Part 72

Following the suggestion of Governor John White Geary, the Legislature on June 2, 1871, adopted a resolution to submit the question of calling a convention to amend the Constitution to a vote of the people. The delegates were elected October, 1872, and assembled in the Capitol November 12, 1872.

Hon. William M. Meredith was elected president and served until his death, August 17, 1873, when Hon. John H. Walker, of Erie County, was chosen to fill the vacancy. The convention adjourned November 27 to meet in Philadelphia on January 7, 1873.

A new Constitution was drafted and adopted, after which it was submitted to the people on December 16, 1873, and approved by a vote of 263,560 to 109,198.

This new Constitution contained several important changes: An increase in the number of Senators and Representatives in the General Assembly; biennial sessions of the Legislature; the election by the people of sundry officers heretofore appointed; minority representation; modification of the pardoning power; the term of the Governor made for four years, and not eligible to the office for the succeeding term; the office of Lieutenant-Governor created; changes in tenure and mode of electing Judges of the courts. The new Constitution became effective January 1, 1874.

The good times which followed the Civil War were in a few years followed by a financial depression that extended over the whole country and reduced innumerable financial establishments to ruin.

These financial troubles began in Philadelphia with the failure of the banking house of Jay Cooke & Co., September 18, 1873. Mr. Cooke’s bank had given such help to the United States Government during the period of the war that he was frequently called the “Financier of the Rebellion.”

When this banking institution collapsed there followed a run on other banks, the effects of which soon spread throughout the United States.

The excellent “Pennsylvania Colonial and Federal,” by Howard M. Jenkins, says: “The condition of the times was rendered more deplorable by a series of labor difficulties, extending from 1874–1877. In 1874, there was a conflict in Westmoreland County between Italian and resident miners, in which four of the Italians were killed. The same year there was a railroad strike at Susquehanna on the New York and Erie Railroad. A number of trains were seized by the mob, and order was not restored until after the Governor had sent the State militia into that region. In January, 1875, the miners of the Lehigh and Schuylkill regions began a strike, which lasted six months. There was but little violence; yet the Governor found it necessary to order the militia to the scene of the disturbance.”

In 1877, the spirit of lawlessness increased, culminating in a series of destructive riots in different parts of the State. The cause of all this trouble was the railroad strike, which began on July 16, and soon became general throughout the United States.

In the beginning of July, a circular was issued from the offices of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, announcing a reduction of 10 per cent from the wages which the men were then receiving. A new schedule of wages was announced, to take effect on July 16. At all points along the railroad, there were demonstrations against this reduction. A strike was ordered, and before midnight of the 16th the immense property of the Baltimore and Ohio was in the hands of the rioters.

On July 19 the employes of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburgh inaugurated a strike, and stopped the passage of all freight trains east and west. By the evening of the 20th, a large number of freight trains were tied up in the city. The striking workmen resisted all efforts of the railroad officials to remove these trains, and threatened acts of violence. At this time Governor John F. Hartranft was on a trip across the continent, but upon the call of the Sheriff the Adjutant General ordered the Sixteenth Division of the National Guard to assist in restoring order.

Adjutant General James W. Latta arrived at Pittsburgh on July 21, to take personal charge of all the troops ordered out. The First Division of the National Guard was also called into service, and on the forenoon of the 21st, the troops took position upon the hill overlooking the tracks at Twenty-eighth Street.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon the troops from Philadelphia arrived, and they at once proceeded to open the road. As they approached Twenty-eighth Street, the crowds pressed in upon them and stones were thrown by the mob.

There was considerable firing on both sides, and in the melee twenty soldiers were wounded. In the evening the soldiers withdrew to the roundhouse and adjacent buildings. At midnight the rioters determined to drive them out by burning the freight cars in the vicinity. The result was a great conflagration, in which vast quantities of freight were consumed and all the rolling stock and buildings of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburgh were destroyed.

Hastening from his trip, Governor Hartranft reached Pittsburgh on July 24. After a consultation with the leading citizens he went to Philadelphia to confer with Generals Hancock and Schofield, of the United States Army.

Arrangements were made to forward a detachment of the regular army to Pittsburgh, there to join the State troops which the Governor collected on the way.

A large force was soon gathered at the scene of the disturbance, and, with Governor Hartranft in personal command, order was restored in a few days and railroad communications were opened with all parts of the country. In the meantime there were serious riots in other parts of the State.

The lawless spirit in Philadelphia and Harrisburg was quelled by the prompt action of the officials, but in Reading the work of destruction was almost equal to that in Pittsburgh. The railroad bridge over the Schuylkill was burned, and the mob virtually controlled the city.

As the authorities of Berks County were unable to suppress the riot, General Reeder was sent there with a division of the National Guard. On the evening of July 23 there was a severe street fight between the mob and the soldiers, in which some of the latter were wounded, while eleven of the crowd were killed. The next day a detachment of the United States troops arrived and the railroad was opened to traffic.

The contagion of lawlessness affected the miners of Luzerne County, and on July 25 they began a general strike. All railroad traffic was suspended in that region, and at Scranton the rioters attempted to drive the workmen from the shops. The Sheriff with a number of aides dispersed the crowd, but he was seriously wounded and three of the mob were killed.

As the conditions became more threatening, it was necessary to forward a division of the National Guard to the coal regions. Early in August all disorder was suppressed, and in a few weeks all the railroads in the State were running on schedule time.

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Indians Defrauded by Deceptive Walking Land Measure, September 19, 1737

From the time of William Penn’s arrival, in 1682, while he was a lowly Christian himself, he had followers who did not have the same fear of God in their hearts, and who did not hesitate to excite the cupidity of the unsophisticated children of the forest, and by any and all means take advantage of them.

William Penn formed many treaties with the Indians and concluded many purchases, no one of which was well and accurately defined as to its actual boundary.

Penn and his agents were ignorant of the topography of the wilderness in the interior of “Penn’s Woods,” and in their earlier purchases had been in the habit of defining the boundaries of land by well-known streams or highlands, or well-known natural objects.

They often indicated their extension into the unknown region by such vague terms as: “To run two days’ journey with a horse up into the country as the river doth go,” or “Northeasterly back into the woods to make up two full days’ journey,” or “far as a man can go in two days from said station,” etc.

The first purchase of land from the Indians above the Neshaminy, in Bucks County, made by William Markham, the agent of William Penn, was in 1682. This purchase was to be bounded by the River Delaware on the northeast, and the Neshaminy on the northwest, and was to extend as far back as a man could walk in three days.

It is stated that Penn and the Indians began to walk out this land, commencing at the mouth of the Neshaminy, and walking up the Delaware; in one day and a half they got to a spruce tree, near Baker’s Creek, when Penn concluded this would be as much land as he would want at present. A line was drawn and marked from the spruce tree to the Neshaminy.

This was the only boundary which was ever settled by Penn in person, and Penn wrote of this trip, saying that they frequently halted to converse, smoke and eat.

Lines measured in that manner would often have extended far beyond the expectations of the contracting parties, so more definite terms were soon employed to define limits of land grants. But about 1718 the settlers, maintaining the authority of the original lines, pushed their improvements beyond the designated lines, much to the dissatisfaction of the Indians.

That act nearly precipitated war, had not wiser counsels prevailed, but encroachments continued until a general meeting of the Iroquois was held and their chiefs determined to put an end to the bickerings, and sent their chief sachems to Philadelphia. There they renewed old treaties, by the signatures of twenty-three of their chiefs, and deed to Penn’s heirs “all the said river Susquehanna, with lands lying on both sides thereof, to extend eastward as far as the heads of the branch or springs which run into the said Susquehanna, and all lands lying on the west side of the said river, northward, up the same to the hills or mountains.”

That did not even stop the unscrupulous land seeker and much additional land was taken from the natives, which in consequence provoked trouble.

After the death of William Penn a copy of one of those walk-deeds was found by Thomas and John Penn, who, at a council in 1733, fifty years after it had been executed, presented it to the Indians and received from them an acknowledgment of its validity, and under that an arrangement was made for a walk of one day and a half to settle the boundaries.

The Penns, although strict Quakers, did not shrink from using means about the honesty of which there could be some question, and they advertised far and wide for the fastest walkers, offering five hundred acres of land and five pounds in money to the man who would walk the greatest distance in the allotted time.

Every facility was furnished them, a direct line was run, underbrush was cleared away, refreshments were placed at convenient distances, all arranged so that there might be little or no delay. Indeed, the preparations for a modern marathon race could hardly be more carefully made.

The persons selected by the Governor were Edward Marshall, James Yeates and Solomon Jennings. One of the Indians was called Combush, another Neepaheilomon, also known as Joe Tuneam, and his brother-in-law, Tom.

The time appointed for the walk was the morning of September 19, 1737, when the days and nights were equal. The walk was to commence at a chestnut tree just above the present site of Wrightstown Meeting House, under the supervision of Timothy Smith, sheriff of Bucks County, and Benjamin Eastburn, surveyor general.

Marshall was a noted hunter, chain carrier, etc.; Yeates was a tall, slim fellow, very agile and fleet of foot; Jennings was remarkable for his strength, but was of very stout build.

A great crowd of spectators gathered at the starting point. The walkers were accompanied by a number of persons who carried refreshments and otherwise encouraged the walkers to greater efforts.

They walked moderately at first, but soon quickened their pace, so that the Indians frequently called to them to walk and not to run. Those remonstrances produced no effect, and most of the Indians left them in anger, saying they were being cheated. A number of persons had collected about twenty miles from the starting point to see them pass.

First came Yeates, stepping as lightly as a feather. After him, but yet out of sight came Jennings, with a strong steady step, then far behind him came Marshall, apparently careless, swinging a hatchet and eating a biscuit. Bets ran in favor of Yeates.

In two and a half hours they arrived at Red Hill, in Bedminister, but the pace by this time was too hot for Jennings and two of the Indians and they gave up the contest. The other Indian, Combush, continued with Marshall and Yeates, and when they arrived at the fork of the road, near what is now Bethlehem, Combush laid down to rest a moment, but on attempting to rise was unable to proceed farther.

Marshall and Yeates continued alone and by sunset arrived on the north of Blue Mountain. At sunrise the next morning they started again, but when crossing a stream at the foot of the mountain near Lehigh Water Gap, Yeates became faint and fell. Marshall turned back and supported him until some of the attendants came up, and then continued to walk on by himself. At noon, the hour when the walk was to terminate, he had reached a spur on the Second or Broad Mountain, estimated to be eighty-six miles from the starting point.

Having thus reached the fartherest possible point to the northwestward, a line was drawn from the end of the “walk” to the Delaware River.

Not being described in the deed of purchase, the agent of the Proprietaries, instead of running by the nearest course to the river, ran northeastward across the country about sixty-six miles, so as to strike the Delaware near the mouth of the Lackawaxen, thus extending far up the river, taking in all the Minisink territory, and many thousand acres more than they should have included had the line been run by the direct course to the Delaware.

This walk gained for the Penn’s territory which now constitutes the northern part of Bucks, virtually the whole of Northampton and a portion of Pike, Carbon and Monroe counties.

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British Surprise and Slaughter Americans at Paoli, September 20, 1777

Following the defeat of the Continental Army at Brandywine, a detachment of the British Army under Major General Grant marched to Concord Meeting House, where it was joined by Lord Cornwallis and moved to near Chester.

The Americans retreated toward Chester. On the arrival of Washington, about midnight, he sent an account of the disaster to Congress. The next day the army marched by way of Darby to Philadelphia. The main body was encamped near Germantown for two or three days to rest.

Washington deemed it so important to save Philadelphia from falling into the hands of the enemy that he resolved to risk another engagement.

On September 15 he crossed the Schuykill and marched up the Lancaster road, with the intention of meeting the enemy. The British commander learned of Washington’s plan to attack him, and disposed his troops to meet the attack.

On the morning of the 16th Washington received information that the enemy was approaching by way of the Goshen Meeting House, and was already in that vicinity. The two armies prepared for action. Washington dispatched an advance guard to keep the enemy in check until his army was properly arrayed.

General Anthony Wayne in command of the advance, was to open the battle. Skirmishing began, but suddenly a rain storm of great violence stopped its progress. A hurried consultation was had as to whether the British should be fought on ground so soft there was danger of losing the artillery in case of defeat.

Washington gave the order to reform east of the White Horse and north of the Lancaster road.

The Americans discovered their ammunition was damaged by the rain and continued to Warwick Furnace. The storm continued for some time.

On the evening of the 18th, Cornwallis advanced to the Lancaster road, and the following day the entire army joined at the White Horse, and moved down the Lancaster and Swedes’ Ford road, where they encamped near the present village of Howellville.

On the 17th General Wayne’s division was sent to French Creek to annoy the enemy and endeavor to cut off the baggage train, and by this means arrest his march toward the Schuylkill until the Americans could cross the river higher up and pass down on the east side and intercept the passage of the river by the British.

General Wayne proceeded to the duty assigned him, and on the eighteenth encamped in the rear of the enemy, securely concealed from the knowledge of General Howe. Wayne’s home being in the neighborhood, he was acquainted with the locality.

On the nineteenth General Wayne watched the enemy with a view of attacking him should he move. On the twentieth, he believed the British Commander intended to take up the march, and it was his intention to advance upon the enemy’s rear and attack while in the operation of moving.

General Wayne had carefully guarded himself against surprise, planted pickets and sentinels, and threw forward patrols upon the roads leading to the enemy’s camp.

During the night a neighbor visited his quarters and advised him that the British intended to attack him during the night. Wayne took additional precautions, and awaited General Smallwood’s arrival with re-enforcements to enable him to take the offensive.

Although the British commander did not know where the forces of General Wayne lay, there were Tories residing in the neighborhood who did, and by these he was advised of the precise locality and of the nature of the approaches to it.

Howe sent General Grey to surprise and cut him off, and moved Colonel Musgrave with the Fortieth and Fifty-fifth Regiments up the Lancaster road, near to the Paoli Tavern, to intercept any attempt to retreat over that route. The watchword of the Americans for that night, through some treachery was communicated to the enemy.

General Grey, guided by his Tory aides, marched up the Swedes’ Ford road, and massed his troops as near Wayne’s camp as possible. General Grey cautiously moved through the woods up the ravine, and near the present Malvern station of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

General Wayne received intelligence of the enemy’s advances, immediately ordered the troops under arms, many were awakened by the cry, “Up, men, the British are on you!”

The night was dark, and the surrounding woodland made it uncertain as to the point of attack. General Wayne ascertained, however, that the enemy was advancing upon his right, where the artillery was placed, and ordered Colonel Humpton to wheel the division by sub-platoon to the right, and march off by the left, and thus gain the road leading to the summit of the hill.

The artillery moved off, but owing to a misapprehension the troops failed to move, although in a position to do so. In addition to this blunder, part of the force took the wrong road, which brought the men within the light of their fires, and thus gave the enemy an advantage which should have been avoided.

General Wayne took the light infantry and First regiment and formed them on the right, to receive the enemy and cover the retreat of the artillery.

General Grey had gained Wayne’s left about 1 o’clock in the morning. The troops under Wayne met the enemy with spirit, gave them several well-directed fires, which did considerable execution. They were, however, soon compelled to give way before superior numbers.

General Wayne with the Fourth regiment received the shock of the enemy’s charge, and covered the retreat of the rest of his line. He rallied such of Colonel Humpton’s troops as had taken the proper course in their retreat, where they were again formed to renew the conflict.

Both parties, however drew off without further contest, and General Wayne retreated to the White Horse, carrying with him his artillery and ammunition.

The British attack was made by twice the number of the troops commanded by Wayne. The enemy advanced with only bayonets and light horseman’s swords in a most ferocious and merciless spirit. General Grey ordered his men to remove the flints from their guns, that not a single shot should be fired.

The British dashed into the woods, guided by the straggling fire of the picket, and rushed into the camp yelling.

The Americans were completely surprised, some with arms, others without, running in all directions in the greatest confusion.

The light infantry bayoneted every man they met. The camp was soon in flames, and this with the cries of the wounded formed a scene terrible to behold.

In the slaughter even the sick and wounded were not spared. This conduct of the British commander has stigmatized it as “British barbarity” and has given to the action the title of the Paoli Massacre.

The loss of the Americans was about 150 killed and wounded. The British reported their loss as eight killed, but this is probably an inaccurate record.

The next morning the people in the neighborhood visited the scene and decently buried fifty-three mangled dead whose bodies were found upon the field.

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Unholy Alliance with Delaware Indians Concluded at Fort Pitt, September 21, 1778

When General Lachlan McIntosh was sent to relieve General Edward Hand at Fort Pitt it was expected that the frontiers would be made safe, as General Washington ordered the Eighth Pennsylvania and the Thirteenth Virginia detached from Valley Forge and marched to the Western post.

The plan of General McIntosh was to attack Detroit, which involved a march of 300 miles through a wilderness inhabited by savages, most of whom were hostile to the American cause. This army must be carried far from its base of supplies, and Fort Pitt was never strong. This was a stupendous enterprise.

The Delaware tribe, who had removed from the central part of Pennsylvania, were now living on the Tuscarawas and the Muskingum, and were the only Indians who had maintained neutrality between the Colonists and the British.

White Eyes, the head sachem and the greatest chieftain ever produced by this remarkable Indian nation, was devoted to the American cause. He revealed a spirit of intelligent sympathy with the struggle for liberty and even hoped that a Delaware Indian State might form a fourteenth star in the American Union.

Preparations were made for a formal treaty of alliance, and June, 1778, Congress ordered it to be held at Fort Pitt July 23 following, and requested Virginia to name two Commissioners and Pennsylvania one.

On account of the Continental troops being too far distant the treaty was postponed until September.

Colonel Brodhead and the Eighth Pennsylvania, which had been recruited in Western Pennsylvania, reached Fort Pitt September 10, 1778. Already the Delaware Indians were encamped near the shore of the river a short distance above the fort. Two days later the conference began.

This was probably the most remarkable treaty ever made in the interest of the United States.

By this treaty, the United States entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with a tribe of savage Indians, recognizing them as an independent nation, guaranteeing its integrity and territory. Each party bound itself to assist the other against enemies.

The treaty even contained a provision for the admission of an Indian State into the American Union. The Commissioners certainly knew this was impossible, yet they deliberately provided for it in solemn treaty, taking care, however, to subject the scheme to the approval of Congress.