieutenant Colonel Harmar, Inspector General of the Pennsylvania Line, was directed to carry the execution into effect. The prisoners were taken to “cross roads from the upper ferry from Trenton to Philadelphia at four lanes’ ends,” and executed.
The reward which had been offered for the apprehension of the offenders was tendered to the mutineers who seized them. They sealed the pledge of patriotism by nobly refusing it, saying: “Necessity wrung from us the act of demanding justice from Congress, but we desire no reward for doing our duty to our bleeding country.”
The whole movement, when all the circumstances are taken into account, should not be execrated as a military rebellion, for, if ever there was a just cause for men to lift up their strength against authority, these mutineers of the Pennsylvania Line possessed it. It must be acknowledged that they conducted themselves in the business, culpable as it was, with unexpected order and regularity.
A great part of the Pennsylvania Line was disbanded for the winter, but was promptly filled by new recruits in the spring and many of the old soldiers re-enlisted.
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General Assembly Occupies New State Capitol, January 2, 1822
The General Assembly of Pennsylvania met in the Dauphin County courthouse for the last time December 21, 1821, and then a joint resolution was adopted:
“Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, That when the Legislature meets at the new State Capitol, on Wednesday, the 2d of January next, that it is highly proper, before either house proceeds to business, they unite in prayer to the Almighty God, imploring His blessing on their future deliberations, and that the joint committee already appointed be authorized to make the necessary arrangements for that purpose.”
On Wednesday, January 2, 1822, on motion of Mr. Lehman and Mr. Todd, the House proceeded to the building lately occupied by the Legislature. There they joined the procession to the Capitol and attended to the solemnities directed by the resolution of December 21, relative to the ceremonies to be observed by the Legislature upon taking possession of the State Capitol.
The Harrisburg _Chronicle_ of January 3, 1822, printed an account of the proceedings from which the following is taken:
“The members of both branches of the Legislature met in the morning at 10 o’clock, at the old State House (court house) whence they moved to the Capitol in the following
ORDER OF PROCESSION The Architect and his Workmen, two and two. Clergy. Governor and Heads of Departments. Officers of the Senate. Speaker of the Senate. Members of the Senate, two and two. Officers of the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House of Representatives. Members, two and two. Judges. Civil Authorities of Harrisburg. Citizens.
“In front of the Capitol the architect and his workmen opened into two lines and admitted the procession to pass between them and the Capitol.
“The service was opened by a pertinent and impressive prayer, by Rev. Dr. A. Lochman, of Harrisburg. The prayer was followed by an appropriate discourse, by Rev. D. Mason, principal of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., which concluded as follows:
“Sixty years have not elapsed since the sound of the first axe was heard in the woods of Harrisburg. The wild beasts and wilder men occupied the banks of the Susquehanna. Since that time, with the mildness which has characterized the descendants of William Penn, and that industry which has marked all the generations of Pennsylvania, the forests have been subdued, the wild beasts driven away to parts more congenial to their nature, and the wilder men have withdrawn to regions where they hunt the deer and entrap the fish according to the mode practiced by their ancestors.
“In the room of all these there has started up, in the course of a few years, a town respectable for the number of its inhabitants, for its progressive industry, for the seat of legislation in this powerful State.
“What remains to be accomplished of all our temporal wishes? What more have we to say? What more can be said, but go on and prosper, carry the spirit of your improvements through till the sound of the hammer, the whip of the wagoner, the busy hum of man, the voices of innumerable children issuing from the places of instruction, the lofty spires of worship, till richly endowed colleges of education, till all those arts which embellish man shall gladden the banks of the Susquehanna and the Delaware, and exact from admiring strangers that cheerful and grateful tribute, this is the work of a Pennsylvania Legislature!”
The act to erect the State Capitol was passed March 18, 1816, and carried an appropriation of $50,000. A supplement to this act was approved February 27, 1819, when there was appropriated $70,000, with the provision that the said Capitol should not cost more than $120,000.
But a further supplement was approved March 28, 1820, for “the purpose of constructing columns and capitols there of hewn stone, and to cover the roof of the dome, etc.,” there was appropriated $15,000.
At this time the total cost of all the public buildings was $275,000, and consisted of the new Capitol, $135,000; executive offices on both sides of the Capitol building, $93,000; Arsenal, $12,000, and public grounds, its enclosure and embellishment, $35,000.
The cornerstone of this new Capitol was laid at 12 o’clock on Monday, May 31, 1819, by Governor William Findlay, assisted by Stephen Hills, the architect and contractor for the execution of the work; William Smith, stone cutter, and Valentine Kergan and Samuel White, masons, in the presence of the Commissioners and a large concourse of citizens. The ceremony was followed by the firing of three volleys from the public cannon.
The newspaper account of the event states that the above-mentioned citizens then partook of a cold collation, provided on the public ground by Mr. Rahn.
The Building Commissioners deposited in the cornerstone the following documents:
Charter of Charles II to William Penn.
Declaration of Independence.
Constitution of Pennsylvania, 1776.
Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the several States.
Copy of so much of an act of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, by which indemnity was made to the heirs of William Penn for their interest in Pennsylvania.
Treaty of peace and acknowledgment by Great Britain of the independence of the United States.
Constitution of the United States, 1787.
Constitution of Pennsylvania, 1790.
Acts of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, by which the seat of government was removed from Philadelphia to Lancaster and Harrisburg, and the building of a State Capitol at the latter place authorized.
A list of the names of the Commissioners, architects, stonecutter and chief masons; likewise, a list of the then officers of the Government of Pennsylvania, embracing the Speakers of the two Houses of the Legislature, the Governor, the heads of departments, the Judges of the Supreme Court and Attorney General, with the names of the President and Vice President of the United States.
It was a singular oversight that this cornerstone was not marked as such, and in after years it was not known at which corner of the building the stone was situated.
An act providing for the furnishing of the State Capitol was approved March 30, 1821: Section 1. The Governor, Auditor General, State Treasurer, William Graydon, Jacob Bucher, Francis R. Shunk and Joseph A. McGinsey were appointed Commissioners to superintend the furnishing of the State Capitol. This able commission expended the $15,000 appropriated, and the new Capitol was a credit to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when the General Assembly formally occupied it January 2, 1822.
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Lucretia Mott, Celebrated Advocate of Anti-Slavery, Born January 3, 1793
From the earliest settlement at Germantown, and especially in the period following the Revolutionary War, there were many thoughtful people in all walks of life who considered slavery to be an evil which should be stopped. But the question of actually freeing the slaves was first seriously brought forward in 1831, by William Lloyd Garrison, in his excellent paper, “The Liberator,” published in Boston.
Seventy-five delegates met in Philadelphia in 1833 to form a National Anti-Slavery Society. It was unpopular in those stirring days to be an abolitionist. John Greenleaf Whittier acted as one of the secretaries, and four women, all Quakers, attended the convention.
When the platform of this new society was being discussed, one of the four women rose to speak. A gentleman present afterward said: “I had never before heard a woman speak at a public meeting. She said only a few words, but these were spoken so modestly, in such sweet tones and yet so decisively, that no one could fail to be pleased.” The woman who spoke was Lucretia Mott.
Lucretia Coffin was born in Nantucket January 3, 1793. In 1804 her parents, who were Quakers, removed to Boston. She was soon afterward sent to the Nine Partners’ Boarding School in Duchess County, N. Y., where her teacher (Deborah Willetts) lived until 1879. Thence she went to Philadelphia, where her parents were residing.
At the age of eighteen years she married James Mott. In 1818 she became a preacher among Friends, and all her long life she labored for the good of her fellow creatures, especially for those who were in bonds of any kind.
She was ever a most earnest advocate of temperance, pleaded for the freedom of the slaves, and was one of the active founders of the “American Anti-Slavery Society” in Philadelphia in 1833.
She was appointed a delegate to the World’s Anti-Slavery convention, held in London in 1840, but was denied a seat in it on account of her sex. She also was a very prominent advocate of the emancipation of her sex from the disabilities to which law and custom subjected them.
When the Female Anti-Slavery Society was organized Lucretia Mott was its first president and served in that office for many years.
The anti-slavery enthusiasts dedicated a building, Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, May 14, 1838, which excited the rage of their enemies and the mob burned the building three days later. The excited crowd marched through the streets, threatening also to burn the houses of the abolitionists.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. James Mott stood on Ninth Street above Race. Lucretia Mott and her husband were warned of their danger, but refused to leave their home. Their son ran in from the street, crying, “They’re coming!”
The mob intended to burn the house, but a young man friendly to the family assumed leadership and with the cry “On to Motts!” led them past the place and the mob satisfied its thirst by burning a home for colored orphans, and did not return.
Such incidents failed to daunt the spirit of Lucretia Mott, and her husband, who approved the part she took.
A meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society in New York City was broken up by roughs, and several of the speakers, as they left the hall, were beaten by the mob. Lucretia Mott was being escorted from the hall by a gentleman.
When she noticed some of the other ladies were frightened, she asked her friend to leave her and take care of the others. “Who will look after you?” he asked. Lucretia laid her hand on the arm of one of the roughest in the mob, saying: “This man will see me safely through the crowd.” Pleased by the mark of confidence, the rioter did as she asked and took her to safety.
The home of the Motts was always open for the relief of poor colored persons, and they helped in sending fugitive slaves to places of refuge. On one occasion the Motts heard the noise of an approaching mob. Mr. Mott rushed to the door and found a poor colored man, pursued by the mob, rushing toward the friendly Mott house. He entered and escaped by the rear door. A brick hurled at Mr. Mott fortunately missed him, but broke the door directly over his head.
A sequel to the riot at Christiana, Lancaster County, September 11, 1851, which occurred on the farm then owned by Levi Powell, was the arrest of Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis, two Quakers of the neighborhood, and nearly fifty others, mostly Negroes, on the charge of high treason for levying war against the Government of the United States.
The trial began in the United States Court at Philadelphia, before Judges Green and Kane, November 24. It was one of the most exciting ever held in the State. Thaddeus Stevens, John M. Read, Theodore C. Cuyler, and Joseph J. Lewis, conducted the defense, while District Attorney John W. Ashmead was assisted by the Attorney General of Maryland, and by James Cooper, then a Whig United States Senator from Pennsylvania.
Lucretia Mott attended the trial personally every day, and after the elaborate argument of counsel, Judge Green delivered his charge. The jury returned a verdict, in ten minutes, of “not guilty.”
A colored man named Dangerfield was seized on a farm near Harrisburg on a charge of being a fugitive slave. He was manacled and taken to Philadelphia for trial.
The abolitionists engaged a lawyer to defend the Negro. Lucretia Mott sat by the side of the prisoner during the trial. Largely through her presence and influence Dangerfield was released. The mob outside the court awaited Dangerfield to deliver him over to his former master, but a band of young Quakers deceived the crowd by accompanying another Negro to a carriage and Dangerfield walked off in another direction.
Lucretia Mott and her friends were rejoiced to see the Negroes all free. There was still much to be done after the Civil War. This noble woman remained a hard worker for their cause all through her life.
Lucretia Mott died in Philadelphia, November 21, 1881, at the age of nearly ninety years. Thousands attended her funeral, the proceedings were mostly in silence. At last some one said, “Will no one speak?” The answer came back: “Who can speak now? The preacher is dead.” Her motto in life had been “Truth for authority, not authority for truth.”
Lucretia Mott’s influence still lives. Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, Hampton Institute in Virginia, and Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania, are institutions made possible by such as she, and in them young colored persons are taught occupations and professions in which they can render the best service to themselves and to their country.
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Samuel Maclay Resigned From United States Senate January 4, 1809
A monument was unveiled in memory of Samuel Maclay, a great Pennsylvanian, October 16, 1908. The scene of these impressive ceremonies was a beautiful little cemetery close by the old Dreisbach Church, a few miles west of Lewisburg in the picturesque Buffalo Valley, Union County.
Samuel Maclay was the eighth United States Senator from Pennsylvania and had the proud distinction of being the brother of William Maclay, one of the first United States Senators from Pennsylvania. The Maclays are the only brothers to ever sit in the highest legislative body of this country. The third brother, John, was also prominent and served in the Senate of Pennsylvania.
The imposing shaft was erected by Pennsylvania at a cost of only $1000, which included the contract for the marble shaft and the reinterment of the Senator’s body.
Miss Helen Argyl Maclay, of Belleville, a great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Maclay, unveiled the monument assisted by her two brothers, Ralph and Robert Maclay. Rev. A. A. Stapleton, D. D., delivered the principal address. Other speakers included Frank L. Dersham, then the Representative in the General Assembly from Union County, who introduced the bill for this memorial; Alfred Hayes, now deceased, also a former member of the Assembly, who represented the Union County Historical Society; Captain Samuel R. Maclay, of Mineral Point, Mo., a grandson of Senator Samuel Maclay.
Lieutenant Governor Robert Murphy attended the ceremony, as did many distinguished citizens from this and other States, school children and military, civic, historical and patriotic societies. There were thirty-five representatives of the Maclay family in attendance.