Part 31
This proclamation gave great offense to the Assembly, but not to the population, especially those who lived in the counties distant from Philadelphia. The times were perilous, and the bounties were absolutely necessary to secure better protection of the borders. To the credit of the hardy and brave frontier pioneers of Pennsylvania be it said no Indian was wantonly killed for the sake of the reward.
Robert Morris resigned the office of Lieutenant Governor he had held during these stirring years, and on August 20, 1756, William Denny arrived from England, and superseded him. Governor Denny was well educated and held in high favor at Court. His advent here was hailed with joy by the Assembly, who flattered themselves that with a change of the executives at this time there would come a change of such measures as had caused their enmity with his predecessors. Upon his assumption of the office and making known the Proprietary instructions, to which he stated he was compelled to adhere, all friendly feeling was at an end, and there was a renewal of the old discord.
Before Governor Morris resigned as Lieutenant Governor he had concerted with Colonel John Armstrong an expedition against the strong Indian town of Kittanning, on the Allegheny River.
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Theatrical Performances Begun in State April 15, 1754
The amusements of the young people were for many years of the simplest and most innocent kind. Riding, swimming and skating afforded pleasant outdoor sport.
Yearly Meeting, in 1716, advised Friends against “going to or being in any way concerned in plays, games, lotteries, music and dancing.” In 1719 advice was given “that such be dealt with as run races, either on horseback or on foot, laying wagers, or use any gaming or needless and vain sport and pastimes, for our time passeth swiftly away, and our pleasure and delight ought to be in the law of the Lord.”
Various early laws of the Province prohibited stage plays and amusements, not only bull-baiting, bear-baiting and cock-fighting, but such as were neither immoral nor cruel, as bowls, billiards and quoits.
Macauley said of the Puritans that they opposed bear-baiting “not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.”
Quaker legislation as to games was, indeed, scarcely stricter than Henry VIII’s, but Quakerism discountenanced excitement.
In 1723 a wandering showman arrived in Philadelphia and set up a stage just below South Street, where he was outside the jurisdiction of the City Corporation. At the desire of the Quaker Assemblymen, the Speaker, Joseph Growdon, on March 30, asked Lieutenant Governor Keith to prohibit any performance. This he declined to do, but promised that good order should be kept.
So the actor issued his playbills and gave what is supposed to have been the first entertainment in Pennsylvania that might be called theatrical.
As the man who entertained by his “Comical Humour” in April, 1724, called himself the audience’s “Old friend Pickle Herring,” he may be presumed to have been the owner of both shows. In 1724, he introduced the “Roap-Dancing” as “newly arrived.” The rope-walkers were a lad of seven years and a woman. There was also a woman who would spin around rapidly for a quarter of an hour with seven or eight swords pointed at her eyes, mouth and breast. Governor Keith himself attended one or more of these performances.
Small shows now, from time to time, made their appearance. In 1727, “The Lion, King of Beasts,” was advertised to be exhibited on Water Street.
The Quakers and rigid Presbyterians, who in the early days frowned down dancing and other “frivolous amusements,” could not be expected to countenance the introduction of the drama in Philadelphia. So when Murray and Kean’s company of Thespians made their appearance in 1749 they were not permitted to make a long stay, but were ordered off as soon as the worthy rulers of the city’s morals realized the fact that their entertainments possessed irresistible attractions. So Murray and Kean went to New York and for five years the Philadelphians did not see a play.
In August, 1749, mention is made of the tragedy of Cato being acted; but January 8, 1750, attention being called to some persons having lately taken upon themselves to act plays, and intending “to make a frequent practice thereof,” the City Council asked the magistrates to suppress the same.
In the year 1753 Lewis Hallam’s English company, after traveling a year in the Southern colonies and performing in various places in Virginia and Maryland, went to New York, where they opened their theatre in the month of September. The report of the great success of their talented actors awakened a desire among the more liberal-minded Philadelphians that Hallam should visit the Quaker City.
On April 15, 1754, they gave their first performance in the large brick warehouse of William Plumstead, situated in King or Water Street, between Pine and Lombard Streets. This house remained standing until 1849, when it was pulled down.
The opening piece was the tragedy of “The Fair Penitent,” followed by the farce “Miss in Her Teens.”
Mr. Rigby spoke a prologue and Mrs. Hallam an epilogue written for the occasion, in which, after defending the stage from the accusation of sinfulness and alluding to the effect produced by the tragedy upon the audience, she asked:
“If then the soul in Virtue’s cause we move Why should the friends of Virtue disapprove?”
This temporary theatre was neatly fitted up and opened to a full house. The license was for twenty-four nights but this number was extended to thirty, and the theatre closed June 24 after having had a brilliant and profitable season. One of the performances was given for the benefit of the charity school.
Hallam’s company came back to Philadelphia in 1759 to occupy a permanent theatre erected for them in Southwark, at the corner of Cedar (or South) and Vernon Streets, on Society Hill.
This theatre was opened June 25, 1759, but either because the house was too small and not well equipped or because of discouraging opposition the company only played in it one season. They remained away five years.
On their return a new house, much larger than the first one, was built at the corner of South and Apollo Streets. This new theatre was opened November 12, 1766.
It was in this theatre and by “The American Company” that the first play by an American author performed on any regular stage was given April 24, 1767. This was “The Prince of Porthia,” by Thomas Godfrey, Jr., of Philadelphia.
The American Company played at this theatre several seasons. The theatre remained closed from the beginning of the Revolutionary War until it was opened by the British officers during their occupancy of the city, 1777–78.
These amateur performers gave regular plays, the proceeds going to widows and orphan children of the soldiers. The ill-fated Major Andre and Captain Delancy painted the scenes and other decorations. The curtain, representing a waterfall scene, the work of young Andre, remained in use until the theatre was destroyed by fire May 9, 1823.
After the return of the Continental Congress the Legislature of Pennsylvania legislated against theatrical performances. No plays were given until 1789, when a petition signed by 1900 citizens, asking the repeal of the prohibiting provision relating to theatres, was presented to the Legislature. The religious community presented a petition signed by more than 1000 citizens as a remonstrance against the repeal.
The restrictive portion of the act was repealed and Hallam and Henry opened the Southwark Theatre January 6, 1790, with “The Rivals” and “The Critic.”
The season was unusually brilliant, and the theatre in Philadelphia and elsewhere throughout Pennsylvania has since been popular.
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Tedyuskung, Indian Chieftain, Burns to Death in Cabin, April 16, 1763
Tedyuskung was made king of the Delaware nation in the spring of 1756, and from that date until his untimely death this great Indian chieftain exerted a most powerful influence throughout the entire Province of Pennsylvania.
The name is of Munsee dialect, and signifies “the healer,” or “one who cures wounds, bruises, etc.”
He was one of the most famous and crafty of the Delaware chiefs during the period of discussion of the Indian claims, following the sale of the lands along the Delaware and Susquehanna to the Proprietors of Pennsylvania by the Iroquois.
Tedyuskung was born at the present site of Trenton, N.J., about 1705, and died April 16, 1763. Nothing is known of his life before the time he first appears as an historic character, prior to which he was known as “Honest John.”
When about fifty years old he was chosen chief of the Delaware on the Susquehanna, and from that time wielded a potent influence, although he occupied a peculiar position.
Sir William Johnson, of New York, was a zealous friend of the Iroquois, while Conrad Weiser and George Croghan, of Pennsylvania, were strongly prejudiced against the Delaware and Shawnee. The problem which the Provincial Government of Pennsylvania had to solve was how to keep peace with the Iroquois and at the same time prevent the Delaware and the Shawnee who were then becoming independent of the Iroquois, from going over to the French.
The Delaware were conscious they had been unjustly deprived of their lands by the Pennsylvania authorities, aided by the Iroquois. They had been driven from the Delaware to the Susquehanna, and many had been forced even as far west as the Ohio, and now that France and England had commenced to struggle for the possession of that region the Delaware felt they were to be again driven from their home. They were revolting not only against the English, but against their masters, the Iroquois.
At this critical time, when the border settlements in Western Pennsylvania were being ravaged by hostile bands of Delaware and Shawnee, and when the English were making preparations for an expedition to take Fort Duquesne, Tedyuskung took his stand as a friend of the English.
Christian Frederic Post had been sent on a mission to the Ohio Indians, and Conrad Weiser and others were working to retain the friendship of these Indians. The many squatters along the Juniata River and the illegal sale of land at Wyoming made by the Mohawk to the Connecticut settlers complicated the situation and made the work of these emissaries much more difficult and trying. Then the Indians who had been in conference at Albany in 1754, found when they returned home that lands had been sold to the Proprietors which they did not comprehend.
Washington suffered defeat at Fort Necessity and this was followed by the terrible Braddock disaster; which with the evil effects of the rum traffic among the Indians and the almost total neglect by the Province of Pennsylvania had almost entirely alienated them from the English cause.
Then began the several attempts to win them back, but the passage of the Scalp Act and the declaration of war against the Delaware caused this tribe to rise in rebellion against the Province and also against their hated title of “women,” given them by the Iroquois.
Such was the situation when the great council was called at Easton, July, 1756, at which Tedyuskung appeared as the champion of the Delaware. Governor Morris opened the council with a speech, in which he warmly welcomed the chief. Tedyuskung replied: “The Delaware are no longer the slaves of the Six Nations. I, Tedyuskung, have been appointed King over the Five United Nations. What I do here will be approved by all. This is a good day. I wish the same good that possessed the good old man, William Penn, who was a friend of the Indian, may inspire the people of the Province at this time.”
The first session was followed by a grand feast and reception, during which King Tedyuskung and Chief Newcastle were sent to give the “big peace halloo” to the Indians and invite them to a larger conference, which was held at a later time.
Tedyuskung left Easton, but loitered about Fort Allen, where he became drunk and disorderly, and so incensed Lieutenant Miller that the whole outcome of the peace conference was, for a time, endangered.
During this drunken spree Tedyuskung was blamed for having dealings with the French, but no evidence was produced to prove the charges; yet Governor Morris dispatched Chief Newcastle to Sir William Johnson to learn if the Iroquois had deputized Tedyuskung to act for them. This they denied.
Then followed endless discussions in Provincial Council. Governor Morris had been succeeded by Governor Denny, who went to the council at Easton, July, 1757, under a heavy guard. Tedyuskung, in his opening speech, said: “I am sorry for what our people have done. I have gone among our people pleading for peace. If it cost me my life I would do it.”
Tedyuskung demanded a clerk at this Easton Council on threat of leaving, and he was assigned such official. While Tedyuskung was drunk each night, he appeared at council each morning with a clear head and was the equal of any in debate.
This second Easton council determined upon a general peace and Tedyuskung promised to see that their white prisoners were all returned. He then went to Fort Allen, where he and his warriors had a drunken frolic. Conrad Weiser says of him at this time: “Though he is a drunkard and a very irregular man, yet he is a man that can think well, and I believe him to be sincere in what he said.”
A fourth council was held at Easton in October, 1758, when Post had returned from his Western mission. Land disputes again became a principal topic, and Tedyuskung was discredited by the Iroquois, who attempted to destroy his influence with the Provincial Government. They even left the council when he spoke, but the old King won out and the council finally ended in a treaty of peace.
In 1762 the Governor offered Tedyuskung £400 as a present if he would withdraw his charges of fraud in the “Walking Purchase,” and he accepted the bribe.
After all the dealing with the Governors and councils of Pennsylvania, and his personal controversies with the enemy tribes, this last of the chiefs of the eastern Delaware traveled from Philadelphia to his home at Wyoming, and on the night of April 16, 1763, his house was set on fire while he lay on his couch in a drunken debauch and he was burned to death in the flames. The perpetrators of this crime were either Seneca or Mohawk.
He was the most virile chief of the Delaware nation during the years of their subjugation to the Iroquois. His efforts for peace did much to win the Ohio region from the French.
A monument to Tedyuskung has been erected in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
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Lottery for Union Canal for $400,000 Authorized by Legislature, April 17, 1795
By the act of April 17, 1795, the president and managers of the Schuykill and Susquehanna Navigation, and the president and managers of the Delaware and Schuykill Canal Navigation, were authorized to raise by means of a lottery, a sum of $400,000 for the purpose of completing the works cited in their acts of incorporation, under a prohibition that neither of them should form the same into capital stock, upon which to declare a dividend of profits.
An Act Passed March 4, 1807, authorized the said companies to raise their respective sums separately, subject to the prohibition as to dividends.
The two companies were consolidated by act of April 2, 1811 into a corporation known as the Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania. The new company was authorized to raise money by loan to complete the canal and to use the proceeds of the lotteries already authorized, and by the twenty-eighth section of the act authority was given to raise the residue of the original sum equal to $340,000 by a lottery.
By the act of March 29, 1819 the proceeds of the above lottery were pledged as a fund for the payment of an annual interest of 6 per cent upon the stock of the company.
By these and subsequent acts it appears that the lottery grants were given in the first instance, to the two companies, and afterwards continued to the Union Canal Company to aid and encourage the construction and completion of a canal and lock navigation uniting the waters of the Susquehanna and Schuylkill.
In consequence of these lottery grants, individuals were induced to invest their funds in the furtherance of the work, and loans to the amount of $830,400 were made upon the credit of the capital stock and the profits of the lotteries.
The Union Canal Company entered into contracts for the conduct of these lotteries, the last one, October 6, 1824, for five years, which expired December 31, 1829.
There was much sentiment against these lotteries and as there were laws in force for suppressing and preventing lotteries, there was objection made when the extension of this lottery was brought to the General Assembly. The Committee on Ways and Means, February 9, 1828, reported that it was inexpedient to resume the lottery grants to the Union Canal Company at this time and further resolved, “that the committee be instructed to bring in a bill to regulate lottery brokers, and to restrain the sale of lottery tickets within this Commonwealth.”
For more than half a century after the founding of the Province, Pennsylvania was dominated by the Quakers, who were constantly opposed to all games of chance. At the very first meeting of the Assembly, at Chester, in 1682, an act was passed against cards, dice, lotteries, etc. This and similar acts were annulled by the English Government.
Although lotteries were not legally prohibited only one lottery appears to have been drawn during the next several decades. In 1720 a Mr. Reed by means of a lottery of 350 tickets, which were sold for twenty shillings each, disposed of a new brick house and several lots in Philadelphia.
In 1730 lotteries were prohibited under a penalty of £100, half of which was to go to the Governor, and half to the party bringing suit.
It seems probable that the Provincial Assembly authorized lotteries by special legislation for at least two lotteries had the official sanction of the Philadelphia Council; one in 1747, for the fortification of the City, the other a year later for street paving. From this time until the passage of the anti-lottery act of 1762, lotteries increased in number.
During this period lotteries were drawn for the college, academy and charitable school of Philadelphia, to complete the Episcopal Church, etc.
The act of 1762 proved to be effective in limiting the number and purposes for which lotteries might be established. Between 1762 and 1796, there were only twenty-three lotteries in Pennsylvania. Of these six were private, eight were for public use and nine for the erection of church buildings, in which twenty-one churches were concerned.
With the establishment of the Federal Government the financial condition of the country rapidly improved. With the gradual growth of population, and rapid development of business, came increased demands for new churches, schools, public buildings and improved transportation. To meet these public needs the regular revenue was insufficient and to avoid an abnormal increase in taxation, petitions were presented to the Legislature for the privilege of establishing public or semi-public lotteries.
The Legislature rejected all requests for lotteries, except when some important purpose was to be served. Only one lottery was authorized in 1790, for the erection of a Jewish synagogue; none then until 1795, when one was granted the Aaronsburg Town Lottery, in now Center County, and the other was to aid in opening the canal navigation between the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers.
From 1796 to 1808 inclusive seventy-eight different lotteries were authorized.
The lottery of 1782 for the improvement of roads west of Philadelphia was managed as a state lottery. Others were county, city, borough and township schemes. Some were for erection of bridges, ferries and even improving creeks. One was for a garden and public bath in Philadelphia, one for the pay of soldiers in the French and Indian War; hospitals were also included, as were schools.
Many churches were built by means of lotteries and the newspapers of that period carried many advertisements, both from those authorized by the Pennsylvania Legislature and those of other States. It is estimated that at least fifty lotteries chartered by other States had agencies in Pennsylvania.
From 1747 to 1883 there were 176 separate lotteries. One single lottery, Union Canal lottery, awarded in prizes more than $33,000,000 between 1811 and December 31, 1833.
The State became flooded with local and foreign lottery tickets, and many memorials were presented to the Legislature against all form of lotteries, but they continued to thrive until December 31, 1833, when they were abolished by law, Pennsylvania taking the lead of all States in banishing lotteries.
Governor George Wolf said in a message to the General Assembly: “A more pernicious, ruinous and demoralizing evil can scarcely be imagined.”
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First Northern Camp in Civil War Established April 18, 1861
On April 18, 1861, Camp Curtin was regularly and formally established in the northwestern suburbs of Harrisburg. It was the first regular camp formed north of the Susquehanna in the loyal States, and before the end of the month twenty-five regiments were sent to the front from the counties of Pennsylvania.
The willing and prompt response to the call of President Lincoln and the appeal of Governor Curtin created immediately the necessity for a great rendezvous for the State’s troops. Harrisburg was the logical place for such a camp, for it had the advantage of being the seat of government and railroad lines extending in all directions.
The troops began to pour into Harrisburg so suddenly that temporary shelter was erected on all public grounds, within three days after the President’s call for volunteers.
Governor Curtin acted promptly in procuring accommodations for the troops, and on April 18 requested Captain E. C. Williams to take charge of the grounds controlled by the Dauphin County Agricultural Society, near the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on the east and less than a quarter of a mile from the Susquehanna on the west.
It was the original intention to call this rendezvous “Camp Union,” but Captain E. C. Williams, Captain J. P. Knipe and others very appropriately changed the name in honor of the patriotic and beloved Governor of Pennsylvania.
When the war broke out in all its suddenness, and Washington was cut off from the loyal States of the North by the riotous proceedings at Baltimore, there was an utter lack of military organization in Pennsylvania. The military system of the State had decayed and aside from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there were very few military companies in the State fully armed and equipped. Of these only a few contained the minimum number of thirty-two men. But, as the appeal for men was disseminated through the towns and villages of the interior counties, the officers of such military companies as did exist very promptly rallied their men and tendered their services to the Governor.
Ringgold Light Artillery, Captain McKnight, of Reading; the Logan Guards, Captain Selheimer, of Lewistown; the Washington Artillery, Captain Wren, and the National Light Infantry, Captain McDonald, both of Pottsville, and the Allen Rifles, Captain Yeager, of Allentown, were the first to offer their services in an armed and disciplined condition for immediate action. When the Ringgold Light Artillery, numbering one hundred and two men, reached Harrisburg and word was sent to the Secretary of War of the presence of so strong a company at the State Capital, he at once telegraphed for its immediate presence in Washington, but for prudence the order was suppressed.