The first incorporated bank in America was the Bank of North America, and its operations commenced January 7, 1782, in the commodious store belonging to its cashier, Tench Francis, on the north side of Chestnut Street, west of Third.
In 1780 the Assembly of Pennsylvania made a strong effort to relieve the people from the withering blight of the Continental money. It tried to redeem it by taxation at the rate of 1 to 40. But neither this nor any other measure prevented the coinage of the phrase, “It is not worth a Continental.”
To assist Congress in providing for the army, Robert Morris and other financiers of the State established the Bank of Pennsylvania, the first bank in America. The last attempt to prolong the life of the “Continentals” was made by the Supreme Executive Council in May, 1781; but the remedy proved fatal. Pelatiah Webster said of the proceedings: “Thus fell, ended and died the Continental currency, aged six years.”
During the Revolutionary War the country was extremely poor, with few industries but agriculture, and was quite denuded of the precious metals, owing to a heavy and long continued adverse foreign trade, so that the Congress of the United States experienced great difficulties in providing the requisite means for carrying on the hostilities.
On May 10, 1775, soon after the battle of Lexington, Congress made preparation to issue Continental paper, $2,000,000 of which were put in circulation on June 22 following.
From month to month these issues, which in the aggregate reached three hundred millions, depreciated, until eventually they became entirely valueless, notwithstanding the passage of laws making them a legal tender for the payment of debts.
On May 17, 1781, a plan for a National Bank was submitted to Congress by Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania, the principal provisions of which were as follows: The capital to be $400,000, in shares of $400 each; that each share be entitled to a vote for directors; that there be twelve directors chosen from those entitled to vote, who at their first meeting shall choose one as president; that the directors meet quarterly; that the board be empowered from time to time to open new subscriptions for the purpose of increasing the capital of the bank; statements to be made to the Superintendent of the Finances of America; that the bank notes payable on demand shall by law be made receivable for duties and taxes in any state, and from the respective states by the treasury of the United States; that the Superintendent of Finances of America shall have a right at all times to examine into the affairs of the bank.
On May 26, 1781, Congress adopted the following: “Resolved, that Congress do approve of the plan for the establishment of a National Bank in these United States, submitted for their consideration by Mr. R. Morris, May 17, 1781, and that they will promote and support the same by such ways and means, from time to time, as may appear necessary for the institution and consistent with the public good; that the subscribers to the said bank shall be incorporated agreeably to the principles and terms of the plan, under the name of ‘The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of North America,’ so soon as the subscription shall be filled, the directors and president chosen, and application for that purpose made to Congress by the president and directors elected.”
On December 31 following Congress adopted “an ordinance to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of North America.”
The first president was Thomas Willing, and the cashier was Tench Francis. The bank became at once a most important auxiliary in aid of the finances of the government, and so continued to the end of the war.
This institution was also incorporated by the State of Pennsylvania, on April 18, 1782.
Robert Morris subscribed for 633 shares of the bank on account of the United States, paying therefore $254,000, but, owing to the necessities of the government, he was almost immediately compelled to borrow a like amount from the bank, so that the institution derived but little benefit from the government subscription.
The deposits gradually assumed large proportions. Some of the States gave to the bank the assistance of their recognition. Connecticut made the notes receivable in payment of taxes, Rhode Island provided punishment for counterfeiting its issue, and Massachusetts created it a corporation according to the laws of that Commonwealth.
The operations of the bank were almost immediately attended with the restoration of confidence and credit. The State of Pennsylvania being unable to pay the officers of its army, relief was found in the bank, which advanced the money for the state, and received its reimbursement when the revenue was collected.
The public enemy infested the Delaware River and Bay, and seized vessels in the port of Philadelphia. The bank advanced $22,500, which enabled the merchants to fit out a ship of war, which not only cleared the river of the enemy, but captured a cruiser of twenty guns belonging to the BritishBritish fleet.
The defense of the Western frontier was promoted by the advance of £5000 by the bank in 1782.
In the year 1785, when an ill feeling had arisen between the government of the State of Pennsylvania and the bank, the former repealed the charter which it had granted in 1782. The bank, however, continued its operations under the charter granted by the Federal Government till 1787, when it was rechartered by Pennsylvania.
The charter of the Bank of North America has been renewed from time to time, and was made a National Bank, December, 1864, and is still one of the leading financial institutions of the State and Nation.
It is one of the only three banks in existence at the time of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the others being the Bank of New York, at New York City, and the Bank of Massachusetts, at Boston.
The first successful American locomotive was made in Philadelphia by Matthias William Baldwin, and completed January 8, 1831.
The story of the man and his wonderful achievement is the story of one of the greatest industrial plans in the world and is full of human interest.
Matthias Baldwin was born December 10, 1795, the son of an Elizabeth, N. J., carriage-maker, who was in affluent circumstances at the time of his death, but the mismanagement of his property caused the loss of nearly all. Matthias was the youngest of five children and but four years old when his father died. He inherited his father’s skill with tools and early began to construct labor-saving devices to assist his mother in her housework.
At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a firm of jewelers in Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia. His habits were sober, industrious and earnest. He devoted much of his spare time to singing in the little Presbyterian Church.
At twenty-one he became an apprentice in the firm of Fletcher & Gardner, silversmiths and jewelers, of Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.
In 1825 he formed a partnership with David Mason, a machinist, for the manufacture of bookbinder tools and cylinders for calico printing. Their first shop was in a small alley running north from Walnut Street above Fourth. Afterwards they moved into a shop on Minor Street, where they also began to manufacture machines of Mr. Baldwin’s invention.
The first such invention was a small upright engine adapted to the motive power of a small factory. From this success the manufacture of stationary steam engines took a prominent place in the establishment.
The plant now employed a number of young men. Baldwin felt that these needed some place where they could get instruction in science and mechanical art, so that they might become more intelligent and inventive. He talked over the matter with many other employers, and the result was the founding of Franklin Institute, the cornerstone of which was laid with Masonic ceremonies, June 8, 1824. This is still one of the active and valuable institutions of the country.
About this time Mr. Mason withdrew from the firm, Mr. Baldwin continuing the manufacture of engines.
It was in 1829–30 that steam, as a motive power on railroads, began to attract the attention of American engineers. George Stephenson had produced a successful locomotive in England. In 1830 the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company brought across the ocean a locomotive, which was kept hidden from the public eye until it should be used.
Franklin Peale, who owned the Philadelphia Museum, where up-to-date novelties were shown, wished to have a small working model of a locomotive to exhibit, and he turned to Matthias Baldwin.
The two men found out where the locomotive was kept, and visited the place. Baldwin was already familiar with the published description and sketches of engines which had taken part in the Rainhill competitions in England, but he now had an opportunity to see and measure for himself an actual engine.
Baldwin made the model, completing it January 8, 1831. It was taken to the museum and on April 25 was put in motion on a circular track made of pine boards, covered with hoop-iron. It drew two small cars, each holding four persons, and attracted great attention from the crowds who saw it. Both anthracite and pine-knot coal were used as fuel, and the steam was discharged through the smokestack to increase the draught.
The success of the model obtained for Mr. Baldwin an order for a locomotive for the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad Company.
This engine when completed was called “Old Ironsides” and left the shop November 23, 1832. It stood on the rails like a “thing of life.” Its light weight, between four and five tons, did not give it that tractive power necessary to draw a loaded train on wet and slippery rails, hence the newspapers of that day termed it a “fair weather” locomotive, because the notices specified that “the locomotive built by Mr. M. W. Baldwin, of this city, will depart daily, when the weather is fair, with a train of passenger cars. On rainy days horses will be attached.”
The “Old Ironsides” was a four-wheeled engine, modeled essentially on the English fashion of that day. The wheels were made with heavy cast-iron hubs, wooden spokes and rims, and wrought-iron tires. The price of this engine was $4,000, but the company claimed that it did not perform according to contract, and after correction had been made as far as possible, a compromise was effected and Mr. Baldwin received $3,500 for his work.
“Old Ironsides” on subsequent trials attained a speed of thirty miles an hour with the usual train.
Only one man in Baldwin’s shop, besides the inventor himself, could properly run “Old Ironsides.” This man fell sick, and others who tried, could not get it to run satisfactorily. The president of the road was about to throw it back on Baldwin’s hands when the engineer recovered and the locomotive gave satisfaction. But Baldwin was so thoroughly disgusted with all the complaints, and such was his first locomotive that he said with much decision, “That is our last locomotive.” But other great men have been known to change their minds, and when Matthias Baldwin died, his works had built more than 1500 locomotives.
“The Miller,” for the Charleston and Hamburg, S. C., Railroad Company was the next engine built by Mr. Baldwin. During 1834 he completed five locomotives, and his business was now fairly established. It was during this year that larger quarters were necessary, and Mr. Baldwin removed his shops to the location on Broad and Hamilton Streets, where, in 1835, the present Baldwin Locomotive Works had their origin, and where they have since developed into their immense proportions.
The financial difficulties of 1836–37 did not leave Mr. Baldwin unscathed. Great as his embarrassments were a full consultation with his creditors resulted in the wise determination to leave him in full and complete possession of the plant and business, under an agreement to pay full amount of indebtedness, principal and interest. In five years Baldwin discharged every dollar of debt.
August 25, 1842, Mr. Baldwin obtained a patent for a six-wheel connected engine, which revived the business. In 1840 Baldwin built a locomotive for Austria and in 1845 he built three for Wurtemburg.
Mr. Baldwin died September 7, 1865, after he had virtually perfected the locomotive and witnessed the rise and wonderful increase of the most important material interest of the age, to the completion of which he had contributed more than any other individual. His name was familiar where the locomotive was known and his personal character as a Christian and a philanthropist was as highly esteemed by his associates and acquaintances as his scientific achievements were valued by the profession.
A motorist touring north along the Susquehanna Trail, when six miles above Harrisburg, just at the point in the roadway where one would turn off sharply to the right, if going to the beautiful Country Club of Harrisburg, can see a boulder which marks the site of Fort Hunter, one of the busy places during the stirring period immediately following hostilities which inaugurated the French and Indian War.
This fort stood on the south bank of Fishing Creek, at its junction with the Susquehanna River, on property now occupied by John W. Reily near the village known as Rockville.
The date of its erection is uncertain, but it is probable that it was built by the settlers about October, 1755, immediately after the two terrible Indian massacres at Penn’s Creek and Mahanoy Creek. It was completed by the Provincial Government in January, 1756.
Benjamin Chambers was the first white man to settle in that vicinity, where he built a mill in 1720. He was the senior of four brothers, all sturdy Presbyterians from the County of Antrim in the north of Ireland. He was subsequently joined by his three brothers, and in 1735 all but Thomas removed to the Cumberland Valley.
Benjamin erected Fort Chambers and became a most influential citizen. Thomas remained on Fishing Creek and operated a mill. His son-in-law, Robert Hunter, subsequently fell heir to the improvements and henceforth the stockade was known as the fort at Hunter’s Mill, or Fort Hunter.
The first orders on record relating to Fort Hunter were issued January 9, 1756, by Governor Morris to Adam Read, of Hanover Township, Lancaster County, and were as follows:
“The Commissioner thinking that a company of fifty men under your command are sufficient to guard the frontier along the Kittektiny Hills, from your own house to Hunter’s Mill, have refused for the present to take any other men in that quarter into the pay of the Government, and requested me to order, and I do hereby order you to detach twenty-five of the men now at your house, to the fort at Hunter’s Mill, upon Susquehanna, under the command of your lieutenant, or officer next under yourself, or in case there be none such appointed by the Government, then under the command of such person as you shall appoint for that service; and you are to give orders to the commander of such detachment to keep his men in order and fit for duty, and to cause a party of them, from time to time, to range the woods along and near the mountains toward your house; and you are in like manner to keep the men with you in good order, and to cause a party of them from time to time, to range the woods on or near the mountains toward Hunter’s Mill, and you and they are to continue upon this service till further order.
“You are to add ten men to your company out of the township of Paxton, and to make the detachment at Hunter’s Mill of twenty more men, which with those ten, are to complete thirty for service, and keep an account of the time when these ten enter themselves, that you may be enabled to make up your muster roll upon oath.”
Hardly had the above order been executed and the men recruited until additional orders were dispatched by the Governor to Captain Read: “I have also appointed Thomas McKee to take post at or near Hunter’s Mill with thirty men.”
An interesting sentence in his letter revealed the hardships of a Provincial soldier: “But as the Province is at present in want of arms and blankets, if any of the men you shall enlist will find themselves with those articles, they shall receive half a dollar for the use of their gun, and half a dollar for the use of a blanket.”
At the same time Governor Morris wrote to James Galbraith, Esq., a Provincial Commissioner, rehearsing the sundry orders given to Captains Read and McKee, to which he added:
“I have also instructed Capt. McKee to advise with you whether to finish the fort already begun at Hunter’s Mill, or to build a new one, and as to the place where it would be best to erect such new one. I therefore desire you will assist him in those matters, or in anything else that the King’s service and the safety of the inhabitants may require.”
On December 9, 1755, Thomas Foster and Thomas McKee were furnished with “12½ pounds powder and 25 pounds swan shot.” It is therefore more than probable the soldiers ordered there in January, 1756, by Governor Morris were the first Provincial soldiers put on duty at Fort Hunter.
The activity of the French, in their efforts to enlist the Indians of the Province to take up the hatchet against the English, was felt at this post, as letters written by Captain McKee to Edward Shippen and others reveal.
At this time the Province had decided to erect a great fortress at the forks of the Susquehanna, which was subsequently built and named Fort Augusta. Colonel William Clapham was commissioned early in April, 1756, to recruit a regiment of 400 men for this purpose.
Governor Morris advised Colonel ClaphamClapham, April 7, that he had directed a rendezvous to be established at Fort Hunter and advised the colonel to use it for the safe storage of supplies and stocks which he would require in his expedition farther up the river.
June 11, 1756, Colonel Clapham stationed twenty-four troops there, under command of a Mr. Johnson, and directed him to “escort provisions, from there to McKee’s store.” November 3 the garrison consisted of “2 sargants and 34 Private Men.”
March 14, 1757, at a conference on the defense of the Province, held at Philadelphia, it was decided that 400 men should be kept at Fort Augusta; 100 should constitute the garrison at Fort Halifax, and that Fort Hunter should be demolished, only fifty being retained there temporarily until the removal of the magazine which was to take place as soon as possible.
The long frontier of the Blue Mountain, between the Susquehanna and Delaware was to be defended by Colonel Conrad Weiser’s battalion, and the forts reduced to three in number.
This caused consternation among the settlers near Fort Hunter and they appealed to the Provincial authorities.
Commissary Young, the Reverend John Elder and others appeared in person August 25 in Philadelphia, and strongly urged the retention of the garrison at this important place. Their appeal was effective. Fort Hunter was not demolished but strengthened.
Indians appeared within twenty rods of Fort Hunter, October, 1757. William Martin was killed and scalped while picking chestnuts.
Colonel James Patterson was in command of the garrison in January, 1758. From that time until the Pontiac Conspiracy in 1763, there was not much activity about Fort Hunter, when it again became the rendezvous of Provincial troops. After peace was declared Fort Hunter slowly but surely passed out of existence until the last log was rotted and disappeared and the old fort only existed as an historical memory.
About a dozen years ago the members of the Lebanon County Historical Society enjoyed three evenings of entertainment when that able and clever historian, Dr. E. Grumbine, of Mt. Zion, gave a history of interesting events, traditions and anecdotes of early Fredericksburg, known for many years as Stumpstown.
The village was laid out in 1761 by Frederick Stump, who for years afterwards led a most unusual and exciting life. The town was then in Lancaster County, later in Dauphin, then after 1813 in Lebanon County.
In the year 1826 a postoffice was established in the place, which with eminent propriety received the name Stumpstown. In 1843 the name of the postoffice became Fredericksburg.
In 1828 two enterprising citizens, named Henry and Martin Meily, built a canal boat, as the Union Canal had recently been opened and the canal was the talk of the day. While Stumpstown was distant from the canal, the Meilys did not seem to care for this handicap, but using a vacant corner of the only graveyard in the village, they constructed their boat and when finished they loaded it on heavy wagons and conveyed it four miles overland to Jonestown, where they christened it “Columbus” and launched it on the raging canal. It carried freight to and from Philadelphia for many years.
In 1767 the German Lutherans erected a church of logs, which served its purpose for sixty years.
Like many places, Stumpstown had a big fire which destroyed nearly one-fourth of the village. That was in 1827, and was caused by a boy shooting at a crow perched on the thatched roof of a stable. His old flint-rock was wadded with tow, which being inflammable, set fire to the straw thatch, and soon the barn was in flames, and fanned by a strong northwest breeze, a total of twenty buildings including a tannery, sheds, dwelling of owner, blacksmith shop, the only school house, and other houses were consumed.
Frederick Stump, the founder, was a notorious character. He was born in 1735 in the neighborhood of Stumpstown, and in 1768 was living near the mouth of Middle Creek in what is now Snyder County.
On Sunday morning, January 10, 1768, six Indians went to the house of Frederick Stump. They were White Mingo, Cornelius, John Campbell, Jones and two squaws. They were in a drunken condition and behaved in a suspicious manner. Stump endeavored to get them to leave, but without success. Fearing injury to himself, he and his servant, John Ironcutter, killed them all, dragging their bodies to the creek, where they cut a hole in the ice and pushed their bodies into the stream.
Fearing the news might be carried to the other Indians, Stump went the next day to their cabins, fourteen miles up the creek, where he found one squaw, two girls and one child. These he killed and threw their bodies in the cabin and burned it.
The details of these murders were told by Stump to William Blythe, who found the charred remains of the four in the cabin ruins. Blythe testified to these acts before the Provincial authorities in Philadelphia, January 19, 1768.
One of the bodies which Stump pushed through the hole in the ice floated down the Susquehanna until it finally lodged against the shore on the Cumberland County side, opposite Harrisburg, below the site of the present bridge at Market Street.
The Indian had been killed by being struck on the forehead with some blunt instrument, which crushed in his skull. His entire scalp, including his ears, was torn from his head. An inquest was held February 28, 1768, at the spot where his body was found.
John Blair Linn, in his “Annals of Buffalo Valley,” places the scene of this crime on the run that enters the creek at Middleburgh, known by the name of Stump’s Run to this day.
This crime caused the greatest consternation throughout the Province, as the authorities had just cause to fear a repetition of the Indian outrages unless Stump was apprehended and punished for his crime.
A few Indians who escaped the wrath of Stump chased him toward Fort Augusta. Stump did not enter the fort, but rushed into a house occupied by two women. He claimed their protection, alleging he was pursued by Indians. They did not believe him, and feared the Indians, if his story be true, but he begged piteously they hide him between two beds.
The Indians were but a moment behind Stump, but the women insisted they knew nothing of him. Before the Indians left the house they seized a cat, plucked out its hair and tore it to pieces, illustrating the reception which awaited Stump, had they found him.
Captain William Patterson led a score of his neighbors to assist in arresting Stump and Ironcutter.
On their approach Stump fled to the woods, but Patterson pretended that he wanted Stump to accompany him to Great Island to kill Indians. This appealed to Stump, who returned to the house, when Patterson arrested and bound him and took him and his servant to Carlisle, where they were lodged in jail, Saturday evening, March 23, 1768.
But justice was to be cheated. The magistrates fought over the place of Stump’s trial, and it was decided to try him in Philadelphia.
On Monday morning following his arrest, the Sheriff proceeded to do his duty, but was restrained by the magistrates. On Wednesday, forty of the country people assembled on the outskirts of Carlisle, and sent two messengers to the jail. When they learned Stump was not to be sent to Philadelphia for trial, they dispersed.
On Friday a company from Sherman’s Valley, where Stump had lived, marched toward Carlisle, about eight entering the town. Two of them went to the jail and asked the jailor for liquor. As he was serving them the others entered with drawn cutlasses and pistols and demanded he make no outcry. Sixty others now surrounded the jail. Stump was taken from the dungeon, the handcuffs removed and he was released.
The Sheriff, Colonel John Armstrong and others attempted to restrain the mob, but in the struggle which ensued Stump escaped, as did his servant, Ironcutter.
The Governor was angered at this escape and issued instructions for his rearrest and then a formal proclamation offering a reward of £200 for Stump and £100 for Ironcutter.
After their rescue from the Carlisle jail both Stump and Ironcutter returned to the neighborhood of their bloody crime, but as their presence was not longer agreeable to the inhabitants, Stump soon left and went to the residence of his father at Tulpehocken and Ironcutter was spirited away by friends.
They were never again arrested, for the settlers generally sympathized with them, but Stump and his servant both went to Virginia, where it is known that Stump died at an advanced age.
Nearly a month after the signing of the charter, March 4, 1681, King Charles II, April 2, issued a declaration informing the inhabitants and planters of the Province that William Penn, their absolute Proprietary, was clothed with all the powers and pre-eminences necessary for the Government. A few days later, April 8, the Proprietary addressed a proclamation to the inhabitants of Pennsylvania.
Captain William Markham, a cousin of William Penn, was appointed Deputy Governor and his commission contained five items of instructions, the fourth being “to erect courts, appoint sheriffs, justices of the peace, etc.” These courts were established and the new Government was soon functioning.
The records of these early courts are interesting to both the lawyer and those who care for the history of our State.
Most of our citizens are but little attracted by the tedious accounts of routine practice, or the fine distinction between one jurisdiction and another, yet they find gratification in contemplating the manners, customs and modes of thought once prevalent in our courts of justice.
A review of the practice of the courts of Pennsylvania in the seventeenth century and as late as the eighteenth present many interesting subjects.
The power to erect courts of justice and to appoint all judicial officers in and for the Province of Pennsylvania was by the express terms of the charter conferred upon the Proprietary. But, in deference to the wishes of the people, Penn was willing to forego to some degree the exercise of this extraordinary right and the concurrence of the Assembly was invariably required to the bill for the erection of a court. The judges during the early years of the Province were also selected by the Provincial Council, the members of which were elected annually by the people in accordance with provisions of the Frame of Government.
The County Courts of the Province had their origin in 1673, under the Government of James, Duke of York, and were established in every county, “to decide all matters under twenty pounds without appeal,” and to have exclusive jurisdiction in the administration of criminal justice, with an appeal, however, in cases extending to “Life, Limbo and Banishment,” to the Court of Assizes in New York. These courts usually consisted of five or six justices, which met quarterly. No one learned in the law presided on the bench, no attorney was allowed to practice for pay. Juries were only allowed to consist of six or seven men, except in cases of life and death, and in all save those instances, the conclusions of the majority were allowed to prevail.
The first court held in the Province, the records of which are preserved, was held in Philadelphia January 11, 1682. There were six bills presented to the Grand Jury, all but one having to do with the highway. That one exception was a petition for a court house.
These tribunals lacked almost every element of distinctly English procedure, but were continued by Penn. Justices of the Peace were from time to time commissioned, some for the whole Province and some for a particular county. Their attendance at court was secured by the penalty of a fine.
Twelve jurymen were subsequently provided whose unanimous opinion was required to bring in a verdict. The panel of jurymen was drawn in a highly primitive manner. “The names of the freemen were writ on small pieces of paper and put into a hat and shaken, forty-eight of whom were drawn by a child, and those so drawn stood for the Sheriff’s return.”
The civil jurisdiction of the County Courts was first distinctly defined in 1683, when all actions of debt, account or slander and all actions of trespass were by Act of Assembly declared to be originally cognizable solely by them. Other jurisdiction was given them by subsequent action of the Legislature.
The justices interfered to promote and defend the popular interests in all matters that were of public concern. In very early times they granted letters of administration. They superintended the laying out of roads, apportioned the town lots to responsible applicants, took acknowledgments of deeds and registered the private brands and marks of considerable owners of cattle.
They exercised, too, a supervision over all bond servants, regulated the sale of their time, afforded summary relief if they were abused by their masters, punished them with stripes or the pillory if they attempted to escape, and took care that they were at liberty to purchase their freedom on reasonable terms.
July 8, 1683, “Philip England made complaint against Sea Captain James Kilner, who denieth all alleged against him, only the kicking of the maid, and that was for spilling a chamber vessel upon the deck; otherwise he was very kind to them.”
They were also intrusted with other duties. The minutes of the Provincial Council for February 12, 1687–8, show that the County Court of Philadelphia was ordered to cause “stocks and a cage to be provided,” and was required “to suppress the noise and drunkenness of Indians, especially in the night, and to cause the crier to go to the extent of each street when he has anything to cry, and to put a check to horse racing.”
In 1702 the Grand Jury found true bills for the following offenses:
“John Simes, ordinary, and others, for keeping a disorderly house to debauch the youth. John was disguised in women’s clothes walking the streets openly, and going from house to house against the laws of God and this Province, to the staining of the holy profession, and against the law of nature. Edward James, a like offender, at an unreasonable hour of night.
“Dorothy, wife of Richard Conterill, is indicted also for being masked in men’s clothes, walking and dancing in the house of said John Simes at 10 o’clock at night. Sarah Stiver, wife of John Stiver, was also at the same house, dressed in men’s clothes, and walked the streets.”
It is quite probable that these indictments stopped any further attempts to hold “masquerade balls” in Philadelphia for some years.
In 1703 three barbers were indicted for “trimming on the First day”; three persons were brought before the Court for playing cards; a butcher was in court for “killing meat in the street and leaving their blood and offals there,” another for “setting up a great reed stack on Mulberry Street, and making a close fence about the same.” Many runaways were publicly whipped.
In the year 1708 “Solomon Cresson, a constable of the City of Philadelphia, going his rounds at 1 o’clock at night and discovering a very riotous assembly in a tavern, immediately ordered them to disperse, when John Evans, Esq., Governor of the Province, happened to be one of them, and called Solomon in the house and flogged him very severely, and had him imprisoned for two days.”
In 1731, at New Castle, “Catherine Bevan is ordered to be burned alive, for the murder of her husband; and Peter Murphy, the servant who assisted her, to be hanged.”
Pious Henry Antes assembled at his home in Germantown on January 12, 1742, thirty-five persons, representing eight distinct denominations of the Christian religion, and formed the first Moravian Synod.
Heinrich Antes (Von Blume) of a noble family in the Palatinate, was born about 1620. He left a son, Philip Frederick, born about 1670.
When Philip Frederick and his wife came to America they brought only the oldest, Johann Heinrich, born in 1701, and the youngest, Mary Elizabeth, along.
It is not known exactly when the Antes family arrived in America. The last time we find the name of Philip Frederick Antes in the Freinsheim Church book of baptisms is in September, 1716. The first time we find his name in America is in the Deed Book of Philadelphia County, in February, 1723, when there was recorded a deed conveying to Antes a tract of 154 acres along the Swamp Creek. In the deed Antes is described as a resident of Germantown. On April 9, 1742, he married Elizabeth Wayman. In 1725, Philip Frederick Antes lived in Frederick Township, where he died November 28, 1746.
Henry Antes, the son, was taught the trade of carpenter and mill-wright before coming to America. He was tall in stature, of a large frame, strong physique and enjoyed robust health.
After his father moved to New Hanover Township, Henry stayed in Germantown, where he engaged in partnership with William Dewees in the construction of a paper mill and grist mill, both at Crefeld along the Wissahickon.
On February 2, 1726, Henry Antes was married to his partner’s daughter, Christina Elizabeth Dewees, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1702. She died October 5, 1782. The ceremony was celebrated by John Philip Boehm, pastor of the German Reformed congregations of Falkner Swamp, Skippack and Whitemarsh.
His trade took him to various parts of the settled portion of Pennsylvania. His services were in constant demand. Antes became known to many people. He was thoroughly familiar with the streams, water power, forest and soil of many localities.
On September 2, 1735, he bought 175 acres in Frederick Township, near his father’s farm. In partnership with George Heebner he at once began the erection of a grist mill upon his own property, which for many years was known far and wide as Antes’ Mill.
Antes lived the rest of his life on his Frederick Township farm, except when temporarily called away, and during his short residence in Bethlehem among the Moravians.
In 1736 Antes had a quarrel with the Reverend Mr. Boehm, the cause of which is not known. Boehm said he had occasion to speak to Antes several times on necessary matters. A statement friendly to Antes said it was caused by Antes rebuking Boehm for unbecoming behavior. It was probably caused by Boehm speaking to Antes in protest at his close association with Bishop Spangenberg. At any rate Antes left Boehm’s church and became a Moravian.
In religious matters Henry Antes displayed much zeal and activity. He became known as the “Pious Layman of Fredericktown.” He taught the proper way of life to his countrymen, frequently calling them together in their homes for prayers, reading of the scriptures and exhortation. He was thus employed in Oley as early as 1736.
In 1740 a great religious revival occurred in Falkner Swamp. George Whitefield, the great revivalist, preached at the house of Christopher Wiegner at Skippack, then later in the day he preached at the house of Henry Antes. About two thousand persons, mostly Germans, with some Quakers, Dunkards, Swedes, Huguenots and other church people were in attendance.
Antes yearned for the unity of the followers of the Christian religion.
On November 24, 1741, Count Zinzindorf came to Philadelphia to unite the leading men of the several denominations in Pennsylvania for evangelical work. John Bechtel indorsed the movement, and Henry Antes issued a call for the first meeting in furtherance of this object to be held in Germantown. In order to command the confidence of German colonists it was necessary that the movement be recommended by one well known to the people, so Antes issued the call.
Because the movement did not meet with success in the way anticipated Henry Antes really died of a broken heart. The Moravian Church, however, was one of the results.
During the session of the Moravian Synod, March, 1745, at the home of Henry Antes, he offered the use of his farm and buildings and his mill for the brethren to be used as boarding school for boys.
On June 3, 1745, the school was started with thirty-four scholars. Christina Francke Christopher, of Bethlehem, was superintendent, and John C. Heyne, a teacher. The Moravians named it Mount Frederick School, and it was the first nonsectarian school in Pennsylvania.
Antes and his family, excepting two sons, John and Henry, who remained as pupils, moved to Bethlehem. Here he gave his whole time to the temporal affairs of the Moravians. He planned and superintended the building of the first mills, dams, bridges and houses at the different Moravian settlements.
On December 15, 1745, he was appointed by King George of England, to be Justice of the Peace for Bucks County, in which Bethlehem was then a part. October 27, 1748, Henry Antes was appointed business manager of the Moravians.
In 1750 Antes withdrew from the Moravians, because he did not approve of the introduction of the wearing of a white surplice by the minister at the celebration of the Eucharist.
During the summer of that year the white scholars were transferred to the schools at Oley and Macgungie and the Indians and Negroes to Bethlehem, and in September, 1750, Mount Frederick School was closed and Henry Antes moved back to his farm.
In 1752 Antes was appointed justice of the peace for Philadelphia County, but at this time his health was broken, caused by an injury received during the construction of the Friedenstal Mill, near Nazareth.
On August 25, 1752, Antes accompanied Bishop Spangenberg to North Carolina. Antes was in miserable health and returned home in the spring of 1753. He was an invalid until he died July 20, 1755.
He was buried by the Moravians in the family graveyard beside his father. Bishop Spangenberg preached the funeral sermon. Ten pall-bearers from Bethlehem carried his body to its final resting place.
Antes left four distinguished sons: Frederick, a delegate to the Provincial Convention in Carpenters’ Hall, a colonel of the Sixth Battalion of Philadelphia County Militia, which participated in the Battle of Brandywine, etc. He removed to Northumberland where he held many important positions of honor and trust, and was president judge of the county. He was the father-in-law of Governor Simon Snyder; William, a lieutenant colonel in the Revolution; John, a Moravian who suffered untold agonies in a mission field in Egypt; and John Henry, Lieutenant Colonel in Revolution, sheriff of Northumberland County and the pioneer settler of what is Nippenose Valley in Lycoming County. Five daughters also survived Pious Henry Antes.