The history of the middle states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Illustrated by tales, sketches, and anecdotes

Preface

This work being one of a series, it may be proper to insert here the preface to the first of them, entitled The Story of the American Revolution, which explains the plan and design of the author.

" In this little work, the author has attempted to relate the story of our glorious Revolution, in a simple manner, so that it may be interesting and instructive to children and youth. He has not adopted a very regular method of treating the subject, but has attempted to keep the interest of the pupil constantly alive, by a variety of tales, anecdotes and sketches, illustrative of the events with which they are connected.

'' It is remarkable, that very few books of history are read by children, except as a task 5 while works of fiction are perused with the greatest avidity. Now, if fiction borrows its chief interest from its resemblance to truth, how is this fact to be accounted 'for ? I think it may be explained by two considerations. In the first place, fiction, being the offspring of the imagination, is generally written with a warmth of language which makes the reader realize every part of the story, and cheats him, against his better knowledge, into the persuasion that the narrative is true. On the contrary, the writing of history is a task calculated to repress all vivacity of feeling ; research must take the place of invention, and fancy must act in humble subserviency to facts, dates and records. Under such circumstances, dulness creeps into the mind of the writer, and is thus imparted to the book.

'' For these reasons, in most books, fiction wears the aspect of truth, and truth the aspect of fiction. Children are excellent judges of manner, and are very much affected by it. They will listen with much more interest to an indifferent story, happily told, than to a good one stupidly related. They, as well as people of mature age, are more attracted by a novel, or romance, written in a lively and natural style, than by the most important history, if composed in a dull and heavy manner.

" A second consideration, which will account for the preferenc.e given to tales of fiction, is this : — They are generally much more

() PREFACE.

minute in their details than books of history. Tlie latter tell us of armies and nations, while the former present to us individuals, and acquaint us with their thoughts and feelings, their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, and thus make us sympathize with them in all the vicissitudes to which they are exposed. It is this minuteness of detail which forms one of the principal charms in books of fiction 5 it is the comprehensiveness of books of history, which makes them repulsive to juvenile readers, who are always seeking for amusement.

'' Such being the views of the writer of the present volume, he has adopted a method in some respects new. If he has occasion to state that a battle occurred, he states it in few w^ords, and then relates anecdotes, individual adventures, and other minute circumstances, calculated to fix the attention of the pupil, to excite his interest, and thus make him realize the whole scene, as if he were himself an actor in it.

" By this means, and by adopting a familiar style, the author hopes he has succeeded in imparting to this little work some of the attractive qualities which belong to tales of fiction. Nothing, certainly, is more desirable, than tliat truth should be the basis of early education ; and whoever shall succeed in rendering history interesting and agreeable to youth, will perform a task for which he will deserve the thanks of the age. That the author has fully succeeded in this attempt, he cannot pretend to hope ; but, deeply convinced of the importance of the object he has in view, he has made the present experiment, and leaves the result to the decision of the public.

'' If this volume is favorably received, it will be followed by a series of works on American history, executed in a similar manner. The subjects proposed are the following- -.' — the Early History of New England; the Early History of the Middle States; the Early History of the Southern States ; the History of the Western States ; the History of the West Indies ; the History of Mexico ; the Early History of South America ; and the History of Discoveries in America. These volumes, if published, will be abundantly illustrated by engravings, and will appear at intervals of two or three months.

^' The materials for these works are abundant, and in the highest degree interesting. The design of the author will be to embrace the entire history of the Western Continent in the series, and thus furnish a set of books, which may be put into the hands of youth, as works of amusement, but which will instruct them fiilly in the history of their own country, and in that also of other countries in the same hemisphere."

The four first works above mentioned, as well as the History of the American Revolution, are already published, and the others will soon appear.

Contents

CHAPTER I.— Plan of the followini? Volume.— The Middle States. First Patent of New Jersey. First Settlement of it. History of its early Government. Account of several Expeditions of Settlers. Anecdote of King Charles I. Interviews and Treaties of the Settlers with the New Jersey Indians. Speech of a Sachem about the Small-pox 9

CHAPTER II.— Another Conference of the New Jersey Settlors with tho Indians. Speech of a Sachem about Whiskey. Extracts from the Settlers' Letters to their Friends in England. Account of the Fruits, Fowl, Fish and other Productions of the Country. Anecdotes of the Indians. Another large. Expedition comes over from England. Growth of New Jersey. Condition of the Province in 176.5. Stories about Fishing. . 16

CHAPTER III. — Pennsylvania named for William Penn. Accpimt of his Family. His Father, Admiral Penn. Early Education of William. Goes to Oxford University. Hears Q,uaker Preaching. Becomes a Ciuaker. Is expelled from (Joflege. Meets with Trouble at Home, and in London. Is tried and ini;: i-^oned. Anecdotes showing his Character. Receives a Charter of Pennsylvania 213

CHAPTER I. •i

Plan of the following Volume. — The Middle States. First Patent of JVeiv Jersey. Fii'st Settlement of it. History of its early Government. Account of several Expeditions of Settlers. Anecdote of King Charles I. Interviews and Treaties of the Settlers loith the JVew Jersey Indians. Speech of a Sachem about the Small-pox.

Having heretofore given my young readers some account of the early settlement of New England, and also of the Southern States, together with some other particulars in the early annals of those sections of the country in which we live, I now propose to furnish them with the means of becoming equally well acquainted with the history of what are called the Middle States.

Under this title are commonly included New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. Some of these are now among the most important states of the Union. The two first, indeed, stand at the head of them all, in respect to population, wealth and resources. No young American ought to be ignorant of the early history of so important a part of the American nation.

What is now New Jersey, was originally included with New York, in a patent or charter, granted by the reigning king of England, about the middle of the seventeenth century, to the English Duke of York. On the 22d of June, 166-1, the duke granted the former territory (New Jersey) to two English gentlemen of high rank. Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. It was called New Jersey in honor of the latter, some of whose family came from the island of Jersey, near England. Philip Carteret, of the same family, was appointed the first governor of the province, in 1665. Under his administration, the eastern part of it was rapidly settled. In 1675, Lord Berkeley sold his share of the province to John Fenwicke ; and this gentleman visited his new purchase the same season. He brought over with him a ship-load of passengers, from London, and landed at a small settlement which he found already commenced by stragglers from various directions, on an inconsiderable river or creek, which runs into the Delaware river. He called both the place and the river Salem, — a name which they retain to this day. This was the first English ship which came to West Jersey ; and it was nearly two years before it was followed by any more. This long interval was occasioned by some misunderstanding between the proprietors, which was, however, at last composed by the good offices of William Perm. This latter personage (whom we shall speak of at some length hereafter) was soon after induced to become interested with Carteret and Fenwicke in the management of the new province. In 1676, it was divided into East and West New Jersey ; and it continued to be governed by two governors until 1702. The two governments were then surrendered to Queen Anne, reigning monarch of England. Ever since that time, they have formed but one. This was, for a long time, directly under the care of the crown, like the colonies of New England, instead of being absolutely governed by the proprietors, as was the case with several of the American colonies. The first settlers, especially of West Jersey, were chiefly Quakers, a sect which I shall tell you more about by and by. They were a singularly steady and frugal people. William Penn, and the other proprietors, were men of such a character, indeed, that settlers of bad habits would have found but very ill favor with them. They would not even use those means which were in those days commonly resorted to, and in similar cases, to induce settlers to emigrate from England. Instead of this, they sent a letter of caution to the Quakers in England, warning them to weigh the matter well before they thought of emigrating to this country. The last paragraph of this letter is so characteristic of the writer, William Penn, that I shall annex it at length : —

" This am I, William Penn, moved of the Lord to write unto you, lest any bring a temptation on themselves or others, and, in offending the Lord, slay their own peace. Blessed are they that can see and behold him, their Leader, their Orderer, their Conductor and Preserver, in staying and going ; whose is the earth and the fulness thereof, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

" We cannot but repeat our request unto you, that in whomsoever a desire is to be concerned in this intended plantation, such should weigh the thing before the Lord, and not headily or rashly conclude on any such resolve. Let them solely endeavor to obtain the good will and consent of their kindred and friends. This we have thought good to write, for the preventing all misunderstandings, and to declare the real truth of the matter; and so we recommend you all to the Lord, who is the watchman of his Israel. I am your real friend and

brother,

"William Penn."

Settlements, commenced in this prudent manner, could not but prosper. On the 16th day of August, 1677, the ship Kent, Gregory Marlow. master, arrived at New Castle from London, with a new supply of Quaker colonists. There were two hundred and thirty of them, and many of the number had owned good estates in England. They landed near Raccoon creek, on the Delaware river, where a small colony of Swedes had already a few buildings erected, but quite insufficient to accommodate the new comers.

This was the second arrival of an English ship in West Jersey. It is said of the ' Kent,^ that when she lay in the river Thames, in England, with the passengers on board, ready to sail, King Charles II. came along-side of her in his pleasure-barge. The monarch was taking his favorite amusement in rambling about on the water of a sunny day, with a few of his favorite courtiers. He observed a crowd of people on boa^d the Kent, and his curiosity was excited a little. Having ascertained that they were Quakers, bound for America, he gave them his blessing, paid the sect a compliment for their well-known good qualities, and rowed off, leaving them much pleased with his complaisance.

Soon after their arrival in this country, a treaty was made for land with the Indians. This was at a place in the Delaware, then called Chygoe's island, from the name of an Indian sachem who lived there. It is now Burlington. The land was in this instance procured for little more than a ^ song,' as indeed it generally was, of the natives. A blanket was much more to them than a thousand acres.

A wide tract of good land on the river, extending from Oldman's creek to Timber creek, was bartered to the English for thirty coats, twenty guns, thirty small kettles and one great one, thirty pairs of hose, thirty petticoats, thirty hoes, thirty bars of 2 lead, fifteen kegs of powder, seventy knives, thirty Indian axes, seventy combs, sixty pairs of tobaccotongs, sixty pairs of scissors, sixty looking-glasses, one hundred and twenty awl-blades, as many fishhooks, two handfuls of red paint, one hundred and twenty needles, sixty tobacco-boxes, two hundred small bells, one hundred jews-harps, and sixty anchors of rum. I give you the details, that you may judge of the taste of the Indians.

Burlington was laid out in October. A straight line was drawn from the Delaware river, at right angles, for the main street. A space was marked out for a market-place, about midway in this line. Ten London settlers agreed to build on one side of it, and ten Yorkshire men on the other. Another street was marked out along the river-side, in small lots, by itself. The town lots were generally ten or eleven acres. This was considered enough for a house, orchard, garden and yard. Several more settlers came in, within a month, from Wickaco, a small Swedish plantation on the Delaware. The season was then so far spent, that the latter had only time to erect a kind of wigwam for their accommodation during the winter.

The New Jersey Indians were remarkably kind to the new settlers, notwithstanding the attempts of the Swedes, or some other persons, to prejudice them. They were afflicted with the small-pox, it seems ; and a story was maliciously circulated among them, that the English had brought the disease over with them, and sold it to the Indians in the coats and petticoats. The English had a conference with them at Burlington, in consequence of this slander ; and the Indians were, without much difficulty, convinced of its falsehood.

" In my grandfather's time/' said one of the sachems, on this occasion, "the small-pox came. In my father's time, the small-pox came. And now, in my time, the small-pox is come." Then, stretching his hands towards the skies, he added — " It came from thenceJ^ To this sentiment all the Indians at the conference expressed their assent. Their idea seemed to be, that this terrible disease was a judgment of the Great Spirit, as they called the Deity, upon them ; and that therefore the English were not to be blamed for it.

Another speaker expressed himself as follows : — " Our young men may speak such words as we do not like ; and we cannot help it. And some of your young men may speak such words as you do not like ; and you cannot help that. But we intend to live like brothers with you. We do not desire war : for in war-time we get to be only skin and bones ; and the meat we then eat does us no good. We hide ourselves in holes and corners. The sun does us no good. We would have a broad path for us and you to walk in. If an Indian lies asleep in this path, the Englishman shall pass by him, and do him no harm. If an Englishman be asleep in this path, the Indian shall pass by him, and say, ' He is an Englishman. He is asleep. Let him alone ; he loves sleep.' It shall be a plain path. There must not be a stump in it to hurt our feet."

CHAPTER H.

Another Conference of the JSCew Jersey Settlers with the Indians. Speech of a Sachem about Whiskey. Extracts from the Settlers^ Letters to their Friends in England. Account of the Fruits, Fowl, Fish and other Productions of the Country. Anecdotes of the Indians. Another large Expedition comes over from England. Growth of JVew Jersey. Condition of the Province in 1765. Stories about Fishhig.

Ever after the conference we have just mentioned, the natives were very kind to the settlers. They frequently sold them venison, Indian corn, peas and beans, fish and fowl. A second conference was soon held with them, for the purpose of putting a stop to the sale of rum, brandy, and other strong liquors to them, — which they themselves knew and acknowledged to be injurious. Eight sachems, and many other Indians, were present. They had prepared four belts of wampum, as presents to confirm whatever should be agreed upon. The wampum was like that of the New England savages, black and white beads, made of fish-shells, and used as a current money among them.

One of the sachems made the following speech. " The strong liquor," said he, " was first sold us by the Dutch ; and they are blind. They had no eyes (meaning no prudence). They did not see that it hurt us. The next who came among us were the Swedes, who continued the sale of the strong liquors to us. They also were blind. They had no eyes. They did not see it to be hurtful for us to drink it. But we know it to be hurtful, although, if people will sell it to us, we are so in love with it, that we cannot forbear."

" When we drink it," he continued, "it makes us mad. We do not know what to do. We then abuse one another, and throw each other into the fire. Seven scores of our people have been killed by reason of their drinking it, since the time it was sold us. But the people who have come among us now, have eyes. The cask must be sealed up. It shall be made fast. It shall not leak by day or by night, in light nor in the darkness. And we give you these four belts of wampum to be witnesses of this agreement."

In November, another ship arrived from London, with sixty or seventy passengers. After this came the ' Flyhoat,' Captain Martha, of Burlington, in Yorkshire (England). This vessel had sailed from Hull, in the latter end of summer, with one hundred and fourteen passengers.

The settlers seemed now to be universally satisfied with their situation. One of them wrote to his friend in England, in the following terms : — " It is a country that produceth all things for the support and subsistence of man, in the m.ost plentiful manner.

" I have travelled through most of the places that are settled, and some that are not. I find the country every where apt to answer the expectation of the diligent. I have seen orchards laden with fruit to admiration, — their very limbs torn to pieces with the weight, — and most delicious to the taste, and lovely to behold. I have seen an apple-tree, raised from a pippin kernel, yield a barrel of excellent cider.

'^Peaches are in such plenty, that some people take their carts a peach-gathering : I could not but smile at the conceit of it. They are a very delicate fruit, and hang almost like our onions, that are tied on ropes.

" I have seen and known, this summer, forty bushels of bold (sound) wheat raised from a bushel sown. From the time called May, until Michaelmas, we have a great store of very good wild fruits, strawberries, cranberries, and whortleberries. These last are like our bilberries in England, but far sweeter, and are a wholesome fruit.

" The cranberries are much like cherries, for color and bigness. They may be kept the year round. An excellent sauce is made of them for venison, turkeys and other great fowl ; and they are better to make tarts than either gooseberries or cherries. We have them brought to our houses in great plenty by the Indians. My brother Robert raised as many cherries, this year, as would have loaded several carts. It is my judgment, by what I have observed, that fruit-trees, in this country, destroy themselves by the very weight of their fruits.

" As for venison and fowls, we have great plenty. We have brought to our houses, by the Indians, seven or eight fat bucks in a day ; and sometimes we refuse as many more, having no occasion for them. Fish, too, in their season, are very plenteous. We have almost all sorts that are seen in England, beside several sorts that are not known there : such are rocks [perhaps he means what we call rock-cod]. Such also are cat-fish, shad, ' sheep's-heads' and sturgeons. Then we have plenty of fowls ; as ducks, geese, turkeys, pheasants, partridges, and many other sorts, that I cannot remember, and would be too tedious to mention.

" Indeed the country, take it as a wilderness, is a brave country, though no place will please all. But perhaps some of you in England will say — ' He writes of conveniences, and not of inconveniences :' In answer to which I honestly declare, there is some barren land, and more woods than some like to have on their lands. Neither will the country produce corn without labor ; nor cattle be got without something to buy them ; nor bread with idleness. In that case, it would be a brave country, indeed ; and you would all give it a good word, I dare say.

For my part, I like it so well, that I have no thought of returning to you in England, unless it may be to trade with you. So good bye.

" Mahon Stacy."

After this time, large numbers of fresh settlers, chiefly Quakers, continued coming to the province. In 1682, a ship of five hundred and fifty tons' burthen arrived in West Jersey, with three hundred and sixty passengers. They landed between Burlington and the place where Philadelphia now stands, on the Jersey shore of the Delaware. In 1765, that is, about one hundred years from the first settlement. New Jersey contained 100,000 inhabitants. The proportion of the Quakers among them may be conjectured from the number of meeting-houses at that time. The Quakers had thirty-two ; the Presbyterians, precisely as many ; the Baptists, thirteen ; the Episcopalians, ten : there v/ere also one of the German Moravians, and ten of the Low Dutch, German, Swedish Lutherans and Presbyterians.

The settlers about this time still continued to be pleased with the country ; and they had good reason for it. If the following account is true, and there is no reason for doubting it, it would seem that they might all have lived by fishing alone. One of the settlers wrote to a friend in England, that he and his cousin, with a few other men, undertook to catch herrings in the Delaware. They came into the shallows in great shoals, he says. The fishing party were ill provided, for they had neither rod nor line. But, after the Indian fashion, they made a round pinfold in the flats of the river, about two yards over, and a foot high. A gap was left at one end for the fish to go in at, and bushes laid over or Hear this gap, so contrived as to keep them in after they had entered.

When all this was doi.e, the fishermen took two long, slim birches, tied their tops together, and went away from the pinfold, about a stone's throw, up the river. Here they found the herrings again in vast multitudes. They i^ow plunged in their birches, and hauled them down the stream, driving the fish before them by the thousand. The pinfold was soon full of them. They then began to haul and drive them ashore in the same manner, as fast as four of them could work ; two pulling and hauling, and the other two stopping to breathe and rest. Thus, in half an hour, they filled a three-bushel sack with as good herrings as were ever broiled.

We are told, about this same time, that beef and pork continued to be as cheap and plenty as ever. The green pastures began to be spotted with sheep, too ; and of course the farmer's table was now and then spotted with fine mutton. The common grass of the country made beef very fat. " I have killed two cows this season," writes one of the settlers ; " and I have good reason to know and believe that the beef is good. Besides, I have seen killed, in Burlington, eight or nine fat oxen and cows on a market day, and all very fat."

In 1683, Mr. Gamen Lawrie, deputy-governor of East Jersey, wrote in the following terms to the proprietors in London : " There is not a poor man in all the province, nor one that wants." He adds, that there was abundance of provision. Pork and beef sold at two-pence a pound. Fish and fowl, and all manner of creeping things from sea and land, were at every man's door, as it were. The oysters would have served the whole continent. Wheat went for four shillings a bushel.

Indian wheat, as the settlers called it (meaning Indian corn, I suppose), sold for two shillings. It was considered exceedingly good food both for man and beast, and gave two or three hundred fold increase. Good cider could be drunk in any quantity, by man, woman or child, for a penny a quart ; a drink, made chiefly of molasses and water, sold for two shillings a barrel ; venison, at one shilling and six-pence the quarter ; eggs, at three-pence per dozen; vines, walnuts, peaches and strawberries were still plenty in the woods. On the whole, these good people seem to have had a comfortable time of it.

The Quakers of New Jersey were always among the most religious as well as most industrious and sober of the population. Before even a house was built in Burlington, they constantly held their religious meetings under a sail-cloth tent. From this tent they moved next into John Woolston's house, which was the first erected in Burlington. The next was one Thomas Gardiner's. It was several years before the first meeting-house was erected.

Chapter III

Pennsylvania named for William Penn. Account of his Family. His Father, Admiral Penn. Early Education of William. Goes to Oxford University. Hears Quaker Preaching. Bei^omes a Quaker. Is expelled from College. Meets with Trouble at Home, and in London. Is tried and imprisoned. .Anecdotes showing his Character. Receives a Charter of Pennsylvania.

The state of Pennsylvania was so named for William Penn, whom we have already mentioned, but whose history now becomes more important. He was a chief promoter of the first settlement, and may justly be called the father of the province.

William Penn was born in London, October 14th, 1644. He was the son of Sir William Penn. This gentleman was remarkably fond of maritime and military affairs from his childhood up. He was made captain at the age of twenty-one ; rear-admiral of Ireland at twenty-three, and vice-admiral at twenty-five ; rear-admiral of England at thirtyone ; and general in the first Dutch war at thirty-two.

He was afterwards elected a member of parliament for the town of Weymouth ; and in 1660 he was governor of the town and fort at Kingsail. Four years after, he was appointed great captaincommander, under the Duke of York, in which capacity he distinguished himself very honorably on the occasion of a famous naval victory over the Dutch. King Charles 11. knighted him, after his own restoration to the throne. He became also a peculiar favorite of James, Duke of York, who, on his death-bed, warmly recommended the admiral to the kind remembrance of his son. Mr. Penn died in 1670, leaving, with his blessing, a large estate to his son William. He had been greatly oifended with him for joining the Quakers, but became reconciled in the last years of his life.

The young man was endowed with good talents, and he made such proficiency at school, that, at fifteen years of age, he was entered a student at Christ's Church in the university of Oxford. Here, or a little before this time, he was more strongly affected by the preaching of a celebrated Quaker, Thomas Loe. He withdrew fi-om the worship of the Church of England, with a few other students. They held private meetings in the college, where they prayed and preached among themselves. This conduct gave great offence to the college-government. They began with fining Penn, who was then but sixteen years old, for non-conformity ; and finding him still incorrigible in his own faith and practices, they expelled him from the college.

He then returned home. There he continued to prefer the religious society of his newly-adopted sect. His father considered this disposition a misfortune, if not a fault. The admiral knew but little, perhaps, of the particular doctrines of the Quakers, and cared less about them ; but he thought that his son's manner of life would be a great obstacle in the way of his preferment at court.