Letters and papers relating chiefly to the Provincial history of Pennsylvania, with some notices of the writers

Preface

Some time ago, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania passed a resolution, requesting me to edit certain letters written by Chief Justice Shippen. The duty was begun, but in the course of its execution, other materials were tendered to me, consisting in part of the * Shippen MSS.' in the archives of that Society, in part of masses of letters, accounts, and other papers in the possession of descendants of some of the families prominent in the Province. The interest which had been created by the occupation itself, and the desire to add something to the stores of the future historian of this State, induced me to sift with care these miscellaneous MSS. and to print such as were of some, even though not remarkable, value.

The greater portion of them are purely private in the^P character. I therefore thought it well to print only a very small number of copies, so as to prevent any, except those connected by ' kindred ' ties,' from obtaining the volume.

I have endeavored to make the genealogical notices, and also the notes appended to the letters, full and accurate. In my efforts, 1 have been greatly assisted by Mr. J. F. Fisher, Mr. Edward Shippen, Mr. Joseph Swift, Dr. Gr. W. Norris, Mr. Samuel Powel, and other gentlemen. To them are due the best thanks, not only of myself as Editor, but of all who prize an honorable ancestry, such as the following pages disclose.

Some of the letters relate to public affairs, and aid in supplying gaps in Pennsylvania history. At a future day I will print extracts from these.

Philadelphia, March, 1855.

GENEALOGICAL NOTICES

OF

THOSE FAMILIES

WHOSE MEMBERS HAVE, MORE OR LESS, CONTRIBUTED

10 THE

FOLLOWING CORRESPONDENCE.

William Shippen,* of Yorkshire, England, (gentleman,) had issue —

Two sons, which died young :

A daughter, m. to Mr. Leybourne, of Yorkshire ; she died there : He had also, William Shippen, afterwards Rector of

St. Mary's Church, Stockport : Edward Shippen, b. 1639, who emigrated to America, and was the founder of the family here.f

* MS. Pedigrees 'which formerly belonged to the late Judge Yeates, Judge Shippen, E. S. Burd, &c. Bible Entries of Joseph Shippen, (son of Edward, the emigrant,) now in possession of Col. John Hare Powel. Hazard's Reg. IV. 241, (reprinting from the Portfolio :) ' A gentleman of fortune and family, in the county York.'

f It will be seen by the following pages that Mr. Griswold has been misled {Republican Court, p. 15) as to the pedigree of Edward Shippen.

The particulars of the first William Shippen's parentage, birth, marriage, death, or place of residence are unknown. In the Memoirs of James Logan,* his son Edward is made to say, that 'Alethey' was, at the time of his birth, the residence of his father. This, however, is presumed to be a misprint, or an error of the copyist j there being no such place, as far as ascertained. It is conjectured, from the name, that the family was originally of Flemish or Dutch extraction; a conjecture to which some countenance is given by the circumstance that the part of Yorkshire in which Mr. Shippen is supposed to have lived, — that lying between Pontefract and Wakefield, — had many Flemish families settled in it; so much so, that Bigland, says,f ' The Don/ ' This last part is called the Dutch River, ' being a canal cut by Cornelius Vermuiden and his Dutch 1 and Flemish settlers/

That the vicinity of Pontefract or Wakefield was his place of residence, appears reasonably certain from the fact, that his son, ' William, was elected to the scholarship in Uni-

* Edward Shippen was father-in-law to Thomas Story, and went early into Pennsylvania from Boston, whither he had gone from England in 1675. There he was persecuted for his religion, as a Friend, and received from the zealots in power, a public whipping. He was very successful as a merchant in Philadelphia, and amassed a large fortune, etc. He retained a strong interest towards his fellow professors in old England. In a letter to William Ellis, dated 27th of Seventh Month, 1699, he alludes to his having forwarded for poor Friends, a present of gold. "I have sent by our dear Friend, Aaron Atkinson, 12f ozs. of gold. It cost here £76 10s. currency. I suppose it will sell in London for something above £50 sterling, the which I have desired Aaron to sell ; and I leave the disposing of it to thee and him, among poor Friends, where there is most need, and where it may be most helpful." He adds, " and if there be a meeting at Alethey, where I was born, I desire to know ; and whether they be in want." — Memoirs of James Logan, by Wilson Ar mislead. London, 1851, p. 39, (n.)

f 'History of Yorkshire,'' p. 900, London, no date. — Thome.

' versity College, Oxford, to which natives of Yorkshire are, 1 alone, eligible ; and a preference is given in the first in- ' stance, by the college statutes, to all persons who are either ' natives of those localities, or who have been educated at the ' Grammar School, in one of those two towns.'*

1653, May 26, his son, the Rev. William Shippen, was matriculated at University College, Oxford.

1656, January 29 : took his degree of A. B.f

1657, July 22, elected to Scholarship.

1659, June 16, elected Fellow of Union College.

1659, received degree of A. M.

1663, elected Proctor.

1668, resigned.

'He was afterwards Proctor of the University, 1664,{ 1 and at length Rector of Stockport in Cheshire ; and author 1 of " the Christian's Triumph over Death," a sermon t preached at the funeral of Richard Leigh, Esq. He is 1 D. D. not of this University, if I mistake not, but by the ' diploma of Dr. Wm. Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury.'§

The family here have no information as to the date of his birth or marriage. He died in 1693, and was buried under the chancel of the Church. From what Lord Mahon says, || he was probably not a man of wealth, but left rather an indifferent estate.

* Rev. Dr. Gresswell to Bishop Doane. MS. in possession of Mr. J. Francis Fisher.

$ Extracts from Printed Register of Oxford. Dr. Gresswell. MS. 2 Wood cit. ante, 125.

|| History of England, (3d ed.) III. j). 30

In the Bible-entries of his nephew, Joseph Shippen, son of Edward, it is stated, ' My relations in England are my ' uncle, William Shippen' s children :

{'l. Robert Shippen, Doctor of Divinity.

'2. William Shippen, Doctor of Law, and a parliamentman.

'3. Edward Shippen, a Physician.

<4. John Shippen, a Spanish merchant/

1. Eobert Shippen, of Brazennose College, Oxford, received 1693, July 22, the degree of A. M.

1699, July 4, made D. D., and was subsequently prin- • cipal of Brazennose, and Vice Chancellor of Oxford University. There is said to be a fine bust and monument of him, yet remaining in that College. There appears to have been a certain degree of intimacy between Robert and his cousin Joseph ; but his letters, as well as those of Joseph, are lost. His bookplate is preserved in the American branch of the family, and bears underneath the coat of arms, the following inscription :

"Robertus Shippen. S. T. P."

2. William Shippen, the " downright Shippen " of Pope,* the famous leader of the Jacobites, m. Frances Stote, d. of Sir Richard Stote f Of him and his wife Lord Mahon thus speaks :

1 Shippen, whom the public voice still proclaimed as ( the great leader of the Jacobites, was thought by them

* I love to pour out all myself, as plain As downright Shippen, or as old Montaigne.

Pope.

* Burke's Landed Gentry, s. v. Bewicke. Mr. Burke calls him ' William Shippen, the patriot.'

1 so weak as to be left out of all their consultations.* Ship- 1 pen, at this tiine,f was sixty-eight, and his energy, per- 1 haps, much impaired. J But as it seems to me, even his ' earlier reputation grew much more from his courage, his 1 incompatibility, his goodhumored frankness of purpose, ' than from any superior eloquence or talent. Horace Wal- ' pole, the younger, describes his speeches as spirited in seni timent, but generally uttered in a low tone of voice, with ( too great rapidity, and with his glove held before his ' mouth : § certainly not the portrait of a great orator. It ' is said, that he had some skill in poetry, yet it does not 1 seem that he was known or prized by any of the eminent 1 men out of the House of Commons. His father was Rector ' of Stockport, and his paternal inheritance had been small : ' he acquired, however, an ample fortune by marriage. His 1 wife was extremely penurious, and, as a relation gently ' expressed it, "with a peculiarity of temper, || and unwil- ' ling to mix in society. She was much noticed by Queen ' Caroline, but steadily declined all connection with the ' Court. Shippen, himself, like Pulteney, was not free from 1 the taint of avarice ; when not attending Parliament, he ' lived chiefly in a hired house on Richmond Hill, and it is ' remarkable, that neither of these distinguished politicians, ' though each wealthy, possessed that chief pride and delight 1 of an English gentleman, a country seat." '^f

* History of England, III. p. 30. (3d ed.) and auth's cit.

% Stuart papers. Lord Sempill's Letter, June 13th, 1740.

\ Coxe's Memoirs of Walpole. I. 672.

|| Judge Willes, her grand nephew. Coxe's Walpole, I. 673. Shippen survived her several years, in full possession of her fortune.

\ Coxe's Walpole, I. 673. As to Pulteney, see Pope to Swift, May 17, 1739— Swift's Works, XIX. 291.

1*

Whether or not, Lord Mahon, who claims to present a fair and impartial narrative to his readers, has done full justice to Shippen, may be a question. That Shippen possessed, in a high degree, all the virtues ascribed to him by the historian, is, of course, unquestionable. The courage and integrity which animated him in such dangerous and agitated times, were truly noble ; such as neither danger could daunt, nor temptation undermine, nor discouragement diminish.* With what a fine spirit does he protest against a

* * For my part I am not ashamed nor afraid to affirm, that thirty ' years have made no change in any of my political opinions ; I am ' now grown old in this house, hut that experience which is the con- ' sequence of age has only confirmed the principles with which I ' enter'd it many years ago ; time has verified the predictions which 1 I formerly utter'd, and I have seen my conjectures ripen'd into ' knowledge. I should be therefore without excuse, if either terror ' could affright, or the hope of advantage allure me from the decla- 1 ration of my opinions ; opinions, which I was not deterred from ' asserting, when the prospect of a longer life than I can now ex- ' pect might have added to the temptations of ambition, or aggra-

* vated the terrors of poverty and disgrace ; opinions, for which I ' would willingly have suffered the severest censures, even when I ' had espoused them only in compliance with reason, without the ' infallible certainty of experience. Of truth it has been always 1 observed, Sir, that every day adds to its establishment, and that ' falshoods, however specious, however supported by power, or esta- ' blished by confederacies, are unable to stand before the stroke of ' time : Against the inconveniences and vexations of long life, may ' be set the pleasure of discovering truth, perhaps the only pleasure ' that age affords. Nor is it a slight satisfaction to a man not ' utterly infatuated or depraved, to find opportunities of rectifying ' his notions, and regulating his conduct by new lights. But much 1 greater is the happiness of that man, to whom every day brings a 1 new proof of the reasonableness of his former determinations, and ' who finds, by the most unerring test, that his life has been spent ' in promotion of doctrines beneficial to mankind. This, Sir, is the ' happiness which I now enjoy, and for which those who never shall ' attain it, must look for an equivalent in lucrative employments, 1 honorary titles, pompous equipages, and splendid palaces. These,

* Sir, are the advantages which are to be gained by a seasonable 1 variation of principles, and by a ready compliance with the pre- ' vailing fashion of opinions ; advantages, which I indeed cannot 1 envy, when they are purchased at so high a price.' — Debates in Parliament, (1741-2,) pp. 102, 103.

standing army, though his earnest efforts against ' a burden ' heavy and dangerous to the people ' had so often failed. ' Sir ) I now stand up to make my anniversary oration ' against a standing army. I have made one and twenty

Sbippen's character and conduct are so well illustrated in the report of the proceedings, when he was sent to the Tower, that I can not forbear giving it. Parlt. Debates, 1717, Dec. 4, p. 20, &c.

' In this speech, Mr. Shippen overshot himself so far in his ex- ' pressions, as to give too much advantage against him, to such as ' perhaps were not over-backward to lay hold of it : His words that

* gave the offence were to the following purpose, That the second '■paragraph of the Kings' speech seemed rather to be calculated for the ' meredian of Germany, than Great Britain ; and that Hivas a great 1 misfortune, That the King was a Stranger to our language and con-

* stitution. These expressions gave offence to several members, and 4 in particular to Mr. Lechmere, who having taken them down in ' writing, urged, ' That those words were a scandalous invective 4 against the King's person and government, of which the house 4 ought to shew the highest resentment, and therefore moved, That

* the member who spoke those offensive words should be sent to the 4 Tower.'' Mr. Lechmere was seconded by Mr. Cowper, brother to 4 the Lord Chancellor, and back'd by Sir Joseph Jekyll, and some ' others : Upon which Mr. Robert Walpole said, ' That if the words 4 in question were spoken by the member on whom they were 4 charged, the Tower was too light a punishment for his rashness ; ' but as what he had said in the heat of this debate might have ' been misunderstood, he was for allowing him the liberty of ex- 4 plaining himself.' Mr. Snell, Mr. Hutchinson, and some other ' gentlemen, spoke also in behalf of Mr. Shippen, intending, chiefly, ' to give him an opportunity of retracting or excusing what he 4 had said ; which Mr. Shippen not thinking proper to do, several ' speeches were made upon the question, Whether the words taken ' down in writing were the same as had been spoken ? A gentleman

* having suggested, That there was no precedent of a censure passed

* on a member of the house, for words spoken in a Committee, Sir

* Charles Hotham produced instances of the contrary ; and, on the 4 other hand, Mr. Shippen having maintained what he had ad- 1 vanced, it was, at last, resolved by a majority of 196 voices 4 against about 100, That the words taken down in writing were ' spoken by Mr. Shippen. It was then about nine o'clock in the 4 evening, and it being moved and carried, That the Chairman leave ' the chair ; Mr. Speaker resumed his place, and Mr. Farrer 4 reported from the said Committee, ' That exceptions having been

* taken to some words spoken in the Committee, by William Ship-

* pen, Esq., a member of the house, the Committee, had directed 1 him to report the words to the house.' Which being done accord-

* ingly, and candles ordered to be brought in, Mr. Shippen was

1 already, of which fifteen have never been seconded, and 1 this will probably be the sixteenth.'* Not the less, though, was he bound to do his duty.

But courage, integrity and good temper, though sufficient to render him a prominent actor amongst the Jacobites, were not enough to constitute him their leader in a body like the House of Commons ; that too, during a long service of many years, with such men as Walpole, Pultney, Stanhope, Barnard, as associates and antagonists. He must have had, as the debates fully show, both the sagacity and the eloquence of an accomplished statesman.

Perhaps Lord Mahon's judgment was warped by the fact, that Shippen was at the head of the commission appointed to examine and sift Genera] Stanhope's accounts, as Envoy and as Commander-in-Chief, f However candid or correct his recital may be as to other matters, it looses those characteristics whenever the individual or the subject touches the house of Stanhope or the American Revolution.]; His partiality for his family is a weakness excusable in the eyes of many ; and harmless, except where it presents his story

1 heard in his place, and then withdrew. After this it was moved, ' that the question might be put, ' That the words spoken ' by Wil- 1 Ham Shippen, Esq., (a member of this house) are highly dishonor - 4 able to, and unjustly reflecting on his Majesty's person and govern- ' ment " Which occasioned a debate that lasted 'till past 11 o'clock ; ' when the question being put, was carried in the affirmative by 175 1 voices against 81 ; and thereupon ordered, ' That William Ship- 1 pen, Esq. be, for the said offence, committed prisoner to his Ma- 4 jesty's Tower of London, and that Mr. Speaker do issue his war- ' rant accordingly.' — Debates in Parliament, 1717-21, (Dec. 4, 1717,) p. 20.

* Parlt. Debates, 1739. p. 138. See also his speech in favor of Triennial Parliaments. — Debates in Parliament, 1716, p. 454.

f 1 Mahon's Eng. 109.

1 Some of the errors as to this country, to be found in his work, have been exposed by that learned and accurate American Antiquary, Mr. Peter Force, in an able and severe critique.

to the injury of others. Such is the case as to the character which he has drawn of this ' Parliament man ;' * and though not disposed, to use his own words, and say 'that it implies not merely literary failure, hut moral guilt j'-j* we may at least protest against the manner in which he appears to ( lower the fame of a political adversary/ J

3. Edward Shippen, of Brazennose College, received 1693, July 22, the degree of A. M. He was a Physician, and is supposed to have married, Frances, d. of Peter Leigh, of Lyme, widow of Sir Gilbert Clarke. §

4. John Shippen, was, as already stated, according to his cousin Joseph's bible-entries, a Spanish merchant; and was baptized 1678, July 5, by his father, in Mary's Church, at Stockport; and was British Consul at Lisbon.

It would also seem that he had a daughter named Anne ; for Edward Willes, son of the Lord Chief Justice Willes, m. Anne niece of William Shippen, M. P. She d. 1799, leaving issue. ||

* « Honest Will Shippen,' as he was called, or 'Downright Shippen,' as Pope terms him, was a zealous Jacobite member of parliament, possessed of considerable talents, and a vehement opposer of Sir Robert Walpole's government. He, however, did justice to that able minister, for he was accustomed to say, ' Robin and I are honest men; but as for those fellows in long perri"wigs' (meaning the Tories of the day,) 'they only want to get into office themselves.' He was the author of a satirical poem, "entitled, 'Faction Displayed,' which possesses considerable merit. — D. [Shippen was born in 1672, and died in 1743. Sir Robert Walpole repeatedly declared, that he would not say who was corrupted, but he would say who was not corruptible — that man was Shippen. His speeches generally contained some pointed period, which he uttered with great animation. He usually spoke in a low tone of voice, with too great rapidity, and held his glove before his mouth. — Horace Walpole's letters, ed. by Lord Dover, I. 101, (note.) London, 1840.

f 1 Mahon. Introd. 2.

% 1 Mahon. Introd. 2.

| Burke's Land. Gent. s. v. Tatton.

II Burke's Land. Gent. s. v. Willes.

Edward Shippen, son of the first mentioned William, and the founder of the family in America, 1639, was horn in Yorkshire, England,

1668, emigrated to Boston : persecuted into removing 1693—4, to Philadelphia, where,

1712, October 2d, he died, M. 73.

Of his history in England, nothing is known except that he was bred to mercantile pursuits, in which he engaged after his arrival in Boston : very successfully too, as it appears, that he was, on removing to Philadelphia, computed to be worth at least £10,000 stg. — a sum by no means inconsiderable in those days, particularly in a new country. His sagacity and ability largely increased his fortune during his residence in Philadelphia.

1669. He was a member of th.Q Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and in

1671, married Elizabeth Lybrand ; which marriage, it is conjectured, led to his embracing Quakerism : and, so zealous was the convert, that we find

1677, Aug't 16. Governor Coddington of Rhode Island, in a letter from Boston, under this date, mentions that on the 9th of that month, Shippen, together with others, was arrested for attending Friends meeting, and 'publickly < whipped, and again on the next day of Public worship, 1 when he suffered in the same way/ That Shippen had the courage not only to suffer as a martyr, but also to defy his oppressors, is shown by the following extract from Thomas Story's Journal.*

* Thomas Story's Journal. London 1718, pp. 195-6. See also pp. 223-26. See also Southey's Com. Place Book.

1699. ' And the next day, accompanied by some friends, ' we went to Boston : near which, on a green, we observed a ' pair of gallows ; and being told, that was the place where ' several of our friends suffered death for the truth, and had 1 been thrown into a hole, we rode a little out of our way to ' see it : which was a kind of pit, near the gallows, and full ' of water, but two posts at each end, which had been set ' there by Edward Shippen of Philadelphia, a reputable ' Friend, formerly of Boston : who would have erected some ' more lasting monument there, with leave of the magistrates, ' but they were not willing : since it would too frequently ' and long bring to remembrance that great error of their ' ancestors, which could not now be repaired : so that he had ' only leave to put down those posts, to keep the place in ' remembrance, till something further might be done, at a ' time when it might be less obnoxious/

Great as were the persecutions which he, together with his unfortunate fellow 'sectaries/ endured at the hands of the Pilgrim Fathers and their descendants, yet he continued in Boston j for

1687, Sept. 12, during An dross* usurpation, he presented a petition to Sir Edmund, upon consideration of which the following order was made :

'That whereas Edward Shippen of Boston, Merchant, ' hath by his petition set forth that for many years past he, ' and those under whom he claims, have been possessed of ' a certain house and ground wherein he now liveth : one ' other house and ground in the occupation of Thomas ' Savage : one other house and ground in the occupation of ' George Dawson : several warehouses and grounds belonging 'thereto; and about four acres of ground in pasture; all ' within the town of Boston ; and moreover petitions to have

1 them confirmed to him : Whereupon the Governor, Sir 1 Edmund Andross, ordered them to be surveyed, so that a ' patent for them might be granted unto him/*

Besides the above mentioned houses, warehouses, lots and pasture, there belonged to Mr. Shippen several wharves, somewhere near Fanueil Hall, known in the last century as 1 Shippen's Wharves;' but now far inland, and covered by well built streets, in consequence of the extensive fillings up, which have so much expanded the limits of Boston.

1689-90, March 14. It appears from the record of the Council and General Court, ' that Mr. Edward Shippen, *■ now intending a journey to Pennsylvania, be desired to pur- 1 chase fifty barrels of gunpowder, if there to be had ; and 1 more, if it can be bought at a reasonable rate.' A very singular commission : one more suitable to the ancient artilleryman than the twice-flogged Quaker.

1692, June 16. Mr. Shippen is mentioned as the bearer of letters from Easton, Secretary of Khode Island,")" to Addington, Secretary of Massachusetts. |

1693-4. The persecutions of the Quakers in Boston reached such a pitch, that Mr. Shippen was driven into taking refuge in Pennsylvania. §

It may have been that he was banished, such having been a usual mode of punishing the Quakers; or as these 'jail- <ings, whippings, and banishments' were frequent, and occurred ' in season and out of season/ not only in conse-

* Petitions of this kind were abundant about this time, as Governor Andross denied that the holders of Real Estate had any legal claim to it. J. B. Felt.

f Mr. Shippen had married his second wife in Rhode Island, about a year before this, as will be presently seen.

J Mr. J. B. Felt says he can find no further records.

\ Dr. W. E. Horner says, 'he was invited by Penn.' Address, &c. in Hazard's Reg. X. 66.

quence of provocations by the Quakers themselves, but on the mere ' appearance of a meteor in the heavens/ Mr. Shippen may have grown c weary of well doing' as a martyr, and so betaken himself to a government less disposed ' tG promote the Reformation of manners/*

It would seem to have taken him about a year to effect the disposal of his estate in Boston, and transfer it to Philadelphia. In this latter city, Mr. Shippen' s wealth and character speedily obtained for him such position and influence, that

1695, July 9th, he was elected speaker of the Assembly : and William Penn named him in the Charter,

1701, Octr. 25, as the first Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. Penn, as is well known, gave the most anxious consideration to his selection of officers to govern the new city. He thoroughly appreciated the importance of a correct choice. It was, to borrow a military phrase, the baseline of his operations. The success of his whole enterprise turned upon it : the consciousness of which, apart from any other motives, political or philanthropic, was sufficient to stimulate him to the utmost caution and deliberation in his choice of incumbents. In Shippen, he found a man of courage, energy, integrity, intelligence and sagacity; whose unspotted moral character was ample earnest to the citizens, that the executive power would be exercised with the strictest justice and fidelity; whose active business habits and bravery equally assured them of the chief magistrate's resolution

* Oldmixon. Vol. I. p. 112. l Another persecution. I must not ' forget, that upon the appearance of a meteor here, the magistrates 1 wrote a circular letter to the Elders and Ministers of every town, to 1 promote the reformation of manners — a good work certainly with ' or without a comet, which if it prognosticates any thing, I should ' rather incline to think it ought not to be applyed to a new perse- ' cution of Baptists and Quakers, whom they did not indeed hang, ' but ruined many honest men, says the Reverend historian, by 4 fines, inipiisoments and banishment,' &c.

and promptness :, whilst his high social position gave dignity to the office .

1702-4. He was President of the Governor's Council. In this last year, he contracted his third marriage, which led to his separation from the Society of Friends. After which he appears to have retired altogether from public life ) except that he continued to advise upon public affairs, as we find from Penn's letter, dated 24th 5th mo. 1712, where Mr. Shippen is addressed, in connection with I. Norris, T. Story, &c*

1712, Octr. 2 : He died in Philadelphia, aged 73.

No one could wish to detract in the slightest degree from Penn's merits ; but we are taught to render ' honor to i whom honor is due.' In doing so, we must needs say that a great, if not the greatest portion of the glory of building up the Commonwealth which was l founded by deeds of ' peace' is due to Shippen, Norris, and Logan, and men like them : the men, who here, in the new country itself, fostered commerce, developed the resources of the province, set the best of examples, by disdaining no proper toil in their respective vocations, yet neglected not the refinements and graces of letters and polite society.-)"