Part 67
It is rather to be regretted that more of our counties, cities, boroughs and villages do not still retain their original aboriginal names such as have been retained in Allegheny, Delaware, Erie, Indiana, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga, Venango, Wyoming and Schuylkill Counties.
----------
Penn Obtains Deed to Province, Then Obtains Lower Counties August 31, 1682
Two motives operated in the early colonization of the American Continent; one was the desire of amassing sudden wealth without working for it; this tempted the adventurous to seek gold here, to trade valueless trinkets to the Indians for valuable furs and skins; the other was the desire to escape unjust restrictions of government and the hated ban of society against the worship of God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience, which incited devotees of Christianity to forego the comforts of home in the midst of civilization, and to make for themselves a habitation on the shores of the new world.
William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, had felt the heavy hand of persecution for religious opinion’s sake. As a gentleman commoner at Oxford, he had been fined and finally expelled for nonconformity to the established church; at home he was whipped and turned out of doors by his father; he was sent to prison by the Mayor of Cork, where for seven months he languished in the Tower of London, and, finally, to complete his disgrace, he was cast into Newgate with common felons.
Upon the accession of James II to the throne of England, more than fourteen hundred persons of Quaker faith were immured in prisons for a conscientious adherence to their religious convictions. To escape this persecution Penn and his followers were moved to emigrate to the New World, as they called it.
In 1680 Penn made application to Charles II for a grant of land in America. He based his claim upon moneys due to his father because of losses in the public service, where he was a distinguished officer of the British navy.
The Duke of York gave his consent and the king issued a patent to William Penn, March 4, 1681.
Penn was not prepared to visit his new province during the first year, but he dispatched three shiploads of settlers, and with them sent his cousin, Captain William Markham, to take formal possession of the country and act as deputy governor.
Markham arrived at New York, June 21, 1681, and exhibited his commission, bearing date April 10, 1681. He also presented the king’s charter and proclamation.
Armed with these credentials Markham proceeded to the Delaware, where he was kindly received. He met Lord Baltimore, who happened to be in the province, and the Maryland proprietor discovered by observation that Upland was at least twelve miles south of the fortieth degree of latitude, and believed his province, therefore, extended to the Schuylkill.
This claim by Baltimore induced Penn to obtain additional grants, as without them he feared the loss of his whole peninsula.
Markham was accompanied to Pennsylvania by four commissioners appointed by Penn, who, in conjunction with the Governor, had two chief duties assigned them; the first was to meet and preserve friendly relations with the Indians, and acquire lands by actual purchase, and the second was to select the site of a great city and to make the necessary surveys.
In the beginning of the year following, Penn published his frame of government, and certain laws, agreed on in England by himself and the purchasers under him, entitled: “The frame of the government of the Province of Pennsylvania, in America; together with certain laws, agreed upon in England by the Governor and Divers of the Free-Men of the aforesaid Province. To be further Explained and Confirmed there, by the first Provincial Council and General Assembly that shall be held, if they see meet.”
Lest any trouble might arise in the future from claims founded on the grant of land in America to the Duke of York, of “Long Island and adjacent territories occupied by the Dutch,” the prudent forethought of William Penn prompted him to obtain a deed from the Duke, which he succeeded in doing August 31, 1682.
The deed included the land in Pennsylvania, substantially in the terms cited in the original Royal Charter.
But Penn, even with the new deed, was not quite satisfied. He was cut off from the ocean by the uncertain navigation of some narrow stream. He, therefore, obtained an additional deed from the Duke of York which was for the grant of New Castle and district twelve miles in radius around it, and also a further grant from the Duke of a tract extending to Cape Henlopen, embracing the two counties of Kent and Sussex.
This new grant to Penn was thereafter termed “the territories,” or “the three lower counties,” and for many years remained a part of Pennsylvania, until finally separated, since which time it has formed the State of Delaware.
William Penn was now satisfied with the limits of his province and drew up such a description of the country from his limited knowledge as he was able to give.
This description was published in an attractive booklet, together with the Royal Charter and proclamation; terms of settlement, and other matters pertaining thereto, and broadcast throughout the Kingdom. He took particular pains to have these books fall into the hands of Friends.
The terms of sale of lands were forty shillings for one hundred acres and one shilling per acre annual rental.
The question had been raised regarding the annual rental, but the terms of the grant by the Royal Charter to Penn were made absolute on the “payment therefore to us, our heirs and successors, two beaver skins, to be delivered at our castle on Windsor, on the first day of January in every year, and the contingent payment of one-fifth part of all gold and silver which, from time to time, happened to be found, clear of all charges.” William Penn, therefore, held his title only by the payments of quit-rents. He could in consequence give a valid title only by exacting the quit-rents.
These deeds for the “lower counties” were duly recorded in New York, and, by proclamation of the commander there, November 21, 1682, to the magistrates on the west side of the Delaware, the rights of Penn under them were publicly recognized and allegiance was cheerfully transferred to Penn’s new government.
Penn then completed his arrangements for his voyage to his Province, where he arrived October, 1682.
----------
Dr. John Cochran, Native of Pennsylvania, Director-General Hospitals, Born September 1, 1730
A century and a half has almost elapsed since the American Revolution, and in the interim much has been written and published concerning it. But comparatively little has ever been accessible to the public concerning the medical department of the army of patriots.
To Pennsylvanians particularly this feature of the war should prove of interest, for the only Directors General of Military Hospitals were none other than Dr. William Shippen and Dr. John Cochran, both of Pennsylvania.
In the year 1570 John Cochran, of kin to the Earl of Dundonald, emigrated from Paisley in Scotland, to the North of Ireland. James, his descendant in the sixth generation, crossed the sea to America, and in the early part of the eighteenth century settled in Pennsylvania. His third son, born at Sadsbury, Pennsylvania, September 1, 1730, was Doctor John Cochran, of the Revolution, who was educated for a surgeon by Dr. Robert Thompson of Lancaster.
Having qualified as a physician at the time of the outbreak of the French and Indian War, he entered the English service as surgeon’s mate, and remained on active duty until the close of hostilities. In the campaigns of this war he acquired the medical proficiency and surgical expertness for which he was afterward celebrated.
On December 4, 1760, he married Gertrude Schuyler, only sister of General Philip Schuyler, of New York.
Dr. Cochran afterward removed to Brunswick, N. J., where he practiced his profession, until the British burned his house in the early part of the Revolutionary War.
At the close of 1776 he volunteered his services in the Continental army and General Washington, remembering his experience and usefulness in the French war, was prompt in recommending his name to the Continental Congress.
Dr. Cochran and Dr. William Shippen had prepared a report on hospitals upon plans modeled after those of the British army, and submitted their efforts to Congress, after they were approved by General Washington. On April 7, 1777, Congress adopted this report, which remained in effect until remodeled by Congress, September 30, 1780.
On April 11, 1777, in pursuance of General Washington’s recommendation, Doctor John Cochran received the appointment of Chief Physician and Surgeon-General of the Army.
After nearly four years of exacting service in this position, he was, on January 17, 1781, on the resignation of Dr. William Shippen, promoted to be Director of the Military Hospitals of the United States, in which capacity he continued until the end of the war.
Fortunately a letter book kept by Doctor Cochran has been preserved. The entries, memorandums and letters partake of the authority of an official record. They also disclose the many distressing difficulties of the situation.
The Medical Department, as re-arranged October 6, 1780, consisted of a Director, stationed at general headquarters, a Chief Physician and Surgeon, stationed with the army, three chief physicians and surgeons of the hospitals stationed variously at the principal hospitals, and other assistants, mates, orderlies, matrons and nurses, as occasion required.
When Doctor Cochran was promoted to be Director, Dr. James Craik was given the place of Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Army, and Dr. William Burnet was made first of the three chief physicians, with Dr. Malichi Treat and Dr. Charles McKnight as the other two chiefs. Dr. Thomas Bond was made purveyor and Dr. Andrew Cragie, the apothecary.
Some estimate may be had of Doctor Cochran’s real worth, when it is known that Dr. Craik was the life-long friend and personal physician of General Washington, yet was his subordinate.
Previous to this time there had been several very important hospitals in Pennsylvania, the base hospital twice being at Bethlehem; first on December 3, 1776, until March 27, 1777, when the hospital was removed to Philadelphia; then after the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, Bethlehem again became the base hospital. The wounded from the battle of Germantown were also treated there. On August 28, 1778, the remaining patients were removed to Lancaster and Yellow Springs. Other hospitals in Pennsylvania were at Ephrata, Lititz and Reading.
The position of Director was always most exacting; not only were his duties the alleviation of the suffering, in the rigors of a Valley Forge, or stimulating its convalescence in the camp at Norristown, but often the finances were expended and the medical stores entirely exhausted. At no time did the army abound in medical stores.
At times hundreds were sick and lame when there were no supplies to relieve them, Untended wounds or languishing disease filled hospitals destitute of medicines. Scarcely was convalescence a boon, when lack of subsistence faced the soldier in the hospital and often compelled him to beg in the streets for the very necessaries of life.
In this appalling crisis Doctor Cochran seemed to be the right man in the right place. He remained almost constantly in the field and purchased supplies as they moved from place to place, and made such strong and insistent appeals to Congress that some better support was given him, but not before his staff had been reduced to eight hospital physicians out of the fifteen established by Congress, and only five of these on actual duty.
Early in 1782 a quantity of medicine was received from France and it arrived none too soon.
But the lack of medicine was not the only hardship of those in the Medical Department. A letter from Dr. Cochran to Abram Clark, President of Congress, dated February 28, 1781, says: “I hope some pay is ordered to be advanced to the officers of the department, without which it cannot much longer exist. Many of us have not received a shilling in near two years, nor can we procure public clothing.”
Many hospital physicians resigned owing to their inability to subsist themselves longer. When Congress at length issued warrants they were as worthless as the credit of Congress, and they afforded no relief.
Dr. Cochran was of stately presence and most genial. He won his high place by real merit and experience.
He pawned his personal credit for the cause; the last sheets from his bed were used on the wounded. He quieted dissensions in the department, composed the difficulties of individuals, presented petitions for his subordinate officers, and performed routine work which should have been done by others. All this various labor was performed with cheerfulness in adversity, and courage amid danger.
He was on terms of intimacy with Washington, Lafayette, Wayne, Paul Jones and many more. Washington presented him with his camp furniture, Lafayette gave him his watch, Wayne gave him his sword, the silver hilt of which was melted into goblets.
Dr. Cochran was a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He died at his country-seat at Palatine, Montgomery County, N. Y., April 6, 1807. His widow survived him until March, 1813.
----------
Constitution of 1790, the First for the State, Adopted September 2, 1790
The convention to frame a Constitution for the government of Pennsylvania as a State completed its labors September 2, 1790.
On that day the members signed the instrument, after which they went in procession from the State House to the court-house, where the new Constitution was proclaimed.
Provision had been made for the continuance in office, until the new government went into operation, of the Supreme Executive Council and other State officers, but not of the Legislature, and the latter body believing its authority had ceased, did not proceed to the transaction of business on the following day.
At the election held in October, Thomas Mifflin, of Philadelphia, who had been president of the Supreme Executive Council since November 5, 1788, was elected governor over General Arthur St. Clair.
The new Legislature met in the State House December 7, and on December 21 the change of government was formally effected.
A procession was formed at the chamber of the Supreme Executive Council, which moved to the old court-house at Second and Market Streets, where the old government yielded up its powers, and the new government was proclaimed. Governor Mifflin was inaugurated “with much ceremony.”
On January 1, 1791, the City Councils, Mayor, Recorder and a great number of citizens waited on Governor Mifflin and tendered him their congratulations.
The first constitutional convention, whose most conspicuous members were Benjamin Franklin, David Rittenhouse, George Ross and James Smith, met at Philadelphia July 15, 1776, each one taking, without hesitancy, the prescribed test oath, and organized by the selection of Benjamin Franklin, president.
The labors of this convention were completed September 28, when the Constitution was adopted, and went into immediate effect without a vote of the people.
This Constitution vested executive authority in a Council of Safety, presided over by Thomas Wharton, Jr., composed of twelve members, one from Philadelphia and one from each of the counties. The legislative power was vested in a General Assembly of one house elected annually, and consisting of six members from Philadelphia and six from each county. The supreme executive power was vested in a President, chosen annually by the Assembly and Council.
A Council of Censors, consisting of two persons from Philadelphia and two from each county, was to be elected in 1783, and in each seventh year thereafter, whose duty was to supervise the Constitution and the branches of government, with a power to impeach.
The Constitution of 1776 also provided that, “all useful learning shall be duly encouraged and promoted in one or more universities.” This was the first time in America that higher education was made a part of the fundamental law.
Following the successful termination of the Revolution the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 proved inadequate for the requirements of a useful and effective State Government, and its revision was demanded.
On March 24, 1789, the Assembly adopted resolutions recommending the election of delegates to form a new Constitution. The Supreme Executive Council refused to promulgate this action of the Assembly, but acquiesced in September. An election was held in October, when delegates were chosen.
The convention met November 24, 1789, and in it were the first talents that Pennsylvania could boast. Thomas McKean, Thomas Mifflin, Albert Gallatin, William Findlay, James Wilson, William Lewis, James Ross, Alexander Addison, Edward Hand, Samuel Sitgreaves, Joseph Hiester and Thomas Pickering were among the members. Thomas Mifflin was elected President.
After a long session the members adjourned in the ensuing year to meet again, when the subject of the Constitution was again taken up and concluded, and the new instrument adopted September 2, 1790.
The most radical changes were made in the executive and legislative branches of government.
The Supreme Executive Council was abolished, and a single executive called a governor was created. The Assembly ceased to have the sole right to make laws, as the legislative body was divided into two branches, a Senate and a House.
The former judicial system was continued, excepting that a Supreme Court was provided, the judges of which were to be appointed during good behavior, instead of for seven years.
The Bill of Rights re-enacted the old Provincial provision copied into the first Constitution, respecting freedom of worship, rights of conscience, and exemptions from compulsory contributions for the support of any ministry. The recognition of God, and of a future state of rewards and punishments, was still demanded of all holding office, but a belief in the divine inspiration of the Old and New Testaments was not included.
The Council of Censors ceased to have authority, and the veto power was given to the Governor.
This body, with Frederick A. Muhlenberg as president, had met but once, in 1783. It then got itself into such a snarl with the Assembly that it became very unpopular.
Pennsylvania conformed in all important matters to the system upon which the New Federal Government was to be administered.
General Mifflin continued to discharge the duties of the chief executive with great ability, and was re-elected twice, serving in all three terms, the limit allowed by the Constitution.
Governor Mifflin was elected to the Legislature at the end of his service as Governor, and died at Lancaster, January 21, 1800, while serving in that body.
----------
General Edward Hand, Distinguished Officer of Revolution, Died September 3, 1802
General Edward Hand, M.D., a native of Clyduff, Kings County, Province of Leinster, Ireland, born December 31, 1744, became a resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and one of the first distinguished officers of the Revolution. He died at his fine farm “Rockford,” near Lancaster, September 3, 1802.
In 1767 he was appointed by King George III surgeon of the Eighteenth Royal Irish Regiment of Foot, and sailed with the regiment from Cork, May 20 of the same year, arriving at Philadelphia July 11.
Dr. Hand was appointed ensign in the same regiment in 1772, and accompanied the command to Fort Pitt, returning to Philadelphia in 1774, when he resigned his commission and was regularly discharged from the service.
In the same year he went to Lancaster, with recommendations, in order to practice his profession in that place.
The following year he married Catherine, daughter of Captain John Ewing and Sarah Yeates, a sister of Hon. Jasper Yeates.
At the beginning of the American Revolution Dr. Hand gave his allegiance to the colonies, and was commissioned, June 25, 1775, lieutenant-colonel in Colonel William Thompson’s Battalion of Riflemen.
This battalion consisted of nine companies of troops enlisted in the counties of Cumberland, York, Lancaster, Northumberland, Bedford, Berks and Northampton. After January 1, 1776, it became known as the First Regiment of the Army of the United Colonies.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hand accompanied Colonel Thompson and the battalion to Boston, where they arrived August 17, 1775. He was on Prospect Hill, August 20, when the battalion distinguished itself, and participated in the siege of Boston during the following autumn and winter.
The officers and men of the battalion were publicly thanked by General Washington in general orders the day following the skirmish at Lechmere’s Point, November 9, when each man demeaned himself with unusual skill and daring. The British had landed under cover of a fire from their batteries on Bunker, Breed’s and Copp’s Hills, as well as from a frigate which lay three hundred yards off the point, which at high tide was an island. The regiment marched instantly, and, though the day was stormy, regarded not the tide, nor waited for boats, but took to the water, although up to their armpits, for a quarter of a mile and, notwithstanding the regulars’ fire, reached the island and drove the enemy from behind their cover into their boats.
March 7, 1776, Hand was appointed colonel of the regiment he had commanded since February 2, and, with his command, left Cambridge March 15 to join General John Sullivan in New York.
During May and June this regiment was on Long Island. It picketed the shores until August.
Colonel Hand took part, with his regiment, in the battle of Long Island, and assisted to successfully protect the retreat of the American army. This was a skillful maneuver which effected the retreat of twelve thousand men, within sight of a strong enemy, possessed of a mighty fleet, without any loss of troops and saving all the baggage.
Colonel Hand took part in the battles of White Plains, Trenton and Princeton. At the last of these conflicts, says General Wilkinson, “at the time General Mercer engaged the 17th Regiment, Colonel Hand endeavored, by a rapid movement, to turn the enemy’s left flank, and had nearly succeeded when they fled in disorder ... the riflemen were therefore the first in the pursuit, and in fact took the greatest part of the prisoners; they were accompanied by General Washington in person with a squad of the Philadelphia Troop.”
Colonel Hand continued in command of his regiment until April 1, 1777, when he was promoted to be brigadier-general, and was soon thereafter sent to Fort Pitt in command of the western frontiers of Pennsylvania.
A new fort was erected in Westmoreland County, named Fort Hand.
General Hand did not meet with the expected success in fighting Indians and asked to be relieved of his command, which Congress, May 2, 1778, resolved to do. But before leaving Fort Pitt, General Hand conducted a successful treaty with the Indians June 17, 1778.
In October following he succeeded General Stark in command at Albany, and the next spring General Hand was ordered to take part in General Sullivan’s campaign against the Six Nations. Although the youngest of the generals engaged, Hand held the most important position after that of General Sullivan. His experience in fighting Indians gained on the western frontier was of great value in the expedition.
General Hand afterward joined General Washington and encamped at Morristown, N. J., during the winter.
On the formation of the light infantry corps of the army, August, 1780, General Hand was given command of one of the two brigades.
He was a member of the tribunal that tried and convicted Major André.
General Hand was appointed Adjutant-General of the Army of the United States January 8, 1781. He was present at the siege of Yorktown and returned with the troops to Philadelphia.
September 30, 1783, he was commissioned Major-General of the Pennsylvania Line.
Upon the close of the war he resumed his practice of medicine at Lancaster.