ML
OenSIEALOGY
COULECTlbN
iLLEN COUNTY PUBLIC.LIBRARY
3 1833 02232 6596
THE
CITY HALL
> HISTORY
PHILADBIvPHIA.
1609 — 1884.
J. THOMAS SCHARF and THOMPSON WESTCOTT.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
Vol. III.
PHILADELPHIA.:
I.. H. EVKRTS »* CO.
18S4.
Copyriglit. 1884. \>y L. H. Everts & Co.
PBK8H OF
.1. II. I.IPIMNC'fiTT .* CO..
l>llll..\lif.I.I"IIIA
CONTENTS OF VOLUME 111.
113B123
CHAPTER XLII. Pio.
Municipal Government of Philadelphia 1'03
CHAPTER XLII I.
Municipal, State, and Government Buildings 1769
CHAPTER XLIV.
COUKT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 1819
CHAPTER XLV.
Public Squares, Parks, and Monuments 1840
CHAPTER XLV I.
FiKEMBN, Fire Companies, and Large Fires 1883
CHAPTER XLVIL
Education l^^l
CHAPTER XLVIIL
The Press of Philadelphia 1^58
CHAPTER XLIX.
Secret Orders and Societies 206-
CHAPTER L.
Banks and Bankers, and Currency 2084
CHAPTER LL
Insurance in Philadelphia -H^
CHAPTER LIL
Telegraphs, Telephones, and Electric Lights 2128
CHAPTER LIIL
Ferries, Bridges, Public Landings, and Wharves 21^**
CHAPTER LIV.
Transportation "^^8
CHAPTER LV.
Trade and Commerce 220.S
iv CONTENTS OF VOLUME IH.
CHAPTER LVI.
PAOX
ii.ASXJFA.CTUB.ta 2226
CHAPTER LVII.
The Industries of Philadelphia 2248
CHAPTER LVIII.
The Coumercial Exchanobs of Philadelphia 2340
CHAPTER LIX.
Burtino-Grocnds and Cemeteries 2856
I
ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOLUME III.
PASE
Allen, W. H 1947
Baird, Matthew 2178
Baldwin, M. W 2255
Baldwin Locomotive Works 2256
Baldwin Engine, 1834 2256
Baldwin Engine, 1842 2257
Bank of Pennsyltania 2095
Barclay, James J 1840
Bement, William B 2266
Biddle, Alexander 1948
Bispham, Samdel 2224
Bonbright, James 2313
Bradford, William 1965
Bridge and Tunnel, Fairmohnt Park . . . 1857
Caldwell, S. A 2103
Callowhill Street Bridge 1853
Centre Sqitare 1843
Chamber op Commerce 2344
Childs, George W 2008
City Hall Frontispiece.
Clark, Enoch W. 2100
CoATEs, George M. . • 2332
Cochran, Thomas 2104
Colket, Coffin 2202
Comlt, F. a 2188
Cope, Thomas P 2337
Cottage of Tom Moore 1866
Cramp, William 2338
Cross, Benjamin 2291
Devil's Pool 1858
Disston, Henry 2268
DissTON & Sons, Works of 2269
DoBsoN, J. & J., Mills of 2309
DoLAN, Thomas 2306
DoLAN, Thomas, Works of 2307
Drake, Thomas 2302
Drake, Thomas, Residence of 2303
Drexel, a. J 2102
Dundas, James 2098
Ellis, Thomas S 2324
Ellison, John B 2304
Fairmount Water-Works 1854
Fidelity Insurance, Trust, and Safe Deposit Com-
pany Building 2103
First Hose-Carriage 1895
Fitch's First Steamboat 2166
Fitch's Second Steamboat 2168
Fitler, E. H 2311
Forney, J. W 2054
Fountain and Stand-Pipe, Fairmount Park . . 1869
Fountain in Rittenhouse Square .... 1849
Girard's Bank 2097
GiRARD College 1945
Girls' Normal School 1933
Godey, Louis A 1996
Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company
Building 2104
Harrah, C. J 2204
Harrison, Joseph, Jr 2258
Hartshoene, Charles 2189
Hoopes, Barton 2267
Hunter, John 1716
Independence Hall, 1884 1797
Johnson, Lawrence 2328
Keystone Watch Case Manufactory . . . 2335
Kneass, Strickland ; 1748
Knight, E. C 2186
Lewis, Mordecai 2276
Lewis, S. N 2276
Lincoln Monument 1860
LippiNCOTT, J. B 2330
Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Com-
pany Building 2124
Lyon, Patrick 1907
Mackellar, Thomas 2325
Masonic Hall in 1802 2066
Masonic Temple 2069
McClure, a. K 2048
McMichael, Morton 1972
Merchants' Exchange 2348
Mifflin, James L 2212
Mount St. Joseph's Academy 1955
Moyamensing Prison 1835
MuNDELL, John ........ 2288
ILLUSTRATIONS OF VOLUME III.
PASS
PAOB
OsoMTi Sehiicart
1957
Swain, William M.
2004
"Old Ironsides" Engine
21T8
Thomson, J. Edgar
2190
Old Staoe-Coach
2163
Times Building
2046
Old Stage-Waoon
2160
TowNSEND Mill .
2295
Patterson, Joseph
210S
Tread-Mill .
1830
2029
Unit^) States Custom-House, First .
1803
Pbiladelphia Record Building
2040
United States Custom-Housb in 1884
1804
Pbiladelpdia Trcst, Sapi Deposit, and Insurance
United States Mint ....
1816
Company Building
2106
Unitehsity of Pennsylvania, First .
1938
1811
University of Pennsylvania, 1884 .
1941
Powers 4 Weiohtman's Manufactory
2274
Upton, John
2072
Protident Lipe and Trust Company Building
2122
Upton's Hotel, Dock Street, in 1821
2071
Public Ledger Building
2006
Vollmer, Gottlieb ....
2333
Randall, S. J
2218
Wheeler, Charles
2252
Saur's House, Germantown
1964
Wbelen, Israel .
2086
Scott, Thomas A
2194
Whelen, Townsend
2088
Sellers, William
2264
Wilcox, Mark
2321
StNOERLY, William M.
2042
Wilson's School-House
1925
Smith, Edmund
2196
WlXSOR, IIenry
2170
Smith, Richard S
2116
WisSAHiCKON Views
1864
Snowden, a. Loudon
1818
Wood, R. D. .
2236
Soldiers' Monument, Girard College
1S77
Wood, William & Co., Manufactory
2316
Struthers, William
2294
Zoological Garden, Fairuount
Park
1867
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
CHAPTER XLII.'
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
City Departments— Duties of MuDicipal Officers — Condition of the City
Government — Civil Lists — Statistical Information, etc.
Before the 2d day of February, 1854, the territory
of the county of Philadelphia was under the control
of various municipal corporations, to wit : the mayor,
aldermen, and citizens of Philadelphia, the commis-
sioners and inhabitants of the district of South wark,
the commissioners and inhabitants of the incorporated
district of the Northern Liberties, the commissioners
and inhabitants of the Kensington District, the com-
missioners and inhabitants of the district of Spring
Garden, the commissioners and inhabitants of the
district of Moyamensing, the commissioners and in-
habitants of the district of Penn, the commissioners
and inhabitants of the district of Richmond, the dis-
tricts of West Philadelphia and Belmont, of the bor-
oughs of Manayunk, Germantown, Frankford, White
Hall, Bridesburg, and Aramingo, and of the townships
of Passyunk, Kingsessing, Blockley, Roxborough,
Germantown, Bristol, Oxford, Lower Dublin, More-
land, Byberry, Northern Liberties, and Delaware, and
Penn. On that day the Governor of Pennsylvania
approved an act consolidating the aforesaid corpora-
tions, and changing the corporate name of the mayor,
aldermen, and citizens of Philadelphia to " The City
of Philadelphia," the boundaries of its territory being
those of the county of Philadelphia. This act is known
as the " Consolidation Act," and divides the city into
wards, but continues the county of Philadelphia as one
of the counties of the commonwealth, the same terri-
tory thus having a dual name, the county of Phila-
delphia and the city of Philadelphia.
The Legislative Power, and Councils.— The
legislative powers of the city are vested in two bodies,
called the Select and the Common Council ; the Select
Council consists of one member from each ward, who
must have attained the age of twenty-five years, and
have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State four
years next before his election, and the last year there-
1 Tliis cliapter, with the exception of the civil lists and statistical
tables, was prepared for this work by Isaac H. Shields, attorney>at-law,
of this city.
109 '
of an inhabitant of the district for which he shall be
chosen, unless he shall have been absent on the public
business of the United States or of the State of Penn-
sylvania ; and no person shall hold said office after he
shall have removed from such ward. Their term of
office is three years. Each ward has a member of
Common Council for each two thousand of taxable
inhabitants'' that it shall contain according to the list
of taxables for the preceding year, who shall serve
for two years from the Ist day of January succeeding
their election, and it is the duty of the sheriff of the
County of Philadelphia, in his proclamation for every
2 Qualifications of Electoes. — Voting on ^ge.— Every male citizen
between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-two years may vote without
being assessed. He must previously have resided in the State one year,
and in the election district (or division) where he offers to vote for at
least two months, before the election. If his name is not on the regis-
try of voters, he must make atfidavit, if a native citizen, as to his birth-
place and residence in the district for two months, and in the State for
one year, except in case he had been a resident and removed therefrom
and again returned, when six months' residence will be sufficient. If
he is not native born, but the son of a citizen naturalized during the
son's minority, he must also produce proof of his father's naturalization,
of which the naturalization certificate will be the best evidence.
A natural-born citizen over twenty-two years of age must have paid
within two years a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed
at least two months and paid one month before the election. He must
have resided in the State one year, or if. having previously been a quali-
fied elector or native-born citizen of the State, he shall have removed
therefrom and returned, then six months, immediately preceding the
election. He must have resided iu the election district where he ofiTers
to vote at least two months immediately preceding the election. If hia
name is not upon the registry list, he must produce at least one qualified
voter of the district or division to prove his residence by affidavit, and
himself make affidavit to the facts upon which he claims a right to vote,
also that he has not moved into the district for the purpose of voting
therein. Proof of payment of taxes must be made by producing the
tax receipt, or by affidavit that it has been lost, destroyed, or was never
received.
A naturalized citizen must have the same qualifications as to residence
iu the State and district, assessment aud payment of taxes, as a native-
horn citizen. He must have been naturalized one mouth before the
election. If his name is not on the registry list he must prove his resi-
dence by the testimony of a citizen of the district or division, and him-
self state by afiidavit when and where and by what court he was natu-
ralized, and produce his naturalization certificate for examination. On
challenge, he may also be required, even when his name is upon the reg-
istry list, to produce a naturalization certificate, unless he has been for
lively a voter in the district.
Qualifications of Election Officers.
No person can be an election officer who holds, or wUhin tujo montfis
has held, any office or appointment under the Federal or State govern-
ment, or under any city or county or any municipal board, commission,
or trust, in any city, except justices of the peace, aldermen, notaries
public, and persons in the military service of the State.
1703
17U-t
HISTORY OF PHrLADELPHIA.
manicipal election, to state the number of members
of the Common Council which the voters of each
ward shall be entitled to elect. But no member of
the State Legislature, nor any one holding office or
employment from, or under the State, at the time of
said election, shall be eligible as a member of said
Councils ; nor shall any member thereof, during the
term for which he shall be elected, hold any oflSce or
employment of a municipal character,' nor shall any
member, whether as a committee or otherwise, make
any disbursement of corporate moneys, nor audit the
accounts thereof, nor perform any other executive
duty whatever. A member of Common Council shall
have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have
been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years
next preceding his election, and the last year thereof
an inhabitant of the ward in and for which he shall
be chosen, unless he shall have been absent on the
public business of the United States or the State of
Pennsylvania. Councils in joint meeting, by viva
voce vote, appoint all heads of departments not elec-
tive, and provide by ordinance for the appointment
of clerks and officers, except the mayor's clerk, who
is appointed by the mayor, all of whom serve for such
periods as may be fixed by ordinance, subject to dis-
missal by the appointing power or superior officer, as
such ordinance may provide.
The head of each department shall nominate, and
by and with the advice and consent of the Select
Council, appoint the clerks and officers in his de-
partment. The mayor nominates, and by and with
the advice and consent of the Select Council, appoints
the policemen and watchmen.
It is the duty of City Councils to provide by ordi-
nance for the establishment and regulation of all the
departments indicated by the said Consolidation Act
and other laws in force in said city, under the proper
beads, and with the necessary clerks, officers, and as-
sistants, to wit: For law, police, finance, surveys,
highways, health, water, gas, fire, the poor, city prop-
erty, and the public grounds, and such others as may
from time to time be needful ; and through the mayor
and proper committees the Councils shall maintain a
supervision of each department, whether corporate or
otherwise, and over the inspectors of the county
prison, for the exposure and correction of all evils
and abuses, and for that purpose may require the
production of and inspect all books and papers, and !
the attendance of witnesses by subprena, and examine
them under oath or affirmation.
Councils fix the compensation and prescribe the
duties of all officers of said city, and whenever any
elective officer dies, or becomes incapable of fulfilling
the duties of his office, his place, except where other
provision is made for filling the vacancy, is filled by
a joint vote of Councils, until the next city election
> Bot ttato do«a dm applT to dtinUM and uaployta not holding oom-
inlMlonf.
and the qualification of a successor in the office:
Prot'ided, That such vacancy shall exist at least thirty
days before the next city election, otherwise such
vacancy is filled at the next election thereafter.
The salary of any officer elected by the qualified
voters of the city cannot be increased or reduced by
j an act or ordinance to take effect during the term for
' which he was elected ; and in all cases where the
salary of any officer is not fixed by law, it is by
I Councils, but it is not lawful for them, at any time,
I to pass an ordinance, or by other means provide for
the payment of any money in the shape of per diem
pay or compensation of any kind for services ren-
dered by them in their capacity as councilmen, or
members of committees emanating from Councils.
Officers elected by the qualified voters are subject
to removal from office under impeachment for misde-
meanor in office, or other sufficient cause, on charges
preferred by the Common Council, and tried bj' the
Select Council in the manner prescribed by the con-
stitution and laws of the commonwealth of Pennsyl-
vania, as to the impeachment by the House of Rep-
resentatives and trial thereof by the Senate. And all
officers are subject to removal for sufficient cause, in
the manner provided by Councils.
Councils may prescribe by ordinance that paving of
streets, except at the intersections thereof, and of foot-
ways, and laying of water-pipes within the limits of
the city, shall be done at the expense of the owners of
the ground in front whereof such work shall be done,
and liens may be filed by the said city for the same.
They have authority by ordinance to direct owners
of docks and wharf property to clean their docks after
certain notification by the proper officer of the city
government, with power, in case of refusal or neglect
on the part of any parties thus notified, to cleanse
such docks, and to enter liens against the surround-
ing property for its respective proportions of the ex-
pense attending such work ; and Councils may also
provide for the cleaning of the docks on the Delaware
and Schuylkill fronts of said city, and require the
owners of wharves and piers, which surround such
docks, to cleanse the same ; and after thirty days'
default from the service of notice on them to perform
said duty, it shall be lawful for the city to do said
work, and to apportion the expenses thereof among
the owners of the wharves and piers adjoining, in pro-
portion to the extent of their wharves, having the
privilege or use of such docks, and to collect the same
by filing liens therefor and process thereupon, as in
case of claims for paving: Provided, That no dock
shall be cleansed to a greater depth than the natural
bed of the river.
The city may construct any bridges that may be
necessary to carry any street or highway at the proper
grade across any ravine or stream therein, and when-
ever it shall become necessary in the progress of the
building improvements of said city, to grade, curb,
bridge, culvert, or pave any of the highways used as
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1705
turnpikes or plank-roads, it is lawful for Councils to
agree for the relinquishment of such parts thereof as
may be required from time to time, and if the parties
cannot agree to obtain a jury-view upon such parts to
assess the damage the company owning the franchise
may sustain by the city using the same for said purposes ;
such jury appointed, three by the Court of Quarter Ses-
sions of Philadelphia County, and three by such courts
in the next adjoining county to which such leads ; and
such viewers shall take into consideration whether
such turnpike or plank-road company shall have oc-
cupied a previous public highway or ground purchased
by the company. Councils may enact an ordinance
providing for the inspection of leaf tobacco of domestic
growth received at the port of Philadelphia, to be
sold by sample, for establishing the fee for charges for
inspection and sampling and storage, and imijosing
penalties for any violation of the same.
Whenever Councils shall deem the public exigency
to demand it, they may order, by ordinance, any
streets, laid upon any of the public plans of the city,
to be opened, giving three months' notice thereof to
the owner, whereupon any of the owners whose
ground will be taken by such street may forthwith
petition the Court of Quarter Sessions for viewers to
assess the damages which such owners may sustain
by the opening of such street, and if the same be not
paid within one year, may sue the city for the recov-
ery thereof: Provided, That security shall be given
the city to the owner for the payment of such dam-
ages before his ground shall be actually taken, and
the city may indemnify the persons entering such
security, and no proceedings to assess the damages
on any street on such plan shall lapse by the delay of
a year in paying such damages. It shall be lawful
for Councils to institute an inquiry as to persons
benefited by the opening of any new street, and to
withhold appropriation for the opening of the same
until the persons found to be benefited shall have
contributed according to the benefit to be derived
therefrom toward the damages awarded to the owners
whose ground will be taken therefor, but in no in-
stance shall the contributions exceed the damages
awarded for the ground taken.
Whenever Councils shall order any street upon the
plan of said city to be opened or widened, no dam-
ages therefor shall be paid unless first assessed by a
jury and approved by the Court of Quarter Sessiens,
in accordance with the general road laws of the com-
monwealth : Provided, That Councils may in all cases,
whether the proceedings to open any street shall have
been commenced in Council, or in the ordinary course
before the court, refuse to appropriate for the opening
of any street until the owners or citizens to be bene-
fited shall have contributed the whole or any part
thereof, as Councils may have determined to be just,
and in such case such street shall not be actually
opened, nor any security which may have been taken
for the damages be responsible therefor.
It is the duty of juries selected to assess damages
for the opening, widening, or vacating roads or streets
within the said city, to ascertain and report to the
court, first, what damages the parties claiming the
same are entitled to, and second, to assess and appor-
tion the same among and against such owners of land
as shall be benefited by such opening, widening, or
vacating any such road or street, and when such re-
port shall be affirmed by the court upon notice to all
such parties, and the damages paid or secured by the
parties among and against whom it shall be so as-
sessed and apportioned, the chief commissioner of
highways shall proceed to open, widen, or vacate such
road or street accordingly : Provided, however. That it
shall be lawful for Councils, when in their judgment
the public interest shall require it, to provide for the
the payment of such damages out of the city treasury :
And further provided. That two-thirds of the members
of Councils present at the passage of such ordinance
consent thereto, and the yeas and nays on the passage
thereof shall be entered on the journals.
It is the duty of Councils in all cases, when mak-
ing appropriations, to state the items of expenditure
under separate and distinct heads for which such ap-
propriations are intended. They are authorized an-
nually to appropriate toward the support and main-
tenance of the House of Refuge such sum as they
may deem expedient, not exceeding thirty thousand
dollars in any one fiscal year, payable in equal pay-
ments on the first Mondays of February, May, Au-
gust, and November in each and every year.
They have power and authority to make, ordain,
constitute, and establish such and so many laws, or-
dinances, regulations, and constitutions as shall be
necessary and convenient for the purposes of fixing,
ascertaining, and regulating, from time to time, the
rates and prices which shall be demanded and re-
ceived by wagoners, carters, draymen, porters, wood-
sawyers, and chimney-sweepers, for each and every
labor and service which they shall respectively do
and perform within the city; and also for the doing,
performing, and executing all and every other power,
authority, act, matter, and thing whatsoever, which
the wardens and street commissioners separately of
themselves, or they or either of them, in conjunction
with one or more justice or justices of the peace, or
with any person or persons whatever, were authorized
and empowered, or might or could lawfully do or per-
form by or under any laws in force at the time of the
approval of the aforesaid act of consolidation.
Councils may by ordinance prohibit any interments
within such parts of the city wherein they shall judge
such prohibition necessary, and to impose such fines
for any breach of such ordinance as they may deem
necessary.
It is lawful for the Select and Common Councils,
from time to time, by ordinances, at the expense of
the owner or owners of the property adjoining, to
regulate, grade, pave, and repair, curb, and recurb the
1706
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
footwajs or sidewalks, and the said ordinances, rules,
and regulations to execute, under the direction or su-
perintendence of such person or persons as they may
authorize or appoint, and the same to enforce by suit-
able penalties, which penalties and esi)enses of pav-
ing and repaying, curbing and recurbing, as aforesaid,
are recoverable before any magistrate of said city, or
before any court having jurisdiction, in the same
manner that debts of like amount are by law recover-
able.
Councils fix the rate and levy all taxes now author-
ized by law within the limits of said city and county,
except the State tax, and direct the amount to be ap-
plied and paid by the city treasurer to health, school,
poor, city, and other purposes, according to law. The
said taxes are voted so as to show how much is raised
for said objects respectively, and they are collected and
accounted for to the treasurer as one city and county
tax. The said tax, and all State taxes accruing
within said city limits, are paid to the receiver of
taxes, and all allowance made by law for the collec-
tion and prompt i)ayment of the State tax accrues to
the city treasury for the use of the city.
It is the duty of Councils to designate the place of
holding the elections in the several election divisions
of the wards, and to notify the sheriff thereof, at least
thirty days prior to the election, and shall have full
power and authority to remove or change the place
of holding the elections in any of the said election
divisions, whenever by reason of inability to hold said
election at the place so designated, a change shall be
necessary. And in sudden emergency, as in case the
polling place is destroyed by fire on the eve of the
election, the court designates one.
The Select and Common Councils have the power
to levy a tax for municipal purposes on all subjects
of taxation specified by the thirty-second section of
the act of April 29, 1844, and to provide, by ordinance,
11 system for the assessment thereof, and for the col-
lection of taxes thereon.
The following is a schedule of taxable articles
under the thirty-second section of the act of 29th
April, 1844:
** IloUH«, Undi, lot* of ground, and Kro'mil-rf ntti, milli and manufttc-
tortaa of all kindi, fumacca, furgea. bluumorlra, distilleries, lugar-bousea,
Balt-liout«s, lireweriea, taD-yanls, flslieriea and ferriea, wliarvea, and all
oUier reul eauta not t-iempt hy law from taxation ; also all perwniil
•■tale, to Witt horaea, marea, geldings, mulea, and neat cattle over the
•(e of foor jteara; alai> all mortgages, moiiejr owing b) sulTent delitoia,
whether ly pmmlssorjr note, penxl or single Mil, Ixind or Judgment;
alao all articles of agreement and accounts bearing Interest, owned ur
poaaasaml bj any |>erson or perai>ns wliataoeier, except nolea or lillls for
work and labor done, antl tjank notes ; also all shares ur stuck In any
bank, Institution, or company now or hereafter incorporate<l by or In
parsoanre of any law of the rommonwralth, or nf any other State or
(oTemmenI; and on all shareaof stock or weekly deposit* in any unin*
corpiirate^l saving. fund Institution, and all public liMinB or stocks wliat-
■oarsr, except thc«ei«ued by this commonwealth, and all money loaned
or invested on intarsat In any otlier State; also all household furniture,
Including gold and silver plate, owned by any penun or persons, ourpor-
alioD or corpormtlona, when the value thereof shall exceed the sum of
ihraa hundred dolUn; also all pleaaura cmrriagaa, Iwth of two and four
wbaalfl; aaUriaa and emolumenta of office, all offlres and pasta of profit,
prxifeaaioDs, trades, and occapatloDS, except the occupatloD of fiumelB,
together with all other tbioga now taxable by the lawa of the commoD-
wesltb."
Councils fix the salaries of all municipal oflScers
elected by the people. They have the power to order
and direct the construction of branch sewers, when-
ever the same shall be approved by the Board of Sur-
veys, and in the opinion of Councils shall be required
for the health, comfort, or convenience of the in-
habitants of the city.
Councils are also vested with full power and au-
thority to modify the powers and duties of any officer
or department, and for that purpose to enact that
atler the expiration of the term of any existing officer
or officers-elect, such office shall cease, and the duties
thereof be imposed on other officers or departments
now existing, or by ordinance to be established : Pro-
vided, That this authority shall not be construed to
confer any additional powers upon Councils, to
abolish, modify, or limit the powers of any boards,
commissioners, or officers regulating public parks
which have been dedicated to the uses and enjoy-
ment of the people of the commonwealth, or are
charged with the collection of taxes or the revision
and regulation of assessments of property for general
taxable purposes, or created for the purpose of erect-
ing public buildings for the use of the city.
The City Councils cause to be published, once in
every year, in the month of January, or as soon as pos-
sible thereafter, not later than sixty days, a statement
of receipts and expenditures of the city, and a state-
ment of the financial condition of the city, showing
all of its liabilities, permanent and temporary, and a
schedule of its assets, which are published in two or
more newspapers of different political complexion,
published in Philadelphia, for three consecutive
issues.
Councils are empowered to provide for the inspec-
tion of milk, under such rules and regulations as will
protect the people from adulteration and dilution of
the same.
They are also authorized to alter and regulate the
curb-lines and heights, and determine and make uni-
form the widths of the footways of the streets within
the limits of the city.
The municipal authorities and courts having juris-
diction in Philadelphia have exclusive control and
direction of the opening, widening, narrowing, vaca-
ting, and changing grades of all streets, alleys, and
highways within the limits of said city, and may open
or widen streets of such width as may be deemed
necessary by such city authorities and courts.
The Councils of the city fix by ordinance the salary
to be paid out of the city treasury to the mayor.
" The proper authorities of any county, city, town,
or township of Pennsylvania are authorized and
empowered to enter into contracts with any of the
railroad companies, whose roads enter their limits,
respectively, whereby the said railroad companies may
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1707
relocate, change, or elevate their railroads within said
limits or either of them, in such manner as in the
judgment of such authorities, respectively, may be
best adapted to secure the safety of lives and prop-
erty, and promote the interest of said county, city,
town, or township ; and for that purpose the said
authorities shall have power to do all such acts as
may be necessary and proper to effectually carry out
such contracts. And any such contracts made by any
railroad company or companies as aforesaid with said
authorities, or either of them, are hereby fully ratified
and confirmed: Provided, That nothing in this proviso
contained shall affect any contract made or hereafter
to be made with any railroad company, from (for)
apportioning the expenses of altering and adjusting
the grades of existing railroads and intersecting streets
in any city or borough, so as to dispense with grade
crossings." '
" The Councils of every city shall prescribe by ordi-
nance the number, duties, and compensation of the
officers and employes of each branch, and no payment
shall be made from the city treasury, or be in any way
authorized, to any person, except to an officer or em-
ploye elected or appointed in pursuance of law ; and
no ordinance shall be passed except by a two-third
vote of both Councils, and approved by the mayor,
giving any extra compensation to any public officer,
servant, employe, agent, or contractor after services
shall have been rendered or contract made, nor pro-
viding for the payment of any claim against the city
without previous authority of law ; and any officer
drawing any warrant, or passing any voucher for the
same, or paying the same, shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor, and on conviction thereof be punished by a
fine not exceeding five thousand dollars and impris-
onment not exceeding one year."-
Upon the resignation of any member of Select or
Common Council, the president of the chamber,
wherein such resignation shall be tendered, is author-
ized to direct the clerk to notify the sheriff of the
county of Philadelphia of such resignation within
one week after the same.
The City Councils shall, from time to time, exempt
from the operation of any statute law, conferring on
the Board of Health jurisdiction of the subject of
nuisances, such portions of the territory under their
jurisdiction, being a rural district or sparse in popula-
tion, as in their opinion they can do with safety to
the health and comfort of the inhabitants thereof,
which exemption shall at all times be revocable by
the like authority.
Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, ofier,
give, or promise any money or thing of value, testi-
monial, privilege, or personal advantage to any
member of Councils to influence him in the perform-
ance of any of his public or oflScial duties, shall be
1 Act June 9, 1874, Se<
« Act May 23, 1874, Se
, 1, P. L. 282.
. .'i, P. L., 230.
guilty of bribery, and be punished in such manner as
that offense is by law punishable.
A member who has a personal or private interest
in any measure or bill proposed or pending before
Councils, shall disclose the fact to the branch of which
he is a member, and shall not vote thereon. If such
interested member shall vote without disclosing his
interest in such measure or bill, and the same be car-
ried by his vote, such member shall forfeit his office.
A member of Councils who shall solicit, de-
mand, or receive, or consent to receive, directly or
indirectly, for himself or for another, from any com-
pany, corporation, or person, any money, office, ap-
pointment, employment, testimonial, reward, thing
of value or enjoyment, or of personal advantage, or
promise thereof, for his vote or official influence, or
for withholding the same, or with an understanding,
expressed or implied, that his vote or official action
shall be in any way influenced thereby, or who shall
solicit or demand any such money or other advantage,
matter, or thing aforesaid for another, as the consider-
ation of his vote or official influence, or for withhold-
ing the same, or shall give or withhold his vote or
influence, in consideration of the payment or promise
of such money, advantage, matter, or thing to another,
shall be held guilty of bribery, and shall, upon con-
viction thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding
ten thousand dollars, and by separate and solitary con-
finement at labor for a period not exceeding five years,
and shall be forever incapable of holding any place
of profit or trust in the commonwealth of Pennsyl-
vania.
LIST OF THE COMMON COUNCILMEN OF THE CITY OF PHIL-
ADELPHIA FROM 1701 TO 1777.3
The body corporate to consist of the mayor, recorder, eight aldermen,
and twelve councilmen ; the latter afterward increased.
1701.— Bi/ City Charter.— John Parsons, William Hudson, William Lee,
Nehemiah Allen, Thomas Paschali, John Budd, Jr., Edward Smout,
Samuel Buckley, James Atkinson, Pentecost Teague, Francis Cook,
and Henry Badcocke.
1704.— Robert Teildhall, Josejih Yard, Thomas GrifBth, and John Bed-
man, Sr.
1705. — Joshua Carpen ter, Abraham Bickley, Thomas Bradford, and John
Webb.
1707. — Samuel Hall and John McComb.
1708.— Henry Flower, Peter Stretch, David Grifflne (or Giffing), and
George Claypoole.
1711.— Owen Roberts.
1712.- Clement Plnmsted, Gilbert Falconer, John Jones (Bolter), and
Nathaniel Edgcomb.
1713. — Joseph Redman, John Warder, John Vanleer, George Claypoole,
William Fishbourne, Thomas Wharton, and Benjamin Viniug.
1715. — Anthony Morris, Jr., Daniel Radley, and Thomas Redman.
1716. — James Parrock, Samuel Carpenter, Richard Moore, and Charles
Read,
1717. — Samuel Powel, Edwards Roberts, George Fitzwater, and Evan
Owen.
1718 — Israel Pemberton, John Carpenter, John Cadwalader, Joseph
Buckley, Thomas Griffltts, and Thomas Tresse.
1723.— Robert Ellis, George Calvert, and Edward Owen.
1724 —Ralph Assheton.
1727. — William Allen, Thomas Masters, Alexander Woodroppe, Andrew
Bradford, Isaac Norris, Jr., and Henry Hodge.
s From John Hill Martin's " Bench and Bar of Philadelphi
1708
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1T28.— Scmnel Baaell uid Thomu Chue.
IT29.— Pelcr Llord, Sunuel Powtl, WllliuD Atwood, aod JoMpb Turner.
lT30.->lmiuM Slevl, G«urge Emlrn, Abram Tsjrior, George MIIBIn, SuD-
nel Pi>wel, Jr., tod John While.
11S2.— S>niuel Mickle, Edward Shippen, George HoOM, John Dlllwyn,
Benjamin Shc>enuker, Joaeph England, Jamee Blogham, and Joseph
Paachal. Samuel Powel and Samuel Powel, Jr., re.«lected.
1T39.— William Till, Jualma Uaddox, William Coleman, Jamea Hamil-
ton, William rium«t«l, aud Nathaniel Allen.
1741.— Hubert Siretlell, William Panone, Andrew Hamilton, Samuel
Bhoada, and Ttaomae Hopkiuaon.
1T41. — JoMph Morris, Joseph Shlppen, Joeliua Emieo, Richard Kixon,
Samuel Austin, and Isaac Juuea.
1743.— William Logan, Charles Willing, Altwood Shute, and Septimus
Bobinson.
174S.— Alexander Graydon, John Inglig, Richard Stnulejr, William Ship-
pen, Thomas Bond, and William Biddle.
1747.— John Mifflin, Juhn Slam|>er, John Sober, Tench Francis, John
Wilcocks, Samuel McCall, Jr, Phlneos Bond, and John Sims.
1748.— Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Laurence, Jr.
1751.— CbMKa mcrtoMtd b) ni«.— Thomas Cadwalader, William Cole,
Llojd Zacbar;, Charlw Norris, John Rodman, William Humphreys,
Samuel Smith, Amoe Strcltell, and William BInghuni.
17&S.— Edward Shippen, Jr., Samuel Mifflin, Alexander Huston, John
Wallace, Alexander Sledman, Andrew Elliot, Samuel Morris, Jacob
Duch^, Samuel Shoemaker, aud Thomas Willing.
1767.— OmmcU imcrraud eighi more— Henry Harrison, Daniel Benezet,
Charles Stedman, William Rush, John Swift, Townsend While,
William VanderBplegel, and Joseph Wowl.
1762.— John Allen, John Lawrence, Eran Morgnn, John Gibson, and
Redmond Conyngham.
17M.— James Tilghman and Archibald McCall.
1767.— Andrew Allen, Joshua Howell, James Allen, William Fisher,
William Parr, Joeeph Swift, John Wilcucks, and George Clymer.
1770. — Joaeph Shippen, Jr., John Cadwalader, Samuel Powel, Alexander
Wilcucks, Stephen Carmiok, and Peter CheTalier.
1774.— John Potts, Samuel Mere<lith, Jhmes Biddle, Samuel Howell,
Isaac Cox, and Thomas Barclay.
TOWN CLERKS,
WHO WEAR ALSO CLKKK8 OF THE OITT COVRT.
Bobert Assbeton, by clly charier Oct 25, 1701
Ralph Atshelon,< appointed Aug. 10, 171U
Andrew Hamilton, appointed Feb. 24,1746
William Coleman, appointed Sept. 18, 1747
Edward Miippen, Jr.,3 appointed , May 27, 1758
PRESIDENTS OF THE SELECT COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PHILADELPHIA,
Vniler Act o/ April 4, 1796, e(c.
Francis Gumey, elected Oct. 1796
Henry Pratt, elected Oct, 1799
Robert Patterson, elected Oct. 1802
Benjamin Say, elected Oct 1805
Robert H»\fU>a. elected Oct 1806
Jsmea Mllnor, elected Oct 1808
George Bartram, elected Oct. 18119
Samuel W. Kluher, elected Oct. 1811
Lilierty Browne, elected Oct. 1813
Rolierl KItcbie, elected Oct 1814
Bobert Wnin, elected _ Oct 1816
George Vaux, ele«te<i _ _ Oct 1819
Thomas Kltleia, elected Oet 1824
John M'.rln Scott elected Dec. 1828
Joseph Be«l Inger. II, elected Dec. 1832
William Morris Miredltb, alectad Dec. IS.'Vt
William Morns, elected Dec. 1849
John Price Wetberill elected Dec. 1852
Jacob E. Ilagcrt, elected Dec. 1853
John P. Verree,elecle.l „ June, 18.M
George Mifflin Wharton, elected.- „ Hay, 1856
Ulleer Perry <V>rnmKii, elsctad.... _ May, 1858
Theodore Cuyler, elected May, I860
James Lynd,elocled Jan. 186:1
Ji«hna Sparing, electwl Jan. 1867
Wllllem .Strumbiirg Stokley, elected Jan. 1868
Samuel W latlell, elecle<l JaU. 1870
William Edmund Littleton, elactad Jan. 1872
B.ilHprt W. iK.wnIng, elected Jan. 1874
Dr. William W Bumell, elected. July, 1H75
George A Smith, elected Jan 1876
George W. Bumm, elected Not. 1881
William U. Smith, electw) April, 1882
■ " To laka •> (ct Xorembar 30, whan h* comv at ag*." In oHc* till
IT4t.
> Ua held the office anlll the Raeulution.
PRESIDENTS OF THB COMMON CODNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA.
From 1701 lo 1796 (Ae Mafon
1796.
17»7.
1800.
ISOl.
1805.
1808.
1810.
1812.
1814.
1815.
1819.
1820.
182;l.
1824.
1825.
1828.
1829.
1830.
1832.
1836.
Samuel Hodgdon.
Kearney Wharton.
Robert Ralston.
Thomas Leiper.
Timothy Paxson.
ThciTnas Leiper.
Horace BInney.
Thomas Leiper.
Juhn Ballowell.
James S. Smith.
Joeeph Worrell.
James S. Smith.
Joseph R. Ingersoll.
Aquila A. Browne.
Joshua Percival.
James M. Linnard.
Joshua Percival.
James Page.
Henry Troth.
William Rswle.
of IXt Cily trrr
1840.
1842.
1847.
1853.
1854.
1856.
1856.
1857.
1858.
1862.
1864.
1865.
18C7.
1869.
1871.
I 1872.
] 1873.
j 1876,
1881.
« (As PrntidenU of the Oommon
Thomas S. Smith.
Samuel Norris.
Thomas Snowden.
John Yarrtjw.
John H. Dielil.
William P. Hacker.
Willium C. Patterson.
John Miller.
Clmrles B. Trego.
Wilson Kerr.
Alexander J. Harper.
William S. Stokley.
Joseph F. Marcer.
Louis Wagner.
Henry Huhn.
Louis Wagner.
A. Wilson Henszey.
Joseph L. Caven.
William Henry Lex.'
CLERKS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL.
1789.
1792.
1796.
1796.
ISOl.
1802.
1804.
1810.
1812.
1815.
1819.
1820.
1827.
1828.
Anthony Morris.
Robert Henry Dnnkin.
William H. Tod.
Edward Johnson Coale.
John L. Loib.
Joseph Scott.
Samuel Holmes.
Robert S. Greene.
Samuel Keemle.*
John Cole Lowber.
Stiniuel Rush.
John Cole Lowber.
Nathan B. Potts.
John Reynolds Yogdes.
1829.
1S30.
1833.
1836.
1843.
1646.
1852.
1854.
1856.
1858.
1861.
1862.
1864.
1866.
Nathan R. Potts.
George Fox.
Robert Hare, Jr.
Levi Ilollingsworth.
Henry Helmuth.
Thomas Birch, Jr.
Craig Biddle.
John M. Riley.
John D. Miles.
William Fmiicis Small.
Goorgo F. Gordon.
Philip U. Lutts.
William Francis Small.
John Eckstein.
CLERKS OF THE SELECT COUNCIL.
1796. William H. Tod.
1801. Edward Johnson Coale.
18U2. Johu L. Leib.
1806. Thomas Bradford, Jr.
1830. Archibald Randall.
1833. Josel.h G. Clarkson.
1840. Joseph Coleman Fisher.
1846. Henry Helmuth.
1849. Edmund Wilcox.
1855. Joseph Wood, Jr.
1866. Henry C. Leisenring.
1859. J. Barclay Harding.
1862. Emanuel Key.
1863. Henry C. Corfleld.
1864. Benjamin H. Haines.
1873. Joseph U.Faist
Ordinances. — No law shall be construed to impair
the validity of an ordinance of the city of Philadel-
phia if the same is not recorded, aud all ordinances
heretofore passed, or which may hereafter be enacted,
shall be valid and effectual, although the same may not
have been, or may not be, recorded in the office of the
recorder of deeds.
The Select and Common Councils have the power,
by a two-thirds vote of each Council, to pass any bill,
whatever its nature, which may have been returned
by the mayor, without his signature.
Councils have full power and authority to make,
ordain, constitute, and establish such and so many
laws, ordinances, regulations, and constitutions as
shall be necessary or convenient for the government
and welfare of the said city, and the same to enforce,
put in use and execution, by the proper officers, and
' All the other officers of holb branchs* of the City Councils were i
elected on April 4, 1881, by acclamation.
• All the family now spell their name Keehinle.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1709
at their pleasure to revoke, alter, and make anew, as
occasion may require, provided the same shall not be
repugnant to the laws and constitution of the com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania.
For all breaches of the ordinances of the city of
Philadelphia, where the penalty demanded is fifty
dollars and upwards, actions of debt shall be brought
in the corporate name of the city of Philadelphia.
No ordinance can be passed through Councils
except by bill, and no bill shall be so altered or
amended, on its passage through either branch of
Councils, as to change its original purpose. No bill
can be considered unless referred to a committee, re-
turned therefrom, and printed for the use of the mem-
bers, and no bill can be passed containing more than
one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its
title. Every bill must be read at length in each
branch, all amendments made thereto must be
printed for the use of the members before the final
vote is taken on the bill, and no bill can become a
law upon the same day on which it was introduced
or reported. On its final passage the vote is taken
by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons
voting for and against the same are entered in the
journal, and a majority of the members elected to
each branch are recorded thereon as voting in its
favor. No amendment to bills by one branch must
be concurred in by the other except by the vote of a
majority of the members elected thereto, taken by
yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and
against recorded upon the journal thereof, and reports
of committees of conference must be adopted in either
branch only by the vote of a majority of the members
elected thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names
of those voting recorded upon the journals.
Every legislative act of the Councils must be by
resolution or ordinance ; and every ordinance or reso-
lution, except as hereinafter provided, shall, before it
takes effect, De presented, duly engrossed and certified,
to the mayor for his approval ; and all ordinances,
within five days after their passage, must be adver-
tised in five daily and two Sunday newspapers, by
the mayor.
Committees of Councils. — For the purpose of
supervising the operations of the different depart-
ments, and of assisting Councils in the consideration
of subjects brought before them, relating to the inter-
ests of the corporation, the following joint standing
committees are appointed by the respective presi-
dents annually on the organization of Councils :
I. Committee o
II. Committee o
III. Committee o
IV. Committee o
Culverts.
V. Committee o
VI. Committee o
VII. Committee o
yill. Committee o
IX. Committee o
X. Committee c
Department of Water-Works.
1 Department of Gas-Works.
1 Department of Highways, Bridges, Sewers, and
I Department of City Property and Public Grounds,
I Department of Police.
I Department of Fire.
I Department of Prisons.
1 Department of Schools.
1 Surveys and BegulatioDS.
XI. Committee on Railroads.
XII. Committee of three memlters from each chamber are appointed
to compare bills and transmit the same to the mayor when
found correct.
XIII. Committee on Department of Law.
The chairmen of the Committees on Finance, Gas-
Works, Highways, Bridges, Sewers, and Culverts,
Police, Fire, Schools — and to compare bills — must
be members of Common Council, and the chairmen
of the remaining committees must be members of
the Select Council ; but no member of either branch
shall be chairman of more than one standing com-
mittee. They hold stated meetings for the transac-
tion of business at such times as a majority of the
committee may determine, and special meetings when-
ever the chairman or three members thereof may
require.
The Committee on Finance has supervision over
the departments of the city treasurer, the receiver of
taxes, and the city controller. The Committees on
the Department of the Water-Works, on the Depart-
ment of the Gas- Works, and on the Department of
Highways, Bridges, and Sewers, on the Department of
City Property, on the Department of Police, on the
Department of the County Prison , on the Department
of Schools, on Surveys and Regulations, Railroads, to
compare bills, and Department of Law, exercise a gen-
eral supervision over said departments for the ex-
posure and correction of evils and abuses. The Com-
mittee on the Department of City Property fix the
sums for which the real estate in charge of that de-
partment shall be rented.
Matters relating to the markets are under the su-
pervision of the Committee on Markets, and those
relating to the wharves and landings under the super-
vision of the Committee on Wharves and Landings.
There is appointed by the respective presidents an-
nually, on the organization of Councils, a standing
committee on the cash account of the city treasurer.
It is the duty of this committee to examine and com-
pare his statements, and to report to both branches of
Councils, at their first stated meeting after the second
Monday in each month, a complete statement of
moneys received during the preceding month by the
city treasurer ; stating the total amount received from
each and every officer and department of the city of
Philadelphia, and whether such statement from the
city treasurer agrees with the statements received
from the said officers and departments.
There is appointed a committee to supervise all the
disbursements of the department of clerks of Coun-
cils, and all requisitions for stationery first receive the
sanction of said committee; all bills for stationery
and printing receive the indorsement of the commit-
tee before countersigned by the controller, and the
chairman of said committee is appointed by Select
Council.
The presidents of the Select and Common Councils
appoint a joint committee, styled the committee on
election divisions, to whom is referred the changing
1710
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
of all election divisions; also a committee on boiler
inspection, and one on House of Correction.
The number of all standing committees consists of
twelve from each chamber, and nine members thereof
constitute a quorum.
Select and Common Councils each elect a clerk and
an assistant, and the presidents each appoint a page,
and there is also a transcribing clerk, whose duty is to
engross the ordinances when passed by both branches.
Taxes and Taxation. — The system of assessment
and collection of taxes in Philadelphia is executed
by a Board of Revision, forty-two assessors, a re-
ceiver of taxes, and a collector of delinquent taxes.
The Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County,
once in everj' three years, before the time of the re-
vision of the taxes for the succeeding year, and as
often as vacancies occur, appoint three persons
deemed the most competent, who compose the Board
of Revision of Taxes of the county, a majority of
whom are a quorum, who have the power to revise
and equalize the assessments, by raising or lowering
the valuations, either in individual cases or by wards,
to rectify all errors, to make valuations where they
have been omitted, and to require the attendance of
the assessors or other citizens before them for exam-
ination, on oath or affirmation, either singly or to-
gether, with power to forfeit the pay of assessors,
ratable to their annual compensation, for each day's
absence when their attendance is required ; and the
Board of Revision hear all the appeals and applica-
tions of the taxpayers, subject to an appeal from
their decision to the Court of Common Plea-s of the
county, whose decision isdnal ; and, ifthe appeal to the
court be groundless, the appellants pay their costs of
court. The Board of Revision hear the taxpayers of
their respective wards in succession, of which notice
is given ; and the Board of Revision alone, or a ma-
jority of them, exercise all the powers vested in the
County Board of Revision, but shall not, in any in-
stance, lower the aggregate valuation of the county.
They meet aa often, but not oftener, than is necessary
to dispatch the business which their duties require of
them, and hold stated meetings on the first Saturday
of each month.
The salary of each member of the Board of Re-
vision of Taxes is four thousand dollars per annum.
The Board of Revision have and exercise all the
powers heretofore by law conferred upon the commis-
sioners of the city of Philadelphia, and the county
commissioners of the ditTerent counties of the State,
in relation to the assessors, and the as-sessment and
collection of taxes within the city and county of
Philadelphia, and the correction of all valuation and
return therefor; and they issue the precepts to, and
receive the returns of, the assessors, procure the as-
sessment-books, and cause the duplicates to be made
out and issued to the receiver of taxes, make the re-
turns required by law to the Slate Revenue Board,
and have the exclusive custody and control of all
books relating to the assessment of taxes, and keep
them arranged according to wards and dates; and
also have the custody and control of the duplicates
of surveys, when the same have been made by the
department of surveys; they may issue certificates to
show how property has been assessed, to be used
with the same etlect as the original books of assess-
ment, as evidence in relation to the title of property;
they report to Councils, through the mayor, the ag-
gregate of the assessments, on or before the first day
of November in each year.
The Board of Revision are authorized and empow-
ered to issue their precept to the several assessors of
the city and county of Philadelphia, in the year of the
triennial assessment, and to the assessors of any ward
or wards of said city in which they shall deem a new
assessment necessary in any subsequent year otherthan
the triennial year, requiring them to return the names
of all taxable persons residing in their resjiective
wards, and all property taxable by law, together with
the just valuation of the same, and the said board
have power to revise and equalize the assessments.
It is the duty of the Board of Revision, immediately
afler the annual assessment in each year, to classify
the real estate so assessed in such a manner and upon
testimony adduced before them as to discriminate be-
tween the rural and built-up portions of said city, and
they are required to certify to the Councils of said
city on or before the first day of November, in each
year, the valuations of the built-up portions, the val-
uation of tlie rural or suburban property, and the val-
uation of lands exclusively used for agricultural and
farming purposes respectively, and it is the duty of
Councils, in determining the rate of taxation for each
year, to assess a tax upon said agricultural and farm-
land equal to one-half of the highest rate of tax re-
quired to be assessed for said year, and upon the rural
and suburban portion of said city, a tax not exceed-
ing two-thirds of the highest rate of tax required to
be assessed, as aforesaid, so that upon the real estate
assessed there are three rates of taxation, and it is the
duty of the assessors of said city to make assessments
of i)roperty in conformity to the foregoing, and to
designate the class in which such property should be
rated.
The Board of Revision have power to aflSx the seal
of the city of Philadelphia to all official certificates
they may be authorized by law to issue, and they
have authority, from time to time, as the public in-
terests may require, to create additional assessors' dis-
tricts and appoint additional assessors therein.
A copy of the Uix duplicate for each year is filed in
the office of the city controller, said copy of the dupli-
cate is made out in form the same as for the depart-
ment of the receiver of taxes; and it is the duty of said
controller to |>ost against each item on said duplicate
the amount of taxes returned to him as received by
the receiver of taxes; and it is also the duty of the
I receiver of taxes, whenever allowances are made from
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1711
the assessed value of any property, to certify to the
city controller the owner's name and locality of such
property, and the amount of allowance, and by whom
made, and no credit is given to the receiver of taxes
for such allowances, unless such certificates be re-
turned to the office of the said city controller.
It is the duty of the Board of Revision of Taxes, in
preparing the duplicates and triplicates of the asses-
sors' transcripts for the receiver of taxes and city
controller, to give a definite description of all assess-
ments, either by street numbers, as fixed by the
proper department, or where such numbers do not
exist, by measurement from a given jioint upon the
city plan, and also indicate by feet and inches the
frontage and de])th thereof, and in rural districts the
superficial area thereof.
The Board of Revision of Taxes prepare triplicate
copies of the assessment of taxes in each ward, and
deliver the same to the city controller at the same
time that the duplicates are given to the receiver of
taxes, and they also deliver monthly, on the first
Monday in each month, to the city controller a certi-
fied schedule of the allowances made to each person,
separately stated, with his or her name, location of
property, and page of the duplicate ; also, a correct
account of all the divisions of properties made dur-
ing each month.
It is the duty of the Board of Revision of Taxes,
through the assessors of real estate, to rearrange and
revise the numbers of houses whenever necessary, to
furnish each owner or occupant of any house or prop-
erty situate upon any street, lane, or alley of the city,
a written copy of the correct number to which such
house is entitled, and after such notices served, the
said property Is designated and known by such num-
ber in the books and accounts of the several depart-
ments; and each owner shall, within thirty days after
such notice, cause a painted, carved, or cast number
with the proper figures to be placed in a conspicuous
place upon such house or property in a permanent and
durable manner, and such owner shall, for every
neglect in having said house or property numbered
in the manner and within the time specified, forfeit
and pay the sum of five dollars, recoverable as debts
of like amount are recoverable by law, to be ajipro-
priated to the use of the city.
Upon the failure or neglect of any owner to com-
ply with these requirements, it is the duty of the said
assessors of real estate to notify any magistrate of
such failure or neglect, and it is the duty of such
magistrate to collect the said sum of five dollars
for each and every offense, and pay the same over to
the city treasurer, and make report to the city con-
troller, under oath or affirmation.
The Board of Revision of Taxes, in making out the
proper number of houses, is governed by the present
system, that is, the initial or starting point is at Market
Street and the river Delaware, respectively, allow-
ing one hundred numbers to each square of three
hundred and fifty or more feet in length, and com-
mencing with an even hundred at the commencement
of each square, and in all respects adhering to the
decimal system of numeration ; also, in all streets
running in opposite directions, but not extending to
the initial points, the same order of enumeration is
observed as though such street did actually extend to
such point. And in such parts of the city as it may
be impracticable to accurately follow this system, the
Board of Revision of Taxes arrange the numbering as
nearly in accordance therewith as possible.
The Board of Revision, immediately after the elec-
tion in each year, issue their precept to the assessors
of the respective wards, requiring them to make out
and return, within such time as the said Board of Re-
vision shall designate, not later than the 1st day of
September, following, a just and perfect list, in such
form as the said board shall direct, of all taxable
persons residing within their wards respectively, and
all property taxable and exempt by law, with a just
valuation of the same ; and whenever the assessors
of any ward cannot agree upon the valuation of any
property, the member of the board senior in office
acts as umpire and decides.
The books for assessment are furnished to the as-
sessors by the 15th day of May in each year by the
Board of Revision, and any assessor who shall not
have completed and returned his assessment by the
15th day of August following, forfeits his compensa-
tion and surrenders his books, to be finished by the
Board of Revision. It is the duty of the assessors to
mark opposite all property used for agricultural pur-
poses the word "rural," and on all property so re-
turned there is assessed or collected but two-thirds
the rate for city tax that is assessed on other real
estate in the city : Provided, That any error in such
return in this respect shall be corrected by the Board
of Revision on appeal.
The assessors, at the time they make the assess-
ments required by law, ascertain the dimensions or
quantity of each lot or piece of ground assessed, and
return the same with their assessment to the Board
of Revision, and whenever the return shall not be
sufficiently certain to enable the receiver of taxes
properly to describe any lot or piece of ground against
which he is about to proceed for the recovery of
registered taxes, it is the duty of the surveyor of the
district in which said lot or piece of ground is situated
to furnish the said receiver with an accurate measure-
ment thereof, together with a precise description of
its locality.
It is the duty of the several assessors of the city to
ascertain, by strict inquiry, the proper orthography
of the name of each taxable person within his ward,
the exact number of his place of residence, together
with his present occupation, profession or business,
and to state, plainly written, all such particulars in
his assessment-list.
The assessors make a second return of the values
I
1718
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
of all new buildings which have been erected and
not included in their previous return, on or before
the first day of November in each year; and the
assessors, or either of them, are authorized and em-
powered to administer an oath or affirmation to any
person or persons required to make a statement of
property taxable under the general or special laws of
this commonwealth : Provided, That no fee be charged
for the administration of such oath or affirmation.
The assessors in estimating real estate subject to
gronnd-rent, where there is no provision made in
ground-rent deeds that the lessee shall pay the taxes
on tlie said ground-rents, estimate and assess for
taxes, the said ground-rents to the owners thereof.
The pay of assessors is at the rate of two thou-
sand dollars per annum, and their appointments are
made so that there is a majority and minority repre-
sentation of the political parties in each district, and
no appointment or removal of assessor or assessors is
made without the concurrence of all the members of
the Board of Revision.
All taxes, rates, and levies, which are imposed or
assessed, either in the city or coui^ty of Philadelphia,
on real e.state situate in said county and city is a lien
on the same, together, also, with all additions to and
charges on the said taxes, rates, and levies; and the lien
has priority to, and roust be fully paid and satisfied
before, any recognizance, mortgage, judgment, debt,
obligation, or responsibility which the said real estate
may become charged with or liable to.
All churches, meeting-houses, or other regular
places of stated worship, with the grounds thereto
annexed necessary for the occupancy and enjoyment
of the same ; all burial-grounds not used or held for
private or corporate profit; all liosjiitals, universities,
colleges, seminaries, academies, associations, and insti-
tutions of learning, benevolence, or charity, with the
grounds thereto annexed and necessary for the occu-
pancy and the enjoyment of the same, founded, en-
dowed, and maintained by public or private charity;
and all school-houses belonging to any county, bor-
ough, or school district, with the grounds thereto
annexed and necessary for the occupancy and enjoy-
ment of the same; and all court-houses and jails,
with the grounds thereto annexed, are exempted from
all and every county, city, borough, bounty, road,
school, and poor tax : Provided, That all property, real
or personal, other than that which is in actual use
and occupation for the purposes afore-said, and from
which any income or revenue is derived, is subject to
taxation, except where exemjited by law for State
puqjoses.
No portion of the real estate of any religious,
charitable, or benevolent association or institution in
the city of Philadelphia, which is used for business
purpoees, shall be exempt from municipal or State
tax by reason of any act of Assembly exempting the
real estate or property of said religious, charitable, or
benevolent as.Hociation or institution.
All lands inclosed as burial-grounds and ceme-
teries, and used for the interment of the dead, and
for no other purpose, together with the buildings and
improvements thereon, owned by churches, corpora-
tions, or associations, are exempt from all taxation
for municipal or county puposes.
Councils cannot impose taxes upon rural portions
of the city for police and watchmen, for lighting and
paving and cleaning streets, but shall make an allow-
ance of at least one-third of the whole city tax in
favor of such section.
The City Councils fix the rate and levy all the
taxes authorized by law within the limits of the city
and county, except the State tax, and direct the
amount to be applied and paid by the city treasurer
to health, school, poor, city, and other purposes, ac-
cording to law. The taxes are voted so as to show
how much is raised for said objects respectively ; they
are collected and accounted for to the treasurer as one
city and county tax. The .said tax and all State taxes
accruing within the city limits, are paid to the re-
ceiver of taxes, and all allowance made by law for
the collection and prompt payment of the State tax
accrue to the city treasury for the use of the city :
Provided, That the City Councils discriminate in lay-
ing the city taxes as not to impose upon the rural
portions those expenses which belong exclusively to
the built-up portions of the city ; for which purpose the
assessors distinguish in their returns what properties
are within agricultural or rural sections, not having
the benefit of lighting, watching, and other expendi-
tures for purposes exclusively belonging to built-up
portions of the city ; and all land within said agricul-
tural or rural districts, used for the purpose of culti-
vation or farming, is assessed as farm land.
All meadow, or marsh, or meadow land situate in
the Twenty-fourth Ward, and a-ssessed as marsh or
meadow land, and paying besides the usual city taxes,
a further tax for keeping up and in repair the banks
on said lands, is only liable to pay one-half the rate
of tax levied on real estjite in said city for city pur-
poses."
The offices, depots, car-houses, and other real prop-
erty of railroad corporations situated in the city,
the superstructure of the road and water-stations only
excepted, are subject to taxation, by ordinances, for
city purposes.
If Councils, before or on the second stated meeting
in December in each and every year, fail to levy and
fix the rate of taxes for the ensuing year, the tax-rate
of the preceding year is continued as the rate for the
ensuing year.
Upon all taxes paid on or before the 31st of August
a discount at the rate of one per cent, per annum is
allowed. If paid after the 31st day of August, and
on or before the 15th day of September, an addition
1 Tbii Ml wu axteDded to the Firet Ward b; ut of April 8, 18M,
P. L., ilO.
3 1833 02232 6596
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1713
or penalty of one-half of one per cent, is added. If
paid after the 15th day of September, and on or before
the 1st day of October, there is an addition or penalty
of one per cent. If paid after the 1st day of October,
and on or before the 15th day of October, there is an
addition or penalty of one and one-half per cent. If
paid after the 15th day of October, and on or before
the 1st day of November, there is an addition or pen-
altj' of two per cent. If paid after the 1st day of
November, and on or before the 15th day of Novem-
ber, there is an addition or penalty of two and one-
half per cent. If paid after the 15th day of Novem-
ber, and on or before the 1st day of December, there
is an addition or penalty of three per cent. If paid
after the 1st day of December, and on or before the
15th day of December, there is an addition or penalty
of three and one half per cent. If paid after the
15th day of December, and on or before the 1st day of
January, there is an addition or penalty of four per
cent. If paid after the 1st day of January, and on or
before the 15th day of January, there is an addition
or penalty of four and one-half per cent. ; and upon
all taxes remaining unpaid after the 15th day of
January, there is an addition or penalty of five per
cent, added to and made payable upon the same. And
it is the duty of the receiver of taxes to display from
day to day, in large figures, and in a conspicuous place
in the tax-office, the amount of discount or penalty
fixed by ordinance.
No receipt for taxes is valid or binding upon the
city unless the payment be made to the cashier, dur-
ing business hours, at the office of the receiver of
taxes, in conformity with the regulations of the de-
partment for the safe collection of taxes.
Every person or persons owning and possessing one
dog shall pay a tax of twenty-five cents for it, and
for every second dog kept about the same house one
dollar, and for every additional dog two dollars.
All taxes unpaid on the 1st day of January, after
the year for which they were assessed, bear interest
until paid, besides the commissions thereon for collec-
tion.
The charge for advertising delinquent taxpayers
of the city of Philadelphia shall not exceed fifteen
cents for all advertising of each name in any one
ward, which is payable by the person or persons liable
for the tax, nor shall the same be inserted in more
than two newspapers ; and if the name of any person
shall be so advertised after having paid their tax the
receiver shall pay the expenses thereof.
Sales for taxes may be made at any of the regular
sales by the sherifi" of the county and of the city and
county of Philadelphia.
For the purpose of creating a sinking fund for the
gradual extinguishment of the bonds and funded debt
of the city, the Councils annually (until payment of
the bonds and funded debt be fully provided for)
levy and collect, in addition to the other taxes of said
corporation, a tax of not less than one-fourth of one
mill, and not exceeding three mills, upon the assessed
value of the taxable property of said city, called the
sinking fund tax, which is paid into the city treasury,
and applied toward the extinguishment of said bonds
and funded debt in the order of the date of issue
thereof, and to no other purpose whatever; and said
bonds, when purchased, are conspicuously stamped to
show that they were purchased for the sinking fund
of said city, and the interest on said bonds is collected
and used in like manner with the taxes collected for
said sinking fund.
The qualified voters of the city elect one person, who
is denominated receiver of taxes, to serve for three
years. He gives bonds, and is sworn or affirmed to
perform his duty. He collects and receives all taxes
and public assessments payable and receivable within
the limits of the city. It is the duty of the Board of
Revision to place the duplicate lists of taxes in the
possession of the receiver of taxes as early as practi-
cable in the year for which the taxes are assessed, and
when he receives them he causes his clerks to make
out bills against the taxpayers.
The receiver of taxes, on the first Mondays of Oc-
tober, November, and December, gives general notice
to all taxpayers, three times in three newspapers, to
pay the taxes then due ; and if not paid before the
1st day of the following January, interest will be
charged thereon, and the names of all delinquent tax-
payers will then be published according to law, and
the names of the delinquent taxpayers, when pub-
lished, are alphabetically arranged for the several
wards.
The receiver of taxes of the city collects and daily
pays into the city treasury all State taxes by him col-
lected. The city pays over all State taxes collected and
paid into the city treasury before the 25th day of
July in each year, and receives therefor the five per
cent, allowed by law, and one per cent, for the com-
mission of collection, but no allowance for the then
uncollected State tax, unless the city advance the
same by the said date, in which case the city may
borrow the amount of such residue of the current
year's State tax : Provided, That the loans therefor be
all payable within the year, and the whole of the State
taxes for the year for which they accrued shall be
paid into the State treasury by the 25th of January
nest thereafter. The city allows the taxpayers for
the State tax five per cent, on all sums paid before the
25th of July of the year when due, and nothing if
paid thereafter.
The receiver of taxes of the city is charged by the
city controller with the amount of the duplicates for
each ward placed in his hands by the Board of Re-
vision for State and city taxes, and in the month
of January, annually, the receiver, in books to be
called " the register of unpaid taxes on real estate,"
registers all unpaid taxes (except occupation taxes)
of the preceding year, and the said taxes are a lien
on all real estate. The city controller, immediately
1714
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
after the expiration of the term of office of the re-
ceiver of taxes, audits his accounts and makes allow-
ance for uncollected taxes, and. all real estate sold by
order of the Orphans' Court, if returned to and con-
firmed by the said court, is certified to the receiver of
taxes by the prothonotary of said court, and all real
estate sold by order of the Court of Common I'leas,
or any other court (except sold by the sheriff)', if re-
turned to said court or courts, and confirmed by said
court or courts, is certified to the receiver of taxes by
thr prothonotar>' of said court.
The receiver of taxes is authorized to refund all
State and city taxes that may have been paid to and
collected by him on duplicate and erroneous assess-
ments to the person or persons who may have so erro-
nt-ously paid the same ; all amounts to be refunded
out of the taxes collected in the respective wards and
in the respective years in which said errors occurred :
fi-orided, hotrrver. That proper vouchers of allowance
of such errorx by the Board of Revision be furnished
to the said receiver of taxes: Ami provided further,
That the lien of the taxes on the real estate wrong-
fully paid has not be«'n discharged by a judicial sale
or otherwise.
The receiver of laxw gives bond to the city of Phila-
delphia, with sureties which shall be approved by
the S-lect and Common Councils in the sum of forty
thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful per-
formance of the duties of his office. He is sworn or
affirmed by the mayor that he will honestly keep and
account for all public money-t an<i property intrusted
to his cari', and to faithfully perform the duties of his
office. He collects and receivi-s all taxes and public
aiw<wments payable and ri'ceivable within the limits
of the city. He renders each day to the city con-
tftiljer an account, under oath or affirmation, admin-
istered by the controller, of each item of his receipts,
and all h-v», and daily pays the same into the city
trra»ur>'.
On the flmt day of each month the receiver of taxes
certifies under oath to the city controller the amount
rpcpive<l by him from the sheriff of the county for all
taxes and crmts due, or claimed as due, upon any
property sold by the sheriff, the name of each case,
the amount received in each case during the pre-
ft-ding month ; and the receiver of taxes, in making
payment to the city treasurer, s[>ecifies separately the
amounts paid t/i the treasurer on account of the sums
rercived from the sheriff by him.
Ft is the duly of the city controller t/i examine the
•aid list or lists so furnished by the receiver of taxes,
and also the dockets of the sheriff and the books of
the receiver of taxes, and the city controller sends to
the second stated meeting in each month of Councils
a copy of the list or lists so furnished by the receiver
of lazes (he retaining the original list or lists, and
filing the same in his office), and he certifies at the
foot of the list that he has personally examined the
docket of the sheriff and the books of the receiver
aforesaid, and that he has compared the same with
the list or listi*, and that he has found them correct,
or otherwise, as he finds the same to be.
The city treasurer keeps a book in which he enters
the amounts received by him from the receiver of
taxes on account of the sums collected from the
sheriff of the county.
The receiver of taxes appoints one deputy receiver
of taxes, at a salary of $2000 per annum ; one cashier,
at a salary of $2500 per annum ; one chief clerk, at
a salary of $2000 per annum ; one discount clerk, at
a salary of $1500 per annum ; eight bill clerks, at a
salary of $1000 per annum ; four registering clerks,
at a salary of $1000 per annum ; one judicial sales
clerk, at a salary of $1000 per annum ; one chief
search clerk, at a salary of $1200 per annum ; four
assistant search clerks, at a salary of $1000 perannum ;
one messenger, at a salary of $1000 per annum ; one
watchman, at a salary of $600 per annum ; and one
I janitor, at a salary of $600 per annum.
The judicial sales clerk makes daily returns to the
' receiver of taxes of all taxes collected through
, sheriff's sales, or other judicial sales, and the re-
I ceiver of taxes makes daily reports in duplicate of all
! such collections, which he files with the controller
and city treasurer, and he also keeps at the office of
the sheriff a detailed account of such receipts, sub-
ject to public inspection.
The receiver of taxes keeps a detailed daily ac-
count, by wards, of all receipts for State or muni-
cipal taxes, subject to public inspection.
It is the further duty of said receiver to prepare
blank poll-tax receipts in books containing two hun-
' dred thereof, which are impressed with the seal of the
' city of Philadelphia, by the mayor, which said books
are issued to the collectors of poll-tax from time to
time, as required, and the stub of each receipt is, on
j the 29th day before every election, returned to the re-
ceiver of taxes, and safely kept by him as part of the
records of his office. And on or before the 20th day
preceding such election the said receiver transmits
to the city controller a statement showing the amount
of poll-tax collected, together with the full names of
the persons paying the same by divisions and wards,
also the names of all defaulting collectors of poll-tax,
if any, with the amount of such default, and the last-
' mentioned statement he also furnishes to the city
solicitor for collection and for pro.secution of the
offender.
Poll-tax collectors for each ward, in numbers not
exceeding the representation in Common Council,
arc appointed by the receiver of taxes, and they re-
ceive as compensation twenty per cent, of the gross
rei-eipts, provided they make return of all 'moneys
collected.
The receiver of taxes is authorized to receive on
account of taxes due, one-half the amount of the
same at one time, and the other half at another.
The sai<l receiver of taxes shall, on or before the
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1715
15th day of Januar-y in each and every year, have
prepared a registry of all outstanding or delinquent
taxes of the previous year due and owing, and shall
immediately proceed upon all such delinquent taxes,
rates, and levies for the collection thereof, and to col-
lect the same, by distraint or otherwise, either out of
the personal property on the premises, or the personal
or real estate of the delinquent owner wherever the
same may be found, whether in his own possession, or
in that of any trustee or other person for him, or in
the possession of his executors, administrators, or
legal representatives.
The receiver of taxes is» authorized to levy upon
and sell any goods, chattels, or personal property
found on any premises on which taxes are delin-
quent, or upon the goods, chattels, or personal
property of the owner of said premises, wherever
the same may be found, whether in his own pos-
session or in that of any trustee or other person for
him, or in the possession of his executors, admin-
istrators, or legal representatives : Provided, That
there shall have been served on such owner or ten-
ant, or other person in whose hands or possession
such goods, chattels, or personal property may be, a
printed or written notice demanding payment of the
taxes, costs, and charges thereon, within thirty days
of the date thereof, stating that if said payment be not
made within said time the same would be enforced
by levy and sale of such goods, chattels, and per-
sonal property : Provided, further, That any executor,
administrator, trustee, or legal representative of any
estate, or other person who shall pay any such taxes,
costs, and charges due upon any such estate, may
defalk the amount paid by him or them out of any
moneys in his or their hands, or from any revenue
received thereafter from or belonging to said estate :
And provided, further. That when goods, chattels, or
personal property of any tenant shall have been
levied upon, the collector is authorized and empow-
ered to collect from said tenant, and when the amount
of tax exceeds the amount of rent due, then only the
amount of rent then due, but the lien of the levy
shall remain upon said goods during the occupancy
of said premises by said tenant, and all rents after
accruing shall be applied to the extinguishment of
said taxes, until the tax, charges, and costs shall
have been fully paid. The amount collected by said
receiver is a lawful deduction from the rent due or
may thereafter become due ; and in the event of the
refusal of any landlord to allow of said deduction to
said tenant on account of rent, and shall refuse to
accept the receipt of said receiver in lieu thereof,
then it shall be the duty of the city solicitor to de-
fend the said tenant in any action brought by the
said landlord or his agent for the recovery of said
rent from said tenant, the costs and expenses thereof
to be paid by the collector of delinquent taxes: Pro-
vided, further, That in no case shall any tenant or
tenants be compelled to pay the said tax. costs, and
charges, or any portion thereof, until the said rent
shall have become due and payable ; neither shall
said receiver follow said tenant's goods, chattels, or
personal property to any other premises upon a pre-
vious levy, upon a change of residence of said tenants,
or a bona fide removal of said goods, in the ordinary
course of business.
In all cases where the receiver shall deem it
advisable to proceed against the real estate of such
delinquent owner, whether by action or by lien, and
the said premises shall be exposed to sheriff's sale,
if an amount shall not be bid sufficient to cover the
amount of all taxes due, with all the costs, charges,
and expenses due thereon, together with all costs
and expenses incident to said sale and the judgment
under which the same is made, the receiver of taxes
has full power and authority, in his discretion, either
to stay the said sale, or to purchase the property
in the name and behalf of the city, and take title
thereto.
All sales made in suits instituted by such receiver
or under his direction, on a judgment regularly ob-
tained invests in the purchaser a good and sufficient
title to the premises sold, subject to the right of the
delinquent owner to redeem the same, which is lim-
ited to two years from the date of the acknowledg-
ment of the sheriff's deed therefor, upon his payment
to the purchaser of the amount bidden at such sale,
with ten per cent, thereon, and all costs, charges, and
expenses.
The said receiver of taxes appoints such number of
clerks and deputies as may be fixed by the Councils,
removable at his pleasure ; and the deputies have all
the powers to collect and proceed for such delinquent
taxes as the receiver has, and they make weekly re-
turns, and pay over to the receiver weekly all sums
of money for delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, and
costs collected by them.
The said receiver of taxes is allowed a commission
of one per cent, on all moneys collected by him or his
deputies as delinquent tax.
John Hunter,' the present receiver of taxes, was
born on the 15th of April, 1825, in Belfast, Ire-
land. When but two years of age he was brought to
America by his parents, who settled in that portion
of Philadelphia County, now known as West Phila-
delphia. The father engaged in the business of print-
ing calico and other cotton goods. When quite a lad,
John Hunter entered the establishment of his father,
and, beginning at the foundation, familiarized himself
with the various details of the business. The father
having died while the son was but a young man, the
latter, in conjunction with his brother James, assumed
full charge of the mill, and succeeded in placing the
business upon a substantial foundation. And ever
since the house of James and John Hunter has en-
joyed a national reputation for upright dealing.
1 This Bketch of Mr. Hunter was contributed by F. W, Leacli.
1716
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Although a practical and industrious business man,
he is, withal, of modest demeanor, and possessed of
but slight inclination for public life, and his entrance
into the field of politics, early in 1877, was rather from
the force of circumstances than from choice. In
January, of that year, he was asked by a number of
prominent residents of the Twenty-fourth Ward to
permit the use of his name as a Republican candidate
for common councilman. So reluctant was he to ac-
cede to their request that he suggested a neighbor as
a more suitable candidate, going so far as to offer
to pay the latter's campaign expenses. Despite his
protestations, the convention nominated him for the
office. Before the body adjourned, however, a certain
element in the convention, being animated by outside
influences antagonistic to Mr. Hunter's known ideas
of honest and efficient municipal government, caused
his nomination to be reconsidered, on the plea that
he had declined to subscribe to a pledge that he would
abide by the decision of the delegates, no matter what
it might be. In this emergency the man's determina-
tion of character asserted itself, and he immediately
began a vigorous warfare against his opponents.
Having announced himself as an independent candi-
date, he was subsequently indorsed by the Demo-
cratic party. At the election which ensued on the
20th of the February following, Mr. Hunter received
3014 votes, 2788 ballots having been cast for his
opponent.
Mr. Hunter's course in the Common Council dur-
ing his term of service was of such an aggressive
character as to keep alive the antagonism of those
who had fought so bitterly to prevent his success in
1877, and these same opponents, in 1880, decreed his
defeat for re-election. New tactics, however, were
resorted to. Again had Mr. Hunter declined to com-
ply with the rule requiring a written pledge to the
nominating convention that he would not become an
independent candidate, but this refusal was over-
looke<l, and a forged document supplied iti place.
On the night before election .Mr. Hunter's enemies
pretended to have suddenly discovered this fraud, and
omitting his name from the regular ward ticket, sup-
planted it with that of a new candidate named by the
Ward Committee. But the friends of Mr. Hunter
had anticipated all this, and, to the chagrin of his
opponents, his tickets were found next morning at
every polling place in the ward, and he was again
elected, receiving this lime 2848 votes to 1715 cast for
his opponent.
During his second term in the Common Council,
Mr. Hunter was even more aggressive in the cause of
good government than in his previous service, turn-
ing his attention especially to the exposing of certain
defects and evidences of wrong-doing in the water
and gas departments. For a portion of this second
term, also, he served as chairman of the t'lnance
Committee, the most important of the Councilmanic
Committees.
In December, 1880, Mr. Hunter was placed in the
field for the office of receiver of taxes by the Citi-
zens' Committee of One Hundred, which organization
had just inaugurated its career of reform effort and
investigation. He was subsequently nominated by
the Democratic Convention. His opponent before
the people was George G. Pierie, who was the nom-
inee of the Republican party. The campaign was a
vigorous one, and much enthusiasm was awakened.
The result was the polling, in February, 1881, of a
very heavy vote for a municipal contest, the figures
being,— Hunter, 88,934; Pierie, 62,348.
Mr. Hunter's conduct df the tax-office during his
three years' term of service was characterized by a
general stopping of official and clerical leaks in the
administration of the affiairs of the department.
Taxes were collected with greater promptness, and
at less expense to the tax-payer, and efficiency and
honesty took the place of carelessness and malfeas-
ance.
When the Republican Convention to nominate a
candidate for receiver of taxes for the term begin-
ning in April, 1884, met in January of that year, Mr.
Hunter's name was placed before it for a renomina-
tion. Three ballots were taken before a final result
was reached, the outcome being the selection of
George G. Pierie, Mr. Hunter's oi)[)onent of three
years previous. Mr. Hunter's defeat in the conven-
tion awakened a storm of condemnation throughout
the city, on the part of the press as well as among
the people. Finally, on the 22d of January, Mr.
Pierie withdrew from the field, and on the 23d the
Republican Convention was reconvened, and Mr.
Hunter was placed upon the ticket, with, practically,
no dissenting voice. On the following day the Demo-
cratic Convention met, and Mr. Hunter was nomi-
nated by it also, so that, virtually, he had no oppo-
sition when the election was held. On the 19th of
February, 1884, he was re-elected, and is now serving
his second term as receiver of taxes.
In his report for the year ending Dec. 31, 1882,
Mr. Hunter gives the following statement of the col-
lection of taxes for that year,:
nt of the rity Ux Msowmeut
Amnuiit «l clljr tax collecUld t9,4U0,:i62.13
lliicniinl iinowed t43,M4.9l|
Pnualty •JJwl - 42.420.43
Nft illKoiinl 1.216.63
Net amount city tax collMtad
( '^tli |ial<l i-lty trpimurtfr. Procwdg from hIo
of iwilI'lMX r#K:i»tpl«, Fehniary election
unto, N.iTomlHT election
Caeh paid city treaanrei. Amount of March fee* from
Oct. 1. IHHI, lollct, I, IK82
Amount of Sule tax collected during tbayear 208[612!o8
40,007.20
3,8.'>0.66
Total amount paid to dty treasurer 9 667,677 03
Amount of city ux delinquent (on which penaltleaarti to '
'■••^•'•<') 676,093.23
997c
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1717
STATEMENT OF THE BEAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA FOB THE TEAR 1883.
m
s
^
^
^
T)
*
a
m
S78
$1
66
h
49 1
62' I
89
24
4
814,054,675
10,971,675
6,636,375
7,605,860
24,618,456
37,201,833
19,672,125'
41,077,400!
36,360,2691
21,273,3881
9,006,411
8,399,250 1
12,996,000!
13,788,1100
31,673,690
7,716,360
6,893,200
10,603,560
18,163,160
26,174,700
3,756,630
10,084,375
4,731,125
21,643,100
9,367,900
12,036.071
14,969,400
17,173,325
26,515,000
11,606.960
10,642,460
3,367,846
10,166,982
4,008,280
4,863,(160
4,193,070'
1,398,215
3,026,636
5,264,300
323,100
1,043,176
3,181,950
4,565,700
1,768.050
2,398,810
1,987,495
2,238,760
1,192,700
815,586,620
10,971,676
6,636,376
7.606,860
24,518,466
37,201,833
19,672,125
41,077,400
36,360,269
21,273,388
9,006,411
8,399,260
12,!I96,000
13,788,000
31,673,690
7,716,360
6,893,200
10,603,660
18,163,150
26,174,700
8,166,650
23,423,307
13,305,105
28,274,210)
15,959,780
16,421,781
20,233,796
23,630,326!
26,838,100!
11,506,960
10,642,460
815,650
9,150
11,5601
11,400
37,600 1
36,300
695,740!
1,113,600
303,423
402,000
8,300
127,065
172,000
120.250
601,6861
34,800
6,760
13,050
17,275
307,700
27,9001
467,300
46,250
160,200
6,350
211,450!
324,51(1
186,462
386,980
13,400
11,400
$60,330
38,585
4,300
10,366
15,186'
11,670
74,156
128,551
85,630
65,147!
26,820'
40,310'
32,065
36,930
166,895
30,985
28,000 1
65,718'
83,376
103,090'
51,080
162,900:
130,225
165,000
45,600!
68,960 1
80,035
212,973
139,636
30,050
112,400
360
13,760
36,316
39 525
7,600
9,060
1,760
17,150
9,560
1,600
600
60,600 1
120,5001
29,275!
38,680
2,435
13,500!
16,890
8,360
63,905
3,275
1,825
3,230
16,405
35,656
15,180'
96,365
13,060
18,800 1
3.810
2,385
15,675
30,230i
36,570
1,250
6,560!
3,900
10,000!
11,420!
6,000
'4,156
3,650
6,275'
4,566
4,600
2,700
4,936
6,400
16,865
600
7,075
4,700
1,100
1,350
8122,8001
67,8001
46,950
63,500
1,797,601
10,923,293
4,612,094
16,60u,246,
2,661,442
2,076,606
"610,118!
1,477,731
4:iO,418
1,526,949
134,300
14,360
168,945
19,037 1
632,260'
269,291
2,263,668
341,862
1,042,660
25,600
34,175
739,337
601,177
636,800
3,935
67,600
Totals 8506,188,483 837,447,307 819,051,765 $662,687,655 $5,698,280 82,304,965 8139,260 $653,205 $119,205 849,571,325 814,645 8366 819
The following table shows the assessment of real
and personal property In the city of Philadelphia
subject to taxation for municipal purposes, from 1867
to 1884, inclusive, with the tax-rate for each year:
Tears.
Eeal Estate.
Furniture,
Horae.'^, and
Carriages.
Total.
Tax-rate
per $100.
8160,360,666
446,673,317
464,196,370
471,60(1,266
491,844,(196
502,415,863
518.234,668
639,003,602
665,819,095
586,408.705
493,313,532
677,648,328
626,639,972
629,169,382
536,805,744
646.608,579
562,687,565
513,728,106
8:5,737,685
7,964,169
7,862,257
8,l7B,:n8
8,592,786
8,608,819
8,930,700
9,239,933
9,464,873
10,004,673
9,756,000
9,439,769
8.009.892
7,498.462
7,863,386
8,166,&60
8,795,700
9,884,578
$164,088,451
463,617,486
462,058,627
479,776,643
600,436,882
611,024,682
627,165,268
548.243,636
676,283,968
696,413,378
603,068,632
586,988,097
634,609,964
536,667,834
543,669,129
553,775.229
571,483,256
683,612,683
$4.00
1.40
1.80
1.80
1.80
2.08
1.15
2.20
2.15
2.16
2 25
2.16
2.05
2.00
1.95
1882
1.90
1.85
1884
1.85
RECEIVERS OF TAXES.
By the act of Feb. 2, 1864, the County treasurer was appointed receiver
until the first election, which was held on the first Tuesaay in May,
1866.
John M. Cnleman, by act of Feb. 2, 1854
Peter Armbruster, elected May 6, 1H56
ArmslninK I. Fl.imerfelt, elected May 4, 1868
William P. Hamm, elected May 1,1860
James C. Kelsh, elected Oct. 14, 1862
Charles O'Neill, elected Oct. 12, 1864
Richard Peltz, elected Oct. 9,1866
•lohn M. Melloy, elected Oct. 13, 1868
Richard Peltz,l in oflice Feb. 14, 1870
1 A decree of the Court of Common Pleas, of Oct. 16, 1869, declared
Samuel P. Hancock elected city controller; Thomas J. Worrell, city
Robert H. Beatty, elected Oct. 11, 1870
Thomas J. Smith, elected Oct. 13, 1874
Albert C. Roberts, elected Oct. 10,1876
John Hunter, elected Feb. 15,1881
COLLECTORS OF DELINQUENT TAXES FOR PHILADELPHIA.
Office etlablMed by ad of March 24, 1870.
John L. Hill, appointed 1870 to 1873
Henry Bnmm, appointed 1873 to 1876
William J. Donohugh, appointed 1876 to 1882
Henry B. Tener,2 appointed July 20,1881
BOARD OF REVISION OF TAXES. ^
Established by the act of March 14, 1865, term three years. The
board to consist of two persons and the senior city commissioner; the
senior in 1865 was John Given ; the second year, 1866, Philip Hamilton,
and the third, Thomas Dixey, whose term expired by act of Feb. 2, 1867,
and was succeeded by Samuel Haworth. By act of Feb. 2, 1867, an ad-
ditional person, instead of the senior city commissioner, all three to be
appointed by the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. The members
of the board are as follows ;
John Given, by the act March 14, 1865
William Loughlin, appointed May 6,1866
Andrew Doz Cash, appointed May 6, 1865
Thomas Cochran, t-fce Cash Oct. 30, 1866
Philip Hamilton, commissioned — 1866
Thomas Dixey, commissioned — 1866-67
Samuel Haworth, underact of Feb. 2, 1867
Ale
ander McCuen, city
and Richard Done-
1 certiorari to the Su-
affirmed on Feb. 14,
solicitor; Richard Peltz, receiver of taxei
I commissioner; Charles Gibbons, district attorney
gan, prothonotary of the Common Pleas. And t
preme Court, the decision of the lower court wb
1870.
2 The act of Feb. 14, 1881, consolidated the otHces of receiver of taxes and
collector of delinquent taxes. Mr. Hunter appointed Tener on July 20,
1881, and the appointment was approved by the mayor and Councils on
Jan. 3, 1882, but Donohugh said his appointment dated from April 7,
1879, for three years, and he refused to vacate until April 7, 1882.
s From John Hill Martin's " Bench and Bar of Philadelphia."
1718
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
JuDM Bowinl Cutle.l uppointed Jan. 1, 1877
George Waller Fairnian,' appointed March 30, 1878
Chief Clerk, Jaiuea Wesley 8»>re,appointe<I.NoT. 1,1866
City Treasurer. — The qualified voters of the city
elect a city treasurer to serve for three years, from
the first day of January next succeeding such election.
He shall give bond to the city, conditioned for the
faithful performance of his duty, in such amount as
the City Councils shall direct, and shall, before he
enters upon his office, take and subscribe an oath or
affirmation, honestly to keep an account of all public
moneys and property intrusted to his care; and if
such treasurer shall knowingly violate such oath he
shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction
thereof in the i>roper court be sentenced to undergo
solitary imprisonment at hard labor in the Eastern
Penitentiary for the term of not less than one nor more
than ten years. Any vacancy in said office shall be
filled by the City Councils by rira voce vote in joint
meeting. No money shall be drawn from the treasury'
of the city, except the same shall have been previously
appropriated by Councils to the purpose for which it
is drawn. The accounts to be kejit by the s.aid city
treasurer shall exhibit all the receipts and all the ex-
penditures of the city in an intelligible manner, in
the form of accounts current, in which the particulars
of each item of charge and discharge shall fully and
precisely ap])ear. Any citizen may, on the payment
of a fee of twelve and a half cents, to be paid to the
city treasurer for the use of the city, inspect the said
accounts ; and for a further fee of fifty cents and one
cent per line of ten words, to be paid for the use of
the city, the treasurer shall, on request of any citizen,
furnish a transcript of any part thereof. It shall be
the duty of the Councils of the city to provide, and
said trea-surer to pay into the treasury of the State,
the amount of the State tax assessed within the limits
of the city, deducting all allowances made by law ;
and said trea-turer elected as aforesaid shall, before
he enters upon the office, give bond with sureties to
be approved by the judges of the Court of Common
Pleas of Philadelphia County, in such sum as they
shall direct, conditioned for the safe keeping of
and accounting for all moneys received by him for
the use of the State. The said treasurer shall keep
the public moneys in such place and manner as the
City Councils shall direct, and shall verify his cash
account at least once every week to the satisfaction of
a standing committee of Council ; and upon the
affidavit of a majority of such committee of any
default therein, the said trca-surer shall be suspended
from office until the further action of Councils; and
the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
shall, upon said affidavit and cause shown, forthwith
issue a writ of sequestration to the sherilT of the
county against such defaulter for the amount of such
> CmiI* wrua|>puliilr<l In plac* of Cochran, who raaignxl. He died
March 18, ltl7«, a(eil lixl; /Mn. and Falrman wai appointed to Sll the
Tacancy.
default, to be levied on all his property, estate, and
effects in favor of said city, which writ shall be a lien
thereon from the issuing thereof, with a clause of
attachment contained therein, directing the sheriff to
arrest the body of such defaulter to answer the said
charge on a day certain, on which day the said court
shall inquire of the premises and enter judgment
thereon as may be just, or in their discretion award
an issue to try the disputed facts ; and if the said
court upon such hearing shall be satisfied that there
is probable cause to believe that such treasurer has
committed the crime of perjury, it shall be their duty
to commit him for trial at the next Court of Quarter
Sessions of said county.
The treasurer of the city of Philadelphia shall, on
the first Monday of July, and quarterly thereafter,
or oftener, if required by the State treasurer, pay into
the treasury, or such place of deposit as said State
treasurer shall designate, to the credit of the common-
wealth, the whole amount of money received during
the period preceding said payments; and shall furnish
to the State treasurer statements under proper heads,
designating the source from which the money was
received ; and said officer shall file and settle quarterly
accounts in the office of the auditor-general, as now
required by law. Upon the settlement of said quar-
terly accounts, if it appear that the receipts shall not
have been i)aid as directed by this section, any officer
so offending shall forfeit his fees and commissions on
the whole amount of money collected during the
quarter ; in every case where a balance due the com-
monwealth shall remain unjiaid for a period of ten
days after such quarterly settlement, suit shall be
commenced against such delinquent and his sureties,
as is provided in case of defaulting officers.
No money shall be paid out of the city treasury
except upon appropriations made by law, and on
warrant drawn by the proper officer in pursuance
thereof.
The treasurer of the city is required to render to
the auditor-general and State treasurer quarterly re-
turns of all moneys received by him for use of the
commonwealth, designating under proper beads the
source from which the money was received, and all
such moneys so collected shall be paid into the State
treasury quarterly, or oftener, if required by the State
treasurer.
Said treasurer gives bond to the corporation, with
two or more sureties, to be approved by the Select
and Common Councils, in the sum of one hundred
thousand dollars conditioned for the faithful per-
formance of the duties of his office, and he takes and
subscribes an oath or affirmation before the mayor,
honestly to keep and account for all public moneys
and property intrusted to his care. He deposits and
keeps, in such places and manner as Councils may
direct, all public moneys intrusted to his care as city
treasurer, including such as shall come to the corpo-
ration as trustee, and the accounts of such deposit of
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OP PHILADELPHIA.
1719
trust moneys shall 5e kept separate, and not blended
with any other account. He shall pay all warrants
that are drawn on him by the proper officer, and
countersigned by the city controller, and none other.
Upon the presentation of city warrants at the office
of the city treasurer, it is the duty of the treasurer to
pay the same on demand, and in the order of pre-
sentation. In the event of the inability of the treas-
urer to so pay the same on their first presentation, he
shall cause such unpaid warrants to be stamped with
date of presentation and numbers, and thereafter no
new or unstamped warrants shall be cashed until all
those stamped have been first paid, and those stamped
shall be entitled to be first paid, and in the order of
their numbers : Provided, That the treasurer shall not
reftise to cash unstamped warrants when the funds in
the treasury are sufficient to meet the stamped war-
rants, as well as those presented and not stamped ;
And provided further, That the treasurer shall not re-
fuse to cash any stamped warrant in its regular order,
and that the money for those previously stamped and
not presented shall remain in the treasury, subject at
all times to payment, and the interest on all such un-
presented warrants shall cease when notice is posted
in the treasurer's office that the same will be paid on
presentation.
The said treasurer daily makes return in writing
to the controller, verified by oath or affirmation ad-
ministered by that officer, of all moneys received on
the day previous, stating the sources, and at the same
time he shall give to the controller the certificate of
deposit of the same.
The treasurer shall not deposit in any one of the
banks, designated as city depositories, at any one
time, the city money, in excess of three hundred
thousand dollars; and in addition to the daily re-
turns made to the city controller of certificates of
money deposited in banks, makes a statement, veri-
fied under oath, of the drafts made on each deposi-
tory, and the balance remaining to the credit of the
city at the close of business.
The accounts of the city treasurer on Jan. 1, 1883,
stood thus :
Total cash receipts, as per statement 513,426,404.97
Cash balance Jan. 1, 1882 2,260,693.44
$16,676,098.41
Total payments 13,265,684.63
General cash balance Jan. 1, 1883 $2,420,413.88
Sinking fund " " " 705,271.39
Total cash balance in hands of treasurer, Jan. 1, 1883. 83,125,685.27
TREASURERS.
Of the City of Philadelphia.
Edward Shippen, appointed June 1, 1706
Owen Roberts ^oaIled receiver) July 22, 1712
William Fishbourne,! appointed Aug. 10, 1716
Samuel Haaell, in ofBce Oct. 11, 1736
Bei;jamin Shoemaker, appointed July 15, 1761
1 Fishbourne was treasurer July 24, 1728. When Hasell wa
pointed does not appear; he held office at his death, in 1751.
"Minutes of Council.")
110
Samuel Shuemaker,2 appointed July 6, 1767
John Shee.s in office 1790 to 1797
George A. Baker, in office 1802 to 1813
James E. Smith, in office 1813 to 1815
John Bacon, in office 1816 to 1827
Thomas Phipps, appointed 1827 to 1829
Cornelius Stevenson, elected 1829 to 1850
John Lindsay, elected.. Dec. 19, 18.50
Dr. F. Knox Morton, in office 1865 to 1867
William V. McGrath, in office 1857 to 1859
Benjamin H Brown, in office 1869 to 1861
Dr James Mc01intock,< in office 1861 to 1863
Henry Bumm, in office 1863 to 1807
Joseph North Piersol, in office 1867 to 1869
Joseph Faviuger Marcer, in office 1869 to 1871
Peter Arrell Browne Widener, in office 1871 to 1877
Delos P. Southworth, in office 1877 to 1879
Joseph J. Martin, elected Nov. 4, 1879
William B. Irvine, elected Nov. 7, 1882
Of Philadplphia County.
Benjamin Chambers, deputy Feb. 22, 1684
Evan Owen, in office — , 1724
Thomas Leech, in office 1766 to 1758
Philip Syng, in office 1758 to 1769
Barnaby Barnes, in office 1769 to 1777
Cornelius Barnes, in office 1777 to 1781
Isaac Snowden, in office 1781 to 1790
John Baker, in office 1790 to 1807
Robert McMullin, in office 1807 to 1811
Michael Baker, in office 1811 to 1816
Peter Hertzog, in office — , 1816
Daniel B. Lippard, in office 1816 to 1818
Joseph Bird 1818 to 1823
Lodowyk Sharp 1823 to 1824
James S. Huber, in office 1824 to 1827
William Moulder, in office 1827 to 1830
Philip Peltz, in office 1830 to 18;J3
William Stephens, in office 1833 to 1836
George W. South, in office 1836 to 1839
Georse Read.in office 18.39 to 1841
Joseph Plankintun, in office 1841 to 1842
James Page, in office 1842 to 1844
Penrose Ash, in office 1844 to 1846
John H. Dohnert, in office 1846 to 1848
John F. Deal, in office 1848 to 1850
Solomon Wagner, in office 1860 to 1852
Robert 6. Simpson, in office 1852 to 1854
John M. Coleman, in offices 1854 to 1856
Board, of Health. — This board consists of nine
citizens and electors of the city of Philadelphia, who
are selected in the following manner, to wit: the
judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the city and
county appoint three, in such manner that one retires
each year, their terms being three years each. The
judges of the Supreme Court likewise appoint three
in the same manner, and the Select and Common
Councils appoint the other three.
In event of a vacancy in said board from death,
resignation, or otherwise, it is .supplied and filled for
the unexpired terra of such member by the power
which appointed him.
They enter upon their duties by meeting on the
first Monday of July in each year and organize into
a board, and elect a president and such other officers
as may be necessary for the proper transaction of the
business of the board. All sums of money due, paya-
ble to, or received by the Board of Health, are paid
into the city treasury, and all sums expended by or
for the purposes of the Board of Health are paid
by the city treasurer upon orders drawn upon appro-
priations regularly made by Councils. The board act
2 Appointed in the place of Benjamin Shoemaker, and still in office
Oct. 3, 1776.
3 See " Accounts of Pennsylvania," p. 47.
< Died Oct. 18, 1882, aged seventy-three.
6 By the consolidation act the County Treasurer continued from 1854
to 1866 as the Receiver of Taxes. Lindsay was continued as City Treas-
urer until the expiration of his term. May, 1855.
1720
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
upon their own adjournment as they find necessary,
but must meet between the 1st day of June and the
1st day of October.
Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the
Board of Health that any person within the city is
atfiicted with any contagious disease dangerous to the
community, it is the duty of the board to take meas-
ures to prevent the spre.vi of the contagion, by for-
bidding and preventing all communication with the
infected house or family, except by means of physi-
cians, nurses, or messengers, and they exercise all
such other powers as the circumstances of the case
shall require, and as shall in their judgment be most
conducive to the public good with the least private
injury.
All persons other than persons on board of any
ship or vessel, and liable to be sent to the lazaretto,
residing within the city of Philadelphia, who are
afflicted with any pestilential or contagious disease
(measles excepted), may, upon the advice and order
of the port physician, or any other physician or per-
son authorized by the Board of Health to grant such
order, be removed by the health officer, and such as-
sistance as he shall for that purpose employ, to the I
municipal hospital, or to such other place as the phy-
sician or Board of Health shall approve, if the per-
son afflicted with any contagious or pestilential dis-
ease cannot be properly and sufficiently attended at
home, there to be lodged, nursed, and maintained,
and kept until duly discharged by a permit in writing,
signed by a physician of the said public hospital :
Proriilfil always, nevertheless, That each and every
patient, and his or her estate, real and personal, shall
be liable to pay and reimburse all the charges and
expenses on his or her account incurred in the said
haspital, unless the Board of Health award that he
or she shall be exonerated and exempted therefrom.
Every person practicing physic in the city who
shall have a patient laboring under a pestilential
or contagious disease (measles excepted), forthwith
makes a report, in writing, to the health officer, and
for neglecting so to do he is considered guilty of a
misdemeanor, and subject to a fine not exceeding fifty
dollars.
Whenever any person shall die in the city, the
physician or surgeon who has attended such person,
as a physician or surgeon, during his or her last sick-
ness, shall leave a note in writing, signed with his
Dame, with some one of the family in the house where
such person shall have died, sjiccifying the name and
afiparentage of the deceased, and the disease of which
he or she shall have died. And every physician or
Burgeon refusing or neglecting to make and deliver
such note shall forfeit the sum of five dollars. And
no sexton of any church, or other person having
charge of any cemetery, vault, or burying-ground in
the city, shall permit any dead body to be interred
therein until he has received such note in writing so
signed as aforesaid ; or in case no physician or sur-
geon shall have attended such deceased person, or the
physician or surgeon who did attend shall have neg-
lected or refused to leave such note, then a like note
signed by some of the family in which such person
shall have died. The contents of which note, in
writing, shall be entered by such sexton on a blank
schedule to be furnished by the clerk of the health
office, or such other person as the Board of Health
shall direct, and delivered, together with the said
schedule, on the Saturday of every week, to the
health officer for publication in such form as may be
designated by the Board of Health. And every sex-
ton, or other person having charge of any place of
interment, neglecting or refusing to perform the afore-
said requirements forfeits the sum of twenty-five
dollars.
No practicing physician, or other person or per-
sons, are allowed to communicate the infection of
smallpox by inoculation or otherwise within the
jurisdiction of the Board of Health, unless by special
permission of said board, and any practicing phy7
sician, or other person or persons, so transgressing is
liable to a penalty not exceeding one hundred dol-
lars, nor less than seventy, for each person so inocu-
lated or infected.
It is the duty of all persons who may pursue or
practice midwifery in the city of Philadelphia be-
tween the 1st day of March and the 1st day of April,
annually, to leave their names in writing, and the
places of their residence, at the office of the Board of
Health. And when so left it is the duty of the clerk
to enter the same alphabetically in a book kept for
that purpose, which is open at all times during office
hours to persons desirous to inspect the same. And
all persons pursuing or practicing midwifery are re-
quired to keep a true and exact register of the births
that take ))lace under their care and superintendence,
and from time to time, as they may happen, enter the
same, with the sex of the child so born, on a blank
schedule furnished to them by the clerk of the health
office, which schedule is signed with the name of such
person, and delivered on the last Saturday of each
month to the clerk of the health office, or other per-
son calling for the same. And every person pursuing
or practicing midwifery neglecting or refusing to
leave their names and places of residence at the
health office, or to perform any of the duties required,
forfeit and pay for each offense the sum of twenty-
five dollars.
Any person willfully and knowingly obstructing or
resisting the Board of Health, or any of the members
thereof, or any person by them appointed, in the
execution of the powers to them given, or in per-
formance of duties enjoined by law and the rules
and regulations of the hoard, forfeits and pays a sum
not exceeding five hundred dollars. And if, after the
expiration of the quarantine, any mariner or other
person who shall have complied with the regulations
established, shall commit any violence on the person
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OP PHILADELPHIA.
1721
of a member of the Board of Health, or any of the !
oflScers attached to the same, for anything done in j
the execution of his duty, such person is subject, on j
conviction, to a fine of two hundred dollars and im-
prisonment at hard labor for any term not exceeding
three years. ;
The president, secretary, and chief clerk of the
Board of Health, and the health officer, have power
to administer oaths and affirmations in conducting
the business of their respective offices, in connection
with said board, and any false oath so taken is '
deemed perjury.
The Board of Health are vested with full power to j
make general rules, orders, and regulations for the
government and management of the lazaretto, and
the vessels, cargoes, and persons there detained, or
under quarantine, and of the health office and public
hospitals, and for the mode of visiting and examining
vessels, persons, goods, and houses. They have power
to appoint such officers and servants as may be neces- I
sary to attend the health office, the lazaretto, and the
City Hospital, and convey communications and sup-
plies to the lazaretto and hospital, and such other
officers and servants as may be necessary for the
preservation of the health of the district ; together
with all temporary officers and servants that may be
rendered necessary by the existence of any dangerous
contagious disease in the city, or in any other place
within the United States : Provided, That such officers
and servants shall not hold any offices of profit or
trust under the United States ; and to remove any of
the officers and servants by them appointed, and to
allow and pay the said officers and servants such
compensation for their respective services as the board
deem just and proper. The Governor appoints one
physician, who resides at the lazaretto, and is de-
nominated the lazaretto physician, and one physi-
cian who resides in the city of Philadelphia, who is
denominated the port physician, also one health offi-
cer, one quarantine-master, all of whom are under the
direction and control of the Board of Health.
The lazaretto physician is furnished with a house
to live in, also a garden, within the bounds of the
lazaretto, and the quarantine-master is provided with
similar accommodations.
The health officer is entitled to receive from the
captain or master of any ship or vessel the following
sums, and no more, and to pay the same over from
time to time as the board may direct, to wit : all
American vessels sailing under coasting documents,
arriving at the port of Philadelphia, from any port
or place in the United States, between the river St.
Croix and the river St. Mary (except ports or places
between Sandy Hook and Cape Charles), pay two
dollars and fifty cents for each arrival during quaran-
tine months, and the vessel during that time shall (if
having goods capable of containing contagion, persons,
baggage, or clothing, from any foreign port or place
or any diseased person) stop at the lazaretto, and there
be examined by the lazaretto physician and quaran-
tine-master, under the rules and regulations. And
all American vessels from any port in the United
States where they may have touched or traded from
a foreign port or place, pay the same sum as if they
had arrived direct from such port or place. And all
American vessels with coa.sting documents, arriving
from any port or place between Sandy Hook and Cape
Charles, including the bay and river Delaware, during
quarantine months, having on board merchandise of
foreign growth or manufacture, or persons, baggage,
or clothing from any foreign port or place, or from
any place to the northward or eastward of Sandy
Hook, or westward of Cape Charles, stop at the laza-
retto for examination under the rules and regulations,
and pay for each arrival during quarantine months two
dollars and fifty cents. All American vessels arriving
from any port or place in New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Canada, or the islands or ports adjacent the
river St. Mary, the coast of Florida, bay of Mexico,
including New Orleans and parts adjacent, and from
thence along the bay of Honduras and coast of Terra
Firma, as far as the river Amazon, including all the
islands generally denominated West India, Bahamas,
or Bermudas, pay on arrival five dollars. All Ameri-
can vessels arriving from any place in Europe, in the
Western, Medeira, Canary, or Cape Verd islands, the
coast of Africa as far as latitude thirty-four degrees
south, and from any place in the Mediterranean or
straits thereof, or from any place from the river Ama-
zon inclusive, and round the coast of Brazil as far as
latitude thirty-four degrees south, pay ten dollars
each. And all American vessels arriving from any
place beyond latitude thirty-four degrees south, or
round Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope, pay
twenty dollars each. And all foreign vessels arriving
as aforesaid (except prizes to American vessels) pay
twenty-five per cent, each additional, unless otherwise
regulated by any treaty. And prize vessels, taken by
foreign armed vessels, pay twenty-five per cent, each
more than is paid by American vessels. And prize
vessels taken by American vessels pay on arrival ten
dollars each. And public armed vessels and priva-
teers pay six dollars each. And any vessel of the
burden of one hundred and fifty tons and upwards,
arriving at the lazaretto, from any foreign port or
coastwise, may come to in the outer channel, as near
to the west end of the island of Little Tinicum, oppo-
1 site the lazaretto, as her draught of water, wind, and
weather will permit, for the purpose of receiving the
visit from the lazaretto physician and quarantine-
' master. And if the said vessel does not receive her
visit in the inner channel, she shall pay an additional
sum of five dollars, of which two dollars shall be paid
to the lazaretto physician, and one dollar to the quar-
antine-master as a compensation for their services, and
I two dollars into the treasury of the board.
Every ship or vessel coming from any foreign port
I or place, bound to the port of Philadelphia, between
1722
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the 1st day of June and the 1st day of October in
every year, must come to anchor in the river Dela-
ware as near the lazaretto as the draught of water and
the weather will allow, before any part of the cargo or
baggage be landed, or any person who come in such
ship or vessel shall leave her, or any person l;p per-
mitted to go on board, and shall submit to an exami-
nation. And if any master, commander, or pilot
shall leave his station before the said lazaretto, or if
any master or commander permit or suffer any part
of the cargo or baggage, or any person or persons
arriving in such ship or vessel from any port beyond
the limiu of the United States, to be landed on either
shore of the Delaware Bay or river, or suffer any
person, except the pilot, to come on board before
such examination be duly had, and a certificate ob-
tained, the person or persons so permitting, and the
person or persons so landed or going on board (unless
imminent danger of the loss of the vessel or lives of
the crew shall render assistance necessary) being
thereof convicted, upon indictment or prosecution, by
verdict, confession, or standing mute in any court
having jurisdiction of the offense, shall pay a fine not
exceeding five hundred dollars.
It is the duty of the lazaretto physician and quar-
antine-master, so soon as any ship or vessel is an-
chored near the lazaretto, between sunrise and sun-
set, immediately, wind and weather permitting, to go
on board the same, and there thoroughly examine,
in form and manner as is prescribed by the Board of
Health, the said ship or vessel, the crew, passengers,
cargo, and baggage on board the same, and to demand
answers under oath or affirmation, administered by
either the said physician or quarantine-master, who
are severally empowered to administer the same, to
all such questions as shall be put to any person on
board such ship or vew<el touching the health of the
crew and passengers during the voyage, and the na-
ture and state of the cargo, as the Board of Health,
by their rules, from time to time direct to be asked ;
and it is the duty of the person so examining on oath
or affirmation, before he shall proceed therein, to
make known to the person interrogated, the jienalty
imposed upon the person who shall give false answers,
undiT oath or affirmation, to the questions proposed
in such examination, to the said physician or quar-
antine-master, that the said ship or vessel came from
a port or place at which no malignant or contagious
disease prevailed at the time of her departure, that
the persons on Ixtard such ship or vessel are free from
every pestilential or contagious disease, measles ex-
cepted, and that the said vessel has had no malignant
disease on board, either during the homeward-bound
voyage or during her continuance in a foreign port;
and if they shall see no cause to suspect that the cargo
or any part thereof is infected, they shall forthwith
deliver to the master or captain of such ship or vensel
a certificate of the facts in such form as shall be di-
rected by the Board of Health. And the said captain
or master may thereupon proceed according to his
destination, and shall present such certificate at the
health office in Philadelphia, within twenty-four
hours after his arrival and safely mooring there. But
if it shall appear, upon such examination, that the
ship or vessel came from a port or place at which a
malignant or contagious disease prevailed, such vessel
shall be detained at the lazaretto for such time as
the Board of Health shall deem necessary, not ex-
ceeding twenty days.
The lazaretto physician, quarantine-master, nor
other officer or servant of the lazaretto shall not ab-
sent himself from the place of his duty between the
1st day of June and the 1st day of October on any
pretence whatever, for any time, without leave first
obtained in writing from the Board of Health, under
the hand of the president or chairman for the time,
attested by the secretary and entered on the minutes,
under the penalty of forfeiting his office, and a fine of
any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars.
It is the duty of the lazaretto physician, immedi-
ately on the arrival of any ship or vessel liable to be
detained at the lazaretto in order to be cleansed and
purified, to cause the sick, if any are on board, to be
removed to the building which shall be appointed by
the Board of Health for their reception, and diligently
and impartially to attend upon them, and cause to be
executed such orders and regulations as the said
board shall from time to time ordain for the govern-
ment and management of the lazaretto, and of the
vessels, cargoes, and persons under quarantine.
The health officer attends the health office at the
meetings of the Board of Health, and at such other
times as shall be required for discharging the duties
of his appointment, and generally enforces and exe-
cutes the regulations and instructions of the Board of
Health. It is his further duty to collect, recover, and
receive all forfeitures and penalties imposed and
sums of money directed to be paid by law. He
shall give bond, with sureties, to the satisfaction of
the Board of Health, conditioned for the faithful
performance, and account for all moneys coming
into his hands as such officer. The bond is a lien on
the estate of the health officer and his sureties.
No vessel is permitted to leave the lazaretto, with-
out first giving security, approved by the Board of
Health, for the payment of all expenses of said ves-
sel, and of passengers and other persons imported in
them, which said vessels, their captains, owners, or
consignees are by law made liable.
The health officer, for services rendered in i.ssuing
permits or certificates of health to vessels, to the col-
lector of the port and for other purposes, receives the
sum of two dollars for each permit or certificate issued
by him, and he is authorized to employ a clerk at a
salary of twelve hundred dollars a year. The port
physician receives the sum of eighteen hundred dol-
lars per annum.
I The salary of the lazaretto physician is twenty-five
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1723
hundred dollars per annum, and that of the quaran-
tine-master two thousand dollars, and the health
officer receives twenty-one hundred dollars.
The Board of Health receives for treatment in the
Municipal Hospital all persons afflicted with any con-
tagious or infectious disease, who would otherwise he
a charge upon the Guardians of the Poor, and paupers
so afflicted in the almshouse, and such as are sent by
the inspectors from the county prison.
No pilot bringing a ship or vessel to the lazaretto
in an apparent state of good health shall be obliged to
perform quarantine, but the lazaretto physician shall
grant such jjilot a certificate, permitting him to pro-
ceed to the capes of the Delaware, in order that he
may prosecute his profession ; but such pilot shall not
on any pretence come into the city of Philadelphia
for twenty days from the date of such certificate, under
the penalty of one hundred dollars or one year's im-
prisonment. And any pilot bringing to the said laz-
aretto a ship or vessel infected or supposed to be in-
fected with any pestilential or contagious disease, may
be permitted to go and remain on shore within the
bounds of the lazaretto during the time the ship or
vessel brought thither shall be detained under quar-
antine : Provided ahcays, That if the said vessel shall
be infected with any such disease as aforesaid, he shall
be detained and treated in the like manner as seamen
or passengers so infected are detained and treated :
And provided further, That if he shall go without the
bounds of the lazaretto he shall be liable to the same
penalties as are imposed on seamen or passengers
escaping therefrom.
Whenever the Board of Health shall receive infor-
mation that any malignant or contagious disease (the
measles excepted) prevails in any port or place within
the United States or on the continent of America, they
shall make diligent inquiry concerning the same, and
if it shall appear that the disease prevails as afore-
said, all communication with such infected port or
place shall be subject to such control and regulations
as the Board of Health may from time to time think
proper to direct and publish in one or more news-
papers published in the city of Philadelphia. And all
vessels from such port or place, and bound to the port
of Philadelphia, shall stop at the lazaretto and be
proceeded with in the same manner and under the
same penalties as are provided in cases of vessels
coming from foreign ports. And every person or per-
sons having entered or been brought into the city or
county of Philadelphia from such infected port or
place shall also be conveyed, by any person author-
ized by the board, to such place for purification as
the said board may appoint or direct for that purpose,
and be there detained at the pleasure of the board
any time not exceeding twenty days, and at the ex-
pense of such person or persons.
Every person keeping a boarding- or lodging-house
in the city of Philadelphia between the 1st day of
June and the 15th day of October, in any year, shall,
within twelve hours after any seafaring man or so-
journer shall become sick in such boarding- or lodg-
ing-house report in writing the name of such diseased
person to the health officer. And no mitster of a
vessel or other person whatsoever shall remove any
sick person from any vessel lying in the river Dela-
ware, before the city of Philadelphia, liefore such sick
pereon has been visited liy the port physician, and a
written permit granted l)y him for the purpose of such
removal. And any person neglecting or refusing to
comply with the provisions of this section shall, on
legal conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not ex-
ceeding fifty dollars, or to imprisonment for any terra
not exceeding three months.
The Board of Health, or a committee of them, have
power, having first obtained a warrant from a justice
of the peace, in due form of law, founded on a com-
plaint of two householders, under oath or affirmation,
directed to the sheriff" of the county of Philadelphia,
or his deputy, to enter and search all houses, stores,
cellars, and other inclosures, between sunrise and sun-
set, where they may have just cause to suspect any
nuisance to exist: Provided, however. That no sheriff"
or deputy sheriff" shall execute any civil process,
either by arresting the body, or attaching the goods
and chattels, of any person or persons, under color of
any entry made for the purposes aforesaid, unless
such service could by law have been made without
such entry ; and all services so made under color of
such entry are utterly void, and the officer making
such service is considered a trespasser. And it is the
duty of the board to cause all off'ensive or putrid sub-
stances, and all nuisances which may have a tendency
in their opinion to endanger the health of the citizens,
to be removed from the streets, lanes, alleys, highways,
wharves, docks, or any other part or parts of the city
of Philadelphia, and to cause such of the privies with-
in the limits aforesaid to be emptied or corrected with
lime or otherwise, at the expense of the individuals
who are the owners of the houses to which the said
privies are appurtenant, as the board shall from time
to time deem necessary for the health of the inhabi-
tants. And if the owners or occupiers of the prem-
ises on which any nuisance may be found, and the
owners of the houses to which the said privies are
appurtenant, shall, on due notice thereof, refuse or
neglect to have the same immediately removed, emp-
tied, or corrected, as aforesaid, he, she, or they so re-
fusing or neglecting, forfeit and pay for every such
offense any sum not less than twenty, nor more than
two hundred, dollars. And the expense attending
the removal of such nuisance shall be recovered by
the board in any court having lawful jurisdiction,
from all corporate bodies and individuals, in case due
notice has been given to remove the same, and a re-
fusal or neglect to do so within the time prescribed
by the board.
It is the duty of the Board of Health in all cases
where the owner or owners of unoccupied property
1724
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
upon which a iiuisaoce, in the opinion of the said
board, exists, reside out of the city, or cannot be
found by the messenger of the said board, after dili-
gent search made, to cause the said nuisance to be at
once removed, and the expense attending the removal
of the same is recovered by the said board in any
court, or before any justice of the peace, having juris-
diction. The expense attending the removal of any
nuisance is a lien on the premises from which it was
removed.
Whenever any nuisance is found anywhere within
the jurisdiction of the Board of Health, by reason of
keeping of hogs or other animals, the said board, in
addition to their powerof destroying the pens or other
inclosures containing such animals, or of otherwise
abating such nuisance, are authorized to seize such
animals and deliver them over, as forfeited, to "the
guardians for the relief and employment of the poor
of the city of Philadelphia," for the use of said poor.
The Board of Health have full power to remove the
cause of all nuisances. 1
No bone-boiling establishment or depository of
dead animals shall be kept or erected within the city
limits without permission of the Board of Health.
No person shall collect or remove kitchen garbage
and offal from any dwelling, hotel, restaurant, or
other buildings, or convey the same through any of
the streets, lanes, courts, or alleys of the built-up
portions of the city, except the same be collected or j
removed in water-tight carts, wagons, or other vehi- !
cles, and securely covered, so that none of the con-
tents shall fall, leak, or spill therefrom, or be exposed
to public view, and the same regulation exists as to
the removal of ashes.
The Board of Health grant licenses to proper per-
sons, upon their application, to clean privy-wells and
sinks, under such stipulations as place them under the
control of the board, which regulates the price they
may charge and the time and mode of their work.
Annually on the fourth Tuesday of January the
Board of Health elect twenty-four persons who have
had conferred upon them the degree of Doctor of
Medicine, to serve as vaccine physicians In the city.
It is the duty of each of the said physicians to vac-
cinate gratuitously in their respective wards all per-
iions who may make application or be reported to him
by the collector of vaccine cases in his ward, either
at his own office or at their respective places of abode,
according to the option of the applicant; and he shall
continue to visit every such patient as often as may
be necessary to enable him to ascertain whether the
person or persons so vaccinated have passed through
the genuine disease. P^ch of said physicians must
keep in a convenient part of his district an office,
with a sign in front, having on the words " Vaccine
Physician," where application may be made at all
reasonable hour>i in relation to the duties of his ap-
pointment; and each of said physicians preserve and
keep on hand a sufficient quantity of genuine vaccine
matter for distribution without fee or charge to all
practicing physicians residing within the city of Phil-
adelphia who make personal application therefor.
The said vaccine physicians each furnish the Board
of Health quarterly with a list alphabetically ar-
ranged of the names, ages, birthplaces, residences,
and occupations (and, when children, of the occupa-
tion of their parents) of the persons whom he may
have successfully vaccinated.
Upon the fourth Tuesday of January in each year
the Board of Health elect thirteen persons to serve as
collectors of vaccine cases. Each collector is required
to live in the district assigned him, and is paid ten
cents for every unvaccinated person he procures to be
vaccinated by the vaccine physician. It is the duty
of the collectors to call on each and every family re-
siding in the ward or wards for which he may be
elected, and inquire whether any and, if any, what
members thereof may be liable to smallpox disease;
and if he find any person or persons so liable, he shall
offer the gratuitous services of the vaccine physician
of the ward to vaccinate such person or persons ; and
if the offer is accepted, the collector reports immedi-
ately to the physician the names of the individuals,
with their residences ; and at the expiration of each
quarter he shall leave a copy of all the cases collected
by him and returned to the physician at the health
office with the health officer.
It is the duty of the health officer to register the
returns made to him of the marriages which are con-
tracted, and of the births and deaths which may
occur within the city. He also prepares an abstract
of them annually, in the month of February, and
this he sends to Councils through the Board of
Health, which abstract contains a statement of the
marriages solemnized, and of the number of births,
and of deaths, with the reported causes thereof,
which have occurred in the city during the year
next preceding the 1st day of January, with such
other information and suggestions in relation thereto
as he may deem of practical utility for the promotion
of public health, and of general interest to the city.
It is the duty of clergymen of all denominations,
of clerks or keepers of the records of all churches and
religious societies, as also of every magistrate, and of
other persons by or before whom any marriage may
be solemnized or contracted, and, of every practicing
|)hysician, and of every practitioner of midwifery, and
of every undertaker and superintendent or sexton of
any cemetery or burying-ground in the said city of
Philadelphia, to re|)ort his, her, or their names and
places of residence to the health officer, at the office
of the Board of Health ; and it shall be the duty of
the health officer to have the same properly registered
in index form in suitable books. In the event of any
of the persons above specified removing to any other
place of residence, it shall be their duty to notify the
health officer of the fact within thirty days after such
removal, except where the persons removing shall
THE MUNICIPAL GOVEKNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1725
cease to act in such official capacity as makes them
subject to the provisions of the law.
It is the duty of every clergyman, .ind every magis-
trate, and of the clerk or keeper of the records of all
religious and other societies, and of every other person,
by or before whom any marriage may be solemnized
or contracted, to make a faithful return of the same
at the expiration of every three months to the health
officer, in the form of a certificate, which shall set
forth, as far as the same can be ascertained, the full
name of the husband, his occupation, the place of his
birth, his residence and age, the date of marriage, the
full name of the wife previous to the said marriage,
and her age, the color of the parties, and the place
where, and the name of the clergyman or other person
by whom, the marriage ceremony was performed.
Every clergyman, and every magistrate, and every
clerk or keeper of the records of all religious societies,
and every practicing physician, and every person
practicing midwifery in the city, and every under-
taker and superintendent or sexton of any cemetery
or burying-ground in the city, who shall neglect or
refuse to leave his or her name and place of residence
at the health office, and shall refuse or neglect to per-
form any other of the duties aforesaid, forfeits for each
offense the sum of ten dollars.
HARBOB-MASTERS FOR THE POET OF PHILADELPHIA.
{See Act of march 22. 1803.)
Samael Toung,' appointed Feb. 10, 1809
■William Hawks, appointed Jan. 20, 1812
Caleb Earle, appointed Nov. 3, 1818
William Hawks, appointed March 15, 1821
Caleb Earle, appointed Feb. 7, 1824
George Bird, appointed Blay 13,1828
Nicholas Esling, appointed March 21, 1836
Patrick Hayes, appointed Feb. 9,1839
John F. Stump, appointed April 6, 1842
Angnstus L. Roumfort, appointed July 11, 1845
William Abbott, appointed Aug. 22, 1848
William Rice, appointed Feb. 4, 1862
George Rex Graham, appointed Feb. 16, 1855
Capt. Enoch Turley, appointed Nov. 8,1856
John D. Pettit, appointed March 32, 1858
George T. Thorn, appointed Jan. 30, 1861
George J. Weaver, appointed Ian. 28, 1867
Alexander P. Colesberry, appointed Feb. 28, 1870
Joseph W. Bullock, appointed — , 1877
Capt. Henry R. Adams, appointed — , 1879
James P. Lindsay, appointed Jan. — , 1883
The following is a report of the number of vessels
and passengers (chiefly foreign) arriving at the port
of Philadelphia from 1860 to 1882, inclusive, exam-
ined by the port and lazaretto physicians:
Tes- Passen-
1860..
1861..
1862..
1863..
1864..
1865..
1866..
1867..
.3,511
1^640
3,649
4,664
1,694
2,807
1869 991
1870 970
1871 1,109
1872 1,161
Years.
1873 1,335
1874 1,285
1875 1,295
1876 1,692
1877 1,321
1878 1,825
1879 2,070
1880 1,828
1881 1,605
1882 1,441
4,462
10,878
10,178
10,651
8,071
8,423
15,199
29,084
38,104
32,223
27,078 192,351
The number of vessels and passengers arriving at
the port of Philadelphia, and examined by the laza-
retto physician, during the year 1882, was as follows :
1 Died Jan. 14, 1812
Steamships 22;i
Ships 82
Barks 6118
Brigs 1»9
Schooners 4.17
Yachts •,;
Total 1,441
Number of passengers arrived 32,223
The following table of mortality in each ward for
1882, with population (according to tenth census),
with the ratio of deaths to population, and the per-
centage of deaths in each ward to the total mortality:
Third
Fourth
Fifth,
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
Ninth
Tenth,
Eleventh
Twelfth
Thirteent
Fourteen!
Fifteenth
Sixteenth
iteenth
Eighteenth
Nineteenth
Twentieth
Twenty-fii-st
Twenty-second
Twenty-third
Twenty-fourth
Twenty-fifth
Twenty-sixth
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eightli
Twenty-ninth,
Thirtieth
Thirty-first
Deaths in almshouse,
Totals 846,
Ratio of deaths to (estimated) population, 886.539 (in 1882), was 22.62
per thousand, or 44.19 persons living to 1 death.
The following table shows the ratio of deaths with
population for the past twenty-two years :
Yeaks.
Population.
Deaths.
Deaths to
1000 Persons
Living.
Pei^ons Liv-
iug to One
Death.
1 676,408
13,540
13,864
14,220
15,875
. 15,633
15,362
12,660
13,391
13,428
15,317
15,485
18,987
15,224
15,238
17,806
18,892
16,004
15,743
16,473
17,711
19,515
20,059
23.49
23 60
23.73
26.10
25.25
22.80
19.76
20.39
20.27
22.72
22.12
26.19
20.29
19.66
22.26
22.88
18.81
17.97
17.17
20.91
22.48
22.62
42.57
1862
1863
1864
1865
687,287
....1 698,166
....' 608,045
618,924
42.36
42.06
38.30
39.69
40.99
1867
6411,682
50.60
48.66
1869
1870*
662,440
674,022*
49.33
44.00
45.20
1872
725,000
38.18
49.26
1874
1875
776,000
....I 800,000
60.86
44.93
43.69
1877
....1 850,866
53.16
55.65
1879
901,380
846,980*
.58.25
47.82
1881
1882
868,000
' 886,539
44.47
4419
= United States census ; the interreDing years* population estimated.
1726
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The following table shows the number of persons married, including both sexes, in each division of ages,
from 1861 to 1882, inclusive:
TSABl.
c
a
S
S
1
i
S
a
9
s
a
S
a
s
3
S
a
s
igci
969
836
1,036
1,349
1,290
1,262
1.134
1,141
1,2:10
1,171
1,262
1,178
1,626
1,306
1,235
1,11s
1,149
I,()9l
970
1,147
1,283
1,378
2,422
3,422
4.172
5,316
6,265
5,322
4,992
4,916
4,864
6,028
6,344
6,316
6,288
6,283
4,814
4,46i
6,023
5,012
4,337
6,385
6,251
6,762
2.114
2,107
2,642
3,171
3,391
3,526
3,006
2,992
3,127
3,129
3,211
3,236
3,680
3,234
2,9(i0
2.696
3,052
3,021
2,551
3,290
3,907
4,482
1,193
1,329
l,(k)0
1,752
2,233
2,116
1,783
1,916
1,748
1,842
1,789
1,902
2,207
1,875
1,799
1,068
1,824
1,964
1,571
1,931
2,173
2,594
362
377
493
582
674
620
483
686
517
538
627
637
646
600
517
454
491
479
397
645
612
693
89
118
125
168
157
171
127
177
154
176
172
172
200
163
167
163
160
171
146
162
211
226
24
31
30
38
38
46
49
34
30
61
36
39
47
40
47
36
43
42
29
48
60
74
4
9
6
1
6
6
7
10
7
4
6
6
8
11
7
6
4
6
4
10
2
10
657
1,096
842
1,138
784
1,106
787
971
1,096
901
1,266
611
1,0«»
86«
761
190
647
709
440
444
628
822
ig«ir.!ll™.!!"l~."..^i!;.'.'L'.'.'!.'.'.".'"'.".'.".'."..'.'.'.
18M _ _..
2
1
1868 _
i(ro!.'.'.7r!r!..'.'.'.'.""!."."™.'"! !!!!!!.'"."!..! !!!!!!
1
2
1
lan _ „
M7S..V.'.""™ Z."!.™.'".'.™™'.".!'..' "".'.'.'.'.'. '.'.'."'.
2
MTs"!.""^™™!™!!"!.'.".'.'."..".'.'."™.'".™!
1878 „ „
i87».'.'.'.'™!.".'!""!;;"Z.'""~.".".'Z!.'"!!!
'<"'.'.".™*."'.',"""'.!!"!rr.~!!','"T
1
1
1
3
1
1
18S2
Tvtali
26,186
110,777
68,430
40,808
11,634
3,636
911
137
17
17,717
XPIDEMICS AND PESTILE\TIAI. DISEASES IN PHILADEI^
PBtA, 1699-1872.
i
s
>•
I«M
1730
BvbmAota dittampor-
Snutllpoi..
P>Ullnrdilt«inp«r
i
1
220
"Om"
1^'
11
4,000
11,600
12,(100
14,600
14,700
16,000
16,900
■■■S2,^666"
33,000
22,8061
46,820
47,.'K«I
48,(10(1
.■16,e<l(it
15,(K«)»
16,600
76,01 »♦
it
M
■J
it
.60
1741
1746
42.1
1747
1744
176f.
1762
1773
1776-7
l*»U(iDr feTer-.
SniAtlpox
Vtllow f«Ter
.^n)Allpox.._„ „.„
Smallpox ud camp
....,'....
264
■■■jioo"
2600
5000
Hxy
81 >o*
«00«
1292
3646
1015
835
199
913
20
S3
485
loot
936
1012
•427
im
758
1190
6M
624
799
•M
4444
16.9
17tS
17M
Tallow fanr-. _..
210.6
1796
" •••"—■■•
—
1796
17»7
;;
1798
243.
1799
;:
■m"
1802
10.9
!•(«
Rnullpox 'Z'.'.'.'.'.Z.
1806
89,630
106.(100
110,677
139,774
146,000
161,980!
.386,600!
461,270
472,377
576,378
1819
1820
1813-4
.93
.60
348
.62
6.77
2.66
1*27
1832
1(49
I8M
Aalatlc chiliiiiri'.'.'."!.'
Smallpox
T.llow r>T«r _.
8(n*llpox
8(«rl*t r«T«r „..
1000
2314
2884
■"i'7o'
6.29
142
7.49
1«&3
I8«l
.36
.27
IMI
1866
620,874
.84
1866
I8«»
663,173
884,871
;;••;•;;;•;
1.20
127
1870
M
18TI-*
aaallpol _..
• Tb«M a^nrM mn upon ■athorit; of Iir M«u«. who Mid, In 1811,
thai daring Iha j>mn l7»4-»« Uia y.llow fafar waa ni-arl; •• bad aa In
1802. whan lh> daatha wara KU.
tTha daalhi from Board of llaallh rapon attrt aecordlnx <o aatlmata.
J Tha flgsiaa fl»»n ar» tha aatlmata of panna who ranialnad In the
dly dnnnc tha aoUra conuglon. Larga niimban of cltiiana UmI from
tha paaUIaooa.
DEATHS IN EACH YEAR FROM SMALLPOX, FROM 1807 TO
1882, INCLUSIVE,
Wttfl thr artrage poptdation of each year and dtatlu to every I(XX) peretme
..-T
s
6
424
&
1336
314
Returns of births, marriages, and deaths from 1860
to 1882' areas follows:
< Incliidaa itlll-boni, premature birtha, and death! fh>m other iocali-
tlaa, with the rxceptlon of yeva since 1876.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OP PHILADELPHIA.
172t
I860 (aix months),
1861
1862
1863,
1864
1865
1866,
1867
6,1+i
6,341
6,147
6,247
5,224
6,476
14,468
16,097
15,788
17,682
17,169
16,803
13,933
14,693
14,786
16,760
16,993
20,544
16,736
16,315
18,909
18,892
16,004
15,743
16,473
17,711
1881
18,154
20,098
7,569
8,521
19,615
20,069
298,464
142,325
376,305
The annual mean temperature in Philadelphia from
1800 to 1882, inclusive, with the annual amount of
rain and snow, in inches, from 1825 to 1882 :
Yeaes.
Mean An-
nual Tem-
perature.
Kain in
Inches.
Years
Mean An-
nual Tem-
perature.
Bain in
Inches.
51.50
52.00
63.50
52.00
52.75
61.50
53.00
54.00
47.50
1801
46.25
1803
1846
40.25
61.00
61.50
54.00
53.86
1805
1847
46.09
1806
61.60
1848
64.80
35.00
1807
52.00
1849
53.10
42.09
52.00
51.00
1860
1861
54.00
54.04
64.54
1809
36.60
1810
61.00
1862
54.04
46.20
1811
52.00
1853
5.5.44
42.96
1812
61.00
1854
55.38
45,23
1813
60.60
1866
54.53
44.65
1814
61.00
1866
51.92
33.62
1815
61.25
49.00
1867
63.48
55.20
48.45
1816*
1858
41.06 .
1817
62.50
1859
54.49
t.4.75
1818
53.00
1860
64.12
46.40
1819
51.00
1861
54.71
45.41
1820
51.75
1862
63,58
46.66
1821
51.60
1863
54.13
49.64
1822
63.00
1864
54.60
46.73
1823
63.60
1865
56.77
63.64
1824
53.75
1866
64.90
43.57
1825
64.00
29.30
1867
63.41
62.93
1826
53.00
40.00
1808
52.83
60.18
50.00
64.00
53.00
39 50
38.60
42.00
64.23
56.44
54.91
44.16
1828
43.56
1829
1871
45.98
1830
62,50
44.75
1872
64.86
49.02
1831
63,00
41.00
1873t
51.4
54.62
1832
51.00
39.25
1874
62.6
46.31
1833
62.50
48.38
1875
60.3
40.24
1834
52.25
33,00
1876
52.6
47.39
1835
52.00
50.25
52.25
53.00
52.00
52.25
51.50
39.50
43.00
37.10
44.25
44.75
47.50
55.50
1877
54.2
54.7
53.6
54.6
54.2
37.36
1836
34.63
36.75
33.68
30.21
1840
1841
* Ice in every month ; the coldest year on record in the city ; " popu-
larly known as the year without a summer,'*
+ From this year ohserrations talcen at United States Signal-Office used
in tltis department.
Members of the Board of Health of the Citg and Port of Philadelphia
1882-83.— President, Horatio G. Sickel; Secretary, A. A. Hirst; Wil
Ham H. Ford, M.D., Joseph G. Patterson, A. A. Hirst, William B. Kin
sey, Albert H. Dingee, Bichard A. Cleemann. M.D., Thad. L. Vander-
slice, Walter Allison, William H. Button, Joseph G. Richardsou, M.D
Marcus A. Davis.
PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
The Health Office was eilablUhed by Act of April 1, 1803.
1803. Cornelius Comegjs.
1806. Ebenezer Ferguson.
1807. Thomas C. James.
1810. Ebenezer Ferguson.
1817. Liberty Browne.
1818. John Claxton,
1823. Cornelius Comepys.
1830. Joseph Worrell.
1833. Dr. Robert E. Griffith, J
1835 Ralph W. Pomeroy.
18.37. Dr. Henry Bond.
1839. James Hutchinson.
1843. Thomas D.Grover.
1846. Dr. Nathan L. Hatfield.
1848. Adam Traquair.
1849. John Lindsay.
1864. Jeremiah E. Eldredge.
1856. Dr. Wilson Jewell.
1857. William Bousull.
1858. Dr. Joseph R. Coad.
1858. Robert Lindsay.
1859, Dr. Paul B. Goddard.
1863. Dr. James A. McCrea.
1868. Dr. Eliab Ward.
1871. Henry Davis.
I 1879. Dr. William H. Ford.
1881. Gen. Horatio Gates Sicliel.
INTERPRETERS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
Peter Le Barbier Duplessis, French — , 1794
Peter S. Du Ponceau, French and English.... — , 1794
Charles Erdman, German and Low Dutch.... — , 1794
James Philip Puglia, Spanish — , 1794
John Holt Oswald, French and Spanish Sept. — , 1805
J. Ulricb Rivardi, foreign languages May — , 1806
George Taylor, Jr., foreign languages May — , 1809
James Philip Puglia, foreign languages May — , 1809
Peter S. Du Ponceau, foreign languages Nov. 22, 1810
Matthias J. O'Conway, foreign languages.... Jan. — , 1811
Charles Erdman, foreign languages Nov. 26, 1813
Charles Currie, foreign languages Oct. — , 1817
Benjamin Nones, foreign languages Feb. 17,1818
Samuel Keemie, German Nov. 26, 1818
Jacob Zeilin, German July 21, 1819
Joachim Frederick Eckhard, German Feb. 14, 1820
M. J. O'Conway, French and Spanish Feb. 14, 1821
Benjamin Nones, French and Spanish March 14, 1821
Charles Le Brun, French and Spanish Aug. 23, 1822
Francis Becker, French and Spanish Oct. — , 1822
Ignace Frazer, French Sept. — , 1823
VACCINE PHYSICIANS, 1882-83.
1st Dist. Dr. H. F. Camblos.
2d Dist. Dr. E. Kilduffe.
3d Dist. Dr. L F. Love.
4th Dist. Dr. D. N. Dennis.
6th Dist. Dr Aug. F. Kempton.
6th Dist. Dr. C. A. Groff.
7th Dist. Dr. Wash. H.Baker.
8th Dist. Dr. L. J. Lauteiibach.
9th Dist. Dr. Alexander Browne.
10th Dist. Dr, S. N. Troth.
11th Dist. Dr. A.Graydon.
12th Dist. Dr. J. L. Ribl.
13th Dist. Dr. Thomas Shriner.
14th Dist. Dr. George W. Bowen.
16th Dist. Dr. G. L. Thomas.
16th Dist. Dr. W. L. Phillips.
17th Dist. Dr. Henry Mullen.
18th Dist. Dr. F. W. Tliomas.
19th Dist. Dr. Ella R. Ziegler.
20th Dist. Dr. D. W. Lane.
The Law Department. — The qualified voters of
the city, at the February election, every third year,
elect one person learned in the law, to act as solicitor
of the city, whose duties are prescribed by ordinance,
and who employs such number of assistants as Coun-
cils may prescribe. He holds his office for a term of
three years. In his office, provided by Councils, are
deposited and preserved all patents, deeds, wills,
leases, mortgages, and other assurances of title, to-
gether with all contracts, bonds, notes, official bonds,
books, and other evidences of debt belonging to the
city of Philadelphia.
The law-office of the city is under the superin-
tendence, direction, and control of the city solicitor;
he gives bond to the corporation, with two or more
sureties, to be approved by the Select Council, in the
sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faith-
ful performance of the duties of his office, as the same
are or shall be defined by any act of Assembly or or-
dinance of the city.
It is the duty of the city solicitor to prepare all
1728
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
bonds, obligations, contracts, leases, conveyances,
and assurances, which may be required of him by
any ordinance of the corporation of the city of Phila-
delphia ; to commence and prosecute all and every suit
and suits, action and actions, brought and to be brought
by the corporation for or on account of any of the
estates, rights, trusts, privileges, claims, or demands
of the same, as well as to defend all actions or suits
brought or to be brought against the said corporation
or any officer thereof, wherein or whereby any of the
estates, rights, privileges, trusts, ordinances, or acts
of the corporation, or any branch thereof, may be
brought in question before any court in the common-
wealth; and shall do all and every professional act
incident to the office which may be required of him
by the mayor of tiie city, or by any committee of the
Select or Common Councils, or by any ordinance or
resolution of the said Councils or either of them ; and
shall, when required, furnish the Councils or commit-
tees thereof, and the mayor, with his written opinion
on any subject which may be submitted by them. He
shall perform all the duties enjoined by law or ordi-
nance upon him, including the Board of Health,
Guardians of the Poor, prison inspectors, and con-
trollers of the public schools.
The city solicitor shall, at lea.st once in every week,
make a return to the city controller, under oath or
affirmation, of each item of moneys received by or
through him or his assistants by virtue of his office,
or for any matter connected therewith, and immedi-
ately upon making such return, pay the amount in
his hands to the city treasurer.
There is kept in this department a lien docket, in
which, in appropriate places, are entered all claims
for curbing, paving, piping, and all other matters
that may be the subject of claim on the part of the city,
and may be returned to the solicitor by the various
departments as remaining due and unpaid after the
period prescribed by law or ordinance for the pay-
ment of such claims to the said departments; and it
is the duty of the head of each department wherein
any such claim.s shall originate to furnisii to the
Bolicitor, within the period prescribed by law or or-
dinance, a statement of all claims for curbing, paving,
piping, etc., which remain due or unpaid, a certified
copy of which the said heads of departments shall at
the same time furnish to the controller, which docket
shall at all times be open to the inspection of the
public.
No claim or suit against the city shall in any way
or manner be compromised by the city solicitor or
any other officer of the city, unless the same is au-
thorized by ordinance.
The solicitor keeps in his office a general lien
docket for all the departments, in which is entered
all claims of whatsoever nature which may be due
the city. It is his duty to furnish the city controller,
under oath, weekly returns of the amount received
on each claim, together with the amount of interest
and costs received on each, separately stated, and the
date, page, term, and number of the court docket on
which satisfaction was entered. He also makes re-
turn to the city controller, on the first Monday of
each month, of all mandamu.ses directed to be paid,
or of road damages or other claims allowed, with the
name of the plaintiff, the amount and purpose on
which the judgment was obtained, also specific re-
turns of the amounts collected for any department
or purpose, and certify to the city controller the
schedules of all claims and securities placed in his
charge. He also makes a return of all bills pre-
sented by the sheriff, coroner, district attorney, and
clerk of the sessions for fees or other charges, with an
oath or aflirmation that he has examined the records
of the several offices, and found by comparison that
the claims presented by those officers are correct.
His salary is fifteen thousand dollars per annum.
All fees received by him are turned into the city
treasury.
Contracts. — No debt or contract incurred or made
is binding upon the city of Philadelphia unless au-
thorized by law or ordinance, and an appropriation
sufficient to pay the same be previously made by
Councils: Provided, That persons claiming unauthor-
ized debts or contracts may recover against the per-
son or persons illegally making the same.
No contract for the construction of any new build-
ing, school-house, bridge, culvert, new paving of
streets, redemption of the tolls of any turnpike or
plank-road, to be paid for by the city, shall become
binding thereon without an ordinance therefor duly
enacted. No contract shall be made by the head of
any department for work or materials for the city,
unless for objects authorized by Councils, and if for
new work, the contract and sureties be approved by
the city solicitor and Councils, and the supervision of
Councils shall extend to adjudge the character of all
work and materials done and furnished for the city,
and to the scrutiny of the accounts and vouchers
therefor; but such supervision and scrutiny shall in
nowise relieve the controller from the perfdrmance of
the like duty in respect to such accounts and vouchers.
All goods, merchandise, and other articles of any
kind, and labor and service required for the city in
any department thereof, shall be purch.ased or con-
tracted for only in such manner as shall be prescribed
by ordinance, and for that purpose the Councils are
required to direct by ordinance the manner and time
of making the yearly estimates by the several depart-
ments, and of receiving sealed proposals for such
supplies as aforesaid, which i>roi)08als shall be pre-
ceded by advertisement, and no contract shall be
awarded to any but the lowest bidder, who shall give
the requisite security therefor.
All stationery, printing, paper, and fuel used in the
Councils and in other departments of the city govern-
ment, and all work and materials required by the city,
shall be furnished, and the jirinting and all other
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1739
kinds of work to be done for the city shall be per-
formed under contract, to be given to the lowest
responsible bidder, under such regulations as shall be
prescribed by ordinance. No member or officer of
Councils, or any department of the city government,
shall be in any way interested in such contracts
directly or indirectly, either at its inception or dur-
ing the progress of its fulfillment, or furnish any ma-
terials or supplies or labor for such contracts.
It must be one of the conditions of every contract
entered into by any department for the purchase of
stone coal that each and every ton of said coal shall
be weighed at the place of delivery, in the presence
of a proper person deputed for that purpose by the
head of the department, who shall keep an accurate
account of each load of coal delivered, and its exact
weight; and the city controller shall countersign no
warrant drawn upon the city treasurer for the pay-
ment of stone coal furnished the city, unless accom-
panied by an affidavit of the person who superintended
the weighing of said coal, setting forth by what con-
tractor delivered, the time of delivery, the number of
tons, and the number of pounds to each ton.
All contracts for grading, paving, or curbing, en-
tered into by the city, shall specify that the accurate
measurement thereof shall be certified to by the sur-
veyor and regulator of the district in which it may be
performed, and no curbing shall be set, highways
graded, nor gutters laid, unless in accordance with reg-
ulations furnished by the surveyor and regulator of
the district, under a penalty of twenty dollars, to be
paid by the contractor.
Whenever any contract for work, labor, or materials
and repairs for the city of Philadelphia shall be au-
thorized by Councils, it shall be made a condition of
the same that the parties shall be skilled and regu-
larly engaged as to their proper occupation, trade, and
business in work, labor, and materials and repairs
required, and to be furnished and by the contractor
performed ; and that the contractor in person shall
superintend his own work, labor, and repairs, and de-
livering all necessary materials to the city.
Ever}' advertisement for proposals for public work
to be done, or materials to be furnished, for or on be-
half of the city, shall state that the person or persons^
who shall bid for the same, shall, in the first place, be
required to enter security at the law department in the
sum of five hundred dollars, conditioned that if his or
their bid is the lowest, and he or they shall decline to
do the said work, or furnish said materials, he or
they shall pay to the city the difference between the
amount of his or their bid and the bid of them or him
who shall actually perform said work or furnish said
material, and no bid shall be considered unless there
be a certificate that this has been complied with.
All contracts entered into by a contractor or con-
tractors for furnishing supplies, erection of buildings,
as well as all other work, labor, materials of any
kind and description for the city must be accom-
panied with a sufficient joint bond and warrant of
attorney, with one or more sureties conditioned in
half the amount of the contract for the faithful per-
formance of the contract, agreement, or work and
labor done. And the city solicitor is required to
enter up the bond in court, and cause judgment- to
be entered thereon, and said judgment remains a lien
against said contractor or contractors, and his sure-
ties until the terms of said contract have been fully
and faithfully complied with. But the city solicitor
shall enter satisfaction of record upon said bond and
the judgment thereon, whenever he shall be so re-
quested in writing by resolution of the committee,
and the head of the department having the super-
vision and control of the contract or work, for the
performance of which the bond was given, which re-
quest shall also certify that the terms of said con-
tract have been fully complied with. The costs and
charges for preparing said contract, bond and war-
rant, searches, entering satisfaction, and all other ex-
penses incident thereto are paid by the contractor or
contractors.
No contract for paving, curbing, water-pipe laying,
culvert grading, or any other municipal work or im-
provement on any street, avenue, lane, court, or alley
in the city, is given out or entered into, until a cer-
tificate is first obtained from the survey department
that such street, avenue, lane, court, or alley has been
dedicated or opened to the use of the public.
All proposals for contracts to do work, labor, or to
furnish materials and supplies, advertised for, are
opened in the presence of a committee of Councils,
and such proposals or bids must be filed with the
committee before or at the time of the meeting
thereof, otherwise they will not be considered.
When such contracts are awarded, a schedule of
bids offered, a copy of the advertisement therefor, and
a statement of the award, indorsed by the committee,
is sent to the city controller, and that officer is in-
hibited from countersigning any warrant for any
stationery, printing, paper, fuel, advertising, or for
work and materials, unless he shall have been fur-
nished with the statement, schedule, and copy of
advertisement aforesaid.
All contracts requiring the signature of the mayor
that may be entered into in behalf of any of the de-
partments of the city, for materials to be furnished or
work to be done, shall not be altered in any material
matter, either in quantity of materials to be fur-
nished, work to be done, or prices to be paid for said
work and materials, without the chief of the depart-
ment for which said contract has been entered into
shall have previously laid before Councils a plan and
estimated cost of the proposed changes, and obtain-
ing the consent of Councils to the proposed changes
and alterations.
The ordinance authorizing the work to be done
shall contain in full a copy of the proposed contract,
and specifications of the work intended to be done,
1730
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the prices for which the accepted contractor shall
offer to do the projiosed work, and the copy of the
estimated quantities of the different kinds of work to
he done under the proposed contract, and the total
estimated cost of the whole work.
All bids and proposals for stationery, printing,
paper, advertising, fuel, work, material, and supplies
furnished to the departments of Board of Revision of
Taxes, city commissioners, city controller, city treas-
urer, park commissioners, public buildings, city ice-
boats, sinking-fund, and receiver of taxes shall be
opened and contracts awarded in the presence of said
departments and the committee on finance ; depart-
ment of clerks of Councils, committee on printing
and supplies ; fire commissioners, committee on fire
department ; guardians of the poor. Board of Health,
and county prison, committee on prisons; highways,
committee on highways; house of correction, com-
mittee on house of correction ; law, committee on
law ; markets and city property and port wardens,
committee on city property ; police, committee on
police; police and fire-alarm telegraph, committee
on police and fire-alarm telegraph ; Board of Public
Education, committee on schools; steam-engines and
boilers, committee on boiler inspection; surveys,
committee on surveys; and water, committee on
water-works.
It is the duty of the heads of departments, imme-
diately after making any contract for work or mate-
rials for the city, to furnish the city controller with
a memorandum thereof, together with a probable
amount that will be required to pay for said work or
materials when completed or furnished, and there-
upon the controller shall enter up said amount
against the item from which the money will be taken
to pay for said work and materials, and the heads of
departments shall make similar entry in the books of
their oflSce.
It is the duty of every head of a department, when
entering into a contract for or ordering work or ma-
terials, to indorse upon the back of the contract or
order the amount at that time standing to the credit
of the item out of which said work or materials are
to be paid for.
In no ca.se shall a chief of a department allow any
work to be commenced under any proposted contract
until Councils shall have piissed an ordinance author-
izing the work to be done, and the mayor has signed
the contract.
No contractor for work or materials for the city
shall have any claim for compensation under his con-
tract, unlens it shall appear by certificate thereon of
the city controller that at the date nf execution
thereof it appeared by the books in the controller's
office that sufficient amount stood to the cretlit of the
appropriation from which payment should be made to
pay said contractor, and to pay for all other contracts
theretofore awarded to be done under said appropria-
tion.
No contract or lease for the renting of any property
by any of the departments of the city is binding upon
the city, unless the contract or lease has been con-
firmed by the Select and Common Councils.
The heads of the several departments are forbid to
award any contract for work or materials to any party
or parties who have previously defaulted in any con-
tract with the city.
Departments. — No portion of the property of the
city shall be used for purposes of private gain by any
oflScial, councilman, agent, or employe of the city, or
of any department thereof, nor shall the same be will-
fully used or injured, or sold or disposed of in any
manner, without the consent of Councils, by any such
official, councilman, agent, or employ^. Nor shall any
official, councilman, agent, or employe of said city, or
any department thereof, be interested, either directly
or indirectly, either personally or as a member or of-
ficer of any firm, company, or corporation contracting
with the said city, or any department thereof, for the
use, lease, occupation, or enjoyment of any of the
works, material, or property of said city. Any breach
of these provisions is a misdemeanor, and upon con-
viction shall be punished by fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding
one year, or either, at the discretion of the court try-
ing the same ; and upon such conviction, the party
offending shall be forthwith removed from his office
or employment, and shall not be eligible to appoint-
ment to any place of profit or trust under said city or
any department thereof
It is not lawful for any department, or committee,
or officer, or the prison inspectors to draw any moneys
out of the city treasury, or to use any savings or the
proceeds of the sales of any work or materials for or
in any office, department, or prison, or any revenues
whatsoever thereof for any entertainment, eating,
drinking, or smoking furnished to any members or
officers of said city, corporation, departments, or offi-
cers thereof, or of said prison, but shall pay the whole
of said moneys into the city treasury ; and every war-
rant drawn for the expenses of ever\- department of
the public service and prison shall contain the decla-
ration that no part thereof has been used for said
purposes; and it shall be lawful for the city con-
troller, and his duty, whenever required by any citi-
zen, to administer an oath or affirmation to any person
presenting a bill against the city as to its accuracy,
the prices actually paid or contracted to be paid
therefor, whether others and who are interested
therein, and as to whatsoever matter he may deem
needful to protect the interests of said city.
Every head of department, officer, or agent of the
city, who shall have made default in the rendering of
any account or report, or the payment over of any
moneys or bills collected for the city, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor, and be by Councils dismissed
from his office.
It is the duty of the controller to furnish to the
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1731
Councils, on or before the 1st day of September in
each and every year, a detailed statement of the esti-
mated receipts, expenditures, and liabilities of every
kind for the next fiscal year, and it shall be the duty
of the said Councils to levy and fix a tax-rate, on or
before the 1st day of October in each and every year,
for the year next ensuing ; the amount of tax-moneys
collectable during the year for which such tax shall
have been levied shall be ascertained by deducting
from the gross amount yielded by said tax-rate, the
average of such proportion of the annual tax levy for
each of the five years immediately preceding as shall
have remained uncollected at the end of each of the
said years, and the tax-moneys collectable during the
current year shall, with the average income from
sources other than from current tax-moneys, exclu-
sive of sinking-fund receipts (such average of income
to be determined by ascertaining the average income
during the five years immediately preceding), be set
apart for the extinguishment of the floating indebt-
edness, which the city controller may estimate to be
outstanding upon the 1st of January following, for
the payment of all lawful obligations due by the city
during the fiscal year commencing January 1st next
ensuing, and for such expenses of the municipal gov-
ernment as may be authorized by the Councils ; and
the city controller shall not countersign any warrants
(except for payments of interest and for sinking-
fund) pertaining to any of the appropriations until
the said Councils shall have first passed all appropri-
ations necessary for the expenses for the current year
of each department, board, commission, or trust con-
nected with the city ; nor shall said ofiicer counter-
sign any warrants, except as aforesaid, until the total
of all appropriations, all estimates, and other lawful
obligations shall have been brought within the sum
yielded by the tax-levy and average income from
other sources ascertained as aforesaid ; and any ap-
propriation or expenditure in excess of this total shall
be void, and shall have no binding force upon the
municipality. In default of said Councils fixing the
tax-rate on or before the 1st day of October in each
and every year, then and in that case the rate of the
preceding year shall be the rate for the current year,
and all appropriations shall be made in conformity
therewith, as if Councils had themselves established
such rate.
No department, board, or ofiicer, which or who is
or may be authorized to issue warrants for the pay-
ment of claims against such department, board, or
ofiicer for services rendered or supplies furnished to
or in the same, shall issue any warrant until the bill
containing such claim shall be presented by such
department, board, or ofiicer to the controller to be
audited.
Whenever any such bill is presented to any said
department, board, or ofiicer, it shall be delivered,
with a notification from such department, board, or
officer of the item of the appropriation out of which
it is proposed to pay the same; and the controller
shall audit the bill with the view to ascertain whether
the supplies have been furnished or the services per-
formed and the sum charged therefor is proper, and
he shall inquire and ascertain if any member of Coun-
cils, member or ofiicer of such board, officer of any
department, or officer or agent of the city corporation
is interested in the sum due therefor, or is to receive
any portion thereof, or has received any commission,
consideration, or gratuity relating thereto; and if any
such party is so interested he shall refuse to approve
of such bill, and report the same to Councils.
Whenever the controller has audited and approved
any bill, he shall return it to the proper department,
board, or officer in order that a warrant may be drawn
therefor. 1136123
No head of any department, and no commission,
board, or trust, or any other agent, officer, or em-
ploye of either or any thereof, exercising any powers
of government therein, either in the making of con-
tracts, the approval thereof, or in the authorization
of the expenditure of the money of the city in any
manner whatever, shall make any contract without a
previous appropriation has first been made by Coun-
cils ; draw, issue, or approve any warrant for any ex-
penditure by such department, commission, board, or
trust, or any other agent, officer, or employe, unless
an appropriation has been previously made ; and no
warrant shall be drawn against any item in said ap-
propriations in excess of said item ; and any contract
made or warrant issued in violation of these require-
ments is absolutely void as against the city; and any
head of department, board, commission, or trust,
agent, officer, or employe issuing such warrant shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon the
conviction thereof fined a sum not exceeding five
thousand dollars, and imprisoned for a term not ex-
ceeding three years, and be forever disqualified from
holding any office or position of trust under the State,
or any county or municipality thereof; and the coun-
tersigning of any warrant or warrants by the city
controller, contrary to these provisions, shall likewise
constitute in such officer a misdemeanor, and shall
subject him to like penalties.
Justices of the peace, the receiver of taxes, the col-
lector of delinquent taxes, the register of the water
department, commissioners of markets and city prop-
erty, Board of Health, prison inspectors, guardians
of the poor, the chief commissioner of highways, city
solicitor, chief inspector of boilers, chief engineer and
surveyor, port wardens, commissioners of Fairmount
Park, and all other municipal officers and depart-
ments receiving money on behalf of the city, shall
furnish, under oath, on the second Monday of each
month, to the committee on the cash account of the
city treasurer, a statement, giving the date and
amount of payments to the city treasurer, on account
of their respective departments, for the preceding
month. And the several departments are required
1732
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
to make a daily statement in writing to said treas-
urer, showing the number and aumunt of each war-
rant, and the name of the person or persons in whose
favor drawn, and the treasurer shall keep a record of
such reports.
In each department which shall have liens to be
entered for claims for paving, curbing, piping, re-
moving nuisances, and all other matters that may be
the subject of a claim upon the part of the city, the
said claims are numerically arranged on the books of
each department, and a schedule, certified by the chief
of each department, setting forth the number, name
of the party chargeable, the purpose and amount of
each claim, is furnished to the controller on the first
Monday in each month, and the amount paid on each
account within the month, or disposed of in any way,
is noted on the schedule returned to the controller.
And all claims which remain unpaid after the period
prescribed by law for the payment of such claims to
said departments, two schedules thereof are made out
by each department specifying the name of the party,
number, purpose, and amount of each claim, and de-
liver the same to the city solicitor; the duplicate is
signed by the city solicitor, attesting that he has re-
ceived the same for collection, and returned the same
to the city controller to be charged to the city solicitor; |
and on the books of each department the dates of the |
credits are stated, or, if handed to the city solicitor for
collection, the fact shall be entered on said books
with the date thereof; and all claims returne<l to the
citv solicitor are paid to and settled only with him ;
and in each department of the city wherein moneys
are receive<l, receipt* therefor, attested by the person :
paying it, shall be taken.
Mayor. — The qualified voters of the city elect to
serve as mayor, by a plurality of votes, and in case of
a tie the Councils order a new election. He serves
for Ihrrf years, and until his successor is elected and
qualifietl. He must be at least thirty years old, a
citizen of the United States, and have resided seven
years next preceding his election within the common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, and the last two years thereof
in the city. He shall take the usual oath of office, in '
the presence of the Councils, administered by one of
the judges of the courts in the city, at twelve o'clock,
noon, '111 the first Monday in April next succeeding his
ele<'ti<m. IJosides the powers otherwise conferred by
law, he httn the like powers and authority as the
sheriff of the county of I'hiladelphia has for the sup-
pression of any riot, disturbance, and violation of law,
and may exercise the authority of making requisition
for the commanding officer of the military, and of
dismis«ing all police officers for failure in discharge of
duty. And it is his duty to communicate to Coun-
cils, at least once a year, and ofloner, if deemed ex-
pedient, a general statement of the condition of the
city in relation to its government, finances, and im-
provements; to recommend the adoption of all such
measures as he may deem expclicnt for the security,
health, cleanliness, improvement, and welfare of the
city ; to be vigilant and active in causing the laws
and ordinances of the city to be duly executed ; for
which purpose ... all policemen and watchmen
shall obey his orders, and make a report to him when
acting under his orders; and he shall exercise a con-
stant supervision and control over the conduct of all
subordinate officers, receive and examine all com-
plaintj^ preferred against them, and generally perform
all such duties as may be prescribed by the laws and
ordinances of said city and of the commonwealth ;
and he may call special meetings of the Councils
whenever any public emergency may require. The
mayor may approve ordinances in vacations of Coun-
cils, and may call special meetings of Councils to re-
consider ordinances which he does not approve, on
three days' notice to each member. In case of his
temporary absence or inability to act, the Councils
shall appoint a mayor to serve until he shall resume
the duties of his office ; and whenever a vacancy shall
occur in the office of mayor, by death or otherwise, it
shall be the duty of the Select and Common Coun-
cils, in joint meeting forthwith to elect, viva voce, a
person qualified as aforesaid to serve as mayor, who
shall continue in office until the Tuesday succeeding
the next city election, and until his successor shall
have been duly elected and qualified. The mayor
shall receive a salarj-, to be fixed by Councils, which
shall not be increased nor diminished during the
term for which he shall have been elected. The
police officers, policemen, and watchmen, shall re-
ceive the compensations to be fixed by ordinance of
said Councils.
The mayor nominates, and by and with the advice
and consent of the Select Council, appoints the po-
licemen and watchmen. All fees and costs pertaining
to the office of mayor arc paid into the city treasurj'.
All the police station-houses are under the charge of
the mayor of the city, who has exclusive care and
custody of them. He has the jurisdiction and power
of a justice of the peace. And he may appoint any
one of the justices of the peace of said city to sit as
a committing magistrate at the police station adjoin-
ing his office.
It is the duty of the mayor to keep a register of the
amount and objects of all appropriations, and to with-
hold his signature for all new constructions until all
the interest accruing on the loans of the city, and the
]irincipal of those becoming due, and the ordinary and
necessary ex]>ense8 of the city and the administration
of justice in the county shall be adequately provided
for. His salary is five thousand dollars per annum.
The mayor shall sign a resolution or ordinance, if
he approve it, or return the same to the branch of
Councils wherein such resolution or ordinance orig-
inated, within ten days, or at the next meeting of
Councils after ten days have expired, if he does not
approve il, with the reasons therefor; and if, there-
upon, each branch of Councils pass the same, within
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1733
five days of such veto, by a vote of. three-fifths of all
the members elected to each branch, it shall become as
effective as though the mayor had signed the same ;
and it shall become equally effective, if he should
neglect to return the same within such ten days.
The mayor has power to take proof of all deeds,
conveyances, mortgages, or other instruments of
writing, touching or concerning any lands, tene-
ments, or hereditaments situate, lying, and being in
any part of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
which probate shall have the like force and effect as
if the same were proved before a judge of the Su-
preme Court, or any judge of the Court of Common
Pleas within said commonwealth.
He also may appoint such persons to act as police
officers, as he may be requested to do, by any duly
organized or incorporated humane society, having for
one of its objects the protection of children from
cruelty, but the city is not liable for their salary or
wages.
It is not lawful to exhibit to the public in any
building, garden, grounds, concert-room, saloon, or
other place or room within the city, any interlude,
tragedy, comedy, opera, ballet, play, farce, negro min-
strelsy, negro or other dancing, or any other enter-
tainment of the stage, or any part thereof, or any
representation in which a drop-curtain and scenery
or theatrical costumes are used, or any equestrian
circus or dramatic performance, or any performance
of jugglers, rope-dancing, or acrobats, or any menag-
erie, until a license for such exhibition, performance,
or entertainment shall have been firsc had and ob-
tained from the mayor by the proprietor thereof;
which license shall be granted by him for each and
every place or building in which such exhibitions,
performances, or entertainments are held, upon the
payment by said proprietor of the sum of twenty-five
dollars for the whole or for any portion of each cal-
endar year: Provided, That before such license shall
be granted, the said mayor shall be satisfied by affi-
davit or otherwise that the exhibition, performance,
or entertainment for which the license shall be ap-
plied shall not be immoral in its nature or tendencies,
or otherwise unlawful or hurtful to the community;
and every manager, proprietor, or director of any
such exhibition, performance, or entertainment, who
shall neglect to take out such license, or who shall
allow or cause any such exhibition, performance, or
entertainment without such license, and every owner
or lessee of any building, room, garden, grounds, con-
cert-room, or other place, who shall lease or let the
same for the purpose of any such exhibition, perform-
ance, or entertainment, o'r shall assent to the use
thereof for any such purpose, except as permitted by
such license, and without such license having been
previously obtained and then in force, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall
be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one hundred
dollars, or undergo an imprisonment not exceeding
three months, or both or either, at the discretion of
the court.
The mayor, upon proof satisfactory to him, by affi-
davit under oath or affirmation, of the violation of
the provisions of any act of Assembly or ordinance
regulating places of amusement, or that the exhibi-
tion, performances, entertainments, or any of them,
given under color of said license, are or have been
immoral or unlawful, may vacate, annul, and render
void and of no effect any license which shall have
been obtained as aforesaid by any manager, pro-
prietor, owner, or lessee, for the holding such exhibi-
tion, performance, or entertainment, or allowing or
letting any part of a building or other premises for
the purpose thereof; and it is lawful for the mayor
to prevent any such exhibition, performance, or en-
tertainment from being held, exhibited, or performed,
until the license hereinbefore provided for shall be
paid, or if the same shall have been annulled or va-
cated for violation of any act of Assembly or ordi-
nance, and to that end to direct the police to close
the building, room, or other place in which the said
exhibition, performance, or entertainment is intended
to be held, and prevent the entrance of auditors or
spectators.
If any person or persons applying to the mayor for
a license shall be aggrieved by the action of the
mayor in refusing to grant such license, or in re-
voking any license, such person or persons have the
right of appealing to the Court of Quarter Sessions.
It is not lawful for any female to attend among or
wait upon the audience or spectators at any of the
exhibitions, performances, or entertainments men-
tioned, or at any other place of public amusement, to
procure, offer, furnish, or distribute any description
of commodities or refreshments whatsoever; nor is it
lawful for any manager or proprietor of any such
exhibition, performance, entertainment, or place of
public amusement to employ or permit the employ-
ment of any female to attend among or wait upon
the audience or spectators thereat, to procure, offer,
or distribute any description of commodities or re-
freshments whatsoever ; and any person violating
this provision is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof sentenced to pay a fine not ex-
ceeding five hundred dollars or undergo an imprison-
ment not exceeding one year, or both or either, at the
discretion of the court.
The mayor upon proof satisfactory to him of the
violation of any law or ordinance regulating places
of amusement that are or have been immoral, may
vacate their license, and he may prevent any per-
formance or exhibition, and to that end may direct
the police to close the place wherein such exhibition,
performance or exhibition is intended to be held,
and prevent the entrance of auditors or spectators ;
but the refusal of the mayor to grant, or his exercise
of the authority to vacate a license is subject to appeal
to the Court of Quarter Sessions.
1734
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
If twelve or more persons be assembled unlawfully,
riotously, and tumultuously, so as to endanger tbe
public peace, it is the duty of tbe mayor in person,
or, in case of bis absence or inability to command, of
the officer in cbarge of tbe police, to go among the
rioters, or as near to them as be can safely go, and
then and there, with a loud voice make proclamation
in the name of the commonwealth, commanding all
|iersons so unlawfully assembled immediat«ly to dis-
perse themselves and peaceably to depart, and if such
persons remain together to the number of twelve or
more, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction be sentenced to undergo solitary con-
finement at labor in the county prison for a period
of not less than one month nor more than two years ;
and any person arrested, upon whose person or in
whose possession is found firearms, or any other
deadly weapon, shall be deemed guilty of an intention
to riot, whether said firearms or deadly weapon be
used or not. unless the contrary be satisfactorily es-
tablished, and punished accordingly.
If, after proclamation made, or If the mayor or
other officer of police authorized attempt to make
such proclamation, and be prevented by force from
making the same, then after i^uch attempt made,
if such persons so unlawfully, riotously, or tumult-
uously a.s.sembled continue together and not disperse
forthwith, then it shall be lawful for the said mayor
and police and such other person or persons as shall
be commanded to a.s-ist under him, who is authorized
to command all ward consUvbli's, and citizens of age
and ability, to assist him therein to disperse, seize, or
apprehend such persons so unlawfully, riotously, or
tumultuously continuing together, after proclamation
made or attempted to be made as aforesaid, and they
are required so to do and to use all neces-sary force
and means whatsoever for said purpose.
Evert' person not belonging to the police force or to
the military force, who may be summoned, and aid
and asaist the said mayor in the .suppression of any
riot shall be paid by the commissioners of the county
of Philadelphia the sum of one dollar for each day or
part of a day that he shall be so employed upon pre-
senting the certificate of said mayor that he was so
sumn'oned, and that he did so aid the officer as
aforesaid.
If in any case the mayor or other officer of police
authorized shall certify in writing to the major-gen-
eral or other commanding officer of the military divi-
sion com|H>sed of said city and county, that there is
an existing riot, tumult, or unlawful a.s.semblage
within said county, which the said police force under
his command is not, in his opinion, competent to
KUppreM without further aid, and rerjuirc the said
major-general or commanding officer to assist him
with the military force under his command, the
said major-general or commanding officer shall give
the necessary orders to the etiect that such military
force, or such part thereof as he shall deem necessary,
be mustered immediately into the service of the com-
monwealth, and be subject to the laws applicable
to such service, and shall proceed to any part of
said city or county to restore the public peace, by
suppressing such riot, tumult, or unlawful assemblage,
and by seizing and securing the offenders therein for
trial and punishment according to law ; and it shall
be lawful for said military force to proceed in sup-
pression of such riot, tumult, or unlawful assemblage
as aforesaid by such military force, and in like man-
ner as in case of war or public insurrection, and the
said military force shall continue and remain in
service and upon duty under military^ command and
subordination until the said mayor shall certify in
writing to the said major-general or commanding
officer that said riot, tumult, or unlawful assemblage
is entirely suppressed; and the military body so
called into service is entitled to be paid while on
actual duty as follows, to wit: two dollars a day to
the privates, non-commissioned officers, and musi-
cians, and four dollars a day to the commissioned
officers, and two dollars a day for each horse em-
ployed, which sum shall include all expenses of sub-
sistence ; the amount thereof, together with the ex-
pense of their ammunition and artillery used on such
duty, is paid out of the treasury of said county ; but
such military body shall not be required to march to
the place of any such riot, tumult, or unlawful assem-
blage, until afterthesaid mayor orother person author-
ized to make proclamation as aforesaid, in an audible
voice, and as near to the rioters or persons unlawfully
assembled as he can safely and with convenience go,
shall have commanded such rioters or persons unlaw-
fully assembled, and all other persons not being then
and there on duty as police or a part of his posse,
civil or military, to return to their lawful homes and
busine.s.s.
After proclamation made or attempted to be made,
and the continuance of said unlawful, riotous, or tu-
multuous assemblage, notwithstanding the same, the
said mayor and police, and all and every person or
persons so aiding and assisting them, and the said
' military force shall be wholly discharged, held harm-
less, and indemnified, as well against the common-
wealth as against all and every other person or
persons for or concerning the killing, maiming, or
hurting of any such person or persons so unlawfully,
riotously, or tumultuously continuing together as
aforesaid, that shall happen to be killed, maimed, or
hurt.
The requisition of the mayor made as afore.said, or
other officer of police authorized as aforesaid, upon
the commanding officer of any division, brigade, regi-
ment, battalion, or company, shall be conclusive evi-
dence that the services of the military were necessary
for the suppression of such riot, tumult, or unlawful
assemblage.
I The mayor appoints one person to act as chief of
I police, by and with the advice and consent of the
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1735
Select Council, subject to dismissal by him, who per-
forms such duties as are provided by law and ordi-
nance.
In all cases of arrest made by any police officer or
constable upon any of the streets or highways, he
shall take the person arrested for a hearing to the
office of the justice of the peace nearest to the place
where said arrest was made, except when the person
is arrested for intoxication, in which case such per-
son shall be taken to the station-house for a hearing
before the committing magistrate of the district.
Any patrol or watchman selected and employed by
and at the private expense of the residents or of per-
sons doing business in any block or blocks, square or
squares, or parts thereof, for the purpose of protection
to their property therein against loss by fire, theft, or
robbery, upon filing with the mayor of the city a
certificate of such employment, the time for which
he may have been so employed, and the bounds of the
locality which he is required to watch, signed by
the person so employing him, and the mayor is satis-
fied that such person is qualified, by his integrity and
vigilance, to perform such duty, he has authority to
appoint and commission him as patrol or watchman
for such locality, with all the powers of policemen in
respect to the arrest of all vagrants and persons found
ofiending against the law within the bounds of said
locality, and all vagrants and ofienders arrested by
such patrol or watchman shall be received and held
in custody at any police-station in like manner as if
the arrest had been made by any policeman ; such
patrol or watchman, when on duty, shall have au-
thority to carry and use, when necessary, the usual
implements of policemen for alarm, arrest, and defense,
and shall respond to the signals of policemen within
the limits of his said locality in making arrests and
performing needful duty, but shall not be required to
leave his said locality ; and policemen shall in like
manner respond to the signals of such patrol or watch-
man and give him all needful aid in making arrests
and protecting property within the limits of said lo-
cality.
Any police officer or constable, upon view of the
breach of any ordinance, is authorized to forthwith
arrest the person or persons so offending without any
process, and to take said person or persons forthwith
before any police magistrate or alderman, who shall
require bail for the appearance of said person at a
time to be fixed for the hearing of said charge, and in
default of bail, to commit for a hearing ; and at said
hearing the case shall be proceeded with as if the par-
ties were appearing before said magistrate or alderman
upon a summons duly issued and returned served, or
if both parties desire it, the case may be entered and
determined by the magistrate or alderman in like
manner without requiring bail or further continuance.
There is one station-house in each police district,
located by the mayor by and with the consent of the
Councils, for the use of the police, and for the tem-
111
porary detention of persons arrested or charged with
offenses against the laws.
A docket of cases heard is kept by the magistrates
at the district station-houses, and it is their duty to
make return of all cases in which any person or per-
sons may be there held to answer, at the commence-
ment of the term of Quarter Sessions, to the district
attorney. And it is the duty of the lieutenant, or one
of the two sergeants, to attend at such hearings at the
station-houses and to deliver to the district attorney
the said returns.
The mayor has power to prescribe the duties of the
various officers appointed, and to make all police rules
and regulations, subject to the approval of Councils.
No policeman is permitted to engage in any other
business or profession whatsoever, and he or they so
ofiending, upon due proof thereof, are at once dis-
charged from the service, and are not eligible for re-
appointment for one year thereafter.
All policemen are allowed, with the permission of
the mayor, to receive any rewards or gratuities which
may be offered them by persons or institutions who
may consider themselves benefited by their extra ser-
vices : Provided, The same shall not have been asked
for or promised before the service was rendered, and
it Is a misdemeanor in office for any of them to re-
ceive any other compensation, fee, or reward, to be
followed by dismission from service.
The police vans and other vehicles used for the
carrying of prisoners to and from the several prisons
are so arranged that the males and females are sepa-
rated therein.
It is not lawful for any proprietor, driver, or any
other person, to carry prisoners in such vans or vehi-
cles in any manner whereby males and females shall
be secured together in any apartment thereof.
It is not lawful for the drivers of prison vans, or
any other persons, to furnish any spirituous, vinous,
or malt liquors to any prisoner or prisoners while
under charge in such vehicle.
The mayor nominates, and by and with the advice
and consent of Select Council appoints four captains
of police, who receive an annual salary of fifteen
hundred dollars, and are each assigned to duty in
one of four divisions into which the city is divided
for that purpose. They are superior in rank to the
police lieutenants, and it is their duty to see the laws
enforced, the station-houses and other property of
the police department kept in order, and that disci-
pline is maintained among and duty performed by the
police force.
There is also, as part of the police force, what is
called the Reserve Corps, consisting of not less than
fifty men, with one lieutenant and one sergeant, who
commands them, all taken from the regular force, and
performing such duty as the mayor may assign them.
At present they are on duty on Chestnut Street, and
being specially selected for size, are like unto the his-
toric guard of Peter the Great.
1736
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Policemen when on duty are required to wear the
prescribed uniform, and their salary is two dollars
and twenty-five cents per day. The mayor appoints
a clerk to the chief of police, also the telegraph opera-
tors at the several police station-houses, together with
four pilots, four engineers, and four firemen, for ser-
vice upon the Delaware River and Schuylkill River
police tug-boat-s.
The city, for purposes of police, is divided into
twentv-six police districts, including therein the Dela-
ware harbor police and the Schuylkill harbor police,
which is divided into boat-crews to man the police
tug-boats. The fun-c nf harbur jioliii' receive the same
pay as other police officers. The mayor appoints for
each of the jwlice districts, one lieutenant and two
sergeants.
The mayor also appoints a number of persons as a
tubflHute police force, who only act when called on to
take the place of a temporary absentee of the regular
force by reason of sickness or otherwise.
The detective force consists of eight men appointed
by the mayor.
There is elected by Select and Common Coun-
cils a superintendent of police and fire-alarm tele-
graph, whose term of office is three years, at a salary
of two thousand dollars per annum. He appoints by
and with the advice of .Select Council an assistant
with a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per year, and
the said superintendent appoints, also, two operators
for each police district, four operators for the central
office, one repair-man, and two battery-men, all with
the advice and consent of the Select Council, and at
an annual salary of eleven hundred dollars, payable
monthly. I
The said superintendent, with the Councils com-
mittee on police, are authorized to connect any bank,
banking-house, insurance company, or other institu-
tion, with the central office by telegraph, for the pur-
pose of giving an instantaneous alarm, provided the
city be at no expense, and the party having such
privilege pay to the city treasurer twenty-five dollars
annually.
If any person be charged, on oath or affirmation
before the mayor or any magistrate, with being a pro-
fessional thief, burglar, pickpocket, counterfeiter, or
forger, and who shall have been arrested by the police
authorities at any steamboat landing, railroad depot,
church, banking institution, broker's office, place of
public amusement, auction-room, store, or crowded
thoroughfare, and it shall bo proven by sufficient tes-
timony that he or she was frc(|uentitig or attending
such place or places for an unlawful purpose, lie or
she shall be committed to jail for a term not exceed-
ing ninety days, there to be kept at hard labor, or, in
the discretion of the mayor or magistrate, required to
enter security for good V)ehavior for a period not ex-
ceeding one year. Any one feeling aggrieved by any
■uch judgment may appeal to the Court of (Quarter
Sessions.
MAYORS OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA.!
Edwnnl SliippeTi, l.v Ili» ilinrlor Oct. 'io, 1701
Aiilliolij- .MorriB. b\ Common Council Oct. 6, 1703
Griffllh .loDen, by Common Council Oct. 3, 1704
Jiwflih \Vilci)\, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1705
Nathan Slunbury, by Common Council Oct. 1, 1706
Thonms Masters, bv Common Council Oct. 7, 1707
Richard Hill, by Common Council Oct. 4, 17> 9
William CartPr," by Common Council Oct. 3,1710
Samufl Preston, bv Common Council Oct. 2, 1711
Jonnllian Dlckiuaon, by Common Council. ...Oct. 7, 1712
(Icorgo Roche, bv Common Council Oct. C, 1713
RichHnI Hill, by Common Council Oct. .'i, 1714
Jonatlian Dickinson, by Common Council ....Oct. 1, 1717
William Flsiibourne, by Common Council.. ..Oct. 6, 1719
J»me« Locan, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1722
Clement PInnistod, by Common Conncil Oct. 7, 1723
Inaac Norris. by Common Council Oct. 6, 17i4
William Hudson, by Common Conncil Oct. 5, 1725
Charles Read, by Common Council Oct. 4,1726
Thomas Lawrence, by Common Council Oct. 1,1728
Thomas Hriflitte, by Common Council Oct. 7, 1729
Samuel Hasell, by Common Conncil Oct. 6, 1731
Thomas Griflltts, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1733
Thomas Lawrence, by Common Council Oct. 1,1734
William Allen, l.y Common Council Oct 7, 1735
Clement Plumsted, by Common Conncil Oct. 5,1736
Thomas Griflilts, by Common Conncil Oct. 4, 1737
Anthony Morris, by Common Council Oct. 3, 1738
Edward Roberts, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1739
Samuel Hasell, by Common Council Oct. 7, 1740
(Uement Plumsted, by Common Council Oct. 6, 1741
Willinni Till, by Common Council Oct. 6, 1742
Rcnjamin Shoemaker, by Common CounciL.Oct. 4, 1743
Edward Shippen, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1744
James llaralllon. by Common Council Oct. 1, 1745
William Attwood, bv (Jommon Council Oct. 7, 1746
Charles Willing, hy Common Council Oct. 4, 1748
Thomas Lawrence, by Common Council Oct. 3, 1749
William Plumsted, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1760
Robert Stiottell, hy Common Conncil Oct. 1, 1751
Benjamin Shoemaker, hy Common Council...Oct. 3, 1762
Thomas Lawrence, bv Common Council Oct. 2, 17.53
Charles Wlllin([,2 by Common Council April 2.5, 1764
William Plumsted, by Common Council Doc. 4, 1754
Attwood Sbute,by Common Council Oct. b, 1756
Thomas Lawrence, by Common Council Oct. 1.5. 1768
John Stamper, by Common Council Oct. 2,1769
ll.iii.iriuii Shoemaker, by Common Council. ..Oct. 7, 1700
Janil. imch.., by Common Council Oct. 6, 1761
Henry Harrison, by Common Council Oct. 6, 1762
Thomas William, by Common Council Oct. 4, 1763
Thomas Lawrence, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1764
John Liiwrence, by Common Conncil Oct. 1, 1765
Isaiic Jones, by Common Council Oct. 6, 1767
Samuel Shoemaker, by Common Council Oct. 3, 1769
John Gibson, hy Common Council Oct. 1, 1771
William Fisher, by Common Council Oct. 6. 1773
Samuel Rhoads, by Common Council Oct. 4, 1774
Samuel Powel, by Common Council Oct. 3, 1775
During the ReTolntion,>offlc6 vacant 1770 to 1789
' From John Hill Martin's " Bench and Bar of Philadelphia."
' Died April, 1754.
■■' During the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, Samuel Shoe-
maker was continued the first magistrate of police by tlic king's author-
ity. He died Oct. 10, 1800, aged seventy-six years. (See Poulum't Advir-
tlter, Oct. 1 1, 1«(H1.) M r. WeslcotI, in reply to a query, " How was the city
governed during the Revolution, from 1770 to 1780?" in theSundu^ DU-
paUh of Oct. 15, 1882, says, "The last electioti for mayor under the pro-
prietary charter was on the 3d day of October, 1775, and there had been
no meeting for six moniha previously. There was no meeting after-
ward until the 17th of February, 1776, and that was Iho last niKin the
minutes. Why the city charter was considered to bo superseded by the
evenu of the Revolution is a political rather than a legal question.
By the events of the Revolution the peojile claimed lo have succeeded
to every right which the proprietaries bad under the royal charter, and
which the Assembly and every local government had. It was an ac-
cepted fact, after the 4th of July, 1776, that tho old govorEiniont was
overthrown. The Convention of the State of Pennsylvania, In 1770, ai).
pointed a lorgo number o( Justices of the peace for the city and county,
among whom wore Ilonjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, and Ooorge
Bryan. They were required, before assuming their duties, lo Uke an
oath of allegiance to the Slate of Pennsylvania and renunciation of the
authority of George III. Under the ConsUtuUou of 1770 Justices were
elected, two for each ward, etc., and they were commissioned March 28,
1777, for the city, and for the city and county June 0th of the same
year. After that Justices were apijoinled and elected for the city up to
the time of the second city charier. No aldermen were api»int6d
within that p-rlod. During the Interval tho municipal government
wa« iuipauded. The alTalra of the city seemed to have been carried on
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1737
Saninol Fuwol, by the CoiinclU April i:i, 17H(>
8araui-l Mllon, by the Uounclls A|irll \'i, 1700
John lluTclfty, by the OuuiitllB Ajirll 11, 1791
Miillhuw CJurknori, by the Couriclla April 10, 171)1!
Hlhiry Biikur, by the Councllii Ott. 21, 1796
Kobort Wburloii, by lhr> (;.)nn(;llil Oct. 19, 1798
.Tohn Inakoep, by the C'i)uric|]» Oct 21, 1800
Matthr^w Liiwlur, by'tho Ojiinclln Oct. 20, 1801
John Imkcop, by the CouncllH Oct. 16, 1804
Robert Wharton, by the Ooiinclln Oct. 21, IS06
John Barker, by the CouncllH Oct. IS, 1808
Robert Wharton, l)y the fJouni;ll« Oct. 16, 1810
Michael Keppele, by the rjouncllx Oct. Ki, 1811
John Barker, by the Councll» Oct. 20, 1812
John Oeyer, by the Counclle Oct. 19, 1813
Robert Wharton, by the Councll« Oct. 18, 1814
Jamea Nelaon Barker, by the OjunciU Oct. 19, 1819
Robert Wbart<jn, by the Oiunclli Oct. 17, 1820
Joaeph Walnon, by the <>iuncll» Oct. 19, 1824
George Mirtlln IJalla»,i by the CounclU Oct. 21, 1828
Benjamin W.,o.l Itlchnr.l«, by the CounclU... April —,1829
Wllllanj Milpior, by tb.^ (.'ounclU Oct. 20, 1829
Benjunilri Woo.l Uir:li:tMl», by the OonnclU...Oct. 19, 18:in
John Wwlft, by tlie Curiclla Oct. 16, 18.12
Isaac Iloarti, by the CounclU Oct. 16, 18.)8
John Swift, by the CounclU Oct. 16, 18»9
John Morin Kcott, elected by the people Oct. 12, 1841
Peter McCall, elected Oct. 8, 1844
John Swift, elected Oct. 14, 184*
Joel Jonea, elected Oct. 9, 1849
Cbarlea Ollpin, elected Oct. 8, 1860
Roliert Taylor Conrad, elected ; inaugnrated. June 13, 1864
Richard Vaux, elected; inaug May 13,1866
Alexander Henry, elected ; inaug May ll,18i8
Morton McMlchael, elected; InauK Jan. 1,1806
Daniel Miller Kox, elected ; inaug Jan. 4, I8fi»
William 8truniburi! Stokley, elected ; inaug Jan. I, 1872
Samuel Oeorge King,^ elected ; inaug April 4, 1881
William Burna Smith, elected Feb. 19, 1884
High Sheriflfs of Philadelphia.— By the frame
of government, of April 2.0, 1082 f 1 C. R., 27), the free-
men of the counties were to elect annually, on April
2.3d, " a double number of perHonn to Hcrve for Hheriffa,
justices of the peace, and coroners, for the year next
ensuing, out of which respective elections and pre-
sentments the Governor, or his deputy, shall nomi-
nate and commissionate the proper number for each
office the third day after the said presentments; or
else the first-named in such presentment for each
office shall stand and serve for that office the year
ensuing." No sheriff could ontinue in office more
than three successive years, or be capable of being
again elected during four years afterward. IJy the
Constitution, Sept. 4, 1790, article H, section I, the
people were to elect two persons, the Governor to
appoint one of them. 'See also act of Sept. 2D, 1789.)
No person to be chosen twice in any six years. The
same law applies to coroners, and should the sheriff
die, the coroner of the proper county shall execute
>Jf ConoeiU of Safetjr, warden*, and itre«t cofDlafa>i//nen, i/BUxn baring
antfaorfty nuder old acta of Awembly. The ward«n» liad control ./f
ligliliog the itreeU, and the c/mmUeioriera of paring Ihem and keep-
ing the highways In repair. We preauine that there were u/i watcti-
0ien daring t*<e Eerolotl/zn, «z«pl the uiliury guarda. (n regard Ui
uneotf triabU in tbe City Omn, aa there wa.t no each tril/uoal daring
(he BeTolati<yD, all caaes of crlioe had to b« tried in the (t'ULiUr B«-
•ion* (or tbe c^/onty '/f M,IUdelpbia, becauae in Uw, or, at leaat, by
g«atnl conaent, there waa no city of Phlladelpf-la in *xl«t«ne*,"
> By the act -/f April 4, 17»6, the Coancila were to el*<.t t»<* mayor on
ibc third Tooday iu Oetol^er. The act of April 10, 1«!«, rej«aled the
flftb aeetios of the w( of A|>ril 4, 1T*«, nxiairiag the amj'jr to b*
elected tmm aaoBg the mUermtit, aad aatfaorized '>xir>';iU to ele<:4 any
atiicD, (ad the >et of Jmae n, MM, gsr* Ih* pv/pU tl.e Hgi.t v, eUct
the Bijror, CoarKik to elect where do fMxit^le reeeired a uaj/zritj.
lo 18W. ewift WW elaetad h)r CovBcik.
' Betted oader the Cn««tltuti«i of Un, as tbe third Ta«d«y ta
Tttir—rj, tbe tenu of «■<* to mmmt»€» the Int JLmUj in April
aeztcseoing.
his office. Thoy shall hold their oflices for tlireo
years, and until a successor shall be duly quKlidi'd.
The amended Oonstitution of 18.')8 says, in ret^nrd to
slieriflH and coroners: One person sliall be clioseii lor
each office, who shall be commiHsioned by the Gov-
ernor. Vacancies to be lilled by iiii appointment,
to be made by the Governor, until the next general
election, and until a successor shall be duly i|ualilie(l.
The coroner to execute the duties of the ofliec iititil an-
other sheriff shall be duly commissioned. No person
shall be chosen or appointed twice in any term of
six years.
HflKBirFH OF PHILAbKM-IIIA.
John Te«t,» mentioned March 10, Ill82-:i
linnjnoilii 'tjamli.rB, commlwIoDad Oct. 24, 1«H;1
Han."' 1,11. . ' ni,iw,oiml««loned Oct. 23, I6M
WlliiMn ' . roioilmioned Nov. 19,1686
•lobo ' 1,1 I I. . -nimiaeloned 18 9 mo., 1687
John VVI,il.,,i, .„ April 26, KHW
John i;layi«,oli-,« .worn in April 20, 169;)
Dr. John Crapp,' mentioned 21 3 mo., 1701
Tlioniaa Fanner," apixiinted Oct. 2/>, 1701
.lobn Flnne»,» up(»,int«d 10 6 mo,, I70:t
llinjernln Wrlgbi,'" commlaaloned Oct 4,1706
John liu.M," ami-jlnted Feb, B, 1706-6
John Kliiney.iJ In olltce Jan. 27, 1706-7
I'eler Kvana, mentioned April 18, 1707
John Ilndd, mentioned May 19, 1712
Owen fribcrta,!* mentioned X»ct. 3, 1717
Owen Owen,n 'yjmmUaioned Oct, 4, 1726
Cliarlea ll'ul.commiaal'ined Oct. 4, 1728
Beptlmiia lt//bln«/,n, (oninilaaloned Oct. 3, 1732
J'/aepb llflent«ll,coninil««loned Oct. », ITU
Sentimua llohlnw.n.i'- <a,mmUaloBed Oct. 4, 1738
John Hyatt, coiomlmdoned Oct. 3, 1741
Micholaa Hcull, ninimlwioned „., Oct. 4, 1744
Richard Sewell,i« conimlMloned , Oct. 3, 1747
Ihuu; Griffltta,<7 'xjmnjUaloned,,, X)ct. 3, 1760
Harnuel Morda, rornmUaloned .....March 6, 1762
Jarnea f>/ultae, CfmmlMloned Oct. 4, I76A
tiamuel Morria, ra/miniaaloned , X*ct. 26, 1768
Joaeph Redman, I* ojnimiMloned Oct, 4, 1762
William I'arr, 'a/mmlwioned /let. 4, 17ft4
.I'jaeph lle'trnan, wymrnlmioned /)cl. 6, I7OT
Judeh Foulke. Cjinml-aioned Oct. 4, 1770
William Deweea, uimmlui/>ned (let. 4, 1773
Williani Maat«n,» elected Oct. — , 1776
* Mentioned ae akenff; late a fnerebant of Txmdon, and aheriff of
Cheater O/unly. (M«e Smitb'e " fliatorx of l>elaware Ouiity," 020.)
*(>iliiatiafioh ext«nde.d one year, and c/wmlaafon re4X;fd«d; 1 C B.,
121.
'Held ofUce until 4th 11 mo., 1680-90; 1 C. B,, 280.
< He waa defv/ud aa clerk and >h' riff Feb, 12, W/l-it*; I C, II,, 4iM,
^ f:hinir^i>'m tl *'.. II., 478/, mentioruad aa a b*riiuet aberiff ; 2 C. It., 16.
< He la mentioned aa aberilT, June 24, 17'X), in the Stale Pajier Offl<;e,
Ixindon. Aa former eheriff. July 14, 1701 ; 2 C, B , 20. He realgned hU
office "to tranapurt biruaelf to Knglaiid," lUth 6th mo, i7>;eS; 2 C, B.,
98.
* John Budd waa elet.ted in Of-t/ztier, I7'>4, but the l.ieuUnant.'lofer-
artr reftiaed to r;</mmlaaf'/n him, and Cyntintjed FInriey ; 2 lAKan Papen,
186,
>''Oa»t«d for an <MkM failure Feb. 6, I70«; 2 C. B,, 241, 3««.
« (u office until October, 17<;« ; 2 l/tn/ui Papera, 186.
'""^Iled "preaent ahenff,** John Bfjdd and Henry Fl//wer were
electe<) aherilft ',let. I, 17'^/; i/«t the UmUuanl^iorern'/r refuaed to
u//ti£« their electl/zn, and f^ptaln John ftnwejf la called "prcaent
•heriff" '2 C, K,, :■/»;,. Finney realgried Fet/. I, I7IJ« 7.
UMenll'/ned aa tlieriff i4 tbe prerp/fia year, an4 re-elected, tfo
aberiir menUoned by name in 1722, iTOi. 1724, ar>d I72».
XDted Aug. t, 1741.
"Died Jaa. 7, 1767.
X In CoU/Dial B««</rda, BMMr-d tSewell. 'iiee 6 <,.K , 121;,, In Mtuutea
'/f O/mm^/D '>iau)il, OtC, it ia Slurwell HU ei^oature U Kewetl ; but
theae a/e but two apellini^ «yf the ■*<««« family r.aiue.
>' Kee 6 C R., Ml , HUnA «, l7,V.t Diamiaaed li'M '/Ace.
>»>—» Pa. A/cfairea Oat aeriea,, 6.Vy. Hberif (or 1761 n/H uuuaii.ni.
doobt Bedman, a« it appeara to have beett (he rule to eU^A U** mm*
fttmm Un three yean tvxtmtftlj.
>* Me declined to act or .flaalify, aAd the '/ffi'^e appeara to hMfc bee»
nnut ■am iaae U, I7T7 ; 1 1 C. B., 2IT, 222.
1738
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
J>UM CU7poole,< appolDtml Jdds IS, 1777
William Will, elMled OeL 14, 1780
Thonuu Proctor, elMUd _OcL 20,1783
jMcph Cowpcrtbwaita, tlactnl _ Oct 14, 1786
Junn A>li,< elKted Oct. 30,1788
William Will, elKIMl 1791 to 1794
John Balier, elecKKl 17»4 to 17»7
JonatbaD PanroM, alMtad 1797 to 1800
Iara«l lararl, alacled 180U to 1803
John Barliar,> alected 1803 to 1807
William T. DoDaldaon, alaclad. .1807 to 1810
Fniuria JobnatoD.elaetad 1810 to 1813
Jacob Filler, fiactad ■._ „ 1813 to 1816
TbomaaTrtixlun,««lect«L 1816 to 1819
CWlub Nortb, clacted 1819 to 181!2
Jacob G. Tryoo.^elacted Oct. 19, 1822
John Douglaaa,*ap|iointad... 1823 to 1826
Jacob Strembrck, alKled 1826 to 1829
G«orgr Rmi, riacird 1829 to 1832
BanJamiD DuDcan, clocMd 1832 to 1836
JuhiiG Walnu>ugh,«laetad 1836 to 1838
Daiii,!l Killi-r, pL-clud _ 1838 to 1841
Hriirj- Murriv elated. — , 1841
William A. Poncr.' appolDtad- Dec. — , 1842
Hurtun SIoMlcliaol, electrd 1843 to 1846
Uenrr Lelxr, riecled 1840 to 1849
William Deal, ali-clrd 1849 to 1862
Samuel Alien, eleclwl 1862 to 1866
Ge,>rge Megee.i elected 1866 to 1868
William H. Kern, elected 1858 to 18C1
Robert Ewiiig,"' elected 1861 to 1862
John Thompaon. in offlce 1862 to 1864
BaoT7 C. Huweli, elected. 1864 to 1867
Peter Ljrie, elected 1867 to 1870
William R. L««da, elected 1870 to 1873
William Elliult. elected 1873 to 1876
William H. Wriehl," elected 1876 to 1880
Enoch Tavlor, elected 1880 to 1883
George di- Beniieville Keim, elected Not. 7, 1883
Masters of Rolls and the Recorder of Deeds.—
The office of mastter of rolls was created by the twen-
tieth section of the laws agreed on in England, on the
6th day of the Third month (May 7), 1682, viz.: "And
to prevent frauds and vexatious suit-s within said prov-
ince, that all charters, gifts, grant.s, and conveyances
of land (except leases for a year or under), and all
bills, bonds, and specialties above five pounds, and
not under three months, made in said province, shall
be enrolled or registered in the public enrollment-
office of the said province within the space of two
months next alter the making thereof, else to be void
in law. And all deeds, grants, and conveyances of
land (except as aforesaid) within the said province
and made out of the said province shall be enrolled
or registered as aforesaid, within six months after
making thereof, and settling and constituting an en-
rollment-office or registry within said province, else
to be void in law against all persons whatsoever."
(See " Frame of Laws," 1 C. R., pp. 27, 28, sees. 17
and 18.)
The master of rolls was the keeper of the " Pub-
lique Records for the County of Philadelphia and for
I See in 8 ArchlTH, 321, bia latter of June 14, 1780, In reference to
bli eirTlcaa.
IgeelSr. R., 667, 679.
> At the election In IWK, there waa " no choke," anil lUrker remained
In nfflce uiilll 18>/7.
* CunimodoreTbolnaaTnizton waaadUUnKuUhed ufflcororUie United
auiae naTj, tmm which he bad redftned. He died In IMilladelphia in
IWi, aged aeTent;.eeTen jraara.
• Died in 1823.
* Afterward rc^nlarlj elected and commlialnned.
' Died foddaol; Dec. 1, 1M2. • Ap|«lnted tij the Gorernor.
• Died Jan. 18, 1882, aned aeTenlj.
i** Bla eiectloo waa conteated enccearfully bj Alderman John Thomp-
aon.
» Bae CoiuUtatlon of ItTJ, article ziT. aactloo U
Entriug of all Judgments of County, publique Pro-
ceedings of Justice, Legal Cases, and all other Instru-
menta w*' are by Law to be inrolled and Recorded"
(1 C. R., 214). The office of recorder of deeds of
Philadelphia was created by act of May 28, 1715, and
was separated from that of the master of rolls by act
of Assembly of March 14, 1777. Read's " Digest,"
341; Dallas' "Laws," vol. i., 731. The second sec-
tion names the recorder of deeds for each county.
The Council appointed the master of rolls, the As-
sembly the recorder of deeds. The act of March 29,
1809, abolished the office of master of rolls. A por-
tion of the roll-books are in the office of the Secretary
of the Commonwealth, the rest in the office of the
Secretary of Internal Affairs of this State. In Mc-
Caraher r.f. The Commonwealth (5 W. & S., p. 26), it
is said by Judge Sergeant, in delivering the opinion
of the Supreme Court, that the office of recorder of
deeds, " althongh unknown to the common law, has
been coeval with our province and State, being part
of the laws agreed upon in England between William
Penn and the first purchasers, in 1682, and reduced
after various effiDrts to a regular system by the act of
1715, which continues to be the foundation of our
code on the subject, and this office may be said to
form the pivot on which all our titles to real estate
turn. The design of it has been to furnish a perma-
nent record of all titles and muniments of real estate,
and many of personal, to which parties may have re-
course for exemplifications that have the same force
and efficacy as the originals. But there is another
equally if not more important design, which is to en-
able all persons to obtain knowledge of the state of
titles to real estate by deeds and conveyances, and
also of charges and encumbrances existing on them
by way of mortgage."
THE MASTERS OF ROLLS.
Thomas Lloyd, by letters patent 27, 10 br., 1683
Patrick Rotiin»on, ilrputy — , IGSS
Wlllliim Marklmm, in office — , 1C88
Th..ni»« Lloyd,i2 in office 5 7 mo., 1690
David Lliiyd, deputy 1 1 mo., 1689
Patrick RublnKoD.commlsiiloned June 16,1604
David Lloyd," in ollico 12 br. 7, 1697-98
ThuniK" Slory, commiesionod 4 mo. 25, 1700
Griffith Owen, deputy May 11,1702
Maurico i.isle, deputy Feb. 1,1706
Charlea Drockden," commlaaloned May 28,1716
William I'lirr, commissioned Sept. 28, 1767
John Mcrris, Jr., commiasioned March 22, 1777
Matthew Irwin, comnilssloocd March 14, 1785
Juhn M. Irwin, deputy Mrrch 27, 1800
Timothy MatlHck," commissioned April 14, 1800
The list of masters of rolls, printed in 9 Pa.
Archives, 628 (2d series), is very imperfect and in-
correct, for it is a matter of hi.story that Charles
Brockden was made recorder of deeds of the county
vhlrh he claimoil i
his
" Reaumed the office 6tli Seventh
for life
» 1 Archlvea, I2.'>. Perhaps a deputy only
>4 A clerk and deputy (In 1712) under Mr. Story, and on his retirement
waa appoinleil and commissioned master of the rolls, and waa in offlce
over nny-twi, years. Resigned 1767, and died Oct. 20, 1769, aged ninoty-
flve years and six months.
u Timothy Uatlack died April IS, 1829, aged ninety-nine yean.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1739
of Philadelphia by the act of May 28, 1715, and at
the same time appoiDted master of rolls, and that he
held those offices for over fifty-two years, and until
his retirement in 1.767, so that Andrew Hamilton,
Thomas Hopkinson, William Allen, Tench Francis,
and Benjamin Chew never were the masters of rolls,
nor did Andrew Allen ever hold such a position. On
page 629 of the same work Arthur Cook is given as
the first chief justice of the province from 1681 to
1684. As the Supreme Provincial Court was created
by order of Council of " y° 1st of y" 2d mo.," 1684,
and as the charter to William Penn was not signed
until March 4, 1681, the statement is unaccountable,
and a serious error in an official publication. The
first chief justice was Dr. Nicholas More (not Moore),
and C. J. Robeson's name was not Rob-son, as given.
The register-general of wills in 1712 is called Hayne ;
it should be Mayne, the name of a distinguished Irish
family. There are many other errors in the lists given,
but they are not as important as those here corrected.
THE RECORDERS OF DEEDS.
Charles Brockdeii, by act of May 28, 1716
William Parr, comriiissioDed Sept. 28, 1767
John Morris, Jr.,i by act of March U, 1777
Matthew Irwin, commissioned March in, 1786
Edward Fo.\, in office 1799 to 18il9
James Carson, in ofBce 1809 to 1816
Matthew Randall, in office 1815 to 1819
Isaac Worrell, in olBce 1819 to 1821
John Harrison, in office 1821 to 1824
George W. Riter, in office 1824 to 1830
Alexander McCaraher, in office 1830 to 1836
Samuel Hudson Fisher,2 in office 1.S36 to 1838
John Swift, for unexpired term 1838 to 1839
George Smith.s in office 1839 to 1842
Richard L. Lloyd, in office 1842 to 1845
Andrew Miller, in office 1845 to 1K48
George W. Colladay. in office 1848 to 1861
Thomas Helm,' in office 1851 to 1864
Robert D.Wilkinson, in office 1854 to 1857
Albert D. Boileau, in office 1867 to 1860
Alfred C. Harmer, in office 1860 to 1863
Lewis R. Brooraall, in office 1863 to 1866
Joshua Thomas Owen, in office 1866 to 1869
John A. Houseman, in office 1869 to 1872
F.Theodore Walton, in office 1872 to 1876
DaTid H. Lane, in office 1876 to 1879
Louis Wagner, in office 1879 to 1882
John O'Donnel, in office 1882 to
Joseph Kennard Fletcher, deputy to
RECORDERS OF THE CITT OF PHILADELPHIA.
Thomas Story, by the city charter Oct. 25, 1701
David Lloyd, by Ck)mmon Council — , 1702
Robert Assheton, by Common Council Aug. 3, 1708
Andrew Hamilton, by Common Council June 12, 1727
William Allen, by Common Council Aug. 7, 1741
Tench Francis, by Common Council Oct. 2, 1760
Benjamin Chew, by Common Council Aug. 29, 1756
Andrew Allen,^ by Common Council June 26, 1774
Alexander Wilcocks, by Councils — , 1789
Alexander J. Dallas, by Governor — , 1801
Moses Levy, by Governor — , 1802
Mahlon Dickerson, by Governor July 22, 1808
Joseph Reed, by Governor Oct. — , 1810
Joseph Mclivaine,6 by Governor Aug. 19,1829
John Bouvier, by Governor Jan. 9,1836
Samuel Rush,' by Governor April 30, 1838
Richard Vaux,8 by Governor Aug, 1, 1841
Robert M. Lee, by Governor May 18, 1847
Joseph Eneu, by Governor March 12, 1868
I Died March 9, 1786. 2 Died December, 1838.
•Elected Nov. 11,1839.
* Died Aug. 6, 1880, aged seventy-two.
B Andrew Allen was declared a traitor, and the office was vacant
1789.
• Resigned in December, 1835. ' Resigned July 22, 1841.
9 Resigned May 17, 1847.
James Given,' by Governor April 15, 1868
Matthew Stanley Quay.w by Governor April 18, 1878
David H. Lane,"by Governor Jan. 31, 1879
Guardians of the Poor.— The Board of Guardians
of the Poor is composed of twelve members. The
Select and Common Councils meet in joint convention
in June of each year, and elect four persons as mem-
bers of the board to serve for three years in place of
four whose terms are about to expire, one of whom
so elected shall represent the political minority.
The board annually elects a president and such
other officers as are necessary for the proper trans-
action of business.
Each member of the board takes an oath or affir-
mation that he will discharge the duties of the office
of guardian of the poor truly and impartially to the
best of his ability.
All indentures of apprenticeship by the guardians
shall be executed in the name of the city of Phila-
delphia.
The said board appoint suitable persons as visitors
of the poor; the said visitors are continued in office
at the discretion of the board, and give such security
for the faithful performance of their duty as may be
required. It is the duty of the visitors to act as
agents under the direction of the Board of Guardians,
and when called upon by an applicant for relief, or
by a citizen in behalf of any poor person, to visit
such party without delay and, after full examination,
to report, in writing, the particulars of the case to
the next meeting of the board, stating the residence,
name, age, sex, color, birthplace, number of children, if
any, on receipt of which report, the board, if satisfied of
the necessity of the case, directs the mode and deter-
mines the amount of relief to be furnished to such
applicant, and causes the name, residence, and amount
of relief directed to be furnished, to be entered in a
book kept for that purpose: Provided, That in all
cases of sudden emergencies, when the party cannot
be removed to the hospital or almshouse, it is the
duty of the visitor, with the consent of one of the
guardians, to administer such relief as the case may
require ; the particulars of the case and the amount
of relief are reported ta the next meeting of the
guardians. All relief granted to out-door poor is
temporary.
The Board of Guardians are authorized to put out
as apprentices to some trade or calling all poor chil-
dren who become cliargeable, that is, the children of
such poor peradns as are dead without leaving any
property, or any kindred bound by law to maintain
them, or who, if living, have deserted them ; males to
the age of twenty-one, and females to the age of
eighteen years. And the said guardians are author-
ized to bind out, as aforesaid, all children that have
received public support, either in the almshouse or
> Given died Oct. II, 1880, aged forty^ix years.
10 Appointed under the act of April 18, 1878 ; resigned Jan. 28, 1879.
" Ousted 1883.
1740
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
children's asylum, although their parents demand
their discharge from said institutions, unless the ex-
penses incurred in their support be refunded.
The said board, annually, at the first stated meeting
of Councils in the month of January, report to them
a statement, in detail, of the receipts and disburse-
ments made by them during the past fiscal year, and
they, annually, not later than the 1st day of January,
are required to report to Councils an estimate of the
amount necessary for the expenses of their depart-
ment during the then fiscal year, and the items of
such expenses, with an estimate of their receipts for
the same time.
The said board is required to keep an account with
all the poor district-s of Pennsylvania of all the out-
door relief furnished in behalf of paupers having a
legal settlement therein according to the several acts
of Assembly of Pennsylvania.
Warrants for the payment of appropriations made
to the department are drawn by the president of the
board, and at the time of the issue of any warrant
the secretary takes a receipt for the same, which
specifies its number, date, amount, and the service
or supplies for payment of which is issued, and each
warrant is accompanied by a bill containing the items
which comprise the sum for which it is drawn. The i
bill is signed by the person claiming its amount, and
to be delivered to the controller, and filed by him.
All moneys due to jurors, witnesses, and arbitra- |
tors, which shall remain in the hands of the sheriff
of the city and county of Philadelphia, or any of the
clerks, prothonotaries, or officers of any of the courts,
or in the hands of the county commissioners, or their
clerks, within the said city and county, and shall not j
be demanded by or paid over to the person or per-
sons lawfully entitled to receive the same, and which
Bhall not have been paid over or demanded within
twelve months from the receipt thereof, shall belong
to the said guardians of the poor, and shall be paid I
over to them ; and the said sheriff, clerks, prothono-
taries, officers, and county commissioners shall keep
separate accounts of the said moneys, and furnish
copies thereof to the said guardians of the poor on
the first Tuesday in the month of January, in each
and every year, and pay over the same forthwith to
the said guardians for the use of the poor.
If any husband or father, being within the limits
of this commonwealth, shall separate himself from
his wife, or from his children, or from wife and chil-
dren, without reasonable cause, or shall neglect to
maintain his wife or children, it is lawful for any ,
alderman, justice of the peace, or magistrate of this
commonwealth, upon information made before him i
under oath or affirmation, by his wife or children, or
either of them, or by any other person or persons, to
issue his warrant to the sheriff or to any constable
for the arrest of the person against whom the in-
formation shall be made as aforesaid, and bind him
over, with one sufficient surety, to appear at the next
Court of Quarter Sessions, there to answer the charge
of desertion.
The information, proceedings thereon, and warrant
shall be returned to the next Court of Quarter Ses-
sions, when it shall be lawful for said court, after
hearing, to order the person against whom complaint
has been made, being of sufficient ability, to pay such
sum as said court shall think reasonable and proper
for the comfortable support and maintenance of the
said wife or children, or both, not exceeding one hun-
dred dollars per month, and to commit such person
to the county prison, there to remain until he comply
with such order, or give security by one or more sure-
ties to the commonwealth, and to such sum as the
court shall direct for the compliance therewith.
The father and grandfather, and the mother and
grandmother, and the children and grandchildren of
every poor, old, blind, lame, and impotent person,
or other poor person within said city, not able to
work, being of sufficient ability, shall, at their own
charges, relieve and maintain every such poor person
as the Court of Quarter Sessions shall order and direct.
The husband of every wife, whose father or grand-
father, mother or grandmother, children or grandchil-
dren, shall be poor, blind, lame, impotent, or other-
wise unable to maintain himself or herself, and being
within the said city, not able to work, shall, if of
sufficient ability, at his or their own charges, relieve
and maintain every such poor person as the Court of
Quarter Sessions shall order and direct, on pain of
forfeiting seven dollars for every month he shall fail
therein : Proviiled, That such relief so furnished by
such husband shall be demanded only where such
husband shall have obtained possession of personal
property, or be entitled to the rents and profits of
real estate belonging to his said wife, and then only
to the extent of the value of such property so ac-
quired by his marriage.
It sometimes happens that men separate themselves
without reasonable cause from their wives, and desert
their children, and women also desert their children,
leaving them a charge on the city, although such
persons may have estates, rights, and credits which
should contribute to the maintenance of such wives
or children : Therefore, it shall and may be lawful for
the guardians of the poor, in the city, having first
obtained a warrant or order from one of the justices
of the peace where such wife or children shall be so
left or neglected, to take and seize so much of the
goods and chattels, rights and credits, and receive so
much of the annual rents and profits of the lands and
tenements of such husband, father, or mother as such
justice shall order and direct for providing for such
wife, and for maintaining and bringing up such child
or children ; which warrant or order, being confirmed
at the Court of Quarter Sessions, it shall and may be
lawful for the said court there to make an order for
the guardians of the poor to dispose of such goods
and chattels, rights and credits, by sale or otherwise,
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1741
or so much of them for the purpose aforesaid as the
court shall think fit ; to receive the rents and profits,
or so much of them as shall be ordered by the said
court, of his or her, lands or tenements for the pur-
poses aforesaid ; and if no real or personal estate,
rights and credits of such husband, father, or mother
can be found, wherewith provision may be made as
aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful to and for the
said court to order the payment of such sums as they
shall think reasonable for the maintenance of any
wife or children so neglected, and commit such hus-
band, father, or mother to the common jail, there to
remain until he or she comply with the said order,
give security for the performance thereof, or be other-
wise discharged by the said court ; and on complaint
made to any justice of the peace of any wife or chil-
dren there being so neglected, such justice shall take
security from the husband, father, or mother, neglect-
ing as aforesaid, for his or her appearance at the next
Court of Quarter Sessions, there to abide the deter-
mination of such court, and for want of security to
commit such persons.
Every master or commander of any ship, or other
vessel arriving at the port of Philadelphia from any
country out of the United States, or from any other
of the United States than this State, shall, within
twenty-four hours after the arrival of such ship or
vessel in the said port, make a report in writing, on
oath or affirmation, to the mayor of the city of Phila-
delphia, or, in case of his sickness or absence, to the
recorder of said city, or to any alderman or justice of
the peace, of the name, place of birth, and last legal
settlement (if known), age, and occupation of every
person who shall have been brought as a passenger in
such ship or vessel on her last voyage from any coun-
try out of the United States into the port of Phila-
delphia, and of all the passengers who shall have
been landed, or suffered or permitted to land from
such ship or vessel, at any place during such her last
voyage, or have been put on board, or suffered and
permitted to go on board of any other ship or vessel
with the intention of proceeding to said port, and of
the name or names of the owner or owners and con-
signee or consignees of such ship or vessel, under the
penalty on such master or commander, and the owner
or owners, consignee or consignees of such ship or
vessel, severally and respectively, of seventy-five dol-
lars for every person neglected to be reported as afore-
said, and for every person whose name, place of birth,
and last legal settlement, age, and occupation, or
either or any of such particulars, or the name or
names of the owners or consignees as aforesaid, shall !
be falsely reported as aforesaid.
It shall be lawful for the said mayor, recorder, j
alderman, or justice to require, by a short indorse- ,
ment on the aforesaid report, every such master or
commander of any such ship or vessel to be bound i
with two sufficient sureties (to be approved of by the
said Board of Guardians), to the said (guardians of i
the poor of the city of Philadelphia), in such sum as
the mayor, recorder, alderman, or justice may think
proper, not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars
for each passenger not being a citizen of the United
States, to indemnify and save harmless the said guar-
dians and their successors, and the inhabitants of the
city, from all and every expense or charge which shall
or may be incurred by them for the maintenance and
support of any such person, or for the support of the
child or children of any such persons which may be
born after such importation, iu case such person, or
any such child or children, shall at any time within
two years from the date of said bond become charge-
able to the said guardians of the poor, and the costs
of the proceedings before the mayor and recorder shall
be paid by the said master or commander, and a sum
not exceeding two dollars for preparing said bond ;
and if any such master or commander shall neglect or
refuse to give such bond within five days after such
vessel shall have so arrived at the said port of Phila-
delphia, every such master or commander, and the
owner or owners, consignee or consignees of such ship
or vessel, severally and respectively, shall be subject
to a penalty of five hundred dollars for each and every
person not being a citizen of the United States, for
whom the mayor or recorder shall have determined
that bond should be given as aforesaid, to be sued for
and recovered as hereinafter provided.
Every ship or vessel on board of which any such
person, not being a citizen of the United States, may
have been a passenger shall be liable for the said
penalties.
Upon information given to the mayor or recorder
of the city, or any two justices of the peace of the
county of Philadelphia, that any old persons, infants,
maimed, lunatics, or any vagabond or vagrant per-
sons, are imported, come, or are brought within the
said city, the mayor or recorder, or any two justices
of the peace for the county of Philadelphia, shall
cause such aged persons, infants, or impotent or va-
grant persons to be brought before him, and if upon
examination they shall judge that such person or per-
sons are likely to become chargeable to the said city,
it shall be lawful for the said mayor or recorder, or
two justices of the peace, as aforesaid, by warrant or
otherwise, to send for the master or merchant, or
other person who imported any such infant, lunatic,
aged, maimed, impotent, or vagrant person or persons,
as are likely to become chargeable as aforesaid, and
upon proof made of their being the importers or
owners of such ship or vessel in which said infant,
lunatic, aged, maimed, impotent, or vagrant person,
who shall be judged likely to become chargeable, as
aforesaid, were imported, then the said mayor or re-
corder, or any two of the justices, as aforesaid, shall
and may compel the said master, merchant, or im-
porter of such infant, lunatic, maimed, aged, impo-
tent, or vagrant person or persons to give sufficient
security to carry and transport such infant, lunatic,
1742
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
maimed, aged, impotent, or vagrant person or persons
to the place or places whence such person or persons
were imported or brought from, or otherwise to in-
demnify the inhabitants of the city from any charge
that may come or be brought upon them by such
infant, lunatic, maimed, aged, impotent, or vagrant
person or persons: I'rovidul, That any one feeling
aggrieved may appeal to the Court of Quarter Sessions.
If any housekeeper or inhabitant of the said city
shall take into, receive, or entertain in his or her house
or houses any person or persons whomsoever (all mari-
ners coming into this State, and every other healthy
person coming from any foreign port immediately into
the said State, only excepted), being persons who
have not gained a legal settlement in some other
township, borough, or place within this State, and
shall not give notice in writing, which they are re-
quired to do within three days next after the taking
into or entertaining any person or persons in his or
her house, within the said city, to the guardians of
the poor, or some of them, of the said city, such in-
habitant or housekeeper, being thereof legally con-
victed by testimony of one credible witness, on oath
or afhrmation before any one justice of the peace re-
aiding in the said district or township, shall forfeit and
pay the sum of four dollars for every offense, the one
moiety for the use of the poor of said city, and the
other moiety to the informer, to be levied on the
goods and chattels of the delimiuent, and for want of
sufficient distress, the offender to be committed to the
jail of the city and county of Philadelphia, there to
remain without bail or mainprise for the space of
ten days. In case the person or persons so enter-
tained or concealed shall become poor and unable to
maintain him or herself, and cannot be removed to the
place of his or her la.st legal settlement in this or any
other State, if any such he or she hath, or shall die,
and not have wherewithal to defray the charges of
his or her funeral, then in such case the housekeeper
or person convicted of entertaining or concealing
such poor person shall be obliged to provide for and
maintain such poor and indigent person or persons;
and in case of such poor person's death shall pay the
guardians of the poor so much money as shall be ex-
pended on the burying of such poor and indigent per-
son or persons ; and upon refusing so to do, it shall be
lawful for the guardians of the poor in the city, and
they are re<iuired to assess a sum of money on the per-
son or persons so convicted, from time to time, by a
weekly assessment, for maintaining such poor and indi-
gent person or persons, or assess a sum of money for
defraying the charges of such poor person's funeral, as
the case may be ; and in case the party convicted
shall refuse to pay the sum of money so a-nsessed or
charged to the guardians of the poor, for the uses
aforenaid, the same shall be levied on the goods and
chattels of the offender, but if such i)erson have no
goods to satisfy the money so assesiied for him or her
to pay, then said justice* may commit the offender to
prison, there to remain until discharged in the manner
provided by law.
Where any person not having legal settlement
withjn the city shall be relieved and provided for
temporarily by the guardians of the poor, it is lawful
for the guardians to transmit with the poor and indi-
gent person or persons so as aforesaid relieved, to his
last place of legal settlement, a bill containing the
amount of money expended in the relief of such poor
or indigent person or persons, certified under the seal
of the corporation, and attested by the oath or affirm-
ation of the guardian furnishing or expending the
same, which bill shall be received by the overseers
or justices of the township or place where the said
poor or indigent person or persons were last legally
settled, and the overseers of the place or township to
which such poor and indigent person or persons shall
be so as aforesaid removed, shall be liable to pay the
amount adjudged to be due, whether notice has been
given to them or not, of the pauper's being within
the city of Philadelphia.
If any poor person or persons shall remove out of
the city of Philadelphia into any other township,
borough, or place within this State, or shall remove
out of any borough, township, or place into the said
city, and shall fall sick or die before he or she hath
gained a legal settlement in the said city, district, or
township, or other township or borough to which he
or she shall come, so that such person or persons
cannot be removed, the guardians of the said city or
overseers of the said other township or borough into
which such person or persons is or are to come, or
one of them, shall, as soon as conveniently may be,
respectively give notice to the overseers of such
township or borough, or to the guardians of the said
city (as it may happen to be necessary), where such
person or persons had hist gained a legal settle-
ment, or to one of the said overseers or guardians,
of the name, circumstances, and conditions of such
person or persons. And if such overseers of a town-
ship or borough, or guardians of the said city to
whom such notice shall be so given, shall neglect
or refuse to pay the money expended, as well before
as after the said notice, for the use of such poor
person or jiersons, and to take order for relieving
and maintaining such poor person or ])erson8, or in
case of his, her, or their death, before notice can be
given as aforesaid, shall, on n^quost being made,
neglect or refuse to pay the money expended in
maintaining and burying such poor person or per-
sons, then and in every such case it shall be lawful
for any two justices of the county where such poor
person or persons were last legally settled, and they
are hereby authorized and required, upon complaint
made to them, to cause all such sums of money as
were necessarily exi)ended for the maintenance of
such i)oor person or persons during the whole time of
his, her, or their sickness; and in case he, she, or they
die, for his, her, or their burial by warrant under
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1743
their hands and seals, to be directed to some con-
stable of the said city, township, or borough, to be
levied by distress and sale of the goods and chattels
of the said guardian or guardians, overseer or over-
seers of the poor so neglecting or refusing to be paid
to the guardians or overseers aforesaid, where such
poor person or persons liappencd to be sick or to die
as aforesaid.
The Board of Guardians are authorized whenever
any person or persons shall be received into the alms-
house, to inquire into the situation and circumstances
of such persons, and into the causes which have pro-
duced his or her application for relief; and if in the
opinion of said guardians the case shall be such
as to make it expedient, they shall cause to be opened
in the books of the almshouse an account with the
person or persons so received, and shall charge him,
her, or them, a fair and moderate price for the main-
tenance and other articles furnished for their relief;
and shall credit such persons with a just and liberal
allowance for any work they may perform or services
they may have rendered ; and persons who may be
sent to the hospital and cured of any disease brought
on by vicious habits shall be removed to the house of
employment ; and also, any idle, disorderly, and
vagrant person who may be sent to the said alms-
house by any of the said guardians, may be detained
in the said house by the Board of Guardians, and
compelled to perform such work and services as the
said board may order and direct, until they have
compensated by their labor for the expenses incurred
on their account, unless discharged by special per-
mission of the Board of Guardians ; and it shall be
the duty of said Board of Guardians to furnish such
person or persons as aforesaid with sufficient work
and employment, according to their physical abilities,
so that the opportunity of reimbursement may be
fully afforded; and the said Board of Guardians
are authorized and empowered to exercise such power
as may be necessary to compel all persons within the
said almshouse and house of employment to do and
perform all such work, labor, and services as may be
assigned to them by the said Board of Guardians:
Provided, The same be not inconsistent with the con-
dition or ability of such person.
The several constituted authorities having care and
charge of the poor in the respective counties, districts,
and townships of this commonwealth have authority
to send to the asylum such insane paupers under their
charge as they may deem proper subjects ; and they
shall be severally chargeable with the expenses of the
care and maintenance and removal to and from the
asylum of such paupers.
If the guardians, directors, or overseers of the poor,
to whom any patient who shall be in the asylum is
chargeable, shall neglect or refuse, upon demand
made, to pay to the trustees the expenses of the care,
maintenance, and removal of such patient, and also,
in the event of death, of the funeral expenses of such
patient, the said trustees are authorized and empow-
ered to collect the same as debts of a like nature are
collected.
The appropriations of the guardians of the poor
for 1882 were :
Hospital department 829,616
Insane department 13.598
Children's asylum 1,«7
Hunse generally 316,069
Manufactnring department 20,730
Farm and Blockley estate 11,527
Ont-door expenses 26,410
Deficiency bill, 1876-77 1,160
Cost of Maraton Street sewer 652
$422,118
PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF THE GUARDIANS OF THE
POOR.
1830. Thomas P. Cope. \ 1857. James D. Brown.
1835. George W. Jones. 1868. Dr. George Huhn.
1847. William G. Flanagan. 1859. Elhanan W. Keyser.
1848. Daniel S. Beideman. I 1S60. John M. Maris.
1849. William G. Flanagan. ; 1865. George Erety.
1882. Michael Day. 1868. John M. Whitall.
1853. Robert P. King, j 1874. John P. Verree.
1854. Frederick M. Adams. | 1876. James S. Chambers.
1856. Joseph B. Smith. 1882. John Huggard.
1866. Oliver Evans. ; 1883. Edward F. Hoffman.
Water Department.'— Councils elect every three
years a chief engineer of this department. He has
charge of the water-works, including mill-houses,
steam-engine houses and their machinery, the reser-
voirs, pipes, mains, dams, fire-plugs, property and fix-
tures connected with the same, and he exercises con-
trol over all the officers connected therewith, assigns
and directs their duties. He makes an annual report
to Councils, prepares all plans of construction, makes
all necessary estimates connected with the works
whether for construction or repairs, certifies all ac-
counts, bills, and contracts for materials purchased
or labor performed under his direction, notifies Coun-
cils of all breaches of contract, supervises and con-
tracts for laying down mains, pipes, and fixtures.
The chief engineer appoints three assistants, who
shall be civil engineers, one general superintendent
of works, one engineer's clerk, to be chief clerk of
the department, one assistant clerk, one superintend-
ent of city repair-shops, one draughtsman, ten engi-
neers at works, one register, one chief clerk of regis-
ter's department, one receiving clerk, two permit
clerks, six general clerks, six purveyors, who give se-
curity in the sum of five thousand dollars, fourteen
inspectors, one messenger, one pipe clerk, one muster
clerk, and one telegraph operator.
The chief engineer gives bond in the sum of ten
thousand dollars.
The water purveyors have charge of all the mains,
pipes, stop-cocks, fireplugs, and other fixtures apper-
taining to the distribution of the water through the
city, and personally attend to the laying of new
pipes as well as the repairs of the pipes, fireplugs,
and other fixtures that require it, to shut off the pipes
1 The history of the water-works of Philadelphia is given in the nar-
rative of volume i. of this work.
1744
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
for repairs on account of leaks, to shut off water, to
cut off such pipes on premises on which the water-
rent has not been paid, to keep an account of all
new pipes laid or repairs made.
The register makes assessments of water-rents in
manufacturing and other establishments where large
quantities are used, receives all water-rents, and
makes return of them to the controller, and turns the
money over to the treasurer.
The permit clerks attend to their respective sub-
ofiBces, issue all permits under the supervision of the
register, and make weekly returns to the register of
all permits issued and moneys received, and perform
such other duties as directed by the chief engineer.
The inspector examine all premises where water
is introduced, and return to the register an account
of all connections and openings on the premises and
their uses, such as the number of hydrants, baths,
water-closets, fountains, etc., and other rate of charge
as fixed by Councils, distribute the water-rent bills
and notices, and examine and report cases of fraudu-
lent use of water and abuse of permits, etc.
Whenever the chief engineer shall issue a war-
rant, he shall at the same time take a receipt which
shall specify its number, date, and amount, and the
services or materials for payment of which it is
issued ; and every warrant shall be accompanied by
a bill which shall contain the items which compose
the sum for which it is issued, signed by the person
in whose favor the warrant is drawn, and the said
bill is delivered to the controller and filed by him.
Whenever the pipes for conveyance of water shall
have been laid in any square of street or highway,
the chief engineer of the water-works shall, within '
five days thereafter, inform the surveyor of the dis-
trict within which the said street is situated, and the
•aid surveyor shall, within ten days thereafter, assess
the expense of laying such pipes at the sum herein-
before mentioned, against the several owners of
ground fronting said street, in proportion to their
respective fronts thereon, and make out duplicate
bills therefor, which he shall deliver to the chief
engineer of the water-works; and the said engineer
shall cause one of said bills to be delivered by one
of the inspectors in the department for .lupplying the
city with water, to the owner or owners of ground
aforesaid ; or, if the owner be unknown or cannot be
found, place*] upon the premises, and the other
thereof he shall deliver to the register in said de-
partment. The said bills shall contain a printed '
notice that the amount thereof is payable to the
register, and that if the same be paid within thirty
days from the day of such delivery, a deduction of
five per centum will be made thereon, and that if
not paid within four months therefrom, a claim for
the same will be filed. Every bill ho delivered to the
register shall have note*] thereon, by the proper
inspector, the date of the delivery of its duplicate to
the pervon charged therein, or of its being left on
the premises as aforesaid. And at the end of four
months from such date of delivery, or being left as
aforesaid, and within five days thereafter, the reg-
ister shall return to the said surveyor the bills in
his hands unpaid, whereupon the said surveyor shall,
within five days, prepare a full description by metes
and bounds of each property whose owners shall not
have paid the amount charged against him, and de-
liver the same, with said bill, to the city solicitor,
who shall forthwith file claims for, and proceed to
collect the same as it is now practiced and allowed
by law, and when the amount of any such claim ia
collected and received by him and paid to the city
treasurer, he shall inform the register thereof
Whenever any pipes for the conveyance of water
shall be laid in any of the streets or highways, the
owners of the ground in front whereof the same shall
be laid shall i>ay for the expense thereof the sum of
one dollar for each foot of their ground upon such
street : Prorided, That on all corner lots an allowance
shall be made of one-third the length of their fronts,
but such allowance shall be always and only on the
street or highway running at an angle to the street or
highway in which ]ii]ic sliall have been previously
laid and paid for, but in no case shall the allowance
exceed fifty feet on any corner lot.
It is obligatory on the chief engineer of the survey
dei)artment to furnish the city controller with a state-
ment of all bills for thi' laying of water-])ipes, at the
same time that they arc sent to the register of the
water department. At the exjiiration of four months
from the time the register of the water department
receives the bills for water-pipe, he shall then furnish
the city controller with a statement of all unsettled
bills sent to the city solicitor for collection.
All water-rents shall be payable to the register of
water-rents at his office, annually, in advance, on the
second Monday of January ; and ujion all water-rents
unpaid u|ion the 1st day of May in any year, there ia
charged the sum of five per centum, and upon all
rents ungiaid on the 1st day of July in any year there
shall bo charged an additional sum of ten per centum ;
and if such rent, with the said additional charges,
shall remain un])aid on the 1st day of September in
any year, the said register shall notify the chief engi-
neer of the water-works of the names of such delin-
quents, who shall cause the ferrules of all such delin-
quent water-tenants to be detached from the pipe of
conduit, and suit be instituted for the recovery of such
rent; and after such ferrules shall have been de-
tached the water shall not again be supplied or fur-
nished to the said premises, except upon payment of
all arrears of water-rent, and the sum of two dollars
for expenses incurred ; and a i)rinted notice shall be
Icit upon the premises.
The following are the rates charged :
DwrlUnf.—Onn-haU ilnellingn (one room on a floor), wUliout by-
drmnl or ilnk on prrmlam, 32.5U; ttarer-quartrr dwellings (one room on
a Uoor and kitchen), wlUiout hydrant or link on premiaea, »3.75 ; other
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1745
dwellings, without hydrant or sink ou premises, $5 ; all dwellings with
hydrant or 5ink, or hydrant in yard and sink in kitchen, with hot or
cold water, S5.
Wash-Paves. — Screw nozzles on hydrants or elsewhere, 83 ; for water-
ing horses, $10.
Wash- Basins or Sinks. — In private I'.wellings (kitchen excepted), each
$1; in hotels or boarding-houses, each S;J ; in drug-stores, attached to
dwellings, each 82.50; in stores, attached tu dwellings, each S2 ; in stores,
attach men t from main pipes, each $5; in public buildings and halls, each
$3; in barber-shops, one basin or outlet, each 83 ; in barber-shops, each
additional outlet, 81.
Slop-Sinks. — In boarding-houses, hotels, etc., each 84.
Tra«ft-n<69.— (Stationary) each partition, 81.
Baths (hot and cold, or either). — In private dwellings, each 83 ; at-
tached to main pipe, each 85; in hotels and public bath-houses, each
S6 ; shower-baths in private dwellings, each 81 ; shower-baths in hotels
and public bath-houses, each 82.
Water-Closels, Urinals, Bidets, and Foot-Tubs, — In private dwellings,
each 81 ; in stores, factories, etc., self-acting, each 82; instores, factories,
etc., all others, each $3; in hotels, boarding-liouses, self-acting, each 83;
in hotels, boarding-houses, all others, each 85.
Stables. — Without water on premises, each stall and each carriage, 81 ;
with water on premises, not exceeding five stalls or carriages, $5; hc-
commodating farmers, each stall, 50 cents.
Bars.— \With or without water, each 810.
Hotels and Boardiug-Houses (in addition to opening charges). — For
boarders to the number of ten, S5 ; for boarders to thenumberof twenty-
five, 810; each additional twenty-five, 85.
Boarding and P)-ivate Schools. — Each pnpil, 3 cents.
FamV'j Bakeries. — In addition to dwelling charges, $3.
Ice-Cream Saloons. — In addition to dwelling charges, 83.
Ealing- and Oysler-Salooyis. — In addition to dwelling charges, ^.
Market- Houses. — Each stall, 25 cents.
Fish-Stalls.— E&ch, 85.
Photngraphers. — -One operator, 810; each additional operator, So.
Hatters' Planks. — Fours per set, 88; sixes per set, 810; eights per set,
$12.
Brickyards. — Per gang of men, $5.
Bteam-Engines. — Each horse-power, 83.
Steam- Boilers. — Each horse-power, 83.
Dye- Trorta.— Each hand on tubs used, 810.
Vinegar Establishments. — According to capacity, from 810 to 820.
Dije- or Wool-Washers'^—Each 100 gallons, 2 cents.
Skin-Vressers.— Each 100 gallons, 2 cents.
Malt- Houses.— -Each 100 gallons, 2 cents.
Packet Steamers and Vessels. — Each 100 gallons, 5 cents.
Breweries. — Each 100 barrels, 82.
Other Establishments.— E&ch 100 gallons, 2 cents.
Fountains. — Counter in stores, ^^-inch jet, 85; garden, etc., ^"g-inch
jet, 10 hours per day, 6 months, 86; garden, each additional jot, 10
hours per day, 6 months, 81.50; garden, J^-inch jet, 10 hours per day, 6
months, 87.50; garden, each additional jet, 10 hours per day, 6 months,
82.50; garden, i<^-inch jel, 10 hours per day, 6 months, 814 ; garden,
each additional jet, 10 hours per day, 6 months, $9; garden, ^.^g"'^^^ j^t,
10 hours per day, 6 months, 832. (No ferrule larger than J^ inch
granted for fountains exclusively.)
Qreen- or Hot-Houses. — Witli or without water, each 85.
Building Purposes. — Bricks, per thousand, 5 cents; stone, per perch, 2
cents.
Water-Meter Raie.—^&ch thousand cubic feet, $1.25.
For a Flow of Water Tu-elve Hours Per Daij.—iTom ^2-»nch ferrule,
per annum, 8200; from %-inch ferrule, per annum, 8315; from 3_^-iDch
ferrule, per annum, 8450; from l-inch ferrule, per annum, 8800. The
water-rent for meters used for church organs shall be assessed at the rate
of from $10 to $25 per annum, according to capacity, and subject to
water-rates at the discretion of the chief engineer.
The water-rents for all charitable institutions at fifteen per cent, of
the regular schedule rates charged for the use of water.
The city water department has 772 miles of pipe
under ground, and supplies with water 151,096
dwellings, 67,011 bath-rooms, 6119 fire-plugs, and
has an average daily pumpage of 67,647,782 gallons
of water.
The chief engineer of the department for supplying
the city with water reports, for the year 1882, that the
receipts amounted to $1,495,483.59, and the expendi-
tures were $660,958.45.
The itemized table of revenue and expenditures
! from annual and special appropriations and loans,
shows —
Total revenue in twenty-eight years, 1855-82, was 825,343,252.08;
expenditures, $17,190,896.
The average percentage expenditures on the basis of receipts in
twenty-eight years, 1855-82, sixty-eight per cent.
In twenty-eight yeare, 1855-8L', tho quantity of water pumped by
steam-power, one hundred feet high, was 287,910,247.143.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, the quantity of water pumped by
water-power, one hundred feet high, was 182,393,609,671.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, cost to maintain the steam pumpage,
84,408,398.08.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, cost to maintain the water pumpage,
$1,541,371.04.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, expense to maintain the works,
85,949,709.12.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, expenditures of all kinds, except
interest, 817,190,896.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, cost of distribution, $6,702,866.31.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, cost of machinery (construction)
plant, 81,520,315.15.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, cost of buildings, grounds, and reser-
voirs, 82,984,800.05.
In twenty-eight years, 1855-82, cost of incidentals, $33,145.37.
The following analysis of the water taken from the
forebay of the Fairmount Water- Works, Feb. 9, 1872,
is by Dr. Charles M. Cressou. The figures show the
total amount of solid matter of all kinds contained in
one United States standard gallon of water, contain-
ing two hundred and thirty-one cubic inches.
Water collected at the forebay of the Fairmount
Water-Works, Feb. 9, 1872; no water had flowed
over the dam for sixteen days :
Grains in
one gallon.
Condition of the sample Clouded.
Amount of sediment in one gallon 1.92(R).
Acid or alkaline Alkaline.
Scum on boiling None.
Total solid matter 6.2937.
Total after ignition 4.7250.
Total organic matter, carbonic acid, etc 1.5687.
Ammonia, free 0.0006985.
Ammonia, albuminoid 0.004656.
Nitrogen, from nitrates and nitrites 0.071900.
Sewage 0.046500.
Sulphuric acid, free None.
Sulphuric acid, in combination 1.186700.
Chlorine, free None.
Chlorine, in combination 0.260300.
Magnesia 0.149700.
Alumina and oxides of iron and silica. 0.548100.
Lime 0.604800.
Total solid matter in one United States gallon of
Analyzed by
Total
Schuylkill Prof. Boyer....(in 1842) 4421
Schuylkill Booth & Garrett (1854) 6314
Schuylkill Booth A Garrett (18G2) 5693
Schuylkill F. C. Phillips (1870) 4493
Schuylkill C. M. Cresson (1872) 6293
Delaware Wurtz 3480
Croton, N. Y Chandler (1870) 6873
Jersey City and Newark. ..E. W. Horseford 7440
Cleveland, Ohio J. L. Cassels 6270
Chicago (Lake Tunnel' Blaney 6680
Albany, N. T Horseford 10.780
Rochester, N. Y Chandler 13.250
Syracuse, N. Y Chandler 13,930
Brooklyn. N. Y Chandler 3920
Boston, Mass Horaoford 3110
London, England Letterly 16,380
Paris, France 8830
1746
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Surveys and Surveyors. — The city is divided into
twelve survey districts, and one surveyor for each dis-
trict is elected by Councils. The twelve surveyors
constitute the Board of Surveyors. Councils elect a
chief surveyor and engineer, who serves five years,
at a salary of three thousand dollars per annum. The
district surveyors each receive five hundred dollars
per year. All the public plans of town lots are de-
posited in the office of the Board of Surveys, subject
to public inspection.
The said Board of Surveyors, under the direction of
Councils, have authority to alter the lines and regu-
late the grades of any street or streets which may
have been laid out upon any of the public plans, but
not opened, subject to the approval of the Court of
Quarter Sessions.
The chief engineer and surveyor shall, by and with
the advice and consent of the Select Council, appoint
the following officers, viz.: A recording clerk, whose
duty it shall be, under his directions, to assist in the
charge of the office, in recording documents, and in
such business as may be required by said chief engi-
neer and surveyor. He shall act as secretary of the
Board of Surveyors, and keep regular minutes of
their proceedings. A draughtsman, who shall make
and copy such drafts and plans pertaining to the busi-
ness of the department as the chief engineer and sur-
veyor may require; and a rodman, who shall act as
messenger, whose duties shall be prescribed by the
said chief engineer and surveyor.
The chief engineer shall have the superintendence
and direction of all surveys and regulations as author-
ized by acts of Assembly and ordinances of the sev-
eral districts of the city of Philadelphia. He shall
preside as president of the Board of Surveyors at all
stated and special meetings of the said board, and be
entitled to vote upon all (|uestions. He shall, as chief
engineer and surveyor, sign all plans and profiles of
surveys, regulations, bridges, and culverts, when acted
on by the said Board of Surveyors. He shall furnish
the department of highways with all plans and speci-
fications for laying out, grading, and regulating streets
and public ways, and for bridges, culverts, location of
inlets, or other improvements to be done under the
superintendence of said department, and under the
direction of the said chief engineer and surveyor.
The district surveyors shall, in their respective dis-
trict*, lay out and survey the same, as may be requi-
site from time to time, and designate the proper lines,
levels, and grades, as established by the confirmed
plan of such district as he may have in charge. All
general plans for sewers, bridges, or other improve-
ments, to he cfinstructcd under the direction of the
chief engineer and surveyor, shall be ai)prove(l by the
Board of Surveyors, to be decided thereby, and no con-
tracts for such improvements, whether of culverts or
bridges, shall be executed or work commenced until
the chief engineer and surveyor shall certify that the
plans thereof have been approved by said board ; and
when built or constructed by contract, no estimate
shall be paid without his certificate as to its correct-
ness.
Each district surveyor shall keep an accurate record,
in a book provided by the city for that purpose, of all
surveys and adjustments of party lines, and also fur-
nish duplicates thereof to the chief engineer and sur-
veyor within one month after the same is made, and
also such plans of such parts of said district, and in
such form, and with such details as said chief engi-
neer shall from time to time require for official pur-
poses ; and such plans, surveys, records, minutes,
notes, memoranda, and regulations, whether in the
principal office or in the respective offices of the dis-
trict surveyors, are the property of the city of Phila-
delphia, and shall be delivered up to their successors
in office on the termination of their official service.
The district surveyors and regulators shall be re-
quired to attend to all surveys to be made with a view
to the erection of new buildings, or other work, in their
respective districts, within four working days after
notice so to do.
No person shall begin the foundation or erect any
building or buildings adjoining to or upon any street,
road, lane, court, or alley, or on the line of his, her,
or their neighbors' ground, without first applying to
and having the line or lines thereof regulated and
marked by the surveyor and regulator of the district;
or shall deviate therefrom by extending his, her, or
their building or buildings beyond any or either of
the lines or boundaries marked as aforesaid (unless
determined otherwise by appeal).
The district surveyors shall be allowed to charge
and demand, in advance, the following from the
owners of property ordering the work to be performed,
or against whom the same is properly chargeable,
namely : For surveying and regulating each lot of
not more than twenty feet in width, three dollars.
Each lot of more than twenty and not over forty feet
in width, four dollars. Each lot of more than forty
and not over sixty feet in width, five dollars. Each
lot of more than sixty and not over one hundred feet
in width, six dollars ; and for each additional foot in
width, two cents. For measuring and making returns
of paving and curbing, two cents per linear foot of
property on Ciich side, payable by contractor. For
; furnishing heights and stakes for resetting curb,
i seventy-five feet continuously or under, one dollar
I and fifty cents; for each additional foot, two cents.
For measuring and making returns of repaving and
paving new intersections, two cents per square yard,
to be paid by contractor. And they shall be entitled
to demand and receive from the city corporation the
following, viz.: For measuring, making drawings,
and returns for water-pipes, two cents per linear foot
of property on each side, inclusive of description for
liens for pipe laid. For gutter or grading stakes, one
cent per linear foot. For furnishing heights and
' slakes one hundred feet or less of new curbing, two
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1747
dollars and fifty cents ; and two cents per foot for
each additional foot. For preparing liens for muni-
cipal claims, each (exclusive of water-pipe liens), one
dollar. For surveys and duplicate sectional plans
for line regulations, per acre, two dollars. For sur-
veys and duplicate sectional plans for grade regula-
tions, per acre, one dollar and fifty cents. For dupli-
cate sectional plans, comprising both line and grade
regulations, per acre, three dollars. For superin-
tendence of branch culverts with lines and levels,
property plans and assessment bills, with certificate
that specifications have been complied with, per
linear foot, six cents, payable by contractor.
The chief engineer and surveyor shall cause to be
made books of plans of the city, divided into sections
80 far as the streets of the said city are laid out, which
shall show the situation and dimensions of each prop-
erty therein, with the city numbers thereof, and who
are the owners, with such succession of blank columns
as will permit the names of future owners to be entered
therein, with the dates of transfer, and with index for
recording such names alphabetically.
To enable the chief engineer and surveyor of the
city to keep up the said books of plans, it shall be the
duty of every seller and buyer of ground upon the
planned plot of the city of Philadelphia to make re-
port to him of every conveyance made, with the pre-
cise dimensions and locality of the premises, and, so
doing, the same shall be received without charge, and
noted on the deed of conveyance, by the assistant of
the said chief engineer and surveyor ; but if said seller
and buyer shall both omit said duty, the recorder of
deeds of the said county of Philadelphia shall not
admit the deed of conveyance to record in his office
without charging fifteen cents for each lot described
therein ; and it shall then be his duty to furnish the
proper description of such lot or lots, with the date
of conveyance, and names of grantor or grantee,
within one month, into the office of the department
of surveys, under the penalty of one dollar for each
omission, to be recovered as penalties for taking un-
lawful fees are recovered, for the use of the said city ;
and it shall be the duty of every purchaser of houses
and lands at judicial sales, and of every one to whom
an allotment in partition shall have been made, and
of every devisee by will, to make return to the chief
engineer and surveyor of the purchase he has made,
or allotment he has received, and of all devises made
to him by will, with descriptions as aforesaid, which
the said chief engineer and surveyor shall receive
without charge; but if he shall not have done so
simultaneously with the completion of his purchase,
or on partition effected, or if on probate of any will
the devisee shall not have done so as to am' houses or
lands in the said city, purchased, allotted, or devised,
it shall be the duty of the clerk or prothonotary of
the proper court, under whose authority such judg-
ment or partition shall have been made, and for the
register of wills to furnish such descriptions as are
above required of the recorder of deeds, so far as the
wills to be proved in his office shall enable him to do
so, for the like charge, and under the same penalty ;
and the clerk or prothonotary and register may make
such charge against such purchaser or party taking
in partition, or devisee, on delivery of the deed, cer-
tifying proceedings in partition, or granting probate
of the will, and that whether the same be in trust, or
for any estate for life only, or otherwise, unless the
party interested shall produce to him or them the
certificate of the chief engineer and surveyor that
such duty has been performed.
If neither the seller or buyer, devisee or heir, or
other party, who has acquired title to houses and
lands in the said city, shall have furnished the de-
scription of the property sold, as aforesaid, both he
who may have parted with and he who acquired title
shall be liable for the taxes thereafter assessed thereon,
without right of reclamation or contribution therefor,
either against the other, and if the lands or houses
sold be afterward sold for taxes thereafter accruing
as a lien by record, before said duty shall have been
performed, the purchaser shall acquire title as now he
may by law within the county of Philadelphia; but
if the said duty of making the return, as required by
this act, shall have been discharged by the party who
shall have acquired title before the tax accrued, as a
lien of record, for which the same shall have been
sold, the purchaser at the tax sale shall not acquire
the title of such person who shall have performed
such duty, or of his heirs or assigns, unless the same
shall have been made in the name of such owner after
the service of process upon him.
The greater part of Philadelphia is laid out in
parallelograms, with the streets at right angles to
each other, making the system of numbering houses
a simple one. The houses on streets running east
and west are numbered by hundreds, beginning at
Front Street, near the Delaware River. The houses
on the south side bear even numbers, those on the
north side uneven numbers. Thus, on the north
side of Chestnut Street, beginning at Sixth and
going west, the numbers are 601, 603, 605, etc.; on
the south side the numbers are 600, 602, 604, etc. At
Seventh Street the numbers in 700 begin, and so each
successive street begins a hundred of its own number.
Market Street is taken as a dividing-line between
north and south for numbering houses on streets run-
ning north and south. The even numbers are on the
west side of these streets, the uneven numbers on the
east side. No. 1 " north" and No. 1 " south" begin
at Market Street. No. 100 north begins at Arch
Street, the first principal street north of Market; No.
100 south begins at Chestnut, the first principal street
south of Market. The following are the names of
the streets running parallel to Market Street, north
and south thereof. The numbers signify the number
which is given to the houses north or south, as the
case may be, of the street to which it is attached.
1748
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Those streetB having no numbers are narrow or short
streeU between the principal avenues :
Ko. North.
No. South.
1 MlrkrL
1 Market.
Filbert.
Jajrne.
Comnierc*.
Merchant.
Churcb.
Minor.
100 Arab.
100 Cbeatnot.
Cherrj.
ganaom.
200 lUce.
Ubrai7.
Brmncb.
Doek.
Maw.
S«0 Walnut.
300 Vliw.
Loonst.
Wood.
300 Spruce.
400 ChllowhIII.
Union.
Willow.
400 Pine.
Noble.
600 Lombard.
Marg*r«lt«.
Gaakill.
aOu ButtonwiKxl.
600 Sonlb.
Spriug Garden.
700 Bainbridge.
600 GreeD.
Monroe.
Houul Vernuu.
Fitzwaler.
WslUce.
German.
Melon.
goo Catharine.
700 FttirmouDt Avenue.
Queen.
OliTe.
90U Cbrialinn.
8U0 Brown.
Marriott.
Purriah.
lOOU Ciirpenter.
Ogden.
IlOU Washington Avenue
SOO PopUr.
Ellsworth.
Laurel.
1200 Federal.
BcsTer.
Marion.
George.
1300 Wharton.
1200 Ginird Arenue.
1400 Bead.
8UlM.
IMC Dickinson.
1300 Tlionipeon.
Greenwich.
Seybert.
1600 Tasker.
140U Muter.
1700 Morris.
lUO Jeffenon.
Pierce.
1600 Oxford.
1800 Moore.
1700 Oolumbla ATenue.
Sigel.
1800 Moutgunierjr.
1900 Mifflin.
ISOO Berke.
2000 McKean.
aiou Norrii.
2100 Snyder.
Olie.
2200 Jackson.
2100 DUmund.
2:100 Wolf.
22UO Suaquehenna ATeuue.
2400 Bitnor.
2300 Iteupliln.
2500 Porter.
24'JO Y..rk.
2600 Shunk.
2/i<H> CumUrUnd.
2700 Oregon Avenue.
2600 lluollogilou.
2800 Johnson.
Z700 Leblgb Avenue.
2»0U Blgier.
2800 DumerKl.
3000 Pollock.
2S00 CunbriK.
3100 Packer.
3000 Indiana.
3200 Curtln.
3100 Uleaifleld.
3200 Alleghanj Avenue.
The following lists give the names oF the principal
city surveyors and regulators and assistants to date:
PBINCIPAL CITY SUBVKYOBS."
Thomas Holme, s
E<l»ar.l P-niniiU
Thnmss raltniaii
Jsc.l. T«;l.'
irvrjor-general 18 2nia.,1682
Tb.
lurveyur-genpral Feb.
rveyur-geiieral
general.. Nov.
20, 1688
—,1702
26,1706
I Reilman. frf>m 1712 to 1728
Jacob Ts)lor,iap|M>inl«l Aug. 30, 1726
Benjamin Ijutliiirn, survejnrgeneraL Aug. 8, 1737
William ■■•r»>r,a, survejor-general Aug. 27, 1741
Nichola* >t<iill,iiirve;iir.general Jan. 14, 1748
Joaaph K'>i. regiilabir Jan. 14, 1748
John Lukens,surts;i>r'gsneral April 10,1761
David Kitlenhonse, sppuinnid Jan. 26.1774
ICd«ard Ilonsail, apiK.inled _ Jan. 26, ITTi
I From John Hill Martin's
• Vies Kadman.
' Demh and Bar of Philadelphia."
Josiiih Mallack, appointed April 15, 1782
Jamos I'earson. nppointi'd April 15, 1782
Beading Howell, appointed — , 1804
James Pearson, appointed —,1808
William Stevenson, appointed — , 1809
William Garrigues, appointed. — , 1811
-Samuel Haiiiw, appointed... Aug. — , 1814
Alphonso C. Ireland, appointed Aug. — , 1814
Enoch Lewl«,' appointed 1827 to 1834
Edward H. Gill, appointed 1834 to 1840
Samuel Haines, appointed Jan. 16, 1840
Samuel Honi'.vman Kneas8,appolnted April 26, 1849
S|<encerBon8Hll, appointed May 9, 1853
Strickland Knea«s,< appointed May 29, 1856
Samuel Lightfooot Smedley, appointed March 14, 1872
ASSIfn-ANT CiTT SORVRYOnS.*
Ordinance of Dec. 5, 1839.
Marino T. W. Chandler, appointed Jan. 16, 1840
Spencer Bonsall, appointed July II, 1850
David Hudson Afihedaker, appointed Sept. 1, 1853
PBINCIPAl. ASSISTANT CITY ENGINEERS.
Offia created by Ordinance of July 7, 1870.
James K. McClure, appointed July 7, 1870
J. Milton Tillow, apijoiuted March 1, 1874
Assistant City Rnginekrs.
Office etlablithed by Ordinance of Feb. 6, 1874.
Rudolph Hering,»appointed Feb. 6, 1874
John D. Estabronk, appoi utod Aug. 15,1882
The department of surveys of the city of Phila-
delphia was organized by ordinance of Councils,
under the provisions of the 27th and 50th sections of
the act (of consolidation) of Feb. 2, 1854. The ordi-
nance was sent to the mayor on Oct. 14, 1854, and not
having been returned to Councils within fifteen days
thereafter, became a law.
On March 27, 1855, Councils in joint session elected
Strickland Kiieass chief engineer and surveyor, to-
gether with twelve district surveyors and regulators,
viz. :
1. Charles S. Close. 7. James I'. Davis.
2. David Hudson Sliudaker. 8. William Keod.
3. Francis Lightfool. 9. Henry A. Frink.
4. Joseph King, Jr. 10. Ilonry Haiues.
6. Jesse Lightfoot. i 11. John H. Levering.
6. Spencer Bonsall. I 12. Amos Stiles, Jr.
These to constitute a Board of Surveyors, with the
chief engineer as president. These gentlemen met
once, and organized as a board by electing Strickland
Knea.ss chief engineer and surveyor and president of
the Board of Surveyors ; but they never performed any
other duty, as they were superseded by a supplement
to the act (of consolidation) of Ai)ril 21, 1855, direct-
ing that the members of the Board of Surveys should
be elected by the votes of the twelve survey districts
into which the city was divided by the supplement,
one person to be elected in each district, to serve for
five years, "who shall have had five years' experience
and skill in his profession." The supplement also
directed that the board should be organized by the
election of the chief engineer as president.
The said district surveyors were duly elected on May
• Wcs Howell. t Chief engineer and surveyor.
' Tlie act of Feb. 2, 1854, abolished this position.
• lU'signed Dec. 31, 1881.
Pvd^Bl^i^jZ^f^'^
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1749
1, 1855, and the board organized by electing Strickland
Kneass chief engineer and surveyor. (Journal of Se-
lect Councils, May 7, 1855.)
Strickland Kneass,' late assistant to the president
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was born in
Philadelphia, July 29, 1821, his father being William
Kneass, who for many years was engraver for the
United States Mint. His school education was ob-
tained chiefly at the classical academy of James P.
Espy, and at an early age he adopted civil engineer-
ing as a profession. Mr. Kneass derived most of his
practical training from his services upon the Dela-
ware and Schuylkill Canal and Philadelphia and
Wilmington Railroad, which were constructed under
the supervision of his eldest brother, Samuel H.
Kneass, as chief engineer. On the completion of the
latter road he became a student in the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N. Y., whence he
graduated in 1839 as civil engineer, taking the high-
est honor. He was soon after made assistant engineer
and topographer on the State survey for a railway
between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, which enterprise
was rather ahead of the times and failed of accom-
plishment. He then became draughtsman in the
Naval Bureau of Engineering, at Washington, and
was afterward employed by the British Commission
in preparing the maps of the northeast boundary
between the United States and the provinces; and,
subsequently, by the Federal government, on the gen-
eral map of the boundary survey. In 1847 he was
selected, by J. Edgar Thomson, chief engineer, as
one of his assistants in the explorations which re-
sulted in the construction of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, and afterward he was promoted to the position
of principal assistant engineer, and designed the first
shops and engine-house erected by the company at
Altoona. In this part of his career the powers of
Mr. Kneass were severely tasked, as the construction
of the road from Altoona to the summit of the Alle-
ghanies was one of the most difficult engineering feats
of the day. In 1853 he resigned to accept the position
of associate engineer on the North Pennsylvania Rail-
road, where he remained two years, leaving, in 1855, to
accept the office of chief engineer and surveyor of
the newly-consolidated city of Philadelphia. To that
position he was re-elected three times, each for a
term of five years. He here organized the Depart-
ment of Surveys and Registry Bureau, and their
development under his direction may be regarded as
one of the most valuable results attained in the city.
Under his surveys the entire drainage system of the
city was provided for, resulting in the construction of
the great sewers to carry oif the waters of Cohock-
sink Creek, on the northeastern, and of Mill Creek,
in the western part of the city. Of the various
bridges that span the Schuylkill, those at Callowhill
Street and Chestnut Street are from his designs. He
1 Contributed by F. W. Leach.
was one of the first to encourage the project of
city passenger railways, and was chief engineer of
many of these companies. In 1862, during Lee's
invasion, he was dispatched into the interior, and
during his absence made an extended survey of the
Susquehanna River from Duncan's Island to Havre
de Grace. He also assisted Professor Bache in pre-
paring topographical maps of the surroundings of
Philadelphia, with a view to the location of forts and
other devices for protecting the city from invasion.
Mr. Kneass resigned the office of chief engineer and
surveyor on March 6, 1872, to accept the position of
assistant to J. Edgar Thomson, president of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, at the earnest so-
licitation of that gentleman, and Councils passed a
series of resolutions, as did also the Board of Surveys
and South Street Bridge and Park Commissions,
referring in complimentary terms to the character of
his service while in public office. As an officer of the
main line he soon became identified with the manage-
ment of some of the branches of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, and in February, 1880, became
president of the Pennsylvania and Delaware Rail-
road Company, of the Trenton Railroad Company,
of the Columbia and Port Deposit and Western
Railrpad Company, and a director of the Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati, and St. Louis line ; also was made pres-
ident of the Eastern Railroad Association in 1878,
and was largely instrumental in bringing it up to its
present state of usefulness. He was a member of the
American Philosophical Society, of the Franklin In-
stitute, and of the American Society of Civil Engi-
neers, and was past president of the Engineers' Club
of Philadelphia. He filled the position of assistant
to the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the
time of his death, which occurred at twenty minutes
after five o'clock, on the morning of Jan. 14, 1884,
from heart-disease, after an illness of four months.
In 1853, Mr. Kneass was married to Margaretta
Sybilla, granddaughter of Judge George Bryan, of
the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, who survives
her husband. Mr. Kneass also left five children, two
sons and three daughters.
DISTRICT SURVEYORS AND KEGnLATORS.2
Thomas Daly, elected May 1,1855
, Charles S. Close,* elected May 1, 1865
Spencer Bonsall, elected May 1, 1855
Amos Stiles. Jr., elected May 1, 1865
Joseph H. Siddall, elected May 1, 1868
James P. Davis,^ elected May 1, 1855
Henry Haines, elected May 1, 1856
Joseph S. Siddall, elected May 1, 1855
Jesse Lightfoot, elected May 1, 1866
Isaac Shallcross, elected May 1,1855
Charles H, Fox, elected May 1,1855
James Miller, elected May 1,1855
Samuel L. Sniedley,* elected May 17,1858
Edward D. Roberts,* elected May 7, 1860
D, Hudson Shedaker,* elected May 7, 1860
William H. Jones,* elected May 7,1860
John F. Wolf, elected May 7, 1860
s Present members are indicated thus, *.
> James P. Davis died Nov. 25, 1879, aged sixty-i
* Vice Fox, resigned.
1750
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
g. Juun Krilx, elected Vny 7, 1860
8. John R. LeTeriDg,«> elected ...Oct. 10, 1865
7. WlllUm AlWrtaun,* elected -Oct. 10, 1865
1. Ttaomu 0*1; (2d),< elected Maj 24, 1866
13. Jowph lliktMnl. •J elected April 20,1868
10. lauc E. Sliiillcrues,) elected Jan. 1,1871
11. George W. Haacnck.' appoioted March 14, 1872
5. Andrew Krench,** appuinted. March 16, 1874
1. Wllliaoi C. Cranmer,* elected Not. 18,1878
11. Joe4*pli Jobn«oii.* elected Jan. 1, 1878
6. Jneepli Mercur,*' elected „.. Dec 3, 1879
9. Henrv A. Stallnian," elected Feb. 17, 1880
10. George S. Webeler,«» appointed April 19, 1880
RxcORDixo Cleek and Sbcretakt op thb Board or StrmrBTS.
George Slurgia, appointed March 31, 1856.
Table of Distances in Philadelphia.— Strickland
Kneass, chief enpineer and .surveyor of the city, pre-
pared the following u.seful table showing the length
of the squares, the width of the streets, the distances
to and from various parts of the city, and the order
in which the house numbers run. The distances east
and west are measured along the south side of Market
Street, and the distances north and south are measured
along the west side of Broad Street. The first column
shows at what street the numbers begin for each
100; thus, No. 520, south of Market, will be found
between Lombard and South Streets ; No. 1329 be-
tween Wharton and Reed Streets; No. 723, north of
Market, between Fairmount Avenue and Brown Street,
and No. 1520 between Jefferson and Oxford Streets.
On the streets running east and west the names
themselves indicate where the numbers begin. The
third column shows the width of the streets, the fourth
the length of the squares or blocks, and the fifth the
aggregate distance. As 5280 feet make one statute
mile, this last column will enable any one to compute
the distance from point to point along Market Street
and Broad Street, and these distances will approxi-
mate to the actual distances on most of the parallel
streets. Thus, going south from Market Street, the
distance from the south side of Market to the south
side of Washington Avenue is one mile and 71 feet
11 inches over; from the south side of Market, going
north, it is one mile to the south side of Fairmount
Avenue, and 109 feet 10 inches over. Going west
from the Delaware, it is one mile to the east line of
Twelfth Street, and 18 feet 5 inches over; it is two
miles and 362 feet 5 inches to the Schuylkill River,
Dearly three miles to Thirty-sixth Street, nearly four
miles to Forty-seventh Street, and a little over five
miles to Fifty-seventh Street. These are illustrations
only; other distances can be computed in the same
way.
> Dm Krlljr, deceued.
> Br the l«panl. In place of fain deceaaed father.
•The act of AMemlilyof April 13, 1868. creating the Twenty-fourth
Ward, made It a •orfejr dl-lrlcl, which ntceaaltaled the appointment of
a diatrlcl rarri-jror. Mr. HIbbard waa appointed bf the board, and con-
tinued, b; election, linre.
« In place of hia father.
• FJw Snie.ll.jt.
• net Wolf, realgned.
' Vtt* OaTli, deceaaed.
• In place of LIghtfiol, who declined.
• In place of laaac K. Shallcroaa, realgned.
Names of Streets, etc.
Delaware Avenue
Delaware ,\veoue to Water Street
Water Street
Water Street to Front Street
100 Front Street
Front Street to Second Street
200 Second Street
Second Street to Third Street
300 Third Street
Third Street to Fourth Street
400 Fourth Street
Fourth Street to Fifth Street.
500 Kiflh Street
Fifth Street to Sixth Street
600 Sixth Street
Sixth Street to Sereuth Street.
700 Seventh Street
Seventh Street to Eighth Street
800 Eighth Street
Eighth Street to Ninth Street „.
900 Ninth Street
Ninth Street to Tenth Street
lOOU Tenth Street
Tenth Street to Eleventli Street
1100 Eleventh Street
Eleventh Street to Twelfth Street
1200 Twelfth Street
Tweflth Street to Thirteenth Street
1300 Thirleentli Street.
Thirleenth Street to Broad Street
1400 BroaJ Street
Broad Street to Fifteenth Street
1500 Fifteenth Street
Fifteenth Street toSixteenth Street
1600 Sixteenth Street
Sixteenth Street to Seventeenth Street..
1700 Si'veuteenth .Street
Seventeenth Street to Eighteenth Street.
1800 Eighteenth Street
Eighteenth Street to Nineteenth Street..
19U0 Nineteenth Street
Nineteenth Street to Twentieth Street...
2000 Twentieth Street
Twentieth Street to Twenly-flrst Street.
2100 Twenty-first Street
Twenty-first Street to Twenty-second St
2200 Twenty .second Street
Twenty-second St. to Twenty-third St
2300 Twontv-third Street
Twenty-third Street to River Schuylkill
River Schuylkill
River Schuylkill to Thirtieth Strvet
3000 Thirtieth Street
Thirtieth Street to Thitty-flrat Street....
3100 Thirty-first Street
Thirty-flret Street to Thirty-second St...
3200 Thirtv-second Street
Thirty-second Street to Tblrty-thlrd St.
3300 Thirty-third Street
Thirtythird Street to Thirty-fourth St..
3400 Thirly-fourUi Street
Thirty-fourth Street to Thirty-sixth St.
3600 Thlrty-elllh Street'".
Thirty-eixth Street to Thlrty-aeventh St
3700 Tliirty-oevi.nth Street
Thirty-seventh St to Thlrtyeighth St...
380O Thirty-eighth Street
Thirty-eighth Street to Thirty-ninth St..
3900 Thirty.nlnth Street _
Thirty-ninth Street to Fortieth 8tr»et...
4OO0 Forlleth Street
Forlii'th Street to Forty-flt«t Street
4100 Forty-first Street
Forty-first Street to Forty-second Street
4S0O Forty-second Street
Forty-eecond Street to Forty-third St
4300 Forty-third .Street
Forty-third Street to Forty-fourth 8t
4400 Forty-fourth Street
Forty.fourlh Street to Forty-flfth Street
46CO Forty-fifth Street
Foity-fifth Street to Forty-siitth Street..
4800 Forty-sixth Street
I Forty-sixth Street to Forty-seventh St...
4700 Forty-seventh Street
Forty-seventh Street to Forty-eighth St.
" a"
.... 395
60
405 2
466 7
427 4
450
325 3
726 3
776 3
1,276 3
1.326 3
1,721 3
1,771 3
2,176 6
2,226 6 '
2,622 <
2,672 S
3,068 6>
3,118 6<
3,514 6i
3,564 6:
3,960 6,
4,010 S
4,406 5
4,456 5
4,852 6
4,902 6
6,298 6
6,348 6 '
6,744 6.
5,794 6
6,322 5
6,435 5
6,831 5
6,881 5
7,277 6
7.327 6
7,723 6
7,777 5
8,169 5
8,219 5
8,615 5
8.665 5
9,061 6
9,111 6
9,606 6
9,658 6
10,052 6
I ,112 6
10,385 5
10,434 5
10.922 6
11,360 S
11,960 5
12,020 5
12,486
12,666
12,993 4
13,063 4
13,679 4
13.739 4
14,240 I
14,300 1
15,(IO<l 1
16.0C0 1
15,560 1
18,620 1
16,090 7
16,150 T
16,650 7
16,610 T
17,210 7
17,270 7
17,842 7
17,892 7
18.377 7
18,4.37 7
18,970 7
19,(00 7
19..383 1
19,42:1 1
19,823 1
19.883 1
20,383 1
20,443 1
20,943 I
21,003 1
21,453 1
■"The otnlsslon of Thirty-fifth Street Is not accidental. In conse-
quence of peculiar territorial conditions In West Philadelphia south of
Market Street no street rune through between Thirty.fourth and Thlrty-
stoUi.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1761
6300
6400
6500
6600
6700
68DU
69O0
6300
Names of Streets, etc.
Forty-eightli Street
Forty-eighth Street to Forty-ninth St....
Forty-nintli Street
Forty-nintli Street to Fiftieth Street
Fiftietii Street
Fiftietli Street to Fifty-flrst Street
Fifly-flrst Street
Fifty-flrst Street to Fifty-second Street...
Fifty-second Street
Fifty-second Street to Fifty-third Street.
Fifty-third Street
Fifty-tliird Street to Fifty-fourth Street.
Fifty-fourth Street
Fifty-fourth Street to Fifty-flftli Street...
Fifty-fifth Street
Fifty-fifth Street to Fifty-sixth Street....
Fifty-sixth Street
Fifty-sixth Street to Fifty-seventh St
Fiftv-seventh Street
Fifty-seventh Street to Fifty-eighth St..
Fifty-eighth Street
Fifty-eighth Street to Fifty-ninth St
Fifty-ninth Street
Filty-ninth Street to Sixtieth Street
Sixtietti Street
Sixtieth Street to Sixty-flrst Street
Sixty-first Street
Sixty-first Street to Sixty-second Street,
Sixty-second Street
Sixty-second Street to Sixty-third St
Sixty-third Street
Measurements north from Market Street Oh
west side of Broad Street.
Marlcet Street ,
Market Street to Arch Street
100! Arch Street
I Arch Street to Race Street
200 Eace Street
I Hace Street to Vine Street ,
300 Vine Street
[ Vine Street to Callowhill Street
) Callowhill Street
Callowhill Street to Pennsylvania Ave...
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue to Hamilton St....
lamilton Street
Hamilton Street toButtonwood Street...
) Buttonwood Street
Buttonwood Street to Spring Garden St,
Spring Garden Street
Spring Gardeu Street to Green Street....
) Green Street
Green Street to Mount Vernon Street,...
Mount Vernon Street
Mount Vernon Street to Wallace Street,
Wallace Street ,
Wallace Street to Fairmount Avenue...
^airmount Aveuue ,
Fairmount Avenue to Brown Street
irown Street
Brown Street to Parrish Street
Parrish Street
Parrish Street to Poplar Street
) Poplar Street
Poplar Street to Girard Avenue ,
Jirard Avenuel ,
i Girard Avenue to Thompson Street ,
1300 Thompson Street
] Thompson Street to Master Street
1400|Master Street
Master Street to JeSferson Street
1500 Jefferson Street
Jefferson Street to Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street to Columbia Avenue
Columbia Avenue
Columbia Avenue to Montgomery St...
1200
60
500
|5
H.2
21,633
21,983
22,043
60( 22,603
600 23,103
60 23,163
I 600 23,663
60; 23,723
I 500 24,223
60 24,283
I 450 24.733
60l 24,793
574 26,.307
sol 25,447
I 500 25,947
601 26,007
I 480 I 26,487
26,567
27,047
27,107
27,607
27,667
28,167
28,227
28,727
28,787
29,287
29,347
29,847
29,947
480
616 5
632 "3
498"'(i
192
178 11
267" 8
191 5
201" "5
617 " 6
259" "i
356
764
8311
1,446 5
1,496 5
2,128 8
2,178 8
2,677 2
2,747 2
2,939 2
3,019 2
3,226 8
3,276 8
3,464 7
3,404 7
3,702 3
3,822 3
4,209 6
4,279 6
4,470 11
4,520 11
4,722 4
4,772 4
5,389 10
6,469 10
6,728 11
6,778 11
6,134 U
6,184 11
6,579 11
6,639 11
7,031 1
7,111 1
7,G89 1
7,739 1
8,157 1
8,207 1
8,662 3
8,712 3
9,187 3
9,237 3
9.701 3
9,761 3
10,271 3
' By this arrangement Numbers 1000 and upvrards, and 1100 and up-
wards, seem to be excluded. This is the case on Broad Street, which
Poplar Street strikes after running from the Delaware considerably to the
northwest, instead of directly west. At the Delaware Poplar Street is,
comparatively speaking, but a short distance above Brown Street. But
at Broad Street Poplar is but a little distance south of Girard Avenue.
In other words, the distance from Poplar Street to Girard Avenue on
Front Street is much greater than upon Broad Street. On Front Street
the nnmbers run over 1100, but on Broad Street, the distance being so
short, they cannot do so.
112
1 of Streets, etc.
1800 Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street to Berks Street
1900 Berks Street
Berks Street to Norris Street
2000 Norris Street
I Norris Street to Diamond Street
2100 Diamond Street
Diamond Street to Susquehanna Ave
2200 Snaquehrtona Avenue
Susquehanna Avenue to Dauphin St
2300 Dauphin Street
I Dauphin Street to York Street
2400|Tork Street
York Street to Cumberland Street
2500 Cumberland Street
Cumberland Street to Huntingdon Street
2600|Huntingdon Street
Huntingdon Street to Lehigh Avenue.,
2700 Lehigh Avenue
Lehigh Avenue to Somerset Street
2800'Somerset Street
i Somerset Street to Cambria Street
2900 Cambria Street
I Cambria Street to Indiana Street ]
3000 Indiana Street
Indiana Street to Clearfield Street
3100 Clearfield Street
Clearfield Street to Alleghany Avenue...
3200 Alleghany Avenue
Alleghany Ave. to Westmoreland Street
3300 Westmoreland Street
Westmoreland Street to Ontario Street...
3400 Ontario Street
Ontario Street to Tioga Street
3500 Tioga Street
Tioga Street to Venango Street
36C0 Venango Street
Venango Street to Erie Avenue
3700 Erie Avenue
Measurements soJith from Marltet Street
teest side of Broad Street.
Market Street to Chestnut Street
100 Chestnut Street
Chestnut Street to Walnut Street
200 Walnut Street
Walnut Street to Locust Street
Locust Street
Locust Street to Spruce Street
300 Spruce Street
Spruce Street to Pine Street
400 Pine Street
Pine Street to Lombard Street
500 Lombard Street
Lombard Street to South Street
600 South Street
South Street to Bainbridge Stieet
700 Bainbridge Street
Bainbridge Street to Fitzwater Street.
Fitzwater Street
Fitzwater Street to Catharine Street...
800 Catharine Street
Catharine Street to Christian Street...
900JChri9tian Street
I Christian Street to Carpenter Street
1000 Carpenter Street
Carpenter Street to Washington Avenue'
1100 Washington Avenue |
; Washington Avenue to Ellsworth Street]
jElIsworth Street ,
Ellsworth Street to Federal Street
120o!Federnl Street
Federal Street to Wharton Street .....
1300 Wharton Street
Wharton Street to Reed Street
1400 Reed Street
Keed Street to Dickinson Street
1500 Dickinson Street
Dickinson Street to Tasker Street...,,,
1000 Tasker Street
Tasker Street to Morris Street
1700 Morris Street
Morris Street to Moore Street ,
ISOO Moore Street
Moore Street to Mifliin Street
1000 Mifflin Street
Mifilin Street to McKean Street
2000 McKean Street
SIcKean Street to Snyder Avenue
2100 Snyder Avenue
' Snyder Avenue to Jackson Street
2200 Jackson Street
Jackson Street to Wolf Street
feet in. ' feet. in.
10,321 3
600 , 10,821 3
10,871 3
600 11,371 3
; 11,421 S
600 ] 11,921 3
I 11,971 3
630 ' 12,501 3
12,661 3
13,091 8
13,141 3
13,641 3
13,691 3
14.191 S
14,241 3
14,741 3
14,791 3
16,311 3
16,.391 3
16,911 3
15,961 3
16,461 2
16,511 3
17.011 3
17,061 3
17,561 S
17,611 3
18,111 3
18,231 3
18,731 3
18,781 3
19,281 3
19,331 3
19,831 3
19,881 3
20,381 3
20,431 3
20,931 3
21,061 3
"ro
"bO
"56
"so
"eo
"51
"m
"to
"56
"66
"56
166
"60
"56
"56
610
370
4o6""'
473
282
322
270
307
322
22.5 3
299 6
370 3
336 10
336 4
624 4
400
400
400
400
400
50
400
400
387 6
"eb
387 6
400
634
1,044
1,094
1,464
1,614
1,914
1,964
2,437
2,4S7
2,769
2,819
3,141
3,192
3,462
3,612
3,819
3,869
4,191
4,241
4,466 3
4,631 3
4,832 S
4,881 8
6,261 11
5,361 11
6,687 »
6,737 0
6,074 1
6,124 1
6.648 6
6,698 6
7,098 6
7,148 B
7,548 6
7,598 6
7,998 6
8,048 6
8,448 6
8,498 6
8,898 6
8,948 6
9,348 6
9,398 6
9,798 5
9,848 6
10,2:» 11
10,310 11
10,698 5
10,768 6
11,158 6
1752
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
11
Kainta of Straeti, ete.
Ml
Wolf SiTMt tv Hlliisr Stt«L 400
2400 Ritnar StneU 1 «• ••"•
Rituer Strwt to Porter Street - | ..^-| 400
2400 Porter Street-
Porter Street to Shank Street ' 400
2600 Shank Street 80 .•"•■•
Shuuk Street to Oregon Avenue , 4W>
2700 Oregon Avenue.- •■■ • '20 •■•••■
Orepiu Arenue to Johnaon 8lr»et 400
2800 Johneon Street. *" ••"•■
Johnaon Street to BlglerStreat 400
2900 Blgler Street | *• ..^..
BIgler Street to Pollock StiMt i 400
SOOO Pollock Street <» •••"•
Pollock Street to Packer Street 400
3100 Pecker Street 60 ••■—
Packer Street to Curtin Street. .... ' 40J
3200 Cnrtin Street 80
feet.! feet. in. feet. In.
11,218 B
11,618 4
11.678 6
1 12,1178 6
12,l:l8 5
112,6:»8 6
12..'>98 "
Fulls Bridge to the terminus of the Wissahickou
drive, is twelve and a quarter miles, five miles of
which are on the direct road through the beautiful
valley of the Wissahickon.
12.'.198 B
i:i,ll8 s
llV''8 S
13.578 .1
113.978 !>
U,IX» 6
: 14,438 .'i
14,498 &
14,898 r>
14.958 5
15,:«8 5
1M18 fi
HEIGHT OF SEVEUAL STEEPLES, TOWERS, DOMES, ETC., IN
PHILAUELPUIA.
Height
We»l Spnice Street Presliyterian Church, Spruce aud
Seventeenth Streets ^"»'Pl« :**
Masonic Temple, BrondHud Kilb.Tt Strecte ,■■■-:•■•••■ Tower i4U
St. Peter's Roman Cutholic Church, Fifth and Glrard
Avenue
Methodist Kplscopnl Church, Bi-oad and Arcli
Sr Mark'e Kiilscopal Church, Locust, west of Sixteenth..
North Itroiid Street Presbyterian Church, Broad and Green
Firet Bapllst Church, Broad and Arch. ■■■■■■■
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Spring Garden, above Thir-
teenth • ■••••:
St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Third and 1 iiio......
Cathedral, Roman Catholic, Eighteenth, above Knee....... Dome 216
Tabernacle Baptist Chur.li, Cheslnut, aUive tli!hleenth.. Steeple £12
Alexander Presbyterian Church, Niueteenlh and Green... ^m
Annunciation Roman CaUiollc Church, Tenth and Dick- _ _^
m
[ feet.
Steeple 235
" 2:i3
" '2.12-7
218
AREA OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA.
m_, 3,526
Yini -. »., „
8«:oDd ^»|
ThInI ]l^
Fourth 1*J
Fifth
Sixth. 206
Seventh ^«l
Wghth 2™
T«i«h- ?^
B«TeDth '■«
Tw.mh 24
Thlrtwnth }«<
VtoartMnth J5f
Wftaentb 671
BUlcenth ]°0
Seventeenth Jy^
Elghleeutb
Slnetiei.th ,
Twentieth
Twenty-Brtt....
Twenl7.«econd
Twenty-third...
Twenly-fuortli
! Miles.
6.609
.321
.321
..139
utieth and Cherry,
175
447
.698
.734
7.129
18.114
42.716
9.725
ln.;)5»
7.481
11.680
0313
1.40()
.519
.713
4,560
11,593
27,339
.'.' 6,224
Tii'n'ty-ftnir...'.'."..-...- 6.6.30
Twenty-elxth *.]*»
Twentv.*.venth 7,476
Tw.nth-elghth •*."«»
Twenty-ninth 900
Tblrtleth ^2
Tbirty-ant *°^
To,„l 82,603 129.382
Distances to Various Points in the Park.— The
dintance-s meii.-<ured below are understood to be along
the main drive. There are numerous by-paths and
sbort cuts by which pcdcstriiins may shorten the dis-
tance, except along tlie \Vis!*ahickon.
From the Green Strort gate —
Christ Church (Episcopal), Second, above Market............
St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church, Fourth, below
FourlirilKpiisVchiVrchV'cornerKVn Buttouwood
Zlon Lutheran Church, Franklin, above Race....
Oxford Presbyterian Church, Broad and Oxfiird
St. Clement's Episcopal Church, T
taken down In 1809 , ... , ., ,
West Arcli Slreet Presbyterian Church, Eighteenth and
West Arch'streeV Preshytorian Church, Eighteenth and
. , Towers 110
West Phiiadelp'hiaBapUstChiirch, Thirtieth and Cheat-
„.,, steeple 17U
nut ""• ' '. tC iTn
Nativity Episcopal Church, Tenth and Mount ^ ornon...... 17U
Beck's Shot Manufactory, Arch, near Schuylkill, built in
1808, torn down in 1834 -• Towef 166
Fifth Presbyteriiin cliurch. Arch, abo
Pome 170
hi-lw
St. John's (leniinii I.ntlu
Slate-Ho
Slalc-llouse, built 1711, t
Slato-Houw, finiii 177- l"
Afsumptioii 1 U iiMii ' iilli
Berean Bapli-i ' 'I'.' 1
Filth Baptl-I 11, HI. I., ^rl
Holy Trinllv l;i i- .t"' '
First Presbyl'ii^.n < linn
Masonic Hnll, rh. -limi >
Sr. Joachim'i' l^'niiui I'ltl
down
Tenth Steeple 165
liurch, Fifteenth and Ogden " 165
n Fifth and Sixth " 160
loWnl778 " IM
l^s Tower and Spiro 69
li. ) Spring Onrdon, near Twollth Spires 160
I -I. Hit Street, West Philadelphia.. Spiro 160
iiiK Garilen and Eighteenth " 166
lui. h, Nineteenth and Walnut „ Tower 150
I rli.-lteii Avenue, Gormantown.. Spire 150
11, .1, liiinit ibiwn IRI9 Steeple 160
li ,lii Chmch, Fiankford, taken
160
Spark"*Sl.ot' Manura'ctoryi'aLVpen'ter 's\7eM,i*.'uliiwark... Tower 148
.layne'a Itulbllng, Cliealnut Street below Third, burned
St M"lv''''''r'''l'''''''''' '■^■''"'•"^^^^^^
Stind-I'il..-, \Vi--l l'l.il:i.l.I|.l»" Wilt
Chaniliii .if I'.iiiiiil.TC.., ,S-.-.in.l, i.l..i
St lli.ii.iiii.-. ili ihCiitl...linClii
Fiml iliipti.t riiurili, V<\c,' Street, I
Ilidef " ' ■■
Observatory 134-9
burg! Steeple 132
Fir
lIulMilCbl
Ki.iiiUlord I
1.1 and
120
,,.,„vlvanl» Hospital for the In«ane, Mule Kopartment... Dome 119
lh«enmne BaptM Church, corner Eighteenth and Co-
lumbhi Avenue "* ,.-
t.i.inlc llull.Cheslnnt Street "J
nnuel Episiupul Church, Holmeaburg .'Steeple lu
IVln
nt Av
I Hill (direct) - 3U
•• •• Oeorge'l Hill lrf.1 Belmont) VA
" " Belmi.tit (dlr..<lj ^'Z
" - ll..|monl (rti C„M,rKp'« Illlh *-A
" '• Falla Bridge (rii Weet Park) OV?
- •• WlisBhlckon Pike (efa Weal Park) V/i
The distiini'es along the ^Vi^«^ahick(ln arc n.s follows :
From the monOi of the WiMahlcknn—
To Llveiwy'a Mllla. „ 3
" Valley Or-en ~ -... 4
" Iwllan Kofk _»..... ♦
" Thorp'aMlll L«na - B
The total distance along the drive from the Green
Street gate, through the Western Park and over the
no
St. .Mlehael's Roman Catholic Church, Second, helo
8t Vincent depiiui luVitian Cntiioll'c Seminary, Cholten
,-, Vc"i"ir ""■ """" ""■"• °"''""'r.".":::.::.:v.::.:-ped^I?t 'J?
S.."ohn=L ofphan"i;:;yinm (fiiminCatholic), West Phlla- ^^^^^^ ^^
Ea.tenrPei,Uen'tVa;^;Fi'ir™^^^ "
„ 1. " Entrance " 65
., t. •• Corner " 68
j,..d.,.r H,,i,.iin„, Sixth -i ;■>;;■.."- ;:;::;.^':!'" w w
w Fifth " BO
Dve Choatnut,.. Towere 88
Cliimnoy 8:J
Towers 80
Proteatant Episcopal Chnrch, Falla of
, Ninth, below
Spni :■■ . I
St. M. i ■ 1
Sprii.K '•^"'1'" \
Unlverslly Coll..
St. Jamea the L
Schuvlklll ■;•"■,■
Baptist Church, Queen Street, Falls of Schuylkill
Moyamen.lng Prl«.n ..■•• *'''""'"^?,1. 72
Pennsvlvania n.).pltal. Eighth and Pino. ■ Dome 72
Bank of Pennsylvania, Second, above Walnut, torn down _ ^^
PrJbyfe?lan CTiapelVTwonij-flritamicoi *,"»""•■■ ^'"''1;!° 55
CentrJ 8<,u»ro Distributing House, taken down n 8'29...... Dom, 60
Falrmount Waler.Works Stand-pipe and Tower 50
Towor 80
Steeple 80
77
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1753
PENNSYLVANIA IN 1880.
Population aiid Area according to United Statft Cenme Returns.
Adams
Allejiheny...
Armstrong..
Beaver
Beilford
BerkB
Blair
Butler
Camliria
Carbon
<^entre
Chester
Clarion
Clearfield
Clinton
Columbia
Crawford ,
Cumberland..
Daupbin
Delaware
Huntingdo
Indiana
Jeffereuu....
Juniata
Lackawani
Lancaster..,
Lawrence..
Lebanon...,
Lehigh
Mercer
Mifflin
Montgomery
Montour
Northampton
Northumberland..
Perry
Philadelphia
Pike
Potter
Schuylkill
Snyder
Somerset
Sullivan
Susquehanna
Tioga
Union
Tenango
Warren
Washington... ,
Wayne
Westmoreland
Wyoming
York
S2.464
631
339,840
3o.=i,7ri9
767
4811,480
47,038
612
391,280
30,61 J3
4.^2
289,280
34,!B2
1,003
641,920
122,699
900
676,000
52,761
610
326,400
.■18,524
1,162
743,680
68.654
595
380,800
62,536
814
620,960
46,824
666
426,240
5,159
381
243,840
31,9^2
402
267,280
37,920
1,227
78i,'.i80
83,478
763
488,320
40,326
572
360,080
43.423
1,130
723,200
26.278
857
518,480
32,408
479
3110.560
68,li(H
1,006
643,200
4.1,978
554
354,500
76,127
523
334,720
56,102
195
124,800
12,800
774
495,36 1
74,681
772
494,080
58,938
830
531,200
4,385
431
275,840
49,853
756
483,810
10,149
442
282,880
28,290
620
396,800
33,056
899
675.360
40.558
828
529,920
27,935
046
413,440
88,227
407
260,480
89,628
424
271,360
139,443
973
622.720
33,311
376
240,040
38,476
3.64
227,840
66,969
364
232,900
139,066
926
692,640
67,482
1,213
776,320
42,566
1,007
644,480
56,162
666
426,240
19,577
377
216.680
20,175
595
380,800
96,484
484
309,760
15,466
140
89,600
70,316
382
244,480
68,123
462
295,680
27,522
476
304,640
846,984
130
82,003
9,661
631.
403,840
13,798
1,071
686,440
129,977
840
537,600
17,797
317
202,880
33,146
1,102
705,280
8,073
434
277,760
40,351
828
629,920
45,814
1,124
719,360
16,905
315
201,600
43,670
658
421,12J
27,981
914
584,960
55,417
889
568,960
33,612
747
478,080
78,018
1,046
669,440
15,598
403
237,920
87,839
921
689,440
Total 4,282,738
DISTANCES FROM PHILADELPHIA TO CITIES AND TOWNS
IN THE UNITED STATES.l
From Philadelphia to
Albany, N. Y 232
Absecom, N. J 52
Allentown, Pa 71
Alliance, Ohio 449
Atlantic City, N. J .-,9
Altoona, Pa 2:^8
Augusta, Ga ^i>
Bellefonte, Pa 2,60
Bethlehem, Pa 54
Beverly, N. J 13
Miles.
Boonsburg, Pa 149
Bordentown, N.J 27
Boston, Mass 332
Bridgeton, N.J 37
Bristol, Pa 17
Bristol. Va 620
Brooklyn, N. Y 89
Buffalo, N. Y 424
Burlington, N.J 19
Burlington, Iowa. 1050
Camden, N.J 1
Cape May City, N. J 84
1 The distances in this table are computed by the shortest
usually traveled railroad routes.
Miles.
Carlisle, Pa 124
Catawissa, Pa 145
Catskill (Landing), N. Y 199
Charleston, S. C 563
Chambersburg, Pa 158
Chattanooga, Teun 700
Chester, Pa 14
Cheyenne, Dakota 1824
Chicago, III 823
Cincinnati, Ohio 008
Claymont, Del 20
Cleaifleld, Pa 264
Oleveland, Ohio 605
Coate»ville,Pa 40
Colninl.ia, Pa SO
Columbus, Ohio 648
Corning, N. Y 292
Corry, Pa 413
Crei^son, Pu t.VA
Crestline, Ohio 544
Crisfield. Md 163
Cumberland, Md 276
Danville, Pa 154
Davenport, Iowa 1006
Delanco, N. J 12
Delaware Water Gap, Pa 100
Detroit, Mich 076
Des Moines, Iowa 1180
Dover, Del 76
Downiugtown, I'u 33
Dovlestown, Pa 32
Dunkirk, N. Y 461
Eagle, Pa 17
Eiiston, Pa 66
Ebeueliurg, I'a 264
Egg H^irbor, N, J 41
Klizalieth, N. J 73
Ellicotfs Mills, Md 113
Elmira, N. Y 275
Elkton, Md 46
Erie, Pa 451
Fleniington, N. J 58
Florence, N.J 23
Fort Uarker. Kan 1499
Fort Kilev. Kan 1414
F.jrt Wayne, liid e75
Franklin, Pa , via Pittsburgh 480
Frederick, Md 160
Fredericksburg, Va 208
Freehold, N.J .59
Galveston, Te.\as 1734
Gettysburg, via Columbia, Pa. 122
Giiard, Pa 113
Glasaborough, N.J IS
Grafton, Va 377
Greensburg, Pa 324
Gwynedd, Pa 18
Uaddonfield, N. J 7
Hagerstown, Md 180
Hammonton, N. J...^. 30
Hamilton, Canada 489
Harrington, Del 92
Harrisburg, Pa 106
Harper's Kerry, Va 179
Hartford, Conn 198
Havre de Grace, Md 62
lliglitstown, N.J 41
Hi>llidaysburg,Pa 246
Hornellsville.N.Y 333
Huntingdon, Pa 2o4
Indiana, Pa 320
Indianapolis, Ind 736
Jackson, Miss 1344
Janieshurg, N.J 43
Jefferson City, Mo 1125
Jersey City, N.J 87
Johnstown, Pa 277
Kane, Pa 356
Kansas City, Mo 1280
Knoxville, Tenn 740
Lambertville, N. J 46
Lancaster, Pa 69
Laramie, Dakota _... 1886
Lawrence, Kan 1313
Leavenworth, Kan 1307
Lebanon, Pa 86
LewistowD, Pa 167
Linwood, Pa 18
Little Rock, Ark 1300
Lock Haven, Pa 228
Long Branch, N. J 82
Louisville, Ky 775
Lowell, Mass 358
Lynchburg, Va 316
Lynn, Mass 343
Madison, Wis 961
Mahanoy, Pa 117
Maninsburg, Va 198
Mauch Chunk, Pa 87
Media, Pa 14
Meadville, Pa 444
Mile*.
Memphis, Tenn 1152
Middletown, Del 63
Middletown, Pa 97
Milford,N.J 65
Millville, N. J 40
Milton, Pa 176
Milwaukee, Wis 908
Mobile, Ala 1472
Morgan's Corner, Pa 14
Montgomery, Ala 1027
Moorestown, N.J 10
Morristown, N. J 118
Morrisville, Pa 26
Mount Holly, N. J 14
Mount Joy, Pa 82
Nashville, Tenn 900
Natrona, Pa 378
Newark, Del 40
Newark, N.J 79
New Brunswick. N. J 56
Newburyport, Mass 368
Newburg, N. Y 148
New Castle, Del 34
New Haven, Conn 160
New London, Conn 210
New Orleans, La 1527
Newport, K. I. (rail and boat). 251
New York City 88
Niagara Falls, N. Y 446
Northumberland, Pa 163
Norristown, Pa 17
Ogden, Utah 2346
Oil ('ity. Pa 440
Omaha, Neb 1316
Paoli, Pa 20
Parkersburg, Va 481
Parkeraburg, Pa 45
Paterson. N.J 104
Pemberlon, N. J 24
Pensacola, Kla 1196
Perryville, Md 01
Petersburg, Va 290
Phillipsburg. N.J 81
Philipsburg, Pa 227
Phceni.wille. Pa 28
Pittsburgh, Pa 355
Pittstown. Pa 151
Pittston, N. J 26
Port Clinton, Pa 78
Portland, Me 440
Portsmouth. N. H 384
Pottstown, Pa 40
Pottsville, Pa 98
Ponghkeepsie, N. Y 163
Princess Anne, Md 144
Princeton, X. J 40
Providence, R. 1 272
Promontory, Utah 2400
Quakake, Pa 106
Quakerlown, Pa 38
Uahwav, N.J 68
Raleigh, N.C 451
Reading, Pa 58
Richmond, Va 268
Ridgeway, Pa 332
Riverton, N. J 7
Rochester. N. Y., via Wil-
liamsport. Pa 373
Rochester, Pa 381
Rupert, Pa 147
Sacramento, Cal 3090
Salt Lake City 2369
St. George's, Del 44
St. Louis, Mo 998
St. Mary's, Pa 323
St. Paul. Minn 1232
Salem, Mass 348
Salem, N.J 43
Salisbury, Md 131
San Francisco, Cal 3228
Saratoga, N. Y 264
Savannah, Ga 874
Schurlkill Haven, Pa 89
Scrantnn, Pa 164
Seaford, Del 112
Sheridan, Kan 1685
Sing Sing, N. Y 120
Smyrna, Del 66
South Amboy, N, J 63
Springfield, Mass 224
Steamboat, Pa 27
Stroudsburg, Pa 102
Sunbury, Pa 163
Suspension Bridge, N. Y 448
Syracuse, N. Y S80
Swedesborough, N.J IS
Tacony, Pa 6
Tamaqua, Pa 98
Titusville, Pa 458
Toronto, Canada S28
Trenton, N. J 28
1754
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
HIIm.
Troj, N. Y _ 238
Tallylown, Pa 81
TiiDklmniiuek, Pn. 176
Tyrone, P» fiJ4
Uilitali (Salt Uk«) - 23IU
Valley Forgo, P« '.'4
VIckabiiri;, tllH IU8
Vlncuiiiiw. Ind 716
Vliieland, N.J 3i
Warri'ii, I'li 'Mi
WMliliigloii, D. 0 138
Mllei.
W>l«rrord, N. J„ SJ
Wcldon, N. C 3M
WMt ChMlrr, P». 27
Wlwlliig, V« 424
WliU«lmll. P« 11
Whim Haven, Pa 110
Wllke«liarre, Pu. 142
Wnll.nwiKirl, P» 197
Wlliiiiuglun.Del „ 28
WllniliiKluii, N.C Sin
Woodbury, N. J s
City Commissionerg.— The city comraissionere are
elected at the general election held on the Tuesday
next tbllowing the first Monday of Xoveniher. Three
are then elected, each voter voting for two. They
are county officers.
The city commissioners shall have the respective
places appointed for holding elections put in conveni-
ent and proper order for holding and conducting the
same, shall furnish the election officers of each di-
vision with the nece.isary hlanks, .stationery, etc., and
a list of the taxable inhabitant.s of such division.
The city cominissioners shall disburse no money,
nor make any contracts for public works or highways,
nor take any part in the opening of streets, or the
assessment of the damage therefor.
The city commissioners .shall draw no warrants
upon the city treasury for the payment of the fees of
jurors, viewers, witnesses, or otliccrs of the courts,
without a certificate of the prothonotary or clerk of
the court, countersigned by one of the judges of the
court in which the duty or service was performed,
that the same is correct to the best of his belief; nor
shall any warrant be drawn tor jury or witness fees in
favor of any person but the juror or witness entitled
to such fees.
The city commissioners of the city shall, before en-
tering on the duties of their office, give bond in such
amount, and with such sureties as shall be approved
by Councils, for the faithful performance of the duties
of the said office, and that no debt shall be contracted
or warrant drawn against the city by said commis-
missioners except for the purposes legally authorized,
and not to exceed the appropriation therefor made
by Councils.
In Philadelphia, all applicants for license to sell
intoxicating liquors, by any measure le.ss than one
quart, shall appear before the commi.'5sioners of said
city between the first Monday in March and the first
Monday in April in each and every year, and make
and sign an oath or affirmation of the amount of their
respective sales of liquors and other refreshments at
their respective bars, to the best of their knowledge
and belief; and said commissioners are hereby au-
thorized to administer said oath or affirmation, and '
required to file the same in their office, and rate and
classify each applicant in accordance therewith : I
Provided, That any applicant for a license, for a i
place not previously licensed, shall be rated and
classified by them for the first year as they may deem I
just, after considering the locality of the premises for i
which license is asked ; and they shall make out a
correctilist of all such applicants, with their names,
places of business, and the class in which they are
respectively placed, and furnish the same to the city
treasurer, who shall advertise the same once a week,
for three weeks, in two daily papers.
The commissioners shall perform such other duties
as Councils may from time to time prescribe.
The receipts of this department for 1882 amounted
to $130,760.01, received from the following sources:
From market-liuuiee- - Utt.mri.Oi)
" wharvm and laodlnfl. 4<,0«>.U>l
" cUjr pru|>»rtjr „. 7,127.119
" Mile »r clly pivperljr, ate I.1,2U*.62
" Tenden' llcenM _ _ ]6,2UI.(W
ToUl J1:a),:oii51
Coroner. — The coroner holds an inquest on the
body of any deceased person who shall have died of
violent death, or whose death shall be sudden : J'ro-
vided, That such sudden death be after an illness of
less than twenty-four hours, and that no regular prac-
ticing physician shall have been in attendance within
said time, or that susjiicious circumstances shall ren-
der the same necessary. He apj>oinls a deputy at a
salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and him-
self receives six thousand dollars ]>er annum. Cor-
oner's jurors receive i\.W jier day.
00R0NEB8 OF PBILADELPIIIA.
Griffllh Otfii, bofure - in 7 mo.,
Hmry L»wl», apiuliitnl _ _ 26 7 mo.,
Tli..iu«« ril'iwntrr.cummlaianrd „ Vi 7 roo.,
Pente<-o«t TtMitiuo, menlloned 17 7 l>r.,
WilllRln 1..0. elccled 16 8 W.,
KklinnI Walker. In office „ May 19,
Ku.K-li Slorv. m«-nlione<l _ —
Riilinrd Walk.r, circle.! „ 1717 to
Merrick llavii, elccle'l 1721 to
Joaliua Fincher, elected „._ 1726 to
Jnme» Mackey, elected Sept. 1,
Merrick [>iiti«, elected 1728 to
Owen Owen, elected _ 1729 to
Henry Prati, elected 1741 to
r„«.r(:o ll.-«p, elected 1749 to
Tli.nun Jiinie«. elected.....„_ 1751 to
Thomnii It.n.le, elecleil „ 1714 to
PeKT R.)l,.-oii. elected 17.17 to
Caleb Cash, elected 17K1 to
John Knight, elected 1773 to
Robert Jewell, elected^ _ 1775 to
Joseph llnsh, elected 178<J to
John I.eac<'ck, elected «« 1785 to
John Dennis, elected 1802 to
John Dickerson,! elected 1832 to
James clregory, appolDte<l May 20,
Jarvid Webster. app<nnted May ^d,
Janie^i Gregory,' elected Oct. 18:16 to
Samuel Helntzelmiin,' elected _ 18.19 to
Fmncla BrelsfortI, elected 1842 to
Dr. N"a|Kileon B. Leid.r, elected 1845 to
Oliver l!nx)kri,< elected Oct. 10,
Jacob S. Ilmis, in office 1848 to
Dr. Thomas 0. G..lil»milh,' in office 1851 to
Joseph Delavau, in oRice 18H to
John R. Fcnner. in oBico 18.17 to
Anthony C«nn»d, in office .?. „ 1860 to
William Taylor, in office 1863 to
Samuel Daniels, In office 1866 to
William Taylor, in office 1869 to
John Gilbert L. Brown,' in office _ 1871 to
Dr. Kinireton Goildard, in office 1874 to
Dr. William Kent Gilbert,^ in office 1878 to
Thomas J. Powers, appointed July 17,
Dr. William S. Janney, commissioned from..Jan. 1,
Thomiis J. Powers, commisaloned from Jan. 1,
ISW
, 1686
, 1688
1703
, 17(tl
1712
1716
1721
1728
17-28
1729
1741
17411
1761
1754
1757
17«:l
1773
1775
1780
178S
1802
1832
1838
183(1
1836
1839
1842
1845
1848
1848
18.1t
1854
1857
1860
1863
1866
1869
1871
1874
1877
1880
1 Died In office May 1, 1836.
- Appointed in 18.16, elected in 1839, died i
» Appointed Oct. 21, 1839, elected 1840.
5 Klected Dec. 20, 1851 ; died Feb. 17, 1880.
* Appointed in place of Taylor, who died in
was afterward elected in 1871, and died May 12, 1878, aged fifty-three.
7 Died June 28, 1880, aged fifty. By Constitution of 1873 the term of
Coroner Goddard was extended to Jan. 1, 1878.
I Died Not. 5, 1848.
1 1870, and Brown
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OP PHILADELPHIA.
1755
City ControUeri — The qualified voters of the city
elect a city controller every three years. He acts as
a check on all heads of departments in matters of
finance.
He shall countersign all warrants on the city treas-
urer, and shall not suffer any appropriation made by
the City Councils to be overdrawn.
He shall superintend the fiscal concerns of the city
in such manner and make reports thereon at such
times as shall be prescribed by ordinance.
It shall be a misdemeanor in office for the controller
of the city to pass, or the treasurer of the city to pay,
any bill or order for any object not authorized by law.
The city controller shall be and he is hereby required
to keep separate accounts for each specific or separate
item of appropriation made by City Councils to each
and every department of the city, and shall require all
warrants to state particularly against which of said
items the said warrant is drawn ; and he shall at no
time permit any one of the items of appropriation to
be overdrawn, or the appropriation for one item of
expenses to be drawn upon for any other purpose by
any one of the departments than that for which the
appropriation was specifically made ; he shall upon
receiving a bill or warrant from any one of the depart-
ments proceed immediately to examine the same, and
if the said bill or warrant contain an item for which
no appropriation has been made, or the appropriation
for which is exhausted, or to which, from any other
cause, he cannot give his approval, it shall be liis duty
immediately to inform such department, and the war-
rant therefor shall not be issued unless by special
authority from the City Councils.
The coutroller shall communicate at all times to
the mayor and the committees of Councils such infor-
mation upon the condition of the finances and the
accounts of all officers expending or receiving the
moneys of the city as his department can afford.
It shall be the duty of the prothonotaries of the
several courts of the said city, on the expiration of
each term of their respective courts, to furnish to
the controller a statement, under oath or affirma-
tion, of the fines and penalties imposed, recogni-
zances recovered, judgment and jury fees received,
and arbitrators' and witnesses' unclaimed by the par-
ties entitled to the same, with the name of the case in
which the same were imposed, recovered, or received :
and it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the county of
Philadelphia to submit his account with the city to
the controller for settlement on the 1st day of Janu-
ary, and quarterly thereafter, and upon such settle-
ment the sheriff shall be charged with all sums re-
ceived and recovered as aforesaid, and he shall forth-
with pay over the balance, if any, to the city treas-
urer; and any officer neglecting or refusing to comply
with the provisions of this section shall be deemed
guilty of a misdemeanor in office, and be proceeded
against in like manner as for other misdemeanors.
It shall be the duty of the controller of said city
upon the death, resignation, removal, or expiration of
the term of office of officers and persons who, by law
or ordinance, may be authorized to receive or pay city
moneys, make contracts, or draw warrants on the
treasury, to audit and examine the accounts and offi-
cial acts of said officer, and if such officer shall be
found to be indebted or liable to said city, a copy of
the report of said controller shall be filed in the
i office of the court of Common Pleas of said city, and
a writ of scire facing may be issued thereon, and the
City Councils shall have full power and authority to
prescribe by ordinance the mode and means by which
the said controller shall exercise the duty hereby en-
joined, and the officers and persons whose accounts
and official acts shall be so audited and examined.
And whenever the writ of scire facias herein author-
ized shall issue, it shall be lawful to file with the pre-
cipe therefor a copy of the official bonds of such de-
fendant, and the \vi\t of scire facias shall contain a
clause warning the surety or sureties, or the execu-
tors or administrators of such surety or sureties, to
appear and make defense, and the judgment in such
proceeding may be entered against all the parties
named in said writ.
Every department, board, or officer shall furnish to
the controller weekly a list of the warrants which
shall have been issued by such department, board,
or officer during the preceding week, which list shall
contain the number and amount of such warrants,
the names of the party in whose favor the same
were drawn, and the items of appropriation against
which they were charged.
All departments and officers of the city government
who are or may hereafter be authorized by ordinance
to draw warrants upon the city treasurer for the pay-
ment of salaries in their respective departments, are
hereby expressly prohibited from exceeding, in or for
any one mouth, one-twelfth of the aggregate appropri-
ation made by Councils for the payment of such sala-
ries for the fiscal year, and the city controller is hereby
required to withhold his signature from all warrants
drawn in violation of the provisions of ordinances.
He shall keep a regular set of books, in which shall
be opened and kept as many accounts, under appro-
jiriate titles, as may be necessary to show distinctly
and separately all the estate and property whatsoever,
real and personal, vested in the city by law or other-
wise, all trusts in the care of the same, all debts due
to and owing by the city, all the receipts and ex-
penditures in the various departments, and all appro-
priations made by Councils, and the sum expended
under the same.
He shall make a report, verified by oath or affirma-
tion, to the City Councils, at their first stated meeting
in January in each year, of the public accounts of
the city and of the trusts in their care, exhibiting all
the receipts and expenditures of the city, the sources
from which the revenue and funds are derived, and
in what manner the same have been disbursed, each
1756
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
account to be accompanied by a statement in detail,
in separate columns, of the several aiipropriations
made by Councils, the amount drawn on each ajjpro-
priation, and the balance standing to the debit or
credit of such ajipropriation ; and he shall jiublish
said rei>ort in two daily papers, twice in each pa]>er.
In Philadelphia, the duty of county auditors was
transferred by the act of Feb. 2, 1854, to a city con-
troller, to be elected every second year. By the Con-
stitution of 1873, the term was increased to three
years. The revenues of the controller's department
from all sources for the year 1882, were, —
Taxes
Highways.
Water..
. Sio,
Tines and penalties.
LIcenHes, |]iawnl>n>kers\ Iheulrical, petrolcim
Onardians of the poor
Inspectors of prison „
Board of Health
Police..
,386,872..'i6
."il.lVS.lg
1,487.967.71
40,.'i67.97
3,260.00
.S,O6».O0
iri.ntio.oo
1!8,5M.19
1,462.42
no.oiHi.oo
4.S,929.24
l(18.87.'i.40
101,169.89
34,177.75
1,698.91
13,449.91
4,84.1.25
]2,49G.(K)
81,011.09
508.3.'^2.00
301 SO
14,104.90
13,07.') 31
29,940.111
45833
16,291.00
.')0,:«(l.20
73,407.27
33,052.00
18,201 .(«)
40,067.20
4,344.27
087.62
12,.'^'i0.13
672.00
10,287.41
ToUl rvcelpis $13,425,4(M.97
The expenditures for the same period were for :
Interest on the funded debt $4,002,690.80
Interest on ont^landinK warrants lo.').40
Tlie xveral ■hikiiif; funds 806,6O.S.0O
Wamnia of preTloni year* 4(H,CK)2.«6
Erection of puMIc biiililinKS 774,626.07
Amount paid Park fund 6,3K0.49
Amntint p.ild for dfpKrlmenls 6,70.'i,318.ll
Amount paid for Judgnienlii. eiKullons, elc 137,879.20
Amonnt paid for four per rent. loans, series C 4(m,n(io.(M(
Amount paid miscellaneous 18,076.71
ToUl expenditures $13.25.1.1*1.53
Total receipt* $13,42.5.404 97
Total expenditures 13,25.'.,084.53
Schools (State)
Sheriff.
City solicitor
Harkets and city property
HIscellaneou*
Fire commissioners
Park fund
Snnreys .'
City treasurer.
Beglsterof wills.
Dlrtdends, North Pennsylvania Ballroad stock, and ttn
tees ft^works
Port wal^ens
Boiler inapoction
House of Correction «
State tax after settlement
Pnbllc bnildlntm
Huckster licenses
Prothonotary
Recorder of deeds
Clerk of Quarter Sessions.
City commissioners
Poll tax „
Pnbllc building lax
Ice-ljoats
Delinquent tax commissions
Fire-escapes
Fire-alarm telegraph .-..
Excess receipts over expenditures 8109,7a).44
Add the cash Ulanre, Jan. I, 18*2 2,2.50,691.44
Add the sinking fund cash, Jan. I, 18S3 705,27Ui9
The resnlt is the general ra«h balance, Jan. 1, 1883 $:i,125,6a5.27
Cost of IheseTeral departnienla for 1875 $10,10.5,919 811
Cost of the several deimrlnienta for 1870 9,890,019.04
Cost of the ne.eral rtepHrlmenl. f..r 1877 8,184.961.20
Cost of the ».-»,.r«l il..|«rlnietita for 1878 7.161,704 18
Cost of the seTenil de(«\rlnienin for 1879 7,160,034.85
Cost of IheseTeral de|wrtmrnla for 1880 6.370^578. .34
Coat of the several departments for ISdl 0,88:1,32692
Cost of the several depanmenls for lg«2 7,1' 0,561.18
CITY roNTBOLLEB.S.
John N. Henderson, elect«d„ June
Stephen Taylor, elected May
George W. Hnflv. eleiied May
Josejtli R. Lyiidall,' eli.cted Oct.
6,1854
6, 1&50
4, 18.58
14, 1862
George Getz, elected Oct. 13, 1808
Siimuel P. Hancock,* in office Feb. 14, 1870
Robert Emory Pattison.'elected Nov. 7, 1877
S. Pavis Page,* appointed Jan. 15, 1883
E. Harper JelTries,' elected Nov. 6,1883
„ William N. Hirst, appointed Jan. 1884
Appropriations for 1883 and Estimates for
1884. — The following table shows the amount of the
annual appropriations to the departments for 1883,
and the estimates received to Feb. 1, 1884, for this
year :
Police
Higlmays
Gniirdians of the Poor
City commisMoners
Markets and city properly..
City treasurer
Bottrd of ReviRion
Park comniissionera
Water
Clerks of Ofuncils
Receiver of taxes
1883.
81,457,195.71
648,690.00
398,304 00
006,888.00
136,182.86
33,920.00
113,050.00
265,5»8.50
611,292.00
40,440.00
43,200.00
42,504.00
46,280.00
457,140.00
186,809.60
1,637,651.04
92,135.67
120,464.00
45,065.00
43,.550.0O
34.300,00
13,300 00
189,575 00
7,130 00
750,000.00
450.00
57,320.00
27,400.00
35,900.00
23,070.00
64,000 00
67,800 00
24,000.00
Total $8,310,201.37
City solicitor...
Fir
Ijigliting the cit,v
Board of Public Education
Board of Health
County prison
Conutv ice-boats
City controller
Police and tire-alarm telegraph
Boiler inspection
House of Oirrection
Port wardens
Public buildings
Board of fire-escapes
Sheriff.
Register of wills
District attorney
Coroner
Recorder of deeds
Prothonotary ,
Clerk of Quarter Sessions
1SS4.
$1,438,875.71
'350,000.00
235,683.00
34,420.00
115,215.00
393,422.60
2,000,000.00
40,290 (10
^1,200.00
60,620.00
41,280.00
672,360.00
45,066.00
43,560.00
41,750.00
13,575.00
184,625 00
13,8.50.00
1,297,-500 00
450.00
28,9(XI.OO
28,900.0(1
23,020.00
83,300.110
61,700.00
21,200.00
FUNDED AND FLOATING DEBT.
The funded debt of the city Jan. 1, 1882, was
Amount redeemed by sinking fund coniinissiono
Amount of four per cent, loan, series C, paid off
Funded delit Jan. 1, 1883
$68,139,916.24
489,487.48
Total funded and floating debt Jan. 1, 1882 $68,029,403.72
Funded debt of thec'.ty Jan. 1,1883
Floating debt of the city Jan. 1, 1883
MEANS OF PAYl.NG DEBT.
46,000 shares of Pbiladelpliia and Erie Railroad slock at
$20 per share
12.784 shares of North Pennsylvania Railroad stock at
$.30 per share
Sinking fund securities, city loan at par
Sinking liind securities, Slain loan at par.
Sinking fund securities, United Slates loan at par 3 per
iiding taxes
Cash in tlie Ireasm-y Jan. 1, 1883 .
07,468,316.24
464,676.17
6.39,200.00
20,434,375.60
182,800.00
1,000,000.00
2,422,956.63
3,125,686 27
VALUATION OF PliOi'EBTY AS FURNISHED BY THE BOARD
OF REVISION FOR TAXATION, 188:).
Full $.510,984,183.00 $1.86
Suburban 35,447,307.00 l.WX,
Fanu 19,051,766.00 92>^
$9,604,207.38
437,183.45
176,1!28.83
Totals $671,483,255.00
$10,177,010.66
■ Iijniiall was elected Oct. 14, 1802, and re-slecltd in 1864 and 1866.
•Died April 6, 1879, aged flRy-slx. 'Re-elected Nov. 2, 1880.
* Controller Pattison having been elected Governor of the Common-
wealth, ap|K>inted Ids
> Died Jan. 21. 1884.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1757
STATEMENT OF TOUR, FIVE, AND SIX PER CENT. LOANS AND YEARS OF THEIR MATURITY.
1890..,
1891..
1892..
189:i..
1894..
1890..
1896..
1897..
1898..
1899..
1900..
1901..
1902..
19l« .
1904..
Four per cent. Five per cent.
8380,425.00
39.5,:)60.00
399.926.00
400,000.00
254,825.00
39,000-00
204,975.00
400,000.00
400,000.00
400,000,00
400,000.00
400,000 00
400,000.00
400,000.00
400,000 00
400.000.00
400,000.00
400,000.00
400,000.00
400,000.00
400,000.00
400,000.00
83,000.00
10,600.00
3,850.00
88,074,500.00
8735,557.90
2,414,501.00
1,157,300.00
2,164,400.00
1,122,000.00
136,400.00
1,608,300.00
1,309,400.00
1,791.000.00
2,751,726.35
620,611.31
4279,077.65
6,685,000.00
2,999,700.00
1,800,000.00
800,000.00
6,640,000.00
4,999,700.00
3,822,000.00
2,125,000.00
6,833,000.00
1,485,212.88
1,334,400.00
150,000.00
Loans overdue and yet outstanding
From which deduct 8800,769.61, which appears to have heen jiaid in
ported as due in certain years and outstanding at
loans bpinff payable in various months in the latter , — ^- -„ , p., ■
consolida^fd'^dty loans, the time of payn.ent was thrown forward to January of the follow.ng
year, thus making the amount payable
the year prior as yet outstanding
excess of the amount re-
onsolidation. Tlie districts and county
nths in the latter part of the year, on being transferred f.
3 of payment
I that year appear a
, and the
Funded debt Jan. 1, 1883..
Debt guaranteed by the city for gas loans, included in the above statement:
By ordinance approved July 13, 18.55, due July 1, 1885
By ordinance approved March 26, 1859, due July 1,1883
By ordinance approved Oct. 22, 1860, due July 1, 1884
By ordinance approved Dec. 22,1864, due July 1, 1SS4
By ordinance approved Dec. 26, 1868, due Jan. 1, 1899
By ordinance approved May 17,1870, due Jan. 1,1900
By ordinance approved Oct. 26, 1871, due Jan. I, 1902
By ordinance approved Nov. 6, 1874, due Jan. 1, 190.5
81,118,982.90
2,820,450.00
1,561,075110
2,664,400.00
1,376,825.00
176,400.00
1,813,275.00
1,709,400.00
2,191,000.00
3,151,726.35
1,020,611.31
4,679,077.65
7,085,000.00
3,399,700.00
2,200,000.00
1,200,000.00
7,040,000.00
6,399,700.00
4,222,000.00
2,525,000.00
6,233,000.00
1,885,212.88
1,834,400.00
150,000.00
$67,468,316.24
8600,000.00
500,000.00
499.400.00
1,000,000.00
1,000,000.00
1,000,000.00
500,000.00
1,000,000.00
86,999,400.00
FUNDED AND FLOATING DEBT OF THE CITY.
Jan. 1
Jan. ~:
Jan. 1
Jan. ]
Jan!l
Jan. 1
Jan.
Jan. ■
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
1860
1861
,1862
1863
1864
1865
,1866
,1867
,1868
,1869
, 1870
,1871
,1872
,1873
,1874
,1876
, 1876
,1877
,1878
,1879
,1880
,1881
,1882
,1883
Funded Debt.
820,913,50.1.09
20,982,409.20
21,616,851.93
24,029,756.14
24.292,376.62
28,910,484.52
33,837,793.96
35,165,621.35
36,677,629.77
36,737,735.66
42,401,933.94
44,654,229.03
47,075,330.46
51,697,141.67
58,165,516.97
60 371,632.40
61,025,091.70
61,169,271.70
61.721,641.70
61,092,641.70
70,970.041.70
69,431,064.75
68,139,916.24
67,468,316.24
8443,254.77
939,323.15
1,099,444.52
720,30102
1,421,242.87
3,853,414.38
2,889,335.04
2,153,566.52
1,442,088.85
3,460,605..30
2,692,313.40
4,140,635.61
4.476,806.08
2,510.948.52
2,465,354.12
4,018,931.26
8,691,432.47
12.404.876.22
11,893,810.09
10,742,459.66
1,294,564.06
601,365.72
489,487.48
821,366,759.86
21,921,732.35
22,616,296.45
24,7.50 056.16
25,713,619.49
32,763,898.90
36,727,129.00
37,349,187.87
38,119,618.62
40,188,340.96
45,094,247.34
48,794,864.64
51,652,136.53
54,208,090.40
60,630,871.09
64,390,463.66
69,716,524.17
73,574,146.92
73,615,351.79
71,835,101.35
72,26.1,595,76
70,032,430.47
68,629,403.72
Cost of
Departments.
$2,682,548.13
2,667,826.46
2,831,130.39
3,482,243.32
3,917,321.34
4,160,296.84
4,101,709.11
4,442,361.72
4,421,834.63
6,322,054.43
5,630,611.88
6,468,446.27
6.694,444.53
8,462,752.61
9,070,844.72
10,106,919.89
9,896,619.64
8,184,961.20
7,161,704 18
7,160.6.34.85
6,370,578.34
6,88:1,326.92
7,100,561.18
2.25
2.30
2.30
2.30
2.80
4.00
4.00
1.40
2.15
2.20
2.15
2.15
2.25
2.15
2.05
2.00
1.95
1.90
1.86
1758
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Th« ftanded d«bt of the dtj, Jan. 1, 1883
Classified as fullows:
Balance of amount due at cooaolidaiioD - 84,054,566.24 I
Tor war purpoaes Il.SSO.noo.OO
For railroad oiUcriptione ' ],72.'>.0O0.OO
Forachool parpoeca„ I 3,600,000.00
For bridge* 4,853, SOO.OO
For walrr-works ...I 6,500,000.00
For Park aud C«ntennial 8,701,000.00
For House of Correctiiin - 950,000.00
For ice-bo«t« _ 385,000.00
For (Ulioo-houaM 450,000.00
F»r sewere 3,750,760.00
For (Ire purpoaes 200,000.00
For moDiclpal pnrpoeee 14,648,500.00
For Kuarantrml debt gas-works 5,999,400.00
For floating debt of departments
$67,468,316.24 22,500 shares Sunbnry and Eiie Bailroad
I stock, par value $100 per share, or 45,000
shares Philadelphia and Erie Railroad
. stock, par value SoO per share, at $20
^ I per share, market value.
12,784 shares North PeDnsylvnnia Rail-
road stock, at S.'>0 per share, par value..
Sinking fund securities (city loan at imr)
Sinking fund securities (Pennsylvania
State loun at par)
Siuking-Fund securities (United States
government 3 per cent, at par)
Outstanding taxes, due and collectable...
Cash in treasury Jan. 1, 18S3
454,576.17 Excess of debt over and above assets..
1,000,000.00
2,422,956.53
3,125,685.27
! $67,922,892,41
Highway Department.— Tlic (ki^artment of high-
way.s, bridges, and siwirs of tliu rity is constituted as
follows: One cliief eommissioner, at a salary of four
thousand dollars ; six a.ssistant commissioners, at a
salary of two thousand dollars each ; one superin-
tendent of city railroads, one chief clerk, one assistant
clerk, one license clerk, one assistant license clerk, one
miscellaneous clerk, one mes-senger, and twelve street
superintendents.
The building and re])airing of all bridges, culverts,
sewers, and inlets, the ojiening, grading, curbing,
paving, repaving, and re]iairing of all streets, roads,
lanes, alleys, and other highways of the city of Phila-
delphia, is under the control, supervision, and man-
agement of the chief coinmis.sioner of highways.
Councils elect, in joint convention, by viia rorc
vote, one chief commissioner of highways, to serve
three years. The said chief commissioner ap|)oints
six assistant commissioners, whose term is two years
(three of whom are elected for one year, and three for
two years), and until their successors be duly quali-
fied. It is the duty of said chief commissioner to
assign the as,sistant commissioners to their respective
districts, and the said assistant commissioners have
charge of the respective districts to which they have
been a.ssigned, and have the general supervision of
all work done therein by order of the chief commis-
sioner (who may, at his discretion, at any time assign
any of the said a.s.sistants to any other district he may
deem for the advantage of the deiiartment). The
said a.-vsistant commi-s-^ioners enforce all laws and
ordinances relative to the dejiartment of highways,
and have charge of and direct (subject to the chief
commissioner) the street superintendents and work-
men that may be employed within the limits of their
re(i])ective districts.
The chief commissioner shall annually rei)ort to
Councils, in detail, the receipts and disbursements of
his department during the past fiscal year.
The joint standing committee of Councils have
supervision over all matters appertaining to this de-
partment, and it is the duty of the chief commissioner
of highways to submit all contracts, plans, etc., to-
gether with all accounts, bills, etc., for work or labor
done, which may appertain to this department, to the
said committee for their inspection, before any action
shall be had thereon.
The api>ropriation for this department for the year
1882 was $639,397.60, and the disbursements were
S506,089.75, and the revenue for the year amounted
to $51,175.18.
The office of the chief commissioner of highways
was created by the act of consolidation, i.e., Feb. 2,
1854, P. L., for the supervision of the streets and
roads of this city and county. By the act of April
21, 1855, and ordinance of Councils, the chief and
his two assistant commissioners were constituted a
board for the transaction of all business relating to
the highways. The term of office at first was for one
year, but since the new constitution for three years.
This department in 1882 expended $251,885 for
street cleaninjr and removing ashes, jrarliage, and
dead animals. Prior to 1882 this work had come
under the supervision of the Board of Health, and
their annual expenditures for this purpose were as
follows:
Clenniiig Streets „„„,„,,
ing
Total.
849,123.27
22,747.25
23,188.46
2:t.I92 90
19,311.00
$331,130.27
191,646.69
194,740.81
192,233.12
152,941.76
1877 $i82,O27.10
1»78 168,899,44
1879 171,.W2.35
1S80 169.040.10
1881 133,6.10.73
Average for five yeare under Board of Health _ 212.642.60
1882 Under Department of Higliwaye 251,996.00
CHIEF COMMISSIONERS.
Thomas Birch, elected Oct. 6, 1854
John McCarthv, elected July 16, 1857
Conrad B. Andreas, elected July 8, 1858
Joseph Shantr., elected July 7, 1869
James Lnndv, elected Feb. 6, 1860
George W. Schofleld, elected Feb. 26, 1863
William W. Sme.lley, elected Feb. 11, 1864
Mahlon H. Dickinson, elected Feb. 12, 1867
Jnhn Liberton Hill, elected Feb. 18, 1876
Wiillan, Bnldwin.l elected March 2, 1876
Ji.lin D. Kstabrook, elected Jan. 6, 1883
Markets and City Property.— This department
is conducted by a commissioner of markets and city
> Mr. Baldwin was elected for the unexpired term of John L. Hill,
who resigned aud was re-elected for three years, Jan. 1, 1877, and again
r)n Dec. .10, 1879, for three years from Jan. 1, 1880. Ho died suildenly
of heartHlisease on Jan. 1, 188;t, aged forty-flve yeare, on bis way to at-
tend a Joint meeting of Councils, who were to fill bis expired term of
office.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OP PHILADELPHIA.
1769
property. He is elected by Councils for a term of
three years. He is charged with the renting and col-
lecting of the rents of all market-stalls and stands,
and with the care of-all the market-houses belonging
to the city, and wharves and landings.
Steam-Engines and Boilers.— The mayor of the
city of Philadelphia nominates, in the month of
June, annually, and by and with the advice of the
Select Council of the said city, appoints a person skill-
ful and competent, for the discharge of the duties
performed by him, to be the inspector of stationary
engines in and for the city of Philadelphia. Before
entering upon the duties of his office he gives bond
in the sum of ten thousand dollars, with security,
approved by the mayor.
It is the duty of the inspector carefully to examine
and inspect all stationary steam-engines and steam-
boilers erected or in use; and no stationary steam-
engine or steam-boilers shall be erected and put into
use and operation in the city of Philadelphia without
being first inspected and certified to be competent and
safe under the hand and seal of the inspector; and
he shall furnish to the owner, proprietor, or other
person using such engine or steam-boiler a certificate
under his hand and the seal of his office that it has
been so inspected and found to be competent and safe;
he shall from time to time, and as often as he may
deem expedient, examine all or any such engines or
steam-boilers in use or operation, and for such pur-
pose he, together with his assistants, may enter upon
any premises and require the removal of any part of
the building, fixtures, or machinery, and he shall note
in a book to be kept for that purpose the result of
every such examination ; and he shall, at least once
in every year, make such examination and give cer-
tificate of the result whenever required.
Gas and Gas-Works. — The city manufactures gas
under and by twelve trustees, six elected by Common
and six by Select Council. They select a president
out of their own number. They serve three years.
They conduct the business of manufacturing and dis-
tributing gas.
It is the duty of the trustees to manufacture car-
buretted hydrogen gas from bituminous coal for the
purpose of public and priv.ate illumination, and to
lay pipes for its distribution through the city. The
trustees keep accurate accounts of their receipts and
disbursements, and report the same, together with a
statement of their proceedings, to Councils annually
in the month of January, and give such other infor-
mation as may from time to time be required by the
Select or Common Council.
The trustees are vested with power to construct
works, to purchase materials, make contracts, and
employ such agents as they deem necessary in and
about the furnishing of light for public and private use.
According to the engineer's report of the gas-works
for 1882, the total amount of gas made during the
year was 2,319,898,000 cubic feet, making the total
product of the works since their erection 37,342,521,-
000 cubic feet.
The amount manufactured at the different stations
was as follows:
Cubic feet.
Gas made at the Twenty-sUth Ward works.... 713,212,000
Gas made at the Ninth Ward works 1,079,907,000
Gas made at the Fifteenth Ward works 23,155,000
Gas made at tiie Twenty-first Ward works 41,027,000
Gas made at tlie Twenty-fifth Ward works.... 401,997,000
2,319,898,000
The maximum consumption of gas in twenty-four
hours was 10,667,000 cubic feet, which occurred on
the night of the 22d of December, 1882. The maxi-
mum production of gas in twenty-four hours was
10,049,000 cubic feet.
The Philadelphia Gas Department has 742 miles of
gas mains, 18,100 street lamps, about 102,000 con-
sumers of gas, with an annual consumption of about
2,054,857,000 cubic feet. The price for cubic feet is
$1.90 for gas, with an average illuminating power of
16.39 candles. By resolution of the trustees, gas
has been supplied the city lamps without cost since
Oct. 1, 1882.
The net profits of the gas-works during the year
1882 were $510,586.57, making the accumulated
profits to the end of the year, $4,538,957.23.
ANNUAL REGISTRY OF CONSUMERS AND PUBLIC LIGHTS.
Date.
Applica-
tions.
Total number of
Consumers.
277
666
1,341
1,987
2,393
2,774
3,078
3,429
3,926
4,444
5,192
6,174
7,128
8,139
9,216
10,406
11,663
12,989
13,904
22,898
25,544
26,304
29,953
37,580
41,200
44,010
44,429
46,528
48,.556
50,487
52,938
65.564
57,542
62,393
66,943
70,774
74,769
79,477
81,712
86,299
90,443
93,7.59
96,441
97,838
99,035
100,368
101,968
Streets.
497
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
849
946
788
874
845
986
133
162
112
13
30
69
196
112
1847
1,81)9
84
21
1849
2,191
74
72
1S61
1852
1863
2,629
3.004
3,280
124
118
87
27
17,479
1,368
84
1857
5,604
68
562
18.591
14,008
966
478
11,.694
398
9,507
391
9,581
492
9,087
158
8,808
63
10,625
199
184
1868
1869
10,886
14,664
16,039
159
152
2.37
289
16,411
364
435
17,271
433
859
1S76
1877
19,856
23,862
2-2,930
660
384
240
( 270
1880
13,878
163
257
13,585
251
420,423
Totals
1,894,858
12,755
1 Including thoae received from private gas compauies.
2 Northern Libertiea,
1760
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Lkkgtb c
F JiAiNS Laid ill
SlretLi, Each Tear,
m Lintal FetL
SXTE. l^iDCb.
2-incli.
i-inch.
4-inch.
6-incb.
8-Inch.
10-iDch. 12-inch. 16-inch.
18-inch.
20-inch.
30-inch.
36-inch.
40-inch.
Totals.
1836
'428
::::::
"iiii
2:)6
3080
347
1125
1U90
3S4
9.
2,310
3,468
ISO
1,704
222
2M
324
966
30,696
3,240
10,734
4,1 M
1,734
9,690
6,666
11,901
18,864
7,152
678
3,271
1,956
36:1
11,500
18,6 6
31,673
16,385
17,123
14.742
2,718
2,358
1,600
600
18
3,0.32
4.247
1,284
796
2,750
3,852
2,200
4,005
118
868
3.859
1,616
170
569
15,951
13,008
16.660
11.629
1,674
8,874
68:<I
32.796
38.655
9,360
9,855
6,600
7,678
9,117
9,513
18.441
19,710
3,744
1,U2B
2 2,958
19,941
1,844
76,968
250,715
9(i.640
6i,675
3.3,797
58,.'i51
19,049
24,317
27,607
18,5.W
10,664
67,449
73,.')42
17,338
35.329
58,893
14,022
94,436
50,280
11,607
111,672
11,095
6,552
9,9 9
31,917
10,184
4,302
14,409
11,997
570
7,137
3,48:»
16,767
2:5,555
4,726
8,442
2,808
3,897
5,724
6,345
10,765
14,958
3,780
828
173,289
16,590
32.=i
94,400
92,467
71,4.53
27,694
33,707
42.708
13,139
27,982
18,450
13,987
5,396
69,006
47,840
16,153
36,379
39,494
i:i,529
71,064
43,092
30,924
9,167
8,459
5,952
8,111
24,260
4,018
6,984
9,036
4,419
261
27
360
l,:t95
2,:i58
837
378
900
1,458
2,934
2,718
720
9140 1 P"
:::
'.'.'.".'.
41,603
27,822
52,.i03
3:1,475
2,733
16,242
11,772
62,977
99,818
18,588
31,479 1
14,667 i
15,144
56,202
25,242
42,141
61,758
23,r67
2,532
452,:134
50,122
1839
3 726
1
...... .....'.
1841
1812
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1818
1860
1861
1862
1833
1864
1856>
18661
1857
18681
1869>
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1866
1866
1867
1868
1809
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
774
1,053
3,663
891
.
'.'.'.'.'.'.
'.'.'.'.'.'.
2,070
136
477
13,284
1
'
4.-iGU 1 2.G19
8,073
495
324
1,359
""726
6,867
7,257
414
16,997
36,378
7,286
117
20,776
58,1141
16,450
1,093
0,:i43 1
12.774
3,593
17,624
3,421
069
43
11,808
6,M6
796
1,352
776
3,113
10,264
4,722
180
1,368
96
321
3,.52n
861
8,276
8,014
504
3,8:14 ' R
34
9,691
i 21.3I.5.39
442,422
11,202
462
3,9M
156
9,460
6
2,132
44
15,871
171
180
•
6,119
13,470
{ 132^135 1
j 1 98081 1
9
1,310
1 097 1
36
8,439
2,861
:::
129,873
39,045
90,170
53,945
36,724
;::::::::
4
:::
287
488
7,:»6
6,995
64
6,791
29,367
16,2.37
152
764
1 187,2.')3
' 1 1 101,;155
QOO
76,224
105,757
36,262
217,312
112,993
84,6:!0
36,463
.37,080
14,968
21,774
57,664
700
1,490
22,572
10,;i:l8
3,144
266
7,136
652
16,118
24
•■•■4
6636
'.'.'.".'. 1458
""2,208
7,428
4
12
8,360
17,478
4
13,571
187R
1879
1880
1881
1882
517
60
12
4
72
Total.
6982
267,142
1,648,364
1,199,685
268,941
185,839 20,680
95,791
41,654
18
69,189
6844
1220
1458 3,813,777
^ Including those reculved from gtis companies.
Ga4 made at aU the tt'orln manag>d under the 3Viuf, and of that delivered
to Prieale and I'abtic Lighli; llec. 31, 1882.
1869 502,110,000
1860. 6.39,678,000
1861. I 632,646,600
1862 6.'.6,957,0(ll>
186:) 7:l6,69a,0(J0
1861 794,676,000
1866 844,610,0011
1866. 916,9.V1,0 0
1867 , 981,«42,0"'i
1868... I,0fi«,67»,n<l0
1869. l,16I,l«>,noo
1870 I,241,48.V«»I
1871 l,3:i*l,U72.l«>il
1872 1,480,969,000
1873 1,64S,S«7,000
1874 ■ 1,708 2«ll,i«IO
1876 l,873,l'.r2,ll(Ml
1876 2,l.'>4,28l,00iP
l«n 2,ll",077,l«ll>
1878 2,l«7,5:ili,o<iO
1879 2,|Hll,n2.'>,a0ll
18K<1 2,171,010,000
18*1 2,2i<i,14.%0ri0
1882 2;ll9,»;i8,000
MHd« In Z3)
pnTlou y 3,078,362,400
37,342,621 ,aoa|6,n6,0M,3T8 22,862,680,268 4,986,381,966
NiMi
LAJirs under Ihr O're of Deparlmnit of Pulilic Li:jh(iiig,
Jan. 1, 1882.
City,i including Mnyamensing, Southwftrk, West Philadelphia,
Spring Garden, KenninKton, Uichmund, Germantown, Mana-
yunk, Fniiikford, and Nicetown 12,414
Morlhern Liberties = 509
12,923
The board of tni-stees of tlie Philadelpliia Gas-
Work.s for 1884 are as follows :
President, William D. Gardner; Trustees, John S. Rittenhouse, Wil-
liam K. Leeds, Samuel S. Kelly, M. Hall Stanton, James Work, Alfred
Moore, William W. Alcorn, Thomas H. Gill, William H. Smith, Efflng-
ham 11. Morris, James E.Salter, William D.Gardner; Engineer, William
K. Park (elected Feb. 28, 1879) ; Cashier, Samuel M. White (elected June
28,1870); Itegistnir, Thomas Noble (elected Dec. 9,1870); Controller,
Alexander J. McCleary.
Police Magistrates, — In accordance with the re-
quirements of the twelfth section of Article v. of the
Constitution of 1873, the Assembly, by act of Feb. 5,
1875, authorized the election of a police magistrate
(to serve for five years from the first Monday in
April) for every thirty thousand inhabitants of the
city of Philadelphia. The courts therefor to be located
by Councils, and indicated by numbers, the magis-
' Supplied directly from City Woiks.
3 Supplied directly from Northern Llbcrli(
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1761
trates to choose their courts by lot; and in the elec-
tion for magistrates, no voter to vote for more than
two-thirds of the number to be elected. liy the Con-
stitution, the office of alderman in Philadelphia was
abolished.
The police magistrates have jurisdiction not ex-
ceeding one hundred dollars, and exercise such au-
thority, civil and criminal, as is given them by law.
Their jurisdiction extends throughout the city and
county, and they are e.v officio justices of the peace.
MAGISTRATES.
1. Jesses S. Bonsall, elected Feb. 16, 1875
2. WiUiam B. Collins, elected Fell. 16,1875
3. Andrew Alexander, Sr., elected Feb. 16,1875
4. T. Sprole Leisenring, elected Feli. 16, 1S75
5. William H. List, elected Feb. 16, 1875
6. Hugh Franklin Kennedy, elected Feb. 16, 1875
7. John McCliiitock, elected Feb. 16, 1S75
R. Robert R. Smith, elected Feb. 16,1875
9. William A. Tliorp. elected Feb. 16, 1875
10. John F. Pole, elected Feb. 16, 1875
11. Wilson Ker, elected Feb. 16, 1875
12. Ezra Lukena, elected Feb. 16,1875
13. Charles E. Pancoast, elected Feb. 16,1875
14. John Develin.l elected Feb. 16, 1875
15. Luke V. Sntphin, elected Feb. 16,1875
16. Stuart Field, elected Feb. 16, 1875
17. Henry Smith, elected Feb. 16,1875
18. Benton 0. Severn, elected Feb. 16,1875
19. David Hanley Stone, elected Feb. 16,1875
2(1. Alfred T. Snyder, elected Feb. 16, 1875
21. Thaddens Stearne, elected Feb. 16,1875
22. George K. Krickbauni, elected Feb. 16, 1875
23. Thi.mas H. Ulark, elected Feb. 16, 1S75
24. Thomas Randall, elected Feb. 16,1875
14. John T. Thompson.^ appointed Feb. 19,1878
15. Joseph S. Alleu,2 appointed Sept. 14,1879
Second Term.
1. ■William A. Thorp, elected Feh. 17, 1880
2. John KiugFindlay, elected Feb. 17,1880
3. Henry H. Everlv,3 elected Feb. 17, 1880
4. Hugh Collins, elected Feb. 17,1880
5. William H. List, elected Feb. 17, 1880
6. John B. Martin, elected Feb. 17, 1880
7. John McClintock, elected Feb. 17, 1880
8. Robert R. Smith, elected Feb. 17,1880
9. Richard J. Lennon, elected Feb. 17, 1880
10. John F. Pole, elected Feb. 17,1880
11. Albert H. Ladner, elected Fell. 17,1880
12. Ezra Lukens, elected Feb. 17,1880
13. Charles Brown, elected Feb. 17,1880
14. John T. Thompson, elected Feb. 17,1880
15. Joseph S. Allen, elected Feb. 17, 1880
16. William P. Becker, elected Feb. 17, 1880
17. Henry S. Myers, elected Feb. 17,1880
18. Benton 0. Severn, elected Feb. 17,1880
10. Joseph S. Riley, elected Feb. 17,1880
20. Robert J. Barr, elected Feb. 17, 1880
21. Thomas W. South, elected Feb. 17,1880
22. George R. Kiickbaum. elected Feb. 17, 1880
23. Thoma.5 II. Clark, ebcted Feb. 17,1880
24. Thomas Randall, eleeted Feb. 17,1880
3. James L. Brown, appointed May 26, 1881
The following statistical information for reference
was furnished by the various city departments at the
request of John E. Addicks, health officer in 1882 :
Philadelphia is situated in latitude 39° 57' N. and 75° 09' W. The total
area is one hundred and twenty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty
square miles, or eighty-two thousand eight hundred and forty-eight
acres.
The greatest elevation in each ward above high water is, viz. :
1 Develin died May 11,1877, and John T. Thompson was appointed by
the Governor to fill the vacancy, and elected Feb. 19, 1878, for five years.
■ Appointed by the Governor vice Sutphin, deceased. By the act th»
Governor fills the vacancy until the first Monday in the next succeed-
ing April. The vacancy to be supplied at next municipal election, for
the full term of five years, as in case of Thompson, of Court No. 14.
3 Henry H. Everly, of Court No. 3, died May 23, 1881, aged forty-five,
and on May 26th Lieut. James L. Brown was appointed to fill the va-
cancy, and elected on the third Tuesday in February, 1882, to serve five
years from the first Monday in April.
First.— Gerhard, north of McKean Street
Second.— Hale, west of Tenth Street
Third.— Lebanon, south of Fitzwater Street
Fourth. — Emeline, west of Eighth Street
Fifth. — St. Mary's, east of Seventh Street
Sixth. — Crown, north of Race Street
Seventh.— Delancy, west of Twenlieth Street
Eighth.— Broad, south of Chestnut Street
Ninth. — Chestnut, west of Broad Street
Tenth. — Jacohv, north of Race Street
Eleventh —Third and Brown Streets
Twelfth, Sixth, soutli of Green Street
Thirteenth.— Wallace, east of Tenth Street
Fourteenth. — East of Broad and north of Parrish
Fifteenth.— Corner of Vineyard and Perkiomen Streets
Sixteenth.— Sixlh Street, south of Girard Avenue
Seventeenth. — Lawrence, south of Oxford Street
Eighteenth. — Neland, northeast of Hanover Street
Nineteenth.— Corner of Seventh Street and Lehigh Avenue
Twentieth.— Columbia Avenue, east of Broad Street
Twenty-first. — Between Ridge Avenue and Township line road..
Twenty-second.- Summit Street, northeast of Chestnut Hill
Twenty-third.— Sharswood Street and Montgomery County line.
Twenty-fourth. — Belmont and City Avenues
Twenty-fifth.— Nicetown Lane, north of Baker Street..
Twenty-sixth.— South of Washingto " ' "
fifth Street
Twenty-seventh.— Sixty-first and Walnut Streets
Twenty-eighth -Thirtieth and Coulter Streets
Twenty-ninth.— Bridge Street, above Columbia Avenue and Coi
necting Railroad
Thirtieth. — Gray's Ferry Road, north of Catharine Street
Thirty-first.— Kensington Avenue, northeast of Huntingdo
Street
e and west of Twenty-
Feet.
24.29
28.58
31.05
34.26
31.41
37.70
42.62
43.90
43.45
41.25
34.75
36.00
43.60
72.78
106.(0
34.83
32.46
27.05
99.26
89.65
430.00
440.02
240.00
292.00
133.46
38.73
114.00
255.00
The length of paved streets 900
The length of sewers 200
The length of water-pipes 7fO
The length of gas-pipes '32
The number of gas-lamp* ^?'iiQ
The number of gasoliue-lamps 1,449
Total l*.l"
The length of river front on the Delaware River
The length of wharves on the Delaware River
The length of river front on the Schuylkill River (both sides)..
The length of wharves on the Schuylkill River (both sides)
Total length of river front..
Total length of wharves
10
The:
umber of public squares is, viz. :
Acres.
1. Independence Square ^64
- Washington Square 6.70
3. Franklin Square 7.83
4. Logan Square J=^
5. Rittenhouse Square o-^o
6. Jefferson Square
7. Passyunk Square
8. Notris Square
9. Fairhill Square
10. Shackamaxon Square '*'
3.64
6.80
1.21
Total *■'■-
The
I of Fairmount Park i
Acres.
. 1232
Old Park W\
East Park
West Park
Wissahickon Park *^}i
Hunting Park ^J
Out-lying lots paid for out of park loan i«t
Extent of water surface of Schuylkill River in limits of park 373
Total areas -^l^i
The number of dwellings "?;S?^
Number of milesof City Passenger Railway track '^'yi
The population (as per United States census) at each decade was as
follows, with percentage of deaths to each one thousand of population :
Years. Population. Deaths. Deaths in 1000.
1810 .'.'.'.!......!................... 110,210 i.897 17.215
18-20 137,097 3,189 23.26
1830 — 188,797 3,918 20.90
1840 258,037 4,.Wi 17.78
1850 408,762 8,034 19.63
Igeo'" " 505,529 10,849 19.18
1870 674,022 15^117 22.72
1880 846,980 17,711 20.91
* No record of deaths published.
5 Still-born and bodies brought from c
1762
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
PBOGKESS OF POPULATION IK PHILADELPHIA FROM THE
EARLIEST TIMES, ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS AND CARE-
FUL ESTIMATES.
ClTT IXD
Sdbcbbs.
CiTT AKS
COCNIT.
Yeae.
DwelllDg
Hon8««.
PopulaHoD.
Dwelling
Hoiun.
Population.
80
GOO
2,600
4,600
9.760
12,500
14,653
18,756
23,734
37,000
44,996
70,287
'.!!...!Z
".'..'.'. "i'uo
1763.
2,300
1 2,960
' 6,396
6,000
6,651
9,868
13,461
Clly Prop.
ITn
1783.
:::::::
16,682
20,566
27,968
63,078
61,278
80.979
112,467
166,000
179a
1800_
1806
54,391
81,009
47,786
96,660
114,410
167,811
2>0,523
3611,306
1810
111,210
1820
1830
1840
1860
1 15,062
1 25.172
3S.704
1 64,Ui6
137,097
188,961
268,0:17
408,762
1870
1
Vr'anl. 1870.
IM 26,817
2d „ _... 30,220
3d 19,149
4Ul. 20,862
fiUl.» „ 18,736
6lll 12,064
7lh._ _ „ 31,658
8lh 22,286
9Ul 16,629
loth ™ 2:1,312
lllh _ 14,846
12th 16,171
13th _ 19.966
14th _. 22,643
15th „ „ 44,660
161h „ 19,266
17th 21,347
18lh 26,366
I9th and 31tt-._ - 46,240
20<h and 2«tb 66,642
2llt _.. 13,861
22d 22,005
23d_ 20,888
24th, 24,932
26th 1»,«39
S«lh and 30lh- 36,003
87th _ 19,386
28th,_ „ 10,370
ToUl 674/122
locnaaa In wvantaan wardi
1880.
43,086
28,498
18,271
18,863
16,368
10,004
31,1187
19,641
12,481
23,.163
12,930
14,690
18,646
22,:l64
47.885
17,802
20,451
29,364
76,195
83,994
19,099
31,798
26/i22
46,057
36,104
64,238
23,284
34,442
IncreHBe. Decrease.
17,288
2,988
29,955
27,.152
6,8:i8
9.193
6,634
21,125
17,46.'>
27,6:15
3,899
24,072
1,999
2,368
2,O0U
471
2,746
4,146
846,980 l».t,690
DacrMae In fourtaan wards..
Net Incraaae ainca 1870 172,958
Malaa, 1870 320,379 Natlte, 1880 642,648
Femalsa, 1870 :I63,643 Foreign, 1880 2mJ32
Malea, 1880 406,899 Whilea, 1870 661,864
Fi-malea, 1880 44I,ii«l Colored, 1870 22,168
NallTc, III70 4»<V1B8 Whilea, 1880 816,182
Foreign, 1870 183,624 Colored, 1880 31,798
The census of 1777 wa.s taken by order of Sir Wil-
liam Howe when the British army was in possession
of the city. At that time many Whigs and patriots
were absent, and it is estimated tliat the population
in the same year before the entry of the British was
about thirty thousand.
In 1854 the boundaries of the city were l)y the Con-
solidation Act extended over the whole of the country,
80 lliat the distinction between the city with the
suburbs or adjoining incorporated districts and the
county wa.s abolished.
COMPARATIVE TABLE, SHOWING INCREASE AND DECREASE
BY WARDS SINCE 1870.
Word.
In the colored are included Chinese in 1870, 12; in
1880, 80; Japanese, 1870, 1; 1880, 3; Indians, 1870,
8; in 1880, 25.
CENSUS OF THE CITY, JUNE, 18S0.
Ward. Population.
l«t 4;l,08o
2d. 28,498
3d 18,271
4th 1S.8,W
5th 16,368
6th 10,004
7th 31,087
8th 19,541
6th 12,481
10th 2.1,36:1
11th 12,9:10
12lh ; 14,6110
Population.
18tli 29,364
19th 4.'i,887
2tlth 43,207
21et 19,699
22d 31,766
?M 26,622
24th 46,067
25th 36,104
2CIh 35,138
27th 23,284
28lh 34,442
•.d9th 40,787
13lh 18,646 3nth 29,100
14th 22,:154 ; 3Ut 31,303
16th 47.806 I
10th 17,802 Grand total 846,980
17th 20,451
The Governors of Pennsylvania' and of the Set-
tlements on the Delaware before the Formation
of the Commonwealth. — No list that has yet ap-
peared in print gives a complete list of the names of
the Governors of this province and of the previous
settlements on the Delaware. The following is more
nearly perfect than any heretofore pilblished :
DuToii Rn.E.
Cornollue Jacobsen May, Director of New
Nelheilanda —,1624
William Van HuUt, Director of New Neth-
erlands • —,1625
Peter Miimit, Director of New Nelherlands.May 4, 1626
David Pieterzen Do Vries, Governor on the
Delaware Dec. 6,1632
Woiiter Van Twiller, Director of New Neth-
erlands April 14, 1633
Sir William Klett, Director of New Nether-
lands March 28, 1638
SwEnisH Rule.
Peter Minuit, Governor of New Sweden April — , 1038
I'eter llollnndnor. Governor of New Sweden.. — , 1 641
John Printz, Governor of New Sweden Feb. 15, 1643
Di'Tcii Rile.
Peter Stujvesant, Director of New Nether-
lands May 27, 1647
Swedish Rule.
John Pappegoya, Governor of New Sweden..0ct. — , 1053
John Claude Rysing, Vice.Director of New-
Sweden May — , 1054
Dl'TCn RCLK
Peter Stnyvesant, Director of New Nether-
lands — , 1655
Dirck Smidt, Schout Fiscal and CommissHry
on the Delaware —,1655
John Paul Jaquel, Director on the Delaware.. — , 1655
Andreas Huddo, Commissary on the Dela-
ware 1656 to 1067
Jacob Alriclis, Director of the City Colony ...April — , 1667
Gregorlus Van Dyck, Director of the Com-
pany's Cxilony May 20, 1657
VVillinm Deekman, Vice-Director of Com-
pany's Colony Oct. 28,1658
Alexander D'Hinovossa, Director of the City
Colony Dec. 30,1069
Enoi-irii Rule.
Col. Richard Nichols, Governor at New york..Sept. 8, 1 664
Robert Noedham, Commander on the Dela-
ware Sept. 8,1064
Col. Francis Lovelace.Governorat Now York. May — , 1607
Capt. John Carr, Commander on Delaware... — , 1008
Dutch Rtlk.
Anthony Colve, Governor of New Nether-
lands Aug. 12,1673
Peter Alrlche, Deputy Governor on the west
ilde of the Delaware Sept. — ,1673
> From John Hill Martln't " B«Dch and Bar of Philadelphia.",
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNiMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1763
English Rule.
Sir Edmond Andros, Governor Ht New York..Nov. 10, 1674
Capt. Edmund Cantwell.Commnnder on Del-
a^f^Ye Nov. 10, lGj4
Cnpt.Jolin Collier, Commanderon Delaware..Sept. 23, 1676
Capt. Christopher BiUop, Commander on Del-
aware -• Ang. 24,1677
Copt. Anthony BrockholBt.l Governor Jan. 16, 1081
Peopeietarv Government.
William Penn, Proprietor March 4, 1681
William Markham, Deputy Governor April 20, 1681
William Ponu, Proprietor and Governor Oct. 24, 168^
Thomaa Lloyd, President of Council..... 18 6 mo., 1684
William Clayton,2 President of Council 24 8 mo., 1684
Thomas HoIme,2 President of Council 30 1 mo., 168o
William Clarke,^ President of Council 9 2 mo., 1680
Arthur Cooke,2 President of Council 5 5 mo., 1686
John Simcock,2 President of Council i
Franc:
ling..,
3 7i
1., 1686
.„..>,.„ Harrison,^ President of Council in
the afternoon ■^ 1
Arthur Cooke," President of Council 1 8
John Simcock,- President of Council 16 9
William CIarke,= President of Council 19 2
Thomas Lloyd.a Commissioner W 12
Robert Turner.s Commissioner 19 12
Arthur Cooke.^ Commissioner 19 l-
John Simcock,3 Commissioner 19 12
John EcUley.s Commissioner 19 12
Capt. John Blackwell, Lieutenant-Governor..Dec. 18, lbS8
Thomas Lloyd, President of the Council 2 11 mo., lesg
Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor of the Prov-
ince March — , 1691
William Markham, Deputy Governor of the
Tn«.«rr,. unties March — , 1Ij91
JjOWer IjOUIIlieb „ • ■> ni> Tfn-3
Benjamin Fletcher, Governor for the Crown.April 26, 1693
William Markham, Lieutenant-Governor for
the Crown "V-V,-" •■■*""' ^^' ^^^^
William Markham, Governor for William
Penn "
Dr. John Goodson,* Deputy Governor, or
Assistant 10 William Markham 24
Samuel Carpenter,< Deputy Governor, or As-
sistant to William Markham ..-.24
William Markham, Lieutenant-Governor fur
Penn May 19, 1698
William Penn, Proprietor and Governor 21 10 mo., 1699
Andrew Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor Nov.
Edward Shippen, President of Council 19 12
John Evans, Lieutenant-Governor leD.
Col. Charles Gonkin, Lieutenant-Governor...Fcb.
William Keith,* Lieutenant-Governor May
Hnnnah Penn, Executrix for Proprietaries. ..July
,1686
., 1086
., 1687
,168%
,188%
.,16«?2
.,168%
168%
)., 1694
)., 1694
,1694
14, 1701
10., 1702
14, 170?^
2, 170|
31, 1717
31, 1718
Sir William Keitii.s Governor April 28,1719
Patrick Gordon,' Lieutenant-Governor June 2„, il-o
John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, J"™?"" ..„
.Tames Logan, President of Council -Aug,
Thomas Penn, Proprietary Sept.
George Thomas, Lientenant-Governor... June
to 1746
5, 1736
28, 1736
1,1738
Thomas and Richard Penn, Proprietaries 1746 to 1771
Anthony Palmer, President of Council June 6, 1747
James Hamilton. Lieutenant-Governor Nov. 2.i, 1748
Robert HunterMorris.Lieulenant-Governor Oct.
William Denny, Lieutenant-Governor Aug.
James Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor Nov.
John Penn, Lieutenant-Governor Nov.
.Tames Hamilton, President of Council May
Thomas and John Penn, Proprietaries 1771
Richard Penn, Lieutenant-Governor Oct.
John Penn, Governor ""g-
Under thr Commonwealth.
Thomas Wharton, Jr.,8 President Supreme
Executive Council March 5, 1777
George Bryan, Vice-President May 23, 1778
15, 17S4
27, 1756
18, 17S9
1, 1763
6, 1771
to 1775
16, 1771
30, 1773
Joseph Reed, President Supreme Executive
Council. Dec.
William Moore, President Supreme Execu-
tive Council Nov.
John Dickinson, President Supreme Execu-
tive Council - Nov.
Benjamin Franklin," President Supreme Ex-
ecutive Council Oct.
David Redick, Vice-President Oct.
Thomas Mifflin, President Supreme Execu-
tive Council Nov.
Thomas Mifflin, Governor Dec.
Thomas McKean, Governor Dec.
Simon Snyder, Governor .'. Dec.
William Findlay, Governor Dec.
Joseph Hiester, Governor Dec.
John Andrew Shulze, Governor Dec.
George Wolf, Governor Dec.
Joseph Ritner, Governor Bee.
David Ritlenhouse Porter, Governor Jan.
Francis Rahu Shunk, Governor Jan.
William Freame Johnston, Governor July
William Bigler, Governor Jan.
James Pollock, Governor Jan,
William Fisher Packer, Governor Jan.
Andrew Gregg Curtin, Governor Jan.
John White Geary, Governor Jan.
John Frederic Hartranft, Governor Jau.
Henry Martin Hovt, Governor Jan.
Robert Emory Pattison,!" Governor Jan.
1, 1778
14, 1781
5, 1788
21, 1790
17, 1799
20, 1808
16, 1817
19, 1820
16, 1823
15, 1829
15, 181)5
15, 1839
21, 1845
9,1848
20, 1862
16, 1855
19, 1858
16,1861
15, 1867
21, 1873
21,1879
16, 1883
MEMBERS OF THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA
FROM 1682 TO 1775.
1682. William Markham.
Christopher Taylor.
Thomas Holme.
Lawrence Cock.
William Clark.
John Hilliard.
William Haigue.
John Moll.
Ralph Withers.
John Simcock.
Francis Whitwell.
Edmund Cantwell.
William Clayton.
1682. William Biles.
James Harrison.
John Richardson.
1683. Edward Southern.
John Roads.
1684. William Welch.
William Wood.
Thomas Lloyd.
Thomas Janney.
Luke Watson.
John Cann.
William Southebe.
William Darvall.
"Armor's Governors," 251 ;
1 Governor until June 26, 1681, when the colonial government ceased
by virtue of the charter to William Penn of March 4, 1681, who then
became the proprietor. Penn's Council first met at Upland, i.e. Chester,
on Aug. 3, 1631.
2 The members of Council were authorized by the Governor to choose
one of themselves President in the absence of Thomas Lloyd (1 C. R.,
124), and they were Governors for Ihe time being, and as such signed
commissions and performed all the duties of that office. Thomas Holme
died 10th 7 mo., 1694, aged forty-five years.
3 Commissioners, any three to act as Deputy Governor; 1 C. R., 166.
< Deputy Governors, or assistants to Markham; 1 C. R., 437.
6 His commission bears date Nov. 29, 1716, but the dates given by me
are those when the Lieutenant-Governors were inducted into office.
6 Called Lieulenant-General,Governor,and Commander-in-Chief, etc. ;
3 0. B., p. S5. Not Sir William until 1721, when he succeeded to the
baronetcy. « r, t> or«i
7 Lieutenant-Governor, with the a-ssent of Hannah Penn ; 3 C. B., 265.
8 President of the Committee of Safety, A ug. 6, 1776. President of the
Supreme Executive Council, March 6, 1777.
' Franklin's term expired Oct. 14, 1788.
XV. C. K., 664.
w The first Constitution for the government of Pennsylvania as a State,
went into effect on Sept. 2, 1790. An election was held under it the fol-
lowing month, and Thomas Mifflin, of Philadelphia, who had been Presi-
dent of the Supreme Executive Council since Nov. 5, 1788, was elected,
andonDec. 21,1790, inaugurated as Governor in Philadelphia, "with
much ceremony." He was Governor until Dec. 17, 1799, a period of
nine years having been twice re-elected. Joseph Ritner, of Washing-
ton County, was Governor from Dec. 15, 1835, until the third Tuesday of
January, 1839, the beginning of the gubernatorial term having been
changed by the amended Constitution of 1838 from the third Tuesday of
December to the third Tuesday of January. Governor Shunk resigned
on the 9th day of July, 1848, when William Freame Johnston, of Arm-
strong, who was Speaker of the Senate, by virtue of his office, became
Governor until the third Tuesday of January, 1849. In the mean time
Governor Johnston had been elected at the October election in 1848,
and on the third Tuesday of January, 1849, was inaugurated, and served
a full term. Andrew Gregg Curtin, of Centre County, was Governor for
two terms, covering the entire period of the Rebellion,
Pattison was elected on Nov. 7, 1882, to serve as Goveri
from the third Tuesday in January (the 16th), 1883 ; he
yearsof age, being our youngest Governor. Mifflin, at his inauguration,
was forty -six; McKean, sixty-five ; Snyder, forty-nine; Findlay, forty-
nine; Hiester, sixty-eight; Shulze, forty-eight; Wolf, fifty-two ; Ritner,
fifty-five; Porter, fifty-one; Shunk, fifty-seven; Johnston, forty; Big-
ler, thirty-eight; Pollock, forty-five; Packer, fifty-one; Curtin, forty-
four; Geary, forty-eight; Hartranft, forty-three, and Hoyt, forty-nine
yeara of age'. The Constitution of 1790 provided that a Governor could
be elected for three terms successively. The amended Constitution of
I 1838 limited the time to two terms, and that of 1S73 to one term of four
1 years. Philadelphia was the capital of the commonwealth until 1799,
when' the seat of government was removed to Lancaster, where it con-
tinned until 1812, when Harrisburg was made the capital. Of these
eighteen former Governors of the State, only four are now living,
I namely: Pollock, Curtin, Hartranft, and Hoyt.
Robert Emory
>r for four years
8 but thirty-two
I
1764
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1684
Peter Alrichs.
1701.
John Guest
1885.
Jobu Barnes.
Samuel Finney.
Nicholas Sewlin.
John Blunston.
Pliiiieas Ponibeilou.
1702.
Jamas Logan.
WilliHm Kmmplon.
John Finney.
Edward GrooQ.
1703.
Roger Mompesson.
Robert Turner.
William Trent.
16«6
Fr«Dci8 Harrison.
170*.
William Penn, Jr.
Arthor Cooke.
Richard Hill.
1687
MiO. William Dyer.
George Roche.
Griffith Jonea.
Joseph Pidgeon.
Jamee Claypoole.
I70J.
Isaac Norris.
John BriBtow.
Anthony Palmer.
Joseph Growden.
1712.
Jonathan Dickin^n.
Samuel Carpenter.
Robert Asshetou.
John Eckley.
1721.
Col. John French.
16S8
Barttiolomew Coppock.
Thomas blasters.
William Tardley.
Andrew Hamilton.
Samuel Riobardaon.
Henry Brooke.
John d'Haaa.
1722
William Assheton.
1689
John Hill.
1723.
William Fishbouru.^
William Stockdale.
Josiah Kolfe.
John Curtis.
1724.
Francis Rawle.
1690
Griffith Owen.
1725
Dr. Thomas Graeme.
Thomaa Clirton.
1720
Evan Owen.
Thomas Duckelt.
1727
Clement Pliimsted.
John Brinckloe.i
1728
Samuel Uasell.
1693
Andrew Robeson.
Thomas Lawrence.
Patrick Bol.inson.
Ralph Assheton.
1693
Lawrence Cock.
1733
Thomas Griftitts.
William Salway.
Charles Read.
Georse Forman.
1741
Abram Taylor.
1691
Charles Sanders.
Robert Stretteil.
John Donaldson.
William Till.
1895
Anthony Morris.
1745
Benjamin Shoemaker.
David Lloyd.5
James llninilton.
Caleb Puscy.
1747
Lawrence Growden.
George Maris.
William Logan.
John Williams.
Joseph Turner.
Richard Halliwell.
TliomiiH llopkinson.
Robert Clifton.
1749
Rev. Richard Peters.
Richard Wilson.
1763
John I'enn.
169(i
Edward Shippen.
1765
Lyn-Ford Lardner.^
1698
William Rodney.i
Dr. Thomas Cudwnlude
1700
Richard Hough.
1766
Benjamin Chew.
Jasper Teatea.
John Mifflin.
Samuel Preston.
1769
John Moland.
Tliomas Fenwick.
1764
Richard Penn.
Robert French.
1707
James Tilghman.
Thomas Story.
1770
Edward Shippon, Jr.
Humphrey Murry.
Andrew Allen.
LIEUTENANT-GUVEBNORS.
EltcUd aider I/i< QmtlUuUon of \%Ti, tc pruiite In Ihe Senate.
John Lalla, elected Nov. 3,1874
Charles W. Stone, elecle<l Nov. 6, 1878
Cliauncey F. Black, elected Nov. 7, 1882
I Brlnckloe, CUrk, FlabboorD, Murry, William and Cnsar, and Rod-
Day la the spelling In their siguaturos. Despite the utmost care, these
namsa have been mlB*|>elt heretofore.
«"Sl«.— Having had some experience of Your Loyalty to Our moat
gracious Soveraign KiMO WiLtlAM and nidelity to Our Proprietor I
havelhouithl Att to Nominate You One of the Proprietors Counclll for
this Oovernm'. And in Order of Seltlitig affairs of great Imgiorteucy I
doa require you to Attend me at Philnilelpbia the Afluenth day Instance.
8a I bid You heartily farewell
'* Your affectionate friend
"PhlU'lelphiathlB7lhaho rest defaced) " Wh Harxiiah.
"To Davi.l l.loyd. Theae"
David Lloyd aral sat at the Council held April 2:1, I(ja6. I am In-
debted to Furman Shep{<ard. Esq., for Ihlj intereatlng paper.
> Ula signature was Lyn-Ford ; he died Oct. 6, 1774, aged flfly-eight.
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM PHILADELPHIA.
To THE Continental Congress.^
Samuel Rhoads 1774 to 1775
Thomas Mifflin 1774 to 1775 and 1782 to 1784
.lohn Dickinson 1774 to 1776
Denjamin Franklin 1775 to 177S
Tllonias Willing 1775 to 1771!
Robert Morris 1775 to 1778
Andrew Allen 1775 to 1776
James Wilson 1775 to 1778 and 1785 to 1786
Benjamin Rush 1770 to 1777
George Clymer 1776 to 1778 and 178U to 1782
Daniel Rolierdeau 1777 to 1779
.Jonathan liaynrd Smith 1777 to 1778
Joseph Reed 1777 to 1773
Dr. Samuel DuBield 1777 to 1779
William Shippen, Sr 1778 to 17Scl
James Searie 1778 to 1780
Frederiik .Xnpnstus Muhlenberg 1779 lo 1780
Jared Incei-soll 1780 lo 1781
Timothy Mallack 1780 to 1781
Thonms Fitzsimons 1782 to 178:i
Ricliard Peters 17l'2 to 17S:i
Cadwalarier Morris 1783 to 1785
Joseph Reed 1784 to 1785
Matthew Clarkson 1785 to 1787
Charles Peltit 1785 to 17S7
Jolm Bavai-d 1785 to 1789
Gen. Arthur St. Chiir 1785 to 17S7
Samuel Meredith ITSO to 1789
William Bingham 178li lo 17S'I
John Armstrong, Jr 1787 to 1789
To THE Congress or the United States.
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg 1789 lo 1707
George Clymer 1789 to 1791
Thomas FitMimons 1789 to 1795
John Swanwick 1795 to 1799
Blair McClenachun 1797 to 1799
Robert Wain 1799 to 1801
Michael Leib 1799 to 18116
William Jones 1801 to 1803
Joseidi Clay 18u:i to 1808
Dr. John Porter 1800 to 1811
Dr. Benjamin Say 1808 to 1811
Rev. Dr. Jiinies Miluor 1811 to 18l:i
Dr. Adam Seyhert 1611 to 1815 and 1817 to 1819
Charles Jared Ingersoll 1813 to 1815 and 1841 to 1849
Jolin Conard 1813 to 1815
Jonathan Williams 1815 to 1817
Joseph Hopkinson 1815 to 1819
William Milnor.Jr 1815 to 1817 and 1821 to 1823
John Sergeant 1817 to 1823 and 1837 to 1841
Joseph Hemphill 1819 to 1826 and 1827 to 1831
Thomas Forrest 1819 to 1821
Samuel Breck 182:) lo 1825
Daniel H Miller 1823 to 1831
John Wurtz 1825 to 1827
Thomas Kittera,* 1820 to 1827
Dr. Joel B.Sutherland 18ii7 to 18.37
Henry Horn 18U to 1833
John C. Watmough 1831 to 1836
Horace Binney 1833 to 1835
James Harper 1833 to 1837
Joseph K. ed Ingersoll 1835 to 1837 and 1841 to 1849
Michael Woolston Ash 18:15 to 18:17
Lemuel Paynter 1837 tt> 1841
George Washington Toland ls:i7 to 1S43
Charles Nsylor 1837 to 1841
Charles Brown 1841 to 1843 and 1S47 to 1849
Edward Joy Morris 1843 to 1846 and 1857 to 1861
.lohn T. Smith 1843 to 1845
Lewis Cllnrles Levin 1845 to 1861
John H. Campbell 1845 to 1847
Joseph R. Chandler 1849 to 1865
Henry I). Moore 1849 to 1853
John Robbins, Jr.« 1849 to 1855
Thomas B.Florence 1851 to 1861
William II. Witte 1863 to 1865
John McNalr 1853 to 1855
Job Rolierls Tyson 1856 to 18.57
< The Assembly of Pennsylvania elected the members of tlie Conti-
nental Congress during the Confederacy on general ticket. The names
here given arc such of the members as are known to bavo been residents
of the city and county of Piilladelphla. There wore otlieia chosen from
other parts of the Slate who are not named here. There is also some
difficulty In assigning some of them to their proper residences, as they
had estates anil seats in Phllndelphia and In other counties. For in-
stance Joseph Galloway, In Congress 1774-75, was in liie Assembly a
delegate from Bucks County, although most of the year lie lived In Phil-
adelphia. The same conditions apply to Charles II phreys, member
of Congreas 1774-76.
* Vice Hemphill, resigned.
' Died April 27, 1880, aged seventy-two years.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1765
Williiim Millward 18
Jacoli Broom
John Cadwalader
.lames Landy
Henry Myer Phillips
Owen Jones
Jolin P. Verree '.
Jolin Wood
William Eckliardt Lehman...
William Darrah Kelley
William Morris Davis
V, to 1657 an
1 1859
..1855
..18.56
..|)'57
..18.57
.1857
..1S59
..1S59
..1861
..1861
..1861
. 1861
..1863
d 1873
..1863
..1863
..1871
. 18i;7
..1873
..1875
..1879
to
to
1861
1S57
1867
1869
1859
1859
1863
1861
1863
18G3
Samuel J. Randall
63 to 1871 an
Leonard Myers
Martin Kussell Thayer
John V. Creely
Caleb N. Tavlor
1876
1867
1873
Alfred C. Harmer
Nathaniel Chapman Freeman
Henry H. Bingham
1879
BEN/
kTOES OF THE UNITED STATES
FROM PEl
<NS
TLVANIA
William .Maclay, elected
Robert Morris, elected
Albert Gallatin, elected
James Ross, elected
William Bingham, elected....
Peter Muhlenberg, elected...
George Logan, elected
..1789
..1789
..1793
..1794
..1795
.1801
..1801
To
1791
1795
1794
1803
1801
1802
18117
Andrew Gregg, elected
Michael Leib, elected
Abner Lacock, elected
Jonathan Roberts, elected....
Walter Lowne, elected
William Findlav, elected
William Marks, elected
Isaac D. Barnard, elected
George Mifflin Dallas, elected
William Wilkins, elected
Samuel McLean, elected
Janie.'J Buchanan, elected
Daniel Sturgeon, elected
Simon Cameron, elected
Simon Cameron, elected
Simon Cameron, elected
James Cooper, elected
Richard Brodhead, Jr., elecle
William Bigler, elected
Edgar Cowan, elected
David Wilmot, elected
Charles R. Buckalew, elected
..1807
..1809
..1813
..1S15
..1819
..1821
..18-26
..1827
1813
1814
1819
1821
1826
1827
1831
18:13
d'.!'.....
..1831
. 1833
..1834
...1839
..1845
..1857
...1867
..1819
..1851
..1855
..1861
..,1861
..18B3
1834
1839
1845
1861
1849
1861
1877
1865
1S67
1861
1867
1863
1869
William A. Wallace, elected
James Donald Canieron,l elected
John I. Milchell,2 elected
...1875
...1877
...1881
1881
1886
1887
SPEAKERS OF THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1791
Eichaid Peters.
1842.
John Strohn
1792.
Samuel Prwell.
Willi
im Heister
1794
Anthony Morris.
1843.
Benjamin Crispi
1795
Willi.im Bingham.
1814.
Willi
am Bigler.
1796.
Robert Hare.
1846.
William P. Wile
ox.
1800.
John Wood.
1S46.
Daniel L. Sherwood.
1802
Samuel Maclay.
1847.
Char
es Gibbons
180-1.
Robert Whitehill.
1848.
William Willian
son.
1806
James Brady.
William F. Johnston.
1807
Presly C. Lane.
1840.
George Dars
e.
1815
John Tod.
ISoO.
Valer
line Best.
1817
Isaac Weaver.
1851.
Benja
min Matthias.
1821
William Marks, Jr.
1852.
John
H. Walker
1825
Thomas Burnside.
1853.
Thomas CarBon.
1826
Ale-xander Mahon.
1S54
Maxwell McCas
in.
1828
Daniel Sturgeon.
1855
William M.
Hiester.
1830
William G. Hawkins.
1856.
Willi
amM.
Piatt.
1833
Dr. Jesse R. Burden.
1857.
David Taggart.
1834
Thomas Ringland.
1858.
Willi
amH.
Welsh.
183S
Jacob Kern.
1859
John
Cressw
ell.
Jr.
1836
T. S. Cunningham.
1860
Willi
am M.
Frar
cis.
1837
Dr. Jesse R. Burden.
1861
Robert M. Palmer.
1838
Charles B. Penrose.
1862
Louis W. Ha
11.
1840
William T. Dodgers.
1863.
George V. L
iwrence.
Ebenezer Kingsbury, Jr.
1864
John
P. Penny.
1841
Charles B. Penrose.
1865
Willi
im J. Turrell.
J. H. Ewing.
1866
David Flemi
ng.
1867. Louis W. Hall.
1868. James L.Graham.
1869. Wilmer Worthingto
1870. Charles H. Stinson.
1871. William A.Wallace.
1872. James S. Rntan.
1873. George H. Anderson.
1874. Butler B. Strang.
PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE.
^o tempore.
George H. Cutler, elected Jan. 4, 1875
Elisha W. Davis, elected March 18, 1875
John C. Newniyer, elected May 6,1876
Thomas VernoM Cooper, elected March 23,1877
Andrew Jackson Herr, elected May 24,1878
John Lamon, elected June 6,1879
William Imlay Newell, elected Jan. 4, 1881
Hugh McNeill, elected June 9, 1881
John Edgar Reyburn, elected Jan. 2, 1883
CLERKS OF PROVINCIAL COUNCIL AND SECRETARIES OF
THE PROVINCE.
Richard Ingelo, appointed Oct. 27, 1682
Dr. Nicholas More, appointed 2 3 mo., 1683
William Markham, appointed 28 3 mo. ,1685
David Jamison, appointed April 26, 1693
Patrick Robinson, appointed 3 4 mo., 1693
James Logan, appointed 15 7 mo., 1701
Robert Assbeton, deputy, appointed 24 9 mo., 1709
Ralph Asshetoii, deputy, appointed Oct. 12,1713
George Barclay, deputy, appointed May 31,1717
Dr. Patrick Baird, appointed May 20, 1723
Robert Charles,^ appointed Sept. 15, 1726
Thomas Lawrie, appointed Aug. 1, 1738
Dr. Patrick Baird, appointed July 21, 1740
Rev. Richard Peters, appointed Feb. 14,1742-43
William Peters, deputy, appointed Feb. 15, 1758
Joseph Shipiien, Jr Jan. 2, 1762
SPEAKERS OF THE ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1682. Dr. Nicholas More.<
1682-83. Dr. Thonuis Wyni
1683. John Songhurst.6
1684. Dr. Nicholas More.:
1686-88. John White.
1689, Arthur Cooke.
1690-93. Joseph Growden.s
1092. William Clark.
1694. David Lloyd.
1696. Edward Shippen.
1096. John Simcock.
1697. John Blunston.
1700-2. Joseph Growden.
1702-3. No organization.
1703-6. David Lloyd.
1705-B. Joseph Growden.
1706-10. David Lloyd.
1710-12. Richard Hill.
1712-13. Isaac Norris.
1713-14. Joseph Growden.
1714-15. David Lloyd.
1715-16. Joseph Growden.
1716-17. Richard Hill.
1717-18. William Trent.
1718-19. Jonathan Dickinsi
1719-20. William Trent.
1720-21. Isaac Noriis.
1721-22. Jeremiah Langhoi
1722-23. Joseph Growden.
1723-24. David Lloyd.
1724-26. William Biles.
1725-29. David Lloyd.
1729-33. Andrew Hamilton.
1733-34. Jeremiah Langhorn
1734-39. Andrew Hamilton.
1739^5. John Kinsey.
1846. John Wright (sick).
1745-50. John Kinsey.^
1750-56. Isaac Norris.
1756. Benjamin Chew.M
1756-58. Isaac Norris.
1758-59. Isaac Leech. ^^
Isaac Norris.
1759. Isaac Leech.
1759-64. Isaac Norris.
1764. Benjamin Franklin.
1764-65. Isaac Norri«.
1765-66. Joseph Vox.
1765-69. Joseph Galloway.
1769. John Fox.12
1769-73. Joseph Galloway.
1773. Thomas McKean.l=
1773-74. Joseph Galloway.
1774-75. Edward Biddle.
1776. John Morton.'s
1776-76. John Morton.
1 The unexpired term of his father, who resigned ; and on Jan. 21,
1879, he was re-elected for six years from March 4, 1879.
2 Elected for six years, on Feb. 2:3, 1881.
3 In 9 Pennsylvania Archi
given as provincial secretary
seph Growden in 1736, but thi
noting such appointments.
* During the first session at Chester.
5 Second session, 1682, and for 1083. Died 1st mo. 16, 160:
6 Deputy, 24th 8th mo., 168-3.
' In place of Francis Fincher, declined.
s Minutes of the session of 1691-92 are missing.
9 Died before Aug. 9, 1760.
1^ But being called to Council, it vacated his seat
11 Leech was elected to serve during the frequ
Norris.
1= Part of session only.
13 Elected on March 16, 1776, for part of session.
I (2d Series), p. 634, John Georges is
1733, Robert Charles in 1736, and Jo-
are no entries in the Colonial Becords
the Assembly.
t sickness of Mr.
1766
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1784-S5. John Ba.vard.
1TS5-88. Thuniaa Mifflin.
178S-89. Richard Peters.
1776-77. John Jncol.s.
1777-«0. John Baynrd.
n80-«3. F. A. Sluhlenberg.
1783-84. George Gray.
SPE.'^EERS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF THE COMMOX-
WEALTU OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1791. William Bingham.
1843. Ueudrick D. Wright.
1793. Gerard ns Wjrnkoop.
1814. James Ross Snowden.
1794. George Ijitimer.
1845. Findley Petterson.
1799 Cadwalader Evans.
1847. James Cooper.
1800. Isaac W.-aver, Jr.
1848. William F. Packer.
1804. Simon Snjrder.
1850. John S. McCalniout.
1806. Charles Porter.
1851. John Cessna.
18C7. SimoD Snyder.
1852. John S. Rhey.
1809. Jamee Eugle.
185.1. William P. Schell.
1810. John Weber.
1854. E. B. Chase.
1812. Jo"hn Tod.
1855. Henry K. Strong.
1813. Robert Smith.
1856. Richardson L. Wright.
1814. John St. Clair.
1857. J. Lawrence Getz.
1815. Jaroh Holgate.
1858. A. B. Longnker.
1816. Bees Hill.
1860. W. A. C. Lawrence.
1818. William Davidson.
1861. Ellsha W. Davis.
1819. Bees Hill.
1862. John Rowe.
1820. Joseph Lawrence.
1863. John Cessna.
1821. John Gilmore.
1864. Henrj- C. Johnson.
1822. Joseph Lawrence.
1865. Arthur G. Olmsled.
182S. Dr. Joel B. Sutherland.
1866. James R. Kelly.
1826. Joseph Bitner.
1807. John P. Glass.
1828. Ner Middleswarth.
1868. Elisha W. Davis.
1830. Frederick Smith.
1869. John Clark.
1832. John Laporte.
1860. Butler B. Strang.
1833. Dr. Samuel Anderson.
1871. James H. Webb.
1833. Janiea Flndlay.
1872. William Elliott.
1834. William Patterson.
1874. Hugh H. McCormick.
1835. James Thompson.
1875. Samuel F. Pattenjon.
1836. Ner .Middleswarth.
1877. Elijah Reed Myer.
1837. Levis Dewart.
1879. Henry M. Long.
1839. William Hopkins.
1881. Benjamin L. Hewitt.
1841. William A. Crabb.
1833. John Egner Fan nee.
1842. James Boas Snowden.
CLERKS OF T
EIE ASSEMBLY.
1683-86. John Southvurth.
1722-23. Aquilla Rose.
1886-89. John Claypoole.
1723-28. Thomas Leech.
1689-92. David Lloyd.
1728-30. John Roberti.
1692-95. William AUoway.
1730-30. Joseph Growdon.
1695-98. FnincU Cooke.
173I-.-51. Benjamin Franklin.
169S-99. Jonathan Dickinson.
1751-56. William Franklin.
16W. Stephen Olcman.
1766-73. Charles Moore.
1700. Aareliua Hoskins.
1776. Caleb Davis, pro (em.
1701-5. John Antrohus.
1777. John Morris, Jr.
1706. Maurice Lisle.
1779. Thomas I'aine.
1706-9. Thomas Hakin.
1780. Samuel Sterrett.
1709. Joseph Willcox.
1783. Peter Zuchnry Lloyd.
.1710-11. Richard Heath.
1790. Joseph Redman.
1711-17. Thcnias Wilson.
1789-90. Jacob Shallus, auinlanl.
1717-22. Maurice Lisle.
DOORKEEPERS OF THE ASSEMBLY.
1686.
1689.
1600.
1S>2.
1693.
1607.
1700.
1704.
1719.
1722.
1728.
1739.
Richard Reynolds. 1728. James Slackey.
William Elllngworth. 1731. John Campbell.
George Moore. 1732. John Remington
Charlea Ware. 1736. Stephen Potts.
Thomas Curtis. 1741. Thomas Bur<liu.
Daniel Smith. 1749. F.dwanl Kelly.
William Woodroan»ey. 17.'.0. David Edwards.
John Oram. 17.'i8. Andrew McNair.i
Nicholas Rosogan.' 1789. Joseph Fry.
SEBGEASTS-AT-ARM.S.
Peter Worrall. 1741. Samuel KIrke.
John Eyer. 1771. William 8hedd.>
Jame* Mackey. 1789. Jame* Uartln.
Jams* PItcbsrd.
> In oSc* nnUI 1725. 'Still In office In 1775.
• In *'Klnat«or Common Council," this name is spelled Sheed, pp.
KEEPERS OF THE GREAT SEAL OF THE PROVINCE OF
PENNSYLVANIA.
Thomas Lloyd, commiasioued 27 10 br., 1683
Thomns Stor'v,< couimissioued 25 2 mo., 1700
Thomas Grilfllts,5 coniuii*.ioned Nov. 3, 1727
" Lyn-Ford Lardner, coninnssioiifd Dec. 12, 1746
Bichard Hocklev, commissioned March 28, 17.13
Edmund Physick, conmiissioned Jan. 1, 170<1
Timothy .Matlack,' commissioned — , 1777
SECRETARIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH.
Timothy Matlack, appointed March 6, 1777
John Arnistrung, Jr., appuiuted March 25, I78;i
Charles Biddle. appointed Oct. 23, 1787
James Trimble,: appointed .'. Nov. 12, 1788
Alexander James Dallas, appointed Jan. 19, 1791
Thomas SIcKean Thompson, appointed April 18, 1801
Nathaniel B. Boileau, appointed Dec. 20, 1808
Thomas Sergeant, appointed Dec. 16,1817
Samuel D. Ingham, appointed July 6, 1819
Andrew Gregg, appointed Dec. 19, 1820
Moltoti Cropper Rogers, appointed Dec. 16, 1823
Msj. Isaac D. Barnard,^ appoiTited Jan. , 2,1826
Calvin Blvthe, appointed Nov. 28, 1827
Samuel McKean, appointed Dec. 10,1829
James Findlay, appointed Dec. 17,1833
Thomas H. Burrowes. appointed Dec. 15,1835
Francis Rahn Shunk,' appointed Jan. 15, 1839
Anson Virgil Parsons, appointed Jan. 25, 1842
Charles McClure, appointed Feb. 20, 1843
Jesse Miller, appointed Jan. 21, 1845
Townsend Haines, appointed July 29,1848
Alexander L. Russell, appointed Jan. 25, 1850
Francis Wade Hughes, appointed Jan. 21, 1852
Charles A. Black, appointed March 16, 1863
Andrew Gregg Cnrtin, appointed Jan. 17, 1855
William M. Hiester, appointed Jan. 20, 1858
Eli Slifer, appointed Jan. 10, 1861
Francis Jordan, appointed Jan. 16, 1867
Matthew Stanley Quay, appointed Jan. 22, 1873
John Blair Liun. appointed May 15, 1878
Matthew Stanley Quay, appointed — , 1879
Francis Jordan, appointed Nov. 4, 188i
William S. Stenger, appointed Jan. 16, 1883
TREASURERS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Samuel Carpenter, deputy 28 5 mo., 1685
Robert Turner, in office Aug. 8, 1093
Samuel Carpenter, in office Aug. 28, 1701
James Fox, before 20 2 mo., 1709
Samuel Carpenter, appointed March 6, 1710-11
Samuel Preston,"' appointed 6 mo. 7,1714
Michael Lightfoot, appointed Nov. 17, 1743
Samuel Preston Moore, appointed Dec. 4, 1764
Owen .Tones, appointed Oct. 16, 1768
Michiiel Hillegas," appointed June 30, 1775
David Rittenhouae, appcdnted Jan. 14, 1777
Christian Febiger,i= cnimissioned Nov. 13, 1789
Peter Baynton, conimi«sioned Jan. 10, 1797
Jacob Carpenter, in ollire Jan. 13, 1801
Isaac Weaver, Jr., in office 1802 to 18(i6
Andrew Gregg, in office 1800 to 1807
William Findlav, in office 1807 to 1817
Richard M. Grain, in office 1817 to 1820
John I). Trevor, in office 1820 to 1821
Willinm Clark, In office 1821 to 1827
Alexander Mahon, in office 1827 to 18.35
Joseph Lawrence, in office 1835 to 1836
Daniel Stnrgeon, in office 1830 to 1840
Almond H. Reed, in office 1840 to 1841
John Gilmore, in office 1841 to 1842
Job Mann, in office 1S42 to 1845
James Ross Snowden, in office 1846 to 1847
John Banks, in office 1847 t.) 1848
Arnold Plnmer, in office 1848 to 1849
Gideon J. Ball, in office 1849 to 1860
'* Edward Shippen, Griffith Owen, and James Logan are mentioned on
July 11, 1702, and on Feb. 3, 1705, as dopulies to the Master of Rolls.
f* In office (see votes of Assembly) until 1746.
«Hc was sick and in office Feb. 14, 1809 ; 14 C. R., 605, and Timothy
Matlack, Jr., was his father's deputy in 1809 (see "Patent Book," No.
60, p. 277.
' Assistant secretary from Nor. 12, 1788, to Jan. 14, 1836.
* Mr. Barnard was a member of the Delaware County bar, previously
« mi^or In the regular army of the United Slates during the war of 1812.
(See Martin's " History of Chester," 410 and 474.)
■ Not Itawn, as In Armor's "Governors of Pennsylvania."
"> Samuel Preston died September, 1743, aged eighty. He was ap-
pointed by the Assembly in the place of Carpenter, deceased.
" See 10 C. R., 281, and "The Accounts of Pennsylvanio."
"Reappointed Sept. 4, 1790. His last commission is dated January,
1790. He died Sept. 20, 1790, aged forty-nine.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA.
1767
Johu M. Bickel.l in office 1860 to 1854
Joseph Bailey, in office 1854 to 1855
Eli Slifer, in office 1855 to 1856
Henry S. Magraw, in office 1856 to 1859
Eli Slifer, in office 1859 to 1861
Henry D. Moore, in office 1801 to 1863
William V. MoGrath, in office 1863 to 1864
Henry D. Moore, in office 1864 to 1865
William H. Kemble, in office 1865 to 1868
William W.Irwin, in office 1868 to 1869
Bobert W. Mackey, in office 1869 to 1870
William W. Irwin, in office 1870 to 1871
Robert W. Mackey, in office 1871 to 1876
Henry Rawle, in office 1876 to 1878
Amos C. Noye9,= in office 1878 to 1880
Samuel Butler, in office May 3, 1880
Silas M. Baily, in office May 1, 1882
COMMISSIONERS FOB THE SETTLING OF THE PRESENT
COLONY.
Appointed by WiUiam Penn tlh mo. 30tt, 1681.
William Crispin. John Bezar.
Nathaniel Allen.
The original commission is in the possession of the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania, and hangs framed in their fire-proof.
The names of the witnesses are Richard Vickris, Charles Jones, Jr.
Ralph Withers, Thomas Callowhill, and Philip Th. Lehi
COMMISSIONERS OF PROPERTY.
The office of secretary of the land-office was abolished by act of April
17, 1843, and the duties of the office were transferred to the surveyors-
general.
PROPEIETABY AGENTS FOR ISSUING LAND WARRANTS AND
PATENTS.
1732. Thomas Penn.
1734. John Penn.
Thomas Penn.
1735. Thomas Penn.
1743. George Thomas.
1747. Anthony Palmer.
1748. James Hamilton .
1764. Bobert Hunter Jl
1756. William Denny.
1759. James Hamilton.
1763. John Penn.»
1771. Richard Penn.<
1773. John Penn.
1684. Thomas Lloyd.
James Claypctole.
Robert Turner.
1686. Thomas Ellis, deputy.
John Goodsonn, deputy.
William Markham, secr(
tary.
1689. William Markham.
Robert Turner.
Dr. John Goodsonn.
Samuel Carpenter.
1694. Thomas Holme.
Robert Turner.
Arthur Cooke.
Samuel Carpenter.
Dr. John Goodsonn.
Francis Rawle.
Phineas Pemberton.
1701. Edward Shippen.
Griffith Owen.
Thomas Story.
James Logan.
1711. Edward Shippen.
Samuel Carpenter,
Richard Hill.
Isaac Norris.
James Logan.
1725. Richard Hill.
Isaac Norris.
James Logan,
Bobert Assbeton.
Thomas Griffith.
1728. Eichard Hill.
Isaac Norris.
Samuel Preston.
James Logan.
In 1741, James Steel, Richard Peters, and Lyn-Ford Lardner i
pointed agents of the proprietary estates of Jolm, Thomas, and
Penn.
BECBIVERS-GBNEEAL OF THE LAND-OFFICE.
15,
1689
1690
1693
1701
1714
1732
1741
1763
1769
1781
1800
June 13, 1801
Office abolished by act of March 29, 1809, and the duliea devolved
upon the State treasurer, and the books placed iu charge of the secre-
tary of the land-office.
SECRETARIES OF THE LAND-OFFICE.
Capt. John Blackwell, commissioned Sept.
Samuel Jennings,^ commissioned luly
Robert Turner, commissioned June 1,
James Logan, commissioned Oct. 29,
Francis Steel, commissioned Jan. 30,
James Steel, commissioned Dec. 16,
Lyn-Ford Lardner, commissioned Aug. 8,
Richard Hockley, commissioned March 28,
Edmuud Physick, commissioned Jan. 1,
Francis Johnston, commissioned April 10,
Frederick Aug. Muhlenberg, commissioned..Jau. 8,
John McKissick,
William Markham.
Job n Georges.
Eev. Richard Peters.
William Peters.
James Tilghman.
David Kennedy.
James Tilghman.
David Kennedy.
John Hall.
Nathan Luf borough.
1800. Tench Ccte.
1801. Andrew Ellicott.
1809. John Cochran.
1818. William Clark.
1821. James Brady.
1824. Joshua Dickerson.
1830. Samuel Workman.
1836. John Gebhardt.
1839. John Klingensmith, Jr.
1842. William Hopkins.
1 Died April 20, 1881, aged seventy-two.
> Ex-Treasurer Noyes died Sept. 2, 1880.
3 Benjami
113
1 Chambers, deputy,
ned Nov. 1, 1690.
PROPRIETARY'S SECRETARIES.
Philip Th, Lehnmann, commissioned 2 2 mo., 1683
William Markham, commissioned 28 3 mo., 1685
Patrick Robinson, commissioned 3 4 mo., 1693
James Logan, commissioned 27 8 mo., 1701
Rev. Richard Petera, commissioned 6 4 mo., 1747
Joseph Shippen, Jr., commissioned Jan. 2,1762
SURVEYORS-GENERAL OF PENNSYLVANIA.6
Silas Crispin, appointed — , 1681
Thomas Hoi me,6 commissioned 18 2 mo., 1682
Edward Penington, commissioned Feb. 20, 1698
Thomas Fairmau,' commissioned Oct. 29, 1702
Jacob Taylor.s commissioned Nov. 20, 1706
Benjamin Eastburn, commiasioued Oct. 29,1733
William Parsons, commissioned Aug. 22, 1741
Nicholas Scull, commissioned June 14,1748
John Lukens,^ commissioned Dec. 8,1761
Daniel Brodhead, commissioned Nov. 3, 1789
Samuel Cochran, commissioned April 23, 1800
Andrew Porter, commissioned May 10, 1809
Richard T. Leech, commissioned Dec. 7, 1813
Jacob Spangler, commissioned Feb. 13, 1818
Samuel Cochran, commissioned May 11, 1821
Gabriel Hiester, commissioned May 11,1824
Jacob Spangler, commissioned May 10, 1830
John Taylor, commissioned May 10, 1836
Jacob Sallade, commissioned May 10, 1839
John Laporte. commissioned May 10, 1845
Johu Porter Brawley, commissioned May 5, 1851
John Rowe,i" commissioned May 4,1857
William H. Keim, commissioned May 7, 1860
Henry Souther, commissioned Dec. 27, 1861
James P. Barr, commissioned May 4, 1863
Jacob M. Campbell, commissioued May 7, 1866
Bobert B. Beath, commissioned May 6, 1872
By the Constitution of 1873 the office of surveyor-
general was abolished, and the duties transferred to a
new department called internal affairs, to go into
effect May 4, 1875.
SECEETAEIES OF INTERNAL AFFAIBS.
Term of office, jour years,
William McCandless, commissioned May 4,1875
Aaron K. Dunkel, commissioned May 6, 1879
J. Simpson Africa, elected Nov. 7, 1882
AUDITOES OF ACCOUNTS."
1779. John Nixon.
1780. William Govett.
William Geddes.
Samuel Miles.
John Purviance.
John Sbee.
1780. Jacob Morris.
Joseph Dean.
1781. Jona. Bayard Smith.
* Sons of Richard Peun.
s Davis, in his " History of Bucks County," erroneously calls Col. Wil-
liam Markham " Penn's surveyor-general," p. 106.
6 Thomas Holme died 1696. He was a native of Waterford, Ireland.
7 In a note to p. 182, 1 " Logan Papers," surveyor-general, 3d 2 mo.
1703.
8 Jacob Taylor died February, 1745-46.
9 Lukens died in 1789.
M John Eowe died Dec. 27, 1880, aged sixty-six.
" The " Accounts of Pennsylvania" is a very interesting publication,
containing the names of all persons in the State who paid taxes during
the above period.
1768
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
AUDITORS^GENEBAL OF PENNSTLVANIA.
1772
Richard Hocklej.i
1839
George R. Espy.
1778.
Edward Fox.«
1842
William F. Packer.
1785.
John NicholsuD.
1845.
John N. Purviance.
1789.
John DoDDaldaon.
1851.
Ephraim Banks.
1794.
JoDatban Bayard Smith.
1857
Jacob Fry, Jr.
1795
Samuel Bryan. ^
1860.
Thomaa E. Cochran.
1801
George Duffleld.
1863.
Isaac Slenker.
1805
John Eean.
1868.
John Fred. Hartranft
1808.
Richard M. Grain.
1872.
Harrison Allen.
1809.
George Bryan.
1875.
Justis F. Temple.
1821.
Jamee Puncan.
1878.
William P.Schell.
1824.
David Slann.
1881.
John A. Lemon.
1830.
Daniel Sturgeon.
1884.
Jerome B. Niles'.
1836.
Nathaniel P. Hobart.
Dr. DaTid Stanton was elected auditor-general in 1871, but died before
■BBuming office, and Hartranft held over until December, 1872, by direc-
tion of the Legislature.
COMPTROLLERS-GENERAL.
Qfice created by Act of April 13, 1782.
John Nicholson, commissioned Nov. 8, 1782
John Donnaldson, commissioned April 12, 1794
Samuel Br) an. commissioned Oct. 13,1801
George Duffleld, commissioned Oct. 15, 1805
REGISTERS-GENERAL OF (TAXES) PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.
Act 0/ March 27, 1789.
John Donnaldeon, commissioned March 27, 1769
Samuel Bryan, in office — , 1796
ESCHEATORS-GENERAL.
Henry Osboume, commissioned Feb. 20, 1781
John Nicholson, commissioned Oct. 2, 1787
Clement Biddle, commissioned Nov. 25, 1795
William N. Irvine, commissioned Sept. 14, 1815
The office of escheator-general was abolished in 1821, and the duties
thereof transferred to the auditor-general by the act.
ADJUTANTS-GENERAL OF PENNSYLVANIA.
John Bull, appointed June 1", 1777 ; Tacated Jan. 7, 1778
James Wilkinson,* appointed , ; vacated Oct. 2, 1784
John Armstrong, appointed Oct. 2, 1784; vacated — ,
Jcslah Harmar,' appointed , 1793; vacated Feb. 27,1799
Peler Baynton, appoinle<i Feb. 27, 1799; vacated May 1, 1800
Richard Uumplun, appointed -, 1802; vacated........ — ,
Mahlon Dickel^un. appointed Jan. 1, 18(>5; vacated July 22, 1808
Thomas McKran, Jr., appointed July 23, 1808 ; vacated... — ,
William Ree<l commissioned Aug. 3,1811
William N. Inine, commissioned July 6,1813
William Duncan, commissioned Sept. 20, 1813
John Bl. H.> nemaii, coranii'sioned Aug. 1, 1814
Mathanlel B Bi.ileau, commissioned March 29, 1816
Wllllum N Irvine, commissioned Oct. 1, 181C
Bol«!rt Carr, commissioned Aug. 23, 1821
George Bryan Porter, commissioned Aug. 4.1824
Simon Cameron, cmniiseioned Aug. 19, 1829
Samuel Power, c<im missioned Hay 3, 18:i0
Wlllism Piper, c..mmlw.ioned Aug. 3, 1836
James Kennedy MiHirhead. commissioned Aug. 3, 1839
Adam DiUer, commis.ioned Aug. 12, 1839
George W. B..wnmn, commissioned Aug. 3, 1846
William H. Irwin, commissioned Aug. 3, 1848
Jsme* Keenan, commissioned Feb. 2, 1862
Osorgs W. B.iwnmn. commissioned _ Oct. 28, 1862
Thomas J. Power, commissioned -.Aug. 3, 1864
Wwin C. Wll«,n, comml«ilone<l Feb. 6, 1858
Edward M. Bid.lle, n,mmiB.|one<l „ April 17, 1861
Alexander L. KiiMell, comniissloned Jan. 9, 1862
David B. McCreary, commissioned Oct. 11, 1867
Alexander L. Russell, conimlnloned Jan. 4, 1870
James William Latia, commissioned June 1, 1873
Pressly N. Unthrie, commissioned Jan. 16, 1883
' i Frond's " History of Pennsylvania," p. 290. In Gordon's " History
of Pennsylvania," p. 628, appendix, Richard Hockley Is called auditor-
gsosral of the laod-offlco.
'Davis' "History of Bucks," 703, "Auditor-General, Mr. Edward
Fox."
' For some account of Samuel Bryan, see United Blatra Gautte of Sept.
7, 1842. I have a letter dated Hay 12, 180X, addressed to " Mr. Samnel
Bryan, Esq., Register-General," Inclosing a " return of Exempts In the
Connly of Bucks," signed "Joseph Hart, B. J."
< Two adJnUnls-general have caramande<l the army of the Unltad
SUtPS.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY AND OF THE
COUNCIL OF SAFETY,
Which supersedfd tin- CornmitUe July 24, 1776, appointed by the OommMom
.. of the Slatr of Pemsylvaraa,from June 30, 1775, to Dec. 6, 1777.
PaEStDENTS.
Benjamin Franklin, elected June 30, 1775
Thomas Wharton, Jr., elected Aug. 6, 1776
Vice-Pees ID ENTs.
Robert Morris, elected June 30, 1776
David Rittenhouse, elected Aug. 6, 1776
Members of the Committee.
John Dickinson. John Cadwalader.
George Gray. Andrew .\llen.
Henry Wyukoop. Owen Biddle.
Anthony Wayne. Francis Johnston.
Benjamin Bartholomew. Richard Reiley.
George Ross. Samuel Morris, Jr.
Michael Swope. Capt. Robert Whyte.
John Montgomery. Samuel Miles (October, 1775)
Edward Biddle. George Taylor.
William Edmonds. Joseph Reed.
Bernard Dougherty. Nicholas Fairlamb.
Samuel Hunter. George Clymer.
William Thompson. Samuel Howell.
Thomas Willing. Alexander Wilcocks.
Daniel Roberdeau. John Nixon.
James Mease. Samuel Cadwalader Morris.
James Biddle. John Bayard.
Joseph Parker (1776). Francis Gurney.
Michael Hillegas. William Lyons.
David Rittenhouse. Nathaniel Falconer.
James Cannon. Daniel Hunter.
Joseph Blewer. David Epley.
Frederick Kuhl. Joseph Dean.
Col. John Bull. William Moore.
Timothy Matlack. Thomas Fitzsimons.
John Moore, Jonathan Bayard Smith,
Henry Keppele, Jr. Peter Rhoads.
John Weitzel. Andrew Caldwell.
Samuel Morris, Sr. George Campbell.
John Hubley. Joseph Marsh.
John Maxwell Nesbit, treasurer.
William Govett, clerk.
COUNCIL OF SAFETY FOB THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Oct. 17, 1777, the Assembly enacted that the Supreme Executive Coun-
cil and the following should he a Council of Safety :
Col. John Bayard.
Dr. Joseph Gardner,
Jonathan Bayard Smith.
Jonathan Si>rgeant.
David Rittenhouse.
Robert Whitehill.
Christopher Marshall.
Jacob Arndt.
Col. Curtis Qnibb.
James Cannon.
James Smith, of Yorktown.
William Henry, of Lancaster.
SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE STATE OF PENN-
SYLVANIA FROM 1777 TO 1790.
Pbesidentb.
Thomas Wharton, Jr., elected March 6, 1777
George Bryan,' acting May 23, 1778
Joseph Reed, elected Dec. 1. 1778
William Mooi e, elected Nov. 14, 17S1
John Dickinson, elected Nov. 7, 1782
Benjamin Franklin, elected „ Oct. 18, 1785
David Redick, acting Oct. 16, 1788
Thomas Mifflin, elected Nov. 6, 1788
VickPeesidehib.
George Bryan, elected March 5, 1777
Matthew Smith, elected Oct. 11, 1779
William Moore, elected Nov. II, 1779
James Potter, elected Nov. 14, 1781
^ Vice Wharton, deceased.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVEKNMENT BUILDINGS.
1769
James Ewing, elected Nov. 7,1782
James Irvine, elected Nov. 6, 1784
Charles Biddle, elected Oct. 10, 1786
Peter Muhlenberg, elected Oct. 31, 1787
David Redick, elected Oct. 14, 1788
George Ross, elected. ...T.... Nov. 5, 1788
Members or Ck)UNOiL.
Thomas Wharton, Jr. James Irvine.
George Bryan. George Wall, Jr.
John Evans. John McDowell.
JoDathau Hoge. Samuel John Atlee.
George Taylor. Stephen Balliet.
John Louden. Bernard Dougherty.
John Proctor. Isaac Meason.
John Hubley. John Neville.
Col. Jacob Morgan. John Boyd.
Col. Joseph Hart. Daniel Hieater.
John Bailey. Charles Biddle.
Thomas Urie. Richard McAllister.
John Hambright. John Woods.
James Edgar. James McLene.
Jacob Arndt. Benjamin Franklin.
Thomas Scott. Henry Hill.
John Mackey. Evan Evans.
Matthew Smith. Samuel Dean.
James Read. Peter Muhlenberg.
Joseph Reed. William Brown.
James Ewiog. Robert Traill.
John Lacey, Jr. William Maclay.
William Moore. David Redick.
James Thompson. John Smilie.
Robert Whitehill. John Baird.
John Van Campen. Andrew Billmyer.
Col. John Piper. Nathan Denison.
Gen. James Potter. Christopher Kucher.
Dr. Joseph Gardner. George Ross.
James Cunningham. Samuel Edie.
Christopher Hayes. George Woods.
John Bayard. Frederick Watts.
Sebastian Levan. John Cannon.
John Byers. Abraham Smith.
Dorsey Pentecost. Zebulon Potts.
John Dickinson. Richard Willing.
Amos Gregg. Jonas Hartzel.
Samuel Mile§. Nathaniel Bredin.
Thomas Mifflin. Henry Taylor.
John Wilkins. William Findley.
James Martin. Benjamin Elliott.
William Wilson. Lord Butler.
COMMITTEE OF DEFENSE OF PHILADELPHIA, 1814-15.
Thomas McKean.
Joseph Reed.
Jared Ingersoll.
Charles Biddle.
John Sergeant.
John Goodman.
Robert McMuUin.
Thomas Leiper.
John Barker.
Henry Hawkins.
Thomas Cadwalader.
John Steele.
George Latimer.
Liberty Browne.
Charles Ross.
Manuel Eyre.
John Connelly,
William McFadden.
John Goodman, seen
Francis Coxe and S.
Coudy Raguet.
John Geyer.
Col. Jonathan Williams.
Daniel Groves.
John Barclay.
John Naglee.
Thomas Snyder.
Isaac W. Norris.
Michael Leib.
Jacob Huff.
James Whitehead.
James Josiab.
John Thompson,
Ebenezer Ferguson.
James Ron aid sou.
Peter Miercken.
Richard Palmer.
Philip Peltz.
itary of the committee.
Field, aBsistants.
CHAPTER XLIII.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILD-
INGS.
City and District Halls— Watch-Houses— Watchmen and Police Stations
— State House or Independence Hall — Custom-House — Post-OflBce —
United States Mint.
City Halls and District Halls.— Although there
is reason to believe that Philadelphia might have
been created a borough by William Penn in 1684, it
is not probable that there were any buildings belong-
ing to the public that were in use before the city was
chartered, in 1701. In the charter there is a provision
that the mayor, recorder, Common Council, and alder-
men shall hold sessions at stated times, and " on the Ist
3d day of the week, in the 8th month (Oct.), yearly for
ever hereafter, publicly to meet at a convenient room
or place within the said city, to be by them appointed
for that purpose and there chose one of the aldermen
to be mayor for that ensuing year." The minutes of
the City Council, which have been preserved, com-
mence with the entry : " Att a Meeting of the Mayor,
Aldermen, and Comon Council at the House of Bar-
bert Carry, of this City, Innholder, the Third day of
October, 1704," showing that there was no public
hall or place for municipal use. The succeeding
minutes are dated at the " CofFy House," and a sub-
sequent meeting was held at the same place. After
that time, during the whole provincial period, the
general custom was to head the minutes " at Philadel-
phia," the place of meeting not being stated. It is
probable that after the court-house at High and
Second Streets was finished the Common Council
meetings were held there up to the time of the Rev-
olution. The City Court, presided over by the re-
corder, met there to hear all matters connected with
the provincial or county government.
The first movement toward the collection of a fund
for the erection of a city hall took place in October,
1746, which is thus recorded upon the minutes of the
Common Council :
"James Hamilton, Esqr., Mayor, represented to the Board that as it
had been customary for the mayors of this City at the going out of their
Office to give an Entertainment to the Gentlemen of the Corporation ; he
intends in Lieu thereof to give a Sum of Money, equal at least to the
Sums usually expended on such Occasions, to be laid out in something
permanently Useful to the City, And proposes the Sum of One Hundred
and Fifty Pounds toward erecting an Exchange or some other Publick
Building. The Board taking the said Proposal into Consideration
unanimously approved of the same. And the said James Hamilton accord-
ingly presented to the Mayor and Committee of the City of Philadelphia
the said sum of One Hundred and Fifty Pounds, to be applied towards
the Building of an Exchange in this City, for the like uses with that of
the Royal Exchange, in London, or of the erecting of such other publick
Edifice in this City as the Mayor and Commonalty shall see fit to order
and direct. The Money aforesaid to be placed out and Continued at In-
terest until the same shall be wanted for the Purposes aforesaid."
This money was paid to the treasurer, who was
ordered to place it out at interest, on security which
should be approved by the mayor, recorder, and treas-
urer for the time being, and two Common Councilmen.
1770
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The example of Mayor Hamilton was not followed
by all of his successors ; several of them, it is prob-
able, preferred to '' give the customary entertain-
ment." The minutes contain only the following
notes of gifts to this fund :
1746. .\lriandcr Uamiltou £150
17»4. William .\ttwoatl „ SO
1749. William AlUvaod „...„ fiO
Ch«rliri Willing ^ 100
1763. William I'lum.tMl „ 7,1
1753. Ruben Slrrlltll _ 75
Total „ JES20
The necessity of having some building appropri-
ated entirely to municipal use was considered so
urgent that the following proceedings in relation
thereto took place in Common Council on the 8th of
February, 1775 :
** It was propoMd that the Board take iDto ConBJderatlon the great necee-
■117 there la orerecliog a City Hall and Court- Huuee, for the use of this
OorporatloD, and the Mayor's Court, a lot of ground having been long
since apprupriated (or that purpose in the State-House Square. The
■enae of the Board appeared generally in favor of the Prvposal ; and a
Committee was agreed to be appointed to draw a plan and make an es-
timate of a pRtper building; likewise to inspect the state of the funds of
this Corporation, and to Consider whether this Board ain apply the
Moneyi formerly giren by several of the Mayors of this City in lieu of
the accustumeil Entertainments on going out of their Office for the Pur-
pose of a City Hall and Court-Honse, or whether they are restricted by
the terms of those donations to apply that money, with the accumulated
lutereat thereon, solely for the Purpoee of building an Exchange."
At the next meeting of Common Council, in April,
1775, the committee presented a plan of a city hall,
but without an estimate of the cost. At the same
time that body expressed the opinion that the former
donations by several of the mayors of the city " were
to be applied to the building of an Exchange, or .such
other public edifice in this City, as the Mayor and
Commonalty should see fit to order and direct, con-
sequently, that this hoard had an undoubted Right to
apply the same toward building a City Hall." .\t
the same meeting the managers of the Hou.se of Em-
ployment, who owed the city seven hundred and fifty
pounds for money lent, ofl'cred to settle by the transfer
of some ground-rents. The proposition was refused,
because " probably the money would soon be wanted
in order to buihl a City Hall," and notice was };iven
that the bond must be di.ncharged within two months,
"Othcrwi.HC let it be then Peremptorily put in suit."
The Revolutionary war suspended all, active opera-
tions for the erection of a city hall. In 1785 the
Assembly passed an act appropriating six thousand
pound", which had been realized from the sale of the
old High f^trect pri.son, toward the erection of munici-
pal buildings. Nothing was done, however, until 1789,
when another act was passed authorizing a lotterv
to raise eight thousand dollars, four-fifths of the pro-
ceeds of which was to be paid to the corporation to-
ward the erection of a city hall, and the other fifth to
be given to Dickinson College at Carlisle.
The city hall was begun in 17'J0, and the building
finished in the summer of 17'.i|. It was of plain
brick, two stories high, with a small cupola. The
style was solid and respectable. There was a little
display of oroamentation by the use of marble as a
band between the first and second stories, with marble
keystones and springers to the arches of the windows
and-doors. The building was originally intended to
be used in the first story by the Mayor's Court and by
the mayor in hearing cases which were brought before
him as a committing magistrate. But as the Federal
government had come to I'hiladelphiabetbre the build-
ing was finished, it was requisite to find some suitable
place lor the accommodation of the Supreme Court.
The Federal Senate and House of Representatives
were of necessity granted the use of the building at
the southesLst corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets,
which had been erected for the County Court-House.
The As.sembly of the State, with the Supreme Court,
and County Court of Common Ple:is and Quarter
Sessions, were crowded into the State-House. The
Federal courts, Supreme, Circuit, and District, could
not be accommodated anywhere else than at the
building at Fifth and Chestnut Streets.
While the Supreme Court was there the bench was
occupied by the first chief justice, John Jay, who had
been appointed by Washington in 1789, but resigned
in 1794, with .some reluctance, to accept the mission
to England, against the actions of which this country
at that time had many causes of complaint. Oliver
Ellsworth, of Connecticut, succeeded him as chief
justice in 179G, and remained in that office until
1800. The associate justices were John Rutledge, of
South Carolina; William Cushing, of Msissachusetts;
James Wilson, of Pennsylvania ; Samuel Chase, of
Rhode Island; John Blair, of Virginia; James
Iredell, of North Carolina ; Thomas Johnson, of
Maryland; William Patterson, of New Jersey;
Bushrod Washington, of Virginia; Alfred Moore, of
North Carolina; and .lohn Jay, who was reappointed
in 1800, but declined to act. Some of these justices
replaced others who had died or resigned in the mean-
while.
The United States Circuit and District Courts were
also held in the second story of the City Hall, they
being under the administration of Justice William
Lewis, of the Supreme Court, and Judges Francis
Hopkinson and Richard Peters. After the seat of
the Federal government was removed to Washington
City, the Councils of the city took charge of the City
Hall. The Mayor's Court met there until after the
old State-House was purchased from Pennsylvania by
the city ot Philadelphia, in 1816. After tliat time the
Mayor's Court was removed to the centre State-House
building. The lower back room of the City Hall was
occupied by the mayor. The City Council began to
meet in the second story of the building as soon as it
was finished, and continued there until the consolida-
tion of the city, in 1854.
The Common Council was in the back room, and
the Select Council in the northeast front room, second
story, on the west side ; north were the committee
rooms. The rooms on the first floor were occupied
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVEKNMENT BUILDINGS.
1771
bj' departments of city government. The water de-
partment, city commissioners, city clerk, city treas-
urer, and otlier officers, were in the back room. The
Mayor's Court was afterward removed to the State-
House building.
After the consolidation of the city and districts, in
1854, Councils resolved that the State-House should
be the City Hall. To accommodate Select and Com-
mon Councils extensive alterations were necessary.
They were completed about 1854, and since that time
meetings of the Municipal Legislature have been con-
tinuous in that building.
City Courts. — One of the incidents of the charter
of the city of Philadelphia, granted by William Penn
in 1701, was the conferring of authority to exercise
judicial functions within the city upon the officers of
the corporation. In order to facilitate this design
there was to be a city sheriff and a town clerk, who
was to be clerk of the peace and clerk of the court
and courts. The functions of the recorder, who in
after-years acted as one of the presiding judges of the
City Court and Mayor's Court, were not so well defined.
He was "to do and execute all things which unto the
oflBce of Kecorder of the said city doth or may belong."
It is worthy of notice that in the original charter the
recorder was not mentioned as being necessary to the
corporate title. "Mayor and commonalty of Phila.
in the province of Pennsylvania" was the title of the
old city corporation, although in some parts of the
charter "the mayor and commonalty of the city of
Phila.," omitting the words in the province of Penn-
sylvania, are spoken of as the official title. A court,
whereof any four or more of the aldermen (whereof
the mayor and recorder for the time being shall be
two) has no name assigned to it in the charter fur-
ther than a " Court of Record." Under the charter
Thomas Story was named as the first recorder, Thomas
Farmer to be the city sheriff, and Robert Assheton to
be the town clerk and clerk of the court and courts.
Farmer was the county sheriff at the time. There
does not appear to have been at any period afterward
an attempt to constitute a separate city sheriff. The
sheriff for the county was always considered to be the
sheriff of the city. The case was different with the
coroner. The charter does not command that the
county sheriff shall be the city sheriff. But the
county coroner was always to be the city coroner,
whether he resided in the city or in the county. There
is a curious provision in the charter in reference to
this matter :
'* And I will that the coroners to be chosen by the county of Phila. for
the time being sliail be the coroners of the said city and liberties tliereof;
but that the freemen and inhabitants of the said city shall from time to
time as often as occasion be have equal liberty with the inhabitants of
the said county to recommend or choose persons to serve in the respec-
tive capacities of coroners and sberiflffor the county of Phila. who shall
reside in the said city."
From this it would seem that the coroners and
sheriff of the county were obliged to reside in the city.
The court established under the charter without a
name was generally known as the City Court. Under
the authority of the charter the city corporation,
shortly after 1701, set up under ordinance a court for
determining small debts, and to be held by the mayor
or recorder with one or more of the aldermen. This
was called "the forty .shillings court" "or the two
weeks court." The management of this tribunal was
not satisfactory. According to the recital in the act
of May 28, 1715, "the several Laws of this Province
for determining small Debts without formality of trial
were designed for the Ease and Conveniency of the
Subject ; but Complaint is made by many of the In-
habitants of the City & County of Philadelphia that
the manner of putting the same in Execution by some
of the said City i\Iagistrates and Officers, proves very
chargeable and inconvenient." For remedy of this
it was declared that the city ordinance under which
the Forty Shillings or Two Weeks' Court exercised
its functions was null and void, that no court in the
province should have cognizance of debts and de-
mands under forty shillings, and that the same should
be recoverable by ordinary process before any justice
of the peace.
The Revolution was considered to have put an end
to the corporation of the city under Penn.
During the interval when there was no city cor-
poration, under certain acts of Assembly the justices
of the peace for the city of Philadelphia were author-
ized to hold " a city court." Under the act of March
11, 1789, creating the new city charter, this authority
was annulled, and all the records and proceedings of
the City Court were ordered to be transferred to the
Mayor's Court on the 15th of April of the same year.
Under the charter of 1789 the corporate title was
"the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of Phila." The
recorder elected by the mayor and aldermen was to
hold his office for seven years, and to have all the
powers and jurisdictions of a justice of the peace
within the said city. A court with a large jurisdic-
tion in cases of crimes and misdemeanors, to consist
of the mayor, recorder, and aldermen, or any four
or more of them, of whom the mayor or recorder for
the time being shall be one, were given authority to
hold a court of records to be entitled " the Mayor's
Court for the city of Phila."
Authority was granted at the same time to estab-
lish a city court to be called " the Alderman's Court,"
to consist of three of the aldermen of the city, any
two of whom might be a quorum. The aldermen
who were to constitute this court were to be ap-
pointed by the mayor and recorder four times in
each year, or oftener, if they thought proper. The
aldermen were to have a civil jurisdiction in " causes
and matters cognizable before any one justice of
the peace within the State, where the debt or de-
mand amounts to forty shillings, and does not exceed
ten pounds." In cases of debts under forty shillings,
right was given to the mayor and any alderman
within the city to " have cognizance of and a sole
1772
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and exclusive right to hear and determine in a sum-
mary way all such matters and things." An appeal
from the judgment from the mayor and alderman was
allowed to the Aldermen's Court. The latter tribunal
proved to be no more popular than the Forty Shil-
lings Court of the early munici]>al period. The act
of 1789, so far as related to the establishment and
power of the Aldermen's Court, was repealed after
fifteen years' experience, in 1804.
The Mayor's Court came to an end under the act
of 19th March, 1S38, which created the Court of
Criminal Sessions in the city and county of Phila-
delphia, and abolished the Mayor's Court.
Aldermen and Justices of the City Court and
Mayor's Court, 1701-1838.— Under the charter of
the city granted by William I'ona in 1701, the mayor,
recorder, and aldermen were created justices of the
peace, and justices of Oyer and Terminer in the city
and liberties thereof; al.so " that they, or any four or
more of them (whereof the mayor and recorder of
the said city shall be two) shall and may forever
hereafter have power and authority ... to hear and
inquire into all manner of treasons, murders, man-
slaughters, and all manner of otfences, capital and
criminal," etc.; also "to hold and keep a Court of
Record tjuarterly or oftener, if they see occasion,"
etc. This was the establishment of the court which
was known before the Revolution as the City Court.
They were also justices of the quorum of the county
courts.
ALDERMEN HAVING BIGHT TO SIT IN THE CITY CO0RT.>
Oct 25, 17U1 (Chaiier).— •Edward Shippon, Joshua rarpenlar, •Griffith
Jonea, •Anthony Morria, •Jgacpb Wilcox, Natliao Staobury, Charlaa
R«ul, Tboniaa Maalan, William Carter.
Bafura Oct. 3, ITol — John Jonea.
Oct. 3, 170t Joahiia Carpentrr.
Tab. 4, 1706.— Thomaa Storejr.
Oct. 2, 17W.— Samuol Richardaon.
Oct. 5, 17W1.— Gegrge Roch (did not qualify). •Ricbanl Hill, 'Samuel
Prratoo, laaac Norris (did not qualify).
Oct. 2, 1711.— 'Jouathan Dicklnaon.
Oct. 7, 1712 -'Georiie Roch.
Oct. 6, 1713.— Joacph Growden, •!«»€ Norria, Pentecoat Teague.
OoL 4, I71.S.— 'William Iludaon, Al>r»hnm Rlckley, Joieph Redmnn.
Oct. 1, 1717— •Jamea lx>|can.
Oet. 7, 1718.— Thomaa Griffllh. •William Fiihbouni.
Oct. 20, 172<l.— laraei Feml«rt«n (did not qualify).
Oct. 2, 1722 —•Clement Pliimited, I»rai-1 Prmberlon (would not accept),
•Thomaa Griffllli, •Charlra Read, Benjamin Vining.
Oct (1, 1724.— -Tlioinaa Lawrence, Eran Owen.
Sapt. 2». 1726.- •Anthony Morris (did not act).
Oct 3, 1727— •Edward Roberta
Oct. 7, 172V.--Samiiel Ifaan-I, John Jonea, George Filzwaler, George
riajpoole
Oet 6, 17nn -•William Allm, laaac Norria, Jr.
Oet. 2, 17.13 —lamel Pr-ml-rton (did not accept|.
Oet 2. IT.IT- Anthony Morria.
Oct. 1. 1734— Edward HolH-rU
Oct «. 1741 — •nenjamin Shoemaker, •William Till, Jnaeph Turner,
•Jamei Hamilton.
Oet. 4, 1741 —•William Attwood, Abraham Taylor, 8amiiel Powel, Jr.,
•Edward Shippen.
Oct«, 1747.-!>«muel Maddoz fdld not accept), •Charlea Willing (diad
NoTemher, 17M;,*WlilUm Pinmelad.
' Thai* aukad * w«« alaetad mayor during thair lanna.
Oct 4, 1748.— 'Robert Strettel, Septimus Bobinson (did not accept).
Oct 1, 1751.— Benjamin Kranklln, John Mifflin.
Oct 7, 17W. — ejohn Stamper, •Attwood Shute, •Thomas Lawrence.
Oct 6, 1766.— Alexander Stedman, Samuel Mifflin.
Oct. 4, 1759.— "John W ilcocks, Jacob Ducb^, William Cole.
Ocf2, 1769.— •Tho8. Willing (did not accept until 1761), Daniel Bene-
lat (leeigned Oct 7, 17Gi;).
October, 1761 —•Henry Hannis, 'Samuel Bboads.
Oct 2, 17G4. — 'Isaac Jonet, 'John Lawrence.
Oct 7, 1706.— Amofl Strettel, •Samuel Shoemaker.
Oct 6, 1767.— 'John Gibson.
Oct 2, 1770.— James Allen, Joshua Howell (did not accept), •William
Fisher.
Oct 4, 1774.— •Samuel Powell, George Clymer.
Last minutes of meeting of Aldermen and Common Council under
the charter of 1701, dated Feb. 17, 1776.
There must have been a stoppage of Justice for some time. The City
Court was held to he abrogated by the supposed annulment of the charter
of the city. The Convention of Pennsylvania in July, 1776. appointed
thirty-six Justices for the city and county of Philadelphia. Offenses
triable before the City Ojurt must have been tried in the County C«urt
(See " Courl-Housee.")
In 1777 a better order waa established. There were justicea of the
peace apix)inted for the city wards. Presumably tliey held the City
Court
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Samuel Simpson,^ Middle Ward, elected Feb. 14, 1777
John McCalltt,! Walnut Ward, elected Feb. 14, 1777
Samuel Howell,- Li.wer Delaware Ward Feb. 14, 1777
Gei.rge Brvan,2 Dock Ward, elected Feb. 14, 1777
James Young, Mulberry Ward March 28, 1777
John Ord, Lower Delaware Ward March 28, 1777
Joseph Redman, Sr., North Ward March 28,1777
Isaac Howell, North Ward March 28, 1777
.John Henrv. Walnut Ward March 28, 1777
Plunket Ffeeson. Middle Ward March 28, 1777
Benjamin Paschal. Dock Ward March 28, 1777
Pliiiip Boehni (resigns Sept. 30, 1778) Mul-
lierry Ward March 28, 1777
William Ball, High Street Ward Jan. 5, 1779
William Ailcock, Chestnut Street Ward Jan. 5, 1779
Samuel Jlorrls, Jr., Walnut Street Ward Jan. S, 1779
Benjamin Paschal, Dork Street Ward Jan. .■!, 1779
William Rush, North Mulberry Ward May 7, 1779
.lohn Miller
Josel'h Wharton, New Market Ward May 10, 1784
Isaac Howell, North Ward May 21, 1784
Plunket IFIeesiin, Middle Ward June 2, 1784
John Gill, Lower Delaware Ward June 29, 1784
Edward Shippen, Dock Ward Oct. 3, 1786
William Craig, High Street Ward March 18. 1786
William Pollard, Chestnut Ward March 27, 1786
Lewis Weiss. South Mulberry Ward May 20,1786
William Rush. North Mulberry Ward May 26, 1786
Alexander Todd. Dork Waixl Feb. 9, 1787
Robert M.KiiiRlit, Walnut Ward Feb. 28.1787
New City Hall. — During several years after con-
solidation propositions relating to the erection of a
new city hall for tlie use of the corporation was dis-
cussed. As early as 1838 an act was passed author-
izing the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of Philadel-
phia to erect a city hall on any )>art of the lots of
ground in said city now known by the name of Penn
Square. The expenses of erecting the hall were to
be paid out of the treasury of the city. There was a
proviso that the consent of the commissioners of the
county of I'hiladelphia should first be had.
The grant of the Centre Square to the city liy Penn
was not clearly expressed as to the direct intention
further than the same might be used for public build-
ings. In "a short advertisement" upon the situation
aud extent of the city of Philadelphia, explanatory of
Holme's " Portraiture of the Plan of the City," issued
about 1685, is this language: "In the center of the
City is a square of 10 A. At each angle are to be
* Th«M do not smid to bare b««n oommlastoued.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1773
houses for Publick affairs as a Meeting-house House,
Assembly, or State-House, Market-House, School-
House, and several other buildings for publick Con-
cerns." Although there was considerable discussion
upon the subject of a new city hall in 1838, the project
failed. On the 16th of March, 1847, an act was passed
authorizing the commissioners of the county of Phila-
delphia, by the consent of Select and Common Coun-
cils of the city, to erect a new court upon a part of
the said State-House Square. Councils were also
authorized by the same act to " cause a new city hall
to be erected on any other part of said square ; the loca-
tion and erection of said buildings to be first approved
by the County Board of said Philadelphia County."
There was much discussion in the newspapers about
this proposition, and plans of buildings were pre-
pared. But eventually the subject seemed to have
been abandoned. On the 31st of September, 1868,
City Councils passed an ordinance providing for the
erection of municipal buildings on Independence
Square, and designating commissioners to carry the
same into effect. These gentlemen met shortly after-
ward, and organized and advertised for architectural
plans for the buildings. On the 17th of September
following plans and drawings were received from vari-
ous architects, and at a meeting of the commission-
ers shortly afterward the plan of John McArthur, Jr.,
was selected, and he was appointed architect of the
work. Contracts were solicited and awarded in Jan-
uary, 1870, but work was not begun. As soon as it
appeared that the commissioners were determined to
erect the new city buildings, there sprung up a very
decided opposition to the use of Independence Square
for such a purpose. It was argued that the erection
of buildings for the accommodation of the munici-
pality and courts would be a desecration of ground
sacred to patriotic veneration by reason of Revolu-
tionary memories connected with the old State-
House. This opposition was something more than
sentimental. The Legislature was in session, and
the controversy was transferred to that forum. The
opponents of the use of Independence Square suc-
ceeded, and on the 5th of August, 1870, an act of
Assembly was passed by which Theodore Cuyler,
John Rice, Samuel C. Perkins, John Price Weth-
erill, Lewis C. Cassidy, Henry M. Phillips, William
L. Stokes, William Devine, and the mayor of the
city of Philadelphia, and the presidents of Select
and Common Councils for the time being were con-
stituted commissioners " for the erection of the pub-
lic buildings required to accommodate the courts and
for all municipal purposes in the city of Philadel-
phia." This board was in nature permanent until
the public buildings were finished. The commis-
sioners had authority to fill vacancies in their own
number, and also to increase their number to thirteen.'
1 In 1882 only one of them remained, the others having died or re-
Bigned, The president, Samuel C. Perkins, was at that time the only
original member of the (
The commissioners were given authority to procure
plans for the buildings, and adopt them, make con-
tracts, and superintend the carrying on of the work.
They were entitled to make requisitions on the City
Councils for the amount required annually toward
the expense of construction. The commissioners
were authorized and directed to locate the buildings
on either Washington or Penn Square, as might be
determined by vote of the citizens at the election in
October, 1870. Within thirty days afterward the
question was determined, and the commissioners were
authorized to commence the work.
If Washington Square was selected by a majority
of votes, Councils were directed to execute to the
commissioners the proper deed or deeds. As to the
four Penn Squares, at the intersection of Broad and
Market Streets, if the decision of the people was in
favor of Washington Square, Councils were directed
to convey one of said squares to each of the following
institutions : Academy of Fine Arts, Academy of
Natural Sciences, Franklin Institute, and Philadel-
phia Library, " for the purpose of allowing them to
erect thereon ornamental and suitable buildings for
their respective institutions." If Penn Square was
chosen as the site of the public buildings, the com-
missioners were authorized to vacate so much of
Market or of Broad Streeet as they might deem
needful, and lay out streets passing around said
buildings of width not less than one hundred feet."
During a portion of the year succeeding the appoint-
ment of the commissioners there was a lively contro-
versy as to the site of the new buildings. A large
number of property-holders and business men were
anxious to retain the public buildings at the old site
at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, while other persons
who were interested in property farther west pre-
ferred the Penn Square location. "A series of liti-
gations ensued ; application was made to the Legis-
lature; resistance was attempted in the City Councils,
and the elements of the most vehement partisan
prejudice were used to frustrate the law and to procure
its repeal." ' After a bitter contention, mostly waged
through the newspapers, the vote was taken in Octo-
ber, and the return was as follows : For Washington
Square, 32,825 votes; for Penn Square, 51,623. This
was decisive, and the commissioners entered upon
their duties as well as they could. Subsequent ad-
verse efforts delayed the actual commencement of
work for a year.
The decisions, popular, legal, and legislative, being
in favor of the Penn Square site, the commissioners
commenced work on Jan. 7, 1871, by removing the
iron railings which inclosed the four squares. After
the passage of the act of 1828, which declared that
the Centre Square (then one inclosure) should be cut
by running Market and Broad Streets through it.
2 B. H. Brewster's address at laying the
boildings, 1874.
r-8tone of the public
1774
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the four plots made by this bisectiou were first in-
closed with a wooden fence, or paling, and afterward
by iron railings. On the 10th of August, 1871, the
ground was broken by John Rice, then president of
the Board of Commissioners, and on the 12th of Au-
gust, 1872, at two o'clock p.m., the first stone of the
foundation was laid. One of the most important
questions presented to the commission was whether
they should allow Broad and Market Street.s to be
continued through the square, and erect four build-
ings on the corner lots, or take the whole square as
originally laid out, including the ground occupied by
streets, and erect thereon one building. The com-
missioners resolved upon the latter plan, and whether
their decision was right or wrong was of little mo-
ment after the work had so far progressed that it
could not be undone. The excavations for the cellars
and foundations required the removal of one hundred
and forty-one thousand five hundred cubic yards of
earth. The building occupies four hundred and sev-
enty feet from east to west, and four hundred and
eighty-six and a half feet from north to south, and
covers an area, exclusive of the court-yards, of nearly
six and a half acres. It is larger than any single
building in America. The main building is ninety-
four feet high, and consists of a basement story eigh-
teen feet in height, a principal story of thirty-six feet,
an upper story of thirty-one feet, surmounted by an-
other of fifteen feet. The small rooms 0[)cning into
the court-yards are each divided into two stories for
the purpose of making useful all space. The several
stories are to be approached by four large elevators
at the intersection of the leading corridors, together
with eight grand staircases, one in each of the four
corners of the building, and one in each of the centre
pavilions at the north, south, east, and west fronts.
The entire structure contains five hundred and twenty
rooms, all fire-proof in material, and provided with
every possible convenience for heat, light, and ventila-
tion. The architecture presents a rich example of the
style of the Renaissance, modified and adapted to the
varied and extensive requirements of a great Ameri-
can municipality. It is designed in the spirit of
French art, while at the same time its adaptation of
that florid and tasteful manner of building is free from
servile imitation either in ornamentation or in the
ordonnance of its details. The whole exterior is bold
and effective in outline and rich in its parts, elabo-
rated with highly ornate columns, pediments, pilas-
ters, cornices, enriched windows, and other appropri-
ate adornments, wrought in artistic forms, expressing
American ideas and developing American genius.
The interior is richly decorated with carvings in re-
lief, full-length figures upon the spandrels of the
arches, carved keystones, caryatides, and other orna-
ments.
The entrance pavilions are eighty-six feet wide,
and rise to the height of two hundred and one feet.
The corner pavilions are forty-eight feet square and
one hundred and sixty-one feet high. The pavilions
are crowned with massive dormer-windows, in marble,
forty-two feet high, flanked by marble caryatides
twenty feet nine inches high. The corner pavilions
are* fitted with marble dormer-windows, with cary-
atides. The central court-yard is one hundred and
eighty-six feet north and south by two hundred and
twenty feet east and west. From the north side of
the central court-yard rises a grand tower of ninety
feet square at the base, gracefully falling ofi" at each
story until it becomes, at the spring of the dome
(which is three hundred and fifteen feet above the
level of the court-yard), an octagon of fifty-six feet in
diameter, tapering to the height of eighty-four feet,
where it is to be crowned with a statue of the founder
of Pennsylvania, , thirty-six feet in height, thus com-
pleting the extraordinary altitude of four hundred and
thirty-five feet, making it the highest artificial con-
struction in the world.
Town-House of the Northern Liberties.— That
part of the township of Northern Liberties which
had become populous, so as to be, in fact, a suburb of
the city, had arrived at such a condition of importance
in 1795 that it was necessary to place it under some
sort of municipal regulation. A division was made
in the thickly-settled portions of the district for elec-
tion purposes. In that year an act of Assembly was
passed to authorize the building of a town-house and
market-place in the Northern Liberties. Twenty
feet of ground on each side of Second Street, between
Coatcs and Poplar Streets, had been previously dedi-
cated by the owners of lots to encourage the improve-
ment of that part of the county. They undertook
to build the market-house by subscription, without
cost to the public. The town-house was directed to
be commenced in the middle of Second Street, forty
feet north of Coatcs Street, and was to be twenty-six
feet front by thirty feet in depth along Second Street,
where it joined the market-house, eighteen feet wide,
which originally extended to Brown Street. This
building was probably finished in a year or two. It
was constructed in the style of the old court-house at
Second and Market Streets. Arches rising from the
ground to the height of one story gave passage to
the market-house beyond. The main room of the
town hiiU was in the second story. The building
was of brick, with a small cupola on top, and was in
general appearance similar to the market-hall stand-
ing at the intersection of Second and Pine Streets.
When the Northern Liberties were incorporated as a
district, on March 29, 1803, the town house of the
Northern Liberties became the Commissioners' Hall.
The commissioners were elected May 7th, and met
for the first time May 11th at the town house. The
building was occupied for several years, but was en-
tirely too small for the intended purpose. In the
early part of 1814 the commissioners of the Northern
Liberties purchased a building on the east side of
Third Street, between Tammany [or ButtonwoodJ
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1775
Street and Green Street, which was formerly known
as the officers' house of the military barracks.
The commissioners first occupied that building on
the 17th of February, 1815. Previously the old house
was used as a tavern. After the commissioners of
the Northern Liberties bought the barracks building,
an act of Assembly was passed declaring that thereafter
that buildingshould be the Commissioners' Hall of the
Northern Liberties. The building was of plain brick,
which in later times was rough-cast. During the
period that the Northern Liberties had a mayor, his
office was in the basement of the building, and there
were rooms for lock-up and accommodatiou of the
watch. The Recorder's Court of the Northern Liber-
ties, with criminal jurisdiction, was held in the first
story from 1836 to 1838, Robert T. Conrad being the
recorder or judge.
PKESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE
DISTRICT OF NORTHERN LIBERTIES.
Incorporated March 29, 1803.
May 13, 1803-May, 18()i5.— Dr. Peter Peres.
May 14, 180o-AugUBt, 1809.— John Kessler.
Aug. 29, 180G-May, 1812.— John Goodman.
May 6, 1812-May, 1814.— Daniel Grovea.
May 11, lS14-May, 1816.— Cornelius Trimnel.
May 10, 1815-May, 181S.— Dr. Michael Leib.
May 6, 1818-October, 1829.— Daniel Groves.
Oct. 20, 1829-Jan. 11, 1831.— J. W. Norris.
Jan. 11, 1831-Oct. 1, 1831.— J. Edmund Shotwell.
Oct. 18, 1831-Octoher, 1832.— William Binder.
Oct. 16, 1832-October, 1834.— William Wagner.
Oct. 21, 1834-Octobcr, 1835.— William Binder.
Oct. 20, lS35-October, 1837.— John G. Wolf.
Oct. 17, 1837-October, 1838.- Charles J, Sutter.
Oct. 16, 1838-October, 1839.— Joseph Pancoast.
October, 1839-October, 1840.— William Brnner.
October, 1840-October, 1843.— John T. Smith.
October, 1843-0ctob6r, 1846.— James Landy.
October, 1846-October, 1849.— John T. Smith.
October, 1849-October, 1850.— James S. Watson.
October, 1850-October, 1852.— Edward T. Mott.
October, 1852-October, 1854.— Stephen D. Auderson.
Southwark Commissioners' Hall. — The southern
suburbs were erected into a muuicipality denominated
the district of Southwark by act of Assembly passed
May 14, 1762. It was a qualified organization, com-
posed of three surveyors and regulators, three asses-
sors, and three supervisors, also an overseer of the poor
andan inspector, having the same power as similaroffi-
cers in townships. In 1794 the district of Southwark
was incorporated with fifteen commissioners, having
general municipal powers, among which were the
erection of buildings.
The Board of Commissioners first met on the 26th
of May of that year, at the house of Catharine Fritz,
which was an inn, and situated in Front Street, be-
low Catharine. This place was not agreeable, and
it was determined at once to take the lease for public
purposes of Jonathan Penrose's house, at a rent of
thirty dollars per annum, he to furnish one window
for election, " to put a cloth on the floor, if the board
considers it necessary, to keep the place clean, take
care of the wood, etc." This building stood north of
Christian Street, and east of Second, on the back part
of the lot afterward occupied by the commissioners'
hall. In the succeeding year the meeting-place of the
commissioners was at James Little's school-house.
In 1797, during the yellow fever, the board met at
Crosby's house, near Moyamensing road, afterward
at Sampson Goff 's house. Fifth and Christian Streets,
but they went back to Little's school-house after the
epidemic had ceased. In 1798 tha yellow fever again
drove them. to the house of Sampson Crosby. It was
there resolved to meet regularly in a new brick build-
ing at John McLeod's rope-walk, in Front Street, at a
rent of six dollars per month. In 1799 a stone build-
ing in the rear of the Third Baptist Church, which
stood about the head of the present Scott's Court, was
rented. About 1810 the commissioners purchased
from Paul Beck a lot of ground on the east side of Sec-
ond Street, above Christian, where they erected a plain
and substantial two-story brick building, forty feet
deep by sixty-nine feet in width. This hall was first
occupied by the commissioners April 11, 1811. There
was a large hall for public meetings in the first story.
The commissioners usually met in the second story.
The front of the hall stood back from Second Street,
but the building extended to a street in the rear, run-
ning from Catharine to Christian, which was at one
time called Sutherland Street. There was a vacant
space north and south of the building. At Second
Street, at each side of the lot, were erected, some
time after the hall was built, two fire-engine houses,
which were occupied for some years by the South-
wark and Weccacoe Fire Companies. The new South-
wark Hall was first occupied by the commissioners
April 11, 1811. After consolidation this building was
used as a police station. It was ordered to be torn
down in 1882, and replaced by a new station-house.
PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE
DISTRICT OF SOUTHWARK.
Incorporated April 18, 1794.
May, 1794-May, 1795.— Joseph Marsh.
May, 1796-May, 1798.- Richard Tittermary.
May, 179S-May, 1801.— William Linnard.
May, 1801-May, .—William Penrose.
May, May, 1813.— Robert McMullin.
May, 1813-May, 181C.— John Thompson.
May, 1816-May, 1817.— Phineas Eldredge.
May, 1817-May, 1821.— Robert McMullin.
May, 1821-May, 1822— Charles Penrose.
May, 1822-May, 1829.— Joel B. Sutherland.
May, 1829-May, 1846.— Thomas D, Grover.
May, lS46-May, 1850.— Lemuel Paynter. i
May, 1850-May, 1862.- George C. Rickard.
May, 1862-May, 1853.— Charles C. Wilson.
May, 1853-May, 1854.— Thomas A. Barlow.
Spring Garden Hall. — When the District of
Spring Garden was incorporated, March 22, 1813, it
was directed that the citizens of the district should
meet together at the school-house belonging to the
Spring Garden Association, which was situate at the
northeast corner of Eighth and Buttonwood Streets,
and is still standing (1884). They were to choose
twelve commissioners at the election to be held there.
1776
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The school-house was a two-story brick building with
a cupola, which had originally been erected by sub-
scription of citizens in 1809. It was intended to be
a place for religious worship and education, and to
be used for township elections and other purposes.
In 1823 the Legislature passed a law authorizing the
commissioners of the district to build in the centre of
Callowhill Street, between Sixth and Seventh Street,
a market-house and town hall, the same to be of the
width of thirty-four feet. This privilege. was not ac-
cepted so far as regarded the erection of a town hall
in the centre of the street. The commissioners pur-
chased a lot and building on the north side of Vine
Street, east of Ninth, where they remained for some
years. On the 19th of July, 1847, an ordinance was
passed authorizing the issuing of certificates of loan
to be applied toward the erection of a new hall for
the District of Spring Garden. The lot chosen was
at the northwest corner of Thirteenth and Spring
Garden Streets. The building was constructed with
rapidity, and was finished in 1848. It was the largest
and most elegant commissioners' hall in the county,
and extended parallel from Si>ring Garden Street
near the line of Thirteenth, northward to Brandy-
wine Street. The first story was for offices. The
commissioners' room was in the second story. In
fnmt the first story from the ground was a basement,
and a fine Grecian portico rose above it. The build-
ing was surmounted by a steeple built by Jacob Ber-
ger, in which there was a clock made by T. Tyson.
At the consolidation of the city and districts this
building was appropriated for some time for the pur-
poses of a station-house. At a later jieriod it was
occupied as the office of the Spring Garden Gas-
Works and by the water department of the city.
PRESIDENTS OF TUE IIO.\RU OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE
DISTRICT OF .SPRING GARDEN.
hmrporaUd March 22, 1813.
Majr 7, 18l3-M*jr 6, 1815.— Joseph R. Z«bli-y.
Ma; 6, IHIS-Mnjr 7, 1824.— DaTid Wuelpper.
M*7 7, 1824-Oct. IX, IKll.— Lawrence Shiiiter.
Oct. 13, IKtl-Oct. 13, 18:12.— Juaeph B. Bolton.
Oct. 13, l(tl2-0ct. 12, 1833.— John SI. Ogden.
OcL 12, 18:u-0ct. 18. 18:14.— George W. Rller.
Oct. 18, 1S.T4-0ct 1ft, 1836.— Joaeph Johna.
Oct. 15, 1830-Oct. 13, 18.3M.— John M. Ogden.
OcL 13, IKl8-0ct. 12, 18:19.— William W. Walker.
Oct. 12, iai9-OcL 17. I84II.— Thomas Mallack.
Oct. 17, l»40-Oct. 4, 1841. -Daniel Smith.
Oct. 4, 1841-Oct. 16, 1842.- George W. A»h.
Oct 15, lli42-Oct 1», IMS.— John H. Dohnert.
Oct. 18, 1845-Oct. 16, 1847.- Robert T. Fry.
Oct. 16, 1847-Oet. 14, 184H.— fllram Ayres.
Oct. 14, 184IM)ct. 1.3, 1849.— William Neal.
Oct. 13, 184»-Ocl. 12, 18U).— Joseph W. .Martin.
Oct. IS, ISSft-Oct. 12, mw.— George W. Donohue.
Kensington Hall. — After the incorporation of the
KcnHingtf)n DiHtrict of the Northern Liberties, March
6, 1820, the commiusioners met in rooms hired for
their accommodation. In 183.3 a large lot of ground
wan purchaHcd by the commissioners upon Frankford
road, bounded by that avenue. Master and Front
Streets. In the centre of this plot was erected a fine
hall building of brick, two stories in height, sur-
mounted with a steeple. This building was ready
for use in 1834. The commissioners met in the
second story. The first story was occupied by offices,
and in the basement were fitted up cells for the re-
ception and safe-keeping of oflenders. This hall was
torn down in 1883, and the ground is now occupied
by dwellings.
PRESIDENTS OF BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE KENSING-
TON DISTRICT OF THE NORTHERN LIBERTIES.
hicorporaUd March 6, 1820.
May, 1820-Aag. 10, 1832.— John C. Brown.
October, 1832-October, 1834.— Henry Bemmey, Jr.
October, 18.34-October, 1835.— Mahlon Dungan.
October, 1835-June, 1836.— Henry Bemmey, Jr.
June, 183t>-Blay, 1840.— Abraham B. Eyre.
May, 1840-SIay, 1841.— Peter Rambo.
May, 1841-June, 1842.— Thomas H. Brittalo.
June, 1842-October, 1845.— John Bobbins, Jr.
Oclober, 1845-1847.— Samuel T. Bodine.
1852-64.— John P. Verree.
Moyamensing Hall. — The commissioners of Moya-
mensing met in 1812 at the inn or tavern of William
Daly, South Sixth Street. Afterward they occupied
various rented rooms for some years. About 1833 a
movement was made to provide a proper hall for the
use of the district officers. A lot of ground was pur-
chased on the south side of Christian Street, between
Ninth and Tenth. A fine hall, with a marble front
portico, was commenced in August, 1833. It was
finished in November, 1834, and for twenty years
was the principal voting-place in the district. During
the cholera of 1806, the building not being in actual
use, was selected to serve as a hospital for cholera
patients in case the epidemic should be severe. The
designation of the hall for such a purpose aroused
apprehension and fear in the neighborhood. Pro-
tests were made against the proposed service. As no
attention was paid to these remonstrances, some evil-
disposed persons took an opportunity to settle the
matter in a summary way. The hall was set on fire
by incendiaries, and the interior destroyed, Aug. 4,
1866. The walls were in good condition. The prop-
erty was afterward sold and rebuilt, and wsis occu-
pied by a Roman Catholic institution.
Richmond Hall. — The commissioners' hall for the
district of Richmond was situate at the corner of
Clearfield and West Streets, and finished in 1829.
District of Penn HaU.— By act of April 19, 1843,
James Markoe, Andrew D. Ca,sh, William Esher,
Jacob Heyberger, and Edward T. Tyson were ap-
pointed commissioners to appoint surveyors and lay
out with streets, sewers, etc., that jiortion of Penn
township "lying between the north boundary-line
of Spring Garden and a line parallel with and at the
distance of one hundred feet north of Susquehanna
Avenue, and between the middle of Delaware Sixth
Street and the river Schuylkill," etc. They met for
the first time May 2, 1843, at Woodvale Cottage, the
residence of James Markoe, and organized. They
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1777
were superseded in authority by act of March 14,
1844, which created a municipal corporation styled
"The Commissioners and Inhabitants of the District
of Penn." The first meeting of the commissioners
was held March 25, 1844, at the house of Michael
Deiner. On the 30th of March, 1846, the commis-
sioners met for the first time at the new hall, north-
east corner of Tenth and Thompson Streets. They
were in the occupancy of that building at the time
of consolidation (1864).
PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, DISTRICT
OF PENN.
Incorporated March 14, 1844.
March, 1844-Marcli, 1846. — James Markoe.
March, 1846-March, 1847.— Athanasius Ford.
March, 1847-March, 1849.— Anthony Olwine.
March, 1849-March, 1850.— William Esher.
March, 1860-May 13, 1850.— Samuel Ogden.
May 13, 1850-May 13, 1851.— William Esher.
March, 1851-June 15, 1852.— Samnel Ogden.
June 15, 1852-June 15, 1854,— Jacob D. Sheble.
West Philadelphia Hall, — The commissioners for
West Philadelphia occupied a lofty brick building
for district uses at the corner of Washington [Mar-
ket] and Park [Thirty-seventh] Streets.
Germantowii Hall. — The town hall of German-
town, built upon a lot fifty-five feet front by one
hundred feet in depth, stood back from the main
street, or Germantown Avenue. It was authorized
to be built before the act of consolidation was passed,
and was finished July 1, 1855.
Frankford Hall.— The town hall of Frankford
was occupied January, 1849.
Watch-Houses, Watchmen, and Police Stations.
— At the consolidation of the city .and districts all the
commissioners and town halls of the various districts
and townships ceased to be of local importance. As
nearly all of them had been used for police head-
quarters, and were provided with facilities for the
temporary detention of prisoners, they were continued
in use as police stations.
In Philadelphia the earliest conservators of the
peace were the constables. The first watchman was
appointed in July, 1700, by the Provincial Council,
and had the whole care of the city within his charge.
He was appointed and empowered " to go round ye
town with a small Bell in the night time to give no-
tice of ye time of night & the weather, and if any
disorders or dangers happen by fire or otherwise in
the night time to acquaint ye constables eyrof."
In a curious document of instructions, purported to
have been addressed to Thomas Todd (constable of
Mulberry Ward) in 1722, probably by Mayor Fish-
bourne, there are directions as to his duty in daytime,
particularly to suppress disorder on the first day of
the week in the public streets, the arrest of persons
tippling in public-houses, and the maintenance of
peace at other times. The following is in relation to
the watch :
" What I have said chiefly concerns thy conduct
I .
in the day, but what follows is relative to the Night
Watches.
" I. Take care to warn the watch duly, and that
thou attend accordingly at the time and place already
appointed.
" II. If any person duly warned does not come or
send one in time, or when come does not attend his
duty therein, return the names of every such to some
magistrate next day.
"III. If thou meet any disorderly persons in the
streets, endeavor to suppress them, and commit them
to Gaol until next morning ; but if, with the assist-
ance of the watch, thou cannot then learn their
names make return thereof accordingly next day to
some magistrate.
" IV. If thou knows or hears of any suspected lew'd
houses as entertaining debauched persons or servants,
&c., search there accordingly and apprehend all sus-
pected persons thou finds therein, and commit them
to Gaol in order to be brought before some magis-
trate next morning.
" V. If any publick housekeepers keep unseason-
able hours or rude disorderly company in their
houses thou art to require them to disperse the com-
pany and return the name of such publick house-
keeper to some magistrate the next day."
From these instructions it appears that the consta-
ble was the principal officer of the watch. There was
another matter connected with it, viz., that the watch
was not a permanent paid body of men, but was com-
posed of citizens who were designated or chosen for
that service. Practically every able-bodied house-
keeper had to take his turn upon the watch or send a
substitute, which privilege is alluded to in Clause II.
of the above instructions. This system had, in course
of time, become onerous upon some citizens, and was
not satisfactory for other reasons. In 1743 a grand
jury made a presentment on this subject, in which it
was stated, " The Watch for some time past has been
a great expense to the Citizens and the charge thereof
unequal and grievous to the poorer part of the Citi-
zens and that a less sum than what was yearly col-
lected on that account raised by an equal assessment
and properly managed might in a short time be suf-
ficient to build a watchhouse and support a stated
watch, who would be more diligent and careful and
go their hourly rounds during the whole night."
Common Council voted that a stated watch, to be paid
for by the city, would be most effectual, and applica-
tion was made for authority to establish it. It was
not until 1751 that the necessary authority was given
by the Assembly. The nightly watch was established,
and at the same time public lamps were set up. This
was a temporary law, and expired in 1756. In the
latter year another act was passed, by which Henry
Harrison, Samuel Rhodes, George Okill, Joseph
Morris, Daniel Roberdeau, and James Fisher were
appointed wardens to maintain and take care of the
lamps already erected, and to put up others, and pro-
1778
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
vide for lighting and watching, and to hire and ap-
point the watchmen. They had power to direct, in
writing, °' at what stands it is fit for the said watchmen
to be placed, how often they shall go the rounds and
also to appoint the rounds each watchman is to go
and to order what number of the constables of the
City shall watch each night."
The hours of watching between the 10th of March
and the 10th of September were from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.,
and between the 10th of September and the 10th of
March from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. There were seventeen
rounds or beats at that time. The largest one was on
Market and Chestnut Streets, from Front Street to
Seventh. The other beats were not farther we^t than
Fifth Street.
It was also directed, " and the Constables shall in
theirseveral Turnsand Courses of Watching use their
best Endeavors to prevent Fires, Murders, Burglaries,
Robberies, and other Outrages and Disorders within
the said City, and to that End shall and they are
hereby im powered and required to arrest and appre-
hend all nighlwalkers, malefactors, and suspected
persons, persons who shall be found wandering and
misbehaving themselves, and shall take the person or
persons who shall be so apprehended, as soon aa con-
veniently they may, before one of the Justices of the
Peace of and for the said city, to be examined and
dealt with according to law, and shall once or oftener,
at convenient times in every night, go about the
several wards of the said city and take notice wether
the watchmen perform their duties in their .leveral
stations." The pay of the constables wa.s three shil-
lings per night. The section of the law defining the
duties of watchmen followed, substantially in the
language that regulates the ]iower of the constables.
The watchmen were authorized "to apprehend all
Nightwalkers, Malefactors, Rogues, Vagabonds, and
disorderly persons whom they shall find disturbing
the public peace, or shall have just cause to suspect
of any evil design. . . . And in case of any Fire
breaking out or other great Necessity shall imme-
diately alarm each other and the inhabitants in their
respective Rounds, which when done they shall repair
to their respective Stands, The better to discover any
other Fire that may happen as well as to prevent any
Burglaries, Robl>eries, Outrages, and Disorders and
to apprehend any suspected Persons who in such
Times of Confusion may be feloniously carrying off
the Goods and the Effects of others."
The watch-box wa.* an early nece-ssity of the watch
system. They were small wooden constructions, square
or hexagonal, and at a late period of their employ-
ment some of them were perfectly round. They were
in width or diameter from four to five feet, and sur-
mounted by lamps. Within them was space for a
narrow bench, fixed to one of the sides of the build-
ing. Sometimes there was space for a small stove,
the pipe from which rose near the top of the box and
opened out upon the street. Around the inside walls
were hooks upon which to hang coats, capes, torches,
etc., and underneath the bench was a place in which
to store cans of oil, with wicks, lamp-dishes, and other
appliances. Probably about 1830 small round holes
were placed in the doors of the watch-houses, behind
which were fixed revolving disks of iron or tin, upon
which were cut in Roman numerals figures running
from IX. to XII., then commencing at I. down to VI.,
the latest morning hour. The watchman set this dial
on each return from traversing his beat, and the way-
farer by consulting the dial could learn the hour of
the night. It was not essentially necessary in the
earlier period of the watch that such precaution should
be taken. The watch-box was doomed to removal
by ordinance of March 16, 1848, which declared that
thereafter no watch-boxes should be provided or per-
mitted in the public streets. It was the duty of the
watchman, as he went his rounds, to announce the
hour in a loud voice. The watchman's cry was pecu-
liar and musical, and was usually listened for by those
awake with some interest, because he not only told the
time of the night, but the condition of the weather.
If he should cry out, ''Oh pasttw — elveo — clock — and
a starlight morning I" the information was more pleas-
ant than if it might be at another hour, " Oh pa — a — st
three o — clock — and a stormy morning!" It is a matter
of historic legend, probably true, that on the night
that the news of the British surrender at Yorktown,
in 1781. was brought to the city, the intelligence
having come in at a late hour, a German watchman,
who went his rounds, startled the wakeful population
by crying the hour, and adding, " Uiit Cornwalist ish
daken !" Before the Revolution the watchman car-
ried a stave and a flambeau, which was made of tin
or iron, with usually a square fountain for oil at the
end, which he held in his hand, and a stout wick
running through the tube, which burned with a great
flare, and was rarely blown out, even iu the most
windy weather. A badge buckled round his hat
was a certificate of his official authority, and a rattle
conveniently carried in the side-pocket of his coat, or
great-coat in winter, was ready for use in case of alarm
or the attempted escape of an offender. In 1806 city
watchmen were provided with tin trumpets.
Watch-Houses. — The watch-house became a ne-
cessity for the watchman and his prisoners from the
first establishment of municipal police guardianship.
Where the earliest one was located is not known, but
in 1704 a watch-house wjis ordered to be built in the
market-place. There is no evidence as to how long
its use was continued or how it was superseded. The
records show that it was twenty-six feet long and
fourteen feet wide. Perhaps it was replaced by the
use of the county prison lor the same purposes. The
headquarters of the watch were fixed at the county
court-house as soon as the courts were removed to
the State-House. During the Revolutionary period
there was a watch-house in the State-House yard, and
under the second city charter of 1789 the old court-
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1779
house at Market and Second Streets became the city
watch-house, and was occupied as such for some
A superintendent of the nightly watch was ap-
pointed under ordinance of 1797. It was his duty to
take care of the oil, wick, and utensils belonging to
the city, to see that the watchmen performed their
duties, and to aid them in " preventing murders, bur-
glaries, robberies, and other outrages." In course of
time the principal watch-house was established in the
basement of the City Hall, at Fifth and Chestnut
Streets.
In 1833, under the stimulus of the will of Stephen
Girard, by which money was devised for the improve-
ment of a police force in the city, four equal divi-
sions of the territory were made for public purposes.
There was a captain of the watch and a lieutenant of
the city police for each division. Each division was
apportioned into three sections, and for each of the
latter there was an inspector of police to superintend
the policemen and watchmen, subject to the orders of
the lieutenant of the division. There were twenty-four
day policemen and one hundred and twenty watch-
men for night duty. It was provided that there
should be a suitable watch-house for each section.
Therefore there were twelve watch-houses. But this
arrangement was so unsatisfactory and expensive
that in 1835 a new ordinance was passed, reducing
the number of the day police and the number of
watch-houses.
Of the several watch-houses, that for the northern
section of the city proper stood upon the north side
of Cherry Street, east of Fifth. Another was on the
south side of Union Street, between Third and
Fourth. The western watch-house occupied a site
on Broad Street, near Arch, which is now partly
covered by the Masonic Temple. The district cor-
porators had watch-houses that were established at
the commissioners' halls. On Nov. 12, 1810, the
Northern Liberties organized by ordinance a nightly
watch, and provided for lamps. The force was in-
creased in 1811, and a captain appointed.
A radical departure from the old system or lack of
system was taken by the act of Assembly of 1850,
which brought into existence the Philadelphia police
district, and created a force which was clothed with
authority not only in the city proper, but also in the
districts of Northern Liberties, Spring Garden, Ken-
sington, Richmond, Penn township, Southwark,
and Moyamensing. This organization was inde-
pendent of the old watch and police of the city and
districts. By the act a police board was created, to
be composed of the marshal and his four lieutenants,
who were obliged to keep an office in the city, which
should be called the chief police station. It was also
made the duty of the Councils of the city and the
commissioners of the districts to erect suitable and
convenient station-houses for the police in proper
localities. The office of the chief marshal was opened
on Fifth Street, below Walnut, and the new station-
houses required were gradually provided in diflerent
sections of the city.
The marshal's police officers established the follow-
ing signals for calling the force together, the intention
being that the officers should repair to, aud concen-
trate at, the station-house indicated by the signal :
To the marshal's office 5 strokes of the alarm-bell.
S. E. Section of the city 5—1 " " "
S. W. ' 5—4
N. W. " " " 6—3 " " "
N. E. " " " 5—2
Southwark 12 " "
Moyamensing 11 " " "
Spring Garden 10 " " "
Northern Liberties 9 " " "
Kensington 8
Penn 7
Richmond 6 " " "
West Philadelphia 13 " " "
" When such concentration may be required at any
station the signal shall be given by the alarm-bell
within the limits of the said staticjn. The adjoining
stations will promptly answer the alarm by giving the
same number of strokes as that given by the first
alarm-bell, thereby conveying the intelligence to the
next station, and so on ; so that all policemen will
proceed at once to the station whose alarm corresponds
with the above statement or regulation."
When the Consolidation Act was passed, in 1854,
there was a reorganization of the police department,
and by ordinance of July 28th, of the same year, it
was declared that for police purposes each ward
should be a separate police district, and that in each
district there should be " a station-house for the use
of the police, and for the temporary detention of per-
sons arrested or charged with offences against the
laws." ' The central station was established in the
City Hall, at Fifth and Chestnut Streets. Stations
in some of the wards were provided by the appropria-
tion of the former commissioners' halls, and in the
other wards buildings were rented and fitted up. It
was soon discovered that there was no economy in the
renting method, and the city then began to build its
own police stations. The first were solid but plain
structures, but in course of time architectural effect
was attempted, and the buildings provided with or-
namental material.
In 1884 there were twenty-six station-houses, lo-
cated as follows :
First District, Fitzwater Street, below Twentieth.
Second District, at old Southwark Commissioners'
Hall, Second Street, above Christian.
Third District, north side of Union Street, below
Fourth.
Fourth District, east side of Fifth Street, above
Race.
Fifth District, east side of Fifteenth Street, above
Locust.
1 This ordinance has not been rigidly complied with, aa in 1884,
although there were tliirty-one wards, the number of police districts
was only twenty-four, corresponding with the original number of wards.
The only extra stations were for the Delaware and Schuylkill Harbor
Police, whose duties are mainly executed upon the water, .
1780
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Sixth District, east side of Eleventh Street, shore
Race.
Seventh District, St. John Street, above Button-
wood.
Eighth District, south side of Buttonwood Street,
above Tenth.
Ninth District, northwest corner Twenty-third and
Brown Streets.
Tenth District, east side of Front Street, above
Master.
Eleventh District, Girard Avenue, near Otis Street.
Twelfth District, northeast corner Tenth and
Thompson Street*, old Penn District Commissioners'
Hall.
Thirteenth District, old Manayunk Borough Hall,
Main Street, Manayunk.
Fourteenth District, old Germantown Borough
Hall, Main Street, Germantown.
Fifteenth District, old Frankford Borough Hall,
Main Street, Frankford.
Sixteenth District, corner Thirty-ninth Street and
Lancaster Avenue.
Seventeenth District, Taylor Street, below Passy-
nnk Avenue.
Eighteenth District, Trenton Avenue, below Dau-
phin Street.
Nineteenth District, Lombard Street, below Eighth.
Twentieth District, north side of Filbert Street,
above Fifteenth.
Twenty-first District, corner of Darby Road and
Thirty-eighth Street.
Twenty-second DLstrict, northwest corner of Le-
high and Park .4 venues.
Twenty-third District, south side Jefferson Street,
above Twentieth.
Twenty-fourth District, corner of Belgrade and
Clearfield Streets.
4 Delaware Harbor, northeast corner Front and No-
ble Streets.
Schuylkill Harbor, Fairmount Water-Works.
MABSHALS OF POLICE.
n U tImM/or Ikrm ftan, mmd^r Uu act o/ Maf 3, 1860 ; act rtpeaUd
Xof 13. 1U«.
JobnS. KpTMr.darlxl Oct. 8, ISSO
Col. JobD K. MurpbT.i elMied _ Oct. 11, l«&3
OHIEFS OF POLICE.
Thi« ofllc* ni cr**l«d \>j act of Hay 13, IBM, lu tok* rffect at Ui« eod
of tb« Unn of tb« nurahal of pollc«. Tb* cbl«& to b« appointed by the
mayor, to bold offlc« durio; bit ploaaara.
Samarl O. RacRlo. appointed May —,1857
Ofn SL Clair A. Mulhulland, appolntad —, 18«S
Krnnarl H. J<>oi>.< »ppulnt«] _..- —,1871
Samiii'l Irrln Gliln, »pp.ilnltd July — , 187»
JuiM gl'wart, Jr , appointed April — , 1884
The State-Hoase, or Independence HalL— As
»oon iw William I'enn arrived in his province of
Pennsylvania, it became ref|uinitc to convene the
representatives of the inhaliitants, to agree upon
proper lawn for the government of the settlement. It
was not necessary to employ for these primitive legis-
lative sessions a building of large proportions, for,
although, by the form of government, the General
Ass§.mbly for the province was to consist of all the
freemen of and in the said province, it is not likely
that all attended. The first Assembly met at Chester,
Dec. 4, 1682.'
The first session of the Assembly at Philadelphia
was held on the 12th of First month (March), 1683.
There were fifty-four members, nine for each of the
counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Kent, New
Castle, and Sussex. Where this body met is not
known. Mr. Etting thinks ("History of Independ-
I ence Hall") that the place might have been at
! Guest's Blue Anchor Tavern, because there was no
public building in the city at that time, yet it is
probable that there was a structure which was looked
upon as a public building. Richard Townsend, who
was with Penn in the " Welcome," says, in his testi-
mony, " Our first concern was to keep up and main-
tain our religious worship, and in order thereto we
, had several meetings in the houses of the inhabitants,
' and a boarded meeting-house was set up where the
city was to be, near the Delaware, and as we had
nothing but love and good will in our hearts to one
another we had very comfortable meetings from time
to time, and after our meeting was over we assisted
j one another in building little houses for our shelter."
I From this it seems that the meeting-house was com-
i pleted before many of the original inhabitants had
j got out of the caves under the banks of the Delaware,
[ which were their earliest dwelling-places. There is
a minute of a meeting held at Philadelphia on the
9th of Eleventh month (January), 1683 (Jan. 9,
1684, new style), at which it was agreed that Monthly
lBadiadrah.U,UT«,ac*4annlgr-ala«. > Okd July «, 1(79.
* The namee of the persons who attPnded this body are not given in
the rotes of the Assembly at the head of the proceedings of tlie session.
We can only obtain a portion of the names from the minutes that note
members appointed on committees, etc. From this source it is ascer-
tained that the following delegates among others were present: Chris-
topher Taylor, of Bucks; Nicholas More, of Philadelphia; John Sim-
cock, of Chester; William Clark, of Deal ; Francis Wbitewell ; Griffith
Jones, of Philadelphia; Luke Watson, of Sussex ; William Yardley, of
Bucks; William Sample; Thomas Brassy, of Chester; John Briggs, of
Kent; Ralph Withers, of Chester; Thomas Holme, of Philadelphia;
Thomas Winn, of Philadelphia; John Moll, of Kew C^tle; and Edward
Southam.
In the Assembly arose on the first day of its session the first election
contest in Penmylyania. The return for New Castle was ooDtMted for
lllegallly. John Moll was admitted and Abraham Han waSDOtadmitlad
to the seat.
In what house or place the Assembly met at Chester has been a matter
ofoontroTersy. One opinion extensiyely belioved was that the sittings
were In an old building, which, until about 1860, •lood on the west side
of Filbert Street, near the margin of Cbeeter Creek, and was commonly
known as the old Assembly.bouse. But Dr. George Smith, In the " His-
tory of Delaware County," with whom John Hill Martin (ilie " History
of Chester") agree*, declares that the Asscmbly.boiMe,ao called, was not
built until 1693, and Ibat it was not used then for the Assembly, butwas
the first Friends' meeting.houie. Both thoae writers coincide in the
opinion that th* Assembly sat in the court-house, which was then the
•' bouse of defense," a log itractore, the site of which is not known.and
which Is belieTed to have been torn down about the time of the BsTolu.
Unn. Dr. Smith says It was the only public buiiditig erected In Upland
(Chsatar) at that Urns of which we hare any knowledge.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1781
Meetings should be held on the first third-day of each I
month for men and women, and that every third '
meeting should be Quarterly Meeting. At this meet- j
ing Thomas Holme, John Songhurst, Thomas Wynne, 1
and Griffith Owen were designated to make the ar-
rangements for the choice of a fit place for the meet-
inghouse. Some time in 1684 the brick meeting- !
house in Centre Square and the bank meeting-house,
which was probably of frame, were constructed. The
brick meeting-house was not, therefore, the boarded '
meeting-house, and the bank meeting-house, a more
pretentious structure, is believed to have replaced the
latter. We may hence presume that the meeting
of the Assembly in March, 1683, took place in the
boarded meeting-house. The bank meeting-house,
on Front Street, above Arch, was completed in 1684
or 1685, and there is strong probability that the
Assembly then, and for some years afterward, was
convened in that building.
In 1695 it met in the principal room of a large
house that had been erected by Richard Whitpain
on the east side of Front Street, between Walnut and
Spruce. It was considered quite a grand structure for
its day, and Penn, writing from England in 1687, said
it was too big for a " private man," wherefore he rec-
ommended its use by his own commissioners as a State-
House for the use of the officers of the province. When
the Assembly, eight years afterward, occupied this
building for the legislative branch of the government
they must have been in some strait for a proper place
in which to do business. A committee was appointed
to negotiate with Sarah Whitpain. They reported
next day that they had agreed with her as to the com-
pensation, or rent, which must have been an unusual
thing, because one member for each county stood forth
and " obliged themselves to defray the charge of this
house, each for their respective county." In 1696 the
Assembly met at the house of Samuel Carpenter,
which was at that time on the west side of King [or
Water] Street, above Walnut. In 1698 the Assembly
ordered the rent of the house in which the meetings
were held to be paid, and in February, 1699, in conse-
quence of the extreme cold weather they adjourned to
Isaac Norris' house, probably to warm themselves. In
1701 the Assembly again met at Whitpain's house,
then owned by Joseph Shippen, and occupied the great
front room. Subsequently they occupied the school-
room of Thomas Makin, who had been elected clerk
of the Assembly in 1699. In February, 1705, Thomas
petitioned the House and made complaint that he had
lost several scholars "by reason of the Assembly's
using the school-house so long, the weather being
cold." Makin had been allowed twenty shillings for
the use of his room during the session, but now the
Assembly, being in a generous mood, voted him three
pounds in addition. The new Friends' meeting-
house, built at the southwest corner of Second and
Market Streets in the year 1695, is believed to have
been occasionally used by the Assembly for a place
of meeting, intermittingly with Makin's school-
room.
At the convening of the Assembly, Dec. 16, 1728,
there was again a question as to where it could find a
proper place for meeting. It appears that at the pre-
ceding session it had passed a resolution requesting
the Governor and Council to make an order for a
meeting place that should be most convenient for the
dispatch of business, because of " indecencies used to-
ward members of the Assembly" where it had been
sitting. Lieutenant-Governor Gordon was obliged to
apologize for not executing this resolution. He said
that he would have appointed some other place than
Philadelphia, had it not been that the Council was of
opinion that for the convenient dispatch of business
the members ought to meet in the city. But he said
that if the house would not agree with him, an ad-
journment to Chester — " which next to Philadelphia
seems to be the most convenient place for your meet-
ing"— would be proper. As the Governor did not
help the Assembly out of its dilemma, it appointed a
committee which selected for its temporary abode the
house of Capt. Anthony Morris, on Second Street be-
low Walnut.
In April, 1729, the citizens of Philadelphia pre-
sented a petition to the Assembly that it would by
law empower the city and county to build a State-
House in High Street near the prison. At this time
the legislative branch was in one of the frequent con-
troversies it had with the executive whenever it pro-
posed to issue paper money, part of which was for
the renewal of former emissions whose legal time had
expired. The bill then pending had originally pro-
posed the issue of fifty thousand pounds, but the ob-
jections of Lieutenant-Governor Gordon reduced the
amount to thirty thousand pounds before it was
passed. May 10, 1729. In this act was inserted a sec-
tion in which it was declared that " a House for the
Representatives of the Freemen of this Province to
meet in and sit in General Assembly in the City of
Philadelphia, is very much wanted." Therefore it
was enacted " that the sum of two thousand pounds
of bills of credit made current by this act be delivered
by the trustees of the loan office to Thomas Lawrence,
Andrew Hamilton, and John Kearsley, who are here-
by appointed for building and carrying on the same,
who shall give their receipt to the trustees for the
said bills," etc.
Andrew Hamilton and William Allen were named
as trustees by the Assembly for the use of the province.
On Feb. 20, 1736, in an act " for vesting the state
I house and other public buildings with the lots of
j land whereon the same are erected in trust for the
use of the province," it was recited that Hamilton
and Alien had purchased divers lots of land situ-
ate on the south side of Chestnut Street, and extend-
ing from Fifth to Sixth Streets, 396 feet ; and on Fifth
', Street south 337 feet; thence west 148i feet; then
1 north 82 feet to a lot of ground reputed to be vacant ;
1782
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
thence west 99 feet ; thence south 82 feet ; thence
west 148} feet to the east side of Sixth Street ; thence
north 337 feet. Thus it appears that the whole of
the ground between Chestnut and Walnut was not
taken up at that time, and that the sides on Fifth
and Sixth Streets extended south farther than the lot
extended in the centre portion. It was as if a piece ob-
long in shape had been cut out neatly from the south-
ern portion of the ground. As Hamilton and Allen
made their purcha.^es individually, the act of 1735
was ititended to settle the title. It was there di-
rected that Hamilton and Allen should make good
and sufficient deed of conveyance of the property to
John Kinsey, of Philadelphia, Joseph Kirkbride,
Jr., of Bucks, Caleb Cowpland, of Chester, and
Thomas Edwards, of Lancaster, " to and for the use
of the representatives of the freemen aforesaid which
now are and from time to time hereafter shall be
duly elected by the freemen aforesaid and to and for
such other uses intents and purposes as they the said
representatives at any time or times hereafter when in
general assembly met shall direct and appoint, Pro-
i-ided always and it is hereby declared to be the true
intent and meaning of these presents that no part of
the said ground lying to the Southard of the State
house as it is now built be converted into or made
use of for erecting any sort of buildings thereupon
bul that the said ground shall be enclosed and remain a
public green and walk for ever." In an act passed
Feb. 7, 17G2, It was stated that Allen purchased of
Anthony Morris one other lot of ground, adjoining to
the original ground, bounded on the south by Walnut
Street, eastward by the lot formerly of John Bird,
northward with the State-House ground, and west by
the lot reputed to be vacant. This lot was 49} feet
on Walnut Street, and 255 feet deep, so that it ran
out on the eastern boundary of the west side of the
extension down to Walnut Street, but did not extend
to Sixth.
Neither Hamilton nor Allen had made the con-
veyance to Kinsey and the other trustees as ordered
in 1735.
An effort was made to discharge this duty on the
Kith of September, 1761, by James Hamilton, heir
and representative of Andrew Hamilton, and by
WilliaiM Allen, by which they conveyed the property
ti) Norris, Leach, and Fox, who were named to be trus-
tees in the jirevious act. The Assembly does not
appear to have been satisfied with this arrangement.
By an act passed Feb. 17, 1762, It was recited that
Hamilton, Kinsey, Cowpland, and Kirkbride were
dead. The legality of the conveyance might be
called into queHtion, and consequently the Assembly,
acting as cfslui t/w trust and as the sovereign authority
as well, enacted that all the estate and Interest of Ham-
ilton in his lifetime, and of his heirs after his death,
and als^) of William Allen in the premises, should be
settled upon and vested in Isaac Norris, Thomas
Lecab, Samuel Rlioads, Joseph Galloway, John Bayn-
ton, aqd Edward Penlngton, and the survivors and
survivor of them, and the heirs and assigns of such
survivor freed and acquitted from the former uses, but
to be held by Norris and his associates for the same
uses and purposes as were directed in the act of 1785.
The Assembly excepted out of the grant two lots at
the corners of Fifth and Sixth Streets and Chestnut,
on which the county court-house and city hall were
afterward erected. It was stated that Hamilton had
bought these grounds for the use of the city and
county, and by the act the municipal and county title
was affirmed. The declaration was again made that
the ground south of the State-House within the wall
of the inclosure should not be used for erecting any
sort of buildings thereon, but should remain a public
green and walk forever. Three mouths after the pas-
sage of the act already noticed, another act was passed
" to enable the trustees of the State house to pur-
chase certain lots of ground, the remainder of the
square whereon the said house now stands."
An appropriation of five thousand pounds was made
for the purchase, and the deeds were ordered to be
taken in the names of the trustees, the new acquisition
to be added to the State-House grounds. After the
seat of the State government was removed from Phil-
adelphia the title to the property remained vested in
the commonwealth of Pennsylvania; but the members
of the Assembly seem to have so lost pride in the old
house that, in 1813, a bill was introduced to sell the
property, as a means of doing which with the best pecu-
niary results the opening of a street through it was pro-
jected. Voicing the indignation of the people at such
a desecration, the Philadelphia Councils sent a pro-
test to the State Legislature; yet, on March 11, 1816,
it did pass an act for the sale of the whole property;
but it embraced a proviso that if the corporation of
the city of Philadelphia should, within ten days be-
fore the 1st of June, the day named for the sale, make
a contract with the Governor for the purchase of the
State-House buildings, with the clock and grounds,
for the sum of seventy thousand dollars, and pay one-
third within five days thereafter, the sale should not
take place, but that the lot and buildings should be
conveyed to the city, excepting the County Court
buildings, at Sixth Street, the City Hall, at Fifth
Street, the American Philosophical Society's hall,
south of it, and the office buildings east and west of
the main State-House building, which had been
erected in 1812, and they were to be vested in the
city and county of Philadelphia. The money real-
ized was to be used by the State for the building of a
capitol at Harrisburg. The act again repeated the
declaration in former acts that the grounds south of
the buildings should br aitd remain a public green and
walk forever. Councils raised the funds by loan. A
portion of the money was paid immediately, and the
balance after some delay. And thus this valuable
property became vested in the city. William Allen
bought the lots on the south side of Chestnut Street,
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1783
between Fifth and Sixth, Oct. 15, 1730. There was
at least one building upon the ground, as it appears
that the Assembly occupied such a building before
the State-House was ready for use. It is not likely
that the latter was begun before the succeeding year.
The building committee was composed of Speaker I
Hamilton, Dr. John Kearsley, aud Thomas Lawrence.
Kearsley, although not a professional architect, had j
gained much local reputation by reason of his plan
for the construction of Christ Church, on Second
Street. It may have been this achievement which
gained him a place upon the building committee. 1
Hamilton was a lawyer, and not expected to be an
architect, and Lawrence was a merchant. However, !
when the committee met to agree upon the plan of
the building, Hamilton came with his design, and so
did Dr. Kearsley with his. Lawrence seems to have
had the casting vote, and he decided in favor of
Hamilton's plan. Kearsley was not only disap-
pointed by the rejection of his design, but he was
opposed to the building of the State-House on Chest-
nut Street. In 1732, August 8th, Speaker Hamilton
reported to the House that he had provided mate-
rials to " carry on the building in the manner as the
House now sees it. But for as much as the said John
Kearsley had opposed the work, both on account of
the place where it is begun to be built and of the
manner and form of the building, and had frequently
insisted that the House of Representatives had never
agreed that it should be erected in that place, Mr.
Speaker desired to know the sentiments of the House
thereupon ; and the said John Kearsley being pres-
ent as a member, stood up in his place, and having
offered to the House his reasons and allegations,
which were fully heard, Mr. Speaker moved the
House would resolve itself into a Committee of the
Whole House, that he might have an opportunity of
answering the said John Kearsley." This was done,
and the matter was debated between the two archi-
tects. On a subsequent day the Assembly ordered
that William Allen should be paid for the ground
which he had bought for the State-House lot. At
that time it was recorded : "Mr. Speaker (Hamilton)
then produced a draught of the State House, contain-
ing the plan and elevation of that building, which,
being viewed and examined by several members, was
approved of by the House." '
Hamilton, having been vindicated by the action of
the House, was now anxious to withdraw from subse-
quent supervision of the work. He asked to be ex-
cused from service, saying, " that the care of conduct-
ing the said building had almost entirely rested on
I John r. Watson, in his " Annals of Philadelphia," vol. i. page 398,
shows that he was led astray as to the name of the architect of the State-
House. Supposing, no doubt, that the architect of Christ Church was the
only man on the committee competent to make a design for the building,
he came to the conclusion that Kearsley must have been the architect,
and seems to have been ignorant of the plain and decisive entries con-
cerning the matter which appear in the votes of the Assembly.
114
himself; that by experience he found the affair was
attended with great difficulties and much inconveni-
ence to his own private concerns ; that it was neces-
sary that the House should appoint some skillful
person to superintend the work, who ought to have
an eye constantly upon the management of the whole
and have authority sufficient to consider what is proper
to be done." The members of the Assembly gave no
heed to this request. They knew that they had the
proper man in control, and they voted " that Mr.
Speaker be the person appointed by this House with
the advice of the two gentlemen before nominated to
superintend and govern the building of the State
House, and that for his trouble therein the House
will give him compensation." This vote of confi-
dence was satisfactory, and Mr. Hamilton was en-
couraged to make a statement to the Assembly in re-
lation to some of his troubles as contractor for the
erection of the building. The carpenters were on a
sort of strike, and alleged that the " work expected
from them was heavy and to be carried on in an ex-
traordinary manner," and they demanded as compen-
sation " thirty shillings per square." The House
resolved that it should be given to them. At a later
day, Dr. Kearsley, having fortified himself, it may be
supposed, with stronger objections than he was able
to interpose on the 8th of August, when the matter
was unexpectedly broached by Speaker Hamilton,
addressed himself again to the subject, his text being
"that the form of the building was liable to great
exceptions." The House heard him patiently, and
then resolved that in the selection of the place " and
the manner of conducting the said building" the
Speaker had " behaved himself agreeably to the mind
and intention of this House." Speaker Hamilton
stated, on Jan. 18, 1734, that he was blamed, without
cause, for delay in finishing the building ; that his own
plan, with "one or more" produced by one of gentle-
men joined in the said undertaking (Dr. Kearsley),
with several other plans and elevations, were jiro-
duced ; that his jilan was " agreed upon as the least
expensive and the most neat and commodious and
'. had been approved by the then House of Re|)resen-
tatives." Notwithstanding his care, attention, and
loss of time, "many Persons imagining it might rec-
ommend them to the People have made it their
Business unjustly to charge the said Andrew Hamil-
ton with being the sole projector of the building and
house for the Purposes aforesaid, and of his own Head
running the Country to a much greater Charge than
was necessary." In disgust at this treatment, Mr.
Hamilton asked the Assembly " to discharge him
from having any further Concern in carrying on or
taking care of the said Building, he being unwilling
to bear the unjust Reproaches of malicious Persons
for doing what he conceived and is well satisfied is
not only necessary, but when finished will be a credit
to the whole province." The House postponed con-
I sideration of the matter. In fact, no action was taken
1784
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
in regard to Mr. Hamilton's complaints, and the As-
sembly adjourned the next day.
The building which was projected by Mr. Hamil-
ton was the ceutre edifice since known in later years
as Independence Hall. It was one hundred feet in
width on Chestnut Street by forty-four feet in depth'
and the tower was not a part of the plan. The mas-
ter-carpenters and builders were Edmund Wooley
and Ebenezer Tomlinson. John Harrison was the
joiner and carver; Thomas Shoemaker, Robert Hind,
Thomas Peglar, Joseph Hitchcock, and Thomas Boude
were the bricklayers. The brick were made and fur-
nished by Daniel Jones, James Stoops, and Benjamin
Fairman. The stone-masons and cellar-diggers were
Jonathan Palmer and Thomas Redman ; the mar-
ble-mason was William Holland; the wood-carver
who executed the fine decorative carvings in the hall
and apartments was Bryan Wilkinson. Thomas Ellis
and Thomas Godfrey, the inventor of the quadrant,
were the glaziers, and Gustavus Hesselius, one of the
best known and talented artists of bis time, who is
yet renowned for his portraits in the style of Godfrey
Kneller, gave up for a period the finer practice of his
art, and condescended with pot and brush to do the
painting of the wood-work. The construction went
on slowly. As original ly designed, it was intended
that the State-House building should accommodate
the Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the Governor
and Provincial Councils. On the 24th of March,
1733, the Assembly ordered, " for the greater security
of the public papers of this Province (agreeable to a
plan now produced before the House) two offices to
be built adjoining the State-House." These were
square buildings two stories in height, capped by a
hip-roof. They were some distance east and west of
the main State-House. There appears to have been
no provision for reaching the upper stories of them
by a stairway in the interior. The somewhat curious
plan was adopted of constructing a covered piazza of
thri'C open arches in front, which contained the stair-
way and also led to the State-House. A front eleva-
tion of the latter, engraved in 1798, shows this ar-
rangement.
In January, 1735, it was ordered " that the west end
of the Stale-House be wainscoted of a convenient
height on three sides, and that the east end be neatly
wainscoted and finisheil the whole height for the
use of the As.sembly." This room on the first floor
east was afterward known as Independence Room or
Hall. The wainncoting at the east end was to be
considered as complete, while on the sides it was but
partial. It is probable that the Assembly first occu-
pied the State-House at the session commencing Oc-
tober, 173.'>. The square buildings adjoining and the
main State-House were sometimes called Province
Hall. The additional buildings were nearly com-
pleted in January, H.'Jfi. On the l-'ilh of that month
John Kinsey made a motion, in which he recited
that " the Province bath been at considerable Ex-
pense in building the several Offices adjoining to the
State-House, which are now almost completed, and
were intended as Repositories for such Records and
Papers as more immediately concern the Publick,
and particularly those of the Trustees of the General
Loan Office, the Rolls Office for recording Deeds,
and the Register-General's Office." The House took
into consideration a proposition that such officers
should be compelled to deposit their records and jiapers
in those offices, and give their own attendance there.
The committee briiuirht in theirdraughtunder the title,
"An act to enjoin sundry officers in the county of Phila-
delphia to give their attendance in the offices adjoin-
ing the Province Hall." This proposition was not well
received by the officers in question. The register-
general, Peter Evans, protested that the papers and
records of his office were " as well-secured against
Fire, and more effectually guarded against any Em-
bezzlement that may be made by ill-disposed Persons
in the place where they now are." The wills and
papers of the office were lodged in the various coun-
ties, and application to the register-general was
seldom made and the profits of the office small. It
would be a great inconvenience to him to make him
attend on the office on Chestnut Street daily. He
therefore proposed, at his own expense, to build "a
strong Brick Room near the Market-Place, apart from
any other Buildings, arched with Brick, and covered
with tile or slate, with such a Door and Window as shall
render it secure from Fire and other accidents, and
that the Property of said Building shall be vested in
the Register-General for the time being forever."
Charles Brockden, recorder of deeds, was as unwilling
as Evans to remove to the offices. In his protest he
said that the site of the projiosed office was remote
from his habitation and establishment in business,
and inconvenient for his daily attendance at certain
I hours, and if, by the act, the care of the records was
taken from him, he presumed that he would not be
responsible in case of fire or other accidents. Mr.
Brockden also represented that he was suffering upon
account of "the Smallness of his Fees, which, as he
is informed, are much less than in any other Govern-
ment in America." The House resolved "that the
Security given by the Recorder of Deeds for the due
Execution of his Office cannot by Law be extended
to Fire or other accidents which may happen with-
out any Default in him or against his Will." The
bill was pjissed by the Assembly on the 31st of Jan-
uary, 1730, but it met with opposition from the Gov-
ernor, who refused to sign it unless considerable
modifications were made for the benefit of the office-
holders. The Assembly would not agree, and so the
bill fell.
The Philadelphia Library Company in 1739 was
granted jiermission to use the second story of the
western office or wing building, "to deposit their
books in." The company remained there thirty-four
years, and went to Carpenters' Hall in 1773. This
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1785
room, and one in the eastern wing, was occupied
during the Revolution for committee-rooms, either
by the Assembly or Congress. The lower story was
occupied l)y the secretary of the province from 1739
down to the Revolution, In the attic of the western
wing the doorkeeper of the Assembly in colonial
times was lodged.
In February, 1736, Edmund Wooley and Ebenezer
Tomlinson sent a petition to the Assembly stating
that they had almost finished that part of the State-
House that they undertook to construct, and, there-
fore, " praying that the house will direct in what
manner the house will complete the same," and
claiming payment for some extra work. Upon this
it was resolved "that for as much as it will be too
great a Change at present to wainscoat the inside of
the State House and that wainscoating any Part of it
may be totally lost when the Whole come to be com-
pleatly finished the House is therefore of Opinion,
and doth order, that the Inside of the said building be
finished with good Plaistering, a proper Cornish round
the Room next the Cieling and a Surbase below."
At the session commencing in October, 1738, An-
drew Hamilton brought in his accounts for the build-
ing, which were audited by a committee of the Assem-
bly. It was shown that he had paid out on account of
the State-House £4043 16.5. llrf. Thomas Lawrence
had received £666 13s. 4rf., and paid out £399 19.s. 3d.
John Kearsley had received £666 13s. 4rf., and paid
out £550. To Hamilton there was allowed £402 3s.
9c?. for commissions and services during five years ;
to Lawrence, £32 ; and to Kearsley, £32 10s. 4A In
June, 1741, a committee, composed of Edward War-
ner, Mark Watson, and William Hughes, appointed
to inquire into the cause of the delay in the comple-
tion of the structure, reported that "they had dis-
coursed with the manager of such building, who
informed that he had met with several Disappoint-
ments by Workmen ; that the Carpenters' Work, bow-
ever, was now finished ; that the Sashes were made
and the Glass ready to put in, but that the enclosing
Wall, not being yet completed, he had thought it better
to defer putting them up until that was done lest they
should suffer much damage by breaking ; that as to
the Plaistering, notwithstanding the Pains he had
taken for that Purpose, he had not been able to pro-
cure a Workman capable of doing it as in his Opinion
it ought to be done, tho' he had no Hopes of getting
such a One by next Spring ; but if the House would
be content with such Work as is commonly done here
he would have it speedily performed, and like wise
would have the lower Rooms immediately glased, if
the House think fit to direct it; in which Case he
will cause the Enclosure to be finished in such a
Manner as may for the present tend to preserve the
Glass; and that he would cause that Part of the Wall
that is ill done to be amended." Some members were
dissatisfied with the manner in which the work had
been going on. A motion was put " that the building
be no longer continued under the present direction,
but that some other person or persons be appointed
to manage and carry on the same." This was lost.
But on the same day the committee brought in their
report in writing, as follows :
"We think it neceseary, that the AsBembly-room of tho State house
sliould be plaistered, glaized, and tinjslied, all but tlie Cieling and upper
Worlt, by the next Meeting of the Asaembly. And tlie Cieling and
upper Work to be finished as soon as a Workman can he got.
'* A boarded Fence, from each Otfice to each Wall, as high as the Wall,
and Doors fitted in the Wall adjoining the Ofiices, to inclose the whole.
" Part of the Brick Wall ought to be taken down, and new built, the
North End of each Wall turned round, or carried upright, to prevent
Children getting over.
"The Earth being high, and the Wall low on the South Side of the
Back Wall, the Earth should be taken away, to prevent getting over.
"Considering Stone is so hard to be come at in covering the Wall,
Brick will have many Joints where the Water will get in, and perish
the Wall, we are of Opinion, that to put a Cornish on each side of the
Wall to carry the Water a small Distiince off, and cover it with .Shingle,
will be sufficient for many Years, and not very Chargeable.
"That the Manager of the Building lay the Accounts relating to it
before the Committee of Accounts.
"That the Whole Building, with all its Parts, should be finished
without Delay, that it may be ready for the Use intended.
"EnwARD Waekeb
"Mark Watson
"WiLLiAsi Hughes."
This was agreed to, and a copy of the report ordered
to be sent to Mr. Hamilton for his observance. But
fate ordained that he should be unable to pay much
attention. He died in less than two months, Aug. 4,
1741. He must have left his papers in excellent con-
dition, as in two weeks after his death his executors
exhibited to the Assembly his accounts as superin-
tendent of the building.
At this time there was a proposal in relation to
carved work, and shortly after John Harrison, car-
penter, who had done the inside work, sent a petition
requesting that it might be inspected, and an allow-
ance in compensation be made. Shortly afterward
Thomas Leach, Isaac Norris, and Edward Warner
were appointed superintendents to finish the building,
with recommendation that they expedite such por-
tions as had already been recommended to Superin-
tendent Hamilton.
A plan for finishing the court-room, the west room,
first story, and the piazzas between the offices and the
court-room was laid before the House, and ajiproved of
in 1743. It is probable that the State-House building
was finished in 1744, as toward the close of that year
Edmund Wooley's bill was presented to the House.
It was then without tower or steeple. It was ob-
long, and it has been somewhat of a puzzle how
ascent was made to the upper story. It might have
been by galleries accessible from the piazzas, the
steps of which led to the office buildings east and
west, or it might have been by stairways running
right in from the main hall of entrance. The front
of the building presented much the same appearance
as it does in 1884, except that the doorway, which
was perfectly plain in its frame-work and in the same
style with the windows, has been replaced by the pres-
1786
HISTORY OF PHILADE;LPHIA.
ent doorway, which was substituted after the begin-
ning of the present century by certain officers, who
made some alterations. The brick basement course,
in which the cellar-windows opened, was crowned by
a coping of soapstone, which ran horizontally to the
edge of the sham windows on each side nearest the
door. Then the ridge dropped to the parallel of
the upper step, which it joined, running east and
west for that purpose. An example of this ridge can
be seen in the rear of the State-House now, but it
does not appear in the front, having been changed,
probably, when the doorway was altered. A heavy
balustrade rose upon the central portion of the roof,
and connecting the three stacks of flues or chimneys.
When finished, the State-House was occupied in
the lower east room by the Assembly, and in the
lower west room by the Supreme Court of the prov-
ince. The accommodation of the Governor and his
council was also intended when it was projected, but
it was not until 1747 that the Council-chamber, the
western room on the second floor, was finished.
It is not possible to trace entirely the location of
the offices of the provincial government previous to
that year. While Penn, on his first arrival, wiis
living in Fairman's house, at Shackamaxon, the
public business connected with the executive branch
of the government must have been transacted there.
When be took possession of the cottage (afterward
known as Letitia's) on the lot running from Front to
Second, south of High Street, there can be little
doubt that the public concerns were also attended to
by himself and his council in that house. On his
return to England, in 1683, he directed his steward,
James Harrison, to allow his cousin, William Mark-
ham, to live in the Letitia house, and that Thomas
Lloyd, the Deputy Governor, should have the use of
his periwigs, "and any wines and beers that may be
there for the use of strangers." This seems to refer
to the visits of strangers to the Deputy Governor on
public bu?'iness, and justifies the belief that the seat
of the proprietary government was at the Letitia
house.
After Penn's return to the province he conducted
its affairs at his successive residences in the Shippen
mansion and the "slate-roof house," where his sec-
retary, James Logan, also lived. Logan was given
permLssion to live in the "slate-roof hou.se" until the
year was up. in January, 1702. The building was
then the State-House of the province, at least as far
as regarded the executive officers. In May, 1702,
Logan wrote to Penn, " I am forced to keep this
house still, there being no accommodation to be had
elsewhere for public business. Jacob Taylor (the
office must pay for him) likewise tables here and
holds it in thy closet that was, the books, etc. being
removed to the next room just above it." Logan left
the "slate-roof house" when Governor John Evans
came to Pennsylvania in February, 1704, and then
Evans, James Logan, and Judge Mompesson, and i
William Penn, Jr., went to Clark's Hall, southwest
corner of Third and Chestnut Streets. The offices
of State were probably established in that building
duri-Bg the term of Evans. The early minutes of the
the Council generally state that they were held at
Philadelphia or in "ye Council room." On the
11th of the Fourth month (June), 1685, the Council
is stated in the beginning of the minutes to be
held in the Council-room at Philadelphia, Thomas
Holmes being the president, and William Markham
secretary. Subsequent minutes are generally par-
ticular in noting the same fact up to the com-
mencement of the term of Governor Fletcher, in 1693.
In May, 1689, the Council was held "in ye council
room," Governor Gen. John Blackwell being pre.sent,
but in January, 1689, it was held "at the Governors
lodging at Phila." and there are several subsequent
entries of that kind. During the succeeding, in Jan-
uary, 1690, the Council was again held " in ye Coun-
cil room," and in after-years the general entry was
that they were held at Philadelphia.
The Council took jiossession of the Council-cham-
ber in the State-House when Anthony Palmer was
president, some time in the summer of 1747. This
room and the upper story were occupied by the Gov-
ernor and Council up to the Revolution, and no doubt
by the Council of Safety and the Supreme Executive
Council, and the Governors of the State afterward,
and until the seat of government was removed to
Lancaster. The whole of the second story was occu-
pied most probably before the Revolution by the offi-
cers of the provincial government. A division ran
through the centre east and west. The Governor's
room was in the southwest corner, and the officers of
the Council and the proprietaries seem to have been
located in the southeast. The long apartment on the
Chestnut Street front was often appropriated to social
purposes, and on such occasions was called the "ban-
queting hall."
On the 30th of September, 1736, William Allen,
mayor of the city, made a feast for the citizens at the
State-House, to which all the strangers in town of
note were also invited. Franklin's Pcnnsylrania (fa-
ze^/ff contains an enthusiastic notice of "the delicacies
of the viands, the variety and excellency of the wines,
the great number of guests, and yet the easiness and
order with which the whole was conducted," so that
it was " the most grand and the most elegant enter-
tainment that has been made in these parts of Amer-
ica." This must have been given in a down-stairs
room, and not in the up-stairs apartment, afterward
called the " long room" or the " banqueting room,"
because it is apparent that at this time the upper
stories were unfinished. On the 9th of November,
1752, Lieutenant-Governor James Hamilton cele-
brated the anniversary of the birthday of King
(ieorge XL by an entertainment at Bush Hill, where
the royal healths were drank, in honor of which
there was a discharge of cannon from the Association
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1787
Battery and from the ships in the Delaware. In the
evening there was a grand ball at the State-House,
with a hundred ladies present, and a larger number
of gentlemen. The- dancing must have either taken
place in the Assembly-room, or the room occupied by
the Supreme Court. The supper was given in the
long gallery, and "everything conducted with the
greatest decorum." Governor Robert Hunter Morris
gave a supper and ball there in 1754. Governor Wil-
liam Denny was honored by a dinner in the same
apartment in 1756. The Earl of Loudon, commander
of the British forces in America, was feasted in the
long room by the city corporation in the ensuing year.
John Penn was dined there by the city in 1763, and
Richard Penn in 1771 and 1773. In the rejoicings
which followed the news of the repeal of the Stamp
Act, on the 21st of May, 1766, the " principal inhabit-
ants" gave an entertainment at the State-House, to
which were invited the Governor and officers of the
government, the military, and Capt. Hawker, of his
Majesty's ship "Sardoine," which had convoyed the
stamp ship into port a few months previously. Three
hundred plates were laid, and a contemporary chron-
icler says that " the whole was conducted with the
greatest elegance and decorum, so that detraction
itself must be silent on the occasion." In September,
1774, when the Continental Congress met at Carpen-
ters' Hall, its members were the guests of the gentle-
men of Philadelphia at a dinner in the State- House,
and this is believed to have been the last occasion
on which public social festivities took place there,
although there were jjrivate occasions afterward when
the building was used for banquets.
The General Assembly of the province met in the
east room on the lower floor, and it was there that
the constant controversies between the members and
the Governers were fought out. The sturdy Quaker
majority held their own against the proprietary de-
mands, and important political questions were settled
there. This apartment was occupied from October,
1736, to May 13, 1775, upon all occasions of regular
or called sessions. During the three latter days of
this period it is probable that the chamber was
occupied during a portion of the time by the Assembly
and at other times by the Continental Congress. The
Congress sat there until driven out by the British, on
Sept. 18, 1777. It came back July 2, 1778, and in
the east room received on August 6th of that year,
M. Conrad Alexander Gerard, minister of France.
On the 9th of July, 1778, "the Articles of Confedera-
tion and Perpetual Union between the Independent
States of America" were signed in that chamber by
the delegates of eight States, but upon conditions not
to be binding until ratified by the thirteen States.'
1 The eight States were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticnt, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and South Carolina.
The delegates from Pennsylvania who entered into this treaty were
Bobert Morris, Daniel Roberdean, Jonathan Bayard Smith, William
Clingan, and Joseph Keed. During the course of the year the articles
Congress continued in the east chamber until June
21, 1783, when, because some soldiers of the Penn-
sylvania line were a little uproarious in front of the
State-House in demanding that the Supreme Ex-
ecutive Council of the State (not Congress) should
requite their claims, the Confederate delegates took
upon themselves an unnecessary panic, and adjourned
in great haste to Princeton, where they met on the
30th of June. It was impossible to coax them back
for some years, and when they did come they did not
sit in the Assembly-room.
PRESIDENTS OF CONGRESS IN PHILADELPHIA.
Session at Carpenters* Hall.
Sept. 3, 1774.— Peyton Randolph, of Virginia.
Sessions at the State-House.
May 24, 1775. — John Hancock, of Massachusetts, session at the State-
House until Congress adjourned, Sept. 18, 1777, to Lancaster,
Session at Lancaster.
Nov. 1, 1777. — Henry Laurens, of South Carolina.
State-House, Philadelphia.
Dec. 10, 1778.— John Jay, of New York.
Sept. 28, 1779.- Samuel Huntingdon, of Connecticut.
July 10, 1781,— Thomas McKean, of Delaware.
Nov. 5, 1781. — John Hanson, of Maryland.
Nov. 4, 1782.— Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey,
Congress adjourned to Princeton June, 1783.
To what use the east room was put for a few years
is not now known, but there. May 14, 1787, assembled
the members of the convention appointed by the
various States to frame and agree upon a Constitution
for the United States. Of that august body George
Washington was president, and Maj. William Jack-
son was secretary. This convention was in session
until September 17th, when, having perfected their
work, the members adjourned. They were succeeded
shortly after, in the month of October, by a conference
of delegates from the congregations and churches
in the United States which before the Revolution
had been in connection with the Church of England.
This convention consulted upon the means best
adapted to secure independence of Great Britain,
while at the same time the religious service and
creed of the Church of England should be disturbed
as little as possible. The result was that after a ses-
sion of eight days the labors of the delegates resulted
in the foundation of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of the United States of North America. In the same
year, November 24th, the convention of the State of
Pennsylvania to frame a new constitution met in the
east chamber, perfected its work, and occupied the
room, with the exception of vacation, until Sept. 2,
1790. During this time this convention passed a
resolution to ratify the new Federal Constitution of
the United States. Under the State Constitution of
1790 there was a very material change in the legis-
were raUBed by North Carolina, July Zlst; Georgia, July 24th ; New
Jersey, November 26th ; Delaware, May 5, 1779 ; Maryland, March 1,
1781.
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
lative system. The General Assembly of Pennsyl-
vania had up to that time been a single body. There
was now constituted an additional department, and
the two were denominated the Senate and the House
of Representatives of the State of Pennsylvania, the
term General Assembly being enlarged so as to in-
clude both. This change led to new arrangements.
The Senate was to be accommodated as well as the
House. They took possession of the first floor, and
occupied the east and west chambers. The Senate
occupied the eastern room, and the House remained
in the old quarters of the Assembly on the west. A
writer who had visited the Assembly at this period
relates his recollections in later years :
**The Senate of Peiinsylvuiiia held their ilelibernlions iu an iij)per
chalul>er of the State-House, Anthony Slorris, Speaker, in the cliair,
facing the north. Hi» personal appearance from the chair was that of
an amiable, contemplative, placlil-looking gentleman, dressed fiu^hion-
abljr plain, in a suit of mixed or drab clutli ; fair complexion and light
flaxen hair, slightly powdered, his imperturbable serenity of counte-
nance seemingly illuminated by a brilliant pair of silver-mounted
spectacles.
"The Representatives' chamber wm In the east wing down-stairs,
designated since the arrival of Lafayette aa* Independence Hall,' George
Latimer in the chair, facing the west. When seated in the chair, and
the table before him, he seemed admirably adapted to the station he so
honorably filled, and which he had the honor to fill, by his well-formed
manly person, from his bust upward, and being of the proper height
and bulk, his neck supporting a head and physiognomy of the first
order, even such a one na is given by Milton to our first piirent in these
words, —
" His fair large front,
Absolute rule."
1 eye sublinie, declared
"Nevertheless, being judged by his political opponents, all spake of
him as being possessed in a high degree of that admirable quality of
* softness in the manner but firmness in the purpose,' which he exhib-
ited one day with great effect. A new member, fresh from his constitu-
ents, and highly charged with the politlcnl lluld of the day, attempted
to Introduce personality into the debate. Ho was on the instant stopped
by Hr. Sp«Aker, and cautioned by him very gently to beware, as it
would Id no case be permuted. The memlier, notwithstanding, in a
■hort time afterward intimated soinelhing like a repetition of his pur-
pose, on which Mr. Speaker raised himself uiwn his feet, and addressed
to him certain words uf powerful import in a low huljlrm tune of voice,
which caused the offending member to shrink witliiu himself, as a
touched terrapin within the shell, Mr. Speaker the mean while de-
libetmtcly preparing with finger and thumb to regale himself from his
op«n snuff-box with a cool pinch of snulT.
"On the floor of the House aud from the lobby the first object which
arretted the attention of the spectator was tho venerable appearance of
old Mr. Hillzhelmer, from South Seventh Street, he being always among
the first in his place, and looking towards tho door with the most pro-
found gravity through a pair of full-moon speclacle-glasses, or else
reading and filing away the doily printed Journal which had been just
hAnded him, damp from the press.
"The largeat man in the House, and probably In the State at the
UlD^ w«« the member from Berkii County, Mr. Coolbaugh, a gentleman
of high respectability, and very |K)pular among his constituents, though
•omcUmes doalgnated in the city as the 'Dutch giant.' But among
them all, u tho leading mHster-splrit or ' I'rosporo' of tho Assonibly,
■Dd the moat mem(ir»bIo State pidlllclan of the day, was the far-famed
(within the boundaries of the State) Dr. Michael Leib. Ho was always
remarkable In the House for his erect poslllon of crest, his fashionable,
gentlemanly drew and address, his handsome face aufl ruddy com-
plexion, and his piercing, brilliant black eyes, sjurkllng with Intelli-
gence and quickness of thought. He used to bo seen continually in
motion somewheri-, either conversing with animated gestures among
other members surrounding Ihe fireplace, addressing himsi'lf to the
chair In most energetic »iKcch, exhibiting therein thoughU which
glowed and word, which bume<l In tho cause of ■ the People," as he at
all times constantly averred lu those ibiys."
By this time the inhabitants of the interior of the
State had become dissatisfied with the continuance of
the capital at Philadelphia. Persons who were in-
terested in the public business with the legislative or
executive departments were compelled to travel great
distances from the western boundary to the eastern, at
Philadelphia. Therefore, in March, 1787, it was re-
solved that a State-House should be erected for the
accommodation of the executive and General As-
sembly, at Harrisbiirg, in Dauphin County. No ac-
tive measures were taken to effect the removal imme-
diately, but to expedite the measure the Legislature
resolved, by an act pa.ssed in April, 1799, that tem-
porary removal of the seat of government should be
made to Lancaster, and that after the first Tuesday in
November of the same year the functions of the State
government should be exercised there. The As-
sembly adjourned on the 11th of April of that year,
and thus, after a hundred and seventeen years, during
which the State capital was at Philadelphia, that con-
nection with the city and its people ceased.
In the latter part of 1799 the Grand Lodge of
Masons of Pennsylvania presented a petition to Gov-
ernor Thomas MitHin for permission to hold its meet-
ings in one of the rooms of the State-House. The
Governor granted the use the room formerly occupied
by the secretary of the Senate of Pennsylvania, in the
second story of the western part of the building, prob-
ably in that which was formerly known as the Coun-
cil-room. The lodge removed from the State-House
in 1802, when Peale's Museum was established.
This departure of the legislative and executive
offices of the government of the commonwealth from
Philadelphia left the State-House building vacant
for a time, and there was much inquiry as to what
should be done with it. Charles Wilson Peale, whose
museum had grown too large for the quarters it occu-
pied, offered to become the tenant.
The American Philosophical Society by memorial,
and the Select and Common Councils of the city by
resolution, recommended the plan of Peale to the
attention of the Assembly. A committee to which
the subject had been referred reported in favor of
.selling the State-House, with a lot of sufficient size
adjoining, for the use of the building, and that the
balance of the State-House yard should be divided
into convenient lots. But there was a better spirit
among the members. They rejected the proposition
to sell the property, and, instead of that sacrifice,
])asscd the act of March 17, 1802, granting to Peale
the use of the lower story of the eastern end and the
whole of the upper floor, with the proviso that the
citizens, as usual, should hold their elections there
(presumably at tlie windows of the east room), and
that Peale would take care of the State-House yard,
and " 0])en the doors in the hall and permit citizens
to walk in the yard for recreation, and to pass and
repass at reasonable hours as heretofore." The second
story was divided into four rooms. The " long room"
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1789
was upon the north, fronting Chestnut Street, and
extended from the east to the west end of the main
building, and half-way toward the south end. It took
up, in fact, the front half of the building. The
southern half was divided into three apartments.
The " mammoth-room" extended from the east wall to
a parallel with the east wall of the tower. The " lec-
ture-room" was small, and occupied a space about the
width of the tower. The stairway leading to the
upper tower of the steeple was on the east side. The
" quadruped-room" extended from the lecture-room to
the west wall. The stairway to the tower also led to
the "marine-room," which was in the attic. In the
long room were over a thousand specimens of birds
and four thousand insects, with minerals and por-
traits. The mammoth-room contained the skeleton
of the remarkable antediluvian monster, the bones of
which were first discovered in a marl-pit in Ulster
County, N. Y., by Mr. Peale in 1801. The lecture-
room was used for lectures, when delivered, but also
contained curiosities. In the quadruped-room were
stuffed specimens of some two hundred animals, large
and small. In the marine-room were bodies of large
fish, alligators, serpents, and reptiles. In the yard
were placed in cages a few living animals which could
stand existence in the open air in summer and winter.
A splendid eagle was in a cage, on the front of which
was inscribed, " Feed me well ; I live one hundred
years."
This very small zoological garden was of unfailing
interest to the boys of the city and to the country
people, when they came as visitors. Besides the rooms
in the State-House proper, Mr. Peale threw a floor over
the stairway in the main hall or tower, in which he
prepared subjects, deposited duplicates, and kept his
library of natural history. After the city of Phila-
delphia became owners of the State-House, Mr. Peale
was notified to remove this floor, as it was a disfigure-
ment of the fine proportions of the stairway and tower,
but he made objection, and succeeded in baflling the
opposition. The museum remained in the State-House
until the Arcade building, Chestnut Street, north side,
between Sixth and Seventh, was finished, in 1828-29.'
Up to the time when the State sold the State-House
property to the city Mr. Peale had paid no rent. In
1811, before that transfer was made, he proposed that
he should be allowed, for the accommodation of the
museum, the use of the second stories in the wings
about to be constructed. As soon as the city bought
the property, in 1816, it was resolved that Mr. Peale
should pay rent. He began at a rale of four hundred
dollars per annum. In 1818 Councils resolved that
1 When Mr. Peale fii-st opened the museum he kept the coUection
open on Sunday, and placed at the front door a placard, upon which waa
the following inscription : " Here the wonderful works of the Divinity
may be contemplated with pleasure and advantage. Let no one enter
to-day with any other view." This attempt at an e.'ihiLiition on Sunday
brought forth opposition and articles in the newspapers in regard to
Sabbath desecration, which were replied to by Mr. Peale defending his
course. How long the museum was open on Sundays is not known.
he should pay twelve hundred dollars rent, and leave
the two lower rooms vacant. The latter were rented
to the county commissioners for the use of the County
Courts for twenty-four hundred dollars. In 1821,
Peale's rent was reduced to six hundred" dollars, and
in the same year the Legislature incorporated the
Philadelphia Museum Company, composed of Ra-
phael, Rembrandt, and Rubens Peale, sons of C. W.
Peale, Coleman Sellers, a son-in-law, and Pierce
Butler. They purchased the interest of the elder
Peale, and the capital of the company was fixed at
five hundred shares at two hundred dollars each, the
stockholders to be personally responsible.
After the evacuation by Peale of the lower stories,
the east room became occasionally an exhibition-
room. The first employment of the apartment for
that purpose was in November, 1824, when Trum-
bull's picture of " Washington Resigning to Congress
his Commission" was exhibited there. TheVeason for
its admission was that this being a representation of
a great historical event, the hall dedicated to patriotic
memories was the proper place for the display. Sub-
sequently other pictures were exhibited, in favor of
which no patriotic pretence could be presented.
Probably the last occasion on which Independence
Hall was used for show purposes was when a picture
called "The American Flag Unveiled in Mexico for
the Protection of Joel R. Poinsett" (formerly minister
to Mexico) was exhibited. Councils resolved that
after that making a show-room out of the Independ-
ence chamber was not beneficial to the character of a
great city.
In " the picture of Philadelphia in 1824" is a plan ot
the State-House and adjoining buildings, including
the court-house. Proceeding westward from the pas-
sage-way leading to the yard adjoining the City Hall,
the offices and rooms upon the first floor of the east
wing were occupied by the clerk of the Mayor's Court
and recorder of deeds. Then the hall or passage-way
leading through to the yard and to the stairway to
the second story. On the west side of the passage-
way were the register of wills and rooms of the Supreme
Court. Next was the east room, second story, denom-
inated on the plan " Court-Room," but without regular
tenants.
The centre hallway leading to the tower was de-
nominated " entrance to the museum," etc. The
west room was occupied by the Mayor's Court ; the
adjoining office in the west wing was held by the
prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas; next
was the sherifi''s oflice ; then the west hallway to the
yard and stairs to the second story ; then clerk of
Orphans' Court and clerk of Quarter Sessions.
The second story of the east oflice wing was divided
ea-st of the hallway by a partition running parallel
with Chestnut Street. The front room was occupied
by the guardians of the poor, and the back room,
looking out upon the yard, by the grand jury. West
of the hallway the space was cut by a partition run-
I
1790
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ning north and south, with an entry leading to the
stairway. A small room front of this entry, looking
upon Chestnut, was the " black witness-room," and
immediately opposite was the " white witness-room."
The westernmost room of this second story, reached
by the short entry, was occupied by the prothonotary
of the District Court. The second story of the west-
ern side w:is planned in the same manner as the east
wing. The clerk of the United States Court occu-
pied the e:istern apartment. The United States mar-
shal held the two offices front and back, correspon-
ing to the witness-rooms in the east wing. The
western half of the second story was divided by east
and west partitions. The county commissioners oc-
cupied the southern room, and the auditors that at
the north.
After the Legislature and Governor had removed to
Lanciister and Harrisburg, the Supreme Court for the
Eiistern District, which had been held up-stairs, sought
more comfortable quarters. The judges descended to
the ejist room, and remained there, it is supposed, until
after the State-House building was sold to the city,
and probably until 1818. After that time there was
no public use of the east room until about the time
when the second visit of Lafayette to America was
expected, in 1824. In that year. Councils having re-
solved to honor Lafayette as the guest of the city, it
was determined to receive him in the east chamber,
a design considered tlie more appropriate because of
the Reviilutiiinary history of the apartment.
Previously certain officers having charge over the
State-House had changed very materially the appear-
ance of the apartment. The old wainscot and panel-
work had been torn out, the curious chandelier of
glass with its pendants had been taken down and
conveyed to an upper story, and the interior had been
modernized. The walls were painted in stone-color,
and the windows hung with curtains of red and blue
studded with stars. A statue of Washington, carved
in wood by Rush, stood near the east centre, and
on either side of it were hung portraits of Wash-
ington and of Penn, Franklin, Morris, Hopkinson,
Green, Wayne, Montgomery, Hamilton, Gates,
Rochambeau, Carroll, and McKean. Lafayette was
received at the Chestnut Street entrance, passing
under an archway designed by William Strickland
and decorated with paintings, mottoes, and two carved
figures emblematic of justice and wisdom, that were
executed by Rush. The City Councils met Lafayette
at this entrance, and accompanied him to the east
room, where Mayor Watson delivered the address of
welcome, to which he made an appropriate reply. In
18.33 an effort was made to restore this room to its
original appearance. Much of the panel-work was
found and restored, and missing pieces were replaced
by substitutions in the same style. The old chandelier
having been restored, the room was very much iis it
was in 1776, the prinejpal lacking feature being the
gallery that had partially filled the eastern end. Por-
traits of eminent Philadelphians were hung up, and
iu 1854 a portion of the Peale collection was added.
The City Councils having devoted the room to public
purposes, a large number of the guests of the mu-
nicipality were received there, among them Presidents
Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison. Polk, Taylor, Pierce,
Lincoln, and Grant, the Prince de Joinville, and Louis
Kossuth. The remains of John Quiney Adams,
Henry Clay, and Abraham Lincoln, and those of
many officers killed during the civil war lay in state
in the cast room.
The west chamber of the first floor was ordered to
be finished in 1743, but might have been in use before
that year by the Supreme Court of the province. It
may be assumed, without positive knowledge, that the
Courts of Admiralty under the crown held their ses-
sions at the court-house at Market and Second Streets,
after that building was finished, and at the State-
House after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was
assigned the use of the west room. This would be
likely from the known interests of the colonial Gov-
ernors and Assembly to keep on good terms with the
crown and officers of the English government. Yet
it must be stated that there are no means of proving
anything upon the subject. Knowledge is meagre in
relation to the manner in which the admiralty juris-
diction under the crown was exercised. Casual refer-
ences in letters, or allusions in the colonial records,
to persons as officers of the admiralty are about all
that can be found in relation to this subject. The
titles to the jurisdiction of the officers were changing.
William Penn and the Council exercised admiralty
jurisdiction in Pennsylvania and the lower counties
on the Delaware for ten years after the settlement,
and until 1693. Several cases are found upon the
Council minutes, as for instance, the petition of the
mariners belonging to the " Friends' Adventure,"
March, 1693 ; the " Levee,'' of Liverpool, September,
1683; the " Mary," of Southampton, November, 1683;
the " Harp," of Lonilon, and others. Governor Ben-
jamin Fletcher, of New York, upon his assuming au-
thority in Pennsylvania in 1692, announceil himself
as vice-admiral, and appointed in the succeeding year
William Markham to be his surrogate, with the power
of vice-admiral. In 1697, Col. Robert Quarry was in
Philadelphia, and claimed to be judge of the admi-
ralty for Pennsylvania and West Jersey. Some of the
jiid^'es are called coninussaries. Col. Seymour, Gov-
ernor of Maryland, is said to have been vice-admiral
of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Jersey in 1704,
and John Moore was deputy judge at Philadelphia
in the same year. Jareil Ingersoll, in 1771, was de-
siTibed to be judge i>f admiralty in appeal for Penn-
sylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. In-
gersoll seems to have been a superior officer. There
are references to show that E<lward Shippen, Jr., who
was appointed commissary or deputy judge in 1751,
was acting in Philadelphia in 1773, although Inger-
soll was still in commission.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1791
As soon as resistance to the elaims of Great Britain
became a settled policy in Pennsylvania, the au-
thority of the admiralty under the laws of Great
Britain was superseded. The Continental Congress
recommended the Assemblies of the various colonies to
create Courts of Admiralty. An act of Assembly for
this purpose was passed in the early part of 1776, and
Georj^c Ross, of Lancsister, was commissioned judge
on the 6th of April by the Assembly. This court was
in existence until superseded by the District Court of
the United States, holding admiralty power in 1790.
July 15, 1776, the convention to form a constitu-
tion for the State of Pennsylvania assembled in this
room, and remained there until September 28th, when
the frame of the constitution was finished. What be-
came of the Assembly after the members were driven
out of the east chamber is not exactly known. In
1778 it was sitting in the eastern room of the second
story, possibly in the banqueting-room. About 1780
the Legislature came down-stairs and occupied the
west room of the first story. In 1811, the District
Court for the City and County of Philadelphia occu-
pied this chamber. In 1821 the Mayor's Court be-
came tenant of the apartment. When that tribunal
was superseded by the Court of Criminal Sessions,
established March 19, 1838, Judges Bouvier, Conrad,
and Todd established themselves in the Mayor's court-
room. They were driven out by the act of Feb. 2o,
1840, which abolished the Court of Criminal Sessions
and established the Court of General Sessions. In
less than two years Judges Barton, Conrad, and Doran
were themselves /unctn>! officio by act of Feb. 3, 1843.
The west room was vacant for a short time, but the
necessities of justice requiring more court-rooms than
had previously been in use, the General Sessions room
was fitted up to accommodate the Court of Common
Pleas, while the old Common Pleas court-roora, in
Sixth Street below Chestnut, was given up entirely to
the Quarter Sessions. In 1875, principally through
the exertions of Francis M. Etting, Councils resolved
to appropriate the west room as a national museum
and place of deposit for relics connected with the his-
tory of the Province and State of Pennsylvania, and
of the United States. Eventually the whole building
may come to some such use as a proper sequence of its
evacuation and the use of the City Hall at Broad and
Market Streets by Councils.
After Peale's Museum was removed from the State-
House the United States government rented the sec-
ond story for judicial purposes. The long room was
obliterated, and the western portion of the second
floor was thrown into one room for the use of the
United States Circuit and District Court. The judge's
bench was placed in front of an alcove, upon the wall
of which was erected an elegant marble tablet, pre-
pared by the bar of Philadelphia, in memory of Justice
Bushrod Washington. A canopy, supported by Co-
rinthian pillars, arose from the bench and projected
out into the room. The United States district attor-
ney and clerk occupied a railed-off space in front of
the bench. The wood-work was handsomely painted,
the bench and its portico in pure white, and at the
time this was the handsomest court-room in the city.
East of the United States court-roora the second
story was divided by a partition, leading east and west,
into two rooms. The northern apartment, with the
remaining portion of the old long room, was used as a
jury-room for the United States Court. The southern
apartment was given up to the use of the clerk of the
District and Circuit Court. Francis Hopkinson held
both of these oflSces for some years. In November,
1846, George Plitt was appointed clerk of the Circuit
Court, Mr. Hopkinson remaining as clerk of the Dis-
trict Court, but being superseded therein, March 9,
1847, by Thomas L. Kane. During this period the
clerk of the District Court occupied the southern
office, and the clerk of the Circuit Court that on the
north. In 1854, upon the consolidation of the city
and districts, it was decided by Councils that increased
accommodation for the legislative branch of the mu-
nicipal government was required. The United States
courts were given notice to remove from the second
story of the State-House building, and the court-room
required but little alteration to make it suitable for
the use of Common Council. On the east the parti-
tion between the rooms of the court clerks was demol-
ished and a single chamber was fitted up for Select
Council. Access from one chamber to the other is
by a passage-way railed otf on the northern side. A
small room between them has been sometimes used for
committee purposes.
The State-House has been singularly fortunate in
escaping injury by fire. It was especially threatened
on the occasions when the City Hall and the court-
house were partially destroyed. There have also
been serious fires in the neighborhood on the north
side of Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth, but
good fortune preserved that old building. Its nar-
rowest escape was March 24, 1824, when the Mayor's
court-room was entered by three incendiaries, Dennis
McCarthy, Thomas Cole, and John Carr. They piled
chairs, books, and combustibles in thesoutheast corner,
set fire to them, and escaped through the window.
The flames were soon discovered, and' were extin-
guished before they had gained much headway. One
of the intentions of the incendiaries was the murder
of Mayor Wharton, in whose court they had been
previously convicted on a criminal charge. For the
second crime they were arrested, and the prosecuting
attorney, Thomas M. Pettit, presented an indictment
against them for conspiracy to burn the State-House
and to burn the dwelling of Charles Wilson Peale,
and also for conspiracy to kill the mayor. They were
convicted on all the counts, and were sentenced to
twelve years' imprisonment each.
In 1749 measures were taken to erect the tower on
the south side of the main hall. The superinten-
dents were ordered to proceed as soon as they conven-
1792
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
iently might, and the tower was to contsiin " the.stair-
c:ise with a suitable place therein for hanging a bell."
At the sessions of 1750-51, the House passeil a reso-
lution directing "that the superintendents provide a
bell of such weight and dimensions as they shall think
Buitable." Isaac Xorris, Thomas Leech, and Edward
Warner acconlingly. a few months afterward, prepared
the following letter, which is interesting in showing
the commencement of proceedings which resulted in
the castinj: of what was afterward known as "the
liberty bell :"
« To BoImH C%irla, of Landmi, Son. 1, 1751.
"Respected Fkie.np, — The Assembly liaviDc ordered us (the siiper-
iDteiidenls of the State-Hooxo) to procure a hell from England, tu be
purchased for their use, we take the lil»erty to apply ourselves to thee
to get us a good bell of about two thousand pounds weight, the cost of
which we presume nmy amount to about one liundred pounda sterling,
or perhaps with the charges, etc.
" We hope and rely on thy care and assistance in this afTair, and that
thou wilt procure and forward it by the firet opportunity, as our worlt-
men inform us it wilt l>e less trouble to hang the bell before their schI-
folds are struelc from the building where we intend to place it. which
will not be done until the end of next summer or beginning of the fall.
Let the bell be cast by the best workmen, and examine carefully before
It ia shipped with the following words, well shaped, in large letters
arvund it, viz.:
** ' By onler of the Assembly of the Province I'f Pennsy. for the State-
nonso in the city of Phila., 1762.'
** And underneath, —
"'Proclaim Liberty through nil the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof.' — Levlt. xxv. 10.
" As we have experienced thy readyness to serve this Province on all
occasions, wo desire it may be our excuse for this additional trouble from
tbj assured friends.
"Isaac Norris,
"Thomas Leech,
" EnwARP Warner."
The bell was brought l>y Capt. Budden, and was
jiut on shore about the end of August. It was su])-
posed to be of the best quality, but when hung up
and being tried for the sound "it was cracked by a
stroke of the clapper, without any other violence."
Very much disappointed, the superintendents deter-
mined to ship the bell back to England to be recast.
But Ca|)t. Budden had a large cargo, and had no
room for the bell. In this emergency, Pass, a
native of the Isle of Maltji, and Stow, a son of Charles
Stow, undertook to reciist the bell from the old ma-
terial. The mould was opened March 10, 1753, and
one of the trustees, writing to Europe, said, "The
mould was finished in a very masterly manner, and
the letters, I am told, are better than the old ones.
When we broke up the oM metal our judge-s here
generally agreed that it was too high an<l brittle, and
cast several little bells out of it to try the sound and
Htrength.and fixed u|>on a mixture of an ounce and a
half of copper to one pounil of the old bell, and in
this proportion we now have it." But it turned out
that the sound wiis not satisfactory. There was too
much copper in the bell, and Pass and Stow made
another trial. The third bell was considered satisfac-
tory, but Isaac Norris <lid not like it, as he confessed
in a letter some months afterward, and even then
made some mention of a determination to have an-
other bell cast in England.
The following notice shows that the third l)ell was
put in place :
"June 7th, 1753. — Last week was raised and fixed
in the State-House steeple the new great bell cast
here by Pass and Stow, weighing 2080 pounds, with
this motto: 'Proclaim Liberty to all the land and all
the inhabitants thereof.' "'
The original bell was cast at Whitechapel, prob-
ably by Lister. It cost one hundred and ninety-eight
pounds. Pa.-vs and Stow, for recasting it, received, in
September, 1753, £60 13«. 5-/. They had the benefit
of the old material, and adiled but little. On the 8th
of July. 1776, it is probable that tliis bell was rung, as
the public reading of the Declaration of Independence
took place in the State-House yard on that day, and
there were general rejoicings. This has been gener-
ally assumed iis an event that ought to have happened
to make the inscription on the bell prophetic. John
Adams, in writing to Samuel Chase on July 9th, said,
" The bells rang all day and almost all night." On
the 15th of September, 1778. by order of the Executive
Council, the bells of Christ Church and St. Peter'.*,
as well as the State-House, were ordered to be taken
down and removed to a place of safety. This action
was taken, it is said, because at that time the bells in
a captured town belonged to the conquering troops,
and were available as spoil of war for the ca.sting of
cannon. These bells, eleven in all, were removed to
Allentown, Pa., by the way of Bethlehem, in the streets
of which the wagon bearing the State-House bell broke
down, and had to l)e unloaded. After the evacuation
of the city by the British army they were brought back,
and the State-Hou.se bell was ]ilaccd in its old jiosition
in the latter part of 1778.
The dimensions of the tower of the State-House
were thirty-four by thirty-two feet. The stairways
to the upper stories found spacious accommodation
there. The trustees for building the State-House
were not instructed further than to erect a tower, but
they took the responsibility of adding to it a steeple.
This was rendered the more easy by a direction that a
1 The fbllowlng bill, curious in its particulars, gives an account of the
cost of" raising" the first bell. Whether there was another festival when
the sccnnd bell was put up is not known :
"Phila., April 17, 1753.
"The Province.
"To Edmvnd Woolkt, debtor^ for sundries advanced for raising the
bell-frame and putting up the bell :
a peck potatoes 0 2 9
14 lb. beef f^ 4(1.. 0 4 8 £ •. d.
4 gammons, 38 Ih., (S, 6ii 0 19 0 1 C . 6
Mustard, pepper, salt, butter 0 2 0
A cheese, 13 lb., at lid. 0 6 6
Beef, 30 lb., @ 4(i. 0 10 ci
A peck potatoes 0 2 7 U 19 1
300 limes 0 14 1)
3 gallons of rum of John Jones 014 0 18 0
36 loaves of bread of Lacey ye baker.. 0 9 0
Cooking and wood 0 8 0
Earthen ware and candles of Duchee.. 0 3 4 0 119
Abarrelofbeerof Anthony .Morris 0 10 0
6 13 10
" errors excepted. " Ed. Wooliv."
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1793
new room should be added to the tower for use of
lumiiiittees and " for our books."
The steeple was raised Nov. 4, 1741, when there
was a great feast, to ,which, from the considerable
quantity of provisions, punch, and beer consumed,
there must have been a large accession of participants
beyond the carpenters and bricklayers, as the follow-
ing bill, well preserved, will show:
" Not. 4, 1741.
"The Province of Pennsylvania,
" To Edmund Wdoley, Dr.
" For e.\penBea in raising the to^er of the Stadt House, viz.:
£ 8. d.
95 loaves of bread 0 19 9W
Cljilb. bacon at 7ii 1 14 \%
148P^lb. ■beefat.'i.lid 2 8 1
Potatoes and greens <> 7 11
SOU limes at 4s 1 I'-i 0
IK barrel of beer at 18s 17 0
44'lb. mutton at S^rf 0 12 8
:i73:; lb. veal atS'^d 0 11 0
30 lb. venison at 2d 0 6 0
Turnips 0 16
Pepper and mustard 0 15
2 Jugs and Candles Pipes and Tobacco 0 6 0
Butter 9s. 8d., Turkey 4s., 4 pair fowls 9s 12 8
K "f a •"'"died of flour 0 3 6
Two former bookings at getting on two iloors, and
now for raising the tower, fir-wood, etc 3 0 0
14 12 8!4"
As early as 1774 the wood-work of the steeple was
found to be decaying, and the superintendents were
instructed to take it down, and to have the brick-
work of the tower covered, in order to save it from
damage by the weather ; but all this was not effected
until 1781, when a low hip-roof was made to cover
the tower, and carried in its centre a slim-pointed
spire. The bell was lowered into the tower, and, al-
though occasionally heard, it may be said to have
been retired emeritus, as it ceased to do active duty.
A new bell, which sounded the hours by the clock,
and rang for fires, was placed upon the roof under an
open wooden belfry. It wiis not until 1828 that any
attention was given to the restoration of the steeple.
A committee was appointed by City Councils to have
" the turret in the rear of the State-House surveyed,
and, if found adapted to the purpose, to procure a
plan and estimate of the cost of carrying it up to a
height suiHcient to place a cluck and bell therein, to
be called the city clock, from which the time of the
■whole city can be regulated." William Strickland,
Daniel Groves, John O'Neill, and John Struthers,
architects and builders, presented their plans and es-
timates on the 14th of February, 1828. They found
that the foundation-walls of the tower were very
strong, being three feet thick at the base, and eighteen
thick at the top, sixty-nine feet above the ground.
They w-ere in such good condition that two stories
more in brick might be added with perfect safety.
Strickland drew the plan, and endeavored to make
the steeple as much like the old one as possible.
The great difference was that it was a story higher.
The old steeple was one hundred and fifty feet high to
the top of the spire, and the new steeple was one hun-
dred and sixty feet high. In March, 1828, after con-
siderable debate in Councils, during which it was
alleged by some members that the new steeple would
be entirely unlike the old, an appropriation of twelve
thousand one hundred dollars was made for a new
steeple, bell, and clock, but not without a very sharp
debate. Councilman Troth reminded his fellow-
members that their character was at stake as men of
taste and admirers of antiquity, and lie hoped that
they would not proceed hastily. Mr. Lowber said
that "so far from being an ornament to the city, the
steeple would be a deformity; so far from recalling to
mind the venerable pile that stood on that spot, it
would efface the remembrance of it altogether. It is
not the ancient design. I would rejoice to see that
building restored to its ancient state, — to the precise
state in which it was when the glorious event to
which it owes its celebrity was consummated. But no
man will be able to look at that building with its new
steeple and be able to persuade himself that it repre-
sents the ancient State-House. ... If the original
features of the building cannot be preserved, I would
much rather the whole were demolished, that we might
by some handsome monument point out the spot where
the glorious declaration of our national independence
was agreed upon."
The result was that Strickland was compelled to
modify his plan, and he did so by simply substituting
wood for brick. The two upper stories were con-
structed of wood. The first above the brick of the
tower, was what might be called a dumb-story, and
attracted no attention by any inward or outward orna-
ment. The next story was the dock-room, and above
that was the turret, the open arches of which were set
upon a base sufficiently high to give access to a small
gallery with balustrades on all sides. A sight of the
city from this gallery of the State-House steeple was
one of the town wonders for nearly half a century
after the steeple was finished, not only to citizens but
to strangers. The latter, after they had seen the Fair-
mount Water-Works and climbed the State-House
steeple, inspected the method of coinage in the Mint
and visited the navy-yard, might be allowed to go home
and boast that they had thoroughly seen Philadelphia.
Strickland's plan, thus modified by wood instead of
brick, was so nearly a reproduction r)f the old steeple,
the tower-windows being omitted, that it may be sub-
stantially declared to be a renewal of the original de-
sign.
John Wilbank was awarded the contract for fur-
nishing the new bell, the weight to be forty-two hun-
dred pounds. The calculations for the casting were
made as scientifically as possible, and were verj- close,
the bell exceeding the expected weight only seveuty-
five pounds. The contract was at the rate of fortj'-
five cents per pound, and at the weight which was
ascertained when cast, four thousand two hundred and
seventy-five pounds, the cost was $1923.75.^
I The following were the dimensions of the first new State-House bell
cast by Mr. Wilbank in 1828: Height, including crown, five feet nine
inches; diameter at bottom, five feet one and a halfinches ; thickest
1794
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
There seemed to be a fatality about the State-House
bells. It took three castings in 1752-53 to get a per-
fect bell, and it required just as many in 1828. Mr.
Wilbank's first casting was unsatisfactory in tone;
it was broken up and recast in different proportions.
That bell was cracked almost as soon as put in use.
A third bell was cast, the fine, deep tones of which
were perfectly familiar to every citizen for over half
a century. In 1876, Henry Seybert, a citizen of
Philadelpiiia, anxious to do honor to the Centennial
year, oflered to present to the city a nevy bell and
clock for the State-House steeple, much more errand
in proportions. The new bell weiirhed thirteen thou-
sand poumls, ami when placed in the steeple the tone
was 80 low and could be lieard suili a short distance
that it w:is altojrether unsatsi factory. Meneely &
Kindierly, of Troy, N. Y., wore the bell-founders. It
was sent hack to them to be recast. Like its prede-
cessors in the State-House steeple, it al.M) required
three trials to produce a perfect bell. The second
casting; was so unsatisfactory it was broken U]>, and
the third bell was east and bniUfrht to the city and
put in place. It has never been as resonant as the
bell of 1828, but after the thinl trial the bell of 1876
was accepted, and hits since done duty in the tower.'
The history of the " Liberty Bell" requires further
mention. After the alterations made in 1828, it re-
mained in the upper story of the brick tower upon
the heavy frame-wurk which had sustaine<l it. It be-
came a venerated object, and it was tacitly determined
that it should f)nly be rung on special occasions of re-
joicing, or to commemorate some event of public im-
portance. It waa tolle<l in 1828 u|)on the reception
of the news of the emancipation of the Catholics by
act of the British Parliament. Its sharp tones were
heard Feb. 22. 1832, when the centennial anniveivary
of the birthday of Washington was celebrated. It
might have been used on other occasions, but an end
was put to its usefulness for sound early in the morn-
ing of July 8, 1835. While being tolled in memory
of Chief Justice Marshall, wlio had died in the city
two days before, and wiiose remains were then being
conveyed to the wharf to be sent to Virginia, a large
crack was developed in the bell, starting from the
centre of the rim and inclining in a right-haml <liree-
tion toward the crown. This break was at first onlv
part, fonr and • half iiichn; Ihinnnt part, ona and a half liicbn.
Than wa« « clapiwr In thr 1*11, which wan not titrd. For tounding llie
boor II wai •truck bj: a lianimor l.jr Ibr action of mnchlnory. For tljo
pnrpoan of alxrm in limn of flrr lliere vaa another liammor, on tho op-
poalla iMr of tho Iwll. A rope froni Ihr rn<\ of thia liiimmrr lr<l to tha
atory •urrmindvdhy Iha opan gallfr;, which waa ImmedlRtely Im'Iow the
opan caiula. and here llie wauhnian or Janitor uf the State-Hoiiae and
of Iha •laepla itnick Iha l>ell for flre-alarm For nmny jonra thia duty
waa executed hy a man well known In hia tlm>' to orirjr flraman and
almoat In e»ery dtlzen, younK or old, bjr name. If not by sight. Tommy
Downing waa a town rharai'ler.
■ The old State-llouae b.11 of 182). waa remoTe<l to Germanlown, and
placed In Iha lawn hall, together with the old clock. Occaalonally the
dtilen of Uie central part of the city who hap|>ena to be In Gennanlown
laiUrUed by lla aollod, once ao well known to every iDbabllaot.
eight or ten inches in length, but when the bell was
rung on Feb. 22, 1843, it was so much increased that
never again could the sound of the famous old instru-
ment be heard at a distance f>f more than a few feet.
Thenceforth it became a silent memento of the historic
past.
After the original steeple anil bell had been decided
upon, a clock was ordered by resolution of March 11,
1752. It was intended that it shoulil " strike on the
bell in the tower," and that there should be "a suit-
able dial-plate to show the hours and minutes." Peter
Stretch, of Philadelphia, a watch- and dock-maker,
was employed to make this machine. Isaac Korris, in
a letter written a year afterward (March 10, 1753),
said, "They expect it will prove better than any they
would send us from England, where, when once they
had it put out of their hands, they have done with it;
but here the workman would be made very uneasy if
he did not exercise his utmost skill, and we do not
stint him in the price of his labor." Six years after-
ward Peter Stretch was paid for making the clock and
taking charge of it for six years, £494 5s. nbl. The
dials of this clock were fixed in round windows in the
east and west gables of the State-Housebuilding. Tlie
clock movements were immediately under the rdof
near the centre. Motion was ctmimunicated to the
hands by rods connected with the machinery. The
l)endulum extended through the floor to a lower stoiy,
and the weights were concealed in wooden boxes in
the tower. In deference to the custom of the time,
when tall clocks were found in the best houses, the
dials were ciused in a stone imitatitm of an eight-clay
clock. Stretch took care of the clock until 1762, and
was succeeded by Edward Duflield. who was a watcli-
and dock-maker. In March, 1775, David Ritteii-
house, the a.stronomer, succeeded, U])on hisown petition
to the Assembly, in which he stated that Duflield no
hmger desired the positinii, and that as he (Ritteii-
house) " has charge of the time-piece belonging to th<'
Philosophical Society, which is kejit in the observatory
in the State-House Square, with the a-stronomical in-
struments for adjusting it, he conceives it would nut
be too inconvenient for him to take charge also of the
said i)ul>lic clock."
The construction of the new steeple, in 1828, led to
the acquisition of a new dock. In the course of time
the instrument which Peter Stretch had constructed
had become unreliable. In the debate on the subject,
in 1828, the testimonials as to the character of the
Stiitc-Housc clock were not flattering. Mr. Lukens
was at that time the dock-keeper. Tilghman said of
him, " He is a very good keeper, but has had the care
of a very bad dock. . . If there is anything pro-
verbial, it is the badness of the dock at the State-
House. It is an ejcuninf!, not a regulating, clock.
It is a clock which affords no rule to go by, but a
rule not to go by, for everybody knows it can never go
right." Mr. Lukens made the new clock, at a cost of
two thousand dollars. This proved to be a clock to
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1795
go by, and for many years it was the standard for city
time. Four clock-faces were fitted in the steeple, and
these were made of ground glass, which was then con-
sidered a great novelty. , What was yet more surprising
was the fact, demonstrated as soon as gas came to be
burned, that by strong lights in the clock-room, the
dial-plates could be illuminated at night, and seen
from a great distance. Nothing of the kind could be
possible with the old clock, and the new arrangement
was so unusual that travelers frequently spoke of it
with admiration. The pendulum of this clock ex-
tended down into the tower, where it was properly
encased to prevent its being meddled with. The clock-
weights ran down wooden troughs, which were placed
against the east wall of the tower to the first floor.
The old clock and bell were, by resolution of Councils,
sold to the Roman Catholic Church of St. Augustine,
the clock for two hundred and fifty dollars, and the
bell for four hundred dollars. Both were destroyed by
the burning of the building, in May, 1844, during the
riots in which Boman Catholic Churches sufifered so
severely.
In 1830 the committee on State-House steeple made
report of the cost, as follows :
For rebuilding the steeple $12,376
Paid for the bell 2,157
Paid for the clock 2,076
$16,608
Credit received from Rev. Michael Hurley, of St.
Augustine Church $650
In 1875, when Henry Seybert offered to supply the
city with a new bell, he also expressed a desire to
furnish a better clock than that whicli was in use.
There was not much complaint about the old clock,
but the offer being generous, it could not very well be
separated by accepting the bell and refiising the clock.
Mr. Seybert's proposition was therefore accepted, and
the new clock was constructed by the Seth Thomas
Clock Company of Thomaston, Conn.
The ground on Chestnut Street east and west of the
square oflices or buildings remained vacant for some
years. Before the Revolution, it is supposed, al-
though even as to that there is no positive clue, two
barn-like frame structures were erected at Fifth and
Sixth Streets, and joined the east and west walls
of the square office buildings by a right-angled at-
tachment, so that each shed was in the shape of an
L. It is said that these structures were originally put
up for the accommodation of Indian delegations when
they came to the city. During the Revolution the
sheds were used for storage purposes, and it has even
been claimed that munitions of war were put there for
safety. However this may be, it is a fact that when
the new court-house and City Hall at Fifth and Sixth
Streets were erected, the wooden buildings were torn
down.
In 1741 the Assembly ordered that the grounds
apportioned to the State-House be inclosed with a
wooden fence. The brick wall was in an unfinished
condition, and some protection was needed before win-
dows could safely be placed in the structure. There
was no attempt at decoration of the grounds until
1785, when George Morgan, a Pennsylvanian, pre-
sented to the Supreme Executive Council one hundred
elm-trees, to be planted in the State-House Square.
This gift was obtained through the influence of Sam-
uel Vaughan, of Philadelphia, and about the same
time a brick wall, seven or eight feet in height, was
built around the inclosure. There was a grand en-
trance by a central gate on Walnut Street, due south
of the State-House tower. This portal rose fifteen or
eighteen feet, and far above the coping of the wall.
It was decorated with a jjediment, cornice, entablature,
and pilasters, beneath which an arched semicircle in
wood, and paneled, permitted the narrow, paneled,
wooden gates to open. After this improvement and
the growth of the trees, more attention was paid to the
decoration of the grounds. Walks were laid out, grass
was cultivated, and seats for rest in the shade were
placed in various portions of the ground. The State-
House yard was really the first approach to a little
park or square which the city possessed, for although
squares in four parts of the city were dedicated to
public use by Penn in laying it out, they were under
no improvement. The place became a famous resort,
and the town poets wrote verses in praise of its rural
beauties, which were duly published in the news-
papers. In 1811, when the improvements were made
by demolishing the square offices, houses, and building
the office wings of the State- House adjoining the main
edifice, the removal of the great brick walls was au-
thorized. In their place was erected a low brick wall,
about three feet high, which was coped with marble, and
a railing of plain iron palisades, between standards,
which resembled three oblong rings on top of each
other and finished off with a spear-point, was placed
around the square, which thus appeared open and more
attractive than ever from the surrounding streets. A
gate of somewhat imposing proportions was fixed on
the south, and there were small gates on Fifth and
Sixth Streets, about half-way between Walnut and
Chestnut. The length of the railing on Sixth Street,
exclusive of the gate-ways, was three hundred and
ninety-seven feet ; on Fifth Street it was shorter, by
reason of the Philosophical Hall building taking uj)
ground not occupied on the west side. Here the
length, exclusive of the gate-way, was tliree hundred
and thirty-seven feet nine inches; and on the south
side, exclusive of the gate-way, it was three hundred
and ninety-one feet four inches. The cost of remov-
ing the walls and replacing the improvements was six
thousand five hundred and six dollars and eighteen
cents. The southern gate-way was in time enhanced
by a design which made the jambs of heavy marble,
upon which were fastened the Roman fiisces and spear.
About 1876 another improvement was made in the
yard by removing the wall and rails. The surface of
the ground being some two or three feet above the
adjoining streets, there was no difficulty in throwing
1796
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
it open, and yet practically securing; it from thou^rht-
less trespass. A low wall of vraiiito, with an orna-
mental co|>in{r ofniarlile, was placed around thesiiK-s,
and l)road and easy .-iteps were conistructed in the
centre of the Walnnt Street front, and at the cor-
ners on Fifth and Sixth Streets. Wide fla^' walks
were cnt throujrh the frroiinds in almost every diree-
tion from street to street, which would facilitate the
enjoyment of the proverbial American pleasure, — "the
short cut." The trees were thinned out in order to
admit the sunlight, as they had ijreviously been so
thick as to make the square seem ilark and gloomy.
In 1768 the American Philosophical Society peti-
tioned the Assembly of Pennsylvania for a.ssistance to
enable the members to observe the transit of Venus
across the sun, which was expected to take |)lacc June
3, 1769. The proposition was treated with liberality.
One hundred pounds were granted to enable the
society to procure a reflecting telescope of two and a
half or three feet focus and a micrometer of Dolland's
make, which had to be i)rocured from Englaiul. They
were purchased th<'re by Dr. Franklin. The society
erected a wooden building as an observatory in the
State-House yard, the exact site of which is not
known. It was generally sujjposed to have been c<m-
strueted near the centre ]>arallel of the gnmnd, and
west of the main walk which runs southward. It
might have been on a line with Little George Street
[now called Sanson)], and about halfway between Sixth
Street and the main walk. .John Adams alludeil to it
in his writings as "an awful ]>latform." Mr. Etting
says, " The foundations were discovered when recently
perfecting the sewerage of the square. It a|ii>ear3 to
have been of circular shape, and was erected about
forty feet due west from the rear door of the present
Philf>sophical Hall and about the sameilistance south
of the ])resent ea.stern wing." Wat.son's ■•Annals."
however, states that it "was about twenty feet high,
twelve to fifteen feet square, and was from fifty to
sixty feet south of the 8tate-House, and fifteen to
twenty feet west of the main walk."
The transit was observed in this buihiing by Dr.
John Ewing, Joseiih Shippen, Dr. Hugh Williamson,
Thomas Prior, Charli-s Thom.son, and James Pearson.
While they were thus engaged, David Hittcuhouse,
Dr. William Smith, John ScIUts, anci John Lukeiis
noti<'eil the phenomena at Norriton, and Owen nid<ile
atHenlopen light-house. How long that building re-
mained is not known. It wiu* there <m the 8th of
July, 1776, when the Declaration of Indepenilenee
was first reail to the people by the recommendation of
0>ngre«a an<l by order of the Counr-il of Safety of
Pennsylvania. It wiis rew)lved that the sherifTl Wil-
liam Dewecs) should <lo this, but for some reasons he
did not. John Nixon, member of the Omncil of
Safety, read the instrument. Then, by order of the
Committee of Inspection, the king's arms were taken
down from the c'ourt-room in the State-Hou.se, and
publicly burned by nine a.-woeiators appointed for that
jiurpose. According to a tradition little known, the
]>lace of the burning was at Front and High Streets,
immediately opposite the London Coffee-House.
.The only invasion upon the State-House yard that
was not of a public character was by a grant made in
1785 by the Legislature of Pennsylvania to the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, which was done in a sea.son
of liberality among the niembcrs. The lot granted, as
described in the act of Assembly, was on the west side
of Filth Street, beginning ninety-six feet south from
Chestnut Street, extending along Firth Street seventy
feet, and westward fifty feet. The society took ]>os-
session of this building about 1787-88.
The State-House yard was for a long time the
favorite place of a.ssembling of town-meetings, and
tor great public demonstrations which could be made
in the open air. Here, on Oct. 6, 1765, was held a
I meeting of citizens to express their indignation be-
cause of the i)!us.sage of the stamp act, and the use of
"the detested .stjtnips," just brought into the port in
the ship " Royal Charlotte," under convoy of the
sloop-of-war "Sardoinc." Here, also, in August, 1768,
there was a meeting to protest against the act of Par-
liament to levy duties on i)aper, gla.ss, painters' colors,
lead, and tea importeil into America. A meeting on
the 18th of October, 1773, spiritedly protested against
the unloa<ling of tea sent out by the East India Com-
pany, and on the 27th of December, a public meeting
in the State-House yard resolved that the tea-ship
" Polly," Cai)t. Ayres, which had been sent to Phila-
delphia, should return immediately with her whole
cargo, and that none of it should be lauded. There
wius an impromptu town-meeting in the State-House
yard on the 25th of April, 1775, the day after the
news was received of the battles of Lexington and
Concord on the 19th. A single resolution, " to defend
with arms their i)ro|ierty, liberty, and lives against all
attempts to deprive them of them," was the .short and
ilecisive act of the eight thousand citizens who had
assembled without preconcert. In after-years the
square was the chosen scene of great ])olitieal meet-
ings which were held by Democrats, Whigs, Native
Americans, Republicans, and other political parties
and divisions of ])arties. During the war of 1812,
young volunteer soldiers enrolled for the defense of
the country were taught the march and the drill in
the yaril. The most notable military use of the in-
closure occurred at the outbreak of the war of the Re-
hellion, when the recruiting officers of various Penn-
sylvania regiments i)itched their tents U]>on the
ground, showing a stretch of canvas from Walnut
Street to the rear door of the State-House, while under
the old elms the inclosurc took on the character of a
eamji, with groups of .soldiers, and above all arose the
shrill notes of the fife and the intcriiiiiiable rattle and
boom of the drums.
Not nniny years before the outbreak of the Southern
Rebellion a proposition Wiw made that a monument
should be erected in Independence Sqiuire to eommem-
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1797
orate the Declaration of Independence. The plan was
that only the original thirteen States of the Union
should participate, and that they should combine in
the erection of the monument. The commonwealth
of Pennsylvania approved of that plan, and invita-
tions were issued to the Governors of " the old thir-
teen" to send commissioners, with authority to agree
upon the plan of a monument, and to take measures
for its construction. Albert G. Waterman, a member
of Common Council for the Eighth Ward, was the
originator of this project, and labored faithfully for
its success. The first meeting of the commissioners
was appointed to take place in Independence Hall
in June, 1860. In anticipation of that event. City
Councils, on June 4th, passed an ordinance declaring
their approbation. The times were critical, the coun-
try was rapidly drifting toward civil war, and when
the first gun was fired at Fort Sumter, in April, 18G1,
the scheme was dropped.
The front of the State-House, on Chestnut Street,
must have presented the appearance of great neglect
before the Revolution. In one of Birch's views, ]iub-
lishcd in 1800 and afterward, the square fnmi Sixth to
Fifth Streets appears in an unattractive character. A
brick pavement, apparently not more than six or eight
feet in width, had lieen laid next the curb. Inside of
that, up to the walls, the original earth remained, cov-
ered, no doubt, with grass and weeds in the summer,
but barren, trodden down, and unpleasant in its looks
in the late autumn, winter, and early spring. A soli-
INDEl'ENDENCE HALL IN 1884.
that the commissioners should be the guests of the
city, and that the trustees nominated by the Governors
of the States "should have authority to enter upon
Independence Square and to mark out the spot where
the monument should be erected, at such time as they
may deem fit to lay the corner-stone of the same." Ac-
cordingly, commissioners appointed by ten States met
at Independence Hall and chose, in the centre of the
square, a spacious circular plot for the purpose. Several
plans for the structure were submitted to them, but
they wisely concluded to defer laying the corner-stone
until the States by which they were appointed should
ratity their proceedings and make the necessary appro-
priations. Some progress was made in that direction,
and appropriations were made by some of the North-
ern States, but the Southern States generally withheld
tary pump stood some twenty or twenty-five feet from
the curbstone, on the western portion of the ground,
and about opposite the western piazza, which was con-
nected with the square office building. East of the
centre doorway, in front of the east room, about fifteen
or twenty feet from the front wall of the building,
stood a wooden hexagonal watch-box, above the roof
of which was placed an oil-lamp. There was another
watch-box at the east end of the pavement, placed at
a very short distance from the window in the City Hall
building, which is now (1884) the doorway leading to
the office of the police and fire-alarm telegraph. That
which is now considered a window, south of the pres-
ent door, was then the door of entrance on the west
side of the City Hall building. It may be as well to
notice that at this time there were clear pa.ssages from
\
1798
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Chestnut Street to the yanl, which wito controlled hy
gates. Oni- was botwwn the City Hall at Fifth Street,
and the square county otfiiv huildin^ on the east of the
State-House. The suiuc arrangement was made on the
west, between thecourt-houso liuildin;: and the offices.
When the otfice tiuildiu'rs were erected these imssajre-
ways to the State-House yard were closed with pites of
W'mkI, in the upper part of the frame-work of which
iron palisade railinfrs were arranged. After the con-
struction of the winjr otfice buildin}rs the space in front
of the State-House up to the curbstone \vil« paved with
brick. The pump, which stood south of the brick path,
was removed toasituation near theeurbstone, due north
of the old site. .\t a eorrespondinf: distance on tlie
east side of the State-House another well was du-r and
a i)ump established. The State House pumps were
very near, if not exactly, upon the spot where foun-
tains, surmounted by vases and intended to be deco-
ated by flowers or shrubbery, were afterward placed
by the Philadelphia Fountain Society. Lon)r after
the hydrant-water from the Schuylkill was in common
use in thi' city, these .State-House pumps maintaineil
their reputation for their supply of water, which was
considered pure and delifrhtful, and much preferable
to Fairniount water. More than that, the tempera-
ture <if the water was always cool, and in the summer-
time, ere ice-water became so t-onimon that it mijrht
be had everywhere, there was a jrreat run of hot and
perspiring citizens upon the State-House pumps.
LiiTfie iron ladles, which never rusted because they
were in constant use. were fixed by chains near the
nozzle. On warm summer days hundreds, if not
thousands, of persons stopped to drink at those
pumjw, and they did not fail to read the placard
posted upon the head of the pump by the Humane So-
ciety, which kindly cautioned all persons a^rainst the
danjrer of drinkin;: cold water in imnioilerate quantity
when the body was heate<l.
The State-House pavement was a wide and un-
pleasant place in warm weather when the sun was
ithinini;. Fully exposed, and reflecting back the heat,
it wax, in consequence of the buildin)rs beinjf far back
from the line of the street, less attractive than sidewalks
acros.-* which nei);hborin;r housis threw a shade in
some periods of the day. No atlempt was made to in-
trodueo any improvement until the fall of 1821, when
trees were planted in front of the State-House, extend-
ing fnmi Fifth to Si.xtli Street. Poulson said in refer-
ence to this improvement, " It will be a salubrious ex-
change for the arid bricks that have been broiling our
brains there for fifty years." The trees chosen were
ailanthus, noted for quick growth and thick foliage.
In ten or filteen years the front of the Slate-House in
Humnier-time was as umbrageous as a fori-st. After-
ward these tre<'s were attacked by worms, anil were
onlered t<i be cut down. The axe was applied at some
little distani'C above their roots, and in a few hours the
grove, once the glory of the city, the favorite place in
which the town politicians itssemble<l to talk about
nominating and elections, to discuss political afliiirs —
where they were commonly called " tree-toad.<" — pre-
sented the dismal a])pearanee of a forest in which the
wood-choiipers had been entirely too busy. The public
could not stand that. In a short time new trees (silver
maples) replaced the ailanthus. the idea being from
exiierience that they would not be disturbed by the
worms. They grew finely, and in a few years the
grove in front of the State-House was restored to its
original beauty. But just about that time the worms
gave proof that they would change their diet upon
necessity rather than starve. The ailanthus and pajier
mulberry having been ahuost exterminated as a side-
walk tree in the streets of the city, the worms accom-
modated themselves to circumstances, and conde-
scended to devour the leaves of the maples.
In time the English sparrow was imported, and he
justified the expectations founded upon his change of
country by attacking the worm vigorously. In the
meanwhile many years had gone by, and a consider-
able number of the trees had yielded to natural decay.
When about 1876 it was determined to replace the
brick footways by a ])avemeiit of slate, there were very
few of the old trees left. It was not difficult to dis-
pose of them. By covering the surface with the stone
and making no provision for watering the roots, the
remaining trees gradually died ofl^, so that in 1884
there is probably no survivor of this most beautiftil
grove which for many years was the most attractive
place on Chestnut Street.
About I860, in consequence of the existence of no
public memorial to the memory of Wa.shington, the
Society of the Cincinnati being slow in its collections,
and the fund in the bands of that association being
considered as its own projierty, a movement was started
for the erection of a Washington monument by the
children of the public schools of the city and county
of Philadelidiia.
A " Washington Monunu-nt Fund Society" was
established and incorjjorated. The collections at first
were small, but they were carefully invested and the
income applied, together with new contributions, so
that in the course of a few years the fund was sufli-
cient for the erection of a handsome statue and its
base. City Councils gave the use of a ]iiece of ground
in the centre of the Independence Hall pavi^ment, op-
posite the nuiin door. Here on the .5th of July, 1869,
was unveiled the statue of Washington by J. A. Bailly,
.sculptor, which has since been familiar to every
citizen.'
> ThU nguro la eight feot >ix liichua lilith, awl carvail out of n ainglo
block of Ilalinu miirtilo, remarkAltly froo from spot or blomiith of any
kind. WuhiiiKtoii is reprcaenti'il In rltizun'a ilr«M, tho l>i'autiriil (lr»«
of Iho |i<irio<l. Tho (lositlon li full uf i^Tacr> and dignity, and tho face ii
almoat aa full of nxproHalon na tho renowned picturo by Stuart. Tho
right hand roaln upon a book, supported tipon a pedoilal, and tho left
grupa lightly tho hilt of the dross sword at tho side of tho flguro. Tho
l«»o waa niodelod and cut at tho yard of William Struthors, and ia com-
poaod of RichmoDd granite. Thoro are throe blocks to the baao, tho
lower one being alx foat alx Inclioa aquare, and Iho eallre height ten
foot.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1799
On the pedestal is the inscription :
Erected
by the
Washington
Monument Association
of the
First School District
of
Pennsylvania,
July 4,1809.
J. A. Bailly,
Sculptor,
Philadelphia, 18C0.
Custom-Houses. — Upon no subject of general in-
terest conuected with the early history of Pennsylva-
nia is there less information to be had than con-
cerning matters connected with the collection of
customs duties upon goods and merchandise and
the methods of levying and recovering them. Oc-
casional and incidental mention furnish a few
hints, and that is about all. The names of some of
the persons who exercised the functions of collectors
of customs in the colonial period are known. But
even here great confusion exists to distinguish the
principal, who was entitled to the emoluments of the
office, and the deputy who did the actual work. The
latter was the man who came in communication with
the people. The former in some cases might have
been an absentee, holding a sinecure. For these
reasons a complete and satisfactory account of the his-
tories of the custom-houses in Pennsylvania cannot be
given. The earliest regulation concerning commerce
is to be found in the Duke of York's laws concerning
the appointment of viewers of pipe-staves. "That
the Constable and Overseers in all Townes within this
Government where Pipe Staves shall bee shipt do,
from time to time as need shall require, Nominate
Two men of each Town SkiltuU in the Commodity.
And such as can attend the Service to be viewers of
Pipe Staves, who, so chosen, shall be by the Constable
Convented before some Justice of the Peace to be
sworn diligently and faithfully to view & search all
such Pipe Staves as are to be Transported, and to be
used for making of right Caske, who shall cast by all
such as they shall Judge not Merchantable, both in
respect of Worme holes and do Assize (viz.), That
are not in Length Four Foot and a halfe, in breadth
Three Inches and a half, without sap ; in thickness
three-quarters of an Inch, and not more or less than
an Eighth part of an Inch ; Then three-quarters of an
Inch, well and even hewed, and sufficient for use," etc.
Masters of vessels were subject to fine of five pounds
for receiving on board every thousand of pipe-staves
not properly viewed and examined, and the jiersons
putting the staves on board of the vessel were subject
to forfeiture of the whole consignment. By another
clause in the same act it was directed that all casks
used for liquors, fish, beef, pork, or other commodities
to be put to sale should be of London assize, and of
sound and well-seasoned timber. Gangers were to be
115
appointed to gauge such ve-ssels or casks. Coopers
were required to have a distinct brand-mark on each
cask. The selling of defective casks was liable to
punishment. Gangers were to be ai)pointed yearly,
and the following regulations were established for the
inspection of merchandise intended to be exjiorted :
"That in every Towne where any such Goods are
packed up for Sale, the Gager or Packer of that Towne
or of the Towne wherein it is put to sale or Shipped
shall see that it be well and orderly performed (viz),
Beefe and Porke the whole halfe or Quarter, and so
proportionably, That the best be not left out, and for
Fish that they be packed all of one kind, and all Caske
soe packed be full, Sound, and well seasoned, etc."
In 1666, Governor Nicholls, of New York, issued
orders to collectors and receivers of customs, and no-
ticed the necessity of granting some temporary privi-
lege for the encouragement of trade between New York
and Delaware, and that the tenths of all sorts of goods,
liquors, or peltry, etc., by former practice and order
had been collected and paid in or at the aforesaid port
or in Delaware River; now he orders that (until fur-
ther orders) no sort of liquor, goods, or peltry, shall be
liable to pay any custom either in New York or Dela-
ware Kiver, provided that due entry and certificate be
made and given of all such goods transported to or
from those places. This would seem to show that
there was a collector of customs on the Delaware
Kiver, but no information is given as to the name of
the person holding that office. In 1670, Deputy Gov-
ernor Francis Lovelace issued an order, March 25th,
reciting, " Whereas, I am given to understand tliat all
European Goods imported at the Whorekill, in Dela-
ware Bay, did heretofore pay custom at the rate of £10
per cent., and all ftu-s and peltry exported from thence
at the same rate, which turned to some advantage
towards the support of Government, upon mature ad-
vice and consideration had thereof, I have thouglit fit
to renew the former custom, and do therefore hereby
order and appoint Captain Martin Krieger, who is a
person well versed in tlie trade of those parts, and
very well known there both to the Christians and In-
dians, to be receiver and collector of the customs at the
Whorekill, whereby himself or his Deputy is to receive
10 \>er cent, of all European Goods Imj)f)rted there,
whether coming fi-om this place (New York), New
Castle, in Delaware, or any other part, and 10 per
cent, also for all furs or peltry exported from thence
according to the former Custom and Usage on that be-
half." This custom became a hardship, which was
complained of particularly by persons who were
coming to the Delaware to settle in West Jersey.
Tliey were despoiled of one-tenth of their property,
and the duty was oppressive. Accordingly they ad-
dressed themselves to the trustees of Billinge to have
the duties removed by application to the Duke of
York. William Peun was one of those commissioners.
A long argument was addressed to commissioners ap-
pointed by the Duke of York to consider the question.
1800
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
After considi'rabk' dt-lay the commissioners referred
the matter to Sir William Jones, who decided in favor
of the colcmists. The result was oflScially made known
to the Governor of Xew York, and the duty removed
in 1680.1
In the charter of Charles II. to William Penn for
the province of Pennsylvania, March 4, 1682, liberty
was given to the liege people and the subjects of the
king to " transport themselves and families vnto
to the said countrey with such cimvenient shipping as
by the Lawes of this our Kingdome of England they
ought to vse with fitting jirovisions, paying only the
cnstomes therefore due." The settlers were also given
fuU license to lade and freight in any ports of the
country, and to carrj- goods, wares, etc., from England,
"saving always to vs, our hem, and successors, the
Legall impossicons, customes, and other duties and
payments for the said Wares and merchandise by any
Law or Statute due, or to be due to vs our heires and
successors." License was also given to Penn and the
inhabitants of the province to import goods and to
export the commodities of the province either by land
or by sea, subject, however, to the king's customs and
impositions, and the regulation of acts of navigation
and other laws in that behalf. Power was also given
to Penn to " have and enjoy the Customes and Sub-
sidies in the ports, harbors and other creeks, and
places aforesaid, payable and due for merchandises
and wares there to he Laded and Unladed, the said
customes and subsidies to be reasonably a.ssessed upon
any occasion by themselves and the people there as
aforesaid to be assembled to whom we give power by
these presents for vs, our heires, and successors, vpon
iust cause and in a due Pporcn to assesse and impose
the same saveing vnto vs our Heires and Successors
such imposican and customes as by Act of Parliament
are or shall be appointed." Under this authority two
principles were established. First, that all goods and
merchandise imported into, or e.xported from, Penn-
sylvania were subject to such customs duties as might
be imposed by the crown under act of Parliament, and
that vessels and the service of commerce were subject
primarily to the British navigation acts. Second, that
the Government of Pennsylvania had a fight to levy
import and export duties secondary to those levied
under the king. Under this authority, chapter ninety-
seven of the law made March 10, 1683, declared that
oa "all Rum, Wine, Brandy, and Strong Waters
that shall be imported into this province or territories
thereof, shall i)ay to the Projjrietarj- and Governor as ■
a custom. Two-pence by ye Gallon. And all Syder ;
that shall be imported as aforesaid, shall pay One
penny by ye Gallon." Other goods imi)orted were to '
pay at the rate of twenty shillings for even,- one hun-
dred pounds worth, molasses only excepted. This act
was repealed in the year 1690. The ninetv--eighth
chapter of the act of 1683 laid duties of twelve pence
I Huard, " Annab of Paaniylnnla," p. 479.
upon steer-, bull- or cow-hides exporte*! ; nine pence
on beaver skins, and nine jjence on other peltry when
amounting to the value of a beaver skin, with one-half
penjjy per pound weight on deer-skins. This was
also rei)ealed in 1690. In 1684 the Provincial Council
exercised the franchise of a court of aduiiralty in the
ca.sc of the ship '' Harp," of London, Robert Hutchins
master, charged with being "an unfree ship," not
being cleared from the custom-house at London. It
ajjpeared that the vessel was a French bottom, and
not free to trade with the colonies. The councilors
therefore condemned the said ship with her tackle,
apparel, and ammunition. The vessel was sold " by
inch of candle" to Barnaba Wilcox for £59 10«. 6d.'
It has already been seen that customs were levied
upon the river under the Duke of York laws. When
Penn arrived the practice was well established, so that
we find that in March, 1683, John Moll, William
Hage, William Clarke were appointed a committee to
bring in a report " of the fees of officers belonging to
ye Custom-House." They were not as prompt as ex-
pected. Either that, or they made no report. A year
afterward some propositions for laying duties on goods
were considered.
The first collector of customs under the king ap-
pears to have been Maj. William Dyer, who came be-
fore Council on the 28th of August, 1685, and pre-
sented his commission and instruction. He was
appointed collector of customs in the province of
Pennsylvania by the commissioners of his Majesty's
customs in England, and collector for New Jersey,
and surveyor-general for all his Majesty's colonies in
America. Dyer gave notice that he had appointed
Christopher Snowden to be " his Deputy Sercher
and Wayter of his Majts Customs in Pennsylvania."
The latter was attested. He was, in fact, the deputy
collector of customs. Dyer did not make a good offi-
cial record. In 1687 he presented himself to the
Provincial Council, a.sking for admission as a member.
At that time the councilors were elected, and Dyer
had the return from Sussex County. There was ob-
jection to receiving him. Members of Council " ex-
pressed their general dissatisfaction, and desired him
to desist, declaring that they could not, in duty and
res|)ect to the king, nor with security to the province,
take into the Council such as had not discharged the
office of the king's collector of the customs with a
faithfulness and good report." A committee was ap-
pointed upon Dyer's i)ersistence, and it made report
at a subsequent meeting, with the reasons for their
objections to Dyer. The substance of this document
is not stated. It was quite sufficient, in the opinion
of the other members of the Council, to exclude him,
and he was not admitted.
.Tames Walliams was appointed to succeed Dyer,
and produced his commission before Council Nov. 18,
• 8«le by Inch of candle wr« n peculiar kind of auction. The candle
was liglitod, and an tfuon ha It was burnlux bidn could be made. The
highest bid before the candle was burned out was the Bucceasful one.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1801
1686, granted by Patrick Mein, Esq., the king's sur-
veyor-general of his Majesty's customs in America.
Council was of opinion that Walliams had not pre-
sented himself in form and manner as directed in his
instruction. Notwithstanding this be seems to have
exercised the office, and in May, 1689-90, upon a
matter of a seizure made by him, a commission was
appointed to take testimoney in reference thereto.
Finally the board recommended that the dispute
should be settled by the parties.
William Clark was appointed collector of customs
fur the province aud territories by Edward Randolph,
"surveyor-general of their Majesty's customs in the
Main of America," on the 13th of June, 1692. He
appointed, Feb. 18, 1695, John Deplove to be searcher
of customs for the city and county of Philadelphia.
Clark himself lived at New Castle, and Deplove at
Philadelphia, called the searcher, was really deputy
collector for the port.
John Bewley succeeded Clark and Deplove as col-
lector at Philadelphia, on the 21st of November, 1696.
He was appointed by the commissioners of customs in
England, — Robert Clayton, Robert Southwell, Walter
Yonge, Samuel Clark, and J. Chadmesh. It was re-
cited that this appointment was made by virtue of an
act of Parliament of the twenty-fifth year of Charles
II., entitled, " An Act for tlie Encouragement of the east
land and green land trades, and for better securing the
plantation trade." On the 25th of March, 1698, Ed-
mund Randolph, surveyor-general of customs on the
continent of America, being at the time at Philadel-
phia, commissioned Matthew Birch to be surveyor and
searcher of the customs in Pennsylvania. He went
into office at the same time that Bewley assumed the
duties of collector of customs. The functions of the
Court of Admiralty were exercised for some years by
the proprietary (Penn) and Council in 1683, and
Thomas Lloyd and Council in 1684. When the gov-
ernment was taken from Penn by the crown. Governor
Benjamin Fletcher, who was appointed to Pennsyl-
vania, held, as is recited in his commission, Oct. 20,
1692, the office of vice-admiral. He appointed Wil-
liam Markham deputy in his office as vice-admiral.
May 17, 1693. After this time the officers of the pro-
prietary government ceased to exercise the office of
vice-admiral or judge of adnuralty. Col. Robert
Quarry appears to have been exercising the power of
a judge of admiralty for the province of Pennsylvania
before September, 1698. Complaint was made to the
Council of his conduct in a matter of seizure of goods on
board of the sloop " Jacob," but how long before that
time he had been acting is not certainly known. When
William Penn the proprietary died, William Penn tlie
second, who succeeded, sent, in his letters to Lieuten-
ant-Governor Sir William Keith, instructions to pro-
tect the officers of the customs in the discharge of their
duty.
On the 9th of January, 1695-96, the commissioners
of customs at London — Robert Southwell, E. Godol-
phin, Samuel Clarke, and Robert Clayton — sent a letter
to Lieutenant-Governor Markham on the subject of an
act lately passed in Scotland, for erecting a company to
trade with India, Africa, and America, and the danger
that might happen to English commerce if the Scotch
enterjjrise should be successful. The letter contained
strict instructions as to the duties of custom-house
officers in Pennsylvania, the care to be taken in
making up the records of entries and clearences per-
mits, etc. William Penn had occasion, in 1702, to
make complaint to the commissioners of customs in
regard to the restrictions and injury borne by the
tobacco merchants by heavy duties on exportation,
closeness and severity exercised in matters of form,
occasioning forfeitures and condemnation of goods and
other hardships operating on trade.
Lord Loudoun had cause to complain, in 1757, of
the extra strictness of the collector of the port of
Philadelphia, who was inclined to compel the king's
transport vessels to be cleared at the custom-house,
and had given some annoyance thereby. Lord Lou-
doun requested Governor Denny to interpose his au-
thority as Governor, to give those transports dis-
patches to leave the port of Philadelphia. If the
Governor had no authority over the king's officers, this
could scarcely have been done.
The proceedings in the custom-house during the
greater part of the provincial period were uninterest-
ing and uneventful. The officers took their fees, and
business went on without excitement. Toward the
close of the colonial period, when the spirit of the
people was gradually increasing and hatred of Great
Britain was growing warmer, there were some episodes
between the custom-house officers and the people
which were interesting. The headquarters of the
surveyor-general of customs in North America ap-
pears to have been at Boston in the latter part of the
century, and they managed to send from that city to
Philadelphia some unpopular persons. The Stamp
Act stirred up feeling among the people, which wa.s
not soothed by any particular efforts on the part of
the crown officers. In 1769, John Swift, collector of
customs, seized several pipes of Madeira wine upon
charge made of an attempt on the jiart of the owner
to evade the customs laws. The wine was placed in a
store-h(juse near the Delaware River. In the night
boats, in which several persons were, rowed to the
store-house, which was broken open and the wine car-
ried off. Collector Swift was present and tried to pre-
vent the outrage. He was threatened and abused, and
on the same night the windows of his house were
broken. The wines had been restored to the owner.
This being perfectly well known, there was a meeting
in reference to the subject the next day at the Coffee-
House, by the resolutions of which it was suggested to
the owner that he had better return the wine to the
custom-house, which he did. Suits were subsequently
brought against some of the rioters in the Mayor's
Court, and they were convicted. In October, 1769, a
1802
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
person who had informed tlie collector concerning
some pipes of wine which were landed without ])ay-
ing the duties thereon, was seized hy the people,
ducked, set up in the pillory, and at^erward smeared
with tar and strewed with feathei-s. Shortly after-
ward there was an atl'ray on the Delaware River
caused by the hrutality of Capt. William Diddinjrton,
commander of thi' royal armed schooner "' Gasjiee,"
who, with David Hay. seized Davis Bevan. a citizen
of Chester County, who had been fishing in the Dela-
ware, near Chester, and maltreated him. This eveut
added to the discontent.
In the .same year the collectors of customs and naval
officers were accused of taking illegal fees amounting
to over seventeen hundred pounds in one year. It was
quite an ordinary thing, as a consequence of the bad
feeling against England at this time, that custom-
house officers were roughly treated. John Keates, of
Southwark, was a.s.saulted by a mob in 1770, on suspi-
cion of being an informer to the customs officers con-
cerning some smuggling of tea and other articles. In
1771, Collector John Swift had in his service a schooner
for the purpose of preventing smuggling. In Novem-
ber, 1771, Thonuis Muskett was commander of the
king's vessel, and seized a pilot-boat ui)on charge of
smuggling. The latter was brought up the river as far
as Red Bank, where the king's vessel and the jnlot-
boat were anchored. On the same night a pilot-boat
wa» observed coming from Philadelphia. She was
steered straight for the revenue vessel, and struck the
sides of the latter, when about thirty men, with black-
ened faces, si)rung from the stranger craft, boarded the
king's ves.sel, and, with fire-arms, cutlasses, and clubs,
overcame the crew, beat and wounded them, threw
them in the iiold, and confineil them there. The y
then ran the king's schooner upon a bar, cut U]i tlie
rigging and sails, and seizing the captive |)ilot-boat,
sailed away with her. There was a great stir about
this outrage. Chief Justice Allen was informed of tlie
cireumstjinces by affidavit. Governor Penn issued a
proclamation for the arrest of the daring perpetrators;
but nobody denounced them, nor was the recaptured
pilot-boat, with its cargo of smuggled goods, ever re-
claimed. In consequence of this bold i)roceeding
another king's vowel, stronger and more heavily
armed, was sent to the Delaware in 1772, and was
managed by its officers in a high-handed way. They
acted with great strii'ttiess on the river, stopped ves.sels
of all kinds, subjected them lo inquiry and sometimes
to search, arri'sted captains and crews, and maile them-
selves odious by arrests and bringing suits in the ad-
miralty. Im 1773, Ebenezer Ri«-hardson was sent to
Philadelphia by the customs commissioners at Boston.
He wa.s accused of being an informer, and that his
busine«4s was to lurk about the wharves and spy out
offensi-s on the part of the importers an<l report them
to his masters. A di'scription of this man was pub-
lished in Brailford'g Journal in October, 1773, and it
was suggested "that all lovers of liberty in this prov-
ince will nuike diligent search after said Richardson,
and, having found this bird of darkness, will produce
him tarred and feathered at the Cotl'ee-House, thereto
expiate his sins against his country by a public recan-
tation." Immediately afterward Richardson was pur-
sui'd by a mob, but managed to escape, and got out of
Philadeli)hia as s]ieedily as possible. In 1774 a luim-
ber of hogsheads of sugar, seized by the custom-house
officers on board the .schooner " Felicity," Capt. Allen
Moore, for not having paid duty or being entered at
the custom-house, was resciu'd from the king's officers,
who were beaten with clubs and staves, and the sugar
carried ofT. The usual iiroclanuition was made by the
Governor for the arrest of the offenders, but they were
never discovered.
The reception of the news of the battle of Lexington
in 1775 practically suspended the power of the king's
officers, and they were superseded in a short tinu' en-
tirely by the committees to conduct public affairs, ap-
pointed by the patriots. The State of Pennsylvania
a.ssumed the power of the King, and during the
Revolution the affairs of commerce were transacted
un<ler direction of the popular and State authorities,
the regulations about imports and exports, duties,
etc., varying from time to time with the public exi-
gencies.
A naval officer for the port of Philadelphia seems
to have been ajipointed early in the eighteenth cen-
tur\'. But little is known as to when the office c(mi-
menced, or what its duties were. Ai)])ointment to it
seems to have been under the jirovincial government,
and it may be conjectured that the naval officer exe-
cuted the Jiort laws of the i)rovince of Pennsylvania,
or collected whatever customs and duties might be im-
posed under the charter, subject to the |>aramount
rights of the <rown. The "9th Pennsylvania Ar-
chives," |)age 738, shows that Robert Assheton was
naval officer in 1717. Dr. Frederick Phile held the
office before the Revolution, in 1770 and 1771, but
was superseded before 1773 by Dr. David Finney.
Dr. Frederick Phile was reappointed in 1776 by
the Supreme Executive Council. The last iiu-umbent
before the Revolution was Lieutenant-Governor Rich-
ard Pen!i, who appointed himself to this place, the
salary of which was six hundreil ])ounds.
After the authority of the crown was thoroughly over-
thrown, the Constitution of the 28th of December, 1776,
directed that "the President and, in his absence, the
Vice-Presi<lent, with the Council, five of whom shall
be a quorum, shall have power to appoint and com-
missionate judges, nnvnl offinm, judge of the Admi-
ralty, etc." The powers of those offuers wi'ri' not
defined further than what iidght be inferred from the
name of the office. No collector of customs was pro-
vided for, and it may be inferred that the duties of
the naval officers were th<ise which, before the Revo-
lution, under the crown, were discharged by the col-
lectors of customs. On the 5th of April, 1777, Dr.
Frederick Phile was balloted for and chosen naval
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1803
officer for the port of Philadelphia. In April, 1785,
the naval officer reported to Council that he had made
choice of a convenient place for holding his office.
The collector of imposts and the wardens of the port
also reported having made similar arrangements for
their own comfort. In January, 1788, the naval officer
made report that he had seized the brig " Catharine,"
from Halifax, which was entered in ballast, but found
to contain a quantity of fish. He represented that he
suspected that the crew of the brig intended to evade
the law l)y seizing on the vessel and cargo. The com-
mander of the " Invalids" was ordered to furnish him
with as many men as might be necessary to prevent
such action. The naval officer was still Frederick
Phile, who had been re-elected Nov. 9, 1787.
As soon as the Federal Constitution was adopted,
and the Congress of the United States got to work, the
first act passed, on June 1, 1789, settled the form of
the oaths to be taken by the members and officers of
Congress, officers of the various States, and officere of
the United States. The second act, passed July 4,
1789, was entitled an act for laying a duty on goods,
wares, and merchandise imported into the United
States. The duties were to commence on the 1st of
August, and specific tarifi" was provided on particular
articles. This was the first of a long series of laws in
relation to imports. The system established by the
Congress of the Confederation for the collection of
duties was not interfered with in Pennsylvania until
1799, when the State of Pennsylvania was divided
into two districts, — those of Philadelphia and Presque
Isle (Erie). The district of Philadelphia was to in-
clude all the shores and water of the river Delaware,
and the rivers and waters connected therewith being
within the State of Pennsylvania. The city of Phila-
delphia was to be the sole port of entry and delivery
for the same, and a collector and naval officer for the
district was to be appointed, who should reside at the
city of Philadelphia. These regulations, with some
modifications, have remained in force ever since. In
1784 the State of Pennsylvania established a custom-
house at Philadelphia, and Sharp Delany was ap-
pointed collector by the General Assembly, and gave
bond to the satisfaction of the Supreme Executive
Council on the 15th of March of that year.
The naval officer, as a member of the custom-house
establishment of the United States, was created by an
act to regulate the duties on imports and tonnage
passed March 2, 1790. He was to receive copies of
all manifests and entries, and estimate the duties on
goods, and keep a separate record thereof, counter-
sign all permits, clearances, debentures, and other
documents to be granted by the collector, and to ex-
amine the collectors' abstracts of duties and other
accounts of receipts, bonds, and expenditures, and if
found right to certify the same.
The office of surveyor of customs was established by
act of Congress of 1799, with authority to superintend
and direct all inspectors, weighers, measurers, and
gaugers within his port, and report weekly as to their
performance of duties or their neglect. Also to report
the names of vessels arriving from foreign ports, with
particulars in relation to their cargoes, tlie liability of
the property to duty, etc.
The location of the custom-houses at the early
periods are not known, except in a few instances.
Tliey were probably in the stores or offices of the col-
lectors. In 1784, Col. Delany was authorized to rent
a building for the use of the custom-house, and he was
located at the corner of Black Horse Alley and Second
Street. In 1810 the United States autliorized the pur-
chase of a lot of ground and the construction of a build-
ing for the use of the custom-house and the various
offices connected _ _
therewith. There '"" : v^iu^ -^ -^Vnii
was an attempt to
obtain the use of a
lot at the Draw-
bridge belonging to
the city, which
failed. A lot of
ground was bought
on the west side of
Second Street, be-
low Dock, at the
northwest corner
of Elmslie's Alley,
running through to
Laurel Court, after-
ward called Levant
Street. Here, on the 12th of July, 1819, the first Fed-
eral building used for a custom-house in the city was
opened. It was plain, three stories in height, the front
of the first story being of marble. The second story was
lighted by long, arched windows. Small, square win-
dows were above them. The roof stood gable-fashion,
rising above the third story. A niche near the apex
contained a fine statue in wood, representing " Com-
merce," cut by William Rush. The upper stories
were of brick. Large warehouses were built back of
the main building for storage purposes. The architect
was William Strickland. The building stood back
from the street a distance of forty or fifty feet. On
Second Street there was a heavy brick archway, with
a wide passage in the centre for drays and carts, pro-
tected by an iron gate. SnuiUer arches for pedes-
trians were on each side, and there was a small show
on either side of the archway of a low wall surmounted
with iron palings. The entrance in front of the build-
ing was by a central doorway, which led to the main
business-room in the second story. In this building
the business of the Philadelphia custom-house was
carried on until about 1845, when the United States
Bank having failed, the white nuirlile building on
Chestnut Street, between Fourth and Fifth, occupied
by that institution, was purchased by the United
States government, and has been in use ever since.
The want of sufficient space in the custom-house
FIRST UNITED STATES CUSTOM-
HOUSE,
1804
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
for the accommodation of the large business of the [ 1727.— GrMvonor Bedford; l Archive, sse. He actfid in psraon from
ITM to 1732. When appuinted not known.
oflSce, led to the erection of a heavy, massive, brick
building upon tlic Int runniiiir from Second to Dock
Street, north of Walnut, wliicli had been for many
years occupiwl by the Bank of Pennsylvania. This
structure, known sis the a)>jiraisers' building, is solidly
built of brick and iron, no wood or combustible iiiatc-
1727.— John Moore,' bis deputy, died December, 1732. He is referred to
ae being the king's collector in tbe ** Charter and Laws of Pennsyl-
Tania," p. 307 (1879), on Not. 24, 1726.
lT32-:0.— Peter ETans,> Bedford's deputy, February 6th. Evans was
Moure's son-in-law ; be resigned in 1743. 1 Pennsylvania Archives,
385.
1743.— William Aleisn.ler. He died January, 1744-45.
UNITED ST.VTES CUSTOM-HOUSE IS 1884.
rial being used in it. It is five stories in height, and '
Mr. Mullett, supervising architect of llic Treasur)- of
the United States, has declared that this is the only
thoroughly fire-proof building in the country. The
ai)i)raisers' building was completed and put in use in
1871.
COLLECTORS OF THE CUSTOMS AT PHILADELPHIA.'
U.-XDER THR CroW.V.
1686.— MiO- William Dyer.
1686.— James Walllamn, 1 C. R, 147, for bay and river Delaware.
16A2.— William Clarke, ap|K>inled June 13, 1692 ; 1 Archive*, 117.
laM.— John Bewley; 1 C. R., M2. Died 17m.
1703.— Robert Aasheton ; I lK>giin Papers, 200.
1T04.— John Moore, appointed 24lh .lib mo. (July), by Col. Quarry, rics
Bewley, deceased ; 1 Logan Papers, 300,
■ From Jobs Hill Martin's " Bench and Bar of Fhiladelpbia."
1746. — Abram Taylor, deputy for Grosvenor Bedford.
1748. — Alexander Barclay, deputy for Grosvenor Bedford.
> In PtJiti'ukania OaulO; Nov. 30, 1732, It In stnted that " On Saturday
last f'26lli), died John Mnore, Collector of liis Mt\jc8ly's Customs for this
Port, which place he enjoyed above tliirly yenre. lie dyed In the 74th
year of his age." His conimlsfiiun as collector, signed by Evelyn, Is in
possession of one of bis descendants. In the Pentmylvania Archives,
2d series, the following list of the collectors of customs is given, viz.:
"John Bewley, 1698 to 1702; John Moore, 17UC (1703!) to 1728; Ralph
Assheton, 1732 ; Crosvenor BedfonI, 1733; Richard Pearno (died), 1762;
Enoch Story, 1762; Abraham Taylor (resigned), 1762; John .Swift (rice
Taylor), June 9, 1762; Robert Bayard, Feb. 21, 1772 ; John Patterson,
Oct. 19, 1772." It Is said in the " Life of Ilr. William Smith," 2 vol.,
488, "John Moore, It appears, ciinie wllli his wife and family to Phila-
delphia prb.r to 17011, and became the King's Collector at that Port."
Tills we know from his commission, which Is before me, dated 1703,
signetl by Evelyn.
' In an obituary of Peter Eva
Is stated be was "an eminent c<
the King's Customs."
s, Pentuj/haala Gairlu, June 20, 1746, It
iinselor, and for many years Collector of
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNiMKNT BUILDINGS.
1805
1751.— Abram Taylor, and in office; 8 C. E., 39, 713, which covers tlie
time from May 7, 1757, to May 10, 1762. John Inglis ia said to have
been collector from 1751 to 1759, but it is an error. He was deputy
in the absence of Collector Taylor from 1751 to 1753. William Till
was collector at New'Castle during the above period,
I702.-Johu Swift, vice T«ylor, June 9th. Still in ofBce Dec. 6, 1771.
Dr. Thomas Graeme is said to have been collector before his death,
in 1772. See " Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,"
1 vol., 460 (2d edition).
1772. — Robert Bayard, February 7th ; 4 Pennsylvania Archives, 449 (1st
1772.— John Patterson, October 19th, in place of Bayard, declined.
1773.— Zachariah Hood, acting for the collector; 10 C. R., 90.
1774. — Lacblaoe Maclean. John Patterson,^ deputy.
Dnbee
THE U
SITED
States.
Penrmjlvania to he one district
Julij 31
1789.
ActofJul,ji,'m%fo
duty 01
goode
1789.
Sharp Delany.2
1846.
James Page.
1799
George Latimer.
1849.
William D. Lewis.3
1802
Peter Muhlenberg.
1853.
Charles Brown.
1807
John Shee.
1857.
Joseph B. Baker.
1809
John Steele.
1861.
William B Thomas.
1827.
William Jones.
1866.
William F. Johnston
1829
James Nelson Barker.
1S67.
Joseph W. Cake.
1838
Ex-Governor George Wolf.
1869.
Henry D. Moore.
1840
Jonathan Roberts.
1870.
John W. Forney.
1842
Thomas S. Smith.
J872.
Seth I. Comly.
1843
Calvin BIythe.
1877
Alexander P. Tutton
1845.
Henry Horn.
1880.
John F. Hartranft.*
SURVEYORS-GENKRAL OF THE CUSTOMS.
Under the Crown.
Patrick Mien,s in ofBce 5 mo. 14, 1690
Edward Randolph,' in oflico 9 mo. 13, 1691
Col. Robert Quarry," appointed 9 mo. — , 1703
William Keith,* previous to Sept. 27, 1716
George Phenny,9 in office Feb. 6,1732-33
CONTROLLERS OF THE CUSTOMS.
William Alexander, in office..
Alexander Barclay, in office...
Christopher Sanderson, in offi
Alexander Barclay, in office..
Lynford Lardner, in office
,. — , 1723
,. — , 1749
..1756 to 1762
.. — , 1762
.. — , 1771
SURVEYORS OF THE CUSTOMS AT POET OF PHILADELPHIA.
Christopher Srinwden, appointed 28 6 mo., 1685
Samuel Land,'" in office 18 9 mo., 1686
John Deplove,!! in office Feb. 18, 1694-96
Matthew Birch," in office Nov. 21,1696
John Jewell." in office April 15,1698
Col. Robert Quarry," in office — , 1699
Patrick Baird, in office — , 1730
William Hero, in office — , 1735
William Sheppard, in office — , 1768
David Drummond,is in office — , 1772
William Macpherson, appointed Sept. 19,1789
Walter Stewart, in office 179J to 1796
1 On the tombstone of " John Patterson, Esq.," in Christ Church grave-
yard, it is stated he was "a native of Ireland, formerly an officer in the
British army, and, at the period of the Revolution, Collector of Customs
in the Port of Philadelphia." He was buried Feb. 24, 1798. Gordon's
"Pennsylvania," 628.
- Died May 13, 1799, aged sixty.
3 Died April 1, 1881, aged eighty-eight.
* rice Tutton, deceased; conflmied by the Senate Feb. 11, 1881.
6 1 C. R., -297. 5 1 C. R., 503.
' See 1st Logan Papers, 281.
8 Memoirs of the Historical Society, 4 vol., 380.
0 1 Archives, 385. i« 1 C. R., 149.
" 1 Archives, 117. "IC. R., 501.
18 1 C. E., 505-6. " Logan Papers, 34.
IS 1 Proud, 290.
William Jackson, appointed Jan. 14,1796
Dr. William Bache, appointed — , 1803
James Glenlworth. in office Oct. 24, 1814-29
William Duncan, in office 1829 to 1838
George W. Kiter, appointed 1838 to 1841
J. Washington Tyson, appointed — , 1841
.John G. Watmough. appointed Oct. — , 1841
Thomas A. Cooper,io appointed — , 1844
John Davis, of Bucks County 184S to 184S
William B. Norris. in office — , 1849
Reuben Charles Hale, in office — , 1853
John Hamilton, Jr., in office — , 1867
E. Reed Meyer, in office — , 1861
William Harbeson. in office — , 1867
Edward O'Meara Goodrich," appointed April 2.3, 1869
Edwin H. Nevin, Jr., appointed Feb. — , 1881
George F. Leland, appointed July 30, 1883
UNITED STATES SHIPPING COMMISSIONERS.
Sec Act of June 7, 1872.
John H. Young," appointed June —,1872
William L. James, appointed April 11, 1880
NAVAL OFFICERS, POET OF PHILADELPHIA.
Robert Assheton, in office 1717 to 1727
Dr. Thomas Graeme," in office 1727 to
Eobert Charlea,=" in office before — , 1731
Dr. Thomas Graeme, in office 1740 to 1761
Dr. Frederick Phile, in office 1770 and 1771
Dr. David Finney, in office before — , 1773
David Finncy,2l in office Nov. 4, 1773
Richard Hockley, in office 1773 and 1774
Gov. Richard Penn,=2 in office 1775 to 1776
George Bryan, in office June — ,1776
Dr. Frederick Phile,!^ in office April 6, 1777
William Macpherson, in office 1791 to 1813
Samuel Clarke, in office 1813 to 1824
WilliamJones, in office 1824 to 1826
Philip S. Markley, in office ISiO to 1829
John Pemberton, in office April —,1829
Johu Horn, in office 1838 to 184U
Alexander Ferguson, in office Sept. — , 1840
Bela Badger," in office April 14,1841
Dr. Joel B. Sutheriand, in office Nov. 18, 1842
Henry Wel3h,»» in office May — , 1845
Peter C. Ellmaker, in office May — , 1849
N. P. Eldred, in office 1853 to 1857
Chambers McKibben, in office 1857 to 1861
Edward Wallace, in office 1861 to 1866
Joseph R. Flanigen, in office 1806 to 1867
De Witt Clinton Baxter, in office 1867 to 1871
John A. Hiestand, in office March 1, 1871
Ex-Governor James Pollock,2C in office Feb. 7, 1879
Edwin H. Nevin, in office , 1883
LOCATION OF CUSTOM-HOUSES.
1733.— At the dwelling of Peter Evans, deputy collector.
1743._At the house of John Nelson, in Chestnut Street. W. Alexan-
der, deputy.
1762.— At the house of John Swift, collector. Front, between Arch and
Race Streets.
1784.— Corner of Black Horse Alley and Front Street. Sharp Delany,
collector.
1791.— Southeast corner of Walnut and Second Streets. Sharp De-
lany, collector.
1795._119 South Front Street, near Walnut. Sharp Delany, col-
lector.
16 Mr. Cooper was the distinguished actor,
17 Died Jan. 28, 1881, aged fifty-six.
18 Died April 5, 1880, aged seventy-two.
"9 Pennsylvania Archives (2d series), p. 738; Thomas Graeme, vice
Asshoton, deceased, 1727, 1740, 1761.
soRawle's Equity, Appendix, p. 32.
21 A son of Dr. David Finney ; 10 C. R., 109.
22 The Governor appointed himself; the salary wassix hundred pounds ;
4 Pennsylvania .Archives, 60O. He was the last person to hold this
office under the crown.
23 See 5 Pennsylvania Archives, 298 ; recommissioned Not. 9, 1787
called Phyle.
2< Rejected by the Senate on Sept. 1, 1841.
2& Appointed in May, 1846 ; confirmed February, 1846.
28 Ex-Governor of Pennsylvania; not confirmed by the Senate on its
adjournment on March 4, 1879. Renominated March 11, 1.S79, and con-
firmed April 4, 1879. The naval officer is an officer of the United States
customs. See Statutes at Large, 506, Act of March 2, 1790. Term of
office, four years.
1806
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
I7B8.— Daring yellow feier at Congrea Hall, soDtheul cornar of Sixth
and Cbentnat Streeta. Sharp Delany, collector.
1802 to 1819.— At Carpentera' Hall, Chestnut Street, between Third
and Fourth.
1819, July 12.— Secund Street, below Dock, west side.
1846.- United Sutea Bank building, Cheetnut Street, below Fourth.
FOREIGN COSSULS .^T PHIL.\PELPHIA IN 1884.
Argentine Republic, E. Sbippcn.
Austria-Hungary, Lara Weeter*
gaard.
Belginm, Dr. Tharlea E. S^joua.
Braiil, John Moaon, Jr.
Chili, E. Shippen.
Columbia, Annibal Gonzalea Tor-
Denmark, F. F. Myhlertz.
Ecuador. E. Sbippen.
France, P. De Bouteillier.
German Empire, C. U. Meyer.
Great Britain, Robert Charles Clip-
perton, consul ; George Crump,
Tice-consui.
Greece, A. H. Lennox.
Hayti, A. H. Lennox,
luly, Count GofTredo Galli.
Liberia, Edward S. Morris.
Mexico, RafTael Varrios.
Netherlands, Lars Westergaard.
Nicaragua, Henry C. Potter.
Norway, Lars Weetergnard.
Orange Free State, Chaa. \V. Riley.
Paraguay, Fnincis Wells.
Peru, George Blaese.
Portugal, John Mason, Jr.
Russia, Henry Preaut.
Spain, Antonio DiRZ Mirandi, con-
sul; Francisco Monjes Merino,
Tice-consui.
Sweden, L. Westergaard.
Switzerland, Rudolph Koradl, con-
sul : Werner Ilschner, vice-con-
sul.
Turkey, Henry W. Bartol.
Uruguay, Charles W. Matthews.
Venezuela, Manuel Martii-Carrion.
Post-Office. — The iimiinenci'iiient of the jiost and
letter service in Philailelphia will pi l)ack to the Duke
of York's times, and orijrinate<l in the necessities of
government. By the act of Sei>t. 26, 1676, it wa.s held
as follow.s :
" PuBLiQt;R ArrAlits. — Whereas, this GoTernmenl may on many occa-
tions be disappointoil of speedy and true Information of Publiijue Af-
(aira out of England as well as out of our Neighbors' Coloneyes, To the
remedy of such future Inconveniences, every Constable to whiim any
letters may come Directed to the Governeur, Attested on the Backe
aide the letter with the name of one of his Majesties principall Secre-
Ur}'ea of SUte, or with the name of any one of the Govcrneurs of any
of his H%)eeties Coloneyes of New England ; or any letter Sent from the
Oovemeur to the Sheriff, or any of the Justices of the York shire upon
Long Is Land, and so Attested as abovesaid, shall be dispacht by every
such ConsUble within three hours at the furthest after the receipt
thereof to the next Constable, and so forwards as the letter directs Upon
the penally of 40 Shillings for every hour's delay. And In such cases all
Oonstablea are Impowered to Presa a Sufficient horse and man for that
purpose. Allowing for the Han and Horse Satisfaction Six pence for
each miles travel, which shall be discounted to such Constable In the
Publlque Rates."
Under this system the constables were the first post-
masters, hut they were only to carry inililic letters and
communications. By the (rreat law of March 1, 1683,
pa.Mscd liy the Assemhly under Peiiii at Chester, this
law was sulistantially re-enacted for the benefit of the
Governor and the dis|)atch of letters coneerninp public
affairs. The constable cea.seil, however, to be the post-
master in all cases, and became a forwarder of letten*.
It wiLM directed that every justice of the peace, sheriff,
ami constable, to whoge bands public letters should
come in any county <lirectcd to the Governor, should
disimtch them within three hours at the furthest after
receipt or knowleilfre thereof to the next sheriff or con-
atable, and .so forward as the letters direct upon pen-
alty of twenty shillinp* for every hour's delay. The
Hheriffs and constables were empowered to press either
man or horse for that service, allowinj; for a horse or
man " two pence by ye mile, to be paid for out of the
public sttK'k." This arrangement was not for the
benefit of private persons sendinjr letters to each other.
It wa.s abrojrateil by act of William and Mary in 1693.
Iu.the Pcmberton papers it is said that the first post-
ofiice was set up by William Penn in July, 1683, and
that Henry Waldy, of Taciuiy, was given authority
to conduct the service and " to sujiply passengers with
Horses from Phila. to New Castle or to the Falls"
(afterward near Trenton). The rates were to be : For
letters from the Falls to Philadeli)hia, threepence;
from the Falls to Chester, five pence; from the Falls
to New Castle, seven jjcnce ; from the Falls to Mary-
land, nine pence ; from Philadelphia to Chester, two
]ience; to New Castle four pence; and to Maryland
si.xpcnce. This post went once a week, and was to be
fully published " on the meeting-house door and other
jiublic iilaces." There is nothing in the Colonial
Records or Archives in reference to this matter.
On the 17th of February, 1691, King William and
Queen Mary granted to Thomas Neale, Esq., his
executors, adinini.strators, anil assignees for twenty-one
years full ]iower and authority to erect, settle, and
establish within the king's colonies and plantations in
America, one or more office or offices for receiving and
despatching letters ami i>aikets by jiost, and to re-
ceive, send, and deliver the same under such rates and
sums of money as should be agreeable to the rates es-
tablished by act of Parliament in England, or as the
jilanters and others should agree to give on the first
settlement. Under this power the king's Postmaster-
General of England, at the request of Neale, dejiuted
Andrew Hamilton, of New Jersey, "to Govern and
Manage the said General Post-Office for and through-
out all the King's plantations and Colonics in the main
land or Continent of America and the Islands adjacent
thereto. Hamilton applied to the Lieut. -Gov. and
Council of Penna., May 19, 1797, for an encourage-
ment to support the Post, and the Council Voted that
a Bill be prepared for encouragement to support ye
post both by the ]iublick and upon private letters.
The Act was ineparcd and jiassed in the same year."
In the preamble it was stated " that the mantaining
of mutual and speedy Correspondencies is very Bene-
ficial to the King and his Subjects, and a great en-
couragement to trade, and that the same is best carrie<l
on and managed by Publick Post. As well as for
preventing Inconveniences which heretofore have
hajineil for want thereof, as for a certain, safe, and
speedy Dispatch, carrying and re-carrying of all Letters
and Pacquets of Letters by Post to and from all part.s
and places within the Continent of America and
several jiarts of Europe, and that the well ordering
thereof is matter of General Concernm' and of great
advantage. The act then went on to declare that
there be from henceforth one general letter office
erected and established within the town of Phila."'
The act estJiblished the following rates and rcgula-
' Bench and Bar of Philadelphia," John Hill HarUn.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1807
tions: Every single letter might coDtain merchants' j
accounts (none exceeding one sheet of paper), bills of
lading, gazettes, invoices, or bills of exchange (if they j
did not exceed one sh*et of paper). A])acket wastobe |
accounted three letters, at the least. If any letters or
packets should lie or remain in the post-office uncalled ■
for for the space of forty-eight hours, the postmaster
might send them forth to the houses of the persons to
whom they were directed, and receive therefor one
penny more. Letters directed to or going from the Pro-
prietary or Governor were to be free. Persons employed
in the several stages within the province and territo-
ries might pass or repass every ferry without paying
either for his own passage or for his horses'. Ferry-
masters who refused transportation were liable to five j
pounds' fine. Ship-letters were also matters of con- |
cern, as is shown by the second preamble : " And '■
whereas, upon the arrival of Ships into the Several
ports of this province, many Letters directed to Sev-
eral Merchants and others have been detained long,
to the great damage of ye merchants, and want of
that Speedy Advice which they might have had if the
same had forth with been dispatched. And sometimes
such Letters have been delivered by the Masters or
Passengers of such Ships to ignorant and Loose hands
that understand not the ways and means of speedy :
Conveyance and Delivery of Letters, whereby great
Prejudice hath acrued to the affairs of merchants and
others, as well as by the miscarriage of many letters.
As numy times liy opening of the same to the discov-
ery of the Correspondencies and Secrets of Merch"."
It was, therefore, directed that all letters and packets
brought into the province by any ship should be de-
livered to the master of the general letter-office for the
time being, to be delivered by him according to the
directions of the same. A fine of twenty shillings
might be recovered against any master who refused to
deliver such letters to the |iost-office, and for the en-
couragement of the shipmaster it was directed that he
should receive from the master of the post-office one
penny for every such letter delivered to him. There
was an exception in favor of letters pa.ssing between
consignors by the vessel and the merchants, masters,
or owners, and in favor of any special messenger sent
on purpose by the writer of a letter to deliver it to
some other person. Any attempt to set up a private
post (to the injury of the postmaster) for hire, or to
" set up or employ any spot, Post-House, Post-Paquet,
Boat, or Conveyance whatsoever, for carrying, convey-
ing, or re-carrying any Lett" or Pacquets by Sea or
Land," was subject to a forfeiture of forty pounds.
The act was to remain in force seven years. The
postage-rates were as follows : For every single letter
to or from Boston or Rhode Island, eighteen pence,
and so in proportion to the greatness and quantity of
letters.
Single letters to or from Philadelphia, Piscataway,
and other parts to the eastward of Boston, two shil-
lings ; to or from the post-road in Connecticut
Colony, one shilling; to or from New York, eight
pence ; to or from any place within eighty miles of
Philadelphia, sixpence; to or from Maryland or
Virginia, eighteen pence. These rates were provided
the letters went by post. If delivered into the office
by any private person, rate four pence.
For letters greater than single, the rates were to be
doubled.
Under this, the first establishment of the post in
Philadelidiia,. Postmaster-General Hamilton ap-
pointed Henry Flower to be his deputv'.
For the encouragement of Hamilton's post-office
there was an allowance made by the province of
Pennsylvania of twenty pounds per annum for three
years. This sum had not been paid in 1701, when
Hamilton petitioned the Provincial Council for the
remuneration, and it was ordered that the treasurer
pay the same out of the public stock as soon as he
should have sufficient in his hands for that purpose.
When Gen. Braddock arrived, in 1753, he requested
the establishment of a post between Philadelphia and
Winchester for the forwarding of his dispatches. This
request was laid before the Assembly, and seems to
have been comjilied with, as it was noted in May,
1756, that the western post had not yet come in,
owing, it was supposed, to the ravages of Indians
near Winchester.
Postmaster-General Hamilton died in Philadelphia
in 1709. In the succeeding year the British govern-
ment took possession of the establishment of the post-
office, and thenceforth it was managed in connection
with the postal service of the British government,
with chief officers at Edinburgh, Dublin, and New
York. There was no material change in the manage-
ment or system by reason of the assumjition of the
management of the post-office under the royal au-
thority.
The advance of the post-office was slow. In De-
cember, 1717, Jonathan Dickinson wrote to a corre-
spondent, " We have a settled post from Virginia and
Maryland unto us, and goes through all our northern
colonies, whereby advices from Boston unto Williams-
burg, in Virginia, is completed in Four Weeks, from
March to December, and in double that time in the
other months of the year." In 1727 the mail to
Annapolis went from Philadelphia once in two weeks
in suuuner, and once a month in winter via New
Castle to the Western shore and back to the Eastern
shore. The mail for New York was carried weekly
in 1729, in the summer time, and fortnightly in the
winter months. For this reason the Pemuylvania Ga-
zette, in 1729, announced that during the fortnightly
stage to New York the paper would be continued
only once in two weeks. Henry Pratt was riding
postmaster for all the stages between Philadelphia
and Newport, in Virginia, in 1738. He set out at the
beginning of each month, and returned in twenty-
four days. In 1748, Kalm, the Swedish traveler, re-
marked that when the vessel in which he arrived
1808
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
reached the city, many inhabitants came on board
asking for letters. Those not called for were taken to
the CotTee-House and not the post-office. The de-
livery of letters from the post-office to the persons for
whom they were intended seems not to have been re-
newed ;i3 a custom, which was required by the act of
1797, when the royal authority took hold of the post-
office.
The first penny-post, as it was called (meaning the
delivery- of letters from the post-office. to persons to
whom they were addressed), is said to have com-
menced in 1753. At the siime time the advertising of
lists of letters uncalletl for commenced. In 1754 an
immense advance was made by the establishment of
a mail to New York three times per week in summer,
and (mce a week in winter. In the next year Fr.mk-
lin, who was Postmaster-General, speeded the mail for
New England by sending it imt once a week all the
year round, instead of once a fortnight, as formerly.
By this arrangement a letter could be sent to Boston
and a reply received in Philadelphia in three weeks,
instead of si.x weeks, iis formerly. Newspapers in
1758 were carried by the post-riders fitty miles tor
nine pence per year, and one shilling sixpence for
one hundred miles. As no pai)er was published at
this time oftener than once a week, the.se prices com-
prised fifty-two deliveries. It is supposed, but not
known, that this small profit was a personal perquisite
of the post-riders.
The .stages for carrying travelers soon became more
frequent than the mails. The new stage, in Novem-
ber, 1756, lett John Butler's sign of " The Death of
the Fox," in Strawberrj- Alley, for New York. The
trip WiLs made in three days, and a return in three
days more, made one trip weekly between city and
city. In 1765 this was improved upon by the estab-
lishment of a line of stages to New York twice a
week. They also required three days for the trip, but
the proprietors must have owned four or five coaches.
The fare was two pence per mile. The " Flying Ma-
chine" set up by John Barnhill, in Elm Street, went in
the summer time to New York in the remarkably
short ])eriod of two days. Fare through, twenty shil-
lings; for way pa.s.sengers, threepence per mile. The
vehicles used were wagons ; the seats set on springs.
John Bes.sonet & Co., in 1773, started stage coaches to
New York, through in two day.s. Fare for inside pa.s-
sengers, four dollars; outside pas.sengers, twenty shil-
lings.
Up to the time of the employment of steamboats,
the speed wa.s not much greater. The latter, upon
the Delaware River and streams on the coa-st of New
Jersey, were enabled to shorten tlie time, but the
stages acrfww New Jersey were, a.s usual, slow. To get
to New York in one day wits a matter that might be
accomplished in summer, but frequently occupied a
day and a half, — pa.ssengers leaving Philadelphia in
the morning slept in inns upon the route over night,
and were enabled to reach the city of New York on
the morning of the next day. Even as late as July,
1828, the UnUed Slates Gazette of Philadelphia chroni-
cled the fact that the morning i)apers from New York
weje receive*! at their office in the evening of the day
they were printed, nine hours and forty-three minutes
from New York. At the same time it was a matter of
congratulation that the time of travel between Phila-
delphia and Baltimore was shortened so much that
pa.-vseiigers were carried through in (me day.
William Goddard, in 1774, about the time that the
First Continental Congress was in session, encouraged
by the spirit which prevailed in the country, endeav-
ored to set up an independent post-office establish-
ment. Goddard, who was the publisher of the Penn-
sylvania Chronicle, had been surveyor of roads ami
eomijtroller of the jMLst-officc establishment under
Franklin. He originated a plan for " the Constitu-
tional Post," and traveled over the c(mntry to obtain
.support. His proposition was that .sul)scrii)tions should
be taken uj) to maintain the post; that the subscribers
in each colony should annually select a conimittee
from among themselves ; and that the committee of
each colony should apjioint the postmaster, regulate
the rates of ]>ostagc, make contracts with the post-
riders ; to have charge of the mails, the colonial
postmasters were to elect the Postmaster-General.
Goddard went through the country endeavoring to
gain support for his plan. In New England and New-
York he was encouraged, but he made few friends in
Philadelphia. At a meeting of mechanics, about Oc-
tober, 1774, his plan was proposed for their accept-
ance, and they listened to s(mie of his letters .setting
forth the merits of his scheme, but they refused to
li.sten to the rest of them, declaring that Americans
had their hands fiill, without setting up a post. He
established his route, however, between Philadelphia
and New York, and iierhajis to other points, and
placed his i>ost-office at the London Cotiee-Housc,
where it was o])en for a short time, but soon closed
for want of patronage.
As soon as it was perceived by the Continental
Congress that it was necessary to supersede the royal
authority, the importance of establishing a post-service
was recognized. On the meeting of the Second Con-
gress, in May, 1775, a connnittee was appointed to
report the scheme of a post " for conveying letters
and intelligence through this Continent." In July an
act for that ])urposewas passed, the general post-office
to be at Philadelphia. The Postmaster-General nom-
inated was Benjamin Franklin, at a salary of one
thousand didlars ])er annum. He was succeeded in
the next year by Richard Bache. It was directed
that there should be formed "a line of posts from Fal-
mouth, New England, to Savannah, in Georgia, with
cross-posts where needful." Under this arrangement a
new system was established for carrying the mail. The
riders cea-sed to go through from one extremity of the
route to another, iis Henry Pratt did in 1738. Mail
riders were appointed for every twenty-five miles, to
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVEKNMENT BUILDINGS.
1809
go through hy night and day, carrying the mail one
way, and receiving tlie return mail, when possible, to
lie curried the other way to the end of their station.
At tlie same time advice boats were ordered to be
cstalilished between North Carolina and Georgia, and
the place wherever Congress was sitting. They were
armed, and had a right to carry freights.
As soon as the Federal government went into opera-
tion, Congress set to work to establish the post-office.
]!> act of Sept. 22, 1789, it was resolved that there
should be a Postmaster-General, with assistant or
clerk or deputies, the postmaster to be under the
ilirection of the President in performing the duties of
bis office, which were to be " the same as they last
were under the resolutions and ordinances of the late
Congress." This was only an act to continue the
post-office, and its time was limited to a year. By act
of 1790, August 4th, it was again continued until
March 4, 1791. And again Ijy act of March 3, 1791,
until the end of the next session of Congress. All
letters to and from the treasurer, comptroller and
auditor of the treasury, and the assistant secretary of
the treasury- on public service were to go free of post-
age, and the Postmaster-General was to extend the
carni-ing of the mail from Albany, N. Y., to Benning-
ton, in Vermont.
On the 20th of February, 1792, a long act was
passed by which were established a great number of
post-roads, extending from Wiscasset, Me., to Savan-
nah, in Georgia, passing through many cities, towns,
and villages, with branches, lateral extensions, cross
extensions, etc., extending westward in all the States
as far out as Lexington and Danville, Ky., to Hagers-
town, Cbambersburg, and other places. It was directed
that a general post-office should be established at the
seat of government of the United States, which was
then at Philadelphia, and that the Postmaster-Gen-
eral should have authority to appoint deputies at tlie
offices. He was to provide for carrying the mails " by
stage-carriages or horses, as he may judge most expe-
dient, and to regulate the manner in which deputy
postmasters should discharge their duties. Persons
obstructing the passage of the mails, or of any horse
or carriage carrying the same, were liable to a fine of
one hundred dollars, and ferrymen delaying the mail
to a penalty of ten dollars for each half-hour of delay.
Mails were to be kept open for the reception of letters
until within half an hour of the time for forwarding.
The salary of the Postmaster-General was two thou-
sand dollars per year, and of his assistants one thou-
sand dollars, without fees or perquisites. The rates
of postage were heavy. The following was the postage
to be charged on each single letter:
Cents.
Not exceeding thirty miles 6
Over 30 and not e.\ceeding 60 miles 8
" 60 " " 100 " 10
" 100 " " lou ■' 121^
" 150 " " 200 " 15
" 200 " " 250 " 17
" 250 " " 350 " 20
" 350 " " 460 " 22
" 450 uiles to any distance 25
Rates from one port to another in the United States
p.acket-boats or vessels provided by the government :
Cents.
For each single letter 8
" double " 16
" triple " orpackets 24
Ship letters brought into the United States to be
carried at the same rate.
In order that ship-letters should be promptly deliv-
ered, it was directed that no vessel entering port should
be allowed to break bulk till the master or com-
mander had delivered to the postmaster all letters
brought with him directed to persons within the
United States, except such as were for the owners or
consignees. The shipmaster was to receive two cents
for each letter so delivered to the post-office. There
were penalties for delaying, secreting, opening, em-
bezzling, or destroying letters by persons employed in
the post-office department, penalty or such fine not
exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisonment not
exceeding six months, or both, according to the cir-
cumstances and aggravations of the offense. But if it
should happen that the letters so dealt with contained
any bank-note, bill of exchange. Treasury warrant,
assignments of stock, letter of credit, promissory
note, with other valuable papers specially named, the
punishment was to be death. The punishment of
robbing the mail, or a carrier of the mail, was death.
Regulations were made for publishing the address of
letters uncalled for every three months, forwarding
dead letters to the Postmaster-General for examination,
and return of valuable articles therein to the person
by whom the letter was written. Very liberal pro-
visions were made for sending letters free by offi-
cers of the national government, congressmen, etc.
A tree exchange of one copy of a newspaper by the
printer thereof, and sent to any otlier printer of
newspapers, was established. Newspapers ccmveyed
in the mails under cover ojien at one end were to be
carried, not more than one hundred miles, for one
cent, and one and a half cents for any greater dis-
tance. One-half of the newspaper postage was al-
lowed to be received by deputy jiostmasters for their
own use. Regarding the compensation of deputy
postmasters, this was to be fixed by the Postmaster-
General by salaries and commissions on the amount of
lousiness done, no compensation to any one post-
master to exceed eighteen hundred dollars per annum.
This act was the foundation of all subsequent acts in
relation to the post-office, there being modifications
at various times in the postage charges, the establish-
ment of delivery of letters to persons to whom they
are addressed, methods of transportation, compensa-
tion to postmasters and others, and many other modi-
fications made necessary by the immense changes in
the population of the country, and the tremendous
increase in the volume of correspondence which seems
to have followed everj- reduction in the amount of
postage.
1810
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
LOCATION OF POST-OFFIGES IN PHILADELPHIA.
1728.— At Andrew Brrndfurd'a hoow, Sacond Slrwt.
irJ4.— In Second Str«t.
1737.— Al Franklin'! house, llarket Street.
1771— At Foicroft'i liouae, Murkrt Street, no«r Fourth.
177.^. — At Goddard's Constitutional I'odt^lffice, at Coff«e-House, sonth-
weei comer Front and Markal Streets.
1782.— At Widow Sudden's house. Front Street, below Market, ea<t side.
1784. — At comer of Front and Market Streets.
1785.— At corner of Front and Chestnut Streets.
1790.— At No. 7 South Front Street, below Market.
1791.— So. 36 South Front Street, north of Chestnut.
1793. — During yellow fever, at old college. Fourth Street, below Arch.
1794.- At No. 34 South Front Street.
1797.— During yellow feter, at Dunlap's stable, Tweltlh Street, below
Market
1798. — During yellow fever, at north side of Market Street, first house
west of Elerenth Street.
1799.— At No. 27 South Third Street, below Elbow Lane, east side.
1799. — During yellow ferer, at the np|>er end of Market Street.
1602.— During yellow fercr, at Dunlap's stable. Twelfth, below Market
Street.
1805, September. — During yellow fever, at the house of James Traquair,
northeast corner Tenth and Market Streets.
1814, June.— At southwest comer of Third and Market Streets.
1815.— At No. 27 South Third Street, for a short lime.
1816. — At No. 116 Chestnut Street, south side, corner Carpenters' Court.
1828.— At No. 107 Chestnut Street, north side, corner Franklin Place.
1834.— At Philadelphia Exchange, north side, on Dock Street.
18M.— At Jayne's building. Dock Street, below ThinI, north side.
1863, February 27th. — Clicatnut Street, below Fifth, south side.
1884. — Northwest comer of Ninth and Chestnut Streets.
The carrier delivery of the PhiUidelpliia post-ofiBcc
covers the greatest territory of any city in the world,
exceptin<r London. The New York post-office serves
forty .s()uare miles of territory ; the Pliiludelphia cen-
tral office serves seventy stjuare miles, and it ha.s in
addition thirty suh-stations and fit\y stamp afreneies,
coverinj: an aptrretrate of one hundred and twenty-one
square miles, all within the houndaries of the city of
Philaileli)liia. The London postal service covers two
hundred an<l twenty-five sipiare miles.
The official "Post-Office Guide" for the year 1883
shows the relationship of Pliiladclpliia to the other
large offices to have been :
Nomber of Number of
pieces mailed. pieces mailed.
New York 4R9.741.230 St. Louis 80,527.2:12
Philadelphia- 181,952,2.32 Baltimore 34,9.57,920
Chicago 170.M4,:M6 Washington 28,937,208
BodoD 140.88l.4fl<i fndianapolU 13,282,434
OlDeinnatl _ 86,6.16,752
In all post-office documents, however, of late years,
Philadelphia leads the list, because the business of its
office is conducted with the least number of errors and
greatest jirofit.
The new frranite buildinp frontin<r on Chestnut,
Ninth, an<l .Market Streets, erected for the post-office.
United States Court, and officers of tlie Federal gov-
ernment, wa.s occujiied and opened for business for
the first time in March, 1884. For eleven years this
expensive edifice has been spreadinjr and rearing it.s
gray granite proportions, until now (March 20, 1884),
with a frontage of fiiur hundred and twenty-five feet,
a dejith of one liundrol and seventy-five, and one
hundred and si.xty-four feet in height, it is the largest-
looking and most substantial edifice, with the exception
of the new City Hall, in Philadelphia. The work of
digging for the foundations of this magniiiceut struc-
ture began Get. 11, 1873. The site is the most expen-
sive that hits ever been selected for a imst-offiee. Its
coiit alone wits $1,491,200.99. The entire cost of siU>,
buil<Iin>r, furniture, machinery, and interior fixtures,
when completed, it is estimated will amount to about
$8,000,000. The actual cost of the building itself has
only been alxmt if4,500,000.
From the first the actual work has been under the
direction of A. M. Siuedlcy, witli .John Mc.\rthur,
Jr., as nominal superintendent. In turn H. H. Bing-
ham, George W. Fairman, A. Loudon Snowden, and
Gen. Hartranft, as i)ostniasters, have been custodians
of the work and disbursing agents of the funds. The
latest and most important share of the work has fallen
upon Gen. Huidekopcr, the present ]iostmaster.
As a com])arison, we give the square feet of area
covered by the six largest post-office buildings in the
United States:
liiiltiniore 29,500 Cincinnati .59,100
St. Louie 49,028 Philadelphia. 67,121
New York 49,323 Chicago 70,446
While the Philadelphia |)ost-office does not cover
the largest space, it is, however, the finest, most com-
plete, and costly, and more thoroughly equijiped than
any other post-office building in tlie country.
Scanning the splendid front of this expensive struc-
ture, which is on Ninth Street, the eye has to take in
at a glance the whole five stories, extending from
Chestnut to Market Street, a hmg stretch of nearly
five hundred feet of massive ma.sonni', with one hun-
dred and eighteen windows, flankeil by one hundred
and eighty Ionic flutcil shafts and ten imnieiise door-
ways, each jiorticoed with a dozen iniinense granite
columns, standing in groups of two at each side. The
central jiart of the fnmt rises the five stories, the upper
story forming a part of the dome, which is heavy, but
not high. This central part is five windows wide down
to the great central jiortico, inclosing the tliree central
doors, whicli have also a window at each side. It i)ro-
jects out farther tlian any other part of the building,
and shows a little more elaboration and careftiluess
of eonstructi(m than the rest. Extending from this
centre toward Chestnut Street are three sectitms, each
varying in projection, and three similar ones extend
to Market Street. The sections nearest the centre on
each side are set back flat, and are each seven windows
wide above, with four doors and six windows below.
This section, like the two sections, each three windows
wide, atljoining it and extending to the corners, is but
four stories high. The windows of the first storj', reach-
ing almost from floor to ceiling, are over four times as
higli as a full-grown man, and the windows above, al-
though they diminish in size, are proportionately large.
The actual heights are :
Height.
feet. In.
First story 27 3
Second story 22 3
Third story „_ 20 9
Fourth star; __.„__.. 16 6
Height.
feet. Id.
Fifth story 18 6
Dome 59 8
Total height. 163 11
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1811
The whole surface of the front and sides is granite,
with nothing else in sight to break the grandeur and
harmony of the pile. Even the plate-glass in the
walnut frames of the windows is set back so far that
in an oblique view the heavy sills and jutting sides
produce an almost fortress-like effect. The only points
at which full round granite columns are introduced are
in the three porticoes ornamenting the principal groups
of doorways, three in the central section, and the two
nearest the Market and Chestnut Streets corners.
There they stand out boldly on stalwart pedestals,
and support the usual frieze and fillet with round
marble teeth or colonettes, forming a little railing
on lop. The building line is set very far back from
stories. The Market Street side is an exact fac-simile.
In all probability the building is the best designed for
its purpose of any erected in America. Without going
into the details of the arrangement of the upper floors,
there are one hundred and forty actual rooms in the
building, ranging in size from the work-room, in which
several regiments could drill, to the smallest, which
would hold at least a full-sized company. There are
on the first floor seventeen rooms ; on the second,
forty rooms ; on the third, forty rooms ; on the fourth,
thirty-two rooms ; and on the fifth floor, eleven rooms,
a total of one hundred and forty rooms. The doors,
window-frames, etc., all through the building are
dark-red mahogany. The furniture is the same, even
NEW POST-OFFICE IN lsS4.
the curb line, probably fifty feet, and from the line of
each of the projecting porticoes to the other a low rail-
ing extends, inclosing a space of twenty or twenty-five
feet, which helps to set off" the building. The charac-
ter of the architecture generally preserved within as
well as without is Romanesque.
There are no doors on either the Market or Chest-
nut Street sides. On Chestnut Street a plain granite
elevation, with forty-four windows in it, the central
section five windows wide for four stories, with three
windows on each side, and three windows on top in
the fifth story, or attic, is all that is to be seen. The
only ornamental feature is the repetition of the mezzo-
portico over the central windows ol the first and second
the tables in the post-office work-room. In the finer
private ofiices there is leather upholstery. Some of
the carpets are old gold and very a»thetic. Ever)-
door and window in the building has a solid iron screen
slid into the wall, and when these are in place, it is
asserted, the building is absolutely fire-proof These
iron doors alone cost one hundred thousand dollars.
The building is lighted by six hundred incandescent
electric lights. A few of the striking and interesting
facts concerning this superb building, said to be the
finest government structure outside of Washington,
are as follows :
Fronton Ninth Street 425 feet
Fronton Chestnut Street 175 "
ITeight from pavement to dome 1G4 "
1812
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Length of front corridor...
Width of frunt corridor
Height of first story
Length of work-room
Depth of work-room «.
Numlwr of rooms
Number of windows
Exterior stone columns
Exterior fluted shifts
Colomns in work-room
Letter-<iro|ts
Lock-boxes—
TotAl squmre feet of arem^.
Electric lights
Cc«t of «ite $1,491,200
Cost of building 4,508,800
Furcitureand macbiuerj 2,000,000
Estimated total cost-..
. 18,090,000
The statistics of the oflSce are as follows :
Employes, total -Il291 *^
Carriei^ and sulxarriere J 468
Wagons '. 34
Sub-stations 30
Stamps, annual salM 81,500,000
Mail matter handled, pieces daily 500,000
POSTMASTERS AT THE CITy OF PHILADELPHIA.
1696.— Andrew Hamilton, Postmaster-General ; 1 C. R., 463.
1698.— Henry Flower,' Sept. 2, 1698.
1707.— Capt. John Hamilton; 2 Logan Papere, 228.
1722.— Henry Flower, PoU^'t American ilonlhti/, 1876, p. 891.
1725.— Andrew liradford.
1737.— William Spotewood, Fostmnster-Genen^.
1737. — Benjamin Franklin, I/arper'a 3f()^artne, October, 1871.
175.'?. — Benjamin Franklin and Peter Hunter, Potttmasters-General.
175.1 —William Franklin.
1757 —Peter Franklin, brother of Benjamin ; 4 Pennsylvania Archives,
257.
1759. — Josiah F. Davenport (about tliis time).
1767.— John roxcrofl,^ a relaUre of Franklin's wife.
1774.— William Bradford.
1775. — William Franklin,* called comptroller of the general poet-office
at Philadelphia.
1776.— William Goddard ' (Constitutional Post).
1775 —Richard Bache, deputy to Franklin.
1776.— Richard Itache, Postninster-General. He was appointed by Con-
gress on Nov. 7, 1776.
1776— Peter Baynton.
1782-89.— Ebenezer Hazard, |x>8tmaster to the United Colonies.
James llryson, appointed Jan. 28, 1782
Robert Patton, appointed Oct. 2, 1789
Dr. Michael Leib, appointed Feb. 14, 1814
Rich«r<l Hache, appointed Feb. 26, 1817
Thomas Sergeant, appointed - April 16, 1828
James Page. ap(>olnted April 11,1833
John Crathome Montgomery, appointed March 23,1841
James Hoy, Jr., appointed June 26,1844
Dr. George F. Lehman, appointed May ft, 1845
William J. P. White, appointed May 9,1849
John Miller,* appointed April 1,1853
> Area of New York post-office, 49,1128 square feet
* Cliapter 60 of the laws (unprinted). Session 1700-1, an act was
paaied for erecting and establishing a post-office at Philadelphia; 1
Dallas Laws, 16.
' John, not Thomas, " Journal of Hugh Finlay," xxiii. and xxlv.
<8ee letter in the Delaware County Ilepublican, Jua. 28, 1876, copied
from the renn«ylrania Sf>ujanne of 1775, as follows, which explains
itself:
■•Gp.mbai. Po8T-OpricE, Philadelphia, Fob. 14, 1776.
"It having been found very inconvenient to persons concerned in
trade that the mall from Philadelphia to Now England seta out but once
a fortnight during the winter season, this Is to give notice that the New
England mail will henceforth go onre a week the year round ; whore a
correspondence may be carried on and answer obtained to letters be-
tween Philadelpbiaand Boston in three weeks, which used In the winter
to require six weeks.
" By command of Postmaster-General,
" William Fbanklin, Comptroller."
' BeiiJamIn Franklin, PoatmaAter-Gencral, appointed William Ooddard
surveyor of the [loet roafls and comptroller of the poet-oifice. See
" Writings of William L. Goddard," 1 vol. xll.
< Died Jan. 30, 1878, aged sixly.flve.
Gideon G. WestcotI, appointed March 19, 1857
Nathaniel Borradaile Browne, ap|K>inted March 30,1859 I
Cornelius A Walborn, ap|>ointed April 20,1861
Charies M. Hiill.alipointed Oct. -,1866
Henry H. Biligliam, app^iinted March 23, 1667
George Walter Fairnian, appointed Dec. 10,1872
Archibald Lituden Suowden, appointed Dec. 11, 1876
- John Frwleric Hartranlt, appointed Feb. 17,1879
James T. Bingham," appointed July -,1X80
Henry S. Huidekoper, appointed Dec. — , 1880
United States Mint. — Some of the American colo-
nies either issued or allowed to be issued, under their
! authority, various coins of copper and silver, but in
Pennsylvania no attempt was made in that direction.
The record is extant of the case of Charles Pickeriiif:,
a lawyer, and a man in some authority under Penn,
who attempted to engage in a coinage speculation in
1683. He was charged before Penn liiniself in Council,
on the 28th of OctolxT of that year, with being con-
cerned, together with Samuel Buckley, in coining i)ieccs
of silver, being Spanish bits and Boston money. Tliis
they confe.ssed, and acknowledged that they had ])ut
out some of those new bits, "but they say that all
their money was as good silver as any Spanish money."
The trouble seems to have been that, although the
silver was pure, there w;ls too much of an alloy of
copper or bra.ss. Pickering and Buckley alleged that
John Rush was concerned with them in the making
of the bits, which Rush denied. It was resolved that
there should be a proclamation against these new liits
and New England shillings, and that they should lu-
i cried down. The trial was a peculiar one. The Coun-
' cil ordered a sjiecial grand inquest to be summoned
and examined, and appointed a specitil attorney, John
White. A special petit jury Wius also summoned.
Pickering said that nobody should lose anything by
him ; but he was found guilty, together with Buckley
and Rol«rt Fenton, who had made the seals or dies
for the money. Pickering was sentenced to pay to
every person who should bring in within the space of
one mcmth "this false. Base, and Counterfeit Coyne."
The pieces so redeemed were to be his property, but
they were to be melted in gross before the metal was
returned to him. He wa.s also sentenced to pay a fine
of forty pounds "toward ye building of a Court House
in this Towne." Buckley was fined ten pounds " to-
ward a public Court House here," while Robert Fen-
ton, being a servant, and having coiifc.s.sed the truth,
was only sentenced " to sitt an hour in the Stocks to-
morrow morning." Pickering suffered very little by
this transaction, and afterward held jjublic situations
; of trust. His coin must have been nearly uptostand-
I ard value, and doul)tless w;is redeemed according to
I the sentence of the court.
1 In New England there was difficulty after the first
settlements for the want of a currency. In Massachu-
I setts they tried to make out with Indian wampum and
I seawant. At one time "country pay," including corn,
all kintls of grain, peas, and live-stock, were received
at the colonial treasury for taxes. The General Court
of Massachusetts passed a law at an early day that
' Appointed by Bartranfl's sureties according to set of Congreia.
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1813
musket-balls of ftill bore should pass currently for a
farthing each, but this sort of legal tender was not al-
lowed to be carried to an inconvenient extent. No man
could be compelled to take more than twelve pence
worth, or forty-eight of them at one time. This sort
of money could not have been of plentiful issue, as
afterward the General Court of Massachusetts was com-
pelled to pass a law to the effect that upon executions
on judgments for old debts the officers of the law might
take lands, houses, corn, cattle, fish, and other com-
modities, which, after being valued, were to be turned
over to the creditor in satisfaction of his debt. The
only hard money in circulation was such as had been
brought from England, with Holland and other for-
eign coins. These colonists were continually in debt
to the people abroad, from whom they obtained sup-
plies. The merchants in the English and Dutch
West Indies drained them all the time of their gold
coin.
In 1652 Massachusetts resolved to establish a mint,
a dangerous invasion of the royal prerogative ; but as
as there was no king in England at the time, the com-
monwealth under Cromwell being in power, it was
considered expedient to take the risk. The Mint-
House was established at Boston, and John Hull was
appointed master of the Mint, with authority to coin
twelvepence, sixpence, and threepence pieces. They
were to be of the just alloy of new sterling English
money, but in order to prevent their being exported,
they were ordered to be of less value by two pence in
the shilling than the English coins, and lesser pieces
proportionally. The earliest pieces, bearing the date
1650, which were issued by this authority, had on one
side in the centre, in a ring of dots, a rude representa-
tion of a pine-tree, with the inscription, " Massacho-
sets. N. E." On the other side, in the centre, " 1650 ;"
" xii." under it, and upon the outer circle " New . Eng-
land . and." There seems to be some doubt as to
whether these coins were struck in Massachusetts at
all. One numismatist believed that they were made
in New Castle, England, while another says that they
were made in Newark, England. It is not necessary
to follow up here this interesting subject of the Mas-
sachusetts currency. Commenced in an invasion of
the supreme authority, there were occasional contests
with the English Mint officers, which were terminated
in 1686 by prohibiting the issue by the Massachusetts
Mint of sixpences, groats, and pennies. In Maryland
a shilling was issued bearing a bust of Lord Baltimore,
1659. Various pieces of copper and silver were issued
between the time of the settlement of the colonies and
the Revolution, which were ascribed to various North
American colonies, as, for instance, the Carolina half-
penny, 1694; the New England half-penny, 1694.
These were really struck in Great Britain, with others
which were brought over to America and circulated,
among them the Rosa Americana, 1722, and afterward
the Granby and Connecticut coppers, Virginia silver
and copper half-pennies, French pieces for Louisiana,
and Spanish pieces for Florida. As soon as the Revo-
lution had fairly set in, coining became quite common.
Private speculators struck off numerous pieces of small
value in copper or silver. The States, which were not
now under awe of the royal prerogative, authorized
coinage. Even England came to our assistance by
striking pieces at nominal values beyond their worth,
and sending them over to this country.
Various curious pieces were brought out, among
which may be mentioned several varieties and with
different designs, in copper principally, called Wash-
ington pennies and Washington pieces; Continental
currency, 1776 ; Janus, 1776, copper ; Massachusetts
pine-tree coppers, 1776 ; U. S. A. coppers, supposed
to have been issued in 1776 ; Non Depen — dens,
status, 1778 ; Nova Constellatio, copper and silver,
1783 and 1785, and gold in 1785; Annapolis shilling,
sixpence and threepence, 1783 ; Washington cent,
1783; Washington tokens, 1783; Confederatio, cop-
per, 1785. Several pieces in copper were issued under
authority of the State of Vermont, and a large num-
ber under authority of Connecticut, and many under
the law of New Jersey between 1776 and 1788. New
York, in 1786-87, authorized the coining of copper
and gold coins.
In 1786, October 16th, the Congress of the Confed-
eration passed an ordinance for establishing a Mint of
the United States and for regulating the value and the
alloy of the coin thereof. A contract was m.ade, and
on the 6th of July, 1787, the government ordered that
its copper coin should bear the following inscriptions
and devices:
Device.— K dial, with the hours expressed upon the
face, with " fugio'' on the left and " 1787" on the
right. A meridian sun above the dial, and below it
the
Legend. — " Mind your Business."
Reverse. — Thirteen circles, linked together, forming
a large circle. In the centre of the same a small
circle, with " United States." Around it and in the
centre, " We are one."
This piece was coined by contract, and was the only
legal coinage of the United States copper coins until
the year 1793, except the experimental pieces of three
varieties, coined in 1791, and called the Washington
cent.
On the 3d of March, 1791, the Congress of the
United States, established under the Federal Consti-
tution, passed the following resolution :
" That a Mint shall be established under such regu-
lations as shall be directed by law.
" Eesolved, That the President of the United States
be, and he is hereby authorized to cause to be engaged
such principal artists as shall be necessary to carrv' the
preceding resolution into effect, and to stipulate the
terms and conditions of their service, and also to
cause to be procured such apparatus as shall be
requisite for the same purpose."
On the 2d of April, 1792, Congress passed " an act
1814
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
establishing a Miot and regulating the coins of the
United States.
" That H Mint for tlu' national I'oina^c be ami the
same is estahlishetl, to lie situate and carried on at the
seat of the government of the United States for the
time being; and tliat tor the well-conducting of the
busint-ss of the said mint there shall be the following
officers and persons, namely : a director, an assayer, a
chief coiner, an engraver, a treasurer."
The act then went on to describe tlie duties of the
officers. The director '' shall emj)loy as many clerks,
workmen, and .-iervants as he shall from time to time
finrl neci-s-sary. subject to the apiirobation of the Pres-
ident of the United States. ... He shall have the
chief management of the busines.s thereof, and shall
superintenil all other officers and persons who shall be
employed therein. The assayer wiis to " receive and
give receipts for all metals which may lawftiUy be
brought to the mint to be coined, . . . assay all such of
them as may require it, and . . . and deliver them to
the chief coiner to he coined." The chief coiner was to
" cause to be coined all mcuds which shall be received ,
by him for that purpose." The engraver was to "sink
and prejiare the neces.sary dies for such coinage, with
the proper devices and inscriptions," but it shall be
lawful for the functions and duties of the chief coiner ,
and engraver to be i>erformed by one person. The \
trciusurer was to " receive from the chief coiner all the
coins that shall have been struck, and shall [)ay or de-
liver them to the persons re.s])ectively to whom the
same ought to lie paid or delivered. He shall, more-
over, receive and safely keep all monies which shall
be for the use, maintenance, and su])port of the Mint,
and shall <lisburse the same upon warrant-^ signed by
the director." Each of these officers was to give a
bond, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of
the Secretarv- of the Treasury, in the sum of $10,000,
conditioned for the faithful and diligent performance
of the duties of his office. The yearly salaries of
the.se officers were as follows: Director, S2000; assayer,
$1,500; chief coiner, s^loOO; engraver, $1200; treas-
urer, $1200; to each clerk, not exceeding $500; and
to subordinate workmen and servants, such wages and [
allowances as are customary and reasonable. The
President of the United States was authorize<l to
cause to be provided an<l put in proper con<litioii such
buildings and in such manner as sh:ill appear to him
requisite for the purpose of carrying on the business
of the same Mint. The coins were to be of gold, sil-
ver, and copper. The gold coins were to be eagles,
value of $10 or units, anil to contain 247 grains, and
J of a grain of pure gold, or 270 grains of standani
gold ; half-eagles, each of the value of $•"), and quar-
ter-eagles, each of the value of $2.50, were to be of
relative proportions of pure and standard gold. The
dollar was to be of" the value of a Spanish Mill Dol-
lar, a« the same is now current, and to <'ontain 371
Grains, an<l ,*j part-s of a Grain of pure, or 416 Grains
of Standard Silver. The Half Dollar and the Quarter
Dollar were to be of proportion in the amount of pure
and standard metal. The Disme was to be the value
of -jV of a dollar, in the same proportions of i>ure and
standard metal, and the Half Disme was to be the
value of .;'„th of a dollar. The Cent to be the value
of 100th part of a tlollar, and to contain 11 penny
weights of copper. The half-cent to be half the value
of the other in the weight of the metal. Section
10th said,—
"That upon the .sjud coins, respectively, there shall
be the following devices and legends, namely : Upon
one side of each of the said coins there shall be an
im])ression emblematic of liberty, with an inscription
of the word Liberty, and the year of the coinage;
and upon the reverse of each of the Gold and Silver
Coins there shall be the figure or representation of an
Eiigle with this Inscriptiim : ' United States of Amer-
ica;' and upon the reverse of each of the Copper coins
there shall be an inscription which shall express the
denomination of the piece, namely : cent, or half cent,
as the case may require."
The proportional value of gold to silver was fixed as
15 to 1, according to the quantity in weight of pure
gold or pure silver. Every 15 jiounds weight of pure
silver was to be of equal value, in all payments, with
1 pound weight of i)ure gold. The standard for gold
coins was 11 parts fine to 1 part alloy. The alloy to
be composed of silver ami copi)er in such pro]>ortions,
not exceeding onehalfsilver, as should be found conve-
nient. The standard for silver coins was to be 1485
parts fine to 179 parts alloy, or 1485 parts in 1GG4 parts
of the entire weight of pure silver. Gold and silver
coins struck at the Mint were declared to be legal
tender. There were directions for an annual assay
and other necessary matters. By the act of March 3,
1795, an adilitional officer was directed to be appointed
in the .Mint by the name of " The Melter and Re-
finer." He was to take charge of all copper, silver,
and gold bullion di'livered out by the treasurer of the
Mint, after it had bei'n assayed, and to reduce the
same into bars or ingots fit for the rolling-mills, and
then to deliver them to the coiner or treasurer, as the
director shall deem exjiedient. He was to give bond
in the sum of $6000 for the performance of his duties,
and was allowed a salary of $1500 per year. It will
be observed that according to the terms of the act of
1792, the Mint was to be located at the seat of govern-
ment for the time being. After Congre-ss went to
Washington City, the act of March 3, 1801, declareil
that the Mint should renuiin in Philadelphia until
the 4tli of March, 1803. This act for continuing the
Mint was revived time after time for terms of five
years. In 1828, May 19th, it was enacted that the ad
of 3d of March, ISOl, concerning the Mint, should be
revived and continueil in force and operation "until
otherwise jirovided by law." Practically this made
the position of the Mint more permanent. Fifty-six
years have rolled on, and the location in Philadelidiia
has not been disturbed, although there have been oc-
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1815
casional efforts to remove the institution to other
cities.
Under the act of 1791 the President was authorized
to employ artists, etc., for tlie purposes of establishing
a Mint. During the time that succeeded the passage
of that act and the ftdl Mint Act of 1792, it is believed
that experiments were made in coinage in Philadel-
phia. John Harper, a manufacturer of saws at the
corner of Sixth and Cherry Streets, is credited with
the coinage of one of the Washington pennies of 1791,
which was struck in his cellar upon an old press prob-
ably imported from England, and afterwards used in
the Mint. The piece ascribed to Harper's press was
of copper.. It bears a clumsy lil^eness of Washington
attired in military costume, his hair dressed with a
cue in the old-fashioned style, date 1791 ; legend,
" Washington President." On the reverse appears the
upright eagle with wings outspread, his claws grasp-
ing respectively the olive-branch and thirteen arrows.
The national escutcheon is on his breast, and the motto
" Unum E Pluribus," inscribed upon the ribbon which
is held in the beak. There are no stars on this coin.
In 1792 a copper coin much resembling the above, de-
signed by Adam Getz, engraver, of Lancaster, together
with some silver half-crowns from the same die, are
said to have been struck under the superintendence of
Adam Eckfeldt, who was for many years cliief coiner
of the Mint, upon a press manufactured by Mr. Harper
in a cellar on Sixth Street, nearly opposite Carpenter.
In 1792 a half-dime was prepared, with the female
head wearing ear-rings, and the hair brushed back in
the fashion of the time. It is said that the features
of the face resemble those of Mrs. Washington. On
the other side an eagle shaped sometliing like a hawk
was represented flying beneath the words " half disme"
above a star. On the face was the legend " Lib. par. of
Science and Industry" (Liberty parent of Science and
Industry), and on the reverse "Uni. States of Amer-
ica." These pieces were struck at Harper's cellar.
Sixth and Cherrj' Streets, from a deposit of one hun-
dred dollars' worth of silver bullion made by Wash-
ington himself The pieces were distributed by him
to particular friends in the United States and Europe,
and were never intended to be currency. The act of
1792 put an end to the idea of placing the head of
Washington upon the national coin, and it is repre-
sented that he discouraged such devices, and selected
the female head of Liberty instead.
Under the act of 1792, the first thing necessary to
put the Mint in working order was the appointment of
the oflicers who should have charge of the establish-
ment. Washington selected for director David Rit-
tenhouse, the astronomer, on the 1st of July, 1792.
Henry Voight, watch-maker, assistant of John Fitch
in the manufacture of machinery of the first steam-
boat, was made chief coiner, and Tristram Dalton
treasurer. In the succeeding year Albion Cox was
appointed chief assayer, and Robert Scot engraver.
The first matter of impottance was to obtain the proper
116
buildings for the accommodation of the machinery and
the officers of the establishment. For this purpose a
lot of ground on the east side of Seventh Street, north
of Farmer's Alley [afterward Sugar Alley, afterward
Farmer's Street, and now Filbert Street], was pur-
chased. There was an old still-house and other build-
ings upon it. On the 19th of July six men were
employed in removing the buildings. On the 31st of
July the foundation-stone was laid by David Ritten-
house, and work was commenced at once. The foun-
dation was ready for the superstructure on the 25th of
August. The frame-work was raised in the afternoon
of that day. Preparations were made in the " shoj)"
for setting up bellows, etc., on the 7th of September.
Six pounds of old copper were bought for the Mint, at
one shilling threepence per pound, three days after-
ward, being the first metal for coinage. Three coin-
ing-presses, imported from England, arrived September
25th, and were put in operation about the 1st of Octo-
ber. Washington, in his message to Congress, Nov. 6,
1792, said, "There has also been a small beginning in
the coinage of half-dimes, the want of small coins in
cii'culation calling the first attention to them." There
were coined in 1792 the dime and half-dime and the
cent. The silver dollar and half-dollar were coined in
1794, and gold eagles and half-eagles in 1795. The
Mint building, still standing on the east side of Seventh
Street, and finished in 1792, was the first piece of prop-
erty owned by the United States of America. It was
very plain, of brick, three stories in height, with a
central doorway leading to a hall, which ran through
to back buildings. Space on each side of the hall
was used for offices. In the rear, in old wooden build-
ings, was the coining-room and melting apartment.
There was access to these buildings by a gateway
upon Farmer's Alley, which opened to a passage run-
ning between the front and back buildings. Up to
1816 the work of coinage at the Mint was done by
hand- or horse-power. In the latter year the use
of steam was introduced for operating the presses.
During the yellow fever years, 1797-99 and 1802-3,
the work of the Mint was suspended.
Humble as it really was, this establishment was
conducted with great care, under the management of
eminent men, for many years. The increase in the
size of the country, the growth of the population and
wealth, rendered it necessary that better quarters
should be obtained. The Secretary of the Treasury
and the President considered this matter.
On the 2d of March, 1829, a resolution was pa.ssed
by Congress making a liberal provision for the erection
of a suitable building for the purposes of a mint. A
lot of ground was purchased at the northwest corner
of Chestnut and Juniper Streets, extending northward
to Olive Street, one hundred and fifty feet front by
two hundred and four feet deep. The architect was
William Strickland. He furnished the design for a
building of the Ionic order, taken from the celebrated
Grecian temple on the Ilyssus, near Athens, having
1816
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
porticoes, sixty feet front, with six pillars of the Ionic
order upon the north and south fronts. The buildings
consist iif a liasenient, principal and attic stories.
The front is one hundred and twenty-three feet, and
the huilding carried of that width from street to
street one hundre<l and ninety-three feet, including
therein two porticoes, each of twenty-seven feet in
depth, making the huilding space one hundred and
twenty-throe feet wide by one hundred and thirty-
nine feet deep, leaving small open spaces on the east
and west sides. The corner-stone was laid July 4,
1829, by Samuel Moore, then director of the Mint,
but the edifice was not finished and occupied until
May, 1833. The form of the building was a quad-
rangle, with an open court in the centre, fifty-five by
eighty-four feet in space. It was overlooked from
piazzas in each story connected with all parts of the i
building, and to give additional light to the various
departments. The officers' rooms, vaults, etc., were on
the Chestnut Street front, and part of the western
flank was arched in a complete fire-proof manner.
The entrance was from the south portico into a cir-
cular ve.sti))ule, communicating immediately with the
apartments of the director and treasurer, and arched
passages with those of the chief coiner, melter, and
refiner, and with the rooms for receiving bullion and
delivering coins. The eiist flank and north section of
the edifice contained the rooms appropriated to the
operations of the chief coiner. There were two rooms
for laminating ingots of fifty-five feet l)y forty, opening
to the north portico. The propelling steam-power
was placed in the l);i.sement story. A range of apart-
munts extending one hundred and thirty feet by
thirty-two, w:is api)ropriated to the more immediate
operations of coinage and the machinery connected
therewith. The principal coinage-room, thirty-seven
feet by thirty-two, was sufl!iciently capacious to con-
tain ten coining-presses. The west flank was occupied
by the melter and refiner, and accommodated in a range
of apartments extending ninety-five feet by thirty-
two. The i)rincipal melting-room was an apartment
of thirty-seven feet by thirty-two, and the i)rocess of
gold and silver i)arting, for which a contracted space
would be peculiarly unfit, was jirovided for in an
apartment of fifty-three feet by thirty-two. The
marble staircase in each wing of the southern front
communicated with the attic story, in which, on the
west, were the apartments of the assayers and en-
gravers, the former upon the west and the latter upon
the east.
Upon the south front, in the second story, is placed
the cabinet, which contains not only specimens of all
the coins struck by the Mint, but many curious and
rare foreign pieces. Among them is the " widow's
mite," the smallest in value of all ancient coins which
are mentioned in the New Testament. There are
coins of the Greek Republic in large variety; coins
of -Egina, claimed to have been struck seven hundred
years before Christ ; coins of Athens and of the
Greek colony of Massilia, settled about six
hundred years before Christ, upon the coast
of Gaul, on the spot now known as Mar-
seilles, in France ; coins of the Greek mon-
archies, dating back to five hundred and
fifty years before Christ, including several
of Alexander the Great, of Macedon ; coins
of Darius, of Persia ; Egyptian pieces ;
Syrian and Helirew coins; Roman coins,
over one thousand in number, of the earlier
periods ; Imperial coins, from Julius Ca?sar
down to the time of the Eastern Empire,
covering eight centuries; Oriental coins,
from Burmah, Siam, and China; African
ring money ; Japanese, and other pieces of
money of Eastern nations. Modern Europe
is represented by French coins, covering
one thousand years ; German, Swiss, Danish, Norwe-
gian, Sweilish, and Russian coins in great variety ; and
English coins from an early jieriod, dating from the
reign of the Saxon kings, and coming down from Wil-
liam the Conqueror to Queen Victoria. Portuguese and
Spanish coins arc numerous; Mexican, Brazilian, and
South American coins in great variety ; coins of tlie
Sandwich Islands, from the time when they began to
be civilized; the American colonial coins of Massa-
chusetts and the various provinces; the Summer
Islands or Bermudas pieces; and coins of English,
Spanish, and Portuguese colonies; the various coins
struck for use in the United States after the Revolu-
tion, including the rare New York doubloon of 1787,
value sixteen <lollars; the Washington cent, so called,
in variety, and various tokens; also a full collection
of medals struck by order of Congress and for private
purposes to commemorate great events, as well as for-
eign medals of rarity and historical value. When the
Mint was finished the roof was covered with copper.
The intention was to furnish commodious quarters,
but the growth of the United States has been so rapid,
and the necessities of the Mint so great, that every
available inch of sjiaco has been taken up. The
court-yard has been filled with buildings, and from
MUNICIPAL, STATE, AND GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
1817
them, out of necessity, ascends a tall brick chimney,
towering far above the roofs, and being in strange
contrast with the classic character of the marble
building which surrounds this structure on all sides.
The interests of the country — such was the argu-
ment— required in the course of years that branch
Mints should be established in various parts of the
United States. Really the only necessity was for the
placing of national establishments and buildings in
the sections favored, and the distribution of offices
and salaries among their residents. Under the greed
for office, frequent assaults have been made upon the
Mint at Philadelphia with effort to remove it else-
where. Failing in the full endeavor, partial satisfac-
tion has been given to local feeling by the establish-
ment of branches. The latter have really been of
little necessity or assistance, and have only divided
work which the parent Mint could have done entirely.
The places at which branch Mints or assay-offices
have been set up are as follows :
March 3, 1835. — Branch at the city of New Orleans for the coinage of
gold and silver.
March 3, 1835.— Branch at Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N. C, for the
coinage of gold only.
Marcli 3, 1835. — Bmnch at Dahlonega, Lumpltin Co., Georgia, for the
coinage of gold only.
1852. — Branch Mint at San Francisco, Cal.
1863.— Brancli Mint at Carson, Nev.
1864.— Branch Mint at Dallas City, Oregon.
1873,— Branch Mint at Denver, Col.
Feh. 12, 1873.— Assay-office at New York City.
June 16, 1874. — Assay-office at BoiB6 City, Idaho.
Feb. 12, 1873.- Assay-office at Charlotte, N. C, established instead of
the branch Mint there.
The discovery of gold in California added very ma-
terially to the business of the Mint. The first delivery
of gold from that State was described as follows in a
letter from the director of the Mint to the Secretary of
the Treasury, Dec. 11, 1848 :
" On the 8th instant we received the first deposit of
gold from California. It was deposited by Mr. Daniel
Carter, who brought it from San Francisco by the
Isthmus route. It weighed 1804.59 ounces troy. . . .
On the 9th another deposit was sent by the Secretary
of War which weighed 228 ounces. . . . The average
value per ounce of the bullion before melting is
$18.05J."
The experience of the Mint authorities in relation
to American gold is that the purest deposits are found
in tlie State of .Georgia. The largest nugget ever
brought to the Mint came from California in 1852,
and yielded nearly six thousand dollars in pure gold.
Attemjjts have been made to deposit spurious or man-
ufactured nuggets at the Mint. But as these are only
accounted for according to the amount of pure metal
found in them, such frauds have not been profitable
to the persons concerned. Gold-dust occurs in fine
grains, from the size of a pin's head to that of a pea,
and in lumps varying in size from a pea to the size
of a man's hand. It is occasionally found in a crj's-
talline form. The changes in the methods of West-
ern mining by the erection of melting and refining
establishments in the gold and silver regions of the
Pacific States has materially changed the character of
the deposits of metals. They do not frequently come
now in the native condition as found by the miner,
but in the shape of ingots and bars. But they are
not pure, and require remelting and separating to
olitain the gold and silver.
In 1857 the coining of nickel pieces was commenced,
with copper alloy. The three-cent pieces were of 32
grains ; the five-cent pieces, 72j\j% grains. One-fourth
was nickel, and the balance copper. The bronze pieces
(one- and two-cent) are of copper, zinc, and tin, about
95 per cent, of copper, and 2h per cent, of zinc, and 2J
per cent, of tin. The one-cent pieces in 1870 weighed
48 grains, and the two-cent pieces 96 grains. The
coining-presses are capable of making from 70 to 120
coins per minute, and, if run at the highest capacity,
double-eagles to the surprising value of §34,000 could
be struck in one minute. The presses are generally
ruu at the speed of 80 pieces to the minute. These
machines are exceedingly delicate in the adjustment.
The deviation of a hair's breadth would spoil a coin.
DIRECTOKS. '
1792, April 14.— David Eiltenhouse.
1795, July 8. — Henry William De Saussure.
1795, Oct. 28.— Elias Boudinot.
ISOS, Jan. 17.— Robert Patterson.
1824, July 15.— Samuel Moore.
1835, May 26.— Robert M. Patterson.
1851, June 30.— George N. Eckert.
1853, April 4.— Thomas M. Pettit.
1853, June 3. — James Roes Snowden.
1861, April 4.— Ex-Governor James Pollock.
1866, Oct. 1.— William Millward (not confirmed).
1867, April 1.— Henry R. Linderman.
1869, May 1. — James Pollock (second term).
By act of Congress, May 12, 1873, the Bureau of the
Mint was established at Washington, D. C. The Mint
at Philadelphia was to be under the direction of a
superintendent.
SUPERINTENDENTS.
1873.— James Pollock.
1879, March. — A. Loudon Snowden.
TREASURERS OF THE UNITED STATES MINT.
1792, April 14. Tristram Dalton.
1793. Dr. Nicholas Way.
1797. Dr. Benjamin Rush.
1813. Dr. James Rush.
. Ex-Governor William Find-
lay.
1841, April 13. Ex-Governor Joseph
Ritner. I
By act of Congress, April 7, 1868, an assistant treas-
urer of the United States was established at Phila-
delphia. The said treasurer became thereby in effect
the treasurer of the Mint, and the office of treasurer
of the mint was virtually abolished.
ASSISTANT TREASURERS OF THE UNITED ST.\TES.
1868. Chambers McKibben. | 1869. George Eyster.
CHIEF COINERS OF THE UNITED STATES MINT.
1792, April. Henry Voight. ; 1861. Louis R. Broomal.
1814. Adam Eckfeldt. I 1863. John G. Butler.
1839. Franklin Peale. 1866. A. Loudon Snowden.
1835. George K. Childs. | 1877. Oliver 0. Bosbysbell.
1841. Isaac Roach.
1847. James Ross Snowden.
1852. Edward C. Dale.
1853. Daniel Sturgeon.
1858. James H. Walton.
. Archibald Mclntyre.
1866. Chambers McKibben.
1818
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
CHIEF ASSATERS, DNITKD STATES MIST.
1793. Albion Cox.
. Jo6eph Richanl«on.
. Jacob B. EckfcldL
1872. William E. Du Bois.
I88I,Decemb«r. Jacob B. EckMdt.
CHIEF ENGRAVERS, UNITED STATES MIST.
1793. Robert Scot.
1824. William Kueaaa.
1840. CbrisUan F. Uobrecht.
1845, Jan. 9. James B. LoDgacre.
1868. William Barber.
1880. Charles E. Barber.
BEFISERS ASD MELTEHS, UNITED STATES MINT.
Ofia nlMuhed by ad of Ckmyreai, March Z, 1795.
1795. Joaepb Cloud. 1840. Richard J. McColloagh.
1838. Franklin Peale. [ 1850. James C. Booth.
1839. Dr. J. R. McCllntock. |
Archibald Loudon Snowden, the present superinten-
dent of the Mint, was born in Cumberland County, Pa.,
and descends from one of the oldest families in Pennsyl-
vania. His great ancestor in Philadelphia, William
Fairfax Snowden, came from Virginia, and was the
owner of large tracts of land in what was subsequently
known as the " Old City Proper," as early as 1669.
His son, John Snowden, was born in Philadelphia,
August, 1685, and was for many years one of the
most prominent merchants of the city, as were also
his son and grandson. The grandfather of Col.
Snowden, the Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden,
was born in Philadeliihia in 1770, and his fother, Dr.
Isaac Wayne Snowden, in 1794. Dr. Snowden gradu-
ated at an early age in medicine, and entered the
military service under Gen. Jackson, as surgeon.
He was with liim at the battle of New Orleans and
in the Seminole war. At the close of the Florida
campaign — in which he was severely wounded — Dr.
Snowden resigned from the army, and settled in the
rich valley of the Cumberland, nine miles below Car-
lisle, Pa., where he practiced his profession with great
succe.ss until his death, in 1850. The mother of Dr.
Snowden was a daughter of Dr. Lemuel Gustine, and
was the last survivor of the ma.ssacre of Wyoming.
Her father subsequently removed from the Wyoming
Valley to Carlisle, Pa., where he practiced medicine
for many years.
Shortly after Dr. Snowden's removal to Cumberland
County, he married tlie daughter of Archibald Lou-
don, Esq., a large land-owner in that section of the
State, and from this union the subject of our sketch
was born.
At a very early age Col. Snowden was sent to an
academy, and subsequently entered Jefferson (now
Wasliington and Jefferson) College, in Washington,
Pa. Hero he received a thorough education, and was
particularly distinguished during his collegiate cour>>e
as a brilliant and effective orator. He was twice se-
lected by the literary society of which he was a
member as class orator. On the completion of his
collegiate course he studied law, but on May 7, 1857,
before being admitted to the bar, accepted the posi-
tion of register tendered him by his uncle, the late
Hon. James Ross Snowden, then director of the
United States Mint While discharging the duties
of register he familiarized himself with all subjects
relating to coinage.
In 1866, a vacancy having occurred in the office of
chief coiner of the Mint, he was appointed by the
President, and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
He entered upon the duties of this office Oct. 1, 1866.
As chief coiner of the Mint, he was enabled to put
into practical use the valuable information which he
had been diligently acquiring for many years, and also
had an opportunity for the exercise of his remarkable
power of thorough organization, for which he is so
justly distinguished. The coining department soon
felt the impulse of his active and earnest spirit, and
the most gratifj-ing results followed. While thus
prosecuting with great ardor and enthusiasm the deli-
cate and important work intrusted to his care, he was
suddenly and unexpectedly called upon to lay aside
his agreeable and congenial duties to accept, at the
request of President Grant, the postmastership of
Philadelphia, to which he had been nominated, and
was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
He assumed the duties of the office Jan. 1, 1877,
with much reluctance, but st)on manifested as post-
nia.ster the same capacity for thorough discipline ami
organization which had distinguished him in the Mint.
In his administration of the postal service of the city
he gained credit for himself and rendered a most ac-
cei^table service to the public. Col. Snowden's recog-
nized ailministrative ability, integrity of character, and
thorough knowledge on all matters relating to coinage
being fully understood and appreciated in the Trcsmy
Department at Wa.shington, as well as by the i)ublic
at large, general satisfaction was manifested when
I President Hayes, in December, 1878, voluntarily ten-
' dered him the positicm of director of all the Mints
of the United States, made vacant by the expiration
of the commission of Dr. Linderman. After the
death of Dr. Linderman, the President again sent for
i him, and urged his acceptance of the place, which lie
was believed to have declined previous to Dr. LimU r-
inan's death from motives of delicacy, having Iohl'
been the friend of the late director. This tem|)tiiiL'
I and verj' complimentary offer he again declined, givini:
as his re!i.son that the acceptance W(mld necessitate liis
removal from Philadelphia to Washington.
In the following February the President again mail.'
him a voluntary tenderof office. This time it was tin
superintendency of tlie Philadelphia Mint; and as ii^
acceptance restored him to a service agreeable in every
particular, and ])ermitted him to remain among lii>
friends in Phila<lelphia, he promptly accepted, w:i~
again unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and a-
sumed control of the Mint on the 1st of March, 187',i.
On the outbreak of the Rebellion, Col. Snowdi ii
promi)tly offered his services, and, under authority
from the Governor, a.ssisted in enlisting and organizing
a regiment, which he offered to the State. Declining the
-of
COUKT-HOUSES AND KEFOKMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1819
colonelcy in favor of Col. Gabriel de Korpornay, who
had had much experience and long service abroad, he
\\ as elected and commissioned lieutenant-colonel. The
iiKist solemn promises to muster the regiment into the
service were overlooked or disregarded, until, from the
long delay and expense of maintaining the command
intact, four of the companies tendered their services to
New York, and were incorporated into the Excelsior
Brigade, commanded by Gen. Sickles. The other six
companies were ultimately sent into Camp Washing-
ton, at Easton, Pa., but by an ingenious system of
gerrymandering were so divided among the other com-
panies from different parts of the State that, although
voting for their old field-officers, their votes in each of
the regiments to which they were assigned did not con-
stitute a majority. Thus, after months of labor and
expense in enlisting, subsisting, and clothing the men,
the field-officers were deprived of the places to whicli
they were justly entitled.
On his return from Camp Washington he was in-
vited, and consented, to resume his old place as register
at tlie Mint.
For fifteen years he was an active member of the
First City Troop, and participated with it in the ser-
vices it rendered during the late war, and ultimately
became its captain.
For many years he has taken an intelligent and ac-
tive interest in railroad and insurance matters. In
January, 1873, he was elected vice-president of the
Fire Association, one of the oldest and largest fire in-
surance companies in the United States, and in 1878
was elected president. In October, 1880, he was
elected president of the United Fire Underwriters of
America, an organization embracing the officers of
more than one hundred and fifty of the leading
American and foreign companies doing business in
the United States, representing a capital and assets of
over one hundred and eighteen million dollars.
In the midst of the large demands made upon him
by business and social interests, he finds time to culti-
vate his fine literary taste, and within the past few
years has delivered several notable addresses on scien-
tific and other subjects. As a public speaker he is
brilliant, entertaining, and instructive, and is always
welcomed as one who can be relied upon, with or
without notice, to meet the highest expectation. In
the discharge of the important trusts committed to
him he has at all times manifested the highest intel-
ligence, united with energy and thorough integrity.
In his public and private life he commands the con-
fidence of the government he has long and faithfully
served, and the respect and esteem of the public at
large.
»
CHAPTER XLIV.
COURT-HOUSES AXD REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
Prisons — House of Correction — House of Refuge, etc.
Court-Houses.— In 1706 the inconvenience of the
Assembly having no proper place for its sessions led
to an address being presented to the Governor, asking
permission that the House should sit in Chester or
Bucks Counties "until the county of Philadelphia
shall have a State-House or other convenient place
for the Assembly to sit in." This action seems to
have stimulated the justices of the county to under-
take the building of a court-house. At the same time
they proposed the building of two county bridges, and
levied a tax of one penny on the pound. The Com-
mon Council of the city objected strongly to the tax
being laid for the building of the bridges. The mem-
bers were willing to pay their share of a court-house
for the city and county, but they were uncertain
where the court-house was to be built, and this was a
matter of great importance. The municipality there-
fore asked that a law should be passed for the erection
of a court-house, and that the collection of the taxes
should be stopped. In a conference before the Gov-
ernor and Council in reference to this dispute, in
April, 1708, Justices Growden and Pidgeon, of the
county, said, " Here, in the capital town of the gov-
ernment, the magistrates are obliged to hold courts
in an ale-house." Finally the dispute was compro-
mised by a stipulation that if the county would build
its own bridges, the city would build the court-house,
and it was agreed that the Ijuilding should be as free
" for all the services of the county magistrates, for
their courts, etc., as those of the city." This struc-
ture is known to have been finished in 1710, and is
spoken of in the minutes of Common Council of No-
vember 16th of that year, in which persons who keep
their stalls " at the east end of the court-house are
ordered to remove themselves to the other shambles."
The latter stalls were authorized to be built by reso-
lution of May 22, 1710, and they were constructed
immediately west of and adjoining the court-house.
The building which was thus authorized was of two
stories, and the first story had an arched entrance on
Second Street, beneath the outside stairway. There
was an arched entrance in the centre of the north and
south sides of the building, and on each side of this
doorway were arched windows, as appears in an en-
graving published in 1764. After the lower story
ceased to be used as a watch-house, the windows on
the north and south sides were taken out, and the
opening continued down to the pavement, so that it
might seem, in later times, to persons not knowing of
the change, that the building on those sides was sus-
tained on three brick arches.
The court-room was in the second story, and was
approached by steps on the outside of the building,
commencing in Market Street, on the north and south
1820
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
sides, extending eastward until the east front of the
huilding was reached, when they turned and ascended
to a pUitform on a level with the floorway of the second
storj-. A portico, supported l>y plain pillars, rose from
the balustrade of the platform to a pediment which
jutted out from the wall above the doorway. The
style of this entrance was jjrobably copied from the
conventional doorway of the ordinary Quaker meeting-
house. On the second story front, toward Second
Street, a window was )>laccd on each side of the door,
and two windows on the north and south sides gave
plenty of light to the court-room. Above this story
rose a steep-pitched roof inclosing an attic, in which
there were two plain windows looking east and west
and three dormer-windows with a northern and south-
em aspect. In a little cujiola, rising regularly from
the middle of the roof, the original town bell was
suspended. It had previously hung in a crotch on or
near the site of this court-house. From the balcony
the orators addressed the people on public occasions,
and there the official prochunations were also read.
On it newly-appointed Governore stood to deliver their
inaugural addresses. Rev. George Whitefield preached
from it during one of his visits to America, and his
voice was so loud and clear that Franklin, who made
a practical test by walking away from Second Street,
said that he could hear it distinctly until he very nearly
reached Front Street.
Before the State-House was built the elections for
the city and county of Phila(leli)hia were held at the
court-house, and the voters ascemled the steps on one
side, passed uji to the central door, where they gave in
their ballots, and went down on the other side. Some-
time.s, when ]>olitical excitement was very high, the
stair\vays were held by rough fellows, who attempted
to prevent any citizens from ascending the stairs ex-
cept such as belonged to their own jjarty. This was
particularly the case during " the bloody election" of
1742. At some time before the Revolutinn the outside
stairway was removed. All that remained of that
convenience was the platform at the second story,
which was railed and took the shai)e of a balcony,
the porch and i)ediment of the main door being re-
moved. About the same time it is probable that a
change wa.s made in the arches beneath. The cost of
this building, John F. Watson says, was six hundred
anil sixteen pounds. The lower story seems to have
been divirled into four spans or corners, which were
rented at good rates. The millers occuiiieil a portion
of the sjiace, and in 1714 were ordered to " Exjjose
their meal \inder the court-house by Opening their
Sacks' Mouths that the Inhabitants may see what they
Buy." In 1718 it was ordered that no public sale of
goods be made under the court-h<iuse unless considera-
tion he paid to the corporation for the same. Then,
or about then, the floor was raised, the i>avement
bricked, and jmsts put up to keep out carts and horses.
The vendue-master had one jiortion of the space
within the arches, and John Leech, in 1718, for the
privilege paid a rent of ten pounds per annum. The
space was rather limited, and some of the tenants
complained that the premises were not " tenantable."
Joha Leech, vendue-master in 1729, rei>resented that
he had not quiet possession, being often interrupted
by the clerks of the market. A compromise was
made with him.
Besides its use as a court-house, being occupied
by the City ir Mayor's Court, County Court, or Com-
mon Pleas, Ori)hans' Court, and Quarter Ses^^ions,
this building was also tenanted by the Supreme Court
twice a year. It is believed to have been the i)lace of
meeting of the Common Council of the city. When
the State-House was finished the Supreme Court went
to that building, occupying the west room, first floor,
where it is supposed the County Courts also were
held. Whether the City Court was helil there is not
now known. That tribunal might have found it more
comfortable to remain at the old court-house, which it
was privileged to use under the agreement of 1709.
After the County Court-house was built at Sixth
and Chestnut Streets, the building at Second and
Market remained a monument of the past. As a cu-
rious relic (if the early times it was valueil, but busi-
ness cared nothing for it, and so, in April, 1837, upon
the demand of trade that it should have more facili-
ties than it possessed upon Market Street, the old
court-house was torn down. Not, however, much to
the advantage of the highway. The structure and
the old stalls were rejilaced by a new market-house,
the principal feature of which was that instead of
supporting the roof upon stout brick jiiers, as in the
provincial buiUling, light and graceful pillars of iron
were substitute<l. There was little space gained on
the sides. If the market-houses had been entirely
displaced there might have been an argument against
allowing the old court-house to renuiin. The only
gain by demolishing it was that one obstruction was
rei)laced by another not quite so large, but, unfortu-
nately, less interesting.
County Court-House. — The ground upon the State-
House Square at the southeast corner of Sixth and
Chestnut Streets, dedicated for the use of a county
court-house by the Assembly in 1763, was fitly feet
on Chestnut by seventy-three feet on Sixth Street,
and afterward was enlarged on the latter by fifteen
feet, making the entire depth eighty-eight feet. In
the spring of 1787, the county commissioners com-
menced the building of the new court-house. Con-
victs, who about that time were put to hard labor by
virtue of an act of Assembly, were recommended by
Chief Justice McKean as proper to be employed in
paving streets and other public work. A gang of these
convicts dug the cellars for the new court-house
building. The earth taken from the excavations was
carried down Sixth Street, below Walnut, where it
was deposited upon the street, in the neighborhood
of the run which passed through the square and be-
neath the Walnut Street prison toward Fifth Street
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1821
and Dock Creek, about the intersection of Hudson's
Alley and Harmony Court. The construction of the
lu'w court-house was authorized on March 18, 1787,
by the Supreme Executive Council, after the inspec-
tion of the plans and approval of that which was
atterward carried out by the county commissioners.
This building was finished in March, 1789, and cost
sixteen thousand dollars. The fitting up of the
interior may have taken up the greater portion of that
year. It is not known whether any court had occu-
pied it before it was placed at the disposition of Con-
gress. The Assembly of Pennsylvania on March 4,
1789, tendered for the accommodation of Congress the
use of any or all the public buildings in Philadel-
phia, the property of the State, "and of the build-
ing lately erected on the State-House Square belong-
ing to the City and County of Philadelphia, in case
Congress should at any time incline to make choice
of that city for the temporary residence of the Federal
government."
It was not until more tliau a year afterward, on tlie
2d of July, 1790, that the United States Senate passed
the bill fixing the temporary seat of Congress at
Philadelphia for ten years, the next session to com-
mence on the 1st of December, 1790, in Pliiladelphia.
The bill was passed finally, and signed by the Presi-
dent on the 16th of July. It will be observed that
the Assembly tendered to Congress the use of a build-
ing which was not the property of the State. Proba-
bly the commissioners of the county of Pliiladelphia
were understood in some way to have authorized the
offer. On the 6th of December, the day when Con-
gress met, the commissioners confirmed the use of the
court-house, which had already been offered, by com-
munication sent to Congress. This courtesy was ac-
knowledged by Vice-President John Adams, on the
8th of December. The two houses of Congress occu-
pied what might be called the southern portion of the
building. There was no archway and opening upon
Sixth Street, as there is now (1884), and entrance was
obtained by the centre doorway on Chestnut Street.
The entry ran southward to the door of the chamber
of the House of Representatives, which was just
where the central doorway to tlie room sometimes
occupied by the Court of Quarter Sessit)ns is now.
The stairway to the second story led from a line par-
allel north and south with the east frame-work of the
doorway to tlie upper story, reaching a landing about
half distance from the second story, with a turn in
which the steps were reversed, and ascended to the
westward. Whether there was a door on the first
floor beneath the stairway leading into the passage
by the gateway from Chestnut Street is uncertain.
The front entry in the centre divided the spaces on
each side, and they were again divided into rooms for
committees or offices. Passing the doorways to tliese
rooms the members of the House of Representatives
are supposed to have entered tlieir chamber by the
first door in the State-House yard, on the east side of
the edifice. The space assigned to spectators of the
proceedings was on the east side, and they were ad-
mitted by a door on that side, which is still visible,
but has been closed up to the height of the lower sill
of a window. When inside, they found themselves
immediately in front of the Speaker, who was seated
on the west side, near the windows on Sixth Street.
An interesting writer, who published his rcniinis-
ceuces of this period many years afterward, thus de-
scribes the appearance of the Representative chamber :
" The House of Representatives in session occupied
the ground floor. There was a platform elevated,
three steps plainly carpeted, and covering nearly the
whole of the area, with a limited promenade for the
members and privileged persons, and four narrow
desks between the Sixth Street windows for the stenog-
raphers,— Lloyd, Gales, Callender, and Duane. The
Speaker's chair, without canopy, was of plain leather
with brass nails, facing the east at or near the centre
of the western wall. . . . Speaker Muhlenberg was suc-
ceeded by Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, a tall,
raw-boned figure of a gentleman, with terrific aspect,
and, when excited, a voice of thunder. His slender,
bony figure filled only the centre of the chair, rising
on the arms of it with his hands and not his elbows.
From thesilence which prevailed, of course, on coming
to order, after prayers by Bishop White, an occasional
whisper increasing to a buzz, after the manner of
boys in school, in the seats in the lobby and around
the fires, swelled at last to loud conversation inimical
to debate. Very frequently at this stage of confusion
among the babbling politicians, Mr. Speaker Dayton
would start suddenly upon his feet, look fiei-cely
around the hall, and utter the words 'order! order
without the bar !' in such an appalling tone of voice,
that as though a cannon had been fired under the
windows upon the street, the deepest silence prevailed,
but for a very short time." A colossal bust of Minerva,
now in possession of the Philadelphia Library Com-
pany, is said to have been placed above and behind
the Speaker's chair. It would have required a stout
and strong iiracket to hold it up.
The Senate of the United States assembled in the
second story south room. The bay-window space at
the south was occupied by the Vice-President of the
United States, or the president ^jto tnn. of the Senate.
The writer, already quoted, speaking of the appearance
of this chamber, said, "In a very plain chair, witliout
canopy, and a small mahogany table before him, fes-
tooned at the sides and front with green silk, Mr.
Adams, the vice-president, presided as jtresident of
the Senate, facing the north. . . . Among the thirty
senators of that day there was observed constantly
during debate the most beautiful order, gravity, and
personal dignity of manners. They all appeared
every morning full powdered and dressed, as age or
fancy might suggest, in the richest material.
"The very atmosphere of the place seemed to in-
spire wisdom, mildness, and condescension. Should
1822
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
any of them so far forget for a moment as to be the
cause of a protracted whisper while another was att-
(Iressing tlic Vice-Presiilerit, three trentle taps with
his silver pencil-case upon the table by Mr. Adams
ininieiliatdy restored everything to repose and the
most respectful attention, presenting in their courtesy
a most strikini: contrast to the independent loquacity
of the Representatives down-stairs, some few of whom
persiste<l in wearintr, while in their seats, and durinu:
the debate, their ample cocked-hats, placed fore and
aft upon their heads, with here and there a leg
thrown across the little desks before them, and facing
Mr. Jupiter Dayton, as he was sometimes called by
writers in the Aurora of Benjamin Franklin Bache." '
1 During the period that Congress occupied tlie court-house building
the following were the members of the United States Seuate:
Neva Hiimpshirt.—\~9{) to March 3,1793, Paine Wingate; March 4,
1793, to June 17, 18(11, Samuel Livermore.
March 4, 1789, to March 3, 18(11, John Langdon.
i/asMcAu«f««— March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791, Tristram Dalton ;
March 4, 1791, to July 7, 1790, George Cabot; July 7, 1796, to Nov. 14,
1800, Benjamin Goodhue.
March 4, 1789, to June 11, 1796, Caleb Strong; June 11,1796, to March
3, 1799, Theodore Sedgwick ; March 4, 1799, Samuel Dexter.
Shod, /«(und.— Juue 7, 1790, to March 3, 1803, Theodore Foster.
June 7, 179(), to March 3, 1793, Joseph Stanton ; March 4, 1793, to Oc-
tober, 1797, William Bradford ; October, 1797, to May, 1801, Ray Green.
Connt-clicul.— March 4, 1789, to May, 1796, Oliver Ellsworth ; May,
1796, to March 3, 1803, James Hillhouse.
March 4, 1789, to June 13, 1791, William Samuel Johnson ; June 13,
1791, to March 3, 1793, Roger Sherman ; March 4, 1703, to March 3, 179.'),
Stephen M. Mitchell ; March 4, 1795, to October, 1796, Jonathan Trum-
bull ; October, 1796, to March 3, 1801, Uriah Tracy.
Vermont. — October, 1791, to Oct. 18, 1796, Moses Robinson; October,
1796, to Oct. 17, 1797, Isaac Tichenor; Oct. 17, 1797, to March 3, 1803,
Nathaniel Chipman.
Oct. 17, 1791, to March 3, 1795, Stephen B. Bradley ; March 4, 1795, to
March 3, 1801, Elijah Paine.
A'.u lor*.— July l.'i, 1789, to March 3, 1791, Philip Schuyler; March 4,
1791, to March 3, 1797, Aaron Burr; Jan. 11, 1798, to May 5, 1798, John
Sloss Hobert; May 5, 1798, to Aug. 17, 1798, William North ; Aug. 17,
1798, to April 3, 1800, James Watson.
July 16,1798, to Nov. 9, 1796, Uiifus King; Nov. 9, 1796, to Nov. 6,
1800, John Laurance.
AVw JiTicy.— March 4, 17.89, to March 3, 1791, Jonathan Elmer; March
4, 1791, to Dec. 6, 1798, John Rutherford; Dec. 6, 1798, to Feb. 14, 1799,
Franklin Davenport; Feb. 14, 1799, to Fob. 26, 1801, James Schureman.
March 4, 1789, to Nov. 23, 1790, William Paterson ; Nov. 23, 1793, to
March 3, 1703, Philemon Dlckorson ; March 4, 179!, to Nov. 12, 1796,
Frederick Frellnghuysen; Nov. 12, 1796, to March ,3, 1799. Richard
Stockton ; March 4, 1799, to March 3, 1805, Jonathan Dayton.
/Vniutjd-ani.!.— March 4, 1789, to March 3,1701, ■\Villiam Maclay; Feb.
28,1793, to Feb. 28, 1794, Albert Gallatin ; April 1,1704,10 March 3, 1803,
James Ross.
March 4, 1789, to March 3,1796, Robert Morris; March 4,1795, to
March 3, 1801, William Bingham.
Z;«^Ilcar.,— March 4, 1789, to March 19, 1794, George Read ; March 19,
1794, to Feb. 7, 179S, Klnsey Johns; Feb. 7, 1795, to Feb. 28, 1801, Henry
Latimer.
March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1793, Richard Bassett ; March 4, 1793, to
Jan. 19, 1798, John VInIng ; Jan. 19, 1798, to Jan. 17. 1799, Joshua Clay-
ton.
JfnT/fam/.— Jan. 17, 1709, to Nov. 13, 1804, William Hill Wells ; March
4, 1789, to Jan. 10, 1793, Charles Carroll of Carrollton; Jan. I(), 1793, to
Nov. 30,1796, Richard Potts; Nov. 30, 1706, to March 3, 1803, John Eager
Howard.
March 4,1789, to Dec, 11, 1797, John Henry; Dec. 11, 1797, to Dec. 12,
1800, James Lloyd.
Tir^nio.— March 4, 1789, to March 31, 1790, William Grayson; March
.31, 1790, to Nov. 9, 17;k), John Walker; Nov. 9, 1790, to Nov. 18, 1791,
James Monro*; Nov. 18, 1794, to June 4, 18.3, Stevens Thomson Mason.
The first session of Congress in the court-house build-
ing commenced March 4, 1790 ; the last session ended
May U, 1800.
After Congress left the city the county court-house
building wiis taken possession of by the tribunals for
the accommodation of which the edifice had been
constructed. The Courts of Common Pleas, Quarter
Sessions, and the Orphans' Court occupied the south
room, first floor, which had been the chamber of the
Federal House of Representatives. The bench was
placed within the bay recess on an elevated platform.
The clerks and district attorney, when present on
business, sat within a railed inclosure, the floor of
which was lower than the bench, and probably ten
feet in width. In front of this a n-^^haped table, cov-
ered with baize or cloth, joined the railings of the
privileged inclosure, extending some twenty or thirty
feet. Within this division was the place for the
members of the bar. The jurors were seated on a
railed platform east or west of the table, as occasion
March 4, 1789, to Oct. 18, 1792, Richard Henry Lee; Oct. 18, 1792, to
Nov. 18, 1794, John Taylor ; Nov. 18, 1794, to Dec. 6, 1799, Henry Taze-
well ; Dec. 6, 1799, to August, 18(i4, Wilson Cary Nicholas.
Xorlli Carolina.— Nov. 27, 1789, to March 3, 1793, Samuel Johnston;
March 4,1793, to March 3, 1799, Alexander Martin; March 4, 1799, to
March 3, 1805, Jesse Franklin.
Nov. 27, 1789, to March 3, 1796, Benjamin Hawkins; March 4, 1795, to
March 3, 1801, Timothy Bloodworth.
SoiUh airolinn.— March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1795, Ralph Izard , March
4, 1795, to March 8, 1801, Jacob Read.
Georjio.— March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1793, William Few; March 4,
1793, to Nov. 16, 1795, James Jackson; Nov. 16, 1796, to Feb. 20, 1796,
George Walton ; Feb. 20, 1790, to March 3, 1799, Josiah Talnall ; March
4, 1799, to Aug. 27, 1807, Abraham Baldwin.
March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1801, James Gunn.
Kentucky. — lune, 1792, to March 3, 1805, John Brown.
June 18, 1792, to March 3, 1795, John Edwards; March 4, 1796, to
Ma(ch 3, 1807, Humphrey Manihall.
TcmifMcf.— Aug. 2, 1796, to March 3, 1797, William Cocke; Sept. 26,
1797, to Oct. 0, 1798, Andrew Jackson; Oct. 6, 1798, to Dec. 12, 1798,
Daniel Smith; Dec. 12,1798, to March 3, 1803, Joseph Anderson ; Aug. 2,
1796, to June 8, 1797, William Blount; Sept. 26, 1797, to Doc. 12, 1798,
Jo.seph Anilereou; March 4, 1799, to March 3, 1806, William Cocke.
During the same period the Senate was presided over by Vice-Presi-
dent John Adams, March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1797, and Thomas Jefler-
son, from March 4, 1797, to March 3, 1801.
PregUlentH pro tt-mporc of tkf. Senate :
John Langdon, March 4, 1789, to April 17, 1792.
Richard Henry Leo, April 18 to May 8, 1792.
John Langdo«, Nov. 6, 1792, to May 30, 1704.
Ralph Izard, May 31, 1794, to Feb. 19, 1796.
Henry Tazewell, Feb. 20, 1795, to May 5, 1796.
Samuel Livermore, May 6, 1796, to Feb, 15, 1797.
William Bingham, Feb, 16, 1797, to July 5, 1797.
William Bradford, July 6 to July 10, 1797.
Jacob Read, Nov, 22, 1797, to June 26, 1798.
Theodore Sedgwick, June 27 to July 17, 1798.
John Lawrence, Dec. 6, 1798, to Fob. 28, 1799.
James Ross, March 1 to March 3, 1799.
Samuel Livermore, Dec. 2, 1799, to May 13, 1800.
Sptakern of Ute Ilowte of Repre*entatwe».
Frederick A.Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, April 1, 1789, to March
3, 1791,
Jonathan Trumbull, nf Connecticut, Oct. 24, 1791, to March 2, 1793.
Freilerick A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, Dec. 2, 1793, to March 3,
1795.
Jcuinthan Dayton, of Now Jersey, Dec. 6, 1796, to March 3, 17M.
Theodore Sedgwick, Dec. 2, 1799, to March 3, 1801.
J
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1823
might serve. The entrances for the bar, juries, and
witnesses were at doors on tlie south side of the build-
ing near the east and west corners. Ordinary specta-
tors were admitted from the centre passage-way by the
hall, and rising seats on each side accommodated
them.
After the Supreme Court of the United States went
to Washington, the room occupied by that tribunal,
which was at the southern end of the second floor,
was handed over to occupancy of the United States
District and Circuit Courts. A small gallery above
the doorway accommodated fifteen or twenty persons,
and was entered by a stairway leading to another
gallery in a little room which adjoined the stairway,
and which, in later times, was fitted up as a con-
versation-room, but is now a sort of passage-way
eastward to the wing. This arrangement is believed
to have been built in 1795. It remained for many
years, but was not in use for spectators. It was prob-
ably removed during some alterations made about
or before 1850. The ceiling over the gallery was dec-
orated with the painting of an eagle during the Fed-
eral occupation of the room. This emblem of national
sovereignty kept its place long after the State tribu-
nals had taken possession of the chamber, and it was
frequently a matter of curiosity among speculating
lawyers why a national emblem was there instead of
the arms of Pennsylvania. The general belief was
that the eagle had been painted while the Senate
occupied the room.
About 1818 or 1819 the front passage-way and entry
from Chestnut Street on the first floor was closed.
The partitions of the office-rooms on each side were
torn down and the whole thrown into one chamber.
The District Court of the city and county of Phila-
delphia came from the State-House about 1820 and
took possession of the new court-room. The bench
was constructed on an elevated platform on the north,
or Chestnut Street side. The centre door was closed
up, but the fan-light was left in its place. At the
same time it is likely that the arched opening was
made on Sixth Street, with inside steps ascending to
the floor and communicating with the stairways.
Entrance to the Supreme Court was by a middle
door in the hall, and a smaller one on the eastern
side.
The second story front during the occupation of
Congress is understood to have had an entry, with
offices on each side. These were also torn out and a
court-room constructed. It was most pleasantly sit-
uated, and in 1824 the Supreme Court of Pennsylva-
nia removed from the State-House and occupied the
new apartment. On the 26th of December, 1821, fire
broke out in the county court-house, which was oc-
casioned by the bursting of a flue leading through
the attic. A portion of the roof was destroyed and
some injury was done to the cupola. The Supreme
Court was allowed temporary quarters at the City Hall
in the Common Council chamber during the session
of 1821-22, and the District Court was probably ac-
commodated at the State-House. A plan in the "pic-
ture of Philadelphia," published in 1824, places the
District Court in the north room, first story; Com-
mon Pleas, south room, first story; Supreme Court,
north room, second story ; and the United States Cir-
cuit Court, south room, second story. Between the
last two courts were two small rooms. The law
library was on the west (Sixth Street) front, while the
controller of public schools was on the east side, ad-
joining the stairs. About 1825 the United Stat&s
Court was removed from the second story, south
room, and the chamber was granted to the use of the
District Court of Philadelphia, the extension of the
business of which required larger accommodations.
Jury trials were held usually in the lower court-
room, which was also on most occasions the place of
assemblage of public meetings held, according to
notice, " at the county court-house." Jury trials
were also held in the second story, south room, but
the court in banc preferred the latter on all occa-
sions when not engaged in trials. After some years
the increasing necessities of the District Court re-
quired that the Supreme Court should be given notice
to remove from the second story front room. It was
proposed, as means of accommodation, that the east
room, first floor, of the State-House, then known as
the Hall of Independence, should be used for the
purpose, but there was a great outcry against the
"desecration," as it was called, and the superior tri-
bunal was sent to the old Masonic Hall on Chest-
nut Street, between Seventh and Eighth, where
it occupied the Grand Chapter-room, on the second
story front. Some time afterward the space occu-
pied by offices in the second story of the office wing
1 buildings, on the east of the State-House, was fitted
up for the accommodation of the Supreme Court,
and was in use until the building of the new City Hall
at Broad and Market Streets was so far advanced that
accommodations could be had there.
As soon as consolidation was an established fact, in
1854, it was found that enlarged accommodations
would be necessary for that highly-important city
officer, the receiver of taxes. The front room of the
court-house, first story, was believed to be the most
j proper apartment that could be provided. The re-
ceiver was established in it until his office was re-
moved to the new public buildings, when the next
tenant was the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas,
who also occupied all the offices on the first story of
the west wing and the extension across the alley-way
leading from Chestnut Street.
i The New Court-House.— The growing population
' of the city, the increase in the number of persons
charged with offenses, and the constant pressure to
{ compel the trial of criminals under the two-term law,
] whether the district attorney was prepared or not,
required for public use more court-rooms than could
I be conveniently had in the limited space available at
1824
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the State-House. Otlen it wa-s a necessity that there
should be two Courts of Quarter Sessions holding
trials at the same time, and it was frequently trouble-
some to find a public court-room that could be put in
use by other than the regular tenants. This led to
consideration of the necessity of additional court-
house accommodations. On the 30th of December,
1865, an ordinance was pa-ssed authorizing the com-
missioners of city property, under tlic supervision of
the committee of Councils, to advertise for proposals
for the erection of a suitable court-house, in accord-
ance with plans relating to the necessity of imme-
diately providing better accommodations for the Court
of Quarter Sessions, the cost not to exceed thirty-four
thousand five hundred dollars, and the building to be
finished within five months from its commencement.
It was begun Nov. 2, 1866, and completed early in
1867. The location was on Sixth Street, just south of
the old county court-house, and the structure mainly
of brick, with a granite facing up to the level of the
first floor, where, on the north side of the central
hall, is the office of the clerk of the Quarter Ses-
sions and the waiting-rooms for witnesses. On tlie
south side are the ante-room and grand jury-room and
the offices of the district attorney. The second floor
is taken up with the court-room, and the loft under
the roof is very inadequately fitted up as a jury-room,
where unfortunate jurors shiver in winter and roast
in summer. As regards acoustics, the court-room
is a marked failure, and none of the many experi-
ments that have been tested have remedied its de-
fects. The best that can be done is to huddle together
closely the judges, the jury, the counsel, and the i
witnesses.
Prisons. — The want of a prison in which oflfenders
against the laws might be confined was one of the
questions which earliest engaged the attention of the
settlers. They were almost without exception men
of deep religious feelings and stern purity of life, but
it wa.s inevitable that to a new country there should
flock some adventurers who were always ready to
throw off moral restraint. As early as February,
1683, the Council ordered one of their members, Wil-
liam Clayton, to build a cage, seven feet long by five
feet broad, for the detention of miscreants, and the
grand jury made a presentment in which it specified
the necessity of establishing a prison. An agreement
seems to have been made with Lacy Cock, in 1685,
for the building of a log house, on Second Street,
intended for a county jail. He complied with his
contract, but in September of that year, it being con-
sidered that the log house was insufficient for the
purpose of a prison, it was agreed by the grand jury
that Cock mi^rht have the house and the lot upon
which it was built and some ground adjoining, if he
would release the county from the payment of sixty
pounds, the cost of building the structure. Instead
of using Cock's house, the high sheriff hired one that
belonged to Patrick Robinson, and when he had fur- ■
nished it with fetters and chains he declared in court
that " with his own attendance and that of his depu-
ties he had a .sufficient gaul, and if any escapes
occurred he would not blame the county for want of
a gaol, nor for the insufficiency of the said house."
The location of this prison is believed to have been
on the west side of Second Street, north of the corner
Market Street lot, at the distance of one hundred and
two feet from the High Street. It was situated be-
tween Market Street and Christ Church ground. The
sheriff' of the county was the person to whom the
owner of the prison looked for his rent, and he was
not always recompensed promptly, as was shown
in 1694 by Mary White, the widow of Sheriff John
White, whose estate was bound for the rent of the
prison. She made application to the Provincial
Council for recompense, and it was ordered that the
justices of the county should pay the amount due. In
1685 the Court of Quarter Sessions received the report
of Samuel Carpenter, Humphrey Murry, and Na-
thaniel Allen, and others who had made inquiry as to
the cost of building a new prison, and made return
that an edifice twenty feet loiiir and fourteen feet wide,
two stories high, with convenient light doors, case-
ment constructed of stone, and brick floors, with a
cock-loft, and having four chimneys, capable of being
divided into four rooms inside, could be built for one
hundred and forty pounds. That it was constructed
shortly afterward is a matter of inference, and it was
situated in the middle of High | or Market] Street, be-
tween Front and Second.'
This primitive jail was standing in 1702, when the
grand jury presented "the prison-house and the
prison-yard, as it now stands in High Street, as a com-
mon nuisance." In the ensuing year the court ap-
pointed a commission to ascertain what the cost of a
new prison and court-house would be. In 1705 the
Common Council ordered that the old cage built by
Clayton should be repaired and put in use as a city
watch-house, and a new cage was ordered to be built
in the market-place in the latter part of the same
year. It was to be sixteen feet long, fourteen feet
wide, and to be used as a watch-house.
In 1706 a i>air of stocks, a whii)ping-i)()st, and pil-
lory were ordered to be set up in the same place, but
tluy had not been complctcil two years afterward. In
1707 the grand jury rc|iortcd that the middle and
upper windows of the jail were insufficient, and that
body ])rcsentcd the whole jail on a similar complaint '
in 1716 and 1717. In the latter year a general act
was |)assed " for erecting Houses of Correction and
Work-Houses in the respective Counties of this
Province." The preamble set forth " that the i)ro-
> In « plat of Letitia Penn'a lot drawn <n 1098, tho priaon atanda Id
the middle of High Street, twenty-four feet aquiiro. The priaon-yard
wn» twenty-four by cichly feet, and wa» ca«t of the prl»on. A plat
twenty-four by forty-«lx feet adjoliiinK, la marked "designed for a
courl-hnuao." Tho aaine plan shows that the rngo was on the open
aimcoat the Intoraocllon of Second and High Streets.and the bell under
a belfry, auppart»d by potts, a little eaatward, but still in the street.
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1825
prietary and first adventurers, in their principal model-
nient of the government, proposed that for crimes
inferior to murder the jjuuishraent might be by way
of restitution, fine, imprisonment, and such like;
where the offender proved not of ability to make such
satisfaction, it was intended that he' should be kept
in jirison or house of correction at hard labor. But
no effectual care has been yet taken to erect such
houses, by reason whereof many evil-doers escape
unpunished, and servants who, for their neglect and
abuse, could be kept to work in such houses are become
incorrigible." This act gave to justices of the peace
of the city of Philadelphia, in conjunction with the
justices of the county and to justices of other
counties of the province, power to cause to be built
houses of correction and work-houses, and it was
directed that such buildings should be constructed, in
Philadelphia, inside of three years, counting from
March 25, 1718. From this we may presume that the
work was done before the end of 1721. Common
Council, in April, 1722, ordered that " the old prison
be sold to the highest bidder." This was done, and
the amount realized for the materials was seventy-five
pounds.
The new prison was at the southeast corner of
Third and Market [or High] Streets. It was two
stories high, and was made up of two stout buildings,
that fronting on High Street being the debtors' prison,
and the one south of it the criminals' prison. The
attics under the high-pitched roof were also utilized
as cells. Between the two buildings was a high wall
which inclosed a yard.
In a poem describing High Street, published in the
Bradford Mercury in 1729, the writer describes the
court-house and prison in the following strain :
"An yew-bow distance from the key-built strand,
Our Court-IIouae fronts Cesarea's Pine-tree land ;
Through the arch dome and on each side the Street
Divided runs, remote again to meet ;
Here Eastward stands tlie tracks to obloquy
And pretty crimes, stocks, posts, and piUory.i
Thence half a furlong west declining pace
And see the rock-built prison's dreadful face."
The inmates of the prison were of different charac-
ter. Their offenses might be civil or criminal, accord-
ingly as they were defaulters in their debts, or had
broken the laws against felonies and misdemeanors.
The practice of imprisonment for even the smallest
amount of debt was imported from England.
In 1715 an act was passed for better determining
debts and demands under forty shillings. It provided
for summary arrest by capias, summary hearing, judg-
ment without appeal, and execution against the body
or goods, thus justifying imprisonment of the debtor.
1 From this it would seem that the stocks and pillory were east of the
court-house and between Front and Second Streets. They were subse-
quently placed west of the market, which extended from the court-house
at Second Street aud to very near Third Street, and within sight of
the prison.
In 1745 a new act was passed, which declared that "a
great number of the law-suits which are commenced
in this province are brought against the poorer sort of
people for small sums of money, who are unable to
pay the expenses arising by the common method of
prosecution." The intention of the act was to make
the method of recovery against these poor persons
less costly, and easier than it had been, but there was
no change in the liability of the debtor to imprison-
ment, even for the smallest sum. Hence a delitor
once committed to prison was in a worse condition
than a criminal. The latter had a time fixed when
his sentence would expire, but the delator had no hope
of release except by payment of the debt. Prisoners
for debt were expected to support themselves ; and
if they were not able to do so, and failed in procuring
relief from the charitable, they were liable to starva-
tion. In 1705 the Assembly enacted a law directing
that jailors should not oppress their prisoners ; that
all prisoners should be free as to room, and should
have lil)erty to provide themselves with bedding,
food, and other necessaries during their imprisonment,
and that the public allowance should be two pence per
day and no more. The dimensions of the prison were
soon found to be insufficient to hold the crowd of debt-
ors liable to confinement together with the criminals,
and measures of relief became necessary. In 1700
there was passed the law relative to arrest and forcing
debtors to pay by servitude. In 1705 it was enacted
that no person should be kept in prison for debt or
fines longer than the second day of the next sessions
after his or her commitment, unless the plaintiff should
make it appear that the person in prison had some
estate, which he would not produce. If there was no
estate, the court might order the prisoners to make
satisfaction by servitude. The time of the service
was to be fixed by the judges. If the debtor was a
single person, and under the age of fifty-three years,
the term could not exceed seven years ; and if a single
person, under forty-three years, the term of service
could not be more than five years. It was at the op-
tion of the plaintiff to require this service or to refuse
it. If he chose the latter, the debtor might be dis-
charged in open court.
In 1729 an act was passed for the relief of insolvent
debtors, which recited that by experience it was found
that the service of the debtor, in accordance with the
previous law, had " in no wise answered the end pro-
posed." For remedy it was provided that any person
against whom any prosecution had been made, whose
debt did not amount to more than one hundred pounds
might, upon petition to the court, on exhibition of
his property and an assignment for the benefit of his
creditors, be discharged from imprisonment, the prop-
erty to be divided among the creditors. This privilege
depended in part upon the willingness of the cred-
itors to allow the discharge, as they might prevent it
by agreeing in writing to pay for the sujiport of the
prisoner such amount as the court should assess, not
1826
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
to exceed three shillings weekly on each creditor,
payable on the second day of the week. Some sick
prir^oners languished tor want of medicine, and in 1770
one died of starvation. Public indignation ma<le
itself manifest, and a committee of the Assembly,
visiting the prison about that time, reporteil that it
contained forty inmates, men and women. Many of
the men were naked, and their usual covering at
night was one blanket to two persons. Even the
blankets were of recent introduction into the jail,
having been furnished by charitable subscriptions
raised by sermons for the benefit of the poor, and
by donations. One man had been detained in prison
for four years for non-payment of the jail fees, and
another three years for want of surety for his good
behavior. The Assembly passed an act increasing
the allowance for prisoners to threepence per day,
payable out of the county stock, and made some new
arrangements in regard to confinement. Notwith-
standing the assistance supposed to have been secured
by this act, the prisoners were still in a wretched
condition. In 1772 three persons died at the Market
Street prison of starvation, a fact which created great
excitement. Contributions were raised. The Rev.
Mr. Stringer, of St. Paul's, preached a sermon which
yielded thirty pounds, the Society of the Friendly
Sons of St. Patrick contributed between twenty and
thirty pounds, and other donations were made. The
best result was the formation, in the early part of
1776, of "The Society for the Relief of Distressed
Prisoners." Procuring wheelbarrows, on the tops of
which were painted the words " victuals for pris-
oners," the members of the society passed from door
to door, gathering food for the unfortunates. It con-
tinued in existence until the British troops took pos-
session of the city ; was revive<l later, and is now
"The Society for Alleviation of the Miseries of
Public Prisons."
The laws for the punishment of crime which pre-
vailed in England as to felonies were by the Royal
Charter inteiide<l to be continued in Pennsylvania.
But it was [)resently agreed that acts of Parliament
did not extend to the PlantiUions in America, unless
they were particularly mentioned in the acts. In
1717, it was recited in an act of Assembly that "some
persons have been encouraged to transgress certain
statutes against capital cri?nes and other enormities
because those statutes have not been hitherto fully
exteniled to this iirovince." To remedy this defect it
was enacted that trials for high treason shouhl be ac-
cording to the order and course of the common law,
observing the direction of the statute laws of Great
Britain relating to trials and proceedings and judg-
ments in such eases. Trials for petty treason, mis- ,
prision of treason, murder, manslaughter, and other
crimes were to be according to the metliod clirected
by the act. Women convicted of concealing the death
of their illegitimate children, and persons who advised
the killing of such children, were liable to the death I
punishment. The English statutes against stabbing,
which deprived persons guilty of that offense of the
benefit of clergy, was extended to Pennsylvania, and
the offense was classed with murder, while those who
were present were to be considered as accessories.
Punishment of death without benefit of clergy was
denounced against persons convicted of burglary in
the night-time; also, against persons who burned the
dwelling-house, barn, stable, or out-house of another
having corn or hay therein. Benefit of clergy was
extended to women convicted of felony, but they were
lialile to be branded and burnt in the hands. Benefit
of clergy was denied to such women for a second of-
fense. The commissioners and assessors of the city
in 1749 made application to the Assembly for use of
the court-house and the labor of the prisoners in the
work-house for the benefit of the county, with the in-
tention of hiring out the prisoners. James White-
head, who was kee])er of the jail at that time, peti-
tioned for an extra allowance for the support of
lunatics. He had paid nine pounds out of his own
pocket to save these sufferers from freezing, but there
is nothing to show that he was ever reimburseil. In
this same year two highwaymen, under Whitehead's
charge, concocted a plot to seize him, obtain his keys,
and make their escape. They made a desperate fight,
but were overpowered, and were hanged on the com-
mon by sentence of the court. This is the first known
occasion in Pennsylvania where the place of execu-
tion was mentioned in the newspa])ers.
After the Walnut Street prison was finished, in
1774, the prison ]iniiierty at Third and Market Streets
was in condition to be sold ; liut when the Revolution-
ary war broke out it became useful as the headquarters
of a military guard, and for the incarceration of politi-
cal prisoners as well as military prisoners. Samuel
R. Fisher, who was arrested, in 1779, on the charge of
having sent information to the enemy, at New York,
was confined in this prison for nearly two years, a
consequence of his refusal to give bail to answer in
the regular way for his offense. The town-major,
Louis Nicola, had the headquarters of his guard there,
and afterward the regiment of invalids, under com-
mand of Col. Nicola, had quarters and i)rivilege of
confinement of prisoners at the same place. These
bodies were, after the suspension of the city charter
by the event* of the Revolution, the only effective
organizations for the preservation of the i)eace which
the city possessed.
During the period that this prison was occupied, the
gallows were somewhat active. The following execu-
tions took j)lace between 1721 and 1775, the persons
having first been prisoners and carried to the place of
execution according to the sentence of the law :
1721.— Eilward Hunt, for coiintorfeltinR Spanish riWer coin.
1721, July 12.— A negro, for house-breaking.
172'.i, Oct.— Jamoa Smith, burglary.
17SII.— Thomaa Sonmon a/In* Watbell, burglary.
173(i, April.— John Wata.i.i and Michael McDermllt, burglary.
173G, Auguet. — James, a negro, rape.
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1827
1737, April. — Henry Wildman and Catherine Conner, burglary.
1739, April. — A negro, for murder.
1741, April.— Lawrence Kalaban, murder of William Bentine.
1741, November. — John Bullach, murder of his wife.
1744, October. — Mtishamelin, an Indian, fur the murder of Armstrong,
a trader, and two others.
1747. — Patrick Burns and ^lichael Burns, burglary.
1748. — Alexander Ulrie, murder.
174S.— Arthur Maginnisand Thomas White, sodomy.
1749, Oct. 26. — James Johnson and Thomas Fielding, highway robbery.
1750, August.— Hans Dlick Seller, murder of Mrs. Shullz.
1751, January. — John Morris, Francis McCoy, and Elizabeth Robins,
burglary.
1752, May. — John Webster, burglary.
1752, Not. 29.— Daniel Hurley, murder of James Clark.
1723, Oct. 25.— Thomas Ruth, murder of Charles Quig.
1759. — James Jones and James Powell, burglary.
1759. Durel, soldier of the Royal American regiment, murder.
1759. — John Jones, burglary.
1760, October.— John Brulaman, murder of Robert Scull.
1762, November. — Caspar and Joe, negroes, burglary.
1764, May 5. — William Frederick Handinreid, felony and burglary.
1764, May. — John Williams alias John Heins, felony and burglary.
1765. — Henry Halbert, murder of Jacob Woolman.
1766, Oct. 18, — Dennis Scan Ian, highway robbery.
1766, Oct. 18.— Abraham Eyall, burglary.
1767, Oct. 24.— David Smith, burglary.
1768, August. Robinson, soldier of the Thirty-fourth Regiment,
shot for desertion.
1769, June 12. , soldier of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, shot
for desertion.
1770, April 24. — David and Thomas Jones, burglary.
1770, April 24. — Herman Rosikrans, counterfeiting provincial bills of
credit.
1771, May 22.— John Thompson, burglary.
1771, July 4. — John Thomas, burglary.
1774, April 30.— Thomas Stephens, Joseph Price, and Richard Burch,
burglary.
1774, April 30. — James Swain and mulatto, Elizabeth, murder.
1774, April 30. — Burnard Reptln, counterfeiting provincial bills of
credit.
1775. — Andrew Stewart, counterfeiting provincial bills of credit.
Walnut Street Prison.^In consequence of com-
plaint of the insufficiency of the old jail at Third and
Market Streets the Assembly passed a law, Feb. 26,
1773, which authorized the commissioners of the
county of Philadelphia to borrow as much money as
they might think sufficient for purchasing a lot of
ground " in some convenient part of the said city,
and erecting thereon a commodious, strong, and suffi-
cient gaol, work-house, and house of correction, with
a good yard to each of them, inclosed by a wall of
proper height and strength." After this prison was
built, the commissioners had authority to sell the old
jail at Third and Market Streets, and to appropriate
the money received toward the cost of constructing
the new prison. The property at Third and Market
had been vested in trustees, for the use and benefit of
the city and county of Philadelphia, and Joshua
Carpenter, the survivor, in 1721, made a declaration of
trust, reciting the title of the city and county.
The county commissioners purchased from John
and Thomas Penn and others, for three thousand two
hundred and fifty-two pounds in Pennsylvania cur-
rency, a lot at the corner of Walnut and Sixth Streets,
extending nearly half way down to Fifth Street and
southward about four hundred feet to Prune [Locust]
Street. Upon this ground they erected a stone prison
building of one hundred and eighty-four feet front on
Walnut Street, thirty-two feet deep, and with wings
on the east and west extending ninety feet southward.
On the southern portion of the lot fronting on Prune
Street, a stone building was erected for a work-house,
but it soon came to be used for the confinement of
debtors. In time buildings were erected in the prison
yard, some of them adjacent to the Sixth Street wall,
for work-rooms. There was a stone wall twenty feet
high which ran from the western wing of the prison
down Sixth Street, and along Prune to a line with
the debtors' department, which was set a little back
from the street. Another wall began west of the
building, ran along Prune to the eastern line of the
property, and then northward until it met the east
wing of the main building. The prison was two
stories in height, with a basement rising some feet
above the ground. The central building stood out
from the wings a short distance, and was crowned
with a pediment in which was a semicircular arched
fan-window. A one-story cupola rose above all, and
the vane was in the shape of a gilded key. The main
entrance was in the centre by a passage-way eight
feet broad, through two iron-grated doors to a cross
hall running from east to west ou the southern side
of the building, with stairs and windows at each end.
There were eight large rooms on each floor, all arched,
and having two windows to each room. The wing
building had arched windows upon the court-yard,
one for each room. Beneath the wings were the dun-
geons, in the basement, and partially under ground.
The jail occupied the whole width of the lot, and
southward to a depth of three hundred feet, where
there was a semicircular row of work-houses, two
stories high, and beyond them the southern wall.
The stone front on Walnut Street was rough-cast,
and the impression created by the prison was that of
solidity and fitness. In the yard a brick building,
three stories in height and raised on arches, con-
tained the sixteen solitary cells, each six feet by eight,
and nine feet high. They were very dark, as the only
light admitted came from above, through a peculiar
form of blind. They succeeded the basement dun-
geons, which were abandoned in 1795.'
The architect of the new prison was Robert Smith,
but it is not exactly certain at what date it was occu-
I In an account of the Walnut Street prison, published in the United
Slates Gazette, before its demolition, in October, 1835, it was said, *' Be-
neath the eastern wing, projecting into the yard of the prison, is a long-
arched passage, dimly lighted with one or two lamps fastened to the
masonry of the wall. Doorways at the side of this long subterranean
chamber opened into dark, arched cells, where no rays of light but by
the door could find entrance, and where all that is imagined of the soli-
tary and subterranean dungeon holes of feudal castles might be fully
realized. Strong, massive chains were fastened to the floor and the
grating, and the thick, iron-studded doors, now thrown down, show that
an attempt at escape must have been futile. No prisoner has occupied
these horrible abodes for nearly forty years. The last prisoner had
been thrust in for some crime out of the usual course. His situation
was not made known to the keeper, and he perished miserably, without
being able to make his voice heard."
1828
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
pied. In August, 1775, the buildings were used as
store-houses for powder, and in the following Decem-
ber the Committee of Safety was notified that a por-
tion was ready for the reception of prisoners. It was,
therefore, resolved to remove to that building as pris-
oners the soldiers, sailors, and others confined under
authority of Congress. Thomas Apty was appointed
temporary keeper for this purpose, and the sum of
one dollar per week was allowed for the support of
each prisoner, under authority of an act of Congress.
In January, 1776, one hundred and five felons, Tories,
debtors, and prisoners-of-\var, were taken from the old
jail to the new one. Six of them made their escape
the same night by breaking the lock of a back gate
and getting over the wall, and only one was retaken.
The British general, Richard Prescott, captured in
Canada in 1775, was prisoner on parole, and per-
mitted to reside at the City Tavern for a time, but,
it being alleged that he had acted iruelly toward
Col. Ethan Allen and the Continental prisoners in
Canada, he was ordered into close confinement in the
new prison, and remained there until September, when
he was exchanged for Gen. Sullivan. He again be-
came a prisoner July 10, 1777, when he was seized
and captured by Lieut. -Col. Barton, of Rhode Island,
at Overing's house, near Newport. Col. Moses Kirk-
land, a South Carolina Tory, who had been captured
upon a tender sent by Lord Dunniore, of Virginia, to
Gen. Howe, at Boston, was also sent to the Walnut
Street prison, from which he escaped in May.'
In May, 1776, twenty-three North Carolina Tory
officers, among whom were Gen. McDonnald, Col. R.
Allen McDonnald, Maj. Alexander McDonnald, Col.
Thomas Rutherford, and others, were sent to the new
prison, and Col. John Shee was ordered to furnish an
officer's guard for the protection of the jail. In Sep-
tember, 1777, during the excitement caused by the
movements of the British army toward Philadelphia,
and the probability of an early flight from the city
being necessary, the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania thought proper to remind the Conti-
nental Board of War " of the great number of prison-
ers-of-war now in the new jail." It is to be presumed
that they were released, if not by the Whigs before i
they left the city, by Howe after the entry of the |
British army.
After the British marched into Philadelphia, the
Walnut Street jail became the British provost i)rison.
This establishment was under the principal control
of the inhuman William Cunningham, provost-mar-
shal, and Joshua Loring, commissioner of prisons.
When they received the prisoners belonging to the
frigate " Delaware'' of the Pennsylvania armed fleet,
which was compelled to strike iUs flag in front of the
1 In the ftdrortiMroent offering a rewjird for his arreat his costume
was described to be a green coat faced with blue, a veUet waistcoat, and
brown Telret breeches. It was a matter of sufficient odditjr to note
the fact that, instead of a wig, be " wore bis own grey hair Ued
behind."
city during the naval operations which succeeded
Donop's attack upon Red Bank, Cunningham and
Loring were particularly offensive. The American
prisoners were assaulted and abused with foul lan-
guage. For three days they were kept without food
of any kind, as if there was an intention to starve
them to death. Aftor that they were furnished with
stale and mouldy bread at the rate of fi>ur pounds for
nine days' subsistence, and one and a half pi)unds of
meat tluring the same time. The people of the city
who had remained, Tories although they mijxht be,
did as much as they were allowed to do in furnishinfr
victuals to the American prisoners in the provost.
Cunningham took ])leasure in upsetting the vessels in
which their meals were brought, and was amused in
witnessing their scrambles for the scraps which were
spread out on the dirty floor. Jacnb Ritter, an
American prisoner, told John F. Watson that after
he had been captured at the battle of Brandywine
and brought to the city, he was given no food for
three days and nights, and he saw u starved soldier,
who had been allowed no food for five days, and who
then, upon being given a i>iece of rye bread, fell over
dead while attempting to eat it. The prisoners who
were allowed the liberty of the yard ate grass and
roots and chewed scraps uf leather ami chips. Some,
by watching at the rat-holes, were enabled to catch
some of the rodents, which they skinned and cooked
in the best manner they could. Many of these died."
In the winter the condition of the prisoners was
terrible. The glass in the windows had been broken
by the concussion caused by the blowing-up of tlic
British frigates "Augusta" and "Merlin," and tlie
piercing blasts, the rain, sleet, and snow penetrate 1
the cells. There were no fires, and the sufferers were
almost without blankets or other covering. The
Board of War, writing to President Wharton, said of
the cruel treatment of the prisoners by the British,
that "so far from observing even the common line of
humanity, their conduct to our prisoners through tlio
several stages of the war has been marked with more
than savage cruelty, and has rendered it nece-*sary
for Congress to send in ))rovisions for their support,
lest a greater number should fall a sacrifice to their
inhumanity." Elias Boudinot was appointed com-
missary of prisoners for that purpose. Day after day
the bodies of American soldiers who had died in the
Walnut Street prison, either from wounds, sickness,
or starvation, were carried over to Potter's Field,
3 In "the lifo, cunfesslon, and last dying wunls of Capt. Cuunlngham,
formerly British provost-niarslial In th<? Clly of New York, who was
cxecutpd In London on the lOlh uf August, 17U1," la the following lan-
gungp: " When the war commenced I wns appointed proTost-manhal to
the ]U>yal Army, which placed me in a imeitiuirto wreak my Tengeance
on the Americans. I shudder to think of the murders 1 have been ac-
cessary to, both with and without the orders of goTernmont.*' The
authority of this "confession" hns tieen much disputed by historical
students, but many of the circumstances related are so nearly what must
hare occurred In the life of Cunningham that If fabricated It must have
been composed by some one exceedingly faniitlar with the Incidents of
his dark career.
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
182d
immediately adjoining, where they were thrown into
trenches and covered up.
In 1787, under the influence of Chief Justice Mc-
Kean, the street cammissioner.s of tlie city were in-
duced to agree to tlie employment of criminals con-
demned to hard labor as a part of their sentence, and
to put them to use in cleaning the public streets.
For this purpose about thirty convicts were em-
ployed, and the city paid for their labor to the
county one shilling sixpence per head at the begin-
ning, and afterward one shilling ninepence per day.
The experiment was expected to effect something in
the way of economy. It turned out disastrously, and
ended in 1789, after the conviction and execution of
five of " the wheelbarrow men," as they were called,
for murder, which they had planned while upon the
streets. There were two classes of these felons: those
who were most dangerous and least to be trusted were
the chain-and-ball men. They were each manacled
with a chain ten or twelve feet long, which was at-
tached to a heavy ball. These convicts were the
sweepers, and were considered the most desperate
characters. They could move about by carrying the
ball with them; but as this was heavy, the journey
was not very much extended. When they put the
ball down they swept in a circle bounded by the
length of the chains. They were dressed in a parti-
colored prison uniform.
When, in 1781, the Society for the Alleviation of
the Miseries of Public Prisons was organized, it un-
dertook to reform the shocking condition of the Wal-
nut Street jail, which the jailer managed with an eye
to his own profit. Dr. Mease says, in regard to the
reformation undertaken by the society, " the task was
truly- arduous. An Augean stable of filth and in-
iquity was not only to be cleansed, but industry and
morality to be introduced and under difficulties that
seemed almost insurmountable. The man whose duty
required him to assist in the experiment constituted
one of them, for he had grown wealthy by the abuses
which had been for a long time tolerated, and feared
the introduction of a system which would cause his
conduct to be closely watched, and the garnish jail
fees, sale of liquor, and other perquisites to cease ; his
opposition was therefore decided, and the number of
his friends enabled him to retain his place." The in-
fluence of the society was shown in the passage of
an act of Assembly, in 1790, creating a board of in-
spectors of the prison. They were Daniel Thomas,
Charles Shoemaker, Thomas Paul, James Bayland,
James Sharswood, John Connelly, Alexander Henry,
Robert Wharton, Joseph Snowden, Caleb Lownes,
James Cooper, and Richard Wister. The very first
matter to which they addressed themselves was to the
separation of the sexes, men and women before that
time having been confined in the same room. They
banished spirituous liquors from the rooms, encour-
aged the convicts to labor, for which they received
compensation, separated the convicts from untried
prisoners, secured for all the inmatesof the jail better
clothing and food than they had ever had before, and
introduced a regular system of religious instruction.
Against these great reforms, says Dr. Mease, " the
opposition of the keeper of the prison was decided."
The inspectors also had to contend against the
opposition of many of the inmates of the prison, who
had become accustomed to their old surroundings of
squalor, indolence, and drunkenness. With them the
proposed reform was most unpopular, and, liy concert,
a desperate attempt was made by all the inmates to
escape on the evening of the first day of the intro<luc-
tion of the new system ; fifteen of them succeeded in
obtaining their liberty. In 1798 yellow fever broke
out in the prison during the time that epidemic was
raging in the city. This institution, although ten-
anted Ijy the most abject and dissipated classes, had
escaped attack during the fevers of 1703 and 1797.
There were three hundred persons in the prison in
1798, the convicts, the untried and debtors, and the
mortality was very considerable. The inspectors did
the best that they could do under the circumstances.
The women, the vagrants, and persons accused of
small crimes were transferred to Rol)ert Morris' un-
finished mansion house on Chestnut Street, between
Seventh and Eighth. The remaining prisoners be-
came desperate, and made an effort to escape by
securing the key from Dr. Dufiield, who was in the
prison professionally. The keepers fought them as
well as they could, and Alderman Robert Wharton,
who was in another part of the building, ran to the
assistance of the guard. He found Miller, the ring-
leader, with an axe raised to kill Evans, a constable
and deputy keeper. Upon this Mr. Wharton and
Gass, an assistant keeper, who were both armed with
muskets, fired. Miller was mortally wounded, and
Vaughan, who had struck Evans with a bar of iron,
was shot through the lungs by Evans, who pursued
him. Subsequently some of the i)risoners escaped by
undermining the walls. The grand jury investigated
the facts, and in 1799 made a special presentment, in
which they declared that the convicts. Miller and
Vaughn, came to their death during the attempt to
escape from confinement, and that Wharton, Evans,
and Gass were " doing an act which was of impera-
tive necessity, and their duty as men and citizens, and
were not only fully justified, but which we further
present as highly meritorious, and deserving the
thanks of their fellow-citizens."
By 1810 the adminLstratiou of the prison had been
so greatly changed for the better that it was stated
each inmate slept on the floor, on a blanket, and
there wore no more than thirty of them in a room.
The encouragement of the convicts to labor by ofler-
ing them payment had resulted admirably, and it was
remarked that " on several occasions the balance paid
to a convict has amounted to SlOO (in one instance it
was $150), and from $10 to $40 are commonly paid."
In addition to this, the poorer prisoners, when dis-
1830
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
charged, were furnished with money to take them to
their own homes, if they did not live at a great dis-
tance. Cleanliness was enforced by strict rules, and
a rigid discipline was generally niaintiiined. At meals
the race distinctions were preserved, the whites and
blacks eating at different tiibles. Good conduct was
rewarded with an extra allowance, but the frac-
tious convict was placeil in a dark cell, on short
rations of bread and water, corporal punishment not
being permitted.'
About 1819 the treadmill was introduced into the
prison system of Philadelphia. It was an appliance
by which the prisoners' weight gave a revolving mo-
tion to a cylinder, which was sometimes attached to
useful machinery. It soon went out of use.
THE TREADMILL.
On July 23, 1800, twelve prisoners made their
escape by descending the wells which led into the
common sewer, through which they crawled into the
light of day. Their desperate and daring attempt,
under the most repulsive circumstances, secured
them but a few weeks of liberty, as they were all
soon recaptured. In 1817, William Mcllhenny,
Henry Kelly, Jock Smith, and apme eight or ten
others tried a bold dash for freedom. Mcllhenny
concealed himself in the prison-yard, and hid away
some poles, with which he hoped to mount the walls.
Kelly managed to force the lock of a door inside the
vestibule leading to the Sixth Street gate. They and
three others got into the cellar of the western wing,
and, burrowing through the wall, they made an ex-
cavation under the pavement of Sixth Street. All
1 It wu probably In the rarly part of the term of authority of the
inspectora that they were presented with the large oil-painting that for
many years hung in the office of the prison. It depicled a woman
weeping at the door of a cell, and bore the following inscription :
" At the door of the Prison see Frlomlship in tears.
May her object some pity inspire;
May the band of Humanity banish her fears.
And relieve while she stoops to admire.
"'Tis an emblem which mortals may view with delight.
Nay ! Divinity brightens tlio scene !
'Twas to save, when from lieaTen our Lord took his flight,
To pardon, and cleanse the unclean."
This painting and a rusty Iron gibbet fthat has come down from pre-
BeTolotionary times) are aliout the only relics of the Walnut Street
piijon that have been preacrred la the Jail on Panyunk road.
five escaped, and were caught within a brief time.
In 1819 a far more serious aflair occurred. Two of
these men, Mcllhenny and Jock Smith, sawed away
the bar which held the door of their cell, and, rush-
ing down-stairs, attempted to batter down the iron
doors which opened on Walnut Street. Baffled there
by a keeper, who fired upon them, they rushed out
into the prison-yard to the dungeons to obtain props
and poles. Here they met with some resistance from
a convict named Scott, whom they stabbed. The next
attempt was to get over the wall. This failing, an
effort was made to tear up the entrance to the com-
mon sewer. All this happened while the yard was
full of prisoners, the greater jiortion of whom took no
part in the proceedings. At the critical moment the
bell of the prison sounded for the prisoners to return to
their rooms. The majority obeyed, and the human
tide was so strong that Mcllhenny, Kelly, and the
rest were swept along with it, and their attempt was
abandoned. Among others confined in the jail at
this time was a negro named Harry Powell, who, in
order to shorten the term of his own imprisonment,
and to secure the favor of the inspectors to be used
for his benefit in obtaining a pardon, had become a
spy of the keeper upon the doings of his fellow-con-
victs. Powell had taken a prominent ])art in defend-
ing Armstrong, a keeper, during the attempt to escape
in 1819. He was yet a prisoner, and when Mcll-
henny's party were admitted to the yard, after pun-
ishment, was himself engaged in a quarrel with a
convict named Hedgman, in which the latter was
badly stabbed. This circumstance occasioned con-
siderable excitement among the prisoners, and was
the signal of a concerted attack upon the informer.
Some forty desperate men rushed toward Powell, but
he was nimble and powerful, and defended himself so
well that he was able to retreat to the blacksmith-
shop, where he caught up a bar of iron. Here, al-
though stones, bars of iron, tools, and other missiles
were hurled at him, he kept his foes at bay for some
time ; but Mcllhenny and others, by breaking through
a rear window, got behind him, and drove him from
his shelter. Then, with one blow from an iron bar,
he was laid prostrate, his skull broken through.
Death must have happened immediately, although
Mcllhenny stooped over the prostrate body and
])lunged into it a long-bladed knife up to the haft.
All this was sudden and unexpected to the officers,
and when the inspectors were called together they
resolved that the ringleaders should be put in dark
cells.
The next morning the keepers iind inspectors, with
Peter Meirckcn, their i)resi(lcnt, at their head, sur-
rounded the door of the room in which Mcllhenny
aii<l others were confined. This man Wius called out,
and he came with an iron bar, and, a.ssisted by those
who swarmed out with him, made an attack ujion the
opposing force. There were forty of the prisoners, full
of resolution and passion. The result was a retreat of
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1831
the officials. Down the stairs, in the greatest con-
fiision, tumbled inspectors, keepers, and convicts, black
and white, while the upper passages and rooms re-
sounded with shrieks, yells, and groans, and clanging
of chains and bars, as the fastenings were torn to
pieces with wild fury. In a few moments every door
was thrown open, and throughout the whole range the
prisoners were released. The force of the rioters was
increased by two hundred men, who hastened to the
lower hall, and then the entire body of convicts had
unlimited sway within the prison. They hurried into
the yard to make their escape, the alarm spreading
fast throughout the city. Some persons who were
armed climbed to the top of the eastern wall, and fired
into the mob of convicts, killing one of them, John
Runner, and wounding others who were endeavoring
to break down the Sixth Street gate. The fire of
the citizens cowed the insurgents, and while they
shrank back into the yard the gates suddenly opened,
and the whole space swarmed with the bayonets of
the United States marines and the militia.
Sheriff Caleb North placed the force under the
command of Col. Clement Biddle, a man of invinci-
ble determination. Col. Biddle mounted a marble
block in front of the convicts, and, drawing out his
watch, said, in a loud voice, " I give you just three
minutes to march to your rooms ; any hesitation will
bring upon you a volley from these muskets." It was
enough ; authority had asserted itself The crowd
slunk away, and when the time had expired they
were all in full march to their rooms. Forty-eight of
the worst characters were arrested by means of the
military, and put in cells. For three or four days
and nights the prison was guarded by a force of ma-
rines and volunteers. Thirteen or fourteen of the
ringleaders were arraigned for the murder of Howell,
but as every witness was a convict, infamous by law,
and unable to give legal testimony, it was impossible
to convict any one.
Three or four years afterward there was a riot in
the prison incited by two convicts named Malony and
Helmbold. For two hours these desperate men had
range of the yard, and with their spades and shovels
threatened every keeper who came near them. Provi-
dentially just at this time a company of volunteer sol-
diers were parading the streets, and the captain being
notified of the trouble at the prison, marched his men
there, and quiet was soon restored. On the 26th of
February, 1839, on a gusty night, Jock Smith, with
some twenty or thirtj' others, managed to escape from
a room on the second story east of the main door by
sawing through the window-bars. Jock Smith was not
heard of again for six years, when he was brought to
the Eastern Penitentiary from the interior of the
State, to be confined for horse-stealing.
In the course of time the Walnut Street prison,
which was commonly called the penitentiary up to the
time when the Eastern Penitentiary was built on
Coates Street, became densely crowded. In 1817 the
117
grand jurj' called attention to the subject. There
were then in the prison four hundred and fifty-one
convicts, and ten hundred and fifty-eight prisoners
awaiting trial. It was no unusual thing for thirty or
forty to be lodged in a room eighteen feet square. On
March 30, 1831, the Legislature passed the act for the
construction of Moyamensing prison, and on Oct. 29,
1835, it was finished, and the inmates of the Walnut
Street jail were transferred to it. The commissioners
had authority to sell the Walnut Street property, and
in 1836 they disposed of it to John Moss for S299,-
000.99, having first demolished the prison structure.
As the original cost of the ground to the city was but
eight thousand six hundred and seventy-two dollars,
it made a highly profitable bargain. Mr. Moss pro-
posed to erect upon it a splendid hotel, to be called
the Penn Hotel, but the scheme fell through, and the
lot was cut up into building sites.
EXECUTIONS OF PERSONS CONFINED IN WALNUT STREET
PRISON.
1776, May 4.— John Woodward, for the murder of his wife.
1777, March 4. — Brinton Debadee, shot for deaertion.
1777, March 31. — James Moleaworth, hanged as a spy.
1778, August. — George Spangler, hanged as a spy.
1778, Sept. 2. — Lients. Samuel Jones and Ford, shot for desertion.
1778, Sept. 4.— Patrick McMuUin, shot for desertion.
1778, Nov. 4. — Abraham Carlisle and John Roberts, high treason.
1778, Dec. 1.— Wright, burglary.
1778, Dec. 22. — James Beard, highway robbery.
1779. — Abijah Wright, high treason, acting as a guide to the British
army.
1780, April. — John Wilson, high treason, enlisting with the British.
1780, May 6. — Dennis Carragau, burglary.
1780, May 6.— John Hill, highway robbery.
1780, May 6. — Marmadulie Grant, burglary.
1780, November. — David Dawson, high treason.
1780. — Richard Chamberlain, counterfeiting Continental hills.
1780, Dec. 30. — James Sutton, running away with the American priya-
teer " Luzerne," and taking her to the British, hung on the lower end
of Windmill Island.
1780, Dec. 30.— John Hill, burglary.
1781, May 23,— Thomas Wilkinson, piracy, hung on Windmill Island
and gibbeted at Mud Island.
1781, May 26.— Henry McKeever, John Dobbins, John Flannagan,
James Byrnes, Thomas McCollough, burglary.
1781, May 26.— Thomas McGee, robbery.
1781, Nov. 24.— Mary Hall, burglary.
1781, Nov. 24. — James Cannon and James Green, robbery.
1781, Nov. 13. — John Moody, hanged as a spy;
1781, Nov. 13. Bums, alias Murphy, burglary.
1782, October. — Peter, a negro, for the murder of James, a negro.
1783, Feb. 15. — Kemble Stackhouse, Lot Salsey, Samuel John Freeman,
alias Murick, burglary.
1783, Oct. 25. — Petro Giacobe, alias Simons, and Francisco Mesca, for
the murder of Capt. Pickels.
1783, Nov. 1. — James McGraw and James Jones, burglary.
1784, July 17. — John Downey and John Martin, highway robbery.
1784, Oct. 16.— James Burk, murder of Timothy McAuliffe.
1784, Oct. 16. — James Crowder, burglary.
1784, Oct. 16.— Peter Brown, attempt to murder Capt. Tolbert.
1784. Oct. 16. — George Williams, aZioaOne-Armed Tom Robinson, mnr-
der and highway robbery.
1784, Oct. 16. — James Brown, burglary.
1784, Oct. 16. — James Doane, robbery of the treasurer of Bucks
County.
1785, May 7.^Andrew D. Black and Samuel Preston, robbery.
1785, July. — Francis Courtney, rape.
1787, May 12.— Robert Elliott, burglary.
1788, Sept. 24. — Abram Doane and Levi Doane, outlawry and treason.
1789, July 29.— William Coll, burglary and highway robbery.
1832
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1769, Oct. 12. — Daoiel CmiiaD, Fntncis Burus, John Bennett, John
Logan, and John Ferguson (the wheelbarrow men), for murder of
Jamee McFnrland. Hanged on a lot on Market Street, nest of Thir-
teenth, near where tlie nmpler was perpetrated.
178S. — Charlee Reed, for the murder of a boatman.
Here the bloody list comes down to a milder record.
In 1786 the Legislature of Pennsylvania changed the
jiunishment for burglary, highway robbery, and other
crimes less than murder in the first degree to im-
prisonment. By the act of 22d of April, 1794, it was
declared '' no crime whatsoever hereafter committed
(except murder in the first degree) shall be punished
with death in the State of Penna." Under the same
act the benefit of clergy in felonies of death was
abolished.'
After that there were no executions under the
State laws, except for murder, and even they were
fewer in number than they had been in the early
part of the century. The first execution after the
passage of the act took place under the administra-
tion of the Federal law. On the 9th of May, 1800,
Baker, , Brous, and, Peterson, alias Labruse, con-
victed of piracy and the murder of the mate and
supercargo and one of the crew of the schooner
" Amelia," and tried by a United States District
Court, were hung at Windmill Island. This site
seems to have been the place of execution for ad-
miralty prisoners and persons charged with offenses
under the law of nations before the Revolution, and
convicted under the crown. There were no more
executions there after 1800. Where the gallows was
erected and executions took place before that time
for prisoners convicted under the laws of the prov-
ince and State is not exactly known. Whenever the
newspapers published before the Revolution alluded
to the |)lace of an execution under State laws, it was
frequently mentioned to have been " on the Com-
mons," which, in the early part of the eighteenth
century, might have been west of Eighth or Ninth
Streets. But in fact most of these executions took
place in Centre Square. After the law was passed
restricting the ca.ses in which capital punishment
might be imposed, the following inmates of the Wal-
nut Street prison were executed :
1800, Hay 9.— Baker, Brous, anil PoltMBon, for piracy, at WiTulniill
iBlnnd.
1H07.— John Joyce nriil I'eter MathiaB (colored), fur themiiriler of Mm.
Cross, ha]igpd In Bush Hill.
ISlfi, Aug. 10.— Lieut. Richard Smith, for the murder of Capt. John
Carson, hanged at Potter's Field, now Logan Square.
1823, Feb. 7.— William Gross, for the murder of Kezlah Stow, hanged
at Potter's Field, now I.ogan Square.
Arch Street Prison. — As early as the year 1803
the nece.Hsity of erecting a new prison to relieve the
Walnut Street prison of the pressure upon it was ac-
knowledged by the Legislature. On the 1st of April,
> Crimes which were punishable by death before Sept. 16, 178B, the
date fixed In the act last mentioned, were murder, robbery, burglary,
rape, sodomy, malicious maiming, manslaughter by stabbing, witcli-
craft, conjuration, arvon, concealn>ent of the death of bastard children,
counterfeiting any gold or siWer coin, and every felony (except larceny)
on a second conviction.
in that year, was passed "an act for the sale of cer-
tain vacant lots in the city belonging to the State."
The preamble recited that the Walnut Street prison was
toojsmall to accommodate the convicts sent from all
parts of the commonwealth. It was therefore directed
that the money received from the sale of all vacant,
unimproved lots in the city should be devoted to the
construction of a new building for the confinement
of prisoners awaiting trial, vagrants, and such other
persons except convicts as had been committed to the
county prison. The work was to be done in such a
way as the inspectors of the prison, the Court of
Quarter Sessions, the grand jury, and the county
commissioners should agree upon. This was a meas-
ure of honesty on the part of the State of Pennsylva-
nia, which, by reason of a gift of five hundred pounds
for the purpose of erecting cells in the Walnut Street
prison-yard, had obtained a right to use the Philadel-
phia prison for State purposes, under which it was
made a place of confinement for convicted criminals
from all parts of the State. The officers, to whom
control in this matter was accorded, selected for the
new prison a lot on the south side of Arch Street,
between Broad Street and Schuylkill Eighth [Fif-
teenth], and extending to a small street running east
and west, north of Filbert Street. Some of the vacant
lots of the commonwealth were sold and the building
was commenced. The work went on slowly. In 1809
a portion of it was occupied, and in the succeeding
year the prison inspectors reported to the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania that .^^85,821. 12 had been
received for the sale of city lots, and that they had
expended in building the new prison .*85,600.84.
They wanted $25,000 more to complete the jail, and
put up the wall. Their request was not complied
with until two years afterward, when $25,000 were
appropriated ; but, even in this, much injustice was
done by the conditions under which the money was
to be spent. The act declared that the prison should
be the exclusive property of the commonwealth. If
the intention had been to relieve the county prison
of Philadelphia at Sixth and Walnut Streets from the
use the State had made of it for twenty-two years, as a
penitentiary for the confinement of prisoners from
other counties, there could have been no objection,
and the measure would have been considered bene-
ficial to Philadelphia. But while the law making the
appropriation declared that the Arch Street prison
should be entirely a State prison, the right of sending
prisoners to the Walnut Street prison was not relin-
quished. There was no justice iu this, but the in-
spectors took the money and proceeded to finish the
Arch Street prison as well as they could. When
com])leted, its ground plan was in the shape of the
letter T.
The main entrance, offices, keeper's residence,
kitchens, and wash-rooms were in the centre front, a
buililing i)f brick, with basement, and high steps
ascending to the principal story. There was a second
COUKT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1833
story, crowned with ;i pediment, above which rose a
small cupola, in which was placed a bell. Back of
the central building, the prison rooms extended east
and west nearly to Broad and Schuylkill Eighth
Streets. They were two stories high, with a base-
ment, and ran out to the small street extending east
and west, and there at times the friends of prisoners
could hold communication with them. The yards for
the use of the prisoners were at the northeast and
northwest angles of the lot. The main central build-
ing stood a little back from Arch Street. High walls
of rough stone extended from each side to the building-
line on Arch Street, and were thence continued along
that street to Broad and Schuylkill Eighth [Fifteenth] ,
and along the latter to the prison buildings, inclosing
them on every side. This structure was never compe-
tent for the object for which it had been erected, as it
was weak and insecure. Eventually the debtors were
sent there to be imprisoned, as punishment for their
misfortunes.
During the war of 1812 the Arch Street prison was
partially appropriated for the use of the troojis coming
to Philadelphia, and it was also used for the confine-
ment of prisoners of war. In December of 1814 it
was occupied by a militia brigade from the interior
of the State, under command of Brig.-Gen. Spearing.
He was aided by the Committee of Defense, by a lib-
eral appropriation, to enable him to piuchase shoes,
stockings, and clothing for his men, who were about
to march for their homes in a distant part of the State
in the most inclement part of the winter season.
In January, 1814, the Legislature of Pennsylvania
approved of the policy, on the part of the national
government, of securing hostages for the safety of
such American soldiers as were threatened with exe-
cution by the British troops. In pursuance of this
policy, in March of this year, Maj. De Vilette and
twenty-two other British officers were brought to the
city and confined in the Arch Street prison as hostages.
In the succeeding month eighteen escaped by the
simple method of sawing the iron bars of the windows
of the rooms in which they were confined. Some of
these were retaken, but the larger number got off
beyond the possibility of arrest.
In 1822 the eastern end of the prison, which had
been occupied by the debtors, was altered for the pur-
pose of placing there prisoners awaiting trial, and the
debtors were renaoved to the western side. The wall
on all sides was raised six or eight feet, and changes
were made in the character of the rooms and cells.
In the succeeding year, by an act of Assembly, all the
debtors in the Prune Street department of the Wal-
nut Street prison were directed to be removed to the
Arch Street prison, and the space they had formerly
occupied was used as a part of the penitentiary.
In 1832 the Arch Street prison suffered severely
from the cholera, the first death occurring on July 30.
There were then confined in that institution two
hundred and ten persons on the criminal side and
twenty-one in the debtors' apartment. The former
class was made up most entirely of vagrants, disor-
derly persons, petty thieves, and drunkards. In two
days after the outbreak of the disease in the prison
there were a very considerable number of cases. Dr.
Jesse R. Burden was at the time a visiting inspector,
and being apprised of the threatening condition of
affairs, not only applied his own professional skill and
attention to the persons taken sick, but obtained the
services of Dr. A. M. Allen as resident physician, and
Edward Peace, at that time a student of medicine, to
attend at the prison. Dr. Allen was prostrated shortly
after he went to the prison, and Dr. Peace also be-
came ill before the end of the first week. The latter
before he was himself attacked was in consequence of
the sickness of Dr. Allen the only person in medical
charge, and was in great personal danger. The in-
mates of the prison were intensely excited and chafed
under a restraint which they would have borne with
comparative good humor under ordinary circum-
stances, but which at that time seemed to be cruel.
When Dr. Peace was taken with the disease, on Sun-
day, August 5th, there were eighty sick persons among
the inmates and four of the officers were down. There
was great danger of an outbreak on the part of those
prisoners who remained. What was more important
was the fact that they were without medical assistance
in case of attack. News of the unfortunate state of
affairs soon spread throughout the city, and Dr. Bur-
den obtained the assistance of a number of fearless
physicians. They were Drs. George Fox, R. Harlan,
C. W. Morris, C. Lukens, J. Peace, A. M. Allen (who
had partially recovered from his sickness), George
Norris, Benjamin H. Coates, T. Ash, Wilson Jewell,
Robert Bridges, and J. Togno. They promptly re-
paired to the jail and did the best they could, hut the
pestilence was extremely virulent. " The scenes of
that memorable day were of unparalleled tearfulness
and loathsomeness in the history of Philadelphia.
Before night not less than seventy persons who were
living in the building when the morning dawned were
consigned to the grave," said the citizens' sanitary
committee of North Ward in the formal report which
they made of the circumstances connected with this
visitation. " In the midst of this awful riot of disease
and mortality the medical gentlemen nobly and faith-
fully maintained their ground, and were instrumental
in rescuing many who would otherwise have swelled
the frightful number of the dead."'
1 The committee of North Ward named as principals among the citi-
zens, John Swift, Thomas Eoney, Peter Fritz, Robert O'Neill, Thomas
Wallace, George Tees, Michael Wartman, George Nagle, and Peter A.
Grotjan. Thomas Louellen, a keeper, was the only officer of the
prison who remained on duty throughout the existence of the disease
in that building, and although exposed more than any ouo else (except
the physicians) by contact with the flick and the dead, was at no time
seriously indisposed. Joseph S. Kite, a citizen, was invested with the
office of keeper by the inspectors when all the officers but Louellen had
succumbed. Kite acted but a single day, and was himself attacked by
the disease the next morning. John Swift was taken sick the day after.
He was conspicuous at the prison, and narrowly escaped death. In the
1834
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
i
At the succeeding session of the Legislature a com-
mittee was appointed in the House of Representatives
to investigate the circumstances connected with the
appearance of cholera at the Arch Street prison.
They stated that the entire period during which the
disease raged in the institution was from the 5th of
July until some time in September. It first appeared
in the women's apartment, and the sufferer was a
female vagrant who had been only a day or two in the
house. In relating the circumstances the committee
said, " The rooms used as hospitals became crowded
and the sick were brought into the great hall. There
was an interval of several days before the epidemic
occurred on the men's side ; when it did, it seemed,
according to the description of a keeper, like a shock
of electricity. The cries, shrieks, and groans of the
sick and dying, the frantic desperation and agony of
those who were eager to escape, and the difficulty at
the moment of deciding upon all the points of most
interest to the welfare of the prisoners and that of
the public, are described as in the highest degree dis-
tressing and embarrassing to those who had them in
charge."
On the night of the 4th of August the diseased
were so numerous upon the floors of the extensive
halls that the keepers had difficulty to avoid treading
upon them as they performed their duty. "About
eighty persons were lying dead, dying, or suffering
with this epidemic in the building. The dead were
necessarily kept all night in the jail, because the
keepers feared to open the doors, lest the prisoners
for whose security they were resjionsible should at-
tempt to escape." The chief keeper, on the "fatal
Sunday," August 5th, " bewildered with fatigue, and
almost in a state of derangement," called upon the
recorder of the city, reported upon the condition of
the prison, and begged that the prisoners might be
released. Upon consultation with the inspectors, the
determinatiim was taken by the latter to discharge
many of the prisoners upon their own recognizance.
The recorder did this with a formal sort of protest
"that he had no legal right to do so, but that in his
opinion the necessity of the case amply justified the
act." Some of the sick were sent to the cholera hos-
pitals of the city, and thirteen of the most desperate
characters were taken under convoy of a strong guard
of citizens to a neighboring watchhouse. As for the
debtors, they were in worse condition than the crimi-
nals. The public, represented by the officers of the
commonwealth, might be satisfied with overlooking
the strict demands of law and duty in a case like this,
where the necessity was great; but the remorseless
creditor, who had put his unfortunate debtor in
prison, might not be willing to forgive any citizen
who should make himself legally responsible by aid-
•ncceedlag yxar a Mnrice of plate woi preatnted by the citizens of Phil-
adelphia in appreciation of his courageous conduct and the valuable
anistance which he gave at the prison. This presentation was made in
March, 1833.
ing in the discharge or escape of his victim. In
some instances money was advanced by private citi-
i zens to release them from the judgments against
t them. In others bonds were filed and surety en-
tered by persons who were unacquainted with the
debtors, on condition that they would apply for the
benefit of the insolvent laws. Many of the prisoners
in health assisted those who were sick, and some of
them who were discharged on Sunday remained until
the succeeding day as nurses. In fact the prison was
entirely cleared out on the 6th of August, and it was
cleaned and fumigated before it was again put to use.
During the interval the thirteen prisoners who had
been strongly guarded at the neighboring watch-
house, at Broad and Filbert Streets, were returned
to their old quarters. Not one of them had died.
It may be permissible to mention here that during
this season there was no case of death by cholera at
the penitentiary. There was only one case at the
Walnut Street prison which resulted in death. Diar-
rhoea and diseases of the bowels were noticed to be
more prevalent there than elsewhere.'
After the Philadelphia County prison, at Moya-
mensing, had been finished, in 1836, the Arch Street
prison was abandoned and the property sold. The
only execution in the latter building was that of James
Porter, found guilty of robbing the United States mail
at Ridge road and Turner's Lane. He was hanged on
July 2, 1831, on the line of Seventeenth Street, near
the intersection of Wallace.
Eastern Penitentiary.— On March 21, 1821, the
Legislature passed an act to provide for the erection
of a State penitentiary within the limits of the city
and county of Philadelphia. Commissioners were
appointed to select the site and superintend the erec-
tion of the building. They were Thomas Wistar, Dr.
Samuel P. Griffith, Peter Miercken, George N. Baker,
Thomas Bradford, John Bacon, Caleb Carmalt, Sam-
uel R. Wood, Thomas Sparks, James Thackera, and
Daniel H. Miller. They were directed to build a
penitentiary on the general plan of the Western Peni-
tentiary, at Pittsburgh. They were also authorized to
sell the Arch Street prison to the commissioners of the
city and county of Philadelphia, if the latter would
pay fifty thousand dollars for the buildings. They
selected a tract of land of eleven acres, with a
dwelling-house and country-seat, known as Cherry
Hill, and situated upon Francis Lane, afterward
called Coates Street [Fairmount Avenue], between
1 The Board of Health record states the number of cases of cholera In
the Arch Street prison between July llth and September 13th to have
been eighty-six ; deathH, forty-six. But the committee of the House of
Representatives, at the session of 18-12-33, said that there was difference
of opinion as to the degree of mortality, A member of the Society for
AlleTinting the Miseries of Public Prisons was of the opinion that the
entire mortality of the prinon inmates was flfty-two persons, and this
included those who died in the prison and the cholera hospitals, and two
who were discharged from prison, but were found lying dead on the roads
a few miles from the city. Ten persons died after that time, making a
total of sixty-two. Another estimate placed the entire mortality as high
as eighty.
' COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1835
Schuylkill Third [Twentieth] Street and Schuylkill
Front [Twenty-second] Street. John Haviland was
chosen to be the architect, and produced a plan dif-
fering from any previously used in prison buildings.
There is a central structure for the officers, and as a
guard over all the establishment, it was crowned by
a tower. This observatory, for such it is, overlooks
the blocks of cells, which radiate from the central
building like spokes from the hub of a wheel. Each
corridor of cells opens upon a small yard for the use
of the inmates. Long passage-ways extend through
each corridor, and separate the cells. Beside the
overlook in the watch-tower, there are galleries on
the outside, by which every yard space in a block of
cells can be seen, so that if any prisoner should at-
tempt to escape his design can, by the exercise of
ordinary vigilance, be detected and prevented. There
are thirty-six cells in blocks, each twelve feet long,
eight feet wide, and
ten feet high, with
an exercising-yard to
each. The prison ^fr-
proper is in the cen-
tre of the grounds,
which occupy more
than a solid square
of the ordinary size
upon the city plan.
The front is in the
castellated style of
architecture, having
heavy square towers
sixty-five feet high,
aud a splendid arched
gateway, with port-
cullis and central
tower. The gate is
twenty-seven feet
high and fifteen feet
broad, and the main
front tower ninety-
seven feet high. The
front on Fairmount Avenue is six hundred and seventy
feet depth, and on the sides about the same. One
of the objects expected to be secured by the erec-
tion of this building was the establishment of the
Pennsylvania system of separate confinement. The
plan was administered with earnestness by the inspec-
tors for several years, but it was found that it did not
accomplish near as much as was expected. The
greatest objection to it was that it sometimes caused
insanity, and the system has consequently been much
modified.
The corner-stone of the Eastern Penitentiary was
laid on the 22d of May, 1823, and an address was de-
livered by Roberts Vaux. The buildings were finished
in 1829, with two hundred and sixty-six cells, accord-
ing to the original plan. In 1881 the inspectors were
authorized to increase the number of cells to four hun-
dred. Additions have been made from time to time,
so that the buildings are much larger now than they
were fifty years ago. Between 1824 and 1839 there
were appropriated for the grounds and building of
the Eastern Penitentiary six hundred and eighty-
eight thousand one hundred and twenty-four dollars.
On May 19, 1837, William Moran, who had been
confined in the Cherry Hill prison, was hanged on
the line of Seventeenth Street, near the intersection
of Spring Garden Street, for the murder of Capt.
Smith and Mate Ward of the schooner " William
West."
The Philadelphia County Prison (Moyamen-
sing).— On the 30th of March, 1831, the Legislature
passed an act directing that a prison for the city and
county of Philadelphia, capable of holding at least
three hundred prisoners on the principle of separate
confinement, should be erected at such a place within
THE MOVAMKNSING PRISON.
the city and county as the commissioners appointed
by the Court of Common Pleas of the county and the
Mayor's Court should direct. This building was to
be called the Philadelphia County prison. The com-
missioners were authorized to purchase a site and
make contracts for the erection of the building, and
to borrow $150,000, if necessary for the purpose, at
an interest not exceeding five per cent, per annum, for
the security of which the Walnut Street prison prop-
erty was pledged. By the act of Feb. 27, 1833, power
was given them to borrow $70,000 additional, and the
sale of the Arch Street prison was provided for. In
the succeeding year another loan of $70,000 was au-
thorized. The Moyamensing prison cost §360,000,
and as the receipts from the Walnut Street and Arch
Street sales netted $330,012.18, the county had to pay
no greater sum than $29,517.82. Under these acts
1836
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the Court of Common Pleas appointed as commis-
sioners for building the new prison Jesse R. Burden,
Jacob Frick, and William G. Alexander, and the
Mayor's Court a|)pointed \S'illiam E. Lehman, Joseph
Price, and Samuel Palmer. On the 13th of April,
1S32, these commissioners purchased of John Savage
fifteen and three-quarter acres of ground in Moya-
mensing township for $8000, and in the succeeding
May they bought one hundred perches adjoining for
S97o. The ground was on the west side of Passyunk
road, near Tenth Street, and just below Reed Street.
It extended back, crossing Eleventh, Twelfth, and
reaching to Thirteenth Street, and was much larger
than the necessities of such a building at the time of
purchase. When the prison came to be built, it was
laid out in lines parallel to Passyunk road, and its
depth was sufficient to cut into Eleventh Street and
block up that highway entirely.
The ground west of the prison inclosure remained
vacant for some years. The greater portion of it was
assigned, in 183S, for use by the military as a parade-
ground, and was known by that name for many years.
It was rarely used by the volunteers, and was unpop-
ular among them because it was never properly laid
out for their use. Afterward a portion of it, bounded
by Wharton, Reed, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Streets,
was laid out for a public square, and known as Passy-
unk Square. On a portion of the lot on the east side
of Twelfth Street was built, in 1882, an armory for
the Third Regiment National Guards.
The corner-stone of the new prison was laid on the
2<1 of April, 1832. The plans for the building were
prepared by Thomas U. Walter, architect. He chose
for it th^astellated Gothic style, and was successful
in the dSgn of a bold and exceedingly striking front,
the effect of which was much increased by the hea\'y,
dark color of the syenite granite which was selected
for the building material. The fafade was set back
from the road, at the distance of fifty feet from the
line of the .-iidewalk. The centre building, fifty feet
in height, is of three stories, with a front of fifty-two
feet at the base and a height of fifty feet. Circular
warders' towers, sujiported on large corbels, are at the
corners, an<l rise above the roof, being crowned with
projecting embattle<l parapets. The centre building
also is surmounted by parapets pierced with embra-
sures. The whole front is ornamented with archi-
traves, corbels, labels, etc., peculiar to the style. On
each side of the centre building are wings receding
ten feet, and fifty feet wide, surmounted by a parapet
pierced with emlirasures. Entrance gates, ten feet
wide and seventeen feet high, secured at the top by
wrought-iron portcullis, give means of access to the
interior of the prison. Octagonal towers terminating
in embattled parapets, and ornamenti'd with narrow,
pointed windows, are joined by a yard wall receding
fifteen feet, and then extemling northeastward and
sfiuthwestwaril Ut bastions fifteen feet wide at the
ba.se, thirteen feet at the top, and twenty feel high.
The centre building contains the oflSce of the inspec-
tors and rooms for the keeper. There were offices
and lobbies in each of the wings on the lower story,
from which the cells extend.
There are four hundred and eight cells, each nine
feet wide, thirteen feet long, and nine feet high. The
entire front of the prison is three hundred and ten
feet, and its depth between the yard walls five hun-
dred and twenty-five feet. Inside of the prison-yard,
in a building forty-three feet wide by seventy-two feet
long, erected between the blocks of cells, is the kitchen,
bake-house, laundry, and bath-houses ; and in two
other buildings are rooms for turning, tinsmithing,
blacksmithing, carpentering, and dyeing.
On the north side of the prison the debtor's apart-
ment was erected as a separate building, having its
front on the Moyamensing road on a line with the
prison. The architect Walter designed it in the Egyp-
tian style. The material is red sandstone, from quar-
ries on the Connecticut River. The front is about
ninety feet, and the depth one hundred and twenty
feet. The entrance is by a recess portico ornamented
by two columns three feet in diameter, twelve feet high.
By section eighth of the act of 1831, it was directed
that every person who should be convicted after the
completion of the new prison for any crime, the
punishment for which should be imprisonment for a
term under one year, should be sent to the new prison.
This was altered in 1835 to a term of two years or
under.
By act of 14th of April, 1835, it was directed that
there should be a board of inspectors of the county
prison, twelve in number, four of them to be ap-
pointed by the mayor, recorder, and aldermen of the
city of Philadelphia, four by the judges of the Quar-
ter Sessions, and four by the judges of the District
Court. The board was directed to divide itself into
four classes to serve one, two, three, and four years,
and afterward new appointments were to be made for
four years. In 1838, by the act constituting the Court
of Criminal Sessions, the number of inspectors was
increased to fifteen, three of whom were to be ap-
pointed by the judges of that court.'
By act of March 22, 1836, the commissioners for
building a prison were authorized to purchase a suit-
able site and erect a building thereon to be called
" the vagrant department of the city and county of
Philadel]>hia." To this building all persons convicted
by magistrates as vagrants or disorderly for one
month's imprisonment were to be sent. The com-
missioners performed the duty by erecting a vagrant
building upon the premises of the county prison.
After the abolition of imprisonment for debt in 1841,
>In 1838-39 the inspeclon) wpre Jesse R. Burden, Edward C. Dnle,
John L. Woolf, Kobert O'Neill, appointed by the District Court; Wil-
liam G. Alexander, Augustine Stevonaun, William King, John B.
Walker, appointed by Quarter Sessions ; Joseph I'rice, William Betliel,
William K. Lehman, Joel H. Sutherland, appointed by mayor, recortler
and aldermen ; Joseph E. Smith, Michnel l<ay, William F. Hughes, ap-
{Kiinted by Criminal Sessions.
COUKT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1837
the debtors' apartment, adjoining the county prison,
became unnecessary for that service, except in the
case of prisoners confined upon proceedings and ac-
tions in tort, and the debtors' apartment was utilized
for the confinement of witnesses and other purposes.
On the 10th of April, 1834, the Legislature passed
an act abolishing public executions, and directing that
the sentence of the law where prisoners should l)e con-
demned to death by hanging should be inflicted within
the walls or yard of the county jail, and it should be
the duty of the sheriff or coroner to be present, and
the presence of a physician, the attorney-general, or
deputy of the countj-, and twelve reputable citizens,
to be selected by the sheriff, should be invited, with
one or two ministers of the gospel, if desired by the
criminal, and any immediate relatives, together with
officers of the prison, and such of the sheriff's depu-
ties as might be selected. After the execution, oath
by the sheriff or coroner, together with the death-
warrant, is ordered to be filed in the office of the Court
of Oyer and Terminer of the county. Under these
provisions the executions in the county prison have
since taken place within the prison walls. The fol-
lowing gives the dates and names of persons hanged
up to March 4, 1884 :
EXECUTIONS IN THE COUNTY PRISON.
1839.— Siimiiel Zeppon (colored), for the murder of Cuffy Todd (col-
ored).
1839, Aug. 9. — James Williams, for the murder of Francis Kearney.
1846. — Charles Hosier, for the murder of his wife.
1848, Oct. 29.— Charles Langfeldt.for the murder of Mrs. Riidemacher.
1852, Aug. 6. — Matthias Skupinski, for the murder of .Tacoh Lehman.
1852. — Blaise Sknpiuski, for the murder of Jacoh Lehman.
18o3, June 10. — Arthur Spring, for the murder of Ellen Lynch and
Honora Shaw.
1856, May 23.— Peter Mattocks (colored), for the murder of Elizabeth
Gilbert (colored).
1861, Aug. 9. — Thomas J. Armstrong, for the murder of Robert Craw-
ford.
1866, June 8. — Auton Probst, for the murder of Christopher Peering, of
which he was convicted. He also murdered at the same time, and con-
fessed to the crime, the other members of the Deering family, viz. : Mrs.
Julia Deering, John Deering, Thomas Deering, Emily Deering, Eliza-
beth Dolan, and Cornelius Carey.
1867, June 4.— Gottlieb Williams, for the murder of Mrs. Elizabeth H.
Miller.
1867, Aug. 29.— George W. Winnemore, for the murder of Mrs. Dorcas
Magilton.
1869, April 8,— Gerald Eaton, for the murder of Timothy Heenan.
George S. Twitchell, convicted of the murder of Mrs. Mary E. Hill,
his mother-in-law, was sentenced to be hanged April 8, 1869, but took
poison on the morning of that day, and died before the time of execu-
tion.
1871, Feb. 1.— John Hanlon, for the murder of Mary Mohrman.
1875, Jan. 20. — Frederick Heidenhlut, for the murder of Godfrey
Kuehnle.
1877, May 17. — Patrick Qnigley, for the murder of Mrs. Catharine
Quigley, his wife.
1881,Jan. 6.— Daniel F. Sullivan, for the murder of Josephine S.Irviu.
1881, Jan. 6.— Patrick Hayes, for the murder of his wife, Bridget
Hayes.
1884, March 4. — John McGinnis, for the murder of his mother-in-law,
Mrs. Mary Reed.
The House of Correction, — The growing demand
of prison management for available space was ham-
pered to a considerable degree by the increasing num-
ber of prisoners committed for trivial offenses. The
necessity of an intermediate establishment between
an almshouse and a prison was frequently enforced by
the public journals, and occasionally the plan wiis pre-
sented by grand juries. At length the Legislature was
induced to take some action. By act of April 14, 1868,
City Councils were authorized to provide for a house
of correction and employment, and to erect the proper
buildings for the organization and management
thereof. Under this authority Councils passed an
ordinance, Dec. 29, 1870, creating a body to be man-
agers of the House of Correction. In the succeeding
year, June 2d, the Legislature passed an act making
those managers a body politic and corporate, under
the title of "The House of Correction, Eniploymeiit,
and Eeformatian for Adults and Minors in the City
of Philadelphia." Under this act the managers were
empowered to receive all persons who were willing to
be committed for not less than three months, nor
more than twelve ; any persons liable to be com-
mitted to a place of confinement, who might apply
for the purpose ; and also all persons convicted of being
vagrants, drunkards, or disorderly street-walkers ;
also minors not under sixteen years of age " absenting
themselves from school, or who shall disobey their
parents' command, or be found idle in the streets,"
if arrested on complaint of parents, or any citizen ;
provided no boy shall be kept in the House of Cor-
rection beyond twenty-one years of age, or a girl be-
yond the age of eighteen. Provision was made that
every person in the custody of the managers, un-
less disqualified by sickness or casualty, "shall be
employed by the superintendent in quarrying stone,
cultivating the ground, manufacturing such articles
as may be needed for the prison, almshouse, other
public institutions of the State or city, or for other
persons, and at such other labor as shall upon trial be
found to be profitable to the institution and suitable
to its proper discipline and to the health and capacity
of the inmates." Permission was given to employ
inmates under direction of the superintendent out-
side of the grounds of the institution " for any of the
departments or institutions of the city, or for such
other persons as may be approved by the Board of
Managers."
The first board of managers was elected by Councils
in December, 1870, and consisted of A. H. Franciscus
(president), Thomas A. Barlow, William F. Smith,
Samuel Leonard, Samuel Kilpatrick, Samuel C. Wil-
lets, John Fry, William M. Wilson, John Robbins,
Jr., William A. Duff (secretary). A tract of ground
was selected for the erection of the House of Correc-
tion on the west bank of the Delaware River and the
south bank of Pennypack Creek, embracing a tract of
from two hundred to three hundred acres. It was
situate between the river and the State road, and not
far from the Trenton Railroad, so that there was access
by railroad, and, by the building of a wharf upon the
Delaware, there was a convenient landing from the
water. It was expected that a portion of this ground
1838
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
could be employed for farming and other accommo-
dation for industries. On this plot there was com-
menced, in 1871, an extensive range of buildings, the
ground plan of which was something like a letter Y, i
with three cross-pieces below the crotch. The plans |
were tlrawn by James H. Wiudrim, architect, who
superintended the construction until the buildings
were well advanced, after which he was superseded '
by Frank Furness. The builder was Richard J. Dob-
bins. The buildings are of stone. They comprise a
large main edifice, with keeper's residence and offices,
and a central building for correction purposes, with
eight extensive wings. In the centre, high above all,
rises a steep roof-construction, which is visible for a
long distance. It is the Anchor of Hope chapel. Its
floor is on a level with the third-story floors of the
adjacent buildings, and its ceiling is some thirty or
forty feet above. This chapel is conveniently situ-
ated for access from all parts of the building, and it
will hold two thousand five hundred persons. The
hospital-rooms are upon the third story, also a school-
room for boys. Connected with the house are very
extensive kitchens, bakery, store rooms, and shops.
The institution has held more than two thousand
inmates at a time. The men are put to labor in stone-
quarries near by, or to work about the grounds filling
up the low places, cultivating the garden, and gather-
ing ice in the winter. Some of them were occupied !
for several months, about 1879-80, in building the
great levee and embankment upon the Schuylkill,
intended to keep the water from overflowing the low
grounds at the Neck during jrreat freshets in the river.
They were also engaged in the repairing of South
Broad Street, and in 1882 an arrangement was made
by which the labor of the inmates was to be utilized
for finishing the great reservoir for the water-works
in East Fairmouut Park. In the shops of the House
of Correction are made clothing for the inmates, hats,
shoes, etc. Tlie women prisoners work at sewing and
washing. The latter necessity is very extensive, and
sometimes involves the cleansing of seven thousand
pieces a week.
House of Refuge. — The establishment of the House
of Refufie is to be ascribed to the efforts of the Society
for the Alleviation of the Miseries of Public Prisons.
In the course of their experience, closely connected
with the character and weakness of the criminals and
destitute, the members of this society were frequently
and painfully impre.s.sed with the danger to which
youths were exposed when their early associations
were not restrained, and their impulses properly di-
rected. The society considered the matter, and origi-
nated a plan for the establishment of a place of re-
formation for juvenile delinquents. The plan of such
a society had already been demonstraU-d as a neces-
sity in the city of New York. Under this example
the Philadelphia society formulated a plan, and a
meeting of citizens was called at the county court-
house on the 7th of February, 1826, for the purpose
of instituting a society to build and manage a house
of refuge. Chief Justice William Tilghman was
president, and Col. Robert Patterson secretary. Rob-
erts-Vaux read an address in which the part taken
in the movement by the Society for Alleviating the
Miseries of Public Prisons was explained. John Ser-
geant offered a set of resolutions, in which it was
stated that at that time there were sixty persons in
the Walnut Street prison under the age of twenty-
one years. It was resolved that an as.sociation should
be formed, to be called " The House of Refuge for
Juvenile Offenders," and that the Legislature should
be appealed to for a charter. To carry out the measure
a committee was appointed, composed of Joseph R.
Ingersoll, Alderman Abraham Shoemaker, Thomas
Bradford, James C. Biddle, John Swift, Roberts Vaux,
Dr. James Mease, George M. Dallas, and Robert
Wharton. Applicati<m was immediately made to the
Legislature for a charter, and on the 23d of March,
1826, an act of Assembly was passed, the preamble of
which stated that an association of citizens had been
formed in the city and county of Philadelphia for
the humane and laudable i)urpose of reforming ju-
venile delinquents, and separating them from the
society and intercourse of old and experienced of-
fenders, with whom, within the prisons of the said
city, they have heretofore associated, and were thereby
exposed to the contamination of every species of vice
and crime. The members of this society were incor-
porated and made a body politic in law by the name,
style, and title of ihe House of Refuge. Membership
in the corporation was assured to any person who
should pay the sum of two dollars annually during
the time he made such contributions. Any one who
paid ten dollars annually for six years, or fifty dollars
in one sum, would become a member for life. The
directors were twenty-one in number, elected at the
annual meetings. Afterward, in 1832, an act was
passed giving the appointment of two managers to
the mayor of the city, and three to the Court of
Quarter Sessions. The managers were to provide a
suitable building and establish regulations for the re-
ligious and moral education, training, employment,
discipline, and safe-keeping of the inhabitants of the
house. They were entitled to receive at their discre-
tion children taken up or committed as vagrants or
upon any criminal charge, or duly convicted of any
criminal offense upon commission of Court of Oyer
and Terminer, or Court of Quarter Sessions, to which
the Mayor's Court was afterward added, or of alder-
men or justices of the peace, or managers of the
almshouse. There were some changes in these regu-
lations in after-years, the most important of which
gave the managers a right to receive males under
twenty-one years of age, and females under eighteen,
committed by an alderman or justice on complaint of
a parent, guardian, or next friend of children, on
])roof of vagrancy, or incorrigible or vicious conduct.
On the 2d of March, 1827, the Legislature granted
COURT-HOUSES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS.
1839
five thousand dollars immediately and two thousand
five hundred dollars on the Ist of January, 1828, and
a like sum on the 1st of January, 1829, and the
county commissioners were ordered to set aside ten
thousand dollars, to be paid in two installments,
toward the purchase of the site and building of the
house. After that was paid the commissioners were
to pay out of the count)' funds five thousand dollars
a year for keeping of the house, and repairs for five
years. Subsequent appropriations were made in dif-
ferent ways. In 1835 the act in regard to the com-
mission and confinement of infants was amended and
changed in some particulars, and it was directed that
the judges of Common Pleas and the District Court
and the recorder of the city should alternately visit
the house at least once in two weeks to examine into
the commitments and causes, and, if satisfied with
them, to indorse on the commitment of the magistrate
that the infant should continue there or be discharged.
The managers of the society obtained subscriptions
during the year 1826 to the amount of eight thousand
one hundred and four dollars and forty-one cents.
Encouraged by this success and the legislative as-
sistance, they entered into the work. For the pur-
poses of the institution they purchased, for five thou-
sand five hundred dollars, the piece of ground which
had been held for the purposes of the botanic garden.
It was situated at the northwest corner of Ridge road
and Francis' Lane [afterward Coates Street, and now
Fairmount Avenue]. Upon this ground the man-
agers, with excellent discretion to avoid subsequent
trouble in regard to the opening of streets, laid out
an inclosure west of the Ridge road, and on the line
of Schuylkill Eighth [Fifteenth] Street, and extend-
ing to the line of Schuylkill Seventh [Sixteenth].
None of these streets were at that time opened above
Vine or Callowhill Street. The plot taken for the
purpose was four hundred feet in length from east to
west, and two hundred and thirty-one feet in breadth
from north to south. It was inclosed on all sides witli
a stone wall two feet thick and twenty feet high. The
back part of the building was upon Coates Street, but
the unpleasant uniformity in the shape of the wall was
avoided by a rise in the central portion in the shape
of a pediment, which gave to the wall somewhat the
appearance of a front of a large building. There were
tower-like projections at each corner. The wall was
entirely of rough stone. The principal front was upon
the north, and fronted upon a street then called
Howard Street. It was in appearance much like the
wall on Coates Street, except that the central building
rose higher and was of two stories and an attic, and a
large central door. The low towers at each end rose
a few feet above the wall, and were capped with high
roofs. Long narrow windows were opened at dis-
tances along the whole front. The architecture was
simple but substantial. In the main building were
the superintendent's residence, rooms for the managers,
libraries, etc. The dormitories and shops were in
the inclosure. There were winga on each side of the
main building, three stories in height, which con-
tained one hundred and seventy-two cells, four feet
by seven each, for separate lodging-rooms, which
were well lighted and ventilated. The main build-
ing was ninety-two feet front and thirty feet deep.
The workshops were low buildings, running parallel
with the east and west walls. The corner-stone of
the House of Refuge was laid on the 2Ist of June,
1827, and the building was carried on with so much
energy that before the end of the year it was under
roof.
The whole cost of the lot and buildings was $38,-
025.16. The house was exhibited to the public and
formally opened Nov. 29, 1828, by an address by John
Sergeant, the president of the institution. The first
subject committed to the discipline of the house was
received on the 8th of December of the same year.
He was a boy fourteen years of age, and committed
by the maj'or. A library of several hundred volumes
was contributed at an early period, mostly by the book-
sellers of the city. The regulations of the house were
exact. At a quarter before five o'clock in the morn-
ing the bell rang, as a notification to the inmates that
it was time to rise for the day. By five o'clock the
dormitory doors were opened and the inmates sent to
their ablutions, afterward to morning worship, and
then to school. Seven o'clock was the breakfast hour,
and in half an hour they were sent to work. There
they continued until noon, which was the dining
hour. After dinner they heard lessons or lectures
until one o'clock, when they returned to the shops.
At five o'clock they went to supper, after which half
an hour was allowed for recreation or play. School
from half-past five o'clock to a quarter before eight,
followed. Then there were evening prayers. The
boys and girls were sent to bed before eight o'clock,
and the doors locked, and they were left to their
slumbers. On Sundays there was a Sunday-school
and religious services, morning and afternoon. Cler-
gymen of different denominations preached by turns
in the chapels, and the services of the superin-
tendents of the schools were gratuitously given. The
boys were employed at book-binding, shoemaking,
winding bobbins, making brass nails, umbrellas, furni-
ture, cane chair-seats, and bonnet-reeds. The girls
were employed at sewing, knitting, cooking, and
other domestic duties about the establishment.
Some time after the original building was finished
additional cell buildings were erected for girls, and
there were then accommodations for seventy females.
The House of Refuge was in considerable favor for
some years. It was a fact that the expenses of the
almshouse and penitentiary had been reduced after
its establishment. It was asserted that vagrant chil-
dren had become less numerous in the streets, not
merely wanderers, but children who professed to beg
and were ready to steal. The judges of the courts, in
their charges to the grand juries, dwelt upon the
1840
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
advantages of the institution, and the grand juries
made favorable mention. Four thousand six hun-
dred dollars were contributed to the support of the
house by the executors of William Mackenzie, in
1829. Frederick Kohne also made a large bequest
in favor of the institution.
JAMES J. BAKCLAY.
In the courr-e of years the institution became
crowded. There was a difficulty also in regard to the
commitments of colored children. The prejudices of
the white children were very strong against such asso-
ciates, and their feelings at times were unpleasantly
manifested. These circumstances induced the man-
agers at as early a time iis they could arrange to ob-
tain the funds to make preparations for the con-
struction of a building for colored children. A lot
of ground was purchased upon William [Twenty-
fourth] and Parrish Streets, extending to Twenty-
second and to Poplar Streets. Here, upon a lot
four hundred feet by two hundred and ten in width,
the colored department of tlie House of Refuge
was opened on the 1st of January, 1850. The prem-
ises were surrounded by a high wall, and the inte-
rior fitted up with work-shops and other buildings.
This wa" the commencement of a movement to take
the institution from Fifteenth and Coates Streets,
which was fully accomplished in after-years. The
managers built on the eastern portion of the lot,
extending from about the line of Twenty-third to
Twenty-second Streets, the House of Refuge for white
boys. At a later period there was built on the west
side of Twenty -second Street and north side of Poplar
Street, and extending to South College Avenue, a
House of Refuge for girls, in a brick building sepa-
rated from the department for white boys by the
width of Poplar Street. This building is, however,
contlected by a bridge to the building south of it, an
arrangement of convenience to the officers of the in-
stitution. Tins building was dedicated on the 20th
of January, 1872. The property at Fifteenth and
Coates Streets had been disposed of before that time.
James J. Barclay, president of the institution, has
held that position for forty-eight years, and was one
of its founders. On his ninetieth birthday, Jan. 15,
1884, a public reception was given him at the House
of Refuge, a ceremony which was a just tribute to his
arduous and honorable services to that as well as to
other charitable and reformatory institutions. Among
those who on that occasion congratulated him upon
his ripe age, his useful life, and the general esteem in
which he is held by the community, were many of
the leaders of commerce, law, and society in this
great city.
CHAPTER XLV.
riULIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MOXU.MEXTS.
PUBLIC SyDABES AND PARKS.
The title of the city of Philadelphia to the five
public squares within the boundaries of the city, as
originally laid out between Vine and Cedar Streets
and the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, depends,
with the exception of a direct grant by patent of the
Southeast Scjuare for a public burying-ground, upon
a statement issued as the explanation of a ma]). The
earliest known plan is " a portraiture of the City of
Phila. in the Province of Penna. By Thos. Holme,
surveyor General. Sold by Andrew Sowle in Shore
ditch, London." At what time this map was pub-
lished is not known. It might have been in 1682,
but was more probably in 1683. It shows some
things which are evidence that the exact position of
the streams was not clearly understood. For instance,
Dock Creek is represented as discharging itself into
the Delaware between Spruce and Pine Streets. The
Cohoquenoque, or Pegg's Run, is laid down as com-
mencing near the intersection of Arch and Broad,
and flowing northeasterly, crossing Vine Street about
the present intersection of Franklin Street, between
Seventh and Eighth, and so bending northeasterly to
the Delaware, which it enters at about the right po-
sition. While a portion of this course was correct,
that which gave it rise at Broad and Arch Streets
was wrong. Broad Street on this ina|i is the twelfth
street from the Delaware, there being eleven i>arallel
streets on each side of it between the Delaware and the
Schuylkill. The Centre Square is laid down at the in-
tersection of Twelfth Street and Market Street. Four
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1841
smaller squares, with trees upon them to show their
uses, are also marked. One, afterward called South-
east and then Washington Square, commenced at the
southwest corner of the sixth street from the Delaware
and the street afterwards known as Walnut Street. It
was a perfect square. It extended on Walnut Street
beyond Seventh Street, and about half the way to
Eighth Street. Southward it ran toward Spruce
Street, which it did not touch, but extended about
three-fourths of the distance to the latter. It was,
therefore, only bounded by two streets, and it closed
up the passage on Seventh Street entirely. The dis-
tance from Walnut to Spruce is greater than between
any other two streets running east and west in the old
city. The actual reason of the width is that Dock
Creek (although this plan does not show it) entered
the Delaware north of Spruce Street, and just where
any street laid immediately adjacent to the southern
boundary of the Southeast Square would have come
out. To avoid this. Spruce Street was jilaced far
enough south of the square to secure a clear passage.'
The Northeast Square was situate upon Sixth Street,
between Race and Vine Streets, and along the two
latter, crossing Seventh and about half-way to Eighth
Street. The Southwest Square upon this plan is laid
down between the sixth [Seventeenth] and eighth
[Fifteenth] streets from the Schuylkill. It extended
eastward from Schuylkill Sixth, and crossed and
blocked up Schuylkill Seventh [Sixteenth] Street.
It was bounded by the accessible streets Schuylkill
Sixth and Walnut, and occupied relatively the same
position as the Southeast Square.
The Northwest Square was bounded on the west by
Schuylkill Sixth [Seventeenth] Street, and on the
north and south by Vine and Sassafras Streets. It
extended across Schuylkill Seventh, and half-way to
Schuylkill Eighth Streets. These squares upon the
plan appear to be of the same size, but by survey some
difference is now shown. The Southeast Square is 540
feet north and south by 540 feet 4 inches east and
west, and contains six acres and two roods. The
Northeast Square is 632 feet north and south by 543
feet 6 inches east and west, and contains seven acres
and three roods. The Southwest Square is 540 feet
4 inches north and south by 540 feet 4 inches east
and west. The Northwest Square is 632 feet north
and south by 540 feet east and west, and contains
seven acres and three roods.
It will be observed from this statement that the two
western squares were not intended to be situate where
they are now. They were at some time after the
" portraiture" was published moved westward, so
that their eastern boundaries were upon Schuylkill
Fifth [Eighteenth] Street, and they extended west-
wardly, crossing Schuylkill Fourth [Nineteenth]
1 The dJEtance from Walnut to Spruce Street is seven hundred and
seventy feet. The distance from Chestnut to Walnut Street is four hun-
dred and seventy feet. The square from Race to Vine Street is six
hundred and thirty-two feet.
Street, nearly to Schuylkill Third [Twentieth] Street.
When this alteration was made is not exactly known.
It must have been within a year or two after the " por-
traiture" was published. Within about two or three
years afterward it is supposed that Holme issued "a
mapof the improved parts of Pennsilvania, in America,
begun by Wil. Penn, proprietary and Governor
thereof in 1681." It contains plans of the three
counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, as far
as then surveyed and laid out. Unfortunately, there
is nothing upon it to show the date of its publication.
There is a letter from Philip Ford, in London, dated
21st of the 1st month, 1684-85 (probably March 21,
1685), in which he says, " As for the map of the city
it was needful that it should be printed. It will do
us a kindness, as we were to loss for something to show
the people." Mr. Reed assumes that the map thus
referred to was the " portraiture," which he says was
published by Mr. Penn's printer, of the Shoreditch
(Andrew Sowle). If this supposition is correct, the
" portraiture" could not have been published until
some time in 1685.
Mr. Reed says that the plan of the city. Broad
Street being the twelfth street from each river, etc.,
was altered by Benjamin Eastburn when he was ap-
pointed surveyor-general ; but this must be a mistake,
as Eastburn was appointed Oct. 29, 1733. There is
on record a certificate of warrant and survey to An-
thony Burgess from Thomas Holme, surveyor-general,
dated 25th of the Eighth month (October), 1684, for a
lot of ground " situate between the eighth street from
Schuylkill and the Broad Street on the eastward,"
showing that Broad Street was the next street east
of Schuylkill Eighth (now Fifteenth) Street at that
early time. There is a record of survey made Oct. 9,
1684, and recorded April 11, 1687, for a lot to Josiah
Elfreth, " bounded eastward by the Market Square,
and westward by the eighth street from Schuylkill,"
and of a warrant and survey for lot adjoining, between
the same streets, to William Dilwyn, surveyed Nov.
29, 1684, and recorded 29th of June, 1686. Market
Square seems to have been the original name given
to the ground at the intersection of Market anij Broad
Streets, afterward called Centre and Penn Square.
If there was a dedication of the ground of the
public squares to tlie use of the city, it was never
made by formal warrant or patent. Holme's por-
traiture was accompanied with " a short advertise-
ment upon the scituation and extent of the city of
Phila." It was in illustration and explanation
of the small map, or portraiture, and is written in
the third person, and not in the name of William
Penn. Thus it is said, " the Governor, as farther
manifestation of his kindness to the purchasers, hath
freely given them theire respective lotts in the city
without defalcation of any of theire quantities of pur-
chased lands, etc. . . . The city is so ordered now by
ye Governor's care and prudence, that it hath a front
to each river. . . . The city, as the nioddell shews,
1842
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
consists of a large front street to each river, and a
High Street near the midel from front or River front,
of 100 foot broad, and a Broad Street in the middle
of ye city, from side to side, of the like bredth. In
the center of the city is a square of 10 acres. At
each angle are to be houses for publick atiairs, as a
Meeting-House, Assembley or State House, Market
House, School House, and severall buildings for
public concerns. There are also in each quarter of
ye city a square of 8 acres, to be for the like uses as
the moorfields, in London." These statements, made
apparently by Holme, are all that there is to. show
that the Centre Square, and the Northeast, Northwest,
Southeast, and Southwest Squares were dedicated to
public use by William Penn. Legally there is no
doubt of the title of the city, which has been con-
firmed by decision of the Supreme Court.
Centre or Penn Square. — The square in the cen-
tre of the city was designed, it will be observed, to
be occupied at each angle with houses for public af-
fairs. In the large map of Pennsylvania, by Holme,
this proposed disj)Osition of the inclosure is made
very apparent in the plan of the city drawn on the
margin. There is a rectangular house with a steeple
and weather-cock planted in the middle of the square
at the intersection, and near the corners are four
smaller buildings. In Auirust, 1684, the Quarterly
Meeting of Philadelphia agreed that a meeting-house
should be built in the Centre Square, to be of brick,
sixty feet long and forty broad. In 1686 there was a
disposition to change the dimensions to fifty feet long
and forty-six feet wide, but Robert Turner, in a letter
to William Penn, Aug. 30, 1685, published in the
second account of Pennsylvania, says. —
" We are now laying the foundation of a new brick
meeting-house in the Centre (sixty feet long and
about forty feet broad) and hope soon to have it up,
there being many hearts and hands at work that will
do it." It is not known how long this meeting-house
was in use.
The yearly fairs established shortly after the settle-
ment were held most probably in the eastern part of
the city. As they were occasions of great gatherings
of people to the benefit of business, it was natural
that there should be some competition for the benefit
of having them near certain places. In April, 1688,
the Provincial Council received " The Petition of the
inhabitants at ye Center of Philadelphia, Requesting
ye fayr to be kept there;" answered, " The next fayr
will be granted to be kept at ye center." The propo-
sition did not meet with the approval of the persons
who had been benefited by the previous holding of
fairs in the eastern neighborhoods. They went so far
a.t to print something in the shape of a handbill, per-
haps in reference to the presumption of the Centre
Square people in asking that a fair should be held
away from the town. The attention of the Council
was drawn to tliis matter on the 16th of May, in the
same vear. " A summons was sent. Directed to Thos.
ClyfiFord, messenger, for the summonsing ye Sub-
scribers of a Contemptuous Printing Paper, touching
ye keeping of ye fair at ye Centre, where it was or-
deretl by ye Govr. and Council to be kept." The
messenger made return the next day that he had sum-
moned " the subscribers of ye contemptuous i)rinted
advertismt. . . . Several of ye subscribers Excusing
themselves. The Depty Govr. and Council, after Re-
proveingthem, did pardon all those who subscribed to
what was endorsed on ye back of one of ye printed
papers." Two days afterward it was ordered that
inasmuch as the practice was to hold the fairs on the
latter days of the sitting of the General Assembly, it
was found that the public business of the govern-
ment was impeded. For this reason it was ordered
that the fair should be kept hereatter on the 20th of
May ; " and it is further Ordered yt an Additional fayr
be kept at Phila. at ye Centre to be held the 30th day
of ye next Sixth Month" (August). In May, 1698,
the Assembly voted '" that the Fair at the Centre of
Philaddpliia is of little Service, but rather of ill Ten-
dency. It was put to the vote that the same may be
recommended to the Governor and Council, to " put
the said Fair down." The reply of Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor William Markham to the request of the Assem-
bly is thus stated in the Council minutes : " To ye
sd, that the Centre Fair was a nusance, hce told ym
yt he wold Leave yt to the care of ye justices of ye
peace." It is likely that the " Fair at the Centre" was
suppressed about that time, since no subsequent refer-
ence to it has been observed.
Centre Square remained without any inclosure for
more than one hundred years. The short-cut from
Market Street east to Market Street west went
through it, and if there was auy necessity of passing
by the line of Broad Street the way ran straight
from north to south. In 1799 it was determined to
construct the city water-works for the supply of the
inhabitants from the Schuylkill River. The pumping
works were at Chestnut Street Wharf, Schuylkill, and
the Centre Square was chosen as the situation for
another pumping house and reservoir. The works
went into operation in January, 1801. The Centre
House, with its pillared portico and dome, was long a
conspicuous object, and could be seen upon Market
Street anywhere between Broad Street and the Dela-
ware. Gradually the grounds were laid out in circu-
lar shape, fenced in with wooden pickets, which were
neatly painted white. The streets were continued
around the inclosure as far north as the line of Fil-
bert Street, and southward to Olive Street. The
ground was planted in gra.ss and with trees, and in
1809 the great attraction of the fountain with the
figures of a nymph and a swan were added. They
were placed upon a mound of stone in front of the
main entrance to the central building, and were
exceedingly attractive for a long time.
After the .square had ceased to be used by Friends
for their meetings, it wiis for many years a mere com-
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1843
mon, and the owners of fast horses gradually put it
to the uses of a race-course. The earliest notice of
this disposition of the ground appeared in 1760, when
it was advertised that by subscription a " piece of
plate (about £50 value) would be run for at the
Centre House, near Philadelphia." The races were
nominally two-mile heats, best three in five, but as
twice around the track was considered a mile the j
distance was actually short. A gallery for spectators '
was erected by a man named Wilson, who charged
seven shillings sixpence for admission. In 1761 two
days, and in 1764 four days, were devoted to the races.
A jockey club was formed in 1767, and the four days i
of racing were given under its auspices. i
Among the events was a gentleman's subscription- ]
owner of "Creeping Kate" and "Northumberland."
" Angelica" contested in fleetness with " Regulus"
and " Billy." Very properly the ladies' purse of fifty
pounds was won by " Lady Legs." The races were
continued at the Centre Square probably up to the
Revolution. , The Jockey Club, in 1773, offered the
Whim plate and the Ladies' plate to winning horses,
and the result of the races was duly reported for the
information of the public. For many years Cen-
tre Square was the common hanging-ground of the
city and county. Convictions, with capital punish-
ment, were, before the Revolution, frequent; and the
gallows was probably a permanent fixture for many
years. This use may have continued up to the time
when the Centre House was erected for the use of the
CENTRE OR PENN SQUARE.
[Site of the new City Hall, 1884.]
purse of one hundred guineas, four-mile heats, a
sweepstake for all horses owned twelve months by
the persons entering them, a fox-hunt, and a brilliant
assembly, for a purse of fifty pounds given by ladies,
and a watch for a vintners' and innholders' purse of
fifty pounds. " Jockeys," the directions stated, were
" to appear with neat waistcoat, cap, and top-boots.
There will be ordanaries every day, and it seems to
be the intention of Gentlemen to dine togather, as is
the custom in England, rather than be divided by
private engagements." In 1770 the Jockey Club
purse of three hundred pounds was won by James
De Lancey's horse " Lath." The names of the horses
were very much like those chosen by sportsmen of
the present day. The Hon. Horatio Sharp was the
water-works. During the period of the Revolutionary
war Centre Square and the common in the neigh-
borhood were the ordinary grounds for company and
regimental drill and exercise. Reviews were held
there in the early part of the Revolution by various
high military ofiicers. In 1783 the French army,
under Count Rochambeau, six thousand strong, on
their way out Market Street to Yorktown, encamped
at Centre Square and on the common. They pitched
their tents, kindled their camp-fires, and attracted as
visitors thousands of the people of the city, who
wondered at the brilliancy of the white and pink
uniforms and the strange appearance of the foreign
soldiers, whose language few could understand.
Gen. Wayne also encamped there on his return
1844
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
from the Western expedition against the Indians. It
was the parade-ground of McPherson's Blues and
Shee's Legion. Dunlap's company (the First City
Troop), Capt. John Morrell's Volunteer Green Cav-
alry, the Second Troop, under Capt. Thomas Cad-
walader, and many other organization* — Fencibles,
Kangers, Fusileers, Guards, Blues, Grays, Greens,
artillerists, cadets, horse infantry, and pikemen — exer-
cised in the neighborhood.
After the Revolution the Centre Square was the
place of interest when the volunteer and militia
paraded. On the 4th of July, for many years, tents,
booths, and stands were set up there, for the sale of
eatables, such as pickled oysters, cakes, gingerbread,
spruce beer, porter, ale, strong beer, and in some
places the fiery liquors, gin, rum, Scotch or Irish
whiskey. The American whiskey distilled from wheat
or rye was scarcely known in those days. In time
these assemblages became a great nuisance, and Zach-
ariah Poulson, in the Daili/ Ailveriiser of July 4, 1821,
printed the following expressions of righteous indig-
nation :
"Centre Square boa too often on Ibis day been disreputably tltstin-
guisbed. Petty gambling establisbnieuta abound there in the open day,
to which apprentice-boys and otliers are enticed. Tliey there become
initiated in the wretclied school of gambling, and may possibly, at a
future period, trace their ruin to the deviations at Centre Square. Some
of the harpies well known in the city were on the ground with their
tables yesterday afternoon, pursuing their abominable vocation ; should
they return to-day lot au example be made of them.*'
This remonstrance may have produced some imme-
diate effects, but in the succeeding years the evil was
renewed. Mayor Robert Wharton determined, in
1823, to put an end to the disgraceful scenes which
had occurred for so long at Centre Square on Inde-
pendence day. Shortly before the 4th of July he
issued a proclamation, in which he said, —
"The scones of debauchery, gambling, and drunkenness, with many
other acta of excess and riots which unnniiHy take place on the 4th of
July, in and about the booths, tents, and other unlawful restaurants on
the public streets and grounds of the city, have for years past been to
the mayor, and haa, no doubt, been to many other citizens, a source of
deep regret ; and aa his military brethren, who assemtile underarms to
celebrate the anniversary of our independence, remain but for a short
period on the parade, and can obtain refreshments from sources less im-
pure, he confidently hopes that the prohibition about to be enforced
will not be inconvenient to tbem, but that they will see the propriety
of banishing from our city limits causes of such ruinous effect to the
morals and future usefulness of the rising generation."
The mayor therefore forbade the erection of the
booths and tents on Centre Square, but the liquor-
sellers and gamblers removed to Bush Hill, where they
soon became more objectionable than ever.
The engine-house in Centre Square ceased to be
useful for the ])urpose originally designed when the
water-works at Fairmount were fully established.
After 1823 the Centre House, as it was usually called,
served no other i)urpose than a place of storage for oil,
necessary to Ite used in the |)ublic lamps. There
was at one time a movement to grant the use of the
building to the American Pliilosophical Society as an
astronomical observatorj-, but for some reason, prob- i
ably lack of funds for suitable instruments, the matter
fell through.
About the year 1828 an agitation commenced, prin-
cipally under the influence of flour, grain, and liquor-
dealers, on Market Street west of Broad, to have the
Centre House removed, on the plea that it was an
obstruction to business, and this was done. By reso-
lution of the Councils, (m May 19, 1829, the name of
the inclosure was changed to Peiin S<iuare, and on
Aug. 28, 1828, Mr. Toland, chairman of the Council
committee, reported that they had directed the city-
commissioner to take down the fence and remove the
rubbish fi-om the square. In accordance with resolu-
tions of Councils, numerous of the tall trees were cut
down, and Broad Street and Market Street were car-
ried through the inclosuie, which thus was divided
into four small jiarks, bounded on the exterior by
Juniper, Oak, Filbert, and Olive Streets, surrounded
by picket-fences, and having two rows of trees on the
sidewalks. When the Boston City Guards visited
Philadelphiaaboutl833, they camped on the Southwest
Penu Square, and many years afterward the Pennsyl-
vania Horticultural Society held an exhibition on the
southeast squai-e, in tents. In 1852 Councils pa.ssed
an ordinance that an iron railing or fence be erected
around Penn Square, of a suitable height trom the
jjavement, and secured in and resting upon a stone
liasenicnt.
The ground originally embraced in Centre Square
was not bounded liy any stieet, and the " square" was
in reality a circle. When it was inclosed as a portion
of the water-works, thoroughfares were oi>ened around
it. It is not easy to fix the date of the establishment
of Juniper Street and Filbert Street.'
Regarding the streets on the south and west of the
Penn Squares, it appears that on May 11, 1846, Coun-
cils authorized the mayor "to cause to be laid off, and
marked out with stakes or otherwise, two passages or
strips of giouiid, each of fifty feet in width, one of
them over and along the western edge or boundary of
Penn Square, the whole length of the square from
north to south ; the other over and along the south edge
or boundary thereof the whole length from ea.st to
west, and also to cause so much of the whole eastern
edge or boundary of said square to be marked off
agreeably to the afore-said plan, ns will make the
wiilth of. funiper Street along the said eastern bound-
ary to be fifty feet." From this it appears that
Juniper Street was narrower than the described width,
probably of the same width as is now occupied by
that street above and below the square, forty feet.
The southern street, which was called Olive Street,
> The enlarged plan of the city on Clarkson Ic Diddle's map (1702) ex-
tends from the Delaware no farther west than Kighth Street. On its
margin is aamall plat of the city, which presenta Centre Square as a rec-
tangular Inclosure at Market and Hroad Streets, but with no designated
street around it. On Varhi's map, i>ublished subsequent tu 1790 and
before 18(H), the public square is bounded on the east by a small street
(Juniper), and on the north hy Filbert, but no streets are Indicated on
the southern and western faces.
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1845
and the western street, called Oak Street [afterward
Merrick Street], were taken entirely from the ground
of Peun Square, thus reducing considerably the size
of that inclosure.
Southeast or Washington Square.— After the
Southeast Square was abauddned as a burial-ground,
about 1794-95, years elapsed before any attempt was
made for its improvement. In 1802 a petition was
presented to City Councils asking that thirty feet of
Potter's Field, on the south side of Walnut Street,
should be taken out of the inclosure, and that two
rows of trees be planted in addition to the row already
there. The committee to which the subject was re-
ferred, made report that they had viewed the ground,
that in their opinion " public walks in a city" were
very desirable, and that the prayer iif the petitioners
ought to be granted. They recommended that a fence
should be set on the west side of Sixth Street, five feet
within the row of trees, and that another row of trees
should be planted there ; also that the wooden build-
ings at Sixth and Walnut Streets, used by the city
commissioners, be removed to the corner of Seventh
Street (probably the southwest corner), and that the
corners should be rounded, commencing at the dis-
tance of one hundred feet from the corner on each
side. Three years afterward a proposition was made
that a public market-house be built on the Southeast
Square, but it was never carried into effect, although a
general permission for the erection of market-houses
was given the municipality by the act of the Legisla-
ture, March 19, 1804.
In November, 1805, it was directed by Councils that
in order to complete the improvements of the square
the city commissioner should erect side-walls to it,
and cover the little stream crossing it diagonally from
Walnut to Sixth Street to the distance of thirty-five
feet south from Walnut Street, and lay the bottom
with condemned logs, or cover or arch the same, so
that the flow of water be not impeded. Another
effort to obtain possession of the ground was made
about the same time by the University of Pennsyl-
vania, which solicited permission to erect a building
in the square for the accommodation of their medical
school. This request was not granted.
In 1813, under the authority of City Councils, an
advertisement appeared in the Aurora, requesting
proposals for the renting of the southeast square and
the lots on Lombard Street between Ninth and Elev-
enth, south side, as pasture grounds during the
pleasure of Councils. In 1816 it was ordered that
the city carpenter-shop on Locust Street should be
removed to Lombard Street, and the rubbish used to
fill up the square. In the previous year Councils
adopted a resolution that as soon as the owners and
occupiers of property in the vicinity of the Southeast
Public Square would pay fifteen hundred dollars into
the city treasury a culvert should be built in the
square, and the paving-stones, lumber, and dirt
should be removed from the line of Seventh Street.
An open fence was to be put upon the Seventh
Street front, and the other fences around the square
were to be repaired. Before that time and for some
years the ground on the line of Seventh Street and
west of it had been used as a cattle-market. The oc-
cupants of the fine houses on Sansom Row found this
to be a great nuisance. Councils ordered, in May,
1815, that the cattle-market should cease at that
place, and it was transferred to the hay-market, in
Sixth Street, above Callowhill. In the succeeding
year (1816) it was resolved that the square should be
fenced in according to the boundaries in the patent.
A space for a street was left on the west side, ex-
tending from Walnut Street southward, which was
named by Councils Columbia Avenue. In the same
year Mr. Learning, of Select Council, proposed that
the four squares should be named for Washington,
Franklin, Columbus, and Penn, but he did not desig-
nate the squares to which each title should be given.
It was part of his plan that in each square there
should be erected a statue in bronze of the distin-
guished character after whom the inclosure was to
be named. Common Council agreed to this plan,
but Select Council did not concur. Nine years after-
ward the proposition to give new names to the squares
was more favorably received, and by ordinance of
May 9, 1825, the Southeast Square received the name
of Washington Square. Within a year or two after-
ward the improvements were sufliciently advanced to
permit the opening of this square for public use.
George Bridport, artist and engineer, was intrusted
with the task of laying out the square for public use
about the year 1817 or 1818, and Andrew Gillespie,
gardener, superintended the planting of the trees.
For several years the ground was inclosed with a
white paling fence. In 1831 a committee of the
Horticultural Society of Pennsylvania, in its report
of the gardens in tlie neighborhood of Philadelphia,
described Washington Square as follows:
" It is situated south of Walnut, and above Sixth Street, in the south-
easteru part of the city, and contains eiglit acres, alt scientifically in-
teraecterl with very handsome and spacious wall<8. The figure of the
whole is aa follows: Foul" diagonal walks, thirty feet wide, leading to a
circular plot in the centre of one hundred and twenty feet diameter.
Around this is a walk forty feet wide, and another circular walk twenty
feet wide extends to within tweiity-flTe feet of the side of tlie square.
Where this walk intersects the diagonal are circular plots thirty-five
feet in diameter, thus forming a handsome recreative and interesting
promenade amongst fifty varieties of trees, seven of which are European
and forty-three native, a large proportion of which are from distant parts
of the Union. Blany ot the Acers are very handsome trees, ns also sev-
eral varieties of Pi-unus ; two of the latter were introduced by Lewis and
Clark from the Rocky Mountains. The one is conspicuous for its foliage
and fruit; the other, called ^tirft-sccnted cherry, has very large racemose
spikes of fragrant flowers, ana is much admired for its beauty ; the
majestic Aila7Uhui^, with several varieties of Pines and Cypri'ss, all of
the first and second class of trees, and admired for their foliage, tlowei-s,
and shade. Hence instruction with respect to our own productions is
placed before the public, and at the same time it is ascertained what
trees are best adapted to our immediate climate, salubrity is diffused
througitout the neighborhood and to the city generally, and recreation
afforded to the assiduous citizen, where he may view four hundred trees
in the midst of a populous and busy city. These trees are in a very
healthy and thriving condition, and well trained by Mr. Andrew Gilles-
1846
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
pie, who is a judicious arborist. . . . Tlie whole is beautifully kept, and
well illuminated at uight with reflecting lamps till ten o'clock, all
showing the correct and liberal spirit of our city."
After the centennial celebration of Washington's
birthday, in 1832, the feeling that there should be
erected a monument to his memory was greatly
increased, subscriptions were taken up, and the gen-
tlemen who had charge of the business were so much
encouraged that it w^as believed that, if the corner-
stone of a monument was laid with public ceremonies,
the people would feel assured that the structure would
be built, and that there would be no trouble afterward
in obtaining subscriptions. The most suitable place
for the erection of such a monument was considered
to be Washington Square, and on Feb. 19, 1833,
Councils passed an ordinance authorizing the erec-
tion of the monument in that square, the plan to be
submitted to and approved by Councils. The desire
was that the corner-stone should be laid on the 22d
of February, but the ordinance was passed at such a
short time previously that there was not time to
arrange the details of the procession and to make it
as large and imposing a.s it should have been. The
military portion, under Maj.-Gen. Patterson, was the
most interesting part of the parade. There were
three troops of cavalry, five companies of artillery,
and ten companies of infantry. The tradesmen
turned out slimly. The marble masons had pre-
pared the corner-stone in the procession of 1832.
They marched after the wagon on which the gift was
drawn by four white horses. The hatters, agricul-
turists, and gardeners, tin-plate workers, tobacconists,
journeymen cabinet-makers, silver-plate workers, cord-
wainers, saddlers, and the Youths' Library and Liter-
ary Association took part in the civic procession. The
place fixed for the reception of the corner-stone was
in the middle of the centre plot. In making the
excavation for the purpose, some of the mouldering
relics of the old Potter's Field were disturbed. The
mayor of the city was chief marshal of the proces-
sion. A prayer was ofi'ered by the Rt. Rev. Bishop
White. Dr. W. C. Draper, on behalf of the Wash-
ington Monument Association, delivered the intro-
ductory address, and the oration was pronounced by
David Paul Brown. The corner-stone was then, with
due ceremonies, placed upon the foundation and cov-
ered up, and there has since remained, the monument
never having been built.'
> The following articles were deposited In the stone at that time :
1. A neat copy containing the Constitution of the United States, and
of the State of Pennsylvania, with the names of the executive officers,
members of Congress, the executive ofllcers of the State, and of the
corporation of the city of Philadelphia, and an almanac fur 1833. Pre-
sented by Isaac Klllot, Esq.
2. A copy of the oration on the death of Charles Carroll of Carrollton,
by John Sergeant, E*<q. I'resented by Isaac Elliot, Esq.
3. A description of the centennial procession as it occurred In 1832.
4. An emblematical sketch of the centennial celebration. By William
J. Mullen, l->^i.
6. Washington's Farewell Address on satin. Presented by the com-
mittee of arrmngements.
An ordinance to authorize the lighting of Wash-
ington Square by gas was passed in August, 1837,
and it was subsequently inclosed by an iron palisade.
Within the past two years this railing has been taken
down, a large number of the trees have been removed,
and flag-stone walks have superseded the gravel paths.
Northeast or Franklin Square. — This square re-
mained an open irround for many years after it had
been dedicated to the city by the proprietary. If
Councils believed it to be of any value, no measure
was taken to exercise authority over it. A minute of
Council, dated April 21, 1721, indicates that it was
leased to Ralj)h Assheton "for 21 years, at the rate of
40 shillings per annum, to be paid to the corporation,
to commence March 25, 1724, which is agreed to by
this board, he leaving the same at the expiration of
said time well and sufficiently fenced in with good
rails and cedar posts." It is not clear under this
minute whether Assheton's leiisewasto run from 1721
or 1724, but possibly the fencing of the square was
considered equivalent to three years' rent, after which
the money compensation mightbe fairly asked. Asshe-
ton must have abandoned the lease, as on June 1,
1741, Thomas Penn issued a warrant to Benjamin East-
burn, Surveyor-General, which recited, " Whereas,
Philip Boehni and Jacob Seigel have requested that
we would be i)leased to grant them to take up in trust,
to and for the use of the German Congregation in the
city of Philadelphia, a vacant lot or piece of ground
within our said city, situate between the Sixth and
Seventh Streets, bounded northward by Vine Street,
eastward and westward by vacancies, and southward
by the ends of Sassafras Street lots, containing in
length north and south 306 feet and in breadth east
and west 150 feet, for which they agree to pay for our
use the sum of £50, together with the yearly quit-rent
of 5 shillings sterling or the value of the said quit-
rent, the coin current," etc. The German congrega-
tion spoken of was that of the German Reformed
Church, of which the jiastor was John Philip Boehm,
who preached alternately in Philadelphia, German-
town, and Whitpaine.
The Penn family had no moral or legal right to
grant the property, but the congregation neverthe-
less went into possession of the square, which they at
once began to use as a burying-ground.
In 1745 thirteen pounds was paid to the receiver-
general for four years' interest and four years' quit-
6. A beautiful specimen of an Anthracite case, inclosing a portrait of
Gen. Washington in 1797. Presented by the Messrs, Eerks.
7. A silver medul, struck off during the centennial procession, and
presented by the gold and silver artificers for the corner-stone.
8. Several specimens of composition coin. Presented by Mr. William
Robinson.
9. Several specimens of copper coin. By several citizens, of the years
1771-72,1771,1791, 1797, etc.
10. A print representing the Surrender at Yorktown, and a full statue
of Gen. Washington.
11. Several newspapers of the day.
12. The programme of ttio procession for laying the corner-stone.
By the committee of arrangements.
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
184T
rent. In December, 1763, John Penn was paid £189
Id., in full, for the lot, and a patent was issued on the
14th of December. The ground chosen by the congre-
gation was one hundred and fifty feet in width on Vine
Street. It was taken out of the middle of the square,
leaving vacancies on each side, so that the eastern and
western boundaries were about at equal distance from
Sixth Street and from the western boundary of the
lot, no street then being open on that side. The
depth (three hundred and six feet) extended less
than half a square toward Race Street, where it was
bounded by what the Penns called the back end of
Race Street lot, meaning the back ends of the ground
which they would have been willing to sell as build-
ing lots. During the Revolution the military author- '
ities erected on this square the public magazine or
powder-house. In November, 1782, the German Re-
formed congregation presented a petition to the As-
sembly, stating that for fifty years it had been using
a lot on the south side of Vine Street, between Sixth
and Seventh, for the purposes of a burial-ground;
that, owing to the increase of the congregation, it
had often happened that encroachments were made
on other lots in the said ground for the purpose of
burying the dead, and they asked leave to bring in a
bill to vest a portion of the square in the congregation
as a place of interment. The Assembly did not grant
this request, and in 1797 City Councils, acting on the
opinion that the deed to the German congregation
by Thomas Penn was illegal, passed a resolution that
suit be instituted for the recovery and possession of
the ground. This order was not complied with, and
two years later another of the same purport was
adopted. It might have been because of the repre-
sentations made to the Assembly that the burying-
ground on the Northeast Square was filled, that a
grant was made on Feb. 19, 1800, to the German Re-
formed congregation of a lot, bounded on the south
by Mulberry [Arch] Street, on the east by Schuyl-
kill Sixth [Seventeenth | Street, on the north by
Cherry, and on the west by Schuylkill Fifth [Eigh-
teenth] Street. This lot was much larger than was
needed by the congregation, so that more jirofit was
made by the sale of a portion of it. The burial-
ground was laid out on the east side of the ground,
extending from Arch to Cherry Street on the west
side of Schuylkill Sixth Street, and was about one
hundred feet in width.
The city closely pressed its suit in relation to
Franklin Square, and in February, 1801, it was
agreed, on the part of Councils, to discontinue it
upon the following conditions :
"let. That the congregation yield possession of aU of the square in
which interments had not been made.
"2d. If they will accept a lease from the corporation of that part of
the lot in which interments are made, but for which they hold no patent.
"3d, That they do not erect buildings on the lot for which they have
a patent, and length of possession is to be no bar to the city's rights."
In August it was reported that this agreement had
been signed.
118
At this time John M. Irwin, auctioneer, was in pos-
session of the western side of the square for the use
of a horse and cattle market, and was at the same
time carrying on the business at the Southeast
Square. He generally held one sale during the
week at each location.
During the war with Great Britain, especially in
the year 1814, the City Councils, finding that there
was not room sufficient for the drilling of volun-
teer companies, passed a resolution in September,
" That all the uninclosed part of Northeast Public
Square, east of Seventh Street and south of the oil-
house, be cleared off as far as the same is not in-
closed, and that the militia, or any company thereof,
or any military association shall be permitted to drill
or parade on said open ground when cleared."
In September, 1815, Councils passed a resolution
that the Northeast Public Square should be inclosed.
It was recommended shortly afterward that the high
parts of the ground should be plowed down, that
earth should be laid over the lower portions, that
grass-seed be sown, and the square planted with
forest-trees, and that there should be other improve-
ments under the direction of the city commissioner.
Under the compromise made between the city and
the German Reformed congregation, in 1801, a lease
was executed for fifteen years, and when it expired
the congregation was anxious for renewal. In the
memorial sent to Council it was asked that the lease
should be renewed for ninety-nine years, but the com-
mittee to which the subject was referred was not will-
ing to allow the disfigurement of the ground for nearly
three generations. The answer to the request for a
very long lease was the brief recommendation that a
lease be executed for two years and four months from
the 20th of September, with a proviso that the con-
gregation must first agree to put up an open painted
fence, corresponding with that on the other portion
of the square, and inclosing the ground which they
claim, within eight months. The congregation would
not accede to those conditions, and held out strongly
in favor of a ninety-nine years' lease. In 1819 a cul-
vert was ordered to be built in the Northeast Square,
to commence on Race Street, about sixty-five feet west
of Delaware Seventh Street, and to run diagonally
across the square to Sixth Street. Whether this cul-
j vert went through the burying-ground is a matter of
conjecture. In the same year Councils ordered the
j city commissioners to open a street, fifty feet in
1 width, on the western boundary of the Northeast
Public Square, to connect Race and Vine Streets.
After it was opened sufliciently for carriages to pass,
\ it was ordered that Seventh Street should be closed
in such a way as to make the square entire. Before
that time there had been an ordinary passage direct
on the line of Seventh Street. The proposition ex-
cited considerable indignation among citizens, and
some of them commenced proceedings in the Court
of Quarter Sessions to procure the opening of Seventh
1848
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Street again. This att«iiipt having failed, a bill was
introduced into the Legislature, in 1823, directing that
Seventh Street should be carried through the square,
but it was not adopted. The Reformed congregation
having refused to take a short lease of the ground held
by them in the square, a peremptory order was issued
by Councils, in 1821, that the congregation should
vacate the square altogether.
In 1835 a strong effort was made to induce City
Councils to purchase the right of the German Re-
formed congregation in the burying-grouud. . There
was a disposition to pay the congregation for the re-
linquishment of its right, but the negotiation was not
successful. In Common Council motions to pay the
congregation fifty thousand dollars, with amendments
naming lesser sums, were defeated. It was held by
some members that the priee was entirely too high.
Common Council finally agreed to oft'er the congre-
gation thirty-five thousand dollars, but Select Coun-
cil would not agree. The suit was then proceeded
with, and the result was a decision by the Supreme
Court that the congregation had no right; that the
original dedication by William Penn to the city was
a complete act, and that the grant in 1741 by Gov-
ernor Thomas Penn, and subsequent proceedings,
were illegal, the Penn family having no title. The
congregation sadly relinquished the property. The
fence was torn down, and the gravestones were par-
tially removed, but many of them were laid a few
feet below the surface of the earth on the tops of the
graves. Some of the bodies were removed, but the
greater portion of the remains were undisturbed.
The grassy mounds were leveled down, the surface
was in some places raised, and in others where the
ground was inclined to be hilly they were leveled, and
the appearance of the burial-ground plot was made to
conform with that of the remainder of the square.
The walks were extended, trees were planted, and in
a few years all traces of the old graveyard were lost.'
The unfortunate dispute was finally settled by the
decision of the court ; but after the city took posses-
sion of the ground a feeling of regret over the contro-
versy had something to do with promoting a spirit of
liberality in favor of the congregation. Two years
after the final judgment the Councils passed a resolu-
tion remitting a claim for costs. An additional reso-
lution was passed, ofiering the congregation five thou-
sand dollars, on condition that they would relinquish
all claims to the lot. This offer was accepted and the
controversy was ended.
Northeast Square became Franklin Square by reso-
1 Id Harbaugh'i " Life of Schlatter," page :i.'>7, is the foHowiug refer-
SDCa to some of the mouldering tenaote of the square: "Directly eaat
of tbe sparkling Jota, a few feet from the edge of tlie circular gravel
walk, under the green sod, lie the Revs. Stoiiier and Winkhaus, and
Dn. Weyberg and Hondci, the aged. Directly north of this spot, ahont
mldwajr between It and Vine Street, lies Rev. Michael Schlatter:
around these leaders of the Lord's host, far and near, — a silent congre-
gation now I — ale<>p thonsatids of those to whom they once ministered
tbe holy ordinances of the church, and the precious Instructions and
consolations of the Gospel."
lution of Councils, passed in 1825. Preparations for
opening the square at night and lighting it by gas
were made in 1837. By this time the inclosure had
become in appearance worthy of its use. The trees
had grown finely and there was a pleasant shade.
To render it more attractive, a large fountain wjis
ordered to be constructed by ordinance of Nov. 2,
1837. It was of grand dimensions, having forty jets
of water that fell into a marble basin, which was
guarded from intrusion by an iron railing round the
top. The centre of the square was chosen for this
purpose, and when the fountain was finished, a com-
plete circle of wooden benches, on the opposite edge
of the circular walk, was provided for the use of
citizens. In 1883 the iron railings were taken down,
and were replaced by a low stone coping. The walks
were laid out with flagging, and the electric light wa.s
introduced.
Northwest or Logan Square.— After the North-
west Square ceased to he used for a burying-ground,
it remained for some time in a condition of neglect.
The post and rail fence which inclosed it was but
little attended to, the rails were broken, and in some
places the posts were rotting away. The first evi-
dence of its increasing value was given in 1821. The
Orphans' Society, the buildings of which were at the
northeast corner of Schuylkill Fifth [Eighteenth] and
Cherry Streets, made application in that year to City
Councils for the use of the square as a pasture-ground,
and the lease was executed at a rent of sixty dollars
per year. It was ordered that the ground should be
fenced in to prevent carts from driving through.
William Gross was hanged in the Northwest Square
on the 7th of February, 1823, an occurrence which
drew a great crowd, and contributed toward breaking
down trees and injuring the fences. It was the last
public execution held on that ground. The value of
this square began to be appreciated in 1825, when an
ordinance was passed changing its name from North-
west to Logan Square, in honor of James Logan,
secretary to William Penn. By ordinance of Feb.
13, 1834, the city commissioners were authorized "to
lay out and mark off a ]iassage or strip of ground fifty
feet in width along the western edge or boundary of
Logan Square, the whole length thereof from north
to South, and that the said street shall be called
Logan Street." Freedom of ingress and egress to the
owners or occupants of buildings upon the said street
or passage-way was pledged by the ordinance, the
owners being under the same obligation as to curbing
and paving along the fronts of their buildings, as
owners of other houses and lots fronting upon other
streets in the city. By ordinance of Sept. 15, 1842,
which referred to Logan, Rittenhouse, and Penn
Squares, it was declared to be an oflense punishable
by fine for any perscm to drive or take into either of
those squares any horse, cow, cart, wagon, carriage,
or wheelbarrow, except by permission, or place any
wood, coal, rubbish, carrion, or offensive matter
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1849
within either of tlie squares, or to climb upon the
trees, or to injure trees, fences, or gates in the said
squares, or to dig up the soil or injure the grass, or to
" run or walk over or lie upon the same." By this
time Logan Square was under regulation. There was
an open paling fence, walks had been laid out, trees
planted, and the ground had been leveled. The
mounds and hillocks above the graves were oblit-
erated, the square began to assume the feature of
a park, and was for some years jealously guarded
from intrusion. The continual care of the public
squares had been vested in the Commissioners of
City Property, under the direction of Councils
Committee on City Property. Among other things
they were required to " personally superintend the
preservation, repairing, and improvement of . . .
the public squares." Small annual appropria-
tions to those officers enabled them to make grad-
ual improvements from year to year, and the
western squares seemed to grow up without at-
tracting much public attention until the time had
come for opening them for public use. By ordi-
nance passed March 6, 1852, the Committee on
City Property was authorized to cause an iron
railing or fence to be constructed around Logan
Square "of a suitable height from the pavement,
and secured in and resting on a stone basement."
The great Sanitary Fair of 1864 was held in Logan
Square, but so much care was taken that no con-
siderable injury was done to the trees or herbage.
Southwest or Rittenhouse Sq[uare. — This
public pleasure-ground escaped the fate of those
that were used as cemeteries. In response to pe-
titions that some improvement should be made
upon it, in 1816 Councils passed resolutions that
if the owners and occupants of property in the
neighborhood would raise eight hundred dollars
among themselves, and loau it to the city for
three years without interest. Councils would in-
close the square with a substantial fence of rough
boards ; money was raised, and the inclosure fol-
lowed. In the same year a committee of Coun-
cils reported in April that the Southwest Square,
"in those parts not used for particular purposes,
should be tilled to destroy the weeds with which
it was overgrown, and laid down with grass as
soon as possible."
In 1825 the grounds were named Rittenhouse
Square, in memory of David Rittenhouse, the phi-
losopher. In 1840 the American Philosophical
Society, which had for years been desirous of the privi-
lege of constructing an astronomical observatory in
the city, applied to Councils for authority to erect
such a building in Rittenhouse Square. The com-
mittee on city property, to which the memorial had
been referred, made report as follows :
" The subject is one to which the committee haa given much atten-
tion, and which they believe has received the approval of former Coun-
cils. The importance of an observatory is universally admitted. The
difiBculty usually has been to obtain suitable instruments and to erect a
proper building. The controllers of the public sclinnls have imported
from Germany the several instruments required, of suitable size and of
great excellence. The Philosophical Society is provided with funds to
erect an edifice such as is required to nse with advantage the inatm-
ments. All that is now required is a site, which will allow of a sufllcieQt
horizon, and be at such a distance from the crowded streets as to be be-
yond the agitation consequent on the petssage of carriages on the pave-
ment. No place presents itself in the city excepting the public squares,
and none of them have the advantage possessed by Rittenhouse Square.
FOUNTAIN IN RITTENHOUSE SQUARE.
Believing that the great objects of the public squares will not bo inter-
fered with by (he erection of an observatory upon one of thera, and
that such building might be regarded as a proper monument to the dis-
tinguished American whose name has been given to the Southwestern
Square, and that great public good will be promoted by the measure
without pecuniary contribution on the part of the city, the committee
feel authorized to report favorably to the memorial referred to their
consideration."
The bill authorized the society to erect the observa-
tory at its own expense, under the supervision of the
1850
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Committee on City Property, subject to removal from
the square whenever the mayor and Councils should
determine. It was passed on the 12th of November,
1840, but the society for some reason declined to
enter upon the work, and in September, 1842. the
ordinance permitting the observatory to be erected
was repealed.
On Feb. 13, 1834, the commissioners were ordered
to lay out a street fifty feet wide alonjr the west edge
or boundary of Rittenhouse Square, the whole length
of the square from north to south, and another street
along the south edge or boundary, the whole length
from east to west, the western street to be called Rit-
tenhouse Street and the southern street Locust Street.
An iron paling was erected around this inclosure
aliout 1852-53, but, except in the trees, grass, and
walks, no other improvements were made for many
years. The first improvement was an iron fountain,
tall, grotesque, and fanciful, which, by the permission
of Councils, was put up by a lady near the entrance-
fjate at Walnut and Rittenhouse Streets. It was fol-
lowed by the construction of a similar fountain near
the gate at Eighteenth and Walnut Streets, the gift
of a gentleman, and another of similar style was put
up near the gate at Eighteenth and Locust Streets.
As they dampened the ground, these fountains be-
came unpopular, and were removed by orders of
Councils. The dimensions of Rittenhouse Square are
five liundred and forty feet on each of its four sides.
Independence Square. — This name was given to
the State House yard by the ordinance of 1825. It
occupies four squares and two roods, and its history
has been fully told in the article upon the State-
House in a previous cha|)ter.
Passyunk Square. — When the commissionera for
building a eounty pri.son purcha.sed ground for that
purpose, in 1832, on the west side of the Pa.ssyunk road,
in the district of Moyamensing, they bought a nuicb
larger tract than was absolutely necessary for the pur-
pose. The ])rison building was on the east side of the
lot, south of Reeil Strei't. When built it extended
northwestward to about Eleventh Street. Beyond that
several acres ai)purtenant stretched westward as far
as Thirteenth Street. There being no use for this
ground, it lay vacant until about 1838, when a projx)-
sition wa.s made that the s])ace might be utilized as a
parade-ground for the use of the volunteers and militia
of the city and county. The inspectors of the ])rison
were directed to devote the ground to that use, and the
major-general ami brigadier-generals of tile First Divis-
ion were authorizeil to ordain the necesiary regula-
tions for the government of the ground. Evidently
appropriations were nece-s^ary to put the parade in
go«Kl order, level it, and preserve it from injury; but
a-ssistance was not cheerfully given, and whatever was
done by the volunteers was at their own expense. On I
the occasion of the few military parades and reviews '
which took j)lace there, the ground wa.s found to be
dusty, rough, and uneven, the sun scorching, and the
' inclosure without trees or shade. The parade-ground
was a failure. Upon the consolidation of the city and
districts this property was vested in the city of Phila-
delplua. It lay for some years vacant, and was used
as a commons. At length. Ct>uneils by ordinance re-
solved that the portion ot the ground lying between
Wharton and Reed Streets and Twelfth and Thir-
teenth should be inclosed as a public square. No
name was given to it originally, but gradually the title
Piussyunk Square was attached to it. Appropriations
were made for leveling the ground, laying out walks,
and planting grass and trees, and within a few years
this inclosure has become an ornament and a plea.sure
to th;it |iorticiu of the city.
I Jefferson Square. — Under an act of Assembly
( passed April 13, 1835, the commissioners and inhabi-
tants of the district of Southwark were authorized to
j purchase, whenever they might consider it expedient,
I " a lot of ground in said district, to l)e kept open for a
; public square forever in the same manner that the
public squares in the city of Philadelphia are kept
ojien." The authority thus given was not exercised
! immediately. The question of a large purcha.se and
' of increased taxation on the people of the district
operated to prevent the commissioners from adding to
the public burden. About 1850 there was some move-
ment to excite sufficient interest and siiirit among the
inhabitants of Southwark tojustit\' the commissioners
in ])Urchasiiig a piece of vacant ground which was
considered suitable for the purpose, situate between
Third and Fourth Streets, and extending from Wash-
ington Street to Federal Street. The dimensions were
three hundred and ninety-two feet east and west, three
hundred and seven feet on Fourth Street, and two hun-
I dred and ninety-two feet on Third Street. Tiie area
' included two acres and two roods. The i)roperty was
known as the Miller lot, and beh)nged to the heirs of a
family of that name. There were some negotiations
for the i)urchase of the Miller lot, but the commis-
sioners had not reached the jmint of offering decidedly
: to buy. Whilst they were hesitating the bill to con-
I solidate the city of Philadel]>liia and adjoining dis-
tricts was introduced into the Legislature, and made
such headway that it was apparent some time before
the bill was finally passed that it covild not fail ingoing
through both houses and receiving the approbation of
the Governor. Under this stimulus the commissioners
of Southwark, arguing that the district wanted a public
square, iind that the peojde of the whole city and
county would have to pay for it, bought the Miller lot
on credit. They named it Jefferson Square. In the
City Digest of 1856, compiled by William Duane,
William B. Hood, and Leonard Myers, it is said of the
proceeilings of the Southwark commissioners that "It
is understood that no ordinance was passed, and that
the resolution upon the subject still remains in manu-
script." Nevertheless the city of Philadelphia paid
for Jefferson Square, which has been converted into
one of the finest of the local plea-sure-grounds.
I
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1851
Hunting Park. — Forty-five acres of ground at the
intersection of Nicetown Lane and the Old York
road were for many years the " Hunting Park Race-
Course," but under the laws prohibiting horse-racing
they were gradually abandoned, and remained vacant
for several years. The property was unoccupied until
in 1854, under the stimulus of the consolidation act,
a number of gentlemen, some of whom were inter-
ested in real estate in the vicinity of the old race-
course, joined together to purchase the ground, with
the intention of presenting it to the city, to be used
as a public park. In their communication sent to
Councils, Nov. 9, 1854, they stated the fact, and re-
quested Councils to take measures and receive the
property.'
This generous offer was accepted with little delay.
On the 29th of January, 1855, a resolution was
adopted accepting of the ground formerly embraced
in the Hunting Park Course, in trust, for the use of
the public as a park. Councils also agreed that they
would " cause a wooden fence to be erected around
the said premises ; and that they will enact ordinances
to forbid, and will otherwise prevent, the sale of liquor,
or merchandise of whatever kind, within the said
park; and that they will, within twelve months from
the date of said conveyance, cause avenues and walks
to be laid out and properly graded, the plan of which
shall be approved by a committee to be appointed by
the said owners; and that they will also plant a suit-
able number and variety of trees, and keep the same,
with the grounds, in good order." Upon survey, it
was found that the inclosure contained about forty-
three acres two-tenths square perches of land. By
ordinance of July 10, 1856, the ground was dedicated
" free of access for all the inhabitants of the city, and
for the health and enjoyment of the people forever,
under the name of Hunting Park." By act of April
4, 1872, the commissioners of Fairmount Park were
authorized to open a street between Fairmount Park
and Hunting Park, and to keep it in repair as a park
road, under their police control and supervision. They
were also authorized to negotiate with the owners of
property adjoining Hunting Park on the east and
south for exchange of ground within the park limit
for ground outside of it, so as to square the park, and
to make it more suitable and attractive in shape for
the purposes intended.
Fairhill Square. — The heirs and trustees of the
* The parties who participated in this purchase and gift were Charles
Henry Fisher, Thomas T. Lea, John Tucker, Isaac B. Davis, Francis N,
Buck, .lohn Riie, Joseph Swift, Jacob Steinmetz, Charles P. Fox, Fred-
enck Fraley, Pierce Butler, Josepli S. Lovering, Harry Ingersoll, John
A. Brown, George Cadwalader, George Roberts Smith, Alfred Cope.S.
Morris Wain, Samuel Welsh, James Dundas, Philip M. Price, J. Dick-
inson Logan, Morris L. Hallowell, Henry Pratt McKean, David S.
Brown, John Grigg, Joseph D. Brown, George G. Presbury, Jr., John
Farnum, Richard Ashhurst, E, M. Davis, James D. Whetham, C. W.
Churchman and friends, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Isaac Norris, William
Welsh, Gustavus G. Logan, John B. Myers, J. Francis Fisher, William
Goodrich, Isaac F. Baker, Caleb Cope and friends, Charles H. Bogei^
and friend, George B. Wood and friends.
estate of Joseph Parker Norris held for many years
after his death a large tract of land, embraced in
what was called the Fairhill and Sepviva estates, in
the district of Kensington. The Fairhill estate was
on the east side of Germantown road, and extended
over almost to the Delaware, crossing the Frankford
road. The eastern portion of the ground, which lay
to the east of Frankford road, was called Sepviva.
The western portion was known as Fairhill, The
original Sepviva plantation in the last century was
one hundred and fifty-five acres, and the Fairhill
estate five hundred and thirty acres. This large
j body of land, six hundred and eighty-five acres in
I all, was derived from Isaac Norris, of Fairhill, who
had obtained title to some of it as early as 1713. It
remained substantially in the ownership of his de-
1 scendants in the present century. After the death of
Joseph Parker Norris, June 22, 1841, the members of
the family made arrangements to bring the body ot
land into the market in the shape of building lots.
In doing so they generously determined, for the bene-
fit of the persons who would buy land of them, as well
a.s for the improvement generally of the district of
Kensington, to devote two considerable pieces for
public uses. By act of Assembly, passed April 6,
1848, the trustees and parties in interest were author-
ized to convey to the commissioners of Kensington
district in fee-simple for such consideration as they
might think proper, "and to be held for public use
as a public green and walk forever, and to be used for
no other use or purpose whatever, the plot or square of
ground now called Fairhill Square, part of the said
Fairhill estate, bounded by Lehigh Avenue on the
north, by Huntingdon on the south. Fourth Street on
the east, and Apple Street on the west." The com-
missioners were required to keep the ground properly
inclosed, and planted with trees, for a public square
and walk for light, air, and recreation forever. The
consideration was merely nominal, and in 1851 the
title was accepted by the solicitor of the district of
Kensington. The ground was put under cultivation,
and Fairhill Square is now one of the best features of
Kensington.
Norris Square. — By the act of Assembly of 1848,
which authorized the conveyance to the district ot
Kensington of Fairhill Square, the commissioners
were also authorized to accept Norris Square, part of
the Fairhill estate, bounded by Susquehanna Avenue
on the north. Diamond Street on the south, Howard
Street on the east, and Hancock Street on the west.
Upon the county plan a passage called Clinton Street
was laid down, running through this inclosure from
north to south. It was vacated by act of Assembly.
The same directions to the Kensington commissioners
in regard to keeping the square open for general use
and benefit as a public green and walk forever were
given, with injunction as to inclosing of the ground
and planting of trees, which were directed to be in
force in relation to Fairhill Square. Norris Square
1852
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
was held under a lease from the Norris family in
1851, but at the time when the lease expired, in the
same year, the commissioners of the district toolc pos-
session of the property. By ordinance of Nov. 21,
1859, the plan of Franklin Square was adopted as tlie
plan for the improvement of Norris Square, except-
ing that the fountains were omitted. There is, how-
ever, a handsome fountain in the square, surrounded
by flower-beds.
Shackamaxon Square. — When the Point Pleasant
Market, at the intersection of Frankford road and
Maiden Street, was built, in 1819, under the authority
of the commissioners of the district of Northern Lib-
erties, there was left on its western side an open space,
which it was proposed to convert into a public square.
Upon the incorporation of the district of Kensington
in 1820, authority over the market was vested in the
Kensington commissioners, and the same jurisdiction
was extended over the square. As the market was
deserted by dealers, it was torn down, and tlie grounds
were neglected until, in 1845. the commissioners re-
solved that two dozen seats should be placed in the
square, and that it should be kept open, under the
supervision of the police, from six o'clock in the
morning to eight o'clock in the evening, daily, from
the 1st of May to the 31st of August. At a later
period in the same year an ordinance was passed for
the regulation of the public square, prohibiting in-
jury to the trees or benches, making it an offense for
any one to lie down in the square, or to use insulting
language to any person passing through the grounds.
The commissioners gave no name to the place. In
1850 an act of Assembly was passed which declared
that the public square in the district of Kensington,
bounded on the northwest by the Frankford road, on
the southeast by Beach Street, on the southwest by
Maiden Street, and on the northeast by Manderson
Street, should be thereafter called Shackamaxon
Square. The commissioners were authorized to keep
the inclosure in good order, for the purposes in-
tended, and to tear down and remove the market-
house fronting on Beach Street whenever they should
deem it expedient to do so. This privilege was soon
exercised, as the market-house had become useless,
except as a resort for the disreputable classes of the
vicinity.
Germantown Square. — The Gcrmantown public
square is upon Main Street and in front of the town
hall. The ground was purchased by the borough
authorities in 1854, just previous to consolidation,
and the cost was charged upon the city. The square
is decorated with the monument to tlu' soldiers of
Germantown who fell during the civil war, which was
dedicated on July 4, 1883. It is a lofty cenotaph,
surmounted by a granite statue of an American sol-
dier.
TJnion Square. — Union Square, a triangular piece
of ^Toiirid, bounded on the south by Buttonwood
Street, on the west by Fifth Street, and on the east
by Old York road, is not of great extent, but being
neatly inclosed with an iron fence, and the trees and
grass kept in order, it is a pleasant and open place
for the benefit of the neighborhood and for the pub-
lic who pass along the street. This space of ground
was once occupied by some old buildings. A better
class of houses having been erected on Fifth Street
and York Avenue, the parties interested in those
properties united in subscriptions to purchase the
property. The ground was cleared, dedicated to pub-
lic use, and accepted by ordinance of Councils dated
July 11, 1864.
Thouron Square. — Thouron Square, a small trian-
gular piece of ground at the intersection of Sixth
Street and Germantown road, was dedicated for pub-
lic use about the time of the Centennial Exhibition.
Fairmount Park. — The vast and magnificent pleas-
ure-grouud to which the nanje of Fairmount Park has
been given w:ts not the outgrowth of any suggestion
or expectation that it would ever be possible to ob-
tain two thousand acres on the banks of the Schuyl-
kill for public use. It is quite well known that the
first purchases of ground at Fairmount were for the
enlargement of the city water-works, and it was
not until forty years later that the idea of a public
park was mooted. But when the project was once
mentioned it caught the fancy of the community, and
Fairmount Park was created by successive gifts and
purchases. The earliest intimation that it might be
judicious for the city to acquire Morris Hill, as the
lower portion of Fairmount was then styled, was
made by Frederick Graff, engineer of the water-
works, and John Davis, who, in 1810 or 1811, were
directed by the water committee of Councils to make
examination of the best means of increasing the water
supply. On Dec. 18, 1811, Mr. Graff made a report sug-
gesting the erection of pumping-machines and reser-
voirs on Morris Hill. On Aug. 13, 1812, aii ordinance
was passed empowering the mayor to raise money for
the construction of works at Fairmount for supplying
the eity with water. The reportsof the department state
that the first purchase of ground .at Fairmount wa«
made on June 28, 1812, when five acres were obtained
for sixteen thousand six hundred and sixty-six dol-
lars, and that the steam-works were begun in August
of the same year. It has proved to have been ex-
ceedingly fortunate that the members of the Councils
I'Dnimittee directing the construction of the works
were men of ta-ste and prevision. Morris Hill rose so
Bttep from the edge of the river that there was barely
sjiaee between its verge and the water for the con-
struetiiiM of the engine-house, and when it was deter-
mined to substitute water-j)Ower for steam as a pump-
ing energy, a great deal of bla.sting had to be done on
this rocky frontage to make an entrance to the grounds
and to give space for the forebay. This accomplished
and the wheel-houses built, the Councils saw that
there was an ojiijortunity for laying out and cultiva-
ting a garden which would always be a favorite place
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1853
of public resort. William Rush, the sculptor, who
was a member of the water committee, was appealed to,
and his figures of the " Nymph and the Swan" were
brought from Centr-e Square and placed on the rocks
above the west side of the forebay, and, with addition
of several jets, which were constantly in play in fine
weather, were of themselves a constant wonder and
delight. Crowning the pediments of the doorways of
the wheel-houses were two reclining figures, by Rush,
of full life size, with accessories, and they were so
prominent as always to attract admiration and atten-
tion. When they were finished and set in place they
were thus described :
"The male figure represents the Schuylkill in its
present improved state, no longer running uncon-
trolled, but flowing gently from dam to dam, and
passing through artificial canals by locks and gates.
ing main. Water gushes out of the top, falling into
the vase, and, to make it more picturesque, but not
appropriate, overflowing the vase and falling down
its sides."
There was a pretty garden with grass-plats and
trees planted on the south side of the inclosure, ex-
tending from the entrance north of the Upper Ferry
bridge as far as the forebay, from which steps ex-
tended to a paved way lower than the adjoining
ground, and extending from along the front of the
forebay to the head of the race bridge, from which a
raised walk ran out into the Schuylkill to the edge of
the dam, where, in 1835, was constructed a pavilion
sustained by pillars, and arranged with seats for the
comfort of visitors. At the same time the large build-
ing nearest Callowhill Street, which had been the
engine-house, was altered into a public saloon, and
CALLOWHILL STREET BEIDGE, FAIEMOUNT.
" The female personifies the water, — a work un-
equaled in its kind throughout the world.
" The male figure is recumbent on a bed of rocks, the
water flowing in several directions from him. It repre-
sents Old Age, the head covered with flags, a long
flowing beard, the body covered with water-grass,
etc., and a chain attached to the wrist, intended to
emblemize the neutralized state of the Schuylkill by
locks and dams. A bald eagle at his feet with wings
opening is about to abandon the banks of the Schuyl-
kill in consequence of the busy scene which art is in-
troducing.
"The female figure is represented as seated near
the pump which pours water into the reservoir. On
the left side is represented a water-wheel ; her left
arm gently waved over it is indicative of the water-
power ; her right arm or elbow rests on the edge of a
large vase, representing the reservoir at Fairmount.
On the side of the vase a pipe represents the aacend-
in it were placed the full-length statues of Justice
and Wisdom that had been carved by Rush in 1824
for the ornamentation of the triumphal arch erected
in front of the State-House upon the occasion of the
reception of Lafayette.
The summit of the sharp acclivity west of the wheel-
houses was gained by steps and platforms, ujion which .
there were resting-places in the shape of arbors, from
which the most delightful views of surrounding
scenery were to be had. The reservoirs at the top of
the hill were guarded with an open fence, outside of
which a hard-rolled gravel path was carried around
the circumference of the mount, which broke away in
three terraces, upon which shade-trees were planted.
The Fairmount gardens, opened in 1825, were the
show-place of the city. No stranger was allowed to
think that he had seen anything of Philadelphia un-
less he was taken to Fairmount Water-Works, and
this small plot at the southwest limit of the present
1854
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
noble inclosure was the inception of Fairmount Park.
The ground did not at first extend out to the line of
the street. A portion of the space between the bridge
and Fairmount projier was occupied by the bridge
company, and upon it was l>uilt a dwelling-house for
the accommodation of their toll-gatherer. In 1835
the company built a toll-house opposite the entrance
of the bridge, and an arrangement was then made by
which a lot belonging to the city at Callowhill Street
and Schuylkill Second was sold, and from the pro-
ceeds, with other money, the bridge ])roperty adjoin-
ing Fairmount garden was bought, and the line of the
inclosure brought out to the street.
The original dimensions of Fairmount being only
five acres, additions were made from time to time,
until in 1828 the reservation comprised twenty-four
acres, the aggregate cost of which w:is one hundred
and sixteen thousand eight hundred and thirty-four
dollars. It then included the ground from Biddle
Street up to Fairmount Avenue, and from the Schuyl-
kill over to what is now known as Twenty-fifth Street.
The northern side was for many years a barren and
unsightly waste, but finally it was fenced in along
Fairmount Avenue fnmi the Schuylkill landing to the
Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, and thence to
the rise of the hill below Green Street, and trees were
planted.
The extent of this improvement is yet visible in the
appearance of the ground between the line of Fair-
mount Avenue and Green Street, which is deeply
shaded. Northof Fairmount, on the north sideof Fair-
mount Avenue from the Columbia Railroad nearly to
the river Schuylkill, were hotels and houses for many
years after the water-works had become a place of great
resort. An old-fashioned country house, which, about
1832 and afterward, was occupied as a tavern, called
the " Four Nations Hotel," was near the railroad.
From that point extended westward dwelling-houses
and shops, until at the extreme point of the square
near to the Schuylkill, and at the corner of a street
running northwest which stretched out toward Lemon
Hill, was a conspicuous four-story establishment,
visible from nearly all parts of Fairmount, which was
called the Robert Morris Hotel. Farther up on the
northeast side of Landing Avenue were dwelling-
houses, some of which were torn down in later years
to make place for the Rialto House, a tavern and
place of resort for the crews of the amateur boating
clubs on the Schuylkill. Farther on beyond the Rialto,
and on the southwestern bank of a creek which flowed
out from the Dark Woods, was for many years a rol-
ling-n)ill. The creek was crossed by a bridge, and
Landing Avenue was continued up until it met an-
other creek, which came down on the east side of the
high ground of Lemon Hill. On the side of this creek
was once partially erected a stone building, which it
was saiil wa-s originally intended to be occupied as a
mill for making beet-sugar. It was afterward utilized
as an ice-house. The place where that creek crossed
and fell into the Schuylkill was a little south of the
spot where the Lincoln monument now stands, and
the main driving road east of the Schuylkill goes over
the line of the creek. On the southwest side of Land-
ing Avenue there was a narrow strip of ground from
Fairmount Avenue upward, upon which were built
store-houses with wharves. Between the mouths of the
Dark Woods and Lemon Hill Creeks was a place for
the mooring of rafts and boats, which were kept there
to be hired out for use on the Schuylkill. This was
the condition of the neighborhood of Fairmount
Water- Works up to the year 1867 or 1868.
In the mean while the city had become the owner
of the Lemon Hill estate, once the seat of Henry
Pratt, which, having been bought from him by Isaac
S. Lloyd, was lost when that daring real-estate specu-
lator got into difliculties. The United States Bank,
either to prevent loss or for speculative purposes,
took the property after it passed from the control of
Lloyd. When that institution failed, efforts were
made to induce the city of Philadelphia to buy it.
Interested persons suggested that its possession would
be a matter of absolute necessity to the city, in order
to prevent it from being built upon, and the waters
of the Schuylkill polluted by discharges from build-
ings. Over two thousand four hundred citizens
petitioned Councils to make the purchase, and the
College of Physicians presented a memorial in which
the advantage of the acquisition to the public health
was gravely represented. At the time affairs were
gloomy, the failure of the bank having brought many
persons of affluence face to face with poverty. Real
estate was worse than a drug in the market, and it
required a good deal of tact to get rid of so large a
piece of property as this. The bank had paid two
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for it, and
was holding it for a sale at two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars ; but its own failure broke the spirit
of speculation. The trustees wanted one hundred
and thirty thousand dollars for the estate, but the
city bought it for seventy-five thousand dollars, pay-
able in a five per cent. loan. The conveyance was
made on the 24tli of July, 1844. The ground was
leased for several years to a tenant, who used the old
Pratt mansion and ground for a beer-house and gar-
den. It became famous with German citizens, and a
favorite spot for picnics, Easter Sunday and Easter
Monday celebrations, and for entertainment* at other
times. It was not until the 15th of September, 1855,
that Councils jia.sscd the ordinance dedicating Lemon
Hill for the purposes ol' a jiublic |)ark, to be known
as Fairmount Park. The ground was about forty-
two acres in extent. As soon as this dedication wa.s
made, measures were adopted to imi>rove the ground.
Some of the outbuildings of Lemon Hill were re-
moved, the mansion was altered in certain respects
for the better accomtnodation of the i)ublic, the old
walks, parterres, and garden-beds remained, and, in
addition to Fairmount Water- Works, the visitor was
I
V]IS!7 &? J^^JflMSUKl-T ffl/^VTlH-^JSJlllS ®W TMI 8©J^y-ya,313t!L.
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1865
directed to Fairmount Park, crossing Fairmount
Avenue, and walking along the especially hot and
unshaded line of Landing Avenue.
Some wealthy citizens took au interest in the ex-
tension of the grounds, and subscribed a fund toward
the purcliase of the Sedgeley estate, immediately
north of Lemon Hill on the Schuylkill, bounded on
the northeast by the Reading Railroad and extending
to Girard Avenue. This property, formerly belonging
to the Mifflin and Fislier families, had been bought in
1836 b)' Isaac S. Lloyd for speculative purposes. He
paid seventy thousand dollars, and on being sold by
the sheriff it passed into the hands of an individual,
who in turn disposed of it to Ferdinand J. Dreer.
Mr. Dreer then sold it to Henry Cope, Alfred Cope,
Joseph Harrison, Thomas Ridgeway, Nathaniel B.
Browne, and George W. Biddle, the trustees for the
subscribers to the fund to procure Sedgeley for the
enlargement of the park. A deficit occurred in the
purchase-money because of all the subscriptions not
being paid up, and the city acquired the property by
paying the balance of forty-five thousand dollars due
on the mortgage and assuming all responsibilities.
The transaction was completed in 1857, and thus
Sedgeley was added to Fairmount Park.
The tract extended from the Lemon Hill Creek or
Run up the Schuylkill, crossing Girard Avenue, to the
little creek or run which came down on the south
side of the Spring Garden Water- Works. The latter
being at the time, by reason of the act of consolida-
tion, city property, increased the possession of the
park, and ran it up as far as the great rock upon which
in after-years the eastern abutment of the connecting
bridge was built.
For ten years Fairmount Park was the ground north
and west of Landing Avenue, separated by the latter
from the property and grounds of Fairmount Water-
Works. After the acquisition of Sedgeley, Councils
determined to obtain possession of the neck of land
between the water-works and Lemon Hill, which
included all the property on Fairmount Avenue and
Landing Avenue, which was done under a jury award
for fifty-five thousand dollars. Memorials to City Coun-
cils and the Legislature sought some small purchases
of ground on the west side of the Schuylkill, and while
these measures were pressed, but not acted upon defi-
nitely, four citizens learned that the Lansdowne tract
on the west side of the Schuylkill, belonging to the
family of Barings in England, was about to be sold,
and that the owners were disposed to accept a price
much below the actual value of the ground. They
understood that if the Lansdowne property was
brought into the market it would become an object of
speculation, and that the construction of buildings
would follow, with necessary risk of drainage into the
Schuylkill and pollution of the water. They had
the opportunity and they bought the ground, their
intention being to offer it to the city of Philadelphia
at cost price if used for public purposes. The offer
was promptly accepted, and one hundred and forty
acres were bought for eighty-four thousand nine hun-
dred and fifty-three dollars.
The acquisition of this large tract naturally led to
a demand that there should l)e some better system of
management of the park than had yet been provided.
Jurisdiction over the works and adjacent ground was
shared between the chief engineer of the water-works
and the commissioner of city property. The latter
had done something toward the decoration of the
grounds near Fairmount, but wiis restricted by small
appropriations from devising or executing any en-
larged plan. It was necessary that there should.be
some better jurisdiction, and in accordance with public
sentiment an act was passed " appropriating ground
for public purposes in the city of Philadelphia" on
the 26th of March, 1867. It declared that the title and
ownership to certain ground on the west side of the
river Schuylkill should be vested in the city of Philar
delphia, "to be laid out and maintained forever as an
open public jilace or park, for the health and enjoy-
ment of the people of the said city, and the preser-
vation of the purity of the water supply." To de-
scribe the ground thus appropriated by metes and
bounds would be tedious. Generally, it may be said
that it took in the area on the west side of the
Schuylkill, the lines of which can be easily traced in
the present park, extending from the west side of the
Fairmount or Callowhill Street bridge northwardly
by Bridgewater Street, Haverford Street, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad, up to the Junction Railroad,
and along the latter to Girard Avenue; crossing that
highway to the north side of the park, it ran due west
to Forty-first Street, and northward along the latter
to Lansdowne Avenue, and then westwardly to
Belmont Avenue, up Belmont northward to Mont-
gomery Avenue ; thence eastward along the same
to the river Schuylkill, and down that stream by the
banks to the west side of the Fairmount bridge, the
place of beginning. In this area were included the
West Philadelphia Water-Works, which were oppo-
site Lemon Hill, and the noted country-seats of Soli-
tude, Egglesfield, Sweet Brier, and Lansdowne, with
a gore of ground north of the latter, between the
regular line of Lansdowne and Montgomery Avenue.
The grounds were to be managed by a board of com-
missioners, composed of the mayor, presidents of Se-
lect and Common Councils, the commissioner of city
properly, the chief engineer and surveyor, and the
chief engineer of the water-works of the city, together
with five citizens appointed for five years by the Dis-
trict Court, and five citizens appointed for the same
period of time by the Court of Common Pleas. They
were to receive no compensation for their services.
The coumiissioners were authorized to negotiate and
agree with the owners of the ground within the space
specified for the purchase thereof and if no agree-
ment could be made, to introduce proceedings to con-
demn the ground and award damages, the whole being
1856
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
I
subject to the approval of the Court of Quarter Ses-
sions. They were to have the whole management and
care of Fairuiount Park on both banks of the river
Schuylkill. In due time afterward the Fairmount
Park Commission wa.-* organized. It was composed
of Morton McMichael, mayor of the rity ; Joshua
Spering, president of Select Council ; Joseph F. Mar-
cer, president of Common Council ; Charles Dixey,
commissioner of city property ; Strickland Kneass,
chief engineer and surveyor; Frederick Graff (the
second), chief engineer of the water-works; and the
following citizens : Eli K. Price, John Welsh, William
Sellers, Joseph Harrison, Jr., and John C. Cresson,
appointed by the District Court ; and Nathaniel B.
Browne, Theodore Cuyler, Henry M. Phillips, Gus-
tavus Remak, and Maj.-Gen. George G. Meade, ap-
pointed by the Court of Common Pleas. Mr. Mc-
Michael was elected president, and at his death in
1879 was succeeded by William S. Stokley, who in
1881 was succeeded by Henry M. Phillips.
X. B. Browne was elected treasurer, Joseph ,F.
Marcer secretary, and David F. Foley (not a mem-
ber of the commission) assistant secretary. Stand-
ing committees were appointed on land purchases and
damages, on plans and improvements, on superin-
tendence ami police, on finance and of audit ; also
an executive committee, composed of theofBcersof the
board and the chairmen of the five standing commit-
tees, and a special committee upon the subject of
" tlie preservation of the i)urity of the water supply."
During they ear after the commissioners were appointed
they did but little. They came to the opinion at an
early jieriod that the ground acquired was not suffi-
cient, as on the east side of the Schuylkill there was
no park property north of the Spring Garden Water-
Works. An act of Assembly of 1866 authorized the
purchase of the small strip of ground between the
Reading Railroad and the river as far north as the
Columbia bridge, but beyond this there was no pro-
tection, and on the west side of the Schuylkill the
extreme western boundary was below the bridge. If
the water supply was to be preserved from pollution
park extension was unavoidable, and in their report
for 1867 the committee on plans and improvements
said, " Now, if ever, while it is yet possible to be done
at a cost which is moderate when compared with its
advantages, we must possess the ground which sur-
rounds our water supply so closely that the impurities
which are drained from its surface must necessarily
be drawn into the reservoirs, and, by preventing the
erection of dwellings and manufactories on the shores
of the basin and of the waters closely adjacent, provide
against the pollution of the water which is the sole
supply for domestic u.ses of the present and of the
future population of this vast and rapidly-growing
city. If we fail to do so, and our population con-
tinues to increase in the ratio of our past progress,
twenty years will not pa-ss before the shores of the
Schuylkill will be crowded with dwellings and man-
ufactories pouring their impurities- into the basin, and
compelling the city, at an enormous cost, either to
build fresh water-works at some other point, where
pure" water for domestic uses may be had, or else
to acquire the very ground — the purchase of which
we now recommend while its cost is moderate — when
its price will have been so enhanced as to make its
acquisition almost impracticable." The committee
proposed that the boundaries of the park should be
increased, commencing on the west side of the river
Schuylkill, near the city bridge at the Falls; thence
southwardly and westward down to the Lansdowne
property (already belonging to the park), and out the
Ford road to George's Run, not far from the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad. On the east side of the river the
ground was to be extended above the Spring Garden
Water-Works so as to take in the space between
Thirty-third Street and the Schuylkill River as far
as Laurel Hill Cemetery, west of which it was to be
carried by a driving-road (one hundred feet wide, and
above that point one hundred and fifty feet wide)
along the Schuylkill up to the intersection of the
Ridge turnpike and School Lane ; thence between
the Ridge turnpike and the Schuylkill up to the
southeasterly side of Wissahickon Creek, then cross-
ing the Schuylkill to the Reading Railroad property
at the city boundary line and the place of beginning.
They also recommended that the control of the Wis-
sahickon and of both the shores of that creek within
narrow limits, yet sufficient to protect the water from
impurities, should be acquired by the city, to be used
in connection with the park. The whole extent of the
ground thus recommended to be taken and comprised
within the limits of the park, including the water
ana of the river, was computed to be sixteen hundred
anil eighteen and one-fifth acres. The extra ground
recommended to be taken in addition to that pre-
viously embraced in the park was one hundred and
fifty-one acres on the eastern side and six hundred
acres on the western side of the river. This did not
include the property along the Wissahickon, which
it was suggested shouM be put under control of the
city, but which was not asked to be included within
the park grounds.
The draft of the bill to enlarge the boundaries ol
the park was presented to the attention of Ci>uncil8,
which acted in a very liberal sjiirit, and with the in-
tention to secure ground that might be needed at some
future time for basins and rcsorvoirs by adding to the
proposed territory on tlie east side of the river and
south of South Laurel Hill three hundred and ten acres
adilitional. The As.scnd)ly a.ssented to the demands
made by the passage of the act of April 14, 1868, which
not only made a grant of the ground within the en-
larged area, hut directed that the ])ark commissioners
should ap])ropriate " the shores of the Wis-sahickon
Creek, tm both sides of the same from its mouth to
the Paul's Mill road, and of such width ;us may em-
brace the road now passing along the .same, and may
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1857
also protect the purity of the water of said creek, and
by passing along the crest of the heights which are on
either side of the said creek may preserve the beauty
of its scenery." The act provided for the laying out
of a road of easy and practicable grades, " extending
from the intersection of the northerly line of the park
by Belmont Avenue, on the westerly side of the Schuyl-
kill, to the head of Roberts Hollow, and thence along
said hollow and the river Schuylkill to the foot of City
estimated that the amount, excluding the Wissahickon
ground and the road through Roberts Hollow, was
two thousand two hundred and forty acres. This, it
was calculated, left about sixteen hundred acres
to be acquired ; but the area wa-s reduced some-
what by river surface, so that the actual purchases
necessary were a fraction over nine hundred and sixty-
nine acres. While the commissioners were busily em-
ployed in carrying out the work, they experienced an
BRIDGE AND TONNEL IN FAIRMOUNT PAKE.
Avenue, laid out, with the ground contiguous thereto
for ornamentation, of such width and so constructed
as the commissioners . . . maj' determine. And such
road and its contiguous ground are hereby declared to
be a part of the aforesaid park." The act also con-
tained a code of rules and regulations for the govern-
ment of the park, and ordered that the commissioners
should employ, equip, and pay a park force adequate
to maintain good order therein. When the commis-
sioners got to work in negotiating for the land they
unexpected generosity in the presentation to them and
to the city by Jesse George and his sister, Rebecca
George, of the loftj' piece of ground west of the as-
signed park boundaries, which was known as George's
Hill. At that time Jesse George was over eighty-three
years of age, and his sister was of advanced years. In
his communication to the park commissioners, Mr.
George stated that the ground had been the uninter-
rupted home of his ancestors for many generations,
and from the original settlement of the country. He
1858
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
had been frequently applied to to sell portions of it on
account of its lotly situation, but had declined. He
said, " I had ex]iec'ted to retain |)ossession during my
lifetime, and had thought of devising some of this
ground to some iiuhlie use thereafter. Considering
the benefits which a public park will secure for the
health, recreation, and enjoyment of the citizens of
Philadelphia, I have determined that this disposition
would be as useful to the peojjle as any other. . . . My
sister Rebecca George is joint owner with me in that
portion which belongs to the estate of my. brother
Edwin George, now deceased, and she joins with me
in making the same offer." The ground was eighty-
three acres situate at such a lofty attitude as to over-
look the city of Philadelphia in the distance. The
conditions were that annuities of four thousand dollars
per year should lie paid to .Jesse George and Rebecca
George during their respective lifetimes.
These payments were not many. Rebecca George
died on the 10th of November, 1869, aged seventy-
eight years, and Jesse George died Feb. 14, 1873, and
the whole property came into the possession of the
city. By resolution it was determined that this por-
tion of the park should be forever known as George's
Hill. Upon the passage of the act of 1868 the com-
missioners concluded a piece of work that ought to
have been done long before. This was the acquisition
of the ground between the old water-works and Lemon
Hill, situate upon Fairmount Avenue and Landing
Avenue. This ground had been authorized to be
taken by ordinance passed in 1864, but legal proceed-
ings delayed action for four years.
The commissioners in their first report set forth
their understanding of the object for which a park
should be supported and the benefits to be acquired.
They said, —
" The primary requisite of the park for popular recreation is an ex-
panne of green sward partly sheltered and adorned by trees and sbrub-
Iwrj-.
" These simple niral elements will of themselves give pleasure and
healthful exhilaraticin to people of alt ages and conditions, but a large
community need something mure.
"There should bo breadth enough of open lawns to give room for
play-grounds and parades ; shaded and secluded spots in sufficient num-
ber to present ample opportunity for the enjoyment of the quiet, doubly
grateHll to those who temporarily escape from the din of crowded city
street!, Tb6r« should be ornatuental fountains and abundant supplies
of running water accessible for the refreshment of visitors of all degrees
and of the animals admitted fur their convenience or amusement.
"There sbonld also be arbore and other structures for shelters and
rest, as well as suitable arrangements to facilitate the enjoyment of fine
Tiews of the park and the surrounding scenery."
Easy access to the.se works of art and beauties of
nature must be provided, recjuiring road and walks
skillfully designed for securing to all visitors, both
pedestrians and riders, freedom from danger or any
reason to apprehend dangerous interference with
their common recreation.
As to laying out the grounds, the general system
necessary was concluded to be such as would give
easy access to all interesting objects by judiciously
adapting the roads for pleasant transit, without in-
jury to the natural scenery among which they were
to be located. The diversified character of the
ground, and the abundance of noble trees and groves,
gav£ to the commissioners at many points a park
made to their hands, replete with the objects which
form nature's share of its adornment.
Seven engineering parties were sent out the first
season, led by Samuel L. Smedley, surveyor and
regulator of the city. One of these, under the lead
of John D. Estabrook, made a special survey of a line
for a sewer designed to convey the drainage of the
factories at Manayunk to tide-water below Fairmount
dam.
An enumeration of the trees standing in the park,
in 1869, excepting those on the borders of the Wissa-
hickon, showed that there were thirty-four thousand
seven hundred trees of large size, between eighteen
feet and twenty-seven feet in girth, and that they
embraced thirty-nine genera and sixty species. The
trees of less size were nearly seventy thousand, and
the hard-wood shrubs and vines were estimated to be
nearly two thousand in number. There were one hun-
dred and fifteen springs of water and wells. The high-
est level in the West Park was a short distance north
of Belmont mansion, at an elevation of two hundred
and forty-three feet above tide. In the Eiist Park the
highest spot was on the Strawberry mansion tract,
one hundred and thirty feet above tide. An esti-
mate made at the same time of the length of fence
or impervious hedges for outside inclosure was that
nearly eight miles would be required ; and that the
length for single screens for railways outside of the
boundary, and double screens for railways inside,
would exceed ten miles.
In the second annual report of the commissioners
of the park, laying aside the formal expressions usual
in such documents, they became enthusiastic in set-
ting forth the beauties of the ground over which they
had control. Thus they observed, —
"Lying in what in a few years will be the very
heart of the city ; exhibiting singly and in combina-
tion every variety of picturesque as])ect; ]>resenting
contours, both smooth and broken, adapted to all
forms of embellishment, and soil suited to all kinds
of cultivation; bountifully endowed with stately and
umbrageous trees ; irrigated by numerous brooks,
which, as they meander from the higher to the lower
levels, babble over pebbly bottoms, or leap in flash-
ing cascades, or spread into shining pools; and partly
composed of two romantic streams, flowing for miles
between banks of verdurous lawn or sloping wood-
land, or rock-girt precipice ; Fairmount Park, consid-
ered in reference to the uses for which it is intended
and the situation it occupies, may justly claim to be
without a rival. Superb and elegant as are many of
the parks belonging to European capitals, except in
the architectural and sculptural adornments which
the lavish application of wealth has bestowed, or the
grand and graceful arboreous avenues which the care-
I
i)lg^]t-o L^oaiL, UyJlSiiJ J'lrl e)!? DjieoiniiJlli«l StlElliul.
PUBLIC SQUAKES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1869
ful nurture of centuries lias secured, there is no one
among them to which it is inferior, while in natural
capacities it far exceeds them all. And if the people
of Philadelphia have-been fortunate in the site selected
for their park, because of these natural capabilities,
they are still more fortunate in the economic results
which that selection involves. For many years the
gravest topic submitted for municipal deliberation
had been one connected with the water supply of the
city. Whether that supply could continue to be drawn
in sufficient abundance and of the desired purity from
the Schuylkill, or whether it would have to be sought
in more distant regions, were questions which deeply
exercised not only the public functionaries, but all
thoughtful citizens. In the discussion of these ques-
tions it became manifest that, if the latter alternative
were adopted, it would compel an outlay of many mil-
lions of dollars. The formation of huge artificial
lakes, and the construction of long lines of aqueducts
through a rugged country, as experience elsewhere
had shown, could only be accomplished at an enor-
mous expense, and, when completed, the cost of main-
tenance and repair would be proportionately heavy.
To avert this but one course was feasible, and that
was the dedication of the park as its boundaries are
now defined." The commissioners went on to argue
that without a park the water of the Schuylkill River
would have soon been unfit for use. " Singular and
paradoxical as the statement may seem, it is never-
theless true that by this purchase Philadelphia will
actually save money, and practically get a park for
nothing. In other words, without the acquisition and
disposition of this land it would not be possible to pro-
tect the Schuylkill from such contamination as would
speedily make its waters unfit for general use, and in
that contingency a resort to remoter sources of supply
would be inevitable. Such a resort could not be suc-
cessfully had without the expenditure of at least twice
the amount expended in procuring the ground in Fair-
mount Park."
There was a good deal of work to be done in ob-
taining possession of lands, the payment of damages,
and the laying out of roads to make the new park
accessible. In tlie West Park the Lansdowne drive
was the principal carriage-way, and it required much
labor to put it in order for use. This grand road was
opened on the 21st of June, 1869, from Girard Avenue
at the head of the bridge to George's Hill, with some
ceremony, in which the Park Guard, a section of the
Keystone Battery which fired a salute, and members
of Councils, judges of the courts, and city officials
took part. The flag-staff at George's Hill was first
put in use by the raising of a large Burgee flag, in-
scribed with the title "George's Hill," by Maj.-Gen.
George G. Meade and Mayor Fox, a ceremony which
was accompanied by instrumental and vocal music.
Eli K. Price delivered an engrossed testimonial of
thanks, for the gift of George's Hill, to Jesse George,
for himself and his sister. On the 13th of September,
1869, the corner-stone of a monument to the memory
of Alexander von Humboldt was laid, on the centen-
nial anniversary of his birth, by the German society,
on the knoll where the tele du pont battery had been
built during the war of the Rebellion, which was on the
hill adjoining the entrance to Girard Avenue bridge.
In 1871, Councils adopted a resolution requesting
the commissioners to construct within the Park suit-
able fire-proof buildings for a public art-gallery and
museum for free exhibition at all times. Joseph Har-
rison, Jr., a park commissioner, proposed the erection
of an edifice on the crest of Lemon Hill. In this
structure he thought might be permanently preserved
Rothermel's great picture of the battle of Gettysburg,
painted by order of the State of Pennsylvania, and he
offered as the nucleus of an art collection his numer-
ous Indian portraits, taken from life scenes, portray-
ing Indian manners and customs, landscapes, etc., and
also a large picture painted by Benjamin West.
In 1872, in accordance with this suggestion, the
museum building was erected near the Green Street
entrance. It was of brick, stone, glass, and iron,
ninety feet long, thirty-eight feet wide, and twenty-
two feet high. Rothermel's picture was placed in it,
with some statues and pictures belonging to the Fair-
mount Park Art Association, and others which were
loaned. The gallery was opened to the public daily,
but in 1876 most of the contents were removed to
Memorial Hall, and the building was afterward
assigned to the use of the Pompeian Gallery.
In 1870-71 a new walk, twelve feet in width, was
opened through a highly picturesque ravine, to which
was given the name of Belmont Glen. It extended
from the Belmont Mansion to the Belmont Station of
the Reading Railroad, near the bank of the Schuyl-
kill. The length of the walk was two thousand six
hundred and forty feet, passing in its course over
the old inclined plane of the Columbia Railroad, on
a rustic bridge, and following for some distance the
meanderings of a bill-side brook bordered by several
springs, two of which were utilized by being inclosed
in stone basins to form drinking-fountains.
Michaux Grove was jilanted in 1870-71, near the
northwestern limit of the Lansdowne drive. It com-
prised sixteen species of oaks, selected for their
adaptability to the soil and the climate.
On Sept. 22, 1871, a bronze statue and monument in
memory of Abraham Lincoln, erected by the Linclon
Monument Association of Philadelphia, was unveiled
and dedicated on the plateau near the southeast bound-
ary of Lemon Hill. Tlie artist was Randolph Gross,
an American residing in Rome, and the casting was
done at Munich. The cost of the statue was nineteen
thousand three hundred dollars, and of the granite
base nine thousand four hundred dollars. The figure
is colossal in size, and measures, in the sitting posture,
nine feet six inches in height, the statue and base
together being thirty-two feet high. In the dedication
ceremonies was included a parade of military, which
1860
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
embraced the First Division of PennsylTania Volun-
teers, under Maj.-Gen. Provost and fourbrigades under
Brig.-Gens. John P. Bankson, J. William Hoffman,
William B. Thomas, and Louis Wagner.
The pavilion at Belmont, a building erected tor
public purposes, including meetings and banquets,
was opened on the evening of the day that the Lin-
coln monument was dedicated, with a public banquet.
It stood a little west of, but conveniently near to,
Belmont Mansion and Restaurant. It was forty-five
feet wide by eighty feet long, well adapted for the
uses for which it was intended. This building was
frequently the place at which public entertainments
LINCOLN MONUMENT.
were given previous t<j the opening of the Centennial
E.xhibition of 1876. The place which it occupied
was taken up by considerable two-story additions
built for restaurant purposes in 1875-76, at the south a set of managers who had no jjower to raise money
the country in the mean time. The Councils of the
city sent a memorial and appointed a committee on
the celebration, and an association of citizens was
formed to execute the project. Congress took no
immediate action, but eventually the Committees on
Manufactures and on Foreign Relations of the House
of Representatives visited Philadelphia on invitation
and were shown the grounds in the park, which, in
the opinion of the commissioners, would be most
suitable for exhibition purposes.
In consequence of the recommendations of these
committees. Congress passed an act, March .3, 1871,
" to provide for celebrating the one hundredth an-
niversarj' of American Inde-
pendence by holding an In-
ternational exhibition of arts,
manufactures, and products of
the soil and mine, in the city
of Philadelphia, and State of
Pennsylvania, in the year
1876." The act authorized the
appointment of a commission
composed of one delegate from
each State and Territory, to be
nominated by the Governors of
the States, and confirmed by the
President of the United States.
This was the Centennial Com-
mission, a body for the main-
tenance of which, or the dis-
charge of its duties, no means
were provided. There were
no ap[iropriations or pledge of
moneys on behalf of the United
States, and the commission was
actually a body appointed " to
work for nothing and find it-
self" There was no power
given in the bill to the com-
missioners to raise a penny
by subscription, and Congress
seemed to have reluctantly
sanctioned the i)roject of hold-
ing the exhibition, with i>articular care that it should
be at no expense to the national treasury. Under these
circumstances it was found that the exhibition, under
and west of the old Belmont Mansion.
One of the most memorable incidents connected
with the historj- of the park was the use to which it
was put for the great Centennial Exhibition of 1876.
Attention was at first officially called to the propriety
of holding the exhibition there sus early as 1869, when
the Franklin Institute and Academv of Fine Arts
could not have been other than a failure.
For more than a year the project languished. It
was not until 1872— in which year an association was
formed in Philadelphia to raise the funds necessary
for the construction of buildings, etc., and for carry-
ing on the exhibition, to which was given the title
'The Centennial Board of Finance"— that there was
of Philadelphia memorialized Congress in favor of any probability that the exhibition would be provided
holding an International Exhibition to commemorate for and held. Congress was induced, by act of June
the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of 1, 1872, to incorporate the Centennial Board of Fi-
Independence, and to signalize the immense progress nance, with authority to receive subscriptions to a
in population and prosperity which had been made by , capital stock not exceeding $10,000,000, to be divided
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1861
into shares of not more than $10 each, with authority
to construct the buildings and to carry on the exhi-
bition. Under the control of this commission, sub-
scriptions were made, and the stock allotted to be
distributed in the various States. There were in ad-
dition some large gifts. The State of Pennsylvania
gave $1,000,000 to the commission, for the purpose of
erecting the Permanent Building, since known as
Memorial Hall, and the city of Philadelphia gave
$1,500,000, with which were constructed Horticultural
Hall and Machinery Hall. On the 26th of June,
1873, Governor Hartranft, in compliance with a pro-
vision in the act of Congress, notified President Grant
that provision had been made for the erection of the
exhibition buildings. The latter made proclamation
on the 3d of July, of the same year, that the exhibition
would be held in 1876, and two days afterward Mr.
Fish, Secretary of State, sent notification to all for-
eign governments. On the 4th of July, 1873, the
commissioners of Fairmount Park formally trans-
ferred to the Centennial Commission and Centen-
nial Board of Finance, for the use of the exhibition,
two hundred and thirty-six acres of ground, extend-
ing from the River road, or continuation of Forty-
first Street, northwest to the Lansdowne drive and
concourse not far south of Belmont, and around the
same, south by west, by the Belmont drive to the
edge of George's Hill, and south to Elm Avenue,
and along the same to the place of beginning, oppo-
site Forty-first Street. The first plan for the exhi-
bition was to have but one structure, to cover forty-
four acres. Afterward this idea was abandoned, and
it was determined to erect several buildings. Con-
gress, on the 3d of March, 1875, appropriated $505,000
for the arrangement of an official government display,
of which $150,000 was to be devoted for the erection
of a special building for the government exhibition.
Ground was first broken for the construction of build-
ings July 4, 1874. Up to the beginning of 1876 the
iiinds realized by the board of finance from gifts, sub-
scriptions, and concessions, were $5,187,750. It was
calculated that $1,537,000 would be necessary to finish
the buildings and open them free of debt. Congress
passed an act authorizing a grant of $1,50(),000 on the
14th of February, 1876, which was supposed to be a
gift, but which, after the exhibition had closed, was
claimed to be only an advancement or loan, and,
under the effect of a judicial decision by the Supreme
Court of the United States, was returned to the
national Treasury, so that, except as to the money
paid for the purpose of the government display, the
Centennial Exhibition did not cost the United States
a dollar. The stockholders of the Board of Finance
received a small percentage of their investments.
The receipts of the exhibition were only sufficient to
pay expenses and something over, and the stock-
holders pocketed their losses and charged them off
on their account-books " to patriotism."
The buildings constructed for the use of the exhibi-
tion were one hundred and ninety-four in number, and
some of them of immense size. The Centennial Com-
mission divided the buildings into five groups. The
first were composed of the largest structures on the
ground, and included the Industrial Hall or the Main
Building, and Memorial, Machinery, and Agricultural
Halls with their respective annexes, several of the latter
being buildings of large size. The second group was
composed of buildings belonging to the United States
and the individual States. They included the United
States Government Building, Hospital, Signal-Office,
and smaller structures, and also the buildings erected
by the various States of the Union for the accommo-
dation of their own commissioners, and as places for
the assembling of their citizens who were visitors at
the exhibition. There were twenty-seven of these
State buildings, and one which was erected by the
city of Philadelphia. Many of them were pictur-
esque and elegant in style, and were constantly ad-
mired by all visitors. The third group were build-
ings erected by foreign nations, — Great Britain,
Germany, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Sweden, Japan,
France, and the Dominion of Canada. The fourth
group was composed of restaurants and houses of en-
tertainment, of which there were twelve or fifteen with
accessories. The fifth group was declared to be com-
posed of miscellaneous buildings, among which were
the Women's Exhibition Building, the Bankers',
Brewers', and Dairymen's Buildings, besides various
structures put up by persons in particular business
bazaars, railroad offices, etc. Within the inclosure
were sufficient structures to make a large town, and
some of them of greater proportions than any town
or city ever saw. The following were the dimensions
of some of the principal buildings : Industrial Hall,
Main Exhibition Building, built of iron, glass, stone,
and brick, covered 21.27 acres, with two annexes ;
shape, a parallelogram ; running from east to west
eighteen hundred and seventy-six feet, and from
north to south four hundred and sixty-four feet.
The east and west centres of the fronts were relieved
by central projections, galleries, and towers. In the
centre was a transept running from side to side, from
which arose four great towers, each forty-eight feet
square and one hundred and twenty feet high. The
building was commenced May 8, 1875, completed,
set up, and transferred to the commission Feb. 14,
1876. Architects, Joseph Pettit and Joseph M. Wil-
son ; builder, Richard J. Dobbins ; cost, one million
six hundred thousand dollars.
Machinery Hall resembled the Main Exhibition
Building in general details, but was materially dif-
ferent in many respects. It was principally built of
iron and glass, and covered nearly thirteen acres ;
shape, a parallelogram ; length, fourteen hundred and
two feet east and west ; width, three hundred and sixty
feet ; annex in the centre, two hundred and eight feet
wide and two hundred and ten feet deep to Elm Ave-
nue; and some smaller annexes. Architects, Henry
1862
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson ; builder, Philip Quig-
ley ; cost, seven hundred and ninety-two thousand
dollars.
Horticultural Hall, built of brick, stone, iron, and
glass; style, Moresque; situate at the head of
Fountain Avenue, on the north side of Lansdowne
Valley and northeast of Memorial Hall, intended to
be fire-proof. Length, east and we.st, three hundred
and eighty-three feet ; width, one hundred and ninety-
three feet ; height to top of lantern, seventy-two feet ;
covers 1.05 acres; architect, H. J. Schwarzman ;
builder, John Rice; cost, two hundred and fifty-one
thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven dollars.
Memorial Hall, intended to be an art gallery. A
permanent building of granite, brick, glass, and iron,
situate immediate!}' north of the Main Building and
south of Lansdowne Glen. Building, east and west,
three hundred and sixty-five feet; width, north and
south, two hundred and ten feet ; height of walls,
fifty-nine feet. The dome over the rotunda rises one
hundred and fifty feet above the ground. It was
capped by a colossal bell, upon which stood an em-
blematic figure of Columbia, cast in zinc. This figure
was taken down some time after the centennial year,
as it was found to be sinking, and there were fears
that it would break through the dome. The plan
consisted of a centre building, open arcades east and
west of the main entrance, and closed pavilions at
the corners. The exterior was decorated with statu-
ary and many ornaments. Architect, H. J. Schwarz-
man ; builder, R. J. Dobbins; cost, one million five
hundred thousand dollars.
Agricultural Hall stood north of Horticultural
Hall and beyond Belmont Valley. Material, wood
and glass ; ground-plan, a long nave, crossed by three
transepts ; nave, eight hundred and twenty feet long,
from north to south, and one hundred feet wide;
grand central transept, four hun<lred and sixty-five
feet long and one hundred feet wide ; height of the
nave, seventy-five feet. Areas and courts were be-
tween the naves and the transepts, which were built
upon to the height of one story, so that really the
building was almost square. There was a central
tower and steeple, and towers at the end of each
transept. The hall, although cheaply put up, pre- i
sented an attractive appearance. Space covered,
seven and one-fourth acres; architect, James H.
Windrini ; builder, Philip Quigley ; cost, one hun-
dred and ninety-seven thousand dollars.
The United States Government Building, the largest
of the second group, was on the west side of Belmont
Avenue, at Fountain Avenue. Built of wood, in the
shape of a cross. Long nave, running east and west,
four hunilred feet long, one hundred feet wide: cross
transepts, three hundred feet in <lepth, one hundred
feet wide; height of Imilding, sixty feet, surmounted
by a lantern. This building was occupied by the
War, Navy, Interior^ and Post-Office Departments, |
with the Agricultural Bureau and Smithsonian Insti- i
tution. Architect, James H. Windrim ; builder,
Aaron Doane & Co. ; cost, sixty-two thousand dollars.
Women's Pavilion, built by the Women's Centen-
nial,Committee, for the exhibition of women's work
in art and manufacture. Situate on the east side of
Belmont Avenue, opposite the United States Govern-
ment Building. Formed by two intersecting naves,
each sixty-four by one hundred and ninety-two feet,
with a porch at the end of each eight by thirty-two
feet, and four pavilions, each forty-eight feet square,
in the corners formed by the naves. Architect, H. J.
Schwarzman ; builders, Jacob G. Peters and John
D. Burger, of Lancaster, Pa. ; cost, forty thousand
dollars.
There were several special buildings for the exhibi-
tion of particular industries, which were erected by
persons interested in their trade displays. Among
these were the Shoe and Leather Building, in which
all sorts of shoes and boots, from those that would fit
the tiny feet of the infant up to the enormous stogies
worn by the giant, were on exhibition. Also leather
of all kinds, in every stage of manufacture, and arti-
cles made of leather, from the pocket-book up to the
Saratoga trunk. This building was three hundred
and fourteen feet long, from east to west, and one hun-
dred and sixty feet in width. Architect, Alexander
B. Bary ; builder, J. H. Coffrode & Co. ; cost, thirty-
one thousand dollars.
The Carriage Exhibition Building was three hun-
dred and ninety-two feet long by two hundred and
seventy -seven feet wide, a single story, constructed of
wood, sheathed with corrugated iron. It was used
for the exhibition of carriages, coaches, fancy wagons,
pleasure carriages, sleighs, omnibuses, and railway
cars from all parts of the world. Architect, H. J.
Schwarzman.
The Photographic Exhibition Building was spe-
cially prepared to receive actinic pictures. It was
an annex of the Art Gallery ; style, of the French
Renaissance ; length, two hundred and fifty-eight
feet ; width, one hundred and seven feet.
The Pomological Building, east of Agricultural
Hall, was considered an annex of the latter, and was
of the dimensions of one hundred and eighty by two
hundred feet. It was used particularly for the ex-
hibition of fruits and flowers, when they were in
season.
The Brewers' Building was an annex to Agricultu-
ral Hall, designed to show the processes and business
of brewing. Length, two hundred and seventy-two
feet east and west; breadth, ninety-six feet; two
stories in height. Builder, James B. Doyle; cost,
twenty thousand dollars.
The buildings erected by foreign governments for
the accommodation of their commissioners were not
very elaborate. The most striking was St. George
House, in the picturesque style of the old English
timber houses of two centuries ago, some examples
of which yet remain near Chestar and other parts of
PUBLIC. SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1863
England. It was a combination of gables, bay and
oriel windows, verandas, balustrades, balconies, with
a very liberal distribution of chimneys, which might
defy accurate description. Its oddity rendered it
very attractive.
The French Government Building was very plain,
built of brick, and not particularly attractive in
style. It was used for displays of models, plans, and
drawings of the public works maintained by the
French nation.
The German Government Building was of brick,
rough-cast, in the Italian Renaissance style, eighty-
two feet long and forty-two feet broad, and particu-
larly noticeable on account of its capacious and
handsome portico.
Brazil had a pavilion which was noticeable. It
was octagonal in form, but so decorated with porches
and bay-windows that the ground-plan was not
observable, and the effect was pleasant.
The Spanish government prepared an octagonal
building, surmounted by a lantern, and in the details
of doors and windows Moresque in style. Spain was
the only country, except the United States, which
sent regular soldiers to the exhibition. The building
spoken of was first intended for their quarters. It
was fifty feet in diameter. Subsequently an annex
building, eighty by one hundred feet, was constructed,
in which there were exhibited Spanish products.
Japan presented for the occupancy of its commis-
sioners a curious building, put up by Japanese work-
men, with odd tools and strange manual processes.
It was entirely of wood, finely planed and finished,
and was joined with as much neatness as a fine piece
of furniture. The wood-carvings, birds, flowers, and
other objects over the porch of entrance were exe-
cuted with great skill. This was one of the most
attractive buildings on the ground.
Sweden was represented architecturally by a school-
house, and Canada by a timber house, made of planks
and boards piled upon each other on the interior, with
an outside portico formed of trunks of trees with the
bark on ; it was a curious-looking structure.
Among the State buildings none was more showy
and peculiar than the one that was erected by New
Jersey. The style inclined to the Norwegian pattern
in architecture, but with its peaks, gables, lofty tower,
porches, gallery, and pavilions, it was not to be as-
signed exactly to the architecture of any country.
The Ohio State Building was composed in front of
stone of difierent colors and qualities produced in
different parts of the State. Unfortunately it was
not of sufficient size, and a wooden annex was added,
which detracted from the general appearance.
Kansas and Colorado united in the construction of
a building in Gothic style, built in the form of a
Greek cross, the arms of which were each one hun-
dred and thirty-two feet long, and they used the space
for a special exhibition of their products of agricul-
ture and minerals and manufactures.
Many of the State buildings were small, and not
particularly handsome, their styles being apparently
modeled from those of the most conspicuous and
elegant private houses in some of their villages.
The Centennial Exhibition opened on the 10th of
May, 1876, and closed Nov. 10, 1876. The total ad-
missions were 9,910,966 persons, of which 1,906,692
were free, the latter representing in a large degree
exhibitors, officers, and employes, who passed in and
out of the enclosure daily, and some of them several
times a day.
After the close of the Centennial Exhibition, which
had been remarkably successful as an object of inter-
est and a means of instruction, there were expressions
of regret that such a magnificent collection of inter-
esting objects should be dissipated, and that the ex-
hibition and its results would become only a memory.
It was believed that if the Main Exhibition Building
could be retained there might be created a permanent
exhibition, in the style of the Kensington Museum,
at London, which would be continually useful as a
school of instruction, and of unceasing interest.
Under these hopes there was organized an associa-
tion entitled the Permanent International Exhibi-
tion Company, the object of which was to continue
the display. Some of the depositors in the Centen-
nial Exhibition left their goods in the charge of the
new enterprise, and new deposits were obtained. The
Main Exhibition Building was purchased, and the
managers entered upon the experiment. The Perma-
nent Exhibition was opened with parade and cere-
mony on the 10th of May, 1877. Misfortunes and
errors of manngement followed. After four years of
experiment, the early portions of which were flatter-
ing and seemed to promise prosperity, the attempt
was relinquished. The stockholders voted four to
one, on the 14th of February, 1881, that it was inex-
pedient further to maintain the exhibition, and that
the directors be authorized to dispose of the building
and other property as soon as in their judgment such
action would be best. The Bi-Centennial Associa-
tion of Philadelphia had a celebration at the build-
ing on the 4th of July succeeding, nearly thirty
thousand persons being present. It was the last
public occasion on which the building was put to
use. The materials were sold at auction on the 9th
of August, 1881, for ninety-seven thousand dollars.
The work of tearing down the building commenced
shortly afterivard, but was not thoroughly completed
for several months.
Agricultural Hall was torn down shortly after the
close of the Centennial Exhibition. Machinery Hall
stood longer, but was finally disposed of by auction,
and the material taken away in 1883. Of all the grand
buildings which stood upon the plot in 1876 there
only remained in 1884 Memorial Hall and Horticul-
tural Hall, St. George's House, the pavilion of the
German Empire, and the Ohio State Building.
In 1878 the Park Commissioners reported that all
1864
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the lands purchased by them, or valued for purchase, {
were worth $6,105,069. At the same time they stated
the area to be two thousand six hundred and forty-
eight acres. Immediately before or during the cen-
tennial year there were erected in the park three ele-
vators and observatories for the purpose of affording
views of the landscape scenery. One of these was
Sawyer's observatory at Belmont, another was put
up on the bold promontory rising above Turtle Rock,
on the Lemon Hill property, and the third was at
George's Hill. Sawyer's structure was taken down
after standing some years. The George's Hill obser-
vatory was removed to Coney Island, N. Y. In 1884
Lemon Hill observatory yet remained.
The ornamentation of the park to any considerable
degree by the acquisition of works of art was an
object from the beginning of the jurisdiction of the
Park Commissioners, but they could scarcely hope
to accomplish it through the ordinary appropriations
made to them. The amount required for the pur-
chase of land, the heavy expenditures for the laying
out of walks and drives, the building of bridges, and
putting the park in a condition for public use were so
great that only the development and exhibition of
the natural beauties of the ground could be attended
to. Knowledge of this fact, and a desire to add to
the appearance of the grounds by works of art and
beauty, led to the formation, in 1871, of a society, the
object of which was to add to the decorations of the
park. Several gentlemen met and organized in June |
of that year. Subscriptions were opened on the 22d
of the same month, and on the 2d of February, 1872,
the Fairmount Park Art Association was incorpor- ■
ated. The object, as set forth in the charter, was
"the accumulation of a fund, by means of annual
contributions of small fixed sums of money, by the
members thereof, and by legacies, donations, etc.,
which fund, or the interest thereon, shall be devoted
to and expended in adorning Fairmount Park, in the
city of Philadelphia, with statues, busts, and other
works of art, either of a memorial nature or other-
wise." With good judgment, it was determined that
membershi[) should not be expensive. The entrance
fee of one dollar went to the expense fund, and five
dollars per year annually into the general fund, for
the art purposes of the society. In the first report
made, October, 1872, it was stated that the associa-
tion had seven hundred and thirty-three members,
and that the amounts received for subscriptions and
entrance fees was seven hundred and seventy-five
dollars. At the meeting of Dec. 18, 1882, it was re-
ported that the membership of all grades was nine
hundred and fifty-seven. Ui> to that time the asso-
ciation had obtained thirteen principal objects of
decoration, statues, fountains, etc., and held in the
general and permanent fund $24, .388.51, of which
$9249.91 were in trust for the memorial statue of
Gen. George G. Meade, and $13,090.89 for memorial
monument of President James A. Garfield.
OBJECTS OP HISTORIC INTEREST AND WORKS OP ART AND
DEC0K.\TI0N IN F.AIRMODST PARK JULY 4, 1883.
Historic Houses and Mansions.— The cottage of
\Viinnm Penn Isonietiuu's called the Letitia House),
built in Letitia Court, below Market Street, and be-
tween Front and Second, about the year 1683, being
the first brick house in Philadelphia. Removed to
Fairmount Park on the knoll southwest of Lans-
downe drive, nearGirard Avenue, in 1883, and rebuilt
by citizens.
Wooden cottage and building occupied by Gen. U.
S. Grant as his headquarters at City Point during the
campaign in Virginia of 1864-65. Presented by citi-
zens in 1865, and removed to the East Park, southwest
Sedgeley guard-house.
Lemon Hill Mansion, northwest of Fairmount
Water-Works, built by Henry Pratt after 1800,
changed in the interior decoration, and added to by
Park Commissioners.
Sedgeley guard-house was once the stable and offices
of the Sedgeley Mansion, which stood east of it. It
was originally the northern portion of the Hills estate
belonging to Robert Morris, and was separated from
the latter in the sherifiF's sale 25th of March, 1799,
and was bought by William Crammond, who built a
country-house in the Gothic style there after the plan
of Latrobe the elder about the year 1800. Sedgeley
became the property of Samuel Mifflin, merchant, in
1806, and of James Cowles Fisher, merchant,in 1812.
The Cliffs, a small house northwest of the drive, on
part of Mifflin's Lane, formerly in the East Park. It
is near the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.
Fountain Green, the seat next beyond the Cliffs,
originally belonged to Samuel Mifflin. The grounds
run over to what was called Mifflin's Lane. Mr.
Mifflin died in 1781, and Samuel Meeker became the
owner and lived there many years during the present
century ; Casper W. Morris succeeded him. After
the old mansions on the Schuylkill were deserted
Fountain Green was known as " Engel & Wolf's
farm," and was occupied near the railroad by that
firm for brewing purposes. The old Mifflin-Meeker
Mansion was used as a restaurant and for the accom-
modation of picnic-parties and social gatherings.
Mount Pleasant, in the East Park, near the bridge
of the Reading Railroad Company, formerly called
the Columbia Bridge, and nearly opposite the Ibrnier
site of Lansdowne, on the west side of the Schuylkill,
was built by Capt. John McPherson, about 1762;
bought l)y Benedict Arnold as a marriage-gift for his
wife, Peggy Shippen, in the spring of 1779 ; escheated
after his treason ; confiscated in 1781 ; bought by Col.
Richard Hampton during Arnold's life; purchased
by Blair McClenachan in 1783; sold in 1784 to Chief
Justice Edward Shippen, the father of Margaret, wife
of Benedict Arnold; sold by him in 1792 to Gen.
Jonathan Williams, mendjer of Congress, the first
superintenilenl of West Point Military Academy;
held by him and his family, the last owner in that
leiKliS @K1 TiWS ^SSliiaKIOSKO'M.
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1865
line being his son, Henry J. Williams, an eminent
lawyer. It was for some years a place of resort chiefly
by Germans, and called Washington Retreat. In 1868
it was bought by ihe Park Commission. Among
the tenants of this mansion might have been Maj.-
Gen. Baron Frederick William Augustus Von Steu-
ben, who was given lease of the premises Oct. 25,
1780, by the Supreme Executive Council, but in re-
gard to whom it is doubtful whether he had ever
occupied it. The Marquis Casa d'Yrujo, minister
plenipotentiary of Spain, who married a daughter of
Governor Thomas McKean, lived here in 1802.
West of Mount Pleasant was Rockland. The estate
belonged from 1756 to 1765 to John Lawrence, and
afterward to Capt. John McPherson. The mansion
was built by George Thomson, merchant, about 1810.
He sold it in 1816 to Isaac C. Jones, who, with his
family, occupied it, until the estate was taken for park
purposes.
Belleville, north of Rockland, a small liouse, was
occupied by Daniel W. Coxe, who was a brother-in-
law of Edward Shippen Burd.
Next to Belleville is Ormiston. The property be-
longed to Joseph Galloway before the Revolution.
It was forfeited to the State in consequence of his
treason, bought by the trustees of tlie University of
Pennsylvania, and sold to Gen. Joseph Reed, once
president of the Supreme Executive Council. He
sold it to Edward Burd, son-in-law of Chief Justice
Shippen, who named it Ormiston, after the estate of
his father in Scotland. Edward Shippen Burd, his
son, occupied this property for many years.
Next to Ormiston was Laurel Hill, which was occu-
pied for many years by Samuel Shoemaker, and after-
ward, from 1828 to 1836, by Dr. Philip Syng Physick.
After the name of the Laurels, the seat formerly of
Joseph Sims, farther up and near the Falls of Schuyl-
kill, was changed to Laurel Hill, the old Laurel Hill
(Shoemaker's place) was known as Edgeley.
Woodside, lately occupied by the Park Commis-
sioners, is an old house which, according to tradition,
was built by William Coleman, the friend of Frank-
lin, who was associate justice of the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania, and died in 1769. It was afterward
the residence of David Franks, who, unfortunately,
during the Revolution was not on the right side.
William Lewis, lawyer, lived for some years at Sum-
merville, which was the property immediately south
of the present Laurel Hill. It was afterward occupied
by Judge Hemphill, and after it was abandoned as a
place of summer residence it was called Strawberry
Mansion. It was from 1835 for some years a favorite
place for picnics, and when the park was opened it
was established as a restaurant.
The Park River road, which runs below Laurel Hill
Cemetery, passes over the property once occupied by
three famous country-seats. They were Harleigh,
William Rawle's place, now South Laurel Hill ; Fairy
Hill, George Pepper's place. Central Laurel Hill ; and
The Laurels, Joseph Sims' seat, the name of which
was afterward changed to Laurel Hill, which now
constitutes North Laurel Hill.
In the West Park the following old country-houses
are still existing : Solitude, in the West Park, south
of Girard Avenue, was the villa of John Penn, the
son of Thomas Penn and of Lady Julianna Farmer,
daughter of the Earl of Pomfret. Penn came to Penn-
sylvania to look .after his family interests in 1784, and
bought ground opposite The Hills, fifteen acres, for six
hundred pounds sterling. Here he built the little
two-story box, still standing, and occupied by the
offices of the Zoological Society. The house was
finished in 1785.
Sweet Briar, northwest of the Lansdowne entrance,
near the Girard Avenue bridge, was built by Samuel
Breck about 1798. He occupied this mansion for
many years.
Belmont, the property north of Lansdowne, was
purchased by William Peters, brother of the Rev.
Richard Peters, from the widow of Daniel Jones, by
deed of July 4, 1742. The tract contained two hun-
dred and twenty acres. Mr. Peters erected a small
stone house, with a bay at the southern end, in a fine
situation, with a grand view of the Schuylkill. It
was probably finished in 1743. Mr. Peters called the
place Belmont, and resided there until about the Rev-
olution, when the use of the property was assigned to
his son Richard, afterward judge of the United States
District Court. It is not known when the large man-
sion on the north of the original Peters house was
built. It might have been by William Peters before
the Revolution, or by his son afterward. As long as
Judge Peters resided there the house was the resort
of the most eminent men, famous in American history
and politics, and of distinguished foreigners. The
attractiveness of the place was somewhat injured in
1832 and afterward by the laying out of the State
railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia. The tracks
were brought across the Schuylkill on the Columbia
Railroad bridge, and up the hill by an inclined plane,
the bed of which comes out about two hundred feet
distant from the Belmont mansion, and is now used
as a bridle-road. There was machinery to operate
the cable on the plane, work-shops, and depots almost
next door to Belmont mansion, so that, with the travel
connected with the railroad, it could not have been
for some years a favorite place of residence. When
the Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered, and the
route was laid out to the Market Street bridge, the
inclined plane was abandoned, and Belmont returned
to a quietude greater even than was usual to the
mansion and grounds before railroads had invaded
them. Judge Peters was dead, and the house, so long
the genial rendezvous of bright and fashionable peo-
ple, was scarcely disturbed by a wandering visitor.
The Park Commissioners bought this property in 1867,
and established it as a restaurant. The popularity of
the place was such that it was soon found that there
1866
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
was not room enough for the accommodation of com-
pany, especially for banquets and occasions of cere-
mony ; a pavilion was erected west of the mansion-
house. In 1876 there was another alteration, during
which the old Peters building of 1743—14 was demol-
ished, and a two-story addition, fronting south, was
erected for the purposes of a restaurant, being fur-
nished with dining- and supper-rooms.
Mount Prospect was the seat of the Johnsons as
early as 1806. It was subsequently sold to Jacob S.
Wain, who changed the name to Ridgeland, and lived
there nianv vears.'
SDPPOSKI) "TOM Mdi'UK'S COTTAGE.
Farther up, south of the Fort road, was Prospect
Lodge. Montpelier, built by George Plumsted about
1 Tbare la on the weat aide of the Schuylkill, above the Reaillng Ck>-
InmbU Railroad bridge. In front of BidgelHnd, a small oiienitory hou»e,
which baa basn called "Tom Moore's Oittage." The ator.r la that ft
waa occupied by Thomas Sloore, the poet, at the time when ho was in
Philadelphia, in IXM. There is no good foundation for the legend. The
Journal of Mr. Moore shown that the whole time which he spent in
Philadelphia during his riiit to America was ten or eleven days. He
waa r«ceiTed in the best society, flattered, dined, and his company much
eonght by literary people. He had no time to become a tenant of this
inalgniflcnnt house if he had desired to. There is no plausible founda-
tiOD, In fact, for the Tom Moore's story as rnnnected with this little
faonae. Edward Wain, who was a boy at Ridgeland in 1t*}f> and for
many years afterward, wrote Ut Russell Tliayer, superintendent of Fair-
mount Park in 18K), that lie had never heard of the place being called
Tom Moore's Cottage while he resided there. Tlie house in his oariy
dayawaa known in the nrighhurhood as "Aunt Oirnelia'a," and this
waa the name of an old colored woman who lived there and made
her livelihood aa a washerwoman, to which she added occasionally a few
panotee by the sale of ginger-cakes and Hprucc-l>e«r.
1802, was afterward occupied by Benjamin Johnson.
It was north of Prospect Lodge, immediately opposite
the Laurels, Sims' ])lace, afterwards called Laurel
Hill.' The Park Cominissioners gave to the jilace the
name Chamoiinix. In the area of the East Park, be-
sides these buildings yet standinjr, there have been
others of historic importance.
The Hills was the name of Robert Morris' estate,
which included the whole of Lemon Hill and Sedge-
ley. The Hills House was built by Mr. Morris after
1770, when he made the first purchase of the ground
there. It was jirobably finished in 1771-72. The
house was torn down by
Henry Pratt after he bought
the estate.
North of Lemon Hill, be-
fore Sedgeley w.is reached,
was Mount Sidney, which
was occupied by Thom.is
Passmore, and some time
after the year 1800 by Peter
De Barbier Du Plessis and
by Maj.-Gen. John Barker.
The early country-seats in
We.-^t Park not now existing
were as follows : On the west
side of the river Schuylkill,
immediately north of Haver-
ford Street, was Sjiring Hill.
the projierty of Ellis Yar.
nail. It was in a <lue line
west of Turtle Rock and
Lemon Hill. The West
Philadeli>hia Water-Works
were built on a ]>ortion of
this property.
Eaglesfield or Egglesfield,
on the west side of the
Schuylkill, a little above the
entrance to Girard Avenue
bridge and south of Sweet
Briar, was built about 1798 for James Greenleaf, after
designs by George I. Parkins. It was in after-years
the property of Robert E. Griffith.
Lansdowne Mansion stooil about where the Horti-
cultural Hall is now erected. The first ])urcha.se of
ground there was made by Governor and Proprietary
John Peiin in 1773, and compriseil, when all outlying
)iarcels were added, about two hundred acres. Lans-
ilowne House was built of .stone in the Italian style, and
probably finished when the Revolution broke out. It
is marked distinctly on Faden's map of 1777. He
lived there until about the time of his death, Feb. 9,
1795. The estate wa-s devised absolutely to his wife,
Ann, daughter of Chief Justice .\llen. She sold it in
1795 to James Greenleaf. The sheriff of Philadel-
phia seized it in 1797 as ])roperfy of Greenleaf, who
was in pecuniary difficulties, and sold it to William
Bingham. He kept the mansion in grand style until
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1867
after the death of his wife, in 1801. At the death of downe, and once occupied by Mr. Baring, who had
Mr. Bingham, three years afterward, the property was I married Miss Bingham.
vested in his family, two of his sons-in-law being Bar-
ings. The Barings held the property until the ground
was bought by gentlemen through whoso interests it
was secured for Fairmount Park. Joseph Bonaparte,
ex-king of Spain, Count De Survilliers, lived in the
A great attraction of these grounds is the Zoo-
logical Garden. The Zoological Society was incor-
porated in 1859 by the General Assembly, and a
site assigned to it in Fairmount Park under the
act of incorporation. The place provided was north
ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.
Lansdowne Mansion 1816-17. The house was en-
tirely burned out on the 4th of July, 18.54, but the
walls were standing in good condition. The mansion
might have been rebuilt if the Park Commissioners
had so elected. But they did not appear to know the
historic character of the ruins, and the easiest way to
get rid of them was to prostrate them entirely. The
Hut was a small hou.se on the River road near Lans-
of the Spring Garden (Schuylkill) Water- Works, on
the hill extending over to the Reading Railroad, and
eastward to the river drive. The opening of the Con-
necting Railroad on the south side of the lot placed
the grounds in a wedge between two railroads, with
the river on the other side, and with no easy means
of access except by crossing the railroads at that
time. For this reason it may be supposed the mem-
1868
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
here of the society were deterred from attempting to
establish the gardens and procure a collection of
beasts and birds, etc. In June, 1873, the commis-
sioners of Fairmount Park assigned to the use of the
society the Solitude portion of its grounds south of
Girard Avenue and between the River road and the
Pennsylvania and Connecting Railroads. The society
entered upon the property, constructed large and at-
tractive buildings for the exhibition of various kinds
of animals, and the grounds were opened July 1,
J874. The inclosure embraces Solitude and a por-
tion of Spring Hill, the Yarnall estate.
The house in which David Rittenhouse, the astron-
omer, wa-s born, stands near the junction of Paper-
Mill Run with the Wissahickon Creek, and is about
half a mile above the site of the Log Cabin.
The Monastery is situate on the east side of the
Wi.s.sahickon. This building succeeded one which
was erected by Alexander Mack, John Reissman, and
Henry Hoecker, Dunkers, who had belonged to the
church at Bebberstown, commonly called Beggars-
town, established in the northern part of German-
town in 1732. The establishment was modeled upon
the monastery of the Dunkers, or Seventh-Day Bap-
tists, at Ephrata, which had been founded in 1732-33
by Conrad Beis-sel. The Wissahickon house was in-
habited for about a year by Alexander -Alack, Henry
Hoecker, John Reissman, and another brother, who,
in the "Chronicon Ephratense," published in 1786,
records these facts, but does not give his own name.
It ceased to be used by the brethren almost entirely
in March, 1739. Thirteen years afterward Joseph
Gorgas bought ground on the Wissahickon, where he
erected a three-story stone house, which is now called
the Monastery. He lived there until 1761. It is a
matter of tradition, but by no means of proof, that
Gorgas and others of the Seventh-Day Baptists re-
sided at this house tor purposes of seclusion and re-
ligious meditation. Legend says that the attire of
the monks was like that of the Catholic Capuchins,
or White Friars, — a short trousers and vest, with a
long. white gown and cowl of woolen webbing in
winter and of linen in summer. The same traditions
say that there was a place near the Monastery, below
the county bridge, where the monks administered the
rite of baptism. Gorgas sold the house and lot to
Edward Milner in 1761, and although since called
the Monastery, it has not been used for monkish
purposes.
Works of Art and Decorations in Fairmount
Park. — The Xyniph and the Swan, <alled also Leda
and the Swan, wooden statue, with fountain cut by
William Rush, sculptor, and originally erected in the
Centre Square in front of tlie reservoir; removed to
P'airmount and jilaced on the rocks of the forebay
after the Centre Square reservoir-house was abandoned
by the Water Department, about 1828.
The same figures in bronze were moulded from the
wooden statue, and placed in the centre of the large
fountain near Callowbill Street. The casting was
made and ]>laced in position while Frederick Graff,
the second, was chief engineer of the water-works.
Figure of a boy riding a dolphin, an ornamentid
Jet d'tan at fountain north side of park entrance, at
Green and Twenty-fifth Streets. These figures were
originally placed in the Ibuntain near the Callowbill
Street entrance, but were removed when the bronze
statue fountain of Leda and the Swan was placed
there.
Diana, a marble statue, placed over the drinking
fountain near the eastern part of the forebay by the
watering committee about 1830-31.
Reclining figures, " The Schuylkill in an improved
state," male; and "the Schuylkill in chains," female,
in wood, over the entrances to the wheel-houses, by
William Rush, .sculptor.
Justice and Wisdom, mask, full-length statues in
wood, by Rush ; carved for the decoration of triumphal
arch in front of the State-House on the occasion of
the reception of Gen. Lafayette, in 1824; transferred
to the Assembly room, which replaced the old engine
room of the water-works some years afterward.
Memorial bust of Frederick Graff, first engineer of
the works, and canopy ; erected in the garden south of
the forebay by City Councils about 1847-48.
The first fountain, so called, stands upon the side
of the road on the west side of the Wissahickon, half
a mile below the Indian Rock Hotel. It is claimed
that this is the first drinking fountain erected in the
county of Philadelphia outside of the Fairmount
Water- Works. A clear, cold, mountain spring is car-
ried by a spout, covered with a lion's head, from a
niche in a granite front, with pilasters and pediment
into a marble basin. The construction bears the date
1854, and it was the gift of John Cook, a gentleman
residing near the Wissahickon. Upon a slab above
the niche are cut the words "Pro bono publico;"
beneath the basin these, " Esto perpetua."
Tedyuscung is fancifully said to be represented by
the wooden figure of an Indian, which is placed on
the top of a lofty precipice called Indian Rock, sit-
uate on the east bank of the Wissahickon, a short
distance beyond the Indian Rock Hotel.
William I'enn, statue of Indiana marble, made by
Ezekiel, sculptor of the group "Religious Liberty;"
placed on "Mom Rinkle's Rock," Wissahickon; pre-
sented by Hon. John Welsh, park commissioner.
Monument statue in bronze to the memory of Al-
exander von Humboldt, |)r(sented by the German So-
riety of I'hilailelphia and citizens; situate on the knoll
overlooking the bridge at the southeast corner of
Girard Avenue and the upper drive from Lemon Hill ;
corner-stone laid Sept. 13, 1869; dedicated in 1871.
Fountain, marble, copy of the fountain in the Villa
Borghesi; presented by Robert H. Gratz in 1871;
placed in the Park Art Gallery, and now at Memorial
Hall.
Pegasus led by Calliope, and Pegasus and Clio, two
PUBLIC SQUAKES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1869
groups in bronze, heroic
size ; purchased by Robert
H. Gratz ami others, and
presented to the park in
1872; originally set up
near the park offices north
of the Reading Railroad
bridge, near Belmont ; in
1876 removed and set
upon pedestals at the
approaches to Memorial
Hall. These statues were
formerly part of the decor-
ations of the Grand Acad-
emy of Vienna.
Iron fountain and can-
opy at mineral spring.
Lemon Hill ; placed in
position in 1871.
Marble drinking foun-
tain on the walk leading
northward from the Lin-
coln Monument, at the
southeast corner of Lemon
Hill.
Fountain jets d'eau and
fish-pond, formerly be-
longing to Lemon Hill, in
front of the ascent to the
terraces nearly opposite
Brown Street, and on the
east side of Lemon Hill
Mansion.
Iron drinking-fountain,
main pedestrian walk,
north of fountain and
fish-pond. East Park.
Iron drinking-fountain
at Sedgeley, placed in
1871.
Iron drinking-fountain,
Elm Tree, near the Hum-
bolt Monument ; placed
in 1871 ; cast in Philadel-
phia.
" Night," bronze statue,
presented to Fairmount
Park Art Association by
Edwin N. Benson ; set up
at George's Hill, 1872.
Group in bronze, two
Hudson Bay gray wolves
quarreling over the car-
cass of a deer; by Edwin
Kemeys ; cast in Philadel-
phia ; presented by Fair-
mount Park Art Asso-
ciation ; set up in 1872
at Ferndale Pool, West
rOU.NTAIN AND STAND-PIPE.
1870
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Park ; in 1876 removed to the east side of the Lans-
downe drive, West Park, north of connecting railroad
bridge.'
Marble Statue, " II Penseroso," by Hosier ; ])re-
sented by Fairmount Park Art Association in 1874;
placed ill the Temporary Art Gallery at Horticultural
Hall.
" The Ambuscade," oil painting; figures by Baronet
Wappers.
"Landscape," by Koekkock ; presented by X. A.
Jennings to Fairmount Park Art Association in 1874;
placed in Temi)orarj' Art Gallery.
"Chalk and his friends," oil painting of dogs, by
Newbold H. Trotter; presented by artist to Fair-
mount Park Art Association in 1874 ; placed in Tem-
jiorary Art Gallery.
Bronze group, "The Dying Lioness," by Professor
Wilhelm Wcilf, of Berlin ; cast by Miiller, in Munich,
Germany ; syenite pedestal furnished by Miiller; pre-
sented by Fairmount Park Art Association, 1876 ; cost,
$4424.72 ; exhibited near Memorial Hall during Cen-
tennial Exposition ; set uji afterward in the Girard
Avenue concourse, in the north front of Zoological
Gardens.
Grand Fountain, platforms, and sub-fountains,
marble; erected by Catholic Total Abstinence Socie-
ties of Philadelphia, 1876; central statue, "Moses,"
secondary statues. Bishop John Carroll, of Baltimore;
Commodore John Barry, of the Revolutionary navy;
Father Theobald Mathew, Irish Apostle of Temper-
ance ; and Charles Carroll of Carrollton ; figures of
colossal size; erected in 1876.'
Christopher Columbus, statue, marble, heroic size,
erected in 1875 by the Columbus Monument Associa-
tion of Philadelphia.'
Statue, in bronze, of the Rev. Dr. John Wither-
spoon, member of the Continental Congress ; modeled
by J. A. Bailly, of Philadelphia ; east by Robert Wood
& Co. ; presented by the Presbytery of Philadelphia,
and erected northeast of Memorial Hall.'
" Religious Liberty," statue group, in marble, artist
Ezekiel ; presented by the Hebrew Society B'liai
B'rith ; originally set up in 1876 at the head of the
Sunken Garden extending from Horticultural Hall
to the Belmont road ; afterward removed to the circle
east side of Horticultural Hall.'
Pompeian Museum, in the old Art Gallery in the
park, near the Green Street entrance ; representations
by Signor Giacomo Luzzati, of Na]iles, showing the
remains of the fora, temples, theatres, houses, and
streets of Pompeii as they now appear, including
thirteen views, ten restorations of noted edifices,
and ten scenes illustrative of Pompeian life and
manners, including festivals, sacrifices, law trials,
gladiatorial combats, funerals, etc. ; purchased by
John Welsh, park commissioner, and presented to
the park in 1878.
> 8«» "MonamaDta," etc., p. 1872 el teq.
Two spray fountains, after those in the Champs
Elys6e ; cast in Paris, at the foundry of Val D'Osne ;
southeast corner of plot of ground near Lincoln
monyment.
Three of the same fountains in a trefoil-cluster,
northeast of the Lincoln monument; presented by
the Fairmount Park Art Association, 1877.
Colossal statue of Diana Borghesi, terra-cotta ; ex-
hibited at the Centennial Exhibition by H. Doultou
& Co., of London ; jiresented to Fairmount Park
Art Association, 1876 ; now placed in Horticultural
Hall.
Tam O'Shanter, Sutor Johnny, the landlord, and
landlady, tour figures in red sandstone, cut by the
Scotch artist, James Thoin, before the year 1837 ;
transferred to Fairmount Park Art Association, and
set up under a rustic shelter on the River drive, south-
east of Turtle Rock, in 1877.
Drinking fountain, granite, presented to Fairmount
Park Art Association by Mrs. R. D. Wood; set up in
1878 on the Wissahickon.
Trophy of buflT, terra cotta and faience, with orna-
ments; presented by H. Doulton & Co., of London,
to Fairmount Park Art Association ; set up in Memo-
rial Hall.
Horse-trough, of Italian marble, presented by Clar-
ence S. Kates to Fairmount Park Art Association,
and set up, in 1879, on the Wissahickon drive, near
the Old Log Cabin.
Grand fountain, twenty-five feet high, bronze, with
full-size life figures ; purchased in France by Fair-
mount Park Art Association ; cost, S8650.ll ; and set
up in East Park, near the Dauphin Street entrance, in
1880.
Fountain, bronze; set up under will of A. F. Ott
Montrose in West Park.
Bronze statue of Morton McMichael, the president
of the Park Commission; presented by citizens ; set
up on the east side of drive from Lemon Hill to
Girard Avenue bridge ; set up in 1882.'
The boat clubs on the Schuylkill are supplied with
a considerable number of barges, shells, sculls, and
other craft. In fine weather, especially in the after-
noons, the boats can be seen anywhere between Fair-
mount and the Falls of Schuylkill, and the ellbrts of
the rowers give animation to the scene. The earliest
rowing clubs that came upon the river were the Blue
Devil and Imj) Barge Clubs, which were organized
about 1833. The Imp had a long black boat, with a
broad red stripe. The rowers were dressed in dark
trowsers, with a red shirt and cap. The "Blue Devil"
was a black boat, with a broad gold stripe. The crew
was dressed in dark trowsers, sky-blue shirt and cap,
faced with white. These clubs were soon joined by
others, so that in the course of two years there were a
sulfieient number of boats on the river to justify an
attemi)t to get up a regatta. This took place on the
12th of November, 1835. The seeond-cla.ss boats were
four oars, — the "Ariel," the "Nymph," the " Dol-
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1871
phin," and the "Neptune." They rowed the first race
for a silver cup, which was won by the "Ariel." The
first-class boats were seven, — "Imp," "Blue Devil,"
"Cleopatra," "Falcon," "Sylph," "Metaniora," and
"Aurora." These were eight-oared boats. The distance
which was rowed is not given in the very full report
of the first regatta, which was published at tbe time.
The "Cleopatra" won the race in twenty minutes.
The "Blue Devil" was fourth, and the "Imp" was
seventh and last. These two had previously had a
race on their own account, in order to prove which
was best, on the 14th of September, which may be
memorable as the first boat-race on the Schuylkill.
Their course was straight to a point opposite Belmont,
and was computed to be from Fairmount nearly three
miles. The race was won by the "Imp" in eleven
minutes. After 1835 there were various clubs which
came upon the river, which flourished and which
faded. The boat-houses were at the beginning simple,
plain buildings, of brick, along the shore of the Schuyl-
kill, at Landing Avenue, and above as far as the foot
of Lemon Hill. After the latter was purchased by
the city the boat-houses were extended along the
bank. The Park Commissioners wisely considered
that these clubs should be encouraged. Long ex-
perience upon the Schuylkill showed that their mem-
bers were bright, active, young men, whose conduct
had always been decorous and unobjectionable. Per-
mission was given to them to erect larger and better
houses than they had yet possessed, and conveniences
were granted. The only thing required was that the
buildings should be architecturally neat and attrac-
tive, and under that arrangement some handsome
structures have been erected by the clubs, which add
to the attraction of the park and the neighborhood.
The following are the boat-houses, in 1883, extending
along the east bank of the Schuylkill from Fairmount
up to Turtle Rock :
The Public Boat-House is a large building erected
by the Park Commissioners in 1881, as a place where
boats could be kept on hire. It is not a club-house,
but is managed by a person to whom the lease is given
by the commissioners.
The first boat-house going west is occupied by the
Fairmount Rowing Association, a comparatively new
club of 1883, and the Quaker City Barge Club, organ-
ized Oct. 20, 1858. The house is of stone, fifty-six
feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and divided into two
compartments, for the separate accommodation of
each club. It was built in 1860.
The second house is of stone, fifty by forty feet, two
stories high, with a mansard roof, and is occupied by
the Pennsylvania Barge Club, which was organized
June 4, 1861, as the Atlantic Barge Club, and after-
ward changed its name, and the Crescent Boat Club,
instituted Sept. 1, 1867.
Bachelors' Barge Club, the third house, brown stone,
Gothic, two stories in height, is in possession of the
Bachelors' Barge Club, organized July 4, 1853.
The fourth house is occupied by the University
Barge Club, organized by classmen of the University
of Pennsylvania April 25, 1854, and by the Philadel-
phia Barge Club, instituted Dec. 8, 1862. Dimensions,
forty-two by fifty-seven feet ; material, West Chester
green stone. The house has a mansard roof.
The fifth building is occupied by the Malta Boat
Club, organized February, 1860, and the Vesper Boat
Club, organized Feb. 22, 1865. It is of stone and
ornamental.
The sixth boat-house is in tenancy of the College
Bciat Club of the University of Pennsylvania and the
West Philadelphia Boat Club.
The Undine Barge Club, organized May 9, 1856,
occupied the seventh, which is the largest and most
costly boat-house in the Park. It was finished in
1883. It is of brown stone. This club occupied for
many years the lower portion of the house of the
Skating Club. The Skating Club house is the last in
the row. The club was instituted Jan. 4, 1850, and
incorporated Feb. 28, 1861. It is forty feet front by
sixty feet deep, two stories in height, built of gray
stone, and in the Italian style of architecture.
The Schuylkill navy was organized in 1858, and
numbered eleven clubs, — Bachelors', University, Key-
stone, Camilla, Independent, Undine, Neptune, Che-
bucto, Quaker City, Dauntless, and Excelsior,— some
of which no longer exist. Annual regattas are given
by this combination. The majority of clubs on the
Schuylkill River belong to the navy, but there are two
or three that do not. The ten clubs of the Schuylkill
navy in 1875 owned sixty-seven boats, and the three
clubs which were not attached to it owned seventeen
boats.
The Undine Club has an up-river house for recep-
tions and calls, which they have named Ringstetten,
after the castle on the Rhine of Sir Rupert, whose
fascination by Undine is related in the story of La
Motte Fouque.
The Bachelors' Club also has a house of reception on
the west side of the Schuylkill, near the Falls.
The old Fishing Company, established in the year
1732, and called the Colony [afterwards the State] in
Schuylkill, had its " castle" for many years on the west
side of the Schuylkill, near Egglesfield, and within the
present park bounds. When the dam was built across
the river at Fairmount it was necessary, so it was
thought, to remove the Fish-House from its ancient
domain. The materials of the building were floated
down the Schuylkill upon scows, as far as Rambo's
Rock, below Gray's Ferry, and re-erected, and there
the society ha.s since remained. The inroads on the
banks of the river by the opening of streets, the
erection of dwelling-houses and factories, the manu-
facture of gas above and below the Fish-House, and
the petroleum trade which is concentrated in the im-
mediate neighborhood, rendered fishing an impossi-
bility in the neighborhood of the castle of the State
in Schuylkill long ago. It became evident some
1872
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
years since that the company would be driven out of
their old domain. Having been ancient denizens of
the park, the ritizens of the State were anxious to
eome back ajrain. Application was made to the com-
missioners of Fairmount Park. They granted to the
company the use of a piece of ground near the mouth
of the Wissahickon. not far from the Germantown
and Norristowii Railroad bridge. They have built
here a small house, which they occupy :ls a sort of a
sub-station. When they are at length forced out of
their ancient territory they will come here and enlarge
their mansion, and use it in the way to which they
have been accustomed, during the fishing seasons, for
more than one hundred and fifty years. For this, be
it understood, is the oldest social club in Philadelphia,
and for the matter of that the oldest social club in the
world.
In 1878 the Park Commissioners reported the fol-
lowing statistics : " The greatest length of the park,
measured from Green Street entrance to Thorji's Lane
(on the Wissahickon at Chestnut Hill), is 10.89
miles. The greatest breadth of the park is from
Ridge Avenue to George's Run, a distance of two
miles."
The following areas have been calculated by tlie
engineer of construction :
Acres.
Area of the Old P»rk 117
" " E«»t I'»rk 610
West Park 1242
" Wissahickon 416
Exteot of watcrsurfaco of the Sctaaylkill River within
ihe limits of the park »73
Area of the the park proper 2648
" outlying lou paid for out of park loan 143i^
Total area 2791, 'j
Girard Arenue bridge, connecting the East with the West Park, la
1000 feet in length, 100 feet in width, and 55 feet above luw-water
mark.
ToUl length of the footwalks in Faimiount Park in 1S78. 34.27 miles;
total length of carrlage-drivee, :i(l.46 miles; total length of bridle-paths,
7.82 miles; length of park boundary, 22.69 miles.
TABLE OF BISTAKCES.
From Fairmocnt (Grkcn Street Entrakce), on the East Bakk of
TBI Biter, to Chmtnci Hill.
Mllea. Miles.
To Girard Avenne bridge 1
" the Falls 8W 4U
" the Wissahickon 1 6vS
•• Maple Spring Hotel I!4 «l
" the Pipe bridge 3 O-V
•' Valley Green % lOVi
" Fini Fonntain \i 11
" Indian Kock j| W/i
" Thorp's Mill road, running to Chestnut Hill
(end of park) V ., 12Ji
To THE West Park from Fairhocnt (Green Street Entrance).
Miles. Hilea.
To Girard Avenne bridge 1
** Tjansdowne entrance i^ IV^
" Ijannduwne 1 2'2
" Belmont 1 3J4
" Chamonnix 1 4J4
From Green Street t» George's Hill, i^ Belmont VA
" " " " •• and riiamonnix 6>i
" Green Street to the Falls of Scliuylkill, ria the
River road, West Park i 4U
" Oraen Street to Wissahickon, eia the River road.... 6'A
" " " " " George's Bill VA
- " the Falls. - - « ej?
RiTIR DiSTAHCn,
Miles. Feet.
From Turtle Rock to Giraril Avenue bridge. 2060
" Turtle lEock to the rock justbeyondCou-
nectiug Railnmtl briilge, west bank.... ^
- " Turtle Rock to Udniiibia bridge 1 1400
■■ Turtle Rock to the middle of Peters
Island 1>^
" Turtle Bock to Laurel Hill landing 2 2300
•' Falls bridge 2 4600
National course for row-boats, from Columbia bridge north, 1)^ miles
straight away.
PUBLIC MOJJIMESTS.
The first proposition for the erection of a public
monument in Philadelphia was made by the Society
of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania in 1811. On the
4th of July of that year the following was unani-
mously adopted :
" Hesohed, That a committee of this society be appointed to prepare a
plan for ruiding by subscription such a sum of money as they shall deem
sufficient for the purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of the
late father of bis country. Gen. George Washington; that the plan,
when prepared, shall be submitted to the standing committee, and,
when npproved by them, should bo carried into effect; that Major
[David] Lenox, Judge [Richard] Peters, Major tWilliam] Jackson, Mr.
[Charles] Biddle, and Mr. [Horace] Binney be a committee for the above
purpose."
An address was issued soon afterward to the people
of Pennsylvania requesting subscrijuions, bj' which it
was hoped enough money would be obtained before
the 4th of July, 1812, to authorize the commencement
of the monument. This e.xpectation wa.s not realized.
Subscriptions were small, but they were faithfully in-
vested, and accumulations added. On the visit of
Lafayette in 1824 the popular enthusiasm caused by
the presence of the hero, and a revived interest in the
events of the Revolutionary period, i)rodiiced a popu-
lar movement in favor of the erection of a monument
to the memory of Washington. Public meetings were
held, and such was the confidence of success that it
was jiroposed and agreed that the corner-stone should
be laid by Lafayette betbre he left the country. The
response by contributions was by no means equal to
the hopes of citizens who promoted the plan. The
fund collected was not sufficient to justify action, and
it was held by the otiicers in trust for the purposes
intended. In 1832 the centennial celebration of the
birth of George Wa."hington again stimulated the
monumental feeling. Other meetings were held and
subscriptions made, and on February 22d the corner-
stone of the intended nionument was laid in Wash-
ington S<iuare. But the contributions turned out to
be insufficient. In 1882 the Society of the Cincin-
nati was granted, by decree of the Court of Common
Plea-i, the citizens' monument funds of 1824 and 1832,
amounting by accumulation to al>out fifty tliousand
dollars. This, added to the Cincinnati fund, which
had been carefully increased to one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars, gave to the society the com-
mand of one hundreil and eighty thousaml dollars,
and upon this capital it wa-s resolved to obtain jdans
and authorize the construction of a monument. The
design of Soemmering, a Belgian artist, was adopted,
and work upon the statues and decorations commenced
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1873
in Brussels, the supposition being that the monument
will be placed in Fairmount Park.'
Penn Treaty Monument. — The first public monu-
ment erected in PhiJadi'lphia was prepared and dedi-
cated by the Penn Society, an a.ssociation of citizens
embodied for the commemoration of historical sub-
jects connected with the history of Pennsylvania. In
1827 this association obtained the right of placing a
small marble monument on an inclosure of ground on
Beach Street, Kensington, near where the great elm,
supposed to have sheltered William Penn in a treaty
with the Indians, had stood. The monument is a
simple block of marble, placed upon a marble base.
It is about three feet high, in the shape of a truncated
pyramid, sloping from the base. The expectation of
the society was that a much larger monument would
be erected in time, but it was never able to do this,
and the little memorial still remains, strangely out of
place, it might seem, among the hurry and bustle of
the neighborhood. The inscriptions on the stone are
as follows :
On the North.
•'Treaty Ground
of
William Penn
and the
Indian natives
1682.
Unbrolien Faitli."
On the South.
" William Penn,
born 1644,
died 1718."
Oh the East.
"Pennsylvania,
founded 1681,
by
Deeds of Peace."
On the West.
" Placed by the
Penn Society
A.D. 1827
to mark the site
of the great elm-tree."
Washington and Lafayette. — Monument Ceme-
tery, on Broad Street, north of Montgomery Avenue,
was originally laid out under the name of "Pere La
Chaise," after the name of the celebrated cemetery
near Paris. Shortly afterward the managers deter-
mined to erect a conspicuous monument to the mem-
ory of Washington and Lafayette, and in allusion to
that fact changed the name of the ground to Monu-
ment Cemetery. Many years rolled by before the
plan was carried out. The monument to Washing-
ton and Lafayette was dedicated May 29, 1869.
An ambitious effort.to make this monument sym-
bolic has been manifested. The pedestal contains
seventy-seven and a half square yards, and is intended
to indicate the seventy-seven years and five months
of Lafayette's life. From the top of the pedestal to
the apex of the monument is sixty-seven feet ten
1 See vol. i. p. 636.
inches, corresponding with the years and months of
Washington's life. Immediately above the pedestal
are thirteen steps or stage.s, representing the original
number of States in the Union; thirty-two vertical
grooves in the sub-shaft (eight on each side) represent
the number of States in the Union when the monu-
ment was erected. The inscriptions on the north and
south faces are upon bronze talilcts, beneath profile
medallion likenesses of the two heroes. They are as
follows :
'■ Wnshington,
First in war, First in peace,
and
First in the Hearts of his Countrymen.
As a Warrior,
He served refusing pay, and led in the achievement of our
Independence.
As a statesman and Law Giver,
His guiding wisdom assisted in framing the Constitutional
Law.
As first president of the U.S.,
He Governed with firmness and moderation.
Asa patriot, he bequeathed his bright example and
Karnest counsel and immortal legacy to his country.
As a man, his character stood superior in its grand
Equipoise of noblest Qualities.
Modest as great, prudent as wise,
He gave the best years of his life to the public weal, and
Died in Voluntary Retirement,
The Brightest Star in the constellation of the great men
Of all times."
The other inscription is as follows :
" Gilbert Motier De Lafayette,
Benefactor of two Hemispheres;
Born a Noble of France ;
He served as a citizen soldier of American
Liberty;
A cherished Friend of Washington,
By whose side he fought and Bled
In defence of the great principle
That the only legitimate Government
Is that which derives its authority from the
Governed.
A patriot fearless and firm in days of Terror;
A man of unchanging Integrity under
Changing Dynasties;
The ponstant supporter of Constitutional
Freedom ;
Like Washington,
He died in voluntary Retirement,
Leaving a name that belongs to History,
The lesson of his life to future generations.
His most revered memory
To every American."
George Washington. — Statue monument, in mar-
ble, in front of Independence Hall, Chestnut Street,
between Fifth and Sixth. This was erected by con-
tributions of the children of the public schools of
Philadelphia. The design is simple : a plain granite
pedestal surmounted by the statue, which was cut by
J. A. Bailly, sculptor. It was dedicated July 5, 1865.
This is the finest statue of Washington in Philadel-
phia, and next to it in point of merit is the statue in
wood in Independence Hall, by William Rush.
Gen. Hugh Mercer, of the Revolutionary Army.
— The. remains of this patriot, who was killed at the
battle of Princeton, were originally interred in the
ground of Christ Church, south of the building on
1874
HISTORY OF PHILADELt>HIA.
Second Street and immediately adjoining Church
Alley. In 1840 the widening.' of Church Street ren-
dered it neci'ssary to cut away the graves near the
wall. Among them were those of Maj.-Gen. Charles
Lee and of Gen. Hugh Mercer. Gen. Lee's remains
were reinterred near the original spot, between the
first and second windows, east of the southwest door
of the church. The St. Andrew's Society of Phila-
delphia determined that the remains of Gen. Hugh
Mercer should be removed to Laurel Hill, where a
monument was to be erected to his memory by the
society. The ceremonies took place on the 26th of
November, 1840, there being a military parade, and
a fine oratiim at the First Presbyterian Church, Sev-
enth and Locust Streets, delivered by William B.
Keed. The reinterment took plaee at Laurel Hill,
where there was erected a marble monument in the
Roman style. It is surmounted by a funeral urn, and
on the entablature a sword and scabbard are beauti-
fully cut. Upon this monument are the following
inscriptions :
'* Dedicated to the
Bacred cause of bami
of Princeton.
" He poured out hi
On tlie Eiut FroiU.
emory of (leneral Hugh Mercer, who fell for the
liberty and American Independence in the battle
blood for a generous priu
On Uie Wfsl Front.
"General Hugh Mercer, a physician of Fredericksburg, Va., was dis-
tinguished for his stcill aud learning, his gentleness and decision, his
refinement and humanity, his elevated honor, and his devotion to the
great cause of civil and religions liberty."
Oil Uie A'ortfi n-oilL
" General fiercer, a native of Scotland, was an assistant surgeo
battle of Cnlloden, and companion of Washington in the Indian
1755 and 17.16. He received a medal from the corporation of Philadel
phia for bis conduct and courage, in the expedition against the Indiai
settlement of KIttanning."
On the SouOi Front.
"The St. Andrew's Society, of Philadelphia, offer this humble tlibut.
in the
cars of
to the I
..ry- of ■
illilslr
othe
Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental
Congress. — .John Thomson, of Delajvare, after the
opening of Laurel Hill Cemetery, erected there a
monument of a public character in memory of his
uncle, the secretary of Congress. The remains of
Charles Thomson were removed to the place selected
near the bank of the river in 1838. The monument
is a granite obelisk, and upon it was i)laced this in-
scription upon the principal tablet:
"This monument covers the remains of the Iloniirable Charles Thoni-
mn, the first, and long the confidential .Secretary of the Continental
CoDgreas, and the Enlightened Benefactor of bii Country In its day of
peril and need.
" Born Kovember, 1729. Did Aug. ir,, 1824. Full of honors and of
years.
" As a patriot his memorial and Just honors are inscribed on the pages
of bis Country's HisUiry.
"As a Christian his piety was sincere and enduring.
" His Biblical learning was profound, ns Is shown in his translation
of the Septuagint.
" Ai a man be wa« honored, loved and wept."
On Hit Opponle But:
" Erected in memory of an honored uncle and benefactof, by his
nephew, John Thomson, of Delnwnro,
" HU Jaeet Homo. VtrtlatU tt OraUK."
The remains of Hannah, wife of Charles Thomson,
who died in 1807, and of Charles Thomson, born Jan.
17, 1793, died March 20, 1820, are also interred at the
sam« place, as appears by the inscription.
John Witherspoon, D.D.,LL.D. — West Fairmount
Park; monument statue in bronze; sculptor, J. A.
Bailly. This memorial, in honor of a patriot of the
Revolution and a signer of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, was erected principally by the aid of sub-
scriptions among members of the Presbyterian de-
nomination. The cost was twenty-five thousand dol-
lars. The figure is in the dress of the colonial times,
over which is thrown a clergyman's gown or cloak
adopted at Geneva. It is mounted on a pedestal of
Quincy jfranite, and stands twenty-five feet high.
Roman Catholic Centennial Fountain. — This
great combination of statuary groups ha.s already
been described' in another jiart of this work. We
merely refer to it here as a proper place to state that
it is a beautiful and costly monument. The statues
are those of Moses, of colossal size ; Commodore John
Barry, of the Revolution ; Archbishop John Carroll,
of Baltimore; Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer
of the Declaration of Independence; and Father
Theobald Mathew, the apostle of temperance. The
fountain was erected by the Catholic Total Abstinence
Societies, and cost fifty-two thousand dollars. The
sculptor was Herman Kern.
Commodore Stephen Decatur, the elder, and
Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr.— In the yard of St.
Peter's cluirch are tombs of Commodore Stephen Deca-
tur, the elder, of the Revolutionary navy, who died on
the 14th of November, 1808, in the fifty-seventh year of
his age. His son. Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr.,
of the United States navy in the war of 1812, is com-
memorated by a splendid monument; a pure Ionic
column, set upon a base, upon which is perched an
American eagle, which was erected by private sub-
scription long after his death. It bears the following
inscription :
On llir Korlh Svlt.
"STKPllEN DECATUK.
born Jany .llh, 1779.
Knterod the navy of the U.S.
As midshipman
April mih, 1798,
BecAtno Lieutenant
June M, 1799,
Made Captain
Fur Distinguished Merit,
Passing over the rank of Commander,
Fob. 16tb, 1804.
Died
March 22nd, 1820."
On tht Bail Side.
"Devoted to bis Ojuntry
by a
patriot father,
he cherished in his heart,
And sustained by his
Intrepid actions the
Inspiring Sentiment,
' SeeTol.ll. p. I48S.
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1875
' Our Country I right or wrong !'
A nation
Gave him in return
Its Applause and Gratitude."
Oil the South Side.
" The Gallant Officer
Whose prompt and Active Valor,
Always on the Watch,
Was guided by a Wisdom
And supported by a Firmness,
Which never tired:
Whose Exploits in Arms
Reflected
The daring tictions of
Romance and Chivalry."
On thf Wat Side.
•• A name
Brilliant from a Series of
Heroic Deeds
On the coast of Barbary,
And Illustrious
By Acliievements Against
More disciplined Enemies:
The Pride of the Navy,
The Glory of the
Republic."
Maj. Levi Twiggs, of the United States army,
who fell at the storming of Chapultepec, in Mexico,
Sept. 13, 1847, and George Decatur Twiggs, his son,
killed at the National Bridge, near Vera Cruz, in the
same war. This monument, in North Laurel Hill Cem-
etery, was erected to the memory of father and son. It
is a conspicuous ornament by its size and sculptured
decorations. Above the pedestal rises a Roman battle-
axe surrounded by a bundle of .spears. The flag of
the United States, in graceful folds, is thrown over
these trophies. Beneath is the national shield and
an anchor. The whole resting upon a cornice of tied
fasces.
Christopher Columbus. — In 1876 the Italian citi-
zens of Philadelphia erected a statue monument, in
marble, representing the great Genoese navigator.
It was of heroic size, a standing figure, the right hand
resting on a globe and the left holding a chart. An
anchor and rope at the foot of the figure is emblematic
of the career of the great sailor. On the pedestal is
the name of Columbus, with bas-reliefs representing
the landing of Columbus on his discovery of the coast
of America and the coats of arms of the United States
and Italy. This handsome work stands on the west
side of Belmont Avenue, facing the sunken gardens
and Horticultural Hal!.
Religious Liberty. — This is an allegorical group,
representing Liberty protecting Religion. It was
erected by the Jewish Society of B'Nai B'rith, and is
a tribute by the people of the Jewish faith to the tol-
eration which has always been extended to them in
this country. A female figure in armor represents the
Genius of Liberty. A mantle, fastened at the neck,
falls from the left shoulder to the left foot. The right
breast and arm are uncovered. On the armor is a
breastplate, ou which is wrought the shield of the
United States. The Phrygian cap of liberty, bor-
dered with thirteen stars, is on the head of the figure.
In her left hand she holds the Constitution, supported
by fasces. The other figure, at the right side, repre-
sents a youth, slightly draped, with upraised face.
One hand is stretched to heaven, holding an urn, in
which burns the sacred flame. At the base of the
group an eagle is represented, its talons buried in a
serpent, signifying the destruction of slavery. This
beautiful monument stands upon a central plat oppo-
site the east front of Horticultural Hall. The pedestal
and statue stand twenty feet in height. The group
in marble was executed in Rome by Ezekiel, an
American sculptor.
Benjamin Franklin. — A statue in marble, life-
size, of the patriot and philosopher, stands in Odd-
Fellows' Cemetery, Islington Lane, in the centre of a
lot belonging to the Franklin Lodge of Odd-Fellows.
The sculptor was Battin.
Soldiers' Monument, in memory of American
troopers, names unknown, massacred during the
Revolutionary war by British soldiers, at Wood's
barn, Roxborough, is placed in Leverington Cem-
etery, Ridge Avenue. This monument was erected
by subscription, and dedicated by jmblic ceremonies.
Soldiers' Monument, Scott Legion.— After the
Mexican war the survivors of the regiments of Penn-
sylvania formed themselves into a body under the
name of the Scott Legion. For the purpose of the
interment of deceased members, they secured a large
piece of ground in Glenwood Cemetery, on Ridge
Avenue, at Islington Lane. Here they erected a fine
memorial monument of marble, with proper inscrip-
tions, upon which are recorded the names of the large
numbers of the soldiers who lie in the grounds adjacent.
Soldiers' Monument. — Erected by the Light Ar-
tillery Corps, Washington Grays, to the memory of
members of the company killed during the war of
the Rebellion. It is situate on Broad Street, at its
junction with Girard Avenue. This is a unique me-
morial of granite, which attracts attention by its pecu-
liarity. Upon the base, which is of a triangular
shape, is set a cannon, breech upward, which is sur-
mounted by a bursting bomb. Other details are in
the same military taste. The inscriptions are as
follows :
At the Top.
*' Artillery Corps,
Washington
Grays.
W. G."
On the West Side.
" Lieutenant-Colonels,
Thomas C. Martin,
Henry C. Whelan,
George W. Hawkins,
Thomas M. Hall.
Majors,
Joseph S. Chandler,
Andrew Cal Suplee."
• At the Bottom.
"Our Fallen Companions,
1801 — 1865."
1876
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
On the Northeaat Side.
" W. G.
Major George W. Wood.
Captains,
Charles P. Warner,
Charles L. Eneass,
Albert C. Walker,
WaabingtoQ Airey."
At BoUmt.
" 19 April, 1872."
On Ih- Soulheatt Side.
" W. G.
Lieutenants,
William J. Sill,
Godfrey M. Brinley,
Archibald H. Engle,
William K. Pollock,
Walter Scott,
William Bowen."
At the Bottom.
"Semi-Cent' Anniversary."
This monument has but three sides, the front facing
west and the sides northeast and southeast.
Soldiers' Monument, mural tablet, University of
Pennsylvania. This memorial of nineteen graduates
of the University, who died in the service of their
country during the war of the Rebellion, was placed
in the chapel in 1879. The monument consists of
tablets of black and red Tennessee marble, incased
in a highly-decorated frame in the Gothic style. In
the panels are military trophies in bronze, and the
badges of different army corps are carved on the
frame. The whole is surmounted by a beautiful
carving of the American eagle, very well executed.
The monument was designed by Professor Richards,
architect of the University building, and was pro-
cured mainly through the efforts of Professor Jack-
son. In the upper portion there is a cross, and the
Latin motto, "Li/cra sine, moribus, vana," of the Uni-
versity arms ; in the lower a Greek verse, in praise
of love of country ; and in the middle the following
inscription :
"ERECTEn BY TiiEin Bretiiben,
To the memory of
John Richter Jones, Clatts of '21.
Henry Jonathan BIddle, Class of '34.
Francis Englo Patteraoii, Class of '41.
Thomas S. Martin, Class of '42.
William Piatt, Jr., Class of '46.
James St. Clair Morton, Class of '47.
Albert Owen Stille, Class of '48.
Charles Frederick Taggart, Class of '52.
Charles Izard Maclean, Class of '53.
Henry Courtluud Whelan, Class of '53.
Daniel Penrole Ilackley, Clnss of '55.
James Ilamlllon Kuhn, Class of '67.
Charles Baker Kiehle, Class of '68.
John llaaelline Haddock, Class of '59.
George McClelland Brcdin, Class of '60.
Francellus Gordon Dalton, Class of '00.
Archibald Hill Engle, Class of '60.
Bobert Pattenon Kngles, Class of 'CO.
George William Powell, Class of '60.
Sons or the University
who died to tiphold the laws of their Country In the
WaB or THE Gbbat Rebkllion."
Soldiers' Monument in Cedar Hill Cemetery,
Frankford, tasteful and appropriate in appearance.
It was erected by citizens of Frankford in mem-
ory "of residents of that part of the city who entered
the service of the Union and fell upon the field of
battle or died in hospitals or elsewhere from wounds
received.
Soldiers' Monument at Germantown. This hand-
some memorial was dedicated on the 4th of July,
1883, and stands in the Market Square, opposite the
house of Elliston Perot, which was occupied by the
British Gen. Howe during the Revolution, and by
President Washington in 1793, and also opposite the
building occupied by the United States Treasury
Department in 1793. The monument was erected
through the exertions of Ellis Post, No. 6, G. A. R.,
in pursuance of the determination entered upon as
early as April, 1881. The material is mainly of
granite, and the height of the structure is thirty-five
feet. The cost was eleven thousand six hundred dol-
lars. There are four granite pillars at the corners,
with panels of polished granite, and borderings of
rough, unfinished stone bear the bronzes. The dec-
orations and inscriptions are as follows :
On the North Side.
Arms of the United States iti bronze, above which is the inscription
i' The United States of America," and beneath, " Liberty and Union, now
and forever, one and inseparable."
On Oie East Side.
The arms of the city of Philadelphia in bronze. Above them, " Phila-
delphia the City of Brotherly Love." Beneath, "On earth peace and
good will to meu."
On the SoiUJi Side.
Thearmsof Pennsylvania in bronze. "The Keystone State." Below,
"Liberty without obedience is confusing, and obedience without liberty
is slavery."
On the Wctt Side.
A brouze plate in the shape of a Grand Army badge. Above, " Fra-
ternity, Charity, Loyalty." Beneath, "Ellis Post, No. 6. They never
fall who die in a good cause."
The summit of tiie pedestal is a capstone from the
battle-field of Gettysburg, in which is set a box con-
taining the names of one hundred and ninety-seven
soldiers and sailors of Germantown who lost their
lives during the civil war. Above is a granite figure,
nine feet six inches high, of an infantry soldier at
parade rest. The monument is surrounded by a rail-
ing made of musket-barrels captured during the civil
war. The corners are four cannons taken from the
British in the war of 1812. At each corner of the
base of the monununt is a mortar. Within the in-
closure are broki'u cannon from the wreck of the Brit-
ish frigate ''Augusta," which wius burned and blown
up on the Delaware, opposite Red Bank, in the Rev-
olutionary war. Opposite is a pyramid of twenty-
two cannon-balls from the same source, also a shell
captuie<l at Charleston in 1865.
John Fulton Reynolds. —An equestrian statue of
this officer, who was killed at the battle of Gettysburg,
in July, 1863, has been cast in bronze, and is to be
I
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1877
rv cted on the north esplanade of the new City Hall,
Bniad and Filbert Streets.
Stephen Girard. — Sarcophagus and statue in ves-
tiliule at tlie entrance of the principal building of
Girard College. Erected by the city of Philadelphia
to the memory of Stephen Girard, and dedicated upon
tin removal of the remains of Mr. Girard from the
Huly Trinity Roman Catholic Church, July 30, 1850,
by a procession, and ceremonies by
numbers of the Masonic Order. The
statue is of fine Italian marble, by Gev-
cliii, a French artist, and is a wonder-
tully faithful likeness of the man.
Frederick Graff, superintendent and
chief engineer of the Philadelphia
Water-Works from 1800 until his death,
April 13, 1847, had been so faithful and
eflScient in his duty, that after his de-
cease the Councils of the city resolved
to erect a memorial in commemoration
of his services near the scene of his
faithful labors. The monument was
placed in Fairmount, near the wheel-
houses, and is in shape of a Gothic
canopy, richly decorated, within which
is a bust of Mr. Graff. The inscriptions
are as follows :
On Uie West {Pronl).
" To the memory of
Frederick Graff,
who designed and erected the
Fairmount Water-Works."
OnUie East { Back).
" Erected by the
City Councils of
Philadelpliia,
June 1, 1848."
William B. Schnider.— This gentle-
man was for many years Grand Tyler of
the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Free
and Accepted Masons. After his death,
some years ago, the Grand Lodge and
Keystone Chapter, Royal Arch Masons,
erected a monument to his memory in
Mount Moriah Cemetery. It is peculiar
in appearance, is of a triangular form,
has upon it a fine alto-relief bust por-
trait of Mr. Schnider, and is appro-
priately embellished with sculptures of
Masonic insignia.
Thomas Godfrey (inventor of the mariners' quad-
rant: Laurel Hill Cemetery). — The distinguished in-
ventor of the mariners' quadrant, a citizen of Philadel-
phia, is remembered by the monument erected by the
Mercantile Library Company of Philadelphia and sev-
eral citizens in 1843. It is a plain cenotaph of marble in
the obelisk form, about ten feet high. Near the top, on
one side, is the figure of a ship in full sail. The inscrip-
tion is appropriate, with the name, date, and particulars
of Mr. Godfrey's wonderful invention and discovery.
Soldiers' Monument, Girard College.— This tes-
timonial stands west of the main building, and was
constructed by the alumni of the college to com-
memorate those graduates of the institution who fell
in the civil war. Base of granite. A canopy of
sandstone, sustained by four pillars at the corners,
shelters a statue of a soldier at rest, in white marble.
Inscriptions on marble tablets are as follows:
SOLDIERS lIONIjMENT GIRARD COLLEI.L
On the South Side.
" Erected a.d, 18C9,
to perpetuate the memory and record the
Services
of the pupils of this College
who, in the then recent contest for the
preservation of the American Union,
Died
that their country might live.
Fortunati Omnes
Nulla dies Unonana memori vos eximet alvi
1878
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
0» Oa .VorUk StdK.
" ' Especially I deeire
that by erery proper means a pure attachment
to our Republican luatitutions
ihall lie funned
and fostered
in the minds of the Scholars.'
£rtruc</rom Uir icUl of
Stephen Girabd,*'
cm Iht iuisf Sid:
*' Rohert Cornwall, Petersburg,
Joseph Riddle, Richmond.
Adam It. Pnttoii, Newborn.
Edwin Merkle, Fort Darling.
Joseph T. Newell, Millen Prison.
James F. Miller, Libby Prison.
Philip A. W, Hanks, George Tanner,
Hospital.
William H. Callan, Camp Brandywine."
On the lre.<( Side.
"Joseph W. Oswald, James D. Smith,
Chtirles Logan, George Ritter,
Robert Ruddock, John S. Tyler,
Antietam.
John B. Scheetz, Gettysburg.
John Bussinger, W. W. Bayne,
Chancelloreville.
James Neeson, Fredericksburg.
Andrew J. Mcllravey, Fair Oaks.
James McNamee, Meclianicsburg.
Augustus D. Goodwin, Carnes Mills.
.^amuel Lilley, Williamsburg."
Abraham Lincoln. — This statue, which stands in
the East Park, near Lemon Hill, was erected by means
of contributions made by the citizens of Philadelphia,
a movement which began immediately after the assas-
sination of the President. The figure is of bronze, in
a sitting position, and is of colossal size, being nine
feet six inches in height, and raised upon a granite
pedestal, upon the upper part of wliich are emblems
in bronze. Four eagles in bronze are at the corners
beneath. The statue was modeled in Rome by Ran-
dolph Rogers, and was cast at Munich. The cost was
thirty-three thousand dollars, and it was unveiled
Sept. 22, 1870, the anniversary of the proclamation of
emancipation.
On (*<■ South Side.
"To
Abraham Lincoln
from a grateful people."
On Die North Side.
" Let us here highly resolve
That the government of the people
By the people
And for the pe<iple
Shall not perish from tlie Earth."
'I do order and declare
in Bebellio
On the Eael Side.
that all persons held as slaves within the States
n are and henceforth shall bo free."
On the H><( Sid'.
"With malice toward none,
with charity toward all,
ess In the right a« God gives us to ■
Let us flnlsh the work we are In.'
David M. Lyle, chief engineer of the fire depart-
ment for some years, was very popular among the fire-
men of the city. After his death they erected to his
memory, by subscription, a fine full-length statue of
himself in fireman's costume. It was publicly dedi-
cated by a procession and appropriate ceremonies,
and placed in Old Oaks Cemetery, whence it was
subsequently removed.
Frederick Von Humboldt. — Statue monument in
bronze stands upon a bluB' in the East Fairmount
Park, facing the entrance to Girard Avenue bridge.
It was erected by German citizens of Philadelphia in
memory of the great German scientist and phil-
osopher.
John Fitch (invcntur (if the steamlxiat). — John F.
Watson, the annalist, took great interest in the story
of the unfortunate John Fitch, the inventor of the
steamboat. His original intention was to i)rocure
the removal of the remains of the unlucky •renins
from Bardstowii, Ky., where they had been interred,
to Laurel Hill Cemetery; but being disappointed in
this expectation, he was instrumental in procuring the
erection of a plain marble monument to his memory
at Laurel Hill. It is in the ca.stern jnirt of the ground,
an<l not far from the GodlVey monument.
Yellow Fever Monument (North Laurel Hill). —
A fine marlile luoiiumeiit, with projier inscrijitions,
erected by citizens of I'hiladeliihia, in 1859, in memory
of men and women citizens who volunteered to nurse
the sick during the yellow fever at Norfolk, Va., and
died by the infection taken during the course of the
performance of their service. It is inscribed, " In
memory of the I)oct<irs, Druggists, and Nurses who
volunteered to aid the sufierers by the yellow fever at
Norfolk anil Portsmouth, Va., and died in the dis-
charge of their duties."
William Young Burch and Julius R. Fried-
lander. — Mr. Bun h was a bookseller and a man of
wealth, who was active and generous in the establish-
ment of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Care of the
Blind. Mr. Frieillander was the founder of the insti-
tution, and the first teacher of sightless unfortunates.
Their associates of the institution erected these monu-
ments to their memory in Laurel Hill.
Philadelphia Fireman. — Life-size statue in mar-
ble, figure in the fireman's costume, cut by Battin, is
in Odd-Fellows' Cemetery, and a decoration of a burial-
lot belonging to a v(dunteer fire company.
Morton McMichael. — This public-spirited citizen
was identified with every public movement that could
be of advantage to his native city during a sjiaee of
fifty years ; an eloquent orator, a chaste and elegant
writer, and a steadfast friend. He was well known
for his genial sentiment, wit, and amiability of dispo-
sition. After his death his friends erected to his
memory a statue in bronze in East Fairmount Park,
representing him in the sitting posture. It is an ex-
cellent likeness and an ea,sy and graceful figure. Upon
the pedeiital are the following inscriptions :
PUBLIC SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1879
On llie Eatt (Front).
" MOIITON McMlCHAEL."
Onlhe WeU.
"HighSheritf of the
County of Philadelphia
From tlie year 1843 until the year 1845.
*• Mayor of the
City of Philadelphia
From the year 1866 until the year 1869.
'* President of the
Fairmount Park Commission
From its organization June 3, 1867,
Until the day of his death."
On Die Korth.
"An
Honored and beloved
Citizen
of
Philadelphia."
On the South.
"In commemoration of the
Civic services and private
Virtues of
Morton McMichael
This monument is erected
By his fellow citizens
A.D. MDCCCLXXXII."'
Benjamin Franklin. — The remains of the illus-
trious patriot were interred in Christ Church bury-
ing-ground, near the northwest corner of the in-
closure. The vestry of Christ Church some years I
ago took down a section of the wall immediately
adjoining the grave, and the tombstone can be seen
from the street. It is of the plainest and most simple
character. A flat stone covers the grave, and it was
fashioned according to his own request in his will, in
which he said, —
" I wish to be buried by the side of my wife, if it may be, and that a
marble stone, to be made by Chambers, 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, plain,
with only a small moulding around the upper edge, and this inscrip-
tion :
Benjamin .,
AND > Franklin.
Deborah ^
178-."
This was copied upon the slab, the date being made
1790.
It appears from the records of Christ Church that
Deborah Franklin was buried there Dec. 22, 1774,
and Benjamin Franklin on the 17th of April, 1790.
At the head of the Franklin tomb stand two dilapi-
dated tombstones, one with the name "Francis F.,
son of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin, deceased
Nov. 21st, 1736, aged 4 years, 1 month, and 4 days ;"
also one " in memory of John Read," the father of
Mrs. Franklin, who died Sept. 2, 1724, aged forty-
seven years. Some years ago, in digging up some of
the graves in the churchyard, a tombstone was dis-
covered which contained the name of Dennis Frank-
lin, a child who died at an early age. Near the
1 Morton McMichael died Jan. 6, 1879.
tomb of Dr. Franklin, immediately adjoining, is that
of his daughter, with this inscription :
" Richard "\
AND r Bache.
Sabah J
1811."
The lady was the daughter of Benjamin and De-
borah Franklin.
Monuments in Christ Church Burying-Ground.
— In Christ Church Burying-Ground will also be
found monuments and tombs in memory of distin-
guished men, erected usually by their families, which
may be worthy of notice. Among them are the fol-
lowing:
"John Andrews, D.D. late Provost of the University of Penna., born
April 21st, 1746; died March 29th, 1813.
" Commodore William Bainbridge, of the U. S. Navy, born in Prince-
ton, New Jersey, May 7lh, 1774; died in Phila. 28th of July, 1833.
Patria victUque Laudutli."
'■ Benjamin Smith Barton, M.D., Prof, in the Univ. of Penna., died Dec.
19th, 1815, in the 491h year of his age."
" Philip Benezet, merchant, died Oct-. 13th, 1791, aged 69 years."
"Charles Biddle, Vice-Pivsident of Penna., died — , 1721."
"Dr. Phineaa Bond, one of the founders of the Penua. Hospital, died
June 11th, 1773, aged 50 years."
" Dr. Thomas Bond, also a founder of the Hospital, who practiced
Physic and Surgery with signal reputation and success nearly half a
century. Lamented and beloved by many. Respected and esteemed
by all, and adorned by literary honors sustained by him with dignity.
He departed this life March 26th, 1784, aged 72 years."
"Samuel F. Bradford, Printer and publisher, died April 8th, 1837,
aged 61 years."
"Edward Burd, Prothonolary of the Supreme Court, died July 24th,
1833, In the 84th year of his age."
"Matthew Clarkson, Alderman and Mayor, died Oct. 5lh, 1800, in the
67th year of his age."
" Commodore Richard Dale, of the Revolutionary Navy, born Nov.
6th, 1756 ; died Feb. 24, 1826. An honest man, an Incorruptible patriot,
in all his relations a Christian without Guile. He departed this life in
the triumph and hope well founded, and of that Blessedness which await
all who like him die in the Lord."
"John Dunlap, Printer and Publisher, died Nov. 27th, 1812, aged 06
years."
"Michael Hillegas, Treasurer of the U. S. during the Revolution,
died Sept. 29th, 1804, in the 76th year of his age."
"Major Wm. Jackson, Secretary of PresJ. Washington, born March
9th, 1759, died Dec. 17th, 1828."
"Elizabeth Willing Jackson, his wife, born March 27th, 1768, died
Aug. 5th, 1868."
" Dr. John Kearsley, Architect of Christ Church, and founder of
Christ Church Hospital, died Jany llth, 1772, aged 88 years."
"Thomas Lawrence, An eminent Merchant, A faithful Counsellor,
An active Magistrate of Penna., whose private virtues endeared him to
' his friends; whose puldick conduct gained him respect and esteem.
Expecting everlasting life he ended this, during his 9th Mayoralty of
I this City, the 25th day of April, MDCCLIIII., Aged 64 years."
j "John Pattei-son, A native of Ireland, Formerly an GtBcer in the
British Army, and at the period of the Revolution Collector of Customs
in the port of Phila., died Feby — , 1798, aged — years."
I " Chandler Price, Merchant, died Dec. 27th, 1827, aged 62 years."
" Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, died
Apl 9th, 1813, aged 68 years. * Well done good and faithful servant.enter
1 thou into the joys of thy lord,' Matt. 25 c.23 v."
I " William Tilghman, LL.D., who departed this life 30th of April A, D.
1827. Invested with the Office of Chief Justice of Penna., in which for
upwards of 20 years he imparted a lustre rarely equaled, never sur-
passed, ^T. 71."
" Commodore Thomas Truxtun, of the Revolutionary Navy, died May
5,1822, aged 67 years."
"Rev. Bird Wilson, LL.D., D.D., born at Carlisle, Penna., Jany 8th>
1777, died New York, Apl 14, 1859. Appointed Presd Judge to the
Courts of Common Pleas in the 7th Diet, of Penna, A. D. 1802. Be-
1880
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
^|ga«d after 17 yean failhrul »rric« to enter into Holy Orders, Ordaiiiwl
Vnitoytei A. D. 1820, RkIuf of Si. John's Clmrch, Norrislown, Elected
Proffarcr of Sjr«teni«tic Dlrinit)' in tlie Geul Theological Seminary Prot
Episcopal Church, A. D. 1822, Reeigned A. D. IT&U."
In the yard attached to Christ Church building are
many interesting touibs. Among them that of Dr.
Thomas Graeme, died Sept. 4, 1772, aged eighty-four
years, —
"The eoul that lired within this crumhling dost
In etery act was Eminently jii6t,
Peaceful through Life. \f> peaceful, too, in Death,
Without one paug he rendered bacli his breath."
Near him lies his daughter, Lady Ann Keith, wife 1
of Sir William Keith, who died July 31, a.d. 1740, ;
aged sixty-five years; also near him Dr. Graeme's
daughter, the celebrated Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson,
wife of Hugh Henry Ferguson, died 1801, —
'* Eliza caused this stone to be laid
Waits with reHignation and humble hope
F.ir reunion with her fj ieud
• In a more perfect state of exinteuce."
Rev. Dr. Alexander Murray, "Born iu North Brit-
ain, educated in King's College, Aberdeen, departed
this life Sept. 14, 1793, aged sixty-six.
" A truly honest man.
Reader who ee'r thou art,
Strive to attain tiiis chamcter.
" A wit'a a feather and a chiefs a rod ;
An honest man's the nulilest woric of Qod."
" Rev. John Waller James, rector of this church, —
" I know that my redeemer liveth."
The following inscription is upon a family vault:
" The Family Vault of William White
And Robert Morris; Tile latter of whom
Was fluancier of the United SUtes
During the Revolution— died the 8th
May, 1806. Aged 73 years: The
former Rector of this Cliurch & Bishop
Of the Diocese, died on the 17tli of July, 1830,
Aged 88 yeare, 3 mouths, and 13 days."
Within the church are the following tombs:
Dr. Robert Jennej, rector, died Jan. 6, 1752, aged aixty-flre yeara, and
hia wife, JoaoDa Elizabeth, who died six days after his burial, aged
sixty-four years.
B«T. Richard Peters, D.D., rector of Christ Cliurch and St. Peter's,
died July 10, 1770.
The Ron. Richard Wanwm, Ew)., " One of Ills Majesty's Council of the
Island of Ilarbadoee. Nature had been bountiful to him. His educa-
tion WHS lilieral. His principles In regard to Church and Stale Orthodox
and Constitutional. In the relationsof husband and father he was kind,
tender, and truly affecUonate. Ills mournful widow, in respectful testi-
mony of his Conjugal, Paternal, and other Excellencies, dedicates this
•tone. Born In Barbadoea, a.d. 1701, died in Philadelphia, a.d. 1706,
aged &■'> years."
St. Peter's Churchyard.— On the outer eastern
wall of St. Peter's Church, at Third and Pine Streeta,
are several tablets bearing inscriptions; among them
are the following:
To the memory of the Rer. Robert Blackwell, D.D., one of the minis-
tern of the United Churches from 1781 to 1811, born May 6, 1748; died
February, 1831, aged 83 years.
Rev, Jacob Dnch^, formerly rector, died Jan. 3, 1708, aged &0 years,
11 months, and 3 daji.
George Mifflin Dallas, Vice-Pr«sident of the United States, bom Juljr
10,1702; dieil Dec. 1,18GI.
ReT. James Abercrombie, D.D., long assistant minister of Christ
Church and St. Peter's, died June 20, 1841, aged 83 years and 6 mouths.
I^cholas Biddle, ticholar and Auancier, born Jan. 8, 1780; died Feb.
27, \Ui.
Charles J. Biddle, his son, captain in the Mexican war, colonel of the
Bucktail Regiment of Peuusylviinia during the Civil war, died Oct. 1,
1873, aged 55 years.
Benjamin Chew, chief justice of Pennsylvania before the Revolution,
died Jan. 20. 1810, aged 87 years and 10 days.
Alexander James Dallas, Secretary of State of the Treasury aii<i of
War under the United States Government, Attorney-General of I'tiiii-
sylvanla, died Jan. Ill, 1817.
Josepli K. Ingersull, lawyer and member of Ckingress, born June 14,
1786; died Feb. 20, 1868.
Dr. James Woodhonse, professor of Chemistry in University of riiiii-
sylvunia, .lied June 4, IWia, aged 3il jeaisaii.lO ni..iitli«.
Monuments in Laurel Hill Cemetery.— Beside
the public monuments already noted, there are many
memorials of eminent citizens erected by their families
or friends which are worthy of mention. Jacob Ridg-
way, who, next to Stephen Girard, was, in his time,
considered the richest citizen of Philadelphia, sleeps
beneath an altar-tomb. A monument in memory of
William Henry Drayton, member of the Continental
Congress from South Carolina, who died Sept. 3, 1779,
will attract attention. It is a single shaft of marble,
having upon it the sculptured laurel wreath and the
arms of South Carolina. Commodore Alexander
Murray, of the United States navy, who died Oct. 26,
1821, aged sixty-six years. Commodore Isaac Hull,
of the United States navy, of the war of 1812, hero in
the fight between the frigates "Constitution" and
" Gucrriere," a splendid altar-tomb in the Roman
style, with an effigy of an American eagle defending
the American colors perched upon the centre. Com-
modore Hull died Feb. 13, 1843. Altar-tomb of Gov-
ernor and Chief Justice Thomas McKean, of Penn-
sylvania, and president of the Continental Congress,
died June 24, 1817. William Short, the United States
minister to France, to Holland, and to Spain, the first
ofiBcer appointed by President Washington. A pyra-
mid of marble. Mr. Short died Dec. 14, 1849. Oscar
Dougla.ss, a Philadelphia fireman, who was killed by
the falling of ;i wall while discharging bis duty its a
fireman in Market Street, above Third, Jan. 14, 1841.
This monument was erected by the Pliilailelphia Fire
Company and the Light Artillery Company, Wash-
ington Grays.
The number of clergymen buried in Laurel Hill is
very great, and their graves are marked liy tombs and
monuments. Among them may be named the fol-
lowing: Rev. Allicrt Barnes*, Rev. Henry A. Board-
man, Rev. George Chandler, Rev. Joseph H. Jones,
Prealiyterians ; Rev. J. B. Clemson, Rev. G. A. Dur-
borrow, Rev. James H. Fowles, Rev. Kingston God-
dard. Rev. Joseph H. Jones, Rev. .lames Wiltbank,
Rev. John Gordon Maxwell, and Rt. Rev. Alonzo
Potter, Episcopalians ; Rev. John P. Durbin and
Rev. Solomon Higgins, Methodists; Rev. Charles R.
Demme, Lutheran ; Rev. A. De Gillette, Baptist.
Frederick Graff, the originator and designer of the
PUBLIC ■ SQUARES, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS.
1881
Fairmount Water- Works, who is commemorated by a
Gothic canopy monument and bust at Fairmount, lies
buried near the centre of Old Laurel Hill, and has an
appropriate monument. Near the Schuylkill a wind-
ing path down the hiJl leads to a tomb cut in the solid
rock, the entrance to which is by a massive Egyptian
granite floorway. Above it trees rise from the surface
soil. This rock-tomb is the burj'ing-place of the Kane
family. Within are the remains of Judge John K.
Kane, of the United States District Court, died Feb.
21, 1858, aged sixty-three years, and his sons, Elisha
Kent Kane, the Arctic explorer, died at Havana, Feb.
16, 1857, and Gen. Thomas Leiper Kane, of the Union
army, died Dec. 26, 1883.
There are also many splendid memorials of eminent
citizens. Among them may be mentioned the follow-
ing : Commodore Stephen Decatur Lavalette, monu-
ment enriched with naval emblems ; Joseph S. Lewis,
altar-tomb, which is a fine bas-relief view of the
Fairmount Water-Works, in the establishment of
which Mr. Lewis, as a member of the watering com-
mittee of Councils, was largely instrumental. The
Disston mausoleum is a large and very handsome
marble building, conspicuous in appearance, and
placed in a commanding situation.
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, a man of science,
director of the United States coast survey from 1816
to 1832, is commemorated by a massive rock of rough
marble, surmounted by a pedestal and urn, and sit-
uate near the banks of the Schuylkill. Near to it is
a piece of work somewhat similar, — a rough block of
marble, surmounted by a lyre and urn and tablet, to
the memory of Joseph C. Neal, humorist and journal-
ist and author.
A beautiful statue monument in white marble rep-
resents a woman clasping two babes in her arms. It
is a portrait group executed by Henry Demchowski
Saunders, a Polish sculptor, in memory of his wife
and children.
The Swedes' Church burying-ground, on Delaware
Avenue, is the oldest in the city, and dates from 1698.
One of the most interesting memorials in this ground
is the tombstone of Alexander Wilson, the ornitholo-
gist, which has an appropriate inscription.
West Laurel Hill. — This, the latest cemetery es-
tablished in Philadelphia, has not j-et attained the
amount of monumental ornament to be met with in
older grounds. The remains of Charles Brockden
Brown, the first American novelist, lie under a plain
stone, which marked the original place of his burial.
Upon the highest circle in the inclosure lies the body
of Col. Ulric Dahlgren, a gallant otficer of the Union
army, who was killed near Richmond, Va., March,
1864. It is intended to erect to his memory at this
point a statue in bronze. The remains of Justice
Grier, of the United States Supreme Court, lie upon
the hill-side, with a costly monument. Thomas W.
Evans, a merchant, is commemorated by a splendid
shaft of Aberdeen granite.
Hood Cemetery (formerly the Lower Burying-
Grounds, Germantown).— In this ground lie the
bodies of Gen. James Agew and Col. Bird, of the
British army, who were killed at the battle of Ger-
mantown. A plain stone was placed over their re-
mains some years ago by John F. Watson. In this
cemetery lie the remains of William Hood and his
wife, in a vault prepared by himself, over which is
the following inscription :
" Wm. Hood,
Born Philadelphia,
September 2nd, 1786,
Died, Paris,
January 18th, 18l>0."
"Eliza A.Hood,
Born August 18th, 1783,
Died August 15th, 1866."
Some of the stones in this ground are very old.
The dates run back to 1700. In one of the vaults
repose the remains of the Rev. Christian F. Post.
The slab contains this inscription :
"In Memory of
Christian Frederick Post,
Missionary for Propagating the Gospel
Among the Indians
In the Western Country,
On the Ohio, at Labrador,
On the Muesqueto Shore,
In North America.
In the Gospel 45 years with
Distinguished zeal, prudence,
And ability.
He departed this life on the
First day of May, 1786,
Aged 76."
The modern gravestones are handsome. One of
the finest covers the remains of Capt. John S. Jones,
once of the merchant service, who died Aug. 10, 1855.
It is an altar-tomb.
Mount Moriah, — In this ground, principally by
removal from other burying-grounds, are the tombs
of men of considerable distinction in their time.
The Baptists have a portion of the cemetery for their
own dead, and the following are some of the inscrip-
tions :
" FirH Baptist Church, — In memory of Mr. Abel Morgan, Baptist min-
ister, who departed this life Dec ye 16th, 1722, in ye 49th year of his
age."
" The Rev. Mr. Jenkin Jones, late minister of the Baptist Church in
this city, in which station he served 36 years. Died July 6, 1769."
" Est. Henry Holcomh, D.D., ordained Sept. 11, 1785. He was an offi-
cer of the Army of the Revolution, and a member of the South Carolina
Convention which approved the Federal Constitution. Died May 22nd,
1824."
" lu memory of Bev. Morgan Edwards, A.M., pastor of the first Bap-
tist Church of Phila. for 11 years. Died June 28th, 1795, aged 73 years."
" Rev. Thomas Ustick, A.M., who was upwards of 20 years minister of
the first Baptist Church of Phila. Died April 18, 1803."
" Rev. Wm. Rogers, D.D., pastor of the first Baptist Church, ordained
1772. Died April 7, 1S24. In memory of their affectionate remembrance
of a faithful pastor and of bis services the first Baptist Church have
erected this monument to his endearing memory."
Other ministers lie in this cemetery, among them
Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, Methodist Protestant, and
Rev. Newton Heston, Methodist Episcopal divine.
1882
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA."
Commodore Jesse D. Elliott, of the United States
navy, who died Dec. 10, 1845, is cominemdratod by a
simple slab. Comiiiodore Peter Turner lies near him.
The lot of the National Guarils contains a monu-
ment surmounted by the bronze figure of a soldier.
When the cemetery attached to the United States
Naval Asylum was abandoned, the remains of the
seamen and officers were removed to Mount Moriah.
There were four hundred and forty bodies, and each
is marked by a separate gravestone. One of them is
" to the memory of Thomas Johnson, who died July
12, 1851, aged one hundred years." Some of the
family monuments are very handsome. That of John
J. Jones, of West Philadelphia, has a colossal marble
statue of "Time" upon a base of granite about twelve
feet in height. Robert P. King, printer and pub-
lisher, who was the first president of the Cemetery
Company, lies near a massive base of white marble
surmounted by a marble cross. He died Sept. 27,
1868. Among the tombs of soldiers is that of Jo-
seph C. Reynolds, private in Company D, Ninety-
first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers; he has an
altar tombstone, on the face of which are carved in
relief a musket, knajwack, cartouch-box. and haver-
sack. He died from wounds received at the battle of
Spottsylvania Court-House, Va. Ui>on the tomb is
the sentence:
" Mother, one of us ought to go,
Why not me?"
Other memorials are of Col. John W. Moore, of the
Ninety-ninth and Two Hundred and Third Pennsyl-
vania Volunteers, killed at the attack on Fort Fisher;
Lieut.-Col. George W. Hawkins, Ninety-seventh Reg-
iment Pennsylvania Volunteers, killed at Hatcher's
Run, Oct. 28, 1864 ; Col. George C. Spear, killed May
3, 1863. A striking memorial is that erected by Wil-
liam Wheatley, the actor, in memory of the Gale
sisters, who were burned to death by an accident at
the Continental Theatre in 1861 :
" In nieinorjr of the Gulp sisters,
Rnth,
died Sept. 17th, 18C1, aged 15 years.
Zelia,
died Sept. 2Stli, 1861, aged 17 years.
Adeonn,
died Si-pt. 15, 1801, aged 19 years.
Hannah,
dird Sept. 15, 1861, aged 22 yeare.
Strangers who through this city of the dead,
Wllh thoughtful siiul and feeling heart may tread.
Pause here a moment : those who sleep below
With careless ear ne'er heard a Ulo of woe.
Four sisters, fair and young, together rest (
In saddest slumber on earth's kind breast, I
Tom out of life in one disastrous hour, i
The rose unfoidf-d to the budding flower, I
I/lfe did not part them,— Death might not divide. I
They IlTed, they iored, they perished side by side.
O'er doom like this let liindly f.elings shed
The softest tears that mourn the early fle«l,
For whom, lost children of another land,
This marble raised by weeping (rioodship's hand.
To ui — to future times remains to tell
How eren In dtalh they loved each other well.
I With a mother's tear4\il blessing
They sleep beneath the sod ;
Her dearest earthly treasures
I Restored again to God."
Mount Vernon.— The remains of Gen. William
Knox were removed from Christ Church ground to
this cemetery. Commodore Robert Ritchie and Col.
Van Leer are also interred here.
One of the most elegant monuments is to the mem-
ory,of the Gardel family, a pyramidical structure of
brown stone, decorated at the base with several life-
like statutes of marble. As a work of art it is one of
the finest in t)ie country.
In the burial-ground of the Third I Old Pine
Street) Presbjrterian Church, part of which be-
longs to the First Church, is a tablet erected to the
memory of David Rittenhouse, the celebrated as-
tronomer, who died June 26, 1796, and was originally
interred in a mausoleum adjoining the garden of his
dwelling, northwest corner Seventh and Arch Streets;
and a fine monument in memory of Capt. Charles
Ross, of the City Troop, erected by that organization.
It is particularly distinguishable by reason of the
bronze helmet and military trophies on the top, those
being the first monumental devices of that metal put
up in Philadelphia.
In St. Stephen's Church (Protestant Episcopal),
on Tenth Street, below Market, is a very elegant
monument, surmounted by a group of four figures,
cut by the celebrated sculptor Steinhauser, and
erected by Edward Shippen Burd, in memory of
members of his family. It is a splendid work of art,
and is executed in pure white marble.
Ill the churcliyard of St. Mary's (Roman Cath-
olic) Church, Fourth Street, below Prune, are tombs
to the memory of Capt. John Barry, of the Revolu-
tionary navy, and Thomas Fitzsimons, once member
of Congress.
Woodlands Cemetery is adorned with many fine
monuments, and many of them elaborate and costly.
Conspicuous among them is the Drexel mausoleum,
erected to the members of the family of Francis M.
Drexel. It is a magnificent building, in the Grecian
style, and one of the largest tomb structures in the
country. In this cemetery is the tomb of Lieut. John
T. Greble, the first officer of the United States army
killed in the civil war. It is designed in exquisite
taste. Among other conspicuous memorials in this
ground are the monuments and tombs of Admiral
Charles Stewart, "Old Ironsides," of the United
States navy; Commodore David Porter, United States
navy; Maj.-Gen. David B. Birney, United States
army, during the civil war; and a fine memorial to
the memory of Dr. David Jayne, a well-known busi-
ness man.
Monument Cemetery.— One of the finest memo-
rial.s in Monument Cemetery was erected, shortly after
the ground was opened, to the memory of William
Delamater Caldwell. It was erected in pursuance of
directions left in his will, and is an expensive piece
FIKEMEN, FIRE COiMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1883
of work. It towers conspicuously among the memo-
rials in the ground.
The tomb of the Sartain family is of brown stone,
and in the Egyptian style. On the front is a white
marble die with the figure of " Grief" in relief. On
the panel in the rear is the following striking in-
scription :
"Life.
MoustroUB and false in foroi,
But true and Beautiful in promise,
Wisdom, and love, with savage force allied.
The plan, the purpose, and the means.
The thought and will of God achieved,
Through discipline of Puin !
Vigilant, Relentlesg, Yet Beneficent law,
Not angry, cruel, or capricious.
Pain is not punishment, and there is
No death.
The world's hope but waits the Great
Atonement.
Each serving to his brother's use and
Suffering for his sin and the divine for all.
And the sacrifice shall not cease.
Nor Justice reign
Until
Faith stands rendered into Knowledge
And worship Incorporates with work;
Till the world's life otieys its Science
And man is organized into Unity
■With man, with Nature, and with God.
Keconcilialion is Redemption.
Harmony is Heaven,
The Mystery Hidden from the Ages.
Rendered by this Key.
The Sphinx shall perish.
The Curse cease, and death and Hell
Be swallowed up
In
Victory."
The Association for the Relief of Sick and Dis-
abled Firemen has a conspicuous monument above a
vault. A white marble panel-case has at the corners
representations of fire-plugs. The shaft rising above
bears upon the face in relief the horn, spanner, and
torch. The names of the persons who sleep below
and the dates of their deaths are on the sides. The
Diligent Fire-Engine Company has a neat monu-
ment to the memory of Marcus Rink, a member
killed at the same time with Oscar Douglas (who lies
in Laurel Hill) by the falling of a wall at the fire in
Market Street, near Third, Jan. 23, 1841.
A fine monument to the memory of Capt. Daniel
S. Stellwagon, master in the United States navy,
born Nov. 6, 1774, died Nov. 16, 1828, has elaborate
inscriptions setting forth his services to his country.
The base is in panels. Above these is a rough rock
upon which is represented sea-weeds, etc., and upon
which the shaft resembles a light-house with look-
out lantern, etc. A figure of " Hope" crowns this
unique memorial. Licut.-Col. Thomas S. Martin, of
the Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers,
killed at Bull Run, Aug. 30, 1862, is commemorated
by a white marble shaft. The remains of Frederick
J. Roberts, who died Oct. 13, 1844, are marked by a
monument erected by the Washington Grays.
CHAPTER XLVL
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
Before 1695 no public measures were taken in
Philadelphia for the extinguishment of fires. On
the 2oth of May, in that year, the inhabitants of the
town petitioned Governor Markham and the Council
to pass a law providing them with ladders and leather
buckets. The Provincial Legislature, regarding the
petition a reasonable one, passed a bill in 1696 for
preventing accidents at fires in the towns of Philadel-
phia and New Castle, and for preventing and ex-
tinguishing fires. By this act the inhabitants were
prohibited from cleaning their chimneys by burning
them out, and foul chimneys were forbidden under a
penalty of forty shillings. Each householder was
directed to keep at his dwelling " a swab, twelve or
fourteen feet long," and a bucket or pail, to be ready
in case of accidents by fire, under a penalty of ten
shillings, and no one was allowed to smoke tobacco
in the streets, day or night, under a penalty of twelve
pence. The fines to be appropriated for the pur-
chase of leather buckets and other instruments or
engines for the public use in the extinguishment of
fires. A similar law was passed in 1700, which pro-
vided for " two leathern buckets," and re-enacted in
1701, with an additional clause directing the magis-
trates to procure " six or eight good hooks for tearing
down houses on fire."
With this primitive fire department the good citi-
zens of the town were content to rest until 1718, when
Abraham Bickley, a public-spirited citizen, and after-
ward a prominent city official, offered a fire-engine to
the city, which he probably imported from England.
The city purchased this engine for the sum of fifty
pounds, and it continued to be its greatest defense
against fire until 1831.
George Claypoole, in July, 1729, was employed to
keep the city fire-engine in good repair and make
monthly trials of it at an annual salary of three
pounds, but becoming dissatisfied with his bargain
after an experience of only one month, Richard Ar-
mitt was given the contract. In 1730 the citizens,
with the aid of Bickley's engine, attempted to subdue
a large fire on Fishbourn's wharf, below Walnut
Street. The fire gained great headway, and at one
time threatened to destroy the city. It crossed Water
Street, burned the buildings of Jonathan Dickinson,
and destroyed property altogether valued at five thou-
sand pounds. This destructive conflagration warned
the authorities of the necessity of procuring more
adequate fire apparatus, and accordingly, in April,
1730, the city authorized the purchase of three more
engines, four hundred buckets, and twenty-five hooks.
One of the new engines was made in Philadelphia by
Anthony Nicholls, and the other two were procured
in England. In January, 1731, the latter arrived,
with two hundred and fifty buckets, the remainder
1884
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
being made in the city from a sample furnished by
Thomas Oldman at nine shillings each. A trial of
the engine built in the city was made in January,
1733, and a local chronicler says that it '' played water
higher than the highest in this city had from London."
The leather fire-buckets were ordered to be hung up
in the court-house, and the engines were stationed as
follows : One at the great meeting-house yard, south-
west corner of High and Second Streets ; one at Fran-
cis Jones' lot, corner of Front and Walnut Streets ;
and the old engine in a corner of the Baptist Meeting
yard, in Second Street near Arch.
In December, 1733, Franklin's renitsij/vania Gazette
contained an article on fires and the mode of extin-
guishing them. On Feb. 4, 1735, the same paper
contained a communication signed "A. A." (probably
Anthony Atwood, a well-known citizen) in reference
to the subject of fires and their extinguishment. The
writer sets out by stating that in consequence of
lameness of his hand he is not capable of giving that
kind of assistance which at fires is so cheerfully ac-
corded by the citizens generally, but he thinks it his
duty to extend what aid he can in the way of useful
suggestions. He said the city had engines enough,
but in some parts of the town there was not water suf-
ficient "to keep the pumps going for a half-hour
together." At thesame time he advised the formation
of fire companies. Shortly after these suggestions
were made the houses of " Budd's long row," on Front
Street above the Drawbridge, took fire, and threatened
the destruction of a large amount of property. At-
tention was again called to the necessity of adopting
some method tor the extinguishment of fires, and fire
companies were again suggested. Accordingly, on the
7th of December, 1736, the Union Fire Company was
established, mainly through the active efl!brts of Ben-
jamin Franklin.
The Union Fire Company was an association for
mutual assistance. Each member agreed to furnish,
at his own expense, six leather buckets and two stout
linen bags, each marked with his name and the name
of the company, which he was to bring to every fire.
The buckets were for carrying water to extinguish the
flames, aud the bags were to receive and hold property
which was in danger, to save it from risk of theft.
The members pledged themselves to repair to any
place in danger upon an alarm of fire with their ap-
paratus. Some were to superintend the use of the
water, others were to stand at the doors of houses in
danger, and to protect the property from theft. On
an alarm of fire at night it was agreed that lights
should be placed in the windows of liouses of mem-
bers near the fire " in order to prevent confusion, and
to enable their friends to give them more speedy and
eff"ectual assistance." The number of members was
limited to thirty. Eight meetings were held annually.
At each meeting there was a supper costing three
shillings. Members who came late were fined one
shilling. Members who did not come at all were
fined four sbillings. There was a treasurer, but no
president, of the company. Each member served
in turn during a month as clerk, in which time he
notified his associates of the meeting, inspected their
buckets and bags, and when they were not in good
order reported the fact to the company. Upon this
plan, with slight variations, all the fire companies of
Philadelphia were conducted until long after the
Revolutionary war.
At this time engines and buckets were the only avail-
able apparatus, jus pumps were few, and the supply of
water scant. The engine of the Union Company, il
is believed, was imported from England, as were also
those of the other companies formed down to 1768.'
The engine of the Union Company was probably
kept in a house in Grindstone Alley, which runs north
from Market Street to Church Alley, west of Second
Street. Among its early members were Isaac Paschal,
Samuel Powell, William Rawie, and Samuel Syme.
The membership of the Union being limited to thirty
persons, before the end of the year another company
was formed, under the name of the Fellowship Fire
Company, with thirty-five members. Its constitution
was dated Jan. 1, 1738, and its house was situated on
a lot belonging to the Friends' Meeting, on Second
Street, near Market. The fire-ladder was kept under
the eaves of the butchers' shambles, on the south side
of the market-house, near the meal-market; there
were also seven ladders in various other places.
In 1742 the members of the Fellowship Fire Com-
pany were Isaac Williams, Obadiah Eldridge, Jacob
Shoemaker, Jonathan Zane, William Moode, Thomas
Hine, Edward Calherall, George Sharswood,
Hewes, John Jones, Jr., John Langdale, Jr., Thomas
Say, Barnaby Barnes, John Biddle, Jacob Shoemaker,
Jr., John Howell, Benjamin Betterton, Andrew Brad-
ford, William Callender, Joseph Xoble, Joseph Fus-
sell, John Pole, Abraham Mitchell, Isaac Powell,
1 In the Penmyltania Goalie for October 28, 1768, appeared the follow-
iDg advert fsemeot :
" BicliarH SlattuD, living nt the upper end of Second Street, under-
takes to make and sell fiiv engines of the newest construction. War-
ranted good, frura fifth rate down to tlie smallest size. The adrantages
these engines have atjove others are that they hare twice the room to
pour in water than those wfaobe levers work at the sides of the cistern,
— theT work as easy, and play with a constant stream and prodigious
force, and collect a large body of water cK«ely together, and will sooner
extinguish fire in buildings than any other engine heretofore contrived.
The cistf rns are made of good seasoned white oak or red cedar if re-
quired,— the joints of the cistern nre lined with copper and nailed with
brass nails, and the wheels are shod with iron. As I am the first in-
habitant and native of this province who has attempted so useful a
branch, 1 call on the fire companies of this city who may want new
engines.
" I have just completed a fourth class engine for the Northern Liberty
Fire Company. Any gentleman wanting an engine may see the same
played. I will undertake to keep all the city engines in repair.
"Richard Masos.*'
Mr. Mason was not aware of the engine made by Autbouy Nicholls,
or he would nut have announced himself as being the first to attempt to
build fire-engines in Philadelphia. He was undoubtedly the first suc-
cessful manufacturer.
The Northern Liberty Fire Company, founded May 1, 1756, was prob-
ably the first to encourage domestic manufacture. Its engine-house was
situated at the northeast corner of Cable Lane and Callowhill Street.
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1885
Joseph King, William Corn", Caspar Wistar, John
AVister, David Deshler, Alexander Crukshank, Joseph
Stiles, George Hitner, Jonathan Carmalt.
On the 1st of March, 1742, the third fire company
was formed. This company was called the Hand-In-
Hand. The fourth voluntary company, established
Feb. 22, 1743, was called the Heart-in-Hand. The
fifth company, named the Friendship Fire Company,
was founded July 30, 1747.
The fire companies established after the Union
slightly increased the number of their members.
The Fellowship had thirty-five members; the Hand-
in-Hand, the Heart-in-Hand, and the Friendship
each had forty members. The Britannia Fire Com-
pany was probably established in 1750 or 1751. The
only trace that we have of its existence is in an ad-
vertisement which gives a list of some articles lost
belonging to that company; this advertisement ap-
peared in April, 1752. All of these companies, with
the exception of the Britannia, were in service until
the Revolution, when the latter, possibly in conse-
quence of the unpopularity of its name, was discon-
tinued. In the year 1791 the Union, Fellowship,
Hand-in-Hand, and Heart-in-Hand were in full ser-
vice, and made return of the condition of their appa-
ratus, including engines, buckets, ladders, bags, bas-
kets, and "hauses" (hose). Of the latter, the Union
had oue of eighty feet, and the Friendship one of one
hundred and twenty feet. Each of these companies
had an engine, except the Friendship, which had two.
The same company also had two hundred and forty
buckets, in number only equaled by those in possession
of the Union. During the years which succeeded the
establishment of the Union Fire Company there were
but few fires, the city being spared from many de-
structive ones during the period of which we are now
speaking. The most serious conflagration occurring
about this time was that of Hamilton's buildings at
the Drawbridge, which consumed several stores, with
all their contents, consisting of produce, etc. This
was probably the largest and most destructive fire
whicli had happened in the city up to that time.
The six fire companies which were in existence in
the city in 1750 were reinforced by several new asso-
ciations established between the latter year and the
time of the Revolution. They were as follows :
Hibernia
Northern Liberty
Vigilant
King George III., after-
ward Delaware
Queen Cliarlotte, after-
ward Fame
American
Sun
Crown and Beaver
Cordwainer
New Market
Amicable
Neptune
Feb. 20, 1752 I Corner 2d and Walnut.
May 1,1756 ' N. E. corner Cable Lane
and Callowhil!.
Jan. 2, 1760 Sup. east side Second,
below Vine.
March 21, 1761 Sup. in Water St., below
March 29, 1764 ; North side Cherry, east
of Fourth.
Before Dec. 1764.
Before Feb. 28, 1765.
Before March, 1765.
Before Feb. 1769.
March 1,1769 N. end Market 2d i Pine.
Aug. 7, 1769 Fifth, above Markat.
Jan. 17, 1774 Race, below Third.
The Hibernia Fire Company was founded, at a
meeting held at Evans' Tavern, by Hugh Donaldson,
Randle Mitchell, Walter Shee, Samuel Wallace,
Abram Usher, William Henry, Plunket Fleeson,
William West, John Johnson, John Fullerton,
Robert Taggart, Benjamin Fuller, George Bryan,
James Fullerton, James Mease, James Haldane,
James Hunter, Blair McClenachan, John Mitchell,
George Fullerton, George Campbell, Samuel Dufiield,
Sharp Delany, Edward Batchelor, William Alison,
William Burrall, and William Miller. To these
members were added, before 1776, James Caldwell,
John White, Henry Hill, John Mease, John Boyle,
Francis Nicholas, John M. Nesbit, James Crawford,
David H. Conyngham, George Hughes, Michael
Morgan O'Brien, Robert Morris, John Brown, and
John Nixon. Nearly all of these gentlemen were
merchants or tradesmen, and several of them after-
ward became conspicuous in public affairs, especially
during the Revolutionary war.
At a meeting called to form the Northern Liberty
Fire Company Levi Budd was president, and William
Coats was secretary. The other original members
were Charles West, John Stellwagen, Henry Wood-
row, Adam Strieker, Martin Nolle, Joseph Cannon,
Joseph Rush, James Worrell, Reinard Cammer,
Richard Mason, Seymour Hart, Thomas Gilbert,
Henry Stonematz, Tlioraas Felton, William Biddle,
Samuel Pryor, John Scattergood, George Leib, Elias
Lewis Triechel, James Nevell, John Williams,
David Rose, Thomas Britton, Jacob Weaver, Isaac
Jones, John Britton, Josepli Cowperthwait, and
Thomas Scattergood. These gentlemen were inhab-
itants of the Northern Liberties. William Coats
was a large land-owner in the district. Levi Budd
was a man of means. Seymour Hart was a lumber
merchant at Callowhill Street wharf. William Biddle
lived in Front Street, above Callowhill. George Leib
was the father of Michael Leib, once a very influen-
tial politician. Richard Mason afterward became a
manufacturer of fire-engines. Martin Nolle, Adam
Strieker, and Elias Lewis Triechel were innkeepers.
The company met for some time at Triechel's Tavern,
sign of Noah's Ark, Front and Noble Streets.
The original members of the Vigilant Fire Com-
pany were Edward Drinker, W. Moulder, Charles
Lyon, Joseph Connell, John Elton, John Gill, Jere-
miah Smith, John Biles, Isaac Cathrall, Peter Thomp-
son, William Davis, John Cameron, Martin Ashburn,
Nathaniel Brown, Henry Shute, William Gua, Wil-
liam Barnes, Joseph Warner, Henry Rigby, Israel
Cassell, Nicholas Hicks, Samuel Robbins, William
Williams, Samuel Hastings, Bradford Roberts, James
Cassell, William Wayne, Bowyer Brooke, James
Wood, John Cassell, and Jeremiah Smith. Edward
Drinker, who leads off among the members, was
noted among Philadelphians as having been born
upon the site of the city upon Dock Creek in 1680,
two years before the landing of Penn. He was at
1886
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
this time eighty years old, and lived at the Drinker
House, corner of Front Street and Drinker's Alley.
William Moulder was at one time a schoolmaster at
Callowhill Street and Cable Lane, and was afterward
a justice of the peace. Bowyer Brooke was a sur-
veyor, related to the Coats and Brown families of
the Northern Liberties. Peter Thompson, in the
year 17(50, kept store at the sign of the Hand and
Pen, in Race Street. Nathaniel Brown was a whip-
maker, afterward a surveyor, and also, during the
Revolution, a wagon-master, and a wagon-major in
the quartermaster's department. After the Revolu-
tion he kept the Leopard Inn, on Market Street, and,
subsequently, the Hunting of the Fox, on Arch Street,
above Sixth. Jeremiah Smith kept the famous tavern
on Front Street, above Arch, known as the Queen of
Hungary. Charles Lyon was a merchant. Martin
Ashburn kept the upper ferry at Arch Street wharf.
Abram Carlisle became a member before the Revo-
lution, and suffered during that contest the fate of a
traitor.
The King George the Third Fire Company orig-
inally consisted of the following members: William
Faries, Isaac Coats, Charles Lawrence, Conrad Beech,
Richard Wood, Joseph Hill, Jacob Bright, Andrew
Shaffer, Robert Elton, Matthias Abel, James Cooper,
Thomas Brookes, Francis Forster, William Bywater,
Christopher Ludwick, George Button, Rudolph Bon-
ner, John West, Jonathan Biles, Griffith Vaughan,
Benjamin Worthington, Robert Tatnall, Henry Cas-
dorp, John Whiteall, William Wells, William Palmer,
Henry Bunner, Lane Naylor, David Cawthorn, John
M. Nill, John Browne, and William Salsbury. These
were all respectable business men. Christopher Lud-
wick, a baker, during the Revolution obtained the
sobriquet of baker-general, from his services in sup-
plying the army with bread.
The Queen Charlotte Fire Company was originated
at a meeting held at William Clampfer's, at which
Jacob Maag was president, and John William Hoff-
man was clerk. The original members were Thomas
Meyer, George Adam Gaal, Philip Ulrich, Casper
Graff, Louis Weiss, Matthew Labolt, David Shaffer,
Jacob Graff, Jacob Chrystler, Barnard Lawerswyler,
Martin Fisher, Philip Will, Dietrich Rees. The
original number of members was thirty. The com-
pany obtained ladders previous to the year 1769,
when a new fire-engine was built by Richard Mason.
It was placed in a house on the north side of Cherry
Street, " between the Lutheran school-house and
Thomas Tuston's," which was east of Fourth Street.
The names of the members of this company are all
German, and, from the fact that they obtained ground
adjoining the Lutheran school-house, it is probable
that most of them were members of Zion or of St.
Michael's Lutheran congregation.
The Neptune Fire Company was formed at the
house of Mrs. Krider, in Third Street. The first
meeting noticed was held on Monday, Jan. 17, 1774.
All the members were present on that occasion, to
wit: Andrew Geyer, Jacob Kehmlee, George Fore-
paugh, Charles Bitters, George Wert, Andrew Bach-
man, Charles Miller, William Sheaff, Lawrence
Sickle, Andrew Epple, George Honey, Jr., Hilary
Baker, Jr. At the time of the breaking out of the
Revolutionary war the company had no engine, the
members being supplied with buckets.
In ■January, 1764, citizens of Germantown held a
meeting at the town hall, in order to consult together
in regard to the means of protecting themselves from
the ravages of fire. They were situated at a consid-
erable distance from the fire apparatus of Phila-
delphia, and the roads at that time were frequently
so bad that no assistance could have been derived
from the city fire companies. It was therefore re-
solved to form three separate fire divisions in Ger-
mantown and its neighborhood, and the fire com-
panies which were formed were called the Fellowship,
of the Upper Ward ; Fellowship, of the Middle
Ward; and Fellowship, of the Lower Ward. Sub-
scriptions were taken up to purchase apparatus, and
money enough was collected to send to England for
three hand fire-engines, but by some misfortune the
order was not fully completed. When the engines
arrived, one was sent to Germantown ; but of two
others, one went to Bethlehem, and the other to
Frankford. The companies afterward received their
apparatus, however. In subsequent years the names
of the three companies were changed, as follows :
That of the Upper Ward, instituted March 1, 1764,
was named the Franklin Fire Company ; that of the
Middle Ward, instituted March 5, 1764, was named
the Washington Fire Company ; and that of the
Lower Ward, instituted Feb. 20, 1764, was named
the Columbia Fire Company.
The number of fire companies which were in ser-
vice in the city at the beginning of the Revolution
were added to in the next quarter of a century by
several more new institutions, as follows:
Sun Fire Company, founded Sept. 24, 1778 ; located
at east end of Jersey Market, at Front Street.
Harmony Fire Company, founded Aug. 24, 1784 ;
located in Harmony Court, near Third Street.
Endeavor Fire Company, founded Feb. 17, 1785;
located in Keys Alley, between Front and Second
Streets.
Reliance Fire Company, founded March 10, 1786.
Alarm Fire Company, founded May 1, 1787.
Assistance Fire Company, founded Dec. 28, 1789
located on the east side of Fifth Street, below Race.
Federal (afterward America) Fire Company
founded April 10, 1790; located at the Coinmis
sioners' Hall, Third Street, Northern Liberties.
Relief Fire Company, founded December, 1791
located in Relief Alley, near Second Street.
Diligent Fire Company, founded July 4, 1791
) located on the south side of Market Street, near
I Eighth.
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1887
Kensington Fire Company, founded August, 1791.
Franklin Fire Company, founded Jan. 17, 1792;
located in Powell Street, between Fifth and Sixth.
Washington Fire Company, founded Jan. 1, 1793 ;
located in Frankford.
Humane Fire Company, founded March 1, 1794;
located on the north side of Vine Street, between
Second and Third.
Washington Fir-e Company, founded Jan. 3, 1796 ;
located on the west side of Eleventh Street, below
Walnut.
Friend.ship Fire Company, Northern Liberties,
founded Aug. 18, 1796; located at the Commis-
sioners' Hall, Second and Coates Streets, Northern
Liberties.
Columbia Fire Company, founded Sept. 16, 1796 ;
located at the corner of Eighth and Cherry Streets.
Hope Fire Company, founded Nov. 22, 1796;
located on the south side of Pine Street, between
Fourth and Fifth.
Resolution Fire Company, founded Jan. 1, 1797.
Whale Fire Company, founded Jan. 10, 1798.
Philadelphia Fire Company, founded Jan. 15, 1799 ;
located at the northwest corner of Third and Spruce
Streets.
Weccacoe Fire Company, founded May 1, 1800;
located at the corner of Front and Christian Streets.
The Sun Fire Company, established in 1778, was a
reorganization by members of the old company, which
was founded some time before 1765.
The Harmony Fire Company was established by
members of the Society of Friends, and the first
meetings for the purpose of forming the company
were held at the Quaker meeting-house, on part of
the burying-ground at Fourth and Arch Streets,
which was torn down when the large meeting-house
was erected. The names of the Quakers who founded
this company were Daniel Drinker, Richard Price,
Abraham Liddon, Thomas Harrison, Arthur Howell,
Jesse Williams, John Townsend, Isaac Paxson, ,
Robert Wood, Thomas Parker, Samuel Pancoast, Jr., (
Jonathan Evans, Jr., Thomas Savery, James Truman, !
James Starr, Robert Coe, David Evans, Ellis Yarnall, j
John Poultney, Joseph Richardson, Jr., John Letch-
worth, John Elliott, Jr., John Oldden, Thomas Law-
rence, Jr., Solomon White, Zachariah Jess, Evan
Truman, Jacob Shoemaker, Jr., Joseph Budd, Samuel
Jones, Solomon Dawson, Samuel Carver. Jonathan
Evans, Jr., was the first secretary, and Daniel Drinker
treasurer. Up to June, 1785, the company had no |
engine, the apparatus being three ladders, two fire-
hooks, and the bags and buckets of each member.
In 1785 the company procured the engine of the
Britannia Fire Company.
The Reliance Fire Company was originated by j
Quakers, and was mainly composed of members of '
the Northern Monthly Meeting in Keys Alley. The !
original members were Ebenezer Robinson, Samuel
Briggs, Samuel Parker, Benjamin Myers, Joseph I
Moore, William Lane, Joshua R. Smith, Evan Owen,
Thomas Rodgers, Jr., Isaac Stroud, Daniel Dawson,
George Justice, John Warner, Daniel Evans, Stephen
Phipps, John Care, John Teas, James Gorham, Amos
Foulke, John Ives, William Smith, Jonathan Wor-
rell, John Grandom, James Worstall, Thomas Sher-
man, Hugh Ogden, Stephen Smith, James S. West,
Joseph Rakestraw, Jr., Seymour Hart, Thomas Nor-
ton, Clement Remington, William Dawson, Leonard
Snowden, Richard Hopkins, Joseph Yerkes, John
Thomas, Joseph Bacon, James Oldden, Benjamin
Oldden, William Trotter, Thomas Wimer, Joseph
Shoemaker, Benjamin Taylor, Samuel Shoemaker,
George S. Moore, George Bullock, Isaac Buckbee,
Thomas Paul, Joseph Ogelby, Samuel Noble, Samuel
Compton, William Compton. The meetings were
held in the schoolroom at Keys Alley meeting-
house until 1798, when the company met at Peter
Widdowes' school-room in Race Street, between
Front and Second. This was while the Quaker
school-house in Keys Alley, which had been torn
down, was being built. After its completion the
company returned and built a house on part of the
lot.
The Assistance Fire Company was formed princi-
pally by persons living in the neighborhood of Fourth
and Race Streets, among whom were members of the
Lutheran Church, a fact which will account for the
choice of the German motto, " Bereit" {Ready), orig-
inally inscribed under the badge of the company.
The members were Isaac Pennington, Henry Smith,
Zachariah Lesh, Philip Odenheimer, Henry Har-
berger, Jacob Hansell, Philip Hall, John Long,
Henry L. Stroop, Henry Peiffer, Godfrey Zepper-
nick, Valentine HoflTman, John Henchman, Samuel
Mechlin, Conrad Sherer, Henry Nagel, John Isen-
brise, Andrew Cressman, Martin Borhiff (or BoraefF),
Peter Walter, John MuUer, George Keeley, John
Etris, Henry Ries, Daniel Frismuth. Isaac Pen-
nington was the first president; Samuel Mechlin,
vice-president; Philip Hall, treasurer; George Kee-
ley, secretary. The original meetings were held at
Smith's Tavern, and a few months afterward at Henry
Meyer's Tavern, sign of the Old White Bear, corner
of Fifth and Race Streets, where the members met
for many years.
The Federal Fire Company was not named in com-
pliment to the political party of that name, but in
honor of the Federal government. The members
were residents of the Northern Liberties. Among
the founders were William Giles. Dr. John Weaver,
Frederick Hoeckley, Jacob Ziegler, Charles Yetter,
John Bender, Sr., Joseph Fricker, Dr. Joshua Strouse,
Christian Hackman, John Adolph. Sr., Samuel Weis-
man, Sr., Michael Miller, Daniel Groves, Jesse Groves,
Robert McKoy, Sr., and Daniel Rambo. This com-
pany got an engine in 1791, made by Samuel Briggs,
fire-engine builder of this city.
The Kensington Fire Company was originated by
1888
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
citizens of that district. The names of the founders
cannot be separated from those of members who joined
afterward. Among the early members were Mat-
thew Vandusen, George Hoffman, Thomas Vaughn,
Sr., Conrad W. Knot, Henry Kell, Thomas Vaughn,
Jr., Henry Bald, Jolin Wilson, William Clark,
Michael App, Jacob Beideman, Martin Cramp, Jacob
Deal, Isaac White, Samuel Brusstar, Christian Sheetz,
James Tuttle, Philip Gosser, John Rice, Jacob Hill,
Daniel Sheetz, George Binder, Peter Baker, Deobald
Emrick, Adam Upperman, Martin Geyer, W. Geyer,
James Brusstar, Thomas Elston, Daniel Deal, Peter
Stoy, Michael Collar, M. Day, John Brown, Manuel
Eyre, John Buckius, Clement Keen, Samuel Tees,
Nicholas Vandusen, and others.
The Diligent Fire Company was instituted at the
Spread Eagle Tavern, on Market Street, near Eighth,
kept by Frederick Hubley. The original members
were Abram Markoe, Daniel Rundle, Joseph Ogden,
David Kennedy, Dr. Benjamin Van Leer, Peter Lex,
George Hunter, William Attmore, Benjamin Shoe-
maker, Frederick Hubley, Baltis Eraerick, G. W.
Davis, William Hunter, Henry Herbert, John West,
John Henderson, William Lucas, Owen Foulke,
Martin Thomas, Predy Kimber, Caleb Foulke, Rich-
ard North, David Seckel, and Edward Shoemaker.
Richard Mason built the engine for this company in
1792, and it is recorded that this was the one hun-
dred and seventeenth machine of that kind which he
had constructed. His engines were sent to all parts
of the United States and the West Indies.
The Humane Fire Company was originated by
the following persons: John Goodman, Jr., J. Nich-
olas, W. Seidel, Adam Hains, John Du Montet,
Frederick Boiler, George Rehm, Martin Gillman,
John Storr, Jacob Shreiner, Jacob Edenborn, Fred-
erick Hyneman, Samuel Rockenberg, Garret Bross,
George Abel, Jacob Wise, Jacob Wiltberger, Jacob
Rees, Isaac Thomas, John Butler, Jacob Wyman,
Samuel Neidlinger, Adam Eckfeld, George Brown,
John Jordan, Frederick Burkhard, Jesse Gates, John
Smith, Andrew Merker, Frederick Forebaugh, Thos.
Lancaster, Jacob Shuler, John Hyneman, James An-
derson, Andrew Meyer, John Grant, John Keffer,
John Barris, John Halman, Samuel Sower, John
.Goodman. Sr., Philip Limeburner, George Smith,
Christian Donnaker. . A new engine was bought of
Philip Mason in 1795, fitted for the purpose of work-
ing with a suction and venting hose.
The Washington Fire Company was established by
residents of what was then the southwestern part of
the city, in the neighborhood of Walnut, Spruce,
Eleventh, and Twelfth Streets. The original mem-
bers were Benjamin Lyndall, Francis Higgins, Bar-
nabas Weaver, Thomas Mills, Samuel Mills, James
Skerrett, John Chapman, Samuel Bonsall, Michael
Waltman, John Martin, Francis Noblet, John Pat-
terson, Henry Harberger, Peter Bob, John Nicholson,
William McLaw, George Morton, and John Sisty.
The Friendship Fire Company, of the Northern
Liberties, was founded by John Bender, John Abel,
Adam Trips, Anthony Rennard, Daniel Linker, Henry
Moser, Peter Abel, John Snyder, George Hopple, Jr.,
John Weaver, John SefTerheldt, John Browne, John
Miles, Michael Baker, Peter House, Henry Sell,
Henry Plain, John Rickert, John Bisbing, John Jones,
Andrew Young, William Paul, Adam Logan, Henry
Shall," Charles Yetter, Henry Senn, Peter Gabel,
John Fisher, Jacob Lentz, Jacob Masoner, Joseph
Fitch, Peter Wister, Peter Shrank, Frederick Man-
gole, Jacob Belsterling, Peter Groves, Andrew Frazer,
William Snyder, and Melchior Deter.
The Columbia Fire Company was originated among
citizens residing in the neighborhood of Eighth and
Cherry Streets. The first officers elected were : Pres-
ident, Joseph Morris; Vice-President, John Moore;
Secretary, Jacob Zebley ; Treasurer, William Powell.
The members were .John Rugan, William Rudolph,
Henry Hoffner, Anthony Wright, Joseph Warner,
George Flake, Jacob Colladay, John H. Simmons,
Joseph Thomas, Alexander Jarden, Nicholas Quest,
Matthew Conroy, Samuel White, Samuel Jarden,
John Buzb)', Jacob Miller, Jacob Kinsel, George
Lower, Heronimus Warner, Jacob Lybrand, Henry
De Forrest, Daniel Knight, Matthew Weaver, Jacob
Perkins, William Perkins, John Lawrence, Wolfgang
Hoffman, Jonas Holtz, and Joseph Deamer. This
company, in 1797, purchased a fire-engine from Philip
Mason for two hundred and twenty pounds.
The Hope Fjre Company was originated among
persons living in the neighborhood of Fourth and Pine
and Lombard Streets. They were William Preston,
Cadwalader Griffith, Anthony Fannin, Samuel Jones,
Philip Mason, John Finister, William Jobson, A.
Musgrave, Jr., Joseph Worrell, Benjamin Lyndall,
Elisha Gordon, Joseph Allen, William Miller, Wil-
liam Stewart, Daniel Abell, Adam Promit, Samuel
Powell Perkins, Joseph Price, George Morton, Benja-
min Thurston, Pennel Beale, Gregory Strahan, Wil-
liam Franklin, Nathan Atherton, Adam Burk, Peter
Fiell, Martin Bernard, Thomas Dixey, Daniel Shoe-
maker, Curtis Clayton, John Conner, William Sheed,
Thomas Cave, J. Steward, Martin Erhard, Lawrence
Sink, Saul Carver, Robert Harrison, Jacob Herman,
Thomas Amies, George Kemble, John Henderson,
Ebenezer Hillyard, Thomas Kurysten, Jacob Earnest,
William Jones, John Smith, T. Ross, Ewing Wiley,
John Geger, William Patten, Francis Jack, John
Murray, William French, James Cornish, William
Kern, Jr., Jacob Mitchell, and William Buck. Philip
Mason, the engine-builder, was a member, and it is
supposed he furnished to the company the first engine,
which was obtained in 1797.
The Philadelphia Fire Company was formed by
members of the Society of Friends, namely : Robert
Coe, Jr., Joseph Parrish, Charles Townsend, Owen
Biddle, Jr., George Vaux, John Bacon, James Con-
ley, William Paxson, Charles Allen, Joseph Cowgill,
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1889
Charles Teas, Philip Garrett, Samuel Lippincott,
William Abbott, and Joshua Longstreth. The engine
was purchased in the year 1800, and is supposed to
have been made by Philip Mason.
The Weccacoe Fire Company was originated in
Southwark by residents of that district. The first
officers were Joseph Ash, president ; Joseph Marsh,
Jr., treasurer ; Robert Ralstou, secretary ; John Tur-
ner, Sr., Joseph Jebson, Lewis Dewees, David Ware,
Robert Ralston, William W. Ross, Joshua Humph-
reys, George Ord, Charles Whitehead, John Hoover,
Adam Vance, and Benjamin Phillips, engineers.
Thomas Shortall, John McCloud, Henry Mitchell,
Enoch Wheeler, Lawrence Myers, Frederick God-
shall, S. Crosby, Isaac Hozey, David Ware, Peter D.
Murphy, Benjamin Phillips, John Janvier, William
Strembeck, Jacob Reinhard, Stephen Flannigan, Sam-
uel Hargesheimer, and Joseph Ogelby were members.
Money was raised promptly to procure an engine,
and one was got from Philip Mason for two hundred
and ten pounds, and was housed for service on July
4th of that year. For years this company was not
allowed to go to fires out of the district of Southwark.
The Union Fire Company was in active service
until probably about 1820. The Fellowship Fire
Company was also in existence in 1817-19, and prob-
ably went out of active service before 1825. This
company had an engine-house at the east end of the
Jersey market. The Hand-in-Hand Fire Company
in 1800 kept its apparatus in a house at the northwest
corner of Front and Spruce Streets. Before the
Revolution and up to 1800 this company was com-
posed of the most eminent men in Philadelphia, em-
bracing merchants, physicians, lawyers, clergymen,
and citizens of wealth and refinement, many of whom
held important positions in the State and city, and
were eminent in the church. About the year 1800
the active members had, by reason of age and its at-
tendant infirmities, become careless as to their duties.
The loss of the minutes between December, 1796, and
May 15, 1823, renders the historj- of the Hand-in-
Hand a blank during nearly all the period between
1800 to 1825. It is known that Mr. Mcllvain joined
the company in 1804, Peter Hay in 1808, and Dr.
Hahn before 1815. Charles Kanimerer was presi-
dent in 1811, Charles Schneider in 1812, Isaac W.
Chadwick in 1813, John Martin in 1814, John Rob-
bins in 1814-15, John W. Chadwick in 1816, and
Peter Flanagan at some date not now known. The
secretaries, as far as known, wore J. W. Chadwick,
William Bullfinch, and Samuel Bard. The treasurers
were John Robbins, Michael Bourne, and E. S. Boys.
Among the members were C. Snyder, — who attended
a meeting of fire companies held at Elliott's Hotel,
on Third Street, in 1813, as a delegate from the Hand-
in-Hand, — James Mitchell, William Schreiner, John
Deagle, W. Shawdonick, and Edwin Hedderly. The
secretary of the prison inspectors, in 1814, gave per-
mission to the Hand-in-Hand to stand in the house
northeast corner of Sixth and Walnut Streets. After
1816 the company ceased to be active, although itdid
not dissolve, and the engine was used by the Neptune
Fire Company.
In 1822, the Neptune Fire Company being also re-
duced in numbers, but having possession of the Hand-
in-Hand engine, obtained permi.ssion of the Fame
Fire Company to store their machine in the latter's
house, which circumstance led to the suggestion that
a union between the Fame and the Neptune would be
desirable. When it was learned that the engine used
by the Neptune was owned by the Hand-in-Hand
Company, it was decided to dissolve the Fame and
Neptune Companies and unite with the Hand-in-
Hand. The result was that the Fame and Neptune
ceased to exist, — that the members of those organiza-
tions went into the Hand-in-Hand, which company
was continued. At a meeting held in May, 1823,
which appears in the minutes as a meeting of the
Hand-in-Hand Fire Company, Richard W. Brown
was chairman, and Isaac Dunton was secretary.
There were fifteen other members. A committee was
appointed to have the engine retouched and the name
" Hand-in-Hand" restored, and to fit up the engine-
house as conveniently as possible. The constitution,
which was substantially that of the Neptune Fire
Company, was adopted at the next meeting.
Among the members of the Hand-in-Hand, after
the union in 1823, were Daniel K. Deas, Joshua M.
Butler, George P. Little, Charles Woodward, Jesse
K. Knight, Nicholas Le Huray, Jr., Charles J. Jack,
John H. Campbell, Joseph Ogden, and William
Spohn. In 1823, William Spohn was president.
In the same year a committee was appointed to put
the date of the institution of the Hand-in-Hand Fire
Company in the oval over the door. The old Fame
engine was sold in 1824 for forty dollars, and the tin
torches belonging to that company were sold to the
Northern Liberty Hose Company.
The Fame Fire Company kept its engine, in the
year 1800, on the south side of Cherry Street, east of
Fourth, adjoining Zion Lutheran Church. The spirit
of the members began to relax in activity about thia
time. In 1808 the engine had become so dilapidated,
and the efl^orts to obtain funds for a new machine
were so unsuccessful, that a dissatisfied member offered ■
a resolution proposing to dissolve the company, which
was not passed. There were no meetings from March,
1810, to January, 1812, in consequence of the inac-
tivity of the members ; but in the latter year some
vitality was infused into the company by the election
of fifteen young gentlemen, among whom were John
H. Gartley, Christian Denckla, George Geisse, Samuel
Wayne, and Samuel Thompson. The engine-house
was removed to Shiveley's [now Mulberry] Alley, in
1809, but in 1812 the machine was restored to its old
site on Cherry Street. Yet the affairs of the company
were not flourishing, and in 1815 a committee was
appointed to consider the utility of uniting with the
1890
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Relief or the Assistance. Nothing was actually done,
but for two years there were no meetings. A propo-
sition to dissolve was again made in 1817. The com-
pany in 1810 sold its engine, which was built in 1765,
to an association of young men and boys who called
themselves the Junior Fame Fire Company. The
price was one hundred and twenty dollars, to be paid
in installments. The Juniors ran the machine for
about nineteen months, when they returned it to the
members of the Fame Fire Company, who put it up
at auction ; but so old and dilapidated was it that no
higher bid than five dollars could be pi'ocured, and it
was withdrawn from sale. In 1821 the directors re-
solved to unite the company with the Hand-in-Hand ;
but that measure was not accomplished until 1823,
when the Fame Fire Company ceased to have an ex-
istence. Among the members of the Fame during
the period of which we are treating were Daniel
Sharp, John Boiler, John Musser, Caspar Rehn, An-
drew Leinau, Frederick A. Huber, Charles F. Gebler,
and Richard Renshaw.
The Neptune Fire Company was in active service
as late as 1815, and stood at that time in Coates' Alley,
between Front and Second Streets. Among its mem-
bers were Dr. George Glentworth, George A. Baker,
John Geyer, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, John Phile,
Capt. John Earl, Gen. Peter Muhlenberg, Dr. George
Lehman, Jacob Lauerweiler, Leonard Jacoby, B. F.
Glentworth, and George Kitts.
The Heart-in-Hand Fire Company is supposed to
have been in active service in 1800, but it must have
ceased from its labors shortly afterward.
The Hibernia Fire Company kept its apparatus, in
the year 1800, in a house on Walnut Street, near
Second. Afterward the company acquired a right to
build a house on Dock Street, between Second Street
and the entrance of Pear Street, upon a narrow lot,
on which a two-story brick house was erected.
The Northern Liberties Fire Company, in 1800,
stored its apparatus in a house on the north side of
the Hay Scales wharf, at Front and Noble Streets.
In 1802, according to an inventory of the company,
its property consisted of an engine-house, an engine,
eleven fire-buckets, a ladder-house in Front Street,
above Green, in which were stored two ladders, one
twenty and the other forty feet, a life-ladder, kept in
John Keen's ship-yard, forty-five feet long, and two
ladders which were fixed upon the walls of the mar-
ket, at the intersection of Callowhill and New Market
Streets. The fire-engine built by Briggs becoming
unserviceable in 1808, a new one was procured of
Patrick Lyon. The company removed, in 1812, from
the Hay Scales lot to Pool's bridge, which crossed
Pegg's Run at Front Street. Piles were driven into
the bed of the creek, and upon these the superstruc-
ture was built, the front wall being upon the bridge.
A large bell, costing eighty-five dollars, was placed
upon this engine-house in 1817. A bucket-basket
was procured in 1819, and some torches were pur-
chased the same year. The succeeding year two hun-
dred feet of riveted hose was bought and placed upon
a reel. Joseph Cowperthwaite was president of this
company 1802-3; George Budd, 1803-5; Joseph
Grice, 1805-13; Dr. Peres, 1813-20; Samuel Leh-
man, 1821-23;' John M. Brown, 1823-27. The com-
pany met at the house of Silas Wilson from 1802 to
1816j from 1817 to 1820 at William Rice's, and after-
ward at the Norwich school-room, Callowhill and
New Market Streets.
The Vigilant Fire Company in 1800 stood on the
e.ast side of Second Street, below Vine, on a lot ad-
joining an old inn formerly known as the Amsterdam
Tavern, and in later years as the Barley Sheaf In
the early part of 1813 this company purchased a lot
at No. 33 Race Street, between Front and Second, of
Mrs. Jane Woglom. The price was sixteen hundred
dollars, of which twelve hundred dollars were paid in
casli and four hundred dollars remained on mortgage.
The company did not take possession of this property
until 1815. A cupola was built upon the front por-
tion of the building, in which was placed a bell
weighing two hundred and six pounds. A cupola for
drying hose was afterward erected on the rear of the
lot, and a new bell was procured for the steepfe. The
meetings of the company in 1800 were held at the
sign of the Camel, on Second Street, above Race ; but
they were changed the same year to the school-room
of the Young Ladies' Seminary, back of No. 9 Cherry
Street, at a rent of six dollars per annum. In the
same year the place of meeting was changed to the
Widow Hill's, sign of the Buck, in Second Street,
above Race, and subsequently to Parry's school-room,
until the new house on Race Street was built. Rich-
ard Mason built an engine for the Vigilant Company
in 1801 for five hundred and sixty dollars. In 1802
a white hat, with the word " Vigilant," was adopted.
In 1817 a light-green hat, with a white label bearing
the name " Vigilant," was adopted. In 1825 a hat
was adopted painted green, and with a vermilion
label on which the word "Vigilant" was painted in
gold letters, shaded in black. In 1818 three hundred
feet of hose were bought, and the old regulation re-
quiring each member to furnish two buckets was
abolished. In 1821 a hydraulion, like that used by
the Pennsylvania Fire Company, was bought.
The Delaware Fire Company in 1800 stored its ap-
paratus on a lot belonging to John Fromberger, in
Fromberger's Court, which ran from Hartung's Alley
to the alley afterward known as Lagrange Place, which
ran westward from Second Street, south of Arch. In
1800 a committee composed of Henry Pratt and John
Lyle, Jr., was appointed to get a new place, and re-
ported in favor of Front Street and Drinker's Alley.
But this was not approved of; and in 1801 a lease was
made of ground on the opposite side of Hartung's
Alley for eleven years, and a new brick engine-house
was erected. In 1807, this lot being needed, the com-
pany went back to the old site. In 1811 there was
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1891
another removal to a lot on the south side of Har-
tung's Alley which belonged to William Rawle. In
1813 the company petitioned Councils for the space
under the old court-house, but it did not succeed.
Some time afterward Councils granted permission to
the Delaware Company to use the house of the Fel-
lowship Company, at the front side of the Jersey
Market, but it was too small. A new engine was
purchased in 1801 'of Richard Mason, to whom direc-
tion was given that a ship should be painted on each
side of the gallery, as an ornament. This company
was well supplied with ladders, having no less than
seven from twenty to fifty feet long. These useful
implements were stored in various parts of the city.
According to a report in 1810, the ladders were placed
as follows: No. 1, on the State-House wall. Fifth
Street; No. 2, in an alley between Nos. 229 and 231
Arch Street, above Sixth ; No. 3, in an alley between
Nos. 109 and 111 Race Street, opposite the Golden
Swan; No. -1, in an alley between Nos. 194 and 196
Front Street, above Vine ; No. 5, in an alley between
Nos. 79 and 81 North Third Street; No. G, under the
eaves of the market, nearly opposite the Presbyterian
meeting-house ; No. 7, in Goforth's Lane, between
Second and Third Streets. Among the members of
the Delaware Company during this period were Dr.
Benjamin Say, Paul Beck, Jr., Henry Pratt (the emi-
nent merchant), James Sharswood (father of Justice
Sharswood, of the Supreme Court), Samuel Wetherill,
Sr., Samuel Wetherill, Jr., Samuel C. Claypoole, Sr.
(at one time publisher of the Daily Advertiser), David
Paul Brown, and Townsend Sharpless (merchant).
Stephen Girard was a member of the Delaware Com-
pany as early as 1783, and was active for some years.
Isaac Hallowell, father of Judge Hallowell, and Dr.
Benjamin Say were presidents of the company before
1800. Amos Wickersham was president for a year or
two. Henry Pratt was president fur many years.
Benjamin Thaw, watch-maker, succeeded Pratt in
1803, and held the ' office for twenty years. He was
succeeded by Townsend Sharpless.
The Sun Fire Company stood at the east end of the
Jersey Market in 1800, and had a device of a rising
sun emblazoned over its door. In the previous year
it owned one engine, one hundred and sixty buckets,
forty bags, and forty baskets, managed by forty mem-
bers. This ancient company was dissolved probably
about 1810.
The New Market Fire Company, the apparatus of
which stood in the market-house at Second and Pine
Streets, had, in 1799, forty members, an engine, and
other essentials for the extinguishment of fires. It
was dissolved probably before 1810.
The Amicable Fire Company stood on the east side
of Fifth Street, below Arch, at the south end of Christ
Church burying-ground, and relinquished the stand to
the Resolution Hose Company about 1823-24.
The Harmony Fire Company, in the year 1800, oc-
cupied, by permission of Hon. William Bingham, a
house which was placed on the corner of his mansion-
house grounds, and situate either upon Spruce Street
or at the corner of Third and Spruce Streets. A new
engine-house was erected on that site in 1802, at an
expense of one hundred and fifteen dollars. In 1810
the necessity of removal was apparent, and permission
was obtained to build the engine-house on a lot on
the east side of Fifth Street, nearly opposite Minor,
on the Sparks burying-ground, this place having
been devised, in 1715, by Richard Sparks as a burial-
place for the Seventh-Day Baptists. In 1811 a new
brick engine-house was finished there, to which the
company removed. The Harmony had in use, in
1811, an old engine which belonged to the Britannia
Company before the Revolution, and which was con-
veyed to them, in 1797, by trustees of the Britannia, —
Richard Willing, John M. Nisbet, Isaac Hazlehurst,
Chief Justice Shippen, Hon. Robert Morris, Richard
Footman, and John Nixon. In 1800, Philip Mason
built an engine with a six-inch chamber. In January,
181G, Joseph M. Truman, a member, made a draft of
an engine, which was built by Perkins & Jones at an
expense of nine hundred dollars. The faults of this
machine were its height and heaviness. It was cut
down three hundred pounds. A new engine, with a
seven-inch chamber, was ordered in 1822, but it was
not finished until 1828. The meetings were held for
many years in Willing's Alley. In 1812 the place
was changed to the commissioners' hall, in the old
court-house, at Second and Market Streets ; in 1814
at Joseph Albertson's school-room, Church Alley,
afterward occupied by Joseph Verdris; subsequently
at the Athenaeum, Chestnut and Fourth Streets, in
the room of the Society of Public Economy. A sec-
ond story being added to the engine-house, the meet-
ings were afterward held there. Badges were first
procured in 1816, when forty-three were painted, and
in 1821 it was declared that every member at fires
must wear a hat or a badge. In 1825 a badge was
adopted, having upon it a device of the Fairmount
Water-Works.
The Reliance Fire Company was mainly under the
control of Quakers. In 1800 its engine was placed
in a house on the lot adjoining the Quaker school on
Keys' Alley [New Street], between Front and Second
Streets. There was a brick engine-house built there
in 1799, on a fifteen-years' lease, which was occupied
until the early part of 1823, when the company
rented a house on the south side of New Street, above
Second, originally for twenty-four dollars a year. The
meetings were held at Henry Atherton's school-room ;
Peter Widdowes' school-room, on Race Street, be-
tween Front and Second ; and at the Keys' Alley
school-house, kept by Joseph Yerkes, and afterward
by Elihu Pickering. A new engine was ordered of
Patrick Lyou in 1821, but so slow was that famous
workman at the time, that the company did not ob-
tain the machine until three years afterward, and
only then by the assiduous importunities of a com-
1892
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
mittee which for a month waited upon him daily at
his house, his shop, or at whatever place he might
be. About 1818 the Quakers relinquished to some
degree the control of this company to more active
young men, among whom were Joseph G. Auner,
Henry Schell, Joseph Eckstein, Jacob E. Hagert,
Josiah Kisterbock, George S. Geyer, Ebenezer Mus-
tin, and Samuel E. Deacon.
The Endeavor Fire Company, which was in ex-
istence in 1800, with forty members and an engine,
was dissolved in the year 1816, and the members di-
vided their funds among some of the active compa-
nies of the day.
The Alarm Fire Company, which had in 1799
forty members and an engine, must also have gone
out of existence before 1810.
The Assistance Fire Company was of German ori-
gin, composed chiefly of members of Zioa and St.
Michael's Lutheran Churches. The meetings were
held at the house of Henry Meyers, sign of the White
Bear, Fifth and Race Streets. The engine stood on
the east side of Fifth Street, below Eace, in 1800.
In 1808 the trustees of St. John's English Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church granted to the compan}- the use
of a lot on the southwestern portion of their property
on Eace Street, on a lease of twenty-one years, the
house to be built of brick. In 1800 the engineers of
this company procured a box to carry the hose in,
for which thanks were returned by the company for
their " ingenious invention," this seeming to be the
first employment of a box for that purpose. A bell
was presented to the company by Thomas M. Lever-
ing, in 1819, which was placed upon the engine-house
in 1826.
The Federal Fire Company of the Northern Liber-
ties occupied, in 1800, a brick house in front of com-
missioners' hall, on Third Street, above Tammany
[Buttonwood]. In frontof it was a bell elevated upon
a post. The company had sixty members in 1800, one
engine, one hundred and twenty buckets, one ladder,
sixty bags, forty baskets, one hook, and one hundred
and three feet of hose. A new engine was built in
1812. The first appropriation by the corporation
of the Northern Liberties was made in 1817, and
amounted to seventy dollars.
The Belief Fire Company in 1800 had fifty mem-
bers and two hundred buckets. Its house was in
front of the Quaker meeting-house, on Front Street,
as early as 1816, and although not active in 1825, the
company was still recognized among the fire associa-
tions of the city.
The Kensington Fire Company, No. 1, had an en-
gine, and a house with a cupola upon it, and a hose-
carriage in 1807, and authorized a fire-hook and pole
to be purchased in 1809. The engine-house was re-
moved in 1823 to a lot " adjoining Jacob Moser's."
This company embraced originally in its membership
representatives of the most conspicuous Kensington
families.
The Diligent Fire Company in 1800 had its appa-
ratus in the house on Filbert Street, between Eighth
and Ninth, in front of Mrs. Myers' lot. In 1807 a
removal was made, and a grant of a lot of ground for
twenty-one years on Ninth Street, l)elow/Market, was
procured from the trustees of the University of PtMiii-
sylvania. A brick house was built there in 1811.
Thfr original fire-engine, built for the company by
Eichard Mason, was replaced by another in January,
1822, built by Patrick Lyon, the chambers of which
were not less than nine and a half inches in diameter.
This engine was the most powerful in America, and
was knowu as " Pat Lyon's masterpiece." It could
discharge two hundred and forty gallons of water a
minute, out of a nozzle larger than any previously
used in America. Lyon was elected a member of the
company, and said, in his speech on signing the con-
stitution, that he would endeavor to do justice to the
organization. The meetings of the company were
held in 1800 at the house of Mrs. Myers; after-
ward at the house of John Cordner, in Filbert Street,
above Eighth. In 1804 they were held at Amos Hola-
han's Golden Lion, Eighth and Filbert Streets ; after-
ward at the Eobin Hood, in Filbert Street; and after-
ward at Keyser's school-room. Among the members
after 1800 were James Traquair (marble-mason), John
Dunlap (printer). Dr. Thomas Euston, Henry Sailor,
Timothy Banger, Charlee Keyser, Samuel Fox, Sam-
uel Porter, Michael Lybrandt.
The Franklin Fire Company of Southwark in 1800
had its engine stationed on Catharine Street, above
Third, and was in active operation during the quarter
of a century succeeding 1800.
The Humane Fire Company had its house in 1800
on the north side of Vine Street, between Second and
Third. The company was compelled to remove in
1817, together with the Humane Hose Company. A
lot was procured at the corner of St. John and Wood
Streets. In 1821 it was resolved that the badge should
be a succession of diamonds around the hat, painted
on a white ground ; a gilt band at the top, and ex-
tending around the hat; and in front a blue scroll,
with the word " Humane" in gilt letters. In 1825, in
consequence of a furnace for drying sugar having been
erected on the back end of the lot at Wood and St.
John Streets, it was thought dangerous, and a new
location was sought. It resulted in the purchase of
the lot at Ann and Callowhill Streets, thirty-nine feet
seven inches in front by thirty-four feet three inches
deep, for nineteen hundred dollars. The old building
was altered for the use of the engine, and the alarm-
bell, which had been erected on a pole at Third and
Callowhill Streets, was placed on the engine-house.
The wisdom of the intended movement was soon made
apparent, for before the removal was effected the old
house caught on fire from the sugar-furnace. The
members of this company were leading men in the
Northern Liberties.
The Washington Fire Company procured an engine
FIHEMEX, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1893
of Philip Mason in 1800, the color of which, it was
directed, should be blue. It was completed in a few
months, and cost four hundred dollars. The site was
on Walnut Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth.
In 1813 notice was given to the company to remove.
It obtained from the managers of the Pennsylvania
Hospital permission to place their engine on the lot
on Spruce Street, between Ninth and Tenth, leased at
the nominal rent of four cents a year. The company
erected a neat brick house, with a parapet-wall,
capped with marble. It was ordered that a bust of
Washington, in stucco or marble, should be placed in
front of the house, which probably was not done. In
December, 1821, the company ordered Patrick Lyon
to build them a second-class engine. It was housed
by the company on the 7th of January, 1822. It
threw a stream of one hundred and fifty feet, and
cost nine hundred dollars.
The Friendship Fire Company of the Northern
Liberties in 1800 had its engine-house in the middle
of Second Street, at the end of the new market at
Coates Street. It was then removed to the lot of the
German school-house at St. John and Brown Streets.
The Columbia Fire Company had its engine-house
in 1800 at the corner of Eighth and Cherry Streets.
In 1801 notice was given to remove, and the company
located its house on the private burial-ground of the
Church family, on Arch Street, between Seventh and
Eighth. It was again removed in August, 1804, in
consequence of the determination of the Church heirs
to sell the ground for building-lots. The company
then removed to a lot belonging to George Flowers,
on Eighth Street, below Race. In 1811, Mr. Flowers
notified them to remove, and they leased a lot of
Henry D. Forrest, on the east side of Eighth Street,
above Race, below the Lutheran burying-ground. In
1818 the congregation gave the company permission
to occupy a lot at the southwest corner of its ground
on Eighth Street. Here a building was erected, cost-
ing $629.92. This company adopted the anchor as a
device in 1796, and it was retained, although the eagle
was perched upon it.
The Resolution Fire Company, after the erection
of the Shakespeare building at Sixth and Chestnut
Streets, kept its apparatus in that portion of the
building which was afterward the entrance to the pit
of the theatre, and now is the site of the wing of
McDowell's tobacco-store. The Resolution Company
remained there until 1827.
The Whale Fire Company, which, in 1800, had
sixty members, one engine, and one hundred and
twenty buckets, ceased in a few years to be active.
The engine was a powerful one, and afterward came
into the possession of the Fairmount Fire Company.
The Hope Fire Company in 1800 had its house on
the west side of the lot of the Presbyterian Church,
on Pine Street, below Fifth.
The engine of the Philadelphia Fire Company,
which was finished April 7, 1800, was placed tempo-
rarily in the house on the Bingham estate, at the
northwest corner of Spruce and Third Streets, which
had been occupied by the Harmony Company. A
committee was appointed to obtain a site for a new
engine house, and in the course of the year the com-
pany got permission from Caspar Wister Haines to
build on a lot on Fourth Street, north of Market.
The house which was constructed was of brick, and
cost one hundred and sixteen dollars. In 1801 this
company directed that every member should "wear
a hat of the color of the company"' (chocolate), with
a label similar to that of the buckets, with the word
" Philadelphia" on it. The new engine was not sat-
isfactory in its performance, and it was sold in 1802
for three hundred and fifty dollars, and a new one
was ordered of Patrick Lyon for five hundred and
seventy-five dollars. In December, 1803, it was
agreed with the members of the Philadelphia Hose
Company that on the site of the house occupied by
the engine company a new building should be erected
to accommodate the apparatus of both companies.
This was afterward done. The house was about
eighteen feet front, and cost two hundred and fifty
dollars. The companies remained in this situation
until 1811, when the corporations of Zion and St.
Michael's Lutheran Churches granted to the use of
the engine company a lot of ground on the east side
of Fourth Street, below Cherry, twenty feet in front
by twenty feet in depth. Here a house was erected
with a double-pitched roof, the gable on the street,
with a dormer-window. There was a cupola or a
steeple, which surmounted a wooden tower, the ob-
ject of which was to furnish a place in which the
hose might be hung up for drying. The structure
cost $870.19. Up to 1817 the meetings of the com-
pany had been held in the old court-house at Mar-
ket and Second Streets. In April of that year they
were changed to the hall of the Academy of Natural
Sciences, No. 35 Arch Street, and, at a later period,
to No. 32 Church Alley. Subsequently they were
held at No. 118 Chestnut Street, corner of Carpenters'
Court. This company was the first in the city which
introduced a tender to accompany a hose-carriage.
"A two-wheeled carriage was adopted, with capacity
to carry seven hundred and twenty-eight feet of hose,
and in the minutes for March, 1820, it was for the
first time styled a ' tender.' " To accommodate the
new apparatus some alterations were necessary in the
hose-house. The steeple was removed to the east end,
and so enlarged as to accommodate the engine com-
pany and the Philadelphia Hose Company. A lamp
was ordered to be placed on the hose-carriage, so as to
distinguish it ; but this seemed to be a difficulty.'in the
opinion of the committee. As a substitute, that body
recommended the purchase of a machine invented by
Coleman Sellers, which made a noise " similar to that
of a cry of ' Fire!' " Mr. Sellers agreed to allow the
company to use this invention free of expense, re-
serving his own right to a patent. It is supposed to
1894
HISTORY OF PHTLADRLPHIA.
have been a wind instrument, which was put in
operation by the revolutions of the carriage-wheels.
George Catlin made the machine, and, after some dis-
pute as to what it was worth, he was paid fifty dol-
lars. It is presumed that the apparatus was attached
to the carriage and "hollered 'Fire!'" whenever it
was carried through the streets. It was soon found
that the tender was a troublesome affair, and the plan
was suggested of placing the hose on the engine. This
idea led to the invention, by Sellers and Pennock, of
what was first called a combined apparatus, afterward
designated a hydraulion. To meet this change the
company resolved to sell the engine and tender, which
were sold to the Globe Fire Company, the engine
bringing five hundred dollars. The hydraulion was
finished and placed in the engine-house in February-,
1821, and a suction supply-jmrnp was bought for forty
dollars, which was generally managed at fires by boys.
The hydraulion was a heavy machine, but was orna-
mental, and was distinguished by figures of dolphins
at the corners of the gallery. They were gilt, and to
the motto " Prodesse civibus" was given due promi-
nence. This company was verj' active, and enjoyed
the advantage of a large membership for a number of
years, the majority of whom belonged to the Society
of Friends.
The Weccacoe Fire Company, which was formed
May 1, 1800, secured about five hundred dollars by
subscription, and procured an engine built by Philip
Mason for two hundred and ten dollars, which was
housed on the 4th of July, 1800, in a house built for
the company by Jacob Reinhard, at the corner of
Front and Christian Streets. A bell was placed in
front of the house, to be rung in time of fire. Some
time afterward the company removed its house to the
corner of Union Alley and Front Street, where it re-
mained for two years. The house was then removed
to Prime Street landing, and the bell was sent to New
Orleans. In 1817 the commissioners of Southwark
granted to the company permission to use the lot in
front of its hall on South Second Street.
The strength of the fire department of the city and
county was much increased between 1800 and 1825
by the establishment of a considerable number of new
companies. Up to 1800 the only apparatus used for
the extinguishment of fires were fire-engines, with
buckets, and a few pieces of hose, which were in pos-
session of the Humane, the Delaware, and the Re-
liance Fire Companies. The hooks, ladders, and fire-
escapes which were in service belonged to the engine
companies. The introduction of the Schuylkill water,
and the setting up of hydrants and fire-plugs in the
streets, encouraged the introduction — in truth, it may
be said, the invention — of a new kind of apparatus
for the special hose service. The system commenced
with the establishment of the Philadelphia Hose Com-
pany in the latter end of 1803. After the hose became
eenerally in use, the fire companies gradually aban-
doned the fire-buckets, and, as there were great num-
bers of these useful vessels, the result was the setting
up of separate organizations known as bucket com-
panies.
The companies which were established during this'
period were as follows :
Good Win Fire Company, founded March 27, 1802.
Philadelpliia Hose Company, Dec. LI, 1803.
Decatur Fire Company, of Frankfui d. established Feb. 15, 180:!.
Go'mi luteut Hoee Company, Mardi, 1804.
Kesolution Hose Company, April II, 1804.
Humane Hose Company, .\pril 10, 18U5.
Perseverance Hose Company, April 10, 1805.
Neptune Hose Company, Aug. 6, 1805.
Hope Hose Company, Aug. 17, 1805.
Southwark File Company, established before January', 1806.
Columbia H.ise Company, May 1, 1806.
Southwark Hose Company, May 0, 1806.
Pennsylvania Fire Company, instituted May 16, 1806.
United States Hose Company, September, 1807.
Phoeuix Fire Company, formed before December, 1808.
Star Fire Company, formed before June, 1808.
Protectors of Property, before Deci-mber, 1810.
Washington Hose Company, Feb. 22, 1811.
United States Fire Company, established Oct. 29, 1811.
Niagara Fire Company, instituted before June, 1817.
Charitable Fire Company, instituted before June, 1817.
Venerable Fire Company, instituted before June, 1817.
Detiance Fire Company, instituted before June, 1817.
Phcenix Hose Company, Aug. 25, 1817.
Fame Hose Company, Jan. 1, 1818.
Junior Fire Company, established before July, 1818.
Pennsylvania Hose Company, before July, 1818.
Independent Fire Company, established before Jan. 14, 1819.
Union Fire Company, of Rising Sun Village, March 10, 1819.
Good Intent Fire dmpany, of Kensington, founded April 20, 1819.
Humane Fire Company, No. 2, before July, 1819.
Franklin Hose Company, July, 1819.
Schuylkill Hose Company, before January, 1820.
Penn Township Hose Company, before January, 1820.
Spring Garden Fire Company, before May, 1820.
Globe Fire Company, May 22, 1820.
Diligent Hose Company, June 30, 1820.
Point Pleasant Fire Company, July, 1820. at Point Pleasant, Kensing-
ton.
Fairmount Fire Company, established Feb. 22, 1823.
Ilibernia Hose Company, March, 1823.
The following bucket companies were established in the latter part of
181S: Free Wilt, Liberty, Utiion ; in 1819, Humane, Columbia, Ami-
cable ; in 1820, Good Will, Diligent, Washington, United States, Fame ;
in 1821, Globe, Independent, and Northern Liberties.
The original associators of the Good Will Fire
Company were, Adam Eokfeldt, who was the first
president, and who held that ofliice during nearly the
whole of his life ; John Stotzenberg, the first treas-
urer ; James Flanagan, the first secretary ; George
Armitage, George Walters, John Faunsler, Israel
Davis, Henry Rigler, William Walters, and Joseph
Saulnier. Henry Hofi"ner resigned from the Colum-
bia Fire Company on the 29th of March, 1802, in
order to join the Good Will. Patrick Lyon furnished
an engine for this company in February, 1803, which
cost six hundred and fifty dollars. As the streets in
the western part of the city were unpaved when the
company was established, and many of them remained
so for a long while afterward, it was necessary at
times to use horses. A tongue was fixed to the ap-
paratus, and this was the first engine in Philadelphia
that was drawn to fires by the aid of horses. In 1818
an alarm-bell was purchased by subscription and
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1896
placed in the engine-house. After the fire at the
Orphans' Asylum, in 1822, it was determined to fix
the bell outside the house ; and it was placed upon a
pole in the rear. The apparatus of the company at
this time consisted of an engine, hose, buckets, and
hook-and-ladder.
The Philadelphia Hose Company was the first as-
sociation for the management of hose at fires estab-
lished in Philadelphia, and, it may also be said, the
first in the world, the small quantity of hose pre-
viously in use being the property of engine companies.
A severe fire which took place in Sansom Street on
the 13th of December, 1803, was rendered more than
ordinarily destructive by the want of water, the sup-
plies of hose in use by fire companies being small and
not suflicient to carry much water to the engines.
The necessity of an organization for the special
management of hose seems to have attracted the at-
tention of some young men at the fire on Sansom
Street, and two days later they met at the house of
Eeuben Haines, No. 4 Bank Street. The persons
present were Eeuben Haines, chairman ; Roberts
Vaux, secretary; Joseph Parker, Samuel N. Lewis,
Abraham L. Pennock, William Morrison, Joseph
Warner, and William Morris. They were between
seventeen and twenty-one years of age. Charles E.
Smith joined them at the next meeting. They made
an estimate of how much it would cost for four hun-
dred feet of hose and screws for the same, with a
machine for conveying the hose, also for the erection
of a frame house. The hose, it was estimated, could
be obtained at fifty cents a foot, and the carriage for
fifty dollars. According to the estimate, three hun-
dred and fifty dollars were sufficient to place the com-
pany in active service. They were successful in rais-
ing over seven hundred dollars. Six hundred feet of
leather hose, two and a quarter inches in diameter,
were contracted for with Frederick Schultz, at the
price of forty-three cents a foot. There were eleven
sections each fifty feet long, and two of twenty feet.
The first hose-carriage was made after a plan de-
signed by Patrick Lyon. It was in shape something
like an oblong box on wheels, and the hose was car-
ried loosely in it. A roller was provided at the end
for the hose to pass over, and lanterns were fixed on
each side of the carriage, prepared to hold candles.
In front was painted the company's motto, " Non Sibi
Sed Omnibus," and " Original Institution." The en-
tire cost of this apparatus was ninety-eight dollars.
The company went into service for the first time on
the 3d of March, 1804, at a fire in Whalebone | now
Hudson] Alley, which consumed the stables of Israel
Israel. The weather was cold, but the hose answered
well, and the members behaved to so much advantage
that the Contributionship Insurance Company made
a donation to the organization of seventy dollars. A
bell was added to the carriage in 1804, to distinguish
this apparatus from that of the Good Intent Hose
Company, which had lately been instituted. James
121
P. Park, a member, perfected a plan by which the
bell was made to move by means of a spring, which
was the prime mover, and regulated the ringing, so
that, while eflfectual, it was not continuous. Various
improvements were made to the apparatus, among
which were delivering-pipes, and bridges to prevent
hose from being cut. A hose-carriage upon a new
plan was built by Philip Mason in 1806. In that
FIRST IIOSE C\RKIAGE
year a uniform costume for the members was agreed
upon, which was the first equipment dress adopted by
any fire company in the city. The original by-laws,
in 1803, ordered that each member should wear a
hat with the words "Philadelphia Hose Company"
painted on it, and it was recommended that each
member should wear a roundabout jacket. The
new uniform consisted of a dark frock-coat reaching
within two inches of the knee, and a cape falling
over the shoulders, a badge being tied around the
ordinary citizen's hat in time of fire.
James Sellers, in 1806, invented a machine for
greasing and brushing hose.
In 1807, the Neptune Hose Company having placed
an alarm-bell on their carriage, the Philadelphia Hose
Company passed a resolution, stating that " we cannot
but view with peculiar indignation the flagrant vio-
lation and contempt of our acknowledged rights."
The Neptune paid no attention to this expression of
anger, and James P. Park, who originally applied the
apparatus to the Philadelphia hose-carriage, took out
a patent, described " for the attachment of an alarm-
bell to a hose-carriage or other vehicle for the con-
veyance of fire apparatus." This patent was not
received until November, 1809, when the company
placed upon the bell-apparatus a brass plate bearing
the inscription, " Park's patent alarm." Mr. Park
placed the price of using it at fifty dollars, and suit
was instituted against the Neptune Hose Company,
which then yielded, took down its bell, and allowed
the Philadelphia to monopolize the privilege of
making a noise in the streets. Three years after-
ward the Good Intent Hose Company, notwithstand-
1896
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ing the terrors of a suit for the infraction of Park's
patent alarm, determined to use two bells on their
carriage. They were suspended upon a gallows, and
fixed upon springs similar to those of common house-
bells, an arrangement entirely different from that of
Park's plan.
The Philadelphia complained to the Fire-Hose As-
sociation, which decided that the use of bells by the
Good Intent should be discontinued ; that the attempt
of the Good Intent to use bells was an interference
with the peculiar badge of the Philadelphia; and di-
rected that they should be removed from the carriage.
The company, refusing to obey this, was expelled from
the Fire-Hose Association. Suit was brought in the
United States Circuit Court by Mr. Park against the
committee of the Good Intent which ordered the bells
to be placed on the carriage. The case was heard
before Judges Washington and Peters, Joseph B.
Ingersoll and Peter A. Browne being among the
counsel. The defense contended that the principle
of attaching bells was. not novel, and that the Perse-
verance had bells before Park's alarm was used by
the Philadelphia, but being accidentally broken were
not renewed. The Neptune had removed its bell
because too expensive. The jury found for the de-
fendants, and the Philadelphia resolved to abandon
the right to use bells altogether, and by resolution in-
formed the Fire-Hose Association of that determina-
tion. The Good Intent was readmitted to the Associ-
ation, and as a token of triumph resolved to adopt
two bells as the badge of the company. The Phila-
delphia still clung to the idea of a distinguishing
badge in the form of a bell, and a new contrivance
was adopted by which the motion of the wheels of
the carriage raised a lever at regular intervals, which
struck the bell as the carriage was dragged along the
streets. The sound was different from that of the or-
dinary bells, and when the improvement was finished
the members of the Philadelphia felicitated them-
selves that at length they had a badge of distinction.
In 1807 the hose-carriage seems to have had a cyl-
inder on which the hose was wound. The introduc-
tion of two rollers on the end of the carriage, in order
to thoroughly expel the water fi'om the hose, was an-
other improvement. In 1809 the committee reported
that by dispensing altogether with the box-body of
the carriage, and retaining only the wheel of the hose,
the axles of that wheel passing through the larger
wheels would make the latter a direct support for the
hose. The result was the abandonment of the box,
and the adoption of a plan by which the hose-wheel
was supported on an open arch sprung from standards
or suj^ports resting upon a body fixed to the axle of
the carriage. In 1814, James Sellers built for the
company what was called " a combined apparatus," —
an engine and hose-carriage after the plan of Rown-
tree, of London, which he called a hose-engine, but
which in later times was called a hydraulion. The
machine of Sellers was different from that of Rown-
tree, and was worked by hydraulic and hydrostatic
pressure. This machine was finished and housed in
September, 1814, and cost over fourteen hundred dol-
lars. The carriage had two reels for hose. The sec-
tions were carried from the back wheel by a roller
fixed on the engine. The hose upon the front of the
carriage was carried from a wheel over the roller,
passed over the carriage, and then under the body of
the engine.
In July, 1811, an experimental committee on the
subject of hose, which had been appointed on ac-
count of the frequent bursting of sewed hose, reported
in favor of the utility of rivet hose. The members
of this committee were Abraham L. Pennock, James
Sellers, and Isaac Wainwright, the two former being
really the inventors of that kind of hose, afterward
obtaining a patent for it. A trial of one section of
the hose, under the pressure of the hydrants and the
full force of the Resolution engine, was found to be
satisfactory, and before the end of the year 1811 the
company had eight hundred feet of hose on the new
plan. At first it was riveted with two seams, but it
was soon found that one seam was sufficient. It was
manufactured by Jenkin S. Jenkins & Sons, and was
fastened with turned iron rivets and burrs. One of
the difficulties attending the use of the rivets was that
they were liable to rust; but in a short time rivets
were used which did not tarnish. In 1812, Sellers and
Pennock invented a furnace for drying hose. It was
in the shape of a tower, built of brick, and was filled
from the top with charcoal, which was fastened down.
Fire was applied from below. The tower-furnace was
carried up through a wooden steeple, in which the
wet hose was hung, and was dried by the gradual
heat. The original house built for the use of the
company was at No. 17 North Fourth Street, on a lot
belonging to Reuben Haines.
In August, 1811, Zion Lutheran Church granted
to the Philadelphia Hose Company and the Philadel-
phia Fire Company the use of a lot on the east side
of Fourth Street, below Cherry, and adjoining the
church. Here a spacious double house was erected,
which was occupied by the two companies for many
years. There was a strong experimental spirit among
the members of this association, which revealed itself
at times in odd ways. Thus, in 1817, an alligator
skin having been presented to the company, a com-
mittee was appointed to ascertain whether it would
not be useful for hose; but they reported against it,
on the ground that its " tessellated and rough surface
would increase the friction and force necessary for the
water to pass over it." The hose-engine was a pon-
derous machine, without springs, and difficult to
manage. It became unpopular among the members,
and was disposed of in April, 1817, to James Sellers,
the builder, who took it in part payment for another
one which he built for the company. The old one
was disposed of to the Friends' Asylum, at Frank-
ford. A committee composed of A. L. Pennock,
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1897
Thomas M. Pettit, and William A. Griffiths, was ap-
pointed to deliberate upon a name for the machine.
They reported in favor of the word " hydraulion," —
from the Greek hudor (Latin hydra), water, and aulas,
a pipe, — which they thought would express the nature
of an engine for propelling water througli pipes. As
a " badge of distinction," it waa resolved to fix to the
hydraulion a machine which produced, by the action
of wind upon vibrating plates and tubes of metal,
a trumpet-sound. The contrivance was obtained and
fixed upon the hydraulion. But the hopes of the
members were disappointed on hearing it, as it
squeaked more like a penny trumpet than the bla-
tant instrument used in war to sound the charge or
retreat. In 1819 a gong was fixed to the hydraulion,
and in order to accomplish the necessary noise a per-
son was employed to accompany the machine and
beat tlie gong. This individual was an enthusiast in
his profession, and he soon accomplished the de-
struction of the gong by belaboring it so severely
that it cracked. Another gong was obtained, and
fixed in its place, but the sound was not sufficiently
sharp and annoying, and the company resolved to
take it down and put up the old bell.
In March, 1820, John K. Kane and Dr. Benjamin
Say invented a contrivance for conducting water from
a pump into the hose. They called it a " conductor,"
and presented it to the company. After four years'
trial of the hydraulion the members became dissatis-
fied with it, and determined to procure a new ma-
chine. This was made by Samuel V. Merrick, and
was finished in 1823. It was thought to be a supe-
rior engine. It included a forcing and suction ap-
paratus. The cylinder was eight and a half inches
in diameter. The reels held eleven hundred feet of
hose. The flambeaux were of novel construction,
and so fixed that one of them could be elevated fif-
teen feet above the ground. The suction drew water
from the river Delaware, and forced it through eighty
feet of hose one hundred and thirty feet from the
branch-pipe. At several fires tlie suction drew water
four hundred feet, and discharged it a distance of
eighty feet from the vent.
On the 24th of July, 1805, a general meeting was
held of the directors of the Philadelphia, the Good
Intent, and the Humane Hose Companies, at which
certain rules were adopted in regard to their inter-
course at times of fire. This was the beginning of
what was afterward called the " Fire Hose Associa-
tion." This body continued in existence until July,
1817, when it dissolved itself, the reason being that it
could not enforce its resolutions. Immediately after-
ward the Fire Association — composed of fire com-
panies and hose companies — was established, and
the Philadelphia entered the union. In 1818 it was
proposed to make the association an insurance com-
pany, which the members of the Philadelphia op-
posed, and then withdrew. In 1825 the Philadelphia
rejoined the association.
There was considerable difficulty at the period
when what is now called " hose" came into operation
as to the proper method of spelling that word. In
the minutes of the old engines it is called, according
to the fancy of the secretaries and writers of the min-
utes, " hoose," " hooze," " hoase." The founders of
the Philadelphia called it " hose," but the founders
of the second company formed for hose service re-
jected that spelling, and in veneration for the past,
we may suppose, adopted something more ancient.
Thus it happened that on the 8th of March, 1804, the
Good Intent " Hoase" Company was formed ; and,
despite all usage to the contrary, it remained a
" hoase" company until August, 1824, when, by
special resolution, the secretary was ordered to spell
the word according to modern form. In 1806, and
at the time of its institution, the following were mem-
bers : Jesse Thomas, Samuel Newbold, Moses Lan-
caster, Joshua Andrews, Thomas Newbold, David
Cox, Andrew Fisher, George W. Jones, Isaac Tyson,
Jr., Joseph Lippincott, Humphrey Atherton, David
McKenny, James Howell, Joseph Lownes, Caleb
Lownes, Mahlon Jackson, Samuel Harper, Charles
Leeds, Benajah Farquhar, Richard Jackson, Lindsay
Nicholson, Joshua Bolton, William Chandler, Wil-
liam McCoUom, Thomas Owen, Nathan Dunn,
Thomas Ellison, Joel Atkinson, John Justice, Rich-
ard Nisbet, John Ware, Thomas Shields, Andrew
Ashton, William C. Wright, Joseph Tatem, Thomas
Dilworth, Elisha Brown, Harvey Lewis, Joseph
Ridgway, Thomas Owen, Thomas S. Field, Thomas
Bowman, Samuel English, Samuel Stokes, Joseph
Hunter, Joseph Rakestraw, Richard Pryor, and
Powell Stackhouse. The great majority of these
persons were Quakers, and the minutes were kept in
the Quaker style. Furthermore, the original house
of the company was built upon the property of the
Quaker school, on the east side of Fourth Street,
below Chestnut. The first " hoase"-carriage was fin-
ished in February, 1808, and was of the box shape.
On the front was a perpendicular pole, capable of
sliding up and down, upon which a lamp was fixed
for a badge ; but that plan was soon given up in con-
sequence of not producing the desired effect. The
contest between this company and the Philadelphia
in regard to the use of bells is referred to on a pre-
ceding page.
In August, 1814, it was resolved to place the hose
upon a reel, which, being elevated higher than the
top of the old carriage, it was found necessary to en-
large the hose-house. At the same time, in order
that any member might easily obtain access to the
carriage, a latch was placed on the door from which
a string might be pulled. In 1816 the first " coffin"
was procured, and it was called " a labor-saving ma-
chine to brush hose." Three lamps were placed on
the carriage, — one in front and one on each side. In
1820 the carriage was painted with white, picked in
with another color.
1898
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
On the 11th of April, 1804, in the spirit of the
motto, "Esse utilis conabimur" ("To be useful is
our wish"), the following young men associated
themselves as the Resolution Hose Company: Henry
Fries, John S. Willett, John K. Drummond, William
Milner, John Nisbet Blathwaite, T. Shober, William
Delaney, Jr., Richard Standley, Mark Richards,
James W. Delaney, Adam Traquair, Henry Beckman,
Moses Thomas, Cecil G. Stevens, Peter Muhlenburg,
Jr., Samuel Hughes, John Hughes, John Duffield,
James Traquair, Jr., George Woolfley, John Towers,
Luke King, John McDonald, John B. Smyth, Cor-
nelius H. Faulkner, Gerard Strong, Thomas Coates,
Jr., James McKaraher, John W. Blanchard, Samuel
Benezet, Jr., and Thomas Reeves, Jr.
They procured a hose-carriage on the box plan.
They adopted as their badge of distinction a red
signal-lamp. The hose-carriage was placed on a lot
on the south side of Market Street, nearly opposite
Elbow Lane, and was housed in a shed. In 1810,
William Warren, manager of the new theatre on
Chestnut Street, granted to the company the right to
house its carriage on Carpenter Street, near Sixth,
where the old gallery entrance was afterward opened.
The Resolution Fire Company, established in 1797,
was at the same time housed in a portion of the thea-
tre, on Sixth Street, which was afterward used as a
pit entrance. The badge adopted by the Resolution
was an eagle with expanded wings, which was painted
on the hat, and when the Columbia applied for ad-
mission to the Hose Association the Resolution ob-
jected to its using the national bird as a badge.
The protest was not sanctioned, whereupon the Res-
olution withdrew from the association. Rivet hose
was obtained in May, 1812. A bell was placed on the
hose carriage in 1817, and in the latter part of that
year, or the beginning of 1818, a new carriage was
obtained with a cylinder four feet in diameter. An
arch was thrown across the carriage in front, from
side to side, upon which was placed a lamp with a
red light and a fine-toned bell. By the destruction
of the Chestnut Street Theatre, on April 2, 1820, the
Resolution Hose Company was burned out. The car-
riage and hose were saved, but the books and papers
were lost. The Philadelphia Hose Company gave
the Resolution permission to put its carriage in its
house until accommodation for it could be found.
Before the theatre was rebuilt, Mr. Warren allowed
the company to build a house on the old site, which
was two stories in height, and had an upper room
for meetings. In July, 1821, a new carriage was
ordered that was built upon springs, about which
there was great investigation and a learned report.
Thomas Ogle finished this carriage in December,
1821. In the next year, on account of the plan of
rebuilding the theatre, the company waa obliged to
relinquish its quarters on Carpenter Street. It ob-
tained the house of the Amicable Fire Company, on
the east side of Fifth Street, above Market. An ar-
rangement was entered into by which the Amicable
went out of active service and yielded up its appa-
ratus, etc., the Resolution assuming the debts of the
Amicable, which were fifty dollars. Christ Church
gave the company a twenty-years' lease, provided
they would have a vault under the hose-house. John
Haviland designed the plan, and the building was
finished in 1823.
When this company was instituted, the members
were generally Americans ; but John W. Blanchard,
an original member, was a native of France, and soon
introduced so many of his countrymen that the com-
pany became known as " the French company." The
following were those who were admitted in this way:
John Bosquet, E. G. Dutilh, F. Thibault, J. B. An-
draulle, Edward Chaudron, J. M. Besson, J. E.
Destouet, E. Bourckle, Peter Bizat. L. Borie, A. F.
Brasier, P. Lehman, Charles Durang, Ferdinand Du-
rang, J. Bouchard, A. Blenon, H. Paillet, D. Gardere,
J. De Laport, L. Perdriaux, G. Cure, J. Castagnet,
F. Tete, T. H. Tuyes, Eugene Baudray, Gus. Gaschet,
John Ducoring, W. Frederick, John Shelmerdiue,
P. Destouet, Edward Laraque, L. A. Besson, A. J.
Levy.
The three hose companies first instituted belonged
to the city of Philadelphia. Their success led to the
institution of a new company, to be located in the
Northern Liberties. This association, which was called
"the Humane Hose Company," was instituted at a
meeting held on the 10th of April, 1805, at John
Smith's tavern, sign of Gen. Washington, on Vine
Street. Conrad Hester was chairman and Charles Sel-
lers was secretary. There were present on that occa-
sion Frederick Buck, John Rink, Adam Strieker, and
Andrew C. Barclay. Measures were taken for the
formation of a company. The articles were signed
by the gentlemen above named, together with Richard
Heimberger, Louis Evans, John Kessler, Henry Fis-
ler, James P. Bewley, Ezra Comby, Jr., Hugh White,
Daniel Fling, Matthew Heimberger, Abraham Comby,
Charles Hill, William Hankinson, Philip Heyle. The
permanent ofiicers elected were Philip Heyle, presi-
dent ; Conrad Hester, vice-president ; Louis Evans,
treasurer; and Andrew C. Barclay, secretary. The
subscriptions for the assistance of the company were
liberal. A hose-carriage was contracted for with
Patrick Lyon, which cost one hundred and two dol-
lars. It was of box shape, with an oval front. The
color of the body was yellow, tipped with red, and
the wheels were red. The name of the company was
painted on the front by John A. Woodside. Five
hundred feet of hose were also contracted for. By
some arrangement with the Humane Fire Company,
it was understood from the beginning that a house
could be obtained adjoining that of the latter, upon
the north side of Vine Street, between Second and
Third. The hose-house was nine feet front and fifteen
feet deep, and cost twenty-four dollars. The front
was jjainted yellow, the blinds were green, and the
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1899
doors were of mahogany color. The hose, which was
of leather, was manufactured by Warren. The com-
pany met for some years at Moulder's school-room, in
one of the Norwich markets, at the intersection of St.
John and Callowhill Streets.
In 1817 the old box hose-carriage was altered, and
a hose-wheel and bells were added. In the same year
the Humane Hose Company and the Humane Fire
Company, being obliged to remove from the house on
Vine Street, built a wooden house at St. John and
Wood Streets. The lot occupied by the two com-
panies was sixteen feet front by twenty feet deep.
The fire company removed from that location in 1825,
and went to the corner of Ann and Callowhill Streets.
The hose company remained there until 1829.
The Perseverance Hose Company was established
on the 27th of May, 1805, by a number of boys and
young men, nearly all of whom were house-carpen-
ters, either apprentices or journeymen, and who re-
sided in the neighborhood of Fifth and Wood Streets.
Several of them were apprentices of Philip Justus,
Nathan Smith, and Frederick Forepaugh. The min-
utes of the company gave the ages of these, on the
5th of July, 1806 (a year after the institution of the
association), as follows : Hudson Burr, nineteen years;
0. Bobbins, twenty-five ; W. C. Hancock, nineteen ;
Joseph Smith, nineteen ; John Ellick, nineteen ; H.
L. Melcher, twenty-two; C. S. Ellick, seventeen; P.
Culman, nineteen ; John Bender, Jr., twenty-one ;
1. Burr, twenty ; William W. Wa}-, nineteen ; John
B. Prentiss, nineteen ; J. Sovers, nineteen ; Peter
Weynant, nineteen ; Peter Deal, nineteen ; C. Tay-
lor, twenty -one; George Bower, twenty-five; Joseph
Eobbins, nineteen ; C. Price, — ; Frederick Frailey,
twenty-three ; J. Steinmetz, nineteen ; J. Wilkins,
twenty-two ; George Hitner, twenty-two ; J. Erzen-
hert, twenty-four; John A. Woodside, twenty-four;
N. Roberts, twenty-three; B. Taylor, twenty; G.
Fry, twenty-two; Thomas Gaskill, twenty-one; T.
E. Warner, nineteen ; J. Ritter, eighteen ; J. Jack-
son, twenty ; Frederick Vogel, twenty-four. In ad-
dition to the above, there were at the first meeting
Henry Magee, Ralph Smith, Joseph Servoss, George
Wilson, and Jacob Levan. They adopted for their
motto, " Perseverentia Omnia Vincit." They were
without means or influence, and their progress was
slow. At the time of the fire in Pennington's sugar-
house. Vine Street, below Third (21st of September,
1805), the company had neither house nor hose-car-
riage. They began the acquirement of suitable im-
plements by the purchase of four or five sections of
hose, which they carried on their backs to fires,
and succeeded in supplying the Philadelphia Fire
Company. The members being generally carpenters,
it was not necessary that they should go to Patrick
Lyon for a hose-carriage. They resolved to build one
themselves, the material being contributed by friends.
It was constructed at the house of Philip Justus.
They afterward obtained the use of a lot of ground
owned by Catharine Lowery, situated back of Vine
Street, between Fifth and Sixth, and accessible by
Branner's Court. Here, with their own hands, they
built a hose-house. But in 1809 the trustees of St.
John's Lutheran Church granted them a site on Race
Street, west of Fifth, for the term of twenty-one
years, and there they erected a brick building, to
which their apparatus was removed. In 1812, after
seven years' service of the original carriage, a con-
tract was made for another, which was the first one
built on springs, and the second one built with a cyl-
inder-wheel.
The Neptune Hose Company was formed at a meet-
ing of young men at Dunn's Hotel, Aug. 6, 1805,
at which Michael Nesbit was chairman, and Jacob
Chrystler was secretarj'. There were present, beside
the officers, Moses Thomas, William Carr, William
M. Becbarms, Emanuel Spangler, John Hutton, John
Neckervis, Isaac Pennington, Joseph Redman, John
Scheetz, Edward A. Evans, John Chrystler, George
Sickle, James Stokes, and John M. Funk. The com-
pany adopted a hat, the groun.d color of which was
black, and on the front was a painting of " Neptune"
holding a trident, and drawn in a car by two sea-
horses. It was the most elegant hat worn by any
company at that period. The motto was " Pulcher
um est beneficere res publica," which was thus inter-
preted, " It is a glorious thing to be serviceable to
the public." Moses Thomas was elected president,
Emanuel Spangler, secretary, and George Sickle,
treasurer. The carriage was made by Patrick Lyon
for one hundred and thirty-five dollars, and four hun-
dred and fifty feet of hose were furnished by Fred-
erick Schultz for two hundred and eighteen dollars.
The carriage and hose were finished, and were in the
hands of the company in December, 1805, being tem-
porarily deposited in a chair-house in Watkins' Alley,
which led from Third to Bread Street, nearly oppo-
site Cherry, and was afterward called Fetter Lane. In
August, 1806, the county commissioners gave the
company the privilege of depositing its carriage in a
house for the accommodation of a fire company, which
had been built in front of the Walnut Street prison,
at the southeast corner of Sixth and Walnut Streets.
The company remained here only three months, and
at the end of that time resolved to return to the old
house in Watkins' Alley. In 1807, the apparatus was
removed to the house formerly occupied by the Nep-
tune Fire Company in Coats' Alley, running from
New Market to Second, above Vine Street. Subse-
quently it was removed to a house on the south side
of Race Street, east of Fourth, upon a portion of the
lot belonging to the German Reformed Church. In
the latter part of 1818, notice having been given to
the company to remove from the church lot, a coach-
house and stable situate in Cherry Street, between
Fifth and Sixth, was rented, and the apparatus was
removed to that place.
The Hope Hose Company was organized on the
1900
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
5tli of August, 1805, by a number of young men resi-
dent in the vicinity of Second and Pine Streets.
They were Thomas F. Gordon, Robert Gordon, Wil-
liam Henderson, William J. Faulkner, Benjamin
GriflBth, G. Lyndall, Thomas Nixon, James Roddy,
Adam Cook, Alexander Wilson, Thomas H. DaWson,
William Colton, Jenkins P. Tutton, D. McCaraher,
D. Dawson. J. Robinson, D. Freil, and William Ste-
venson. Philip Mason made the hose-box, which
was ready in December, and hose was procured in
the fall of the same year. The company obtained
permission from City Councils to occupy a hose-
house in the hall erected at the northern end of the
new market at Second and Pine Streets. This was
the easternmost house for fire apparatus, and had
been occupied by the New IVfarket Fire Company,
which was dissolved about the year 1800. Permis-
sion was given to the Hope Hose Company to ring
the bell in the cupola in time of fire. In June, 1806,
the company adopted the following motto : " Omnis
actus specificatur ab objectu" ("Every act is speci-
fied from its object"). A new hose-carriage, obtained
in 1816, cost $317.55. John A. Woodside painted a
handsome frontispiece, representing "Hope" with her
anchor. The old carriage was repaired, and was also
kept in use. In September, 1819, another hose-
carriage, built by Jeffries & Nuttall for the Franklin
Hose Company, which latter association was dis-
solved about that time, was bought for three hun-
dred and forty dollars.
The Southwark Hose Company probably had its
origin in the Southwark Fire Company, an associa-
tion which was established some time after the early
part of the year 1799, and before the spring of 1806.
It is not certain whether the hose company succeeded
to the rights of the fire company, or whether the
name and objects of the latter were changed. The
members of the hose company claim the date of its
institution to be May 6, 1806. The earliest minutes
in possession of the company some years ago com-
menced in 1807, at which time it possessed a hose-
carriage built by Patrick Lyon and a quantity of
hose. The location of the hose-house was on the
north side of Almond Street, east of Front. The
stated meetings were held for many years in James
Crowell's school-room, in Shippen Street below Sec-
ond. The original members were Richard Barring-
ton, John Dolby, Isaac Roach, Jr., James 31. Lin-
nard, Emanuel Lewis, Jacob Copeland, William
Myers, John Durney, Lewis Carson, Robert McMul-
len, Jr., Archibald Maxwell, James Crowell, Thomas
Wright, John B. Austin, James White, Isaiah Jones,
R. G. Martin, Andrew Donaldson, Samuel Work-
man, H. Hewlings, George Patton, William Holmes,
Joseph P. McCorkle, Caleb Milburn, Thomas Sparks,
John H. Curtis, William H. Stewart, Benjamin
Thomas, Jr., Alexander Frankford, and William
Hunter. The company was in possession of the en-
gine of the Southwark Fire Company, and measures
were taken to sell it, in 1808, together with the house.
A new carriage was presented to the company by
Conrad Gurn in 1811. During the war of 1812 a
volunteer company was formed from the Southwark
Hose Company, which was called the " First Inde-
pendent Company of Artillerists." James M. Lin-
nard was captain. They served at Camp Bloomfield,
Kennett Square, Chester Co., in the campaign of
1814. Isaac Roach, one of the founders, subse-
quently mayor of this city, went into the regular
army of the United States as lieutenant, and after-
ward obtained the rank of captain. The hose-car-
riage became worn out in 1815, and one was borrowed
for a time from the Fire-Hose Association, which
was composed only of companies located in the city
of Philadelphia. The Southwark, belonging to an
adjoining district, was not allowed to belong to that
association, an exclusion which operated to the in-
jury of the Southwark, as appropriations from City
Councils and donations from insurance companies
were frequently allowed to the Fire-Hose Associa-
tion, or to companies located in the city of Philadel-
phia. The corporation of Southwark would give no
assistance, and, as the only means of sustaining the
institution, it was recommended by a committee that
the company should remove into the city of Phila-
delphia. This was carried, and the city commis-
sioners gave the company the use of the house in the
hall-building at the southeast corner of the Second
Street market, at Second and South Streets ; but the
members subsequently obtained the house at the
other corner. The removal took place May 22, 1815.
In the mean while the commissioners of Southwark
had been brought up to such a point of generosity
that they made an appropriation of one hundred
dollars for the use of the company ; but finding that
it had removed before the money was paid, a dispo-
sition was manifested to withhold it. Eventually
the company received it, and it might be considered
in satisfaction of all past services.
Another appropriation of one hundred and fifty
dollars, however, was made in 1819, which came very
acceptable in helping to defray the cost of a new
hose-carriage, built by Jeffries & Nuttall for three
hundred and ninety-seven dollars. The old bell
which had belonged to the Southwark Fire Company,
and which had been in use at the hose-house on
Almond Street, was placed in the steeple of the build-
ing at Second and South Streets, in the latter part of
1820. It was afterward used as an alarm-bell. A
torch, instead of a lamp, was placed in front of the
hose-carriage in June, 1822. In March, 1823, John
Neagle, artist, volunteered to paint a frontispiece, and
the apparatus was repainted at the same time, the
ground shade being blue. Bells were added to the
carriage at this time, the first used upon it. Among
the persons who became members between the insti-
tution of the company and the year 1825 were James
J. Barclay, who is still living, and has been for many
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1901
years active in the affairs of the House of Refuge
and of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum ; Archibald Ran-
dall, afterward judge of the United States District
Court; Thomas S. Bell, associate justice of the Su-
preme Court of Pennsylvania; John Neagle, artist;
and Wilson Jewell, afterward a prominent physician.
The Columbia Hose Company was established May
1, 1806, by persons resident in the neighborhood of
Seventh and Cherry Streets, who were friends and
adherents of the Columbia Fire Company. The latter
gave to the hose company, as soon as it was instituted,
eighty feet of hose. The hose-house was established
on the south side of Cherry Street, above Seventh.
In 1810 a new carriage was procured by the company.
It had upon it the device of an eagle witli out-
stretched wings, the use of whicli was considered by
the Resolution Hose Company as an infringement, it
having previously used that emblem.
The Pennsylvania Fire Company was formed at a
meeting of young men at Parker's Inn, and at sub-
sequent meetings at commissioners' hall, which was
in the old court-house, at the centre of Market and
Second Streets, and at Parsey's school-room. The
original members were Edward Simmons, Jr., presi-
dent ; Jesse W. Roberts, secretary ; Richard G. Pax-
son, treasurer; Evan Davis, B. W. Flower, Joseph
Field, Samuel R. Fisher, Jr., William Charleton,
John Elfreth, Benjamin Walton, Otis B. Merrill,
George McGlassin, Joseph F. Ridgway, William
Armer, Isaac Pennington, T. S. Roberts, Richard F.
Allen, John Parry, Israel Howell, Thomas Barnes,
J. P. Hutchinson, Richard Wistar, Jr., and Joseph
Donaldson. The members determined to wear sky-
blue hats, with the Pennsylvania coat of arms painted
thereon by John Justice; special exemption, however,
being given to one member who was allowed to have
his hat painted by John A. Woodside. A new engine
was built by Patrick Lyon. It was painted yellow,
was decorated with the Pennsylvania coat of arms,
and cost seven hundred and fifty dollars. It played
fifty-six and two-thirds yards without the spray, and
was asserted by the company to be equal to any en-
gine in Philadelphia. In February, 1808, the direc-
tors of the Philadelphia Library Company granted to
the Pennsylvania Fire Company the right to put up
a house on the northwestern portion of a lot adjoin-
ing the library. It was one story in height, and was
taken possession of in August of that year. In 1819
this company procured a suction-pump, made by
Bacon, which was placed on wheels, and hose carried
with it. The pump was stationed in a gutter, and
sucked up the waste water from the engines. In De-
cember, 1820, a new engine was procured of the first
class from Perkins & Bacon. It cost nine hundred
dollars, and played two hundred and six feet without
the spray. Shortly afterward a hydraulion, which
carried three hundred feet of hose, was purchased.
For this apparatus the company gave the suction-
pump and one hundred and forty dollars cash. A
suction was attached to the hydraulion in January,
1823.
The United States Hose Company was formed in
September, 1807, at a meeting of young men, among
whom were Daniel C. Ellis, president of the meeting;
Joseph Askew, secretary ; Randolph Hutchinson and
William L. Norton. There were twenty-one members
in all, between the ages of seventeen and nineteen
years. They procured sufficient money by subscrip-
tion to buy one hundred and twenty-five feet of hose.
The Philadelphia Hose Company loaned them their
old carriage. The new association went into active
service, and received from the county commissioners
the riglit to place their apparatus in the old hose-
house on the southeast corner of Sixth and Walnut
Streets, on the prison lot. They continued in active
service about a year, after wbicli the affairs of the
company were neglected, and the association was
finally dissolved.
The Phcenix Fire Company was represented in
the latter part of 1808, in a communication to the
Southwark Fire Company, by Paul C. Stewart, Joshua
Harlan, and John A. Aeckel. Samuel Kennedy was
president of this company in May, 1818. Shortly
afterward the house of the company was removed to
Bread Street, near Arch, and the company was dis-
solved about 1821.
The Star Fire Company was instituted probably
after the year 1800. It was in existence in June,
1808, but it was not in service ten years afterward.
An association called the Protectors of Property
from Fire was formed before the month of December,
1810, to guard property in case of fire. Their imple-
ments consisted of bags, buckets, and apparatus to
take furniture, goods, etc., to a place of safety. The
house of the company was established in Hartung's
Alley, south of Arch Street, and east of Third.
The Washington Hose Company was instituted
Feb. 22, 1811. The first hose-house of the company
was situate on a lot granted by the University of
Pennsylvania, on the west side of Ninth Street, be-
low Market. Afterward it was removed to the west
side of Tenth Street, at Filbert.
The United States Fire Company was formed at a
meeting held at Kennedy's Hotel, Letitia Court, com-
j posed of Powell Stackhouse, president; Giles Love,
I secretary ; George Widdifleld, Hastings Stackhouse,
George Wilson, John T. Ware, Benjamin B. Fore-
paugh, Enoch Nicholls, Samuel Jones, Thomas Zell,
Abraham Mitchell, Jr., Christian Sulger, Chester
' Chattin, Thomas W. Carson, James Stackhouse, and
i Enoch Middleton. To these were added, at the first
1 meeting after the formation of the company, John
Scott, Francis Lasher, Thomas Palmer, and James
j Chapin. The object of the establishment of the com-
j pany was for the security of the northeastern quarter
of the city and liberties. The meetings of the com-
'■ pany were removed iu November to Simpson's school-
1 room, Second, below Margaretta Street. The com-
1902
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
missioners of the Northern Liberties granted the
compaii)' the right to occupy the house at the bridge
on Second Street, above Caliowhill. At the same
time the Northern Liberty Company had its house
on Poole's bridge, on Front Street. An engine l)uilt
by Patrick Lyon was procured in the latter part of
1812. The company Uouffht a lot of ground in 1819
on the west side of Fourth Street, north of the inter-
section of Old York road. The lot had fronts upon
the two streets, and upon it was erected a substantial
two-story brick building, with a cupola and bell. This
house was occupied by the company on the 11th of
September, 1819. The funds for the cupola and for
the bell were presented by residents of the neighbor-
hood. The Ijuilding committee consisted of John M.
Ogden, George Widdifield, Thomas Zell, Enoch Mid-
dleton, Jesse Ogden, Jonathan P. Smith, and Isaac
Parry.
The Niagara Fire Company was instituted after the
close of the war with Great Britain, and is believed to
have been composed in majority of members of the
the second company of Washington Guards, of which
John Swift was captain. Mr. Swift resigned from the
Philadelphia Hose Company in January, 1818, to join
the Niagara Conijiany. Isaac G. Elliott was secretary
of the company in 1818, and Thomas Lewis is 1819.
In the latter year John M. Scott was president. The
house occupied by the company on Zane Street, above
Seventh, was built on speculation by a carpenter.
There was room enough in it lor two fire companies,
and the Pluunix Hose Company wa.« co-tenant with
the Niagara. The property wa.s sold, and was bought
by the Phoenix. The Niagara removed from the
premises in 1822, sold the apparatus, and the com-
pany was dissolved.
The Charitable, Venerable, Defiance, and Junior
Fire Companies Were in service in 1817. They were
probably new companies. They did not last long.
The Junior was in service in 1818, the Humane Fire
Company, No. 2, and the Independence Fire Com-
pany in 1819, and the Spring Garden Engine Com-
pany in 1820.
The Phoenix Hose Company was established on the
25th of August, 1817, by ten young men, — Thomas
McEuen, M.D., Charles Macalester, Jr., Edward
Yorke, Ashbel G. Jaudon, Benjamin Carman, Dods-
worth Peacock, Henry D. Carrell, John McPhail,
Henry B. Reese, and Robert Aertsen. To these were
added, during the same year, J. C. Homann, Jr.,
John B. Dobbins, Alexander L. Hodgdon, Hudson
Carman, William E. Whelan, N. W. Robinson, H.
Stoddart, Thomas 0. Duncan, and F. A. Muhlen-
berg. They obtained a location for their apparatus in
the house of the Niagara Fire Company, on the north
side of Zane I Filbert] Street, above Seventh. A hose-
carriage was procured, and a badge was painted on
the front by Woodside, which was directed to be "a
phoenix rising from the flames, on a blue relief, sur-
mounted by a gilt or white scroll, with the name of
the company inserted, and a gilt star." In March,
1820, a committee appointed for the purpose reported
in favor of obtaining a combined apparatus, uniting
the properties of a hose-carriage and an engine. It was
built by Sellers. The carriage part of the machine
was painted in cream-color, picked in with black, and
the body of green. Upon trial, in 1820, the engine
played one hundred and fifty-three feet through the
branch-pipe attaclied to a ten-foot section of double-
rivet hose. In December, 1820, the company bought
the house which it had occupied on Zane Street, above
Seventh, frnni the Niagara Fire Company. The latter
removed from the premises before May, 1822, at
which time the Pliwnix resolved to construct a new
house, three stories in height, which it was estimated
could be done for one thousand dollars. Actually it
cost, with the furniture, two thousand three hundred
and forty-nine dollars and eighty -eight cents, and the
company wot greatly embarraased by this debt for
some yeara.
The Fame Hose Company was instituted Jan. 1,
1818. Among the original members were E<lward
Irving, Samuel P. Griffiths, Jr., and H. M. Tucker,
who were appointed a committee, on the 9th of March
of that year, to procure a hose-liouse. They obtained
from the county commissioners the use of the house
at the southeast corner of Walnut and Sixth Streets,
at the Walnut Street prison, but did not remain there
long, having been successful in obtaining from the
Philadelphia Library Company the use of a lot of
ground on Fifth Street, adjoining the house of the
Pennsylvania Fire Company. A bouse was built
there for the use of the Fame, and a plan was fixed
upon by which the fronts of the two houses were
made uniform in ap|>earance.
The Pennsylvania Hose Company was established
in July, 1818, — Dennis P. Whelan, president; and
William Kennedy, secretary. At that time an ap-
plication was made to the Pennsylvania Fire Com-
pany for a donation of old torches, which was com-
plied with.
A company called the Independent Fire Company
was in existence before Jan. 14, 1819.
The Good Intent was the second fire company es-
tablished in the district of Kensington. It was formed
April 26, 1819, at a meeting held at Isaac Boileau's
school-room, — John Wood, chairman ; and Isaac
Boileau, secretary. The following-named gentle-
men were associated with them : Howe Keith, Sam-
uel P. Courtney, Isaac J. Kipp, Thomas Reading,
William Vandyke, George App, Adam Miller, Sam-
uel Weyant, John Seddinger, Joshua Bowers, David
Jones, William Jones, James B. Wood, Peter Stein-
metz, Joseph Wood, Nathan Barnaba. A wooden
house was erected on the lot at Prince Street and
Frankford road, which belonged to Mr. Camac, and
an engine costing one thousand dollars was bought of
Patrick Lyon, July 13, 1820. The company also had
a bucket-carriage.
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1903
The Franklin Hose Company was established be-
fore 1819, and stood on the east side of Eighth Street,
between Cherry and Race. It was nicknamed at one
time " the Bootmakers' Company," and it was asserted
that the hose was made of boot-legs. Jeffries & Nut-
tall built a carriage for the company in 1819, which
the members of that firm would not deliver until paid
for. The Hope Hose Company bought it, and the
Franklin may be considered by that circumstance to
have gone out of service.
The Schuylkill Hose Company was in operation
before 1820. In the latter year some of the members
united with former members of the Franklin in a de-
mand upon the Philadelphia Fire Company for hose,
which the latter had bought of Seybert. The Phila-
delphia resisted, on the ground that the Schuylkill,
as well as the Franklin, had been dissolved.
The Penn Township Hose Company rented the hall
of the Columbia Fire Company in 1820, and continued
to meet there until August, 1824. It was in active
service during all that time.
The Spring Garden Fire Company was in service
before May, 1820.
The Globe Fire Company was organized at B.
Hutchinson's tavern, in Kensington, May 22, 1820.
William Fitler was elected president, Samuel Salter
secretary, and John Sanderson treasurer. In addition
to them, the members were John Holmes, Branch
Green, James Altemus, James Phillips, Joiin Pfeiffer,
Robert Wallace, Gabriel Cox, Henry Benner, Robert
Arthur, Archibald Wright, and Joseph Barton. The
company received its name in compliment to the
Globe Mills. John Holmes, a member, belonged to
the firm of Craig, Holmes & Co., proprietors of the
mills, and there is reason to believe that many of the
members were employes in that factory. The engine-
house was of wood, two stories high, and was occuiiied
in the second story for the purposes of a school by
Rev. William Metcalfe, of the Bible Christian Church.
It cost four hundred and fifty dollars. The engine
cost five hundred dollars. The Globe Bucket Com-
pany was given permission, in July, 1821, to keep its
bucket-carriage in the engine-house.
The Diligent Hose Company was established June
3, 1820, and the apparatus was located in the neigh-
borhood of Eleventh and Vine Streets. It is prob-
able that the organization sprang from the Diligent
Bucket Company, a portion of the members of which
united in the establishment of the hose company.
Shortly after it was founded the bucket company
made a donation of ten dollars to the hose company,
showing at least a sympathy between the two organi-
zations. The following were members in 1822 : B.
H. Bannen, Robert Lyons, Jacob Patterson, Pascal
B. Smith, John Develine, E. S. Errickson, G. Ray,
Jacob Weaver, William Corson, Thomas Carvell,
Stogdon Pennell, William Henderson, John Bozier,
William Lypherheldt, Joseph Garlick, Henry Lead-
beater, Laspol Gramshaw, Thomas Everett, A. Mar-
tin, W. Brooke, J. Santine, W. B. Dexter, J. Martin,
George Smith, B. Connodell, G. Bursfield, John F.
Janneaus, Charles Knodle, William Connor,
Jester, and Bloom. This company was in active
service in January, 1822, when it was resolved that
the body of the hose-carriage should be painted
green, the wheels yellow, picked in with black, and
the badges picked in with red. Torches were affixed
to the carriage. They were taken off in 1823, and
lamps substituted. The latter were not popular at
that time, and after a short trial the torches were re-
stored. A committee was appointed in February,
1824, to obtain ground for an engine-house, and it
was ordered not to go below Eighth Street nor below
Arch, but in 1825 the order was modified, and direc-
tions were given to the committee to seek a lot from
the owners of the Farmers' Brewery, corner of Tenth
and Zane Streets.
The Point Pleasant Fire Company was in existence
before July, 1820, and its place of service was at Point
Pleasant, Kensington, on the Delaware River, near
the mouth of Cohocksink Creek.
The Fairmount Fire Company was established in
the district of Spring Garden, Feb. 22, 1823. On the
dissolution of the Whale Fire Company of the city,
the engine of that association — a large and powerful
machine — was purchased by the commissioners of
Spring Garden for the protection of the citizens of
that section. The possession of this apparatus led to
the formation of a fire company to manage it, and in
that way the Fairmount originated. The original
members were young men, a large proportion of
them butchers, and their peculiarities furnished
much amusement to the members of other com-
panies, and were the subjects of jests which were
long remembered and renewed by fresh recitals.
The original house of the Fairniount was on the
Ridge road, north of Wood Street, east side.
An association called the Hibernia Hose Com-
pany was in operation in March, 1823, and had its
stand in Walnut Street, between Front and Second.
It was not long in existence.
On the 7th of September, 1815, water flowed for the
first time from the pipes connected with the Fair-
mount Water- Works. Previously, the water supplied
by the works at Chestnut Street, on the Schuylkill,
had but small head or force, — which fact, although
hose had come into general operation, seemed to
render the use of fire-buckets a necessity as a means
of assisting the working of the hose, — but with the
establishment of the Fairmount works the pressure
was so much increased that it wa.s found that the use
of fire-buckets was unnecessary, and the companies
generally neglected them. This led to the project for
the institution of bucket companies. They were
formed of young men or boys who were not allowed
to become members of the regular fire companies and
hose companies. The majority of them adopted
names which were the same as those of the latter or-
1904
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ganizations. Most frequently these names were
painted on the buckets ; so that the bucket com-
panies, by adopting those names, found that their
property was already appropriately marked and
painted. The buckets were carried to the fire either
in the old hose-carriages, which had not yet been
broken up, or iu wagons. These companies began to
be formed about 1818, and they ceased to be useful in
1821. The names of such of those associations as
have been preserved were as follows :
Liberty, of which John Sendos was president in
November, 1818; Ernest F. Crozet in December,
1818 ; and John H. Dohnert, secretary in 1819. This
company obtained from the Philadelphia Hose Com-
pany permission to use the house at Twelfth and
Clover Streets, which at that time was in the tenure
of the Philadelphia. The Liberty was in service at
the burning of Masonic Hall, March 9, 1819.
The Free Will Fire Bucket Company in November,
1818, petitioned the Columbia Fire Company for the
donation of some buckets.
The Union Fire Bucket Company in 1818 bought
an old bucket-carriage of the Hope Hose Company,
and went into active service.
The Humane Fire Bucket Company in 1819 asked
the Humane Fire Company for the privilege of being
located near the latter.
The Columbia Fire Bucket Company petitioned
the Columbia Fire Company in September, 1819, for
aid ; and in May, 1820, exchanged a bucket-basket
and sixtj'-four buckets with the Good Will Fire Com-
pany for five sections of hose. It probably became a
hose company.
The Amicable Fire Bucket Company was in service
in October, 1819. John Phile was secretary, and
William Hartley was one of the members.
The Good Will Fire Bucket Company was organized
in May, 1820, and was furnished by the Good Will
Fire Company with a bucket-carriage and apparatus.
It was first placed in "Mr. Sanford's yard," and
afterward iu a house built for its use adjoining the
Good Will engine-house, at the northwest corner of
Juniper and Race Streets.
The Washington Fire Bucket Company was in
active service in 1820.
The Diligent Bucket Company made a donation of
ten dollars to the Diligent Fire Company in 1820, to
aid in building the engine afterward made by Pat.
Lyon.
The United States Fire Bucket Company, William
B. Dexter, president, and William Kline, secretary,
applied for advice and assistance to the United States
Fire Company on the 10th of October, 1820. A com-
mittee was appointed to comply with their request.
The Fame Fire Bucket Company was in existence
in 1820.
The Independent Fire Bucket Company was in ser-
vice about the same time.
The Globe Fire Bucket Company bought thirty old
buckets of the United States Fire Company in May,
1821, for five dollars, and went into active service.
The Northern Liberties Fire Bucket Company was
established in 1821. Joseph Wood was one of the
founders, and the company was reorganized as the
Northern Liberties Hose Company on the 7th of May,
1828.
Outside of the city and districts the needs of the
more rural portions of the county led to the institu-
tion of fire companies in villages and neighborhoods
as opportunity served. In Germantown, as early as
the month of January, 1764, a public meeting was
held at the town hall to consider the necessity of
obtaining fire apparatus, and taking measures to carry
out that design. Germantown was then divided into
three divisions or wards. As the efibrt was a united
one, it was resolved that the companies should bear
the same name, — Fellowship. Subscriptions were
taken up, and a short time afterward the companies
were formed. The Fellowship Fire Company of the
Upper Ward was established March 1, 1765; the Fel-
lowship Fire Company of the Middle Ward, March 4,
1764; the Fellowship Engine Company of the Lower
Ward was not established until Feb. 20, 1765. There
was a difficulty in getting engines. The subscriptions
were sufficient to pay for three hand-engines, and
orders were sent to England for their purchase. The
three machines did come to this country, but only one
of the Germantown companies was served, the other
coming into capacity for service at a later period. In
course of time the usefulness of the Germantown com-
panies was occasionally interfered with by the resem-
blance of the names of the three organizations, and it
was resolved to give them distinct titles. The Fellow-
ship of the Upper Ward became the Franklin Fire
Company of Germantown, the Fellowship of the Mid-
dle Ward became the Washington, and the Fellowship
of the Lower Ward became the Columbia. These
alterations were effected about 1809. In the upper
part of Germantown township the Mount Airy Fire
Company was established Feb. 9, 1804.
At Chestnut Hill the Congress Fire Company was
instituted May 11, 1815. The Fellowship Fire Com-
pany, taking the name which had been given up by
the Germantown companies, was established Sept. 3,
1819.
At the Rising Sun the Union Engine Company was
established March 19, 1819.
At Frankford a company was established Feb. 11,
1803, the name of which seems now to be unknown.
It was some years after its institution that it was de-
cided to give to the company the name of the Decatur
Fire Company, after Commodore Stephen Decatur,
who, by the residence of his father in that neighbor-
hood, was considered in some degree a Frankford boy.
It is probable that his name was not given to the com-
pany until after his naval victories had become famous.
This might have been after his destruction of the
frigate " Philadelphia," in 1804, but more probably
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1905
after the capture of the " Macedonian" by the frigate t
" United States," in 1812. j
In Frankford the Washington Fire Company was
established Jan. 1, 1793.
In Roxborough the Good Intent Fire Company was
established May 8, 1819.
In the western portion of Blockley, near Hadding- j
ton, the Monroe Engine Company was established
March 8, 1823.
The water-supply for the engines originally was
poured into cisterns from buckets, which were passed
along lines of persons extending from the place of '
the fire to the nearest pumps or other available places.
The empty buckets were usually returned by lines •
composed of women, children, and aged persons. '
The first hose used in the city was introduced, in
the year 1794, by the Humane Fire Company. Philip
Mason, Jan. 31, 1795, proposed to make an engine
" fitted completely for the purpose of working a sue- |
tion and venting hose." It was finished in July, ,
1795, and was first used at a fire in Coombs' Alley, a
short time after. The company had about one hun-
dred and sixty feet of it, made of woven web, or
canvas. Solicitous measures were taken to prevent |
it from rotting, as it was supposed, by steeping it in
salt pickle. Under this treatment the hose was soon
disposed of. The Delaware Fire Company, in 1796, i
appointed a committee to ascertain what materials ;
were best for making hose. They reported in favor [
of patent hemp, wove hose, " such as that used by 1
the Humane Fire Company," and eighty feet of it 1
were procured. The Humane did not incline to j
further use of this kind of hose, and in 1798 leather '■
hose was procured by that company. The Reliance
Company before this time had got one hundred and
seventy feet of leather hose, and after this period
that material was common. It was made by Samuel
Briggs and Philip Mason. The screws usedwith this j
hose were immovable, and, by twisting the hose in
attaching it to the engines, frequently burst it. This '
difficulty was remedied by a suggestion of John But- |
ler, of the Humane, and the making of screws re- j
volving in a socket, by John Cooke and Jesse Oat, |
coppersmiths, members of the Humane Fire Company. ;
Philip Mason made leather hose for the Philadelphia
Fire Company in 1801. The Philadelphia Hose Com-
pany at the beginning employed leather hose made by
Frederick Schultz. It was sewed, and on account of
its frequently bursting, a committee was appointed to
devise a plan for improving the hose. This led to
the invention of riveted hose, for which Sellers &
Pennock, two of the members, took out a patent, and
went into the business, of which they had a monopoly ■
until about 1823, when Adam Dialogue, then a young j
man, undertook the manufacture. Suit was brought i
against him on the charge of infringing the patent of
Sellers & Pennock. The Phcenix Hose Company
sustained Dialogue, and called a convention of com-
panies to back him up in the suit. Contributions
were made for the employment of lawyers, etc., and
on the trial of the case Dialogue obtained a verdict.
There was no doubt that Sellers & Peunock invented
riveted hose while on the committee of the Philadel-
phia Hose Company, but at that time they had no
idea of making a business of it, and they allowed
Jenkin S. Jenkins to manufacture the hose before
taking out a patent. It was held that this conduct
was an abandonment of the invention, and that it
was thereby relinquished to the public. The case
went to the Supreme Court of the United States,
which sustained the decision of the court below, and
after that time the manufacture was open to all.
Dialogue made it his regular business, aud was
engaged in it until his death.
Hooks, ladders, and fire-escapes engaged attention
at this time. An escape was procured by the P'ame
Fire Company in 1783. It was a three-story ladder,
with a tackle and basket affixed. In 1791 a pole was
used in place of the ladder. It was used at many fires.
The company lost it when burned out at the destruc-
tion of Zion Church, in 1794. The Harmony Fire
Company, in 1790, obtained a fire-escape, and had a
carriage to carry the apparatus. Its use was aban-
doned in four years. Edward Robinson, of the Re-
liance, in 1797, invented an escape which, upon con-
sideration, was refused because of its heavy character.
The Northern Liberty Company had a basket appa-
ratus during part of the time to which we refer.
Firemen, while in service, had no distinguishing
badge or equipment until 1788. In that year a fire-
man's convention was held for consultation. The
means of distinguishing firemen by some uniform
equipment was considered. They recommended the
use of a painted hat for all the companies, to wit:
round hats, with black-painted rims and white crown,
with the member's name and company in large char-
acters. The Harmony' Fire company refused this
uniform, but gave to members a right to wear a yel-
low badge, with the name of the company upon it,
which was to be buckled around their hats when in
service. The first coats and capes were used in 1704
by the Assistance Fire Company, which obtained two
coats and oil-cloth capes for the use of the engineers.
The directors of the Humane Fire Company in 1796
purchased ten oil-cloth suits for their own use. The
company in the same year authorized to be worn " a
hat covered with oyl-cloth, and the word Humane
painted on the frolit." This wa-s the first equipment
worn by all the companies in the city.
The Philadelphia Fire Company in 1801 adopted
a hat of a chocolate color. The Vigilant Fire Com-
pany in 1802 adopted a red badge, to be buckled on
the ordinary hat, with the name " Vigilant" thereon.
In 1803 the Philadelphia Hose Company directed
that each member should wear a painted hat and a
round-jacket. In 1804 the Resolution Hose Com-
pany adopted a hat with an eagle painted in front;
and in 1805 the Neptune ordered that a figure of the
1906
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
sea-god, with his horses, should be painted on the hats
of the members.
The Philadelphia Hose Company in 1806 agreed
upon the adoption of a frock-coat, with a cape, belt,
and hat, but there was no general wearing of a dre>;s
equipment until many years afterward. The fire-hat,
which was painted, and on which the name of the
owner's company was inscribed, was the only distin-
guishing uniform of the fireman during ihe period
now under discussion.
Most of the companies had their engineers and
directors equipped with coats and capes, but for many
years the members were only distinguished by hats
and badges.
The Hope Hose Company adopted coats and capes
in 1827, and this is the first mention we have been
able to find of company equipments of that nature.
Id 1828 capes and coats were adopted by the Dela-
ware Fire Company. About 1845 or 1846 one or two
companies adopted the New York fire-hat. This ex-
ample was followed by others until the head-gear of
the entire department was of that fashion. Capes
were also laid aside. The fire-coat was made like a
long surtout, and in moderate weather the fire-hat, a
red shirt, dark pantaloons, and boots, with a fire-
belt around the waist, was the usual costume of a
fireman.
In 1796, upon the proposition of the Resolution Fire
Company, there was established a Fire Association
to regulate the proceedings at fires. Each company
elected two trustees, to devote themselves to the pres-
ervation of goods and furniture at fires ; two regula-
tors, to find out pumps and to form lines to convey the
buckets of water to the engines ; and two engineers,
to select places for engines to operate at fires. This
association gradually fell into disuse, and was probably
abandoned by 1806-7.
When hose companies came into operation a marked
distinction was made between their members and
those of the old fire companies. The latter were
called " firemen," and the others " hosemen." The
hosemen formed an association of their own for the
regulation of their affairs at fires, called the Fire-Hose
Association, and remained in operation until 1817,
when it was dissolved by a vote of all the hose com-
panies belonging to it.
In January, 1816, a meeting of firemen was called
at the county court-house to form a Firemen's Benevo-
lent Institution. The project failed, but from the
discussions which resulted came a proposition to
establish a Fire Association, which was partly a
controlling body for the regulation of the interests of
fire companies, and partly an insurance company.
In December, 1816, the Diligent Fire Company
appointed delegates to co-operate in any movement
toward forming a general association of fire compa-
nies. A convention was held in which several com-
panies were represented, and a constitution was
adopted. A charter was applied for to the Legisla-
ture, but owing to the opposition of some of the old
insurance companies it was defeated. Great indig-
nation ensued, and the question was carried into the
elections. In 1819 a ticket for members of the As-
sembly was resolved upon at a public meeting to be
supported as a firemen's ticket. It was made up of
nominees from both the Democratic and Federal
tick-ets. Some of the companies opposed this move-
ment ; others were strongly in its favor. The politi-
cal parties at that time were nearly matched. The
leading Federal candidate received 2277 votes ; the
leading Federalist, 2315 ; while the Firemen's ticket
was carried by votes ranging from 2519 up to 3000.
Only one of the firemen's candidates was defeated, —
a person who was not popular. Four out of the five
delegates to the Legislature from the city were carried
by the firemen, and at the next meeting of the Legis-
lature the Fire Association was chartered.
In 1818 there was great excitement among the mem-
bers of the fire and hose companies in consequence ot
an attempt to form a company composed of persons
of color. Some of the latter had formed a company
called the African Fire Association. Derrick John-
son was president, and Joseph Allen was secretary.
A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions.
When knowledge of this attempt came to the mem-
bers of the companies then in existence (their atten-
tion was called to it by circulars), the appointment ot
committees of conference was solicited. A meeting
was held July 9th, at Stell's Tavern. Joseph P. Mc-
Corkle was called to the chair, and Robert P. Aertsen
was appointed secretary. The following companies
were represented : Delaware, Neptune, Union, Phoe-
nix, Friendship, Niagara, United States, Hibernia,
Weccacoe, Junior, Fame, Fellowship, and Franklin
Fire Companies ; Good Intent, Perseverance, Fame,
Resolution, Phoenix, Neptune, Columbia, Franklin,
Hope, Humane, Washington, and Southwark Hose
Companies. This meeting passed a resolution that —
"The fortnatioD of fire-engine and hose companies by persons of
color will be productive of serions injury to the peace and safety of citi-
zens in time of fire, and it is earnestly recommended to the citizens of
Philadelphia to give them no support, aid, or encouragement in the
formation of their companies, as there are as many, if not more, com-
panies already existing than are necessary at fires or are properly sup-
ported."
A committee was appointed by this meeting to wait
on the proper authorities, and to request them to pre-
vent the African company from opening the fire-plugs.
At a subsequent meeting, held July 13th, additional
representatives were present from the Pennsylvania,
Diligent, Amicable, Columbia, Vigilant, Resolution,
and Hope Engines, and from the Philadelphia Hose
Company.' The committee appointed at the former
1 lu connection with this curious afi'air it may be noted that the fol-
lowing companies were not represented: Fire companies, Northern Lib-
erties. Harmony, Beliance, Assistance, Federal, Relief, Kensington,
Humane, Washington, Philadelphia, Good Will, Southwark, Star, Char-
itable, Venerable, »nd Defiance; hose companies. Fame, United States.
Several of these companies were what might be called ** Quaker com-
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1907
meeting reported that the chairman of the watering
committee of Councils had said that that body had
no discretion on the subject, the ordinance directing
them to grant a license to any fire association apply-
ing for the use of the plugs in time of fire. A peti-
tion to Councils was therefore recommended. Mean-
while some persons of color, who foresaw, in the
agitation which this matter had created, that trouble
would be likely to ensue to themselves and their race,
met at the house of George Jones. James Forten was
chairman, and Russell Parrott was secretary. A reso-
lution was adopted expressing the regret of the meet-
ing that —
"ttfew young men of color had contemplated the establishment of a fire
or hose association, and, although the same may have emanated from a
pure and laudable desire to be of effective service in assisting to arrest
the progress of the destructive element, we cannot but thus publicly
enter our protest against the proposed measure, which we conceive
would be hostile to the happiness of people of color, and which, as soon
as known to us, we made every effort to repress. Should it be carried
into effect, we cannot but consider that it will be accompanied with un-
happy consequences to us. Therefore we sinceiely hope that supporters
of the contemplated institution, and such as might wish to be concerned,
will relinquish all ideas of the same."
This remonstrance, together with the opposition of
the fire companies, produced its eflTect. The mem-
bers of the African Fire Association met on the 19th
of July, and, after passing a resolution of regret at
the " erroneous construction put upon their under-
taking," and desiring to vindicate themselves from
unjust imputations, and to "assert the rectitude of
their intentions, as they were influenced solely by a
wish to make themselves useful," declared that they
"did not expect dissatisfaction, or they would not
have progressed so far." It was, therefore, resolved
to dissolve the company, and to return the subscrip-
tions to the citizens who made them.
All of the engines used by the various fire compa-
nies before 1752, with the exception of the Vigilant,
founded on Jan. 2, 1760, used engines imported from
England. After this date they were very generally
manufactured in Philadelphia. Between 1768 and
1801, Richard Mason, a native of Pennsylvania, made
engines for the Northern Liberty, Queen Charlotte,
Vigilant, Hibernia, Hand-in-Hand, Delaware, As-
sistance, and Diligent Fire Companies, and probably
many others. Richard Mason introduced the form
of engines working at the ends, which were different
from the side-lever engines usually made. Philip
Mason, a son of Richard, was also an extensive
manufacturer. Between 1775 and 1801 he built
engines for the Washington, Columbia, Hope, Har-
mony, Philadelphia, and Weccacoe Fire Companies.
Samuel Briggs built engines for the Federal and
Northern Liberty Fire Companies, but they were
not a success. These engine-builders were soon
superseded by the famous locksmith, Patrick Lyon,
who, about 1794, invented a new and improved fire-
engine, which he announced would throw more water
than any other, and with a greater force. As an
engine-builder he did not gather any reputation until
1803. In 1799 the Washington Fire Company de-
cided on Philip Mason as a builder in preference to
Lyon, by a vote of 2 to 1. In 1803, Lyon made ma-
chines for the Philadelphia and Good Will Fire Com-
panies. After that time he built engines for the
paniea," and even at that early day, in a matter calculated to arouse bad
feeling, they seem to have maintained the integrity of their principles,
which undoubtedly were more liberal to the colored race than those
held by other sects at that time.
(^^^^^^
Pennsylvania, United States, Philadelphia, Good
Will, Hand-in-Hand, Good Intent, Diligent, and
Washington Fire Companies, and for others belong-
ing to Philadelphia and in various cities and towns in
the United States. The last of which we have any
account was built for the Reliance Fire Company,
and was finished about July, 1854. His engine
built for the Diligent Fire Company in 1820 was ac-
counted his masterpiece.'
James Sellers invented a new machine, after the
plan of Rowntree, of London, for the Pennsylvania
Fire Company, which was afterward called a hy-
draulion. Subsequently this variety of fire-engine
was built for the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and
Vigilant Fire Companies, and the Philadelphia and
Phoenix Hose Companies. They were built by Mer-
rick & Agnew, by Perkins & Bacon, and by John
Agnew.
Sellers & Pennock built a few engines, — one for the
Harmony Fire Company, in 1820. Perkins & Jones
built one for the Harmony in 1816, on the plan of
Joseph M. Truman.
The first hose-carriages — square boxes on wheels —
were made by Patrick Lyon, who built many of them
during the twenty years which succeeded their intro-
duction in Philadelphia. Philip Mason and Joshua
1 Patrick Lyon was born in England, of Scotch parents, and while he
resided in Philadelphia was a member of the St. Andrew's Society. He
died at his house on Library Street, below Fifth, on the loth of April,
1829, and waa buried in St. Peter's graveyard, at the southwest corner
of Third and Pine Streets. His remains lie, unmarked by a single stone,
within eight or ten feet of the grave of Johu B. Scott, the actor.
1908
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Bickbam also made hose-carriages while the box
shape was retained. The reel on which to wind the
hose was first adopted by the Pennsylvania Fire
Company, and by the Resolution and Humane Hose
Companies. The arched carriage on which the hose-
reel was sustained is believed to have been intro-
duced by the Phoenix Hose Company about 1818.
It was a great improvement. Thomas Ogle built a
carriage for the Resolution Hose Company on this
plan, and others were constructed by Jeffries & Nuttle.
The Neptune Hose Company in 1818 had a carriage
built with three wheels, one before and two behind.
The hind wheels had cogs, which could be attached
to the hose-cylinder. This carriage frequently upset
in turning corners.
A carriage built in 1821 for the Resolution Hose
Company, by Thomas Ogle, was probably an open-
arched carriage, as it was undoubtedly the first spring
hose-carriage made in this city. A committee had
been appointed by the company to inquire whether
springs could not be advantageously used. They ex-
amined the " Cyclopedia" on the subject, and re-
ported favorably. Their plan was adopted, with in-
structions " to lower the front wheels and raise the
cylinder, so as to permit the front wheels to turn
under the carriage," a direction which makes it very
reasonable to suppose that there was no box to inter-
fere with the concussion of the running wheels
and hose-reel. It is noted of the carriage built for
the Good Intent, in 1826, by Jeffries & Nuttle, that
it had semicircular arches. After that time no other
general form was adopted, though various improve-
ments have been made in hose-carriages by the
builders, Sneeder, C. Haight, Robert E. Nuttle,
George Ruhl, W. Mason, George W. Watson, and
others.
The Resolution Hose Company appears to have paid
particular attention to the subject of springs, having,
in 1821, first introduced spring carriages. The same
company, in 1847, adopted the plan of W. Mason, a
member, by which semi-elliptic springs are placed
under the lockers, and semi-elliptic springs at the
sides extend from axle to axle. The combined
action of these springs makes the carriage easy and
exceedingly light in its movements. The America
Hose Company, in 1837, adopted a carriage draughted
by Greer, with springs working in the lockers. This
carriage was built by R. E. Nuttle, and was in use
until 1845, when another, entirely of iron, working
with similar springs, was built for the same company
by Simpson, of Baltimore.
The Philadelphia Hose Company, in 1829, had a
machine called " The Twins," being a double hose-car-
riage. When occasion required, the fore and hind
parts could be detached, and each used as a separate
carriage. The Southwark Hose Company, in 1828,
procured one carriage with two cylinders, which were
found upon trial to be very inconvenient and trouble-
some. In 1840 the Resolution tried the plan of a
stationary carriage, with the cylinder on springs,
which was not found to work as satisfactorily as had
been imagined.
Lamps have seen some change. Lanterns, in which
tallow candles emitted feeble radiance, were at first
adopted. Torches took the place of these, and were
permanently fixed on the carriages. Lamps of various
patterns succeeded.
The history of hose-carriages between 1845 and
1860 is a history of luxury. Every decoration which
painters, sculptors, and lapidaries could put upon
them was used. They were resplendent with gold
and silver work, handsome paintings, mirrored sides
and carvings. They were inlaid with pearl, and one
carriage bore on its front a blazing glory formed of
imitation brilliants of the first water. The very
handsome machines thus decorated seemed only de-
signed for show, while the work was mostly done by un-
couth, badly-shaped, clumsy carriages called " crabs,"
which bore as much resemblance to the dandy hose-
carriages as orang-outangs do to Venus.
Hook-and-ladder apparatus were of extremely
modern introduction in this city. Seventy years ago
every fire company possessed these useful adjuncts,
but they were suffered to lie neglected until they
ceased to be a part of the property of Philadelphia
fire companies. The formation of the Empire Hook-
and-Ladder Company, in 1851, again introduced hooks
and ladders to notice, and they had been so useful
on various occasions as to lead to the formation of
other companies upon a similar plan.
The steam fire-engine, which has in most all of the
large cities of the Union driven out the hand fire-
engine, is a very late introduction. The first of these
machines which was built in the world was made by
Mr. Braithwaite, of London, in 1830. In 1832 he
built an engine for the king of Prussia. In 1841 Mr.
Hodges, of New York, built a steam fire-engine under
a contract with the associated insurance companies of
that city. The difiiculty with all these machines was
that they were too heavy. A. B. Latta, of Cincin-
nati, in 1853, built what is generally considered to be
the first practical steam fire-engine which could be
used on ordinary occasions.
In February, 1855, there was brought to Philadel-
phia for exhibition a large steam fire-engine called
the " Miles Greenwood." This machine was tried in
February of that year at Dock Street wharf, the hose
used being loaned for the occasion by the Philadel-
phia Hose Company. The trial was witnessed by a
large number of people, including a number of fire-
men, and the general feeling was that the fire-engine
was a failure, which she certainly was as far as
regarded her power to throw water to a distance, her
performances in that line not being equal to those of
many of the hand-engines then in use. In May of the
same year, A. Shawk, of Cincinnati, brought on here
a fire-engine called " The Young America," which he
was very anxious to sell to City Councils. There was
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1909
a trial of the machine in the yard of the county prison
on the 23d of May, and, afterward, on the 1st of June,
in front of the Presbyterian Church, Arch Street,
above Tenth. There was also a trial on the 4th of
June at the foot of Dock Street. Shawk asked nine
thousand five hundred dollars for the machine, and
the city not being willing to pay it, the amount was
subscribed by certain citizens, who insisted that they
proved their public spirit by the act. The engine was
presented to the city of Philadelphia, which found
itself, in consequence, in the position of the man who
won the elephant at a raffle. A house was built for
the machine, on a lot belonging to the city, at the
corner of Front and Noble Streets. An engineer and
assistants were engaged at a salary, and everything
was ready to make " The Young America" a success.
But there was a want of horses to drag it to fires, and
also a want of good workmanship to keep its parts
together. It was continually getting out of order or
breaking down. Its weight was twenty thousand
pounds, and in the three years during which the city
attempted to keep it in service it cost the treasury a
dollar a pound, or twenty thousand dollars, for repairs
and maintenance. During that period " The Young
America" was attempted to be taken to a fire (June
30, 1856), at the corner of Fifteenth and Hamilton
Streets, but broke an axle before she reached the
ground. She was at the fire at the corner of Third and
Race Streets in July of that year, and she also did the
best service in her history at the fire at Magargee's
board-yard in October, 1856. Beyond these services
"The Young America" had no history but that of
expense.
The first steam fire-engine employed by a regular fire
company of Philadelphia was the "Fire-Fly," which
was built in New York, and which was the property
of the firm of Arthur, Burnham & Gilroy, manufac-
turers of this city. They offered to place it in the
charge of the Philadelphia Hose Company for use,
free of expense. This was in January, 1857. The
" Fire- Fly" was tried on the 2d of February of that
year at the tobacco-house, in Dock Street. In April
the Philadelphia Hose Company resolved to have an
engine of their own, and they invited the mechanics
of the city to make plans of such a machine. Mr.
Joseph L. Parry responded, and he proposed to build
an engine weighing fifty-five hundred pounds, which
would throw water through a one-and-one-eighth-
inch nozzle one hundred and ninety-four feet hori-
zontally, and through a seven-eighths-inch nozzle
one hundred and seventy-five feet. The price was to
be thirty-five hundred dollars. This machine was
built by Kainey & Co., of Kensington. A short time
afterward the Diligent Fire Company, undeterred by
previous experience, sought to become the custodians
of the "Big Squirt," alias "The Young America."
They succeeded ; but she continually wanted repairs,
and she was tinkered at by Shawk & McCausland, of
this city. Finally she was cut down and rebuilt by
McCausland and made much lighter, and she was
afterward put in service. The Hope Hose Company
procured a steam fire-engine from Rainey & Co., in
June, 1858. The Hibernia was the next steam fire-
engine, which was obtained in January, 1859. The
mania for these machines now began to rage with
great power, and during that year twenty steam fire-
engines were built for fire companies in the city.
And so the passion extended from company to com-
pany until the old hand-engine was so thoroughly
superseded in the built-up parts of the city that its
appearance is unknown to a large portion of the
present generation, and it is almost forgotten by their
seniors.
Up to 1855 the fire department was without any su-
pervision beyond that which was given by the compa-
nies to the board of directors, and this was advisory
rather than absolute. Until the consolidation of the
city and districts it was impossible to control the fire
companies except by the district corporations, and any
general system which should govern all could not be
estal>lished. As soon as consolidation was efiected the
politicians began to take measures which would make
the department useftil to their own purposes. On Jan.
30, 1855, the City Councils passed an ordinance direct-
ing that the fire department should consist of such
regularly-organized engine, hose, and hook-and-ladder
companies within the limits of the city of Philadel-
phia as should, within sixty days after the passage of
the ordinance, " express by resolution, duly attested
by the officers thereof, their willingness to comply
with its provisions." The officers of the department
were to be a chief engineer, seven assistants, and a
director for each company, who was to represent his
company in the board of directors of the fire depart-
ment. This board of directors were to ballot for three
persons from each fire district for chief engineer, from
which persons Councils were to elect. The assistant
engineers were to be chosen in the like manner. The
city was divided into seven districts, and the area
within which the fire companies were to serve was
regulated. There were also provisions limiting the
members of each company, and a promise of an
annual appropriation to each company not exceeding
four hundred dollars. This ordinance created great
dissatisfaction in the department, and many compa-
nies refused to accept it. These were called " the
non-accepting companies," and some of them re-
mained out of service for several months. Finally the
ordinance was modified in several important particu-
lars, and the companies came back into service.
Under this ordinance the first election for chief engi-
neer took place in March, 1855, by the board of di-
rectors, and resulted in that body as follows : Benja-
min A. Shoemaker, of the United States Engine
Company, forty votes ; Samuel P. Fearon, of the
Schuylkill Hose Company, forty votes ; T. H. Blake,
of the Philadelphia Hose, thirty-nine votes. The
result was referred to Councils, which elected B. A.
1910
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Shoemaker to serve until December, 1856. The com-
panies voted directly for that officer. The chief en-
gineers have been as follows :
1855, Benjamin A. Shoemaker, of the United Ststes Engine Company
1866, Samuel P. Fearon, of the Schuylkill Hose Company.
1868, Samuel P. Fearon, of the Schuylkill Hose Company.
1860, David M. Lyle, of the Fairmount Fire Company.
1863, David M. Lyle, of the Fairmount Fire Company.
1865, David M. Lyle,i of the Fairmount Fire Company.
1867, Terence McCusker, of the Moyamensing Hose Company, in
place of David M. Lyle, deceased. 2
1867, George W. Downey, of the Western Engine Company.
In 1870 a board of fire commissioners was organ-
ized by ordinance, which went into operation Jan. 3,
1871. This ordinance changed the mode of electing
the chief engineer.
Under the ordinance of April 20, 1864, the office of
fire-marshal was created, and since that time the fol-
lowing have been appointed :
Dr. Alexander W. Blackburn,^ appointed — — 1864
James S. Thompson, appointed — — 1871
Harrison G. Clark, appointed Jan. — 1872
William R. HeinB,< appointed Sept. 27,1882
Charles W. Wood, appointed Oct. 19, 1882
The police- and fire-alarm telegraph, which was es-
tablished in the year 1856, changed very materially
the mode of giving alarms. The old system of dis-
trict and fire company bells, and of the alarm from
the State-House, was modified by alarms given to the
central telegraph-office from the station-box nearest a
fire, which was immediately sent to all the station-
boxes in the city, and as in a short time these boxes
were placed in the hose- and engine-houses, their
members had the earliest information of the breaking
out of a fire.
On the 1st day of June, 1857, Mayor Vaux estab-
lished a separate department of the police, which was
specially charged with the duty of ascertaining, by a
rigid investigation, the origin of fires and of discov-
ering incendiaries. This was called "The Fire De-
tective Police," and Alexander W. Blackburn was
appointed the chief of that department. He after-
ward received the title of " Marshal of Police."
For ninety-six years the firemen never appeared in
the city in any parade or celebration. They were
first induced to make a public demonstration by feel-
ings of patriotism at the centennial celebration of the
birthday of General Washington (Feb. 22, 1832), and
their appearance on that occasion attracted so much
attention, that they resolved to make a parade inde-
pendently in the succeeding year. After 1834 they
resolved to have triennial parades, which custom they
kept up until the year 1852.
Below we give a list of the general parades of the
fire department, observing that during the last thirty-
eight years the services of the firemen in strengthen-
ing public processions, whatever the object might be,
1 Born Jan. 26, 1818, died Not. 23, 1S67.
2 Terence McCusker died March 1, 1877, aged forty years,
s Died Nov. 30, 1871, aged fifty-six years.
< Died Oct. 18, 1882, aged flfty-flve years.
were so well understood that the difiierent companies
have appeared in all such parades in greater or smaller
numbers :
1832, February 22. — Alexander Henry, Hope Hose Company, chief
marshal.
1833, March 27. — Jacob B, Lancaster, Sonthwark Hose Company, chief
marshal.
1834, March 27. — George E. Childe, Good Intent Hose Company, chief
marshiil.
1837, March 27.— John Price Wetherill, Philadelphia Hose Company,
chief marshal.
1838, December 31. — Benjamin Matthias, Philadelphia Fire Company,
chief marshal.
1840, March 27. — Peter Fritz, Perseverance Hose Company, chief mar-
shal.
1843, March 27.— John T. Donnelly, Pennsylvania Hose Company,
chief marshal.
1846, March 27. — Thomas Graham, Sonthwark Engine Company, chief
marshal.
1849, March 27. — Edward Wester, Globe Engine Company, chief mar-
shal.
1849, May 1. — Edward Wester, Globe Engine Company, chief mar-
shal.
1852, May 3. — Edward Matthews, Franklin Hose Company, chief mar-
shal.
1857, October 6. — J. F. Gibson, Northern Liberty Hose Company,
chief marshal.
1865, October 16.— Henry P. Bobb, Washington Engine Company,
chief marshal.
The membership of the old fire companies varied
according to the neighborhood in which they were
situated. They were generally composed of neigh-
bors, and their social standing varied according to the
portion of the city in which they were located. All
the members of the fire companies were honest men
and good citizens, but some of them were more
wealthy and more famous in city history than were
others. Thus, for instance, we will take the roll of
the Hand-in-Hand Fire Company, established March
1, 1741, and which was for many years located in
Dock Ward, at the Fish Market, at the Drawbridge.
Between the years 1770 and 1796 the following emi-
nent citizens were active members of this company :
Francis Hopkinson, James Wilson, Dr. Benjamin
Rush, and George Clymer, signers of the Declaration
of Independence ; Dr. William Smith, provost of the
College of Philadelphia ; Dr. Shippen, Dr. John Mor-
gan, Dr. Thomas Bond, and Paul Fooks, professors
in the college ; Rt. Rev. Bishop White, Rev. Richard
Peters, Rev. Jacob DuchS, of St. Peter's Church;
Rev. Dr. Blackwell, Rev. Dr. John Andrews, Rev.
Samuel Magaw, Rev. James Abercrombie, Rev. Wil-
liam Pilmore; Rev. Ashbel Green, of the Presby-
terian Church ; J. B. Bond, John Patterson ; Andrew
Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor under the Penns ;
Thomas Mifflin, Governor of the State of Pennsyl-
vania; William Tilghman, chief justice of the com-
monwealth; Edward Shippen, chief justice ; Benja-
min Chew, Sr., attorney-general under the crown;
William Bradford, attorney -general of the State;
Thomas Willing, member of the Continental Con-
gress; Joseph Hopkinson, judge of the United States
District Court; Jared Ingersoll, Dr. Phineas Bond,
Drs. John and Joseph Redman, Dr. Way, Dr. Adam
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1911
, unlimited.'
with spirit to
b bear."
Kuhn, Dr. John Foulke, Maj. William Jackson, Col.
Lambert Cadwalader, and the following eminent mer-
chants and business men : Joseph Sims, Samuel
Rhoads, Alexander Stedman, Alexander Willcocks,
John Lawrence, James Humphreys, John Swift,
Joseph Stamper, John Cadwalader, Samuel Powell,
Robert Hare, James Humphreys, William Bingham,
George Mead, Samuel Meredith, John Swanwick,
James Biddle, Tench Coxe, James Cramond, and
William Cramond.
In old times the companies generally adopted
mottoes, which were frequently in Latin. One com-
pany (the Assistance Fire Company) put its motto
in German. We have not been able to obtain all of
the mottoes of the companies. The following will give
an idea of their character :
Pennsylvania Hose Company. "With willing hearta we hasten to
assist."
Cohocksink Hose Company. " The danger of our citizens prompts us
to action."
■Western Fire Company. "Our energies, like our na
Good Will Fire Company. "Our name is our motto.
Spring Garden Hose Company. "Prompt to savf
subdue."
Kinpgold Hose Company. " We honor him whose n;
Fairmount Fire Company. "Prompt to action."
Philadelphia Hose Company. " Non sibi sed omnibua." ("Not for
itself, but for all. ")
Resolution Hose Company. " Esse utiles corrabim ur." (" To be useful
is our wish.") 1804.
Hand-in-Hand Fire Company. " Proximusardet Ucaligon.'* (" Ucali-
gon's house burns next.") 1787.
Perseverance Hose Company,
severance conquers all things.")
Neptune Hose Company. " Pulchrumestbeneflcere Respublica
("To save our fellow-citizens we hazard ourselves.") 1830.
Hope Hose Company. " Omnis actus specificatur ab objectu.
(" Every act is specified from its object.") 1834.
Assistance Fire Company. "Bereit." ("Ready.")
"Washington Hose Company. " All private duties are subordinate to
those which we owe to the public."
Fame Hose Company. " Famaexteuditurfactis." (" Fame spreads our
deeds ")
America Hose Company. " Union and Independence."
Humane Fire Company. " Ou gnossia alia praxis — Spectamur agendo."
(" Not knowledge but action ; we are seen by what we do.") (" Humanity
dictates to us to do to others as we would be done by.") 1794.
Diligent Hose Company. " The impulse to action is the danger of our
citizens. '
Friendship Fire Company. " Friendship."
Niagara Hose Company. " Paratus et fidelia." (" Ready aud faithful.")
Northern Liberty Hose Company. "When duty calls 'tis ours to
obey."
"William Penn Hose Company. " Like Peun, we will be useful to our
country."
Independence Hose Company. "Our couutry is our glory."
Pennsylvania Hose Company. " Auxilium dare ultro festinam." (" With
willing heans we hasten to assist,")
Lafayette Hose Company. "Like Lafayett(
Southwark Fire Company. " Always ready.
Phoenix Hose Company. "Surgo lucidius."
' Perseverantia omnia vincit." (" Per-
' 1805.
1806.
In conclusion we give a list of the volunteer fire
companies instituted in the city from the earliest
times. It will be noticed that several companies have
had the same name. This has resulted from the dis-
solution of old companies and the formation of new
ones, which, in ignorance, took names that had been
previously in use; and also from the fact that under
the system in vogue before consolidation, it was not
considered improper in the city to adopt the name of
a fire company existing in an incorporated district, or
vice versa.
I assist in time of
[ rise more sbining.")
Philadelphia Fire Company. " Prodesse civibua." (" To assist the cit-
izens.") 1826.
Queen Charlotte (afterward Fame) Fire Company. " United we stand,
divided we fall." 1782.
Good Intent Fire Company, " We strive to save — To do good is our
intent."
Empire Hook-and-Ladder Company. " For the public good."
Excelsior Hose Company. " To excel with honor ia our utmost aim."
Delaware Fire Company. " Don't give up the ship." 1816.
12:^
Heart-in-Hand Fire.
Friendship Fire
Star Fire
Britannia Fire
Hibernii
Wben Founded.
Original Location.
Northern Liherty Fire-
Vigilant Fire
King George III., after-
ward Delaware
Fellowship Fire, of Lower
Ward, afterward Co-
lumbia Fire
Fellowship Fire, of Upper
Ward, afterward Frank-
lin Fire
Fellowship Fire, of Mid-
dle Ward, afterward
Washington Fire
Queen Charlotte, after-
ward Fame Fire
American Fire
Sun Fire
Crown and Beaver Fire...
Oordwainer Fire
New Market Fire
Amicable Fire
Neptune Fire
Sun Fire
Harmony Fire
Endeavor Fire
Reliance Fire
Alarm Fire
Assistance Fire
Federal, afterward Amer-
Relief Fire
Diligent Fire
Kensington Fire
Franklin Fire
Washington fire
Humane Fire
Washington Fire
Friendship, N. Liberties.
Columbia Kire
Hope Fire
Ke8oluti(m Fire
Whale Fire
Philadelphia Fire
Weccacoe Fire
Good Will Fire
, afterward Decatur
Fire
Philadelphia Hose
Good Intent Hose
Resolutinn Hose
Mouut Airy Fire
Humane Hose
Perseverance Hose
Neptune Hose
Hope Hose
Columbia Hose
Southwark Fire
Southwark Hose
Pennsylvania Fire
United States Hose
Phoenix Fire
Star Fire
Columbia Fire
Protectors of Property...
Washington Hose
United States Fire
Feb. 22, 1743..
July 30,1747..
Jan. 4, 1749....
Prior to 1761..
Jan. 20, 1762..
May 1, 1756....
Jan. 2, 1760
March 21,1761...
Feb. 20, 1764
March 5, 1764....
March 29, 1764...
Before Dec. 1764..
Bef. Feb. 28, 1766.
Bef. March, 1766.
Before Feb. 1769.
March 1, 1769
Aug. 7,1769
Jan. 17, 1774
Sept. 24, 1778
Aug. 24,1784
Feb. 17, 1785
March 10, 1786...
M.Hy 1, 1787
Dec. 28,1789
I April 10, 1790 \
December, 1791...
July 4, 1791
August, 1791
Jan. 17, 1792
Jan. 1, 179:i
March 1.1794
Jan. 3, 1796
Aug. 18,1791)
Sept. 16, 1798
Nov. 22, 1796
Jan. 1, 1797
Jan. 10,1798
Jan. la, 1799
May 1,1800
March 27, 1802...
Feb. 16,1803
Dec. 16, 1803
March 8, 1804
April 11,1804
Feb. 9, 1804
April 10, 1805
.May 27, 181)5
Aug. 6, 1806
Aug. 17, 1805
Muy 1, 1806
Before Jan. 1806.
May 6, 1806
May 16,1806
September, 1807.
~ -ore Dec, 1808
Bef. June, 1808...
rch 6, 1809....,
Before Dec, 1810,
Feb. 22, 1811
Oct. 29,1811.
Cor. 2d and Walnut Sts.
N. E. cor- Cable Lane and
Callowhill Street.
East side 2d, below Vine.
Water, below Arch.
Germantown.
j Germantown.
Germantown.
N. side Cherry, E. of 4th.
N. end market, 2d & Pine.
Fifth, above Market.
Race, bel.iw Third.
East end Jersey market.
Harmony Court, near 3d.
key's Alley, b. Front & 2d.
E. siiie Filth, below Race.
In front Coinmiss'rs Hall,
3d below Tammany.
Relief Alley, near Second.
S. side Market, near 8th.
Powell St., bet. 6th & Mh*.
Frankford.
N. side Vine, bet. 2d & 3d.
\V. side lltb, bel. Walnut.
End market, 2d & Coates.
Cor. 8tli and Cherry.
S. side Pine, bet. 4tli & 5th.
N. W.cor. 3d i& Spruce.
Cor. Front & Christian.
N. W.cor. Juniper i&Bace,
Frankford.
No. 17 N. Fourth Street.
E. side 4th, bel. Chestnut.
W. side 3d, below Market.
Mount Airy.
N. side Vine, bet. 2d & 3d.
S.side Vine, bet. 6th & 6th.
Fetter Lane, above 3d St.
N. end market, 2d & Pine.
S. Bide Cherry, above 7th.
Almond, near Front.
N. sble Alm.iiid, E. Front.
Fromberger's Court, bet.
2d and 3d Streets.
S. E. cor. 6tli A Walnut.
St. James Street, East 7th.
Germantown"
Hartung's Alley, East 3d.
W. side 9th, bel.iw Market.
Bridge crossing Pegg's
Run, 2d and Willow.
1912
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Congress
Niagara Fire
Chaiitable Fire
Venerable Fire
Defiauce Fire
PbteDix Hose
Fame Hose
Junior Fire
Pennsvlvnnia Hose..
Free Will Bucket
Liberty
I Bucket .
Uni,
West Philadelphia Fi
Independent Fire
Fellowship Fire
Union Fire
Good Intent
Good Intent Fire
Humane Bucket
Humane Fire, No. 2
Franklin Hose
Columbia Bucket
Amicable Bucket
Schuylkill Hose
Penn Township Hose
Spring Garden Fire
Globe Fire
Good Will Bucket
Diligent Bucket
Washington Bucket
Diligent Hose
Point Pleasant Fire
United States Bucket
Fame Bucket
Globe Bucket
Independent Bucket
Northern Liberty Bucket
Fairmount Fire
Monroe Fire
Hibernia Hose
United States Hose
Soutbwark Fire
When Founded. Original Location.
Wlien Founded.
Aug. 25, 1817
Jan. 1,1818
Bef. July, 1818..
Bef. Nov., 1818..
Nov. 18,1818
Bef. Jan. 14, 1819.
March 3. 1819
March 10. 1819...
, 1819
April 26, 1819
Bef. May. 1819....
Bef. July, 1819....
N. side Zane, above 7th.
S. E. cor. Walnut & 5th.
Cor. 5th & Sassafras Alley.
S. W. cor. 12th & Clove
Blockley.
Original Location.
Protection Hook-and-
Ladder Feb. 6. 1852 Front i
Nicetown Hose March 13, 1852..
Jefferson Hook-and-Lad- !
der 18.52
Rescue Hook-and-Ladder Jan. 27, 1853 | Aramingo.
United Hose , , ,
Excelsior Hook-and-Lad-
der, afterward Excel-
sior Hose
Mantua Hook-and-Lad-
Gerniantown.
Rising Sun.
Rox borough.
Prince & Frankford road.
I 5, 1855..
Bef. Sept. 1819..
Bef. Jan. 1820..
E. side 8t1i, below Race.
Tivoli Hose
, afterward Lincoln
Union Hose April, 18.56....
West Philadelphia Hose.. May 10, 1866...
Cohocksink Hose Sept. 26, 1856..
Kingsessing Fire Oct. 28, 1857..,
Jan.28, 1S53 Frankford.
March 14, 1855
25th and Brandyw
Bef. May, 1820..
May22,1820
May, 1820
Bef. June, 1820.,
June 30, 1820
Bef. July, 1820. .
Bef. Oct. 1820....
Bef Nov. 1820...
Bef. May, 1821...
Feb. 22,1823....
March 8, 1823..
March, 1823....
July 4, 1826....
Feb. 5, 1827....
Northern Liberty Hose..
Jackson Engine
William Penn Hose...
Robert Morris Hose...
Independence Hose...
Pennsylvania Hose...
Lafayette Hose
Good Will Hose
Marion Hose
Western Hose
Schuvlkill Hose
Good' Will Hose
Western Hose
Fame Fire
Moyamensing Hose...
Manayunk Fire
Franklin Hose
William Penn Fire...
Warren Hose
Mechanic Fire
March 20,1827..
May 7, 1828
Sept. 2, 1828
Bef. Nov. 1828. .
Feb. 3, 1830
March 14, 1831..
July 4. 1831
Aug. 4,1831
Oct. 31, 1833
Bef. Jan. 1813...
Aug. 19,1833....
Bef. Sept. 1833..
Dec. 9,1833
March 1, 1834...
Feb. 11,1836
July 26, 1836....
July 22,1837
Jan. 1,1838
Feb. 12,1838
Bef Dec. 1838.. .
Ridge rd. above Wood St.
Monroe Village.
Walnut bet. Front and 2d.
Old York rd. bel. Green.
Front Comm'rs Hall,
Second above Christian.
Third below Catharine,
Budd below Coates.
Cor. Sixth and Walnut.
Public Square, Ken.
N. W. Cor. 9th i Lombard.
Germantown rd. A: 2d.
8th above Spring Garden.
Eleventh above Coates.
Queen east of Sixth.
Schuy. 8th below Market.
Locust above Twelfth.
Callowhill near Sch. 2d.
Spruce near Sch. 4th.
S. side Filbert W. of 10th.
Eighth below South St.
Manavunk.
I South'bet. 13th and Broad.
...I Aug. 14,1839..
Western Fire I April 7,1840...
Jackson Hose
Liberty Fire
WeccacoeHose
Kensington Hose
Carroll Hose
Hibernia Hose
Native American, after-
ward Vigilant Hose
Spring Garden Hose
Shiffler Hose
Sept. 27. 1840..
Jan. 1,1841....
Jan. 8, 1842...
Jan. 11,1842...
Oct. 17,1842...
Nov. 22, 1842...
1 Sch. Sixth below Filbert.
N. W. comer Ridge road
and Coates Street.
1 N. W. cor. Schuy. 8th and
Callowhill Streets.
I Callowhill below Second.
I Holmesburg.
I Catharine below Front.
Queen Street, Ken.
Washington above Master.
Master Street near Third.
July 4, 1844...
May 12, 1845..
Jan. 8,1846...
West Philadelphia Fire..
South Penn Hose „....
Fairmount Hose
Ringgold Hose
Wissahickon Fire
Franklin Fire
Independence Fire
Germantown Hose
General Taylor Hose | May 18,1848.
Spring Garden Fire ! July 12, 1851
Empire Hook-and-Ladder Feb. 6, 1851.
March 27, 1864..
Feb. 10, 1847
March 27, 1847..
Dec. 29,1847
Jan. 8,1848
April 1,1848
May 11, 1848
Eagle Hose Sept. 25,1851..
Relief Hook-and-Ladder.. .Tan 5, 1852...
Bustleton Fire ! Before 1852....
' Bittenhonse Fire " "
Fellowship Hose " "
Keystone Hook-and-Lad-
d"er 1852
Federal Street below 8th.
Parrish Street bel, 12th.
Moyamensing road below
Federal Street.
Market Street beyond
Permanent bridge.
10th near Thompson.
Ridge road above Willow.
Randolph and Franklin.
Frankford.
Callowhill and Willii
Germantown.
East side Franklin Street
above Wood.
Green Hill.
Coates above Eleventh.
Bustleton.
' Roxborougli.
I Germantown.
I Filbert near Sch. 6th.
In 1860 there were in the city twenty-one steam
fire-engines, at an average cost of three thousand two
hundred and fifty dollars, which, with the hose, the
hose-carriages, and other equipments, involved an in-
terest amounting to two hundred and ten thousand
five hundred and fifty dollars.
For many years the subject of abolishing the old
volunteer fire department, and establishing a paid
.system, largely occupied the public mind. The vol-
unteer department was a power. It was no child's
play to destroy an organization which the habits and
needs of years had made a living thing, and which
was endeared to the people by acts of the noblest
heroism. For many years it had served the commu-
nity faithfully without reward, and rendered valuable
and important service. It had numbered many brave
and generous men in its organization, and could boast
of many deeds of gallantry, self-sacrifice, and heroism.
The old system, however, not only trained bold and
expert firemen, but eventually gave rise to evils of
the greatest magnitude. The spirit of rivalry not
only produced competition in battling with the flames,
but led to constant disorders and breaches of the
peace.
The advocates of the paid system saw plainly the
impossibility of separating the good from the bad
men who had attached themselves to the volunteer
department. Nothing but the destruction of the good
and commendable part would eradicate the evils
which all deplored. They conceded the historical
facts, of which all were so proud, but at the same
time pointed to the disgrace which was inseparably
connected with the department. They asserted that
a volunteer department and acts of lawlessness were
concomitants. It became evident that nothing but
the complete destruction of the volunteer system
would secure the results desired. The ordinance
creating the paid system was passed in 1870. The
board of commissioners of the new paid fire depart-
ment met and organized on Jan. 3, 1871, and the de-
partment went into operation March 15th of the same
year. The results which have followed the institu-
tion of the paid fire department are the best enco-
miums which can be paid it. The startling alarm-
bell, instead of being heard at almost any hour of the
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1913
night, sending forth notes of horror from its brazen
throat, is now silent. The institution of the fire-
alarm telegraph, which is the great auxiliary of the
department, is another great blessing. The alarm
comes noiselessly over the wires, telling its tale with
unerring accuracy. At the first stroke of the signal-
box in the engine-house, the firemen, springing from
their places, rush to the horses, and in another mo-
ment the harness is on, and the intelligent animals,
apparently eager to reach the scene of the fire, stalk
unbidden to the apparatus. The match is applied to
the engine, and in another instant they are on their
way. Nothing is heard but the rumbling of the
wheels of the engine and hose-carriages, the quick
steps of the horses, and the occasional sharp whistle
or the sounding of the gong which are given en route
to show that in five minutes and a half from the time
the isignal was received the engine was ready for
work. There are no loud words spoken, no hooting
or howling, and no street-fights. The same daring,
the same heroi-sm which characterized the volunteer
firemen, is displayed by their successors. Tremen-
dous streams of water are poured incessantly on the
burning building, and as the angry flames burst out,
the fiat of the firemen goes forth, " Thus far shalt
thou go, but no farther." Sinew and muscle will fail,
the strength of men will grow to weakness, but the
iron muscles and steel arms of the engine are tire-
less,— no exertion can exhaust them, no labor aflect
them. As soon as the fire is extinguished the horses,
apparatus, and men are returned to their places.
Such is the practical working of the Philadelphia
Fire Department, — a model in every particular, a
source of pride to the city, and a credit and honor
to those who compose it.
This department consists of seven fire commission-
ers, one chief engineer, five assistants, and as many
foremen, enginemen, hosemen, hook-and-ladder men,
and other persons, divided into companies, as the num-
ber of engines and other fire apparatus of the city
shall from time to time require.
The fire commissioners must be citizens of Phila-
delphia, of good character, who shall serve without
compensation, and be elected as follows : Three by
Select Council and four by Common Council, on the
last stated meeting in December. The said commis-
sioners, when elected, shall draw for their respective
terms of office, three for the term of two years and
four for the term of four years; and every second year
thereafter, at their first stated meeting in the month
of February, there shall be elected in the same man-
ner three or four persons, as the case may be, by the
Select or Common Councils, in which the vacancy
may occur, to serve for the term of four years. The
minority in each chamber shall at all times be repre-
sented by one member in said Board of Fire Commis-
sioners. The said commissioners to hold their oflSces
until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
The salaries of the ofiicers and employes of the fire
department are as follows: Chief engineer, two thou-
sand five hundred dollars per annum ; secretary of
the fire commissioners and clerk of the chief engi-
neer, twelve hundred dollars per annum ; messengers
of the fire commissioners, eight hundred dollars per
annum ; assistant engineers, each, one thousand two
hundred dollars per annum ; enginemen, each, one
thousand dollars per annum ; firemen, each, eight
hundred dollars per annum ; tillermen and drivers,
each, seven hundred and fifty dollars per annum ;
foremen, each, one thousand dollars per annum ; and
the hose and hook-and-ladder men, each, seven hun-
dred and fifty dollars per annum, payable monthly.
The chief engineer has the sole command at fires
over the assistant engineers, officers, and members of
the fire department, and all other persons who may
be present at fires. He directs all proper measures
for the extinguishment of fires, protection of property,
and preservation of order. It is his duty to examine
into the condition of all the fire apparatus, and houses
connected therewith, as often as the fire commission-
ers or Councils may require; and whenever the en-
gines or other apparatus shall need alterations or re-
pairs, he reports the same to the fire commissioners,
who shall cause the same to be made. He transmits
to the fire commissioners all returns of officers, mem-
bers, and companies ; keeps fair and exact rolls of the
respective companies, specifying the time of admission
and discharge, and name, age, occupation, and resi-
dence of each member. He, annually, in the month
of January, and oftener, if required by the fire com-
missioners or Councils, rejiorts to them the condition
of the houses, fire apparatus, and other property of
the department, together with the names of the offi-
cers and members of the various companies ; the
number of fires since last report, the causes thereof,
and extent of damage, as near as can be ascertained.
The fire commissioners, chief and assistant en-
gineers, and the foremen of companies are author-
ized to exercise the powers of police officers in going
to, while at, and returning from any fire may occur
or alarm be given.
To this department was appropriated, for the year
1882, the sum of $462,855, and it disbursed $457,536.49.
There was then in use in the department 46,680 feet
of gum hose, and 11,950 feet of rubber-lined cotton
hose, and 28 steam-engines and 5 truck companies,
located as follows:
Engine Companies. — No. 1, at Nos. 1837 and 1839
South Street; No. 2, Tenth Street, above Mont-
gomery; No. 8, at No. 117 Queen Street; No. 4,
at 116 South Seventeenth Street; No. 5, at the
southeast corner of Thirty seventh and- Ludlow
Streets ; No. 6, Montgomery Street, below Girard
Avenue ; No. 7, at No. 22 Church Street, Frankford ;
No. 8, at No. 143 Race Street ; No. 9, at Main and Car-
penter Streets, Germantown ; No. 10, at Nos. 808
and 810 Morris Street; No. 11, at 1035 Lombard
Street; No. 12, at Main and Centre Streets, Man-
1914
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ayunk; No. 13, at No. 1481 Brown Street; No. 14,
at 4612 Frankford Avenue, Frankford; No. 15, at
Howard Street and Columbia Avenue; No. 16, at
Fifty-first Street and Lancaster Avenue ; No. 17, on
Race Street, below Broad ; No. 18, at 1903 Callowhill
Street; No. 19, at No. 20 East Chelton Avenue,
German town ; No. 20, at No. 911 Filbert Street ; No.
21, at Nos. 826 and 828 New Market Street; No. 22,
on Evelina Street, below Third ; No. 23, at No. 1936
Germantown Avenue ; No. 24, at northeast corner
Twenty-first and Ellsworth Streets; No. 25, at No.
215 Adams Street; No. 26, at Nos. 1011 and 1013
Hamilton Street; No. 27, at No. 2202 Columbia
Avenue ; No. 28, at Belgrade and Clearfield Streets ;
No. 29, Lawrent-e Street below Girard Avenue.
Hook-and- Ladder Companies. — A, at No. 2132 Fair-
mount Avenue; B, at No. 331 North Fourth Street;
C, at No. 2003 North Second Street; D, at No. 319
Union Street ; E, at southwest corner of Twentieth
and Hand Street ; F, at Haverford Street and Wyo-
ming Avenue.
On Jan. 1, 1883, the department consisted of 1 chief
engineer, 5 assistant engineers, 28 foremen of engine
companies, 5 foremen of hook-and-ladder companies,
28 engineers of companies, 28 firemen of companies,
33 drivers of companies, 5 tillermen of hook-and-
ladder companies, 216 permanent hosemen, 50 per-
manent hook-and-ladder men, 8 temporary hosemen in
rural districts. These were divided into 33 companies,
as follows : 28 steam-engine companies, 6 hook-and-
ladder companies, with the addition of hose and
hose-carriage at each station, and 6 fuel wagons at
various locations. The losses by fire in the city in
1882 were estimated at $8,235,963.
ENGINEERS OF TBE PAID FIKE DEPARTMENT.
1871, FebruaiT 3, William H. Johnson,
1879, February 11, John R. Cantlin.
LARGE FIRES.
1799, December 17. — Rickett'8 Circus and Amphitheatre, southwest
corner Sixth and Chestnut Streets.
1813, December 2. — A chocolate manufactory, owned by Charles Mil-
ler, and eight houses on Kunkel Street and Brewers' Alley were destroyed
and a child burnt to death.
1819, September 8. — Vauxhall Garden, northeast corner Walnut and
Broad Streets, set on Are by a mob.
1820, April 2. — Chestnut Street Theatre, north side of Chestnut Street,
above Sixth.
1821, May 9.— Old Southwark Theatre, south side of South Street,
between Fourth and Fifth.
1822, January 24.— Philadelphia Orphan Asylum, northeast corner of
Schuylkill Fifth (Eighteenth) and Cherry Streets. Twenty-three chil-
dren perished in tlie flames.
1823, July 16.— The Farmers' Tavern, Third Street, near Callowhill,
which extended througli to Eunkel Street, with seven houses on Third
Street and six on Callowhill.
1824, January 20.— A fire occurred in the Walnut Street prison.
1828, February 11. — The weaver's shop attached to the Prune Street
prison.
1831, November 1.— A fire occurred at Arch Street prison.
1835, July 12. — *' Red Row," in the neighborhood of Shippen and
Eighth Streets, was burned by a mob.
1838, April 1.— Upper Ferry bridge.
May 17. — Pennsylvania Hall, corner of Sixth and Haines Streets.
May 18. — Shelter for Colored Orphans, Thirteenth Street, above Cal-
lowhill, burned by a mob.
1839, October 4. — A great fire took place on Chestnut Street wharf.
The fire commenced at No. 19 South W^harves, occupied by William G.
Stroup and David W. Prescott. It burned eight stores between that
number and Chestnut Street, and destroyed on the east side of Water
Street Myers' Fulton Hotel, on the corner of Chestnut Street, and
the store next door. Eleven stores on the east side of Front Street,
extending through to Water Street, from Chestnut Street north, were
partially burned. One occupied by Cheyney, Hickman & Co., and
Wain & Learning, which was fireproof, was uninjured. Three houses
on the east side of Front Street, below Chestnut, were burned and others
were-ktjured. The houses on the south side of Chestnut Street, below
Water, including the Steamboat House, Napoleon House, and Baltimore
steamboat office, were destroyed, and one or two houses on Water Street,
near the corner. Altogether, twenty-three houses were totally de-
stroyed and fifteen or twenty others badly injured. The loss was esti-
mated at $350,000. William P. Moreland and Thomas Barber, fire-
men, were killed by falling walla, and seven or eight others were
injured.
1842, August 1. — Abolition riots; African Presbyterian Church, St.
Mary Street, and Smith's Hall, Lombard Street, burned.
August 26. — Reading Railroad bridge and the old bridge at the Falls
of Schuylkill.
1844, May 8.— Kuow-Nothing riots; St. Michael's and St. Augustine's
Catholic Churches, and Female Seminary, and many houses.
1845, June 11.— Fire at the Academy of Fine Arts, which destroyed
many valuable paintings and statues.
1849, March 27.— The " City Carpenter-Shop," located on the south
side of Lombard Street, standing back from the line of the street, about
midway between Tenth and Eleventh Streets.
1850, July 9. — A great fire commenced on Delaware Avenue, near Vine
Street, and extended south toward Race Street and west toward Second
Street, and destroyed three hundred and sixty-seven houses. The fire-
men were so prostrated by the heat and exertion that Mayor Jones tele-
graphed to New York for several hundred of their firemen to come on
to relieve the firemen of this city.
December 30,— Fire at the Ledg^ building, corner of Third and Chest-
nut Streets.
1851, March 18.— Assembly building, comer of Tenth and Chestnut
Streets.
November 12.— Fire at Brunor's cotton-factory, corner of Nixon and
Hamilton Streets. Three persons killed and several severely injured.
December 26.— Hart's building and the Shakespeare building, at Sixth
and Chestnut Streets.
December 30. — Barnum's Museum, corner of Seventh and Chestnut
Streets.
1853, Dec. 9.— Sanford's Opera-Houso, west side of Twelfth Street,
below Chestnut.
1854, July 5.— The National Theatre and Chinese Museum and other
buildings, between Chestnut and George [now Sansom] and Ninth
Streets. That portion of the block which was entirely swept by the fire
was that on which the museum and the National Theatre stood, the store
at the corner of Ninth and Chestnut Streets, and the brick buildings
immediately east of the theatre and museum on Chestnut and Sansom
Streets, the sites of whi.h are now occupied by John Wanamaker & Co.'s
clothing store. The houses now standing on the north side of Sansom
Street, between Eighth Street and the Continental Hotel building, were
damaged by fire, and also the upper part of a store on Eighth Street, be-
tween Chestnut and Sansom Streets, and some of the houses on Chestnut
Street, between Eighth and Nintli, on the south side, in the roofs.
1856, April 30.— A great fire took place at the corner of Sixth and
Market Streets.
1859, Jan. 4. — Factory, Lawrence, above Brown, was burned; loss,
about $36,000. The steam fire- engines which were introduced Jan. 20,
1858, did effective service in saving surrounding property.
March 3.— Great fire on Second, below Dock; seventeen families
burned out.
August 20.— Great fire at Stoat's planing-mill and sewing-machine
factory, Eighteenth Ward.
September 8 —Good Intent mills, in Twenty-fourth Ward, destroyed.
1860, Jan. 17.— Fire at fancy store of T. H. Peters & Co., No. 716 Chest-
nut Street ; loss, $60,000.
February 11. — Destructive fire at Shackamaxon Street wharf.
April 15. — Fire on Delaware Avenue, below Arch.
May 7.— Tattersall's stables, Filbert, below Thirteenth Street, burned,
with twenty-eight horses.
May 24.— Richmond and Schuylkill River Railway depot, Girard Ave-
nue and Twenty-fifth Street.
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1915
June 23.— Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Sixth and Spruce Streets,
July 13.— Kimball & Gorton's car-factory, in Fifteenth Ward.
July 22.— Yard, Gilmore A Co.'s store, Nos. 4U and 42 North Third
Street; loss, $50,000.
October 19.— Franklin building. Sixth, below Arch Street.
1861, January 7.— Maule & Brothers' lumber-yard. South and Twenty-
third Streets.
February 16. — Eastern Penitentiary injured by fire.
September 14.— Fire in dressing-room of Continental Theatre, Walnut,
above Eighth Street. Fourteen ballet-girls burned, nine of whom
died.
October 30.— Cotton- and woolen-mills, Washington and Twelfth
Streets ; loss, 8100,000.
November 26.— St. Paul's Catholic Cathedral, Christian Street, below
Tenth, destroyed Ijy fire accidentally.
1862, February 18.— Work-shops at Frankford arsenal.
October 18.— Destructive fire at Ninth and Market Streets.
October 25.— Destructive fire at Eleventh and Walnut Streets.
December 9. — Destructive fire," Ninth above Poplar.
1863, May 2.— Car-factory at Nineteenth and Market Streets; loss,
$100,000.
September 13. — Destructive fire at the navy-yard.
December 18. — Petroleum store-house, Delaware Avenue, below Al-
mond Street.
December 23. — West end of Gray's Ferry bridge.
1864, February 15. — Destructive fire. Second above Chestnut Street.
February 18.— Destructive fire Front and Lombard Streets.
March 27.— Destructive fire Ninth and Wallace Streets.
April 20.— Grant's caudle-factory, in Fifteenth Ward ; loss, 875,000.
May 19. — Coal-oil refinery, Twenty-tbird and Arch Streets.
May 24.— Destructive fire Twelfth and Willow Streets.
July 20.— Nixon'a paper-mill, Manayunk ; loss, §200,00i>.
July 22.— Simons' wagon-works, at Second and Huntingdon Streets.
November 20. — Destructive fire, Sixth above Market Street.
1865, February 8.— Disastrous conflagration at Ninth Street and Wash-
ington Avenue. Originated in coal-oil establishment. Fifty dwellings
were burned, and several persons perished in the flames. The streets
were filled with snow, and banked up the burning coal-oil, forming a
sea of fire.
June 27.— Joseph B. Bussier & Co., fire-works store, Nos. 108, 110
South Delaware Avenue ; loss, 8100,000.
June 28.— C. J. Fell & Co., spice establishment. No. 120 South Front
Street ; loss, 870,000.
August 12. — St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, Fourth, below
New Street, partially destroyed by fire.
October 3. — French, Kicbards & Co., drug establishment, Tenth and
Market Streets ; loss, near 8300,000.
October 8.— Coal-oil sheds, A. R. McHenry & Co., Dickinson Street
wharf; loss, 8100,000.
December 2. — Landreth Public School partially destroyed by fire.
1866, January 2.— Building 607 Chestnut Street ; loss, 8150,000.
January 4. — Coal-sheds, Point Breeze gas-works burned ; loss, 850,000.
January 23.— R. & W. C. Biddle's hardware-store, No. 131 Market
Street; loss, 8150,000.
January 30.— Delaware Avenne below Vine Street ; loss, 8100,000.
February 26. — Great fire, extending from George H. Roberts' hard-
ware-store, Nos. 235 and 237 North Third Street; James, Kent & Santee,
wholesale dry-goods house, 237 and 239 ; Smith & Shoemaker's wholesale
drug-house, and others; loss, 8800,000. One man killed and nine
wounded by the fall of wall of house No. 235 upon house No. 233.
April 20. — Flax- and hemp-factory of Peter Watson, Tenth, above
Columbia Avenue; loss, $100,000.
June 9. — Dearie's mill, Callowhill Street, opposite Twenty-fifth; loss,
$200,000.
July 5.— Baker & McFadden's planing-mill, on Hillsdale Street, in
Sixth Ward, and roofs of five dwellings; loss, 8100,000.
July 7. — Fitler, Weaver & Co.'s rope-factory, Germantown road, near
Tenth Street; loss, 8130,000.
July 12.— Tacony Print-Works, at Frankford, belonging to A. S. Lip-
pincott; 1088,81,000,000.
July 27.— Biddle & Co.'s hardware-store, No. 509 Commerce Street;
loss, $150,000.
August 4. — Moyamensing Hall, Christian Street, above Ninth ; set on
fire by persons opposed to the use of the hall as a cholera hospital, and
totally destroyed.
September 7. — Upper story of Union League House burned; loss,
$30,000.
December 14. — James Armstrong's mill, at Germantown ; loss,
$120,000.
December 16. — The "New Ironsides," partially destroyed by fire at
League Island.
December 23.— Gustav Bergner's m?lU-house, Tbompaon and Thirty-
first Streets; loss, 8100,000.
1867, June 6.— Explosion at steam saw-mill of Geasy & Ward, Sansom
Street, between Tenth and Eleventh. Twenty-two persons killed, some
being burned alive, and seven injured. A relief fund of $15,000 was
raised for the families of the sufferers.
June 19.— American (formerly Continental) Theatre, north side of
Walnut, between Eighth and Ninth, destroyed by fire. Ten persons were
killed by the falling of the front wail.
1868, August 4. — Cotton- and woolen-mill of John Brown & Sons, Moya-
mensing Avenue and Moore Street, burned; loss, $105,000.
August 11.— Fire at Front and New Streets; building occupied by
Collins & Bobb, provision and commission merchants; Bartlett & Co.,
blacking manufacturers; Benjamin Bullock & Sons, storage; loss,
$70,000.
November 25.— Atlantic Garden (formerly called City Museum), Cal-
lowhill Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets.
December 3.— Nos. 619-623 Market Street, T. Morris Perot & Co., Sel-
lers Brothers, W. W. Paul & Co, Graeff & Jordan, and Kilburn, Gates
& Co. ; loss, 3150.000.
December 4.— Ferry-boat " Brooklyn," belonging to Gloucester Ferry
Company, destroyed by fire; loss, $30,000.
December 30. — Depot of Second and Third Streets Railroad destroyed
by fire ; twenty cars burned.
1869, January 12.— Store at northwest corner of Chestnut and Hudson
Streets damaged by fire to the extent of 825,000.
January 14.— Jewelry establishment of J.E.Caldwell & Co., Chestnut
above Ninth Street; also Howell's paper store, adjoining ; Orne's carpet
store badly damaged. Two clerks in Caldwell's store were burned to
death.
April 28.— Old depot of the Germantown and Norristown Railroad
Company, Ninth and Green Streets, burned.
April 29.— Skating rink at Twenty-first and Race Streets burned.
May 17.— John Dobson's blanket factory. Falls of Schuylkill.
May 17. — Pennypacker & Sibley's panel factory, Willow Street, above
Ele
nth.
June 23.— The cloth store of Messrs. Leonard Baker & Co., No. 210
Chestnut Street, damaged by fire ; loss, about 850,000.
June 25.— Destructive fire at Sixth and Columbia Avenue; loss,
8260,000.
August 4.— Destruction of Col. W. C. Patterson's bonded warehouse,
Front and Lombard Streets, with several thousand barrels of whiskey ;
loss, over $2,000,000.
August 15.— Boston Fish Company^s building at Columbia Avenue
and Fifth Street; loss, over 850,000.
August 19.— Commission house of J. H. & W. Creighton, No. 217
Chestnut Street ; loss, over 850,000.
August 24. — Large factory at Ninth and Wallace; loss, nearly 5100,000,
August 31.— Store of James S. Earle & Sons, Chestnut Street, below
Ninth ; loss, over $100,000.
September 12 —Spice-mills, No. 137 North Front Street; loss, $40,000.
September 16.— The barrel manufactory of W. B. Thomas, at Twelfth
and Buttonwood Streets ; loss, about $50,000.
December7.— Partial destruction by fire of new Commercial Exchange
building, at Second Street, above Walnut ; damage, about $100,000.
1870, January 4.— John Maxson & Son's cotton-mill, at Manayunk ;
loss, $50,000,
February 17.- Cotton-mill of J. P. Bruner & Sons, Twenty-fourth and
Hamilton Streets, partially destroyed by fire; loss, about 8200,000.
March 5.— Building, No. 439 Chestnut Street, partially burned.
March 8.— Harmonia Hall (German theatre). No. 717 Coates Street,
near Franklin.
June 4.— Nob. 15 and 17 South Third Street; loss, 860,000.
June 14.— Gaul's brewery. New Market and Callowhill Streets.
June 24. — Sash- and door-factory of Kimby & Madeira burned down
and adjoining property damaged.
June 25.— Bussier & Co.'s store, No. 107 South Water Street, during
which fireworks exploded, killing Charles Boss, a fireman, and wounding
a number of others.
July 10.— Flour-mill of Rowland & Irvein, on Broad, below Vine.
July 26.— Sugar refinery of Newhall, Borie & Co. ; loss, 81,000,000. A
number of firemen were injured, one of whom, Matthias Furey, died
July 27th.
191fi
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
July 26.— John Dearie's cotton-mill, Linn Street; loss, $60,000.
August 8.— Large mill of Theodore Vetterlein, Twenty-second and
Wood Streeto.
August 14, BergdoU and Psotta's brewery.
August 27.— The planing-mill of Jesse C. & C. E. Coulson, Twenty-
fourth and Brown Streets.
September 6. — Smith & Harris' saw-mill, Coates and Beach Streets,
and a large quantity of lumber.
September 8. — Large building at No. 235 Race Street.
September 10. — The carpet manufactory of Bromley & Brothers, Jasper
and York Streets ; loss, J75,C0O.
September 17.— The plauing-mill of N. F. Wood, at Spruce Street
wharf, Schuylkill.
September 27.— Store at No. 219 North Third Street.
October 12. — The planing-mill of D. Maguire, Bidge road.
October 18. — Cotton and woolen. mill, Twenty-tirst Street and Penn-
sylvania Avenue, partially destroyed by fire.
October 20.— The chair-factory of George Fenner, No. 1730 North Fifth
Street.
November 22.— Steamboat "City of Bridgeton" burned while lying
above Pier 7, North Wharves, on the Delaware; loss, about 570,000.
1871, February 10.— Charles Shaw's woolen-mill, on Duy's Lane,
Germantown.
April 19.— S. J. Mintz's fur-store. No. 408 Arch Street ; loss, $le,000.
May 27.— Keystone Marble- Works of Jacoby & Prince, Market Street,
near Twentieth.
May 28.— Woolen-mill, No. 3021 Chestnut Street, damaged by fire.
May 28.— Warehouse of Malone & Co., 1126 and 1128 Washington
Avenue.
June 5. — Planing- and saw-mill of Stanley & Neber, Marshall Street,
below Girard Avenue, and about forty other buildings were destroyed or
damaged by fire; loss, about $150,000.
June 6.— Stores Nob. 527 and 629 Commerce Street.
June 6. — Shoddy-mill, foundry, etc., at Thirtieth and Chestnut Streets,
damaged by fire; loss, about $20,000.
June 23. — Gillingbam & Garrison's saw-mill, Richmond and Norris
Streets; loss, $40,000.
July 11. — Pattern-shop at I. P. Morris & Co.'e Port Richmond iron-
works struck by lightning and destroyed by fire; loss, $55,000.
August 10.— The retort-house at J. S. Lovering & Co.'s sugar-refinery,
Lagrange Place; loss, $26,000.
August 29. — Building No. 3029 Chestnut Street partially destroyed;
loss, $25,000.
September 23. — Planing-mill of W. P. Henderson, Coates and Twenty-
first Streets ; loss, $16,000.
September 29. — Jessup & Moore's paper warehouse, Nos. 524 and 526
North Street and 27 North Sixth Street ; loss, $200,000.
September 29.— Jacob Sclionning's morocco-manufactory, No. 1545
Randolph Street ; loss, $90,000.
October 4. — Victoria Oil- Works, on Moyamensing Avenue ; lose,
$30,000.
October 11. — Meeting of citizens at the mayor's oifice to raise funds
for the relief of the sufferers by the fire at Chicago; $104,000 subscribed,
which was afterward increased to nearly half a million dollars. Among
the principal contributions were the following:
W. H. Horstmau & Sons.
G. Dawson Coleman
William Bucknell
West Philadelphia Pas-
senger Railway Com-
pany, by John S. Mor-
ton, president
Western Saving Fund
Company, by John
"SViegand, president
Alexander Brown
McKean,Borie & Co
Homer, Colladay & Co....
William Sellers & Co
James, Kent, Santee&Co.
D. S. Brown & Co
Coffin * Altemus
Stuart & Brother
Shortbridge, Borden &
Co
Charles H. Rogers
John B. McCreary
McKeone, Van Haagen
& Co
Charles Macalester
Lewis Wharton & Co
Morris, Tasker & Co
Powers & Weightman....
81,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000 00
1,000.00
1.000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,0 0.00
1,000.00
1,000.110
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
Delaware Mutual Safety
Insurance Company.... :
Alfred G. Baker
Fidelity Insurance, Trust
and Safe Deposit Corn-
Company
First National Bank
John Rice
Joseph Harrison, Jr
Charles Wheeler
M. Baird & Co
Jacob Ripgel & Co
Davis & Elverson
Charity Fund, Board of
Brokers
Estate of S. V. Merrick...
Thomas Sparks
Fourth National Bank...
National Bank of the Re-
public
Phoenix Iron Company...
Naylor& Co
Joseph S. Lovering
Philadelphia Musical As-
sociation
Stokes, Caldwell & Co
Charles S. Coxe
Gregg, Green & Co
1,000 00
1,000,00
1,000.00
1,000 00
1,' 00.00
1,000.00
1.000.00
1,000.00
1,000 00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000 00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
1,0011.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
state Council of Pennsyl-
Millinery Trade
$1,095.00
$1,000.00
1,900.00
2,000.00
Mutual Assurance Com-
John J. Ridgway, of Paris
pany
1,000.00
S. & W. Welsh
Lehigh Valley Railroad
2,000.00
Penn Mutual Life Insur-
ance Company
1,000.00
Company
2,000.00
National Lile Insurance
Presbyterian Churches...
4,686.09
Company
1,000.00
George W. Childs
6,000.00
Philadelphia Fire Insur-
ance Company
1,000.09
John A. Brown
6,000.00
Waterman & Beaver
1,010.00
Thomas A.Scott
5,000.00
North Pennsylvania Rail-
Henry H. Houston
5,000.00
road 4'ompauy
1,000.00
5,000.00
6,000.00
Mrs. Thomas W. Price....
1,000.00
Knights Templar Com-
1,000.00
1,000.00
mauderies of Philadel-
phia
John Milnes
3,112.60
1,000.00
1,000.00
7,220.00
Tobacco Board of Trade.
Drug Exchange
7,072.00
First Unitarian Church..
1,030.50
Rom. Catholic Churches..
9,897.60
Abt Male Singing Society
Merchant Tailors' Ex-
10,000.00
Odd Fellows' Lodges of
change
1,406 00
Slate of Pennsylvania.
21,686.06
llatandCap Interest
1,441.75
Prot. Episcopal Churches
21,927.84
Citizens of Frankford
1,600.00
Pennsylvania Railroad...
25,000.00
Tobacco Board of Trade
Methodist Churches
40,300.00
(additional)
1,976.00
Commercial Exchange...
40,000.00
October 17. — Old brick church. Second Street, above Poplar, used as an
opera-house by Samuel S. Sanford.
October 18. — Parker & Mac Philimy's planing-mill. Sixteenth and
Fitzwater Streets.
October 21.— Planing-mill of William Barth, Trenton Avenue and
Adams Street; loss, $11,000.
November 4. — Phosphate-works of Wattson & Clark, near the Point
Breeze Gas- Works: loss, $160,000.
December 11. — John Dalton's woolen-mill. Factory Street, above
Twenty-fifth ; loss, $17,000.
December 22.— Whiting-works of John Petit & Co., New Market
Street, above Vine ; loss, $28,000.
1872, January 6. — Moore & York's furniture-factory, Levant Street'
above Spruce; loss, $18,000.
January 26.— Store and manufactories. Minor Street, above Fifth,
loss, $18,000.
January 26. — Pork -packing establishment. Sixth and Reed Streets;
loss, $20,000.
February 11.— Oil-Cloth manufactory of Thomas Potter, Son & Co.,
Second Street road ; loss, $100,000.
February 14. — Shoe and leather warehouse of George F, Roedell & Co. ,
No. 305 North Third Street ; loss, $76,000.
February 29.— Umbrella-factory of G. W. Carr & Co., Twelfth and
Willow Streets ; loss, $15,000.
March 2. — F. M. Adams & Co., hame-factory. Sixteenth and Carpenter
Streets ; loss, $20,000.
March 4.— Dr. Jayne's building, on Chestnut Street, below Third ; loss,
$300,000.
March 12.— Lumber-yards of H. R. Deacon, L. C. Wilmouth, and
others. Twentieth and Market ; loss, $56,000.
March 16. — E. P. Moyer & Bros., harness-factory, Market Street, above
Seventh ; loss, $75,000.
March 20. — Simmons & Slocum's Opera-House, Arch Street, above
Tenth; loss, $60,000.
March 29. — Store and factory of the Weikel & Smith Spice Company
Front Street, below Race; loss, $80,000.
April 2.— Stewart's Franklin Coal-Oil Works, Gibson's Point; loss,
$25,000.
April 4. — Stables of Knickerbocker Ice Company, American and Mas-
ter Streets ; loss, $:iO,000.
April 7.— Cooper's furniture-factory, Frankford ; loss, $31,000.
April 9 — Bangb & Son's phosphate-works, Morris Street and Dela-
ware River; loss, $100,000.
April 13.— Depot of the Second and Third Streets Passenger Railway
Company, Frankford road and Lehigh Avenue ; loss, $30,000.
May 10.— Cedar-ware manufactory of John Rodgers, Barnett Street ;
loss, $65,000.
May 19.^ayne's building. Dock Street, below Third ; loss, $750,000.
May 22.— Planing-mill of Gibson, Crillman & Co., Filbert Street, above
Twenty-first; loss, $22,000.
May 25.— Clement & Dunbar's planing-mill. Beach and Shacka-
maxon Streets ; loss, $35,000.
May 26.— J. R. Downing's stationery-store. Eighth and Walnut
Streets ; loss, $18,000.
May 27.— Greenwood's woolen-mill, Wissahickon ; loss, $20,000.
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1917
June It. — Wilde's cotton- and woolen-niill, Church and Adams Streets,
Frankford; loss, $30,0(JO.
June 22. — Stu.-vrt & Hunt's coal-oil works, Islington Lane, ahoTe Nine-
teenth Street ; loss, 815,000.
June 24.— Little, Wnod & Lancaster's dye-works, Ridge Avenue, Falls
of Schuylkill ; loss, 320,000.
June 28. — Varnish-works, Girard wharves. North Delaware Avenue,
above Market Street ; loss, ?4ii,0(X).
July 1.— Elkins & Middleton's rectifying establishment, Front Street,
below Vine; loss, $100,000.
July 7.— Warehouse of^T. B. Bickerton & Co., Fourth Street, below
Market; loss, $46,000.
July 11. — Store of Keystone Collar Company and Martien'e printing-
ofQce, Seventh Street, below Market; loss, 515,000.
July 22.— Bookbinding establishment of J. E. Potter & Co., No. 611
Commerce Street ; loss, $20,1 00.
July 25. — Car- and tube-works of Allison & Sons, Thirty-second and
■Walnut Streets ; loss, $2(10,000.
July 25.— Planing-mill of Mahaffey & Tohe, Thirty-first and Chestnut
Streets ; loss, $22,000.
August 4. — Simons' wagon-works. Second and Huntingdon Streets;
loss, 850,000.
October 3. — Warehouses of John Boyle and Cockerill & Son, Front
Street, below Walnut; loss, $19,000.
October 14. — Paint-works of G. H. Russell, Fourth Street, above
Vine; loss, $30,000.
October 20. — R. J. Lehman's planing-mill. Beach Street, below Han-
over; loss, $35,000.
October 30. — Robert Savage's carpet manufactory. No. 2209 Amber
Street ; loss, $20,000.
November 13. — Planing-mill of Alfred Teal, Carpenters' ice depot,
coal-yard, dwellings, etc.. Eighth and Willow Streets; loss, $50,000.
November 15. — Saw-mill and steel-works of Henry Disston & Sons,
Laurel and Front Streets ; loss, $150,000.
November 19. — Planing-mill of D. B. Kelly, and bedstead manufac-
tory of Beibel 4 Lincoln, Brown Street, above Fourth ; loss, $34,000.
1873.— Adamantine candle-works of C. H. Grant & Co., southwest
corner of Twenty-third and Hamilton Streets. Alexander Wilson and
Samuel Walker lost their lives, and two other persons were seriously
injured.
August 14. — An oil-train ran off the Greenwich Point branch of the
Pennsylvania Railroad at Twenty-fourth and MifQin Streets. Seventeen
cars were burned with their contents, and the engineer and fireman
were burned to death ; loss, $24,000.
December 0. — Warrington & Co.'s pen-factory, northwest comer of
Twelfth and Buttonwood Streets ; loss, $25,000.
1874, January 4. — Sugar refinery of McKean, Newhall & Borie, La
Grange Place, between Second and Third Streets ; loss, $200,000.
January 29. — New Olympic Theatre (National Hall), Market Street,
below Thirteenth; loss, $200,000. Two firemen were killed.
March 5. — Ropewalk of John P. Bailey & Co., Otsego and Norris
Streets; loss, $20,000.
March 17. — Methodist Episcopal Church at Holmesburg.
March 19. — InsuU & Dorey's spring-factory. No. 1437 Hutchinson
Street; loss, $35,000.
March 24. — Machine-shops and other buildings of the ship-yard of
William Cramp & Son, Beach and Norris Streets ; loss, $175,000.
April 29.— Steamship "Mediator" burned at Pier No. 19, Delaware
Avenue, below Callowhill Street; considerable amount of the cargo was
destroyed ; loss, estimated at $250,000.
May 23. — Sash-factory and planing-mill of Hazel & Co., northeast cor-
ner of Eighth Street and Girard Avenue; loss, $25,000.
May 29. — Printing establishment of Edward Stern, No. 11 North Sixth
Street; loss, $20,000.
July 3. — Henry Loth's sewing-machine factory, southeast corner of
Broad and Wallace Streets ; loss, $36,000.
August 4. — S. R. & F. Hansen's coach-makers' trimmings, and James
McVeigh's carpet-yarn manufactory, northwest corner of Germantown
road and Columbia Avenue; loss, $22,000.
September 1. — James Wright's carpet-factory. Twenty-third and
Simes Streets ; loss, $25,000.
September 5. — George W. Bains' trunk-factory, Eutaw Street, below
Race ; loss, $15,000.
October 29. — Jacob Hohenadel's Falls of Schuylkill brewery; loss,
$45,(KX).
November 2. — Glass-works of T. I. Cook, York and Thompson Streets;
loss, $35,000.
December 20.— Mair & Craumer's sail-loft. No. 40 Sonth Delaware
Avenue; loss, $18,4(X).
1875, January 28. — Methodist Episcopal Church, Cumberland and
Coral Streets; loss, $12,600.
January 30. — J. M. Preston's cotton- and woolen-mill, Manayunk;
loss, $31 ,526.
February 9. — Keen & Coates' tannery, 943 North Front Street; loss,
$46,600.
February 15.— Nos. 113 and 115 North Third Street, and adjoining
buildings, occupied by manufacturen
February 27.— Washington Butcln
ment, 146 and 148 North Front Sir.
$100,000.
March 1.— G. W. Plumly's (A
Son,
5t, a
rchants; loss, $50,000.
s' meat-packing establish-
id adjoining buildings; loss,
Paper- Box Company) box-fac-
r of Fourth and Branch Streets, and adjoining build-
nd adjoining property, Man-
Sons' cotton- and woolen-mill. Eighth and
; Shaw's cotton-l
tory, southeast c
ings; loss, $45,000.
April 23.— Dawson
ayunk ; loss, $25,975.
June 7.— John Bro
Tasker Streets; loss, $12,797.
June 13. — N. W. Harkness' coal-oil refinery, Gibson's Point, oil-tauks
struck by lightning; loss, $12,189.
August 15.— F. Perot's Sons' malt-house, Nos. 310 to 320 Vine Street;
loss, $31,393.
October 4. — Burgin & Sons' glass-factory, Girard Avenue and Palmer
Street, and adjoining buildings; loss, $20,000.
October 14. — Mattress- and furniture-factories, Randolph Street, above
Oxford ; loss, $20,000.
October 31.— Carlton Woolen-Mills, Twenty-third and Hamilton
Streets; loss, $600,000.
November 10. — J. F. Betz's malt-house, St. John Street, below Callow-
hill; loss, $20,000.
November 20. — Market Street bridge over the Schuylkill destroyed by
fire. The permanent bridge was first opened for travel Jan. 1,1805;
rebuilt and widened, 1860-51.
December 8.— William B. Thomas' barrel-factory. Willow Street,
between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets; loss, $200,000.
1876, January 23.— The sash- and planing-mill of G. W. Swartz & Co.,
No. 2026 North Tenth Street.
March 4. — Wholesale dry-goods establishment of Wood, Marsh & Co.,
Garretson, Blakemoro & Co., and others, at No. 311 Market Street; loss,
$350,000.
March 16.— Standard Carpet-Mills, Sepviva and Blair Streets; loss,
$50,000.
March 18.— West End Mills, Sixty-seventh and Lombard Streets; loss,
$195,000.
April 10.— Roxborough Baptist Church ; loss, $21,000.
April 12.— Storesof J. H.Reall & Co., and Baumgardner, Woodward &
Co., Delaware Avenue, above Chestnut Street; loss, $50,000.
July 25.— Western Union Telegraph office, corner of Third and Cheat-
nut Streets, by which two hundred wires leading to all parts of the
Union were destroyed.
July 26.— Shoddy-mill of William Johnston, No. 1142 St. John Street.
Four women jumped from the upper story windows, of whom two were
killed and the others severely injured.
September 3.— Mund & Albrecht's farm. Falls Lane, near Schuetzen
Park ; loss, $50,000.
September 9. — Exhibition places, side-shows, beer-saloons, and other
wooden buildiugs at " Shantytowu," on Elm Avenue, between Belmont
Avenue and Forty-second Street, opposite the Main Centennial Exhibi-
tion Building, and extending to Columbia Avenue; loss, about $50,000.
October 5. — A portion of Lanber's restaurant. Centennial grounds.
1877, January 19.— Flouring-mills of Detwiler & Co., Nos. 3042 and
3044 Market Street ; loss, $75,000.
January 20. — Baeder & Adamson's glne-works, Alleghany Avenue and
Richmond Street; loss, $20,000.
January 20. — Sash- and blind-factory of Keller & Krouse, American
Street; loss, $30,000.
February 25. — Fox's American Theatre, Chestnut Street, above Tenth,
with Rodgers' carriage-factory and other buildings, including damage
to the books of the Mercantile Library ; loss, $300,000. One man killed.
March 10.— Planing-mill of Turner, Lanish & Co., Noble Street, be-
tween Eleventh and Twelfth, and adjoining property; loss, $30,000.
April 4. — Menagerie storage-building and stables of Adam Forepaugh,
Wistar Street, near Godfrey Avenue, Germantown ; loss, $20,000.
July 19.— Swift & Courtney's match-factory. No. 219 North Fourth
Street ; loss, $46,000.
1918
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
September 29. — Morocco-factoi^ of W. Shollenburger & Sons, south-
west corner of Putnam and Mascher Streets; loss, 8250,000.
October 31. — Craig, Finley & Co.'s printing establiflhrnent, Arch Street,
above Tenth; loss, S35,000.
November 7. — Randolph Mills, Randolph Street, above Columbia Ave-
nue, occupied by Weil & Sous, Harvey & Good, and others; loss, gSO.OOO.
November 22. — Howell, Finn & Co. and George Harding's property, at
southwest corner of Ninth and Chestuut Streets ; loss, £100,000.
November 25. — Times Finisliing-Works, Kenton Place, above Gothic
Street; loss, $15,000.
December 10.— Cot ton -mi 11 of J. & J. Crowley, Eighth and Eneu
Streets.
December 15.— Fire at the building in which Thomas Jefferson wrote
the Declaration of Independence, at the southwest corner of Seventh
and Market Streets; loss, $15,000, suffered by Simou & Co. and Longacre
& Co.
December 15.— McWilliams' bakery, No. 1436 Mervine Street.
December 25. — Cutlery-worka of White & Sansom, Oxford and Head
Streets, Fraiikford ; loss, $15,000.
December 25. — West & Co., shoe dealers, and E. P. Kelly; tailor, at
No. 1033 Chestnut Street; loss, $10,000.
1878, January 1.— Millinery establishment of T. Kennedy & Bros., No.
1216 Chestnut Street; loss, $29,000.
January 2. — Shoe-factory of Shirley & Rommel, No. 713 Market
Street; loss, $40,000.
January 11. — Chatham Mills, for the manufacture of yarn, between
Howard and Hope Streets and Berks and Montgomery Streets, occu-
pied by Harper and Montague and John F. Lodge ; loss, $50,000.
January 31.— Wholesale dry-goods store of H. P. & W. P. Smith, Noa.
224 and 226 Chestnut Street, also occupied by George Campbell, manu-
facturer of woolen goods ; loss, $400,000.-
February 14. — Carriage-factory of Jacob Rech, southeast corner of
Eighth and Girard Avenue ; loss, $12,000.
March 16.— Bedstead-factory of Moyer, Tufts & Co., Richmond Street,
above Montgomery ; loss, Si5,000.
March 25, — Fire, which commenced at Fourth and Cherry Streets, in
the store of H. K. Wampole, extended nearly down to Arch Street; loss,
8750,000.
May 10. — Pliosphate manufactory on Venango Street, near the Dela-
ware River ; loss, $75,000.
May 16.— Southwark Cotton- and Woolen-Mills of John Brown & Sons,
Moyaniensing Avenue and Moore Street; loss, $42,000.
June 7.— Paraffine-works of Dr. Farnsworth, Schuylkill River, above
Race Street ; loaj, $20,000.
October 12. — Hero Glass- Works of W.A. Leavitt, at Aramingo, Cedar,
Gaul, aud Adams Streets; loss, $60,000.
November 3. — Ice-bouse of Knickerbocker Ice Company, Schuylkill
River, above Manayunk ; loss, $35,000.
November 5. — Edward Shippen School-house, Cherry Street, above
Nineteenth ; loss, $15,000.
November 9. — Ice-bouse of Berguer & EngePs brewery, Thirty-second
and Thompson Streets; loss, $150,000.
November 12.— Chair-factory and lumber-yard of Hutchinson, Nichols
& Co., Americiin Street, above Susquehanna Avenue ; loss, $10,000.
1879, January 20.— Cotton- and woolen-milts of John Brown & Son,
comer of Eighth and Tasker Streets; loss, $200,000.
March 1.— Cracker bakery of Walter G. Wilson & Co., Nos. 212 and
214 North Front Street; loss, $40,000.
March 24. — Smoke-house and ham-curing establishment of Washing-
ton Butcher's Sons, Nob. 146 and 148 North Front Street; loss, $30,000.
March 31.— Fire and explosion at Belmont Oil-Works, Twenty-fourth
burned to death and (
it in five-story brick industrial building, north-
: of Race and Crown Streets, occupied by James Smith & Co.,
and Mifflin Streets. T
injured; loss, $80,000.
April 6.— Fire broke c
east c
manufacturers of mill su
F. Hansel, military and (
the building northwest cc
William Wateiall & Co.,
bookseller and printer, H. Muhr & Sons, jewelers, and others. Upon
North Fourth Street the establishments of Misch, beer-bottler, F. Volker,
saloon, and the Swift & Courtney match-factory were burned, and other
properties injured. Southwest corner of Fourth and Race, building
occupied by A. W. Stewart & Sous, blank-book sellers and printera, was
partially destroyed, and upon Race Street, Nos. 402,404, and 406, formerly
occupied by Thakara, Buck & Co., Nos. 408, 410, and 412, occupied by
Whitall, Tatum & Co., glassware, Fruh's saloon. No." 414, Hoover's ink
jlies, J. Wagner, shoe manufacturer, S. R. &
jich trimmings, and others, and extended to
ler of Fourth and Race Streets, occupied by
■alers in paints and colors, Ignatius Kohler,
manufactory, were destroyed and other properties in the neighborhood
injured. Loss, $800,000. Albert Fruh was killed and Fred Fruh severely
injured, and three firemen were also injured.
May 11. — Brewery of Sebastian Nagle, Paoli Avenue, Roxborough
loss, $21,000.
June 1 1. — Lightning struck the oil-canning shed of Le Compte & Per-
kins, at Point Breeze, on the banks of the Schuylkill, setting it on
The flames were communicated to the works of the Atlantic Refining
Company and the Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company, the whole
ering thirty-five acres. The buildings, sheds, wharves, and an immense
stock of oil wpre destroyed, together with five vessels, which were loaded
or being loaded with petroleum, to wit. : bark " La Fiume" (Austrian),
bark " F. Rech" (German), ship " Hudson" (Norwegian), bark " Guiseppe
Quinto" (Italian), bark "Ilion" (Russian). Loss, estimated at $300,000.
The fire burned twodays,and on the 13th communicated to the property
of the Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company and of the Empire Petro-
leum Storage Company, and property of Davis A Murphy and of Harris
& Sneven. Loss, over $15n,0oO.
June 20.— G. W, Smith furniture-factory, west side of Kidge Avenue,
below Master Street ; loss, $20,000.
June 27. — Southeast corner of Seventh and Cherry Streets, damaging
Hastings' gold-leaf establishment and Stern's printing-office; loss,
$20,000.
June 27.— Explosion of boiler and fire at the planing-mill of Alpheus
Wilt & Sons, Front Street, below Brown, destroying portions of that
building and others on Court Alley. Four persons were killed and
several injured.
July 15.— Perseverance Woolen- and Cotton-Mill, owned by J, P. Holt
& Brother, Main Street, near Shur'sL ane, Roxborough ; loss, $30,000,
July 17, — Stores of Rudolph & Buzby, wholesale grocers and cheese
dealers, Nos. 7 and 9 South Water Street; loss, $;iO,000.
September 15.— Explosion and fire at the Quaker City Coal-Oil Works,
Second Street and Erie Avenue; one man killed and two others in-
jured.
September 28.— Sash-, blind-, and planing-mill of B. W. Chalfant,
Willow Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth ; loss, $15,000.
October 1.— Keystone Wool- and Yarn-Mill, Callowhill Street, above
Twenty-fifth, occupied by Beswick & Kay and John Forrest; loss,
$28,000.
October 16.— Shoddy-mill of Wray & Adams, Conestoga and Torr
Avenue, West Philadelphia; loss, $16,000.
November 1. — Fire at the grain and storage warehouse occupied by
Brooke & Harper, Pugh & Kirk, and Robert Fletcher, Nos. 1729, 1731,
1733 Market Street, east of Eighteenth; loss, $150,000.
December 23. — St. David's Protestant Episcopal Church, Centre Street,
near Baker, Manayunk ; loss, $18,000.
1S80, January 5. — Kitchenman's mill, Huntingdon Street, between
Jasper and Emerald Streets; loss, $10,000.
January 14. — Fire at spring-factory of John Scott, New Market and
Pollard Streets, which also destroyed J.J. Plucker A Co.'s cabinet manu-
factory, and damaged the factory of H. Oetzel, J, Worthington's machine-
shop, and Buckley & Co.'s spoke-works ; loss, $55,000.
January 25. — Stephen S. Whitman & Sons, southwest corner of
Twelfth and Market Streets; loss, $70,000.
January 25. — Planing-mill of Charles A. Doerr, Thirty-eighth Street,
below Spring Garden ; loss, $35,000.
February 2. — Furniture-factory of John A. Eberts, aleo occupied by
W, W. Altemus, cotton machinery, and others, on Edward and Lydia
Streets, above Hancock Street; loss, $60,000.
February 2. — Keystone Flour-Mill, corner of Leopard Street and Gi-
rard Avenue, occupied by Stetler & Co., millers; loss, $25,000.
February 9.— Clifton Mills, Berks Street, between Howard and Hope
Streets, property of Harpst, Montague & Co., also occupied by Isaac
Stead, Dalt & Brothers, aud William Topham and others; loss, $190,000.
February 29. — Steam barrel-factory of N. & H. O'Donnell, corner of
Moyamensing Avenue and Tasker Street ; loss, $20,000.
March 23. — Stables of the Richmond branch of the Union Passenger
Railway Company at Thompson and Norris Streets; loss, $20,000.
April 1. — Factory occupied by J. Conway & Co., manufacturers of
umbrella frame.s. Novelty Paper Box Company, and others, at northwest
corner of Twelfth and Noble Streets; luss, $100,000.
April 7. — Tea and coffee store of John Lament, No. 51 South Second
Street ; loss, $20,000.
May 17. — Gardner's Continental Brewery, Twenty-first Street aud
Washington Avenue; loss, $75,000.
June 4 — Patton, Allison & Jones, cotton-mills, north side of Washing-
ton Avenue, above Twelfth Street ; loss, $30,000.
FIREMEN, FIRE COMPANIES, AND LARGE FIRES.
1919
Jnne 17.— Button-factory of E. Wahl, No. 2337 North Seventh Street,
and Castle & Bros.' terra-cotta works ; loss, $18,000.
June 24.— Block bounded by Christian, Marriott, Third and Fourth
Streets, which destroyed Nice's saab- and frame-mill, Smyth's lumber-
yard, with stables and dwelling-bonses; tifty-four buildings in all being
either totally consumed or heavily damaged; loss estimated at $1U0,01X).
Jnne 28. — Hosiery-mills, Crease Street, above Girard Avenue, occupied
by Martin, Cardiff & Wilcox, hosiery manufacturers; W. Thornton-
yarn-spinner, and E. D. Wilcox, cotton laps ; loss, $30,U00.
August 25.— Fire at the W. B. Thomas Flour-Mill, northwest corner of
Thirteenth and Noble Streets, which extended to Stuart & Peterson's
hollow-ware works, and Gumpert & Bros.' cigar-factory, with other
buildings ; loss estimated at S200,000. William Miller, foreman of the
Thomas Mill, was overwhelmed in the falling ruins and killed.
September 3. — Marshall Brothers' rolling-mill, Beach and Marlbor-
ough Streets ; loss, S50,OnO.
September IS.— Store of the Globe Broom Works of W. T. Waters A
Co., and grocery and dried-fruit store of B. F. Moyer, 46 North Delaware
Avenue, and 47 North Water Street; los-, 511,000.
October 12. — Stone flour-mill. Mill Street, Holmesburg, owned by
George Pennock and occupied by Donovan & Miller, totally destroyed
by fire; loss estimated at S12,0OO. This mill was the oldest in Pennsyl-
vania, having been erected in 1697.
October 22. — Yarn- and cotton-factory of Dixon & Roberts, Canal
Street, between Girard Avenue and Thompson, also occupied by Alex-
ander and John McConnell, morocco manufacturers; cotton machinery
entirely destroyed ; loss estimated at 886,000.
December 3. — Clothing store of Livesight, Greenwald & Co., No. 45
North Third Street ; loss, 822,000.
December 4. — North Mill of the Ladenberg Manufacturing Company.
December 12. — In Ferris' Court, near Front and Vine Streets, two per-
sons burned to death.
December 14. — Manly & Son, manufacturers of telegraph wire cables.
Forty-fourth and Chestnut Streets; loss, 816,000.
December 23. — B. Crawford's tannery, Sixth, above Thompson ; loss,
825,000.
December 30.— Picture-frame factory of F. Boland, No. 18 North Ninth
Street ; loss, 820,000.
December 31. — Paint and varnish warehouse of S. B. Wetherill & Co.,
No. 126 Coombes' Alley; loss, 826,000.
December 31.— Paper-mill of M. & W. H. Nixon, Manayunk ; loss,
$60,000.
1881, January 14.— Colv
Fifth Street ; loss, 815,000.
January 18. — Carpet-yat
Gardiner, Trenton Avenue
January 18. — Explosion
mbia Shoddy-Mill, Columbia Avenue and
a mill of James Whitaker and Schofield &
and Sarieant Street; loss, 816,000.
and fire at the works of the Atlantic Petro-
i the Schuylkill River; loss.
leum Refining Company, at Point Bn
860,000.
January 19.— Malt-mill of brewery of G. F. Rothacker, Thirty-first
and Master Streets; loss, $30,000.
January 28. — Carpet-yarn mill of Richard Hay, Shurs' Lane and Main
Street, Manayunk ; loss, 810,000. Thomas Blackly, a workman, was
burned to death.
January 31. — Beth-Eden Baptist Church, northwest corner Broad and
Spruce Streets, totally destroyed by fire. Loss on property on Spruce
Street, adjoining and on opposite side, 830,000; on the church, 8140,000.
Horticultural Hall took fire from church and totally destroyed; loss,
860,000.
February 1. — Fire in the six- and eight-story factories extending from
No. 212 to No. 224 Carter's Alley and to the corner of Exchange Place,
and in buildings south of Carter's Alley upon Exchange Place occupied
by Mayer & Stern, boot-and-shoe manufacturers; S. L. Larzelere,
printer; S. L. Allen & Co., agricultural implements; the Weikel &
Smith Spice Company, Keystone Portable Forge Company, and others ;
loss estimated at 8200,000.
March 9.— Belmont Oil-Works of W. L. Elkins & Co., Long Lane, near
Twenty-fourth and Mifflin Streets ; loss, 880,000.
April 5. — Farmers' Bone and Fertilizer Works and ninety boat-houses
of the Southwark double-end yacht club ; loss, 8110,000.
April 21. — Lager beer brewery of Philip Guckes, School Lane, near
the Falls of Schuylkill ; loss, 86000.
April 24.— Drug and spice mill of George J. Hardie, Nos. 223 and 225
Wood Street; loss, 812,000.
April 28. — Grain elevator at Girard Point, containing nearly one hun-
dred thousand bushels of grain ; loss, 8700,000.
May 26.— Steamship "Tropic," lying at a pier above Arch Street, on
the Delaware, partially burned; loss estimated at 815,000. Michael
O'Leary, fireman of the ship, suffocated.
June 1. — Steam boiler in dye-house of Thomas Gatfney 4 Co., No. 2430
Collins Street, Nineteenth Ward, exploded, causing the death of Frank
Harbison, Frederick Duscher, and Robert Bradley, and injuring five
others, besides throwing down the dye-house, which was partially burned,
and injuring other property ; loss estimated at 830,000.
July 20.— Pequea Cotton- and Woolen-Mills, owned by William Wood
& Co., Pennsylvania Avenue and Twenty-second Street ; loss, $160,000.
August 26. — Lager beer brewery of Henry Milller, Thirty-first and
Jefferson Streets; loss, 875,000.
August 29. — Globe Mills, Germantown, Broad, below Girard Avenue,
occupied bySchatchard & Hoffman, silk-yarn spinners, and the Midnight
Yarn Company ; loss, 815,000.
September 8.— Mill of Travis A Co., and Broomley & Sons, yam manu-
facturers and weavers, Fairhill Street and Susquehanna Avenue ; loss,
815,000.
September 14. — Union Hub, Spoke, and Rim Works of Fitler & Dubois,
corner of Otter and Leopard Streets; loss, 83000.
September 25.— Main building of Swarthmore College, Delaware
County, an institution managed by the Society of Friends, of Philadel-
phia ; loss, 8360,000.
September 29. — Stables of Adams Express Company, Twenty-second
Street, below Market ; loss, 810,000.
October 1. — Linseed oil works of Grove & Brothers, at Greenwich
Point, First Ward ; loss, 85(1,000.
October 12.— The Randolph Cotton- and Woolen-Mill, occupied by
Charles H. Landenberger, Randolph Street, above Columbia Avenue.
There were thirty-eight workingmen and girls in the building, all of
whom were cut off from escape by the rapid progress of the flames.
Nine were killed byjumping from the windows or burned to death while
in the building, or died afterward from their injuries; thirteen were
seriously maimed or injured ; sixteen escaped ; loss by the fire on the
building, 810,000, on stock and machinery, heavy.
October 24.— Stationery store of William F. Murphy's Sons, Chestnut
Street, above Fifth ; loss, 825,000.
November 5. — Cotton and wool warehouse of Miller & Brothers, No.
134 South Front Street ; loss, 820,000.
November 30. — Looking-glass and picture-frame gallery of George C.
Newman, No. 800 Market Street ; loss, 846,000.
December 14.— Com Exchange Bag-, Rope-, and Twine-Manufactory of
John T. Bailey & Co., Otsego Street, north of Morris; loss, 8200,000.
1882, January 1.— Fire at northwest corner of Fourth and Race Streets,
occupied by Kauffman, Strouse & Co., cloak and trimming manufac-
turers ; Cox it Sons, machinists* tools and fittings ; Clark & Burr, manu-
facturers' supplies; and W. Waterall &Co., oils and paints; loss, $10,000.
January 5.— Woolen- and cotton-mills of Sevill Schofield, Canal bank,
Manayunk; loss, 850,000.
January 26.— Keystone Hub-, Spoke- and Wheel- Works, Charles Scott's
railway car-spring factory, and N. H. Harned's silk-fringe factory. New
Market Street, above Laurel, destroyed by fire ; loss, estimated at 8125,000.
February 10.— Scioto Carpet-Mill of Thomas Schofield, Manayunk;
loss, $30,000.
February 20.— No. 244 North Delaware Avenue (building extending
to Water Street), the flames extending to Nos. 233, 235, 237, and 239
North Water Street; loss, about $150,000, sustained by Berge 4 Myer,
rag dealers; Albion Print-Works; C. S. Garret & Son, rags; K. H.
Parker, sailmaker ; William Larzalere & Sons, grocers, and others.
March 17. — Cotton- and woolen-mill of J. W. Hilton, Girard Avenue,
near Forty-sixth Street; loss, 820,000.
March 23.— The boiler of the tug-boat " Henry 0. Pratt," at Pier No. 8,
South Wharves, exploded, killing five persons and totally destroying the
boat. The tug-boat "Ella," lying near by, caught fire and was de-
stroyed. Station of Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad burned, and
adjoining property injured; loss, 820,000.
March 23.— Fire at No. 20 North Fifth Street, occupied by Berrick,
Roller & Co., wholesale druggists, and the Standard Gloss Varnish Com-
pany ; loss, 812,000.
March 25. — Cork-manufactory of C. N. Rossel, Third Street, above Cal-
lowbill ; adjoining buildings injured ; loss, about 845,000.
March 29.— Store-building of Jacob Rorer & Son, Old York road,
Branchtown; I oss, $30,000.
April 1.— Philadelphia Sewing-Machine Company's works, northwest
corner Thirteeth and Buttonwood ; property of R. Moorehouse injured ;
loss, 825,000.
April 13.— Glenbank Mansion and boarding-house, Duy's Lane, near
Germantown ; loss, $24,000.
1920
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
April 22. — Mill buildiDgs, Sophia Street, between Edward and Van
Horn, occupied by Isaac Casson A Co., machinists, Joseph Weiss, and
Roher & Noell, furniture-manufactmers, destroyed by fire; loss, S30,000.
April 22. — Cliemical and fertilizing works of Baugh & Sons, Delaware
River, below Tasker Street ; loss, $60,000.
April 25.— Drug and spice mills of McTtvaine & Bro., southwest cor-
ner of Fifteenth and Hamilton Streets; loss, 330,000.
May 21.— Shoddy-mill of Albert Lees & Bros., Terrace Street, near
Dawson, Manayunk; loss, 850,000.
June 2.— United States Chair and Furniture Company's factory,
northeast corner of Sixth and Oxford Streets, occupied by J. I. Hill, J.
Pfy, turner, B. F. Richardson, and others ; loss, S30,fi00.
June 2. — Fire at 309 Race Street; extended to an adjoining building,
occupied by Wickersbam & Co., oils; G. D. Ellis, trusses and tools; E. M.
Holmes, railroad- and ship-lanterns, etc.; loss, $1.1,000.
July 1.— Auction-house of M. Thomas & Son, Nos. 139 and 141 South
Fourth Street ; loss, S250,0<Kl.
July 8. — Malt-house of Bergner & Engle's brewery. Thirty-second
and Thompson Streets; loss, $20,000.
July 14. — Factory of M. L. Shoemaker & Co., fertilizer^, Delaware
Avenue and Venango Street ; loss, $20,000.
July 17. — Lampblack-works of Luther Martin & Co., Twenty-ninth
and Oxford Streets ; loss, $30,000.
July 23.— Fire east side of Front Street, above Brown, aud upon
Brown and Beach Streets, which burned a store-house, dwellings, store-
bouse of the Carpenter Ice Company, and the lumber-yard of H. C.
Rushtou and W. M. Fox & Brother; les.**, $50,000.
July 26. — Cotton dye-house and other buildings of Greenwood &
Bauer, Oxford and Worth Streets, Frankford ; loss, $20,000.
August 17. — Fire at Nos. 8 and 10 Strawberry Street, occupied by C.
R. Jones & Co., parasols and umbrellas, Philadelphia Bag Manufactur-
ing Company, Gross &. Voight, toys, George H. Byrd, yarns and woolens,
with damage to some adjoining buildings; tees, $75,000.
August 26. — Piauing-mill and manufactory, southwest corner of
Girard Avenue and Vienna Street, destroyed by fire, occupied by F. S.
Quay, planing ; R. S. Officer, boxes; Swain & Co., bath-tubs; Goldberg
& Brother, trunks ; loss, 516,500.
September 8. — China and glass establishment of Fisher, Son & Co.,
519 Market Street; damages, $:J1,(XK).
September 25.— Franklin Sugar Refinery of Harrison, Havemeyer A
Co., on Delaware Avenue, extending from Bainbridge to Almond Street.
Three buildings, respectively three, nine, and eleven stories high, de-
stroyed ; loss, $500,000; one workman was killed.
September 28. — Candy manufactory of Philip Wenderle, New Market
Street, above Pegg ; loss, $40,000.
October 16. — Freight- and passenger-station of Philadelphia and At-
lantic City (narrow-gauge) Railroad at Pier 8, South Wharves, destroyed
by fire; also steam-tug " Major," belonging to the company ; steam-tug
"Argus," with some adjoining shipping, considerably injured; loss
estimated at $40,000.
November 23. — Arrott's Ontario Mill, Second Street, near Colnmbia
Avenue, burned. Occupied by Clark & Keen, woolen-goods manufac-
turers ; Priestly & Bro., dress goods ; Madely & Titlow, woolen -carders ;
loss, $200,0(H I.
November 25. — Barge " Potomac" and cargo, at Catherine Street
wharf; loss, $40,000.
December 5. — Arrott's mill, northwest corner of Coral and Taylor
Streets, occupied by Joseph Greer, cotton and woolen manufacturer,
Jaggard & Jones, Henry Grant, Stead Bros., and Robert Beatty, yarn-
spinners, burned; loss, $115,000.
December 5.— Rebmann & Ruhland's iron-foundry. Twenty-second
and Master Streets ; loss, $25,000.
December 12.— Enterprise Mills, Main Street, near Ridge Avenue,
Manayunk, occupied by Joseph M. Adams, Kelly & Wilhere, Lord &
Connor, and John Wilde & Bro., cotton and woolen yam-spinners; one
girl injured by jumping from the upper windows ; one died from burns ;
sixteen persons injured ; loss, $65,000.
December 12.— Goldsmith's Hall, Library Street, east of Fifth, totally
destroyed by fire. Occupants, E. G. Haehnlen & Co., dealers in chamois
skins; E.G. Markley & Sons, printers ; A. C. Farley & Co., manufac-
turing stationers ; Lehman & Bolton, lithographers; custom-house and
note-brokers, lawyers, etc.; loss, $350,000.
December 28.— Buildings and works of Schuylkill Paraffine Oil
Company, comer Maiden and Gray's Ferry roads, operated by Samuel
Bryan ; loss, $30,000.
1883, January 3.— Dry-goods store of Hood, Bonbright & Co., on the
Filbert Street front, west of Eighth Street; loss, $72,000.
January 12. — Canton Cotton- and Woolen-Mills of Fitspatrick & Holt, i
Leverington Avenue, Manayunk ; loss, $20,000. i
January 30.— Fire at 250-256 North Broad Street, occupied by Levi |
Knowles & Co., J. Allen & Co., E. H. Graham & Co., flour and grain
merchants ; Edmund Hill &. Co., machinists ; and E. W. Siegman & Co., ;
dealers in agricultural implements. Loss, $100,000.
February 5. — Furniture manufactory of Julian Kraan, No. 942 North
Ninth Street; loss, $20,00ti.
March 8. — Loiseau Fuel Company's works, corner Linden and Bath
Streets, Twenty-fifth Ward; toss, $50,000.
Ma'fch 19.— Cotton- and woolen-mill of C. J. Milne; lo8s,$50,C00.
April 14.- C. A. Blessing's plumbers' metal-works, Montgomery,
below Sixth Street; loss, $70,000.
April 22.— Woolen-mill of Daniel Jones & Son, Fifty-fifth Street and
Hunter's Lane; loss, $30,000.
April 26.— Fire at the Arch Street Opera- House, by which the interior
was burned out; loss, $18,000.
May 3.— Fire at southeast corner Germantown Avenue and Master >
Street, occupied by D. F. Rawle, flour-dealer ; John Richardson, furoi- J
ture manufacturer; Montague & White, hosiery; John Patterson,,
hosiery; Walton Ritter, cotton goods. Loss, $23,000.
May 13.— Fire at 1512-1516 Spring Garden Street, occupied by North
American Smelting-Works, Pennsylvania Brass-Works, D. W. Bing,
foundry and machine-shops; D. B. Birch, miller; Fayer, cigar-
moulder; and James Kerr, manufacturer ; loss, $35,000.
May 22. — Saw- and planiug-mill and steam packing-box factory, Mar-
shall Street, above Ginird Avenue, occupied by W. U. Howard, Williware
& Tiest, and William Stone ; loss, $115,000.
June 5. — Furniture manufacturing establishment of John Ebert, Ed-
ward Street, west of Hancock; also occupied by D. R. Dover, bobbin-
turner ; and William W. Altemus & Son, manufacturers of knitting-
machines; adjoining properties damaged : loss, $85,000.
August 7. — Stable and ice-houses of Knickerbocker Ice Company,
Willow Street wharf ; thirty horses and four mules burned to death ; loss,
$35,000; Reading freight depot, adjoining, damaged.
Augustll.-Picker-room of woolen-mill of Robert Wilde & Son, Lev-
erington Avenue, near Hamilton Street, Manayunk ; loss, $15,000.
August 29.— Woolen-mill, northwest corner Cumberland and Third
Streets, occupied by Gilmour& Morris, finishers; Lee & Bowers, woolens;
Robert Laycock, woolens; Garner & Co., worsted; Joseph P. Murphy,
shawls, etc. ; loss, $50,000.
September 7.— Stables of Chestnut and Walnut Streets Passenger
Railway Company, extending on Sansom Street from Forty-first to
Forty-second; loss, $50,000.
September 7.— Ice-house and stable and plaster-mill of T. B. Wright,
Sutherland Avenue, between Catharine and Christian Streets; loss,
$50,000.
September 19. — Saw- and planing-mill, Norris and Richmond Streets,
occupied by Jesse W. Taylor & Sons and Henry Bradshaw, hardwood
goods, burned, and adjoining property injured ; loss, $30,000.
September 19.— Fire broke out in the lumber-yard of James Gill, 1168
North Third Street, which spread and destroyed nearly the whole block
of buildings bounded by Third Street, Canal Street, Chariotte Street,
and Girard Avenue, occupied by Gill's lumber-yard. Eagle Iron- Works
of Hoff \- Fontaine, and from fifteen to twenty dwelling-houses, shops,
and other buildings; loss, estimated at $75,000.
September 29. — Saw- and plauing-mill. Willow, between Eleventh and
Twelfth Streets, property of the assignees of William B. Thomas, and
occupied by J. J. Crout A Son, sash, blind, and door manufacturers, and
Henry A. Hunsicker, planiug-mill, burned; loss, $20,000.
October 28.— Mansion of E. N. Benson, Chestnut Hill ; loss, $80,000.
November 17.— Sheds of the American Line Steamship Company, at
Christian Street wharf. Cotton and other merchandise intended for
shipment burned ; also the tugboat " Pallas," some hoisting-floats,
lighters, and other vessels ; loss, estimated at $112,000.
November 17. — Handle-factory of Henry Disstoo i Sons' saw-works,
Tacony; loss, $50,0i.Kj.
November 17.— F. G. Luersson's dwelling and cigar^tore, 2501 Ger-
mantown Avenue; Charles Mallon, an inmate, burned to death.
November 19.— Stables of Christopher Hare, Washington Avenue, be-
low Seventh Street; twenty-six horses and two mules burned to death.
1884, January 26.— Perseverance wood-works of Mahlon Fulton, Ninth
Street, above Oxford; loss, $75,000.
February 16.— Flour warehouse and depot of E. Latbbury & Co., Vine
Street, above Broad; loss, $60 000. The western wall fell Febraary 17th,
crushing in adjacent buildings on Vine Street and Leeds Avenue. One
citizen and one firenran killed.
EDUCATION.
1921
February 28. — Powers & Weiglitmiin, maimfuctnrers of chemicals
and drugs; nineteen out of twenty-six buildings, bounded by Knox,
Brown. Kessler, and Parrish Streets, were destroyed ; loss, Si ,500,000.
March 6.— Oil-cloth works of George W. Blaybon & Co,, Nicetown
(coating, grinding, and printing buildings); luss, 8150,000.
March 15. — Spice manufactory of A. Colburn & Co, Broad Street,
above Arch ; loss, $75,000.
CHAPTER XLVII.
EDUCATION.
The Public Schools of Philadelphia.— The same
earnest solicitude for public educatiou which made
itself manifest in the settlement of the New Eng-
land colonies to an unusual degree does not run
through the early history of Pennsylvania ; yet, out-
side of the Puritan settlements, there was no other
colony which paid so much attention as Pennsylvania
to the mental training of its youth. During the
seventeenth century, the general character of the
colony, as regards the intelligence of its people, stood
deservedly high. The school-house, with its inevi-
table concomitant, the printing-press, never at any
time ceased to exert its wholesome influence in
training up a population which, as regards sobriety,
thrift, and all the substantial qualities that flow from
instruction, has never been surpassed by any other
great community.
William Penn, who was one of the most accom-
plished scholars of his time, never wearied in point-
ing out to the colony the advantages of public edu-
cation. The constitution which he proposed for the
infant commonwealth contains the direction that
virtue and wisdom must be propagated by educating
the youth, and that after-ages would have the benefit
of the care and prudence of the founders in this re-
spect. It was one of the provisions of the " great
law of April 25, 1683, that "schools should be estab-
lished for the education of the young," and the author-
ities of the new government did not delay in carrying
it into practical effect. On the 26th of December, 1 683,
at a meeting of the Provincial Council, held in this
city, the subject of providing for the education of the
children of the colony came up for discussion, and it
was agreed that there existed a great necessity for a i
schoolmaster. Accordingly an agreement was entered I
into with Enoch Flower, who promised that, in con-
ducting such an establishment as was needed, he '
would charge only four shillings for teaching English
each quarter, six shillings for reading and writing,
and eight shillings for reading, writing, and casting '
accounts. A scholar who boarded with him would
receive his tuition, as well as lodging, meals, and
washing, for ten pounds a year. These charges seem
to have been fixed by Flower and the Council with the
idea of making education as cheap and as popular as
possible. This was the first regular English school in
Pennsylvania. There had been schools during the as-
cendency of the Swedes and the Dutch. The Swedes
are known to have maintained schools at Chester and
Tinicum as early as 1642, and the Dutch records show
that in 1657 Evert Pieterson came over from Holland,
and in the capacity of "schoolmaster, comforter of the
sick, and setter of Psalms," taught twenty-five pupils.
These schools were of the most primitive character,
but they served the purpose of the simple-minded
little communities of herdsmen and farmers, who
thought more of the wagon than they did of books.
In the year 1689 Penn's ideas about a public
school, as he had communicated them to Thomas
Lloyd, were put into practice by engaging George
Keith at a salary of fifty pounds a year, the use of a
house, and the profits of the school for one year, to
open a grammar school. Keith accepted the offer,
and the institution which he founded was known for
many years afterward as a well-managed school.
Here the children of the poor were instructed free of
charge, the school-house being located on Fourth
Street, below Chestnut, and being conducted under a
charter which had been procured by Edward Ship-
pen, David Lloyd, John Jones, Samuel Carpenter,
Anthony Morris, James Fox, William Southby, and
others. Keith was the Scotch Quaker who after-
ward embroiled the province in controversy by his
refusal to subscribe to the doctrines of the Friends
in all their original orthodoxy, and who subse-
quently became a minister of the Church of Eng-
land. He was assisted by Thomas Makin, a Latin
scholar, who is known to antiquarians by a poem in
that language, descriptive of Pennsylvania in 1729.
After the new school had been in existence for about
a year, Makin became its principal, and remained
such for many years afterward. The Friends held
this school in high estimation, and the character of
some of the men who officiated in it as instructors —
Robert Proud, D. J. Dove, William Wanuey, Charles
Thomson, and Jeremiah Todd — shows that it was
managed with no mean order of ability. It is curi-
ous to note that this institution was not at first re-
garded with entire favor by some of the leading men
of the colony, and that Deputy Governor Thomas
Lloyd, wishing his daughters to "finish their educa-
tion," sent them to Lewiston, Delaware.
During the sixty years following the establishment
of Keith's school there was no attempt made to start
schools that would be free to all and not marked by
the distinction between rich and poor children. This
democratic principle was not clearly formulated and
advanced until it was taken up by Benjamin Frank-
lin in 1749, when he distributed gratis a pamphlet
which he had written on the question, and which
soon became productive of important results in the
establishment of the future University of Pennsylva-
nia. Prior to that time most of the schools in the
province were conducted either under strictly private
auspices or under the patronage of religious denom-
1922
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
inations. Thus a very distinguished seminary of
learning in its time, humble though it was, was the
" Log College," which the Rev. William Tennent, an
Irish clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, had es-
tablished about the year 1726 in BucIjs County, near
the forks of the Neshaminy Creek, and in which such
eminent Presbyterians of the colony in the eighteenth
century as Beatty, Robinson, Rowland, Campbell,
Lawrence, and Blair obtained their education. Mr.
Tennent's school was much encouraged by Thomas
Lyon, who not only granted it land, but on some oc-
casions would send its founder provisions in his lonely
retreat. A little later on some notable Philadelphians,
such as George Read, Charles Thomson, and Thomas
McKean, received their first instruction from Rev.
Francis Allison, who, in 1741, opened a school at
New London, in Chester County, where he taught the
languages, and who subsequently removed to Thun-
der Hill, in Maryland. During the early part of the
seventeenth century the Swedes had schools of their
own, in which they attempted to resist the educa-
tional usages of the English, and to keep up the study
of the Swedish language. The Lutherans also paid
much attention to the education of their youth, and
established German schools before the year 1750.
The agitation of the subject of starting the Phila-
delphia Academy and charity schools in 1749-50
(see University of Pennsylvania) had a beneficial
efiect upon the community, not alone as regards the
founding of this jjarticular institution, but in the
general interest which was stimulated in educational
matters. The number of private schools began to in-
crease, and in 1751 a night school was opened by
William Milne, who taught reading, writing, arith-
metic, spelling, navigation, mensuration, and geom-
etry. In 1756, the Baptist Association, which was
composed of ministers of that denomination, took
measures toward raising money for a Latin grammar
school, which soon afterward was placed under the
charge of Isaac Eaton, and which was supported by
the churches. Three years later there was a meeting
held at Germantown, at which it was resolved to erect
a commodious building for an " English and High
Dutch or German school." In 1761 it was opened
under the name of the Germantown Union School-
House, with sixty-one English and seventy German
pupils, who studied such branches as Greek, Latin,
and mathematics. It was erected on Bensell's Lane,
which afterward came to be known as School-House
Lane. Under the title of the Germantown Academy
it had a long and honorable career. About the same
time there also existed a Moravian school, and in
1763 Episcopalian scholars were instructed under the
auspices of the authorities of Christ Church. The
progress of the population in the gentler and refined
arts of life is attested by the existence of a " ladies'
boarding-school" in 1767. That stenography was
practiced to some degree is evident from an an-
nouncement of " a report in short hand of the dis-
course of a female Friend and a prayer," by William
Darrach, a schoolmaster.
The Revolutionary war left the people but little
opportunity or inclination to consider educational
interests. Some of the pedagogues went into the
American army, and many of the schools were closed
up, particularly during the British occupation of the
city,. The Germantown Academy; for instance, re-
mained unopened during the greater part of the six
years after 1778. When peace was declared there was
a revival of interest in school affairs. One of the
first acts of the Legislature was to make grants of land
to the Germantown Academy, and teachers soon began
to be numerous. At this time there were at least one
hundred persons, the majority of whom were women,
that gained their living in the various schools of the ~
city, and fifteen years later the number had doubled.
The books that were commonly used during this
period were Bennet's Primer, Dilworth's Speller,
Rose's Assistant (arithmetic). Fuller's Catechism,
and ^Esop's Fables. It was not difficult, however,
for persons of moderate means to obtain an education
for their children in the classics and the higher
branches of learning. The Friends' Academy, as
well as the Academy which was united with the Col-
lege of Philadelphia, gave the city a large reputa-
tion among the colonies as a seat of learning,
and supplied an excellent order of instruction. Just
before the Revolution there had been an attempt
made to found an institution designed more particu-
larly for Germans who wished to obtain some knowl-
edge of the higher sciences, English law, medicine,
and theology. It was under the control of the So-
ciety for the Promotion of Christianity and all Useful
Knowledge among the Germans in America, which
was composed of twenty-four members, who had each
contributed ten pounds. The Rev. H. M. Muhlen-
berg was the chief director of the enterprise, but,
like many other undertakings of a similar character,
it was abandoned during the Revolutionary struggle.
When a school languished, or was in need of funds,
it was not then uncommon to raise money by a lottery.
Thus, in 1769, the projectors of the Germantown Acad-
emy never tjaought of entertaining scruples about
starting a lottery by which they could secure twelve
hundred pounds.
Nor was the education of the very humblest classes
of the city's population entirely neglected during the
last century. The Society of Friends, whose philan-
thropy was always practiced so quietly, and yet so
effectively, opened, in 1770, a free school for the
blacks, and a bequest of the Rev. Thomas Bray, an
Episcopalian clergyman, who had come over to the
colony before the close of the seventeenth century,
and who, in his will, had made provisions for mis-
sionary work, was diverted in 1774 to the purpose of
educating colored youths. Before the year 1790 the
Pennsylvania Abolition Society had started a similar
school. It was about this time that Sunday-schools
EDUCATION.
1923
began to be popular. They were not exactly what we
of the present day understand by that term. Their
essential object was not, as it now is, religious in-
struction. The members of the society for the sup-
port of the schools opened them on Sunday, because
on that day many young person^ had better oppor-
tunities than at any other time to learn how to read,
write, and cipher.. Three of these schools were kept
in operation, and it is estimated that they had an
average attendance of about two hundred and fifty
pupils.
One of the most fashionable institutions of these
days was Poor's Academy for Young Ladies, which
was started on Cherry Street, about 1787, by John
Poor. It was incorporated in 1792, and for some
time, under the presidency of the Rev. Samuel Ma-
gaw, its reputation stood deservedly high. Its curri-
culum included reading, writing, arithmetic, gram-
mar, geography, with the use of the maps and globes,
and vocal music. As many as one hundred and fifty
pupils a year attended the academy, and for a young
lady to be a graduate from it was considered as an
evidence that she possessed much more than the or-
dinary accomplishments. The annual commence-
ment days in the churches, and the street parades,
were occasions of much interest in the town. The
vocal studies of the fair pupils were in particular
noteworthy. Pianos were then beginning to be in-
troduced, and were superseding the spinet, the harp-
sichord, and the guitar. The study of the modern
languages seems to have been almost entirely a matter
of individual engagement with private tutors. Just
after the Revolution teachers of French, Spanish,
and Italian, who were not then in the habit of dub-
bing themselves " professors," were frequently to be
met with, and owing to the intimate relation which
existed between this country and France particular
stress was laid upon the value of a knowledge of the
French tongue.
The schools were generally conducted with sim-
plicity and severity. The closest application was re-
quired of the pupils. Very little that was only orna-
mental was permitted in their management. Until
1795 such titles as "seminaries," "institutes," and
" lyceums" were hardly known. The rod and the
strap were applied regularly to offenders and delin-
quents of both sexes, and often in the presence of
both. Indeed, with the exception of the young ladies
at the academy and one or two other schools of that
kind, the boys and girls were mostly taught together
in the same classes. The schoolmasters administered
the punishment of flogging with the greatest apparent
delight in the exercise. This was accounted for by ref-
erence to the fact that many of them were Englishmen
or Irishmen, who had contracted these rigorous notions
of discipline in their home-training. "Theyconceived,
and conceived truly," says Watson, in his " Annals,"
"that their business was to make their scholars good
writers, good readers, good arithmeticians, and intelli-
gent grammarians;" and then they justly inferred that
they were qualified by their own separate exertions
to improve themselves at home, if they would, " in all
manner of intellectual attainments, such as history,
philosophy, belles-lettres," etc. If these pedagogues,
who were generally quiet, unaspiring men, managed •
(by teaching their scholars at ten shillings a quarter)
to acquire a home in the course of their lifetime they
were content. They were slow to welcome innova-
tions, but applied themselves to their duties with a
zeal which was as unostentatious as it was intense in
its single-minded devotion. Nor were the school-
houses in which they held forth elaborate edifices.
Little of that busy ingenuity with which the educators
of to-day endeavor to make school life comfortable
and attractive was then bestowed on the class-room.
In 1770 there was a private academy at the upper end
of the city, near the river front, and not far above
what is now Vine Street. It was a long stone build-
ing, three stories high on Water Street and two stories
on Front Street, and was thought to be very attractive
on account of its beautiful situation.
A fair picture of the school life of the time is given
by Watson in his description of the old " Friends'
Academy," on Fourth Street, below Chestnut. "The
principal was of middle size, round, and strongly built,
habited as a clergyman, in parson's gray suit, cocked
hat, and full-bottomed powdered wig." There were
four different masters. " The west room down-stairs
was occupied by Robert Proud, Latin master; the
one above him by William Waring, teacher of as-
tronomy and mathematics ; the east room, up-stairs,
by Jeremiah Paul ; and the one below, last, but not
least in our remembrance, by J. Todd, severe as he
was. The State-House clock being at the time visi-
ble from the school pavement, gave to the eye full
notice when to break off marble and plug-top hastily,
collect the 'stakes' and bundle in pell-mell to the
school-room, where, until the arrival of the 'master
of scholars,' John, they were busily employed every
one in finding his place under the control of a
short Irishman usher, named Jimmy McCue." Forty
years ago this writer looked back upon those as hal-
cyon times, and his own as somewhat degenerate.
Education seemed to him then to be more perplexing,
wearisome, and annoying than it was in the time of
his early recollection, and the teachers, too, much
affected in their imitations of colleges, and in their
desire to teach the ornamental branches of learning.
And now in turn we have the same complaints of our
schools, in 1884, with many an endearing allusion to
the simplicity of the schools of forty years ago.
It was not until the beginning of the present cen-
tury that the idea of educating children generally at
the expense of the State or the taxpayers began to
find a lodgment in the public mind. In January,
1792, the society which had carried on the three
Sunday-schools had asked the Legislature to make
effective that part of the Constitution of 1790 which
1924
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
enjoined the Legislature to provide for schools
throughout the State in such a manner that the poor
might be taught gratis. Plans for setting up a school
in each county that had three representatives were
formulated by a legislative committee, but nothing
came of them for three years, when Governor MiflSin
impressed the Houses with the importance of the sub-
ject. Finally, in 1796, the Assembly took up a bill
which had for its object the gratuitous tuition of the
poor, one-fifth of the expense to be borne by the
State, and four-fifths by county taxes. It was met
with remonstrances from many quarters, principally
from the Friends and the Lutherans, who argued
that they supported their own schools, that they
never received any assistance from the State, and
that a general school tax would not be consistent
with equal justice. The bill managed to pass the
House, but its progress was stopped in the more con-
servative Senate. Governor Mifflin repeatedly called
the attention of the Assembly to the need of such a
law, and at nearly every session up to the year 1802
the feasibility of public schools was discussed by the
representatives of the people. In that year, however,
was planted the first germ of our public-school system
in an act which applied only to the city and county
of Philadelphia, and by the terms of which the chil-
dren of persons who were too poor to pay for their
education were provided for and distributed among
the private schools, and the cost of their tuition was
paid out of the county treasury. This was not done
without much opposition from the conservative ele-
ment of the city, which could not relish an innova-
tion, and especially one which, as they considered it,
made a deep and unjust inroad upon their pockets
for the sake of people in whom they felt no interest.
Far from being animated by this spirit was a little
gathering of young men, who in the winter of 1799
were in the habit of talking over the need of popular
education, and who, although they were only appren-
tices, clerks, and newly-started business men, were
enterprising enough to form an association, called
" The Philadelphia Society for the Free Instruction
of Indigent Boys." They opened a night-school, did
much good, and soon became of sufficient importance
to ask for an act of incorporation. Just at this time
a wealthy German citizen, Christopher Ludwick, who
had meditated the establishment of a charity school,
died, leaving eight thousand dollars to the associa-
tion which should be first incorporated for the pur-
pose of teaching gratis poor children in Philadelphia,
without any regard to the nativity or religion of their
parents or their friends. The trustees of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania were also anxious to obtain this
handsome fund, and they and the young men of the
new society struggled earnestly for priority in se-
curing a charter. Governor McKean, in order that
no favors might be shown, delivered to the agents of
the rivals at the same moment their articles of incor-
poration. Before these documents became legal it
was necessary to have them recorded in the rolli
office at Lancaster. The bearers of the papers sat
out from this city in a hot race to reach that town
first. The messenger for the University, who was on
horseback, and Temple Bennett Eves, for the society,
who was drawn in a sulky, drove their animals furi-
ously ; but Eves soon distanced his competitor, and
arrived in Lancaster, sixty-six miles distant, in seven
hours. He succeeded in completing the incorpora-
tion of the society before the University trustees could
do so for themselves, and thus ultimately established
its claim to Ludwick's legacy, a fund which proved
to be of much benefit to the poor children of the city.
The Ludwick School, conducted by this society, was
first opened in a room of the Third Presbyterian
Church, at Third and Arch Streets, and afterward in
a building on the north side of Walnut Street, above
Sixth. The names of Paul Beck and John Keble are
also honorably identified with the schools which
were founded by this society, through their philan-
thropy.
The colored people of the city did not depend en-
tirely upon the charity of white citizens for the educa-
tion of poor children. In the year 1804 was formed a
Society of Free People of Color for promoting the
instruction and school education of children of Afri-
can descent. Among the projectors of this enter-
prise were Richard Allen, William Brown, and Joseph
Albert. No religious distinctions were permitted, and
it was agreed that the Pennsylvania Abolition Society
should have the privilege of inspecting the schools,
inquiring into the accounts and funds, and suggesting
regulations of government. In the same year a school
was opened by the society in Carter's Alley, under the
charge of John Trumbull as teacher. The congre-
gation of St. Thomas' African Church also adopted
measures at the same time for establishing a school
which should be more directly under the influence of
their religious teachings. At this period there were
three or four other schools for the free instruction of
colored boys and girls, and there were as many more
in which tuition was furnished at fifteen shillings a
quarter.
In the early part of this century, and probably be-
fore the close of the last, there was a school near
Darby, taught by Alexander Wilson, afterward cele-
brated as an ornithologist. He was a Scotchman,
who came over to this country about the year 1794,
and while living near Darby was on intimate terms
with the famous botanist, William Bartram. The
building in which he kept school was situated on
the Darby road, a short distance west of its intersec-
tion with Gray's Ferry road. Wilson, who was of
a roving disposition and who had not yet written
the book which gave him renown, abandoned the
school in 1804, about which time he contributed to
the Literary Magazine a long poem of upwards of two
hundred lines, recounting the experience of " The
Solitary Tutor." Its opening verse was, —
EDUCATION.
1925
"Whoe'er across the SclniylkiU's winding tide,
Beyond Gray's Ferry half a mile, liaa been
Down in a bridge built hollow must have spy'd
A neat stone school-house on a sloping green.
There, tufted cedars scattered round are seen,
And stripling poplars planted in a row ;
Some old gray white-oaks overhang the scene.
Pleased to look down upon the youth below.
Whose noisy nooDtide sports no care nor sorrow
Here many a tour the lonely tutor takes, —
Long known to~ solitude, his partner dear, —
For smiling woods his empty school forsakes
At morn, still noon, and silent evening clear."
ALEXANDER WILSON'S SCHOOL-HOUSE.
The reputation of the city for its private institutions
of education stood high throughout the United States
during the early years of this century. The Clermont
Seminary, on the road leading from Frankford to Ger-
mantown, was established, in 1806, by John Thomas
Carre and Charles Carre ; pupils were charged three
hundred dollars a year each. John Sanderson was for
some time prominent as its principal. The Mount
Airy Seminary, on the Germantown road, about eight
miles distant from the city, was opened in the f"llow-
ing year by the Rev. F. X. Brosius, under the aus-
pices of Roman Catholic divines. An academy was
in existence near Frankford, under the management
of the Rev. John W. Doake, of the Presbyterian
Church. There were not a few other institutions of a
like character in and about the city. Nor was mili-
tary training altogether neglected. Some time after
the war of 1812 a classical and military lyceum was
established near Germantown, under the management
of B. Constant and Col. A. L. Roumfort. It was
modeled an the plan of the United States government
school at West Point, and was designed to prepare
pupils for admission to that institution. The .students,
who were known as cadets, were charged two hundred
and fifty dollars a year, and were clad in gray uni-
forms, with a black leather cap seven inches high,
and a pompon nearly as long. During the first twenty
or twenty-five years of the present century private
schools of various degrees of merit were carried on by
Joseph Longhead, Mrs. Rivardi, John Jones, Francis
Varion, D. Hewitt, Mrs. Tuckett, Ignace Fraiser,
Daniel Magenis, James Hamer, David Simon, T.
Loomis, Benjamin Tucker, J. Hobson, William P.
Smith, Gray and Wylie, I. Stenson, Rev. William
Mann and William J. Bedlock, and Ballaiityne and
Corson. It will thus bo seen that parents who could
afford to keep their children out of what it was then
common to stigmatize as " pauper schools" had many
educational facilities jireseiited to them at a cost
which was, in the main, comparatively moderate. The
free schools supported by private charity were also
numerous, but few of them were efiiciently or consci-
entiously managed, and the distinction between rich
and poor, which was raised by accepting their privi-
leges, served to prevent them from becoming popular
as they should have been.
The principles of the kindergarten, which we are
commonly disposed to accept as a modern plan of
education, were not entirely unknown to the tutors of
our grandfathers. William Maclure, of this city, had
witnessed in Europe the practical workings of what
was known as the Pestallozian .system. So much im-
pressed was he with its wisdom that he engaged a
German, Joseph Neef, who was an associate of Pes-
tallozi, to introduce it into Pennsylvania. About
the year 1807 Neef made his appearance in Philadel-
phia. Not long afterward he wrote a book entitled
"Sketch of a Plan and a Method of Education
founded on an Analysis of the Human Faculties and
Natural Reason : suitable for the offspring of a Free
People, and for all Rational Beings." This work
attracted some attention, and was commented upon
with much enthusiasm by Col. William Duane, who
assisted Neef in opening a school on the Smith prop-
erty, near the Falls of Schuylkill. Here the rod was
unknown and the formality of the pedagogue dis-
carded. The teacher was to be guide, play-fellow,
and messmate. Neef himself was described as a
perfect child of nature. He never touched money
and never wanted money. His wife attended to all
his pecuniary dealings while he was absorbed in his
school. No book was allowed to his boys, but slates,
blackboards, and other contrivances for assisting
mental operations were not tabooed. The course of
study occupied six years. Much of it was conducted
in the open air. The children were first taught to
draw before they were able to spell, read, or write,
and mental arithmetic was taught with a proficiency
which surprised spectators in the cleverness of its
results. It is related that Zerah Colburn, " the
lightning calculator," who was then exhibited about
the country as a prodigy, was more than matched by
some of Neel's boys on one occasion, and that the
arithmetical genius, in his exasperation, came to fisti-
cuffs with one of the class. This German school-
master was also in the habit of roaming around the
country with his pupils, examining plants, flowers,
and minerals, and delivering to them lectures on the
curiosities they would discover. After some years
1926
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Mr. Neef abandoned his school and took up his abode
in one of the Western States.
Another attempt to embody in practice some of
the ideas which Von Fellenburg, a follower of Pesta-
lozzi, had derived from his philosophy, was made in
the year 1822. Coming to this city as an exile, he
found some sympathizing admirers who assisted him
to found a school, in which the leading principle was
the union of labor with education. It was known as
the Fellenburg School, and when it was located in a
building on Bank Street had as many as one hundred
and thirty pupils. They were noted for skill in the
plaiting of straw for hats and bonnets, and at one of
the exhibitions of the Franklin Institute, a medal was
granted the school for its excellence in this depart-
ment of industry.
The discussion which was carried on in Philadel-
phia during 1817-18 over the attempts to introduce
the system of teaching that had been formulated by
Joseph Lancaster had an important effect, not so
much as the intrinsic value of his methods was con-
cerned, as in the additional interest which was excited
in the welfare of children, and in the movement
to open schools at the expense of the taxpayers. The
Lancasterian system' was regarded with much favor.
Its popularity enabled the advocates of public schools
to appease much of the opposition against them by a
promise on their part that it would be adopted in the
schools which the law might authorize. On the 16th
of March, 1818, was passed by the Legislature the act
which erected the First School District of Pennsyl-
vania, and which, unlike the more famous common-
school law of eighteen years later, applied only to
this county.
The directors of the first four [sections who were
elected by Councils and by the district commis-
sioners were as follows :
First SecHon. — Robert Wharton, Joseph Keed, Rob-
erts Vaux, Thomas Stewardson, William Fry, Jonah
Thompson, John Sergeant, Clement C. Biddle, Joseph
M. Paul, Daniel B. Smith, Thomas F. Learning, Rev.
Philip H. Mayer, Jonathan Fell, Daniel H. Miller,
William Ashbridge, Richard C. Wood, William J.
Duane, Robert M. Lewis, Joseph Cloud, Thomas Lati-
mer, Reuben Haines, William Smith, Rev. Dr. Neil,
John Claxton, and William J. Duane.
Second Section. — George Boyd, Peter Keyser, John
C. Brown, John Kessler, William Binder, Jacob G.
Tryon, Jesse Cleaver, George F. Goodman, George
Knorr, John Harrison, Jacob Johnson, and James
S. Stuber.
Third Section. — Benjamin Martin, Robert McMullin,
Jr., Ebenezer Ferguson, John Turner, George Mc-
Leod, George C. Snyder, James Ronaldson, Daniel
Guisy, Thomas Dixey, James McCann, Joshua Ray-
bold, and John Lesher.
Fourth Section. — David Woelpper, William Warner,
1 For abBtract of this system, see vol. i. p. 594, note.
George Esher, George Laudenslager, Martin Ludie,
and Joseph B. Norbury.
A large proportion of these men were citizens of |
excellent standing, and it may be doubted whether
the average character of our school boards has since
always stood as high as it did when it was a some-
what novel distinction for a citizen to serve the com-
munity in that capacity. The Board of Control was
elected by the directors, and when it was organized,
on the 6th of April, 1818, it was made up of Roberts
Vaux (president), Thomas Stewardson, Joseph Reed,
William Fry, George Boyd, Peter Keyser, Ebenezer
Ferguson, James Ronaldson, and David Woelpper.
One of their first acts which was much commended
at the time was to secure the services of Joseph Lan-
caster as superintendent of the schools. The branches
of study were simply reading, writing, and arithmetic,
with instruction in sewing to girls. In the model
school on Chester Street, which was under charge of
Lancaster himself, and the design of which was to
train up young teachers for service in the interior of
the State, the course of training was more extensive.
During the first year of the new schools they were
attended by two thousand eight hundred and forty-
five pupils of both sexes, who were apportioned as
follows :
Schools. Teachers.
Section.
First (the city proper)
Second Adelphi ■) •^"^l
Eeni
L Allii
Third Moyame
iing.
( Joseph Kctler.
( Jane Protidfit.
j Peter Mc&jwan.
1 Morris Wilson.
/Samuel F. Watson.
1 Elizal.eth Willard.
Fourth Spring Garden. Moses Taylor.
The school buildings used were in some in.'itances
those which had formerly been occupied by the charity
schools?, such as the Adelphi, on Pegg Street, between
Front and Second, and the Paul Beck school in
Moyamensing. The total expense of operating these
schools in 1818 was $23,049, of which $15,000 had
been expended on the construction of the new build-
ing of the Model school ; S3808 for furniture ; and S5082
for the salaries of the ten teachers, for rent, and for
incidentals. The friends of public education pointed
with much pride to the fact that while, under the
system which had just been supplanted, the average
cost for each child was $11, it had now fallen to
$3.57. Nor was this wide discrepancy altogether a
subject of wonder. It appeared that inefficiency, fraud,
and corruption had characterized the county com-
missioners' distribution of the public bounty among
the charity schools. Thus, in one instance, where
they had represented that three hundred children had
been paid for, only thirty of them could be dis-
covered.
President Roberts Vaux, in drawing up the first
report of the controllers, said, " They entered upon
the discharge of their oflScial duties at a period and
under circumstances by no means propitious to the
EDUCATION.
1927
experiment contemplated to be made in the new sys-
tem of free education. For nearly ten years previous [
to the enactment of the law under which they are I
organized, several well- intended but inadequate and
unsuccessful legislative provisions had been applied
to this district for the free instruction of indigent ;
children. It was natural, that in so far as the public
mind had become familiar with the inefficiency and
experiences of the plans formerly adopted, that doubts j
of the success and want of confidence in any untried
scheme should be manifest, whilst unworthy jealousies
and illiberal prejudices did not fail to cast their influ-
ence into the scale against the effiarts to produce re-
form. With these combined objections and difficul-
ties to encounter, the controllers began their labors
without the animating expectation that in so short a
space of time they would have been enabled to over-
come them. . . . From the year 1810 to the month of
June, in the year 1818, the county commissioners
issued orders upon the county treasurer for the pay-
ment to the teachers, to whom the children of indi-
gent persons were intrusted for education, of sums
amounting to $114,114.97. In the years 1815-17 the
number of children returned by the assessors averaged
two thousand six hundred annually."
It was with some difficultj- that the prejudices
against the new schools could be made to disappear.
Even the poor and ignorant people, whose children
they were intended to benefit, could not easily be per-
suaded to avail themselves of the advantages which
were thus offered to their offspring. The pupils were
not all in the habit of attending the schools regularly,
and there was little of that effective yet mild disci-
pline which prevail in the system of to-day. An idea
of how the schools at this time were managed and
what studies were pursued may be obtained from a
description by Dr. Joseph C. Martindale of the school
at Byberry. " In the lower room," he says, —
" a single row of desks was formally placed around next to the walls,
BO that all the pupils sat facing the stones and mortar, and mostly had
their backs to the teacher. The benches consisted of a number of
stools, without backs, fastened to a plank ten or twelve feet long, and so
arranged as to suit the desks. On these the pupils sat from morning till
night, leaning over their desks in front, without any support whatever
, lor their backs. The desks had lids which could he lifted up when it
was desired to examine the contents within ; and the boys and girls
might often be seen with the lids resting on their heads, much to their
detriment in the way of study. In the centre of the room stood the
old wood-stove, in which many a cord of hickory and oak had been con-
sumed. It was then the duty of the larger boys to split up enough wood
to keep the room warm, and when an armload was wanted one of them
was detached for that duty and soon returned with the required amount.
At noontime the boys and girls took turns in sweeping out the school-
room, but neither this nor the splitting of wood was then considered a
hardship, although it might occasion a little grumbling if enforced at
the present day. Then, too, we had the good old quill pens, which were
regularly mended by the teacher after each lesson in writing, which
•was generally given morning and afternoon. The copies, too, had to be
ruled by him, a task never imposed upon the teacher now. The books
then in use were Pike's and Rose's Arithmetics, the New Testament,
the Introduction, English Reader, Sequel, Cowper's ' Task,' the Exposi-
tor, (Jomly's Speller, and Olney's Geography. But little explanation was
then given by the teacher, and the only wonder now is that the pupils
learned anything at all."
123
How necessary it was to be scrupulous in the dis-
bursement of the school funds at this time— a conse-
quence, no doubt, of the exposures of the frauds that had
been practiced by the county commissioners— is shown
in the rejection of certain bills that were presented
to the Board of Control. The county auditors re-
ported that " they had examined the objections of the
controllers to Benjamin Morton's account, as rendered
Feb. 4, 1821, in which he charges $100.49 for a " raising
dinner," which exceeded the amount allowed by the
controllers S50.49 ; and Sylvester Roberts' account for
printing 1000 copies of an address delivered at Eben-
ezer Church on the 4th of July last, $3 for printing
a hymn on the same occasion ; John Graham's ac-
count of $4 for a suit of clothes given to a boy for
reading the Declaration of Independence at the same
time ; and John Allen's, of $1.50, for preparing the
said church on the said occasion ; and they perfectly
coincide with the controllers that the said charges
are improper and cannot be admitted."
Down to about the year 1833 the public schools
made comparatively slow progress. Although in
1819 there were three thousand two hundred and
sixty-eight names of children on the Lancasterian
rolls, that number fourteen years later had not in-
creased much above five thousand. During the years
1821-23 there was a gradual falling oflT, which was
ascribed to the demands of the manufacturing system
for the labor of children. Roberts Vaux continued
to be president of the board up to the year 1831, and
his labors were characterized by much zeal and in-
telligence. He made way for Thomas Dunlap, a
man of considerable energy, with a leaning toward
innovation, and his influence was soon brought to
bear toward the abolition of the Lancasterian idea.
In furtherance of the new plans which he suggested
he was much aided by a bequest of ten thousand dol-
lars contained in the will of Stephen Girard. New
school-houses were built, reforms were encouraged,
and the experiment of infant schools, which soon
after ripened into primary schools, was tried in 1832
at the model school with satisfactory results. It may
not be uninteresting to tabulate here a list of the
public schools and the teachers of fifty years ago.
They were as follows :
MODEI. School (Chester Street).— John L. Khees and Anna Bird.
Infant School, A. M. Williams.
Locust Street (corner Locust and Twelfth).— William S. Cleavenger
and Eliza Eastburn.
Northwestern (Schuylkill, Seventh [Fifteenth] and Race).— Hiram
Ayres and Martha C. Hallowell.
Soothwesteen (Spruce Street, near Kitteuhouse Square).— Samuel
T. and Eliza Bateman.
Northern Liberties (Third, near Brown}.— John E. Coleman and
Frances R. Eastburn.
Franrlin Street (east of Fourth Street).— Louisa Beuford.
SoUTHWARK (Catharine, between Third and Fourth).— Samuel F.
I Watson and Eliza McLeod.
MOTAMENSINQ (west Of Pnssyunk road).— Peter SIcGowen and Ann
; Dolby.
Pens Township (Buttonwood, near Eleventh).— B. E. Chamberlain
I and Julia A. Byrne.
1928
HISTORY OF I'HILADELPHIA.
Kensington (Marlboroueh Street). — Heory W. Chadwick and Eliza-
beth W. Beechy.
LoMBAHD (colored, Lombard, near Sixth). — James M, Bird and
Maria C. Button.
Apple Stbeet (colored. Northern Liberties). — William Sherman.
The agitation for a passage of a general common-
school law for the entire State — being in effect
an extension of the act of 1818, that hitherto had •
applied only to Philadelphia — was watched with
great interest by the friends of education in this city,
and was much facilitated by them through a society
for the promotion of education that had been or-
ganized in 1827. In June, 1834, the Legislature
passed an act providing that townships, boroughs,
and wards should constitute school districts, and
authorizing a tax to be levied, in order that schools
might be maintained at the public expense. An in-
tense opposition, which it is now difficult to look
upon without surprise, prevailed in many portions of
the State, and in 1835 would have overthrown the
new law had it not been for the steadfast advocacy
which was given it by such men as Thaddeus Stevens,
George Wolf, and Joseph Ritner.
They soon succeeded in creating a powerful public
opinion in its favor, so that, in 1836, it was amended
and much improved, the system being confided to the
superintendency of Thomas H. Burrowes, who was
then secretary of the commonwealth. One of the
provisions of the law of 1836, as applying to Phila-
delphia, directed that all children over four years of
age should be educated, annulled the obligation to
use the Lancasterian system, and authorized the es-
tablishment of a Central High School. It seems to
have had a stimulating effect upon the board of
control, and was certainly in accordance with the
wishes of President Dunlap and most of its members.
In the same year a committee was sent to make an
inspection of the schools in New York and Boston,
and they were much impressed with the system which
prevailed in the latter city. The infant schools, which
had turned out to be successful experiments, were
now superseded by primary schools, thirty of which
were opened in 1836, under the charge of lady
teachers. The salaries paid them were two hundred
and fifty dollars a year, which, in proportion to the
higher value of money in 1836, was not lower than is
now given young ladies who teach the youngest
classes in the public schools. The children were kept
in these classes until they had acquired a rudimental
knowledge of reading and spelling, the first princi-
ples of writing, and some of the rules of arithmetic.
This reform, which was introduced under the super-
vision of a committee consisting of Morton Mc-
Michael, Samuel H. Turner, and George M. Justice,
assisted by Mr. Dunlap, was the beginning of the end
of Joseph Lancaster's system. The controllers had
reached the conclusion that, although it was intended
to make education as cheap as possible, it was in the
long run dear, and not productive of the best results.
Under his plan of picking out monitors, it was cal-
culated that one teacher could take charge of three
hundred children, but in the reaction against it i|
which now set in, it was declared that the great need
was more teachers, and much fewer pupils to each
teacher.
President Dunlap, in his report written in the year
1837, said, " Scarcely nineteen years have elapsed since
a few public-spirited and philanthropic individuals,
disgusted with the miserable provisions and fraudu-
lent execution of the existing laws for the gratuitous
education, determined to attain a melioration of the
system. The act of March, 1818, was the prize of
their conflict. This has ever since been the school
charter of the First District, and, modified by subse-
quent amendments, now affords, by the splendid im-
provements of last session, all that can be desired to
carry out a complete system of universal public in-
struction from the primary school to the proudest in-
stitute of human learning. But eighteen years have
rolled away since the original board opened the first
school with a few pupils in a hired room ; now they
point their fellow-citizens to eleven magnificent edi-
fices for the accommodation of our children, of whom
they can proudly point to twelve thousand actually
enrolled in more than fifty schools. All this, too,
has been effected by the noiseless, unobtrusive, but
unceasing constancy of men content to gain a great
good for themselves by foregoing notoriety or emolu-
ment,— even the common approbation of their fellow-
citizens, many of whom are scarcely apprised that
such a system exists, or, if so, barely extend to it the
coldest toleration."
Mr. Dunlap had in mind the project of the new
High School when he referred to the " proudest insti-
tute of human learning." A lot of ground on Juni-
per Street, east of Penn Square, and near the United
States Mint, was bought by the board in 1837, and on
September 19th of the same year the corner-stone of
a substantial edifice of brick was laid. The school
was opened on the 21st of October, 1838, and during
its first year eighty-nine boys were admitted to it.
The instructors were John Frost, in the English de-
partment ; E. C. Wines, in the classical department ;
E. Otis Kendall, in the department of mathematics,
astronomy, natural philosophy, and chemistry; and
Henry McMurtrie, teacher of special physics. The
germ of the school was still imperfectly developed
when, in 1839, Alexander Dallas Bache, who had
been chosen president of Girard College, volunteered
to give his services to the Board of Education while
he was waiting for the time when the completion of
the college would enable him to enter upon his duties
in that institution. The offer was gladly accepted,
and Professor Bache, while assuming something of a
supervisory or rather advisory control of the schools,
was detailed more particularly to organize the High
School. He was made acting principal of the school,
and the impress of his well-equipped mind was soon
EDUCATION.
1929
felt upon it. He submitted a report in the summer of
1840 to the effect that the number of students had in-
creased to one hundred and forty-seven, of whom the
parents of ninety-four had chosen the business course,
twenty-six the classical course, and twenty-one the
English course. To the corps of instructors were
added J. A. Delorette, professor of the French Lan-
guage ; Rembrandt Peale, professor of Drawing and
Writing ; William Vogdes, professor of Mathematics ;
and John Sanderson, in the classical department.
It was estimated that the average cost of training
each scholar was fifty-five dollars a year, the studies
being Latin, Greek, French, belles-lettres, moral and
mental science, mathematics, natural philosophy,
natural history, drawing, and writing. At the same
time the average cost of each of the twenty-three
thousand pupils in the lower grade of schools was a
little more than five dollars a year. Not less than
eighty per cent, of the boys in the High School were
children of a class of people who could not otherwise
have bestowed upon them the benefits of such an
education.
The fame of the High School was soon spread
abroad, even reaching England. The erection of its
observatory, supplied as it was with superior appara-
tus, was accounted the beginning of a new era in
astronomical science in this country. It was from its
tower that the return of Enke's comet was detected,
and such was the interest in celestial observations
awakened by it that a journal devoted to astronomy
was issued from the school. The observatory was a
square brick tower, about forty-eight feet high, and it
contained Frauenhofer's equatorial, a sidereal clock,
fine telescopes, a comet-searcher, sextant, and other
valuable instruments. Even Harvard University was
not so well equipped, and the Naval Observatory at
Washington not infrequently borrowed the telescopes.
Professor E. Otis Kendall had charge of the observa-
tory, and did much to give it a reputation among men
of science.
After three years of service in the High School,
Professor Bache retired, but not until after he had
formed for the school the substantial frame-work of
the course of discipline and organization by which it
is still characterized. His genius, energy, and fore-
cast were held in much value by the board, which
took occasion to say of him, " By his great talents,
joined to the most indefatigable exertions, during the
three years that he was in the service of the board, he
not only carried out almost to its complete develop-
ment his plan for the reorganization of the High
School, but rendered at a most critical time essential
service to the directors of the various sections in the
examination of teachers and the remodeling and per-
fecting of the Primary, Secondary, and Grammar
Schools."
The strong recommendations which John S. Hart,
who had been adjunct professor of Languages in
Princeton College, received from the faculty of that
institution induced the controllers to appoint him to
the vacancy made by resignation of Dr. Bache. Pro-
fessor Hart proved to be exactly the man for the place.
His salary was fixed at sixteen hundred dollars a
year, which was about three hundred dollars in excess
of the sum paid each of the other professors. With
that quiet energy and keen sagacity which in no long
time raised him to a high place among American
educators, and which would have distinguished him
in almost any sphere of action, he did much to make
the school still more popular and useful. His name
will always be gratefully remembered in this city,
where he lived so many years a blameless life. Dr.
Bache's plan of a four years' course to be pursued by
eight classes, the first class graduating every six
months, was adopted by Professor Hart, and the first
notewortli-y commencement under it was in 1842,
when the following youths, many of whom are now
or have since been leading citizens, were graduated in
the order named, each one having prepared an essay:
1. John v. Merrick, " Intellectual Improveuient."
2. George Harding, " Age of Leo."
3. William Hunter, " The Student's Reward."
4. Lewis L. Houpt, " Study of Living Language."
6. Isaac L. Ortlip, " Retrospection."
6. Alexander Kirkpatrick, " lufluence of Literature."
7. Lewis J. Evans, " Intlueoce of Music."
8. Henry S. Hagert, " Decline of Taste."
9. BeDJaniin H. Rand, " Classical Studies."
10. William H. Hawkins, " Ancient and Modern Arts."
11. Charles S. Rand, "Greek Literature."
12. John L. Baker, " Works of Aristophanes."
13. Stephen N. Winslow, " Encouragement of National Industry."
14. David L. Ketler, " North America."
15. Henry Gerhart, " Country Customs."
16. Jarvis Mason, " Agriculture."
17. Samuel Flood, " Genius of Byron."
18. Kdward W. Clark, " Female Education."
19. Joseph S. Carels, " Orators of America."
20. George W. Mears, " The Infatuation of the Age."
21. William V. McGrath, "The Aristophian and the Platonic Phi-
losophy,"
22. Adolphus H, Ashton, " Distribution of Happiness."
23. Jesse Pearson, " Progress of Temperance."
24. Robert Young, " Influence of Minds."
25. Charles E, Young, " Solon and Lycurgua."
26. John W, Berks, " Francis Marion,"
27. Christopher H, Bunn, " Description of a Shipwreck,"
28. Simeon Stover, " Legislation of Solon,"
29. William H, Swimley, " The Sultan's Son-in-Law,"
30. Charles Zeitler, "The Plague of Naples in 1650,"
31. James Bradley, " Study of Philosophy."
32. B. Frederick Forepaugh, *' Mountain Scenery."
33. Isaac J. Potter, " The Crusaders."
34. Francis McBride, " Poetry."
35. Lafayette L. Webster, " Retributive Justice,"
3G, William Garvin, " Commerce,"
37. William C. Tripler, " Human Greatness."
38. Edwin A. Hemble, "Improvement of Time."
39. Isaac Sage, " State of Europe."
At this time there were three hundred and eighty-
three pupils in the school, and an alumni association
was already in existence. It continued in after-years
to embrace the names of many men who to-day hold
honorable places in the community. For instance,
Henry S. Hagert (who filled the post of valedictorian
of the above class, became district attorney), William
1930
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1
V. McGrath (entered politics, was influential as a
Democrat, and held the place of State treasurer),
Stephen N. Winslow (became one of the best known
of Philadelphia editors), George Harding (reached
distinction as one of the most successful patent lawyers
in the United States), B. H. Band and Zephaniah
Hopper afterward came back to the school as professors,
and William Hunter's name has since been honor-
ably identified with our public schools, J. Vaughan
Merrick (prominent for his scientific knowledge of
machinery), and George W. Mears (one of the presi-
dents of the Commercial Exchange) came out of this
first noteworthy class. A list of all the High School
boys who have done credit to their Alma Mater would
be very long. Prominent among them, however, may
be named Lewis C. Cassidy (the attorney-general of
Pennsylvania), Dr. Charles M. Cresson (the chemist),
William M. Cramp (the ship-builder), George Alfred
Townsend (the famous " Gath" of the newspaper
press), John J. MeElhone, and the Murphy brothers
(who became almost indispensable at Washington
as Congressional stenographers), James Gay Gordon
(of the State Senate), Governor Kobert E. Pattison,
Judge James T. Mitchell, George Inman Riche (now
the head of the institution), Charles E. Warburton
(of the Philadelphia Evening Tekgraph), John Russell
Young (one of the most accomplished of American
journalists) and his brother, James Rankin Young
(the executive clerk of the United States Senate),
Dennis F. Dealy (for many years a publisher of news-
papers), Joel Cook (editor of the Public Ledger), Adam
Everly (the conveyancer), Col. William McMichael,
Col. Robert P. Dechert, Judge Michael Arnold, Jo-
seph L. Caven, David H. Lane, William D. Gardner,
John D. Stockton (once one of the most brilliant
of newspaper writers), Charles T. School (publisher
of the Evening Star), Peter A. B. Widener, William
Nelson West (ex-city solicitor), Alexander J. Mc-
Cleary (long an influential writer for the press),
George H. Boker, David W. Sellers, Dr. Burchard
W.James, Malcom Hay (the Pittsburgh lawyer). Rev.
Joseph S. Kennard, William M. Singerly (the pub-
lisher of the Public Record), Lewis L. Houpt (en-
gineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad), Alexander P.
Colesbury, James W. Latta, James Morgan Hart (son
of Professor Hart), John G. Johnson, Rev. Ignatius
F. Horstmann, Mayer Sulzberger, and almost as
many more, who have reached honorable distinction
in the public life of the city or the State.
Mr. Townsend, in a fugitive newspaper sketch some
years ago, narrated his experience in the school. " The
first impression," he said, " I had of the High School
was when it was seriously proposed to send me to it,
was of an immensely aristocratic place, where all the
well-bred, patent-leather-shod, silver-watch boys were
collected from the select streets. . . . The principal
was thought to be the most dreadful, most learned, and
the most aristocratic individual in this country, not
excepting the President of the United States. John
S. Hart, LL.D ! The title made us shiver with re-
spect. He had published real books and got them
into the schools, too. Grammars, class books of poetry,
and some said a treatise on the Anglo-Saxon roots.
This last stumped us; a man entrenched in Anglo-
Saxon, who could understand what Geoffrey Chaucer
wrote, was certainly beyond sympathy for us. The
State of Pennsylvania possessed in Professor Hart one
of its ablest men for any branch of executive labor.
He would have made a good Governor, and, I have
no doubt, a good judge. As a disciplinarian, ruling
by what he did not do or say rather than by speech or
action, he was equal to a regular army general. We
felt him because he felt himself That pale, pure face,
with skin like a woman's in softness and spiritual
light, those meditative, scholarly eyes, in which was
the heroism of firmness, and the clean, plain dress
and linen ; we did not know what it was, but it was that
perfection of things we saw, — a Christian gentleman.
He had started in youth with the great and sacrificial
ambition of becoming an instructor, and was, therefore,
perfectly contented with his growth and rank. . . .
So long as he was at the head of that school he refined
it, although it was full of coarse and mongrel ma-
terial. It was impossible that he should have inti-
macy or even intercourse with many out of its five
hundred to six hundred boys, but those few who got
to know him in subsequent years had a change of ex-
perience; he was then felt to be soft and almost
humorous, and in some respects quite a child. But
while we were in the school he exercised over us all
the nameless control of a thorough teacher and edu-
cational magistrate."
Professor Hart was never wrong in making reforms
and improvements. The Board of Education was in-
debted to him for hundreds of valuable suggestions.
For several years, beginning about 1842, he conducted
at the High School what were known as " Saturday
Classes." In these were assembled, once a week,
about three hundred young women, who were either
teachers or advanced pupils in the grammar schools.
He also caused a committee of twenty leading citi-
zens, with Provost John Ludlow as chairman, to make
a thorough examination of the boys in the High School,
in order that the public might be convinced of the
usefulness of the institution. In 1S47 he, together
with Professors Heyer, Kirkpatrick, and Rhoads,
gave lectures in the school on such subjects as Eng-
lish Literature, the Public Schools, and the History
of Pennsylvania. About 1849 a class in phonography
was started, and in a few years it had trained up some
of the most expert short-hand writers in the United
States. In many other ways the period of his occu-
pancy of the president's chair of the High School
was fruitful of lasting benefits to the cause of educa-
tion in Philadelphia. He soon succeeded in remov-
ing the reproaches and prejudices that had previously
existed toward the common school system by raising
the High School to a standard which all the lower
EDUCATION.
1931
grades of schools were likewise educated to in some
degree, so that by the year 1846 a pupil in the second
or third departments of the {grammar school was re-
marked to know as much as a High School lad did
in 1838.
In the year 1853 the High School building, on Ju-
niper Street, was sold for forty-five thousand dollars
to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which wished to erect
a freight depot on its site, and on the 31st of May, in
the same year, the corner-stone of the present edifice
at Broad and Green Streets was laid. On this occa-
sion Bishop Potter made a prayer, and addresses
were delivered by Nathan Nathans, chairman of the
High School committee. Professor Hart, George M.
Wharton, Judge William D. Kelley, Harlan Ingram,
Thomas B. Florence, and Dr. R. T. Breckenridge, of
Kentucky. The lot extended one hundred and fifty feet
along Broad Street and ninety-five feet on Green and
Brandywine Streets. An examination was made of
the corner-stone of the old building, and it was found
that the documents and newspapers which had been
deposited therein were reduced to pulp, and that
through the action of the elements everything else
was in more or less decay. For a short time, while
awaiting the completion of the new building, the
school was obliged to occupy the old model school in
Chester Street. The dedication of the present edifice
took place on the 28th of June, 1854, the Rev. Dr.
Boardman and Morton McMichael delivering ad-
dresses, and Rev. Philip F. Mayer making a prayer.
The entire cost of its construction and fitting up was
seventy -five thousand dollars, of which seventeen thou-
sand dollars were paid for the lot. Built chiefly of
brick, with little ornamentation, it was a simple and
yet not unimposing specimen of architecture, such as
was not altogether inconsistent with the character of
a free college for the people. Doubtless, if it had
been erected ten or twenty years later, at a time when
school-houses were regarded as fair exercise for an
architect's fancy, it would not have been marked by so
much simplicity. But in 1854 it was justly regarded
as a great advance in public opinion when seventy-
five thousand dollars could be obtained for such a
purpose, and there was no disposition to go to an ex-
treme, and cause a reaction by indulging in extrava-
gance in minuteness of details. When the school
was reopened in the fall of 1854 it contained six
hundred pupils.
Professor Hart severed his connection with the
school in December, 1858, and henceforth the public
school .system in this city wa.s deprived of the services
of perhaps the most valuable instructor who has
adorned it. His successor was Nicholas Maguire,
whose methods were widely different, and who, while
possessing much force of character, was not inclined
to be severe in the discipline of his administration.
The friends of Professor Maguire in the Board of
Education admired him highly on account of his " in-
sight into individual character," which quality they
pointed out as a " peculiar trait." About the year
1865, under the rigorous administration of Edward
Shippen as president of the Board of Education, there
was a reorganization of the High School. A com-
mittee of investigation, after overhauling the various
departments, requested the entire faculty to resign.
Mr. Maguire was succeeded by George Inman Rich6,
and two-thirds of the old professors were reinstated.
This was the beginning of a new era of prosperity for
the school. Mr. Richu was warmly devoted to its
welfare. At the time of his accession to the princi-
pal's chair he was a young man, who had not many
years before graduated from the school, and who was
early recognized as one of the rising men of the com-
munity. Turning aside from the field of politics, in
which his fine abilities as a speaker would have won
for him success, he became ambitious of living a life
of more usefulness, even if of less prominence, as an
instructor. In the twenty years which he has passed
as the head of the High School he has won the
earnest respect of the thousands of young men with
whom he has come into contact, and whom he has
sent out into the world. As soon as he took charge
of afiairs, in 1866, he set about making improvements
in every direction. It was with pride that he secured
the services of professors who had themselves gone
through the school as boys. He seems to have made
it a point to encourage practical studies, and to pro-
vide a good business training for the lads who did not
stay to graduate. When Professor Bache had organ-
ized the school, a quarter of a century previous, he
divided the courses into three, — principal, classical,
and elementary. The studies in the first two differed
only in regard to languages, the modern being the
feature of the principal, and the ancient that of the
classical. The latter, however, allowed French, so far
as it was not inconsistent with due progress in clas-
sical studies. The elementary course was an English
one entirely, including geography, American history,
arithmetic, and algebra, and was about equivalent to
the studies pursued at the present time in the half-
way classes of the grammar schools. In Professor
Bache's time no preparatory course was needed at all
for admission, and pupils not older than nine and ten
years were registered. That the High School stu-
dents were representative of the whole community,
and, therefore, were made up for the most part of
boys whose parents were either poor or in humble
circumstances, may be seen from the list of occupa-
tions of their fathers as they were taken down during
Professor Hart's terms. It was not unwisely, in view
of this fact, that the study of Greek, Spanish, and An-
glo-Saxon was, in 1854, entirely abandoned. In 1856
the elementary course was discarded, and the princi-
pal and classical courses were united. At the same
time the study of the German language, which had
been introduced in 1852, under Professor Frederick
A. Roese, was discontinued, but was revived in 1860,
under Lewis Angele, one of the most picturesque and
1932
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
best- remembered figures in the memory of High
School lads. Under Principal Riche's administration
particular attention was paid to this language, and
one of his first reforms was to abolish the chair of
French altogether, and to substitute for it a depart-
ment of physical geography and civil engineering, j
He also, about the same time, abolished the depart-
ment of commercial calculations and business forms.
Under his wise management the school has become,
more than ever it was, a model of its kind.
The following is a list of the gentlemen who have
been either instructors or assistant instructors in the
institution since its foundation : E. Otis Kendall,
John Frost, Henry McMurtrie, J. A. Deloutte, F. A.
Br^gy, John F. Frazier, James C. Booth, John San-
derson, Rembrandt Peale, William Vogdes, George J.
Becker, Henry Haverstick, J. Kirkpatrick, E. K. |
Smith, James Rhuads, Martin H. Boye, Frederick G. '
Heyer. These professors were appointed during the
period preceding 1850, after which time the faculty
was recruited in the following order: Daniel W.
Howard, 1850 ; Samuel S. Fisher, 1851 ; Frederick
A. Roese, 1852 ; Alexander J. McNeill, 1853 ; George
H. Stuart, 1853; Zephaniah Hopper, 1854; Edward
W. Vogdes, 1854; James McClune, 1855; George
Gerard, 1859; William H. Williams, 1859; Romaine
Lujeane, 1859 ; Jacob G. H. Ring, 1859 ; A. D. Bache,
1859; B. Howard Rand, 1859; Lewis Angele, 1860;
Francis A. Br6gy, 1862; Joseph B. Beale, 1862;
Henry Hartshorne, 1862; Joseph Wilson, 1862; j
Lemuel Stephens, 1865; Isaac Norris, John Kern,
1866 ; D. W. Bartine, 1866 ; John Kern, 1866 ; George I
Stuart, 1866; Edwin J. Houston, 1867; J. F. Holt, I
1867; George Corliss, 1869; John S. Newton, 1869; '
Elihu Thompson, 1870; William H. Wahl (tempo-
rarily) ; George W. Schock, 1875 ; Max Straube,
1875; Henry Leffman, 1876; Samuel Mecutchen,
1878; Franklin Taylor, 1878; M. B. Snyder, 1878;
W. N. Meeks, 1878 (killed in same year) ; Frederick '
F. Christine, 1880 ; William H. Greene, 1880 ; Oscar
C. S. Carter, 1880; and A. J. Morrison.
At the present time the studies in the High School
include the following subjects : geometry, belles-
lettres and elocution, history, Latin, German, draw-
ing, algebra, physical geography and natural phi-
losophy, anatomy and physiology, higher mathematics
and astronomy, English literature, mental and moral
science, chemistry, and commercial arithmetic. To
secure instruction on all these subjects a four years'
course is necessary, the completion of which entitles
the graduate to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The
degree of Master of Arts is also conferred upon gradu-
ates of not less than five years' standing. The aver-
age attendance of pupils during the year 1883 was less
than six hundred. The prejudices which have been
raised against the High School have lost much of
their power by reason of the excellent results which ;
it has produced. It has trained up a great number of
the most useful citizens in Philadelphia, who, in the i
great majority of instances, could not have, in their
boyhood, secured such advantages, and who look back
upon the school with a grateful remembrance of the
spirit of public beneficence which allowed them the op-
portunity to broaden and equip their minds ; nor has it
had the effect, which might naturally be supposed, of
spoiling its youth for the practical and commonplace
affairs of life. At one time, when Professor Hart,
who was exceedingly anxious to discover whether this
effect would be produced, made a list of the occupa-
tions which one of his graduating classes intended to
follow, it was found that those who wished to be archi-
tects were 2 ; blacksmiths, 3 ; bookbinders, 3 ; brick-
layer, 1 ; cadet, 1; carpenters, 16; clerks, 20; con-
veyancers, 6 ; cordwainers, 6 ; curriers, 2 ; dentist, 1 ;
druggists, 4 ; engineers, 3 ; engravers, 4 ; farmers, 8 ;
machinists, 14; manufacturers, 2 ; mariners, 3; paint-
ers, 2; physician, 1; printers, 7; saddler, 1; ship-
wrights, 5 ; stores, 38 ; teachers, 9 ; turner, 1 ; tin-
man, 1 ; watch-maker, 1 ; and wheelwright, 1. Many
of these purposes were, perhaps, transient impulses,
that could not always be carried out, but they are
suflBcient to indicate that a liberal degree of educa-
tion at the public expense did not then destroy, as it
probably has not since entirely destroyed, the demo-
cratic simplicity of our youth.
The necessity of an institution of a similar char-
acter which would provide an advanced education
for the girls in the grammar schools, as well as pre-
pare teachers for the lower grades of schools, had
been frequently spoken of as early as 1838. Thomas
Dunlap, in particular, did much to forward such a
project in the Board of Education, but the controllers
were slow to come to any definite action on the sub-
ject, believing that the experiment of the Boys' High
School should first be thoroughly tested. Nor was
the importance of female education rated very high
in the general opinion forty-five years ago. For ten
years the idea of a higher school for girls was talked
over before any decisive measures were adopted look-
ing to that end. On the 1st of February, 1848, a
normal school was opened in the model school build-
ing, on Chester Street, under the charge of Dr. A. T.
W. Wright as principal. One hundred and six girls
were enrolled, and were taught in grammar, history,
mathematics, reading, drawing, and writing, and
music. It was estimated that the cost of instruction
to each pupil was seventeen dollars per annum. The
school was not long in becoming popular, and in the
year 1853 a new building was constructed for it on
Sergeant Street, between Ninth and Tenth Streets.
It remained under Dr. Wright's efficient supervision
until the year 1857, when he resigned, and was suc-
ceeded by Philip A. Cregar. For seven years this
gentleman administered the affairs of the institution.
In January, 1864, George W. Fetter, who has ever
since occupied the principal's chair, and who has
shown a superior order of executive ability, came to
the school, and under his direction it has made a
EDUCATION.
1933
constant advance in usefulness. The building on
Sergeant Street, soon after Professor Fetter's advent,
became cramped, as the numbers of pupils clamoring
at every examination for admission became greater
from year to year ; but it was some time before City
Councils could be induced to make an appropriation
for a new structure. Indeed, there were not a few
people in the community who did not manifest the
most friendly spirit toward the institution, on account
of what they regarded as its tendency to provide merely
ornamental education.
In the year 1875, however, the objections against
making further provisions for the school were over-
come, and during the centennial year a handsome
ing, botany, elocution, composition, rhetoric, logic,
algebra, physical geography, arithmetic, geometry,
mathematics, mythology, general history, drawing,
physiology, music, and theory and practice of teach-
ing. Graduates who wish to become teachers are re-
quired to remain in the school for an additional year
as post-graduates, and show by their work in the
schools for practice, which are attached to the insti-
tution, that they are able to train and control chil-
dren, and not until they thus demonstrate their fit-
ness do they receive certificates to teach in the public
schools of Philadelphia.
The establishment of these two institutions — the
Boys' High School and the Girls' Normal School —
HI I N MIVL SLIIJ 1 1HIL\DLLPUI\
building was erected on the northeast corner of Seven-
teenth and Spring Garden Streets. It was dedicated
on the 30th of October, 1876, with appropriate exer-
cises, consisting of a prayer by Bishop William Bacon
Stevens, and addresses by M. Hall Stanton, Simon
Gratz, Judge William S. Peirce, and Judge Joseph T.
Pratt. The building is large, handsome, and im-
posing, accommodates upwards of eleven hundred
pupils, and cost, including the lot and the furniture,
about two hundred thousand dollars. At the present
time upwards of one thousand girls and young ladies
attend the Normal School. The course of study is
divided into a period of four years, and embraces
etymology, Constitution of the United States, sew-
was most eflective in dispelling the feeling of distrust
with which the public school system was so long re-
garded up to about 1845-50. As soon as it became
apparent that an excellent education could be ob-
tained for boys at the public expense under the care
of such instructors as Bache and Hart and Kendall,
parents who hitherto had been sending their chil-
dren to ■' pay schools" or to academies, began to per-
ceive the growing advantages of the public school,
and thousands of other people, who, with false ideas
about " respectability," had been paying for tuition
for their children sums which they could ill afford, were
not slow in imitating those who were wealthier. Thus
the number of children attending the schools was, in
1934
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1840, twenty-three thoiiisand one hundred and ninety-
two, and ten years later it had reached forty-eight thou-
sand and fifty-six, or much more than doubled itself.
The efficient administration of Mr. Dunlap as presi-
dent of the Board of Education, which had lasted for
ten years, closed on the 1st of January, 1840, and his
name deserves to he honored along with those of
Joseph R. Chandler, Peter Hay, John Wurtz, John
Sergeant, George W. Smith, Ellis H. Yarnall, George
M. Stroud, Jacob Lex, and other earnest workers in
the cause of popular education in Philadelphia.
George M. Wharton was president of the board from
1841 to 1844; John Miller, from 1844 to 1847; George
M. Wharton, from 1847 to 1850 ; Daniel S. Beideman,
from 1850 to 1853 ; George M. Wharton, from 1853 to
1854 ; Thomas G. Hollingsworth, from 1854 to 1857 ;
William J. Reed, from 1857 to 1859 ; Henry Bumm,
from 1859 to 1861 ; Benjamin M. Dusenberry, from
1861 to 1862 ; and Leonard R. Fletcher, from 1862 to
1864. With one or two exceptions these men were
useful in their positions. No other events of strik-
ing interest beyond these which we have narrated
occurred under their administration. Slowly, grad-
ually, and at times almost imperceptibly the system
under their charge continued from year to year to ex-
tend itself and to become more efficient. New York,
Boston, and other cities had before 1860 copied our
system of dividing the schools into primary, secon-
dary, grammar, and high schools. In President Beide-
man's time began an era of operation in the building
of school-houses which, though for short times checked,
has never since entirely ceased, and which has dotted
the city with hundreds of edifices that are worth mil-
lions of dollars. The accession of Edward Shippen
to the presidency of the board in 1864, an office which
he held for five years subsequently, marked the begin-
ning of a period of much activity and original thought
in the Board of Education. Mr. Shippen's reports
are perhaps the best written by any of the presidents
after Vaux and Dunlap. He was an enthusiastic be-
liever in popular education. He studied the subject
in all its bearings.
The teachers never had a warmer advocate. He
was never wrong in besieging City Councils for more
liberal appropriations. He inveighed against the
" cramming process," which after the civil war first
began to attract attention, and through his influence
the experiment of dispensing with the use of text-
books at home, and not allowing them to be taken
out of the schools, was tried about 1867. During the
same year, in co-operation with Mayor McMichael,
he caused a census of the children in this citj' to be
taken by the police, and the community was some-
what startled to discover that twenty thousand bo3-s
and girls between the ages of six and eighteen did
not attend school nor engage in any kind of employ-
ment. This discovery had the effect of starting a
cry for compulsory education. In 1867 "senior
classes" — in which an advanced course of study is
pursued, approaching to some degree that of the
High School in its lower classes — were established,
with the object of preventing the " fearful competi-
tion to get into the High School," a competition
which was said to be as injurious to the scholar as to
educational interests in general. In the same year
the " Teachers' Institute" was started with nine hun-
dred out of the fourteen hundred teachers in Phila-
delphia, and a course of lectures, as well as the estab-
lishment of a library, was made its chief attraction.
Mr. Shippen was earnest in insisting upon the neces-
sity of a superintendent, who should assume direction
over all the schools in Philadelphia. The building
of some of the first of the many large and neat brown-
stone school-houses that adorn the city was also a
conspicuous feature of Mr. Shippen's administration.
The class of men who assisted him in the board
was also superior to those who had at times controlled
its afiairs, not so much by means of their knowledge
and their standing as citizens as of their influence in
ward politics and their ability to manipulate the sec-
tional school boards which chose them as represen-
tatives in the general board. This improvement was
brought about in 1867, by an act of Assembly which
vested the power of appointment in the board of
judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and which has
not been abused by the judiciary to any serious ex-
tent, although a subject of criticism by those who be-
lieve that the board should be chosen by the people
or through some other agency than the judicial
bench. It must be said, however, that during the
sixty-six years of its existence the board has, consid-
ering the large outlays of money it has made, pre-
served a far better character than has been the case
with such bodies in some other cities. Notwithstand-
ing the expenditure of a million and a half dollars
annually, there has hardly been for many years past
even a whisper raised against the integrity of the
board at a time when probably no other municipal
department has not been to some degree an object of
suspicion. That the city is generally willing to sus-
tain education and make these outlays is not discon-
nected with the faith which they are inclined to place
in most of the controllers.
A full list of the citizens who, since 1818, have
served in this capacity is contained in the following
names of members of the board between the years
1818 and 1850:
John C. Browu, Joel B. Sutherland, William W. Fisher, Daniel B.
Smith, Jacob Justice, Gurney Smith, John C. Brown, Joseph B. Nor-
bury, Benjamin W. Richards, Isaac W. Norris, Rev, George Boyd,
Charles Norris, John Steel, Joseph Warner, Andrew M. Prevost, John
L. Wolf, James Gowen, Jonathan Thomas, Joseph Bockius, Evan W.
Thomas, Jr., John Oakford, Morton McMichael, Alex. Parker, J. G.
Hollingsworth, Henry Zollickofler, Edward B. Garrigues, Charles E.
Cathrall, George M. Wharton, George M. Justice, Jonathan Thomas,
Jarob T. Snyder, John R. Walker, Andrew Horton, Dr. Thomas Oliver
Goldsmith, George Thomas, Samuel H. Traner, Richard E. Spain, Sam-
uel English, William G.Flanagan, Alexander Wentz, John Foulkrod,
Charles V, Hagner, Henry Leech, George Emlen, Jr., Mordecai L. Daw-
son. Isaac Barton, Clifford Smith, Richard G. Laning, William F. Ire-
land, John C. Smith, James Campbell, James R. Nagley, Thomas H.
EDUCATION.
1935
Forejth, Stelilion B. Kiugston, William Wister, Francis Lyons, Peter
Eambo, Abraham Helffenstein, Richard Vaux, William Biddlc, Thomas
S. Hollingsworth, George H. Burgin, M.D., Clifford Smith, Joljn Sliller,
Joseph Yerger, Francis Lyons, John Robbins, Jr., Hugh Clark, Jacob
Heyberger, William S. Perot, Alexander Browne, William J. Crans,
Hugh O'Donnell, Joseph Yerger, John J. McCohcn, James J. Barclay,
Samuel D. Patterson, Lewis Crunssillat, Samuel Grice, Theodore Cuyler,
Alexander M. Mncpherson, Pauiel S. Beideman, John P. Colcord, Jo-
seph E. Maull, Michael D. Waterman, George F. McCallmont, Jacob
Shearer, Benjamin Matthias, William English, Charles Thomson Jones,
Frederick Sorber, William J. Reed, Philip N. Hayner, George W.
Vaughan, William Martin, William Watson, M.D., James Peters, Robert
Ash, Paul K. Hubbs, Joseph T. Mears, John S. Painter, Charles C. Ait-
kin, Jesse H. Flilcraft, Charles M. Sandgram, James Peters, Henry
Boureau, Perry W, Levering, John Clouds, Nathan Nathans, William
H. Drayton, Benjamin Morton, Isaac Ashmead, William Larzelere,
Isaac Pearson, Samuel C. Furd, John M. Pugh, M.D., John H. Bring-
hurst, Arthur G. Coffin, Joseph Cowperthwait, Benjamin Baker, Alex-
ander Greaves, Thomaa J. Herring, John.Stellman, Thomas J. Malony,
and John J. Meany.
Between 1850 and 1860, the following citizens
served in the board :
John Clayton, David H. Kollock, T. K. Collins, Thomas Lewellen,
Harlan Ingram, William Clothier, John McAvoy, M.D., C. Campbell
Cooper, M.D., William B. B. Selby, Nathan L. Jones, Isaac Leech. Jr.,
Joseph Eneu, Jacob C. Slemmer, Benjamin Gaskill, Edwin Booth, D.
M. Foot, M.D., Henry Herbert, Andrew Miller, William F. Small, Wil-
liam H. Sickels, Joseph W. T. McAllister, George P. Mercer, Joseph J.
Thomas, Samuel Ashmead, William Curran, M.D., Benjamin M. Dusen-
berry, Samuel Taylor, Charles T. Sutter, George P. Henzey, Andrew H.
Manderson, Charles Cline, George W. Burr, Edward W. Gorgas, Samuel
S. Worthman, Spencer Roberts, Benjamin F. Warren, Richard R. Mont-
gomery, Philip B. Mingle, Thomas G. Hollingsworth, Thomas W.
Marchment, E. Harper Jeffries, William Matthews, William R. Bald,
Francis McManus, Alfred W. Green, M.D., Edward R. Badger, Marcus
A. Davis, Washington J. Jackson, Joseph Reakirt, John J. Kersey,
Thomas Banes, William Conn, Charles M. Lukens, Robert F. Bower,
Cornelius L. DeGroot, Edward G. Lee, Benjamin H. Barton, Aaron H.
Burtis, James H. Watson, Charles Frishmuth, Leonard R. Fletcher, Jo-
seph M. Hancock, Cornelius Baker, William H. Trinick, John Conroy,
M.D., Charles J. Wister, Jr., Thomas W. Duffleld, John B. Angney,
M.D., C. S. Himmelwright, Stephen Farrand, John Fry, Aaron B. Ivins,
John Hunsworth, Henry Bumm, John Houston, Adam Shetzline, Paul B.
Carter, Edwin McCalla, R. Q. Shelmerdine, Thomas Haig, Adam Mar-
tin, Michael Blynn, John Eittenhouse, William H. Flitcraft.
The following citizens have been members of the
board at various times since 1860, as well as some of
those above named who were appointed before that
year:
Isaac B. Smith, William N.Tisdall. Charles Welsh, Thomas Fitzgerald,
Charles A. Yeager, George Ionian Rich6, Joseph B. Smith, James S.
Chambers, Edwin McCalla, Lewis Bitting, Thomas Wood, William H.
Gominger, William Adamson, George W. StuU, David Wallace, Charles
W. Zimmerman, John Holland, James Freeborn, L. R. Fletcher, Daniel
Witham, John Moffet, Frederick Vandegrift, James S. Stewart, Robert
W. Ritchie, Joseph Cooper, John F. Belsterling, John B. Green, Thomas
Potter, David Murtha, William C. Haines, James Lees, Nathan Hilles,
William F. Cooper, Jonathan Roberts, George W. Nebinger, M.D., P. A,
Fagen, Robert Palethorp, John Noble, Edward Shippen, Robert W.
Cushman. William M. Levick, William 0. Kline, Andrew Broffy. Edward
Holt, M. McGeoy, James W. Fletcher, Patrick Duffy, Charles Abel, De
Witt C. Moore, G. A. Hoffman, Joseph H. Hookey, Louis F. Linde, Joseph
Crout, James N. Marks, William F. Boucher, Abraham Taylor, James H.
Gaw, Lewis Elkin, Samuel Scheide, John W. Clark, Henry Mclntyre,
James McManes, James Milligan, Jr., Joseph Mullineaux, Norris J.
Hoffman, Francis W. Getz, Samuel S. Money, James J. Reville, Jacob
Reed, M. Hall Stanton, William S. Elder, Henry Einwechter, Charles W.
Carrigan, Washington L, Bladen, W. Elwood Rowan, A. S. Jenks, Lewis
C. Cassidy, M. B. Harns, John Samuel, John Price WetheriU, James S.
Hinkel, Albert C. Roberts, Henry C. Hickok, Stephen Taylor, Stephen
H.Smith, Edward Armstrong, John G. Brenner, James H. MacBride,
Charles Harmer, Daniel Steinmelz, Charles F. Abbott, P. A. B. Widener,
William B. Stephens, William Ridings, D. Weatherly, R. W. Downing,
Samuel Wakeliiig, John J. Hartman, James Long, Thomas B. Davis, R. J,
Lehman, William J. Gillingham, Thomas A. Fahy, James S. Whitney,
Louis Wagner, Richardson L.Wright, M. P. Hutchinson, John Shedden,
James Xichol, Leander M. Jones, Alexander Adaire, John L. Stewart,
John M. Campbell, Simon Gratz, Charles S. Austin, George W. Cox, Wil-
liam J. Pollock, William J. CoUada.v, Edward T. Steel, Thomas Ken-
nedy, William F. Miller, Edward Lewis, John Fitzpairick, James J.
Cooper, George F. Barker, William Gulager, James Pollock, Henry
S. Godshall, Isaac A. Sheppard, William M. Smith, Samuel T. Child,
James V. Watson, James Hughes, Joseph C. Ferguson, Andrew M.
Spangler.
A most valuable assistant to these men for thirty-
six years has been Henry W. Halliwell, who entered
their service in 1848, who, in 1865, was made chief
secretary, and who is closely identified with the cause
of educational progress in this community.
M. Hall Stanton was president of the board from
] 870 down to the end of the year 1876, aud his admin-
istration, although not so fertile in original ideas as
was that of his predecessors, was in the main progres-
sive and beneficial. He was succeeded by James Long,
who remained in the office for two years, and who was
replaced in January, 1879, by Edward T. Steel, who
has thus far performed his duties with a rigor and
intelligence which promise to be productive of much
good. During these three administrations a generous
reception has been given to every new idea that has
been advanced with a view of enlarging the useful-
ness of the public schools. In 1875 the University
of Pennsylvania offered to furnish the city with forty
free scholarships in its scientific departments, and
pupils of our free schools now found an opportunity
to complete their education in that fine institution of
learning. The Philadelphia School of Design also
receives ten female pupils each, and the Pennsylva-
nia Museum and School of Art has likewise estab-
lished five free scholarships for the city. The Night
School for Artisans, which was opened by Professor
Eiche, in the High School building, in November,
1879, has afforded many young men an excellent
medium of instruction in the industrial arts.
For many years, dating from Mr. Shippen's admin-
istration, the necessity of a superintendent of the
Philadelphia schools has been frequently urged upon
the board ; but it was not until 1882 that the Coun-
cils of the city were willing to make an appropria-
tion for that purpose. They then agreed to lay aside
fifteen thousand dollars, with which the board could
begin the organization of such a department of super-
intendence. It was contended that the schools were
without systematic organization, that they were not
managed according to a fixed standard of regulations,
and that the teachers in particular needed supervision
by an instructor of the largest experience as well as
thorough technical knowledge. After much scrutiny
of the qualifications of a number of candidates for the
position, Professor James McAlister, then engaged at
Milwaukee in a similar capacity, was called upon to
accept the place, which he did in the spring of 1883.
It is expected that he will gradually establish a ref-
ormation of the system of education, which will bring
1936
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
it up to all the improvements that have been made in
the modern training of youth.
The city's appropriations for its schools have for
some years past averaged a million and a half of dol-
liirs each year — a figure which, in the time of Roberts
Vaux or Thomas Dunlap, would perhaps have caused
the most enthusiastic advocate of common schools to
stand aghast. Indeed, this is three times as much
money as was appropriated for this object a period so
comparatively recent as the opening of the civil war.
While during the last fifty years the number of pupils
has increased twenty-fold, the amount of expenses
has increased nearly fifty-fold. The following table
shows the number of pupils, the amount of appropria-
tions, and the general population of the city at vari-
ous periods during the past sixty-four years:
Tear Piirils Appropria- Popula-
1820 5,359 $22,0.58 137,097
1830 5,371 32,100 188,961
1840 23,192 125,740 258,037
1850 48,0.56 366,361 408,762
1860 63,530 512,014 568,034
1870 82,891 1,197,901 678,000
1875 95,552 1,634,663 800.000
1882 103,702 1,529,157 900,000
The scholars are divided among the schools in the
following order: Normal and High Schools, 1539;
grammar schools, 16,124; secondary schools, 28,433;
and primary schools, 57,606. The total number of
schools is about 470, and the total number of teach-
ers about 2200. The warrants drawn for teachers'
salaries amount to about eleven hundred thousand
dollars annually. This does not indicate a very high
average salary for each teacher, and it was only re-
cently that President Steel remarked "that a woman
who is, in fact, capable of directing the work of a pri-
mary school should receive a maximum salary of
five hundred and thirty dollars, is a satire." It is
estimated that the total average cost of the tuition of
each pupil, including the High and Normal Schools,
is less than fifteen dollars a year. Nevertheless, there
are many children in Philadelphia who do not receive
the benefit of the public schools. It has been calcu-
lated that there are upwards of sixty thousand boys
and girls between the ages of six and fifteen who are
not enrolled upon the list of pupils, and that but
comparatively few of this large number are attend-
ants at private schools. How to get at this ignorant
mass of the population is still a problem to be solved.
" When we can begin training in the kindergarten,"
said President Steel, in a recent report, "continue
it in excellent primary schools, through grammar
schools, embracing thorough manual instruction, and
complete it with a course in a high school combining
a school of technology, we may feel that proper pro-
vision is made for the education of the children of
the city."
The city and county of Philadelphia is known as
the First School Division of the State of Pennsylvania,
and each ward in the city is a school district. The
voters of each ward elect three citizens each year as
directors of public schools. They must have the
same qualifications as State senators, and reside in the
ward to which they are accredited.
In addition to the directors aforesaid, there is a
Board of Public Education, composed of one person
from each ward, known as controller of public schools,
and appointed by the Court of Common Pleas, and
each controller is a member of the ward Board of
School Directors from which he is appointed, and he
must have the qualification of a member of the Senate. :
The controllers of the public schools determine |
upon the number of school-houses which shall be
erected or established in every section, and limit the
expense of erecting and establishing every such
school-house. They have the power to establish a
model school, in order to qualify teachers for the
sectional schools, or for schools in other parts of the
State. They also have power to provide such suit-
able books as they shall deem necessary for the use of
the pupils belonging to the different schools within
the First District. They have the general superinten-
dence over all the schools established in the said dis-
trict, and make such rules and regulations for their
own government, and for the general regulations of
the district, as may be deemed necessary. They also
appoint a secretary.
It is the duty of the said controllers to examine all
accounts of moneys disbursed in erecting, establish-
ing, anil maintaining the several schools established
within the district.
The said controllers meet at least quarterly, and call
special meetings whenever the same may be deemed
expedient. They keep regular minutes of their pro-
ceedings, and publish a statement, in the month of
February in every year, of the amount of expendi-
ture, and of the number of children educated in the
public schools.
The said controllers are authorized, whenever they
shall think proper, to establish schools for the instruc-
tion of children under five years of age, and the
money expended in the establishment and support of
these schools is provided for and paid in the same
manner directed by law with respect to the other
public schools in said district.
Five members of the controllers of public schools
for the city and county of Philadelphia constitute a
quorum for the making of orders for the payment of
money and the transaction of business generally, with
this exception : that no order for the payment of money
shall be made at any special meeting of the board
unless a majority of the whole number be present.
The controllers, from time to time, when required
by the superintendent of common schools, furnish
such reports touching the condition and management
of the schools under their charge, and of the methods
of instruction practiced therein, as he may deem
useful for the advancement of the system of general
education in the State.
They are authorized and directed to cause such of
EDUCATION.
1937
the public schools in the said district as they may
deem necessary to be opened at night, during the
months of January, February, March, October, No-
vember, and December of each and every year, for
the instruction of male adults.
They also have and possess power to confer acu-
demical degrees in the arts upon graduates of the
Central High School, in the city of Philadelphia, and
the same and like power to confer degrees, honorary
and otherwise, which is now possessed by the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania.
And the controllers of the public schools of the First
School District of Pennsylvania establish a system for
the examination of the qualifications of all persons who
may desire to become teachers in tlie public schools of
said district, the said examinations to be held at such
times and places, and under such system, rules, and
regulations as the said controllers shall adopt.
The Board of Public Education appoints a superin-
tendent of public schools, who has general supervision
of the schools.
The said directors, for every section respectively,
have power to erect and establish so many schools in
their respective sections as may be determined upon
by the said controllers, and appoint teachers, and pro-
vide all things necessary for maintaining and con-
ducting the schools in their respective sections, and
superintend and direct the said schools respectively.
And the directors of every section respectively meet
at least monthly, and keep regular minutes of their
proceedings, and the said directors of every section
respectively divide themselves into as many com-
mittees as there may be schools established as afore-
said in the particular section, so that every committee
may have the management of one school only ; and
the said committees also keep regular minutes of
their proceedings, and report or exhibit their minutes
to the directors of the section whenever required by
the said directors so to do. And the directors of every
section report the state of all the schools within the
section every six months to the controllers aforesaid.
And all the directors of the public schools within the
said district perform their duties without any pecu-
niary compensation, and during their term of service
are exempted from serving as jurors, arbitrators, over-
seers of the poor, or managers of the almshouse, and,
except in time of war, from militia duty.
School properties belonging to the city of Philadel-
phia on the Slstof December, 1882:
Buildings.
Lots.
Furniture.
Totals..
S50,000
175,000
186,000
100,600
123,000
105,000
100,000
75,000
127,000
86,0(JO
89,000
118,000
86,000
71,000
84,000
148,500
206,000
82,500
70,000
131,000
166,000
161,000
112,000
219,500
112,000
234,000
178,700
110,000
155,600
170,600
175,60CJ
97,000
82,000
JIOO.OOO
70,000
82,024
42,900
46,000
4:i,666
50,000
62,799
75,332
60,000
63,600
60,316
51,199
41,666
42,750
80,466
81,999
64,500
31,607
50,149
82,250
87,165
47,899
74,832
38,000
83,933
74,450
52,833
78,499
59,600
67,632
54,4;i3
40,000
$10,000
30,000
13,000
9,600
10,300
10,4(X)
7,000
4,000
9,050
4,860
7,000
5,660
5,660
5,750
4,900
9,300
12,200
6,200
6,000
10,800
14,050
12,400
9,6U0
11,550
8,650
13,650
12,700
7,800
9,250
11,300
11,000
7,800
7,500
Giria' Normal School
276,000
152,900
159,066
Fifth Section
167,000
141,799
211,382
149,860
Seventh Section
Eighth Section
183,966
142,849
118,416
247,266
143,200
Seventeenth Si-ction
Eighteenth Section
Nineteenth Section
107,607
191,960
262,300
260,565
169,499
306,882
158,650
331,583
265,850
170,633
24;i,250
241,300
254,132
159,233
Twenty-firet Section
Twenty-second Section...
Twenty-third Section
Twenty-fourth Section...
Twenty-fifth Section
Twenty-sixth Section
Twenty-seventh Section..
Twenty-eightli Section...
Twenty-ninth Section....
Thirty-first Section
129,600
$4,186,200
$2,040,899
$318,800
$6,650,900
Deduct principal of grou
nd-rents, $2
$6,179,750
The following table shows the number of pupils
belonging, number admitted, number promoted, num-
ber left, and average attendance during the year
1882:
Number of
Pupils.
•=5
H
so .
H
II
l"a
fl
■5 a,
is
■a ®
Ks
c-fl
= £><
'E5
(- —
In
1 S
Gbadrs.
Hi
ti
i!
p- 0
S2
a 1-
^.3
£ 3
< a
CO
S
lis
3 is —
PI
3 ^
II
if
a
Zl „ g
z
!5fe5
<s
< «
1 Ls-s-a
S
a
2 Sm
.a—"
h 1 H
El
H
H
622
121
9,360
1.473
■"33
656
44
571
92
8,753
735
1,539
321
14,469
2,466
1,495
326
16,442
2,426
1,510
312
14,316
2,182
1,475
260
13,197
2,032
1 321 326
6,966< 7,6041 14,618
828 1,628: 1,762
Combined grammar, secondary, and primary schools
3,164. 2,986 6,906
12,0621 12,920i 24,906
2,936
18,786
1,379
20
6,633
47
2.672
12,177
1,1!)9
6,150
24,982
2,113
5,966
25,338
2,086
23,351
1,863
21,474
1,667
26,420 25,252: 51,472
36,894
11,279
25,416
51,672
50,226
44,926
40,112
ry
71,571
18,612
51,614
103,702
103,302
93,394
84,748
'
1938
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
PEESIDENTS OF THE BOAKD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
Under the act of March 3, 1818.
Eoberts Vaux, elected April — , 1818
Thomas Dunl.ip. elected Jan. 1, 1830
George Mifnin Wharton, elected Jan. 1, 1840
Henry Leech, elected Jan. 1, 1841
John Miller, elected Jan. 1, 1844
George Mifflin Wharton, elected Jan. 1,1847
Daniel S. Beidenian, elected Jan. 1, 18.50
Thomas G. Hollingsworth, elected Jan. 1, 1854
William J. Reed, elected Jan. 1,1857
Henry Buinm, elected Jan. 1, 1859
Benjamin M. Dusenbury, elected Jan. 1, 1861
Leonard Randolph Fletcher, elected Jan, 1, 1862
Edward Shippen, elected Jan. 1, 1864
Daniel Steinmetz. elected Jan. 1, 1869
Morton Hall Stanton, elected Ian. 1, 1870
James Long, elected Jan. 1, 1877
Edward T. Steel, elected Jan. 1. 1879
SECRETARIES OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
1819. Willie Birnie.
Thomas McKean Pettit.
1820. Daniel B. Smith.
1821. Thomas McKean Pettit.
1833. Charles Pettit.
1837. Richard Penn Smith.
1841, Thomas B. Florence.
1849. Robert J. Hemphill.
1863. James D. Campbell.
1866. Henry W. Halliwell.
1835. William Piersol.
The University of Pennsylvania.'— The history
of the University of Pennsylvania begins with the
foundation of an academy and charity .school, out of
which the present organization has grown. As early
as 1743, Benjamin Franklin saw the need and pro-
posed the establishment of such an academy, and also
recognized in the Rev. Richard Peters one whom he
believed especially fitted for its head. Finding him-
self unable to secure the desired co-operation, and his
attention being absorbed in the disturbed condition
THE "NEW BUILDING," AFTERWARD KNOWN AS
"THE ACADEMY."
of public affairs during the war between Great Britain
and France, the matter was dropped until 1749. He
then wrote and published a pamphlet entitled " Pro-
posals Relative to the Education of Youth in Penn-
sylvania," which attracted much attention, and re-
sulted in the formation of a board of trustees, who
charged themselves with the execution of the plan.
It consisted of the following persons :
Benjamin Franklin, president; William Coleman, treasurer ; James
Logan, Thomas Lawrence, William Allen, John Inglis, Tench Francis,
William Masters, Lloyd Zackary, Samuel McOall, Jr., Joseph Turner,
Thomas Leech, Phineas Bond, Abraham Taylor, Thomas Hopkinson,
.Toshua Miiddox, William Shippen, Robert Strettell, Philip Syng,
Charles Willing, Richard Peters, Thomas Bond, William Plumsted,
Tho
i White.
1 The authors are greatly indebted to Eev. Jesse Y. Burk, secretary
of the Pennsylvania University, for this sketch of that historic institu-
tion. Good taste and accurate information have enabled Mr. Burk to
treat his subject in a way which none can fail to appreciate.
These gentlemen signed articles of association in
November, 1749, and subscribed among themselves
over two thousand pounds for the proposed school.
There was at that time " the new building" in Phila-
delphia peculiarly adapted to their needs on Fourth
iStreet, below Mulberry Street (now Arch Street). It
had been built primarily as a place of worship for the
especial use of the celebrated Whitefield whenever
he might visit the city, but also to serve as a charity
school, and was held by trustees for that purpose
under the original subscription. These trustees found
themselves embarrassed by a heavy debt upon the
property with no prospect of being able to pay it, and
very readily consented to transfer it to the academy
on condition of a charity school being made part of
the scheme, and of Mr. Whitefield and others being
permitted its occasional use for jireaching. In 1751 the
academy formally entered upon the property, the Rev.
Richard Peters preaching a dedicatory sermon. There
were three schools, the English, the Mathematical,
and the Latin, each under a master, with a sufficient
number of ushers and tutors, the head master having
the title of rector. A charity school, elementary in
its character, was also maintained.'''
The prosperity of the enterprise soon induced the
trustees to apply for a charter, which was granted
them by Thomas and Richard Penn, under the date
July 13, 1753, as " The Trustees of the Academy and
Charitable Schools in the Province of Penn.sylvania."
The Rev. William Smith, afterward so prominent in
the affairs of the college and of the province, was
added to the staff of instructors, and so enlarged the
curriculum by the resources of his learning and en-
ergy that the academy became practically equivalent
to a college. An additional charter was therefore
granted by the proprietors June 16, 1755, changing
the title into that of " The Trustees of the College,
Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia,"
and conferring upon them all the powers which are
usually attached to such a title. The college and the
academy were closely related. The same professors
taught in each, and they were in fact but higher and
lower departments of one school. In the college
there were but three classes, freshman, junior, and
senior, and the course was one of three years. There
were five professors, one of whom was provost and
rector of the academy, another vice-provost. The
first commencement was held May 17, 1757, when
Paul Jackson, Jacob Duche, Francis Hopkinson,
Samuel Magaw, Hugh Williamson, James Latta, and
John Morgan received the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
The eminence afterward attained by these young men
was a good augury of the influence and fame of the
incipient college.
In 1762 an additional building was erected, nearer
to Arch Street, and devoted partly to dormitories for
the use of students, who now began to come in from
2 See vol. ii., pp. 1471-72-73.
EDUCATION.
1939
even the remotest colonies. In 1763 there were nearly
four hundred students in attendance upon the col-
lege and its subordinate schools, an evidence in tho.se
days of an unusual prosperity and success. The first
provost, Dr. William Smith, was a man of rare abili-
ties and unbounded activity. Not hesitating to take
part in the political contests of the time, he was im-
prisoned by the Legislature, and for a time tauglit
his classes in the common jail, to which they ob-
tained permission to resort, until he was released on
his claim for an appeal in person to the king. Pro-
ceeding to England for this purpose, he was received
with distinguished honors by the bishops and others
in authority, and had conferred upon him the degree
of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Oxford.
Such an interest was created by him in England that
when, in 1761, the trustees found themselves seriously
embarrassed in prosecuting the extended work of the
college, it was determined to send him again to Eng-
land to solicit contributions for an endowment. At
the same time a similar effort was resolved on by
King's (now Columbia) College, New York. The
two commissioners reached England at the same
time, and wisely concluded to unite their efforts and
to share the proceeds. Procuring from the king,
through the influence of the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, a circular letter to all churches in the king-
doms, " they divided the land between them," and
making numerous collections, succeeded in procuring
a very considerable endowment for each college. At
the time of the transmission of this fund a most kind
and friendly letter was sent by the archbishop, in
which he expressed the earnest hope that the liberal
and unsectarian principles on which the institution
had formerly been conducted would be adhered to
for all time. In their gratitude at the reception of
the endowment the trustees adopted as a standing
resolution a declaration of these principles in the
strongest possible language. By a most singular and
perverse misconception this action was seized upon
by a Legislature politically hostile to the provost and
faculty as a " narrowing of the foundation," and made
in 1779 the pretext for an unjust confiscation of all
the rights and properties of the college, which were
transferred to a new organization, called in its char-
ter the trustees of the University of the State of
Pennsylvania. The trustees of the college made a
good fight for their rights, but, unfortunately, Benja-
min Franklin was then absent as minister to France,
and they were obliged to surrender their property,
while still maintaining their organization and carry-
ing on, to the best of their now straitened ability,
the several schools. The new University organized
its faculties, both in arts and medicine, and for a few
years the rival and hostile institutions struggled on
side by side with necessarily indifferent success. In
1789 an act was passed declaring the former to be
altogether unjust, and restoring the trustees of the
college then surviving to all their former rights and
properties, only exempting the University from ac-
countability for income rightly expended in lawful
purposes. This was after Franklin's return, and doubt-
less largely owing to his influence. In 1791 the
wretched struggle for existence of the two separate
schools was ended by an amicable union, each con-
tributing twelve members of its board to form a new
one, which was then incorporated and vested with
the rights and properties of each, under the name
"The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania."
The Governor of the State was ex officio the president
of the board. The faculties of arts and medicine were,
as far as possible, taken equally from the former fac-
ulties, but enough of the old spirit of opposition to
Dr. Smith prevailed to prevent his being, as he had
the right to be, made professor and elected provost.
He was quietly disposed of by the grant for one year
of the provost's house, the settlement of debts due
him, and the grant of one hundred pounds per annum
for life. Dr. John Ewing was elected provost, and
Dr. John Andrews vice-provost. It would be impos-
sible in this brief sketch to give in detail the succes-
sion of able professors and provosts whose labors sus-
tained and increased the reputation of the University,
and the reader is referred for the succession of the
latter to the list appended to this article. For a few
years the old premises on Fourth Street, several times
enlarged and improved, continued to suffice for the
needs of the college, but it soon became evident that,
with the increased ability of the community to main-
tain liberal education, larger accommodations would
be needed.
In 1791 the Legislature of Pennsylvania purchased
the property extending from Chestnut to Market
Streets, and from Ninth Street west one hundred and
fifty-two feet, and proceeded to erect thereon a house
for the President of the United States, Philadelphia
being then the seat of government, and Washington in
the Presidential chair. By the time the spacious and
substantial edifice was completed, at a cost of nearly
one hundred thousand dollars, Mr. Adams had become
President. When the building was finished it was ten-
dered by Governor Mifflin, by direction of the Legisla-
ture, to President Adams at a fair rental. Mr. Adams
declined the oti'er, and the State was left with the prop-
erty on its hands. In 1800 the property was offered at
publicsale on the steps of the old London CoBee-House,
at Front and Market Streets (taken down in 1883),
and was purchased by the University for the sum of
forty-one thousand six hundred and fifty dollars, less
than half its original cost. As an illustration of the
advance made in the value of real estate in three-
quarters of a century, it may be here stated that in
1874 the property was sold to the United States gov-
ernment for five hundred thousand dollars, as a site
for the erection of the new post-office building. A part
of the Fourth Street property was sold to enable the
trustees to purchase the new property, and after exten-
sive alterations the schools were removed to their new
1940
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
quarters in 1802. In 1829 the President's house was
taken down altogether, and two plain but symmetrical
buildings erected on the somewhat extensive lot of
ground, leaving a broad middle space between them,
— one for the collegiate and one for the medical de-
partment,— and in these they prospered and flourished
until the present property in West Philadelphia was
acquired, and buildings suited to the greatly-enlarged
needs of the several departments were there erected.
During all these years there was a slow but steady
progress in the direction of enlarged facilities and a
wider range of instruction. Until 1810 the course of
study in the department of arts covered three years,
and the classes were styled senior, junior, and fresh-
man. In that year the course was extended to four
years, and the additional class thus created was
called the sophomore. From time to time experi-
ments were made in the establishment of new chairs
or new departments, some of which failed to meet
the expectation of their projectors, and were finally
abandoned ; but every experiment was suggestive of
and leading to the wise classification of studies and
establishment of definite courses which has at last
been reached, with a certainty of the correctness of
the general scheme and ample provision for the en-
largement of each as necessity shall arise. The steps
by which permanent results have been attained may
be indicated by the following account of the estab-
lishment of the various departments now existing.
The department of arts begins, of course, with the
charter erecting the academy into a college, and its
history is coeval throughout with that of college and
university.
The department of medicine was suggested by Dr.
William Shippen, who had privately been instructing
pupils in anatomy as early as 1762, but it was not
until the return to this country of Dr. John Morgan,
one of the first graduates of the college, who had
pursued an extensive course of medical studies in
Europe, that the project was carried into effect. In
1765 the department was formally organized, with
Dr. Morgan as its efiicient head, and the first medical
commencement was held June 21, 1768, when the
degree of Bachelor of Medicine was conferred upon
ten gentlemen, the first medical graduates in America.
Under the succession of distinguished men who, for
more than a century, have made Philadelphia illus-
trious as a centre of medical learning, this depart-
ment has ever maintained the foremost place among
the institutions for medical education in this country.
Rival schools have grown up around it, and in some
years even exceeded it in the number of graduates
seut forth, but have never obtained the reputation
and standing of the University. In recent years
radical changes in the system of teaching, the intro-
duction of many subordinate subjects of instruction
under skillful specialists, vastly enlarged facilities
for laboratory work, and a marked increase both in
the requirements for entrance on the course, as well
as in the length of the course, were found necessary, |
and all these made to coincide with the acquisition of
the ample and well-equipped buildings erected on the
new grounds in West Philadelphia. Not only has the
department kept pace with the developments of med-
ical science in its own growth, it has been the efficient
cause of the creation of the auxiliary dental, hospital,
and veterinary departments, each of which will be
mentioned in due order.
The department of law originated in 1790, when
James Wilson was elected professor of Law, an office
in which he was confirmed on the establishment of
the University, but met with so little encouragement
that for many years it was completely dormant. In
1817 it had a brief revival under Professor Charles
W. Hare, and then again ceased to have active exist-
ence until 1850, when it was revived by the late Chief
Justice Sharswood, under whom it grew rapidly into
importance.
As now organized, it is a most efficient and useful
school of law, and its graduates are recognized by the
courts of Philadelphia as competent for admission to
the bar. *
The auxiliary department of medicine was founded
in 1865 through the liberality of Dr. George B.
Wood, who provided for its maintenance during his
lifetime and its endowment after his death. It gives
instruction in branches collateral to the study of
medicine, not included in any regular medical course,
and yet believed to be of the highest importance to
the thorough education of the physician. Its teach-
ing is so distributed as to supplement and harmonize
with both the curriculum in medicine and several of
the courses in the Towne Scientific School.
The department of science is the outgrowth of
various experiments made for the purpose of en-
grafting modern science upon the old curriculum of
arts. For many years it sufficed that chairs of math-
ematics, physics, and chemistry should exist in the
department of arts. But the vast growth of the phys-
ical sciences, and the demands of the age for special
teaching in them, led to the establishment of first a
school of natural science, then of a school of mines,
and finally to a more comprehensive scheme, under
the name of the department of science. A large en-
dowment having been provided for this department
by the will of the late John Henrj' Towne, in 1872
the name "Towne Scientific School" was conferred
upon it. Its course was extended to the period of five
years, and at the expiration of the second the student
is required to elect one out of six parallel courses in
the various subdivisions of science, to which his at-
tention will be given for the remaining three. These
courses are : I. Analytical and Applied Chemistry
and Mineralogy; II. Geology and Mining; III. Civil
Engineering; IV. Mechanical Engineering; V. Draw-
ing and Architecture ; VI. Studies preparatory to the
Study of Medicine. It will be seen that this system
may be indefinitely increased as the fields of science
EDUCATION.
1941
are further explored, and their thorough culture may
demand exclusive attention.
ilie department of music was established in 1877,
anil is a school for advanced students who desire to
add to the mere ability to read and perform music a
scientific acquaintance with harmony and eounter-
point. The preparation of an original musical com-
position, as well as a rigid examination on the
principles of music," are essential to graduation as
Bachelor of Music. The school has never been large,
but its graduates have given proof of its efficiency
in teaching the profounder branches of musical study.
The department of dentistry, established in 1878,
was a necessary outgrowth of the development of oral
science as collateral with that of medicine. Closely
connected with the
medical school, it
derives immense ad-
vantages from the as-
sociation, and stands
the fame of the University through the influence of
its graduates in their chosen sphere. It may here be
remarked that the University library possesses the
most complete collection of works on finance and
political economy that is known to exist.
The department of philosophy, organized in 1882,
is intended to embrace post-graduate instruction in
literature and science. Its faculty is composed of the
|)rincipal professors of the other departments, and its
studies properly begin about where they end. Its stu-
dents may or may not be in attendance at the Univer-
sity ; its requirements are necessarily very high, and its
degree is conferred only after rigid examination in
the more advanced studies.
The department of veterinary medicine, the last
established, is another outgrowth of the original med-
ical school. Long ago Dr. Rush predicted and hoped
for its establishment, and when this was accomplished,
after the lapse of nearly a century, one of his descend-
ants was appointed as its head. Its aim is to give a
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
relatively as high in the estimation of the profession.
Its facilities both for theoretical and practical training
are probably unequaled, and its spacious lecture- and
laboratory-rooms are occupied by a large and flourish-
ing school.
The department of finance and economy, founded
by Joseph Wharton in 1881, bears his name. Its
purpose is to give a thorough general and professional
training to young men who intend to engage in busi-
ness, to manage property, to prepare for the profession
of law or journalism, or to engage in public service.
Its aim is to treat as a science the great principles
which underlie practical business and politics, and to
fit young men by a definite training for these most
important careers. Its staff of professors are men of
national reputation, and it bids fair to largely advance
\
thorough and scientific education in veterinary medi-
cine. Like the dental school, its close connection
with the medical department gives it unusual advan-
tages, while its own buildings and grounds, of admira-
ble construction and ample equipment, give every
facility for thorough work in veterinary surgery,
forging, and the care of domestic animals.
In 1883 the four departments of arts, science, music,
and finance were consolidated under the name of
" The College Department," the united faculties form-
ing one governing body, while each school retains its
distinctive formation. A large part of the early work
in each is identical with that of the others, and at the
end of the second year the studies diverge into the
special lines which fit for the degrees conferred by the
particular school.
1942
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
From its very beginning the University lias pro-
vided for the free tuition of a certain number of
deserving students, and such scholarships, with the
exception of two which belonged originally to the
Penn family, and were by them vested in the Gov-
ernor, were awarded as occasion demanded and the
ability of the trustees warranted. In 1870, when it
was resolved to transfer the University to West Phila-
delphia, a tract of ten and a half acres was granted
by the city, on which were erected the present col-
lege buildings, except that of the veterinary depart-
ment. In 1872 the city granted additional ground,
amounting to five and a half acres, for the erection of
the hospital, to be hereafter described. In 1882 ap-
plication was made for more ground, in view of the
future growth of the institution, and the City Councils
granted thirteen acres more for the consideration of the
payment of ten thousand dollars, and the maintenance
forever of fifty free scholarships, of the annual value
of seven thousand five hundred dollars, for the use of
graduates of the public schools of Philadelphia. By
this wise arrangement the common school system of
the commonwealth is not only brought into direct
relation to the University, but the ablest and most
deserving students of these schools can win and hold
as a right, and not as a charity, a full opportunity" for
the higher education. The whole amount of prop-
erty thus held by the University in West Philadel-
phia amounts to twenty-seven acres, enough to suffice
for its probable growth for many years. When we
add that it adjoins on one side the beautiful Wood-
land Cemetery, and on another the spacious grounds
which the city has determined to reserve for its Mu-
nicipal Hospital on the removal of the almshouse to
another site, it will be seen that a most important
breathing area, almost equivalent to a public park, is
added to the advantages of that part of the city.
An integral part of the University, although not
classed as a department, is a magnificent hospital.
As soon as it was decided to remove the medical de-
partment to the new site, it was felt that the Uni-
versity should have a hospital of its own. A com-
mittee was appointed to carry the design into eff"ect,
and for several years its members worked with a dili-
gence beyond all praise to secure the success of their
mission. As before stated, the city granted the neces-
sary ground. The Legislature voted the sum of two
hundred thousand dollars on condition that two hun-
dred and fifty thousand dollars additional should be
subscribed and that fifty free beds should be forever
maintained.
On June 4, 1874, the main building and west pavil-
ion were formally opened, and since that date the
hospital has been in active operation. The plan
adopted is such that as the means are available a
series of pavilions, connected by corridors, will be
erected along the whole of the Spruce Street front, a
length of seven hundred feet, giving ample room for
an exceedingly large hospital. In 1883 an additional
pavilion was built to the westward through the
liberality of Mr. Henry C. Gibson, known as the
ward for chronic diseases, and devoted to those in-
curable cases which cannot be received in general
hospitals. What is now seen is, therefore, only the
centre, and two extensions on one side, of what is
intended to be ultimately a noble pile of buildings.
The-Jnterior plans are of the latest and most approved
construction, and every essential to health, safety,
and cleanliness has been provided in these model
buildings. The architect. Professor T. W. Richards,
who also designed the Arts and Science and Medical
Halls, was aided in his labors by the advice of the
most experienced physicians and hospital managers,
and his plans have met with the highest approval.
The hospital is always taxed to the utmost of its ac-'
commodation, and both it and the adjacent Municipal
Hospital afford most valuable fields for clinical in-
struction to the students of the University.
It is impossible within the necessary limits of an
article like this to make mention of the able and
eminent men through whose devotion as trustees and
professors the University has done the work and
maintained its reputation for one hundred and thirty
years. The appended lists of officers mention some
of their names, which will be recognized as among
Philadelphia's most illustrious sons. The same ap-
pendices will give some idea of the condition of the
University in 1884, and will show that the present
management of this venerable institution is not un-
worthy of its trust, and that the city and the State
have just reason for pride in the University of Penn-
sylvania :
TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY.
James Logan.
Thomas Lawrence.
William Allen.
John Inglis.
Tench Francis
William Masters.
Lloyd Zachary.
Samuel McCall, Jr.
Joseph Turner.
Benjamin Franklin.
Thomas Leech.
William Shippen.
Robert Strettle.
Philip Sjng.
Charles Willing.
Phineas Bond.
Richard Peters.
Abraham Taylor.
Thomas Bond.
Thomas Hopkinson.
William Plumsted.
Joshua 3Iaddos.
Thomas White.
William Coleman.
Elected from Foundation to 17T9.
Isaac Norris.
Thomas Cadwalader.
James Hamilton.
Ale.\ander Stedman.
John MiBin.
Benjamin Chew.
Edward Shippen, Jr.
William Coxe.
Thomas Willing.
Jacob Duch^, Jr.
L.vnford Lardner.
Amos Strettle.
Andrew Elliott.
John Redman.
John Penn.
John Lawrence.
John Allen.
Isaac Jones.
Richard Penn.
Samuel Powell.
Thomas Mifflin.
William White.
James Tilghman.
Robert Morris.
Francis Hopkinson.
George Clymer.
Alexander Wilcocks.
John Cadwalader.
James Wilson.
EDUCATION.
1943
Elected fro
Thomas Fitzsimons.
Henry Hill.
Robert Blackwell.
Siiniuel MileB.
^Villianl Bingham.
William Lewis.
1 March 6, 1789.
John Nixon.
Robert Hare.
Caspar Wistar.
Richard Peters.
Edward Burd.
David H. Conyngham.
Under the University
Jiiseph Reed.
William Moore.
John Bayard.
Thomas McKean.
Francis Hopkinson.
Jonatlian D. Sergeant.
John EwiDg.
John Christopher Kunze.
Casparue Weiberg.
William Shippen.
Frederick Muhlenberg.
James Searle.
William Angustus Atlee.
Timotliy Matlack.
David Rittenhonse.
Jonathan Bayard Smith.
iJeorge Bryan.
Tho
1 Bond.
James HntchinsoQ.
William White.
Ferdinand Farmer.
Samuel Morris.
C*or(er of 1779.
James Sproat.
J. C. H. Helmuth.
John Evans.
Geraldus Clarkaon,
William Bradford.
James Potter.
John Dickinson.
James Ewing.
George Gray.
Thomas Ustick.
Frederick Knhl.
Charles Biddle.
Robert Molyneux.
James Irvine.
Charles Pettit.
Samuel Miles.
Jared IngersoU.
Nicholas Collin.
Francis Beaston.
David Jackson.
John Bleakley.
George Fox.
At the Unim, Nov. 18, 1791.
Thomas McKean.
Charles Pettit.
James Sproat.
Frederick Kuhl.
John Bleakley.
John Carson.
Jonathan Bayard.
David Rittenhonse.
Jonathan D. Sergeant.
David Jackson.
Jared lugersoll.
Edward Tilghman, 1794.
Joseph B. McKean, 1794.
Alexander James Dallas, 1794.
Joseph Ball.
William Rawle, 1796.
Benjamin R. Morgan, 1797.
Samuel M. Fox, 1800.
Thomas M. Willing, 1800.
William Tilghman, 1S02.
Moses Levy. 1S02.
John T. Mifflin, 1802.
John H. Brinton, 1806.
James Gibson, 1806.
J. Redman Coxe, 1806.
Anthony Morris, 1806.
Horace Binney, 1806.
Joseph Hopkinson, 1806.
William Meredith, 1809.
Benjamin Chew, 1810.
Robert Wain, 1811.
George Fox, 1812.
John Sergeant, 1813.
Thomas W. Francis, 1813.
James P. Wilson, 1813.
Thomas Cadwalader, 1816.
Stephen Peter Du Ponceau, 1818.
Zaccheus Collins, 1818.
Nicholas Biddle, 1818.
Thomas Duncan, 1819.
Charles Chauncey, 1819.
124
William White.
Robert Blackwell.
Edward Shippen.
William Lewis.
Robert Hare.
Samuel Powell.
David H. Conyngham.
William Bingham.
Thomas Fitzsimons.
George Clymer.
Edward Burd.
Samuel Miles.
Joseph R. lugersoll, 1822.
Philip F. Mayer, 1824.
Jacob J. Janeway, 1826.
William H. Delancey, 1826.
Philip H. Nicklin, 1827.
Henry U. Onderdonk, 1828.
Robert Walsh, Jr., 1828.
John C. Lowber, 1828.
Thomas H. Skinner, 1828.
Thomas McAnley. 1831.
James S. Smith, 1831.
Edward Shippen Burd, 1831.
John Keating, 1833.
George Vaux, 1833.
William H. Delancey, 1833.
Albert Barnes, 1834.
i John M. Scott, 1834.
William Rawle, Jr., 1836.
Henry Baldwin, 1836.
Samuel Breck.
Robert M. Patterson, 1836.
I Harlman Kuhu, 1836.
Benjamin W. Richards, 1836.
Lewis Wain. 1837.
Thomas Biddle, 1837.
Thomas I. Wharton, 1837.
Robert Ralston, 1838.;
Benjamin W. Dorr, 1839.
George W. Bcthune, 1839.
George M. Wharton, 1841.
Tobias Wagner, 1841.
Thomas Sergeant, 1842.
Edwin S. Burd, 1842.
William M. Meredith, 1842.
Henry J. Williams, 1844.
Henry J. Morton, 1844.
Alonzo Potter, 1848.
R. C. Demm«, 1851.
R6n6 La Roche, 1852.
John C. Cresson, 1852.
Henry D. Gilpin, 1853.
Oswald Thompson, 1853.
Frederick Fraley, 1863.
Benjamin Gerhard, 1854.
Horace Binuey, Jr., 1856.
Stephen Colwell, 1856.
Henry A. Boardman, 1868.
James I. Clark Hare, 1858.
Adolph E. Borie, 1858.
David Lew's, 1858.
Charles W. Schaeffer, 1858.
William Strong, 1860.
Samuel Powell, 1860.
Mordecai L. Dawson, 1860.
John Welsh, 18G1.
Peter McCall, 1861. •
George B. Wood, 1863.
Alexander Henry, 1864.
William Smith, D.D., 1754-79.
John Ewing, D.D., 1779-1802.
John McDowell, D.D., LL.D., 1806
-10.
John Andrews, D.D., 1810-13.
Frederick Beasley, D.D., 1813-28.
William Heathcote Delancey, D.D
1828-34.
William Bacon Stevens, 1865.
Charles P. Krauth, 186.5.
John Ashhurst, 1865.
Charles E. Lex, 1866.
William Sellers, 1808.
Nathaniel B. Browne, 1869.
Richard Newton, 1809.
Eli K. Price, 1869.
J. Vaughan Merrick, 1870.
Fairman Rogers, 1871.
Henry C. Lea, 1871.
Elias B. Beadle, 1872.
George Sharswood, 1872.
Richard Wood, 1873.
John Henry Towne, 1873.
S. Weir Mitchell, 1875.
George Whitney, 1876.
Joshua B Lippincott, 1876.
Charles C. Harrison, 1876.
James H. Hutchinson, M.D., 1878.
Rev. George Dana Boardman,
D.D., 1879.
William Hunt, M.D., 1879.
Horace Howard Furneas, LL.D.t
1880.
Wharton Barker, 1880.
Samuel Dickson, 1881.
George Tucker Bispham, 1884.
PROVOSTS.
, John Ludlow, D.D., 1834-53.
Henry Vethake, LL.D., 1854-58.
Daniel R. Goodwin, D.D., 1860-68.
Charles Janeway StillS, LL.D.,
1868-81.
William Pepper, M.D., LL.D.,
1881.
VICE-PROVOSTS.
Francis Allison, D.D., 1755-77. I Robert Adrian, LL.D., 1828-34.
David Rittenhonse, LL.D., 1779- Samuel B. Wylie, D.D., 1834-45.
82. ' Henry Vethake, LL.D., 1845-54.
Samuel Magaw, D.D., 1782-91.
John Andrews, D.D., 1791-1810.
Robert Patterson, LL.D., 1810-13.
Robert M. Patterson, A.M., M.D.,
1813-28.
John Fries Frazer, LL.D., 1855-
68.
Charles Porterfield Krauth, D.D.,
1872-83.
E. Otis Kendall, LL.D., 1883.
OFFICERS FOR 1884.
Provost of the University, William Pepper, M.D., LL.D., president
pro tempore of the board of trustees ; Trustees, the Governor of Penn-
sylvania (ex officio president of tlie board), Rev. Henry J. Morton, D.D.,
Frederick Fraley, LL.D., Bfv. Charles W. Schaeffer, D.D., John Welsh,
LL.D., Rt. Rev. William Bacon Stevens, D.D., LL.D., John Ashhurst,
William Sellers, Rev. Richard Newton, D.D., Eli K. Price, LL.D., J.
Vaughan Merrick, Fairman Rogers, Richard Wood, S. Weir Mitchell,
M.D., George Whitney, Joshua B. Lippincott, Charles C. Harrison, Jamee
H. Hutchinson, M.D., Rev. George Dana Boardman, D.D., William Hunt,
M.D., Horace Howard Furness, LL.D,, Wharton Barker, Samuel Dick-
son ; Rev. Jesse Y. Burk, secretary ; Wharton Barker, treasirrer.
Officers of Instruction and GonenTOKiif.— William Pepper, M.D., LL.D.,
provost of the University; E. Otis Kendall, LL.D., vice-provost; Joseph
Leidy, M.D., LL.D., professor of Anatomy ; Henry H. Smith, M.D.,
emeritus professor of Surgery; Francis A. Jackson, A.M., professor of
the Latin Language and Literature; E. Otis Kendall, LL.D., Thomas A,
Scott, professor of Mathematics; J. Peter Lesley, LL.D., professor of
Geology and Mining ; P. Pemberton Morris, A.M., i)rofe8Sor of Practice,
Pleading, and Evidence at Law and in Equity ; Richard A. F. Penrose,
M.D., LL.D., professor of Obstetrics and of the Diseases of Women and
Children ; Alfred StillS, M.D., LL.D., professor of the Theory and Prac-
tice of Medicine, and of Clinical Medicine; Harrison Allen, M.D., pro-
fessor of Physiology ; Horatio C. Wood, M.D., LL.D.,professor of Materia
Medica, Pharmacy, and General Therapeutics, and clinical professor of
Nervous Diseases; John J. Reese, MD., professor of Sledical Jurispru-
dence, including Toxicology ; Charles J. Stille, LL.D., emeritus John
Welsh Centennial professor of History and English Literature ; Oswald
1944
HISTOEY OF PHILADELPHIA,
Seidensticker, Ph.D. (Gottingeo), professor of the German Language and
Literature; John G. R. McEIroy, A.M., professor of Rhetoric and the
English Language; J. I. Clark Hare, LL.D., professor of the Institutes
of Law, iocluding, ititer alia. International, Couetitutional, Commercial,
and Civil Law; D. Hayes Agnew, M.D , LL.C, John Rhea Barton pro-
fessor of Surgery, and professor of Clinical Surgery; Rev. Robert E.
Thompson, A.M., John Welsh Centennial professor of History and Eng-
lish Literature, professor of Social Science, and librarian ; Frederick
A. Genth, Ph.D. (Marburg), professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy;
Samuel B. Howell, M.D., professor of Mineralogy and Geology ; George
F. Barker, M.D., Ph.B., professor of Physics; E. Coppee Mitchell, LL.D.,
professor of the Law of Real Estate and Conveyancing and of Equity
Jurisprudence ; Lewis M. Haupt, A.M., C.E., professor of Civil Engineer-
ing; William Pepper, M.D., LL.D., professor of Clinical Medicine ; Wil-
liam Gnodell, M.D., professor of Clinical Gynaecology ; William F. Norris,
M.D., clinical professor of Diseases of the Eye: George Strawbridge,
M.D., clinical professor of Diseases of the Ear; James Parsons, A.M.,
professor of Personal Relations and Personal Property ; Thomas W.
Richards. A.M., professor of Drawing and Architecture; George A.
Koenig, Ph.D. (Heidelberg), assistant professor of Chemistry ; Samuel P.
Sadtler, Ph.D. (Gottingen), assistant professor of Chemistry ; James
Tyson, M.D., professor of General Pathology and Morbid Anatomy ; Louie
A. Duhring, M.D., clinical professor of Skin Diseases ; Hugh A. Clarke,
professor of the Science of Music ; Rev. Frederick A. Muhlenberg, D.D.,
professor of the Greek Language and Literature ; Jos. T. Rothrock, M.D.,
B.S., professor of Botany ; Wm. D. Marks, Ph.B.* C. E. Whitney , professor
of Dynamical Engineering; Theodore G. Wormley, M.D., LL.D., professor
of Chemistry and Toxicology ; John Ashhurst, Jr., M.D., professor of Clin-
ical Surgery ; Otis H. Kendall, A.M., assistant professor of Mathematics;
Joseph G. Richardson, M.D., professor of Hygiene; Charles J. Essig,
M.D., D.D.S., professor of Mechanical Dentistry and Metallurgy ; Edwin
T. Darby,M.D.,D.D.S., professor of Operative Dentistry and Dental His-
tology; Andrew J. Parker, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Comparative Anat-
omy and Zoology; Henry W. Spangler, assistant engineer U.S.N. , assist-
ant professor of Dynamical Engineering; Morton W. Easton, Ph.D.,
professor of Comparative Philology; James Truman, D.D.S., professor
of Dental Pathology, Therapeutics, and Materia Medica; Frederick A.
Genth, Jr., M.S., assistant professor of Chemistry; Albert S. BoUes,
Ph.D., professor of Mercantile Law and Practice ; Rush Shippen Huide-
koper, M.D., V.S. (Alfort), professor of Veterinary Anatomy and Path-
ology ; Edmund J. James, Ph.D. (Halle), professor of Finance and
Administration; John Bach McMaster, A.M., professor of American
History; George Tucker Bisphauj, A.M., professor-elect of Practice,
Pleading, and Evidence at Law and in Equity ; Robert Meade Smith,
M.D. , professor of Con^parative Pliysiology ; Charles T. Hunter, M.D.,
demonstrator of Anatomy and assistant surgeon in University Hospital ;
Roland G. Curtin, M.D. , lecturer on Physical Diagnosis, and assistant
physician in University Hospital ; Charles K, Mills, M.D., lecturer on
Mental Diseases; Samuel D. Risley, M.D., instructor in Ophthalmology
and Ophthalmological Surgery in University Hospital; De Forrest Wil-
lard, M.D., lecturer on Orthopedic Surgery ; J. William White, M.D.,
demonstrator of Surgery and lecturer on Venereal Diseases, and assist-
ant surgeon in University Hospital; Benjamin F. Baer, M.D. , demon-
strator of Clinical Gynfecology ; Elliott Richardson, M.D., lecturer on
Clinical and Operative Obstetrics and demonstrator of Operative Obstet-
rics; Adolph W. Miller, M D., lecturer on Materia Medica and Phar-
macy and demonstrator of Practical Pharmacy ; John Marshall, M.D.,
Nat.Sc.D. (Tilbingen), demonstrator of Practical Chemistry; William
Barton Hopkins, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Surgery; George A.
Piersol, M.D., demonstrator of Normal Histology; Henry F. Formad,
M.D., demonstrator of Pathological Histology and of Morbid Anatomy,
lecturer on Experimental Pathology,and librarian of the Stills Medical
Library; Walter M. L. Ziegler, M.D., instructor in Otology and Aural
Surgery in University Hospital ; Carl Seller, M.D., instructor in Laryn-
gology ; Edward T. Bruen, M.D., demonstrator of Clinical Medicine and
assistant physician in University Hospital ; Albert L. A. Toboldt, M.D.,
assistant demonstrator of Practical Pharmacy ; Harry R. Wharton, M.D.,
demonstrator of Clinical Surgery and assistant demonstrator of Sur-
gery; Richard H. Harte, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Surgery and
Anatomy and assistant surgeon in University Hospital; Robert Huey,
D.D.S., lecturer on Operative Dentistry; William Diehl, D.D.S., demon-
strator of Operative Dentistry ; Louis Starr, M.D., instructor in Diseases
of Children, assistant physician in University Hospital ; John B. Deaver,
M.D., demonstrator of Osteology and Syndesmologj' and assistant dem-
onstrator of Anatomy ; Francis X. Dercum.M.D., instructor in Nervous
Diseases; Thomas R. Neilson, M.D. .assistant demonstrator of Anatomy;
Edmund W. Holmes, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Anatomy ; Wil-
liam M. Gray, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Normal Histology ; Ed-
ward T. Reichert, M.D. , demonstrator of Experimental Therapeutics;
William A.Edwards, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Clinical Medicine:
Judson Daland, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Clinical Medicine; N.
Archer Randolph, M.D., assistant demonstrator of Physiology and in-
structor in Physiology ; Edwin S. Crawley, B.S., instructor in Civil
Engineering; William L. Cave, D.D.S., demonstrator of Mechanical
Dentistry; Stephen L. Wiggins, D.D.S., assistant demonstrator of Oper-
iitive Dentistry ; J. Judson Edwards, D.D.S., assistant demonstrator of
Mechanical Dentistry ; Rev. George S. Fullerton, A.M., B.D., instructor
in Intellectual and Moral Philosophy; Henry F. Keller, B.S., assistant
in Chemistry; Lieut. Joseph B. Murdock, U.S.N., assistant in Physics;
Chester N. Farr, instructor in the Theory and Practice of Accounting;
Frederick 0. Sheppard, M.D., assistant gynEecoIogist ; Henry A. Wae-
muth, KM., assistant in Geology and Mining; George E. Shoemaker,
M.D., assistant demonstrator of Physiology ; J. Hendrie Lloyd, M.D.,
instructor in Electro-Therapeutics; A. Sydney Roberta, M.D., instructor
in Orthopaedic Surgery ; J. P. Crozer Griffith, M.D., assistant demonstra-
tor of Normal Histology ; George E. De Schweinitz, M.D., prosector to
the professor of Anatomy ; Horace F. Jayne, M.D., assistant instructor
in Biology; Henry W. Stelwagon, M.D., instructor in Dermatology;
John B. Webster, clerk to the college faculty ; William H. Salvador,
clerk to the faculty of medicine.
RECAPITULATION.
Professors, Lectubees, and Issthdctoes.
College department 31
Department of medicine, including hospital service... 105
" " " (auxiliary faculty) 5
" " dentistry 26
" " veterinary medicine 10
" " law 6
" " philosophy 15
Emeritus professors 2
200
Repeated 68
132
College department 416
Department of medicine 386
" " " (auxiliary faculty) 43
" dentistry „ 88
" law 101
1034
Repeated 34
Total 1000
Girard. College. — The founder of this institution
was Stephen Girard, mariner, merchant, and banker,
who left by his will two million dollars for its erection
and endowment. Mr. Girard died on the 26th of De-
cember, 1831. As soon as Timothy Paxson, Thomas
P. Cope, Joseph Roberts, William J. Duane, and John
A. Barclay, his executors, had advanced sufficiently
far in the settlement of his large estate to authorize
the undertaking, the Councils of Philadelphia, who
were selected by Mr. Girard as his trustees, took the
necessary steps to carry out his intentions. Accord-
ingly, on the 11th of February, 1833, they elected a
board of directors to superintend the organization
and management of the college in conformity with
his will. This board, which consisted of the most
prominent citizens of the city, organized on the 18th
of the same month by the election of Nicholas Biddle
as chairman, and immediately entered upon the dis-
charge of their duties. As the ordinance creating a
board of directors conferred no power with regard to
the construction of an edifice for the college, the Coun-
cils, on the 21st of March, appointed a sub-committee
of their body, to be called the building committee,
who, with eight members of the board of directors
EDUCATION.
1945
and the architect, were instructed to prepare a plan
for the college building.
The joint committee met on the 18th of April, 1833,
and, after due examination, determined that the de-
signs which h.id previously been received from all
parts of the United States in competition for the pre-
mium offered should be set aside, and Thomas U. Wal-
ter, who had been elected the architect, was instructed
to prepare a plan of the main building, with a portico
extending around the entire structure, and conform-
ing in the dimensions and form of the cella or body
of the building, to the directions laid down in the
will of Mr. Girard. The design prepared by this gen-
tleman, substantially the present edifice, was approved
by Councils on the 29th of April, and excavations for
the foundations having been commenced on the 6th
of May following, the corner-stone of the college was
six inches high and nine feet four inches wide on
the face of the abacus. The corner columns have
one and one-half inches more diameter than the in-
termediate ones, for the purpose of overcoming the
apparent reduction in their size arising from their
insulated position. Each frustum comjjosing the
shafts, as well as the bases, consists of a single piece
without vertical joints.
The exterior of the cella or body of the building
measures one hundred and eleven feet wide, one hun-
dred and sixty-nine feet long, and fifty-nine feet eight
inches high, including the architrave, which corre-
sponds with that of the peristyle.
The building is three stories in height, the first and
second stories being twenty-five feet from the floor,
and the third story being thirty feet in the clear to
the eye of the dome. Each story is divided, as di-
GIRARD COLLEGE.
laid with fitting ceremonies on the 4th of July, 1833. {
The main edifice and out-buildings were completed
and transferred to the directors on the 13th of Novem-
ber, 1847, making fourteen years and six months as
the entire period occupied in the execution of the
work.
The total amount expended for this construction,
not including the western out-buildings, which have
since been erected, was $1,933,821.78.
The general design of the main building is that of
a Greek temple, having eight columns on each end
and eleven on each side, counting the corner columns
both ways, making in all thirty-four columns. The
order of architecture in which the exterior is com-
posed is the Grecian Corinthian. The columns are
six feet in diameter and fifty-five feet in height, the
bases are nine feet three inches in diameter and three
feet two inches high, and the capitals are eight feet
rected by the will, into four rooms, each fifty feet
square in the clear. All the outside foundation walls
of the cella, and the walls separating the cellars under
the rooms from those under the vestibules, are six
feet four inches thick, and the rest of the interior
foundation walls are three feet four inches thick.
The thickness of the wall for supporting the columns
is nine feet nine inches, and the intercolumniations,
as well as all other openings, are counter-arched with
bricks. The outside walls of the superstructure and
the interior vestibule walls are four feet in thickness,
and the rest of the interior walls three feet. All the
rooDis and vestibules in the building are vaulted with
bricks, those of the basement, first and second stories
with groin-arches, and those of the third story with
pendentive domes springing from the floors.
The superstructure rests on a stylobate or basement,
consisting of eleven steps, which extend around the
1946
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
entire edifice, thus imparting a pyramidal appearance
to the substructure, which conveys an idea of great
solidity, and at the same time affords an aj^proach to
the peristyle from all sides.
The roof is composed of marble tiles, and the ceiling
of the peristyle entirely of cast iron. The flooring of
the interior of the building amounts in the aggregate
to thirty-eight thousand one hundred and thirty super-
ficial feet, all of which is done with marble tiles. The
area on which the building stands, exclusive of the
steps, measures thirty-four thousand three hundred
and forty-four superficial feet, of which twelve thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-two feet are occupied
by the walls.
The following materials were used in the construc-
tion of the main building:
177,168 cubic fpet of marble, weighing
21,366 cubic feet of granite, weighing ;..
25,139 flooring tiles, weighing
12,134,9811 bricks, weighing
12,495 perches of building stone, weighing
Wrought iron for bands, cramps, etc., "weighing
Cast iron in ceiling of portico, weighing
Cast iron in water-pipes, weighing
Cast iron in sky-lights and inner rims, weighing
Milled lead for gutters and setting marble, and lead for cramp-
ing, weighing
,*i3,720 bushels of lime, weighing
50.224 bushels of river-sand, weighine
13.1,646 bushels of pit-S!
4,200 bushels of hydr
Locks, fastenings, glae
weighing about
ud, weighing
lulic cement, weighing
i, lumber in doors and windows, etc..
1,431
3,292
8,759
Making the aggregate weight of the building 76,594}^
Mr. Girard directed that at least four out-buildings,
detached from the main edifice and from each other,
should be erected, which buildings he ordered should
be sufficiently spacious for the residence and accom-
modation of at least three hundred scholars, and
the requisite teachers and other persons necessary in
such an institution.
In compliance with this provision of the will,
before the year 1861, five out-buildings had been >
constructed. In 1877-78, the primary school build- [
ing and the chapel were erected, at jin expenditure
of $348,030. In 1880-82, a dining-room for 800
boys and sleeping apartments for 230 were provided,
at a cost of $201,804. Mechanical hall, which is in
course of completion at a cost of $45,000, will be
ready for occupancy May 1, 1884.
It had been the original intention of Mr. Girard
that the college buildings should occupy his square of
ground comprehended within the limits of Market
and Chestnut and Eleventh and Twelfth Streets in
the city proper. But becoming afterward by pur-
chase the possessor of the farm of Peel Hall, on the
Eidge road, he chose the latter as the more desirable
site, and it is here that the college has finally been
established.
During the progress of the main building an un-
successful effort was made by the next of kin to Mr.
Girard, to defeat the intentions of the testator, by
alleging that the institution was illegal and immoral,
and by laying claim to the fund appropriated for its
establishment. Although not specifically set forth in
the bill of complaint, yet the following portion of
Mr. Girard's will was relied upon as a most important
portion of the argument to invalidate the intentions
of the testator :
" I enjoin and require that no Ecclesiastic, Missionary, or minister of
any sect whatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty
whatever in the said College; nor shall any such person ever be admitted
for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the
purposes of the said college. In making this restriction, I do not mean
to cast any reflection upon any sect or person whatsoever ; but as there
is such a multitude of sects, and such a diversity of opinion amongst
them, t desire to keep tlie tender minds of the orphans, who are to de-
rive advantage from this bequest, free from the excitement which clash-
ing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce ; my desire
is, that all the instructors and teachers in the College, shall take pains
to instil into the minds of the scholars, the purest principles of morality,
so that, on their entrance into active life they may from inclination and
habit, evince benevolence toward their fellow creatures, and a love of
truth, sobriety, and industry, adopting at the same time such religious
tenets as their matured reason may enable them to prefer."
It was objected that the foundation of the college
upon these principles and exclusions was derogatory
and hostile to the Christian religion, and was void, as
being against the common law and public policy;
first, because of the exclusion of all ecclesiastics,
missionaries, and ministers of any sect, and, secondly,
because it limits the instruction to be given to the
scholars to pure morality and general benevolence,
and to a love of truth, sobriety, and industry, thereby
excluding by implication all instruction in the Chris-
tian religion. The cause was first argued before the
Supreme Court at January term 1843 by Mr. Stump
and Mr. Jones of Washington on behalf of the Girard
heirs, and by Mr. Sergeant for the city ; but the judges
thinking that it was proper to rehear the cause before
a fuller court, a reargument was ordered, and took
place at January term, 1844, where Gen. Walter Jones
and Daniel Webster appeared for the complainants,
and Horace Binney and John Sergeant for the city
and executors.
The unanimous decision of the court was delivered
by Justice Story, establishing in an elaborate opinion
that the trust and charity were valid and legal, and
that there was nothing in the devise creating the col-
lege, or in the regulations and restrictions contained
therein, which is inconsistent with the Christian
religion or opposed to any known policy of the State.
During the progress of the building, the board of
directors deemed it advisable to select a presiding
ofiieer of the institution in advance of its organiza-
tion, who would prepare a system of discipline and
instruction for the college in anticipation of its speedy
completion. Having obtained the necessary authority
from Councils, they accordingly, on the 19th of July,
1836, elected Alexander Dallas Bache, of the city of
Philadelphia, the first president of the college, with
instructions to visit similar institutions in Europe,
and to procure such books and apparatus as should be
needed in its organization. Upon the return of Presi-
dent Bache, in 1838, efforts were made by the board
to establish schools preparatory to the completion of
EDUCATION.
1947
the college, which it was now found would require
several years to finish ; but in consequence of the
opinion of competent legal authority that the organi-
zation of the institution before the completion of the
buildings would be in violation of the will, the requi-
site permission was not granted.
Soon after this period, difficulties arose between
Councils and the directors, which resulted ultimately
in the repeal both of the ordinance creating the board,
and that authorizing the election of a i^resident.
From this period until its completion the building
committee continued to have
charge of the erection of the
college, and in June, 1847, the
edifice being then nearly fin-
ished, a new board of directors
was again appointed to organize
and manage the institution.
The buildings were formally
transferred to the directors on
the 13th of November, 1847 ; on
the 15th of December following,
the necessary ofiicers and agents
were elected, the Hon. Joel
Jones, then president judge of
the District Court for the city
and county of Philadelphia,
being selected as the president,
and on the 1st of January, 1848,
the college was opened with
fitting ceremonies, with a class
of one hundred orphans who
had been previously admitted.
On the 1st of October of the
same year, one hundred addi-
tional boys were introduced,
and on the 1st of April of the
following year, a third class of
one hundred pupils was ad-
mitted. Since then, from time
to time as vacancies have oc-
curred, other orphans have been
admitted to sujjply their places.
On the 1st of June, 1849,
Judge Jones resigned the ofiice
of president of the college, and
on the 23d of November of the
same year William H. Allen,
M.D., LL.D., then professor of Mental Philosophy and
English Literature in Dickinson College, Pennsylva-
nia, was duly elected to fill the vacancy. This gentle-
man having accepted the appointment, was duly in-
stalledon the 1st of January, 1850, and continued until
the close of 1862, when he resigned. He was succeeded
by Richard Somers Smith June 24, 1863, who resigned
in September, 1867. William H. Allen was re-elected
president and served until his death, Aug. 29, 1882.
Dr. Allen was born near Augusta, Me., March 27,
1808, and received his preparatory education at the
Maine Wesleyan Seminary. At the age of twenty-
one he entered Bowdoin College, from which he gradu-
ated after a four-years' course. After leaving college
he taught Greek and Latin for two and a half years
in the Oneida Conference Seminary at Cazenovia,
N. Y., and then returned to Augusta, Me., where he
took charge of the high school. In a few months he
accepted the chair of professorship of Chemistry and
Natural Philosophy at Dickinson College, which he
occupied for ten years, and then filled that of English
Literature for three years. He was a regular con-
WILLIAM II \1,IK.S' .M 11,1,1
tributor to the Methodinf Qinir/rrh/ Bcrlew, and de-
livered lectures in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
and Indianapolis. In 1850 the degree of Doctor of
Laws was conferred upon him by the Union College,
New York, and also by Emory and Henry College,
Virginia. In March, 1872, he was elected president
of the American Bible Society. He was succeeded as
president of Girard College on Jan. 1, 1883, by Adam
H. Fetterolf, Ph.D., who is still holding the dignified
and arduous position.
Some years ago it was found that the institution was
1948
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
so large that the president needed assistance. Henry
W. Arly was elected vice-president, and discharged
that duty for several years. He had been secretary of
the board of directors from the opening of the insti-
tution. A. H. Fetterolf succeeded Mr. Arly as vice-
president after the resignation of the latter, and upon
the election of Mr. Fetterolf to be president, Henry
D. Gregory was elected vice-president.
While the Councils of the city, as the trustees of
Mr. Girard's will, still retain the general supervision
of the institution, the immediate government of the col-
lege is vested in the Board of City Trusts. This board
is subdivided into various standing committees, who
have respectively charge of the various departments
of the institution. The will of Mr. Girard provides
tliat the college shall be for the benefit of " poor
white male orphan children." If at any time there
are more applicants than vacancies, a preference is
given by the will, first, to orphans born in the city of
Philadelphia; secondly, to those born in any other
part of Pennsylvania ; thirdly, to those born in the
city of New York ; and, l.nstly, to those born in the
citj' of New Orleans. To be qualified for admission,
orphans must be between the ages of six and ten
years, and no application is received for admission of
a child before he attains the first-named age, nor
can he be admitted into the college after becoming
ten j'ears of age, although the application has been
made previously. At present (1884) the institution
contains the following number of scholars in the
various schools: Fourth School, 223; Third School,
302 ; Second School, 240 ; First School, 339 ; making
a total of 1104.
The administration of the Girard College, and the
collection and management of the revenues which
maintain it, constitute the most important part of
the trusts committed to the charge of the Board of
City Trusts, of which Alexander Biddle is president,
William H. Drayton vice-president, and Joseph L.
Caven, William B. Mann, James Campbell, John H.
Michener, James L. Claghorn, Henry M. Phillips,
Charles H. T. Collis, George H. Stuart, Benjamin
B. Comegys, and Louis Wagner members of the board.
The officers of the Girard estate are James A.
Kirkpatrick, superintendent; Charles S. Smith, con-
sulting superintendent; F. Carroll Brewster, so-
licitor.
The officers of Girard College for 1883-84 are as
follows :
President, A. H. Fetterolf, Ph.D. ; Vice-President, Henry D. Gregory,
Ph.D. Faculty and Teachers : George J. Becker, professor of Drawing,
Writing, and Book-keeping; Lemuel Stephens, A.M., professor of Physics
and Industrial Science ; Warren Holdeii, A.M., professor of Mathematics ;
Elmore C. Hine, M.D., professor of Natural History ; Miss Mary Lynch,
teaclier of English Studies, and librarian ; Miss Keturah Cole, teacher
in Fourth School; Miss Charlotte E. Overn, teacher in Third School;
Miss Elizaheth McDuffle, teacher in Third School ; Miss Hessie R. Mil-
ler, teacher in Third School ; Miss Mary D. Ware, teacher in Third
School; Miss Margaret Wylie, teacher in Third School; Miss Virginia
B. Tucker, teacher in Third School; Miss Mary L. Neville, teacher in
Third School; Miss Kate V. Linderman, teacher in Third School; Miss
Emily P. Town, teacher, in Second School; Miss Minnie M. Jones,
teacher in Second School; Miss Mary E. Clime, teacher in Second
School ; Miss Amelia C. Wight, teacher in Second School ; Miss Mary L
Camphell, teacher in Second School; Miss Martha E. Bentley, teacher
in Second School; Miss Florentine A. Merino, instructor in Spanish;
Mme. S. Anna Simon, instructor in French ; Jliss Fanny West, teacher
of Drawing; Miss Ida C. Craddock, teacher of Phonography; Miss M.
B. Heritage, teacher of Elocution ; Thomas A'Becket, professor of Vocal
Music; George Bastert, instructor of brass hand; Maj. John W. Ryan,
commandant of cadets; T, Mason Mitchell, mechanical instructor.
First or Primary Department, Miss Hal lie Bradduck, Miss Inez E. Walsh,
Miss Kato R. Thompson. Miss Harriet N. Breadin, Miss Kate V. Camp-
bell, Miss Mary Wise, Mrs. Eleanor L. Gilhert, Miss Christiana Breid-
ing, Mi«is Emily Bushong, Miss Emma D. Harron.
Household. — Matron, Miss Anna M. Shreve; Assistant Matron, Mrs.
Elizabeth B. Thompson; Prefects, William H. Kilpatrick, George W.
Oram, A.M., Robert S. Brier, Frank Danenhour, Louis T. Reed, Henry
H. Hay, Frank L. Scrilmer, George W. Pollock, A. D. Dudbridge, George
W. Price; Governesses, Miss Mary White, Jliss Mary Covers, Miss E.
J. Hare, Miss Mary Madeira. Primary Department : Prefects, Willard
B. Rivell, Joseph L. Springer ; Governesses, Mrs. Mary J. Woodland,
Mi.ss Anna B. Grove, Miss Sallie M. Chew, Miss Caroline M. Whitecar,
Miss Ann Jane Cross, Mrs. Fanny T. Boas. Mrs. Emma Nohle, Miss Vir-
ginia Miller ; Superintendent of Manual Labor, I. E. Shimer; Steward,
Thomas Perrins; Physicians, James Markoe, Jr., M.D., John J.Reese,
M.D.; Dentist, Wilbur F. Litch, M.D.
The property of the Girard estate is carefully
guarded. The receipts from Jan. 1, 1882, to Dec. 30,
1883, both inclusive, were as follows:
Rent from real estate in the city $324,477.98
Rent from collieries 467,809.82
Water-rent, Schuylkill County 5,474.44
Rent from real estate, and sale of surface right of lots in
Schuylkill and Columbia Counties 16,608.24
Interest on city loans 84,786.60
Other sources 67,761.32
Gross revenue , J931,295.76
The Girard estate, comprising the residuary fund,
on Dec. 31, 1882, consisted of the following :
Girard College, ground, and buildings (cost) $2,888,974.88
Banking-houses, dwellings, stores, wharves, and farms in
the city of Philadelphia (assessed valuation for 18821 3,734,900.00
Real estate in Schuylkill and Columbia Counties, Pa.,
about twenty thousand acres (assessed valuation for
1882) 1,611,917.00
Stocks and loans (par value) 1,466,165.22
Cash in the city treasury 27,247.82
S9,629,204.92
Alexander Biddle, the president of the Board of
Directors of City Trusts, which has the management
of the Girard estate and many other important trusts,
was born in Philadelphia on the 19th of April, 1819.
He was one of five sons, the father being Thomas
Biddle, a well-known financier, and the head of the
old banking firm of Thomas Biddle & Co., who mar-
ried Christina Williams, daughter of Brig.-Gen. Jon-
athan Williams, a relative of Benjamin Franklin, who
was the organizer and first superintendent of the West
Point Military Academy, and member of Congress-
elect from Philadelphia at the time of his death.
The Biddle family in America originated from
William Biddle, who, about 1681, emigrated from
England, and settled in West Jersey, where he be-
came a member of the Provincial Council, a member
of the Council of Proprietors, and a member of the
General Assembly. Among the descendants of the
original emigrant have been many men of distinc-
tion, who have brought credit upon themselves, their
family name, and the nation at large. Among these,
EDUCATION.
1949
in this branch of the descent, have been the follow-
ing: Owen Biddle (born 1738, died 1799), member of
the Committee of Safety, member of the Council of
Safety, member of the Constitutional Convention,
member of the Board of War, etc. ; Clement Biddle
(born 1740, died 1814), colonel and quartermaster-
general in the Continental army, etc. ; Col. Clement
C. Biddle (born 1784, died 1855), commandant of the
Pennsylvania Regiment Light Infantry (volunteers)
during the war of 1812, first president of the Phila-
delphia Savings- Fund Society, and a writer on polit-
ical economy; John Cadwalader (born 1805, died
1879), member of Congress from Pennsylvania, and
judge of the United States District Court at Phila-
delphia ; George Cadwalader (born 1806, died 1879),
brigadier-general United States army ; Henry Jona-
than Biddle (born 1817, died 1862), adjutant-general
Pennsylvania Reserves, United States army ; Col.
Chapman Biddle (born 1822, died 1880), commandant
of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Pennsylvania
Regiment in the war of 1861-65 ; and Thomas Biddle
(born 1827, died 1875), United States minister to
Ecuador.
Alexander Biddle is of the sixth generation from
the founder of the family in America, being a grand-
son of Col. Clement Biddle, quartermaster-general
under Gen. Washington, whose continued services
the great patriot requested in an autograph letter,
still preserved, after the colonel had served long and
honorably, and had determined to retire to private
life. Alexander Biddle was educated at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, from which institution he
graduated. After leaving college he entered the
counting-house of Bevan & Humphreys, the largest
shipping firm in Philadelphia at that time. At the
end of four years he went to Australia, China, and
Manila as supercargo. After devoting two years to
this service he returned home, and, at the end of an-
other four years, during which time he was engaged
in various pursuits, he entered his father's firm,
Thomas Biddle & Co., where he remained until the
breaking out of the civil war.
Upon the organization of the One Hundred and
Twenty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, of
which his cousin. Chapman Biddle, was the colonel,
he was chosen its major. This regiment was origi-
nally assigned to the Pennsylvania Reserves, under
Gen. Meade, and subsequently to the First Corps,
under Gen. Reynolds, and participated in the follow-
ing notable engagements, among others : Fredericks-
burg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. In the bat-
tle last mentioned he was in command of the regi-
ment, thus ranking as lieutenant-colonel, and was
subsequently commissioned as colonel. After eigh-
teen months of duty he left the service and returned
home.
He did not, however, engage in private business
pursuits, but directed his attention toward enterprises
of a more public character. He was chosen a di-
rector of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, a
position which he still holds. Among other cor-
porate business enterprises with which he became
connected as a director may be enumerated the follow-
ing: The Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on
Lives, the Philadelphia Savings-Fund Society, the
Lehigh Navigation Company, the Contributionship
Insurance Company, the latter established by Benja-
min Franklin, and other institutions of a kindred
character. He has been a member of the Board of
Directors of City Trusts since its organization, in
September, 1869, and, in January, 1882, was chosen
its third president. He is also a director of the
Pennsylvania Hospital. By the will of the late Dr.
James Rush, Mr. Biddle was named as executor to
succeed Henry J. Williams, his uncle, in the erection
of the Ridgway Library, Broad Street, between Chris-
tian and Carpenter, a monument creditable to the
taste and character of its founder.
On the 11th of October, 1855, Mr. Biddle was
married to Julia Williams Rush, daughter of Samuel
Rush, late recorder of the city of Philadelphia, and
granddaughter of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of
the Declaration of Independence, and of Revolution-
ary fame. He has six children living, — four sons and
two daughters.
Catholic Educational Institutions and Convents.
— Thirty-five parochial schools, twenty-five academies
and select schools, and two colleges of the Brothers of
the Christian Schools within the limits of Philadel-
phia is strong evidence that the Catholics are pro-
moters of education. From a sense of religious duty,
these schools are supported at the expense or by the
volunteer contribution of Catholics, who, equally with
other citizens, bear the burden of the public school
system, which, on account of conscientious scruples,
they refuse to allow their children to attend.
More than one hundred years ago the Catholics
of this city maintained a school. As early as 1781
subscriptions for " paying for the old school-house
and lot purchased for £400" were taken up by the
Catholics of Philadelphia. A new school-house was
built that year, and the accounts preserved show that
£440 15s. 6W. were paid for its erection. This
school-house was situate in the rear of the lot now
known as No. 324 Walnut Street, near the end of the
narrow alley leading to old St. Joseph's Church.
From this small beginning the Catholic educational
institutions have grown to the largest proportions of
any religious denomination in the city. They are
scattered in every section of the city, and their pupils
in attendance number among the thousands.
The following are among the Catholic educational
institutions of the city :
Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo
(Overbrook Post-Office, Pa.).— In June, 1832, Rt.
Rev. F. P. Kenrick, in order to prepare candidates
for the priesthood, began the nucleus of a seminary
in the pastoral residence of St. Mary's Church. It
1950
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
was afterward removed to a house where the bishop
went to reside, on Fifth Street, below Spruce, west
side, thence to the northwest corner of Fifth and
Prune [now Locust] Streets. In 1837, Bishop Ken-
rick determined to erect a seminary. The northeast
corner of Eighteenth and Kace Streets was secured,
and at the session of the Legislature in 1838 an act
of incorporation was passed constituting John Keat-
ing, John Diamond, Joseph Dugan, Michael Magrath,
and M. A. Frenaye the lay trustees to act with
Bishop Kenrick, the president of the seminary, the
professor of Theology, and the professor of Sacred
Scriptures, making nine trustees. On Sept. 21, 1838,
Bishop Kenrick issued a pastoral letter calling for
contributions. Heretofore the institution had been
his individual concern. On Jan. 22, 1839, the semi-
nary was occupied by students. In 1850 it was en-
larged, and a preparatory seminary was opened at
Glen Riddle. In April, 1864, the present grand semi-
nary at Overbrook, Delaware Co., was begun, and in
1871 occupied by students from the seminary at
Eighteenth and Race Streets, which was closed, as
also that at Glen Riddle. On Nov. 7, 1882, the
fifteenth anniversary of the institution was cele-
brated.
Faculty. — Very Rev. William Kieran, S.T.D., rector, professor of Dog-
matic Theology, English, Rhetoric, Mathematics, and Christian Doc-
trine; Rt. Rev. Mgr. James A. Corcoran, S.T.D., professor of Sacred
Scripture, Moral Theology, Hebrew, Syriac, and Homilelics; Rev. Val-
entino Valentini, professor of Dogmatic Theology, Ecclesiastical His-
tory, Latin, and Greek; Rev. James F. McLoughlin, S.T.D., professor
of Canon Law, Natural Sciences, English, and Chant; Rev. Hermann
Henser, professor of Liturgy, Latin, Greek, and German ; Rev. Francis
P. Siegfried, professor of Philosophy; Kev. Bernard Ruxton, professor
of Latin; Rev. William M. Daly, S.T.D., professor of English Literature,
Profane History, Latin, and Greek ; Rev. John J. McCort, professor of
Mathematics and English. Number of seminaries, 95. Number of books
in library, 15,600.
St. Vincent's, Germantown. — Central house, schol-
asticate, and novitiate of the priests of the congrega-
tion of the mission. Very Rev. Thomas J. Smith,
V.C.M., superiorand visitor of the congregation of the
mission in the United States ; vice-superior and master
of novices. Rev. James Rolando, CM.; Rev. Joseph
Alizeri, CM., Rev. William Ryan, CM., Rev. Thomas
Sliaw,C.M.,Rev.ThomasO'Donoghue,CM.,Rev.A.J.
Meyer, CM., Rev. Peter V. Byrne, CM., Rev. Thomas
J. Abbott, CM., Rev. James Lefevre, CM., Rev. Syl-
vester Haire, CM., Rev. Aloysius Krabler, CM., Rev.
Martin Dyer, CM., Rev. Patrick McHale, CM., Rev.
John P. Neck, CM., Rev. James Devine, CM., Rev.
James Hennelly, CM., Rev. James Sullivan, CM.,
Rev. Thomas Weldon, CM. Total number of the
community in the diocese, 46.
A band of priests is here set apart to be actively
engaged in giving missions. All applications for
missions are addressed to Very Rev. Thomas J.
Smith, V.C.M., St. Vincent's Seminary, German-
town, Philadelphia, Pa. Band of missioners: Rev.
Thomas M. O'Donoghue, CM., Rev. Thomas A.
Shaw, CM., Rev. A. J. Meyer, CM., and others.
St. Joseph's College, Seventeenth and Stiles
Streets, incorporated Jan. 29, 1852. — Faculty, board
of trustees, and other officers: Rev. B. Villiger, S.J.,
president ; Rev. James McHugh, S.J., secretary ; Rev.
J. M. Ardia, S.J., Rev. P. Blenkinsop, S.J., Rev. P.
Duddy, S. J., Rev. P. A. Jordan, S.J., Rev. F. O'Neill,
S.J., Rev. Charles Cicaterri, S.J., Rev. A. Coppens,
S.J., Rev. L. Vigilante, S.J., Rev. P. Claven, S.J.,
Rev. A. Romano, S.J., Mr. J. Dowling, S.J., Mr. W.
A. Gormley, S.J. Number of pupils, 150.
The. reverend Fathers are building a new college
at Seventeenth and Stiles Streets for the preparatory
La SaUe College (incorporated under the Brothers
of the Christian Schools), No. 1321 Filbert Street.—
Honorary President, the Most Rev. Archbishop ; Pres-
ident, Brother Clementian ; Vice-President, Brother
Paphylinus ; Treasurer, Brother Isidore ; Secretary,
Brother Blandin. Professed Brothers, 24. Total
number of Christian Brothers in the diocese, 51.
Number of students in college, 217 ; in the diocese,
3587.
Convents and Religious Communities.— Convent
of our Lady of the Good Shepherd, Thirty-fifth Street
and Silverton Avenue, West Philadelphia. Number
of choir Sisters, 20; lay Sisters, 16 ; novices, 25; out-
door Sisters, 5 ; postulants, 5 ; total number of Sis-
ters in the convent, 71 ; total number of Sisters of
the Good Shepherd in the diocese, 91. The Magdalen
Convent contains 54 professed Sisters, 14 novices.
Number of penitents, 245. Number in preservation
class, 94. Mother Mary of St. Ignatius Murray,
provincial and superioress.
Convent of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd,
Thirty-ninth and Pine Streets, Philadelphia. Num-
ber of choir Sisters, 11; out-door Sisters, 4; lay
Sisters, 5 ; total number in the convent, 20. Mother
Mary Philomena, superior.
Mt. St. Joseph's Convent (Sisters of St. Joseph),
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Professed Sisters, 35 ;
novices, 18 ; postulants, 6. Number of religious in
the convent, 59. Total number of Sisters of St.
Joseph in the diocese, 275. Mother Mary John,
superior.
Convent of the Sister-Servants of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary (P.O. address Villa Maria), West
Chester, Pa. Professed Sisters, 20 ; novices, 17 ; pos-
tulants, 7. Number of religious in the convent, 44.
Total number of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary in the diocese, 127. Mother Mary Gonzaga,
superior.
Convent of the Sacred Heart, Eden Hall (Torres-
dale P.O.), Philadelphia. Professed Sisters, 57.
Total number in this community, 57. Total number
of the religious of the Sacred Heart in the diocese,
74. Madam C McNally, superior; Rev. Lawrence
Wall, chaplain.
Convent of the Sacred Heart, No. 1384 Walnut
Street, Philadelphia. Professed Sisters, 17. Total
EDUCATION.
1951
number in the convent, 17. Madam M. Shortill,
superior.
Convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame, West Rit-
tenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Professed Sisters,
36. Number in the diocese, 36. Sister Julia, supe-
rior.
Convent of Sisters of Mercy, Broad and Columbia
Avenue, Philadelphia. Professed Sisters, 26 ; novices,
9; postulant, 1. Total number of the community in
the diocese, 36. Mother M. Patricia Waldron, supe-
rior. The Sisters visit and instruct the sick and
dying poor. They also visit the State and county
prisons for the purpose of giving religious instruction.
Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, Sharon (Sharon
Hill P.O.), Delaware Co., Pa. Professed Sisters, 27 ;
novices, 13 ; postulants, 2. Total number in convent,
42. Total number of the community in tlie diocese,
70. Mother Mary Walburga, superior; Rev. Thomas
O'Neill, chaplain.
Convent of the School Sisters of Notre Dame,
No. 1056 Lawrence Street, Philadelphia. Professed
Sisters, 12 ; novices, 2 ; postulants, 3. Total number
in the convent, 17. Total number in the diocese, 35.
Sister Mary Cassiana, superior.
Convent of the Sisters of tlie Third Order of St.
Francis Assisium, No. 505 Reed Street, Philadelphia.
Professed Sisters, 25 ; postulants, 3. Total number of
Sisters of St. Francis in the community, 28. Mother
Mary Agnes, superior.
Convent of Our Lady of Angels, Glen Riddle,
Delaware Co., Pa. Professed Sisters, 20 ; novices,
48 ; postulants, 6. Total number in community, 74.
Total number in the diocese, 170. Sister Mary Juli-
anna, superior ; Rev. B. Scheler, chaplain.
Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's Sisterhood, Em-
mittsburg, Md. Total number of the community in
the archdiocese, 43.
Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor, North
Eighteenth, above Jefl'ersun Street, Philadelphia.
Professed Sisters, 16 ; postulants, 5 ; total, 21. Total
number in the diocese, 34. Mother Gatienne, supe-
rior.
Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Mill
Street, Germantown. Professed Sisters, 13. Mother
August Mary, superior.
Convent of Benedictine Nuns, South Easton. Pro-
fessed Sisters, 5 ; Sister M. Walburga, superior. Total
number in the diocese, 5.
Sisters of Christian Charity, East Mauch Chunk.
Sister Clotilda, superior. Professed Sisters, 6. Total
number in the community, 6. Total number of Sisters
of Christian Charity in the diocese, 30.
Sisters of Christian Charity, Belgrade and Welling-
ton Streets, Philadelphia. Number of Sisters in the
community, 6.
Academies and Select Schools.— Mount St.
Joseph's Academy, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, under
the Sisters of St. Joseph. Boarders, 70. Mother
Mary John, superior.
Industrial School of the Immaculate Conception,
Thirty-ninth and Pine Streets, West Philadelphia,
under the care of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Number of boarders, 175. Mother Mary Philomena,
superior.
Academy of the Sacred Heart, Eden Hall (Torres-
dale P.O.), Philadelphia. Number of boarders, 86;
parochial-school children, 25. Madam C. McNally,
superior.
Academy of the Sacred Heart, No. 1334 Walnut
Street. Number of day-scholars, 73. Madam M.
Shortill, superior.
Academy of the Sisters of Notre Dame, West Rit-
tenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Boarders, 38; day-
scholars, 122. Number attending night-school, 90.
Sister Julia, superior.
Academy of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, West Chester. Boarders, 40 ; day-scholars,
20. Mother M. Gonzaga, superior.
Academy of the Sisters of Mercy, Broad and Colum-
bia Avenue. Number of boarders, 10 ; number of
day-scholars, 160. Mother M. Patricia Waldron,
superior.
Academy of the Holy Child Jesus, Sharon (Sharon
Hill P.O.), Delaware Co., Pa. Number of boarders,
40. Mother Mary Walburga, superior.
St. Peter's Academy, Reading. Residence, 225
South Fifth Street. Number of day-scholars, 40.
Sister Mary Anselm, superior.
St. Leonard's Academy, No. 3819 Chestnut Street,
West Philadelphia. 106 day-scholars. Mother Mary
Antonia, superior.
Cathedral Academy, No. 1708 Summer Street,
under the Sisters of St. Joseph. Number of day-
scholars, 85. Mother Mary Dominic, superior.
St. Mary's Academy, No. 260 South Fourth Street,
Philadelphia, under the Sisters of St. Joseph. Num-
ber of day-scholars, 70. Mother Mary Scholastica,
superior.
St. Joseph's Academy, No. 417 Locust Street, under
the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Day-scholars,
40. Mother M. Arsenia, superior. A Sunday-school
for deaf and dumb girls is taught in the academy by
the same community. Number of scholars, 206.
St. Augustine's Academy, No. 244 North Fourth
Street, Philadelphia, under the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Number of day-scholars, 90 ; Sister St. Gervase, supe-
rior.
St. Michael's Academy, No. 1419 North Second
Street, under the Sisters of St. Joseph. Number of
day-scholars, 120. Mother M. Angela, superior.
St. Francis' Academy, under the Sisters of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary, No. 2324 Green Street.
Number of pupils, 45. Sister Mary Germaine, supe-
rior.
St. Philip de Neri's Academy, No. 412 Christian
Street, Philadelphia, under the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Number of pupils, 100. Mother M. Laurentia, supe-
rior.
1952
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
St. Patrick's Academy, Twentieth and Locust
Streets, Philadelphia, under the charge of the Sisters
of St. Joseph. Number of pupils, 145. Mother M.
Martha, superior.
St. Paul's Academy, No. 920 Christian Street, Phila-
delphia, under the charge of the Sisters of the Im-
maculate Heart of Mary. Number of pupils, 115.
Sister Mary Regis, superior.
St. John the Baptist's Academy, No. 4211 Cresson
Street, Manayunk, under the charge of the Sisters of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Number of pupils,
50. Sister Mary de Chantel, superior.
St. Mary's Academy, Oak Street, Manayunk, under
the care of the Sisters of St. Francis. Sister Mary
Elizabeth, superior.
Academy of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, No. 1135 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia,
under the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus. Day-
scholars, 90. Mother Mary Stanislaus, superior.
St. Ann's Academy, No. 814 Tucker Street, Port
Richmond, under the Sisters of St. Joseph. Number
of pupils, 140. Mother M. Victorine, superior.
St. Teresa's Academy, No. 1514 Christian Street,
under the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Number of pupils, 50. Sister Mary Ephrem, su-
perior.
Academy of the Annunciation, Tenth and Dicker-
son Streets, taught by Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart. Sister Mary Ambrose, superior.
St. Joseph's Academy, Pottsville, under the care of
the Sisters of St. Joseph. Boarders, 7 ; number of
pupils, 75. Mother M. Thecla, superior.
Parochial Schools.— Cathedral. Boys 500, taught
by the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Brother
Joseph, director. Girls 500, taught by the Sisters of
St. Joseph.
St. John's. Boys 100, taught by lay teachers ; girls
120, taught by female lay teachers.
St. Mary's. Boys 90, taught by Sisters of St. Jo-
seph ; giris 92, taught by Sisters of St. Joseph.
St. Joseph's. Boys 75, taught by lay teachers;
girls 250, taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph.
St. Augustine's. Boys 200, taught by Brothers of
the Christian Schools; giris 250, taught by the Sisters
of St. Joseph.
Holy Trinity. Boys 118, taught by one lay teacher
and two School Sisters of Notre Dame; girls 104,
taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame.
St. Michael's. Boys 457, taught by the Brothers of
the Christian Schools ; giris 570, taught by the Sisters
of St. Joseph.
St. Francis Xavier's. Boys 370, girls 350, taught
by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
St. Philip de Neri's. Boys 300, taught by lay
teachers ; girls 400, taught by Sisters of St. Joseph. "
St. Patrick's. Boys 450, taught by Brothers of the
Christian Schools ; giris 450, taught by the Sisters of
St. Joseph.
St. Paul's. Boys 358, taught by the Brothers of the
Christian Schools ; girls 351, taught by the Sisters of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
St. Peter's. Boys 623, taught by the Brothers of
the Christian Schools ; girls 601, taught by the School
Sisters of Notre Dame.
Church of the Assumption. Boys 160, taught by
the Christian Brothers ; girls 160, taught by the Sis-
ters of the Holy Child Jesus.
St. Malachy. Boys 145, girls 182, taught by the
Sisters of Mercy.
St. , Ann's. Boys 620, taught by Brothers of the
Christian Schools and four Sisters of St. Joseph ;
girls 650, taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph.
St. Alphonsus'. Boys 140, girls 157, taught by
Franciscan Sisters and one lay teacher.
St. Mary Magdalene di Pazzi's. Boys 50, girls 60,
taught by lay teachers.
St. Teresa's. Boys 180, taught by lay teachers;
girls 250, taught by the Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Boys
385, girls 484, taught by Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary and one lay teacher.
St. Bonifacius'. Boys 356, girls 360, taught by the
Sisters of Christian Charity and two lay teachers.
The Gesi. Boys 200, taught by lay teachers ; girls
220, taught by Sisters of Notre Dame.
Immaculate Conception. Boys 160, girls 270, taught
by Sisters of St. Joseph.
Our Mother of Sorrows. Boys 250, giris 150, taught
by one male teacher and Sisters of St. Joseph.
St. James'. Boys 190, taught by lay teachers ; girls
256, taught by Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus;
St. Elizabeth's. Boys 195, girls 233, taught by the
Sisters of St. Francis.
Church of the Visitation. Boys 245, taught by lay
teachers ; girls 260, taught by the Sisters of the Holv
Childhood.
St. Dominic's. Boys 38, girls 42, taught by Sisters
of the Immaculate Heart and Ladies of the Sacred
Heart.
St. Joachim's, Frankford. Boys 80, girls 140, taught
by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
St. Vincent de Paul's, Germantown. Boys 357,
taught by Franciscan Brothers ; girls 345, taught by
Sisters of St. Joseph.
St. John Baptist's, Manayunk. Boys 300, girls
345, taught by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary.
Assumption, Manayunk. Boys 134, girls 156,
taught by Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis.
All Saints, Bridesburg. Boys 80, girls 78, taught
by the Franciscan Sisters.
Tacony. Boys 93, girls 95, taught by School Sisters
of Notre Dame.
Chestnut Hill. Boys 60, giris 68, taught by the
Sisters of St. Joseph.
Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary. Boys 152, girls
131, taught by Sisters of Christian Charity.
EDUCATION.
1953
The Brothers of the Christian Schools— This
educational order came to Philadelphia in 1853, and
on August 15th opened St. Peter's School. St.
Michael's and St. Ann's were the next parishes to
secure the services of the Brothers ; St. Paul's also,
in September, 1864; St. Patrick's, March 20, 1865.
The La Salle College, Juniper and Filbert Streets,
opened Aug. 28, 1867, with Brother Oliver as presi-
dent. Cathedral School opened by Brothers Sep-
tember, 1868. St. Augustine's and the Assumption
Schools are also in charge of the order, which, on the
first Monday of September, 1883, opened a preparatory
department at 1240 North Broad Street. There are
fifty-one Brothers in the archdiocese. The number
of boys taught by them is about three thousand.
The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph,
established at Puy, in 1650, claims as its founders
Father John Peter Medaille, S.J., the famous
Apostle of Velay, and Henry de Maupas du Tour,
Bishop of Puy and Count of Velay, the friend
of St. Vincent de Paul,' the originator of many
and great designs for tlie promotion of religion in
France. " Yet among all his works," to quote the
words of his biographer, " the most remarkable, the
most fruitful was, undoubtedly, the foundation of the
admirable Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph,
at once contemplative, educational, and devoted to
the care of the poor and the sufiering."
Protected by Louis XIV., the institute spread rapidly
through France. But the revolution of 1793, over-
turning alike throne and altar, did not spare the
humbler foundation of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Some establishments, however, were preserved among
the mountain fastnesses of Forez and Velay.
Some of the surviving members were, in 1807,
reunited into a community under Rev. Mother St.
John Fontbonne, who had been saved from the guillo-
tine only by the fall of Robespierre. The congrega-
tion in 1884 numbers upwards of four hundred houses
in France; numerous establishments, not only in
Rome, Savoy, Corsica, and England, but also on the
far-distant shores of China and India, are tangible
proofs of a fecundity little less than miraculous. But
by far the most vigorous offshoot of the parent stem
has been the foundation in North America. Under
the auspices of Rt. Rev. Bishop Rosati, six Sisters
came from Lyons, in 1836, to open a house at St. Louis.
The following year brought two additional Sisters, one
of whom. Mother St. John Fournier, afterwards intro-
duced the order into Philadelphia.
The semi-centennial of their arrival has not been
celebrated, yet the order here numbers nearly two
thousand; its houses are numerous not only in
Canada, but in nearly every State in the Union.
Equally at home among the Indians of the North
and West, and the negroes of the South, as in more
congenial fields of labor, " the Sisters of St. Joseph,"
says a late historian,^ " are to be found in the hos-
pitals of the poor, the asylums of the fallen, the cell
of the prisoner, and the halls of the academy, bright-
ening by their presence the pathway of the afflicted,
and difliising on every side the blessings of peace,
consolation, and instruction."
In 1847, Bishop Kendrick, of Philadelphia, after-
ward Archbishop of Baltimore, anxious to place St.
John's Orphan Asylum (then on Chestnut Street, be-
low Thirteenth) under the care of the Sisters of St.
Joseph, applied to Bishop Rosati, of St. Louis, for
some members of that order. In compliance with
this request, several Sisters were in May, 1847, sent to
the new foundation, of which Mother St. John Four-
nier was appointed superior.
If, as said the celebrated Mme. de Genlis, " the in-
terests of a nation are best promoted by the education
of its daughters," gratitude demands a more than
passing mention of this good lady, who, for more than a
quarter of a century, labored indefatigably to promote
the cause of education, charity, and religion in Phila-
delphia. Born in Arbois, France, in 1814, of a respect-
able Catholic family, Julia Alexia Fournier conceived
early in life an ardent desire to devote herself to God
in some religious order engaged in foreign missions.
The accounts given of and by the early French mis-
sionaries in the " Annals of the Propagation of the
Faith," the biographies of Mme. de la Peleterie,
Ven. Mary of the Incarnation, and others of the
weaker sex, who had labored among the Indians,
were no doubt largely instrumental in determining
her choice. North America seemed to her, indeed, a
land of promise, a home by predilection ; and, hear-
ing that the Sisters of St. Joseph were about to send
a colony thither, she, in 1836, entered the congrega-
tion at the Chartreuse in Lyons ; the following year
her superiors called her to the United States.
After ten years of active and efficient labor in the
West, she came to Philadelphia in 1847. In 1851,
however, having established several branches in this
city and State, slie was recalled to found an Indian
school at St. Paul, Minn., under the pioneer Bishop
Cretin.
In response to urgent and reiterated entreaties.
Mother St. John was restored to Philadelphia in 1858.
The record of the succeeding year is one of ceaseless
labor, self-sacrifice, and devotedness, for each was sig-
nalized by some new foundation of education or
charity, beset with trials and difficulties, often such
as would have seemed insuperable to a soul less ani-
mated by faith and trust in Providence.
In 1858 she, as it were, set the seal on her work by
the establishment of Mount St. Joseph's Convent at
Chestnut Hill, the mother-house and novitiate for this
diocese.
Here the young religious, whose novitiate lasts four
years, are to be trained not only in the art of teaching
1 He belonged to the family De Gondi.
2 John Kane O'Murray.
1954
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and guiding others, but still more in the spirit of the
order which should animate and sanctify their work.
Here, too, return those Sisters, who, enfeebled by
age or sickness, are no longer fit for active duty. To
each and all of the community' it is a home in the
best and fiillest sense of the word. At the same time
she opened Mount St. Joseph's Academy for young
ladies.
When, in 1862, the scourge of war was sweeping
over the land, at the request of Surgeon-General
Smith, she sent Sisters to take charge of the hospitals
at Camp Curtin, outside of the city of Harrisburg.
Again we find the Sisters from Philadelphia in
charge of the floating hospitals which received the
wounded from the battle-fields of Virginia.
It may seem incredible that, amid such multiplied
works. Mother St. John should have found time for
literary labor; yet, in the latter years of her life she
found relief during hours of weary suffering by trans-
lating from the French such works as " Meditations
on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin," Martinet's
" Ark of the People," " Life of St. Benedict the Moor,"
" Sign of the Cross," by Gaume, " Daily Life of the
Sick," "Madame de Lavalle's Bequest," several other
books for the young, and, finally, " Thalia ; or, the
Council of Nice," which, at her death, she left un-
finished.
On her extraordinary gifts of mind and body, her
remarkable talent for government, noble character,
and consummate virtue we shall not here enlarge.
Deeds speak louder than words, and the simple
record of works founded, planned, actuated, or di-
rected by her reveals her worth.
In 1847, Mother St. John, with one companion, en-
tered-on her work in Philadelphia. When, Oct. 15,
1875, she was called to her reward, novitiates had been
established in McSherrystown, Fa., Toronto, Ontario,
and Brooklyn, N. Y., by Sisters sent from Phila-
delphia.
The community here numbered about two hundred,
having in charge eleven parochial schools, twelve
academies, and four other institutions, as enumerated
below.
There were, moreover, houses in Baltimore, West-
ernport, and Hagerstown, Md., and in Camden and
Newark, N. J., subject to the mother-house at Chest-
nut Hill.
Since then the number of Sisters has increased to
about three hundi-ed, and five additional schools have
been opened.
The following is a list of these schools and the dates
of their opening :
St. Joseph's, Pottsville, 1848; St. Joseph's, Philadelphia, 1851; St.
Philip's, 1852 ; St. Anne's, Port Richmond, 1856: St. Patrick's, 1857 ; St.
Michael's, 1859; Cathedral Academy, 1861; St. Mary's,' 1862; St. Au-
gustine's, 1«6J ; St. Vincent's, Germantown, 1807; Cathedral Parochial
School, 1868 ; St. John's. Newark, 1872 ; St. Joseph's, Hagerstown, Md.,
and Immaculate Conception, Camden, N. J., 1874 ; St. Peter's, Western-
1 Previously under the care of the Sisters of Charity.
port, and Star of the Sea, Baltimore, 1875 ; Our Mother of Sorrows, West
Philadelphia, 1878; Star of the Sea, Bergen Point, N. J., 1879; Immacu-
late Conception, Philadelphia, 188U; Our Lady of Consolation, Chestnut
Hill, 1881 ; and Our Lady of the Valley, Orange Valley, N. J., 1882.
In the parochial schools above enumerated the
Sisters teach the girls, and, in some cases, the smaller
boys of the parish. The course of instruction in-
cludes all the ordinary branches of an English edu-
cation, to which, as called for by circumstances, are
superadded drawing (mechanical and free-hand),
vocaPmusic, book-keeping, algebra, etc.
The schools are under the supervision of the pastor,
or priest appointed by him, and are supported by the
voluntary contributions of the parishioners, who,
generally speaking, are deserving of all praise for the
wsLj in which they meet this double obligation im-
posed on them by their conscientious objections to the
public schools.
The Sisters of St. Joseph also have under their
charge a Sunday-school for deaf-mutes, which num-
bers about twenty-five, and assembles every Sunday
at St. Joseph's, Locust Street, above Fourth. It was
opened Oct. 17, 1881.
The Sisters have under their care twelve schools in
Philadelphia, containing more than five thousand
children.
Academy of the Sacred Heart.— The Institute
of the Sacred Heart was founded at Amiens, in
France, in 1800, by Madame Sophia Barat. Its
aim is principally the education of young ladies in
boarding-schools, and, when practicable, in parochial
and free schools.
The society spread rapidly throughout France, and
now has academies in every part of the civilized
world. In 1847 the mansion of Mr. F. Cowperthwait
and the adjoining farm of ninety acres were pur-
chased at Torresdale, near Philadelphia, by the Ee-
ligious of the Sacred Heart, and an academy was
opened under the direction of Madame Aloysia
Hardey. A handsome chapel (Gothic in detail) and
wings for class-rooms and dormitories were added by
her successor, Madame Tucker, who governed the
institution for a series of consecutive years.
In 1849 the academy was incorporated. The
average number of pupils is ninety. Young ladies
who do not profess the Catholic faith are admitted
into the institute, but while they are at liberty to
adhere to their own belief, for the sake of order they
are required to assist at the public exercises of re-
ligion. There is a supplementary free school for the
children of the environs. The number of children in
attendance averages thirty.
Another object of this institute is to preserve the
good begun in the academy by a sodality for ladies in
society. Hence, in 1867 a house was purchased in the
city of Philadelphia, at 1334 Walnut Street, at which
place the sodality, having for its object pious and
charitable works, holds its monthly meeting. A day-
school for young ladies was opened at the same epoch.
EDUCATION.
1955
The number of pupils atteuding averages sixty-
five.
Mount St. Joseph Academy.— Noteworthy among
the educational institutions under the charge of the
Sisters of St. Joseph is Mount St. Joseph Academy,
Chestnut Hill. This academy, established first at
McSherrystown, Adams Co., Pa., was, in 1858, trans-
ferred to its present eligible site, in a district pro-
verbial for scenic beauty,— the picturesque valley of
the Wissahickon.
Chartered in 1869, its growth has kept pace steadily
with succeeding years. To meet the requirements of
teachers and pupils, extensive additions have several
times been made to the original buildings. The
The institution comprises, moreover, a training-
school, or novitiate, wherein young ladies who desire
to become members of the order may, during a course
of four years, be educated for their future work.
Private and other Religious Schools.— At the be-
ginning of the year 1884 there were, in addition to the
institutions already described, about thirty-five other
educational establishments in the city, most of which
are strictly private in their character. Some of these
are under the management of religious societies, but
the greater number are intended for the accommoda-
tion of pupils whose parents are willing to pay for
the benefits of private tuition.
Among the religious institutions of learning one of
MOLI^T ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY, CHESTNUT HILL.
academy proper, finished in 1875, at a cost of one
hundred thousand dollars, is so complete in its inter-
nal and external arrangements as to be counted one
of the best adapted in the country for its purpose.
The course of study is thoroughly systematic.
While it aims especially at imparting a solid English
education, its curriculum is adapted to every require-
ment, and embraces all that tends to higher culture
and true Christian refinement. The junior and senior
departments each comprise a course of four years;
the post-graduate department affords exceptional ad-
vantages to those who enter on it. Libraries con-
taining over five thousand volumes are accessible to
the pupils.
the most prominent is that of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church, known as the Divinity School. It is
located in West Philadelphia, at Woodland Avenue
and Fiftieth Street. Every person producing to the
faculty satisfactory evidence of his having been ad-
mitted a candidate for priest's orders may be received
as a student in this school, as well as any other per-
son who can produce evidence of habits, character,
and attainments as may render him apt and meet to
exercise the ministry. The instruction is free, and is
supported by the friends of theological education in
the Episcopal Church. The school occupies a fine
building which has accommodations for about forty
students, and which contains a fine theological library
1956
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
of eight thousand volumes. It is managed by a board
of trustees, of whom Bishop William Bacon Stevens
is president, and a board of overseers, of whom Bishop
Alfred Lee is president. The faculty comprises Rev.
Daniel K. Goodwin, D.D., dean ; Eev. G. Emlen
Hare, Rev. Clement M. Butler, Rev. Watson M.
Smith, and Rev. George Z. Dubois. Another useful
institution of this denomination which has long
maintained a high character is the Academy of the
Protestant Episcopal Church. This institution was
founded in the year 1785, under the auspices of
Bishop William White, Rev. Samuel Magaw, Rev.
Robert Blackwell, Robert Morris, Thomas Willing,
Edward Shippen, Richard Peters, and other gentle-
men of prominence in the Episcopal Church of Phil-
adelphia. The first master of the school was Rev.
Dr. John Andrews.
In 1787 a charter was granted to the institution by
the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and the academy
continued its work under various forms until the year
1846, when it was determined to effect a reorganization
on a broader basis. Bishop Potter, Horace Binney,
and John Welsh were particularly active in intro-
ducing improvements. Chief among these was the
erection of a building at Juniper and Locust Streets
in the year 1849, and the procuring of the services of
Rev. George Emlen Hare as head master, who re-
mained with the school until 1857, when be resigned.
The building, -which was enlarged in 1861 and 1868,
is admirably fitted up for its purposes, containing a
chapel, laboratory, lecture-room, gA'mnasium, etc. A
considerable portion of the revenue of the academy
is applied to the education, fi'ee of charge, of such
youths as give promise of merit. About one hundred
and sevent}-five pupils are in attendance. The man-
agement of its affairs is in the hands of a board, pre-
sided over by Bishop Stevens, and of which George W.
Hunter is secretary and treasurer. The head master
of the school is the Rev. James W. Robbing, D.D.
The Theological Seminarj- of the Evangelical Lu-
theran Church occupies a plain brick building on
Franklin Street, above Race, and has been noted for
the high character of its instruction to the young men
■who are preparing for the ministry of that church.
The president of the board of trustees is the Rev. J.
A. Seiss, D.D. ; Vice-President, Rev. J. H. Baden ;
Secretaries, Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D.D., and Rev.
Th. Pfatteicher. The most prominent members of the
faculty are the Rev. Drs. C. W. Schaeffer, W. J. Mann,
A. Spaeth, and H. E. Jacobs.
The Hebrews of Philadelphia maintain an Educa-
tion Society which devotes itself chiefly to the instruc-
tion of the poor members of that sect. The officers
of the society are I. Rossham, president, and D. Sulz-
berger, secretary. Three free schools, one located at
Seventh and Wood Streets, another at Fourth and
Pine, and another in the Richmond district, are kept
up by this society.
The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in the
year 1837, upon a bequest made by Richard Humphreys
for the " education of colored youth in school learning,
in order to prepare and fit and qualify them to act as
teachers," and has done much excellent work under
the management of a corporation composed exclu- •
sively of members of the society. Of this society
Joel Cadbury is the president, Thomas Scattergood
treasurer, and Thomas P. Coe secretary. Many of
the most useful and intelligent members of the colored
race in Philadelphia have been graduated from this
school. The commodious building which it occupies
on the^orth side of Bainbridge Street, west of Ninth,
was erected in 1866 at a cost of forty thousand dollars,
and will accommodate three hundred pupils.
The members of the Society of Friends also con-
duct schools at the present time for white children,
the principal of which are at Fifteenth and Race
Streets, Fourth and Green Streets, and Seventeenth
Street and Girard Avenue, and all of which are held
in high esteem for the excellence of their methods.
The Aimwell School Association, on Cherry Street
above Ninth, of which Rebecca B. Boem is the prin-
cipal, has a long history of quiet usefulness. The
Philadelphia Friends also manage two -colleges out-
side of the city which are widely known, — the Swarth-
more College and the Haverford College, both in
Delaware County.
The Polytechnic College of the State of Pennsyl-
vania was founded about the year 1853, and provides
a training for young men in the practical arts, such
as civil engineering, mining, chemistry, applied geol-
ogy, etc. Its facult)', which is presided over by Dr.
Alfred L. Kennedy, comprises Furman Sheppard,
L. G. Shrackee, W. D. Young, William T. Witte,
William B. Walker, J. J. Osmond, and J. P.
Wetherell.
Ogontz Seminary for Young Ladies is under the
management of Miss Mary L. Bonney and Harriette
A. Dillaye, with Miss Frances E. Bennett and Sylvia
J. Eastman as assistants. It is an English, French,
and German boarding and day-school for young
ladies, and is one of the best in the country. This
school was formerly known as the Chestnut Street
Seminary of Philadelphia, and was founded in 1850
by Miss Bonney and Miss Dillaye.
During his first great prosperity. Jay Cooke built
at Chelton Hills, eight miles from the heart of Phila-
delphia, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, one of
the finest private residences in the world, expending
upon the house and grounds more than a million of
dollars. Here he entertained, in princely style, dis-
tinguished visitors from his own and from foreign
lands, and his magnificent home and hospitality be-
came widely known. The place was named Ogontz,
after an Indian chief who was a friend of Mr. Cooke's
in his childhood and youth at Sandusky, Ohio. This
chief, it is said, often visited his father's house, and,
while there, amused the children by performing In-
dian feats, carrying them on his back, and telling
EDUCATION.
1957
them stories. His name is still preserved in various
ways in the city of Sandusky, where Jay Cooke was
born. When building this magnificent house, he de-
termined to preserve the name of his friend in child-
hood, and hence called it Ogontz.
The mansion was first occupied in December, 1865.
The panic of 1873 temjiorarily swept away Mr.
Cooke's fortune, and for a time the Ogontz property
passed from his control, but in 1881 he recovered his
fortune, including the Chelton Hill estate of one
hundred and forty acres, on which the Ogontz man-
sion stands. In- the mean time, the uses for which
the house was built having passed away, Mr. Cooke,
in 1883, leased it at a nominal rent for a long term of
years to the ladies named for a young ladies' school.
egress in all directions. The principal hall is seven-
teen feet wide and eighty feet long, extending back
into a conservatory forty feet square. This is stocked
with plants of finest growth, surrounding an orna-
mented fountain. Farther on is another fountain,
and still beyond, the natatorium.
The main hall presents on the one side a spacious
drawing-room, seventy feet in length; on the other,
library and reception-rooms. All the windows are of
the finest ]ilate-glass, and the frescoing is in the latest
and highest style of art. The principal staircase, of
solid walnut, is majestic, and presents at the head of
the first flight the bronze face of Ogontz, the Indian
chief, and the friend of Mr. Cooke in his boyhood.
The conservatories and greenhouses on the grounds
OGONTZ SEMINAKY.
Ogontz stands on a knoll, commanding a view of
forty acres of landscape-gardening, which are con-
nected with the house. This spot Mr. Cooke selected
from his farm of one hundred and forty acres, as
being the most desirable for a residence. The build-
ing is a five-story mica granite, of the Norman Gothic
order of architecture. Its air of substantiality and
refinement strikes a beholder at the first glance, and
reminds one of the aristocratic country-seats of Eng-
land. It is a building of the most ample dimensions,
having in the neighborhood of one hundred rooms of
comfortable size. Seventy-five guests have been en-
tertained there at one time.
The building is fire-proof, being constructed of
granite and iron, numerous stairways furnishing
were at the time they were constructed the largest in
the country. There is also a gas-house, constructed
of granite, six hot-houses and graperies, a mushroom-
house, potting-house, and a lodge-house at each gate
on the main entrances. There are a number of other
buildings, such as a farm-house, barn, ice-house, and
a frame school-house. A beautiftil stream of water
courses through the entire jjlace. The lawns are
lighted by gas supplied on the grounds. The drives
are all macadamized, both in the grounds and leading
to Chelton Hill Station.
Among the other educational establishments in
Philadelphia which bear a high reputation are the
Broad Street Academy, of which Edward Roth has
long been the principal ; Courtland Saunders' College,
1958
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
in West Philadelphia ; the Bryant & Stratton Busi-
ness College ; Crittenden's Commercial College ; the
National School of Elocution and Orator)', founded
b)' the late Professor John W. Shoemaker, and now
presided over by Dr. Edward Brooks; Pierce's Col-
lege of Business ; the Kugby Academy for Boys ; the
Rittenhouse Academy ; the Lauderbach Academy ;
the Chegaray Institute; and Few Smith's Classical
and Mathematical School.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
The history of the newspaper press of Philadelphia
begins with the first issue of the American Weekly
Mercury, on Dec. 22, 1719, the third journal published
in the colonies ; and during all the one hundred and
sixty-five years that bridge the interval of time be-
tween that date and our own epoch the journalists of
this city have bravely and intelligently engaged in
the interpretation and solution of all the leading
questions that have atfected either the national or the
local welfare. In the building of the nation, the
commonwealth and city, in the formation and appli-
cation of political policies, in the inception and exe-
cution of public enterprises, in the culture of art and
literature, in strangling mischievous tendencies, and
in nurturing popular morals, there has been no move-
ment in which the newspapers have not been vigor-
ous, aggressive, and determining factors. Glancing
back over the long list of dead and gone Philadelphia
editors, we are confronted by the names of men of the
most brilliant mental gifts, the highest professional
equipment, and the most positive convictions upon
contemporary issues in goverument or society. More-
over, as journalism broadened its scope and elevated
its [aims they were never laggards in the march of
progress. Technical improvements found ready adop-
tion with them, and no matter what year may be
selected for comparison, we shall find the Philadelphia
papers abreast of, and in some respects taking prece-
dence of, the press of any other American city. These
general truths of history apply to the present perhaps
even in a larger degree than to the past. To-day the
journals of Philadelphia are surpassed nowhere in
any of the qualities that conduce to the influence, the
dignity, and the value of the newspaper press.
Whether in the departments of enterprise and liber-
ality in gathering news, in luminous and fearless edi-
torial criticism, or in typographic excellence they are
the equals of any kindred publications in the world.
It is strictly correct to say that to them Philadelphia
is a debtor for much of its past advancement and
present greatness.
The forerunner of all the illustrious journalists of
Philadelphia was Andrew Bradford, who, as noticed,
issued in this city, on Dec. 22, 1719, the initial num-
ber of the American Weekly Mercury. The first paper
to be published in the colonies was the Boston New»
Letter, the earliest number of which bore date of April
24, 1704. Next came the Boston Gazette, of Dec.
21, 1719, so that it will be seen that if Bradford had
not been delayed two days, Philadelphia would have
had the honor of issuing the second newspaper in
America. The claim, however, that it issued the
third^is not disputable, and carries with it the other
facts that it was the second city on the continent and
the first in the middle colonies to publish a new peri-
odical. It is also entitled to the broader and more
emphatic distinction of having furnished the first
daily newspaper on the Western hemisphere. This
was the American Daily Advertiser, established Dec.
21, 1784, by Dunlap & Claypoole, as an offshoot of
the Pennsylvania Packet, founded in November, 1771,
by John Dunlap. This journal was subsequently
published by Zachariah Poulson as Paulson's Adver-
tiser, and in December, 1839, it was merged into the
North American. In Philadelphia, also, was estab-
lished the pioneer commercial or trade journal.'
The first religious weekly newspaper in America
was likewise an outgrowth of Philadelphia enterprise.
The original publication of this character was the
Religious Remembrancer, first issued Sept. 4, 1813, and
published by John Welwood Scott, at No. 81 South
Second Street.^
Philadelphia also led the way in the sphere of cheap
journalism. Hudson, in his " Journalism in the
United States," vouchsafes the following statement:
" The penny press of America dates from 1833. . . .
The Morning Post (of New York) was the first penny
paper of any pretensions in the United States. It was
started on New Year's day, 1833." The author is frank
enough to admit, however, that " there were small
1 Through palpable oversight, Hudson's "Journalism in the United
States" makes the following erroneous statement: "The Boston Pruxs
Current and Marine Intellif/encer, Commercial and Mercantile, the publi-
cation of which was begun on the 5th of September, 1795, was the firet
regular and legitimate commercial paper issued in this country." Asa
matter of fact, a journal of a similar character was established in Phila-
delphia twelve years prior to this date. In June, 1783, John Macpher-
son issued the first number of the Price- Current, published every fifteen
days, in which were "contained the prices of merchandise, duties on
importations and exportations, regulated by John Macpherson, broker,
with the assistance of twenty eminent merchants, factors, and others;
likewise the course of exchange, the premiums of insurance to and from
the most considerable places of trade," etc.
- Hudson also practically ignores Philadelphia in this phase of jour-
nalism, maintaining that the Recorder, founded in 1814, at Chillicothe,
Ohio, was the first religious newspaper published in America. If, as has
been asserted, a periodical to be a newspaper must be a folio, surely
many of the leading ecclesiastical journals of the present day are not,
as they are claimed to be, rt-ligious newspapers. Such a proposition is,
however, simply an absurdity, and the Beligioue Jtemembrancer vas none
the less a religious newspaper from the fact that it was a quarto in form.
That its scope was a broad one is observed from the fact that its publisher
announced in its columns that its contents comprised " biographical
sketches, theological essays, accounts of revivals of religion, missionary
information, together with a great variety of other articles of an evan-
gelical and ecclesiastical nature."
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1959
and cheap papers published in Boston and Philadel-
phia before and about that time. The Bosiimian was
one, the Cent, in Philadelphia, was another. The lat-
ter was issued by Christopher C. Cornwell in 1830.
These and all similar adventures were not perma-
nent." It is true that the Cent was not a permanent
institution. Nor, for that matter, was the Nev} Yorl:
Morning Post, for Hudson himself candidly admits
that " after the expiration of twenty-one days from
the issue of the first number the Morninii Post ceased to
exist." While both publications were comparatively
ephemeral, yet, as, according to Hudson's own admis-
sion, the Cent was issued in 1830, and the Morning
Post was published in 1833, the latter surely was not
" the first penny paper of any pretensions in the
United States." The credit of furnishing the first
daily newspaper published for one cent undoubtedly
belongs to Philadelphia. The t'ent had its inception
in 1830, the publisher being Dr. Christopher Columbus
Conwell, — not Cornwdl, as the author of " Journalism
in the United States" has it, — and the office of publi-
cation was in Second Street, below Dock. Dr. Con-
well died in the summer of 1832.
In other phases of periodical literature besides
news journalism Philadelphia has set the example.
In January, 1741, Benjamin Franklin began here the
publication of the first magazine established in Amer-
ica. It was entitled the General Magazine and His-
torical Chronicle " for all the British Plantations in
America." In the same year another magazine had
its inception in Philadelphia, entitled the American
Magazin-e, or a Monthly Vieu- of the British Colonies, the
publisher being John Webbe. Five years later, or in
February, 1746, Christopher Saur, of Germantown,
began the publication of the first religious magazine
issued in America, namely, Ein Schall und Geganschall
der Wahrheit, und des Gesundten Verstandes Chrittlieb-
ender Seelcn in Diesam Americanischer land theil.
It would be an impracticable task to attempt to
catalogue all the numerous instances in which Phila-
delphia ingenuity and capital have opened up original
enterprises and inaugurated new departures in the
realm of journalism.
"The details of historj', in truth," as Sainte Beuve
has said, " can only be gathered from a study of the
immense and varied surface which the literature of
newspapers presents." Therefore, it is but natural
that as the " clever town, l)uilt by Quakers," bounded
by Vine and South Streets and by the Delaware and
Schuylkill Rivers, has become a vast city of one hun-
dred and twenty-nine square miles, and as the hand-
ful of villagers of 1719 has grown to a population of
nine hundred thousand, so the newspaper press of
1719, represented by the American Weekly Mercury,
printed on a half-sheet of pot-size, has expanded to its
existing proportions, there being at the present time
two hundred and fifty periodical publications, from the
daily to the quarterly, issued in Philadelphia.
The colonial press, so far as the province of Penn-
125
sylvania is concerned, began with Bradford's paper,
the American Weekly Mercury. Five years later, on
Dec. 24, 1728, was established the second newspaper
in the colony, the Universal Instructor in all Arts and
Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette, by Samuel Keiraer,
that eccentric individual, the pedantry of whose
character is indicated by the pedantry embodied in
the title of his ambitious journal. Fortunately, how-
ever, within a year the Universal Instructor passed
into the hands of Franklin & Meredith, its title be-
came the Pennsylvania Gazette simply, and a career of
great usefulness and prosperity was inaugurated. The
impress of Franklin's individuality upon contempo-
rary thought and action permits of no skepticism as
to his pre-eminence in the possession of the genuine
journalistic instinct. The third Philadelphia new.s-
paper in the English language was The Pennsylvania
Journal and Weekly Advertiser, established in 1742 by
William Bradford, nephew of Andrew Bradford, of
the Mercury. No other weekly newspaper in this
language was published until 1767, when The Penn-
sylvania Chronicle and Universal Advertiser was first
issued by William Goddard. The era was one pro-
lific of German periodicals, those being the days of
Christopher Saur, of Joseph Crellius, and of Henry
Miller, — names which should be held in great respect
by every one interested in the development of jour-
nalism and typography in this city. This was an
epoch which was also especially rich, speaking com-
paratively, in magazine literature, no less than four
such periodicals, besides three or more in German,
having been established, namely : The General Maga-
zine and Historical Chronicle (1741), by Benjamin
Franklin ; the American Magazine, or a Monthly View of
the British Colonies ( 1741), by John Webb ; The Amer-
ican Magazine and Monthly Chronicle (1757), by Wil-
liam Bradford; and The American Magazine (1769),
by Lewis Nicola. The colonial press was quite con-
servative, but with the dawning of the Revolution it
was obliged to assume a decisive tone in dealing with
the pressing questions of national independence.
Two of the colonial newspapers, the Pennsylvania
Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal, were carried
into and beyond the Revolutionary epoch. One of
the two remaining, the Mercury, suspended publica-
tion in 1746, while the other, the Pennsylvania Chron-
icle, was discontinued in 1778. During the thirty
years which may be said to comprise the Revolution-
ary era the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Pennsylvania
Journal were important factors in the mirroring and
the unfolding of passing events. The Pennsylvania
Packet or General Advertiser, which had its inception
in 1771, was the first newspaper established in the
Revolutionary epoch. Its publisher, John Dunlap,
was a man of varied abilities and broad enterprise, as
was also his subsequent partner, David C. Claypoole.
As already stated, this journal in 1784 developed in a
daily paper, the first in America. The influence of
the Packet during this time was incalculable. It was
1960
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
during this era, also, that were born, among others,
The Freeman's Journal, or The North American Intel-
ligencer, the Independent Gazetteer, The Pennsylvania
Mercury and Universal Advertiser, the Pennsylvania
Evening Herald, the Philadelphia Gazette, the Gazette
of the United States, and The Aurora. It was in this
period, also, that the following journalists of indi-
viduality and power, whether in the line of good or of
evil, in addition to those already mentioned, made
their appearance in the broadening newspaper arena:
Eobert Aitken, William Goddard, Francis Bailey,
Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Eleazer Oswald, Daniel
Humphreys, Mathew Carey, Andrew Brown (father
and son), Thomas Paine, Samuel Relf, John Fenno,
John Ward Fenno, Benjamin Franklin Bache, Wil-
liam Duane, Philip Freneau, James Carey, and Wil-
liam Cobbett.
Most of the journals established about the begin-
ning of the present century were strong party organs,
deeply interested in political discussion and action.
Within the era continuing up to the close of the civil
war three great wars were fought, and within the
time also occurred those radical controversies over
Native Americanism, Anti-Masonry, nullification,
emancipation, secession, reconstruction, greenback-
ism, and kindred questions. Newspapers were
founded with the especial object of defending some
one of these issues. Indeed, the newspapers of
America have made as well as unmade parties, have
made and unmade administrations, have made and
unmade policies, have made and unmade public
officials, and in this work of construction and de-
struction the press of Philadelphia has played no
minor role. Among the influential journals estab-
lished during this period, the following may be enu-
merated : the Portfolio (1801), Freeman's Journal
(1804), afterward the Palladium, Commercial and Po-
litical Pegister (1804), Democratic Press (1807) Ameri-
can Sentinel (1811), Franklin Gazette (1818), National
Gazette (1820), Columbian Observer (1822), Commercial
Herald (1827), Pemmilvania Gazette (1827), Daily
Chrotiicle (1828) ,a.{tervia.rds Daily Courier, Pennsylvania
Inquirer (1829), Pennsylvanian (1832), Public Ledger
(\8S6), Spirit of the Times (1837), Pennsylvania Demo-
crat (\8Z8), North American (1839), Daily Sun (1843),
Evening Bulletin (1847), Daily News (1848), The Press
(1857), The Age (ISeS), and Evening Telegraph (1864).
Among the editors of this era we may name Joseph
Dennie, Charles Brockden Brown, William Jackson,
John Binns, John W. Scott, Richard Folwell, Eobert
Walsh, Robert Morris, William McCorkle, Adam
Waldie, Richard Bache, Eliakim Littell, Charles Al-
exander, Samuel C. Atkinson, John R. Walker, Jes-
per Harding, Robert T. Conrad, James Gordon Ben-
nett, John S. Du Solle, Louis A. Godey, Joseph C.
Neal, Morton McMichael, George R. Graham, Joseph
E. Chandler, Dr. Robert M. Bird, John Jay Smith,
Charles J. Peterson, Joseph R. Flanigan, Edgar Allen
Poe, William F. Small, William M. Swain, A. S.
Abell, Azariah Simmons, Edmund Morris, Russell
Jarvis, Alexander Cummings, Joseph M. Church,
Philip E. Freas, Charles G. Leland, Gibson Peacock,
John W. Forney, George W. Childs, Charles J. Bid-
die, John Eussell Young, James E. Young, Charles
E. Warburton, W. W. Harding, Washington L. Lane,
Joseph Sailer, L. Clarke Davis, William V. MeKean,
James Elverson, Eobert S. Davis, and a host of other
names equally suggestive of brilliant journalistic
achievement.
After the close of the war the class of special
journals devoted to the interests of particular trades
or professions was greatly multiplied. The following
list of such publications established since the war is
illustrative: The Agents' Herald, the American Journal
of Photography, the American Sill and Fruit Oulturist,
the Band Journal, the Banjo and Guitar Journal, the
Barbers' National Journal, the Brewers' and Dealers'
.Journal, the Bullion Miner and Coal Record, the Car-
penter, the Carpet .Journal, the Carriage Monthly, the
Caterer, the Clerk, the Coin Collectors' Herald, the
Confectioners' Journal, the Hammer, the Hosiery and
Knit Goods Manufacturer, the Ice Trade Journal, the
Iron, the Printers' Circular, the Eeal Estate Reporter,
the Sugar Beet, the Textile Colorist, the Thoroughbred
StocJ: Journal, and the Tobacconist.
While the press of Philadelphia, during its one
hundred and sixty-five years' history, has made em-
phatic progress, not only in numbers and in scope,
but in material influence and prosperity, yet it has,
; perhaps, made even greater advancement in tone and
morale. It is true that modern journalism is not
devoid of a personal tendency ; but something of as-
tonishment would surely be engendered were such
an article as the following duplicated in any news-
I paper at the present day. Mathew Carey, in 1800,
thus pays his respects to William Cobbett:
" Wretch as you are, accursed by God, and hated by man, the most
1 tremendous scourge that hell ever vomited forth to curse a people by
1 sowing discord among tliem, I desire not the honor or credit of being
I abused or vilified by you. I have not leisure to attend to a controversy,
unless I am driven to recommence the trade of newspaper printing,
! and make a profession of scribbling. This, if I cannot escape your
! coarse, low-lived abuse, I shall certainly and infallibly do; and then I
I will hold you up to the execration of mankind.
"But no! I will never disgrace my paper with your detested name.
I Callous and case-hardened, you draw subsistence from your infamy and
notoriety. 'Hissed and booted by the pointing crowd,' you care not,
provided you can amass money enough to secure you a competence at
I the close of your dishonorable career. But your writings I shall so cut
up and strip of their sophistry as to make even 'Follj''8 self to stare,'
and wonder bow she could possibly have been so long duped by you.
... To send a challenge to a blasted, posted, loathsome coward . . .
would sink me almost to a level with yourself."
j The extreme violence and virulence of this tirade
I is measurably mitigated, when one considers how
j richly the object of it deserved the severest denuncia-
! tion. Cobbett was an acrimonious and vituperative
j writer, great in invective and abuse, and was wont to
attribute the basest motives to his opponents. He
\ quarreled with every newspaper proprietor and almost
! every prominent man in the city, and was prosecuted
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1961
for libel by Dr. Rush, who recovered five thousand
dollars damages against him. He then quitted the
country in disgust, and occupied the rest of his life
in abusing America and Americans. In his " Fare-
well to America," published in 1800, he says, — •
" When i)eople care not two straws for each other, ceremony at part-
ing is mere grimace ; and as I have long felt the most perfect indif-
ference with regard to a vast majority of tliose whom I now address, I
shall spare myself the trouble of a ceremonious farewell. . . . With
this I depart for my native land, where neither the moth of Democracy
nor the rust of Federalism doth corrupt, and where thieves do not with
impunity break through and steal five thousand dollars at a time."
A quarter of a century afterward there had been
but a meagre improvement in the tone of editorial
discussion prevailing among Philadelphia journalists.
The Columbian Ob-^erver of April 1, 1825, contains the
following comment: "Speaking of the newspapers
of Pennsylvania, a lunatic editor in Ohio solemnly
affirms that 'to procure fit editors for them, every sm^
of infamy has been raked to the bottom /' This fellow is
a Clayite, and their minds all incline to think of dirt,
filth, and infamy, a very natural propensity in them.
It seems he does not even except Walsh from the mad
denunciation. The editors of Ohio are all manufac-
tured by a steam-engine, and come out finished gentle-
men at the first turn of the wheel !"
Eight years later, or on July 12, 1833, the Pennayl-
vanian quotes from a morning contemporarj' as fol-
lows : " A jjaper of this city denounces a contemporary
as a hack, vilifier, a gladiatorial calumniator, who stabs
reputations for pay and destroys character at the turn-
ing of his employers' thumbs." But the days oi Por-
cupine's Gazette and of " Peter Porcupine" are over.
The era of The Tickler and of "Toby Scratch'em" is
an obsolete one. The Tangram; or. Fashionable Trifler,
and " Christopher Crag, Esq., his Grandmother and
Uncle," have jiassed from the journalistic arena. The
Luncheon, "boiled for people about six feet high, by
Simon Pure," is no longer served. The Independent
Balance, and " Democritus, the younger, a lineal de-
scendant of the Laughing Philosopher," and "Simon
Spunkey, Esq., duly commissioned and sworn Regu-
lator, Weighmaster, and Inspector-General," are not
now encountered. The Spy in Philadelphia has ceased
its avocation. The journalism of the present is none
the less vigorous and pungent than was the journalism
of a half-century or a century ago, but it is character-
ized by a business-like seriousness, stability, and im-
personality which were comparatively unknown two
or three generations since.
Not only have the tone and morals of the press
visibly improved within the last half-century, but the
liberty of the press has also been palpably broadened.
Perhaps the one is the natural concomitant of the
other, — that is to say, as journalism has narrowed
itself, or has been narrowed, so far as its license to
criticise and denounce has been concerned, perhaps
its liberty of legitimate action has, in consequence,
been sensibly extended. It was well enough for
" Democritus, the younger, a lineal descendant of the
Laughing Philosopher," in his conduct of the Inde-
pendent Balance, to announce as his motto this lan-
guage of Junius, "Let it be impressed upon your
minds, let it be instilled into your children, that the
libei'ty of the press is the palladium of all the civil,
political, and religious rights of freemen." But his
" liberty of the press" had simply in view the same
purpose which actuated his more candid successor in
the conduct of the Balance, "Simon Spunkey, Esq.,
duly commissioned and sworn Regulator, Weighmas-
ter, and Inspector-General," who substituted this
Shakespearean motto for that of his predecessor, " I
claim as large a charter as the wind, to blow on whom
I please."
At the inception of journali.sm in Philadelphia the
provincial authorities looked with a jealous eye upon
the startling innovation. On the 2d of January, 1721,
the following paragraph appeared in the American
Weekly Mercury: "Our General Assembly are now
sitting, and we have great expectations from them, at
this juncture, that they will find some effectual remedy
to revive the dying credit of this province, and restore
us to our former happy circumstances." Surely no
statement could be more innocent or placid in its phra-
seological construction ! But the commotion created
by it was astonishing. The following excerpts from
the proceedings of the Provincial Council are self-
explanatory :
"January 19, 1721. — Upon a motion made that Andrew Bradford,
printer, be examined before this board concerning the publishing of a
late pamphlet, entitled 'Some Remedies proposed for Kesforing the
sunk Credit of the Province of Pennsylvania," as also of the Weekly Uer-
curij of the second of January instant, the last paragraph whereof seems
to have been intended as a reflection upon the credit of this province:
It is ordered that he, the said printer, have notice to attend this board
at the next meeting of Council.
" February 1, 1721. — The board being informed that Andrew Bradford
the printer, attended according to order, he was called in and examined
concerning a late pamphlet entitled, 'Some Remedies proposed for Ke-
storing the sunk Credit of the Province of Pennsylvania;' whereupon
he declared that be knew nothing of the printing or publishing the said
pamphlet: and being reprimanded by the Governor for publishing a
certain paragraph in his newspaper called the American Weekly Mercury,
of the second of January last, he said it was inserted by his journeyman,
who composed the said paper, without his knowledge, and that he was
very sorry for it, and for which he humbly submitted himself, and asked
pardon of the Governor and the board ; whereupon the Governor told
him that he must not, for the future, presume to publish anything relat-
ing to or concerning the affairs of this Government, or the Government
of any other of his Majesty's colonies, without the permission of the
Governor or Secretary of this province for the time being; and then he
was dismissed and the Council adjourned."
Subsequently there appeared in the Mei-cury the
following paragraph in one of a series of essays, over
the signature of "Busybody," a nom de plume of Ben-
jamin Franklin, apropos of an approaching annual
election :
I " To the friends of liberty firmness of mind and public spirit are abso-
1 lutely requisite ; and this quality, so essential and necessary to a noble
j mind, proceeds from a just way of thinking tlint we are not born for
ourselves alone, nor our own private advantages alone, but likewise and
1 principally for the good of others and service of civil society. This
raised the genius of the Romans, improved their virtue, and made them
protectors of mankind. This principle, according to the motto of these
papers, animated the Koroans, Cato and bis followers, and it was impos-
1962
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
sible to be thought great or good without being a patriot ; and none
could pretend to courage, gallantry', and greatness of mind without
being first of all possessed with a public spirit and lore of their country."
The effect of the publication of this simple abstrac-
tion was of so emphatic a character that the Governor
and Council ordered Bradford, the jjublisher, to be
arrested and committed to prison. Upon this occa-
sion Bradford displayed less of obsequiousness than
he had previously exhibited, and, having shown a
disposition not to acquiesce in the mandates of the
autliorities, he escaped furlher molestation. Since
that remote period the history of Philadelphia jour-
nalism has undergone a diversity and multiplicity of
experiences. Contests between the press and public
officials have been numerous. Libel suits, some of
vast magnitude and some of petty import, are found
in our court reports in every decade. Through all
these years the press has battled for a larger .liberty.
As a result of all this, and as a striking contrast from
the action of the Provincial Council of 1 721, the sov-
ereign people of Pennsylvania have engrafted into
the constitution of the commonwealth the following
fundamental principle :
"The printing-press shall be free to every person who may undertake
(O examine the proceedings of the Legislature or any branch of govern-
ment, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The
free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable
rights of man ; and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on
any subjf'Ct, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. No convic-
tion shall be had in any prosecution for the publication of papere re-
lating to the ofiicial conduct of officers or men in public capacity, or to
any other matter proper for jmblic investigation or information, where
the fact that such publication was not maliciously or negligently made
shall be established to the satisfaction of the jury."
As in every other large city, the number of news-
papers that have died out in Philadelphia is incred-
ible to those who have not made an examination of
the subject. In its issue of Sept. 26, 1837, the Public
Ledger thus refers to a number of rivals which had
collapsed shortly before that date : " The Times had
no time to breathe, for it died almost as soon as born ;
the Morninrj Post, that posted to its grave as rapidly
as if it were an express post; the Transcript, that did
nothing but franscribe, for it could not reach origi-
nality, and transcribed nothing worth reading ; the
Eaijle, that seemed more like a screech owl, and
never got fledged enough to fly ; the Commercial Pilot,
that actually ran upon the rocks and got shipwrecked
in putting to sea ; the Plain Truth, that told nothing
but lies."
Of the newspapers established in the last century,
not one is now in existence, although The Xorth
American, founded in 1839, afterward absorbed or
was consolidated with two journals which had their
inception prior to 1800. Moreover, of the nineteen
daily papers now published in Philadelphia, not one
was established in the first quarter of the present [
century. Indeed, the oldest of the daily papers now
published in this city, estimating their origin from
the year of their foundation under their present com-
monly-accepted titles, is The Inquirer, which was first
issued on June 1, 1829. But the history of Phila-
delphia journalism can be intelligently understood
I only when considered in detail.
j The American Weekly Mercury. — The first
newspaper printed in Philadelphia, or in the prov-
I ince, was issued Dec. 22, 1719. It a])peared on a
: half sheet, of pot size, and bore the imprint, " Phila-
I delphia : Printed by Andrew Bradford, and sold by
^ him and John Copson." In 1721 Copson's name was
omitted, and the imprint altered to "Philadelphia:
Printed and sold by Andrew Bradford at the Bible in
: Second Street, and also by William Bradford in New
York, where advertisements are taken in." This
paper probably served for both cities, no newspaper
having been printed in New York until October,
1725 ; the Xew York Gazette was established by Wil-
liam Bradford, and his name as vender of the
Mercury in that city was omitted in the following
December.
The Mercury sometimes appeared on a whole sheet
of pot, in type of various sizes, as small pica, pica,
and English. It appeared weekly, generally on Tues-
day ; but the day of publication was varied. Price,
ten shillings per annum. Editorial matter seldom
appeared, and so little notice was taken of passing
events in the city, with which at that time everybody
was supi^osed to be acquainted, that little information
with regard to local affairs is to be found in the paper.
It was principally made up of extracts from foreign
journals, several months old, with a few badly-printed
advertisements. Two cuts, coarsely engraved and in-
tended as ornaments, were placed at the head, one on
each side of the title. That on the left was a small
figure of Mercury, represented on foot, with extended
wings, and bearing his caduceus. The other was the
representation of a postman, riding at ftill speed.
These cuts were sometimes shifted, and for the sake
of variety Mercury and the postman exchanged places.
Andrew Bradford died in the year 1742. His widow,
Cornelia Bradford, assumed the publication of the
Pennsylvania Mercury, but shortly afterward entered
into partnership with Isaiah Warner. The latter
withdrew from the concern in 1744. Mrs. Bradford
published the paper until the end of 1746, about
which time it was discontinued.
The Universal Instructor in all the Arts and
Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette was the second
newspaper established in the province. It was issued
December 24, 1728, V)y Samuel Keimer, who had
come to Philadelphia in 1722, and either brought
type with him or succeeded to that which was already
here in use by Jacob Taylor or others.
Benjamin Franklin, who came to Philadelphia
some time in 1723, applied to Andrew Bradford for
work. The latter having nothing for him to do, Wil-
liam Bradford, of New York, the father of Andrew,
who happened to be in Philadelphia, took him to
Keimer.
That Franklin's unfavorable opinion of his early
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1963
employer, as shown in his autobiography, was well
grounded is shown by the following incident : In 1725,
Keimer published Taylor's Almanac, into which he
seems to have interpolated some of his own imperti-
nences. Aaron Goforth, Sr., immediately afterward
published in the Jfirciiri/ an advertisement, in which
he called it " a lying Almanac, set out to reproach,
ridicule, and rob an honest man of his reputation,
and strengthening his adversaries ; and not only so,
but he bath-notoriously branded a gospel minister of
the Church of England with ignominious names for
maintaining gospel truths. . . . This man's religion
consisteth only in the beard and his sham keeping of
the seventh-day Sabbath, following Christ only for
loaves and fishes." Goforth wound up by an intima-
tion that if Keimer did not "condemn what he had
done, and satisfy the abused, he may expect to be
prosecuted." Joseph Taylor, the author of the Alma-
nac, also considered himself very much injured, and
in January, 1726, he printed a very severe attack upon
his publishers, in which he sneered at Keimer's aliili-
ties, particularly his school for the blacks, his beard,
and his seventh-day profession. This was partly in
verse, and in a portion of the comjiosition was very
coarse.
Taylor's reference to Keimer's beard and sabbatic
notions is thus esjilained by Franklin (in his pre-
viously-quoted autobiography) : " Keimer wore his
beard at full length because somewhere in the Mosaic
law it is said, ' Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy
beard.' He likewise kept the seventh-day Sabbath ;
and these two points were essentials with him."
Soon after 1725, Andrew Bradford, who continued
the publication of the American Weekly Mercury, and
had at his command nearly all the printing business
of the province, began to meet with more steady op-
position. Keimer still kept up his printing-office, and
managed to do a little business, although he eked out
his profits by some means not strictly professional.
After a publication of The Universal Instructor for
nine months, during which time it had only ninety
subscribers, Keimer was involved in debt, and, being
unable to continue the paper, he made arrangements
to sell it to David Harry, another printer; but the
latter, having first assented to the transfer, afterward
declined, whereupon Franklin and Hugh Meredith,
by subscribing a small sum, obtained possession, and
the Universal Instrvctor was resigned to them. It was
now published by Franklin and Meredith, who ex-
punged the first part of the title, and called it the
Pennsylvania Gazette, " containing the freshest advices,
foreign and domestic." It apjieared twice a week, at
ten shillings per annum, on a whole or a half sheet
of "pot," as occasion required. The energy and in-
dustry of Franklin, and the improvement in the
character of the paper, excited public interest, and
soon brought the new establishment into notice.
They were appointed printers to the General Assem-
bly. They likewise printed a number of books,
among which was a folio edition of the " History of
the Quakers," principally intended for the use of
members of that society. Of this work Franklin set
up the type for a sheet daily, while Meredith did the
press-work.
Franklin continued the Pennsylvania Gazette with
Hugh Meredith until some time in 1732, when the
partnership was dissolved, and the former continued
the business on his own account. He opened a shop
for the sale of stationery, did something at book-
binding and bookselling, and, by means of his indus-
try and economy, soon ])aid his debts, and began to
accumulate property. Until his appointment as i)ost-
master the circulation of his paper was not equal to
that of Bradford's Mercury; but soon after he ob-
tained that office the number of his subscribers
greatly increased, and the frazettehec&xae very profit-
able. He continued in business without a partner
for fifteen years; but in the beginning of 1748, being
much engaged in public affairs, he formed a connec-
tion with David Hall, under the firm of B. Franklin
& D. Hall. Their establishment was well conducted
and lucrative, the paper having a large circulation,
and the business of the printing-house being exten-
sive and profitable.
In 1765, Franklin sold his interest in the office to
Hall, and the next year the paper was printed by
Hall and William Sellers, who continued the busi-
ness as Hall & Sellers. The Pennsylvania Gazette
continued its issues regularly under these proprietors
until a short time before the occupation of Philadel-
phia by the British. The last number of this paper
published before the capture of the city was dated
Sept. 10, 1777, and was numbered 2533. During the
occupancy, and for some months afterward, the pub-
lication of the paper was suspended. No. 2534 was
published at Philadelphia on Jan. 5, 1779, and from
that time the publication went forward regularly.
It was still published by Hall & Sellers in 1800,
at No. 51 Market Street. This firm was dissolved
about 1805. Hall continued the publication alone
until about 1810, -when the firm of Hall & Pierie
(George W. Pierie) was established. About the year
1815 or 1816 the firm of Hall & Pierie was dissolved,
and Hall & Atkinson became the publishers of the
Pennsylvania Gazette. Samuel C. Atkinson, who be-
came a member of this firm, continued with it until
after the death of David Hall, which occurred May
27, 1821. The business of the paper survived to Mr.
Atkinson, who took into partnership with him Charles
Alexander. Atkinson & Alexander at once deter-
mined upon a revolution in the character of the
paper, and the partners proceeded to build up a new
business on the venerable foundation of the Pennsyl-
vania Gazette. They at once issued proposals for the
publication of a new weekly paper, to which they
gave the name of the Saturday Evening Post. The first
number was issued Aug. 4, 1821. It was published
at the price of two dollars a year, payable half-yearly
1964
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
in advance, or three dollars at the end of the year.
The proprietors were young men, and were ambi-
tious. They endeavored to make their paper of
interest to all classes, encouraged rising genius,
which hurried to see itself in print in the " Poet's
Corner" or in the story columns, gave some attention
to uews, foreign as well as domestic, and eschewed all
politics. It was a paper for the family, and although
some particular attention was paid to local matters,
there was sufficient variety of general intelligence to
interest persons not resident in Philadelphia. Thus
by judicious attention to business the paper became
popular, and gained a large circulation, so that there
was in time no portion of the United States into
which the Post did not penetrate. The editor of the
Post was Thomas Cottrell Clarke.'
Der Hoch Deutsch Pennsylvanische Geschicht
Schreiber, oder Sammlung Wichtiger Nachrichten
aus dem Natur und Kirchen Reich, which is, trans-
lated literally, Tlie High Dutch Pennsylvania HiMori-
ographer, or Collection of Important Intelligence from the
Kingdom of Natvre and the Church, was issued on the
CHRISTOPHER SAUR'S HOUSE, GERM.^NTOWN.
[From a picture in the FLiladelphia Library.]
20th of August, 1739, by Christopher Saur, — modern-
ized Sower, — of Germantown, as a quarterly journal.
According to the statement in this paper, its object
was to collect foreign and domestic news; and it also
promised to furnish questions addressed to serious
minds, with proper answers thereto. It is said that the
type for this journal was cast by Saur, who also made
his own ink. In that case, the type was the first cast
in America. This paper was after a time changed to a
monthly publication. In 1744 it was issued weekly,
and was called Der Gennantauner Zcitung. It became
a paper of much influence, and was printed and
published up to the time of the Revolutionary war;
' For a further sketcli of this offspring of tlie Penvsi/lmti
i notice of tlie Saturday Evening Post, iii succeeding pages.
but it was discontinued before the close of that con-
test.
The General Magazine and Historical Chroni-
cle " for all the British Plantations in America,"
the first magazine established in America, was com-
menced by Franklin in January, 1741. The title-
page contained the Prince of Wales' feathers and the
motto " Ich dien." This publication was continued
for about six months, but not meeting with sufficient
patronage, it was discontinued.
The American Magazine, or a Monthly View
of the British Colonies, also appeared in 1741, being
published by John Webbe, who had engaged Bradford
to print the work. The prospectus of this magazine,
which appeared in Bradford's Mercury Nov. 6, 1740,
gave offense to Franklin, who alleged that it had been
previously engaged to him, which Webbe denied,
but acknowledged that some conversation had taken
place between him and Franklin on the subject, and
that Franklin had given him, in writing, a statement
of the terms on which he would print and publish the
work. A spirited paper controversy ensued, in which
Franklin, Webbe, and Bradford took part.
In consequence of this dispute, Franklin
established the magazine above mentioned,
and had the first number out about a month
before Webbe could issue his. The latter
was a foolscap octavo of forty-eight pages, at
twelve shillings per annum. Only two or
three numbers were published.
The Pennsylvania Journal and Week-
ly Advertiser, the third Philadelphia news-
paper in the English language, was es-
tablished in 1742. William Bradford, a
grandson of the first William, and nephew
of Andrew Bradford, of the .imfriVn?; Weekly
Mercury, was a partner with the latter for a
short time ; but he went to England in 1739,
returned in 1742, and set up the paper above
named. The first number was published
■ December 2d. In 1766 he took his son
Thomas as a partner, and the publication
of the Pennsylvania Journal was continued
by William and Thomas Bradford. After the es-
tablishment by Bradford, in 1754, of the London
Coffee-House, at the southwest corner of Front and
Market Streets, the publication-oflSce of the Journal
was removed to that building. The London Coffee-
House being the great commercial centre until the
establishment of the City Tavern, the office of the
Journal was in an excellent situation for news and
business, and the paper seems to have flourished.
William Bradford also opened, in the same house, in
1762, a marine insurance oflice, in company with Mr.
Kidd, where much business was done. The Pennsyl-
vania Journal was continued until some time in Sep-
tember, 1777. No attempt was made to publish it
during the British occupation of the city, nor until
after the evacuation. The paper was revived at the
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1965
begiDning of December, 1778, and from that time it
was published reguhirly by William and Thomas
Bradford until the death of Col. William Bradford,
which occurred Sept. 25, 1791. After that event
Thomas Bradford, son of William, continued the
paper.
The title of the Pennsylvania Journal was changed
to the True American in 1797, and in the early part
of 1800 it was published by Thomas Bradford, son of
William, at No. 8 South Front Street. It was soon
afterward issued daily by Samuel F. Bradford. On
July 1, 1800, notice was given that the paper would
thereafter be published by Thomas Bradford, the
father of Samuel F. Bradford. In November, 1813,
.Tames Elliott and Thomas
T. Stiles bought the T>ui
American and (.'onimeriial
A'leertiser from Thomas
Bradford. On the 9th ot
.March, 1818, the Ihie
American was united with
the United States Gazette.
The two papers were
called The Vnion and
United States Gazette, or
True American. Enos
Bronson and Thomas
Smith became proprie-
tors. Smith and Ebenezer
Cummins had purchased
the True American before
that time of Bradford,
and published it at No
92 South Front Street.
The German Pennsyl-
vania Journal is believed
to have been the title of
a newspaper in the Ger-
man language which ^ i>.
printed in Philadelphia
as early as 1742. It was
published by Joseph Crel-
lius, who, as appears from
an advertisement, also
kept a winter evening
German school.
Ein Schall und Geganschall der Wahrheit, und
des Gesundten Verstandes Christliebender Seelen
in Diesam Americanischer landtheil, the first reli-
gious magazine established in this country, was com-
menced in February, 1746, by Christopher Saur, of
Germantown. This magazine soon took the monthly
form, but after a time was discontinued.
Subsequently Christopher Saur, Jr., commenced a
new serial of the same kind in German, which was
entitled. Das Geistliche Magazin oder dus den sehafzen
der schriftgelehrten zum himmelreich gelehrt das gc-
reichtes alfes unt Xeues. This magazine was continued
for a number of years, and was published strictly in
/:!^^^'
accordance with the promised plan. Saur's press
was very active in producing almanacs, newspapers,
and other publications in English and German. He
employed two or three mills in manufacturing paper,
cast his own type, made his own printers' ink, en-
graved his own wood-cuts, and bound his own publi-
cations.
The High Dutch Gazette (so called in English
newspapers) was published in Philadelphia during
the quarter of a century beginning with 1750. But
very little is known in relation to it.
The German and English Gazette was established
in 1751. In the Pemisylvania Gazette of September,
1751, there is a notice of a " Gemiayi and English Ga-
zette, contsiining the fresh-
est advices, foreign and do-
mestic, with other enter-
taining and useful matters
in both languages, adapted
to the convenience of such
as incline to learn either.
Printed at the German
Printing- Office, in Arch
Street. Price, five shillings
per annum." This print-
ing-olBce was then kept
by Gotthardt Armbruster.
A society having been
formed in London for the
purpose of" promoting re-
ligious knowledge among
the German emigrants in
Pennsylvania," they es-
tablished a German print-
ing-office in Philadel-
phia for the publication
of school-books and relig-
ious tracts in that lan-
guage as early as the year
1755, or perhaps before
that time. A newspaper
was also published at this
establishment in order to
communicate political and
general information to the
German inhabitants.
The American Magazine and Monthly Chroni-
cle, for the British colonies, was issued by William
Bradford, at the corner house at Front and Market
Streets, October, 1757. It purported to be issued " by
a society of gentlemen," and the motto was " Veritatis
cultores, fraudis inimici." The vignette represented an
Indian leaning upon his gun. Upon one side of the
Indian was a gentleman profiering him a roll of goods
and the Holy Bible. On the other side another gen-
tleman held in one hand a hatchet. The motto was
" Prcevalebit aquoir.'" This periodical was principally
devoted to political matters, literary discussions, and
poetry. It was discontinued Nov. 14, 1758.
1966
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Der Wochentliclie Philadelphische Staatsbote
was first published by Henry Miller in January, 1762.
It appeared weekly, printed on a whole or a half-sheet
of foolscap, as occasion required ; but it was after-
wards enlarged to a crown sheet, and next to a demy.
After being published about six years the title was
changed to Der Pcnnsijlvanischer Sfaafsbofe, and the
paper was continued until the British army took pos-
se.ssion of Philadelphia, in 1777. On the retiring of
the British troops from the city the publication was
resumed, and was continued until 1779, when the pub-
lisher retired from business.
The Pennsylvania Chronicle and Universal Ad-
vertiser, "containing the freshest advices," appeared
on Jan. 6, 1767. It was published by William God-
dard at ten shillings per annum. It had four columns
to a page, instead of three, as had hitherto been the
practice. For two out of three years it was printed in
quarto form, and the fourth year it returned to folio,
which was the original form in which it had been
printed. Joseph Galloway and Thomas Wharton
were said to be secret partners of Goddard in this en-
terprise. But this partnership did not continue for a
very long time. The partners quarreled and separated,
and Goddard turned his batteries in the Chronicle upon
Galloway, who was abused through the columns of the
paper which he had helped to establish, in a manner
that must have been very unpleasant. This paper
was discontinued in February, 1773, and Goddard re-
moved to Baltimore, where he established the Mary-
land Journal, the first newspaper published in that
town.
The American Magazine, an octavo of forty-eight
pages, was established by Lewis Nicola, in the begin-
ning of 1769, and was published monthly throughout
the year, expiring with the December number. Ni-
cola was a native of France, educated in Ireland, and
had quitted the British army, in which he held some
appointment. He became warmly attached to the
American cause, wrote some treatises on military sub-
jects about the commencement of the Revolution, and
became an officer in the army. He was town-major
of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary war, and
was appointed by Congress to the command of the
corps of invalids. He was a member of the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, and published their trans-
actions in his magazine during its continuance.
The Penny Post, containing fresh advertisements
and useful hints, etc., was first issued on Jan. 9, 1769,
and was printed and sold by Benjamin Mecom, oppo-
site the Presbyterian meeting-house on Arch Street.
It was published on Monday, Wednesday, and Fri-
day. The number for January 20th had between the
letters of its heading a crown, with the motto beneath
it, " E Pluribus TJnum." The next number, which
was issued on January 27th, had the plain head with-
out the crown and motto. This was the last number
of the journal which has been preserved, and was
most probably the last number issued.
The Pennsylvania Packet, or General Adver-
tiser, was first issued on Monday, Oct. 28, 1771, by
John Dunlap. It was a small folio sheet, the printed
page measuring nine by fifteen inches, and having three
columns. The motto — then considered almost indis-
pensable to a newspaper — was from Juvenal, " Quic-
quid agunt Homines, nostri eat Farrago Libelli," which
may be freely translated, "Whatever men do, is the
burden of our speech." The imprint was as follows :
" Printed by John Dunlap, at the Newest Printing
Office,-- in Market Street, where subscriptions, at ten
shillings per annum, advertisements, etc., are thank-
fully received for this paper."
This " newest printing office" was located on Market
Street, third house east of Second, opposite what was
then, and for many years afterward, known as the
Jersey Market, which occupied the middle of the
street. The paper was to be published weekly.
In his announcement the publisher stated that the
liberal encouragement he had received enabled him
to issue the Packet much sooner than he had antici-
pated, and that this number, accompanied by a supple-
ment of two pages, was ample evidence that his under-
taking received hearty support from the business men
of Philadelphia.
The reading matter in the first number of the
Packet and Advertiser consisted of the prospectus,
communications, extracts from foreign papers, and
news from London of the date of September 2d. Not
a line of local news or of editorial matter appeared in
the paper, nor, indeed, in any of the papers of that
time. The ship-news consisted of a list of thirty-four
vessels entered, eleven outward, and ten cleared.
At the beginning of its third year the Packet was
enlarged, so that the printed page measured eleven
by eighteen inches. During the Revolution it was re-
duced to its original size, but again enlarged to the
above dimensions in 1783.
This journal warmly supported the cause of the
colonies against Great Britain, and in 1775-76, when
it was published semi-weekly, postscripts — answering
to the extras of to-day — were issued whenever im-
portant news was received from abroad or from the
other colonies. Though this showed considerable
enterprise, the slowness with which important mat-
ters were laid before the public in those days is illus-
trated by the fact that " A Declaration by the Repre-
sentatives of the United Colonies of North America,
now met in General Congress at Philadelphia, setting
forth the Causes and Necessity of their taking up
Arms," which was adopted July 6, 1775, did not ap-
pear in the Packet until the 10th of that month.
While the British army occupied Philadelphia, in
1777-78, Dunlap published the Packet and Advertiser
at Lancaster, but returned to Philadelphia on the
17th of June of the latter year. On the 4th of July
he published an editorial — very rare in those days —
on the evacuation of the city by the British troops.
It marks a feature of the newspaper press of that time,
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1967
that the publisher never alluded in the raeli-et to his
enterprise in removing his office and publishing his
paper while the city was occupied by the enemy, nor
to his return at the earliest day possible.
About this time Mr. Dunlap associated with him-
self David C. Claypoole, who had been his apprentice,
and the firm became Dunlap & Claypoole. Subse-
quently the paper was published by Claypoole alone,
though it is likely that Dunhq) still retained his in-
terest, since the old firm-name of Dunlap & Clay-
poole reappeared on the 21st of September, 1784,
when the Packet, which had before been issued tri-
weekly, was converted into a daily, being t/ie Jirsf daily
neicsjmper printed on fhi>! crmtinent. Here again the
provoking reticence of the publishers on personal
matters is to be noted. The first daily newitpaper had
nut a word to say for itself ! The title was shortly
afterward changed to American Daily Advertiser.
From 1791 to 1794 the paper was published by
Dunlap alone, when Claypoole again became his
partner. In December, 1795, he finally withdrew.
John Dunlap, whose name is thus prominently and
honorably associated with the press of Philadelphia,
was born at Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland. When
about eight years old he came to America to live with
his uncle, William Dunlap, who had emigrated from
Ireland, learned the art of printing under William
Bradford, and was at that time in business at Lancas-
ter. William Dunlap subsequently removed to Phila-
delphia, and opened a printing-office and book-store.
Turning his attention to divinity, he was ordained in
the Church of England, and became an Episcopal
clergyman in Virginia. When this took place, in
1768, he sold his printing-office to his nephew — then
about twenty years old — to be paid for in installments.
John Dunlap prosecuted the business vigorously, and
was a prominent printer and publisher before he
began the Packet and Advertiser, in 1771. He was
made printer to Congress, and in that capacity was
the first publisher of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, to the principles of which he subscribed with
pen, purse, and service. In 1780 he contributed four
thousand pounds to supply provisions for the Ameri-
can army. He was a member of the First Troop of
Philadelphia Cavalry, and served with distinction first
as cornet and afterward as lieutenant. Toward the
close of the war he became captain of his troop. He
rendered efficient service in the suppression of the
Whiskey Insurrection in 1799, during which he held
the rank of major, and commanded a considerable
body of cavalry. By his talents, industry, and busi-
ness tact, Mr. Dunlap acquired a large fortune. He
purchased an estate in Virginia, and, through the
friendship of Governor Randolph, obtained a patent
for ninety-eight thousand acres of land in Kentucky.
He also owned much jjroperty in Philadelphia, in-
cluding the square of ground between Chestnut and
Market and Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, which he
sold to Stephen Girard.
Mr. Dunlap was an honored citizen, an upright,
honest, and liberal man. In one of his houses Robert
Morris found a free home in his adversity, and there
closed his days. In politics he was a stanch Federal-
ist, a name which is often regarded as a term of re-
proach, but which in his time was proudly assumed
by many of the wisest and best in the land; repre-
senting, as they claimed, the principles upon which
Washington had placed the welfare of the country.
Capt. Dunlap died on the 27th of November, 1812, in
the sixty-sixth year of his age, and was buried with
the honors of war, in Christ Church graveyard, Fifth
and Arch Streets.
After Mr. Dunlap withdrew from the Advertiser, at
the close of 1795, it was published by David C. and
Septimus Claypoole, under the title of Claypoole's
American Daily Advertiser. Septimus died Dec. 31,
1798, and the paper was continued by David C. Clay-
poole until Sept. 30, 1800, when he sold it to Zacha-
riah Poulson, Jr., for ten thousand dollars.
Mr. Claypoole was said to be a descendant of Oliver
Cromwell, whose daughter married Lord General
Claypoole. He was a gentleman of the old school,
copying closely the manners of bis master, and after-
ward partner, John Dunlap. He was much respected
for his sterling worth by the community in which he
lived to attain the age of ninety-two. He died in
1849. Mr. Claypoole, as the publisher of the official
paper of the government, printed Washington's Fare-
well Address from the original manuscript, which was
subsequently presented to him by its author. This he
reverently cherished, and after his decease it was pur-
chased by James Lenox, of New York, as a most de-
sirable addition to his extensive collection of rare and
valuable books and manuscripts, which is unequaled
in this country.
On purchasing the Advertiser, Mr. Poulson removed
the office to his residence, No. 106 Chestnut Street,
opposite the Bank of North America, at which place
he continued the publication for more than thirty-
nine years. It appears that he had intended to estab-
lish a distinct paper, for in his introductory he trusts
that "to those gentlemen who have subscribed to the
Observer, the relinquishment of the title, and the
alteration of the time of publication, will be no
serious objection."
Under Poulson's management the Advertiser was
prosperous and profitable. Never attaining a very
large circulation — indeed, large circulations were for
the greater part of his time unknown — it was essen-
tially an advertiser ; averaging about twenty-two col-
umns of advertisements to six columns of reading
matter. This proportion was kept up until the last
number. It was several times enlarged ; finally to a
seven-column paper, the printed page measuring six-
teen and three-quarters by twenty-one and a half
inches.
Never brilliant, the Advertiser was always respec-
table. The esteem with which it was regarded by the
1968
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
public is fairly set forth in the following extract from
Watson's " Annals of Philadelphia :"
" It is more properly municipal and domestic than any other [news-
paper] which we know. It seems composed to suit the family-hearth
and lireside comforts of good and sober citizens, never flaunting in the
gaudy glare of party allurements ; never stained with tlie ribaldry and
virulence of party recrimination. It is patriarchal — looking alike to
the wants and benefits of all our citizens as common children of the
same city family. It is, in short, a paper like the good old times from
which it has descended, and like the peojde of the former days — its
recent most numerous readers — it carries with it something grave, dis-
criminating, useful, and considerate."
The Advertmr was a Whig journal, and the last
number flew the flag of Harrison and Tyler for Presi-
dent and Vice-President. Mr. Poulson was seventy-
eight years old, and for some time had been in feeble
health, when, on the 28th of December, 1839, he bade
farewell to journalism in these simple yet touching
words :
*' To the Friends of the American Daily Advertiser :
"The want of health and other causes have, of late, frequently ad-
monished tiie subscriber to relinquish the labors and responsibilities
attending the publication of a daily paper ; and as John Poulson, his
eldest son — who has spent the greater portion of his days in cheerfully
aiding as an assistant, and, during the long affliction of his father as
sole editor — declines retaining the establishment, the respect and grati-
tude which the subscriber feels for the present subscribers to the -Imeri-
can Daily Adrertiser, many of whom have for a number of years honored
his subsciiption-list with their names, has induced him to select succes-
sors who have not only an ardent inclination but the ability and means
of continuing the publication of the paper to their entire satisfaction.
"With this object in view, he has transferred the said establishment
(the first newspaper which appeared daily on the American continent)
to Messrs. S. C. Brace and T. R. Kenbold, who now publish a highly re-
spectable daily paper, and conducted on the same plan, denominated the
North American, in connection with which the said American Daily
Advertiser will from this day be published. . . '.
" ZaCHARIAH POITLSON,
" Who for more than thirty-nine years has been its proprietor."
Mr. Poulson was born in Philadelphia, in 1761,
and died July 31, 1844, at his residence on Chestnut
Street, where for so many years he had conducted
his newspaper. He was a practical printer, having
learned the art of Joseph Crukshank, celebrated in
his day for the excellence of his productions. His
father, Zachariah Poulson the elder, was a Dane,
who came to Pennsylvania with his father, when
twelve years of age, and became an apprentice to
Christopher Saur, the second, at Germantown, who,
like his father, was a printer of celebrity.
Zachariah Poulson, Jr, engaged in business on
his own account at an early age, and was for many
years printer to the Senate of Pennsylvania. He
published many works prior to purchasing the Adver-
tiser, some of them — as Proud's " History of Pennsyl-
vania"— of considerable importance. He was an
active citizen in all matters calculated to improve or
benefit the community in which he lived, and promi-
nent in many benevolent institutions. For nearly
fifty-nine years Mr. Poulson was an officer of the
Library Company of Philadelphia ; twenty-one years
as librarian, thirty-two years as a director, and six
years as treasurer. His portrait, painted by Sully for
the company, now adorns the walls of the library.
The Gazette of the United States was established
by John Fenno, in New York, April 11, 1789, and
when Philadelphia became the seat of government it
was removed here, its first Philadelphia issue bearing
date of April 14, 1790. The office was located at No.
69 High [now Market Street], between Second and
Third, where the paper was published every Wednes-
day and Saturday, at three dollars a year. It was
then a three-column folio, printed on a sheet seven-
teen by twenty-one inches, and contained Congres-
sional""" news, public documents, foreign intelligence
three months old, and one or more poems in each
number. Scarcely any local news was given, and
editorials were exceedingly rare.
On Dec. 13, 1793, an evening edition of the Gazette
of the United States was commenced, and the title was
made the Gazette of the United States and Evening Ad-
vertiser. In 1795 the latter part of the title was
dropped, the paper being published by the name first
adopted ; but in 1796 the title was made the Gazette
of the United States and Philade/phia Evening Advertiser.
The price for the morning and evening editions in
1793 was six dollars per year. In 1799 it was in-
creased to eight dollars per year ; mailed copies, nine
dollars. This paper became a strong advocate of the
national government.
When he first issued the daily edition, Fenno an-
nounced that he was " determined to keep detached
from the influence of parties," but the Gazette soon
became intensely Federal, and bitterly opposed the
" French and American Jacobins." This opposition
was generally exhibited in articles copied from other
journals, and in satirical poems full of personal allu-
sions to prominent Kepublicans. In a note to one
of these poems it is said, " I have heard a respectable
old gentleman, contemporary with Dr. F , ob-
serve that he never saw him in a minority." Rather
an ungracious reflection on the memory of the printer
philosopher. Fenno strenuously supported Adams'
administration, and when a war with France was
imminent, he daily hurled his thunderbolts at the
" French faction" in the United States. His son in-
herited his principles, and when, on the 19th of No-
vember, 1798, the news of Nelson's victory over the
French fleet in the bay of Abonkir (August 3d) was
received, he issued a " Gazette Extraordinary," an-
nouncing and giving particulars of the "interesting,
important, and truly glorious news," which, he says,
" we cannot delay for a moment to communicate to
our readers." The next day appeared a " Postscript,"
rejoicing in the " certainty of that glorious event, the
destruction of the French fleet in the Mediterranean
by Admiral Nelson."
John Fenno was a native of Boston, Mass., and was
born Aug. 12, 1751 (old style). He received a liberal
education, and was teacher for several years of the
Old South Writing-School, Boston. He died in Phil-
adelphia on Sept. 14, 1798, of the yellow fever, four
days after the death of his contemporary and political
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1969
antagonist, Benjamin F. Bache, of the Aurora. Fenno
was a man highly esteemed, and the press, upon the
occasion of his death, commended his career.
John Ward Fenno, son of John Fenno, who was
only nineteen years old at his father's death, took up
the publication, and continued it until May, 1800.
The following notice then appeared :
" The Gcactle of the TTniled Slates, which has for some time past been
the property of Mr. Caleb P. Wayne, and by him been conducted, will
in future be published in hia name."
Wayne adopted the following motto :
*' I, from tlie orient to the drooping west,
Making the wind my post-horse, still unfuld
The deeds commenced on this ball of earth."
Shakespeare's Heimj JF., Part It.
Mr. Wayne was a mercliant, and did not remain in
charge of this paper quite a year and a half.
Enos Bronson, a native of Waterbury, Conn., was
born March 31, 1774. He graduated at Yale College,
and afterward began the study of law, which, how-
ever, he did not long continue. Removing to Phil-
adelphia, he became a teacher in the Episcopal
Academy, and shortly afterward purchased the Gazette
of the United States. The probability is that he was
the owner of the paper for some time before his name
appeared in connection with it, and that the " seven
prosecutions" referred to by Wayne were of his
begetting.
On taking control of the Gazette, Bronson omitted
Daihj Adrertker from the title, and in May, 1802,
entered into a partnership with Elihu Chauncey,
which continued but three years. Under this firm, on
the 20th of February, 1804, the title was changed from
Gazette of the United States to United States Gazette.
After Chauncey retired Bronson improved the paper,
increasing the quantity of local news, and gaining
largely in advertisements. He also turned his atten-
tion to commercial matters, and devoted an entire
page to prices current.
A semi-weekly edition " for the country" was started
in 1809, at four dollars a year. This, many years
later, proved to be the most profitable issue of the
paper. About this time the following notice to sub-
scribers appeared regularly: "It is expressly stipu-
lated that any subscriber to this Gazette shall be at
liberty to discontinue his subscription at pleasure,
upon giving notice to the editor, and paying any
arrearages which may be due at the time, and not
otherwise." A wide liberty, truly ! The office of the
paper had been several times removed, and was now
located in " Zachary's Court, on the south side of
Walnut Street, between Second and Front Streets."
On the 9th of March, 1818, the Gazette was consoli-
dated with the True American, which was the successor
of the Pennsyh-ania Journal, established in 1742 by
William Bradford, grandson of the first printer in
Pennsylvania. It was then published as a morning
paper by Bronson & Smith, under the title of The
Union, the old titles of both papers being retained as
sub-heads. Smith died early in 1819, and there ap-
pears to have been some difficulty in settling up the
business. For a time the paper was printed " for the
proprietors," but in November the name of William
Henry Sandford appeared as publisher.
In 1820 James G. Watts and George H. Hart issued
proposals for a new paper, to be called the Commercial
Chronicle. Sanford, being in ill health, and fearing
the rivalry, sold them The Union, which was fur-
nished, in lieu of the newspaper, to the subscribers
they had obtained. The location of the paper was
changed twice during this year, once to Market Street,
between Seventh and Eighth, and again to the north-
east corner of Second and Walnut. Here it remained
until June, 1828, when the office was removed to No.
68 (now No. 230) Dock Street, where the paper con-
tinued to be published until it was united with the
North American.
The fortunes of The Union were at a low ebb, when,
in 1822, Joseph R. Chandler offered a storj- for publi-
cation in its columns. The acceptance of this story
proved to be the starting-point of the subsequent
great success of the paper. Being fresh and vigorous,
it attracted the attention of the public, and Mr.
Chandler was solicited to continue his contributions.
It soon became necessary for him to visit the office to
read the proofs of his articles, and almost insensibly
he became the editor of the paper. At his suggestion
the old title of United States Gazette (which for several
years had been kept subordinate to The Union) was
resumed as the sole heading on the 1st of April,
1823.
In November, 1826, Mr. Chandler purchased Mr.
Watts' share in the paper, and the firm became Hart
& Chandler. At this time the Gazette was far from
being in a prosperous condition. The circulation of
the daily did not reach four hundred, and the estab-
lishment was supported mainly by the tri-weekly
edition for the country. The press-work was done on
a double-pull Ramage press, and some time elapsed
before a hand-press was obtained large enough to
print two pages at one impression. Under the new
management the daily edition soon reached eight
hundred, and the partners were jubilant over their
success. " When we reach twelve hundred," said
Hart, " all will be right."
On the 22d of June, 1829, the establishment passed
into the hands of Mr. Chandler. Mr. Hart en-
gaged in other enterprises, but was subsequently
employed in the business department of the Gazette,
and continued his connection with it until 1847.
The paper had now attained a considerable circu-
lation, and was steadily gaining public favor, espe-
cially in mercantile circles. The local reports were
fuller ; enterprises were set on foot to obtain early
foreign news ; letters from several European capitals
appeared on the arrival of each packet ; special cor-
respondence from New York, Boston, and other cities
was published ; political questions were ably dis-
1970
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
cussed ; and occasional stories and poetry enlivened
its columns. All the editorial labor was performed
by Mr. Chandler, iutluding the letters from " Our
Special Correspondent" at London, Paris, New York,
Constantinople, Boston, or Pekin.
Twenty-five years' incessant editorial labor, joined
with his active participation in public affairs, had
severely strained Mr. Chandler's constitution when,
in 1847, the proposition to purchase the Gazette was
made by the proprietors of the Xortli American. He
laid this proposition before his son, Mr. Hart, and
his clerks, and they unanimously advised its ac-
ceptance. The opinion given by these gentlemen
was substantially as follows : " It is evident that if
you continue the publication of the paper, working
as you do, you cannot live more than five years. If
you retire you may live ten years. We shall certainly
lose our positions if you sell ; but you will probably
gain five years of life. We are satisfied to take our
chance, and hope that you will take yours." No
similar event could have been more honorable to
both parties. Mr. Chandler accepted the offer of
Messrs. Graham, McMichael & Bird, and the United
States Gazette ceased to exist as a distinct paper. In '
his valedictory the editor stated that not one of the j
papers which had been contemporary with the Gazette
in 1822 was then in existence.
Joseph R. Chandler, who was sole editor of the '
United States Gazette during twenty-five years, was a
native of Kingston, Plymouth Co., Mass. He came
to Philadelphia in September, 1815, when about !
twenty-three years old, and established a school,
which he continued for several years, even after he
became a partner in the Gazette. He was the author
of a " Grammar of the English Language," which
passed through several editions ; and his speeclies on
various occasions, many of which have been pub-
lished, give evidence of ripe scholarship, clear judg-
ment, and a remarkable power of felicitous expres-
sion.
Mr. Chandler was a gentleman of irreproachable
character, and filled many positions of trust with
honor to himself and advantage to the public. He
represented the Second District of Pennsylvania in
Congress from 1847 to 1855, being thrice elected by
the Whig party, of which he was an earnest member
and a trusted leader. As he had no afiiliation with
the " Know-Nothing" element, which exerted a con-
trolling influence over the disorganized Whig ranks
in 1854, Mr. Chandler failed to receive a renomina-
tion. He was subsequently minister to Naples, a
position which he filled with honor. For many years
he was a member of the Board of Prison Inspectors,
and zealously discharged the onerous and perplexing |
duties of his position. No man who ever filled the
editorial chair reflected more credit on the press of
Philadelphia than Joseph R. Chandler.
The North American and United States Gazette,
"the oldest daily in America," is the outgrowth of a i
number of other journals of various degrees of im-
portance. The Xorth America)! was first issued under
that name March 26, 1839, at No. 63 (now No. 233)
Dock Street. Originally published by S. C. Brace
and T. R. Newbold, it was established by a number of
wealthy gentlemen who, observing that the press of
the city then paid little or no attention to religious
matters or to the proceedings of charitable associa-
tions, determined to establish a daily commercial
newspaper that should be high-toned, independent,
and semi-religious in character. A fund was sub-
scribed for the purpose, which, however, was soon
exhausted, and William Welsh, one of the origi-
nators, became sole proprietor. Before the expira-
tion of the first year it absorbed Zachariah Poulson's
Daily Adrcrtiiier, and it is on its lineal descent from
this paper that the Xorth American very properly
bases its claim to be the oldest daily in America.
In 1840 the Commercial Herald, which had been pub-
lished by Col. Cephas G. Childs, was merged into
the new paper, and Mr. Welsh also purchased the
Philadelphia Gazette, which had been published as an
afternoon paper in connection with the Xorth American,
but under another editor and manager.
On the 1st of October, 1845, Mr. Welsh sold the
Xorth American to George R. Graham and Alexander
Cummings. Robert T. Conrad, alike distinguished
as jurist, poet, dramatist, and orator, was engaged as
editor, the columns were thrown open to amusement
and other advertisements, which had before been ex-
cluded, and the pecuniary prosperity of the paper was
increased. It joined with the Xew York Tribune in
efforts to obtain early news, and at their expense the
pilot-boat " Romer," in 1846, was run as an express
across the Atlantic, beating the regular packet several
days, — a feat which has not been surpassed even in the
later enterprises of journalism.
Differences soon arose between the partners. Mr.
Cummings objected to the political views of the editor,
while Mr. Graham indorsed his course. As a result
the firm dissolved, and Mr. Graham remained sole
proprietor until Jan. 1, 1847, when Morton McMichael
became associated with him, under the firm of Graham
& McMichael. The paper was then an eight-column
folio, with a head similar to that now used, and had
for a motto, " Devoted to Truth." It was published
at the northeast corner of Chestnut and Fourth
Streets, from whence it was removed, in July, 1848, to
No. 132 South Third Street. In 1878 it was removed
to its present location, northwest corner of Seventh
and Chestnut Streets.
At the beginning of 1847 the Xorth American and
the United States Gazette were separate papers of like
character and standing. Both were devoted to the
interests of the Whig party ; both advocated the
policy of protection ; both gave great attention to
the commercial and manufacturing interests of the
city and State ; and tliey were much alike in the
tone of their articles. Both were successful, — the
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1971
Gazette being probably the most prosperous, — but
neither could hope for any material increase in its
prosperity while the other existed. Under these cir-
cumstances Mr. McMichael conceived the idea of
consolidating the two friendly rivals, and overtures
were made to Joseph R. Chandler for the pur-
chase of the Gazette, of which he was proprietor. The
proposition was accepted, and on the 1st of July,
1847, the two papers became one of nearly the present
size. Dr. Robert M. Bird, who some time before had
retired from the 'literary field, and was residing at
New Castle, Del., furnished the requisite extra cap-
ital, and became a partner, though the firm remained
unchanged until Mr. Graham withdrew, in August,
1848, when it became McMichael & Bird.
This instance in which two journals so nearly equal
in business, and both prosperous, were consolidated
is almost without parallel in American journalism.
In announcing the union, the publishers (apparently
fearing that some old subscriber of the Gazette might
take offense at seeing his favorite title occupy the
second place) thought proper to give this curious
reason for placing Xorth Aiiievican before Umteil States
Gazette. "No preference was designed to be given to
one (title) over the other; the collocation was deter-
mined by the geographical feature which connected
the one with the continent and the other with the
country, the first with the greater, the second with
the less."
When the union was effected the editorial corps of
the North American and United iState-s Gazette was as
follows: Robert T. Conrad, political editor; Dr. Rob-
ert M. Bird, miscellaneous; James S. Wallace, asso-
ciate editor; and G. G. Foster, city editor. Mr.
Graham and Mr. McMichael also contributed to en-
rich its columns. The subscribers of the old Gazette
were nearly all retained, and the paper entered on a
new tide of prosperity.
As before stated, Mr. Graham withdrew in 1848.
Dr. Bird died on the 23d of January, 18.54, but his
interest remained until July following, when Mr.
McMichael became sole proprietor.
Robert T. Conrad, for many years the efficient edi-
tor of the Xorth Avieriean, was a polished writer, an
eminent citizen, and a cultured gentleman. That he
was held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens is evi-
denced by the fact that he was in 1854 chosen the
first mayor of Philadelphia after the consolidation.
Some years prior to Mr. McMichael's death he
withdrew from active editorial duty, being succeeded
by his son, Clayton McMichael, while another son,
Walter McMichael, became general business manager.
Clayton McMichael speedily proved himself a jour-
nalist of recognized ability, and remained personally
in editorial charge until 'his appointment, by Presi-
dent Arthur, in 1882, as United States marshal for the
District of Columbia. John M. Perry is the present
managing editor, representing Mr. McMichael during
his absence in Washington.
The character of the Xorth American and United
States Gazette has been maintained during the several
decades of its varied history with remarkable uni-
formity. As a commercial journal, it is highly valued
by business men, among whom the daily edition is
chiefiy circulated. It is Republican in politics, but it
has not hesitated upon occasion to dissent from certain
so-called " party measures" when these were deemed
prejudicial to the interests of the community. It is
considered the especial exponent of the views of the
manufacturers of Pennsylvania on the protection of
American industries. The general conduct of the
Xorth American, particularly in the expression of its
editorial views, is eminently remarkable for its dig-
nity and solidity.
There is a tri-weekly as well as a weekly edition of
the Xorth American, the circulation of which mainly
extends to the country.
Morton McMichael, who did so much to elevate the
press of this city, was born in Burlington County,
N. J., on the 2d of October, 1807, and his earlier edu-
cation was acquired in the school of his native village.
His family moved to Philadelphia when he was quite
young, and he completed his course of studies at the
University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently he read
law with David Paul Brown, and was admitted to the
bar in the year 1827. Prior to the latter date, how-
ever, his inclinations led him into literary pursuits,
and at a very early age he began that journalistic
career which lasted until his death, in January, 1879,
and which, in its scope and achievement, has never
been excelled by any Philadelphian. In 1826 he
succeeded T. Cottrell Clarke as editor of the Saturday
Evening Post, a journal established in 1821 as an out-
growth of Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette,
which was originally published in 1728. In 1831,
Mr. McMichael became editor-in-chief of the Satur-
day Courier, a new enterprise, and in 1836, together
with Louis A. Godey and Joseph C. Neal, began the
publication of the Saturday News. In 1844 the Satur-
day Gazette, long known as Neal's Saturday Gazette,
was published, Morton McMichael and Joseph C. Neal
being associated as editors. All these papers, as their
titles imply, were weekly journals, and all, except the
Saturday Evening Post, have long ceased to exist.
For over fifty years actively employed in journal-
ism, there was no movement set on foot for the public
good or for the honor and welfare of the city which
had not the powerful aid of Mr. McMichael's advo-
cacy and support. No one contributed more than he
to carrying forward the great measures of instituting
the public school system, consolidating the city, cre-
ating the park, and a score of other municipal meas-
ures of great, though less vital, importance.
In the larger area of national affairs he had long
a potential voice. Of a clear vision, broad, though
conservative views, and high courage to urge right
before expediency, his counsel was ever sought by
the statesmen of the Whig and Republican parties.
1972
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
\
Webster, Clay, Clayton, Seward, Chase, Blaine
were his friends and correspondents, justly valuing
his advice and the intimate knowledge he possessed
of the views ' and needs of the great protectional
party of the country, of which he was one of the
most eminent leaders and apostles.
In a memorial address delivered before the His-
torical Society of Pennsylvania on the 17th of April,
1879, Col. John W. Forney (himself now deceased)
thus speaks of Mr. McMichael's journalistic career:
"His newspaper was characteristically clean, pure, elevated, and
impersonal. He never wrote or talked about himself; never spoke of
an adversary by name, unless he had cause to praise him; and never
stained his pages by printing scandal.
"I know there are those who sneer at what they call the ultra-
deconim of such an example: men who think that our fast age re-
quires tierce, fast writing, and that modern progress means modern
pruriency. So much do I differ from them that I feel I may refer them
to themselves to disprove their own agnment, in a word, to the extra-
ordinary improvement of the newspapers of ail countries within the
last twenty-five years. Take tlie Philadelphia papers of to-day, and
place them side by side with the Philadelphia papers forty years ago,
even with the journals when Morton McMichael first began to write
for Atkinson & Alexander's daily Chronicle, and the difference is even
more marked than it is between the old Concstoga wagon and the
modern steam-engine. For this unspeakable cliange in journalism, so
productive of sweeter manners and purer laws, we are more indebted
to Morton McMichael than any other contemporary character. But
because he was a gentleman, proud of his great profession, he was not
therefore a carpet knight. No one could strike deeper, quicker, or
surer, and if he did not use the battle-axe or the broadsword, he wielded
lighter weapons with fatal effect. A conservative by blood and breed-
ing, he kindled instantly at wrong or injustice. All his impulses were
chivalric."
It was not only as a journalist that Mr. McMichael
impressed himself upon the community. Never a
seeker after place, he was several times elected to
offices of public trust. While a young man he served
for some years as an alderman of the city ; from 1843
to 1846 was high sheriff of the county, displaying
eminent courage in combating and finally suppressing
the terrible anti-Catholic riots of 1844 ; from 1866 to
1869 was mayor of the city; and in 1867, upon the
organization of the Park Commission, was chosen
president of that body, a position he held up to the
time of his death. In 1873 he was appointed a dele-
gate-at-large to the Fourth Constitutional Convention
of Pennsylvania, to fill the vacancy caused by the
death of William M. Meredith.
A politician of the highest type, of a rare purity as
well as strength of character, Mr. McMichael's influ-
ence throughout the length and breadth of the State
was felt and acknowledged, and, as time softened the
asperities of earlier conflicts, perhaps no man com-
manded so universally the regard of his fellow-citizens
of all parties. Holding positive opinions himself on
matters of public policy, he enforced them with elo-
quent voice and powerful pen, but with a courtesy
which never interfered with his personal relations
with political opponents.
Prominent as a journalist and distinguished as a
public servant, as an orator he was certainly unsur-
passed. Mr. McMichael's speeches on all subjects
were characteristically chaste and fresh. Prepared
or unprepared, they were always finished models.
Whether spoken from the hustings, or the public
hall, or the private saloon, or in a religious temple,
they were fascinating and delightful productions, and
not infrequently as impassioned and contagious as
they were scholarlike and correct. He was always
original, classic, and magnetic. His speech at the
Chinese Museum during the Irish famine was a
marvel of electric eloquence. The great audience
were literally carried away by the fervor, the force,
and the beauty of his appeal. Not less memorable
was his splendid defiance of the mob, in 1838, when
they attempted to set fire to the Shelter for Colored
Orphans, in charge of the Society of Friends, on
Thirteenth Street, above Callowhill, the day after the
destruction of Pennsylvania Hall, on Sixth Street.
His display of courage brought to his assistance the
strong men whose eflbrts prevented the second sacri-
fice. In an agricultural address at Boston, Mass., on
the 26th of October, 1855, his oratory was so irresis-
tible that Robert Winthrop and Edward Everett, and
other statesmen of the period, who were present,
spoke of him in terms of spontaneous amazement and
delight.
During the trying times preceding and pending the
civil war his voice was ever heard in inspiring appeal
for the Union and the law. In the darkest hours of
defeat and depression his orations breathed an impas-
sioned courage and faith, as in the final triumph they
urged clemency to the defeated.
Mr. McMichael's speech on July 4, 1873, as presi-
dent of the Park Commission, making a formal trans-
fer of ground to the United States Centennial Com-
mission, and his polished oration on the presentation
of the John Welsh endowment to his Alma Mater,
the University of Pennsylvania, are literary produc-
tions of the highest order, — thoughtful, classic, orig-
inal, and brilliant, — worthy of Edmund Burke or
Daniel Webster.
Of firm though courteous temper, capable of con-
trolling any assemblage, and prompt to give each man
opportunity to show his talents, Mr. McMichael was
constantly called upon to preside at public gatherings,
which he did with unerring tact. His trenchant wit
was ever tempered by charity for human frailties, and
it was the rule of his life to speak only of the better
attributes of men, and always to defend the absent.
A recognized leader in the social life of the city,
his charm of manner, voice, and conversation remain
a vivid remembrance with his contemporaries. Mor-
ton McMichael's pride in and aflfection for Philadel-
phia were proverbial, and in part account for the
universal expression of sorrow at his death, which
was voiced by the press c^ the State and the action
of a score of public organizations.
The estimate in which he was held is epitomized
in the inscription upon his monument, erected by his
fellow-citizens in Fairmount Park, " An honored and
..^<:«W<. ^^ ^firl-^^-
,.^
I
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1973
beloved citizen of Philadelphia." At a meeting, pre-
sided over by the mayor of the city, held to express
the sense of the public loss (on Jan. 8, 1879), one of
the many eminent speakers thus described Mr. Mc-
Michacl's last hours :
" Not only the great citizen is dead,'Mr. President, but the happy phil-
osopher. When I saw him last it was the first day of the new year.
Heath was on his face, but life was in his heart. He suffered, but he
smiled. He even told me a story, and welcomed others, and shook me
by the hand. I could almost hear him say, with the illustrious French
orator, 'To-day I shall die. Envelop me in perfumes; crown me with
flowers; surround me with music, so that I may deliver myself peace-
ably to sleep.' He lived less than a week after this, and he passed to his
final compt in the midst of the sighs of a people that he loved wisely and
not too well. I dwell upon his fate, sir, with a certain satisfaction. He
is the only human being I ever envied. I envied him his genial nature,
his contagious wit, bis electric eloquence, the fervor of his poetry, and
charm of his conversation, the delicious sympathy of his society, the
admiration he excited in others, and his superb composure under dis-
aster."
The Royal Spiritual Magazine was started in
1771 by John McGibbon^ Not meeting with gratify-
ing success, the periodical was suspended after the
issuing of a few numbers.
The Pennsylvania Magazine, or American
Monthly Museum, was commenced in January, 1775,
by Robert Aitken. The celebrated Thomas Paine was
one of the principal writers for this work, and had
agreed to furnish monthly a certain quantity of orig-
inal matter for its pages, with which condition it was
often very diflBcult to persuade him to comply. Aitken
relates that on one of these occasions, when Paine had
neglected to furnish his quota of material for the maga-
zine until near the day of publication, he went to him
and complained of the neglect. Paine heard him pa-
tiently, and coolly answered, " You shall have them
in time." Aitken, however, was not thus to be put
off, and he insisted that Paine should accomjmny him
home, and there write the articles, as the workmen
were waiting for the copy. Paine accordingly went
with him, and, being seated at a table with writing
materials, — which, in his case, always included a glass
and a decanter of brandy, — he proceeded to his task.
"The first glass," says Aitken, " put him in a train for
thinking; the second I feared would disqualify or
render him intractable, but it only illuminated his
intellectual system ; and when he had swallowed the
third glass, he wrote with great rapidity, intelli-
gence, and precision, and his ideas appeared to flow
faster than he could commit them to paper. What he
penned from the inspiration of the brandy was per-
fectly fit for the press without any alteration or cor-
rection."
The enterprise of Robert Aitken in the publication
of the Pennsylvania Magazine, or American Monthly
Mv^eum, became more hopeless after the breaking out
of the war, and by the events arising during the
struggle. The last number was published in July,
1776.
Aitken was an avowed friend of American inde-
pendence, and being in the city when the British army
entered, he was thrown into prison and treated with
great severity. When the enemy were about to evac-
uate Philadelphia, he and a number of others were
taken to the river in order to be conveyed to the
prison-ships at New York. He managed, however, to
escape from their hands, and after the war resumed
his business as a printer.
The frontispiece of the magazine was drawn by " P.
E. D." [Pierre E. Du Simitiere], and was engraved by
Aitken. The vignette was the Goddess of Liberty, with
a pole and a liberty cap, holding a shield with the
Pennsylvania arms. On the right side cjf the figure
was a mortar inscribed " The Congress." A plan of a
fortification, with cannon-balls, was in the foreground.
Cannon were in the background, with battle-axe and
pike. A gorget, with the word " Liberty" upon it,
was hanging on a tree. Beneath was the motto,
"Juvat in sylvis hahitare." This magazine was the first
published in Philadelphia which gave illustrations.
In the first volume there was a portrait of Dr. Gold-
smith, plans of a threshing machine, an electrical
machine, the "hippopotamus," a dredging-machine
invented by Arthur Donaldson, a map of Boston har-
bor, a plan of the town of Boston and the provincial
camp, an engraving of the battle of Charlestown,
June, 1775, and a representation of a machine for
delivering persons from houses on fire, etc.
The Pennsylvania Ledger ; or, the Virginia,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Weekly
Advertiser, was started in January, 1775, by James
Humphreys, Jr., on Front Street, at the corner of Black
Horse Alley. It was professedly to be conducted upon
principles of strict impartiality ; but it was not able
to fulfill that undertaking. Humphreys had been
clerk of one of the courts, as a qualification for which
ofl5ce he had taken an oath of allegiance to the king
of Great Britain ; and, on the breaking out of the
Revolution, he pleaded the obligations of his oath
and declined taking up arms against the government
which he had sworn to support. He was, therefore,
considered a Tory, and his paper was, of course, de-
nounced as being unfavorable to the cause of liberty.
The paper was under suspicion as being inclined to
the Tory cause before the British took possession of
the city. Its publication was continued under this
embarrassment until Nov. 30, 1776, on which day
No. 97 was published. It remained suspended for
nearly a year.
As soon as the British troops were comfortably sta-
tioned it again made its appearance. On Friday, Oct.
10, 1777, No. 98 was published, with the royal arms at
the head ; and its columns were conspicuous in its
display of loyalty. As long as the British troops re-
mained in the city the Ledger was prosperous ; but as
soon as the fact was apparent that the city must be
evacuated, the proprietors made preparations to leave
a neighborhood where it would have been dangerous
to remain much longer. The last number of the
Ledger was issued May 23, 1778, without intimation
that the paper was to be discontinued. Humphreys
1974
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
went with the British to New York, where he endeav-
ored to establish himself in business. He subse-
quently went to England, and thence to Nova Scotia ;
but he returned to Philadelphia in 1797, opened a
printing-house, and remained in business until the
time of his death.
The Pennsylvania Evening Post was first pub-
lished in January, 1775, by Benjamin Town. It ap-
peared tri-weekly, and was the first evening paper
established in Philadelphia. Although Town had
been the agent of Galloway & Wharton in the Tory
interest of Goddard's Chronide, yet, supposing that
Humphreys' Ledger, which was just then commenced,
would incline to the royal party, he resolved to take
opposite ground, with a view of injuring the char-
acter of the Ledger, and preventing its success.
The Evening Post, having taken the side of the
Americans from the time of its publication until
Howe's advance into Pennsylvania, was under no
suspicion when the royal troops advanced. While
other journals were making ready to leave the city.
Town seems to have made no preparations. He re-
mained during the exciting scenes which followed the
battle of the Brandywine and the crossing of the
Schuylkill. On Sept. 23, 1777, a number of this
paper was issued. The publication was then sus-
pended until October 11th, upon which occasion a
full account was given of the military operations and
the success of the British arms. There seemed to be
no difiiculty or intention to interfere with Town's
business, and he went on with the publication in the
usual way. The British troops evacuated the city on
the 18th of June, and on the 20th Town's Evening
Pod appeared as usual, with a cool account of the
evacuation by ihe British on the preceding Thursday.
Gen. Arnold, who came immediately as military gov-
ernor, made no movement against the press or the
printer, and the Evening Post continued to be pub-
lished without actual molestation, although the
Whigs who returned were exceedingly hostile to the
printer. Town was attainted, and was ordered to
surrender himself for trial, but he does not seem to
have been tried. As soon as the troops had with-
drawn he professed Whig principles. The eflfect of
this unpopularity must have been considerable in a
pecuniary point of view. Town endeavored to re-
cover his popularity with his old Whig friends.
Among others, he applied to Dr. John Witherspoon,
of the College of New Jersey, who had been a former
contributor. Witherspoon declared that he would
not forgive him unless Town apologized to his coun-
trymen for his conduct during the Revolution. The
latter promised to do so, and Witherspoon undertook
to write the form of an apology. He drew up a paper
which was entitled " The humble confession, recan-
tation, and apology of Benjamin Town, printer."
This was written in a highly sarcastic manner, at the
expense of Town. The latter refused to agree to
some passages, and he therefore never signed the re-
cantation. By some means it got into print, and was
published all over the country. In this recantation
Town is represented as giving a full account of his
life thus, —
" I was originally an understrapper to the famous Galloway in hia
in/ami>u8 equabblo with Goddard, and did, in that service, contract such
a habit of meanness in thinking and scurrility in writing Ihat nothing
excelled. . . . Could nuich ever be expected of nie? Such changing of
Bides is not any way surprising in a person answering the above de-
scription."
The recantation was long, and abounded with pas-
sages of a similar character. In conclusion, it was
said, —
"I do hereby recant, draw back, eat in, and swallow down every
word that I have ever spoken, written, or printed to the prejudice of
the United States of America, hoping it will not only sittisfy the good
people in general, but also those scatter-brained fellows who would call
me and others out to shoot pistols in the air, while they tremble so
much they cannot hit (he mark."
The Post could not continue on account of its un-
popularity, and it quietly went out of existence in
1789. Town died July 8, 1793, at his house on Sixth
Street, near Arch.
In April, 1775, The Pennsylvania Mercury and.
Universal Advertiser, a new weekly paper, was is-
sued by Story & Humphreys, on Norris' Alley, near
Front Street, at the usual price of ten shillings per
annum. The title-page was decorated by a large cut,
in which two figures, representing Great Britain and
America, were displayed in the act of shaking hands,
with the motto underneath, "Affection and Interest
Dictate the Union." The existence of this paper was
short, the ofiice and printing materials being de-
stroyed by fire in the tbllowing December, in conse-
quence of which the publication was destroyed.
The Royal Pennsylvania Gazette appeared
March 1, 1778, being issued by James Robertson, in
Front Street. Humphreys and Town, respectively
of the Ledger and Post, had divided the royal patron-
age between them during the greater part of 1777-78,
and Robertson's paper was started to compete with
them in appeals to British favor. This paper had a
i short history. Three days after the last number of
: the Pennsg/rania Ledger was issued, ou May 26, 1778,
I it was announced in the Royal Pennmjlrania Gazette
that the latter paper would be " suspended for some
I time." It was never heard of again. Robertson left
the country before the end of the war, and went to
Shelburne, Nova Scotia, where, with his brother,
Alexander Robertson, he engaged in the publication
I of a newspaper. He afterward removed to Scotland,
I where he was engaged in business as a printer and
' bookseller as late as 1810.
The United States Magazine appeared Jan. 1,
1779, Francis Bailey being the publisher. Bailey
was the first printer who ventured upon the experi-
ment of publishing a magazine after Aitken's failure
with the Pennsylvania Magazine or American Monthly
' Museum. The terms were as follows :
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1975
' Peices ]
First Mont
" I. To the adventitious purcliaser of a single copy, three dollarB.
"II. By tile quantity of twelve copies, two dollars and ^ half.
"III. To the subscriber for a single copy on advancing twenty-four j
didlars, two dollars.
"The publisher will rise in the price and fall of magazines, to the
subscribers and to others, with the prices of articles and commodities in
general." '
This magazine was to be publislied monthly. The '
frontispiece was adorned with a vignette of an arched
hall, supported by columns, — probably intended to be
thirteen in number, although there were really nine
on one side and six on the other. From the capitals
of the pillars sprang a regular arch, which was deco-
rated with thirteen stars, — the keystone in proper
position. Under the arch was a figure of " Fame" fly-
ing, with trumpet, liberty-staff, and cap. On either
side of this arch were the names of the States, — prob-
ably intended to be represented by the stars on the
front of the arch. They commenced with New
Hampshire and ran to Georgia. And it is worthy of
being noticed that, according to this arrangement,
Pennsylvania occupies the keystone of the arch, — this
being probably the first example of the emblematic
assignment of Pennsylvania to the position of the
keystone in the Federal arch. The first piece in the
magazine is " A Copy of Verses Illustrative of the
Design of the Frontispiece." The following is an
extract :
"The arch, high bending, doth convey,
In a hieroglyphic way.
What, in noble style like this.
Our united empire is /
The pillars, which support the weight,
Are each of them a mighty State;
Thirteen and more the vista shows
.\s to vaster length it grows —
For new States shall added be
To the great confederacy.
And the mighty arch shall rise
From the cold Canadian skies.
And shall bend through heaven's broad way
To the noble Jl/exic bay I
In the lofty arch are seen
Slan of lucid ray— lldrleen /
When other States shall rise,
Other stars shall deck these skies ;
There, in wakeful light, to burn
O'er the hemisphere of morn."
The contents of this magazine were literary, politi-
cal, poetical, and discursive. Foreign and domestic
affairs received attention ; and the articles were of a
character suitable to the tastes of the times. In the
number for December it was announced that the maga-
zine would be discontinued ; and, in apology for the
experiment, it was said that the publication was " un-
dertaken at a time when it was hoped the war would
be of short continuance, and the money, which had
continued to depreciate, would become of proper value.
But these evils having continued to exist through the
whole year, it has been greatly difficult to carry on
the publication ; and we shall now be under the ne-
cessity of suspending it for some time, — until an estab-
126
lished peace and a fixed value of the money shall
render it convenient or possible to take it up again.'
The editor of the United /S'/ate Magazine was Hugh
Henry Brackenridge, the wit, historian, and jurist,
who, in later life, was one of the judges of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Brackenridge was
the author of that amusing book, " Modern Chivalry ;
or. The Adventures of Captain Farrago and Tague
O'Regan," published in 1792, — the first comic and
satirical novel written in the country. He also wrote
" A History of the Insurrection in Pennsylvania of
1794, commonly called the Whiskey War." On going
to Philadelphia, in 1776, Brackenridge supported
himself by editing the United States Magazine.
The following anecdote relative to his editorship
of this journal is given by his son : " At one time the
magazine contained some severe strictures on the cele-
brated Gen. Lee, and censured him for his conduct
to Washington. Lee, in a rage, called at the office,
in company with one or two of his aids, with the inten-
tion of assaulting the editor. He knocked at the door.
Mr. Brackenridge, looking out of the upper-story
window, inquired what was wanting. 'Come down,'
said Lee, ' and I'll give you as good a horse-whipping
as any rascal ever received !' ' Excuse me. General,'
said the editor, ' I would not go down for two such
favors !' " Brackenridge was licensed as a Presby-
terian preacher. On the 4th of July, 1778, he de-
livered an oration in honor of the patriots who had
fallen in the war, in the German Reformed Church,
Race Street, below Fourth.
The Freeman's Journal, or The North Ameri-
can Intelligencer, was first issued by Francis Bailey
on April 25, 1781. It was printed in Market Street,
between Third and Fourth, and issued every Wednes-
day. Under the head was the intimation or motto,
" Open to all parties, but influenced by none." This
sentiment describes the character of the paper. The
journal, at the time of its issue, justified its motto. It
was a paper to which all parties resorted, and it met
with success. Bailey relinquished the publication on
May 7, 1782, and Joseph Scott became publisher.
The last number was published May 16, 1792.
The Independent Gazetteer, or the Chronicle
of Freedom, a weekly paper, was established by
Eleazer Oswald in April, 1782. It was published on
Saturdays. Oswald rendered this journal one of the
most lively and attractive published in the city.
After he left the service he commenced printing the
Gazetteer. After his death Mrs. Oswald, his widow,
continued the publication of the Gazetteer about a
year. On Aug. 17, 1796, it was announced in that
paper that the proprietorship was disposed of to
Joseph Gales, that Mrs. Oswald's connection would
cease with the number to be issued on September
16th, and that Gales would commence the publica-
tion on Friday, September 23d, the paper to be
printed on Wednesdays and Fridays, at noon. Gales
was an Englishman, who came to the United States
1976
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
about 1794. He continued the publication of the
Independent Gazetteer until late in 1790, when the
paper was discontinued, and Gales went to Raleigh,
N. C, and set up a journal there.
The Price-Current, the first mercantile paper pub-
lished in the United States, was first issued in June,
1783, and was published twice a month by John Mac-
pherson. It was printed for him by Eleazer Oswald.
Le Courrier de L'Amerique, a French journal,
was established in 1784. In June of that year Boinod
& Gaillard, booksellers, gave notice that, having been
solicited to publish a paper in the French language,
they had digested a plan, and were distributing it at
their library, corner of Fourth and Arch Streets. The
terms were to be one guinea per annum, one-half of
which was to be paid upon subscribing. The paper
was afterward commenced. It had but a short exist-
ence.
The Pennsylvania Mercury and Universal Ad-
vertiser was issued on the 20th of August, 1784, by
Daniel Humphreys. It was a well-conducted weekly
paper, aud was published until about the close of 1788.
This was the title of the paper commenced in 1775,
which was brought to a sudden close Jan. 1, 1776, by
the burning of the printing-office of Story & Hum-
phreys; and the revival, nearly nine years afterward,
may be considered as a second series of the same
paper.
The Pennsylvania Evening Herald and Ameri-
can Monitor was founded in January, 1785, by
Mathew Carey, who had been publisher of the Free-
man's Journal and of the Volunteer's Journal at Dub-
lin, Ireland, and who was prosecuted and imprisoned
upon account of the sentiments avowed in the latter
journal. He came to Philadelphia, where he landed
on November 15th of that year. He was poor, had
escaped shipwreck in coming up the Delaware, and
arrived in Philadelphia with a dozen guineas in his
pocket, without acquaintance in the city, or friends,
except such as he had made during his passage. One
of these companions, a Mr. Wallace, had with him
letters of recommendation to the Marquis de Lafay-
ette, to whom he presented them, and with whom he
had some conversation in relation to Mr. Carey's case,
the particulars of which were well known, and ex-
cited much interest in the United States. Lafayette
sent for Carey, inquired into his prospects, and did
him a special service in introducing him to Robert
Morris, Thomas Fitzsimons, and other influential
gentlemen. The next day Carey received a letter
from the marquis with four one-hundred-dollar notes
on the Bank of North America, — a gift made without
solicitation on the part of Carey, who merely ex-
plained to Gen. Lafayette what he intended to do
when remittances, expected from Ireland, should ar-
rive. This sum was the foundation of Carey's for-
tune ; and he was enabled afterward to trebly repay
it, not only by the return of the amount, with in-
terest, to Lafayette, but to Frenchmen in distress. He
determined to commence a newspaper, and counted
upon his reputation as printer of the Volunteer's Jour-
nal, of Dublin, to benefit him in the enterprise. In
I .lanuary, 1785, he issued proposals to publish Carey's
Pennsylvania Evening Herald and American Monitor,
to be printed on the evenings of Tuesdays and Sat-
urdays, at the price of three dollars per annum.
; There was difiieulty about procuring material for this
I enterprise. Carey had no presses nor type ; but he
bought the stock of type of Robert Bell, a book pub-
I lisher, who had published extensively. The press he
expected to purchase as a bargain; but Col. Oswald,
of the Gazeteer, was not disposed to admit of the es-
tablishment of a rival without a struggle. He bid
against Carey at the sale of the press until he raised
the price to fifty pounds currency, or one hundred
and thirty-three dollars, which was nearly the price
of a new press. Under these discouragements the
Pennsylvania Herald was issued for the first time
Jan. 25, 1785. After two months' experience Carey
discovered that his means were not sufiicient, and on
March 25th, William Spottswood and C. Talbot were
taken in partnership, and the paper was enlarged.
The Herald for some time languished, and did not
attract much attention until Carey, by accident, found
the means of satisfying a public want. At a town-
meeting held at the State-House in the summer of
1785, to take into consideration the calamitous state
of trade, Mr. Carey attended, and afterward under-
took to write out from memory a statement of the
heads of a speech made by Jared Ingersoll. Upon
trying to write out the report, he found that it ran so
smoothly that he put the whole address into the first
person, as if spoken by Ingersoll. He then submitted
it to the latter, who was so much pleased with it that
he made slight alterations, stating that "he could
scarcely have done it so well himself, as he spoke
without notes." Carey said, — •
"I naturaUy concludt-d that if I could publish a speech from niemoiy,
without having taken a single note, I should certainly be able to take
down debates with the advantage of a seat, a table, and pons, ink, and
paper. Accordingly, on the 27th of August, 1785,1 commenced the pub-
lication of the debates of the House of Assembly without the least
knowledge of stenography. I abridged and took down the leading
words, and was enabled to fill up the chasms by memory and the con*
text; and, as the printers had then more scruples about pirating from
each other than some of them have at present, none of them published
the debates, of which the Pennsyhajtia Herald had, for that session, the
exclusive advantage. John Dunlap, a respectable Revolutionary char-
acter, who printed the Pennf^jhania Packet, offered me a liberal compen-
sation for the privilege of a republication. But I declined, knowing that
it would deprive the Hemid of the great sU]ieriority it possessed.
" In the following session Mr. Dunlap hired as stenographer the well-
known Thomas Lloyd, who, though an excelleut stenographer as far as
taking down notes, was a miserable hand at putting them in English
dress. I learned his system, which was one invented by the Jesuits of
St. Omers, but did not succeed with it better than I had done before."
The publication of the Herald seems to have been
discontinued in February, 1788.
The Columbian Magazine, or Monthly Miscel-
lany, the publishers being Mathew Carey, T. Siddons,
C. Talbot, W. Spotswood, and J. Trenchard, appeared
THE PRESS OP PHILADELPHIA.
1977
in September, 1786. This magazine was more ambi-
tious than any wliich had been issued in the United
.States. It was modeled somewhat upon the plan of
the Oentlnnan's Ma</azine and of the London Magazine,
and was intended to present engravings with each
number. The plates were generally engraved by
Trenchard, and many of them were of local views,
all interesting and valuable. Carey withdrew after
the publication of the third number. He thought
that there were too many partners, and that there was
no hope of comm'ensurate profit to be divided among
so many. The magazine was nevertheless continued,
and nine volumes of it were published, the last num-
ber being issued in 1792.
The American Museum, or Eepository of An-
cient and Modern Fugitive Pieces, Prose and
Poetical, was issued by Mathew Carey in January,
1787, he having withdrawn from the Columbian Maga-
zine. Carey's idea was to preserve the valuable essays
which at that time appeared in various newspapers.
He said, —
" The first Dumber, which contained a mass of most excellent matter,
attracted great atten tion. It was eagerly sougilt after ; and, as I sold it
separately, the edition— one thousand copies — was soon exhausted. I
had not means to reprint it. This was a very serious injury, many per-
sons, who intended to subscribe, declining, because I could not furnish
them the whole of the numbers."
Carey struggled on for six years, and published
twelve volumes of the Afuseum, ending it in Decem-
ber, 1792. The causes of failure were that the sub-
scription price was too low, being only two dollars
and forty cents per annum for two volumes, contain-
ing each from five hundred to five hundred and fifty
pages. Many subscribers lived at great distances,
their payments were irregular, and, at last, Carey,
whose interest in the work was very great, was obliged
to give it up.
The Federal Gazette was published in 1788 by
Andrew Brown. He was a native of the north of
Ireland, where he was born about 1744. He was edu-
cated at Trinity College, Dublin. He came to the
United States in 1773 as an officer in the British ser-
vice, but he soon resigned, and settled in Massachu-
setts. He fought on the patriot side at Lexington
and Bunker Hill. He was muster-master general in
1777, and served under Greene and Gates as major.
After the war he established a young ladies' academy
at Lancaster, and subsequently came to Philadelphia.
The Gazette was the organ of the friends of the Con-
stitution, and many papers in favor of it were pub-
lished therein. In 1783 he changed the name of the
Gazette to the Philadelphia Gazette. His paper is said
to have been the first to report the debates of Con-
gress. On Jan. 27, 1797, the office of the Philadelphia
Gazette took fire. Brown and his family occupied the
upper part of the building. Upon the alarm he en-
deavored to save the lives of his wife and three chil-
dren, but without success, and he was so badly burned
that he died February 4th. His son, Andrew Brown,
Jr., then took charge of the paper. Samuel Relf be-
came an associate with the younger Brown on the 1st
of July, 1797.
The Philadelphia Gazette was published in the
year 1800 by Andrew Brown, Jr., and Samuel Relf, at
No. 29 Chestnut Street. In September, 1801, the en-
tire interest of Brown was sold out to Relf, who con-
tinued to be publisher and editor of the Gazette until
his death, which occurred on the 16th of February,
1823, from the result of injuries caused by falling on
the ice. Stevenson Smith and William M. Gouge be-
came the proprietors of the Gazette shortly after Relf 's
death, and gave to the paper considerable strength.
Gouge was born in Philadelphia, Nov. 10, 1796. His
studies were principally directed toward finance.
After he left the Gazette he published, in 1835, "A
History of the American Banking System;" "The Ex-
pediency of Dispensing with Bank Agency and Bank
Paper," 1837 ; and " A Fiscal History of Texas," 1852.
The Aurora and General Advertiser was estab-
lished, in 1790, as the General Advertiser, hy Benjamin
Franklin Bache. His father was Richard Bache, a
native of Settle, Yorkshire, England, born Sept. 12,
1737, who came to America while young, entered
business as a merchant, married Sarah, the only
daughter of Benjamin Franklin, in 1767, and suc-
ceeded his father-in-law as Postmaster-General of the
United States, which office he held from November,
1776, until 1782. His son, Benjamin Franklin Bache,
was born at Philadelphia, Aug. 12, 1769. He accom-
panied his grandfather. Dr. PVanklin, to Paris, when
the latter was agent of the Continental Congress at
the court of France. Benjamin F. Bache was edu-
cated in France and at Geneva. He obtained a
knowledge of printing in the house of Didot, at
Paris. He came back with his grandfather in 1785,
finished his studies in the college at Philadelphia,
and on the 1st of October, 1790, published tlie first
number of the General Advertiser. On the 8th of
November, 1794, the title Aurora was adopted for
this paper, and it was thenceforth published as the
Aurora and General Advertiser. This journal, as soon
as the French Revolution broke out, became a strong
partisan of the French cause, and sought to turn the
course of American politics in sympathy with the acts
and policy of the French republic. Washington looked
coldly upon the violence of the revolutionists, and
upheld the dignity of the United States government
against the insolence of Genet and of Fauchet and
their successors. This policy carried the Aurora into
hostility to the American government, and it became,
in course of time, violent in its advocacy of the prin-
ciples of the anti-Federal party, whicli in time came
to be denominated the Democratic party. Bache died
in the yellow fever visitation, Sept. 10, 1798. His
widow, whose maiden name was Margaret Hartman
Markoe, of a Danish family, and a native of Santa
Cruz, West Indies, succeeded to the publication of
the Aurora. Her proprietorship was successful, mainly
because of the fact that at the time of the death of
1978
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Benjamin F. Bache he had heeu assisted in the edi-
torial department of the paper by William Duanei
who was a vigorous writer, and who continued in the
management of the journal. Duane was a native of
the northern part of the province of New York, near
Lake Champlain, where he was born in May, 1760.
His father, who was a farmer and surveyor, died in
1765. His widow then removed from that neighbor-
hood, and came to Philadelphia, from which, after a
short residence, she went to Baltimore, and subse-
quently to Ireland, where she settled at Clonmel.
William was mainly educated in that country. His
mother was strongly attached to the Catholic Church.
Her son William, before he was nineteen years of age,
married Catharine, seventeenth child of William
Corcoran and wife. The lamily of the latter were
Protestants, and this marriage so displeased Mrs.
Duane that, although William was an only child, she
discarded him. Her resentment lasted until her
death, and by her will her property — she being in
comfortable circumstances — went to others. William
Duane, in consequence of this difficulty, having a
young wife to support, bravely ventured out into the
world to make his own living. He selected the
printing business as a means of livelihood, learned
the trade, remained at Clonmel for some three or four
years, then went to London, where he engaged in
business. In 1787 he went to Calcutta to undertake
the publication of a newspaper, sending his family,
meanwhile, to Clonmel, to await the result of this
new experiment. For a time he was successful in
India, but an over-bold article in condemnation of the
East India Company caused his seizure and transpor-
tation to England, his library and most of his prop-
erty in Calcutta having, meanwhile, been confiscated.
In London he became a parliamentary reporter for the
General Advertiser, now known as the London Times.
In 1796, Duane came to the United States, and arrived
at New York July 4th of that year. Shortly after-
ward he came to Philadelphia, where he first obtained
employment as editor of the 7>-»e^l)?ifr/can, published
by Samuel F. Bradford. Some time afterward he
became one of the editors of the Aurora. After the
death of Bache he continued this paper with vigor,
and with great satisfaction to the political organiza-
tion first known as anti-Administration, and afterward
as the Eepublican, and finally as the Democratic
party. His first wife, Catharine Corcoran, died in
1798. In 1801 he married his employer, the widow
Bache, and after that time the Aurora was for many
years known in ordinary conversation as " Duane's
paper."
Mr. Duane conducted the Aurora until about the
year 1822, when it was purchased by Richard Penn
Smith, who became its editor. On the 22d of Novem-
ber, 1824, the Aurora and the Franklin Gazette were
united as a morning paper, entitled the Aurora and
Franklin Gazette, which was published by John Nor-
vell. Mr. Smith continued to act as one of the editors i
of the paper until about the year 1827, when he re-
tired, Mr. Norvell also assisting in that work at the
time when the Aurora and Franklin Gazette was pub-
lished at No. 6 Bank Alley. The Aurora had been a
journal of great political influence in the Democratic
party, but had gradually lost its power, — a fact to be
attributed, perhaps, in considerable degree to the
fierceness of tone and the personal virulence with
which it was conducted. There was a considerable
change in the manner and spirit of the Aurora after
Mr. Srait-h took hold of it.
The National Gazette was first issued upon Oct.
31, 1791, by Philip Freneau, and was published until
Oct. 26, 1793, when the enterprise was relinquished.
He wrote essays, poetrj', etc., at an early age, and was
a contributor to the United States Magazine in 1779.
In 1791 he edited the Daily Advertiser in New York,
and removed to Philadelphia in October of that year,
to take charge of the Xational Gazette, being also em-
ployed by Jefl^erson as translating clerk in the State
Department. Freneau was a zealous opponent of the
foreign policy of President Washington. He left the
Gazette in 1793, and went to New Jersey. Being bitter
in his attacks, mainly upon the government, he was
much complained of, and Jefferson was censured for
retaining him in oflBce. It was averred that he made
the maintenance of this editor a charge upon the
treasury of the United States.
The Ladies' Magazine and Repository of En-
tertaining Knowledge was commenced in Decem-
ber, 1792, and was printed for the proprietors b_v W.
Gibbons, No. 194 North Third Street. Two volumes
were printed. The contents were stories, poems, and
light reading, with essays and a summary of the news
of each month.
The New World was first published by Samuel
Harrison Smith, in 1795, at No. 118 Chestnut Street.
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1796, the paper was issued for
the first time as a daily paper. It was a good publi-
cation, but it did not succeed. The last number was
published Aug. 16, 1797.
The Pennsylvania Magazine was commenced in
1795, of which one volume was published.
The Philadelphia Minerva, containing a variety
of fugitive pieces, original and selected, was com-
menced in 1795 by William T. Palmer, No. 18 North
Third Street. It was published weekly, in a quarto
form, until July, 1798. The contents were of a news
character, with selected literary matter.
Finlay's American Naval and Commercial
Register was established in December, 1795, and
was continued until December, 1797.
The American Annual Register, or Historical
Memoirs of the United States, for 1786, was the
first and only volume of that publication.
The American Universal Magazine was founded
Jan. 2, 1797. It was a weekly publication, and in the
first number was described as printed by Budd & Bar-
tram for Richard Lea, No. 131 Chestnut Street. In
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1979
the number for March 7th, it was announced that the
magazine was published by Snowden & McCorkle for
Richard Lea. Vohime third was printed by Samuel
Harrison Smith and Thomas Smith. Four volumes
of this magazine were published, which ended in
1798. It was illustrated with copper-plate engravings,
none of which were of merit. The contents seemed
to be selections entirely.
The Universal Advertiser was established by
James Carey in February, 1797. In 1796, Carey, who
was a brother of Mathew Carey, and had been en-
gaged with the latter in the publication of the Volun-
teers' Journal m Dublin, and who had charge of that
paper after Mathew came to the United States, finally
failed in that business and came to this country. On
the 7th of February, 1797, he commenced the Univn--
sal Advertiser, which only lasted until September 12th
of the same year.
Porcupine's Gazette and United States Daily
Advertiser came into existence in March, 1797.
The restless spirit of William Cobbett was not satis-
fied with the sensation which was created by the pub-
lication of his pamphlets. He was anxious for some
more vigorous field of warfare, and journalism pre-
sented the best opportunity for the indulgence. On
the 14th day of March, 1797, Cobbett issued the first
number of Porcupine's Gazette and United States Daily
Advertiser, his writings being well known by his sig-
nature, " Peter Porcupine." The Gazette was bold,
scurrilous, and not always truthful. Cobbett was a
firm believer in the largest liberty of the press. His
freedom in speaking of the characters of public men,
and, indeed, of private men (because the libels upon
Dr. Benjamin Rush were attacks upon the latter in
his professional character as a physician), led to the
overthrow of the Gazette and the flight of Cobbett
from the country. The last number of the Gazette
was published some time in the year 1799.
The Courrier de la France is noticed in Bache's
paper of 1797.
The Methodist Magazine, founded by the Rev.
John Dickens, of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
commenced in 1797, and was printed by Henry Tuck-
ness, and sold by Dickens at No. 50 North Second
Street. Two volumes were published, and the con-
tents were sermons, records of religious experience,
etc.
The United States Recorder was established in
January, 1798, by James Carey, who had made a
fiasco with the Universal Advertiser in the previous
year. It was published at No. 19 Carter's Alley, the
days of issue being Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Carey conducted this paper somewhat in the style of
Cobbett, in Porcupine's Gazette. It was coarse and
scurrilous, and the publication did not last long.
The Weekly Magazine of Original Essays and
Fugitive Pieces was published by James Walters
& Co., and was sold at the printing office in Letitia
Court. The first number was issued Feb. 3, 1798, and
three volumes were published. Watters died of yellow
fever in 1798. This magazine contained many arti-
cles of merit. Charles Brockden Brown commenced
in this periodical the novel of " Arthur Mervyn," the
first chapter of which was published June 16, 1798.
The Philadelphia Monthly Magazine, or Uni-
versal Repository of Knowledge and Entertain-
ment, was issued in January, 1798, being printed for
Thomas Condie, stationer. No. 20 Carter's Alley. It
was published during the year 1798 in two volumes,
and contained several engravings.
The Dessert to the True American was published
from July, 1798, to July, 1799.
The Philadelphia Magazine and Review, or
Monthly Repository of Information and Amuse-
ment, had its origin on the 1st of January, 1799.
It was printed for Benjamin Davis, at No. 68 High
Street. It was not of striking merit, and closed its
career at the end of the first volume.
The Ladies' Museum, commenced in February,
1800, and pulilished five numbers.
The Portfolio, by " Oliver Oldschool," was pub-
lished Saturday, Jan. 3, 1801. It was intended to be
a weekly paper, and was printed by H. Maxwell, and
sold by William Fry, No. 25 North Second Street,
opposite Christ Church. The publication was quarto
in form, and was devoted to essays, criticisms on
books, the theatre, and poetry. It wa.s announced to
be published " by the editor and Asbury Dickens,
sole proprietors." " The editor" was Joseph Dennie,
a native of Boston, Mass., where he wa.s born Aug. 10,
1768. He was a graduate of Harvard. His ambition
was the law, for which profession he studied, but
which he is said to have abandoned after the dis-
agreeable experience of his first case, in which his
fine scholastic oratory, engaged in the elaboration of
a very simple point of law in relation to debtor and
creditor, was somewhat snubbed by a rough, unsym-
pathizing, and inelegant justice of the peace. His
tastes were literary, and he wrote essays under the
title of the " Farrago." These were copied in the
newspapers of the day, and their success induced
Dennie to become connected with The Tablet, a small
weekly in Boston, which lasted three months. The
Farmers' Museum, published at Walpole, N. H., by
Isaiah Thomas and David Carlisle in 1793, gained
Dennie for a contributor, and in 1796 he became its
editor. He wrote for it many papers, particularly a
series under the title of "The Lay Preacher," in
which he sought to use " the familiarity of Franklin
with the simplicity of Sterne." The Museum was a
brilliant literary venture, and for some years was suc-
cessflil. It was controlled by elegance and taste, and
the editor succeeded in drawing around him a large
number of contributors of wit, taste, and versatility.
After some four or five years' labor on this magazine
the bankruptcy of the proprietor put an end to its
publication. Dennie was next a candidate for Con-
gress, and was defeated. He left Walpole in 1799,
1980
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and came to Philadelphia, to act as a clerk in the oflSce
of Mr. Pickering, Secretary of State. In 1800 he com-
menced to edit the United States Gazette. In the pros-
pectus of the Portfolio he said, —
"A young maD once known among village readers as the humljle his-
torian of the hour, a conductor of a Farmers* Museum and a Lay Preach-
er's GazeUe, again offers himself to the public as a volunteer editor.
Having, as he conceives, a right to vary at pleasure his fictitious name,
he now, for higher reasons than any fickle humor might dictate, as-
sumes the appellation of ' Oldschool.' "
At the beginning Dennie was inclined to the intro-
duction of politics. His predilections were Federal,
and opposition to Jefferson was frequently manifested.
In one of the numbers for March, 1801, there was a
criticism on the Declaration of Independence. This
was followed by a counter-criticism ; and subsequently
a writer declared that the usual ceremony of reading
the Declaration on every anniversary of the adoption
of that paper was " an improper act," etc. In Decem-
ber, the fact that Mr. Jefferson had for the first time
introduced a message to Congress, instead of deliver-
ing a speech, was declared by the Portfolio to be an
" extraordinarj' procedure." In 1804, Dennie was
indicted for a seditious publication against the gov-
ernment, but he was acquitted.
One of the most useful assistants of Dennie in the
publication of the Farmers' Museum was Royal Tyler,
of Boston, author of "The Contrast," which many
writers have declared to be the first American play
acted by a regular company, — an error not to be per-
mitted in a work devoted to the history of Philadel-
phia, in which Godfrey's tragedy of "The Prince of
Parthia" had been acted at the South Street Theatre
twenty years before Tyler's play was produced in New
York City. Tyler was a light and entertaining writer,
and his contributions " From the Shoji of Messrs.
Colon & Spondee," an amusing melange of light verse
and entertaining social and political squibs, were
transferred to the Portfolio. In 1801, and afterward,
Tyler published a series of papers entitled " An Au-
thor's Evenings." He was a lawyer, and for several
years was chief justice of the Superior Court of Ver-
mont.
Dennie called around him a considerable number
of brilliant young writers. Among them were Gen.
Thomas Cadwalader (who furnished translations from
Horace), Samuel Ewing (who was a son of Dr.
John Ewing, and whose signature was "Jaques"),
Joseph Hopkinson, Horace Binney, Robert Walsh,
Rev. John Blair Linn, Charles Brockden Brown, and
Charles J. Ingersoll. Paul Allen, who was certainly
an exception to Griswold's suggestion that Dennie
was the only professional literary man in the country
at the period, was a frequent contributor to the Port-
folio, and was, it is said, assistant editor. He was a
resident of Philadelphia during a portion of the time,
and was a contributor to the United States Gazette.
John Quincj- Adams and Gouverneur Morris were
among the contributors to the Portfolio, and various
others in different parts of the country wrote for it.
During the time of Dennie, and afterward, it was the
best literary periodical published in the country. Mrs.
Sarah Hall, mother of Judge James Hall, of Ohio, was
a contributor to the Portfolio from the commencement
and during the entire time it was published. She was
a daughter of Dr. John Ewing, provost of the Univer-
sity, and was the mother of John E. Hall, who was
one of the editors of the Portfolio from 1815 to 1827,
in connection with his brother, Harrison Hall, who
was the publisher.
In 1806 the form of the Portfolio was changed to
octavo, and a new series was commenced with Jan-
uary of that year.
A new effort was made at the beginning of 1809 to
improve and materially change the character of the
Portfolio. A prospectus was published, in which the
proposed improvements were set forth.
Dennie continued steadily in the editorship of the
Portfolio until the summer of 1811, when his health
seemed to be broken, and he relinquished his position
for a time, but resumed it in January of the following
year. In the number of that date he says he was com-
pelled to relinquish his duties in consequence of " the
furious onset of three potent adversaries, — sorrow,
sickness, and adversity. Under the ardency of the
summer solstice, and while the dog-star's unpropi-
tious ray was flaming, he was confined to the couch
of languor and anguish, and in the decline of autumn
he was atfiicted by one of the most tremendous domes-
tic calamities which can agonize the sensibility, nour-
ish the melancholy, and overpower the fortitude of
man." Scarcely had this number been issued before
Mr. Dennie was called away. He died suddenly on
the 11th of January, 1812, aged forty-three years. In
the next number of the Portfolio, in an obituary notice,
! his successor in the editorial chair said of Joseph Den-
nie, "So pure was its texture, so delicate its concep-
tions, that his mind seemed, if we may speak so, to
have been bathed at its birth in the verj' essence of
literature, to be daily fed with celestial dews of learn-
1 ing."
j Dennie was succeeded in the editorship of the
' Portfolio by Nicholas Biddle. Mr. Biddle did not
long remain in sole charge of the Portfolio. He was
' succeeded as editor, in the year 1812, by Dr. Charles
i Caldwell. The latter, in his autobiography, speaks
I as follows of the circumstances :
! "To become the immediate successor of that gentleman [Biddle],
i whose abilities, in point of mind, attainments as a scholar, and accom-
plishments as a writer, wore of a high order, was an enterprise in-
volving no common share of hazard. To myself, deeply occupied as my
mind and pen already were on several other engrossing subjects, the
hazard was necessarily, by such considerations, in no ordinary degree
augmented."
j Dr. Caldwell, however, was a man of prompt
habits, accustomed to work, willing to take great
I responsibilities, and enjoying in truth the labor
which was necessary to overcome them. He says
I that he "accepted the proposal in less than a minute,
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1981
and in less than an hour began to prepare for the
performance of the duty which it enjoined." He was
under the engagement to furnish for each number
ninety-eight pages of matter, the principal portion of
it to be original. The writers for periodicals at that
time were scarce, and not a single one was engaged
by promise, much less by hire, to act as auxiliary.
Dr. Caldwell at the time was engaged in the practice
of medicine, was writing on medical subjects, and de-
livering lectures on medical jurisprudence and the
philosophy of medicine. But he went into this affair
with great earnestness and with success. He ob-
tained the services of correspondents, officers in the
army and navy, believing that at that time the most
interesting and attractive matter the Portfolio could
contain would be accounts of events and transactions
of the war. He was assisted with the friendship of
Gen. Brown, the commander-in-chief, who encour-
aged his officers to furnish important matter. Simi-
lar relations were created with officers of the navy,
and the Portfolio received the accounts of momentous
engagements as soon as they were received by the
Secretary of the Navy. The result was a consider-
able increase to the number of subscribers. Dr.
Caldwell, not having sufficient time to devote en-
tirely to the magazine, employed as assistants, at
liberal compensations, Dr. (Thomas) Cooper and
Judge Workman, who then resided in Philadelphia,
and who were distinguished beyond most other men
of the place by the strength and fertility of their
talents and their literary accomplishments. Dr.
Thomas Cooper, the friend of Priestley, a chemist
and lawyer, politician and judge, had been removed
from the latter office in 1811, and was in Philadelphia
at the time waiting for fortune. His engagement on
the Port/olio was of much advantage, and enabled
him to earn something for his support until he was
elected professor of Mineralogy and Chemistrj' in the
University of Pennsylvania on the 29th of December,
1816. Dr. Caldwell remained in charge of the Port-
folio until the end of the year 1815. He was suc-
ceeded by John E. Hall, Jr., who continued until
1827.
The Portfolio was originally published "by the
editor and Asbury Dickens ;" afterward, in 1802, " by
the editor and Elizabeth Dickens ;" next " by William
Fry, for the editor and Elizabeth Dickens ;" then for
the editor by William Fry ; and subsequently for the
editor by Hugh Maxwell. At the beginning of 1806
the quarto form was given up, and an octavo shape
(book -size) was taken. John Watts assumed the pub-
lication in 1806. Bradford & Inskecp took hold of
the magazine in 1812.
The Philadelphia Repository and Weekly Reg-
ister, printed and edited by Duvid Hogan, was
commenced in 1801, and published in quarto form.
John W. Scott succeeded Hogan as publisher at the
beginning of the year 1803. The Repository was de-
voted to literature, and was popular among young
ladies and gentlemen because it was edited with a
kind spirit of encouragement toward their experi-
ments in writing, and offered a place for their poetry,
tales, and sketches, upon terms of criticism not very
strict or severe.
The Juvenile Olio was established in 1802. In
January proposals were issued to publish the Olio by
Amyntor, a citizen of Philadelphia. All the pieces
under that signature in the Philadelphia Rejiertory, it
was announced, would be published by David Hogan,
nearly opposite the United States Bank.
The Independent Whig came into existence in
1802, being started by Joseph Scott, the author of
" Modern Geography." It was a family evening
paper, Democratic in politics, published at No. 207
Arch Street.
The Literary Magazine and American Register
was founded in October, 1803, by Charles Brockden
Brown, who for some time previous to 1800 had been
a resident of the city of New York. He came back
to Philadelphia about 1801. The Literary Mayazine
was continued for about five years. He lived for
some years in Eleventh Street, below George. Some
of the city directories gave him the title of " mer-
chant." In 1809, Mr. Brown published an address to
the United States Congress on the " Utility of Re-
strictions on Foreign Commerce, with Reflections on
Foreign Trade in General, and the Future Prospects
of America." Sully, the painter, said of him, —
"I saw him a little before his death. I had never known him, never
heard of him, never read any of his works. He was in a deep decline.
It was in the month of November, — our Indian summer, — when the air
is full of smoke. Passing a window one day I was caught by the sight
of a man, with remarkable physiognomy, writing at a table in a dark
room. The sun shone directly upon his head. I never shall forget it.
The dead leaves were falling then. It was Charles Brockden Brown."
John Neal, to whom Sully told this anecdote, said
that Brown lived in Eleventh Street, between Walnut
and Chestnut, in a " low, dirty, two-story brick house,
standing a little in from the street, with never a tree or
a shrub near it." In 1815 William Dunlap published
a life of Brown, in two volumes, together with selec-
tions from his works.
The Freeman's Journal was established in 1804.
William McCorkle issued proposals at the end of the
year 1803 for the publication of the Philadelphia Even-
ing Post, which was to be a Republican (or Democratic)
paper. The first number was issued early in 1804. It
wa.s published under the title oi the Evening Post until
the 13th of June of that year, when the title was
changed to the Freeman's Journal. In 1808, William
McCorkle and James Elliott, who were then associated
as partners, changed the time of publication of the
Freeman's Journal to the morning, daily ; and they
also published the Freeman's Journal and Columbian
Chronicle, for country circulation, weekly. On the 1st
of November, 1824, the Freeman's Journal was united
with a paper called the City Register. The Freeman's
Journal in 1804 was published at No". 31 Walnut
Street, and a year or two afterward at No. 120 South
1982
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Second Street. About 1815-16 the prpprietors of the
Freeman's Journal were William McCorkle & Son,
and the office of the paper was at No. 20 Chestnut
Street, which was at the southwest corner of Front
Street. In 1823 the firm was William McCorkle &
Joseph Hamelin, and the publication-ofBce was at No.
68 Dock Street. McCorkle went out of the proprie-
torship in 1824, and Joseph P. Hamelin was editor of
the paper in 1825, which was then published at No.
36 Walnut Street. On the 8th of January, 1827, the
title of the paper was changed to National Palladium
and Freeman's Journal, which became the property of
the " Hickory Club" (Henry Horn, John Pemberton,
Henry S. Hughes & Co.). Within the next two or
three years the paper was under the editorial direc-
tion of three different journalists, namely, James A.
Jones, Charles G. Green, and James Athearn. The
last number was published April 8, 1828.
The Commercial and Political Register, a daily
evening paper, was established in 1804 by Maj.
William Jackson, and was conducted with success
until the year 1815. Jackson was a native of Cum-
berland, England, and had been brought to Charles-
ton, S. C, when a small child, he being an orphan.
He had been liberally educated. He was a lieutenant
in a South Carolina company during the Revolution,
was afterward on the staff of Gen. Lincoln, went to
Europe with Henry Laurens in 1781, and was Assist-
ant Secretary of War in 1782, under Gen. Lincoln.
He studied law and practiced in Philadelphia. He
was secretary of the Federal Convention to frame a
Constitution for the United States, and was private
secretarj' of Washington during his administration as
President. He accompanied Washington on his tours
through the country in 1790-91. Washington ap-
pointed him surveyor of the port of Philadelphia in
1796, but Jefferson removed him in 1801, shortly after
which he commenced the Commercial and Political
Register. Maj. Jackson married Elizabeth Willing,
the beautiful daughter of Thomas Willing, and sister
to the celebrated Mrs. Bingham.
The Philadelphia Medical aad Physical Jour-
nal, the contents of which were collected and ar-
ranged by Benjamin Smith Barton, had its origin on
Nov. 1, 1804, and was continued until May, 1807. It
was published in parts, with supplements, at irregular
periods, by J. Conrad & Co.
The Evening Fireside, or Weekly Intelligencer,
was commenced in 1805. After the publication of two
volumes the work ceased. The Literary Club, which
was formed in 1805, established The Evening Fireside.
Joseph Rakestraw was the publisher.
The Philadelphia Prices-Current was started in
1805 by Thomas Hope, ship-broker, whose oflBce was
in Carpenters' Court, near the custom-house. It was
issued regularly until some time in 1813. In the latter
year the Prices- Current was published by John W.
Scott. It seems to have ceased entirely at the end of
December.
The Christian Sun and True Philanthropist, a
weekly paper, was issued in 1805, bj- J. L. Hall & Co.
The Pelican, a German newspaper, was started, in
1805, by Joseph Forter, at No. 100 North Fourth
Street, — weekly. It was chiefly devoted to literature.
The General Assembly's Missionary Magazine,
or Evangelical Intelligencer, jjublished monthly,
was first issued in 1805. It represented the religious
views and interests of the Presbyterian Church.
The Theatrical Censor, a weekly paper, was first
published in 1805, by John Watts, from his polyglot
office, at the corner of Eleventh and Walnut Streets.
The first part appeared on the 9th of December of that
year, and the last number was dated March 3, 1806,
with a promise that the publication would be resumed
at the beginning of the next theatrical season, and be
continued regularly every Saturday until the close of
the theatres, — price, two dollars. It is not probable
that the publication was resumed. The Censor was
conducted in a fair spirit of criticism, which was occa-
sionally severe, but apparently justifiable, if the prem-
ises upon which they were founded were correctly
stated. Beside the criticisms, there were occasional
letters from correspondents, and comments upon the-
atrical matters. This publication created a very con-
siderable sensation. The actors were not accustomed
to hear anything but praises, and the boldness of this
writer in pointing out their faults was very unpleasant.
The Repository was the organ of the opposition, the
writers for which, according to the Censor, were organ-
ized into a club.
The Philadelphia Medical Museum, conducted
by John Redman Coxe, was in existence from 1805 to
1810, beginning in the year first named. It was pub-
lished by A. Bartram.
The American Register, or General Repository
of History, Politics, and Science, was commenced
by C. & A. Conrad, in 1806.
The Spirit of the Press was published by Richard
Folwell, sometimes monthly, and sometimes at greater
intervals. Folwell was a printer, and was a dwarf
and a hunchback. For these personal defects he made
up by an active spirit, by boldness, and by pertinacity.
He was a town character. His paper was exceedingly
personal, applied nicknames to the persons chosen for
censure, sometimes endeavored to overwhelm them
with ridicule, and on other occasions followed them
with strong invective. The paper was started in
1806, and was continued for some years.
The Democratic Press came into existence in
1807, In February, John Binns, who had been editor
of the Republican Argus, at Northumberland, Pa.,
issued proposals for publishing in this city, on Tues-
days and Fridays, the Democratic Press, with the
motto, — " Strike, but hear." The first issue was on
March 27th. A few numbers were issued on the plan
of twice a week, but, in June, Mr. Binns announced
that after the 29th of that month the Democratic Press
would be published every evening. In the autobiog-
THE PRESS OP PHILADELPHIA.
1983
raphy of John Binns, he notices the help which was
given him by Col. William Duane, of the Aurora, who
was perfectly willing at the time that a new paper of
the Republican party should be established in Phila-
delphia, a piece of liberality which he perhaps subse-
quently regretted, as the two papers were in after-
years hostile to each other. Mr. Binns says that
Duane —
did not approve of the name wbicli I proposed for the p.iper, which
„e thought was impolitic and dangerously in advance of public opinion.
Parties, he said, were in all-the States known as Republicans and Fed-
eralists. The name of Democrat was nowhere in use. He feared the
title, the Democralic Press, would prejudice Ihe public against the paper.
■ KecoUect,' said he, ' that Mr. Jefferson, the able leader of the party, in
his inaugural speech took occasion, in speaking of the political parties
of the United States, to say, " We are all Republicans; we are all Fed-
eralists." The word " Democrat," or" Democialic," is not used, indeed,
or scarcely known as applied to politics or parties.' "
Binns, however, had determined on that name; and
on the 27th of March, 1807, was published the first
number of that paper, with the motto,—" The tyrant's
foe ; the people's friend." It was the first paper pub- |
lished in the Union, or anywhere else, under the title |
of Democratic, and it was some years before the title was
adopted by any other newspaper, or by the party. It j
however, in time, won its way into public favor, and i
the political partiesof thetimerecognizedandadopted
it. " The name of ' Republican' faded away, and that |
of 'Democrat' was substituted in its place, and con- j
tinned to gain ground throughout the Union." The j
first oflBce of the Democratic Press was on the east side
of Front Street, below Walnut, which Mr. Binns had
rented for four hundred dollars a year. He remained |
there only one quarter, and then went to Church j
Alley, next to Christ Church, where his rent was six
hundred dollars a year. He lived in a small three-
story house on Vine Street, above Fifth, at a rent of
five hundred dollars a year. He then removed to a
small two-story house on Church Alley, which he ob-
• tained at a rent of one hundred and sixty dollars a
year. In 1810 the office of the Democratic Press,
together with the residence of Mr. Binns' family,
was removed to No. 108 Market Street, which had
been occupied by Col. Duane. In 1815 the office of
the Press was removed to No. 70 Chestnut Street, be-
tween Second and Third. The paper was a power in
the Democratic party, and might have remained so
if Mr. Binns had not opposed Andrew Jackson for the
Presidency in 1824, and afterward. The Democratic
Press was issued for the last time on Nov. 14, 1829, it
having been absorbed by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Tickler, edited by George Helmbold, was pub-
lished by him Sept. 16, 1807, under the editorial mm
deplume of " Toby Scratch'em." It had for its motto
the following quotation from Pope :
" Curst be the verse, how well soe'er it flow.
That tends to make one worthy man my foe.
Give virtue scandal, innocence a fear,
Or from the soft-ey'd virgin steal a tear !"
It was to be issued every Wednesday morning, at the
price of four dollars per annum, from No. 131 South
Front Street. Owing to pecuniary difficulties, the
first volume of fifty-two issues was not completed
until Feb. 8, 1809. The paper finally attained con-
siderable circulation ; but innumerable suits for libel
were brought against Helmbold, and to avoid them
he enlisted as a private in the regular army in the
war of 1812, was soon made a sergeant, distinguished
himself for bravery, and was promoted at Lundy's
Lane to a lieutenancy. Upon the occ;ision of a great
battle, when he saw a part of his command shrinking
from the telling fire of the enemy, he is said to have
stirred them up with the comforting assurance of
safety, that " those who were born to be hung were in
no danger from cannon-balls and bullets." After the
war he took the Minerva Tavern, on Sansom Street,
above Sixth, but kept it only a short time. He after-
ward resumed the editorial pen, and became the editor
of The Independent Balance until his death, which took
place in 1821.
The Eye, a weekly magazine, by " Obadiah Optic,"
had its inception in 1808, being first issued by John
I W. Scott on the 1st of January of that year. It con-
tained essays and light papers,— moral and pleasing,—
i with occasional poetry.
1 L'Hemisphere, a paper printed in the French lan-
guage, was issued in October, 1809, by J. J. Negrin.
Two volumes were published.
! Select Reviews and the Spirit of the Magazines,
a journal of elevated tone, was originally issued m
1 1809. This work was conducted by Enos Bronson
I and others, and was published until eight volumes
I were finished. Washington Irving wm at one time
j connected with this periodical, the work upon which,
although it was solid, was not greatly to his taste.
He was much better pleased when Select Pevieivsvient
into new hands and assumed another title. It became
the Analectic Mar/azine.
I The Mirror of Taste and Dramatic Censor had
' its origin in 1810, the first number being issued in
January by Bradford & Inskeep. It was published
monthly, in small octavo size. Each number con-
tained about one hundred pages, and was illustrated
with a fine portrait of some actor or actress, generally
engraved by Edwin. The contents were biographi-
I cal, historical, critical, and miscellaneous. The
Dramatic Censor took up the performances at the
theatre regularly night after night, and criticised the
actors, as well as the plays, with perspicuity and
some severity, but with much interest and vigor.
The editor of this magazine was Stephen Cullen Car-
penter, an Englishman, who had reported the trial of
Warren Hastings in Parliament, and who came to the
United States in 1803. He established at Charleston
in 1805 the Monthly Register, Magazine, and Review of
the United States. He published at New York in 1809
" Memoirs of Jeflferson." The Mirror of Taste was pub-
lished during the year 1810 and until the end of the
year 1811 with no apparent loss of spirit or vigor.
Edwin and Leney furnished the majority of the en-
1984
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
gravings, which were generally .from portraits by
Sully, Wood, and Rembrandt Peale. In the number
of the Mirror for April, 1811, appeared the first effort
of a young Philadelphia artist, Charles R. Leslie, who,
much attracted by the genius of Cooke, the English
actor, made a sketch of him at full length, which was
engraved by Edwin. Engravings were subsequently
made from his designs of Cooper as Leon, and Jeffer-
son and Blisset in the "Budget of Blunder.s."
The Philadelphia Repertory, a weekly paper de-
voted to literature and useful intelligence, was issued
in 1810 by Dennis Hart.
The Evening Star was started in 1810 by White,
McLaughlin & Co., at No. 53 South Fifth Street. It
was a daily paper, and was published at the price of
eight dollars a year.
The Amerikanischer Beobachter (in the German
language) was published weekly, in 1810, by Conrad
Zentler & John Geyer.
Le Revelateur, Journal Politique Literaire et
de Commerce was published, in 1810, three times
a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, at
eight dollars per annum, by M. Truchet.
The Trangram, or Fashionable Trifler, had its
origin in 1810. It introduced itself as follows:
" The Trangram, or Fashionable TriJIer. By Christopher Crag, Esq., his
Grandmother and Uncle.
'How now, ye crinning, sharp, and secret wage!
What is'tyedo?—
A deed with a double name?'
Philadelphia:
Published by George E. Blake.
T. & G. Palmer, printers."
In the first number it was explained to the reader
that " the title was adopted because a ' trangram' was
a strange thing, — an odd thing, curiously contrived."
This affair, which was in the style of the Salmagundi,
is believed to have had three authors. One of them
was Alexander Coxe, a son of Tench Coxe, afterward
a member of the Philadelphia bar. A second writer
for this periodical was Mordecai Manassas Noah.
The third writer is not known. Three numbers of
this magazine are in the library of the Pennsylvania
Historical Society. There is considerable humor and
good sense in the few numbers which have been pre-
served.
The American Sentinel had its inception in 1811,
being issued by Lewis P. Franks, printer, at No. 164
Cherry Street. It was published twice a week, and
was devoted to the support of the Democracy of the
old school. It was continued with not very remark-
able success for five years. In 1816 it was purchased by
Jacob Frick & Co., who, on August 25th, turned the
affair into a daily morning paper, under the title of
the American Centinel and Mercantile Advertiser, and
published it at No. 24 Walnut Street. With Mr.
Frick was associated Peter Hay, who was one of the
editors of the Centinel from the beginning. Before
the year 1824 the name of this paper was changed
from Centinel to Sentinel. It was published with vary-
ing degrees of prosperity until 1847, when it waai
merged into the Evening Bulletin, which was issued
for the first time April 12th of that year.
The Weekly Public Sale Report and the Daily
Public Sale Notice were issued in 1811, by Peter A.
Grotjan, from his office and dwelling. No. 77 Walnut
Street. About 1818 the titles of those publications
were changed to the Philadelphia Prices- Current and
WceJdy Public Sales Report. Stephen Blatchford was
associated with Grotjan in 1819, the paper then being
called the Philadelphia Letter-Sheet Prices- Current.
This paper after 1825 passed into the control of
Cephas G. Childs.
The Eclectic Repertory and Analytic Review,
Medical and Philosophical, a quarterly jouma
was commenced in October, 1811, and was continued
until October, 1820, being edited by an association of
physicians. The publishers were T. Dobson & Son.
In January, 1821, it was continued as The Journal of
Foreign Medical Science and Literature, being conducted
by S. Emlen, Jr., and William Price, and published
by Eliakam Littell. It was suspended in October,
1824.
The Beacon, a didactic journal, made its appear-
ance in 1811, printed by W. Brown, No. 24 Church
Alley. The first number was published on Wednesday,
Nov. 27, 1811, and the second number on Dec. 11,
1811. The library of the Historical Society of Penn-
sylvania possesses these two numbers. It is doubtful
whether any more were published. The style was
good, but the subjects were treated too soberly to
attract attention or to win wide popularity.
The American Review of History, of Politics,
and General Repository of Literature and State
Papers, was a publication of the same character as
the -Register, founded in 1806. It was commenced in
1811, was edited by Robert Walsh, and was published
quarterly for two years, in four volumes.
The Historical Register of the United States
from the Declaration of War in 1812 was com-
menced in the latter year, and was continued during
the conflict, its purpose being to preserve records of
the important events which were connected with the
controversy. It was completed in four volumes.
The Cynic, a periodical paper published in 1812,
undertook the work of criticism.
The Whig Chronicle, with the motto, " Omnibus
cifibiis patct; sed nullus partium minis, nullus terrieulus
iiioveteur," was begun in November, 1812, by George
F. Goodman, at No. 87 Callowhill Street. It was
published three times a week, and the subscription
price was five dollars a year.
The Analectic Magazine was started on the 1st
of January, 1813, by Moses Thomas, at No. 52 Chest-
nut Street. This periodical made its appearance just
after the commencement of the war with England,
and the publisher judiciously engaged the interest
which existed in all parts of the country during that
struggle by printing a series of biographies of the
THE PRESS OP PHILADELPHIA.
1985
military and naval heroes of the war. They were
illustrated with portraits, and many of the biogra-
plii.'s, which were written by Washington Irving, were
prepared with much care, and were given in elegant
style. At the close of the year 1816 the proprietor
gave notice that he would give three dollars a page
for any original articles deemed worthy of insertion
in that periodical. The failure of Bradford & Ins-
keep, about 1815-16, produced a corresponding dis-
aster in the fortunes of Moses Thomas, who, however,
was enabled to go on with the publication by a com-
position with his creditors. Mr. Irving ceased to be
the editor about 1816. The magazine was continued
until 1821, when it took a new form.
The Religious Remembrancer was commenced
on the 4th of September, 1813, by John Welwood
Scott. It was issued weekly. This was the first re-
ligious weekly newspaper published in the United
States. It preceded the Bodon Recorder, which was
commenced by Nathaniel Willis in January, 1816,
and which is asserted by many to have been the first
religious newspaper,— which it was not. It was pub-
lished at No. 81 South Second Street.
The Juvenile Portfolio, a miscellany devoted to
the amusement and instruction of youth, was pub-
lished weekly by Thomas G. Condie, Jr., No. 22 Car-
ter's Alley, at twelve and a half cents per month,
payable quarterly. It made its appearance in 1813.
The Porcupine, a weekly paper, was issued by
Lewis P. Franks & Co., in 1813.
The Focus and Weekly Messenger was started in
1813, by Thomas Waterman and Andrew J. Hutchins.
The American Weekly Messenger, or Register
of State Papers, was issued by John Conrad in 1814.
As the Register and Beriew had abandoned this field,
there seemed to be a prospect for the success of Mr.
Conrad's venture, but this did not appear to be the
case. After a sufficient trial to prove the feeling of
the public toward it, the Messenger was abandoned.
L'AbeUle Americaine Journal Historique, Pol-
itique et Literaire was printed and published in
1815 by A. A. Blocquert, at No. 130 South Fifth
Street. It was a weekly publication. Subscriptions
were taken by Mathew Carey and E. Chaudron.
This periodical was commenced on the 15th of April,
1815, and was continued several years. Six volumes
of this magazine were presented to the American
Philosophical Society by the late Peter S. Du Ponceau.
The Luncheon, a monthly satirical paper, " boiled
for people about six feet high, by Simon Pure," ap-
peared in July, 1815. It was a political publication,
and it was announced that it would be issued monthly.
The second number of this affair contained a bitter
and an abusive article purporting to be a biography
of William McCorkle. In January, 1816, Lewis P.
Franks was compelled to confess that he was the au-
thor of the Luncheon, that the biography of McCorkle
was untrue, and announced that the paper would be
discontinued.
The Evangelical Repository, at three dollars per
annum, was issued in 1816.
The Journal of the Academy of Natural Sci-
ences of Philadelphia was tcnimencLd in 1817. By
means of it the society "determined to eonuiiunicate
to the public such facts and observations as having
appeared interesting to them are likely to be interest-
ing to other friends of Natural Science." The publi-
cation was begun when the academy was located at
No. 35 Arch Street. About a year after the date of
the first issue publication was suspended until 1821,
when it was resumed under the management of Dr.
Isaac Hays, and continued, without interruption, until
1825, the printer being Jesper Harding, afterward one
of the proprietors of the Evening Telegraph. It was
continued afterward up to 1842, when the first series
closed. It consists of eight octavo volumes, each
divided into two parts, embracing two hundred and
thirty-seven papers or articles, contributed by fifty -six
authors, many of them bearing distinguished names,
describing in a technical manner objects new to natu-
ralists at the date of publication. This series includes
an aggregate of two thousand nine hundred and twelve
pages and one hundred and sixty-one plates.
The second series was begun December, 1847, and
is still continued.
The Independent Balance, a weekly paper, " by
Democritus the younger, a lineal descendant of the
Laughing Philosopher," was- established, in 1817, by
George Helmbold, " the first editor of the Tickler, and
late of the United States army." The first number
was published March 20th. The motto was, " Let it
be impressed upon your minds, let it be instilled into
your children, that the liberty of the press is the pal-
ladium of all the civil, political, and religious rights
of freemen."— ./M/wiMi. The second volume com-
menced with a vignette, in addition to the heading,
of a sportsman shooting a bird, with the motto,—
"Whene'er we court the tuneful Nine,
Or plainer Prose suits our design,
Then fools may sneer aud critics frown
At every corner of the town, —
Condemn our paper or commend ;
One aim is ours, our chiefest end:
With well-poised gun and surest eyes,
To shoot at Folly as it flies."
The Balance contrived to get a large circulation. It
was managed with tact and a degree of talent which,
if better directed, would have been productive of sat-
isfactory results. But it was exceedingly free in using
the names of citizens as well as of politicians, utterly
unscrupulous as to what it said, and careless to exam-
ine into the truth of its assertions. It was vindictive,
unscrupulous, and scurrilous, and was particularly ef-
fective in ridicule, which it applied unsparingly to
those persons whom its conductors did not admire.
George Helmbold, the editor, died in Philadelphia,
on the 28th of December, 1821. After Helmbold's
death the Balance went through various changes of
proprietors and editors, until it passed into the hands
1986
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
of L. P. Franks, who published it at " No. 1 Paradise
Alley, back of No. 171 Market Street, between Fourth
and Fifth Streets." It was at this time edited " by
Simon Spunkey, Esq., duly commissioned and sworn
regulator, weighmaster, and inspector-general." Its
motto was, " I claim as large a charter as the wind,
to blow on whom I jilease."
The Franklin Gazette had its origin in 1818. In
February public notice was given through the news-
papers that the Franklin Gazette was to be established
in Philadelphia by Richard Bache. It was to be in
favor of Governor Findlay, and it was suggested by
the United States Gazette that, although the Democratic
IVess was on the same side, the Franklin Gazette was
expected to supersede it. It was to be published as
an evening paper. Bache, at this time, was post-
master, and he published the Franklin Gazette at No.
116 Chestnut Street. It was continued until the 22d
of November, 1824, when it ■i\-as united with the
Aurora.
The Quarterly Theological Review, which was
conducted by Rev. Ezra St^-les Ely, was commenced
in 1818.
The Philadelphia Register, a weekly paper, the
title of which in 1819 was changed to the National
Recorder, was founded by Eliakini Littell and S. Nor-
ris Henry, in 1818. In 1821 the name was again
altered, and it made its appearance in July, 1821, as
the Saturday iMagazine. In that periodical were pub-
lished De Quincey's " Confessions of an Opium-Eater,"
and the works of Charles Lamb. In 1822 the title
was again changed, and the issue made monthly. The
Saturday Magazine became the Museum of Foreign Lit-
erature and Science. During the first year it was edited
by Robert Walsh, and afterward by Eliakim and Dr.
Squier Littell. This periodical was continued in
Philadelphia for many years. The publication-office
was removed to New York in 1843, and the title of
the magazine was changed to the Eclectic Museum, of
Foreign Literature and Science, Mr. Littell, however,
having no connection with it. He then went to Bos-
ton, where, in 1844, he established LitfelPs Living Age, I
which he continued till his death, May 17, 1870.
The American Medical Recorder, conducted by [
a number of physicians, first apjieared in 1818. It
was a quarterly journal, and published by James
Webster. The title subsequently, in 1824, became
the Medical Recorder of Original Papers and Lntelligence
in Medicine and Surgery. In 1829 it was merged into
the American Journal of the 3ledical Sciences.
The Ladies' and Gentlemen's Weekly Literary
Museum and Musical Magazine, published weekly
by H. C. Lewis, No. 164 South Eleventh Street, made
its appearance Jan. 1, 1819. It was a union of two
periodicals previously issued separately.
Salmagundi (second series), by Launcelot Lang-
staff, Esq., was published by M. Thomas (Johnson's
head), No. 108 Chestnut Street, between Third and
Fourth, and J. Haly & C. Thomas, No. 55 Maiden
Lane, New York, — J. Maxwell being the printer, — in
1819. It was Paulding's effort to revive those famous
papers, but the times were not propitious. It was
published once a fortnight. The first number con-
tained,—" From My Elbow-Chair," " Codification," by
Will Wizard, " Criticism on Shakespeare's Othello,"
etc. The copyright was dated June 22, 1819. This
serial was published during ten or twelve months.
The Columbian Advocate was established at Ger-
maotown in June, 1819.
The Latter-Day Luminary was first issued by a
committee of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions
for the United States, in 1819. It was published
monthly.
The Episcopal Magazine, a thirty-two page octavo
periodical, issued monthly, was first issued in Januarj',
1820. It was published by S. Potter & Co., J. Max-
well being the printer. The publication was con-
[ tinued for several years, for the greater portion of the
time under the editorial direction of Rev. C. H.
! Wharton, D.D., and Rev. George Boyd. It was de-
' voted to the general interests of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church. The original office of publication was
at No. 55 Chestnut Street. In 1821 it was removed
to No. 87 Chestnut Street.
The Rural Magazine and Literary Evening
j Fire-Side, a forty-page octavo, published monthly
I by Richards & Caleb Johnson, at No. 31 Market
Street, made its appearance in January, 1820. It was
printed by Griggs & Dickinson. It was chiefly de-
voted to agricultural and horticultural matters.
The American Journal of the Medical Sciences
was projected by Professor Nathaniel Chapman. The
first number was issued as a quarterly in 1820, under
his editorship, by the publishing house of M. Carey &
Son, and under the title of the Philadelphia Journal of
the Medical and Physical Sciences. In 1825, Drs. Wil-
liam P. Dewees and John D. Godman were associated
with Dr. Chapman in the editorship, but the editorial
work practically devolved upon Dr. Godman. In Feb-
ruary, 1827, Dr. Isaac Hays was added to the editorial
staff, and in consequence of Dr. Godman's appointment
to the professorship of Anatomy in Rutgers Medical
College requiring his removal to New York, Dr. Hays
virtually became the editor.
With a view to making the Journal more Voadly
representative and national in character, the co-opera-
tion of the leading medical minds in all parts of the
country was secured, and in November, 1827, the name
of the Philadelphia Journal was changed to the Amer-
ican Journal of the Medical Sciences, and Dr. Isaac Hays
became its sole editor. In 1869 his son, Dr. I. Minis
Hays, was associated with him, on whom the entire
editorial duties devolved in 1879.
The general plan of the Journalhas been unchanged
since its origin in 1820 ; it has always been regularly
issued by the same publishing house, and for half a
century it has been under the control of its present
senior editor. The increasing progress in the cultiva-
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1987
tinii of the medical sciences gradually seemed to call
I'm- hKire space and more frequent communication with
iriHkrs, and in 1843 the Medical Netrs was commenced
a- a monthly in connection with the Journal. This
.-^utliced for many years, until the increasing pressure
of material led, in 1874, to the issue of another period-
ical, the Monthly Abstract of Medical Science, under the
same editorial supervision.
In 1880 these two periodicals were combined as the
Medical News and Abstract, which, in 1882, became the
Medical Nncs, issued .weekly.
An examination of the series of the Journal shows
that among its collaborators are found the names of all
the eminent physicians of the period who have con-
tributed to the reputation of American medicine. They
have made it a representative journal of American med-
icine, and, as such, its files are found and consulted in
the principal medical libraries of the world. The pub-
lishers of the Journal are Henrj- C. Lea's Son & Co.,
at Nos. 706 and 708 Sansom Street.
The Reformer, a religious and moral publication,
issued monthly, was commenced about 1820.
The Critic, a periodical paper, was jjublished, in
1820, as a journal of criticism, science, and the arts.
It was not very successful.
The National Gazette and Literary Register
made its appearance on the 5th of July, 1820, the
publisher being William Fry, No. 63 South Fifth
Street. It was published on Wednesdays and Fri-
days, at five dollars per annum. After a time the
semi-weekly issues ceased, and the Gazette was
brought out as a daily evening paper. Robert Walsh
was associated with Mr. Fry in the establishment of
this paper. This journal, under the management of
Mr. Walsh, made an inroad upon the method in which
daily newspapers had previously been conducted. Mr.
Walsh was not much of a party politician. His tastes
were literary. He had commenced his career as a writer
in the Portfolio, had been one of the contributors to
the American Bevieir, and had published various books,
essays, and papers. . The National Gazette, while not
wholly neglecting the politics of the country, discussed
matters of science, literature, fine arts, and philosophy.
On the 1st of January, 1842, the National Gazette was
merged into the Peniis>jh-ania Inquirer.
The Literary Gazette, or Journal of Criticism,
Science, and the Arts (being a third series of the
Analectic Magazine) made its ajipearance as a quarto
of sixteen pages, published weekly by James Maxwell,
corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets, at six dollars
per annum, on Feb. 6, 1821. There is one volume of
this periodical in the Historical Library which was
published in 1821.
The Bee was issued in 1821, by Robert S. Coffin,
who had attained a local reputation as a writer of
verses for various papers, under the nom de plume of
the " Boston Bard." He had been a compositor in the
office of the Village Record, at West Chester, Pa., where
he wrote some stanzas on " A Blind Girl," which en-
listed popular sympathy from the fact of their having
been put in type by a blind compositor, daughter of
Mr. Miner, then publisher of the -Record. Mr. Coffin
came to Philadelphia, and issued proposals for a liter-
ary paper to be called the Bee. It was published but
a .short time, the meagre subscription-list passing into
the hands of the proprietors of the new Saturday Even-
ing Post.
The Saturday Evening Post was published for the
first time in 1821. After Coffin, as stated above, had
procured about two hundred subscribers for the Bee,
the list came into the hands of Charles Alexander,
then a recent graduate of Poulson's IJaily Advertiser.
Mr. Alexander as.sociated himself with Samuel C.
Atkinson, of the firm of Hall & Atkinson (successors
to Hall & Pierie), carrying on the printing business
in the office once occupied by Benjamin Franklin,
" back of No. 53 Market Street." In this office the
firm of Atkinson & Alexander commenced the pub-
lication of the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post,
the first number appearing on the 4th of August, 1821,
the defunct Bee forming the nucleus of the new enter-
prise. The " Boston Bard" died of consumjjtion a
few years afterward at his home in Newburyport,
Mass., his last hours being passed in revising the
proof-sheets of a volume of his poems.
The office back of No. 53 Market Street, four or
five doors below Second Street, was a medium-sized
two-story brick, the first floor occupied as a press-
room, with two of Patrick Lyon's presses, the second
story divided into two composing-rooms, and the attic
used as the editor's private quarters. The original
editor of the Post was T. Cottrell Clarke, who with-
drew in 1826 and established the Ladies' Album, a
weekly literary miscellany, which was subsequently,
under the management of Robert Morris, merged into
the Pennsylvania Inquirer. On the appearance of the
Album the Post was enlarged. Mr. Clarke was suc-
ceeded as editor by Morton McMichael, who subse-
quently resigned to become the first editor of the old
Saturday Courier, and who afterward and for so long
a time was the editor and publisher of the North
American and United States Gazette.
The old office, long since demolished, contained in
the second story the identical press at which Franklin
had exercised his skill, and which subsequently found
a resting-place among the curious relics in the Patent
Office at Washington. Over the entrance to the com-
posing-room was this " Warning," for the benefit of
meddlesome visitors, probably written by Franklin
himself:
"AH you who come this curious art to see,
To handle anything must cautious be;
Lest by a sliglit touch, ere you are aware,
That mischief may be done you can't repair.
Lo ! this advice we give to every stranger:
Look on and welcome, but to touch tiiere's danger.'*
This paper, even so late as 1821 , was worked ofl' with
the laborious manipulation of wrist-dislocating ink-
balls, and a clumsy beating of forms that can hardly
1988
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
be realized by tbe skillful pressman of the present
day, while the crude press of Patrick Lyon, and even
the improved Columbian and the Washington, taxed
the pressman's strength from Friday noon — some-
times all night and far into the next day — to work off
what would now be a very moderate edition.
While the advent of a new paper required a supply
of new type, the old stock was not melted up, but what
was then looked upon as the " old Franklin tj'pe" was
careftilly preserved. One use, and perhaps the latest
to which it was put, was in the hands of a reverend
compositor, who set up his own translation of the
New Testament, the proofs being taken on the old
Franklin press. This was the Rev. Dr. Abner Knee-
land, a Universalist theologian, an able and popular
preacher in that day.
This old material from the Pennsylvania Gazette
came into Mr. Atkinson's possession by reason of the
fact that his former partner (Hall) was a grandson of
David Hall, who purchased the Gazette from Frank-
lin in 1766.
In 1828, Mr. Atkinson became sole proprietor of
the Post, and employed Benjamin Mathias as editor,
who subsequently became, with Joshua L. Taylor, the
founder of the Saturday Chronicle. Leaving types
for politics, Mathias was elected to the State Legisla-
ture, and for several sessions presided as Speaker of
the Senate, and was the author of Mathias's "Legisla-
tive Manual." Prominent among the subsequent
editors we may name Charles J. Peterson, Rufus W.
Griswold, H. Hastings Weld, and Henry Peterson.
In 1827, the office of the Po!<t was removed from
Market Street to No. 112 Chestnut Street, between
Third and Fourth ; in 1833, to No. 36 Carter's Alley
(the northern end of Dr. Jayne's building now occu-
pies the site) ; in 1840, to the second floor of the old
Ledger building, southwest corner of Third and Chest-
nut Streets ; in 1848, to No. 66 South Third Street, over
the North American office ; in 1860, it was removed to
No. 319 Walnut Street.
Mr. Atkinson continued the publication until No-
vember, 1839, when he sold to John S. Du Solle and
George R. Graham. Mr. Du Solle remained con-
nected with the paper but a few months, and was
succeeded by Charles J. Peterson, the firm-name being
George R. Graham & Co. In 1843, these gentlemen
sold to Samuel D. Patterson and Co., who, in March,
1848, disposed of the establishment to Edmund
Deacon and Henry Peterson, each of whom had pre-
viously owned a portion. In 1857, the folio form was
abandoned for the present quarto, and the old familiar
head was replaced by a more elaborate one.
During the past decade the Post has several times
changed hands. Many younger literary journals have
been united with it. Among these were the Saturday
News, published by Louis A. Godey & Co. ; the
Saturday Bulletin, of which Edmund' Morris was the
publisher; the Saturday Chronicle, hy Mathias & Tay-
lor ; and the United States, published, in 1841-42, by
Swain, Abell & Simmons, the founders of the Public
I Ledger.
I The Post is the oldest of the family newspapers, and
' for many years had a monopoly of its special field.
Nearly all the prominent writers of the country, for
the last sixty-three years, have contributed to ita
columns, and the reputations of many were estab-
lished through its agency.
Of the English authors, G. P. R. James, Mary
Howitt, Mrs. Henry Wood, and others, have contrib-
uted--to its pages, the last named having written several
novels for the Post hefore the review of " East Lynne"
by the London Times made her famous. It aflbrded
some amusement in the office of the Post to see the
very novels which had been published in its columns,
without attracting much attention, brought out after-
ward with a great flourish of trumpets in England,
and extolled in very high terms, when reprinted in
this country, by the critics of the American press.
The Columbian Observer, the motto of which was
"Equal Rights, Honest Agents, and an Enlightened
People," was established by Stephen Simpson and
John Conrad, April 1, 1822, as a semi-weekly paper,
and, as originally conducted, — according to the United
States Gazette, — was devoted more to criticism and
speculations on literary and political subjects than to
news. But this could not long remain as a proper
description of the Observer. Simpson's great strength
was as a controversial writer, and his chief ability was
in attack. He was son of George Simpson, cashier of
the old Bank of the United States, and afterward of
Stephen Girard's bank. Simpson went into the Na-
tional Bank when a young man as note-clerk. He
must have remained in that position for some time.
When he left the bank he made his first venture in
newspaper-writing as the author of a series of articles
in relation to the management of the Bank of the
United States, its policy, and its transactions, which
were signed " Brutus." " The tone of those articles
was extremely vindictive. They were virulent; they
were bitter ; but they were extremely able. . . . Armed
with this immense power, conferred upon him by his
knowledge of facts, ' Brutus' added to the force of his
articles a nervous, solid and sarcastic style, which
either crushed by its vehemence or deeply wounded
by its thrusts." Much care was taken to make the
secret of the " Brutus" letters a mystery-, and the
more they were talked about the higher was the opinion
of the town in relation to their merits. It is probable
that the secret of the authorship of the " Brutus" arti-
cles was known to many persons before the establish-
ment of the Columbian Observer, which paper, with the
resumption of a series of articles signed " Brutus," in
the same stjde as was manifested in the Aurora, re-
vealed the real state of the case. The Columbian Ob-
server was a Democratic paper, belonging to one of the
sections of that party. It was an early advocate of
the nomination of Gen. Andrew Jackson for the Presi-
dency, and had the following at its editorial head:
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1989
" Freemen, cheer the Hickory tree ;
In storma its bought have sheltered thee ;
O'er Freedom's land its branches wave ;
'Twaa planted on the Lion's grave."
The verse was thus parodied in the Democratic
"Slaves, bow down to the Hickory tree,
Its boughs have ofttimes wattled thee ;
O'er Freedom's land its branches wave.
To cheer the fool and scourge the slave."
Tlic publication of the paper was intrusted by Simp-
son & Conrad, who were not practical printers, to
Jesper Harding. It was printed at No. 55 Chestnut
Street.
The Christian Gazette and Youths' Herald was
first published in May, 1822. In was in form a small
folio, and issued every Saturday, from No. 2 Sansom
Street.
The Episcopal Recorder was established in 1822,
through the exertions of Rev. G. T. Bedell, D.D.,
then rector of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal
Church. Among its early editors was Rev. B. B.
Smith, now (1884) and for many years presiding
bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States.
Its object was to i>resent those evangelical views
which were held by Dr. Bedell, and had been main-
tained in the Church of England by John Newton,
Henry Venn, Richard Cecil, Charles Simeon, and
those who at one time were known as the Clapham
sect.
With different editors, and under many changes of
ownership, those views have always been maintained
by the Episcopal Bccorder, and they are still its guiding
principles. It has undergone various modifications in
its name and position, but none in its theological or
ecclesiastical views.
When the Reformed Episcopal Church, the legiti-
mate outcome of the views upheld by the Bccorder,
was founded undei; Bishop Cummins, in 1873, that
paper became an exponent of the aims and principles
of the new organization, and as such it continues.
A leading feature in the Recorder is the appearance
in its columns of articles by leading men among
other evangelical denominations, in which respect it
resembles no other Episcopal paper in the United
States. Among these names may be mentioned Drs.
John Hall, Crooks, Crosby, Cuyler, and Pentecost, of
New York ; Dr. Joseph Parker, of London ; Drs.
Withrow and Warren, of Boston; Drs. Breed, Board-
man, and Pierson, of Philadelphia; Drs. N. West
and Morehead, of Ohio ; Cooper, of Pittsburgh ; E. T.
Burr, of Connecticut, and many others.
The Recorder is a sixteen-page quarto, published
weekly at No. 931 Arch Street.
The United Brethren's Missionary Intelli-
gencer was established by the Moravians in 1822.
The Erin, a weekly paper, devoted to Irish news,
was established in August, 1822, and was published by
Hart & Co., No. 117 South Fifth Street, one door
above Chestnut.
The Philadelphia Recorder was first issued on
April 5, 1823. It was a religious weekly, folio in form,
and was j)ublished in behalf of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church, by Stavely & Bringhurst, and afterward
by William Stavely, at No. 70 South Third Street. It
was under the editorial direction of Rev. G. T. Bedell.
It w;is continued for several years.
The Teachers' Offering, or the Sabbath Schol-
ar's Magazine, was established by the American Sun-
day-School Union in November, 1823. It was under
the editorial direction of Frederick A. Packard, and
was a 16mo of sixteen pages each. Soon after it was
enlarged, and the name changed to the Youths' Friend.
It continued to be a popular illustrated Sunday-school
paper for upwards of twenty years, and millions of
copies were circulated
The Christian Advocate was commenced in 1823,
and was published monthly.
The City Register, an evening daily paper, was
established in 1823, and was united with the Free-
man's Journal on tlie 1st of November, 1824.
The Arcadian, a literary periodical, was established
in the latter part of the year 1823, by S. Potter & Co.
The Gazetteer, devoted to religion, science, mor-
ality, and news, and edited by Rev. Abner Kneeland,
was started Jan. 7, 1824, the publishers being Atkin-
son & Alexander, at No. 53 Market Street. It was a
quarto publication. It was continued until Decem-
ber, 1824, being issued once a week.
The Statesman, a miscellaneous journal, was pub-
lished in 1824, and issued three times a week.
The Liberal was issued in. 1824 as a weekly publi-
cation.
The Medical Review and Analectic Journal,
edited by Drs. John Eberle and George McClellan,
made its appearance in June, 1824. Publication was
suspended in August, 1826. It was a quarterly peri-
odical, and was published by A. Sherman.
The .ffisculapian Register, edited by several phy-
sicians, was first issued June 17, 1824. It was a weekly
periodical, and enjoyed but a brief existence, the last
number being issued Dec. 9, 1834. The publisher
was R. Desilver.
The American Sunday-School Magazine, a
monthly, large octavo, containing thirty-two pages,
was begun in July, 1824, being published at one dol-
lar and fifty cents per year. It was the first Sunday-
school teachers' periodical issued in America. In
1831, having previously become a quarterly, it was
merged into The Sunday-school Journal and Advocate
of Christian Education, a large Iblio, issued weekly,
which had come into existence on Nov. 24, 1830.
Both journals were established by the American Sun-
day-School Union.
Darby's Geographical, Historical, and Statis-
tical Repository, a monthly journal, was com-
menced in 1824.
1990
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
I
The Reformer, whose avowed purpose was to " ex-
pose the clerical schemes and pompous undertakings
of the present day under the pretense of religion,
and to show that they are irreconcilable with the
spirit and the principle of the gospel," was published
in 1824 by Theophilus R. Gates.
The Christian, a weekly paper, was commenced in
1824, by J. Mortimer, South Second Street.
The Amerikanischer Correspondent, "fur das
In- und Ausland," was established in January, 1825.
It was published twice a week, on Wednesday and on
Saturday, for a portion of the time by John George
Eitter, at No. 253 North Second Street, and also by
J. C. Gosler, at No. 72 Wood Street, near the south-
east corner of Fourth Street. Its existence continued
until the last of December, 1829, when it was merged
into the Phi/adelp/ii.fchei- Correspondent, which was
begun on Jan. 2, 1830.
The Philadelphian, a religious journal, was estab
lished in May, 1825, by S. B. Ludlow, editor and pro-
prietor. It was a five-coluniu folio, and was issued
weekly from No. 59 Locust Street. The issue of Jan.
5, 1827, beginning the third volume, was enlarged by
the extension of the columns in length and width.
William F. Geddes then became the publisher, Mr.
Ludlow remaining as editor and proprietor. In No-
vember, 1829, he was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Ezra
Styles Ely. In October, 1830, the publication oflBce
was removed to No. 9 Library Street.
The American Journal of Pharmacy was com-
menced in 1825, under the title of the Journal of the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. The college had
been organized in 1821, and the Jbw;'n«/ was at first
intended to be mainly the repository of investigations
made by members of the college and others interested
in pharmacy. Four numbers having been published
at irregular intervals, the Journal was issued as a quar-
terly in April, 1829. In 1835 its title was changed to
the American Journal of Pharmacy, thus indicating its
enlarged scope of taking cognizance of the advance-
ment of pharmaceutical knowledge tlioughout North
America, as well as in other civilized countries.
In 1853 the Journal was published in bi-monthly
parts of ninety-six pages, which, during the civil war,
for two years, were reduced to eighty jiiages. In 1871
it became a monthly publication, and the annual vol-
umes gradually increased to six hundred and sixty
pages. A general index of the first forty-two volumes
was published in 1873, and a similar one for the next
ten volumes at the close of 1880.
Many of Philadelphia's prominent apothecaries
were contributors to the early volumes, among whom
may be mentioned Daniel B. Smith, Elias Durand,
William Hodgson, Jr., Aug. Duhamel, Edward Par-
rish, William Procter, Jr., and others. Original
papers were also contributed by able writers, residing
in various parts of the United States and in foreign
countries.
The college has, from the beginning, placed the
Journal in the editorial charge of one of its professors,
The four preliminary numbers were edited by Dr,
Samuel Jackson ; then followed Dr. Benjamin Ellis
to 1833, Dr. Robert E. Griffith to 1836, Dr. Joseph
Carson to 1850, William Procter, Jr., to 1871, and
since then John M. Maisch.
The Morning Post entered the journalistic field in
the latter part of 1825, being published by William
White.
The Journal of the Franklin Institute was first
issued in 1826, within two years after the organiza-
tion of the institute. Originally the periodical, which
was then known as the Franklin Journal, was not pub-
lished directly by the institution, but was issued in
the name of Thomas P. Jones, then professor of Nat-
ural Philosophy and Mechanics. In 1828 the insti-
tute assumed the responsibility of continuing the pub-
lication, under the title of the Journal of the Franklin
Institute, and it is so published to-day as a monthly
periodical.
It stands very high among technical and scientific
periodicals, and is the only journal published in the
United States devoted to technological subjects, which
is not conducted with a view to pecuniary profits.
The editors of the Journal have comprised the fol-
lowing : Thomas P. Jones, Alexander Dallas Bache,
Charles B. Trego, John F. Frazer, Henry Morton,
William H. Wahl, and George F. Barker.
The North American Medical and Surgical
Journal was a quarterly, begun in January, 1826,
and suspended in October, 1831. It was conducted
by Drs. H. L. Hodge, F. Bache, C. D. Meigs, B. H.
Coates, and E. La Roche. The first four volumes were
published by J. Dobson, and the remaining eight
volumes by the Kappa Lambda Association of the
United States.
The Album and Ladies' Weekly Gazette was
first issued June 7, 1826, by Thomas C. Clarke, from
No. 27 Market Street, " north side, five doors above
Front Street." In December the publication office
was removed to the southwest corner of Chestnut and
Second Streets. It was subsequently consolidated
with the Ladies' Literary Portfolio, under the name
of the Philadelphia Album and Ladies' Literary Port-
folio, and was published by Jesper Harding, Robert
Morris being the editor.
The Casket, or Flowers of Literature, Wit,
and Sentiment, a monthly publication, was issued
for the first time in January, 1827. Beneath the title-
head was this couplet :
** A movinj; picture of the passing day ;
Look at the tint, then turn improved away."
It was published for many years, and was finally
merged into Graham's Magazine.
The Ariel, a literary gazette, was published for the
first time May 5, 1827, although a specimen number
had been issued April 14th. It was published every
other Saturday, by Elwood Walter, at No. 71 Market
Street. It was a quarto, with three columns to each
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1991
page. It passed into the hands of Edmund Morris,
who increased its size by the addition of a column to
each page. It was published by Morris at the office
of the Saturday Bulletin, No. 95 Chestnut Street, and
ran through several volumes, when it was discon-
tinued.
The Commercial List and Price Current was es-
tablished May 26, 1827, as the Philadelphia Price Cur-
rent, by Billington & Sanderson, at " the Merchants'
Coffee- House." It was published every Saturday
morning, at four dollars per annum. An opposition
paper was started in 1829, when the then publisher,
Henry Billington, resolved to enlarge his sheet, and
give more miscellaneous matter, and thus endeavor
to surpass his new rival. Accordingly, the first num-
ber of a new series of the Philadelphia Price Current
and Commercial Advertiser was issued on Saturday,
Oct. 24, 1829. It was a five-column paper, the sheet
being twenty by twenty-six inches, and was published
on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, at six dol-
lars per annum. In less than a month Mr. Billington
makes this announcement: "John Binns, having re-
linquished the publication of his paper, ' we trust for-
ever,' we shall be enabled in future to issue our sheet
in the morning, as heretofore," — i.e., before the new
series was started. Early in 1835, Moore's Philadel-
phia Price Current -was purchased, and, on the 24th of
January, after several previous mutations, the title be-
came Commercial List and Philadelphia P^ice Current.
Col. Cephas G. Childs now became the editor; the
paper was issued weekly ; the price was reduced to
four dollars a year, and the publication office was re-
moved to No. 61 (now No. 221) Dock Street. Col.
Childs was born in Bucks County in 1794. He
served with great credit in the war of 1812. He was
a journalist of industry and a citizen of high repute.
Under his management the Commercial List attained
a very high business standing, which it has never lost.
In 1843, Stephen N. Winslow entered the office of the
paper as an errand-boy. In the year following he be-
came a local and commercial reporter. He displayed
such good business capacity that, in 1850, he was able
to purchase a one-fourth interest in the journal. Col.
Childs retired in 1852, and Mr. Winslow became sole
owner of the Commercial List. In 1853, H. G. Leis-
enring purchased an interest in the paper, which, how-
ever, he resold to BIr. Winslow two years later. In
1855, William W. Fulton purchased a share, but he
retained it only two years. From 1857 to 1867, Mr.
Winslow conducted the paper alone. In the latter
year his son, Stephen N. Winslow, Jr., was admitted
as a partner. Two years later Messrs. McCalla &
Stavely also became partners in its publication. The
Commercial List has been increased in size upon sev-
eral occasions, until now it is one of the largest folios
published in Philadelphia. In 1836 the office was re-
moved from No. 61 to No. 63 Dock Street, and in May,
1863, it was again removed, this time to No. 241 Dock
Street. This latter office is within a stone's throw of
127
the old Merchants' Coffee-House, from which the
Price Current was first issued, in 1827.
The Philadelphia Monthly Journal of Medicine
and Surgery had its origin in June, 1827. The last
number was issued in February, 1828. The publisher
was R. H. Small, and the editor Dr. N. R. Smith.
The Commercial Herald was established in July,
1827, and was subsequently consolidated with the Penn-
sylvania Sentinel, established in 1830. J. R. Walker
was the proprietor and one of the editors ; N. Sargent
being the other. The office of publication was at No.
61 (now No. 221) Dock Street. In addition to the
daily issue, there were tri-weekly as well as weekly
editions. In 1840 the Commercial Herald, which at
that time was published by Col. Cephas G. Childs, was
merged into The North American.
The Pennsylvania Gazette was first issued on the
1st of October, 1827, as an afternoon newspaper. It
was "devoted to internal improvement, education,
agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and general in-
telligence." George Taylor & Co., the publishers and
editors, had previously printed a weekly paper at
Mount Carbon, called the The Miners' Journal, which
was discontinued upon the advent of the Oazette.
The latter was published at No. 95 Chestnut Street, at
eight dollars per annum. The plan of the proprietors
of the Gazette also embodied an edition printed three
times a week, as well as a weekly edition. On the
14th of April, 1828, the Gazette was absorbed into the
Aurora, the new journal being known as the Aurora
and Pennsylvania Oazette. On the last-named date
the consolidated journal appeared as a morning instead
of an afternoon paper.
The Friend is a weekly periodical, now in its fifty-
seventh volume, and has been published continuously
since Oct. 13, 1827. It was established by an associa-
tion of Friends, without any reference to pecuniary
advantage, in order to furnish the members of the
society with an agreeable and instructive miscellany
at a time when great unsettlemeut was prevalent
throughout the society in this country, arising from
the promulgation by Ellas Hicks and others of doc-
trines at variance with the original principles of the
society. It has been conducted throughout with a
strict reference to the orthodox belief of Friends, and
its comments on events arising in the society, or on
subjects of general interest to the community, may be
regarded as representing the views and feelings of that
large class of those, under the name of Friends, who
adhere to the principles and practices of William Penn
and his associate founders of this commonwealth.
In the first twenty-four years it was under the edi-
torial management of Robert Smith, who died in 1851.
After this period it was edited by a committee, the
duties chiefly devolving upon the late Charles Evans,
M.D. Since his death, in 1879, Joseph Walton, whose
residence is at Moorestown, N. J., has been the editor.
The Saturday Bulletin, " devoted to the difliision
of general intelligence, — literary, moral, and com-
1992
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
mercial," was established in November, 1827. It was
published by Edmund Morris, at No. 95J Chestnut
Street, " three doors above Third Street, north side,"
at two dollars per annum. On the 10th of May, 1830,
the proprietor secured a copyright for his journal,
and in his issue of May 15th announced that the said
" copyright effectually secures to the editor the entire
proprietorship of all the original matter which may
be contained in this paper for fourteen years to come.
Counsel has been taken on the subject, and we are
prepared to institute legal process against all who
may again avail themselves, for their own advantage,
and to the injury of this paper, of that original
matter which has been procured by great labor and
expense for the Saturday BuUefin alone." As the
Bidlefin was a folio newspaper, and not a magazine,
such a course as that pursued by its proprietor was
unusual. John Jay Smith was editor of the Bulhtin
in 1830-32. In its issue of Jan. 7, 1832, the Bulletin
was materially increased in size, its columns being
lengthened as well as widened. On Jan. 5, 1833, the
Saturday Bulletin was merged into the Saturday Even-
ing Post.
Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, " devoted to
the preservation of every kind of useful information
respecting the State," was established Jan. 5, 1828,
and was continued until Dec. 26, 1835. It was edited
by Samuel Hazard. The office of publication was
for many years in Franklin Place, " second door back
of the post-office." Subsequently it was removed to
"No. 61 in the Arcade, West Avenue." The Begister
was printed by William F. Geddes, No. 59 Locust
Street, and afterward at No. 9 Library Street. The
value of this periodical can hardly be estimated. A
vast amount of material of great importance, as well
to the historian as to the student of history, was col-
lected. It was a sixteen-page quarto, of small size,
compactly printed.
The Mechanics' Free Press, a weekly journal
" of practical and useful knowledge," edited by a
committee of the Mechanics' Library Company of
Philadelphia, made its appearance Jan. 12, 1828,
having for its motto this clause of the Declaration
of Independence : " We hold this truth to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal." It was
printed by Garden & Thompson, at No. 6 George
Street, and afterward at No. 6 Bank Alley. The
Free Press was originally a four-page five-column
quarto. The issue of July 19th, however, appeared
as a six-column paper. The Mechanics' and Work-
ing Man's Library-rooms, at which an office for the
Free Press was subsequently opened, were at No. 30
Strawberry Street. It had a fairly prosperous career
for a number of years.
The Daily Chronicle, an afternoon newspaper,
w^as first issued by Charles Alexander and John Mus-
grave, on the 7th of April, 1828. It was published at
No. 112 Chestnut Street, and subsequently at No. 3
Athenian Buildings, Franklin Place. Mr. Alexander
was the printer and business manager, while Mr. Mus-
grave, a vigorous and witty writer, was the editor-
In 1834, the Chronicle was sold to James Gordon Ben-
nett, who had previously been connected with the
Pennsyhanian. He changed the title of the paper to
the Daily Courier, and in its first number made a
violent attack on the famous " Wistar parties." Mr.
Bennett's onslaught was so offensive to the entire
community that in a few weeks the circulation alarm-
ingly decreased. His management of the Courier
was very brief, as it was incorporated with the Penn-
sylvania Inquirer, on the 2d of June, 1834. Mr.
Bennett shook the dust of Philadelphia from his feet
and settled in New York, where he established the
Herald.
The ladies' Literary Portfolio, whose motto
was, " Literature is precious and beautiful where its
brilliance gives ardor to virtue and confidence to
truth," was first issued Dec. 10, 1828. It was in size
a small quarto, and was published by Thomas C.
Clarke, at No. 67 Arcade, West Avenue.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has a history which
is contemporaneous with that of the country itself
for the last fifty-five years, and is, indeed, the faithful
chronicle of that history. When the first number of
The Inquirer was issued the first railroad had only
been constructed, the first locomotive engine was still
the latest wonder and admiration of the world, the
electric telegraph did not exist in practical form, the
ocean steamship was not yet launched, the steam
printing-press, the sewing-machine, and the reaper
were still to be invented.
The first number of the journal, bearing the name
of the Pennsylvania Inquirer, was issued on the 29th
day of June, 1829, at No. 5 Bank Alley (now Gold
Street), "near the Merchants' Coffee-House." The
time seemed to be peculiarly auspicious for the advent
of a new public journal. The principal Democratic
newspaper was in a weakly state. Duane's Aurora,
which had so vigorously assailed the cause of the
Federalists, had sought to sustain itself by absorbing
the Franklin Gazette, which addition did not greatly
strengthen it. One of the editors of The Aurora and
Gazette was John Norvell. He was dissatisfied with
the prospect, and induced John R. Walker, a young
printer, who had just embarked in business, to join
him in the publication of a new paper. The Pennsyl-
vania Inquirer. In its beginning it was small enough
and as little like as possible the generously-propor-
tioned or news-filled Inquirer of to-day ; it was a folio
of six-column pages, the entire sheet measuring
twenty-one by thirty-one inches. The new journal
supported the administration of Andrew Jackson,
and its general policy was presented in an address
"to the public" in the words following: "The true
principles of Democracy which never change, the
unison and harmony of the Democratic party which
are essential to the perpetuation of those principles,
home industries, American manufactories, and internal
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1993
improvements, which so materially contribute to the
agricultural, commercial, and national prosperity,
shall receive our undeviating support." It is worthy
of remark that, while the Democracy has changed its
policy. The Inquirer supports to-day the same prin-
ciples of protection to American industries as it did
on its first day, fifty-five years ago.
Upon that platform the founders continued to con-
duct the new journal for several months, when, in
November of the same year, it passed into the pos-
session of Jesper. Harding, and into it was absorbed
The Democratic Press, the last number of which was
published by John Binns on the 14th of that month.
Jesper Harding, who for thirty years published The
Inquirer, and who was the father of William W.
Harding, the present proprietor, was born in Phila-
delphia on the 5th of November, 1799. In his early
youth he was apprenticed to Enos Bronson, the pub-
lisher of The United States Gazette. Mr. Harding was
so apt a learner of the trade that at the age of sixteen
years he was enabled " to buy his time," and to engage
in the business of printing ujjon his own account.
One of the earliest of Jesper Harding's imprints is
that of the year 1818, and may be found in a pam-
phlet history of the organization of St. Paul's Prot-
estant Episcopal Church. In 1820 Mr. Harding's
printing-office was at No. 336 South Second Street,
which was probably below South Street ; in 1832 he
had removed to No. 74 South Second Street. Prior
to the earlier date he had added to printing the busi-
ness of binding. About the time that Mr. Harding
purchased The Pennsylvania Inquirer he began the
publication of Bibles, which subsequently grew to be
an enormous business, especially after the control of
it was a.ssumed by William W. Harding. The first
Bible published by Jesper Harding was a quarto,
bound in sheep, and sold for one dollar. This edition
was succeeded by others of a costlier character, and
it is estimated that the Messrs. Harding published
during the time they were engaged in the business
several millons of copies of the Bible.
Mr. Harding signalized his assumption of the man-
agement of The Pennsylvania Inquirer by changing it
from a morning to an evening journal, and by the re-
moval of the office of publication to No. 36 Carter's
Alley. The northern end of Jayne's granite Dock
Street building now covers the foundation of his office.
The newspapers of fifty years ago contained little real
news, and the strongest features of The Inquirer were
its editorials, chiefly political, didactic articles, liter-
ary reviews, dramatic criticisms, intermixed with
poetry and tales. The advertisements were largely
displayed, and were suggestions of the public's fer-
vent pictorial taste.
In January, 1830, the publication office was re-
moved to No. 74] South Second Street, " a few doors
above the Merchants' Coflfee-House." On the first
day of the succeeding July, the Morning Journal was
amalgamated with the The Pennsylvania Inquirer,
which was enlarged by the addition of a column to
each of its pages, and again issued in the morning
instead of the afternoon. On the 2d of June, 1834,
Tlte Inquirer absorbed The Daily Courier, uniting the
two titles.
During the heated contest between President Jack-
son and the directors of the Bank of the United
States, The Inquirer attempted the difficult task of
defending the latter while sup])orting the former; but
eventually, when the government deposits were re-
moved from the bank by the order of the President,
The Inquirer arrayed itself with the anti- Jackson fac-
tion of the party, and in 1836 raised the standard of
Harrison and Granger. In the succeeding campaign
of 1840 it still represented the " Harrison Democrats."
Finally, however, the natural independence of The
Inquirer forced it into the Whig party, to the for-
tunes of which it strenuously adhered until its over-
throw in 1852, under the leadership of Gen. Scott.
In 1840 the office was removed to the southeast
corner of Third Street and Carter's Alley, where, sub-
sequently, the iron building, which still stands, was
erected as a publication office for The Inquirer. That
was the first iron front built in Pennsylvania on the
Bogardus plan, though now there are thousands of
them. Shortly after removing into its new quarters,
the paper was enlarged to nine columns, and it took
its place in the Whig party as the confessed rival of
the United States Gazette. But while publishing all
of the news it aimed for a circulation among families,
and general literature was a feature in its pages.
Several of Charles Dickens' novels, among them
" Master Humphrey's Clock" and " Barnaby Kudge,"
were published in The Inquirer for the first time
in this country, the advance sheets having been lib-
erally paid for to the then young author, although
the payment was not compelled by any law or
custom. On the 1st of January, 1842, The Inquirer
absorbed another journal. The National Gazette, and
combined the title with its own. In 1851 the paper
was enlarged to ten columns, and became a vast
" blanket sheet," measuring thirty-two by fifty inches.
In the memorable struggle of 1856, The Inquirer
vigorously supported the Presidential candidacy of
Fillmore against Buchanan and Fremont, the regular
candidates of the Democratic and Free-Soil parties ;
and again, in 1860, it advocated the election of Abra-
ham Lincoln, upon the ground that his election was
demanded. And when, in 1861, the conflict was
begun, by the shot fired at Sumter, The Inquirer took
its place on the side of the government, and remained
one of its strongest and most consistent supporters.
In the fall of 1855, William W. Harding, who had
been carefully trained in the printing and publishing
business, was associated with Jesper Harding in the
publication of the The Inquirer, and since October,
1859, has been the sole proprietor, Jesper Harding
withdrawing from its management at that time. Pre-
vious to the control being assumed by William W.
1994
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Harding, The Inquirer had been conducted upon old-
time principles. The readers were chiefly yearly
subscribers, the price of the paper being eight dollars,
on the old-ftishioned "credit system" in full force.
The journal was an excellent one of the old-school
sort, but lacked vigor and enterprise. The name
was changed to The Philadelphia Inquirer ; the paper
became one of eight pages, of six columns width, and
was the first newspaper successfully published in Phila-
delphia in quarto form. The old custom of seeking
yearly subscribers was abandoned, the price was re-
duced to two cents per copy, and a large increase of
circulation was obtained through the establishment
of the carrier system and the sales by boys upon the
street. Greater attention was directed to the collec-
tion of news by telegraph and mail, and an efficient
corps of reporters was organized who thoroughly col-
lected and chronicled the incidents of city life.
The editorials became livelier, and were devoted
more exclusively to passing events. General litera-
ture, however, still found a place in the columns until
the stirring events of the war required all the space
for their presentation to the public. Supplements
were frequently printed, and in May, 1860, two of four
pages each, profusely illustrated, were issued on the
occasion of the visit of the Japanese embassy to this
country. Under such energetic management The In-
quirer rapidly increased in circulation, and was re-
markable during the Eebellion for its enterprise in
obtaining the news from the armies and ft'om Wash-
ington, for which purpose large sums were expended
for special correspondence. Maps of the " seat of
war" were frequently given.
Liberal provision was made to secure prompt and
regular transmission of The Inquirer to the army, and
it is doubtful whether any other paper in the country
enjoyed as wide a circulation among the soldiers. Not
infrequently from twenty-five to thirty thousand copies
of a single issue were thus distributed. So ample were
the arrangements for insuring prompt circulation that
when any steps were taken in the conduct of the war,
which it was desirable should be widely known in
both armies, a special edition would be ordered by the
government for gratuitous distribution by Tlie In-
quirer's agents. The services rendered by this journal
to the government during this trying period were re-
membered several years afterward, and thus gracefully
acknowledged by one who never indulged in idle
conventional compliments :
" War Department,
"Washington City, Jan. 14, 1868.
*' Mt Dear Sir, — Please accept my thanks for your friendly telegram
just received. I appreciate your kindness highly. From no one have
I received in my official lahors more disinterested and highly-prized sup-
port than from yourself. Its remembrance will always be cherished
with pleasure. Wishing you every success in life, I am, and shall
' Edwin M. Stant
"Truly your
" William W. Hardino, Esq."
The great increase in the cost of paper compelled
a reduction in the size of The hiquirer in December,
1862, and for three months it appeared in the awkward
form of a six-page paper ; but on the 25th of March,
1863, it returned to eight pages, reducing the size of
the paper, however, to five columns, which was con-
tinued until December, 1869, when the present size of
forty-eight columns, double-sheet, was readopted. On
the 29th of August, 1864, the price was increased to
three cents a copy, or fifteen cents a week, but was re-
duced to two cents on the 2d of Januarj-, 1865, at
which price it still continues.
In the latter part of 1861 a six-cylinder Hoe rotary
press was procured, and on the 26th of April, 1862,
The Inquirer was first printed from stereotype plates,
being among the earliest newspapers in the United
States to adopt the process. Paper-folders were also
used at an early day, and shortly after the removal to
the present location, No. 304 Chestnut Street (in
April, 1863), a Bullock press was introduced, being
the first ever put in operation. This was subse-
quently supplemented by two others (one of double
size), but these have all been removed and replaced
by the best form of rapid printing-presses.
Some of those who are now engaged upon The In-
quirer, both in the mechanical and clerical depart-
ments, have been connected with it for between forty
and fifty years. From its ofiice have been graduated
many who were subsequently distinguished in jour-
nalism, literature, and business. The strong hold The
Inquirer has had upon the public for upward of half
a century has been its conservatism in all things. It
has been generally recognized as a thoroughly pure
newspaper, one in which there is no objectionable
reading, either in the advertising or news matter.
The Journal of Health, conducted by an associ-
ation of physicians, was issued on Sept. 9, 1829, for the
first time. Its motto was, " Health, — the poor man's
riches, the rich man's bliss." The proprietor was
Henry H. Porter, whose publication office was at No.
108 Chestnut Street. It was issued every two weeks,
and was a sixteen-page magazine, octavo in size.
The Morning Journal was established in 1829.
It was a small commercial paper, published by Wil-
j liam Brown, in Carter's Alley, next door to the office
of the Inquirer. Its career as a distinct journal was
brief, as it was merged into the Inquirer on the 1st of
July, 1880.
The Banner of the Constitution, a weekly journal,
was established in the city of New York, on the first
Wednesday of December, 1829, where its publication
was continued until May, 1831. In the issue of April
13th the editor announced his intention to remove his
establishment to Philadelphia. In this announce-
ment of a change of base, he stated that, "as Penn-
sylvania is without a single paper bold enough to
speak out the language of truth in the strong terms
befitting the actual crisis of affairs, we have resolved
to transfer our establishment to Philadelphia, and to
resume our old position on the field of battle." It is
not difiBcult to imagine the nature of his reception
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1995
from the press of Philadelphia. The first issue of the
Banner of the Constitution in this city was on May 4,
1831. It opened a vigorous free-tr;ule campaign at
the very outset, and did not enjoy a prolonged career.
The Protestant Episcopalian and Church Reg-
ister, "dcvcited to the interests of religicjn in the
Protestant Episcopal Church," and edited by an ;isso-
ciation of clergymen, was first issued in January,
1830. Its motto was "Pro Deo, pro Eccleda, pro
Hominum Salute." It was published by Jesper Hard-
ing, at first at No, 36 Carter's Alley, then at No. 74.],
and afterward at No. 74 South Second Street. In the
beginning of 1838, the magazine passed into the hands
of John S. Littell, who published it at No. 11 George
Street. It was from the beginning a forty-page octavo.
The character of the publication was changed at the
close of the year, and on Jan. 5, 1839, the first num-
ber of volume first of The Banner of the Cross, a. weekly
paper, was issued.
Die PhUadelphischer Correspondent und Allge-
meiner Deutscher Anzeiger was issued for the first
time on Jan. 2, 1830, Ijy J. C. Gosler at No. 72 Wood
Street, near the southeast corner of Fourth Street.
This paper, wdiich was issued twice a week, on Wednes-
days and Saturdays, was practically a continuation
of the Amerikanischer Correspondent, also published
by Gosler, which had been suspended a few days
previously. The PhUadelphischer Correspondent was
printed by Alexander A. Blumer.
The Literary Portfolio was established Jan. 7,
1830, by Eliakim Littell & Brother, who published it
at the corner of Seventh and Chestnut Streets. It was
issued weekly. From May 27, 1830, it was published
by Jesper Harding, at No. 36 Carter's Alley, and No.
74.} South Second Street.
The Pioneer was issued for the first time March 6,
1830. It was published every Saturday by W. Weeks
& J. Perry, Military Hall, Library Street, at one dol-
lar per annum. A specialty was made of items of
particular interest to militiamen. At the beginning
of the second volume, March 5, 1831, the paper was
increased by the lengthening of the page and the ad-
dition of a fifth column to each page. The full title
of the ournal then became the American Pioneer and
Military Chronicle. In the issue of Dec. 31, 1831, the
sub-title was changed to the Fireman's Chronicle.
The issue of Dec. 3, 1831, was from No. 134 Locust
Street, above Tenth, the publication office having
been removed to that place. The paper was not long
in existence.
The Germantown Telegraph was first issued in
Germantown on the 17th of March, 1830, by its late
proprietor, Philip R. Freas, and from that time up to
the present day it has regularly appeared every week.
Mr. Freas served a full five years' apprenticeship to
the printing business in the office of the Norristown
Herald, then published by David Saur, Jr., a grand-
son of Christopher Saur, who printed in German-
town the first Bible ever issued in America. Mr.
Freas learned the business with a view of starting a
newspaper in Germantown, although he had not re-
ceived the slightest encouragement from any inhabi-
tant of that place. The entire material of the print-
ing office was obtained of Jedediah Howe, a type-
founder, located at the corner of Crown and Callowhill
Streets, Philadelphia. A prospectus was hung up in
most of the stores and taverns of Germantown some
weeks before the journal was issued, and was signed
by about thirty' persons, four of whom are still sub-
scribers. Of the original subscribers, numbering
about four hundred, over one-fourth were delinquent
in their payments. The paper was named Telegraph,
after the United States Telegraph, a daily published
in Washingtoij by Gen. Duff Green. The size of
the sheet originally used was fourteen by twenty-two
inches, each page containing five columns ; and small
as these dimensions were, compared with newspapers
of the present day, the Telegraph, was at that time one
of the largest journals in Pennsylvania. Six enlarge-
ments of the Telegraph have taken place at different
periods until it reached its present dimensions on the
25th of October, 1865, each increase in size being
made on account of its growing advertising patronage.
On the 1st day of August, 1883, in the fifty-fourth
year of his editorial career, Philip R. Freas sold the
Germantown Telegraph to Henry W. Raymond, of New
York, son of the noted journalist, Henry J. Raymond,
proprietor of the New York Times. Under the uew
management the Telegraph continues to be conducted
in the same successful and acceptable manner which
marked its previous prolonged and prosperous career.
It was the first newspaper in the United States to reg-
ularly devote a portion of its space to agricultural
topics, and the valuable information of this kind
which it imparts continues to be one of its leading
features.
Godey's Lady's Book, the oldest monthly publica-
tion of its class in America, was established in Phila-
delphia in the month of July, 1830, by Louis A.
Godey. At that time the population of the United
States was twelve millions, and the modes of travel
were limited to the canal-boat, packet-vessel, and
post-roads, thus circumscribing to a very great extent
the circulation of the book. Its colored fashion-plates
were, however, a novel feature at that time, and soon
gained for it a popularity that exceeded any other
publication of that date, and its circulation steadily
increased until it reached the enormous figures (for
that day) of one hundred and fifty thousand a month.
It has always been noted as a magazine of a high lit-
erary tone, and has been a stepping-stone in the world
of letters for some of the most eminent writers of
whom our country boasts. In its pages are to be
found the early eflforts of such well-known writers as
Bayard Taylor, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James T.
Field, Henry W. Longfellow, Edgar Allen Poe, Emma
Willard, Lydia H. Sigourney, Eliza Leslie, Mrs.
Washington Potts, Charlotte Cushman, Harriet
1996
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Beecher Stowe, Frances Sargent Osgood, Marion
Harland, and many others.
In the year 1877, Mr. Godey, in consequence of in-
creasing years and family bereavements, disposed of the
Lady's Book, retiring with an immense fortune. From
1877 to 1883 the magazine passed through the critical
period of its existence, sudden death and personal
troubles of a domestic and physical nature seeming
to assail the families of those who had become suc-
cessors of Mr. Godey, and in consequence the Book
made a general decline. At the commencement of
1883, however, a better fortune seemed to smile upon
the old publication, when it again changed hands
and began to steadily improve and regain its old-
time popularity. The present proprietor, J. H. Hau-
lenbeek, brought to the publication an amount
of business energy, capi-
tal, and enterprise that
has placed it again in the
front ranks of magazine
literature. Its new letter- •
press, its profuse steel,
lithograph, and process-
engravings, are strong evi-
dences of its enterprise.
The present publication
oifice is at 1006 Chestnut
Street.
The Pennsylvania
Whig, " devoted to poli-
tics, news, literature, po-
litical economy, and popu-
lar education," made its
advent Aug. 13, 1830. Its
motto was, " Equal Rights,
Honest Agents, and an
Enlightened People." It
was published by Stephen
Simpson, twice a week ; its
publication office being in
Franklin Place, the first
house in the rear of the
post-office. The ITAtj/ vig-
orously supported the Presidential candidacy of Henry
Clay. In his prospectus the publisher set forth that
" the object of the Pennsylvania Whig is the advocacy
of what has emphatically been termed the policy of
Pennsylvania, or the American system. It shall ad-
vocate the protection of home industry by an adequate
tariff, the promotion of internal improvements by roads
and canals, the diffusion of knowledge by a universal
system of popular education, and sustain and defend
every wise measure, sound policy, and healthful insti-
tution that contributes to add to American wealth, de-
velop American resources, strengthen native talent, or
exalt our national character."
The Sunday-School Journal and Advocate of
Christian Education was started on Nov. 24, 1830.
It was a large folio, and was issued weekly. In the
following year it absorbed the American Sunday-
School Magazine, which was originally issued in July,
1824. In 1834, The Sunday -School Journal was re-
duced in size and price and changed from a weekly
to a semi-monthly periodical, and continued for many
years at the then " extremely low price" of twenty-
five cents per year. These papers, which had been
established by the American Sunday-School Union,
were edited by Frederick A. Packard. In 1859, The
Sunday-School Journal was followed by The Sunday-
School ^-Times, a large folio, of the same size as the
Journal of 1832-34, issued weekly, at one dollar per
year, and edited by John S. Hart. After about
two years it was transferred to the editor and others,
to be issued as a private enterprise, and the union
began The Suwl,iy-Sehnol World.
The Pennsylvania
Sentinel was established
in 1830, by John R.
Walker, who had founded
and disposed of the Penn-
sylvania Inquirer within
the previous year. The
Pennsylvania Sentinel was
subsequently united with
the Commercial Herald,
which afterward merged
into The North American.
The Cent, the first
American newspaper pub
lished for one cent, was
first issued in 1830 (or
perhaps a year or two
earlier), by Dr. Christo-
pher Columbus Conwell.
The Cent was short-lived,
and only a few numbers
were issued. In fact. Dr.
Conwell died in 1882. The
publication office of The
Cent was in Second Street,
LOUIS A. uoDKY. below Dock. Dr. Conwell
was born in Ireland. His
father, who was a surgeon in the British army, having
been ordered to India, and his mother being dead, he
was sent to this country in his youth, and committed
to the care of his grand-uncle, who was then the
Roman Catholic Bishop of Philadelphia. He re-
ceived his collegiate education at Mount St. Mary's
and Georgetown Colleges, and graduated in medicine
at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a young
man of fine intellectual powers. Many admirable
contributions from his pen are to be found in the cur-
rent magazines of that day. His death in the summer
of 1832 was due to cholera, an epidemic of which was
then raging.
The Herald of Truth, "devoted to liberal Chris-
tianity, science, literature, and miscellaneous intelli-
gence," was issued for the first time on Jan. 1, 1831.
THE PKESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1997
It was published every Saturday by M. T. C. Gould,
No. 6 North Eighth Street, with a branch oflSce at
No. 420 Pearl Street, New York. It was a quarto
publication, of a religious character, with decidedly
liberal tendencies. It was not in existence a very
long while.
The Philadelphia'er Telegraph und Deutsches
Wochenblatt, published twice a week, on Wednes-
day and Saturday, was issued for the first time on
Jan. 8, 1831. It was edited and published by Alex-
ander A. Blumer,-at the northwest corner of Fourth
and Callowhill Streets, who, in the previous year,
was interested in the publication of the Philadd-
p/iixcher Correspondei; also a German semi-weekly
paper.
The Presbyterian first appeared Feb. 16, 1831,
under the editorial management of the Rev. John
Burtt. He was a gentleman of extensive scholarship,
and exceedingly laborious in his vocation. At the
end of the first year of its existence it was found that
there was a balance of $1286.85 against The Presby-
terian, which had to be made up by private subscrip-
tions. Like many similar enterprises, it had not paid
its way. Mr. Burtt retired from his post Nov. 21,
1832, after filling it less than two years. He was suc-
ceeded by the Rev. Dr. James W. Alexander, after-
ward so favorably known in the church for his emi-
nent scholarship, his pastoral success, and admirable
published works. The first number of the paper
issued under bis management was dated Nov. 28, 1832,
and after continuing about one year he retired, Jan.
9, 1834. At that date The Presbyterian had embar-
rassed the publishers with a debt of some thousands
of dollars. The firm of Russell & Martien, which had
published the paper from the beginning, was dissolved
by mutual consent. May 1, 1834, Mr. Martien con-
tinuing to carry on the business. Early in 1834, Rev.
Dr. William M. Engles became the editor-in-chief of
the journal, and from that period it prospered. Indeed,
the annual increase of the subscription-list was steady
and unfaltering until the Southern Rebellion cut off
some thousands of subscribers, and then the paper
had to depend entirely on Northern support. In a
short time, however, this loss was far more than re-
paired.
In March, 1852, Rev. Dr. John Leyburn became
part owner in Tlie Presbyterian, as well as an associate
editor. Dr. Leyburn being a Virginian by birth, and
having cast his fortunes with the South at the out-
break of the civil war, sold his interest in the paper
to Alfred Martien, who had succeeded his father as
publisher, on the 7th of August, 1861. At this time
Rev. M. B. Grier became associated in the editorial
management of The Presbyterian.
The long and faithful service of Dr. Engles as the
editor of The Presbyterian, covering a period of thirty
years, was terminated, in 1864, by his death. The
conduct of the paper then fell to the hand of the
present senior editor, who, with some strong helpers.
carried it on during the years when the discussions
arising out of the proposed union of the Presbyterian
Churches were most earnest. The general position of
The Presbyterian at that time was that of opposition to
the reunion until the "Standards," as the final bitsis
of union, were reached, when opposition was changed
to willing consent. After the reunion Rev. Dr. E. E.
Adams was for a time an editor of this paper. But
his health was precarious then, and in a little more
than a year he was forced to desist from the labor of
writing, and his death soon followed. Then The Pres-
byterian again returned to the hands of Rev. Dr. M.
B. Grier, and continued there until in 1873, when the
interest of Alfred Martien in The Presbyterian was
purchased by Rev. Dr. S. A. Mutchmore, who thus
became a proprietor and editor, and so remains unto
the present time.
The Saturday Courier was commenced in May,1831.
It was published by Woodward & Spragg, back of No.
112 Chestnut Street, opposite the post-office. It was
the largest weekly journal in Philadelphia, and con-
tained more news-reading than any of its contempo-
raries, aflTording, at the same time, the most compre-
hensive and varied character in its selections. A co-
pious epitome of domestic affairs was embraced in its
contents, including the local concerns of general
interest of all the principal cities of the Union. For
foreign intelligence and commercial news, the Courier
had the advantage of an extensive correspondence in
Loudon and Liverpool. The domestic and European
markets were given down to the latest hour. Morton
McMichael was the original editor, and for several
years conducted the paper. The price of subscription
was two dollars per annum. The Courier finally
passed into the hands of Messrs. McMakin & Holden.
When Holden died, McMakin claimed ownership of
the good will of the paper by right of survivorship.
This claim involved a lawsuit, which was decided in
favor of Mrs. Holden. A receiver was appointed and
ordered to sell the paper's good will. It brought a
very high sura, McMakin being the purchaser. It
resulted in a heavy loss to him, as pretty much all the
old subscribers of the Courier deserted him, and the
jjaper became worthless, financially. Before the sale
he had established the American Courier, afterward
called McMakin's Model Couner.
The Lutheran Observer was first issued in 1831.
Its origin was as follows : In March, 1826, Rev. D. F.
Schaeffer, D.D., issued at Frederick, Md., the first
number of The Lutheran Intelligencer, which was the
first Lutheran periodical published in America. It
was a small octavo monthly, and was continued for
five years, until March, 1831, when it was suspended,
but was soon reissued in the same year as a semi-
monthly, under the name of The Lutheran Observer.
The first few numbers were printed at Gettysburg,
Pa., and were edited by Professor S. S. Schmucker,
D.D., but it was soon transferred to Rev. J. G. Morris,
D.D., of Baltimore, who assumed charge of it as editor
1998
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and proprietor. In 1833, Dr. Morris transferred it to
Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, D.D., who then became its
editor and proprietor, and issued it in the form of a
small weekly. In 1840 it was sold to the Lutheran
Book Company of Baltimore, and in 1853 it was trans-
ferred to the Synod of Maryland, Dr. Kurtz continu-
ing to be its editor. After several changes of pro-
prietors and editors, it was purchased in 1862 by Revs.
F. R. Anspach, George Diehl, and F. W. Conrad, who
conducted it for several years as joint editors. In 1866
it was transferred to the Lutheran Observer Associa-
tion, organized for the purpose, and removed from
Baltimore to Philadelphia, where it was conducted by
Rev. F. W. Conrad, D.D., as editor, and Rev. Theoph-
ilus Stork, D.D., and Rev. E. W. Hutter, D.D., as asso-
ciate editors. In 1870, Drs. Stork and Hutter retired
from the paper, and Professor V. L. Conrad, Ph.D.,
became associate editor, and continues in that posi-
tion to the present time.
Since its removal to Philadelphia, the Observer has
been enlarged from a moderate folio to a large eight-
page quarto, in which form it now appears.
The Lutheran Observer is the organ of the General
Synod, and represents the more liberal and progres-
sive portion of the Lutheran Church in America, as
distinct from the General Council and other general
Lutheran bodies, which are more conservative and
strictly confessional, and which endeavor to main-
tain the exclusive spirit and usages of the Lutheran
Church in Germany and other countries of Europe.
The Observer is the oldest, most widely circulated,
and influential English Lutheran paper published in
America.
The Sunday Gazette was started in 1831, — it may
have been a year or two earlier, — by Alexander Turn-
bull. His venture was not successful, only six or
eight numbers having been issued.
The Philadelphia Liberalist, the editor and pro-
prietor of which was Rev. Zelotes Fuller, was first
issued June 9, 1832. Its prospectus set forth, — "The
Philadelphia Liberalist will consist of sermons, reviews,
brief illustrations of Scripture, moral essays, historical
sketches, religious intelligence generally, poetry, and
chaste miscellaneous reading." It was a folio sheet,
and was issued weekly. It was printed by J. Rich-
ards, at No. 13 Church Alley, the office of the editor
being at No. 86 Callowhill Street, and afterward at
No. 240 North Fifth Street.
The Pennsylvanian, for twenty-five years a Demo-
cratic daily newspaper of great force and influence,
was established July 9, 1832, by Mifiiin & Parrj-, by
whom it was conducted for several years with great
success. During its long and varied career The Penn-
sylvanian passed through many changes of proprietors,
editors, location, size, price, etc. William H. Hope
was the publisher of it for many years, as was J. M.
Cooper, he being the editor also for a while ; and so
was William Magill, William Rice at the same time
being the proprietor. Among the early editors of The
Pennsylvanian was James Gordon Bennett, -who sub-
sequently went to New York and founded the Herald.
After him came Joseph C. Neal, the well-known
Quaker City journalist, who afterward, with Morton
McMichael, established the Saturday Gazette, which
paper he owned at the time of his death, July 18,
1847. In 1845, John W. Forney sold the Lancaster
Intelligencer and removed to Philadelphia, having
been appointed deputy surveyor of the port by Presi-
dent Polk. At the same time he purchased a half-
interest in The Pennsylvanian and became its editor,
which position he retained until 1853. After him, as
editor, came Edward G. Webb. In its early days The
Pennsylvanian was published at No. 17 Arcade, west
avenue, at the outset; then from No. 99 (old number)
South Second Street, "opposite Merchants' Coffee-
House." Afterward the publication office was at the
southwest corner of Dock and Walnut Streets, and
later it was at No. 78 (old number) South Third
Street. The subscription price of The Pennsylvanian
varied as greatly as did any feature of that paper,
falling from eight dollars per annum to four dollars,
and rising again to six dollars. During a period of
the history of the paper there was a tri-weekly as well
as a weekly issue. The influence exerted by The
Pennsylvanian in its day, not only in the city and
State but in the nation at large, was veiy extended.
It was, indeed, an important factor in all political
movements of interest to the Democratic party. Its
prosperity was long-continued. In its issue of Nov.
23, 1854, is this editorial announcement: " During the
last six months The Pennsylvanian has trebled its daily
circulation, and its tri-weekly and weekly editions
have advanced in the same ratio. Its circulation in
Pennsylvania exceeds that of any other city paper
but the Ledger, and in several of the Southern and
Southwestern States it has no competitor." The Penn-
sylvanian finally went out of existence in 1861, upon
the outbreak of the Rebellion.
The Cholera Gazette, a weekly octavo publica-
tion, was commenced on July 11, 1832, by George W.
Dixon, " the great American buffo singer," and was
concluded on Nov. 21, 1832. It was published by
Carey, Lea & Blanchard.
The Daily Express, a small four-page sheet, was
started on Aug. 1, 1832. The publication office was
originally at No. 95 Chestnut Street, but was shortly
afterward removed to No. 65 Chestnut Street, " nearly
opposite the American CoSee-House." It was pub-
lished by Edmund Morris. Its main purpose was to
give a daily report of cholera cases, as an epidemic of
that disease was then raging. It went out of exist-
ence after a brief career of a few weeks.
The Messenger is the organ of the "Reformed
Church in the United States," commonly known as
the German Reformed Church. It was established
in 1832, and published at Chambersburg, Pa., until
the burning of that place in 1864, when it was re-
moved to Philadelphia, and has since been issued from
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
1999
the church's publication rooms, No. 907 Arch Street.
The editor-in-chief is elected by the joint votes of
the different Synods, and his position is official. Rev.
P. S. Davis, D.D., has occupied this position since
1876. The Messenger is an eight-page sheet, and is
published weekly.
The Daily InteUigencer made its appearance
Dec. 1, 1832. The second and third numbers were
issued on the 6th and 7th respectively. The fourth
number came out on the 10th. Thereafter the daily
publication was regular. The publisher was Robert
T. Conrad. In the prospectus issued it was announced
that " The political course of the InteUigencer will be
calm and independent, decided but moderate. It
will advocate the principles of Jeffersonian Democ-
racy, sustain the regular nominations of the Demo-
cratic party, and support the present administrations
of the general and State governments." The Intelli-
gencer was a five-column, four-page folio, neat in
typographical appearance, and was published at five
dollars per annum. The publication olfice was at
No. 51 Chestnut Street, above Second.
Waldie's Select Circulating Library, " contain-
ing the best popular literature, including memoirs,
biography, novels, tales, travels, voyages, etc.," was
published by Adam Waldie, at No. 6 North Eighth
Street, Jan. 15, 1833. It was issued weekly, and was
simply a serial publication of standard literary works.
The publication office was subsequently removed to
No. 207 Chestnut Street, "below Seventh," and later
to No. 46 Carpenter Street. John Jay Smith was the
editor.
The American Lancet, edited by F. S. Beattie,
and published every two weeks, by Turner & Son,
had its origin Feb. 23, 1833. It was not in existence
a long while.
The Spy in Philadelphia and Spirit of the Age
had its inception on July 6, 1833. It was a weekly,
containing eight quarto pages. It was published at
two dollars per annum, by William Hill & Co., at
No. 1 Athenian Buildings. Its character can be best
understood from the following extract from the pub-
lishers' prospectus : " As the direction and discussion
of measures of national and State policy are the busi-
ness of the daily press, . . . the consequence is that
vices, shielded by wealth and worldly influence, are
abroad among the people, not only unsuspected, but
courted and required, and that a publication is neces-
sary which will not only detect but exhibit these
wolves in sheep's clothing, — a mark by which others
will be warned from their intent, and a service be
rendered to societj-." It had but a brief existence.
The Aurora, being a revival of the suspended
Aurora, which was instituted in 1790, was issued for
the first time July 4, 1834. In the second number,
issued July 19th, there are these announcements,
among others : " The Aurora is revived to sustain the
principles which obtained for it the confidence of the
country, when the public liberties were menaced, in
1798. . . . Numbers will be issued, at convenient
times, till the subscription shall be adequate to the
expenditure, when the paper will issue daily without
any further notice." The motto of the Aurora was
"Knowledge, Liberty, Utility, Representation, Re-
sponsibility." It was a fair-sized quarto, and was
published by William Duane, a name indissolubly
associated with the career of the earlier Aurora.
The Advocate of Science and Annals of Natural
History was first published in August, 1834. It was
conducted by William P. Gibbons, at the southwest
corner of Sixth and Cherry Streets.
The Gentleman's Vade-Mecum, or the Sporting
and Dramatic Companion, a weekly perindical, made
its appearance Jan. 1, 1835. It was published by
Charles Alexander, at the Athenian Buildings, Frank-
lin Place. The price of subscription was three dollars
a year. The Vade-Mecum was an eight-page, five-
column quarto, and was a miscellaneous sporting jour-
nal, but made a specialty of dramatic and turf inter-
ests. It published a number of original dramas, as
well as many pieces of music. It also contained oc-
casional illustrations, chiefly portraits of celebrated
racing horses. It was issued for the last time on June
25, 1836. On that day Mr. Alexander announced its
sale to Messrs. Louis A. Godey, Joseph C. Neal, and
Morton McMichael, who merged it into the Saturday
News and Literary Gazette, which was established on
the following Saturday, July 2, 1836. Joseph C. Neal
was the editor of the Vade-Mecum during its career of
a year and a half.
The Radical Reformer and Workingman's Ad-
vocate, a W'Cekly publication, sixteen-page octavo,
was started June 13, 1835, being edited and published
by Thomas Brothers, at No. 124 South Front- Street.
In October, and thereafter, the publication was issued
every two weeks. It was not in existence very long.
The Botanic Sentinel and Literary Gazette, a
weekly quarto pulilication, had its origin on Aug. 12,
1835, and was published until June 15, 1840, J. Coates
being the publisher. In 1837 the title became The
Philadelphia Botanic Sentinel and Thomsonian Medical
Revolution ; and in 1839, The Philadelphia Thomsonian
Sentinel and Family Journal of Useful Knowledge. The
editor for a portion of this period was M. Mattson.
The periodical was issued semi-monthly for the last
three years of its career.
The Daily Transcript was first issued in Septem-
ber, 1835, by William L. Drane. With the exception
of The Cent, published about five years before, the
Daily Transcript was the first one cent daily news-
paper ever printed in this city. Mr. Drane only
issued a few numbers at this time, " for the purpose,"
as he said, " of feeling the pulse of the public on the
subject of a daily penny paper." The result of the
experiment surely could not have been very gratify-
ing. Mr. Drane was not dismayed, however, as in
February, 1836, he began the regular edition of the
Transcript. Before the expiration of this year, 1836,
2000
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the journal was merged into the Public Ledger, which
had been established in March of the year named.
The Independent Weekly Press, whose motto
was " The Right of Free Discussion, given to us by
our God, and guarded by the laws of our countrj-,"
was issued for the first time Dec. 5, 1835. The second
issue was on Jan. 9, 1836, and it was published weekly
thereafter. It was intended to be a " literary paper."
It was edited by Lewis C. Gunn.
The Puhlic Ledger was first issued Friday, March
25, 1836, from Nos. 38 and 39 of the Arcade, by Wil-
liam M. Swain, Arunah S. Abell, and Azariah H.
Simmons, associated under the firm-name of Swain,
Abel! & Simmons. It was a penny sheet, fifteen and
a half by twenty-one and a half inches, with four
columns to a page. In the then condition of journal-
ism the odds seemed heavily against the success of
the enterprise, but its projectors were men of that
brave and self-reliant character best fitted to carry
such an undertaking to the highest point of achieve-
ment. In their "opening address" they announced
their object to be —
" to render it a vehicle of general and useful intelligence, adapted to
the wants and interests of the community generally. ^Vhile its cheap-
ness places it within the reach of the poorest artisan or laborer, we
shall endeavor to furnish to the merchant and manufacturer the earliest
and most useful information relating to their respective interests. . . .
We shall give place to no religious discussions, nor to political discus-
sions involving questions of merely partisan character. The Ledger
will worship no men, and be devoted to no parties. On all political
principles and questions involving the common good it will speak
freely, yet temperately. The common good is its object, and in seeking
this object it will have especial regard to the moral and intellectual im-
provement of the laboring classes, the great sinew of all civilized
communities. While this paper shall worship no man, it shall vituper-
ate none. It will be fearless and independent, applauding virtue and
reproving vice whenever found, unawed by station, uninfluenced by
wealth."
This was independence rather than neutrality, but,
firmly and honestly adhered to, it was a revolution in
the journalism of 1835-40.
These bold innovators were all young men without
capital, and possessed only of a trade and a character.
They knew how to print a paper, and they meant to
print an honest one, according to their idea of what
a newspaper ought to be. Two of them developed
into men of extraordinary character for untiring per-
severance, sound business principles, and unyielding
tenacity of purpose. Mr. Swain with the Ledger, and
Mr. Abell with the BaHimore Sun, following the same
course and governed by the same principles, attained
a success in their profession as well as in their busi-
ness afiairs which but few men have reached in this
country. These two papers were for many years so
closely connected that in tracing the growth of one
it is almost impossible to lose sight of the other. In
reviewing the extraordinary results which richly re-
warded Swain, Abell & Simmons in their newspaper
adventures, it must be remembered that when they
began their career the financial condition of the coun-
try was not one of prosperity, encouraging men to
make costly and expensive outlays of money, and in-
ducing the business community to widen and extend
trade by advertising. The "flush times" had ex-
pended their evil influence, and the consequences were
slowly but surely gathering that strength which within
less than two years after the first number of the Led-
ger, March 25, 1836, and within one year after the
first number of The Sun, May 17, 1837, were issued
threatened the whole country with bankruptcy. It
was, therefore, a venture of great hazard to begin the
publication of one newspaper with little or no capi-
tal, but it seems rashness itself when two newspapers
were launched by the same impecunious individuals,
with the bold avowal by each that " the publication
of this paper will be continued for one year at least."
During the first year of their publication neither of
these newspapers gave much evidence of that enter-
prise and push which have since been so characteristic
of their management. A glance over the first volume
of The Ledger shows that it gave scarcely anything of
local news, except police reports, unless something
startling excited the community, calling for special
mention ; the news columns were meagre, the mails
supplying the only medium for collection of passing
events, — the telegraph was the invention of subse-
quent years, nor did the lightning and express
trains of the present day enable the news editor of
fifty years ago to publish the events of one day in
his paper of the next. Local reporting had not
commenced to be the science to which it has grown
in late years. The art of epitome, the science of
condensation, had not then been learned by any of
the newspapers. Nor did it spring spontaneous in
the new enterprises of the Messrs. Swain, Abell &
Simmons. Reporting the proceedings of the Legis-
lature and of Congress had not then been introduced,
and W.ishington City papers by mail brought the
proceedings of Congress, which scissors and paste
transferred in an unabridged form, except only
where the space of the penny sheet compelled their
curtailment. But this soon changed ; the year 1837-
38 inaugurated a new system. The President's mes-
sage of December, 1838, was printed in Baltimore, at
T/ie Sun oflice, on the same day that it was read in
Congress, anticipating its sixpenny contemporaries
by two days. The same enterprise extended to The
Ledger, and news was procured, condensed, and
printed before the "blanket sheets" were aware of its
occurrence. The observing public, learning where
the earliest news was to be obtained, gave such
patronage to the penny Ledger that its first year's
results required enlarged accommodation, and a re-
moval to the northwest corner of Second and Dock
Streets, with an increase of size to eighteen by
twenty-four inches, with five columns on a page.
Soon a double-cylinder " pony" press was purchased,
and The Ledger exhibited those evidences of vitality
which soon had the desired effect of making the paper
sought after ; and to such an extent did its fearless
criticism sting the guiltj- that " some villainous
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2001
scoundrel or scoundrels made a cowardly attack on
the office, demolishing several panes of glass, and in-
flicting somewhat more serious injury to the interior."
The paper had become a power within the land,
and within less than a year had the courage to criti-
cise the judge, jury, counsel, and witnesses in the
trial which grew out of the murder of Helen Jewett,
in New York. Its editorials on this subject were
marked by their vigor and legal learning, but they
were so bold, in the opinion of more conservative
publicists, that the latter gave it the name of the
" virulent little sheet." But it ])ursued its chosen
path, and soon scored another popular victory. A
firm of cabinet-makers was charged with ill treatment
of and furnishing insufficient food to its apprentices,
who appealed to the recorder of the city, then pos-
sessing judicial powers, and had their indentures can-
iiled. The Ledger was fortunate enough to incur its
first libel suit by suggesting, in reference to this firm,
that "nobody surely who is aware of their meanness
will do business with them." It became immensely
popular by its appeal in this case to " the jury of the
people," and no opportunity was left unimproved to
make the people understand that it knew no interest
too high tor its assault when the public good de-
manded the attack. Independent rather than neutral,
it never avoided the discussion of political questions
involving the general welfare. The Abolition riots in
1838, in which Pennsylvania Hall, where the anti-
slavery lecture was to have been delivered by Rev. G.
Storrs, was wrecked and burned by the mob, called
forth the most vigorous protests trom the Ledger. In |
an article entitled " Scandalous Outrage against Law, j
as well as against Decency," it said, " If the right of i
discussion upon any subject — a right made common to |
all by our Constitution and laws, both State and Fed- \
eral — may be invaded with impunity, all freedom
among us is abolished, and we are the slaves of the
very worst of all tyrants, the mob," and apprehending
still further danger, it urged the mayor to call out the
volunteer companies, "with bayonet and ball car-
tridges," saying, " Better is it that all the ruffians in
our city, even were they a hundred thousand, instead
of three thousand, should bite the dust and leave
their blood run deep in the streets, than that the
great principle of freedom of speech and the press
be surrendered." It is impossible now to measure the
degree of responsibility which such outspoken, vig-
orous language involved in the heated times of aboli-
tion excitement. The Ledger entertained no sympathy
with abolition in its earlier days; neither did it share
in that strong prejudice against colored people which
culminated in the shameful riots of 1838 and other
years ; but the right of free speech and free press be-
longed to the public good, — they were the inestimable
jewels of the community, and as such, whenever in-
vaded, for any cause, should receive the vigorous
defense of The Ledger.
The courageous course of the paper received the
warmest congratulations of law-abiding people, which
were increased in consequence of the article on " The
Rule of the Law, and the Rule of the Mob," pub-
lished after the <listurbauce had ceased, the paper
holding that "In all cases of apprehemled disturbance
of order the only safe course is found in the most
vigorous measures of prevention, in presenting before
the rioters begin an array of force sufficient to con-
vince them that capture and punishment are certain."
The Ledger early advocated the noble duty of " scratch-
ing" from the party ticket the names of uufit candi-
dates, and it may be mentioued in this connection
that it fought steadfastly for the present method of
numbering the houses and the nomenclature of the
streets.
In 1840, " City Gleanings," or local news items, were
introduced, their collector and writer being Charles
Ritter, who prepared them in the distinctive and clever
fashion which gained for him the name of "The Orig-
inal Ledger Man." On July 1st of the same year,
Joseph Sailer, who continued so long at the head of
the financial columns, wrote its first money article.
"Twenty-seven years ago this day," said Mr. Sailer,
in the " Money Market" of the Ledger, Monday, July
1, 1867,—
"the first money market appeared in the columna of the Ledger. It
was penned by tlie same band that writes this paragraph, and the de-
partment from that day to this has been continuously in charge of the
same person ; and as evidence of general good health and application,
it may be mentioned that no two successive numbers of the Lfrrfyer in
the time mentioued liave been published without matter furnished by
him to that department. Averaging the department at one column per
day, gives three hundred and twelve columns per year, and as each of
these columns of close reading is fully equnl to five octavo book pages
in ordinary book type, we have as the annual product fifteen hundred
and sixty pages, in twenty-seven years equal to eighty-four volumes of
five hundred pages each, enough to fill a very respectable book-case."
Continuing the retrospect, Mr, Sailer in the same
article says, —
" When this department was commenced in the Ledger on the 1st day
of July, 1840, the'edition was about fifteen thousand daily, and allowing
five readers to each paper, it was from the beginning addressed to sev-
enty-five thousand persons daily ; and at tliat rate for the three hundred
and twelve publishing days of the year, the number was increased to
nearly twenfy three and a half mUlions. This wa^ for one year, when the
circulation was at the smallest. It has steadily increased from that
time to the present, and by the same rule of five readers to each copy of
the paper (many of the copies are read by twice that number/ there is
now a daily audience to the teachings of its columns of three hundred
and fifty thousand persons, which number, multiplied by three hundred
and twelve publishing days of the year, gives over one hundred and nine
millions as readers of its contents in one year,"
Truly the builders of the Ledge?' '* builded better than
they knew." The readers of the "' little virulent
sheet" in those twenty-seven years, Mr. Sailer goes on
to show, aggregated "two thousand one hundred and
six millions. These figures equal the population of
the world, and nearly equal the sum of our national
debt in dollars; but, unlike the volume of that debt,
which is steadily rolling backward, the circulation and
the readers of the contents of the Ledger are steadily
on the increase,"
On May 9, 1840, the paper was enlarged to six
2002
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
columns on a page, and the sheet to twenty by twenty-
nine inches, and the office was removed October 12th
to the southwest corner of Third and Chestnut Streets.
Though the Ledger was fully abreast of the best
mechanical appliances of the day, yet in 1840 it was
published in a small, low building, unattractive in
appearance, and most poorly appointed in all its
mechanical departments, though up to the average
of that time. The press-room, occupied by one double
cylinder-press, driven by a small engine, was on the
same floor with the publication office, but imme-
diately at the rear. The editorial and composing-
rooms were upon the second and only other floor
used of the building. For the editors and reporters,
about six feet of the front second story were parti-
tioned off", and this again was divided, the sanctum
sanctorum being at the extreme corner, — a sort of
closet three and a half by about six feet, — at one
end of which was placed an old-fashioned office-
desk, before which stood a low yellow chair; and in
the opposite corner was a rough board box, bottom
up, secured against the wall in a slanting position,
giving evidence of an ingenious attempt at desk-
manufacture. The former was occupied by Russell
Jarvis, as editor-in-chief, while the box, extempor-
ized into a desk, afforded accommodations for the
senior proprietor, who occasionally wrote what in
badinage he was pleased to term " cream" paragraphs,
by which was meant articles embodying thought and
philosophic truth. At other times the then news
editor, Mr. Lane, occupied the place vacant by Mr.
Swain's absence. Outside this inner temple was a
room about twice as large, fiirnished with a pine
table three by four feet, on which Ledgers were
folded and pasted during the night, and which was
occupied during the day by the whole reportorial
corps of one, a gentleman who was thenceforth to
divide the honors of the accommodations with the
"money-market" man. And hereupon rose a nice
question of proprietary rights. There was in this
large apartment, redolent of sour paste and liberally
littered with waste paper, but a single chair, dilapi-
dated by the loss of a leg, and a founder's type-box,
over twenty inches long and six inches square, which
by rearing on end was forced into service as a seat
for him who should make his appearance second at
the table. The whole office arrangements were
primitive, and its affairs were most economically ad-
ministered. The chief clerk, who furnished the sup-
plies, had a special horror of extravagance, having
early mastered that truism in domestic economy that
"great abundance is the parent of waste;" hence
paper was doled out by the single sheet, and pens
and wafers in the same limited proportion. The
Ledger at that time had a daily circulation of about
fifteen thousand copies, according to Mr. Sailer, and
was printed on a double sheet, and was cut by hand
before being delivered to the carriers. Such was the
great Philadelphia paper in 1840, as described by one
in 1875, " who remained continually with it from that
day to this."
When the Oregon question seemed about to involve
the United States and Great Britain in war, all the
great papers put forth their utmost efforts to obtain
the earliest English news from the Liverpool steamers
arriving at Halifax and Boston. The New York
newspapers entered into a combination to anticipate
the mails, and with them were joined Mr. Swain for
the Ledger, and Mr. Abell for the Baltimore Sun.
Thei:amous " pony expresses," by which Mr. Abell
had anticipated all contemporaries in announcing the
death of President Harrison, and the fate of the fis-
cal bank bill in 1841, were again called into service,
and from Halifax to Portland, Me., relays of fleet po-
nies fairly flew with the news brought by the steam-
ers from Europe. Relays of these ponies, extending
from Halifax to Annapolis on the Bay of Fundy
(across Nova Scotia), a distance of over one hundred
and fifty miles, brought the news to Portland, Me.,
and thence by locomotive to Boston and to New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Fifty hours was the
time in which the thousand miles were passed. The
penny sheets of Philadelphia and Baltimore proved
themselves to be the peers in enterprise of the New
York press, and far beyond their " blanket sheet"
contemporaries of their respective cities, in all that
push and pluck which the modern newspaper re-
quires. The news brought by the " Cambria" was
awaited with that feverish excitement which always
attends matter involving the issues of war or peace.
By means of the " pony express" this steamer's news
was hurried through to the Ledger and T//e Sun, and
by the latter paper sent on to Washington, far in ad-
vance of mails and the regular mode by which the
larger newspapers obtained their news. In the com-
bination by which the pilot-boat " Romer" was char-
tered for Liverpool and return with foreign news, the
proprietors of the Ledger and The Sun entered, and
again anticipated their slower contemporaries of Phil-
adelphia and Baltimore.
In 1846, when the Mexican war turned the atten-
tion of the whole country to the South, and the news
centre was removed to the camp of the little American
army, far off in Mexico, Mr. Abell, for the firm of
Swain, Abell & Simmons, and for the benefit of their
newspapers in Philadelphia and Baltimore, under-
took the management of the transmission of news from
the camp and the battle-field, across the continent, to
the news-rooms of The Sun, in Baltimore, and The
Ledger, in Philadelphia. An overland express from
New Orleans, " comprising about sixty blooded
horses," was established to Baltimore, which, not-
withstanding difficulties interposed by the post-office,
almost invariably anticipated the great Southern mail
from New Orleans by thirty hf)urs. An excited pub-
lic, in both cities and the surrounding country, looked
to The Sun and ne Ledger for the first news from the
seat of war, with perfect confidence in their dispatch
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2003
and reliability. The time consumed between New
Orleans and Baltimore by these expresses was about
six days, and the cost was over one thousand dollars
a month. By means of this expeditious mode of
transmitting intelligence, the firm of Swain, Abell &
Simmons laid before the readers of two newspapers
an engraved representation of Monterey, its vicinity,
and its fortifications, with the advance of the Ameri-
can army, from the pencil of Capt. Eaton ; and also
a view of the American army before Monterey prior
to the battle. By this view their readers could dis-
tinguish tlie principal forts, the main buildings of the
city, the position of the American army, and the
place assigned to each division, brigade, and regi-
ment.
It was by means of the vigorous enterprise of this
firm that the " full surrender and unconditional capit-
ulation of the city of Vera Cruz, and the castle of
San Juan D'UUoa," was first made known. In Wash-
ington The Sun of April 10, 1847, caused universal
rejoicing by announcing the great event to the gov-
ernment as well as to the jiublic. The Ledger, in Phil-
adelphia, received the same intelligence from the same
source, and the two newspapers anticipated all others
with the glad tidings of the great victory.
The possession of such important information, hours
before it was elsewhere known in the United States,
might have been used with very great success for
pecuniary advantages, as the stock market responded
to every particular of the news from Mexico. To
have anticipated the rise in prices that followed the
tidings of American triumphs could have been easy for
any member of the firm of Swain, Abell & Simmons,
and would have very much more than reimbursed them
for the heavy expenses of the pony express ; but they
spurned all such temptations. Their unvarying prac-
tice was to issue bulletins or slip synopses of the mar-
kets at the earliest possible moment after the receipt
of European or war news, and place them before the
whole public, to be followed with " extras" containing
all the information received. They kept the govern-
ment at Washington advisedof every important event
transpiring at the seat of war, and were thus instru-
mental in serving the whole country as well as the
readers of their newspapers. It was " generally ad-
mitted that the news of the capture of Vera Cruz,
arriving by our express on the very day appointed
for the close of a national loan, was directly favorable
to the national interest in the final negotiation." The
brilliant victories of Contreras and Churubusco were
first announced by these papers, their " ponies" dis-
tancing stages, railroads, steamboats, and magnetic
telegraphs, and when military operations approached
the city of Mexico, those pony teams, as if in antici-
pation of the great excitement prevailing throughout
the country, " came flying up to the stopping-post
with the most thrilling and important intelligence yet
received from the seat of war full twenty-four hours
ahead of steamboats, railroads, and even telegraphs,"
and during the remainder of the timeof operations of
the army in Mexico the«e pony expresses continued
to keep the newspajiers of this enterprising firm fully
abreast with all the exciting events of the period and
far in advance of all their contemporaries. In the same
spirit of enterjirise " carrier pigeons" were utilized, to
the number of between four and five hundred, to trans-
mit news from foreign steamers, and on more than
one occasion a synopsis ol the President's message
wa.s brought by the " pigeon express" to Baltimore
immediately after delivery to the Congress, and pub-
lished in extras to the delight and surprise of the
public. This, we believe, was the first pigeon exi)ress
organized in this country, and was the design of Mr.
Abell for himself and his partners.
The magnetic telegraph found in both Mr. Swain
and Mr. Abell zealous, active, and contributing friends.
After the line from Washington to Baltimore, the first
constructed in the country, was completed, Mr. Abell
was one of its constant patrons, and The Sun received
the first Presidential message ever transmitted by tele-
graph, on May 11, 1846, which appeared in its issue of
the next day. Mr. Swain was also an enthusia.stic
friend of the new news-transmitter, for in that light
he looked at Morse's invention. He took the greater
portion of the stock in the original telegraph company
which was allotted to Philadelphia; he became a di-
rector, and was president of the company for several
years, during which he introduced many reforms
into the management of the telegraph offices of the
country. As a matter of scientific history it should
be added here, in this brief history of an enterprising
firm, that the telegraphic copy of the President's mes-
sage first transmitted to one of the newspapers of
Swain, Abell & Simmons was reprinted by the Acad-
emy of Sciences of Paris side by side with the authen-
ticated transcript of the original. The Paris corre-
spondent of the National Intelligencer said, —
" Professor Morse had the goodness to send me an
account of the recent achievements of the electrical
telegraph, with a copy of the Baltimore Sun contain-
ing the President's message on the Mexican war, as
it was magically transmitted to that paper. I sent
the communication to Pouillet, the deputy author of
the report heretofore mentioned to you, and he placed
them in the hands of Arago, who submitted their
very interesting and decisive contents to the Academy
of Sciences and the Chamber of Deputies. In the
Chamber, on the 18th instant, when the proposed
appropriation for an electrical telegraph from this
capital to the Belgium frontier came under consider-
ation, Berryer opposed it on the ground that the ex-
periments of the new system were incomplete; that
it would be well to wait for the full trial of what was
undertaken between Paris and Rouen. Arago an-
swered, ' The experiment was consummated ; in the
United States the matter is settled irresistibly. I re-
ceived three days ago The Sun, of Baltimore, with a
letter from Mr. Morse, one of the most honorable
2004
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
.
men of his country, and here is the President's mes-
sage, printed from the telegraph in two or three
hours. The message would fill four columns of the
Moniteur. It could not have been copied by the most
rapid penman in a shorter time than it was trans-
mitted. The galvanic fluid travels seventy thousand
leagues per minute.' The appropriation of nearly a
half-million of francs passed with only a few dissent-
ing voices."
Thus this enterprising firm of newspaper publishers
in Philadelphia and Baltimore contributed their influ-
ence to extend the telegraph across France, as well as
through their own country. And even the short-lived
Atlantic Cable of 1858 was made tributary to the
enterprise of this firm by
sending a special dispatch
exclusively to their news-
papers, which was the first
news telegram from Lon-
don over the Atlantic
Cable received and made
public in Philadelphia
and Baltimore.
Mr. Swain was the mas-
ter mind in conducting the
Ledger, as Mr. Abell was in
The Sun. For twenty years
Mr. Swain gave unremit-
ting attention to the man-
agement of the Ledger:
carefully scanning all that
entered its columns, and
more carefully watching
for any item of news which
appeared in another news-
paper without being in the
Ledger.
He was early in perceiv-
ing the utility of the fast
type-revolving cylinder
printing-press of Hoe, and
the first press of this de-
scription used by any news-
paper in this country was
made for the Ledger, and found, on trial, to be so ex-
cellent that it was speedily duplicated. It is question-
able whether Mr. Swain recurred to any event in his
life with so much pride as to his connection with the in-
troduction of the rotary press.
The assistance and encouragement given by Mr.
Swain to the efforts to manufacture printing-paper
from straw were of great importance in bringing that
substitute for rags to perfection. It is a matter of
positive certainty that the first wliite printing-paper
made from straw was used upon the Ledger, and that
the Messrs. Nixon owe to the generous assistance
given by Mr. Swain their final success in the manu-
facture of straw printing-paper. His strong, practical
mind turned naturally to machinery, mechanics, and
science, and to their practical application to his own
particular business he devoted much time, thought,
and study, accomplishing results which added greatly
to the efficiency of his newspaper machinery.
Such was the man that made the Ledger great ; but
he did not accomplish his end without many difficul-
ties overcome, many obstacles removed. Some of
these have already been referred to, a few of the
others must be rapidly glanced at. The Native
American movement in politics was attended with
mob violence, resulting in the destruction of property
and the loss of life. The Ledger had no sympathy
with ostracism in any place, and its enlarged idea of
American citizenship forbade its lending its immense
influence to the proscrip-
tion of men for religious
conviction. A careful wri-
ter, reviewing the course
of the Ledger during those
exciting times of 1844,
says, that while the paper
justly condemned "the
excesses into which the
mob ran, it unfairly ig-
nored the first great pro-
vocation which had stirred
up so much ill-blood," but
that after its subscribers
had fallen off by thou-
sands, its proprietors "sud-
denly became aware of the
fact that a great outrage
had been committed upon
the Americans in Ken-
sington, before they struck
a blow in return." A re-
view of the files of the
paper at that time does
not sustain such a state-
ment. On May 7th it
said, "The citizens who
composed the meeting
were assembled in the ex-
ercise of a right guaran-
teed to them by the Constitution, and it has come to a
pretty pa.ss, if, availing themselves of their constitu-
tional rights, they are to be assailed by others and
their lives sacrificed in the streets."
The destruction of St. Michael's Church and the
Female Seminary and St. Augustine's Church by the
mob, called out the Ledger on the following morning
in denunciation of the rioters in the following vigor-
ous language : " Are our liberties to be surrendered
to the rash and headlong domination of mobs, or are
we to fly from this great evil to the lesser one of a
consolidated military police?" And afterward, re-
.suming its old argument, that " prevention is better
than cure," it again urged the use of iaW-cartridges
first, and blank-cartridges afterward, as the only effi-
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2005
eient manner of dealing with and dispersing mobs;
that " in subduing a mob the whole secret is to strike
first and threaten afterward." This article created
intense excitement among the Native Americans, and
many thousands stopped the paper, and the advertis-
ing patronage also greatly diminished. But the Ledger
was not to be swerved from its high and honorable
course by any loss of patronage. It continued to de-
mand that the supremacy of the law be maintained,
and that " church burners" and those " outlaws who
broke up the meeting at Kensington" be sought out
and punished. Its circulation returned in larger num-
bers, and its advertisements increased in volume and
value far beyond what they had been before.
The Weekly Ledger was begun in 1837, and was
afterward The United States and The Dollar News-
paper. After Mr. Childs purchased the I^edger estab-
lishment he issued the weekly under the name of The
Home WeeMij and Household Newspaper, but sold it
out in 1867. When The Dollar Newspaper was estab-
lished, in 1843, Mr. Simmons gave it most of his
attention, returning for that purpose to Philadelphia
from Baltimore, to which latter city he had accompa-
nied Mr. Abell. He died Dec. 9, 1855, enjoying the
esteem and confidence of his partners, as well as the
respect and affection of his employes in both the
Ledger and The Sun, whose tributes of respect for his
memory were most touching and affectionate. He
was the first member of the great firm to pass away.
His interest was purchased by the surviving partners,
and the style became, on April 16, 1861, Swain & Abell.
Col. M. Richards Muckl6, now the business mana-
ger of the Ledger, relates of his own experience in
those early days that " on Saturday morning I went
to the oflBce and presented myself to that prince of
good fellows, Mr. Simmons. He took me by the hand
and called me his boy ; and he continued to call me
his boy until he vanished from this earth to occupy a
place in the temple above." The occasion of which
Col. Muckle writes was his installation in the service
of the Ledger, and he has accompanied the paper
from its earliest location to its permanent home at
Sixth and Chestnut Streets.
William L. Drane, another of the most eflScient
chiefs of departments in the Ledger establishment,
antedated Swain, Abell & Simmons as a jjublisher of
a penny paper. His paper, the Daily Transcript, was
sold to the proprietors of the Ledger in September,
1886, and its name has ever since been published as
a sub-title. In the succeeding May he entered into
the service of the Ledger, and for many years preced-
ing his death, which occurred in 1881, he was super-
intendent of the printing department, a position in
which it was impossible to have his superior. He
was a native of Dranesville, Va., and learned print-
ing in Washington, on the Telegraph, when it was
owned by DuflT Green.
The firm of Swain & Abell, which was formed
upon the dissolution of that of Swain, Abell & Sim-
mons, upon the death of A. H. Simmons, continued
the publication of the Ledger. But the changes
effected by the war between the States were not with-
out important inffuence upon newspapers. The great
increase in the cost of white paper and of labor ren-
dered the publication of a penny paper impossible,
except at a great loss. This the firm met and ac-
cepted to the extent of more than one hundred
thousand dollars. " Six and a quarter cents per
week" was an antebellum price, which would no
longer purchase the white paper. An increase ot
price was inevitable, or a loss far greater than pru-
dence and sound judgment warranted. This in-
crease in the price of the paper was contrary to all
the ideas upon which the Ledger had grown into
power and influence. The proprietors had seen the
realization of their hopes in a penny paper ; they now
I recognized its failure from causes which they could
not foresee. To abandon the fundamental idea upon
which their two newspapers had become such pre-
eminent successes was more than they could encoun-
ter. Unable to agree to raise the price of their paper
or to increase the charges for advertising, to prevent
further loss they determined to dispose of the entire
Ledger establishment. It is probable that this deter-
mination was due more to Mr. Swain than to Mr.
Abell, and that, had it been possible for the latter to
have met the responsibilities and duties of supervising
the two newspapers, they would both have become the
property of Mr. Abell. However that may be, the
establishment was disposed of to George W. Childs,
the present owner. The sale was consummated Dec.
3, 1864.
Mr. Swain survived the sale of the Ledger only four
years, and died Feb. 16, 1868, in the sixtieth year ot
his age. Though the Ledger is his proper monument,
as well as biography, yet his interest in The Sun re-
mained after the sale of the lA'dger and until his death.
Mr. Abell is the sole surviving member of the firm
which established and created two of the greatest
newspapers in this country. In a ripe old age, he en-
joys that confidence, respect, and affection which a
long and useful life merits. His hand has never been •
missing from The Sun; he did not hesitate to meet
the embarrassment of increase of price, which had in-
duced the sale of the Ledger, and his judgment has
been sustained by the remarkable prosperity which
has followed the enlargements of the paper and the
increase in the rates of advertisement. He has kept
The Sun abreast of every change which the publica-
tion of a great newspaper demands. Their great suc-
cess shows that both Mr. Swain and Mr. Abell were
men of remarkable minds, fitted and adapted to sup-
plement each other, and brought together just as the
revolution in newspapers was beginning. They seized
the auspicious moment, and compelled fortune to be-
come tributary to their energy, industry, perseverance,
and courage.
The circulation and advertising business were larger
2006
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
at the date of the sale to Mr. Childs than ever before,
and he promptly took the step at which Messrs. Swain
& Abell had hesitated. On Dee. 10, 1864, he increased
the price of the Ledger to twelve cents per week, but
after a trial for a month reduced it to ten cents. The
advertising rates were also advanced, and made to
correspond with the value of the immense circulation
of the paper. Such a change from the old schedule
of prices, of course, caused a temporary decrease of
the number of subscribers, but Mr. Childs' prescience
convinced him that he had but to work and wait for
a recovery of and gain upon the highest figure of cir-
culation to which the Ledger had ever attained. He
was swift to introduce new elements of popularity and
enterprise into the paper, and in January, 1870, the
average daily circulation rose to seventy-two thousand
eight hundred and eighteen, which has been main-
tained and increased until, at the present writing, it
is no exaggeration to say that the Ledger is daily
read by over four hundred thousand persons.
Discarding the commonly accepted idea that a
newspaper was in the nature of a " common carrier"
of information for the people, bound to print anything
as an advertisement which was not libelous or in-
decent, Mr. Childs adopted other views. While
accepting all responsibility for the editorial and news
department, he carried the principle into the adver-
tisement columns also, and asserted his right to
exclude from those columns all that might appear to
him objectionable on the score of public morals. This
determination led to the exclusion of a very large
class of advertisements which, from their nature,
would pay the very highest prices, and caused a loss
estimated at not less than fifty thousand dollars per
annum. This judgment was sustained by the people,
and its advanced position in newspaper publication
was recognized as an earnestness of purpose to make
the Ledger a welcome and unexceptional visitor in
every family where the moral sentiment of the young
and innocent was the highest consideration. The
new rule proved its wisdom in a very short time, for
the advertisements increased with the expanding cir-
• culation, until in September, 1867, an enlargement to
eight columns became necessary and was made. In
the same year Mr. Childs introduced the stereotyping
process and other mechanical improvements to meet
the demand upon his publishing department, so that
the larger edition of the Ledger could be delivered at
a much earlier hour than before.
Washington L. Lane, the managing editor of the
Ledger, died Nov. 14, 1865. In its tribute to his
memory the Ledger said, —
"He possessed a fine analytical mind which, matured and strength-
ened by extensive reading and reflection, and coupled with a retentive
memory and unusual equanimity of temper, peculiarly fitted him for
the arduous and frequently trying duties of an editor. While a man of
very decided opinions, ever frank and open in their expression, his calm
and dispassionate manner in discussion gave to his arguments and rea-
soning a conservative tone and bearing peculiarly appropriate to one
teaching through the medium of a popular newspaper, read by people
of all classes, all ages, and every pursuit. He probably bad no superior
for the position he held so long and filled so well."
William V. McKean has been editor-in-chief and
general manager of the Public Ledger since Dec. 3,
1864. He was born in Philadelphia Oct. 15, 1820.
Taught to read by his mother before he was old
enough to go to school, he had short periods of tui-
tion in the private schools of the day until he went
to his first employment, in 1833-34, and at private
night-schools after that. He was apprenticed, in
1835, far six years to Eobb & Ecklin, type-founders,
served out his time, and learned the whole business,
from the first work done by boys in the days of hand-
mould casting to the business of the counting-house.
While so employed he was sent out as counting-
house boy, in 1836, to ascertain from references given
by Swain, Abell & Simmons whether these subse-
quently famous founders of the Public Ledger were
responsible for a small order of ornamental type.
Always given to reading and study, he joined the
Union Library Company in 1839, and here got his
best reading and mental training. He has ever since
remained a member, though the society is now re-
tired, and regards such institutions as most valuable
auxiliaries to boys and young men. Still of that
opinion, he is a member and has been manager ot
the Franklin Institute and the Moyamensing Literary
Institute, member of the Academy of Natural Sci-
ences, the American Philosophical Society, the Phil-
adelphia and Mercantile Libraries, and the Pennsyl-
vania Historical Society.
The Union Library Company was one of the popu-
lar literary societies of that day. It was progressive,
became aggressive in its discussions, and very promi-
nent. It secured by its own enterprise money enough
to purchase a well-chosen collection of standard books
by the best modern authors in history, constitutional
principles, public law, mental and moral philoso-
phy, natural science, and classic English literature.
Throwing aside all the conventional and hackneyed
topics so much affected by debating societies, it went
boldly into the discussion of controverted matters in
American and foreign history, the principles of gov-
ernment, citizenship, naturalization, current public
affairs, political economy, physiology, popular rights
and duties, hygiene, and kindred topics. It chal-
lenged other societies to debates, and drew larger au-
diences than the hall could accommodate. Generally
in such debates and encounters Mr. McKean and Fur-
man Sheppard were regarded as the champions «f
their society. This threw them both somewhat early
into politics during the Native American excitement
of 1843^4, and both, with Henry A. Gildea, another
Union member, were vigorous opponents of that move-
ment. This society — as what mention we have made
of it will suggest — had a strong influence on the whole
of Mr. McKean's after-life.
In 1846 he was entered as a law -student under the
preceptorship of the late James C. Vandyke. About
THE PRESS OP PHILADELPHIA.
2006a
this time he received a government appointment,
which he held about four years (contributing mean-
while as volunteer newspaper writer), and then re-
signed to join Col. John W. Forney, in 1850, as asso-
ciate editor of the PeriMylranian. This connection
continued until April, 1853, when Col. Forney, who
was then clerk of the House of Representatives, at
Washington, requested Mr. McKean to come to Wash-
ington to take the chief clerkship and the charge of
the large amount of public money disbursed by the
House. This position he held until February, 1856.
Upon going out of the chief clerkship. President
Pierce (unknown to him) appointed him to the office
of examiner in the Patent Office. This position he
resigned in a few months, as in that year he was in-
vited to Wheatland by James Buchanan, and went
there as Mr. Buchanan's private secretary, pending
the Presidential capvass. While there, personal and
political complications among Mr. Buchanan's party
friends began to show themselves, and these soon
caused the position of private secretary to be quite i
embarrassing. The public side of these differences '
related to the pro-slavery and free-soil antagonism j
brought about by the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The .
personal difficulties were engendered by the intense
hostility shown by some Southern men to Col. For-
ney's professional desire to be editor of the Washing- \
ton Union and jjublic printer. As Mr. McKean was
in a confidential position, these political and personal
discussions came necessarily to his notice, and as he
was bound to maintain Mr. Buchanan's confidence,
he had to become reticent on all such matters to Col.
Forney, with whom he had previously occupied a
similarly close and confidential position. Between
the duty to Mr. Buchanan, on the one side, and the
reluctance to have any privity with the proceedings
of Col. Forney's enemies, on the other, the position
of private secretary became exceedingly awkward.
Notwithstanding Mr. McKean's profound respect for
Mr. Buchanan, he asked to be relieved, which Mr.
Buchanan finally, but very reluctantly, agreed to, pro-
testing that there was no occasion whatever for Mr.
McKean to withdraw.
Meanwhile (and again unknown to himself) he |
had been appointed to a city office. This and another
appointment he successively gave up, and in 1860
returned permanently to his prefeiTed vocation as j
editorial wfiter. He was leading editor of the In- ,
quirer from April, I860, throughout the war, to Dec. 3, |
1864. Until the November election of 1860 he had i
been voting with the Democrats, but at that time he
became convinced that party should be subordinated
to higher interests. In December of that year, and
while the preparations of the memorable " peace
meeting" of Dtec. 13, 1860, were going on, he went to
Washington to learn for himself what would satisfy
the Southern leaders, or whether they were bent upon
breaking up the Union at all hazards. During this I
visit he had free and full conversations with John C. !
Breckeuridge (then Vice-President), Senators John
Slidell, Stephen A. Douglas, Hannibal Hamlin, and
William Bigler, all of whom were his personal friends,
and, through Governor Bigler, with Senator Chestnut,
of South Carolina. He became satisfied by the utter-
ances of Mr. Slidell that the controlling Southern
men would surely carry their States into secession,
and from what was said to him by Mr. Hamlin (Vice-
President elect), that secession would be resisted by
force. He came home to Philadelphia in full belief
that the " peace meeting" would be of no avail.
War seemed to be inevitable, and he so wrote to the
then Governor of Pennsylvania, William F. Packer.
Upon expressing the same opinion to one of his
editorial associates, a gallant young lawyer, the latter
promptly replied, " Then I will go into military drill."
This he did upon the word, subsequently I'aised a
company, fought through the war, and is now a dis-
tinguished officer of the regular army. From that
time Mr. McKean has voted independently of party,
making up his ballot for the best qualified and most de-
serving men, just as the Ledger advises all others to do.
On the 3d of December, 1864, Mr. McKean, at the
invitation of Mr. Childs, for whom he had been pre-
viously doing book and editorial work, went with
him to the Public Ledger. Since then he has been
editor-in-chief and general manager. The files of
that journal tell what he has been there for the last
twenty years. In nearly all the movements in Phila-
delphia during that time to promote the welfare of
the people, to advance their interests, and to improve
the efficiency of their city government, Mr. McKean
has had large part as adviser and counsel, — much
larger part in these capacities than even in his abun-
dant work as editorial writer. He is peculiarly one of
the men whom people seek for suggestion and counsel,
and whose judgment they have become accustomed
to trust as impartial and sound. This is the case with
all manner of persons, from the humblest in station
to the highest, private persons, and public officers.
The influence exercised in this manner has gone out
quietly and worked its way for private and public
good in scores and hundreds of matters in which but
few people ever knew he had any agency at all. Such
influence has taken effect in the enactment of whole-
some laws, in the choice of better officials, in the
adoption of sound policy by public men, in keeping
families from breaking up, and in saving men from
their own ruinous appetites. He has had many ha-
bitual drunkards to deal with, never gave up the be-
lief that they could be got to go right some time, and
never failed but with two. It is a cardinal belief ot
his that there is a good aide to be found in almost
every man, if you make fair search for it.
Among the many matters that Mr. McKean has
been connected with, such as the commission for the
relief of soldiers' families during the war, the Sani-
tary Fair, the early struggles for municipal reform,
the Chicago Relief Committee, the incipient move-
2006b
HISTORr OF PHILADELPHIA.
ments for the Centennial Exhibition, the work of the
Centennial Board of Finance, the consultations that
resulted in the choice of the Committee of One Hun-
dred and that influenced its after-action, — although
nearly all these led to important results, — none of
them, he says, gave him more pleasure than the or-
ganization of the children's free excursions in 1872.
During the three years while he was chairman of the
committee more than sixty thousand persons (infants,
very young children, and their mothers or other care-
takers) were taken to Rockland, in the park; furnished
with all kinds of innocent and healthful out-door
amusements, including performances by the lamented
Signor Blitz ; were supplied with three wholesome
meals, on a bill of fare prescribed by a medical staff
(with copious pure milk and some luxuries) ; and free
transportation from and to their homes. The plan
for these excursions, as BIr. McKean organized it on
the first day, was never changed dui-ing their six
years' continuance. The children and their mothers
had every summer many days of healthful holiday,
rest, and recreation away from the hot and unwhole-
some back-streets and alleys. These days were bright
spots in their lives. The excursions were managed
mainly in Mr. McKean's room in the Ledger ofl5ce for
three summers, and subsequently by Andrew M.
Spangler with great zeal and executive ability.
We have referred to the influence exerted upon Mr.
McKean's career by the Union Libran,- Company.
Next to this he reckons the contact he got with pub-
lic affairs and public men by reason of the various
offices he occupied for short periods under the city,
State, and nation. These gave him insight into the
machinery for conducting public business, and also
into the true dimensions of public men, big and little.
Some of the least conspicuous of these grow larger
upon acquaintance, and some of the prominent shrivel
up when you get close to them. There is no such dis-
enchauter as actual personal observation of "states-
men." But along with personal experience in official
matters, he has had an extensive contact with the
people in all stations of life, and knows them well.
He has touched the extremes of the social fabric, — the
very poorest and humblest, and the richest and highest.
He has left the midnight dining-table of the President
of the United States to go to dinner the next day, at
twelve o'clock noon, with a laboring miner in the coal
region, who, in his way, was peer of the President.
For the conduct of the Ledger Mr. McKean has a
carefully-considered system of editorial ethics, about
which Mr. Childs and himself are in thorough accord.
Some of his maxims are inserted here, not all :
Always deal fairly and frankly with the public.
A newspaper to be trusted and respected must give
trustworthy information and counsel. It is a serious
thing to mislead the people.
Understate your case rather than overstate it.
Have a sure voucher for every statement, especially
for censure.
There is a wide gap between accusation of crime
and actual guilt.
Deal gently with weak and helpless offenders.
Before making up judgment take care to understand
both sides, and remember there are at least two sides.
If you attempt to decide, you are bound to know
both.
Do not say you know when you have only heard.
Never proceed on mere hearsay. Rumor is only an
index to be followed by inquiry.
Take great care to be right. Better be right than
quickest with "the news," which is often false. It is
bad to be late, but worse to be wrong.
Go to first hands and original sources for informa-
tion ; if you cannot, then get as near as you can.
It is the reporter's ofl5ce to chronicle events, to col-
lect facts ; comments on the facts are reserved for the
editor.
Let the facts and reasoning tell the story rather
than rhetorical flourish.
Don't be too positive. Remember always it is
possible you may err.
All persons have equal rights in the court of con-
science, as well as in courts of law.
Never add fiiel to the fire of popular excitement.
There is nothing more demoralizing in public affairs
than habitual disregard of law.
Uphold the authorities in maintaining public order.
Rectify wrongs through the law.
If the law is defective, better mend it than break it.
Nearly always there is law enough. It is the failure
to enforce it that makes most mischief.
There is no need, and therefore no excuse, for moh
law in American communities.
Numerous as bad men may be, remember they are
but few compared with the millions of the people.
The public welfare has higher claims than any
party cry.
Grace and purity of style are always desirable ; but
never allow rhetoric to displace clear, direct, forcible
expression.
Plain words are essential for unlearned people, and
these are just as plain to the most accomplished.
This sketch has a fitting close in the following ex-
tract from a note received when Mr. McKean was first
asked for materials on which to write it. He said, —
" I desire no larger biography than this : ' He has
been editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia .Pwi/ic Led-
ger for twenty years, striving to do his responsible
work for the public with conscience and common
sense, honest purpose and clean hands.' "
The care which watches over the smallest and most
unimportant news item that appears in the Ledger,
guards against rash and exaggerated statements, until
the paper has acquired that charactef for reliability
and truth which is equaled by but few, and surpassed
by no other paper in the country. This vigilance has
watched the vague and uncertain early reports of elec-
tions, carefully sifting the improbable, and publishing
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2007
only those which will he sustained by later and more
correct information, until the Li'di/rr'x returns of elec-
tions almost always prove correct. Even during the
civil war the Ledqer, while consistently and positively
sustaining and suj^porting the government, avoided
the many temjrtations to become sensational, and .s-ince
the conflict ceased, its potent influence has been steadily
exerted for the re-estahlishment of substantial peace
and the encouragement of the growth of good feeling
between the sections. Amid the wild excitement
which followed the horrible assassination of President
Lincoln, the Ledger, calm and unexcited, strongly and
efTectively protested against all secrecy in the trial,
and for its outspoken respect for the law of the land
was loudly assailed by some of its contemporaries for
disloyalty.
Every improvement which would tend to the pros-
perity of the city, or to extend its area, has found in
the Ledger its strongest and most persistent advocate.
The consolidation of the city and districts, the intro-
ductiou and extending of the lines of street railways, '
the change from the old hand-engines, and the " b'hoys
that run with the Machine," to the steam fire-engine, '
with its greater expedition and security, have all been
sustained and promoted by the Ledger. The free ,
bridges across the Schuylkill, the large and beautifril
l)ark, and the Centennial Exposition, all owe much
(if their success to unvarying advocacy by this great !
newspaper.
When the Ledger was purchased by Mr. Childs, it \
was established on the firm basis of popular support
and confidence, free from the cares and anxieties that
attended its founders for many years. The Ledger
was a success beyond a peradventure. It was coining |
money, enjoying the fullest confidence of the public,
and reaping the harvest of many years' planting.
Mr. Childs kept the Ledger true to the course laid out
by its founders, and without varying materially from
that course, opened new features of attractiveness,
introduced improved machinery, and finally trans-
planted the whole establishment to the most com-
plete, perfect, and beautiful building in the United \
States for newspaper purposes. The Howell building
and several adjoining lots at the southwest corner of
Sixth and Chestnut Streets were purchased, and on
May 1, 1866, work was commenced, and the building ;
was formally opened June 26, 1867. Ample in pro-
portion, and furnished with elegant completeness, its
brown-stone fronts on the two streets are not excelled
in stateliness and beauty by any newspaper estab-
lishment in Philadelphia.
'George W. Childs was born in Baltimore, May 12,
1829, and at the age of thirteen entered the United
States navy, but after spending fifteen months in the
service he removed to Philadelphia, where his em- '.
ployment in a book-store became the open door to
his almost phenomenal success as a publisher and
man of letters. The late John W. Forney well said [
of him that when he came to Philadelphia his only I
128
wealth was "industry, perseverance, and a stout
heart, and with these resistless weapons he fouglit
his way through inconceivable obstacles, until he has
become the living illustration of that noble charac-
teristic so rare among men of influence — the accu-
mulation of riches, not for himself alone, but to make
others happy during and after his life." Shortly after
Mr. Childs had reached his majority, he was a mem-
ber of the publishing-house of Childs & Peterson, and
his energy was shown by the manner in which he
advanced Mr. Peterson's compilation entitled " Fa-
miliar Science," to a sale of two hundred thousand
copies. He i.ssued in superb style Dr. Kane's narra-
tive of his Arctic expedition, and paid to the author
a profit of seventy thousand dollars; and he pub-
lished to so much advantage Governor Brownlow's
"Debates on Slavery" and "Sketches of Secession"
that he was able to pay to the famous Tennessean
fifteen thousand dollars in hard cash. The publica-
tion of Allibone's " Dictionary of Authors," in which
Mr. Childs was chiefly concerned, drew from the au-
thor the acknowledgment that " to George William
Childs, the original publisher of this volume, who
has greatly furthered my labors by his enterprise and
zealous and intelligent interest, I dedicate the fruits
of many years of anxious research and conscientious
toil."
In 1860, upon the retirement of Mr. Peterson from
the firm, Mr. Childs formed a partnership with J. B.
Lippincott, which endured but a year, when he re-
sumed business for himself. In 1863 he purchased
the Publishers^ < 'ircufiir, and by remodeling it and
changing its name to the American Literary Gazette
and Publishers' Circular, he made it indispensable to
the trade. He also acquired the American Almanac,
and renaming it the National Almanac, conducted it
with such marked judgment that in two years it
reached an annual sale of thirty thousand copies.
After he had bought the Ledger he gave his name as
security for one hundred thousand dollars to George
P. Putnam, the New York publisher, who was then in
some difficulty, and in thanking him, Mr. Putnam
wrote of his newspaper undertaking that " such an
enterprise as would positively frighten most of us timid
and slow-moving old fogies, you, in your shrewd energy
and wide-awake sagacity, enter upon us as a positive.
You wave your magic wand, and lo ! palaces rise, and
the genii of steam and lightning send forth from their
subterranean cells and lofty attics thousands of daily
messages over the continent ; and fortune follows de-
servedly, because you regulate all these powers on
liberal principles of justice and truth." It is diflScult
to select the most prominent instances of congratula-
tions that have been showered upon Mr. Childs since
he has owned and conducted the Ledger, but one occa-
sion that must not be omitted was the dinner given to
the employfe in the new building on July 4, 1867.
The managing editor, W. V. McKean, then said that
" the carriers, although they do not make the highest
2008
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
wages, have among them the thriftiest of the em-
ployes, and the aggregate value of their Ledger routes
would sell at the Merchants' Exchange as readily as
government securities for a sum not less than two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and probably
three hundred thousand dollars." It was not a great
while subsequently that Mr. Childs made to the Phila-
delphia Typographical Society the gift of the Printers'
Cemetery, and the late Judge Ellis Lewis, formerly
chief justice of Pennsylvania, who delivered the dedi-
cation address, said that Mr. Childs " has planted him-
self in the human heart, and he will have his habita-
tion there while man shall live upon the earth."
A writer in the New York Evangelist gives us an
insight into the domestic life of Mr. Childs, where
private hospitality keeps even pace with public be-
nevolence. He says, " Of all the private houses in
this country which have acquired a wide reputation
for hospitality, none is better known than that of Mr.
George W. Childs, of Philadelphia. He has ample
wealth, a large and beautiful house, and lives in a
great city, which, in addition to its own excellent
society, from its position, midway between New York
and Washington, is a place of passage for thousands
coming and going." It was in this house that he
entertained that remarkable gathering of distin-
guished and notable persons, on the evening of the
10th of May, 1876, when the Centennial Exhibition,
in Philadelphia, was formally opened.
On that occasion there were present President
Grant, with his wife ; all the members of his cabinet,
with their wives; the thief justice and associate jus-
tices of the Supreme Court of the United States, with
their wives ; the Emperor and Empress of Brazil ;
the diplomatic and other representatives of Great
Britain, France, Spain, Austria, Prussia, Russia,
Italy, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, China, and other
powers of Europe and Asia ; the Governors of Maine,
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ken-
tucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and
Maryland, with their staff-officers ; leading members
of the United States Senate and House of Represen-
tatives; Gens. Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock, Mc-
Dowell; Admirals Porter, Rowan, Scott, Lardner,
Turner, Jenkins, Alden ; Centennial judges and com-
missioners from foreign countries and the United
States; famous military and naval officers, eminent
judges, leading lawyers, prominent divines, presidents
of colleges, authors, journalists, artists ; in fact, men
famous in every branch of professional and private
life. And this instance, except in the remarkable
comprehensiveness of its scope as to the guests, merely
illustrates the rule in Mr. Childs' social life. Scarcely
a prominent visitor from abroad arrives in this country
who is not furnished with letters of introduction to
Mr. Childs, and entertained by him. Compare such
generous courtesy to the representatives of foreign
aristocracy, wealth, and intelligence with the refine-
ment of delicate appreciation which induced Mr.
Childs, during the continuance of the Centennial, to
furnish with the means to visit the great fair not only
numbers of poor women who would otherwise not have
seen it, but also as many as two thousand children,
who, through his liberality, were sent happy-hearted to
the wonderful exhibition at Fairmount, and furnished
with a good dinner while enjoying the show. Chil-
dren of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, the Church
Home, and those of other public institutions of the
city were thus favored, and in the case of the House
of Refuge, it illustrates the peculiar quality of his
thoughtfulness that he made a special request that its
inmates should be permitted to lay off the uniform,
which is their badge, while visiting the exposition,
and wear new suits, to be supplied and paid for by
him.
Mr. Childs has placed in Westminster Abbey,
London, a memorial window, in honor of the poets
George Herbert and William Cowper, to which Dean
Stanley made a most eloquent reference in a sermon
preached in St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church,
Philadelphia, Sept. 29, 1878. Another testimonial of
which Mr. Childs may well be proud is that which is
addressed to him as Honorary Commissioner for the
United Kingdom, by the Duke of Richmond and
Gordon, Lord President of the Council, acknowledging
the valuable assistance rendered by him to her
Majesty's Commissioners to the Centennial Exhibi-
tion. Col. Forney bears witness to the sentiment of
esteem and resjiect in which Mr. Childs is held abroad
by saying that, " When I carried letters from him to
Europe, in 1867, his name was a talisman, and it was
pleasant to see how a nobleman like the Duke of
Buckingham honored the indorsement of an American
who, thirtj' years before, was a poor boy."
There is another feature in Mr. Childs' character
which illustrates verj' strikingly both the head and
the heart of the man. Having lived all his life among
books, and in familiar association with authors, his
library is both a curiosity and an illustration. It is
not as large as many other private collections, and yet
it contains literary and epistolary treasures which all
the libraries of the world could not supply. F. W.
Robinson, in his " Private Libraries of Philadelphia,"
has devoted forty-eight pages to the description of
that of Mr. Childs. We can only condense that
description, and give some few of the most striking
and peculiar features. The original sermon of Rev.
Cotton Mather, indorsed as genuine by Rev. William
B. Sprague, of Albany, reposes in a beautiful cabinet
between the windows, and is a little 18mo of eight
pages, bearing date of May 17, 1703. A copy of the
poetical works of Leigh Hunt, a Moxon edition of
1844, and which came direct to Mr. Childs from
Dickens' library, has the precious indorsement, to
"Charles Dickens, from his constant admirer and
obliged friend, Leigh Hunt." With this is a copy of
Hood's " Comic Annual" for 1842, in which is in-
scribed, in Hood's own handwriting, the half-jocose,
-^m
^B^'-'^
"%
c-^<f-r^.^'
m:l^/u^^
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2009
half-pathetic verses of farewell to Dickens, when the
novelist started on his first visit to the United States.
" Alnwick Castle and other Poems," in a beautiful
octavo edition, are dedicated, in the poet's hand, to
" Charles Dickens, Esquire, from his friend and
admirer, Fitz-Grecne Halleck, New York, North
America, 6th June, 1842." Another treasure is the
original manuscript of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Con-
sular Experiences," containing thirty-seven pages in
the author's script throughout, with his signature at
the end, remarkable for the beauty of its pages,
its clear sheets, and freedom from alteration and
erasures. With a copy of the first edition of " The
Scarlet Letter" is Hawthorne's autograph letter to
Mr. Childs, wherein the author states that the novel
" is thus far founded on fact ; that such a symbol was
actually worn by at least one woman in the early times
of New England."
Among oth er rel ics of Hawthorne is the original letter
from Franklin Pierce to James T. Fields, announcing
the death of the poet and the impressions it made upon
the ex-President. Amanuscript of sixteen pages of the
translation of the first book of the " Iliad," by William
Cullen Bryant, is accompanied by the letter in which
Mr. Bryant instructs Mr. Childs in regard to the proofs.
There is also the manuscript of James Russell Lowell's
June idyl, " Under the Willows," signed "J. R. L."
Another original manuscript is that of James Feni-
more Cooper's " Life of Captain Richard Somers,"
twenty-one pages folio, bound with the text, as pub-
lished in Oraham's Magazine, October, 1847, presented
by Rufus W. Griswold to Dr. Balmanno, with his
autograph attestation. This volume contains ten au-
tograph letters from Cooper to his counsel, J. P. D.
Ogden, concerning his lawsuit, in 1830-40, against J.
Watson Webb and others for libel. Mr. Childs is,
moreover, the possessor of the manuscript of Edgar
Allen Poe's wierd and thrilling tale of " The Mur-
ders in the Rue Morgue," and it was principally
through his liberality that the monument to Poe was
erected in Baltimore, as he volunteered to pay all the
expenses, and did furnish the greater part of the
money. Side by side with these rare mementos of
dead and gone poets is to be found the original man-
uscript draft of President Grant's address at the open-
ing of the Centennial Exhibition, on May 10, 1876.
But perhaps the most interesting of all these scripts
is the original manuscript of " Our Mutual Friend,"
presented by Mr. Dickens to Mr. Childs, who had it
bound in two large quarto volumes. Outside of those
in the Kensington Museum, it is the only complete
manuscript in existence of any of Mr. Dickens'
novels. Bearing date of " Thursday, Fourth Janu-
ary, 1866," it is signed at the head of the sheet,
" Charles Dickens," after which comes the skeleton
of the story. In the first volume is inserted Mr.
Dickens' letter of Nov. 4, 1868, to Mr. Childs, in-
viting him to visit Gad's Hill. The envelope is itself
a treasure which many collectors would esteem most
highly. It is directed " George W. Childs, Esquire,
Langham Hotel, Regent Street, London, West," and
contains in the corner the autograjih of Charles
Dickens. In Murray's fine six-volume edition of
Byron's works is the inscription from the publisher,
" To George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, in testimony
of kind remembrance from John Murray, Albemarle
Street, London."
The manuscript of " Cloudesley," a novel by Wil-
liam Godwin, written on old parchment paper, upon
both sides of the sheet, lies alongside of the manu-
script of " Hertha," by Frederika Bremer, translated
by Mary Howitt. Harriet Martineau's " Retrospect
of Western Travel," four volumes in manuscript, is
also among this collection, as well as the original
manuscript of the "Habitations of our Kings," by
the poet Gray.
The smallest book ever printed, a 128mo, is "La
Divina Commedia di Dante, edizione Illustrata da
30 Fotograffe tolte da disegni di Scara muzza, Mi-
lano, Ulrico Hoepli," 1879, containing the whole of
Dante's comedy, with clear, excellent illustrations.
The manuscript of " The Cow Chase," by Maj. Andre,
is not the least curious among this interesting collec-
tion.
A book that has no duplicate, "A Collection of
Autographs made by a Scrivener," W. G. Latham,
a lawyer of New Orleans, is a very remarkable
work. Mr. Latham was by profession a notary
public, and had access to many original documents,
from which he made copies of signatures, and was
thus employed for twenty-five years. Every auto-
graph in the volume was copied by Mr. Latham, of
which there are about four thousand, embracing
distinguished Americans of all professions, British
authors from before Shakespeare until within a few
years, a complete list of signers of the Declaration of
Independence, Washington and his generals. Napo-
leon and leading men of his time and nation, royalty,
nobility, military and naval celebrities, men re-
nowned in authorship, in medicine, theology, natural
history, and science of Europe for the past three cen-
turies. A brief biographical sketch accompanies each
signature.
The " Hall Collection" of letters, manuscripts, and
sketches of the most celebrated people of the last fifty
years, received by Anna Maria Hall and her husband,
S. C. Hall, are among Mr. Childs' collection, as well
as the album formerly belonging to Mrs. Hall. The
Halls conducted the London Art Journal, and among
these letters are names known throughout the Eng-
lish-speaking world, with many accompanying origi-
nal verses or bright sayings, as well as sketches by
well-known hands, sometimes in water-colors, some-
times in sepia, sometimes in ink. There are letters
from Charles Lamb, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary
Somerville, Miss Mitford, Harriet Martineau, Martin
Farquhar Tupper, Robert Chambers, S. T. Coleridge,
Frederika Bremer, Samuel Lover, Wilkie Collins,
2010
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
William Wordsworth, Daniel O'Connell, Amelia Opie,
Robert Southey, L. H. Sigouruey, Edward Lytton
Bulwer, E. B. Browning (from Rome), G. P. R. James,
Robert Burns, Grace Aguilar, and many others. Wil-
liam Kennedy has a " Moorish Melody ;" T. Croftou
Croker has a sketch iu sepia ; Tom Moore has lines
of remembrance, and a sketch of Sloperton Cottage ;
there is also a page of manuscript from one of his
stories, written by Charles Dickens, and signed with
that never-to-be-forgotten signature. Under this he
has written, " Countersigned, Boz." An interesting
sepia sketch of Maria Edgeworth's library appears;
and following it is "The Cross," a poem by Jane
Porter. Thomas Hood has written a verse of his
" Song of the Shirt," and Thomas Hood the younger
presents the lines beginning " Work, work, work."
There is "A Prayer" by Hannah More; and Barry
Cornwall comes soon after with "A Conceit.". Leigh
Hunt writes nearly a page of " Abou Ben Adhem," and
Caroline Norton has " A Blind Man's Bride." Two
neat charades must not be overlooked, under which is
to be seen the signature of Theodore Hook. The
" Tom Moore Bible" came also from Mrs. Hall, ac-
companied with a presentation letter to Mr. Childs,
and some other features of the collection may be thus
catalogued :
The " Black Book of Taymouth," presented to Mr.
Childs by the Duke of Buckingham, the last of the
Plantaganets ; " The Need of Two Loves," an original
manuscript of N. P. Willis ; an original copy of Mil-
ton's " Parudise Lost," in Armenian, exhibited at the
World's Fair in London ; a two-volume quarto edition
of Thompson's works, published in London between
1730 and 1736 ; an autograph manuscript of " The
Italian Bible ;'' an original tragedy, by John Howard
Payne, written for Charlotte Cushman ; a large folio
containing the portrait of every President of the
United States, from George Washington to Chester
A. Arthur, with an autograph letter with each por-
trait ; Mrs. Mary Cowden Clarke's " Complete Con-
cordance to Shakespeare," containing a selection of
fifty closely -written pages of the original manu-
script ; and the original of Bulwer's " Pilgrims of
the Rhine" and "Godolphin," which have been
splendidly mounted upon large pages, arranged in a
form worthy of their author, and bound in red Levant
morocco, richly gilt. The Duke of Buckingham also
presented to Mr. Childs the " Cabinet of the Earls of
Derby," a rich and handsome privately-published vol-
ume of portraits of the Earl of Derby, Lord Chelms-
ford, Duke of Marlborough, Earl of Malmesbury,
D'Israeli, Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Sir
Staflbrd Northcote, and the other members.
Mr. Robinson, in his sketch, has only noticed cer-
tain special features of this remarkable collection.
It is a treasure-house of rare and valuable mementos
of men that have passed away, and illustrates the
character of Mr. Childs as a preserver of those pre-
cious reminders of the great and good which are
liable to be lost. As he rescued the Ledger from
decay and ruin, and brought it back to greater power
and influence, as he built for Philadelphia its hand-
somest private business house, so in his library he
has preserved those valuable souvenirs of another as
well as of the present age, and in all has improved
their usefulness by the splendid manner in which he
has preserved them. It has been truly said of Mr.
Childs " that his exalted position in the estimation
of his fellow-men is explicable on no other hypothe-
sis save that of the transcendent excellence of his
heart. Other men have had his sagacity, his unflag-
ging industry, his business ability, his enterprise, his
sleepless vigilance, but in no one else do we observe
in the same impressive combination the complement-
ary qualities of which we have spoken. His name
evokes spontaneously, in a multitude which no man
can number, a degree of gratitude which it requires
a personal acquaintance to understand."
The Salmagundi and News of the Day, a bi-
weekly illustrated journal, devoted to "satire, criti-
cism, humor, and wit," was first issued Jan. 2, 1886,
by Charles Alexander, the publisher of the Vade Me-
cum, at the Athenian Buildings, Franklin Place.
The Salmagundi was published at two dollars per an-
num. It was a lively, vigorous sheet, but was not
long-lived.
Everybody's Album, "a monthly magazine of hu-
morous tales, essays, anecdotes, and facetite," was
issued for the first time on July 1, 1836. It was em-
bellished with numerous grotesque and amusing en-
gravings. Each number comprised seventy-two large
octavo pages. It was published at three dollars per
annum, by Charles Alexander, at the Athenian
Buildings, Franklin Place.
The Philadelphia Saturday News, a weekly
journal, was first issued on July 2, 1836, Messrs.
Louis A. Godey, Joseph C. Neal, and Morton Mc-
Michael being its originators.
The Botanical Sentinel, of Aug. 5, 1836, thus com-
ments upon the new periodical :
"The Philadelphia Satubdat News. — The above is a title of anew
paper which has recently appeared in this city, and is under the editorial
management of Messrs. Joseph C. Neal and Morton McMichael, two gen-
tlemen well known in this community for their vigorous powere in
wielding the pen. For the sketching of character, drawing humorous
dialogues, and portraying eccentrics, Mr. Neal has not his superior.
Of Mr. McMichael, it may he said he affords a striking exception to the
attributes which from time immemorial have distinguished aldermen.
He is neither fat nor stupid: on the contrary, he can with ease pass
through any door of ordinary dimensions ; and, as to his intellect, it is
of the first order. In happy retort, sarcastic reply, and caustic exposi-
tion, he is not surpassed by any writer within the circle of uur acquaint-
ance, and we confidently predict, with two such able individuals at the
head of the A^irs, that it will rapidly advance in public favor."
The Saturday Kews was published by L. A. Godey
& Co., at No. 100 Walnut Street, at two dollars per
annum, and printed on a large folio sheet. Managed
as it was by three men of such ability and enterprise,
it is but natural that The Saturday Xnvs soon became
a successful venture. Before issuing the first number
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2011
of The Saturday News the proprietors had bought out
Alexander's Vndf Mccum. The Ni-ws eventually
became nier<red in the Sufiirildi/ Eviiinf; Pout.
The National Atlas and Sunday Morning Mail
was started in Philadelphia on July 31, 1886, by
Samuel C. Atkinson, No. .36 Carter's Alley. Its
purpose was set forth in the following langu.age:
" We trviat it will not prove tlie less acceptable for being Vi Suudiy
visitor, — as Sunday calls, Sunday dinners, and Sunday promenades are
now everywhere in vogue. In order, however, to disarm the prejudices
w hich might nevertheless be brought to bear against our enterprise,
we desire to state tliat^the Sunday Atlas will bo the work of Sabtrday
night always, leaving us on the following day with nothing more to do
than to lay it upon the tables of those who may have no objection to
r>:ad on the Sabbath. . . . New York is not without its papers on this
day, which, at the same time, are calculated to gratify those who read
only to be amused, whereas our object in the Stmday Mail is to furnish
useful intelligence to our men of business, as well as agreeable matter
to the general reader. ... By an arrangement now in progress we ex-
pect to be put in possession of the Xew York evening papers of Saturday
in time to avail ourselves of their contents for the Alias of the follow-
ing day, a desida-atuvi, as we think, all will admit, and one, accordingly,
which we propose to supply."
This publication was octavo, three columns on a
page, and the same width of the Saturday Evening
Post, of the same publisher. The leader of Septem-
ber 25th, of the same year, contained the following
frank announcement:
" We are free to confess that we mistook the public feeling when we
supposed tliat a desire existed for a Sunday publication that should
supply the void that occurs by thesuspension of the daily press on tlie
particular day in question. We shall, therefore, in compliance with the
general wish, change the day of publication from Sunday to Tuesday
after the first day of October next, satisfied that, while no one will ob-
ject to the change, it will meet with the appi-obalion of a large ma-
jority of our subscribers. The title of the work will also undergo
Three volumes of the paper were published, cov-
ering a period of a year and a half.
The Eclectic Journal of Medicine was issued
monthly in connection with the Select Medical
Library, beginning in November, 1836, and continued
until October, 1840. It was published by Barrington
& Haswell, and edited by John Bell.
The Saturday Chronicle, a weekly journal, pub-
lished at No. 84 South Second Street, was started
about 1836, and continued until 1842. The propri-
etors were Matthias and Taylor.
The Independent Democrat, a weekly newspaper,
was begun about 1836. In 1837 or 1838 it was consoli-
dated with the Evening Star, and was published until
1841 as the Evening Star and Independent Democrat.
For some time the office of publication was at No.
73 Dock Street, and subsequently in the rear of No.
110 Walnut Street. The paper went out of existence
in 1841.
Die Alte und Neue Welt (" the Old and New
World") had its inception about 1836, and was pub-
lished at No. 9 Bread Street, and afterward at No.
124 North Third Street. It was discontinued in 1843.
The Weekly Messenger was started in 1836, or
thereabouts, and was published until 1848. The pub-
lication office was in the Athenian Buildings, Frank-
lin Place.
The Sunday Sun was first published in 1836, by
Putnam & Creamer, but only three numbers were
issued.
The Colonization Herald, a fortnightly journal,
issued on the first and third Saturdays of each month,
came into existence about 1836, and was published
for many years, — for a time at No. 27 Sansoni Street,
and afterward ;it No. 609 Walnut Street.
Waldie's Literary Omnibus, devoted to " news,
books entire, sketches, reviews, tales, miscellaneous
intelligence," was a weekly journal, established Jan.
6, 1837, by Adam Waldie. It did not flourish.
The Philadelphia Visitor and Parlour Compan-
ion, a twenty-four page octavo, issued every two weeks,
came into existence in March, 1837, edited by H. N.
Moore, and was published by W. B. Rogers at No. 49
Chestnut Street. It was devoted to popular and mis-
cellaneous literature, fashions, and music.
The Ladies' Garland, a sixteen-page magazine,
octavo, made its appearance April \f>, 1837. The sec-
ond number was issued May 6th. Thereafter the Gar-
land was published weekly, by John Libby, at No. 45
North Sixth Street.
Graham's Magazine, or, as it was originally called.
The Oentleman's Magazine, a monthly publication,
edited by William E. Burton, was issued for the
first time in July, 1837, by Charles Alexander,
at the Athenian Buildings, Franklin Place. The
number for January, 1839, which began the fourth
volume, bore the title of The Gentleman's Magazine
and Monthly American Review. From thence Mr.
Burton was publisher as well as editor, and the office
was removed to Dock Street, opposite the Exchange.
In the editorial conduct of the fifth volume, beginning
with July, 1839, Edgar Allen Poe became associated
with Mr. Burton. In 1840 Poe withdrew, and in No-
vember of that year it was issued for the last time as
Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and American 3Ionthly
Review, a title which it had borne for some time.
Having passed into the hands of George R. Graham,
it was issued in December, 1840, as Graham's Maga-
zine, the publication office having meanwhile been re-
moved to the southwest corner of Third and Chest-
nut Streets. Mr. Graham was the publisher and edi-
tor of the periodical for many years. For a portion
of this time it was known as Graham's Lady's and
Gentleman's Magazine, the Casket having been merged
into it. Mr. Graham was assisted in his editorial duties
at various times by Ruftis W. Griswold, Robert T.
Conrad, Joseph R. Chandler, J. B. Taylor, and others.
Charles J. Peterson was associated in the publication
for some time, finally withdrawing to establish Peter-
son's Magazine. Samuel D. Patterson & Co. became
the publishers in 1848. Graham's Magazine enjoyed
great success and popularity for many years. As an
evidence of its high literary character, it may be said
that it numbered among its contributors Henry W.
Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, J. Fenimore
Cooper, Richard Henry Dana, N. P. Willis, James
2012
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Russell Lowell, Edgar A. Poe, Lydia H. Sigourney,
Frances Sargent Osgood, and Ann S. Stephens.
The Daily Focus, established in September, 1837,
had for its motto, " The Existence of a Republic
must Depend upon the Virtue and Intelligence of her
Children!" It was published at No. 103 (old num-
ber) South Second Street, two doors north of Walnut,
up to August, 1838, by Turner, Davis & Valleau. In
the issue of August 13th, the firm-name became Davis
& Valleau. The editor was Gen. William F. Small,
quite a prominent figure in Philadelphia life some-
what less than half a century ago. He read law with
David Paul Brown, and was admitted to the bar Aug.
20, 1836. The student had largely imbibed the views
of his tutor on the slavery — or, more properly called,
abolition — question. After the destruction of Penn-
sylvania Hall by a mob, differences arose between the
proprietors of the Daily Focus and its editor, which
resulted in the withdrawal of the latter, as announced
in the issue of May 24, 1838. The personal relations
of each continued friendly. George R. Graham and
Charles S. Peterson, of magazine fame, both then law-
students, commenced their literary career on the Daily
Focus after Gen. Small's withdrawal. It was a bright
penny paper, but lived only a few years.
The Spirit of the Times, in its day a journal of
great popularity and influence, was established in No-
vember, 1837, and during twelve years of its career
was under the editorial direction of John S. DuSolle.
For a part of this period he was assisted by Edward
A. Penniman, who was also the proprietor of the
journal for a while. On Dec. 10, 1849, Du Solle and
Penniman disposed of the paper to A. H. Smith and
Charles W. Carrigan. For many years the motto of
the journal was, " Democratic and Fearless : Devoted
to no Clique and Bound to no Master," which was
afterward replaced by " God and the People." The
following announcement appeared in the paper for
some weeks, and for the last time on Jan. 16, 1845 : " To
the Public. — The proprietors of the Spirit of the Times
will pay any individual five hundred dollars who can
show that this paper has not a circulation greater than
that of any other Democratic journal in the United
States ! Nor a circulation five times greater than that
of any other daily Democratic newspaper in Pennsyl-
vania." For years the paper was published at the
northwest corner of Third and Chestnut Streets, and
subsequently at No. 42 South Third Street, one door
above Chestnut.
The Morningf Star, published by J. Metcalfe & Co.,
at No. 57 South Third Street, "opposite the Girard
Bank," was established Oct. 5, 1837, at eight dollars
per annum, with J. Bausman as editor. It died early.
The Medical Examiner, a bi-weekly journal,
edited by J. B. Biddle, M. Clymer, and W. W. Ger-
hard, was issued for the first time on Jan. 3, 1838.
Vols, ii.-v. were issued weekly, and a new monthly
series was commenced in Januarj-, 1845. The follow-
ing sub-title was added to vol. v. : " and Retrospect of
the Medical Sciences." With the beginning of vol.
vii. the full title became T7ie Medical Examiner and
Record of Medical Science. In January, 1857, it was
united with The Louisville Review, forming The North
American Medico- Chirurrjical Review.
The American Journal of Homoeopathy, a bi-
monthly periodical, edited by an association of homoeo-
pathic physicians, was commenced in August, 1838, by
W. L. J. Kiderlen & Co., and was soon discontinued.
The United States Magaziae and Democratic
Review, published at No. 67 South Second Street,
was founded in or before 1838, and by 1840 had gone
out of existence.
The Lady's Amaranth, a magazine published at
No. 274 Market Street, was issued for the first time in
1838, and was published for two or three years. Many
young writers, who have since become somewhat
famous, began to see themselves in print in its pages.
The Mechanics' Register was published in 1838,
at No. 45 North Second Street, and had a short career.
The American Phrenological Journal and Mis-
cellany, a monthly periodical, was commenced in No-
vember, 1838, Adam Waldie being the publisher.
The title subsequently become the The American Phren-
ological Journal and Life Flusf rated, and it was finally
moved to New York.
The Philadelphia Demokrat, a German morning
paper, was founded in 1838 by a number of German
Democrats, for the purpose of supporting David R.
Porter as a candidate for Governor, against Ritner.
Its first number was issued on Aug. 27, 1838. Burk-
hardt and Rothenstein were the publishers, and No.
391 (old number) North Front Street, between Green
and Coates Streets [now Fairmount Avenue], was the
publication office. After Porter's election the Demo-
krat was, for a short time, issued weekly, but soon be-
came a daily paper again. In the second year of its
existence, L. A. Wollenweber became the proprietor,
and published it first at the corner of Old York road
and Callowhill Street, and afterward in Third Street,
below Noble. In 1852, Mr. Wollenweber sold the
paper to John S. Hoffman, and in September, 1853,
the firm of Hoffman & Morwitz was established, which
continued until the 9th day of July, 1873, when Mr.
Hoffman withdrew from the firm. Since that time
the publication of the Demokrat has been continued
by Dr. Edward Morwitz, under the firm of Morwitz &
Co. In November, 1868, the office was removed to its
new printing house, Nos. 612 and 614 Chestnut Street,
where it is now published. The Demokrat is a four-page
paper, containing thirty-six columns. Its newspaper,
publishing, and printing business is now the greatest
and most extensive German establishment of this
kind in the United States.
From the same office are issued the Vereinigte Staa-
ten Zeitung, a weekly, established in 1845, as the
Weekly Demokrat; Die Neue Welt, a Sunday paper,
founded in 1856 ; and the Abendposf, an afternoon
journal, first issued in 1866.
THE PKESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2013
The Catholic Herald, a weekly religious journal,
was established about 1838, and published at various
places, at No. 61 North Second Street, No. 116 Chest-
nut Street, northwest corner of Third and Walnut
Streets, No. 15 Minor Street, No. 10 South Fifth
Street, No. 22.5 South Fourth Street, etc. In 1857 it
was consolidated with the Catholic Visitor, which had
been started some months before.
The Philadelphia Reporter, a monthly periodical,
came into existence in 1838, at No. 45 North Sixth
Street, and was discontinued after an existence of a
few months.
Bicknell's Reporter, issued weekly by Robert T.
Bicknell, had its inception about 1838, and was pub-
lished at various places on South Third Street, first
at No. 76, then at No. 20, then at No. 33, then at No.
45, then at No. 112, and elsewhere. Bicknell's Coun-
terfeit Detector was under the same direction, and in
1858, or thereabouts, the two were consolidated, the
title becoming Iiiilinj ct Bicknell's Bank Note Reporter.
The Christian Observer, a weekly Presbyterian
journal, was started in 1838 as the Religious Tclei/rapk
and Observer, but assumed the first-named title in
1839. The publication-office was on Chestnut Street
for many years, at Nos. 134, 144, and 216. About
1856 it was removed to No. 48 South Fourth Street.
Rev. A. Converse, the editor, a bitter Secessionist, was
compelled to leave Philadelphia after the attack on
Fort Sumter, and publication was suspended.
The Baptist Record was started in 1838, or, per-
haps, shortly prior to that date, by J. M. Allen, at
No. 21 South Fourth Street. Subsequently the pub-
lication-oflSce was at No. 118 Mulberry Street, and the
paper existed until 1857.
The Evening News, a two-cent daily afternoon
paper, was commenced in 1838, or thereabouts, by M.
H. Andrews, at No. 103 South Second Street. It
lived but a few months.
The American Phrenological Journal was issued
for the first time in 1838, or perhaps a year earlier,
from No. 46 Carpenter Street, and went out of exist-
ence in 1841.
The Financial Register, published at No. 46 Car-
penter Street, was started about 1838, and discon-
tinued in 1839.
The Farmers' Cabinet, a periodical mainly de-
voted to agricultural topics, was commenced about
1838, at No. 45 North Sixth Street, and subsequently
removed to No. 50 North Fourth Street. It was suc-
cessfully published until 1850.
The Lady's Companion was published in 1838, by
Orrin Rodgers, at No. 67 South Second Street, having
been commenced in that year, or shortly before. It
was not in existence in 1840.
The Medico-Chirurgical Review had its origin
about 1838, the publisher being Orrin Rodgers, at No.
67 South Second Street. It soon died out.
The Banner of the Cross, a weekly journal, estab-
lished Jan. 5, 1839, succeeded the Protestant Episco-
palian, and was published in the interest of that ile-
nomination. The motto which originally accompanied
the title-head was " Pro Deo, pro ecclesia, pro Horn-
iniim. Salute." This eventually gave place to the
familiar phrase " //* hoc Signo." Among its editors
were Rev. John Coleman, D.D., and Rev. H. Hooker,
D.D. It was ]iublished for more than twenty years.
The United States Commercial and Statistical
Register was established Fob. 13, 1839, by Samuel
Hazard. The second issue was on July 3d, and there-
after it was published weekly until June 29, 1842.
The World, published by Russell Jarvis, editor and
proprietor, at No. 83 Dock Street, opposite the Ex-
change, north side, was a small folio daily newspaper,
and made its appearance in the early part of March,
1839. Jarvis had been connected with the Ledger
previous to his venture with the World. It was quite
a strong Whig paper, but its life was not long.
Little Genius, " published daily, by the proprietor,"
at No. 103 South Second Street, " second door above
Walnut," was first issued in the middle of May, 1839.
Under the title-head was this motto, a fanuliar quota-
tion from Burns : " A chiel's amang ye takin' notes,
an' faith he'll prent 'em !" During its short career it
was a small folio, gossippy and flippant.
Peterson's Ladies' National Magazine, a monthly
periodical devoted to fashions and to kindred subjects
of interest to ladies, was established iij 1840, since
which year it has been continuously published.
Charles J. Peterson was its originator and is its
present publisher. It has always been well illus-
trated, particularly in the line of colored fashion-
plates, and from the outset met with unexampled suc-
cess. The publication-office is, and has been from the
beginning, at No. 306 Chestnut Street.
The Daily Chronicle, a penny paper, the second
of that name, was established in 1840, at the corner of
Chestnut Street and Franklin Place, by Alexander &
Scott. It was in existence in 1847.
The Daily Standard, an ephemeral sheet, was first
issued in 1840, from No. 83 Dock Street, by F. J.
Grund, and was in existence but a few months.
The Botanic Medical Reformer and Home Phy-
sician, the publishers of which were H. Hollembaek
& Co. and the editor Dr. Thomas Cooke, was com-
menced May 7, 1840, and continued a couple of years
in monthly issues.
The Pennsylvania German, a weekly paper pub-
lished at No. 83 Dock Street, came into existence in
1840, but publication was suspended within a year.
The Philadelphia Repository had its origin in
1840, at No. 67 South Second Street, and removed to
Spruce Street, above Second. It enjoyed a successful
career of twelve years, finally suspending in 1852.
The Literalist, published at No. 67 South Second
Street, made its appearance in 1840, and was discon-
tinued in 1842.
The United States, established May 1, 1841, by
Swain, Abell & Simmons, the publishers of the Pu6Kc
2014
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Ledger, was a continuation of the Weekly Ledger,
which had been first printed in the autumn of 1837.
In September, 1842, the paper was sold to George R.
Graham, who united it with the Saturday Evening
Post, which he then published.
The Temperance Advocate, first issued in 1841,
from No. 65 Third Street, near Dock, by Samuel C.
Atkinson, one of the founders of the Saturday Even-
ing Post, lived four or five years.
The Dramatic Mirror and Literary Companion,
" devoted to the stage and the fine arts," published by
Turner & Fisher, and edited by James Rees, made its
apjiearance Aug. 14, 1841, at No. 15 North Sixth
Street.
The Young People's Book, a juvenile magazine,
was started in 1841, and was continued for a couple of
years, the publication-office being at No. 101 Chest-
nut Street.
The Peoples' Lihrary, a literary periodical which
originated in 1841, was in existence until 1843, and
was issued from No. 101 Chestnut Street, by Godey &
McMichael.
The Evening Journal, a daily afternoon news-
paper, was started in 1842 at No. 48 South Third
Street, and failed in a few months.
The Evening Mercury, which was first issued in
1842, at No. 85 Dock Street, was continued for a
couple of years, but it did not achieve any very flat-
tering success.
The Forum, a daily paper, the publication-office
of which was at first at No. 82 Chestnut Street, and
subsequently in Dock Street, north side, next door
from the corner of Third, was started in 1842, by
Bela Badger, as a Whig organ, and was edited by
James S. Wallace. It existed only two years.
The Saturday Museum, a weekly paper, the publi-
cation-office of which was at No. 101 Chestnut Street,
was started in 1842, or shortly prior thereto, and was
continued until 1844.
The Protestant Banner, published on the first and
third Thursdays of each month, was started in 1842,
and suspended two years later. The publication-
office was at No. 8 South Third Street.
"Vancourt's Counterfeit Detector was successfully
published for many years, beginning with 1842, and
issued from No. 93 (new number 243) Arch Street.
The Youth's "World, published by the American
Sunday-School Union, was established in January,
1843, as the Youth's Penny Gazette, an illustrated folio
of four pages, for youth and Sunday-school children,
issued every other week. The price at first was one
cent, which in about a year afterward was reduced to
half a cent per copy. It was originally edited by
Frederick A. Packard. In 1859 its title was changed
to The Sunday-School Gazette, issued monthly, while a
similar paper called The Sunday-School Banner was
issued each week, the two papers being edited by
John S. Hart. Two years later, in 1861, the Gazette
and Banner were merged in the Child's World, which
was issued semi-monthly. Upon Mr. Packard's death,
in 1867, Rev. Richard Newton became the editor,
serving until 1878. He was followed by the present
editor, Rev. Edwin W. Rice. In January, 1881, the
title of the Child's World was changed to the Youth's
World, and it became a monthly.
The DoUar Newspaper came into existence on
the 25th of January, 1843. The publishers were A. H.
Simmons & Co., the company being Messrs. Swain
& Abell. In other words. The Dollar Xeu-spaper was
issued, from the Ledger office, and owned by the Ledger
management. It proved quite successful and profit-
able until the increased price of paper rendered the
publication at a dollar annually impossible as a pay-
ing business. In its columns Edgar A. Poe's famous
prose tale, the " Gold-Bug," was originally published
in competition for a premium of one hundred dollars
offered by the publishers of the Dollar Xeicspaper, and
was awarded the premium by a committee of three
gentlemen, consisting of Judge Conrad, Dr. H. G.
Patterson, and Washington L. Lane. The story
was published on the 21st and 28th of June, 1843,
and from the first moment of its issue attracted
much attention, especially among literary people of
acknowledged culture. It is sui generis. It is with-
out plot, and has not a female character named in it,
and yet, wholly narrative as it is, it is one of the most
thrilling productions of its length ever given to the
public. Joseph Sailer, the financial editor of the
Ledger was editor of the Dollar Newspaper, and, as an
indulgence of his early typographic taste, "made up"
the form of the yeu:?paper every week.
After Mr. Childs purchased the Ledger establish-
ment, he changed the name of the Dollar Newspaper
to The Home Weekly and Household Newspaper, in-
creased the price to two dollars per annum, expended
large sums of money in literary prizes, and endeav-
ored to build up an extensive circulation. Finding,
however, that the paper to some extent clashed with
the Ledger's interests, he sold it, in December, 1867,
to Joseph A. Nunes. Its subsequent career was ver}-
brief.
The Occident and American Jewish Advocate,
a monthly periodical devoted to the diffusion of
knowledge on Jewish literature and religion, made
its appearance in April, 1843, under the editorial
supervision of Isaac Leeser, at No. 118 South Fourth
Street, and continued three or four years.
Campbell's Foreign Semi-Monthly, a bi-weekly
magazine, first appeared on Sept. 1, 1843, and ended
on the completion of its third volume. It was owned as
well as edited by John Sartain, who engraved a steel-
plate for the embellishment of every number. In it
appeared for the first time in America "The Bridge
of Sighs," "The Song of the Shirt," "The Drop of
Gin," "The Pauper's Funeral," Hood's "Haunted
House," and many other now famous poems ; also
Agassiz's "Period in the History of our Planet,"
which was printed Oct. 16, 1843, when his name was
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2015
unknown as yet on this side of the Atlantic. This
periodical was merged into the Eclectic, published in |
New York, while it was the property and under the
editorship of the Rev. Mr. Agnew.
The Legal Intelligencer, a weekly law periodical,
was established on Dec. 2, 1843, and it is therefore
the oldest law journal in the United States. It was
founded by the late Henry E. Wallace, of the Phila-
delphia bar, who remained its editor until his death,
Feb. 23, 1879, and wilh him was associated J. Hubley
Ashton from 1860.to 1864. Dallas Sanders and Henry
C. Titus became also associated as editors in 1871,
and still remain in editorial charge.
Prior to the year 1843 there was no law journal in
the United States. The only systematic reports were
those of the courts of last resort, and, witli the excep-
tion of an occasional and fugitive effort to collect and
publish the decisions of the lower courts, the other
tribunals throughout the country were unreported.
The courts of Philadelphia County had always been
of wide repute, and many eminent men had occupied I
its bench. The Intelligencer was established for the I
purpose of gathering and preserving their decisions.
In 1855 a new feature was added to the paper. The
bar and the community had long suffered annoyance
by the want of system in the matter of legal notices.
In those days, as now, the client expected his counsel
to keep himself advised of any proceedings affecting I
his property interests, and by the distribution of these I
notices it frequently happened that judgments and
other liens were lost, claims against decedents and
assignors overlooked, and the client injured in many
other ways now guarded against. These evils were '
corrected by the act of April 5, 1855, which directed i
the courts to select a journal in which legal notices
should be concentrated. The Legal Intelligencer was
selected for this purpose, and has discharged the duty
ever since.
The Medical News was commenced in 1843 as a
monthly adjunct to the American Journal of the Medi- I
cal Sciences, under the editorial management of Dr. i
Isaac Hays, and was so continued until 1869, when
his son, Dr. I. Minis Hays, was associated with him. ,
The latter assumed the sole editorship in 1879, and in |
his hands it has remained ever since. In 1880 the
size of the News was increased by the absorption of i
the Monthly Abstract, and the title became The Medi-
cal Neirs and Abstract. In 1882, the material for pub-
lication having largely increased, and a demand aris-
ing for a more frequent communication with its
readers, it was changed to a weekly publication, under
the old title of The Medical News, since which its cir-
culation has increased rapidly. Its readers and con-
tributors are found in every State and Territory, atid
its unrivaled organization enables it each week to lay
upon the tables of its readers an accurate epitome of
a week's advance of the whole medical world. It is
published by Henry C. Lea's Son & Co., Nos. 706
and 708 Sansom Street.
The Daily Sun, a Native American penny paper,
was first issued in 1843, and continued until 1857, being
published first by Barrett & Jones, and subsequently
by Wallace & Fletcher. Lewis C. Levin was editor
for a number of years, as was also James S. Wallace.
The publication-office was for a considerable time at
the northeast corner of Dock and Third Streets, and
afterward at No. 64 South Third Street, above Wal-
nut, where was also published the Dollar Weekly
Sun.
The Sunday Sun was started in 1843 by John
Lawlor, who came from New York for that purpose,
and who subsequently was one of the founders of the
Sunday Dir^patch. Only two numbers were issued,
and it was even a greater failure than its predecessor
of the same name in 1836.
The Bulletin of Medical Science, issued monthly,
made its appearance in 1843, and suspended in 1846.
It was edited by John Bell, and published by Bar-
rington & Haswell.
The Pennsylvania Freeman, an organ of the Free-
Soil party, was irregularly issued for five years prior
to 1844, from No. 72 North Seventh Street and No. 7
Carter's Alley. On Jan. 18, 1844, its regular publi-
cation as a bi-weekly was begun at No. 31 North
Fifth Street, under the auspices of the Eastern Penn-
sylvania Anti-Slavery Society and the editorial di-
rection of J. M. McKim and C. C. Burleigh. For
many years it was conducted with great vigor, and
was of essential service in building up the Republi-
can party.
Friends' Intelligencer was started March 30, 1844,
by Josiah Chapman, a member of the Society of
Friends, a printer, and interested in a country news-
paper, who conceived the idea of using the type and
news items in the publication of a Friends' paper.
Its title was Friends' Weekly Intelligencer, hut thewoid
" weekly" was afterwards dropped, though its weekly
issue was not changed. A number of persons volun-
teered literary assistance, and the second volume was
under the care of an "Association of Friends," who
selected an editor and managed its business affairs.
Abel North and afterwards John J. White were the
principal editors, but at the close of the ninth volume
the paper passed into the hands of an Association of
Women Friends, and it is still continued under their
editorship. About that time it was changed to a
sixteen-page octavo. Its design is to furuish informa-
tion of what is transpiring in the Society of Friends,
to preserve and disseminate matter connected with its
history, to publish original and selected essays on
religious and literary subjects, and brief items of con-
temporary events. The present publisher and agent
is John Comly, at Friends' Bookstore, No. 1020 Arch
Street.
The Christian Instructor had its origin in Septem-
ber, 1844, when the Associate Reformed Synod of
New Y'ork agreed to establish a monthly magazine
for circulation specially among the families within
2016
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
its bounds. The first number was issued in Septem-
ber of that year, at Newburgh, N. Y., printed by Kev.
David S. Proudfit, and edited by Dr. John Forsyth.
Rev. John B. Dales, D.D., became owner and editor
October, 1846, and issued it in Philadelphia, and
changed it to a weekly paper July, 1859. It was re-
moved to Chicago January, 1879, where it was owned
and edited by Revs. A. G. McCor and A. T. McDill.
In April, 1882, Mr. McCoy's interest was purchased
by Rev. D. W. Collins, D.D., and it was returned to
Philadelphia, where it is now edited by Revs. D. W.
Collins, D.D., W. N. Bond, D.D., and A. T. McDill,
and is published by Collins & McDill, in the interests
of the United Presbyterian Church of North America.
It is a sixteen-page weekly, and is issued at two dol-
lars per annum.
Stockton's Dental Intelligencer, a monthly jour-
nal, was commenced in November, 1844, and was in
existence three or four years.
Neal's Saturday Gazette was established in 1841
by Joseph C. Meal, who had previously been con-
nected with the Saturday Neus and the Pennsijlvanian.
Morton McMichael was associated with him in the
new enterprise, whose publication office was first at
No. 113 Chestnut street, and afterward at No. 46
South Third Street. Neal died July 18, 1847, and
Mr. McMichael having previously withdi-awn to the
North Avierican, Neal's widow continued the Sat-
urday Gazette until 1854, when it died out.
The Native American, a daily paper, came into
existence in 1844, during tlie Native American cam-
paign, but continued only a few months. The pub-
lisher and editor was i-Samuel R. Kramer.
The American Advocate was published daily for
several months, beginning some time in 1844, after-
ward became the Native Eagle and Advocate, and was
in existence until 1849.
The Daily Keystone, published at No. 85 Dock
Street, was started in 1844, and continued for three
years, when it was merged into the Spirit of the
Times. Thomas B. Florence was the editor.
The Native Eagle and Advocate was commenced
in 1845 as a daily penny paper, and issued from No.
83 Dock Street. It was virtually a continuation of
the American Advocate, which had its origin in the
previous year, and was a Native American organ.
William D. Baker, Peter Sken Smith, and Henry
H. K. Elliott were interested in that publication.
The American Citizen, a weekly Native American
journal, was started in 1845, at No. 46 North Fifth
Street, but continued only a few months.
Smith's Weekly Volume, which lived a year and
a half, was established in 1845 by John Jay Smith,
at that time the librarian of the Library Company of
Philadelphia, and for many years connected with
various journals of this city.
The Dental Intelligencer and Record of Theo-
retical and Practical Dentistry, a bi-monthly peri-
odical, was started in 1845, by S. W. Stockton & Co.
The Vereinigte Staaten Zeitung — United States
Gazette — is a weekly edition of the Philadelphia Dem-
okrat. It was begun as The Weekly Demokrat in
1845, but the title was subsequently changed to that
which it now bears.
Comstock's Phonetic Magazine was issued for the
first time in September, 1846, with a poetical prospec-
tus, which closed as follows :
"Frieods of the Anglo-Saxon quill,
Now start upon your feet ;
Direct (post-paid) A. Comstock, Phil.,
lOU Mulherry Slreet."
Its term of life was about two years.
The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin was estab-
lished on Monday, April 12, 1847, with the original
title of Cummings' Evening Telegraphic Bulletin, its
publisher being Alexander Cummings, then also the
publisher of Xeafs Saturday Gazette. A "specimen
number" was published on April 10, 1847, and the
first issue of the Bulletin was called "vol. i. — No. 1,"
but the next day's issue appeared as " vol. xxxi. —
New Series, No. 2." This anomaly was owing to the
fact that the latter issue was dated from the founda-
tion of the American Sentinel, whose subscription-list
had been purchased by Mr. Cummings. Up to 1847
there had been no successful first-class afternoon
newspaper, and it was generally deemed impossible
to make a paying investment out of such a venture.
Mr. Cummings thought otherwise, however, and he
immediately inaugurated a vigorous policy. Charles
J. Peterson was engaged as " leader writer," and Col.
John F. Carter was made assistant editor in charge of
the news department. Dr. Alexander W. Blackburn,
afterward fire-marshal of Philadelphia, was city ed-
itor. The enterprise prospered at the outset, and the
paper, which originally was a six-column folio, was
enlarged to seven columns, the sheet being twenty-
four by thirty-six inches. Within the first year Mr.
Cummings disposed of an interest in the Bulletin to
James Peacock, formerly of Harrisburg, who had pub-
lished the JIarrisbzirg Republican, on which Simon
Cameron, afterward United States Senator from
Pennsylvania, had served an apprenticeship. Mr.
Peacock subsequently resold his interest in the paper
to Mr. Cummings. Mr. Peacock's son, Gibson Pea-
cock, became connected with the editorial staff of the
Bulletin soon after his father's purchase of an interest,
and this relationship was still continued after James
Peacock's withdrawal. Indeed, it was not long before
the editorial department of the paper was mainly
under Gibson Peacock's supervision, as it is at this
time. He is a native of Harrisburg, a graduate of
Dickinson College, and a vigorous and a versatile
writer. Mr. Peterson withdrew from the Bulletin
about 1854, to give fuller attention to his duties in
connection with the conduct of his monthly maga-
zine. Charles G. Leland (" Hans Breitman") became
assistant editor of the Bulletin in 1855, remaining in
that position for many years. Casper Souder, Jr.,
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2017
who had been a reporter upon the Bulletin, was pro-
moted to city editor upon the resignation of Dr. Black-
burn. Rev. Benjamin J. Wallace, a distinguished
clergyman of the Old School Presbyterian Church,
contributed occasional leaders, and his son, Ernest C.
Wallace, was also engaged as an assistant editor.
The word "telegraphic," considered so important
at the outset, was dropped from the title at the begin-
ning of the fourth volume, and in April, 1856, the
name was changed to Daily Evening Bulletin, in con-
tradistinction to^that of a weekly edition which was
issued for a time, but discontinued about 1861.
The weekly edition of the Bulletin underwent many
mutations in form, style, and name. For a short time
it was properly a weekly edition of eight pages, made
up out of the daily. Then it became more literary in
character, and was called the Philadelphia Saturday
Bulletin. During its continuance under this title
prize stories were published, a flaming head adopted,
and, on the 15th of November, 1856, the American
Courier, published by Andrew McMakin, was con-
solidated with it. A semi-weekly edition of the Bul-
letin was begun Oct. 30, 1850, and continued for sev-
eral years, but was finally discontinued.
On April 20, 1870, the present title of the daily
paper, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, was adopted.
The price of the paper continued at two cents until
July 1, 1863, when the ruling "war prices" of white
paper, labor, etc., compelled an increase to three
cents.
On Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1850, the Bulletin created
a sensation by appearing as a double sheet, of the
present size, — " a feat not before attempted in Phila-
delphia." On the following Friday, another double
sheet was issued, and these appeared frequently there-
after, generally on Saturdays, and were occasionally
illustrated. In the early part of 1860, more than half
the issues were in this form, and it was permanently
adopted on the 21st of June of that year.
The Bulletin office continued at No. 46 (now No.
108) South Third Street until Feb. 28, 1853, when it
was removed to the handsome brown stone edifice No.
48 (now No. 112) South Third Street, then just erected
by the Girard estate. The increase in circulation
now made it necessary to provide for the more rapid
printing of the edition. Accordingly, the double-
cylinder press which had been used from the begin-
ning was replaced by one of Hoe's " last fast" four-
cylinder rotary presses, which was first put in opera-
tion May 31, 1853.
On the 1st of January, 1859, Gibson Peacock pur-
chased of Mr. Cummings one-third interest in the
Bulletin for eleven thousand dollars cash, and the
firm became Cummings & Peacock. This partnership
continued until February, 1860, when Mr. Cummings
removed to New York, and became the publisher of
a new daily paper called The World. The proprietor-
ship of the Bulletin was then put in the shape of a
joint stock association of fifty shares, Mr. Cummings
selling the greater part of his interest to others con-
nected with the paper. The ownership was divided
between Gibson Peacock, Alexander Cummings,
James S. Chambers, Ferdinand L. Fetherston,
Thomas J. Williamson, Casper Souder, Jr., and
Ernest C. Wallace. The firm-name became Peacock,
Chambers & Co., Mr. Cummings desiring that his
name should not appear, as New York was thereafter
to be his residence. Mr. Peacock was made editor,
with the very liberal concession that he should have
"the entire and uncontrolled management" of his
department.
In 1862, disagreements occurred between the pro-
prietors damaging to the interests of the paper, and
leading to protracted and costly litigation. This was
finally terminated in May, 1864, by a decision of the
Supreme Court in banc, which left Mr. Peacock in
entire charge of the editorial department, and Mr.
Fetherston in that of the publishing department.
Mr. Fetherston entered the business department of
the Bulletin in 1847, while in his minority, and rose
from one position to another, until the whole man-
agement of the publication was intrusted to him.
Correct and courteous in his dealings, he enjoys a
high reputation amongbusinessmen,and the financial
success of the Bulletin is largely due to the energy
and ability of his management.
The partnership of Peacock, Chambers & Co., ex-
pired by limitation on the 1st of February, 1865, and
on that day the Bulletin was sold at jjublic auction.
Mr. Peacock, for himself and his associates, bought
the whole establishment for eighty-nine thousand dol-
lars. This sale was a novelty for journalists, and at-
tracted much attention. A new " Bulletin Associa-
tion" was formed by the purchasers, the property
being divided into one hundred shares, distributed
between Messrs. Peacock, Fetherston, Souder, Wal-
lace, and Williamson. In the same year the Bulletin
Association purchased the five-story building No. 607
Chestnut Street, occupying the site of the old Chest-
nut Street Theatre, which was demolished in 1855,
and relinquishing their lease on the Girard estate
building in Third Street to Jay Cooke & Co. As the
new building was occupied by tenants whose leases
had not expired, the Bulletin office was temporarily
removed (Sept. 9, 1865) to No. 329 Chestnut Street.
Early on the morning of Jan. 2, 1866, the new
building was almost entirely destroyed by fire, fortu-
nately before the Bulletin had removed into it. As
soon as the frost would permit, it was rebuilt, and on
the 5th of May, 1866, the new Bulletin Building, hand-
somely and commodiously remodeled, was occupied
for the first time. The arrangements throughout are
admirable, and it is creditable to the proprietors that
as they increased in prosperity they provided superior
accommodations for all connected with their journal.
Francis Wells became connected with the Bulletin
in the capacity of assistant editor in 1865. Mr. Wells
began active life in the publishing houses of Godey &
2018
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
McMichael, and Lindsay & Blakiston, and was sub-
sequently engaged in the paper warehouse of James
M. Wilcox & Co. His taste leading him to literature,
he became an occasional contributor to the Bulletin,
and was one of the original editors of its " Chess
Column" several years before he became permanently
connected with the paper. He is a ready and vigor-
ous writer, conscientious and painstaking in his pro-
fession. In 1866 he purchased half the interest of
Ernest C. Wallace, whose health had declined, and
who died after a long illness, June 3, 1867, at Yonkers,
N. Y., in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Wal-
lace was a native of Pittsburgh, and entered the office
of the Bulletin at an early age. His love for his pro-
fession amounted to enthusiasm, and had he lived
longer, he might have become one of its brightest
ornaments. In the last letter of any length that he
ever wrote to his associates, this devotion to his pro-
fession was expressed with almost passionate tender-
ness. He was then apparently better, and he wrote :
" My main feeling is one of gratitude. I feel grateful
to Providence for, as it may be, even only an apparent
relief from the vallej' of the Shadow of Death, and
for the hope of soon going to work in the dear old
office."
Casper Souder, Jr., who had worked his way from
the position of local reporter to that of assistant
editor and part owner of the paper, became ill in the
summer of 1868, and died on the 21st of October fol-
lowing, at the age of forty-nine.
Mr. Souder began his career as a journalist in De-
cember, 1850, as a local reporter on the Sunday Dis-
patch, and continued attached to that paper for four-
teen years, becoming assistant editor, and contrib-
uting many valuable articles to its columns. His
sketches of the public institutions of the city and his
" History of Chestnut Street" displayed his power of
making the dryest subjects interesting by means of
clear, terse language, without the aid of garish liter-
ary ornament. Industrious and patient, he had no
superior as a local reporter, and his sterling qualities
and genial manners won him the esteem and aflection
of his associates.
The "Bulletin Association" expired by limitation
Feb. 1, 1870, just prior to which the interest of the
widow of Mr. Wallace was purchased by Mr. Wells,
and that of Mr. Williamson by Mr. Fetherston. The
widow of Mr. Souder retained her interest in the new
partnership which was then formed, and by which
the business was conducted under the title of Pea-
cock, Fetherston & Co.
The partnership then formed expired by limitation
Feb. 1, 1875, when the interest of Mrs. Souder was
purchased by Mr. Wells, Charles Heber Clark, and
William F. McCulIy, the business being continued
under the same title as before. On Jan. 1, 1882, Mr.
Clark's interest was purchased by Mr. McCuUy. Mr.
Clark began his newspaper career as a writer for the
Evening Telegraph. He was attached to the editorial
staff of the Bulletin in January, 1867, and was one of
its most industrious and able writers, especially upon
topics of social and political economy. Mr. Clark's
versatile literary abilities have produced a series of
popular humorous works, under the well-known nom
deplume of "Max Adeler." He is now the sole pro-
prietor and chief editor of the Textile Record, one of
the leading industrial journals of the country. Mr.
McCully had been connected with the business,
originally in its printing department, since the year
1860, and had been for some years the cashier of the
establishment, a position which he still occupies.
He is a man of thorough business capacity, and a
valuable member of the firm. He is at present and
has been for some years one of the fire commissioners
of the city of Philadelphia.
While the Bulletin has steadily kept in view its
original purpose of being a reliable news paper,
equaling the morning journals in the extent and va-
riety of its record of passing events, it has neverthe-
less given much attention to literary matters, and es-
pecially to current literature. It has always been
closely identified with the local interests of Phila-
delphia, and is outspoken on all subjects bearing upon
its prosperity, being noticeable for the pertinacity
with which it clings to any object until its purpose is
accomplished or hopelessly defeated. As an example
of this may be cited its advocacy of a paid fire de-
partment, a project which it persistently urged for
twenty years. For some time the Bulletin avoided
political affiliations, but gave in its adhesion to the
Republican party from its organization, and rarely
fails to support its measures or candidates. It is
steadily and consistently Republican in its princi-
ples, maintaining its views with outspoken boldness
and sincerity. The editorial department remains
under the control of Mr. Peacock, assisted by Mr.
Wells and a full corps of sub-editors, to each of whom
a special department is assigned. Mr. Fetherston
continues in charge of the business department of the
paper, assisted by Mr. McCully.
The Bulletin has kept at the front of the great ad-
vance that has been made in daily journalism since
its beginning. It has its regular correspondents in
London, Paris, and Rome, and supplements the tele-
graphic news of the Associated Press with a large
service of special dispatches. Its local department
is very comprehensive, its efiiciency being greatly
promoted by an extensive reference library and an
admirably-contrived system of classified historical,
biographical, and other matter. It has always paid
much attention to literary and art criticism, including
especially music and the drama, and enjoys a high
reputation for the sound judgment and entire inde-
pendence exhibited in these departments.
The Dental News-Letter was established in 1847
in the interest of dental surgery. As a quarterly it
was continued for twelve years, when it was succeeded
by a monthly journal. The Dental Cosmos, which is
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2019
still published. The first number of the latter was
issued in Au<;ust, 1859, by Jones & White.
The Friends' Review was started in 1847 by a
few Orthodox Friends who considered that the society
needed a journal representing a somewhat different
view of some matters from that set forth in the older
paper, The Friend. At that time the visit of Joseph
John Gurney, an eminent minister from England,
had brought out a diversity of sentiment in the soci-
ety greater than had existed since the separation, in
1827-28.
The purpose of the paper, however, was not con-
troversial, but general, including, as its title indicates,
the discussion of " religious, literary, and miscellane-
ous" topics. Its first editor and publisher was Enoch i
Lewis, a man of much ability and various informa-
tion, as well as independence of character. He was
one of the early and active Abolitionists of that day.
After several years of service he was succeeded by
Samuel Rhoads, also a decided as well as early oppo-
nent of slavery. The same was true of his successor,
William J. Allinson, a personal friend of John G.
Whittier, and a poet of considerable talent, as well as
a prose writer of great facility and vivacity of style.
About 1872 his health failed, and since that time the
paper has been conducted by one or both of its present
editors.
At the present time the Friends' Review represents
the " centre" or moderate portion of the Society of
Orthodox Friends. It neither adheres to the extreme
conservatism which prevails more distinctly in Phil-
adelphia than elsewhere, nor favors the existing ten-
dency, most manifest in the West, toward innovations
of various kinds upon the accepted views and prac-
tices of the society. Its animus may be expressed in
the motto, " In essentials unity, in non-essentials
liberty, and in all things charity." It present editors
are Drs. James E. Rhoads and Henry Hartshorne.
The Medical and Surgical Reporter is at pres-
ent the oldest weekly journal devoted to the interests
of the regular medical profession in the United States,
with the exception of one published in Boston. Its
history dates back to 1847, when it was begun as the
New Jersey Medical and Surgical Reporter, published
by the New Jersey State Medical Society, at Burling-
ton, in that State. Its earliest editors were Dr. Par-
rish and Dr. S. W. Butler. By these gentlemen it was
continued as a quarterly until 1858. In that year Dr.
S. W. Butler removed to Philadeli^hia, and, associating
Dr. R. J. Levis in the management of the journal, it
was transformed to a weekly, and published at No. Ill
South Tenth Street. The success of the new venture
was moderate and the prospects were fair, when the
outbreak of the civil war led to the temporary discon-
tinuance of the regular issues. Before the close of the
war, however, the Reporter had recovered, and, Dr.
Levis having retired. Dr. Butler continued it alone
until 1868, when he associated in its management Dr.
Daniel G. Brinton. The same year the Half- Yearly
Compendium of Medical Science was started under their
joint editorship. From this date there was a slow but
steady growth in the circulation of the two journals,
and each took a high position in the ranks of periodi-
cal medical literature. In 1873, Dr. Butler's health
failed, and his decease occurred the following year.
Both journals have since been continued with incre;is-
ing popularity by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, with whom
there have been associated at various times as assist-
ant editors Dr. George H. Napheys, Dr. C. C. Van-
derbeck, Dr. John Sundberg, and t)r. J. F. Edwards.
The publication-office is at No. 115 South Seventh
Street.
The Item was founded in 1847 by Thomas Fitz-
gerald as a weekly, and out of it have grown the Sun-
day Item and the Daily Evening Rem, although the
three papers are distinct, and all are flourishing. Tlie
Rem management own the building in which it is pub-
lished, and employ two fine Bullock lightning print-
ing-machines for their press-work. From its birth The
Rem has been one of the most progressive papers in
Philadelphia. Among the forward movements it has
advocated may be mentioned the following : consoli-
dation of the city and districts, construction of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, the new or decimal system of
numbering the streets, the paid fire department, the
new market-houses, abolishment of the unpleasant
third tier and the bar-rooms in the theatres, the
defense of the Union against rebellion, uniforming the
police, the letter-carriers, and the car conductors, re-
moval of the railings around the squares, and a de-
parture from Quaker uniformity in building.
During his years of hard work on The Rem, Mr.
Fitzgerald has found time to write a number of plays,
some of which have been performed with success.
" Light at Last" ran a mouth at the Arch Street
Theatre, and " Patrice" held the boards of the Chest-
nut Street Theatre for an equal length of time when
it was under the management of Laura Keene. Mr.
Fitzgerald is now assisted in his editorial and man-
agerial labors by his five sons, — Riter, Harrington,
Hildebrand, Gilbert, and Robert Leinster Fitzgerald,
— all of whom are trained and practical journalists.
The American Quarterly Register and Maga-
zine was first published in September, 1847, by James
Stryker, at No. 520 Chestnut Street, and printed by
William S. Young, Franklin Building, No. 50 North
Sixth Street.
The Daily Register was established in 1847 by W.
H. Sickels, mainly as a record of the arrivals at the
leading hotels, for the information of jobbing houses.
Originally it was a mere slip, but it was enlarged at
various times until, on Sept. 5, 1851, it was increased
to a twenty-four-column quarto. At this time it was
published by Moran & Sickels, at the northeast corner
of Third and Chestnut Streets. Subsequently it was
under the direction of William Birney. Its pros-
perity was not permanent, and it was suspended
within a few j^ears thereafter.
2020
HISTORy OF PHILADELPHIA.
The Manayunk Courier was first issued Jan. 1,
1848, by Richard Beresford. It was printed in Man-
ayunk, and the first oifice was at the corner of Green
Lane and Main Street. It was then removed to Mul-
berry Street, in the house now No. 133. After an
existence of ten weelrs, it was issued for the last
time March 18, 1848.
The Philadelphia Daily News was established
about the 1st of January, 1848, or some time in 1847,
at the northeast corner of Third and Chestnut Streets,
and removed to No. 70 (now No. 136) South Third
Street. As a Whig, and afterward Republican, paper
it had wide influence and large circulation. The
original proprietors were Paxson (now Justice Paxson
of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania), Sanderson,
and Killinger. Subsequently it was published over
twenty years by Joseph R. Flanigen as editor and
proprietor. For the greater portion of this period a
weekly edition, which bore the title of the Dollar
Weekly News, was also issued.
The Saturday Gleaner, published at No. 98 Chest-
nut Street, entered the field of journalism in 1848,
and died within a few months.
The Sunday Dispatch, the oldest existing Sunday
paper, was founded in 1848 by John Lawlor, Robert
Everett, and Elias J. Hincken. Lawlor had, in
1843, ventured upon Sunday journalism with the Sun-
day Sun, which lived only two or three weeks. The
first number of the Dispatch was printed May 14,
1848, and was published at No. 33 (now No. 209)
South Third Street, below Walnut. A small adver-
tisement in a daily paper, together with a brief notice
in the Daily News of the intention to issue such a
paper, was all the heraldry which the new enterprise
received. The first number, however, made a good
appearance. It contained nearly twenty-four col-
umns of reading matter and two small advertise-
ments. The receipts from the sale of the paper on
the first day of its appearance were twenty-eight
cents. Scarcely any enterprise of the kind could
commence with less prospect of success, and yet the
first number proved to have been of sufiicient merit
to secure a larger circulation for the second number,
with a demand that increased from week to week.
There were many prejudices to overcome. The re-
ligious element of the community was shocked at the
idea that a paper printed on Saturday night should
be read on Sunday. The immorality of such a
journal was dwelt upon, and was even made the sub-
ject of denunciation from the pulpit. The Dispatch
received no welcomes from the fraternity. The daily
press as a rule did not even consider it necessary to
note the advent of the stranger, and even in the city
Directory, which professed to give a list of the news-
papers of the city, the Dispatch was not mentioned
until three years after its establishment. For twenty-
one years the proprietorship of the Dispatch remained
unchanged, and the paper continued to grow in finan-
cial standing and in influence. On the 18th of April,
1869, John Lawlor died, thus severing the association
so long unbroken. The remaining partners continued
to publish the journal until 1882, when, as announced
in the issue of December 31st, Mr. Everett withdrew,
the sole proprietorship being thereafter vested in Mr.
Hincken, who publishes the Dispatch at the present
time at the northeast corner of Seventh and Walnut
Streets. From its commencement Thompson West-
cott has been its editor.
The Freie Presse, a German morning paper. Re-
publican in politics, was established in 1848, at No.
174 North Fourth Street. It is now published by the
Freie Presse Publishing Company, at No. 317 Callow-
hill Street. The Sonniags Blatt, which is practically a
Sunday edition of the M-eie Presse, is issued by the
same company.
The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review,
a religious publication, issued quarterly, in the inter-
est of the Presbyterian denomination, came into ex-
istence in 1848, and was successfully published for
many years at No. 25 Sansom Street. In 1853 it was
removed to No. 265 (new number, 821) Chestnut
Street.
The Presbyterian Treasury of Education, Re-
ligfion, and General Intelligence had its inception
in 1848, at No. 25 Sansom Street. It was discon-
tinued until 1851.
The Lady's Dollar Newspaper, a semi-monthly
publication, started in 1848, was issued until 1851, at
No. 113 Chestnut Street.
The Christian Chronicle came into existence, in
1848, as a weekly religious journal, and existed over
a decade. For a time it was published at No. 88
Dock Street; then at No. 118 Arch Street; afterward
at No. 100 Chestnut Street ; subsequently at No. 40
North Sixth Street ; and finally at No. 23 North Sixth
Street. Rev. W. B. Jacobs was the editor for some
years, being succeeded by Rev. James S. Dickers<in
"in 1860.
Sartain's Magazine, published by John Sartain,
was first issued in January, 1849, and it ended in
1852. It was begun by the purchase of the subscrip-
tion-list of a New York periodical, entitled the Union
Magazine of Literature and Art, of which Mrs. C. M.
Kirkland was editor, and before the close of its fourth
year it was merged again into a New York monthly,
called the National Magazine, devoted to Literature,
Art, and Religion.
Mrs. Kirkland and Professor John S. Hart were
associated as joint editors of the new enterprise, and
so continued for two years and a half, when they were
succeeded by Dr. Reynell Coates, who conducted it
for about four months, when Mr. Sartain himself be-
came sole editor, and continued so to the end.
Many choice pieces of literature that afterward be-
came as familiar as household words made their first
appearance in this magazine. Poe's poem on the
" Bells" was one of the more noted of his contribu-
tions, and Longfellow's translation from the Provenyal
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2021
of Jasmin of "The Blind Girl of Castel-Cuille" was
made for this, as well as many others of his enduring
writings. Thomas Buchanan Read and George H.
Boker were constant contributors, as well as Frederika
Bremer, through her interpreter, Mary Howitt. Foe
wrote his essay on the " Poetic Principle" for Sartahi's
Magazine, and it appeared in the October number of
1850. It is a curious and interesting study to ob-
serve the gradual development of a noble production,
whether in literature or any of the other sister arts,
from the first sketch to its after elaboration. For ex-
ample, here is the form in which Edgar A. Poe first sub-
mitted his poem of "The Bells," in eighteen lines:
"Thebellsl— hear the bells I
The merry wedding-bells!
The little silver bells!
How fairy-like a melody there swells
From the silver tinkling cells
Of thebells, bells, bells 1
Of thebells!
"Thebells!— ah, thebells!
The heavy iron bells!
Hear the tolling of the bells!
Hear the knells!
How horrible a monody there floats
From their throats —
From their deep-tone throats!
How I shudder at the notes
From the melancholy throats
Of the bells, bells, bells,—
Of the bells!"
Before the poem had got into print as originally
written, Poe had so expanded his subject that it grew
to the ample dimensions of one hundred and thirteen
lines, in which complete form it appeared in the num-
ber for November, 1849. The whole of Harriet Mar-
tineau's " Year at Ambleside" appeared first in (S'a;--
tain's Magazine, for which it was written.
The Reformed Quarterly Review, an octavo peri-
odical of one hundred and thirty-two pages, was
founded in 1849, and is published by the Reformed
Church Publication Board, at No. 907 Arch Street.
The Presbyterian Monthly Record, thirty-two
pages, octavo, was first published in 1849, under the title
of The Home and Foreign Record, and was the organ
of what was then known as the old school branch of the
church. After the reunion of the church, in the year
1870, it was consolidated with the Presbyterian Monthly,
the organ of the new school branch, and the name
changed to that which it now bears. It is published
by the Presbyterian Board of Publication, No. 1334
Chestnut Street, and is the propert)' and the organ of
the Boards of the Presbyterian Church of the United
States, and is the only publication from which a com-
plete view of the benevolent operations of that church
can be obtained.
Scott's Weekly Paper was established in 1849, by
Andrew Scott, who had been associated with Charles
Alexander in the publishing business, and was con-
tinued until Scott's death, in 1855. The office was at
No. 115, afterward No. Ill, Chestnut Street, between
Franklin Place and Fourth Street.
The Sunday Globe was started in 1849, as the Sun-
day Paper, but in a month or two the title was changed
to the former. Robert F. Christy & Co. were the
publishers, and Dr. Thomas Dunn English the editor,
who was succeeded by J. M. Willis Geist, now editor
of the Lancaster New Era. The Sunday Globe was
discontinued in 1852, after having been issued from
No. 72 Chestnut Street, and subsequently from No. 1
Lodge Street.
The American Law Journal was established in
1849, or about that time, at No. 17 Mercantile Library
building. It suspended publication in 1852, being
succeeded by the American Law Register, which is
still in existence.
Nordamerikanischer Monatsbericht fur Natur-
und Heilkunde, "redigin von W. Keller und H.
Tiedeman (in Philadelphia) und Herzka (in New
York)," a monthly medical journal, was commenced
in January, 1850, as an octavo periodical, published
by F. W. Christern.
The European News, published weekly at No. 72
Dock Street, was started in 1850, and discontinued in
1851.
The Drawing-Room Journal was commenced in
1850, by Stephen McHenry, who had been for years
chief clerk of Louis A. Godey. The editor was Manuel
M. Cooke. It was published at the northeast corner
of Second and Dock Streets, and at No. 32 South
Third Street, and expired in 1852.
Arthur's Home Gazette, a weekly journal, started
in 1850 by T. S. Arthur, was published at first in
Franklin Place, and subsequently at No. 107 Walnut
Street, and discontinued in 1855.
The German Illustrated Newspaper, a weekly
periodical, published at No. 282 Arch Street, was es-
tablished in 1850, and continued until 1853.
The Guardian, " a monthly magazine for young
men and women, Sunday-schools, and fomilies," came
into existence in January, 1850, and is published by the
Reformed Church Publication Board, at No. 907 Arch
Street, under the editorship of Rev. J. H. Dubbs, D.D.
Dye's Government Counterfeit Detector is pub-
lished monthly at No. 1338 Chestnut Street, and has
been in existence since 1850. During its career it has
supplied much valuable data for the detection of
spurious bank-notes.
The American Vegetarian and Health Journal,
published by the American Vegetarian Society, and
edited by W. A. Alcott, T. L. Nicholls, and Rev.
William Metcalfe, was first issued in November, 1850,
and continued monthly for several years.
The American Mechanics' Advocate, a weekly
journal, was published for a couple of years, beginning
in 1850, at the southwest corner of Seventh and Market
Streets.
The Saturday Emporium was first issued in 1850,
or thereabouts, from No. 1 Franklin Place, and sus-
pended in 1851.
The Sunday Ledger was established in 1850, or
203i
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
possibly in 1848, by George W. Ward, who kept a
gentleman's furnishing goods store on the north side
of Chestnut Street, above Seventh. The paper was
published until 1855 at No. 84 South Third Street.
The Banner of the Union had its inception about
1850, at No. 75 Dock Street, and went out of exist-
ence in 1843.
The Sunday Mercury was first presented to the
public Feb. 23, 1851, as an ''independent, not neu-
tral," newspaper, by Samuel C. Upham, H. H. Nor-
cross, and Robert D'Unger. It was a folio sheet, size
twenty-three by thirty-three, price two cents, and pub-
lished at No. 57 South Third Street. Jlr. Upham be-
came sole owner May 11, 1851, when he raised the
price to three cents, and changed the title to Vpham's
Philadelphia Sunday Mercury. On the succeeding
12th of October he sold out to J. M. W. Geist and
James G. Gibson, Jr. Mr. Geist withdrew in two
months, and Sept. 5, 1852, Mr. Upham and George W.
Jones became the proprietors. Mr. Gibson had en-
larged the paper to twenty-eight by forty-two inches,
and removed the office to Third and Harmony Streets,
from whence Upham & Jones transferred it to Third
and Dock Streets, and adojited the present title of the
jiaper. In September, 1856, James P. Magill bought
the Upham interest, and the firm of Jones & Magill
was formed, who, on Sept. 6, 1857. made the paper
Democratic, and enlarged it to thirty by forty-six
inches. In 1860, Mr. Magill withdrew, and John H.
Taggart entered into partnership with Mr. Jones, and
the oflBce was again removed to Third and Harmony
Streets. Differences of opinion during the Rebellion
caused trouble in the management, and the paper was
neglected, and thus suft'ered in circulation and adver-
tising. In 1862 another change in its proprietorship
was made, William Meeser, George W. L. Johnson,
and Frederick W. Grayson becoming the owners.
They removed the oflSce to 152 South Third Street,
and raised the price of the paper to five cents. In
1865, Mr. Johnson retired. Many specialties were
introduced, and the Sunday Mercury became one of
the best newspaper properties in the city.
In 1876 the publication-oflace was removed to the
northeast corner of Seventh and Jayne Streets, and a
four-cylinder rotary press procured to supply the de-
mand. Prosperity was too much for the manage-
ment, carelessness took the place of enterprise, and
decay of influence and support followed. The Mer-
cury became the property of Edward Morwitz, who
was the principal creditor. The firm-name of Wil-
liam Meeser & Co. was dropped from the head of the
paper July 18, 1880, and on August 8th it was an-
nounced as being published by the Mercury Publish-
ing Company. It was always understood, however,
to belong to Dr. Morwitz, who was also proprietor of
the German Democrat and other German papers. He
could not give it the attention required, and on March
26, 1881, he accepted a proposition from Dennis F.
Dealy, and sold the Sunday Mercury to that gentle-
man, who is its present proprietor. On the day Mr. '
Dealy purchased the Mercury he sold the Sunday Press 3
to the proprietor of the daily Press, and with the \
second number of his new purchase he introduced J
the specialties which had made the Sunday Press so ,
popular, and altered the size to thirty-six by forty-
eight inches, making it a quarto, eight-page sheet.
It has been restored to its old-time prosperity, and is
recognized as one of the foremost of Sunday news- ■
papers. On Nov. 1, 1882, the publishing-oflice was
removed to its present quarters, No. 719 Chestnut
Street."
The Tribune was issued about 1851 under the
direction of Morgan J. Thomas, a well-known resi-
dent of Uwchlan township, Chester Co., in this
State, where he conducted an academy, beside culti-
vating a large farm and managing a varied mercantile
business. He moved to this city, and began the pub-
lication of the Tribune, and after the failure of the
paper became a real estate agent. He was also en-
gaged in the carpet business on Market Street, below
Twelfth, in one of the Girard stores. Mr. Thomas
was a man of education and some ability, but rather
visionary, as he thought he was about to establish a
journal which would eclipse the yew York Tribune.
The resultof his venture proved that he was mistaken,
as the Tribune was discontinued for want of patron-
age after but a few numbers had been issued. Mr.
Thomas represented Chester County in the State
Legislature with credit, and was also a member of
the Constitutional Convention which met in this city
in 1838.
The Pennsylvania Statesman, a daily penny
newspaper, was issued in 1851, from No. 42 South
Third Street. A few months covered the entire
period of its existence.
Church's Bizarre, " for fireside and wayside,"
conducted by Joseph M. Church, and published by
Church & Co., at No. 140 Chestnut Street, made its
appearance on April 17, 1852, as a thirty-two-page
octavo, illustrated, and issued on alternate Saturdays.
Its motto, quoting Farquahr, was " Bizarre, Bizarre,
what say you, madcap ?" Within a year the publi-
cation-office was removed to No. 4 Hart's building.
Sixth Street, above Chestnut, and not long afterward
to No. 73 South Fourth Street. The title afterward
became Bizarre: an Original Literary Gazette. It
was also changed from a fornightly to a weekly jour-
nal. It was only published for three or four years,
!Mr. Church having superseded it with The Fireside
Visitor in March, 1856.
The Philadelphia Journal of Homoeopathy, edi-
ted by William A. Gardiner, and published by Eade-
macher & Sheek, was commenced in April, 1852, and
issued for the last time in March, 1856.
Arthur's Home Magazine, a monthly literary and
family magazine, was commenced in 1852. The pro-
prietors were Louis A. Godey and T. S. Arthur, and
the name of the publishing firm T. S. Arthur & Co.
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2023
The editorial conduct and business management were
in the hands of Mr. Arthur, and tlie magazine soon
became widely known as exceptionally pure in char-
acter. In 1867, Mr. Arthur bought out Mr. Godey's
interest, and associated with himself in the business
his second son, William Arthur, under the firm-title
T. S. Arthur & Son.
Since that time the Home Magazine has held a
prominent place among periodicals of its class. Es-
tablished over thirty-two years ago by T. S. Arthur,
who still remains its editor, it has during that period
been a welcome visitor in thousands of American
homes.
The true place of this magazine in the periodical
literature of to-day will best be understood by the
editor's own statement of his position, which is taken
from a late number. He says, "The mission of the
Home Magazine is to teach the gospel of useful service
in all the common duties and social relations of men
and women, and to draw closer the bonds of a common
brotherhood. And this mission it seeks to accomplish,
not by dull didactics and sermonizing, but through a
constant leading of the thoughts and feelings of its
readers into harmony with things pure and true and
noble in nature and humanity.
With the fashionable follies of the day, whether in
social life or current literature, it has no sympathy.
It believes in the true, the pure, and the good, and in
the useful, taking that word in no limited, material,
or ' Gradgrind' sense. It will seek to lead through
beauty to use as well as through labor and common
service, and it will seek to find in any and everything
that is innocent in itself, whether in work, recreation,
or amusement, a ministry of good to men." The
first publication-oflice was at No. 107 (new number,
327) Walnut Street, from whence it was removed to
No. 920 Walnut Street.
The American Law Register, now the oldest law
journal in the United States, was started in 1852 by
D. B. Canfield, to fill the place of the American Law
Journal, which, after four years of struggle, had been
forced to succumb in its turn, as its immediate prede-
cessor, the Pennsylvania Law Journal, had done before
It. The new Register started under the editorial care
of Asa I. Fish and Henry Wharton. For nine years
it continued to be conducted by the same editors, and
to furnish the profession monthly with selected arti-
cles from the foreign law journals, reviews of English
and American law books, and cases of exceptional
interest. It remained, however, substantially a Penn-
sylvania magazine till 1861, when an entire change
was made in its organization, and it assumed a national
character. In that year a new series was begun under
the editorial management of James T. Mitchell, now
one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas,
No. 2, of Philadelphia, with a staff of experienced
and distinguished law writers to aid him. A new
line of original work was struck out boldly, and the
whole scope of the journal widened, so as to make it
129
the organ of the whole legal profession of the coun-
try. Each monthly number from that time onward
has contained an original essay upon some legal topic
of present interest and practical value, a selection of
important cases not previously published from the
coui-ts of last resort in the various States or in Eng-
land, and a carefully prepared digest of syllabi from
recent and unpublished reports.
The special feature, however, of the Law Register,
as compared with other contemporary legal journals,
has been the careful selection of cases involving new
or important points of law, and their annotation in
the manner originated and so ably carried out in
Smith's " Leading Cases." Thus it has presented to
the profession constantly a fresh grouping of import-
ant decisions upon all the current doctrines of the law,
and has become, in fact, a series of volumes of leading
cases, selected and annotated by some of the first law
writers of the country. Of these may be specially
mentioned the late Chief Justice Redfield ; Professor
Theodore W. Dwight, of the Columbia College Law
School ; John F. Dillon, author of the works on cor-
porations ; John A. Jameson, author of the " Con-
stitutional Convention ;" and Thomas M. Cooley,
author of " Constitutional Limitations," etc.
The high character of the contributions by these
eminent writers and others, both in the original
essays and in the annotations to important cases, has
given the Law Register an authority second to no
legal journal in the world. It circulates widely in
every State in the Union, in the British provinces,
and to some extent in England and in Germany. It
has continued for twenty-three years under the same
efficient editorial head, James T. Mitchell, assisted
for the last two years by Frank P. Prichard.
The Presbyterian Banner, a religious weekly, was
published fi-oiu 1852 until 1855 at No. 65J South
Fourth Street.
The Philadelphia Herald, a weekly, was first
issued in 1852, and continued until 1855, at No. 63
Dock Street.
Cohen's Advertiser was issued in 1852, from No.
7 Hart's building, and passed out of existence in the
following yeai".
The New Monthly Home Visitor was published
at No. 67 South Third Street for a couple of years, be-
ginning in 1852.
The Southern and Western Journal, published
at No. .57 South Third Street, was started in 1852 and
discontinued in 1854.
The Presbyterian Magazine was begun about
1852, and was in existence a number of years, first
at No. 265 Chestnut Street, then at No. 27 South
Tenth Street, and afterward at No. Ill South Tenth
Street.
The Evening National Argus, a Democratic paper
published by Sevcrns & McGill, had offices success-
ively at No. 45 South Third Street, northeast corner
of Third and Chestnut Streets, and No. 130 South
202-i
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Tliird Street. Its weekly edition was known as the
National Argus, and botli were suspended in 1861.
The Masonic Mixror was established in 1852, or
shortly before, and published weekly for many years.
In succession its publication-offices were at No. 163
Dock Street, Xo. 106 Chestnut Street, No. 21 South
Fifth Street, and No. 146 South Fourth Street.
The Philadelphia Christian Advocate, published
at No. 5 Hart's building, was started in 1852, and
was continued until some time in 1854.
The Home, School, and Church, published by
what was then the old school branch of the Presby-
terian Church, existed from 1852 until 1859, at No.
265 (new number, 821) Chestnut Street.
The Presbyterian Quarterly Review began, in
1852, a successful and lengthy career. It was pub-
lished at No. 248, and subsequently at No. 386 (new
number, 1334) Chestnut Street, by the Presbyterian
Board of Publication.
The Mothers' Journal, published by Mrs. M. G.
Clark, had its origin about 1852, and was issued
from No. 118 Arch Street.
The Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Journal,
issued semi-monthly, was begun in 1852, edited by
James Bryan, and published by L. W. Holland, and
lived several years.
The American Journal of Medicine and Record
of Innocent Medication, edited by Henry F. John-
son, assisted by all the members of the faculty of the
American College of Medicine, was a monthly pub-
lication commenced in January, 1853, and soon ended.
La Gazette Francais, or " Echo des deux
mondes," — a "journal literaire, scientifique, et polit-
ique, paraissant tons les samedis," — was commenced
at No. 68 South Third Street in July, 1853, under the
editorial direction of Felix Drouin and general
management of A. Balbo.
The Weekly Register, published at the northeast
corner of Third and Chestnut Streets, had a brief
career, beginning in 1853.
The Sunday Delta was published for a short time
iu 1853 by David S. Palmer, at the northeast corner
of Third and Chestnut Streets.
The Sunday Press, started in 1853, by James
Mortimer, at the northeast corner of Third and
Chestnut Streets, was discontinued within a yeai*.
The Weekly Commercial, published at No. 102
Chestnut Street for .some time, and at No. 53 South
Third Street subsequently, was in existence from 1853
to 1856.
The Phrenological Journal, and also the Water-
Cure Journal, commenced in 1853, had publication-
offices for a time at No. 231 Arch Street, and later at
No. 922 Chestnut Street, where they were issued for
some years.
The Little Pilgrim was founded in 1853, at No.
66 (new number, 132) South Third Street, and discon-
tinued at the outbreak of the civil war, when its office
was at No. 319 Walnut Street.
The Monthly Insurance Journal, office No. 70
Walnut Street, was established in 1853, and discon-
tinued in the succeeding year.
The Eclectic Medical Journal of Philadelphia,
edited by William Paine, appeared in 1858 as a
monthly, having previously been published at Mill-
ville. Pa., as The Middle States Medical Refornwr and
Journal of Health, which had been in existence since
1854. It continued until 1871, meanwhile undergoing
various changes in title, form, etc.
The Homoeopathic News was in existence from
September, 1854, to January, 1856, published by
Boericke & Tafel, and edited by Dr. C. Bering and
Dr. A. Lippe.
The Frankford Herald, established at Frankford
in 1854, is jniblished everj- Saturday. It is mainly
devoted to the collection and dissemination of local
information.
The Philadelphia Business Journal, afterwards
Fuller's Literanj and Business Journal, was established
in 1854, by Zelotes Fuller, at the corner of Ridge
Avenue and Buttonwood Street, and subsequently
removed to No. 106 Chestnut Street. In 1856 it be-
came the United States Journal and Traveller, and in
1857 the United States Business Journal. This was
eventually changed to the United States Journal, pub-
lished over ten years by Fuller & Co., at No. 810
Chestnut Street.
The United States Magazine, started in 1854, was
continued until 1S56 at No. 12 Prune Street.
The American Banner and National Defender
was published for several months, beginning some
time in the year 1855.
The Woman's Advocate, founded in 1855, was
published for a number of years at the northeast
corner of Third and Chestnut Streets, and afterward
at No. 311 Walnut Street. This, the first woman's
paper, was printed by women and edited by Miss Anne
E. McDowell.
The New Church Herald, published in the in-
terest of the Swedenborgian (New Church) denomi-
nation, and commenced in 1855, had an office at No.
135 Chestnut Street, and afterward at the northwest
corner of Sixth and Arch Streets. It had a life of
several years.
The Monthly Rainbow, a meteorological and
astronomical journal, started in 1855, and suspended
in the following year. It was published by Camp-
bell & Co., at No. 83 Dock Street, " next to the post-
office."
Life Illustrated was begun in 1855, and published
first at No. 231 Arch Street, and subsequently at No.
922 Chestnut Street.
The Daily Morning Times, founded in 1855, by
Sickels, Jones & Moran, at No. 54 South Thii'd
Street, was subsequently published by J. Barclay
Harding, at No. 45 South Third Street. It was dis-
continued after two or three years.
The Philadelphia Woehenblatt, a German weekly
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2026
paper, published by William Rosenthall, was com-
menced in 1855 or thereabouts, and published for
several years at No. 127 (new number, 325) Callow-
hill Street.
Ned Buntline's Own, a story paper, was pub-
lished tor a few months in 1855 by E. Z. C. Judson.
The Philadelphia Merchant, a weekly commer-
cial sheet, was published at No. 4 Bulldiii buildings,
in 1855, and for two years subsequently.
The Saturday Mail, issued from No. 2 Bulletin
buildings, existed from 1855 to 1857.
The Practical Farmer was founded in 1855, as a
monthly agricultural journal, by Paschall Morris. It
was published by Mr. Morris for a number of years,
and afterward by him in partnership with Judge
Knight, of Indiana. Later the publishers were Pas-
chall Morris & Son. In 1874 it was sold to M. J.
Lawrence, who issued it as a weekly. In 1881 it was
purchased by the Farmer Company, by whom it is
at present published at No. 1420 Chestnut Street.
The Moravian, " a weekly journal of the American
Moravian Church," was first issued Jan. 1, 1856, from
the Moravian publication-office. No. 241 Arch Street.
The original editors were Revs. Edmund De Schwein-
itz, L. F. Kampman, and F. F. Hager. The last
two withdrew in June, 1858, and Dr. De Schweinitz
on Dec. 31, 1858. The next issue of The Moravian,
bearing date Jan. 6, 1859, was from Bethlehem, Pa.,
where the office of publication had been removed.
Rev. Edwin T. Senseman then assumed editorial
charge, and on July 4, 1861, he was succeeded by Dr.
De Schweinitz.
The Fireside Visitor was established in March,
1856, by A. C. Bryson & Co., at No. 441 Chestnut
Street. Joseph M. Church and his wife (under the
nom de plume of " Ella Rodman") were the editors.
After a few months, and when the paper looked as
though it would be a paying enterprise, the publishers
transferred the proprietorship to Mr. Church, who
continued its publication a few months longer, when
he turned over his subscription-list to Fitzgerald's
City Item.
Mr. Church, after the suspension of his paper,
entered upon the field of politics. He was a success-
ful candidate for the State Legislature, in which he
served one term just prior to his death. His politics
were American.
The Philadelphia Evening Journal, established
in May, 1856, was published until 1863 at No. 76
(new number, 144) South Third Street, when it came
to an end. During part of its existence the pub-
lishers were Pine & Lewis.
The Railway World was established on Saturday,
May 31, 1856, under the title of The Pennsylvania
Railroad and Mining Register, by Thomas S. Feruon,
who had previously been a member of the Senate of
Pennsylvania and president of the North Pennsylva-
nia Railroad Company. He continued as editor and
proprietor until May 1, 1868, devoting the publication
to discussions of railway and mining affairs. During
that interval the title was changed (on Saturday, Nov.
29, 1856) by the substitution of the words " United
States" for '"Pennsylvania," and several alterations
in the size and form of the publication were made.
On May 1, 1868, the journal was purchased by the
United States Railroad and Mining Register Com-
pany, and during the succeeding six months J. Luther
Ringwalt was editor. Mr. Fernon then resumed the
editorship temporarily, from which he retired in May,
1869, when J. Peter Lesley was appointed in his
place. He continued to fill that position until the
close of 1874, when the stock of the company was
purchased by Col. S. S. Moon. On Jan. 1, 1875, he
changed the title of the journal to The Railway World,
and the new organization then formed elected Col. S.
S. Moon president and J. B. Ecclesine, Jr., manager.
J. Luther Ringwalt became the editor at that time,
and has since continued to act in that capacity.
The form of the paper was changed from a folio to a
quarto of sixteen large pages. On Jan. 1, 1877, another
change in form was made, consisting in a reduction
of the size and increase of the number of the pages to
twenty-four, which is the form now used. On Jan. 1,
1878, the name of the company was changed to the
Railway World Publishing Company. In April, 1879,
upon the death of Col. S. S. Moon, J. B. Ecclesine,
Jr., was elected president and Thom;is W. Fernon
secretary and treasurer, and they have continued to
fill the positions up to the present time. The offices
of publication from the date of the first issue until
recently were at No. 423 Walnut Street. They were
removed to No. 19 South Fifth Street, Feb. 1, 1884.
The Sunday Transcript was founded in 1856, the
initial number having been issued on October 19th,
by Johnson, Greene & Co., at No. 48 [now 110] South
Third Street. The original proprietors were John S.
Jackson, George W. L. Johnson, and E. W. C. Greene.
Mr. Jackson was the owner of the then Daily Morning
Times, and was the principal capitalist of the new
concern. Before the Transcript was three months old
it had acquired a circulation of ten thousand copies,
and its progress thenceforward was onward. In May,
1857, the entire ownership of the paper passed into
the hands of Mr. Jackson. Mr. Greene was retained
as editor. Mr. Jackson died in January, 1861, and
in the April following the paper was purchased by E.
W. C. Greene and Thomas Hawkesworth, and pub-
lished under the firm-name of Greene & Co. At the
outbreak of the Rebellion Mr. Hawkesworth entered
the Union army, and served gallantly and with dis-
tinction until Dec. 14, 1862, when he was shot by a
rebel sharpshooter at Fredericksburg, and died at
Washington City Jan. 4, 1863. His widow retained
his interest in the Transcript for about a year, when it
was purchased by Mr. Greene, who remained sole
owner until December, 1877. At this latter date the
ownership of the paper was merged into a joint-stock
publishing company, and has so continued (with some
2026
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
individual changes in membership) until the present
time.
William M. Bunn, who was then chosen editor,
assumed his duties the following April. With the
new departure in publication came a new departure
in politics. The Transcript has, since Mr. Bunn's
advent, been Republican in politics, reserving to itself
a free lance for criticism, sincere in the impression
that a prompt and deep cut is often the most merciful
surgery.
The Anti-Slavery Standard, the name of which
denotes its object, was originally published in 1856,
at No. .31 South Fifth Street, and transferred, in 1861,
to No. 106 North Tenth Street, where it was issued
until it was abandoned, at the close of the civil war.
The American Presbyterian, a weekly, was estab-
lished in 1856, and continued for many years under
the direction of the Presbyterian Board of Publication,
originally at No. 106 Chestnut Street, and subsequently
at No. 1334 Chestnut Street.
Die Repnblikanishche Flagge, a German weekly
journal, was commenced in 1856, and existed over
fifteen years. It was published at No. 172 (new
number, 418) North Fourth Street, by F. W. Thomas,
who was also the publisher of the Freie Presse.
The Ladies' Paper, published at No. 50 South
Third Street, had an existence of a few months,
beginning some time in 1856.
The Evangelical Repository, published by Wil-
liam S. Young, at No. 373 (new number, 1023) Race
Street, was established about 1856.
Die Neue Welt — Tl>e New World — was established
in 1856 liy the proprietors of the Philadelphia Denio-
krat, the original office being at No. 277 North Third
Street. It is a twelve-page, eighty-four-column Sun-
day journal, and is the largest of its class in the world.
It is issued from the Danokrat office, at Nos. 612 and
614 Chestnut Street.
The Typographical Advertiser, a quarto publica-
tion, devoted to typography and kindred interests,
was established in 1856, and did not go out of exist-
ence until 1882.
The Philadelphia Police Gazette and Sporting
Chronicle was commenced in 1856 at No. 51 South
Third Street, and ceased publication within a very
short time.
The Nation, published by Crofut & Bigelow at No.
83 Dock Street, was a weekly, which originated in
1856, and died soon afterward.
The Catholic Visitor, published at No. 57 South
Third Street, was commenced in 1856, and in 1857
consolidated with the Catholic Herald.
The Covenanter was established about 1856 by
James S. Wilison, at No. 8 West North Street, and
subsequently was issued from No. 1015 Morgan Street.
The North American Medico-Chirnrgical Re-
view, a bi-monthly journal, founded in January, 1857,
was merged in 1861 into Tlie American Journal of the
Medical Sciences. It was published by J. B. Lippin-
cott & Co., under the editorial direction of Drs. Sam-
uel D. Gross and T. G. Richardson, and was originally
formed by the consolidation of The Medical Examiner
and The Louisville Review.
The Philadelphia Lancet, T. D. English, editor,
was begun in January, 1857, as a bi-monthly publica-
tion, and had a short career.
The Young Reaper, published by the American
Baptist Publication Society at No. 1420 Chestnut
Street, was first issued in January, 1857, from No. 530
Arch Street, and is the oldest of the periodicals of
the society. It is an illustrated folio, edited by Rev.
Dr. B. Griffith, and is so prepared that it can be taken
as a monthly or a semi-monthly.
The National Merchant, a commercial journal,
was begun in 1857 at No. 318 Chestnut Street, and
went out of existence in 1860 at the southeast corner
of Third and Dock Streets.
The Southern Honitor was first published in 1857
in Goldsmith's Hall, Library Street. The office was
subsequently removed to the northeast corner of Dock
and Walnut Streets, where the paper ended its career
in 1860.
The Philadelphia Intelligencer, an insurance
journal founded in 1857, is published by George C.
Helmbold at No. 323 Walnut Street.
The Press was first issued on Saturday, Aug. 1,
1857, six months after the inauguration of President
Buchanan, and when the conflict between the pro-
slavery and anti-slavery forces was fast approaching
the crisis of war. It was in this troubled period that
John W. Forney founded The Press, and perhaps no
man understood better than he did the public mind
at the North. In the history of the paper it is said,
" Mr. Buchanan had been elected President in the
year previous (1856) on a clear understanding that he
would not allow the slaveholders to make Kansas a
slave State by violent means, and The Pi-ess was
started to hold him to that pledge." The message of
the President of Feb. 2, 1858, recommending the ad-
mission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution,
caused that disruption of the Democratic party, which
two years afterward resulted in its defeat and the elec-
tion of Mr. Lincoln. It was here that The Press aban-
doned Mr. Buchanan, to whose administration the
paper had been ver^- friendly, " at least until some
time in 1858, when it became evident that he intended
to violate his pledge in regard to Kansas. Presto !
what a change took place ! First the office-holders
began to stop The Press, and the postmasters sent me
(it) back to the office in basketfuls. That was a red-
hot fight ! But the gap they made was soon filled,
for by this time the Republicans began to realize that
our ( The Press) chief was in dead earnest. At first
they thought that The Press was making a new per-
sonal contest, that would not last long, and would soon
be compromised by giving our ( The Press) editor a fat
office at home, or by sending him abroad. When
they were convinced that he meant business, they
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2027
came in by thousands, and took the places of the
angry oflBcial Democrats." Col. Forney, who had
been identified with the publication of the Lanraster
Iiitelligeiicer and the Pennsi/lviuiinn, influential Demo-
cratic organs, and had made tho.se papers a terror
to antagonists and a tower of strength to the
old-line Democracy, could no longer support the
Democratic party in the pro-slavery direction given
to it by the administration of Mr. Buchanan. He
followed for a while the leadership of Stephen A.
Douglas, for whom he entertained very strong feel-
ings of personal and political friendship. But The
Presn, founded to " watch" the Democratic party, was
not long in finding more congenial relations with the
Republican party. It was bold and positive, firm in
its convictions, and possessing the courage of its con-
victions, its voice was soon heard throughout the
Union, and recognized as a fearless champion of the
Northern phase of politics. In its early da}'s it had
no capital, and its earliest numbers were printed in
the office of the Sundaij Dispatch, as it was without a
press of its own and in debt for its type, but the zeal
of the founder conquered every obstacle and opened
the path to success.
It was at first a four-page folio, of about the size of
the present Public Ledger, handsome in appearance,
and very brilliant in its sparkling columns. In April,
1858, an edition was issued called the California Press,
and sent by steamer to Aspinwall, across the Isthmus
by rail to Panama, and thence again by steamer to
San Francisco. This edition was a great favorite on
the Pacific coast, and was continued until the comple-
tion of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Rail-
roads. The Weekly Press became the War Press during
the conflict, and in its columns there appeared cor-
respondence from all the military departments. This
edition was highly esteemed in the army, and exerted
very great influence by the healthy manner in which
the government was sustained and the struggle for
the Union supported. Oct. 16, 1865, The Press was
changed into a quarto, and was printed on an eight-
cylinder Hoe press, and soon after upon the latest
improved Bullock press.
The paper, from its very first number, was recog-
nized as an able and fearless organ of public opinion,
and the prompt and decided manner in which it aban-
doned the Democratic party, as soon as convinced that
that party was untrue to the free-labor sentiment of
the North, evinced such an honest and earnest sense
of duty and political conviction that the change of
party relations improved rather than impaired both
its political influence and its pecuniary prospects.
From the day of that change to the present The Pre.is
has remained a Republican journal, advocating every
measure of that party and following, or rather leading,
every course pursued by its leaders.
In 1877, Col. Forney determined to withdraw from
the cares and responsibilities of active journalism,
and, with this object in view, he sold The Press in the
beginning of October of that year. Its history for
twelve years previous, or from the close of the Rebel-
lion, had been one of influence and prosperity. Al-
though much of his time had been occupied in the
discharge of the duties entailed upon him by the offi-
cial positions which he occupied outside of journalism,
he had never ceased to be an active and hard-working
editor.
In his " Farewell" to The Press he said, " I have
done my best to make a good, honest newspaper. It
has lived through many tempests and changes. It
has received and returned many l)lows. But I can
say for myself that, in all this long course of time, I
have never deliberately wounded or injured a human
being, even in the fiercest struggles of political or
sectional ditference."
With the retirement of Col. Forney from the man-
agement of the paper which he had founded. The Press
entered upon a new era. Under its founder The Press
had achieved great success as a daily journal of the
type of those founded by Horace Greeley and Henry
•T. Raymond. It was Forney's Press that people asked
for, as they did for Greeley's Tribune. The paper was
read extensively, not on account of the matter contained
in its news columns, but for the political information
contained in its editorial columns, and for the comments
on that information by one who was so important a
factor in shaping the events which he chronicled in
his personal organ. After Col. Forney's retirement,
for the next two years The Press was in a transition
stage. During that time it was under the editorial
and business control of the Messrs. W. W. and E. H.
Nevin. These gentlemen were from Pittsburgh, where
they had successfully engaged in journalism, and they
were anxious to try more metropolitan fields. W. W.
Nevin was a scholarly and polished writer, who was
interested in economics, and who became engaged in
a Mexican railroad enterprise not long after he went
on 77ie J'ress, and resigned to accept a lucrative posi-
tion in connection with the railroad. E. H. Nevin,
finding the sole business and editorial conduct of a
great morning daily too severe a strain, disposed of
his interest in The Press to Calvin Wells & Co., Pitts-
burgh, and started the Evening Neies, and subsequently
became naval officer of the port of Philadelphia.
Mr. Wells was a wealthy iron-master of Pittsburgh,
who already had a considerable interest in The Press,
which he had taken to accommodate its whilom
owners. Finding himself in control of a large prop-
erty, with whose management he was unacquainted,
Mr. Wells sought to obtain some one to develop it, and
Edward McPherson was secured as editor-in-chief.
He had been long and well known as an editor in
Pennsylvania, and as clerk of the House of Repre-
sentatives for many years. With him was associated as
managing editor W. Ralston Balch, formerly a reporter
on the Boston Herald, on which paper he had distin-
guished himself by capturing Chastine Cox, a negro
murderer, who had escaped the police, and by the
2028
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
exposure of the Rev. E. D. Winslow, a great forger.
Under Messrs. McPherson and Balch The Press took
a step forward, but the daily routine of a newspaper
oflBce was irksome to Mr. McPherson, who resigned
in January, 1880, to accept the secretaryship of the
Republican Congressional Committee, and about the
same time Mr. Balch retired, to take charge of the
Philadelphia American. Mr. Wells, who began by
knowing nothing of the newspaper business, had now
devoted himself to a study of its delicate organization
and mechanism, and familiarized himself with every-
thing from a leading political editorial article to a
folding and mailing machine for the papers. He be-
came interested in his property, and determined that
The Press should be revived, to become the equal of
any paper in the Union.
With this end in view he secured the services of
Charles Emory Smith as editor-in-chief, and of Moses
Purnell Handy as managing editor; the latter gentle-
man joined the paper some months after the former.
Witli the faithful, hearty, and enthusiastic support of
these experienced journalists, Mr. Wells proceeded
to execute his plans. Modest and retiring almost to
bashfulness and reticence, Mr. Wells possessed every
quality which makes a business man successful.
From a beginning with no means he became at fifty
one of the wealthiest men in Pittsburgh. He is es-
sentially a man of wide and liberal views, of high
moral purpose, steadfastness, dignity, and determina-
tion. His knowledge of men is acute and penetrating,
and his judgment is sound and discreet. Familiar
with the execution of every detail, he has surrounded
himself with competent men to whom he has en-
trusted the carrying out of the plans which he is now
seeing realized to their fullest extent. Withal, Mr.
Wells is entitled to the credit of having made The
Press what it now is, — -second to no paper in America,
though he would be the last man to claim such
credit.
Mr. Smith was born in Mansfield, Conn., in 1842,
and removed with his parents to Albany, N. Y., in
1849. He was educated in the public schools of the
Knickerbocker city and at Union College, where he
graduated in 1861. During the next two years he
performed valuable service on the staff of Gen. Rath-
bone, who had charge of the depots where volunteer
regiments were organized, and part of the time he
acted as assistant adjutant general. From 1863 to
1865 he was a teacher in the Albany Academy, and
in that year he became editor of the Albany Express.
At the age of sixteen he had followed his taste for
journalism by writing the daily leading editorial arti-
cles for six months in the Albany Evening Transcript,
and this taste he had cultivated from time to time
until he entered permanently on a brilliant journal-
istic career by accepting the editorship of the Express.
While editor of this paper he served, in 1868, as the
private secretary of Governor Fenton. In 1870 he
purchased an interest in the Albany Evening Journal,
and became joint editor of that paper with the well-
known George Dawson.
In 1874, when Mr. Dawson retired, Mr. Smith took
the post of editor-in-chief of the journal. While in
this position he was elected a trustee of Union Col-
lege on the part of the graduates ; was nominated and
elected by the New York Legislature, in joint session,
as regent of the University of New York; and was
constantly in demand as speaker before the State
Military, Teachers', Press, and other associations ; and
of the^-State Press Association he was president in
1877. For many years he was a delegate to the Re-
publican State Conventions, and repeatedly chairman
of the Committee on Resolutions. In this position he
played a most prominent part in framing the platform
of the Republican party in the Empire State ; and has
shown rare ability in choice of comprehensive, ac-
ceptable, and judicious terms to embody the tenets of
his party. In 1876, Mr. Smith was a delegate to the
Republican National Convention at Cincinnati, and
was the representative of New York on the Committee
of Resolutions, which adopted almost bodily the ideas
and language of the platform of principles which he
had laid down for party guidance in his State. At
the Republican State Convention of 1880 he was
both temporary and permanent president. In March,
1880, he accepted and assumed the position of editor-
in-chief of The Press, and shortly afterward became a
part owner. Throughout the Presidential campaign
of 1880 he was active on the stump in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, and by his energy and force restored
The Press to the place from which it had slipped, —
that of the chief Republican paper in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Smith is a fine type of the modern political jour-
nalist. Affable, genial, and polished in address ;
a sympathetic, attractive, and ready speaker ; an
acute, adroit, and accomplished politician who is
gifted with a special love and enthusiasm for the art ;
endowed with exceptional rhetorical powers of pen
and tongue ; a keen, close, logical reasoner, Mr.
Smith combines with these qualities a consummate
ability for harmonizing discordant elements which
specially fits him for such a position as the one he
occupies, where, from his wide knowledge of political
men and affairs, he is able to present views which en-
lighten the most careless readers as to the drift and
portent of events.
Moses Purnell Handy was born in Osage County,
Mo., in 1848. His father was a noted Presbyterian
divine, and member of a family which has been
prominent in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and had
gone to Missouri as a missionary. He returned East
to Delaware when his son was an infant, and the
child was brought up in the schools and academies of
" the Eastern Shore," and was nearly ready for col-
lege when the war broke out. During part of that
stormy period he was in Eastern Virginia, whither
his father had been called as a pastor, and on going
to Richmond with his father he was conscripted into
THE PRESS OP PHILADELPHIA.
2029
the Confederate army. Certain friends interested
themselves to procure him the position of courier,
with rank of lieutenant, on the staif of Gen. Stevens,
chief of engineers in Lee's army.
When the war ended he found himself penniless in
Richmond, and, after trying his hand at various means
of suhsistence, he entered the office of the Christian
Examiner, a monthly religious paper. From here he
went to the Richmond Dis-
patch, where he made a de-
cided sensation by giving an
accurate and complete re-
port of a political speech by
Henry Wilson. He rapidly
rose through the various
grades of editorship on the
Dispatch, and at times was
in charge of that important
sheet. While connected with
the Dispatch he served as cor-
respondent of several of the
great New York papers, and
was general manager for the
Southern States of the Amer-
ican Press Association. In
1873 he sprang into national
fame as the only newspaper
correspondent who had wit-
nessed the transfer of the
steamer " Virginius" by the
Spanish authorities to the
United States government.
It will be remembered that,
owing to the excited state of
public feeling on account of
the massacre of American citi-
zens, this event was kept a
profound secret by the gov-
ernment. Mr. Handy alone
was able to fathom the secret,
and by his enterprise and en-
ergy showed signs of the pe-
culiar ability in which he is ex-
celled by no American writer
for the daily press. After his
signal triumph in the " Vir-
ginius" affair he received a
flattering offer from the New
York Tribune to join its edi-
torial staff. He accepted, and
while connected with the Tri-
bune practically organized and carried out the woman's
temperance crusade in Ohio, and in two important
series of letters presented views of affairs iu the South-
ern States, and complete sketches of the various cen-
tennial anniversaries of historical events which took
place in 1875. Toward the end of that year (1875),
Mr. Handy left New York to take the editorship-in-
chief of the Richmond Enquirer. In tliis capacity
he took a prominent part in the State political cam-
paigns.
In 1876 he was appointed a commissioner from Vir-
ginia to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.
While acting in that capacity he became an a.ssociate
editor of the Philadelphia Times, and in the columns
of that paper wrote the best series of articles pub-
lished on the action of the " visiting statesmen" in
iHE PHILADELPHIA PREbb
[Corner of Chestnut and Seventh Streets.]
the Louisiana Returning Board investigation. Three
years later he created a sensation in the State by his
letters on the Riot Bill Bribery matters. Late in
1880, Mr. Handy accepted the managing editorship
of The Press, and since then has devoted himself to
office organization and the development of the news
enterprises which have made T7ie Press famous. Mr.
Handy is a man of rare executive ability, of consum-
2030
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
mate tact, and of unerring and impartial judgment in
matters of news, and has a political prescience wliich
makes him the trusted confidant of men so opposed
in politics as James G. Blaine and Samuel J. Randall.
Aided by such competent lieutenants as Mr. Smith
and Mr. Handy, Mr. Wells has left the filling of the
lesser posts of duty to their hands, and the result has
been that Tlie Press is manned and oflicered by young,
active, intelligent, and enthusiastic workers, the oldest
of whom is just fortj'-one. The organization is now
complete. The editorial and news staff of The Press
now numbers nearly five hundred, who cover the
world from St. Petersburg to Durban and Mandala}^
In this staff are enrolled most of the leading authors
and prominent men of the country. Among those who
have contributed to making The Press a great news-
paper under its new conductors are ex-Chief Justice
Agnew (of Pennsylvania), J. E. Barrett, Jeremiah S.
Black, James G. Blaine, Arlo Bates, Junius Henri
Browne, F. A. Burr, Gen. James S. Brisbin, Professor
A. S. Bolles, Rhoda Broughton, Mrs. E. E. Briggs
(Olivia), Bill Y. Buttes, Mgr. Capel, C. Carlotta,
Ph.D. (Berlin), J. R. Chalmers, Kate Upson Clark,
President Cattell (of Lafayette College), Professor S.
J. Coffin (of Lafayette College), Thomas Donaldson,
Susan E. Dickinson, Rebecca Harding Davis, Mary
W. Early, Edwin S. Ellis, Archibald Forbes, Kate
Foote, Kate Field, George Manville Fenn, Jean-
nette L. Gilder, A. W. Gibson, Robert Haydn,
Joseph Howard, Jr., Professor I. H. Hall, A.
K. Horn, D.D., Ernest IngersoU, Professor E. J.
James (of the University of Pennsylvania), Thomas
A. Janvier, T. W. Knox, Edward King, Professor D.
B. King (of Lafayette College), Professor J. L. Little
(of Dickinson College), Charles Godfrey Leland,
George Parsons Lathrop, F. D. Millett, Professor
F. A. March (of Lafayette College), Nina Morals,
Allen O. Myers (Pickoway), President James Mc-
Cosh (of Princeton), Professor J. B. McMaster (of
the University of Pennsylvania), Brandon Matthews,
Joaquin Miller, Alfred Nevin, D.D., J. M. P. Qtt, D.D.,
Samuel Parsons, Jr., Nora Perry, Robert P. Porter,
Josephine Pollard, John James Piatt, W. Clark Rus-
sell, J. Hall Richardson, H. J. Ramsdell, Elizabeth
Robins, the Lord Bishop of Rochester, James Stephens
(Fenian head-centre), "Sophie Sparkle," Annie
Thomas, George Alfred Townsend, Z. L. White,
Louis Wingfield, and Walt Whitman.
These names form only a selection from the num-
ber who have contributed to the columns of The Press
since Messrs. Smith and Handy assumed direction and
management. But it is not alone in literary and
news features that T/ie Press has wonderfully devel-
oped. It has constantly been a watchful guardian of
the interests of the public, and in that capacity it
unearthed and put a stop to the " graveyard in-
surance business," by which unscrupulous men offered
a premium on death ; it exposed and put a stop to
corruption in the public offices at Harrisburg; it
caught and sent to prison a gang of grave-robbers ; it
showed Philadelphia that its drugs were weak and
adulterated, and forced the honest druggists to form a
protective association to guarantee the public in their
purchases ; and it drove out of office the city detec-
tives in spite of the strongest opposition. Since the
new management took charge T/ie Press has not only
been abreast of the times, but it has been a leader
among the local newspapers. Besides being able and
alert, it is complete as a newspaper. In 1881 a Sun-
day edition was established, which became an imme-
diate success and a prime favorite for its manifold
literarj' attractions. Last year the weekly issue was
reorganized and put on a novel basis, which has placed
it abreast of its competitors. In November, 1883,
the price of the daily Press was reduced from three to
two cents, a step which had been contemplated ever
since the revenues of the paper had increased so as
to enable the proprietors to decide to let the public
gain by their prosperity. The result has been an in-
creased and unexampled tide of prosperity, which has
never been surpassed in the history of any paper, and
which is now at its flood.
The American Messenger and Child's Paper,
established in 1858 at No. 929 Chestnut Street, had a
number of years of life.
The Sunday Atlas started in 1858, and continued
until 1861, when it was suspended. George C. Thomas
published it at No. 127 South Third Street.
The Commonwealth, a weekly periodical, was pub-
lished for several months, beginning some time in
1858, and issued from No. 18 South Third Street.
The National Mechanic, commenced in 1858 at
No. 108j South Third Street, only lived until the suc-
ceeding year.
The Philadelphia Mirror had its origin in 1858,
but succumbed in 1859. It was published at No. 621
Chestnut Street.
The Evening Reporter was started in 1858 at
No. 331 Harmony Street, and passed out of existence
in 1861.
Peterson's Counterfeit Detector and National
Bank-Note List was established in 1858 by T. B.
Peterson, and is issued semi-monthly by T. B. Peter-
son & Brothers. The publication office is at No. 306
Chestnut Street.
The Gardeners' Monthly, a thirty-two page oc-
tavo magazine, devoted to horticulture, arboriculture,
botany, and rural affairs, was issued January, 1859,
with D. Rodney King, C. P. Brinckloe, and Charles K.
Marot, successively, as publishers, and Thomas Mee-
han as editor continuously to the present time. At
its establishment the Magazine of Horticulture, con-
ducted by C. M. Hovey, in Boston, and the Horticul-
turist, established by A. J. Downing, of Newburg, and
Messrs. Luther Tucker & Son, of Albany, N. Y., were
the leading magazines of its class. It was established
not to compete with them, but as a lower-priced serial,
to reach a class those excellent magazines did not
THE PKESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2031
touch. All these, and others since founded, have left
the field, the latter having been purchased and com-
bined with it, as the Gardeners' Moiifhly and Horticul-
turist, in 1876. There are now other serials covering
some portions of the ground occupied by this journal,
but it is, on the whole, regarded as the leading, if not
the only, representative of general horticulture and
kindred sciences and pursuits on the American conti-
nent, and as such is received all over the world.
The Insurance Reporter was established in Jan-
uary, 1859, and published weekly for many years by
C. Albert Palmer, who was also its editor, at No. 727
Walnut Street.
The Manayunk Star was the second paper pub-
lished in Manayunk. The first number appeared on
Saturday afternoon, Feb. 5, 1859, the publishers being
D. B. Potts and James H. Scott. D. B. Potts retired
Oct. 6, 1859, and J. Lewis Scott became associated in
its subsequent publication until Jan. 12, 1860, when
the copartnership was dissolved, and thereafter the
paper was published by J. Lewis Scott, who continued
to issue it regularly until Aug. 9, 1862, when, owing
to the outbreak of the war, its publication was sus-
pended.
The Philadelphia Daily Record entered the field
of journalism in 1859, but went out of existence in
1861. Its pub|,ication office was at No. 112 South
Third Street.
The Sunday-School Times was first issued in 1859,
but as early as 1830 a weekly paper, which was in
reality its progenitor, known as the Sunday-School
Journal and Advocate of Christian Education, was
published in Philadelphia by the American Sunday-
School Union. Changed afterward to a semi-monthly,
with the simpler title of the Sunday-School Journal,
this periodical was continued to the close of 1858.
At the beginning of 1859, ITie Sunday-School Times
took the place of T7ie Sunday-School Journal, and was
published as a weekly by the American Sunday-
School Union, under the editorship of Professor John
S. Hart, LL.D. Two years later its ownership was
transferred to a private publishing firm, which in-
cluded W. J. Cheyney, who had been treasurer of the
American Sunday-School Union, and Professor Hart,
who continued as editor. J. C. Garrigues & Co. pub-
lished it from 1862 until the close of 1871, when John
Wanamaker became its sole owner and publisher, at
which time I. Newton Baker, who had for some years
been associated in the editorship, succeeded Professor
Hart as chief editor.
In 1875, the Rev. H. Clay Trumbull and John D.
Wattles purchased an interest in the paper from Mr.
Wanamaker, and in September of that year Mr.
Trumbull assumed its editorial control, and Mr. Wat-
tles its immediate business management. Two years
later, Messrs. Trumbull and Wattles purchased the
entire fee of the paper, with its accompanying series
of lesson-helps, and they are now its sole owners and
In 1871, The Sunday-School Worhnan, a weekly
paper of similar character, published in New York
City, was purchased by Mr. Wanamaker, and merged
in The Sunday-School Times. In 1882 a like purchase
and merging of The National Sunday-School Teacher, a
prominent and long-established monthly magazine
published in Chicago, was made by Messrs. Trumbull
and Wattles.
The immediate sphere of Tlie Sunday-School Times
has been, from the beginning, the instruction and
stimulus of Sunday-school teachers and of Christian
workers generally. In its earlier days it gave promi-
nence to regular reports of the daily union prayer-
meetings established in Philadelphia and New York.
During the civil war it was a recognized helper of
the United States Christian Commission, and special
editions of it to the number of ten and twenty thou-
sand copies a week were often taken by that organiza-
tion for distribution in the army and in the army
hospitals. Another feature of its earlier work was
the printing in its pages of verbatim reports of the
principal State and national Sunday-school conven-
tions.
The adoption of the system of uniform Sunday-
school lessons, known as the " International Series,"
iu 1873, opened to The Sunday-School Times a wider
and more important field, in the supply of varied
helps to the study of these lessons throughout this
country and abroad. Its weekly circulation has in-
creased since then from fifteen thousand to upward
of fifty-two thousand, and now extends to every State
and Territory in the United States, and to more than
twenty foreign countries. Moreover, a separate edi-
tion of it, under the name of The American Sunday-
School Times, is published for circulation in Great
Britain. The office of publication is No. 725 Chestnut
Street.
The Dental Cosmos was commenced as a monthly
publication in August, 1859, as successor to the
Dental News-Letter, which had been issued as a quar-
terly for the twelve years preceding. It was pub-
lished by the then firm of Jones & White, and edited
by J. D. White, M.D., D.D.S., J. H. McQuillen,
D.D.S., and George J. Ziegler, M.D. Dr. White re-
tired at the end of the sixth volume. Drs. McQuillen
and Ziegler retired at the close of the thirteenth vol-
ume, and its editorial management was assumed by
J. W. White, M.D. In 1861, Mr. Jones retired from
the firm, and the publication was continued by S. S.
White up to the time of his death, in 1879. It was
then continued by the trustees of his estate until the
formation, in July, 1881, of the S. S. White Dental
Manufacturing Company, which still publishes it.
The Legal and Insurance Reporter, a semi-
monthly journal, devoted to legal insurance inter-
ests, is published at 605 Sansom Street. It was first
issued in December, 1859, by James Fulton, who
came from County Antrim, Ireland, studied law in
this city under F. Carroll Brewster, and from ill
2032
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
health disposed of the journal to its present propri-
etor, Charles Albert Palmer, in 1865. Mr. Palmer
has consequently managed the Reporter successfully
for nineteen years. George Washington Hawkins for
a number of years served as assistant legal editor,
while William Hardcastle Browne and Robert D.
Cose have acted in a similar capacity. Able talent
still contributes to its columns.
The Child's Treasury is published semi-monthly
and monthly by the Reformed Church Publication
Board, at No. 907 Arch Street. It is a four-page
sheet, for circulation among the children of the Sun-
day-schools of the Reformed Church, and has been
in existence since 1859.
The Lutheran Sunday-School Herald, estab-
lished in 1860, is published monthly by the Lu-
theran Publication Society, at No. 42 North Ninth
Street.
The Sunday Courier made its appearance in 1861,
but speedily collapsed.
The Sunday-School World is royal octavo in size,
thirty-six pages, issued monthly for teachers and fami-
lies as an aid in the study of the Bible, in the forma-
tion of Christian character, and in the discovery and
application of the true principles and methods of
teaching. It is published by the American Sunday-
School Union at No. 1122 Chestnut Street, having
been established in 1861 as a quarto journal of sis-
teen pages, and edited by F. A. Packard, LL.D., until
his death, in 1867, when he was succeeded by the Rev.
Richard Newton, D.D., who resigned on account of
ill health in 1878, when the present editor. Rev. Ed-
win W. Rice, was appointed to the place. The Sunday-
School World contains esplanations of the Interna-
tional Lessons by the Rev. John Hall, D.D., of New
York, Professor Post, of Syria, Mrs. Alice W. Knox,
and others. It is practically the successor of a series
of periodicals published by the American Sunday-
School Union, the original of which was the American
Sunday-School Magazine, established in July, 1824.
The Palmetto Flag was first issued early in 1861
as a pro-slaverj' journal, and, after the attack by the
Confederates on Fort Sumter, it came out with an
article justifying the assault. The next day a mob
attacked the oiBce of the Ilag, situated on Chestnut
Street, below Fourth, and began to tear out the place,
and would probably have wreaked their vengeance on
the innocent printers had not Mayor Alexander Henry
appeared on the scene. At his approach the crowd
fell back, and after listening to a brief address that
he made, quietly dispersed. The paper was soon dis-
continued.
The Lutheran was founded in 1861, and is issued
weekly from the Lutheran Book Store, at No. 117
North Sixth Street. It was for years known as the
Lutheran and Missionary.
The American Exchange and Review was begun
in February, 1862, as a monthly magazine, with con-
tents of a miscellaneous character, but most promi-
nently devoted to financial and economic topics, and
the industrial technologies. It had special depart-
ments appropriated to insurance, finance, patents,
arts, and practical science. The first publishers were
Whiting & Co., No. 712 Chestnut Street, succeeded
in February, 1863, by Fowler & Moon, No. 521 Chest-
nut Street. In 1871 the magazine became the prop-
erty of the Review Publishing and Printing Company,
at the northwest corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets,
Samuel S. Moon, president, and I. H. C. Whiting,
secretary. In January, 1877, it became a special pub-
lication, devoted to insurance and its collateral sci-
ences. In its new purpose it embraces a large range
of social and financial data and applied science, treat-
ing of all subjects cognate to every branch of insur-
ance, from marine averages to the computation of life
insurance premiums in all the diversities of the latter.
John A. Fowler has been editor-in-chief since the
commencement of the publication.
The Quarterly Eclectic Medical Journal of Penn-
sylvania, edited by Henry Hollemback, was com-
menced in July, 1862, and in January, 1863, was
changed to a bi-monthly, under the title of The
Eclectic Medical Journal of Pennsylvania, and pub-
lished by the Eclectic College of Pennsylvania, and
edited by John Buchanan. It was continued until
1872.
The Christian Recorder, a weekly religious paper,
is an organ of the African Methodist Episcopal Church,
under the editorial direction of Rev. B. T. Tanner,
with the publication ofiice at No. 631 Pine Street. It
has been in existence since 1862.
The Dental ftuarterly, devoted to the interests of
dental science, the publishers of which were Johnson
& Lund, made its appearance in 1862, and went out
of existence in 1867.
The West Philadelphia Hospital Register,
printed and published at the United States Army
General Hospital (Satterlee), West Philadelphia,
was first issued on Feb. 14, 1863, and published
weekly for a few months.
The Age, a daily morning paper, was issued for the
first time March 25, 1863, by A. J. Glossbrenner &
Co., at No. 430 Chestnut Street. The firm comprised
Adam J. Glossbrenner, Francis J. Grund, and William
H. Welsh. Other gentlemen, prominent Democrats
of the city, also had a pecuniary interest in the under-
taking, which was designed to be a party organ. It
was a seven-column folio at the beginning, but was
enlarged to eight columns April 27, 1863. The paper
began its editorial salutatory by declaring that " The
Age is to be a national Democratic journal, conducted
on national Democratic principles, without an un-
worthy play of words or sophistical qualification to
diminish the force of these terms." The Age, as it
boasted at the outset, was a radical Democratic jour-
nal. As a consequence, it was bitterly attacked by
certain Republican journals, and never failed to strike
back. Its articles partook of the violent temper of
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2033
the times. During the whole war period it conducted
a warfare of great vigor and virulence against the
Republican party, and it was frequently charged with
being in sympathy with the South. Upon more than
one occasion The Age establishment was menaced by
angrj' mobs, who were with difficulty restrained from
attacking the premises.
The original partnership continued but a short time.
A few months after it was formed, in July, 1863, Mr.
Grund withdrew, and the paper was thereafter pub-
lished by Messrs. -Glossbrenner & Welsh until Feb-
ruary, 1866, when Mr. Glossbrenner sold his interest
to James M. Robb. The firm then became Welsh &
Robb. Dating from Mr. Robb's connection with
The Age, the paper entered upon an era of satisfactory
prosperity. In June, 1868, the office was removed to
Nos. 14 and 16 South Seventh Street. On the 2d of
March, 1871, Mr. Welsh withdrew, his interest being
purchased by Charles J. Biddle, — who for a long time
had been one of the editors of the paper, — and the
firm then became Robb & Biddle. A weekly edition
of The Age was started June 6, 1863. In 1875 the
publication of The Age was discontinued, the entire
establishment passing into the hands of the proprie-
tors of The Times, which was issued for the first time
on March 13th of that year.
The Sunday Times was first issued Dec. 6, 1863, at
No. 136 South Third Street, by Robert C. Smith, J.
Travis Quigg, and W. G. McAllister, under the firm-
Dame of Robert C. Smith & Co. F. T. S. Darley, a tal-
ented writer, was a member of the editorial staff. Mr.
Smith was a native of Princeton, N. J., was a prac-
tical printer, having been connected with the New
York Herald, the Ledger, and other papers. In 1869,
Col. J. H. Taggart and his eldest son, Harry L. Tag-
gart, purchased the paper and began a vigorous war
upon the variety theatres, which resulted in a number
of libel suits. Col. Taggart also assailed the manage-
ment of the Franklin Savings-Fund, whose cashier
was afterward convicted of peculation, and served
several years' imprisonment. Col. Taggart was born
at Georgetown, Kent Co., Md., Jan. 22, 1821. His
journalistic career began when he was but ten years
of age, when he entered the office of the National
Gazette, published in Philadelphia, by William Fry.
He was for the greater part of seventeen years a com-
positor on the Ledger. In 1849 he, with Lambert W.
Holland, published the Pennsylvania Volunteer, de-
voted to military matters, which, six years later, was
merged into the City Ltem. In 1860, Col. Taggart
purchased the interest of James P. Magill in the Mer-
cury, with George W. Jones as a partner. During the
early portion of the war of the Rebellion he served
with distinction as colonel of the Twelfth Regiment,
Pennsylvania Reserves (Forty-first of the line). In
1863 he was preceptor of the free military school to
prepare applicants (white) for the command of colored
troops. After the close of the war he resumed the
profession of journalism, purchasing the Sunday Times
in 1869, as already stated. H. L. Taggart, the junior
member of the firm, was born in Philadelphia, March
23, 184.'). Before his connection with the Sunday Times
he had considerable newspaper experience upon the
Sunday Dispatch, Sunday Mercury, and other journals.
As an evidence of the business prosperity of this
journal, the proprietors, in 1882, erected a fine build-
ing at No. 819 Walnut Street, which has been stocked
with a complete modern printer's outfit, embracing
the various rapid ])rinting machinery.
The Sunday Observer was issued for the first time
on Dec. 6, 1863, and died out in six weeks.
The Philadelphia Photographer, an illustrated
monthly journal, was commenced in January, 1864,
Benerman & Wilson, publishers, and E. L. Wilson,
editor.
The Evening Telegraph was first issued on Jan.
4, 1864, from its present office, No. 108 South Third
Street. At that time there was but one afternoon
journal published in Philadelphia. In its salutatory,
it "based its hopes for a share of public favor upon
the ground that the rapid growth of Philadelphia in
population, wealth, and all of those substantial re-
wards of industry, intelligence, and virtue would
afford support to another afternoon journal." It thus
professed to be a purely business venture, and as such
it has been pre-eminently successful. It was, at the
start, a four-paged paper, with seven columns to the
page, and was sold at two cents per copy. At the close
of the first year it was enlarged to eight pages, of six
columns each, and the price was increased to three
cents, at which it has since remained. The original
projectors and proprietors of the paper were J. Bar-
clay Harding and Charles E. Warburton. The for-
mer was a son of Jesper Harding, whose name figures
so conspicuously in the history of Philadelphia jour-
nalism. He had been thoroughly fitted for the task
of starting a new journal by service under his father,
and lived to see the Et'eniiig Telegraph firmly estab-
lished. After his death, which occurred on Oct. 29,
1865, the paper passed under the sole control of Mr.
Warburton, his brother-in-law, who still remains its
proprietor, publisher, and editor-in-chief. Mr. Hard-
ing was an active politician, as well as a working
journalist, and at the time of his death was collector
of internal revenue for the First District of Philadel-
phia. His associate and successor, Mr. Warburton,
has, however, studiously kept out of the political
arena, and, since the death of Mr. Harding, no person
associated with the conduct of the Evening Telegraph
has held any public office, or taken part personally in
political strife.
The paper has been Republican in its politics from
the start, but its Republicanism has been tempered
by a sturdy independence. In the first number it
said, " We recognize the President, his cabinet, and
the other sworn officers under them to be ' the gov-
ernment,'and we feel they can and should be trusted,
unless they shall knowingly and willingly fail to per-
2034
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
form their duty." This confession of political faith
has been maintained to this day. Accordingly, be-
fore the close of President Grant's second term, the
Evening Telegraph was found arrayed against his ad-
ministration, and earnestly opposing his renomination
for a third term. The same course was pursued in
the preliminary Presidential campaign of 1880, when
the " third-term conspiracy," as the Evening Telegraph
persistently styled it, was revived. State and city ad-
ministrations have been dealt with on the same prin-
ple. The Evening Telegraph was an outspoken an-
tagonist of Governor Geary during the latter portion
of his administration, and was almost as severe in its
criticism of some of his Republican successors, while
in the State campaign of 1882 it was one of the most
influential journals in the State that supported John
Stewart, the Independent Republican candidate for
Governor. As to municipal affairs, it has labored
persistently and consistently for the purification of
the city government, and has frequently stood alone
in supporting the ticket opposed to that of the regu-
lar Republican organization. This was notably the
case in 1876, when it triumphantly carried its point
by the election of the Democratic candidate for
sheriff, even in the excitement of a Presidential cam-
paign; and in the spring election of 1881, when it
stood alone among Republican journals in supporting
the successful coalition reform ticket, including Sam-
uel G. King, Democrat, for mayor, and John Hunter,
Independent Republican, for receiver of taxes.
But it has been as a newspaper, rather than as a
political journal, that the Evening Telegraph has ap-
pealed to the reading community. It has introduced
innovation after innovation into evening journalism,
and seen them gradually adopted by its contempo-
raries in this and other cities. It started out with
one of the most important of these new ideas, — that of
presenting every day in the week the leading edi-
torials of the most influential journals of New York
and other cities, both at home and abroad. This fea-
ture gave a decided impetus to the Evening Telegraph
from the beginning, its readers fully appreciating the
opportunity which it presented of learning the views
on all questions of the day of the ablest writers in the
whole field of journalism. Publishing the dispatches
of the Associated Press from the start, it has always
supplemented them by liberal installments of special
dispatches from all points of interest, and by volu-
minous correspondence from all parts of the world.
It also accompanies all important news items by illus-
trative and explanatory notes, placing the subject in
hand fully before the reader at the moment it first
claims his attention. For this purpose it has at its
command a cabinet of material — biographical, his-
torical, political, and descriptive — that is probably
unequaled in any city in the world. It is seldom that
an imperfect or unintelligible dispatch from any
part of the world appears in its columns without
being made clear, if the matter is worth the space
that the explanation would require. It is always
ready for any emergency, and on that memorable
Sunday in July, 1877, when several regiments of
Philadelphia militia were shut up in the blazing
round-house at Pittsburgh, at the mercy of a blood-
; thirsty mob, the Evening Telegraph was the only
journal in the city that supplied the craving of the
j people for news throughout the day. Sunday jour-
I nalism had not yet assumed the enteqjrising propor-
I tions and character of the present day. The Even-
I ing Telegraph, however, recognized the necessity for
violating the announcement at the head of its edito-
rial columns — "published ever^;- afternoon except
1 Sundays" — and went to press with its first and, so
far, only Sunday issue. The city was wild with ex-
citement, and the demand for the paper was so great
that the pre-ss was kept running far into the night,
until the pressmen were utterly exhausted and re-
I fiised to remain at their posts any longer. The news-
1 boys sold many copies at the extravagant price of a
dollar, and twenty-five cents each was eagerly paid
: for thousands of copies.
Aside from the special features already alluded to,
the Evening Telegrapih has always preserved a high
literary character, and presented in its columns the
choicest extracts from current publications in every
branch of knowledge. As occasion has seemed to
I demand, it has ventured into the field of fiction, and
j reproduced in daily installments, romances that have
j been attracting unusual attention abroad. Many of
! these have been translated from the French expressly
j for the paper, the most notable instance of this kind
being Victor Hugo's "93." The Evening Telegraph
published a special translation of that remarkable
j work in 1874, which was far more carefully made
than the version authorized in England, and which,
after running through the paper, was reprinted in
pamphlet form, and commanded an enormous circu-
lation. The paper also pays especial attention to
elaborate criticism in all departments of literature
and art, including music and the drama.
The editorial staff of the Evening Telegraph has
undergone comparatively few changes for the greater
part of the twenty years during which the paper has
now been published. Watson Ambruster, the man-
aging editor, has been in continuous service since
June, 1866. He was first employed as a reporter, but
was made city editor in a few weeks, on the death of
J. Mason Grier, who had held that position from the
; establishment of the paper. A year later he became
news editor, and subsequently musical and dramatic
critic, and since 1868 has been managing editor, and
representative of the proprietor during his absence
from the city. Next in length of continuous service
is William J. Clark, Jr., who has been a member of
the editorial staff since September, 1868. Mr. Clark's
labors have taken a wide range, embracing, besides
political and general editorial writing, the special
departments of literary, art, musical, and dramatic
THE BRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2035
criticism. In December, 1869, George W. Allen joined
the editorial staff, and has remained connected with
it ever since as a general editorial writer and musical
and dramatic critic. Among the other members of
the editorial staff who have seen several years of ser-
vice are Edwin K. Hart and Joseph Marshall. Ed-
ward J. Swartz, who acted as a reporter, and sub-
sequently as news editor, from December, 1866, to
December, 1869, returned to the staff in January,
1871, as city editor, and has remained in continuous
service in that capacity ever since. Among those
who have seen service on the editorial force at differ-
ent times may be mentioned Frederick W. Grayson,
T. Dwight Thatcher, now of Kansas ; Albert E.
Lancaster, Lewis Wain Smith, Col. Alexander K.
McClure, before the establishment of the Phila-
delphia Times; Rev. Dr. B. H. Nadal, of the
Drew Theological Seminary ; J. Luther Ringwalt,
James C. Purdy, Charles Eobson, Dalton Dorr, L.
Clarke Davis, and the latter's wife, Mrs. Rebecca
Harding Davis, the jiopular novelist. Among the
Washington correspondents have been D. W. Bart-
lett, now a secretary of the Chinese legation to this
country ; Crosby S. Noyes, for years past the editor
of the Washington Star ; and Henry R. Elliott, who
has held the position for several years past. Mrs.
Lucy H. Hooper has been the Paris correspondent
since 1875, and H. Cameron Richardson, the Lon-
don correspondent since 1878. Among other foreign
correspondents, it has been served by the late John
T. Dexter, at London, Miss Anne H. Brewster, at
Rome, Miss Costanza Hall, at Florence, and C. R.
Heap and Reginald Soudamore, at Constantinople.
The University Medical and Surgical Journal
of Philadelphia, published monthly by Joseph S.
Longshore, J. Lukens, and Charles Murphy, was
commenced in October, 1864, as the organ of the
Penn Medical University of Pennsylvania. In 1865
it was consolidated with the Eclectic Medical Journal
of PhilaiMphid.
The National Baptist first appeared in January,
1865, published by the American Baptist Publication
Society. Its editors have been Kendall Brooks, D.D.,
Lemuel Moss, D.D., and H. L. Way land, D.D.; and as-
sistant editors, Joseph Stockbridge, D.D., J. Eugene
Reed, A.M., and Rev. Philip Berry. In January,
1883, it became the property of Dr. H. L. Wayland,
as publisher and editor. It has paid especial atten-
tion to the questions involved in social science, re-
garding social science as the gospel applied to the
social affairs of mankind. It has aimed, within
reasonable limits, to afford opportunity for freedom
of discussion on social and religious topics.
The Hahnemannian Monthly is a journal of medi-
cine and surgery, published in the interests of the
homceopathic system. It was established in August,
1865, by the faculty of the Homcieopathic Medical Col-
lege of Pennsylvania, its first editors being Drs. A.
Lippe and J. H. P. Frost. In 1868, the late Dr. R.
J. McCIatchey became its editor, and continued in
that position for ten years. During most of the time
the periodical was owned by Boericke & Tafel, and
upon Dr. McClatchey's retirememet, the editorship
was transferred to Dr. W. H. Winslow, of Pittsburgh,
I though the journal was still published in Philadel-
I phia. At the beginning of 1880, Boericke & Tafel dis-
\ posed of their interest to an organization of homoeo-
I pathic physicians, known as the Hahnemann Club of
Philadelphia, consisting of Drs. R. J. McCIatchey,
Bushrod W. James, A. H. Ashton, C. S. Middleton,
Aug. Korndoerfer, E. A. Farrington, M. M. Walker,
John E. James, B. F. Betts, W. H. H. Neville, and
Pemberton Dudley. The new proprietors apjiointed
Bushrod W. James, M.D., business manager; E. A.
Farrington, M.D., contributing editor; and Pember-
ton Dudley, M.D., general editor. Under this owner-
ship and management the journal has been since
issued, having now reached the nineteenth year of its
publication.
The Carriage Monthly, a mechanical and trade
journal, containing one hundred pages of information,
was started in 1865.
The New Era, the first copy of which appeared
on Saturday, Sept. 23, 1865, was the third paper pub-
lished in Manayunk. After continuing nearly a year
it was merged into The Independent, and removed to
Norristown, Pa.
The American Journal of Conchology, com-
menced in 1865, was published until 1872 by the
members of the Conchological Section of the Academy
of Natural Sciences.
Sattirday Night is a literary weekly, pulilished by
its proprietor, James Elverson, at the northwest cor-
ner of Ninth and Spruce Streets. It was first issued
by Mr. Elverson and his former partner, Robert S.
Davis, on the 30th of September, 1865, from No. 108
South Third Street. The design of the proprietor
originally was to make it chiefly of local interest, and
to its literary features were added society gossip,
letters from the people, notices of chess, billiards, and
other games, criticisms on music and the drama, and
whatever could be of general interest to the reader.
It was a handsome and spirited journal, and rapidly
rose in public favor, so much so, that the increasing
circulation forced a removal to more commodious
quarters at the northeast corner of Third and Chest-
nut Streets.
But the proprietors, after the experience of eighteen
months, were not satisfied with their success, and
looking into the future saw a more promising field
for enterprise in the placing of their paper before
the country in a purely literary character. After
careful deliberation this step was taken, and with
the issue of April 20, 1867, Saturday Night became
emphatically a weekly literary journal, that was not
to appeal in vain to the sympathy and taste of intel-
ligent readers throughout the land.
A corps of able story-writers and novelists was se-
2036
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
cured, and serials, sketches, poetry, and brief essays
combined to make its columns attractive. To bring
it at once before the public, " supplements," contain-
ing several chapters of new stories, were printed and
scattered broadcast throughout the country. This
proved a most effective mode of advertising, and
brought in subscribers by the thousands ; while to
win over the news-agents, Mr. Elverson traveled
through every State of the Union, and obtaining the
name and business card of each dealer, had them
printed on a certain number of supplements, which
were sent free for distribution in his locality. With
these supplements were forwarded packages of Satur-
day Night for sale, the news-dealer having the priv-
ilege of returning, and having deducted from the
bill all copies remaining unsold. This unprecedented
liberality at once enlisted the self-interest of the
agents, and from that time forward the success of the
paper was assured.
In the spring of 1868 the proprietors purchased the
large building at the southwest corner of Eighth and
Locust Streets, and put in four first-class cylinder
presses. Before the year closed two additional presses
were required, the circulation having nearly doubled,
and in 1869 another press was bought, and all seven
were kept running day and night to print the edition,
which had now become enormous, while an eighth press
was ordered to run off three thousand copies an hour.
This wonderful prosperity seemed to stimulate the
proprietors to greater efforts, and in 1870 some ten
million supplements (with the news-dealers' cards)
were distributed to the seven thousand dealers handling
their paper.
The career of Saturday Night thenceforward was
successful and prosperous, and such as to add to the
honor and fortune of its proprietors. In the latter
part of 1878, Mr. Elverson bought his partner's in-
terest in the paper, and at once proceeded to carry
out his views of progress by further enhancing the
value of the splendid property (of which he was
now sole owner) and in starting new enterprises.
The old and long-untenanted mansion at the south-
west corner of Ninth and Spruce Streets was bought,
and on its site Mr. Elverson erected one of the most
spacious, convenient, substantial, and imposing build-
ings for the purposes to be found in the United
States.
The Printers' Circular, devoted to typographical
and lithographical matters, was started in March,
1866, as a monthly periodical, R. S. Menamin being
the editor and publisher, at No. 36 Hudson Street. A
sub-title was afterward assumed, " Stationers' and
Publishers' Gazette." The present office is at Nos.
515 and 519 Minor Street.
The Philadelphia Abendpost, founded by Walde-
mar Cursch, in 1866, as a Republican paper, was the
first German evening paper published in Philadel-
phia. Its first number was issued on New Year's
day, 1866. On the first day of January, 1873, Fried-
laender & Co. acquired the Abendpost, and it has been
independent in politics since. It is published from
Nos. 612 and 614 Chestnut Street.
The Evening Star, a daily afternoon paper, made
its first appearance on April 2, 1866. It was printed
on a single-cylinder Hoe press, capable at the most of
printing fifteen hundred copies an hour ; but there
never was a day that the machine was not kept going
from noon till six o'clock at night. In less than two
weeks the new-comer had earned a welcome, and felt
perfectly at home ; and it was able to make this edi-
torial announcement :
"In priutiDg the S/ar we have struck a chord in the popular heart.
The people at last see that a paper which costs but a penny, prints all
the news, and instead of many columns of gab — whatCarlyle would call
wooh-woohing and soo-sooghing of the wind — gives sharp, clear com-
ments on men and things. The Star belongs to no clique. It is the
organ of no party."
On July 29, 1867, the paper was enlarged to five
columns and printed on a double-cylinder Hoe press,
giving twice the capacity of the former machine.
The circulation still kept rising, and on Feb. 29, 1868,
the stereotyping process was employed for the first
time, which, by means of duplicate plates of each
page, again doubled the working capacity of the ma-
chinery, affording a speed of about six thousand
papers an hour. As the supply of papers became
more ample, the news-dealers and news-boys were
prompt to avail themselves of the fact ; so that before
three months had passed, the necessity of much more
rapid printing facilities became manifest; and an
order was given for the construction of a Bullock per-
fecting press, a machine at that time in use by only
one other paper in the city, the German Democrat.
On Aug. 30, 1869, the Bullock was started for the
first time ; and it has done faithful service from that
day until the present time without rest or intermission,
running out papers regularly at a rate of over twenty-
four thousand copies an hour, and sometimes running
incessantly from forenoon till late in the day, without
fairly keeping pace with the demand, — though those,
of course, were extraordinary occasions. Still, the
necessary result of making a newsy, cheap, impartial
journal, always brightly printed, was a continuously
large circulation ; and this in turn brought a gradu-
ally increasing pressure of advertising business.
Then double sheets were resorted to, as the next
forward step. Originally they were published on
Saturdays only, during the spring and fall trade sea-
sons ; but their popularity soon made them a neces-
sity twice and even three times a week ; and, as
another way of securing additional space, much of the
news was put in smaller type.
These expedients, however, failed to meet the
exigency created by the wants of advertisers, and it
became manifest that another enlargement, entailing
entirely new machinery, was the only solution of the
problem. The result was the purchase of a new Scott
perfecting press, of the fastest possible capacity ; and
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2037
such is the machine on which the Star is printed
to-day.
The following features concerning the develop-
ment of The Evening Star are worth noting: It was
the first penny evening paper started in the country
after the war ; it was the first afternoon paper in the
city to stereotype ; it was the first evening paper in
the country, it is claimed, to use a perfecting press;
it was the first evening paper in the city to run a
Bullock press, of which a dozen or more are now in
use here; and it was the first evening paper in Phil-
adelphia to start a Scott printing-machine. The pub-
lishers are School & Bhikely.
The Dental Times, a quarterly journal of dental
science, edited and published by the faculty of the
Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, appeared in
July, 1866, and was discontinued in April, 1873. Vol-
ume seven was edited by James Truman; volume
eight, by G. T. Barker ; and volume nine, by E.
Wildman and James Tyson.
The Chronicle-Herald is the combination of The
Evening Herald and The Evening Chronicle.
The Evening Herald, a penny paper, had its first
issue Monday, Aug. 27, 1866, from the corner of Hud-
son and Harmony Streets. Party feeling ran high,
and the new journal was intended to reach the Demo-
cratic masses. It was received with favor, and on
Jan. 1, 1868, was increased in size by the addition of
a column to each page, with a proportionate increase
in length. April 13, 1867, the publication ofiice was
removed to 708 Market Street, thence, in March,
1868, to the southeast corner of Fourth and Chestnut
Streets, and the next year to 105 South Fourth Street.
The high price of printing-paper and the limited
capital of the owners interfered greatly with the
enterprise required to compete with the opposition
journals, and on March 20, 1870, the Herald, by pur-
chase, became the property of Dennis F. Dealy. He
instituted many new features, which were duly appre-
ciated by the public ; the carriers' circulation became
very large, and to increase the facilities, Mr. Dealy re-
moved the office to No. 23 South Seventh Street, Nov.
12, 1870, and purchased a large double-cylinder press.
Close application to business injured Mr. Dealy's
health so greatly that by advice of physicians he re-
linquished journalism, and, June 23, 1873, sold the
Evening Herald to Baruholt & Hazleton, two Western
gentlemen, who associated with them as business
manager A. E. Smythe, and the paper was made inde-
pendent of politics. The next year the publication-
oflice was removed to 27 South Seventh Street, and
the price of the paper increased to two cents. Too
many wild schemes brought trouble, and the services
of the sheriff became necessary. He sold the Herald,
together with the Sunday Press, owned by the same
management, at public sale Nov. 28, 1877, Dennis F.
Dealy becoming the purchaser. He combined it with
the Evening Chronicle und issued both as the Chronicle-
Herald.
The Evening Chronicle was originally the German-
town Chronicle, a weekly, started in Germantown by
Dr. Tingley in 1868. The following year it was pur-
chased by G. Wharton Hamersly, who, in October
of that year, converted it into a daily afternoon news-
paper, independent in politics, but with a leaning to-
ward Democracy. The next year it was changed to
a morning paper, and continued to be published in
Germantown until May 1, 1874, when the office was
remcjved to the city, at 23 South Seventh Street, and
the time of issue changed to the afternoon. July 1st
the office was removed to 21 South Seventh Street, and
Oct. 19, 1874, the Evening Chronicle was purchased by
Dennis F. Dealy, who at once made it a stalwart
Democratic organ. The election of that year was a
tidal-wave, and the Chronicle was given a boom, being
at that time the only daily Democratic newspaper
in the city published in the English language. As
before stated, the Chronicle and Herald became united
Nov. 28, 1877, as the Chronicle-Herald, and continued
to be published at 21 South Seventh Street until Nov.
1, 1882, when the office was removed to its present
quarters, No. 719 Chestnut Street.
The Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel
Association was first published in 1866. It con-
tains eight pages of matter, and is issued each Wed-
nesday, from No. 261 South Fourth Street.
The Catholic Standard, published by Hardy &
Mahoney, every Saturday, at No. 505 Chestnut Street,
was fir.st issued in 1866.
The Children's Friend, a monthly juvenile paper,
containing thirty-two pages, was first issued in 1866,
and is published at No. 1020 Arch Street, by the
Friends' Book Association of Philadelphia.
The Christian Statesman, a weekly evangelical
paper, is published on Thursdays, at No. 1520 Chest-
nut Street, having been founded in 1866.
The American Naturalist, published monthly by
McCalla & Stavely, is the leading organ of the nat-
ural sciences in the United States. It is in its eigh-
teenth year of publication, having been established
in January, 1867. Its editors-iu-chief, Professors A.
S. Packard, Jr., of Providence, R. I., and E. D. Cope,
of Philadelphia, are known throughout the scientific
world. The magazine has eleven departments, and
the sub-editors in charge of their specialties reside in
different portions of the United States. Three are in
Philadelphia, one in Boston, two in Washington, one
in Providence, one in Iowa, and one at Ann Arbor,
Mich. A special feature is the preference it gives
to American work and workers. It claims to be the
only magazine in the world that keeps its readers
en rapport with the work of Americans in the field
of the natural sciences. Three new departments
have recently been added to it, those of mineralogy,
physiology, and psychology. Its typographical dress
and illustrations are of the best. Throughout it is
not only scientific, but popular, so as to interest not
only specialists, but the general reader and the young
2038
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
naturalist. The leading scientists of the country
write for its columns, and it is to the credit of Phila-
delphia that so sterling and leading a scientific publi-
cation should have its home in this city, and be con-
ducted with such ability and success. It is published
at Nos. 237-239 Dock Street.
The Guardian Ang'el was started in January, 1867,
by Daniel F. Gillin, James P. McGuigan, and Martin
I. J. Griffin as publishers, and .was edited by Kevs.
James O'Reilly and William F. Cook. It was then
the only publication for Catholic children in the
United States.
The first number was issued from the old United
States Hotel, and the publishers, in 1868, bought the
printing-office at No. 701 Chestnut Street. They con-
tinued there for seven years, meeting with much suc-
cess.
The Guardian Angel is now published by Daniel F.
Gillin at No. 717 Sansom Street, is edited by John
Arthur Henry and Daniel F. Gillin, is issued monthly,
and has a large circulation.
The Proof-Sheet, issued by Collins & M'Leester,
type founders, No. 705 Jayne Street, was published
for the first time in July, 1867. It was printed bi-
monthly, on tinted paper, each number containing
sixteen pages. It was chiefly devoted to matters typo-
graphical and bibliographical. In 1870-72 there
were published in The Proof-Sheet a series of valuable
historical articles upon the contemporary newspapers
of Philadelphia, chiefly daily, prepared by Eugene
H. Munday, who was the editor of the paper.'
The Keystone, the only Masonic weekly newspaper
published in Pennsylvania, and, with one exception,
the only one published in the United States, was first
issued, July 20, 1867, by William A. Maas, and is now
in its seventeenth year of successful publication. In
1868 it was purchased by McCalla & Stavely, a long-
established Philadelphia publishing and printing-
house, then fifty years old, who shortly after obtained
from the Legislature of Pennsylvania a charter for
the Masonic Publishing Company, and since that
time this company has been the publishers and pro-
prietors of The Keystone. The paper has had able
editors from the outset. The late Rev. Robert H.
Pattison had charge of its editorial columns for a
time. He was succeeded by Richard Vaux, of the
Philadelphia bar, and since 1870, CliflTord P. Mac-
Calla, also a member of the Philadelphia bar and the
present Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of
Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, has been
its editor. It is acknowledged to be leading exponent
of Freemasonry in the United States, and has a wide
circulation in Great Britain and the English posses-
sions, as well as in America. It is issued in a hand-
some eight-paged sheet, and includes both general
1 In the preparation of this chapter the writer has had occaBion to
make use of a portion of Mr. Munday'e material, for which due credit
is here given.
literary and Masonic reading-matter. Since there
are thirty-six thousand Freemasons in Pennsylvania,
and five hundred and ninety thousand in America,
there is a wide field of usefulness for such a journal.
The American Journal of Homoeopathic Materia
Medica, edited by Dr. C. Bering and Dr. H. N. Mar-
tin, was issued for the first time in September, 1867,
and continued until August, 1871, the last number
being issued in that month. The publisher was A.
J. Tafel. In the following month was commenced
the American Journal of Homoeopathic Materia Medica
and Secord of Medical Science, edited by A. R. Thomas,
and published by J. M. Stoddart & Co.
The Philadelphia Post, a daily morning news-
paper, made its first appearance as The Morning Post
on Oct. 7, 1867, without previous announcement. It
was established by a number of enterprising journal-
ists of strong convictions and indisputable ability.
They were John Russell Young, John Davis Stockton,
James Rankin Young, Charles McClintock, and
James McConnell. Mr. Stockton was made editor-
in-chief, and Mr. McClintock was selected as the
business manager. In August, 1868, the latter was
succeeded by John M. Carson. For some time after
its institution the affairs of the Post were prosperous,
but the capital invested in it proved to be insufficient
to maintain it in the character it had assumed long
enough to assure its success as a business venture.
Finally, in the latter part of 1870, the Philadelphia
Post Publishing Company was incorporated, and the
Post establishment passed under its control in January,
1871. The title was changed to The Philadelphia Post,
the object being to give it a more specific local char-
acter than it had previously possessed. During its
brief career — for it was suspended a few years subse-
quently— the Post was conducted by as strong an edi-
torial stafl!' as any paper in the city. Every depart-
ment was under the supervision of an experienced
journalist. The original publication-office of the Post
was at No. 740 Sansom Street, and in May, 1868, the
office was removed to No. 32 South Seventh Street.
The Sunday Republic was commenced by Aaron
K. Dunkel, Nathan S. Hales, Thomas S. Keyser, and
Thomas W. Swain. Messrs. Dunkel, Hales, and
Keyser were engaged as compositors on The Press,
while Mr. Swain held a similar position on the Morn-
ing Post. The first publication office was at No. Ill
South Third Street, the composing-room being in the
building in the rear of No. 132 South Third Street, and
the paper printed on the press of the North American.
After some years the office was removed to the south •
side of Chestnut Street, below Fourth. It is now situ-
ated at No. 38 South Seventh Street. The original firm
remained intact until 1878, when Mr. Dunkel with-
drew, the title of the partnership becoming Hales,
Keyser & Swain. Mr. Dunkel continued as one of
the proprietors, however, until Jan. 18, 1884, when he
disposed of his interest in the establishment to his
partners. Mr. Dunkel was a member of the Pennsyl-
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2039
vania State Senate from the Sixth District for two
terms, and was, in 1878, elected Secretary of Internal
Affairs of the commonwealth, his term of service ex-
piring in May, 1883. The Siindoy RfpubHc has for
years been under the efficient editorial direction of
J. Robley Dunglison, son of the distinguished Pro- [
fessor Robley Dunglison, and maintains a high posi-
tion among the journals of the city.
The Christian Standard and Home Journal,
issued every Saturday from No. 921 Arch Street, is
published in the interests of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and has a very large circulation. The first
issue of the paper was in 1867.
The Camp News, a twenty-four-page journal, issued
monthly, was commenced in 1867, is devoted to the
interests of the order of the Sons of America, and
is issued from No. 524 North Sixth Street.
The Philadelphia Trade Journal, a commercial
newspaper, issued every Monday, was printed for the
first time in 1867, and is published at No. 236 South
Fifth Street.
The Busy Bee, issued monthly in the interests of
the Lutheran Church, was published for the first time
in 1867.
Lippincott's Magazine was established in 1868,
and has always maintained a high reputation as a
literarj' and popular miscellany. While fiction, in
the form of serials and short stories, holds a promi-
nent place in its pages, it has attracted particular
notice by its sketches of travel and adventure, studies
of life and character, and articles on natural history
and similar topics, written witli the freshness that
comes from personal observation and experience, in a
lively style, and with abundant auecdotical illustra-
tion. The editorial departments—" Our Monthly
Gossip" and " Literature of To-Day" — are managed
with skill and critical taste, and tlie general character
of the magazine, as described by the New York Tri-
bune and other authorities, is that of being " emi-
nently readable."
Many novels which have attained a high reputation
were originally puldished in Lippincott's Magazine.
Among them are George Macdonald's " Malcolm"
and "The Marquis of Lossie;" William Black's
" Princess of Thule" and " Strange Adventures of a
Phaeton;" "Dallas Galbraith" and "A Law unto
Herself," by Rebecca Harding Davis; "Adam and
Eve," by the author of " Patty ;" " The Vicar of BuU-
hampton" and " Sir Harry Hotspur," by Anthony
TroUope; "The Atonement of Leam Dundas," by
Mrs. Lynn Linton; "Through Winding Ways," by
Ellen W. Olney ; and "The Jewel in the Lotos," by
Mary Agnes Tincker. During the Centennial year a
series of illustrated articles, under the title of " The
Centmy, its Fruits and its Festival," by E. C. Bruce,
ran through the magazine, and were afterward rejiub-
lished and widely circulated in book-form. Similar
republications from its pages have been " The New
Hyperion," by Edward Strahan ; " Summerland
130
Sketches" and " Zoological Curiosities," by Dr. Felix
L. Oswald ; and various works of travel. Articles f>n
medical and physiological subjects, by Drs. S. Weir
Mitchell, H. C. Wood, W. M. Hunt, C. W. Dulles,
and other eminent members of the profession, and a
series of {)apers on " Evolution," by Professor E. D.
Cope, have been among the weightier contributions to
the magazine ; while its lighter and more character-
istic attractions have included the short stories of
Ouida, all of them originally published in Lippincolt's,
and considered by some critics her finest productions ;
admirable sketches of negro life, by Jennie Wood-
ville; many striking tales by Sarah Wister Kellogg,
M. H. Catherwood, Mrs. J. H. Burnett, Lizzie W.
Champney, and numerous other writers ; with sketches
of various kinds by contributors whose names are
familiar to the reading ijublic. Poetry, while not so
conspicuous a feature as in some other magazines, has
been well represented, the contributions in verse in-
cluding productions by Longfellow, Swinburne, George
H. Boker, Bayard Taylor, Sidney Lanier, Emma Laz-
arus, Frances Anne Kemble, R. H. Stoddard, C. G.
Leland, H. H. Boyeson, and others. The first editor
was Lloyd P. Smith, librarian of the Philadelphia
Library, who was succeeded in 1870 by J. Foster
Kirk, author of the " History of Charles the Bold,"
and editor of Prescott's Works. The typographical
execution of the Magazine combines with its literary
excellence to render it a worthy representative of the
great publishing house whose name it bears.
The Lrugg'ists' Reference, a monthly folio, pub-
lished by Iredell & Co., appeared in January, 1868,
but did not live hing.
The Frankford Gazette, fijrmerly the Hohnenhurg
Gazette, was commenced in the spring of 1868, by
William F. Knott, who continued to publish it until
Oct. 1, 1883, when he disposed of his interest to James
France. The Gazette was commenced and continued
to remain as a thoroughly independent local paper.
The originator of the enterprise commenced publish-
ing the paper without one cent of capital (borrowing
enough to purchase the white paper for the first
issue), renting type, etc., and doing the entire work
connected with its publication for the first si.x months
himself. The Gazette is published every Friday at
the southwest corner of Main and Church Streets,
Frankford.
The Architectural Review and American Build-
ers' Journal had its inception in 1868, conducted by
Samuel Sloan, and published by Claxton, Remsen &
Haffclfinger. It lived three years.
The Daily Globe, a morning penny paper which
had but a year of life, was first published on Oct. 6,
1868, by Henry H. Holloway, at the northwest cor-
ner of Seventh and Chestnut Streets. It was in-
tended to be "strictly neutral in politics, uniformly
unsectarian in its religious intelligence, and thor-
oughly impartial in its discussions of all topics of
general interest."
2040
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The People's Magazine is published monthly, at
No. 915 Arch Street, by P. W. Ziegler & Co. The
first number was issued in October, 1868. It is liter-
ary in its character, containing choice stories, inter-
esting and useful information, etc.
The Young People's Magazine, published
monthly, made its appearance in 1868, and was in
existence until 1880.
Our Own Home, a monthly family journal, com-
prising twenty pages, was issue.l for the first time in
1868.
The United States Review, a semi-monthly pub-
lication, devoted to insurance subjects, was first issued
in 1868, and is still published at No. 406 Walnut
Street.
The Dental Office and Laboratory, a monthly
journal of dental intelligence, published by Johnson
& Lund, was commenced in 1868, and closed its career
November, 1872.
The Chronicle and Advertiser, the fourth news-
paper published in Manayunk, was first issued Jan.
1, 1869, by James Mulligan, at No. 105 Grape Street,
Manayunk. Its office is now at the corner of Main
and Levering Streets. For many years the paper was
printed in the city, at various places, but is now printed
as well as issued from its own type and press at its
own oflice.
The Legal Gazette came into existence July 2,
1869, as a weekly journal, published by King & Baird,
at Nos. 607-609 Sansom Street. It suspended publi-
cation June 1, 1876.
The Day made its appearance on Nov. 4, 1869, the
publisher being Alexander Cummings, who estab-
lished the Evening BuUetin in 1847. The Day was
originally a morning paper, and was issued for one
cent, from the northwest corner of Sixth and Chest-
nut Streets. In his salutatory, the editor said, " To-
day we give to Philadelphia a new newspaper. Enter-
ing into no rivalry — certainly no offensive rivalry —
with existing journals, we propose to furnish to this
community, whose intellectual necessities are growing
with its material growth, a new organ of independent
action." The Day began its career with a full and
able corps of editorial writers, which included, as oc-
casional contributors, several of the foremost scholars
of Philadelphia. Charles N. Pine was the principal
editor, until H. H. Cobb (now at the LTnited States
Mint), who had been engaged for this position a long
time before The Day was started, was ready to enter
upon its duties. Mr. Pine, however, remained upon
the editorial staff of the paper for many years. Be-
sides Messrs. Cobb and Pine, D. Brainerd Williamson,
Lawrence W. Wallazz, and Harry Brown were regu-
larly engaged as assistant and news editors. Edi-
torial matter was also furnished by William B. Reed,
Joseph J. Reed, and others. The local department
was in charge of William P. Cunnington, the finan-
cial department was supervised by Stephen N. Wins-
low and William F. Palmer (of the Commercial List),
and the business department was under the manage-
ment of James S. Chambers. In January, 1872, The
Day was purchased by Lewis C. Cassidy. On the
5th of the following month it was converted into an 1
afternoon paper. Mr. Chambers assumed full con- i
trol of the business department of the paper, while |
Mr. Pine became editor-in-chief. After a further ex-
istence of a few years, Tlie Day was discontinued.
The Travelers' Official Railway Guide, issued
monthly, came into existence in 1869. It is of great i
value to tourists and to the general public.
Scattered Seeds, a juvenile publication, issued I
monthly, originated in 1869, and is published by the ]
Friends' Book Association of Philadelphia, at No. '
1020 Arch Street. !
The Building Association and Home Journal
has been published monthly since 1869, and is de-
voted to the interests of the building and loan asso-
ciations of the city.
The Business Advocate and Price Current, a
commercial journal issued every Thursday, is pub-
lished at No. 727 Sansom Street, and dates back to
1869.
Public Opinion, a journal of Republican proclivi-
ties, has been published every Saturday since 1869.
The Underwriter, a fifty-two-page journal, pub-
lished monthly, devoted to insurance interests, came
into existence in 1869, and is published at No. 329
Walnut Street, by S. E. Cohen.
The Baptist Teacher was first issued in January,
1870. It is edited by P. S. Henson, D.D., who is as-
sisted by Edward G. Taylor, D.D., Dr. C. R. Black-
all, and Mrs. M. G. Kennedy, with an able corps of
contributors : it is entitled to a place in every Bap-
tist home. It is published by the American Baptist
Publication Society, No. 1420 Chestnut Street.
Our Once-a-Week Visitor was established at Man-
ayunk, by Josephus Yeakle, March 24, 1870. It met
with very considerable success, but was suspended
October 27th of the same year, the proprietor having
determined to publish a larger paper and under a
different title. In accordance with this purpose Tlie
Manayunk Sentinel was established the following week.
The Record made its first appearance on the morn-
ing of the 14th of May, 1870, as the Public Reconl.
It was a four-page, twenty-four-column sheet. In
typographical appearance it resembled the Public
Ledger. The design of its proprietor, William J.
Swain, a son of William M. Swain, one of the
founders of the Ledger, was to compete with that
paper, and for seven years Mr. Swain adhered to his
original idea of supplanting it.
A boom was started for the paper in September,
1874, by the enlargement of each page to seven col-
umns. Arrangements were made with one Lloyd, a
map publisher, to supply each yearly subscriber with
a map of the United States. A generous commission
was paid to canvassers for each subscriber obtained by
them, and a small sum was paid Lloyd for every name
lKl(a)i. ^iU hm® ©a© ©KHiTKKyT iTiaiST,
iPKio[L.a©Ba.iP>Kiaa, ipa.
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2041
added to the subscription-lists. This had the effect of
swelling the circulation to one hundred and two thou-
sand copies daily. This success was short-lived. It
was soon discovered that many of the names returned
by the canvassers were fictitious, whereupon Lloyd re-
fused to distribute all the maps. Mr. Swain claimed
that the refusal of Lloyd to carry out the contract
had injured him to such an extent that he entered
suit for sixty thousand dollars damages. Pending
the adjustment of this suit the circulation of the
Public Record fell off with the same rapidity as it had
advanced.
In 1877, Mr. Swain sold the Record establishment
to a stock company, in which William M. Singerly
had a controlling interest. The character of the
paper was entirely altered, its name was changed to
The Record, its price was reduced from two cents to
one cent, its pages were brightened with display head-
lines, and every effort was made to present to the com-
munity a sheet attractive in appearance and full of
news. The idea of printing a one-cent daily, con-
taining all the doings of the hour, was stamped by
experienced publishers as a practical impossibility,
they alleging that the price received, after deducting
for agents' profits, would not pay for the white paper
on which the news was printed. It was argued that
the larger the circulation the greater would be the
loss. Yet The Record lives. It pav's a handsome
profit, and aims to merit the support which the people
have given.
In the fall of 1879, Mr. Singerly purchased the
entire stock of the paper. The size of the Saturday
issue was doubled, and the extra space filled with the
cream of the exchanges, while special prominence was
given to the "Religious," "Agricultural," "Sporting,"
" Household Knowledge," and other departments. In
1882 a Sunday edition was issued, the initial number
being printed on June 25th.
The printing machinery which was in use when the
paper was purchased from Mr. Swain was replaced
with two new Hoe perfecting presses, each having a
capacity for printing thirty thousand copies an hour.
Even these were insufllcient, and two additional Hoe
presses have been added to the stock, so that the estab-
lishment is equipped with machinery for turning out
one hundred thousand single copies of The Record in
one hour.
The recent management of The Record has been
characterized by many evidences of journalistic enter-
prise. The exposure of the wholesale theft of dead
bodies and the wholesale robbery of the city by the
coroner's employes, published in the summer of 1879,
gave the paper a character for fearlessness. And
when, in 1880, the misdoings of the bogus medical"
colleges were thoroughly sifted and the malefactors
brought to justice, the journal was made the recipient
of the thanks of the entire people.
For many years the publishing oflice was estab-
lished in the building at the southwest corner of Third
and Chestnut Streets, but soon after Mr. Singerly as-
sumed the direction of the paper, steps were taken
towaril securing more oonmiodious and more modern
quarters. The old Markoe property on Chestnut
Street, adjoining the new post-ofl5ce, built in 1809-11,
a famous family mansion in its day, was purchased,
the building thereon was torn down, and a massive
granite structure was speedily erected, The Record lie-
ing issued from it for the first time on Monday, June
19, 1882. The building is a splendid specimen of
architecture, and it is one of the finest newspaper
establishments in America. The structure is six stories
in height, besides a basement extending underneath
the entire property. The building, constructed at a
cost of two hundred thousand dollars, has a front
on Chestnut Street of fifty feet, and is built of Fox
Island granite. A series of piers and lintels, hewed
in apparent strength, rise tier over tier to a height of
ninety-six feet. The openings are large, most of them
having square heads. The pilasters of the piers are
fluted at intervals, and the raised panels on the lintels
are polished, and the coves embellished with a series
of carved leaves in relief, extending entirely around
the front of the building. Above the main entrance
opening into the ground floor corridor there is a semi-
circular projection, upon the polished surface on which
is carved the word " Record." The entrance leading
to the ground-floor corridor is guarded on each side
by a group of triple columns in two sections, each
column being sixteen inches in diameter, surmounted
by projecting massive piers which batten to the pilas-
ters above. These pillars are of polished dark-blue
Quincy granite. The space between the face of the
pedestals upon which the columns rest gives a recess
entrance of six feet. One of the handsomest of the
details of the general plan is in the embellishment of
the capitals of these doorway columns, which are
carved in graceful grouping lines, springing naturally
from the stone, and designed to represent an interlac-
ing succession of easily-curving leaves. The massive
tront doors of this corridor swing upon great brass
hinges of unique and elaborate design. These doors
are heavily and richly paneled and carved, and embel-
lished with brass mountings of various designs, the
brass used in the construction and adornment of the
doors costing seven hundred dollars. From the lin-
tels of the fifth story massive bond stones extend
through the wall and project from the face of the
pilasters, to receive four polished columns, seventeen
inches in diameter, which are united to the wall by
two bond stones between the base and cap. The col-
umns are finished below the bond .stone upon which
they rest in pendants of graceful design. They sup-
port two brackets which receive the cornice below the
tower, the appearance being not of pendent but of
supporting columns. The building is surmounted by
an ornamented balustrade, original in design and ar-
tistic in finish. A tower rises forty-one feet from the
cornice, thus making au altitude from the foundation
2042
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
to the top of the complete structure of one hundred and
thirty-seven feet. The corridor on the lower floor is
elaboratelyfinishediumarlile and plaster. The cornice
moulding from the ceilings is of plaster cast, as well
as the wall coverings, which are handsomely frescoed.
The floor is tiled with Vermont white marble, Glens
Falls black marble, and Champlain red marble. The
sides of the corridor, as well as a border along the
broad stairway, are wainscoted four feet six inches
with Glens Falls black marble, French gray marble
(the latter from the Isle LaMotte (Swantondove color),
and Birgdilla and Swanton chocolate marbles. The
artistic arrangement of these wainscoting marbles
shows what beautiful efiects can be produced by ar-
rangement and contrast of color in marljle as well as
in anything else. The business ofiice is upon the first
floor, as is also Mr. Singerly's private sanctum. The
editorial department occupies the entire fifth story of
the building, while the composing-room takes up two-
thirds of the sixth floor. The engine- and press-
rooms are situated in the l)asement. The remainder
of the building is occupied as private business offices,
etc. It is claimed that The Hecord has the completest
newspaper establishment in the country. The hand-
some quarters, the electric lights, the elevator, and
other features have been designed with regard solely
to the comfort and convenience of the employes.
Pneumatic tubes whirl the news from the telegrapher's
desk at Tenth and Chestnut Streets to the news
editor's desk in twenty-eight seconds, thereby saving
much valuable time, particularly in the early morn-
ing. The stereotyping machinery turns out a pair of
plates ready for the press in ten minutes after the
forms have been closed. The four Hoe perfecting
presses, as already stated, have a capacity for throw-
ing out one hundred thousand copies an hour, and
the Record's paper-mill makes five tons of paper every
day. If stretched out in one continuous line, the
copies of Tlie Record printed and sold in one week
would cover a length of seven hundred and seventy-
two miles, Saturday's issue alone reaching one hun-
dred and thirty-two miles.
Many evidences of prosperity characterize the man-
agement of The Record, and every indication leads to
the belief that its recent and present phenomenal
success will be long continued.
The present editorial staff of The Record comprises
the following: Editor-in-chief, Theodore Wright;
financial editor, Charles M. Town ; managing editor,
M. M. Gillam ; telegraph editor, A. S. Chambers;
commercial editor, Howard Austin ; railroad editor,
C. D. Crutchfield ; associate editors, J. H. Filler, W.
K. Lesher, and W. N. Lockington ; and city editor,
John Norris.
William M. Singerly, the publisher of the Record,
was born in Philadelphia, on the 27th of December,
1832. He is the eldest son of the late Joseph Sin-
gerly. Mr. Singerly graduated from the High School
of this city in 1850, and immediately entered mercan-
tile life. After ten years passed amidst commercial
surroundings he was called to the management of the
Germantown Passenger Railway, in which his father
was a large stockholder. The sagacity, energy, and
ability which characterized Mr. Singerly's adminis-
tration of the affairs of this road were so marked that
toward the close of his father's life he controlled the
line absolutely.
At the time of his father's death, in 1878, Mr. Sin-
gerly came into possession of some fifteen thousand
shares of the Germantown Passenger Railway stock,
appraised at §750,000. As a result of his superior
management he disposed of this stock for Sl,500,000.
On the 1st of June, 1877, Mr. Singerly secured
control of The Philadelphia Record. The almost in-
credible progress made by this journal under Mr.
Singerly's liberal management has already been re-
ferred to.
Mr. Singerly has, however, not given his time of
late to journalism alone. Other important enterprises
have also engaged his attention. In 1873, four years
prior to bis advent into the newspaper world, he pur-
chased sixty-eight acres of ground on the Wissahickon
Creek, above Gwynedd Station, on the North Penn-
sylvania Railroad. Here has been gradually estab-
lished a magnificent stock-farm, where can be found
the purest breed of Holsteins, and the finest of Cots-
wolds and Southdowns. The farm, which now com-
prises six hundred acres of land, is ftirnished with all
modern machinery and appliances necessary to its
complete development.
Mr. Singerly's attention is also largely ab.sorbed at
the present time with extensive building operations ;
probably the most extensive ever inaugurated in Phil-
adelphia by one person at any one time. He is en-
gaged in the erection of several hundred houses, ap-
proximating a thousand, upon a tract of land in the
Twenty-eighth Ward of this city, comprising in all
about eighty acres, lying between Seventeenth Street
and Islington Lane and Diamond and York Streets.
Over two million five hundred thousand dollars
worth of improvements have already been made
within the past five or six years.
Among other enterprises in which Mr. Singerly has
heavy financial interests may be enumerated the fol-
lowing: The Brighton Knitting Mills in this city; a
gleaner and binder factory at Norristown, in this
State; a paper-mill at Fair Hill, Cecil Co., Md., and
various other operations of vast magnitude.
The Episcopal Register, published by McCalla &
Stavely, is the only newspaper issued weekly in the
interest of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Penn-
sylvania. It represents the three dioceses of Penn-
sylvania, Central Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh, and
has the confidence and approval of Bishops Stevens,
Howe, and Whitehead. It is in its fourteenth year
of publication, having been established in May, 1870.
The Rev. Dr. Childs and CliSbrd P. MacCalla were
the first editors, and were succeeded by the Rev. Dr.
■-■■Derrial
''•^'* "limiiis. i
"iiaysioti;
ihiclioii
ci^
VT^'^^^^^v^^^^
^
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2043
C. George Currie and the Rev. S. D. McConnell. The
present editor is the Rev. W. F. C. Morsell, who is
aided by a large staff of regular correspondents and
special contributors, the Rev. Thomas L. Franklin
being city editor. This paper is an able exponent of
the important church which it represents, is conser-
vative in tone, and all of its departments are distin-
guished for brightness and substantial worth.
The Medical Independent, devoted to domestic
medicine, physiology, hygiene, science, arts, and in-
formation for the people, was commenced as a weekly
in June, 1870. Three volumes, and a portion of a
fourth, were published, edited by William Paine. A
periodical with the same title, and practically the
same sub-title, was commenced on May 1, 1872, as a
semi-monthly folio journal, which was virtually a
continuation of the first named. It was edited by
R. H. Kline and A. H. Lindley.
The Philadelphia Medical Times was issued for
the first time in October, 1870. The first editor was
Dr. Edward Rhoads, but sickness prevented him from
doing any work upon it, and until his death, which
occurred Jan. 15, 1871, it was conducted by Dr. Wil-
liam Pepper, at the present time provost of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania. Dr. Pepper continued in
charge for a short period, but Drs. James H. Hutch-
inson and James Tyson jointly assumed control be-
fore the expiration of the first year. Dr. John H.
Packard was made editor upon the resignation of Dr.
Hutchinson, in August, 1872, and conducted it until
June, 1873, when he was succeeded by Dr. Horatio C.
Wood, who continued in charge until October, 1883.
Dr. Frank Woodbury became connected with Dr.
Wood in the editorial management in March, 1882,
and in October, 1883, he took complete editorial
control.
The Medical Times was issued semi-monthly during
the management of Drs. Rhoads, Pepper, Hutchinson,
Tyson, and Packard. It was in October, 1872, changed
to a weekly, but in September, 1875, was again changed
to a bi-weekly, which it is at present. It is issued
everj' other Saturday, and contains thirty-six to forty
pages of original lectures, original communications,
notes of hospital practice, translations, editorials,
leading articles, special correspondence, reports of
medical societies, reviews, gleanings, miscellany,
notes and queries, and army and navy news. It is
published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., at Nos. 715 and
717 Market Street.
The Photographic Review of Medicine and
Surgery, a bi-monthly illustration of interesting
cases, accompanied by notes, was commenced in Oc-
tober, 1870, and concluded in 1872. It was published
by J. B. Lippincott & Co., the editors being Drs. F. F.
Maury and L. A. Duhring.
The Mana3nink Sentinel came into existence Nov.
5, 1870, Joseplius Yeakel editor and proprietor. At
the present time the iSentinei is issued from Nos.
4402-4406 Cresson Street, Manayunk. With the issue
of Nov. 7, 1879, it was considerably increased in size,
and its position among the suburban papers of the
city is excelled by no journal.
The Christian Woman, a monthly publication,
wa.s originally issued in 1870, Mrs. Annie M. Witten-
myer being the editor. By 1873, so successful had
been its brief career, it had reached a circulation of
sixteen thousand, but the panic in the fall of the year
seriously affected its income. In 1881 it was sold to a
Germantown printer; but it did not succeed in re-
I covering its former prestige, and was discontinued for
I some time in 1883. Recently, however, it passed
under the control of William Syckelmoore, No. 1420
Chestnut Street, who is succeeding in making it a
first-class journal. Mrs. Wittenmeyer is now the
assistant editor.
The Penn Monthly was started in 1870 by an asso-
ciation of young men, graduates of the University of
Pennsylvania, who wished to do something for the
promotion of a pure and earnest literature in Phila-
delphia, and indirectly to show what the University
had been, and, still more, what it might be, in relation
to the social life of the city and the discussion of
public questions. A committee of editors was ap-
pointed, and the stock was disposed of among their
own number. By degrees the other editors fell off'
and Professor Robert E. Thompson, of the Univer-
sity, remained in charge alone, and so continued until
the transfer of the magazine to the Society of the
Alumni in 1881. For some time before this transfer
the magazine had been issuing a supplement, called
Weel-hj Notes. This grew into a weekly paper by
October, 1880, and was called T%e American, under
I which name it still is published, with Professor
Thompson as editor. Finding the management of
both too much for one man, the proprietors of the
magazine effected its transfer ; but the new publishers
relinquished it after publishing it for several months.
The Penn Monthly was in its principles American,
Republican, Protectionist, and progressive. The first
proposal of Mr. Garfield as a candidate for the Presi-
dency was made in its issue of July, 1879. Its seri-
ous character and the ability shown in its manage-
ment enlisted the praises of Mr. Lowell, Mr. Long-
fellow, Mr. Whittier, and other eminent men of letters.
Its circulation never was large, but the list of its
bona fide subscribers was remarkable as showing the
quality of the audience it commanded. While advo-
cating definite political principles, and stanch in its
loyalty to the Christian religion, it was tolerant of
discussion, and opened its pages to writers whose
convictions differed widely from those of its managers.
Its articles generally were signed by their authors.
The Playbill, which originated in 1870, was pub-
lished daily, except Sunday, for ten or eleven years,
when it came to an end. It was devoted to matters
dramatic and operatic.
The Stage, a theatrical paper, was started in 1870,
and continued daily, except Sunday, until 1881.
2046
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
dollars a week for the first year. When it was passed
a paying basis might be established. During the
first three months the capital was drawn upon to the
extent of twelve thousand dollars. After that there
never was any draft upon that fund for ordinary ex-
penses. Before the expiration of nine months the
profits had made the first draft good, and the year
closed with a handsome profit on its business. From
the day The Times was started it has never issued a
note and never had a bill unpaid after maturity or
borrowed a dollar of money in its business. It had a
phenomenal success from the start. The people,
curious to see the work of the man who had been
such a famous politician and such a successful country
journalist, bought the paper first out of curiosity, and
then gave it cordial support, because of its audacity
in dealing with public questions and its enterprise in
giving the news. It was set afloat avowedly " as a
thoroughly independent journal, confessing allegiance
to its own convictions, making no hollow pretense of
neutrality on the leading questions of the day or in
political conflicts as they pass." At the outset it
took a vigorous stand upon all political questions, fol-
lowing out the principle enunciated in the above
platform. Col. McClure was once asked, —
" Do you believe that aggression is verj' necessary
in a newspaper?"
" Yes," he replied; "the time has passed when the
people want to read about what has passed. They
are decidedly more interested in what is going to be.
No man can discuss the future without being aggres-
sive. If he would mould the future, he must lead ofiF."
Every form of political chicanery and oflicial prof-
ligacy was assailed, especially in municipal matters;
rogues and tricksters were exposed, masqueraders and
hypocrites in high places and low were unveiled, and
every phase of evil in public government was de-
nounced. The field and the era were inviting ones.
The powers of the machine were without limit ; there
was practically no check upon oflicial misconduct ; a
high tax-rate prevailed, and an enormous municipal
debt had been accumulated; in fine, maladministra-
tion was the order of the day. At these numerous
and startling evils of party and public management
Col. McClure hurled his arrows of condemnation and
satire. At first his assaults did not seem to make an
efifeetive impression, but gradually his victims began
to wince and writhe under his persistent attacks.
This was evidenced by the fact that suits for libel
began to be entered against The Times' management.
Its experience in this particular is unprecedented in
the history of American journalism. As the foe of
official misconduct and the champion of honest,
efficient government, The Tmies has not ceased to
battle up to the present time ; and it is but the merest
justice to attribute in a great meature to this journal
much of the improvement in the line of economical,
honest, and conscientious discharge of public duty
which of late characterizes municipal matters.
It was chiefly the vigor with which The Times as-
sailed official dishonesty and incompetency which
brought to the paper hosts of readers and a very sat-
isfactory patronage. But in other particulars as well
did the new journal impress itself upon the commu-
nity and upon the nation at large. It was not sim-
ply a political journal ; it was a live, comprehensive
newspaper in the broadest sense of the term, and such
a newspaper as had long been needed. It was metro-
politan in its scope and in its editorial east of thought.
Its motto has always been to give " all the news, and
the truth about the news." In giving all the news it
remembers that the world is too busy to hunt for in-
formation upon current matters throughout dozens of
columns, when half as many columns will hold all
that is of value. It is to the point when handling
the news, and incisive when it comments upon the
news. Every item that is taken into the office must
be weighed as to its interest. In this way only a
dozen lines are sometimes used of a two-column report
which appears in full in some of the other papers,
while a twelve-line Associated Press dispatch is sup-
plemented by specials, until the twelve lines become
twelve hundred. Moreover, news is sought in a legit-
imate way outside the beaten tracks. The discovery
of a new quack, a new trick, and a myriad other new-
evils to society is regarded in the light of news, and
The Times feels it to be a mission to probe here and
expose there. In its war against frauds Tlie Times has
brought upon itself no less than twenty libel suits,
and all of these suits have been decided in its favor.
It has never permitted a libel suit to be compromised
or to be settled in any other way than by a verdict of
the jury. This originality in treating news, which is
as marked as the typographical face of the paper
itself, has been achieved by the great care taken by
Col. McClure in the selection of his staff".
So great was the prosperity which flowed in upon
The Times that it was early found necessary to re-
move from the circumscribed quarters in the old Age
building, Nos. 14 and 16 South Seventh Street. Ac-
cordingly, the lot of ground situate at the southwest
corner of Eighth and Chestnut Streets was purchased
for one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars, and
building operations were vigorously inaugurated.
During the summer of 1876 The Times building was
erected on the chosen site, at a cost, as it stands on
the company's books, of two hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars. This most attractive structure — a
model of convenience — is a representative Philadel-
phia building, of rich, red Philadelphia brick, deep-
ened by the dark mortar in which it is laid, being
surmounted, at a height of one hundred and fourteen
feet, by an octagonal clock-tower. The company has
expended ninety thousand dollars in putting in the
very best machinery the world can produce, and has
one of the most complete press-rooms in the United
States. As a part of its equipment there are two web-
perfecting presses, which turn out one thousand cojjies
I
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2047
of The Times a minute, without being touched by
hand, the papers coming from the press folded and
ready for delivery. Every other improved article
that tan be put to use about a first-class newspaper-
office may be seen in the building. The employes of
the company are given every accommodation. There
is plenty of room to work, and yet such was the eco-
nomic forethought in the erection of the building that
the rents from it, exclusive of the room occupied by
The Times, pay the interest on the investment. Though
it had started witliout a list of subscribers. The Times
within a year circulated, with a single exception, more
than all the other morning newspapers of Philadel-
phia combined. Such skill in suggestiveness and
such original thought were put into the make-up of
The Times that its typographical features were soon
acknowledged as without a superior. It has since
served as a model for a number of newspapers which
have been established in various i)arts of the country.
In March, 1877, the management having long felt the
want of extending the influence of The Times into
very distant fields, issued the initial number of the
Week!;/ Times, twice the size of the daily. A special
feature of this weekly edition was the introduction of
a series of papers upon various incidents and experi-
ences of the Rebellion, written by leading partici-
pants in both armies, entitled "The Annals of the
War." These articles, which are still continued, have
been the means of saving to future historians of the
great civil strife valuable material which otherwise
would probably have been lost. Such of these an-
nals as appeared in the first three or four years of the
weekly have been published in a large octavo volume.
In the following year The Times managers determined
to make another advanced stride, by the publication
of a Sunday issue. This purj^ose was carried into
efiect with some misgivings as being against all tra-
dition, which had long ruled that no reputable daily
paper could be issued on the Sabbath. In this new
sphere The yime.? prospered from the outset, being the
first daily paper of Philadelphia to successfully es-
tablish a Sunday issue. This was attempted by Col.
Forney after his retirement from Washington to re-
sume control of The Press, but he found public opinion
so deeply set against it that his advertising was men-
aced, and he had to give the Sunday issue to outside
parties. With the boldness of a paper whose adver-
tising was yet in great part to be won. The Times
came into the Sunday field at a period when the
Quaker community had beeh liberalized by the Cen-
tennial Exposition, and now the Sunday issue of The
Times is thought by many to bo its strongest issue.
77(6 Times, whose prosperity has hardly been prece-
dented in American journalism, has not made itself,
however. Its creators have been the master-minds
which have given it intelligent editorial direction,
and have made it a facile instrument in the mould-
ing of public opinion.
Alexander K. McClure, the editor of The Times,
was born in Sherman's Valley, Perry Co., Jan. 9,
1828, and spent the early years of his life on his
father's farm. He divided his time with his elder
brother week about at the country school whenever
it wjis held. Of his early school-days, a friendly bi-
ographer has said, —
" He was a leader in all the mischievous <leviltry
in the neighborhood and in the school, and one of his
associates once told me that it was next to a standing
custom with the country teacher 'to have prayers,
and then thrash Alexander McClure. I have often
known him to get whipped eight times a day.' "
When fourteen years of age he left school and en-
tered the service of James Marshall, of New Bloom-
field, as an apprentice to the tanner's trade. During
his apprenticeship, which came to a close in the
spring of 1856, he had been in the habit of making
frequent visits to the office of the Perry Frcemnii,
where he used to rummage among and read the ex-
changes during odd moments. It was in this little
printing-office that he had learned much more that
was useful to him than he had gathered at school.
He read a great deal there and often talked Whig
politics with the well-informed editor, and before his
apprenticeship with Mr. Marshall ended he had scrib-
bled a few articles for the paper and they had been
printed. Judge Baker, who now, as then, owns and
edits the Freeman, had taken an interest in the boy
while he was learning to be a tanner, and encouraged
him not only to read the exchanges but to write. To
the accident of this association he is indebted for his
initiation into the sphere of journalism in which he
is now so prominent.
Within a few months after the completion of his
apprenticeship, the Whigs of Juniata County had
written Judge Baker, the editor of the Freeman, ask-
ing him to recommend a good man to start a paper
for them at Mifflin. He advised young McClure to
undertake the task. The lad expressed grave doubts
of his ability to edit a newspaper. He was not yet
nineteen years old, and was only a tanner. The
judge expressed perfect faith in his capacity. Grati-
fied as he was at Mr. Baker's confidence in him, he
still distrusted his power to successfully conduct a
newspaper. He therefore asked the advice of the
plain old man who had taught him the tanning busi-
ness.
"Alexander, it won't do. You don't know any-
thing about printing, but you are a good tanner.
Take my advice and stick to the business you under-
stand and are fit for," was Mr. Marshall's matter-of-
fact reply to his former apprentice's inquiry.
Again young McClure sought Judge Baker, who
still urged him to take his advice and go to Mifflin.
" Go there," said Judge Baker, "start your news-
paper, then go to case ; master the mechanical de-
tails of your office, and I am sure you will succeed."
The boy finally went home with full-fledged news-
paper aspirations, and consulted his father. He re-
2048
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ceived much the same advice from him as the tanner
had given. Again Judge Balcer came to his relief,
and finally the father, with many misgivings, helped
the son to five hundred dollars. With this money he
bought some second-hand type and an old-fashioned
hand- press that had seen service before, and in the
fall of 1846 issued the Sentinel, which is still pub-
lished, the leading Republican newspaper of Juniata
County.
The little paper at Mifflin did well from the day it
was started. Young McClure followed Judge Baker's
advice, and started in at the first to master the details
of the printing business. He went to the case, learned
to set type, and took his hand at the press every week.
At the end of the first year he dispensed with all the
help in the office, and besides editing the paper, set
up the type, did the press- work, and all the other
labor incident to publishing a country newspaper
with the help of a single apprentice.
Young McClure had taken a great deal of interest
in politics from his early boyhood. His father was a
fearless, slavery-hating Whig, and he brought his
children up in the same school. When Alexander K.
went to learn the tanner's ti'ade he ditl not forget
either the political precepts or examples of his home.
Judge Baker and himself often talked politics, and
he was so wrought up in the election of 1844 that
when it was announced that Mr. Clay had been de-
feated for the Presidency, he thought there was no
use of opening the tannery in the morning, as the
country had gone to the dogs. Even at this early age
he developed the spirit and qualities that have since
made him a noted political leader. After he left tan-
ning for the newspaper office, his taste and aptitude
for politics began to grow amazingly, although at the
time he started his paper at Mifflin he was not nine-
teen years of age.
Before reaching his majority, he was a conferee in
a Congressional conference, as the friend of Andrew
G. Curtin. The fight lasted for some time, and was a
very bitter one. Mr. Curtin was defeated, but the
contest created a friendship between them that has
lasted through all the wonderful changes of politics
in the politics of the State and nation from that day
to this. In this same year his opposition to Gen.
Cameron was born. Mr. Cameron was then the
leader of a faction of the Democratic party known
as State Improvement men, and upon the leader, as
well as upon the rank and file, Mr. Clure made vigor-
ous onslaught in his paper.
In 1848, when Governor Johnson, the Whig nom-
inee, was elected by the tidal wave that carried Gen.
Taylor into the Presidential chair, young McClure
took an active part in the campaign. Not only had
his paper attracted attention by the vigor of its edi-
torials, but the editor had appeared upon the stump,
a;nd given ample evidence of the powers that have
since made him noted as a man and advocate. He
went to Harrisburg, in common with all the Whigs
in the State, to take part in the inauguration of the
man he had helped to elect. The day of Governor
Johnson's inauguration he crossed the threshold
from youth to manhood, and when the new Governor
was installed, one of his first acts was to appoint
young McClure an aid on his staff. The late Joseph
B. Myers, to whom Col. McClure had applied for a
position in his tannery only two years before, went to
the new Governor, and said, " I know you are going
to appoint McClure on your staflF, but you must do it
to-day, for this is his twenty-first birthday."
Governor Johnson had the commission made out
at once, and Mr. Myers took the tanner-boy of two
years before a commission on the Governor's staff the
evening of the day he was old enough to vote.
In 1850, Andrew G. Curtin got his first opportunity
to repay Col. McClure for the fight he had made for
him for Congress in 1848. He secured his appoint-
ment as deputy United States marshal for Juniata
County, to take the census of that year. He had just
finished that work, and returned to his newspaper
office and his law-books, when he received a message
from John M. Pomeroy, of Chambersburg, saying, " I
have purchased for you a half-interest in the Cham-
benbury Repository ; come over and take charge."
This was the first intimation he had of the good
fortune that awaited him, and he went over to confer
with his friend. The conference ended in his selling
the Juniata Sentinel for twelve hundred dollars to
John J. Patterson, who has since been a United States
senator from South Carolina.
The Whigs held their State convention of 1853
in Lancaster, and Morton McMichael and the elder
John Price Wetherill had been so attracted by the
young editor's ability that they made up their minds
to put him upon the State ticket. He was not a can-
didate, nor had his name been mentioned for any
public office. When the convention met Mr. Mc-
Michael presented him for auditor-general in a stir-
ring speech, and he was nominated by acclamation.
He was then only twenty-five years old, — the youngest
man ever nominated for a State office in Pennsylvania.
He was, of course, defeated, as the Whigs were in a
hopeless minority.
The year 18-55 marked a new era in the politics of
Pennsylvania and of the nation. It witnessed the
formation of the Republican party from the dissatis-
fied elements of the Whig and Democratic parties.
No paper in this commonwealth had done more to
arouse the people of Pennsylvania against the aggres-
sions of the slave power than the Chambersburg Re-
pository. It was therefore natural that its young edi-
tor should be in at the birth of the party born of strife
with the slaverj' question. When the convention met
at Pittsburgh, in 1855, that organized the Republican
party. Col. McClure was one of its members.
The young editor was, however, bitterly opposed to
Know-Nothingism, the outgrowth of the unrest in the
Democratic party, and when the Whigs of Franklin
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2049
County in that year joined with them, he would not
advocate the alliance, and sold the IteposUory. In
the early part of 1856 he went to the bar, and was
admitted to practice almost immediately after leaving
journalism. He entered into partnership with his
former preceptor, William McLellan, and the firm
enjoyed a large jiractice.
The year 1856 was an important as well as an
exceedingly busy one for him. The Erie and North-
eastern Railroad, the property of the State, had been
the cause of much difficulty for more than a year.
Soon after Col. McClure began the practice of law
Governor Pollock appointed him superintendent of
this line. He at once directed his attention to the
source of the trouble that had caused the well-known
Erie riots, and in a very short time permanently
adjusted the difficulties to the satisfaction of all the
contestants. The same year he was a delegate to the
national convention that nominated John C. Fre-
mont for the Presidency. He made a brilliant can-
vass in behalf of the first National Republican ticket.
It may be truly said then that having been one of the
founders of the party in this State in 1855 and of the
National party in 1856, that he began his active politi-
cal career with the birth of the Republican party.
In 1857 he appeared before the people of Franklin
and Fulton Counties as a caudidate for the Legisla-
ture. The Republicans, Americans, and Whigs made
a union ticket that year, and he was regularly selected
by the Whigs as their representative. The Demo-
crats defeated ever)- man on that ticket but him, and
he was elected by more than two hundred majority in
a Democratic district.
In 1858 he was again elected to the Legislature by
the same Democratic district by over eight hundred
majority. Active and successful as he had been, his
political career up to this time, the year 1859, is marked
in his calendar as witnessing the most desperate and
important struggle of his remarkable political career.
He was that year nominated for State senator by the
Republicans in a district that was considered reliably
Democratic. The different elements composing the
Republican party had not yet crystallized into a work-
ing party organization. It was a year of political
chaos, and Col. McClure was literally forced to make
the contest, not so much in the hope of securing tiie
election, as of putting the party in fighting trim for
the Presidential campaign of 1860. He reluctantly
accepted the duty, and made the most memorable
campaign of his life. He organized every township
in the district, made a speech in every school precinct,
and night and day devoted himself to the details of
political work. He polled more votes than were ever
polled for President in the same district, and was
elected by four hundred majority. He came within
fifteen votes of carrying Adams, the strongest Demo-
cratic county in the district.
Col. McClure played a very prominent part in the
State and national campaigns of 1860. Andrew G.
Curtin was the Republican candidate for Governor.
Gen. Cameron had received the indorsement of Penn-
sylvania for the Presidency, and its delegation in the
national convention had been instructed for him. In
inducing the delegation to disregard their instructions
and vote for Mr. Lincoln, Col. McClure played an
important part ; so significant, indeed, that he was
chosen chairman of the Republican State Committee,
and charged with conducting the campaign in the most
important Republican State in the Union in that year.
He organized the party with great care, and conducted
a campaign which for vigor and brilliancy has never
lieen excelled in any State in the Union. The result
was Governor Curtin's election in October, which was
followed by the election of Mr. Lincoln in Novem-
ber. He took his seat in the Senate at the beginning
of Governor Curtin's administration, and was then
the most conspicuous figure in that body, and recog-
nized as one of the foremost leaders in the State. He
was a central figure in most of the historical scenes
through which Pennsylvania passed while the angry
billows of war were rolling toward the nation. He
stood as one of the rocks against which they broke
when the storm of the contest fell upon us. He made
a speech in the Senate in the spring of 1861, in which
he foreshadowed that we were upon the eve of a
bloody war, in which the South would fight to the
bitter end, and that it would result in the destruction
of African slavery. This speech was repudiated by
his fellow-Republicans at the time, but in the fall of
that year was printed and circulated by them as a
campaign document.
The night of the day that Fort Sumter was fired
upon was a memorable one in the Pennsylvania Leg-
islature. The Republican members held a caucus for
the purpose of exchanging views upon the situation.
In this conference Col. McClure was a conspicuous
figure, and made an aggressive speech, in which he
urged upon its members a vigorous war policy and
preparation for a long and bloody contest. He said
the South would fight to the last, and we must be pre-
pared to meet the most bloody and extended war of
modern times. This speech met with the marked dis-
approval of the caucus, and was openly hissed, for a
large number of the members believed that the South
was simply playing bi'ag, and that there would be no
determined hostilities.
He served during the first years of the war as chair-
man of the committee on military affairs, and as such
had important duties in connection with the war policy
of the State and general government. Into the dis-
charge of the duties of his position he carried his
aggressive notions, and being the close friend and
adviser of Governor Curtin, he was naturally closely
identified with his war policy. He also, at a very
early day, formed close relations with President Lin-
coln and his cabinet, and began playing a broad hand
in national politics. Upon the expiration of his ser-
vice as State senator he was not a candidate for re-
2050
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
election, but was appointed an assistant adjutant-gen-
eral in the army, and assigned to the duty of supervis-
ing the draft in Pennsylvania. Seventeen regiments
were quickly raised and placed in the field, and the
quota of the State having been filled, he resigned his
position and retired to Chambersburg to the duties of
his law-olBce. The firm of McLellan & McClure had
prospered ever since its organization in 1856, but the
experience of five years had shown the latter that he
had little taste for the conservative duties of the law.
His mind was too active and his mental powers too
versatile and brilliant to repose in the dust of a country
law-office. He never felt more in love with journalism
than in 1862, so he again purchased the Chambersburg
Bepositonj, and returned to the business he had so sud-
denly left for the law in 1856.
His editorial page showed all the vigor of his earlier
years, to which were added the qualities of wider ex-
perience and maturer judgment. In 1863 he was asked
to again take the chairmanship of the State Central
Committee. He declined, but devoted himself with
unexampled zeal to secure the re-election of Governor
Curtin. He was a delegate to the Republican National
Convention of 1864, and was again formally tendered
the chairmanship of the State Central Committee by
three-fourths of the delegates. He declined it in order
to be a candidate for the Legislature from the Cham-
bersburg district, which was strongly Democratic. He
accepted the nomination for the Lower House, and was
elected by over four hundred majority, although every
other man on the Republican ticket was defeated. He
was therefore in the Legislature of Pennsylvania to
witness the close of the war, as he had been to see its
beginning. He lived to admonish some of his fel-
low-membei-s, who had been likewise honored, of the
words he had spoken the day Sumter was fired upon :
" The South will fight to the last, and we will have the
longest and bloodiest war of modern times."
The year that witnessed his last political contest in
Franklin County was a memorable one for himself
and the State, and he was a prominent actor in its
events. He took an active part in the second election
ofPresidentLincoln, while conducting his own canvass
for the Legislature. He was one of the most serious
suflFerers by the Confederate invasion of Pennsyl-
vania in July, 1864. He barely had time to get out of
Chambersburg before the invaders' torch was applied
to all the propert}' he had in the world. His losses,
added to the cost of rebuilding, swept away a fortune
of seventy-five thousand dollars, and left him almost
as poor in the world as when he began. In 1866 his
health failed him, and he spent nearly a year in the
Rocky Mountains. He returned to Pennsylvania
much improved in health, but still more seriously im-
paired in fortune. He was a delegate to the national
convention that nominated Gen. Grant for the Presi-
dency in 1868, and took an active part in the cam-
paign that resulted in his election. He spoke not
only in Pennsylvania, but in several of the leading
States of the Union. After the burning of his prop-
erty at Chambersburg he had resumed the practice of
the law with John Stewart, of that place. But after
the campaign of 1868 he decided to give up politics,
move to Philadelphia, and devote himself entirely to
the practice of the law.
For four years after he came to Philadelphia he led
a quiet, methodical lawyer's life. The longing for the
old-time life returned, and in 1872 he went into the
Greeley movement of that year. He was chairman
of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Cincinnati con-
vention that nominated Mr. Greeley, and was chair-
man of the Liberal Republican State Committee. This
campaign took both him and Governor Curtin out
of the Republican party. Col. McClure did not go
squarely over to the Democracy, as Governor Curtin
did, but, from his place astride the fence, his free
lance is more dangerous to the party he helped to
organize than if he were down on the other side.
He did not content himself with playing a bold
hand in national politics in 1872, but when a thou-
sand citizens of the Fourth Senatorial District asked
him in a petition to become an Independent Repub-
lican candidate for the State Senate against Mr. Gray,
the regular Republican nominee, he consented. The
canvass that followed the announcement of his can-
didacy was a remarkable one. He put into it all the
peculiar energy which he many times employed
among the hills of the Franklin district. He added
all his maturer experiences of organization, and spoke
on almost every street-corner of the district. His op-
ponent was returned as elected by eight hundred ma-
jority, while he claimed his election by two thousand.
He announced a contest, but had great difiiculty in
getting the Senate to permit him to file his petition.
Afl;er two weeks of hard work. Senators Strang, Bil-
lingfelt, and Davis left the majority, and took ground
with the Democrats in favor of hearing Col. McClure's
petition. When the case got before the Senate it wa.s
speedily tried, and Col. McClure got his seat. In that
body he occupied much such a position as David
Davis, of Illinois, did in the United States Senate,
except that he cut a much wider swath and made
much better use of his opportunities. He was a party
all to himself, and he was a continual and dangerous
thorn in the side of both of the regular organizations.
He formulated and proposed reform measures of the
most aggressive type, and to cut his claws as much as
possible they would pass them in the Senate and then
kill them in the House.
To point out a tithe of the brilliant and significant
things he did during his last legislative term would
require many columns. His interesting and affecting
speech of farewell to the Senate was a masterpiece of
eloquence and forensic power.
The next year, 1873, was important to a summary
of the career of Col. McClure, because it witnessed
his final political contest in his effort to become
mayor of Philadelphia. The Republican party was
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2051
then in entire control of the city and all its political |
machinery. He therefore began the contest with
mighty odds against him. It took courage of a high
order and matchless physical powers to withstand the
strain Col. McClure imposed upon himself during
that campaign. He sjioke sixty-one times in twenty-
two days, and gave evidence of not only wonderful,
but versatile powers ; for he would often make three
speeches in one evening at separate points, so diverse
in matter and manner as to excite admiration and
amazement. He assailed without stint the machine
managers of both political parties, and carried on a
warfare which for audacity and vigor challenged the
admiration of friend and foe alike. He was defeated
by a small majority, but that fight gave vitality to the
municipal reform spirit, and it may be regarded as
the foundation upon which all subsequent operations i
in that line have been built. He began his efforts in
this direction so early that he may be said to be the
pioneer in the reforms that have been made in the
politics of Philadelphia, and to have led the move-
ments that created them.
It was not long after his defeat for the mayoralty
that Col. MeClure left the field of politics for that of
journalism, and for the past ten years the history of
The Times is the history and, it might be said, the
biography of its talented and aggressive editor.
Dr. Alfred C. Lambdin has been managing editor
of The Times since its publication was begun. He
was, indeed, one agent in the establishment of the j
paper, having been identified with the reform element
in the fight against the municipal ring whose corrupt
acts gave occasion for the birth of the corrective
journal. When not thirty years of age, as editor of
the Germantown Chronicle, he had been aroused to
the necessity of giving Philadelphia an honest gov-
ernment, and wrote the first article nominating Col.
McClure as the Reforai candidate for mayor, although
the two gentlemen were entire strangers to each other.
Dr. Lambdin's untiring devotion to his work has so
occupied him that perhaps few managing editors are
so little known to the journalists of the country.
He is largely to be credited with that literary grace
and sparkle which distinguish The Times.
James H. Lambert is the chief editorial lieutenant
of Col. McClure and Dr. Lambdin. He is a journal-
ist of wide experience, quick grasp, and deep insight.
He has been trained to the work from boyhood. He
began his newspaper career in Wisconsin, but has
since been associated with journalistic enterprises in
St. Louis, Chicago, New York, and elsewhere. He
left an editorial position on the New York !Sun to
make a study of Pennsylvania politics, and his
knowledge of the ins and outs of the State is so
thorough as to make him of the greatest utility to
The Times. He is the main writer of the column of
short, crisp, minion paragraphs which are a great
feature in The Times.
The Times for years past has spent its money freely
to procure information, assemble writers, and tempt
professional men into journalism. Indeed, the ad-
vent of The Times marked a new era in the journalism
of the city. The Times opened a field for journalists
in this city, because it took for itself a standard that
required the highest order of ability and experience.
It gave young men an opportunity to show their
strength as news-gatherers as well as writers. In
other words, it broadened the field of journalism, and
made it possible for such a great newspaper as The
Times, with its manifold demands and expenses, to be
published with success in a city where, ten years ago,
such effort would have been looked upon as foolhardi-
ness. When Col. McClure began daily journalism
the papers of Philadelphia had long been following a
beaten rut. Salaries were ridiculously low, and the
bars were practically up against material advance-
ment. A higher professional spirit has been built
up, and now Philadelphia commands competent men
because its journals are willing and able to pay them,
for its citizens demand and support newspapers which
conform to the best type of American journalism.
The Jewish Record was established by the present
editor, Alfred T. Jones, and the first number was issued
April 16, 1875. Its columns are devoted to subjects
of historical and religious interest to Israelites, to
Jewish literature, to current events of the day at
home and abroad, and to the advocacy and defense
of Judaism whenever the occasion demands.
It is independent in its tone on all subjects, and is
not the organ of either orthodoxy or radicalism. It
admits into its columns the views of all the different
schools into which the Jewish Church is divided.
Contributions from most of the prominent Israelites
of the country are to be found in its pages.
It is the only Jewish paper published between New
York and Cincinnati, and the only one that ever suc-
ceeded in Philadelphia, though several attempts had
been made prior to its establishment. It is now pub-
lished at No. 614 Chestnut Street every Friday
morning.
The University Magazine has been edited and
published since November, 1875, the date of its founda-
tion, by the Philomathian Society of the University
of Pennsylvania. Its motto is, "Litene sine Moribus
Vanw," which is the motto of the University.
The Presbyterian Journal, published at No. 15
North Seventh Street, by R. M. Patterson & Co., is
one of the youngest of the religious papers in the
country, having been established in 1875. In 1880 its
publishers were appointed the official publishers of
the volume containing the papers and proceedings of
the second General Council of the Ecumenical Pres-
byterian Alliance, which met in Philadelphia in that
year. This placed the paper upon a high and prom-
inent position, and gave it a great impulse. One of
the editors of the volume, E. M. Patterson, D.D.,
also appointed to that office by the Council, then be-
came the editor of the paper. Its circulation is ex-
2052
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
tended and extending. Its aim is to be pre-eminently
a, family religious paper. Its correspondence is wide.
Editorially its platform is that of orthodox conserva-
tive Presbyterianism, but with a catholic feeling
toward all the denominations, and a belief that the
freest discussion and sifting of the old views by pro-
gressives cannot in the end be harmful.
The Augsburg Sunday-School Teacher, pub-
lished monthly, in the interest of the Lutheran de-
nomination, has been in existence since 1875.
Faith and Works, a monthly evangelical journal,
of sixteen pages, published at No. 141 North Seventh
Street, had its inception in 1875.
The Germantown Commercial, a local paper,
published every Saturday, was started in 1875.
The Philadelphia Grocer, a weekly commercial
paper, devoted to the grocery trade, was first published
in 1875, and continues at No. 201 South Front Street.
The Sunday Mirror, commenced in 1875, is pub-
lished at No. 23 South Seventh Street, and for some
years was under the editorial direction of John W.
Forney, Jr.
The Real Estate Eeporter was started in 1875,
and was discontinued in 1880 or 1881.
The Carpet Journal, a monthly periodical, had its
origin in 1875, and its end seven years later.
The Christian Fireside, an evangelical monthly,
first published in 1875, had an existence of seven or
eight years.
The Ocean Grove Record, a weekly publication,
first issued in 1875, is published at No. 14 North Sev-
enth Street, and devoted to the interest of Ocean
Grove, N. J., a summer resort under the direction of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to the general
cause of Methodism.
The American Catholic Quarterly Review is
published by Messrs. Hardy & Mahony, at No. 505
Chestnut Street. It was established in Januarj', 1876.
Upon the cover of the magazine is this motto, indi-
cating the principles upon which the work of criti-
cism and review is sought to be carried on, — " Bonum
est homini fit eum Veritas vincat rolentem, quia mahmiest
homini id eum Veritas vincat invifum, J\'a?« ipsa necesse
est, sive regantem sive conjitentem. >S. Aug. Epist.
ecxxxviii. ad. Pasceni."
The Polytechnic Review, " devoted to science as
applied to the useful arts," was first issued in Febru-
ary, 1876, and published monthly, at the Forrest
Building, No. 119 South Fourth Street, by William
H. Wahl and Robert Grimshaw, who were also its edi-
tors. In March, 1878, it was removed to New York.
The Sunday World came into being in 1876, the
first number having been issued February 6th. Hugh
A. Mullen was the originator of the paper, and still
is its editor and proprietor. It was started as an in-
dependent Republican sheet, and Mr. Mullen has
kept it within the channel originally outlined. It is
published from the southwest corner of Eighth and
Sansora Streets.
The Familien Journal, a German weekly paper,
was founded in 1876 by Messrs. Lisiewski & Schulte,
who established the Soimfags Journal in the same year.
In February, 1881, both were purchased by William
Regenspurger.
The Philadelphia Sonntags Journal was issued
for the first time Dec. 3, 1876. Prior to this the Ger-
man population of Philadelphia was without any
paper issued on Sunday containing not only enter-
taining Jiterary matter but also the latest telegraphic
and local news. When, therefore, Messrs. Lisiewski
& Schulte founded the Soniitngs Journal, it immedi-
ately met with the most favorable reception from the
German element of the city, and within a short time
it secured a large circulation. Independent in poli-
tics and religion, it has never swerved from its course
to discuss political and religious questions from a
non-partisan view, and mainly to this fact it owes its
great popularity among all classes of the city's German
population.
On Feb. 13, 1881, it passed by purchase into the
hands of William Regenspurger, and from that day
the prosperity of the paper received a new impulse ;
for Mr. Regenspurger, a journalist of experience, and
himself a popular writer, immediately secured the
co-operation of a force of efiicient contributors and
correspondents, besides introducing various improve-
ments in the telegraphic and reporters' departments.
Owing to the enterprising endeavors of Mr. Regen-
spurger it now takes its rank among the most popuhir
and most extensively read of German-American pa-
pers, and has a large circulation even in Germany.
It is under the editorial direction of Max Stumpf.
The Christian Worker, a monthly periodical,
published at No. 526 Brooklyn Street, was started
in 1876, in the interest of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
The Merchant and Salesman, a monthly commer-
cial journal, published at No. 212 Carter Street, had
its origin in 1876.
Our Second Century was commenced in 1876 as a
family journal, and is issued weekly.
The Journal, a literary periodical, published every
Saturday, was issued for the first time in 1876.
The Farm Journal was first issued in March, 1877,
at No. 610 Chestnut Street, by the present publisher
and proprietor, Wilmer Atkinson. It is devoted to
agriculture in its various departments and to house-
hold economy, and has a national circulation which
is claimed to be above that ever obtained by any other
agricultural paper in the world. The present office of
publication is at No. 125 North Ninth Street.
The West Philadelphia Telephone is now pub-
lished weekly, by John D. Avil & Co., at Nos. 3941-
3945 Market Street, who are also proprietors of the
Telephone Printing-House, one of the largest estab-
lishments of the kind in Pennsylvania. The Telephone
was first issued May 8, 1877, by James Miller, and
was then called the Philadelphia Progress. On April
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2053
Jii, 1878, it became the ]>roperty of John D. Avil, who :
< 'iitinued its publication under its original title until
I 'er.'14, 1878, when, at the earnest solicitation of the
lute Col. John W. Forney, who had fixed upon " Prog-
ress" while in Europe for the title of a journal he had
resolved upon jmblishing on his return from abroad, i
he relinquished its original title and adopted that by
which it is now known. The Telephone is now the
only journal published in West Philadelphia proper.
It is in its eleventh volume (sixtli year), and is pros-
perous and justly popular.
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and
Biography, published by the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, was begun in 1877 as a quarterly, and
is sustained by the publication fund of the society.
The first six volumes were edited by the librarian of
tiae society, Frederick D. Stone. The seventh vol-
ume, that for 1883, was edited by Professor G. B.
Keen. It is chiefly devoted to the history of the
middle colonies, although it is open to anything of
interest connected with American history. It is rich
in matters relating to the Swedish settlements on the
Deleware and to the settlement of Pennsylvania by
Penn. Townsend Ward is the secretary of the trus-
tees, and it is largely owing to his indefatigable exer-
tions that the fund has been obtained.
The Illustrated Fashion Bazar came into being
in 1877, and existed three or four years.
The Ladies' Journal of Fashion was started in
1877, and came to an end in 1880.
Robinson's Epitome of Literature, a monthly
periodical which had several years of life, was issued
for the first time in 1877, by Frank W. Robinson &
Co., at No. 1309 Chestnut Street.
The West End was published for three or four
years, having been started in 1877.
The West Philadelphia Advertiser was published
in West Philadelphia every Saturday for several years,
beginning with 1877.
The Agents' Herald, now published monthly, at
No. 912 Arcii Street, was originally issued in 1877.
The American Cricketer, a sporting paper, de-
voted to the game of cricket in America, was started
in 1877, and is published as a weekly from May to
November, and as a monthly from November to
May.
The St. George's Journal, published every Satur-
day, by and in the interest of the Sons of St. George,
was originated in 1877.
Saturday Morning, a weekly paper, was started in
1877.
The Philadelphia Tageblatt, a German morning
newspaper, was issued for the first time in 1877, and
has its office at No. 613 Callowhill Street.
The New Northwest, started in 1877, was pub-
lished monthly for four or five years, when it went
out of existence.
The Philadelphia Gazette is a German afternoon
paper, published and owned by Carl Theodore Mayer.
Its first number was issued Jan. 25, 1878, and its pres-
ent office is at No. 618 Race Street.
The Protestant Standard, owned and published
by Francis George Bailey, made its first appearance
in February, 1878, and is an exponent of the princi-
ples of the Protestant reformation. It pleads for an
open Bible, defends the American school system, ad-
vocates the separation of Church and State, and urges
the sauctification of the Sabbath, and a vigorous en-
forcement of the laws. It is the recognized organ of
the Loyal Orange Institution and the American Prot-
estant Association. The editor of the Standard is
Rev. James A. McGowan, and the publication office
is at No. 709 Filbert Street.
Flowers' Eclectic Magazine, published monthly,
by William P. Flowers, was started in April, 1878.
The Frankford Dispatch, a weekly newspaper,
the first number of which was issued June 22, 1878,
was established by B. C. Tillinghast and Thomas B.
Foulkrod, the former of whom was the editor. The
publication office was then, as at present, at the south-
east corner of Frankford Avenue and Sellers Street,
Frankford. On February 7, 1880, Mr. Tillinghast
withdrew from the enterprise, and Mr. Foulkrod be-
came the sole editor and proprietor. It has uniformly
supported measures and men representing efficient
and honest municipal government. As an evidence
of its tendency in this latter direction it is notable
that on March 1, 1879, being the first journal in the
city to agitate the matter, it called for an investiga-
tion of the books of the tax collector of the Twenty-
third Ward, and secured an inquiry which resulted in
the unearthing of frauds.
Progress, a weekly journal, was established in
November, 1878, by Col. John W. Forney. While
in Europe, in 1877, he was strongly urged by many
Americans residing in London, and by others with
interests there and on the continent, to establish
an American weekly journal in the English capi-
tal. He gave this matter serious consideration, and,
but for the objections of his wife to crossing the ocean,
would in all probability have carried the plan into
effect. Having found it impossible, for this reason,
to publish such a paper in London, he conceived the
idea of printing, on his return to America, a periodi-
cal, modeled in great part upon the London World,
owned and edited by Edmund Yates. The result was
that, having returned to Philadelphia in the summer
of 1878, the first number of Progress appeared on the
16th of November of that year, being the first paper
of its kind in the United States. The original inten-
tion was that Progress should have very little to do
with politics ; to be not so much what is called a
society journal, but rather a periodical independent
upon all subjects, and chiefly of a literary character.
This policy was continued for some time, but, as was
entirely natural, considering Mr. Forney's long asso-
ciations, it soon drifted into the political stream, and
became earnestly Republican, though outspoken in
2054
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
its criticism of party acts. It followed that course
until the nomination of Gen. Hancock for President,
on June 23, 1880, when it declared for the Democratic
candidate. Previously Mr. Forney had been unable
to agree in all respects with the Republican leaders,
and when he indorsed Hancock he had become thor-
oughly dissatisfied with the policy they pursued.
After the defeat of Hancock Progvcu remained
Democratic until the time of Mr. Forney's death,
Dec. 9, 1881. Then, on the 20th of March, 1882,
it was purchased from Mr. Forney's estate by the
Forney Publishing Company, an incorporated body,
which consists entirely of the members of Mr. For-
ney's family. John W. Forney, a son, was made
editor, and since then it has been conducted as a
literary and social periodical under his editorship.
The present editor of Progress, during his father's
ownership of The Press, was the managing editor of
that journal. Mrs. Mary Forney Weigley and Miss
Tillie May Forney are regular contributors. Progress
to-day circulates widely among the cultured classes,
who look to it for sprightly discussion of jjleasant
topics. It also makes a feature of articles by special-
ists upon educational art and kindred topics.
John W. Forney, the founder of The Press and of
Progress, was born in Lancaster City, Pa., Sept. 30,
1817. He was the only son of Peter and Margaret
Forney, and had but one sister. His paternal grand-
mother was Susan Carpenter, sister of Christian Car-
penter, at one time high sheiifl" of Lancaster County.
The Carpenters were among the first settlers of that
county, and held numerous positions of trust. His
maternal grandfather, John Wein, was one of the
most influential citizens of the old borough of Lan-
caster. He was a scrivener, and for a time private
secretary to Gen. Hand, one of Gen. Washington's
staff during the Revolutionary war. The father of
John W. Forney conducted what was for that age a
large coach-making establishment, and built what was
then thought an exceedingly handsome barouche for
the Marquis de Lafayette on the occasion of his visit
to Lancaster. Peter Forney was a first lieutenant in a
military company, "the Lancaster Phalanx," and in
1812 marched to the defense of Baltimore. He died
when but thirty-five, leaving his widow with their
two children and with a small share of the world's
goods. But she was a woman of great strength of
character and of decided executive ability. She
opened a boarding-house, to which came several New-
England schoolmasters who were aiding the people
of Lancaster County in the reorganization of educa-
tional institutions. One of these schools was held in
the upper story of Mrs. Forney's residence, and it was
there the future journalist had his first instruction.
When still a small boy he was placed in a store, but
his taste for reading and scribbling soon took him to
the printing-office. He was regularly apprenticed,
and worked for several years at the case and the
hand-press, though often writing for the paper, — the
Lancaster Journal. When only sixteen he was a rec-
ognized editorial contributor, and before he reached
his majority he became the editor.
In the heated partisan contests of 1838, 1840, 1841,
and 1844 he was incessantly active with pen and
tongue, publishing, during one of these struggles, a
campaign paper called the Plaindealer, which circu-
lated widely beyond the limits of Lancaster County.
This training prepared him for the more responsible
position of editor and publisher of the Peniisijlranian,
in Philadelphia, which, under his guidance, for years
swayed the councils of the Democracy of this State,
and repeatedly led their hosts to victory. It was in
1845 that Mr. Forney removed from Lancaster to
Philadelphia, and became surveyor of the port and
editor of the Pennsylvanian. This change of residence
and promotion was rendered necessary by his growing
popularity and fame, as well as by the demands ot
the leaders of the party, that he should give it the
largest benefits of his admitted talents. He retained
his interests in the Penn-iyhanian until 1851, wlien his
reputation having become national, and his position
as an editor established equally with that of Greeley,
in New York, or Ritchie, in Richmond, he was
elected clerk of the House of Representatives of the
Thirty-third Congress, and re-elected by the Thirty-
fourth Congress, serving from 1851 to 1855. In the
scenes of excitement that attended the organization
of the Thirty-fifth Congress, Mr. Forney, as clerk,
was the acting Speaker. In that turbulent body he
gave signal proof of the fairness and impartiality
which always distinguished his conduct. The strug-
gle over the election of a Speaker lasted for two
months, and was marked by more violence and ex-
citement than before or since attended an election to
that office. It was the preliminary skirmish to the
coming war, and did much to hasten that conflict.
But during all that time Mr. Forney presided over
the House with firmness and dignity, discharging the
trying duties of his position with entire satisfaction
to both parties, and receiving at the end the unani-
mous thanks of the House.
In 1852-53 he was one of the editors of The Union,
the Democratic organ at Washington. The nomina-
tion and election of Mr. Buchanan were due more to
the zeal, activity, and perseverance of Mr. Forney
than to the labor of any other man in the Union.
Mr. Forney, at the head of the Pennsylvania delega-
tion at Cincinnati, gave such assurance of the cer-
tainty of carrying Pennsylvania with Buchanan that
the nomination of Mr. Buchanan was easily made.
Chosen chairman of the Pennsylvania State Central
Committee, the labor and responsibility of the cam-
paign rested upon his shoulders. Nothing was
omitted to organize the party. Success was attained
in the face of desperate odds. Pennsylvania was car-
ried by the Democrats in October, and again in No-
vember. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and Col. Forney
was recognized as the central figure in that success.
J^M
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2055
His opposition to the administration of Mr. Bu-
chanan, which followed so quickly after the election,
turned chiefly upon the Kansas question. In 1857,
Mr. Forney was the Democratic candidate before the
Pennsylvania Legislature for United States senator,
but was defeated by Simon Cameron. The States-
Rights party of the South, in 1856, at Cincinuati,
united with the Northern Democracy upon a platform
of principles which received different interpretations
in the two sections. In the North it was believed to
express the doctrine of popular sovereignty for the
government of the Territories, while in the South a
contrary interpretation obtained. Upon this dual
translation the Democratic party wrecked. Col. For-
ney held to the Northern interpretation. He well
knew that upon no other reading of the Cincinnati
platform would success have been possible in a single
Northern State. Mr. Buchanan acquiesced in the
doctrine that a Territorial Legislature was vested with
power to determine the question of slavery for the
Territory, and in that agreed with the Southern in-
terpretation of the platform. The Supreme Court of
the United States, in the Dred Scott decision, af-
firmed the correctness of the Southern interpretation
of the question of slavery in the Territories. The
breach between Mr. Buchanan and Col. Forney was,
therefore, the result of political difference of opinion.
Mr. Forney was too positive in his convictions, too
earnest in his faith, to hesitate between his political
friend and his political principles. His knowledge of
the temper of the Northern mind taught him the
utter futility of attempting to bring the Northern
anti-slavery sentiment into accord with the overthrow
of that ancient compromise, and the opening to
slavery of territory dedicated to freedom since 1820.
Transferring his allegiance to Stephen A. Douglas,
with whom the whole Northern Democracy agreed
upon the question of slavery in the Territories, he
commenced open warfare upon Mr. Buchanan, and
espousing the cause of freedom in the Territories, he
broke off all connection with the administration, and
endeavored to eflTect the election of Douglas in 1860.
His political sagacity foresaw not only the certain
defeat of his party upon any other platform than that
of freedom in the Territories, but the possible ruin of
his country in the conflict which would follow the
election of a Republican President. It was with these
convictions and guided by such principles that he
founded The Press, Aug. 1, 1857, and from their ad-
vocacy he never swerved, but with earnest zeal fol-
lowed whither they necessarily led, — into the Republi-
can ranks. The Press was established to make war on
its own party, to antagonize the pro-slavery wing,
then the controlling wing. Its warfare was bold and
unrelenting, widening by its every blow the interval
between itself and the party it professed to support.
There was no political inconsistency on the part of Col.
Forney ; he was an honest Free-Soiler ; he believed
the Northern Democracy had voted with the Demo-
131
cratic party to transfer the slavery agitation from
Congress to the people of the Territory, and the mo-
ment he thought that idea to have been departed from
he severed his allegiance with what he regarded as a
fraud and a cheat.
When open war followed, or indeed as soon as vio-
lence was threatened to the Federal authority. Col.
Forney enlisted his every energy in the cause of the
Union. He converted the Sunday Chronicle, which
he had established in Washington, into a daily paper,
and his " two papers, both daily," were earnestly
devoted to the support of the Union. The daily
Chronicle was the organ of the administration in
Washington, and one of its strongest supporters in
every measure that tended to preserve the authority
of the government or to effect the efficiency of the
army. Col. Forney resided in Washington from 1859
to 1870. He was the familiar friend of President
Lincoln, Secretary Stanton, and Senator Sumner, and
held the most intimate relations with Thaddeus Stev-
ens, Daniel S. Dickinson, Lewis Cass, Benjamin F.
Wade, Gen. Grant, Gen. Meade, Gen. Sheridan, John
Hickman, Henry Winter Davis, Howell Cobb, John C.
Breckenridge, J. P. Benjamin, Owen Lovejoy, Gerritt
Smith, Jefferson Davis, Alexander H. Stephens, Sal-
mon P. Chase, William Pitt Fessenden, Hannibal
Hamlin, Andrew Johnson, Edward C. Baker, Wil-
liam H. Seward, and James G. Blaine. It was this
extensive acquaintance with public men and intimate
knowledge of public affairs that gave to his " Occa-
sional" letters their interest and their influence. They
literally beamed with hope even in the darkest hours
of defeat, and cheered many a desponding heart when
the cause of the Union looked dark and hopeless.
In 1868 he resigned the secretaryship of the United
States Senate, which he had held since 1861. He
had been again elected clerk of the House of Repre-
sentatives in the Thirty-sixth Congress, serving from
1859 to 1861. In 1870 he sold the Washington Chron-
icle, and returning to Philadelphia, gave his entire
attention to The Press, but writing at intervals hia
"Anecdotes of Public Men," which have been re-
printed in book form. Shortly after his return to his
editorial chair in Philadelphia, Gen. Grant offered
him the position of collector of the port, which he
accepted with reluctance, as he did not wish to again
hold official place. He resigned the collectorship
after eleven months, having proved himself an ad-
mirable officer.
Mr. Forney made three long visits to Europe ; the
first was in 1867, and the second in 1875, when he
was centennial commissioner abroad, rendering great
aid to that ever-memorable enterprise. The last was
in 1877, after he had disposed of The Press. It was
in the beginning of October of that year that he sold
The Press. His withdrawal, at the close of "forty
years of journalism," during which almost every con-
stitutional and economic measure had been under
discussion, brought forth from all his contemporaries
2056
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
expressions of regret, without the least color of re-
sentment, although he had borne a prominent part in
all the bitterly-contested political campaigns. The
Philadelphia Record of Oct. 11, 1877, said,—
"Col. Forney has been an editor for the most of the time during the
last forty years, and is one of the princes of American journalism, as
well as one of the most popular and genial gentlemen in a Rocial way
that this couDtry has ever known. No editor in America has made a
deeper impreasion on the public mind, nor done more honor to his pro-
fession. He rose by the force of his own ability and merits from the
*case' to his present position ; from the position of a 'printer's devil' to
that of a leader among journalists, and a Warwick amoug statesmen."
The following is from the Evening Telegraph of the
same date :
*' Col. Forney's own personality always pervaded it(!r/'e Press) and
more than any other Philadelphia journal it has been a personal organ.
The natural journalistic aptitudes of its editor made it a success and a
power, and there can be no doubt that to the influences of The Press are
in a considerable measure due some of the positive changes that have
come over Philadelphia journalism during the pa^t twenty years."
The Evening BuUetin of Oct. 11, 1877, commented
as follows :
*' Col. Forney's almost unrivaled acquaintance with political meu
and things, his enthusiastic temperament, his great editorial experience,
and his free use of a bold and eloquent pen have long ago made for him
one of the most prominent places among American journalists. En-
listed in a good cause, whether of politics or any question concerning
the welfare of society, Mr. Forupy has made himself felt as a marked
power in the community, and that power has only been weakened when
he has suffered other interests to direct him fiom the legitimate duties
of his chosen profession."
The Philadelphia Inquirer of Oct. 12, 1877, said,—
" The story of his life during the last forty years is largely the story of
journalism and politics in Pennsylvania, for while he was the foremost
editor of Pennsylvania, he was also among the foremost of Pennsylva-
nia's iwliticians. His knowledge of the leading men and events of his
country— of the men and events which made the history of the country
for forty years — was thorough. Nut only was he fitted for the position
of editor by his wide culture and experience, but he brought to the edi-
torial desk a real love and respect for his profession which helped to
make him conspicuous and eminent in it. Though a strong, emphatic
writer, feeling strongly and expressing himself strongly. Col. Forney
made few personal enemies, either in politics or journalism. He hit
hard blows; but it was generally recognized that it was the cause he
battled for, and that personal animosity directed not a single blow."
Expressions of like kindly sentiments might be
multiplied from contemporaries, not only of Phila-
delphia and Pennsylvania, but from newspapers in
New York, Boston, Baltimore, Richmond, Va., Cin-
cinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, and from sectarian and
other sources. He was everywhere respected and
esteemed. He truly said in his ''Farewell'* to The
Press, —
'* I have done my best to make a good, honest newspaper. It has
lived through many tempests and changes. It has received and re-
turned many blows. But I can say, for myself, that, in all this long
course of time, I have never deliberately wounded or injured a human
being, even in the fiercest struggles of political or sectional difference ;
and I hope I may be permitted to add, that in more than fourteen years
of official responsibility, with millions of public money to hold and dis-
burse, not a dollar has been misapplied or devoted to my personal use."
As previously stated, it was in November, 1878, a
little over a year after his disposal of The Press^ and
two or three months subsequent to his return from
his third European trip, that Col. Forney established
Progress,
Mr. Forney's literary labors of the more permanent
character than the newspaper form are, in addition to
his "Anecdotes of Public Men,'' "Letters from Eu-
rope," "A Centennial Commissioner Abroad," the
"New Nobility," and the "Life of Winfield Scott
Hancock."
It has been truly said of Mr. Forney that —
" He belonged to a class of meu who build themselves into the civil-
ization of their times, and who heartily greet every advance that ia
made on this line of human interests and human happiness. By hia
ready and^'ersatile pen, by his eloquent and ringing voice, by his splen-
did and magnetic presence, lie gave without stint, through nearly half
a century, a prompt recognition and a masterly advocacy to every phase
of genius, and skill and industry, and thought that makes up the sum
of human welfare. He loved the people, and lived for them."
Such was the life of John W. Forney. He died at
the age of sixty-four, after a short illness, leaving a
widow and five children. His eldest son died some
years previously. The expressions of regret and
kindly sympathy that followed Col. Forney's death
from the newspapers of the country, attest the esteem
and affection with which &e was regarded. The reso-
lutions adopted by public meetings and journalists,
after his death, form an appropriate conclusion to
this brief sketch of his life :
"Whereas, Col. John W. Forney, the distinguished journalist and
public man, the founder, and for nearly twenty years the proprietor, of
the Press, on which journal those present were employed for a long
term, has been suddenly called from among us, therefore,
" Jiesolved, That we deeply deplore an event which removes from his
profession one of its brightest lights, and deprives this community of a
ripe scholar, an experienced journalist, and a vnluable citizen, the na-
tion of a sage counselor, a devoted patriot, and all those who were ever
associated with him of a devoted and sincere friend.
"Resolved, That we hereby desire to give expression to our appreci-
ation of the kindly encouragement whicli be at all times gave to scores
of young and struggling members of the profession, and of the advice,
counsel, and sympathy by which their labors were cheered, and they
were enabled to rise, if not to eminence, to prominent places in the
field of journalism.
" Besoired, That his old employes recognize in him the kindest, fair-
est, and most generous of employers, and testify to the fact that during
all the years of our association with him there was never a cause for
any difference of opinion or any bickerings between us.
" Resolced, That a copy of these resolutions be conveyed to the afflicted
family.
" ifesolrt'd, That as a further mark of respect the gentlemen of the
meeting attend the funeral in a body."
Appropriate resolutions were also passed by numer-
ous other public bodies, expressive of his many manly
qualities.
Mind and Matter is a weekly publication, that is
issued from No. 713 Sanson Street, by J. M. Roberts,
in the iutereat of the Spiritualistic belief, and was
first published Nov. 30, 1S7S,
Benedict's Fashion Jonrnal has been published
monthly since 1878, at No. 636 Arch Street, by
Frances Benedict.
The Gazette is issued every Saturday, at No. 98
Chelton Avenue, Germantown, and was begun in
1878.
The lee Trade Journal has been published monthly
since 1878, at No, 501 Market Street.
The Librarian, started in 1878, is devoted to mat-
ters connected with local libraries, and is issued ir-
THE PRESS OP PHILADELPHIA.
2057
regularly, by Samuel P. Ferree & Co., from No. 1104
Walnut Street.
The Foreign Mail, a monthly commercial journal,
started in 1878, was an export edition of The (Jrocer,
and was edited and published by Ward & Lipnian,
at No. 123 South Third Street. It has since been
discontinued.
The Pennsylvania Law-Journal, commenced in
1878, was published every Tuesday for two years, and
then went out of existence.
The Propagator, started in 1878, was published
until 1880, semi-monthly, as an organ of the American
Order of United Workmen.
Pepper's Musical Times and Band Journal, a
monthly jiaper, is published by James W. Pepper, at
No. 234 South Eighth Street. It was commenced in
1878, under the title of Pepper's Band Journal.
The Daily Legal News, "a journal of the law and
of the court," was first issued Monday, Jan. 6, 1879,
by Joshua T. Owen, editor and proprietor, and ran a
few weeks only.
The United Service, when first issued, in January,
1879, was a quarter)}' review of military and naval
affairs. A year afterward the publication was made
monthly, and ever since then it has been the recognized
authority in this country upon all matters connected
with the army and navy of the United States, as well
as the military and naval history of foreign nations.
Its pages may at any time be consulted for all that is
important in the progress of the art of war, while
they also contain most valuable contributions to the
records of past events. An important feature of The
United Service is its development of the literary gifts
of ofiBcers of the American army and navy who have
been and are its contributors. It may be added that
it is not at all deficient in articles from the pens of
men who were in high command on the side of the
Confederacy. Originated by L. R. Hamersly & Co.,
at No. 1510 Chestnut Street, it has been continuously
published by that firm.
The Teacher, an educational journal, published
monthly by Eldredge & Brother, at No. 17 North
Seventh Street, was first issued in January, 1879. It
is devoted to the interests of schools, teachers, and
the cause of education in general.
The Monthly Register of the Philadelphia Society
for Organizing Charity was issued for the first time in
September, 1879, from No. 1602 Chestnut Street.
All the Year, a literary journal, commenced in
1879, was issued every Saturday for about two years.
The Advertiser was started in 1879, as a weekly,
but was discontinued within a year.
Afield and Afloat, a sporting paper, issued every
Tuesday, made its appearance in 1879, and was discon-
tinued two or three years later.
Archives of Dermatology, a quarterly medical
publication, was commenced in 1879, and went out of
existence in three years.
The Bayerische Wochenblatt, a German paper,
issued every Saturday, had its inception in 1879, and
lived a year.
The Catholic Advance, a weekly religous paper,
was issued in 1879, and ran a few weeks.
The Covenant, published on every other Saturday,
was first issued in 1879, as the organ of the Reformed
Episcopal Church, but was absorbed by the Episcopal
Recorder.
The Farmers' Magazine and Rural Guide had
its origin in 1879, and was published uKjnthly for one
or two years.
The Grand Army Review, published monthly in
the interests of the Grand Army of the Republic, was
issued for the first time in 1879. A year later it had
gone out of existence.
The Musical Times and Art Journal was started
as a weekly in 1879, and had aljuut a year of life.
The North PhUadelphian, issued everj' Saturday,
made its appearance in 1879, and is now published as
the North ]'hiladel}ihin .JoiirnaL
The Open Fire-Grate came into existence in 1879,
and was <liscontinued within a year.
The Presbyterian Monthly was first issued in
1879, and was continued for two years.
The Review of Medicine and Pharmacy had its
inception in 1879, and was in existence two years.
The Sunday Argus, a Democratic sheet, was first
issued in 1879, and perished within two years.
The Labor World, started in 1879, the organ of
the laboring classes, is issued every Thursday from
No. 441 Chestnut Street.
The Philadelphia Methodist was started in 1879,
and is issued every Thursday from the Methodist
Episcopal Book and Publishing House, No. 1018
Arch Street.
The Quaker City Review, published on Satur-
day, at No. 627 South Fifth Street, dates back to 1879.
The Merchants' Guide has been published every
Saturday since 1879.
The Medical Bulletin, a monthly journal, had its
origin in 1879, and has met with substantial success.
The Sunday Herald was begun in 1879, and pub-
lished at No. 716 Sanson! Street, where it went out of
existence in four years.
The QrUinologist, a monthly medical publication,
was first issued in 1879.
The TextUe Colorist, a scientific monthly maga-
zine, published at No. 506 Arch Street, has been in
existence since 1879.
Items of Interest, devoted to the advancement of
the dental profession, was started in 1879, and is pub-
lished monthly at No. 607 Sansom Street.
The Tribune and Farmer was established in 1879,
and is issued every Saturday from No. 441 Chestnut
Street.
Association News is published monthly by the
Young Men's Christian Association, at the southeast
corner of Fifteenth and Chestnut Streets, and has been
issued since 1879.
2058
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The Barber's National Journal was established
in 1879, and is published at No. 120 North Seventh
Street, as a semi-monthly.
The Enterprise, published upon alternate Satur-
days, has been in existence since 1879.
The Evening News, a Eepublican daily afternoon
paper, published by the Evening News Company, at
No. 713 Chestnut Street, was started in 1879.
The Falls Advertiser and Riverside Gazette is
published weekly, on Thursday, at Falls of Schuyl-
kill, and was started in 1879.
The College and CHnical Record, a monthly medi-
cal journal, " conducted especially in the interest of
the graduates and students of the Jefferson Medical
College," made its appearance Jan. 15, 1880. It is
published by E. Claxton &■ Co., at No. 930 Market
Street, and is edited by Dr. Richard J. Dunglisou,
who was originally assisted by Dr. Frank Woodbury,
now the editor of The Jlcdiml Times.
The Sugar Beet, a quarterly scientific and agri-
cultural journal, was first issued in February, 1880,
and is chiefly devoted to the discussion of the various
aspects of sugar-beet culture. The general phases of
sugar production are not neglected, however. The
publishers are Henry Carey Baird & Co., at No. 810
Walnut Street. The editor is Lewis S. Ware, who is
the author, among other works, of " The Sugar-Beet ;
including a History of the Beet Sugar Industry in
Europe," and " A Study of the Various Sources of
Sugar."
Golden Lays, a juvenile publication, is a weekly
paper whose columns teem with stories, instructive
reading, sketches of adventure, and such matter as
will interest, delight, and benefit boys and girls. To
its columns many of the principal scientists, edu-
cators, and clergymen of the day contribute articles
which are illustrated in the highest styU of the artist
and the engraver.
The first number was issued March 6, 1880, and in
his salutatory, James Elverson, the publisher, said,
"It will be my aim to give to the young warm, in-
teresting, and vivid narratives prepared by the most
popular and competent writers, — writers who under-
stand childhood and comprehend their own responsi-
bilities in that respect."
The proprietor never does anything in a half-way,
half-souled manner, and when he printed two million
seven hundred and fifty thousand copies of the first
edition, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, and dis-
tributed them free, through the newsdealers, and by
the agency of over four hundred horsemen in sections
where there were no railroads and newsdealers, he
felt that his enterprise and judgment would be ap-
preciated by American boys and girls. Golden Days
is published by Mr. Elverson, at the northwest corner
of Ninth and Spruce Streets. i
The Textile Record of America was first pub- [
lished in September, 1880, by James W. Nagle and j
John W. Eyckman. During the two succeeding !
years there were some changes in the ownership, and
in February, 1883, the entire property was purchased
by Mr. Charles Heber Clark, who had been identified
with the daily journalism of Philadelphia for nearly
twenty years, and the journal is issued monthly at 425
Walnut Street. Under his administration The Textile
Record has advanced to the very first rank among
publications representing the textile industries. It
is regarded all over the world as an authority upon
the topics of which it treats.
It considers the transformation of fibres into fab-
rics ; treats of the nature of fibres (as, for example,
in papers upon fibres under the miscroscope) ; of all
the processes of preparing them for the loom and
knitting-machine ; of dyeing in all its branches ; of
the manufacture of woolen, cotton, silk, jute, flax,
and other fabrics ; of economical and political ques-
tions belonging to the industry ; of all kinds of new
machinery produced for the benefit of the textile
arts ; and of mill construction, prevention of fires, etc.
It also gives large space to faithful representation
of the knitting industry, which is conducted upon a
huge scale in Philadelphia, and it is accepted by the
knitting interests as their spokesman.
The American is a weekly journal "of literature,
science, the arts, and public affairs," and was begun
in 1880, the first issue being dated on October 10th of
that year. Its origin may be traced to the weekly
issue of a small folio, called WeeJdy Notei, which was
sent out for some time as a supplement to the Feiui
Monthly, and was made up of original comment on
current affairs, home and foreign, by the editor of
the Penn Monthly, Robert Ellis Thompson, one of
the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. When
The American was begun this feature was transferred
to it, and the latter deals largely and freely with all
political topics, at the same time treating editorially
a wide range of social, industrial, and other ques-
tions, ajjart from its departments of literary review
and criticism, art criticism, scientific information, etc.
The first managing editor was William Ralston Balch,
by whose energy and taste the start of the journal was
particularly marked. He was succeeded in October,
1881, by Howard M. Jenkins, who continues, Profes-
sor E. E. Thompson being the chief editorial writer.
Essays, reviews, criticisms, etc., are procured from a
large number of writers throughout the country.
The ownership of the journal is, as it has been from
the beginning, substantially in the hands of Wharton
Barker, a banker and manufacturer of Philadelphia,
who has liberally sustained the enterprise.
The Baptist Family Magazine was commenced as
a monthly in 1880, and continued less than two years.
The Commercial World, a monthly mercantile
paper, was started in 1880, and discontinued in 1882.
Stoddart's Review was issued for the first time in
1880, and in 1882 consolidated with The American.
The Ingleside was commenced in 1880, and sus-
pended in two or three years.
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2059
The Carpenter was started in 1880, and issued
monthly for a couple of years.
The American Journal of Photography was
started in 1880, and is jiublislied monthly.
Quiz, a weekly society journal, i.s published at No.
912 Arch Street, under the editorial direction of Flor-
ence I. Duncan, and was founded in 1880.
The Bullion Miner and Coal Record was started
in 1880, and is published every Saturday at No. 225
Carter Street.
The Eagle Journal, published on Saturday, was
first issued in 1880.
The American Textile Manufacturer, a monthly
trade journal, lias been in existence since 1880, and
is published at No. 506 Arch Street.
The Northwest was first issued in 1880, and is pub-
lished on Saturday.
The Citizen, a literary and political journal pub-
lished on Saturday, came into existence in 1880.
The Monarch City World, a monthly commercial
journal, was started in 1880, but did not last long.
New Leaves, a monthly temperance journal, was
first issued in 1880. It is the official organ of the Grand
Division of the Sons of Temperance of Pennsylvania.
The Picture World, published by the American
Sunday-School Union, was established in January,
1881, as a monthly publication for children.
Our Young People was first published in January,
1881, and is specially adapted to the older boys and
girls in the Sunday-school, and to the young men and
women in Young People's Associations. It is edited
by Rev. Dr. A. Judson Rowland, and published by
the American Baptist Publication Society, at No.
1420 Chestnut Street.
The Farm and Garden was established in 1881
by E. S. Child, and is now owned by Child, Boos &
Co., and published from No. 125 South Fourth Street.
The Sunday Independent had its inception in the
early part of 1881, the publishers being Riter & Har-
rington Fitzgerald, and was discontinued within a
few months.
The Advance and Review, a quarterly periodical
devoted to spiritualism, was started in 1881, and went
out of existence within a year.
The American Pulpit and Pew, a monthly un-
sectarian religious journal, was issued for the first
time in 1881, and lasted only one year.
The Bridesburg Standard, issued every Wednes-
day, was commenced in 1881, at Bridesburg, and
within a year publication was suspended.
The Easy Hour, a literary journal, issued every
Saturday, had its origin in 1881, and is not now iu
existence.
The Golden Year, a semi-monthly, issued in the
interest of the American Order of United Workmen,
had its origin in 1881, and came to an end in less than
two years.
The Medical Advisory had its inception in 1881,
but its career was brief.
The Oar, a sporting periodical, came into being in
1881, and soon died out.
The North American Manufacturer, published
every Thursday, was started in 1881, and discontinued
inside of two years.
The Quaker City Gazette, a society journal, pub-
lished every Saturday, had a short career in 1881.
The Educational Visitor and Temperance En-
sign, commenced in 1881, enjoyed but a brief exist-
ence.
The Family Herald, a family paper, published
every Saturday, was started in 1881, and suspended
the next year.
The Brewers' and Dealers' Journal has been
published monthly, at No. 705 Sansom Street, since
1881.
The Commercial Bulletin, issued on Monday, had
its origin in 1881, and is devoted to commerce and
trade.
The Mining Journal, the publication office of
which is at No. 330 Walnut Street, was liegun in 1881,
and is issued every Saturday.
Life, an eight-page illustrated society journal, was
started in 1881, the publication ofiice being in The
Press building. Only a few numbers were issued.
The Grand Army Scout and Soldiers' Mail, an
organ of the Grand Army of the Republic, published
every Saturday, was issued for the first time' in 1881.
Bennage's Musical Library has been published
on Monday of each week since 1881.
The Educational Visitor was first issued in 1881,
and still continues.
The National Brewer and Maltster is published
at No. 126 South Second Street, on Saturday of each
week. Its first issue was in 1881.
L'Avenir, a monthly religious journal, was started
in 1881, in the interest of the French Protestant pop-
ulation of Philadelphia, and is still in existence.
The Graphic World, an illustrated family paper,
was commenced in 1881.
Iron, a weekly mechanical journal, issued on Thurs-
day, has been in existence since 1881. The publishers
are A. C. Farley & Co., at No. 413 Walnut Street.
The Hosiery and Knit Goods Manufacturer, a
monthly trade journal, entered the journalistic field
in 1881, and publication was discontinued not long
afterward.
The Post and Camp, issued on Saturdays, in the
interest of the Grand Army of the Republic, had its
inception in 1881, and has died out.
Kind Words, an evangelical juvenile journal,
published every Saturday, came into existence in
1881.
The Household Visitor, published every Saturday,
was started in 1881 as an independent family paper.
The National Agent, a monthly periodical of six-
teen pages, whose publication office is at No. 711 San-
som Street, was first issued in 1881.
The New Church Life, a religious journal, issued
2060
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
monthly, is published in the interest of the Sweden-
borgian denomination, at No. 1802 Mount Vernon
Street. It is a sixteen-page periodical, and was com-
menced in 1881.
The Tacony New Era was established Dec. 8,
1881, by William C. Watson and Daniel Muncy, and
ran for one year. At that time Mr. Muncy sold his
interest to Thomas J. Mills, and the paper is still
continued.
Truth in Life, a children's journal, devoted chiefly
to temperance, and The Hhistrated T)-easury of Knowl-
edge, also a juvenile periodical, the purpose of which
is to illustrate Bible truths from science, were estab-
lished by the American Sunday-School Union in
January, 1882.
The Family Review, devoted to legal, medical,
educational, and social affairs, was first issued in
January, 1882, and published at No. 355 North
Fourth Street, by M. G. Taylor.
The Medical Register, a record of the literature
of medicine and the allied sciences, was commenced
Feb. 15, 1882, as a monthly publication, the pub-
lishers being P. Blakiston, Son & Co., at No. 1012
Walnut Street.
Our Continent, an illustrated weekly journal, pub-
lished by " Our Continent Publishing Company," was
issued for the first time Feb. 15, 1882. The officers of
the company were Albion W. Tourgee, president;
Daniel G. Brinton, M.D., secretary ; and Robert S.
Davis, treasurer. The first named was also the edi-
tor of the journal. Among the contributors to the
initial number were George Parsons Lathrop, Sidney
Lanier, Donald G. Mitchell, George H. Boker, Oscar
Wilde, E. P. Roe, William M. Baker, J. T. Trow-
bridge, John Habberton, Max Adeler, Louise Chand-
ler Moulton, Kate Field, William Pepper, M.D.,
Noah Porter, Helen Campbell, and Rebecca Hard-
ing Davis. Before the close of the second volume the
title was changed to Tlie Continent, and in the latter
part of 1883 it was removed to New York City.
The Law and Order Advocate, a weekly paper,
was issued for the first time on Sept. 4, 1882, from No.
126 (old number 134) South Fourth Street. Its ob-
ject was the maintenance of the " American Sab-
bath," and the suppression of intemperance and vice.
The Caterer, a gastronomic monthly, was con-
ceived by its jiublishers and editors in the beginning
of 1882, but the initial number was not issued until
the 1st of October of that year. Its character was
not intended to be simply that of a cook-book, but
of a nature that would interest and instruct upon
general topics relating to the household and to do-
mestic economy. It met with instant favor, and it has
since received substantial patronage from thousands
of readers. It is under the general direction of Jo-
seph Whitton, and is published at No. 1013 Chestnut
Street. The editor, James W. Parkinson, has long been
known as a chief in gastronomic science.
The Germantown Independent was started Oct.
7, 1882, as a four-page, six-column weekly paper.
Departments were added from time to time, embracing
news items from Olney, Branchtown, Chestnut Hill,
Mount Airy, and other suburbs of the town and
out-of-the-way corners of the ward. A special fea-
ture was the introduction of portraits and biographical
sketches of home celebrities, historical buildings of the
town, etc.
Its proprietors are Horace F. McCann and J. Alex.
Savage , (McCann & Savage). Both are practical
printers, McCann being a graduate of tlie German-
town Telegraph office, and Savage an early apprentice
of the Gnide; also afterward a contributor to and com-
positor on a number of city papers.
The publication office is at No. 4958 Germantown
Avenue, where a large job business is done in addi-
tion. The paper has now a very large circulation for
a suburban journal.
The Sower, " published every other Saturday (ex-
cept from July 1st to September 15th) under the
auspices of the Philadelphia Unitarian Churches,"
made its appearance Nov. 4, 1882.
The Literary Era, " a monthly repository of literary
and miscellaneous information," was established in
December, 1882, by Porter & Coates, at No. 900
Chestnut Street, and has met with substantial success
from the outset.
The Clerk, a commercial paper, issued monthly,
came into existence in 1882, and was printed only a
very short while.
The Oriental Casket was started in 1882, but only
a few numbers were issued.
The Record of Growth, a miscellaneous journal,
had its inception in 1882, and is not now in existence.
The Hearthstone, an illustrated literary paper,
started in 1882, is issued every Monday.
The American Silk and Fruit Culturist was
started in 1882, and is published monthly at No.
1328 Chestnut Street.
The Saturday Journal, started in 1882, is pub-
lished at No. 5125 Kershaw Avenue, Hestonville,
West Philadelphia.
The Echo was started in 1882 as a monthly literary
periodical.
The Home Protector, a temperance and literary
journal, published every Saturday, was commenced '
in 1881.
The Agents' Eulletin, published monthly, was first
issued in 1882.
Chaff, a monthly paper, came into existence in
1882. It was established as an illustrated college
paper of the University of Pennsylvania, by eight
graduates of the classes of 1881, 1882, and 1883. It
contains original verses, illustrations, and light sketches
of a humorous and satirical character, and has attained
great success both in and out of the college. This
paper is thoroughly original, all the articles, designs,
illustrations, and engravings being by the members of
the Chaff association.
THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA.
2061
The Hammer, a German monthly mechanical
journal, was started in 1882.
The Home Circle, a Baptist family magazine,
issued monthly, from No. 1420 Chestnut Street, had
its origin in 1S82.
The Modern Reporter, a stenographic periodical,
issued every month, was commenced in 1882.
True Blue, an independent weekly paper, entered
the field of journalism in 1882.
The Thoroughbred Stock Journal, published
monthly, at No. 27 South Seventh Street, had its
beginning in 1882.
The Peacemaker, a twenty-page periodical, issued
monthly by the Peace Society, was started in 1882.
Edison's Review, issued monthly, was published
for the first time in 1882.
Knights of the Golden Eagle was started in 1882,
as an organ of the order of the Knights of the Golden
Eagle.
The Textile Monitor is published monthly, at No.
220 Church Street. The initial number was printed
in 1882.
The Industrial Review was established in 1882,
by the Industrial Review Publishing Company, and
is issued monthly, at No. 806 Walnut Street.
The Miller's Review, devoted to milling interests,
is published at No. 610 Chestnut Street, and had its
origin in 1882.
The Spectator, published weekly, in the interest of
the colored race, was started in 1882, but only a few
numbers were issued.
The Review, a literary journal, published in behalf
of the Society of Friends, was started in 1882, and
issued monthly.
Strawbridge & Clothier's Quarterly, a family
journal, published by Strawbridge & Clothier at No.
801 Market Street, has been in existence since 1882.
Terpsichore, a monthly periodical, was started in
1882.
The Scholar's Quarterly, a periodical intended
to aid in the Sunday-school work of the Reformed
Church, was issued for the first time in 1882.
Stewart's Banjo and Guitar Journal was origi-
nated in 1882.
The Sunlight was begun in January, 1883, and is
published by the American Baptist Publication Society,
at No. 1420 Chestnut Street, every other week, alter-
nately with The Reaper, and at the same price. It
has already gained a large circulation.
The Sunday Hour, an illustrated religious journal,
was commenced in January, 1883, by the American
Sunday-School Union.
Boogher's Repository, " devoted to the preserva-
tion of history, biography, and genealogy," was
started in March, 1883, as a monthly magazine, and
published by William F. Boogher, and edited by
Horace Wemyss Smith. After the issue of the first
number the latter assumed full control of the publi-
cation, and the May number was changed in title to
the American Repository. Only three numbers were
issued.
The Illustrated World was established by James
Elverson, of the Sutiinknj Nifihf, who, on the 14th of
April, 1683, published the initial number from the
northwest corner of Ninth and Spruce Streets.
Money was liberally expended on American talent,
and in importing the plates of the finest and latest
contributions to art in the Old World. But the fair
prospects of the paper were doomed to come shortly
to an end, in what was generally termed " The Sat-
urday Night Injunction Case," brought by a citizen
who complained that the running of the presses at
night disturbed his rest, and otherwise made him
uncomfortable. In refusing the injunction asked for,
uamely, that Mr. Elverson should be restrained from
running his presses between six o'clock in the even-
ing and six o'clock next morning, Judge Hare gave
" leave to the complainant to apply for a further
order, should circumstances render it expedient."
This compelled Mr. Elverson to suspend the publica-
tion of The Illustrated .World or have it printed else-
where. As the latter alternative would have brought
about unsatisfactory complications, he finally an-
nounced, in the number for Nov. 17, 1883, that he
was forced by the decree of the court " to suspend the
publication of the paper."
The American Psychological Journal, issued by
the National Association for the Protection of the
Insane and the Prevention of Insanity, had its in-
ception in April, 1883, as a quarterly publication. It
is published by P. Blakiston, Son & Co., at No. 1012
Walnut Street, and is under the editorial direction of
Dr. Joseph Parrish.
The Sporting Life, published by Francis C. Eich-
ter, was commenced on the 15th of April, 1883. Office
on Ninth Street below Walnut.
The Polyclinic, a monthly journal of medicine and
surgery, conducted by the faculty of the Philadel-
phia Polyclinic and College for Graduates in Medi-
cine, appeared July 15, 1883, and is published by P.
Blakiston, Son & Co., at No. 1012 Walnut Street.
The Philadelphia Tobacconist, published in the
interest of the tobacco trade, was started early in 1883,
being issued from No. 126 South Second Street.
The Agents' Telegraph, a monthly paper, was first
issued in 1883.
Schwaebisches Wochenblatt, a German paper,
was commenced in 1883.
The Evening Call, an independent afternoon news-
paper for the people, was first issued Sept. 17, 1883.
From the beginning the number of copies daily printed
and sold has exceeded sixteen thousand. The Weekly
Call was first issued Dec. 15, 1883, and sold of its
third issue twenty-six thousand four hundred copies,
which is unprecedented in the history of weekly jour-
nalism. The following is the platform upon which
both The Evening Call and The Weekly Call are con-
ducted :
2062
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
I
" Odr Paper — A Newspaper for the People, of tlie People, and by the
People.
" Oua Politics — A candidate's fitness for office, irrespective of his
Party name.
" Our Religion — Character instead of Creed. He believes truth who
lives truth.
" Our Aim — The greatest good to the greatest number."
Eobert S. Davis, the publisher and editor of The
Call, is a native of Philadelphia, and received a col-
legiate education. In 1860-61 he studied law, but
finally abandoned it, and became a general writer for
newspapers and magazines. In 1863 he went to
Washington, D. C, where he was the correspondent
of several papers. While in that city he made the
acquaintance of James Elverson, and the two became
room-mates and warm friends. Joining their small
savings, they entered into various speculations, in [
which they were quite successful. Possessing con-
siderable means, they came to Philadelphia in 1865,
and started the Saturday Night, the phenomenal suc-
cess of which is generally known to the public. In
the early part of 1882, having disposed of his share
in the Saturday Night, Mr. Davis, together with two
or three others, issued Our Continent, an illustrated
weekly literary journal. Within less than a year,
however, he withdrew from the new enterprise, and
thereafter his thoughts were turned toward daily
journalism. Finally he set about carrying into effect
his resolution to establish a daily newspaper, and in
accordance therewith issued The Evening Call in Sep-
tember, 1883. Mr. Davis is an energetic, enterprising
man of business, and his tendency is to bring success
where many others might fail.
The Home Companion, a monthly family paper,
was started in the early part of 1883.
The Chestnut Hill and Montgomery News, a
weekly paper, issued on Saturday, was published for
the first time in 1882.
Truth, a Sunday paper, was started in 1883, and
after a life of several months publication was sus-
pended.
The Daily Register, a morning paper, devoted to
the publication of the arrivals at the principal hotels
of the city, was started in 1883, the office of publica-
tion being in The Press building, at the southwest
corner of Seventh and Chestnut Streets.
The Dental Practitioner, a monthly periodical,
had its beginning in 1883.
The Baptist Superintendent was first issued in
January, 1884. It is edited by Dr. C. R. Blackall,
and has already taken foremost rank. It contains
general articles by the best writers relating to Sun-
day-school management, notes and queries on prac-
tical questions, blackboard reviews of every lesson,
discriminating notices of books that are helpful to
superintendents, and such other matters as are con-
sidered as having special value. The journal is pub-
lished quarterly by the American Baptist Publication
Society, the publication office being at No. 1420 Chest-
nut Street.
CHAPTER XLIX.
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
The Masonic Order.— The weight of evidence,
official and unotiicial, direct and collateral, goes to
substantiate the claim of Philadelphia to be the
mother-city of Masonry in America. We do not
know tiie date or the circumstances of the formation
of the first lodge, but it is reasonably inferred that
some of the brethren, who had been initiated in
England or elsewhere, met together more than a cen-
tury and a half ago in this city, and resolved to es-
tablish an organization.' It is, however, positive that,
on June 5, 1730, the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master
of the Grand Lodge of England, issued a deputation
to Daniel Cox,^ of New Jersey, as Provincial Grand
Master of the provinces of New York, New Jersey,
and Pennsylvania. This document, which is still in
existence, speaks of application having been made by
a number of brethren, then resident in the provinces
named, which fully demonstrates the fact that prior
to 1730 there were Masons in Philadelphia who united
in asking recognition from the supreme head of the
order. Moreover, Benjamin Fr?inklin, in his Fenti-
sylvania Gazette, of Dec. 8, 1730, said there were then
several lodges of Freemasons erected in the provinces.'
1 John Moore, in 1703,
the port of Philadelphia,
having "spent a few eve
This is the earliest writt
bers of the craft dwel
vas commissioned by the king as collector of
In 1715 he wrote a letter, in which he mentions
ings of festivity with my Masonic brethren."
1 evidence in existence of the fact that mem-
witliin the present jurisdiction. Many de-
3 well as
scendants of John Bloore attained professional and political, i
Masonic, prominence.
- Daniel Cox was the son of Dr. Daniel Cox, of London, Governor of
the province of "West Jersey, and its largest landed proprietor, who, in
1691. sold the territory and the government to the West Jersey Society
for nine thousand pounds. In 1703 the second Daniel Cox was appointed
commander of all the royal forces in West Jersey, and was thence known
as Col. Cox. Between 1705 and 1716 he was a member of the Council
and of the Assembly, and in the latter year went to England, The
minutes of the Grand Lodge of England show that at its meeting on
Jan. 29, 1731, he was present, and his health was drunk as "Provincial
Grand Master of North America." In 1734 he was appointed associate
justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and inl739hedied in office.
He was the author of a collection of voyages and travels, and " A De-
scription of the English Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards called
Florida, and by the French La Louisiana ; as also of the great and
famous river Meschacebe or Mississippi, the five vast navigable Lakes
of fresh water, and the parts adjaceut, with an account of the commodi-
ties, and their growth and production in the said Provinces."
3 A very interesting discovery was made in the early part of 1884 by
Clifford P. McCalla, R. W.J. G. W. of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania,
who found among the MS. held by the Historical Society of Pennsylva-
nia the original ledger of St. John's Lodge of Philadelphia from June
24, 1731, to June 24, 1738, which establishes the claims of Philadelphia
to be the metropolis of Masonry in America. The oldest record pre-
viously known bore date two years later, and the oldest record in this
State, that of Lodge No. 3, is dated 1767. The book was exhibited by its
discoverer on the evening of the 28th of February at his lecture before
Lodge No. 51, on " A Remarkable Masonic Life," — that, namely, of Ben-
jamin Franklin. i
The book is bound in stiff vellum, and is labeled on the front cover,
" Philadelphia City, St. John's Lodge, Libr. B." The entire volume is
well preserved. It is of the blank-book pattern, five and a half by
twelve inches, and two inches thick. It has an alphabetical index of
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2063
Thomas Cadwalader's letter of Nov. 17, 1754, to
Henry Bell, of Lancaster, has an allusion to the writer
as one of the originators of the first Masonic lodge in
Philadelphia, which was sometimes opened by a party
that used to meet at the Tun Tavern in Water Street.
In the fall of 1730 they designed obtaining a charter
from the Grand Lodge of England, but Grand Master
Cox coming into office, they procured it from him.
Then on St. John's day, June, 1732, a Grand Lodge
was held at the Tun Tavern, when W. Allen was
.chosen Grand Master, William Pringle, Deputy Mas-
ter, and Thomas Boude and Benjamin Franklin,
Wardens, for the ensuing year. The notice of this
meeting in the Pennsijlimnia Oazette says " Sun Tav-
ern," which is undoubtedly a misprint, as the most
diligent search of the local antiquarians has failed to
discover any such establishment. The Tun Tavern
was kept by Thomas Mullan, and was on the ea.st
side of the street then indifferently called Water Street
or King Street. The lodge, which before and after
the Revolution was " No. 3," bore the additional title
of Tun Lodge, an unquestionable allusion to the
place of its origin. In 1734, Dr. Franklin, then
Grand Master of the province of Pennsylvania, had
some correspondence with Henry Price, who had
been appointed by Lord Montague Grand Master of
England, Provincial Grand Master of New England
and dominions and territories thereunto belonging.
Franklin's letter bore date Nov. 28, 1734, and in it he
said that as he had heard that " Mr. Price's deputation
and power were extended over all America," the
brethren in Pennsylvania requested from him a char-
ter confirming them in their privileges of holding a
Grand Lodge. It is not known that Price made any
reply to Franklin. It has been stated on June 24,
1734, a deputation was granted by the St. John's
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, but there is no evi-
the Dames of ihe brethren of the lodge. A curious thing aliout it is that
some of the pages are occupied with commercial entries in reference to
the publication of seventeen hundred and ninety copies of the Prayer-
Book, New Testament, and the Laws of Pennsylvania, a fact which
shows that some member of the lodge devoted to its service one of his
business ledgers. The B on the cover shows that an A preceded it,
though probably not a volume of accounts, as the lodge originated only
in the latter end of 173ii, and in 1732 had but nineteen members, as
appears from its vote when one of its members, William Allen, was
elected Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania.
Among the names of the members are those of Henry Pratt, William
Paschal, James Bingham, Owen Owen, Thomas Hopkinson, Capt. Wil-
liam Plumsted, John Waugh, James Hamilton, Joseph Shippen, Thomas
Bond, Philip Syng, Richard Howell, Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, David
Humphrey, and Henry Lewis, all of whom are still represented in Phil-
adelphia society. The tenth name on the list is that of Benjamin
Franklin, and the book establishes the fact of his having been made a
Mason on June 24, 1731, when " the remainder of his £3 entrance-fee
is £2." He had probably paid one pound previously, for he is charged
with five months' dues, dating, no doubt, from his "apprentice" days.
His publication on Blasonry appeared in his Gitzette of Dec. 8, 1730,
From this it is apparent that Franklin became affiliated as an entered
apprentice at least four months previously, say in or before February,
1731. By comparison with the register in the "Freemason's Pocket
Companion," published in Dublin in 1735, St. John's Lodge is identi-
fied with No. 116, and it met on the first Monday of each mouth; the
place of meeting in this register is placed at the Hoop, in Water Street.
dence that it was ever acted upon, and even the fact
of the grant rests under a shadow of doubt. Frank-
lin's application was caused, as he writes, by the
" fear of some false and rebel brethren, who were
foreigners, and who were about to set up a distinct
lodge in opposition to the old and true brethren, and
pretending to make Masons for a bowl of punch, the
craft coming into dissension unless the true brethren
are countenanced and distinguished by some such
special authority as desii'ed."
In 1735 the Grand Lodge changed its place of
meeting from the Tun Tavern to the Indian King,
the oldest and one of the celebrated public resorts of
that day, situated on the South side of High [now
Market] Street, below Third, at the southwest cornerof
Biddle's Alley [between Bank Street and Third Street] .
In 1749, about the time of the appointment of Wil-
liam Allen as Provincial Grand Master, the Grand
Lodge removed to the Royal Standard Tavern, located
on High Street, near Second Street. By this time
the members wearied of meeting in taverns, and,
on JIarch 12, 1752, they resolved to erect a separate
building for Masonic purposes. It was finished in
1754, and was a three-story brick building on the south
side of Norris [afterward Lodge] Alley, just west
of Second Street. Erected by subscription at a cost
of about seven hundred and thirty pounds, it was called
the Freemason's Lodge, and the title was vested in
trustees of the three lodges. On St. John's day,
17.55, the Masons had their first public procession and
celebration. They marched from the Norris Alley
hall to Christ Church, where they listened to a dis-
course from Brother William Smith upon the precept,
" Love the Brotherhood, fear God, and honor the
King." This was the order of the procession :
sword,
ing two-and-two.
^ho bore each a crim-
laid the Bible, and on the
. The Sword Bearer carrying a drawi
. Six Stewards with white rods, walli
. The Grand Secretary and Grand Ti
damask cushion, on one of which '
other the Book of Constitutions.
4. A reverend brother.
5. The Grand Master, supported by two brethren of rank and dis-
tinction.
6. The Deputy Grand Master, supported in like manner.
7. The two Grand Wardens.
8. Two members of the Grand Lodge.
9. The three orders, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, carried by three
Tylers.
10. The three Masters of the three i egular lodges of the city.
11. The two Wardens of the First Lodge.
12. The two Wardens of the Second Lodge.
13. The two Wardens of the Third Lodge.
14. The three Secretaries of the three lodges.
15. The three Treasurers of the three lodges.
16. The visiting brethren walking two-and-two.
17. The members of the First, Second, and Third Lodges walking two-
and-two.
18. The six Stewards with their rods, walking two-and-two.
19. The Grand Masters, Governor Morris', Governor Tinker's, and
others of the brethren's coaches and chariots, empty.
Cannon thundered their salutes and a curious popu-
lace gazed upon the panoply and display as the line
marched to the church and returned to the hall.
There a banquet had been prepared, which the Masons
2064
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and their guests enjoyed until the very modest hour
of five o'clock in the afternoon.
Up to this time there were two Grand Lodges in
England, — the Grand Lodge of England (at London),
and the Grand Lodge of All England (at York).
Harmony and discord alternately marked the rela-
tions of these two bodies, and in 1753 certain brethren
complained of the encroachment of the Grand Lodge
at London on their rights, declared that the ancient
landmarks had been removed, and they seceded, as-
suming the title of " Ancient York Masons," and de-
nominating the followers of the regular Grand Lodge
at London as " Moderns." From the Grand Lodge
of Ancients the present Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania
had its origin. The Provincial Grand Lodge (An-
cients), which was pumbered one, has left no official
memorial to show the circumstances which attended
its origin. Lodge No. 2 claims its date from July 7,
1758, when it was chartered by the London Grand
Lodge as English Lodge No. 69. On June 20, 1764,
the London Grand Lodge issued a patent to Lodge
No. 69, Ancient York Masons, at Philadelphia, au-
thorizing them to form and to hold a Grand Lodge
for the province of Pennsylvania. This warrant was
acted upon. The Provincial Grand Lodge was organ-
ized, and it is enumerated in the list of lodges as No.
1. Kecognizing the authority of this Provincial Grand
Lodge, No. 69 surrendered its warrant, and a new
warrant was issued to the same brethren, authorizing
them to hold Lodge No. 2, A. Y. M., of Pennsyl-
vania. Lodge No. 3 must also have been in existence
under a prior English warrant. Its earliest record
bears date Oct. 22, 1767, at which time it was organ-
ized under a warrant from the Provincial Grand
Lodge. Hugh Stewart was at that time Worshipful
Master. Up to the Revolution the Masters of No. 3
were as follows : 1767, Hugh Stewart ; 1768, Robert
Moore ; 1769, James Longhead ; 1770, William Shute ;
1771, John Fox; 1772, John Fox; 1773, Alexander
Kidd; 1774, James Fulton; 1775, Dr. Anthony
Yieldall ; 1775-76, Charles Allen. Before the Revo-
lution the place of meeting of the lodges of Ancient
York Masons was probably in Videll's Alley, a small
court which ran from the west side of Second Street,
below Chestnut, westward. There was in this allev
a building used occasionally for lectures, religious
meetings, and other purposes.
Lodge No. 3, according to a notice in a newspaper
published before the Revolution, met in Videll's Alley,
and most likely the other lodges met at the same
place. Afterward, it is probable, they met at the
City Tavern, where it appears the meetings were held
in 1777. In the interval between the establishment
of the Provincial Grand Lodge, No. 1, and the Revo-
lution, nineteen lodges had been chartered under its
authority. Of these Nos. 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, and 19 were
held in Philadelphia.
According to Ahiman Rezon, the first Royal Arch
Chapter in America of which any account exists
was held in Philadelphia before 1758. This chapter
worked under the warrant of Lodge No. 3, and had
communication with the military chapter working
under Warrant No. 35, granted by the Grand Lodge
of All England, which proceedings were subsequently
ratified by that body.'
The subject of Royal Arch Masonrj- was for many
years one of difficulty to the order in this State. In
1795 a man named Molan was at the head of the at-
tempt^ to introduce innovations into the Royal Arch
degree, and to form an independent Royal Arch Chap-_
ter in Philadelphia, under the warrants of Lodges
Nos. 19, 52, and 67, held in this city, and a Maryland
and a Georgia lodge. The Grand Lodge of Pennsyl-
vania nullified these proceedings, but acknowledged
the right of the subordinate lodges to exalt their
members to the Royal Arch degree. To secure uni-
formity in the work, it established a Grand Royal
Arch Chapter (the first in the United States), and in
1798 decreed that no warrant for a chapter should be
granted by the Grand Chapter except to be worked
under the warrant of a regular existing lodge. In
the previous year a convention of chapters, attended
by delegates from Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and New York,
had met at Boston, and had repudiated the authority
of Grand Lodges over Royal Arch Chapters.
In 1798 a Grand Chapter was erected, having juris-
diction over all the States mentioned, and made pro-
vision for organizing State Grand Chapters, to which
authority was given to institute subordinate chapters.
The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania protested against
all this, and much inconvenience was caused to the
Royal Arch Masons of this State. The trouble was
healed in 1824, when the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl-
vania agreed to a separation between itself and the
Royal Arch Chapter, which was thenceforth to be
independent, with authority to confer the Mark Mas-
ter's and the Most Excellent Master's degree, the
Grand Lodge retaining control of the Past Master's
1 The military, or traveling lodges, were established in both armies.
Before the Revolution, Masons of the Seventeenth British Regiment
were granted a warrant as Lodge No. 18 by the Grand Lodge of Penn-
sylvania. The present Montgomery Lodge, No. 19, was established by
warrant granted May 13, 1779, to the First Regiment of Pennsylvania
Volunteer Artillery. During the war this lodge traveled with the
Pennsylvania line, and some time ago the brethren of that lodge had
in possession an old-fashioned chapeau-de-bras which belonged to the
traveling lodge, and might have been worn by the Master. No. 19
worked under the original charter until after the war. In 1784 the
warrant was surrendered to the Grand Lodge. In 1786 a new warrant
was issued to supply the place of that which was surrendered, and it was
directed to Thomas Proctor, of the First Regiment of Pennsylvania Ar-
tillery. Under the latter warrant, Montgomery Lodge, No. 19, is still
worked. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania also issued warrants to
North Carolina, Maryland, and New Jersey Regiments of the Conti-
nental army.
After the Revolution, Warrant No 58 was issued to oflBcers connected
with St. Clair's expedition to the Northwest Territory. The Masonic
jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was without limit.
Upon the records there are entries of warrants issued to lodges in Penn-
sylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia,
Hayti, and the West Indies.
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2065
degree. By this action the Grand Chapter became
assimilated with the Royal Arch Chaptors of the
United States, although it was not acting under the
charter of the so-called Grand Chapter of the United
States, and the difficulties in the way of Pennsylvania
brethren visiting other jurisdictions were renewed.
The Grand Lodge (Moderns) almost ceased to exist
during the Revolution, the members being much
divided on politics, and Grand Master Allen, who
was a Royalist, having left for England. The new
Grand Lodge (Ancients) kept up its organization, and
met in the Modern Freemason's Lodge. In June,
1775, Lodge No. 3 met at Daniel Smith's City Tav-
ern, in Second Street, at the corner of what was sub-
sequently called Gold Street, and celebrated St. John's
day with a dinner, at which there were thirteen mem-
bers, who ate thirteen dishes, drank thirteen toasts,
sang thirteen songs, swallowed thirteen bottles of
wine and thirteen bowls of toddy, and paid a land-
lord's bill of thirteen pounds. They were loyal to
the inchoate republic, for it is recorded that their
toasts were all patriotically American. At least one
meeting of the new Grand Lodge was convened at
the same place in 1777. The city lodges were greatly
interfered with while the British troops occupied the
city. A lodge met at Second Street and Elfreth's
Alley, but it is believed to have been made up of
soldiers of the royal regiments. But when the Eng-
lish evacuated the city, in June, 1778, the Masons
prepared to reconstruct their organizations, with the
feeling that every tie had been ruptured which had
bound them to obedience to the Grand Lodge of
England. The Grand Lodge was reformed, and in
conjunction with subordinate lodges it commemo-
rated the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist,
Dec. 28, 1778, the occasion being honored with the
presence of Gen. Washington. A procession was
formed at the college. Fourth below Arch Street, and
in the following order marched to Christ Church :
1. The Sword Bearer.
2. Two Deacons, with blue wands tipped with gold.
3. Tiie three orders, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, borne by three
brethren.
4. The Holy Bible and Book of Constitutions, on two crimson velvet
cushions, born by the Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary.
5. A reverend brother.
6. Four Deacons, bearing wands.
7. His excellency, our illustrious Brother George Washington, Esq.,
supported liy the Grand Master and his deputy.
8. The two Grand Wardens, bearing the proper pillars.
9. The Past Masters ol' the different lodges.
10. The present Masters of lodges.
11. The Senior Wardens of the different private lodges.
12. The Junior Wardens of the different private lodges.
13. The Secretaries of the different private lodges.
14. The Treasurers of the different private lodges.
15. Brother Proctor's band of music,
16. Visiting brelhren.
17. The members of different lodges, walking two-and-two, according
to seniority.
The " Modern" Grand Lodge had ceased to exist
before or about 1778, some of the members connecting
themselves with the more prosperous lodges of the "An-
cients." The Grand Lodge of that year was a united
body. How long it remained at the City Tavern is
uncertain. In 1785, some of the brethren determined
to open a Sublime Lodge of Perfection, according to
the rites recommended by the King of Prussia, ex-
tending the Masonic degrees to the number of thirty-
three, which lodge was constituted December 23d, in
the " new Grand Lodge room in Black Horse Alley."
The room could have been occupied only a short
time, as during the next year the meetings were again
being held in the old hall on Lodge Alley, which in
1792 was sold to the First Universalist Church. In
1789 or 1790 the Grand Lodge erected a temporary
building on a lot on Walnut Street, that had been pre-
sented to it by Joseph Dean, Junior Grand Warden, for
the nominal consideration of one penny ground-rent
per annum, and which in 1807 the Grand Lodge sold
for one thousand eight hundred dollars.
A memorable event in the history of the order was
the meeting of the Grand Lodge and the subordinate
lodges, Sept. 25, 1786, when connection with the Grand
Lodge of England was severed. " It was improper,"
in the language of the resolution, "that the Grand
Lodge of Pennsylvania should remain any longer
under the authority of any foreign Grand Lodge."
In consequence of this action the Grand Lodge ad-
journed sine die. A convention was called by the
representatives of all the lodges, and the present
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was formed by the
following resolutions :
" Besohed, That the lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania, lately holden as a Provincial Grand Lodge, under the
authority of the Grand Lodge of England, shall and do form themselves
into a Grand Lodge, to be called *The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and
Masonic jurisdiction thereunto belonging,' to be holden in the said city
of Philadelphia."
Between 1790 and 1802 the Grand Lodge had several
official residences in succession, besides that on the lot
presented by Mr. Dean. It leased for nine years, from
Aug. 23, 1790, the second story of the Free Quaker
meeting-house, southwest corner of Fifth and Arch
Streets, at seventy-five pounds per annum. The expi-
ration of the lease was looked forward to with so much
anxiety that, in 1796, it was proposed to form the Mason
Hall Association of Pennsylvania, but the sub.scriptions
to the stock were so small that the undertaking was
fruitless. In 1779 the Grand Lodge might have been
homeless but for the kindness of Governor Thomas
Mifflin, who granted permission that its meetings
should be held in the room of the secretary of the
Senate, in the second story of the western part of
Independence Hall. There the communication was
held at which the Grand Lodge prepared for the
commemorative procession in honor of Washington,
soon after his death, December, 1799, Congress, by
resolution, having requested the Society of Free-
masons to act as mourners. After an address by the
Grand Master, the Masons marched to Zion Lutheran
Church, at Fourth and Cherry Streets, where an ad-
dress was delivered by Richard Henry Lee. Soon
2066
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
afterward the French Lodge L'Amenite held a Lodge
of Sorrow for Washington.'
On January 22d, the day of the general funeral sol-
emnity throughout the nation in memory of Washing-
ton, the Masons again assembled at the State-House,
and took up the route of march from Zion Church.
In the line three lights extinguished were borne by
three Past Masters. A trophy in honor of Washing-
ton, surmounted by a golden urn, bearing an eagle,
and appropriately inscribed, followed. The following
Blue Lodges were in the procession : L'Amenite, No.
73, Joseph E. G. M. De La Grange, Master; Phila-
delphia Lodge, No. 72, Christian Sheetz, Master ;
Orange Lodge, No. 71, William Nelson, Master ;
Concordia Lodge, No. 67, Henry Voight, Master pro
fern. ; Washington Lodge, No. 59, John McElwee,
Master ; Harmony Lodge, No. 62, George Springer,
Master ; Lodge No. 19, Capt. John Coyle, Master ;
Lodge No. 9, Capt. Andrew Nelson, Master; Lodge
No. 3, Col. John Barker, Master pi-o tern. ; Lodge No.
2, John Phillips, Master. Between three hundred
and four hundred Masons were in this parade. At
the church an oration was delivered by Rev. Samuel
Magaw. Solemn odes in the German language, com-
posed by Rev. Dr. Helmuth, were sung by a choir.
The accommodation extended by Governor Mifflin
was of course understood to be merely temporary,
and the Grand Lodge would probably have purchased
an unfinished building on the south side of Arch
Street, above Ninth, except for the objections of some
of the members that it was " too far out of town."
Consequently a purchase was made from William
Hunter, for three thousand dollars, of a plain three-
story brick building, on Filbert Street, above Eighth,
which was dedicated as the Pennsylvania Freema-
sons' Hall, on Dec. 27, 1802. Pending the repairs to
the edifice the lodges met at the house of Brother
William Frauds.
Twenty-four lodges were in the display with which
this Filbert Street hall was opened.
The rent paid per annum by the lodges was forty
dollars; by chapters and encampments, twenty dol-
lars. The second and third stories were in use for
Masonic purposes. The room on the ground-floor
was rented to a brother of the order for the purposes
1 L'Amenite Lodge, No. 73, was instituted by French refugees, who
had fled to Philadelphia from the reign of terror in France and the negro
insurrection in San Domingo. It was chartered by the Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania, May 20, 1797, the tirst officers being Tanguy de la
Beissicre, W. M.; Gabriel Decombaz, S. W. ; and Armand Caignet, J. W.
Among its members were the Abbe La Grange, Belin, Gardette, and
Chaudron, tlie orator. It was in this lodge, on Jan. 1, 1800, that Chau-
dron, in the presence of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, delivered
the first Masonic eulogy in the French language upon Washington.
This address and that of La Grange, who was then Worshipful Master
of the lodge, were printed in French and English editions. The com-
memoration had some political significance, as a crisis in the relations
of France and the United Stales was at hand, and the French brethren
in Philadelphia desired to testify their ardent hopes for peace between
the two nations, and their appreciation of the amity tiiat had prevailed
under Washington's administrations. L'Amenite went out of existence
about 1823.
of a school, and the education of the children of poor
brethren without charge, it was agreed, should be the
rent which he was to pay for the premises. The order
flourished greatly while the brethren occupied this
building. Charters were granted for lodges in various
portions of Pennsylvania and in foreign countries,
among the latter, Les Freres Unis, No. 77, Port
D'Espagne, Trinidad; No. 78, old Mingo Town,
Northwest Territory ; No. 85, Alexandria, Va. ; Nos.
87, 88j 89, San Domingo; Nos. 90, 93 (Loschavite),
New Orleans; Nos. 97, 98, 99, San Domingo; No.
103 (Les Temple des Vertues Theologialis), Cuba;
No. 105 (Amity), Zanesville. Ohio ; No. 107 (Western
Star), Kaskaskia, 111. ; No. 109 (Louisiana), Ste. Gene-
vieve, Miss.
The only Philadelphia lodges chartered were Co-
lumbia, No. 91, No. 102, and Jerusalem, Frankford.
MASONIC HALL IN 1802.
The old building on Filbert Street was torn down a
few years ago.
In a few years the Masonic order outgrew these
quarters, and in 1807 a committee, consisting of
George A. Baker, Peter Le Barbier Duplessis, Rich-
ard Tybout, and Thomas Passmore, bought from
William Wain a lot of ground on 'the north side of
Chestnut Street, between Seventh and Eighth, for a
ground-rent of eight hundred and fifty dollars per
annum, with privilege of extinguishment at any time
by the payment of sixteen and two-thirds years pur-
chase. A really handsome and ambitious building
for that epoch was erected, eighty-two feet front and '
one hundred and sixty-nine feet deep. The brick-
work and pillars were supported by buttresses of
parti-colored marble, enriched with niches for stat-
ues, capped by triangular pillars, connected together
by an embattled parapet capped with marble. A
wooden steeple, one hundred and eighty feet high,
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2067
rose from the centre of the roof. The first floor em-
braced a large hall, and several smaller rooms in-
tended for public purposes and the celebration of the
grand feasts, while the second floor was devoted en-
tirely to Masonic purposes. The corner-stone was
laid April 17, 1809, by the grand ofiicers. It was
presented by John Griffith, and bore a Latin inscrip-
tion, of which the following is a translation :
"On tlie 17th dayoftbe month of April,
in the thiity-thirJ year of tlie
"Independence of the
United States
of America,
of the Chrisriiin era
one thousand eight hundred and nine,
this foundation-stone of the Pennsylvania
Free Masons' Hall
was laid
hy James Milnor, Esqvirk,
Most Worshipfnl Grand Master of Masons in
Pennsylvania,
attended by
Peter Le Barbier Duplessis, Esq., Eight Wor-
shipful Deputy Grand Master; Richard
Tybout and Robert Poalk, Eight
Worshipful Grand Wardens,
amidst the acclamations of a numerous
assembly of brethren."
Very little work had been done before the Grand
Lodge found itself on the verge of a financial slough.
It was proposed to raise money by means of a lottery,
but the difficulty was tided over by issuing four hun-
dred shares of stock at one hundred dollars each,
and asking non-Masons to contribute towards the
erection of the steeple, as it was at the suggestion of
citizens, who considered " that it would greatly add
to the beauty of this flourishing and increasing
metropolis," that the addition was made. The Fil-
bert Street hall had been sold for four thousand five
hundred dollars, and the assets of the Grand Lodge
at this time were fourteen thousand seven hundred
and two dollars and seventy-seven cents. On the day
of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1811, the building
was dedicated. The committee of arrangements, with
a view of adding to the funds, recommended that the
price of tickets to the ball should be three dollars to
each member, and five dollars to the banquet. The
members were directed to meet at the old college in
Fourth Street, whence they marched to St. John's
Lutheran Church, on Race Street, between Fifth and
Sixth, where the Grand Master, James Milnor, de-
livered an oration, after which the proce-ssion re-
formed and marched to the new hall. The following
city lodges took part in the parade : Industry, No.
131 ; Phoenix, No. 130 ; Temple, No. 128 ; Philan-
thropy, No. 127 ; Rising Star, No. 126 ; Hermann,
No. 125; Union, No. 121; St. John, No. 115; Solomon,
No. 114; Columbian, No. 91 ; L'Amenite (French),
No. 73 ; Philadelphia, No. 72 ; Orange, No. 71 ; Con-
cordia, No. 67 ; Washington, No. 59 ; Harmony, No.
52; No. 51 ; Montgomery, No. 19; Nos. 9, 3, and 2.
There were also country lodges, and the grand officers
of New Jersey and Maryland. At the church was
sung a grand chorus, written by Brother John Nes-
bit, of Lodge No. 126, and composed by Brother R.
Taylor ; a Masonic hymn composed by Brother Tay-
lor and written by Brother Joseph Clay, Past Master
of No. 3 ; music, composed by Brother Carr and sung
by Brother Nesbit; prayers and benediction by Dr.
Rogers and the Junior Chaplain. At the church
there attended as guests the judges of the courts, the
attorney-general of the State, the mayor and re-
corder of the city, the clergy of various denominations,
the directors of the Academy of Fine Arts, and a
brilliant assemblage of ladies. At the hall the cere-
monies of dedication were celebrated in the ancient
and solemn form. The Grand Lodge, with the officers
from New Jersey and Maryland and about two hun-
dred of the brethren, dined in the banqueting-hall.
The members of Lodge No. 2 marched to the house
of Brother Patterson, near the Schuylkill, where an
address was delivered by Brother David Neilson,anda
prologue by Brother John Phillips, Grand Pursuivant.
Thirty-one lodges took part in the dedication cere-
monies, and from the amounts charged for admission
and for the banquet there was a profit of $2300.25.
The building cost 867,850.671 ; the furniture, with
other expenses, $4962.78. The ground-rent was event-
ually purchased for $14,166.67. Total cost of ground
and building, 886,980.121.
Up to the beginning of the year 1811 there were
added in the Filbert Street hall to the city lodges the
following: Solomon, No. 114; St. John's, No. 115;
Union, No. 121 ; Hermann, No. 125 ; Rising Star,
No. 126 ; Philanthropy, No. 127 ; Temple, No. 128 ;
Phcenix, No. 130 ; and Industry, No. 131.
On May 30, 1810, the order lost its Venerable
Patriarch, William Ball, Right Worthy Past Grand
Master, who, in 1761, received the first warrant for
a Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons in Pennsyl-
vania. He was in the eighty-first year of his age,
and for fifty-nine years he had been a constant
attendant on the services of the lodges.
Masonry in Philadelphia was most gratifyingly
stimulated by the construction of the new hall, but
there came a sudden and grievous check to this career
of success on March 9, 1819, when the edifice, of which
the brethren were so proud, was entirely swept away
by fire. One feature of the calamity was that nearly
all the old books, documents, and historical data of
the grand and subordinate lodges were lost.
The indomitable energy of the Masons was exhib-
ited in the meeting on March 11th, at which it was
resolved to rebuild at once. As to the financial situ-
ation the trustees of the Masonic loan reported that
the loan amounted to sixty-.six thousand dollars, the
sinking fund was fifteen thousand one hundred and
eighty-eight dollars, the insurance on the burnt hall
twenty thousand dollars, and the value of the lot was
more than equal to the balance of the loan. The
Grand Lodge and most of the subordinate lodges
went back to the Filbert Street hall during the time
2068
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
required for rebuilding on Chestnut Street. In view
of the debt pressing on the Grand Lodge, the temple
waa finished in a manner plainer than its predecessor,
and the steeple was omitted from the plan. An
apparatus was introduced to illuminate it by means
of carburetted hydrogen gas made from tar, and this
was the first use of gas for lighting in this city. In
order to help the fraternity the Legislature passed an
act releasing the property from taxation for twenty
years. The hall that had risen from the ashes of the
finest structure that the Masons of Philadelphia had
ever erected was dedicated Nov. 1, 1820, the lodges
listening in the morning to an oration at Zion
Church. Kebuilding expenses amounted to fifty-five
thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars and
five cents, and on March 1, 1824, the debt of the
Grand Lodge was one hundred thousand dollars.
The Masonic order took part in the ceremonies of
the reception of Gen. Lafayette, Sept. 28, 1824, and
the lodges joined in the general procession. Lafay-
ette being himself a Mason, a formal reception and
dinner were tendered him at the hall on September
80th, and the banquet-room was decorated with the
portraits of the two brethren, Washington and Lafay-
ette. Between 1811 and 1824, the following new
lodges were instituted: Franklin, No. 134; Roxbor-
ough, No. 135 (meeting at Mauayunk) ; Rising Sun,
No. 139; Mount Moriah, No. 155; Meridian Sun,
No. 158; La Reconnoissance (French), No. 160;
Eastern Star, No. 186 ; and Integrity, No. 187.
The controversy which had arisen in consequence
of the grievance of some of the country lodges, that
the Grand Lodge was conducted too much in the in-
terests of the Philadelphia brethren alone, was hap-
pily adjusted in 1822. The anti-Masonic excitement,
which about 1827 began in a small way, disastrously
influenced the fraternity in Philadelphia, so much so
that in 1835 the Grand Lodge sold the Chestnut
Street hall to the Franklin Institute for one hundred
and ten thousand five hundred and fifty dollars, and
bought Washington Hall for twenty-five thousand
dollars. This hall was on the west side of Third
Street above Spruce, and was the property of the
Washington Benevolent Association, which presented
to the Grand Lodge the Masonic apron once the
property of George Washington. This relic is still
in the possession of the Grand Lodge in a perfect
state of preservation.
Washington Hall was dedicated Dec. 8, 1831, at
which time twenty-eight lodges were represented.
In 1852 it was decided to erect a new hall on the
Chestnut Street site, which had reverted to the
Masons through the failure of the Franklin Institute
to keep up its payments. The corner-stone of this,
the third Chestnut Street Masonic temple, was laid
Nov. 21, 1853, by Grand Master Anthony Bournon-
ville. Grand Warden Dr. John K. Mitchell deliver-
ing the oration. The building committee were James
Page, Francis Blackburne, Philip R. Engard, James
Hutchinson, William M. Swain, William Carr, and
George Smith.
On Sept. 26, 1855, this hall, which was of Gothic
architecture and had a brown stone front, was dedi-
cated, the day being the sixty-ninth anniversary of
the independence of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylva-
nia. Four thousand Masons marched in column from
Washington Hall to Independence Square, where
Rev. James King delivered an oration, and the line
then moved to the new Temple, which was one of the
most magnificent buildings of the kind in the country,
costing in all one hundred and eighty-three thousand
three hundred and twenty-eight dollars. Here Ma-
sonry prospered exceedingly, and in 1866 the site of
the present Grand Temple, on Broad Street, appropri-
ately styled " the wonder of the Masonic world," was
bought. The committee that conducted the purchase
were Past Grand Master Henry M. Phillips, Charles
H. Kingston, John U. Giller, Henry J. White, James
C. Adams, Daniel Brittain, and Jacob Laudenslager.
Grand Master Richard Vaux laid the corner-stone
June 24, 1868, in the presence of ten thousand Ma-
sons. The articles deposited in the corner-stone were
a copy of the Holy Bible, copy of the Ahiman Rezon
of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, list of lodges
in this jurisdiction, copy of the last annual publica-
tion, copy of the resolutions of the Grand Lodge in
reference to the building of the Temple, copy of the
Masonic Register for 1868, coins of the United States,
a Washington penny of 1791, a Franklin penny of
1787, piece of wood cut from one of the cedars of
Lebanon, a piece of marble that was part of the
Golden Gate of the Temple of King Solomon, piece
of stone fi'om the foundation of the Temple at Jeru-
salem, a gold Masonic medal (keystone), silver medal
of Past Grand Master Peter Williamson, copper medal
struck in commemoration of the election of the Prince
of Wales as Grand Master, Nov. 24, 1790, gold Ma-
sonic medal (circle), silver set of lodge jewels and
the working tools of a Master Mason's Lodge, biog-
raphy of Brother Stephen Girard, newspapers of the
day, resolutions of the Grand Lodge in relation to
the new Temple, the list of the building committee,
and the list of lodges and grand ofiicers.
The architect was James H. Windrim, and the build-
ing committee was the same as the purchase committee
already named, with the addition of the election officers
I of the Grand Lodge. The trustees of the building fund,
who had charge of the finances, were Past Masters
James Page and John Thomson, Joseph N. Piersol,
Peter A. Keyser, and Francis Blackburne. Under
the wise and skillful management of these brethren,
• who earned for the Grand Lodge $35,544.84 in the
shape of interest, all the money required for the exe-
cution of the great work was secured just as it was
needed. During the Masonic year 1868 the amount
spent on the structure was $209,344.77 ; in 1869, $190,-
000; in 1870, $189,367.19; in 1872, $835,722.19, and the
remainder of the total in 1873. The entire receipts
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2069
of the building fund were as follows: From surplus
fund of Grand Lodge, $144,686.24; from Masonic
loans, $1,385,425; from interest on loans, §35,544.84 ;
from old material, §1,256.74 ; a total of $1,566,912.82.
The jiayments were for the lot, $156,793.16 ; for the
building, $1,390,018.14; interest to Grand Treasurer,
$9061.45; brokerage, $3750.00; expenses of trust,
$170.79; a total of $1,559,793.54, which, as deducted
from the receipts, left a surplus of $7119.28. John
Bolt was superintendent of the building till Nov. 8,
1871, when he was succeeded by Allen
Bard, who tarried it on to completion.
This Temple was dedicated Sept. 26,
1873, by Grand Master Samuel C. Per-
kins. Beside the Grand Lodge of Penn-
sylvania there were represented in the
procession the Grand Lodges of Con-
necticut, Delaware, District of Colum-
bia, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mis-
sissippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, North Carolina, Nova Sco-
tia, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wis-
consin, Ireland, Alabama, Arkansas,
and Canada. One hundred and fifty-
eight subordinate lodges made up the
twenty-eight divisions of which the pro-
cession was composed, George W. Wood
being Grand Marshal. Over twenty
thousand Masons were in line, and
made a most noble and impressive dis-
play. Moving at 8.30 in the morning
from Broad and Chestnut Streets up to
Columbia Avenue, and countermarch-
ing to Arch Street, the procession was
four hours and a quarter in reaching the
Temple. The people who viewed the
imposing spectacle could be numbered
by hundreds of thousands, and Masonic
decorations were everywhere visible.
The formal dedication ceremonies were
proceeded with at the Temple, and the
oration was delivered by Past Grand
Master Robert A. Lamberton. In the
evening a banquet was given, and a
"Table Lodge" was held. On Septem-
ber 29th the Grand Chapter Hall of the
Royal Arch Masons was consecrated,
addresses being made by Grand High
Priest Charles E. Meyer and Acting
Grand King Andrew Robeno, Jr. The next day the
Knights Templar consecrated their Asylum in the
Temple with the most brilliant pageant ever seen in
Philadelphia. Twenty-six Grand Commanderies and
subordinate Commanderies were in the public parade,
of which Charles H. Kingston was Division Com-
mander. The orator of the day was the Right Emi-
nent Grand Commander Sir Grant Weidman.
Much has been written of the dimensions and beauty
of this Temple. The four fronts — on Broad, Cuth-
bert. Juniper, and Filbert Streets — are perfect speci-
mens of Norman architecture, unlike anything else in
the city. Granite of a grayish white color is the mate-
rial of the exterior. The grand tower at the southeast-
ern angle has an elevation of two hundred and fifty
feet. Like Solomon's Temple of old, this one has three
gates, of which the western, on Broad Street, is the
grand entrance. The important divisions are the
apartments of the grand ofiBcers, the Library, Ori-
MASONIC TEMPLE, 1S84.
ental Hall, the Banquet Hall, Corinthian Hall, Re-
naissance Hall, the Ionic Hall, Egyptian Hall, the
Norman Hall, and the Gothic Hall, the name of each
of which suggests the style of its construction and
decoration. They are all spacious and stately inte-
riors, ornamented with chaste and truthful art. Since
the ceremonies of dedication-week, the Masons of
Philadelphia have but had to review a career of
progress, upon which there has not been a serious
2070
HISTOllY OF PniLADELPHIA.
drawback. The fraternity is now one hundred and
fifty-four years old in this jurisdiction, and in 1886
will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the inde-
pendence of its Grand Lodge.'
Colored Masons. — The introduction of Masonry
into Philadelphia among the colored people was
accomplished by means of authority conferred by
the African Grand Lodge of Boston, Mass., and
on Sept. 20, 1798, a charter was issued to the Second
African Lodge, No. 459. There were eleven peti-
tioners for the charter, among whom were William
Harding, James Fosten, and Peter Richmond, who
asserted in their memorial that they were Ancient
York Masons, and others averred that they were made
Masons in the Golden Age Lodge, Xo. 222, of the city
of London. It is not known where the meetings of
the African Lodge, No. 459, were first held. The books
and papers of the organization have been scattered,
and very much rests upon tradition. In the Aurora
of Dec. 21, 1808, appears a notice that on the suc-
ceeding St. John's day the African Lodge, No. 459,
would proceed from the lotlge-room. No. 155 Lom-
bard Street, to St. Thomas' Church to hear a sermon,
after which a collection would be taken up for the
benefit of the church. No. 155 Lombard Street was
between Fifth and Sixth, on the north side. After
some years of prosperity the African Lodge found
itself in a sufficiently satisfactory financial condition
to undertake the building of a hall for itself. On
Oct. 25, 1814, it laid the corner-stone of such a hall
on Eleventh Street, next door to the southeast corner
of Barley Street, which was dedicated in June, 1818.
In 1798 there was also constituted in Philadelphia
African Lodge, No. 544, the originators of which
were colored seamen, who obtained a charter from a
Grand Lodge in Germany. No 459 had no authority
beyond the Master Masons' degree, while No. 544
could work Koyal Arch and higher degrees, and
could create new lodges. It gave a warrant to still ,
another lodge of colored Masons. The conflicting !
1 Masonic Templarism was established in Pennsylvania by Encamp-
ment No. 1, of Philadelphia, in 1793, and between that date and 1T97
Encampments No. 2, of Philadelphia, Xo. 3, of Harrisbnrg, and No. 4, of
Carlisle, were formed. These commanderies came together in 1797, and
on the 12th of Blay established a Grand Encampment for Pennsylvania,
being the first encampment of Knights Templar in the United States.
This branch of the Masonic order continued its meetings without at-
tracting any public attention. The Grand Lodge recognized it in the new
hall on Chestnut Street by appropriating the room of the Royal Arch
Chapter for the meetings of the Templars. The work of the encamp-
ments was derived from the English, Scotch, and Irish rituals. In 1S12 ;
Commanderies Nos. 1 and 2, being weak in numbers, resolved to con- j
Bolidate, and were recognized as No. 1.
On the 8th of June, 1819, the Most Eminent Sir William McCorkle,
General Grand Master of the Pennsylvania Encampment of Knights
Templar and the appendant orders, issued a charter by which he created
Sir Knights Stephen P. Barbier Grand Master, John W. Kelly General-
issimo, and John D.Ferguson Captain General of an encampment of
Knights Templar, to be held in the city of Philadelphia, and to be
known aa St. John's Encampment of Knights Templar, No. 4. After |
that period there were difficulties in the order as to jurisdiction, and I
No8. 1, 2, and 3 went out of existence, and in 1824 St. John's, No. 4, was
the only commandery in Pennsylvania. j
claims of these rival organizations were injurious to
both, and good sense prevailing among the members,
they finally concluded to come together and form one
body. There were now three lodges, it was claimed,
and suflScient to constitute a Grand Lodge, — namely,
Second African, No. 459, African, No. 544, and the
lodge created by the latter. This union was effiected
in 1815, and the lodges took the title of the First
Independent African Grand Lodge of North America.
The following officers were elected : Rev. Absalom
Jones"; R. W. G. M. ; Peter Richmond, Dep. G. M. ;
Alexander Logan, Sen. G. W. ; Matthew Black, Jun.
G. W. ; William Coleman, G. Sec. ; Anthony Kane,
G. Treas.
At a meeting of the Grand Lodge, on the 4th of
March, 1816, the minutes show that there were four
lodges represented. Among these were the Second
African (Prince Hall Lodge), No. 1 ; the African (Ger-
man), No. 2; Phcenix, No. 3; and Union, No. 4;
which were constituted on the 31st of January, 1816.
A warrant was granted Nov. 25, 1817, to constitute
Harmony Lodge, No. 5.
In July, 1818, a trouble arose in the order which
led to the adoption of extreme measures. Sixteen
signers gave notice that, as members of the African
Grand Lodge, they declared themselves "dissenting
from and independent of that body." The Grand
Lodge expelled them, charging them with " endeav-
oring to split and destroy this society and its har-
mony."
On the 4th of January, 1819, the warrant of Union
Lodge, No. 4, which was in the hands of Benjamin
F. Chase, was ordered to be restored to the Grand
Lodge, while the lodge was ordered to be expelled for
ninety years, nine months, nine weeks, and nine
days. These expulsions led to the formation of an
opposition to the Independent African Grand Lodge
— which was composed of Union Lodge and other
organizations made up at the beginning from the
members expelled — in July, 1818, which was known
as the Hiram Grand Lodge. They established them-
selves in Seventh Street, below Lombard, west side,
and were in operation there for many years.
In 1825 some members of Harmony Lodge, No. 5,
were also expelled by the Independent African Grand
Lodge. They continued to hold meetings and engage
in the work without giving any attention to the action
which was taken against them, and claimed, in after-
years, to have obtained a charter from the Grand
Lodge of Ohio, meeting at Chillicothe.
The following were Grand Masters of the First In-
dependent Grand Lodge of North America between
the time of its institution, in 1815, and 1825 : Rev.
Absalom Jones, 1815-16 ; Peter Richmond, 1816-20 ;
Freeman Lattimore, 1820-21 ; Peter Richmond, 1821
-25 ; Richard Parker, 1825-26.
Notwithstanding the dissensions that have been
alluded to, the colored Masons of Philadelphia have
increased in numbers and influence until they now
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2071
form an important element of the community.
Among them are many of the colored citizens of the
first standing.
Odd-Fellowship.'— The Independent Order of Odd-
Fellows is a beneficial, benevolent, and charitable
organization, an offshoot of the Manchester Unity of
Odd-Fellows, in England. The payment of weekly
and funeral benefits to its members is one of its pre-
dominant and peculiar characteristics, and its past
record shows that it has been second to none in its
contributions for the relief of the afllicted and dis-
tressed, not only of its own membership, but to those
entitled to public sympathy and assistance whenever
unforeseen calamities demand it.
It was not unusual with the early Odd-Fellows to
profess an origin of great antiquity ; but nothing is
known of it beyond the existence of a few scattered
self-constituted convivial clubs in London and some
of the adjoining districts in England, under the name
of the Ancient Order of Odd-Fellows,— at the latter
part of the eighteenth century a sort of a necessary
appendage to the taverns of that day, — extending inci-
dental relief to their fellows very much after the plan
of the Saxon guilds, but without any recognized head
or system, and apparently without a thought of per-
petuating its existence by properly adjusted dues and
benefits, that would secure to any or all of its
members the needed relief as a riglit, until 1813,
when, under the leadership of an intelligent marble
mason, by the name of Bolton, in Manchester, some
of these scattered and self-instituted lodges were
formed into a united and fraternal brotherhood,
under the name of the " Manchester Unity of Inde-
pendent Odd-Fellows," which has continued to grow
and increase with the population and industries of
that country, and is at this day among the largest
and most useful of the friendly aid societies of Eng-
land, with over half a million of members, enjoying
the unbounded confidence of the government and
people of that country. The institution, therefore,
as we know it, is of modern time, grown in our
midst and fashioned by our hands, and however at-
tractive the origin of antiquity may be, we put forth
no claim to such distinction.
The order was introduced into the United States,
in 1819, by Thomas Wildey, of Baltimore, who had
been a member of it in London before he emigrated
to this country, and the first lodge in the State of
Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania, No. 1) was organized
in the city of Philadelphia, at the house or hotel of
John Upton, then No. 66 Dock Street, west of Second
Street, Dec. 26, 1821, with John Pearce as the Noble
Grand or presiding officer, John Upton as treasurer,
and two others, James Day and Samuel Croucher, all
that could be found in Philadelphia at that time, and
James B. Robinson, who came over from New York
City (afterward the first Grand Master of the State of
New York) to make up the requisite number to insti-
tute the lodge.
They were all Englishmen, joining together to re-
vive and introduce into this country the social and
convivial assemblies of the respectable middle classes
of the English people, as they had seen and known
them in London and Manchester.
1 Contribuled by John W. Stokes, Past Grand Sir
history of the first decade of the order in PennsylvaniE
132
author of the
UPTON'S HOTEL, DOCK STREET, 1821.
There had been previous to this, and there were at
this time, lodges in Baltimore, New York, and Bos-
ton, all of them self-instituted, as this one was,
having no official head or connection with each other
until Thomas Wildey, who had been instrumental in
establishing the order in Baltimore, and subsequently
obtained a charter from one of the Manchester Unity
Lodges in England, took steps, in June, 1823, to unite
these self-instituted lodges under one head, in which
they mutually agreed to recognize the Maryland or-
ganization and the Grand Lodge of Maryland as the
head of the order on this continent, which was there-
after to be composed of representatives chosen annu-
ally from these and subsequent Grand Lodges as the
order should extend to other States, each of these
States accepting from the Maryland organization a
Grand Lodge charter, which gave them the exclusive
authority to institute subordinate or working lodges
within the limits of their respective States. The Grand
Lodge of the United States, or Sovereign Grand Lodge,
reserved to itself the exclusive right to introduce the
order into the other States and Territories of the
United States and foreign countries, and this general
plan of organization has been maintained to the pres-
ent time, until the order has been successfully estab-
lished in ei'cry State and Territory of the Union,
Canada, the British provinces, Australia, Germanic
2072
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Europe, Mexico, South America, Netherlands, Swit-
zerland, Denmark, the Sandwich and West India
Islands.
Pennsylvania Lodge, No. 1, considering its novelty
in this country, was a success both in the numbers
and character of the members that were attracted to
it. Its financial system, if it had any, was at first a
crude one. Relief by voluntary contributions, as the
occasions required, for a while answered all practical
purposes, but when the alluring features of the origi-
nal founders became distasteful to our people a prop-
erly-digested system of dues and benefits became neces-
sary, and was adopted, which has steadily improved
ever since, and, though not so perfect as it might be,
is enabling the lodges and encampments to live up to
their promises to a degree that inspires the members
with an abiding confi-
dence in the perform-
ance of their engagements
whenever sickness and
misfortune befall them.
The increase in num-
bers of the Odd-Fellows
soon overrun Upton's ac-
commodations, and they
were compelled to seek
other quarters. In the
latter part of 1823 they
removed to No. 14 Broad
Street, above Arch, where
they remained until the
early part of 1826, when
they again removed, to
the northwest corner of
Seventh and Chestnut
Streets. The English in-
fluence and customs here
lost their force, and the
convivial practices which
had characterized the
lodge-meetings were for-
ever abandoned. Sam-
uel Pryor, who was by
birth and education a Quaker, became the Grand
Master of the State. He was a man of culture, of
easy and affable manner, and good address, popular
and highly esteemed in the Grand Lodge, as well
as in the community. He and his co-laborers de-
voted their best efforts to Americanize this ephem-
eral scheme of Anglo-Saxon social good-fellowship
into an organized plan of perpetual blessing to mil-
lions of the human family. The change gave a
new impetus to the order, and it continued to in-
crease and extend under the new system of things to
the upper and outer districts of Frankford and Ger-
mantown, and to the distant cities of Pottsville and
Pittsburgh. Lodges No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, the latter
to work in the German language, sprung up in rapid
succession. There was a necessity for better accom-
modations, which was recognized by the Grand Lodge
in leasing and fitting up several commodious rooms
in the Adelphi Building, on Fifth Street, below Wal-
nut, in 1830, where they remained until September,
1846, when they removed to the new hall on Sixth
Street, below Race, which the lodges located within
the old city limits had previously united in building,
at a cost of about sixtj'-five thousand dollars. By the
contributions of one cent per week per member of
each"- lodge and encampment composing the associa-
tion, with the rents received during the payments of
these contributions, the lodges paid for the building
and furniture in about twelve years. The order still
continued to increase in numbers and popular favor,
and to keep pace with the industries and population
of the city and State, until out of the forty-three
places of meeting in the
city of Philadelphia for
the accommodation of one
hundred and forty-one
lodges, they now have
fourteen large and sub-
stantial buildings that are
owned by the order and
clear of debt, yielding
handsome returns upon
the investments.
In looking over the
early records of the or-
der, we are forcibly struck
with a long list of names
of those who, doubtless,
foresaw the future pos-
sibilities for good that
could be accomplished by
this novel organization, if
the proper direction was
given to it in the begin-
ning, and to whom pos-
terity are much indebted
for the wonderful success
and prosperity that fol-
lowed. Few of them sur-
vive, but they have left names behind them that their
descendants and contemporaries should be proud of.
The writer of this sketch came into this order over
fifty years ago (1833), and found them actively en-
gaged in this benevolent and unselfish work, build-
ing up an organization designed solely to benefit
and help their fellow-men in times of need. They
were from all the varied pursuits of life, earnest
workers in whatever their hands found to do. In
justice to their memories, the names of a few of them
are given that have passed from works to rewards, that
it may be an incentive to those that survive to en-
courage every good effort to improve the condition
and alleviate the misfortunes of their fellow-men,
however humble may be its beginnings, to wit: John
Pearce, Samuel Pryor, Samuel H. Perkins, Jesse R.
JOHN DPTON.
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2073
Burden, John H. Campbell, William 0. Rudman,
William Wilkinson, Dr. William J. A. Birkey, Ezra
T. Garrett, Howell Hopkins, Dr. Auson Jones (after-
ward presi<lent of the republic of Texas), William
Skinner, Charles Oakford, Marshal! Sprogall, James
Goodman, Richard G. Laning, Stephen Child, Samuel
R. Brick, Joseph S. Brewster, Jacob Hubeli, Peter
Fritz, John W. Forney, Horn R. Kneass, Dr. Henry
S. Patterson, John G. Potts, John McMichael (father
of the late Morton McMichael, whose statue adorns
our beautiful park), and many others of like worth
and reputation. They were representative men of the
times, twelve of them afterwards Grand Masters of the
State and three — Perkins, Hopkins, and Kneass —
Grand Sires of the United States.
The wonderful results that have followed the hum-
ble efforts of these five adopted citizens to bring their
fellow-men together, regardless of their country or
creed, into closer fellowship and sympathy with each
other in prosperity or affliction, upon a platform that
the whole human family can harmoniously stand upon,
recognizing God as the Father of all and themselves as
a family of brethren, which the last report of the Grand
Lodge of the State exhibits, attests the value of its con-
tinued existence. From a single lodge in this city,
sixty years ago, with but five members, meeting in the
upper room of a hotel, we have now one hundred and
forty-one lodges, with over thirty thousand members,
owning fourteen substantial halls for their accommo-
dation, with over four hundred of their numbers spe-
cially and constantly charged with the duty of visiting
the sick, burying the dead, and caring for the widows
and orphans entitled to the aid and sympathy of the
fi-aternity.
The following comprises a list of the principal
officers since the establishment of the order in Phila-
delphia :
Grand Secretary.
William Curtis.
Grand Treasurer.
F. K. Morton.
&I. Ricbarda Muckle.
Year. Grand Muster.
Grand Secretary.
Grand Treasurer.
1823. Aaron Nichols.
W. H, Mathews.
Benjamin Baffin.
Joseph Richardson.
1824. Thomaa Small.
1825.
W. Richardson.
Aaron Nichols.
1826. E. H. Bartle.
Samuel Pryor.
Emor T. Weaver.
1827. Samuel Pryor.
Thomas Small.
Joseph E. Manuel.
1828. Wni. H. Mathews.
Andrew Anderson.
1829. John G. P.itts.
Samuel Pryor.
"
18:iO. Isaac Brown.
John G. Potts,
1831. Auson Jones.
Thomas Small.
Joseph K. Manuel.
1832. Wm. Skinner.
"
" "
1833. Wm. Jae. A. Birkey
William Skinner.
John G. Potts.
1834. Joseph Fontayne.
"
William L. Hobson.
Daniel Kenny.
1
18.35. Samuel H. Perkins.
" "
" "
1836. Joseph S. Brewster.
John Rhoads.
" "
1837. Jacob Hubeli.
Joseph S. Brewster.
" "
1838. Howell Hopkins.
" "
" "
1839. Horn R. Kneass.
"
John Coates.
1840. John W. Stokes.
William Curtis.
"
1841. John T. Brown.
" "
" "
1842. Joseph Browne.
•'
F. K. Morion.
1843. John C. Yeager.
"
u ..
1844. John Perry.
"
" "
1845. N. B. Leidy.
"
" "
1846. Thomas McKeever.
" "
•' "
1847. Joseph S. Langer.
" "
"
Year. Grand Master.
1848. Daniel Baker.
1849. Henry S. Patterson
1860. George S. Moiris.
1851. William H. Witte.
1862. Peter Fritz.
1853. Jas. B. Nicholson.
1854. Thomas Helm.
1855. Caleb E. Wright.
1856. D. Francis Condie.
1857. Robt. .\. Lamberton. " " " "
1858. Elias Wildmnn.
1859. Henry Lambert. " " " "
1860. John A. Simpson. '* " ** '*
1861. Daniel Washburn. " •' " "
1862. William English.
1863. I. H. McCauley. " " " "
1864. William H.Trinick. " " " "
1865. John M. Croslaud. " " " "
1866. George Fling. " " " "
1867. Richard Watson. " •' " "
1868. Peter B. Long. " " " "
1869. Sanil. F. Gwinner. James B. Nicholson. " "
1870. John B. Springer. " " " "
1871. Alfred Slack.
1872. Jacob M. Campbell. " " " "
1873. William Stedman. " " " "
1874. Isaac A. Sheppard. " " " "
1875. John Levergood. " ** " *'
1876. George F. Borie. " " " "
1877. S. B. Boyer.
1878. Samuel Haworth. " " " "
1879. John A. Myler. " " " "
1880. Alfred K. Potter. " " " "
1881. Robt. E. Wright, Jr. " " " "
1882. Francis M.Bea. " " " "
1883. Charles N. Hickok. " " " "
The following figures from the last official report
of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania show the out-
growth of the establishment of the first lodge in
Philadelphia, and also bear witness of the growth,
vitality, and appreciation of its purposes by the
people throughout the State :
Subordinate lodges 895
Members 80,389
Brothers relieved 11,355
Widowed families relieved 9:i6
Paid for the relief of brothers $277,620.31
" " burying the dead 85,706.57
" " relief of widowed families 7,790.59
'* '* education of orphans 460.45
■ Total relief during the year $371,567.92
And as showing that the people of this city and
State are not alone in the enjoyment of the advantages
of this organization, these statistics from the last report
of the Sovereign Grand Lodge are appended :
RETURNS FOR THE YE4K 1882.
Sovereign Grand Lodge 1
Independent Grand Lodges (German Empire and
Australasia) 2
Grand L.idges 60
Grand Encampments 41
Subordinate lodges 7,514
Subordinate encampments 1,864
Rebekah Degree Lodges 995
Lodge initiations 47,649
Eucampment initiations lu,044
Lodge members 493,997
Encampment members 85,110
Belief by lodges $1,704,290.98
Relief by encampments 16ti,806.91
Relief by Rebekah Lodges Il,:i45.99
Total relief. 1,882,443.88
Revenue of lodges 4,7.55,712.10
Revenue of encampments 441,884.78
Revenue of Rebekah Lodges 48,359.12
Total revenue 6,245,946.00
2074
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
THE ORDER FROM 1830 TO DEC. 31, 1882.
iDiliatiODB in aubordiDate lodges 1,273,368
Members relieved 1,044,480
Widowed families relieved 138,685
Members deceased 101,451
Total relief. $34,690,988.23
Total receipts 92,838,831.83
The American Legion of Honor is a secret benevo-
lent order, which was established at Boston, in 1879.
It embraces a membership ranging from eighteen to
sixty-five years, and pays death benefits of $500,
$1000, $2000, $3000, and $4000. Assessments are
graded according to the age of the candidate when
becoming a member. It was introduced into this city
in 1880 by the institution of Philadelphia Council,
No. 48. There are now seventy councils in Philadel-
phia, named as follows :
Harmony, No. 23 ; Philadelphia, No. 48; Anthra-
cite, No. 49; Eureka, No. 53 ; Pennsylvania, No. 57 ;
Quaker City, No. 58 ; Germantown, No. 63 ; Key-
stone, No. 75 ; Washington, No. 76 ; Fidelity, No. 94 ;
Apollo, No. 96 ; Kensington, No. 98 ; Provident, No.
105 ; Corinthian, No. 107 ; Excelsior, No. 119 ; Pro-
gressive, No. 125; Anchor, No. 129; Knickerbocker,
No. 130 ; Franklin, No. 131 ; West Philadelphia, No.
132; Empire, No. 133; Advance, No. 155; Mercan-
tile, No. 200 ; Lincoln, No. 310 ; Enterprise, No. 331
Theodore H. E. Gruel, No. 335 ; Sylvania, No. 339
Unity, No. 479 ; Phoenix, No. 487 ; Milton, No. 488
Spring Garden, No. 551 ; Columbia, No. 621 ; Invin-
cible, No. 628 ; Minerva, No. 645 ; Aggressive, No.
681; Merchants', No. 707 ; Grand, No. 740 ; Security,
No. 748; Equity, No. 759; Royal Oak, No. 806;
lownao. No. 815 ; Major, No. 823 ; Belmont, No. 831 ;
Royal Arch, No. 845 ; Mentor, No. 907 ; Rittenhouse,
No. 927; Diamond, No. 928; Live Oak, No. 964;
William Penn, No. 981 ; Hand-in-Hand, No. 990 ; St.
John's, No. 1030; Norris, No. 1040; Welcome, No.
1062 ; Oak, No. 1082 ; Eli S. Beery, No. 1096 ; Pros-
perity, No. 1122; Mutual, No. 1173; and Schuyler,
No. 1174. Michael Nisbit, of Philadelphia, is Su-
preme Commander of the Supreme Council of the
State of Pennsylvania.
Order of Elks.— The Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks was the outgrowth of a social club of
actors known as the " Jolly Corks," and was origi-
nally established in New York in 1868 by members
of the dramatic profession, who modeled it after the
analogous Order of Buftaloes in England. At the
start the object of the Elks was but little more than
the cultivation of a sociable feeling among the mem-
bers, and none but actors or persons in some way
connected with the stage were admitted; but in
about six months the benevolent feature was intro-
duced, and the restriction on the membership was
removed. The second lodge instituted was Phila-
delphia, No. 2, which is one of the largest and most
prosperous of all. It was established in 1872, and
occupies rooms at the northeast corner of Tenth and
Chestnut Streets. By the constitution of the order
only one lodge is permitted to exist in any city.
Philadelphia Lodge now has one hundred and sixty |
members, and its oflBcers are as follows : Exalted *
Ruler, John Christie ; Esteemed Leading Knight, C. '
E. Henney ; Esteemed Lecturing Knight, Albert ;■
Armstrong ; Secretary, Lou Frazer ; Treasurer, David '
B. Hill.
The Artisans' Order of Mutual Protection is
beneficiary in its purposes. Philadelphia Assembly,
No. 1, was organized in 1873. Six other assemblies
have since been instituted in this city, and are now
in existence. They are : Keystone, No. 2 ; Pennsyl-
vania, No. 3 ; Nonpareil, No. 5 ; Commonwealth, No.
9 ; Fidelity, No. 21 ; and John A. Duncan, No. 28.
The Iron Hall, a beneficiary secret order, origi-
nated at Indianapolis in March, 1881, and on the
following September Ist, Dr. James R. Ward insti-
tuted Branch No. 26, with seventeen members, which
was the first in Philadelphia. There are, in 1884,
fifteen branches in this city, having an aggregate
membership of six hundred and forty.
The Knights of the Golden Rule, also bene-
ficiary, is an organization which was introduced into
Philadelphia, Nov. 7, 1881, by the formation of Castle
Penn, No. 192, which is still the only one in the city.
It numbers thirty members. Throughout the country
the order has two hundred and forty-seven castles
and a membership of four thousand eight hundred.
The Ancient Order of Good-Fellows is nearly
half a century old in this city, Philadelphia Lodge,
No. 1, having been organized in 1840; including it,
there are now ten lodges in Philadelphia. The other
nine are : Pennsylvania, No. 4 ; American Star, No. 5 ;
General Washington, No. 6; Keystone, No. 11; Hu-
mane, No. 14; Mount Vernon, No. 17; Washington,
No. 20 ; Welcome, No. 40 ; and Penn Township, No.
45. There are also two encampments, — Philadelphia,
No. 1, and Washington, No. 8. The total of the
membership here is about one thousand.
The Knights of Honor, a secret beneficial organiza-
tion, paying a death benefit of two thousand dollars,
collected on the mutual assessment plan, was estab-
lished at Louisville in June, 1873, and now has two
thousand seven hundred lodges and a membership of
one hundred and forty thousand. The first lodge in
Pennsylvania was Philadelphia Lodge, No. 1638,
which was instituted in 1876, and has since been
merged into another. The Philadelphia lodges in
1884 are as follows :
Name and Number. Members.
Columbia, No. 1639 229
Triple Tau, No. 1792 98
Eagle, No. 1868 68
Nonpareil, No. 1890 56
Girard, No. 1915 95
St. Albans, No. 1926 60
Continental, No. 2066 33
West End, No. 2073 76
American Star, No. 2136 36
Corinthian, No. 2224 36
St. Leger, No. 2407 69
West Pliiladelphia, No. 2439 40
Constantine, No. 2448 45
Theodore Koebner, No. 2502 72
Mentor, No 2573 1 76
Covenant, No. 2776 51
Total 1129
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2076
Dr. Jacob Roberts, of Philadelphia, is present
Grand Director of the State of the Knights of Honor.
The Order of United Friends is regularly char-
tered under the insurance laws of the State of New
York, where the first council was instituted in No-
vember, 1881. Philadelphia Council, No. 44, was the
earliest in this city, having been organized Sept. 29,
1882. On April 25, 1883, the Grand Council of the
State of Pennsylvania was formed by sixteen councils,
most of which were situated in Philadelphia. The
existing councils in this city are ten in number, viz. :
Philadelphia, No. 44; Corona, No. 50; Pennsylvania,
No. 52 ; George G. Meade, No. 54 ; Orient, No. 56 ;
Hand-in-Hand, No. 71 ; Mercantile, No. 84 ; South-
wark. No. 105 ; Keystone, No. 108 ; and Quaker City,
No. 120. Their membership sums up five hundred
and fifty-five. Dr. Jacob Roberts, of this city, is Im-
perial Councilor of the Grand Council of Pennsyl-
vania.
The Royal Arcanum is a secret benevolent order
which pays a death benefit of three thousand dollars,
collected from members in proportion to age. It
arose in Boston in June, 1877, and was introduced in
this city in April, 1879, when Philadelphia Council,
No. 293, was instituted. The councils and their mem-
bership in this city now are :
Name. Members.
Pennsylvania 390
PhiladBlphia 250
Vfest Philadelphia 66
Ionic 140
Ivy 90
Quaker City 45
Dupont 40
Integrity 70
Total 1090
The Home Circle is a secret and beneficiary asso-
ciation that was originated in Boston in 1879. Adel-
phi Council, No. 38, was the first in Philadelphia,
and was organized in December, 1881. The other
councils in this city at present are : Woodland,
No. 41 ; Fidelity, No. 42 ; Pennsylvania, No. 61 ;
Mizpah, No. 62 ; Olivet, No. 69 ; and Southwestern.
The membership is between three hundred and fifty
and four hundred.
The Order of United American Mechanics was
founded at meetings held July 8th and July 15, 1845,
at Jefferson Temperance Hall, Philadelphia, when
an organization, styled the American Mechanics'
Union, was formed for the protection and encourage-
ment of workingmen, and the providing of relief
funds. On July 22d this society took the name of
Experiment Council, No. 1, of the Order of United
American Mechanics of the United States. It char-
tered Enterprise Council, No. 2, Sept. 2, 1845, and
Perseverance Council, No. 3, Oct. 21, 1845. In No-
vember of the same year these three instituted the
State Council of Pennsylvania. In 1858 the order
completed its fine hall, corner Fourth and George
Streets, at a cost of forty-five thousand dollars. It
has three hundred and fifty-four councils in the State,
including forty-three in the city. The following are
the Philadelphia councils:
Name and Number. Members.
Experiment, No. 1 41
Enterprise, No. 2 47
Resolution, No. 4 17
Washington, No. 6 207
Pennsylvania, No. 6 31
United Slates, No. 7 133
Kensington, No. 9 312
Independent, No. 10 146
Liberty, No. 11 179
Hand-in-Hand, No. 14 193
Fame, No. 15 177
Friendship, No. 16 26
Eagle, No. 19 80
Maniua, No. 22 109
Rising Sun. No. 24 60
Elm Tree. No. 26 '. 86
Northern Liberty, No. 28 132
Decatur, No. 36 152
Spring Garden, No. 38 118
Science, No. 39 44
■Reliance, No. 40 102
Philadelphia, No. 43 25
Mount Vernon, No. 44 108
Radiant Star, No. 45 185
Relief, No. 47 76
Schuylkill, No. 56 49
Improvement, Nil. 68 - 61
Aramingo, No. 78 117
Matthew Patton.No. 79 43
Ashland, No. 81 65
Southwark, No. 83 39
Lincoln, No. 99 123
Progressive, No. 109 47
Western, No. Ill 60
General Marion,No. 117 77
United, No. 175 26
Hiawatha, No. 195 42
Purity, No. 209 117
Humane, No. 234 84
Greble, No, 103 118
Henry Clay, No. 107 47
Total 3091
The Patriotic Sons of America is an order that,
under the title of Junior Sons of America, originated
in Philadelphia in 1847, the membership being exclu-
sively of young men under twenty-one years of age.
It was suspended during the civil war because of the
general enlistment of its members, but was reor-
ganized in 1866 under the new name as above. Its
main purpose is the cultivation of patriotism. Mem-
bers must be over seventeen years old, must favor free
education, and oppose the union of church and state
and foreign encroachment in America. It also pro-
vides death benefits running from five hundred dollars
to fifteen hundred dollars. The State Camp of Penn-
sylvania, chartered in 1868, is located in Philadel-
phia, as is also the National Camp, which was or-
ganized in 1872. There are three degrees in the
order, — the red, the white, and the blue. The subor-
dinate organizations of the red are called camps ;
of the white, councils ; and of the blue, comman-
deries. There are nearly two hundred of these
divisions in Pennsylvania, with a membership of over
fifteen thousand. They have a monthly publication
of twenty-four pages, called the Camp News. In Phila-
delphia there are sixteen camps and one commandery.
The superior officers in 1884 are as subjoined :
Officers of the National Camp. — National President, Richard Peterson,
Broad and Noble Streets, Philadelphia, Pa.; National Vice-President,
George P. Smith, 42 Corbitt Street, Denver, Col. ; National M. of F. and
C, Hewitt T. Ellis, Connersville, Fayette Co., Ind.; National Secretary
Henry J. Stager, 524 North Sixth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. ; National
Treasurer, Arlhur S. Welch, 41 Leonard Street, New Haven, Conn..
National Inspector, I. A. Heald, 111 First Street, San Francisco, Cal.
2076
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Stat* Camp ft/ Penntylrania. (BendquurlerH in SutiA u{ America
BuildinK, Nurtb Sixth Street, aborr Spring Garden, Pliiladelphia).—
Slate Preiiident, J. II. HofTer, Lebanon. U-Unon Co. ; StHle Vice-Presi-
dent, J. B. Reed, Mount Cannel; State M.ofF.aiid C, J. I. Hollenbeck,
Aildenr-ld, Carbon Co.; Slate Treasurer, I. 8. .Smith, 145 North Fourth
Street, Reading; State Secretary, William Weand, .'>24 North Sixth
Street, Piiilu.leliihia ; Stale Comnmnder, John Wallower, .Ir , Harriibnrg.
The Great Senate of Sparta was founded in
Philadelpiiia in the montli of December, 1879. The
fir^t Venerable High Priest was Rev. Charles Logan,
and the first Great Refrent was John B. MofTatt. The
present officers are: V'enerabie High Priest, William
B. Kinsey ; Regent, J. Palmer Cht-sebrough ; King,
George R. Wilkinson ; and Captain of the Guards,
J. R. Welsh. There are eighteen subordinate senates
in Philadelphia, which have nearly seventeen hun-
dred members. Membership is limited to persons
residing within one hundred miles of this city, and
no senates can be established beyond those bounds.
The Sons of Temperance was instituted in New
York, Sept. 29, 1842, to give discipline, permanency,
and united effort to the temperance movement. Its
classifications are the subordinate divisions, the Grand
Divisions of States or Territories, and a National
Division, the latter the supreme power of the order,
which is a secret one. Philadelphia Division, No. 1,
instituted .\pril 7, 1843, wius the first in this city or
State. Within the next year it was followed by Wash-
ington Division, No. 2; Hope l>ivision. No. 3, and
Pennsylvania Division, No. 4 ; representatives from
the four forming the Pennsylvania Grand Division,
April 26, 1844. In 1847 there were in Pennsylvania
267 divisions and 23,440 members, including 70
divisions and 9180 members in Philadelphia, and in
1849 the number in the State had increased to 285
divisions with 27,241 members. The reeei]»ts in this
State for that year were ?87,7G9. of whieh $43,727 was
spent in the relief of sick and disabled members. The
National Division of North America was organized
June 17, 1844, and in 1847, when it met in Philadel-
phia, it had under its jurisdiction 22 Grand Divisions,
1300 subordinate divisions, and about 100,000 mem-
bers. From 1849 to 1859, inclusive, it initiated 756,-
487 members, and received in fees and dues $5,084,-
477. The order of the Temple of Honor and Tem-
perance, the order of Good Templars, the Rechabites,
the Sons of Jonadab, and the Sons and Daughters of
Samaria have grown out of the Sons of Temperance,
which was the pioneer of all secret organizations in
opposition to the liquor traffic and liquor-drinking.
By a tax of two cents per quarter upon each member
in the State, the Grand Division of Pennsylvania
raised its display at the Centennial Exhibition, — the
ice-water fountain that stood at the junction of Foun-
tain and Belmont Avenues, and furnished, free of
charge, refreshment to more than a million visitors.
At the close of the Centennial, the Sons of Temper-
ance removed the fountain to Independence Square,
where they supply it with ice at their own cost from
June to October every year. They contemplate erect-
ing another free ice-water fountain in the court-yard
of the Public Buildings as soon as they are completed.
In this year (1884) there are fifly-five divisions of the
order in Philadelphia, with an aggregate of over five
thousand members.
The office of the Grand Division is at No. 118 South
Seventh Street. The officers for 1884 are Rev. John
Peacock, G. W. P. ; William Davis, G. W. A. ; John
C. Maguigan, G. Scribe ; Alfred Miller, G. Treas. ; Rev.
Wesley C. Best, G. Chap.; William McCaughn, G.
C. ; George Giles, G. Sent.
SCBOBDINATE DIVISIONS IN PHILADELPHIA.
Name and Number. Members.
Washington, No. 2 _ _ 102
Prospect, No. 4 „ _. 8S
Franklin, No. 5 „ _ 94
Tacony, No. 7 __ IM
Morris City, No. U. ™ 48
Union, No. 12 _ 68
Keystone, No. 16 _ _ _.. 31
Friendship, No. 19 1«T
Rlerophknt, No. 21 ™. 78
Arcadia, No. 23 101
AggfMslT*. No. 27 _.._ 18
Paaionos, So. 2S _.. SO
Welcome, No. 29 _ 4T6
Harmonr. No. 3" _ _.. M
ProireesiTe, No 34 _ 4M
Fredonla. So 36 _ „ _ M
Quaker City, So. 39 _ 166
FedermI, N... 40 _ , 61
Gny's Ferry, So.43_ 79
eilrer Leaf, No. 47 _ !C6
Dasbaway, No 48 _ 27
SilTer Sprinc No. 60 _ „ 46
Manayunk, No. 64 48
Frankfard. No. M 116
Star of Promise, No. 58. U6
Industrial. No. 62. „ _ 58
GarHeld, No. 63 __ 81
Star of Bethlehem, No. 66 88
MornlUE SUr. No. 66 _ „ - 1*1
Railruad. No.69 „ _ _ 80
Helping Hand, No. 7a 127
ReM-ue. No 76- 88
Bu«h Hill, No. 7fi. ..„_ _. 117
Fox Chase. No. 99 87
Americas, No. 101 78
Hooar.1. No. 104 _ 63
Southoettern, No. 114 „.
KeU
. 116..
124
lleltlea
Oakdale, No. 120 „ .. 198
Dillirenl, No. 122 _ 291
Uolmesl.urg, No. 123 _ _ _ 76
Onward, No. 130. Ill
Bustleton, No. 131 „ _. „.. 72
Angora, No. 168 _ _ 106
NIcetown, No. 171 _.. 76
OIney, No. 173 „ _ 79
Milestown, No. 175 _. 31
Excelsior, No. 205 _ 66
Fidelity, No. 211 _ _ 44
SecnritT, No. 273 _ „ 47
Falls of Schoylkill, No. 298. „ „.. 23
Nalarite. No. 306 ,. 28
Great Western, So. 334 ;. 84
Ark of Safely, No. 385 65
Total 5024
The Grand Army of the Bepublic' is a secret semi-
militan.- order, the requirements for admission to
which are that the candidate shall hold an honorable
discharge from the army or navy of the United States.
It was organized soon after the close of the civil war
for the purpose of continuing the associations formed
among the soldiers and sailors, to care for comrades in
distress or their widows and orphans, and to serve the
government in any emergency wherein it might be
called upon. Its aims are expressed in its motto of
1 Oontribnted by John M. TaodereUce.
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2077
" Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty." The founder
of the Grand Army was Col. B. F. Stephenson, who
established the first post at Decatur, III., in the spring
of 1866. Posts inultiplied rapidly in the State, and
a Department Encampment was organized July 12,
1866. The order spread quickly to other States, and
on Nov. 20, 1866, delegates from Illinois, Missouri,
Kansas, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, and the District of Colum-
bia met at Indianapolis and formed the National En-
campment. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, of Illinois,
was chosen Commander-in-chief; Gen. James B. Mc-
Kean, of New York, Senior Vice-Commander-in-
chief; Gen. Nathan Kimball, of Indiana, Junior
Vice-Commander-in-chief; and Col. B. F. Stephen-
son, Adjutant General.
The exact date of the formation of the first post in
the Department of Pennsylvania is still a disputed
question, the honor being claimed by Posts Nos. 1, 2,
and 19, of Philadelphia, and No. 3, of Pittsburgh. In
Philadelphia the organization grew out of the Boys
in Blue, who, in 1866, appointed Col. S. B. Wylie
Mitchell, Col. Robert B. Beath, and Capt. William J.
Mackey, a committee to apply to the Department of
Wisconsin of the Grand Army of the Republic for a
charter for a post in this city. The charter was
granted, bearing date of Oct. 29, 1866. Col. William
McMichael and others, also of Philadelphia, had ap-
plied to the Commander-in-chief for a charter, which
was granted, and bore date Oct. 17, 1866. On the
question of seniority between these two posts being
referred to the Commander-in-chief, he decided that
Col. McMichael's post should be No. 1, and Col.
Mitchell's post No. 2.
Being unaware of the existence of any other post
in the State, and, desiring to extend the organization,
at once comrades of Post 2, living in diflerent parts of
the city, withdrew for the purpose of forming other
posts, and charters were granted by Post Commander
Mitchell to the following :
November 7th, Post No. 2, Third Ward, Philadel-
phia, afterward renumbered 5, R. B. Beath, Post Com-
mander; November 16th, Post No. 3, Twenty-second
Ward, Philadelphia, afterward renumbered 6, Louis
Wagner, Post Commander ; November 19th, Post No.
4, Eighteenth Ward, Philadelphia, afterward renum-
bered 7, Jacob M. Davis, Post Commander; Novem-
ber 20th, Post No. 5, Fourteenth Ward, Philadelphia,
afterward renumbered 8, Nicholas Baggs, Post Com-
mander. These posts are all in vigorous existence at
this date. Post No. 6, of Camden, was also formed
by Post No. 2.
The charter of Post No. 9, at Gettysburg, was
granted by the Department of Illinois, and is dated
Nov. 24, 1866, being the last post organized by author-
ity from other States.
Gen. Louis Wagner, of Philadelphia, was appointed
Commander of the Provincial Department of Penn-
sylvania by Special Orders No. 1, Headquarters
Grand Army of the Republic, Springfield, 111., Nov.
22, 1866, and he assumed command Nov. 27, 1866, at
once issuing circulars and forms for the formation of
posts throughout the State.
By General Orders No. 3, Dec. 20, 1866, he called a
convention for the purpose of effecting a permanent
department organization, which met in Philadelphia,
Jan. 16, 1867 ; and, in his report. Commander Wagner
called attention to the fact that all of the posts known
to exist had reported to him as required in general
orders, except two in Pittsburgh.
These two posts were represented in convention
under the titles of Posts No. 1 and 2 of the District
of Alleghany, and claimed to have been organized
prior to any others in the State.
It was claimed that Post No. 1, District of Alle-
ghany, was organized in Septembei', 1866, by L. Edwin
Dudley, Aid-de-Camp to the Commander-in-chief, but
the records on file place the date of organization No-
vember 3d, and that of Post No. 2, District of Alle-
ghany, Nov. 5, 1866.
These posts were numbered 3 and 4 respectively.
Post No. 19, of Philadelphia, also claimed to be No.
1. Gen. A. L. Pearson, Aid-de-Camp to the Com-
mander-in-chief, in a letter to the post, gives the date
of their organization as Oct. 11, 1866, when Col. Wor-
rall and associates were initiated in Pittsburgh, but
the minutes of the post show that the first meeting
was held in Philadelphia, Nov. 30, 1866. They were
represented in the first convention as from the Twen-
tieth Ward, Philadelphia, and are classed ou the list
of posts as No. 17, being afterward changed to No.
19 by the introduction of Posts Nos. 3 and 4, not given
on that list.
The Grand Army was organized at a time when
party spirit ran high, and when many ex-soldiers and
sailors were being put forward for oflBcial positions on
account of their peculiar claims upon the country.
Many of the men who took a prominent part in the
political movements of soldiers and sailors in 1865
and 1866 were also prominent in the formation of the
order.
The transition from the " Boys in Blue" to the
" Grand Army" seems so easy and natural that the
uninitiated public at once inferred that the motives
and objects were the same, and consequently the
members were subject to the attacks of one political
party because of supposed affiliation with the other,
and from the latter met with as determined opposition
on the part of those who feared that the Grand Army,
appealing to popular sympathy for those who had
served their country in the field, might seriously in-
terfere with their disposition of the offices of trust
and profit, and the opposition thus made could not
but be injurious to the organization.
In 1869 and 1870 there was a virtual reorganization
of the order, under which all political or partisan
action in any form is prohibited to the posts. The
fruits of this wise policy are now shown in the min-
2078
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
gling together of men of all shades of political opin-
ion, working together in the cause of fraternity,
charity, and loyalty.
The growth of the order in Pennsylvania has taken
place during the past seven years mainly. The Com-
manders of the first few years labored zealously, with
but little immediate apparent result. Since 1876 the
progress has been steady, reaching, in 1878, at the
close of the administration of C. T. Hull, the num-
ber of 8339 comrades and 126 posts. During the year
1879, in which George L. Brown was Commander,
there were gained 5004 comrades, or sixty per cent.,
thus carrying the membership far beyond the 10,000
line, as will be seen by the statistics which follow.
Commander Chill W. Hazzard gained, in 1880, 4218, a
percentage of nearly thirty-two. Comrade John Tay-
lor, Commander in 1881, pushed the column across
the 20,000 line, making a gain of 3022 comrades, again
of seventeen per cent, on the large basis upon which
he started out. During 1876-81, Comrade John M.
Vanderslice was Asssistant Adjutant-General, and
contributed much to the work of organization which
characterized these years. In the course of the year
1882, Comrade John M. Vanderslice, as Commander,
contributed an addition of 4953 comrades, a percentage
of twenty-four. Comrade Thomas J. Stewart was first
appointed Assistant Adjutant-General by Commander
Vanderslice in 1882. During the year 1883, Com-
mander E. S. Osborne pushed the membership to the
30,000 line, with a gain of 5419, or twenty-one per
cent.
The following table indicates the number of posts
and the membership at the end of the years named:
Date.
1876 .
1876 „
1877 ..
1878.
1879.
1880 .,
1881 .
1882 .
1883.
No. of
No. of Com-
Posts.
rades.
79
4,515
88
4,658
106
126
5,607
8,339
150
13,343
200
233
30.i
408
17,561
20,5S3
25,536
30,955
The following is a roster of the posts located in
Philadelphia:
George G. Meade, No. 1, mustered Oct. 17, 1866.
No. 2, mustered Oct. 29, 1866.
No. 5, mustered Nov. 7, 1866.
Ellis, No. 6, mustered Nov. 16, 1866.
Capt. W. S. Newhall.l No. 7, mustered Nov. 19, 186
Col. E. D. Baker, No. 8, mustered Nov. 20, 1866.
Lieut. Greble.s No. 10, mustered Dec. 1,1866.
Hetty A. Jone8,3 No. 12, mustered Dec. 13, 1866.
U. Dahlgren, No. 14, mustered Oct. 2, 1876.
No. IS,* mustered Jau. 20, 1877.
Col. W. L. Curry ,5 No. 18, mustered Dec. 19, 1866.
Fred Taylor, No. 19, mustered Dec. 22, 1866.
C. Sunderland,' No. 21, mustered Jan. 12, 1867.
Admiral Dupont, No. 24, mustered April 27, 1876.
1 Reorganized Sept. 23, 1871.
8 Reorganized March 9, 1874.
6 Reorganized July 6, 1875,
6 Disbanded March 20, 1869; reorganized August 5, 1875,
Reorganized May 12, 1873.
Reorganized Nov. 2, 1878.
John W. Jackson,' No. 27, mustered Jan. 31, 1867.
" The Cavalry," No. 35, mustered Oct. 16, 1879.
Col. Gus. W. Town,« No. 46, mustered June 17, 1874.
Phil. R. Schuyler,' No. 61, mustered April 1, 1867.
Gen. Phil. Kearney ,io No. 66, mustered April 15,1867.
John W. Moore.n No. 56, mustered Aug. 24, 1875.
Gen. D. B. Birney,'^ No. 63, mustered Aug. 21, 1874.
Gen. John F. Reynolds, No. 71, mustered July 16, 1867.
No. 77, mustered March 29, 1876.
Robert Bryau," No. 80, mustered Sept. 28, 1877.
Anna M. Ross," No. 94, mustered Nov. 17, 1874.
Charles Sumner, No. 103, mustered May 27, 1878.
Winfleld Scott, No. 114, mustered Dec. 30, 1878.
No. 116, mustered Jan. 22, 1879.
Hector Tyndal, No. 160, mustered April 6, 1880.
Pennsylvania Reserve, No. 191, mustered June 18, 1880.
J. A. Koltes, No. 228, mustered Nov. 21, 1873.
Gen. R. Patterson, No. 276, mustered July 29, 1882.
Lieut. E. W. Gray, No. 312, mustered March 16, 1883.
No. 334, mustered May 9, 1883.
" The Naval," No. 400, mustered Dec. 12, 1883.
Independent Order of Good Templars.''— In 1851
the order of Good Templars sprang up in Central
New York as an antagonist of the liquor traflSc.
Though in some respects private, it is not a secret
society. It admits both sexes upon terms of equality,
and recognizes the ballot as a mighty engine of power
in securing the triumph of temperance reform. Its
members take a life-long pledge not to make, buy,
sell, use, furnish, or cause to be furnished to others
as a beverage, any spirituous or malt liquors, wine or
cider ; and in all honorable ways to discountenance
their use in the community. It is essentially a mis-
sionary organization, employing competent lecturers,
publishing and circulating temperance literature, and
forming temperance libraries. The Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania was instituted Dec. 28, 1853, at Mans-
field, Tioga Co., by Rev. D. W. Bristol. Its present
oflBcers are :
G. W. C. T., Rev. George C. Hart, Waymart, Wayne Co. ; G. W. C, W.
K. Fraser, Houtzdale, Clearfield Co.; G. W. V. T., Mrs. Anna J. Weich-
mann, 1610 Cherry Street, Philadelphia; G. Secretarj-, Miss Abbie A.
Hinkle, 1824 North Eleventh Street, Philadelphia; G. Treasurer, John
P. Connard, 1409 North Eighth Street, Philadelphia; G. Chaplain, Rev.
J. S. McMurray, Tyrone, Blair Co.; P. G. W. C. T., A. Bestwick, New
Brighton, Beaver Co., Pa.; Assistant G. S., W. H. Schwartz, Morning
Tribune, Altoona ; G. M., Ambrose Close, Westfield, Tioga Co, ; G. D. M.,
Miss Hannah M. Mingle, Lock Haven, Clinton Co. ; G. G., Mrs. M.
Smailes, Beltzhoover, Alleghany Co.; G. Sent,, Rev. H. A. Grant, Eliza-
beth, Alleghany Co.
The first lodge established in Philadelphia was
Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 37, organized at Frank-
ford, Oct. 22, 1861, by J. Newton Pierce, with eighty-
five charter members, and William W. Axe, Worthy
Chief
Eelief Lodge, No. 28, was organized at Darby (near
" Disbanded Sept. 8. 1879 ; reorganized Oct. 2, 1879.
8 Disbanded Oct. 15, 1869; reorganized.
9 Disbanded March 20, 1868 ; reorganized July 17, 1874.
l» Disbanded Sept. 11, 1869 ; reorganized July 12, 1875.
11 Disbanded Oct. 14, 1869 ; reorganized.
12 Disbanded Oct. 15, 1860 ; reorganized.
"Disbanded March 31, 1877; reorganized Sept. 28,1877.
» Originally chartered by S. 0, 87, Dec. 26, 1867.
1^ Contributed by Miss Abbie S. Hinkle.
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2079
Philadelphia) in March, 1860. It removed to Phila-
delphia April 13, 1865, and met at the northwest
corner Tenth and Spring Garden Streets. The char-
ter was surrendered several years ago.
Philadelphia Lodge, No. 76, was instituted Jan-
uary, 1865, and is still meeting, but its membership
is now small.
Lincoln Lodge, No. 95, was organized April 14,
1865, the date of the assassination of President Lin-
coln, for whom the lodge was named. It met at the
southeast corner Eleventh and Catharine Streets for
many years, and reached a membership of nearly two
hundred. The charter was surrendered in October,
1881.
At one time in Philadelphia there were fifty-eight
lodges holding regular meetings, but through un-
toward circumstances many of these were obliged to
disband. Those now in existence are as follows :
Name and Number. Members.
Garfield, No. 3 135
Quaker City, No. 6 79
Golden Rule, No. 11 90
Chosen Friends, No. 12 36
Mount Vernon, No. a7 100
Philadelphia, No. 76 21
Germantowu, N.>. 101 8
Shackamaxon, No. 105 104
Invincible, No. 145 17
Effective. No. 622 50
Alpine, No. 777 109
America, No. S18 56
Sincerity, No. 987 27
Charles Cooke, No. 1016 25
Total 856
Knights of Pythias. — The secret and beneficial
order of the Knights of Pythias was established at
Washington, D. C, Feb. 19, 1864. It has "endow-
ment sections," paying death benefits of one thou-
sand, two thousand, and three thousand dollars, and
" uniform divisions" in which members enjoy the ad-
vantages of strict military drill. On Feb. 19, 1867, a
meeting was held at the residence of George Henslee,
corner of Brown and Fifteenth Streets, to organize
the first lodge in Philadelphia, when the objects and
system of the order were explained by Past Grand
Chancellor Barton, of the District of Columbia; and
on February 23d, Excelsior Lodge, No. 1, was insti-
tuted in the hall of the Mechanics' Fire Engine Com-
pany. At the session of the Grand Lodge, July 9,
1867, the petition of Excelsior Lodge that all its first
officers be made Past Chancellors was granted. Six
days later Keystone Lodge, No. 2, of Philadelphia,
sent up an application for a charter, under date of
June 29, 1867, with twenty-six members.
Applications for charters poured fast into the Grand
Lodge of the District of Columbia, and within the
next two months of 1867 it issued and instituted the
following in this city : Chosen Friends Lodge, No. 3,
July 20th; Quaker City Lodge, No. 4, July 31st;
Star of Bethlehem Lodge, No. 6, August 12th; Adel-
phia Lodge, No. 7, August 17th ; Damon Lodge, No.
8, August 24th ; Apollo Lodge, No. 9, September 6th ;
Sparta Lodge, No. 10, September 7th ; Liberty Lodge,
No. 11, September 9th. At this time there were
eleven lodges in the State, Friendship Lodge, No. 5,
of Reading, having been chartered August 3d. These
lodges united in requesting the Grand Lodge of the
District of Columbia for a charter for a Grand Lodge
for the State of Pennsylvania, which was accorded, to
take effect Jan. 1, 1868. In December, 1867, there
were thirty-one lodges in the State, and it was deter-
mined to organize the Grand Lodge at once. On
December the officers of the Provisional Supreme
Lodge of the United States and of the Grand Lodge
of the District of Columbia arrived in Philadelphia,
and at American Mechanics' Hall, corner of Fourth
and George Streets, installed the following as the first
grand officers of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania:
Wilbur H. Myers, V. G. P.; Frederick Coppes, G.
C. ; George W. Crouch, V. G. C. ; William Blancbois,
G. R. S. ; William T. Slocum, G. F. S. ; William T.
Rose, G. B. ; C. T. Prentiss, G. G. ; Joseph L. Nichols,
G. I. S. ; Edwin T. Martin, G. O. S.
The office of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania has
been continuously located in Philadelphia.
In 1871 a building at No. 1027 Race Street was
purchased from the Diligent Hose Company, and
fitted up for its occupation. Its officers in 1884 are
H. O. Kline, P. G. C, Altoona; Austin Long, G. C,
Philadelphia ; John H. Carr, G. V. C, Altoona ; Ed-
ward V. O'Neill, G. Prel., Frankford, Philadelphia ;
George Hawkes, G. K. R. and S., Philadelphia ; Julius
Mountney, G. M. of E., Philadelphia ; Henry W.
Mohr, G. M. at A., Allentown ; John H. Colton,
G. I. G., Philadelphia ; Edward B. Emrey, G. O. G.,
Spring Garden, Chester Co., ; Thomas G. Sample,
Rep. to Supreme Lodge, Alleghany City ; Smith D.
Cozens, Rep. to Supreme Lodge, Philadelphia ; George
Hawkes, Rep. to Supreme Lodge, Philadelphia;
Charles K. Neisser, William A. M. Love, John W.
Beebe, trustees, Philadelphia.
There are four hundred and thirty lodges and forty
thousand members in the State. In Philadelphia
there are ninety-five lodges, with twelve thousand
members. The city lodges are as follows :
Name and Number. Members.
Excelsior, No. 1 123
Keystone, No. 2 234
Chosen Friends, No. 3 Ill
Quaker City, No. 4 179
Star of Bethlehem, No. 6 205
Adelphia, No. 7 108
Damon, No. 8 183
Apollo, No. 9 228
Sparta, No 10 124
Liberty, No, 11 17
Eureka, No. 12 431
Arcadia, No. 13 187
Union, No. 14 174
America, No. 15 80
Fame, No. 16 186
Crystal Fount, No. 17 136
Southwark, No. 18 252
Social Friends, No. 19 131
Nonpareil, No. 20 84
Minerva, No. 21 281
Philadelphia, No, 22 76
Shekinah, No, 23 249
Mechanic, No, 24 335
Oriental, No. 25 173
KisingSun.No. 26 152
Penn Township, No. 27 122
Ragau, No, 28 167
Washington, No, 29 1»2
Mount Vernon, No. 30 141
2080
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Name and Number. Members.
Spartacus, No. 31 204
Olive Branch, No. 33 217
Fulton, No. 34 126
Commercial, No. 35 26
Amicitia, No. 36 S9
Star of America, No. 37 138
Gerniantown. No. 38 201
William Penn, No. 39 204
Aurora. No. 40 86
Fredonia, No. 41 166
Franklin, No. 42 157
Henry Clay, No. 44 121
Harmony, No. 46 49
Perseverance, No. 46 118
Integrity, No. 48 148
Hector, No. 49 126
Palestine, No. 51 68
Anthracite, No. 62 147
Malta, No. 53 104
Hermann, No. 54 314
Kensington, No. 65 262
Mercantile, No. 67 219
Amity, No. 60 122
Myrtle Wreath, No. 61 297
Columbia, No. 62 209
Bridesburg, No. 63 221
Joseph, No. 64 181
Welcome, No. 66 108
Samson, No. 67 144
Livingston, Nq. 69 108
Starof Columbia, No. 70 124
Qermania, No.71 169
Cicero, No. 73 142
Guttenberg, No. 74 316
Humboldt, No. 95 135
Goethe, No. 96 140
Centennial, No. 100 65
Columbus, No. 110 104
Steuben, No 113 81
Coenrde Leon, No. 120 117
Pennsvlvania, No. 122 134
Fidelity, No. 123 86
Adherent, No. 124 86
Crusnders, No. 126 122
Cincinnatus, No. 126 261
Pythagoras, No. 129 130
Barbarossa, No. 133 94
Schubert. No. 138 88
Shiloh, No. 1.39 92
Fairmount. No. 1,53 66
Continental, No.166 151
Purity, No. 176 165
Merchants', No. 176 47
Julius Csesar, No. 182 62
Evening Star, No. 187 133
Triumph, No, 192 31
Fourth of July, No. 196 64
Banneeet, No. 206 88
George Peabody, No, 213 38
True Knights, No. 220 161
Metropolitan, No. 227 146
Paladin, No. 228 74
Cosmopolitan, No. 233 71
Bed Cross, No. 312 106
Temple, No. 341 76
Shining Light, No. 350 64
Schceffer Lodge, No. 464 89
Knights of the Golden Eagle.'— The order of the
Knights of the Golden Eagle is a secret benevolent
institution, founded in the city of Baltimore, Md.,
Feb. 6, 1873, by John E. Burbage, in conjunction
with a number of prominent business men. It has
for its motto " Fidelity, Valor, and Honor." For the
proper administration of its aflFairs the order is divided
into Supreme, Grand, and Subordinate Castles.
The Supreme Castle is the source of all true and
legitimate authority over the order, and possesses as
such exclusive power, and is composed of all Past
Grand Chiefs in good standing.
Grand Castles exist by virtue of a charter or dis-
pensation issued by authority of the Supreme Castle,
or Supreme Chief during its recess, have exclusive
jurisdiction over all Subordinate Castles within their
territorial limits, and are composed of all Past Chiefs
1 Contributed by Edward S. Rowand.
in good standing in their Subordinate Castles. Sub-
ordinate Castles exist by virtue of charters granted by
the appropriate Grand Castles.
In September, 1875, M. S. Ilgenfritz, a member of
the order in Baltimore, made a visit to Philadelphia,
and explained the objects of the order to a number
of gentlemen, most of whom were active Odd-Fellows,
and so well pleased were they that arrangements were
made for a meeting for the purpose of introducing the
order into Philadelphia, and a few evenings later the
meeting"" was held at the office of C. K. & W, D. Ham-
mitt, No. 119 South Fourth Street, when it was re-
solved to form Keystone Castle, No. 1.
On Friday evening, Oct. 1, 1875, the officers of the
Grand Castle of Maryland visited Philadelphia and
instituted Keystone Castle, No. 1, at Broadway Hall,
corner of Broad and Spring Garden Streets, with the
following charter members :
Edward S. Eowand, C. K. Hammitt, J. H. Christ, M. E. Gibson, W. A.
Witherup, S. B. Richards, L. F. Bailey, T. J. Butler, S. W. Rowand, W.
S. Cunningham, A. C. Lukens, Jacob Heritage, John Little, George L.
Keller, Edward Christ, William Christ, A. H, Fenn, George W. Graham,
W. D. Hammitt, William Hilt, G. F. A. Hofius, George C. Hosier, S. W.
Meixell, W. W. Moore, D. S. Paul, D. E, Paul, T. H. Potts, L. Robinson,
George Richardson, H. P. Schetky, V. W. Walter, L. B. Milson, T. A.
Delaney, George B. Robinson, J. W. Tindall, C. C. Banks, W. J. Dornan,
George H. Feunemore, J. Warner Goheen, F. H. Iddings, F. S. Irwin, J.
S. Muschamp, Wilfred Patterson, W. L. Snddards, John K. Cantlin, Tim-
othy McCarthy, and William Culbertson.
The following officers were installed :
p. C, C. K. Hammitt; N. C, Edward S. Rowand ; V. C, George H.
Feunemore; H. P., J. H. Christ; V. H., M. E. Gibson ; M. of R., W. A.
Witherup; C. of E., Charles Zane ; K. of E., S. R. Richards; Sir H.,
L. F. Bailey ; W. C, A. 0. Cox ; Ensign, Thomas J. Butler ; Esq., Wil-
liam Mustard, Jr.; 1st G., S. W. Rowand; 2d G., W.S.Cunningham;
W. B., C. C. Maurer.
The institution of Keystone Castle met with such
unqualified success that it was deemed advisable to
form other castles, and for that purpose Sir Knights W.
S. Snddards, J. Warner Goheen, F. H. Iddings, F. S.
Irwin, J. S. Muschamp, and Wilfred Patterson with-
drew from Keystone Castle and organized Ivanhoe
Castle, No. 1, and Sir Knights John R. Cantlin,
Timothy McCarthy, William Culbertson, and William
J. Dornan withdrew and organized Apollo Castle, No.
3. On Dec. 17, 1875, the officers of the Grand Castle of
Maryland again visited Philadelphia, and in the room
of Keystone Castle instituted the two new castles,
making three castles formed in about three months.
The necessary number of castles for the formation
of a Grand Castle being now in successful existence,
a meeting of the Past Chiefs of the three castles was
held at the rooms of Suddards and Feunemore, No.
820 Arch Street, on Wednesday evening, Jan. 12, 1876,
followed by several other meetings. The organiza-
tion being completed, the Grand Castle of Pennsyl-
vania was duly instituted in the room of Keystone
Castle on the evening of April 27, 1876, by authority
of the Grand Castle of Maryland, the then supreme
authority in the order, and the following installed as
officers :
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2081
G. C, Edward S. Bowand, of No. 1 ; G. V. C, John E. Cantlin, of No.
3; G. Sir H., W. H. Landell, of No. 2 ; G. H. P., J. H. Christ, of No. 1 ;
G. V. H., A. Moore, of No. 2 ; G. M. of R., W. A. Witherup, of No. 1 ; G.
K. of E., W. J. Dornan, of No. 3 ; G. W. C, J. R. Cantlin, of No. 3 ; P.
Q. C, W. L. Suddards, of No. 2.
At the semi-annual session, Oct. 4, 1877, a plan wiis
adopted for the formation of the Supreme Castle, and
on Jan. 22, 1878, the Past Grand Chiefs of Maryland
and Pennsylvania met in Golden Eagle Hall, No. r>l
West Fayette Street, Baltimore, and organized the
Supreme Castle. During the past two years the order
hag grown very rapidly, and now exists in Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware, and New
Jersey, with prospects of its early introduction into
several other States.
The officers of the Supreme Castle, the headquarters
of which is at present in Philadelphia, are as follows :
S. C, Edward S. Kowand, Philadelphia, Pa.; S. V. C, John W. Simp-
son, Baltimore, MJ. ; S. H. P., M. S. Ilgenfritz, Baltimore, Md. ; S. M.
of E., Timothy McCarthy, Philadelphia, Pa. ; S. K. of E., William Cul-
bertson, Philadelphia, Pa. ; S. Sir H., J. M. Correll, Baltimore, Md.; 8.
IstG., George 0. Wiley, Boston, Mass.; S. 2d G., B. B. Hough, Wil-
mington, Del.
The Grand Chiefs of Pennsylvania have been^
Edward S. Rowand, John R. Cantlin, Timothy McCarthy, William Cul-
bertson, Thomas W. Brooks, Joseph B.Howell, John Dickinson, William
Hilt, Harry C. Stout.
The Philadelphia castles are Keystone, Ivanhoe,
Apollo, Ingomar, Crusaders, Pilgrim, Fidelity, Phil-
adelphia, Columbia, Kenilworth, Waverly, Pennsyl-
vania, Aurora, "Welcome, Warwick, Oliver, St. John,
Harris, and Southwark. The order has a member-
ship in Pennsylvania of about two thousand five
hundred.
Ancient Order of United Workmen.'— This fra-
ternal and beneficial order was founded in Meadville,
Pa., on Oct. 25, 1865, by J. J. Upchurch, with seven
members. Since then it has extended over nearly
every State in the Union and into Canada. The
object of the order, besides those of a social and
fraternal character, is to provide for the families of
deceased members by contributions from the members
of an amount equal to two thousand dollars for each
deceased member. It was the first order having this
purpose in view. Since the order was started there
has been distributed by this means over one million
five hundred thousand dollars in Pennsylvania, and
over eight million dollars throughout the United
States. The order consists of a Supreme Lodge,
having general supervision and control over the whole,
and of Grand Lodges in each State where there are
over two thousand members. These Grand Lodges
are composed of representatives from subordinate
lodges located in various parts of the State.
In the State of Pennsylvania there are two hun-
dred and one lodges and a membership of fourteen
thousand. Throughout the United States the order has
a membership of over one hundred and thirty thou-
1 Contributed by William H. James.
sand. The assessments upon the members in Penn-
sylvania have averaged seventeen dollars per annum.
The main office of business of the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania, that of the General Recorder, is at
Pittsburgh. The subordinate lodges meet weekly or
semi-monthly. The Grand Lodge meets on the sec-
ond Tue.iday of January in each year. The Grand
Lodge of Pennsylvania was incorporated by an act
of Assembly approved March 9, 1871.
The order was started in the city of Philadelphia
on April 27, 1874, by J. C. Davitt, the first lodge,
Philadelphia Lodge, No. 73, being instituted with
seventeen members. In this city in February, 1884,
there were twenty-four lodges, with a membership of
three thousand eight hundred and forty-three, as
follows :
Name and Number. Members.
Philadelphia, No. 73 192
Pacific, No. 82 133
Quaker City, No. 116 1106
Integrity, No. 139 223
Non Pareil, No. 143 100
Pennsylvania, No. 144 259
St. Albans, No. 146 66
Commonwealth, No. 147 16
Germantown, No. 148 71
Reliance, No. 149 136
Corinthian, No. 150 107
Guarantee, No. 156 107
Spring Garden, No. 168 151
West Philadelphia, No. 161 HO
North Star, No. 165 174
Tubal Cain, No. 166 81
Frankford, No. 167 36
Lafayette, No. 169 60
Kensington, No. 170 155
Equity, No. 173 64
Fidelity, No. 179 84
Oriental, No. 185 198
Justice, No. 190 <1
Mount Vernon, No. 191 174
Total 3843
The Improved Order of Red Men.'— The society
known as the Improved Order of Red Men claims
to be the oldest secret beneficial organization whose
entire ritual and speculative work is founded upon
purely American customs and traditions, existing in
this country, and as far as is known, with one ex-
ception, the oldest of this character. There may be
others claiming to have been founded earlier, but the
writer is not aware of the fact.
The celebration of the day of St. Tammany, the
tutelar saint of Pennsylvania, was begun in Philadel-
phia probably as early as the time of the agitation in
consequence of the passage of the British Stamp Act.
The fact is shown by the address hereafter quoted
made in 1773. The first public notice of such a cel-
ebration appeared in the newspapers of May, 1772, in
which it was stated that " the sons of King Tammany
met at the house of James Byrne, in Philadelphia, on
the 1st of May, 1772, to celebrate the memory of that
truly noble chieftain, whose friendship was most af-
fectionately manifested to the worthy founder and first
settlers of this province." There was a dinner and
toasts, and the account of the meeting said, " It is
hoped that from this small beginning a society may
be formed of great utility to the distressed, as this
2 Contributed by W. G. Hollis, Past Sachem.
2082
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
meeting was more for the purpose of promoting charity
and benevolence than mirth and festivity." On the 1st
of May, 1773, the Tammany Society had a grand cele-
bration at Byrne's house, in accordance with a circular
from which the following is an extract : " As all nations
have for seven centuries past adopted some great per-
sonage remarkable for his virtues and love for ci^^l
and religious liberty as their tutelar saint, and annually
assembled on a fixed day to commemorate him, the
natives of this flourishing province, determined to
follow so laudable an example, for some years past
have adopted a great warrior, sachem, and chief
named Tammany, a fast friend to our forefathers, to be
the tutelar saint of this province, and have hitherto
on the 1st of May done the accustomed honors to the
memory of so great and celebrated a personage."
The names of one hundred and twenty-one gentle-
men who intended to participate were also given, and
they comprised the most eminent and influential per-
sons in- the city, among them Chief Justice Chew,
Rev. Jacob Dueh6, Rev. Thomas Coombe, Rev. Wil-
liam White, John Dickinson, James Allen, and An-
drew Allen, Governor William Franklin (of New
Jersey), Tench Francis, Joseph Galloway, Governor
James Hamilton, and his brothers Andrew and Wil-
liam, Dr. Adam Kuhn, John Lawrence and Thomas
Lawrence, William and James Logan, Samuel Mifilin
and Thomas Mifilin (afterward major-general and
Governor of the State), John Cadwalader (afterward
brigadier-general in the Revolutionary army), with his
brother Lambert (afterward colonel), Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor Richard Penn, Richard Peters, Jr. (afterward
United States District judge), John Ross, Joseph
Reed (afterward president of the State), David Rit-
tenhouse (the astronomer). Dr. Benjamin Rush, Ed-
ward Shippen, James Tilghman, Thomas Willing,
Thomas Wharton, Jr. (afterward president of the
State), and others.
The Sons of St. Tammany met annually on the 1st
of May during the succeeding years of the Revolu-
tion, except when public disturbances would not
allow, and celebrated St. Tammany's day after the
institution of the Federal government. On the 1st
of May, 1794, the celebration began to take a politi-
cal form. In that year the Democratic and German
Republic societies and citizens met in commemoration
at Israel Israel's country-place, on the Schuylkill,
below Gray's Ferry, " in honor of the late successes
of their French brethren." About this time the
name seems to have been changed to the Tammany
Society or Columbian Order, and the object became
distinctly political and Democratic. For some years
after 1800 the members met at the wigwam in Sixth
Street, near Spring Garden Street, where there were
long talks on public affairs by such Indians as Wil-
liam Duane, John Binns, Dr. Michael Leib, and others
conspicuous in the Democratic party of the day.
The Order of Red Men had its origin among the
garrison of Fort Mifilin, in the Delaware, a few miles
below the city of Philadelphia, in the year 1813.'
The city was at that time threatened with an attack
by a British squadron, under Commodore Beresford.
He entered the lower bay with the frigate " Belvi-
dere," the " Poictiers," of seventy-four guns, and the
schooners "La Paz" and "Ulysses," and laid the
country on both sides under contribution for supplies,
and threatened bombardment and confiscation if his
demands were not complied with.
The only defense of the approaches of the city by
water was the old national fort just mentioned, and
at this time very feebly garrisoned by about eleven
or thirteen United States regulars, and these invalids
under the command of Capt. James N. Barker, the
rest of the garrison having been sent to reinforce the
army at other points, thus leaving the city in a de-
fenseless state.
When the news of the arrival of the British ships
in the bay reached the city there was great conster-
nation. A meetiug was hastily called at the Coffiee-
House to devise means of protection on the 19th of
March. James Madison Porter, son of Gen. Porter,
of Revolutionary fame, at once grasped the situation,
and felt it was time to act promptly and decisively.
He was a member of the Young Men's Democratic
Association of Philadelphia, and its secretary. He
at once proceeded to Binn's printing-ofiice, where,
finding that a portion of the regular edition of the
paper had already been struck off, he had the work
stopped, and a notice inserted calling a meeting of the
association that very evening. This accomplished,
he informed several of the members whom he met
during the afternoon of what he had done.
The meeting was held as advertised, at Stratton's
Hotel, on Chestnut Street, on the 20th of March, 1813,
and was well attended. About seventy young men
of respectable families enrolled themselves as volun-
teers to garrison Fort MiflJin. The next morning
they formed themselves into a company under the
name of " Junior Artillerists." The president of the
association, Jacob H. Fisler, was chosen captain ;
William Roderfield, first lieutenant ; James Madison
Porter,' second lieutenant; Jacob Cash,- Jr., first ser-
geant; John Wilson,' second sergeant; Doyle E.
Sweeny,' third sergeant ; Jonathan Stoddart, Jr., was
made first corporal ; Peter Perpignan,' second cor-
poral ; Joel B. Sutherland, acting surgeon ; and Jona-
than B. Smith, acting quartermaster.
The company was mustered into service by the
1 Judge George W. Liudsay, of Baltimore, claims that lodges of the
society of Bed Men existed in Annapolis, Md., as early as 1771. The
Tammany Society of Annapolis, which is supposed to be the first society
of Bed Men, celebrates May 1st as the anniversary of the order. This
society had its origin in, or was an offshoot of, an organization known as
the Sons of Liberty, which took an active part in the resistance to the
Stamp Act. For many years it was the cnstom of the Annapolis Bed
Men to clothe themselves as Indians on May 1st, and imitate the war-
dance and other customs of the savapes.
2 These were among the number who founded the firat society of Red
Men.
SECRET ORDERS AND SOCIETIES.
2083
commandant of the district, Gen. Bloomfield, at his
office on Sixth Street, on the 23d, having first received
their equipments from the brigade inspector, Maj.
Sharp, when they at once proceeded to Fort Mifflin.
While on duty there the society of Red Men
was organized. Its object was mutual aid and sup-
port in time of necessity, for social enjoyment, and
members were pledged to stand by each other at all
hazards in defending their country.
The garrison was shortly afterward strengthened by
United States regulars, and there being no further
need of the volunteers, they were discharged. The
volunteers left the fort on the 7th of April following,
and the nearest we can fix the date of the organization
of the society, as many of the early records are lost, is
between the 23d of March and the 7th of April, 1813.
In the latter part of 1816 notice was published in
some of the papers of the city calling a meeting of all
then living in the city who had been identified with
the society of Red Men at Fort Mifflin, to meet in
council, to revive old associations, and, if possible,
start the society anew. The call was responded to by
a number of the former members, and at this meeting
the society was reorganized under the name of the
" Red Men of Pennsylvania."
It is to be regretted that a more definite point of
time cannot be given as to this interesting event, but
the early minutes were for the most part kept on loose
sheets of paper or in small account-books, which have
been lost.
The society name was the Tribe of Columbia, So-
ciety of Red Men. Under this title it existed with
varying success until about 1832 or 1833. There were
at least three, if not four, other tribes formed between
the years 1818 and 1831, — the Northern and Southern
Tribes, one in Germantown, and one in the North-
ern Liberties.
In its early days the society was semi-military and
civil in its organization, although strictly non-parti-
san. Nothiog of a sectarian or party political nature
was allowed to be introduced during the burning of
its council-fires. The old preamble to their constitu-
tion declared that they held as a sacred truth that all
men were born equally free, and endowed by their
great and beneficent Creator with the right of enjoy-
ing and defending their rights and liberties, and pur-
suing their own happiness so far as they conform to
the known and salutary principles laid down in the
constitution and laws of our beloved country, and
that they had formed themselves into an association
for mutual benefit, to assist each other when in need,
and minister to each other's necessities in sickness,
and in case of death to care for the widow and
orphan.
It was a cardinal principle of these early Red Men
that no one having or holding a slave or being con-
nected with the traffic in human beings could be a
member of the society. They were thus the pioneer
Abolitionists of our city, and it is a remarkable fact that,
notwithstanding this feature of their principles, they
had established a flourishing tribe of the societj' in
the city of Charleston, S. C, as early as 1819 or 1820,
which continued to exist until its membership was
scattered by a fearful epidemic which broke out in
that city about the year 1824. Under the old organ-
ization the presiding officer was called Generalissimo;
his powers were quite extensive. The first to hold
this office was Francis Shallus, who was known
among the initiated by the Indian title of Yeough-
eowana-wago (Yeo-wauna-wa-go), or Split Log. In
addition to the Chief, there were two Captain-Gen-
erals, four Lieutenant-Generals, twenty Major-Gen-
erals, thirty Brigadiers, and a large number of subor-
dinate officers. These, whenever traveling or going
from the city permanently, were commissioued to
institute new tribes wherever they might locate, and
were all considered aids to the Generalissimo. The
society worked upon this plan until 1834, when the
Society of Red Men — Tribe of Maryland, No. 1 — was
organized at the house of D. McDonald, on Bond
Street, Fell's Point, Baltimore, mainly through the
instrumentality of William Muirhead, a former mem-
ber of the Philadelphia Tribe, acting under a com-
mission from the third Generalissimo, "Old War-
rior" (Richard Loudenslager). The society name of
Mr. Muirhead was " Withea of Missouri, or Hospi-
tality."
This new tribe continued until 1835, when a change
was made by a number of members withdrawing and
forming Logan Tribe, No. 1, and on the 20th of May,
1835, the Grand Council of Maryland was formed by
Past Chiefs and representatives of this tribe. Several
modifications in the work of the order were made,
and when the Grand Council was incorporated, by a
surreptitious act of the brother having charge of the
matter, the name was changed to Improved Order of
Red Men, instead of Order of Improved Red Men, as
had been adopted. In 1847 the Great Council of the
United States was organized by representatives of the
Grand Council of Maryland and District of Colum-
bia and the various tribes then in existence.
In the year 1848, the order, under its new phase,
was re-established in Philadelphia, although the
old one still held its existence, in Lancaster and
Reading, and continued to do so until about 1860.
In December of 1848, Metamora Tribe, No. 2, was
instituted at Lancaster, Pa. Tecumseh Tribe, No. 1,
had already been instituted at Norristown, June 14,
1847. Lenni Lenape Tribe, No. 3, was instituted in
February, 1848; Kuquenuku, No. 4, in April, 1848;
Pocahontas, No. 5, October, 1849 ; Mohegan, No. 6,
Waynesborough, Franklin Co., February, 1849. On
the 23d of May, 1849, the Great Council of Pennsyl-
vania was instituted in the wigwam of Lenni Lenape
Tribe, No. 3, by the Great Sachem Incohonee, John
Smith, of Virginia. Since then the order has had a
steady and healthful growth, and to-day it numbers
in this State nearly one-half of the entire member-
2084
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ship. There are now one hundred and forty-five
tribes iu the State, with a total membership of about
eighteen thousand. In the city of Philadelphia there
are sixty-one tribes, numbering about nine thousand
five hundred members. The tribes in the city are as
follows :
Name and Numlier. Members.
Lenni Leiiape, No.3 684
KuquenukH, No. 4 38
Pocahontas, No. 5 322
Wyoming, No. 7 128
Shawnese, No. 8 62
Sakima, No. 9 100
Delaware, No. 10 134
Mohawk, No. 14 30
Shackamaxon, No. 16 80
f:hattahoochee, No. 17 232
Pequod, No. IS 502
Cherokee, No. 19 : 202
Pawnee, No. 20 108
Montezuma, No. 21 104
Black Hawk, No. 26 305
Miihegan, No. 27 67
Seminole. No. 30 270
Wissahickon. No. 32 ' 41
Wingohocking, No. 33 339
MoscoBco, No. 34 145
Hiawatha, No. 36 50
Sagoyewatha, No. 38 127
Narraganaett, No. 43 230
Miantinomah, No. 45 125
Pottowattomie, No. 46 61
Powhattan, No. 48 .". 205
Coaquanock, No. 49 112
Miquon, No. 60 190
Chippewa, No. 61 190
Camanchee, No. 52 53
Wyalnsiug, No. 66 134
Wawatam, No. 63 47
Penobscot, No. 70 177
Idaho, No. 73 294
Nevada, No. 76 242
Minewa. No. 79 90
Tonawanda. No. 81 49
Sioux, No. 87 149
Abaaraka. No. 104 117
Osage, No. 113 77
QuKkelinik, No. 116 67
Manaiiing, No. 118 91
Cohocksink, No. 12G 330
Wisainomins, No. 133 76
Weccacoe, No. 135 119
Shakahoppo, No. 138 84
Passyunk, No.l39 305
Massaaoit, No. 144 79
Poutaxat, No. 146 166
Alletah.No. I.'i7 97
Tulpehocken, No. 181 96
Mineola, No. 187 60
Kewanio-Chee Keteru, No. 190 35
Tonguwa, No. 210 137
Manatawna, No. 219 79
Peskewah, No. 220 324
Koohootah, No. 227 59
Winnemucca. No. 236 101
Mondamin, No. 238 85
Ponemah, No. 239 , 244
Panca, No. 244 191
For many years the order has been without a per-
manent home. In this respect the Independent Order
outstripped the Improved Order. During the past
year this want has been met in the purchasing and
fitting up of a fine and commodious wigwam, known
as the Wigwam of the Great Council of Pennsylvania,
Improved Order of Red Men. It is located at No.
928 Race Street, in this city. The lower rooms are
used as offices of the Great Council. The second
floor is devoted to social gatherings of members, and
the third and fourth floors are handsomely fitted up
as tribal wigwams or meeting-rooms. This building
was appropriately dedicated to the uses of Redman-
ship on the 1st of January, 1884.
About the year 1850, Metamora Tribe, of Mary-
land, withdrew from the order, and set up under the
title of Independent Order of Red Men. In Penn-
sylvania, a few years afterward, a number of tribes
became insubordinate, and united with Metamora
Tribe, of Maryland, and thus aided in building up
the order as established by that tribe. This latter
organization is composed exclusively of Germans.'
CHAPTER L.
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
When the Swedes and Dutch first occupied the
banks of the Delaware the currency in use among
the Indians was mainly wampum, or peag, or wam-
pum-peag, as it was variously called. It consisted of
dark purple and white beads, made out of shells or
stone, and pierced for stringing. The purple beads
had twice the value of the white, and when arranged
in strings or belts were used as articles of jewelry.
As currency, wampum was used in strings, and
valued according to measure ; a fathom or belt con-
sisted of three hundred and sixty beads. At an early
period the settlers, in trading with the Indians, and
in many operations among themselves, when it was
certain that it could be disposed of to the Indians for
furs and peltries, sometimes used wampum ; but as
it was liable to deterioration by wear and use, and
became over-abundant, besides not being of a char-
acter to satisfy foreign debts, it soon ceased to be
current, and was abolished as a nuisance.
When the early settlers received gold and silver
they hoarded it up to pay for foreign commodities,
and to supply its place for making "change," began
to use a "barter currency." Beaver, otter, bear, fox,
raccoon, and other fur skins and country produce
constituted the first currency of the early settlers. In
many instances taxes were collected and fees were
paid in barter. The Duke of York's laws exacted a
quit-rent of one bushel of wheat per one hundred acres
of land patented. Wheat, we find by the Upland
records, was taken for taxes (and of course for rent
likewise) at the rate of " five guilders per scipple,"
— five guilders per scheepel, or bushel, thirty pence
sterling, or sixty cents, or thirty pence Pennsylvania
currency, equal to forty-four and one-fifth cents, — a
rent, therefore, of three-fifths or two-fifths of a cent
per acre.' " Country money," by which a large
1 Within the limits of this history the facta have been given regarding
the orgauizatiou and progress of the oldest and most important of the
secret societiea of this city. It has been found impossible, however, to
till out the details concerning all the associations of that character
which have existed or do exist in Philadelphia.
2 In March, 1680, Thomas Kerby and Robberd DrawtoD, servants,
sued Gilbert Wheeler for wages, and Upland court allowed Kerby and
Drawton each fifty stivers (two and a half guilders) per day, the latter
to be paid " in come or other good pay in y River." ** Come in y» river"
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2085
number of the early settlers bought and sold, was
produce in barter, such as furs, tobacco, grain, stock,
etc., at rates established by the courts in collecting
fees, etc. ; " ready money" was Spanish, or Holland,
or Sweden, or New England coin, which was at
twenty-five percent, discount in Old England.
From a verj* early day the money accounts of the
business of the people were conducted in pounds,
shillings, and pence. The colonies could not legally
coin money, and whenever they were in financial
straits were compelled to issue paper money of vari-
ous kinds. At a very early period there seems to
have been invented an ideal Pennsylvania currency,
which was different from the British standard of coin-
age. In 1082, before Penn came, a Boston shilling
was ordered to pass for a shilling, and a piece of
eight, a Spanish or a Mexican dollar — the modern
dollar — at six shillings, for debts and purchases. In
1682 the Assembly enacted a law ordering that every
old English shilling should pass for fifteen pence, and
every piece of English money in a like proportion.
This act established a difference between Pennsylva-
nia and English money, so that a pound sterling of
British money was worth more than a pound sterling
of Pennsylvania money. A British guinea was made
to pass at twenty-seven shillings, and other coins at a
like advance. In 1693, King William and Queen Mary
abrogated the law fixing the value of the English
shilling at fifteen pence Pennsylvania money. In the
same year the Assembly passed another law to adopt
the Mexican, Peruvian, Spanish, and French rate of
money in the province. In 1698 another act was
passed upon the same subject of foreign money.
There was an act passed in 1700 to settle a rate of
money or coin, which was repealed in 1703. Another
act was passed in 1709 (which was repealed) to ascer-
tain the rates of money.
The growing importance of the city and the want
of financial assistance impressed a number of sub-
stantial citizens of Philadelphia in 1688-89, and they
proposed the formation of a bank. The scheme is thus
mentioned in the minutes of Council, February 7th :
" The petition of Robert Turner, John Tissick, Thorn. Budd, Robt.
Ewer, Samll. Carpenter, and John FuUer was read, setting forth their
designe iu setting up a Banlt ffor money, &c., requesting Incouragement
ffrom the Governor and Council for tiieir proceeding therein. The said
Robert Turner and Samli. Cai-penter, two of the sard Petitioners, being
present and constituting the present Council!, and beside when there
were but four more present the Guvernor acquainted them that some-
thing of that nature had beeu proposed and Dedicated to ye Proprietor
by himsplf some months since out of New England, which he believed
he should receive his answer by ye ffirst shipping hither out of England ;
yett withal acquainted them that he did know no reason why they might
not give their personal bills to such as would take them as money to
pass, aa merchants vsually did bills of Exchange, but that it might be
suspected that such aa vaually Clipp'd or Coyn'd Money would be apt to
Counterfeit their bills, vnless more than Ordinary Care were taken to
prevent it, which might be their Ruine aa well aa ye People's that should
Deale with them."
(that is, delivered where it could be shipped) waa valued at three guil-
ders per scipple or buahel. At the same court Claes Janson was ordered
to pay a debt, twenty guilders in wheat and twenty-aix in pumpkins.
No further action was taken, and it is not known
whether the proposed bank was established.'
The people of Philadelphia, in 1722, experienced
great embarrassments from the loss of trade and the
want of a circulating medium.- On the 2d of Janu-
arj', 1722-23, they presented a jietition to the Assem-
bly, in which they set forth, "That they are sensibly
aggrieved in their estates and dealings, to the great
loss and growing ruin of themselves, and the evident
decay of this province in general, for want of a me-
dium to buy and sell with, and praying for a paper
currency."'
Notwithstanding the objections raised by Isaac
Norris and James Logan, a bill for issuing fifteen
thousand pounds became a law on March 2, 1722-23.
Charles Read, Francis Rawle, Benjamin Vining, and
Anthony Morris were appointed signers of the notes,
and Samuel Carpenter, Jeremiah Langhorne, William
Fishbourne, and Nathaniel Newliu trustees. On the
5th of February the Assembly also passed " an act to
make country produce a lawful tender."
The good effects of the first emission of paper cur-
rency in Pennsylvania induced the Assembly, in 1723,
to issue thirty thousand pounds more, and the follow-
ing merchants and business people of Philadelphia
agreed to take the paper money of New Castle and
the lower counties at par:
Andrew Hamilton. John Renahaw.
Clem. Plumsted. Matthias Aspden.
Sam. Hazell. Jacob Shute.
Pat. Graeme. William TiJmarsh.
Arent Hiissert. Christian Van Horn.
George McCall. John A. De Normandie.
Henry Hodge. John Baker.
Thomas Bourne. George Clongb.
Mark Joyce. James Logan.
John Hyatt. Thomas Griffitts.
George Claypoole. White & Taylor.
John Bringhurst. James Hume.
George Enilen. Alexander Wodrop.
Thomas Holloway. Thoniaa Willing.
John Heathcoat. William Mastera.
Zach. Hutchins. James Parrock.
John Kay. John Bowyer.
Dan. Hybert. Josh, Maddox.
Matt. Hewghes. Thomas Leech.
Abm. Chapman. William Corker,
laaac Penington. William Chancellor.
Isaac Norris. William Carter.
Thomas Lawrence. Edward Roberta.
Peter Lloyd. Benjamin Shoemaker.
George Growden, Jr. John Buley.
Ben. Godefroy. Nathan Pryor.
Blakston Ingedea.
Ant. Morris.
Charles Read.
Ralph Aasheton.
William Rawle.
Caasel & Maugridge.
Michael Hulings.
Richard Allen.
Samuel Cooper.
Francis Knowles.
Joseph Hinchman.
William Williams.
Samuel Baker.
Jonathan Palmer.
Thomas Marriott.
John Watson.
Samuel Preston.
J. Norria, Jr.
Thomas Sober.
John Richmond.
'Thomas Budd, in his "Good Order Established in Pennsylvania,"
had luggeated the plan of a bank, but the petition of Messrs. Turner &
Co. to the Conncil waa the first effort made in this direction.
* See vol. i. page 196.
2086
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Lees A Pearson.
Thomas Sharp.
Arnold Cassel.
Thomas .^ssheton.
Charles West.
Eobert Worthington.
John Mason.
John Warder.
Simon Edgell.
Paal Preston.
John Stamper.
Jere Langhorn.
William Biles.
Thomas Canby.
Thomas Watson.
John Hall.
Joseph Kirkbride, Jr.
Paul Blakir.
■Robert Edwards.
Bichard Sands.
John Claves.
William Fiahbourn.
William Allen.
Joseph Turner.
Thomas Button.
William Atwood.
William Rabley.
John Hopkins.
John Cadwalader.
Joseph Lynn.
Thomas Caiase.
John Roberts.
Joseph Pennock.
John Wright.
Samuel Gilpin.
George Rice Jones.
Nath. Watson.
Benjamin Jone&.
Thomas Yardley.
William Paxson.
Thomas Biles.
Simon Butler.
Tim. Smith.
Niel Grand.
John Bell.
In 1729 the Assembly issued £30,000 more currency,
and in 1739 enough to make £80,000, to remain in
circulation for sixteen years. This last act perfected
the loan-office system, with a branch in each county,
which was to loan money on real security or plate of
double the value at five per cent, interest.^
The amount of " bills of credit," as the paper cur-
rency was styled, issued by the Assembly, aggregated
in 1760 the sum of £385,000 ; and between that year
and 1769 the amount was increased by the issue of
£175,000, while during the same period £200,000 of
paper currency was destroyed. The interference of
Parliament was invoked to prevent these bills of credit
from being made a legal tender, in the hope that this
would prove a means to check the ruinous flux of
paper money. The merchants of Philadelphia were
upon several occasions prominent in their efforts to
take charge of the matter of the currency. In 1742 they
established the value of the dollar at 7s. 6d., at which
it finally rested.
An advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette, Sept.
16, 1742, fixes the exact time when the change of the
dollar took place. Clement Plumsted, and seventy-
four other merchants, by that advertisement gave
public notice and severally obliged themselves to re-
ceive in all payments, English guineas at 34s., French
guineas at 33s. 6rf., the large Portugal pieces at £5 15s.
(and so in proper proportion for all lesser Portugal
gold coins), Dutch or Guinea ducats at 14s. The Ger-
man pieces called Carolines at 34s., Arabian chequins
at 13s. 6d., all milled French pistoles at 26s. 6d,
all Spanish pistoles weighing under 4 dwts. 6 grs. at
,27«. On all sorts of gold coins of whatsoever denomi-
nation, not mentioned above, after the rate of £6 5s.
per ounce. This agreement was to be in force for
three years from its date, and to be published in the
newspapers, and bore date Sept. 1, 1742.
As early as 1763 the increased business of the port
of Philadelphia encouraged some of its principal
1 Ibid. p. 197.
merchants, among them Robert Morris, to entertain
the design of establishing a bank. To this end ne-
gotiations were accordingly entered into in Europe,
and, though opposed by many influential men, the
bank would have been established but for the break-
ing out of the war of the Revolution.
In December, 1766, an association of merchants
was formed to issue paper money. They issued
£20,000 of five-pound notes, payable to bearer, with
five per cent, interest, payable in nine months. This
aroused the jealousy of other persons doing business
in the city, who claimed that the example might be
followed by others, to the prejudice of trade. An
agreement that they would not take the notes was
signed by about two hundred persons. They also
petitioned the Assembly, which coincided with their
views, and in February, 1767, resolved "that the
issuing of the said notes by a company of merchants
has a manifest tendency to injure the trade and com-
merce of the province and to depreciate the value of
the currency thereof."
In 1769 the colony authorized two issues of £30,000.
In 1771 the alarm felt for the safety of the colonies
from the hostile attitude of the French induced the
Assembly to issue £15,000 for the defense of Phila-
delphia, which amount, never having been called
into use for the defense of the city, was applied to-
wards paving and grading the streets of the city.
The temptation to overcome present wants and to
ease the friction of reluctant trade continued to hover
over and around the Legislature, and the issue of
paper money was again resorted to in 1772, and twice
in 1773, and in 1775 for the purpose of erecting a jail
in Philadelphia.
These early notes maintained their credit, and, had
not the Revolution intervened, would have been re-
deemed at par, as ample funds were always provided
by taxation or excise duty in the act that authorized
the issue for their gradual but certain extinction, and
in the annual reports by the treasury of the colony
mention is always made of the bills of credit brought
in and destroyed.
The " resolve money" of the colony, so called from
being issued by resolution of the Assembly without
reference to the Governor, and against the provi-
sions of the charter, were acts of rebellion, notwith-
standing they bore the name and effigy of " his
Majesty, King George the Third."
At the opening of the Revolution Israel Whelen
became an enthusiastic supporter of the patriot cause,
and was appointed a commissioner by the Continental
Congress, in which capacity he signed the first issue
of Continental currency. Though a member of the
Society of Friends, he was a prominent actor in the
military operations of the Revolution. His grand-
father, James S. Whelen, a native of Hampshire,
England, was married in New York, May 29, 1694, to
Sarah Elizabeth Dennis, granddaughter of Maria
Jacques, one of the French Huguenots who fled to
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2087
South Carolina after the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes.
Dennis Whelen, son of James and Saiah Whelen,
settled in early life at Uwchlan, Chester Co., Pa. His
wife was Sarah Thompson, of Virginia. Their son,
Israel Whelen, was born on the 13th of December
(O.S.), 1752. On the 13th of May, 1772, he married
Mary Downing. His entry into active service in the
army under Washington was a step by which he
incurred the censure of his brethren, the Friends. In
alettertohis wife, bearing date Philadelphia, Aug. 10,
1776, he anticipates the blame of his friends, but adds,
" Had I been fully convinced that it was wrong to resist
lawless tyranny, bearing down all before it, I hope I
should have had resolution enough to have stuck to
my principles ; but as that was not the case, I can see
no reason why I should be expected to follow any
opinion that I was not convinced in my own mind
was right. I never was able to draw a line of distinc-
tion between the law punishing offenders it could take
hold of, and the sword [punishing] those that were too
strong for the law. If I had, I should not have taken
the part I now have ; and when I can draw that line I
will take a different one." He ended by saying that
" the real cause was in expectation to be serviceable to
my friends and my country. If I can serve the latter
f^iithfully, it may yet be in my power to render some
small service to the former."
From this time Israel Whelen's personal services
and his fortune were given to the patriotic cause.
He rose by degrees to the rank of commissary-general
of the army, and was a financial agent of the govern-
ment, in which capacity he made large remittances
to Antwerp and Amsterdam. Although he was a
Revolutionary soldier, his connection with the Society
of Friends was only interrupted, not severed, and his
family were trained in their tenets and faith. With
the return of peace he was again a Friend, in full
sympathy with the Society.
He conducted an extensive shipping business on
Market Street, at the corner of Fourth Street. In
1793 his place of business was at No. 196 (old number)
High [now Market] Street, above Eighth, and at
another time his location was at the northeast corner
of Sixth and High Streets. With his brother, Col.
Dennis Whelen, he served as a member of Senate
of Pennsylvania from Philadelphia. In April, 1796,
he was one of the committee on which were Robert
Wain and Francis Gurney, appointed to secure the
ratification by Congress of the .Jay treaty with Eng-
land. He was at the head of the Pennsylvania Elec-
toral College that assisted to make John Adams Presi-
dent, and for some time he held a position in the
Navy Department of the United States. He was the
Philadelphia agent of the Phcenix Insurance Company
of London, and was one of the directors of the Bank
of the United States when that institution was estab-
lished at Carpenters' Hall, in 1791. At a later period
he was president of the Board of Brokers, and was
133
one of the corporators of the Lancaster Turnpike
Company, of which he was also president. On that
turnpike, below Downingtown, he erected a fine man-
sion house, the cost of which, together with heavy
losses resulting from French spoliations, involved
him in financial embarrassment. Seven cotton-laden
ships, which he had consigned to French ports, were
seized by the government of Napoleon I., under one
of the imperial decrees. In the acquirement of the
Territory of Louisiana from France, damages for these
and other seizures were allowed by the French gov-
ernment to the United States, but the individual
sufferers were never reimbursed.
Mr. Whelen was nominated for collector of the
port of Philadelphia at the same time with Langdon
Cheves, and appointed purveyor of public supplies
by John Adams May 13, 1800. He died Oct. 21, 1806,
in his fifty-fourth year, and his remains were interred
in the Friends' burial-ground, at the corner of Fourth
and Arch Streets. A paper of that date says, —
" Few men have experienced greater viciBsitiides of fortune, or sup-
ported them with equal moderation ; ae a senator, conciliating, active,
and intelligent; even hia political opponents were unable to with-
hold from him the tribute of their esteem and affection. In private life
bis exalted integrity secured to him, under the most trying exigeticiee,
the unlimited confidence of his numerous friends. In his domestic re-
lations, every endearing quality united to render his loss irreparable.
Such a man will be long remembered and deeply lamented. Whilst we
regret his loss, let us endeavor to imitate his virtues."
His wife survived him twenty-five years, and died
May 14, 1831. She was buried in the ground of the
Friends' meeting-house at Downingtown. Among
the descendants of Israel Whelen was Townsend
Whelen, son of Israel, and grandson of Israel
Whelen, Sr., who was born in Philadelphia, April 3,
1822, and had only reached the age of five years when
his father died. He acquired his early education in
the schools of the city. His first employment was
that of an office-boy with Samuel Nevins, with whom
he remained a short time, after which he became a
book-keeper in the commission house of Wright,
Fisher & Co., and later was employed in the same
capacity with Charnley & Whelen, stock and ex-
change brokers. He subsequently entered the ser-
vice of James Nevins, as clerk and book-keeper, and
ultimately became a partner in the business.
About the year 1855, Mr. Whelen retired from this
connection and entered into partnership with his
brother, Edward S. Whelen, in the brokerage busi-
ness, under the firm-name of E. S. Whelen & Co.
In 1865 he became senior member of the firm, which
was then changed to Townsend Whelen & Co., the
other partners being his brother, Henry Whelen, and
his nephew, Edward S. Whelen, Jr. At different
times he was a member of the finance committee of
the Philadelphia board of brokers, and an executor
of the estate of James Nevins, his deceased partner.
He traveled quite extensively, visiting the principal
I cities of the United States, several of the Wast India
i Islands, and made a protracted tour of Europe.
2088
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Mr. Whelen was always deeply interested in every-
thing that had for its object the advancement of edu-
cation or elevation of the morals and condition of
society. He served twenty-five years as a vestryman
and warden of the Protestant Episcopal Church of
the Atonement, was a trustee of the Yeates Institute
Fund, and the time of his death (Oct. 26, 1875) was
a member of the Standing Committee of the Diocese
of Pennsylvania. He was thoroughly devoted to his
church, and he carried out his Ciiristian principles in
all the relations of life. To his integrity he added
great dignity of character, and his influence in en-
nobling the sentiments and actions of men was felt
in all the circles in which he moved.
The issue of Continental currency began May
10, 1775, and continued until the aggregate amount
reached $385,000,000. This currency was still further
augmented by the continued issue of paper money by
Pennsylvania, and as both were dependent upon the
success of the Revolution, both lost the confidence of
the people, and depreciated in value until, in 1781-82,
all value departed from the notes, and as the United
States never redeemed the Continental currency, they
were a total loss to the holders. The depreciation of the
currency, deranging values of every kind, produced
confusion as well as distress, and induced Congress to
adopt the expedient of regulating prices by law. Amid
these distressing circumstances, with a government
without a policy, the State without means, the army
without clothing, the first banking institution of the
country sprang into existence, the happy thought and
bold expedient of Philadelphia merchants. Prominent
among the promoters of this first bank were Robert
Morris, Blair McClenachan, Thomas Willing, John
Nixon, James Wilson, George Clymer, William Bing-
ham. On the 8th of June, 1780, a largely-attended
meeting of citizens at the Coffee-House resolved that
a subscription should be instantly set on foot " to be
given in bounties to promote the recruiting service of
the United States." The subscriptions soon began to
indicate the spirit that moved the citizens of Phila-
delphia : within nine days there was raised no less a
sum than £400 in hard money and £101,360 in Con-
tinental money. The fall of Charleston caused a total
change of plan, and a meeting of the subscribers was
held' on June 17th, at which it was "proposed to
open a security subscription to the amount of £300,-
000 Pennsylvania currency in real money," the sub-
scribers to execute bonds to the amount of their
various subscriptions, and the whole amount to form
the capital of a bank, by the aid of which it was pro-
posed to supply and transport food to the army.
The plan found a ready acceptance among the
business men of Philadelphia.
"Whereas, in the present situation of public affairs," recited the sub-
Bcription-Iist, " the greatest and most vigorous exertions are necessary
for the successful oinnagement of the just and necessary war in which
we are engaged with Great Britain, we, the subscribers, deeply impressed
1 See vol, i. p. 409, Dote 1.
with the sentiments that on such an occaflon should govern us in the
prosecution of a war on the event of which our own freedom and that
of our posterity, and the freedom and independence of the United States
are all involved, hereby severally pledge our property and credit for the
several sums specified and mentioned after our names, in order to sup-
port the credit of a bank to be established for furnishing a supply of
provisions for the armies of the United States."
The subscription-list- was completed in a few days
with an aggregate amount of £315,000, and an organi-
zation was effected under the name of the Pennsylvania
Bank. Ten per cent, of the subscriptions were agreed
to be paid at once, and the residue from time to time
as it should be needed. The directors were authorized
to borrow money on the credit of the bank for six
months or less time, and to issue notes bearing interest
at the rate of six per cent. All money borrowed or re-
ceived from Congress was to be applied to the sole
purpose of purchasing provisions and rum for the use
of the Continental army, to transportation, and to dis-
charging the notes and expenses of the bank. Con-
gress was expected from time to time to reimburse
the bank for the amounts expended, and when the
whole amount laid out should have been thus re-
turned, the notes were to be paid off and canceled,
the accounts settled, and the bank wound up. On
June 21, 1880, Congress was officially notified of the
organization of the bank, and that it awaited only the
recognition and co-operation of that body. These
were immediately given in resolutions pledging the
faith of the United States for the effectual reimburse-
ment of the subscribers, and ordering that bills of ex-
change to the amount of £15,000 should be deposited
with the bank, and that further assistauce would be
given if needed. . The bank began operations on July
17, 1780, on Front Street, two doors above Walnut, and
remained open for nearly one year and a half, and pro-
vided 3,000,000 of rations and 300 barrels of rum for
the army. The tenth and last instalment of the sub-
scriptions was called in on the 15th of November,
1780, and the bank's affairs were finally wound up
toward the close of 1784. The Pennsylvania Bank
served the patriotic purposes of its Philadelphia
founders and subscribers ; no hope of gain inspired
its inception or prompted its management; it was
pure patriotism that led to its establishment and con-
ducted its business successfully. A picture of the
financial situation, drawn by Gen. Cornell, in his
letter to Gen. Greene,^ will illustrate some of the
embarrassments that beset the bank:
*' The situation of our fiuances is such as to make every thinking man
shudder. The new money ordered into circulation by the resolution of
the 18th March meets with so many obstructions I almost despair of the
credit it will have in the States that comply with the resolution. If it
I should fail, good God, what will be our fate, without money or credit at
home or abroad? We have not one farthingin the treasury, and I know
I of no quarter from which we have a right to expect any. Yet we go ou
I contented, pleasing ourselves with the saoguipe hopes of reducing New
York. I liave seen many Dew schemes before I came to this place,
but what I have experienced since exceeds anything I have ever seen
before. I never saw a set of men that could quietly submit to every
, kind of difficulty that tended to the ruin of their country, without en-
I » See vol. i. p. 409. » Greene's Life of Greene, vol. ii. p. 323.
M
^^^^7v^y^-if'^-'
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2089
dettvoring to make one effort to remove thn oIistrnctiuD. I believe they
wish their country well, but suffer their time almost wholly to be taken
up in business of no consequence."
" This Congress is finally bankrupt," said a Tory
paper of May, 1781.
*' Last night a large body of the inhabitants, with paper dollars in
their hats by way of cockades, paraded the streets of Philadelphia carry-
ing colors flying, with a dog tarred, and, instead of the usual appen-
dage and ornament of feathers, his back was covered with the Congress
paperdollars. . . . This example was directly followed by the jailer,
who refused accepting the bills in pni-chaso of a glass of rum, and after-
wards by the traders of^the city, who shot up their shops, declining to
sell any more goods but for gold and silver."'
The ratification of the Articles of Confederation on
the 1st of March, 1781, established more definite rela-
tions among the States, — all charges of war and other
expenses incurred for the common defense and safety
were made payable out of a common treasury, and
Congress was given express power to borrow money
and emit bills of credit, and all debts so contracted
were deemed a charge against the United States, for
the payment of which the public faith was pledged.
Another important act was the election by Congress
of Robert Morris as superintendent of finance, which
took place on the 20th of February, 1781. These two
events put a different and more hopeful aspect upon
all public events. Morris, full of energy and self re-
liance, and deeming no sacrifice too great to be made
for the service of his country, laid his splendid per-
sonal credit at the service of his country, and, sparing
neither labor, time, nor thought, brought to bear upon
the financial condition of the country a zeal, intelli-
gence, and experience unsurpassed in the country.
He entered boldly and with zeal into Hamilton's
scheme of a national bank. Unable to approve
Hamilton's scheme fora bank with a capital of $3,000,-
000, and to be carried on in close relations with the
national government, he drew up a scheme on a scale
more adequate, in his opinion, to the national wants,
and more likely to secure popular approbation, and
on the 17th of May, 1781, presented to Congress his
plan for the establishment of the Bank of North
America.
The details of Mr. Morris were simple, — a .sub-
scription of $400,000 was to be raised in shares of
$400 each, payable in gold or silver. Every sub-
scriber of five shares or upward wasto undertake to
pay one-half the sum on the day of his subscription,
and the other half within three months of that date.
The organization was to be effected when the whole
sum was made up. A directory of twelve was to be
chosen annually to regulate the affairs of the bank.
Congress, by resolution, approved of the plan for
establishing a national bank in the United States,
submitted by Mr. Morris, and that they would pro-
mote and support the same by such ways and means
from time to time as might appear necessary for the
institution and consistent with the public good. The
1 Bivingtm's Gazette, May 12, 1781.
subscribers were incorporated under the name of the
President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of
North America by resolution of Congress May 26,
1781; the States were recommended by the same
resolutions not to permit the incorporation of any
other bank ; and the notes of the bank, payable on de-
mand, were made receivable in payment of all taxes,
duties, and debts due, or that may become due, and
payable to the United States.
The subscriptions came in so slowly that great un-
easiness was felt as to the success of the bank. The
prospects of profits were very remote, the danger of a
total loss of capital evident. The country was en-
gaged in an arduous and doubtful conflict. If unsuc-
cessful, the whole capital was lost. It was not until
the fall of 1781 that the subscriptions presented a
respectable appearance. The identification with the
bank of the gentlemen most prominent in the man-
agement of the Pennsylvania Bank gave confidence
to the public, and the opportune arrival of a French
frigate at Boston with $470,000 in specie for the
Government, which was immediately brought to
Philadelphia and deposited with the bank, gave an
assurance to the stockholders, who resolved upon
organization. For this purpose the following gentle-
men met at the City Tavern on Nov. 1, 1781 : Gouv'r
Morrig, James Crawford, Charles Pettit, Michael
Hillegas, Samuel Osgood, B. Fuller, Samuel Meredith
(for George Clymer), William Turnbull, John Wil-
cocks, John Mitchell, Samuel Meredith, Mease &
Caldwell, John, Donaldson, James Wilson, John
Nixon, Timothy Matlac!:, Andrew and James Cald-
well, Robert Morris, Francis Gurney, George Meade
& Co., Thomas Fitzsimons, Thomas FUzsimons (for
George Meade), George Haijnes, David H. Conyngham,
and John Jioss.'' The meeting selected the following
board of directors : Thomas Willing, Thomas Fitz-
simons, John Maxwell Nesbitt, James Wilson, Henry
Hill, Samuel Osgood, Cadwalader Morris, Andrew
Caldwell, Samuel Inglis, Samuel Meredith, William
Bingham, and Timothy Matlack.
Thomas Willing was elected president, and Tench
Francis cashier. The fortunate selection of Thomas
Willing for president gave a decided impulse to the
subscription to the stock. By December $85,000 in
cash had been raised, and it was resolved to apply to
Congress for a charter of incorporation. The opinion
widely existed that Congress did not possess the
power to incorporate ; however, having by resolution
of May 26, 1781, pledged its word to the incorpora-
tion of the bank, the act was passed Dec. 31, 1781,
perpetually incorporating the subscribers under the
name and style of " The President, Directors, and
Company of the Bank of North America."
The operations of the bank commenced on the 7tli
of January, 1782, in the commodious store belonging
to its cashier. Tench Francis, on the north side of
2 Those in italica were Bubschbera to the Pennsylvania Bank.
i^tZ"^
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2091
quish their scheme. The application for a charter
was withdrawn, and on June 13th the books of sub-
scription to the Bank of Nortli America were closed,
and the capital was found to amount to $830,000.
The difficulties which beset the bank ended not
with the removal of its threatened rival. The paper
money of colonial days loaned for a period of ten
years, and secured by a mortgage on real estate, had
been a source of great convenience to the people, and
kept, by prudent measures, at a par with specie had
not been productive of any great injury to the public.
In 1785 a numerous party rose in the State, which
demanded and obtained a renewal of that policy.
But without the co-operation of the bank, the new
currency bills could not be got into circulation. Op-
posed at first to aiding the paper-money scheme, the
bank drew upon itself the charge of being hostile
to the currency bills, and though the policy of the
bank underwent a material change, and it received
on deposit by March, 1786, £107,280 14s., or nearly
the whole of the amount issued, it, nevertheless, in-
curred much unpopularity. The financial distresses
of the mercantile community, incident to a long war
which had annihilated all specie currency, could not
be entirely relieved by a bank with the limited capi-
tal and resources of 'the Bank of North America.
To the total prostration of business by the war was
to be added that languishing condition of trade which
followed the restoration of peace. An excess of Brit-
ish importations following, drained the last remain-
ing specie from the country. In consequence of these
unavoidable incidents to war, money became scarce
and usury common. Upon the bank was charged the
evils, which it may have to some extent augmented,
but certainly had not created. Its accommodations,
under the pressure which in common with the public
bore upon the bank, were curtailed and called in, to
the great inconvenience of all, and to the ruin of
some customers. Under the impulse of inconvenience
and loss, the opposition to the bank took a tangible
and threatening aspect. Petitions to the Assembly
from citizens of Chester County and elsewhere were
presented on March 21, 178-5, praying a repeal of the
charter of the bank, and assigning as due to the bank
all the ills and evils to which extravagance, overtrad-
ing, and improvidence are heir. Usury, extortion,
favoritism, harshness to creditors, opposition to the
paper money of the State, the possession of danger-
ous political and commercial influence were alleged
as evils which followed the powers conferred by the
charter and exercised by the bank.
Under the pressure thus brought upon the Assem-
bly a committee was appointed, to which was referred
all the memorials for consideration, with instructions
to "inquire whether the bank established at Phila-
delphia was compatible with the public safety and
with that equality which ought to prevail between
individuals of a republic." The weight of popular
opinion was too strong to be withstood, and on March
28, 1785, the committee reported a bill repealing and
annulling the charter of the bank, which became a
law on September 13th. Deprived thus of its State
charter, the bank turned to Congress for relief from
its embarrassments. The letter of President Willing
to Congress producing no eft'ect, and the Legislature
persisting in its repeal, the bank turned to the State
of Delaware for the protection which Pennsylvania
had withdrawn. Though Delaware granted the char-
ter, and though at one time it was seriously contem-
plated to remove to some proper point in that State,
yet the dangers that threatened the safety of the
bank in so desperate a step induced the directors to
make another etfort with the Legislature of Pennsyl-
vania for the preservation of its franchises. This last
effort, made in 1787, though more successful than the
former, was nevertheless accompanied with conditions
and restrictions which were far from satisfactory.
However, the directors conceived it best to act under
its provisions, notwithstanding they deprived the
bank of all its national features, and reduced it to
a mere State institution.
The critical period of the bank's existence was now
passed, — peace had been established, and to some ex-
tent the disastrous effects of the war upon trade and
commerce were beginning to disappear. In March,
1789, the Constitution of the United States went into
operation, and gave a vigorous and responsible execu-
tive to the country, as well as an immense impulse to
all schemes of national importance. Mr. Hamilton,
at the head of the Treasury Department, was the
strong advocate of a great National Bank, and in
bringing forward his measure, dealt with great clear-
ness upon the aid which the Bank of North America
has given to the government during the war. His
scheme contemplated the rehabilitation of the Bank
of North America with national powers and duties.
No steps were taken by the bank responsive to the sug-
gestions of Mr. Hamilton, the institution preferring to
remain under the auspices of the State. President
Willing resigned on Jan. 9, 1792, and John Nixon
was elected president. The business of the bank con-
tinued to increase rapidly, and the profits declared a
dividend of twelve per cent. During the year 1791
the bank advanced §160,000 to the State, and in the
following year §53,000. The State, in 1793, made
overtures to the bank for a participation in its busi-
ness and profits, which not being successful, resulted
in the incorporation of the first rival, — the Bank of
Pennsylvania.
In 1801 the charter of the Bank of North America
expired, but the Legislature by the act of March 20,
1799, extended the charter for a further term of four-
teen years. The number of banks in the country had
largely increased, and in 1804 were estimated at forty-
five in active operation, consequently the business of
the bank had not been as favorable as when it alone
reaped the profits of banking operations. In 1806
the profits of the bank very sensibly decreased. The
2092
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
cause was attributed by a committee of the directors
to a variety of circumstances, enumerating among
others that the policy pursued by the management
had been such as to prevent the bank from partaliing I
in any degree of the patronage from the General and
State governments which other banks enjoyed, and i
also that for many years the directors had been dis-
counting large amounts of accommodation paper, [
which they renewed from time to time, thus making
a great part of the bank's capital comparatively in-
operative. Immediate efforts were made to do away 1
with the evils pointed out by the committee, and so
successful were their efforts that by the close of 1809 ^
the bank had regained its former prosperity, as shown
by the laying aside of a surplus of $15,000. This
surplus was increased from sales of shares to $80,000
during that year, and it was agreed that the annual
interest on this sum should be accumulated until it
reached $100,000. John Nixon, the president, died
Dec. 24, 1808, and at the first meeting of the board,
in 1809, on January 10th, John Morton was elected
president. In 1810 the charter of the first Bank of
the United States being about to expire, memorials to '
Congress for its recharter flowed in from many sources,
among which was one from the directors of the Bank
of North America. They urged the recharter because,
in their opinion, the termination of the National
Bank's operations would be attended with great suf-
fering on the part of the commercial and agricultural
interests.
The government received great assistance during
the war with Great Britain from the bank, which re-
ceived and paid out the government notes, opened
subscriptions to the loan of 1813, and advanced the
government §650,000 before the close of 1815. The
disastrous system of over-issues and excessive trading
during the war compelled, in August, 1814, the sus-
pension of specie payments. It was not until Feb.
20, 1817, that resumption was effected. The Legis-
lature, on March 28, 1814, renewed the charter of the
bank for a term of ten years, but accompanied it with
the old as well as with new restrictions. The capital
was restricted to $1,000,000. Its affairs were to be open
at all times to legislative scrutiny, and a bonus of
$120,000 was to be paid to the State. The charter was
formally accepted May 11, 1814.
In 1822, President John Morton resigned, and was
succeeded by Henry Nixon, the son of John Nixon,
the second president of the bank. In 1825 the char-
ter was again to expire, and a new charter was ap-
proved March 21st of that year, by which the title
of the corporation was changed to " The Bank of
North America."
From 1830 to 1835 the business activity of the coun-
try was greatly increased, and with the prosperity
of trade the operations of the bank increased. This
course was followed by all the banks, until, on May
10, 1837, the crash came, led off by the suspension of
the New York banks, and followed on the 11th by all
the Philadelphia banks. A partial resumption took
place in May, 1838, and on the 13th of August all the
banks resumed. This, however, was only temporary,
and on the 9th of October, 1839, the Bank of the
United States suspended, and was followed by the
Philadelphia Bank and the Farmers' and Mechanics'
Bank. This action forced the Bank of North America
to similar action, except that it continued to redeem
its own notes of a denomination of $5 or under. On
Aug. 8, 1840, Henry Nixon, the president, died, and
was succeeded by John Richardson, who was elected
Sept. 3, 1840. The severe penalties of the laws of
the State upon banks who failed to meet their obliga-
tions was called to the attention of the banks by the
proclamation of the Governor, and the Legislature
intervening, by the act of April 3, 1840, fixed Jan. 15,
1841, as the time when the banks should resume pay-
ment in specie. This minatory legislation had the
desired effect, and on the day appointed the city
banks generally resumed. But just three weeks after,
the Bank of the United States suspended for the third
time, and ended its long career. It was found by a
meeting of delegates, February 4th, from the Phil-
adelphia banks, to be impossible for the banks to
continue specie payments, and on the following day
every bank in the city announced its suspension.
Declining to participate in the " Relief Act" of May
4, 1841, the Bank of North America, at the beginning
of 1842, had redeemed all its notes except $24,000,
which it could pay on demand in specie. It had but
few deposits which were not by express contract pay-
able in current funds. Its outstanding loans were
strictly on business paper, in small amounts, and it
was prepared to resume as soon as the currency was
raised to the standard of gold and silver. Notwith-
standing that condition of its affairs, as the year went
on it became apparent that the actual assets of the
bank had greatly depreciated in value. Application
was made to the Legislature for a reduction of capi-
tal, which, by the act of March 24, 1843, was reduced
to $760,000, and the par value of the shares to $300.
Two years of prosperity availed to place the bank
upon a footing so firm that it felt warranted in asking
for a return to the capital to its old volume. This
was effected by the act of April 16, 1845.
The charter was renewed by the act of April 8,
1846, and accepted on Jan. 11, 1847. This charter
reduced the par value of the shares to $100. The
bank removed into temporary quarters adjoining the
Philadelphia Bank, at the southwest corner of Fourth
and Chestnut Streets, on June 11, 1847, and into its new-
building. Chestnut Street west of Third, on March 11,
1848. The charter was again renewed on April 26,
1855, for a period of twenty years. During the panic
of 1857 the bank suspended, on September 26th. John
Richardson resigned the presidency on April 27th,
and James N. Dickson was elected on July 16, 1857.
On the 9th of August, 1860, he resigned, and on the
20th of the same month Thomas Smith was elected.
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2093
and remained in office for a period of twenty-two years,
when he was succeeded by Charles F. Lewis.'
Important and radical changes in the currency fol-
lowed the adoption of the Constitution of the United
States in 1787. Bills of credit were no longer issuable
by the States, and gold and silver were the only legal
tender allowable in the payment of debts. This pru-
dent measure was nevertheless productive of much
embarrassment in all the branches of trade and com-
merce. The only specie left in the country by the
drain of war and excessive importations was the sav-
ings of thrifty and non-speculating individuals, which,
if not hoarded and concealed, would be most reluc-
tantly parted with. The best estimate of the specie in
the Union placed the amount available for banking
capital at $2,000,000.'
The only banks in existence at the time of tlie
adoption of the Federal Constitution were the Bank of
North America, in Philadelphia, the Bank of New
York, at New York, and the Bank of Massachusetts,
at Boston.
Among the first acts of Congress was the incorpora-
tion, on the 14th of February, 1791, of the Bank of the
United States, which was approved on the 25th of
February. The capital of the bank was fixed at
$10,000,000, for one-fifth of which the government
1 The " HiHtory of the Bank of Nortli America," prepared by Lawrence
Lewis, Jr., has been the chief sonrce of informatioD consulted in pre-
paring the account of tliat bank. We take great pleasure in acknowl-
edging our indebtedness to Mr. Lewis, as well for the information con-
veyed in this work as for pleasure derived from the perusal of other
publications from his pen.
2 Congress, in 1793, established the United States Mint at Philadelphia,
for the coinage of Amelican specie. Notwithstanding the small amount
of specie in the country at the time of the establishment of the Mint,
and notwithstanding also the embarrassed condition of alt kinds of busi-
ness, the conversion of gold and silver into coin and bullion was imme-
diately commenced, and has been continued to the present, with the
vast sums set forth in the following table, kindly furnished by Col. A.
Louden Snowden, superintendent of the Mint, for this work:
TABLE OF COINAGE AT THE UNITED STATES MINT FROM
1793 TO JUNK 30, 1883.
Gold Coinage.
Double eagles $378,77.3,9C0.n0
Eagles 120,346,830.00
Half eagles 111,817,640,00
Three dollars 1,303,932.00
Quarter eagles 22,486,197.50
Dollars 18,095,469.00
Total gold $652,823,928.60
Silver Coinage.
Standard dollars $71,006,749.00
Trade dollars 5,100,960.00
Half dollars 82,288,681.60
Quarter dollars 28,102,075.75
Dimes 11,490,625.40
Half dimes 3,977,346.90
Three-cent pieces 1,260,250.20
Twenty-cent pieces 11,342.00
Total silver $203,237,930.75
Minor Coinage.
Five-cent pieces '. $7,018,583.40
Three-cent pieces 890,483.97
Two-cent pieces 912,020.00
One-cent pieces 6,900,328.43
Half cents 39,926.11
Total minor coinage $16,761,341.91
could subscribe. The limit of its existence was fixed
at twenty years, and it was prohibited to charge more
than six per cent, interest. Individual subscriptions
were payable one-fourth in gold or silver, and three-
fourths in si.x per cent, stocks of the government, then
bearing interest, or in three per cents at one-half their
nominal value. Authority to establish offices of dis-
count and deposit in the several States was conferred,
and its notes were made receivable for all taxes and
dues to the government. Of the capital, $5,700,000
were reserved for the parent bank, which was to
be established in Philadelphia, and the balance,
$4,300,000, was to be divided among eight branches
that were to be established in the principal cities of
the Union. The active capital was immediately
subscribed, and the presidency tendered to Oliver
Wolcott. Upon his declension of the presidency
of the bank, Thomas Willing, of Phiadelphia, was
elected. Mr. Hamilton, the author of the plan of
a Bank of the United States, contemplated the res-
toration of the Bank of North America " to the
situation in which it originally stood in the view of
the United States," and not the creation of a " new
establishment." That incorporation and union he
contemplated should be made " under the auspices of
an act of the United States, if desired by the Bank of
North America, upon terms which shall appear ex-
pedient to the government." No steps appear to have
been taken by the Bank of North America to effect
the purposes contemplated by Mr. Hamilton in his
report. The quiet and prosperous condition of the
Bank of North America, under its State charter, were
deemed preferable to the anxieties and hazards of a
new national connection. The scheme of a separate
institution was therefore pushed forward, and the
Bank of the United States began its corporate exist-
ence on the 19th of February, 1791. Mr. Willing re-
signed the presidency of the Bank of North America
on Jan. 9, 1792, and was succeeded by John Nixon.
The Bank of the United States continued its oper-
ations until the expiration of its charter, March 4,
1811. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, in
sustaining the application of the bank for a renewal
of its charter, in his report of March 3, 1809, exhib-
ited the following condition of the afiairs of the
bank :
Cr.:
I. Debts due to the Bank —
1. Six per cent, stock, remaining part of the
original subscription $2,230,000
2. Loans to individuals, consisting chiefly of
discounted notes at sixty days 15,000,000
3. Due by banks incorporated by the States.... 800,000 $18,030,000
II. Specie in the vaults 6,000,0(10
III. Cost of lots of ground and building erected 480,000
Total Cr. : $23,610,000
Dr.:
I. Capital stock of the bank $10,000,000
II. Money deposited bj* government and by in-
dividuals 8,500,000
III. Bank notes in circulation 4,500,000
Total Dr. : $23,000,000
Leaving a balance for contingencies $^10,000
2094
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Mr. Gallatin contended that this statement proved j
that, as a bank, its affairs " had been wisely and
skillfully managed." This bank was certainly bene-
ficial to the country, and profitable to its stockholders,
for it paid them an annual dividend of eight and one-
half per cent. It must suffice to state here that all the
efforts of its friends, supported by the weight and in-
fluence of Mr. Gallatin, failed to induce Congress to
renew the charter. Mr. Pitkin observes, " The influ-
ence of State banks was also brought to bear on the
great question then before Congress; and when it is
considered that the number of these banks had at that
time increased to nearly ninety, located in most of
the States, with a capital of more than forty millions,
their influence could have had no inconsiderable
weight. With this union of views and interests
against the bank, it is not strange that the charter
granting it should be suflered to expire."
These State banks, during the war of 1812-15, fur-
nished to the government the greater part of its loans
for carrying on the war, and at the same time aided '
in the collection and disbursement of the revenue.
This increased issue of paper, accompanied by the
depression of commerce incident to war, and conse-
quent upon the embargoes and other nstrictice ener-
gies, occasioned a general suspension of specie pay-
ments by the banks south of New England.^
During the September session of Congress, in 1814,
Mr. Dallas, of Philadelphia, then Secretary of the
Treasury, submitted a plan for a national bank, with
a capital of $50,000,000, three-fifths to be subscribed
by individuals and corporations, and two-fifths by the
United States. Neither the efforts of Mr. Calhoun
nor of Mr. Web.ster to modify the plan of Mr. Dallas
succeeded, and Congress passed the bill for the second
Bank of the United States, which the President, Mr.
Madison, approved on the 10th of April, 1816. This
bank was also located at Philadelphia, with branches
elsewhere. The bank was chartered to continue until
the 3d of March, 1836. It did not commence opera-
tions until January, 1817, and soon after, in pursuance
of a mutual arrangement between this bank and the
State banks of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
and Virginia, specie payments were resumed. It was
of this second Bank of the United States that Nich-
olas Biddle, of Philadelphia, became, on the nomina-
tion of President Monroe, in 1819, a director, and,
upon the retirement of Mr. Langdon Cheves, in 1823,
president.
This bank was to have $35,000,000 capital, of which
$7,000,000 was to be subscribed by the government in
five per cent, stock; §28,000,000 by the public, of
which $7,000,000 was to be in specie and $21,000,000 in
six per cent. United States stock. It was to pay a
bonus of $1,500,000 in one, two, and three years, and
to issue no note under $5, and was forbidden to sus-
1 The Philadelphia banks suspended specie payment for the first time
on the 30th of August, 1814, and the Buspeosion became general in a
few months after.
pend specie payments under twelve per cent, penalty.
The expectations and pretensions of the friends of
the bank were that it would correct the currency and
control exchanges. Mr. Langdon Cheves became
president of the bank on March 6, 1819, and found
the bank practically bankrupt, but already engaged
in a vigorous effort to contract its obligations.
The financial condition of Europe, as well as of
America, was in a most uncertain and disturbed con-
dition. Commerce, industry, and finance were grop-
ing their way back to the natural forms and chan-
nels of peace from which they had been diverted by
the unnatural developments of a long war. The
United States had participated in the struggle, and
felt the full effects of its consequences. In 1816,
paper money all over Europe was depreciated
equally with that in the United States. But the ex-
changes of commerce were favorable to the United
States, and an opportunity for resumption of specie
payments offered. In the midst of this favorable con-
dition of financial affairs came the breakdown of the
bank. Its efforts to recover itself prostrated the
whole industry of the country. Prices fell, exchange
on England rose to 105 and 106, which carried off
gold and silver, and a general liquidation set in, which
extended through a period of three or four years.
Andrew Jackson became President on the 4th of
March, 1829. Hostile to the bank, and inimical to Mr.
Biddle, the President was not slow to seize upon the
first event that would enable him to begin those hos-
tile demonstrations which in politics, as well as war,
lead to actual engagements. The refusal of Mr. Bid-
dle to remove Jeremiah Mason, a friend of Mr. Web-
.ster, from the presidency of the branch at Ports-
mouth, in the summer of 1829, was the first indica-
tion of the approaching conflict. The message of
1829 astonished the country by its intimations of the
unconstitutionality of the bank charter. Though
the first indication of hostility met with little favor in
the Congress, the President took no step backward.
In 1832 a bill for the renewal of the charter passed
both houses of Congress, but was vetoed by President
Jackson. On January 1st following, the directors of
the bank prepared and delivered to the Committee
of Ways and Means a statement of the condition of
the bank, which exhibited —
Claims against the Bank.
The notes in circulation 817,459,571.79
The deposits, public and private- 13,547,517.95
The debts to the holders of the funded debt of the United
States for principal and interest 6,723,703.16
Total 837,807,322.74
Jte Resources.
Specie $8,951,847.60
Notes of State banks 2,291,655.40
Balances due by State banks 1,596,252.08
Funds in Europe and foreign bills of exchange 3,190,225.43
Real estate 3.036,241.52
Debts due by indiriduals on notes discounted 43,626,870.02
*' *' " " domestic bills of exchange... 18,069,O4;i.2.S
Mortgages, etc 103,330.75
Total $80,865,465.99
aaims as above deducted 37,807,3-22.74
And there remained a surplus of. $43,058,143.25
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2095
This statement being considered highly satisfac-
tory, the funds of individuals as well as of the gov-
ernment continued to be intrusted to the Bank of the
United States, and the price of its stock was a proof
of the confidence in its condition and management.
In 1883 the treasury withdrew from the bank nearly
18,000,000 of the public deposits, and at the same
time the bank and the State banks curtailed the
amount of credit upon which the business of the
country had been carried on. The consequences
which followed were innumerable failures, the de-
preciation of property, the arrest of public and pri-
vate enterprise, and universal distress. When it be-
came apparent that no recharter of the bank could
be obtained, a plan was projected to combine the
advantages of the long-established correspondence,
name, and machinery of the bank, by incorporating
its stock with a new institution, under the name of
"The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank
of the United States of Pennsylvania," which was
chartered on the 18th of February, 1836, by the
Legislature of that State. The transfer of the funds
of the old bank was made into the new. More than
fifteen per cent, beyond the subscription of the gov-
ernment was returned, besides a dividend of three
and one-half per cent, every six months ; not a dollar
of money was lost to the United States nor to any of
the stockholders of the Bank of the United States.
No financial institution ever preserved its credit and
character, as well as the means and interests of its
customers, with more good faith and better practical
results. It restored a stable currency to the nation,
and distributed its accommodations with impartial
fairness to all sections. If it had been wound up there
would have been full payment of all demands, and
the return to the stockholders of their principal and
a surplus.
The Pennsylvania Bank of the United States suc-
ceeded to the "good-will and fixtures" of its prede-
cessor. Mr. Biddle became its first president, and
gave to it all the vast experience and ability which
he possessed, and from 1836 to 1839 the new bank
seemed to prosper, under the favor and confidence of
both the government and public of Philadelphia. Its
stock attained a premium of sixteen per cent., but
not resting upon the broad foundation of national
aid, and restricted to a narrow and local basis, it was
unable to secure and maintain that national confi-
dence upon which its usefulness and success de-
pended. A period of general expansion, over-
trading, and over-banking set in with the beginning
of the career of the Pennsylvania Bank of the United
States. The system of banking all over the country
was not built upon the basis of specie. Currency did
not represent coin ; banks were mere paper-money
mills. In consequence there could be no definite post-
ponement of financial disaster. The bank made an
assignment Sept. 4, 1841, and by its failure brought
widespread ruin and disaster to business and trade
throughout the Union. The estate of Stephen Girard
sustained a heavy loss from the amount it had invested
in the stock of this bank.
The Bank of the United States had suspended
specie payment Oct. 10, 1839. The Legislature
had fixed Feb. 1, 1841, as the date for its resump-
tion. Action was not taken to bring it about until
R. D. Wood, transiently meeting James Martin, one
of the directors of the United States Bank, remarked
to him that the period was fast approaching, and it
was quite time to put things in order for it. This re-
mark led to an agreement of views by the two gentle-
men, and the subject was brought before the board of
the Philadelphia Bank by R. D. Wood. Whereupon
committees of the city banks examined the condition
of the United States Bank, and agreed to lend it
$5,000,000, taking its notes at an average of thirteen
and a half months. The banks so lending borrowed
upon these notes $2,500,000 from the New England
and New York banks, and resumption took place.
These negotiations occupied over four months.
They were conducted on the behalf of the borrowing
banks by John White, Robert Howell, and R. D.
Wood, and on the part of the New England banks
by P. Marett. They involved reciprocal visits by
these gentlemen to Boston, New York, and Philadel-
phia, correspondence with William Appleton and
Abbott Lawrence, and a short conference with
Daniel Webster.
The Bank of Pennsylvania was incorporated March
30, 1793, for twenty years. Its original capital was
$2,000,000, divided into 500 shares of $400 each, with
BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA.
permission to increase the shares to 7500. The
charter was extended, in February, 1810, for the
term of twenty-one years, upon the condition that
the Governor shall be allowed to subscribe at par, on
behalf of the commonwealth, for 1250 shares of the
reserved shares of the bank, and also for the same
number of shares, all at par, at any time after the
expiration of ten years from the 4th of March, 1818.
The banking-house on Second Street, between
Chestnut and Walnut, was designed by B. H. Latrobe,
of the pure model of Grecian architecture. The
2096
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
design was from the temple of the Muses, on the
Ilyssus, near Athens, with two Ionic porticos, of six
columns each, supporting entablatures and pediments.
The whole building, one hundred and twenty-five feet
by fifty-one feet, was of white Pennsylvania marble.
In 1811 the State of Pennsylvania had .$1,509,000 in-
vested in this bank. Its branches were at Lancaster,
Pittsburgh, and Easton. Its management was in a
president and twenty-four directors, three of whom
were annually appointed by each house of the Legis-
lature, and the rest by the stockholders. In 1811
Joseph Parker Norris was president, and Jonathan
Smith cashier. The president in 1835 was John Read,
and Quintin Campbell was cashier. The bank failed
in 1837.
The Bank of Philadelphia was formed in 1803,
with a capital of 11,000,000, and incorporated in 1804
ipon conditions of paying $135,000 cash ; permitting
the Governor to subscribe for 3000 shares, and to pay
herefor $300,000 in six per cent, stock of the United
States, which was at that time ten per cent, below par ;
to loan the State when required $100,000 at five per
cent, for ten years ; and the privilege of subscribing
$200,000 at the end of four years, and at the end of
eight years to subscribe another $200,000 on the part
of the State, both sums to be at par. The practice of
paying for charters to banking companies marks an
era in legislation of the State. The enormous bonus
paid by the Bank of Philadelphia, and the other
privileges granted to the State, became necessary, in
consequence of the violent opposition to the institu-
tion which was manifested by the Bank of Pennsyl-
vania, and the offer on the part of that bank to pay
$200,000 to the State, provided no new bank should
be incorporated.
The Philadelphia Bank, before 1836, stood on the
lot at the southwest corner of Fourth and Chestnut
Streets, now occupied by the Wood building. The
bank was a rough-cast, queer-looking Gothic build-
ing, with a great, wide, and high arch of entrance on
Fourth Street. It occupied the southern half of the
lot. The northern half was vacant ground, inclosed
with a wall and railing on Fourth and on Chestnut
Streets. There was grass in the inclosure, and at one
time two or three trees.
In 1836, the building was removed to give place to
a marble structure which was built in conjunction
with the Western Bank. When completed, the eastern
division was occupied in the second story by the Phil-
adelphia Bank till its removal to the granite building
opposite. The Commonwealth Bank then occupied the
lower story until its removal, in 1876, to the southwest
corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets.
In March, 1809, the Legislature chartered the
Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank with a capital of
$1,250,000, and to continue until May 1, 1824. The
Legislature demanded $75,000 for the charter, and
provision was inserted that the debts of the corpo-
ration should not exceed double the amount of the
capital ; one-tenth part of the capital was required to
be loaned, if applied for, to the farmers of the State,
on sufficient security by bond, mortgage, or note. For
many years the bank was in a brick building on the
lot of ground now occupied by it, formerly the Law-
rence mansion, and in which it is said Admiral Howe
lived during the British occupancy of the city. The
bank opened business there Jan. 25, 1819; the new
building was first used for banking purposes in 1854.
Edwin M. Lewis is president.
The only incorporated State banking institutions in
Philadelphia in 1811 were, —
Bank of PennBjlvaDia $1,425,303
Philadelphia Bank 713,.309
Fanners' and Mechanics' Bank 804,730
$1,400,356
654,420
604,700
In 1810 the Legislature enacted a law to prohibit
unincorporated associations from issuing notes or pur-
suing any of the operations of banks ; but in defiance
of its provisions the system was persevered in, and
even companies incorporated for the purpose of con-
structing bridges departed from the spirit of their
charters, converted themselves into banks, and issued
notes for circulation. This mania for banking would
soon have been checked by the return of the notes
for redemption, had not the war of 1812-15 inter-
vened, and the cessation of the demand for specie for
exportation to India and China removed the usual
check against the excessive issue of bank paper.
During the session of the State Legislature of 1812-
13, a bill was passed by a majority of one in each
branch to incorporate twenty-five new banks with an
aggregate capital of $9,525,000, but it was vetoed by j
Governor Snyder, and returned with his objections,
among which he said, " It would, by readiness to give
credit, unite visionary speculations, divert men from
useful pursuits, damp the ardor of industrious enter-
prise, and consequently demoralize the community."
In March, 1814, the subject was renewed, and a bill
passed incorporating, as has been stated, forty-one
banks, with capitals amounting to upward of $17,000-
000, of which only one-fifth part was required to be
paid in. Although the bill passed both houses by ■
large majorities. Governor Snyder returned this bill
also, with his objections, but two-thirds of both houses
voted for its passage notwithstanding ; it became a
law, and thirty -seven banks went into operation under
its sanction. The immediate commencement of a
number of these banks, whose bona fide capital was
little more than' the first installment required, in-
creased the amount of circulation, already too abun-
dant, and the depreciation of the currency grew worse
and worse, until all confidence in its convertibility
was lost. The new banks discounted stock notes to
meet the remaining installments, and hence onlj' one-
fifth part of their capital was ever paid in. In 1819,
of the thirty-seven banks which went into operation
under the State law of 1814, fifteen failed, and were
officially announced as " dissolved, unlawful, and
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2097
unincorporated," and there were at the same time
twenty-two banks more in the State transacting busi-
ness without charters.
In 1820 there were thirty-six banks in existence in
the State, with capital amounting to $14,681,780, and
an indefinite aumher of freebooters. There is nothing
cheering and but little useful or entertaining in the
history of banking in this country in the decade from
1820 to 1830. Throughout almost that entire time
there was a rapid succession of untoward events,
leading to embarrassment, insolvency, litigation, dis-
honesty, and crime. It is a continuous history of
bankruptcy and fraud. Banks were bribed to fail,
that the stockholders might pay their indebtedness
in the currency of the same bank, after it had reached
its minimum point of depreciation, commonly fifty
per cent. In 1829-30 the gloom which had settled so
long upon the country was dispelled, and a brighter
prospect dawned. The natural course of trade for
the first time in eight years had brought a balance in
specie of S8,500,000 into the country, and a large
share of this fortunate result is due to Pennsylvania
for her eifective act for the suppression of the circu-
lation of small notes within her borders. This abol-
ishment of small notes extended the functions of
metallic currency, by allowing it to take the place of
these notes. Another cause of this influx of gold in
1830, and retention for a time in the country, was the
partial cessation of the exportation of specie to India
and China, occasioned by the substitution of bills of
exchange and letters of credit on London for the
im])orts for those countries.
" In 1830 there were in Philadelphia twelve joint
stock banks, exclusive of the Bank of the United
States. Allowing for the share of the capital of the
latter employed in banking speculations in the cit\,
the total capital engaged in bank business in Phila
delphia that year may be taken at $10,667,000 on
which a dividend accrued of $693,075, being at the
rate of 6.497 per cent. The bank of the late Mr
Girard, being a private establishment, is not included
in this estimate (statement by I. H. Goddard, Esq
Ayw York Daily Advertiser, 29th January, 1831).
None of the Philadelphia banks issue notes less than
five dollars. They all discount good bills, having
sixty or ninety days to run, at six per cent. In Phil-
adelphia the banks have been pretty successful, but in
Pennsylvania generally there have been many fail-
ures." ' The banks of Philadelphia suspended specie
payment May 10, 1837, and the city of Philadelphia
began the issue of "shinplasters." The banks re-
sumed specie payments Jan. 15, 1841.
Most prominent among the bankers of Philadelphia
was Stephen Girard, born in Bordeaux, France, on
the 21st of May, 1750. In 1764 he sailed for St.
Domingo as a sailor on the ship "Pelerin," com-
manded by Capt. John Coarteau; returning to his
1 HcCullocb's Commercial Dictionary.
home, he again sailed for the French West Indian
possessions, and continued to make frequent voyages
during a period of nine years between those islands
and Bordeaux. His experience as a sailor, acquired
by these voyages, obtained a license on the 4th of
October, 1773, " to Stephen Girard, of Bordeaux, full
authority to act as captain, master, and patron of a
merchant vessel." His attention was now turned to
commercial affairs in connection with the pursuit of
the sea. His record, in the shape of a journal kept
by himself, contains the invoices and sales of a quan-
tity of goods suited to a West India market. These
goods, amounting in value to about three thousand
dollars in Federal money, were disposed of in St.
Domingo in February, 1774. From the West Indies
he sailed to New York, and arrived in July of the
same year. Here his business tact and shrewdness in
disposing of his goods attracted the notice of Thomas
Randall, a merchant of that city. For the next three
years he traded with New York, New Orleans, and
Port au Prince, on his own account and jointly with
Mr. Randall. In the month of May, 1777, he arrived
for the time at Philadelphia. He now changed his
profession of sailor to that of merchant, and com-
STEPHEN GIl:A]ili> J:AM^.
menced business in a rented store on Water Street, a
short distance from the spot where he afterward per-
manently located. He married, in July, Mary Lumm,
of Philadelphia. The approach of the British troops
to Philadelphia drove Mr. Girard to Mount Holly, in
New Jersey, where he remained until the evacuation
of the city by the enemy, on the 17th of June, 1778,
when he returned and resumed his business. His
mercantile business had grown so profitable and his
fortune had increased so rapidly that in June, 1812,
he determined to devote his attention to banking. To
this end he purchased the banking-house of the Bank
of the United States, the business of which and the
funds in its vaults remained with his bank, and he
thus began a new career with unusual advantages and
2098
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
prospects of success. His new occupation did not
withdraw him from mercantile pursuits, but his trade [
with China, the East Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, j
and Europe continued to be pushed with unabated j
industry, and was attended with unexampled success, j
From the period of the establishment of his bank
until his death, in 1831, he continued to prosecute
both commercial and financial business. He died on
the 26th of December, 1831, leaving the largest for-
tune accumulated by any single man in America up '
to the time of his death. His extraordinary regard
and care for the interest intrusted to his management
was illustrated by his executing and recording a deed
of trust providing that in the event of his death " no ;
delay nor abstraction on the payment of the moneys
deposited with him may ensue, but that all business
may be transacted with like promptitude and punctu-
ality" that it was in the lifetime of Mr. Girard him-
self.
The Bank of Germantown was chartered by the
Legislature of the State in 1813, and went into oper-
ation July, 1814, with a paid-in capital of .$55,000;
Samuel Harvey, president, and John F. Watson (au-
thor of " Watson's Annals of Philadelphia"), cashier.
The first board of directors was composed of Samuel
Harvey, Charles J. Wister, Richard Bayley, Peter
Robeson, Michael Riter, George Bensell, John John-
son, Edward Russell, William Rodman, Robert Adams,
Samuel Johnson, Conrad Carpenter, John Rogers.
Capital, January, 1815, $91,000; July, -1815, $150,-
000 ; January, 1816, $152,000 ; and in 1853, $200,000.
From the minutes of the bank of July, 1814, it
appears that "the committee for procuring and fit-
ting out a banking-house report that they have
leased from Dr. George Bensell, for the term of six
years and six months from the 15th of June last, at a
rent of three hundred dollars per annum, payable
quarterly, a three-story stone house opposite the sixth
mile-stone in the village of Germantown, and that
they have purchased from Mr. James Stokes the iron
doors, etc., belonging to the vault of the late Bank
of the United States in Germantown, that they have
emploj'ed masons and carpenters to make the neces-
sary alterations, which they expect will be completed
by the 23d inst." The location was changed from
the above place (which is the second house above
School Lane on the Main Street) to Main Street, below
Shoemaker Lane, in 1825, and again, in 1868, to Main
Street and School Lane, next door to the original
location.
Samuel Harvey died in 1848, and was succeeded by
Charles Magarge as president. John F. Watson re-
signed the cashiership in 1848, and was succeeded by
Lloyd Mifilin, who resigned in 1850, and was suc-
ceeded by Samuel Harvey, Jr. ; he resigned in 1860,
and Charles W. Otto, the present cashier of the bank,
was elected in his place. Mr. Magarge resigned in
1866, and William Wynne Wister, the present presi-
dent, was elected to fill the vacancy.
The Commercial Bank was chartered in 1814, with
a capital of $1,000,000. The charter was renewed in
1824, and renewed again in 1836, while James Dundas
was president. Mr. Dundas was prominent for many
years among the leading financiers of the city.
He was the second son of John and Agnes Dundas,
the latter a native of Alexandria, Va. He was born
June 21, 1786, graduated at Princeton College, and
was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. He married
Anna Maria Pratt, a daughter of Henry Pratt, an
eminefit merchant of Philadelphia, by his second wife
Elizabeth Dundas, herself a daughter of James Dun-
das, a younger son of John Dundas, of Manour. This
last-mentioned James Dundas came from Scotland to
America' shortly after the battle of Culloden, and
settled in Philadelphia. He died Jan. 10, 1788. The
James Dundas who is the subject of this biography
succeeded to the family estate of Manour, in Perth-
shire, Scotland, which he held and enjoyed for a short
time, until dispossessed of it by the alien laws of Great
Britain.^ He was the great-grandson of John Dundas,
of Manour, and Anne, daughter of John Murray, of
^ Douglas' Baronage, page ISO.
- " The Diindaaes," saj'S Lord Woodhoueelee, in the Transactions of
the Royal Society of Great Britain, " are descended of a family to which
the historian and the geologist have assigned an origin of high an-
tiquity and splendor, but which has been still more remarkable for pro-
ducing a series of men eminently distinguished fur their public services
in the highest otfices in Scotland." The family of Dundas, in common
with the families of Dunbar and Hume, traces its descent in the male
line from the Earls of March and Dunbar, who were sprung from the
Saxon princes of Northumberland and the Saxon monarchs of England.
According to the Douglas Baronage, " Uthred, a son of Cospatrick, first
Earl of March, lived in the reign of King David I., who succeeded to the
Scottish crown in 112-1:, and died in llo3. The genealogical chart of the
family, retained in its archives, points out that Uthred was seated jia
Baron of Dundas, at Dundas Castle, in West Lothian, which was built
eight hundred years ago. John Dundas, of Dundiis, in the thirteenth
generation, succeeded Lis father in 1480, and in 1487 was created Earl
of Forth. In U'Jl, King James IV. granted him the island of Inch-
garvie, with liberty to build and fortify a castle upon it. Sir William
DundHS succeeded John Dundas in 1494, and married Margaret, daugh-
ter of .\rchibald Wanchope, of Niddrie, by whom he had sons, — Sir
James and William Dundas. Sir James Dundas was the ancestor of
the families of Dundas of Dundas; Dundas of Arniston; DundHS,
Viscount Melville; Dundas, Baronet of Dunire; and William Dundas,
from whom are descended the Duudases of Duddington and Manour."
Burke's "Visitation" says on page 38, "Staniehill Tower, one of the
properties which lay nearest to the Earl of Hopetown, was once the seat
of Dundas of Manour, a cadet of the ancient and distinguished family of
Dundas of Duddington, Lord Hopetown had for some time tried to in-
duce the old laird of Manour to sell to him the tower of his fathers,
but in vain. However, he bided his time, and found the young laird
less impracticable. He induced him to listen to what was indeed a very
advantageous proposal, and exchanged with him the beautiful estate of
Aithreg for Staniehill Tower, which now forms a fine object in the midst
of the pleasure-grounds of Hopetown House."
"Dundas of Manour: George, the first of this family, was the second
sou of David Dundas of Duddingston, himself a second son of William
Dundas of Duddingston. George Dundas acquired several estates. He
acquired a charter under the great seal Magistro Georgio Dundas, filio
quondam, Davidis Dundas de Duddingston, terrarum de Smiddie Hill,
etc., dated July 19,1625; also a charter of the lands and barony of King's
Power, alias Manour, in Perthshire, dated Nov. 19, 1628, which last hath
continued ever since to be the chief title of this family." — Baronage of
Scotland, hy Sir Boberl Douglas, pp. 178-179.
"Sir David Dundas, late solicitor-general, and Sir John Dundas,
Baronet of Richmond, are also descended from John of Manour."
"'man
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BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2099
Polmair,' who was the sixth in descent from William
Dundas, of Duddington and Manour, the second son
of Sir William Dundas, of Dundas, who represented
the fourteenth generation of that ancient family in a
direct male line.
The death of James Dundas, of Philadelphia, oc-
curred on July 4, 1865. A newspaper notice of his
decease says that "the coal interest of this State is
largely indebted to him for its development, both
from his counsel and his large investments." An-
other account has the following : " Mr. Dundas was
formerly president of the Commercial Bank, which
position he filled with distinguished ability. He was
also for many years a director of the Philadelphia
Savings-Fund Society, an institution of very high
character and extended usefulness." With the Penn-
sylvania Horticultural Society he was long identified
as one of its vice-presidents. His taste for horticul-
tural pursuits was strongly marked, and his liberality
rendered his gardens and conservatories quite cele-
brated. In beauty and rarity they were not surpassed
by any in Philadelphia. His gardener had become
quite a well-known personage, and generally took a
number of prizes at the exhibitions of the Horticul-
tural Society. Few conservatories in the country can
show so good a collection of air-plants as the one he
had in charge, and the great tank containing the Vic-
toria Regia was an unfailing resort for the curious.
Mr. Dundas was ever liberal, and he was the friend
of all praiseworthy public enterprises. His residence,
at the northeast corner of Walnut and Broad Streets,
has long been a theme of public admiration. Mr.
Dundas was a man of strict integrity, of the utmost
punctuality, prompt and quick of action, kind and
just to all with whom he had intercourse, and a true
friend ; those who knew him best learned to respect
and love him.
The Philadelphia Loan Company was organized in
1836, and was for a time active. It went out of exist-
ence in 1838. the capital was $500,000. George S.
Schott, M.D., was president, and T. M. Moore, cashier.
The board of directors consisted of George S. Schott
Joseph R. Chandler, William Stephens, Benjamin E.
Carpenter, John F. Ohl, Nathaniel C. Foster, Thomas
E.J. Kerrison, John R. Walker, Bartholomew Graves,
William E. Whitman, James Simpson, Benjamin
Duncan, and T. M. Moore. When the company went
out of existence it had no assets.
In October, 1839, the "Great Western" and the
" British Queen" carried nearly 81,000,000 each in
specie to England, and the demand for exchange on
London was unsatisfied ; an immense pressure on the
commercial community followed, and strong fears
were felt not only that the banks would suspend spe-
cie payments, but that many failures would follow.
On Oct. 8, 1839, all the banks of the city were re-
quested to meet by committee, and a committee was
appointed by the Board of Trade to take into consid-
eration the embarrassed state of the commercial affairs
of the city. The banks met by committee, and the
question being taken on immediate suspension or re-
sumption resulted as follows. Those voting yea were
the United States, Girard, Western, Moyamensing,
Schuylkill. Those voting no were the Philadelphia,
Farmers' and Mechanics', Mechanics', Merchants' and
Mechanics', Commercial, North American, South-
wark, Penn Township, Kensington ; Pennsylvania
and Northern Liberties not represented.
On October 9th, at a meeting of the directors of the
Philadelphia Bank, a communication from the direc-
tors of the Bank of the United States was received,
saying that they had suspended. The Philadelphia
Bank resolved to follow their course, and the same
was adopted liy all the banks in the city except the
Commercial.
The number of banks in the city in 1840 was six-
teen, with capital amounting, exclusive of that of the
Bank of the United States, to $18,0.50,000.- In 1848
there were in Philadelphia County thirty-four banks,
with an aggregate capital of $7,866,000 ; circulation,
86,400,000; specie, $1,800,000; in Philadelphia four-'
teen banks, with $9,222,000 capital and $4,200,000
circulation and $3,900,000 specie.'
From 1848 to 1860 the capital and accommodations
of the banks of Philadelphia did not materially vary.
To the above list the Tradesman's Bank must be added,
with a capital of $150,000 ; discounts, $495,000 ; cir-
culation, $182,730; specie, $215,061 ; deposits, 8518,-
871,— making for 1854, $10,700,000 of capital, $25,285,-
319 of loans, $14,942,602 of deposits, $4,692,146 of
circulation, and $3,940,139 of coin.
The following abstract statement of the condition
of banks of Philadelphia is taken from the auditor's
official report to the House of Representatives, Jan.
19, 1848 :
Bank. »»"J"=- i <=!>■<="'»- XZ^^l B"" »»•
''''">•'■ counted. lion. ] ^^^ positore.
Bank of Pennsylval
Philadelphia Bank .
Bank of North Am
Commercial Bank of
Pennsylvania
Farmers' and Mechan-
ics' Bank of Phila-
delphia
Girard Bank
Bank of Commerce....
Southwark Bank
Mechanics' Bank of
City and County of
Philadelphia
Western Bank of
Philadelphia
Bank of Northern Lib-
Bank of Penn Town-
ship
Manufacturers' and
Mechanics' Bank of
Northern Liberties.
Kensington Bank
Bank of Germantown..
1,869,664.24 430,426.41 081,993.02!
1,583,539.32 258,429.00 257,462.8o|
2,414,399,63 013,925.27, 416,349.44
648,550.211 2.55,335 00 320,356.68
460,816.401 155,545.00 185,473.61
690,117.82 237,020.00 298,926.44
1,359,186.22 367,055.00 192,702.64
1,252,448.83, 277,365.00 189,841.24]
961,232.91 310,147.00
957,000.96 242,770.00
248,089.871
263,060.29
781,879.53: 280,715.00 164,272.33
692,542.16j 221,517.50 143,765.27
215,606.201 80,670.00 25,915.83
1,278,491.08
721.226.95
1,468,751.28
422,030.20
252,239.80
525'292 29
604,062.16
651,606.80
744,495.69
500,330.84
323,769.85
408,767.61
114,1'28.09
' Donglaa' Baronage, page 179.
2 McCuUoch's Dictionary,
s Hunt's Merchants' Magazi
xviii., February, 1848.
2100
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The long suspension of specie payments which
began Dec. 30, 1861, and ended Jan. 1, 1879, was
attended with many circumstances and events in the
history of banljing and currency.
Tlie first suspension of specie payments by the banks
took place Sept. 1, 1814, and extended throughout the
United States. From 1817 to 1837 there were no sus-
pensions of specie payments, but on the 10th of May,
of the latter year, the banks suspended, and the city
and corporations issued their " shinplasters." This
suspension continued over a year. The New York
banks resumed in 1838, but the Philadelphia banks
declared they were unable to resume. Governor Rit-
ner, in July, 1838, by proclamation declared that the
banks by suspending specie payments had violated
their charters, and he ordered them to resume on the
13th of August following. This intimation of trouble
ahead induced the banks to resume payments in
specie, which they continued to do for over thirteen
months, when, on the 9th of October, 1839, they again
suspended, but were driven to resumption on the 15th
of January, 1841. This lasted but three weeks, when
the failure of the Bank of the United States (Thomas
Dunlap, president) caused all the other Philadelphia
banks to suspend specie payments. There was no
general day of resumption, but each bank in Its own
good time commenced to pay out specie in small sums,
which continued for several years. The continued
issue of bank paper, unrestrained by resumption,
stimulated speculation and excessive importation
until, on the 21st of September, 1857, the Bank of
Pennsylvania succumbed in total failure, and everj-
other Philadelphia bank suspended, which was
speedily followed by all the banks throughout the
country. Resumption was gradual and slow, but
steadily progressed until the threatening condition of
the country, produced by the approaching war between
the States, produced a general suspension of specie
payments, which were resumed for a short period in
1862, which, with exceptional instances of payments
of small amounts of specie, continued until Jan. 1,
1879, when all the banks of the country resumed the
payment of specie.
Intimately connected with the suspension of specie
payments are those crises of monetary affairs called
"panics," in which men take more counsel of their
fears than of their judgments. The first distinct
and well-defined " panic" occurred in May, 1837, and
under its baleful influence some of the oldest and
stanchest houses of Philadelphia went down. Among
these may be mentioned those of Samuel Comly,
Jackson, Riddle & Co., R. & J. Phillips & Co. An-
other " panic" broke out in 1841, when Pope & As-
pinwall and John Brock, Son & Co. were sacrificed.
There was a general depression in business all over
the country from 1812 or 1813 to 1819 or 1820. Again,
in 1857, the sudden failure of the Ohio Life and Trust
Company of Cincinnati produced that remarkable
condition of financial nervousness which has taken
the generic name of " panic ;" and " Black Friday," in
September, 1869, is a memorable instance of panic.
One of the most widely known of our business men
thirty or forty years ago was Enoch W. Clark, the
senior partner in banking-houses in Philadelphia,
New York, St. Louis, and New Orleans, all of them
leading houses in the domestic exchange and banking
business. Mr. Clark is well remembered by our older
merchants as an enterprising and honorable business
men, and as a very bright and genial companion. He
was born in 1802, in East Hampton, Mass., and was a
direct descendant of Capt. William Clark, who settled
near there in 1639. He received his business education
in this city with Solomon Allen, whose firm of S. & M.
Allen & Co. was one of the most prominent of the
banking firms existing in the early part of this century,
with principal houses in New York and Philadelphia
and branch houses in all prominent cities North and
South. Mr. Clark, on attaining his majority, in 1823,
was sent by Mr. Allen to Providence, R. I., to open
a branch house, not because that was a very promis-
ing business point, but it was the only good opening
not already occupied by a branch or allied house.
Mr. Clark met with marked success almost at once,
but after a few years he severed his connection with
the Aliens, and was less successful in another branch
of business. He moved to Boston in 1833, and re-
sumed the banking business; was at first successful,
but was later carried down in the reverses of 1836.
He then moved to Philadelphia, and in January, 1837,
established, in connection with his brother-in-law, Ed-
ward Dodge, the banking firm of E. W. Clark & Co.,
on Third Street, on the site now occupied by the
building erected by himself in 1852, and always the
headquarters of his own or succeeding firms of the
same name.
After the failure of the United States Bank, in
1837, diimestic exchanges were very much disturbed
for many years ; specie payments were twice sus-
pended; banks were everywhere established, gener-
ally on an insecure basis, and many of them were
short-lived. Losses as well as profits were large in
the exchange business, but the most enterprising and
well-informed exchange dealers were afforded a fine
opportunity to do a remunerative business. Ex-
change on Southern cities, or notes issued there, pur-
chased at a large discount because no direct returns
could be obtained in either specie or exchange, were
forwarded with instructions to remit to some other
point on which exchange could be obtained, and per-
haps from that second point remittances came only
through a third. The readiness in buying drafts on
all points, promptness in making collections, and the
cultivation of business relations with leading houses
in different cities, and finally the opening of branch
houses in St. Louis, New York, and New Orleans,
brought the new firm into prominence, and secured
to it a very large and remunerative business in do-
mestic exchanges. Those whose financial experience
<^/<<.
i^/Ny/c
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2101
does not extend beyond the time when the present
banking system was established know nothing of the
condition of the currency and exchanges after the
failure of the United States Bank, and the extent to
which private banking firms transacted the ditferent
branches of the exchange business now monopolized
by the National Banks.
The profits resulting to Mr. Clark from seven
years' business, between 1837 and 1844, were all used
by him in the payment of debts incurred in Boston
in 1836, and the considerable fortune which he left
to his family in 1856 was acquired in 1844 and later.
His eldest son, Edward W., became a partner in
the house in January, 1849. Jay Cooke had then
been a partner for five years, and Mr. Clark gradu-
ally withdrew from active participation in the busi-
ness. Clarence H. Clark was admitted in 1854.
Mr. Clark did not live long to enjoy the rest thus
afforded. He was attacked in 1855 by a painful dis-
ease due to nicotine poisoning, and died in 1856, be-
fore completing his fifty-fourth year.
Jay Cooke, who had been at one time a partner of
Enoch W. Clark, was born in Huron County, Ohio,
Aug. 10, 1821. His business life commeuced at the
early age of thirteen in a store in Sandusky, where
he remained nearly a year, and then went to St.
Louis, from whence he returned home to continue
his education. He soon removed to Philadelphia,
and accepted a position with William G. Moorhead,
who was then largely engaged in railroad and canal
enterprises. He subsequently obtained a position in
the banking house of E. W. Clark & Co., of this
city. He was about seventeen when he entered this
house, but his earnest zeal to understand the business
of banking, and his close attention to all details, so
impressed his employers that before he attained his
majority he was intrusted with full powers of attorney
to sign the name of the firm ; and in 1842, when
twenty-one years of age, he was admitted a partner,
in which he remained until 1858. In the early part
of 1861 he went into partnership with W. G. Moor-
head, under the style of Jay Cooke & Co. When
the first of the war loans was advertised, this house
obtained and sent to Wiishington a large list of sub-
scriptions ; afterward the house placed a large part of
the war loan of Pennsylvania. The subsequent suc-
cess of the house in placing the war loans obtained
for its head the name of the Financier of the Rebel-
lion. The house continued to prosper until it became
the bankers and fiscal agents of the Northern Pacific
Railroad Company. The heavy advances made by
the firm to this company, depending for reimburse-
ment on the sale of bonds, caused the suspension of
the company on the 18th of September, 1873, after
which the concern was placed in bankruptcy, from
which Mr. Cooke emerged with loss of fortune, but
with preservation of character.
Sacrificing all his properties to meet the demands
of his creditors, and disdaining to resort to the legal
technicalities which might have largely protected
him, he passed into an honorable retirement, leaving
behind him the example of a man who was as brave
in meeting disaster as he had been wise and energetic
in financially holding up the hands of the govern-
ment, and in opening to civilization and settlement
the magnificent and fertile empire of the new North-
west. Recalling now the financial strength of the
government, its untarnished credit, and the high val-
uations of its .securities in all the money markets of
the world, no person familiar with its history can
avoid acknowledging the influence of Mr. Cooke in
the policy which has led to such proud results.
The Drexel Banking House, in broad influence
and honorable reputation, occupies the front rank.
It was founded in 1837 by Francis M. Drexel, de-
ceased, father of the two brothers of that name who
are now at its head. It became large, prosperous,
and of high credit in his lifetime. Their New York
house (now Drexel, Morgan & Co.) dates from 1850 ;
and the Paris house (Drexel, Harjes & Co.) was estab-
lished in 1867. The loans, credits, and other financial
operations of these three Drexel banks extend all
over the commercial world. The London connection
is J. S. Morgan & Co. The Drexel brothers above
referred to are Anthony J. and Francis A., and a
brief sketch of the former is given here.
Anthony J. Drexel was born in Philadelphia in
1826, and long before he was through with his school
studies entered the bank at the age of thirteen. Since
then (or rather since his school education was finished)
the history of the banking establishment has been
his life. Its progress, its great growth, its high re-
pute, its wide influence, the extent of its operations,
furnish the material that would go into his biogra-
phy, his brother's, and his father's. Otherwise the
writer can only speak of his character, and the ad-
mirable qualities which give him prominence in busi-
ness and in private life. First, as to his breadth of
view as banker. The Drexel houses are money-fur-
nishing establishments, their principal transactions
being to supply capital for individual and corporate
enterprises or needs, — for government use, national,
State, and municipal, — and for times of public emer-
gency. In all such negotiations, but especially those
of a large or public nature, Mr. Anthony Drexel has
a quick and intuitive perception, his mind taking in
all the prominent bearings of the proposition at once,
and enabling him to decide promptly what ought or
ought not to be done ; and with him what should be
done takes notice not only of the interests of his own
banks, but just and generous regard for the interests
of the client and for the public also, whenever the
negotiation has its public side. If it is an occasion
when solvent business men or fiduciary institutions
are hard pressed or might be compelled to suspend
or break owing to panic in the money market, the
means are furnished to save the men or the institu-
tions from breaking or discredit. Mr. Drexel has
2102
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
many times done this under all sorts of circumstances,
from the humblest to those involving safety or ruin
to very large corporations, where if the relief had not
been extended there would have been peril of wide-
spread disaster. For all such matters he has in-
stinctive insight, the broadest view, and the quickest
decision.
The Drexel houses have supplied and placed hun-
dreds of millions of dollars in government, corpora-
tion, railroad, and other loans and other securities.
These securities are placed for investment; they
have no dealings with speculative bonds or stocks.
Sound and sure transactions are the invariable rule.
Along with safety, the honor of their banking-houses
for fair dealing is maintained on the highest plane.
An illustration of this occurred at tlie outbreak of
the Franco-Prussian war, in 1870. A large number
of travelers and tourists having Drexel letters of credit
were at the time in Germany, Switzerland, France,
and elsewhere on the Continent, cut off from commu-
nication and compelled to remain where they were,
because the railways and telegraphs were seized for
exclusive government use.
In this emergency, the Paris house directed a large
amount of gold to be sent to Geneva and other places
on the Continent to protect their letters of credit, and
authorized the holders of them, wherever they were,
to draw through the local banks, in francs or sterling
or marks or dollars, as would be most available to
them. This cost the Drexels a great deal of money,
but it gave instant relief to the holders of their letters,
and shows the high standard of credit they set for
their liouse. This spirit of scrupulously honorable
dealing, characteristic of Mr. Drexel, is shown in all
transactions, including the treatment and preferment
of the em ploy & of the several houses.
In the promotion of all good works, in Philadelphia
especially, Mr. Drexel is always among the very fore-
most, and is relied upon usually as the person to take
the lead, and this he does with generous heart and full
hand, whenever a charitable or benevolent purpose is
to be helped, an educational, art, scientific, or indus-
trial institution or enterprise to be encouraged, or any
project for the general welfare is to be advanced. A
catalogue of instances illustrating this would be very
long indeed.
In all matters outside of his business, in which he
is strong and incisive, Mr. Drexel is one of the most
retiring and unpretentious of men, disliking every-
thing in the nature of display or self-assertion. His
habits are of the quietest kind, with a strong inclina-
tion to art, especially music, both brothers being ex-
pert musicians. No one, observing his quiet de-
meanor, could suppose that he is the great banker
whose name is like gold and inspires confidence
everywhere, who has been sought for to accept the
highest fiduciary positions, and who has declined the
high financial office of Secretary of the Treasury of
the United States.
The year 1862 opened with a general suspension of
specie payments by all the banks throughout the
Union. On February 25th of that year Congress
authorized the issue of $150,000,000 of treasury notes,
known as "greenbacks," and made a legal tender for
all private as well as public indebtedness. July 11th
another issue of $150,000,000 of greenbacks was pro-
vided for. The price of gold began to rise with the
issue of greenbacks, and between January and July
of 1862 the premium reached twenty per cent. In
January, 1863, another issue of $100,000,000 was au-
thorized, and gold rose to fifty per cent, premium. A
great scarcity of specie and small change was experi-
enced all over the country, and centg sold at a pre-
mium in Philadelphia. Even postage-stamps and
car-tickets entered into circulation. October 9th,
gold was held at a premium of twenty-five per cent,
and silver at seventeen per cent., while on the 16th
the former reached a premium of thirty-seven per
cent, and the latter of twenty-five per cent.
The National Banking Act, approved Feb. 25, 1863,
authorized $300,000,000 of bank capital, to be dis-
tributed, one-half according to the banking capital
and one-half according to population, and on the
day of its approval the premium on gold in Philadel-
phia was seventy-two per cent. March 5th and 6th
witnessed great excitement in the gold market. The
subscriptions to the five-twenty loan for the week
ending October 31st, amounted in Philadelphia
to $16,500,000, the total subscription in the city
amounting to $36,600,000. The act of June 30, 1864,
limited the amount of greenbacks to $400,000,000,
and such part of 850,000,000 more as might be needed
to redeem temporary loans. The premium on gold
continued to rise, until, in July, 1864, it reached $2.85.
The fluctuations in prices of all kinds were frequent
and rapid, following as much the vicissitudes of the
war as the volume of the currency. Suft'ering and dis-
tress prevailed among all classes dependent upon fixed
incomes, while stupendous speculations in gold, stocks,
and provisions were carried on. The temptation
to peculation and fraud seemed to grow and ex-
pand as well as the currency, while heavy losses
and depressions followed almost all legitimate trade
and business.
The Fidelity Insurance, Trust, and Safe Deposit
Company was incorporated March 22, 1866, and
began business on September 1st of that year. It
receives deposits of money at interest, deposits of
securities and other valuables, rents burglar-proof
safes, furnishes letters of credit, collects incomes and
manages estates, and acta as executor, administrator,
guardian, assignee, receiver, and trustee, under ap-
pointment by courts, corporations, or individuals.
It has a capital of $2,000,000, and has, at Nos. 327,
329, and 331 Chestnut Street, a building of sufficient
magnitude, thoroughly fire-proof, with vaults of im-
pregnable strength, and a complete system of watch-
ing. The officers are Stephen A. Caldwell, president ;
'"' tie
»'»»itt,tl,(
"»'»'? ad July
'■Pfmimi, jj
iperi-
»pfr
'%
^ .^''
I
I
'^iTx-
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2103
Jvhij B. Guest, vice-presideul ; Robert i'aHornou,
lecretary and treasurer; and George S. Clark, safe
soj-erintendeot. Stephen A. Caldwell, the president
of this company, was born in Newburyport, Mass.,
8«|>t. 19, 1822. His ancestors lived iu Ipswich, a
neighboring town in the same county (Essex). The
rifsi of the family, John Caldwell, presumably came
England; at all events, he was in Ipswich in
V a landowner, and a man in good circumstances.
KIDM.lrr 'N-'.:«ANCE, TBPST, AM) SAFK DKI'OSIT COMrANV.
329 Cbcstout Stiwt.
In 16'H til- married Sarah Dillingham, who was horn
in Ipswich in 1634, and Ooic ^hcm has descended h
numerous progeny. The eki>?«t vm for eight suc-
cessive generations was namcil .foliri, ao«) inherited
the fathL-r's estate, according tr ! ' ■
family for two hundred and t-.v-
same home. Mr. Caldwell v,:v ■ ■■
Mhool, a public school in his native
•chiKil early, having, in the spring n
hax ing reached his twelfth yearl, entered li:.-
room of a shipping merchant on one of tin
of Kewburyport; but, finding too much l<
con»i filial, in the fall of the .same year I:
oil- *' ion for one of greater activity in the :■■-,
icantile firm, largely engaged in the West India
and coastwist: trad^. He remained in that situation,
which was one of considerable labor, for some two
and a half years, when he accepted a situation as
clerk in a bank just then going into business. There
he remained, filling the position of clert and book-
keeijer, until February, 1841. On the 22d of that
month he entered the counting-room of David 8.
Brown tfe Co., of this city. On June 1, 1848, he
became associated with Benjamin T. Tredick, of the
tlrin of David S. Brown & Co., and Samuel E. Stokes,
r the firm of Thomas & Martin, and commenced
rh.' dry-goods commission business, as the firm of
Tredick, Stokes & Co., whicli continued until Dec. 31,
1 865, and was succeeded by the firm of Stokes, Cald-
well & Co., which remained in business until Dec.
.SI, I.S79, when the firm was duwolved by the death of
"Tr. Stokes. Of the six members comprising tho firm
' various times, he is the only survivor.
In March, 1875, Mr. Caldwell was elected president
1 the Fidelity Insurance, Trust and Safe Deposit
I ompany, to succeed N. B. Biowne, then lately de-
teased. He had been a director in the institution
mjm its commencement, and for some years a vice-
■ resident. He is, and has been, a director in the
irst National Bank from the date of its organization.
^' • - '• ■-'•f .- - ■■., the Union
In May,
•''-.; Ir-ited
:rcuii Court one of the receivers of the Phila-
•" ■* Rr-v;!!.:;'' Railroad Com['nny jnd of the
':'>n Company.
rir...-v.-,.R.
I lie younger of whom ik ti.vi »•:
The second general bankrupt , .: i>... , ., ,. .,v
(Congress on March 2, 1867 ; the Fourth National
Hank of Philadelphia closed its doors on Feb. 23, 1869,
in consequence of the delalcatiouof oneof its officers,
but subsequently resumed business. In September a
corner in gold was made which belongs to the fina^icial
history of the country, since it was .the legitimate fruit
of the then existing financial system. The Secretary
of the Treasury interposed by a sale of gold, and put a
stop to the proceedings of a clique of speculators.
But " Bluv'k Friday" remains a noted period in the
financi!>i l>i*t'ii-v .if i)>k cou-etrv.
In ri
' .-U-'itation in
the W.
rdiiti bonds,
.1 1.^,1. .fi.ended or -le
i.rtuts for funds. T*
'uity Cotnpnny
. 1, coniiiiencc becamo imp
• known to be burdi^n'
September '• «
ir demands lowed
: " >»iiich the r,i recover
!• '; A(' ..riived by President
<i<Mli! l>l
:ij^ -r-j, 1875; the title was
2104
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
" An Act to Provide for the Resumption of Specie
Payments." The premium on gold had declined from
42 in 1865 to 12 in 1875, and diminishing at the same
rate, it would have disappeared in four years more.
By the act, the coinage of silver was designed to re-
place the fractional currency. The charge of one-fifth
of one per cent, for coining gold was abolished, so as
to prevent the owners of gold bullion from sending it
abroad, where no coinage charge was made. The re-
striction on the volume of bank-note currency to
$354,000,000 was repealed, so that any person who
desired might engage in the banking business, and all
banks might issue as many notes as should be needed,
provided only that such notes should be fully pro-
tected by securities deposited for that
purpose with the Treasurer of the United
States. The act furthermore declared
that after the 1st of January, 1879, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall redeem
in coin the United States legal-tender
notes then outstanding on presentation
for redemption at the ofiBce of the As-
sistant Treasurer of the United States,
in New York, in sums of not less than ^,
fifty dollars. To provide money for this '\
purpose, the Secretary was authorized
to use any surplus revenue not other-
wise disposed of, and to sell at not less
than par in coin United States notes
bearing interest at the rate of five, four
and one-half, or four per cent. In Jan-
uary, 1878, a year before the time set
for redemption, the premium on gold
had declined to a fraction over one per
cent. ; in March the quotations were a
fraction below one per cent. The paper
dollar had appreciated in three years
from 89 cents to 99 and a fraction. The
purchasing power of the currency was
greatly diminished by the enormous
issues during the war. But while prop-
erty did not shrink after 1865, the
dollar grew in purchasing power as its
value increased.
The Resumption Act was the culmi-
nation of American finance, and per-
fected the National Banking Act, which revolution-
ized banking and currency all over the Union. To-
gether they have restored national control and super-
vision, and provided a uniform currency to the whole
Union.
The Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company
was organized Nov. 2, 1872. Its capital is 81,000,000,
and its business includes the safe-keeping of valuables,
renting of safes in its burglar-proof vaults, receiving
of deposits of money at interest, the collection of in-
terest or income, execution of all manner of trusts,
management or settling of estates as executor, admin-
istrator, assignee, receiver, guardian, trustee, agent, or
attorney, etc. It has erected, at Nos. 316, 318, and
320 Chestnut Street, a building that is claimed to be
not only absolutely fire- and burglar-proof, but is
also one of the finest architectural adornments of the
principal thoroughfare of the city. The present ad-
ministration consists of, President, Thomas Cochran ;
Vice-President, Edward C. Knight ; Treasurer, John
S. Brown ; and Secretary, John Jay Gilroy.
Thomas Cochran, the president of this company,
was born near Mercersburg, Franklin Co., Pa., on the
12th of A.pril, 1832, both of his parents being of Scotch-
Irish descent. The father died when his son was but
little more than an infant, and the family removed
shortly afterward to Harrisburg, and subsequently to
GUARANTEE TRUST AND SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY.
Philadelphia. He received a thorough academic
education, and then began the study of law, having
chosen that profession. " He was admitted to the bar
of Philadelphia on the 2d of December, 1854, and
opened an office in this city.
Although early evincing a strong aptitude for the
practice of law, his wide-reaching abilities and popu-
larity were such that he was gradually brought into
other relations, mainly of a public character, and he
eventually abandoned the profession of his choice.
He was chosen in October, 1861, a member of the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the
Seventh Legislative District of this city. By sue-
i
jotte*'*
BHiibeiof**
stite fe" *
'■^ Vi4%
--^-^.-.^
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2105
cessive re-elections he continued in thia body until
the close of 1865, his majority being increased at each
election. During his term of service the American
civil war was in progress, and many important ques-
tions were brought before the State Legislature bear-
ing directly or indirectly on the great domestic strug-
gle. In both Houses there were an unusual number
j of able men, who were called from private walks of
life by the disturbed condition of the country, and
who had already, oc have since, attained high distinc-
tion in various spheres of public life. During all these
years Mr. Cochran was an active member of the House,
serving upon the most important standing committees,
being, in 1865, chairman of the Committee of Ways
and Means. He exerted a powerful influence in se-
curing uninterrupted State aid for the Union cause,
and advocated every measure looking toward the
abolition of slavery. One of his most noteworthy acts
relative to State legislation was upon the establish-
ment throughout the commonwealth of home schools
for the orphans of those dying in the service of the
nation. Certain measures had been presented to the
House of Representatives looking toward the estab-
lishing of such institutions, but, owing to differences
of opinion as to details, defeat was certain. At this
juncture Mr. Cochran presented as a substitute a bill
drafted by him, the simple but effective provisions of
which commended themselves to his colleagues, and
it became a law, under which these charities have
been established and incalculable good has been
done.
In 1865 the city of Philadelphia was on the verge
of financial embarrassment, occasioned by the large
expenditures incident to the civil war and the small
amount of revenue received from taxable property,
mainly due to inequality in assessment. At this
juncture the Board of Revision of Taxes was created
by act of Assembly, and given power to assess and
adjust the valuation of property, and to control all
the details looking toward an equitable basis of tax-
ation. By appointment of the judges of the city,
Mr. Cochran was made a member of that board, with
two associates. Under his able administration the
entire tax system was remodeled, and the valuation
of property returned at three times its former amount.
No unjust discriminations were made, and the city,
by obtaining its fair tax return on the valuations so
adjusted, was lifted from its financial difficulties. This
was not the work of an instant, — it required the
steady and untiring labor of several years. And
when Mr. Cochran resigned his position, at the close
of 1876, he left to his city a tax system that is equal, if
not superior, to that of any other municipality in our
land. In the department of taxation in social science
Mr. Cochran was regarded as an authority, and his
treatises on the methods of valuation and local taxa-
tion are standard papers on the subject to-day, and
are frequently quoted.
From the very inception of the Centennial Exhibi-
tion Mr. Cochran took an .active part. He was
selected by the stockholders as a member of the Cen-
tennial Board of Finance at their first meeting, and
being continuously re-elected, served to the end. He
was its vice-president, and chairman of the committee
on grounds, plans, and buildings. In this last posi-
tion he worked with his accustomed vigor and in-
dustry, and it is to him, as much as to any one, that
Philadelphia's great exhibition owed its success. For
three years previous to 1876 he gave it his entire ser-
vice daily, on the ground or in its offices, personally
directing all that pertained to his most important
committee ; for to him was entrusted every plan or
theory for the location, arrangement, and supervision
of the grounds and buildings and the supply of
water, gas, etc., together with all the specifications
and contracts for the buildings. So well did he per-
form his work that, in the face of many difiiculties,
the grounds and buildings were in readiness by the
opening of the exhibition ; and not only in readi-
ness, but so perfectly and tastefully had every detail
been arranged, that the Centennial city of the park
was the admiration of the world for its complete-
ness and yet compactness, as well as for the beauty of
its arrangements.
On the 1st of June, 1877, Mr. Cochran entered upon
his present position as president of the Guarantee
Trust and Safe Deposit Company, which he has placed
among the foremost of the financial institutions of the
country. His financial and executive ability is sought
after in other directions. He was selected by Coun-
cils as the citizens' representative on the Sinking
Fund Commission, a body which controls the manage-
ment of all the city loans. He is a director in the
Philadelphia Saving Fund, North Pennsylvania Rail-
road, Pennsylvania Museum and School of Indus-
trial Art, and the Union League, and is a member of
the Board of Trade. In every sphere of usefulness,
public and private, Mr. Cochran is a man of unques-
tioned integrity, varied ability, and vigorous indus-
try.
The Union Trust Company acts as agent or executor,
receives deposits of money, and assumes charge, under
guarantee, of such valuable properties as may be in-
trusted to its vaults. It has a capital of $1,000,000,
and was chartered Oct. 16, 1882, with W. C. Patterson
as president, who has been succeeded by James Long.
M. H. Stokes has been secretary and treasurer from
the foundation of the company. The oflJces are at
Nos. 611 and 613 Chestnut Street.
The Philadelphia Trust, Safe Deposit, and Insur-
ance Company does a general trust company business,
provides safes for the keeping of valuables, and re-
ceives money on deposit. It was incorporated April
15, 1869, with a capital of $500,000, which has since
been increased to $1,000,000. In 1874 the company
removed from its original ofiice, in the Philadelphia
Bank building, to a fine white marble structure which
it erected at Nos. 413, 415, and 417 Chestnut Street.
2106
HISTOEY OF PHILADELPHIA.
In 1884, J. L. Erringec is president and William L.
Dii Bfiis secretary and treasurer. A surplus of S600, 000
PHILADELPHIA TRlbT, SAFE DEPOSIT, AND INSURANCE
COMPANY
Nos. 413, 415, and 417 Chestnut Street.
attests the success of the company and its financial
solidity.
Philadelphia Clearing - House Association.—
Previous to the institution of a clearing-house in this
city settlements between the various banks were
made as follows : Each bank sent around with a clerk
all the bank-notes in its possession issued by other
banks, and all checks drawn on them, to the Girard
Bank at half-past eight o'clock in the morning. The
checks or notes on each particular bank were handed
to its representative in a package or " book," as it
was called, and memoranda were made showing the
amount given and the amount received. Each bank
was thus enabled to ascertain whether it was a debtor
or a creditor. The clerks then departed to their own
banks, but returned again at twelve o'clock to com-
plete their settlements. Each one of the debtor banks
handed over to its creditors due bills for the separate
amounts of indebtedness, which were payable in gold
upon presentation to the drawer. There was no man-
ager to direct the operations, and consequently pro-
ceedings were carried on in considerable confusion.
This system of exchange, though immensely supe-
rior to the primitive system of presenting notes and
checks at each separate bank for payment, was never-
theless clumsy compared with that which is in vogue
at present. To New York belongs the honor of being
the first to establish the present clearing-house sys-
tem. Philadelphia was the next city to adopt it, the
Philadelphia Clearing-House Association being or-
ganized on Jan. 25, 1858, with seventeen banks as
members. The clearing-house was opened for busi-
ness on "the 22d of March, 1858, in the rooms in the
Farmers' and Mechanics' National Bank which it still
occupies. The condition of the banks constituting its
membership was as follows :
Total capital $11,300,915
" loans 21,020,198
" specie 5,661,782
" deposits 13,201,599
" circulation 2,296,444
During the first year the average daily amount of ex-
change was $2,991 ,939.90, and of balances $147,434.21.
In 1883 there were thirty banks (all national) hold-
ing membership in the association. State banks and
private banks sent their checks to the various mem-
bers to be cleared through them. A comparison of the
condition of all banks members of the Clearing-House
in 1883 with that of the members in 1858 will show-
how immensely the banking business has grown. In
1883 the united capital of the associated banks was
$17,078,000; the loans, $76,814,658; lawful money,
$20,894,699; deposits, $58,015,749; and circulation,
$9,286,548. The average daily exchanges were
$9,192,214.01, and the balances $789,167.37. The total
exchanges during 1883 were $2,812,817,488.59, and
the balances $241,485,216.40.
The ease, the precision, the safety, and the quick-
ness with which settlements involving millions of
dollars are made by banks with one another through
the Clearing-House render it one of the marvels of
the day. In Philadelphia there are two clearances
daily, the first being known as the morning exchange,
and the second as the runners' exchange. Prepara-
tion for the first commences at three o'clock in the
afternoon of the day previous, when all the checks
received by each bank during the course of the day
against other banks in the city (except those checks
coming in the early morning mail) are distributed,
and placed in envelopes or packages, directed to the
proper hanks. These packages are well gummed and
sealed with wax, and the amounts within are indorsed
on the outside with ink or indelible pencil. In the
morning the representatives of the banks assemble at
the Clearing-House promptly at 8.30 o'clock, each bank
sending two persons, a package clerk and a settling
clerk. Precisely at that hour the package clerks begin
to move in regular order before the desks at which the
settling clerks are stationed, and as they pass, deliver
to each of them the package containing checks against
his bank. The settling clerk receipts for the amount
on a slip held by the package clerk. When the de-
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2107
liveries are ended, each package clerk obtains an ac-
count of the amounts received by the bank which he
represents, and then departs. All this portion of the
operation is completed within ten minutes. The
settling clerks remain with the manager, and see that
the settlements have been completed without mistake,
and if mistake exists, they work until enabled to strike
a balance. They are generally through with their
labors in half an hour from commencing. The pro-
ceedings are superintended by the manager. Debtor
banks bring their payments to the Clearing-House
before twelve o'clock, and settlement is made with
the creditor banks at a later hour. Payments are
made in gold certificates, legal-tender notes, or due
bills. The Clearing-House Association receives on
deposit such United States gold coin as any of the
associated banks may choose to send to it for safe-
keeping for Clearing-House purposes, and certificates
in exchange are issued to any of the depositing banks
in sums of $5000. These certificates are negotiable
only among the Associated Banks, and are used in
the payment of balances at the Clearing-House. Due
bills are secured by collateral deposited in the follow-
ing amounts : Banks with capitals of $800,000 aud
over, ten per cent. ; banks with capitals of $500,000
and under $800,000, fourteen per cent., but the de-
posits in each case need not exceed $80,000 ; banks
with capitals of over $250,000 and under $500,000,
twenty per cent., but the deposits in each case need
not exceed $70,000 ; and banks with capitals of or
under $250,000, not less than $50,000.
The runners' exchange takes place precisely at
11.30 o'clock in the morning, and is confined to notes,
acceptances, and checks payable on the day of the
exchange, a large portion of the items being received
through the morning mail. It is conducted in the
same manner as the morning exchange.
The officers of the association are a president and
a secretary, who are elected annually. The general
management ie intrusted to a committee of six, known
as the Clearing-House Committee. The annual ex-
penses are met by the assessment of dues as follows :
Banks having capitals of less than $500,000, $100
each annually ; banks having capitals of $500,000 or
more, and less than $1,000,000, $200 each annually ;
and banks having capitals of $1,000,000 and upward,
$300 each annually. Controversies among members
of the Association are settled by a committee of
arbitration.
The first president of the Clearing-House Associa-
tion was Mr. J. B. Mitchell, President of Mechanics'
National Bank, who retained the position until his
death, in September, 1868, when he was succeeded by
Joseph Patterson, the president of the Western Na-
tional Bank, who is the present incumbent. George
E. Arnold has been the manager since its opening
for business.
The mention of the Clearing-House Association of
Philadelphia naturally suggests the name of Joseph
Patterson, who has been since 1869 its president and
an active member of its executive committee, and
who, by length of service, is the senior of the presi-
dents of the banks of Philadelphia. Born and bred
in this city, Mr. Patterson has been long and honor-
ably connected with its financial history. In August,
1842, while still young in years, lie retired from an
active and successful mercantile business to accept
the presidency of that financial institution which is
now known as the Western National Bank. His ad-
ministration of the trust committed to him had been
in the highest and best sense successful. He entered
upon the management of the bank when the country
was slowly recovering from the disastrous panic of
1837. Under his faithful and intelligent direction
that bank has made large gains in times of prosperity,
and in periods of financial depression it has met with
no serious losses, so that to-day, after having returned
in dividends to its shareholders many times the
amount of its capital, it holds intact its original cap-
ital and a large surplus. Nor should it fail to be
mentioned that, when the bank was reorganized in
November, 1864, under the provisions of the Na-
tional Banking Act, in addition to a large semi-
annual dividend which had been previously regu-
larly paid, a dividend of one hundred per cent, was
declared out of the profits accumulated during pre-
ceding years, and paid in cash to its shareholders.
Mr. Patterson, while recognizing as the primary
duty of a bank-ofiicer the conservation of that capital
which is the property of the shareholders, and its
employment in such manner as to yield the largest
return to its owners, has, nevertheless, had the intelli-
gence to see that it is impossible to dissociate the
prosperity of banking institutions from that of the
business community. Therefore it is that, in periods
of commercial distress, his action in the management
of the bank, whose chief executive he is, and in the
administration by the Clearing-House Association of
the combined resources of all the banks of Philadel-
phia, has been marked by a wise liberality in the ex-
tension of financial relief Especially in the panic of
1873 did the banks of Philadelphia, by their prompt
and courageous action, render to the city and to its
great business interests, services that never have been
fully appreciated ; and a debt of public gratitude,
which never has been and never will be paid, is due
to those whose financial skill and courage averted a
great calamity. The keenness of perception and
breadth of view which has shown Mr. Patterson that
his duty to the bank of which he is president can
best be performed by directing his thought and his
energies to the protection of general business inter-
ests against impending peril, led him in 1861 to render
a signal service to the government of the United
States. On the 15th of August of that year, at the
request of Mr. Chase, the then Secretary of the Trea-
sury, representatives of the banks of New York, Phila-
delphia, and Boston met the secretary in New York.
2108
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
It was a crisis in the history of the country. That
magnificent outburst of national enthusiasm which
followed the firing upon Sumter had spent its force.
The defeat at Bull Kun had dispirited the army, and
disheartened the people. The daily expenditures of
the government in the prosecution of the war exceeded
Si],O0O,00O, and to meet these large disbursements the
estimated income of the government from all sources
for the current fiscal year was less than $80,000,000,
thus leaving nearly $300,000,000 to be supplied by
loans. The money markets of Europe were closed to
the government, and no loan, if offered to the people,
would be taken save at ruinous rates of discount.
When the secretary frankly put this alarming state of
affairs before the assembled representatives of the
banks of the three cities, it is not surprising that they
hesitated to accede to his request to loan $50,000,000
in gold to the government. Then Mr. Patterson
stepped forward, and, voicing that loyal sentiment of
Philadelphia, which at all times in its history has
supported the national authority, he reminded his
associates, in a few earnest and well-chosen words,
that the cause of the Union was their cause, that its
interests were their interests, and that motives of
patriotism and considerations of enlightened selfish-
ness concurred in dictating that course of action upon
their part, which would not only support the national
credit, but also avert a financial disaster which must
necessarily overwhelm the national government, the
banks, and the commercial interests of the country in
a common ruin.
As a result of Mr. Patterson's eloquent appeal the
associated banks of the three cities loaned to the
government, at par, $50,000,000 at that time, and later
in the same year an additional $100,000,000. The
effect of this timely action by the leading banks of
the country cannot be overestimated. It furnished to
ihe government the money required to meet the
pressing demands of daily expenditure; it sustained
the public credit; it reanimated popular confidence
in the stability of the government; and it rendered
possible that subsequent administration of the Treas-
ury Department by which the means were provided
for the suppression of the Rebellion.
The recognition and appreciation of Mr. Patter-
son's abilities have not been confined to his own city
and State. From and after the meeting in New York,
in 1861, Mr. Chase was accustomed to consult Mr.
Patterson with regard to the fiscal policy of the gov-
ernment, and at various times other Secretaries of the
Treasury, as well as committees of the Senate and
House of Representatives, have benefited by his
financial skill and experience. High and responsible
public offices have also been pressed upon his accept-
ance, but, preferring the comparative independence
of private life, he has never yielded to the solicita-
tion. Nor has Mr. Patterson devoted all his time to
business pursuits. He has been at various times con-
nected with the public charities of his city, serving
as a director of the public schools, and for many
years as a manager of the House of Refuge. He has
long been a director and is now vice-president of the
Deaf and Dumb Asylum, a vice-president of the
American Sunday-School Union, and a trustee of the
Jefferson Medical College. Throughout the war he
was the treasurer of that Christian Commission which,
in its humane action in relieving sick and wounded
soldiers from North and South alike, justified the
name it bore, and through his hands passed the mil-
lions of dollars that were so generously given and
liberally expended, and was also a member of the
Board of Finance of the Centennial Exhibition.
In 1876, Mr. Patterson was appointed by the Gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania one of a board of commis-
sioners, to whom was intrusted the duty of erecting
a hospital for the insane of the Southeastern District
of Pennsylvania ; and at the first meeting of the com-
mission he was elected its president, and thencefor-
ward, and until the commission had completed its
work, devoted much thought and time to it. The
commissioners served without compensation, and well
and faithfully discharged their trust. They selected
a tract of land within the borough of Norristown,
combining ever}' advantage in location, in conveni-
ence of access, and in topographical features; and
upon that ground they erected, within the limits of
the State's appropriation, those admirably-planned
and appointed buildings, whose construction marks
a new era in the treatment of the insane poor, and
which will be au enduring record of the liberality of
the people of Pennsylvania, and a monument to the
commissioners' faithful fulfillment of the trust com-
mitted to them.
After more than forty years of continuous service
as a bank-president, Mr. Patterson performs with un-
impaired force and vigor the duties of his responsible
office.
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange is the scene of
transactions which involve annually a»larger amount
of money than those of any other institution in the
city ; and next to the similar organization in New
York, it is the largest and most important in the coun-
try. Though the dealing in stocks is full of excite-
ment, and at times the room of the Exchange is
resonant with the frantic shouts of the " bulls" and
" bears," yet the history of the institution itself is a
quiet and uneventful one. It originated about the be-
ginning of the century, and at first the meetings were
held in one corner of a room at the old Merchants'
Coffee-House, corner of Second and Gold Streets, which
was at that time the place of resort for the business
men of the city. In this limited space the small
number of brokers met each day to deal in stocks,
bills of exchange, and promissory notes. A removal
was made to another room in the same building, and
subsequently another change was made to the Mer-
chants' Exchange, corner of Third and Walnut
Streets. Various rooms in that building were occu-
oftlit
Wa:^^^\
; small
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2109
pied from time to time, until, in 1876, the Exchange
took possession of its present quarters in the rear of
the Girard National Bank.
Upon removing to the old Merchants' Coffee-
House, a permanent organization was effected. The
roll of membership at that time contained the foll-
owing names: Matthew McConnell, James Glent-
worth, Clement Biddle, Andrew Summers, Jr.,
Thomas McEuen, George Eddy, William W. Bid-
die, Thomas Newman, James McCurrach, and
Thomas Orr. Shortly after were added T. G. La-
roche, Nicholas Arnous, James Musgrave, John Don-
aldson, Richard Hill Morris, Mark Prager, Thomas
Greeves, Nalbro Frazier, Kearney Wharton, Israel
Whelen, Norton Pryor, and George Taylor, Jr. In
1818, the roll contained eighteen names, which were
as follows : Thomas Biddle, James Musgrave, Nich-
olas Arnous, William J. Bell, Thomas McEuen,
Thomas Hale, William Davidson, William M. Walms-
ley, Samuel Nevins, James Nevius, George Rundle,
Brittain White, Mark Prager, R. Hill Morris, George
Taylor, Jr., Thomas Greeves, John Wharton, and
A. M. Prevost.
The first president of the Exchange was Matthew
McConuell. He was followed in succession by Capt.
James Glentworth, Israel Whelen, John Donaldson,
James Musgrave (who filled the chair for many years),
William M. Walmsley, and William F. Emien. After
Mr. Emlen's time the presidents were chosen monthly,
and each member was obliged to serve once in two
years, or submit to a fine of twenty-five dollars. This
rule remained in force until August, 1861, wheu George
McCamblos was made president. He held the office
until August, 1871, and was followed by Henry G.
Gowen, who was succeeded on the 4th of March, 1878,
by Abraham Barker. Mr. George Gilpin was elected
president on March 4, 1881, and was succeeded in
1883 by Nicholas Brice, who gave way, in turn, in
1884, to Henry Connelly, the present incumbent.
At first the fee for admission was $30, but it was
subsequently raised, successively, to $50, $250, $300,
$400, $500, $1000, and $2000. In November, 1868,
the funds having accumulated to such an extent as
to be more than sufficient to cover its expenses, and
.the association having reached a degree of import-
ance that made a membership valuable, it was decided
to raise the price of admission to $5000, and to allow
the sale of seats under certain restrictions. In 1881
the admission fee was advanced to $10,000.
The most important changes in the Exchange in
fifteen years have been the establishment of a Clear-
ing-House in August, 1870, which greatly facilitates
the transaction of business; the formation of a gratu-
ity fund in December, 1875 ; and the institution, in
February, 1880, of a governing committee, which has
the management of the Exchange.
The number of members at present is 230. An
idea of the amount of business transacted may be
gained from the fact that as many as 271,000 shares
of stock have pa.ssed through the Clearing-House in
one day, aggregating in value $7,816,000. In 1881
the number of shares passing through the Clearing-
House was 23,873,500, representing a cash value of
$1,207,516,600. There were, besides, transactions in
bonds to a very large amount, and many sales of stock
which were settled by members themselves without
the aid of the Clearing-House.
The Clearing-House was instituted for the purpose
of clearing such stocks as might be, from time to
time, indicated by the governing committee. Mem-
bers, however, have the right to receive their stock
direct from the seller or deliver it direct to the buyer,
if they prefer to do so.
Applicants for membership must be at least twenty-
one years of age. The initiation fee for members ad-
mitted by election is $10,000, and for those admitted
by purchase $250. Members have the right, if no un-
settled claims from other members exist against them,
of selling their memberships. The annual dues are
$25 for each member.
Any member who fails to comply with his contracts,
or who becomes insolvent, is required to notify the presi-
dent or chairman of the Exchange of the fact, and such
notice forthwith works his suspension unless he makes
settlement in accordance with rules adopted by the
Exchange. If failure is made to give the notice of in-
solvency, and no sufficient reason appear for the omis-
sion, the member is suspended. If a suspended mem-
ber fails to settle with all his creditors within one
year from the time of his suspension, his membership
is sold, and the proceeds are paid pro rata to his credit-
ors in the Exchange.
The minimum rates of commission charged by
members are as follows : one-quarter of one per cent,
on the par value of bonds and loans, excepting
United States securities and gold, on which commis-
sion may be one-eighth of one per cent. ; on bank
shares, twenty-five cents a share ; on all other shares
selling at or over ten dollars, twelve and a half cents a
share ; selling at or over five, but under ten dollars, six
and a quarter cents a share, and selling under five dol-
lars, three and one-eighth cents a share. If any mem-
ber transacts or offers to transact business for less than
these rates, he is for the first offense fined one thou-
sand dollars, and suspended at the pleasure of the
governing committee ; and for the second offense,
upon conviction, his membership terminates and is
disposed of.
Upon the death of a member the sum of $3000 is
paid out of a gratuitj- fund to his heirs. To maintain
this fund every member is required to pay the sum of
$15 on admission to membership ; on the 1st of De-
cember of each year, $15 ; and on the death of any
member, $10.
Good order is enforced by means of very strict rules,
and fines of more or less severity are inflicted for their
violation, according as the gravity of the offense seems
to demand.
2110
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
STATISTICAL HISTOET OF THE TINANCIAL
Name of Banes.
Bank of North America
Centennial National Bank
(U.S.D.).
Commercial National Bank..
Commonwealth National Bank
Consolidation National Bank^...
First President. , Firat Cashier.
Com Exchange National Bank
(U.S.D.). ;
Eighth National Bank [
Farmers' and Mechanics' Na- i
tional Bank. |
Firet National Bank (n.S.D.)^.. July 11, 1863.
Girard National Banks I
Kensington National Bank ;
Keystone National Bank
Mannfacturers' National Bank.
Dec. 18, 1781,
Organ. Nov. 26, 1876.
Chart. Jan. 19, 1876.
Organized 1864.
Chart. as"aty Bank"
March 30, 1S55.
Established Feb. 7,
1810.
1814
Nov. 5, 1857.
Started August, 1855.
1865.
Cliart. March 16,1809.
Organi'd Jan.17,1807.
Jan. lu, 1863.
April, 1832.
April 11,1826.
Rechart. Nov. 1, 1836.
1870.
1832 as the Mannfac-
tnrers' and Mechan.
ics' Bank.
1814.
March 6, 1880.
National Bank of Commerce... i .
National Bank of Germantown. July, 1814.
National Bank of the Norther
Liberties.
National Bank of the Republic
National Security Bank
Penn National Bank^
Philadelphia National Bank'
Sixth National Bank
Southwark National Bank..
Third National Bank
Tradesmen's National Bank
May 22, 1866.
Jan. 8, 1871.
Robert Morris.
Jas. V. Watson.
Alex. G. Cattell.
L. Montgomery
Bond.
Thos. H. Craige.
Wm. H. Ehawn.
James M. Riley,
to 1863.
J. Williams.
Henry Grambo.
Jos. N. Piersol.
John W. Torrey.
8400,l«)0 , Adjoining present site.
Same as Same as present, with
present. formerly a branch at
Centennial grounds.
750,000 Same as at present.
500,000 Same site as at present.
750,000 About 3 doors below
afterward present location, and
raised to afterward on Mar-
1,000,000 ket St., cor. Grind-
stone Alley.
I S. W. cor. Fourth and
' Chestnut Streets.
300,000 In the old Commis-
sioners' Hall of the
I Northern Liberties,
3d St., below Green,
I until 1857.
130,000 * 2d St., near Walnut.
Mortou McMi-
chael, Jr.
Wm. D. Lewis.
Charles Keen. '•
Same as at pres- '
Solomon Dewey,
succeeded by
James Hunt.
Samuel Wilson.
Charles H. Biles.
John Neal.
1,500,000
Same as
present.
200,000
S. E. corner Third and
Chestnut Streets.
Same as present.
969 Beach St., below
Laurel.
Same as at present.
Commissioned 1813. Samuel Harvey.
Organ. June 13, 1814.
Chart. March 21, 1814.
Organized Dec. 5, 1865.
1864.
I Feb. 21, 1825.
' December, 1863.
John Barclay.
James B. Ferree.
George Gelbach.
Daniel H. Miller
fa Democratic
Congressman).
Jac. Shoemaker.
Jas. W. Earley.
S. Humphreys.
David B. Paul.
J. F. Watson, au-
thor"Annalsof
Philadelphia."
David Mande-
J. A. Lane,
about a yea
Jacob Frick.
Robert B. Salter.
Jas. S.Smith, Jr.
Robert Glenden-
300,000 N. W. cor. 2d & Green,
then, in Jan. 1836, to
[ N. W. cor. 3J,t Vine.
510,100 ' Same site as at present.
Same as ' Same as present.
present.
250,000
authorized
50,000
paid
Chas. H. Rogers. J. C. Wood,
j,000
200,000
paid in,
200,000
100,000
Same as
present,
150,000
250,000
100,000
then
200,000
150,000
Second house above
School Lane, on Main
Street,
Vine, below Third St.
809 and 811 Chestnut
Street,
Same as present.
S, W, corner of Fourth
and Chestnut Sts,
Same as at present,
216 Market Street.
500 S. Second Street.
Same site as at present.
On opposite corner.
S. E. cor, 2d and Spruce
Sts,, then in 1st story
of Chamber of Com-
Independence National Bank,.
Branch of National State Bank
of Camden-8
Branch of First National Bank
of Camden. 9
State Banks and Savi.vgs
Fu.vD Societies. Tedst and
Safe Deposit Companies.
Manayunk Bank
Dec. 4, 1883. Nov. 19, 1883.
James Dunlap. James Lesley, i 300,000 Same as at present,
Abraham Okie, j John P. Trevor, i 500,000 , 314 Market Street (old
I style numbering),
j I above9th,south&ide.
Peter A, Keller, i Willard D.Moore, Same as Same as present,
present.
Chart. June 14, 1871. Fred. R.ShelK
Organ'd August, 1871.
i.J.Fonlkrod. 100,000 Same
subscribed.
60,000 j
paid in. |
1 So called because of the " consolidation" of the districts of the city about the time of its institution.
^ First bank organized under the National Banking Act.
s Building erected for the first bank of the United States in 1798, and afterward, in 1812, was occupied by Stephen Girard a
Organized under articles of association, Jan. 26, 1810. 5 Will move to 311-313 Chestnut Street in 1886.
BANKS AND BANKERS, AND CURRENCY.
2111
INSTITUTIONS OF PHILADELPHIA.
Made
National Bank.
Present President.
Present Cashier.
Present Location.
Present
Capital.
Present
Surplus.
Undivided
Profits,
Oct. 1883.
ParTalue
of Stock.
December, 1864.
Jan. 19, 187fi.
Thomas Smith.
E. A. Rollins.
John H. Watt.
H. M. Lutz.
307 Chestnut Street.
Thirty-second and Market Sts.
$1,000,000.00
300,000.00
fl,000,0<«.00
100,000.00
$260,628.19
36,693.06
SlOO
100
Latter part 1864.
Oct. 22, 1804.
Geo. M. Troutman.
John Baird.
Theodore Kitchen.
109 South Fourth Street.
32 North Sixth Street.
760,000.00
400,000.00
800,000.00
400,000.00
146,029.30
47,209.25
100
Edwin P. Graham.
314 Chestnut Street.
810,000.00
221,000.00
63,593.00
R. N. Burroughs.
Effingham Perot.
William H. Webb.
Southwest corner of Fourth and
Walnut Streets.
329 North Third Street
208,000.00
300,000.00
500,000.00
275.000.00
2,000,000.00
6,000.00
275,000.00
260,000.00
220,000.00
600,000.00
18,273.80
41,043.20
30,091.22
29,389.93
82,409.81
Not. 4, 1864.
Dell Noblit.
Jacob Naylor.
Edwin M. Lewis.
H. P. Schetky.
James A. Irwin.
Henry C. Stioup.
Second and Chestnut Streets.
Second St. and Girard Ave.
427 Chestnut Street.
Oct. 20, 1864.
George Phillier.
D. B. Cummins.
Washington I. Lan-
dell.
John C. Lucas.
1,000,000.00
1,000,000.00
260,000.00
200,000.00
600,000.00
760,000.00
50,000.00
60,000.00
1
Willi.iniL.Scbafrer.
George A.Xintou.
G. W. Marsh.
South Third St., near Chestnut.
217,622.77
79,171.17
28,669.23
Oct. 20, 1864.
Aug. 2, 1876.
1326-1328 Chestnut Street.
John W. MofHey.
John Rommel, Jr.
George H. Stuart.
9.35,000.00
800,000.00
600,000.00
200,000.00
210,000.00
100,000.00
Wm. Underdown.
Charles H. Biles.
24 South Third Street.
108 South Fourth Street.
109,309.39
58,924.83
March 6, 1880.
Oct. 25,1864.
P. C. HoUis.
209 Chestnut Street.
250,000.00
80,000.00
19,699.29
October, 1864.
W. Wynne Wister.
C. W. Otto.
John Rapson.
Joseph P. Mumford.
George W. Cox.
John D. Brown.
B. B. Comegys, Jr.,
pro tempore.
Charles W. Lee.
W. H. Heisler.
Robert B. Sailer.
Peter Lamb.
Percy M. Lewis.
4800 Germanlown Avenue.
200,000.00
500,000.00
100,000.00
600,000.00
250,000.00
60,000.00
100,000.00
62,561.82
186,167.81
Oct. 22, 1864.
500,000.00
48,107.03
22,161.19
Dec. 15, 1870.
in 1876.6
260,000.00
Oct. 24, 1864.
Gillies Dallett.
Removed in spring of 1884 to
S. W. cor. of 7th and Market
from cor. of Vine and 6th Sts.
600,000.00
77,010.91
278,615.69
21,952.00
34,213.17
29,566.17
35,777.26
33,002.96
864.
Benjamin Rowland.
L. D. Brown.
Jonathan May.
Francis P. Steel.
David B. Paul.
4434 Frankford Avenue.
Market and Fourth Streets.
Second and Pine Streets.
610 South Second Street.
Southwest corner of Broad and
Market Streets.
280,00(i.OO
250,000.00
150,000.00
260,000.00
300,000 00
60,000.00
60,000,00
60,000.00
135,303.08
60,000.00
May, 1S64.
1864.
Oct. 20, 1864.
November, 1864.
Charles H. Rogers.
John Castner.
113 South Third Street.
400,000.00
600,000.00
46,729.31
60
1864.
David Faust.
Joseph Patterson.
W. H. Carpenter.
C. N. Wejgandt,
vice-pres. and sec.
Arch and Third Streets.
406 and 408 Chestnut Street.
500,000.00
400,000.00
135,000.00
150,000.00
42,434.05
62,949.99
Dec. 29, 1864.
1883.
Peter A. Keller.
Willard D. Moore.
Wilbur F. Rose,
agent.
Thomas Nekerwis,
agent.
537 Chestnut, but will remove
to south side Chestnut, below
Fifth Street.
600,000.00
j
David Wallace.
John J. Foulkrod.
4371 Main Street, Manayunk.
50,000.00
paid in.
50^
« Chartered as Bank of Penn Township, December, 1827. First meeting of directors. May 12, 1828.
7 Organized under articles of association, 1803.
8 Has been established in Philadelphia since about 1812, first at 34 Church Street (old style of numbers), and i
» Has been established in Philadelphia since about 1876 at 216 Market Street.
r at 212 Church Street.
2112
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
STATISTICAL HISTOET OF THE FINANCIAL
Name of Banks.
Began
Business.
Incorporated.
First President.
Firat Cashier.
Original
Capital.
Original Location.
Merchants' Exchaoge Banki...
Peoples' Bank
Bob't B.Sterling.
Wm. H.Kemble.
William Bumm.
T. Kennedy, un-
til Mar. 1,1883.
Dr. Isaac W.
Hughes.
Nathaniel B.
Browne.
Benjamin W.
Richards.
Wm. H. Ehawn.
Jno. H. Dolinert.
Joseph Ball.
Tbos. Kennedy.
Lewis R. Ash-
burst.
Samuel R. Ship-
ley.
W. C. Patterson.
Charles A. Rep-
plier.
Charles Phillips.
Henry C. Young.
Wm. II. Trevor.
T. L. Huggard.
Francis W. Ken-
nedy.
S. E. Neiler.
Rob't Patterson,
treasurer and
secretary.
John F. James,
actuary.
John M. Hazel.
T. B. Butcher.
Jac. Shoemaker,
actuary.
Francis W. Ken-
nedy.
K.P.McCullagh,
sec. and treas.
Rowland Parry,
actuary.
M. S. Stokes, sec.
and treaa,
M. A. Trenaye,
treasurer.
Jno. W. Steward.
Geo. Billington,
treas. and sec.
Henry HoUings-
worth, treae.
$100,000
100,000
May 9, 1870.
1874.
Organ. Nov. 21, 1870.
April 27, 1870.
April 1, 1869.
March 22, 1866.
March 17, 18.'?6.
411 Chestnut St.
Spring Garden Bank
50,000
paid in.
S. E. cor. Ridge Avenue
and Spring Garden
Street.
Fidelity Insurance, Trust, and
Safe Deposit Company.
Giiard Life Insurance, Annuity,
and Trust Company.
Sept. 1, 1866.
Market Streets.
260,1100 : Philadelphia Bank
paid in. [ building.
1,000,000
authorized
300,000 Chestnut, between 6th
May 24, 1871.
Organized 1870.
Chartered June, 1871.
Organized 1809.
March 10, 1812.
April 3, 1872.
Organ. Feb. 24,1873.
April 15, 1869.
March 22, 1866.
Oct. 16, 1882.
April 20, 1863.
Started January, 1882,
as the Columbian
Loan Association
and Savings Fund.
April 6, 1864.
and 6th, then at 633
Chestnut Street.
600,000 S. E. corner Fifth and
posit Company. -1
Northern Savings Fund, Safe
Deposit, and Trust Company.
Pennsylvania Company for In-
surance on Lives and Grant-
ing Annuities.
Pennsylvania Safe Deposit and
Trust Company .&
Philadelphia Trust, Safe De-
posit, and Insurance Co.
Provident Life and Trust Com-
pany.'
Union Trust Company
Beneficial Savings Fundi"
Chestnut Streets.
600,000 1 Old Coffee-House, cor.
; 2d and Gold Streets.
175,000 S.E. cor Ridge Avenue
paid in. and Spring Garden
600,000 Street.
authorized :
500,0Cff ' Front of Philadelphia
Bank building.
Same as Same as present,
present.
Has no | 13th, near Chestnut St.
capitaL ,
Savings Fund Society of Ger-
man town.
Philadelphia Saving Fund So-
ciety.' i»
Western Saving Fund Society to
May 24, 1864.
present, i
No capital. I 2d-8tory back-room of
the Mutual Ins. Go's
building, German-
town.
Andrew Bayard.
John Richard-
adopted Nov. 27,
1816.
Feb. 25, 1819.
Chart. Feb. 8, 1847.
Began business shortly
after.
ital. Is a lington,20S. 6thSt.,
benevolent! nearly opp. Minor
institution ' Street.
between loth and
11th Streets.
1 First meeting of etockholders, Jan 23, 1874. Named the " Iron Bank." 2 Down-town Branch at Fourth and Chestnut Streets.
* Organized from the " West Philadelphia Mutual Savings Fund and Trust Company," which was chartered May 20, 1857, and April 19, 1859,
with a capital of ^000, Albert S. Aahmead being president, and Robert Glendenning cashier.
* First meeting of stockholders, Nov. 8, 1872,
6 Same officers as the Spring Garden Bank, of which it is an attachment, the charter of the bank not allowing it to act as a safe deposit.
CHAPTER LI.
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
To trace the history of the insurance business in
Philadelphia we must go back one hundred and sixty-
three years, and in doing so we find that while its
original department in America — that of marine
risks — was first established here, this city was also
the scene of the earliest efforts to introduce its other
branches, — fire and life insurance. In not more than
a quarter of a century after Philadelphia had sprung
into being its enterprising merchants owned vessels
that traded to foreign ports as well as along the
American coast, and upon which policies of indem-
nity were sought. But there were at that time no
insurers in the colonies, and the ship-owners were
forced to be content with placing their risks with the
private underwriters of London, whose guarantees
were not always of the most reliable character, and
transactions with whom involved a serious loss in
time and trouble. Still, this slow and annoying sys-
tem prevailed until 1721, when John Copson per-
ceived that the merchants and traders would probably
be glad to support an agency which would place them
in immediate connection with facilities for insurance.
He consequently announced in the Pennsylvania Mer-
cury for May 25, 1721, that on the following Monday
he would open an ofiBce " at his house in the High
Street where all persons inclining to be assured may
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2113
INSTITUTIONS OF PHILADELPHIA— (OmMnucd).
Present President, i Present Caabif
Moro Phillips.
Wm. H.Kemble.
'Willinm Bumm.
Became the Co-
lumbian Banlc
March 1,1883.
Thonins-E. Ash.
William H. Trevor
Thos. L. Huggard.
'. Kennedy, ' Henry H. Kennedy,
i Mar. 1,1883. since March, 1883.
i H. Tatnall, treas-
John S. Brown,
treaiiurer.
T. B. Butcher.
L. H. Steel, eec. and
Henry H. Kennedy.
Thomas-Cochran.
William F. Snyder.
Lindley Smyth.
F. W. Kennedy.
J. L, Erringer.
Samuel R. Shipley.
James Long.
Francis J. Crilly.
Charles Phillips.
T. Charlton Henry.
Caleb Cope.
Frederick Fraley.
Present Location.
131 South Third Street.
436 Chestnut Street.
Frankford Ave. and Norris St.
Twelfth and Spring Garden Sts.^
3938 Market Street.
327-331 Chestnut Street.
2020 Chestnut St.,
1 1879.
$100,000.00]
160,000.001
Undivided !
Profits,
Oct. 1S«3.
316-320 Chestnut Street.
Sixth and Spring Garden Sts.
431 Chestnut Street.
William L. Du Bois, | 413-417 Chestuut Street.
sec. and treas.
Asa S. Wing, vice- 409 Chestnut Street.
pres. and actuary.
Mahlon S. Stokes, 611 and 613 Chestnut Street.
sec. and treas.
Pat. Qninn, treas.
John W. Steward.
1200 Chestnut Street.
64,600.00
2,000,000.00
175,000.00
paid in.
2,000,000.00
20,000.00
and average
deposits,
1,600,000.00
300,000.00 I
22,393.98
1,200,000,00 !
Walnut Street and Washingtoi
Square.
Willinm B. Rogers, 1000 Walnut Street,
vice-president and
treasurer.
l,00O,0O0.0O|
l.OOO.OOO.COj
1,000,000.001
capital.
1,000,000.00
authorized, i
110,0(XI.00i
paid in.
Deposits
Jan. 1,1884,
1,439,825.13
Deposits by
January
statement,
21.863.275.85
Deposits by
Jan. state-
ment, 1883,
5,200,000.00
600,000.00
640,000.00
6 Occupies a rather peculiar position, combining the functions of an insurance and trust company.
' Has a branch in Germantown, with assistant cashier. Charles Antile is cashier. Is the agent for the American Exchange in Europe.
8 Will move during 1884 to a handsome granite edifice, corner of Main and School Streets.
9 The oldest and first institution of its kind in the city.
10 A benevolent institution, having no stockholders. The aim is to invest deposits for the purposes of the safety and profit of the depositors.
apply ; and care shall be taken by the said J. Copson
that the assurers or underwriters shall be persons of
undoubted worth and reputation and of considerable
integrity in this city and province." It seems that
Copson's aim was the encouragement of underwriting
in America ; but, however commendable his purpose
and however solid the security that he offered, he was
so far from achieving success that for at least seventy
years later marine insurances — " sea risques" they
were then called — were effected abroad. The specifi-
cations and classes were almost as numerous and in-
tricate as at the present day, but the business was
upon a speculative basis, and the rates were calculated
upon exceedingly narrow margins. Still, the system
afforded some protection against the perils of the
ocean, and the London underwriters added to their
bank accounts many thousands of dollars received as
premiums from the opulent and thrifty ship-owners
and shipping merchants of Philadelphia.
In the middle of the last century the "Old In-
surance Office," as it was called in 1758, was kept at
the Coffee-House, where the clerks of the office,
Kefeltas and Sharp, attended every day, from twelve
to one in the day and six to eight in the evening. A
rival office — the New York Insurance Office, with
Anthony Van Dam for clerk — was established the
same year, and a permanent office taken next door to
the Coffee-House. This was the office patronized by
the Walters, Crugers, Janneys, and other city capital-
ists. In 1778, when the destruction of vessels and
2114
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
convoys by the adventurous American privateers had
greatly enhanced the risk of navigation, the " New
Insurance OfBce" was opened at the Coffee-House.
The mode in which the business was done is shown
by an announcement of Cunningham & Wardrop,
insurance brokers, who advertised, in 1779, that
" they had opened a public insurance office, where
policies are received and offered to the merchants
and underwriters generally." Each underwriter sub-
scribed his name for the sum he engaged. An inter-
esting hand-book of the insurances of William Walton,
in sums varying from £50 to £400, is still preserved.
All these offices were for marine insurance.
Fire insurance was next to claim consideration.
The Union Fire Company was established Dec. 7, 1736,
when not a single building in the city or province was
protected by a policy of insurance. On Feb. 18, 1752,
there appeared in the Pennsijlvania Oazette a notice
that " all persons inclined to subscribe to the articles
of insurance of houses from fire, in and near the city,
are desired to appear at the court-house, where attend-
ance will be given to take in their subscriptions every
seventh day of the week, in the afternoon, until the
13th of April next, being the day appointed by said
articles for electing twelve directors and a treasurer."
The tenor of this notification indicates that articles
of insurance had before been presented to the public
attention, and that this meeting was the crystalliza-
tion of the plan.^
Accordingly, on April 13, 1752, the subscribers
convened at the court-house, and organized "The
Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of
Houses from Loss by Fire," which was the first fire
insurance company in America. The Lieutenant-
Governor of the province, James Hamilton, was the
first who subscribed, and the first private name is that
of Benjamin Franklin. Twelve directors were elected,
— Benjamin Franklin, William Coleman, Philip Syng,
Samuel Ehoads, Hugh Roberts, Israel Pemberton, Jr.,
John Mifflin, Joseph Norris, Joseph Fox, Jonathan
Zane, William Griffitts, and Amos Strettell. John
Smith was chosen treasurer, and it has been recently
proved by papers in the possession of his grandson,
John Jay Smith, that the prominency or leading in-
terest in the concern is to be attributed to him. The
insurance on his two houses on King [Water] Street
was the first business transacted by the company.
1 At the centennial meeting, on April 12, 1852, of the Philadelphia
Contributionship Company, Horace Binney delivered an address, in
which he said of the manner of fornuition, that it was very simple and
direct. Two or three persons of activity, no doubt, and of sufficient
esteem in the city, caused to be prepared the articles of association and
agreement creating the company, and declaring the terms and con-
ditions upon which they would insure the houses and buildings of each
other, in and near the city of Philadelphia, against loss by lire, and
the extent and limitation of the liability of the association for the
loss. These articles of agreement they called a deed of settlement, and
it was to be signed at first by all who were willing to insure with the
company, and after the first election of directors and treasurer, who
were to be chosen annually for the government of the company, by all
who should in fact insure with them."
The plan was that of mutual assurance, and the mem-
bers were denominated contributors. Policies were
issued for a term of seven years upon the payment of
a deposit, the interest of which, during the continu-
ance of the policy, belonged to the company. In
1768 it adopted as a seal the " Hand in Hand," a
badge or mark that was also placed on every property
insured, that all contributors would be encouraged to
save it from destruction by fire.^ At the end of the
first year the sum insured under its policies was
$108,360, and the deposit premiums amounted to
$129L63. At the end of the first ten years the sum
insured was but $67,773, and deposits only S982.29.
The war of the Revolution somewhat embarrassed its
operations, but did not seriously afiect its financial
standing, as at that day, as at the present, its invest-
ments were chiefly in mortgages. The old scheme of
management proved a failure about that time, and
under later modifications the existing principles are:
Policy now perpetual to determine by mutual consent;
no personal liability beyond deposit; profit and loss
principle expunged.
The progress of the old company has ever been a
pleasant and prosperous one, and what Director Bin-
ney said of it at its centennial, in 1852, is true in 1884 :
" There never was a period when a loss of any extent
disturbed the finances of the company."
James Somers Smith is now the secretary and
treasurer, and Charles Willing is chairman of the
board of directors. The offices of the company are
at No. 212 South Fourth Street.
As Philadelphia was the first city in the colonies
to adopt a system of indemnitj' for loss by fire, so it
was the first to establish a scheme of life insurance.
In 1759 a charter was granted on the petition of the
Synod of Philadelphia by the proprietary government
to "The Corporation for the Relief of Poor and Dis-
tressed Presbyterian Ministers, and of the Poor and
Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Min-
isters." Easy and certain means were to be presented to
the clergy of the church for making provision for them-
selves in old age, or for their families in the event of
their decease, by the payment of advances, in con-
sideration of which the company entered into a con-
tract with the individual for the payment of a stipu-
lated amount to his heirs at his death, or to himself
in his declining years. In 1875 the name of the cor-
poration was changed to that of "The Presbyterian
Annuity and Life Insurance Company." It is the
oldest organization for life insurance in the United
States, and up to this time is conducted in pursuance
of the objects for which it was founded.
Very similar in its form and scope was the " Cor-
poration for the Relief of the Widows and Children
I of Clergymen of the Communion of the Church of
England in America," which was established under a
s Id this special mark, as in its general scheme of organization, the
company was patterned upon the " Amicable Contributionship and
I Hand-in-Hand Fire Office," of London.
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2115
proprietary charter of Feb. 7, 1769. It was also char-
tered in New York and New Jersey. In 1797 the
Legislature of Pennsylvania authorized a division of
the aggregate funds among the three States, and the
members of the Philadelphia branch then organized
as the institution which still continues under the title
of " The Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and
Children of the Clergymen in the Communion of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania." Dr. Franklin framed the rates for
the company when-it was founded. It is not now in
existence.
The Contributionship was the only fire insurance
company in existence in Philadelphia up to 1783, but
in that year it was directly the cause of the birth of a
rival. A house belonging to one of the members caught
fire from a burning shade-tree, and the officers there-
upon resolved that they would demand an additional
premium on all buildings in contiguity to inflamma-
ble trees. As a hundred years ago the streets of Phil-
adelphia were lined with trees, and many houses were
surrounded with groves, this was quite a serious mat-
ter. The dissenting members settled the question for
themselves by seceding from the Contributionship
and organizing the Mutual Assurance Company for
the Insurance of Houses from Loss of Fire. By
adopting the " Green Tree" as its badge the com-
pany signified its origin. Its policies were issued for
a period of seven years, but on Aug. 12, 1801, they
were made perpetual, and it now confines itself to
this class of business.
It has in assets $1,500,000 of good securities, and is
carrying over $10,000,000 of insurance. Its office is
at 526 Walnut Street, and the president is Samuel
Welsh.
The Insurance Company of North America comes
next in the chronological order, and may be said to
have had its origin in the meeting at the State-House,
on Nov. 3, 1792, of citizens who had subscribed to a
project to be known as the " Universal Tontine," on
the plan of securing funds for various purposes that
was then so prevalent in Europe. After some discussion
the members decided to employ the inchoate capital
in such a manner as would be most feasible and ad-
vantageous to the subscribers, and they appointed a
committee to settle upon what might best be done.
On November 12th the committee made its report
that the Tontine enterprise should be abandoned, and
that in view of the necessity of a corporation to effect
marine insurances, a society should be instituted
to be called the " Insurance Company of North
America," with a capital stock of $600,000. The
intention was that the company should take
very much heavier risks than those accepted by
the Philadelphia underwriters, who would enter
into no higher engagement than £200 on any ves-
sel, which was entirely too small to meet the de
mands of the commerce of the port. On December
10th the stockholders met again, and chose a board
of directors, with J. Maxwell Nesbitt as president and
Ebenezer Hazard as secretary. Application was
made for an act of incorporation, which was not
granted until April 14, 1794. This was the first joint-
stock company created in the New World, and is the
historical office of the land. In 1798 it wrote
nearly the entire marine business of the country,
its premium receipts being nearly $1,500,000. Char-
tered to do all sorts of insurance business, it
has confined itself to fire and marine, in which
its success has been pre-eminent. In its ninety
years the company has received over $60,000,000 in
premiums, has paid about $7,000,000 in dividends,
and nearly $50,000,000 in losses. Its total income
last year reached the great sum of $4,279,935.01, and
the expenditures $3,415,925.57, leaving a balance of
$864,009.44, of which $630,000 was paid out in divi-
dends and the tax thereon, while the remainder,
$234,009.44, was added to the company's handsome
surplus. Its present capital stock is $3,000,000, and
its aggregated business is about $240,000,000 of out-
standing insurance. A few years ago it erected for
its own uses the stately and massive building at No.
232 Walnut Street.'
Of almost equal antiquity with the North America
is the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, which obtained its charter April 18, 1794, for
fire, life, and marine insurance, and on October 6th,
Mordecai Lewis, Francis Gurney, William Smith,
Archibald McCall, Joseph Anthony, John G. Wachs-
muth, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jesse Wain, James
Yard, Thomas M. Willing, Miers Fisher, and James
Cox were elected as the first board of directors. Mr.
Lewis was chosen president, and the office was opened
at No. 137 South Front Street. The capital was
$500,000, which in 1841 was reduced to $200,000. On
Jan. 1, 1884, its assets were $699,016 ; surplus, $417,-
433; and it had paid in losses $14,164,495. The
offices are in the Exchange building, and Henry D.
Sherrerd is president.
Mutual marine insurance was inaugurated with
the incorporation of the " Union Mutual Insurance
Company," in 1804, with a capital of $500,000. Inter-
national maritime troubles caused the marine offices
of the city to secure themselves against the precipi-
1 Barring out of the question the annuities granted by the Presby-
terian and Episcopal societies already mentioned, it appears that this
company issued the first life policy in the United St-ites, which bore
date of May 21, 1796, for the term from the 6th of June to the 19th of
September, inclusive, on the life of John Holker for $24,(100. at one and
a half per cent. The same day SoOOO was insured " on the life of Don
Alliert Brion De Beaumez, about to sail for India, at ten per cent." On
the 27th of September following $8000 was effected "on the life of
Col. Toussard for one year at eight per cent., with permission for him
to go and remain in the West Indies for that period." In reply to some
queries from Mr. Henry Remsen, on behalf of the Manhattan Company,
as to the mode of conducting the insurance business in its different
branches by the North America, dated New York, Nov. 20, 1799, Eben-
ezer Hazard, the secretary, answers his query on the life branch as fol-
lows ; "There have been but few iusbinces of this kind, — perhaps half
a dozen, — in each of which we have gained the premium.*'
2114
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
i
convoys by the adventurous American privateers had
greatly enhanced the risk of navigation, the " New
Insurance Office" was opened at the Coffee-House.
The mode in which tlie business was done is shown
by an announcement of Cunningham & Wardrop,
insurance broli:ers, who advertised, in 1779, that
" they had opened a public insurance office, where
policies are received and offered to the merchants
and underwriters generally." Each underwriter sub-
scribed his name for the sum he engaged. An inter-
esting hand-book of the insurances of William Walton,
in sums varying from £50 to £400, is still preserved.
All these offices were for marine insurance.
Fire insurance was next to claim consideration.
The Union Fire Company was established Dec. 7, 1736,
when not a single building in the city or province was
protected by a policy of insurance. On Feb. 18, 1752,
there appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette a notice
that " all persons inclined to subscribe to the articles
of insurance of houses from fire, in and near the city,
are desired to appear at the court-house, where attend-
ance will be given to take in their subscriptions every
seventh day of the week, in the afternoon, until the
13th of April next, being the day appointed by said
articles for electing twelve directors and a treasurer."
The tenor of this notification indicates that articles
of insurance had before been presented to the public
attention, and that this meeting was the crystalliza-
tion of the plan.'
Accordingly, on April 13, 1752, the subscribers
convened at the court-house, and organized "The
Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of
Houses from Loss by Fire," which was the first fire
insurance company in America. The Lieutenant-
Governor of the province, James Hamilton, was the
first who subscribed, and the first private name is that
of Benjamin Franklin. Twelve directors were elected,
— Benjamin Franklin, William Coleman, Philip Syng,
Samuel Ehoads, Hugh Koberts, Israel Pemberton, Jr.,
John Mifflin, Joseph Norris, Joseph Fox, Jonathan
Zane, William Griffitts, and Amos Strettell. John
Smith was chosen treasurer, and it has been recently
proved by papers in the possession of his grandson,
John Jay Smith, that the prominency or leading in-
terest in the concern is to be attributed to him. The
insurance on his two houses on King [Water] Street
was the first business transacted by the company.
1 At the ceotennial meetiDg, on April 12, 1852, of the Philadelphia
Contributionship Company, Horace Binney delivered an address, in
which 1)8 said of the manner of formation, that it was very simple and
direct. Two or three persons of activity, no doubt, and of sufficient
esteem in the city, caused to be prepared the articles of association and
agreement creating the company, and declaring the terms and con-
ditions upon which they would insure the houses and buildings of each
other, in and near the city of Philadelphia, against loss by fire, and
the extent and limitation of the liability of the association for the
loss. These articles of agreement they called a deed of settlement, and
it was to be signed at first by all who were willing to insure with the
company, and after the first election of directors and treasurer, who
were to be chosen annually for the government of the company, by all
who should in fact insure with them."
The plan was that of mutual assurance, and the mem-
bers were denominated contributors. Policies were
issued for a term of seven years upon the payment of
a deposit, the interest of which, during the continu-
ance of the policy, belonged to the company. In
1768 it adopted' as a seal the " Hand in Hand," a
badge or mark that was also placed on every property
insured, that all contributors would be encouraged to
save it from destruction by fire.' At the end of the
first year the sum insured under its policies was
$108,360, and the deposit premiums amounted to
$1291.63. At the end of the first ten years the sum
insured was but $67,773, and deposits only $982.29.
The war of the Revolution somewhat embarrassed its
operations, but did not seriously affect its financial
standing, as at that day, as at the present, its invest-
ments were chiefly in mortgages. The old scheme of
management proved a failure about that time, and
under later modifications the existing principles are:
Policy now perpetual to determine by mutual consent;
no personal liability beyond deposit; profit and loss
principle expunged.
The progress of the old company has ever been a
pleasant and prosperous one, and what Director Bin-
ney said of it at its centennial, in 1852, is true in 1884 :
" There never was a period when a loss of any extent
disturbed the finances of the company."
James Somers Smith is now the secretary and
treasurer, and Charles Willing is chairman of the
board of directors. The offices of the company are
at No. 212 South Fourth Street.
As Philadelphia was the first city in the colonies
to adopt a system of indemnit)' for loss by fire, so it
was the first to establish a scheme of life insurance.
In 1759 a charter was granted on the petition of the
Synod of Philadelphia by the proprietary government
to "The Corporation for the Relief of Poor and Dis-
tressed Presbyterian Ministers, and of the Poor and
Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Min-
isters." Easy an d certain means were to be presented to
the clergy of the church for making provision for them-
selves in old age, or for their families in the event of
their decease, by the payment of advances, in con-
sideration of which the company entered into a con-
tract with the individual for the payment of a stipu-
lated amount to his heirs at his death, or to himself
in his declining years. In 1875 the name of the cor-
poration was changed to that of " The Presbyterian
Annuity and Life Insurance Company." It is the
oldest organization for life insurance in the United
States, and up to this time is conducted in pursuance
of the objects for which it was founded.
Very similar in its form and scope was the " Cor-
poration for the Relief of the Widows and Children
of Clergymen of the Communion of the Church of
England in America," which was established under a
• In this special mark, as in its general scheme of organization, the
company was patterned upon the " Amicable Contributionship and
Hand-in-Hand Fire Office,*' of London.
^jU! ''■ •■'■'
fflilm?*-''
'/Ml
mtmt
-^»m^^^
i/id'i/yr,
r^^-c^ ^S
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2117
In the year 1824 he became the agent of a Boston
Marine Insurance Company, the first agency of a non-
State company opened in Philadelphia, and afterward
was the first representative of a foreign insurance
company to enter the State after the legal exclusion
of 1810 as to foreign companies and the prohibitory
tax of 1829 on all non-State insurance companies.
In June, 1837, at the suggestion of his old employer,
Henry Smith, he was elected president of the Union
Insurance Company, of which company he had long
been a director. Here he continued, carrying the
company successfully through many trials and re-
verses, until January, 1881, when, on account of
accumulated years, being then ninety-two years old,
he resigned, to be elected a director and emeritus
president, which position he held at the time of his
death.
In the year 1851 he was appointed agent of the
Liverpool and London (now the Liverpool and Lon-
don, and Globe) Insurance Company, acting as such
until 1861, when he was succeeded by his son, Atwood
Smith.
He was chosen by Mr. Henry Pratt as one of the
Capt. Willam Jones, from March 3, 1810, to Feb. 9, 1813.
Guy Brjan, from Feb. 9, 1813, to May 2, 1816.
Jamea Vanuxem, from May 2, 1815, to May, 1817.
Charles Price, from May 6, 1817, to Dec. 20, 1824.
Joseph Reed, from Dec. 20, 1824, to June 17, 1829.
William Davidson, from June 17, 1829, to Oct. 27, 1847.
Samuel C. Morton, from Oct. 27, 1847, to May 13, 1857.
George Abbott, from May 13, 1857, to January, 1800.
Thomas Ross Maris was elected on the 11th of January, 1860, and
now holds that position.
The American was the earliest corporation of its
kind to establish an agency business, which it did in
the year of its organization. Its original capital was
$500,000, which was reduced in 1847 to §277,500, be-
cause of the heavy losses it had sustained, the surplus
then being but $2538. It lost $103,942 by the great
Philadelphia fire of July 9, 1850, and $457,801 by the
Boston fire of 1872, but all its risks were promptly
paid, and the capital is now fixed at $400,000, while
the assets are nearly $1,090,000. Thomas H. Mont-
gomery is now president, and the offices are at No.
308 and 310 AValnut Street.
For more than a half-century after the establish-
ment of home insurance companies there was no
general legislation by the commonwealth regarding
executors and trustees of his large estate, which posi- i them, but it was recognized that the functions and
tion he held at the time of his death.
Mr. Smith was an earnest .ind active member of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, and for many years a
member of the standing committee of the diocese.
in commemoration of the many acts of kindness
conferred by him upon natives of Sweden resident in
this country. King Oscar decorated him with the order
of Knight Commander of the Order of Wasa, under
date of May 16, 1880.
Mr. Smith is buried in the grounds attached to
Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale, a parish created
and largely sustained by the efibrts of himself and
his two daughters, who survive him.
In 1810 the colored people of Philadelphia opened
an insurance office at the old number of 159 Lom-
bard Street, under the title of the African Insurance
Company of Philadelphia, and with a capital of $5000,
in fifty-dollar shares. The first president was Joseph
Randolph ; Cyrus Porter was treasurer and William
Coleman secretary. There are good grounds for the
belief that this was the first attempt of persons of
color to establish an insurance company in this coun-
try ; but it was probably a voluntary association, not
incorporated, and must have proved a failure.
The American Fire Insurance Company, organized
Feb. 28, 1810, was the first joint-stock fire insurance
company in the United States. Its first president
was Capt. William Jones, a distinguished naval offi-
cer, and afterwards Secretary of the Navy under Presi-
dent Madison. Edward Fox and his friends were the
active persons in organizing the association, and he
was its secretary until the time of his death, which
occurred in 1822. He was an uncle of John Sergeant
who was a director of the company until his death, in
1850. There have been nine presidents, as follows :
limitations of so rapidly extending an interest should
be legally defined. The earliest legislation on the
subject is the act of March 10, 1810, by which for-
eigners were forbidden to issue any contract of in-
surance in Pennsylvania, and all such policies were
declared void. Any person acting as agent for a for-
eign company was subject to a penalty of $5000, and
the citizen who became a party to such insurance was
fined $500. The penalties were, however, not to be
extended to any case of marine insurance made in a
foreign country by the agents of American mer-
chants, nor did the statute prevent any foreigner, un-
less he were an alien enemy, from insuring his prop-
erty in the State. In this legislation is evident the
spirit of retaliation for the aggressions of England
and other European powers, and it was further mani-
fested by clauses in acts of incorporation limiting the
privileges of holding stock to American citizens. Up
to the year 1812 no public life insurance office ex-
isted, and the only species of life assurance known in
the United States was the relief and annuities granted
by the Presbyterian and Episcopal corporations, and
the few policies issued by the Insurance Company of
North America. But on March 10, 1812, the Penn-
sylvania Company for Insurance of Lives and Grant-
ing Annuities was incorporated, with a capital of
$500,000, and the earliest life contracts were made in
the following year. The annuities have long consti-
tuted the most important part of the company's oper-
ations, and a few years ago it entirely discontinued
the issuing of life policies. At this time the war
with England had begun, and the marine under-
writers were moving very cautiously in order to
weather the storm. One instance of their extreme
prudence was their refiisal to accept at less than sev-
2118
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
enty-five per cent, a risk upon one of Thomas P.
Cope's ships, the " Lancaster," homeward bound from
China at the opening of hostilities. Mr. Cope refused
to pay such an exorbitant demand, and his ship came
safely into port without having seen a British cruiser
during the long voyage.
There were in 1813 but three offices doing a fire
business exclusively, four marine offices, and one life
office, — a total of eight in Philadelphia, — but in the
twelve years following six more were organized, of
which only the Fire Association and the Pennsyl-
vania Fire Insurance Company are now in existence.
Those that have passed away are the United States,
Marine, Philadelphia, and Phoenix Mutual. The
Fire Association of Philadelphia commenced business
in 1820, and is a standard, stalwart, and wealthy cor-
poration.
The Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company was
organized in 1825 by a number of leading citizens,
who selected R. A. Caldcleugh as first president and
Jonathan Smith the first secretary. The capital stock
was placed at $100,000, and the first board of directors
comprised Paul Beck, Jr., David Carrey, John H.
Stephenson, Henry Toland, John R. Nefi', and Wil-
liam Boyd. The first president, Mr. Caldcleugh,
served up to 1835; then Jonathan Smith, to 1839;
next, Quintin Campbell from 1839 to 1853, when he
resigned, and was succeeded by Jonathan Patterson,
who died in 1865. Daniel Smith was the next exec-
utive, until 1873, when he resigned, and was succeeded
by Mr. Devereux, the present president. Mr. Smith
is still living, at the age of ninety-four. In 1863 the
capital was increased to $400,000, at which figure it
now remains, and the assets have increased to nearly
$2,500,000. For many years John Devereux has been
president. The offices are at No. 510 Walnut Street.
The Franklin Fire Insurance Company has a most
interesting history. Chartered in 1829, its capital
stock of $400,000 was all subscribed on the first day
by some of the most noted men in Philadelphia. The
first president was Richard Willing, who has been
succeeded in that office by Clement C. Biddle, Henry
C. Carey, Charles N. Bancker, Alfred G. Baker, and
James W. McAllister. The commissioners for re-
ceiving subscriptions were Charles Graff, Benjamin
W. Richards, John K. Kane, Robert Toland, Levi
Ellmaker, Robert Taylor, James Schott, Peter Hert-
zog, Thomas Carr, Charles N. Bancker, and Robert
O'Neil, and the books were opened May 13th at the
house of Daniel Rubicam, No. 20 South Sixth Street.
Business was commenced in one of Stephen Girard's
houses on Chestnut Street. In 1844 an adjoining
building was taken in, and in 1873 the company re-
moved to its present location, at No. 421 Walnut
Street. Perpetual insurance has always been one of
its plans, and since 1831 it has never passed a dividend.
It has met some immense losses, including S635,429
in the Chicago fire, $451,500 in Boston, and $294,855
in St. Louis, but the risks were settled without delay
or litigation. It is the parent of the agency system
of fire companies, having established the first agency
at Lexington, Ky., in 1831. At the semi-centennial
anniversary of its foundation, held in 1879, Hon.
George W. Biddle remarked, —
"No company can, in the course of a half-century, have reached the
magnificent financial results which now exist without having con-
ducted its affairs upon the sound basis of justice to its customers and
good sense and liberality in the administration of its business. These
results are not chance. Chance may be for a year,or a half-dozen years,
but for half a century of unintermittent prosperity, which shows itself
in the average of dividends of twenty per cent., it is impossible that it
can repose upon any other basis than the basis of eternal trutli in the
admiuistration of human affairs. Dividends beginning a year or two
after the inauguration of the company and ending with quarterly divi-
dends of eight per cent., or thirty-two per cent, per annum, are the
product of no chance. It is, therefore, justice to the customers, justice
to the stockholders."
The Fire Insurance Company of the County of
Philadelphia was chartered May 3, 1832. A supple-
ment to the charter changing the day for annual meet-
ings of stockholders was passed April 15, 1834, and a
further supplement repealing the section of the char-
ter which required the location of the company to be
north of Vine Street, and also permitting the election
of a vice-president, was passed the 2d of March, 1863.
The first meeting of the directors was held at the
house of John Dungan, corner of Third and Wood
Streets, on Saturday evening, Feb. 9, 1853, when the
certificate was received from the judges of election
certifying that Augustus Stevenson, Thomas H.
Craige, Samuel Williams, Charles Elliot, Robert V.
Massey, Joseph Reakirt, Samuel Heintzelman, Samuel
Bonnell, Osmon Reed, and Benjamin E. Carpenter
were duly elected directors to serve the ensuing year.
On motion the board proceeded to an election for
president, when Augustus Stevenson was unanimously
elected, and at the same meeting Jacob F. Hoeckley
was elected secretary.
At a meeting held at the house of John Dungan,
Feb. 23, 1833, the committee on location reported that
they had secured the premises No. 248 North Third
Street (present number, 482), between Callowhill and
Willow, and were then authorized to purchase the
same for the use of the company.
By a provision of section 32 of the charter, the com-
pany was permitted to efiiect insurance and issue pol-
icies when $100,000 of the capital stock was actually
paid in by the stockholders. The capital authorized
by the charter was $200,000, subscribed in 2000 shares
of $100 each, with permission to increase it to any
sum not exceeding 4000 shares of $100 each, or
$400,000, " if the holders of two-thirds of the stock
shall at any of their meetings so order." At the
meeting held March 8, 1833, $50 having been paid in
on each share, the company began business agreeably
to their charter.
Mr. Augustus Stevenson continued serving as pres-
ident until the 24th of January, 1851, when Mr.
Charles J. Sutter was unanimously elected in his
stead. The directors at that time elected were Au-
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2119
gustus Stevenson, Robert V. Massey, Joseph Reakirt,
Samuel Bonnell, Osmon Reed, M. M. Gill, Henry
Crilley, Charles J. Sutter, John Horn, and Frederick
Klett.
Mr. Sutter served continuously as president from
Jan. 24, 1851, until Feb. 1, 1872, when he resigned,
and was succeeded by the present president, James
N. Stone.
Mr. Jacob F. Hoeckley served as secretary from
Feb. 9, 1833, until his death, Jan. 6, 1854, when he
was succeeded by his brother, Benjamin F. Hoeckley,
who served continuously until Feb. 15, 1878, when
John Welsh Dulles was elected in his place, and is at
present secretary and treasurer.
The present directors are Messrs. James N. Stone,
Andrew H. Miller, Edwin L. Reakirt, Robert V. Mas-
sey, Jr., Philip H. Horn, Jacob Naylor, Alexander
M. Fox, J. Howard Mecke, Gillies Dallett, and Jacob
Grim. The otBcers are James N. Stone, president;
Jacob Naylor, vice-president; John Welsh Dulles,
secretary and treasurer.
At a special meeting of the board, held March 26,
1883, it was resolved to increase the capital stock to
its chartered limit, viz., $400,000. This being acceded
to by the stockholders, it was agreed to make the
payments in three instalments, viz., July 5 and Oct. 5,
1883, and Jan. 5, 1884. As the payment of each in-
stalment had been anticipated, the company started
Jan. 1, 1884, with a full-paid capital of $400,000 and
assets of over $635,000.
Until the year 1881 the company confined itself to
strictly Philadelphia risks, but after that date the
directors resolved to do a general agency business,
which has thus far been greatly to their advantage.
The Spring Garden Fire Insurance Company was
organized in 1835 by practical and conservative busi-
ness men, and has mainly confined its operations to
this city. Its capital is $400,000, on which for many
years past it has declared dividends averaging sixteen
per cent. For losses by fire it has paid out about
$1,750,000.
The Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company
was originally chartered in 1835 as the Delaware
County Insurance Company, its ofiices being in that
county, and the risks limited to the property of its
citizens. On March 17, 1843, a supplementary act
was secured, authorizing removal to Philadelphia, and
changing the title to its present form. In 1853 the
company built a handsome brown stone edifice at the
southeast corner of Walnut and Third Streets, where
it still has its headquarters, and issues fire, marine,
and inland transportation policies. Its authorized
capital is $500,000, of which $360,000 has been paid
up.
In 1836 the Girard Life Insurance, Annuity, and
Trust Company, which has a capital of $450,000, was
organized with eighteen corporators, of whom Thomas
Ridgway, its late president, is the sole survivor. It
has had but three presidents, the first being Benjamin
135
W. Richards, the second Thomas Ridgway, and the
third John B. Garrett, the present incumbent. In
1860 the company gave up the business of life insur-
ance, and has since confined itself to the receiving of
deposits and execution of trusts.
It will be seen that in the year 1839 fifteen insur-
ance corporations that are now in business had been
chartered. They were the strong ones, while the
weak and badly-managed concerns, of which there
were many, have been forced to the wall, and left no
trace behind them except the financial damage in-
flicted upon owners of stock and holders of policies.
The solvent companies were hard hit in 1839 by a fire
which, on October 4th, destroyed fifty-two buildings,
and involved a loss of half a million dollars of Phila-
delphia capital invested in fire insurance, the law of
1810 excluding foreign agencies from the State being
still in force. Still worse fortune was visited upon
the marine companies during the succeeding four
years. There were more of them than the then re-
stricted commerce of the port required, and the result
was that in their competition for engagements the
rates were ruthlessly slaughtered, and were reduced
to figures which forbade the idea of profit. Some of
the offices sacrificed a considerable proportion of their
capital, and quite a number wound up their aflairs.
In order to recover from these calamities, and to es-
tablish uniform and remunerative rates, the Philadel-
phia Board of Marine Underwriters was organized
July 3, 1844. Its five committees, as then established,
were charged with the duties of fixing a tariff of risks
and premiums, preparing a form of policy, procuring
statistics, supervising the financial accounts, and sur-
veying and reporting upon the grades of vessels and
damaged goods. There was a board of surveyors, con-
sisting of " five experienced nautical men," to examine
every vessel belonging to or arriving at the port of
Philadelphia, and fix their standing, for purposes of
insurance. This association of underwriters has been
continued up to the present day, and in it have been
represented many companies, of which there now
remain nothing but their names.
Notwithstanding the discouragements that prevailed
about 1840 and in the immediately subsequent years,
the formation of insurance companies was not materi-
ally checked. The Frankford Mutual Fire Insurance
Company was established in 1842, and is now located
at No. 4610 Frankford Avenue.
The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of German-
town was incorporated April 15, 1843, and organized
May 11, 1843, with Henry S. Mallery as president
and Wyndham H. Stokes as secretary. On May 20,
1847, Mr. Mallery resigned the presidency, and was
succeeded by Benjamin Lehman, who was the incum-
bent until his death, in December, 1867. Spencer
Roberts was then chosen to the office, and still con-
tinues to fill it. Mr. Stokes died in April, 1870, and
William H. Emhardt was elected secretary and treas-
urer, continuing up to the present time. The com-
2120
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
pany was originally located at the corner of German-
town Avenue and East School Street, from whence it
removed to its present location, at No. 4829 German-
town Avenue. Its risks in force at this time amount
to $13,650,000, and its assets are something over
$625,000.
The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company of Phila-
delphia was chartered Feb. 24, 1847, and on the fol-
lowing 25th of May was authorized to transact the
business of life insurance, having by that time secured
applications for a sufficient amount of insurance to
enable it to meet the requirements of its charter.
The first divisions of surplus was made in 1849, and
annual divisions have been made since that year.
The company now has in force 16,483 policies, rep-
resenting an aggregate of $41,521,678, and the net
assets amount to §8,406,379. The office is at No. 921
Chestnut Street, and the officers are Samuel C. Huey,
president; Edward M. Needles and Horatio S. Ste-
phens, vice presidents ; Jesse J. Barker, actuary ; and
John W. Hornor, secretary.
Towards 1850 risks on health began to engage the
attention of insurance men, but the early experiments
in that line were conducted with so little knowledge
that they were crowned with disaster; operated upon
the general theory that any yearly rate would allow
the same sum to be paid weekly in the event of ill-
ness, such an unscientific calculation caused the col-
lapse of many of these health associations. It was
utterly impossible that they could thrive, when, for a
payment of seven dollars annually, each sick member
received seven dollars per week during his illness.
With the inevitable disappearance of these societies,
corporate life and health companies grew into being.
The Philadelphia Life Insurance Company on March
20, 1848, obtained a charter which empowered it to
transact business in the fire, marine, life, and health
branches. It was not successful under such a liberal
grant, and was dissolved after changing its title to the
Philadelphia Fire and Life Insurance Company, and
writing fire risks alone.
The American Life Insurance Company was founded
in 1850 by some gentlemen identified with the cause
of temperance, who deemed that interest in that
movement might be promoted by a practical exem-
plification of the value of total abstinence in pro-
longing life. In connection with its other depart-
ments, it embraced a class in which risks not exceed-
ing $1000 each were taken at low premiums upon the
lives of non-users of intoxicating liquors, the policies
to be forfeited if the insured ceased to practice total
abstinence habits. The company has always been
both joint-stock and mutual, and also does a trust
business, receiving money on deposits, making invest-
ments, etc. It has a paid-up cash capital of $500,000,
and is a solid institution.
These years of 1849 and 1850 saw the resoui-ces of
the Philadelphia fire insurance companies severely
strained. Four of them were compelled to pay losses
aggregating $371,000 on the conflagration at St. Louia,
May 17, 1849 ; and the Philadelphia Contribution-
ship and the Mutual Assurance had covered with
their policies the district in this city that was swept
by the great fire of July 9 and 10, 1850. The total
loss was $1,500,000, and Mr. Binney said in his ad-
dress at the Contributionship centennial, before cited,
that if it " had occurred in the year 1808, it would
have swept away the whole amount of our funds,
deposits, and accumulations for half a century. Our
insurances in the quarter where that fire occurred
are supposed to have been of the same amount, or
nearly so, in 1808 as in the year 1850. The two
mutual assurance companies of this city bore the
brunt of the storm, and, as it was to come, it was well
for us that it came no sooner."
In 1850 the deposit life assurance system, which
combines the features of a life office and a savings-
bank, was inaugurated in this city by the United
States Life Annuity and Trust Company, but the
public did not appreciate it, and it remained to be
developed in later years. In January, 1852, the
centenary of the establishment of fire insurance in
the Western World, the first regular insurance serial
in the United States made its appearance. It was
published in Philadelphia, owned and edited by
Capt. Harvey G. Tuckett, and was entitled Tuckett's
Monthly Insurance Journal, Health and Friendly So-
cieties' Monitor. It thus appears that insurance jour-
nals, as well as fire, marine, and life insurance in
America, had their origin in Philadelphia. Tuckett
had held a commission in the British army, and had
been forced to quit England in consequence of fight-
ing a duel with Lord Cardigan, his superior officer.
As a mathematician and sta,tistician, he possessed
considerable ability, and his literary style, though
coarse, was vigorous and direct. He died two years
after issuing the first number of his magazine.
Another memorable incident of 1852 was the organi-
zation of the Board of Fire Underwriters, which was
formed on April 16th at a meeting of representatives
of a portion of the fire companies. It was quickly
beneficial in introducing order and regularity into
the business, which had been suffering from improp-
erly low rates. The tariff" was advanced, with the
consent of most of the corporations and agencies.
Additional stories to houses, extra occupants, sky-
lights, narrow streets, and other augmentations of
risks were subjected to increased premiums. In 1883
the president was Thomas C. Hand ; secretary and
treasurer, John Williams.
The Girard Fire and Marine Insurance Company
was organized under a perpetual charter in 1853, and
its first president was Hon. Joel Jones, whose suc-
cessors have been Hon. George Woodward, Thomas
Craven, and Alfred S. Gillett. With a capital of
$300,000, it has a net surplus over all liabilities of
$565,251. Its total assets foot up $1,259,967, and it
has paid out in losses since its organization over
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
zin
$2,650,000, has received in premiums over $5,000,000,
and has paid cash dividends of over $800,000.
Writing both marine and fire risks, it has passed
througli many ordeals, only to come out stronger
each time. It owns and occupies a fine building at
the northeast corner of Seventh and Chestnut Streets.
In February, 1854, the Commonwealth Insurance
Company of the State of Pennsylvania was organ-
ized to do a fire business, with William Bucknell
president, Dr. David Jayne vice-president, and Sam-
uel S. Moon secretary. In 1857, Dr. Jayne suc-
ceeded to the presidency, and for some years the
transactions were very large. In 1862, however,
some of the stockholders became discouraged by
losses, and Dr. Jayne purchased their shares. In
November of that year it was decided to close busi-
ness. Stockholders received ninety-tliree per cent.,
and all losses were paid. On term policies premiums
were paid pro rata, while perpetual policies were
settled in full.
The Mechanics' Fire Insurance Company, chartered
in 1854, was especially founded with a view of doing
business for the building associations and the owners
of small homes. Three or four years ago the capital
was increased from $125,000 to $250,000, agencies were
opened in other cities, and a bold push made for new
business. It now shows cash assets of $538,537, and
a surplus to policy-holders of $355,402, while the in-
come for 1883 rose to $114,817. In 1881 the com-
pany completed its handsome building at the corner
of Fifth and Walnut Streets. Its presidents have
been William Morgan, Francis Cooper, Bernard Raf-
ferty, and Francis McManus.
The Jefferson Fire Insurance Company obtained its
charter April 25, 1855, and began operations in the
following August on a capital of $100,000. George
Erety, the first president, was succeeded, in 1867, by
William McDaniel.
In the beginning of 1857 the Underwriters' Asso-
ciation of Philadelphia was formed as a union for
protection against dishonest persons who effected in-
surance for fraudulent purposes. It proposed a new
classification of risks, rating the hazards of mere busi-
ness adventurers higher than those of established mer-
cantile hou-ses, yet no scale of premiums was adopted
as binding upon the members, and from this cause it
died out in a year or two. Among the companies
represented were the Merchants', the Farmers' and
Mechanics', the Great Western, and the Howard, all
of which are now extinct. They were, however, but
a few of the companies that were started in quick suc-
cession in 1855-56, and whose number led to that de-
mand for legislation which culminated in the passage
of acts providing for the incorporation of State insur-
ance companies and regulating the agencies of out-
side companies. The financial panic of 1857 wiped
out a score or more of new and weak concerns, in-
cluding the Robert Morris Insurance Company, the
Alliance, the Lombard, the Continental, and the Im-
porters' and Traders', originally named the Mer-
chants' and Mechanics'. Most of the victims of the
crisis were flimsy companies, trading on narrow cap-
ital, and an investigation of the manner in which
business was being done was called for. In the case
of the Importers' and Traders' it was shown that,
while the company was claiming assets to the amount
of nearly $300,000, there never was " any really sub-
stantial and available capital which could afford any
security to the insurers."
The Board of Trade appointed a committee to ex-
amine into the affairs of the insurance offices, and " to
report whether, in any of the charters granted by the
State of Pennsylvania, there seems to be that absence
of wholesome provisions deemed necessary to secure
to directors annually chosen by stockholders the
supervision of the general affairs of the company, and
particularly to inquire whether, in any of said charters,
there are provisions for vesting in executive commit-
tees an absolute control of all financial matters, while
trustees are nominally provided for as a governing
department thereof." Much information was collected
throwing light upon insurance frauds, and the Legis-
lature was petitioned for enactments that would guard
against them, but nothing was effected at Harrisburg.
To protect themselves against the insolvency of makers
of premium and guarantee notes, the fourteen com-
panies then represented in the Board of Marine Under-
writers reduced the length of their credits, but this
precaution did not save four marine oSices from pass-
ing out of existence with the close of the year 1857.
In January, 1858, the steam fire department was in-
augurated by placing in active service the apparatus
of the Philadelphia Hose Company, and a beneficial
effect was at once exerted upon fire insurance. The
Legislature which adjourned in 1860 granted twenty-
one charters for new companies.
The Mutual Fire Insurance Company dates its or-
ganization to 1859, and now has its office at No. 813
Arch Street. Benjamin Malone, the first president,
has been succeeded by Caleb Clothier and Calvin
Taggart.
The United Firemen's Insurance Company, whose
charter was granted April 2, 1860, is the creation of
members of the the old volunteer fire department, who
alone were permitted to take its shares. Its capital of
$100,000 was increased in 1879 to $200,000, and in 1881
to $300,000, having been reorganizedin the latter year
with Joseph L. Caven as president. The comparative
statement for 1883 and 1882 shows a gain in assets of
$44,761.44 ; in surplus, $2934.54, and in reserve, $24,-
469.97. The total assets of the company are now
$781,613.51, and the liabilities $410,951.72, showing a
net surplus of $70,061.79. In 1882 it entered into
occupancy of its new house at No. 419 Walnut Street,
where it erected a notably imposing building.
The Reliance Fire Insurance Company has a history
as a mutual and stock company combined running
back to April 21, 1841, when it was chartered; but on
2122
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
April 24, 1862, the mutual feature was dropped in
pursuance of an act of the Let^isl iturt, and the capi-
tal mv nii 1 ^ 00 11(10 ( , 1 '\\ 1 1 in 1 « 1- the
THE PKO\IDENT LIFE AND TRUbT CUIirVM LUILDINO,
first president, and was succeeded by Clem Tingley,
and he, in 1869, by Thomas C. Hill, the present in-
cumbent. Its offices are at No. 429 Walnut Street.
The Provident Life and Trust Company was
chartered March 22, 1865, and commenced busi-
ness July, 1865. It was organized by members of
the Society of Friends, and while the company is
not under the control of that religious body, the
board of directors has always been composed of
Friends. A company in some respects similar. The
Friends' Provident of England, organized in 1832,
which is confined in its operations exclusively to
Friends or their descendants, had met with such a
favorable mortality experience as to suggest the
formation of a like company in this country. The
founders of the Provident Life and Trust Company,
however, wisely decided not to make the company
denominational nor to limit the membership to
Friends.
The capital is $1,000,000. The business is two-
fold,— the insurance of lives and management of
trusts. The progress in both branches has been very
rapid. The total assets, Jan. 1, 1884, were $14,583,444.
The amount of insurance in force at the same date was
$37,500,000. The first building erected by the com-
pany was No. 108 South Fourth Street. At the time
this seemed to be adequate for a long period, but
the growth of the business necessitated the erection,
in 1879, of the elegant and commodious building
which they now occupy at No. 409 Chestnut Street.
There have been few changes in the management
since the organization. The first president was
Samuel R. Shipley, who is still at its head. Mr. Row-
land Parry, the first actuary of the company, retired
a few months since by reason of advanced age. The
present ofiicers are : President, Samuel R. Shipley ;
Vice-President, T. Wistar Brown ; Vice-President
and Actuary, Asa S. Wing; Manager of Insurance
Department, Joseph Ashbrook; Trust Oflicer, J.
Roberts Foulke ; Chief Medical Examiner, Dr.
Thomas Wistar.
In 1883 the Provident issued 2212 policies, insur-
ing $7,085,628, and at the close of the year had out-
standing 11,766 policies, insuring $37,499,951, — a very
marked increase in business. Indeed, from the very
beginning of its history, this company has shown a
steady and constant progress, with scarcely a reverse.
It is its boast that it has never had to contest a death
claim.
The United States Plate Glass Insurance Company
of Philadelphia has a capital of $100,000, and was
chartered in 1867. It insures plate glass of every de-
scription, adjusting its losses by replacing the destroyed
glass with the same kind and quality or paying the
amount insured.
The Teutonia Fire Insurance Company began busi-
ness in 1870 as a stock corporation, with a capital of
1200,000, and is located at No. 424 Walnut Street.
The German Fire Insurance Company was organ-
ized in 1871, on a capital of $100,000, under the
presidency of Charles P. Bower, who has since con-
tinuously filled the office. In 1877 it removed from
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2123
Third and Chestnut Streets to its present quarters, at
No. 412 Walnut Street. It has paid an average of
six per cent, annually to its stockholders, and has
never passed a dividend.
The Sun Fire Insurance Companj' was incorporated
April 26, 1870, as the Safety Insurance Company, and
the above title was taken in accordance with an order
of court Jan. 27, 1874. It has a capital stock of
$150,000, and owns its building at No. 434 Walnut
Street. Nelson T. Evans has been president since
the organization.
The Lumbermen's Insurance Company, founded in
1873, owes its existence to the fact that the lumber-
men of Philadelphia, in consequence of the increase
of rates upon lumber, decided to start a company of
their own and restore the old rates. The company was
formed, the principal stockholders being lumber-
dealers, but a compromise was made upon the rates,
and it was decided to do a general business. A new
principle in insurance matters was adopted, that all
profits over six per cent, should go to the surplus of
the company. The subscribed cajjital is S50<i,000 ;
paid in, $250,000 ; assets, $585,000 ; surplus, $141,800.
Joseph H. Collins is president, and the company's
offices are at No. 427 Walnut Street.
The New Era Life Association of 1876 was char-
tered on the last day of the year 1875, and com-
menced its operations with the centennial year. It
is based upon the mutual system, its policy-holders
being the members of the association. It is designed
to afford life assurance at the smallest cost practicable
to its members. It has no assets and no liabilities.
Members are assessed for each death, and no assess-
ment can be made for other purposes. Expenses are
provided for by admission fees and annual dues.
Hon. James Pollock is president.
The Real Estate Title Insurance and Trust Com-
pany has a paid-up capital of $285,000, and was in-
corporated in 1876, to offer security against errors in
property titles, mortgages, etc. It also transacts all
business of a trust or fiduciary nature. Craig D.
Ritchie is president.
The Fidelity Mutual Aid Association was chartered
Dec. 2, 1878, for the payment of death benefits, upon
which it disbursed in 1883 $102,165.
The Philadelphia Manufacturers' Mutual Fire In-
surance Company was chartered Aug. 23, 1880, and is
operated on the system long in vogue in New England,
and known there as the Factory Mutual. The idea is
that of an association of mill-owners, who combine
to do away with fire losses, as far as may be possible,
by the adoption of such methods as their aggregated
expenses may prove to be wise, economical, and
effective, and to provide an equitable, simple, and
thoroughly reliable means by which a member may
be substantially indemnified when overtaken by the
misfortune of fire. Upon this plan the Philadelphia
Company was organized, and now transacts business
at No. 411 Walnut Street.
The Manufacturers' Mutual was the last company
I chartered in Philadelphia. A recapitulation of those
j now in existence presents nineteen fire and marine
I companies, which, in 1882, had a total stock capital of
$8,210,000, and assets of $29,548,000. There are six
mutual companies, with assets of $4,278,634, making
a grand aggregate of $33,826,634 of assets held in
trust by the Philadelphia fire and marine insurance
companies. The seven life companies were in posses-
sion at the same time of assets footing up $32,575,600.
It has already been stated that in 1860 a large
number of miscellaneous charters were granted for
various mixed styles of insurance, but all these cor-
porations were short-lived. From that time up to
1870 the business was decidedly depressed in this
city, but from 1870 to 1876 the reckless speculators
in illegitimate methods of insurance scandalized the
name of Philadelphia by their exploits. In the
j latter year they and their wild-cat companies were
stamped out by State supervision, and it may now be
said that without exception the home companies are
stable and trustworthy institutions.
The first foreign insurance company to establish an
agency in this city was the Phcenix Fire Oflice, of
London, which opened an oflSce here early in 1810,
but its stay was of short duration, owing to the pas-
sage in the same year of the State law laying a heavy
penalty on any foreigner issuing a contract of insur-
ance in Pennsylvania. This statute was not abro-
gated until 1849, when a new enactment was passed
admitting the agents of companies not incorporated
by the State to transact business in Pennsylvania on
the payment of a license fee, with a tax of one par
cent, on life premiums and three per cent, on fire
and marine premiums. Under these conditions the
liiverpool and London (now the Liverpool and Lon-
don and Globe) Insurance Company opened its Phila-
delphia office, Feb. 18, 1851, under the management
of the late Richard Somers Smith, who continued in
charge of the agency until April, 1861, when he was
relieved at his own request, and the company ap-
pointed as his successor his son, Atwood Smith, its
present agent. One of the greatest of the many great
corporations of England, it has for many years done
an immense business in fire risks in the United States,
outstripping every competitor in the field.
; The company's total assets for this country alone
reach the figures of $5,771,959.71, exceeding the
liabilities by $2,516,511.28. The income for 1883 was
$3,605,840.98, and the losses and expenses $3,023,-
276.73, the receipts of the American branch being
fully one-half of the total receipts of the company.
In the course of its history the company has re-
ceived the grand aggregate of $114,000,000, and has
paid to claimants $71,000,000 in indemnity for losses.
The assets have reached the vast sum of $35,000,000,
an amount sufficient to cover ten times any possible
losses liable to ensue on the company's outstanding
1 policies. In dividends the stockholders have received
2124
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
over $13,000,000 since the organizatiou of the com-
pany in 1836. Its yearly receipts in Philadelphia
are about §200,000, and the profits of this agency are
in excess of S600,000. The splendid marble building
LIVERPOOIi AND TiONDON AND GLOBE INSURANCE
COMPANY BUILDING, PHILADELPHIA.
at No. 331-337 Walnut Street was erected by the com-
pany, and under the supervision of Mr. Atwood Smith.
There are twenty-five other European and two
Canadian fire and marine companies having agencies
in Philadelphia. Their capital is altogether $32,-
556,000, and their assets $1 91,279,000. Then we have
here the offices of twenty-three Pennsylvania fire and
marine companies other than those chartered in Phila-
delphia, and they show $3,545,000 of capital, with
$5,340,000 of assets. The offices of the fire and fire-
marine companies of other States are ninety-nine in
number, representing capitals of $45,744,000 and
assets of $100,426,000. Thirty-five life or accident
companies of other States have agents in this city,
who trade on assets of $432,737,000. Bringing all
these figures into a mass, we find that we have a
grand total devoted to indemnity and represented
here reaching beyond $820,000,000.
The Philadelphia Fire Underwriters Tariff As-
sociation.— A carefully-prepared statement of the
experience of the local fire insurance companies for
the ten years extending from 1873 to 1883, compiled
by George E. Wagner, of Philadelphia, showed that
their losses and expenses, exclusive of dividends, had
fallen but little below the income from their pre-
miums, and in some years were in excess of them.
In 1873 the ratio of the losses and expenses to the
premiums was 100.23 per cent. ; in 1874 it had fallen
to 78.45 per cent., but after that there was a gradual
increase, and in 1881 it stood at 102.71 per cent., and
in 1882 at 101.37 per cent. As a result of this con-
dition of affairs, the number of local fire insurance
companies decreased in the period from 1873 to 1883
from twenty-eight to nineteen, and the existence of
the remaining companies unprovided with a large
surplus was endangered. The Philadelphia Fire
Underwriters' Association was organized to remedy
this evil, and to regulate temporary and term rates of
insurance so as to obtain appropriate profits to the
companies, and at the same time increase the security
of parties insured.
The preliminary meeting to organize the associa-
tion was held on Oct. 29, 1883, pursuant to a call
issued two days before by Henry Darrach, secretary
of the Board of Fire Underwriters. The meeting was
held in the main room of the Merchants' Exchange,
and the only business done was to secure the appoint-
ment of a committee to make nominations for officers.
At the adjourned meeting held on the second day of
November following, the nominees reported by the
committee were elected as follows : President, Thomas
H. Montgomery, president of the American Fire In-
surance Company ; Vice-President, George E. Wag-
ner; and Secretary and Treasurer, Henry Darrach.
A constitution and by-laws were adopted at the same
meeting. These officers continued to hold their posi-
tions until Nov. 15, 1883, when they were re-elected
to serve for the ensuing year.
The headquarters of the association are in the Mer-
chants' Exchange, northeast corner of Third and
Walnut Streets. Out of the 159 insurance companies
at present in the city, 133 are members, being repre-
sented by forty-eight gentlemen. The expenses are
met, as in similar organizations, by an assessment on
the premiums received by each company on insur-
ances within the city limits during the previous year,
after deducting reinsurances and cancellations.
The primary object of the association has been to
establish uniform rates of fire insurance, and this
object has been pursued with noticeably beneficial
results. Companies doing business in the city who
are not members, nevertheless have concurred in the
rates established by the association.
A second object, which naturally follows the first,
is to secure greater precautions against fire. A
standard is adopted for every class of buildings, and
those coming up to it are charged a certain rate of
insurance. If extra hazards are found to exist, the
rates are correspondingly increased, fixed prices being
charged for each deviation from the standard. In
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2125
order to get a reduction of rates, the party insured is
compelled to remove the hazard, and this has been
done in a great many cases. Buildings presenting
great hazards are sometimes rendered uninsurable.
If the owner of a building makes certain provisions
against fire above and beyond those required by the
standard, or if the building is of superior construc-
tion, he is enabled to obtain a rate even below the
standard. Every building in the city is examined by
an inspector, who presents the results of his investi-
gations to the tariff committee of the association, and
they, after careful examination, decide upon the rates
to be charged upon it. The magnitude of the work
can be easily seen, and the beneficial results likely to
flow from it must also be apparent. Already, owing
to the examinations made by the association, precau-
tions against fire have been adopted in hotels, theatres,
churches, car-stables, and other buildings, which are
calculated to be not only the means of saving
thousands of dollars, but valuable lives as well.
As an example of the workings of the association,
the insurance of theatres may be cited. Among its
various qualifications, the standard theatre must be
constructed of brick or stone, the roof must be of
slate, metal, or other substantial composition; the
floors in the boiler-house must be of cement or brick ;
the wood-work must be at least eight inches distant
from the boilers, and two inches distant from a steam
pipe, unless in the latter case protected by an iron
shield ; the border and foot-lights must be lighted by
approved electric apparatus ; the auditorium must be
separated from the stage by a strong brick or stone
proscenium wall, arched over the stage, opening and
extending at least two feet above the roof; and the
heating must be done by the steam or hot water
system. The rate of insurance for such a theatre is
$3.50. Deviations and deficiencies are charged as
follows : if the structure is two-thirds or more frame,
one dollar; if the roof is of shingle or defective, ten
cents ; if the floor of the boiler-house is of wood, five
cents; if the lighting is by petroleum or its products,
not insurable ; if open torches are used to light the
foot-lights, thirty cents; if there is no stone or brick
proscenium wall, fifty cents ; and if hot air flues are
insecure, uninsurable. Among provisions against
fire which, upon being adopted, will secure a reduc-
tion below the standard rate, are such as the follow-
ing: night and Sunday watchman, and improved
time-detector, five cents reduction ; approved fire
force pump, with two and one-half inch hose connec-
tion run by gearing, ten cents reduction ; and auto-
matic sprinklers protecting the stage and repair-
shop, twenty-five cents reduction. For certain im-
provements in the construction of the proscenium,
and for an approved fire-proof curtain, a reduction of
one dollar is made ; for impregnating all scenery,
gauze, etc., by an improved process, there is a reduc-
tion of twenty-five cents; and for approved electric
lighting exclusively, a reduction of ten cents.
The officers of the iissociation are elected annually
at a meeting in November.
Membership may be had by a written application
from (or by nomination of) any fire insurance com-
pany authorized to transact business in the citj' of
Philadelphia on approval by the association and by
signing the constitution.
Stated meetings of the association are held on the
third Tuesday of every month, at twelve o'clock
noon.
There are two standing committees, — a tariff com-
mittee, consisting of nine members, and a committee
on rooms and supplies, consisting of five members.
The tariff committee have power to fix rates on
such risks and classes of risks as may be referred to
them by any member of the association, provided
that two-thirds of the committee approve thereof.
The rates fixed by them are binding when approved
in writing by three-fourths of the members of the
association.
Three of the nine members composing this com-
mittee are chosen each month for a term of three
months.
Such figures convey, perhaps, even more thoroughly
than the details, an adequate comprehension of the im-
mensity of the insurance business in its many and di-
vers branches. They represent guarantees upon real
estate of every description, and amounting to many
millions of dollars in value, — the great manufacturing
establishments, warehouses, stores, and public build-
ings, as well as the residences of private citizens, from
the stately home of the millionaire to the shelter which
covers the thrifty workingman. The vessels whose
owners are secured from loss by this huge capital float
upon every sea, and carry the flags of all the maritime
nations of the world. As to the beneficent power of
life insurance, it is impossible to conjecture the num-
ber of persons who, because of it, rest assured that
their deaths will not leave in distress the families de-
pendent upon them. In commerce and in the home-
life alike, insurance fills a most essential function, and
may not inappropriately be styled a basis upon which
some of the greatest practical interests of civilized
humanity rest. In its ramifications it touches all de-
partments of industry and investment, and holds them
safe against the contingencies of peril and loss. Cop-
son's and Bradford's humble enterprises of nearly two
hundred years ago can be accepted as the foundation
of the vast insurance business of Philadelphia in the
present time, and as we follow its development from
epoch to epoch it reflects the growth of the commu-
nity in wealth, in population, and in the improvement
and aggregation of resources. In past years unscru-
pulous men have founded companies for illegitimate
purposes, and have defrauded those who placed con-
fidence in them, but in recent years wise legislation
has placed a ban upon illicit speculation in insurance,
while guarding and encouraging the substantial cor-
porations and agencies.
2126
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
STATISTICAL HISTORY OF THE INSURANCE
Name of Compant.
First Freidident.
Joint-Stock Fire Insuhance.
American 1
Fire Association 2 ; St'pt. 1, 1817
County
Franklio..
April 9,1833
June, 1829
German April,
Jefferson
Lumbermen*B
Aug. 1,1855
Dec. 11,1873
Mechanics May 4, 1854
Pennsylvania : April, 1825
Beliance I Aug. 9, 1844
Spring Garden , j Aug. 29,1835
Sun3 Dec. 30,1873
Teutonia Sept. 1,1870
i
United Firemen'fl , April 1,1861
Joint-Stock Fire and Marine Insurance. I
Delaware Mutual Safety I Aug. 6,1835
Girard Fire and Marine I May, 1853 j March, 1853.
March 27, 1820 ; rein-
corporated April 3,
1833.
May 3, 1832; organ-
ized Feb. 9, 1833.
April 22, 1829.
March, 1871. '^
April 25,1855.
June 2, 1873.
April 19, 1854.
March, 1825.
April 21,1841.
April 28, 1835.
April 26, 1870.
Aug. 6, 1870.
April 2, 1860.
Insurance Company of the State of Penn- 1 Nov. 5, 1794
sylvania. I {
Insurance Company of North America j 1792 [
Union : July 25, 1803 j
Mutual Fire Insurance. 1
Frankford Mutual iJ I
> Company for the Insur- j ,
from hosa by Fire. 1
Mutual Assu
ance of H.
Mutual, of Germantow:
Mutual
Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insur-
ance of Houses from Losses by Fire.
Philadelphia Manufacturers' Mutual
Life Insurance.
American. .
Girard Life Insurance, Annuity and Trust 1
Company.
Penn Mutual ;
Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on i
Lives and Granting Annuities. j
Presbyterian Annuity and Life Insurance :
Company.' ]
Provident Life and Trust Company '
The Corporation for the Relief of Widows
and Children of Clergymen in the Commu-
nion of the Protestant Episcopal Cliurch. 8
Miscellaneous Insdeance.
Real Estate Title Insurance and Trust Com-
pany.
United States Plate-Glass Insurance Co
Annuity, Trust, and Insurance. I
Girard Life Insurance, Annuity and Trust
Company,
Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on I
Lives and Granting Annuities.
Provident Life and Trust Company ^
April 18, 1794 ; organ-
ized Oct. 6,1794.
April 14, 1794; organ-
ized Dec. 10, 1792.
Feb. 0, 1804.
April 5, 1843; organ-
ized Nov. 9, 1842.
Sept. 29, 1784; char-
tered Feb. 27, 17fifi.
April 15. 1843; organ-
ized May 11,1843.
March 1. 1859.
Feb. 20, 1768; organ-
ized April 13, 1752.
Aug. 23, IStJO; issued
first policy Nov. 1,
1850.
March 17, 1836.
Feb. 24, 1847.
Marcli 10, 1812; organ-
ized 1809.
1759.
March 22, 1865.
Feb. 7. 1769.
Capt. Wm. Jones.
Sec. and treas. the
only active ofiicers
at first.
Aug. Stevenson.
Richard Willing.
Charles P. Bower.
George Erety.
Hugh Mcllvain.
William Morgan.
R. A. Caldcleugh.
George W. Toland.
Miles H. Carpenter.
Nelson F. Evans.
E. Franasen.
Edward Fox.
J. F. Hoeckley.
C. N. Bancker.
0. Bardenwerper.
P. E Coleman.
Geo. G. Crowell.
i
I
Bernard RafTerty.
Jonathan Smith.
i B. N. Hinchman.
. Samuel Hart.
j Wm. H. Haines.
; Julius Hein.
Conrad B. Andress. i Wm. H. Fagen.
Hon. Joel Jones.
Mordecai Lewis,
elected October 9.
J. Maxwell Nesbitt. : Ebenezer Hazard.
William Martin.
Alfred S. Gillett.
Sam'l W. Fisher.
Joseph Ball.
, Edward Lynch.
Isaac Whitelock. 1 Isaac ShallcrosE
PlunketTleeson. ' George Emlen.
Henry S. Mallery. ! W. S. Stokes.
Benja
lin Malone. T. E. Chapman,
he only titled John Smith, treas.
John W. Miller,
Leonard Jewell.
Benj. W. Richards.
John 0. Sims.
John F. Jamea,
actuary.
.John W. Hornor.
Jacob Shoemaker,
actuary.
Samuel R.Shipley. I Rowland Parry,
] actuary.
Richard Peters. Jonathan Odell.
March 31, 1876 ; May 2, Joshua H. Morris.
directors elected. i
April 12, 1867. John Van Dusen.
March 17, 1836.
March 10, 1812.
March 22, 1865.
Benj. J. Richards.
Joseph Ball.
I Samuel R. Shipley.
Joseph S. Siddall.
Isaac Rindge.
John F. James,
I actuary.
I Jacoli Shoemaker,
actuary.
Rowland Parry,
[ actuary.
1 First company chartered in the State for a general fire insurance business.
2 Organized Sept. 1, 1817, as the Fire Association, and was an association of fire companies, who designed to render themselves self-supporting
by the profits arising from insurances. 3 Originally the Safety Insurance Company; name changed J..n. 27. 1874.
^ ^00,000 allotted in shares of S400 each. 6 RigUg ;„ force December, 1883, 8;2,012,OUO. 6 Ri^ks in force December, 1883, $13,650,000.
T Oldest life insurance organization in the United States. Granted by the Penns tn Rev. Francis Allison, vice-provost of the University, in
"Ti.^ r»v,,».„f:„„ f... .K„ T>„.:_^„rt, J r..^. , »,..,.._ I of Presbyterian Ministers."
1755. Organized as "The Corporation for the Relief of Poor and Distressed Widows and Cbildr
INSURANCE IN PHILADELPHIA.
2127
COMPANIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
Original Location.
248 N. Tliird (old style numlers),
now 4:i2 N. Third.
Nortli aide of Chestnut, below
Fifth.
N. E. cor. Third and Chestnut.
W. side of Fourth, below Willow
427 Walnut.
N. W. cor. Sixth and Cherry.
Same as at present.
S. W. cor. Fifth and Walnut.
S. W. cor. Sixth and Wood.
434 Walnut.
208 S. Fourth.
Sixth Street, N. of and near Arch.
Same as at present.
137 S. Front.
Front Street, below Walnnt, till
1850.
Walnut Street, adjoining bouse
of Clement Biddle.
Same as at present.
Indian King Tavern.
Germantown Avenue and School
Street.
No. 5 S. Fifth.
John Smith's house, on King
(now Water) Street.
413 Walnut.
President in 1883.
Secretary in 1883.
Location in 1883.
Capital, Surplus, Asseta,
Jan. 1,1883. Jan. 1,1883. Jan.1,1883.
Tho8. H. Montgomery.
Benjamin Lightfoot.
James N. Stone.
James W. McAllister.
Charles P. Bower.
William McDaniel.
Joseph H. Collins.
Francis McMaous.
John Devereux.
Thomas C. Hill.
Nelson F. Evans.
James Neill.
E. Franssen.
Joseph L. Caven.
; Thomas C. Hand.
Alfred S. Gillette.
Henry D. Sberrerd.
Charles Piatt.
Colson Hieskell.
Samuel Bolton.
Samuel Welsh.
Spencer Roberts.
A. C. L. Crawford.
Jacob H. Lex.
John Welsh Dulles.
Ezra T. Cresson,
Edward J. Durham.
Philip E. Coleman.
George G. Crowell.
John H. Davis.
John L. Thompson.
William Chubb.
Jacob E. Peterson.
John Crawford.
H. A. Birch.
Robert B. Heath.
Henry L. Lylburn.
! Edward Merrill.
Jos. H. lloUinshead.
, Greville E. Fryer.
John B. Craven.
H. St. Clair Thorn.
Cliflford Lewis.
34 N. Fifth.
110 S. Fourth.
421 Walnut.
412 Walnut j
426 Walnut. i
427 Walnnt.
i
' S. W. cor. Fifth and
. Walnut.
] 610 Walnut.
429 Walnut.
431 Walnut. j
434 Walnut.
424 Walnut.
419 Walnut.
S. E. cor. Seventh
and Chestnut.
4 and 6 Merchants'
Exchange building.
232 Walnut.
4610 Frankford Ave-
I nue, Frankford.
i 626 Walnut.
William H. Emhardt. 4829 Germantown
Avenue.
T. Ellwood Chapman. 81:! Arch.
James Somers South. 212 S. Fourth.
Henry W. Brown. John W. Miller, Jr. 413 Walnut.
70 S. Third till 1855.
Chestnut, betweei
Fifth.
91 Walnut.
Old Cotfee-Honse.
Fourth and I John B. Garrett.
John S. Wilson. I S. E. cor. Fourth j
and Walnut.
, Henry Tatnall, treas. | 2020 Chestnut.
Ill S. Fourth.
Meetings held in different States.
I Samuel C. Huey. ' Henry C. Brown. I 921 Chestnut.
Lindley Smyth. L. H. Steel, see. and | 431 Chestnut.
1 Rev. J. W.Dulles, D.D. Robert Patterson, 329 Chestnut,
treas. and actuary.
Samuel R. Shipley. Asa V. Wing, vice- 409 Chestnut.
pres. and actuary.
Hon. John Welsh. James Somers Smith, 21 S. Fourth,
actuary and treas.
108 S. Fourth.
108 S. Fourth.
Chestnut, between Fourth and
Fifth.
Old Coffee-House.
$400,000
600,000
200,000
400,000
100,000
100,000
260,000
250,000
400,COO
300,000
400,000
150,000
200,000
300,000
360,000
300,000
200,000
3,000,000
1,000,000
500,000
460,000
Mutual.
2,000,000
111 S. Fourth.
Craig D. Bitcbie.
Joseph S. Chahoon.
John B. Garrett.
Lindley Smyth.
Samuel E. Shipley.
! Joseph S. Siddall. N. W. cor. Tenth 8600,000; paid
i and Chestnut. up,$i86,00O.
Isaac Rindge. 134 S. Fourth. SIOO.OOO paid
i in ; to be in-
i creased soon
to $125,000.
Henry Tatnall, treas. ' 2020 Chestnut.
i L. H. Steel, sec. and , 431 Chestnut.
; Asa S. Wing, vice- 409 Chestnut,
pres. and actuary.
460,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
$627,534 1 $1,712,632
922,036
97,045
820,992
64,045
146,892
134,285
93,172
930,796
291,920
390,694
12,466
39,068
67,127
437,966
631,674
241,715
3,229,306
30,258
Dec , 1883,
$827,338
1,768,' 56
1,200,000
92,000
640,000
827,338
1,200,000
798,705
4,339,321
413,814
3,086,637
219.986
297,672
555,476
608,898
2,301,946
763,906
1,141,120
182,199
272,738
736,252
2,006,493
1,208,645
718,209
8,868,916
884,299
82,845
1,494,375
474,913
3,478,457
266,000
« Orieinally chartered in three States,— Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. It was resolved to separate into three corporations, — one
for each State. The Pennsylvania branch was incoVporated March 28, 1797.
'J Botli an insurance and trust company. Other trust compiinics of chapter on " Bankers and Currency," though having a provision in their
charter allowing them to do an insurance business, do not exercise the right to any extent, or not at all. Policies of the Provident Life and Trust
Company outstanding March 31, 1883, represent $37,499,951.
2128
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
CHAPTER LII.
TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
The first telegraph of any kind by which intelli-
gence was brought to Philadeli^hia was established
in 1809, under the patronage of the Chamber of Com-
merce, and according to the plan of Jonathan Grout,
who set it uj). Grout was a schoolmaster, and of
somewhat testy disposition and eccentric in character.
He was a native of Belchertown, Mass., and had at
an early period turned his attention to the subject of
telegraphic communication. In 1798 he had estab-
lished a line of telegraphs between Boston and Mar-
tha's Vineyard, ninety miles, over which it is recorded
messages were sent in ten minutes. He received a
patent from Congress in 1800. The character of his
invention is not exactly known, but it is probable that
it was upon the semaphore plan. There was enough
merit in it to interest the merchants of Philadelphia
suiBciently to raise the means for the establishment
of a line of telegraph to Reedy Island, at the head of
Delaware Bay, from which early news of the arrival
of ships was important to business interests. A char-
ter was granted by the Legislature to the Reedy Isl-
and Telegraph Company March 24, 1809. The line
was shortly afterward constructed, and on the 8th of
November of the same year the first dispatch received
in the city announced the arrival in the Delaware of
the ship " Fanny," from Lisbon. How long this tele-
graph was continued is not exactly known. State-
ments made years afterward were to the etfect that it
was soon abandoned, not for reason of ineflSciency,
but because the peculiar temperament of Grout led
him into controversies and quarrels with his customers,
who gradually withdrew their confidence from him,
and eventually the line proved to be a failure.
Dr. John Redman Coxe took great interest in the
subject of telegraphs, and published in the Emporium
of Arti and Sciences for 1812, vol. ii. p. 99, a descrip-
tion of his plan for a revolving telegraph for con-
veying intelligence by figures, letters, words, or
sentences. The machine consisted of a semicircular
frame fixed upon a wooden frame, which could be
made to rotate upon a turn-table upon rollers on the
top of a tower or other high place. There were
thirteen chambers or windows in the upper part of
the frame managed by ropes. The telegraphing was
done principally by the windows, in opening or shut-
ting them, wholly or partially, and an arrangement
was proposed by the use of lights for telegraphing at
night. Dr. Coxe afterward turned his thoughts to the
use of galvanism for telegraphic purposes, a sugges-
tion which it has since been ascertained had already
been acted upon by Dr. Samuel Thomas von Soemmer-
ing, in Munich, in 1807. The latter sent the galvanic
current through ten thousand feet of wire, and ar-
ranged his signals to be produced by the decompo-
sition of water. There is no suspicion that Dr. Coxe
ever knew of these experiments, which attracted no
attention at the time, and could not be suspected to be
of the importance which was afterward manifested,
when electricity was applied to the wires instead of
galvanism. Dr. Coxe, in 1815, wrote to Thomson's
Annals of Philosophy a letter published in London,
February, 1816, vol., vii. 1st series, in which, speaking
of galvanism, he said, —
" I have, however, contemplated this important agent (galvanism) as
a probable means of establishing telegi^pbic communication with as
much rabidity, and perhaps less expense, than any hitherto employed.
I do not know how far experiment has determined galvanic action to be
communicated by means of wires, but there is no reason to suppose it
coiitined as to limits. Certainly not as to time. Now by means of
apparatus fixed at certain distances, as Telegraph Stations, and by tubes
for the decomposition of water and of salts, etc., regularly arranged,
such a key might be adopted as would be requisite to communicate
words and sentences, or tigures from one station to another, and so on to
the end of the line. I will take another opportunity to enlarge upon
this, as I think it might serve many useful purposes; but like all others
it requires time to mature. As it takes up little room and may be fixed
in private, it might in many Ciises of besieged towns, etc., convey useful
intelligence with scarcely a chance of detection by the enemy. How-
ever fanciful in speculation, I have no doubt that sooner or later it will
be rendered useful in practice."
Actually this suggestion differed only in degree from
the plan afterward adopted in the working of the Bain
Electric Telegraph. It has been said that Dr. Coxe
subsequently demonstrated the merits of his plan to
his students by setting up wires and using the voltaic
pile in the lecture-room of the University of Pennsyl-
vania, for telegraphic purposes; but if such experi-
ments were made, there is unfortunately no record of
them.
There was for some years prior to 1846 a private
telegraph between New York and Philadelphia of the
existence of which the majority of the people were
profoundly ignorant. It was established perhaps as
early as 1840, and its operations were not made
known to the public. The proprietor was William
C. Bridges, stock and exchange broker of this city,
and the dispatches were principally used to convey
the drawn numbers in lotteries, and the prices of
stocks for the benefit of the brokers who were in-
terested in the line. The telegraph stations were
placed on the high points across New Jersey, and
there must have been some station in Philadelphia at
a sufiicient altitude from the nearest station on the
east side of the river to observe the signals. The op-
erations in daytime were somewhat upon the sema-
phore plan, and were visible from station to station,
and sent on from one to the other. At night the sig-
nals were given by lights with flashes. This was done
by the use of a box in which a lamp was placed in
front of a parabolic reflector. A common wooden
drop in front of the box, operated by a lever, could
be raised so that the light would be shown, and al-
lowed to fall so as to shut it oS". By the length of
time during which the light was shown signals were
made, analogous to the short and long dashes and
dots afterward used in the Morse telegraph. Long
and short flashes conveyed the information, and these
TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
2129
being arranged formed sentences and words. A tele-
scope to the apparatus at each station kept the light
in view although at a long distance. Subsequently
the principle of the heliostat was adopted, by which
flashes of sunlight upon a mirror could be conveyed
to long distances, and would not be visible to other
persons who were not within the direct line of the
flash. This telegraph was superseded, as a matter of
course, when the electro-magnetic telegraph came
into operation. In January, 1846, the Public Ledger
piihlished the following:
■ The private signal telegraph front Philadelphia," the Burlt'njMn Ga-
.-. ((■ says, "baa just been abandoned, having no doubt done good service
til its owners. It has been in use several years. One of the stations
was on the hill at Mount Holly, while the others were on different ele-
v:ition8 a few miles apart, 80 that a good telescope could distinguish the
t-i[r[ials. Intelligence was conveyed from one city to the other in about
I 'ii minutes, by elevating boards on a pole in a particular way by means
yA niiichinery at the foot of the pole. At night lamps of different colors
weie used. Tiie whole concern was sold for about three thousand dollars.
It was a great affair when firet established, and many mysterious move-
ments in the Philadelphia stock and produce markets were laid at the
il of the speculators who worked the telegraph. No doubt the specu-
lutii.n paid them well. But though a good thing at first, it has been
superseded by a better, — Morse's electro-magnetic telegraph has pros-
n\tttL-d all rivals."
For the present purpose it is not necessary to expa-
tiate upon the claims made upon behalf of rival
scientists to the invention of the magnetic telegraph.
Several minds were engaged with the subject in this
country and in Europe. There is no difficulty about
the fact that Samuel F. B. Morse was the first person
who demonstrated the practicability of the magnetic
telegraph in the United States. The means by which
he arrived at sufficient perfection in his plans to es-
tablish the first practical line are well known. He
petitioned Congress in 1838 for assistance in establish-
ing a line of telegraph between Baltimore and Wash-
ington without immediate success.
In 1842 Congress, on the 3d of March, passed an
act approjiriating thirty thousand dollars for the pur-
pose, and " to test the practicability of establishing a
system of electro-magnetic telegraph in the United
States. Professor Morse at once set to work. His
first idea was to lay the wires near the sleepers of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in lead pipes and un-
derground. The preparation of the wires was very
imperfect, and the experiment was a failure, the pipes
having been laid about ten miles from Baltimore to
the Relay House. The plan of constructing a line of
wires stretched upon poles was then resorted to, the
wires being carried over the cross-arms in notches
insulated by being placed on prepared canvas satu-
rated with some composition. At this time the line
was commenced at Washington, about the beginning
of the year 1844. It was tested as it proceeded, and
on the 1st of May the cars from Baltimore to Wash-
ington were apprised, when twenty miles from Wash-
ington, of the Whig nomination, at the National Con-
vention in Baltimore, of Henry Clay and Theodore
Frelinghuysen, which had been made after the cars
started. The line was completed on the 24th of May,
1844, and Miss Annie Ellsworth, daughter of the
chief commissioner of patents, a young lady who was
the first to give to Professor Morse the joyful intelli-
gence of the passage of the bill by Congress two years
before making an appropriation for the purpose of
testing the telegraph, was sent for to dictate the first
message ever sent between the two cities, and it was
in these words, "What hath God wrovght!"
The next day the telegraph was thrown open to busi-
ness between Washington and Baltimore, and at one
o'clock the first press message was sent over the line
from the capitol to the Baltimore Patriot, announcing
that the House had refused to go into committee of
the whole on the Oregon question, a motion to that
effect having been defeated. The proceedings of the
Democratic National Convention at Baltimore, and
of the Tyler National Convention also meeting there,
were telegraphed to the National Intelligencer at
Washington regularly. That paper, speaking of the
unusual occurrence, said, "During the whole day
a crowd of persons, including a number of members
of Congress, were in attendance at the capitol to re-
ceive the reports by the telegraph of the news from
Baltimore, which were made at successive intervals
with striking dispatch and accuracy, and were re-
ceived by the auditors as the responses of the ancient
oracle may be supposed to have been, with emotions
corresponding to the various and opposite sentiments
of those composing the assembly. Whatever variety
of impression the news made upon the auditory, how-
ever, there was but one sentiment concerning the
telegraph itself, which was that of mingled delight
and wonder."
The line was coutinued in operation for several
months, but the receipts were not sufficient to main-
tain it. It was announced on the 30th of January,
184.5, that it would be discontinued on the 1st of Feb-
ruary, but some arrangements were made for its con-
tinuance, and during the session Congress appro-
priated eight thousand dollars for the service of the
line under the direction of the Postmaster-General,
thus making the line a postal-telegraph. He ap-
pointed as officers under him : Superintendent, Pro-
fessor Morse ; Assistant Superintendents, Alfred Vail
and Henry J. Rogers ; Battery-Tender and Line-Re-
pairer, Henry W. Cleveland. During the remainder
of that year, from March 31st to December 31st, the
charge for telegraphing being one cent per word, the
whole amount received for the business of the line was
§725.48, of which $352.80 were paid at Washington,
and S372.68 at Baltimore. During that first period
the public value of the service was demonstrated by
reports of election news and returns. The method of
sending dispatches was limited, in consequence of the
defective character of the apparatus. It was found
that the receiving-magnet could not be worked so
as to transmit more than twenty words per minute.
Mr. Vail, therefore, invented a dictionary, in order to
2130
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
meet the demands of the Baltimore afternoon press.
Each phrase was indicated by a word taken from an
ordinary dictionary, and the words were arranged
alphabetically and placed opposite the phrase to be
transmitted. The phrases were also arranged in alpha-
betical order, and grouped together under appropriate
headings. The names of the officers and members of
the two Houses were numbered, and by this means
a large amount of Congressional business was trans-
mitted in a brief space of time. Mr. Rogers, at Bal-
timore, deciphered the messages for the reporters of
the Baltimore newspajiors, and they wrote them down
and transmitted them to the respective journals.
Shortly after the retnrn of Professor Morse from Eu-
rope, in the winter of 1844-45, with a new receiving-
magnet, he was able to dispense with the use of the
dictionary. It was used, however, in transmitting the
report of the proceedings at the inauguration of Pres-
ident Polk.
The success of the enterprise between Baltimore and
Washington, although not very flattering during the
year 1845, was sufficient to stimulate capitalists to
engage in the building of lines between the principal
Atlantic cities. The first telegraph company was or-
ganized March 15, 1845, under the name of the
Magnetic Telegraph Company. It was not incor-
porated until Feb. 4, 1847, with the following incor-
porators: S. F. B. Morse, George C. Penniman, Henry
J. Rogers, John S. McKim, J. R. Trimble, John O.
Stevens, and A. Sidney Doane, and William M. Swain,
one of the proprietors of the Public Ledger at Phila-
delphia. The object was to build a line from Wash-
ington to New York, and application was made to the
New Jersey Railroad for permission to erect posts and
build a line between New York and Philadelphia.
Strangely enough the privilege was refused, upon the
ground that the telegraph would interfere with travel
by enabling persons to transact business by its means
instead of using the railroad.'
In consequence of this refusal the company was
compelled to construct the line over the old stage
road by the way of Somerville, N. J., New Hope, Pa.,
and thence by way of Norristown to Philadelphia.
The construction commenced in 1845. On the 10th
of October the United States Oazette made the follow-
ing announcement :
I The first subscribors to the company were Corcor.in & Rigge, $1000 ;
B. B. French, $1000; Eliphnlet Case, 81000; Charles Munroe, SIOOO;
Peter G. Washington, 8200; John F. Holly, $1500; John E. Kendall,
8300; James E. McLoughlin, 8350; Amos Kendall, 8500 ; Daniel Gold,
81000; .Simon Brown, 8500; A. J. Glossbreuner, $500; E. Cornell, 8500;
Charles G. Page, 860U ; D. George Templeman, $200; Henry J. Rogers,
$100 ; J. W. Murphy, $100 ; A. W. Payne, $500 ; Francis 0. J. Smith, $700 ;
Furman Block, $200 ; T, L. & A. Thomas Smith, $200; Keller Gieen-
ough, 850(1; J, c. Broadhead, 8500; A. Thomas Smith, $100; John W.
Norton, $1000. These subscriptions were not sufficient, and application
was made for further assistance. Moore N. Falls, John S. McKim, A. S.
Abell, of the BaHimove Sun. and his partners, William M Swain and A.
H. Simmons, of the PhilaiUlphia Ledgtr, and George H. Hart and other
prominent Philadelphians subscribed liberally.— Sc/mr/'s Bistort/ of Bal-
timore, p. 606.
"The work of placing a magnetic telegraph on the
line between this city and New York is rapidly pro-
gressing. The workmen are now putting up the wire
on the eastern portion. The first terminus will be on
the Columbia Railroad, about fourteen miles from the
Schuylkill, whence the wires will be brought into the
city. Messrs. J. R. Chandler and George Campbell
presented in Councils at the meeting, October 9th, a
petition for the Magnetic Telegraph Company to put
up poles on the sidewalks and place the wires thereon.
Mr. O'Reilly is building a telegraph line from Harris-
burg to this city."
On the 27th of the same month it was stated that
the wires from New York were taken across the East
River in a lead pipe. There were four wires, and the
pipe was manufactured by Tatham Brothers, of Phila-
delphia. Unfortunately, this method failed at first, for
want, no doubt, of sufficient insulation. On the 6th
of December the same paper stated, " The operation
of placing the wires on the telegraph poles commenced
December 5th. The wire is of copper, without cover-
ing or coating of any kind to insulate it; and the
mode of fastening is to coil it twice around a glass
button securely fixed in the cross-piece on the top of
a pole, so that in case the wire should accidentally
break the double coil will sustain the remainder. The
wires are to be taken into the room No. 31 of the
Merchants' Exchange (which was in the third story),
where the galvanic battery will be placed." The por-
tion of the telegraph to New York situate between
Norristown and Philadelphia was tested on the 2d of
Januarj', 1846, and on the same day the Ledger re-
ceived its first telegraphic dispatch from Norristown,
giving an account of the condition of the river Schuyl-
kill, swollen by rains. On the 5th it was announced
that the western telegraph had been comjileted be-
tween Harrishurg and Lancaster, with this notifi-
cation, " The Harrisburg train leaves for Lancaster
at one o'clock, arrives at Lancaster at four. News
may be telegraphed from Harrisburg to Lancaster up
to half-past three, and be brought to Philadelphia by
railroad." On the 15th of January, 1846, the Public
Ledger published the following:
" About the Magnetic Telegraph, — The utility of this undertaking
has not been even yi-t propeily estimated. An individual leaving this
city for New York can transact his business here with the same facility
that he could were he personally present. Several striking instances
of this fact have already been exhibited. While a man was absent in
another city his place of business was visited, and some important busi-
ness matter was to be attended to about which his clerks had no au-
thority. The communication was made throu;;h the telegraph, the
principal was sought out, and brought to theofhce at the other end, and
the business was transacted with the same facility as if the two persons
had been confronted in the same room.
'* No inconvenience whatever resulted from the absence of the princi-
pal from liis aflairs. Again, a nuin in one city away from home loses
his money or by any other means becomes short of funds ; a communica-
tion stating these facts is sent to his friends ; the amount he wishes is
deposited in the office of the telegraph ; notice of the fact is conveyed by
the wires to the operator at the other end, who pays it to the man. Such
has been actually done on the telegraph between Baltimore and Washing-
ton ; and the presumption is that the occasions will increase in propor-
tion as the connections are established between the principal cities of the
TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
2131
Union. How much would many a family in New York and Philadel-
phia now give could they communicate with New Orleans daily, even if
it were to inquire after the health of some absent father or son? In-
stances occur to our mind now where the opportunity would be con-
sidered cheap at almost any price, and when that communication could
be hourly kept up, the privilege would ho invaluahle."
A great achievement was accomplished on the day
that this article was published. The news from Eu-
rope by the packet-ship "Oxford" arrived at New
York, was received by way of Somerville, twenty-
one miles from Newark, and placed on the Led</i:r
bulletin-board. On the 19tli of January telegraphic
communication with Newark, N. J., from Philadel-
phia was established and tested. Five days before
this the connection had been made with Somerville,
N. J. On the 21st the telegraphic rates between
Philadelphia and New York were published as fol-
lows : " For ten words, every figure being counted a
word, exclusive of signature and address, and the di-
rection of the writer as to the disposition of the com-
munication, fifty miles and under, ten cents ; between
fifty and one hundred miles, twenty cents; from New
York to Philadelphia, twenty-five cents; for all dis-
tances over one hundred miles twenty-five cents."
The messages were sent to Newark by the telegraph,
and from that place to New York by messengers six
times per day. Difficulty soon arose in consequence
of the breaking of wires. Such an accident occurred
on the 21st of January from the weight of ice upon
them, and the Ledger said, "This is an accident to
which the line will always be liable as long as the
present small copper wire is used. The company will
soon be compelled to substitute it by the large iron
wire now being used in the construction of the line
between Philadelphia and Baltimore." Officers were
chosen at a general meeting of the New York, Phila-
delphia and Washington Telegraph Company at New
York, on January 27th, — President, Amos Kendall;
Secretary, Thomas M. Clark, of New York ; Treas-
urer, A. Sidney Doane, of New York ; Directors, E.
H. French, J. J. Holly, John W. Norton, John O.
Stearns, of New Jer.sey, William M. Swain, of Phila-
delphia, and J. R. Trimble, of Wilmington. A large
number of messages were sent January 27th. Charles
Cummings, glue manufacturer of Philadelphia, drew
upon a gentleman through the line for twenty-five
dollars. The money was paid to the superintendent
at Newark to send it to Philadelphia, " and Mr. Vail,
the superintendent here, paid over the money to Mr.
Cummings; the whole operation took less than thirty
minutes." This method of transferring money might
have become a great feature in the business of tele-
graphing, but it was soon found to be inconvenient,
and would have required the placing of capital at
each ofiice, and the employment of cashiers and
clerks to conduct it, so that it was not largely carried
out, and if ever meditated seriously, was soon aban-
doned. On the 4th of February, a letter appeared
from Amos Kendall, stating that the telegraph to
Newark worked perfectly, and on one occasion the
line had been worked as far as Fort Lee, on the Hud-
son River, above New York, one hundred and thirty
miles. " We stop for the present at Newark, N. J.,
ten miles from New York, not having succeeded in
crossing the river." Mr. Kendall spoke at some
length of the difficulties of the undertaking, and said,
"We cannot try experiments for projectors, but he
who can and will take us across the North River
without erecting supports in the river itself, and in
such a manner as will promise durability, will entitle
himself to a liberal compensation."
On the 12th of the same month the Li'ihjer said that
the completion of the line by carrying the wires into
the city of New York was very important. " All that
is now wanted to effect such completion is a plan by
which to cross over the river (Hudson) at the Pali-
sades, some ten or fifteen miles above Jersey City,
without obstructing the navigation. This plan, it
appears, has not yet been hit upon to be carried out
with certainty." The same article stated that the
Legislature of New York had already passed a law
making it a felony to cut the wires. But it was also
a felony to cross rivers by telegraphs in such manner
as to obstruct the navigation. " Unfortunately, the
Legislature of New York has not defined what will
be an obstruction. Piers on each side of the river
might not be held as an obstruction, but whether a
pier in the middle of the river, upon which to stretch
the wires, would be allowed by the State, is doubt-
ful." From this it seemed that the experiment of
carrying wires in a leaden pipe submerged in the
stream had been a failure. The place where the ex-
periment was tried is not stated. It was probably at
Fort Lee. The Ledyer suggested that " a branch line
ought to be constructed to Jersey City, to which boats
cross every fifteen minutes, giving frequent access to
New York." Later in the same month the Ledger
contained an article stating that the telegraph wa.s
worked on the 18th of February to Fort Lee, on the
Hudson River, twelve miles from New York. The
route by Norristown and across Pennsylvania and
New Jersey to that place was so circuitous that the
distance worked was stated to be one hundred and
sixty miles. An attempt was made to cross the river
in a boat and send the dispatches by wires to New
York. The ice in the river interfered, and the boat
did not get across again for several hours. "The
fact is, this mode of communication with New York
is liable to greater objections than that by way of
Newark. It is slower and much more uncertain, and
unless the wires can be speedily carried over the
river or under its bed, so as to make the connection
continuous, it will have to be abandoned, and a per-
manent station established at Jersey City." On the
30th of April the Ledger had the following article:
" Magnetic Telegraph. — Our brother of the New York Mirror is
taking a kaleidoscope view of the operations of the magnetic telegraph,
which, according to him, is to make Wall Street, in New York, the great
central 'ganglion' of the business nerves of the country. Which pair
2132
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
of nerves these are we cannot say, but from generals our esteemed con-
temporary deKCPuds to particulars, and thus detines:
"Tor instance, John Sniitli must pay at bank to-day ten thousand dol-
lars or suffer a protest, which will ruin him in business. After strug-
gling all the morning to make up the amount, he finds the dread hour
approaching, with but half the sum ready for deposit. He cannot bor-
row, though his credit is good, for his neighbors are all as hard up as
himself. To use aTankeeism.he is"in a fi-\." Now the telegraph holds
out a new horn to his dilemma. John Smith recollects that he has ac-
counts due him in Albany, Philadelphia, or ButTalofor more than double
the amount required to put him through the day, — help him over three
o'clock. He steps over to the telegraph-offlce, and asks his correspondent
at Buffalo to deposit to his credit in the bank of that city five thousand
dollars. In fifteen minutes he receives an answer that it is done, the
agent here pays him over the amount, the note is taken up, and John
Smith breathes easy once more, and goes home with a light heart and a
smiling face. In this way the whole bank capital of the country can be
used every day in Wall Street, without the transportation of a single
dollar.'
" We have seen nothing more effective than the above since Capt.
Bobadil made known his scheme for reducing an antagonist army.
That highly respectable citizen, John Smith, Esq., may be in want of
funds, and he may send to Philadelphia, Albany, or Buffalo by-telegraph,
aud he may get an answer, but it is very doubtlul whether he can get a
' certificate of deposit' at such a notice, though he may, for wo heard of
a lady some time since who was detained from a wedding-party by miss-
ing the cars to Wilmington, and sought to save time aud to secure her
passage by applying at the telegraph-office."
Satisfactory means were eventually found to carry
the news to New York. On the 3d of June the United
States Gf/^rf/e published the following: "The magnetic
telegraph between this city and New York worked
yesterday to a charm. Nearly two columns of foreign
news was conveyed hither with as much precision as
usually attends any written or printed correspond-
ence." The news by the steamer " Hibernia," in this
paper, was headed " by telegraphic dispatch to the
United States Gazette, the following news is received."
In the same paper was an important paragraph stat-
ing that the telegraph line had been completed to
Baltimore. " The line wire of the telegraph from this
city to Baltimore was tested the whole distance last
evening, and found to work sufficiently well for short
messages. We may, therefore, expect to have it in
successful operation by Thursday (June 4th) or Friday
(June 5th) of this week." The next day a paragraph
was published from Baltimore, dated June 3d, as fol-
lows: "The telegrajih between this city and yours
was put in operation yesterday at four o'clock, and
immediately afterward communicated the fact that
the steamer ' Hibernia' had arrived in Boston on
Monday evening. An attempt was made to send an
abstract of the news, but the instrument got out of
order, and we are disappointed." The United States
Gazette of June 4th contains Congress news, dated
" Washington, June 3d, two p.m. Correspondence of
the Baltimore Patriot by telegraph." This was prob-
ably sent by mail to Philadelishia by an afternoon
train. On June Stli Mexican news from Washington
by telegraph to Philadelphia was published in the
same paper. The business had so much increased
that in September it w.as announced that a new wire
was to be constructed between Philadelphia and New
York, and in October that new ranges of poles and
wires for New York were being put up, and that there
was to be another wire constructed to Baltimore.
When first established the telegraph was considered
a great curiosity, and in February notice was given
that the ofiice at the Exchange was open for inspec-
tion, and that certain hours were arranged for the
reception of ladies either coming alone or attended by
gentlemen.
It was not long after the Magnetic Telegraph Com-
pany got into operation that it encountered an ener-
getic 1-ival. The House Printing Telegraph was set
up at 46 South Third Street in 1849, and in the suc-
ceeding year removed to the large brown stone build-
ing at the southeast corner of Third and Chestnut
Streets. Subsequently, about 1854, the office was re-
moved to the northeast corner of Third and Chestnut
Streets, where it was doing business in 1856. It was
finally absorbed by the Magnetic Telegraph Company,
probably about 1860.
The Magnetic Telegraph Company continued its
principal ofBce at the Exchange five or six years, but
removed to 101 Chestnut Street, north side, above
Third, about 1853. The location was changed in a
year or two to 98 Chestnut Street, adjoining the
Public Ledger building, subsequently known under
the new style of numbering as 302. This company
went, eventually, with several others, into a new com-
bination, called the Western Union. The Western
Telegraph had its office in 1864 at No. 105 South
Third Street, and in 1867 the Western Union was in
the building at the southeast corner of Third and
Chestnut Streets, formerly occupied by the House
Telegraph, and numbered sometimes 101 South Third
Street. Upon the completion of the splendid build-
ing of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Com-
pany, at the northwest corner of Tenth and Chestnut
Streets, Aug. 25, 1875, the office was removed to that
building, where it has since been established.
During the period under consideration there were
several telegraph companies established, which con-
tinued for limited spaces of time, and were generally
absorbed by stronger companies, which eventually
were themselves absorbed by the Western Union,
although it seems to be an inevitable thing that new
companies should spring up to take the place of the
latter. Among these may be mentioned the New
York and Washington Telegraph Company, which had
its office at the northeast corner of Third and Chest-
nut Streets in 1855; National, 101 Chestnut Street,
1855 ; Wilkesbarre, in the same building, 1855 ; and
New York and New Orleans, at the same place, in
the same year; American, 105 South Third Street,
1861 ; Atlantic and Ohio, at the same location, in the
same year ; Susquehanna River, North and West
Branch, 1861; People's, 411 Chestnut Street, 1864;
Bankers' and Brokers', 1866 ; Insulated Lines, 1866 ;
Franklin, 1868; Automatic, 1873; Pacific and At-
lantic, 1873 ; Franklin Atlantic and Pacific, 1875.
The Philadelphia Local Telegraph was established
TELEGKAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
2133
at 107 South Third Street, about 1873, for the purpose
of a city service. There were 1)ranch offices in vari-
ous parts of the city, at which messages were received,
and from which dispatches were sent to the persons
and places within the respective districts by special
messengers.
It was perceived not long after consolidation, and
when the government of the city had got into working
order, that the distances between the central office of
the mayor and the police stations were in some parts of
the city so great that communications between them
were much delayed. The telegraph for commercial
and busine.ss purposes had been in use sufficiently
long to be well understood, and the establishment of
a municipal telegraph would naturally suggest itself.
This object was effected by the passage of an ordi-
nance in 1855 for the creation of a police and fire-
alarm telegraph. The line was constructed by Wil-
liam J. Phillips, who, until 1884, wa.s the superinten-
dent, and went into operation in the spring of 1856.
It was constructed for two purposes, — to furnish com-
plete communication between the police stations and
the central office, and also to connect the stations
with each other, and also for the purpose of a fire-
alarm which could be worked by signal-boxes placed
in the streets and public stations. The operation was
simple, and required but little skill, the machinery
being nearly automatic. When the system went into
operation, there was communication with the police
stations in the various wards, and to the latter in the
central station, with eighty signal stations. The
celerity with which alarms can be given and con-
veyed to the stations of the fire companies has ren-
dered this system extremely useful.
The American District Telegraph Company was
founded in 1873, partly for local service, but on a
much more extensive plan than the Local Telegraph.
Its aim was, in the first place, to furnish to its cus-
tomers a speedy communication with central and
branch offices. For this purpose, instruments in the
dwellings, offices, stores, and manufactories of the
subscribers were connected by wires with branch
offices, and instruments furnished by which instan-
taneous communication could be had, messages sent
and received, and messengers summoned. In addi-
tion, burglar-alarms and fire-alarms were set up,
acting automatically, and giving notice to the branch
offices that something was wrong, so that, when
necessary, officers vested with the powers of police-
men would go at once to the place from whence the
signal came; and, in case of a fire-alarm, the com-
pany's firemen with extinguishers would be promptly
on the scene. Add to this the services of a trained
corps of messenger boys, fleet and intelligent, and
the^ervice sums up a great public convenience. The
first officers were : President, Daniel M. Fox ; Vice-
president, Henry Bentley ; Secretary and Treasurer,
M. Richard Muckle ; Managing Director, William J.
Phillips. The central office was set up at the corner
of Third and Chestnut Streets, and branch offices
were established in various parts of the city.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in
1879 began to extend its telegraph lines and invite
commercial business, forming a working co-operation
with the American Union, to compete with the West-
ern Union and other older corporations. In 1881 the
American Union was bought out by the Western
Union, which also endeavored to obtain control of the
Baltimore and Ohio telegraph system ; but its man-
agers then, as they ever since have done, refused to
listen to any proposition or to enter into any combi-
nation that would limit their absolute independence.
Within the past two years, under the able manage-
ment of Robert Garrett, the first vice-president of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, it has entered the field
as a regular commercial company, and, besides con-
structing thousands of miles of new lines, it has made
alliances by which it reaches all the chief cities and
towns of the country. Mr. Garrett has shown most
remarkable sagacity and enterprise, particularly
during 1884, by engaging the services of the highest
class of electricians and operators, and organizing his
telegraph department on the broadest principles of
efficiency. His plans, however, go beyond what has
already been accomplished, and he is steadily in-
creasing his telegraphic equipment, and pushing it
out in new directions. His company has a close
connection with the new cables to be laid across the
Atlantic in the coming summer by Messrs. Bennett
and Mackay. There are now in this city ten offices
of the Baltimore and Ohio telegraph, all of which are
in receipt of a large share of general business, and
it has lines in successful operation leading to all the
great cities of the world. In 1884 the Postal Tele-
graph Company opened an office in Philadelphia.
The multiplication of telegraph poles in the streets
of the city, the stretching of wires along them (to the
number sometimes of eighty and one hundred on a
single pole) became of late years a great nuisance, and
particularly hurtful in cases of fire by preventing
ready access to buildings by the fire department.
One of the first complaints against the telegraph
system, in 1846, was that the poles were crooked, un-
sightly, rough, and unpainted. Some concession was
made to taste by having the poles painted, but no
effort could get them straight. The placing of them
upon the streets was submitted to as a necessity in the
interests of business. At the beginning the telegraph
pole was like the letter T, with a short arm at the top
upon which the wire was carried. As communication
increased lower cross-arms were added, and many
poles carry ten or twelve of them, each also sustaining
a large number of wires. Such arrangement became
to be considered by the public at large as an imposi-
tion, and the clamor commenced in the newspapers
for the removal of the poles and wires. The telegraph
companies generally insisted that it would be impossi-
ble to maintain an underground telegraph service, but
2134
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
incredulous persons, who knew what had been done in
that direction in Europe, were quite determined in i
their opinion that the inconvenience of telegrapli ;
poles ought to be abated. On the 22d of March, 1880, j
City Councils passed an ordinance in which it was ;
said, " In order to test the practicability and deficiency ,
of several underground systems of telegraph, authority j
is hereby given to lay an underground line or lines of ;
telegraph wires, tubes, or cables under the following i
streets : Beginning at Walnut Street wharf, thence
west on Walnut Street to Dock Street, thence along
Dock Street to Third Street, thence along Third
Street to Chestnut Street, thence along Chestnut Street
to Juniper Street, thence along Juniper Street to the j
new public buildings. . . . Each and every person ]
or persons who may desire to lay underground wires, i
tubes, or cables, under the provisions of this ordi-
nance, shall notify the superintendent of Police and
Fire-Alarm Telegraph withiu ten days after the pas-
sage of this ordinance, in order that all such wires,
tubes, or cables may be laid at one time in the same
trench. The trench shall not exceed eighteen inches
in breadth, and shall only be open between the hours
of seven o'clock p.m. and six o'clock a.m., and not
more than five hundred feet of the streets under which
said lines, tubes, or cables are to be laid shall be
opened at one time, and shall be placed in condition
for travel as fast as the said lines, tubes, or cables are
laid.'"
1 Up to 1SS4 thpre has not been much advantage taken of this priv-
ilege. An electric wire for lighting, peculiarly prepared by lead insu-
lation, has been laid down between the Public Ledger office, at Sixth and
Chestnut Streets, and the clothing establishment of A. C. Yates & Co., on
the south side of the same street, near Seventh. Underground conduc-
tors fur electric lighting upon the public lamp-posts have been laid down
on the south side of the same street, communicating with the Eecord
building on the north side, and extending as far as Eleventh Street. By
ordinance of April 3, 1883, the Metropolitan Underground Telegraphic,
Telephonic, and Eltctric Light Cable Company was authorized to lay
down wires, tubes, and cables upon the same streets mentioned in the
ordinanceof 1K8U, with extensions on FourthStreet, south from Chestnut,
to the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; on Eighth Street,
from Chestnut and Walnut, and along Walnut to West Washington
Square and the office of the American District Telegraph, below Walnut
street ; also along Delaware Avenue, between Dock Street and Washing-
ton Avenue; and on Ninth Street, from Chestnut Street to Fairmount
Avenue, tliis work to be done by underground conduits. At the same
time privileges of laying conduits on several streets were granted to
Henry C. Gibson, Thomas S. Harrison, George Philler, and Winfleld S.
Russell, upon tlie following streets : Chestnut Street, from the Delaware
River to Thirty-second Street; Twenty-third Street, from Chestnut to
Snnsom, and down the latter to Sixth, and down Sixth to Walnut, also
Walnut Street, from Sixth to the Delaware River; Tenth Street, between
Sansom and Filbert; Filbert, between Merrick and Ninth Streets; Mar-
ket Street, between Sixteenth and the Delaware River ; Third Street,
between Market and Washington Avenue; W^ashington Avenue, from
the Delaware Kiver to Broad Street ; Ninth Street, from Filbert to Green ;
Front Street, from Maiket to Norris; and Berks Street, from Front to
Tenth. Tliese grants were subsequent to an authority given to the Un-
derground Conduit Company to lay a conduit on Market Street, from
Broad Street eastward, the expectation being that telegraph, telephone,
and electric light companies would make use of it. Except by the
Thomson-Houston Electric Light Company, there has been little use
of this convenience. The hope that the telegraph-poles would be shortly
done away with entirely has not been strengthened by the passage of
the ordinance, March 21, 1883, which gave to the Baltimore and Ohio
Telegraph Company authority to erect poles and wires between Fort
In 1884 the following telegraph companies were in
operation in Philadelphia:
American District, principal office southeast corner
Third and Chestnut Streets, with twelve branch offices.
American Rapid, 103 Chestnut Street, eight branch
offices.
American Union, 517 Chestnut Street, two branch
offices.
Baltimore and Ohio, 304 Chestnut Street, ten
branch offices.
Banters and Merchants, 229 Chestnut Street, three
branch offices.
Baxter Overland, 1001 Chestnut Street.
Continental, 30 South Third Street.
Delaware and Atlantic, 400 Chestnut Street.
Mutual Union, 103 Walnut Street, five branch offices.
Philadelphia Local, 107 South Third Street, twenty-
three branch offices.
Philadelphia, Reading, and Pottsville, 204 South
Fourth Street, one branch office.
Western Union, corner of Tenth and Chestnut
Streets, thirty-six branch offices.
Telephone Lines. — The honor of the invention of
the telephone is disputed between the friends of
Elisha P. Gray, of Chicago, and Professor Graham
A. Bell, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
These scientists were engaged in experiments to de-
monstrate the practicability of conveying sounds by
telegraph in 1873 and subsequent years. Each o!'
them demonstrated the possibility of sending such
sounds. At the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel-
phia, in 1876, the uses of this invention were shown
by Professor Bell to Gen. U. S. Grant, President of the
United States, and to Dom Pedro, emperor of Brazil,
by wires stretched between the Main Building and
Machinery Hall, and this seems to have been the first
public notice of the invention. Before this time, in the
early part of 1876, Bell, in Massachusetts, succeeded
in carrying on a conversation between two different
houses, the recipients of the sound being drum-
heads of goldbeaters'-skins, with a circular piece of
clock-spring glued to each membrane. The tones of
an organ were transmitted some distance about the
same time. On the 13th of February, 1877, Bell made
very succe-ssful demonstrations at Salem. He sent
messages from Salem, Mass., to Boston, twenty miles
away, and answers were received. On the 27th
of the same month Gray, at Chicago, received by
this means the tones and airs of a musical instru-
ment which was connected with the telephone and
played at Milwaukee, eighty-five miles away. The
sounding apparatus had already become so much
Mifflin, crossing Penrose Ferry bridge, and by way of Penrose Avenue
and Passyunk Avenue to Mifflin Street and to Second, up the laper to
Callowhill, and down Callowhill to the Delaware River, and along Del-
aware Avenue to Pier 19. A general ordinance to regulate the intro-
duction and use of underground conduits, electrical cables, and wires
for electrical conductors in the streets of the city of Philadelphia, was
passed June 21, 1882. It was intended to encourage the laying of wires
underground, but did not make that course an absolute necessity.
TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND ELECTRIC LIGHTS.
2135
improved that the music was heard through the large
hall in which the demonstrations were made. About
the same time Professor A. C. Dolbear, of Tufts Col-
lege, Massachusetts, and Thomas A. Edison, of Menlo
Park, N. J., were making experiments of the same
kind. In 1878, Appleton's "Annual Cyclopaedia,"
speaking of the inventions in 1877, said, " The tele-
phone has been regarded as a toy, or a curiosity to
play with ; but, while it is undoubtedly extremely
interesting as a novelty, it is very much more than
this ; it is scientifically and practically a great suc-
cess. There are, undoubtedly, difficulties in its use,
but, considering that it is a contrivance but of yester-
day, the wonder is that it is so perfect. The telegraph
was much longer regarded as an impracticable inven-
tion, and it is impossible to say how soon the tele-
phone may not take rank among the necessities of
common life."
This prophecy was substantiallj' fulfilled in the same
year. The " Cyclopaedia" also said, " The impression
produced by listening to a communication through this
instrument has been aptly described as follows : ' The
voice, whether in speaking or singing, has a weird,
curious sound in the telephone. It is in a measure
ventriloqual in character, and, with the telephone
held an inch or two from the ear, it has the effect as
if some one were singing far ofi' in the building, or
the sound were coming up from a vaulted cellar or
through a massive stone wall.' The singing or speak-
ing is heard microscopically, as it were, or rather
niicrophonically, but wonderfully distinct and clear
in character. The longest distance at which conver-
sation has been carried on so far through the telephone
is about two hundred and fifty miles. With a sub-
marine cable conversation has been carried on be-
tween England and France across the English Chan-
nel. Convereation has also been held through the
bodies of sixteen persons standing band in hand."
About the beginning of the year 1878 the first com-
pany formed for the purpose of telephone com-
munication was established in Philadelphia as the
Bell Telephone Company. It located its central
office at No. 400 Chestnut Street, in the old Philadel-
phia Bank building, for the purposes of an exchange.
The wires used by the subscribers led from this place,
and subsequently from the Wood building erected on
the same site. Communication can be had with the
office at any time, and every subscriber upon request
is put in communication with any other subscriber
which he may require by connecting the wires. By
this means persons at each end of the terminus have
direct speaking communication with each other.
The telephone companies in 1884 are as follows:
Bell Telephone Company of Philadelphia, No. 400
Chestnut Street.
Baxter Overland Telephone Company, 1001 Chest-
nut Street.
Clay Commercial Telephone Company, 1017 Chest-
nut Street.
136
Delaware and Atlantic Telephone Company, 400
Chestnut Street.
Electric Lights. — The first attempt at electric
lighting was made in December, 1879, at the store
and warerooms of John Wanamaker, at Thirteenth
and Market Streets. The dynamic power was fur-
nished by means of a steam-engine in the establish-
ment. About the same time the keeper of a lager-
beer saloon at the southeast corner of Ninth and Lo-
cust Streets put out an electric light and lighted his
bar-room by electric lamps. The Continental Hotel
followed shortly after with electric lights in the first
story, and a large light displayed from the top of the
building at Ninth and Chestnut Streets. The Girard
House put out an electric light at Chestnut and Ninth
Streets shortly afterward. Castor's tailor-store, at
Eighth and Chestnut Streets, was brilliantly illumi-
nated inside and out with electric lights, and Wil-
son's silversmith establishment, on Chestnut Street,
near Fifteenth, made a grand show with a Jablakoff
candle. A large laboratory for furnishing dynamic
electricity was built on Lee Street, west of Nineteenth,
in 1881, and the company succeeded in obtaining au-
thority from Councils for the erection of poles, lamps,
and wires, in 1881, upon an undertaking to light
Chestnut Street, from the Delaware to the Schuylkill,
free of cost for one year. There were forty-seven
electric lights, and they were first put into operation
Dec. 3, 1881. On the 16th of May, 1882, the office of
the Public Ledger, at Sixth and Chestnut Streets, was
illuminated in all the stories by the Edison incandes-
cent electric lights. Some time afterward the office
of the Record, on Chestnut Street, between Ninth and
Tenth, was lighted by the Edison system, and the
electric lights were adopted in the Philadelphia post-
office. City Councils, by ordinance of June 21, 1882,
granted to the Maxim Electric Light and Power Com-
pany authoritj' to supply electric lights, etc., between
Bainbridge Street and Vine Street, and from the Del-
aware to the Schuylkill Rivers; also between Vine
and Green Streets from the Delaware to Twentieth
Street, and on all the streets running north and south
between the Delaware and Schuylkill from Washing-
ton Avenue to Columbia Avenue. On the same day
a general ordinance was passed regulating the intro-
duction and use of underground conduits for electrical
cables and wires. It was of a general character,
specifying the manner of laying down the cables and
wires, with other regulations. Electric lights were
placed in the new public buildings, at Broad and Mar-
ket Streets, in 1882, and the new Pennsylvania Rail-
road Depot opposite was lighted by electricity from
the date of its opening. In a short time this method of
lighting was employed by storekeepers and others on
Chestnut, Market, Arch, Race, and Eighth and Ninth
Streets, and has been extending since. Delaware
Avenue was lighted by electricity in the early part
of 1883. There are several companies engaged in
that business, using the systems and lamps of Brush,
2136
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Maxim, Jablakoff, and Thompson & Houston. In
the latter part of 1883 the gas lamp-posts on Chest-
nut Street, between Ninth and Eleventh, were, by
permission of Councils, used for electric lighting, car-
ried underground by the Thompson & Houston
method, the electricity and power being furnished
from the Record building.
CHAPTEE LIU.
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND
WHARVES.
Ferries on the Delaware.— The earliest road be-
tween New York and Philadelphia crossed the Dela-
ware at the Falls, and below where the town of
Trenton was subsequently located ; but the increas-
ing necessities of the settlements and, more particu-
larly, the founding; of Burlington soon called for
united action on the part of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey to provide another point of crossing lower
down the river. Governor Andrew Hamilton, of New
Jersey, took the initial step by writing to Governor
Markham in October, 1696,—
'* That it was formerlie with great difiQcultie that the post could goe
to Pliiladelphia liy Land, to the preat inconvenienre of correspondants
and trade, and yt for remedie whereof and accommodation of Travellers
a ferry hath been erected ou Jei^ie side att a great cliairge, but that the
way WHS not yet returned from the Landing on the Pennsylvania side
to King's road wch is three quarters of a mile and easily cleared ; and
therefore Requesting the Gov and Council to approve the said road and
give the necessiirie orders for clearing it."
Governor Markham complied with this request by
issuing a warrant to Surveyor Thomas Fairman "to |
lay outt the kings road from dunck Williams Land- !
ing (the nearest & most convenient yt may be had &
Least predujicial to the Lands and improvements of
the neighborhood) Into the King's great road that
leads to phila, and that a Return in words of Courses
etc protracted figure thereof be made into the Secries
office in order to be filed and recorded there as a
final! Confirmacion thereof, and the Justices of the
Peace for the County of Bucks be ordered to expidite
the clearing of the road." Situated a little north of
the upper boundary of Philadelphia County, this
crossing was for many years known as Dunck's Ferry,
and, as it connected with a road leading directly into
the city, it afforded the readiest and most convenient
passage of the Delaware for travel and transportation.
In the Revolutionary epoch it became known as the
Bake-House, on account of being the location of a
bakery that supplied bread to the army. In 1700
"an act about erecting and regulating the prices of
ferries" was passed, by which it was ordered that no
ferryman be permitted to ply the river Delaware "in
this government" without first giving bond that " they
shall not carry out of or into this Province any
strangers that may be suspected of piracy or being
I criminals or runaways." This statute was in force
until 1712, when it was superseded by the act of XII.
George I. for "establishing and regulating ferries
I over the Delaware River and Neshaminy Creek." In
1716 the Assembly of New Jersey established the
rates of ferriage between Philadelphia and Burling-
ton, as follows : Hire of a boat in winter (from Mi-
j chaelmas to Lady Day) for a single passenger, 6s. 9d. ;
single passenger in company, Is. ; in the summer, 4«.
6d. ; single passenger in summer, 9d. New Jersey
also required the boatmen to take out a license.
' A ferry between Philadelphia and the Jersey shore
immediately opposite was authorized in June, 1695,
by the court of Gloucester County, N. J., by this de-
cree : " The Grand Jury consenteth and presenteth
the property of Daniel Cooper for keeping a ferry
over the River to Philadelphia at the prices following,
that is to say : for a man and horse one shilling and
sixpence ; for a single horse or cow, one shilling and
threepence ; for a single man ten pence, and when ten
or more six pence per head, and six pence per head
for sheep, calfs or hoggs. To which ye bench as-
sents." '
Feb. 22, 1718, au act was passed by the Pennsylva-
nia Assembly for " erecting a ferry at or near the land
of Daniel Cooper, deceased," and also "to Glouces-
ter in the Western division N. J." When, on the
following 31st of May, the Assembly adopted a pro-
vision to continue the ferries at Bristol to Burlington,
and at the Falls of Delaware, it precipitated a con-
troversy with the Governor, Sir William Keith, both
parties claiming the original prerogative of estab-
lishing ferries. Four members of the Council — Rich-
ard Hill, Isaac Norris, Jonathan Dickinson, and
James Logan — withdrew from the Council, on the
plea that sufficient time had not been allowed them
for consideration of the bill ; but the Governor was
not disposed to continue the opposition, and it was
approved by himself and the three remaining coun-
cilors,— Samuel Preston, Anthony Palmer, and Rob-
ert Assheton. On Aug. 18, 1727, another act was
passed " for establishing a ferry from the city of Phil-
adelphia to the Landing at or near the house of Wm.
Cooper, and another from or near the city bounds to
Gloucester, in New Jersey." The eastern terminus
of Cooper's Ferry was at what is now Federal Street,
Camden. By this act a jurisdiction was conferred
upon the Common Council of Philadelphia, which it
^ Daniel Cooper is supposed to have been a bod of William Cooper, a
worthy and emioeut member of the Society of Friends, who emigrated
from Cole's Hill, in the parish of Amersham, Hereford County, England,
and built a mansion on a high bank above Cooper's Point, called by him
Pyne Point, from a dense pine forest which grew there. Cooper took
up the land between Pyne Point and Cooper Street, Camden. On Sept.
30, 1681, William Boyden bought the land on the Delaware from
Cooper's south line to the line of John Kaighn, from whom Kaighn's
Point was named. In the succeeding year Cooper bought out Royden's
right, with a guarantee deed from Talacca and other Indians, and so ac-
quired ownei-ship of the river front from Cooper's Point to Kaighn's
Point. Daniel Cooper's son Joshua and grandson 'William were long
ted with the Delaware ferries.
PEKRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2137
exercised by appointing Sylvanus Smout ferryman,
with a lease for one year from September, 1727.
Smout ran his boats across from the foot of High
[Market] Street; and when, in 1735, the act of 1727
had expired, the Assembly proposed to vest the ferry
right at that point in the corporation of Philadel-
phia. The Governor contended that he alone pos-
sessed the power to create such a franchise, and he
did convey it to the city by a patent bearing date of
Feb. 4, 1735, addressed by John Penn, Thomas Penn,
and Richard Penn to the mayor and commonalty. It
recites that the grant covered " the full and exclusive
privilege of keeping and maintaining said ferry on
this side of the Delaware," and that it should —
" extend northward to the mouth of GohockeiDk Creek, wherein the
mills some years since built by Tliomas Masters dec'd now stands, and
so far soutliward from the mouth of said Cohocksink Creek along sd
river side to tlie dwelling house or lots of ground now in tenure of Wm.
Hayes, a little below the south bound of the city, & for the better sup-
port & continuance of the sd ferry, and that the same may be duly
kept & attended with sul£cient flats boats & able men for the purposes
aforesaid, with right to establish & take tolls etc. Eent one Beaver Skin
per annum as of our manor of Springettsbury."
The landing on the Philadelphia side was probably
that long known as the " Old Ferry," just below Arch
Street, and William Rawle was chosen feri-yman and
given a lease for seven years, at the rental of thirty
pounds per annum. He died before Feb. 24, 1748, as
on that date William Cooper, one of his executors,
applied for a new lease in his own name, to run un-
til Francis Rawle, son of the former ferryman, should
reach his majority and be able to undertake the busi-
ness for himself. In 1755 the lease was renewed to
the younger Rawle on the same terms as had been
paid by his fether, and as he was also dead by the
time of its expiration in 1762 or 1763, it was awarded
to his widow, Rebecca Rawle, and his executors paid
the rental up to March, 1769. After the death of
Daniel Cooper the ferry on the Jersey side is sup-
posed to have been kept by his son, Joshua Cooper,
and then by William Cooper. It got the name, at an
early period, of "Lower Billy's," to distinguish it
from " Upper Billy's," at Cooper's Point. The Fede-
ral Street ferry-house had on its front wall a tablet
lettered " D M C, 1764," which were doubtless the
initials of Daniel Cooper and his wife. From the
earliest settlement of Camden up to about 1810 three
clas-ses of ferry-boats were in use. The smallest were
the wherries, which would carry twelve or fifteen per-
sons ; and next larger were the " horse-boats," for the
transportation of horses, carriages, cattle, etc. The
principal craft were the " team-boats," which were
propelled by horse-power.'
1 Dr. L. F. Fisler, in his " History of Camden," gives the following:
* Team-boats propelled by horses walking in a circle, and giving motion
to the wheels. Ridgway, built by Benjamin Reeves, ran from the foot
of Cooper Street ; Washington from Market Street, Camden, to Market
Street, Philadelphia; Phwnix, Constitution, Moses Lancaster, Inde-
pendence. The team-boats employed sometimes as high as nine and
ten horses. They were arranged in a circle on a tread-wheel connected
with the main shaft. By stepping on the wheel the shaft would turn.
Even in the primitive days there seems to have been
a great deal of travel across the Delaware. The long,
roomy, clinker-built wherries, with iron-shod stems,
were admirable boats of their class. If the ice was
broken up in the winter they would be rowed through
the channels, and when the river was hard frozen
they were dragged across the ice by hand. Ladies
and children were then allowed to remain in the boats,
but it was expected that the men passengers would
turn out to man the ropes. Neither in winter or sum-
mer was there any particular time assigned for the
departure of the boats, which would, as a rule, only
make their trips when they had obtained full comple-
ments of jjassengers.
The year was divided by the ferrymen into summer
and winter seasons, one extending from March to De-
cember, and the other from December to March. In
the summer they charged for each passenger twelve
and a half cents ; for wagon and horses, one dollar and
fifty cents ; for man and horse, fifty cents ; and for
cattle per head, fifty cents. These rates were doubled
in the winter, but it generally depended on the oldest
ferry-master to decide just when the condition of the
weather warranted the advance. So long as the horse-
boats were kept at anchor in the river only the single
tolls were to be collected, and when they were bnmght
in to the wharves that was understood to be the signal
for enforcing the double tariff. There were several
ferry-houses at Market Street and below it, but it is not
easy to determine the connection between them and
those on the Camden side. The ferry on the north
side of Market Street was kept by William Phares in
1800, and by Asa Curtis, of Moorestown, N. J., in 1801.
Capt. William Poole followed Curtis and remained
until about 1815, when he was succeeded by Clement
Reeves, who died some four years afterward. The
latter's widow kept up the business, but about 1823
relinquished the ferry tavern to her son, Benjamin
Reeves. As it was then customary for the ferry-
master to keep an inn at the landing, the names of
the ferry and the public-house became identified, so
that in the course of a quarter of a century the Market
Street Ferry was known at various intervals as Phares'
Ferry, Curtis' Ferry, Poole's Ferry, and Reeve's Ferry.
Not later than 1810 steam ferry-boats came into use,
the first being the "Camden," commanded by Capt.
Ziba Kellum. It was the first steam ferry-boat built
in Philadelphia, and plied between the lower side of
Market Street and Cooper Street, Camden. In 1813
"the accommodating steamboat 'Twins'" ran from
Poole's Ferry to James Springer's Ferry, at Camden,
which was that previously known as Cooper's Ferry.
Benjamin Reeves built the " Twins," and it was so
named from being two hulls decked over. The
" Franklin" was another of his constructions, as was
also the " Benjamin Rush," a double-hull craft with
and thereby propel the boat. Every day at noon there \
mission of one hour, from twelve until one o'clock, which
to feeding the horses."
an inter-
devoted
213S
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the wheel in the centre, — a type upon which numerous
boats were afterward patterned. In 1828 the ferry
steamers made up quite a fleet, among them being the
"William Wray" and the "Philadelphia." The
" Lehigh," commanded by Capt. Joseph Taylor, was
the first vessel on the Delaware to employ coal for
making steam. The "Vigilant" was built for the
Cooper Street Ferry, but was burned after a few
weeks of service. The " Delaware," which exploded
its boiler on Oct. 31, 1837, was considered a curiosity,
on account of having a vertical cylinder and a walk-
ing-beam.
In addition to the ferry that started from between
Arch and Market Streets, there was one south of
Market Street, which was kept, in 1785, by Richard
Thorn, and after him by William Pbares, John Negus,
Joseph Bispham, Asa Gibbs, and John Nicholson.
On Mellish's map, dated in 1816, three ferries to
Camden are marked at Market Street. In 1819 the
rates for passengers were reduced to six cents in the
summer, and double that sum in the winter.
Dubious questions and some litigation were con-
nected with the Kaighn's Point Ferry, which be-
tween 1809 and 1815 came into the possession of
Christopher Madara through his lease of the property
of Joseph Kaighn, below Camden. When the Penn-
sylvania and New Jersey Steamboat Company was
incorporated, in 1815, it proposed to put on a line of
boats from Kaighn's Point to Philadelphia; and as
Robert Fulton, Robert Livingston, and John Stevens
then claimed the sole right of running steamboats in
the United States, it bought from them the exclusive
privilege for the Delaware River within five miles
north or south of Kaighn's Point, and thus the other
companies were almost entirely restricted to the use of
the old " team-boats" until the Supreme Court over-
threw the claim of Fulton and his associates. But in
the mean time the Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Company had leased the ferry privileges at Kaighn's
Point for uinety-nine years, and begun to run the
" Union," the finest steamer on the river. Landings
were made on the Philadelphia side at South and
Washington Streets, and the enterprise might have
proved remunerative but for the expense of building
wharves and houses on both sides of the river. The
income not being sufficient to meet these drains, the
" Union" was taken otf ; and to hold the lease, which
contained a clause that it should be forfeited if the
ferry was not maintained, a small boat, the " Norris-
town," was substituted. Not long afterward the line
was suspended, in consequence of the destruction of
the " Norristown" by fire ; and then the widow of
Clement Reeves, who had bought Kaighn's Point and
opened a hotel, brought suit against the company
under the forfeiture clause of its lease, and won her
case. She managed the ferry only a short time, and
sold out to Ebenezer Toole, and at his death it was
purchased by the Camden Ferry Company. He and
Mrs. Reeves had done well in their administrations,
having furnished four new steamers for the river
transit.
Permission to establish a new ferry at Arch Street
was granted by Common Council, on May 27, 1760,
to Samuel Austin, he to pay thirty pounds annually to
the city, and the lease to continue for three years.
It was operated in connection with the hoiise at
Cooper's Point, and north of the old ferry landing on
the Jersey side. Sarah Austin was credited with the
payment of a portion of the rent in 1770, being then
a year in arrears. Thomas Austin was, in 1776, a
member of the committee of inspection, but proved
so unfaithful to the popular cause that he was com-
pelled to resign and sign an abject apology for his
conduct. William Austin, yeoman, " late keeper of
the New Jersey ferry," was proclaimed as a traitor
May 21, 1778. This ferrj- was frequently called the
New Ferry, and after a time the Upper Ferry and
Cooper's Point Ferry, being the point of departure
for " Upper Billy's." William Cooper was popularly
known as "Uncle Billy," and his wife as "Aunt
Becky," so that when the owners of the ferry chris-
tened their first steamer the " Rebecca" in her honor,
the boat also got the nickname of " Aunt Becky." It
had a wooden boiler clamped like a cask, but with
iron flues, and was the first stern-wheeler on Dela-
ware waters, from which feature it derived its second
nickname, — " The Wheelbarrow." There had been
several attempts to establish ferries to Cooper's Point •
besides those from Arch Street, and in 1819 a boat
made the trip across from Green Street wharf. A
ferry from Laurel Street to Cooper's Point was in
operation for some years, and was known about 1840
as Burnap's Ferry.
In December, 1786, the Lower Ferry to Daniel
Cooper's, which started on this side from Robert
Wain's wharf, second below the Drawbridge, was
begun by Joseph Wright. It touched at Windmill
Island, where he erected a half way house, and an-
nounced that passengers " would always meet with I
hearty welcome and a hospitable fire in the cold ':
season to warm and refresh themselves while waiting
for an opportunity of evading those large fields of ice
which generally float up and down with the tide and
obstruct the passage during winter." This ferry was
the inciting cause of the eflbrts made for some years
after 1800 to build a bridge between Camden and the
island, from which access by a short ferry to Phila-
delphia would be easy. There were many efforts for
that purpose, and a bridge company was chartered.'
But when the sanguine projectors were ready to put
their stock upon the markets they found that there
was no overwhelming anxiety to invest in such an
improvement, and it was abandoned.
1 The leading spirit in this enterprise on the Jersey side was Edward
Sharp, of Oamden. In order to accommodate the expected travel, he
laid out Bridge Avenue, opposite Windmill Island. It was broader
than usual with the Camden streets, and was utilized after the estab-
lishment of the Camden and Amboy Kailroad for the use of ita tracks.
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2139
The establishment of a ferry at Gloucester Point,
N. J., was sanctioned by the County Court of Glouces-
ter, Jan. 1, 1688, by the following minute, which
Muckle has preserved in his " Reminiscences of Old
Gloucester:"
*' It JB proposed to ye bench yt ti ferry is very needfull and much
wanted from Jereey to PhiladelphiR, and yt Wm. Roydoo'a l)ouse is
looked upon as a place convenient for, and the eaid William Koydon a
person snitable for that employment ; and therefore it is ordained from
ye Bench tliat a ferry may be fixed, &c,, to which ye Bench assents,
and refers to ye Grand Jury to methodize ye same and fix the rates
thereof." ^
Before the middle of 1695 the Roydon Ferry is sup-
posed to have been abandoned. On the 1st of June
of that year the following entry was made :
"The Grand Jury consenteth to and presenteth ye proposals of John
Reading for keeping ii ferry over Glocester River, and from Glocester to
"Wickaco at ye prices following, — that is to say, for a single man and
horse two shillings and sixpence, and four shillings per head for more
than one horse or cow, and one shilling and sixpence for a single man,
and one shilling per head when more than one from Glouceeter to Wic-
kaco, ... to all which ye Bench assents.'*
This crossing must have been included in the fer-
ries legislated for as to rates by the Pennsylvania act
of 1700, and re-established by the act of Feb. 22, 1718,
to Gloucester and the western division of New Jersey.
Greenwich Point, the landing on the Pennsylvania
shore, was, before Penu's settlement, near the most
populous section of the territories on the Delaware.
The Swedes were numerous at Kingsessing and Wi-
caco, and a ferry to the Jersey shore must have been
an early necessity. In the first part of the present cen-
tury the Widow Marshall kept the Greenwich Point
ferry-house, and was succeeded by G. De Vries.
Caldwell & Brown were there in 1823, and in 1826
Mrs. Sprogell, daughter of Mrs. Marshall, became the
proprietress.
The Kensington and Richmond Ferry, the route of
which extended from Port Richmond directly across
the pelaware to the Jersey shore north of Petty's
Island, is indicated on the map of 1811.
In anticipation of the completion of the Camden
and Amboy Railroad, the Camden and Philadeljihia
Steamboat Ferry Company was chartered in March,
1836, and in the following year it obtained permis-
sion from the Pennsylvania Legislature to cut the
canal through Windmill Island. This company first
ran its boats from the foot of Chestnut Street, but
soon built its house at the south side of Walnut
Street. The hotel was leased to J. B. Bloodgood,
and the location became one of the great centres of
trade and transportation. Rates of ferriage were re-
duced one-half by this company, which eventually
removed its offices and docks to Market Street. Two
of the boats with which it began business were the
"State Rights" and the "John Fitch."
Ferries and Bridges on the Schuylkill.— It is
probable that a ferry was established across the
Schuylkill River at High Street almost as soon as the
city was founded, as the first Assembly passed on Dec.
7, 1682, the following enactment:
"That there shall be felTy boats for men and horses, built within One
year, ensuing the first Session of this General Assemblcy, over the
Creeks; commonly called Neshaminee, Scuilkill, and Chrisleen, at the
charges of the Counties they belong to, to be equally leavied upon the
inhabitants thereof, according to the proportion of Land they hold, by
the several Courts of Justice of their respective Countys. And the price
shall be two pence a head fur carrying over every person, and with an
horse, four pence and for every led horse or other beast three-pence;
The Income of which shall be equally divyded into the pulilick stock
of the several counties, which rate shall hold for 7 years, from the date
hereof.
"Provided always that if any private persons, will Undertake to pro-
vide the said places with boats at his own charge, he shall have the profit
as afore said ; And if any person that lives convenient for a ferry, shall
I'efuse to keep the ferry, it shall be lawful, for another person that will,
to build a house and have twelve acres of land, in such convenient place,
paying yearly for it, so much as the county court shall adjudge reason-
able, to the Owner of said land."
Philip England was keeper of this Schuylkill ferry
in April, 1685, and elicited from Christopher Pennock
and others a complaint to the Provincial Council that
he did not jirovide the requisite facilities, whereupon
the Council warned him "to Expedit a sufficient
ferry boat for horses and cattle to pass to and fro
over the Schoolkill as also to make the way on both
sides Easy and passable both for horses and man to
Loe water marke; otherways ye Council will take
care to dispose of it to such as will perform ye same."
England may have made a pretence of complying
with these instructions, but about fourteen months
afterward there was another complaint against "ye
abuses of ye Schoolkill Ferry." In the act of May
10, 1690, the Schuylkill ferriage rates were fixed at
" two pence a head for oxen, bullocks, cows, heifers,
horses and mares, and a half a penny a head for
sheepe and hoggs, and two pence for a single pas-
senger and a penny apiece for all passengers above
the number one ; but for a man's horse loaden or
unloaden three pence." In 1693, England's mon-
opoly was confirmed to him by Governor Benjamin
Fletcher, of New York, to whom he had exhibited
his license under the hand and seal of William
Penn, and who had been appointed by the crown in
supersession of the Penn interest. The record of
Fletcher's action is, that " in order to prevent hurt-
ful competition it was said that he would discharge
all others from Transporting anie persons over the
Skuilkill near the said ferry for monie or reward
until the Proprietaries' pleasure be knowen, which
was approved. And some of the Councill on behalfe
of the Proprietary did return his Excell. thanks."
This same year some of the Swedish residents made
complaint to the Assembly that they lived three
miles distant from the Schuylkill, that their meeting-
house on the other side was three miles distant, and
that they were " restrained from passing the river the
nearest way to their worship on Sundays and Holy
dayes by Philip England, keeper of the ferry at
Schuylkill." The trouble was that England con-
tended that no one had a right to cross the river ex-
cept at his ferry, but the Swedes procured permission
to transport themselves to and from their church,
" provided they doe not abuse this libertie to other
2140
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ends to the prejudice of the ferry." England's lease
was renewed in 1693, but he soon had competitors,
among whom was William Powel, who established
the Upper Ferry. When, in 1723, the Assembly vested
the ferry franchises in the city, the tolls were estab-
lished as follows :
For each person 1 penny
" " h^irse, loaded or unloaded "
" a coach or chariot 1 ehilling
" a chaise of 4 wheels 6 pence
' 'i " i •; .
" a cart or wagon with a loading 1 shilling
" " " without " 6 pence
" a sled, loaded or unloaded 1 penny
" every cow or other neat cattle, boated or swam 3 half-pence
" every live sheep 1 half-penny
" " " hogorswine 1 penny
On taking possession the city gave Aquila Rose a
lease for twenty-one years, at ten shillings annually,
and he stipulated to build a causeway on the west
side of the Schuylkill, and provide the needed boats
and buildings in good order. He overworked himself,
and died in 1725, as told in Samuel Keimer's eulogy
upon him.
Who directly succeeded Rose is not known, but in
1744 it was reported to Common Council that the lease
had heen transferred to George Gray, and that he had
sublet to James Coultas. It was confirmed to the lat-
ter, coupled with the condition that he should pay half
the expense, or one hundred and fifty pounds, of re-
moving the buildings to a point nearer the ferry road,
and erecting an additional structure for the accommo-
dation of the people. In 1749 the Assembly ordered
the tolls to be reduced, although Coultas strongly pro-
tested that, on account of his outlay on boats and
causeways, he had made but one hundred and seven-
teen pounds profit the preceding year, and if the rates
were cut down as proposed he would realize only four
pounds per annum. In 1741 the road from the ferry
to Lancaster was ordered to be opened its whole
length. In the county of Philadelphia it crossed
Haverford road, David George's Run, Blockley line.
Ford road. Gulf Mill, and passed Merion meeting-
house.
In response to petitions, the Assembly, in 1751, ap-
pointed Israel Pemberton, Sr., Thomas Leech, Peter
Dicks, Hugh Roberts, Edmund Wooley, Jacob Lewis,
Caspar Wistar, Charles Norris, Samuel Rhodes, and
Benjamin Franklin as commissioners to examine the
Schuylkill, ascertain the best place for bridging it, and
estimate the cost. They made return in August; they
had "sounded the depths and tried the bottom in
various places from Peters' Island near the ford (at
Ford road, now opposite Laurel Hill) down to John
Bartram's" (below the Lower Ferry), and were "of
opinion that the best place was near the end of Market
Street, -where Capt. Coultas now keeps his ferry."
After reporting several plans of bridges, the commis-
sioners asked further time for consideration of the
subject. This was the earliest proposition to bridge
the river, but it came to naught, as the subscriptions
raised among the citizens were too meagre to justify
the commencement of work. At the same time Coultas
was an applicant for the renewal of his lease, which
was granted for seven years, and an appropriation of
six hundred and eighty pounds was made him in con-
sideration of the improvements he had made. He
gave up the ferry in 1755, in which year eight pounds
was paid him for transporting Halket's and Dunbar's
regiments across the river. The lease had now acquired
such a value that when Evan Evans took it, in 1757,
he was charged one hundred and seventy-five pounds
per year, which was increased to two hundred pounds
when Joshua Byrne succeeded him. Jonathan Hum-
phreys was the next lessee, and was followed in 1771
by Joseph Ogden, who remained in charge during the
Revolution.
These Schuylkill ferries were rigged with ropes run-
ning from shore to shore, by means of which the
boats were drawn across. Navigators on the river
frequently cut these ropes, thus delaying fei;riage, and
in 1766 the Assembly passed an act imposing a fine
of ten pounds for such an offense; but to secure free-
dom of navigation it also enacted that under the same
penalty the ferrymen must sink the ropes when they
were not in use.
Robert Smith, in January, 1769, presented to the
Assembly a memorial on the subject of erecting a
bridge over the Schuylkill, in which he stated that he
had made an improvement in the designs of wooden
bridges raised on stone piers " by a simple method of
suspending the platform below the arch which sustains
it, by which means the piers are better secured than
by any other method and applying the arch in the
side to strengthen it ; the whole being well covered to
secure it from the weather. By these means a great
saving is effected in the frame, and the height of the
bridge is lessened." He exhibited a model of his in-
vention, and while the Assembly was quite willing to
aid in the execution of the project, its cost presented
a serious objection. On Jan. 6, 1769, the Assembly
appointed Messrs. Fox, Livezey, Pemberton, Chap-
man, Ashbridge, Pearson, and George Ross a com-
mittee—
"to inform the (City) corporation that the House is desirous to facili-
tate and promote the Trade of the City of Philadelphia by making the
Middle Ferry on the Schuylkill a Free Ferry, or otherwise to appropriate
the neat proceeds thereof to the amendment of the Roads as shall be
thought conducive to the Promotion of such Trade and to confer with
the said Corporation respecting the Sale of the said Ferry to the
public."
Common Council's answer was the appointment of
Recorder Benjamin Chew, Aldermen Thomas Wil-
ling, Samuel Shoemaker, and Amos Strettell, and
Common Councilmen James Tilghman, William
Fisher, and Edward Shippen, Jr., a committee to
confer with the Assembly " on the subject of their
proposition to purchase the Middle Ferry on the
Schuylkill." At a subsequent meeting, the Council
committee having made a report, it was resolved to
postpone action until the Assembly should come to
some fixed resolution, and at this point the proceed-
ings rested.
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2141
The project for a Schuylkill bridge was revived in
1774, when another committee of the Assembly re-
ported that it could not be better located than at
the Middle Ferr>', but as alternative sites they men-
tioned the Falls of Schuylkill and Watson's Island,
and estimated that at the Falls it would cost seven
thousand five hundred pounds, and at the Island nine
thousand five hundred pounds. No action was taken
by the Assembly, and the first bridge across the
Schuylkill at Philadelphia was constructed as a mili-
tary necessity'. In December, 1776, Gen. Israel Put-
nam was sent by Washington to command the de-
fenses of Philadelphia against the advancing British
army, and part of his instructions were to secure
means for the speedy passage of the Schuylkill for
citizens and troops. On this point Putnam consulted
Capt. Richard Peters, and as no pontoons or boats
were available, it was decided to construct at the
Middle Ferry a bridge of the floating stages used by
ship-carpenters. In a few days it was completed, and
although the battle of Princeton rendered it not im-
mediately needful for military purposes it was allowed
to remain in place, and found to be a great public con-
venience. On Aug. 24, 1777, the Continental army
marched across it and took the road to Wilmington
and the Brandywine, and when the British were ap-
proaching Philadelphia shortly afterward, Maj. Cas-
dorp removed it as one of the measures preparatory
to the evacuation of the city by the Americans.
During the British occupation they built another
floating bridge at Gray's Ferry, which was finished
Oct. 20, 1777, and two days later was moved up to the
Middle Ferry. Capt. John Montressor, of the Royal
Engineers, had charge of the work, and recorded its
history in his journal. The bridge was destroyed by
a storm on October 28th, and some of the boats ran
aground on the west shore of the Schuylkill, and were
set on fire by the American militia. Inside of two weeks
it was rebuilt, and after the fall of Fort MifHin Lord
Cornwallis crossed it with two thousand men to co-
operate with Sir Thomas Wilson in his movements.
When the British fled from the city they were too
much hurried to destroy the bridge, and the Ameri-
cans found it intact upon their re-entry. They moved
it down stream to Gray's Ferry, and restored their old
bridge to its original location at the Middle Ferry,
where it was carried away by a freshet in the spring
of 1780, just as Gen. Lacey and Capt. Hambright
were, in pursuance of instructions from the Supreme
Executive Council, considering whether it should be
improved or sold. Col. John Mitchell then offered,
on behalf of the quartermaster's department of the
army, to replace it on condition that the troops and
teams should pass over free of toll ; but the Council
thought best to rent the bridge to him for £8400 per
annum. Seemingly an enormous charge, it is not so
great when we remember that it was calculated in Con-
tinental currency, which was then so depreciated that
a single individual crossing the bridge had to pay a toll
of 2s. 6rf., and the rich merchant was taxed 45s. if he
desired to go over in his chariot and four horses.
Joseph Ogden, keeper of the ferry, was ordered to
consider himself a tenant of the quartermaster-gen-
eral, and all passengers not connected with the army
were required to pay the full tolls. The bridge was
replaced, and Benjamin G. Eyre brought to the Coun-
cil a bill of £6432 for doing the work, stating that
Col. Mitchell could not discharge the debt on account
of not having the money. This difficulty was ad-
justed by the Council agreeing to advance the amount
if Mitchell would give Eyre an order for it. The
armies under Count Rochambeau and Washington
passed over this and the Gray's Ferry bridge going
to Yorktown in 1781. It and the house of Joseph
Ogden were swept away by ice and high water on
March 15, 1784, and in 1786 the controller-general
made a report upon the accounts of Thomas Davis
and Thomas Casdorf for constructing still another
bridge at that spot. Ogden and his family narrowly
escaped drowning in the flood, and their condition
was so pitiable that a donation of three hundred
dollars was made to him, and the city remitted two
years' rent of the ferry.
None of the bridges erected up to 1786 were of a
permanent character, and the community was de-
manding that the Schuylkill should be spanned by
one that would resist the attacks of storm and fresh-
ets. Thomas Paine then came forward with the first
plan of an iron bridge that was ever proposed. It
was to be a single arch twenty feet in height from the
chord line, and three hundred or four hundred feet
span. Paine stated that the design was suggested to
him by a spider's web, a resemblance to which was
shown in a section of his model, and his fundamental
idea was that the small segment of a large circle was
scientifically preferable to the great segment of a
small circle. After making the model at his home, in
Bordentown, N. J., he set it up at Dr. Franklin's
house in this city, from whence it was taken to the
State-House, and eventually carried to Paris for ex-
hibition to the Academie des Sciences. Paine's novel
device interested the Philadelphia Agricultural So-
ciety, which petitioned the Assembly to examine it
and grant a charter for a permanent bridge at the
west end of High [Market] Street, and the Assembly
resolved to incorporate any company that would
agree to build the bridge and reserve to itself the
tolls until they equaled the principal and interest of
its obligations. In the next year Paine produced
another model, and the Assembly chartered a bridge
company, included in whose members were John
j Paine, Samuel Powel, and Robert Morris, with a
nominal capital of 866,666.66. The company made a
start by inviting designs for a bridge, and constituting
as a committee to examine them Thomas Mifilin,
i David Rittenhouse, George Clymer, Samuel Powel,
David Evans, Richard Wells, Francis Bailey, Francis
I Hopkinson, John Kaighn, John Sellers, Thomas Har-
2142
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
rison, Tench Coxe, Thomas Moore, John Chaloner,
John Ross, and Stephen Pascal. Before they could
make any progress all the bridges were destroyed by
the flood of 1789. In December of that year Coun-
cils resolved that a permanent bridge should be built,
but as the city treasury was much depleted, they ap-
plied to the State for aid, suggesting at various occa-
sions that the ferry tolls, the floating bridge receipts,
and the auction dues be devoted to a bridge fund.
The undertaking was dormant until the Legislature
passed the act of March 16, 1798, constituting Richard
Peters, John Perot, Godfrey Haga, Matthew McCon-
nell, and William Sheaff to organize the " President,
Directors, and Company for erecting a permanent
bridge over the river Schuylkill at or near the city of
Philadelphia." Five years were allowed for the con-
struction of the bridge ; the capital of the company
was fixed at $150,000, and when the receipts from
tolls should exceed fifteen per cent, on that amount,
the surplus was to go into a redemption fund for the
ultimate purpose of making the bridge free. The
Legislature also reserved power to make it free after
twenty-five years on the payment of its appraised
value. Councils had now ascertained that the rev-
enues of the ferry and the floating bridge were but
$3500 yearly, and they sold the Middle Ferrj- rights to
the bridge company for $40,000.
Timothy Palmer's design for a wooden structure
was accepted, and the corner-stone of the eastern
abutment was laid Oct. 18, 1800. Reynolds, the con-
structing engineer, encountered many obstacles, some
of which were caused by the malice of the opponents
of the bridge; but he conquered them, and on Jan.
1, 1805, it was thrown open to travel. There was no
roof, and the wagon-way was in the centre, with foot-
walks on either side. On account of the flatness of
the ground, it was necessary to build great embank-
ments that led up to the entrances, which were sur-
mounted by large flat arches. Mainly through the
efforts of Judge Richard Peters, president of the
company, the bridge was covered in the year of its
erection. The eastern pediment was crowned by a
wooden statue of " Commerce," and the western by one
of " Agriculture," both carved by William Rush, and
the toll-house stood in the centre of the causeway,
■near the eastern entrance. To render the western
approach conspicuous, the company set up a marble
obelisk bearing a sun-dial and inscriptions giving the
main facts in the history of the bridge.^
1 This obelisk and sun-dial, after the bridge company had parted
with its rights to tlie city of Philadelphia, was removed to the north-
east corner of Twenty-third and Market Streets, upon the premises of
the gas-works, where it etill occupies a position near the street. The
inscriptions are as follows, according to the original position of the
monument:
Western Tablet.— " This bridge was erected at au expence of near
8300,000 by a company incorporated the 27th of April, in virtue of a
law passed the 16th of March, 179S. The coffer-dams, foundutions, and
other sut>-aqueous works consumed a great proportion of the expendi-
ture. It was commenced by laying tlie first stone of the Eastern pier.
After many difficulties had attended the dam, on Sept. theSth, 1801, and
Philadelphians were very proud of this bridge, so
much so that when in January, 1806, it was in danger
of catching fire from the burning of Rowland's
Tavern, five thousand citizens made their way to the
Schuylkill on a bitterly cold night and over the ice
and snow to save it, but the flames did not touch it.
On April 22, 1834, the Whigs had a celebration at
Powelton, the seat of John Hare Powel, on the west
bank ; and the party committee bought from the com-
panies, for that day, the privilege of free passage over
Market Street and upper ferry bridges to everybody.
This incident set the people to thinking of the advan-
tages of free bridges, and notwithstanding that the
permanent bridge company persistently opposed it,
the Legislature passed the act of March 16, 1839, " to
authorize the construction of free bridges over the
Schuylkill at or near Philadelphia."
By threatening to erect a free bridge at Mulberry
[Arch] Street, tlie county commissioners brought the
owners of the High Street bridge into negotiations for
its sale to them, but there was still some haggling over
the price. The commissioners were empowered to pay
only $80,000 for it, and they were further restricted by
the provision that one-third of the sum should first be
subscribed and paid into the county treasury. But
the company demanded $110,000, and the difllculty
was adjusted by allowing it to remain in possession of
the property until the diiference was made up from
the receipts of tolls, provided that the term was not to
exceed one year from the execution of the conveyances.
Thus the city became the owner of the bridge in 1840,
completed for passage Jan. 1st, 1805. The cover was begun and finished
in the same year."
Northern Tablet. — "The Eastern pier was first erected in a depth of
water of 21 to 24 feet in a coffer-dam. The lower course of ma.sonry ia
bolted on the rock. The Western pier — attended with greater difficul-
ties, constant hazard, and unavoidable expence — was commenced in the
midst of an inclement winter, within a coffer-dam of original and ap-
propriate construction, in which 800,000 ft. of timber were employed.
The depth of water from the rock is 41 ft. No pier of regular masonry
in so great a depth of water is known to exist in any other part of the
world. The masonry of this pier was begun on Christmas day, 1802,
and erected from the rock to low water mark in 41 days and nights,
after 7 months had been occupied in preparing the dam and retrieving
its misfortunes. These piers are in length 71 ft. 6 in., and in thickness
30 ft. at the bottom, battering to the top, where they are in length bO ft.
10 in., and in thickness 19 ft. 4 in. The height of the Eastern pier from
the rock is 40 ft., and that of the Western pier is 65 ft. 9 iu. The first
contains 36b9 perches, and the latter 6178 perches of masonry. The
Eastern abutment is 18 ft. thick, and its wings are founded on the rock.
The Western abutment of equal thickness, and its wings are built on a
platform supported by piles. Splay of the wings 6 ' ft."
Soutliem roilef.—" Dimensions of the bridge: Length, 552 ft.; abut-
ments and wings, 750 ft. Total, 1300 ft. Span of smaller arches each
160 ft. ; of middle arch 194 ft. 10 in. Width of the bridge 42 ft. Curva-
ture of the middle arch 12 ft.; of the smaller arches 10 ft. The curves
are catenarian. Rise of the carriageway 8 ft. Height over the platform
to the croBsties 13 ft. From the surface of the river to the platform in
the greatest elevation 31 ft. Elevated above all floods ever known in
this river. Inclined plane to entrances 3^;^ degrees."
Ea&tem Tablet.— ^' tXiO bridge is in itself the most grateful reward ex-
pected from its institution. A recompense the most honorable to those
who by liberal advances and long privations of profit, unassisted by pub-
lic pecuniary aid, encouraged and supported; and a memorial the moat
acceptable to those who by enterprising, arduous, and persevering ex-
ertions achieved this extensively beneficial improvement."
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2143
and the tolls were abolished. Nine years later it was
reconstructed to accommodate the tracks of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad, which were placed on the north
side ; and the south side was afterward occupied by
the tracks of the West Philadelphia City Passenger
Railway. This bridge remained in constant use until
Nov. 20, 1875, when it was totally destroyed by fire.
Much embarrassed by this disaster, the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company erected, a little north of the old
piers, a trestle work upon which to cross their trains ;
but this arrangement was so unsatisfactory that under
authorization of a Council ordinance of December 2,
tlie company undertook to put up at Market Street a
bridge that should last three years, and be completed
within thirty days. It was actually finished in two
hundred and seven working hours, and outlasted for
some years the time specified in the contract. In 1881
it was observed that the timbers showed signs of decay,
and Councils passed the ordinance under which the
construction of a new stone bridge of great dimen-
sions was provided for.
Benjamin Chambers was probably licensed to ope-
rate the Lower Ferry on the Schuylkill shortly after
the Swedes made complaint, in 1673, that Philip Eng-
land was obstructing their passage at the Middle Ferry.
In 1696 it was directed that the king's great road be
laid out from the lower ferry on the Schuylkill, com-
monly called Benjamin Chambers' Ferry, " to come
into the southernmost street of the town of Philadel-
phia, and which street runs from the Delaware River
unto the Schuylkill." This was our present South
Street, then styled Cedar Street, and the highway es-
tablished between it and the ferry was the Gray's Ferry
road. Another order was made to lay out a road on
the west side of the Schuylkill, " from Benjamin
Chambers' ferry, to goe so far in the road that leads
to Darby as may be, and from thence the nearest best
and most convenient that may be had, and least pre-
judicial to improvements of the neighborhood, to the
town of Hertford." Chambers made complaint to the
Council, in 1706, that after he had erected his ferry
and rendered it more commodious by the invention
of a boat of a kind never known before, some one was
attempting to set up a rival ferry near him. Three
years afterward he was complaining that while re-
pairing his long causeway he was interfered with by
Rev. Andrew Sandle, the Swedish minister, who ob-
jected that it passed through his land ; whereupon the
Council admonished Sandle to refrain from obstruct-
ing the Queen's road. About 171 1, Joseph Growden,
owner of the mills at Mill Creek, complained that
Chambers himself had obstructed the road at the
ferry by placing his house in the middle of it. The
idea of Growden was not so much to benefit the
public by widening a highway, as it was to obtain for
himself a ferry-right at the mouth of Mill Creek, where,
he represented, there was an easy road and a better
passage, but the Assembly nevertheless refused to
grant him any privileges.
Chambers was followed as ferry-master by George
Gray, who died in 1748, and bequeathed his interests
to his widow. The next year she, in protesting against
the proposed reduction of tolls, declared that her hus-
band had bought the ferry for £1150, subject to pro-
prietors' quit-rent, and had expended £300 more in
improvements. Gray gave his name to the ferry.
While the British were in occupation of the city
during the Revolution, they had for a short time a
bridge of boats at the Lower Ferry, and the Americans
may be said to have made it a fixture there. Wash-
ington crossed it April 20, 1789, traveling from Mount
Vernon to New York to assume the Presidential
ofiice, and it was gayly decorated in his honor, being
walled in and arched over with laurel, and orna-
mented with flags. Among the ensigns displayed
was the one which Captain Bell had when abroad
hoisted on his ship as the Pennsylvania colors, the
commonwealth not having then adopted any device.
Another banner showed a sun more than half way
above the horizon, with the motto, " The Rising
Empire," while the old Revolutionary emblem of
the rattlesnake and the warning, " Don't tread on
me" was of course prominent. As the President
passed under the western arch a child lowered a
laurel wreath, which rested on his brow, while the
guns of Captain Fisher's artillery saluted, and the
people cheered. A week afterward Mrs. Washington,
on her way to New York to join her husband, received
a public welcome at the bridge.
The bridge was carried away by the flood of 1789,
but was quickly rebuilt. George Weed became tenant
of the ferry about 1794. George Ogden succeeded
him, and after a time George Weed returned. Curtis
Grubb was next tenant, and then came the Koches-
bergers, who were in occupancy before and after 1835.
In 1806 a movement was made for the incorporation
of a company to build a permanent bridge at Gray's
Ferry, but the scheme was strongly antagonized,
unless the interests of navigation were protected by
a draw, or by making the bridge high enough for
vessels to pass under; and in granting the charter
the Legislature stipulated that the floor should be
seventy-five feet above low water. George Gray was
to get two hundred shares of the stock in payment
for his ferry franchise, but the company failed to
obtain large subscriptions, and the floating bridge
continued in use. Two or three times it was carried
away by floods and renewed, but on each occasion a
controversy occurred, the Schuylkill watermen declar-
ing that it obstructed navigation, while the residents
on the river shores protested that the draw was so
often open to permit the passage of vessels that their
own movements were seriously delayed.
These contestants could arrive at no compromise,
and so the floating bridge remained in place until
1838, when the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti-
more Railroad Company built its bridge, at a cost,
including the ferry rights, of nearly $200,000. The
2144
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
tracks occupied the south half, and the remainder was
opened to general travel ; but since the Pennsylvania
Railroad has acquired control of the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, its only use for
railway purposes is the transfer of cars from the Del-
aware River Front Railroad hy way of Washington
Street. It was at first a toll bridge, but by a contract
between the company and the county commissioners,
in 1839, it was made free.
The Upper or Callowhill Street Ferry, on the
Schuylkill, must have been in the possession of Wil-
liam Powel previous to 1693, as on June 27th of that
year Philip England, who has already been shown to
have been so jealous of his monopoly at the Middle
Ferry, memorialized the Provincial Council that
Powel " did ferrie people over the Schuylkill to the
petitioner's great damage." Powel responded by
exhibiting a paper signed by the grand jury in 1692,
and indorsing a ferry at his house as " a conve-
nience." On this showing the court issued an order
that he might continue the business, and then there
was once more sprung the constantly-recurring ques-
tion as to the authority for granting the valuable
ferry franchises, which earned so much revenue that
the jurisdiction over them was worth a controversy.
The proprietary and his agents, in Powel's case,
maintained that neither Assembly, court, or grand
jury possessed the power to grant a license, and he
was warned that he must not act under the supposed
franchise obtained from the court. If he promised
obedience to this mandate from the Governor he did
not keep his word.
In February, 1794, the accusation was brought
against Powel that, in contempt of the Governor's
order of 1693, he was still virtually the ferry-master,
although he pretended that he had sold his boat to
certain persons, who had employed Nathaniel Mul-
linas to do the ferriage. Powel and Mullinax were
summoned to answer this charge, and the latter re-
plied that "most of the people of Harford and Merion
and some of Darbie imployed and hyred him to ferrie
ym over, and that they were to pay him his wages,
and that he knew no reason why he might not work
for his living as well as others." This plea did not
satisfy the Council, which ordered that Mullinax be
sent to prison until he gave security that he would
" ferry no more persons, horses, or catties over the
Schuylkill at Wm. Powel's for gift, hyre, or reward,
directly or indirectly." The security not being forth-
coming, the sheriff seized the boat, and in applying
for its return the owners declared that they meant no
contempt, and that they needed it " for their more
easie coming to their meetings, fares [fairs], and
marketts, and to the election of representatives to
serve in the ensuing Assembly, they might be per-
mitted to transport ymselves therein." The intima-
tion in regard to the exercise of political rights was
very shrewdly conceived. The Council might have
denied their claims for speedy access to markets and
fairs, but when they declared that they might be in-
jured in their suffrage rights if they could not cross
the Schuylkill in their own boat, the Council could
do nothing but restore it to them, under a proviso
that they must not do ferriage for pay until William
Penn could arrive and give a final decision. Practi-
cally, this was the end of the dispute.
In 1695 the Welsh settlers petitioned the Council
for a ferry at Powel's, and they were too important
in numbers and influence to be turned away with a
refusaf. A liberal concession was granted by the
Assembly, and when Penn returned from England in
1700 he ordered the two ferry proprietors, Chambers
and Powel, "that they do not after daylight is shutt
in transport any persons yt if not well known to you
or yt cannot give a good account of ymselves." In
June, 1703, authorization was given for a road to be
opened from Powel's house, passing by Haverford
Meeting to Goshen, in Chester County, and this was
the establishment of the Haverford road, which has
always been directly connected with the Upper Ferry.
Powel had maintained his own claims against those
of England and the Council, and he was no less suc-
cessful in 1706, when he procured an order forbidding
the competing ferry that the people of Merion and
the Welsh tract had established. Some time after the
Revolution a floating bridge was set up at his ferry,
but the first date that we have in connection with it
is derived from the record that it was swept away by
the freshet of Januarv% 1789. Having been restored,
it met with another calamity of the same kind in 1810,
and the Legislature then chartered a company with a
capital of forty thousand dollars to construct a perma-
nent bridge and hold the vested right in the property
for twenty-five years. As soon as the toll receipts
exceeded nine per cent, yearly upon the investment,
the surplus was to be converted into a redemption fund.
In order to increase facilities of travel, the company
was permitted to construct an artificial road from the
intersection of the Lancaster turnpike at the west side
of Schuylkill to the bridge, and thence on the east
side to Ridge Avenue at Ninth Street. Lewis Wern-
wag built the bridge on what was then a novel plan,
by spanning the river with a single arch and discard-
ing a centre pier. This span was by ninety-eight feet
greater than any other in the world. The corner-
stone was laid with Masonic ceremonies on April 28,
1812.'
1 A piece of copper was placed upon the coi
following inscription was engraved:
"THIS BRIDGE
r-stooe npon which the
) founded in the year of our Lord one thousand and eight hnndred
aud twelve under the superintendence of the following
Board of Managers :
Philip Wager
John BrittOD
Abraham Sheridan
Samuel Richards
Cadwallader Evans
Martin Dubbs
Samuel Breck
and
Louis Wernwag architect."
FEKRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2145
On Sept. 1, 1838, a fire, supposed to have been of
incendiary origin, destroyed this bridge, and no at-
tempt was made to rebuild it until operations were
commenced under the free bridge act of 1839, when
the, city of Philadelphia appropriated thirteen thou-
sand dollars toward purchasing the rights, and the
county commissioners contracted with Charles EUet,
Jr., to erect a wire suspension bridge of his own de-
sign. With the exception of White & Hazard's
bridge near the Falls, which was finished in 1816, it
was the first of ifii character in this country. The
commissioners of Spring Garden had control of it,
and it was opened to the public on Jan. 2, 1842. For
more than thirty years it stood unimpaired, but in
1875 the fact became apparent that it had nearly
filled its period of usefulness, and the rapid improve-
ment of Spring Garden Street westward to the abut-
ments of Fairmount basin led to the inquiry whether
the passage from that street could not be accommo-
dated at Fairmount. The chief engineer of the city
designed a double-decked bridge by which, on the
lower story, Callowhill Street could be carried across
the Schuylkill, and by a plane rising at Twenty-fifth
Street, and winding around the base of the reservoir,
a sufficient height was obtained to carry Spring Gar-
den Street by the upper deck across the river to
intersect Bridge Street [now Spring Garden] at grade.
This bridge was built in 1874 by the Keystone Bridge
Company of Pittsburgh, and has a length of twelve
hundred and ninety-five feet from shore to shore,
to which must be added fourteen hundred and thirty-
five feet for the abutments and approaches.
Penrose's Ferry, or the Kope Ferry, was a conse-
quence of the establishment, in 1742, of the pest-house
or hospital on Fisher's Island, afterward called Prov-
ince Island and State Island, on the west side of the
Schuylkill. The opening of a road from the lower
part of the city through the Neck to the point where
the ferry was established probably followed imme-
diately afterward. In the Pennsylvania Archives,
Samuel Penrose is named as the keeper of the ferry
in 177(5. Faden's map of 1777 leaves it to be inferred
that the road plunged into the marshes at some dis-
tance from the shore, but Hill, in 1806, carries it out
to the Schuylkill, and marks the ferryand the ferry
On the reverse was the following inecription ;
"In the name of Almighty God
In the thirty-sixth year of American Independence
And of Masonry 6S12
Jonathan Bayard Smith R, W. past Grand Master of
Masons
Attended by the
E. W. Deputy Grand Master Peter Le Barbier Duplessio
And the Grand Officers
The honorable .lames Milnor being R. W. Grand Master of
The State of Penna.
And a numerous assemblage of brethren
Laid the first stone of the
BRIDGE
On the 28th of April, 1812,
Which May God Prosper,"
tavern. The opening of a new road between the old
pest-house and the new lazaretto hospital added much
to the revenues of Penrose's Ferry. In an act of the
Legislature passed March 31, 1806, this was called the
Lower Ferry, and Gray's Ferry was denominated the
upper bridge. An act of Assembly was passed April
9, 1853, authorizing the incorporation of the Penrose
Ferry Bridge Company. They put up a bridge there
which soon proved to be weak and dangerous, and a
new one was tlirown open to tlie public on June 30,
1860, although it was not converted into a free bridge
until some years subsequently. On July 7, 1876, the
centre span fell into the river, and on Jan. 20, 1878,
another bridge was completed.
Mendenhall's Ferry was north of the Upper Ferry,
and at the point where the old ford was estaijlished,
between what is now North and South Laurel Hill
Cemetery. It was on a road that led up to the Kidge
road. Previous to the Revolution it was known as
Garrigue's Ferry, and as Mendenhall's after the com-
mencement of the present centurj-.
On April 19, 1807, an act of the Legislature granted
to Robert Kennedy, who then kept a tavern at the
Falls of Schuylkill, rights for the use of the water-
power, on condition that he would build locks around
the falls for the accommodation of the boats that
navigated the river, which, coming from Reading,
were called " Reading," or " long" boats. Although
Kennedy failed to construct the locks, he and Con-
rad Carpenter built a chain bridge in 1809, which
broke down in 1811. In the mean while Kennedy
had sold his rights to Josiah White and Erskine
Hazard, who had erected a rolling-mill and a wire-
factory. By authority of the act of April 2, 1811, a
company put up another chain bridge, and when it
gave way, in 1816, White & Hazard constructed a wire
suspension bridge across the river from the top win-
dows of their mill to some large trees on the west-
ern side, from which there was a descent b)' steps. It
was for foot passengers only, and but eight persons
were permitted on it at any one time. This was cer-
tainly tlie first wire suspension bridge in the United
States, and probably in the world. It cost the build-
ers one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and they
charged a toll of one cent until they were compen-
sated for their expense, when they made it free.
About the end of 1817 the Schuylkill Falls Bridge
Company completed the wooden bridge that was de-
stroyed "by the flood of Feb. 21, 1822. In 1829
another company under the same name erected a new
bridge that stood until burned on Aug. 26, 1842, and
was succeeded by the " Old Red Bridge," which was
swept away by the freshet of Oct. 23, 1878.
On March 22, 1809, the Legislature incorporated
" the managers and company for erecting a perma-
nent bridge over the, Schuylkill, opposite Flat rock,
with a capital of S10,000 in shares of $50 each." The
bridge was finished in 1810, was the second perma-
nent bridge in Philadelphia County, and extended
2146
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
from Flat Eock, above Manayunk, over to Lower
Merion township of Montgomery County. On the
19th of September, 1833, it was broken down by two
teams drawing wagons on which were heavy blocks of
marble crossing at the same time, but this damage
was soon repaired. In 1850, September 2d, Consho-
hocken bridge, four miles above, was carried away,
and came down with such force as to sweep off the
Flat Kock bridge. This bridge crosses opposite the
end of Domino Lane leading toward Mount Airy.
The Schuylkill Navigation bridge is immediately
south of the Falls bridge, at the foot of canal navi-
gation on the east side of the river, and was con-
structed to facilitate the transfer of the boats. It is
built at a slight angle, so that its eastern landing is
not far from the entrance to Manayunk bridge.
In 1828 an act was passed " to authorize John
Towers to erect a bridge on the canal and' river
Schuylkill at a town called Manayunk in the County
of Philadelphia." Towers was the first mill-builder
at Flat Rock, afterward called Manayunk, and enti-
tled to the distinction of being the founder of the
village. Under the act of Assembly Towers was
compelled to finish the bridge in three years. At the
expiration of twenty years the county commissioners
were to be privileged to apply to the Court of Quar-
ter Sessions to appoint a jury to view and value the
bridge, taking into consideration the tolls received, and
report the same to the Quarter Sessions, and upon
approval and payment of the amount settled upon,
the bridge was to become the property of the county.
Capt. Towers did not build the bridge within the
specified time. On the 24th of March, 1832, an act was
passed" to incorporate a company for erecting a bridge
over Schuylkill river and caual at the town of Mana-
yunk." The preamble recited that Towers had failed
to erect the bridge within the three yeare, in conse-
quence of which the new company was incorporated.
There was a provision in this act that whenever the
tolls received for passing over the bridge exceeded
nine per cent, annual profit on the capital, the excess
should be appropriated to purchasing the stock. In
order to prevent the failure of this plan by the indis-
position of stockholders to sell their shares, it was
directed that the subscribers should determine " by
lot" from time to time whose share or shares were to
be paid off, the price to be at par, and whenever the
whole number of shares were purchased, " then the
bridge shall be free except as to a small toll to keep
the same in repair." The bridge was finished in
1833. The site was that of Righter's Ferry, an estab-
lishment which probably went back in point of date
to 1707 or 1708. Application was made in 1706 for a
road from the Lower Merion meeting-house to the
river Schuylkill, a distance of two and a half miles,
" where a ferry is to be established."
The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad was carried
across the Schuylkill on a wooden viaduct just below
the residence of Judge Richard Peters. It was opened
in March, 1834, and was also used by the Philadelphia
and Reading Railroad. After the Pennsylvania Rail-
road was chartered and the general traffic operated by
way of the Market Street bridge, the Schuylkill via-
duct was purchased by the Reading company. For
twenty- years this structure was known to Philadelphia
only as the Columbia Railroad bridge. A new gen-
eration which has come forward within the thirty
years succeeding knew it only as the Reading Rail-
road bridge. It has been an exceedingly lucky struc-
ture, withstanding floods and ice without harm and
never having suffered by fire.
The Reading company also constructed at the Falls
of Schuylkill a wooden bridge that was opened Jan.
10, 1842, and destroyed by fire on the following 26th
of August. In 1843 a stone bridge was begun, but
the railroad company became entangled in financial
difficulties, and it was not completed for a long time.
By the act of March 27, 1852, the county commis-
sioners were required to build a new bridge at Chest-
nut Street, and one at or near Girard Avenue, cost
not to exceed one hundred and seventy-five thousand
dollars each. The Girard Avenue bridge was finished
in the summer of 1855, but proved so poorly con-
structed that in December, 1872, the grand jury made
presentment that its condition was dangerous. This
admonition not being heeded, the grand jury found
a true bill against Select and Common Councils for
maintaining a nuisance in permitting the bridge to
remain open. Councils then had a temporary struc-
ture put up, which has been replaced by the present
magnificent bridge at an outlay of one million four
hundred and four thousand four hundred and forty-
five dollars. It is one thousand feet long and one hun-
dred feet wide, — the widest bridge in the world, — is
constructed of iron and stone, and was ready for travel
July 4, 1874.
Although a bridge at Chestnut Street was contem-
plated by the act of 1862, it was not until 1857 that
Councils decided to build it. The expense had acted
as a deterrent, but it was partially overcome by a
requirement in the charter of the Chestnut and Wal-
nut Streets Passenger Railway Company that it
should contribute one hundred thousand dollars to-
ward the cost. The bridge was built on the designs
of Strickland Kneass, and opened June 23, 1866.
Its whole length is fifteen hundred and twenty-eight
feet, and it is a finely ornamental specimen of bridge
architecture.
As a consequence of the building of the elevated
railwaj' by the Pennsylvania Railroad from West
Philadelphia to its Broad Street Station, it became
necessary to bridge the Schuylkill at Filbert Street,
and the work was finished Feb. 16, 1881. The Filbert
Street bridge was built by the railroad corporation.
The building of a bridge over the Schuylkill at
South Street was not considered a public necessity,
but was forced upon the city by the Pennsylvania
Legislature, which, on April 1, 1861, passed the act
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2147
requiring Councils to construct a bridge at a cost of
not over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In
compliance with the protests of citizens of Philadel-
phia, Governor Curtin disapproved the bill, but it was
passed over his veto. Two days later the Lombard
and South Streets City Passenger Railway Company
was incorporated, with right of way for its tracks over
any bridge that might be constructed at either of
those streets. For five years Councils refused to
obey the legislative mandate, and on April 5, 1866,
the Legislature passed a sujjplemeutary act appoint-
ing commissioners to build a bridge at South Street,
the cost of which should not exceed six hundred
thousand dollars. There was a proviso that if Coun-
cils would order the erection of the bridge prior to
July 1, 1867, the powers vested in the commission
should be superseded and devolve upon the city. But
Councils refused, and a resolution was passed Jan. 21,
1867, requesting the Legislature to repeal the acts of
1861 and 1866. No notice was taken of these petitions
at Harrisburg ; in fact, another supplement was passed
directing the "Chief Engineer of the City to build
the bridge under the supervision of the Commission,
and to place a draw in it." Permission to add two
hundred thousand dollars to the cost was also given,
and although the city carried the case into court, it
was defeated on all points. The Legislature then or-
dered the city to make a loan of eight hundred thou-
sand dollars to pay for the bridge, and the commission
was increased to thirteen members, with as its presi-
dent the president of the railway whose interests
were so deeply involved. On March 30, 1870, a con-
tract was made with John W. Murphy, and the bridge
was opened for pedestrians Nov. 30, 1875, and for
general travel Feb. 17, 1876. It has a draw, and, in-
cluding approaches, is two thousand four hundred and
nineteen feet in length. In less than two years a
considerable portion of the structure fell in on ac-
count of the slipping of the piles on the shelving
rock of the river-bed. Arch after arch went down,
and the bridge was not much more than a wreck. A
trestle-work was erected, and still continues in use.
Ferries and. Bridges Over Tributary Streams.
— In the years immediately succeeding the foundation
of the city Dock Creek was a clear and pretty stream,
and navigable as far as Third Street. The common
name of Drawbridge would indicate that there was an
opening at Front Street through which vessels might
pass, and it was known by this name in 1713, accord-
ing to John F. Watson's statements. Watson says that
Charles Thomson told him he had often seen such
vessels as sloops and schooners loading with flour for
the West Indies on Dock Street, near to Second Street,
and a very aged informant (Mrs. Powel) had seen a
schooner once as high as Girard's bank. Charles
Thomson came to this city in 1740, and it is quite
possible that in his day vessels passed up the creek.
But the statement ascribed to Mrs. Powel is diiEcult
of credence, if she was the widow of Samuel Powel
and daughter of Charles Willing. Miss Willing was
born in 1743, and her reliable recollections might
extend back as far as 1753, but before that time the
bridges over the creek at Second Street and Walnut
Street must have been permanent, as they are desig-
nated as brick bridges in the minutes of Common
Council. There is no evidence that they were furnished
with draws, and unless they were so provided they
closed the stream to navigation. According to Coun-
cil minutes of June 1, 1705, Henry Badcock and John
Budd were appointed overseers of the repairs of
Second Street bridge; and, in 1717, Thomas Bradford,
Thomas Wharton, and Thomas Radley were "over-
seers of the work to be done in repairing the two
brick bridges, one in the 2nd St., and the other in
Walnut St." In the succeeding year Samuel Powel,
being called upon by Common Council to pay his
stall rents, " prayed a discount, he being considerable
out of Pocket in Building of ye Bridge over ye Dock
in Walnut St. It is ye opinion of the Board that such
discounts may be Inconvenient; Nevertheless how
farr this city is obliged to pay off Samuel Powel's
demands is ord'* to be Examined by Alderman Carter,
Thomas Griffits and George Claypoole," on whose
report Powel and John Parsons were paid £35 3s. llrf.
" for building a stone and brick bridge over Walnut
St. Dock."
In May, 1720, Councils contracted with Edward
Collins to build, for one hundred and twenty-five
pounds, a bridge twenty-five feet wide over the dock
at Sec(md Street, but as numerous citizens wished it
the full width of the street. Councils agreed to pay
thirty-five pounds more toward the increased breadth
if the citizens would pay the remainder of the cost.
There is no allusion to draws in these proceedings,
and the creek must have become gradually filled up
as the city grew.'
Mr. Watson ingeniously suggests as a way out of
the diflSculty that vessels passing beyond Second
Street struck their masts in order to go under the
bridges. If such had been the case the bridges would
of necessity have been well set up above the water,
requiring causeways as a means of approach, or ex-
tensive filling up of the streets, at large expense, but
no such itenis of cost appear. The bridge at Third
Street was first of wood, which gave way, in 1740, to a
stone structure, costing seventy-nine pounds.
Coconoon was the Indian name for Dock Creek,
and on account of its width and depth in the early
colonial days, it seems to have much impeded inter-
course between the northern and southern sections of
the town. We may presume that under the general
1 About 1835 or 1836 the culvert which brought down the entire dis-
charge of Dock Creek, when the building of tlial means of relief was
agreed upon, after the yellow fever experiences of 1793, 1797, 1798, fell
in, and leit a great opening near the front of the Merchants' Exchange.
The entire work was exposed. The cnlvert, which came down Walnut
Street, was probuLly seven feet in diameter, and the discharge into it at
that time was very small.
2148
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
law of 1682 a bridge was built over it. In 1704 the
grand jury presented it as being " insufficient and
dangerous to man and beast." Two years afterward
another grand jury reported that it had viewed the
place where the bridge was, and that it had been
broken down and carried away by storm, so the rec-
ommendation was made that it be rebuilt. In the
minutes of Council, June 1, 1705, it was called So-
ciety Hill Bridge, as it gave passage to Society Hill,
where most of the property had originally been owned
by the Free Society of Traders. Up to 1716 the work
still lagged, as we are informed by the following ex-
tract from the minutes of that year :
"The Bridge over the Dock at the South End of the ffront Street, and
the causeway from tbence to Society iljll, being as yet uufinisht, And
the Water having wasbt away some part of llie Causeway, insomuch
That it is not only become very Dangerous but if not speedily tfinisht,
will create a much Greater Charge, And the personswho were appointed
Overseers for Doing the same, having not SufBcient in their hands to
Carry it ou. It is Agreed And Ordered that if the sd Overseers will Ad-
vance money for the Compleating the sd work, tht.y shall he paid their
Disbursement out of ye publick Stock of this City, and so shall the over-
seers for the Market Wharf wch is yet unfinished." In August, 1717,
Messrs. Dickinson, Morris, and Venning were "Desii'ed to continue the
Care abt ye Bridge & Causeway at ye South End of the town, & Get the
same ffinish with all speed and afterwards present their acc'ts."
In 1739 Dock Creek had grown exceedingly offen-
sive. Many citizens charged the nuisance to the
tanneries on its banks, and petitioned the Assembly
to remove them, but the tanners defeated this attack
on their interests. On Feb. 24, 1748, a committee
made report to Councils that the contagious swamp
between Budd's buildings and Society Hill should be
made into a dock sixty feet wide, as far as the swamp
extended westward, with a branch thirty feet wide on
the southwest and forty feet wide on the northwest,
and that the remainder be filled up and walled in, the
.property-holders agreeing to dig out, cleanse, and wall
their premises on condition of being granted the
wharf rights. Dr. Franklin was one of the signers
of this report, which gravely urged that the improve-
ment was necessary on the ground of the public
health, but it was so expensive that the municipality
feared to undertake it. In 1763 the county commis-
sioners made application to Common Council for a
loan to finish the stone bridge over the dock at Front
Street ; and in 1764 Council determined to rebuild the
two walls between this bridge and the wooden bridge
in Water Street. About the same time the locality
was utilized for the Fish Market, between King and
Front Streets.
The public landing at Dock Street became a mat-
ter of early contest. It was called "a low sandy
beach on the north side of the creek," but at a dis-
tance of one hundred feet the ground rose abruptly.
On the south side, near to the Delaware, the addi-
tions had not been sufhcient to bring the ground up
to what might be called a permanent position. It was
swamp for many years after the foundation of the city,
so low that the building of a causeway down to the
line of about Spruce Street was necessary in order to
secure convenient access to the Drawbridge. South
of Spruce Street the ground rose rapidly on Society
Hill. Dock Creek ran through a little valley, and
the low, sandy beach at Front Street stood at the
highest level of the ground, near the creek, on either
side, as far west as Third Street. The expectation
seemed to be that the landing here would be reserved
as public property. Its value as private property was
soon discovered, so that nine years after the settle-
ment the agents of Penn were ready to sell it. In
1691, "Jeremiah Elfreth and others had attempted to
build on this beach, and remonstrance was made by
several citizens. References made to the affair in
1700 authorize the statement that the justices stopped
Elfreth's building, and that the rights of Elfreth in a
lot on Front Street, opposite the Blue Anchor, had been
interfered with. The matter was quieted by the city
charter of 1701, by which Penn granted that the land-
ing-places at the Penny Pot House and Blue Anchor
should be left open, " saving to all persons their just
and legal rights and property in the land so as to be left
open, as also the swamps between Budd's buildings and
Society Hill shall be left open and common for the
use and service of said city, and all others with lib-
erty to dig docks and make harbor for ships and ves-
sels in all or any part of the said swamp." Under
this grant the city became owner of property which
was put to valuable use. Between Water Street and
the Delaware River a row of large stores was subse-
quently built, some of which were incorporated into
the Pennsylvania Railroad freight depot.
Jeremiah Loxley leased the swamp west of Front
Street and south of the creek, and, by filling it in,
made it available for his wood wharf. The water
front was rapidly appreciating in value, and in 1753
the city government advertised to sell in fee, or for
five years, a hundred feet on Front Street, extending
two hundred and fifty feet into the Delaware. The
city wardens protested that the inhabitants had a
right to free use of the landing-place, and a com-
promise was effected, by which a landing was made
at the Fish House, and the beach between King
Street and the river was kept open.
By city ordinance of March 4, 1818, it was directed
" that the part of the Dock at the Drawbridge west of
Front St. and which is now used as a place of deposit
for sand shall be arched over in such a manner as to
continue the passageway for Drays carts & carriages
and passengers in the same manner as the rest of the
street." This carried Dock Street all the way to
Front.
In the presentment of the first grand jury (1683),
it was demanded that " Coquenakar Creek [Pegg's
Run], at the north end of the city, be also made pass-
able for footmen." This must have been attended to
at once. In April, 1686, the grand jury presented
" the want of a finished road by the new bridge to
the Governor's mill," which was on Cohocksink Creek
near the road to Germantown, and about the inter-
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2149
aection of the present Third Street. This first bridge
over Pegg's Run got out of order before the end of
1701, and the controversy which the question ot repair
provoked is thus set forth :
" The BRiDGEat the north end of the Town, being broken down by the
last great Rain, and the country much Incommoded thereby, in being
obstructed in their passages to and from the Town, it was laid before
the Govo'r and Council that some effectual course might bo taken to
have the same redressed; upon which several Persons concerned in the
said Road appearing, part urged tliat the late Bridge might be repaired
without any alteration. The mounder dyke over the swamp having
already engaged the countrey in a great expense, & yrefore was not
proper to be alter'd. others alledged that the forst laying the road
that way was Indirect, & the Bridge ever proved expensive, being so
low down & neer the creek's mouth. That it being now destroyed the
road might be layed another way about half way between the other
bridge and tlie Propy's mill which would equally accomodate ffrancks-
fort and tlie Riverside with tlie other and much the greater part of the
Body of the county & would by that means cast both Itoades into one,
which would be easier Maintained both by Requiring less repairs, and
those also would have many more hands to support it,"
A great deal of discussion followed, but the old
road remained for the time. It was not in the exact
line of the present Front Street above the Creek, but
the crgssing was about the line of Emlen's Court,
which was north from Willow Street to Noble Street,
as appears by the petition to the Governor and Coun-
cil in 1712 for the establishment of a new road, which
had been surveyed farther east, and which it was pro-
posed to unite with the old road at Norris and Good-
son's land. The courses and bearing of the new road,
when it was opened, were as follows :
" Beginning at the north side of Vine Street, in the
middle of the Front Street of the city of Philadia, on
Delaware side ; thence proceeding north by east to
Mr. Pool's house ; then north by east to Daniel Pegg's
porch, north by east, and then north by west to the
Marsh & Mill Creek ; and thence north, with varia-
tions west and east, to the Norris and Goodson lane." '
In 1725 the Governor and Council received a com-
plaint from the commissioners of Philadelphia County
in regard to the high road to Frankford road, but,
although various inquiries were ordered, nothing
practical was done until 1747, when a commissioner
made a report marking out the courses as " Beginning
at the place of intersection of the north side of Vine
Street and the east side of Front Street, near Penny Pot
Landing ; thence north by east to a point opposite the
bridge, near Pool's Point; thence by the same course
by various bearings to the causeway of Long Bridge
[over the Cohocksink]." The road then ran by vari-
ous points and boundaries, not now ascertainable, to
Gunner's Run and to Frankford Creek bridge, and to
Pennypack bridge, and to the ford over Poquessing
1 Nathaniel Pool lived on Pool's Hill, a little west of Front Street,
about Callowhill. He was a ship-builder, and his ship-yard must have
been near the mouth of the creek and its intersection with the Delaware
River. A person of that name, whether the original or his son is not
known, passed Friends' Meeting in marriage with Ann Till, in the year
1714. William Pool was the part owner of a vessel in 1709. Boardsand
staves were for sale on Pool's Hill, *' at the upper end of Front Street,"
in 1754, by a person named Carpenter.
Creek, near the Widow Amos', being in all eleven
and three-quarters miles.
About this time it is supposed Front Street was
constructed and located nearer the Delaware, so that
the bridge most in use was at the present Front and
Willow Streets. Watson quotes a letter from Secre-
tary Peters to one of the Penns, in 1747, in which he
speaks of " a new bridge made on the present line of
Front Street, over Pegg's Run, whereby the street now
makes a fine view by the north entry of the town."
Pool's bridge shifted its name to the new bridge,
but in time "the bridge over Pegg's Run at Front
Street" was the only name known after the old road
had been abandoned and the line of the street altered.
In 1812 the commissioners of the Northern Liberties
granted the Northern Liberty Fire Company permis-
sion to place its engine-house at Pool's bridge, and
the structure did partially rest on the east side of the
bridge. It was removed in 1829, when the culverting
of Pegg's Run had been nearly accomplished. This
stream is said to have been navigable at one time
as far west as Ridge road, and even to Twelfth Street.
It ran through a valley, and there was a considerable
descent to it from the neighborhood of Callowhill
Street, while on the northern side the ground was
low and swampy. Although great changes have been
made in the configuration of the ground, all the
streets which cross this run, although raised and
paved, still show the descent all the way between the
Delaware to Tenth Street.
In time Pegg's Run, the original name of which was
Cohoquinoque Creek, was clogged up by the surface
discharges into it, and, like Dock Creek, became a
nuisance. In 1826 the commissioners of the Northern
Liberties ordered that a culvert or sewer be con-
structed along it from Delaware Sixth Street to the
east side of Oak [afterward Beach] Street. Thus it
was covered in by a thoroughfare, to which, in 1829,
was given the name of Willow Street.
The bridges over Pegg's Run were built from time
to time, but it cannot be ascertained exactly when.
An inference may be derived from the circumstances
that in March, 1749, Second Street was ordered to be
opened from Vine Street to the Germantown road,
and in the early part of 1812 the United States Fire
Company was permitted to build its engine-house on
the bridge across Pegg's Run at Second Street. It is
probable that it was bridged at the Ridge road at an
early date, although that far up it could only have
been shallow and narrow. For several years after the
beginning of the present century wooden bridges,
slightly protected at the sides, spanned the creek, and
its banks were occupied by tanneries, slaughter-houses,
skin-dressers, soap-boilers, etc.
A presentment which was made by the grand jury
of 1683 related to the necessity that " the creek called
Coanxen [Cohocksink| be bridged or cannowed."
The inhabitants of Germantown and the upper west-
ern parts of the county speak of the " long stone
2150
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
bridge" and the causeway over to Kensington in a
petition, in 1701, for the settlement of a road across
the creek (which they also called Stacy's Creek), to
divide into branches to Frankford and Germantown.
This bridge was somewhere about the present line of
Budd Street, where it crosses Canal Street. In 1713
the grand jury inspected it, and a tax of one penny
per pound was authorized " to repair the new bridge
by the Governor's mill," and for other purposes. In
1797 the Legislature passed an act to declare Cohock-
sink Creek a public highway. It was to be —
" opeDcd from the mouth thereof to the bridge on the road leading to
Frankford . . . for the passage of all kinds of vessels and rafts which
can float therein. And it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants
desirous of using the navigation of the said creek to remoTe all natural
and artiHcial obstructions from the mouth thereof, up to the aforesaid
bridge, so as that the said creek shall be navigable forty feet in width ;
Provided, nevertheless, That it shaU and may be lawful to throw such
drawbridge or drawbridges across the said creek as shall not obstruct
the passage of the same."
Before the Revolution small vessels with falling
masts occasionally went up the creek to the Governor's
mill, at Frankford road, carrying grain and returning
with flour. The highway mentioned crossed Beach
Street near Brown, and extended by a long causeway
to Laurel Street and Frankford road, near Otter
Street. The bridge over the Cohocksink nearest the
Delaware, and on the line of Beach Street, was called
the High bridge, perhaps because it was on the high-
road to Bristol and New York. The creek was par-
tially, if not entirely, the northern boundary of the
tract of three hundred and fifty acres patented in
1676 by Governor Sir Edmund Andros, of New York,
to Julian Hartsfielder. It extended down the Dela-
ware to the Cohoquinoque, or Pegg's Run, and west-
ward about as far as Sixth Street, and included in
after-times the whole district of Northern Liberties.
The ground was marshy in the neighborhood of the
mouth of this stream, from a point near Green Street,
at the Delaware, up to Point Pleasant, say at about
Shackamaxon Street. There was a shallow bay, and it
is even said that at Coates Street the head of the dock
came up to the line of Front Street, the wharf ex-
tending farther eastward. The wooden drawbridge
on the line of Beach Street commanded toward the
river a view of a space of water at high tide, and of
mud at low tide, which was well covered with " spat-
terdocks."
Front Street, when put in order for travel, was raised
above the adjacent ground as far as Poplar Street.
When a street was opened from Frankford road
toward Front it was raised on made ground, and was
named Marsh Street, subsequently becoming a portion
of Poplar Street. Under the law of 1795 the Cohock-
sink was laid out as a public thoroughfare, with the
name of Canal Street, and the Court of Quarter Ses-
sions confirmed the plan, but it was not culverted and
covered until a much later date. Culvert Street, run-
ning in a crooked course from Canal Street to Char-
lotte and Poplar, was originally a branch of the
creek.
In the second presentment of the grand jury, Feb-
ruary, 1683, was specified the want of a bridge at
Gunner Rambo's, or of canoes to carrj- people across.
The Indian name of this creek, Tumanaranaming,
was never in use after Penn's time, and it was called
Gunner Rambo's Creek, which has been shortened in
modern times to Gunner's Run. A bridge must have
been erected here as soon as the road to Bristol was
in traveling order. The road to Point-no-Point also
crossed Gunner's Run near the Delaware at an early
time." A fine, substantial bridge was erected near
Dyott's glass-works in December, 1834, and at Prince
Street in December, 1835. On the 15th of March,
1847, an act was passed in which a large number of
persons were nominated commissioners to open books
of subscription to the stock of Gunner's Run Im-
provement Company, which was to have authority to
construct a canal commencing at the northwest side
of Queen Street, on Gunner's Run, and terminating
at a point near where the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad crosses that stream, to be supplied at all
times with tide-water and to admit the construction
of basins, docks, wharves, and places of dejjosit and
shipment for merchandise. Suitable bridges were
ordered to be built over all crossing streets, and the
commissioners of Kensington directed that they should
be permanent.
In 1853 an iron bridge was erected over Gunner's
Run on the line of Queen Street. The Canal Com-
pany was organized and considerable improvements
were made, but there was evidently miscalculation as
to the amount of business likely to be done, and the
speculation was practically a failure.
While the grand jury of 1682 was looking after
transit facilities in the young colony, it did not forget
to allude to the demand for a ferry or bridge at " Tan-
kanny" (Tacony or Frankford) Creek. A bridge was
soon established, over which passed "the King's road
from Scuilkill through Philadelphia to Nesheminy
Creek," and in 1701 Frankford and Oxford were di-
rected to equally contribute toward its repair, and
Thomas Parsons was ordered " to cut open the old
water course or pay the sum of 40 shillings toward
the same." In 1726 a petition was presented by the
inhabitants in and about Frankford, setting forth —
"The inconveniences of the road on both sides of the bridge there,
for that on the farther side, there is occasion also for anolher bridge
over the other branch of the creek, which is there divided & to prevent
the Charge of the two bridges; that the Road also between the Mill
House and the Creek is much too narrow; all which inconveniences
might be prevented by turniLg the Road a little lower, and building
one bridge, which would fully answer the end of two where the Road
now passes, and therefore praying that the said road may be reviewed."
The consideration of this petition was postponed,
and there is nothing on the minutes to show that it
was ever called up again. Yet the change recom-
mended seems to have been made. The old road was
a little west of the present high-road to Frankford,
just beyond the forks of the creek. Two bridges
would have been necessary, but by shifting the road
PERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2151
eastward the true object of convenience was gained.
The long bridge at the south end of Frankford has
the peculiarity that while it crosses the creek at the
lower end by a span of forty or fifty feet, it continues
up alongside of the branch of the creek, which just
there turns northward for a considerable distance.
The building of a bridge at Frankford was one of the
subjects of dispute between the mayor and the cor-
poration of the city and the justices and grand jury
of the county in 1708. The justices proposed to lay
a tax for the building of two county bridges and a
court-house. The two bridges were " on the northern
road." The county justices represented that the case
was one of necessity, " for people now sometimes
passed in Danger of their Lives over those two men-
tioned Bridges. Tho' upon one of the greatest and
most principal Roads in the province." The bridge
at Frankford was one of these, and the justices
averred that the building of it was " a very consider-
able thing."
East of Frankford, on the Point-No-Point road,
and near Point-No-Point, Joseph Kirkbride was the
keeper of the ferry in 1811, and for some years previ-
ously. In the latter year an act of Assembly was
passed, giving to Kirkbride authority to erect a bridge
over Frankford Creek, " where his ferry is now kept."
It was directed to be provided with a draw eighteen
feet wide, and the floor must be eight feet clear above
the water for the passage of rafts and vessels. Kirk-
bride built the bridge, which he maintained for many
years. Eventually the county of Philadelphia bought
the rights of his representatives in the bridge, and it
was made free. Near the ferry-house there gradually
grew up a village, which was occasionally known as
Point-No-Point. In time a change of the name was
advocated, and the locality came to be known as
Bridesburg.
Public Landings and Wharves. — In his instruc-
tions to the commissioners, William Crispin, John
Bezar, and Nathaniel Allen, dated Sept. 30, 1681,
William Penn said, " Be sure to settle the figure of
the town so as that the streets hereafter may be uni-
formed down to the water from the country bounds."
The main streets were to run to the rivers, and the
landings at the ends upon the Delaware and Schuyl-
kill were soon understood to be valuable. As early
as 1689, Humphrey Murray, Philip Richards, Philip
James, and William Lee presented a petition asking
leave " to build a wharfe on the side of Delaware
River against ye end of ye Chesnutt St., which was
read and some things spoken to it." But the matter
was postponed, and there is no immediate entry in
regard to it. In April, 1690, Benjamin Chambers,
Thomas Peart, and Francis Rawle presented a peti-
tion "that a bridg might be built over and a wharfe
made against Mulberry St." They proposed to cut
a cart-way through the bluff some twenty feet broad,
commencing west of Front Street and extending by
a gradual descent to low- water mark. The passage
137
was to be paved and walled up with stone on each
side. A bridge was to be built over the line of pas-
sage-way on Front Street, and at the river eml they
proposed to make a free wharf, twenty feet in breadth,
which, including the width of the passage, would
make the Mulberry Street wharf sixty-three feet
wide, the full width of the street upon the city plans.
The Council assented to this proposition. As a con-
sequence of its adoption, it was found necessary to
carry the l)ridge at Front Street over the cut, either
then, or afterward, liy an arch. And this circum-
stance gave tlie common name to the highway Arch
Street, which, although not sanctioned by law, was
kept up by usage until, in time, the name Mulberry
Street was discontinued altogether.
In 1690 a controversy was begun in relation to
the public landing at the intersection of Dock Creek
and the Delaware, in front of the Blue Anchor Tav-
ern, and hence known as the Blue Anchor Landing.
Griffith Jones bought the ground and sold it to John
Towusend, from whom it was purchased by Henry
Elfreth. The latter complained that he had suffered
damage by being restrained from building on his
property, but, as already said, Penn's charter granted
the public landings to the city, and it does not appear
that Elfreth obtained any satisfaction.
In 1720, Governor Sir William Keith obtained a
grant from the city corporation, for seven years, of
the piece of land on the southwest side of the dock,
''over against the house he now lives in, he proposing
to drain and ditch the same." John Jenkinson ap-
plied for the use of a piece of ground at the south
side of the dock, near the bridge over Front Street,
in 1735. In 1746, Recorder Allen produced to the
Common Council a deed from George Grey to the
mayor and commonalty of Philadeli^hia, " for a Lot
of Ground over against the blue Anchor near the
Drawbridge Which has been in Mistake deemed to
belong to the City, and has been us'd as a free land-
ing." It was resolved that the assessors should be
acquainted with the right of the corporation to the
said lot, and an account be made of the expenses of
improving the same previously incurred. The latter
reported the improvements to be worth fifty-seven
pounds, and the money was paid in 1751 to Common
Councilman John Stamper, who had advanced money
to the use of the city.
In 1757, Loxley's term at the drawbridge wharves
had expired, and it was proposed to lease the public
ground on the south side of the dock, between Front
and Second Streets, the public wharf on the north
side of the dock, and the ends of the dock streets on
the river. Whoever became the lessee was to be
entitled to the benefit of wharfage and the cording
of wood. Some improvements were directed to be
made. It was resolved, for the improvement of the
premises, " that a Peer or Wharff of fifty Feet wide
to Extend eighty or one hundred Feet Eastward be
built near the middle of the said Landing place ; and
2152
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
that a Slip or Cartway of Forty Five Feet wide be
made between Hamilton's Wharff and the said Peer."
At this time there was a complaint that Loxley,
" under Color of liiring the Publick Grounds on the
South Side of tlie Dock had taken upon him to erect
some Buildings thereon, Contrary to the Intent of
this board, wherefore it was' resolved that the build-
ing should be taken down and removed." William
Clark became the lessee, and died in about a year.
He was succeeded by Thomas James, and the rent
increased to sixty pounds per annum for the pier and
the whole property. Thomas Overend became tenant
in 1760 at the rate of sixty pounds, and Jonathan
Hood was tenant at the same rate in 1762.
In November, 1764, Thomas Penn released to the
city corporation the piece of ground, claimed to be
public property, lying on the dock, and bounded on
the east by Front Street, and on the south by Spruce
Street. Robert Lumsden was tenant in 1767-68. In
1768 it was resolved to extend the pier at the draw-
bridge thirty or thirty-two feet into the river. Lums-
den's lease was renewed for three years in 1783.
Penny Pot Landing. — Penny Pot Landing was the
only available place of disembarkation, with the ex-
ception of the Blue Anchor landing, at Dock Creek,
from vessels on the Delaware in the neighborhood of
the city at the time of the foundation. A high bluff
extended from Dock Creek up to Vine Street, which
was originally called Valley Street, from the fact that
the ground there was depressed, and there was easy
access to the water side. The Penny Pot House was
a tavern, which was famous for its sale of beer at a
penny a pot or quart, which was less than the allowed
price at ordinaries. One of the provisions of the great
law of 1682 was, "And to Prevent Exaction in pub-
lick Houses be it etc. That all Strong Beer and Ale
made of Barley Malt, Shall be sold for not above Two
pennies Sterling a full Winchester quart ; and all
Beer or Drink made of Molasses shall not exceed
One Penny a quart." This act was abrogated by
William and Mary, in England, in 1693. In 1684 a
further act was passed, which decreed " that if anie
Person shall sell any strong Beer made wholly of
Barley mault above the rate of 3 pence a full Wine-
chester quart and all Beer or drink made of Molas-
sess above One penny a quart botled or Unbotled
mixed or Unmixed Sweetned or Unsweetned the party
shall be liable if convicted within 10 days after the
fact committed, to pay a penalty of 5 pennies per
quart and proportionally for a greater or l&sser
measure." The Penny Pot House, therefore, being
a place at which beer could be bought for one-half or
one-third the legal price, achieved an early popu-
larity. Watson says of the house, " It was a two-story
brick house of good dimensions, having for its front
a southern exposure. At first it had no intervening
houses between it and the area of Vine Street, but
when I last saw it, as many as three houses had filled
up that space."
The landing at Vine Street was broader than other
portions of the city. The Penny Pot Landing lot was
north, and contained fifty-seven feet in breadth, and
extended at that width from Front Street into the
river Delaware. In 1850 a controversy arose between
the district of Northern Liberties and the city of
Philadelphia as to the right of the city to the Penny
Pot Landing, being the piece of ground fifty-seven
feet in width, lying north of fifty feet in width, the
ordinary width of Vine Street, west of Front. It
was contended that the northern portion of the space
east of Front Street was in the jurisdiction of the
Northern Liberties, and this ownership carried with
it the right to the wharfage and tolls. Among other
things shown on the argument was a survey to James
West, in August, 1689, for a lot sixty feet front,
bounded on the west by a street [since called Water
Street], and extending into the Delaware, bounded
north and south by a vacant lot. In March, 1690,
West obtained another grant of forty feet " of the
bank where the Penny Pot House stands, and in ad-
dition to 60 feet formerly laid out to him for a con-
veniency to build ships and vessels upon." West also
stated that he had bought the Penny Pot House of
the widow. The grant was made upon the condition
that West would " make a convenient slip with tim-
ber and fill it up with earth, and pitch it with stones,
against the street which is to be left 100 foot wide."
Having purchased the Penny Pot House from the
widow, the final survey was made to West through
to Front Street. The argument on behalf of the
Northern Liberties was that, as originally laid out,
the city boundary extended no farther than the fifty-
foot wide Vine Street, and all north of the latter was
part of the county of Philadelphia, and afterward was
included in the boundary of the Northern Liberties.
It was clear enough, that if this contention was
correct, the Penny Pot Landing and the Penny Pot
House never were in the city of Philadelphia, as
originally laid out. Against this claim Justice
Coulter, of the Supreme Court, before whom the case
was tried, charged strongly in favor of the city. The
jury brought in a verdict for the city, and the case
was taken to the Supreme Court.' The court sus-
tained the opinion of the judge aX Nisi Prius, and held
"this enlargement of Vine Street consisted of a part
of the Penny Pot Landing adjacent to West's lot, and
to which the widened street was appurtenant as a
boundary ; and as a public highway it enured not
only to his use and that of the other lot-holders in
the vicinity, but to the use of the public. William
Penn, having by his agents and accredited officers
granted this addition to Vine Street for the public
use and accommodation, in 1690, could not revoke
that grant by any subsequent act or deed. In addi-
tion to the right of the city to the space thus annexed
to and made part of Vine Street, the same piece of
1 Fenny Pot Landing, 4 Harris's Beports, 79.
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2153
ground was expressly granted to the corporation by
the charter of 1701, as Penny Pot Landing.
After the year 1800 the Penny Pot House was
known as the Jolly Tar Inn, says Watson, and kept
by one Tage. The grand juries took considerable
interest in the maintenance of this landing. In
1706 a presentment was made that the "free landing
of Vine Street is . . . necessary to be secured with
the banks of the same, whereby the Front Street may
not become, as it threatens to be, unfit to be passed
with carts." Itf 1713 they presented as a nuisance
the east end of Vine Street, where Front Street
crosses it. In 1718 a gully running down Vine
Street and crossing Front was represented to be " not
passable" by coaches, wagons, or carts, to the endan-
gering of lives. The bank at the end of Vine Street
was represented, in 1724, to be worn away to the
middle of Front Street, and very dangerous. In 1740
the Penny Pot Landing and the east end of Vine
Street was presented by the grand jury as encum-
bered with timber and plank by Samuel Hastings and
Charles West. The cave in which John Key, the first-
born child in Philadelphia, saw the light, was at or
near the Penny Pot Landing.
A committee of Common Council in 1704 reported
that it would require £50 " to repair Arch Street and
High Street wharfs,— £20 for Chestnut Street wharf,
and £30 for Walnut Street wharf,— altogether, £150,"
from which it appears that High and Chestnut Streets
wharves had been established before that time. In
October, 1706, an ordinance was ordered to be drawn
" for laying a small duty upon wood, etc., landed
upon the public wharves in this city." This was fol-
lowed, in 1710, by a proposition that an ordinance
should be prepared " to oblige foreigners and others
who load and unload their vessels at the public
wharves of the city to pay wharfage."
In 1719 it was proposed that an ordinance should be
drawn " to compel masters of vessels loading or un-
loading their vessels at the free wharves at this city
to pay so much per ton." The price agreed upon wiis
one shilling per ton for unloading and the same for
loading, all vessels being allowed to lay five days to
unload, and ten days to load ; and if they exceed fif-
teen days, to pay after that time two shillings per
day ; new vessels loading after ten days lying at the
wharves to pay two shillings per diem. Wood-staves
or other things were not to be sufiered to remain on
the wharves for more than twenty-four hours, under
penalty of paying afterward one penny per cord per
hour, for wood, and in that proportion for a cart-load
of staves, shingles, and other things. Daniel Radley
was appointed wharfinger, and was to have one-
quarter of his receipts for his trouble, the rest to be
paid into the city treasury. Shortly after this, one
Robert Wood desiring authority " to request the
charity of all persons in this province towards the re-
pairing of his damage by reason of his shallops being
taken by pirates," the Common Council decided
" that in regard of the many Taxes the inhabitants of
this City are Subject to Beyond any other partof this
Province, providing for the poor, Building & Support-
ing of ye Publick Wharfes, etc., it would be Unrea-
sonable to Injpower ye Petitioner (Especially Since
he is an Inhabitant of another Government) to Re-
quest the Charity of the Inhabitants by any Publick
Instrument of Writeing from the Mayor, for that ye
Same would be a very 111 pressident." In 1719, Bentley
Cooke was appointed the common corder of wood for
the city in accordance with an ordinance tlien passed
" for the Prevention of Carters buying Up & Ingrossing
for fire wood." An ordinance " for cording and meas-
uring fire wood" was also passed, and another " that
the common carters should receive for carting half
cord of wood seven pence half penny." Draymen
wei'e allowed for every pipe of wine carried, one shil-
ling ; rum, sugar, and molasses, ten pence per hogs-
head ; porters, eight pence per every pipe of wine, six
pence for every hogshead of rum, sugar, and molasses,
and for every one hundred bushels of salt six shillings
three pence.
In the matter of hauling by the carters there were
difiiculties, in consequence of the bad condition of the
streets, which were paved here and there by citizens
under encouragement of ordinance, leaving large in-
tervals where the original soil had not been interfered
with. The ordinance which was intended to regulate
the method of hauling articles through the streets by
carters and wagoners, prescribed the number of horses
to be used, and the width of wheels, — broad wheels
being considered better than those with narrow tires
in preventing the cutting up of road surface. It was
soon found, according to report to Common Council,
that it would be " Impracticable to bawl half a Cord
of wood with 2 Horses in ye Winter time, and there-
fore think it proper to allow the Carters to haul wood
with 3 Horses, provided they do not carry more than
half a cord, And in Drawing any other thing they
shall Comply with s'' Ordinance as also farther time
is Given them to Go with the Wheels they now Use,
viz.: till the twenty-fifth day of March, In the year
One Thousand and Seven Hundred and twenty-one,
in order to provid' Such Wheels as are Directed by
s'* ordinance."
The wharfage system was found to be a failure. The
income fell behind expectation, and it was resolved,
in May, 1720, that it would be of more advantage to
let the wharves out upon yearly rent. The mayor,
William Fishbourne, took the lease of Walnut and
Chestnut Street wharves for seven years, and Alder-
man Redman became the lessee of High Street wharf
for six pounds per year for the same term. The wharf
at the end of Chestnut Street was ordered to be repaired
in 1723. The rebuilding of the Mulberry Street wharf
led to application, to the regulators of the city, that
they would regulate Front Street southward as far as
occasion should require, there being necessity for dirt
to fill up the wharf.
2154
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
In 1725 measures were taken to finish a wharf at
the end of Sassafras or Race Street, and to repair the
street so as to make it passable. Arch Street and Race
Street wharves now being in order for occupancy, the
ordinance regulating the rates of wliarfage was re-
newed, and Richard Armitt was appointed wharfinger.
The High Street wharf was carried out sixty feet with
logs, and filled in.
The work on the Sassafras Street wharf was slow.
Sylvanus Smout had agreed to build it, but, being
taken sick, declined the business, whereupon John
Bater agreed to build a wharf six feet farther in the
river for twenty-five pounds. This happened in 1730.
In October, 1733, Peter Gaboon, wood-corder, got
into trouble, and it was ordered that he should be re-
moved from his position ; that a new ordinance should
be drawn up for the regulation of wood-corders, and
that a petty rate should be paid by importers of wood
for every cord landed in the city. Under this ordi-
nance wood-corders were appointed as follows :
'Tor High St wharf Kichard Pummer and Peter Calahoon fCahoon]
"For Mulberry st Wharf John Joiner
"For the Chestnut St wharf Walnut SI Wharf and the landing at tlie
Blue anchor Jeremiah Willis"
Peter Gaboon was forgiven for his previous conduct
at High Street wharf, but did not justify the liber-
ality shown. In 1739 he was removed by the Gouncil,
and John Joiner, wood corder at Mulberry Street
wharf, appointed in his place.
In January, 1748, John Ghurch and Thomas Stew-
art petitioned Common Gouncil, stating that they
were the owners of water-lots adjoining the south side
of Gedar Street, which they were about to improve
by building wharves. They conceived that it would
be an advantage to the city if a wharf was built at
the end of Cedar Street, and they proposed to con-
struct such a convenience at their own expense, if the
board would allow them the profit for thirty years.
A committee was appointed to make an examination
of the premises, and report. In 1753, nothing having
been done in the mean time, Church and Stewart
again presented proposals.
In May, 1748, the corporation entered into com-
prehensive leases of nearly all the public wharves on
the Delaware. There had been some complaint of
the mismanagement of the wood-corders who occu-
pied the city wharves, most of whom carried on the
business of receiving and selling fire-wood. Owen
Roberts and John Piekel applied for the privilege of
acting as wood-corders, and ofl'ered to give security
for their good behavior, and to pay a rent of fifty
pounds per annum on a lease of four years. The
amount was greater than the revenue from the
wharves previously. It was therefore determined
that Roberts & Pickle "be appointed the Wood Cord-
ers for this City, and be Empowered to receive & take
the Cordage, Wharfage, Fines & Forfeitures settled &
imposed by virtue of the Laws & Ordinances of this
Corporation for the Cording, Landing, or Lying of
Cord Wood, Boards, Planks, Timbers, or other Things
on the Several Wharffs." Under this lease was trans-
ferred to Roberts & Pickle the wharf at the end of
Vine Street, with the Penny Pot Landing adjoining
thereto ; also the wharves at Sassafras, Mulberry,
High, Chestnut, Walnut, and Spruce Streets, to-
gether with the landing-place at the foot of Dock
Street, thirty feet in breadth above and as much below
the Drawbridge. At the end of the lease to Roberts
& Pickle, John Hill became lessee of all the wharves
except "those at Dock Street for fifty pounds per year.
The latter were taken up by Benjamin Loxley. After
a year's experiment Hill threw up the lease. Thomas
Bourne succeeded him for a four years' term. Joseph
Allen, when Bourne's lease expired, offered to pay
ninety pounds per year, but upon inquiry discov-
ered that he had been too liberal. There was a com-
promise with him, by which a lease was extended
for one year at the rate of sixty-eight pounds. The
next tenant was John Kneass, who leased the wharves
for five years at seventy pounds per annum, the city
to keep them in repair. A new ordinance for regu-
lating the cording of wood was passed in 1760.
In 1763 a committee of Councils appointed to view
the public wharves made the following recommenda-
tion :
"The Slip at the North End of the Town to be regulated & some
Earth dug up at the End of the WharfT.
" The Dock at Arch St. to be dug out.
"The Slip at the Blue Anchor to be regulated and some Earth dug
out at the End of the Pier.
"A Pier to be carried out from Market St, Wharff about 28 or 30 feet
wide it about 50 feet long."
The public landings in the county of Philadelphia
were considered to be vested in the county commis-
sioners for the benefit of the public. By act of April
4, 1796, those ofiicers were directed to continue in
their jurisdiction over the landings, and that when-
ever the profits arising from them should authorize it,
to purchase new landings to be held in the same man-
ner. By act of March 6, 1819, the public wharves or
landing-places at the end of Coates Street, and at the
end of Callowhill Street, and " the public wharf or
landing place commonly called the Hay scale land-
ing" (at Noble Street), and a wharf or landing-place
south of and adjoining Callowhill Street, which before
that time had been held in trust by the commissioners
of the county, were vested in the commissioners of the
Northern Liberties. The Hay-scales landing was es-
tablished by authority of an act of Assembly of Feb.
20, 1768, under which the sum of two thousand pounds
was ordered to be raised by lottery for the " purchase
of a public landing nearly opposite the barracks," to
be held by the county commissioners in trust for the
public. The ground embraced in this purchase,
which was made in the same year, extended west of
Front Street. The portion of the ground beyond that
street was authorized to be sold by act of Assembly
passed in 1801. The money received was added to
the public landing fund. In 1828 representations
FERKIBS, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2155
were made on behalf of the inhabitants of the districts
of Kensington and Spring Garden and the inhabi-
tants of the unincorporated townsliips of Nortliern
Liberties and Penn who claimed a right to the ust>
and benefit of portions of the income of the Hay-scalos
landing, and also of the public wharf on the south
side of Callowhill Street. Under the act of Assem-
bly the Supreme Court was given authority to inquire
into the merits of these claims, and to do justice; and
if the decision should be against the Northern Liber-
ties, to appoint appraisers and auditors to ascertain the
value of the said landings, upon which the commis-
sioners of the Northern Liberties were to make com-
pensation to the other districts and townships. The
Supreme Court decided in 1834 that Kensington and
Spring Garden districts and Northern Liberties and
Penn townships had no right to those wharves or
either of them. The Callowhill Street landing, fifty
feet wide, was left open by the proprietaries. The
Coates Street landing had been dedicated of the width
of forty feet by William Coats and others, owners of
the soil, by deed, Nov. 28, 1771. The landing south
of Callowhill Street was purchased by the county
commissioners out of the public landing fund, under
an act of Assembly passed in 1796. This wharf was
bought in 1802 from the estate of John Harrison, and
was one hundred and twenty-five feet long and fifty
feet in depth, north and south.
The landing at Green Street was purchased by the
district of Northern Liberties, out of the landing fi.ind,
in 1826. It extended from the river sixty-five feet to
the east side of Oak Street, where the width was
sixty-five feet. Another lot over forty feet front and
one hundred and fifty feet deep, adjoining and ex-
tending to Fleet Street, was purchased at the same
time.
In 1848 a landing on the south side of Coates Street
was purchased from Michael McGill, and was eighty-
two feet eight and a half inches in front or breadth on
the east side of Oak Street and south side of Coates,
and extended of that width into the river Delaware.
Under the act of Sept. 29, 1787, the commissioners
appointed by the district of Southwark laid out Wharf
Street, " in order to a communication from wharf to
wharf between the stores erected by the owners of
water lots in Southwark and the heads of Docks here-
after to be formed for the accommodation of shijis."
Wharf Street was widened to fifty feet, under author- '
ity of an act of Assembly passed in 1807. Actually,
Wharf Street was a plan, and never an accomplished
fact. The projected line was out in the water, some dis-
tance from the wharf-line. It passed at the navy-yard
out into the deep water, and at Moore Street would
have been more than five squares east of Front Street.
On the eastern lines, north of Prime Street, Wharf
Street went past near the ends of the longest wharves,
and might have been useful. The purchase of the
United States Navy-Yard and the building of great
wharves there rendered it impossible to carry out this
plan. In 1854, when the district of Southwark was
consolidated in the city of Philadelphia, the public
landings of the district were at the end of Almond
Street, Davidson's Landing below, and at Catharine
and Queen Streets, the upper side of Christian Street
and the lower side of the same street, and at Prime
Street or Washington Avenue.
Shackamaxon Street landing, in the district of Ken-
sington, was bought by the county commissioners out
of the public landing fund in 1818.
Under Ihe act of Assembly of March 6, 1820, in-
corporating the Kensington District of the Northern
Liberties, there was a more liberal concession as to
the ownership of public landings than had been
granted to any municipal corporation other than the
city. Section 30 of that act said, " All public landing
places at the junction of any of the streets of the said
district with the river Delaware or otherwise which
are now or may hereafter be laid out, shall be and the
same are hereby vested in and the title thereto con-
firmed to the aforesaid board of commissioners and
their successors for the use and benefit of the inhab-
itants of the said district." The commissioners were
also given authority to appoint persons to measure
cord-wood and to fix the rates of tolls and wharfage.
By the act of incorporation of the district of Rich-
mond, Feb. 27, 1847, the landing-places at the junc-
tion of streets in that district with the river Delaware
were vested in the commissioners of the district.
By act of A.ssembly passed March 25, 1805, it was
recited that " the charter granted to the citizens of
Philadelphia by William Penn doth not grant to the
citizens the same right to occupy and use the ends of
the streets which extend to the river Schuylkill which
was granted on the river Delaware, and as such a
public benefit will now be highly useful to the inhab-
itants of the said city and to other citizens of this
commonwealth ;" therefore it was enacted that the
city corporation should have in the streets extending
to or into the Schuylkill River the same rights which
the corporation had to the east ends of the same streets
which extended to or into the river Delaware, that part
of the west end of High Street belonging to the bridge
company only excepted. The wardeus of the port of
Philadelphia were authorized to fix and determine
the extent to which the owner or owners of ground
extending into the Schuylkill, from the lower falls to
the junction with the river Delaware, might build
wharves.
The district of Spring Garden possessed no public
landing before the year 1880, at which time was passed
a law vesting in the commissioners " all that certain
landing on the river Schuylkill at the western ex-
tremity of Francis's Lane or Coates St. formerly laid
out by Tench Francis as a public landing ;" also an-
other landing in the Schuylkill, north of Coates Street,
and at " the southwestern extremity of a certain 83
feet wide road leading from the said river to the
Ridge turnpike road." This was called Schuylkill
2156
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Street landing. The commissioners of this district
obtained some other landings by purchase. Wood
Street landing was bought from Cadwalader Evans,
Dec. 1, 1829, under a ground-rent of $234.50. It was
sixty-seven feet wide, and extended from Williams
Street to the river Schuylkill. Fairmouut Street
landing was bought from Thomas Cadwalader, Henry
Nixon, and Henry J. Williams in September, 1831,
and was fifty feet wide, and extended into the river
Schuylkill. Another lot of fifty feet front and three
hundred and thirty feet in length, extending into the
river, was bought of Jacob Eidgway in 1838. Fair-
mount Street was formerly John Street, and extended
from Francis' Lane or Coates Street south into the
Schuylkill. It is now known as Twenty-fifth Street.
By act of Feb. 17, 1847, all public landing-places
at the junction of any streets iu the district of Penn
with the river Schuylkill, then or thereafter to be laid
out, were vested in the commissioners of the district.
Clarkson & Biddle's map, published in 1762, con-
tains the names of the owners of private wharves
along the city front, commencing at a point about
Noble Street and extending southward. The owners
were as follows :
Huston, about Noble Street.
Mower.
Clifton.
Allen & Salter, on a line with the south side of Margaretta Street (not
Shoemaker, south side of Callowhill Street.
HewlingB.
West, north of Vine Street, at Penny Pot House landing.
Mifflin, in a line parallel with Key's AIIey(not opened).
Goodman.'south of a line parallel with George's Alley (Coates).
Parrock, south side of Race Street.
Hiisell.
Hodges.
James.
Shoemaker.
Hoppg.
Wilkinson.
O'Kill.
Austin's Ferry, north side of Arch Street.
Warner, south side of Arch Street.
Old Ferry slip, Rawlo & Pell, Clifford.
Aspen & House.
Bickley.
Potts.
Hoopes, north side of Market Street.
Masters, south side of Market.
Henry.
Allen.
Lawrence.
Sims.
Crooked Billet.
Pembertou, north side of Chestnut.
King, south side of Chestnut.
Morris.
Flower.
Carpenter.
Meredith, north side of Walnut.
Fishbourne, south side of Walnut.
Dickinson.
Penrose.
Hamilton.
The Corpo
ation.
The Dock.
Stamper, so
uth sitle of the Dock
Powel, south Bide of Spruci
May & Allen.
Sims, opposite the end of Union Street (not opened).
Plumpsted, uorth side of Pine Street.
Khoades & Emlen, south side of Pine Street.
Edgar & Nixon.
Willing, on a line parallel with the north side of Lombard Street
(not then opened).
Moore.
Mifflin & Morton, north side of South or Cedar Street.
Church, south side of South or Cedar Street.
Hockley.
Macs (Mease).
T. Penrose, north of Almond.
PenroBe,V)Uth of Almond.
Allen.
Lewis.
Nieman (two wharves), north of Catharine,
Trotter, south side of Catharine Street.
Penrose, north side of Queen Street.
Keyuolds, south side of Queen Street.
Wharton, north side of Queen Street.
Dennis, opposite Swedes' Church.
Coates, north of Weccatoe Lane,
Just as land-stages were of the utmost importance
to intercourse and trade before railroads were estab-
lished, so were water-stages, which were numerous,
and contended with the land-stages for custom quite
successfully, when by navigation it was possible to
compete. Roads were rough, and during many sea-
sons of the year in bad order for traveling. But
rivers, and even the great ocean, were accessible by
easy methods when there were fair and favoring winds.
The water-stages were matters of continual interest.
In 1796 it was given out, " the New York Packet
boat starts from Arch St. wharf on every Sunday and
Wednesday and proceeds to Burlington or Borden-
town etc., from one of which places, one or more good
carriages start on the succeeding morning for South
amboy ; from which port a convenient packet will
sail for New York immediately after their arrieval."
The Baltimore packet set ofi" from the Crooked Billet
wharf, between High and Chestnut Streets, daily,
Saturday excepted, and proceeded to New Castle,
where a" carriage received passengers, and carried
them to Frenchtown, whence they proceeded by
water to Baltimore.
In 1803 the water-stages had increased consider-
ably. The New York packet sailed from the old
ferry on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Satur-
days. The Baltimore packet daily, from 3 South
Wharves, had a rival in a line twice a week from
Hamilton's wharf. The Burlington boat sailed every
day from the old ferry, and the Bordentown packet
from Smith's wharf twice a week. Wilmington re-
ceived its passengers from Beck's wharf every day ;
Sassafras River, from Hamilton's wharf, on Wednes-
days and Saturdays ; Apoquinimink, from Hamil-
ton's wharf, twice a week. The Boston packet was
ready to leave Chestnut Street wharf " as freight
oifers."
In 1814 the Alexandria, Apoquinimink, Baltimore,
Fredericksburg, Georgetown, Norfolk, Petersburg,
Richmond, Sassafras River, and Washington packets
sailed from Hamilton's wharf. The Union Line for
FERRIES, BRIDGES, PUBLIC LANDINGS, AND WHARVES.
2157
Baltimore also had its depot there. The same Union
Line's sailing-vessels left Market Street wharf. The
" Phoenix," the first steamboat on the New York line,
left the upper side of Market Street for Trenton, and
the "Philadelphia" and "Eagle" steamboats left the
wharf at the south side for the same place ; and there
was a steamboat from Bickley's wharf for New York.
The number of sailing-packets had been increased by
a line to Chester, from Wain's wharf; to Marcus
Hook, from Massey's wharf, below Market Street ; to
Wilmington, from^the same place. A line to Boston
from Chestnut Street, and td Savannah, Ga., and
Charleston, S. C, from Clifford's wharf, between
Market and Arch Streets, were also proofs of the in-
crease of commerce.
Packet ships belonging to Stephen Girard were
usually to be found at the wharves near his stores
above Market Street. They included the "Mon-
tesquieu," "Helvetius," " Voltaire," " Rousseau," and
others. In later years, Joseph Hand, who was an
extensive shipper, had the stores north of Market
Street, at which were moored his vessels, flying his
signal-flag, — a black hand in a red field. They were
bound for New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, and
other Southern ports. Clifford's wharf was north of
Stephen Girard's, and subsequently became the prop-
erty of the latter. Girard's dock ran up almost to the
line of his store-houses, at a distance above. Adjoining
the old ferry slip on the south, two stores, occupied by
Samuel Crawford & Elliston and John Perot, between
1800 and 1810, extended out upon their wharf far be-
yond the line of any other building in that square.
To get round it there was a narrow, dirty alley on the
south, a passage in front over the mud, near the end
of the wharf, and then another alley on the north,
from which access might be had to the old ferry alley
and old ferry slip.
Above Arch Street, adjoining Austin's ferry slip
and ferry house, there was no passage. The red
stores, a block of frame buildings, stood out almost
to the wharfs edge, leaving considerable space between
them and the houses and stores fronting on Water
Street. They were quite conspicuous on the river
front until they were destroyed by fire, an occasion
also memorable. The wharf and stores of Henry
Pratt, of Lemon Hill, were just below Race Street.
Between Race and Vine Streets, the passage in front,
along the wharves, in 1800, was tolerably straight.
North of Vine Street access was cut oflT entirely,
about halfway up, by Taylor's dock, which ran in to
the extreme edge of Stewart & Knight's board-yard.
It was impossible to pass directly along the wharves
from Vine to Callowhill Street at this time.
South of Market Street the passage by the wharf
was good to the Crooked Billet dock, near which a
block-maker's shop extended out from the line of the
adjoining buildings almost to the river. By passage
around it, turning eastward, a store in the middle of
the wharf was encountered, and was also called " the
red store." It might have been as deep in color, but
it was not near as large as the red store between
Arch and Race Streets.^ From the first wharf below
the Crooked Billet, about 1805, a line of packets for
New York sailed regularly. It was established by D.
and P. L'Hommedicu, of New York.
From Chestnut Street to Walnut Street the passage
was straight along the wharves, although somewhat
narrow, in 1810. India wharf occupied the width
from the south side of Tun Alley to the second alley
below ; it was the harbor for the East Indiamen.
Robert Morris, of Rovolutionary memory, had his
store-house there. It was occupied also by Peter
Whitesides in 1789, and John Wilcox in 1795. The
India stores were large, and the wharf was one hun-
dred and seventy-five feet front. The store of Jacob
S. Wain was adjoining the India stores. ThLs wharf
was for many years a most famous one for the recep-
tion, loading, and unloading of ships engaged in the
China and East India trade. Below the India wharf,
and extending one hundred and sixty feet to Walnut
Street, was Cope's wharf. It was established by
Thomas C. Cope about 1815, and became in time the
great shipping wharf for his line of Liverpool packet-
ships, among which were the " Lancaster," " Alex-
ander," " Algonquin," " Monongahela," and " Mon-
tezuma," which were but small vessels, but were
succeeded by much more splendid craft, the " Tusca-
rora," "Alleghany," " Saranak," "Wyoming," "Ton-
awanda," and " Thomas P. Cope."
The buildings from Walnut to Spruce Street, front-
ing on Water, were built on a regular line toward the
river, and it was always a clear and easy passage.
Morris' stores, below Walnut, were the property of
persons originally belonging to a family of brewers
of that name. Hamilton's wharf was the first one
north of Drawbridge landing.
Spruce Street wharf was from early time the resort
of the oystermen, and the vicinity was always lively
with the fleet of oyster-boats moored there and the
active trading which was going on. Citizens went
there to buy their oysters by the hundred, and they
were opened into the tin butter-kettles which were
meant to receive them. Hotel and restaurant keepers
were frequently present, and there was always some-
thing going on which was of interest. South of the
1 " Bitter" (Ftailadelpbia merchant) says, " The most remarkable feat-
ure in this square was the famous 'Crooked Billet,' deriving its name
from several crooked pieces of wood transversely arranged and designat-
ing the tavern at the head of the duck kept by Edward Byrne in 1799.
There was a deep cut into the wharf intercepting the straight course of
the wharf or passage, leaving a very narrow pass to and from the tavern
above, and the wharf proper below; while a blockmaker's-shop at the
corner of the narrow pass ever impeded or delayed the wayfarer as he
would pass onward. The passage in itself around this corner up the
north side of the dock to the alley, and again down the south side to the
tavern and the wharf proper, was a dangerous route even in daylight,
but much more so at uight; and the life of one of our valuable citizens,
Mr. Isaac Jones, paid the penally of an adventure here after nightfall,
Dec. 2, 1807, in his sixty-fourth year. It was a dingy dismal spot and a
complete man-(rap, for several others were drowned in their ignorance
of the interruption of the line."
2158
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Spruce Street oyster-wharf was Wain's wharf, which
stretched out into the Delaware to a considerahle dis-
tance, and for years was occupied by the vessels of
the Wains in the London and East India trades.
An extensive, broad dock, immediately below, was
guarded at each corner by a small brick store, belong-
ing to Levi Hollingsworth. Vessels could be loaded
or unloaded at these structures with great conveniencci
and the merchandise guarded from the weather. The
Hollingsworths were in the flour business. The wharf
of Joseph Sims was near Pine Street, in front of his
two stores, and was quite extensive, and in its time
the seat of an extensive trade.
East of Water Street, at Pine Street, Penn Street
was opened, nearer to Front Street than to Water
Street. The houses extended from Penn Street much
farther toward the Delaware than on the north side
of Pine Street. Lombard Street was not opened
through until late in the present century, but there
was a small passage opposite called Lombard Alley.
Below Pine and north of Lombard were the stores of
Thomas Willing and Willing & Francis, with the
wharf in front. It was the seat of a very large busi-
ness before the Revolution and afterward. Passing
around Willing's wharf, at Lombard Alley, a second
street opened between Penn Street and the river ; it
was called Little Water Street. After the passenger
got around the store of Jacob Girard Koch, the way
was straight to South Street.
CHAPTER LIV.
TRANSPORTATION.
Eoads— Stage-Coaches— SteamboatB— Eailroads— City Passenger Kail-
ways.
Roads and Stages.— Neither the Dutch nor the
Swedes were road-builders, — they were hardly path-
finders,— the water being their only medium of con-
veyance. " The Swedes used boats. The roads were
mere paths through the woods made by the Indians."'
The Delaware River afforded communication with the
settlements along its banks, and was likewise the high-
way of the vessels that brought supplies and colonists
from Europe. The settlements spread along its bor-
ders, extending but a very short distance back into
the country, the river being the great and only thor-
oughfare, on the waters of which all transportation
was carried. With the colonists under Penn the era
of road-building began. The "horse-way" is first
spoken of, where the pack-horse with sacks, wallets,
and baskets or panniers, was the mode of transporta-
tion, and surrounded with jioultry, pork, butter, flax,
and followed by calves and sheep would bring to mar-
1 Martin's History of Chester.
ket the products of the early settlers. The same mode
of transportation many years later carried into the in-
terior the necessaries of life which were purchased in
the town. " Five hundred pack-horses had been seen
at one time in Carlisle, going thence to Shippensburg,
Fort London, and farther westward, loaded with mer-
chandise, also salt, iron, etc. The pack-horses used
to carry bars of iron on their backs, crooked over and
around their bodies, barrels or kegs were hung on each
side. . . . The pack-horses were generally led in divi-
sions of- twelve or fifteen horses, carrying about two
hundredweight each, all going single file, and being
managed by two men, one going before as the leader
and the other at the tail to see after the safety of the
packs. Where the bridle-road passed along declivities
or over hills, the path was in some places washed out
so deep that the packs or burdens came in contact with
the ground or other impeding obstacles, and were fre-
quently displaced. However, as the carriers usually
traveled in companies, the packs were soon adjusted
and no great delay occasioned. The pack-horses were
generally furnished with bells, which were kept from
ringing during the day, but were left loose at night,
when the horses were set free and permitted to feed
and browse. When wagons were first introduced the
carriers considered that mode of transportation an in-
vasion of their rights; their indignation was more
excited, and they manifested greater rancor than did
the regular teamsters when the line of single teams
was started some thirty years ago."^
Day, in his " Historical Collections," says that
"Mercersburg, in Franklin County, was in early days
an important point for trade with Indians and settlers
on the Western frontier. It was no uncommon event
to see there fifty or one hundred pack-horses in a
row, taking on their loads of salt, iron, and other
commodities for the Monongaliela country. The iron
made in the Juniata Valley was first conveyed to the
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets in this expen-
sive way." Edward Howland, in Harper's Monthly,
says that in 1784 the cost of transportation by pack-
horses from Philadelphia to Erie was two hundred
and forty-nine dollars a ton, and in 1789 the crank
for the first saw-mill in Ohio was carried by pack-
horses over the mountains to the Youghiogheny River,
and thence shipped by water to its destination on
Wolf Creek, sixteen miles from Marietta. The crank
weighed one hundred and eighty pounds, and was
made in New Haven, Conn., for the New England
Ohio Company. The first heav)' hauling was done in
winter on the snow in sleds, and wagons came gradu-
ally into use only as the roads improved. The Con-
estoga wagon, Rupp says, was first used in 1760. In
course of time, or rather in the course of the improve-
ment of roads, these huge vehicles, drawn by six,
eight, or more horses, superseded the pack-horse, and
became the principal mode of transportation. In 1792
' Rupp's History of Cumberland County, published in 1S4S.
TRANSPORTATION.
2159
the turnpike from Philadelphia to Lancaster was com-
menced by a private company, and was finished in
1794 at a cost of four hundred and sixty-five thousand
dollars, and was the first stone turnpike in the Union.
The dates at which the turnpikes from Philadelphia
were commenced are as follows : Philadelphia and Lan-
caster, 1792; Gormantown and Perkiomen, 1801 ; Chel-
tenham and Willow Grove, 1803; Chestnut Hill and
Spring House, 1804; Philadelphia, Bristol and Mor-
risville, 1804; Philadelphia, Brandy wine and New
London, 1810; Periiomen and Reading, 1811 ; Ridge,
1812; Spring House and Bethlehem, 1814.
The transportation of mails and passengers was un-
known among the earliest settlers, because, perhaps,
there were neither mails nor passengers ; letters were
carried by travelers or traders, or by messengers
specially intrusted with them. It was not until popu-
lation had widened and extended from the river banks
that any regular conveyance of letters was necessary.
The weekly post-routes between Philadelphia, Ches-
ter, New Castle, and other settlements, established
by William Penn in 1683, are the commencement of
the public mail facilities of Philadelphia. A line
of "stage-wagons" between Burlington, N. J., and
Amboy is mentioned in Davis' " History of Bucks
County" as having commenced in 1732, and it was
probably the first public conveyance of passengers.
This line of " stage-wagons" connected at the Amboy
end with New York by water, and with Philadelphia
by the same from the Burlington end. These wagons
made but one trip a week, and had no springs, which
were not invented until 1787. In 1752 this line car-
ried passengers twice a week.
In that year (1752) the following notice, which was
published in Bradford's paper, gave a clear idea of
the method of traveling between Philadelphia and
New York, a transit which in those times occupied
three days :
" This ia to give notice to all persona that shall have occasion of
transporting themselves, goods, wares, or merchandise, from Phila-
delphia to New York, or from the latter to the fuimer, that by Joseph
Borden, Jan., there is a stage-boat, well-fitted and kept for that pur-
pose, and, if wind and weather will permit, will attend at the Crooked
Billet wharf in Philadelphia every Tuesday in every week, and proceed
up to Bordentown on Wednesday. On Thursday morning a stage-
wagon, with a good awning, kept by Joseph Richards, will be ready to
receive them and proceed directly to John Cluck's, opposite the city of
Perth Amboy, who keeps a house of good entertainment. On Fridiiy
morning a stage-boat, weil-fitted and kept by Daniel Obryant, will be
ready to receive them and proceed directly to New York, and give her
attendance at tljo White Hall slip, near the Half-Moon Battery, If
people be ready at the stage days and places, 'tis believed they may
pass the quickest thirty or forty hours, the cheapest and safest way
that has yet been made use of, if due attendance be given by us, the
subscribers, which we shall endeavor to do as near as possible. All
people living on or near the road may have business, by letters or
otherwise. Due care shall be taken in the delivery of letters or verbal
messages, &c., by us. "Joseph Borden, Jun.,
"Joseph Richards,
"Daniel Obryant.
"All passengers or goods that shall come to Bordentown on Sunday or
Monday in every or any week, by any Trenton shallop. White Hill
shallop, or Bordentown shallop, or boats, or in any other whatsoever
whose wagon-hire shall amount to 16s. or upwards, shall, upon firet
notice, have a wagon, and be tniusported to the above John Cluck's,
opposite Amboy , where, if the stage-boat be not ready to receive them,
(but it's intended she shall,) it must be allowed they have a greater
chance for dispatch of any other place whatsoever — for all the Bruns-
wick, the place above Brunswick, called 'Ihe Landing,' and all the
river boats, must pass that place, in whom people may have passages.
"Joseph Richards.
"N. B. — For the future, attendance will be given at the Crooked
Billet wharf in Philadelphia every Friday and Saturday, and proceed
to Bordentown on Sunday and Monday. The stage-wagon will set out
for Amboy, passengers or not."
In "Poor Richard's Almanac" for 1753 is an ad-
vertisement of the same line, in which it is said, " If
people be ready at the stage days and places 'tis be-
lieved that they may pass quicker by twenty-four
hours than by any other way, as our land carriage is
ten miles shorter than by way of Burlington, and our
wagon does not fail to go through in a day."
In 1757, Reuben Fitz Randolph gave notice that he
drove the Philadelphia and New York stage-wagon by
way of the Blazing Star, in New Jersey, starting from
White Hall slip, in New York, every Tuesday and
Friday, carrying goods and passengers in boats to the
Blazing Star, from which a good stage-wagon, kept by
Isaac Fitz Randolph, set out every Wednesday and
Saturday for New Brunswick, where another stage-
wagon, kept by Francis Hollman, set out every Mon-
day and Thursday for Trenton. Thence another
wagon, kept by Humphrey Mount, set out every
Tuesday and Friday direct to the sign of the George,
which was at the southwest corner of Second and
Arch Streets, in Philadelphia, where the stage arrived
some time during the afternoon of Friday. This was
in the winter, and made the time of passage between
the two cities more than three days.
In 1757 stages went from John Butler's, at tlie sign
of the Death of the Fox, in Strawberry Alley, to
Nathaniel Parker's, at Trenton Ferry, who conveyed
passengers and goods across the Delaware River to
George Moschel's, in Trenton. Francis Hollman
then carried them in a stage through Princeton and
New Brunswick to the house of Obadiah Aeries, at
Perth Amboy, whence boats, sailed by John Thompson,
carried passengers to New York. This trip occupied
three days. In the same year Joseph Richards set
up a line to New York, which went to Isaac Doles' ;
thence, through Staten Island (load or no load), to
John Watson's, Mrs. Duckett's, and Mrs. Vantile's.
In 1759 a stage-line was set up to New York, start-
ing from Daniel Cooper's Ferry, opposite Philadelphia,
and traveling (by the way of Mount Holly) through
Monmouth County to Sandy Hook, thence to Middle-
town, and thence, by the bay and Kill von Kull, to
New York. Another line, in 1762, went to Borden-
town by stage-boat, and thence by wagon across New-
Jersey. In 1766 great improvement was made by
decreasing the time occupied in transit between the
two cities.
John Barnhill set up a stage-wagon, which he
called " The Flying-Machine," which went to New
York in two days. The performance of this wonder-
fully swift coach was exceeded in 1771, when the
2160
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
passage was made (between the 1st of May and the 1st
of September) to New York in a day and a half.
One Abraham Skillman contested with Barnhill as to
which should make the quickest time, and Charles
Bessonet, of Bristol, in 1772 set up another flying-
machine, which proceeded to New York by the way
of Princeton.
The stages to Baltimore went by way of boat to New
Castle, and across the country to the head of the Elk
Eiver, from which water conveyance was taken, partly
by way of Chesapeake Bay, to Baltimore. In 1757 a
line was first set up between Philadelphia and An-
napolis, Md., by John Hughes & Co. Stage-boats
left Floyd's Wharf, Philadelphia, and sailed down to
a point opposite Reedy Island, at Cornelius Carty's,
where a wagon attended and proceeded to Frederick-
town, from which a stage-boat went to Annapolis.
The Eev. Andrew Burnaby, who traveled through
North America in 1759 and 1760, left Annapolis on
the 13th of June, 1759, for Fredericktown, upon the
Sassafras River, in a schooner, and was greatly pleased
with the scenery of the bay and with "innumerable
porpoises playing about the bows of the ship." At
Fredericktown he hired an Italian chaise, with a ser-
vant and horse, to attend him as far as Philadelphia.
They went to New Castle, which is thirty-two miles,
and thence, by the way of Wilmington, Chester, and
Darby, to Philadelphia, ferrying across the Schuylkill
about three miles below Philadelphia, probably at
Penrose Ferry.
Between Philadelphia and the West there were no
means of passage except such as were specially ob-
tained by the persons who intended to travel. In
1766, Matthew Clarkson, merchant, of Philadelphia,
left the city on a journey to the Mississippi, and
kept a diary of the events connected with his journey.
He set out on horseback, with a servant, August 6th.
On the first day he met wagons loaded with skins
coming from the West, and overtook others " loaded
with pork going for the King's use to Fort Pitt."
He lodged at The Ship, thirty-five miles from Phila-
delphia.
"The next day, (August 7,) dined at The Duke of Cumberland, and
reached Lancaster in the evening. On the 8th crossed the Susquehanna
at Wright's ferry and reached York. On the 9Ih crossed Conewaga
creek, and arrived at Carlisle, where he rested till the 12th, when he re-
sumed his journey with a stronger horse, dined at Shippensburg and
lodged seven miles further on. On the 13lh, at the Burnt Cabins, he
overtook thirly-two horse loads of flour on the way to Fort Pitt, and
mentions cattle going in the same direction and 'skins' coming east-
ward. 'This day's journey [Ihirty-four miles] has been extremely tedi-
ous and fatiguing; the road, except the first ten miles, was nothing but
hills, mountains, and stones, until you pass the Burnt Cabins, when it
is tolerable, but hilly.'
" Aug. nth.— From Litllefon to breakfast at the foot of Sideling hill ;
dined at the crossing of the Juniata ; lodged at Bedford. Here he
stopped for a day, and purchased an interest in five tracts of land in
Cumberland valley, Danning's creek, and Woodcock valley, mostly in
the vicinity of Bedford, coutaining in all eighteen hundred acres, for
one-half of which he paid £90 (S240).
" Aug. 16.— At the foot of the Alleghanies he found an encampment
of Indians, under the command of Captain Green, who were engaged
in gathering and drying whortleberries. Lodged at Stony creek. Next
day dined at Ligonier, and lodged at the Twelve-mile run.
"18th. — To Brushy run, Turtle creek, and reached Fort Pitt just after
dark."
"Thus he got ' through in ten days,' without counting stoppages.
" When he reached Fort Pitt he says, ' I was stored away in a small
crib, on blankets, In company with fleas and bugs.' He took a walk to
'the ship-yard ; found four boats finished and in the water, and three
more on the stocks ; business going on briskly.'"
The fort was under the command of Maj. Murray,
who gave Mr. Clarkson his lodging in the barracks,
but on account of the miserable condition of accom-
modations for boarding, he usually made his meals on
bread asd milk " at the store. The other officers of
the garrison were Capt. Belneavis, Lieuts. McCoy,
Mcintosh, C. and G. Grant, and Hall. Dr. Murdock
and Rev. Mr. McOleggan, chaplains, preached alter-
nately in Erse [Scotch] and English."
Philadelphia STAGE -WAGGON, and New- York
STAGE BOAT performs their Stages twice a Week.
JOHN BUTLER, with his wag-
^ gon, iets out on Mondays from his Houfe, at the Sign
of the Death of the Fox, in Strawberry ally, and drives the
fame day to Trenton Ferry, when Francis Holnian meets
him and proceeds on Tuefday to Erunfwick, and the paf-
fengers and goods being fliirted into the waggon of Ifaac
Fitzrandolph he takes them to the New Blazing Star to
]acob Ficz'randolph's the fame day, -where Rubin Fitzran-
dolph, with a boat well futed, will receive them, and
take- them to New-York that night. John Butler return-
ing to Philadelphia on Tuefday -uith the paffengcrs and
goods delivered to him. by Francis Holmin, will again fee
out for Trenton Ferry on Thurfday, and Francis Holman,
&c will carry his palTengers and goods, -with the fame ex-
pedition as above to New-York- Tcctf.
The first stage-coach which ran directly between
Philadelphia and New York was put on by John But-
ler in 1756, and ran in three days from city to-city,
crossing the Delaware by means of a ferry-boat from
Morrisville to Trenton. Before John Butler and his
stage-coach between the two great cities in 1738, con-
veyance to New York was had by passengers going
to Trenton by boat or private conveyance at separate
expense. The line to New York was then by stage
from Trenton to Brunswick twice a week. From the
latter place water communication was again neces-
sary. The proprietors were William Atlee and Thomas
Hootin. The fare between New Brunswick and Tren-
ton was two shillings sixpence. This was an experi-
ment during a few months. The line was discon-
tinued on the approach of cold weather. It was not
revived in 1739. In 1740, Atlee & Yates, encouraged,
as they said, by the success of the experiment of 1738,
set up another line between Trenton and New Bruns-
wick, running twice a week. Passengers were charged
two shillings sixpence by the stage; merchants' goods
TRANSPORTATION.
2161
two sbillinga per hundred. In 1740, William Meghee
established a stage-wagon, running once a week, be-
tween Bordentown and Amboy Ferry, " to go twice a
week, when there is occasion, if the passengers p.ay
what is reasonable iu their case." In 1796 four daily
stages ran from Philadelphia to New York, a daily
.stage to Baltimore, and once or twice a week to Lan-
caster, Bethlehem, Wilmington, Dover, Harrisburg,
Reading and Easton.
Before 1786 all correspondence with Pittsburgh was
conveyed by travelers or special messengers, but in
that year an order was issued by the government to
establish a post from Philadelphia ; in 1790 the postage
on the route was only one hundred and ten dollars and
ninety-nine cents. A line of stages was established
between Philadelphia and Lancaster by Frederick
ShaefFer in 1784, which took three days for the round
trip. A two-horse coach between Reading and Phila-
delphia was started in 1789, taking two days to make
the passage through. A weekly stage commenced to
run between Philadelphia and Easton in 1796. The
following description of the traveling in those days is
from the American Annual Register, Jan. 19, 1797:
"The Roads from Philadelphia to Baltimore exhibit,
for the greater part of the way, an aspect of savage
desolation. Chasms to the depth of six, eight, or ten
feet occur at numerous intervals. A stage coach
which left Philadelphia on the 5th of February, 1796,
took five days to go to Baltimore. The weather for
the first four days was good. The roads are in a fear-
ful condition. Coaches are overturned, passengers
killed, and horses destroyed by the overwork put upon
them. In winter sometimes no stage sets out for two
weeks."
Upon Scull & Heap's map, 1750, are marked the
ferries. There is a house at Greenwich Point. The
Lower Ferry on the Schuylkill is Gray's ; the Middle
Ferry, Gardiner's ; the Upper, Scull's ; the ferry be-
low the Falls, at the ford, near the present Laurel
Hill, Garrigues'. There is a ferry-house also marked
just above the Wissahickon, where the river was
crossed by a ford. Upon this map the roads leading
south are as follows : From Front Street, continued to
the Point House ; Moyamensing road, running in an
irregular direction ; from Second Street, continued
and bending to the southwest, and stopping at the
boundary line of Moyamensing and Passyunk ; Pas-
syunk road, running south and bending west, and
reaching the Schuylkill near the site of the present
gas-works. From this road another one struck off as
far as the estate of Brock. It was eventually
continued to Penrose Ferry. Sober's Lane, or Long
Lane, commenced at Cedar Street, near the intersec-
tion of Schuylkill Sixth [Seventeenth] Street, and ran
southwest, intersecting Passyunk road not far from
the Schuylkill. The road to the Lower (Gray's) Ferry
ran from Cedar Street, at Schuylkill Front [Twenty-
second], to the ferry, precisely as at present. There
was a road intersecting most of these running in a
northwesterly direction, commencing on the Moya-
mensing road, near Dam creek, below Cox's house,
and extending over to the road to the Lower Ferry,
near Kinsey's place, on the west side of the Schuyl-
kill. The road to Chester, by way of the Lower Ferry
and the Bell Inn, was intereected near the latter by
the road to Province Island. The road now called
the West Chester ran in a direction somewhat crooked,
but nearly west. Near the ferry the Lancaster road
intersected the other, and extended in a northwest
direction. The Haverford road, which commenced
at the Upper (Scull's) Ferry and ran northwest-
wardly, was cut by the Lancaster road. From Gar-
rigues' Ferry a road inclining northwest ran into the
Lancaster road below the Merion Meeting. A road
extended from the Lancaster road, running northeast,
and crossed the Schuylkill above the Wissahickon
creek, where it ran into the road bearing the same
name. The Wissahickon road ran from Ninth and
Vine Streets in a northwesterly direction. The Ger-
mantown road ran from Second Street, above the
sugar-house. The road to Frankford, a continuation
of Second Street, ran nearly in its present direction.
The Point-no-Point, or Richmond road, extended
near the Delaware, as at present. There were cross-
roads and connecting roads between these, which
made communication somewhat convenient. But
many means of travel were afterward necessarily
opened. The distances from the city are given upon
this map as follows :
Point Road.
Miles. Furlongs.
To Poole bridge 0 5
" Lynn's 1 6
" Ball's 2 4
" Warner's 3 0
" Oldman's S 0
" Hopkin's 6 4
" Logan's 5 6
" Parr's 6 0
Road to Feankford.
To lane to Ross and Molan's 3 0
" Frankford House 5 0
" Meeting .1 4
" Dr. Moore's 7 6
" Oxford Church 8 6
Road to Germantown.
To Norris' (Fair Hill) 2 6
" Fair Hill Meeting 3 2
" Rising Sun 4 0
" Stenton 5 5
" Germantown Meeting 6 3^
" Calvinislic Church 6 6%
" W.Allen's 8 6
Wissahickon Road.
To Garrigues' Ferry 4 6
" Robeson's 6 Ofi
" Levering's 7 6J.4
Lancaster Boad.
To Coultas' (Middle Ferry) 1 7
" Merion Meeting 7 3
" Scull's Ferry (Upper) 2 7
" Wilcox's ; 7 0
" Lower Ferry 4 5
■' Marshall's mill 6 6
" Darby 7 7
RoAn to Greenwich.
To Point House 5 2
MOTAMENSING ROAD.
To Turner's (Wilton) 3 1
Passyunk Road.
To Peniberton's 1 7
" Passyunk 4 0
2162
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The most important bridge in tlie neighborhood
of the city was that which crossed the Cohoquenoque
[Pegg's Run] near the house of one Poole, a ship-
builder. It was constructed of stone, and Mr. Watson
says that " its erection was a matter beyond the skill
of our city masons." It was built by Israel Roberts,
who was sent for to Maryland for the purpose of
building it. It changed slightly the course of Front
Street, which had run west of the present site at
Willow Street, and crossed it by a low wooden bridge.
Poole's bridge was for many years a noted landmark.
Before the Revolution there were only three roads
by which passage northward could be had from the
city of Philadelphia. One was by way of Front
Street, passing to Frankford, and so to New York.
Another was by the road to Germantown, and still
another by the Ridge road to the valley of the Schuyl-
kill. In summer the route to New York was gener-
ally by stage-boat to Burlington or Bordentown, and
thence across New Jersey, by stage to Amboy, and
then by boat to New York. What is now in the
built-up parts of the city called the Old York road
is actually the new New York road, and it was opened
after the Revolution. It runs into the old stage route,
or Front Street road, at some distance from the city.
The old road to Baltimore was by the Darby road to
Chester, and so on. What is called the Baltimore
pike was laid out after the Revolution. The usual
route to Baltimore in spring, summer, and fall was by
stage-boat to New Castle, thence by stage over the
peninsula to Elk River, and thence by boat to Balti-
more. Washington, when he came to Philadelphia,
on his way to New York, after he was elected Presi-
dent, came up the road leading through Chester and
Darby, and crossed at Gray's Ferry floating bridge.
His route to New York was by Front Street to Frank-
ford, etc. The route of the traveler in 1773 from
Philadelphia to Harris' Ferry, now Harrisburg, would
have been, from Philadelphia to Schuylkill, two
miles ; Black Horse, four miles ; Prince of Wales,
one mile; Buck, one mile; Sorrel Horse, one mile;
Plough, one mile; Unicorn, three miles; Blue Ball,
four miles; Admiral Warren, three miles; White
Horse, three miles ; Downing's, seven miles ; The
Ship, two miles; The Wagon, six miles; Miller's, six
miles ; Douglass', three miles ; The Hat, four miles ;
Duke of Cumberland, three miles; Red Lion, three
miles; Conestoga Creek, four miles ; Lancaster Court-
house, two miles; Scott's, nine miles; Bayley's, five
miles; Hugh's, four miles; Sample's, three miles;
Swatara, three miles; Taylor's, three miles; Harris'
Ferr}', eight miles. The above is an itinerary in an
almanac for 1766. The traveler might go also from
Philadelphia to Reading, where he had choice of two
roads. The road from Reading to Lancaster was dif-
ferent from that from Reading to Harris' Ferry.
The road to Lancaster was not very different from
that of the turnpike, which was mainly constructed
on the old King's road to Lancaster.
Charles William Jansen, who resided in America
from 1793 to 1806, thus describes in his book, " The
Stranger in America," a journey from New York to
Philadelphia:
" Having been safely ferried over to Paulue' Hook — a miserable place
Bnpported by travellere, all tlie New York stages and horses for pro-
ceeding with being kept there — we saw a number of horses with wag-
gons, yoked, ready to depart, and groups of passengers assembled,
forming a truly curious scene. I now mounted for the first time an
American stage — literally a kind of light wagon, . . . The vehicle,
which is of the same construction throughout the country, is calculated
to hold twislve persons, who all sit on benches placed across, with their
faces toward the horses. The front seat also holds three, one of whom
is the driver; and as there are no doors at the sides, the passengers get
in over the front wheels and take their seats as they enter. The first
of course get seats behind the rest. This is the most esteemed seat,
because you can rest your shaken frame against the back part of the
wagon. Women are therefore generally indulged with it; and it is
often laughable to see them crawling to their seats. If they happen
to be late they have to straddle over the men who are seated further in
front. . . . Stumps of trees, left uprooted for Time to consume, yet im-
pede your progress even in the much frequented road between the two
largest cities in the United States. Several miles immediately before
you enter Trenton the road is so bad in some places that the driver,
with whom I chose to sit, told me his horses stalled — that is, they were
fur some time unable to drag the wagon over the worst places. He also
said that the road had not been repaired within his memory; and he
did not cease cursing and swearing until we entered Trenton late in the
day, a distance of sixty-six miles."
Mr. Jansen further remarks that he set off from
Trenton at six o'clock the next morning, and arrived
iu this city at the Franklin Head, on North Second
Street, at two in the afternoon. The average rate of
charge was not quite fourpence per (English) mile.
Until the year 1802 the stages that set out from Phil-
adelphia did not go farther south than to Petersburg,
Va., which is about three hundred miles from Phil-
adelphia ; but in the month of March in that year a
new line of " correspondence" was formed between
the latter city and Charleston. The journey was about
a fortnight, the distance about fifteen hundred miles,
and the fare fifty piastres. There were stages also
between Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, as well
as between Charleston and Savannah, in Georgia, so
that " from Boston to Savannah ... a person may
travel by stages." Michaux in 1802 went from Phil-
adelphia to Pittsburgh. He reached Shippensburg by
way of Lancaster, York, and Carlisle, and remarked :
"Shippensburg, about one hundred and forty miles
from Philadelphia, is the furthest place that stages
go to upon that road. A person must either travel
the remainder of the road to Pittsburgh on foot, or
purchase horses."
Samuel Breck, who visited the city of Washington
in 1809, says that he went with his brother George
"in his tandem, accompanied by a groom." They
left the city at ten o'clock in the morning, dined at
Chester, and supped and lodged in Newport, Del.,
from which they set off the next morning after
breakfast, passed through Elkton, dined at Charles-
town, and supped and lodged at Havre de Grace.
The next day they dined at the Red Lion, thirteen
miles from Baltimore, where they lodged at the Indian
Queen, kept by John Gadsby, a hotel so capacious
TRANSPORTATION.
2163
that Mr. Breck could not refrain from mentioniug
that it accommodated two hundred lodgers, that the
table was laid for thirty-six people, that the bed-
chambers all had single beds, and that the servants
were more attentive than in any public or private
house that he ever knew. When they left Baltimore
they dined about fourteen miles from the city, and
slept at Bladensburg, and did not reach Washington
until some time on the morning of the next day.
The traveling time occupied by this journey was
four days.
In 1810, Samuel Breck went to Boston in a hackney-
coach drawn by four horses. His wife, daughter, and
maid-servant were of the party. They reached Tren-
ton by night, where they slept. On the second day
they dined at Brunswick, and slept at Elizabethtown.
They arrived in New York before dinner the ne.xt
day. After walking around the city, they left New
York at noon of the 24th, and slept at Rye. Next
day they dined at Stamford, and slept at Stratford.
IlLD .STAGE-COACH.
On the succeeding day they dined eight miles beyond
New Haven, and slept at Berlin. The day following
they breakfasted at Hartford, and slept at a tavern
near Ashford. The seventh day of the journey brought
them to Thompson's tavern for dinner, and they slept
at Merriam. On the 29th of July they dined at Ded-
ham, and arrived at Boston before sundown. Deduct-
ing the twenty-four hours spent in the city of New
York, this journey from Philadelphia to Boston oc-
cupied seven days. Blr. Breck says " it was one of the
most pleasant rides imaginable. The roads are turn-
piked all the way, and of the seven ferries that a trav-
eler was obliged formerly to pass, there remains now
but that at Paulus Hook, which can never be bridged.
The roads are not only extremely improved, but they
are shortened thirty-six miles between Philadelphia
and Boston." Mr. Breck " returned to Sweet Briar on
the 15th of August, after an absence of twenty-six
days on a delightful journey of six hundred miles
going and returning, . . . meeting with exceeding
good inns. . . . The expense of this journey was about
five hundred dollars."
John Palmer, who went from Philadelphia to Bal-
timore in 1817, says, — •
"After dinner we proceeded on board the steamboat ' JEtna,' part or
wholly owned by the above-named ex-King [Joseph Bonaparte]. Having
never been in a steamboat, I was much pleased with its size, beauty,
convenience, and swiftness — going six miles an hour against the tide.
. . The boat was full of passengers for Baltimore. I observed that an
amazing quantity of trunks and portmanteaus were used by American
travelers, and oven by people going on short visits. I think we had two
wagon-loads on board, and not h box among them. The people on board
appeared almost invariably genteel in their dress and manners. The
reason for this is, I conceive, that equality which reigns among Ameri-
cans, no distinction Iteing made — all having the same cabin to sit in and
the same table to dine at. The passenger who aspires to be thought
respectable, knowing the rule, spruces himself up accordingly."
Henry Bradshaw thus relates his tribulations, on
reaching the steamboat wharf in Philadelphia, on ac-
count of the business anxiety of the porters and hack-
men :
" When our host arrived we were inundated with porters, the greater
part of whom were blacks, The rest were Irish. They had tin plates
on their hats or breasts, upon which were written their names and resi-
dences. I, for the tirst time, allowed my trunk to go out of my eight.
In England, among strange portere, I would have been more particular,
but here such things are done without hesitation. I should not suppose
that tliis proceeded from any peculiar feelings of national honor, nor from
a general spirit of integrity. The real cause lies, I rather think, in the
simple fact that any man may obtain work, and, when it is completed,
he will be liberally paid. The inducements to dishonesty are thus less-
ened at their true source."
In "The Crosby Family" are given the experiences
of Nathan Crosby, in 1818 :
"After spending a few weeks with my brother Asa, I made a trip to
I'hiladelphia, — by stage to Bristol, and thence by boat. There were three
grades of coaches on the line, at different prices, — three, four, and five
dollars. There were a dozen or more of them running together. Of
course, being a member of college, I entered the highest-priced coach,
expecting to go forward and to be treated with especial respect and favor.
But I soon found out that the coaches ran for luck, outstripping each
other, and trying to escape each other's dust as best they could. I found,
too, that my companions were dashing young chaps and flashy people,
while the four-dollar coaches were filled with solid-looking business
men , so when I returned I took another grade. It took two days to get
from New York to Philadelphia; but I stopped over a day to attend
commencement at Princeton, where a little balloon was sent up in the
evening, to the great admiration of everybody, and much to my surprise.
I had learned in New York that our nineponce was a shilling there, and
that a half-penny was sixpence; but when I came to pay for a dinner in
New York, and was required to pay ' two levies, a fi'peny bit, and two
cents,' I did not know what the fellow meant. So I gave him half a
dollar, and by the change returned I ciphered out the value attached to
the names. Tlie York shilling had become an elevenpence, and the six-
pence a fivepence, with fractions."
James Flint said, in 1822, —
" On the morning of the 20tb of September I went to the coach office
in Philadelphia to take my seat. Such is the number of travelers that
I found it necessary to take out a ticket two days previously. The
mail-coach is a large, clumsy vehicle, carrying twelve passengers. It is
greatly incumbered by largo bags, which are enormously swollen by
the hulk of newspapers. .\s a substitute for glass windows, a large roll
of leather is letdown on each side in bad weather."
The Duke of Saxe- Weimar, who was in Philadel-
phia in 1825-26, and who came from New York, says
that when he left the steamboat " Thistle," at New
Brunswick, — •
" eight stages were already waiting for us, having each four horses, and
the passengers were so numerous that each stage carried from eight to
nine persons. We had hardly time to have our baggage packed, and
consequently could see nothing of the neighborhood. We continued
our journey through New Brunswick — apparently a busy and well-
built place— thirty miles by land to Trenton, on the Delaware. The
road led through a hilly country, but carefully turnpiked, several pits
being filled up to make the road even. This road is formed somewhat
according to the manner of German turnpikes, of small beaten stones,
with side-roads and ditches. The neighborhood is mostly woody con-
sisting of chestnuts and oaks. The forest has been regularly cleared of
2164
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
undergrowth, and has a cleanly appearance. In places where the wood
has been felled the land is well cultivated with corn and fruit trees.
Most of the good-looking houses we passed were provided with cider-
presses. About four o'clock p.m. we arrived at Trenton, and immedi-
ately embarked in the steamboat * Philadelphia.' . . . The banks of the
Delaware are hilly, well-cultivated, and covered with elegant country-
seats and villages. The neighborhood and the breadth of the river re-
minded me of the river Main, near Frankfort. Unfortunately we could
not enjoy this handsome landscape, because as soon as we arrived on
board we sat down to dinner, and afterward it became dark."
Stages to Long Branch were advertised in the
Philadelphia papers of 1800 by Samuel Gordon and
Samuel Coward, the route being from Philadelphia
to Trenton, thence, by way of Allentown and Mon-
mouth Court-House, to Long Branch. In 1802, Sam-
uel Gordon and Henry Alley ran the Long Branch
coaches on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at six cents
per mile. In 1806 the increase of travel to Long
Branch induced the running of coaches from Thomas
Anderson's Sorrel Horse Tavern, on Second Street,
above Market, on Mondays and Thursdays. The
route to Long Branch changed, in 1811, in conse-
quence of the use of steamboats. The daily line
started from Burlington upon the arrival of the
steamboat " Phrenix."
The first through line of coaches from Philadelphia
to Pittsburgh was established in August, 1804, the
time occupied in making the journey one way being
seven days. The route lay through Lancaster, Harris-
burg, Carlisle, Shippensburg, Bedford, Somerset, and
Greensburg. A daily line between Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh was established in 1828, the price of passage
being from eighteen to twenty-two dollars. The open-
ing of the main line of State improvements, in 1834,
diverted travel from the stage line, but as the canals
were frozen over in the winter, recourse was then
necessary to the stages, and they were not wholly dis-
pensed with until the opening of the Pennsylvania
Eailroad, in 1832.
The roads immediately around the city were in a
very bad condition at the beginning of the century.
The Gerraantown road, in 1801, was pronounced by
the Philadelphia Gazette to be " the worst in the
United States." There were numerous accidents upon
it by the stoppage of wagons, spraining of horses,
breaking of wheels and axles, and other injuries occa-
sioned by the deep mud through which passage was
required to be made. This condition of the road
forced the Germantown people to seek the city either
by way of Frankford, or to make their way, fox-
hunting fashion, " across country," pulling down
fences and invading the property of owners of land
adjoining the road. In that year the Germantown
turnpike was incorporated, and various other "pikes"
established, as already stated. In those days of bad
roads, families of wealth did not go out of town in
summer, as at present; watering-places, summer re-
sorts, and country hotels were not known until after
the war of 1812. Country-seats at short distances in
the suburbs were owned by many families, to which
their city friends made frequent, sometimes trouble-
some, and often unwelcome visitations.^
The earliest mention of water transportation, other
than that by large sea-going vessels, is made by Thomas
Budd in his "Account of Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey," published in 1685, where he says that "after
great rains we may bring down great quantities of
goods in flat-bottomed boats, built for that purpose,
which will then come down by reason of the floods
with great speed." The removal of obstructions to
the navigation of the Schuylkill was agitated through
the Gazette in 1760. In consequence of this a petition
was presented to the Assembly to appoint proper
persons to view the river, estimate the expense, and
receive subscriptions for carrying on the work. The
House appointed Messrs. Potts, Pawling, Bird, Wain,
Roberts, and Davis commissioners to examine the
condition of the river, and to estimate the expense of
making it navigable from Reading to Philadelphia.
This committee reported in September that they had
viewed the river from Palmer's saw-mill, near the
lower falls, to Reading. If the fishing-dams were
removed and the loose stones at certain points were
also taken away, so as to throw the water into that
part of the channel which was cleared for navigation,
it was believed that the Schuylkill might be made
navigable for flat-bottomed boats and other craft of a
proper construction and of considerable burthen ; and
that the removal of the rocks at the falls near Read-
ing and below Morris' mill might be effected for three
thousand pounds, so as to render the river navigable
through the greatest part of the year for rafts, timber,
boards, scantling, and to boats even of the burthen of
four thousand pounds' weight. The application to the
Assembly for the sanctioning of measures necessary
for rendering the Schuylkill navigable was again
renewed at a later period. In furtherance of this
important object a law was passed on the 14th of
March, 1761. Messrs. Joseph Fox, John Hughes,
Samuel Rhoads, John Potts, William Palmer, David
Davis, Mordecai Moore, Henry Pawling, James Coul-
tas, Jonathan Coates, Joseph Millard, William Bird,
Francis Parvin, Benjamin Lightfoot, and Isaac Levan
were appointed commissioners " for clearing, scouring,
^ John Binns, in his "Recollections," gives a somewhat humorous
statement of the disadvantage of this fashion. He says, "In the years
1814-15 I had a summer residence — a very neat establishment — distant
about three miles from the city on the upper Harrowgate lane. I gen-
erally went out every afternoon, and came to the city every morning.
I was in the country all day on Sunday. I had about five acres of land.
It was a very handsome house, with balconies all around it. I had no
conception of the many friends — ladies and gentlemen — I had until I
purchased that place. We pass over weekdays and come to Sunday,
which, if it did not pour rain, was always with us a gala day. There
was tea and coffee, and wine and other liquors suitable for the palates
of ladies and gentlemen who had taken the trouble to go so far to taste
their flavor, and to do honor to the host and hostess and their amiiible
family. In a word, the house and garden were so well frequented, and
the fare so highly relished, that the host and hostess, after a trial of
two seasons, sold their country seat for five hundred dollars less than
they gave for it, and were ever after content to live in the city, and
give their visiting friends no further trouble."
TRANSPORTATION.
2165
and rendering the Schuylkill navigable." They were
empowered to receive all moneys already subscribed for '
that purpose, and to collect more. They were granted
authority to clear, scour, open, enlarge, straighten, or
deepen the said river, and to cut, blow up, remove,
and take away all trees, rocks, beds of gravel, mud,
sand, fishing-weirs, dams, baskets, pounds, stones, or
other impediments, and to make dams and pens for
locks or other suitable works, and to make towing-
paths for hauling boats, rafts, or other small craft.
The merchants of the city petitioned the House in
relation to the navigation of the Delaware River in
winter. Upon account of the ice there were frequent
losses from the want of a place of safety for ships
between the capes and Philadelphia. As the mer-
chants paid the excise, upon which there was a surplus
of money over the amount for which the impost was
laid, they asked that the extra sum should be appro-
priated to the erection of piers in some part of the
river for the protection of vessels from ice. The Gov-
ernor approved of this request, and the petition and
bill were sent back to the House, which agreed to
allow of a rider to that effect to be annexed to the
bill to sell the provincial ship of war.
Steamboats. — The use of steamboats in travel and
transportation supplanted that of stages along all
routes which steamboats connected. The location of
Philadelphia upon the broad waters of the Delaware
made the steamboats popular at an early day. The
first boat ever moved liy steam upon the Delaware
River — and, indeed, there is cause for belief, anywhere
in the world — was a small skiff, which was propelled by
means of a small steam-engine. It was built by John
Fitch, and was first tried July 20, 1786.' Fitch was a
native of Connecticut, born on the 2Ist of January,
1743 (old style). The son of a farmer, he received a
limited education, and was apprenticed to learn the
business of clock- and watch-making. He afterward
engaged in the manufacture of potash without suc-
cess, and after his failure in that business removed
to Trenton, N. J., where he secured profitable employ-
ment as a silversmith. As armorer to the State of
New Jersey, he was engaged in preparing guns and
other weapons for the troops during the early part of
the Revolutionary war ; but on the approach of the
British, in 1776, he removed to Bucks County, Pa.,,
and for a short time attempted to carry on his busi-
ness there. He afterwards became a sutler, and sup-
plied the American troops at Valley Forge with goods
and provisions. The profits of this business were
invested in Virginia land-warrants, and in order to
locate these he visited in 1780 the country now in-
cluded in the State of Kentucky. Having learned
something of surveying in his early boyhood, he ob-
tained an appointment as assistant surveyor from the
^ The application of steam to tiie propulsion of boats waa tlie Bubject
of conversation, as early as 1776, between Mr. Henry, of Lancaster, Pa.,
and Andrew Ellicott, and the former laid a drawing of a steamboat be-
fore the Philosophical Society.
State of Virginia, and after some dangerous adven-
tures, succeeded in locating his warrants in Jefferson,
Nelson, Lincoln, and Fayette Counties. Believing
that this section of the country was destined to de-
velop rapidly, he raised all the.funds he could, and
made another trip to Kentucky in 1781. But while
descending the Ohio in the spring of 1782, he and his
companions were captured liy Indians near the mouth
of the Muskingum, and handed over to the British.
Fitch was sent to New York, where he arrived on
Christmas day, 1782.
Having been released, he went to Bucks County,
and was employed by a company formed for the pur-
pose of surveying and taking up lands in Ohio. Re-
turning to the Ohio River he surveyed eighty-four
thousand acres from the Hockhockiug up to Wheel-
ing Island and back into the woods, and in the spring
of 1785 made surveys of the Hockhocking and Mus-
kingum Rivers, covering two hundred and fifty thou-
sand acres. Upon returning to Pennsylvania he
applied for a situation as surveyor under the United
States, and while awaiting the result of his applica-
tion at his home in Bucks County, engraved a map
of the country through which he had traveled, which
he printed on a press that he made for the purpose.
While thus employed the idea of the steamboat oc-
curred to him. In April, 1785, having been passed
while walking along the road by a vehicle drawn by
a fine horse, the thought suggested itself whether
some other means of locomotion on land might not
be invented. He had noticed the expansive power
of steam, but was ignorant at the time of the exist-
ence of the steam-engine. At first he set to work to
invent a vehicle that might be propelled by steam on
land, but in consequence of the roughness of the
roads and the difiiculties which have not been over-
come even yet, in the way of constructing such a
machine, he abandoned the attempt. It occurred to
him, however, that, as water offered less resistance to
the propelling power, steam might be applied with
more success to boats. Accordingly he prepared a
model with brass machinery and wooden paddle-
wheels, of the pattern used on side-wheel steamboats,
which was tried on a small stream on Joseph Long-
streth's farm, in Southampton township, Bucks Co.
In August, 1785, he brought his model to Philadel-
phia and exhibited it to Dr. John Ewing, provost of
the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Samuel Smith,
provost of Princeton College, and William C. Hous-
ton, formerly a member of Congress for New Jersey,
who gave him letters in which they expressed their
belief in the practicability of applying steam as the
motive power for vessels. With these certificates Fitch
went to New York, where, on the 29th of August,
1785, he laid a petition before Congress for aid to
complete his invention on the ground that it would
facilitate the internal navigation of the United States
and was "adapted especially to the waters of the
Mississippi." This petition was referred to a com-
2166
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
mittee, which does not seem to have thought it worth
while to make a report upon it. Fitch then applied
to the Spanish minister, who was not unwilling to
extend some aid, provided the invention was secured
exclusively to his ki^ig. To this condition, however,
Fitch would not consent.
In September, 1785, he laid a model of his steam-
boat, which was fitted with paddles at the sides
moving on an endless chain, before the American
Philosophical Society. Soon afterward — in the fall
of 1785 — Fitch again set out for Kentucky, but stopped
at Richmond in order to petition the Virginia Legis-
lature for assistance to complete his invention. No
FITCH'S FIRST STEAMBOAT.
formal report was made in the Legislature, but Fitch
executed a bond to Patrick Henr}-, Governor of Vir-
ginia, pledging himself, if he sold one thousand copies
of his map of the western country in Virginia at 6s.
8(1. each, that he would in nine months thereafter ex-
hibit a steamboat in the waters of Virginia or forfeit
the penalty of three hundred and fifty pounds. As
the sales of the map were very small, the contract was
never fulfilled. Returning to Philadelphia, Fitch
applied to the Pennsylvania Legislature for assistance,
and soon afterward made a similar appeal to the
Maryland Legislature, but neither body responded
favorably. An attempt to induce the State of New
Jersey to appropriate one thousand pounds of loan
certificates for the construction of a steamboat also
failed. Shortly afterward, however, the New Jersey
Legislature passed a law giving to John Fitch for
fourteen years the exclusive right of making and
using all and every species of boats or water craft
which might be urged or propelled by the force of fire
or steam in the waters of the State. Armed with
these franchises. Fitch returned to Philadelphia and
succeeded in forming a company with stock divided
into forty shares, of which Fitch was to have twenty
for his invention and services in conducting the ex-
periments. The original subscribers were Samuel
Vaughn, Richard Wells, Benjamin W. Morris, John
Morris, Joseph Budd, John and Cliamless Hart,
Thomas Say, Magnus Miller, Gideon Hill Wells,
Thomas Palmer, Thomas Hutchins, Richard Wells,
Jr., John Strother, Israel Israel, William Reubel,
and Edward Brooks, Jr., each of whom had one share ;
Richard Stockton, of Princeton, three shares; and
Benjamin Say, two shares. Stacy Potts, of Trenton,
was an early member of the company, but soon with-
drew.
In constructing the steam-engine the assistance of
Henry Voight, a Philadelphia clock- and watch-
maker, was secured, and shares in the company were
made over to him, until, in 1787, he had received five
of them for his services. The subscribers generally
paid in twenty dollars on their shares, and with this
small fund the experiments were commenced. The
model of a steam-engine was made, but proved to be
too small to accomplish anything, and another model,
with a three-inch cylinder, was constructed, and placed
in a small skiff. Trials were made on the Delaware
about the 20th of July, 1786, with " a screw of pad-
dles," a screw propeller, the endless chain and side-
wheels, without much success. That night Fitch
thought of a plan for propelling the boat by means of
oars or paddles at the sides, to be moved by cranks
worked by machinery. The plan was approved by
Voight, who suggested some modifications, and the
apparatus was constructed and applied to the skiff
containing the steam-engine. The experiment was
successful, " and the first boat successfully propelled
by steam in America was moved in the Delaware on
the 27th of July, 1786, with flattering promises of the
future usefulness of the invention."' Fitch and his
associates were so well pleased with the success of the
experiment that they determined to attempt the con-
struction of a steamboat for practical use. The origi-
nal subscriptions were now exhausted, and the share-
holders were slow in responding to the appeal for
additional contributions. Fitch persuaded a commit-
tee of the Assembly to report in September in favor
of loaning him one hundred and fifty pounds, but the
House, by a vote of twenty-eight to thirty-two, re.
fused to make the appropriation. Application was
also made to Gen. Mifflin without success, and the
project began to lose ground. The State of Delaware
confirmed Fitch's right to the invention ; but the
general impression seemed to be that the idea was
chimerical and not likely to produce any substantial
results. In February, 1787, however, a new agree-
ment was signed by the shareholders, and additional
sums advanced. It was decided that the engine for
the proposed steamboat should be of twelve-inch cyl-
inder, and that the vessel itself should be forty-five
feet in length and twelve feet beam. The engine was
completed in May, 1787, but "the wooden caps" to
the cylinder admitted air and the piston was leaky.
It was necessary to take out all the works to the
foundation and set them up again, but when this was
done the condensation proved to be imperfect. New
condensers and other machinery were provided, and a
speed of three or four miles an hour was attained.
Owing to the deficient character of the workman-
1 TLompsoQ Weatcott, "Life of John Fitch."
TKANSPORTATION.
2167
ship, the mechanics being ordinary blacksmiths, the
machinery was very imperfect, and Fitch was harassed
by repeated failures and accidents.
On the 22d of August, 1787, the boat, forty-five
feet long, was propelled on the Delaware in the pres-
ence of nearly all the members of the convention
who framed the Federal Constitution, and certificates
as to the success of the experiment were given by
Governor Randolph and Dr. Johnson, of Virginia ;
David Rittenhouse, the astronomer ;' Dr. John Ewing,
of the University ~of Pennsylvania; and Andrew El-
licott, professor at the Episcopal Academy. Fitch
was not satisfied with the rate of progress attained,
and decided that more power must be applied. Ac-
cordingly, a new cylinder, of eighteen inches diame-
ter, was cast in New Jersey ; but, proving defective,
was broken up. At this stage of his invention. Fitch
was disturbed by a report that James Rumsey, of
Berkeley County, Va., who had obtained legislative
acts in 1784 and 1785 protecting appliances for pro-
pelling a boat against a rapid stream, had invented a
steamboat. He at once applied to the Virginia Leg-
islature for the passage of a law confirming his claim
to the invention of the steamboat. Three members
of the Virginia Legislature who had seen Rumsey's
boat tried at Bath, in 1784, testified that it was not a
steamboat, nor in any way moved by steam. The
boat was fitted up with paddle-wheels at the sides,
but these wheels, when the bow of the boat was
placed so as to stem the current, revolved with the
stream, giving motion to certain setting-poles or
pushes, which, bearing against the bottom of shallow
rivers, pushed the boat up the stream, working faster
as the current became stronger. This was the kind
of boat for which Rumsey had obtained special laws,
and the committee of the Legislature of Virginia,
satisfied that this invention was not a steamboat,
recommended the passage of a law to encourage the
rights of Fitch, which was accordingly passed Nov.
7, 1787, with the condition that, unless Fitch should
have in use within three years boats or craft navigated
by steam, the grant should become void. Fitch next
repaired to New York, where, about the beginning of
March, 1788, he presented a petition to the Continen-
tal Congress for assistance, wherein he set forth the
great importance of steamboats, especially in western
waters, in developing the resources of the country,
and increasing the value of the public lands. The
report of the committee of Congress was favorable.
1 " This may certify that the subscriber has frequently seen Mr. Fitch's
steamboat, which, with great labor and perseverance, he has at length
completed ; and has likewise been on board when the boat was worked
against both wind and tide, with considerable velocity, by the force of
steam only. Mr. Fitch's merits in constructing a good steam-engine,
and applying it to so useful a purpose, will no doubt meet with the en-
couragement he so richly deserves from the generosity of his country-
men, especially those who wish to promote every improvement of the
useful arts in America.
"Paa'id Kitte.\ house.
" P]iILADEl.PHi«, Dec. 12, 1787."
but no action was taken on it in consequence of the
limited powers possessed by that body under the Con-
federation.
During Fitch's absence Rumsey had made his ap-
pearance in Philadelphia, claiming to be the inventor
of the steamboat. He had built a steamboat on the
plan suggested by Franklin of sucking in water at
the bow and discharging it at the stern, which was
tried at Shepherdstown, on the Potomac, Sept. 3 and
11, 1787, more than a year after Fitch's steam-skiff
had been tested on the Delaware, and more than
three months after the steamboat had been propelled
on the same river in the presence of members of the
Federal Convention. Rumsey, while not claiming
that his pole-boat was a steamboat, asserted that he
had projected a steamboat in 1784, the construction
of which was commenced in the summer of 1785, the
machinery being finished and on board by December
of that year. The ice coming on, however, the works
had been taken out and the experiment postponed.
In support of these assertions Rumsey relied on the
evidence of Charles Morrow, his brother-in-law and
partner in the enterprise, Joseph Barnes, another
brother-in-law, also interested in the invention, and
two others. Rumsey and Fitch both published
pamphlets in support of their respective claims, and
Fitch's statements were replied to by Barnes, the
agent of Rumsey. Fitch alleged that Rumsey had
attempted to deceive the public by publishing the
certificates in favor of his pole-boat as having been
given for the steamboat which he claimed to have
constructed, and produced a number of witnesses,
neighbors of Rumsey, who testified that they had
seen his experiments with the pole-boat in 1784, 1785,
and 1786, at the time he said he was trying the steam-
boat, but had never seen or heard of Rumsey's plan
for a steamboat until the spring of 1786. They as-
serted, also, that Rumsey's steamboat was not in op-
eration until December, 1787. Incidentally it was
shown by Fitch that Rumsey had made no opposition
when he (Fitch), in August, 1785, applied to Con-
gress, and subsequently petitioned the Legislatures of
difierent Stales — among them Virginia, Rumsey's own
State — for aid in the application of steam as a motive
power. A society, however, was formed in Philadel-
phia, under the name of the Rumseian Society, which
bought Rumsey's rights, and sought to secure the re-
peal of the laws passed in favor of Fitch in Pennsyl-
vania, Viigiuia, New Jersey, and New York, but
failed in every instance. Fitch and his associates
were much embarrassed by the controversy, but per-
severed in their efibrts to solve the problem of steam
transportation. After the old eighteen-inch cylinder
had been broken up it was determined to put the old
machinery in a new boat of better proportions. A
boat of eight feet beam and sixty feet in length was
accordingly constructed, and the position of the oars
or paddles was changed, being placed at the stern in-
stead of at the side and pushed against the water.
2168
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
After various delays the machinery was made to work
satisfactorily, and in July, 1788, the steamboat set out
for Burlington. On reaching the wharf at the latter
place the boiler sprung a leak, and the boat, which
had become unmanageable, drifted back to Philadel-
phia with the tide.
Shortly afterward, however, the trip to Burlington
and back was made successfully, being repeated sev-
eral times during the season without any accident.
On the 12th of October, with thirty passengers on
board, the boat made the voyage to Burlington, a
distance of twenty miles, in three hours and ten
minutes, against a tide which set at the rate of two
miles an hour. On the 16th of the same month Dr.
John Ewing, Robert Patterson, Andrew EUicott,
John Smilie, David Redick, James Hutchinson,
Timothy Matlack, Charles Pettit, Jonathan B. Smith,
David Rittenhouse, and Capt. John Heart (of the
United States army) were on board, and they certified
that "the boat went at least four miles an hour."
FITCH'S STEAHBOAT.
But neither Fitch nor his company was satisfied with
this rate of speed. To render the vessel profitable
against the competition of sailing-packets and land-
stages it was deemed necessary that she should be
able to make the distance to Trenton, thirty-eight
miles, in five hours. The sum of sixteen hundred
pounds had been spent in the enterprise, but an aux-
iliary company was formed, under certain conditions,
with forty new shares at ten pounds each. The mem-
bers of this new association were Dr. William Thorn-
ton, Isaac W. Morris, Samuel Wetherill, Jr., Richard
Hill Morris, Hon. James Wilson, Capt. John Heart,
Wood Lloyd, Francis White, Stacy Potts, and Robert
Scott. A new cylinder of eighteen inches in diameter
was ordered in March, 1789, and an entirely new
steam-engine built. The boat, thus provided with
new machinery, made several trips, but defects in the
machinery interfered with the complete success of the
invention, and the experimenters were still further
disheartened by the partial destruction of the vessel
by fire. Large sums were spent, and Fitch, reduced
to poverty, was the object of general ridicule as an
enthusiast and visionary. In the spring of 1790 the
machinery was tried again, and a successful trip
made during a severe northeast storm. On the 11th
of May the boat went to Burlington against a strong
head-wind, the tide in its favor, in three hours and a
quarter, and on the 16th of June Gen. Thomas Mifflin
(president) and the other memoers of the Executive
Council took a trip in Fitch's boat. They were so
much pleased with the results that they presented the
boat with a set of flags. An accurate measurement
taken at dead-water showed that the steamboat trav-
eled at the rate of eight miles an hour. On the 14th
of June, 1790, " the steamboat" was advertised as
" ready to take passengers from Arch Street ferry
every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for Burling-
ton, Bristol, Bordentown, and Trenton, to return on
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Price for pas-
sengers, 2s. 6rf. to Burlington and Bristol ; 3s. 9rf. to
Bordentown ; 5s. to Trenton." Between that time
and September 12th the Philadelphia newspapers
contained no less than twenty-three advertisements,
stating the times of twenty-one trips. Some of these
were to Chester, to Wilmington, and round the
Schuylkill to Gray's and the Middle Ferries. Dur-
ing the summer and fall the steamboat is estimated
to have traveled nearly three thousand miles.
According to Fitch's journal, no accident occurred
that could not be repaired in an hour or two. On one
of the trips the boat traveled ninety miles in twelve
and a half hours, an average of seven and a half
miles.' The success of this boat induced the com-
pany to undertake the construction of a larger one, to
be called the " Perseverance." It was to have been
finished in time to send it with the other to Virginia,
in order to comply with the terms of Fitch's privi-
leges, which were important, as they involved the
right of navigation of the Ohio. Owing to the luke-
warmness of some members of the company, how-
ever, the work progressed very slowly, and when the
boat was nearly finished, a violent storm detached her
from her moorings and blew her ashore on Petty's
Island. Before she could be got ofi' the Virginia law
had expired, and on the approach of winter work was
abandoned. Fitch's weary struggle was now nearly
ended. His company had become tired of the pro-
ject, and, although he secured some additional sub-
scriptions by interesting his friends in a project for
the navigation of the Mississippi, his resources were
soon exhausted by the failures and discouragements
which still attended his efforts to construct a satis-
factory steam-engine. He endeavored, without suc-
cess, to raise money on his lands in Kentucky. In a
letter to David Rittenhouse, dated June 29, 1792, he
begged an advance of fifty pounds to finish the boat,
1 In 1807, Fulton's boat, the "Clermont," only made four miles and
three-quarters an hour on the Hudson. In 1811, Fulton offered Dr.
Thornton, one of Fitch's associates, one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars if he could construct a boat that would make six miles an hour.
Thornton was willing to undertake it, but Fulton declined to reduce his
proposition to writing.
TRANSPOETATION.
2169
and with faith in his invention still strong in him,
said, " This, sir, whether I bring it to perfection or
not, will be the mode of crossing the Atlantic, in time,
for packets and armed vessels." But those who had
assisted him were not disposed to risk anything more
in the venture, and all his efforts to raise additional
funds having failed. Fitch was reduced to a miserable
state of penury and want.'
Fitch was granted a patent for the steamboat on
the 23d of April, 1791. In October, 1792, he sealed
up the account he' had written of his life and inven-
tion, with the request that the manuscripts should not
be oi)eued until the year 1823. At this time he con-
templated suicide, but gave over that idea for the
time being in order to visit France, under a contract
with Aaron Vail, United States consul at L'Orient,
who had intended to introduce the steamboat in
France and other European countries. The French
revolution, however, put a stop to this project, and,
after a short stay. Fitch returned to the United States,
working his passage in a vessel bound to Boston,
where he landed in 1794. After remaining some time
with his sister in Connecticut, he went to New York
City, where, in 1796, under the j^atronage of Chancellor
Livingston, he moved a yawl by steam with a screw
propeller on the Collect Pond. He then went to
Kentucky, where he found his land in the possession
of intruders, and became involved in a series of vexa-
tious lawsuits. At last, in June or July, 1798, utterly
disheartened and worn out, he committed suicide.'
During the summer of the previous year (1797),
however, a steamboat was again seen moving on the
Delaware, in front of the port of Philadelphia. This
machine was built near Bordentown by Samuel
Morey, of Connecticut. He was aided by Dr. Bur-
gess Allison, of Bordentown, who had been a mem-
ber of Rumsey's Steamboat Company. This boat was
propelled by paddle-wheels at the sides, in the modern
fashion. It was exhibited for some time at the
wharves of the city, and differed in no material prin-
ciple from the boats afterward built by Fulton. Morey
1 " Often have I seen him," said Thomas P. Cope many years after-
ward, " stalking about like a troubled spectre, with downcast eyes and
lowering counteuance, his coarse, soiled linen peeping through the
elbows of a tattered garment." Speaking of a visit he once paid to John
Wilson, his boat-builder, and Peter Brown, his blacksmith, in which, as
usual, he decanted on his favorite theme, Mr. Cope says, "After in-
dulging himself for some time in this never-failing topic of deep excite-
ment, he concluded with these memorable words: 'Well, gentlemen,
although I shall not live to see the time, you will, when steamboats will
be preferred to all other means of conveyance, and especially for passen-
gers; and they will be particularly useful in the navigation of the river
Mississippi.' He then retired, on which Brown, turning to Wilson, ex-
claimed, in a tone of deep sympathy, ' Poor fellow I What a pity he is
crazy V "
2 " A subsequent generation," says Thompson Westcott, " gave to
Bobert Fulton the fame and credit due to Fitch, although it is a matter
of fact that Fulton obtained from Aaron Vail, in France, all of Fitch's
papers, plans, and drawings. This waa lamentably carrying out the
foreboding prediction of Fitch, made in his lifetime: 'The day will
come when some more potent man will get fame and riches /rom my in-
vention, but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do anything
worthy of attention.' "
began to experiment in steamboats in 1790, on the
Connecticut River, and afterward tried experiments at
New York. In 1794 he propelled his boat by steam
from Hartford to New York, by a wheel at the stern,
at the rate of five miles an hour. On one occasion
it went from the ferry at New York to Greenwich,
with Chancellor Livingston, Judge Livingston, Ed-
ward Livingston, and John Stevens on board. Want
of funds prevented the boat exhibited at Philadelphia
from being brought into public use.
In 1804, Oliver Evans, whose improvement of the
steam-engine has placed his name high among the
mechanical celebrities of his day, constructed a ma-
chine for cleaning docks at his shop in the vicinity of
Broad and Market Streets, placed wheels under it,
connecting them with the engine, propelled it to the
Schuylkill, there attached a stern paddle-wheel,
launched the affair, and by steam proceeded down
that river to the Delaware, and up as far as Dunks'
ferry (now Beverly), sixteen miles, and returned to
the city without accident or detention. The next
steamboat that appeared on the Delaware was the
"Phoenix," with cross-head engine, built at Hoboken
by John C. Stevens in 1807. She was the first steam-
boat that navigated the Atlantic Ocean. (Before his
boat was finished Fulton had procured special legis-
lation and secured a monopoly of the New York
waters.) The navigation of the Delaware being free,
his son, Robert L. Stevens, conceived the idea of
taking her round by sea, which he did successfully.
She commenced regular trips to Bordentown in 1809,
in charge of Capt. Moses Rodgers. New York passen-
gers were taken by stage from Bordentown to Wash-
ington, N. J., thence to New York by boat. She con-
tinued on this route until 1813, when she was laid
ashore at Trenton and torn up. A steamboat called
the " New Jersey" was placed on the river during the
summer of 1812, making regular trips to Whitehill, a
landing two miles below Bordentown. What was the
name of her captain, where she was built, or who
owned her, we are unable to say. The " Eagle,"
built at Kensington by Capt. Rodgers, formerly of
the " Phoenix," was placed on the Burlington route
June, 1818, making three trips a week. She was
taken to Baltimore at a subsequent period, and was
blown up on April 24, 1824, while running on Chesa-
peake Bay.
As early as 1774, a line of sailing packets, now
known as Bush's Daily Steam Freight Line, was es-
tablished between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del.
Three steam propellers are now engaged in this trade.
The line is owned by George W. Bush & Sous, with
office at Pier No. 2 South Delaware Avenue. An-
other packet line between Philadelphia and Wil-
mington was established in 1776, and is now known
as Warner's Philadelphia and Wilmington Propeller
Line. The office is on the first wharf below Chestnut
Street.
The Ericsson Line of steam propellers, between
2170
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Philadelphia and Baltimore, by way of the Chesapeake
and Delaware Canal, was chartered on Feb. 25, 1844,
as the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Com-
pany. A line of steamboats was run over the route by
private firms for several years before the formation of
the present company. From the two steamers with
which the present company began business, its suc-
cess has authorized the increase to five large iron
steamers. The office is at 28 South Delaware Ave-
nue, and from Pier 3 South Delaware Avenue, as well
as from Pier 7 North Delaware Avenue, freight and
passengers are received.
The foreign lines of steamers and sailing-vessels
from the port of Philadelphia are the Red Star Line
and the American Line.
The Red Star Line organized in 1871 to run a line
of steamers between Philadelphia and Antwerp. The
line began with two steamers, to which a third has
been added. The agents of the line are Peter Wright
& Sons, 307 Walnut Street.
The American Steamship Line was also organized
in 1871, with a capital of $2,500,000. It built four
steamers of three thousand tons each. The "Penn-
sylvania," launched August, 1872, made her first trip
in May, 1873 ; and was followed by the " Ohio," the
" Indiana," and the " Illinois." The line is engaged
in freight business only, and runs between Philadel-
phia and Queenstown and Liverpool. The agents are
Peter Wright & Sons, 307 Walnut Street.
The Ocean Steamship Company, of Savannah, was
established in 1881, with two steamer.^ running to
Philadelphia. The office is at No. 13 South Third
Street, William L. James, agent.
The Philadelphia, Albany and Troy Line of
steamers was established in 1844, by George W. As-
pinwall, as a freight line. Four vessels at first were
employed to carry coal. The route was via the Dela-
ware and Raritan Canal. A consolidation was made
with the Commercial Transportation Company, which
was started as a rival by Fraziers & Aspinwall. This
consolidation continued until the death of Mr. As-
pinwall, when the name was changed to the Commer-
cial Transportation Company, and so continued until
1864, when the name was again changed to the Phil-
adelphia, Albany and Troy Line, with D. L. Flanagan
as agent at Philadelphia. Feb. 1, 1882, it became a
stock company. The line has one steamer and three
barges.
In 1842, Thomas Clyde commenced the freight
business between Philadelphia and New York. At
first a single steamer was competent for the business,
but as the facilities were understood, the business
enlarged and demanded others, which were added.
Lines to other cities were also established, and soon
the Clyde Line embraced Charleston, S. C, Rich-
mond, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Alexandria, Va., Wash-
ington, D. C, Baltimore, and the West Indies. Lines
from New York were also established, and from Balti-
more the firm reached the interior of North Carolina
through Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. At one
time the house controlled the Pacific Mail Steamship
Line, of which William P. Clyde was president.
Thomas Clyde, the founder of these extensive lines
of water transportation, is still living, and is one of
the largest owners of coast-line steamers in this coun-
try. The wharves of the lines extend one thousand
feet along Delaware Avenue, and are supplied with
ample depots. The active business is now conducted
by Wijliam P. and B. F. Clyde, sons of Thomas
Clyde. They have twelve steamers between New
York and Philadelphia, two between Philadelphia
and Charleston, a tri-weekly line to Richmond, Va.,
a line to St. Domingo and the West Indies, weekly
service to Washington, Alexandria, and Wilmington,
N. C. In all between fifty and sixty steamers are
owned by the company.
The Boston and Philadelphia Steamship Company
was organized in 1832. Two steamers, the " City of
Boston" and the "City of New York," were placed
on the line, and as trade increased others were added.
At present there are four steamers employed, the
"Spartan," "Roman," "Norman," and "Saxon,"
with capacity of from twelve hundred to fifteen hun-
dred tons each.
In 1872 the Providence Line was established, with
two steamers, the " Hunter" and the " Whirlwind,"
which are still running. In 1882 a line was estab-
lished to Fall River, with the steamer " Aries." The
success which has attended the lines of this company
is due to Henry Winsor, who was born on the 31st of
December, 1803, in Duxbury, county of Plymouth,
Mass. His parents were Thomas, the son of Joshua
Winsor, and Welthea, daughter of Seth Sprague, who
was for some years a member of the Senate of Massa-
chusetts. Mr. Winsor's grandfathers were strong,
resolute men, not inclined to doubt or hesitation, but
going always with firm step straight toward the end
they had in view. Thomas Winsor was of cheerful
mind and sanguine temperament. He was diligent
in business, and, though with some reverses, he was,
on the whole, successful in it. Education in the
schools of small towns at the beginning of this cen-
tury was not of an extensive kind, and Mr. Winsor
got only such as could be had in those of his native
village at that time. But the natural and practical
education which he obtained by personal observation
and inquiry was of wider scope and more efficacious.
Duxbury was on the seashore, and its industries were,
for the most part, such as pertain to the sea. In the
ship-yards there were vessels in every stage of con-
struction, from the laying of the keel up to the com-
pletion of the ship, and at the wharves schooners
were constantly receiving their outfits of provisions,
salt and the like, or were discharging their cargoes
of fish, caught on the banks of Newfoundland or along
the shores of Labrador.
The active boy, running about among all this work,
and sometimes himself lending a hand to it, learned
ed.witl
^y^^t^-^-ty '^^^^->'z-^^Tf—\^
TRANSPOKTATION.
2171
much that remained with him throughout, and shaped,
to a great extent, the course of his life. In his six-
teenth year he went to Boston, and into the counting-
room of Joseph Ballister, a commission merchant,
where he learned book-keeping by double entry, and
much else appertaining to commerce. After four
years of service there, he went into the oflBce of his
father, who at that time (1820) opened one in Boston.
He continued with him, and with his uncles, P. and
S. Sprague, who afterward became interested in the
business, till the father's death, in 1832. Thereupon
he went into business upon his own account, but was
unsuccessful, owing to speculation in " Eastern lands,"
having been infected with the "fever" which then
raged. Being thus thrown out of regular business,
he made a voyage, in 1836, to Pernambuco, as super-
eargo, and another subsequently to Rio Janeiro, in
the same capacity. Under the National Bankrupt
Law of 1841, he served as assignee of many insolvent
estates, by appointment of Judge Sprague, of the
United States District Court for Massachusetts, who
was an uncle. The settlement of these estates gave
him work for three years or more.
In 1850 he became a member of the firm of Phineas
Sprague & Co., but withdrew, in 1852, to take charge,
in Philadelphia, of a steamship line which that firm,
in conjunction with Sprague, Soule & Co., were about
to establish between that port and Boston. In 1872,
the owners of the steamships having increased in
number, they were incorporated under the title of the
Boston and Phil.adelphia Steamship Company. In
the same year the company established a line between
Philadelphia and Providence, and in 1882 another to
Fall River. On the organization of the company
Mr. Winsor was chosen its president, which office he
yet holds.
In 1862 one of his sons, William D., and afterward
another, James D., became his partners in business,
the style of the firm being Henry Winsor & Co.
Under their management, as general agents, the
affairs of the steamship company have been carried
on successfully up to this present time.
In addition to Mr. Winsor's connection with the
steamship corporation, of which he is president, he is
also officially connected with many other institutions,
commercial, industrial, and financial. He is a direc-
tor in the following : Bank of North America, Insur-
ance Company of North America, Westmoreland Coal
Company, Logan Iron and Steel Company, Crane Iron
Company, and Delaware Avenue Market Company,
and a manager of the Western Savings-Fund Associ-
ation.
He has been for many years an active member of
the Board of Trade, serving with great acceptance
upon the executive council from January, 1867. He
represented the local board at the organization of the
National Board of Trade, at Boston, and has attended
many subsequent annual sessions as a delegate.
In 1832, Mr. Winsor married Mary Ann, daughter
of James Davis. She died in 1881, in consequence
of an accident, having been thrown from a carriage
in Boston. He has four children, — Louise, William
Davis, Henry, and James Davis, who were born in
the order here named.
Mr. Winsor is still vigorous in body and mind to an
extent that is uncommon at the age to which he ha.s
attained. But though somewhat attentive to the
duties imposed on him, he seems more and more
inclined (as is natural) to narrow his sphere of ac-
tion, and make way, as he says, for those who have
this world before them.
Railroads. — Columbia Railroad. — The first sug-
gestion in Philadelphia of the construction of railways
for the purpose of transportation was made in the
Aurora, in January, 1801, in some remarks relative to
the construction of canals, in which there was refer-
ence to the success in England of the Duke of Bridge-
water's canal of thirty-three miles in length, cut at
his own private expense. In that article the writer
represented that Mr. Gilbert, of Wasley, the engineer,
said, " He thought wooden railways might profitably
supersede canals. Railways are strips of oak plank
laid upon a level road about nine feet apart, two and
a half inches thick, and about three and a half inches
broad. The carriage runs upon these, the wheels
being made to fit the rails thus laid. The horse goes
in the middle of the track. In this way nearly three
times the weight can be moved by one horse that
he could manage on a common road." Another writer
in the same paper, signing himself " T. E.," recom-
mended that railroads should be of iron instead of
wood, asserting that the friction would be no greater.
The use of steam for locomotion was not suggested
by these writers because they had never heard of the
use of it in the propulsion of land carriages. But
there was a citizen of Philadelphia then living who
had thought upon the subject years before, and had
perfected in his mind plans of machinery whereby
wagons and vehicles might be run upon the land.
This was Oliver Evans, who announced as early as
1773 that he could apply his steam-engine to propel
carriages upon the land, and as early perhaps as 1778,
certainly prior to 1781, he declared that the same
principle could be applied to the navigation of boats
by means of paddle-wheels. Within four years after
the Aurora had spoken of the feasibility of the use of
railways, Evans had constructed the " Eruktor Am-
phibolis," or amphibious digger, a dredging-machine,
with which he achieved a double triumph of propel-
ling it by steam on land and navigating it through the
water as a steamboat. This land-scheme carriage
was exhibited at Centre Square, in June, 1805, and it
was run around that inclosure for several days. Sub-
sequently by steam the boat was moved on the steam-
wagon to the Schuylkill, where it was launched and
propelled by the same power down that river and up
the Delaware to the wharves in front of the city.
Thomas Leiper's experimental railroad, the first set
2172
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
up in America, was built in the Bull's Head Tavern
yard, Third Street above Callowhill, Northern Liber-
ties, in 1809. The railroad was laid of two parallel
courses of oak scantling about four feet apart, sup-
ported on blocks or sleepers about eight feet distant
from each other. The ascent was one and a half
inches in a yard, or two degrees and twenty-three
minutes. The track was twenty-one yards sixty four
feet in length. On this road, on the 31st of July, a
single horse, under the disadvantage of a path of loose
earth to walk on, hauled uj) a four-wheeled carriage
loaded with a weight of ten thousand six hundred
and ninety-six pounds. Mr. Leiper was not content
with this demonstration. Somerville, a Scotchman,
laid down this experimental track. He had seen a
similar one in England or Scotland. He issued pro-
posals immediately afterward for contracts for digging
the road-bed and making the rail parts of a wooden
railway for the Leiper Quarries, on Crum Creek, to
the landing in Ridley, Delaware Co., three-quarters of
a mile.
This was the first practical railroad built in the
United States, and was in operation for many years,
until it was superseded in 1828 by a canal. The first
proposition for the incorporation of a company to
build a railroad was made by John Stevens, of New
Jersey, in 1822. In his petition to the General As-
sembly of Pennsylvania, presented in that year, he
stated that he had invented a mode of transportation
by railroad, and asked for a charter to himself and
associates as a corporation to build a railroad from
Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. Nothing was done in re-
gard to the matter that year, but in 1823 an act was
passed, on the Slstof March, to incorporate " The Presi-
dent, Directors, and Company of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company," with authority to lay out a rail-
road from Philadelphia to Columbia, in Lancaster
County. This was the first railroad act passed in the
State. The preamble recited the representations made
by John Stevens. The corporators were John Con-
nolly, president; Michael Baker, of Arch Street,
Horace Binney, Stephen Girard, and Samuel Hum-
phries, of Philadelphia, Emnor Bradley, of Chester
County, Amos EUmaker, of Lancaster City, and
John Barbour and William Wriglit, of Columbia,
directors. The term of existence of the company
was fifty years. The shares might be six thousand at
one dollar each, and in the act it is specified that the
road should be laid out under the superintendence of
John Stevens. So little was known about railroads
at this time that a correspondent of the Philadelphia
Gazette in April inquired, " What is a railroad ? What
does this plan mean?" The editor, in response, sug-
gested that some of his correspondents might be able
to explain. A short time afterward there was pub-
lished in the same paper a description of some rail-
roads in England, upon which it was asserted that or-
dinarily one horse could draw a load of from twenty
to fifty tons. No allusion to steam was made in this
paper. At the same session the House passed a bill
to incorporate a company to build a railroad from Har-
risburg to Pittsburgh, but it was not successful in the
other House. The United States Gazette, in May, said,
"The Pennsylvania Iron Railroad is to commence at
Hamiltonville." In the succeeding year the Society
for the Promotion of Internal Improvements energeti-
cally pressed upon the community the necessity of
giving a hearty support to the schemes of building
railroads, as well as those for the construction of
canals.
A town-meeting, called in January, 1825, in reference
to the plan of building a canal to unite the waters of
the Susquehanna River with the Alleghany, was some-
what a scene of confusion, in consequence of the intro-
duction of other schemes. Mathew Carey, support-
ing the original proposition, desired to introduce an
amendment advocating a canal between the Alle-
ghany River and Lake Erie. The arguments upon
these plans were so animated that the meeting adopted
no resolutions, but referred to an adjourned meeting
the original proposition and the amendment, and a
second amendment by Charles J. IngersoU, directiug
the committee to inquire into the expediency of making
railroads in Pennsylvania. At the adjourned meeting
John Sergeant, chairman, reported that the Schuylkill
navigation was completed, that the Union Canal was
rapidly advancing, and would soon reach the Susque-
hanna. The resolutions reported by the committee
declared in favor of both canals between the Susque-
hanna and the Alleghany, and between the latter and
Lake Erie. What was more important, the committee,
laying aside the hope of success through the creation
of corporations, boldly declared that "the work ought
to be undertaken by the State and executed at the
expense of the State, because it requires for its com-
pletion large powers which may be safely intrusted to
the public authorities of the commonwealth, under
the direction of the Legislature, but which would
be regarded with jealousy in the hands of an indi-
vidual or corporation." There was no report made to
this meeting on the subject of railroads, but the
Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements
was strongly in favor of the building of such ways.
Several publications upon the subject were made by
the society, and a history of railways in Europe pub-
lished. At a second town-meeting, held at the court-
house in May, resolutions were passed in favor of the
assembling of a convention upon the subject of inter-
nal improvements, to be held at Harrisburg in August.
This conference resolved in favor of a canal between
the Susquehanna and Alleghany or the Ohio River,
and from the Alleghany to Lake Erie, and that the
State should favor that work. At the same time Wil-
liam Strickland, who had been sent to Europe by the
Society for Internal Improvements to examine into
the canal and railway system there, made a report.
Mr. Strickland was strongly impressed in favor of
railways, and said, " I state distinctly my full convic-
TRANSPORTATION.
2173
tion of the utility and decided superiority of railways
above every other mode as means of conveyance, and
one that ought to command serious attention and adop-
tion by the people of Pennsylvania." This opinion
was attacked by persons dissenting. The United Slates
Gazette, in September, republished a long article from
the Williamsport Gazette, in which the writer insisted
that railways were inexpedient in Pennsylvania, and
that their construction was a visionary scheme, whereas
canals were much more available and economical. The
building of a railway between Columbia and Phila-
delphia was advocated at a meeting held in the former
place in October, on which occasion James Buchanan,
of Lancaster, afterward President of the United States,
made the principal speech.
Under the incentive of strong expressions of opin-
ion, the Legislature was incited to the work. On the
7th of April, 1826, an act was passed to incorporate
the Lancaster, Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad
Company. The route was to be from the Susque-
hanna, in Lancaster County, to Lane;ister City, and
thence to the west side of the Schuylkill near to and
below the permanent bridge. It was intended to be
a stock company, but for some reason, probably be-
cause of the difficulty of obtaining large subscrip-
tions, the scheme was never carried into effect. The
State undertook the work under a provision in the
act of March 24, 1828, which authorized the location
of a railroad from the city of Philadelphia through
the city of Lancaster to Columbia, on the Susque-
hanna River, and from thence to the borough of
York, in the county of York. The canal commis-
sioner entered upon this work with energy, and
caused the necessary surveys to be made as soon as
practicable, under the authority of Maj. John Wil-
son, principal surveyor. The route agreed upon
brought the tracks to Belmont, on the west side of
the Schuylkill, very near the mansion of Judge
Peters ; from thence the design was to construct an
inclined plane by which cars could descend to the
margin of the Schuylkill, from whence the road might
be continued by a single level on either side of the
river. A contest immediately arose as to the manner
in which the road should be brought into the city.
The controversy was warm, and the rival jealousies
of the city and districts were aroused. The terminus
being on the west side of the river, there was a strong
effort to keep the business there, and to make the
western shore of the Schuylkill the seat of the traffic
in freight and passengers that might be brought over
the road. A line down the west side of the Schuyl-
kill was advocated, to cross the river and to come
into the city between Fairmount dam and the per-
manent bridge either at Arch or Race Streets. The
canal commissioners were in favor of this plan, and
were of opinion that the tracks on the west side of
the river would afford '-' complete communication
with the ocean."
This was advocated as the most sensible plan. But
Spring Garden and the Northern Liberties on the
north and Southwark on the south wanted their share
of the business and increa.se in real estate value.
Maj. Wilson's plan was probably the best to reconcile
these conflicting interests. His projjosition was that
the railroad should descend the inclined plane of about
one hundred and eighty feet and cross the Schuylkill
River, and enter upon the bed excavated for the old
Delaware and Schuylkill Canal, following the bed of
that canal to a position east of the Bush Hill foundry
(Rush & Muhlenberg) ; thence southwardly, entering
Broad Street near its intersection with Callowhill
Street, and proceeding down the centre of the former
until it crossed Vine Street and terminated, " con-
formably to the law, within the limits of the city of
Philadelphia." It was assumed that the route by the
way of Peters' farm was the best, and several surveys
were made, commencing as far out as the seven-mile
stone on the old Lancaster pike, to discover better
routes toward the city. The difficultie.^ were too great
for the engineering of that day. These experts re-
ported that whenever they left the line which they
had adopted " the country became either exceedingly
broken and intersected by ravines or its surface de-
pressed too rapidly for our graduations." The influ-
ence against the route chosen by the surveyors was
sufficient upon the Legislature to cause the passage of
a resolution, April 20, 1829, requesting the canal com-,
missioners to make a re-examination and survey of
the route from the foot of the inclined plane to Broad
and Vine Streets, and also to examine and report upon
any other route to some other points on the line of
the city and on the tide-waters of the Schuylkill at
the head of sloop navigation (which was at Market
Street bridge), and also to state whether they deemed
it expedient to make more than one line of railroads
from Peters' farm, and in the meanwhile not to con-
tract for the construction of any railroad east of the
inclined plane. The controversy was more serious
because of differences of opinion among the engineers.
Messrs. Moucure Robinson and William R. Hopkins
were inclined in favor of continuing the railroad to
Fairmount and crossing there, thus affording means of
railroad conveniences along the line of the Schuylkill
west of that river to a point on sloop navigation.
One route passed back of Mantua village, near the
junction of the Haverford and Lancaster roads, while
the other would pass along the bluffs and sloping banks
of the Schuylkill to the first wharf below the perma-
nent bridge. If the crossing was made at Fairmount
and Callowhill Street, it was thought that the south-
ern branch might be carried down Schuylkill Front
[Twenty-second] Street or Ashton [Twenty-thirdJ
Street to Chestnut Street.
Councils of the city favored Maj. Wilson's plan
of bringing the road by the canal-bed to Broad and
Vine Streets, and resolutions were adopted in April
requesting the Legislature to confirm that route. It
was stated in the preamble that it met with the appro-
2174
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
bation of nine-tenths of their constituents, would save
expense to the commonwealth, and " would give to
each a fair proportion of the immense trade of which j
it is to be the outlet." Maj. Wilson and several of his
associates had resigned before action bad been taken
in this matter. Maj. D. B. Douglas, professor of En-
gineering in the United States Military Academy,
was invited to make the new examination. He re-
ported upon the advantages and disadvantages of
bringing the line down on the west side of the
Schuylkill to Fairmount, preferring the crossing
there to either that at Race or Arch Streets, repre-
senting also that it would be disadvantageous to bring
the road down either of the latter streets, because it
would go through the heart of the city and be ex-
posed to the constant flow of carriages and foot passen-
gers upon all the cross-streets. The route by the canal-
bed crossing by Peters' Island was not varied in the
recommendation, but there was a proposition to carry
one branch of the road downward round the eastern
side of Fairmount, so that it should continue on the
east side of the Schuylkill to the permanent bridge,
under the eastern abutment of which it would pass
by an archway. In January, 1830, City Councils
again, after the reception of a long report from the
watering committee, unanimously adopted resolu-
tions in favor of the crossing at Peters' Island and
the termination of the road at Broad and Vine Streets,
and with the branch on the eastern front of the Schuyl-
kill, as proposed by Maj. Douglas. The expression
of the committee was strong against the route on the
west side of the Schuylkill and the bridge at Fair-
mount. The commissioners of the Northern Liber-
ties, Spring Garden, and Southwark had also approved
of the route from Peters' Island to Broad and Vine
Streets. The question remained open for nearly two
years, and was kept alive by meetings held occasion-
ally in the city and districts.
In 1830 an exhaustive argument was made by Jolin
M. Read on behalf of the persons who constituted a
public meeting held in January at the court-house to
protest against the change of the original Wilson plan
to bring the road to Broad and Vine Streets. It was
not until March 24, 1831, that the canal commissioners
were directed to complete as soon as practicable the
whole of the railroad between the Schuylkill and
Susquehanna Rivers, with a provision that no part of
the road between the western shore of the Schuylkill
and the intersection of Vine and Broad Streets should
be put under contract, unless the city of Philadelphia
should undertake to construct a railroad from Vine
and Broad Streets, down the latter to Cedar, or South
Street, with authority to intersect the Columbia or
Pennsylvania Railroad, and construct branches not
further north than Francis Street [now Fairmount
Avenue], and carry the same to any point or points
on the rivers Schuylkill and Delaware, with power
to collect such tolls thereon as the canal commis-
sioners might charge. West of the Schuylkill the
commissioners were ordered to complete the first
twenty miles directly west from Philadelphia, finished
with double tracks and engines. " Provided that before
the contract was made for any part of the said railroad
between the western shore of the river Schuylkill and
the intersection of Vine and Broad Streets, the city of
Philadelphia shall engage to construct and continue a
railroad from Vine and Broad Streets, down Broad
to Cedar Street, with authority to intersect and con-
struct a branch or branches from any point of the
Pennsylvania Railroad east of the Schuylkill, not
farther north than Francis Street, and carry the same
to any point or points on the river Schuylkill or Dela-
ware within the limits of the city." The power to
build such a road had previously been asked for by
resolution of Councils addressed to the Legislature.
There was no delay in assuring the canal commis-
sioners that the city would build the Broad Street
road. This was promised by a special resolution.
The time necessary for the completion of the bridge
over the Schuylkill and the construction of the road
to Vine and Broad Streets was considerable. It was
not until May, 1832, that Councils took measures to
build the railroad in Broad Street, by the passage of
a resolution authorizing contracts to be made. The
ordinance to continue the road from Vine to Cedar
Street was passed in January, 1883. This railroad
was finished in December, 1833, and opened on the
9th of that month in connection with the Northern
Liberties and Penn Township Railroad, by Coun-
cils, accompanied by the engineers, Trautwine, of
the city road, and Campbell, of the Northern Liberties
and Penn Township road. The cars were run on Broad
Street to the intersection, and out to the Columbia
Railroad bridge. No sooner was the railroad on
Broad Street finished than an agitation commenced to
carry the tracks to the Delaware River. Spruce and
Walnut Streets were suggested as proper for the pur-
pose, the road to extend to Dock Street, where great
warehouses were to be built, while others considered
Market Street the proper avenue. Efforts in favor of
these routes were met by protests against them. The
newspapers were plentifully supplied with communi-
cations for and against particular routes, while occa-
sional public meetings enlivened the controversy.
The Board of Trade, in January, 1835, memorial-
ized Councils in favor of the establishment of some
system of tramways or railways which would bring
the products transported from Pittsburgh to Phila-
delphia by canal and railway " to the vicinity of the
business part of the city, and also to facilitate the
transportation of merchandise destined for the in-
terior." The cost of drayage of the heavy produce of
the country was equal to one-third the freight from
the city to Boston or Charleston by water, or from
Lancaster to Philadelphia on the railroad. If a proper
single- or double-track tramway or railway were laid
from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, the board was
of opinion that the cost of transportation to and from
TRANSPORTATION.
2175
the Schuylkill would be reduced at least seventy-five
per cent., and by the Columbia Railroad to compara-
tively nothing. A scientific and experienced engineer
was of opinion "that tramways or solid pieces of hewn
granite of proper proportions, laid perfectly level with
the surface of the street, would be most advantageous,
as they would not only answer all the purposes of a
railroad, but be a decided improvement on the pres-
ent mode of paving the streets, and prove economical,
. . . and by a slight change in the present manner of
constructing the wheels, railroad cars could be used
with the same advantage on the tram as on the rail-
way." On the reception of this memorial Councils
appointed a commission of citizens, which took cogni-
zance of the subject and made report in May. The
majority of the board declared that the plan of a
tramway was objectionable, because the curs which
ran on the Columbia Railroad could not travel on
them without important alteration in the form of
their wheels. A railroad of the same pattern as the
Columbia Railroad was recommended. For the line
of tliis road they suggested that it should commence
on the Delaware at the Drawbridge, and pass up
Dock Street to Third, up Third to High, up High to
the Broad Street Railroad, and along High to Ashton
Street, on the Schuylkill front, where it might be
connected with other lines along Delaware Avenue
and along the Schuylkill.
A railroad on this route, the commissioners were of
opinion, would be less inconvenient than upon any
other street. The private dwellings were few, busi-
ness was largely concentrated on those streets, and
even the travel was of a business character. The
cost of this improvement from the Delaware to the
Schuylkill was estimated to be two hundred and
seventy thousand dollars, including the continuation
of the tracks down High Street to Front, with pivots
for the return of cars toward Broad Street. Against
this proposition there was a serious objection, — that it
involved the destruction of the market-houses on
High Street, between Eighth and Front Streets. The
commissioners believed that market-houses might be
erected elsewhere at moderate expense, which would
accommodate the public as well or even better than
those structures on Market Street. There would be
a great benefit to the wholesale business of the
street if the markets were entirely removed so as to
restore the original plan of the city. In expectation,
however, of some delay in the removal of the mar-
kets, the commissioners recommended the immediate
commencement of the railroad from the Schuylkill to
Eighth Street, to which latter the markets extended
from Front Street. Until those buildings could be
disposed of they suggested the laying of a temporary
track from Eighth and Market Streets down Eighth
to Walnut, and along the latter to Dock. A portion
of the commissioners protested against this part of
the recommendation, and represented instead that
Councils should continue a single track along on each
side of the market-houses from Eighth Street east-
ward, which might be so laid as to connect with the
side tracks on various streets, and be available with-
out change when the market-houses should be taken
down. Immediately upon the reception of these re-
ports and suggestions there sprung up a strong agita-
tion against the removal of the market-houses. Town-
meetings were held and warm protests adopted ; in the
remonstrance to City Councils, prepared by a commit-
tee appointed at a general town-meeting on the 3d of
June, it was stated that public opinion was hostile to
the removal of the market-houses. It was supposed
to be scarcely possible that Councils would be willing
to relinquish an annual income equal to that of a cap-
ital of three hundred thousand dollars, and then
incur an expenditure probably of a million of dollars.
The opposition was reinforced very considerably by the
Broad Street interest. On the opening of the Colum-
bia Railroad, forwarding houses and warehouses were
built upon that street, between Arch and Callowhill
Streets, in such numbers and with such conveniences
as were quite sufficient to accommodate a trade which
was then in its beginning. The persons thus inter-
ested were not desirous that the traflic should be
carried away for the benefit of property on Market
Street, or the eastern portion of the city. They set
forth as reason for the opposition to the Market Street
railway plan that they on Broad Street had every
accommodation for dispatch of business ; that they
were removed at sufficient distance from the busy
haunts of trade to prevent annoyance by their occu-
pation of the street, while at the same time their
warehouses were accessible to every one. There was
much delay in considering the question. It was pre-
cipitated toward the end of November in Common
Council by a resolution oft'ered by Mr. Earp, that the
construction of the railroad from Broad Street east-
ward on High Street should be commenced, and that
there should be a double track so located on that
street east of Fifth Street " as not to interfere with the
accommodation now afforded by the present market-
houses." When this came up for consideration Mr.
Hinchman, of Common Council, offered an amendment
directing inquiry into the practicability and expediency
of constructing a railroad along Ninth Street north-
ward to connect with the Northern Liberties and
Penn Township and the Philadelphia and Norristown
Railroad. Mr. Gilder suggested a track down Filbert
to Eighth, down Eighth to Walnut, along Walnut to
Dock, and along Dock Street to the river Delaware.
These were rejected, and Mr. Earp's resolution was
finally adopted by a vote of eleven to seven. In the
other chamber there was no practical obstruction.
The committee on public highways, under amend-
ment, was ordered to report an ordinance providing
for such alterations in the market-houses as might be
necessary to permit the construction of the railway,
in which the other chamber concurred. The com-
mittee which had charge of the matter adopted a
2176
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
plan for taking down the market-houses already
standing. They occupied considerable space. The
roofs were supported by heavy brick piers or pillars,
and the overhanging eaves extended to a considerable
distance on each side of them. The new market-
houses were constructed with scarcely any overhang-
ing eaves, and the roofs were supported by slender I
iron pillars. The tracks were laid close toward the [
sides, there being no passage under the eaves as i
formerly. Practically the new markets were more
sightly, while the accommodation within was nearly
as great as before. Before this railroad was ready to
be used, it was settled by ordinance of Councils that
the cars should be drawn by animal power.
In April, 1832, the proprietors of the Lancaster and
Pittsburgh stages placed a car on the Columbia Rail-
road, at the head of the inclined plane, which was
drawn by horses as far west as the extension of
the road would permit, when stages were again re-
sorted to. By the middle of September the cars were
run from Broad and Callowhill Streets to Paoli,
Chester Co., the passengers being carried across the
Schuylkill to the bottom of the inclined plane by
boats. The first trial of a locomotive was made
between Broad Street and the Schuylkill at the end
of September, 1832. The road was finished as far as
Lancaster by the middle of April, 1834, and a prac-
tical example of its advantages was given by an ex-
cursion by members of the Legislature, canal com-
missioners, and others, who left Harrisburg, and were
towed to Columbia by a canal packet, and thence
carried by railroad to Lancaster, where they remained
all night. In the morning they took passage in the
cars, which were drawn by horses, and reached the
West Chester Depot, on Broad Street, in eight and
one-half hours, including stoppages. The second
track was opened in October of the same year. Be
fore winter the cars were in full operation to Columbia,
and various lines were established, principally by
stage owners. The Union Line was formed by the
proprietors of several of the old stage-lines, and was
sometimes called the Amalgamation Company. J.
Tomlinson ran his own cars, and gave notice that he
had nothing to do with the other lines. In Novem-
ber the People's Line to Pittsburgh, the cars of which
started from Third Street Hall, at the corner of Wil-
low, advertised that they made the trip from city to
city in fifty-six hours. There was still considerable
staging to be done on the western portion of the road.
In the summer of 1835 cars and boats ran to Columbia
and through to Pittsburgh, partly by canal and portage
railroad, in three and one-half days.
The original intention in laying out the Columbia
Railroad and all other State improvements was to
furnish the best means whereby traveling might be
effected either by land or water, and to allow citizens to
furnish their own motive-power. On the canals there
was no difiBculty in carrying out this design. Horses
and mules for towing could be used by each trans-
porter or boat-owner without interference with others.
But on the railroads it would have been almost impos-
sible on account of the cost of locomotives and cars
for many transporters to furnish their own motive
power. The Legislature had anticipated this diflS-
culty in 1834 by the passage of an act to authorize
the canal commissioners to procure locomotive en-
gines and tenders to be used on the railroad. A
company was chartered to construct a railroad from
Portsmouth to Harrisburg in March, 1835. It was
entitled the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy, and
Lancaster Railroad Company. It was an extension
of the Lancaster and Portsmouth Railroad from
Portsmouth to Harrisburg, and gave clear railroad
communication to the capital. The work upon it
was done with great dispatch, and it was opened
September 16th. The opposition line to Pittsburgh,
owned by Leach & Co., by canal and railroad, adver-
tised in September to carry passengers in four days
by boats and portage railroad for ten dollars, and in
seven days for seven dollars.
Two pleasure cars — the first run upon the eastern
division of the road — were placed upon it in May,
1832, by Robinson, Carr & Co., who were the contrac-
tors for building that section. The road was finished
as far as Lemon Hill, and the cars were run from
Callowhill Street to that point hourly every day for
twenty-five cents.
Germantown Railroad. — Attention was drawn to
the propriety of building a railroad from the city to
Germantown aud Mount Airy, in a series of articles
published in the United States Gazette about the end
of March, and in April, 1830, sufficient interest was
excited to justify the calling of a public meeting which
was held on the 13th of November, at the house of
Jacob Mason, in Cresheim. The call included invi-
tation to the inhabitants of Philadelphia, German-
town, Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, Flourtown, White
Marsh, Plymouth, and Norristown. The suggested
route was from Philadelphia to Norristown, to run on
the east side of Germantown. Reuben Haines was
chairman and Benjamin Chew, Jr., secretary. The
persons present resolved that it was expedient that
such a road should be built, passing along the east side
of the village of Germantown. A committee was
appointed to defray the expenses of a survey, which
consisted of the following gentlemen : Peter Dager,
Joseph Thomas, Col. A. L. Roumfort, Thomas R.
Fisher, Edward H. Bonsall, Charles M. Pastorius,
Capt. Daniel Davis, Erasmus J. Pierce, Col. John G.
Watmough, Daniel Hitner, Samuel Maulsby, Reuben
Haines, and B. Chew, Jr. This movement was stimu-
lated by Edward H. Bonsall, who had previously made
an amateur survey of a route for the road, and was of
opinion with the friends that were with him, that it
was practicable to lay it out. The committee went to
work with industry, and in five weeks was ready to
make a report to an adjourned meeting. Major John
Wilson, engineer, had been employed to make the
TRANSPORTATION.
2177
surveys, which, without any determination as to the
point at which the railroad should connect with the
city, commenced at Broad Street, and terminated " at
a very commodious harbor at the mouth of Stony
Creek, at the upper end of Norristown, which termi-
nation the committee were assured would secure . . .
a large amount of coal transportation." The whole
cost for a stationary engine, supposing that wooden
sleepers and wooden rails plated with iron were used,
was $263,456 ; if stone blocks were substituted for
under sleepers, $299,956 ; and if stone rails plated with
iron were adopted, 8341,956.'
The committee congratulated the stockholders that
the average cost of the road would not be more than
eighteen thousand dollars per mile, while the cost of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between the city of
Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills, thirteen miles, in con-
sequence of the necessity of deep cuts and high em-
bankments, was more than fifty-three thousand dol-
lars per mile. The committee recommended that it
should not be absolutely required that the road
should be taken on the east side of Germantown, but
stated that the road should be near the village. On
the whole, they were so much pleased with the pros-
pect that an application to the Legislature for a
charter for the railroad company was recommended,
which proposition was adopted. The route to be
from Norristown to Philadelphia, passing through
White Marsh, Plymouth, and as near to the village
of Germantown as might be found practicable, the
average distance not to exceed one-half mile from
the main street of the village. Application was made
without delay to the Legislature, and on the 17th of
February, 1831, an act to incorporate the Philadel-
phia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad Com-
pany was passed, and eight thousand shares, at fifty
dollars each, were authorized to be issued. The divi-
dends were not to exceed twelve per cent, per annum,
and whenever they exceeded six per cent., a tax of
eight per cent, on the excess was ordered to be paid
into the State treasury. The route specified was ex-
actly the same as approved at the public meetings
previously held. The termination in the lower part
of the county was provided for in a peculiar manner :
" thence to approach the city of Philadelphia with
two branches, one to terminate as near as practicable
to the northern side of the said city, at or between
Delaware Sixth Street and Broad Street, and the
other to terminate at or near the Delaware Elver at
1" Plated with iron" meaut that the wooden rails or stone supports
should be covered with iron bars flattened out. They were secured
either to the wooden beam or to the stone by iron epilves. This was the
lirst rail on American railways. The disadvantage was that through
exposure the fastenings would decay, and the plates become loose. Fre-
quently the loosened ends of the rails turned up and were called snake-
heads. When struck by the wheels they would often be forced up
through the bottom of cars, and were thus the cause of accidents and
of injuries to passengers, and sometimes death. These disasters stimu-
lated invention, and produced the solid iron rails called the '*T"rail,
and other improeTments.
Kensington." The road was directed to be made
with double tracks, and to be not more than four rods
in width. There was great interest taken in this
enterprise, and when the subscription-books were
opened, at Heiskell's Hotel, the number of shares
that were subscribed for was very great. The excite-
ment was carried to such an extent that assignments
of subscriptions were soon at a premium. As a con-
sequence, complaints were made to the Legislature
of unfairness by the commissioners in awarding the
stock, and a committee was appointed by the Senate
to investigate the matter, and report was made that
the stock was fairly taken and generally divided.
At the organization of the board of directors, in
May, 1831, John G. Watmough was elected president,
and Edward H. Bonsall treasurer. In the succeeding
year Mr. Bonsall was elected president. Col. Doug-
las was elected chief engineer. He reported, under
authority of the company, to a meeting of citizens
held in Germantown, August 31st, the route which
had been adopted and the character of the survey.
There was some feeling about the direction to be
taken, and a committee appointed by town-meeting
reported that there had been no undue influence
exerted to bring the road to the line chosen by the
engineers, which was on the northeast side of the
town. It was determined to lay the rails on cut
granite sills with imported iron, and all bridges to
have iron barriers. A judicious resolution was made
to cross all the lanes and streets in the neighborhood
of Germantown by bridges or viaducts, thus avoiding
the dangers of tracks at grade of cross-streets. The
rails were laid to Germantown by the beginning of
June, 1832, and the road was formally opened on the
6th of June of that year. The president, stock-
holders, and invited guests were drawn in the cars to
Germantown by horses. There were nine cars built
in the style of the mail-coach of the day, except that
they were much larger, with a driver's seat in front,
with another seat at the back. The tops of the cars
were also fixed with a central double bench, running
irom the front to the back, with iron guard-railings at
the side. There were seats for twenty inside pas-
sengers and fifteen or sixteen outside. The decora-
tion of the cars excelled anything that had been seen
in the style of coach-painting; there was variety and
brilliance in the colors, and a liberal amount of gild-
ing. The cars were named as follows : Germantown,
Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Penn Township,
Jefierson, Philadelphia, William Penn, and President.
Each car was drawn by one horse. This was the first
railroad operated in Philadelphia, and the occasion
of its opening brought to the line of the road large
crowds of people. The start was made at fifteen
minutes past twelve o'clock p.m., and the first car
arrived in Germantown in three-quarters of an hour,
which, comparison being made with the slow progress
necessary in ordinary traveling, was great speed. The
company, on disembarking, marched to Mrs. Heft's
2178
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
tavern, where there were the customary refreshments
and some speeches. In the afternoon the cars returned
in little more than half an hour. The regular travel-
ing commenced on the 7th of June, in compliance
with the following announcement:
"The cars will start from the depot, at the corner of Green and Ninth
Streets, to Germantown, and from Germantown to Philadelphia, at the
following hours, viz. :
From Philadelphia. From Germantown.
At 7 o'clock .
At 8 o'clock I
" 10 " t
The cars will start punctually at the hours above mentioned, and
the company have made arrangements to accommodate a very large
nnmber of travellers.
*' Parties and families can bo supplied with wholo cars.
''Tickets can be had at the depot, at the corner of Green and Ninth
Streets.
" Fare, each way, 25 cents. Children under 12 years of age, half price.
" E. H. BONSALL, PresA.^''
For six months horse-power was employed. On
the 23d of November, 1832, there came upon the
road a greater novelty than had yet been seen in
Philadelphia, in the shape of a locomotive engine,
which had been built for the company by Matthias
"OLD IRONSIDES" ENGINE.
[Copyright 1883, by Hoopes k Townsend.]
W. Baldwin. The track was made clear in the after-
noon of that day, after the passenger-cars had come
in, and steam was raised sufficient for use in twenty
minutes after fire was set in the furnace. The engine
went off to half a mile beyond the Union Tavern, at
the township line, and returned immediately, a dis-
tance of six miles, at a speed of about twenty-eight
miles per hour, it being slackened at the crossings,
and it being after dark.
On the 24th the locomotive drew four cars loaded
with passengers to Germantown, making the six
miles in twenty-eight minutes. On Monday, the
26th, another trip was made with six cars and pas-
sengers, which was not quite successful, a derange-
ment of the machinery causing the stoppage of the
engine when about five miles out. In a short time
the locomotive was at regular work, and one of the
sights of the early part of the next year was to see
this big machine come down from Germantown
bringing six or seven burden-cars freighted with
stone. In April a second locomotive was added to
the road's stock. It was built by the West Point
Foundry Association. The two engines were now at
regular work, concerning which the American Sentinel
remarked, " Their continual passing and repassing
each other with their trains of cars at great speed
afford a spectacle at once highly novel and interest-
ing to our citizens." The road had been finished to
Germantown, and it was expected that it would be
carried forward in a northward direction from that
point. But when the engineers came to examine
closely it was found that the route would be difficult,
abounding with heavy grades, requiring deep cutting
and embankments, and making necessary frequent
curves, the whole work being very costly. They
were of opinion that a much better route could be
found near the valley of the Schuylkill, and they
recommended that the road should terminate at Ger-
mantown, for the present at least, and it would be
better to reach Norristown by a branch passing
through or near Manayunk and up the Schuylkill.
By supplement of April 7, 1832, the company
was authorized to charge two cents per mile for
each passenger carried, and to own locomotive
engines, and place them on the road, the same
to be subject to the order of the Court of Quarter
Sessions for such rules and regulations " for the
.'said locomotive engine as will render secure the
traveling and the safety of property situate at
or near the line of the said railroad." The lo-
cation between Spring Garden Street and the
west branch of the Cohocksink Creek was sanc-
tioned upon the same course as Ninth Street
was laid out, but not opened.
By act of March 1, 1833, the company was
authorized to build a single track on Ninth
Street from Spring Garden to Vine Street, and
to have authority to use locomotive engines on
that track with the consent of the owners of
I adjoining property. By the same act the necessity of
building a branch to the river Delaware, in Kensing-
ton, which had been stipulated for in the original
charter, was repealed.
The representations of the difficulty attending a lo-
cation of the road beyond Germantown induced the
application for an act of Assembly to alter the route,
which was passed Feb. 8, 1834. Under that law the
line to Germantown was ordered to terminate at a
point within one hundred yards of the main street.
The road was authorized to be extended from a point
at or near Kobeson's mills, on the Wissahickon Creek,
in the township of Roxborough, to intersect the road
already laid down to Germantown, and to carry the
rails to Manayunk, Spring Mill, and Norristown.
One of the difficulties of the route by way of Man-
TRANSPORTATION.
2179
ayunk was the necessity of crossing the Wissahickon.
The engineers found a point at Robeson's mills, near
the mouth of that stream, where a viaduct might be
built at an elevation of about seventy feet. A wooden
bridge was thrown across this chasm. It was consid-
ered to be an immense structure, being four hundred
and seventy-three feet in length, and a height above
the Wissahickon which was far beyond anything
attempted in bridge-building at that period. It was
finished and the road was opened to Manayunk Oct.
18, 1834. The opening to Manayunk was, as usual at
that time, an excuse for a festivity, at which speeches
were made at Snyder's Hotel by Samuel Nevins,
president of the company, Henry Troth, William D.
Lewis, Thomas Biddle, Benjamin Chew, of German-
town, and others. The whole road was opened
through to Norristown on the 15th of August, 1835,
and a round of feasting was necessary to celebrate
the event, with speeches by Col. Thomas L. McKen-
ney, Joseph R. Chandler, Nathan Sargent, Willis
Gaylord Clark, Samuel Chew, and William D. Lewis,
of Philadelphia, and Gen. Joly, of Norristown.
When the road was completed the fare from Norris-
town to Philadelphia was thirty-seven and a half
cents.
To this railroad is to be given the credit of intro-
ducing or encouraging many important improve-
ments in locomotive engines. While, in 1854, bitu-
minous and anthracite coal had come into general
use as fuel for locomotives, it was felt that the best
results had not been accomplished in consuming the
smoke of the former variety, and deriving its maxi-
mum of useful effect. As an experiment, an engine
was placed under the direction of Matthew Baird, for
the trial of some of his designs. Simply by fixing
a sheet-iron deflector in the fire-box of the engine he
obtained a much better combustion of the fuel, and
when he substituted a fire-brick arch for the de-
structible iron plate, the appliance was found so
valuable that it was adopted on all roads where bitu-
minous coal was used for creating steam. There was
nothing complex in the invention, but it was one of
those achievements of practical science that have
been highly beneficial in the railroad world.
Mr. Baird, who was at that time associated with
Matthias W. Baldwin in the management of the great
locomotive-works of Philadelphia, made their con-
struction a subject of careful study and investigation,
and, being a practical mechanic, he made many im-
provements in locomotive machinery. Mr. Baird was
born of Scotch-Irish parentage, near Londonderry,
Ireland, in 1817, his parents emigrating to Philadel-
phia and fixing their residence on Lombard Street
when he was but four years old. His father was a cop-
persmith by trade, and gave him an education in the
common schools of the city. His first employment was
in a brick -yard, but he soon quitted it for the position
of an assistant to one of the professors of Chemistry in
the University of Pennsylvania. In 1834 he went to
New Castle, Del., to go into the service of the New
Castle Manufacturing Company, which had a copper
and sheet-iron works. While in that town he was
made superintendent of the railroad shops located
there. In June, 1838, the proffer of the foremanship
of the sheet-iron and boiler department of the Bald-
win Locomotive-AVorks brought him back to Phila-
delphia. He remained at the Baldwin factory until
1850, and subsequently, up to 1852, was engaged in
the marble business with his brother John, on Spring
Garden Street, below Thirteenth. In 1854 he became
a partner of Matthias W. Baldwin in the locomotive-
works, and sole proprietor when the latter died, in
September, 1866. He reorganized the establishment,
and joined with himself as partners George Burnham
and Charles T. Parry, under the firm-title of M. Baird
& Co. In 1873, Mr. Baird withdrew from active
business life, but maintained his interests in numer-
ous public and private enterprises. He sat for many
years in the board of directors of the Central National
Bank, and at the time of his death he was director of
the Texas and Pacific Railroad Company, the Penn-
sylvania Steel Company, the Andover Iron Company,
the Philadelphia and West Chester Railroad Com-
pany, and the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts.
He was one of the incorporators and directors of the
American Steamship Company, and was a large in-
vestor in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He
was a citizen of eminent public spirit, and there were
few enterprises for the general benefit or of a chari-
table character among whose promoters and supjjorters
he was not numbered. He was a manager of the
Northern Home for Friendless Children, and con-
tributed much to other benevolent institutions. He
died May 19, 1877.
West Chester Railroad.— By act of Feb. 18, 1831,
the West Chester Railroad Company was incorporated,
with power to locate and construct a railroad of one
or more tracks from the borough of West Chester to a
convenient point on and connecting with the Penn-
sylvania Railroad. This measure was popular, and
the work was carried on without much delay, so that
by the 4th of July, 1832, three miles of the road were
completed, and a car, with accommodations for thirty
persons, was run upon that day. By the middle of Au-
gust cars could be driven from West Chester to the
Pennsylvania Railroad intersection. There was but a
single track, but there was a turnout, by which cars
might pass each other at every mile. On the 13th of
September of the .same year this road was opened
from West Chester to the Pennsylvania Railroad by
the directors, stockholders, and invited guests. This
road was finished a considerable period of time before
connection could be had with the city of Philadel-
phia. In 1834 the company bought for the purposes
of a depot a lot of ground on the east side of Broad
Street, south of Race (upon which, in later years, a
market-house, subsequently, the City Armory, was
erected), where a combined depot and hotel building
2180
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
was built. The back part of the lot was used as a
shelter for the cars and a place of starting. The
tracks led out beneath a broad passage-way on the
north. The hotel parlors were south of the railway
tracks on the Broad Street front, and extended over
the passage, with considerable available space in the
upper stories. The first car which passed over the
entire road from the city to West Chester made its
trip on Christmas day, 1833. It was called " the
mahogany car," and proceeded from the depot across
the bridge at the Schuylkill, up the inclined plane,
and so on to West Chester, in time for dinner.
Delaware and Schuylkill Railroad.— The meet-
ings in favor of a Delaware and Schuylkill Railroad
produced an effect in 1829, when, on April 28, an act
was passed to incorporate a company to build a rail-
road in the northern section of the county of Phila-
delphia, from the river Delaware to the Schuylkill,
or to terminate at the junction with the Columbia and
Philadelphia Railroad. The corporation was to be
called the Northern Liberties and Penn Township
Railroad Company ; capital stock, eight hundred
shares, at fifty dollars per share. Authority was
given to make the railroad over any expedient route,
beginning at the west side of Front Street, at or near
Willow Street, in the Northern Liberties, and run-
ning on or in the neighborhood of Willow Street,
westerly, to the western boundary of the Northern
Liberties district, and then by such route as the com-
missioners of Spring Garden might permit, until the
Columbia Railroad was intersected, with authority to
carry the road farther on to the Schuylkill River,
north of Vine Street. Exceptions were that the road
should not be carried through the city property at
Fairmount without consent of Councils, nor through
the property of the Lehigh Canal and Navigation
Company, which was at that time on the Delaware,
in the neighborhood of Willow Street wharf This
project languished for three years. New commission-
ers were appointed to dispose of the stock, and gen-
eral authority was given to construct the railroad
anywhere north of Vine Street. Eventually the com-
pany decided on placing the rails upon Willow Street
as far west as the culvert extended. At Ninth Street
James Street opened west about the western line of
the culverted street. Here a straight connection car-
ried the railroad to Broad Street, where it intersected
the Columbia or Pennsylvania Railroad at what was
called Pennsylvania Avenue, and north of Callowhill
Street, so that it did not occupy any public streets,
except at crossings.
This railroad was finished and opened from Broad
Street to the Delaware River in April, 1834, and on
the 23d of that month public notice was given that
pleasure-cars would run at stated periods from the
Third Street hall to the Schuylkill bridge at Peter's
Island. They were drawn by horses, and this may be
said to have been the first passenger railroad, accord-
ing to the modern idea, iu the city. The depot of
this company at Willow Street wharf was completed
and ready for use about the beginning of January,
1835. The store-house was fifty by one hundred feet.
At the wharf, which was two hundred feet long, there
was a depth of twenty-seven feet of water, so that
vessels of the largest size could lay to and discharge
cargo and take in merchandise brought by the rail-
road.
West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad and
Baltimore Central Railroad.— A new railroad line
to West Chester was projected about 1847. The
people of that town were not satisfied with the means
of communication by connection with the Columbia
Railroad, which made a route necessary upon the
two sides of a curvilinear angle. They hoped to
obtain a more direct route. The agitation in favor Of
the enterprise was followed by the passage of a law,
April 11, 1848, to incorporate the West Chester and
Philadelphia Railroad Company, with a capital of six
thousand shares or more at fifty dollars per share.
The route was thus specified : Beginning at or near
the borough of West Chester in the county of Chester,
and terminating at some suitable point at or near the
permanent bridge in the county of Philadelphia."
The projectors of this enterprise did not meet with
the success which they expected at the beginning. It
was more than two years before the charter was en-
rolled, and it is to be found in the Appendix to the
Pamphlet Laws passed in 1850. Eventually, instead
of the building of an air line, the road was united
with the tracks of the Philadelphia and Baltimore
Central Railroad Company, which was incorporated
March 17, 1853, and had authority to lay a railroad
from a point on the State line of Pennsylvania and
Maryland between Elk Creek and the western bound-
ary of Peach Bottom township, York Co., to a point
of intersection on the West Chester and Philadelphia
Railroad at or between West Chester and Philadel-
phia, or to the city of Philadelphia. This route was
quite as curved as the other Westchester route by the
Columbia Railroad. It was carried southwest to a
point beyond Media, and thence northwest to West
Chester. The Baltimore Central was continued on
to Oxford, where it branched off to the southwest, in
the direction of Baltimore. When the railroad was
built, tlie tracks were brought up the west side of the
Schuylkill on the line of Thirty-first to Chestnut
Street. For convenience' sake, the freight and pas-
senger depot was established at the northeast cor-
ner of Eighteenth and Market Streets. From that
place the City Railroad was used from Market Street
to the permanent bridge, and, crossing the same,
the track was carried by means of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad as far as Thirty-first Street, where a
branch ran south on the line of Thirty-first across
Market and Chestnut Streets, and so south and south-
west. For some years the terminus was at Media.
When the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Rail-
road got into operation, a large brick passenger depot
TRANSPORTATION.
2181
was erected at Chestnut and Thirty-first Streets. The
depot at Eighteenth and Market Streets was devoted
to freight business only. The passenger trains for
the West Chester and Baltimore Central roads were
carried from the depot on Chestnut Street.
Southwark and Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore Railroad. — The movement which led to
the construction of the railroad between Philadelphia
and Baltimore had its origin in an act of Assembly,
passed April 2, 1831, to incorporate the Philadelphia
and Delaware County Railroad Company, with a
capital of two million dollars, four thousand shares
at fifty dollars per share. Authority was given to
the company to construct a railroad of one or more
tracks at or near the city of Philadelphia ; thence
along the route of the Baltimore post road, or as near
thereto as the ground would permit, making the post
towns of Darby and Chester, or their vicinity, points
in said road to the Delaware State line. The plan
upon which this road was to be established was like
that of the ordinary turnpike road. The company
was to lay the tracks, and whoever chose might use
them on a payment of toll. A curious section in the
act was that copied from turnpike laws, which made
it an offense to drive past a tollgate without stopping
to pay the toll. The charter declared that if any
person driving a car should pass by a place appointed
for receiving tolls without stopping to pay, he should
be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars. Under the
same act the commissioners were authorized to re-
ceive subscriptions for the Southwark Railroad Com-
pany, capital two hundred thousand dollars, shares
fifty dollars each. This company had authority to
construct a railroad of one or more tracks from the
river Delaware, in the district of Southwark, and
thence, in the county of Philadelphia, to Broad and
Cedar Streets, in such direction as might be deemed
best, to connect with the termination of the Delaware
County Railroad, there being power to construct a
railroad from Broad Street, in the county, to the river
Schuylkill. Attention was first given to the South-
wark Railroad. The subscriptions were not speedy
and enthusiastic, and in the succeeding year an act was
passed authorizing the commissioners of Southwark
to guarantee the stockholders of the Southwark Rail-
road Company any amount of deficiency on the stock
of the company not exceeding six per cent, per annum
on the amount expended for constructing the railroad
from Broad and Cedar Streets to the river Delaware.
This enactment was not popular, and it was repealed
in the succeeding year. Sufficient subscriptions were
obtained, however, to justify the building of the road.
Instead of taking it from the Delaware at South
Street, or near there, along Shippen or some parallel
street, the Southwark Railroad was laid out in the
shape of the U, commencing at South and Swanson
Streets, and extending down the latter to Prime or
Washington Street, thence to Broad, and up Broad to
South, connecting with the City Railroad. This track
was finished in the latter part of November, 1834,
and on the 29th of that month five or six cars passed
over the road from the Delaware to Broad Street, and
continued thence along the Columbia Railroad to the
bridge at Peter's Island. It is probable that this pas-
sage was only made from Prime Street and the Dela-
ware, the extension along Swanson Street to South
being of later date. The engineers of the Phila-
delphia and Delaware County Railroad made re-
port of their plans to the stockholders in the latter
part of 1835. They had surveyed a route from the
centre of the Southwark Railroad, near the junction
of Broad and Prime Streets, and laid their course
down Broad Street to a point south of Federal, from
where they diverged westwardly, inclining south-
wardly, crossing the Passyunk road near the Girard
school-house, and passing along the eastern side of the
Penrose Ferry road to the crossing of that ferry at the
river Schuylkill, where it was recommended that a
bridge should be built upon piles, thirty feet wide,
with a single-track railway in the centre, and carriage-
ways of ten feet on either side, with a draw thirtj'-five
feet wide. After the Schuylkill was crossed the route
was continued to Chester and the State line, a dis-
tance of fifteen and a half miles.
In 1836 a supplement to the act to incorporate the
Philadelphia and Delaware County Railroad Com-
pany authorized the increase of the capital stock to
eight thousand shares, and repealed the provision in
the former law which made it necessary that the com-
pany should proceed along the Baltimore post road,
or near thereto, making Darby and Chester points on
the route. Authority was also given to build a bridge
over the Schuylkill, by which the navigation of the
river should not be injured nor obstructed, and the
name of the company was changed to the Philadel-
phia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company.
In the succeeding year authority was given to build
the bridge at or near Gray's Ferry, for the accommo-
dation of the railroad and other travel by pedestri-
ans and vehicles. For the latter service tolls were
allowed to be taken, at the same rate as the High
Street bridge. A draw of thirty-three feet in width
was stipulated for, the piers to be at least forty-two feet
distant from each other. By the same act authority
was given for the first time to make this an inter-State
railroad. With the consent of the State of Delaware,
it was provided that the company might extend its
tracks from the Delaware State line to Wilmington, so
as to connect with the works of the Wilmington and
Susquehanna Railroad Company. A few months
afterward, December 19th, an act was passed author-
izing the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad Company, of Pennsylvania, to unite with
the Wilmington and Susquehanna Company, of Dela-
ware and Maryland, and the Baltimore and Port De-
posit Railroad Company, of Maryland, the three com-
panies to be known as the Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore Railroad Company. To facilitate the
2182
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
entrance of the railroad into ihe city, another act was
passed in April, 183S, which gave the company a
right to unite with any other railroad company which
terminates in the county of Philadelphia. Under
this provision a union with the Southwark Railroad
Company and an extension of the tracks to the Dela-
ware River was possible. It was also directed by
another act of Assembly, February 27th, that Prime
Street, from Broad Street to Gray's Ferry road, should
be laid out of the same width and in the same direc-
tion as already opened from Eleventh Street to Broad,
one-third of the expense of the increased width in
grading to be paid by the railroad company, which
was authorized to lay a double track of rails along the
street. The work upon this road was most vigorously
prosecuted upon the southern portion. The rails
were laid between Wilmington and the Susquehanna
River in the early part of 1837. A trial excursion
was made May 5th. There was a formal opening
July 4th, and general travel commenced July 22d.
The route was from Philadelphia to Wilmington by
the steamboat "Telegraph," Capt. Whilldin ; thence
by cars to the Susquehanna River, which was crossed
by steamboat, the passengers being transferred by
cars to the other side. Eventually a large ferry
steamboat, called the " Maryland," was constructed,
upon which the railroad cars were run upon a track,
and at Havre de Grace were again transferred to land,
and whirled by locomotive to Baltimore. This ar-
rangement was done away with when the permanent
bridge was built across the Susquehanna.
The first president of the Wilmington and Susque-
hanna road was James Canby, of Wilmington, elected
in 1835. He was succeeded by James Price in 1837,
and the latter, in 1838, by Matthew Newkirk, upon
the combination of all the companies between Phila-
delphia and Baltimore. The bridge across the Schuyl-
kill at Gray's Ferry was finished in 1838. Until 1842
the company owned no depot in Philadelphia. In that
year the property at the southeast corner of Eleventh
and Market Streets, partially occupied by the Mansion
House Hotel, was secured, with adjoining property,
and a large building extending along Eleventh Street
fi'om Market Street to Marble Alley was erected. The
front part of the building on Market Street and the
upper stories over all were used for the ofiicers of the
company and as a hotel. The cars found space in the
first story, into which the railroad tracks were run.
The cars were drawn by horses out Market Street to
Broad and down the latter to Prime Street, where
locomotives were attached. In May, 1852, the large
depot or station was finished at Broad and Prime
Streets. It was at that time and for many years after
the finest railroad station in Philadelphia in architec-
tural beauty, size, and internal arrangement. The
front on Broad Street, of brown stone, was two stories
high, flanked by wings of one story. The depot be-
hind it was of a single story, one hundred and fifty feet
wide by four hundred feet deep. West of the depot,
which ran to the line of Schuylkill Eighth [Fifteenth]
Street, was a large yard in which were engine-houses,
wood-sheds, tracks, switches, and other conveniences.
The whole plot was about seven acres. The building
was occupied in May, 1852, at a cost of one hundred
thousand dollars. The station at Eleventh and
Market Streets was then abandoned by this company,
and went into the use of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. In February, 1881, it was stated that a
controlling interest in the Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore Railroad Company had been secured
by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and at the
annual meeting of the stockholders of the latter com-
pany on July 2, 1881, the purchase of the stock of the
former company was announced by President Roberts,
and the stockholders immediately ratified his action,
and authorized the issue of four hundred thousand
shares of new stock, from the sale of which the requi-
site funds were supplied to complete the purchase.
The total amount of the purchase was sixteen million
six hundred and seventy-five thousand sis hundred
and ninety-two dollars.
Camden and Amboy Railroad. — The first report to
the stockholders of the Camden and Amboy Railroad
and Transportation Company was made in June, 1831.
The president of the company was John Stevens, who
had projected the first railroad from Philadelphia to
Columbia. It was noticed that this was not only a rail-
road, but a transportation company, and one of the first
things done was to make arrangements with the pro-
prietors of the two lines of stages and steamboats across
New Jersey between the two great cities. With a lo-
comotive engine the directors believed that an average
of fifteen miles to the hour might be obtained with
security to the road as well as to the passengers. At
that rate it was thought that the trip could be made
from Camden to New York City, by railroad and
steamboat, in six hours, which, observed Mr. Stevens,
"it is thought will be found to be sufiiciently rapid
for all useful practical purposes." The receipts and
revenues upon which the stockholders might depend,
from regular passengers and light freight, was set
down athalf a million of dollars. The surveys for this
road were commenced on the 16th of June, 1830, by
Maj. John Wilson and his assistant engineers. The
railroad was finished with single track between Bor-
dentown and Amboy by the middle of January, 1833.
The steamboat "Trenton" commenced running on the
Delaware, carrying passengers as far as Bordentown,
on the 22d of that month. By the beginning of Jan-
uary, 1834, the railroad had been extended within
eleven miles of Camden ; but there were delays upon
other portions of the work. The United States mail
was sent for the first time from the Philadelphia post-
office to Camden, to be sent to New York, on the 29th
of December of the same year. In January following
passengers were taken over on the ice, and shortly
afterward the railroad company sent round a steam
ice-boat from New York, to be employed in keeping
TRANSPORTATION,
2183
the Delaware River opeo. It was called the " States
Rights," and was very strongly built. The entire
track from Camden to Amboy was in full use by the
commencement of spring, 1835. The large steam-
boats connected with the line ran to Bordentown,
where the passengers took the railroad. The lines by
way of Camden, of which there were one or more,
daily left Chestnut Street wharf by ferry-boat to
Camden.
About 1838 the Camden and Amboy Railroad Com-
pany shifted its point of departure to the south side
of Walnut Street wharf. A hotel of moderate size
was built at the southeast corner of Delaware Avenue
and Walnut Street, which was kept by J. B. Blood-
good. There the ticket- and freight-offices of the
united companies were placed. The upper portion
of the building was devoted to hotel purposes. It
was convenient for travelers who desired to stop over
for a short time, and the establishment for some years
did a successful business. There were two locomo-
tive engines in use on the road up to the summer of
1833. The third, constructed by Robert L. Stevens,
was tried in July of that year, and made the wonder-
ful speed of running with a train of cars from Bor-
dentown to Hightstown, more than thirteen miles,
in thirty-six minutes, returning in thirty-one minutes.
In the succeeding year it was noted as " one of the
most extraordinary instances of rapid traveling on
record that passengers were taken from Philadelphia
to New York, distance computed to be ninety-four
miles, in four and three-quarter hours, including the
land and water transportation." The newspaper
writer indulged in the idea that under the improve-
ment it might be possible hereafter to bring New York
and Philadelphia " within one hundred and sixty-five
minutes' ride of each other," and added, "the utterer
of such an idea twenty years ago would have been
declared a fit object for a lunatic asylum."
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad.— All inter-
ests involved in the business of transportation between
Philadelphia and New York were not united in the
movements for the establishment of the Delaware and
Raritan Canal and the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
Consequently another line of railroad was projected,
and Feb. 23, 1832, the Legislature of Pennsylvania
passed an act " to incorporate the Philadelphia and
Trenton Railroad Company, with a capital of six hun-
dred thousand dollars. " Authority was given to this
corporation to locate and construct a railroad of one
or more tracks from a suitable point in the district of
Kensington, through the borough of Frankford, inter-
secting the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania
Canal in the borough of Bristol, and to continue to a
point at or near the Trenton Delaware bridge, in the
borough of Morrisville. To this company also was
given power to place on the railroad machines,
wagons, vehicles, carriages, and teams of any kind,
and to transport goods and passengers, said road to be
a public highway for conveyance of passengers, and
139
transportation under rates to be charged by the com-
pany. There was no difficulty in disposing of the
stock, and the work of construction was immediately
entered upon. It was estimated at this time that the
amount received by the Union and Citizens' Lines
jointly during the year 1831, for way passengers
alone, between New York and Philadelphia, exclu-
sive of through passengers and transportation of goods,
was one hundred and six thousand dollars, and that,
allowing the opposition line, which might go by the
Camden and Amboy route, a greater proportion of
the business, the net annual receipts would be sixty
thousand dollars, from which, deducting interest on
the capital, there would still be sufficient profits to
allow a dividend of fifteen per cent. This flattering
estimate was not sustained by subsequent experience.
The track was finished from Morrisville to Bristol on
the 14th of November, 1833. The People's Line for
New York, via Bristol and Trenton, was established
immediately, with the announcement, " No locomo-
tive, no monopoly, fare only $1.50." In order to
make a virtue of a necessity, the People's Line
claimed that it desired to protect the community. It
said, " As it has always been their first care to pro-
vide a safe and comfortable conveyance, they have
resolved not to use steam-carriages, and thus not to
place it in the power of an agent to sport with the
lives of passengers at forty miles an hour. Col. Ree-
side's best drivers and horses are constantly employed
on this route, by which the United States Eastern
mail is carried." These precautions were not of long
continuance.
The railroad was completed from Kensington to
Morrisville on the 1st of November, 1834, and a loco-
motive was immediately placed upon it, which ran
to Morrisville, twenty-eight miles, in one hour and
thirty minutes. The depot of the road was established
on a lot of ground between Front Street and Frank-
ford road, north of Harrison Street. By act of March
27, 1834, this company, with the consent of the com-
missioners of the Northern Liberties, was given au-
thority to connect its track with the Northern Liberty
and Penn Township road at or near Front Street,
with authority to " occupy such street or streets as
shall be most convenient." In view of this au-
thority, the office of the company was established
at Third Street Hall, a large building erected at the
northeast corner of Third and Willow Streets, partly
for use as a hotel and partly for a railroad depot.
In February, 1835, the Pennsylvania Legislature
passed a law empowering this company to build a
bridge over the Delaware River and lay tracks to New
Jersey. Shortly afterward authority was given to
the road to purchase .stock in turnpike bridges and
railroad companies, not only in Pennsylvania, but
elsewhere. There was a feeling of opposition among
the people of the Northern Liberties and Kensington
which was sufficiently understood, and had its effect
in preventing the company from making the junction
2184
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
with the Northern Liberties and Penn Township
road, on Willow Street, which had been intended.
This had the effect of delaying the connection some
time. On March 23, 1839, another act of Assembly
was passed authorizing the company to continue its
tracks from the depot in Kensington along tlie Frank-
ford road and Maiden Street for one year, until an-
other railroad could be conveniently constructed upon
another route from the Kensington Depot to the depot
at Third and Willow Streets. The privilege of con-
tinuing the tracks upon Frankford road and Maiden
Street was not to extend over one year, and James
Eonaldson, Thomas D. Grover, and Daniel Smith,
carpenter, were appointed commissioners to ascertain
what damages had been suffered by the corporation
of the district of Kensington and the people along the
route. The second section of this act permitted the
company to locate a railroad between the Kensington
and Willow Street Depots " by the best route along
the streets between said depots, and for that purpose
they may occupy such street or streets as shall be
most beneficial and convenient." The route might be
approved by the Court of Quarter Sessions, upon the
report of a jury of view of six persons, appointed to
consider its advantages and its disadvantages.
Under this authority, license was obtained to lay a
track on Front Street between Willow Street and the
Kensington Depot. No sooner had the proposition
taken shape than an excitement arose among the
people not only upon the line of the proposed tracks,
but throughout the Northern Liberties and Kensing-
ton. It was urged that the establishment of a rail-
road to be carried through the thickly-built portions
of the districts Would be dangerous to the lives of
citizens and injurious to property. The law of 1839
was criticised unfavorably, upon the allegation that it
was smuggled through the Legislature without notice
to the people of the districts. When the workmen
began to tear up the pavement for the purpose of
laying the rails, they found themselves surrounded by
crowds of discontented persons, who talked loudly
against their proceedings. The women, who were
active, scolded them, and resorted to many annoyances,
in which they were countenanced and aided by men.
From words the discontented opponents resorted to
acts. On July 26, 1840, several feet of the rails
which had been laid down were torn up, and the
roadway injured. On the following day the company
procured the protection of over one hundred police
officers, who were stationed in the neighborhood of
the road ; but the workmen were obliged to desist by
the menaces of the crowd. A pitched battle ensued,
in which the mob used paving-stones and the officers
tried to resist them with their maces ; some men and
one woman were arrested, but the police who held the
prisoners were attacked, severely handled, and com-
pelled to retire from the fury of the mob, which was
increasing every hour. These occurrences took place
in the afternoon of the 27th, and they created much
excitetnent. The news of the encounter spread to all
parts of the city, and at night large numbers of
persons resorted to the scene. The rails tliat had
been laid were again torn up, and the mob proceeded
to a tavern upon Front Street, which was owned by
John Naglee, president of the railroad company, and
was occupied by John Emery. The place was offen-
sive to the crowd because it had been occupied by the
police. An attack upon the building followed; the
doors -were battered in with paving-stones, and, the
house being abandoned by the tenants, was entered
by the rioters, who set it on fire. The usual alarm
being given, the firemen- came to extinguish the flames,
but they were assaulted with a shower of stones, and
driven back.
The police were as active as was pos.sible under the
circumstances; they arrested, or endeavored to arrest,
the persons concerned in the riot and arson, and ten
men charged with rioting were brought into the Court
of Criminal Sessions the next morning, and indict-
ments were framed and presented against them. The
grand jury responded speedily, and two of the persons
charged, Joseph Jennings and David Ortman, were
arraigned immediately, tried, and found guilty. The
court was as passionate as the mob. Jennings was
sentenced immediately to seven years' imprisonment
in the Eastern Penitentiary, and Ortman to ten years'
confinement in the same institution. They had been
in the station-house all night, were taken thence to
the court, and the preliminary examination took place
in the court-house before the judge and in the pres-
ence of the general jurors. The accused had no time
to summon witnesses or to obtain counsel. Ortman
was imperfectly acquainted with the English lan-
guage, and he and Jennings were strangers to each
other, and had no opportunity to consult as to the
best methods of defense. The court was denounced
on account of the indecent haste and feeling exhibited
by the judge, prosecuting attorney, and jurors. At a
public meeting held in the Northern Liberties strong
resolutions of condemnation were passed. Petitions
for the pardon of the prisoners were prepared and
passed and extensively signed. They were so strong
in their influence that they produced an effect upon
the Governor of the State, and in a short time Ortman
and Jennings were pardoned. An effort was also made
to repeal the law creating the Court of Criminal Ses-
sions, which had been passed in 1838. It was not
successful at the time, but the feeling had its influence
in the passage of the act of Feb. 22, 1840, by which
the Court of Criminal Sessions was abolished and the
Court of General Sessions erected in its stead. The
company was not disposed to yield to the opposition.
New authority was obtained from the Legislature by
act of May 3, 1841, which extended to the company
the right to use the railroad tracks along Frankford
road and Maiden Street for three years, and gave the
same time for the construction of the railroad along
Front Street from the Kensington Depot to the depot
TRANSPORTATION.
21fi5
at Third and Willow Streets. No immediate attempt
was made by the company to exercise this authority,
and in the next year an act was j^assed to repeal the
law of the year previous, reaffirming the right to con-
struct the railroad on Front Street. Practically the
Front Street route was abandoned for many years.
The Kensington Depot remained at Harrison Street,
and trains arrived and departed there. For pa.ssen-
gers, particularly on the thi'ough lines, the station for
starting by cars was established at Tacony. City pas-
sengers were carried by steamboat from a central
wharf in the city as far north as Tacony, where they
took cars and proceeded on their journey. Certain
trains arriving from New York were accommodated
by the same method.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com-
pany.— The charter for this railroad was passed April
4, 1833 ; surveys were immediately made, and forty-
one miles put under construction during the year.
The original object of the company was to construct a
railroad from Peter's Island, four miles from Phila-
delphia, where connection was made with the Philadel-
phia and Columbia Railroad to Reading, a distance
of fifty-four miles. Work on the line was commenced
in 1835, and portions of the road were opened for
travel in 1838. The branch, five miles long, from Falls
of Schuylkill to Port Richmond on the Delaware, was
completed in 1842. The Little Schuylkill Railroad
Company having failed to complete its road from
Tamaqua to Port Clinton, twenty miles, its privileges
were transferred to the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company. The act of March 20, 1838, au-
thorized the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com-
pany to extend its road to Mount Carbon or Pottsville,
these two points being already connected by the
Mount Carbon Railroad, and the extension was made
to Mount Carbon. Subsequently the Mount Carbon
Railroad was leased and absorbed by the Philadelphia
and Reading Railroad Company, which opened the
road from Pottsville to Peter's Island, Jan. 1, 1842.
After the State railroad line was relocated, in 1850,
the old line from Broad and Willow Streets, Phila-
delphia, to Peter's Island, now Belmont Station, was
purchased by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
Company, and is now used for the passenger and gen-
eral city freight trade, while the Port Richmond
branch is almost exclusively used for coal. The ter-
minal facilities at Port Richmond consist of wharves
extending from three hundred to eight hundred feet
into the Delaware River; each wharf is provided with
chutes, allowing a direct discharge of coal from the
cars into vessels. On these wharves thirty-six miles
of tracks are distributed for the accommodation of the
immense shipping business. The grade of this rail-
road is a continual descent from Schuylkill Haven to
the Falls of Schuylkill, a distance of nearly eighty-
three miles, which enables locomotives to draw ex-
traordinarily long trains of loaded cars, largely econo-
mizing the railroad service. This company penetrates
the great anthracite coal-fields, which it has covered
with a net-work of roads, reaching every accessible
point. Its branches touch Columbia, Harrisburg,
and Williamsport, as well as Philadelphia and Ches-
ter. Having leased the Susquehanna Canal from
Columbia, Pa., to Havre de Grace, Md., it possesses
water communication with Baltimore. It secures the
trade of the Schuylkill Valley by its lease of the
Schuylkill Navigation Company's canal, and the
Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad.
In 1858 the absorption of lateral roads was inaugu-
rated, and has continued until Poor's Railroad Manual
for 1882 exhibits the following:
Miles.
Line of Koad. Pliiladelphia, Pa., to Reading, Pa 98.4
Brandies. Miles.
Northern Liberty and Penn Township, in Philadelphia 1.4
Port Kennedy. Port Kennedy to Lime Kilns 1.2
Lebanon Vallei/. Reading to Harrisburg 53.7
Lebanon and Tremont. Lebanon to Brookside 42.2
SchuylkiU and Susquehanna. Rockville to Auburn 63.4
Mount Carbon. Mount Carbon to Wadesyllle 8.5
Mahanoy and Shamokin. Mahanoy City to Herndou 64.6
Moselem. Leesport to Quarry 1.7
West Beading. Reading to West Reading 1.9 228.6
Leased Lines.
Chester Valleii Railroad. Bridgeport to Downingtown 21.5
Colebrookdale Railroad. Pottstown to Rath 12.8
Pickering Valley Railroad. Phoenixville to Byers 11.0
East Pennsylvania Railroad. Reading to Allentown 36.0
AUentown Hailroad. Toptown to Kutztown : 4.5
LilUe Schuylkill Railroad. Port Clinton to Tamaqua 281
JIfiiic Hill Railroad. Schuylkill Haven to Locust Gap 53.1
Mount Carbon and Port Carbon Railroad. Mount Carbon
to Palo Alto 2.5
Mill Creek Railroad. Palo Alto to Tuscarora II.O
East Mahanoy Railroad. East Mahanoy to Mahanoy City.. 10.7
Philadelphia, Oermanlown and Norristown Railroad. Phila-
delphia to Norristown 33.7
Catawissa Railroad. Tamanend to Williamsport 93.0
Philadelphia and Chester Branch Railroad. Philadelphia to
Chester 14.1
North Pennsylvania Railroad. Philadelphia to Bethlehem. 86.4
Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. Delaware River to
Bound Brook 30.7
Norristown Junction Railroad. Philadelphia. Germantown
and Norristown Railroad to Stony Creek Railroad 0.4 453.3
Roads controlled.
Reading and Columbia Railroad 39.6
" " " Lebanon Branch 1.6
" " " Quarrjville Branch 15.3
Northeast Pennsylvania Railroad 9.6 66.0
Total length of line owned, leased, and controlled 846,3
In addition must be added : Schuylkill Navigation,
108.23 miles, leased for nine hundred and ninety-nine
years, from Jan. 1, 1870, and Susquehanna Canal,
45 miles, leased for nine hundred and ninety-nine
years, from Jan. 1, 1872. The lease of the North
Pennsylvania and the Delaware and Bound Brook
Railroads was made in May, 1879, for nine hundred
and ninety-nine years, at an annual rental equal to
the fixed charges of the companies, and annual divi-
dends of six per cent, for the first two years, seven
per cent, for the next two years, and of eight per cent,
for the remainder of the lease. The rentals of the
North Pennsylvania Railroad are estimated to equal
$673,344 per annum for the first two years, $718,615.50
for the next two years, and $763,887 for the remainder
of the lease. The payments are to be made quarterly,
and also $12,000 per year for expenses of organiza-
tion, etc. The rentals of the Delaware and Bound
Brook Railroad equal $195,840 per year for the first
two years, §210,980 for the next two years, and
2186
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
$266,120 for the remainder, in equal quarterly install-
ments, and $6000 for expenses. The company has
also leased the Central Railroad of New Jersey, which
connects with the North Pennsylvania and the Dela-
ware and Bound Brook Eailroads, forming a through
line from Philadelphia to New Yorlf.
The president of the Bound Brook Railroad, Ed-
ward C. Knight, has long been identified with the in-
ternal improvements of Pennsylvania. He was born
in Gloucester (now Camden) County, N. J., on the 8th
of December, 1813. His ancestor, Giles Knight, of
Gloucestershire, England, came to Penn's new prov-
ince in the ship " Welcome" with William Penn, at its
settlement, locating in Byberry, where he died in 1726.
The parents of E. C. Knight — Jonathan and Rebecca
Collings Knight — were members of the Society of
Friends. The son entered mercantile life, in 1830, as a
clerk in a country store at Kaighn's Point, N. J. Two
years later he came to Philadelphia, and engaged as a
clerk in the grocery store of Atkinson & Cuthbert,
South Street wharf, on the Delaware River. In May,
1836, he established himself in the grocery business
on Second Street, giving his mother an interest in it.
Several years later he became interested in the im-
porting business, acquiring a share in the schooner
" Baltimore," which made regular trips between Cape
Haytien, San Domingo, and Philadelphia, chiefly
laden with coffee. In September, 1846, he removed to
the southeast corner of Chestnut and Water Streets,
where, for nearly thirty-eight years, — at first alone, and
subsequently as the senior partner of the firm of E. C.
Knight & Co., — he has carried on the wholesale gro-
cery, commission, importing, and refining business.
In 1849 this house became, and thereafter continued
to be, interested very largely in the California trade,
the first steamer that ever plied on the waters above
Sacramento City having been sent out by this firm.
The business at present is principally that of sugar-
refining, for which purpose the firm occupies two
large molasses-houses and one extensive refinery at
Bainbridge Street wharf, on the Delaware, and that
of importing molasses and sugar from Cuba, in which
latter business this house was the pioneer in America.
The capacity of the refinery belonging to this firm
can be fairly comprehended when it is stated that it
is usual to turn out from one thousand to fifteen
hundred barrels per day.
But, while for many years Mr. Knight has been
looked upon as one of Philadelphia's most prominent
and most honored merchants, he has of late been
mainly recognized as one of the leading railroad man-
agers of the Quaker City. Years ago he was a di-
rector in the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg, the West
Jersey, and other railroad companies. Finally he
became a director in the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany. It was largely through his instrumentality, as
chairman of a committee of the latter corporation,
that the American Steamship Line, between Phila-
delphia and Europe, was established, and Mr. Knight
was president of the steamship line in question. He
finally withdrew from the Board of Directors of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and thereafter his
interests were centred elsewhere. He is now a di-
rector in the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey,
and was, from 1876 to 1880, its president. It was
largely owing to his superior intelligence and indus-
try that this corporation was placed in its present
solid condition. In 1874, also, Mr. Knight was chosen
president of the Bound Brook Railroad Company, a
position which he now holds. He is also a director
in the Philadelphia and Reading and in the North
Pennsylvania Railroad Companies.
Mr. Knight has been, at various times, connected
with a number of financial institutions in this city of
high standing. He has, however, withdrawn from
all banking and trust companies, except the Guar-
antee Trust and Safe-Deposit Company, of which he
is at present the vice-president.
While not an office-seeker, Mr. Knight is, in every
sence of the word, a public man. In 1856 he was
nominated by the American, Whig, and Reform par-
ties for Congress, in the old First District of Penn-
sylvania. In 1860 he was an elector on the Repub-
lican Presidential ticket from the same district. He
was a member of the State Constitutional Convention
of 1873, his sound opinions and advice as a business
man having had material weight in the formulation
of much of the best material in the present organic
law of the commonwealth. In December, 1883, Mr.
Knight was appointed a member of the Park Com-
mission by the judges of the Court of Common Pleas.
In semi-public affairs Mr. Knight has likewise been
a prominent factor. He is, and has for years been,
one of the directors of the Union League. He was
also the president and one of the most active pro-
moters of the Bi-Centennial Association of 1882.
Mr. Knight is, in every sense of the word, one of
Philadelphia's most public-spirited citizens, and a man
whose name is a synonym for integrity and honor.
The Laurel Run Improvement Company was char-
tered May 18, 1871. Its name was changed by act of
Dec. 12, 1871, to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal
and Iron Company, which was organized under the
auspices of the Reading Railroad Company for the
purpose of purchasing and operating the coal proper-
ties with which the railroad was connected. The en-
tire stock of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and
Iron Company is owned by the Reading Railroad
Company, the bonds and mortgages on the coal-lands
amounting to $39,737,965.53. The serious interrup-
tion of the business of the company caused by the
"strikes" in the coal region and the many fluctua-
tions in the coal trade resulting from alternate periods
of expansion and depression, induced the manage-
ment in 1871 to obtain some control over the produc-
tion of coal, and thereby, if practicable, prevent a
recurrence of the difficulties previously experienced.
To this end the Reading Railroad Company became
"ffflew,
■■sliojdiwt
/^-t^f/^^
I
TRANSPORTATION.
2187
the owners of the coal-lands situated upon the lines
of its several branches. To effect this object a mort-
gage of $25,000,000 was executed to secure a loan,
from the proceeds of which all outstanding mortgages
were to be retired, and the balance, .S19,000,000, applied
to the purchase of the coal-lands. The loan was very
successful, and at the close of 1871, 70,000 acres of
the best coal-lands in Pennsylvania had been acquired
at a cost of $11,962,000 ; the Philadelphia and Read-
ing Coal and Iron Company being the auxiliary com-
pany by which the'title to these lands was held. The
total amount of the indebtedness of the Reading Rail-
road Company when these bonds were issued, in 1871
was $5,801,200; 7 per cent, bonds, payable in 1872,
$110,400 ; 7 per cent, bonds, payable in 1874, $43,000
7 per cent, sterling bonds, payable in 1877, $134,400
5 per cent, sterling bonds, payable in 1880, $182,400
6 per cent, sterling bonds, payable in 1880, $976,800
6 per cent, convertible dollar bonds, payable in 1880
$133,000; 6 per cent, dollar bonds, unconvertible
payable in 1880, $1,521,000; 7 per cent, bonds, paya
ble in 1890, $2,700,000. For the payment of these
bonds, 6000 bonds of the above mortgage loan were
pledged to be reserved, and it was further covenanted
that a sinking-fund should be established, which by
its accumulations would retire the indebtedness as it
matured.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company
made default on the 21st of May, 1880, in the interest
of its maturing obligations, and its road and property
were placed in the hands of receivers by the United
States Circuit Court, May 22, 1880.
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company's
system of cheap tickets has been of vast service to the
company, and one of the branches — the Germantown
and Norristown Railroad — has the largest local travel
per mile, and runs the largest number of passenger
traius of any single road in the United States. The
company also owns a fleet of iron steamships, which
it employs in carrying coal from Port Richmond to
cities along the coast. The united length of all the
railroads under control of the company is 846.3 miles,
all of which lie within the borders of Pennsylvania,
and have Philadelphia for their commercial entrepot
and business terminus.
In 1870, Franklin B. Gowen was elected president
of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, which
position he held until he resigned in 1884, and was
succeeded by George de B. Keim. His administration
of the road was marked by great ability, and notwith-
standing circumstances over which he had no control
compelled the placing of the road in the hands of a
receiver in May, 1880, the ability and management of
Mr. Gowen continued to direct the operations of the
road and the administration of its finances until it
was fully restored to the stockholders, and placed
upon a paying and successful basis.
Mr. Gowen was born at Mount Airy, Philadelphia,
on Feb. 9, 1836. He adopted the profession of law,
and was admitted to the bar in May, 1860, and quickly
acquired an extensive and lucrative practice. It is
not only as a lawyer of great ability, but as a financier
and railroad manager, that Mr. Gowen stands pre-
eminent among his contemporaries. In the Constitu-
tional Convention of 1872 he took a conspicuous
position, and, as chairman of the Committee on Re-
vision and Adjustment, shaped to a considerable
extent the work of constitutional revision ; he also
served on the Committee on County, Township, and
Borough Offices.
North Pennsylvania Railroad. — In consequence
of movements in the city and districts in 1851 and
1852, considerable interest was taken in the construc-
tion of a railroad to connect Philadelphia with the
Lehigh coal region. The benefit of the trade of Bucks
and Northampton Counties and upon the upper Dela-
ware was duly set forth, and resulted in the incorpora-
tion, April 8, 1852, of the Philadelphia, Easton and
Water Gap Railroad Company. The title of the
company was changed by act of April 18, 1853, to the
North Pennsylvania Railroad Company.' Subscrip-
tions by the city and district corporation and citizens
were obtained with energetic effort, and the con-
struction of the road entered upon. It was finished
as far as Gwynedd, in Bucks County, in the early part
of 1855, and formally opened for travel on Monday,
the 2d of July, 1855, by an excursion from the Co-
hoquinoque Station, at Front and Willow Streets,
to Fort Washington. From that time the road
has been in operation, the distance traveled being
gradually extended as new sections were finished.
Travel was opened through to Bethlehem in 1857,
and subsequently connection has been had with the
Lehigh Valley Railroad and extension of lines in
Northern Pennsylvania, together with the line known
as the Bound Brook route to New York. The pas-
senger depot remained at Front and Willow Streets
until about 1864, when it was removed to Germantown
Avenue and Thompson Street. This was not a very
convenient place, and was subsequently abandoned,
a very large and commodious depot having been
erected at Berks and American Streets, from which the
locomotives could be run without interference upon
the unobstructed tracks northward. Soon after the
company was established a lot of ground on the north
side of Walnut Street, west of Fourth, was obtained
for the purposes of a main office, and a fine large
building with a brown stone front erected there.
The North Pennsylvania Railroad, as has been
stated, is now a part of the Reading Railroad system,
and since January, 1857, Franklin A. Comly, of this
city, has been its president. Mr. Comly is descended
from Henry and Joan Comly, of Bedminster, near
Bristol, England, who came over with Penn in 1682,
bringing with them their son Henry. The elder
Comly, who was a weaver by trade, bought and set-
1 See Tol. i. p. 707.
2188
HISTOEY OF PHILADELPHIA.
tied upon a tract of five hundred acres in Warmin-
ster, Bucks Co., Pa., where he died in March, 1684.
His son Henry married, on Aug. 17, 1695, Agnes,
daughter of Robert and Alice Heaton, and two years
later purchased from his father-in-law three hundred
acres of the estate called Manor of Moreland. Nam-
ing his new acquisition Green Briar Spring, he made
it the homestead of the family. Their children were
Mary, born 1699; Henry, born 1702; Robert, born
1704; John, born 1706; Joseph, born 1708; Walter,
born 1708; Agnes, born 1715; Isaac, born, 1717; and
Grace, born 1721.
Henry, the second child, married, in 1728, Phoebe,
daughter of Joseph Gilbert, and settled on the Green
Briar Spring homestead. He died in 1772, aged sev-
enty years, and his wife in 1773, aged seventy-two
years. They had eight children, of whom Jonathan
and Joshua were twins. Joshua Comly married
Catharine Willett, and the offspring of the union
was twelve children. One of their sons was James
Comly, born Nov. 23, 1787, who married Eliza,
daughter of Samuel Ayres, of Huntingdon Valley.
They resided for some time at Ashton's mill, now
known as Walton's mill, on the Pennypack. This
property was sold by James Comly in 1831, when he
purchased a farm near the Fox Chase, and lived on
it until his death, which occurred in 1837. He was a
member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and a jus-
tice of the peace.
Franklin A., son of James and Eliza Comly, was
born March 12, 1813, at the family residence on the
Pennypack, now known as Bethayres. After passing
through the rural schools, he received a higher edu-
cation at an academy in Philadelphia, which stood on
Seventh Street, south of Chestnut, the present site of
the Pi-ess building. At seventeen years of age he was
apprenticed to Robert A. Parrish, who kept a hard-
ware-store at the old number of 238 North Third
Street, in the district of the Northern Liberties. At
manhood he was admitted as a member of the firm,
and he also accepted the agency of a Sheflield(Eng-
land) cutlery hardware-factory, whose goods it was
desired to establish a market for in this city. In 1844,
Mr. Comly became connected with the mining and
shipping of coal, and was elected president of the Buck
Mountain Coal Company, whose mines were situated
in what is now Carbon County. In January, 1857, he
was chosen president of the North Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, which position he has now continu-
ously filled for more than twenty -seven years. He has
other and almost equally as important business in-
terests, being president of the Longdale Iron Company
of Virginia, treasurer of the Andover Iron Company
of Phillipsburg, N. J. (of which he was one of the cor-
porators), and director in the Glendon Iron Company
of Easton, Pa., the AUentown Rolling-Mills, East
Broad Top Railroad Company, Cranberry Iron and
Coal Company of North Carolina, East Tennesee and
Western North Carolina Railroad Company, the Hi-
bernia Mine Railroad Company, the Pennsylvania
Fire Insurance Company, and the Delaware and
Bound Brook Railroad Company, of which Edward
C. Knight is president, the building of which estab-
lished a new line from this city to New York.
Lehigh Valley Railroad.— The Lehigh Valley
Railroad, although no part of its tracks are in Phila-
delphia, was naturally the outcome of the great enter-
prises upon the Lehigh River and the anthracite
regions in the neighboi'hood of Mauch Chunk began
by Josiali White, Erskine Hazard, and George F. A.
Hauto, in 1817, for the development of the coal trade,
which afterward led to the establishment of the
Lehigh Navigation Company. Subsequently the
canal navigation was not considered sufficient, and
the scheme of a railroad was devised. The company
was incorporated as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuyl-
kill and Susquehanna Railroad Company, by act of
Assembly passed 21st of April, 1846. Sufficient stock
was subscribed for in the course of fourteen months
to justify the Governor in issuing letters patent on
the 20th of September, 1847. The road was not com-
menced by a survey of the route until the autumn
months of 1850. Work in grading commenced in the
spring of 1851. On the 7th of January, 1853, the
name of the company was changed by act of As-
sembly to The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company.
The work was not finished until the 24th of Sep-
tember, 1855. Up to this time the president of the
company had been the Hon. James M. Porter, and
the office was at Easton. In the beginning of 1856
the majority of the stockholders resolved that it was
to the interest of the company to remove the office to
Philadelphia. Judge Porter then resigned the presi-
dency, and was succeeded by William M. Longstreth,
elected on the 3d of Februarj', 1856. He held the
office for three months, and was succeeded. May 13th,
by J. Gillingham Fell, who held the office for several
years, and was succeeded by Hon. Asa Packer, a large
owner of the stock. The office was established at
No. 412 Walnut Street for some years, but was finally
removed to the building formerly occupied by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, at Third and Wil-
ling's Alley, after the latter had removed to Fourth
and Willing's Alley.
Charles Hartshorne, the vice-president of the Le-
high Valley Railroad Company, was born at Philadel-
phia, Sept. 2, 1829. He is a son of the late Dr. Joseph
and Anna Hartshorne, and a descendant in the sev-
enth generation from Richard Hartshorne, who settled
in New Jersey in 1665, nearly twenty years prior to
Penn's settlement on the Delaware. His grandfather,
William Hartshorne, of Alexandria, Va., was treas-
urer of the first Internal Improvement Company in
this country, of which Gen. Washington was presi-
dent.
Mr. Hartshorne was educated at Haverford College
and at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating
i from the latter in the class of '47.
TRANSPORTATION.
2189
cies were in the line
•1 to talie a strong
■•■s and of the
■Voni college
business
din-
Mr. Ilartahorne's early t
r railroad enterprises, wh
bold iijion (he attention •
public about the time of li'
life into the more practical
and public affairs. Havint! .
tcrests, Sir. Hartshbrne Im-
present time as an a ''
in various importan;
)857 he became prt-
Company; in 1862, he was oho
L/ehigh and Mahunoy Railroad C
was eli'cted vice-president of the
road Company, and in 1880 waa •
est in ihc coiuj.aii' .1:
railroad interesif, Mr. i-l;i"
a number of commercial organiaaiio:.-
Providcnt Life and Trust Company an ■
National Bank, in each of which he is a -^ r ,-
He is also officially connected wi*!i a !in:i.i.i i :
niil.ii, enterprises of an eduiationai and charitab'e
'^r. Among such may be mentioned Haver-
ilege, Bryn Mawr College, and the Pennsyl-
lauii. Jiodpital, of each of which he is a member of
the board of managers.
Ah' ■ ■ •■ ■ • "
■--•■)"■
.■vf^cln:
M rail I ■
tniniir.'
irom tho Aii..
io the remurki*!'
fifty-nine niiuutcs, =
fhree and a half dM
>The followlug Io tho
I'vnnsylTania Railr< <vi
"Left Jerspy > . '■
.Vnw York City, >.
.■•.nnsjlvania lUI ■
J'!."* A.M. Mmeday; '1,:.
^ M. on 2d instnnt; Ogden
'*0,»t9.29 A.H.on 4th i:i-t
Ui obtain wiUi liit
'" maximum result
riage of pas-
...ia Railroad
- This achievement for distance and time has never
been equaled, and the Pennsylvania Railroad stands
pre-eminent for speed. Second, as to great increase
of draught. It was stated about 1857 that experi-
ments on the Massachusetts railroads showed that
the cost of merchandise transportation was .3.095 cents
per ton per mile, with an average speed of ten miles
an hour. In 1881 the Pennsylvania Railroad moved
'?29,.365 tons at a charge of .779 cents and at a cost
"' cents per ton per mile. Third, as to increase
In the period from 1834 to 1840 there were
'lied and 2073 wounded while traveling
^ in France, while not one passenger
'!• wounded, and only three em-
-"f 1,889,718 pa.ssengers who
°r French railways. Un-
istics of "killed and
n railways, but as,
•■s of a passenger
•<r one mile on
"■ting with
•d also
der
714 pa-«t»
road in 1'^
or bodily
Tl'e (rrw
".rs, tn th«
: ; . .^..i, .,u loess that
!' its trains.
' ovit of the mixed rail-
c<mKtriicted by the State be-
; Pi'taburgh. From 1834 to
i tu illustrate its disad-
it was thoroughly edn-
■•eat ot»j>ci of through
•■ obtained by the mix-
„ 1 -rop. A canal all the
way or a railroad ail thr way yuna louud to be necea-
.sary to meet the competiliou of the ICrie Canal at the
iiiirlh. ;iii'i of the Baltimore and (^hio Railroad at
the s<>n'!i. The agitation for a continuous railroiid
from ilarribbuijf to Pituburgh bvgan to take definite
Hhape at the confcation c-fthe tith of March, 1838, at
qi ?<•« Vi.ik lu 8«n rraiiciaco, 3317 nillui.
' :■ III ^row N*w York to San Franrinco, 83 lionre, i»
v.': .1 Pltcabur^Ti.fun «It!i.)Qt ftNfnf(Ie fCor<}i^
■• s Vurk Io )'itl«burgli, PrlioaylTOola Rail-
• lis I'ennaylvanla Bailroail, 44 rone».
. l>Dueylrania Kaliroad, for hour, C2 mili».
. FennsylTaoU RHi)n>ad, per hour, 25 mitu.
■ v>.r:if.<- f; -..1 II Pliuburgh, Fort Waype an J Chicago Railway, per
hour, 48 iiillm.
" Av.-nt(5e speed on Chicago end Northweatern Bailwoy, per hoar, 45
miiw "
2190
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Harrisburg, at which twenty-nine counties were rep-
resented. Eobert T. Conrad, of Philadelphia, pre-
sided, and the subject was thordughly and ably dis-
cussed, with the effect of securing a survey of a route
under the authority of the State. Hother Hage, an
engineer of distinction, made the survey through the
counties of Franklin, Bedford, Somerset, Westmore-
land, and Allegheny, and the following year the canal
commissioners appointed Charles L. Schlatter to sur-
vey similar lines from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh.
These surveys demonstrated the practicability of a
continuous railroad between Harrisburg and Pitts-
burgh. But it was not until 1846 that the subject
took a practical shape. " On the 13th of April of that
year the act to incorjjorate the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company was passed. The capital stock of the com-
pany was fixed at $7,500,000, with the privilege of
increasing the same to 110,000,000. The company
was authorized to build a road to connect with the
Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster
Railroad, and to run to Pittsburgh, or other place in
the county of Allegheny, or to Erie, as might be
deemed most expedient. The act also provided that
in case the company should have $3,000,000 sub-
scribed, and $1,000,000 actually paid into its treas-
ury, and have fifteen miles of its road under contract
for construction at each terminus of its road prior to
the 30th of July, 1847, the law granting the right
of way to the Baltimore and Ohio road from Cum-
berland, Md., to Pittsburgh, should be null and void.
All these conditions were complied with, and on
the 25th of February, 1847, Governor Shunk granted
a charter to the company, and on the 2d of August
he issued his proclamation declaring the privileges
granted to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad abro-
gated. This action created considerable dissatisfac-
tion in Alleghany and the other southwestern counties
of Pennsylvania, and it required the lapse of time to
satisfy those sections that it was for their advantage,
as well as for the best interests of the State of Penn-
sylvania. The energy with which the work of con-
struction of the Pennsylvania Railroad was con-
structed and the careful manner in which its route
was located soon changed the antagonism of Western
Pennsylvania to the East to friendship and sym-
pathy." ' Books of subscription were opened on the
22d of June, 1846; committees of the originators of
the enterprise visited the citizens of Philadelphia,
and obtained subscriptions to a large amount; public
meetings were held; the press was active in advocacy
of the great work. Two thousand six hundred sub-
scriptions were reported in the first annual report of
the directors, of which nearly eighteen hundred were
for five shares and under. J. Edgar Thomson, after-
ward president of the company, was appointed chief
engineer of the road early in 1847, and, with Edward
Miller, William B. Foster, Jr., S. W. Mifflin, G. W.
1 " PennBylvaDfa Bailroad," etc., by William B. Sipes.
Leuffer, Strickland Kneass, Edward Tilghman, Oliver
Barnes, located and supervised the construction of
the road.
The grading of the first twenty miles of road west
of Harrisburg was let on the 16th of July, 1847, and
fifteen miles east from Pittsburgh was also put under
contract on the 22d of the same month. Thus the
work was pushed east and west vigorously. On the
26th of November of the same year forty miles addi-
tional were let, carrying the eastern portion under
contract'to Lewistown. During the same year the
city of Philadelphia subscribed two million five hun-
dred thousand dollars to the stock of the company,
and the next year the county of Allegheny subscribed
one million dollars. Sixty-one miles of the road from
Harrisburg to Lewistown were opened Sept. 17, 1849,
and one year later the " Mountain House," one mile
east of Hollidaysburg, was reached, and connection
made with the State Portage road, over the Alle-
ghany Mountains, and thus the work progressed until,
on the 10th of December, 1832, the cars were run
through from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The East-
ern and Western Divisions were connected by using
the Portage road over the mountains. This connec-
tion continued until Feb. 15, 1854, when the inclined
planes of the Portage road were abandoned for the
company's own road. Before the completion of the
road, in 1854, the chief engineer, J. Edgar Thomson,
was elected president on the 2d of February, 1852.
J. Edgar Thomson was born in Delaware County,
Pa., on the 10th of February, 1808. He was the
son of John Thomson, who, in 1809, laid out and
constructed the first experimental railroad in the
United States, extending from Leiper's stone-quar-
ries, in Delaware County, Pa., to the Delaware River.
John Thomson, father of J. Edgar Thomson, was a
man of extraordinary energy and ability. His an-
cestors came from England with William Penn, and
settled in the vicinity of Philadelphia. He attained
a high reputation as a civil engineer toward the end
of the last century, and was employed in the con-
struction of some important works, among which was
the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. For several
years he was in the service of the "Holland Land
Company," an organization which controlled much
of the land in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and while
thus engaged he, in 1793, encamped at Presque Isle
(now Erie), and, with one assistant, without other
tools than usually attend an engineering expedition,
built the schooner " White Fish," which he conveyed
by ox-teams from the Falls of Niagara to Lake On-
tario, thence to where Oswego now stands, and up a
small river to Oneida Lake, passing through which,
and carrying his vessel again by land to the Mohawk,
he followed that stream to the Hudson, and thence to
the Atlantic Ocean. From this he entered the Dela-
ware Bay and reached Philadelphia, when his schooner
was taken to Independence Square, where it remained
until destroyed by decay. This was the first vessel
', \tii ogt aoil
A
TRANSPORTATION.
2191
that ever passed from Lake Erie to New York and
Philadelphia. Mr. Thomson died in 1842.
The son, after the requisite preparation received
from his father, commenced his professional career, in
1827, in the engineer corps employed upon the original
surveys of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad,
having received his appointment from the secretary
of the Board of Canal Commissioners of Pennsylva-
nia. He continued in this service until 1830, when,
the State failing to make the necessary appropriations
for the continuance of the construction of the road, he
entered the service of the Camden and Amboy Rail-
road Company as principal assistant engineer of the
Eastern Division. After leaving their service he vis-
ited Europe to examine the public works of that
continent, and shortly after his return, in 1832, was
appointed chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad,
extending from Augusta to Atlanta, in that State,
with a branch to Athens, in all two hundred and
thirteen miles of railway, — the longest amount of
railway at that time under the control of one com-
pany in the United States. He continued in that
service, as chief engineer and general manager, until
his unsolicited election to the position of chief engi-
neer of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Mr. Thomson entered upon his duties as chief en-
gineer of the road in the early part of 1847. The
directors say, in their first annual report, that " in the
selection of a chief engineer the board was fortunate
in obtaining the services of Mr. John Edgar Thom-
son, a gentleman of enlarged professional experience
and sound judgment, who had obtained a well-earned
reputation upon the Georgia road, and in whom the
board place great confidence."
On the 2d of February, 1852, Mr. Thomson was
elected president of the company, and it was in that
capacity he saw completed many important enter-
prises which he had inaugurated as chief engineer.
He was continued in the position, without interrup-
tion, up to the time of his death, devoting to the
great enterprise twenty-seven years of his life, and
bestowing upon it an amount of care and attention
never given by any other American to a similar
work.
His reputation was established South as well as
North, and he confessedly stood at the head of his
profession. He did more than any one man who
ever lived to establish, create, and perfect the railway
system of the American continent.
Occupying the important business position he did,
it was natural that Mr. Thomson's influence should
be sought for many enterprises. So far as these were
for the general good, he cheerfully promoted them.
One of his favorite objects was the thorough develop-
ment of the mineral resources of Pennsylvania, in the
value of which he had unlimited faith. Every coal
and iron field was thoroughly understood and appre-
ciated by him ; and if the great corporation over
which he presided could facilitate its development.
the work was promptly done. The American Steam-
ship Company of Philadelphia was largely indebted
to his sagacity and unwavering interest in the busi-
ness of the city for its existence. Asa member of the
Park Commission of Philadelphia, he gained the
esteem of his associates, who, after his decease, placed
on record a tribute to his high character as an engi-
neer, a citizen, and a gentleman of many accomplish-
ments.
Burdened as he was by such a multitude of duties,
and of so arduous and complex a character, it is not
surprising that the strain of such labor, continued for
nearly half a century, brought his life to a close before
he had numbered the threescore and ten years allotted
to mankind. While his intellectual faculties remained
unclouded, and his strong will evinced no signs of re-
laxing, yet the human machinery that for near fifty
years they had propelled in the wearing grooves of
railroad life faltered in its work, and, on the 27th of
May, 1874, death came to release him from the tur-
moil and exactions which had so long harassed him.
Noticeable traits of Mr. Thomson's character were
reticence and taciturnity. Devoting all his life and
his great natural abilities to the cultivation of one set
of ideas, his accumulation of professional information
was enormous. This vast knowledge made him ex-
ceedingly cautious and careful, — conservative in his
ideas, and generally slow to execute. But when his
conclusions were reached, and the emergency required
it, he became grandly enterprising, and permitted no
obstacle to stand in the way of success. His thoughts
and opinions were rarely made known, while he dis-
played infinite patience in listening to the views, de-
sires, hopes, fears, and plans of others. Actions spoke
for him, not words. He absorbed the knowledge ot
others, weighed, considered, and digested it thor-
oughly, and reached conclusions by cool, methodical
reasoning. When convinced, he knew no hesitancy
or doubt. The determination was as fixed as the laws
of nature, and success appeared to come as a result
of his faith. His conception of the future of Ameri-
can railroads seems now almost supernatural. For
twenty years he marked out and reiterated in his an-
nual reports the plan of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, and he never deviated from that plan, —
pursuing it persistently, patiently, and faithfully until
it was fully accomplished. To such a man system
was everything ; and there can be no question that
much of the success attending the Pennsylvania Rail-
road was owing to the almost military rigidity with
which its workings were arranged and managed under
his inspiration. He had that great faculty of a gen-
eral,— a good judgment of character and capabilities.
In this he was rarely mistaken ; and, his confidence
once placed, he was loyal to its recipients, never aban-
doning or failing to sustain them. This friendship
was undemonstrative except in acts. He had few in-
timate associates outside of his own family, and was
utterly indifferent to popular applause. His affections
2192
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
&eemed centred in tlie great corporation he controlled,
and whatever conduced to the success of that, present
or remote, was the thing to be done, — the end to be
attained.
The peculiar bent of his mind is illustrated by the
fact that the larger portion of his fortune was devised
for the foundation of an institution for the benefit of
a class of people connected with the railways he had
been instrumental in creating.
This charity, which was opened Dec. 4, 1882, is !
called St. John's Orphanage. It has been started in
two houses, Nos. 1720 and 1722 Rittenhouse Street,
and in a modest way is doing active good. It is open
to receive the daughters of employes who have died
in the service, — first, of the Pennsylvania Railroad ;
secondly, of the Georgia and Atlantic iRailroad; and
then of any railroad in the United States. The girls
are taken from the age of six to ten, given free of ;
charge a home in the orphanage and a plain educa- '
tion, being taught household work and sewing until
they are sixteen, when they will be put out to service
or taught a trade. It is intended to open a boarding-
house for those who have left the orphanage, that the
girls may have protection while they are learning to
support themselves.
After his death various public bodies united in
posthumous tributes to his sagacity and enterprise, I
leaving no room for doubt as to the respect and
esteem his quiet, unobtrusive services had gained in
the community where so many years of his laborious
life were passed.
Under the supervision and direction of Mr. Thom-
son, as engineer and as president, the Pennsylvania
Railroad was constructed in a superior manner, and
has become the most perfect road in America. It was
constructed to overcome the barrier of the Alleghany
Mountains by a gradual ascent, of which the heaviest
gradient, to Altoona, does not exceed twenty-one feet
to the mile. A short distance west of Altoona this
gradient increases to ninety-five feet per mile on
straight lines, and to eighty-two feet on curves, until
it reaches the culminating point at the west end of the
great tunnel, at an altitude above tide of two thousand
one hundred and sixty-one feet. Its maximum gra-
dient is twenty-one feet per mile less than that of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
The completion of the through line of railroad from
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh induced the people of the
State to rid themselves of the burden of the unprofit-
able improvements constructed by the State at an
enormous cost, and supported and maintained by
taxation rather than by their revenues. The heavy
debt incurred in the construction of the State line
had been borne for twenty-five years, and there was
no prospect of any relief therefrom by the income
from these works. It was felt that the sacrifice must
ultimately be made, and, this having been determined,
it was obvious that the sooner the sale was complete
the better for the taxpayers. Individual enterprise
had not secured to the State benefits and advantages
which the State improvements had failed to obtain,
and they could be disposed of without the loss of
transportation, and at the same time relieve the State
from an unprofitable investment. In 1854 the Legis-
lature enacted a law providing for the sale of the State
line, but the provisions of the act were such that no
purchaser could be found. Again, in 1855, another
law was passed, which also proved ineffectual. An
unwise policy had imposed a tonnage tax upon all
traffic on the Pennsylvania Railroad, against which
the company had been protesting. This tax, like most
all others, was transferred to the goods shipped over
the road, and was paid by the people in the shape of
increased freight. This fact brought to the aid of the
company the influence of trade, and together the de-
mand for repeal became effectual. In 1837, the com-
monwealth again determined to sell the State works,
and fixed a minimum price of seven million five hun-
dred thousand dollars, and provided that if the Penn-
sylvania Railroad would purchase at that price, and
pay also one million five hundred thousand dollars
additional, the tonnage and all other taxes should
stand repealed. Under this act the company became
the purchaser, and by proclamation of the Governor,
of Aug. 1, 1857, the main line of the State works be-
came the property of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany. The Supreme Court of the State pronounced
that provision of. the act of 1837, which related to the
general taxes imposed upon the railroad company, to
be unconstitutional.
The company thus found itself the owner of the
State improvements, and still subject to onerous taxa-
tion imposed by the State, and the company refused
to pay the tonnage tax, but held it subject to judicial
decision or amicable adjustment. This was not
effected until the passage of the act of March 7, 1861,
for the commutation of the tonnage tax. This act
provided that the railroad company was to pay in
annual installments the sum of thirteen million five
hundred and seventy thousand dollars in full for the
purchase of the main line, and in consideration of
the repeal of the tonnage tax. The tax retained by
the railroad company pending the settlement of the
disputed question, from 1857 to 1861, amounting to
eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was to be
used in aiding eleven different local railroads in the
State. Thus was settled a controversy which for six
years had existed between the State and the company,
and by the settlement the State was enabled to rap-
idly extinguish her indebtedness, and to relieve her
people from burdensome taxation, and the railroad
company was freed from a tax imposition which sub-
jected it to the mercy of its competing rivals.
In 1858, Col. Thomas A. Scott was appointed gen-
eral superintendent of the road. It is not often that
two exceptionally able men are successfully called to
the administration of the same high trust and the dis-
charge of the same difficult duties, and it is less frequent
TRANSPORTATION.
2193
that the latter takes up the work of the former and car-
ries it forward, enlarging, developing, and improving.
The Pennsylvania Railroad was fortunate in finding
J. Edgar Thomson at the right time, but it was
equally fortunate when, losing him, it could yield
the helm to Thomas A. Scott. This remarkable
man was born in the township of London, Franklin
< o., Pa., on the 28th of December, 1824. His' early
c<lLicational advantages were only those derived from
the village school, and were, necessarily, of a limited
( liaracter. His father having died when the son was
(iiily ten years old, the young lad was compelled to
fiirego all further attendance at school, and, at the
early age mentioned, began to earn his livelihood.
After occupying a number of minor clerical positions,
lie commenced his long and eminently successful rail-
road career on the main line of State improvements
Aug. 1, 1841, when he was appointed clerk to the
collector of tolls at Columbia. From there he was,
in 1847, transferred to the collector's oflBce, at Phila-
delphia, as chief clerk. In 1850 he entered the ser-
vice of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as sta-
tion-agent atDuncansville, the then western terminus
of the road, from whence he was transferred to the
Western Division as its superintendent. It was there
he displayed that wonderful executive ability and in-
domitable energy which made him famous wherever
American railroads are known. During Col. Scott's
management of the road as general superintendent,
many improvements were introduced, and the trans-
portation facilities of the company greatly increased.
In 1860, William B. Foster, Jr., the vice-president
of the company, died, and on the 4th of March Col.
Scott was elected to succeed him
Col. Scott had displayed such rare executive ca-
pacity in the discharge of the various duties incident
to his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad
that, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, Governor Cur-
tin called him to his assistance, and placed him in
charge of the transportation of troops rallying by
thousands at the call of the President. Col. Scott in
a few hours had constructed a telegraph line to the
executive chamber in the capitol, and, seated at the
instrument, directed the movement of trains bearing
troops from the time they entered Pennsylvania until
they left her borders. The system was perfect, and
there was no delay until Mason and Dixon's line was
reached.
Unfortunately, however, Maryland, and particularly
Baltimore, was divided in sentiment on the issues in-
volved in the contest, and the element sympathizing
with the South soon determined to interrupt the pas-
sage of Northern troops to Washington. This feeling
first exhibited itself in Baltimore by attacks on regi-
ments passing through the city, and was followed
soon after by the burning of the bridges on the
Northern Central Railroad. This road had been
relied upon by the government as the principal chan-
nel for receiving reinforcements from the North and
West, and on the 22d of April, 1861, the Secretary of
War had sent the following telegram to Col. Scott, at
Harrisburg :
" Dear Sir, — This department needs at this moment a man of great
energy and decision, with experience ns a railroad officer, to Iteep open
and worli the Northern Central Boiid from Harrisburg to Baltimore,
for the purpose of bringing men and munitions to this point.
'* You are to my mind the proper man for this occasion and this duty.
AViU you report to me to-morrow morning?
" Very respectfully,
** Simon Cameron,
" Secretary of War."
To this Col. Scott replied that he was then serving
on the staff of Governor Ciirtin, and could not, in the
judgment of the Governor, be at that time spared
from Harrisburg. He expressed himself willing to
perform any duty required of him in the emergency,
and if the Governor would relieve him he would go to
Washington, or to any other point where he could be
most useful.
The destruction of the Northern Central Railroad
rendered it indispensable that some other channel of
communication with Washington should be opened,
and the repeated calls for Col. Scott's assistance in
this work induced Governor Curtin to relieve him
from duty at Harrisburg. In company with one or
two friends he made his way, by private conveyance,
through Maryland and Virginia, and reported for
duty to the Secretary of War. He was instructed by
that officer and the President to open a line, by way
of Annapolis, to Philadelphia and the East and
North. The following order was issued, dated the
27th of April, 1861 :
"to whom it hat concern.
"Thomas A. Scott has been appointed to take charge of the railways
and telegraphs between Washington City and Annapolis. Parties In
charge thereof will place Mr. Scott in possession, and in future conform
to his instructions in all matters pertaining to their management.
" Simon Cameron,
^* Secretary of War."
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company placed all its
resources at the disposal of Col. Scott to accomplish
the work he had undertaken, — a work upon which,
in the judgment of the President and others in re-
sponsible positions, the safety of the national capital
depended, — and, calling to his assistance men whom
he knew as efficient railroad managers, he completed,
in connection with Mr. Felton, president of the Phil-
adelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, as if
by magic, a line by way of Perryville and Annapolis
to Washington. President Lincoln took a deep in-
terest in the opening of this line, and very soon after
Col. Scott had demonstrated to him the practicability
of constructing it, he met that gentleman and asked
him how the work progressed. " The road is com-
pleted," replied the colonel. "Completed!" he ex-
claimed, in astonishment. " When may we expect
troops over it?" " A train is already in with a regi-
ment, and others are on the way," was the response.
" Then, thank God ! we are all right again !" ejacu-
lated the President.
2194
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Operating in a military capacity, in connection with
tlie War Department, it was soon found essential that
Col. Scott should possess military rank, and he was
therefore mustered into the service of the United
States, as colonel of the District of Columbia Volun-
teers, on the 3d of May, 1861. His name stands first
upon the roll preserved in the War Department, and
is followed by others that have since become historic.
Following his appointment as colonel came an order
extending his jurisdiction and powers, dated the 23d
of May, as follows :
"to all whom it mat concern.
'* Col. Thomas A. Scott has been appointed to take charge of all govern-
ment railways and telegraphs, or those appropriated for government use.
" All instructions in relation to extending roads, or operating the
same on government account, must emanate from his department.
"Simon Cameron,
"Secretary of Wnr."
Col. Scott continued to perform the duties required
by this appointment until Aug. 1, 1861, when he was
appointed Assistant Secretary of War, — being the
first man ever appointed to that position. His won-
derful faculty for the dispatch of business will be re-
membered by thousands who, during that exciting
period, visited the War Department. He was never
confused, never at a loss as to what to do or how to do
it, and his courtesy to all who approached him made
him many and lasting friends in all ranks of life.
While chaos was giving way to order in and
around Washington, confusion prevailed in other
fields of military operations, and on the 20th of
January, 1862, Col. Scott was sent by the Secretary
of War to various points in the West, with specific
instructions looking to the organization, equipment,
and transportation of various bodies of troops. In
compliance with these instructions. Col. Scott visited
all the points designated, organized thoroughly the
means of transportation, and materially assisted the
great States of the Northwest in preparing their vol-
unteers for actual service. He returned to Washing-
ton on the 14th of March, 1862, having traveled near
five thousand miles. Immediately after his return
he went to Fortress Monroe to facilitate the move-
ment of the Army of the Potomac, and on the 26th
of March again proceeded to Cairo, under orders from
the Secretary of War, to perfect the military trans-
portation on the Western waters. He returned to the
War Department in May, having traveled over ten
thousand miles in three months in the performance
of a vast amount of arduous official service.
On the 1st of June, 1862, Col. Scott resigned his
position as assistant secretary, and in a letter of June
1st, addressed to Col. Scott, the great war secretary,
Edwin M. Stanton, said, —
" In taking leave of you, in consequence of your resignation of the
office of Assistant Secretary of War, it is proper for me to express my
entire satisfaction with the manner in which you hjive discharged your
duties during the whole period of our official relations. Those duties
have been confidential and responsible, requiring energy, prudence, and
discretion, and it gives me pleasure to say that to me you have proved
to be, in every particular, an able and valuable assistant."
Having left the service of the United States gov-
ernment, Col. Scott resumed his duties as an oflScer of
the Pennsylvania Railroad. But his abilities were of
too great value to the War Department to permit of
a permanent severance of his relations with it, and
on the 24th of September, 1863, Mr. Stanton recalled
him to his assistance, appointing him colonel and as-
sistant quartermaster, and ordering him to report to
Gen. Hooker for " special service" on his staff". The
service performed by Col. Scott under this appoint-
ment consisted in forwarding Hooker's and How-
ard's corps to Chattanooga with wonderful rapidity.
He connected railroads by improvised tracks, utilized
the resources placed under his control, and poured
almost a ceaseless stream of cars through half a
dozen States, until nearly fifty thousand men, with
their artillery, cavalry, and complete field equipment,
were safely deposited where the)' were most needed.
With this service his connection with the government
terminated, and he again resumed his railroad duties.
He had at no time severed his connection with the
Pennsylvania Railroad, but had retained his position
as vice-president during all the period of his absence,
and it was with feelings of gratification that he re-
turned to duties and associations dearer to him than
any political honors.
Col. Scott remained in the position last named until
the death of the president of the road, J. Edgar
Thomson, on the 27th of May, 1874, soon after which
date he was chosen to fill the vacancy. It was
largely owing to his liberal and eflBcient direction
of affairs that the Pennsylvania Railroad attained
its present high position as one of the leading trunk
lines of the country.
Col. Scott, although burdened with the multifarious
duties incumbent upon him by reason of his position
as the head of the Pennsylvania Company, was also
heavily interested in various other railroads and
kindred enterprises. Notably among these collateral
interests was the Texas and Pacific Railroad, which,
to Col. Scott, proved an extraordinary financial
success.
In the discharge of the vast corporate duties im-
posed upon him, Col. Scott was eminently a man of
system. His movements were rapid and far-reaching,
yet thoroughly methodical. He was thus enabled to
perform an almost incredible amount of arduous labor
without serious difficulty. But finally the burdens
became very onerous, and the mental and physical
strain became intensified. At last, in the fall of
1878, acting upon the positive instructions of his
physicians, he went abroad, with a view to the
restoration of his impaired constitution. He never
fully recovered, however, but continued in bad
health, and on the 1st day of June, 1880, he re-
signed the presidency ; finally, on the 21st day of
May, 1881, his well-rounded and notable career was
brought to a close by his death.
In 1851 the company established its offices for the
1
:
TRANSPORTATION.
2195
use of the president, directors, and other officers at
No. 70 Walnut Street, above Third, on the south side.
In 1859 the Willing mansion and lot, at the south-
west corner of Third Street and Willing's Alley, was
secured for that purpose, and a magnificent building
of drab sand there erected. After some years this
building was found to be insufficient ; a fine building,
stately and excellent for the purpose intended, was
erected at the southeast corner of Fourth Street and
Willing's Alley, which has since been enlarged by the
addition of adjoining buildings. In 1853 the company
bought the lot bounded by Market, Thirteenth, and
Juniper Streets, extending southward to an alley near
Chestnut Street. Here an extensive range of one-
story buildings were erected for a freight station,
with connection with tracks on Juniper and Market
Streets ; after some years a freight station was estab-
lished upon Market Street, between Fifteenth and
Sixteenth, north side; and a very large one was
built on the block of ground bounded by Walnut,
Dock, and Water Streets, and Delaware Avenue.
In 1854 the company secured the building at the
southeast corner of Eleventh and Market Streets,
previously occupied as a depot by the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, and
established there its principal passenger station. In
1864 this building was abandoned, and a very plain
passenger depot erected on the ground of the company
at Thirtieth and Market Streets. This after some
years' service gave way to a much finer building at
Thirty-second and Market Streets. In 1880 the com-
pany bought the properties on the south side of Fil-
bert Street, extending from Merrick [now Broad]
Street out to Twenty-first, and erected there an ele-
vated railroad constructed upon brick arches, and ex-
tending from Fifteenth Street. A very large and
elegant passenger depot in the Gothic style, of brick,
terra-cotta, and granite, was erected on Merrick Street.
The first passenger train, a formal opening of the
road, ran Feb. 16, 1881, and the first freight train
May 3, 1881.
Upon the death of Col. Thomas A. Scott, Mr.
George B. Roberts was elected to the presidency of
the company. The high standard of efficiency which
has always characterized the Pennsylvania Railroad
has been maintained by Mr. Roberts during the term
of his presidency. About the time that Mr. Roberts
was elected to the presidency Mr. Edmund Smith was
promoted to the first vice-presidency. Mr. Smith was
born in Philadelphia in 1829, and entered the service
of the company in the engineer department in June,
1847, and was engaged in the surveys and locations
of the road until 1852, when he was transferred to
Philadelphia to take charge of the building of sta-
tions and shops in the city. In 1855 he was elected
secretary of the board of directors, and discharged
the duties of that position until 1869, when he was
elected third vice-president. During a part of the
years 1873 and 1874 he was treasurer of the company.
In 1874 he was elected second vice-president, which
position he filled until promoted to his present place.
For thirty-seven years he h;is been connected with
the company, rising gradually by merit and the intel-
ligent and faithful discharge of duty. He has been
longer in the service of the company than any other
of its officers. His duties for a number of years have
been in the supervision of its finances. The long ser-
vice of Vice-President Smith has made him familiar
with all the details of the vast business of the road.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1862
leased for a period of nine hundred and ninety-nine
years the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. The track
of the Pennsylvania Railroad had been doubled, a
connecting link with the Delaware River below Phil-
adelphia had been built, its depots enlarged, its
curves straightened, its wooden bridges replaced by
stone and iron structures, and modern improvements
of every kind introduced. Steel rails began to be
used in 1864, and their manufacture in this country
encouraged, and improvements in their construction
to adapt them to the climate and railroad system of
the country introduced.
The importance of securing connecting lines west
of Pittsburgh had engaged the attention of the man-
agement of the road from a very early period of its
existence. The transit of the products of the Missis-
sippi Valley had been diverted from Philadelphia to
other cities, and over the roads of other States. The
through trade and travel must be competed for if the
Pennsylvania Railroad was to become more than a
mere local road. To effect this end the system of aid-
ing in the construction of lines west of Pittsburgh
was begun, and continued until the Western connec-
tions of the road are most complete and extended,
and its facilities for the expeditious and economic
movements of passengers and freight are unsurpassed
by any of its competitors.
The first of these Western roads to receive encour-
agement and assistance was the Pittsburgh, Fort
Wayne and Chicago, which, running from the western
terminus of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburgh
to Chicago, the metropolis of the Northwest, was an
essential link in the chain which was to bind together
the Atlantic seaboard, the Mississippi Valley, and the
Pacific Ocean. This road, after many difficulties, em-
barrassments, and even a suspension of work, was
finally completed on the 25th of December, 1858, and
a practical through line was then opened from Phila-
delphia to Chicago.
On the 7th of June, 1869, the Pittsburgh, Fort
Wayne and Chicago Railroad was leased by the Penn-
sylvania Railroad for nine hundred and ninety-nine
years. The lease embraced not only the main line,
but also the Akron Branch, from Hudson and Millers-
burg, the New Castle and Beaver Railroad, the Law-
rence Railroad, and the Massillon and Cleveland
Railroad, as well as the Cleveland and Pittsburgh
and the Indianapolis and St. Louis. The Pittsburgh
2196
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and Steubensville Railroad was purchased at auction
Nov. 6, 1867, by the Pennsylvania, which road, com-
monly called the " Pan Handle Road," was promptly
finished, and its checkered and by no means agreeable
financial history ended by its absorption by the Penn-
sylvania. From this purchase arose by consolidation
the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis, of which
the Pennsylvania owns a majority of the stock. The
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis owns lines to
Indianapolis, Chicago, and State Line. These roads
had previously been consolidated under the title
of the Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Rail-
road, and as such were leased by the Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad on Feb. 1, 1869.
The Cincinnati and Muskingum Railroad, sold and
reorganized in 1869, is now operated in the same in-
terest. The St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute
Railroad, leased by the Terre Haute and Indian-
apolis Railroad, is operated jointly in the interest
of the latter company and the Pittsburgh, Cincin-
nati and St. Louis Railroad. This last-mentioned
road secured by lease of the 1st of December, 1869,
the Little Miami Railroad, and on the 24th of
March, 1870, the Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad was
leased for nine hundred and ninety-nine years, and
the Cleveland and Pittsburgh for the same period on
the 25th of October, 1871. A controlling interest was
at this time obtained by the Pennsylvania Railroad in
the JefTersonville, Madison and Indianapolis Railroad,
extending from Indianapolis to Louisville, Ky., with
branches to Madison and Cambridge, Ky., which gave
a control of the bridge over the Ohio at Louisville,
and offered to the lines of the Pennsylvania a direct
connection with the railroad system of the Southwest.
The Chartiers Railroad, extending from Mansfield,
on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis, to Wash-
ington, Pa., was completed in 1871, the Pennsylvania
holding a majority of the stock. Control was also ob-
tained over the Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michi-
gan Railroad, and similar arrangements were effected
with the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad for the pur-
pose of obtaining access to the trade of Arkansas
and Southwestern Texas upon the completion of the
Cairo and Fulton and the International Railroads.
The bridge over the Ohio at Cincinnati, completed
April, 1872, was built by means furnished by the
Pennsylvania, which owns a majority of the stock and
all the bonds of the bridge company. In 1866 the
connecting railroad from Mantua, near Philadelphia,
to Frankford, on the Philadelphia and Trenton Rail-
road, was built for the purpose of decreasing the heavy
coat of passing its New York and Eastern trade
through Philadelphia. In 1871 the Pennsylvania
Railroad effected the lease of the railways and canals
of the United Companies of New Jersey for nine hun-
dred and ninety-nine years, which, with the Philadel-
phia and Trenton Railroad, are now operated as a part
of the through line between New York and Pitts-
burgh, under the title of the United Railroads of New
Jersey, and are a division of the Pennsylvania. The
lines leased are the Camden and Amboy Railroad and
Transportation Company, incorporated Feb. 4, 1830;
the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, incorpo-
rated at the same time, and which, in 1831, was con-
solidated with the Camden and Amboy Railroad
Company; the New Jersey Railroad and Transporta-
tion Company, incorporated on the 7th of March,
1832; and the Belvidere Delaware Railroad Com-
pany, incorporated March 2, 1836. These companies
were authorized to consolidate their capital stock, or
to consolidate with any other railroad or canal com-
pany or companies in New Jersey or otherwise, with
which they are or may be identified in interest, or
whose work shall form with their own continuous or
connected lines ; or make such other arrangements
for connection or consolidation of business with any
such company or companies, by agreement, contract,
lease, or otherwise, as their directors may deem ex-
pedient. It was under these general powers that the
above-mentioned lines were leased to the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad. A connection with the Southern
Atlantic States through Baltimore and Washington
was acquired by the purchase of a controlling interest
in the Northern Central Railway Company, which had
its origin by a charter from the Maryland Legislature,
under the title of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Rail-
road Company, on the 13th of February, 1838. In 1854,
the Northern Central Railway Company was formed
by the consolidation of various roads forming a line
to Harrisburg, Pa. The control of the Northern Cen-
tral opened to the Pennsylvania Railroad an outlet at
Baltimore, and made possible an important connection
with Washington City, which was realized in 1866,
by means of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, an
incomplete line which had been incorporated in 1833.
Under the authority thus obtained the line to Wash-
ington City was opened in 1873, the connection in
Baltimore being by means of a tunnel under nearly
the whole length of the northern portion of the city.
In 1881 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company pur-
chased a controlling interest in the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company. This
latter company was the result of a consolidation, Feb.
5, 1838, of the Philadelphia and Delaware County
Railroad, chartered by Pennsylvania, April 2, 1831,
the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad, char-
tered by Delaware, Jan. 18, 1832, the Delaware and
Maryland, chartered by Maryland, March 14, 1832,
and the Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad, char-
tered March 7, 1832. The line was completed in
1837, and the viaduct over the Schuylkill in 1838.
The Southern Division forms a link between the
main line and the Delaware Railroad, and originally
consisted of the New Castle and Frenchtown Rail-
road, chartered Feb. 7, 1829, and opened in 1832, and
the New Castle and Wilmington, chartered Feb. 19,
1839, and opened in 1834. Both of these roads were
purchased — the first in 1840 and the latter in 1876 —
•■ Sootkn
'7^1^-i.uK. ^ Ui>c <cc -^
iFeU9,
TKANSPORTATION.
2197
by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore.
The West Chester and Philadelphia and the Phila-
delphia and Baltimore Central Railroads, both prac-
tically owned by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore, were consolidated in 1S81, and passed with
the latter road into the possession of the Pennsylva-
nia. By this purchase another line to Baltimore and
the South Atlantic was assured to the Pennsylvania.
Thus extended East, West, South, and North, the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company has under its con-
trol lines of coilimunication with outlets at New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington in
the East; Chicago, Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, on the
Lakes; St. Louis and the cities on the Mississippi;
Louisville and the Southwest; Richmond and the
South Atlantic ; while running arrangements with
other lines open to it the trade and traffic of every
State and section of the Union, and carry its splendid
equipments to the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco.
For the better management of the vast extensions of
this great corporation, and for a more harmonious
control of its connecting leased lines, the Pennsyl-
vania Company was incorporated, to which all lines
west of Pittsburgh, with a single exception, were
transferred on the 1st of March, 1837. The capital
of the Pennsylvania Company was fixed at twelve
millions of dollars, the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany receiving eight millions of dollars, which fully
covers the cost of all lines and leases transferred,
with interest up to the date of transfer. This sum is
preferred six per cent, stock, and participates in all
profits of the company above six per cent. Other
lines of railroad have been leased by the Pennsylva-
nia Company, which have become feeders of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The Junction
Railroad, from Gray's Ferry to Belmont, a distance
of three and one-half miles, double track, connects
the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail-
road with the Pennsylvania. By means of this link
the whole system of the Pennsylvania Railroad is
connected, — its North and South line with its East
and West line.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.— While the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad properly belongs to the his-
tory of another city, yet the active construction of
another outlet for the trade, commerce, and manufac-
tures of Philadelphia with the West and Southwest,
now in progress by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
will, when completed, render that great corporation
also a part of the facilities of transportation of the
city of Philadelphia. With the completion of the
Philadelphia Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road, another great trunk line of transportation will
connect this city with the South, Southwest, West,
and Northwest.
The value of the transportation, both of passengers
and freight, which this city offers to railroads, is at-
tested by the fact that the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road Company finds that its interest will be promoted
by constructing a competing line of railroad between
Baltimore and Philadelphia, and onward to New York
City.
The principal cause which led to the construction
by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company of an
independent line from Baltimore to New York, through
the city of Philadelphia, grew out of troubles, difficul-
ties, and embarrassments which, in 1880, were inter-
posed by the Pennsylvania Railroad to traffic facilities
to the Baltimore and Ohioover the Junction Railroad
at Philadelphia. The obstruction to free use of that
connecting link between the railroads north and east
of Philadelphia with the only line, the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore, to Baltimore, led to the
formation by Robert Garrett, first vice-president of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, of a syndicate
for the purpose of purchasing a controlling interest in
the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
Company. The New Jersey Central, through its vice-
president, Mr. Haven, and Robert Garrett, of the Bal-
timore and Ohio Railroad Company, were the active
parties in that syndicate, by which, in February, 1881,
it was announced that a controlling interest in the
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
Company had been secured from Director N. P.
Thayer, of Boston, where eighty-five per cent, of the
stock of that company was held. This stock had been
sold by Mr. Thayer to the syndicate at seventy dollars
a share. The Pennsylvania Railroad immediately
authorized Kidder, Peabod)' & Co. to offer a larger
figure for the stock than that at which Mr. Thayer
had contracted to deliver it to the representatives
of the Baltimore and Ohio syndicate. A stop was
thus immediately put to Mr. Thayer's delivery of
stock, and a committee of stockholders, already ap-
pointed, was able very soon to offer to Kidder, Pea-
body & Co. more than one-half of all the stock of the
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
Company at eighty dollars per share, which was ac-
cepted by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. At
the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company on July 2, 1881, the pur-
chase of the stock of the Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore Railroad Company was announced by
President Roberts, and the stockholders immediately
ratified his action, and authorized the issue of four
hundred thousand shares of new stock, from the sale
of which the requisite funds were supplied to com-
plete the purchase. The total amount of the purchase
was $16,675,692, of which $14,949,052 went to the
Boston stockholders, and the remainder to stockhold-
ers residing in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
The possession, thus obtained, of the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, by
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, carried with it
the virtual ownership of the Philadelphia and Balti-
more Central Railroad Company from Lamokin Junc-
tion to Octoraro, Md. ; the Chester Railroad Company,
from Lamokin to West Chester; and the West Chester
2198
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and Philadelphia, and cut the Baltimore and Ohio
Kailroad Company off from all connection with Phil-
adelphia and New York over existing railroads, ex-
cept upon the terms and conditions exacted by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. These were of
such character as were not satisfactory to the inde-
pendent enterprise of Robert Garrett, whose sagacity
had planned and almost secured the possession of the
control of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti-
more to Philadelphia, and of the Bound Brook road
to New York City. Thus temporarily defeated, Mr.
Garrett was by no means dismayed, and immediately
set to work influences and forces to complete the con-
struction of an independent railroad, wholly under
the control of the Baltimore and Ohio, from Balti-
more to Philadelphia, from which he already had the
control of a connection with New York via the Bound
Brook road.
Connection with Philadelphia and New York by
the Baltimore and Ohio road was not regarded by
some of the leading merchants of Baltimore as alto-
gether desirable. Some of them felt and expressed
apprehensions that the securing of an independent
line to New York and Philadelphia would deprive
Baltimore of the advantages secured to it by its
shorter line to the West and the differential rates
of freight which that shorter line had secured in
favor of Baltimore. The contest over differential
rates began in 1869, and after the war of rates in
1870 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company suc-
ceeded in securing a recognition of their rights to
transport products to and from Baltimore at a less
rate than the New York lines carried like products
from the city of New York to and from the same
points in the West. The rate controversy was re-
newed in 1875, by the New York lines, asserting
again that the rates from Western points to all sea-
board cities should be the same, without regard to
distance ; and again the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Company was forced to sacrifice its revenues in an
effort to maintain the principle that it would carry to
and from Baltimore at less rates than the New York
lines carried to and from the city of New York, or,
in other words, that distance from the seaboard should
have a determining effect in fixing the rate to be
charged for the transportation of freight; and again
in 1876 the same controversy was renewed ; and as
late as 1882, William H. Vanderbilt began another
fight against the principle of distance and charge, so
often asserted and maintained by the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company. Out of that last contro-
versy grew the advisory board, composed of three of
the ablest railroad men in the country, whose de-
cision on "differential rates" was in favor of the
principle contended for by the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company.
The actual difference in freight charges for which
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company contended
amounted to sixty cents per ton on fourth-class freight.
and $1.60 per ton on first- and second-class freights, in
favor of Baltimore as against New York. Small as
these amounts may seem, they involved a great prin-
ciple which underlies the whole schedule of freight
charges, — that the distance over which merchandise is
transported should govern the cost of transportation ;
the management of the New York lines contending
that equal rates, without regard to distance, should be
charged by all the great trunk lines between the East
and ^^^est. In all the rate wars, the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company has boldly gone into the terri-
tory of its rivals, and, reducing the rates, has drawn
traffic therefrom as a means of bringing its rivals to
terms, and for the better accomplishment of its ends,
has been compelled at times to put on an outside line
of steamers from Baltimore to New York, because it
did not own an independent line to New York. Phila-
delphia as well as Baltimore is interested in the prin-
ciple contended for and maintained by the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad Company. Everything that
lessens the cost of transportation reacts to the benefit
of trade and commerce, promotes the business of mer-
chants, and prospers that of cities and entrepots.
Hence with its own independent line from New York
and from Philadelphia it will be able to go into each
of those cities upon an equality with its competitors,
and bringing to the trade of those cities another com-
peting line, conducted on the principle that distance
and charge of transportation shall bear their proper
ratio of cost, will afford greater facilities of transpor-
tation than exist at present, and be an ever-threaten-
ing power of defense against the pretensions of New
York railroads to lay down the law of transportation
for all seaboard cities.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, under
the management of its first vice-president, Robert Gar-
rett, who has virtually succeeded his father, John W.
Garrett, the president of the road, has boldly met every
encroachment upon either its own business or upon
the trade of the city of Baltimore. It has positively
refused to accept the law of transportation from New
York lines, and has not hesitated at any sacrifice of
temporary prosperity for the greater benefit of manag-
ing its own affairs by its own experience and know-
ledge. This firmness and independence is not likely
to be abated under the boldness and courage of Robert
Garrett, should he come to stand in the place of his
illustrious father. The trade of Philadelphia with
the West, South, and Southwest cannot be injured by
another connection managed by men who have posi-
tive convictions of railroad duty and management,
accompanied with the courage of those convictions,
and who will not be intimidated, controlled, or cajoled
by any railroad influence or authority. Such manage-
ment of railroad interest cannot but prove beneficial
to the business prosperity of any city with which it
may be connected.
The success won by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road Company in maintaining its position on the
TRANSPORTATION.
2199
question of rates was mainly due to its small cash
capital and its immense surplus fuud, amounting to
nearly fifty million dollars, against the large watered
capital of its New York competitors. This positive
factor of strength was aided by its ccjnservative policy
and its geographical position. But that success was
not won without immense sacrifice of revenue, made
not only in its own defense, but also in the best in-
terest of the public, and which might have been les-
sened by the ownership of an independent line to
Philadelphia and New York.
The interest taken in Philadelphia in the connect-
ing line between this city and the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company is shown by the fact that a
syndicate, composed of the most astute business men
in this city, made a proposition to the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company to build the road between
Baltimore and Philadelphia, and that William H.
Vanderbilt offered to furnish the money to build it,
and actually acquired part ownership in the Delaware
and Western line, looking to the construction of the
new line between Philadelphia and Baltimore. When
these propositions were made Mr. Vanderbilt " be-
lieved the territory would be occupied, and that the
Hue would be a paying one, and that in promoting
its construction he was seeking a good investment
purely."
This new line, upon completion, will secure a per-
centage of west-bound freight out of Philadelphia, as
well as open to that city a competition with Baltimore
for the productions of all the territory permeated by
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and its connections.
As a trade centre, Philadelphia requires all possible
avenues of communication with the producing and
consuming sections of the country. The annual
value of her manufactures alone amounts to nearly
five hundred millions of dollars ; the volume of her
internal trade is immense ; her commerce, already'
growing, will still further expand, when the Federal
government shall awake to the necessity of building
anew the shipping interests of the whole country, and
all these interests will be promoted and encouraged by
this new line of railroad connection with the West,
Southwest, and Northwest.
Omnibus Lines. — As Philadelphia grew in popula-
tion, her citizens demanded quick, regular, and cheap
conveyance from the business centres to the outskirts
of the city. This demand, as early as 1831, was felt
and recognized as a means of profit, and hence the
omnibus became the public conveyance for business
men, laboring men, and all classes of society. The
first of this mode of conveyance in the city was the
"Boxall," which was started by James Boxall, Dec. 7,
1831, as will be seen by the following advertisement:
"/CHESTNUT STBEET HOURLY.
^ STAGE-COACH
will uommeDce running on Wednesday, tlie 7th of December, 1831.
"JAMES BOXALL, having been requested by several gentlemen to
run an hourly stage-coach for the accommodation of the iohabitante of
CheBtnat Street, to and from the lower part of the city, begs to inform
140
ttie citizens generally that he has provided a superior new coach, har-
ness and good horses, for that purpose. Comfort, warmth, and neatneaa
have in every respect been peculiarly studied.
"This conveyance will start from Schuylkill-seventh and Chestnut
streets every morning (Sundays excepted) at 8,30 o'clock, every hour
until 4.30 in the afternoon, down Chestnut street to the Merchants'
CoflFee-House in Second street ; and return from the Cofifee-House at 9
o'clock, and every hour until 5 in the evening. This accommodation
will be conducted and driven solely by the proprietor, who hopes to
merit patronage and support.
" Faie each way, 10 cents; or tickets may be bad of the proprietor at
twelve for one dollar.
"JAMES BOXALL."
James Boxall was an innkeeper at the Upper Ferry .
bridge (Callowhill Street), and his "stage-coach" was
like a chariot. It had about four or six seats running
from side to side, and was well set up on its wheels,
showing a broad back. It was painted a rich dark-
green color, and access into it was obtained by iron
steps at the side. It was called " Boxall's Accommo-
dation," and bore upon the back the words, in gilt
letters, " Fairmount Observatory," in allusion to a
request from the American Philosophical Society,
which at that time proposed to erect at Fairmount an
astronomical observatory. " Boxall's Accommoda-
tion" had a short life.
The first omnibus line in this city was established
in 1833. The first omnibus was called the "Jim
Crow," after Thomas D. Rice, the famous minstrel,
whose picture was painted in the panels on each side
of the coach. The name was afterward changed to
" Cinderella." It was a square coach, much like the
style of omnibuses yet seen in the city.
The earliest omnibus line was established between
the navy-yard and Kensington, running from the
latter, by way of Second Street, to Deschamps' Hotel,
on Beach Street, near Shackamaxon, every hour.
The fare was twelve and a half cents. This line
afterward increased rapidly, and there were many
coaches. Deschamps died at an early period in om-
nibus history. His widow, due reverence of mourn-
ing paid, married Joseph Glenat, a Frenchman, and
a man of considerable capacity and enterprise. He
had been in partnership with Deschamps. The line of
Deschamps & Glenat became Glenat's line, an exten-
sive establishment with many coaches, which not
only ran upon Second Street, but upon other routes.
The second line established was from the Merchants'
Coffee-House, on Second Street, out Chestnut to
Beach Street, near the Schuylkill, and down the
latter to Walnut, and return over the same route.
The first coaches were the " William Penn," " Benja-
min Franklin," "Stephen Girard," and "Independ-
ence." The coaches were queer. They were built of
the shape of the Troy mail-coach, drawn out to the
width of twelve or fifteen feet, and could hold ten
passengers on each side. Access was obtained by
clumsy steps in the rear. It has been asserted that
this line was established by James Reeside, the famous
contractor for carrying the United States mails, well
known all over the country as Admiral Reeside.
Evans & Caldwell soon succeeded on the Chestnut
2200
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Street line. In time the long, narrow "shad-belly"
coaches were succeeded by square-shaped omnibuses,
some of which were gorgeously adorned with paint-
ings and gilding. The "Nonesuch" and "Nonpa-
reil" were of this character. The Chestnut Street
line was ready to maintain a quarter-hour service
in July. The success of the coaches was immediate,
and citizens generally clamored for like accommoda-
tions on other routes. In August there were three
lines in operation, — between the navy-yard and
. Kensington, Delaware and Schuylkill on Chestnut
Street, and from the Coffee-House (on Second Street)
to the depot of the Columbia Railroad, at Broad and
Vine Streets. " Thus," said Poulson, " by purchasing
a season-ticket the citizen who rides four times a day
incurs an expense of little more than one penny for
each ride."
The subscribers were the main support of the
omnibus lines. They gave the proprietor a sufficient
guarantee of paying expenses. The chance riders at
ten and twelve and a half cents each made up the
profits. Meetings were held in various places of citi-
zens in favor of the establishment of omnibus lines.
One at the Bull's Head Tavern, Sixth and Callowhill
Streets, in July, advocated the establishment of a line
from the Coffee-House up Second to Arch Street, up
Arch to Sixth, up Sixth to Buttonwood, up Button-
wood to John [Marshall], up John to Spring Garden
Street (which had not at that time been opened to
Sixth), and out Spring Garden Street to the German-
town Railroad Depot, at Ninth and Green Streets.
Other routes were afterward established upon all the
principal streets. The fare came down to six cents
and in some cases to five, four, and three cents where
there was opposition, and for twenty-three years these
vehicles were the only convenient and accessible
means of local travel.
City Passenger Railways. — As soon as the North-
ern Liberty and Penn Township Railroad was fin-
ished and there was connection by the Columbia
Railroad as far west as the Peter's Island bridge, pas-
senger cars for local travel were placed thereon. The
cars ran from Third and Willow Streets, and were
drawn by horses to Fairmount, Fountain Green, and
Mount Pleasant, near to the bridge, and returned the
same way. Subsequently pleasure cars, drawn by
horses, were run from the Exchange by the Third,
Broad, and Market Streets routes, to Peter's Island, and
sometimes by way of Market and South Broad Streets
to the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail-
road Depot, at Washington Street, and along the tracks
of the latter to Gray's Ferry. At a later period the
tracks were brought up Swanson Street to South, near
the Delaware River, and the Southwark Railroad ran
horse-cars from that terminus to Washington Street,
and along the same, by way of the Baltimore Rail-
road tracks, to Gray's Ferry, and sometimes by way
of Broad Street Railroad to Fairmount. These cars
were forerunners of the modern passenger railway
cars. The latter were introduced about 1857, in a
peculiar way. The Philadelphia and Delaware River
Railroad Company was incorporated April 4, 1854,
with authority to construct a railroad, beginning at
a point north of Cherry Street, Kensington, in the
county of Philadelphia. Thence through the eastern
part of Montgomery County by way of Pennypack
Creek (in Philadelphia County), to the village of
Hatborough, and thence by way of New Hope to
Easton, Northampton County. It was to be a steam
road tiperated by locomotives. The enterprise was
not successful in the manner intended. The incor-
poration of the Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap
Company, in 1852, gave to that corporation an advan-
tage which was more important by reason of the large
municipal subscriptions which the projectors were
able to obtain. There was little chance for the Dela-
ware River road to Easton. The parties interested
were therefore constrained to look out for some new
opportunity. They conceived the idea that a tram-
way upon the same plan as had been previously tried
in the city of New York would offer a fruitful local
field for cultivation. Accordingly, on the 9th of June,
1857, a supplement was passed to the original act of
incorporation which gave the company a right —
(* to exteDd their road southerly from its pre«ent temtiuus at Sixth
and Cherry Streets, Kensington. Along the former street to Mor-
ris Street, in Southwark, with a single track ; thence easterly along the
same to Fifth Street ; thence northerly along the latter street to the
aforesaid Cherry Street, with the privilege of occupying GermantowQ
road from its intersection with Tifth Street, until the said Fifth Street
shall be declared open : Prorided, That the said road shall be used ex-
clusively for a city passenger railway by horse locomotion: Provided
further. That the gauge of the said road shall be five feet two inches,
and that before the said company shall use and occupy the said street,
the consent of the Councils of the citj' of Philadelphia shall be first
given, and said consent shall be taken, and deemed to be given, if the
said Council shall not within thirty days of the passage of this act, by
ordinance duly passed, signify their disapproval thereof; and said Coun-
cils may from time to time, by ordinance, establish such regulations in
regard to said railway as may be required for the paving, repaving,
grading, culverling, and laying of water-pipes in and along said streets,
and to prevent obstructions thereon."
This consent was given by ordinance passed on the
7th of July, 1857. By act of April 8, 1858, the com-
pany was given a right to cross with their tracks the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad at Frankford
Avenue at grade, and level with the Reading Rail-
road tracks. Under this authority the railroad was.
extended to Frankford, and by act of May 16, 1861,
the title of the company was changed to the Frank-
ford and Southwark City Passenger Railroad Com-
pany. By subsequent acts of Assembly the routes of
the company have been greatly extended. In accord-
ance with the permission given, the company pro-
ceeded to lay its tracks on Fifth and Sixth Streets,
and to Frankford, and commenced operations by run-
ning the first car on the 21st of January, 1858. The
shape of the car was not substantially different from
those placed afterward and still in use by all the city
passenger railways. They were drawn by two horses.
There was a driver, and a conductor to take the fares.
TRANSPORTATION.
2201
The fare originally was five cents for any distance
upon any street between Cherry and Morris Streets.
It may also be said in this connection that, after
cross-roads were established, a system of "exchange
ticket" was devised, by which passengers might be
transferred from the Frankford and Southwark roads
to the cross-roads, and from those roads to the Frank-
ford and .Southwark. The rate for an exchange ticket
was seven cents, which carried the passenger on bfith
roads for that sum. About the time the war of the
Rebellion broke out, " in consequence of the high
price of horse feed," it was said, the single fare was
increased to seven cents and exchange tickets to nine
cents, and, at a still later period, the single fares were
reduced to six cents. In later years the Union Pas-
senger Railway Company, which extended like an X
from Kensington on one line over to Washington
Street and Broad, at the Baltimore Depot, and, on the
other branch, from the old navy-yard, at Front Street,
to Fairmount, by consolidation with or lease of several
other roads, established a system of transfers, by
which the passenger could be taken for one fare to
any point on the branch routes, and eventually might be
transferred to the cars upon the leased routes at proper
junctions. About 1882 the Lombard and South Street
Passenger Railway and Spruce and Pine Street Com-
panies broke off from the six-cent fare, and established
a five-cent fare, a measure which seems to be to their
benefit, although it has excluded them from the priv-
ilege of exchanges with the six-cent roads. The
Ridge Avenue Company established also a limited
five-cent fare, by selling tickets five for a quarter-dol-
lar, the chance passenger not supplied with a ticket
being still charged six cents.
The success of the Frankford and Southwark road
was so greatthattheestablishmentof similar passenger
railways on other streets became an object of great in-
terest to speculative persons. A large number of rail-
way companies were projected, and the Legislature
was very liberal.
No man in Pennsylvania was more closely identi-
fied with its works of internal improvement than
CofHn Colket, who died April 6, 1883. At the time
of his death he was president of the Philadelphia
City Passenger Railway (from January, 1867), of the
Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristowu Railroad
Company (from Jan. 10, 1867), and of the Chestnut
Hill Railroad Company. He was also a director in
the City National Bank and the Northern Savings-
Fund. In the latter company he was also one of its
thirteen incorporators (June 14, 1871). Beside hold-
ing the various important trusts, he has served as a
director in the following corporations: Morris Canal
Company, Tioga Improvement Company, Long Island
Railroad (afterward president). North Pennsylvania
Railroad (elected Jan. 23, 1856), Fremont Coal Com-
pany (afterward president), Penn Township Bank,
Township Line Turnpike Company, Citizens' Passen-
ger Railway Company (Tenth and Eleventh Streets-
elected May 11, 1858), City Bank (elected Nov. 19,
1860), Philadelphia and Darby Railroad Company
(elected January, 1867), Plymouth Railroad Company
(elected Dec. 12, 1867), Green and Coates Streets
Passenger Railway Company, and president of the
Chestnut Hill Railroad (elected Jan. 12, 1852). This
road was completed and leased to the Philadelphia,
Germantown and Norristown Railroad Company
March 17, 1852.
Coffin Colket was the son of Peter and Phcebe [nie
Hamilton) Colcord, and was born at Epping, N. H.,
Oct. 15, 1809. He was a descendant of Edward Col-
cord, who came to America from England some time
before the year 1638, as his name appears as one of
the first settlers of Exeter, which place was settled in
that year. The name Colcord was changed to Col-
ket. In 1829, Coffin Colket left his home, and, travel-
ing to Baltimore, worked on the bridge over the Pa-
tapsco River, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
and in laying track from Harper's Ferry to Martins-
burg, until 1831. In 1831-32 he was at work on the
New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad, but the road
being finished shortly after his arrival, he came to
Philadelphia and obtained contracts for laying the
granite blocks and edge rails on two sections of the
Eastern Division of the State road (Columbia and
Philadelphia Railroad), between Philadelphia and
Lancaster. About this time he became acquainted
with John 0. Stearns, with whom he formed a part-
nership, under the firm-name of Colket & Stearns, a
connection which lasted a number of years. Among
their first contracts was one with the Philadelphia,
Germantown and Norristown Railroad Company.
Among other roads on which they had contracts may
be mentioned the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad,
Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, and Central Rail-
road of New Jersey (then the Elizabethtown and
Somerville Railroad). In regard to the latter, the
original road, which extended from Elizabethport to
Somerville, a distance of twenty-two miles, was built
by them at different periods between the years 1834-
42, at a cost of $431,414.75. Afterward it was leased
to and run by them. Still later, in 1846, when the em-
barrassments of the company led to a foreclosure, the
road was bought in by them, and a new company or-
ganized, of which Mr. Colket was elected a director.
In 1833-34 he laid a double track for the Northern
Liberties and Penn Township Railroad, and for the
Southwark Railroad, on Washington Avenue, from
Broad Street to the Delaware River. He made a con-
tract with the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, Feb.
17, 1835, to lay " all that part of their track between
the southern extremity of the road, in Troy, and the
bridge which crosses the Champlain Canal at or near
the borough of Mechanicsville," a distance of thirteen
miles. The price received was $8604.93.
In 1836 they obtained contracts on the Norristown
and Valley Railroad and Philadelphia and Trenton
Railroad. On the former road they had the contracts
2202
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
for grading one section (in Tredytfrin township, Ches-
ter Co.), for the masonry and the e.xcavation of foun-
dations on seven sections, for supplying ail the cross-
ties, and laying the whole track. This road (now
known as tlie Chester Valley Railroad) is controlled
by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company,
and runs from Bridgeport to Downingtown, a distance
of twenty-one and a half mileo. The contract on the
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad wa.s for grading
a portion of it and sujjplying twelve njiles of sni)er-
structure, the latter, however, being finished in 1834.
On the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad, in 1S37, Collect & Stearns had their largest
contract. It included "76,631 cubic yards of excava-
tion, 58,913 cubic yards of cmbankment», 13,540
perches of stone-masonry, and under it they de-
livered the material and constructed six lattice
bridges and laid twenty-six miles , •" railway, for
which they have received 896,154.44.'" The whole
contract was completed within six immths, which was
considered remarkably quick time for those days.
About this time they built the West Philadelphia
Railroad, and the Market Street Railroad for the
city. The tracks of the last two roads have since been
removed. Jan. 10, 1839, a contract was signed with
the Tioga Navigation Company (now the Tioga Rail-
road) to lay a single track between Blossburg. In Tioga
County, Pa., and Lawrenceville, at the State line (New
York), a distance of twenty-six miles, at $1000 per
mile, and on the same date a contract wa.s signed
with the Tioga Coal, Iron, Mining and Manufactur-
ing Company (now the Blossburg and Corning Rail-
road) to lay a single track between Lawrenceville,
Pa., and Corning, N. Y., fourteen miles. These roads
were finished the same year. The Blossburg and ,
Corning Railroad was rebuilt In 1852. In 1840, Mr. '
Colket built the road from Plalnfield, N. J., to Bound
Brook, now forming a part of the Central Railroad
of New Jersey. In 1841-42 he had a contract on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 1857 he entered
into a large contract at Painted Post, N. Y., to cut
the timber from 5818 acres, a contract he immediately
sublet, and which turned out very satisfactorily for all
concerned.
Mr. Colket married, March 21, 1839, Mary Penny-
packer Walker, daughter of William and Sarah
Walker, of Tredytfrin township, Chester Co., Pa. Miss
Walker was a descendant of Louis Walker, who came
to this country from Wales in 1687. Thrown entirely
on his own resources at an early age, with neither
friends nor money to assist him, Mr. Colket made a
name for himself as an upright, conscientious, and
successful business man. Among many letters of
recommendation received by him trom prominent en-
gineers and railroad men, — such J. Edgar Thomson,
John C. Trautwine, Henry R. Campbell, and others,
— the following is given as a sample. It is taken
from a letter to the " President and Directors of the
Tioga Railroad Company," and is dated Feb. 13, 1838. '
After briefly stating the contract of Colket & Stearns
on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
Railroad, 'the letter reads as follows :
"To thslr untiring energy the Dlracton of the PhMadelpbla, Wll-
minglun, nod Baltimore Railroad Companj arv Indebted for the early
complftiun of their works. And we are utlified by their paat labors
of their ability to fHithfully perform any contract lliey may conclude
with .TOur company, and wo ehall be gntifled If the slight notice of their
worth can secure to them your favorable regard.
"Very reepectfully youra,
(Signed) " M. NCWKIBK, PretUaU Philaietphia, WUmiMgUm
and Btillimoff BaUr^tad Company,
"AnnatT H. Smith, Trraiurtr.
"S. WiLsox Vi AILACR, tiecretarf."
The following are the dates of charters of the va-
rious passenger railway companies, with their titles,
as well as by the names commonly given them by the
public:
Franlifurtl and Southwark, Philadelphia Cit.r Pauenger Bailruad Com-
pany (flftb and Sixth Streets), April 4, 18M, and March 12, 1856.
Phitadelphia and Gray's Ferry Pajaenger Bailroad Company (Spmce
and Pine), April 9, 186S.
Second and Third SirerU Paasenger Baiiway Company. April 10, 1S58.
Korth Branch Passenger Railway Company of the City of Philadel-
phia (Ptrieenlh and Sixteenth i, April In, 1858.1
Fairmounl Paasenger Railway Com|iany (Hare and Vine), April 13,
18M.
North Philadelphia Plank-Road Company, iniurpurated March 29,
1852 (Scbuylkiii Sixth Street and Germanlownj. Paasenger railway
rights granted by act of April 9, 1858.'
Citiiens' Paaarnger Railway Company (Tenth and EleTenlh), March
a, 1858.
Fairmount and Arch Street Paasenger Railway Company (Arch
Street I, April Iti, 1858.
Girard Colloge I'asaenger Baiiway (Company (Ridge Avenue), April
15, 1858.
Green and Coalas Streets Paaaenger Railway Company, April 21, 1858.
Germantown Paaaenger Railway Company (Fourth and Eighth), April
21, 1858.
Hestonrille, Mantua and Fainnount Paasenger Railroad Company
(Bridge Street [now Spring Garden] and Lancaster Avenue), April 6,
1859.
Philadelphia and Darby Railroad Company (Woodland Avenue), April
28, 1857.«
> This oompany vaa inoorporalad with power to lay track* on Fifteentli
Street from Cheatnnt nortli to Vine Street, along Vine to Sixteenth,
and down Sixteenth to Walnut, with power ** to connect with any pas-
senger railway now constmctcd, or hereafter to be constructed, so as to
give the said company a complete route from Fairmount to the Ex-
change." Also to have power to convey paasengers over the said ronte
to and from Fairmount to the Exchange. This privilege would have
given authority to run the caia of the company over other paaaenger
railways between the Exchange and Fairmount, and to interfere with
the business which would have rcaulted to the other eompaniee. There
was a provision in the charter that the other companies should agrve as
to the compensation to be paid, but when the North Branch com|>any came
to make overtures the other roads refused to make any agreement, not
being willing to share their custom with the projectors of this short line.
The law was appealed to, and the decision was against the North Branch
Company ; consequently the speculation turned out to be a failure, and
the tracks laid down on Fifteenth and t^ixteenth Streets were aban-
doned.
* This company, originally chartered as a plank-road company, never
went into operation as a passenger railway company. It was given pas-
senger railway privileges by act of April 9, 186S, and the name r.hanged
to the Ceulrai Passenger Railway Company of the City of Philadelphia
by act of March 14, ISS-I.
^ This was originally chartered with authority to operate a railroad
by steam between Darby and the river Schuylkill, but southeast of the
Philadelphia and Chester post-road. At the option of the company, a
passenger railway might be constructed instead on the line of the Darby
turnpike or plank road.
^*«»«f<illteofike«-
"■■'rfmjlleBtirili..
U;nl:I,M.
.-^^
/I / /
TKANSPORTATION.
2203
West Philadelphia Passenger Railway Company (Market Street), May
14, 1857.
Philadelphia City Passenger Railway Company (Chestnut and Wal-.
nut), March 26, 1869.
Richmond and Schuylkill Passenger Railway Company (Girard Ave-
nue), March 2B, 1869.
Ridge Avenue and Manayunk Passenger Railroad Company (Ridge
Avenue, from Girard Avenue to Manayunk), March 28, 1859.
Seventeenth and Nineteenth Streets Passenger Railway Company,
April 12, 1859.
Thirteenth and Fifteenth Streets Passenger Railway Company of the
Cily of Philadelphia (Thirteenth and Fifteenth), April 8, 1869.
Lomhard and South Streets Passenger Railway Company (Lombard
and Sonth), May 16, 1861.
Navy-Yard, Broad Street and Fairmount Railway Company, May 16,
1861.1
Philadelphia and Olney Railroad Company, April 1, 1869.2
Frankford and Philadelphia Passenger Railway Company of the City
of Philadelphia, April 10,1862.3
Frankford aud Holmesburg Rnilroad Company, July 8, 186:^.
Union Passenger Railway Company of Philadelphia (Seventh and
Ninth), April 8,1864.
Wissahickon, Roxborough and Plymouth Railroad Company, April 8,
1862, and April 12, 1866.
Schuylkill River Passenger Railway Company (Twenty-second and
Twenty-third), April 16, 1866.
Empire Passenger Railway Company (Twelfth and Si.\teenth), Feb. 10,
1869.
Continental Passenger Railway Company (Eighteenth and Twentieth),
Sept. 8, 1873.
People's Passenger Railway Company (Callowhill Street), April 15,
1873.
West End Passenger Railway Company (West Philadelphia) April 16,
1873.
Lehigh Avenue Railway Company, Dec. 18, 1873.
The passage of so many railway charters required
the attention of Councils in order to preserve the
rights of the city. A general ordinance regulating
passenger railway companies was passed April 11, 1858,
and established a code by which those companies have
been bound ever since. There was haste in getting
into operation with a majority of the first companies
incorporated. Cars commenced running on the
Market Street road to Eighth Street in July, 1858,
on the Tenth and Eleventh Street road, July 29lh,
Race and Vine Street, September 8th, and Spruce and
Pine Street, December 4th, in the same year. The
cars on the railways did not run on Sunday for several
years. Efforts made by the Green and Coates Streets
Company led to a lawsuit, and a decision against the
companies by the Court of Common Pleas (case of
Commonwealth vs. Jeandell) that the running of a
railway car on Sunday was a breach of the peace.
Some years afterward the Union Line put mail-boxes
in their cars and ran them on Sunday, under the
claim that they were engaged in the United States
1 This company had the right to lay tracks from Federal Street and
Wharton Street, at Front to Broad and along the same to Spring Garden
Street, and thence toFairmouut. The privileges granted were adjudged
by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional and conflicling with a
previous act, which declared that Broad Street should be free from rail-
roads.
2 This company was authorized to lay tracks from Lehigh Avenue to
the Tillage of Olney, in the Twenty-second Ward, with right of exten-
sion to the Fox Chaae, in the Twenty-third Ward. It never went into
operation.
3 This road extends from Frankford road and Lehigh Avenue to Mill
Street, Paul Street, and Frankford Street. It is substantially an exten-
sion of the Second and Third Streets Passenger Railway to Frankford.
mail service, and could not be stopped legally. This
led to further proceedings and a decision about 1867,
in the case of Sparhawk and others against the Union
Passenger Railway Company, that the running of a
passenger railway car on Sunday was not a breach of
the peace. Upon this favorable decision all the rail-
roads ran cars on their tracks on Sunday, and they
have continued without interference ever since.
Another of the representative men of Philadelphia,
and a large stockholder in the city passenger railways
of this city, is Charles J. Harrah. After Mr. Harrah
returned home from Brazil, where he spent several
years of his life engaged in active business, he in-
vested largely in the stock of the People's Passenger
Railway Company and became its president, a posi-
tion which he now holds. He is also a director of the
Independence National Bank, which institution he
assisted to organize, and is a director in the Winifrede
Coal Company, of West Virginia. Mr. Harrah was
born in Philadelphia, Jan. 1, 1817. His educational
advantages were of the most meagre character. The
only school he ever attended was that of a Mr. Ketter
[the Adelphi School], at the northwest corner of
Pegg and New Market Streets, at that time the
only public school north of Vine Street, where he
remained exactly three days, in the early part of 1824.
But, as he possessed an indomitable will and an in-
nate intellectual force, his after-successes in life were
none the less positive because of his lack of educa-
tional privileges in his youth.
From 1824 till the latter part of 1831 his life was
spent chiefly on farms in the vicinity of Philadelphia,
on which he earned a precarious living as cow-boy
and farm-hand. Among his employers was Samuel
Jones, the father of Jacob P. Jones, a friend whose
kindness to him in his boyhood has never been for-
gotten.
In February, 1832, he bound himself as an appren-
tice to Jacob Teese, a ship-builder of this city, and
continued in his service until Dec. 19, 1836. He
worked at his trade in this city, New York, Erie, and
elsewhere, until the spring of 1843. His health, which
had never been good, finally compelled him to leave
Philadelphia on the 10th of April, 1843, for Rio
Grande de Sul, in the southern part of Brazil, where
he had contracted to go for the purpose of building a
steamer for Charles Deal, of that city, and where he
subsequently established a ship-yard. With varying
fortunes, but steadily increasing reputation, he. re-
mained in Rio Grande and Porto Alegre until 1852,
when he removed to Rio de Janeiro, the capital, and
immediately established a yard for the building and
repairing of vessels, in which business he was engaged
until the latter part of 1857.
On the 1st of September, 1857, he sailed from Rio
de Janeiro, via Marseilles, for this country, for the
purpose of gathering information and knowledge ap-
plicable to the construction of a steam railroad. He
returned to Rio on the 1st of March, 1858, and there
2204
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
established a copartnership with W. Milner Roberts,
of Philadelphia, Jacob Humbird, of Cumberland,
Md., and Robert Harvey, of Richmond, Va., under
the firm-name of Roberts, Harvey & Co. This firm
contracted to build the second section — -the moun-
tainous portion — of the Dom Pedro II. Railroad, a
work more diflScult to accomplish than any which,
up to that date, had ever been undertaken on the
South American continent. This enterprise covered
a period of over six years, and resulted in Mr. Har-
rah's complete financial ruin. With unyielding per-
severance, however, he set about retrieving his for-
tunes, and, with this end in view, he engaged in
business witli F. M. Brandon, under the firm-name
of Brandon & Harrah. Shortly afterward their com-
mercial operations became sufficiently extensive to
warrant the establishment of a house in London,
England, under the style of Harrah, Brandon & Bro.
He remained engaged in business eight years, finally
retiring in December, 1871. During the last ten
years of his sojourn in Brazil he was identified with
many important public enterprises. In 1869 he was
president of the first telegraph company organized in
the empire, and whjch has since been absorbed by
the imperial government. In the same year, in com-
pany with C. B. Greenough and a few other gentle-
men of New York City, he organized the Botanical
Garden Railroad Company of Rio de Janeiro, of
which he was subsequently a director. In 1870 he
assisted in the reorganization of the Brazilian Navi-
gation Company, the official representative of which
he became in this country when that company was
involved in its suits with the Garrisons, of New York.
In 1872 he organized the Leopoldina Railroad Com-
pany, of Minaes Geraes, Brazil.
Besides the enterprises mentioned, Mr. Harrah was
connected, at various times during his thirty years'
residence in the Brazilian Empire, with' many insti-
tutions of high financial and political standing.
Indeed, he attained and maintained what was a very
eminent position, for a foreigner, in the great South
American nation where he so long lived. Great con-
fidence was reposed in him by the emperor and the
imperial government. As an evidence of the existence
of this close intimacy and deep esteem, Mr. Harrah
was sent to the United States, in 1865, to purchase
iron-clads and armaments for the Brazilian govern-
ment, bearing a letter of credit to the amount of
£1,000,000, which was shortly followed by another
letter for £1,000,000. A few years later, in 1867, he
was sent on a confidential mission to the river Platte,
by the imperial cabinet, to investigate certain irregu-
larities and abuses then prevailing in the commissariat
department of the Brazilian army. Then, too, in
1870, when he and a few other merchants established
a public school in Rio de Janeiro, the first of the kind
in the empire, the emperor made him a Knight of the
Imperial Order da Rosa, and shortly afterward made
him a commander of the same order. In 1874, how-
ever, Mr. Harrah returned permanently to the country
and city of his nativity, having made a handsome
fortune during his residence in Brazil.
He has never been a holder of or an aspirant for
public oflSce ; but he takes a deep interest in the
subject of popular government. As a member of the
Citizens' Committee of One Hundred for two or three
years past, he has given liberally of his time and
means to the cause of honesty and reform in the
administration of municipal affairs.
Durilig his residence in Brazil, Mr. Harrah was an
active member of the Masonic fraternity, and passed
through every degree of that order, inclusive of the
thirty-third.
On April 14, 1839, Mr. Harrah was married to
Anna Margaret Reel, a daughter of Michael and
Margaret Reel, a long-established family of the old
district of Kensington. Nine children have been
born to them, — four sons and five daughters.
BUSINESS OF PiSSENGER RAILWAYS, 1882.
Name.
Length
in
Miles.
1
'■--• 1 Eeceipts.
Expenses,
including
Dividends.
Citizens* (Tenth aod
Eleventh)
Continental (Eighteenth
and Twentieth)!
Empire (Twelfth and Six-
10.00
10.60
8.50
8.10
6,689,947
8407,632.00
$409,916.68
2,931,102
9,509,207
634,800.44
Franliford and South-
wark tFifth and Sixth)
Gei-mantown (Fourth
and Eighth)'
513,800.60
7.00
20.00
17.76
44.00
1(J..';0
10.37
7.17
16.00
268,033.09
138,872.42
861,237 86
HestouTille, Mantua and
4,687,840
2,696,652
20,654,627
269,563.60
Lombard and South
People's (Callowhill St.)..
Philadelphia and Darby 6
Philadelphia and Gray's
Ferry (Spruce & Pine) '
Philadelphia City (Chest-
nut and Walnut)
163,351.86
1,185,741.66
2,684,496
9,383,065
6,510,269
137,997.92
524,669.12
287,650.26
137,570.44
360,712.68
161,867.97
Schuylkill River (Twen-
ty-second and Twenty-
third)'
Second and Third
Seventeenth and Nine-
37.00
8.60
14.00
70.00
18.60
9,504,889
541.147.46
326,202.18
Thirteenth and Fifteenth
Union
West Philadelphia (Mar-
ket Street)
6,367,803
21,864,841
9,070,422
313,038.65
1,302,133.87
611,196.67
191,004.22
896,727.67
314,665.13
1 PasBengera, expenses, and receipts included in report of Union Pas-
senger Railway Company.
2 Leased to the Seventeenth and Nineteenth, and Tenth and Eleventh
Street Companies. Eeceipts and expenditures included in the reports
of those companies.
(Callowhill Street) Passenger Railway Company,
receipts, and length of road included in the report
s (Callowhill Street) Passenger Railway Company,
npts included in the report of that com-
3 Leased to People'
Passengfrs, expenses,
of that company.
* Leased to People
Passengers, expenses,
pany.
& This line operates the Arch and Fairmount, and Race and Vine Streets
Roads. Length, passengers, expenses, ami receipts are included in the
report of the Hestonville, Mantua ami Fairmount road.
« Operated by Philadelphia City (Chestnut and Walnut). Passengers,
receipts, and expenses in report of that company.
' Operated liy tlie Philadelphia and Gray's Ferry Passenger Railwa
Company. Passengers, receipts, and expenses included in that repi-rt
8 Under lease to Union Passenger Railway Company,
receipts, and expenses included in report of that company
i
eotihi
i
I
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2206
Board of Presidents of the City Passenger Rail-
ways of Philadelphia— On Tuesday, May 24, 1859,
the presidents of the several railway companies of
Philadelphia were invited by James Verree, president
of the Second and Third Street Passenger Railway, to
meet at the office of that company, No. 226 Walnut
Street, to consider matters of interest pertaining to
passenger railways. The following companies were
represented :
Citizens' (known as Tenth and Eleventh), George
Williams, president ; Germantown (known as Fourth
and Eighth Streets), William Millward, president;
Race and Vine Streets, Robert F. Taylor, president ;
Frankford and Southwark (Fifth and Sixth), Henry C.
Harrison, president; Ridge Avenue, Henry Croskey,
president; West Philadelphia (Market Street), Wil-
liam Wright, president ; Fairmount and Arch Street,
S. H. P.aulin, president; Philadelphia and Darby,
Thomas S. Ellis, president ; Spruce and Pine Streets,
William D. Lewis, president ; Second and Third
Streets, James Verree, president. George Williams
was elected chairman, and James Verree, secretary,
and it was resolved that the meeting be a permanent
organization.
On January 17, 1860, George Williams was elected
president of the board, and Henry Croskey, secretary.
Mr. Williams retained his position until his death,
when he was succeeded by the present incumbent,
Thomas W. Ackley. Mr. Croskey is still secretary.
The board meets in a room of the Merchants' Ex-
change, on the corner of Third and Walnut Streets.
The number of members at present is eleven, as
follows : Thomas W. Ackley, president of the Thir-
teenth and Fifteenth Streets Railway Company ; P.
A. B. Widener, president of the West Philadelphia
Railway Company ; Matthew Brooks, president of the
Philadelphia and Gray's Ferry (Spruce and Pine
Streets) Railway Company, embracing also by lease
the Schuylkill Passenger Railway Company ; William
H. Colket, president of the Philadelphia City (Chest-
nut and Walnut Streets) Passenger Railway Com-
pany, embracing also by lease the Philadelphia and
Darby Passenger Railway Company ; Henry Geiger,
president of the Frankford and Southwark (Fifth and
Sixth Streets) Passenger Railway Company; John
W. Parsons, president of the Lombard and South
Streets Passenger Railway Company ; Alexander M.
Fox, president of the Second and Third Streets Rail-
way Company; Henry C. Howell, president of the
Empire (Twelfth and Sixteenth Streets) Railway
Company ; William H. Kemble, president of the
Union Railway Company, embracing also by lease the
Seventeenth and Nineteenth Streets, and Continen-
tal (Eighteenth and Twentieth Streets) Railways;
Charles J. Harrah, president of the People's Railway
Company, embracing also the Green and Coates
Streets Railway Company, and the Germantown
(Fourth and Eighth Streets) Passenger Railway Com-
pany ; and John McCarthy, president of the Citizens'
(Tenth and Eleventh Streets) Passenger Railway
Company.
The membership of the board is limited to presi-
dents of railway companies whose roads lie in whole
or in part within the city of Philadelphia, and their
successors. The object of the association is to recip-
rocate information, confer, and consult upon subjects
of common interest, so as to enable and induce the
companies represented to act in unison, and to con-
tribute to expenses for the common benefit.
The officers are a president and a treasurer and a
secretary, who are elected annually, on the third
Tuesday of January. The stated meetings of the
board are held on the third Tuesday of every month.
CHAPTER LV.
TRADE AND COMMERCE.'
With the landing of William Penn, in 1682, the
commerce of the city may be said to have actually
begun, everything prior to that date having been rela-
tively unimportant. That the Swedes and Dutch kept
up communication abroad, exchanging the commodi-
ties of this country with those of Europe, cannot be
doubted, but of this limited commerce few records
exist. We only know that in 1644 the Swedes sent
home in the " Fame" and " Key of Calmar" 2127
packages of beaver-skins and 70,421 pounds of tobacco.
By misfortune the vessels were compelled to put into
Friesland, where the Dutch West India Company
claimed duties and recognitions as the lawful sov-
ereigns of the country. A long correspondence en-
sued, but the vessels were finally released upon pay-
ment of the regular import duties, without the
recognitions claimed, which were eight per cent.
The twenty-six ships which, during the first year of
Penn's administration, arrived with passengers, to-
gether with forty trading vessels, great and small,
that visited the port, fix the date of the commence-
ment of the commerce of the port. That " trade and
commerce in which the Quakers were known to
excel" then took its start, with the furs and skins
obtained from the Indians, and was increased and
extended as the settlement and development of the
country produced the necessary articles of commerce.^
1 It has been found impossible within the space of this history to make
individual mention of houses engaged in the extended trade and com-
merce of this city. The authors have been compelled to treat this sub-
ject solely in its relation to the city, and to exhibit its volume and extent
by statistical tables, rather than by descriptive accounts of individuals
and firms.
- Penn, in hia early irfbtructions, evidently had in view the future great
importance of the port of Philadelphia. His instructions of Sept. 30,
1681, point out the necessity of a river-front reservation being " a meas-
ured quarter of a mile, because of building streets hereafter down to the
harbor." In 1684, Carpenter was granted a lot between Walnut Street
and Dock " in order to erecta wharf or key, and to build bouses thereon ,
for the better improvement of the place, as well aa for his own partica-
2206
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
In 1683-84 twenty-four ships arrived with passen-
gers, but it was not until 1688-89 that there was any
export of importance made from the city. In that
year fourteen cargoes of tobacco were exported,
probably purchased from the Indians, and ten vessels
dispatched with the productions of the province to
the West Indies. The growth of commerce must
have been very great, comparatively, in the early
years of the city, for Logan writes to Penn,—
"This year, 1702, the customs upon goods from Pennsylvania
amounted to eight thousand pounds; the year I arrived there (1699)
but fifteen hundred at most— a good argument for me and the poor
country. It has a greater regard here, and made the care of an officer
(as well as Virginia and Maryland) at the custom-house— New York not
the half of it."
The first Provincial tariff was imposed in 1683,
when the Assembly laid a duty upon rum, wine,
brandy, and strong liquors imported of two pence per
gallon, and upon cider one penny per gallon.' In
1705 the Assembly resolved that £1200 should be
raised for the support of the government, and an
" impost on all wines and cider imported in foreign
bottoms." To this, in 1706, was added a duty of
forty shillings per head on the importation of ne-
groes, with a drawback of one-half for re-export.^
lar profit." The ground was granted upon a lease of fifty-one years, at
a rent of twenty shillings a year, and the patent was indorBed, "I will
and ordaine that the witliin wharf be called, and be it called Carpen-
ter's Wharf."
Robert Turner received a patent on the day after Carpenterfor a bank
lot below Arch Street, which Penn called "Mount wharf." Penn in-
dorsed on this patent, "I intend to allow Eobert Turner to digg the
bank and to make vaults for securing the highway." William Framp-
ton on the same day received a patent for " Lown wharf," between
Walnut and Spruce Streets. Further care for the improvement of the
port is shown in 1687, when the Assembly adopted a request to the Presi-
dent and Provincial Council, that a speedy account be taken of all
moneys paid for the erecting of buoys, "and that, with all convenient
speed, the said buoys be erected for the safety and preservation of ves-
sels coming in and going out of ihis province and territories, to prevent
the clamouisof masters of vesselswho are obliged to pay the moneyand
reap no benefit thereby."
1 See vol. iii. p. 1800.
2 As late as 1701 the subject of taxing the importation of negroes
came up by a remonstrance presented to the Assembly in February
from citizens of Philadelphia agaiust the importation of slaves, which
was considered by them a matter of injury to the province by introduc-
ing a class of persons who were troublesome and demoralized. The
House prepared a bill laying a duly of ten pounds per head on each ne-
gro or mulatto brought from abroad. A remonstrance against this bill
was presented on the Ist of March. The signers represented that the
province suffered great inconvenience for the want of servants, in con-
sequence of tlie number of white persons enlisted in the king's service,
and the diminution of the importation of Germans, English, and Irish,
which had nearly ceased. They said, " An advantage may be gained by
the introduction of slaves, which will likewise be a means of reducing
the exorbitant price of labor, and in all probability bring our commodi-
ties to their usual prices." They represented that they had " embarked
in the trade" of importing slaves through the motives they had men-
tioned, and that they would labor under hardships by the law taking
immediate effect without giving them time to countermand theirorders.
This memorial was signed by John Bell, Humphrey Robinson, Reed &
Pettit, William Coxe, Charles Batho, Philip Kearney, Jr., James Chal-
mers, Joseph Wood, Willing, Morris & Co., Thonias Riche, David Franks,
Hugh Donaldson, Benjamin Levy, Henry Harrison, John and Joseph
Swift, John Nixon, Daniel Eundle, Francis & Eelfe, Stocker & Fuller,
Scott & McMichael, John Inglis, David McMurtrie, Samuel and Archi-
bald McCall, and Joseph Marks.
The mild protest of these slave merchants had no effect on the House,
for the law to lay the duty on negroes was passed two weeks afterward.
The nine years of war between France and Eng-
land, from 1688 to 1697, operated most injuriously to
every interest of the colony, and at the end of this
period the poverty of the province, with the injuries to
its commerce inflicted by the war, is frequently men-
tioned, and it is stated that " in Philadelphia, even,
pieces of tin and lead were current for small change."
From that early day to the final separation from Eng-
land no material change took place in the course of
trade, except its extension. England, at that time
a grain-exporting country, offered no market for the
products of agriculture from this country. The ex-
ports, consisting of grain, salt, provisions, pipe-staves,
etc., and, at a later date, of flour, bread, flaxseed, iron,
etc., found a market in the West Indies, and subse-
quently in Portugal, Spain, and several European
and African ports of the Mediterranean. The returns'
from this commerce were all carried to England,
where all the available funds of the city were re-
quired to pay for the manufactures which were there
exported, and which, from the restrictions imposed by
Parliament on colonial manufactures, embraced, to a
very great extent, every article of clothing and even
household utensils of the simplest form.
The following table shows the imports and exports
of Philadelphia from 1697 to 1776, inclusive. It will
be seen from this table that the imports greatly ex-
ceeded the exports, and the effects of war and other
causes on the amounts of importations may be noticed.
COMMERCE WITH GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1697 TO 1776 IN-
CLUSIVE.
8 1697 i.^,Hl
1698 a™
1699 l.-"7
nuu ifi"^
17U1.,
5,22U
r i™;!;;!;;.. *.;*»
17L3 S,«'"
1704 2,4aO
17110 1.309
1700 *.2'll
170
786
] 1708 2,120
I 1709
I 1710.
1711
I 1712,
l^nia
1,277
38
1,471
178
1714 2,663
1715 ^■"'1
1716 5.193
1717 M99
1718 =>.588
1719 6,564
1720 '.928
1721 8,037
1722 M82
1723
17-24
8,332
4,057
11,981
6,960
12,823
16,230
1729;;;'.'.'..; '.*3*
1730 10,682
1731 12.786
1732 ■ 8,524
1733 1*.776
1734 20,217
1726
1727
1728,
£2,997
10,704
17,064
18,529
12,003
9,342
9,899
11,819
7,206
11,037
14 365
6,722
5,881
8,594
19,408
8,464
17,037
14,927
16,182
21,842
22,505
22,716
27,068
24,531
21,548
26,397
15,992
30,324
42,209
37,634
31,979
37,438
29,799
48,592
44,260
41,698
40,565
54,392
s Peace established this year between England and Franco.
* England at war with France and Spain,
6 England vs. Spain.
6 First issue of government's bills of credit in the province to supply
deficiency of currency occasioned by too large importations.
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2207
1736 £21,919 £4«,804
1736 : 20,786 61,513
1737 16,198 11,01 S
1738 11,918 61,450
f 1739 8,134 64,452
1740 15,048 56,751
I 1741 17,158 91,010
1742 8,527 76,295
fl743 9,696 79,340
1744 7,446 62,214
174,5 10,130 64,280
I 1746 16,779 73,699
1747 3,832 82,404
1748 12,363 75,330
1749 14,944 238,637
1750 28,1S>1 217,713
1761 .s 28,870 190,917
1762 29,978 201,666
1763 38,627 245,644
1764 :10,649 244,647
11765 32,336 144,466
1766 20,095 200,196
1757 14,190 168,426
1768 21,383 260.953
1759 22,404 498,161
1760 22,764 707,998
(1701 39,170 204,067
<J 1762 38,091 206,199
ll763 38,228 284,152
1764 36,628 436,191
1766 26,148 363,368
1766 26,861 327,314
1767 37,641 371,830
1768 59,406 432,107
6 1769 26,111 199,909
1770 28109 134,881
1771 31,615 728,744
1772 29,133 607,909
1773 36,662 426.448
1774 69,611 626,6.52
, (-1775 176,962 1,366
1.1776 1,421 366
The clearances from the port of Philadelphia for
1721 were 130 vessels, for 1722 110 vessels, and for
1723 85 vessels, from which it appears that the com-
merce of the port had at that early day reached a
point where marine insurance became a matter of im-
portance and profit. Accordingly, John Copson opened
an insurance office on High Street, on the plan of the
Lloyds', — " to prevent the necessity of sending to
London," — adding that " he will take care that the
assurers or underwriters be persons of undoubted worth
and reputation, and of considerable interest in the
province." The ship " Dorothy," Thomas News,
master, brought, in 1728, from Bristol, England, pas-
sengers afflicted with a " malignant fever." Governor
Gordon called together the Council, and also invited
the attendance of Thomas Lawrence, the mayor, and
Andrew Hamilton, the recorder of the city. Authority
was granted to Dr. Thomas Graeme and Lloyd Zach-
ary to inspect the vessel, and report her sanitary con-
dition. In consequence of their report, the " Dorothy"
was ordered not to come nearer to the city than one
mile, and the sheriff was directed to provide some
place on shore for the sick. The Blue House Tavern,
at the corner of Tenth and South Streets, thus be-
came the first quarantine hospital. The siik recovered,
the vessel was fumigated with tobacco-smoke, and
washed with vinegar ; the bales of goods were aired
1 EDglaud vs. Spain.
3 England vs. France and Spain.
9 England vs. France.
* England vs. Spain and France.
5 Non-importation agreements were adopted in this year at moat of
the ports in the British Noi th American colonies.
* Revolutionary war.
before removal, and the ship ordered to remain in the
stream and not come up to the wharf.
A work published at London, in 1731, on "The
Importance of the British Plantations in America,"
gives the following account of the productions and
trade of Pennsylvania at that time, and the benefits
derived thereby to Great Britain :
" The product of Pennsylvania for exportation is wheat, flour, biscuit,
barreled beef and pork, bacon, hams, butter, cheese, cider, apples, soap,
myrtle-wax candles, 8tarch,'hair-powder, tanned leather, beeswax, tal-
low caudles, strong beer, linseed oil, strong waters, deer skins and
other peltry, hemp (which they have encouraged by an additional
bounty of three half-pence per pound weight over and above what is
allowed by Act of Parliament), some little tobacco, lumber, i.e., sawed
boards and timber for building houses, cypress wood, shingles, cask
staves and headings, masts and other ship timber ; also drugs of various
sorts, as calamus aromaticus, snake root, etc. Tlie Pennsylvanians
build about two thousand tons of shipping a year for sale, over and
above what they employ in their own trade, which may be about six
thousand tons more. They send great quantities of corn to Portugal
and Spain, frequently selling their ebips as well as cargo ; and the pro-
duce of both is sent thence to England, where it is always laid out in
goods and sent home to Pennsylvania.
" They receive no less than from four to six thousand pistoles from the
Dutch isle of Curacoa alone for provisions and liquors. And they trade
to Surinam in the like manner, and to the French port of Hispaniola,
as also to the other French sugar islands, from whence they bring back
molasses, and also some money. From Jamaica they sometimes return
with all money and no goods, because their rum and molasses are so
dear there. And all the money they can get from all parts, as also
sugar, rice, tar, pitch, etc., is brought to England to pay for the manu-
factures, etc., they carry home from us, which has not, for many years
past, been less than one hundred and fifty thousand pounds per annum.
They trade to our provinces of New England, Virginia, Maryland, and
Carolina, and fo all the islands in the West Indies, excepting the Span-
ish ones; as also to the Canaries, Madeira, and the Azores isles; like-
wise to Newfoundland for flah, which they cany to Spain, Portugal, and
up the Mediterranean, and remit the money to England, which, one
way or other, may amount to sixty thousand pounds yearly. But with-
out their trade to the French and Dutch colonies in the West Indies
they could not remit so much to England; neither could they carry on
their trade with the Indians if they did not take off the rum and
molasses, as welt as the sugars, of those colonies in part of payment of
the cargoes they carry thither."
In 1723 the scarcity of currency greatly embarrassed
all trade. Complaints were accordingly made to the
Assembly, and referred to a committee, which re-
ported that, in their opinion, persons not residing in
the province, who imported goods and servants into
Pennsylvania, should pay three per cent, on the net
profits of their importations, unless they could make
it appear that they had shipped off at least three-
fourths of the value of said goods in country produce,
and that merchants should pay five per cent, on
money shipped. Another plan was brought forward
in the petition of several inhabitants of the county of
Philadelphia, desiring that wheat and other grain,
beef, pork, hemp, and flax shall pass on all occasions
as ready money; that gold, English money, and other
silver should be raised in value, as at New York ; that
no paper money be raised ; that ports should be free
of taxes, and foreigners encouraged ; that a duty be
laid on deer-skins ; and that brewers put a certain
quantity of malt into strong beer, according to the
price of barley. Upon consideration of these pe-
titions the Assembly voted that a paper currency
2208
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
should be authorized, and that country produce
should pass as currency.'
The imports in 1730 were very heavy, — so great in
value that it was found easier to liquidate the obliga-
tions by an insolvent law than to pay them ; so an
insolvent law was passed for the relief of debtors.
Isaac Norris, in a letter to William Penn, in 1707,
gives the following facts as to the commerce of the
province :
"I presume that the province consumes annually of produce and
mercbaodise of England to the value of fourteen or fifteen thousand
pounds sterling, and this is imported directly from England and the
other plantations, — Virginia, Maryland. Barbadoes, Jamaica, Nf^w Eng-
land, and New York. Returns are made for the same in part direct for
England, and partly through the other plantations, viz., the West India
Islands, Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, who take off our pro-
visions and produce. The direct returns are chiefly tobacco, furs, and
skins, which have for two or three years past yielded no encouraging
prices here, for which reason less of those commodities have been im-
ported from thence, and the more returns made by way of the planta-
tions above mentioned. 'Tis reasonable to presume that upon a peace
or advance of those commodities in price the direct return will increase
considerably, of which there already appears some prospect, there being
now in England four vessels, — two at London and two at Whitehaven, —
which loaded at Philadelphia, and brought at least seven or eight hun-
dred hhds. of tobacco, besides tweuty-five or thirty tuns of skins and
furs; and I have advice that there are four vessels more likely or in-
tending to come this summer that may bring eight hundred or a thou-
sand hhds. more. I shall not presume to say that the tobacco of [the]
province is of more advantage to England, hhd. for hhd., than that of
Maryland or Virginia ; but perhaps it is considerably more to the Crown
in proportion, it being mostly of a sort that is spent in England. The
account of duties paid, and with drawbacks made in exportation, will
be best known from the Custom House ; and I am of opinion, if the ves-
sels get well hither, the duties for this year will surmount any year
before it."
The raising of revenue was fiirther expedited in
1710-11 by the passage of a law granting to the Gov-
ernor two shillings in the pound and two shillings
on the head of all single men worth more than fifty
pounds, with the same poll-tax on servants ; also
a tax of forty shillings per head on imported negroes,
four shillings per gallon on rum and wine imported
from other places than New Jersey or the lower coun-
ties, three shillings per barrel on cider, and nine pence
per ton on vessels. Among the matters of legislation
which engaged the attention of the Assembly in 1713
was the consideration of duties to be laid on liquors
imported. The following table was furnished of the
commerce of the port in these articles between March
25, 1711, and Feb. 6, 1713:
Wine
Imported tkom the Place of Growth.
411 pipes.
23 quarter casks.
13 hhds.
W
INE Imported from Other Places.
48 pipes.
2 quarter casks.
2 hhds.
Kdm Imported.
574 hhds.
1 pipe.
.360 tierces.
19 casks.
185 barrels.
2 puncheons.
1 kilderkin
' 4 gross of bottles.
200 gallons.
1
See chapter on Banks and Bankers.
The disproportion between rum and wine in this
statement shows that the taste of the greater number
of the inhabitants was in favor of strong drink.
The following account of the number of vessels,
with their tonnage, which cleared from Philadelphia
from 1719 to 1725, will give an idea of the condition
of commerce at that period :
^ear.
Number of
vessels.
Tonnage.
Tear.
Number of
vessels.
Tonnag
1719
128
4514
1723
99
3912
1720
140
3982
1724
119
5450
1721
111
3711
1725
140
6665
1722
96
3531
From 1729 to 1732 the exports from Philadelphia
were as follows :
_, Bushels Barrels Casks vot„o
*""■■ Wheat. Flour. Bread. *"°'-
1729 74,800 35,438 9,730 $62,473
1730 38,643 38,570 9,622 57,500
1731 53,320 66,639 12,436 62,582
The population of the city, in the latter year above
mentioned, was estimated at twelve thousand ; the
commerce annually employed six thousand tons of
shipping, and about two thousand tons were annually
sold in foreign ports, principally West India. The
arrivals and clearances from March 25, 1735, to March
25, 1736, were as follows :
■ I Arriv- Clear-
als. ances.
Arriv
als.
London 11
Bristol, England 9
Liverpool 2
Ireland 14
Gibraltar 1
Lisbon 6
Cadiz 6
Turk's Island 3
Antigua 20
Barbadoes 19
Jamaica 9
St. Christopher 9
Newfoundland 3
Boston 17
Rhode Island 8
New York 4
Maryland 7
Virginia 6
North Carolina 7
South Carolina. 1
Georgia 1
Not specified 30
Total 199
Of the arrivals fifty -one were ships, fortj'-four brigs,
and the remainder vessels.
The price current for 1735, published in the Mercury
of the 27th November, reduced to provincial dollars
and cents was as follows :
Flour, §1.40 per hundred pouuds; white biscuit, S240 per hundred;
middling biscuit, Sl.73 do.; brown biscuit, 81.47 do. ; ship biscuit, $1.60
do. ; muscovado sugars, $4.27 do. ; ginger, S4.27 do. ; powder, $26.27 do. ;
tobacco, $1.87 do.; tni-pentine, 80 cents do.; loaf sugar, 22 cents per
pound (wholesale); cotton, 13 cents per pound ; allspice, 20 cents per
pound; indigo, $1.33 per pound; rum, 29 cents per gallon; molasses,
20 cents per gallon ; pork, $4.67 per barrel ; beef, $4.00 do. ; pitch, $1.87
do.: tar, $1.07 do.; wheat, 49 cents per bushel; Indian corn, 20 cents
do. ; fla.\seed, 63 cents do.; fine salt, 22 cents do. ; coarse salt, 20 cents
do. ; pipe-staves, $14.00 per thousand ; hogshead-staves, $5.33 to $6.67 ;
barrels do., S4.67 to $5.33; Madeira wine, $58.67 per pipe.
From 1739 to 1749, the war between Great Britain
and Spain continued, and inflicted upon the commerce
of the province great annoyance and loss from priva-
teering. The " Wilmington" and the " Delaware,"
fitted out in Philadelphia, were dispatched to sea to
retaliate. The return of peace in 1749 gave a great
impulse to commerce, the imports for the year being
nearly equal to those of the three succeeding years.
The values of wheat, flour, bread, and flaxseed were
in 1749 £148,104 currency ; in 1750, £155,175 ; and in
1756, £187,487 ; and the number of vessels that cleared
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2209
from 1749 to 1759 averaged annually four hundred and
three; the population of thecity being estimated atfif-
teen thousand. This activity in commerce continued,
notwithstanding the embarrassment arising from the
scarcity of currency, until interrupted, in 1755, by the
difficulties arising from the French and Indian trou-
bles on the western frontier. In 1753, the schooner
" Argo," Capt. Swaine, was dispatched by the mer-
chants of Philadelphia in search of a northwest pas-
sage. Touching first in New England, he afterward
entered Hudson Straits, and came in sight of Revolu-
tion Island. Forced out of the straits by vast quanti-
ties of floating ice, and the season of discovery on the
west side being over, he sailed for the coast of Labra-
dor, from 56° to 65° north latitude, discovering six
inlets, of which he prepared charts. The vessel re-
turned in safety to Philadelphia, and was again, in
1754, dispatched on a similar mission under the same
captain. Upon their last voyage Captain Swaine lost
three of his crew.
The commerce of the province suffered severely
during the continuance of the Seven Years' war
(which was commenced by a collision between Eng-
lish and French troops on the western province of
Pennsylvania in 1755, although war was not declared
until the following year). This is shown by the value
of the imports from Great Britain, varying from
£144,456 sterling, in 1755, to £707,998 sterling in
1760, this latter sum including military stores. Seri-
ous losses were occasioned by the mercantile com-
munity on account of the provincial government pro-
hibiting the exportation of provisions and military
stores to French ports in 1756-57.
The embargo imposed by the Earl of Loudon was
continued so long that it became very injurious to all
kinds of business. The merchants complained of a
total stagnation of trade and commerce, there being
in June, 1767, forty sail of vessels, with full cargoes,
detained in the harbor. Commodities were perishing,
and the manufacture of grain into fiour was stopped.
The Assembly in June sent a remonstrance on this
subject to Governor Denny, who promised to forward
it to Earl Loudon. He did so with no warmth. He
said in his letter to the earl that it was " an ex-
traordinary remonstrance," and that " he could have
wished that for their own sakes they had observed a
greater decency." He admitted that the distress was
great in the province, and that on that account abun-
dance of flour had already been condemned. Besides,
the ports and people who had depended on importa-
tions of provisions from the American colonies were
in great straits, and many of them were almost re-
duced to starvation. Nevertheless, the supposed in-
terests of the British navy were considered of more
importance than the prosperity of the colonies, and it
was not until a week after the fleet had put to sea on
the 27th of June that the embargo was removed.
The restoration of peace with France and Spain re-
lieved commerce of many restrictions and embarrass-
ments, but the heavy debt which the long years of
war had created, together with the impoverishment
of the people incident to the war and the measures of
defense, depressed trade generally, while the mer-
chants found themselves largely indebted to those of
England for goods imported. Those financial trou-
bles were in a measure prolonged by the continuance
of the difiiculties with the Indians on the Western
frontier after the restoration of peace with France.
The effect of these disturbing influences had not
passed away when the British Parliament, in 1764,
began that system of taxation which eventually
severed the political connection of the colonies with
the mother-country. The British principle that taxa-
tion and representation are inseparable, " founded on
the laws of nature, — itself an eternal law of nature," —
was deeply fixed in the hearts of the colonists. It
was their unalterable purpose to resist the collection
of any and all kinds of taxes imposed without their
consent. It is no part of our purpose to trace the
history of that contest with the mother-country. The
effects of the non-importation agreements, those
peaceful remedies of resistance which both in their
direct and indirect action came home to the people
of Great Britain, may be seen by contrasting the value
of imports from Great Britain in 1769 (£199,999 ster-
ling), when these agreements were' generally adopted
throughout the colonies, with that of the imports in
1771 (£728,744 sterling), when the non-importation
restrictions were removed, save in reference to tea.
Petitions were sent to the Assembly in 1765 for the
regulation of pilotage. It was complained that many
incompetent persons undertook to guide vessels up
and down the Delaware, whereby many valuable
vessels and their cargoes had been lost. The con-
sideration of the subject was deferred until the follow-
ing year, when a proper law upon the subject was
passed, and Abel James, Robert Morris, John Nixon,
Oswald Eve, Michael Hulings, and Thomas Penrose
were appointed wardens of the port of Philadelphia.
By an act for the recovery of duties, tonnage, etc.,
the commissioners had been authorized to erect piers
in the Delaware for the protection of vessels during
storms. After a survey they agreed that the inside
or west shore of Reedy Island was a proper place for
erecting two such piers. For this purpose the lower
end of the island had been purchased, and in 1762 one
pier had been finished, one hundred feet long and
about thirty feet in width, having, at the outer end, a
depth of three fathoms at low tide. The next sum-
mer another pier was built at the distance of five
hundred and seventy-one feet from the other, to the
northward of it. The length was about two hundred
and five feet, the breadth about thirty feet, and the
depth at the outer end about three and a half fathoms.
The commissioners also banked in and drained eight
acres of land adjacent to the piers, and built a house
on one of the piers for the accommodation of the
workmen. The cost of this work they reported to be
2210
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
£3356 14s. id. The light-house at Cape Henlopen was
also finished. It was situated, the commissioners re-
ported, "a mile south of the point of the Cape, and a
quarter of a mile from the ocean, westward, in latitude
thirtj--eight degrees fifty-six minutes north." Six-
pence a ton was levied upon vessels to maintain the
establishment, which sum was received by T. Coombe,
collector, at the office, corner of Norris and Front
Streets. This matter was renewed in January, 1785,
when the merchants of the city memorialized the
Council in favor of erecting piers in the Delaware for
the protection of vessels during storms. On consulta-
tion it was considered that Marcus Hook was the
proper situation for these piers. An agreement was
entered into by one Thomas Davis to build four of
them, but the contract was subsequently revolted and
given to others. The wardens of the port purchased
a small lot at Cape May " with the view of erecting a
beacon thereon." Application was made to the Gov-
ernor of New Jersey for authority to carry out that
measure. Delay occurred, and in 1787 the wardens,
having visited the proposed site of the beacon, were
of opinion that it would be too expensive, and that it
would be better to put a beacon on Crow's shoal.
Benjamin Franklin, in his examination before the
British House of Commons, in 1766, gave an account
of the commerce of the port, in which he computed
the imports from Great Britain into Philadelphia at
five hundred thousand pounds sterling, and the ex-
ports to Great Britain at forty thousand pounds ster-
ling. The difference between these sums was the
annual indebtedness of the colonies to the merchants
of England. To discharge that indebtedness the pro-
duce of the province, which could find no market in
England, was exported to the British, French, Span-
ish, Danish, and Dutch West India Islands ; to New
England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina, and
Georgia, and to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, from
which either money, bills of exchange, or commodi-
ties suitable for remittance to England were received.
These, together with their profits, as well as the
freights earned in their circuitous voyages, all finally
centred in Great Britain to pay for British manufac-
tures used in the province, or sold to foreigners by
American traders. Notwithstanding all the impedi-
ments which the policy of England threw across the
pathway of the colony to successful commerce, the
rapid development of her resources enabled that com-
merce to grow in volume and value until actual con-
flict in 1776 put an end to its progress. The exports
for the years 1771, 1772, 1773 were as follows :
Value of Ex- Clearances. . _ , .
Tear.) ports, pounds Square<rigged Ships and Tonnage
sterling. Vessels. Schooners. i-onnag .
1771 631,554 361 391 46,654
1772 784,254 370 390 46,841
1773 720,135 426 370 46,972
In January, 1776, the Committee of Inspection and
Observation detected some tea in the city which had
been brought from New York. They gave notice
that any more of the same article which they discov-
ered, procured from that or any other place, would
be sent back. Congress resolved, in April, that tea
which was on hand before the passage of the act of
Parliament, might be sold at stipulated prices,. —
Bohea at seventy-five cents per pound ; other teas to
be regulated, as to rates of selling, by the Committee
of Inspection. By a resolution of Congress this com-
mittee was invested with power to prevent shipments
of provisions, goods, or merchandise, and such as
were aUowed to be exported must first receive their
license for the voyage. In March complaints were
made that the engrossing of salt, rum, sugar, spice,
pepper, molasses, cocoa, and cofiee had created an
artificial scarcity of these articles. "Some persons,"
it was said, "had formed the cruel design of adding
to the sufierings of their fellow-citizens by collecting
great quantities of these articles, and exacting exor-
bitant prices for them." The committee resolved to
stop such " arbitrary practices" by fixing the follow-
ing prices upon the articles named: Common West
India rum, 4s. 6rf. per gallon, by the hogshead or in
greater quantity ; molasses, 2s. per gallon, by the
hogshead; cofiee, 11(1. per pound, by the bag or
barrel ; cocoa, £5 per thousand ; chocolate, 16c/. per
pound; pepper, 5s. per pound, per bag or barrel;
loaf sugar, 14(/. per pound ; lump sugar, lOrf. per
pound ; Muscovado sugar, first quality, 65s. per hun-
dredweight ; Lisbon salt, 4s. per single bushel, or
greater quantity ; Liverpool blind salt, 5s. per single
bushel or greater quantity ; Jamaica spirits, common,
5s. 6rf. per gallon. Any person violating these prices
were to be " exposed by name to public view as sordid
vultures, who were preying on the vitals of their coun-
trj- in time of common distress." The Committee of
Privates seconded this resolution by an address, in
which they said that, while the Committee of Inspec-
tion was "to be praised for having taken measures
against monopolizers and forestallers, Congress ought
to be petitioned to open trade with such countries as
supply us with needful articles, so that we might ex-
port the produce of our own country in exchange."
These representations had a good efiect, for four
days afterward Congress resolved that goods might be
exported to any country but Great Britain, and that
merchandise might be imported into the American
pro^-inces from any part of the world except Great
Britain and the East India provinces, the tea from
which was totally prohibited. It was also declared
that no slaves should be imported into the united
colonies. The powers of the Committee of Inspection,
under this policy, were soon found to be injurious to
the interests of the commerce which it was now re-
solved to foster. It was therefore determined that, as
the stocks from other countries were nearly exhausted,
and as their attempts to regulate prices would be a
hindrance to trade, their poweis to do so ought to
cease.
i An ordinance was also passed against the engross-
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2211
ing or forestalling of bar iron, leather, salt, wheat,
cattle, or other merchandise or victuals, in greater
quantity than any person could make to appear to be
suitable for his or her own need and supply, with an
exception in favor of millers buying grain to grind
into flour, graziers purchasing lean cattle to fatten
them, and persons buying goods for the purposes of
their trades with intent to manufacture or improve
them. The price of whiskey was fixed, by special
ordinance, at 8s. 6d. per gallon, Pennsylvania cur-
rency, when sold by other persons than sutlers in
camp. Committees were also appointed to seize and
take from all persons who had not subscribed the
oath of allegiance and abjuratijn, or who had aided
or assisted the enemy, blankets, stockings, cloths,
linens, at certain fixed prices.
The regulation of prices by authority continued to
be the policy of the times, and William Henry, chair-
man of the committee on the prices of provisions,
published, under date of June 6, 1779, the regula-
tions for the markets and shops, for buyers and sellers,
who are warned to take notice and abide the conse-
quences. The "murmurings and discontent respect-
ing the price of butter" were very great, and the com-
mittee " Rexolved, That if any inhabitant of this
City shall give more than Fifteen Shillings for a
pound of butter, such person or persons so purchas-
ing, whether man or woman, shall be summoned to
appear at the next Town Meeting, or pay Twenty
Shillings into the hands of this Committee, to be ap-
plied to the relief of the poor, one-half thereof to the
poor of this city, and the other half to the poor of
the township where the seller of such butter shall
live." The following were the prices established for
the following articles on the 1st of April, to continue
for the month of July :
Wholesale. Retail.
£ s. d. f s. d.
Coffee, per pound 0 16 0 0 16 0
Chocolate, per pound 1 17 6 2 0 0
Bohea tea, per pound 4 10 0 4 15 0
Comni.n green tea, per pound 5 10 0 7 10 0
Best Hysuu tea, per pound 18 0 0 20 0 0
West India rum, per gallon 6 5 0 6 12 6
Countrv rum. per gallon 4 10 0 4 15 0
French rum, per gallon 4 10 0 4 10 0
Madeira wine, per gallon 10 0 0
Muscovado sugar, Irom £70 to £95 per cwt. ; from 15fi. to20«. per pound.
Loaf sugar, from 42s. 6d. to 508. per pound ; from 47s. 6(i. to 52s, 6d.
per pound.
Rice, per pound, 3s.
£ s. d.
French indigo, per pound 2 15 0 608.
Carolina indigo, per pound 2 0 0 458.
Black pepper, per pound 1 17 6 428.
Colttiu, per pound, from 40s. to 558. ; 45s. to 608.
Hemp, per pound 8s.
Candles, per pound 14s. 6d. to ISs.
Best haud soap, per pound 10s. 6d. to 12s. 6d.
Butter, per p'lund 15s.
Blootnery bar iron, per ton £500 per cwt., £28
Reflned bar iron, per ton 700 " 38
Nail rod iron, per ton 1000 " 65
Sheet iron, per pound 12«. per pouud, 158.
Best dinlle aole-leather, per pound 20s.
Neat's leather, by the side 160s.
A callakin that will rut four pair of shoes 1508.
Best boot-leys, per pair 1808.
Harness leather, per pound 20s.
Bridle leather, per side „ 150«.
Boots, per pair from £37 to £40
Men's best leather shoes from 136s. to 1608.
Women's shoes 1208.
The committee continued the price of flour, mid-
dlings, etc., as of the last month's prices, and were
" happy to inform the public that the price of molasses
and the various kinds of salts are at present lower
than on the 1st of April, and the committee expect
they will not be appraised higher than at present." The
committee also " resolved that if any goods, exceeding
the value of one hundretl pounds, be removed or
offered to be removed from this city, without first ob-
taining a permit from this committee, such goods so
removed or offered to be removed shall, on detection,
be detained under the care of the committee until the
next town-meeting, and the owner to abide the conse-
quences."
From 1776 to 1783, the period of the Revolution,
there existed no foreign trade whatever from the port
of Philadelphia. From 1783 to 1789, commerce
groped its way among the difficulties that beset it on
every side. Peace removed the barrier that war had
erected ; but abroad, the obstacles of the protective
system, with which each country was hedging its
manufactures and domestic interest, barred its onward
movement, and at home the conflicting laws of thirteen
colonies were not only ruinous to its development,
but demoralizing, as they were productive of smug-
gling. Not less serious than these was the deranged
condition of the currency of the country, which was
no measure of value, and would hardly pass when out
of sight of its place of issue. These difficulties and
embarrassments continued, until, by the adoption of
the Federal Constitution, in 1789, the thirteen States
transferred to the Federal government the power to
regulate commerce with foreign nations, between the
States, and among the Indian tribes, in fact, all con-
trol of every kind over commerce.' Commercial re-
lations were then opened by one central authority
with the nations of the world ; preference between
1 The contacting legislation of the States on the subject of commerce,
and the want of proper commercial regulations were due to the anoma-
lous condition of the thirteen independent States of the Confederacy,
each of which attempted to regulate foreign commerce without reference
to the others, producing confusion abroad, and operating against Amer-
ican enterprise. The merchants of Philadelphia took up this subject at
a meeting held at the State-House on the 20th of June, 1785, to hear
the report of a committee " to suggest means of relief for the present
state of trade and manufactures." They declared that it was necessary
that Congress should have full power over the commerce of the United
States, and that to withhold such power would be injurious. Agricul-
ture and manufactures, it was said, were the great employments of the
people, and constituted the wealth of the country, and that, as the
former must decline with our export trade, it became necessary to ex-
tend the latter. It was urged as the opinion of the meeting that man-
ufacturers interfering with our own ought to be discouraged, some by
absolute prohibitions, others by impost.
From the peace of 1783 to the adoption of the constitution, in 1789,
there is no data of American tonnage. Some of the States, Pennsylva-
nia among that number, laid discriminating duties in favor of vessels
belonging to citizens of the United States, and in some instances in
favor of nations having treaties with the United States. Pennsylvania
laid a tonnage duty on American vessels at four pence sterling, and the
vessels of foreign nations at eight pence sterling. In August of 1794,
there was formed an association called " The Philadelphia Society for
the Information and Assistance of Persons Emigrating from Foreign
Countries."
2212
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ports of different States could no longer be given ;
hindrances in trade by exactions were no longer pos-
sible. Commerce and trade consequently revived, as
the resources of the province increased, and the es-
tablishment of the Bank of the United States, in 1791,
provided a currency universally received as a measure
of value and medium of exchange. In all these
improved conditions, the commerce of Philadelphia
participated.
The first adventure after peace from the port to the
East Indies was made early in 1786. The ship " Can-
ton," Captain Thomas Truxton, was the pioneer from
Philadelphia.'
In favor of the good ship " Canton," and her com-
mander. Congress, on the 2d of January, granted a
sea-letter directed to the " Most serene and most puis-
sant, high, illustrious, noble, honorable, venerable,
wise, and prudent emperors, kings, republics, princes,
dukes, earls, barons, lords, burgomasters, counselors,
as also judges, officers, justiciaries, and regents of all
the good cities and places, whether ecclesiastical or
secular, who shall see these presents or hear them
read." There are few particulars of this voyage, ex-
cept the fact that the " Canton" returned to Philadel-
phia in May, 1787, after a successful trip. In those
days shipments were not made on individual account ;
the cargo was a joint-stock affair, and dividends of the
profits were made to each shareholder.
In three years after the adoption of the Federal
Constitution, the French Revolution was turned by
Napoleon against all European powers. These wars
continued from 1792 to 1815, with a very short inter-
mission. The demand of the armies for men depleted
the number of agriculturists, and created a demand
for supplies from America. The naval armaments of
European nations, in all parts of the ocean, rendered
neutral vessels absolutely necessary for the carrying
of commodities from the colonies of European nations
to the parent States. The " carrying trade" became
a fruitful source of profit, in which the ships of Phila-
delphia shared very largely. The commerce of Phila-
delphia, in common with that of the whole country,
prospered beyond any previous period of its history ;
her population increased from 42,000, in 1790, to up-
wards of 96,000 in 1810. That " carrying trade," a
term now almost lost to commerce, was at the begin-
ning of the present century a fruitful source of wealth
and prosperity to the city. Intercourse with the West
Indies exchanged the agricultural productions of the
State, such as beef, pork, flour, apples, onions, butter,
lard, and other products, for sugar, coffee, oranges,
lemons, pineapples, and other tropical productions.
Abraham Piesch, a prominent shipping-merchant in
1 As early as February, 1784, the ship " Empress" of China, Capt.
Green, sailed from New York bound to Canton, where she arrived on
the 26th of August. This was the first vessel that left the United States
for that distant region. The sloop " Experiment," Capt. Dean, of New
York, is said to have been the second. The "Canton," Capt. Truxton,
was the third.
the fast-sailing schooner " Fly," braved the savage
blacks of San Domingo in 1792-93, and in the midst
of insurrection and civil war reaped the reward of his
pluck and courage in a profit on coffee purchased at
five cents per pound, and paid for in apples, onions,
lard, and other things bought at an equally low figure.
He built more vessels, large and small, than any other
ship-builder of the time, and during the war of 1812-
15 he had twelve schooners engaged in running the
blockade. He was later engaged in the East India and
European trade. Europe, Asia, China, and " Afric's
sunny fountains rolled down their golden sands" on
the margin of commercial enterprise, in which Girard's
ships, the " Voltaire," the " Rousseau," the " Helve-
tius," the " Montesquieu," were the philosophic names
that bore the products of republican America. Stephen
Girard, Henry Pratt, Pratt & Kintzing, Willings &
Francis, Smith & Ridgway, Summerl & Brown, Louis
Martial Jacques Crousillat, Eyre & Massey, Blight,
Montgomery, Sims, Wain, and others whose names
are forgotten, were the active leaders on the wharves
of the city, where their ships were loading and un-
loading for and from every country.
Henry Pratt was an eminent shipping merchant of
Philadelphia in these early days. He was born in
the city on the 14th of May, 1761, and was the eldest
son of Matthew Pratt, a portrait-painter. Before his
majority Mr. Pratt was engaged in the china and
crockery trade, and afterward in the grocery business.
He finally became identified with the shipping trade,
and became known far and wide. He amassed a large
fortune, and built " Lemon Hill," on the Schuyl-
kill, near Fairmount. Great perseverance and energy
characterized his life, and marked him as a merchant
of uncommon and unusual qualities. No calamities
of trade or commerce unnerved him. Mercantile pur-
suits were to him a passionate pleasure, and the ad-
ventures and speculations which follow unusually at-
tractive. The unlimited credit and confidence which
he enjoyed among the merchants of the city enabled
him to weather all panics and pressures in the money
market, and to escape unhurt all the vicissitudes of
his long business career. He died Feb. 6, 1838, aged
seventy-seven.
Abraham Kintzing withdrew in 1812 from the firm
of Pratt & Kintzing, and organized that of Kintzing,
Son & Coxe (Francis S. Coxe). Impaired health and
blindness soon compelled him to retire. His business
life was one of such exemplary integrity that he be-
came the arbitrator of differences among business
men, and recognized as an honest judge, though
never on the judicial bench. His commanding per-
sonal appearance, his great dignity of bearing, yet
gentleness of disposition, united with unostentatious
charity, made him exceedingly popular and beloved.
He was a director of the Bank of North America and
of the old Philadelphia Insurance Company. He
died in June, 1835, aged seventy-two years.
Louis Martial Jacques Crousillat was born in France
%
I
'T^^f-n^'L-C^ ic c^^Coy^-^^'i
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2213
in 1767, and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1780. He
was attached to Count Rochambeau's army for eigh-
teen months in the capacity of purchasing agent in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in which employment
he gave great satisfaction, and by his commissions
made about seven thousand pounds, with which he
established himself as a shipping merchant, trading
to St. Domingo and Marseilles. He was the first
French shipping merchant in Philadelphia after the
Revolution. He opened the import trade of fine
French china. In 1794 he purchased of Mr. Mulli-
gan a farm on the Schuylkill, " Point Breeze," on
which he raised fruit from imported stock. He re-
tired from business about 1802. He was an enter-
prising, upright merchant, a kind and hospitable
gentleman. He died in July, 1836, in his eightieth
year.
The house of Jesse and Robert Wain was largely
engaged in the West India and English shipping
business, and afterward in East India and China
trade. Robert Wain was a member of the Legisla-
ture for some years, and of Congress in 1798. He
was an unwavering Federalist. During the war of
1812-15 he erected a cotton-factory in Trenton, N. J.,
which was one of the first built in that State. He
had large interests in the iron-works at Phoenixville.
His interests in these manufactures made him an
ardent protectionist. The tarilF acts of 1816, 1824,
and 1828 drew out the " Boston Report," by Henry
Lee, by the reasoning and figures of which the cause
of "protection" seemed to have been overthrown.
The Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of
Manufactures selected Mr. Wain as the person most
fitted by abilities and familiarity with the subject to
make the reply to the " Boston Report." His reply
was able, and by its friends regarded as " triumphant."
His " Seven Letters to Elias Hicks" are papers on
Quaker subjects. He filled many places of honor
and trust, and died in 1836, aged seventy-one.
The patriai-ch of the illustrious MiflJin family in
Pennsylvania was John Mifflin, who emigrated to
America from Wiltshire, England, at some date prior
to 1684, in which year he married, in this country,
Elizabeth Hadley, a native of Derbyshire, England.
The issue of the union was five children, — Edward,
George, John, Jonathan, and Jane. George, the
second sou, wedded in Philadelphia, Feb. 18, 1714,
Esther, the daughter of Hugh and Deborah Cordry,
by whom he had six children. One of them, John
Mifflin, who became a provincial councilor, was
born Jan. 18, 1715. He entered mercantile life, in
which he attained the highest rank, but his business
pursuits did not prevent him from sparing much of
his time to that jjublic service for which his ability
and integrity thoroughly fitted him. For twelve
years he was a director of the Philadelphia Library.
He was elected in 1747 a member of the Common
Council of Philadelphia, and an alderman in 1751.
On Nov. 2, 1755, he was chosen to the Provincial
Council of Pennsylvania. He died in February,
1759, and was interred in the Friends' burying-
ground. The eldest of the sixteen children that he
had by his two wives was the celebrated Governor
Thomas Mifflin. George, the second son of John,
was a Philadelphia merchant, and was for some years
in business partnership with his brother Thomas.
He died July 14, 1785. His wife, whom he married
Oct. 15, 1772, was Martha, the daughter of Joseph
Morris. Their children were Thomas and Elizabeth,
the latter becoming the wife of Dr. Caspar Wistar.
Thomas Mifflin followed his ancestors in a commer-
cial career, and, like them, was a member of the
Society of Friends until, in 1794, he was "read out
of meeting" for engaging in military duty in suppress-
ing the Whiskey Insurrection. His death occurred
in April, 1820. On June 20, 1799, he was married
to Sarah, the daughter of Ebenezcr Large, of Bristol,
Bucks Co., a prosperous flour merchant. James
Large Mifflin was their eldest son, and was born
June 18, 1800, at the family residence, on the north
side of Spruce Street, below Fourth. He was edu-
cated in his native city, and on April 16, 1818, when
still three years under his majority, he entered into
partnership with John Jennings, George W. Jones,
and Joseph Archer, to conduct an auction business
in all goods pertaining to the Canton (China) trade,
on the west side of Front Street, above Chestnut.
Each partner contributed twenty-five thousand dol-
lars to the joint capital, and Mr. Mifflin acted as
cashier and financial manager. The business was
very prosperous, and grew to large proportions, as
much as eight hundred thousand dollars in cash pass-
ing through Mr. Mifflin's hands in the single month
of June, 1819. In 1823, the auction commission of
Mr. Jones having expired, the firm was dissolved,
after five years of an honorable business career. In
1824, Mr. Mifflin entered into partnership with a son
of Joseph Archer, in the legitimate Canton trade in
all its branches. They were established on Front
Street, a short distance north of the old firm, and on
a property that has ever since been retained in the
Mifflin family.
Mr. Mifflin was the first Canton merchant who
brought into this country the well-known Caykar (or
cocoa) matting, the original lot coming over in his
ship, the "Nassau," commanded by Capt. Hewitt.
The business connection of Mr. Mifflin and Mr.
Archer ran through some fifteen years, when Mr.
Archer withdrew, and Mr. Mifflin became the sole
head of the house, whose operations he extended by
dealing very largely in cotton. The great fire of 1839
swept away such a large proportion of his stores and
offices that he decided to retire to private life. This
he did, and was not again engaged in any commer-
cial ventures. He was a member of the Society of
Friends. In June, 1844, he was'married to Theresa,
daughter of Curtis and Mary Worrell, of Chester
County, who survived him, and is still living. Their
2214
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
three children are James, Dorothea Theresa, and
Thomas Mifflin. James Large Mifflin died on Sept.
25, 1872, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
In those early days of Philadelphia, countries gave
their name to different "trades,"^ and the East India
1 The following is a list of vessels engaged in "trading" from Phila-
delphia in 1800. Those engaged in West India trade were as follows:
Ships. Masters. Port of Trade. Consignees.
Pallas Mariner Cnrafoa
Pomona Patriarch Martinique
Columbia Kelly Matanzas Nicklin & Griffith.
Dispatch Maxwell Pt. Republican. ..William Hazlett.
Ceres (snow) Woodman St. Kitts
Mary Odlin Cape Franfois ...J. Yard.
Devotion Tremels Cape Franyoia
Neptune Haquin Cape Frangois
Phebe Winslow Ciipe Franyois. ...Robert Ralston.
Brothem Hawkins St. Kitts J. Gardner.
Thos.Chalkley... Henry... St. Thomas
Spy West Gonaives
Dispatch Martin Gonaives Pratt & Kintzing.
Old Tom. Morton St. Ubes
Criterion Weeks St. Ubes
Superior Oouyngham Havana
Adventurer Siltitridge Havana
Good Friends Earl Havana Stephen Girard.
Fair American. ..Breevoor Havana A. Dutilh.
Charlotte Cowperth wait.. -Havana
Terrific Brown Havana..
Jane Hayes Jamaica
Hope Edmundsou Jamaica Savage & Dugan.
Muhlenmer8..,...Buysem St. Croix G. B. Dawson.
Experiment Crane Kingston
Here are twenty-five vessels in the West India trade.
The following is a list of vessels which were in the East India trade,
with (when given) the names of consignees. In many cases the latter
were owners of the vessels ; in others they were not.
Ships. Masters. Port of Trade. Consignees.
New Jersey Thompson Canton William Reed & Co.
Jane McPherson Canton Boss & Simpson.
Canton Dale Canton Willing & Francis.
America Sims. ..Canton Nicklin & Grffith.
MisBuuri Yicary Canton
Jefferson Dougherty Canton
Jean Ward Canton
Rebecca McKeever Baravia
Columbia Lelar Batavia
Molly Swain Batavia
Pacific Salter Batavia
Hope Edmundaon Batavia
Day Adiiii Batavia
George Barclay... Whiteman Batavia
Pennsylvania Yorke Batavia Gurney & Smith.
Richmond Glenn Batavia Jesse & R. Wain.
Washington Williamson Batavia
Asia Morgan Batavia
Jtiffei'son Morris Batavia ,
China Josiah Batavia
Belvidere Dawson Babivia
John Bnlkley Stokely Batavia William Wain.
Magens Hawley Batavia Montgomery & New-
bold.
Dispatch. Davis Batavia
Neptune Jeffries Calcutta
Canton McLaughlin Calcutta
India Ashmead Calcutta Joseph S. Lewie.
Kingston Morris Calcutta
Delaware Clay Calcutta J. Howell.
William Penn Volans Calcutta J. & R. Wain.
Ulysses Mngrbrd Calcutta J. Slille, Jr.
Perseverance Williamson Calcutta
Roebuck Stirling Calcutta Willing & Francis.
Criterion Weeks Calcutta
Philadelphia Bliss Calcutta
Harmony Kollock Calcutta J. Miller.
Eclipse Johns Calcutta
Atlantic Waters Madras
Swift Packet Richards Surinam N. & J. Frazier.
Margaret Derby Sumatra
Here are forty vessels in the trade to East India and China alone. It
is true, they were not large in comparison to present burthens ; but they
would average two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty tons.
They were able to make about one round trip a year, including the
time spent in port; some might do it ten months. The passages were
from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty days. In this
year there was an arrival of the ship " Charles Blythewnod," from the
coast of Africa, with ivory, palm, oils, dyewoods, etc., consigned to Peter
Blight, and the ship "Iris," Crosby, was cleared for Alexandria, in
Egypt.
■ The following will show what Philadelphia was doing in trade with
trade, the China trade, the Liverpool trade, the Lon-
don trade, the St. Croix, Spanish main, and Havana
trade were distinct in their goods, and often conducted
exclusively by different mercantile houses. The *' East
Indiamen" at the "India wharf," between Walnut
Great Britain eighty-four years ago. It is condensed from the ship news
of 1800, and shows a more extensive commerce with the old country than
with the East Indies :
Ships. Masters. Port of Trade. Consignees.
George Wait London
Adriana Fletcher London
Phoebe Ann
B. Franklin Senkey London...
Aurora Collet London
Fame Jones London
Roebuck Baser London T. & J. Clifford.
Active McDougal London Davy, Roberts & Co.
America Swain London Nicklin & Griffith.
Lavinia Yickery London P. Blight.
Kensington Adamson London
Pennsylvania Yorke London Gurney & Smith.
Nestor Wait Liverpool
America lands Liverpool
Galen Smith Liverpool Abel Humphreys.
Kingston King Liverpool
Swanwick Kirkbride Liverpool
Friendship Ward
Gen. Washington Davie ....Liverpool.... -
Suffolk Whipple Liverpool
Prudence Mitchell Liverpool
Molly Calvert Liverpool Nicklin »fe Griffith.
Orono Middleton Liverpool J. Stein metz.
Old Tom Morton Liverpool W. & S. Keith.
Pomona Merrill Liverpool
Abigail Webber Liverpool M. Wharton.
Elizabeth Dyer Liverpool Warder.
Volant Hovey Liverpool
Rose James Liverpool .C.
Edward Beard Liverpool J. Brown.
Adrastus Parker Liverpool W. & S. Keith.
Thomas Willaston Liverpool
Tillman Harker Liverpool Taggart & Smith.
Thomas Wilson Gwinn Liverpool Shoemaker & Barret.
Amiable Tillinghast.... Liverpool J. Warder.
Pennsylvania Yorke Liverpool
Belvidere Ross Liverpool Nicklin & Griffith
Mohawk Weatherby.... Liverpool
Minerva Weatherby.. ..Liverpool
Patty (barque) Snell Cork
Amity McLevan Cork, Bristol J. Passmore.
Franklin Tucker Cork
Hannah Brown Greenock W. Young.
George Rice Hull
Phoebe Ann Gardner. Cowes
Stafford Kennedy Newry
Prosperity Jungan Dublin
Atlantic Corran Londonderry
Lavinia Stevenson Londonderry
Brothers Gray Londonderry..
Wilmington Mitchell Belfast
Missouri Lask D. W. Coxe.
The following is a list of vessels which, in 1800, were sailing between
Philadelphia and ports in Europe outside of the British islands :
Ships. Masters. Port of trade. Consignees.
Boston Packet... Strong Amsterdam
Planter Jacobs Amsterdam R. H. Wilcox.
Margaret Grozart AmsterdHm
George McCnllom Amsterdam
Alexander Davy Amsterdam
Thomas Wilson..Smith Amstt-rdam
Haimony Wickham Amsterdam
Criterion Wfeks Amsterdam
Sally Hufchinson Amsterdam
Atlantic Hutchins Amsterdam
Elizabeth Dyer Amsterdam
Four Friends Hathaway Amsterdam
Apnllo Adams Madeira
Edward Beard Madeira J. H. Brown.
Neptune Dandelot Bordeaux
B. Franklin Senkey Bordeaux F. Breuil.
Apollo Coggeshal Teneriffe
Maria Tliumpson Rotterdam
Diana Hess Bremen
Tobias Hutchinson Barcelona
Mary Webb Laguayra
Experiment* Kelly Corunna D. W. Coxe.
Polly* Kenney Gibraltar
* Snows. A "snow" was a vessel with three masts. The foremast and
mainmast resembled those in a ship, while the mizzenmast was a
single stick rigged with a trysail. A snow was, with slight variation,
like the modern barque.
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2215
and Chestnut Streets, and the "India stores" of Rob-
ert Morris indicate the breadth of the commerce im-
mediately after the Revolution. It was about that
time that Robert Morris bought the United States
frigate " Alliance," and fitted her for the East Indies.
Consignees.
Ships. Masters. Port of trade.
Sally McPherson Hamburg
Mary Ann Stewart Hamburg
Voltaire Bowen Hamburg Stephen Girard.
Eagle Derrit Hamburg
Anna Jurgens Hamburg J. Sperry & Co.
Farmer Gibson Hamburg Savage & Dugan.
Kichmond Glenu.^ Hamburg J. & R. Wain.
Pennsylvania Yorke Hamburg
Louif^a Haggard Leghorn
Providence Adams Leghorn Smith & Ridgway.
Charlotte Eunigson Lisbon
Thos. Chalkley...De Hart Lisbon
Liberty Corran Lisbon
Fair American... Fiodlay Lisbon
Active Harper Lisbon
Farmer Gibson St. Sebastian '.
Eclipse Riler St. Sebastian
Manchester Cox St. Sebastian T Murgatroyd.
Little Maria St. Sebastian
Minerva Anderson St. Sebastian
Little Maria Pyle St. Sebastian
Polly Lake St. Sebastian F. Breuil.
Mary Woods Madeira
Pacific Salter Madeira
Spy Ward Madeira
Ulysses Mugford Leghorn
Philadelphia Parsons Leghorn T. & J. Clifford.
Here are fifty entrances for vessels in the European trade, showing
great activity in Philadelphia commerce, considering the smallness of
population.
The following is a list of ships in the China trade sailing from the
port of Philadelphia prior to 1822:
Ships. Masters. Owners.
Thomas Scattergood Phillips Edward Thomson.
Addison McCall Edward Thomson.
Adriana Phillips Edward Thomson.
Benjamin Bush Guerdon Edward Thomson.
William Savery Isaacs Edward Thomson.
Atlantic McCall Edward Thomson.
China Packet Hewitt Stephen Girard.
Superb George Stephen Girard.
Rousseau McLellan Stephen Girard.
Voltaire Isa-ics Stephen Girard.
Montesquieu Thompson....Stephen Girard.
Helvetius Irvine Stephen Girard.
North American Barden Stephen Girard.
Superior Shoup Wm. Hodge & Co.
Washington Wm. Hodg« & Co.
Dorothea fist, lost) Clunie Lewis Clapier.
I Dorothea (2d, new). Davis Lewis Clapier.
Phoenix McEibben. ...Lewis Clapier.
Clothier
Caledonia Israel
Tobacco Plant Reed Brown Bros. & Co.
Pacific Sharp Wharton Evans.
George and Albert Thomas
Bintrham Fleming Willing & Francis.
Coromandel Day Samuel Archer.
Bengal Skinner Willing & Francis,
Asia Morgan Whittou Evans.
Factor Shet-d Whitton Evans.
Columbia Lelar Lelar.
The above list comprises about all the ships engaged in the China
trade — not the East India trade— prior to the date given. Some of the
ships date as far back as the war of 1812. The following is a list of the
ships in the China trade, sailing from the port of Philadelphia, between
1822 and (about) 1830:
Ships. Masters. Owners.
Venice Fleming John McCrea.
Fanny Foulke John McCrea.
Pennsylvania Berry Johu McCrea.
Liberty McDowell J-hn McCrea.
J. N. Gossler Christopher John MoCrea.
Hope John McCrea.
Lehigh Rogers John McCrea.
Osage Ashton John McCrea.
Mary Welsh John McCrea.
Commerce John McCrea.
Hopewell Johnson White, Stevens & Co.
Sabina White, Stevens & Co.
Levant Foulke
141
"Sept. 19, 1788, the ship * Alliance,' Thomas Reed
commander and George Harrison supercargo, arrived
from Canton, consigned to Isaac Hazlehurst & Co."
(of which Robert Morris was the company). Such is
the record of her first and only voyage as a merchant-
man, after which she found her resting-place at
Petty's Island, where, ** 'tis said, some of her ribs yet
(1860) perpetuate the fact of her existence.'' In
these '* India stores" Thomas Willing and John Swan-
wick carried on their share of the *' East India trade."
Jesse and Robert Wain, 'in 1796, at Wain's wharf,
near Spruce Street, were extensively engaged in the
East India trade, as well as in the London trade.
Willings & Francis, at 21 and 23 Penn Street, were
among those who engaged most extensively in the
Ships Masters. Owners.
Pearl Frazer
Philip I Martin Foster & Co.
New Jersey Whitall Whitton Evans.
Telegraph Coffin Whitton Evans.
WoodropSims Edward Thomson.
Rebecca Sims Brewton Joseph Sims.
Messenger Smith Hollingshead, Piatt &, Co.
White Squall Hollingshead, Piatt & Co.
Walter Engle Brown Brothers & Co.
Isabella Leeds Brown Brothers & Co.
Morrison Barden Blythe & Co.
Nassau Hewitt
Italy Ritchie
Globe Dixey Eyre & Massey.
Robert Fulton Dulls Blythe & Co.
Henry Pratt Rogers Borie, McKean & Co.
Valparaiso Lockwood Hollingshead, Piatt & Co.
Brigs.
Erie Gallagher
Delight Conyngham
Latona Kirk
The above comprises most, if not all, the vessels in the China trade
from say 1822 to 183U, or perhaps some of them a few years later,
Doubtless a few have been omitted, but not many. Enough is shown,
however, to indicate the great loss Philadelphia has sustained in her
commercial interests by what must be attributed to the apathy of her
merchants. In this connection it may not be out of place to state that
a few years ago there were three lines of packets— twelve ships — sailing
regularly to Liverpool, two regular ships to London, two to Amsterdam,
several vessels to the west coast of Africa, and quite a fleet of brigs and
barkH to Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco. It should be borne in mind
that the sizes of vessels at the beginning of this century were very dif-
ferent from what they are at the present time. For instance, the ships
"Woodrop Sims" and ''Rebecca Sims" registered 5C6 and 565 tons
respectively. They were built in ISOU, and were the largest ships in
the American merchant marine. In fact, they were so untin822 or
1823. We have at the present day many coasting schooners that could
carry the cargoes of both the said ships, with about all their material
also. The difference in the number of men carried by ships then and
now is simply wonderful. One of the above ships carried 25 all told.
This would give 50 for the two ships ; while we have coasting schooners
that carry 1400 tons of coal, with a complement of 9 and 10 all told.
The " Rebecca Sims," after many voyages in the whaling business,
ended her career as one of the "stone fleet" which were sunk off
Charleston harbor in 1862 to obstruct the navigation thereof. About
1825 three ships arrived from China in one afternoon. They always
fired a salute of 21 guns when coming round the '* Point House," now
Greenwich. They always went well armed, as the Atlantic Ocean, and
particularly the China Sea, were greatly infested with pirates. The
vessels always carried the funds for purchasing their cargoes in Spanish
"Carolus" (dollars), as Chinamen had not learned the advantages of
drafts, bills of exchange, etc. The "Montesquieu," a China packet,
was captured by the British fleet at the Capes of the Delaware in April,
1813, and Stephen Girard ransomed her forSl80,000 specie.
The result of this examination is a sum total as follows:
Vessels trading with the East Indies and China 40
" " " British ports 52
" " " Continental Europe 50
" '* " West Indies 25
2216
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
East India, as well as the China trade. The " Wood-
rop Sims," the " Rebecca Sims," and the " Fame"
brought the teas and other East India luxuries for
Joseph Sims, whose country-seat was on the Ridge
road, at the Laurels. Samuel Archer, in 1799, was
an importer of East India muslins, at No. 35 Front
Street, and afterward extended his business to the
importation of all East India goods. Morris L. Hal-
lowell, the founder of M. L. Hallowell & Co., was a
clerk for Mr. Archer, and sailing to China in his em-
ploy, returned and began business as M. L. Hallowell
& Co., whom Morris L. and Joshua Hallowell suc-
ceeded. Gurney & Smith, in 1799, were actively
engaged in the European and Calcutta trade.
Thom;is P. Cope was a prominent and became a
wealthy shipping merchant in the Liverpool trade as
early as 1807. He established the house of Thomas
P. Cope & Son in 1821, and the same year, with the
" Lancaster," of 290 tons, commanded by Capt. Dixey,
and the " Tuscarora," of 897 tons, commanded by
Capt. James Serrill, opened the Liverpool Packet
Line. The line was sustained through all adverse
circumstances. Their ships — the "Montezuma,"
" Algonquin," " Monongahela," and " Susquehanna"
— were for many years famous. The business was
enlarged, the firm being successively Thomas P. Cope
& Son, Thomas P. Cope & Sons, Henry & Alfred Cope,
H. & A. Cope & Co., and Cope Brothers. Several fine
ships were added to the Cope Line in the course of
years, among them the " Tonawanda," " Wyoming,"
and "Thomas P. Cope," all vessels of the largest size.
Mr. Cope was the contemporary and often the rival
of Mr. Girard. He filled many places of honor and
trust, serving in the Legislature and Congress, mem-
ber of the Select Council of the city, president of the
board of commissioners of the Girard estate, a director
of Girard College for orphans, president of the Board
of Trade, and also of the Mercantile Library Com-
pany. Mr. Thomas P. Cope died in March, 1834, and
was succeeded by bis son, Alfred Cope, who died in
1875. Mr. Alfred Cope left two sons — Professor Ed-
ward D. Cope, member of the Academy of Natural
Sciences, and James B. Cope, graduate of Oxford
University — and a married daughter. Mr. Cope was
a member of the Society of Friends (Orthodox), and a
member of Germantown Meeting. He was a man of
wealth, and has given largely to charities. He might
be considered one of the founders of Fairmount Park,
having, with his brother Henry, contributed twenty
thousand dollars for the purchase of the Sedgeley es-
tate (adjoining Lemon Hill), which was the first move-
ment made toward expanding the park to its present
dimensions. He also gave twenty-five thousand dol-
lars to the Zoological Society, and forty thousand dol-
lars to the Institute for Colored Youth, in Bainbridge
Street, for the purpose of founding a scientific school.'
1 There was another Hue of Liverpool packets sailing from this port,
which had more vessels than the Copes had during the early part of their
history. This line was called the New Line, and the agent for some
Jacob Gerard Koch, in 1796, was a prominent im-
porter of German linens. Robert Ralston was in the
China trade, and of him it was said, "Take him alto-
gether, he has been justly considered as a beautiful
model for the character of the merchant. . . . He
did not make haste to grow rich, and thereby pre-
served himself from many of those sorrows with
which multitudes have pierced themselves through."
It was in the house of Mr. Ralston that John Welsh
laid the foundation of that business character which
made him pre-eminent among the early business men
of the city. He retired in 1806, leaving the house of S.
& W. Welsh his successors. John R. Evans purchased
the store of Mr. Welsh, and in 1807 the firm of Welsh,
Maris & Evans, and afterward the concern of Maris
& Evans ; and in 1818, Joseph R. Evans continued
the " London trade" business. The ships " Eiectra"
and the " Thames" were well known in that trade.
John Welsh was among the pioneers in the shipping
business of Philadelphia. Apprenticed, in 1786, in
the counting-house of Joseph Russell, a prominent
shipping merchant of that day, he went as super-
cargo to Port au Prince, and upon his return entered
the counting-house of Robert Ralston as clerk. la
1794 he began mercantile business on his own account,
and such was his success that he retired with wealth
in 1806. He was one of the originators of the Phila-
delphia Bank, in 1803, of which he was a director
until his death. He died in March, 1854, aged eighty-
four years.
It is no exaggeration to say that at the beginning
of this century the commerce of Philadelphia was co-
extensive with the globe, since, for instance, the ships
of Eyre & Massey touched and traded at Archangel,
Tonningen, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Havre,
Bordeaux, Bayonne, Lisbon, St. Ubes, Oporto, Cadiz,
St. Lucar, St, Sebastian, Gibraltar, Malaga, Barcelona,
Marseilles, Sardinia, Genoa, Leghorn, Palermo, Ma-
deira, Tenerifie, Cape de Verd Islands, Vera Cruz,
Alvarado, Jamaica, St. Jago de Cuba, Havana, New
Providence, San Domingo, St. Thomas, Guadaloupe,
St. Croix, Curajoa, Laguira, Maracaibo, Cayenne,
Pernambuco, Corunna, in Spain, Bahia, Rio de Ja-
neiro, Santos, Paranaquay, Buenos Ayres, Montevideo,
Valparaiso, Irico, Coquimbe, Copiapo, Lima, Guaya-
quil, Panama, Sandwich Islands, Java, Sumatra,
years was Samuel Spackman, No. 21 Church Alley. It was founded
about 1822, and at first sailed regularly between Philadelphia and Liv-
erpool, but subsequently the course was altered, so that the ships sailed
from Philadelphia to Savannah, and from thence to Liverpool, and
returned from Liverpool to Philadelphia direct. It appears from a
newspaper of 1825 that at the beginning of that year this line was com-
posed of the following ships: "Julius Cicsar," Capt. Francis M. French,
346 tons; " Globe," Capt. James Hamilton, 500 tons ; " Colossus," Capt.
Robert Marshall, 399 tons; ■'Courier," Capt. George H. Wallace, 388
tons; and "Delaware," Capt. John Hamilton, 412 tons. Their sailing
days from Philadelphia were on the 20th of each month. The ship
" Minerva," Capt. John C. Mayol, 380 tons, was added to this line about
the middle of the year 1825, and the new ship " Bolivar," Capt. Josiah
L, Wilson, took the place of the " Globe" in the latter part of the same
year.
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2217
Manilla, Canton, Calcutta, Madras, and ports in Great
Britain and the United States.' One of the ships of
this house, "The Globe," made eight voyages to
China and returned. It is a remarkable fact that in
the risks and adventure of this ancient shipping-
house, they never made a total loss.
Mr. Massey was for many years a member of the
Select Council of the city, and in turn also of the
Common Council, in which he took an active part.
He was chairman of the committee on opening Dela-
ware Avenue, agreeably tn the will of Stephen Girard,
in 1834 ; also appointed by the Court of Quarter Ses-
sions a juror of valuation of the wharf fronts ; and for
his general knowledge of wharf property, selected as
chairman of that jury ; and he, with his fellow-jurors,
valued by critical arithmetical estimate, the prop-
erty required for the avenue from Arch to Chestnut,
and from Walnut to the lower side of Spruce Street;
being owner of part of the intermediate square, he
was ineligible for that duty.
Manuel Eyre, who was also brought up in the
counting-room of Henry Pratt, was no less energetic
or public-spirited. He was a member of the City
Council, and a director of the United States Bank of
1816, and again of the same under the charter of
Pennsylvania of 1836 ; but he was more of an agri-
culturist than a merchant, aud he devoted mainly the
last twenty years of his life to rural cares, being the |
owner and operator of two farms near the city, and i
three in the State of Delaware, indeed, a very pro-
jector of Delaware City.
Mr. Eyre was of full size, being six feet in height,
square-built, and well proportioned ; he had an inde-
pendent but not a haughty carriage ; he had a very
prominent nose and strong features generally, with a
thoughtful and observing e3'e, shaded by his hat of
broader brim than fashion called for. He was a man
of integrity and respectability, unmoved by any ad-
verse crook in trade, or flow of incidental success.
He' was the son of Manuel Eyre, Sr., of Kensington,
an eminent shipwright there, who had been a colonel
in the Revolutionary war, and subsequently a member
of the Legislature of Pennsylvania.
Among the eminent merchants of Philadelphia
none filled a higher place in usefulness than Paul
Beck, Jr., who, at an early age was apprenticed to
William SheaflT, a prominent and successful lime mer-
chant. Upon the opening of hostilities with Great
Britain he enrolled himself in the company of Capt.
John Linton, of the firet battalion of Philadelphia
Infantry. The Revolution being over, he formed a
copartnership with James Caldwell, in 1787, and from
that date until his death, in 1844, his career was one
of steady increase in prosperity and wealth, which
latter aggregated over a million and a half dollars.
He was appointed port warden, and in the exercise of
1 List furnished from the books of the concern, by Mr. Samuel Eyre,
in 1845, to Mr. Abraham Ritter, for his booli " Philadelphia and her
Merchants/* p. 61.
the duties of his position was remarkable for his
efl^brts to preserve and extend the facilities of the
port as a resort of commerce. His designs for the
restoration of William Penn's original plan of a
broad and noble quay, occupying the entire space
from the western side of Front Street and extending
from one extremity of the city to the other, though
rejected, were in a measure the means of bringing Jlr.
Girard to provide for the avenue along the Delaware,
and to widen and straighten Water Street. He was
more successful in his next effort for the general ben-
efit of the city in connecting the Chesapeake and
Delaware Bays by a canal. He was among the found-
ers of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, to
which he bequeathed a number of his pictures. He
was an efficient patron and friend to all the institu-
tions of philanthropy, and as treasurer of Christ
Church Hospital received the thanks of the vestries
of Christ Church, St. Peter's and St. James'. The
Institution of the Deaf and Dumb, the American Sun-
day-School Union, and the different churches experi-
enced the benefits of his kind charities and valuable
services.
Among the eminent early mercantile houses of
Philadelphia none stood higher in character than that
of Elliston and John Perot. These brothers were
born in the island of Bermuda, the former on the 16tli
of March, 1747, and the latter on the 3d of May, 1749.
After many vicissitudes of fortune in the West Indies
they arrived in 1784 in the United States, and com-
menced business at No. 41 Water Street, between
Market and Arch. Elliston Perot died Nov. 28, 1834,
and John Perot on the 8th of January, 1841. The
death of the former caused the dissolution of the firm,
upon which the latter retired from business. The
members of this ancient house were the parents of
those who since that early day have also made their
mark among the merchants of Philadelphia. Sansom,
son of Elliston, and James, son of John, were as early
as 1816 in business in the firm of Perot & Williams,
and Perot & Ridgway ; James and Sansom Perot,
Francis and William S., sons of Elliston, together
with Charles and Edward, sons of John, were in the
brewing business. C. & J. Perot and Perot & Hoffman
are the lineal and business descendants of this house.
Levi Hollingsworth, descended from Valentine Hol-
lingsworth, who accompanied William Penn to Penn-
sylvania, was the son of Zebulon Hollingsworth, and
was born at Elkton, Md., Nov. 29, 1739. He settled
in Philadelphia in 1760, where he remained for sixty-
four years, a conspicuous example of honesty, enter-
prise, economy, and industry. He was a zealous and
active supporter of the American cause, using liber-
ally his means, and exposing his person in the de-
fense of the country. He was a member of the Phil-
adelphia Troop of Light Horse, commanded by
Abraham Markoe. This troop was equipped at its
own expense, and Mr. Hollingsworth was among the
first of the associates. He was sent to Canada with
2218
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
specie for the payment of Gen. Montgomery's army
when investing Quebec, and employed in many special
services, all of which were performed with fidelity.
Among the leading houses which in Philadelphia
were eminent in her commerce from 1783 to a late
period in the present century may be mentioned
Peter Whitesides, Isaac Hazlehurst, B. & J. Bohlen,
Harvey & Davis, John Wilcox, Samuel Beck, Peter
Blight, Buckridge Sims, Joseph Sims, John Swan-
wick, Wharton & Palmer, Savage & Dugan, Joseph
Carson, Gustavus & Hugh Calhoun, Montgomery &
Newbolds, Joseph Harrison, Eobeson & Paul, Lati-
mer & Murdoch, Timothy Paxson, James Vanuxem,
James Crawford, Daniel & Vincent Thunn, Ducoing
& Lacombe, Hartshorne, Large & Co., James C. and
Samuel W. Fisher, Ambrose Vasse, Nottnagel, Mont-
mollin & Co., Thomas Peacock, Cornelius Comeg}-s,
Baker & Comegys, William Lippincott, John Mor-
rell, Blair McCIenachan, Lewis Tarascon & Victor
Journel, Brugiere & Tessiere, Robert Kalston, and
Gurney & Smith.
Among the merchants of Philadelphia who have
given the councils of the city. State, and Union the
benefits of their experience and capacity, not one has
risen to a higher place in the public estimation than
the Hon. Samuel J. Eandall, who, without abandoning
the counting-room, has filled nearly every position of
honor and trust in the gift of the people among whom
he lives. Born on the 10th of October, 1828, he re-
ceived an excellent practical education, chiefly in the
public schools of the city ; at the age of seventeen he
entered a large dry-goods house, but
immediately on attaining his majority
he entered the political arena, and be-
came a member of the City Councils,
serving for three years immediately
after the consolidation of the city. His
service in the City Councils won the
gratitude and confidence of the people
he represented. In 1858-59 he served
for the unexpired term of Charles B.
Penrose in the State Senate, and in
1862, by an overwhelming majority,
was elected from the First Congres-
sional District of Pennsylvania to the
House of Representatives. He was
re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Con-
gress, and, with unbroken success, has
been returned to the Fortieth, Forty-
first, Forty-second, Forty-third, Forty-
fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-
seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses.
On almost every important committee
he has served to shape legislation, and
as chairman of the Committee on Ap-
propriations in 1875, and again in 1884,
he has been recognized as the leader
in all measures of economy and policy
looking to reform and retrenchment.
As Speaker of the House he was recog-
nized as the first and ablest parliamen- '
tarian of the country ; as a leader of
a party he has shown sagacity, tact,
courage, and ability ; and as a states-
man he has elucidated some of the
most intricate problems in political
economy. A Democrat of the strictest
kind, he has never failed to take his
stand in advance of his party on all
questions where principle was involved or the econo-
mies or industries of the people were threatened.
Whether the goal of American ambition will yet be
won by Mr. Randall is uncertain, but there is no ques-
tion that his integrity of purpose, faithfulness in trust
and ability, entitle him to the highest honor of his
country.
France and England, as well as Spain and other
European powers, endeavored to restrict the trade of
neutral nations by decrees, orders in council, and em-
bargoes, which resulted in frequent depredations upon
*==<S<^^^
TKADB AND COMMEKCE.
2219
American commerce. The French decree of May 9,
1793, was followed by the British order of June 8,
1793, prohibiting flour and meal from being carried
to France or to any port occupied by French armies.
The treaty of 1794, commonly called the Jay treaty,
compensated the commerce of this country by the
payment by England of 810,000,000 for property ille-
gally taken. France, viewing this Jay treaty as vio-
lative of previous engagements made with her during
the Revolution, commenced a general seizure and con-
fiscation of American vessels and cargoes. The treaty
of 1800 with France settled these difficulties with that
nation.
The Treaty of Amiens, in 1801, gave a short respite
to Europe, and materially reduced the exports from
Philadelphia, which, in 1801, were $17,438,193; in
1802, $12,677,475; and in 1803, 87,525,710. The reg-
istered tonnage in 1801 was 109,036; in 1802, 64,637 ;
and in 1803, 67,629. The resumption of hostilities in
Europe in 1803 gave an immediate impulse to her
commerce. In 1804 the value of her exports was
$11,030,157 ; in 1805, 81 3,762,252 ; in 1806, $17,574,702 ;
and in 1807, $16,864,744. Her registered tonnage rose
in 1804 to 71,199 ; in 1805, to 77,239 ; iu 1806, to
86,728 ; and in 1807 to 93,993. In 1803, Great Brit-
ain revived and put in force the celebrated rule of
1756 as to neutrals, which declared that neutrals in
time of war could engage in no trade which they had
not been accustomed to carry on in time of peace.
Her Admiralty Courts enforced this arbitrary rule
against the American vessel " Essex," which, with
her cargo, was condemned. Under this ruling many
American vessels were seized and brought into English
ports.
The commercial feature of Jay's treaty expired in
1804, and there existed' no treaty with England in re-
lation to commerce. President Jefferson rejected the
treaty made by Monroe and Pinckney with the Fox
administration in 1806, and resorted in 1807 to the
Embargo Act, by which the whole external commerce
of the country was withdrawn from the ocean. Under
this act the commerce of Philadelphia fell in 1808 to
$4,013,330.'
The " continental system" of Napoleon began with
the Berlin Decree of Nov. 11, 1807, prohibiting the im-
portation of British produce and manufactures on the
continent. It was retaliated by the English order of
Nov. 11, 1807, by which vessels trading with France
or her allies were ordered, on pain of condemnation,
to stop at a British port, submit their cargoes to in-
* The custom-house recordn of the port of Philadelphia show that iu
1S06 thirteen American vessels arrived from Canton at this port alone,
of which twelve were ships, whose aggregate tonnage was 4,038.91 tons,
and one hrig of 187.19 tons, and each of them brought home very val-
uable cargoes. This fact alone contradicts the asaertioo of Lord SheflBeld,
that " it would hardly be the interest of the Americans to go to Canton,
because they have no articles to send thither, nor any money." In 1816
twenty-four vessels, of which twenty-two were ships, and all belonging
to the port of Philadelphia, had proceeded to ports beyond the Cape of
Good Hope.
spection, and pay a duty on the same. Napoleon re-
joined with his Milan Decree of Dec. 17, 1807, declaring
any vessel which submitted to search by an English
ship or to a voyage to England for that object should
be a good and lawful prize. It was a knowledge of
these decrees and orders that induced President Jef-
ferson to resort to the long embargo, which was raised
March 1, 1809, and non-intercourse established with
France and England, which was abandoned in May,
1810, but renewed as to England in November of the
same year, and followed by a declaration of war, June
19, 1812.
The commerce of Philadelphia during the four
years from 1808 to 1812 was as follows: 1809, 89,049,-
241, tonnage 106,622; 1810, 810,993,398, tonnage
109,692 ; 1811, $9,560,117, tonnage 78,518 ; 1812,
85,973,750, tonnage 71,281, a decrease of nearly 50
per cent, in value and 30 per cent, in tonnage.
During the war of 1812-15 the commerce of Phila-
delphia was greatly restricted. The value of imports
and exports of the port of Philadelphia for three
years was: 1812, $5,973,750; 1813, 83,577,117; 1814,
not given; 1815, $4,593,919. The tonnage during
the same years was, respectively, 71,281, 64,537, 64,183,
and 77,199 tons.
Tlie return of peace in 1815 revived the commerce
of the United States, and particularly that of Phila-
delphia, but new conditions confronted the growing
commerce. European nations now at peace turned
their attention to the development of their own com-
merce and the protection of their own manufactures.
The "carrying trade" was virtually at an end, so far
as Philadelphia shipping was concerned ; the parent
State and her colonies, no longer separated by in-
tervening hostile navies, fostered their own ship-
ping, and gave employment to their own capital.
In addition to this, the direct trade of the ports of the
United States with the British West India Islands
was laid under heavy restrictions that confined it
almost exclusively to British ships as carriers.
The temporary protection enjoyed by domestic
manufacturers during the war of 1812-15 with Great
Britain having been withdrawn by the treaty of
Ghent, a common ruin seemed to await all those en-
terprises and industries which had been fostered by
the policy of the government incident to a state of
war. The impolicy of withdrawing adequate protec-
tion from manufactures was strongly presented to
Congress, the capacity of the country for their profit-
able extension being shown by the remarkable stimu-
lus given to them by a few years of non-intercourse
and war. The period of twenty-six years intervening
between the peace of Paris in 1763 and the adoption
of the Federal Constitution in 1789 had laid the
foundation of a diversified national industry, as well
as considerably relaxed its dependence on foreign
countries. Another period of twenty-six years to the
peace with Great Britain had witnessed a growth of
domestic manufactures unparalleled in the history of
2220
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
any country. In 1815 they had become one of the
principal sources of national prosperity.
The blight that overtook their prosperity will be
shown in the chapter on Manufactures. For some
years after the peace of Ghent they contributed little
or nothing to the commercial movements of the coun-
try. Among the impediments to the expanding
commerce of Philadelphia, as well as of the whole
country, a mere mention can only be made of the
commercial regulations of foreign countries, by which
heavy duties were imposed upon the exports of this
country, which greatly limited, and in some instances
prohibited, their consumption. At home the manu-
facturing interest was strong enough in political power
to shape the revenue policy of the Federal government
for its own protection, and thus commerce, hampered
abroad, was hindered at home. The fluctuations in
the tariff laws were probably as injurious as the duties
imposed.
It was not long after the peace of 1815 that public
attention was turned to the improvement of the
means of internal communication with the great val-
ley of the Mississijjpi. The State of New York com-
pleted the Erie Canal in 1825, and immediately began
to reap the benefit of that improvement. Pennsyl-
vania, Marj'land, Massachusetts, and Virginia have
since followed with connections with the great West.
The commercial benefits derived from this communi-
cation have not been as great to Philadelphia as to
New York, probably owing to the greater cheapness of
water transportation over that by rail. Be the cause
whatever it may, the fact stands out prominent that
from the completion of the Erie Canal New York be-
came what Philadelphia had previously been, — the
commercial emporium of the United States.'
The facilities of foreign commerce, as well as of
domestic trade, were greatly promoted by the system
of internal improvements set on foot in the State. To
these works the capital of Philadelphia was largely
devoted. " To aid these," Mr. Freedley says, " her
1 A writer in " Notes and Queries" of the Sunday Dispatch eaye th&t" the
last clearance and arrival of a Bhip to and from Canton from Philadel-
phia waa the ship ' Globe,' Capt. Dixey. She left this port in August.
1832, and arrived back in the month of July, 1833. The ship ' Osage'
left this port for Canton in 1842, but on her return she went to New
York. The * Globe' wa.s sent out by the house of Eyre & Massey, at
that time one of our leading mercantile firms. It is rather mortifying
to think that our foreign commerce has dwindled down to nothing, and
every project that lias been started in that way has been a failure. For
instance, our Hue of steamers to Europe. In 1S51 the 'City of Glas-
gow' arrived from Liverpool, ' and there was a great jollification' with
the members of the Legislature, and a bauquet at the Chinese Museum.
After a few trips the enterprise fell through, I can mention many other
projects: the 'grain elevator,' for instance, at the foot of Washington
Avenue. As Col. James Page remarked, when he was in Select Coun-
cil, ' Heaven save our city, when all the grain and produce brought by
the Pennsylvania Railroad leaves us at Pittsburgh and goes to New
York r At the time I speak of (1832) I was a young man in the count-
ing-house of S. & T. G. HoUingsworth, on the wharf below Spruce
Street, and our wharves had a different appearance then from what they
have at the present time. Walk from Vine Street down along the ave-
nue, and you see nothing but a collection of little fruit and produce
stores now."
merchants sold their ships ; to sustain them, her cap-
italists declined the profits of bottomry and respon-
dentia." Under these conditions her commerce de-
clined, while her manufactures increased, and the
vast internal trade, of which no public records are
taken, followed the tracks of her railroads and canals.
It was a substitution of railroads and trade with the
interior for ships and foreign commerce. Mines, rail-
roads, iron-works, and manufactories were developed
to an extent never before known. By the 1st of Jan-
uary, 1858, $135,166,609 had been invested in rail-
roads, and in 1877-78 that sum had been increased
to $594,380,597.
The following statement of entrances and clear-
ances will exhibit the number, nationality, and ton-
nage of all vessels trading to foreign ports from
Philadelphia during the year ending Dec. 31, 1882 :
Country. Vessels
American 456
Austrian 33
Belgian 8
British 358
Danish 10
Dutch 4
German 19
Havtien 1
No. of
Tonnage. Vessels.
283,374 337
18,981 30
21,039 9
418,126 311
6,359 8
3,269 4
13,663 1
316 20
Italian 163
Norwegian 104
Portuguese 4
Tonnage.
242,883
16,614
23,876
362,380
6,717
3,269
1,765
16,483
78.122
69,292
967
Total 1179 934,366 1004 827,291
The coastwise entrances and clearances numbered,
of the former, 822 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage
of 547,370 tons ; and of the latter, 1264 vessels, with
an aggregate tonnage of 783,541 tons.
OCEAN STEAM NAVIGATION.
Number and tonnage of American and foreign steamers entered and
cleared at Philadelphia, 1882 :
Entered. Number. Tonnage.
American steamers, with cargoes 69 123,575
" " in ballast
Foreign steamers, with cargoes 112 279,272
" in ballast 1 1,124
Total 182 403,971
Cleared.
American steamers, with cargoes 61 126,073
" " in ballast 8 3 223
Foreign steamers, with cargoes 81 224,013
" in ballast 9 12,294
Total 159 304,603
The value of the foreign commerce of the port of
Philadelphia for the year ending June 30, 1882, was
4.90 per cent, of the whole commerce of the United
States, and made Philadelphia rank fifth in the order
of ports, — New York, Boston, San Francisco, and New
Orleans exceeding her. The number of immigrants
arriving in the same fiscal year was 36,284; the duties
collected amounted to $11,610,326.29, or 5.37 per cent.
1 of the whole amount collected, making her the third
in rank of collection districts. The tonnage of the
i port was, in 1860, 185,162 tons, or 3.70 per cent, of the
1 whole tonnage of the country; in 1870, 300,000 tons,
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2221
or 4.79 per ceut. ; in 1882, 1,055,961 tons, or 7.20 per
cent.
The amount of duties collected at the port of Phila-
delphia on imports on account of customs was, for
1881, 110,445,371.90, and for 1882, $12,994,813.70,
showing an increase of $2,549,441. 80. The value of
imports in American vessels at Philadelphia, for 1882,
was $15,414,524, and in foreign vessels, $22,251,965;
total, $37,666,489.
The following statement of the direct imports at the
port of Philadelphia will show the total values of free
and dutiable commodities on Ami-rican and foreign
vessels from each country, with the grand totals for
the year ending Dec. 31, 1882:
Countries.
Free.
Dutiable.
American Vessels.
Foreign Vessels.
Total Values.
$64,218
130,760
$04,218
1,361,584
260,036
53,462
4,190,635
12,649
12,608,383
85.463
297,048
108,746
290,364
16,678
502,938
02,782
39,919
1,238,483
180,703
22,805
176,690
136,995
110,090
1,706
439,390
44,649
37,644
3,967
$64,218
1,382,104
325.004
56,000
10,196,264
12,649
20,669,125
453,614
297,048
109,033
602,181
16,578
602,938
90.063
119,883
1,238,483
180,703
93,047
211,079
136,995
371,764
1,705
449,678
44,649
37,644
3,967
2,967
206
4,100
$1,261,344
325,004
422
10.155,683
12,649
18,061,431
352,374
297,048
87,644
602,106
16,578
254,946
820,520
64,968
1,638
6,005,629
54.578
40,581
2,597,694
101,140
8,150,742
368,051
21,489
75
287
311,817
247,992
90,063
119,880
538,245
14,276
45,588
211,079
131,583
384
27,281
79,934
3
700,238
166,428
47,459
70,242
34,380
5,'4i2
371,380
1,705
429,675
44,649
21
-.61,674
Scotland
20,003
10,288
37.523
3,967
2,967
206
4,100
2,967
206
4,100
S4,4T8,390
4,000
$33,184,099
815,410,624
4,000
$22,251,906
$37,662,489
4,000
$4,482,390
$33,184,099
$15,414,524
$22,251,966
$37,666,489
The annual receipts of flour and grain at Philadelphia, from 1875 to 1882, inclusive, were as follows:
1875.
1876.
1877.
1878.
1879.
1880.
1881.
1882.
822,190
970,781
740,330
979,.380
834,840
933,944
6,125
968,476
1,268,332
5,660,800
7,130,000
3,820,400
1,652,700
187,560
4,486,000
20,261,675
4,484,000
1,361,850
679,100
4,011,400
13,886,300
2,605,300
764,400
334,570
'""216,925
11,976,360
23,386,900
3,798,350
913,400
296,750
20,074,100
18,297,00(3
3,499,800
956,600
687,600
15,123,330
24,950,750
3,638,760
1,049,600
117,000
8,312,605
11,145,367
3,432,089
1,211,900
107,537
6,732,872
3,801,100
3,082,482
894,600
60,612
Corn "
185,036
207,000
127,600
18,341,450
4,110,950
31,456,660
4,853,905
21,718,895
3,701,650
40,577,750
4,896,900
43,641,676
3,766,780
44,879,440
4,233,248
24,209,298
14,561,466
Total flour and grain (bushels)...
22,452,400
36,310,666
25,420,.545
45,474,650
47,398,455
49,102,688
The decline of the commerce of Philadelphia was
more apparent than real. The foreign arrivals in
1851 were 576, while those of 1852 were 676. In
1852 the coastwise arrivals were 30,715, an increase
of 4251 over those of 1851 ; to these must be added
the 7830 arrivals at Port Richmond, making a total
of 38,505, and for 1852, 39,224.
In 1851 a line of steamships was established be-
tween Philadelphia and Liverpool ; the ships were the
" City of Manchester," the " City of Glasgow," the
"City of Pittsburgh," and the "City of Philadel-
phia." The " City of Glasgow" foundered at sea (as
is supposed) in March, 1854. She left Philadelphia
March 1, 1854, and was never heard of afterward.
The " City of Philadelphia" struck on Cape Race,
Sept. 15, 1854, and was lost. At the outbreak of the
Crimean war, in 1854, the others were taken by the
British government for transport service, and the
2222
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
Philadelphia line was broken up. After the con-
clusion of the war it was re-established, but instead
of coming to Philadelphia, its place of destination
was changed to New York. The coastwise trade ex-
tended by regular lines to New York, Boston, Charles-
ton, New Orleans and the other intermediate cities,
carrying the coal, iron, lime, the products of great
manufactories, as well as wheat, corn, and flour, and
bringing back naval stores, cotton, rice, timber, and
the agricultural products of the Atlantic seaboard
States. The extent and gradual growth and de-
velopment of the commerce of the port of Philadel-
phia will be seen in the following table of the value
of the exports and imports at Philadelphia for sixty-
three years, ending June 30, 1883.
Exports. Imports.
1821 $7,691,217 88,158,922
1822 9,047,802 11,874,170
1823 9,617,192 13,696,770
1824 9,364,89:i 11,866,531
1825 11,269,981 15,041,797
1826 8,331,722 13,551,779
1827 7,575,833 11,212,935
1828 6,051,480 22,884,408
1829 4,090,025 10,100,152
1830 4,291,793 8,702,122
1831 5,613,713 12,124,083
1832 3,616,066 10,078,368
1833 4,078,961 10,451,260
1834 3,989,746 10,479,268
1835 3,739,275 22,389,937
1836 3,971,655 15,068,233
1837 3,841,599 11,680,111
1838 3,477,151 6,260,371
1839 5,299,415 15,150,715
1840 6,820,145 8,464,882
1841 5,162,601 10,346,698
1842 :. 3,770,727 7,385,868
1843 2,354,948 3,760,630
1844 3,535,216 7,217,267
1846 3,574,363 8,159,227
1846 4,761,005 7,989,396
1847 8,544,391 9,687,516
1848 5,732,333 11,147,584
1849 6,343,421 10,64,5,500
1850 4,601,606 12,066,164
1861 5,356,039 14,168,761
1852 5,828,571 14,785,917
1853 6,527,996 18,834,410
1864 10,104,416 21,369,306
1855 6,274,338 15,309,936
1856 7,144,448 16,585,686
1857 7,135,166 17,850,630
1858 6,947,241 12,890,369
1859 6,298,095 15,603,769
1860 7,839,286 14,531,352
1861 10,277,938 8,004,161
1862 11,618,970 8,327,976
1863 111,628,968 6,269,630
1864 13,661,862 7,135,685
1865 12,682,152 6,646,755
1866 17,867,716 9,331,261
1867 14,442,393 14,071,765
1868 15,706,445 14,218,368
1869 15,872,249 16,414,.535
1870 16.694,478 14,952,371
1871 20,688,651 20,820,374
1872 20,484,803 26,824,333
1873 29,683,186 29,186,925
1874 29,878,911 25,004,784
1875 31,836,727 24.011,014
1876 50,539,460 21,000.000
1877 .37,823,356 20,126,032
1878 48,362.116 21.048,197
1879 60,685,838 27,224,5}9
1880 46,589,584 38,9.3;i,832
1881 41,162,957 29,764,278
1882 34,529,459 37,666,489
Forfl8calyearenaingJune30,1883. 38,147,744 33,738,566
The decline of the foreign commerce of Philadel-
phia was made the subject of a series of letters in
1851 by Job R. Tyson to William Peter, Her Bri-
tannic Majesty's Consul for Pennsylvania. In these
letters the causes of that decline were examined and
the means of reviving it discussed. Mr. Tyson re-
viewed the past, examined the present, and forecasted
the future. The fact that New York had stepped in
between Philadelphia and her foreign commerce and
drawn the same away could not be denied, but the
former position of pre-eminence might, in Mr. Ty-
son's opinion, be recovered by the exhibition of more
"pluck and energy," on the part of Philadelphia
merchants. " The merchants of 1851," he said, " have
only to echo the sentiments of one of the non-im-
portation resolutions of 1765 as steadfastly as they
were uttered and observed by their fathers, the mer-
chants "and traders of the city of Philadelphia do
unanimously agree, and the work is done." It is not
within the power of individual, corporate, municipal,
or State resolution to command the circumstances
that make up the commerce of any port. It is not
upon every fine harbor or navigable river that the
marts of commerce are to be found. There are in-
numerable elements which, combined, fix and deter-
mine whether commerce will grow and prosper, with-
out regard to the unanimous resolutions of merchants,
or any other part of the population. The Erie Canal
poured into New York the vast productions of the
Northwest, and thirty years ago one city was equal to
their distribution. New York and not Philadelphia
reaped the benefit of that trade. The revolutions
which the last thirty years have made in the material
wealth of the great Northwest, the West, the South-
west, and the South, no longer put it within the ca-
pacity of any one city on the seaboard to distribute
the thousands of millions of dollars worth of products
raised annually by the trans-Alleghany section of the
country. Philadelphia has regained very much and
will regain much more of her ancient commerce, as
transportation is cheapened and the products of the
country are delivered at her wharves at the same or
less cost than at New York. The common reason
given why the trade of the country seeks New York
is because New York has more capital than any other
American seaport. But money or capital is only a
convenient medium of exchange, and is attracted by
the product which is the real value. Nor has it any
more power to draw the product to it than the eagle
has to draw the carcass. Money gathers at New
York because the products are there, and the products
go there because it is cheaper to carry them there than
to Philadelphia. Transportation is king. Neither
cotton, iron, coal, or any other product is sovereign.
The conditions that fix the cost of transportation to
market fix the amount and value of the products and
their place in the commerce of the country.
The statistics which thirty years ago astonished Mr.
Tyson are to-day so far excelled that even his en-
thusiastic predictions comprehended a commerce
scarcely one-fourth of the value of that Philadelphia
now enjoys. The steamship lines, which Mr. Tyson
hoped would be aided by " British capitalists,"
are the natural result of that development of trans-
portation which has been perfected within the last
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2223
thirty years. By that system of transportation the
products of the country came to Philadelphia, and
when once the shipping interest learned that freights
for their vessels could be obtained in Philadelphia as
certainly and conveniently as in New York, regular
lines of steamers were established to and from Ant-
werp and Liverpool, and irregular steamers began to
arrive from other European ports. The products re-
quired by commerce being at Philadelphia, sailing
vessels for India, China, the West Indies, South
America, and Europe, were quick to load and unload
at her wharves. -The Red Star Line to Antwerp was
established in 1873, the American Line to Liverpool
in 1871. These lines followed, they did not precede,
that wonderful development of transportation which
the Pennsylvania Railroad has effected. The agricul-
tural products of Pennsylvania alone amount in value
to over $200,000,000 annually,' and when to this sum
is added the $400,000,000 worth of goods annually
produced by the manufacturers of the city, and the
large amount produced by the manufacturers of the
State outside of the city, together with the products
from distant parts of the country, it will be seen that
the basis of a commerce is already laid of which
the older merchants never dreamed.
The internal trade of this country, in contradistinc-
tion to foreign commerce, has been created by the
complete union of the States. Prior to the adoption
of the Constitution, a cordon of State custom-houses
hedged in the several States and confined within
their boundaries the products of their people. The
1 Pliiladelpbia is the cliief entrepot for the agricultural productions,
Dot only of Pennsylvania, but in part of the great Northwest, the South,
and the Southwest. At her wharves, in her manufactures, and for the
consumption of her vast population, the cereals of the West, the cotton
of the South, and the wool of every section find as good a market as is
afforded by any port in the United States. The fertile soil and quick
harvest of " New Sweden" charmed the Swedish farmers, and " the
green country town" of Philadelphia was .the delight of Penn and his
colonists. The German and Scotch-Irish settlers were farmers, and
their descendants to this day possess almost all the farming lands of the
Slate. Of the 17,9!)4,200 acres in Pennsylvania, 11,515,965 are improved,
being sixty-six per cent., and the value of her farms per acre averages
$57.98, New Jersey at $86.14 being the only State which exceeds Penn-
sylvania in this particular. The productions of her farms are immense,
being, —
Bushels. Value.
Corn 42,250,000 $23,2.'!7,60D
Wheat 18,740,000 23,425,0110
Kye 3,240,000 2,397,600
Oats 33,160,000 11,602,600
Barley 560,01.0 476,000
Buckwheat 2,100,i 00 1,664,000
Potatoes 6,800,000 6,780,000
Pounds.
Tobacco 13 200,000 1,188,000
Tons.
Hay 2,900,000 36,264,000
Livestock 4,672,000 108,097,012
In addition to these, there are 6,000,000 pounds of wool, 60,834,644
pounds of dairy products, 1,545,917 pounds of maple sugar, 39,385 gal-
lons of syrup, 796,989 pounds of honey ; and the total annual value of
farming products is $183,946,027. The lumber products were worth
$28,938,985. When to these are added petroleum, leather and its manu-
factures, glass, iron and its manufactures, the textile fabrics, and other
industries, some idea may be formed of the support given by the " back-
country" to the great city between two rivers, and the terminus of thou-
sands of miles of railroad.
Constitution jtrohibiting transit duties on goods pass-
ing from one State of the Union to another, and re-
leasing vessels employed in the coasting trade from
the necessity of entering, the extension of trade was
made possible. With the increase of population and
of facilities for the transportation of merchandise by
the improvement of country roads, and afterwards by
the construction of canals and railroads, the inter-
change of commodities between the States steadily
and rapidly increased, until the internal trade far ex-
ceeds in bulk and value that of the foreign commerce.
The trade of Philadelphia with the States of the
Union embraces all of them, and extends into nearly
every neighborhood. Her railroads not only traverse
the continent from ocean to ocean, but they enter into
every valley, penetrate mountain ranges, and carry
the products of her industries into every hamlet of
the Union. Of the volume and value of this im-
mense trade no statistics are preserved.
What proportion of the $476,817,402 produced from
the manufactures of the city in the year 1882 was ab-
sorbed by the internal trade cannot be ascertained;
but as the 525 classes of manufactures embraced
nearly every article which enters into consumption,
and as the means of transportation were at hand for
their conveyance into every section and quarter of
the country, it may be fairly conjectured that the ex-
change of these manufactures facilitated a large and
remunerative internal trade. The growth of the
trade in breadstuffs has been shown in the tables of
this chapter. In those tables the quantity and
value of wheat flour, rye flour, and corn-meal are
set forth for each year. An inspection of these
records will exhibit the growth and expansion of this
trade more fully than any comments. The condi-
tions of the early trade were far different from those
of the present ; and if the transactions of this century
far outreach those of earlier years, yet there were ad-
vantages also in those times which are unknown at
present. It is of interest to recall briefly some of the
earlier grain and flour dealers of Philadelphia, and
trace the elements of character which made fortunes
in the earlier years of this century.
Samuel Smith in 1780 occupied No. 126 North
Delaware Avenue as a " flour house." He was suc-
ceeded, in 1782, by Timothy Paxon, who continued
there (or forty-three years, and he was followed in the
same place and business by A. Derbyshire for nearly,
if not quite, a half-century. In the days of Smith,
Paxon, Latimer, Hollingsworth, Potts, and the earlier
flour merchants, the business of breadstuffs was con-
ducted on different principles and in different ways
than at the present time. Then trade, if very sloiv,
was also very sure. Levi Hollingsworth, sailing his
shallop from Christiana to Philadelphia, bringing
flour from the mills of Christiana, Elk, and the neigh-
boring country, consigned to himself, and returning
with the proceeds of sale to account with the millers,
is not only an illustration of this primitive trade, but
2224
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
also gives a fair idea of the business of an early flour
merchant. In those days there was no standard
weight for flour, and each barrel differed in size, and
the invoices were long and complex. Nevertheless,
Hollingsworth continued to be, during a business life
of sixty-four years, a conspicuous example of honesty,
enterprise, economy, and industry. During the period
from 1760, when he settled in Philadelphia, to 1824,
when he died, he saw generation succeed generation,
revolution follow revolution, but still he kept his in-
tegrity unquestioned and his character unclouded by
a single doubtful transaction. He knew nothing of
" corners," " futures," or " margins ;" if he speculated
at all, it was with his own grain, fully paid for. He
was a patriot above reproach, and a soldier without
fear : a politician of the old Federalist school, and a
leader by force of character and honesty of conviction, i
The flour and grain commission house of J. & T. 1
Eidgway (Jacob and Thomas) was formed in 1816, I
the year when frost in every month so injured the
grain crops that flour rose to $14 per barrel and wheat
to $3 per bushel. In 1821, Jacob Ridgway retired,
and a cousin, Benjamin Ridgway, entered the house,
which became that of Thomas & Benjamin Ridgway,
and so continued until 1823, when Benjamin retired,
and the firm became Ridgway & Livesey, by the ac-
cession of John Livesey. About this time Henry
Budd was a clerk with Thomas Latimer & Co., com-
posed of Thomas Latimer and William B. Potts ; in
the same house was James Steele ; with Timothy Paxon
was Alexander Derbyshire; Henry Sloan was in the
oflice of R. Neff, — all men who have since made their
names and characters known and respected among
the merchants of Philadelphia. The house of Lati-
mer & Livesey was dissolved in 1836 by the retire-
ment of Livesey, and Henry Budd became a partner,
the style being changed to Ridgway & Budd, which
continued until 1830, when Ridgway retired, and
Budd & Comly (D. J. Comly) continued the business.
Mr. Ridgway was made president of the Girard Life
Insurance, Annuity, and Trust Company in 1851. In
the house of Robert Fleming, dealer in flour and grain,
in 1832, Hugh Craig, a boy from Coleraine, Ireland,
learned the mysteries of the trade as taught by a man
who " retired with the comfortable sum of a million
and a half of dollars." In 1838 the house of Craig,
Bellas & Co. was formed, which continued in active
and extensive trade until Thomas Bellas retired, in
1854.
Another Irish boy, James McHenry, whose mother
kept a retail dry-goods store at No. 36 South Second
Street, laid the foundations of his mercantile char-
acter among the busy scenes of Market Street, Phila-
delphia, where he was a clerk. James McHenry was
born in Larne, Ireland, May 3, 1817, and was brought
to Baltimore in 1818. His parents came to Philadel-
phia in 1824. From 1835 to 1838 he was employed
by Trevor, Spering & Mixsell, a dry -goods jobbing
house on Market Street. In 1838 he went to Eng-
land and became, about 1840, a member of the house
of A. R. & J. McHenry, in which house he remained
until 1846, when he became a member of the firm of
Allen & Anderson, one of the largest provision, grain,
and flour commission houses in Liverpool. This firm
failed, and in 1855, Mr. McHenrj' associated with Mr.
Crow, and formed the house of James McHenry & Co.
The operations of this house from September, 1853,
to September, 1854, are given from Hunt's Merchants'
Magazine, as follows: Cotton, bales, 59,140; flour,
bbls., 348,871; wheat, bush., 424,188; Indian corn,
bush., 1,066,071; Indian meal, bbls., 12,442; bacon,
boxes, 31,230; bacon, hhds., 865; bacon in bulk,
cwt., 7731; hams, hhds., 198; lard, tierces, 7137; lard,
bbls., 7923 ; lard, kegs, 160; beef, tierces, 7441 ; pork,
bbls., 1669. The great Manchester house of A. & S.
Henry & Co. was of Philadelphia origin, in which
city Alexander Henry " was tutored in commercial
knowledge" and grounded in commercial integrity.
William B. Thomas, who was one of the founders
of the Corn Exchange Association and likewise
its first president, commenced the flour business at
the " Gulf Mills" in 1832, where he continued until
1843, when he removed to Philadelphia, and com-
menced milling at Thirteenth and Willow Streets,
and later with another mill at Thirteenth and But-
tonwood Streets. The popularity of his flour con-
tinued to increase and his business to grow until he
became the largest manufacturer of flour in the city.
Alexander G. Cattell removed from his native State,
New Jersey, to Philadelphia in 1846, where he rose
to the highest place in the confidence of business
men for integrity, enterprise, and all that forms the
basis of mercantile success. In the development of
the growing grain trade of the city he was an active
and zealous worker. Prominent among the founders
and one of the early presidents of the Corn Exchange
Association, Mr. Cattell did much to build up and
extend the grain trade of the city.
Samuel Bispham, head of the house of Samuel Bis-
pham & Sons, wholesale grocers and commission mer-
chants, was born Oct. 14, 1796, in the house on the north
side of Market Street, between Front and Second, in
which Samuel Bispham, his father, lived and carried
on the business of a hatter. His grandfather, Joshua
Bispham, was one of the Society of Friends, and emi-
grated in 1738 from the town of Bispham, Lanca-
shire, England, to settle in New Jersey as a farmer.
In 1798, when the yellow fever was raging in the city,
the Bispham family quitted Philadelphia, and took up
residence on a farm at Moorestown, Burlington Co.,
N. J. From there young Samuel Bispham was often
sent to Philadelphia to vend the fiirm produce, and
in the bustle of Market Street in the first decade of
the century he evinced business aptness and' energy.
The death of his father in 1808 threw him upon his
own resources, and he accepted employment in the
grocery-store of William Carman, Market Street,
above Front. There he remained until 1810, when
'™ 'ill lit.
fptfm'iier^ ISS
kacon in m
I*.n3;;i,„i|
; pork,
"iP", in wkitli
I in coMiierciji
'cijlintejrity,
"ftkefomiim
oiirb
i until
It Ste6,
anil But-
'fkisBoiirtoB.
iogroHBlillie
if in ike city.
ioafoeState,
i, Jliete lif lose
ice of teiies
tlial foBs tlie
JeveiopBieot of
kewasaoaclire
M Estkaige
kiild up and
and Second, in
ired and carried
idf«tker,JoikQa
riendundeDii-
ijvaiaii
Bike city,
lonieBt in tke
Market Street,
itil 1810, *»
TRADE AND COMMERCE.
2225
he went to the grocery house of John Snyder, Market
Street below Ninth, as l)ook-keeper and salesman,
where he became versed in the secrets of the Western
trade, then swelling into magnitude. By economy
and a studious attention to business opportunities, he
amassed enough capital in 1815 to go into partnership
with Jacob Alter, and open a store at No. 825 Market
Street, below Ninth. Those were the days nf the
trade between the cities and the interior by the
"Conestoga wagons," and the young firm of Alter
& Bispham was so successful that there was not a
house on the great road between Philadelphia and
Pittsburgh in which it was not known. It dealt in
all kinds of groceries and country produce.
Between 1819 and 1821, an epoch of commercial
distress, Mr. Bispham determined to make a tour
among his country customers to collect what was due
his firm. He rode horseback, and was about three
weeks on the way from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.
The results, however, were so eminently satisfactory
that on reaching Pittsburgh he had collected enough
money to meet all the obligations of the firm of Alter
& Bispham, which, on account of the general strin-
gency, had been in a dangerous condition. The
money was immediately forwarded to Philadelphia,
and with this timely assistance the house was enabled
to maintain a good standing, while many other firms
on Market Street were prostrated or totally ruined.
Mr. Bispham's reputation for energy and business
talent was much enhanced by this exploit. On the
retirement of Mr. Alter, in 1830, Mr. Bispham took
the business entirely under his own control, and in
December, 1834, he bought of Horner & Wilson the
building now known as No. 629 Market Street, to
which he moved at once. In September, 1851, he
took into partnership his two sons, Samuel A. and
John S. Bispham, and the title of the firm was
changed to Samuel Bispham & Sons, as it is at present.
The house commands a large trade with the West
and South in groceries and dried fruits. Samuel Bis-
pham was one of the original directors of and sub-
scribers to the Bank of Penn Township, which is now
the Penn National Bank, and of which he has been
continuously a director. He was for many years a
member of the board of managers of the Schuylkill
Navigation Company, and from the institution of the
Reliance Insurance Company has been one of its
directors. In his younger days he was a Henry Clay
Whig, but his opinions in religion and in politics
have always leaned to the side of conservatism. He
was actively interested in the public schools when, in
1834, they were first established in Pennsylvania.
The name of no Philadelphian has been current in
business circles for a longer number of years. He is
still living, being now in the eighty-eighth year of his
age, yet he attends to business daily, and overlooks
the details of the house that bears his name.
The following tables exhibit the receipts of bread-
stufiFs from the interior from 1874 to 1882 :
RECEIPTS OF FLOUR.
Barrels,
1882 1,268,332
1881 968,476
1880 9:13,944
1879 936,880
1877 7411,330
1876 9711,781
1875 922,lli0
1874 915,636
RECEIPTS OF GRAIN.
Wheat. Rye. Corn. Oats.
Bushels, Bushels. Bushels. Bushels.
1882 6,732,872 50,.512 3,801,100 3,082,482
1881 8,312,605 107,537 11.145,367 3,432,(189
188C.... 1.5,123,330 117,000 24,9.50.750 3,638.760
1B79 20,(179,000 681,275 18,289,600 3,497,000
1878 11,976,250 296,750 23,385,900 3,789,3.50
1877 4,170,4(10 334,870 13,926,300 2,.50.5,300
1876 4,486,000 079,100 20,261.675 4,484, (JO
1876 5,6.50,800 ]87,.5O0 7,130,000 3,820,400
There were inspected during 1880, " into elevators, warehouses," etc.,
28,228 cars of wheat, 14 of wheat screenings, 38,840 of corn, 124 of rye,
11 of bran, 3005 of oats; "afloat on barges, schooners," etc., 264,230
bushels of corn, 321,935 of wheat, 850 of rye, 10,000 of oats ; out for ship-
ment, 18,042,639 bushels of corn, 12,223,863 of wheat, 6803 of rye r totals,
70,222 cars inspected, 597,016 bushels afloat, 30,282,205 bushels out for
shipment.
There were inspected during the year 1882, " into warehouses, eleva-
tors," etc., C332 cars of corn, 56 of rye, 3710 of oats, 13,873 of wheat ;
" afloat in barges, schooners," etc., 263,910 bushels of corn, 20,400 of
oats, 424,617 of wheat; "out to vessels for shipment," 920,219 bushels
of corn and 5,921,440 bushels of wheat; "out to cars for shipment," 375
cars of corn, 89 of wheat, and 45 of oats.
1882.
RECEIPTS OF SEEDS.
1881. 1880. 1879. 1878.
1877.
1880. 1879. 1878. 1876.
Bags. Bags, Bags. Bags.
Cloverseed 23,143 21,048 8,103 28,810 15,709 12,887 12,512
Timothy 10,200 8,080 12,769 10,231 8,109 10,774 19,791
Flaxseed 113,112 98,642 110,451 40,850 39,686 23,905 34,909
COTTON.
Bales. I Bales.
1882 237,800 1878 151,970
1881 20.3,622 1877 144.818
1880 143,.537 I 1876 138,962
1879 161,547
LIVE STOCK,
1879..
1878..
1877..
187B..
1875..
1R74..
1873.
1S72,.
1871..
1870..
I860..
1860,.
1880..
1879,.
1878..
1877..
228.120
130,505
165,665
120,105
269,728
205,912
201,210
197,959
186,6(X)
186,350
178,800
140,000
167,130
165,860
234,810
125,333
117,930
99,845
68,780
MEATS.
Beef.
Barrels.
8,831
14,362
8,883
11,400
Cows.
20.392
19,609
17,396
16,830
15,325
13,120
l.',750
11,830
18.010
18,405
13,302
11,150
8,835
10,637
15,120
381,402
367,876
346,960
341,450
282,060
242,400
289,900
243,310
339.690
334,3(10
210,276
199,610
189,600
127,964
46,900
Sheep.
677,713
646,792
623,494
619.4.50
6511,400
645,870
548,850
491,500
767,000
756.750
74 ,500
796,200
682,900
324,564
82,500
89,686
76,080
107,754
98,754
Lard. Shoulders.
Packages. Pieces.
56,202 261,145
57,788 137,254
65,206
BUTTER AND EGGS.
Butter.
Packages,
1882..
1881..
1.SS0.-
1879..
29,715
28,320
41,610
156,315
147,524
117,325
138,300
114,.520
112,184
113,766
22,475
26,436
17,796
2226
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
WOOL.
Bales. Bales.
1882 162,770 ' 1878 113,922
1881 147,443 1877 134,618
1880 124,063 I 1876 136,122
1879 158,735 I
COAL.
Tons. I Tods.
1882 29.500,000 I 1880 23,487,785
1881 29,000,000 ! 1879 26,142,6?9
The following is a statement of the exports of
petroleum, naphtha, and benzine from the port of
Philadelphia during the year 1882 : crude petroleum,
4,961,890 gallons, valued at .?314,441 ; refined petro-
leum, 78,471,280 gallons, valued at .■?6,.j91,799 ; naph-
tha and benzine, 1,356,021 gallons, valued at 884,148.
The exports of breadstuffs and provisions from the
same port for the same period were : breadstuifs,
88,929,882 ; provisions, $7,833,143.
The value of domestic exports shipped to foreign
ports were: American vessels, 89,770,654; foreign
vessels, $24,758,805,— total value of exports to foreign
countries during the year 1882 from the port of Phila-
delphia, $34,539,459.
CHAPTER LVI.
MANUFACTURES.!
The history of the manufactures of Philadelphia is
the story of the intelligence, pluck, energy, and perse-
verance of her individual citizens ; neither accumu-
lated capital nor corporate powers nursed their
infancy nor supported their maturer years. The
patient industry of the Quaker settlers planted them,
the untiring energy of their descendants prospered
them ; and their present magnificent development is
due to an individuality which recognized and followed
only "the light which shineth in every man." The
founders of these industries never practiced the co-
hesion that promotes self-interest by combination of
means, purpose, and action ; but by zealous individual
work originated and improved their various manu-
factures, perfecting while developing the industry.
Under this system there arose that diversity of labor
which multiplies both the product and the establish-
ments. Two centuries have passed away, and the be-
ginning of the third witnesses 525 classes of industries
prospering in the city, conducted in 11,844 establish-
ments, employing 241,433 persons, and producing
annually $476,817,402.
To trace the gradual development of this grand
1 The immense number of manufacturiDg establishments in Philadel-
phia, numbering in 1882 nearly twelve thousand, made it impossible
within the limited space of this history to do more than trace the size
and development of manufectures with their statistical features, and
compelled the authors to confine their descriptions to the leading and
most prominent houses in each class.
result, from its initial, in 1682, to the present day,
with any degree of accuracy and particularity is an
impossibility. To follow its traces along the pages
of annals and biographies, culling a fact here and a
date there, and periodically gathering the data to-
gether, is all that is possible through the earlier years
of the province." The energy of the founders and
their successors was employed in work which left its
result as the only record of its life. Neither date nor
fact exist as to many, and those more fortunate in
these respects are merely chronicled in time, without
any account of trials suffered and diiBculties over-
come.' The difficulties which beset every attempt to
investigate the development of manufactures are set
forth by Mr. Freedley, who says, —
" Numerous attempts have been made at different times to investi-
gate the manufacturing industry of Philadelphia. Several years ago a
statistical society was organized, we believe for the express purpose of
ascertaining the capital in trade and manufactures, the number of hands
employed and wages paid, and the aggregate of production ; but its
officers, we understand, have not as yet submitted their report. More
recently, a committee of highly respectable and trustworthy gentlemen,
appointed by the Board of Trade, undertook the commission, but the
most important information that they could ascertain and reported was
that 'inquiries of this kind are e.\ceedingly impertinent and offensive,
and they will not be answered ; nor can any authority compel a response
to them. They will be either treated with silence or, if replied to, they
will elicit no full and reliable intelligence. We do not make this asser-
tion without ample reason.'"
The Board of Trade consequently recommend, and
their advice has been heeded by us, not to extend in-
quiries beyond what can be precisely and accurately
ascertained. It has not been the purpose of this work
to investigate the private affairs of any citizen, but to
trace from public records the rise and development
of the industries of the city as far as practicable ; ex-
amining those influences which have retarded or pro-
moted their development, and grouping the facts as
ascertained ty official reports, to present, as well their
existing state of development as the causes under
which they have grown. The influence of legislation
and the effect of political events upon manufactures
are matters connected with political economy which
take their color and complexion from the political
education and principles of individuals. Whether
protection best protects, or free trade best promotes
manufactures, does not come within the scope of our
inquiries.
The earliest efforts of the colonists at the manufac-
ture of coarse woolen fabrics for their own use, ex-
cited the jealousy of English manufacturers of the
same kind of fabrics, lest they should not only supply
2 To the valuable " History of American Manufactures," by J. Leander
Bishop, A.M., M.D., and to Edwin T. Freedley's work on " Philadelphia
and its Manufactures," and to " The Manufactories and Manufactures
of Pennsylvania of the Nineteenth Century," and the " History of Phila-
delphia," by Thompson Westcott, the author is indebted for most valu-
able assistance.
3 " It would be desirable to trace chronologically the successive steps
marking tlie progressive development of the manufacture of textile
fabrics in this city ; but, unfortunately, there are no records within our
knowledge containing sufficient data for the purpose." — Philadelphia
and ite ilanu/actures, by Edwin T. Freedley, p. 232.
MANUFACTURES.
2227
their own necessities, but in course of time should
export to foreign nations; and to prevent tliis, as
early as 1C99, Parliament declared by acts of 10
and 11 William III. that no wool, yarn, or woolen
manufactures of the American plantations shall be
shipped there, or even laden in order to be trans-
ported from thence to any place whatever; and
again, in 1719, it was also declared " that the erecting
of manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen their
dependence upon Great Britain." Complaints con-
tinued to be made by British manufacturers, and in
1731 orders were issued to the Board of Trade to in-
quire and report " with respect to laws ma,de, manu-
factures set up, or trade carried on detrimental to the
trade, navigation, or manufactures of Great Britain."
This report of the Board of Trade in respect to Penn-
sylvania was that her people " have fallen into the
manufacture of woolen cloth, and linen cloth, for the
use of their families only ;" for the products being
chiefly cattle and grain, " the estates of the inhabi-
tants depended wholly on farming, which could not
be managed without a certain quantity of sheep ; and
their wool would be entirely lost, were not their ser-
vants employed during the winter in manufacturing
it for the use of their families ;" and the report further
remarked that " the trade of Pennsylvania lay in tlieir
exportation of provisions and lumber; no manufac-
tures being established, and their clothing and uten-
sils for their houses being all imported from Great
Britain," and " the last letters from the Deputy Gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania" showed that he did " not know
of any trade carried on in that province that can be
considered injurious to this kingdom. Thy do not
export any woolen or linen manufactures ; all they
make are of a coarse sort, being for their own use.
We are further informed that in this province are
built many brigantines and small sloops, which they
sold to the West Indies."
By the act (5 George II. 1732) the exportation of
hats was prohibited, and even the number of appren-
tices to be taken by hat-makers restrained. In 1750,
while the importation of pig and bar iron into Lon-
don was permitted duty free, the erection or continu-
ance of any mill or other engine for slitting or rolling
iron, or any planing-forge, to work with a tilt-ham-
mer, or any furnace for making steel was to be pun-
ished with a penalty of two hundred pounds, and
every such mill, engine, furnace, or forge was declared
to be a common nuisance, to be abated by the Gov-
ernor within thirty days. In 1764-65 the Stamp Act
followed, declaring null and void any instruments in
writing, if not upon stamped paper.
The bill received the royal assent in March, 1765,
and was the unexpected cause of stimulating Ameri-
can manufactures. By the non-importation agree-
ments which were entered into generally by the
people of the colonies, it was determined not to im-
port goods from Great Britain, and to promote home
manufactures in all possible ways.
The new Pitt ministry in England was convinced
that the policy of its predecessors was unwise, and
that the continuance of the Stamp Act would be in-
jurious and useless. About the 26th of March, 1766,
news that the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act had
passed one house of Parliament was received at Phila-
delphia, and it occasioned the most lively expressions'
of joy. Bells were rung, bonfires were kindled, and the
health of the royal family was drunk. About a month
afterward, and before news of the repeal of the act had
been received, the brig " Lark" arrived from Eng-
land with goods shipped contrary to the agreement
of the merchants of the city. The committee of mer-
chants met immediately and resolved that the mer-
chandise should be locked up until the repeal of the
Stamp Act was announced. In the mean while the
attention given to American manufactures was more
general than had ever been before. " A market for
home-manufactured goods" had been opened about
the beginning of the year on the north side of High
Street, one door below Water, by William Smith,
which was kept open from nine o'clock until noon
every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Daniel
Mause, hosier, announced that he had set up a num-
ber of looms at the sign of " The Hand-in-Hand," on
the west side of Second Street, between Race and
Vine, where he manufactured thread and cotton
stockings, hoping that the good people of this and
the neighboring provinces would encourage the un-
dertaking at a time when America called for the en-
deavors of all her sons. The repeal of that objection-
able statute, in 1766, may have caused the suspension
of some plans of commencing new industries which
were under consideration, but manufactures at this
time were not very successful. John Penn, writing
to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Planta-
tions, Jan. 21, 1767, says, in reference to an inquiry as
to the number of manufactures in the province, that
very little encouragement was given to such schemes.
"Nor do 1 know of any actually carryiug on at this time except two.
One of them was set up about three years ago in thia city by private
subscription for the making of saii-cloth, ticking, and linens; but the
pei-sons concerned have already sunk money by the project, for the high
price of labor will not allow any of the articles to be made at so cheap
a rate as those of the same quality and goodness manufactured in Eng-
land are sold for by the retailers here ; they have therefore lately resolved
to discontinue the undertaking. The other a glass manufactory, which
was erected about four years ago in Lancaster County, seventy miles
from this city, by a private person. It is still carried on, though to a
very inconsiderable extent, there being no other vent for their ware,
which is of a very ordinary quality, but to supply the small demands of
the villages and farmers in the adjacent inland country,"
In 1768 Parliament passed the act laying duties on
paper, glass, painters' colors, and other articles, when
imported into the colonies. New non-importation
resolutions were generally agreed upon by the people
of various towns and counties. These imposts re-
mained until March, 1770, when they were removed
as to all the articles except tea. The partial release
did not satisfy the people, and thenceforth for some
years much attention was given to the subject of do-
2228
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
mestic manufacture, and to the best method of en-
couraging it.
The meeting of citizens at the City Tavern, May
20, 1774, which preceded and led to the conventions
which have been elsewhere explained, related prima-
rily to political movements and measures. Manufac-
tures and their promotion were incidental and sec-
ondary. The committees of correspondence, created
for political purposes, were also intrusted to some ex-
tent with the encouragement of domestic manufac-
tures, and their recommendations were seriously
obeyed. In January, 1775, a convention of delegates
from the counties of Pennsylvania was held at Phila-
delphia, Joseph Reed, president ; Jonathan B.Smith,
John Benezet, and Francis Johnston, secretaries.
This convention earnestly enforced the observance of
the non-importation agreements, and, to provide
against the inconvenience which might result, recom-
mended the preservation of sheep until they were
four years old, and the establishment of manufac-
tures of woolens, salt, saltpetre, iron, nails, wire,
steel, paper, glass, wool, combs, cards, copper in
sheets, kettles, malt liquors, and tin plates. Among
other matters, they were careful to mention gun-
powder, " inasmuch as there existed great necessity
for it, particularly in the Indian trade." They sug-
gested the utility of raising flax, hemp, madder,
wood, and dye-stuffs. They advised the exclusive
use of home-manufactured articles, recommended the
patronage of the printing-type foundry at German-
town which was established by Mr. Fox,' and urged
that associations should be formed for the encourage-
ment of domestic productions.
The woolen manufacture was also recommended,
and various schemes were proposed and discussed in
the newspapers by writers under the signatures of
" Pennsylvania," " A Hibernian," " Jason," etc. The
Hibernian proposed the formation of a patriotic so-
ciety for the manufacture of woolen, with permission
to raise one thousand pounds annually by lottery.
Weavers, he said, could be had from Ireland. The
expense of importing twenty-nine workmen, with
yarn and worsted, wheels, reels, looms, steel, three
pitched combs, a press, and bedding for the twenty-
nine hands, he estimated at five hundred and fifty
pounds. Six thousand pounds of wool, he said,
could be bought for four hundred and fifty pounds.
The profits of the manufacture he did not calculate.
The proprietors of the china factory advertised for
zafFer or zaffera, without which they could not make
blue ware. This was obtained, and the desired speci-
mens of their workmanship were made. The pro-
prietors of these works applied to the Assembly for
assistance, but nothing was done for them.
In the latter part of the year, Michael Washington
exhibited at the Coffee-House several pieces of cloth
manufactured by himself It was announced that a
1 It was Qnfortunately burned down in April, 1775.
gold medal would be given to the person who jiroduced
the best piece of woolen cloth in Lancaster County.
" One had been given the previous year, weighing one
ounce, having on one side a bust of the Pennsylvania
farmer," with the motto, " Take away the wicked
from before the King, and his throne shall be estab-
lished in righteousness." On the reverse was a woman
spinning with a big wheel ; motto, " Frugality and
industry make rich, free, and happ5'." Christopher
Colles offered his services to the public to put up mills
and hj'draulic engines and the proper buildings, and
to att as engineer and architect.
A seizure had been made by the Committee of In-
spection in the year 1775 of goods of Joshua Fisher
& Son, consisting of lead, sailcloth, Russian sheet-
ing, duck, paints, etc., which were necessary for the
public service. The Fishers were very obstinate and
uncivil about the matter, and finally the Committee of
Safety ordered the goods to be sold at public vendue,
where they were bought for the use of the province.
The scarcity of salt caused Congress soon to repeal its
general disallowance of the exercise of the powers of
the Committee of Inspection, at least as regarded that
article. A resolution was passed on the 30th of May
against the exorbitant prices exacted for salt, and
again granting to the committee power to regulate
the rates of sale. Accordingly, it was determined
that coarse salt should be sold for 7s. 6(f. per bushel,
and fine salt at 8s. ; Bohea tea at seventy-five cents
per pound, and green tea at 32s. 6(/. per pound.
Joshua Fisher & Sons had a large quantity of salt,
which they had endeavored to import in violation of
the recommendation of Congress, and which was in
the possession of the Committee of Inspection. Efforts
were made without avail to get them to allow a sale
of it. They were not disposed to be agreeable in any-
thing that would recognize the authority of those whom
they denominated '' the present rulers."
In 1778 an act to encourage the manufactures of
this State was passed, prohibiting the exportation of
manufacturing machines for two years. John Hague
received from the Assembly £100 as a recompense
"for introducing into this State useful machines for
carding cotton." John Hewson, calico-printer, was
an applicant to the Assembly for a.ssistance. Robert
Leslie, who had invented three different methods of
attaching and suspending the pendulums of clocks,
whether of metal or of wood, upon entirely new prin-
ciples, desired an act to protect him in his invention.
James Rumsey, of Virginia, asked an act to give him
special privileges in his steamboat, which petition
was contested by John Fitch and Henry Voight, who
also asked encouragement for their invention of a
pipe boiler. Alexander Lewis, having invented " a
water engine for raising water thirty-six feet above its
level, and having constructed a boat of twenty-five
tons burthen, capable of proceeding up any stream
that would float the same, with the assistance of three
men only," desired a special law to protect his in-
MANUFACTURES.
2229
terests.' Thomas Paine transmitted from Paris a
long report, made to the Academie Royale des Sciences
by De Borda, Bosutt, and Le Roy, favorable to his
iron bridge. He apprised the Assembly that there
was a prospect of erecting it on the Seine, with a
single arch of iron of four hundred feet ; and that, in
such case, it should be manufactured in America.
" A second series of potash-works" were set up in the
Northern Liberties, so as not to interfere with those
established in Southwark.
The action of th^ people and government, in their
purpose of freedom and independence, promoted the
steady growth of domestic manufactures. Many in-
dustries, of which there exist no record, took their
start and maintained a quiet growth during the years
of the Revolution. With the return of peace, and
the acknowledgment of the independence of the
States, manufacturers put forth bolder efforts, but
were soon clamoring at the doors of the Assembly
for encouragement.
Mechanics of various kinds challenged attention,
and asked for patronage. John Biddis, in 1783, set
up a manufactory of white lead in Vine Street, be-
tween Second and Third, " opposite the sign of Gen-
eral Washington." He said that his lead " was al-
lowed by the best judges in this city to be equal to
any imported from Europe." He offered to sell his
tavern property at Chestnut Hill, "sign of the Bonny
Jockey," for pig lead to be used in this manufacture.
James Sutter manufactured pure American glue in
Southwark. In relation to this article, he said, " He
flatters himself that he can supply the thirteen States
with an article as good, if not better than, and at as
low prices as imported from Europe." James Juhan,
who had arrived in the city after the peace, advertised
" the great American piano-forte, entirely his own in-
vention." He lived at Fourth and Arch Streets. Wil-
liam Somerton, from London, took the air-furnace at
Eighth and Walnut Streets, where he prepared his
new invented boxes for wheel-carriages. Mason &
Gibbs entered into the business of making fire-
engines " of the newest construction." George Bras-
sine, having erected a mill for making rappee snuff,
and having discovered the art of manufacturing an
imitation of window-glass from horn, asked encour-
agement from the Assembly. To the same body other
persons applied for like privileges. Peter Allaire,
having discovered the art of making yellow paint,
and an alkali or soda for manufacturing flint-glass,
desired an exclusive right for manufacturing and
vending those articles. Edward Clegg, of Great
Britain, being about to establish a manufactory for
making corduroys and fine jeans, asked the patronage
of the Assembly. So did Whitehead Humphreys,
1 A vessel from Philadelphia that bad been fitted out for the slave
trade, after taking a cargo of negroes to the West India Islands, came
back to this city with a cargo bought with the proceeds of the adven-
ture. The Freeman^s Journal published an article recommending that
citizens should not purchase the goods.
who had discovered the art of making steel from bar
iron, " as good as in England" ; William Shepherd,
who was about to erect a mill for sawing and polish-
ing marble. James Rumsey, of Virginia, who de-
clared that he had invented a boat to go by the action
of poles against the streams of rapid rivers, by me-
chanical powers (which was not a steamboat), had his
claim resisted by Abner Cloud and Hugh Cuuning-
ham, each of whom averred a prior discovery of the
same principle. Arthur Donaldson, for the inven-
tion of the "hippopotamus for cleaning out docks,"
was also an applicant to the Legislature. John Hew-
son, calico printer, asked for a loan of money from
the State. The distillers of rum from molasses in
Philadelphia petitioned in a body for encouragement.
Robert Taylor, of Lower Merion, linen, cotton, and
calico printer and bleacher, and Henry Boyle, calico
printer, also asked assistance.
In 1786, John Stephens applied to the Assembly in
March for a loan of £200 to enable him to prosecute
to perfection his discovery of the art of making blue-
stone melting-pots equal to black lead crucibles.
John Fitch, having discovered a method by which
boats and vessels might be navigated by steam, asked
exclusive right to his valuable invention. John Eve,
manufacturer of gunpowder, desired the imposition
of a duty on the importation of that article from for-
eign countries, and a bounty for the introduction of
rough saltpetre. Oliver Evans, representing that he
had invented machines for making cotton and woolen
cards in a new, easy, and expeditious manner, and
having also invented for merchant mills a machine
to clean wheat and manufacture it into flour, wanted
the exclusive right to those improvements for twenty-
five years. Whitehead Humphreys asked for the loan
of £300 to enable him to prosecute his discoveries in
the art of converting bar iron into steel, in which
prayer he succeeded. The committee on John Fitch's
steamboat recommended the Assembly to loan him
£150, but the motion was lost. George AVall, having
invented a new mathematical instrument useful in
surveying, asked for an act giving him special privi-
lege to manufacture it for twenty-one years. Eman-
uel Bantling, who had invented a tub-bellows for
blacksmiths, also asked for a special law of encour-
agement.
Thomas Paine petitioned the Assembly in March to
countenance his plan for the erection of an iron per-
manent bridge over the Schuylkill. A committee
was appointed on the subject, which reported favor-
ably, and leave was granted to the subscribers to the
project to bring in a bill authorizing the construction.
The new model of Paine was thirteen feet eleven
inches in length, the centre being between six and
seven inches in width. It was constructed of narrow
strips of sheet iron, and had sufficient strength to
bear a weight of seven hundred pounds. The sub-
scribers to the bridge company did not absolutely
agree to take Paine's plan. They adopted resolutions
2230
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
in August to procure subscriptions. The bill incor-
porating the subscribers to the bridge named John
Penn, Samuel Vaughan, Samuel Powel, Robert Mor-
ris, and others, as corporators, with a capital of
$66,666.66. A committee to receive models was
appointed, consisting of Thomas Mifflin, David Eit-
tenhouse, George Clymer, Samuel Powel, David
Evans, Richard Wells, Francis Bailey, Francis Hop-
kinson, John Kaighn, John Sellers, Thomas Harrison,
Tench Coxe, Thomas Moore, John Chaloner, John
Ross, and Stephen Paschall. This effort was in
advance of the public disposition to aid in its accom-
plishment.
In 1789, the Manufacturing Society awarded the
premium gold plate for painters' colors to Sylvanus
Bishop, of New Haven, for specimens of ochi'e. The
Philadelphia Society for Agriculture offered premiums
for improvements in farming operations, and the
Philadelphia County Society for the Encouragement
of Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures added its
influence toward what was considered a most im-
portant object. The latter association was established
August 4th in this year, in opposition to the old society
for promoting agriculture, etc. As the former had
many members who were residents of the city, the
county society established a rule that none but farmers
should be eligible to membership.
The adoption of the Constitution of the United
States by the required number of States, and the in-
auguration of a permanent and efficient government
of the whole country, put an end to the conflicting
and restricting legislation of separate States, and gave
to manufactures a wider scope and better guardian-
ship.
The manufacturers of the city looked upon the
Federal Constitution as conferring the power and
right of protection to the infant manufactures; and
to give expression to their conviction a meeting was
held in March, 1789, of manufacturers and mechanics
of the city, Northern Liberties, and Southwark, to
take into consideration the propriety of jjetitioning
the Congress of the United States to lay such duties
on foreign manufactures imported into the State of
Pennsylvania as would give a decided preference to
our mechanics. The various trades were requested to
send delegates to a convention to be held the ensuing
month, but nothing further was done in reference to
the matter.
In the same month the mechanics and tradesmen
of Baltimore forwarded their first petition to Con-
gress, praying that the government would render the
country " independent in fact as well as in name,"
by an early attention to the encouragement and pro-
tection of American manufactures, by imposing on
"all foreign articles which could be made in America
such duties as would give a decided preference to
their labors."
The manufacturing committee of the Pennsylvania
Society at the opening of the year held their first sale
of printed cottons, corduroys, federal rib, jeans, flax,
and tow linens; about the same time John Hewson
was made calico-printer to the society, and the State
became a subscriber for one hundred shares of the
stock of the company. Edward Pole, of Philadel-
phia, presented a model of a silk-reel to the Philo-
sophical Society; William Trumbull presented to the
same society a specimen of petroleum found at Oil
Creek, a branch of the Allegheny, and also a printed
book, the leaves of which were made of the roots and
bark of^ different trees and plants, — the first eflfort at
that kind of manufacture.
The manufacturers of snuff and tobacco in the city
numbered in 1790 at least twenty different establish-
ments, employing not less than three hundred men
and boys. These manufacturers memorialized Con-
gress against a proposed tax upon these manufactures.
The publication by Thomas Dodson of the first half-
volume of the " EncyclopEedia Britannica" was com-
menced in this year, with 246 subscribers; 1000
copies of the first volume were printed, 2000 of the
second, and when he had completed the eighth the
subscription extended so far that he had to reprint
the first. This was the commencement of an in-
creased enterprise in the printing business in the
United States, as well as in the city. Benjamin At-
kinson, of Byberry township, now a part of the city,
commenced, in 1790, the first domestic manufacture
of brooms from thepannicles of broom-corn [Sorghum
saccharatum), a plant said to have been first raised in
this country by Dr. Franklin, from a single seed
taken from an imported whisk and planted in his
garden. Mr. Atkinson raised the corn and made the
brooms himself for four years, when he associated
with Bezaleel Croasdale. They jointly supplied Phil-
adelphia and neighboring towns, Baltimore, and oc-
casionally New York, until 1815 or 1816, when others
engaged in the business.
The city and suburbs, in a total population of
43,000, contained in 1790, exclusive of carpenters,
masons, and other handicrafts, 2200 persons who
might properly be denominated manufacturers, or over
one-fourth part of the 8600 adult males the city was
supposed to contain.
The first patents for machines for threshing grain
and corn were awarded March 11, 1791, to Samuel
Mulliken, of Philadelphia; and December 31st, Wil-
liam Pollard, of Philadelphia, patented a machine for
spinning cotton by water-power. The years 1793 and
1794 were marked by the effort at increased manufac-
tures : Arkwright spinning frames, the weaving and
beating of sail duck, stocking frames, machinery for
spinning and drawing gold and silver wire, the manu
facture of thread, lace, and embroidery, of straw and
chip hats. Wrought mohair and silk buttons were
introduced and carried on with profit.
At the close of the last century there were in the
city and suburbs of Philadelphia, ten rope-walks,
which manufactured about 800 tons of hemp an-
MANUFACTURES.
2281
nually ; thirteen breweries, which consumed 50,000
bushels of barley yearly ; six sugar refineries, seven
hair-powder manufactories, two rum distilleries and
one rectifying distillery, three card manufactories,
fifteen manufactories of earthenware, six for choco-
late and four for mustard, three for cut-nails and one
for patent nails, one for steel, one for aquafortis, one
for sal ammoniac and Glauber's salts (which supplied
the whole Union with that article), one for oil colors,
eleven for brushes, two for buttons, one for morocco
leather, one for parchment ; besides, gun-makers, cop-
persmiths, hatters ('of which there were 300 in the
State, who made 54,000 fur and 61,000 wool hats
annually), tin-plate workers, type-founders, coach-
makers, cabinet-makers, ship-builders, and a variety
of others. There were 31 printing-presses, printing
four daily and two semi-weekly papers, one of them
in the French language ; two weekly journals, one of
them in the German language. The catalogues of
books for sale in the city contained upwards of three
hundred sets of Philadelphia editions, besides a
greater variety of maps and charts than was to be
found anywhere else in America.'
Mathew Carey issued in 1798 the thirteenth volume
of the American Museum, a periodical which contrib-
uted much to the advancement of manufactures and
literature not only in the city but throughout the
Union. Twelve consecutive volumes had been issued
between 1787 and 1792. The eighteenth volume
(quarto) of the " Enc}'clopfedia Britannica," with nu-
merous plates, was completed in the same year by
Thomas Dodson. Three additional volumes were
afterward published.
The Philadelphia Premium Society was instituted
in 1801, for the purpose of fostering American indus-
try by giving premiums for improvements in art and
manufactures. Professor Robert Hare, of Philadel-
phia, this year invented the compound or oxy-hydro-
gen blow-pipe, by which many substances before
deemed infusible were readily melted. By it lime
and magnesia were raised to a white heat, and all well-
known metals, gun-flints, and' corundum gems, were
burned, producing a light brighter than that of the sun.
In the invention and construction of machinery,
and instruments for practical and scientific purposes,
the mechanics and inventors of Philadelphia very
early acquired great reputation and skill. The rec-
ords of American inventions contain few names more
distinguished for usefulness than Godfrey, the in-
ventor of the quadrant; Kittenhouse, who made the
first telescope constructed in America, and whose
orrery and other scientific instruments displayed un-
usual inventive and mathematical genius ; of Frank-
lin, Evans, Fitch, Fulton, and others, whose inventive
and constructive skill have added to the permanent
wealth of the city, State, and Union.
The facilities of Philadelphia for a great manu-
^ Morse's Gazette'
facturing centre seem to have impressed foreigners
very strongly. In "Travels in the United States of
America in the years 1806-7, and 1809-11," by John
Mellish, the writer said of Philadelphia, —
'* The manufactures of this city iire rising Into great importance. The
principal are leather of every description, a great variety of wood and
iron worlts, sliipa, ropes, fermented and distilled liquors, earthenware,
tin-plate, hats, stocllings, and a vast variety of cloths of various descrip-
tions. The printing business is better established here than in any
other place on the continent, and gives employment to a great number
of paper-mills, and to all classes connected with the book trade — print-
ers, type-founders, engravers, booltbinders, booksellers, and stationers.
*' The whole export trade of the State is carried on through this city.
The exports are grain, flour, and provisions, flaxseed, timbers, various
iron utensils, cordage, bark, skins, hosiery, gunpowder, sashes, candies
cider, etc. The imports consist of British manufactures to a great
amount. West India produce, India goods, China produce, etc. The
exportsofthe State in 1805 amounted to $13,762,262, of which $4,365,240
was the produce of the State ; and tlie imports may lie reckoned at con-
siderable mure, as Philadelphia supplies the inhabitants of an immense
back country with manufactured goods, who find an outlet for their
produce by another channel, and remit in domestic produce or specie,
neitlier of which is exhibited in the custom-house returns.
"The city is under great obligations to the Quakers, who have given
a tone to the manners of the people different from what is to be found
in most other places of equal extent. They are industrious and sober,
and, though sufficiently commercial, they do not conduct their business
in the same dashing style which is done by some commercial cities, but
confine the&selves within bounds, and secure what they gain."
Among the early manufactures, there were none in
which citizens took more interest, or which were more
frequently spoken about, than the making of floor-
cloth, oilcloth, and carpet. This operation was com-
menced in 1807 by John Dorsey, a merchant, at the
factory on Chestnut Street, between Eleventh and
Twelfth, on the north side, on a lot afterward occupied
by the Gothic mansion, — a building subsequently
tenanted by St. John's Catholic Orphan Asylum,
and succeeded by Concert Hall. It was a matter
worthy of particular comment and rejoicing that in
this establishment there were two looms for making a
strong cloth of a quality between sail-duck and Rus-
sia sheeting. One of these could weave a piece of
seven yards in width, and one man could turn out
from thirty-two to forty-five yards per day. The style
was similar to that of Hare's patent imported oil-
cloths, the material being plain and in colors, and
sold at from $1.25 to $2 per yard. Old rag carpets
were coated with composition at the same establish-
ment. In 1808 the prices of Dorsey's goods were as
follows : Floor-cloth carpets, one, two, and three
colors, of any size, with or without border, $2.25 per
square yard ; three colors, $2 ; two colors, $1.75; one
color, $1.50.
In 1808, Isaac Macaulay established a factory on
Market Street, near the Schuylkill bridge, for the
manufacture of oilcloth and carpetings of one, two,
three, and four colors. In April, 1810, Macaulay
purchased the interest of Dorsey in the factory on
Chestnut Street, and he made preparations to carry
on the manufacture on a more extensive scale. Mr.
Macaujay removed the establishment almost imme-
diately to the northeast corner of Broad and Filbert
Streets. In the early part of 1815 he removed from
2232
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Centre Square to the Hamilton mansion, at Bush
Hill. Here he established his factory, and built for
himself a fine dwelling-house adjoining. Afterward
additional buildings were put up, which extended as
far north on Schuylkill Fifth [Eighteenth] Street as
Morris [now called Spring Garden] Street. The suc-
cess in manufacturing oilcloth was very great. Ma-
caulay was induced to undertake the manufacture
of carpets. Workmen were imported from Kidder-
minster, England, and the carpet-looms were set up
in the old Hamilton mansion. Here Mr. Macaulay
spun his own yarn for carpets, and spun yarn for
canvas, which was woven twenty-one feet wide, to be
used for oilcloths. It is believed that in this estab-
lishment were woven the first Brussels carpets made
in the United States. In 1821, Mr. Macaulay made
the ingrain carpetings for the State capitol at Harris-
burg. In April, 1825, a patent was granted to him
for improvements in oilcloth.
The following is a summary of the principal manu-
facturing establishments of the city in 1811 : Looms,
273; spinning-wheels, 3648; oil-mills, 3; carriage-
shops, 17 (value of work in 1810, ^98,500); soap-
and candle-works, 28; glue manufacturers, 14; dis-
tillers, 18 (gallons distilled in 1810, 1,283,818) ; sugar
refineries, 10 ; rope-walks, 15 ; potteries, 16 ; tobacco-
and snufi'-mills, 27 ; copper-, brass-, and tin-factories,
44 ; hatters' shops, 102 ; paper-mills, 7 ; printing-
offices, 51 ; cutlers' shops, 28 ; gun-factories, 10 ;
glass-works, 3.^ To these may be added, from the
official digest of the marshal's returns, published
afterward: looms and fly-shuttles, 186; spindles in
factories, 4423; stocking-looms and factories, 165;
print-works, 8 ; print-cutting establishments, 4 ; nail-
eries, 20; saw-factories, 2; bell-foundries, 10; shot-
factories, 3; morocco-factories, 7; breweries, 17;
blacksmith-shops, 201; copper-shops, 124; drug-
mills, 6; brush-factories, 24; drum-makers, 5; en-
graving establishments, 16 ; book-binders, 86 ; print-
ing-press factories, 2; Spanish cigar-factories, 9
(makiog 3,900,000 Spanish cigars in addition to
26,900,000 American cigars); wheat-mills, 33; saw-
mills, 17 ; mahogany saw-mills, 21 ; brick-kilns, 30,
etc.^ The population of the city in 1810 was 111,210,
that of New York by the same census being 96,372.
The total value of manufactures in the city proper
was $16,103,869, and for the State, $44,194,740.
From the "Picture of Philadelphia," by Dr. James
Mease, in 1811, it will be perceived that the city al-
ready possessed many manufactures:
" The various coarser metallic articles, wliich euter so largely into the
wants and busiuess of mankind, are manufactured to a great extent, io
a variety of forms, and in a sulietiintial manner. All the various edge-
tools for mechanics are extensiv<-ly made, and it may be mentioned as a
fact calculated to excite surprise, that our common screw-auger, an old
and extensively used instrument, has been recently announced in the
British publications as a capital improvement in mechanics, as it cer-
tainly is, and that all attempts by foreign artists to make this instrument
durable have failed.
kinds of metals are wrought with neatness and taste. The
rieties of tin-ware in particular may be mentioned as worthy
of attention. But above all, the working of the precious metals has
reached a degree of perfection highly creditable to the artists. Silver
plate, fully equal to sterling as to quality and executiou, is now made^
and plated wares are superior to those commonly imported iti the way
of trade. Floor-cloths, of great variety of patterns, without seams, and
the colors bright, hard, and durable ; various printed cotton stufif, war-
ranted fast colors; earthen-ware, yellow and red, and stone-ware are
extensively made; experiments show that ware equal to that of Staf-
fordshire might be manufactured, if workmen could be procured.
"The supply of excellent patent shot is greater than the demand.
All the chemical drugs, and mineral acids of superior quality, are made
by several persons; also carding and spinning machines for cotton, flax,
and wool. Woolen, worsted, and thread hosiery have long given em-
ployment to our German citizens, and recently cotton stockings have
been extensively made.
** Paints of twenty-two different colors, brilliant and durable, are in
common use from native materials, the supply of which is inexhausti-
ble. The chromate of lead, that superb yellow color, is scarcely equaled
by any foreign paints.3 There are fifteen rope-walks in our vicinity.
We no longer depend upon Europe for excellent and handsome paper-
hangings, or pasteboard, or paper of any kind. The innumerable arti-
cles into which leather enters are neatly and substantially made; the
article saddlery forms an immense item in the list. The leather has
greatly improved in quality; the exportation of boots and shoes to the
Southern States is great, and to the West Indies, before the interruption
of trade, was immense. Morocco leather is extensively manufactured.
The superiority of the carriages, either in respect to excellence of work-
manship, fashion, or finish, has long been acknowledged. The type-
foundry of Biuney and Ronaldson supplies all the numerous printing-
offices in the United States. There are one hundred and two hatters in
the city and liberties. Tobacco, in every form, gives employ to immense
capital. The refined sugar of Philadelphia has long been celebrated;
t^n refineries are constantly at work. Excellent japanned and pewter-
ware, muskets, rifles, fowling-pieces, and pistols are made with great
neatness. The cabinet-ware is elegant, and the manufacture of wood,
generally, is very extensive. The houses are ornamented with marbles
of various hues and qualities, from quarries near Philadelphia.
" Mar's works, at the corner of Ninth and Vine Streets, on the Ridge
road, the property of Oliver Evans, consists of an iron-foundry, mould-
makers' shop, steam-engine manufactory', blacksmith's shop, and mill-
stone manufactory, and a steam-engine used for grinding sundry mate-
rials for the use of the works, and for turning and boring heavy cast
and wrought-iron work. The buildings occupy one hundred and eighty
feet front, and about thirty-flve workmen are daily employed. They
manufactui'e all cast- or wrought-iron work for machinery for mills, for
grinding grain or sawing timber, for forges, rolling- and sliiting-mills,
sugar-mills, apple-mills, bark-mills, etc., pans of all dimensions, used
by sugar-boilers, soap-boilers, etc., screws of all sizes fur cotton-presses,
tobacco-presses, paper-presses, cast-iron gudgeons, and boxes for mills
and wagons, carriage-boxes, etc., and all kinds of small wheels and
machinery for cotton- and wool-spinning, etc. Mr. Evans also makes
steam-engines on improved principles, invented and patented by the
proprietor, which are more powerful and less complicated and cheaper
than others, requiring less fuel, and not more than one-fiftielh part of
the coals commonly used. The small one at use at the works is on this
improved principle, and is of great use in facilitating the manufacture
of others. The proprietor has erected one of his improved steam-
engines in the town of Pittsburgh, and employed to drive three pair of
large millstones, with all the machinery for cleaning the grain, ele-
vating, spreading, and stirring and cooling the meal, gathering and
bolting, etc. The power is equal to twenty-four horses, and will do as
much work as seventy-two horeee in twenty-four hours. It would drive
five pair of six feet millstones, and grind five hundred bushels of wheat
in twenty-four hours.
" All kinds of castings are also made at the Eagle Works, on Schuyl-
kill, belonging to S. & W. Richards."
Pas the first manufacturer of water-
from London, England, in the year
company with another man, in New
ame to Philadelphia, and started the
1 Mease's " Picture of Philadelphia."
- Coxe's " Census Digest."
* George C, Osborne, it is said,
colors in this country. He cam(
1808, and started the business, in coi
York. A few years after that he can
same business again, in company with D. B. Smith, at the northeast
corner of Sixth and Arch Streets, in 1824, and remained with that gen-
tleman until 1837, when he died, on September 1st of that year. His son,
George W. Osborne, continued manufacturing water-colors in this city.
MANUFACTURES.
2233
The Columbian Chemical Society of Philadelphia
was formed in 1811. In the same year a patent was
issued to Edward W. Carr for a machine for cutting
wood screws, and to Thomas Massey for a water loom,
and to Robert Hare for a mode of ripening and keep-
ing malt liquors and cider, consisting of air- tight
casks fitted with a pneumatic cock with two orifices,
etc., and to Samuel Wetherell, Jr., for a mode of
washing white lead, and another for setting the beds
or stocks in making white lead, and for screening and
jireparing white lead, and also for separating oxidized
from metallic lead, in the process of making red lead,
and using a machine for that purpose. The white
lead made at the extensive works of the Wetherells
was at that time considered by painters equal to the
imported. Red lead was made to the amount of
sl3,000 annually by three factories in the city. The
lirilliant chromate of lead mentioned by Dr. Mease
was first made by Mr. Godon, and the process was
jjerfected by Mr. Henkel, of Philadelphia, who pub-
lished an account of his methods in Cooper's " Em-
porium of Arts and Sciences," in June, 1814.' The
material, chromic iron, was found abundantly near
the city, in Chester County, imbedded in steatite, or
soap rock. All the mineral acids and chemical drugs
were made by several houses in Philadelphia at this
date.
Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, the first steam-
engine builder in the United States, had in operation
in 1812 ten of his high-pressure engines. They were
in use in Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Among the
patents issued this year was one to E. Hazard and
Joseph White, of Philadelphia, for cutting screws ;
James Howell, for rolling wire ; E. Gordon, a rolling-
press for edge-tools.
Chemical manufactures, which received their first
prominence in Philadelphia by the Wetherells, re-
ceived considerable aid in 1814 from the chemical
and metallurgic skill of Dr. Eric BoUman, of the
city, who introduced Wollaston's method of working
crude platinum into bars, sheets, and other forms
serviceable in the arts. He succeeded in plating iron
and copper with that metal, of which there was in
the country a considerable and cheap supply. He
also prepared the silver-colored metallic lustre or
glaze for porcelain, with the oxide, and about this
time made for John Harrison, an enterprising manu-
facturer of oil of vitriol, the first platinum, still used
in the country for concentrating the acid. The still
weighed seven hundred ounces and contained twenty-
five gallons, and was used for fifteen years.
With the treaty of peace and amity with Great
Britain in 1815 immense cargoes of foreign manu-
factures were imported, and many new and imper-
fectly-established branches of domestic industry were
threatened with immediate destruction. Among the
1 N. S., vol. iii. 385.
petitions presented to Congress early in the year
1815 was one by Thomas Gilpin and other manufac-
turers of Philadelphia against the introduction of
goods subject to ad valorem duties at one- fourth to
one-half their real value, and asking a revision of the
revenue laws, which they suggested might be found
either in the substitution of specific for ad valorem
duties, or in the appraisement of a Board of Ap-
prisers at each custom-house, with power to decide on
the value of merchandise entered. The importations
of foreign goods for the first three-quarters of that
year amounted to upward of eighty-three millions of
dollars, and for the fiscal year next ensuing to one
hundred and fifty and a quarter millions of dollars,
of which one hundred millions paid ad valorem duties,
about seven-tenths of which was upon woolens and
cottons. It was supposed to be an object worth large
sacrifices on the part of English manufacturers to
break down the formidable rivalry of the growing,
but immature, manufacturers in this country, and for
the accomplishment of this object heavy consign-
ments of goods were made to be disposed of at auc-
tion, and upon liberal credits. American importers
were by no means averse to the encouragement of
these excessive importations, by which large profits
and ample fortunes were realized. The greatest ac-
tivity prevailed in all the avenues of trade, the ship-
yards were set at work, and the banks, no longer pay-
ing specie, liberally discounted mercantile paper, and
stimulated all classes to seek their fortunes in mer-
cantile ventures. Yet manufacturers suffered to a
very great extent, and many factories were closed.
The demand for raw cotton abroad increased, and
raised the price of uplands from thirteen cents in
1814 to twenty-seven cents in 1815, thereby still fur-
ther embarrassing the manufacture of that article.
The introduction of the power-loom alone saved the
manufacture of cotton from total destruction. In the
city and neighborhood of Philadelphia there were
employed at that time in the cotton manufacture
2325 persons; in the woolen, 1226 persons; in iron
castings, 1152 persons ; in paper-making, 950 persons ;
and in smithery, 750 persons. A special act of Con-
gress renewed this year the patents of Oliver Evans
for steam-engines, and Henry Tanner patented the
etching end-pieces of bank-notes, and John Eberts,
Philadelphia, a fall-top gig.
Jacob Perkins and Thomas Gilpin, of Philadelphia,
patented, in 1816, water-marks in paper, and Thomas
Gilpin the cylinder machine for making paper, — the
patentee, who, during the war, had erected large cot-
ton- and woolen-factories on the Brandywine, sus-
pended the latter and devoted himself to the manufac-
ture of paper. The banks in Philadelphia, New York,
Trenton, Baltimore, and elsewhere resumed specie
payments on the 20th February, 1817. The amount
of paper in circulation was, however, but little re-
duced, and the banking mania continued to multiply
banks all over the country. The distress among
2234
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
manufacturers was made known to Congress by peti-
tions, of which twenty-two were upon the subject of
bar iron and iron manufactures, principally in New
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, as well as from
the cotton and woolen manufacturers of New Eng-
land, New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. The I
Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of National {
Industrj- was formed about this time, and had for its |
object the protection of national industry in general,
but more particularly for manufactures perishing for
want of protection. It exerted very considerable in-
fluence upon the public mind, chiefly through a series
of published addresses from the pen of Mathew Carey
and others, who appeared as ardent and uncompromi-
sing advocates for protection, and for several years
labored in behalf of the manufacturers with a zeal and
disinterestedness seldom equaled. Among the patents
issued in 1817 was one to George F. Hagner, of Phila-
delphia, for manufacturing verdigris, and another for
making white lead. At the Dover Paper-Mills of
Thomas Amies, eight miles from Philadelphia, there
was produced in this year a sample of paper thirty-six
by twenty-six inches, weighing one hundred and forty
pounds, and valued at $125 per ream, and believed to
be superior to any ever made in the United States.
It was made from the finest linen rags, and the moulds
and felts were of the best kind.
Charles V. Hagner in 1812 established the " pioneer
drug mill." The Northern Liberty Pottery of Thomas
Haig, Sr., was opened in 1813, and also the white lead
factory of Mordecai and Samuel N. Lewis. The manu-
facture of fringe, laces, and trimmings was begun by
William H. Horstmann in 1815, the gold-beating
establishment of Marcus Bull in 1816, the manufac-
ture of plain and carved umbrella sticks by
Tasker in 1817 ; in 1818 the manufacture of chemi-
cals by Farr & Kunzi, and the boot and shoe estab-
lishment of Thomas Miles & Son. In 1819 the
manufacture of chemicals by John & Daniel El-
liott. In 1820 the manufacture of tin-work for
cotton and woolen machinery by John Butterworth,
the manufacture of umbrellas and jjarasols by Wright
Brothers, and the manufacture of drugs and making
of oil by Charles V. Hagner. The Upland Mills for
cotton goods was established in 1821 by John P.
Crozer and G. G. Leiper ; in the same year the
chemical laboratory of Rosengarten & Sons. The
Pascal Iron-Works was also established in this year
by Stephen P. Morris. In 1822 a stock company of
farmers united and established the brewery now con-
ducted by William Massey & Co. The hat-factory of
Joseph Fareira was established in 1823, and in the
same year John Maitland established, at 408 South
Street, a distillery.
The year 1819 was marked by the culmination of
all the embarrassments which had been heavily
pressing upon manufacturers since the peace of 1815.
Unchecked importation and a vitiated currency were
now disastrous to merchants and agriculturists. The
fall in prices of all agricultural products dimin-
ished the power of a large portion of the population
to purchase manufactures ; a general paralysis fell
upon all branches of industry, and the distress became
more general and severe than had been known before.
A committee of the citizens of Philadelphia reported,
in October of that year, that in thirty out of sixty
branches of manufactures there had been a reduction
from the average of 1814 and 1816, in the number
of persons employed, from 9425 to 2137 ; in their
weekly wages from $68,340 to $12,822 ; and in their
annual earnings from $3,033,799 to $666,744. The
actual loss of wages was therefore $2,366,935 per
annum ; and supposing the materials equal to the
wages, the loss of productive industry in a single
district not forty miles in diameter was $7,333,870.
In the cotton manufacture the hands <pere reduced
from 2325, in 1816, to 149 ; in book printing from 241
to 170 ; in the potteries from 132 to 27 ; in the woolen
branch from 1226 to 260 ; in iron castings from 1152
to 52 ; in paper-hanging and cards from 189 to 82.
In the paper manufacture the hands were reduced
from 950, in 1816, to 175, and their annual wages
from $247,000 to $45,900; the annual production
from $760,000 to $136,000. Again Mathew Carey
came with his powerful pen to the defense and
support of the manufacturing interests, and in his
six addresses, published by the Society for the Pro-
motion of National Industry, advocated the subject
of protecting the manufacturers.
The year 1820 witnessed the first regular shipment
of anthracite coal from Mauch Chunk to Philadel-
phia of three hundred and twenty-five tons. It was
sent by the Lehigh Navigation Company and mined by
the Lehigh Coal Company, both of which were organ-
ized in 1818, and in 1820 were merged into one asso-
ciation,— the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company,
— which was in 1832 incorporated.
Over four thousand looms were put in operation in
Philadelphia in 1821, chiefly for wearing cotton
goods ; calicoes of firm and fine texture were made
and printed and sold as low as the poorer qualities of
British calicoes.
Notwithstanding these facts, in the growth of man-
ufactures Philadelphia did not impress Flint with its
facilities for manufacturing. In 1822 he wrote, —
"Philadelphia does not abound in manufacturing establishments.
The predominance of British goods has shut up many workshops that
were employed during the late war. Paper is made in great quantities
iu Pennsylvania. Foundries for cast-iron articles are numerous. In
town there are two manufactories of lead shot. Printing is carried on
to a considerable extent, and is executed in superb style. It is said
that one of the late Edinburgh novels [Walter Scott's] was set up in
types in one day. ... On the Schuylkill there is a mill for cutting
brads, which produces no less than two hundred a minute. Philadel-
phia is in various respects well adapted to manufactures. If the facili-
ties it presents for its advancement are neglected, the city must decline,
as the trade of New York and Baltimore is making rapid progress."
The Franklin Institute commenced its career of
usefulness on the 28th of April, 1824. The objects, as
expressed in its charter, were the " promotion and
MANUFACTURES.
2235
encouragement of manufactures and the mechanics
and useful arts by the establishment of popular lec-
tures on the sciences connected with them ; by the
formation of a cabinet of models and minerals and
a library ; by offering premiums on all subjects deemed
worthy of encouragement; by examining all new in-
ventions submitted to them, and by such other means
as they may judge expedient." Soon after its forma-
tion a regular system of lectures was adopted, and
four professorships created. At this date Philadel-
phia had thirty cotton-mills, which averaged fourteen
hundred spindles each, and together employed five
thousand looms and three thousand persons. There
were thirteen breweries in the city, and $400,000
worth of umbrellas were manufactured annually.
The exhibition of domestic manufactures in the
rotunda of the capitol at Washington, in 1825, was
the result of a meeting of manufacturers of Philadel-
phia in 1824. Mr. Macaulay exhibited a great variety
of patterns of oilcloth, the manufacture of which
he had carried on for many years under patents of
his own invention. The very great dexterity of the
mechanics of Philadelphia was shown at the exhibi-
tion of the Franklin Institute in 1826, of a pair of
scissors which weighed only one-fifth of a grain.
David H. Mason, of Philadelphia, patented this year
ornamental rolls and stamps for bookbinders.
The manufactories set up from 1826 to 1832 were
as follows :
In 1836, the chemical-works of Charles Ellis, the decorative china busi-
ness hy Joseph Kerr, that of spades, shovels, and scoops by Jonathan Row-
land. In 1827, the Frankford Woolen-Mills and the Phoenix Iron Com-
pany. In 1828, the Port Richmond Iron-Works, the Park Run Mills, and
the Ripka Mills. Those in 1829 were for the manufacture of wagons by
David G. Wilson and John Childs, tlie chemical-works of Christopher
Weisner, the Conestoga Print-Works by Thomas Hunter. Those in
1830 were the Baldwin Locomotive-Works, the ship-building works of
William Cramp & Son, the manufacture of japanned, pressed, and plain
ware by Francis, Field & Francis, the carpet manufactory of An-
drew & William McCallum, that of machine card clothing by James
Smith. In 1831, the hosiery mills of John Button, the Tacony Chemical
Works of Nicholas Lennig & Co., the children's carriage-factory of E.
W. Bushnell, the Bible and publishing house of E. W. Miller. In 1832,
the O.xford Carpet-MiUs, by VFilliam Hogg ; the Hinchley Knitting-Mills,
by Aaron Jones; that of fine harness, by John Lacey.
In 1827 there were in Philadelphia and its vicinity
104 warping-mills at work, employing 4500 weavers,
over 200 dyers, 3000 spoolers, and 2000 bobbin-
winders. The manufacturing establishments were
over 50 ; the wages of operatives amounted to 11,470,-
000 per annum ; the goods manufactured to 24,300,-
000 yards. A large manufactory of American china,
owned by William Ellis Tucker, at 40 North Fifth
Street, was the only factory which brought the do-
mestic manufacture of china to any considerable
degree of perfection.
There were in 1828 ten mills in operation and in
course of erection at Manayunk, employing 636 per-
sons, and embracing the manufacture of flour, drugs,
saw grinding and polishing, carding and fulling cloth,
cotton and woolen goods, paper, etc.
An improvement in the manufacture of caoutchouc
was made in 1830 by Dr. J. K. Mitchell, of Philadel-
phia, who showed that india-rubber bags, after macer-
ation in sulphuric ether, could, by successive infla-
tions and collapses, or by being rolled in its soft state,
be made into thin bottles, or sheets of great size, and
that, after being cut with a wet knife, the edges would
adhere so that the place of union would be scarcely
visible.
The porcelain- and china-ware manufacture estab-
lished by William Ellis Tucker in 1827 was producing,
in 1831, wares pronounced by competent judges to be
second only in point of perfection to those of France.
Mr. Tucker now started the first American queensware
factory in the old water-works. He was this year
joined by Judge Hemphill, of Philadelphia, and they
established on a still larger scale the American Por-
celain Manufactory, at Nineteenth and Chestnut
Streets, which, after Mr. Tucker's death, in 1802,
was carried on successfully by Thomas Hemphill,
under his brother's capital. They owned a fine bed
of kaolin in Chester County.
The blue broadcloth, known as the Lafayette blue,
was dyed by F. Tassard, of Philadelphia, in 1832,
with prussiate of potash, which was believed to have
many advantages over indigo. This appears to have
been the first use of prussian blue or dye in this
country.
The year 1832 witnessed one of those political con-
troversies over the tariff' which have so often taken
place without either political result or material ad-
vantage to manufacturers. Philadelphia was in that
year the theatre where assembled the anti-tariff or
free-trade convention of September 30th, and New
York where the tariff convention of October 26th met.
The free-trade convention originated with H. D. Sedg-
wick, of Massachusetts, who called the same through
the New York Evening Post. The convention was
composed of delegates from fifteen States, and was
presided over by Judge P. P. Barbour, of Virginia,
with Condy Raguet, of Philadelphia, as secretary.
It adopted a series of resolutions expressing attach-
ment to the Constitution, and declaring that the ex-
isting tariff laws of Congress, so far as they were de-
signed to protect manufactures, were a manifest
violation of the true interest and meaning of the Con-
stitution, inexpedient, unequal, unjust, and oppress-
ive, especially the act of May, 1828, which was
oppressive to agriculture, commerce, and manufac-
tures ; that a solemn appeal should be made to the
people to unite in obtaining such a modification of
the tariff as might be essential to all the important
interests of the people, and calculated to quiet the
fears and satisfy the reasonable demands of every
section of the Union. An address to the people of
the United States and a memorial to Congress, pre-
pared by Albert Gallatin, were adopted.
The tariff convention met in New York in October,
and was composed of five hundred delegates. Wil-
liam Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, presided, and Heze-
2236
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
kiah Niles was secretary. The object of the conven-
tion was to take " into consideration what proceedings
might be necessary for the support and further ex-
tension of the American system as involved in the
protection of the various pursuits of domestic indus-
try." The convention affirmed the constitutionality
of the tariff, for protection ; memorialized Congress to
continue the protection of domestic industry. These
conventions were composed of men eminent for their
respectability and practical knowledge of the impor-
tant subjects discussed, and the addresses and memo-
rials prepared under their direction are among the
ablest expositions of the two great parties which then
divided the country on the subject of protecting
duties.'
Mathew Carey, of Philadelphia, died Sept. 17,
1839, in the eightieth year of his age, and by his de-
cease the system of protection to home industry lost
one of its most able and indefatigable advocates. For
years he fought the battle of the American manufac-
turer almost single-handed, and it was not until after
his death that his countrymen fully appreciated the
wisdom of his political philosophy, and the ardor and
sincerity of his philanthropy. Among the last acts
of his political life was the effort to allay the political
excitement throughout the South by the passage of
the " Bill of Abominations," as the tariff of 1828 was
called. His " Common Sense" essays, addressed to
the people of the South, and his circular to organize
a " Society of Political Economists" for the diffusion
of what he considered sound views of political econ-
omy, failing to meet with support, he abandoned the
cause, and devoted the remainder of his days to
benevolent and charitable objects.
The manufactures of Manayunk, in 1834, consisted
of Ripka's silesia- factory with 7176 spindles, 224
looms, and 300 hands ; 7 cotton-mills, with upward
of 22,000 spindles and 1000 hands ; Hay's woolen-fac-
tory, with 57 hands; Barrack's woolen and hat
factory, employing 57 hands ; Newman's dyeing
establishment, with 11 large vats and 21 hands ; the
Flat Kock Iron-Works, with 36 hands; Rowland's
saw-finishing mill, turning out 60 mill-saws per week ;
Echstein's paper-mill, making 300 reams weekly ; and
two flour-mills, making 215 barrels of flour daily.
In 1840 the official returns show that there were
184 foreign commercial and 44 commission houses,
with a capital of $2,049,501 ; 1791 retail stores, with
a capital of $17,082,384; 48 lumber-yards, with a
capital of $1,118,500 ; 2 furnaces, with a capital of
$259,050. Machinery was manufactured to the value
of $915,864; hardware and cutlery, $154,400 ; the
precious metals, $2,651,510 ; of various metals, $876-
060; 15 woolen-factories, capital $135,100; 17 cotton-
factories, with 17,922 spindles ; 14 printing and dye-
ing establishments, with a total capital of $117,500 ;
11 distilleries, 16 breweries, with a capital of $415,-
200 ; paints and drugs, $1,835,050 ; 1 glass-factory
and 1 glass-cutting establishment, with a capital of
$23,500; 6 potteries, with a capital of $24,000; 12
refineries produced refined sugar to the value of $890,-
000; 6 paper-factories produced $31,250; 12 rope-
walks, with a capital of $82,900 ; 1 sawmill, 1 flouring
mill, 1 gristmill, capital, $8000; furniture to the
amount of $526,200; 808 brick and stone houses, and
62 wooden houses, cost, $2,951,383; 46 printing-
offices, 12 binderies, 8 daily, 16 weekly, 7 semi-weekly
newspapers, and 26 periodicals employed 911 persons,
with a capital of $252,600. Total capital in manufac-
tures, $8,796,998.
MANUFACTURING INDUSTBIES OF PHILADELPHIA CITY AND COUNTY IN 1850.
Capital invested
in Man ufac-
Value of Raw
Material, includ-
ing Fuel.
Average Number of Hands
Employed.
Average Monthly Cost of
Labor.
Value of An-
nual Products.
"""■
Males. Females.
Males.
Females.
Philadelphia
1113,207,695
3,9i2,26l
2,913,446
3,765,711
2.171,065
630,364
7,237,380
$12,665,211
3,764,341
3,046,216
6,166,071
2,197,347
675,237
6,090,733
»l4S.fi7.>>
$97,966
12,200
9,538
13,279
1,344
2,372
71,396
$26,309 265
7,073,023
5,376,781
10,083,984
3,734,730
1,299,201
10,237,308
Northern Liberties...
4,463
4,326
6,723
2,089
1,970
6,706
1,181 i 115,657
854 1 93,303
1,890 1 163,010
167 60,021
283 1 46.868
Southwark
2,377
138,266
$33,737,911
$44,606,166
43,296
$1,062,799
$208,584
$64,784,212
In 1850 the old charcoal-furnace at Millville, N. J.,
upon the Maurice River, with its circumjacent tracts
of timber lands, containing twenty thousand acres,
fell into the hands of Richard D. Wood, one of the
most active and enterprising merchants and financiers
1 Condy Raguet issued about the beginning of the year 1829, The
Free-Trade Advocate, with Colbert's maxim, " Laissez nous faire," as the
motto of the Free-traders. The Advocate was merged into the Banner of
the Constitution^ under the same editorial management and in the same
political principles.
of this city, through advances made to a former owner,
who had there, in a primitive way, been making iron
castings, — stoves, iron pipes, etc. Mr. Wood erected
a small but well-appointed foundry for iron mains,
and afterwards further utilized the water-power by
building a cotton-mill, bleachery, and dye-house.
These two industries are now conducted by his sons,
and have grown to be one perhaps the largest, and
the other among the largest of their kind in the
country.
MANUFACTURES.
2237
In the spring of 1855 the affairs of the Cambria
Iron Company (which had been established in 1852,
for the purpose of making railroad iron, at Johnstown,
Pa.) having become embarrassed, Mr. Wood suggested
that they should be temporarily conducted by a com-
bination of its stockholders, under the firm-name of
Wood, Morrell & Co., and selected for the active
managers of this firm his brother, Charles S. Wood,
his partner, Edward Y. Townsend, who, in 1844, had
entered his dry-goods house as a young man, and
Daniel J. Morrell.
This capable management, although its great roll-
ing-mills were twice burned down, wrought a final
success, and the company's output is supposed to be
more valuable than that of any other similar estab-
lishment in the country.
C. S. Wood and Mr. Townsend have each been
president of the Cambria Iron Company, and Mr.
Morrell twice represented the Cambria District in Con-
gress, was chairman of the Committee on Commerce !
of the House of Representatives, and introduced the !
bill authorizing the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. \
The company is without debt, has ten thousand men I
in its pay, and has expended twelve million dollars
upon its plant and inventories of material.
Richard D. Wood, who took such an active part
in the financial and manufacturing interests of the
city at this time, was born at Greenwich, Cumber-
land Co., N. J., in 1799, and descended from one of
the early Quakers, who came to Pennsylvania from
Bristol, England, about 1682, and served on the first
grand jury impaneled in Philadelphia. In early life
he was in business at Salem, N. J., and in 1823 moved
to this city, when he founded the wholesale dry-goods
house soon widely known under the firm-name of
Wood, Abbott & Co., and which is still continued
with the title unchanged. During his whole busi-
ness life he was closely identified with the manufac-
turing interests of the city and State, and with the
internal improvements of Pennsylvania and West
Jersey. For a short period he was a director of the
Girard Bank, but a difiierence of views regarding its
management led to a severance of his relations with
it. In 1835 he became a director of the Philadelphia
Bank, serving in its board until 1863. In 1845 he
accepted a seat in the board of the Schuylkill Navi-
gation Company, in order to aid the enlargement of
its canal, which was then about to be undertaken, to
protect the trade of the company against the Phila-
delphia and Reading Railroad, which had been com-
pleted to Mount Carbon in January, 1842.' He con-
tinued to serve at intervals until 1863.
On March 16, 1847, he was a member of the com-
mittee which nominated the gentlemen who were
elected the first president and board of directors of
1 The interests of the companies were merged in 1870. Freights,
which while competition was active fell to less than one dollar, have
heen restored to the ruling prices before the railroad was built, and are
now about two dollars.
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Having been
eflScient in obtaining the popular and corporate" sub-
scription which had been made to the stock, he took
a place upon the first board in order to aid in the or-
ganization of the company. Feeling this had been
properly done, he resigned in November of the next
year.
After eight years of effort, Mr. Wood, in 1860, finally
prevailed upon the Camden and Amboy Railroad
Company to build eighteen miles of railway south
from Camden to Glassborough, simultaneously with
the extension of the road twenty-two miles to Mill-
ville by other interested parties. Extensions and
branches to the chief points in West Jersey quickly
followed, and the whole system is now controlled by
the West Jersey Railroad Company.
In 1861, trusting to the capacity of C. K. Landis,
then a young and comparatively unknown man, Mr.
Wood sold him twenty thousand acres ujion the West
Jersey Railroad. When sold this was a wilderness.
The settlement of Vineland, containing nearly ten
thousand souls, has been formed upon it.
In November, 1864, immediately after the second
election of Lincoln, knowing that the Rebellion would
not last, Mr. Wood sailed abroad for the second time,
and spent nearly two years in European and Eastern
travel. He looked upon these scenes with the eyes
of one always quick to observe, and to whom a long
knowledge of books, men, and affairs had given a true
and keen insight into whatever touches the happiness
of men wherever found. He observed the lives of
men in the Old World, and thought of the greater
prosperity to be enjoyed in the New. He foresaw his
own country springing rapidly forward, no longer
weighted with slavery, and wished that he were
young again to participate in its movements.
In 1866, in something of the fervid spirit prevalent
at the North towards a reconstructed South, he joined
in an investment in Virginia.
His latest thoughts of business ran much upon
finding ores for a proposed furnace on tide-water to
supply his foundries with pig-iron.
In January, 1839, he commenced the system of
making daily memoranda, and continued to do so
until his last illness. The diary thus kept for thirty
years is an object of interest. It is the minute record
of an intelligent and active man, and the index of an
earnest and noble life. It has briefly noted as they
passed a wide variety of events, the prices of com-
modities and stocks, exports and imports, states of
trade, panics in their coming and going, bank sus-
pensions, defalcations, discoveries, prospects and trou-
bles of railroads and canals, celebrities visiting the
city, Wistar parties and other social concourses, lec-
tures, literary or scientific, and political divisions and
2 The total subscriptions finally made by the city, the Northern Lib-
erties, and Spring Garden amounted to ?5,000,000, upon which invest-
ment there has been made a profit of $6,000,000 over and above six per
cent, interest.
2238
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
contests, with their rise and consequences. It reveals,
too, the private acts and heartfelt aspirations of the
writer, interspersed with his pithy reflections on the
books he read, the men he saw, and his wise and
courageous views of the world and of the Providence
sustaining it. Mr. Wood died in 1869. He was married
in 1832 to Julianna, daughter of Edward Randolph.
At his death the Board of Trade, which he aided
to found, in 1833, upheld his example as the " con-
stant friend and efficient counselor and assistant of
industrious and meritorious young men in their efforts
to rise to eminence and usefulness in the relative
positions of life." And note that it has been said of
him, that " there are at least one hundred men now
enjoying affluence as retired merchants, or elevated
positions as active business men in this community,
who owe their first success to a partnership in some
of the various business enterprises inaugurated and
prosecuted by Mr. Wood."
And herein may lie his best legacy.
MANUFACTUEES IN 1880,
No. of
EstaWish-
menta.
Capital
Invested.
Valae of
Raw
Material.
No. of
Males
Employed.
No. of
Females
Employed.
Value of
Products.
6314
106
34
13
$73,087,852
5,038,040
3,044,610
438,000
872,333,805
3,226,869
1,663,003
250,000
69,388
3,564
2,430
153
29,009
3,309
$141,048,658
6,777,349
3,888,151
641,160
Id tbe immediate Ticinity of the city:
78
6467
881,608,502 877.473.677
75,535
32,396
$162,355,318
I
Total number of persons employed, 107,931 ; average production of each person, $1411.60 ; average production of each establishment, $23,558.88.
Improvements in the mode of making straw-paper
were made and patented in 1858, by Martin Nixon,
6f the Flat Rock Mills, Manayunk, which furnished
the Philadelphia Ledger with the first straw-paper
used by the newspaper press in this country. In 1864
a company of capitalists organized the American
Wood-Paper Company, and erected a mill at Man-
ayunk, which, in connection with the Flat Rock
Mill, is the most extensive paper-works in the world.
The annual value of manufactured products was
estimated, in 1866, by Mr. Freedly at $225,139,014
within the city, and at $25,000,000 " beyond the city
limits within a radius of one hundred miles," making
a total of $250,139,014 for the city and vicinity.
MANUFACTURES IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1870.
Amount of capital invested, $181,076,919 ; in 1860, $81,608,502 ; in-
crease, $99,468,417.
Value of raw material, $182,103,594; in 1860, $77,473,677; increase,
$104,629,917.
Total number of employes, 127,394 ; in 1860, 107,931 ; increase, 19,463.
Value of products, $338,168,466 ; in 1860, $152,365,318 ; increase. $185,-
813,148.
Average production of each person, $2662.36 ; in 1860, $1411.60; in-
crease, $1260.76.
Average production of each establishment, $40,930.58; in 1860, $23,-
558.88 ; increase, $17,371.70.
Total number of establishmenis, 8262 ; in 1860, 6467 ; increase, 1795.
The very defective machinery for taking the census
provided by the law of 1850, and used in taking those
of 1860 and 1870, did not give full returns of all in-
dustries, and the " special statistics" and " selected
statistics of manufactures" published gave only par-
tial, and these verj- often defective, returns. The
omission of every industry the "gross production" of
which did "not exceed the value of $10,000" pre-
sented about as correct an idea of the manufactures
as the returns of population, which omitted a!l chil-
dren under ten years of age, would give of the number
of people in the city. To correct the errors and to
supply the omissions, Lorin Blodget made his elabo-
rate "estimates of manufacturing production for
1875-76," which, while they are estimates, were never-
theless so full and complete that their accuracy has
never been questioned, and was sustained by the sub-
sequent ascertained manufactures of the city. The
aggregate of these estimates of the leading manufac-
tures Lq 1875 was made by Mr. Blodget at $423,769,475,
and he placed the grand total of all manufacturer at
$552,000,000. Apprehensions were felt that the indus-
tries of the city would sufler serious prostration during
1876, and particularly at its close, the state of busi-
ness elsewhere being so extremely unfortunate. But
as regards manufacturing interests these fears were
not realized. While many were depressed, and suf-
fered in sympathy with general business, others were
fairly active, and still others were exceptionally busy
through the entire year. This was especially true of
the worsted manufacture, which had become very
large, and of some varieties of cotton goods, consti-
tuting staples of consumption in the West and South.
The large miscellaneous production of manufactured
articles of the most diverse character long existing
here had grown in 1876 to unusual proportions, and
afforded employment to a very great number of per-
.sons. Altogether the state of activity on the 1st of
December of that year had rarely been more satis-
factory, and the proportion of unemployed persons
among those accustomed to labor at wages was smaller
than usual. There was no general discontinuance of
either manufacturing establishments or of miscella-
neous employment. Wages were low, it is true, and
the prices obtained for many classes of manufactures
gave a very moderate profit only, yet nearly all the
MANUFACTURES.
2239
mills, on textile fabrics particularly, continued in
operation throughout the year.
In worsted goods the activity of the latter part of
the year was remarkable. The best machiner}' in the
country was engaged in worsted spinning, amounting
to nearly 50,000 spindles, with over 100 combs of the
latest construction, and all the complicated and costly
machinery connected with this class of work. Sev-
eral of the mills actively engaged on this compara-
tively new industry were at that time conspicuously
fine, particularly those of Fiss, Banes & Co., Tracey
& Co., Grundy Bros. & Campion, George Campbell &
Co. (on yarns only), and P. C. Garrett & Co., Schep-
pers Bros., Thomas Dolan & Co., with several others,
on worsted dress goods and coatings.
The next in activity were the establishments pro-
ducing standard cotton and mixed goods of the classes
so long made here for domestic consumption. Many
of these increased their machinery, and the aggregate
of business of this class, exclusive of cotton prints,
was about $12,000,000 in value.
The great carpet industry had been, on an average,
much the same in 1876 as in each of the two preceding
years. The increase in machinery of the better class,
for the production of the higher grade of carpets, had
more than compensated for the inactivity of the hand-
looms. The decline had been in prices rather than in
quantities, even of the standard ingrains ; and they
were carried into new and distant markets with un-
usual success.
The iron and machinery manufacture shared the
general decline of business in 1876, and fell off more
than textile fabrics. Hardware and tools were steadily
increased, especially building and carriage hardware,
with wood-working machinery, and machinery for the
manufacture of textile fabrics. The extent of the use
of minor forms of machinery greatly increased, al-
most compensating for the decline in the heavier forms
employed in railroad equipment and iron-working.
In wood manufactures generally the business of 1876
was good, particularly in furniture and interior deco-
rations. Building had made more progress than usual,
— the addition of some six thousand dwellings and
stores to the permanent city had called for an unusual
amount of furnishing, and the external trade in
finished furniture continued large.
The Centennial Exposition in 1876 was a national
and international exhibition, yet its location in Phila-
delphia, though primarily because it was in that city
one hundred years before that these States were de-
clared " free and independent," yet there was a fitness
in other respects in the location selected. These ma-
terial reasons were set forth by the Hon. Daniel J.
Morrell in his speech in the House of Representatives
on the 9th of March, when presenting the memorial
of the Select and Common Councils of Philadelphia.
Among other reasons, Mr. Morrell said, —
" If it ia conceded that an iDduBtrial exhibition is to be made in the city
where the industries are found in greatest variety and perfection, no
further entimeralion of Philadelphia's advantages or claims need be
made. New Yorlt may justly claim to be the commercial capital, bat
Pliiladelphia is certainly the industrial capital of America. To-day
Philadelphia is the first manufacturing city on tliis continent, and (he
second In the world, London being tlie first. The ceotius just talten
shows that the capital of its citizens invested iu manufactures largely
exceeds 8100,00(1,000, employing 15u,00(l workmen ; and the product of
its manufactures amounts to over $200,000,000 annnnlly. Unlimited
command of coal and iron, and nearness to the rich foud-producing lands
of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, have given Philadelphia
superior facilities ; but there could have been no such marvelous de-
velopment of productive forces if they had not been fostered by wise
national legislation. As contrasted with the greed and demoralization
caused by the predominance of foreign trade, Philadelphia strikingly
exhibits all the beneficial results whicli flow from the employment of
the people in productive industries. Capital and population are fixed
and steady, industry is varied to suit all tastes and capacities, invenUon
is stimulated, intelligence is [juickened, the people are more constantly
employed, the comforts of life are more abundant and more evenly dis-
tributed, vice finds a foe in well-regulated labor, the tiller of the soil and
the common carrier are kept busy and well rewarded, and our own, and
not a foreign land is benefited."
Philadelphia's exhibits at the Centennial amounted
to two thousand three hundred and sixty-six ; very
largely in excess of those from any other one locality.
The exhibits of her manufactures were distributed
among the seven departments as follows :
Mining and metallurgy, 87; manufactures, 710; education and science,
203; art, 218; machinery, 400 ; agriculture, 677 ; horticulture, 71.
Philadelphia exhibitors received 1049 awards.
STATISTICAL SUMMARY FROM 1850 TO 1882.
Number of ,j.j,,^[ Value of
Year. Establish- Capital. Haw Material. ■r^^,„^ Products
ments.
1860 $33,7:17,711 $44,605,156 69,099 $63,784,212
1860 6,467 81,608,6' 2 77,473,677 107,931 152,356,318
1866' 112,000,000 160,600 226,139,014
1870 8,262 181,076,919 182,103,594 127,394 338,168,466
18751 662,000,000
1880 8,377 170,496,191 187,169,375 173,862 304,691,726
1882 11,844 241,4.33 476,817,402
The census of 1882 of Philadelphia industries was
taken by the co-operation of the mayor and police
department with a committee of citizens, beginning
in November, 1882, and completed in February, 1883.
The services of nearly three hundred officers were re-
quired to complete the canvass for the wards and dis-
tricts in detail, and returns were obtained by them from
about eleven thousand five hundred industrial estab-
lishments, especially applicable to the year 1882. These
were placed in Lorin Blodget's hands for compilation
and revision, and they were first summarized to obtain
approximate results, then classified by wards, and
rigidly examined to see that they were correct and all
omissions supplied. Lastly, they were critically ex-
amined again in detail to prepare a summary, by in-
dustries, for the entire city.
In his report to the mayor Mr. Blodget says, —
"The general result more than sustains the preliminary estimate
made to you on January Ist, and substantially shows the existence of
about 12,000 industrial establishments in the city in 1882, the original
returns from 11,482 being filed and transcribed in classified form on the
ward books. These establishments employed in 1882, 146,307 men,
66,907 women, and 28,219 persons described as Youths, or being under
1 Estimated.
2240
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
sixteen years of age. This return was often construed to mean all per-
sons under twenty -one years, and about 5000 should he taken from them
to add to Jlfen, in order to represent the division correctly.
" This productive force aggregates 241,443 persons, and the values pro-
duced make up the sum of $474,317,402, exclusive of the Mint product,
— of which about $2,500,000 in value is purely a manufacture, making
the total $476,817,402. The total coinage of the Mint was $48,309,396,
and the total, including the Mint, amounts to $522,626,797,— all being for
the calendar year 1882."
. The whole report forms a considerable volume, and
gives full lists of all the leading classes of industries,
supporting the figures given for each class. The
printing and publishing, iron and steel manufac-
tures, and in a part of the textile classes, this census
shows twice as large aggregates as either form of the
United States census publications. Mr. Blodget
states some of the local differences as follows :
" The schedules of these final tabular statements enumerate 525 classes
of industries, as compared with 195 iu the compendium of the census of
1880. I have also the name and location of 3250 industrial establish-
ments not embraced in that census, with 67,583 more of persons em-
ployed, and $172,724,677 more in values produced. Yet for all the
common industries and trades, as blacksmiths, coopers, painters, wheel-
wrights, plumbers, etc., the returns in the tinited States census of 1880
exceed those embodied in this report for 1882, the diiference being
wholly with larger industries. The report accompanying these tables
will contain a description of leading industries and tabular statements
for each ward or group of wards, and also specific lists of establishments
for iron, machinery, textile fabrics, and all the leading industries, the
whole forming a volume of 160 pages, and constituting a complete ex-
hibit of the industries of Philadelphia for the year 1882."
SUMMAKY TABULAE STATEMENT OP THE SBVEEAL INDUSTRIES, THE NUMBER OF PERSONS EMPLOYED, AND THE
VALUES PRODUCED, IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FOR THE YEAR 1882.1
No. Estab- Value
Industries. lisbments. Men. Women. Youths. Total. of Product.
Acids, sulphuric, muriatic, and nitric 9 313 0 10 323 $1,365,000
Acids, other, with chemicals .". ... ... ...
Agricultural implements 19 390 0 39 429 710,735
Albums 3 22 4 2 28 35,400
Alcohol and cologne spirits 8 65 0 0 55 290,500
Ale and porter. See Brewers (8 301 1 0 302 1,328,000)
Alum and alum cake 6 165 0 0 165 776,000
Aluminium, manufactures 1 s 0 2 10 18,000
Ammonia, sulphate 2 65 0 0 65 227,600
Ammoniated fertilizers. See Fertilizers.
Ammunition and ordnance 2 88 60 26 163 280,900
Animal charcoal^ 2 48 0 0 48 258,000
Anthracene, from coal tar 2 16 0 0 16 80,000
Aquariums 12 0 2 4 6,000
Architects and builders s 10 156 0 0 156 471,500
Architectural woodwork* 2 35 0 2 37 60,000
Artificial flowers and feathers 13 44 476 40 560 460,000
Artificial limbs 8 28 3 1 32 48,000
Artificial teeth 13 137 37 25 199 357,200
Artificial stone for pavements 3 22 0 0 22 64,"00
Art work, bronze statuary 2 10 0 2 12 60,000
Art work, decorative 6 7 19 2 28 22,4ii0
Artistic pottery and vases 2 8 1 1 10 8,000
Artists in oil, copying only 6 9 2 0 11 38,000
Artists' materials 8 44 8 12 64 96,000
Asbestos packing 12 0 13 4,600
Asphnit pavements 2 68 0 0 68 204,000
Assayers and refiners 7 73 0 2 76 490,000
Awnings and tents. See Sails also 19 93 20 9 122 183,000
Axle grease 4 15 0 2 17 66,200
Bags, cloth 6 61 166 2 228 681,000
Bags, paper 14 112 247 93 462 808,600
Bakers, hand 924 2,012 267 326 2,595 6,648,585
Bakers, steam 10 351 139 156 645 1,369.821
Bakingpowder 7 28 23 7 58 119,.300
Barrels, sugar and flour, new 5 267 0 21 278 657,7:!2
Baskets and school-bags 31 64 9 11 84 108,950
Bath-tubs, wood iind zinc 3 20 2 0 22 39,600
Bedding and mattresses 36 . 151 164 23 328 802.400
Bed springs 6 33 1 4 38 68,400
Bellows 110 12 2,000
Belting, cotton 1 3 8 0 11 44,100
Belting, leather 7 59 0 8 67 388,600
Belts, dress and uniform 2 5 7 0 12 21,600
Billiard balls 2 5 0 0 5 6,200
Billiard tables 3 11 0 1 12 21,600
Birdcages. Also see Wire 2 7 0 2 9 13,500
Blacking, for stove-polish 6 16 21 9 45 68.800
Blacking, for leather 4 39 103 12 154 4,31,200
Black lead crucibles 5 67 6 1 74 259,000
Blacksmiths and horseshoers 248 804 0 64 868 1,233,200
Blank-books 26 290 145 164 689 1,178,000
Bleachers, straw 5 4 8 8 1 17 26,500
Bleachers, yarns and cloths' (15 125 0 20 145 300,000)
Blocks, pumps and ship-fittings 8 78 0 6 84 U5.300
Bluing and wash powders 10 23 11 6 40 54,000
Boats and barges, not steam 12 94 0 6 100 190,400
Bobhins and spools 11 71 10 33 114 163,650
Book-binders' 41 520 946 145 1,611 1,524,000
Book-binders' materials 3 20 0 4 24 43,200
1 All entries placed in parenthesis or inclosed in brackets are made for distinction of products only, and are not carried into the footings.
2 Includes one at a sugar refinery.
3 Many architects are direct employers, and a large number should be so reported.
* This designation should include about twenty of the "carpenters and builders." A number of establishments making furniture, or sash,
and blinds, also now make carved and finished interior work.
6 Not including straw-hat manufacturers, four in number, who are also straw bleachers.
" All these are repotted with dyers, print- and dye-works, or general cotton manufacturers.
' Also in most cases making blank-books to some extent.
MANUFACTURES.
2241
No. Estab-
iDdostries. liahmeats.
Book-printers and publishers 18
Book-pulilishers not printers 62
Boots and sboes 996
Boot and shoe uppers 17
Boot and shoe cut stock 2
Boot and shoe findings 7
Boot and shoe tools, not knives 2
Bottling and mineral waters 37
Boxes, cigar, wooden , 14
Boxes, pHper 36
Boxes, for packing, wooden 46
Boxwood blocks. See Engravers' Blocks. -
Brass founders and fioiuhers 47
Brewers, ale and porter 8
Brewers, beer 75
Brewers, weiss beer 9
Bricks, pressed, enameled, and common 62
Brick and tile, ffie 13
Bricklayers aud builders 49
Bristle dressers 2
Bronzes and mixed metals^ 14
Brooms and whisks 47
Brushes, all kinds 29
Brush blocks 2
Butchers' blocks 2
Butter 3
Burterine and oleomargarine 2
Buttons', cloth coveieds 3
Buttons, bone and ivory 2
Buttons and studs, pearl shell 13
Button-fasteners and novelties 2
Buttonhole strips, for shoes ; 10
Calcium lights and oxygen 1
Caneis, whips, and handles ^. 7
Canned vegetables and fruits^ 2
Cardboards and cards, fine 1
Cards, fancy 5
Cards, playing : 1
Card^i, notes and invitations, engraved and printed 6
Carpenters and builders 406
CiirpHts, Brussels, tapestry, ingrains, etc 237
Carpets, rags, list, and chain 99
Carpets, wood 1
Car rages and wagons 137
Carriages, children's 7
Carriage mHterials, wood 9
Cars, railroad 14
Car-Springs, See Steel Springs.
Chains. See Iron Chains.
Chemirals, not designated * 29
Chemical fertilizers „ (4
China decorators 4
Chronometers 1
Cigars. See Tobacco (490
Cigar moulds, of wood , 2
Clothing, men's and boys' 562
Clothing, women's suits and cloaks 276
Clothing, men's shirts and underwear „ 109
Clothing, women's and children's lace-trimmed articles 39
Clothing, suspenders and web goods 12
Clothing, neckwear, scarfs, etc 8
Clothing, of rubber cloth 3
Clothing, of oiled cloth 2
Cloth finishing, woolen 3
Coal tar products (2
Coffee-roasters and grinders 11
CofiRns, cHskets, and undertakers* articles 35
Coinage, United States Mint, all (1
Color-works 2
Combs 5
Compressed fuel 1
Confectioners .- 204
Confectioners' moulds and tools 3
Coopers. See Barrels, also 60
Copper coinage. See Coinage {...
Copper manufacturers ....„ 7
Copying presses 2
Cordage and twine, flax and hemp 9
Corks and manufactures of corks 9
Costumers and manufacturers of costumes 5
Cotton-yarn goods 81
Cot tun-yarn goods finishers 7
Cotton coverlets 18
Cotton towels, separate establishments » 4
Cotton laps and wadding 3
Cotton thread, cord, and twine 3
3,734
6,402
Value
Women.
Touths.
Total.
of Product.
327
195
1,311
«2,269.800
121
79
687
3,493,010
2,863
663
10,016
12,49.5,S00
59
12
133
149,500
11
4
2*
43.2(X)
1
4
20
24,:ioo
2
1
5
6.300
1
24
201
436.000
46
39
153
242,700
l,54S
126
1,919
1,377,400
0
33
435
853,300
60
152
966
2,366,070
1
0
302
1,328,000
9
6
1,220
5,851,(K)0
0
1
26
10n,(K)0
0
636
3,032
2,333.000
0
26
302
636.3(10
0
35
602
1,304,7.50
0
0
13
29..500
4
27
192
2,312,400
72
89
425
7S9.701
77
610
980
824,093
0
16
36
36.000
0
1
3
4,.500
0
2
7
12,300
21
11
137
585,000
26
7
39
33,100
13
46
166
179,000
62
63
289
260,600
2
0
6
1,500
127
16
215
139,750
0
0
9
16,200
0
18
69
75,700
140
7
161
241, ."iOO
138
61
268
7.54,000
15
6
41
42.600
23
1
31
36,000
84
12
137
175.000
0
97
3,831
7,129.700
3,622
1,019
11,043
20,3110,445
10
8
187
235,000
0
6
55
82 .500
4
128
2,051
2,956,528
3
43
138
193.100
2
15
129
242,0fl0
0
80
2,121
6,366,500
186
91
1,473
6,441,925
0
10
280
1,350,000)
4
0
18
9.B00
0
0
2
2.000
383
350
3,054
3,164,000)
0
0
23
25.000
10,269
934
20.396
31,2^0.958
2,851
70
3,132
3.138,333
3,3i'6
141
3,804
4,010,450
1,04S-
45
1,210
1,511,000
112
11
144
149 000
231
15
295
324,500
62
6
84
110,000
15
0
15
30,000
0
0
24
52,8' 0
166
)
0
5
56
360,700
24
21
210
370,200
129
0
310
48,309,395)
0
0
9
38 .000
4
60
74,200
0
0
11
16,500
738
391
1,962
5,348.6.50
0
1
19
26,000
0
42
550
848,530
38.5,811)
0
9
123
354,700
0
5
45
67,250
244
320
991
l,973.fi0fl
22
13
85
101.760
28
2
38
47,500
5,019
1,172
9,523
13,100,333
26
49
237
472,.500
196
46
434
697,800
47
3
81
113,400
2
2
9
9..'i00
8
2
22
37,800
1 This covers non-friction bronzes, or the hard-bearing metals only ; phosphor bronze, Ajax bronzes, hard Babbitt metal, FuUerton's and
deoxidized bronze. Other compounds of zinc, tin, and lead for like purposes are under " solder" and " metals, non-friction."
* Buttons covered with silk thread are made at other establishments, whose force is included under upholstery goods. Also, under bone
buttons are included bone dice, chessmen, dominoes, and bone- and ivory-lurned articles.
8 Several establishments in which some work is done in the city in preparing canned vegetables and fruits, employ a large force in country
towns, where the vegetables are grown. The business, as controlled and directed by Philadelphia houses, is about 8^,000,000 in value yearly.
* Not including acids, alum, ammonia sulphate, animal charcoal, anthracene, and coal-tar products, chemical fertilizers, paints, and colors, soaps,
white lead, etc. Pharmaceutical preparations are also excluded.
5 See Anthracene.
2242
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
InduBtrleti.
Cotton webbJDg, bindiogs, etc
Cotton yarns
Cotton waste, for packing
Cutlery and steel toolsi
Dental ioet rumen ts, steel
Dentists' materials
Designera and card stampers
Diamond cutting and setting
Disinfectants
Distillers and rectifiers
Dolls and doll bodies
Drugs and medicines. See Medicines.
Drug-millsS
Dyes and dye extracts
Dye and print works, cloths
Dye works, general 3
Dyers and printers of silk yarns*
Dyers of straw braids
Dyers and scourers
Earthenware and pottery.
Electric light machinery and apparatus
Electro-pliiter8,goId and silver^
Electrotypers
Elevators and hoisting machinery
Embroidery and stamping.
Enameling
Engravers, bank-note
Engravers, general
Engravers, steel and copperplate*
Engravers of music
Engravers on wood
Engravers' blocks, boxwood
Engravers' plates, steel, etc
Envelopes and tags " ,
Extmcts, medicinal. See Pharmaceutical Products
Extracts and fruit flavors
Extract of beef.
Feather and down beds. See Bedding, etc.
Feathers, dyed and finished ,
Feather dusters
Felting and cementcovers
Fertilizers, chemical
Fertilizers, animal matter
Files. See Steel
Fire-brick and tile ,
Fish preserving
Fishing-tackle and nets
Flasks and demijohns, of glass, covered
Florists and seedsmen 8
Flouring-mills
Foundry facings
Fruit-jellies and preserves
Fruits, desiccated and evaporated
Furniture and chairs
Furs, hatters', cut^
Fur manufacturers, clothing ,
Galvanizing. See Iron
Gas-works
Gas-fixtnres
Gas-meters — not generators
Gas-tanks and apparatus. ,
Ganges, steam and water. See Machinery.
Gilders and bronzers
Glaa.'*-cutters, decorators, and stainers
Glassware, flint and green, hollow
Glass tubes and blow-pipes
Gloves, not knit ,
Glue and glue products ,
Gold assay, fiscal year ,
Gold coinage, calendar year
Gold chains and rings ,
Gold leaf and foil
Goldplaters, with electro- platers ,
Gold watch-casesJo
Grinders and polishers with cutlery and tools
Grindstones
Guns, pistols, and sportsmen's articles ,
Haircloth
Hair, curled
Hair felting (boiler covering)
No Estab-
Value
liBhmenta.
Men.
Womeo.
Youths.
Total.
of Product.
i
46
298
70
414
$522,000
15
219
304
260
783
1,245,200
5
32
38
0
70
87,500
297
5
85
387
624,500
13
437
33
110
680
956,100
4
23
8
9
40
186,000
8
35
2
20
67
71,250
67
1
3
61
220.400
2
15
0
0
15
19,000
63
1
3
67
519,000
6
4
. 15
5
24
30,000
4
50
0
2
52
98,600
5
43
1
3
47
225,000
6
401
69
86
655
3,S89.000
80 ,
1,385
44
110
1,539
3,032,200
(4 •
61
20
10
91
255,000)
8
0
0
8
72,000
49
97
31
6
134
160,800
4
126
11
43
180
257,900
16
178
29
22
229
343,750
5
45
1
13
69
88,500
6
125
8
45
178
261,600
(9
200
1
7
208
385,000)
8
U
92
4
107
149,800
2
4
2
2
8
15,000
10
10
57
135,000
38
202
10
81
293
386,175
5
38
8
13
59
120,600
2
6
0
2
8
14,000
16
52
5
11
68
86,700
3
43
0
8
61
76,500
12
0
0
12
23,200
8
58
164
14
236
361,000
6
27
6
2
35
52,500
1
7
1
2
10
18,000
3
2
5
0
7
18,400
2
4
2
0
6
9,000
1
2
0
0
2
2,000
4
270
0
10
280
1,420,000
6
74
0
2
76
279,500
(8
381
2
231
680
684,000)
13
276
0
26
302
636,300
1
8
0
0
8
22,000
6
25
4
6
34
61,000
4
14
28
51
93
237,000
65
168
28
28
224
352,300
24
160
1
21
182
2,4:10,000
2
32
0
0
32
160,000
5
189
81
57
327
510,100
2
12
1
12
25
85,900
271
4,273
180
491
4,953
7,594,979
1
20
0
6
26
60.000
29
130
278
32
440
929,986
(9
460
2
33
495
2,166.000)
9
2,611
0
6
2,617
3,691,152
10
486
49
51
586
919.600
3
233
7
27
267
634,000
2
60
0
0
50
90,000
5
12
1
5
18
27,000
20
167
38
48
253
379,500
12
1,423
353
1,068
2,834
2,724,900
3
17
3
9
29
28,100
3
12
40
3
65
66,500
4
226
35
62
323
869,000
(1
10
0
0
10
490,000)
(1
122
120
0
242
36,849,90(1)
2
13
0
7
20
30,000
11
159
• 208
54
421
69j,660
(3
10
0
2
12)
12
469
181
212
862
1,386,644
(5
15
0
0
20)
2
10
0
0
10
30,000
16
44
0
10
54
93,600
3
16
37
4
56
137,500
7
219
95
76
390
1,086,300
1
3
0
0
3
4,500
drugs j
* steel and iron tools," under which all tools, properly ao-called,are classified ; also see surgical instruments.
e are simply grinding-mjlls, with machinery adapted to grinding drugs, chemicals, minerals, etc., and are not themselves producera of
I any form.
3 These are jobbing dyers, not connected with other works, and not including dyers and scourers, but include six dyers of silk yarns. There
are also thirty-five large dye-houses attached to cotton- and woolen-mills not included in this summary.
* With general dyers.
6 Many large establishments do their own electro-plating, with gold, silver, or nickel ; these are separate establishments only.
« Includes Jan)e.s Dunn, copper rollers, 247 South Third; Illman Bros., 605 Arch ; John Sartain and Emily Sartain, 728 Sansom; and Samuel
Sartain, 210 Franklin, with others.
7 Wholesale envelope and tag manufacturers only. For envelopes lettered to order, see " paper, envelopes, and stationery."
8 Representing the value of made-up bouquets and prepared floral ornaments only.
* Separated as a part of a larger establishment making hats.
10 See under " watch cases, silver," the product of Hagstoz & Thorpe, in case? of silver, all the persons employed on both gold and silver case*
being included here. The weekly product of these larger works is 1200 cases of silver and 900 cases of gold.
MANUFACTURES.
2243
Industries.
Hair, human
Hair Jewelry
Hairpins
Hames, wood and iron
Hardware (not chiefly of iron)
Harness and saddlery
Hat-blocks and moulds, wood and iron....
Hilt* and bonnet-frames „
Hats iind caps, men's and boys*
Hats and bonnets, straw
Hats and bonnets, trimmed.. <
Hat bodies
Hat leathers and tips
Hide-dresners, salting and cleaning
Hoopakirts
Horse clothing (with blankets)
Horse sandals
Hosiery and knit' goods 1
Hosiery silk, and silk and rubber
House furnishing goods
Hydrant cases, wooden
Ice-cream freezers
Ice-wagons and implements^
India rubber reclaiming
India rubber clothing
Ink, printing
Ink, wi'iting
Insect powder
Instrument cases
Men. Women. Tonths. Total.
IhON MANtTFAOTUEES.
Blast furnace
Rolling-mills, bar, sheet, and plate-
Cut nails and spikes
Horse-slioes
Sheet, galvanized
Galvanizing-works, other
Foundries, Classified:
Car seats
Car wheels
Hardware specialties
Hollow-ware and stoves
Malleable iron castings.
Ship propellers
General building foundries
Wbought-Iron, Classified:
Architectural, railings and tire escapes, plain a
Axles, in part steel 3
Bolts, nuts, and rivets, punched and wrought...
Carriage-bolts, wrought
Chains and cables
Hardware, chiefly wrought
Nails and spikes, wrought'*
Pipe, wrought and welded
Railway switches and track material
Safes and fire-proofs
Scales and balances
Screws, for wood and iron
Ships and ship-building^
Ship repairs, iron «
Sheet iron, stamped wares
Shovels and hods, stamped
Steam-heating apparatus
Stoves, heaters, and ranges^
ufactu
of Product.
$349,450
16,600
18,206
28,0011
342,450
838,050
28,0fl0
77,400
2,261,768
713,750
298,150
102,600
64,600
486,600)
21,000
385.000
9,200
14,106,6tO
112,500
63.260
7,600
39.600
146,200
39,000
110,000)
346,000
82,600
2,600
16,000
50,000)
3,449,300
210,000)
104,000)
1.280,600
2,165,(100
40,000
600,000
916,600
1,98.6,000
1,479,600
liO,000)
3,658,811
875,000
118,000
1,369,600
688,000
346,200
435,000
16,000
2,363,000
575,000
264,000
280,000
138,000
5,620,000
253,400
3211,000
315.000
275,000
1,666,000
85,000
300,000
3,809
1,742,500
7,506,200
^ It is not possible to separate the number of establishments and the force employed on hosiery and knit goods into the several natural divi-
sions of cotton hosiery, woolen and mixed hosiery, knit scarfs, hoods, operai*, gloves, jackets. Jerseys, etc., because of the constint alterations of
production in the same establishments. It may be said, generally, that hosiery wholly of cotton employs one-half the force, and the various
grades of merino or mixed hosiery, jackets, etc., one-fourth of the entire force, leaving one-fourth to all wool or worsted goods. Tliis would not be
true of power-knit fabrics alone, but when the large and increasing proportion of hand-knit zephyrs and Shetland fabrics is considered, it has
nearly the proportion of one-fourth. Cardi«ran jackets are now made very largely of cotton, and in a few establishments mixtures of silk are
used. The rate of production varies from S850 to J900 for each person employed on cotton, to $1000 on merino, and $12.50 to $1500 for woolen
power-knit goods, jackets, fancy articles, and especially for worsted Jersey cloths and Jerseys, which for 1883 will aggregate a larger product, oc-
cupying some large mills almost exclusively.
2 Four establishments, belonging to the Knickerbocker Ice Company, for the manufacture of wagons, springs, and machinery for handling Ice,
to be sold to dealers in ice generally.
3Not including locomotive axles, whicli are largely made at the Baldwin works, nor steel axles, which are made at the Midvale works, and by
Alexander Foster & Co.
* The wrought-nail industry has almost disappeared, but there are a few makers of wrought spikes, nails, and rivets for special uses, particu-
larly for ship-building and repairs, and boiler manufacture.
^ Including 200 men for the new ship-building works of Commander Gorringe, but no product counted for these works during 1882.
fi All that are manufacturing finishers of stoves, heaters, and ranges, working up large quantities of iron, sheet and cast, and not mere dealers
or repairers, although about half of them combine repair work to some extent with their manufacture. They are classed as manufacturers and
not as dealers by the city authorities.
' See steel wire works of Bateman & Son, under "steel, etc."
2244
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
, , No. Estab-
In.lustnea. lUhments.
Bookmakers' macliinery 2
Brewers" and maltster's machinery 2
Brick -makers' machinery 6
Cigar- makers' machinery, iron 2
Coining and mint machinery 2
ConffCtioners' machinery 2
Die-cutters' machinery « 1
Elevators and hoisting machinery 9
File-makiug machinery 1
Flouring-mill machinery 5
Gas-en gineii— - 2
Gas generiiting machinery and tanks 8
Hydraulic and pneumatic machinery, separate establishment only... 3
Iron-working machine tools 10
Jewelers' and gold-working machinery.- 2
Leather-dressing macliiuery "-1
Mining and ore crushing machinery 3
Paper-making machinery 3
Printers' presses and machinery 8
Screw-making marhiuery 1
Sewing-machines - H
Shafting (exclusively) i 3
Sugar-making machinery, not separated.2
Testing macliinery for teuBile strength 2
Textile manufacturing machinery. 40
Wood-working machinery 7
Machtner}', general, not specified ~ 36
Machinists 28
Ivory and bone turners 6
Ivory turners, vegetable 1
Japanners 2
Jewelry 8 79
Jewelry and fancy CMsea^ 13
Kid leather. See Leather Morocco and Calf Kid.
Kindling-wood 18
Knit goods. See Hosiery.
KuilHtg-machiues (12
Lace goods, curiains, etc& 87
Ladders and house articles 6
Lamps, Ian ternp, and reflectors 17
Lamp-shades, paper ami other 2
Lampblack 4
Lapidaries. See Diamond Setters.
Lard refiners^ fi
Lasts and last patterns 10
Laundries lor manufacturers 3
Lead, pipe, bar, and refining _ 6
Lead, white, red, etc. See White Lead.
Leather, hides, cleaned, etc 6
Leather curriers 16
Leather, sole and belting 3
Leather, momcco 46
Leather, calf-kid and glove-kid 19
Leiither, sheep and fancy 9
Leather for whips and ball-covers 1
Lightning-rods, iron and metal 2
Lights and beacons 2
Lime 3
Lilhographers^ 29
Locks, not of iron 12
Locksmiths, kej'- and hell-fitters 28
Looms, iron 8 (8
Looms, wood, and shuttles. 6
Lumber. See Saw- and Planing-mills.*
Macartmi and farina 2
Machinery. See Iron, etc.
Machine card clothing (2
Malt houses 15
Mantels, slate 3
Map piiblishers 6
Marble manufacturers 10 90
Masonic marks and jewels 2
Men. Women. Yonths.
Totol.
Value of
of Product.
53
$109,500
31
62,000
82
143,500
21
211,000
99
250,000
24
36,000
16
17,500
208
385,000
15
17,600
129
226,000
158
287,000
36
84,000
93
18 ,000
1,289
2,255,750
27
46,000
9
15,000
55
114,000
88
176,100
124
222,000
17
31,450
500
867,600
124
248,(K)0
26
48,000
1,730
3,059,250
411
893,260
1,131
1,973,000
128
231,260
279
406,300
15
15,(00
28
60,400
849
1,458,915
157
282,600
127
190,500
140
246.000)
705
844,000
16
28,200
177
288,590
34
40,800
76
190,800
145
1,805,000
64
811,400
88
146,000
41
945,000
54
486,000
145
939,000
53
209,000
2,552
7,062,184
441
1,380,000
134
370,500
7
10,50D
64
3.1,200
9
36,000
15
45,0:;0
694
964,200
192
317.250
50
65,000
260
400,080)
70
108,000
15
90,000
28
112,000)
193
1,640,750
59
i%i,^ao
57
85,500
1,287
3,311,500
8
12,000
1 Shafting is also made by several of the larger works, — William Sellers & Co., and others.
* Sugar-making machinery is largely made, but usually in establishments chiefly engaged on other products; copper vacuum pans by Joseph
Oat & Son : centrifugals by Dienelt & Eisenhardt and W. P. Uhlinger ; and steam sugar machinery, pans, castings, etc., by the Soothwark Foandry
and Machine Company, I. P. Morris Company, and James Moore. Steam-pumps are made by several of the larger establishments, and by Terrell
& Muckle, 2218 Race Street.
3 Not including watch and jewelry repairs, gold watch-cases, gold rings, nor optical goods.
* Including cases for watches and silverware, but not including instrument cases or medicine chests.
* Chiefly large establishments making up clothing, laces, or lace-trimmed articles of clothing.
* Not including the lard refining of butchers and small curers of meats, about ten more, and §500,000 in value.
' The values produced are the cost of the work only, not including any part of the publishers' values.
s Iron power-looms are made in large numbers and widely distributed to the South and to foreign countries, but the number of persons so em-
ployed cannot be separately stated. A large share of the business of the Bridesburg Manufacturing Company, the James Smith Woolen Machin-
ery Company, M. A Furbush &. Son, Thomas Wood & Co., W. P. Uhlinger, and several smaller works, is now on iron power-looms. An estimate
of the men necessarily so employed would be perhaps 250, and of the product, $400,000. Wooden looms for hand-weaving are made by many em-
ployes of the carpet, rug, and silk-mills. The compound looms for narrow silk or web fabrics, on which a large number of distinct webe are
woven, are often made fur the mills by workmen not connected with large machinery establishments. The number of carpet, silk, and upholstery
looms of this class made in 1882 was about SOO, valued at $120,000.
9 Logs of pine, hemlock, and oak are cut for ship frames, wharf timbers, house building, and other like purposes, and mahogany and walnat
logs are cut fur lurniture, but no lumber proper is made, nearly all the lumber cut from logs being further dressed in the same mills.
^0 Not including yards or works exclusively for stone-cutting.
MANUFACTURES.
2245
No. Estab-
iDdiintrieB. liBhrnents.
HaHts and spars 4
Matches 7
Mathematical and Bcjentitic instruments, N, S 10
Mats, cocoa : 1
Milts, wood and rubber I
Meats, cured and pacl<ed.. 67
Medicines, proprietary! 5
Medicine chests 1
Metal foil, lead and tin 1
Metal wnree, sheet- 6
Metal spinners 6
Metnis, solder and soft^ 4
Microscopes 2
Military and society goods 12
Millstones, bnir 2
Mince meat and frnits 2
Mineral waters.....'. 17
Mineral and soda water apparatus 4
Mirrors and gilt frames 63
Models and patterns 23
Music printers and publishers..^ 6
Music typographers 2
Musical instruments, church organs 4
Musical instruments, pianos 5
Musical instruments, brass and othei' 31
Needles, for sewing and knitting machines 4
Nickel coinage (with coinage)
Nickel platers... 8
Novelties, bouse articles 2
Oilcloths 3
Oiled clothing, watermen's 2
Oleine 2
Oil, Lard, refined 2
Oils, animal, lubricating 6
Oils, atiimal, refined 5
Oils, mineral, illuminating 12
Oils, mineral, lubricating 5
Oils, vegetable, linseed 4
Oils,vegetable, rosin 1
Optical poods. See jewelry, also* 18
Faints and varnishes 28
Painters, house, sign, and ornamental s 283
Paper-mills, book, news, and roofing paper 9
Paper pulp 1
Paper hangings manufacturers 5
Paper hangers (employers only) 6 28
Paper boards, covered, for binders and boxmakers^ 7
Paper boxes. See Boxes (36
Paper cop-tubes 2
Paper envelopes and stationery' 4
Papier mache 1
Paraffine, oil and wax 2
Paste, for paper boxes, etc 4
Pens, gold 2
Pens, steel 2
Perfumery and pomades 20
Pharmaceutical preparations 8 133
Phosphor bronze. See Bronze.
Photo engravers 4
Photographers 60
Photographic publishers 1
Photograj)hers' materials 6
Pianos. See Musical Instruments.
Pickles and sauces 9
Pipes, smoking, wood and other 8
Planes, carpenters* 2
Plastering, casts and stucco work 24
Plat>-printers 7
Plumbers and gas-fitters 236
Plumbers' fittings and supplies 10 2
Pocket books and leather bags 12
Pocket and other flasks 2
Porcelain knobs 2
Pottery and stoneware. See Earthenware^i (7
Women. Youths. Total.
Value
of Product.
$36,000
286,v;00
174,700
86,000
10,600
5,663,600
1,801,880
19,800
49,500
ill, 000
67,61)0
640,000
28,400
227,600
35,000
152,600
266,70<1
175,000
1,518,590
193,000
154,000
43,200
35,000
680,000
238,660
62,850
(673,830)
138,100
37,800
1,497,860
57,000
390,000
75,000
403,102
682,000
9,379.000
70,100
399,800
45,000
376,900
3,197,900
3,599,130
2,246,000
148,000
681,900
426.9U0
444..600
1,877,400)
12,000
160,400
27,000
86,000
16,200
8,000
130,000
491,300
2,433,480
84.600
249,710
23,400
76,800
254,300
366,900
4,800
329,400
138.600
1,709,450
309,600
922,000
7,000
5,600
237,314)
! See pharmaceutical preparatit
' Sheet metal wares a
* Not bronzes. Soldo
half for each class, nan
* Spectacles or eye-glasi
6 Painters who keep a ^
signs.
i for most of the non-proprietary medicines,
-e chiefly stamped from sheet iron, plain or tinned ; but some are of mixed metals.
■ or Babbitt metals are made by several of the establishments now chiefly making bronzes ; two such have divided, taking
ely, the bronzes on one side, and the soft metals on the other. See " Bronzes."
ss, opera-glasses, hand- and reading-glasses.
orkshop and prepare their own materials only are included; about one-half of these make a business also of painting
ivhich is a large industry, all the materials being in most cases furnished by the painter's shop.
"This industry is placed by the United States census with house-pivinting, as "painters and paper-hangers," a practice common in Northern
States, but not in Philadelphia. Paper-hangers here are distinct, although they contract to perform work, and employ each a force of several
men, as they do elsewhere ; only those who are wholesale decorators and furnishers are here taken.
' A large business is now done in facing paper-boards with white or fine paper, and in cutting these for various uses.
8 Ordinary envelopes printed to order and furnished as stationery for business or commercial uses, as distinguished from cards and invitation
^ This term embraces much that is often designated as "drugs and medicines;" also as medicinal chemicals; and many dispensing druggists
now manufacture various preparations on a large scale for the trade.
10 Nearly all the fittings of iron, brass, lead pipe, earthenwares, etc., appear under other headings ; these are the returns of C. A. Blessing and
F. F. Peal only.
11 Not including drain-pipes or terra-cotta vases, garden statuary, etc. See " Earthenware," etc.
2246
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
No. Estab-
Industries, lisbmentB. Men, Women. Yoaths,
Printers, job. See Book also 241 1,859 370 720
Printers and publishers of newspapere and serials 91 1,792 102 177
Publishers of serials, nut priuters 23 124 5 6
Printeis of music. See Music.
Printers of engravings See Platp Printers and Lithographers.
Printers' frames, roller^ furui liin(,3 etc g 43 0 5
Provisions, sausage, and prepared meats 13 4o 9 11
Pumps, steam, with machinery
Pumps, wooden 5 22 1 3
Quilts and coverlets, sewed or handworked 1 3 19 15 6
Railroad supplies, oils, etc 2 20 0 g
Bectiflers and refluere of -pints" 21 84 2 3
Reeds, heddles and loom httings 4 31 3 3
Refrigerators 10 131 6 6
Regalia and society gcids bee Militarv Goods
Riggers (for hoisting). 3 26 0 0
Roofers, tin, felt, slate, etc _ ^7 422 4 22
Rubber clotliing. See Clothing
Rubber stamps 5 19 5 8
Saddlery and harness. See Ilarue^s
Sails and ships' riggirif 16 145 0 19
Safes. See Iron.
Sand and emery paper 2 130 20 39
Sash, doors, and blinds 28 714 0 45
Saw-miils. mahogany and cabinet woods 4 82 0 0
Saw- and planing-mills 23 S23 Oil
Saws. See Steel Manufactures
Scales and balances, ^ee Ir)n Manufactures.
Seed-packing and implements' 7 105 83 17
Sewing-machines. _ (11 383 7 110
Sewing-machine repairs 8 18 2 4
Ship-builders, iron. See Iron (4 2,440 0 173
Ship-builders, wood (not boats) „. 3 105 0 0
Ship-macliinery and repairs, iron (7 123 0 7
Shot, lead 2 10 0 0
Show-cards „ 11 75 11 30
Show-cases 8 37 1 5
Signs, metal and glass 7 40 4 5
Signal-rockels 1 3 0 0
Silk, tram, organziue, and spun 6 63 234 27
Silk, machine-twist 1 6 60 0
Silk, spun silk, and noils yarn 4 30 25 30
Silk curtains and turcomans 10 171 72 39
Silk and mixed upholstery goods 14 687 283 120
Silk ribbons (in part) 1 44 120 10
Silk dress goods (in part) 1 34 146 3
Silk and mixed trimmings, fringes, etc 30 785 2,663 340
Silk gimps „ 2 34 35 24
Silk knit goods 5 38 30 8
Silk dyers, yams 7 108 21 13
AUnilk* (81 1,900 3,679 614
Silverware, solid 10 106 1 24
Silver-plated wareS 33 253 39 54
Silver coinage, calendar year 1882. See Coinage (1
Silver-platers. See Electro-platers.
Slate mantels 5 82 0 15
Soap (common) and candles _.. 31 183 38 32
Soap, perfumed 7 248 64 60
Soapstone basins 2 "7 0 1
Spice-i, ground and prepared 10 129 118 9
Sportsmen's goods 5 45 101 12
Stamps, rubber and steel. See Rubber Stamps and Steel Dies.
Staich and starch polish 2 6 12 2
Stationery, not specified 12 17 32 4
Steam.heatiug apparatus. See Iron.
Steam packing, waste and felt 8 68 5 9
Steel, ingots and rolled, plate and sheet. 6 640 0 0
Steel springs, car and carriage 11 202 0 14
Steel saws 7 499 0 182
Steel files (see Files also) 18 378 2 215
Steel and iron toolsS 20 453 9 296
Steel cutlery and steel tools (27 297 5 85
Steel wire, tempered for card clothing" (1 10 0 0
Steel forks 2 128 0 17
Steel cutting dies and brands s 5 15 0 5
Steel grate bars 1 10 0 0
Stencils and stamps 10 30 0 7
Stonecutters and stone-masonry 36 550 0 19
Stonecutters' tools 3 6 0 1
Stoneware. See Pottery and Terra Gutta.
Stoves and ranges (123 875 0 53
Value
Total.
of Product.
2,949
$3,783,900
2,071
6,076,600
134
350,000
48
86,400
65
276,800
26
45,800
40
80,800
28
50,400
89
824,1X10
37
59,200
143
214,.500
26
54,600
448
707,990
32
57,600
164
344,000
189
398,000
759
1,524,500
82
433,000
634
1,675,550
205
368,000
5(10
867,600)
24
20,000
2,613
5,620,000
105
415,000
130
253,JO0)
10
80,000
116
162,0(10
43
73,100
49
84,600
3
3,400
324
710,000
56
140,000
85
170,000
282
524,000
990
1,682,000
174
261,000
183
329,400
3,788
4,166,800
93
111,600
76
114,000
142
255.600
6,193
8,608,-Z70
131
247.700
346
6t4,600
11,493,035)
97
194,000
253
1,182.600
372
l,488,fX)0
8
14,»00
256
558,300
158
262,400
20
28,000
53
129,300
72
71,700
640
1,659.200
316
638,000
681
1,200,120
595
684,(K)0
731
1,0:54,800
387
524,500)
10
20.000)
145
253,750
20
29.000
10
18,000
37
53,6.50
569
1,332,500
6
7,200
1 Not including coverlets woven in looms, which are given under cotton.
s The amount of general rectifying was very much smaller than usual in 1882, mostly of thtrae nsually so engaged doing very little.
s Including only such seeds as are cleaned, prepared, and packed in the city, and garden implements made here.
* Several changes occurred during the year 18S2,— George F. Hensel, fringes, Oldfeldt & Brother, upholstery goods, and George E. Jenkins, trim-
mings, discontinuiug about the middle of the year. Three establishments make tram and organzine in connection with finished fabrics, — one on
machine-twiet, one on ribbnns, and one on dress goods. Much spun silk is used by makers of both dress goods and coatings, which doea not
appear in manufactured fabrics classed as silk, and much is used for embroidering, for shoes and other machine sewing.
6 These establishments still plate by the old method of fusion, but most of the plating is by deposit from solution.
6 It is not possible to separate a class exclusively as tools which would embrace all tools; and these are taken as affording only an approximate
distinction. The large works of W. H. Sowers, placed with cutlery and edge tools, and the two steel-fork works, with several less important, might
with equal propriety be classed with tools.
" See textile machinery, " card clothing."
8 Cutting dies and stamps, for boot and shoemakers, clothiers, paper-makers, and others, are largely made.
MANUFACTURES.
2247
No. Estab-
Indti9tries. lishmeuta. Men,
Straw goods. SeeHats (12 109
Sugar reflnere 11 1,777
Surgical appliiincesi 6 3:!
Surgical iastrutneDts, steel 17 120
Suspenders, witli clotliiiig (12 26
Swords, plating and mounting 3 5
Tags, stiippiDg 6 25
Tallow and fat melters 3 48
Tanks and vata, wooden 4 75
Taxidermists 5 10
Telegraphic instruments. See Electrical Instruments.
Terra cotta ware and pipe 4 68
Thread. See Cotton.
Tin cans 2 47
Tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware 215 951
Tobacco manufacturers, packing 6 50
Tobacco manufactu^rers, snulf 4 65
Tobacco manufacturers, cigars 490 2,321
Tools. See Steel and Iron Tools.
Toys 16 104
Trunks and valises 26 171
Trusses 9 81
Turners and carvers. See Wood Turners and Carvers.
Type-founders 4 254
Types, wood..
Umbrellas an
Umbrella-frames, steel and i
Umbrella furniture, handles, tips, etc 3 152
Undertakers' goods 25 68
Upholsterers 113 256
Varnish^ 8 61
Velocipedes and bicycles 2 16
Ventilators, flue and pipe 3 9
Vinegar 9 30
"Wagon-makers' 3 232
Washing- and wringing-machines 3 8
Watch-cases, silver. See Gold Watch-Caaes (1 88
Watch-makers' dials and cases 6 16
Watch and jewelry repairs* 88 154
Water-proof fluid 1 2
Wax-work, flowers, frnits, etc 4 2
Webbing, elastic mixed s 3 40
Wharf- and dock-builders 4 196
Wheelwrights' 12 58
Whips and canes 13 17
White and red lead 4 265
Whiting and Paris white 7 6 67
Window-shades and furnishings 35 184
Wire-work, covered and fancy. See Iron Wire 6 14
Wood-and willow-ware 18 138
Wood turners and carvers 24 127
Wool pulling, sorting, and cleaning 6 43
Wool shoddy 8 66
Woolen yarns 75 952
Woolen flannels 2 126
Woolen blankets 12 1,044
Woolen coatings 3 303
Woolen cassimeres, jeans, and doeskins 11 692
Woolen shawls 12 138
Woolen felted goods 2 17
Woolen Germantown yarnsS , 5 46
Wool and worsted goods 10 527
Worsted yarns' 11 435
Worsted yarns in other mills (12
Worsted zephyr and Shetland yarn 2 30
Worsted braid and cord 2 22
Worsted coatings and dress goods 25 2,183
Worsted plush 2 60
Worsted and silk umbrella cloths 3 39
Zinc castings, sheets (part of galvanizers) (1 6
Zinc retorts (part of cnicibles) (1 3
United States Mint!" 1 181
Totals 12,063 147,1.'?7
Value of
Youths.
Total.
Product.
28
571
87U,7.'>0)
12
1,789
27,950,000
6
48
76,800
23
161
233,4.60
11
149
165,(H)01
2
7
12.600
16
60
79,5110
1
49
441,000
2
77
169.400
0
10
9,000
1
69
207,000
16
63
120,000
161
1,196
1,821,600
7
97
4(15.1100
37
141
2M2.00O
350
3,054
3,164,000
51
232
2.37,600
35
213
423.(K)0
16
168
264.100
159
415
678,646
0
3
3,300
135
1,610
2,966,450
85
258
438,000
116
340
459,000
6
83
132,000
61
438
754,900
1
52
262,lHi0
2
17
25,400
2
U
13,000
I
32
96,(100
0
232
283,(X)0
1
9
13,600
60
218
.367,800)
6
25
32,000
17
175
226,.6O0
1
8
12,000
2
14
34,000
28
77
111,660
0
196
838,000
3
61
104,2.60
12.
33
45,100
5
272
1,360,000
1
68
476 UOO
46
261
480,650
20
35
64,900
9
147
2.36,.600
41
168
230,300
1
44
124.600
4
63
292,400
690
2,086
4,.325,400
75
400
720,000
369
2,325
6,246,500
113
628
1,411,600
264
1,969
3,634,400
29
287
585,200
2
19
38.000
23
127
304,980
161
1,172
2,463,410
610
2,263
4,541.600
4,300,000)
20
140
350,000
35
165
315,000
725
5,104
10,712,100
15
125
312,600
24
168
332,000
0
6
25,000)
0
3
6.000)
0
310
3,309,395
28,296
242,483
$481,226,309
1 Silk and rubber surgical hosiery, elastic bandages, etc.
2 Much varnish-makiDK is also included under paints.
8 But two or three regular wagon-makers can be stated separately, the principal ones being Wilson, Childs & Co. and H. G. Kessler. These are
the returns of three leading works.
* A large share of this is new work, and only the estublishments employing constant labor are reported. The census of 1880 returned only 14 ;
the whole number is in fact 250, but of these about 100 are accustomed to employ workmen regularly, or to represent the labor of others than the
proprietors.
^ These three establishments are separated because they employ variable materials, and cannot be classed with cotton or worsted webbing, bind-
ings, and braids; Aronia Fabric Company, and A. Sauchknecht, Germantown, andN. B. Bilger, 231 Race Street.
6 Limited to the shops which do not make new wagons.
^ Limited to the products of chalk, and not including barytes or other whites. '
8 Finishers of Germantown yams, two of them being spinners also.
^ This number of establishments represents eleven combers and spinners who do not further manufacture, and twelve establishments which
comb and spin in connection with weaving. For convenience the worsted-weaving mills will have all their force of persons employed given under
that head; the quantity of worsted yarns spun in the eleven spinning-mills was 3,453,000 pounds, nearly all high numbers; in cloth-weaving
mills and in the carpet- weaving mills, 2,200.000 pounds, 500,000 pounds going into Shetland yarns and braids.
^0 The numbers employed at the Mint, in the coinage and general departments, are here entered with an equivalent of values produced as if
working ordinary metals ; those employed in assaying, melting, and refining are entered under those heads.
143
2248
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Note. In the tables as they stand the number of establishments foots up 12,063, but the number of sep-
arations made to represent distinct products in chemical-works, iron, steel, and machinery, printing and pub-
lishing, etc., is 137, and the total of distinct proprietors is reduced to 11,942. There are about 1000 estab-
lishments in the building, clothing, boot and shoe making, blacksmithing, and like trades, including also many
dealers who manufacture to the extent of S500 not included in any of the foregoing schedules.
The following are the footings of the several publications of the Industrial Census of 1880, made by the
Census Office and its agents :
^rnil'- Capital.
First publication, November, 1880 9050 8186,686,934
Second publication, June, 1882 8377 "".fSMSl
Third publication, July, 1883 8567 ^ 187,W,857
The last, less than 1882 3359 - Not given.
The"Twenty Cities" publication, less than 1882 3549 Not given.
No. Em-
ployed.
Wages.
Product.
197,964
173,868
186,527
56,956
68,615
§68,027,832
60,606,287
64,265,966
19,430,764
23,090,443
8322,984.461
304,591.725
324,342,935
156,883,374
176,634,584
In communicating this census of manufactures to
the City Councils, Mayor King, in his message of
Jan. 1, 1883, remarks that —
"The publication made a few months since of the census of these
industries, which appeared to sliow a decline from 1870 to ISSO, instead
of the increase of which every citizen must be conscious, led to a move-
ment on the part of some public-spirited citizens for the purpose of
securing a recount of the statistics of establishments and of the num-
bers employed in manufactures, for which purpose a simple and appa-
rently effective plan was proposed to me, and in which my co-operation
was requested. Believing that a great public service would be done by
a faithful re-examination of these great interests, I tendered the fullest
practicable aid of the lieutenants and officers of the police in each ward
and district of the city, and they were furnished with blank forms and
instructions as to the manner of obtaining information. The work was
done very promptly and in the most careful and official manner, and
more than 10,000 manufacturing establishments were examined, and
their statistics as to the class of products and the number of persons
employed in each case were obtained and placed in the hands of Mr.
Blodget for compilation and classification. I cannot speak too strongly
of the care and spirit shown by the lieutenants and officers charged with
this duty, and I am assured that their work is at least equal in value to
that of any of the regular decennial census-takings, so far as the forms
extend. The results already show a very large increase over the re-
ported figures made public a short time since as for the census of 1880,
there being over 11,000 industrial establishments instead of 8300, as then
reported, and about 235,000 persons employed in these establishments
instead of 173,000, as reported for 18S0. The changes are so great and
so striking in most of the greater industries as to show an absolute
necessity for making the present revision thorough and complete, and
for then making it public in proper official form. As instances of the
omissions in some departments, the increase in printing and publishing
is from 59,000,000 to 823,000,000 in value. In iron manufactories nearly
11,000 men are reported in excess of the former numbers, and in textile
fabrics about 20,000 persons more are found, in fact, to be employed.
The entire excess in ihe number of persons employed is about 65,000, as
so far reported on the official forms.
"Tlie superintendence and management of the present industrial
census has been confided to Lorin Blodget, whose superintendence of
both the former censuses, that of 186(1 and that of 1870, has given him a
very thorough knowledge of the entire cily, and enables him to make
the work as nearly perfect in its details as is practicable in anything so
great in all its proportions, both of labor required and of results ob-
tained. It has already been recognized by the statistical departments of
both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and it cannot fail to restore the
reputation and honor of the city as the leading industrial centre in this
country, if not in the world."
The growth of manufactures in Philadelphia from
1682 to 1883 has been traced from their early origin
to their full "development, as far as defective records
would permit. The early history of these individual
industries, scattered in detached fragments through
many publications, have been collected and chrono-
logically arranged, to present, as far as practical, a
continuous narrative of their development. It was
not merely statistical information of the growth as a
whole, but the individual exigencies whether for
prosperity or adversity have been collected and re-
corded. The early history of infant industries pre-
sents much data connected with family history, and
shows how, generation after generation, the same
family have clung to the business their progenitors
started, growing in knowledge and increasing in ex-
perience, as well as in fortune, until the manufacture
has been perfected by the combined experience of
father and sons directed continuously and perse-
veringly to the same great end. Perhaps to this
cause, as much as to any other, is the perfection ar-
rived at in Philadelphia manufactures to be attrib-
uted. But, be the cause whatever it may, the fact
is incontrovertible that, in this year of 1884, Phila-
delphia stands at the head of manufacturing centres
in the United States, as well as a prominent competi-
tor in the same line with any city in the world.
CHAPTER LVIL
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
Situated in the centre of the great iron district,
Philadelphia has become the largest manufactory of
iron in the United States. This industry, in 1882,
was conducted in over 500 establishments, employing
over 27,000 hands, and turning out a yearly product
valued at more than $50,000,000. When to these are
added the large number of establishments in other
branches of manufacture which use iron in some
form, it will be seen that this industry ranks first in
magnitude and value. The great supply of iron
within immediate reach of the city, the abundant
amount of coal, and tbe ease with which it is trans-
ported, all contribute to swell the volume and value
of the industry. It was among the very earliest
which the founder of Pennsylvania looked after, and
endeavored by all means to promote and foster. In
a letter to Lord Keeper North, in July, 1683, he men-
tions the existence of " mineral of copper and iron in
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2249
divers places" in the province.' Gabriel Thomas, a
resident of the province from about that date, writing
in 1698,' states that ironstone ore had been lately
found, which far exceeded that in England, being
richer and less drossy, and that some preparations
had been made to carry on an iron-work." He also
mentions copper " far exceeding ours, being richer,
finer, and of a more glorious color. Backward in the
country lies the mines, where is copper and minerals,
of which there is some improvement made already in
order to bring them to greater perfection, and that
will be a means to' erect inland market towns, which
exceeding promotes traffic."
In 1702, James Logan wrote to Penn as follows: " I
have spoke to the chief of those concerned in iron
mines, but they seem careless, never having had a
meeting since thy departure. Their answer is that
they have not yet found any considerable vein."
In 1708, William Penn wrote to James Logan to
" remember the mines, which the Governor makes
yet a secret even to thee and all the world but him-
self and Mitchell. Pray penetrate the matter, and
let us see the oare in as large quantity as thou canst."
Nine years later the first iron furnace in the prov-
ince is thus described in one of Jonathan Dickinson's
letters,' written in 1717 :
"This last summer one Thomas Butter,a smith, wbolives not farfrom
Germantown, hath removed further up in the country, and of his own
strength hath set upon maliing iron. Such it proves to be, as is highly
set hy all the smiths here, who say that the best of Swedes iron doth not
exceed it; and we have accounts of others that are going on with the
iron-works. It is supposed there is stone (ore) sufficient for ages to come.
The first projectors may open the way, and iu all likelihood hemp and
iron may be improved and transported home in time, if not discouraged.
Certainly a few years may supply this place for its domestic services, as
may be easily supposed."
Mrs. James, in her " Memorial of Thomas Potts,
Jr.," says that on the 24th of September, 1717, Sir
William Keith, Governor of Pennsylvania, "wrote to
the Board of Trade in London that he had found
great plenty of iron ore in Pennsylvania." The
exact location of Butter's iron forge, or bloomery,
cannot be ascertained.* In July, 1718, Jonathan
^ The metrical composition entitled " A Short Description of Pennsyl-
vania, or a Relation what Things are Known, Enjoyed, and like to be
Discovered in said Province. Issued as a token of good-will . . . of Eng-
land. By Richard Frame. Printed and sold by William Bradford in
Philadelphia, 1692," mentions iron among other things, and says, that
at "a certain place . . . about forty pounds" had been made. This
pamphlet is in tlie Philadelphia Library.
2 "An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and
County of Pennsylvania and of West Jersey, in America. ... By Gabriel
Thomas, who resided there fifteen years." London.
^ Logan Papers.
* The minutes of the Common Council show that among the trades-
men admitted to the "freedom of the city" in 1717 and 1718 were George
Plumley, Joseph Trotter, and Richard Gosling, cutlers; James Everet
and Simon Edgell, pew terers; Peter Steel and James Winstanly, braziers;
Francis Richardson, William England, and Edward Hunt, goldsmiths;
Edmund Bill ington, whitesmith; and fourteen blacksmiths. In 1718, in
consequence of a petition " from several tradesmen and manufacturers"
complaining that notwithstanding they had taken out their freedoms,
many strangers daily came in and settled who were not entitled to carry
on business, the Common Council gave permission to such trades as
Dickinson writes, "The expectations from the iron-
works forty miles up the Schuylkill are very great."
This probably referred to the Coventry Forge, in the
upper part of Chester County, where Samuel Nutt
had taken up land "on French Creek in 1717, and
about that time built a forge there."' It is thought
that Nutt's forge went into operation in 1720.
Jonathan Dickinson wrote in 1719, —
"Our iron promises well. What has been sent over to England hath
been greatly approved. Our smiths work up all they make, and it is aa
good as the best Swedish. Many who have come over under covenants
for four years are now masters of great estates. Our friends do increase
mightily, and a great people there is iu this wilderness country, which
is becoming like a fruitful field. A gentleman, one William Trent, of
our city, is forming a little town about his set of mills that he hath at
Delaware Falls" (Trenton).
A forge also existed about this time in Manatawny
(now Montgomery County), but then in Philadelphia.'
The Elizabeth Furnace, near Lancaster, was owned
in 1775 by Benezet & Co., of Philadelphia. It was
built and managed by an eccentric and extravagant
German baron, Henry William Steigel. He is said to
have cast the first stoves that were made in this
country, which were probably the same as the " Jamb
Stoves" cast by Nicholas Sauer, at Germantown.'
In 1726 the Assembly, in an address to the descend-
ants of Penn, adopted after the arrival of Governor
Gordon, remarking upon the general prosperity of the
colony, attributes it to the emission of paper money
and notes that many iron-works had been built.
Several companies were already engaged in carrying
on iron-works. In 1728-29 the colony exported two
desired to frame and bring in an ordinance whereby they could be incor-
porated. In 1767 the silversmiths petitioned for the establishment of
an assay-office to regulate, assay, and stamp gold and silver.
5 Day's Historical Collections.
« The following obituary notice in the Pennsylvania Gazelle for March
5 to March 23, 1729-30, establishes the priority of Butter iu the iron-
making business: "March 13th.— On Sunday night last died here,
Thomas Kutter, Sr., after a short illness. He was the first that erected
an iron-work in Pennsylvania."
'On the 4th of March, 1727, Jeremiah Langhorne, of Bucks, Anthony
Morris, James Logan, Charles Reed, Robert Ellis, George Fitzwater,
Clement Plumsted, William Allen, Andrew Bradford, John Hopkins,
Thomas Linsley, Joseph Turner, Griffith Owen, and Samuel Powel,
of Philadelphia, the owners of the Durham tract, in Bucks County,
formed themselves into a stock company for the purpose of making iron.
The property was divided into sixty equal shares, and conveyed for fifty-
one years to Griffith Owen and Samuel Powel, in trust for the owners.
The first election for officers was held March 25th, and the company pro-
ceeded immediately to the erection ofa furnace, thirty by forty and twenty
feet high, and other improvements. The first blast was begun in the
spring of 1728,* but after running about one hundred tons of metal they
were obliged to blow out. The second blast was begun late in the fol-
lowing fall, on a stock of five or six hundred tons. In November, 1728
James Logan shipped three tons of pig-iron to England as a specimen.
This was before a forge had been erected at Durham, and the company
had their metal wrought up into bars elsewhere. The old date stone
was preserved and walled in the new furnace. The first furnace was
torn down in 1819, and a new one built a siiort distance from its site
A new furnace was erected in 1848, on the site of the old one, and has
been in successful operation since. In 1864, Edward Cooper and Abra-
ham S. Hewitt, of New York, became the owners of the property. The
keystone of the Durham Furnace, bearing date "1727," was exhibited
at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876.
1 Logan, Nov. 6, 1728.
2250
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
hundred and seventy-four tons of pig-iron to England,
and the iron industry may be considered as fairly
established at that date. In 1728, Mr. Logan wrote
that there were four furnaces in Pennsylvania in
blast. One of these was the Durham Furnace in
Bucks County. Which of these four furnaces was the
first, or who first made irou in them, is a thing which
we presume nobody knows. A getition was presented
in February, 1729, by the proprietors of iron-works
lately erected iu the province, praying that a duty be
laid on all iron imported from Maryland. This was
induced by a law passed by Maryland laying a duty
on Pennsylvania produce ; but, the latter being re-
pealed, retaliation was not considered necessary. In
1742, William Branson, of Philadelphia, erected a
forge on Conestoga Creek, near the Chester County
line, which he called Windsor. This forge was after-
ward owned by an English company, and still later
by David Jenkins. In Nicholas Scull's map (1759)
two iron-works are marked down at Pottstown, at the
mouth of the Manatawny, one on each side of the
stream, but no names are given. From another source
it appears that one of them was named Pottsgrove,
the original name of Pottstown, laid out in 1752 by
James Potts. Nicholas Scull's map shows above Potts-
town, McCall's forge, Pool Forge, and Pine Forge.
On the same map there are laid down Mayberry's
forge and one or two iron-works on the east of the
Schuylkill. Pine Forge was built by Thomas Potts in
1747, and owned by his son John in 1768; in 1785 it
was connected with a rolling-mill. It is said by Mrs.
James, that Samuel Nutt built the first steel-works
in the province on French Creek in 1734, and that
probably William Branson was associated with him.
They were known as the Vincent Steel-Works, and
were owned in 1756 by William Branson, and are
thus described in Israel Acrelius' "' History of New
Sweden :"
" At French Creek, or Branz's "Worke, there is a ateel furaace built
with a drauKlit-hole, and called an 'air oven.' In this iron bars are
set at a distance of an inch apart. Between them are scattered horn,
coal-dnst, ashes, etc. The iron bars are thus covered with blisters, and
this is called ' blister-steel.' It serves as the best steel to put upon
edge-tools. These steel-works are now said to be out of operation."
In 1750 there was a plating forge with a tilt-ham-
mer, in Byberry township, in the northeastern part of
Philadelphia County, — the only one in the province, —
owned by John Hall, and two steel furnaces within
the city limits, one of which — Paschal's — was built in
1747, and the other was owned by William Branson.
Paschal's was at the corner of Eighth and Walnut
Streets, and Branson's was located near where Thomas
Penn " first lived in the upper end of Chestnut
Street."
An act of Parliament was passed in 1749 entitled
"au act to encourage the importation of pig and bar
iron from his Majesty's colonies in America, and to
prevent the erection of any mill or other engine for
slitting or rolling iron, or any plating forge to work
with a tilt-hammer, or any furnace for making steel
in any of said colonies." It forbade the use of any
forges, furnaces, or mills that were not at work before
the 24th of June, 1750, and required that a return of
them should be made. In answer to a proclamation
made to ascertain the number of these works which
were then in operation, it was returned that Stephen
Paschal's steel furnace, at the northwest corner of
Walnut Street and Eighth, was built in the year
1747, and that blistered steel was made there; also,
that William Branson was owner of a steel furnace in
the city (location not mentioned), and that John Hall
owned a plating tilt-hammer forge at Bybern,-, in the
county of Philadelphia.' This act was passed in
pursuance of a determination in Great Britain to dis-
courage American manufactures.
The steel furnace erected by Paschal was, in 1787,
owned by Nancarrow & Matlack, and when visited in
that year by Gen. Washington was mentioned as " the
largest and best in America." That partnership was
dissolved in 1790, and the furnace, house, and lot
offered for sale ; the furnace was in good repair, and
capable of making twenty-two tons of steel at a
blast. White Matlack soon afterward conveyed the
property to John Ireland ; and his former partner,
John Nancarrow, a Scotchman, removed to Seventh
Street, where he continued the business of steel
making. There was also, at this period, an air furnace
at the northwest corner of Ninth and Walnut Streets,
belonging wholly or in part to John Nancarrow, who
is said, at one time, to have made steel under ground
at that place. An anchor forge existed in 1755, in
Front Street, opposite Union, and was then owned by
Daniel Ofiiey. It continued in operation during
the Revolution. Newly-invented boxes for carriage-
wheels were made in 1785 at the air furnace of Wil-
liam Somerton, at Eighth and Walnut Streets.
Whitehead Humphreys was, in 1770, the proprietor
of a steel furnace on Seventh Street, between Market
and Chestnut, where he also made edge-tools. He re-
ceived one hundred pounds from the Provincial
Assembly for his encouragement, and in 1772, set up
a lottery to raise seven hundred pounds to assist him
in his steel-works. In 1778, Congress authorized the
Board of War to contract with him for the manufac-
ture of steel for the Continenta,l artificers, from the
iron of the Andover Works, New Jersey. The State
Legislature, in 1786, appropriated three hundred
pounds as a loan to Humphreys, for five years, to aid
him in making steel from bar iron " as good as in
England." Mr. Clymer, of Pennsylvania, in the
debate in Congress in 1789, referred to this furnace of
Humphreys as having made three hundred tons of
steel in two years, and was then making at the rate
1 In February, 1775, Uriah Woolman and B. Shoemaker, on Market
Street, Philadelphia, advertised in the Pemvfyhania Packet, " Pennsyl-
vania steel njauufactured by W. Humphreys, of an excellent quality,
and warranted equal to English, to be sold in blister, faggot, or flat bar
suitable for carriage springs."
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
225t
of two hundred and thirty tons annually. Although
an infant manufacture, with very little aid from the
State, he believed it capable of making a supply suf-
ficient for the whole Union. The importance of steel
at Philadelphia had decreased very largely. The
perfection attained here in its manufacture, and the
reduced price, were regarded by the Society for the
Encouragement of Domestic Manufactures as insuring
the success of workers in that article. Henry Voight,
a watchmaker of this city in 1793, made valuable im-
provements in the 'manufacture of steel.'
The amount of iron exported from this city in the
year ending April 5, 1766, was 882 tons of bar, at £26
per ton, and 813 tons of pig-iron, at £7 10s. per ton.
In the three years preceding the war, ending Jan. 5,
1774, the exports were respectively 2358, 2205, and
1564 tons. In the manufacture of steel, nails, fire-
arms, machinerj', and other metallic products, Penn-
sylvania early acquired the same prominence she had
in the production of the raw material. Philadel-
phia, as the principal commercial city of the country,
possessed a varied industry and a large proportion of
skillful artificers, as well as many persons who were
industrious promoters of all the mechanical arts. Her
shipping created a large demand for nails, iron, and
steel, material for which was chiefly furnished by her
furnaces and forges. In the procession that celebrated
the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1788, a
carriage, drawn by nine horses, contained the repre-
sentatives of the blacksmiths, whitesmiths, and nailers
in full employ. The blacksmiths completed, during
the procession, a full set of jjlow-irons out of old
swords, worked a sword into a sickle, turned several
horseshoes, and did other jobs on demand. L. Good-
man, whitesmith, finished and sold nails, spikes, and
broad tacks. They were followed by two hundred
others of their trades, with the device, " By hammer
and hand all arts do stand." The goldsmiths, silver-
smiths, and jewelers followed their senior member,
William Ball, to the number of thirty-five.
William Somerville opened the City Iron Foundry,
at the northwest corner of Juniper and Filbert
Streets, in the year 1818. The establishment occupied
a lot fifty feet front on Filbert Street, and ran one
hundred and fifty feet to an alley which was some-
times called Paper Alley. There were air-furnaces,
a cupola, bellows, etc. This property was offered for
gale in 1820. It was purchased by Cadwalader Evans
and Bracken after the death of Oliver Evans.
Bracken ceased to be a member of the firm in 1822,
and Cadwalader and Oliver Evans, Jr., continued
• William Priest, in a letter dated March 1, 1794, written to a friend
in Londou, said, " Peter Brown, a blacksmith of this city, having made
his fortune, set up Iiii^ coach ; but, so far from having been ashamed of
the means by which he had acquired his riches, caused a large anvU to
be painted on each panel of his carriage, with two naked arms in the
act of striking. The motto, ' By this I got ye.' The frontispiece is a
well-executed engraving, in colors, of ' Peter Brown's arms.' " Peter
Brown, blacksmith, in 1798, lived at No. 144 North Front Street, and is
probably the same spoken of by this writer.
the business as iron founders and steam-engine
makers. Subsequently, Cadwalader and Oliver Evans
removed to High Street, between Schuylkill Fifth and
Schuylkill Sixth, where they devoted themselves
principally to the manufacture of plows and machin-
ery. On the 14th of April, 1825, they obtained a
patent for a self-sharpening plow.
The Eagle Works, "at the corner of Callowhill and
Nixon [now Twenty-third] Streets, established dur-
ing the Revolution, were used for casting cannon, and
afterward were turned to more peaceable lines of iron
manufacture. Robert Morris, Jr., son of Robert
Morris, financier of the Revolution, was at one time
interested in them. In 1810 they belonged to Henry
Foxall and William and Samuel Richards. There
were a foundry, four air furnaces, and a blacksmith-
and a carpenter-shop. There were prepared iron
castings of every description, sugar-kettles, sugar-mill
rollers, sugar-mill pumpers, soap and other large
boilers, screws, wheel works for machinery, cylinders
for steam engines, and cannon. Twelve hundred tons
of iron could be manufactured annually. Seven hun-
dred tons had been made in some years before 1810,
but at that time the demand had fallen to about
three hundred tons per annum. At this furnace,
about 1820, Samuel Richards cast the first large
twenty-two-inch iron main-pipes that were made in
America, and a good deal of iron-pipe casting was
afterward done at these works. About thirty thou-
sand feet, in sections nine feet in length, were cast
at that time.
It has been shown that German blistered steel was
made near Philadelphia prior to the Revolution. In
1810 there was one steel manufacturer in the city and
one in the county of Philadelphia. In 1829 there
were three steel furnaces in the city, and but fourteen
in the whole Union. In 1850, the manufacture of
steel in Philadelphia was carried on by James Row-
land &Co., Kensington, who made 600 tons; J. Rob-
bins, Kensington, 400 tons ; Earp & Brink, Kensing-
ton, 100 tons ; Robert S. Johnson, Kensington, 400
tons ; and W. & H. Rowland, Oxford, 700 tons.
George Magee was a nailer at the corner of Front
and Arch Streets as early as 1731, advertising for sale,
wholesale and retail, all sorts of deck and other nails
of his own manufacture. In 1789, Samuel Briggs, of
Philadelphia, memorialized the Legislature and Con-
gress on the subject of a machine for making nails,
screws, and gimlets. He had, three years before,
made the patterns for the castings of Fitch's steam-
boat, and now deposited with the executive of the
State the model of his nail-machine in a sealed box,
subject to the order of the State or Federal Legisla-
tures. He and his son, in 1797, received the first let-
ters patent for nail-making machinery issued under
the general patent laws of the United States. The
second was granted in 1794 to Thomas Perkins, also
of Philadelphia. In 1797 there were three manufac-
turers of cut-nails, and one of patent nails in the city.
2252
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
I
In 1789, David Folsom, claiming to be the inventor
of a new method of making nails, sprigs, and brads,
by cutting, without the usual mode of drawing, asked
for an exclusive right to machinery. Samuel Briggs
desired similar privileges for a machine to make
spikes, nails, and gimlet irons.
The origin of the present Schuylkill Iron-Works
dates from 1802, when James Wood commenced the
manufacture of iron at the Pennypack Iron- Works in
Philadelphia County. James Potts, who was associated
with Wood, had been previously similarly engaged
on Valley Creek,— the famous "Valley Forge of the
Revolution. In 1816, James Wood was proprietor of
Valley Forge, and manager of the iron-works, where
the manufacture of sheet- and plate-iron was carried
on, also saws, shovels, and spades. Here was made
the first cast steel manufactured in the country, ex-
cept a small quantity produced by the same parties in
New York. In 1826, James Wood and his son, Alan,
leased the Delaware Iron-Works, near Wilmington,
Del., and continued the same line of business until
1832. In this year James Wood & Son built the Con-
shohocken Iron-Works, which they ran by water-
power, and operated until 1844. In this year the
firm was dissolved, Alan Wood continuing the man-
ufacture of sheet and plate iron at the iron-works in
Delaware. In 1887, Alan Wood & Co., composed of
Alan Wood and his sons and of Lewis A. Lukens,
erected a steam rolling-mill at Conshohocken, called
the Schuylkill Iron-Works, which from time to time
have been enlarged and improved by the addition of
other mills and machinery, until the annual produc-
tion has exceeded fifteen thousand tons. The works
cover ten acres, and give employment to five hundred
The Port Richmond Iron- Works of I. P. Morris,
Towne & Co., were founded by Levi Morris & Co., in
1828. At that early day the tools now deemed indis-
pensable to a machine shop were scarcely known. It
was not until 1838 that a planer was introduced.
Anthracite coal was used in melting iron only to a
limited extent. The blowing machinery was so defec-
tive that the best products did not exceed three thou-
sand pounds of iron in an hour. By means of the im-
provements introduced in the blowing machinery and
furnaces, the production has risen to eight tons in
forty-six minutes. In 1846 the works were removed
from Market and Schuylkill Seventh Streets to their
present location on the Delaware River, adjoining the
Reading Railroad coal wharves.
The Pascal Iron-Works — Morris, Tasker & Co.,
proprietors — were established in 1821 by Stephen P.
Morris for the manufacture of stoves and grates.
Henry Morris and Thomas T. Tasker, Sr., became
partners in the concern in 1835. Their office then
and for many years was at Third and Walnut Streets.
Illuminating gas being introduced, they began the
manufacture of gas-pipe by hand ; but to supply the
demand for gas-pipe made by machinery, the firm, in
1836, began the nucleus of the present Pascal Iron-
Works. A demand for gas-fitting and gas-fitters'
tools followed quick upon the introduction of gas,
as well as for the construction of gas-generating
machinery, and the whole plant for city gas-works.
Apparatus for warming public and private buildings,
both by hot water and by steam, are manufactured
to a very large extent, the self-regulating hot-water
furnace being the invention of Thomas T. Tasker,
Sr. To these have been added the production of
pipes Mid tubes for analogous purposes, — water- and
steam-tubes, steam boilers, locomotive flues, etc.
Nearly 600 hands are employed, and 25,000 tons of
iron and 150,000 tons of coal are annually consumed.
Charles Wheeler, who was born in Philadelphia, on
the 22d of August, 1827, entered the employment of
Morris, Tasker & Co. as a clerk in 1847. Six years
later Wister Morris, the founder of the firm, retired,
and, much to the surprise of every one, sold out his
interest to Mr. Wheeler, who was yet under thirty,
and as yet without money. The preference was the
more remarkable, as there were clerks in the office
senior to Mr. Wheeler and of kin to his benefactor.
The confidence, however, was not misplaced. He
paid for Mr. Morris' interest the sum of 8500,000 out
of his share in the profits of the concern within two
years after he entered it. In 1864, Mr. Wheeler him-
self sold out his happily-acquired share in the busi-
ness for $800,000, and turned his attention to the
Fairmount Iron- Works, which he owned, and the
founding of the Central National Bank, of which he
became one of the original directors and the largest
shareholder in 1865. He continued in the direction
of the iron-works until the land upon which they
were situated was acquired by the city for park pur-
poses. He was elected vice-president of the Central
National Bank in 1873, and three years afterward re-
entered and held a controlling interest in his old firm
of Morris, Tasker & Co. Not content as yet with the
vast business cares which he had taken upon himself,
Mr. Wheeler entered as a senior partner, in 1878, the
firm of John Farnum & Company, of 233 Chestnut
Street, one of the largest dry-goods houses in the city.
This is supposed to have been at the wish of John
Farnum, whose daughter (Susan) Mr. Wheeler mar-
ried in 1867, and who died some time before the latter
succeeded him at the head of the firm. Mr. Wheeler
was thus at the time of his death the directing head
of two of Philadelphia's greatest business houses and
one of its leading financial institutions. In addition
to this he occupied positions in the directorate of the
Girard and North America Insurance Companies, the
Lehigh Valley Coal and Navigation Company, the
Pottstown and Cambria Iron Companies, the Seaboard
Bank, of New York, and the First National Bank, of
Bradford.
Mr. Wheeler took an active interest in city
charities, being connected with the Charity Organ-
ization Society, the Bedford Mission, and the Soup
wnot.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2253
Society. He was a member of the Protestant Epis-
copal denomination, and was for many years connected
with St. Luke's Church, at Thirteenth and Spruce
Streets. An especial object of his care was the Church
of the Redeemer, at Bryn Mawr, where his country-
seat, one of the most remarkable in the vicinity of the
city for taste and beauty, was situated. His town
house was at 1217 Walnut Street.
In his politics, Mr. Wheeler belonged to the party
of good government, a conviction he evinced by his
activity and proipinence in the Committee of One
Hundred since the time of its organization. In ap-
pearance Mr. Wheeler was distinguished and of com-
manding presence, tall, and erect. He was a kindly,
genial man, of a bright, warm nature, and of the most
upright integrity and thorough business-like char-
acter. He was richly endowed with the faculties of
quick perception, keen .discrimination, and ready
judgment. His high degree of executive ability is
attested by the success which followed his efforts to
create and incorporate the Central Bank, and by the
impetus which his labors communicated to the several
concerns with which he was associated.
Mr. Wheeler apparently enjoyed excellent health,
and it was an emphatic shock to this community
when there came an announcement of his sudden
death in New York, on the 16th of August, 1883.
The Southwark Foundry — Merrick & Sons, pro-
prietors— was started in 1836 as a foundry for cast-
ings only, but was soon enlarged. The manufacture
of files, shoe-rasps, etc., was established in 1845 by
J. Barton Smith, who removed his establishment
from New Haven to Philadelphia, and located at
No. 221 New Street. In 1872, Charles F. Cripps and
E. Winslow Coffin became partners, under the style
of J. Barton Smith & Co. The manufacture of iron
by the Philadelphia Iron and Steel Company, North
Delaware Avenue, was commenced in 1845. In the
same year the Penn Eolling-Mill was established by
individual enterprise. In 1847, Dougherty & McCall
founded the factory known as Mcllvaine & Co.'s
Iron-Works, which came the same year into the
hands of F. Mcllvaine, an iron-founder since 1817.
In the manufacture of machinery there is no city
in the Union that surpasses Philadelphia. The ma-
chine-shops were estimated, in 1867, by Mr. Freedley
at " not less than one hundred," which " have in com-
bination facilities for constructing any machine that
the genius of man has invented or can invent." The
engines for the Lake Erie steamer, the " Mississippi,"
cylinder eighty-one inches diameter, with twelve feet
stroke of piston ; the Cornish-Bull pumping-engines
for the Buffalo Water-Works, each cylinder fifty
inches diameter and ten feet stroke; the lever-beam
Cornish pumping-engine, steam cylinder sixty inches
diameter, ten feet stroke ; the Bull-Cornish pumping-
engine, cylinder forty inches diameter, and eight feet
stroke, for Camden, N. J. ; the blowing machinery
for the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, the
largest ever constructed for making anthracite iron ;
the light-house of iron for Ship Shoal, Gulf of Mex-
ico ; the engines for the double-turreted iron-clad
" Monadnock," for the " Agamenticus," for the " Le-
high" and " Sangamon," for the gunboats " Itasca"
and "Sciota," forthe"Tacony,"and for the "Pushma-
taha" and " Antietam" were all constructed at the Port
Richmond Iron-Works ; iron light-houses all along the
coast of the Florida reefs, some of them the largest
in the world, together with the gasholder frame of
the Philadelphia works ; the heavy machinery for the
United States ship "Mississippi," for the "Prince-
ton," for the "San Jacinto," for the " Wabash," the
boilers for the " Susquehanna" and " Saranac," for
the " Corwin," the " Search," and the " New Iron-
sides" were made at the Southwark Foundry.
The Bush Hill Iron- and Steel-Works of Mathews &
Moore were established in 1816, at Sixteenth and But-
tonwood Streets. Oliver Evans was the founder of this
firm, and was succeeded by Rush & Muhlenburg. At
these works have been constructed, among others, the
blast furnace and rolling-mills of the Bethlehem Iron-
Works, the rolling-mill of the Abbott Iron-Works,
Baltimore, the machinery for steel forging at Lewis-
town, Pa., for street rails at Harrisburg, besides steam-
boilers, air- and cupola- furnaces. Morgan, Orr & Co.,
at 1219 Callowhill Street, manufactured the coining-
presses for the Philadelphia Mint, for the Branch
Mint at San Francisco, for the mint of the Peruvian
government, and nearly all the coining-presses in use
in South America and Mexico. The Bridgewater
Iron-Works of Stanhope & Suplee, founded in 1837,
which came under the proprietorship of Stanhope &
Suplee in 1857, have constructed the largest saw-
mills at Lock Haven and Williamsport, as well as a
variety of heavy machinery for rolling and paper-
mills, and nearly all the machines in the print-works
in Philadelphia.
The manufacture in Philadelphia of machinery for
textile fabrics may be traced back to 1777, when Oliver
Evans, then engaged in making card teeth by hand,
invented a very eflicient machine for manufacturing
them at the rate of 1500 per minute. His proposal to
establish his factory under State patronage being re-
jected he told the secret to individuals, and in 1788
Giles Richards & Co. began the manufacture with
newly-invented machinery, probably that of Evans,
by which, in 1793, the factories of G. Richards, Amos
Whittemore, and Mark Richards turned out 12,000
dozen annually. From that beginning the manufac-
tory of cotton machinery grew by degrees and ex-
panded with the increasing production of cotton until
1810, when Alfi-ed Jenks established at Holmesburg
the first regular manufactory of cotton machinery.
Jenks had learned under Samuel Slater all that was
then known of cotton machinery. He supplied the
Holmesburg shop with its machinery, and also the
Keating Mill at Manayunk, lately owned by J. C.
Kempton. In 1816 he built for Joseph Ripka looms
2264
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
for weaving cottonades. The war of 1812 having
given to home manufactures a great impetus, Mr.
Jenks, in 1819-20, removed to Bridesburg, and com-
menced the manufacture of woolen machinery for
Bethuel Moore, at Conshohocken, the first woolen
machinery mill in the State. In 1830, Mr. Jenks in-
vented the power-loom for weaving checks, and intro-
duced it into the Kempton Mill at Manayunk. Asso-
ciated with his son. Barton H. Jenks, one of the most
ingenious of American inventors, he established the
works since incorporated as the " Bridesburg Manu-
facturing Company." They construct looms, Jenks'
cotton-spreader, carding engines, Jenks' fly frame, the
Jenks' patent spinning frames, Jenks' improved cylin-
der cotton-gin, as well as all the machinery required
for cotton manufacturing.
According to the census of 1870 there were engaged
in the manufacture of machinery, cotton and woolen,
six establishments, employing $1,384,000 of capital ;
with steam-power of 541 horse-power in 227 ma-
chines, worked by 658 men and 12 women, paying
$311,500 in wages; with $878,542 value of material,
and $1,084,605 as the value of the product. In 1875,
Mr. Lorin Blodget, in comparing the census of 1870
with probable estimates for 1876, remarks, " Ma-
chinery for the manufacture of textile fabrics is pro-
duced to three times the extent it was five years ago,
and in far higher and more costly forms. Spinning,
weaving, knitting, sewing, folding, and many other
processes are performed with far better machinery ;
the costly Jacquard loom is in general use, and, while
not all the machinery of this class employed in such
factories is made in Philadelphia, a large share of
every grade is made here."
John Butterworth, in 1820, commenced the manu-
facture of the work for cotton and woolen machinery,
on Second Street, north of Brown. These works, in
1844, passed into the hands of H. W. Butterworth as
sole proprietor, who removed to Haydock Street, east
of Front.
The first locomotive constructed in Philadelphia
was built in Kensington by Col. Stephen H. Long, of
the United States Topographical Engineers, a gentle-
man of scientific culture and originality. This en-
gine was designed upon the plan of the locomotives
in England, but combined some original improve-
ments. It was finished before 1'831, and was tried on
the 4th of July, of that year, upon two miles — all
that were finished — of the NewCastle and Frenchtown
Railroad. The weight of the machine was about
three and a half tons. This little motor would run
with speed and success for a while, but then came to
a stop because enough steam could not be generated
for constant use. Some little changes were made by
Col. Long, and he was extremely gratified the next
day to find that his engine drew two cars containing
seventy or eighty persons with ease, the full length
of the track, two miles, and returned with them.
This performance was hopeful, but the inventor was
not satisfied with it, and brought the machine back
to the city. A new boiler was constructed for it at
Rush & Muhlenberg's foundry, Bush Hill. When
taken back to New Castle there was another failure.
The engine would run very well for some distance,
but could not make steam sufficient for constant
work, particularly when a burden was to be drawn.
Alone the engineer could run it at the rate of twenty-
five miles per hour. Finally Col. Long became dis-
couraged, and it was withdrawn from the road. In
June, 1833, Col. Long ran his locomotive-engine on
the Germantown Railroad, and a matter of great nov-
elty connected with its use was that bituminous coal
was burned beneath the boiler. He had associated
with him in the construction of his locomotive Wil-
liam Norris and others. They formed the American
Steam Carriage Company in March, 1831. In 1833
the business was so far successful that Messrs. Long
and Norris determined to establish it permanently.
They built their works at Bush Hill, near the Rush &
Muhlenberg foundry, in such a situation that when
the streets were opened they were found to be on the
west line of Schuylkill Sixth [Seventeenth] Street,
extending south from Morris [Spring Garden] Street
to the Columbia Railroad. These workshops became
famous in after-yeare as the Norris Locomotive Works,
and a large business was transacted there.
The first locomotive steam-engine with cars attached
that was ever seen in Philadelphia was exhibited at
Masonic Hall in August, 1830. The car would carry
three persons, and ran at the rate of nine miles
per hour. This exhibition, it was announced, had
previously been made in Rochester, N. Y. The
inventor was Francis Schields,' of Cincinnati. The
circular road laid round the Masonic Hall was ninety
feet in circumference, and the speed was six hundred
feet per minute.
The second locomotive of large size built in Philadel-
phia was constructed by Stacy Costell, and was ready
for work in September, 1831. Costell had invented a
vibrating cylinder steam-engine, and had some repu-
tation as a scientific mechanic. This locomotive —
" had four coanected driving-wheels of about thirty-six inches diameter
with two six-inch cylinders of twelve-ioch stroke which were attached
to right-angle cranks at the end of a counter-shaft, from which shaft
spur-gearing connected with one of the axles. The boiler was of the
Cornish type, with fire inside of an internal straight flue. Behind the
bridge-wall of this boiler and inside the flue, water-tubes were placed
at intervals, crossing each other after the manner of the English Gal-
loway boiler of the present day. The peculiar arrangement of this
engine made it possible to use a verj- efficient and simple mode of re-
versement by the use of a disc between the steam-pipe and the cylin-
ders, arranged with certain openings which changed the direction of
the steam aud exhaust by the movement of this disc on the steam-pipe
near the cylinder something after the manner of a two-way cock."2
* In June, 1835, Isaiah Jennings gave notice that he was the patentee
of a steam-engine in the tJnited States several years before Mr. Stephen-
son adopted the same principle on the Liverpool and Manchester Kail-
road. Jennings' experiments commenced in 1809. His patent had not
expired in 1835, and he gave notice that be e-xpected compensation from
the persons who should use or adopt his principle.
2 Joseph Harrison, Jr., " The Locomotive Engine."
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2255
The Costell engine was tried on the Columbia Rail-
road in 1833 and 1834, but was not very successful in
comparison with other machines, and was broken up,
but the boiler having good steam making qualities
was used for a long time with a stationary engine.
The third engine was begun in 1831 by Thomas
Holloway, of Kensington, who had some reputation
as a manufacturer of steam-engines for use in steam-
boats, but it was never completed.
A Mr. Childs, in March, 1831, had completed a
rotary locomotive engine, which it was given out
would ascend an inclined plane at any elevation ever
used in a railroad, and had the advan-
tage of being remarkably compact.
This was probably the engine which
was exhibited in May, 1831, at Smith's
Garden in Arch Street, west of Schuyl-
kill Eighth [Fifteenth] Street. The
garden extended to Cherry Street, and
westward to Schuylkill Seventh [Six-
teenth] Street, so that there was space
for the building of considerable track.
The Labyrinth Garden, the former
name of this inclosure, gave way to the
Railway Garden, and in its favor it was
announced " a railway has been laid and
a locomotive engine prepared on which
two persons can conveniently ride.
The first or outside passenger, working
his passage by a small wheel, sets the
machine in motion." The engine was
of such limited power that it required
to be started, but being set in motion,
it went very well. The exhibition was
kept up for some weeks, but on one un-
lucky day the engine burst its boiler,
and the railroad was removed. Childs
built a large engine upon his plan for
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com-
pany. It was of about fifty horse-
power, and sent to Baltimore for trial.
Harrison says, " A record of its per-
formance cannot now be easily reached,
but it is known that it was never heard
of as a practically useful engine after
this time."
The Baldwin Locomotive Works stand pre-emi-
nent among all the companies engaged in the manu-
facture of railway machinery. Its origin is contem-
poraneous with the inception of railways in America;
its growth has been a progress in every respect com-
mensurate with the development of railroad construc-
tion ; its history reflects the great advance made in
transportation by steam. These great works owe
their existence to and take their name from their
founder, Matthias W. Baldwin, who was born in
Elizabethtown, N. J., Dec. 10, 1795, and in 1817 en-
tered the service of Fletcher & Gardner, jewelers and
silversmiths, in this city. After a short time spent in
this business on his own account, he formed, in 182.5,
a copartnership with David Mason, a machinist, for
the manufacture of book-binders' tools and cylinders
for calico-printing. Their first shop was in a small
alley running north from Walnut Street, above Fourth ;
but it was in a shop on Minor Street, to which his
business was removed, that Mr. Baldwin illustrated
inventive genius by constructing an engine adapted to
the motive-power of a small factory, where economy
of space was an object. It was an upright engine,
combining power with such excellency of work-
manship and efliciency that it not only performed
MATTHIAS W. BALDWIN.
all the duties expected of it, but has since success-
fully supplied the motive-power to six different de-
partments of the works as they have been opened,
and is to-day preserved in good order. From this
success the manufacture of stationary steam-engines
took a prominent place in the establishment. Mr.
Mason withdrew from the firm soon after, and Mr.
Baldwin continued the construction of engines. It
was in 1829-30 that steam, as a motive-power on rail-
roads, began to attract the attention of American
engineers. A few English locomotives had been in-
troduced, and for the gratification of public curiosity
Mr. Baldwin constructed for Peale's Museum a minia-
2256
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ture locomotive, not copied from the English, but con-
structed from published descriptions and sketches of
engines which had taken part in the Rainhill compe-
tition in England. The little machine was completed
on April 25, 1831, and put in motion on a circular
track made of pine boards, covered with hoop-iron,
in the rooms of Peak's Museum. It drew two small
cars, holding four persons, and attracted great atten-
tion from the crowds that saw it. Both anthracite
and pine-knot coal were used as fuel, and the steam
^\'as discharged through the smoke-stack to increase
the draught.
The success of the model obtained for Mr. Baldwin
an order for a locomotive for the Philadelphia, Ger-
mantown and Norristown Railroad Company. An
examination of an engine imported from England
for the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, but
which had not been put together, enabled him to im-
prove upon the model of his miniature engine. There
were few mechanics capable of doing the necessary
work, and even suitable tools had to be first made.
Nevertheless, obstacles were removed, and the diflS-
culties overcome by the genius and perseverance of
the builder, and the work was prosecuted to com-
pletion. "Old Ironsides" left the shop on Minor
Street for that on Lodge Alley, where it was completed,
and on Nov. 23, 1832, stood upon the rails like a
"thing of life." Its light weight — between four and
five tons — did not give it that tractive power neces-
sary to draw a loaded train on wet and slippery rails,
hence in the newspapers of the day it was termed a
" fair weather" locomotive, because the notices speci-
fied that " the locomotive engine 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,
as shown in the " Planet" class, and weighed, in run-
ning order, something near five tons. The rear or driv-
ing-wheels were 54 inches in diameter, on a crank axle
placed in the fire-box. The cranks were 39 inches
from centre to centre. The front wheels, which were
simply carrying wheels, were 45 inches in diameter,
on an axle placed just back of the cylinders. The
cylinders were 9J inches in diameter by 18 inches
stroke, and were attached horizontally to the outside
of the smoke-box, which was Dshaped, with sides re-
ceding inwardly, so as to bring the centre line of each
cylinder in line with the centre of the crank. The
wheels were made with heavy cast-iron hubs, wooden
spokes and rims, and wrought-iron tires. The frame
was of wood, placed outside the wheels. The boiler
was thirty inches in diameter, and contained sev-
enty-two copper flues, IJ inches in diameter, and 7
feet long. The tender was a four-wheeled platform,
with wooden sides and back, carrying an iron box
for a water-tank, inclosed in a wooden casing, and
with a space for fuel in front. The engine had no
cab. The valve motion was at first given by a single
loose eccentric for each cylinder, placed on the
axle between the crank and hub of the wheel. On
the inside of the eccentric was a half-circular slot,
running half way round. A strap was fastened to the
axle at the arm of the crank, terminating in a pin
which projected into the slot. The engine was re-
versed by changing the position of the eccentric on the
axle by a lever operated from the footboard.
The price of the engine was to have been $4000,
but the company claimed that it did not perform ac-
cording to contract, and after correction had been
made as far as possible, a compromise was effected,
and Mr. Baldwin received $3500 for his work.
The " Old Ironsides," on subsequent trials, attained
a speed of thirty miles an hour with the usual train.
Such was the first locomotive made by Mr. Baldwin,
and such was his own disappointment that he said,
with much decision, "That is our last locomotive."
The " Miller," for the Charleston and Hamburg
(S. C.) Railroad Company, was the next engine built
by Mr. Baldwin. A visit to, and thorough inspection
of, an English locomotive, built by Robert Stevenson
& Co., of Newcastle, England, for the Mohawk and
Hudson Railroad, enabled Mr. Baldwin to introduce
improvements which obviated some of the defects
which had made the " Old Ironsides" less successful
I than he anticipated it would be. During 1834 Mr.
j Baldwin completed five locomotives, and the business
, was now fairly under way.
! The business of locomotive building, in 1834, com-
pelled another change of quarters, and from Lodge
Alley 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 im-
mense proportions.
BALDWIN ENGINE, 1834.
The financial difiiculties 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 com-
plete possession of the plant and business, under an
agreement to pay the full amount of his indebted-
ness, principal and interest, in three years ; and ex-
tension of the time two years longer was afterward
found to be necessary to complete the payment.
I
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2257
These financial troubles had their effect in diminishing
the orders for locomotives, and the establishment of
other locomotive works also tended to decrease the
business. In April, 1839, Messrs. Vail and Huftj-
became associated with Mr. Baldwin, the style of the
firm being Baldwin, Vail & Hufty, which so remained
until 1841, when Mr. Hufty withdrew, £tnd the style
was changed to Baldwin & Vail, which firm continued
until 1842.
The problem of utilizing the weight of the engine
for adhesion was not solved until his inventive mind
had produced his six -wheel-connected locomotive,
with four front drivers combined. The patent for
this machine was secured Aug. 25, 1842, and has con-
tributed more to the success of the Baldwin Loco-
motive Works, as well as to the fortune of Mr. Bald-
win, than any other of his inventions.
liAhUWIN SIX-WHEELS-CONNECTED ENGINE, 1842.
This machine seemed to revive business. In 1843
12 engines were constructed ; in 1844, 22 ; in 1845, 27.
The partnership with Mr. Vail was dissolved in 1842,
and Asa Whitney became a partner under the stj'le of
Baldwin & Whitney, which continued until 1846,
when the latter withdrew to form the house of A.
Whitney & Sons, for the manufacture of car-wheels.
As early as 1840 the reputation of Mr. Baldwin at-
tracted attention in Europe, and he received through
August Belmont, of New York, an order for a loco-
motive for Austria, and in 1845 he constructed three
locomotives for the Royal Railroad Committee of
Wiirtemberg. In 1854, Matthew Baird, who had
been connected with the works since 1836, was ad-
mitted to partnership, under the title of M. W. Bald-
win & Co.
The year 1861, when the civil war was breaking out,
witnessed a falling off in the production of locomo-
tives, only forty being built during that year, and it
was seriously contemplated to turn the resources of the
establishmentto the manufacture of shot and shell and
other munitions of war. It was soon seen, however,
that war had its advantages as well as disadvantages,
and that the demand for transportation of armies,
supplies, and munitions would more than compensate
for all the diminution of ordinary freight caused by
the disturbance of trade and commerce. The move-
ment of armies and their impedimenta taxed the ca-
pacity of every railroad, and compelled the enlarge-
ment of all of their facilities. This, in turn, demanded
of every Northern workshop the fullest exertion to
supply the pressing demand, and the government be-
came a purchaser of locomotives. In 1862 the works
turned out 72 locomotives ; in 1883, 96 ; in 1864, 130 ;
in 1865, 115.
Mr. Baldwin died Sept. 7, 1865, after he had prac-
tically perfected the locomotive, and witnessed the
rise and wonderful increase of the most important ma-
terial interest of the age, to the completion of which
he had contributed more than any other individual.
His name was familiar wherever the locomotive was
known, and his personal character as a Christian and
a philanthropist was as highly esteemed by his asso-
ciates and acquaintances as his scientific achievements
were valued by his profession.
In 1867 the establishment was reorganized as "The
Baldwin Locomotive Works," M. Baird & Co., pro-
prietors, Messrs. George Burnham and Charles T.
Parry, who had been connected with the establish-
ment from an early period, being associated with Mr.
Baird. In 1870, Edward H. Williams, William P.
Henzey, and Edward Longstreth became members of
the firm. The production of the works was : for 1866,
118 locomotives; for 1867, 127; for 1868, 124; for
1869, 235 ; for 1870, 280; for 1871, 331.
In 1873, Mr. Baird retired, and the style of the
firm became Burnham, Parry, Williams & Co., and
John H. Converse, who had been connected with the
works since 1870, was admitted as a member of the
firm. The product for 1873 was 437 locomotives,
and nearly 3000 men were employed. Owing to the
financial troubles of the fall of 1873 only 205 locomo-
tives were turned out in 1874, and 135 in 1875. The
number increased in 1876 to 232; in 1877 the number
was 185 ; in 1878 it had increased to 298 ; in 1879 the
number was 398, and in 1880 the number turned out
was 515. In 1882 the works employed 3000 men and
made an average of 12 locomotives weekly; 565 for
the year 1882, and at the rate of 600 for 1883. These
range in size from the steam motors and smaller en-
gines for narrow-gauge roads to the heaviest freight
engines known. Of the number made in 1882, one
hundred were exported to Mexico, Brazil, and Aus-
tralia. Nearly all the locomotives exported from the
port of New York during the past ten years were
from these works. All the processes of manufacture
from the crude materials are conducted at these works,
including the heaviest foundry work and forgings.
Eleven steam hammers, ranging from 600 to 6000
pounds each, are in use, forging all the shapes and
axles required by the works. The wheels are also
made here, and the steel tires are the only parts not
made at these works as recently enlarged.
In an existence of nearly half a century this factory
has constructed over 5000 locomotives. The present
capacity is equal to nearly two locomotives for each
day of the year. Nine acres of ground are occupied
2258
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
by the works ; the number of hands employed ranges
from 2600 to 3000 ; the plant comprises 734 machine
tools ; and drawings and patterns for over 500 differ-
ent sizes or styles of locomotives, for all existing
guages and every description of service, are included
in the working lists of this, the largest locomotive
manufactory in the world.
In the spring of 1835 the firm of Garrett & East-
wick (Philip Garrett and Andrew M. Eastwick),
manufacturers of stationary engines and light ma-
chinery, in Wagner's Alley, below Race Street, un-
dertook to build a locomotive engine for the Beaver
Meadow Railroad Company. This firm, not having
built locomotives, employed as their foreman Joseph
Harrison, Jr., then twenty-five years old, who had
been ten years at work as a practical machinist, and
for two years had been journeyman in the Norris
Works. The result was the building of the locomo-
tive "Samuel D. Ingham," named after the president
of the road. There were some novelties in this engine
invented and patented by Andrew M. Eastwick. It
was the first upon which any shelter had been placed
to protect the fireman and engineman from the weather.
A roof was put over them, and this was subsequently
improved by placing glass windows in the front and
sides, with other conveniences, so that the inclosure
was called in time "the cab."
Joseph Harrison, Jr., whose name is so intimately
connected with railroad construction and the building
of locomotives, was the grandson of a Harrison of
New Jersey, who was once a large landholder, but,
on entering the Revolutionary army, so neglected his
personal interests that when he died, in 1787, he left
very little for his family. His son, Joseph Harrison,
Sr., came to Philadelphia, when fourteen years old,
into the employ of Charles French, the proprietor of
a grocery-store. Samuel Crawford bought out Charles
French, and Mr. Harrison married his daughter, Mary
Crawford, in 1803. The business did not prosper, and,
as Joseph Harrison, Jr., has said of himself in his
autobiography, when he was born, Sept. 20, 1810, it
was at the dark hours of his family history. Obtain-
ing what little schooling he was able to command, he
developed a strong inclination for mechanical pur-
suits, and in 1825 he was indentured to Frederick D.
Sanno to learn steam-engineering. Sanno failed, and
he was then apprenticed to James Flint, of the firm
of Hyde & Flint. In this shop he soon became more
proficient, and at the age of twenty, before he was free
of his indenture, he was made foreman of part of the
establishment, and had under him thirty men and
boys. When he was twenty-two years of age he took
employment with Philip Garrett, who manufactured
" small lathes, presses for bank-note engravers, and
the like." In 1833 he went to Port Clinton, Pa., to
establish a foundry for Arundus Tiers, with whom his
father was engaged as an accountant. This was the
end of his varied experience as a mechanician pre-
ceding his career as a constructor of locomotives. In
1834 he was employed by William Norris, then en-
gaged with Col. Long in building locomotives on the
the design of Long. He seems to have considered this
part of his professional education rather of a negative
character, for when, in 1835, he was engaged by Gar-
rett & Eastwick as foreman, and was intrusted with
the designing of the locomotive "Samuel D. Ingham,"
he says that he endeavored to avoid " the errors with
which he had been made familiar." This locomotive
proved a success, and led to the construction of others
like itr-
On Dec. 15, 1836, he married Miss Sarah Poulterer,
whom he had met in New York in January of the
previous year. In 1887 he became a partner in the
firm of Garrett, Eastwick & Co., although his skill
and energy were the only capital that he was able
to contribute to the enterprise. Two years later Mr.
Garrett retired, and the firm took the title of Ea.stwick
& Harrison. In 1840, Mr. Harrison designed for the
Reading Railroad an eleven-ton engine, named the
" Gowan & Marx," which for its weight was " the
most efiicient locomotive for freight purposes that had
been built anywhere." Two Russian engineers. Col.
Melnekofif and Col. Kraft, who were in this country
to investigate its railway system, saw this engine,
took tracings of it, and introduced it into general use
in Russia, where its value led to an official inquiry for
its builder. The outcome was that Mr. Harrison was
invited to Russia by the authorities, and there, in
1843, he and Mr. Eastwick and the late Thomas
Winans, of Baltimore, concluded a contract with the
government to build the locomotives and rolling-stock
for the St. Petersburg and Moscow Railway. This
contract amounted to 83,000,000, it being conditioned
that the work should be completed in five years, and
shbuld be done in St. Petersburg by Russian work-
men or such as could be hired on the spot. The pay-
ments were to be made according to the amount of
work completed, and government inspectors were to
report upon the monthly statements. Official com-
petition was rife in Russia, and it was perfectly well
known that the inspectors would indorse any dis-
honest statement if they were paid for so doing, or, if
they were not bribed, would, as Count Bobrinski told
Mr. Harrison, wear out the contractors long before
their term of contract was ended. But Mr. Harrison
was too keen a business man and too competent in
his profession to be thus imposed upon. He defeated
the schemes of the inspectors, and he and his partners
so fairly completed their engagements that they won
the confidence of the Emperor Nicholas, and surprised
the Russians by demonstrating that works of public
improvement could be conducted without peculation
or fraud. As an evidence of the Imperial favor, valu-
able diamond rings had been given to the members of
the firm, and Mr. Harrison was made the recipient
of the ribbon of the order of Saint Ann, to which was
attached a massive gold medal bearing in the Rus-
sian language the words " For zeal." This honor
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2259
was conferred upon him at the time of the completion
of the bridge across the Neva, accomplished by the
firm during the time of the first contract, which had
been extended a year for that purpose.
The greatest of the later contracts with the Russian
government was that of Aug. 25, 1850, to maintain
for twelve years the movable machinery of the St.
Petersburg and Moscow road. The parties to this
contract were Mr. Harrison, Thomas Winans, and
William L. Winans, the latter having bought the in-
terest of Mr. Eastwick in the contract of 1843 pre-
vious to its completion.
Mr. Harrison returned from Russia to Philadelphia
in 1852, to enjoy the rest and the wealth to which his
labors had entitled him. Here he built his splendid
mansion on South Eighteenth Street, and collected in
it the paintings and other works of art that are every-
where known in critical and popular circles as the
Harrison gallery. The erection of the mansion was
something that he gave his personal attention to, and
hidden within the walls are many ingenious devices
to insure stability and economize space that he origi-
nated. He invested heavily in real estate, and the
failure of his plan to concentrate all the railroad ter-
mini in the city at one point, and combine with a
union depot commodious hotel accommodations, was
a source of much regret to him. In 1860 he spoke
with sorrow of the non-success of this and other pro-
jects which he had formed to benefit the city, and in-
sisted that his motives had been misconstrued. He
talked of going abroad for many years to reside, hop-
ing that on liis return to Philadelphia his ideas would
be better appreciated. Before sailing, however, he
had the jileasure of witnessing the practical and suc-
cessful operation of the safety boiler designed by him-
self, and which marked a distinct era in the con-
struction of boilers. It was a vast improvement as
regarded safety and the pressure of steam that could
be carried upon tlie common wrought-iron boilers. It
is a well-established fact that its inception precluded
all the forms of sectional safety boilers that subse-
quently came into vogue. Much of the detail of the
machinery needed to produce these steam generators
was perfected from 1860 to 1863, while Mr. Harrison
was in Europe.
In 1863 he returned and erected a factory for the
production of his boiler, evincing mechanical inge-
nuity of the highest order in the arrangement of this
establishment. Toward the close of his life he turned
his attention to recording some of his thoughts and
experiences. After writing some verses, entitled " The
Iron Worker and King Solomon," designed to impress
his children's minds with " the value of what is but
too frequently thought to be very humble labor," he
published a folio volume of over two hundred pages,
containing this poem and some fugitive pieces, accom-
panied by his autobiography, and many incidents of
life in Russia, with the leading particulars of the in-
vention of the Harrison boiler. He wrote a paper
on the part taken by Philadelphians in the invention
of the locomotive, an account of the Neva bridge in
Russia, and a paper on steam-boilers. For what he
had himself done fo insure safety in boilers he was
awarded the gold and silver Rumford medals by the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, on May 30,
1871. On July 15, 1864, he was elected a member of
the American Philosophical Society. He was also a
member of other learned societies, but, with the ex-
ception of a few papers read by him, he did not take
an active part in the business of any of them. During
the latter part of his life he was connected with the
Protestant Episcopal Church. He died March 27,
1874, after a lingering illness. He left a wife and seven
children, — William, Henry, and Annie, who were
born in this country before he went to Russia ; Alice
McNeil; Marie Olga, and Theodore Leland, born in
Russia ; and Clara Elizabeth, born in America after
their return.
Henry R. Campbell, mechanical engineer, entered
into the business of manufacturing locomotives on his
own account, and turned out several six-wheel engines.
This workshop was on Green Street, above Tenth, in
1839. James Brooks & Co., assisted by Samuel
Wright, also built locomotives, in Kensington, and
completed one or two. Charles and George Escoll
Sellers, of the firm of Coleman Sellers & Son, built a
locomotive somewhat after the plan of the Baldwin
engine.
The first railroad cars for passengers, as was very
natural, were constructed after the pattern of the
stage-coaches of the day. The Germantown Rail-
road cars were simply enlarged copies of the Troy
mail-coach, famous about this time by their use on
Col. Reeside's stage lines. It is worthy of notice, as
showing the anticipating character of American me-
chanics, that railroad cars began to be constructed
before the railroads were finished upon which it was
expected that they would be used. Richard Imlay,
in November, 1831, constructed "two elegant rail-
road coaches to run on the Little Schuylkill Railway,
between Fort Clinton and Tamaqua, carrying twenty-
five passengers each." Subsequently Imlay went into
this business extensively, and erected large car-shops
on Schuylkill Second [Twenty-firstJ Street at the Co-
lumbia Railroad, which extended northwardly almost
to Spring Garden Street. Cars for running curves of
any given radii were to be had of Imlay at Bush Hill,
according to an advertisement in November, 1832.
They were designed by J. P. Fairlamb, civil engineer ;
and Philip Garrett, No. 11 South Fourth Street, and
James Siddall, at the southwest corner of Fifth and
Market Streets, were authorized to make contracts for
them.
On Jan. 1, 1829, the United States Oazette contained
a notice of a railway car which had been invented by
Ross Winans, of New Jersey, and exhibited at the Bal-
timore Exchange. It was built upon a model railway
laid in the Exchange, upon which one-half ton on the
2260
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
car could be drawn along " by a slender thread at-
tached to a half-pound weight and running over a pul-
ley." Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, rode upon this
car, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
intended to investigate the merits of the invention.
In March this carriage of Winans was on exhibition
at the Merchants' Coifee-House, in Philadelphia. Mr.
Sullivan, one of the proprietors, said " two pounds by
this machine will draw a ton weight. The ratio of
advantage is not so great when ascending, because
then gravitation is to be overcome. In the slopes of
twenty-eight feet to a mile the English carriage will
carry three and one-half tons loading to one horse,
and Winans' carriage seven and one-half tons; but
on a level the English will carry six tons and Winans'
forty tons."
Mark Richards exhibited at his store on North
Third Street, in March, 1830, a model of a railroad
wagon, made by W. Robinson & Co., of the Phoenix
Foundry, at Wilmington, Del. In the course of three
or four years the passenger cars for railroads com-
menced to change their shape, and were made to
carry a larger number of persons. In September,
1836, a car thirty-seven feet long, which had been
drawn by four horses from Broad Street, was exhib-
ited in front of the Exchange, and it was stated to be
a matter of important improvement in this carriage
that it would hold one hundred passengers.
In July, 1835, the railroad car "Victors" was run
for the first time upon the Columbia Railroad out to
the house of Mr. De Bauflry, near the Peter's Island
bridge. Some invited guests were carried, accom-
panied by a band of music. It was considered to be
a novelty, because the front and rear parts having
each its two pair of wheels, the middle or principal
part of the car was unsupported except by the union
with the parts of the car over the wheels. The Com-
mercial Herald remarked, —
"In this way more than two-tbirds of the weight falls between the
two sets of wheels. The effect of this arrangement is to give to the
middle part a much more equable and uniform motion, the jar imparted
to the wheels by any slight inequality in the road being scarcely per-
ceived. . . . Some inconvenience has been apprehended on the short
curves on the road from the two sets of wheels being at so great a dis-
tance. But this evil is entirely obviated by making the lateral motion
of each set, by which it adapts itself to the curves in the road, wholly
indepeodeut of that of the other. Considered as a new experiment in
the art, we cannot but anticipate that it will prove a successful one."
Nicholas Garrison, Valentine Eckert, and Henry
Voight erected works for drawing wire as early as
1779 in the city. They met with unexpected diffi-
culty, in consequence of the defective character of the
American iron. The manufacturers of the iron re-
fused to remedy the evil, which might have been
easily overcome. The projectors were therefore com-
pelled to relinquish the works, which, upon memorial
setting forth the facts, they tendered to the Assembly
in February, but the offer was not accepted. Hand-
cards were made by Oliver Evans and others before
the Revolution. There were three manufacturers of
wire cards in the city in 1797. It was in the wire-mill
of White & Hazard, at the Falls of the Schuylkill,
that anthracite coal was successfully tried and proved
as a " heater."
John Sellers was the first man in North America to
manufacture wire-cloth, some fifteen years prior to the
Revolution. It was Nathan Sellers, a son of John,
who offered to manufacture the moulds for the Conti-
nental paper money, and which he did in a secluded
place, under military surveillance. About 1781 the
concern was N. & D. Sellers (Nathan & David), and
during the whole period that hand-moulds were used
for making paper, this house was the sole manufac-
tory of them in this country. S., C. & J. Sellers were
the successors of N. & D. Sellers. Then came the
firms of S. & J. Sellers, and Sellers & Pennock,
(Abraham L. Pennock). J. Sellers invented the pro-
cess of riveting leather hose, for which he obtained a
patent, and this constituted another feature of their
business, 'and naturally led to the manufacture of
leather belting. In the course of time Samuel Sellers
and his son David constituted the firm of J. & D.
Sellers, which subsequently became J. & D. Sellers &
Co. In 1857, Samuel and Charles Sellers succeeded
to the business, under the style of Sellers Brothers.
The iron wire and railing industry from 1860 to
1882 is shown in the census reports to have been as
follows :
Number -p t ^
Census. of Estab- Capital. Kaw Material. d j* V
lishments. Product.
1860 17 $54,900 $47,848 $115,794
1870 10 84,900 90,604 190,158
1880 15 100,250 99,048 180,032
1882 16 300,000
The progress made in the manufacture of stoves
and fireplace heaters is to be measured only by the
patents recorded in this industry. Charles W. Peale
invented a fireplace in 1797, which he made consid-
erable effort to bring into notice after the year 1800.
James Truman, of Philadelphia, obtained a patent
Dec. 3, 1811, for a portable kitchen cooking-stove.
Henry W. Abbett was granted similar rights for a
boiling and cooking-stove, March 30, 1813. Samuel
Bolton took out letters patent for a pipe or grate-
boiler, or heater, July 7, 1809, and David Asher for a
portable cooking-machine Feb. 18, 1825. David
Launey obtained a patent for a fireplace March 18,
1813. Samuel Morey also secured rights for a fire-
place and chimney January 18th of the same year.
E(ijah Griffith's fireplace patent was dated March 6,
1820. For wood stoves patents were obtained by
Thomas Hurst, March 11, 1797; Henry W. Abbett,
May 4, 1802 ; Nicholas Lloyd, Feb. 29, 1812 ; George
Worrell, March 30, 1813 ; Burgess Allison, April 10,
1818; John Tasker, Feb. 23, 1823; and Louis Gou-
jon, Sept. 22, 1823; Henry W. Abbett obtained a
patent Jan. 24, 1799, for a coal-stove for burning Vir-
ginia coal. Patents for stoves and grates for burning
" stone coal" — a name very frequently given to the
anthracite of the Schuylkill and Lehigh regions —
f
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2261
were taken out by Oliver Evans, Jan. 16, 1800;
Eobert McMinn, June 24, 1822; Philip B. Mingle,
Oct. 24, 1822; George J. Fougeray, Sept. 11, 1822;
and John Lovatt, June 16, 1825. Daniel Pettibone,
who was the inventor of the warm-air furnace for
warming houses, was so intimately connected with the
iron manufacture that he deserves some notice here.
He was in business as a manufacturer of edge-tools,
etc., at No. 32 North Eighth Street, in 1813, at No.
267 Race Street in 1816-17, and in Watson's Alley in
1817. He received a patent for plane irons and
scythes in 1813, was the inventor of an auger for
boring guns, and brought forth many other ingenious
improvements. Julia Plantou received a patent for
a cook-stove Nov. 4, 1822. Robert Annesley received
a patent for warming houses April 27, 1814. It was
claimed to be superior to Pettibone's, and in the
United States Gazette of November 28th and Dec. 2,
1814, there was considerable discussion as to the re-
spective merits of the inventions. Annesley's heaters
were manufactured by Pryor, and Pettibone's by
Moore Harkness. Cook & Pettit, at No. 55 South
Fourth Street, were among the first to apply them-
selves to the manufacture of grates for the burning of
hard coal. They advertised, in October, 1823, that
they were provided with " coal-grates of the newest
and most approved patterns for burning Lehigh,
Schuylkill, and Susquehanna coal." They were ready
to furnish brass-mounted grates from ten dollars to
one hundred dollars each. About the same time
John N. Jackson & Co. advertised that they had
opened a grate and fender manufactory at No. 50
Cherry Street. Cook & Pettit gave notice in August,
1824, that they had invented a slip-bottom grate.
Charles Weaver advertised in September, 1825, that
he had invented a coal-stove for cooking, which he
declared was " safe, economical, and convenient,
whereby the difiiculty hitherto existing in burning
the Lehigh coal is entirely obviated."
William W. Weaver obtained a patent, April 15,
1822, for a stovepipe. James Vaux turned his atten-
tion to improvements in kitchen-grates for the burn-
ing of anthracite coal, so that the same might be
applied to cooking purposes. A committee of the
Franklin Institute, to which his claims were referred,
reported in 1826—
"that the object which Mr. Vaux had in view, in the experimeatu
whicli he haa made, was to ascertain whether anthracite might not be
burned in an ordinary open fireplace, and applied to all the purposes of
domestic economy for whicli wood or bttuminmis coal is generally used.
As it is the intention of Mr. Vaux to describe his apparatus, and to
communicate his observations to the public, the committee deem it un-
necessary for them to enter at large on the suhject, and they will there-
fore merely state that in their presence files were readily kindled with-
out using a blower, both in a grate — constructed for cooking and other
purposes, and standing in an open fireplace in the kitchen — and also in
a common cast-iron English grate, placed in a parlor fireplace, without
altering the existing size or form of the opening or throat of the chim-
ney ; and that it appeared evident to them that all the purposes pro-
posed by Mr. Vaux were perfectly attained. It was not pretended by
the experimenter that he had made auy discovery which could be de-
nominated new, but only that he succeeded in proving erroneous an
opinion which is still generally prevalent, namely, that anthracite can.
not be used for cooking excepting in a stove, a grate forliidiling its con-
venient use in consequence of the supposed necessity for bringing for-
ward the back and closing the throat of the chimney."
It did not require a long time, after invention be-
came directed to this subject, to very materially
change the customs in relation to fuel. Coal, as a
fuel, became fashionable. In houses of pretension
the coal-grate, with its ornamentation of brass and
steel, was a necessity in the parlor, even if the ten-
plate stove and the wide fireplace performed their
duties with cordwood in the kitchen.
In April, 1828, the United States Gazette described
an invention which had recently been perfected by
Williamson & Paynter, stove manufacturers, south-
west corner of Ninth and Market Streets, Philadel-
phia. It consisted of " a cast-iron box, fifteen to
thirty inches in length, eight to ten inches wide,
and six or seven inches deep. It has a grated bottom,
and is calculated to burn anthracite coal as readily
as charcoal. Upon one edge is placed a common
tin-kitchen, or roaster, in front of which, on the
opposite edge, is a sheet-iron fixture of the same
length, which reflects the heat upon the contents of
the tin-kitchen. Through the top of the reflector
may be placed boilers for meats and vegetables. By
means of false jambs, the size of the fire is reduced
at will. By displacing the reflector and the tin-
kitchen, the box or furnace may be used to heat
water, roast coflfee," etc. The contrivance was fixed
on four iron wheels, and the cost of it, according to
the Gazette, would not exceed nine dollars. This was
undoubtedly the first improvement of the kind.
Such an adaptation could not have been made until
after anthracite coal came into common use. It was
certainly a great addition to household economy, and
was one of the most important improvements in
stoves since Franklin invented the "Pennsylvania
fireplace." We believe that Clement Letourno, stove
and grate manufacturer, who in 1832 was at No. 76
North Sixth Street, was among the first in this city
to make cook-stoves, and they were also probably
made by Jacob F. Pleis, on Second Street, above
Arch, about the same time.
In the year 1828, Messrs. Fcering & Thudium com-
menced as a firm of stove-founders on Second Street,
just above Arch, the latter then known as Mulberry
Street. In a very small way did these gentlemen turn
out rather clumsy nine-plate stoves. In 1840 this
firm began casting a cylinder coal-consuming stove,
which proved a very desirable means of utilizing the
Schuylkill County coal, without the least inconveni-
ence in parlor and kitchen, dining-room and hall, store
and church, court-house and ofiice. The cylinder stove
was the practical answer to the riddle put to our an-
cestors by the ebony Sphinx of the anthracite coal-
measures of Pennsylvania. The circular portable
furnace was the beginning of a new era in American
afi'airs, quite as much as was the Declaration of Inde-
2262
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
pendence. And nearest did the domestic revolution
affect Pennsylvania. In 1828 there was mined in
our now great coal-producing commonwealth but
720 tons of anthracite. The millions of tons that now
find consumption owe to this cylinder stove a very
great deal of that activity which has developed the
coal of Pennsylvania.
The manufacture of stoves, ranges, heaters, fur-
naces, etc., was established in 1840 by Daniel Mershon,
on Market Street above Twelfth. In 1861 the oldest
son of A. H. Mershon was admitted a partner, and in
1865, George B. Mershon entered the firm. In 1868
the business was removed to Twelfth and Filbert
Streets. The manufacture of stoves, furnaces, etc.,
from 1860 to 1882, was as follows :
No. of Es- Value of
Tears, tablishments. Capital. Baw Material. Products.
1860 45 8453,100 8264,543 $664,063
1870 25 2,675,800 666,779 2,102,701
18801
1882 123 1,565,000
In 1768, Richard Mason, in Second Street, manu-
factured fire-engines, and was the first to place the
levers at the ends instead of upon the sides, which
became known as the Philadelphia levers. The house
in 1785 was Mason & Gibbs. From that time the
building of hand fire-engines has continued a dis-
tinctive branch of Philadelphia manufacture. For
thirty years John Agnew was the chief constructor of
these engines, and at his retirement, Jacob B. Haupt
succeeded to the business.
Tlie first successful expenmental steam-engine was
made at Philadelphia in 1773 by Christopher Colles.
In the previous year he had delivered lectures in the
hall of the American Philosophical Society on pneu-
matics, hydrostatics, and hydraulics, illustrated with
an air-pump of his own invention, and had exhibited
the centrifugal and steam-engines and other machines.
He was soon after engaged to construct a steam-en-
gine for a distillery, but it having been made on a
very cheap scale and of very slight materials, it was
not successful. However, a committee of the Phila-
delphia Society reported that the builder had shown
great practical knowledge of the principles and de-
served encouragement. In 1786, John Fitch, assisted
by Henry Voight, constructed the first «'o/-H«jr steam-
engine built in the city. Neither of them reaped any
advantage from their inventions, but " both were in-
genious beyond their time, and both reaped a reward
in poverty." ' Before the end of the century two
steam-engines were in successful operation at the city
water-works, then the largest in the country. They
were double engines, the one with a thirty-nine-inch
and the other a thirty-one-inch cylinder, both with
six-feet stroke and wooden boilers, and capable of
supplying 4,500,000 gallons of water daily. They
were built by Nicholas I. Roosevelt. The contract
was for 1,000,000 gallons daily, and the surplus power
1 So mixed with other iron industry as not capable of being separated.
> Weetcott's Life of Fitch.
of the lower engine at Centre Square was leased for
manufacturing purposes.
Daniel Large, who, in 1817, is designated in the
City Directory as a " founder," and in 1818 as a
"steam-engine maker," had his factory on Front
Street, above Germantown road. In 1812, in a.ssocia-
tion with Francis Grice, the latter a ship-builder, they
took out patents for a steamboat. In the same year
Large built the steam-engine for the steamboat " Dela-
ware," of which Capt. W. Whilldin was commander.
Large -also built the boilers and machinery for the
steamboat "New Jersey," Capt. Moses Rogers,
launched in 1816, and placed upon the Baltimore line.
Thomas Holloway was the builder of the engines
for the famous steamboat " Robert Morris," which
was constructed for the Baltimore Union Line in
1830, and which for many years was considered
swifter than any other boat upon the Delaware River.
Another builder of steam-engines and machinery
was James Smallman, who, with Nicholas I. Roose-
velt, built one of the first steam-engines used at the
Philadelphia Water-Works, Chestnut Street and
Schuylkill River, in 1801. Smallman remained in
Philadelphia after the completion of the water-works,
and set up an establishment " for the making of
steam-engines of all sizes and varieties." The Direc-
tory for 1802 gives his residence as Sassafras Street,
above Broad.
In his afiidavit, made in 1814, Smallman says, —
"In the city of Philadelphia he was applied to by a certain Robert
Fulton to make a steam-engine of which he, the said Robert Fulton,
did to this deponent give a plan or drawing; that this deponent made
an engine agreeably to the order and plan of said Robert as aforesaid;
and that said plan, and the conversations of this deponent with the
said Robert Fulton, convinced this deponent that the said Robert Fulton
at the time knew but little about steam-engines, and was wholly, or al-
most wholly, ignorant of the true principles and proportions necessary
to make them good and efficient ; and that tbis deponent did, before the
said Robert Fulton began to build the first steamlioat on the North
River, — generally called the North River steamboat, — inform him, the
said Robert, of the plan proposed of putting the wheels over the sides,
stated to him the total inefficiency of the Chancellor's (Livingston's)
former plan, and strongly recommending to the said Robert to adopt
the plan of vertical wheels, which the said Robert again agreed to do,
and, by doing, produced useful steamboats."
In 1806, James Smallman built strong machinery
for grinding flour by the use of steam, which was to
be used in mills at Cadiz, in Spain. This was tried with
the assistance of the citj' works steam-engine at the
(Schuylkill) foot of Chestnut Street, in November of
that year. In 1810 Robert E. Hobart, who was an
insurance and merchandise broker, advertised for
sale a steam-engine of thirty-two horse power, built
by James Smallman and John Roebuck. Smallman
built, in 1810, a small steam-engine for the use of the
navy-yard at Washington City, which worked a saw-
mill with satisfaction, and did other service. Small-
man obtained a patent from the United States, in
connection with John Phillips, Sept. 18, 1810, for
a plan for steering vessels. On his own account,
March 21, 1815, he received a patent for a double air-
and water-pump, and in August of the same year he
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2263
obtained a patent for a double air-pump for steam-
engines. He probably died about 1822 or 1823.
Several valuable modifications of the steam-engine
were made by Philadelphia mechanics, the most im-
portant of which were those of Oliver Evans, who, in
1808, became the first regular steam-engine builder at
the Mar's works, Ninth and Vine Streets. Thomas
Hatton exhibited in October, 1822, at the Shakespeare
Hotel, opposite the State-House, " a steam-engine
upon an entire new principle, combining, as it were,
the principle of .Watts' engine with a complete rotary
motion, increasing the stroke of the engine to four
times that of Watts' engine, and reducing the cost of
the working expenses and doubling the power." As
he could not have expected many visitors, he put the
price of tickets of admission sufficiently high to yield
some profit if there was any patronage worth speaking
of. The price of admission was one dollar. This
engine was exhibited at the Merchants' Coffee-House
in January, 1823. Hatton received a patent for this
steam-engine on Feb. 28, 1822. Dr. James S. Ewing,
who died Aug. 28, 1823, was the inventor of the
methods by which cold-water pressure is used for test-
ing the strength of steam-boilers. He paid consider-
able attention to the manufacture of mineral-water
apparatus, which requires great strength to resist the
explosive power of the carbonic acid gas forced into
the acidulated or carbonated water. The instrument
which he devised for the purpose was called a sten-
ometer. On the same principle the water-pressure
upon steam-boilers is computed. Dr. Ewing, in 1823,
also invented a new hydrant, which he called the
hydraulic lever. The American Philosophical Society,
in the early part of 1823, awarded him a gold medal
for that invention. Joseph Hawkins exhibited, in
1824 and 1825, his plan of an engine which made
steam by the discharge of a fine spray that entered
the cylinders and became converted into steam. An-
thony Plantou became interested with him, and a
small steamboat was built and navigated upon the
Delaware sufficiently long to prove the worth of the
invention, but it did not meet with sufficient favor to
obtain the support of persons who were interested in
steam-machinery, and who might have put the prin-
ciple to some profitable use. This steam-engine,
"without a boiler," was exhibited at the grist-mill,
corner of Ninth and Vine Streets and Ridge road, in
1824, and it was asserted at the time that the principle
was the original one which Jacob Perkins, in England,
had appropriated to himself.' " The whole apparatus
1 Jacob Perkins, a native of Newburyport, Mass., who came to Phila-
delphia in 1814, and resided here for some years, was a man of genius
who was strongly possessed of the inventive faculty. In his boyhood,
while yet an apprentice to a goldsmith, he invented a new method of
plating shoe-buckles. Soon after he reached the age of manhood he de-
vised a machine for cutting and heading nails at one operation. He was
the discoverer of the method of substituting the steel-plate for copper-
plate in line engraving and printing. It was this improvement which
associated him with the firm of Murray, Draper & Fairman, bank-note
engravers in Philadelphia. To establish his invention in Europe he went
144
consists merely of a cylinder placed in a furnaci., into
which, when sufficiently heated, cold water is injected,
which is instantaneously converted into steam. Three
or four strokes with a hand-pum[) are sufficient to
work the piston, after which the water is injected by
the machinery from the condensing tub. The quan-
tity of water necessary to be injected is in proportion
to the power to be obtained. From the present expe-
rience half a gill is sufficient for a four-horse power."
The value of this principle was certified to in April,
1824, by Rush & Muhlenberg, Oliver Evans, Jr., Jo-
seph R. Ingersoll, David Paul Brown, and others.
Hawkins & Plantou tried to raise sufficient funds by
the sale of stock, at twenty-five dollars a share, to
build a boat of sixty or eighty tons to ply from Phila-
delphia to Salem and Cape May.
At present nearly all the machine-shops of Phila-
delphia manufacture the steam-engine in some of its
parts. In 1867, Mr. Freedly enumerated more than
twenty establishments in the city which were pro-
vided with facilities for constructing any size or de-
scription of stationary and portable engines ; but at
that time there were no establishments devoted
exclusively to this manufacture. Boilers, pumps,
gauges, governors, grate-bars, and other parts of the
engine are extensively manufactured in many estab-
lishments.
One of the largest manufacturing firms of Phila-
delphia is that of William Sellers & Co. William
Sellers, the senior member, is the eldest son of John
Sellers, Jr., and Elizabeth P. Sellers. His first ances-
tor in this country was Samuel Sellers, who came
to LondoD, in 1814, with his partner, Mr. Fairman. While there he per-
fected the steam-gun, the power of which he demonstrated before the
Duke of Wellington and other high officers of artillery belonging to the
British army. An iron target, at the distance of thirty-five yards, was
shattered to atoms. Balls passed through eleven planks of the hardest
deal, each one inch thick, and placed some distance apart. It was shown
that this gun could discharge one thousand balls a minute, and it was
declared to be the most terrible weapon ever projected. The cost of
maintaining and working it was calculated at about one-two-hundredth
part of the cost of the gunpowder and balls that would be required to
be used with ordinary artillery. Tlie objection to the gun was that it
could not be made available in tield operations, and, although its prac-
ticability was shown, it was never put to use for military purposes by
any government. Perkins also invented the pleometer, to mark the
speed at which a vessel would move through the water; also the orthom-
eter, to measure the depth of water; and he was the first to show that
water could be compressed, lie received the Vulcan silver medal from
the London Society of Arts for his method of warming and ventilating
rooms and the holds of ships, and for an improvement in engine-hose.
For an improved ship's pump and a method of filling water-wheels from
back-water he received the Vulcan gold medal. In 1822, Mr. Perkins
introduced into his manufactory, in London, his improved steam-engine,
which, with great simplicity of construction, economy in cost, weight
of metal, and quantity of water and fuel required, obtained, nevertheless,
great increase of power. A cylinder two inches in diameter, eighteen
inches long, with a stroke of only twelve inches, gave the power of ten
horses, at an e.xpense of only eighteen hundred and forty-eight cubic
inches of water and two bushels of coals daily. No new principle was
claimed, but a new application of known principles, and these were also
made applicable during this year to boilers of the old construction, and
the heat was at the same time made to return to the boiler and perform
its services the second time. The improvement related chiefly to the
boiler or generator. Mr. Perkins died in London, July 30, 1849, aged
eighty-three yearB.
2264
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
from Bristol, England, to America in 1682, and whose
marriage is the first recorded in the minutes of Darby
Meeting of Friends. Samuel Sellers took up a tract
of land in Upper Darby, Delaware Co., under Penn's
patent, and subsequently added another purchase.
This property was in possession of their descendants
to the present generation, and the portion of it on
which the parents of William Sellers resided is still
held under the original patent by William Sellers
and his brother, John Sellers, Jr. On that estate
William Sellers was born Sept. 19, 1824. His mother
was Elizabeth Poole, of Wilmington, Del. Tradition
relates that her grandfather, William Poole, was sent
to this country by the Royal Geographical Society of
England to observe a transit of Venus, and decided
to remain here. Thus Mr. Sellers' ancestors on both
sides have had a long and memorable connection
with science, as his paternal great-grandfather, John
Sellers, was appointed by the American Philosophical
Society an observer of a transit of Venus, and was a
member of that society at its foundation. Continu-
ously since then some one of the family has been con-
nected with that eminent society, which was estab-
lished by Franklin, and William Sellers is now a
member. He received his early education at a private
school built and conducted by his relatives, who
maintained it by private subscription for the children
of the family. During his term of tuition it embraced
about thirty-four pupils.
Having a love for mechanics, at the age of fourteen
years he entered the machine-shop of his uncle, J.
Morton Poole, on Brandy wine Creek, three miles above
Wilmington, where he served as an apprentice until he
was twenty-one years old. Then he removed to Provi-
dence, R. I., to take charge of the shops of Bancroft,
Nightingale & Co., manufacturers of steam-engines
and mill gearing. After remaining with them about
two years he returned to West Philadelphia, and began
the same department of manufacturing on his own
account in a location near Thirtieth and Chestnut
Streets. In less than a year Mr. Bancroft, the former
head of the Providence firm, determined to come to
Philadelphia, and he and Mr. Sellers joined forces,
going into partnership in 1848, on Beach Street, Ken-
sington, opposite the Treaty Tree, to manufacture
machine tools and mill gearing. The firm took the
title of Bancroft & Sellers, and existed until the death
of Mr. Bancroft, in 1855. Prior to that event John
Sellers, Jr., had been admitted into the partnership.
When Mr. Bancroft died the title of the house was
changed to William Sellers & Co. Its members now
are William Sellers. John Sellers, Jr., Coleman Sel-
lers, John Sellers Bancroft, and James C. Brooks.
In 1873, William Sellers became president of the
Midvale Steel Company, Nicetown, which he subse-
quently reorganized, and which is now the only works
in the country capable of supplying the gun material
required by the government for it« small-arms and
ordnance, orders for such material being constantly
filled. Prior to this date he had, in 1868, established
the Edgemoor Iron Company, for the manufacture of
iron and steel structures, and has ever since been its
president. This company made all the iron-work for
the Centennial Exhibition, and has now the largest
plant in the United States, or in the world, for build-
ing iron bridges and other structures of iron and
steel. He accepted the onerous position of president
of the Franklin Institute in 1864, when it was in a
critical financial condition. It was reconstructed and
placed"- on a sound basis by his energy and wisdom,
and its existence has ever since been prosperous.
During his presidency he proposed the first formula
ever offered for a system of screw-threads and nuts,
which, after the lapse of some years, has become the
standard for the United States. He was one of the
members of the Union Club, out of which grew the
Union League, and of the latter he was for several
years a vice-president. He was also one of the first
park commissioners, holding the position during the
whole time that the Fairmount Park property was
being acquired. Indefatigable in his exertions to
create the Centennial Exhibition, he bore no small
share in carrying the project in the direction of an
assured success. He was chosen vice-president of
the Centennial Board of Finance at its organization,
but the business of his firm, and of the other two
great works under his direction, required so much of
his personal attention in the depressed condition of
trade after 1873, that he felt obliged to resign from
the board.
William Sellers was for several years a director
of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and has
been for many years a director of the Philadelphia,
Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad. In 1868 he was
elected a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania,
and still holds this honorable position. In 1873 he
was elected a member of the National Academy of
Sciences, and in the next year he was elected a corre-
sponding member of the Paris Society d'Encourage-
ment pour I'Industrie Nationale.
The record of Mr. Sellers' life is that of a triumph
of mind and enterprise. Some of the chief honors of
himself and of his firm were won at the Paris Expo-
sition of 1867 and the Vienna World's Fair of 1873.
J. Anderson, civil engineer, who was sent by the Eng-
lish government to report upon the machine tools
exhibit at Paris, wrote a highly eulogistic ofiicial com-
mendation of the display from the Sellers works of
their machines for cutting the teeth of wheels, their
lathes, their planing-machines, their steam-hammers,
and their screwing-stocks and dies. Mr. Anderson
concluded by saying, " This firm is said to be the
most extensive manufacturers of such articles in the
United States of America, and their display is well
worth the unbiased study of our millwrights and of all
others who are interested in such constructions. Al-
together, the collection exhibited by Sellers probably
contains more originality than that of any other ex-
THE INDUSTRIES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2265
hibitor in class 54 in this exhibition." The firm then
received the most flattering testimonials for their skill
and originality, in the form of gold and silver medals
and diplomas, from the international jury.
At Vienna five distinct bronze medals marked the
nature of awards to superior exhibits, but above all
was placed the Grand Diploma of Honor, " designed
to bear the character of peculiar distinction for emi-
nent merits in the domain of science and its applica-
tion to the education of the people and the advance-
ment of the intellectual, moral, and material welfare
of man." It was awarded exclusively by the coun-
cil of presidents, upon the proposition of the inter-
national jury. This diploma reads thus :
" World's Fair, 1873, in Vienna.
The International .Tury have Decreed
To the Firm of
William Sellers & Co.,
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of North America,
For Machine Tools,
The Highest Distinction,
The Diploma of Honor."
The recommendation for this award was to
*'BeUerB. — For pre-eminent achievements in the invention and con-
struction of machine tools, many of which have been adopted as patterns
by the constructors of tools in all countries."
At the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, the firm, in
accordance with the report of the United States Com-
mission, received commendations and awards for
numerous exhibits.
Mr. Anderson, who had reported upon the exhibit
of 1867 at Paris, was employed by the British govern-
meut in the same official capacity at Philadelphia,
and in his communication to his government he said,
" The greatest display of machine tools, however, and
that which dwarfed all others in the tool specialty,
was made by W. Sellers & Co., of Philadelphia. This
collection of machine tools was without a parallel in
the history of exhibitions, either for extent or money
value, or for originality and mechanical perfection."
The establishment of the Sellers firm, on the site
bounded by Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets, and
Pennsylvania Avenue and Buttonwood Street, stands
in the very foremost rank of the industries of Phila-
delphia. Its buildings cover a very large extent of
ground, the plant is unrivaled, and in all their de-
partments the works .are an exemplification of me-
chanical skill and applied science. Nowhere in the
world does more perfect machinery exist than in this
great manufactory.
In 1811, Edward W. Carr, of this city, patented a
machine for cutting wood screws, which was put in
operation ; and the following year a patent was issued
to E. Hazard and Joseph White for cutting screws.
In the printed schedule of the property of the late
John Stoddart, a merchant of the city who failed in
1820, is the following item: " Five-eighths of a patent
wood-screw establishment at Falb of Schuylkill, $10,000."
A writer savs that in 1816 the late
"Thomas Fletcher, the well-known jeweler, commenced the manu-
facture of wood screws at the Falls of Schuylkill, the first establish-
ment of the kind in the United States. Mr. Fletcher had a great deal
of ingenuity, enterprise, and perseverance. Be made a well-flnished
screw, and in every respect fully equal to the English manufacture;
hut there was not sufficient protection on the American screw to enable
Mr. F. to compete successfully with the foreign article. Mr. Fletcher's
factory at tlie Falls did not prove profitable; but Mr. F. was not discour-
aged, and a year or two afterward he again commenced to make screws
and located the establishment at No. 10 College Avenue, now known as
Chant Street. While at College Avenue he entered into partnership
with Rufus Tyler (a very skillful mechanic), under the name of Fletcher
it Tyler. I cannot say how long this partnership continued, but after
its dissolution Mr. "Tyler removed to the Tivoli Building, on Prune
Street, and commenced a general machine business, in partnership with
George Fletcher, a brother of the late Thomas Fletcher. Some years
afterward Mr. Tyler received the appointment of Chief Coiner of the
Mint at New Orleans, which position he held until his death. Mr.
Tyler was a native of Connecticut, and so was Mr. Fletcher. Thomas
Fletcher died at Delanco, N. J."
The Industrial Works of Bement & Dougherty
had their origin in 1851, when E. D. Marshall then
carried on a machine shop at the present location at
Callowhill Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, and
Twentieth and Twenty-first Streets, around which
have clustered the present immense works which are
now conducted by William B. Bement & Son. The
Industrial Works in 1882 employed 400 hands,
making 2000 tons of castings, and paying wages
amounting to S250,000 annually.
William Barnes Bement is the senior partner of the
firm of William B. Bement & Son. He was born
on May 10, 1817, in Bradford, Merrimac Co., N. H.,
and was the son of a farmer who combined the trade
of a smith with his agricultural pursuits. What
education was to be had at that place and in that
time he obtained whenever he could be spared from
the farm and the forge. In 1834 he became an ap-
prentice in a machine-shop at Peterborough, N. H.,
to serve three years, but at the expiration of two
years his brother bought an interest for him, and he
was taken into the firm, which had previously been
Moore & Colby, and then became Moore & Bement.
From 1837 to 1839 he was engaged in making ma-
chinery for cotton- and woolen-mills, and in 1840 he
removed to Manchester, N. H., where he remained
for two years in the Amoskeag machine shops. In
1842 he went to Mishawaka, Ind., to superintend
some woolen machinery shops, but their destruction
by fire just before his arrival threw him upon his own
resources, which in money were nothing more than
ten dollars. His enterprise and mechanical skill,
however, soon took him out of his troubles, and he
quickly built up a small business as a gunsmith, which
he surrendered in order to accept the position of
superintendent of the machine-shops of the St. Joseph
Iron Company. While in that employ he designed
and constructed an engine-lathe, and he also built a
gear cutting-machine, the first ever seen in the West.
Mr. Bemeut's ingenuity and perseverance were then
displayed to a remarkable extent, as he personally
manufactured the small tools by the aid of which the
large machines were made. He returned East in
2266
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1847 with an enviable reputation, and at once under-
took contracts to build cotton- and woolen-machinery
for the Lowell machine shops, and ultimately assumed
management of the pattern and designing depart-
ments. As draughtsman and inventor he was making
rapid strides.
In 1851 he brought to Philadelphia his nephew,
G. A. Colby, and the two engaged in a partnership with
E. D. Marshall, the owner of the machine-shop from
which the present works sprang. For about three
years the business continued in their hands, under
the firm-name of Marshall, Bement & Colby, during
which time they manufactured machine tools. In
1854, James Dougherty became a partner, and the
house was then known as Bement, Colby, Dougherty
& Co. Subsequently, Mr. Colby retired, and the name
was changed to Bement, Dougherty & Thomas, then
Bement & Dougherty, which last existed until 1870,
when Mr. Dougherty withdrew, and was succeeded
by Clarence S. Bement, son of the senior partner. In
July, 1874, John M. Shrigley entered the firm, and
remained a member until January, 1884. William P.
Bement, another son of the senior member, was ad-
mitted into the partnership in July, 1879.
In his private life, Mr. Bement is an ardent and
discriminating patron of the fine arts, and possesses a
most interesting collection of works from the studios
of native and foreign painters. He is, and has been
for many years, a director of the Pennsylvania Acad-
emy of Fine Arts and of the School of Design for
Women. He is a director of the National Bank of
the Republic and other institutions.
The manufactory of chandeliers, lamp- and gas-
fixtures of Cornelius & Sons was founded about 1835,
by Cornelius & Baker, which concern was dissolved
in 1869, and was succeeded by that of Cornelius &
Sons, formed by Robert, Robert C, John C, and
Charles E. Cornelius and Charles Blakiston, Jr.
Among the many splendid works of this house may
be mentioned the apparatus which lights the Senate
and hall of the House of Representatives at Wash-
ington, where two thousand five hundred burners are
used and lighted instantaneously ; the chandeliers
and brackets of the capitol at Columbus, Ohio; the
chandeliers of the hall of the House of Representa-
tives at Nashville, Tenn., and the gas-fittings of the
City Hall of Baltimore.
The oldest foundry in Philadelphia devoted to
building-castings was erected in 1804, and its subse-
quent proprietor, James Yocum, was the first in this
country to make iron fronts for buildings.
The sheet iron manufactory of Murray, Griffin &
Bullard, on Water Street, at the corner of Arch, was
established in 1776, and made camp-kettles, blaze-
pans, tea-kettles, and other wares. Thomas Bales
was also a maker of camp-kettles for the army dur-
ing the Revolution. Pewter dishes, spoons, and other
household wares of pewter and block-tin, were made
many years before by Cornelius Bradford. The Phil-
adelphia Ornamental Iron Works, at 1136 Ridge Av-
enue, owed their origin and, for a time, success to
Robert Wood, the senior partner of Robert Wood &
Co., who in 1839, at his own forge, with one boy to
assist him, commenced that work which in his era of
prosperity was one of the most important of the iron
manufactures of Philadelphia. Wrought-iron window
guards, awning-posts, and other forgings were his first
products, and the most artistic productions of his later
years attested his excellence in workmanship. Those
works were more widely known by their colossal bronze
statues. In this, the most delicate labor known to
modern mechanical pursuits, they rivaled the fa-
mous royal bronze foundry at Munich. Wood's
bronze castings made Philadelphia famous the land
over. The finest bronze statues in Central Park,
New York, issued from this workshop of Philadel-
phia. Some years ago it occurred to Mr. Wood that
he could cast bronzes of the largest size. Men skilled
in the rare labor of casting bronzes were obtained; an
air-furnace was erected with the capacity of receiving
an entire cannon as a mere morsel, and fusing it into
pure molten metal in the shortest possible space of
time. All the necessary moulds and implements
were secured, a pit ten feet in depth was dug, and
the bronze shop was ready. Complete success crowned
the first effort, and the admiration caused by the suc-
cessful casting of the first statue brought in a stream
of orders for others. Wood & Co. cast the follow-
ing large bronzes : Bust of Col. Hawkins, for New
York; group, "Taking the Oath," modeled by John
Rogers ; group, " Village Blacksmith," modeled by
John Rogers ; group, " Charity Patient," modeled
by John Rogers; group, "School Examination," mod-
eled by John Rogers ; figure of " Hope," for Cincin-
nati, Ohio ; figure of " Fame," for Glenwood Ceme-
tery ; " Indian Hunter and Dog," for Central Park,
modeled by J. Q. A. Ward ; " Shakespeare," for Cen-
tral Park, modeled by J. Q. A. Ward ; " Citizen
Soldier," for Central Park, modeled by J. Q. A.
Ward ; " Commodore Perry," for Newport, R. I.,
modeled by J. Q. A. Ward ; " Gen. Reynolds," for
Gettysburg, Pa., modeled by J. Q. A. Ward ; " Gen.
Sedgwick," for West Point, N. Y., modeled by L.
Thompson ; " Standard Bearer," for Pittsfield, Mass.,
modeled by L. Thompson; "Napoleon," modeled
by L. Thompson; figure of "A- Lincoln," for Pros-
pect Park, Brooklyn, modeled by Brown; "A. Lin-
coln," for Union Square, N. Y., modeled by Brown ;
" Equestrian statue of Scott," for Washington, D. C,
modeled by Brown; figure of "Willie Cresson," for
Laurel Hill, modeled by J. A. Bailly; figure of
" William H. Hughes," for Laurel Hill, modeled by
J. A. Bailly; "Spirit of Resurrection," for Carlisle,
Pa., modeled by J. A. Bailly ; bronze monument for
Erastus Corning, for Albany, N. Y. ; figure of" Elias
Howe," for Central Park, New York, modeled by S.
Ellis ; bust of " John Brown," for Union League, New
I York, modeled by Calverly ; statue of "Gen. Scott,"
»%Av-
,ii;forCirli>lt.
(fnreof'E
^- /^ /C^^2.ft^-r
'^'^HyMM-Ritch'^-
THE
"LPHIA.
2267
• vwon : staf
Ibp industry,
.;.■<. The cap-
'l.V'Ci. The
: and
i
(
'id a parrpyr -^
r/ lu their man.
•ayiug wage^ :in;
produced in 188'^
ton Hoc peg, the oripi-i^,;, ,
"ouse of Hoopes & Towi -
nuts, rivets, wpod-scro\»
was born in West (io.i'
•'a., July 10, 1827. The ':
nt, and had been in th.
lations. He was ediici.
.Is and at the Westtown Boiu i;
■ to Wilmington, Del., to le.irn ii:
t with J. Morton Poole, with whi'u.
and a half years. In 1849 he couiictn
Early in 1851 he associated in iv.-..
limself S. Sharpless Townsend, under ti-.
-if of Hoopes & Townsend. In July, ]■
...ant was removed to Philadelphis, and \-
Button wood Street, east of Broad Street,
were made from time lo time both to ■ "
aiachinjry, and in IJ^SI very large
tuade. The operations of this establi>a.-. -■
'.eosive, its products amounting to About ^'
annually. While the trade of the house i
confined to bolts, nuts, etc., it has extensive .
for the manufacture of boiler-, bridge-, a-.
."ivets, iron-work for bridges and cars, and f •- '•>
iink chain. Mr. Uoopea ha* brought cold punching
io such a stage that ha has succteded in punching
holes three-eighths inch in diameter tbrougli cold iron
''>ne and seven-eighths inches thick. The present firm
•jf Hoopes & Townsend consists of Barton Hoopes,
Clement R. Hoopes, and Barton Hoopes, Jr.
In 1850, Henry Francis, Cb(iri!>« Vjeld, and Tiiomas
Fraiici-, under the style of Franc ih, Kifid ik Francis,
established the manufacti^r • , ,;,d
plain tinware at Viu >
were succeeded in l^L't ■
& Menough, compos
Carll, and John M. :
The manufactui
rnent* was comiu'
re >n4i.ulat.-
iianu-
'. r.,.
the
a4, 1819, and came
.. father and sister,
The father died
'adelphia, and the
'leu eighteen
apprenticed,
^ ^^- ■ y i"t wages,
• 10 pay. .Tohnson had some uu-
: on hand, and Mr Diset' n took
r i them, and sold them. The proceeds
. pital, and he then began Hosincs:- on
\,i^ .,* II a lint in a roont and basement in llu-. vivir.
ity 01 Second and Arch Streets, the room l>«ii-.g csed
as an office and workshop, and the basen ■•■li k-i liic
hardening department. Thesaws were sent ou. »• ixr-
ground. He did all his own work, wheeling the fii^t
barrow load of coal from Willow Street wharf t*! his
ishop. Tiif manufacture of hand-saws had already
beeniau-aipted by oth«-r parlies in the United States,
but with iud.t)«rent succes.*-. and it remained for Mr.
Disston to permanent: ' ''.e industry ir this
ciiuntry, and to cor' .reign makers, al-
•h.ough to do so lie- «..- . i - .; i;ompelled to sell
- products ttt a oiere traction over the cost of pro-
. :tion. In 1846 h^ removed from his little estah-
u! and rented from Mr. Miles a frame building,
ch was the germ from which sprang the present
'-■- works at Front and L:"i '
After having been bur.
"g 1';
50by r
has gtr
result of skill aud y
<-iiliun »ud
•Jactur-
adoption of new ano
ai.d the re-
rf>. The
dtiction in the cost of ;
r<niu?.li' 11 I'
. ught about by
2268 HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the use of labor-saving machinery. In consequence | Mr. Disston was a born mechanic in the corapre-
of the superiority of his saws, Mr. Disston never lost hensive meaning of the term.* He had the faculty of
a market that he had once gained. The works now observing wherein a familiar tool or implement or
cover twenty-four acres of ground (sixteen at Tacony ' machine was defective, the genius to devise the
and eight at Front and Laurel Streets). Mr. Disston's means for improving it, and the skill to do the man-
inventive genius was displayed in discovering new ual work to carry his own device into effect. He was
forms of teeth for saws and combination tools, which never above doing with his own hands any of the
are so useful that they find a ready sale, especially in labor incident to his trade. His qualities were those
new countries. He was the first man in this country to that command success and admiration. He was con-
make his waste steel into ingots, the latter having been I nected with the Society of St. George and the Ma-
previously sent to England to be remelted. He effected , sonic »rder, and was a trustee of the Presbyterian
a substantial economy in this way, and the works j Hospital, and of the Oxford Presbyterian Church,
have produced over eighty tons of sheet steel per ' Although steadily refusing official position, he was a
week, the whole being used in the establishment. firm Republican in his political opinions, and in 1876
At Tacony there are branch works, where files, , was one of the Hayes and Wheeler electors. He left
steel, and the brass- and wood-work for the other tools l five sons, — Hamilton, Albert H., Horace C, William,
are manufactured. The file-factory was originally and Jacob S., — who inherited all the ambition of their
established to supply the saw-works with files, but a father, and conducted the business with so much
demand soon sprung up for them, and large quanti- energy and judgment that in 1883 it was one-third
ties are now made for the general market. The I larger than prior to his death. He died March 16,
variety of its manufactures enabled the firm to make j 1878, at his residence on Broad Street, Philadelphia,
one of the finest and most valuable display of steel I His second son, Albert H. Disston, died Oct. 21, 1883,
tools in the Centennial Exhibition. The magnitude i and the others are still living.
of the works is shown by the fact that in 1882 there | From 1860 to 1882 the manufacture of saws is
were 1600 men employed, and the saw-factory was j shown to have been as follows :
capable of making five tons of saws in a week. The , Mo. of Es- value of
.1^.11. ,1 1*. r 1 -n • A -1 Year, tablishaients. Capital. Raw Material. Product.
growth of the business, the result of skill, integrity, , ^^^ ^ J^_.^ g,,^^^^^, 5^.^^^
and perseverance, is yet remarkable when we con- i is7o s 628,800 409,243 892.260
•J ii- i -r^- i > 1 J i! i i • ii 1"S0 3 1,402,500 566,780 1,517,000
sider that Disston s saws had nrst to overcome in the issa 7 1,200,120
home market a strong prejudice in favor of those of t loa-r it, ^ n- -n • t.i,-i
^ ,. , . , , ,1 . , Id 18d' there were eleven rolhng-miUs in Phila-
English manufacture, and then had to compete with j„, ,■ „ i„ • mnn u 1
f , . . . ' , „, ^ delphia, emploving 1200 men, whose annual wages
such tools m foreign markets. These saws are now i „ ,„, , " 01 nai-i nnn ti »i, rr
° ' amounted to over 51,000,000. They were the Ken-
regularly exported to Great Britain and her colonies, . » t -nr 1 1 t> n- -m-h t -d
, . , . , . , , , I sington Iron-Works and Kolling-Mills, James Row-
and, indeed, to all parts of the world. The consump- 1 1 j <■ ,-, ■ * -n -n n- ht-h tt
. ' . , , , , ^1 land & Co., proprietors; Penn Rolling-Mill, Verree
tion of raw materials and the products in 1882 were » •».•. ,1, . . t^ , tj n-' m-n -rr
. ,, ^, , , ^ , & Mitchell, proprietors; Treatv Rolling-Mill, Ken-
as follows: The works used 21,000 tons of coal, I ■ » nr 1 11 tdi -ii- f n" • ^ nu-i
„ „, , ' , , I sington, Marshall, Phillips & Co., proprietors; Phila-
2,000,000 feet of lumber, 4000 tons of plate and sheet j , u- i? ir ir-n i.- • .el r. uu-
' ' , ^„ .' , . „, , . delphia Rollmg-Mill, Kensington, Steven Robbins,
steel, and 450 tons of bar steel tor files; they turned ■ ,. r\ x- j t, ^^■ Arn t^ ^ ^l- j nr j
' „ . , , > c.r cu proprietor; Oxford Rolling-Mill, Twentv-third Ward,
out 1,692,000 single saws, 3810 large and 39,000 smal w ^ ct r^ i .1 •, it • " * -d ir
; ' ,„„„„„, , W. & H. Rowland, proprietors ; Fairmount Rolling-
circular saws, l,2o0, 000 long saws, 201,500 dozen files, HI.,, x' • t /-lu 1 TTi, 1 • t t:-
, ., , . . „ . ,, I Mill, tairmount, Charles U heeler, proprietor; Foun-
besides large quantities of miscellaneous tools made * • r> t> n- ■\t\\ * -i 1 !-• •
. ? ^ I tain Green Rolhng-Mill, two miles above Fairmount,
■.^ . . . J!, ., , , ' Oliver W. Barnes, proprietor; Peiicovd Rolling-Mill,
rso citizen of Philadelphia was ever more devoted ui„Ar 1 Af-oTsi,"*
,^ 1 , S. 1 . ^ ,1 below Manayunk, A. & P. Roberts, proprietors;
to its welfare and that of his fellow-creatures than ^ > -d ^^■ -jr-n nr 1 » t. tj u, p
, , , . Gray s Rolliug-Mill, Manayunk, A. P. Buchley &
Mr. Disston. He was a man of deep relieious and o • ^ mi. ^^ i. -n ^^■ irn o 1 j
,.,, ,,, <;i'<'S" = •»"" gQQ^ proprietors ; Cheltenham Rolling-Mill, Rowland
charitable nature, and although a member of the p tr • . • * -di -i 7 1 i ■ cj -i nr ^ n
„ , . ^, , , ! & Heints, proprietors ; Philadelphia Spike- Works, C.
Presbyterian Church, all struggling Christian organ- ; ■^yj^^.ij^ proprietor.'
izations found ready access to his purse and svmpa- 1 m, ' 1,. .,, . ^- ^- /■ ic^nj. 1000
^, . . , , , ., , , 1 f"- \ The rollmg-mills statistics from 1860 to 1882 are as
thies. At the outbreak of the war liis patriotic feel- ] r 11
ings led him to equip those of his workmen who I No. ofEstab- saw Ma-
enlisted in the national army, and with whom I '^'""■' Itahments. Capital. terial. Labor. Product.
^„,„1,„J !,;„ „„ IT ™-u • ,. • ..I. 1 I 1860 5 S53o,000 5668,700 605 81,110,000
marched his son Hamilton as a private in the ranks. 1 igvo 9 2,033;ioo 2,5i3;770 1330 3!976,492
His treatment of his employ^ was at all times so } ^'^^ * ^^^ 3,449,300
just and generous that harmony never failed to gov- , The production of iron within the city of Philadel-
ern their relations. At one time he gave them an ex- phia and the surrounding country has been traced as
cursion on the Delaware, not only paying all the ex- closely as existing records will permit. The census
penses, but also their wages for that day. Again, he ^ records since 1860, inclusive, exhibit data which show
presented them with five hundred dollars to be ex- 1
pended for admissions to the Centennial Exhibition. : 1 " Philadelphia and its siaoufactures," e. t. Freedley, 1867.
cn^
a I
5 i
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2269
value of the iron biisiiit"^
•ires within the city and ibc uisar-by
' Uip iiii.mifac'tnres of iron anil <>t<»e!
iiuiuC)'. i ' ■'':'•.
' of capital.
'.'., employiii.
iiiga piodu'
I' lelures in piir
'^'tablishnicnts, >vii,i. h i:;. :
!>!!: $1,039,869 worth ■' ^•■•
iiands, and produ.. r
y. The iron mam.
!o the city numlfiiJ •'■' ..
, ;i,044,610 of capita! an'!
' of raw material, givini' •
Is and producing a yearly
e total "ummary of Phi!,
exhibits the following coiiUit
I^Mt-fu maces ,
V- ninK-mills, bHF, sheet, and plate..
)t}(}and spikes
.Iviinlzed (i
'S, clanifled :
a speciatlifs.. .
'•.leliiigti..
': roundries 4f
liuifilHed:
lilirigttand flre-e&capes, plain
J'ro(ii)cc.
$Mi,(»V)
-~" ""PordinK 'o the census of
R'rprei'Hte t;iii/,..,. •
'.is equal to 12 '.<[>'.} u.-.
i to 26,290 men and 46:^ .
■ - ■■ ' -^Hl.ail,:. , ■:i\c vaii.e .,:
.i.and the aggregate value
,/2?. Mr. Lorin Blodget,
esTimaiing Un i«/d the probable increase of the
various louDufaetures of the city o\'9r the report of
the census of 1870, saya, —
••(-y>» „,„.,;..•„,.. ..jlilMt v^rim-s rhin-ri !r !»?«; th<- T-ir)^l»s
ibK <-.i.rr«"ilon of thi- !t»n
least one-(hiH 'n <h;«Bn"
of iron-w "-
prodiicii"
) detail, deat..yv
II ,1... .^^.j.f_.y
indUwteri, vroiilii ■id at
fr; few yea
flni»h-H '
as to cbauge
'..■InctK. M..1-
0i
y wiviiclil
. wrought
iid Molded
s and tnti;k matci
'■', staoiped 4
jipmntUH 6
,ioU renf^s 123
iLid boilers 48
1,742,600 i
J0«,SOii ,
8i,U00 I
143,«in ;
Wl.lXfl '
..uiDber are donbu.l."
..„.. .._ . , .1 .. 1 was carried ""in
'lit PstiiblishmenU, with an .iggiegate c '
i-),900, using $2,785,292 worth of raw mm
Hiid protlucing .^unually gooiio valued p.t #.5,386,91".
■!>i.-i nianutacture was estiiR?ied, iii l-STri, hy Mr.
. as follov --. : Oruciblti aud otiiei
'0 ; rolled in plates, sheet«, aud I
.«/.■, liid nianuiactures of--:!*, tooln, a.^v .....•,
etc., at $.'),000,000. The industrial sum for 1882 enu-
mtiHtf'l lUo steel ri..iiuii'.tcture.s as follows:
I76.IUO
3I,4S0
84lt,(!00
ser.tuji)
'4R,1KK1
S,0M.2'.i>
X.vT.i.WU
ci |£rat*.-LiAii
Totals
Brass fun ndiug and copper, brass- and tin-worits of
all kinds for distilleries, gueH^-n'ills in the'West In-
dies, and refineries of sugar, and for household ure.
employed tnany tradosmon in Philadeljjiia from an
early period. In May, 1717. Austin Paris nnd Tli.n- •
Paglan, "ffounder?," wA-e adniirted to the ti
iif ttif I itv, fl r,ri.."e«.s iKrr-^.uv Ui enable trade-.
2270
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
carry on business for themselves. Paris was a founder
in the city ten years after. Brass founding was car-
ried on in 1723 in Front Street near Market by John
Hyatt, and in 1759 by Daniel King in Second Street.
In 1753, Norris states that a new bell for the State-
House had been cast in the city, and had been used
for some time ; though he admits that he does not like
it, and speaks of having another cast in England,
which, was not done, however.
In April, 1776, Benjamin Loxley made proposals
for casting mortars, howitzers, cannon, and shells for
Congress or the Committees of Safety. Some of the
brass guns of Major Loxley were tested by Daniel
Joy, of the Reading furnace, who was also engaged in
casting cannon. In the Federal procession on rati-
fication of the Constitution, Mr. King rode in a car
with a furnace in full blast, and finished a three-inch
howitzer which was mounted and fixed on Union
Green. Ornamental brass work, in the department
of lamps, chandeliers, gas-fixtures, the various mili-
tary, Odd-Fellows, firemen and theatrical ornaments,
as well as brass clocks, is carried on to a very
large extent. In 1860 the brass founders numbered
31 establishments, with a capital of $350,150 ; using
$274,024 worth of raw material, employing 340 hands,
and turning out annually products valued at 8571,800.
In 1870 the brass founders were 45, with a capital of
$688,150 ; the value of raw material was $455,245, and
that of the annual product, $1,020,821 ; at the same
time there were 3 bell founders whose capital was
$30,500, the raw material used was worth $21,475, and
the annual product $62,000. In 1875, Mr. Blodget
estimated the annual product of these industries to
be worth $1,531,231. In 1880, brass casting was car-
ried on in 38 establishments whose capital was $782,-
001 ; the raw material used was valued at $832,830,
and the annual product at $1,369,151. At the same
time bronze castings were made in 4 establishments
with $110,150 of capital, using $.''.94,589 of raw ma-
terial, and producing annually $501,412 worth of
manufactured goods.
The exportation of fire-arms from Great Britain was
forbidden in 1774, in consequence of which Congress
recommended their manufacture by each State. The
insecurity of the frontier settlements, especially during
the French and Indian wars, the temptation of the }
chase, and particularly the Indian trade, had rendered
fire-arms a general necessity, and created a steady de-
mand for rifles and other weapons. Hence small-arms
were made in considerable quantities in Philadelphia
before the prohibition of their introduction by the
British government. Soon after that proclamation a |
letter from Philadelphia to a member of Parliament i
informed him that the act would be of no avail, as \
there were gunsmiths enough in Philadelphia to make
100,000 stand of arms within a year at 28s. apiece, if
needed, and thatamanufactory of gunpowder had been
already established. Governor Richard Penn, in his
examination before the House of Lords, in 1775, stated
that the casting of cannon, including brass, in Phila-
delphia, had been carried to great perfection, and also
that small-arms were made in as great perfection as
could be imagined. The workmanship and finish of
small-arms were universally admired for their excel-
lence. The provincial gun-lock manufactory, ordered
by the Committee of Safety in 1776, was established
in Cherry Street, under the superintendence of Peter
De Haven. Brass gun-mountings were made by Lewis
Prahl, and Lawrence Birnie erected an air-furnace
and mill for the business of file-cutting, in connection
with the gun-lock factory. The invention of percus-
sion fire arms was claimed by Joshua Shaw, of Phila-
delphia, who obtained, June 24, 1822, letters patent
for improvement in percussion guns. For his wafer-
primer for cannon he was granted $18,000 by Congress.
The manufacture of fire-arms is not carried on exten-
sively in Philadelphia at present. In 1860 there were
25 establishments, with 8110,000 of capital, using
$82,332 worth of raw material, and employing 225
hands, the value of their annual product being $251,-
150. In 1870 there were 15 establishments, with
$177, 800 capital, using $27,000 worth of raw material,
and producing annually $121,108 worth of goods. In
1880 this manufacture was conducted in 3 establish-
ments, with a capital of $65,000, and an annual product
worth 864,500. In 1882, by the tabular summary of
Philadelphia industries, guns, pistols, and sportsmen's
articles were manufactured in 16 establishments, which
employed 64 hands, with an annual product valued at
$93,600.
Lead, together with gold, silver, copper, iron, mar-
ble, jasper, emeralds, and precious stones, are said by
Campanius to have been found in the province in the
time of Printz, and to have been known to exist in the
days of the Swedes. In 1810 two establishments for
the manufacture of shot existed on a large scale in
Philadelphia, and of red and white lead, litharge, and
some other preparations of that metal, 560 tons were
made. In 1828, S. P. Wetherill & Co., of Philadel-
phia, were awarded premiums by the Franklin Insti-
tute for samples of one thousand pigs of lead, the
product of the Perkiomen mines, smelted by them.
The oldest and best-appointed and successful of the
drop shot-works in the country is that of the Phila-
delphia Shot Tower of Thomas W. Sparks, which was
built in 1808. In 1860 lead-pipe and shot making
and lead smelting was carried on in 4 establishments,
with a capital of 8275,000, using raw material valued
at $414,700, and employing 48 hands. Their annual
product was valued at $638,500. In 1870 there were
2 establishments manufacturing lead pipe, the capital
employed being $600,000, the raw material costing
$470,000, and the annual product being valued at
$620,000. Lead shot, at the same date, was manufac-
tured at 1 establishment, with a capital of $50,000, the
raw material used costing 880,000, and the annual
product being valued at $100,000. In 1875 the lead
manufactures were estimated by Mr. Blodget at
THE. INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2271
$936,000 value of product. In 1880, lead, bar, pipe,
sheet, and shot were manufactured in 3 establish-
ments, with a capital of S365,000, the raw material
costing $620,500, and the annual product valued at
$758,000. In 1882 the tabular summary of Philadel-
phia industries gives the manufacture of lead, pipe,
bar, and refining as being conducted by 5 establish-
ments, employing 41 hands, and producing annually
$945,000, and white and red lead as being made by
4 establishments, employing 272 hands, and producing
$1,360,000.
It appears from a statement by William J. Buck
(paper read before Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
Jan. 4, 1875) that James Tilghman, of Philadelphia,
addressed a letter to the proprietaries, Thomas and
Richard Penn, at Spring Garden, London, on the
14th of August, 1766, in which he stated that his
brother-in-law, Col. Francis, had gone —
*' up the northeast branch as far as Wyoming, where he Bays there is a
considerable body of good land, and a very great fund of coal iu the
hills which, surround a very tine and extensive bottom there. This
coal is thought to be very tine. With his compliments he sends you a
piece of the coal. This bed of coal, situate as it is on the side of the
river, may some time or other be a thing of great value."
Mr. Buck mentions that Charles Stewart, making a
draft of a survey, in 1768, of a large tract of land on
the west side of the Susquehanna, mentions that it had
"stone coal" marked upon it. In 1769, Obadiah
Gore, a blacksmith in the Wyoming Valley, used
some of the coal found upon the surface there in his
forge, and, finding it to answer his purposes very well,
continued to use it, and afterward he was successftil
in burning it in a grate. Judge Fell,of Wilkesbarre,
in 1808, made the following record of an experiment
with this coal :
"February 11, of Masonry 5808. Made the experiment of burning
the common stone coal of the valley, in a grate, in a common fire-
place in my house, and find it will answer the purpose of fuel ; making
a clearer and better fire, at less expense than burning wood in the com-
mon way. Borough of Wilkesbarre, Feb. 11, 1808.— Jesse Fell."
Mr. Buck is authority for the statement that in 1776,
and afterwards during the Revolution, " two Durham
boat-loads of coal were annually sent to the shore of the
Susquehanna, opposite where Harrisburg now is, and
the coal lauded there, taken in wagons to the armory
at Carlisle, and used there." In 1790-91, Philip Ginter
gave to Col. Joseph Weiss a " black stone" found by
him in a hunt upon the mountains, near the present
borough of Mauch Chunk, which Weiss carried to
Philadelphia, where it was tested and pronounced
"stone" or "anthracite" coal. An association for
mining was formed in 1792, called the " Lehigh Coal-
Mining Company," which did nothing more than
organize, and " locate" 10,000 acres of land in the
vicinity of Mauch Chunk. The coal was only used
by blacksmiths in the neighborhood until 1806, when
William Turnbull took two or three hundred bushels
in an "arc" (ark) to Philadelphia, where experiments
with it as a fuel failed, and in 1812 an attempt to work
the mine was made, and also failed. The anthracite i
of Schuylkill County was used in a forge by Whetstone
in 1795, and William Morris, in 1800, took a wagon-
load to Philadelphia and could not sell it; again, in
1812, Col. George Shoemaker brought to the city nine
wagon loads, with no better success ; but at his earnest
solicitation, Mellen & Bishop used the coal at their
rolling-mills in Delaware County, and were pleased
with the result. They called public attention to the
usefulness of anthracite as a fuel, and this was the
turning-point in the history of coal-mining in this
country.'
When the qualities of Pennsylvania coal for fuel
were demonstrated by actual experiment, firewood was
becoming dearer and more scarce, and the methods of
using it by the old-fashioned ten-plate stoves in
kitchens, and for warming by the Franklin stove or
open fireplace in parlors,- sitting-rooms, and other
apartments, were wasteful ; yet the superior advan-
tage of the use of Pennsylvania (or anthracite) coal
was indifferently regarded, and as a fuel the article
was difficult of introduction.
In the Philadelphia Medical Museum, in 1805, Dr.
James Woodhouse published an account of some
experiments made with Lehigh coal, of which he
said, —
" The Lehigh coal promises to be particularly useful where a long-
continued heat is necessary, as in distilling or evaporating large quanti-
ties of water from various substances, in the melting of metals, or in the
subliming of salts, in generating steam to work steam-engines, and,
in common life, for washing, cooking, etc., provided the fireplaces are
constructed in such a manner as to keep up a strong draught of air."
In 1807, Samuel Breck, in his diary, gave the results
of some experiments in the economy of using coal as
a fuel, which were not encouraging unless the coal
could be purchased " at thirty-three cents per bushel,
which is the usual summer price."
The plan of Daniel Pettibone was the first glim-
mering of the present hot-aij furnace ; he called his
stove "a rarefying air stove." According to certifi-
cates submitted by Mr. Pettibone, the managers of
the Pennsylvania Hospital, as early as 1810, tried
his plan upon six rooms, which were warmed by one
stove of the middle size. They were so well pleased
with their trial that they purchased the right for the
use of the invention for the whole hospital in 1810.
About the same time it was introduced into the alms-
house, the Philadelphia Bank, the House of Repre-
sentatives at Washington, St. Augustine's Roman
Catholic Church, and various stores and shops.
Pettibone afterward heated the chambers of Congress
and other public buildings by means of his stove.
Pettibone's invention was made during the wood-
burning period, and without suspicion of the superior
qualities of anthracite coal; but his principle was
that of the modern hot-air furnace, and the first
person to apply it to that use in the United States,
by the aid of anthracite coal, was Prof. Walter R.
Johnson, of the Franklin Institute. About 1824-25
Centenary," p. 154.
227S
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
the latter had built in his cellar a furnace for burning
anthracite coal, which was surrounded by an air-
chamber of brick-work. Through the latter the
smoke and gaseous production was carried by pipes
through a cylindrical drum at the first story, and one
in the third story, and thence out on the roof. There
was an advantage by the rising of the hot air to the
apartments by pipes or flues, and its delivery by a
register. The drums in the first and third stories con-
tributed their heat in the rooms in which they were
placed. This method of warming was improved in
later years by placing the drums in the chamber
adjoining the grate of the furnace, and conducting
the hot air by pipes, regulated by registers, to the
various apartments.
In 1826 the Journal of the Franklin Institute, which
valuable periodical had been but a short time estab-
lished, devoted a paper to the subject of anthracite
coal, and to its application to the various purposes
of domestic economy.
In 1828 the first cargo of Pennsylvania bituminous
coal reached Philadelphia from Karthaus, in Clear-
field County. Mention of the first cooking-stove to use
anthracite coal appeared in the United States Gazette
in April, 1828, the stove being that made by William-
son & Paynter. The price at which two ark-loads of
Lehigh coal which reached Philadelphia in 1814 sold
was §21 a ton, and the coal was used by White &
Hazard in their wire manufactory at the Falls of
Schuylkill. The average value per ton of Pennsyl-
vania anthracite at the colliery in 1876 was $2.53.'
At this price the 360,564,832 tons rained from 1820 to
1876 brought the enormous sum of §912,228,024.96.
It was not an extravagant statement which the Phila-
delphia Inquirer made in 1855, when it said that
" many farms" in Pennsylvania were " as precious as
some of the mines of California."
The total anthracite coal production of Pennsyl-
vania, in tons of 2240 pounds, from 1820 to 1883, is as
follows: From the Wyoming region, 220,104,817
tons; the Lehigh region, 98,626,196 tons; the Schuyl-
kill region, 250,024,255 tons; total from all regions,
524,699,328 tons.
The founder in point of time of the manufacture
of chemicals was Samuel Wetherill, Jr., who about
1789 started the first white-lead factory in the United
States, and who, though giving his attention to other
manufactures, yet established at Wetherill's drug-
store. No. 65 North Front Street, the oldest and most
extensive manufacture of chemicals in the country.
There have been four generations of Wetherills
druggists in Philadelphia. Samuel, the founder, was
a Quaker preacher of such talents and virtues as to
attract to his ministrations the most eminent people
of his day. He wrote " An Apology for the Religious
Society called Free Quakers," of which society he
was among the prominent founders and active mem-
1 Centennial Eeport, vol. i., part II., p. 130.
bers. In 1775 he became one of the promoters and
managers of the United Company of Philadelphia
for the Establishment of American Manufactures,
and embarked with his whole energies in the business.
There being no dyers at that time in Philadelphia, he
undertook that branch ; and from dyeing to chemicals
the transition was natural. He died in 1816, and was
succeeded in the drug business by his son, Samuel
Wetherill, Jr., in the " Wetherill drug-store," an old
landmark of earlier, if not of better days. John
Price Wetherill, a grandson, succeeded his father,
Samuel, the son of the founder, Samuel. He was born
in 1794, was a member of the Academy of Natural
Sciences in 1817, and a member of the American
Philosophical Society, and of the Geological Society
in 1832, an honorary member of the Boston Society
of Natural History, a member in 1844 of the Miner-
alogical Society of St. Petersburg, in 1848 a member
of the American Society for the Advancement of
Science, and of the New Jersey Society of Natural
History. He inherited the fighting propensity of his
ancestor, and was captain of the Second City Troop
for several years, and known as " Col. John Price
Wetherill." His scientific attainments won him
these and other marks of merited distinction. He
died in 1853.
Samuel Wetherill and his son, Samuel, Jr., being
anxious to do more than to sell a purchased article,
commenced the manufacture of white lead on the 19th
of September, 1809, at the northwest corner of Chestnut
and Broad Streets. It is said that efforts were made by
an agent of the English manufacturers to discourage the
Wetherills from commencing this business. This sub-
sidized adviser failed in his efforts. The Wetherills
commenced the manufacture of their white lead as they
had determined, but they did not continue it at that
place much longer than nine months. Their factory
at Broad and Chestnut Streets was totally destroyed
by fire June 13, 1810. They changed its location, and
erected their new white-lead factory at the northeast
corner of Twelfth and Cherry Streets, to which they
subsequently added facilities for the manufacture of
other chemicals and drugs. In October and No-
vember, 1811, Samuel Wetherill, Jr., obtained pa^
ents for a mode of washing white lead, for setting the
beds or stocks in making white lead ; for screening
and separating white lead, for separating oxidized
from metallic lead in the process of making red lead,
and using machines for that purpose.
Christopher Marshall, chemist,^ began to manufac-
ture sal ammoniac in 1790 so largely that his
exportation amounted to six thousand pounds a
2 From this Christopher Marshall a long line of druggists sprang.
Christopher J., the fighting Quaker of the Revolntion, " turned out of
meeting" because his patriotism was too sharp and well defined to rest
quiet in such times, was an active member of the Committee of In-
spection and Safety of Philadelphia. He succeeded his father, and was
succeeded by his son, Charles, who was followed by his son, Charles,
Jr., about 1814. " Marshall's Remembrancer," edited by William Duane
in 1839 and 1849, ia a most interesting diary of Bevolutionary times.
THE INDUSTKIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2273
year. Some attention was paid to the manufac-
ture of potash by William Henderson, on Fourth
Street, between Spruce and Pine Streets, who, in 1772,
advertised that he would give thirty pounds per ton,
cash, for alkaline salts boiled from the lyes of wood
or vegetable ashes. Benjamin Leigh, his superinten-
dent, offered to instruct persons in the process gratu-
itously ; also how to clear land from wood, so that
the ashes from the same, when burned, would pay
more than the expense of clearing. The value of the
potash manufactured in America at that time was es-
timated at £50,000 sterling. John Rhea, in 1787, also
established potash-works on Goodman's wharf, above
Race Street.'
George W. Carpenter, another scientific druggist of
Philadelphia, was born in 1802, and was initiated into
the mysteries of the drug business in the establish-
ment of Charles Marshall, Jr., where he accumulated
a small sum of money and a large capital of knowl-
edge. Forming the acquaintance and winning the
friendship of the distinguished Thomas Nuttall, he
developed that taste for natural history which was the
foundation of his scientific attainments. While yet
in Marshall's store he was elected an associate of the
Academy of Natural Sciences. His favorite study
was mineralogy, and he collected a valuable cabinet,
of which Professor Silliman availed himself when
preparing his Journal of Science and Art. He con-
tributed various papers on medical subjects to the
American Journal of Science, then edited by Dr.
Nathaniel Chapman, and " Carjjenter's Essays on
Materia Medica" is a recognized text-book. In 1828
he began business for himself, and his success was ex-
traordinary, he accumulating enough in eight years
to purchase a farm in the upper part of Germantown,
where " Phil Ellena," the name of his country place,
became the home of hospitable kindness. He was a
strong supporter of the Philadelphia, Germantown
and Norristown Railroad, and a commissioner to
organize the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, of
which he was for many years a director, as well as in
five other railroads, one bank, and one insurance com-
pany. W. C. Henszey became a partner in 1842, and
succeeded to the business after the death of Mr. Car-
penter, in 1860.
Dr. Adam Seybert, " druggist, chymist, and apothe-
cary," whose shop, in 1801, was at No. 168 North
Second Street, established about that time, in the
1 Among the executive documents presented in Congress was a letter
from Secretary Schurz, recommending an appropriation of five hundred
dollars to purchase the first patent ever issued in this country. Accom-
panying it was a letter from E. T. Hall, of Columbus, Ohio, the present
possessor of the document, in which he says it was issued at New York,
July 31, 1790, to Samuel Hopkins, of Philadelphia, for an improvement
in making potash and pearlash. It is written on a sheet of parchment
twenty inches sijuare, in a round, old-fashioned hand, signed by George
Washington, and certified by Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General, as
being conformable to the act of Congress to promote the useful arts ; and
its delivery to the grantee is certified by Thomas Jefferson, with the seal [
of the United States, Secretary Schurz recommended its purchase as a I
valuable historical relic. '
neighborhood of the Globe Mills, a laboratory for
chemical manufacturing, and produced the first mer-
curials made in the United States. It is supposed
that he gave up business about 180.3^. He became
conspicuous in politics, was elected to Congress in
1809, and served continuously until 1815, when he
lost a re-election ; but he was again chosen in 1817,
and served one term. He died in Paris, May 2, 1825,
aged fifty-two years. His "Statistical Annals," pub-
lished in 1818 by Thomas Dodson & Son, Philadel-
phia, was for many years the leading work on the
statistics and industries of the country.
In 1804, John Harrison, druggist, at No. 10 South
Second Street, was named in the City Directory for
1 805 as " druggist and aquafortis manufacturer." He
was the first to attempt the production of nitric acid.
He had made sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) in 1793.
As a result of his success in this profession he aban-
doned the apothecary and drug business, and in 1806
was set down as " chymist. No. 75 North Fifth Street."
In 1808 he was " near No. 121 Green Street," between
Third and Fourth Streets. Here he met with misfor-
tune, his laboratory being burned May 14, 18(19. Con-
sequently he removed " away out of town" (as it was
then considered), his name reappearing for the first
time in the Directory for 1813, "John Harrison,
chemist, first gate, Frankford road." In later years
the direction was given, " Frankford road, near Or-
ange Street." The place chosen was west of the
Frankford road and Front Street, and south of Berks
Street, near where the streets called Harrison Street
and Filler Street now go through. The manufacture
of aqua fortis was not sufficient to satisfy the enter-
prise of Mr. Harrison. In 1807 it was announced in
the newspapers that he had established an important
business in the making of oil of vitriol (sulphuric
acid). He was the first maiuifacturcr of this acid in
the United States. Mr. Harrison had accomplished
himself in the science of manufacturing chemistry by
a visit to Europe, where he remained for two years,
and endeavored to become practically acquainted
with processes. When he commenced to make oil of
vitriol it was in a small way. His leaden chamber
was of trifling capacity, and enabled hira to turn out
about one carboy of vitriol in a working day, or three
hundred carboys a year, making altogether about
forty-five thousand pounds. These experiments were
made before 1807, in which year he had built for his
use a leaden chamber eighteen feet high, eighteen
feet wide, and fifty feet long, by the use of which he
was enabled to manufacture thirty-five hundred car-
boys of sulphuric acid per annum, or over three hun-
dred and fifty thousand pounds. Sulphuric acid at
this time was worth fifteen cents a pound. The sons
and grandsons succeeded to the business of John Har-
rison, and their large establishment at Gray's Ferry,
with their works at Kensington, with factories in Mary-
land and New York, prepare, in addition to chemicals
and white lead, chemicals for paper-stainers, fine
2274
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
colors in pulp, dry, aud in oil, and the various acids
used in the arts.
William Partridge, an Englishman, came to Phila-
delphia in 1808, and set up business as a dyers' drug
manufacturer, at No. 461 Market Street, between
Thirteenth Street and Centre Square Water-Works.
His principal business was the preparation of mor-
dants for the dyeing of silk, cotton, and leather;
"iron liquors" for cotton-dyeing and calico-printing,
acids for gilders, silversmiths, etc.
Dr. Joseph Strong was one of the first persons who
successfully manufactured white lead, red lead, and
litharge. In November, 1808, he gave public notice
that he had " succeeded in manufacturing these
preparations after many expensive and arduous ex-
periments," and that they were equal in quality to the
European articles. His manufactory was No. 485
North Third Street, opposite the Globe Mills. Among
the miscellaneous manufactures in 1808, connected
with medicine and chemistry, were annotto, made by
Dr. Smith, South Second Street; refined camphor,
made by Dr. Joseph Lehman and Windsor; and
fancy soaps and sealing-wax, made by W. Lehman
and W. Smith & Son, South Second Street. John
Shinn, Jr., established at No. 282 North Third Street,
about the year 1810, a laboratory for the manufac-
ture of calomel, vermilion to correspond with that
imported from Europe, and vermilion to correspond
with that imported from China, red precipitate, cor-
rosive sublimate, cinnabar, and every other prepara-
tion of mercury ; also crystallized soda, aqua fortis, mu-
riatic or hydrochloric acid, oxymuriatic acid, now
called Chlorine, verdigris distilled and other chemical
products for medical and other purposes. John White,
in 1808 or 1809, opened his chemical laboratory at the
corner of St. John and Tammany Streets. He pro-
duced pure nitre suitable for making the best gun-
powder, the nitre of commerce or saltpetre in crystals.
East India borax which was refined equal to the Eu-
ropean, and brimstone, refined and put into rolls. In
1810, White manufactured 360 tons of those arti-
cles.
About 1812, Joseph Richards, who had formerly
been in business as a merchant, established a factory
for the manufacture of red and white lead on Race
Street, near the Schuylkill. In 1817 he removed his
laboratory to new buildings erected in Pine Street,
above Bi'oad. In the succeeding year he obtained a
patent for manufacturing white lead. It is probable
that Joseph Richards was one of the owners of a
white-lead factory on Pine Street, between Schuylkill
Seventh and Schuylkill Eighth, which, from 1812 to
1817, was conducted by White Richards. Joseph
Richards removed from Pine Street to No. 322 High
Street, where he was in business as a manufacturer
of red and white lead in 1819. He remained at that
place until about 1823, and then abandoned the
business.
George F. Hagner, in October, 1818, was granted
patents for manufacturing verdigris and for making
white lead.
Among the multifarious occupations of White &
Hazard at the Falls of Schuylkill was the manufac-
ture of white lead. The building in which this was
done was on the west side of the river near the falls.
Dr. Gerard Troost, in company with his brother,
Benoit Troost, attempted to establish the manufac-
ture of chemical preparations as soon as he came to
Philadelphia. In the " City Census Directory" for
1811' it- is stated that at G. Troost's laboratory, in
Coates Street, " are manufactured all kinds of chem-
ical preparations, but more particularly mercurials,
acids, salts, ether, saltpetre, borax, and alum refined."
In 1813 the Troosts were at No. 154 Green Street.
The establishment of peace with Great Britain, and
heavy importations of foreign chemicals, probably
drove Dr. Troost out of the business about 1815-16.
John Farr, a young Englishman, who had served
in one of the best drug-stores in London, came to the
United States, and was the first person to introduce
the manufacture of Seidlitz powders into this country.
About 1818 he became associated with Abraham
Kunzi, and they formed a partnership for the manu-
facture of chemicals, on Arch Street, above Twelfth.
In 1822 they removed their establishment to Coates
Street, near Fourth, and remained there for several
years. They commenced the manufacture of oil of
vitriol in a small way, in lead, and concentrated their
acids in glass. They made an assortment of chemi-
cals, among them sulphate of morphia, shortly after
the process was discovered by Pelletier, in Paris,
and ether, acids, refined camphor, etc.
Farr & Kunzi continued the manufacture of chem-
icals until the retirement of Abram Kunzi, in 1838,
when Mr. Farr associated with himself Powers &
Weightman, under the firm-name of John Farr &
Co., which continued until 1841, when the style be-
came Farr, Powers & Weightman. The senior part-
ner, John Farr, died in 1847, and upon his decease
the style of the firm was changed to Powers & Weight-
man. The works at the Falls of the Schuylkill were
commenced about 1847, where there are manufactured
sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, tartaric, and acetic acids;
alum, Epsom salts, blue vitriol, iron, magnesia, etc.,
all on a large scale. There are also extensive works
at Ninth and Parrish Streets, which were destroyed
by fire in February, 1884, but are being rebuilt. At
this place were manufactured sulphate of quinia, sul-
phate of morphia, iodine, and mercurials, also a gen-
eral assortment of medicinal and photographic chem-
icals. This is now one of the largest manufacturing
chemical houses in the world.
Christopher Wesener, who was in business as a
grocer at the northwest corner of Ninth and Cherry
Streets in 1814, established himself as a manufacturing
chemist on Broad Street, between Arch and Cherry,
in the ensuing year. He was assisted by Elias Durand.
About 1822-23 the laboratory was removed to Juniper
5i'
THE INDUSTRIES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2275
Street, above Arch. Wesener made chemicals of
various kinds. He went out of business about 1825-26,
and removed to the Western country, but came back
about 1829, and, as will be seen hereafter, again estab-
lished himself as a manufacturing chemist. Elias Du-
rand established himself in an apothecary and drug
store at the southwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut
Streets, which for many years was the leading retail
establishment in the trade. John Carter successfully
established the manufacture of red and yellow prus-
siate of potash about 1815. The business is still car-
ried on by Carter & Scattergood on Gray's Ferry
road. George D. Rosengarten entered into partner-
ship with Charles Zeitler, in 1822, as manufacturing
chemists, in St. John Street. Zeitler went out of the
business in 1823. Rosengarten continued at the same
place until -1825, when he removed to Adelphi Alley,
near Second and Noble Streets. He manufactured
successfully sulphate of quinine and other leading
chemical articles. Lertuner, a German chemist, dis-
covered, the method of preparing morphia. Mr. Ros-
engarten commenced that manufacture, and was for
some years the onlj' chemist in the United States who
prepared it. He also made ethers, pure acids, and
other articles, bicarbonate of soda, salt of tartar, and
various chemical preparations. In 1827 his labora-
tory was removed to Arch Street, west of Twelfth ;
in 1829 to Broad and Vine Streets ; to Sixteenth and
Vine in 1832 ; and in 1855 to the present extensive
works, Seventeenth and Fitzwater Streets. About
1834 N. F. H. Denis, a French chemist of great
ability, was taken into partnership by Mr. Rosen-
garten, and the firm was Rosengarten & Denis. The
latter retired from business in 1855, when Mr. Rosen-
garten took his sons in partnership. The firm was
dissolved by the retirement of the elder Mr. Rosen-
garten in 1878, and his sons now carry on the busi-
ness. Charles Kurlbaum commenced, in 1823, in
Front Street, near Oxford, Kensington, the manufac-
ture of refined camphor, mercurials, sulphate of qui-
nine, and other articles. John E. Schwartze was in
partnership with him in after-years, and they had
their warehouse at No. 22 Chestnut Street. Mr.
Kurlbaum died about eight or nine years ago, and
his sons continued the business. Joseph Richardson,
in 1813, established a white-lead factory on Pine
Street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets, which
in 1819 passed into the possession of Mordecai and
Samuel N. Lewis. The production of the works was
increased from 100 tons in 1819 to 600 tons in 1830,
and to 1000 tons in 1840. The manufacture of acetic
acid was commenced in 1827, for their own use, in
place of cider vinegar ; and in 1830 linseed oil was
made at the establishment. In 1849, a lot was pur-
chased in Richmond, in the present Nineteenth Ward,
on Duke Street and Huntingdon Street, on which a
white-lead factory was in operation. The works were
much enlarged, and, in addition to white lead, lin-
seed oil, and acetic acid, the manufacture of red lead,
litharge, orange mineral, and acetate of lead and
other paints was conducted.
Samuel F. Lewis, the founder of what is now the
great^white-lead factory operated by the firm of John
T. Lewis & Brothers, was the son of Mordecai and
Hannah Lewis, and was born in Philadelphia, Sept.
3, 1785. He received an excellent English and clas-
sical education at Friends' school, in this city, and in
1806, before he was quite twenty-one years of age, he
entered into mercantile business with his elder brother,
Mordecai.
The commercial relations of M. & S. N. Lewis, as
ship-owners and commission-merchants, were very
extensive, and were continued for many year§. In
1819 they became the owners of a white-lead manu-
factory, which, by extension and the addition of other
articles of manufacture, soon occupied the whole
square of ground from Fifteenth to Sixteenth and
from Pine to Lombard Streets. This property event-
ually becoming too valuable for such purposes, the
works were removed, in 1848, to the present situation
in Port Richmond, in the northern portion of the
city. The firm of M. & S. N. Lewis, in 1806, estab-
lished their counting-house at No. 135 (now 231)
South Front Street, where their successors, John T.
Lewis & Brothers, still carry on the business. In
mercantile circles and in the community at large
Mr. Lewis occupied a very high position, being noted
for his strict probity and courtesy in all commercial
dealings. Relative to this phase of his character the
National Gazette, under date of Feb. 11, 1841, shortly
after his death, thus speaks of him :
" Few men have passed their lives more usefuUy and leas obtrusively
than the late Mr. Samuel N. Lewie. Educated as a merchant, with the
favorable principles which distinguished his ancestors, he soon became
one of the brightest ornaments of our commercial circle. His unas-
suming and retiring nature, however, did not permit him to be much
before the public, although his talents, especially as an able accountant
and skillful financier, ever impressed alt with whom he was engaged in
Although pre-eminently a man of business, Mr.
Lewis was not neglectful of public interests or of the
broader interests of humanity. He was, in 1814, one
of the founders of " the Society for Supplying the
Poor with Soup," which was the pioneer association
of the kind in Philadelphia. In 1826 he became the
treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hospital, holding the
position until his decease, in 1841. This office was
held by his father from 1780 until 1799; by his
brother, Joseph S. Lewis, from 1799 until 1826 ; and
by his son, John T. Lewis, from 1841 until 1881, the
treasurership being in the one family for one hun-
dred and one consecutive years. Mr. Lewis was like-
wise a director for many years of " the Philadelphia
Contributiouship for the Insurance of Houses from
loss by Fire," and was also a member of the Welsh
Society. Mr. Lewis was, furthermore, a member of
that famous organization, formed in 1732, "The
Colony in Schuylkill," which, after the Revolution,
asserted its independence as " the State in Schuyl-
2276
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
kill.'" He was for many years treasurer of this old
fishing company, of which, also, his brother, Joseph
S. Lewis, was the first counselor for a long time.
Mr. Lewis was married on the 15th of June, 1809,
to Rebecca Chalkley Thompson, daughter of John
and Rebecca Thompson, at Friends' meeting-house.
His highly useful and honorable life came to an end
on the 3d of February, 1841. He left to survive him
his widow and nine children, as follows: Martha S.,
John T., Saunders, Rebecca T., George T., James T.,
Samuel N., Lydia, and Francis S. The obituary notice
in the National Gazette of Feb. 10, 1841, also embodied
the following :
"In the few public trusts which he was prevailed upon to iill he was
remarked for his usefulnessand thorough performance of his duties. . . .
In the social relations of life he waa pre-eminently excellent. ... He
closed his career on the 3d instant, with the calmness and serenitj* which
a life so well spent would naturally produce, strengthened and rendered
still more exemplary and elevated by his steady preparation and firm
convictions as a Christian."
>^?->_'i--u' ^'O-^'Gyf^
i^^'
t^-C^9^!i^i^yT-^
"J^/zJ^zfay^^
Mordecai Lewis, the father of Samuel N. Lewis, was
the only son of Jonathan and Rachel Lewis. He was
1 The history of this famous association is given on page 233 of vol. i.
born in Philadelphia, Sept. 21, 1748. His great-
grandfather, William Lewis, came from Glamorgan-
shire, in South Wales, to the province of Pennsyl-
vania, in 1686. Before leaving Wales he had become
a member of the Society of Friends, and brought a
certificate from the meeting at his old home, com-
mending him and his family " to our dear and faith-
ful brethren in Pennsylvania, or elsewhere where
these may come." This certificate is now lodged in
Haverford Meeting, Delaware County, Pa., where he
was a prominent and useful member. The original
emigrant was of the family of " Lewis of the Van."
The ruins of extensive buildings bearing that name
still remain in Glamorganshire, about four miles
northeast of Caerphilly.
Mordecai Lewis acquired his early mercantile edu-
cation in the counting-house of Samuel Neave, with
whom he afterward entered into partnership under
the firm-name of Neave, Harman & Lewis. At a
later period he was extensively engaged as a ship-
owner with William Bingham, under the firm-name
of Mordecai Lewis & Co. Afterward, and until his
death, in 1799, he continued in business alone, his
trade more particularly extending to the East Indies.
The following letter, written by Mordecai Lewis &
Co. to their correspondents in London, on the 29th
of May, 1783, besides giving a hint as to the scope of
their business at that time, possesses something of
general interest, when its date and the circum.stances
under which it was written are considered :
"The Restoration of peace upon the broad basis of Independence, we
flatter ourselves will open scenes of the most extensive nature in the
Commercial Line, and we shall be happy in every opportunity of exe-
cuting your commands, which our thorough acqaintance with the Coun-
try, and many other advantages will enable us to do on the best terms."
When abroad in Europe, in 1772, he received the
freedom of the city of Glasgow, recorded on a quaintly-
embellished parchment, as follows :
" At Glasgow, the 13th day of March, 1772, the which day, in presence
of the Right Honorable John Dunlop, Esquire, Lord Provost of the said
city, Archibald Smellie, Hugh Wyllie, and James Brodie, Baillies
thereof, George Brown, Dean of the Gild, and Sundry of the Gild Coun-
cil of said city, Mordecai Lewis, Esquire, of Philadelphia, Merchant, is
admitted and received Gild Brother of the said City, and the whole
Liberties, Privileges, and Immunities belonging to an Burgess and Gild
Brother thereof are granted to him in most ample form, who giver, his
oath of Fidelity, as use is. Extracted furth of the Gild Books of the
said city, By John Wilson."
Mr. Lewis resided at No. 112 South Front Street,
below Walnut, in a fine old double house, which was
standing as late as 1848. Directly back of his dwell-
ing, on Dock Street, was his counting-house. He
lived for a portion of each year at his country-seat,
near the Rising Sun Tavern, about four miles north
of the old city, which was called Forest Hill.
Mr. Lewis lived a life of great usefulness, which
was well-rounded and symmetrical, although the
allotted limit of threescore years and ten was not
attained. He died on the 13th of March, 1799, when
in the fifty-first year of his age. An obituary notice
'« <kt)n
wgiia
vh He
LetisoftleVa,-
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» fwneisliip mfc
*Wrf as a ilii[.
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Woes alooe, 111
I'D lie East Mb
'Wecai Lewis i
^nJOD,onili(2Sil;|
m Is » ike scope of
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*WJflJ(BteutJo[(I^
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Juta BraHe, Biillifi
kadijcJtbeGJJd&ai'
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BseliiliifS,*!!
al. ultloigk tie
aiiiteimsi"*
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ijobitiii"?""''*
THE INDUSTRIES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2277
lament to the
H, punctual in
nnis By the
>n to Ijusiness,
ealth affiftded
iring. At the
dispensing no
heart and his
of an al>1e director; the
friend and faitliTnl treas-
ind firm supporter of her
published at the time of his decease embraced the
following:
" It may be said of this gentleman that lie was an on
profession, being just in his dealings, true to liis promise
tlie payment of his debts, and correct in Iteeping hisaccc
union of these qualities, joined to an unremitting attentii
he acquired a very considerable estate. His well-earned v
the means uf support and education to a numerous uffs]
same time it enabled him to indulge his inclinations in
small portion of it to the relief of the poor, to whom hie
hand were opened with great liberality on every proper
The Banlt of North America, the insurance offices in Philadelpl
the City Library will long lament th
managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital
urer ; and united America, of a good cit
laws and Coustitutiou."
The pioneer drug-mill in this country, and perhaps
in the world, was established in 1812 by Charles V.
Hagner at the Falls of Schuylkill. The idea of sub-
stituting machinery for mortar and pestle was sug-
gested by a transaction between the proprietor and
Dr. Haral, who had several tons of cream of tartar,
which, under the old mode of hand-grinding, would
have required the work of several men for many
months. Hagner offered to grind by the same ma-
chinery which he used for grinding bark, plaster,
ores, etc., and he did do it in twelve hours, to the
great consternation of Dr. Haral, whose amazement
and indignation were unbounded. He declared it
had been ruined; that it was impossible in a single
night to effect that which would have occupied his
men months to accomplish. A meeting of the prin-
cipal druggists and other experts was held at his office
to consider the matter, and the cream of tartar was
examined and tested in various ways, resulting in its
being pronounced perfectly good, unusually white,
and finer than any of them had seen before. The
doctor was now well pleased, and, the affair becoming
known, not only in Philadelphia, but also in New
York, Boston, and other cities, the trade was com-
pletely revolutionized, and immense quantities of
cream of tartar, Peruvian bark, ipecac, rhubarb, jalap,
gentian, etc., were sent to the mills from all parts.
This success determined the proprietor to extend the
business, which increased to such an extent that in
1820 he erected mills at Manayunk, and was one of
the pioneers in building up that town. In 1839 he
purchased the Lancasterian school building in the
city, on Pegg Street, and established the drug-mill
business on a more extended scale.
Charles Ellis and Isaac P. Morris, in 1826, pur-
chased the establishment of Elizabeth Marshall, who
was the successor of her father, Charles, and her
grandfather, Christopher, in the drug business at
(old) No. 56 Chestnut Street. This old stand was
established in 1740. Ellis & Morris at once took a
front rank in the drug business, and when the latter
withdrew, in 1837, William Ellis, a son of the senior
partner, was admitted, the style becoming Charles
Ellis & Son ; in later years it has become Charles
Ellis' Sons & Co.
The Frankford Chemical Works, on Oxford Street,
at Frankford Creek, were established by Christopher
Wesener in 1829-30, and originally located on Ken-
sington Avenue, above Harrowgate. Various changes
took place in the works and the ownership until, in
1870, they passed into the hands of Savage, Keyser &
Stovell. The present grounds embrace six acres of
land, on which extensive and substantial stone build-
ings have been erected and supplied with improved
machinery.
Nicholas Lennig & Co., in 1831, established the
Tacony Chemical Works, formerly at Port Richmond.
The firm was composed of Nicholas, the father, and
Charles Lennig, the son. The father died in 1835,
and Charles associated with himself Frederick Len-
nig, his cousin, the style of the firm remaining Nich-
olas Lennig & Co. until 1859, when it was changed
to C. & F. Lennig, and so remained until 1863, when
Frederick died, and Charles Lennig became sole pro-
prietor. In 1842 the works were transferred to the
then village of Bridesburg, now in the Twenty-third
Ward of the city. The Richmond works were con-
tinued until 1848, and then abandoned, and the
apparatus removed to the present location.
In 1819, John and Daniel Elliott commenced, at
the corner of Pine and Schuylkill Fifth [now Nine-
teenth] Streets, the manufacture of chemicals. In 1834
the business was purchased by Carter & Scattergood,
who removed to the northwest corner of Twenty-
fourth and South Streets.
The statistical summary of the manufacture of
chemicals in 1867 was as follows :
Chemicals, including dye-stuffs, chrome colors, and extracts.. $3,3.35,000
Medicines, prepared remedies of druggists 300,0t)0
" patent aud proprietary 1,000,(K)0
White lead 96U,000
Live paints, and products of p,iint-mill8 770,000
Glue, curled hair, etc 77.'),O0O
Varnishes aao.OOO
Total $7,370,000
In 1882 these industries are returned under many
different heads, the chief of which are :
No. of Estab-
lishments. Labor, Product.
CbemicaU (not designated) 29 1473 $1,241,926
" fertilizers 4 280 1,360,000
Medicines, proprietary 5 243 1,S0I,8»0
Medicine chests 1 11 19,800
The manufacture of sulphuric, muriatic, and nitric
acids ill 1882 was conducted in 9 establishments, em-
ploying 313 men and 10 youths, and manufacturing
yearly products amounting in value to $1,365,000.
In addition to these establishments, other chemicals
were manufactured in 29 establishments, employing
1196 men, 186 women, 91 youths, and producing an-
nually a value amounting to 86,241,925. This esti-
mate does not include acids, alum, ammonia, sul-
phate, animal charcoal, coal-tar products, chemical
fertilizers, paints and colors, soaps, white lead, or
pharmaceutical preparations.
The manufacture of glue and curled hair, by Kess-
ler & Delany, had its origin in 1835, when Henry
2278
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Kessler and Thomas McRea purchased the site for a
factory. At that time they engaged in the manufac-
ture of wheat-starch, carrying on that business for
six years with moderate success, till the extensive
production of that article in the West rendered the
enterprise unprofitable. Upon the death of Thomas
McRea, a partnership was formed between Henry
Kessler and Joseph Smith for the manufacture of glue
and curled hair. These partners continued the busi-
ness until 1865, when Smith sold out his interest to
Theodore M. Delany.
The beverages of the early colonists were few and
simple, coflFee, tea, and chocolate being almost un-
known. Among the Swedes a decoction was made
from the sassafras root, beer and brandy from per-
simmons, and small beer from Indian corn. The
coflFee-berry, according to Penn's account, was some-
times obtained from New York at 18s. 9d. per pound,
and although a teapot is mentioned in the inventory
of his goods, no tea is charged. Bradford, however,
in 1729 advertised good Bohea for sale at twenty-two
to thirty shillings per pound. The Dutch had several
breweries in 1662. In the first Assembly under the
proprietary government the question of taxing malt
beer two pence per quart shows that already the brew-
ing interest had reached a taxable status. A malt-
house, brew-house, and bakery were attached to Penn's
residence in Bucks County. The first brewery in the
city was on Front Street, below Walnut, and belonged
to William Frampton, of whom Penn wrote in 1685
that he was " an able man, who had set up a large
brew-house in order to furnish the people with good
drink, both there and up and down the river." Framp-
ton died in 1686. Samuel Carpenter, who was one of
the brewers named by Thomas, proposed, in the tax-
bill of 1685, that a tax of five pence per gallon be laid
on beer, mum, and Spanish wines. Penn remitted
this revenue, and lived to regret his generosity, for, in
1687, when he proposed to renew the tax on beverages,
the Assembly would not agree to do so. In 1698,
Thomas noted the existence of three or four spacious
malt-houses, as many large brew-houses, and many
handsome bake-houses for public use, and it appears
from the same authority that ale, equal in strength to
London half-and-half, was sold at fifteen shillings per
barrel. At that early day the reputation of the Phila-
delphia breweries was very high, and the exportation
of beer very large. In 1704, upon the petition of the
inhabitants of the city, an act was passed by the As-
sembly imposing an impost on imported foreign hops,
in order to encourage the cultivation of that plant,
and it was renewed in 1721. In that year George
Campion, a brewer in the city, shipped his beer to
Georgia, and a brew-house was offered for sale at
Marcus Hook. In 1722 an act " for encouraging the
making of good beer" prohibited the use of molasses
or coarse sugar, or composition, or extract of sugar,
foreign grains, Guinea pepper, or any liquor or syrup
boiled up to the consistency of molasses in the brew-
ing, working, or making of beer or ale, under a
penalty of £20, and also contained several important
sections for the regulation of the sale at inns and
taverns.
Reliable records as to the early breweries are very
few, but it appears that Anthony Morris, the second
brewer of record as to certain location, owned as early
as 1687 a lot of ground not far from Frampton, on
the east side of Front Street, north of Dock Street,
and extending through to the Delaware River, and
that he then purchased a lot on the west side of
Front, extending through to Second Street. On King
[or Water] Street he built a brew-house, where he
continued the business for many years. In 1706, he
conveyed the dwelling on Front Street, with the brew-
house and utensils, to Anthony Morris, Jr., by the
intervention of trustees, coupled with the power to
dispose of the property by will. This brew-house on
King Street remained for more than half a century.
In 1741, Anthony Morris, Jr., built the Morris Brew-
house, the oldest establishment of the kind in the
city until its disuse a few years ago, on the west side
of Second Street, above Arch.' Upon the death of
this Anthony, the brew-house passed into the owner-
ship of Thomas Morris, who conducted the business
for some years after 1801, and was in it in 1835.
James Abbott and Robert Newlin took charge of the
old Morris brewery about 1836. Previous to that ar-
rangement they had conducted the brewing business
on the south side of Pear Street, near Dock.
The Pear Street brewery was, in 1791, conducted
by Luke Morris and Isaac W. Morris, who retired
about 1810, when William Abbott and Caleb Steward
succeeded them.
Next to the Morris brewery in point of age came
the building on the west side of Sixth Street, north of
Carpenter [now Jayne] Street, which was for three-
quarters of a century known as Gray's brewery.
When the brew-house was built is not known. The
lot on which it was erected originally belonged to
Joshua Carpenter, who owned the whole square from
Sixth Street to Seventh, and from High to Chestnut.
In 1746 the property of the Carpenters was divided,
and the brew-house on Sixth Street was set off in par-
tition to one of the family. Robert Henderson & Co.
became the tenants, and they advertised to sell out,
in 1763, the lease of the brew-house and distillery,
but they probably remained there until a later period.
William Gray bought the property in 1772. The
brewery stood back from Sixth Street, and had a
double-pitch gable roof, and there were trees on the
lot in front of it. Before 1820 a two-story building
was erected in front of the old brew-house, on the
line of Sixth Street, which was fitted up as stores, the
brew-house being extended over it on the second
1 The non-intercourse resolutions were fully sustained by the brewers
of Philadelphiii, who refused to buy any portion of a cargo of malt that
arrived from Yarmouth, England, in July, 1769, consigned to Amos
Strettel, and the captain of the ship was forced to return with it.
THE INDUSTKIE8 OF PHILADELPHIA.
2279
story. Joseph and William Gray carried on the
business there for some years.'
Robert E. Gray gave notice in 1807 that he in-
tended to brew ale, porter, and beer during the en-
suing winter at his brewery, No. 24 South Sixth
Street. Conrad Wile was taken in partnership by
Robert E. Gray in 1811, and the firm was Gray &
Wile. After Wile retired, Samuel N. Gray, a brother
of Robert E. Gray, was associated with the latter. S.
N. Gray died in 1837. A sister of the Grays had
married White, and in 1837 his interest went
into the control of his nephews, George W. Gray and
Samuel G. White. Robert E. Gray retired from busi-
ness in 1840. Samuel G. White died in 1850, and his
cousin, George W. Gray, continued the business until
1866, when he removed from the city. Whitney &
Son succeeded, and continued the brewery until
within a few years, when the buildings were aban-
doned and torn down in 1881.
The brewery of Reuben Haines, in 1785, was at No.
145 Market Street ; Caspar Haines was also a partner
in 1791. In the Federal procession of 1789 ten mas-
ter brewers and seventy-two journeymen paraded,
headed by Reuben Haines. Upon their banners were
the mottoes : " Proper Drink for Americans," " Home-
Brewed is best." About 1793, Tench Coxe, commis-
sioner of the revenue, stated that the breweries of
Philadelphia exceeded in the quantity of their manu-
factures those of all the seaports in the United States.
Godfrey Twells succeeded the Haines in 1795, and in
1801 the brewery was conducted by Twells, Morris &
Co., the new partner being Caspar Morris. In 1804,
Caspar Morris and Frederick Gaul were brewing here,
and here was established "The Gaul Brewery," which,
in 1830, was in the hands of Frederick Gaul, Sr., and
his son Martin. Frederick Gaul, Sr., came to this
country prior to the Revolution, having been born at
Frankfort-on-the-Main, and served an apprenticeship
in the old country at brewing and malting. About 1841
the building was torn down and stores erected, and
Frederick Gaul removed to the old Hare brewery,
corner of New Market and Callowhill Streets, where
1 In September, 1777, the judges for Philadelphia city and county
adopted the foUowiog schedule of prices to be charged in public-
bouses :
£ s. d.
Madeira wine, per quart 2 0 0
Lisbon wine, per quart 15 0
Teneriffe wine, per quart 15 0
Spirit, per gill 0 3 9
Brandy, per gill 0 3 9
Whiskey, per gill 0 13
Good beer, per quart .".... 0 16
Cider royal, per quart 0 2 G
Cider, per quart 0 13
Punch, per bowl of about three pints 0 12 6
Toddy, per bowl 0 7 6
Brealifast of tea or coffee 0 3 9
Dinner 0 6 0
Supper 0 3 9
Lodging 0 13
Good hay for one horse, per night. 0 3 9
Oats, per quart 0 0 7
Whoever exceeded these rates was liable to prosecution, — a fine of
208. for the tirst offense, 40«. for the second, and for the third £5 and
loss of license.
145
his son Frederick, Jr., had conducted business for some
years.
In 1785 the brewery on the west side of Fifth Street,
below Market, which is still in operation, was con-
ducted by Joseph Potts. In 1791, Henry Pfeiffer, a
name afterward changed to Pepper, was there. About
1802, Henry Pepper & Son were in business at the
brewery. George Pepper succeeded. In 1831, David
Pepper was in partnership with him. Frederick Seckel
was interested, in 1836, in partnership with David Pep-
per. Robert Smith, who had been in the brewing busi-
ness in St. John Street, near Noble, was admitted into
the firm in 1837 or 1838.
Dr. Douglass mentions the manufacture of malt
into beer, as well as of barley into malt, as a well-
established industry in the city in 1750 ; and the ex-
portation of strong beer, in 1766, was 1288 barrels,
worth £1 10s. per barrel ; the shipments in 1772 were
1236 barrels ; in 1773, 1798 barrels ; and in 1774, 1394
barrels. Adulteration was not practiced in Philadel-
phia, because by the act of Assembly the seller of
adulterated liquors forfeited " the same, and three
times its value ;" and by the same act licensed tavern-
keepers, etc., were required to sell beer and ale by
wine measure to those who drank on the premises,
and by beer measure to those who carried it away.
By act of 1718 the justices were empowered to fix the
prices for the sale of wine, beer, ale, etc., four times
in the year, the prices to be proclaimed by the crier
at the close of the sessions, and to be affixed to the
court-house door. Porter was first brewed in 1780,
by Robert Hare. Previously, ale, beer, and " two-
penny" were the malt liquors in use ; " half-and-half,"
or equal quantities of ale and beer ; " three-threads,"
or one third of ale, beer, and " two-j)enny," were the
immediate predecessors of porter, which Harwood in-
vented, and called " entire brett." Its strengthening
qualities recommended it to working-people and por-
ters, and hence its name. In 1788 the porter made
in the city was considered in all respects equal to the
English make, and was greatly esteemed throughout
the country. The price, in 1790, of Philadelphia
beer was 30s. the barrel, and 8s. 4(1. per dozen bottles.
A sample of it made the voyage to China and back
without detriment to its quality.
As early as 1737 there was a brew-house at the
corner of Elbow Lane and White Horse Alley [now
called Bank Street], with an entrance-way from
Chestnut Street, between Second and Third. In
1752, George Gray, of Gray's Ferry, conducted the
business there. After he died, Mary Gray, his widow,
continued the brewery for some years. The prop-
erty was offered for sale in 1770. In 1785, Wil-
liam Pusey occupied the old brewery. He was suc-
ceeded by William Dawson, who in 1791 was there,
the number being 79 Chestnut Street. William
Morrison went into partnership with Dawson about
1812, and finally conducted the business on his own
account.
2280
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Robert Hare & Son, with whom was associated J.
Warren, of London, were the original manufacturers
of Hare & Twells' porter. Hare's brew-house, in
1785, was in Callowhill Street, between Front and
Second, No. 35. In 1802 it was at No. 155 Chestnut
Street. Mr. Hare died March 23, 1810. This brew-
ery was subsequently occupied by Frederick Gaul,
Sr., and Frederick Gaul, Jr. Before 1790, George
Kehn and John Rehn were established as brewers at
No. 60 Elm Street [now New Street], below Vine, and
between Second and Third Street, on the south side.
George was succeeded there by John Eehn. But
George Rehn removed to No. 383 South Front Street,
below Almond, where he set up " the Southwark
Brewer)'," which, in 1819, was managed by Thomas
K. Pritchard, and at a later period by Hutchinson &
Stump. Heurj' Widenburg, in 1795, was proprietor
of a brew-house at No. 48 North Sixth Street, where
afterward the " Pennsylvania Hotel" stood, and the
brew-house covered the lot afterward occupied by
Franklin Hall. John Whitesides was there in 1801,
and Joseph Gray as tenant in 1802, who was succeeded
in the following year by Michael Larer and his son
John, in the family of whom the brewery remained
until torn down for other improvements, about 1841-
42. Before 1800, Leonard Snowden and James L.
Fisher were brewing on Vine Street, between Third
and Fourth Streets. Edward Hudson succeeded them,
and in 1812 sold out to Croskey & Say. Francis Perot
became owner about 1818, and, in partnership with
William S. Perot, continued the business for some
years, and finally went into the preparation of malt,
and converted the brewery into a malt-house. At
the northwest corner of Prune and Fifth Streets
Thomas Billington began, in 1802, the construction
of a brewery, but dying before its completion, Elisha
Gordon purchased and completed the work, and com-
menced brewing in 1805. This establishment, in
1809, was conducted by Thomas F. & R. Gordon, as
the Columbian Brewery.
Edward Hudson, in the latter part of 1809, leased
the Philadelphia Brewery, in Moravian Alley, where
he produced " fine malt liquors." He did not remain
there very long, but was succeeded by Thomas Skelly,
who was there in 1812 and afterward. In 1810 the
large breweries of Philadelphia were said to consume
annually about one hundred and fifty thousand bushels
of malt. There were beside numerous small establish-
ments in the city, the business of which could not be
ascertained.
Richard and George D. Croskey and Benjamin Say
were at the Pennsylvania Brewery, on George Street
between Sixth and Seventh, in 1811. They left that
establishment in the next year, and George D. Cros-
key managed it. Adam Seckel succeeded in 1818,
and subsequently Frederick Seckel became a partner.
The brewery had been abandoned for several years
before it was torn down to make way for Sansom i
Street Hall. A. Boucherie, Nicholas Parmentier, E. I
Fourestier & Co. opened a new distillery upon a
patent process about 1810, at No. 180 Coates Street.
They had facilities to distill yearly 30,000 gallons of
molasses to rum, and 75,000 gallons of whiskey to
gin, and the products were estimated to be worth
$100,000 a year. Essential oils and cordials were
within the processes of the manufacturers. They
also had a patent for refining whale-oil for the use of
lamps, and had prepared 20,000 gallons before the
beginning of the year 1811. Their method also cov-
ered the refining of linseed oil for the use of paint-
ers. The Northern Liberties Brewer}-, North Fourth
Street, above Vine, was conducted in 1814 by Luders,
Marbacher & Co. In January, 1815, the brewers in
Philadelphia gave notice that after the 2d of January
of that year, in consequence of the rise of prices in
barley and hops, their terms would be as follows per
barrel : Strong beer, $7 ; middling beer, $5.50 ; small
beer, $4; porter, S8; ale, $8. The card was signed by
Dawson & Morrison, Nos. 79 and 81 Chestnut Street ;
George Pepper, corner Fifth and Minor Streets ;
Frederick Gaul, No. 147 High Street, below Fourth ;
William Abbott, Pear Street, near Dock ; Robert E.
Gray, No. 24 South Sixth Street ; Thomas Morris &
Co., No. 86 North Second Street, above Arch : John
Planck; Melchior Larer, No. 50 North Sixth Street;
Will & McArthur, Bread Street ; Luders, Marbacher
& Co., Fourth Street, above Vine; and Sharswood &
Say. Partenheimer & Pepper were at the Philadel-
phia Brewery, in Bread Street, in 1820. Jacob Pretz
was a partner in that firm, and went out in the fol-
lowing year, Partenheimer & Pepper continuing the
business. About 1829 the Farmers' Brewery, at the
northwest corner of Tenth and Filbert Streets, which
had been built by an association of farmers who were
dissatisfied with the prices paid for grain by the
brewers, and who thought they could do better by
conducting a brewery for themselves, became a fail-
ure. William Morrison then gave up the Chestnut
Street brewery, and. in partnership with Mordecai L.
Dawson, purchased the Farmers' Brewery building.
Subsequently Mr. ]\Iorrison died. Mordecai L. Daw-
son conducted the business on his own account and
in partnership with others. Poultney, Collins &
Massey succeeded, and now William Massey is pro-
prietor of the extensive establishment.
This was one of the largest breweries in the city.
It was greatly enlarged in 1855 by Poultney & Mas-
sey, and since then many improvements have been
made.
The brewery of Frederick Lauer was established in
1826. Lauer emigrated to this country in 1823, from
Gleissweiler, near the Fortress Landau, in the Palati-
nate. In 1831 the brewing of ale and porter was com-
menced, and in 1835 it passed into the hands of the
son, Frederick Lauer.
Philadelphia was the first place in this country
where lager beer was made, and the original brewer
was George Manger, who had a brewery about 1846-
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2281
47, on New Street.' The Bergner & Engel brewery
was established in 1849, by Charles W. Bergner, on
Seventh Street, below Girard Avenue. In 1852, Gus-
tavus Bergner took charge of the brewery. The
business then was small, only twelve hands being
employed, brewing about 7000 barrels of beer per
annum. In 1870, Charles Engel entered into part-
nership with Gustavus Bergner, uniting the brewery
of Engel, at Fountain Green, which had been sold to
the park commissioners, with that of Bergner. The
brewery is located on the square lying between
Thirty-first and Thirty-second Streets, and between
Thompson and Jefferson Streets. A cash capital of
$960,000 is represented in the numerous buildings
and improved appliances, and 180 men find employ-
ment there. In 1879 the firm was incorporated as the
Bergner & Engel Brewing Company, with a paid-in
capital of nearly a million dollars.
Of the more than 200,000 barrels of beer coming
from this great company, Philadelphia consumes one-
half, and the other half finds its market along the
Atlantic coast, especially in the South. Forty refrig-
erating-cars, representing an investment of over §.30,-
000, are needed to transfer the beer in proper condition
to the company's own depots in other cities. In 1870
the product was 38,000 barrels; in 1871, 48,000; in
1883, 210,000 ; and 1884 it is expected to reach 250,000.
The breweries of Philadelphia in 1860 numbered
68, with an aggregate capital of $2,122,600, consuming
annually raw material valued at $1,102,733, and giving
employment to 593 men and 3 women, with an aggre-
gate annual production valued at $2,223,455. In
1870 the breweries numbered 69, with an aggregate
capital of $3,716,950, using steam-power equal to 485
horse-power, with 140 machines, employing the labor
of 620 men and 12 women, to whom wages were paid
during the year to the amount of $504,372. The
value of the raw material consumed was $2,133,819,
and the value of the product $4,081,856. Mr. Blodget,
in 1875, considered the production of beer and ale, as
returned by the census in 1870, as —
" very imperfect, not more than two-thirds probably, but for 1875 the
exact official report of tax-paid malt liquors for the Fii-st Collection Dis-
trict is 917,104 barrels. This embraces all but three wards in the city,
the Twenty-second, Twenty-third, and Twenty-lifth, for which wards
the census returns of 1870 gave a production of about 25,000 barrels.
There have been removals to these wards in the natural growth of the
city, and the present production cannot be less than 50,000 barrels,
making 969,104 barrels in all. The average value was $11 per barrel in
1870; now it is placed at $10 by the best estimates. The value is
therefore $9,691,040, exclusive of the waste, or spent grain, which is
worth not less than $100,000. The malt product is also more than
doubled, although the large importations of malted grains are made from
Canada and elsewhere."
The value of products of the breweries was, there-
fore, $9,691,040 in 1875, as against .$4,081,856 in 1870.
1 The first place at which this beer was sold was in Dillwyn Street,
below Callowhill, and probably not earlier than 1847. The brewery
adjoined the saloon. Lager beer did not get to be a drink of much
popularity for some years afterward. The first lager beer house in
the central part of the city was that of William Hannings & Co., Carter's
Alley, east of Third Street, which was opened in 1850.
The " Twenty Cities" Report of the census of 1880
mentions only "malt" as produced in 18 establish-
ments, with an aggregate capital of $2,075,000, whose
raw material was valued for the year at $1,441,230,
and the annual product at $1,879,460. If there were
no other statistical information of this industry the
conclusion would have been inevitable that the pro-
duction of beer in Philadelphia had most unaccount-
ably decreased. The summary of Philadelphia in-
dustries in 1882, however, gives figures that at once
exhibit the unreliability of the census of 1880. Ac-
cording to this summary, there were brewers of ale
and porter conducting 8 establishments, whose annual
product was valued at $1,328,000; brewers of beer
in 75 establishments, whose annual product was
valued at $5,451,000 ; and brewers of weiss beer in 9
establishments, whose annual product was $105,000, —
making 92 establishments, whose annual products
combined were valued at $6,884,000, to which must
be added the 15 malt-houses, with their annual pro-
duct of $1,640,750.
That William Penn cherished the hope of success-
fully introducing the manufacture of wine in the
province is abundantly shown by his letters to the
Free Society of Traders, in London, in 1683. The
indigenous grapes, " the great red grape, called by
ignorance the fox grape," was highly esteemed by
Penn, for he had "drunk a good clarett, though small
and greenish, of Capt. Rappe's vintage of the savage
grape." The " skilful vignerons" among the French-
men were set to work upon his Springettsbury estate in
Penn township, in the northwestern part of the pres-
ent city, toward the Schuylkill, where a vineyard was
planted upon what was afterward known as " Vineyard
Hill." He brought from France a person qualified to
conduct the process in all its branches, Andrew Doz,
or Doze, who, with Patrick Lloyd and Dr. More, are
mentioned by Penn as the laborers who bore the "heat
and burthen of the day" in this vineyard.
The following extracts from letters of William Penn
will show how deeply he was interested in this experi-
ment. In Eighth month, 1685, he wrote to Thomas
Lloyd that he had sent over Mons. De La Noe, " a
French minister, of good name for his sincere and
zealous life in his own country, and by men of his
nation here. As he is used more will follow. The
man is humble and intends to work for his bread, has
two able servants, and a genius to a vineyard and
garden. I intreat thee to speak to J. Harrison to use
the Frenchman at the Schuylkill well. I hope a vine-
yard there for all this." In 1685 he wrote to Thomas
Harrison, —
" Tho' the vineyard be yet of no value, and I might be out of pocket,
till I come be regardful of Andrew Doz, the Frenchman. He is hot, but
I think honest, and his wife a pretty woman in her disposition."
In his letters of 1686 he said, —
"All the vines formerly sent, and in this vessel, are intended for An-
drew, at the Schuylkill, for the vineyard. I could have been glad of a
taste last year ; and I hear by Josh Harris he made some."
2282
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
In a later letter he said, — •
*' I writt that regard should be had to Andrew Doze about the vine-
yard. I know it is a charge ; but if wine can be made it will be worth
the province thousands by the year. For many French are disheart-
ened by the Carolinians, as being not hott enough. In seven years
there would be hundreds of vineyards if the experiment takes; and I
understand by D'd Lloyd and Dr. More that he produced ripe grapes the
26th of the 5th month [July!, '86, when the roots were 1,5 or 16 months
planted. 'Tis an high character of the country, and An. Doze, I am
told, sayd he deserved the place, paying to me only an acknowledgment
Mons. De La Noe did not live long, having died
in 1686. After the second visit of Penn we hear no
more of the vineyard. The name, however, was re-
tained by the tract, a part of Springettsbury, for
more than a century afterward, and it is to be found
upon Melish's map of 1816. In July, 1718, William
Penn granted to Jonathan Dickinson ten hundred and
eighty-four acres and one hundred perches of land,
part of the manor of Springettsbury. It was the old
Vineyard estate, and extended along the Schuylkill
River, immediately north of Fairmount, some dis-
tance, including therein what was then called " Old
Vineyard Hill," and afterward, when owned by Rob-
ert Morris, "The Hills," and, under Henry Pratt,
" Lemon Hill," now a portion of Fairmount Park.
The tract stretched over to the line afterward opened
as the King's or Wissahickon or Ridge road, com-
mencing on the latter at Coates Street, and running
on the southwest side of the road beyond Turner's
Lane. Girard College is on a portion of this property,
and it took in the whole of Francisville. The Vine-
yard House was upon an inclosure commencing about
Coatea Street and running some distance along the
Ridge road. This property was bought by Dickinson
for twelve hundred pounds.
The attempt to make wine was abandoned by Penn
after his second visit, in 1700 ; and though an English
writer speaks of good wine having been frequently
produced by skilful vigmrons, and of the encouraging
prospects of ample supplies of wine for the home use
and for exportation, yet the industry languished, and
was abandoned. The importations in 1711 amounted
to 68,000 gallons of wine and 383,000 gallons of West
India rum. Peach brandy and perry were largely made
in the province. The first volume of the Transactions
of the American Philosophical Society contains a
memoir on the distillation of persimmons, by Isaac
Bartram, and a letter from Bethlehem, Pa., on the
manufacture of currant wine by the Moravians. This
last branch of wine-making was commended in 1810
by Mr. Tench Coxe as a more profitable business than
distillation from the grape.
In 1793 the project of wine-making was renewed.
A company for the promotion of the cultivation of
the vine was formed by virtue of the act of Assembly
of the 22d of March, 1793, and its supplement Jan.
13, 1794. Samuel Miles, John Fry, John Swanwick,
Walter Stewart, Benjamin Barton, and Israel Whelen
were the commissioners named in the act of incorpo-
ration. The stock was divided into one thousand shares
at twenty dollars each. The company was authorized
to purchase one thousand acres of land, and to erect
the necessary buildings. The charter was granted for
twenty years. The vineyard of Peter Legaux, which
was adopted by this company, was at Spring Mill, in
Montgomery County, a few miles above the city.
Legaux commenced the cultivation of vines in 1787,
with one hundred and fifty plants from Burgundy,
Champagne, and other portions of France. By care-
ful cultivation these plants had, in 1793, reached the
number of 18,000, and the number was now rapidly
increasing. He calculated the expense of cultivating
vines in four acres to be £69 lis. annually. The ex-
pense of vintage was £10 lOs. Seven thousand two
hundred glass bottles, worth three pence each, would
be wanted to hold the wine, which, with casks, wire,
etc., would amount to £171 10s. 6rf. per annum. The
yield of four acres would be 1440 gallons, and the net
profits for the crop, including the sale of vines, was
calculated at £661 14s. In 1811 there were 30,000
vines growing with good prospect of success.
In 1728 a petition was presented to the House by
distillers of Philadelphia, setting forth that they
" had been at great expense in erecting distilling-
houses for distilling molasses into rum ; but large
quantities of Neio England rum, lately imported and
likely to be imported, tended greatly to the prejudice
of the trade thereof and to the discouragement of the
petitioners. They therefore prayed that a duty should
be laid on the same, and also upon West India rum (to
prevent frauds), except such as imported from the
sugar-cane colonies." An effort was made in the As-
sembly to allow a duty of two pence per gallon on all
proof spirits exported, but it failed. In 1749, Samuel
Robeson, of Philadelphia, presented a petition stating
that as the business of distilling spirits from grain,
peaches, etc., had much increased in the province, it
was found that the spirits had unwholesome qualities
when distilled from copper worms, and that he had
discovered a method of making pewter worms, but
that the people generally preferring copper worms,
he could not succeed in his business, wherefore he
asked that measures should be taken as well for secur-
ing the health of the people as for his own encourage-
ment. Prior to 1790, Philip Wager was conducting
the rectifying and liquor business which early in the
present century was under the management of Van
Syckel & Garrison. This concern was succeeded by
Van Syckel & Sons, who brought the business down
to 1849, when Elijah Van Syckel retired, his interest
having been purchased by William R. White, and the
concern of White & Van Syckels was organized. In
1823, John Maitland established, at No. 408 South
Street, a distillery for the manufacture of pure rye
whiskey. The firm was Maitland & Young, and they
were the first to discover the process by which a large
increase of spirit could be obtained from the grain.
Mr. Maitland withdrew in 1825-26, and in 1837, W.
J. Maitland became a partner, under the style of
THE INDUSTRIES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2283
Young & Maitland. This firm continued until 1847,
when it was terminated by the death of Mr. Mait-
land, and Alexander Young became sole proprietor.
Mr. Freedley says, "There are said to be (1868) over
three hundred persons and firms engaged at this time
in the distillation of whiskey from rye, molasses, etc.,
but, with one or two exceptions, their establishments
are not sufficiently extensive to be called manufac-
tories. Nearly all the houses which are engaged in
producing whiskeys have their distilleries located out-
side of the city limits, and some of them in other
States."
The late John Gibson commenced the liquor dis-
tilling business in 1840, and in 1856 erected the Gib-
sonton Mills distillery on the Monongahela River.
After his death, in 1865, his son, Henry C. Gibson,
assumed control, and associated with himself Andrew
M. Moore and Joseph F. Sinnott, under the firm-
name of John Gibson's Son & Co.
The distillery and rectifying establishment of
Dougherty's Sons was founded in 1849 by John A.
Dougherty, Sr., who had been engaged for many
years previous in the distilling business on Spruce
Street, and afterward on Shippen Street.
The following are some statistics of the business :
ISfiO No. Estab- Raw Ma-
lishmeutfl. Capital. terial. Labor. Product,
DistillerB and rectifiers... 39 $712,400 Sl,171,516 136 Sl,499,031
1870.
Distillery products.
Distillers proper 28 1,281,000 742,750 164 2,000,005
Alcohol, refined 3 270,0110 515,000 20 040,250
Eestorei^ of spirits 1 6,000 13,(i0 ■ 3 2(i,U00
Eecliflers 12 300,100 960.000 130 1,250,000
A note to rectifiers on the census says, " No return
of rectifiers was originally made, and this account
embraces only a few leading establishments."
The estimate for distillery products of first and
second' distillations for 1875 was $4,000,000, and for
rectifiers (not included as full manufacturers) $3,500,-
000. The tabular returns of Philadelphia industries
for 1882 gives the following :
No. Estab-
lishments. Labor. Product.
Distillers and rectifiers 8 67 $679,000
The manufacture of soap (common) and candles
is carried on in 31 establishments in the city, while
perfumed soap is manufactured in 7 other factories.
Perfumery and pomades, a kindred industry to soap,
are made in 20 workshops. These 58 establish-
ments give employment to 851 men, and produce
annually goods valued at $3,161,900. In the manu-
facture of soap the Dallett family of three genera-
tions were makers of fancy as well as common soaps,
and of mould and dipped candles. The palm soaps
produced by George M. Elkington more than half a
century ago, as well as those made by his son, Lind-
ley M. Elkington, at a later period, obtained and
maintained a high degree of popularity. Alexander
McDonnell, in 1848, commenced the nianufacture of
soaps in the city, and his soap for fulling purposes,
as well as his other soaps, tallow candles, sal-soda,
and chemicals, soon gave him a flourishing business.
The manufacture of soap was begun in 185S by
I. Eavenson & Co., at 731 Hubble Street.
The Pennsylvania Soap-Works of McKeone, Van
Haagen & Co. were established in 1854 on Callowhill
Street, near Fairmount Park. They are of great ox-
tent and capacity, and are the largest in the State.
The productions of the works include both fiimily
and fancy soaps, the two kinds being kept entirely
distinct. The rpanufocture of perfumery is carried
on usually with that of fancy soaps, and the articles
produced in both of these lines in Philadelphia have
effectually driven the foreign goods out of the Ameri-
can market. The factories of X. Bazin and of the
Taylors and Wrights were among the largest in the
world. The Glenn perfumery and toilet soaps were
known to a former generation, having been estab-
lished in 1832.
The statistics of this manufacture present the fol-
lowing growth :
In I860:
lishments
Capital.
Material.
Product.
Perfumerj' and fancy soaps
Soap and candles
17
45
5483,600
954,333
S296,310
1,421,123
$712,500
2,076,690
In 1867:
Perfumery
and fancy soap, esti-
1,600,000
In 1870:
Perfumery and perfumed soap..
Soap and candles
22
64
680,000
1,376,000
296,041
1,331,069
879,595
2,540,331
In 1875:
All kinds
of perfumery, esti-
f soaps
3,048,397
In 1880:
Perfumery and cosmetics
Soap and candles
35
32
1,048.000
1,410,202
366,934
1,412,038
1,159,198
2.033,403
In 1882 perfumery and pomades were made in 20
establishments, employing 88 men, 98 women, 40
youths, — a total of 226 employfe, — and producing an-
nually a value of 8491,300. Common soap and can-
dles were produced from 31 establishments, employ-
ing 183 men, 38 women, and 32 youths, — a total of
253 employes, — the annual value of the products be-
ing $1,182,600 ; and perfumed soap was manufactured
in seven establishments employing 248 men, 64 women,
and 60 youths, — a total of 372 employes, — the annual
value being $1,480,000.
The manufacture of oil for lubricating, illumina-
ting, and other uses is extensively carried on in the
city. Refined animal oil was produced in 1862 in 5
establishments, animal oil for lubricating in 6 estab-
lishments, mineral oil for lubricating in 5, mineral oil
for illuminating in 12, and oils, vegetable, linseed,
and rosin, in 5. These 33 establishments employ
3460 hands, and produced, in 1882, $10,985,002 worth
of goods. In 1875 the production of refined petro-
leum oil and products was estimated at $3,500,000.
In 1870 refined petroleum was produced to the value
of $1,573,582, and there were engaged in the produc-
tion of whale and fish oil two establishments, with a
2284
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
capital of $65,000, employing 10 hands and using
1165,000 of raw material, the annual product amount-
ing to $195,000; lard oil in 7 establishments, with
capital amounting to $466,000, employing 46 hands
and using $1,073,650 of raw material and producing
$1,327,000 ; linseed oil in 4 establishments, with
$520,000 of capital, employing 104 hands, using $424,-
275, and producing $649,390. In I860 the value of
oils manufactured amounted to $1,539,906, and in
1870 to 84,874,410. In 1882 the manufacture of oils
was conducted as follows : ,
No. Estab-
liBbmeutd. Labor. Value.
Oil.laid and refined 2 10 $75,000
Oil, animal, lubricating 6 61 403,102
Oil, animal, refined 5 160 682,000
Oil, mineral, illuminating 12 3147 9,379,000
Oil, mineral, lubricating 5 31 76,li 0
Oil, vegetable, linseed 4 62 399,800
Oil, vegetable, rosin 1 9 45,000
Total 35 3470 Jll,050,002
The refining of sugar in the last century was a very
different industry from that carried on at present.
The sugar refined by Morgan, Douglass & Shaffer in
1797-98, at Nos. 54 and 56 North Third Street, would
not stand comparison in quality and appearance with
that produced by the processes and machinerj' of the
present day. At that day there was a very consider-
able consumption of maple-sugar, half a ton of which
was brought to Philadelphia from Stockport, on the
Delaware, July 17, 1790, and mention is made of the
arrival of a sloop with forty hogsheads of maple-sugar
from the waters of the Susquehanna. These samples
were regarded as equal to the best Muscovado. Ed-
ward & Isaac Pennington, sugar refiners, formerly
of the West Indies, made loaf sugar from the maple-
sugar. At that time the demand for sugars for the
whole country was 42,000,000 pounds annually, and
it was computed that the maple-trees of the country
could supply that demand. Mr. Henry Drinker, Dr.
Rush, and Tench Coxe jointly published a pamphlet
detailing the utensils and process employed in the
manufacture. To what extent the sugar refineries
were successful at the beginning of the present cen-
tury there are no data for determining. The admission
of Louisiana, in 1812, with her 10,000,000 pounds of
sugar production yearly, at once gave to cane-sugar
the precedence over maple, and the latter ceased to
be manufactured, except as a conserve, while the for-
mer became a leading article of consumption. Im-
provements in the refining followed, by which the
quantity was increased and the quality greatly im-
proved. The vegetable carbon used in 1805 was
supplanted in 1811 by animal charcoal or bone-dust
for discharging the color and impurities, and the
vacuum-pan of Mr. Howard, of England, appeared
next. With the increased quantity of sugar there
came also memorials for its protection from competi-
tion with the foreign sugars. In 1831 there were
11 refineries in the city. The census of 1860 reports
8 refineries, with a capital of $1,546,000, using raw
material valued at $5,472,700, employing 478 men, and
producing annually $6,356,700. Mr. Freedley men-
tions in 1867, the houses of Fischer & Williams,
Rogers & Mitchell, Harrison, Havemeyer & Co.,
which, with Davis, McKeaii & Co., successors to J.
S. Lovering & Co., Newhall, Borie & Co., Taylor,
Gillespie & Co., and E. C. Knight, constituted the
principal firms then engaged in the business. The
value of refined sugars the same author stated at
$20,000,000 for 1866, and, including molasses, at $21,-
000,00Q. He estimated the capacity of the refineries
equal to $30,000,000 annually, if constantly in oper-
ation. In 1870 there were 13 refineries, with $5,444,-
000 of capital, using raw material valued at $23,093,-
575, and producing annually $25,862,876. In 1880
there were 11 refineries, with an aggregate capital of
$6,072,000, using raw material valued at $21,948,943,
and producing an annual value of $24,294,929. The
same 11 refineries in 1882 produced an annual value
of $27,950,000, and employed 1789 hands.
The confectionery business is naturally associated
with sugar. Some statements for different years are
as follows :
No. of Estab-
Tear. lisbmeots. Capital. Raw Material. Product.
18K0 89 f234,4O0 $312,663 SS5l,2o0
1870 138 762,050 842,221 1,933,972
1875. The estimated value was 3,5no,000
1880 173 1,236,390 1,834,108 2,653,074
1882 204 6,345,6.50
The Grocers' Steam Sugar Refinery was established
by B. H. Bartol and Alfred Kusenberg in 1859, on
Passyunk Avenue. Alfred Kusenberg retired in 1864,
and B. H. Bartol continued the business. This was
the first house to manufacture sugar from molasses
by the centrifugal process, as well as to make washed
or high-grade sugars from molasses.
The Franklin Sugar Refinery was established in
1864 by Harrison, Havemeyer & Co., on the site of
the first sugar refinery in the United States, which was
conducted on the method existing in 1864. The loca-
tion was on Vine, above Third Street. In 1875 the
aggregate annual production of the works was 120,-
000,000 pounds of sugar, while the full capacity was
130,000,000 pounds.
The firm now occupies refineries covering 45,000
square feet of ground, bounded by Bainbridge, Swan-
son, and Almond Streets, and toward the river by
Delaware Avenue. There is no larger or better-
equipi^ed refinery in the world, and the annual value
of its product is over $15,000,000.
The packing of meats and fish was established prior
to 1729; as among the acts passed by the Assembly
during that year was one very long and minute " for
more effectually to prevent unfair practices in the
packing of beef and pork for exportation." It di-
rected the size and material of casks ; that they should
be branded with the marks of the coopers who made
them ; and that the contents should be inspected, after
which the casks should receive an inspector's brand
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2285
representing a modification of tlie Penn arms. Under
this act Nathaniel Griffiths was appointed inspec-
tor.
Before this law was passed a petition was sent to
the Assembly by " divers merchants" of Philadelphia
wherein they set forth certain evils which they sup-
posed would ensue if the bill was passed in the shape
proposed. This memorial was signed by Thomas
Lawrence, George McAll, White & Taylor, Thomas
Willing, Alexander Woodrop, Peter Lloyd, Isaac
Norris, Jr., Thomas Sober, Peter Baynton, William
Attwood, and James Tuthill.
Governor Keith, in 1725, recommended the encour-
agement of the fisheries, and for that purpose sug-
gested that means should be taken, in concert with
other provinces, to obtain such an explanation of an
ancient act of Parliament allowing the importation
of European salt into New England as would justify
its application to Pennsylvania, the argument being
used that under the name " New England," u-^ed at
the time when the act was passed, all the North
American colonies were included.
The Assembly concurred in these suggestions, and
alluding to the great quantity of shad, herring, and
sturgeon in the Delaware, and the cod and other valu-
able fish to be taken not far from the Capes, declared
that they could not be profitably cured for the want
of salt, which had to be brought from Boston at great
expense. Fifty years later, in 1775, the scarcity of
salt was very distressing, and, as the means of impor-
tation had nearly ceased, an attempt to manufacture
it was thought proper. Thomas Savage proposed to
the Assembly a plan to make sixty thousand bushels
a year at the seashore. The works, he estimated,
would cost £1200. The Rev. Henry M. Muhlenberg,
of Reading, says in his diary, Nov. 8, 1776, —
"There is complaint upon coniplaii
town and country. The finest Bait,
for two shillings per bushel, has rise
and not easily gotten. A pair of she
pence now cost fifteen shillings. A pound of butter which at its highest
price was one shilling, now costs two shillings and two shillings six-
pence. Wool three times as dear as before the war. Linen, which
could be purchased for three shillings per yard, now costs nine to twelve
shillings. A pound of meat which cost four to five pence now costs
eight to ten pence. A cord of wood which used to cost £1 now costs
£2, and fiour is beginning to rise in price, because the last crop did not
turn out well."
From these comparisons it appears that while other
articles had doubled, trebled, or quadrupled in price,
salt was more than twelvefold dearer, being of all
articles that which had most increased in price.
The manufacturers of tobacco in the city addressed
a petition to Congres.s in March, 1790, remonstrating
against a proposition to lay a tax or duty " upon snuflT
and other manufactured tobacco." They said that in
the city of Philadelphia alone there were 30 manu-
factories of tobacco erected, in which 300 persons —
men and boys — were hired and maintained ; and
that snuff-mills recently invented, and driven by
water-power, were in use. Soon after, steam was
t heard among the inhabitants in
vhich before the war could be got
1 already to twenty-five shillings,
?s which cost seven sliiliings six-
applied. Tobacco farms were not uncommon at that
date in the neighborhood of the city. In 1794 the
manufacturers of tobacco in the city petitioned Con-
gress against the proposed excise on snuff and to-
bacco.
Mr. Freedley, in 1867, estimated the number of
" places within the city where tobacco in some shape
is sold" at " twenty-five hundred," and that the re-
ceipts of manufactured and leaf tobacco may be set
down at 50,000,000 pounds per year. During 1865
over $1,000,000 worth of tobacco was manufactured
in the city, and about §500,000 worth of cigars, and
$250,000 worth of smoking tobacco. These facts, Mr.
Freedley says, appear on the books of the Internal
Revenue Department. But this statement merely ap-
proximates the exact state of the trade. The statistics
of the census of 1870 show, —
No. Estab- Raw
lishments. Capital. Material. Product.
Cigars 389 51,006,390 $872,953 $2,042,123
Snuff 3 43,000 27,500 72,622
Tobacco 9 137,750 67,111 207,010
In 1880:
In 1882:
Tobacco manufacturers, pack-
$274,000 $288,351 $500,570
1,268,465 1,085,525 2,617,725
$485,000
282,000
3,104,000
In 1817 a man named Taskar originated the manu-
facture of plain and carved umbrella sticks in the
borough of Frankford, in a building which was after-
ward used by the Frankford Dye- Works. Of this
establishment Cherie Borie was the foreman, and when
Taskar relinquished the business Borie succeeded, and
commenced his operations at Rowlandville. In 1853,
Edward Borie & Co. established a mill on Point Lane,
and in 1854, Alexander Mackie was admitted, the
style becoming Borie & Mackie. Five hundred
thousand feet of maple plank were annually con-
sumed in the establishments, shellac, drugs, alcohol
to the value of $1000 per month, and 140 hands
were employed. From 7000 to 8000 gross of umbrella
sticks were made annually. The manufacture of um-
brellas, parasols, etc., conducted by Wright Brothers
& Co., was established in 1820 by four brothers, na-
tives of Oxfordshire, England, who came to the
United States in 1816. This is now believed to be
the largest concern in the world engaged in the man-
ufacture of umbrellas. The umbrella and parasol
manufacture of Joseph Fussel & Sons was com-
menced in 1835, by Lucas Gillingham, at Market and
Fourth Streets. The umbrella frame manufacture
was commenced by George W. Carr in 1842. In
1857, Samuel Warren was admitted as a partner, and
the business was removed in 1862 to larger accommo-
dations, at Twelfth and Noble Streets. In 1870,
George W. Moore was admitted to the concern.
The statistics of this industry from 1860 to 1882 are
as follows :
2286
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Tear.
1860
186T
1870
1875
1880
1882
No. of Estab- Kaw
lisbments. Capital. Material. Labor. Products.
21 5602,952 $741,946 421 81,207,300
1,250,000
2,525,476
3,250,000
2,804,874
3,652,450
1,288,882 1,272,050 430
1,368,900 1,777,364 1777
In 1795 there were 11 extensive brush manufactories
in Philadelphia ; in 1860 there were 31 , with a capital of
$206,400, and an annual product of $415,034; in 1870,
38 establishments, with a capital of 8325,114, made
an annual product of $452,093 ; while brooms were
manufactured in 18 establishments, with $155,000
capital and an annual product valued at $574,570.
These industries were, in the census of 1880, com-
bined under " brooms and brushes" in 60 establish-
ments, having $447,884 of capital and an annual
product of $792,179. The industrial returns of 1882
reported brooms and whisks made by 47 establish-
ments, whose annual product was $789,701, and
brushes of all kinds in 29 establishments, with an
annual product of $825,093.
Blacking and ink, though totally different in their
uses, are sometimes conjoined in their manufacture.
The census of 1860 reported "blacking and ink" as
made in 9 establishments, whose capital was $184,000,
the raw material used was valued at 8169,665, the
persons employed numbered 162, and the product was
valued at $265,380. These industries were separated
in the census of 1870, as follows :
lishniei
Lampblack 4
Blacking 8
Ink, printers' 4
" writing 5
In 1880 :
Raw Ma-
Capital, terial.
5183,000 865,3»0
140,500 279,137
118,000 142,113
28,300 10,823
Labor. Product.
36 5117,700
164 455,572
46 219,120
30 32,800
In 1882 :
Blacking for leather 4
" " stoves 6
Ink, printers* 8
" writing 9
The wood- and willow-ware manufacture from 1860
to 1882 is reported as follows :
In 1860 :
Wooden tools
No. of
Estab.
. 26
. 44
. 35
. 12
. 13
. 12
4
. 3
. 6
. 31
. 8
. 18
.. 24
Cap-
ital.
534,250
168,400
161,502
212,000
16,075
10,200
30,000
6,000
33,900
170,950
196,000
Eaw Ma-
terial.
825,694
In 1870:
243,161
9,350
4,896
Wood carvings
Wood and willow
23,230
108,743
49,560
In 1881:
Wood, turned and carved
In 1S82:
370,330
655.34.3
39,450
16,628
88,800
20,000
41,950
It is probable that among the Dutch settlers of
Pennsylvania were some who practiced tanning skins
in a rude fashion. They imitated the aborigines in
dress, using skins for clothing and moccasins for
covering their feet, and utilizing for both purposes the
j skins of wolves, bears, elk, and buffalo.'
The Swedes who succeeded the Dutch, and supplied
the Swedish West India Company with neat cattle,
are believed to have tanned their own leather and
made their own shoes. It is established by Penn's
letters that, in 1683, their " tannery was well supplied
with bark." Tanners could purchase raw hides at
three halfpence per pound, and sell their leather at
twelve cents per pound. Curriers received 3«. id. a
hide for dressing leather, and paid 20rf. a gallon for
oil. In 1699 the tan-yards of William Hudson and
Mr. Lambert were on Dock Creek, and by 1739 four
more had been established on that waterway. After
the creek had been filled in tanneries were continued
on Third Street, near the Girard Bank. The law of
1700 prohibited exportation of leather, and the re-
striction was renewed by an act of 1704. Upon the
petition of the shoemakers, saddlers, and others en-
gaged in the working of leather, and in view of the
importance of this business, the Legislature, in 1721,
passed the "Act for the Well Tanning and Currying
of Leather, and Regulating of Cordwainers and other
Artificers using and occupying Leather within this
Province." This act provided that leather insuflS-
ciently tanned should be forfeited ; that no tanner
should be allowed to be a currier or cordwainer ; that
no persons but tanners should be allowed to buy raw
hides or calf-skins in the hair, except for the private
use of the party so purchasing, or for the necessary
use of ships going to sea. The exportation of hides
to any other place but New Jersey, and the counties
of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, was prohibited.
The tanners were restricted from selling leather at
more than 9rf. per pound. Shoemakers were liable
to a penalty for making boots, shoes, or slippers for
sale from any but well-made and curried leather, and
sufficiently sewed with good thread, " well twisted
and made and waxed." It was an offense to mingle
the leathers, being part neats-leather and part calves-
leather, or to put sheep-skin, bull-hide, or horse-hide
into the upper leathers of shoes or slippers. Shoe-
makers were allowed 6«. and 6rf. for a pair of well-
made men's shoes, and 5s. for a pair of women's shoes,
and proportionately for lower sizes, the rates to be
fixed by the mayor and aldermen of the city of Phila-
delphia, in their courts of record, and by the Courts
of Quarter Sessions of the various counties. Searchers
and triers of leather were also directed to be appointed
to carry out the intention of the act.
In 1718 the tailors and cordwainers petitioned that
they might be incorporated in companies, as was
usual in English towns. The following order was
made on the subject :
I " A good glover with some onely of our own Elk skins maketh the
best Buffe coat, our own Stag and Deer skins makes best gentile and
soldier clothes fittest for our woods ; a Doe skin breeches with the fur
inside, in our short winter, is better than two broadclothes and wanner.
so we need no English clothes." — Phntagenet : New Albion^ p. 31.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2287
" Whereae, tlie several! trades or manufactors within the City com-
plain that notwitliBtanding their taking out of tlieir (Treedonis, several]
strangers are daily conieing into and settling therein not Qualified to
exercise theire traydes, whereby great damage accrues not only to the
said traders themselves but to the Puhlick. And whereas severall of
the said manufactors have peticoned to be incorporated the better to
serve ye Publick in theire severall capacities; it is therefore ordered
that such of the Trades or manufactors aforesaid as desire to be soe in-
corporated doe with all Expedicon advise with councill learned in the
lawe, and procure a draught of an Ordinance for that purpose, such as
may be consonal agreeable to the Laws of England & this Govermt &
for ye publick good, and lay ye same before the next Couucil."l
In March, 1765, a contest arose before the Assem-
bly between the cordwainers of the city and the tan-
ners, during which the latter were accused of sundry
malpractices, very much to the injury of the disciples
of St. Crispin. The cordwainers declared that the
exportation of leather from the province raised the
home price of that article, and that the tanners, tak-
ing advantage thereof, used entirely too much lime
in tanning, so as to render the process quick, which
made the leather weak and unserviceable ; that they
did not properly scour the skins, and that they sold
their leather by weight when damp, greatly to the
injury of the cordwainers, as well as to the injury of
the public. The latter, indeed, in many instances, on
account of the badness of the leather in Philadel-
phia, sent to Europe for their shoes, whereby the
cordwainer trade had declined and a number of in-
dustrious families of the province had been reduced
to distress. The tanners made a prompt reply, deny-
ing that any great quantities of leather had been
exported ; that they had only asked high prices for
their leather because the cordwainers showed a dispo-
sition to purchase leather from Carolina at greater
prices than they would have to pay for that which
was made in Pennsylvania. The cordwainers were
also charged with wrong conduct, purposely buying
bad leather from foreigners, with using bad thread,
and with careless sewing. The House allowed these
parties to state their respective grievances, but took
no action in the matter.
Parchment was made in Philadelphia by Robert
Wood, Fifth Street, below Walnut, in 1772, in which
year was passed another " Act to Prevent Frauds and
Abuses in the Manufacture of Leather." The exports
of leather for this year amounted to 25,970 pounds,
and in the two following years to 40,725 and 81,696,
respectively. The manufacture of fancy leathers, in
imitation of Turkej' and morocco, began in Philadel-
phia immediately after their introduction in England
in 1783. This business, ever since its establishment,
has been a prominent one in this city, where the
manufacture of morocco is more extensively carried
on now than in any other city of the Union.
The Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement
1 In Ko. 17 of the American WeeMy, April 23, 1719, published in Phila-
delphia, the following advertisemeut appeared; "These are to give
notice that Matthew Cowley, a skinner by trade, is removed from
Chestnut Street to Walnut Street, near the bridge, where all persons
may have their buck and doe ski
with bindings."
of Manufactures and Useful Arts was established in
Philadelphia in 1787, and the following year Tench
Coxe and John Kaign were appointed a committee
to inquire into the process of coloring leather as prac-
ticed in Turkey and Morocco. They reported that
the business had been attempted by two manufac-
turers in the city, by whom it was then carried on ;
but they were informed that the method of fixing the
colors had not yet been obtained. Soon afterward
Mr. Philippi, an American, communicated to the
society the process for dyeing leather red and yellow,
and was rewarded with £100 sterling and the gold
medal of the society. This early process is described
by Secretary C. Wistar, Dec. 24, 1788, in the Penn-
sylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser for Jan. 13,
1789. In 1790, in the article of shoe-leather, it was a
matter for felicitation that it was supposed 400,000
pairs of boots, shoes, gaiters, clogs, and galoches were
made in the State. In the Federal procession in
1768, 600 shoemakers of Philadelphia took part. At
the beginning of the present century this city had
become one of the principal seats of the shoe and
leather manufacture of the country.
The blockade established by the navy of England
in the war of 1812-15, cut off the importation of skins,
and compelled the use of domestic sheep-skins. In
1817, John Gamble came to this city from England
at the time when Hugh Doyle, Adam Smith, and
Jacob Hummel were finishing native sheep-skins.
They were located at Cohocksink Creek, on Third
Street, below Girard Avenue. In 1818, John Gam-
ble commenced the tanning of sheep-skins at the
" High Bridge," over the Conshohocken Creek, corner
of Laurel Street and Frankford road. In 1819, Gam-
ble began the manufacture of goat morocco, and soon
after Doyle, Smith & Hummel went into the business
with goat-skins. Doyle associated William Mc-
Neely, his workman, with himself, and the business
was continued at the same place. Hummel con-
tinued the business also for years, and his sons suc-
ceeded to the business, and now conduct it under the
style of J. M. Hummel & Sons. The sons of Adam
Smith succeeded to their father's business, the style
now being E. A. Smith & Bros.
The apprentices of the firms mentioned were, with
few exceptions, the men who followed their masters
in the business. William Amer established his fac-
tory in 1832, at the northwest corner of Dilwyn and
Willow Streets, and in 1844 built the present factory
at Third and Willow Streets, which is operated by the
firm of William Amer & Co. David Cloud, Christian
Shorday, Fidell Fisher, Christian Bockius, George
Adler, and William W. Adams entered into the
trade between 1832 and 1844. In 1860 the census re-
turns showed $4,000,000 as the morocco product of
the country, of which Philadelphia was credited with
$1,727^486.
The tanneries that dot the State of Pennsylvania
have been compared in number to the old-fashioned
2288
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
water grist-mills and country taverns, and their
products naturally find in Philadelphia their prin-
cipal market. The manufacture of calf-skin leather
of a most superior quality has been long carried on
in Philadelphia, one of her manufacturers taking
the prize medal at the World's Exhibiton in 1851.
Deer-skins, for gloves, suspenders, etc., are largely
manufactured into leather, while parchment, chamois-
leather, and other productions of sheep- and lambs-
skins are made in the city.
Patent iron-bound boots and shoes were manufac-
tured in Philadelphia by Mr. John Bedford in 1807,
by a process claimed to be a saving of three-fourths
the labor, and of one-half the leather required by the
common method, accompanied by greater durability.
He continued the manufacture for many years, and
subsequently patented a process of nailing on the
soles of boots and shoes. Mr. Bedford commenced
business soon after the close of the Revolution in the
old Anthony house, which once graced the northeast
corner of Gray's Alley [Gatzmer Street] and Second
Street, and afterward moved to the southeast corner
of Taylor's Alley [Inglis Street] and Second Street.
Many years after that he gave up the retail depart-
ment and opened a wholesale boot- and shoe-ware-
house on Market Street, near Ninth, where he con-
tinued until his death. He was a very honorable, in-
dustrious, and successful tradesman, and the father-in-
law of the late Samuel L. Shober, the well-known
merchant.
The boot and shoe establishment of Thomas Miles
& Son was founded in 1818, and at the start occupied
a small two-storied house in South Front Street, where
it is said Franklin first met his wife. The original
capital was $500, and only four or five workmen were
necessary. Before the introduction of machinery the
concern employed from 350 to 400 workmen and 50
to 60 workwomen. Philadelphia is to-day one of the
chief seats of the manufacture of boots and shoes,
particularly of fine goods. In 1860 there were 701
establishments engaged in the business, with a capital
of $1,730,815, using raw material of the value of
$1,912,657, employing 8434 hands, and producing an
annual value of $5,329,887. In 1870 there were 845
establishments, with $3,879,381 of capital. The raw
material was valued at $4,467,914, and the annual
production at $10,669,343. The estimate of value
made by Mr. Blodget for 1875 was $18,000,000. The
census of 1880 enumerated .581 establishments, with
a capital of $2,970,190, raw material valued at S4,819,-
017, and the annual production at $9,034,496. The
tabular summary of Philadelphia industries for 1882
gives the following :
No. Estab- Value of
liuhments. Labor. Product.
Boots and shoes 996 10,016 812,493,800
Boot and shoe uppers 17 133 149,500
Boot and shoe findings 7 20 24,300
Boot and shoe cut stock 2 24 ■ 43,200
Boot and shoe tools, not knives 2 5 6,000
Totals 1024 10,198 812,516,800
John Mundell, one of the leading representative
boot and shoe merchants of this city, was born in 1829,
in the town of Moneymore, County Derry, Ireland. He
is the son of a shoemaker, and when but fourteen years
of age left home to strike out in the world for himself,
with a capital of some four or five dollars. Making
his way to Belfast, the mate of a ship about to sail
for New York concealed him on board, and he became
such a favorite with the officers that he remained on
the vessel as cabin-boy, and learned to be an able
seaman^ In a trip from St. John's, New Brunswick,
to New York, in November, 1846, on the brig " Lady
Napier," his hands were so frozen that he could not
reship for Europe. The apparent calamity actually
saved his life, as on the next voyage the vessel was
lost with all on board. On recovering the use of his
hands he shipped in a schooner carrying provisions to
tlie United States army in Mexico. He arrived in
Philadelphia, April 1, 1847, penniless, and as his only
resource went to work at a shad-fishery on Cruni Creek,
near Chester. Shortly afterward he met at Ridley Park
a fellow-townsman from Moneymore, who had served
his time as a shoemaker with his father. This friend
ofTered to teach Mundell to do some part of the work,
and in four weeks, with the knowledge he had received
at home, he was able to make a good shoe. He was
employed at the government shoe-shops in the
Schuylkill Arsenal, and in 1848 he began business on
his own account on a modest basis. In 1855 he began
manufacturing for Joseph H. Thompson & Co. a
special shoe for the Southern trade, and when the
opening of the civil war wrecked that firm he found
himself with $10,000 worth of these goods on hand.
Raising money upon them, he bid for government con-
tracts for army shoes. His first contract was for 4000
pairs at $1.75 per pair, which was renewed at $2.10
per pair on account of the advance in price of leather,
and this was followed by a contract for 20,000 pairs,
on which the workmen received an advance of fifteen
cents a pair. The advent of the McKay sewing-
machine in 1863, and the strike of the Philadelphia
shoemakers, caused many contracts to go to Eastern
manufacturers ; but Mr. Mundell continued to deliver
the hand-made standard shoe with the utmost regu-
larity, and at the end of the war the inspector-gen-
eral complimented him upon having furnished the
best shoes supplied the army. For three years he
and Samuel M. Duflield were in partnership in the
leather and shoe-finding business at No. 14 South
Fourth Street.
In 1870 was formed the present house of John Mun-
dell & Co., the junior member of which is E. F. Part-
ridge. In 1872 the firm made, at the request of
the government, a standard boot and shoe, the soles
fastened by brass screws instead of being sewed.
These were sent to troops on the western outposts,
so that they might be tested by the roughest service,
and the reports all spoke so favorably of them that
they were adopted as the regulation shoe. The patent
■^c-Te-t^-^-^i.^^^^^ -d
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2289
of the machine by which the soles were fastened to
the uppers was purchased by Mr. Mundell from the
executors of Howe, the sewing-machine inventor, and
after having been improved by Charles T^-son, it was
sold to the organization now known as the Standard
Sewing Machine Company. The business of the firm
extended to such proportions that the Fourth Street
establishment could not contain it, and in 1877 it was
removed to its present location at the southeast corner
of Thirteenth and Cherry Streets, where there are
facilities for man,ufacturing thirty thousand pairs of
misses' and children's shoes weekly. Mr. Mundell
employs about 700 hands. Some of them have been
with him thirty-five years, and their children have
grown into manhood and womanhood in his shops.
In this case, at least, the relations between labor and
capital are most amicable, as might be judged from
the views which Mr. Mundell holds. " Let all," he
has said, " who employ people look into the griev-
ances of their employfe, for in a great many in-
stances, to my knowledge, the employfe are right;
but many, instead of listening to the workmen's com-
plaint, give them the cold shoulder, which they are
apt to resent, and this brings about strikes and lock-
outs." One of Mr. Mundell's daughters is the wife
of Rev. Thomas P. Hutchinson, rector of Calvary
Protestant Episcopal Church, in West Philadelphia ;
another daughter is married to George T. Smith,
lawyer, and the third daughter is unmarried. His
sons, John and James, are engaged in the firm, but
not as partners. The business for the twelve months
between April, 1883, and April, 1884, was 11,200,000
of children's and misses' shoes manufactured and
sold.
The manufacture of saddlery, harness, whips,
trunks, etc., is conducted by many establishments,
whose work has won for the city a reputation equal
to that of any other. The prize medal awarded at
London in 1851 was a recognition of the superiority
of Philadelphia-made harness.
In 1860 the statistics of these trades were :
No. E«tab- Raw
lisliments. Capital. Labor. Material. Product.
Saddle and harness 79 $394,760 718 S417,5:).t 8959,786
Trunks and carpet-bags 2cl 70,570 175 67,680 213,750
Whips and canes 7 68,541 Ti 43,815 68,700
Totals 106 f533,881 905 8629,030 81,242,236
In 1870:
Harness- and saddle-makers. 65 $544,050 402 8457,732 8914,568
Harness mounUngs 3 9,600 18 6,196 '30,000
Hame-makers 3 34,000 25 10,774 28,350
Hoi-se-collars 4 29,500 25 33,225 66,250
Saddle-trees 1 25,0"0 43 16,160 38,688
Trunks 22 115,775 154 169,636 335,477
Whips and canes 12 58,006 40 13,827 44,668
Totals 110 8815,831 707 8707,543 81,457,891
In 1880:
Saddlery and harness 116 8333,964 446 8369,038 $729,299
Whips 5 2:i,500 29 13,200 44,000
Totals 121 $357,464 475 $382,238 8773,299
The tabular returns of Philadelphia industries in
1882 give these industries as follows :
No. Estab- Value of
lisliments. Labor. Product.
Hames, wood and iron 3 14 $28,000
Harness and saddlery 143 541 8:!8,050
Trunks and valises 2G 213 423,000
Whips and caues 13 ,^3 45,100
Totiils 185 801 $1,334,150
The ceubus returns are as follows :
No. Estab- Raw
In 1860 : lishments. Capital. Labor. Material, Product.
Leather in all forms 84 $1,948,450 1326 $2,661,304 $4,022,858
In 1870:
Leather and skins.
Dry saiters 4 $90,000 22 $245,544 $18,500
Skin-dressers 4 221,000 182 464,864 ,541,800
Curriers 21 202,100 85 540,814 721,880
Tanners' sole and upper 9 496.000 78 .396,600 623,460
Calf-skin manufacture 9 218,000 168 360,440 674,143
Glove, kid, and deer-skin 3 24,000 16 19,176 35,682
Morocco (pure goat) 23 789,950 7.36 ],636,0:!6 2,307,113
Fancy linings, etc 14 401,928 406 524,130 1,133,668
Total leather in all forms,. 87 $2,502,978 1670 $4,060,615 86,254,046
The estimated production of leather in all forms for
1875 was stated by Mr. Blodget at $8,338,158.
No. Estab- Raw
In 1880: lishments. Capital, Labor. Material. Product.
Leather, curried 22 $251,640 126 $760,037 $907,652
" dressed skins 54 2,584,447 2258 4,895,:!42 6,741,796
" tanned 6 440,105 47 231,725 308,970
The tabular returns of Philadelphia industries in
1882 give the following statistics of the leather
industries :
No, Estab- Value of
lishments. Labor. Product.
Leather, hides cleaned, etc 6 64 $486,000
curriers 16 145 939,000
sole and belting 3 63 209,000
morocco 46 2552 7,062,184
calf, kid, and glove-kid 19 441 1,380,000
" sheep and fancy 9 134 370,500
" for whips and ball-covers 1 7 10,.500
Totals 100 3386 $10,467,184
The spinnet, the harpsichord, and the piano-forte
are the regular gradations through which modern
music has worked its way to the present perfection of
instruments. Who was the first maker of these in-
struments in the city ? In 1775 we hear of the manu-
facture of an instrument probably unknown before
that time in Philadelphia. It was made by John
Behrent, joiner. Third Street, opposite Coats' bury-
ing-ground, below Brown Street, who advertised that
he " had just finished an extraordinary instrument by
the name of piano-forte, of mahogany, in the manner
of a harpsichord, with hammers and several changes."
James Julian, Fourth and Arch Streets, in 1785, an-
nounced " the great American piano-forte, of his own
invention." We doubt whether any earlier instances
of piano-forte making can be shown in the United
States, and these are given by Bishop, " History of
American Manufactures," as the first. James Julian,
in 1785, and Charles Taws, about 1789-90, were manu-
facturers of these instruments, and one made by Taws
is mentioned by a modern writer, who says that it " in
comparison with the productions of the Steinways and
Chickerings, would seem a very diminutive atfair.
Mr. Taws at one time was connected with the elder
Astor in the business of importing pianos, and also
was of some note as a builder of organs, which busi-
ness, like the piano manufacture, he was among the
2290
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
earliest, if not the first, to introduce into tlie United
States. One or two of Mr. Taws' sons inherited their
father's musical ability, and became, for their day,
professors of some standing."
About 1793, G. E. Blake came over from England
and settled in Philadelphia, and began to make
pianos in this city, and teach the flute and clarionet
over Aitken's music-store, on South Third Street,
where he was threatened by Quakers with the prison,
if he did not stop teaching their boys to blow the
clarionet. Charles Albright was a musical instru-
ment maker at 95 Vine Street, in 1796, and a piano
of date " 1787, maker, Charles Albright," is mentioned
as in the possession of a correspondent of one of the
papers of the city.
In 1800, English pianos, made by Longman, dem-
enti, Houston, Poland, and others, were advertised
for sale by Charles Taws, who, in this manufacture,
was one of the first in the city to bring that industry
into the proportions of a regular avocation. His son,
John B. Taws, succeeded to the business in 1824. The
"grand portable piano" of John J. Hawkins, and his
" Claviol," are mentioned among the new instruments
in the early part of the century. The partnership of
Thomas Loud Evenden, an Englishman, with Joshua
Baker, in 1810, was dissolved in 1812, and the former
united with his son, Thomas Loud Evenden, under
the style of Thomas L. Evenden & Son, at Fifth and
Prime Streets, where they claimed superiority for
their pianos over any of English or foreign make,
and they " confidently challenge any huckster in the
city, who has the arrogance to call himself an im-
porter, to disprove the assertion." This was pointed
at Charles Taws, whose recent advertisement had
mentioned an importation from Clementi & Co.,
London, of " elegant and fine-toned pianos." The
result was a very bitter controversy, which became
highly personal.
In 1817 the Evendens dropped their name of Even-
den, and henceforth were known by that of Loud,
announcing their partnership as that of Thomas &
John Loud, which, in 1825, became Loud Brothers,
and was composed of John, Thomas, & Philologus
Loud. Charles Pommer, in 1824, at 106 North Third
Street, was a manufacturer of upright and square
pianos.
"James Stewart, from London, late of Baltimore,
inventor of the harmonic piano-forte," gave notice in
June, 1819, that he had opened his piano-forte room at
No. 70 South Fourth Street. In December of the same
year, Thomas Stewart took charge of the warerooms,
which were removed from No. 70 South Fourth Street
to No. 3 Cypress Alley, where the business was super-
intended by James Stewart, the inventor of the har-
monic piano-forte. In 1820 this arrangement con-
tinued. Stewart & Co., in 1822, greatly lauded the
detached sounding-board, and other arrangements
which they had introduced into the piano-forte. F.
E. Burkhardt, about the year 1821, commenced the
manufacture of pianos according to the German and
English construction, at No. 83 North Fifth Street.
The German pianos had four pedals. In 1825, Burk-
hardt's factory was located at No. 95 South Second
Street.
Conrad Meyer, a native of Marburg, Hesse-Cassel,
Germany, where he was born in 1793, came to the
United States in 1819, having been twice shipwrecked
on his way. He landed in Baltimore, and commenced
to work in a piano-manufacturing establishment in
that cjty, where he remained three years or more.
He came to Philadelphia in February, 1823, and
commenced the manufacture of piano-fortes at No.
160 South Front Street, between Dock and Spruce
Streets. Subsequently he removed to Front and Cal-
lowhill Streets. Mr. Meyer, in 1832, invented the
solid cast-iron plate-frame for pianos, the first appli-
cation of that method of stringing to the instru-
ment.
Emilius N.Scherr announced, in June, 1824, that he
had just finished an upright piano, of fine tone and
workmanship. In January, 1825, one of his adver-
tisements stated that he had finished, at No. 264 Mar-
ket Street, a six-octave upright piano of excellent tone.
He finished also an organ with six stops, which was
probably the one sold to the Moravian Church on
Pace Street.
John Lowe commenced business as an organ-builder,
" near No. 107 South Seventh Street," in 1804. One
of his first works was the organ in Peale's Museum.
Lowe built the grand organ for Zion Lutheran
Church, at Fourth and Cherry Streets, in 1811. It
was considered, when finished, the finest musical in-
strument in use in the United States. Lowe was suc-
ceeded by Thomas S. Hall, who took possession of his
factory on old York road, near the first turnpike gate,
where he made, repaired, and tuned, in the year 1816,
church, chamber, finger, and barrel-organs of every
description. John Shermer was the builder of an
organ with four stops, for the Moravians, in 1809,
which cost four hundred dollars.
In the year 1824 the professional organists of Phila-
delphia were Benjamin Carr, at St. Peter's and Trin-
ity Protestant Episcopal Churches; Thomas Carr, at
Christ Protestant Episcopal Church ; Benjamin Cross,
at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church ; and
H. W. Darley, at St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal
Church.
The local manufacturers had to contend with a strong
opposition among the importers of musical instru-
ments, and against a prejudice in the minds of people
in favor of foreign productions. Piano-fortes were im-
ported during all this time in considerable quantities,
and found ready sale. Merchants engaged in the Eng-
lish trade occasionally brought over one or two pianos
as a venture, together with their other goods of a mis-
cellaneous character, and managed to dispose of them.
The regular music-stores made the sale of musical
instruments a part of their business, the demand for
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2291
sheet and engraved music scarcely being sufficient to
maintain them.
The first music-store established in Philadelphia
was that of George Willig. He was a native of Ger-
many, and as early as 1794 kept a music-store <at No.
185 Market Street. He published the Musical Maga-
zine. He afterward removed to Fourth Street, below
Market, and subsequently to the building partly occu-
pied by Sully & Earle's gallery, on Chestnut Street,
above Fifth, on the north side. Willig made a spe-
cialty of the sale of piano-fortes. The next music-
store was established by George E. Blake, who called
himself a musical-instrument maker and keeper of a
circulating library, as early as 1803, when he was estab-
lished in the Cook build-
ing, at the southeast cor-
ner of Third and Market
Streets. He removed to
No. 13 South Fifth Street,
near Chestnut, about the
j'ear 1814-15, and re-
mained there until the
time of his death, Feb.
23, 1871. In 1813, Allyn
Bacon, afterward of the
firm of Bacon & Hart, was
the proprietor of a music-
store at No. 11 South
Fourth Street, — the north
end of the building previ-
ously known as the old In-
dian Queen Hotel. Abra-
ham L. Hart was partner
with Allyn Bacon. He af-
terward kept a music-store
on his own account at No.
30 South Fourth Street.
John G. Klemm and
Klemra, sons of a firm of
manufacturers and musi-
cal vendors in Germany,
established themselves as
importers of musical in-
struments about 1818, at
No. 1 North Fourth Street.
This firm was dissolved in 1823, and John G. Klemm
bought out at that time the stock of music and plates
of Bacon & Hart, and removed his store to No. 3 South
Third Street, where it remained until about 1825-26,
when he removed to No. 2870 Market Street.
George Schetky, the musician, turned his attention
to the importation of pianos about 1819. He dealt in
grand harmonic, cabinet, and square pianos, which
were made by Wornum, of London. He lived at No.
71 Locust Street, where he had his pianos for sale.
He died Feb. 10, 1825. J. S. Richardson, from Lon-
don, opened a new music-store on Chestnut Street, a
few doors below Second, in 1817, which remained
there for a short time only. George Catlin commenced
the manufacturing and repairing of musical instru-
ments at No. 211 Arch Street, above Eighth, in 1816.
He seemed to be a man of all work, and was skillful
with any kind of musical instrument. He professed
himself able to make or to mend organs, piano-fortes,
harps, double-bass violins, violoncellos, violins, gui-
tars, lutes, clarionets, and flutes. Catlin then had
twenty years' experience, and added to his advertise-
ment, " We tune all kinds of instruments."
Among the early music-teachers in Philadelphia,
Benjamin Cross ranked with the foremost. He was
born in this city on the 15lh of September, 1786, of
Scotch descent. He was educated at the University
of Pennsylvania, and began his musical career about
1810. It was in June of
that year he made his first
appearance, the occasion
being a grand oratorio at
St. Augustine's Church,
given under the direction
of Benjamin Carr. He
was busily engaged with
nearly all the musical per-
formances of that day.
Many works in musical
collections at the begin-
ning of this century ex-
hibit Mr. Cross as occupy-
ing a very high position.
He was also eminently
successful as a professor
of the piano and singing.
His " Mariner's Glee" re-
ceived from the Philhar-
monic Society the award
of a silver medal. He
died March 1, 1857. His
principal efforts in behalf
of music were made in
connection with the Musi-
cal Fund Society.
The Musical Fund So-
ciety, established in 1820,
had for its objects " the re-
lief of decayed musicians,
and the cultivation of skill and ditfusion of taste in
music." Previous to the institution of this society, sev-
eral others had been formed for the performance of
concerted music, solos, etc. The oldest was the Har-
monic Society, which existed some time previous to
the present century, and continued to the year 1802
or 1803. Various other societies for the same purpose
had existed, among them the Apollonian, the Euter-
pean, the St. Cecilia, the Sacred Music, the Handel,
the Anacreontic, and the Philharmonic. In 1816 Mr.
C. Hupfeld formed a society for the practice of instru-
mental music. The difficulty of keeping a sufficient
number together, in a mere band, suggested the pro-
priety of forming a society, not merely for the per-
2292
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
formance of concerted music, but for the creation of
a fund for the relief of decayed musicians and their
families. Among its most prominent founders were
Benjamin Carr, Benjamin Cross, the Louds, C. Hup-
feld, and Mr. Schetky. Benjamin Cross was at this
time closely identified with the progress of music in
Philadelphia, and was known as an organist of ex-
ceptional power and culture. For many years he was
the organist of St. Augustine's Church, and outside
of that professional duty he took an enthusiastic
interest in popularizing a knowledge of and love for
good music. He assisted in the foundation of several
musical societies, and was among their most active
members.
The musical instruments made at present in the city
are chiefly organs, piano-fortes, melodeons, accord-
ions, violins, flutes, guitars, and band instruments.
These instruments, in 1860, were manufactured as
follows:
No. of Estab- Raw
lislimente. Capital. Material. Labor. Product.
Pianos and accordions 15 $200,500 S83,196 272 8440,300
Other than pianos and ac-
cordions 7 31,000 14,630 27 37,750
Music publishers 3 25,000 13,800 20 28,000
In 1875:
Mufiical instruments, small 9 24,000 6,939 18 32,225
Organs 5 38,500 11,318 47 53,513
Pianos 9 343,(J0O 176,800 298 492,400
Piano movements 2 2,000 1,210 3 7,600
Music publishers 6 270,500 84,000 37 229,500
In 1875, it was estimated that the manufacture of
musical instruments in that year would exceed that
of 1870 by thirty per cent., and amount to $761,459.
No. of Estab- Kaw
liehnients. Capital. Material. Labor. Produci.
Musical instruments, and
materials not specified... 6 $16,200 $7,180 23 $29,500
Organs and materials 8 38,000 8,340 45 32,164
Pianos and niateriiUs 5 169,500 81,145 154 217,924
The tabular summary of Philadelphia productions
for 1882 gives the following:
No. of Estab-
lishments. Labor. Product.
Music printers and publishers 5 77 $154,000
Music typographers 2 24 43,200
Pianos and organs 9 252 615,000
Brass and other instruments 31 206 238,660
In 1882, the manufacture of musical instruments
was as follows :
No. of Estab-
lisbmentfl. Labor. Product.
Church organs 4 18 $35,000
Pianos 5 232 580,000
Brass and other instruments 31 202 1:38,600
The earliest buildings of the colonists were "huts,"
which were —
"generally thirty feet long and eighteen feet broad, with a partition
near the middle, and another to divide one end of the house into two
small rooms. For this use they took eight trees of about sixteen inches
square, cut off about ten posts of about fifteen feet long, upon which the
house stood, and four pieces, two of twenty and two of eighteen feet
long, for plates to lay atop of these posts. They had ten giests (joists)
of twenty feet long to bear the lofts, and two false plates of thirty feet
long to lie on the end of the giests for the rafters to be fixed upon.
There were twelve pairs of rafters of about twenty feet to bear the roof
of the house, with wind beams, braces, studs, etc. They used clapboard
for the covering of the house, ends and sides for the loft ; this clapboard
is made feather-edged, five and a half feet long if well drawn, lies close
and smooth. They lined the lodging-rooms with it, and filled it up be-
tween, which made it very warm. The lower floor was earth, the upper
clapboard. But these mean dwellings served only till the Pennsylva-
nians were settled a little. And then, having felled their trees, cleared
and cultivated their ground, raised stocks, and planted a great part of
their purchases, they began to leave their cottages fur stately as well
as convenient houses, and to imitate the inhabitants of the other colo-
nies in the grandeur of their buildings."
Robert Turner's letter of the 3d of the Sixth month
(August), 1685, gives the following account of the
progress in building:
"Now^ to the Town of PHILADELPHIA it goeth on in Planting
and Building to admiration, both in the front & backward, and there are
about 600 Houses in 3 years time. And since I built my Brich House,
the foundation of which was laid at thy going, which I did design after
a good manner to incourage others, and that from building with Wood,
it being the first, many take example, and some that built Wooden
Houses, are sorry fnr it: Brick building is said to be as cheap: Bricks
are exceeding good, iind better than when I built : More Makers fallen
in, and BricJes cheaper, they were before at 16 s. English per 1000, and
now many bi-ave Brick houses aregoing up, with good Cellars. ArUiur Cook
is building him a brave Brick House near iVilliam Framptons, on the
front; For William Frampton hath since built a good Brick house, by his
Brew Jtouse and Bake house, and let the other for an ordinary. John
Wheeler, from New England, is building a good Brick house, by the Blew
Anchor; and the two Brickmakers a Double Brick House and Cellars;
besides several others going on : ,'>timnel Carpenter has built another house
by his. I am building another Brick house by mine, which is three large
Stories high, besides a good large Brick Cellar under it, of two Bricks
and a half thickness in the wall, and the next story half under Ground,
the Cellar hath an Arched Door (for a Vault to go under the Street) to
the River, and so to bring in goods, or deliver out. Humphery Murry,
from New York, has built a large Timber house, with Brick Chimnies.
John Test has almost finished a good Brick House, and a Bake House of
Timber ; and N, Allen a good house, next to Thomas Wynns, front Lot.
John Day a good house, after the London f^ishion, most Brick, with a
large frame of Wood, in the front, for Shop Windows; all these have
Belconitsy Thomas Smith and Dani'l Pege are Partners, and set to
making of Brick this Year, and ihey are very good ; also, Pastorus, the
German Friend, Agent for the Company at Frankford, with his Dutch
People, are preparing to make Brick next year. Samuel C<irpenler, is our
Lime Burner on his Wharf. Brave LIME STONE found here, as the
Workmen say, being proved. We build most Houses with Belconies.
Lots arp. much desired in the Town, great buying one of another. We are
now laying the foundation of a large plain Brick house, for a Meeting
House, in the Center, (sixty foot long, and about forty foot broad) and
hope to have it soon up, many hearts and hands at Work that will do it.
A large Meeting House, 50 foot long, and 38 foot broad, also going up,
on the front of the River, for an evening Meeting, the work going on
apace. Many Towns People settling their liberty Lauds. I hope the
Sociely will rub off the Reproaches some have cast upon them. We now
begin to gather in some things of our great many DebtB."
Robert Turner, in 1684-85, built the first brick house
in the city erected by a citizen, at the southwest
corner of Front and Mulberry Streets. According to
Gabriel Thomas, the Letitia House was built before
this time, but of that fact Mr. Westcott says " there
1 It may be of interest to state where these primitive bousee were sit-
uated. They were as follows :
Arthur Cook, east side of Front Street, below Walnut.
William Frampton, east side of Front Street, below Walnut.
John Wheeler, west side of Front Street, below Walnut.
Samuel Carpenter, west side of Front Street, above Walnut,
Robert Turner, west side of Front Street, below Mulberry.
Humphrey Murray, west side of Front Street, southwest corner of
Chestnut.
John Test, northeast corner of Third and Chestnut Streets.
Nathaniel Allen, west side of Front Street, above Chestnut.
John Day, west side of Front Street, between Sassafras and Mulberry.
These houses supplanted or were built in better style than the first
dwellings.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2293
may be some doubt." Thomas Masters, in 1704, built
the first three-story briclj house on the east side of
Front Street, which was called " a stately house." It
was torn down about 1840. It appears from the ex-
tract from the letter of Robert Turner, as well as
from the instruction of Penn to his agent in 1684,
that building with brick was at that early day very
extensively carried on. Pastorius mentions the ex-
istence of "a sufficient number of mills, brick-kilns,
and tile-ovens ;" and we learn from Jonathan Dick-
inson (Logan Papers) that the city could even then
furnish —
" a considerable quantity of the best bricks on the continent, made
near this city, and limestone in great plenty in some parts, which
prompts people to make substantial buildings, both in brick and stone.
We have been upon regulating the pavements of our streets, — the foot-
way with bricks and the cartway with stone, — and this with buildings
have made bricks so scarce that the inhabitants would go to the kilns,
and there strive for them at 28 per mill.; that is and will be the price
here."
The bricks were mostly burned in clamps contain-
ing from 40,000 to 50,000, consuming half a cord of
wood, and taking a week to burn. At the close of
the last century, four-fifths of the buildings in the
city were of brick, and the reputation of the kilns
was very high for the beauty and durability of the
bricks.
Another branch of the fictile art, that of " good,
long, Taylern Tobacco pipes," is mentioned in Brad-
ford's Mercury in May, 1719, and that they sold at
four shillings per gross. " Richard Warden, tobacco-
pipe maker, living under the same roof with Philip
Syng, goldsmith, near the market place," was the
ancient founder of this art. This is the earliest men-
tion of this manufacture in Pennsylvania, although
pipe-making was an old European occupation. In
1857 there were fifty brick-making establishments in
the city, producing yearly 100,000,000 of common
bricks, worth $700,000, and also 8,000,000 of fine
pressed bricks, worth $14 per 1000, or $112,000. The
census of 1860 shows the condition of the manufac-
ture of bricks, as follows :
No. Estab- Raw
lishments. Capital. Material. Labor. Product.
Bricks, common and
pressed 49 $1,208,500 $70,625 1876 $1,212,196
Bricks, fire 6 50,600 24,975 89 77,900
Totals 54 $1,269,100 $95,600 1965 $1,290,096
In 1876:
Bricks, common and
pressed 78 $1,780,500 $354,190 2714 S2,348,9,')4
Bricks, fire 8 630,000 228,250 209 501,850
Brick-makers' ma-
chines 4 66,000 28,450 62 83,675
Totals 90 $2,376,500 $610,890 2975 $2,934,379
The estimated value of this industry in 1875 was
stated by Mr. Blodget at $3,500,000.
No. Estab- Ehw
In 1880: lishments. Capital. Material. Labor. Product.
Brick and tile 78 $2,342,453 $4*4,211 2957 $1,702,636
In 1882 the tabular returns of Philadelphia indus-
tries give the following :
No. Estab-
lishments. Labor. Product.
Bricks, pressed, enameled, and common.. 63 3234 $2,333,900
andtile.tire 13 302 6:iO,:iOO
Bricklayers and builders 49 602 1,304,750
Totals 125 4138 $1,274,950
Fire-bricks, as known at present, are of very re-
cent origin. It is probable that the first establish-
ment for -fire-brick manufacture was that of Mr.
Miller, the father of Abraham Miller, an extensive
manufacturer of fire-bricks. The cognate branches
of gas-house tiles, chemical ware, drain-pipes, pot-
tery, stoneware, jars, jugs, stone-pipe, and the general
manufactures in clay, such as china-ware, artificial
stone, architectural decorations, cement, plasters,
terra-cotta, scagliola, paving-tiles, roofing-tiles, are
all to some extent carried on in Philadelphia, as
appears by the following return in 1882 :
No. Estab-
lishments. Labor. Product.
Pipes, smoking, wood and others 8 279 $365,900
Pottery and stoneware 4 180 257,900
Terra-cotta ware and pipe 4 69 207,000
Plastering, casts, and stucco-work 24 175 329,4f)0
Totals 40 703 $1,160,200
Marble, now so extensively used as a building ma-
terial, was first employed in this city to a large ex-
tent in the construction of the old Bank of the United
States, now the Girard Bank, which was begun in
1795 and finished in 1798, and was the first building
in the country having a marble front. Between 1799
and 1801 the Bank of Pennsylvania was built entirely
of marble from quarries in Montgomery County.
About 1800, Adam Traquair established a marble-
yard at Tenth and Filbert Streets, which subse-
quently came into the possession of the great Struth-
ers firm. William Struthers, who founded the estab-
lishment, was born in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland,
Jan. 26, 1812, and was the third of his family to
adopt the profession of architect and builder, his
grandfather, William Struthers, and his father, John
Struthers, having been prominent in it in their native
city of Glasgow. John Struthers brought his family
with him to this countrj' in 1816, and entered into
the service of William Strickland, an architect, who
was without any superior in his own time. Strickland
built the United States Bank {now the Philadelphia
Custom-House), and under him John Struthers was
the superintendent of construction, having settled in
this city. He subsequently became associated with
Thomas Wilson, who conducted a marble-yard at the
corner of Tenth and Filbert Streets, and then opened
at No. .360 High Street [now No. 1022 Market Street]
an architect's office and marble-yard. His son, Wil-
liam Struthers, succeeded him in this business, which
now consists of the marble-, granite-, and sandstone-
works at Walnut Street wharf, on the Schuylkill, the
oldest and largest establishment of the kind in Phila-
delphia, and now conducted by the third generation
from its founder. Besides giving his personal atten-
tion to the details of this great industrial enterprise,
2294
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
William Struthers took a wide and generous interest
in public affairs, and liberally aided in promoting
artistic and scientific projects. For many years he
was treasurer of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts, and member of the Historical Society, the
Franklin Institute, and the Academy of Natural
Sciences.
His patriotic fervor during the civil war was mani-
fested in more than one direction. He raised and
equipped, at a very large expense to himself, a com-
pany of engineers, who rendered excellent service in
the ranks of the national array, especially during the
campaign in the Virginia peninsula. His private
means and his individual efforts were employed with-
out stint in aid of the Sanitary Fair, and the plans for
the buildings were drafted in the office which he then
occupied, at Eleventh and Market Streets. To him
was awarded the contract for the marble-work of the
new Philadelphia public buildings, which amounts to
over $5,000,000, and is the largest ever accepted by
any one firm. He was connected with many charita-
ble institutions, and his warmth of heart has become
proverbial in the city of his adoption. To the firm
of which he was the head he gave the name of
William Struthers & Sons. After his death the busi-
ness was conducted under the old title by the sons,
William Struthers, Jr., and John Struthers, and is
now managed by the latter alone. He died Nov. 21,
1876, and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
In 1829, Edwin Greble opened a marble-yard on
Passyunk road, near Fourth Street, and removed
from there to Thirteenth and Willow Streets, where
his works were burned down in 1849. He reopened
at 1708 Chestnut Street, and the business is now man-
aged by his executors.
In 1837 a Mr. Harkuess had works of the same
kind at Tenth and Cherry Streets, and at the same time
Stegagnini, who built the mar.ble front of the house at
the corner of Sixteenth and Walnut Streets, was iu
the business. Others of the marble-workers in the
first half of the century were Black & Brown, Freder-
ick Fritz, Peter Fritz, John Jordan, Alexander Hol-
land, and John Baird.
The first busts ever executed in American marble
were carved for James Traquair, stone-cutter. Tenth
and Market Streets, Philadelphia, by Joseph Jardella,
an Italian, who had been employed ten or twelve
years before by the celebrated Italian sculptor, Car-
racchi, in making in this country, under his direc-
tion, busts of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and
Rittenhouse. The cost was $100 each.
Statistics of marble-cutting in Philadelphia for
various years are as follows :
In I860: liBbments,
Marble-cutters 59
In 1870 :
Marble manufacturea.. 85
Capital. Baw Material. Labor. Product.
8821,900 $■576,585 744 $1,019,125
,400 1,051,500 1857 2,662,648
In 1875 the return was estimated at $3,993,531.
In 1882 there were 90 establishments, employing
1287 men, and producing yearly $3,311,500.
Prior to the arrival of Penn the Dutch and Swedes
had built saw-mills on the Delaware, and immediately
upon the landing of the first settlers under Penn they
proceeded to erect other saw-mills, and in 1683, Penn's
letters show that the saw-mills and the glass-house
were " conveniently posted for water-carriage." Town-
send's saw- and grist-mill is mentioned, but the early
records, not discriminating between grist- and saw-
mills, do not enable us to arrive at any conclusion as
to the number or locations of the latter. The demand
for hand-sawyers in 1698, with the wages paid, six to
seven shillings per hundred, would indicate a scarcity
of saw-mills. In 1705 the price had risen to ten shil-
lings, and as, in 1731, the houses of English Quakers
in Bucks County were covered with "nice shaved
boards, and " the boards for floors and partitions were
all sawed by hand," there could not have been any
great number of saw-mills in the vicinity of the city.
In 1765 the exports of boards and scantling from the
port was 783,000 feet, the value of which, at £3 10s.
per 1000, was £2470. Staves, headings, and shingles
were exported at the same time to the value of
£28,450. The exports of planks and boards in the
years 1772, '73, and '74 were, respectively, 1,724,000,
4,075,000, and 3,309,000 feet.
The census of 1810 returned 1995 common saw-
mills and 21 mahogany-mills in Pennsylvania. In
1860 there were, —
No. Estab- Raw
lisbments. Capital. Material. Labor. Product.
Haud- and Baw-mills.... 6 $182,500 J126,468 229 $268,600
Sawed lumber 7 158,000 114,430 .34 183,620
In 1870 the census includes saw-mills, with planing-
and dressing-mills, the number of establishments
being 30, with a capital of $1,437,167 ; value of raw
materials, $1,056,577 ; labor, 451 ; and product,
$1,925,590. The census of 1880 makes no return of
either saw-mills or planing-mills.
The tabular returns of Philadelphia industries for
1882 give the following:
Saw-milla, mahogany and cabinet woods.
Saw- and planing-mills
No. Estab-
lishments. Labor. Product.
4 82 $433,000
23 534 1,675,550
At Jamestown, in Virginia, the early settlers, in
1608, inaugurated their colonization by an attempt at
making glass, pitch, tar, soap-ashes, and clapboards,
but the Swedish colonists, with more practical sense
than was shown in Virginia, set up their first manu-
facturing establishment in the form of a grist-mill as
early as 1643.' The first grist-mill in Philadelphia
1 The site of this, the most ancient water-mill in New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, or Delaware, is now ascertained to have been on the Darby
road, the oldest highway in Pennsylvania, near the Blue Bell Tavern,
where the holes in the rocks which supported the posts of the frame-
work are still to be seen. The stream on which it was built is Cobb's
Creek, a tributary of Darby Creek, which empties south of Tinicum.
(See " Bishop's History of American Manufactures," vol. i. p. 139.)
1
TRB INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2295
County was set up in 1683-84' at Germantown, by !
Richard Townsend, a Friend, who came over with i
William Penn. It stood on Church Lane, one mile
northeast of Market Square, and was at a later period '
known as Roberts' mill. On the left bank of Chester
Creek, about oue and a half miles northwest from
Chester, Townsend had another mill, built of materials
ready framed in England. The rocks bear traces of
its existence, and its antiquated vane was, in 1843, " in
the one hundred and forty-fourth year of its duty, on
the top of Mr. Fowler's house." The owners of this
mill were William Penn, Caleb Pusey, and Samuel
Carpenter, whose initials were to be seen on the old
vane. Townsend was the builder and superinten-
being great choice of good timber, and earlier corn
than in the aforesaid place ; they are made by one
Peter Deal, a Famous and Ingenious Workman, es-
pecially for inventing such machines."* On the
Wissahickon, the German and English settlers built
mills about this time. The Robesons at that early
date built a grist-mill and bolting-house near the
Schuylkill, in the old borough of Roxborough, which
were known as " Wissahickon Mills."
In 1712, Joseph Growden owned a grist-mill at the
mouth of Mill Creek, as appears in his petition of
that year to the Assembly against the ferry privilege
of Benjamin Chambers.
From a brief price-current of 1719-20 it appears
THE TOWNSEND (ROBERTS) MILL.
dent of the mill, but not a part owner.^ Pastorius, the
founder (in 1684) of Germantown, says, "Of mills,
etc., we had the necessary number," and that at
Frankford, " they had already established several good
mills."' Thomas Parsons also owned a grist-mill at
Frankford in 1698, and Richard Dungford one in
Oxford township, — both probably on Tacony Creek.
"The water-mills of Darby Creek," says an English-
man, writing in 1698, "far exceed those in England
both for quickness and good grinding of meal, there
> There had been a wind-mill previoug to this somewhere i
colony.
•Day's " Historical Collection of Penns.vlvania," p. 4.
^Memion's " Historical Society of Peuusylvaoia."
146
that the price of flour at Boston was 28s. per hun-
dred; at Philadelphia, 93. 6rf. ; at Ne.w York, 14«. to
15s. This remarkable variation was due to the want
of transportation, which compelled the citizens of
each city to rely on the production of its immediate
neighborhood. Indian corn-meal at Philadelphia
was Is. 8d. to Is. lOrf. per bushel ; at New York, 22d. ;
at Boston, 4s. ; tar in Philadelphia was 10s. per barrel ;
in New York, 12s. ; in Boston, 22s. ; beef at Philadel-
phia was 30s. per barrel ; at New York, 36s. to 38s.
At the meeting of the Provincial Council, July 15,
1716, a petition from Thomas Masters was presented,
* G. Thomas' " History of Pennsylvania," London, 1698.
2296
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
showing that upon representation of his wife, Sybella
Masters, the king had issued to him two j)atents, for
fourteen years, "one for the sole cleansing, curing, and
refining of Indian corn growing in the plantations,
fitter for shipping and transportation, in a manner
not before found out and practiced." In his speech to
the Assembly, 1st January, 1722, Governor Keith said
that "his mind was fully bent upon doing the province
some effectual service, and that he had lately formed
the design of a very considerable settlement in order
to manufacture and consume the grain for which there
is at this time no profitable market." The place
selected was Horsham, in the county of Philadelphia,
and the Council ordered a convenient road to be built
from Horsham to the Abington New York road.
Several grist-mills were advertised for sale in 1721
-22 ; two by Robert Hobart, baker, " in the Front
Street," one of them furnished with cloths, and one
without; another with a granary and other property,
by Owen Roberts. In 1723, the executors of Jona-
than Dickinson advertised for sale his interest in the
grist- and saw-mills on Chester Creek, commonly
called the Chester Mills. There were passed during
the year 1725, by the Assembly of 1724-25, among
other laws, " An act to prevent the exportation of
bread and flour not merchantable," which provided
for inspection at Philadelphia, and branding the bar-
rels. It was a renewal of a former law, which had
been the means of restoring the flour trade of the
province, formerly lost by carelessness and fraud, to
a high degree of credit abroad. Samuel Carpenter
was the inspector. When Assembly met, upon the
19th of March, 1733, the Governor's speech called the
attention of the members to the injury done to the
merchantable flour of the province in consequence of
negligence in inspection, which had very much in-
jured the character of Pennsylvania products.
From the address of the Assembly to the Lords
Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, in 1727, it
appears that by " the general damp that was given"
to trade in 1720, and the great fall of the price of
produce about the same time, the city in the years
1721-22 was so effectually drained of coin that the
" inhabitants of every degree were reduced to the
greatest straits."
The mills upon Scull and Heap's map (1750) are as
follows: The ojd Swedish mill, near the Bell Inn, is
marked as the " snuff mill." Near Cobb's Creek,
north of the Bell, is Coultas' saw-mill. A fulling-
mill was on the south side of the road now called the
road to West Chester, near the intersection of Cobb's
Creek. Shultz's paper-mill is northwest of Merion
Meeting. A mill is marked upon Mill Creek near
the Schuylkill ; the site afterward called Mayland-
ville. A saw-mill is marked on the east side of the
Schuylkill and north side of Falls Run, above the
Falls. Sickles' mill is near the same stream, and on
the east side of the Wissahickon road. Robeson's
mill was farther north, at the mouth of Wissahickon
Bread,
Casks,
9,730 £62,473 currency.
9,622 67,600
Creek. A paper-mill stood near a branch of the
Wissahickon, about the site of Rittenhouse's mill.
Buzby's mill was upon Tacony Creek, near the junc-
tion of the Wingohocking.
In 1760 the assessors reported in Philadelphia
County eighty-three grist-mills and forty saw-mills.
Eight grist-mills were built in Roxborough (now
the Twenty-first Ward of the city) previous to 1779,
several of them belonged to the Rittenhouses. " We
are all tillers of the earth from Nova Scotia to West
Florida," wrote John Dickinson in 1767. The great
agricultural capacities of the State developed by the
Germans soon made Philadelphia the principal mart
for the manufacture of both flour and meal, and for
their exportation. The quality as well as quantity of
her flour gave her prominence in commerce as well as
manufactures, as will be seen by the following table
of her exports :
Wheat. Flour.
Year. Bushels. Barrels.
1729 74,809 35,438
1730 38,643 38,570
1731 53,320 66,639 12,436 62,582
1762 126,960
1765 365,622 148,887 34,736 432,615 sterling.
1772 51,699 262,744 38,320
1773 92,012 284,872 50,504 698,283 bushels of corn.
1774 182,391 265,969 48,163
1786 150,000
1787 202,000
1788 220,000
1789 369,868
An informality in the patent of Oliver Evans for
manufacturing flour and meal, issued in 1790, having
deprived him of its benefits, Congress authorized the
issue of a new patent, which was opposed by memo-
rials denying that Evans was the original inventor of
any portion of the machinery. Prior to 1838, steam
as the motive power in the manufacture of flour was
a novelty. About that year the first steam flour-mill
erected in Philadelphia was completed. Since that
day steam has become the preferred motor for grind-
ing grain, and now Philadelphia's City Steam Mill
flour has excluded the far-famed Genesee flour from
her markets, and stands unrivaled either at home or
abroad. Bakers were as necessary as mills, and all
authorities agree that from the earliest date the colony
was supplied with bakeries. Pastorius mentions
Cornelius Bom, a baker, residing in the city when
he arrived, and William Darvell, Marcus Kuhl, John
Fitzharris, John Fernel, Daniel Britton, Francis John-
son, Samuel Reed, Joseph Clark, and Stephen Jen-
kins were city bakers in 1744, as we learn from the
proceedings against them for keeping bake-houses not
regulated according to law, and dangerous to the city
on account of fire. Even earlier, on the 14th of Feb-
ruary, 1700, there were presented before the Governor
charges which caused certain of the bakers to be
brought before the authorities :
" Upon complaint of ye poor ag't ye bread for sale, not being of the
lawMI and due assize, Justman Fox, John Sawtell, Arthur Holton,
William Royal, George Abbott, Marie Merrywheather, Tho. Hall, and
Hugh Derburrow, being sumoned, appeared, to whom the Gov. noti-
fied, ye said complaiut, who generatlie ausred yt tho^ It was hard for ym
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2297
to live by it, wheat being now 58. 6d. p. b bush., and yet they having
but smal' 6tocks, were outt bid by the eniiment mer'te [merchants] and
bolters, y t hoped ye bread was of ye due assize.
"The Prov. and Gov. advised ym to be conformable to ye laws in that
behalf made, and said bee wold appoint a dark of ye markett to yt end.
"The Prov. proposed William Southbee dark of ye markett. Ye I
Councill approved itt."
This warning did not produce permanent results, as \
we find by a succeeding entry :
" July ?,, 1700.— William Southbee (clerk of the market) and some of
ye bakers appeared with their bread, which, being weighed, was found
too light. In excuse they affirmed that if they came up to the assize
they could not live by it, which was the general opinion of the Council ;
and therefore it was ordered by the Gov'r and Council that each baker \
should bake but three sorts of bread, viz. : white, wheaten, and house- |
hold, and no more ; and that the loaves should be a pennie loaf or roll,
a 5d. loaf and a lOd. loaf, and no other; and if any of these should ex-
ceed the assize in fineness or weight, it should be equally seizable as if
it were under the fineness or weight ; and that each baker of soft bread
be allowed sixpence on the bushell, above the assize, i. e., when wheat
ia at 5s. per bushel they shall make bread as if it were at 58. 6d., and 1
wheat being now 5s. per buahel, the said white bread shall weigh ais |
oz., the wheaten 10 oz., and ye household 13 oz ^, and bo proportion-
able."
The statistics of the flour-milling from 1860 to 1882
are as follows :
No. Estab- Raw Ma-
lishments. Capital. terial. Labor. Product.
30 8614,860 $2,648,645 195 S3,09S,323
3,200,000
.... 20 618,500 3,619,866 166 4,920,616
17 237,800 1,699,306 98 1,636,034
24 182 2,403,400
Thomas Wattson founded, in 1810, the bakery
which has passed through three generations without
changing its location (157, 159, 161 North Front
Street). The manufacture of ship-bread and crackers
was early established, but up to 1834 the consumption
by a single establishment of fifty or sixty barrels of
flour per day was considered quite an extensive oper-
ation. In that year John J. Ricketts commenced his
business career in Philadelphia, and by the introduc-
tion of steam-power and machinery the quantity of
ship-bread and crackers has been enormously in-
creased.
In 1860 baking was conducted as follows:
Xo. Estab-
Raw Ma-
lishmeuts. Capital. terial. Labor. Product.
Bakers' bread, ship-bread,
andcrackers 346 $755,605 $1,314,537 912 $2,224,866
In 1870 :
In 1875 the estimated increase was twenty per cent.,
amounting to $4,454,685.
In 1880 :
No. Estab- Eaw Ma-
lishments. Capital. terial. Labor. Product.
Bread, crackers, and other
bakery products 849 $2,633,908 $3,613,201 626 $5,735,533
Baking- and yeast-pow-
ders 3 9,000 26,000 14 48,600
The tabular returns for Philadelphia industries in
1882 give the following:
No. Estab-
lishments. Labor. Product.
Bakers, hand 924 2695 $6,648,586
" steam 10 645 1,369,821
Baking-powder 7 68 119,300
Among the efforts made for the promotion of early
manufactures should be mentioned that relating to
china-ware, in Prime Street, near the present na\'y-
yard, about the same time that the glass-works were
established. A saving of £15,000 to the people, it
was stated, would result from manufacturing this
article. In 1770 the proprietors of the china-ware
manufactory established in Southwark (Bonnin &
Morris) advertised for " Zaff"re," and offered a reward
for its production. In the Pennsylvania Oazetle for
January, 1772, the Southwark China Factory adver-
tised for broken-flint glass and whole-flint stone, and
the greatest encouragement was also promised to all
painters, either in blue or enamel, from which it
appears that the decorative branch was attempted in
connection with the manufacture. But the china-
works proved a failure. The proprietors stated that
they had lost everything. They asked public atten-
tion and charity toward the workmen they had
brought with them, who were now in want in a
strange country. Bonnin sold the real estate and
property of the factor)' and returned to England.
No immediate effort appears to have been made to
re-establish the china- or earthen-ware manufacture
after the failure of the factory in Southwark. In
1808, at Peale's Museum, Alexander Trotter, of the
Columbian Pottery, exhibited some specimens from
his manufactures in Philadelphia. An " elegant jug
and goblets from the new queensware manufactory of
Trotter & Co.," graced the table of the Republican
dinner of July 4, 1808.
In October, 1810, an advertisement in the Aurora
stated that at the Columbian Potterj', South Street,
between Twelfth and Thirteenth, could be obtained
"tea- and coffee-pots, pitchers, jugs, wine-coolers,
basins, ewers, baking-dishes, etc., lower than im-
ported." The warehouse of the Columbian Pottery
was at No. 66 North Second Street. The capital of
this company was said to be §11,000, and the
wares and the material manufactured were of a
species similar to that of Staffordshire, in Eng-
land. Trotter continued in business until some
time in 1813. In 1808 Binney & Ronaldson, after-
ward very successful in the manufacture of printing-
types, were making, in South Street, yellow and red
tea-pots, coffee-pots, and sugar-boxes. Daniel Frey-
tag, at No. 192 South Fifth Street, undertook the
manufacture of a finer quality of china-ware than
had yet been produced in the United States. It was
made of various colors, and was decorated with gold
and silver.
The Washington Pottery was established on the
north side of Market Street, between Schuylkill Sixth
and Schuylkill Seventh, as early as 1810. In April,
1811, it was advertised that this establishment pro-
duced the " Washington ware," and that the stock on
hand was selling off", consisting of pitchers, coffee-pots,
tea-pots, sugar-dishes, cream-pots, wash-basins, bowls,
etc. Capt. John MuUowney, brick-maker, established
2298
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
this manufactory, and remained its proprietor until
some time in 1816. The pottery was continued after-
ward by other owners, and is still in operation at the
same place.
The Northern Liberty Pottery was founded in 1813
by Thomas Haig, Sr., in a small building near the
corner of Front and Maiden Streets, as a general
manufactory of earthen-ware. The depression that
overtook all kinds of trade at the close of the war of
1812-15 induced him to relinquish his business on
Front Street, and remove to Fourth, above Poplar,
where he remained until his death, in 1831, when
the management of the business passed to his sons,
James and Thomas Haig.
David G. Seixas established an earthen-ware manu-
factory near Philadelphia in 1817. He manufactured
an imitation of the Liverpool white crockery from
native clays with great success. His establishment
was on Market Street, between Schuylkill Sixth and
Schuylkill Seventh Streets. He continued there until
some time in 1822. George Bruorton came to Phila-
delphia about 1817, and established himself as a china-
gilder on Chestnut Street, above Twelfth. In the
succeeding year he opened a factory for china-gilding
and painting at the southwest corner of Schuylkill
Sixth [Seventeenth] and Chestnut Streets. He an-
nounced that he would enamel and gild arms, crests,
ciphers, borders, or any device on china and queens-
ware, and warranted his gilding equal to any im-
ported. He also announced "china mended by burn-
ing in, and warranted as sound for use as ever."
Bruorton does not seem to have intended to manu-
facture china; but as there must have been small
work for an enameler and ornamental gilder, the in-
stitution of a china manufactory seemed to be neces-
sary to give him work. His name disappears from
the Directory after 1822.
William E. Tucker, in partnership with Hulme,
was engaged in the manufacture of American porce-
lain in 1828. They had their store in that year at
Nos. 26 and 27 Arcade, at which place they an-
nounced that "they could sell American china of a
quality equal in strength and beauty to any that can
be imported, and upon the most reasonable terms. . .
Initials or fancy work, to suit the taste of individuals,
will be executed agreeably to order in the neatest
style." Branch Green, opposite the Globe Mills, on
Second Street, advertised in 1810 that he made
" large stone jars for purifying and keeping cool
fresh water-"
In 1826, Joseph Kerr established the decorative
china business on Market Street, near Eleventh, and
afterward removed to the old Arcade, and then to
Chestnut Street, opposite the State-House, where the
business was continued for nearly a quarter of a
century, during which time several changes took place
in the firm, until the final retirement of Mr. Kerr,
when the management devolved upon his three sons,
— James K., Henry C, and Joseph W.
In 1830 this china-factory was at the corner of
Chestnut and Schuylkill Second [Twenty-first] Streets.
The earthenware- and pottery-factories in 1860
were 14 in number, with capital amounting to $59,000,
raw material valued at $29,992, and annual product
of $106,000.
The census of 1870 shows the following condition
of this industry :
No. Estab- Raw
lishments. Capital. Labor, Material. Prodoct.
Pottery 14 $182,500 212 $114,837 $:i40,10Q
Terra-colta 6 408,000 J16 43,448 248,000
China aiTd glass dec-
oration 3 19,500 10 14,606 34,600
Porcelain wares 2 105,000 160 205,000 355,000
Neither pottery nor earthen-ware appear in the
returns of the census of 1880. Terra-cotta is set
down as made at 4 establishments, whose capital
amounted to $71,000, the raw material to $18,150, and
the annual product to $57,000. In 1882 the earthen-
ware and pottery establishments were 4 in number, em-
ploying 180 hands, and producing annually $257,900.
Pottery and stoneware were made in 7 establish-
ments, employing 134 hands, and producing annually
$237,314.
The effort to manufacture glass was made at a very
early day in or near Philadelphia. Penn's letter of
1683 to the Free Society of Traders alludes to their
tannery, saw-mill, and glass-house ; and soon after,
at Frankford, near the city, a glass-house and pottery
were set up by English Friends, In 1731 the Penn- ■
sylvania Oazette announced that Edward Bradley,
" near the post-office, in Front Street," silvered look-
ing-glasses, and sold window-glass by the box. A
flint-glass manufactory was established about 1657 by
an enterprising German, Henry William Steigel. In
1769, Richard Wistar transferred his glass-factory
from New Jersey to his house in High Street, above
Third, where he made glass lamps and bottles and
brass buttons, which he said " were clear of duty,
which Americans so justly complain of, and ^t pres-
ent it seems the duty of Americans to encourage their
own manufactures, more especially those on which
duties have been imposed for the sole purpose of
raising revenue." In October, 1771, Robert Towars,
skinner or leather-dresser, and Joseph Leacock, watch-
maker, determined to establish a glass manufactory in
Kensington. They purchased from Robert Ball, gold-
smith, owner of the land upon which the "town of
Richmond" was laid out, a piece of ground on the
east side of Bank Street [now called Richmond
Street], one hundred feet front, and extending to the
river. Towars & Leacock built upon the lot a glass-
house, furnace, and other improvements. They must
have entered upon the manufacture of glass as soon
as the furnace and glass-house were ready, as there
appears in Franklin & Hall's Pennsylvania Gazette, in
January, 1772, the following advertisement: "The
glass-factory. Northern Liberties, next door to the
sign of the Marquis of Granby, in Market Street,
where the highest price is given for broken flint-glass
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2299
and alkaline salts." The place designated was the
store of Robert Towars, which was in Market Street,
between Second and Third. In November, 1772,
Towars & Leacock sold the premises to John Elliott
and Samuel Elliott, druggists. They took into part-
nership and interest Isaac Gray. These partners
built an additional furnace, and continued the manu-
facture of bottles for eight years. They sold the prop-
erty in May, 1780, to Thomas Leiper, tobacconist,
who must have needed many bottles, to be used for
the reception o( snuff. The latter was owner for
twenty years, and sold the glass-house on March 6,
1800, to Joseph Roberts, Jr., James Rutland, and
James Rowland for $2333, subject to £15 ground-rent.
They carried on the works under the firm-name of
James Butland & Co., and had their store at No. 80
North Fourth Street in 1801. Roberts soon sold out
his one-third interest to Butland & Rowland for
$2548. They dissolved partnership in 1804, and But-
land disposed of his interest to Rowland for $2548.
The latter advertised in 1808 that his store for the
sale of bottles made at the Kensington Glass- Works
was at No. 93 North Second Street. James Rowland
died before the year 1833. In the latter year James
Rowland, Jr., who had purchased the interest of his
brother, Joseph W. Rowland, sold the works on July
10th to Dr. Thomas W. Dyott.
Dyott was at that time a conspicuous person. He
was a native of England, and came to Philadelphia
about 1806. In 1807 his name appears in the direc-
tory for the first time, " Patent medicine warehouse,
No. 57 South Second Street." In 1809 the descrip-
tion of his business is "Medical dispensary and pro-
prietor of Robertson's family medicines, No. 116
North Second Street." His brother John at that time
seems to have been in business with him at the same
place. Dyott was also a manufacturer of liquid
blacking. In 1810, for the first time, there is at-
tached the title " M.D., No. 116 North Second Street."
About 1811 or 1812 he removed his drug-store to the
northeast corner of Second and Race Streets. He
must have engaged in the glass manufacture at the
Kensington works as a tenant before 1833. In 1830,
Mrs. S. Dyott, glass-store, is located at No. 143 North
Second Street, which was above Race, next door but
one to Dr. Dyott's drug warehouse, which was at Nos.
137 and 139.
In 1833 it was stated there were more than three
hundred persons connected with the Dyottville Glass-
Works, of whom more than two hundred were appren-
tices. Connected with the establishment were four
hundred acres of land along the river, from which were
got milk, butter, and vegetables for the use of the large
apprentice household. Dr. Dyott was ambitious to
have this manufactorj' conducted on strictly moral
principles. He built a chapel on the premises for
the use of the apprentices and workmen ; employed a
clergyman to preach to them three times on Sunday ;
arranged for prayer-meetings, lectures, and singing-
lessons during the week-day evenings ; established a
temperance society among his employes; and prom-
ised extra rewards and compensations to such as were
faithful and did over-work. Unfortunately, his am-
bition went far beyond his prudence. In order to
encourage saving habits, he established a bank at his
former drug-store. Second and Race Streets, which
was called the Manual Labor Bank. For a time he
was successful in his enterprise. He succeeded in
obtaining large deposits on promise to pay interest,
pushed his notes into extensive circulation, and,
when the day of distrust came, and he was called
upon to redeem his notes, he could not respond. The
Manual Labor Bank failed. There was a great out-
cry among the creditors. Dyott was prosecuted for
fraudulent insolvency, and convicted and sentenced,
Aug. 31, 1839, to three years' imprisonment in the
penitentiary. He served out his punishment, and,
after his release, went into business again as an
apothecary, in Second Street, above Race. It may
be said of him that he was unfortunate in conse-
quence of the financial difiiculties of the times. The
banks had suspended specie payments in 1837, but,
strong in their financial influence, had been enabled
to tide over public indignation, and to control, to a
degree, the legislation aimed against them. But Mr.
Dyott, an individual with nothing to sustain him but
his personal credit, and embarrassed by investments
which he could not turn into cash in consequence of
the hard times, was caught without hope of means of
relief.
After Dyott's failure the glass-works remained idle
for some years. The Lehigh Coal and Navigation
Company got possession of the river front and used it
for a coal-depot. After the passage of the tariff act
of 1842, Henry Seybert rented the factory from the
coal company, repaired the furnaces, and started them
for the making of bottles, principally for the use of
Eugene Roussel, mineral water manufacturer. He
also made flint-glass in one furnace. In 1844, Seybert
sold his interest to S. Decatur Smith, Quinton Camp-
bell, Jr., and Henry B. Benners. In August, 1852,
the firm of Benners, Smith & Campbell was dissolved.
James M. Benners joined with his brother, H. B.
Benners, in the management of the business. George
W. Benners was admitted to the firm in August, 1856.
In 1860, J. M. Benners withdrew. H. B. & G. W.
Benners continued the business. In 1869 the firm
purchased the portion of the Dyottville property not
in use by the coal company. George W. Benners
died Sept. 1, 1870, and Henry B. Benners, who went
into the establishment under Henry Seybert when a
boy, still continues this, the oldest glass-house in
Philadelphia, with a record (in 1884) of nearly one
hundred and thirteen years of work.
One of the earliest establishments for the manufac-
ture of glass was at the Falls of Schuylkill, and was
erected by Robert Morris and John Nicholson a short
time before their failure. The glass-house was about
2300
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
opposite the dwelling of Governor Mifflin. A row of
stone houses, a little lower down the river, was built
to accommodate the hands working in this establish-
ment. John Thoburne, about 1808, altered the glass-
house for the purpose of a calico-printing establish-
ment, Thomas Harrison, Philip Jones, and Robert
C. Martin, who were interested in other business, —
which, however, they did not abandon, — invested a
portion of their capital in the manufacture of green
glass and flint glass, which they made at the glass-
house. South Street, near the Schuylkill, in 1806-7,
and manufactured largely in 1808. They made at that
time green and white half-gallon, quart, and pocket-
bottles. This establishment consisted of a brick glass-
house forty-three feet square, a brick warehouse fifty
by forty-three feet, and a small house and stable.
Philip Jones & Co. were projirietors in 1810. The
Schuylkill Glass-Works, " two miles from Philadel-
phia," which were in operation in 1819, were the
same South Street works. Edward Lowber, drug and
color merchant, at No. 144 North Third Street, had
for sale, in September, 1819, window-glass from those
works. Caleb Foulke was agent for the Schuylkill
Glass-Works, at No. 19 Minor Street. In 1820, i
George and Jacob Peterman, flour merchants, were '
agents at No. 366 High Street, for the Schuylkill
Window-Glass Manufactory, in South Street, near
the Schuylkill River. In May, 1822, H. & W. Law- j
rence advertised that the Schuylkill Glass-Works
were to let. In February, 1823, George and Jacob
Peterman gave notice that they had again under- j
taken the " agency of the Schuylkill Glass-Works, at ;
South Street wharf, recently called the Philadelphia
Works," and that they had for sale window-glass of '
all sizes. Thum & Bitters, of North Third Street,
made, in 1808, pint and half-pint pocket-bottles and
phials. J. Benson, at No. 101 North Third Street,
near the corner of Arch, in 1809 established himself I
as a lapidary and glass-cutter. " He is the only reg-
ular-bred working lapidary in America, having served
his apprenticeship with one of the first lapidists in
Europe. He is ready to cut and polish American
topaz, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, cornelian, etc."
In 1810, a manufacturer of glass, similar to that
made in Staflbrdshire, England, was established in
the city with a capital of $11,000. In 1867, there
were thirteen factories, whose works were located in
New Jersey, and outside the city limits, but whose
headquarters were in the city, — viz., Whitall, Tatum &
Co. ; Whitney & Brothers, Bodine & Brothers, Burgin
& Sons, Philadelphia Glass Company, John H. Moore,
Banners & Brothers, Sheets & Duffy, Joseph Port«r
& Sons, Hay & Co. ; Richards & Brothers, United
States Glass Company, and Thomas Mills. The busi-
ness is principally confined to the manufacture of
green and crown glass bottles, but window glass is
also made in several establishments, as well as double-
thick and cylinder-plate glass for coaches, pictures,
and large windows. Fruit-jars are also largely made,
as well as tubes for philosophical apparatus, syringes,
etc. The glass ceilings of the House of Representa-
tives and the Senate chamber in Washington were
made at the establishment of J. & G. H. Gibson, 125
South Eleventh Street. ',
The statistics of glass manufacture from 1860 to ■
1882 are as follows:
No.ofEstab- Raw
Tear. lishmentfl. Capital. Material. Labor. Product.
1860 16 $712,000 $408,250 928 $1,244,800
]867>, 1,510,000
1870 14 1,254,116 677,032 1,448 1,660,823 ,
1876 2,0<K),000 I
1880 8 1,202,419 696,392 2,237 1,1.21,968 '
1882 35 3,116 3,132,500
The Swedish colony on the Delaware had 80 sheep
in 1663, and ten years later their wives and daughters
were said " to employ themselves in spinning wool
and flax, and many of them in weaving." The man-
ufacture of linen and woolen cloth was among the
first branches of industry that Penn endeavored to
ingraft on his infant colony. Having, by one of his
first legislative acts, in 1682, invested the Dutch,
Swedes, Finns, and other foreigners, then amounting
to 3000, with all the rights of citizenship, and by the
proclamation of like privileges and full religious
freedom opened his colony to all persons of good
fame, he instituted fairs for the encouragement of
domestic manufactures and trade in general.
These fairs, until they were abolished, in 1776,
offered a ready market for all domestic products, and
particularly for woolen and linen goods.
To stimulate the production of cloth of every kind
the proprietarj' offered premiums for the first piece;
that for linen cloth being awarded in 1686 to Abraham
Opdengrafe. Wigert Levering, one of the German-
town settlers, is mentioned as a weaver by trade, and
his descendants are among the most enterprising men
of the present day. Matthew Houlgate, who purchased
land in 1698, erected a fulling-mill between that year
and 1720. Among the manufacturers of the province
in 1698 are mentioned those of wool, such as druggets,
serges, and camlets, etc., which daily improved in qual-
ity ; and among the tradesmen were dyers, fullers,
comb-makers, card-makers, weavers, and spinners.
The price in 1688 for spinning worsted or linen was
about 2«. the pound, and for knitting coarse yarn
stockings, half a crown a pair. Wool-combers and
carders received 12rf. per pound, and the pay for jour-
neymen tailors was 12«. per week and " their diet."
The first in this line mentioned in Philadelphia was
Charles Blackman, who enjoyed the Governor's pat-
ronage. Fulling-mills are mentioned as in operation
on Darby River, " about five miles from the city."
The first settlers in the American colonies were
from necessity compelled to adopt, to some extent, as
regard their wearing apparel, the furs and skins of
the wild animals, by which they were surrounded.
The " buckskins" continued to be used by the poorer
classes until after the Revolution, and are mentioned
in the "schedules" of some of the wealthiest.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2301
In 1721, Charles Lawrence, "lately come from
Carolina," had for sale, at his place of business in
Chestnut Street, " very good skgs, tombks, and shuttles,
for weavers." The growth of woolen manufacture,
checked and stunted by hostile British legislation,
had yet a firm foundation in the spirit of self-reliance
among the people. The assessors reported in 1760
twelve fulling-mills in Philadelphia. In February,
1765, the protection of sheep and the promotion of
woolen manufacture was encouraged by the following
action :
" We, tlie Bubpcribers, desirous to encourage the raising of sheep, agree
and pledge our honor to each other that we will not eat or suffer any
Iam6, orauy meat of IheniwWon kind that we know or believe to be under
twelve months old when killed, to be eaten in our families from this
time until the first day of January, one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-seven. And further, that we will not purchase, nor suffer to be
purchased, fur our families' use or otherwise, during said time, any kind
of meat from any butcher or other person who, to our knowledge or be-
lief, has killed any lamb from and after the first day of February in-
stant, until the first day of January one thousand seven hundred and
The Heart-and-Hand Fire Company, in February,
adopted similar resolutions.
Similar action was resorted to in 1775, when the
fires of the Revolution were kindling. Among the
earliest measures for public safety was the determina-
tion not to purchase or use mutton or lamb between
the 1st of January and the 1st of May, and no ewe
lamb until the 1st of October, 1775. In this action
they were nobly aided by the butchers, sixty-one of
whom, most probably the entire fraternity of the city
and county, determined that they would not kill
animals of the specified description during the time
mentioned.
The following were the names of the butchers who
signed the agreement:
George George, Arnel Baker, David Everhart, Edward Ash, Joshua
Ash, Jr., George Walker, Thomas Renshaw, Peter Hotter, George Gott-
fried WhellperfWrelpper), John Schreiber, George David Seckel, Ludwig
Karcher, John George, Philip Hall, George Shollman, Philip Odenlieimer,
Peter Schreiber, Caleb Ash, John David Seckel, Adam ,\lbourg, Jr., Ed-
ward Lushey, John Odenheimer, Ludwig Urn, John Everhartt, Martin
Pica, Martin Boreil, George Vettes, Caspar Haas, Christnpher Hanckel,
Philip Alhurger, John Kusk, Christopher Philler, Michael Lauer, Michael
Schreiber, Michael Boyer, Michael Miiburger, Peter Lowry, Henry
Weaver, Conrad Hoff, Frederick Welpert, Samuel Busk, David Uber,
John Runter, Jacob Daubendistil, George Kurtz, Adam Widenstein,
Heinrich Pleitfer, Nicholas Leehman, Daniel Shoub, Peter Summer,
George Fritt, James McCutcheon, Sebastian Seyberth, Jacob Ox, Jacob
Speck, Frederick Lent, Jobann Christian Better, Valentine Horter, Fred-
erick Egging, Stephen Rigler, Caspar Hefft, and John Beyler.
Wool was less abundant at this time in Pennsylva-
nia than in the more northern colonies, nevertheless
a piece of broadcloth, the manufacture of the province, ,
and " one of the finest and best perhaps ever made on
the continent," was exhibited at the London Coffee- ]
House in January, 1772. The German, Scotch, and
Irish were chiefly employed in linen manufacture.
The non-importation resolutions of the general :
Congress in 1774 were instrumental in giving a de-
cided impetus to all kinds of American manufactures.
In March of the following year a society was formed i
for the purpose of encouraging woolen manufacturers,
of which Joseph Stiles was the president, James Can-
non secretary, Christopher Marshall, Richard Humph-
reys, Jacob Winey, Isaac Gray, Samuel Wetherill,
Jr., Christopher Ludwick, Frederick Kuhl, Robert
S. Jones, Richard Wells, Thomas Tilbury, James Pop-
ham, and Isaac Howell managers. In order to demon-
strate to this society the availability of machinery
to an extent not then dreamed of, James Hazle,
through the columns of the Pennsylvania Ledger, in
February, notified the community that he had in-
vented a machine to go "by clockwork," by which a
girl of ten years old could take care of forty-eight
spindles, either of wool or cotton, and card three hun-
dred and sixty pair of cards in proportion. This ma-
chine, Mr. Hazle declared, could be worked by horses
or by water, as he was willing to demonstrate. The
society hired a house at the corner of Ninth and Mar-
ket Streets, fitted it up for the purposes of a factory,
and invited farmers and citizens to bring forward their
wool, flax, and hemp. The following appeal to the
women of the county was published in August:
"to the spinners in this city and county.
" Your services are now wanted to promote the American manufactory
at the corner of Market and Ninth Streets, where cotton, wool, flax,
etc., are delivered out. Strangers who apply are desired to bring a few
lines from some respectable person in this neighborhood.
"One distinguishing characteristic of an excellent woman, as given
by the wisest of men, is that 'she seeketh wool and flax, and worketh
willingly with her hands; she layeth her bands to the spindle, and her
hand holdeth the distaff.'
" In this time of public distress you have now, each of you, an oppor-
tunity not only to help to sustain your families, but likewise to cast
your mite into the treasury of the public good. The most feeble effort
to help to save the State from ruin, when it is all you can do, is, as the
widow's mite, entitled to the same reward as they who, of their abundaDt
abilities, have cast in much."
This appeal was not made in vain in a practical
sense. The next month it was announced that the
company had four hundred spinners in their employ,
and that naught but capital by the accessions of new
members was desired to increase the sphere of useful-
ness.
In August, 1770, the brig "Dolphin," Capt. Ste-
phens, arrived from England, bringing no goods but
such as were allowed by the non-importation agree-
ment, six thousand pounds in specie, and a number of
weavers as passengers. " Such," said the Pennsylvania
Journal, "are the fruits of the agreement that, instead
of dry -goods, which drained the colonies of their cash
and kept them as poor as beggars, they are now receiv-
ing from England what may well be termed the nerves
and sinews of any country."
The Revolution was unfavorable to industry of
every kind, and the infant manufactures of the city,
in common with those of the whole country, did not
escape its influences. The great want of woolen
clothing for the army, and the fact that Philadelphia
was twice called on to furnish blankets, which could
not be purchased in her stores, show to what limits
the infant industry had shrunk. In May, 1775, Mr.
2302
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Samuel Wetherill, Jr., had a factory for woolens in
South Alley, between Market and Arch and Fifth and
Sixth Streets. His letter to the Board of War, in the
same month, informs them that in consequence of the
rise in the price of wool he would be unable to
comply with his contract for a supply of cloth. This
rise in price, from 7s. 6d. per pound to 10s., would not
permit him to comply with his contract at 20s. per
yard, and he asked for 27s. 6rf. These prices in provin-
cial currency enable us to comprehend the difficulties
that beset the Congress, with an empty treasury and
doubtful currency, and foretell the sufferings of the
American army throughout the winters of the Revo-
lutionary war.'
The increased attention which was given to the
manufacture of wool and cotton during the war of
the Eevolution, created among Philadelphia weavers
a desire to procure that machinery by which the
British manufactures had been so greatly extended.
The power-loom of Arkwright, invented in 1774 ; the
mule-jenny of Crompton, invented in 1775, and which
superseded the machines of Hargreaves ; the improve-
ments introduced by Arkwright and others in card-
ing, drawing, and roving, and above all the adoption,
in 1783, of the steam-engine of Watt to spinning and
carding at Manchester, were all extensively used by
British manufacturers. These improvements were
guarded by that sleejjless vigilance that has always
watched over British interests. In 1786, a set of
brass models of Arkwright's machinery was made
and packed in England for the agent of Tench Coxe,
of Philadelphia, but was seized on the eve of its ship-
ment, and its objects defeated.'
In 1784 fulling-mills were very numerous through-
out Pennsylvania, and so great was the demand for
spinning-wheel irons that from one shop in Philadel-
phia, in 1790, there were sold 1500 sets, an increase of
29 per cent, over the previous year. The adoption of
the Federal Constitution in 1789, and the enactment
by the first Congress of the law for the "support of
government . . . and the encouragement and protec-
tion of manufactures," gave immediate impulse to
every manufacturing industry. In 1792-94 a number
of carding-machines for cotton and wool were con-
structed, and eight spinning frames on the Arkwright
principle, and several mules of 120 spindles were
erected at the Globe Mills in the Northern Liberties.
In 1803 Dr. James Mease, of Philadelphia, succeeded
in importing two merino rams and two ewes, which
arrived in December of that year.^ This was the first
1 That very expressive French phrase, " Saiis-culoUes,"^ was first used
by Baron Steuben to express his admiration of the shabby and shirtless
soldiers of the Revolutionary army. — Dr. Dunglison^a iJiscourse in Com-
memoration of Peter B. Du Ponceau, LL.D.
2 It is worthy of note to say in this connection that Samuel Slater, the
father of American cotton manufacture, was induced to emigrate to
America by having seen in a newspaper that £100 had been granted by
the Legislature of Pennsylvania to John Hague, for introducing a ma-
chine for carding cotton, and of the establishment of a society, with
legislative encouragetnent, for the manufacture of cotton.
* Mease's " Archives of Useful Knowledge," vol. i. p . 103,
successful attempt to introduce the Spanish sheep in f
Pennsylvania. '
The first merino sheep which came to this country, j
as far as is known, were sent over from Cadiz, in r
Spain, in the frigate " Alliance." They were con- '
signed to Robert Morris, as agent for Louis Stephen t
le Couteulx de Caumont, a Frenchman, who came (
from France in 1786, and, after many experiences, '
finally settled at New Amsterdam (now Buffalo) in
1804. At the time when Mr. Morris received those
sheep, Le Couteulx had left the United States, and
returned to France as passenger in one of Morris' •
ships. The latter therefore sent his sheep to his
country-seat at the Hills, and informed the owner
that the flock would be restored to him when he re-
turned to this country. The letter of Mr. Morris
was dated Oct. 30, 1789. Le Couteulx returned to the
United States in February, 1790.
The Philadelphia Domestic Society, incorporated
March 2, 1805, had a capital stock of $10,000, in
shares of $50, with power to increase the capital
to $100,000. The president of the society was Paul
Cox, and the warehouse was at No. 11 South Third
Street. The directors were empowered to make ad-
vances upon American manufactures, especially those
of wool, cotton, or linen, to the amount of half the
value of the articles when deposited in the ware-
house, and to pay the residue when sold, deducting
interest and a commission of five per cent. At the
time of its establishment, it was ascertained that five
hundred weavers were out of employment, and were
being forced into other occupations. By aid of the
society all found employment. The dividends during
the first six years were of secondary importance, but
they reached sometimes eight per cent.
In 1810 there were three woolen-mills and sundry
smaller ones established at Philadelphia and one at
Germantown. Cassinet (wool and cotton) was made
in the Philadelphia mill, and merino wool into broad-
cloth at Germantown.
The scarcity and high prices of woolen goods about
1809-10, created by restrictions upon trade, again
turned public attention to sheep husbandry. A
merino society was formed in the Middle States, of
which Dr. Mease and Thomas Bulkley, of Philadel-
phia, were active members. At the auction that year
at Philadelphia, sheep of that breed sold from $250 to
$300 each, a lot of twenty-five sold for $5900, another
lot of thirty-three ewes sold for $250 each, and bucks
for $350 each. The stimulus thus given to woolen
manufactures is evidenced in the number of patents
issued in 1812 for the processes of the manufacture ot
wool, cotton, flax, and hemp. Among these was a
patent for a portable, or family spinning-machine, of
very simple construction, invented by Kev. Burgess
Allison, of Philadelphia. It drove from ten to fifteen
spindles, and occupied very little more space than the
common spinning-wheel. To Cyrus Shepherd, Phila-
delphia, a patent was issued for a water-loom.
'*«f)Iori
^Un-^-^C^J JT'T-Cc/'t?,
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2303
' those days everjr t.tin. .
yriol constituted a 1,.'
0 family. It wa"
.•. and mnde into i;
lothes for the inei: ■
culled "fulled cloth. .
• linest matierial, and tjik>
'■ing-mills," where i' v
fkeuing, dyeing, a.;
-■ •SCi.t gOWDS of clotli .
A'oolen." This J was Biuapl)
taken to thi^ mills above nami-''
present a glossy surface. ^•-.•
itrli of flax. Tbi» was pui,
. .>v8 on the ground, "rotted/
" swingled," and was thus prei^
<.MrdiDg, and the "little wbeei
nulled ou which the flax w.';s s
from the larger machine for bj^i
• oven into cloth for table-covers, ;•
and shirting. The " tow," which w»-
tton combed out on the " heichel,'
iwiarse yarn, of which a cloth was »..
♦uitf for the nieu and boys. The
mouly worn^was, when new, an iu-*'-
to the wearer, as it was full of rn.
from the wowly part of the stalk, i
tild days, with his goose, traveling '"•
to make up the clothes for thf
:ut and fit them for thegossipl :
•« not known to the present geii';
The peace with Great Britain, in ISl;', opering i
.ountry to foreign importations, produced iujurj. .
effects upon the woolen manufactures, and these Ui*-
turbiug influences continued in acHre force forsoveral
.. 'i». In 1819 the bands eiiiployi-d in '' .
Mianufactures of the city h.id h.^en rciuceL
.V Z^^} The subject of protection to uiiv ^.^.
was again resumed and ably discus-sed by Mathen'
Oaiey, of Philadelphia.' The teriiT act of lS:il ir>-
creased the duties ou woolen goods from twenty-five.
per cent, to thirty-three ppr cent, but this augmenta-.
of duties on woole:
.lire by the redueti-.'
■ reat Britain fr ■;
i/iiug the Bri;
•Tsell the Air;
'is country.
was foUowi. !
30th. Froi .
. '' it appe.:
its vicinity \..
nt to empi"
■acted in some '
imported wool ■
: !id to one pence,
:' such gi:>od8 to |
." in the markets i
i; the Woolens Bill of \
■ '.nburg Couveutiou of j
iiegister of Penr-iyl- |
were in Philadelphia j
i»rping-milla at work,
-over 200 dyers, 3000
'I AAd inipurtarice of prutect- ,
Socieijr for th« Promotion of I
?!* tha six kddreiM* to tba 1
T» at
i accnmulatca some capiiai. he iisau-
«-ilh .Vnthony Davis, in ) 822, under
of ^ullock & Davis, on Front Street.
in tho wool-piilling bus'neas. In the
; to 32 Noilh Third Street, where
I ly thirty-seven years. He ein-
:ng woolet! goods in 1«.?7, in the
■ry, aflerwiird owned by Mr.
rt foreman in the mill. Sub-
irttiueativ Jlr. iluilook purchased the Franklin ^\\\\,
on HHyi'.M-k Street, near Front and at « Intwr y-c:'.-. '
■ BcthuelM.. :
,ch is belies
^.. .. .he Ptatoof r. . -.
war botwt.eu the Slatt>s, BullocfcV Bods '
tion thirteen factories, making blantelt- .
army kerseys, in which three thousand ]>erbo(is were
employed.
Twenty yenrg ago it wa^, written that the mention
of the name of Thomas Drake brought wiih it "' the
entire history of the manufactures of the city of Phil-
adelphia," and the remark is not le.=^a true now than
it was then. Born at Leads, England, April 9, 1S07,
he came to the United States, in 1828 with his par-
ents. His father, John Drake, wa? a niMnufV'-turorof
woolen goods, and. was in buBines.-^ . ^ up to
the year 1846. Thomas Drake w -i his
youth in « ''•K-firy at Blackwo^.i, ,-. .. ■. ici-. was
made the first lot of the ^oods called Kentudn-
woolen jeans. The little town did not embrace the
business possibilities of which he had determined to
take a grasp, and he rr^nrncl to the more promising
field of Philadelphia. He was in the employ of
Richard Wiiitely, at Rock Hill, and ■.Ihera until
1837, when he set up busiisess under the name of T.
2304
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Drake & Co. His partners were his brother, James
Drake, George Sutton, and William Flynn. They
produced fiom their factory, which was atManayunk,
woolen jeans and other similar goods.
In 1838 this firm was dissolved, and Thomas and
James Drake began business for themselves on Pine
Street, near what was then called Schuylkill Third
Street. James Drake retired in 1840, and Thomas
remained in that locality until 1841, when he built a
brick mill at Twenty-third and McDuffy [now Nau-
dain] Streets. This factory had 70 woolen looms and
6 sets of woolen cards. In 184.5 he erected for the
manufacture of cotton a mill at the corner of Twenty-
first and Pine Streets, with 224 looms and 10,000
spindles, where he made large quantities of print
cloths, which had previously been a specialty of the
New England mills. In 1861, Thomas Drake retired
from business, and built for himself a splendid man-
sion on Washington Avenue, Germantown, where he
still resides. His success is largely attributed to the
fact that he never failed to meet an obligation. He
has prided himself on never giving a note. In 1864
he was chosen a director of the First National Bank,
and in 1874 a director of the Fidelity Trust Company,
which offices he still holds.
Charles V. Hagner, in 1820, rented fifty inches of
water-power of the Schuylkill Na.vigation Company,
and erected a mill, which he put in operation, grind-
ing drugs and making oil, and shortly afterward
added a fulling-mill. Alfred Jenks made him a
number of power-looms for weaving satinets. These
were the first power-looms used in the manufacture of
woolen goods in Pennsylvania. Hagner continued to
operate the mills until 1839, when they were pur-
chased by Joseph Winpenny, who converted the mill
into a woolen-factory. The mill in 1840 had 3 sets
of machines making broadcloth and kerseys, and em-
ployed some 50 hands, producing 1000 yards of goods
per week. In 1847 the firm of John Winpenny &
Brother was dissolved by the withdrawal of Samuel
Winpenny, and reformed under the same style, in 1848,
with Joseph Winpenny, which continued until 1853,
after which the business was continued by John Win-
penny alone until his death, in 1856. The mills were
then rented for a brief period by Philip A. Richard,
and in 1858 they passed into the possession of Ed-
ward Preston, Jr., and Bolton Winpenny, as Preston
& Winpenny, who introduced the manufacture of
cotton and woolen goods, and who continued to oper-
ate them until 1860, when Preston withdrew, and in
1861, Samuel Winpenny, and his nephew Bolton,
assumed control, the latter soon after becoming sole
proprietor.
The original Pekin Mills were erected by Moses
Hey, who worked them until 1836, when they were
sold to Joseph Solms, who enlarged and greatly im-
proved them. He continued to operate them until
his death, in 1852, when they became the property of
his son, Sidney I. Solms, who raised the original mill
to five stories in height, and in 1862 erected a new
mill with engine-house, picker-, dyeing-, and drying-
houses. These mills contain 14 complete sets of
woolen machinery, with 256 looms and all necessary
appliances for preparing and finishing.
The Washington Woolen-Mills were established in
1840, by William Hammill. They were bought in
1858 by David McConkey, and in 1859 by Perry M.
Hunter, who enlarged them, and in 1864 sold an in-
terest to Samuel DeHaven. They were operated by
Hunter & DeHaven until November, 1864, when they
were sold to John B. Bishop. In 1868 they passed
into the possession of William Watt.
The Glen Riddle Mills were established in 1842 by
Samuel Riddle, for the manufacture of cotton and
woolen goods. The goods manufactured are tickings,
stripe and plaid shirtings, cottonades, canton flannels,
brown drills, Wyoming sheetings, and tricot, cotton,
and Kentucky jeans, which are widely known and
appreciated throughout the country.
Benjamin Schofield and Thomas Branson, under
the style of Schofield & Branson, in 1838, purchased
a property on American, Jefferson, and Philip Streets,
and erected their buildings for the manufacture of
hosiery. A limited capital confined their early labors
to 2 sets of woolen cards, 2 sets of knitting-frames, and
24 hands, but within three years their success in busi-
ness required enlarged accommodations, and the out-
break of the war between the States multiplying many
times the ordinary demand for stockings, it was found
necessary, in 1863, to still further enlarge the plant.
The Lincoln Mills, at Manayunk, were founded
by David Wallace, in 1859, for the production of cot-
ton and woolen goods. In 1867, James Wallace, the
son, was admitted, and the style became D. Wallace
& Son. The manufacture of cotton goods at the
Globe Mills, on Germantown Avenue, below Girard
Avenue, was begun in 1859 by Robert and James
Mair. At starting these mills possessed 10 looms,
and turned out weekly about 2200 yards of cotton
goods. In 1866 the firm of J. & R. Mair built and
removed to the Kirkland Mills, at the corner of
Adams and Amber Streets, and a new feature was
then introduced, — the mixture of woolen and cotton
goods. In 1871, James Mair retired, and his son,
James Mair, Jr., became a partner in the house of
Robert Mair & Co. Isaac Stead commenced the man-
ufacture of reps, terries, and cassimeres in 1863, at
the corner of Sixth Street and Columbia Avenue, in
the spinning of woolen yarns, employing only about
600 spindles. Very shortly afterward he opened a
branch factory at Ninth and Wallace Streets, with 720
spindles, and in 1867 he commenced the manufacture
of reps at Coral and Adams Streets, and in 1869 he
removed to Taylor and Coral Streets.
The Steadfast Mills, at Frankford, were established
in 1868 by Joseph N. Ruch & Co., and were pur-
chased in 1870 by R. Greenwood & Bault, and filled
with improved machinery.
^(f/m <id. Y{{/J(W„
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2305
John B. Ellison, who was in his day one of the
largest cloth merchants of Philadelphia, was born in
this city in the year 1794, his parents being James
and Margaret Ellison. He ivas the oldest of four chil-
dren, the others being Elizabeth, a prominent min-
ister in the Society of Friends, William C, and Mar-
tha B. Ellison.
Mr. Ellison received an excellent academical educa-
tion at the well-known Westtown School. His tastes
developing in the direction of mercantile pursuits, he
became, in early jjears, a confidential clerk with Ben-
jamin Warner, a prominent publisher and bookseller
of this city. In 1823 he established himself in the
cloth business at the southeast corner of Second and
Market Streets, thus inaugurating a mercantile house
which eventually developed into one of the most
extensive of the numerous commercial features of
Philadelphia. In after-years his two sons, William
P. and Rodman B., were admitted into partnership
with him, the title of the firm becoming John B.
Ellison & Sons. Under this name the business is
still carried on, although the founder of it has been
dead nearly two decades. The members of the firm
now comprise, in addition to those named, Henry H.,
William R., and John B. Ellison, grandsons of the
founder, together with William H. Lewis and Samuel
Collier. The business of the house, mainly owing to
the inflexible industry and unblemished integrity of
him who established it, has attained extended pro-
portions, as is evidenced by its handsome and commo-
dious quarters, Nos. 22, 24, and 26 South Sixth Street,
extending back to Nos. 13, 15, and 17 Decatur Street,
together with its branch houses in London, New York,
and Boston. The Philadelphia building was erected
by the firm in 1881. There is no wholesale cloth-
importing house in America more extensive in its
operations than this. In addition to his connection
with the great mercantile enterprise which he founded,
Mr. Ellison was identified with several other insti-
tutions of high standing of a financial as well as of a
public character. He was not, however, in any sense
of the word, an aspirant for political preferment. His
tastes led into entirely different pursuits. He was,
nevertheless, emphatic in the interest which he took
in the affairs of government, as well as in party de-
velopment. He ardently espoused Whig principles,
and as ardently transferred his attachment to the Re-
publican party when it came into power, in 1861.
His belief in the success of the war of the Rebellion
was very earnest, but he died one month prior to the
final establishment of peace.
Mr. Ellison was a member of the Society of Friends,
as were also his ancestors for over a century. He was
naturally of a retiring disposition, not at all inclined,
as already indicated, to seek undue prominence or pub-
lic applause. He was strongly given to the exercise
of charitable deeds, although mainly in an individual
and quiet manner. Early in life he took an active
interest in the Philadelphia Society for the Establish-
ment and Support of Charity Schools, which was in-
corporated Sept. 8, 1801. He was treasurer of the
society from Jan. 5, 1841, to Jan. 3, 1860, and chair-
man of the board of managers, of which he had been
chosen a member on Jan. 6, 1829, from Jan. 11, 1860,
until his death, which occurred on the 7th of March,
1865.
He was married, Feb. 5, 1824, to Hannah Moore, a
daughter of John and Hannah Moore, who was born
in the year 1796. She survived her husband over
fifteen years, dying on the 14th of July, 1880. They
had four children, namely, William P., Rodman B.,
Elizabeth M., and Margaret Ellison.
Whether Pastorius and his associates brought with
them a knitting-machine, and thus founded, con-
temporaneously with Germantown, the great industry
of hosiery and knit goods, which were long known
as Germantown goods, will always remain a fruitful
source of discussion. That John Camm in 1723 was
a "stocking-weaver" is established by the Weekly
Mercury of December 10th of that year ; that he came
from Ireland about 1708, as a wool-comber, is also
established by records among the Friends ; and the
deed-book of Chester County bears record that John
Camm, a stocking-weaver, bought land from Eliz-
abeth Booth. Alexander Mack, Jr., the son of the
founder of the Dunkers, who emigrated from Ger-
many and settled in Germantown, was also astocking-
and glove-weaver. He made a pair of " leg-stockings
for his brother Christopher for 5s. ; one pair of stock-
ings for his man-servant, 5s. ; another pair for his
maid-servant, 4s. 6rf. ; a pair for himself as a Christ-
mas-gift on the 25th of December, 1773, 6s. ; one
pair for his wife's sister, 5s.; and two pair of gloves
for his children, 3s." The Saurs, father and son, had
under their superintendence at least twenty-four dif-
ferent trades or occupations, and among them that
of stocking-weaving. At an early day, among the
characteristics of Germantown was its unrivaled
manufacture of superior stockings by hand-weaving.
The Rev. A. Burnaby, who traveled through the
country in 1759, bears testimony that " their manu-
factures are very considerable. The Germantown
thread stockings are in high estimation, and the year
before last, I have been creditably informed, there
were manufactured in that town 600,000 dozen pairs.
Their common retail price is SI per pair." An adver-
tisement in the Pennsylvania Oazette of May 1, 1766,
of " David Mause, hosier," at the " sign of the Hand-
in-Hand Stocking Factory," shows that he had lately
erected a number of looms for the manufacturing of
thread and cotton stockings and other kinds of
hosiery. John Murgatroyd advertises in the Gazette
of Aug. 16, 1770, for stocking-weavers to go to North
Carolina, showing that Philadelphia was then recog-
nized as the chief seat of stocking-weaving. A letter
from Jacob Morgan to V. S. Bryan, dated Reading,
Dec. 23, 1777, shows that there were supposed to be
one hundred stocking-weavers in Germantown out of
2306
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
employment. The stocking-weavers were a prom-
inent feature in the Federal procession to celebrate
the ratification of the Constitution. " Their colors
white, with a pair of blue stockings across, a cap
above, a finger mitt below, encircled with a gilded
heart, a gilded crown, with ten horns or points, each
on a blue star; above all the motto 'The Union of
American Stocking Manufacturers.' " These facts
serve to show that the present great industry of
woolen hosiery and fancy kuit goods had its earliest
plant in Germantown, where it has continued to grow
and prosper. Whatever advance stocking-weaving
may have made, it is nevertheless a fact that the
present great industry, in its various branches, had its
origin within the last half-century.
So late as 1840 all hoods, scarfs, and a greater part
of the woolen knit hosiery consumed in this country
were imported from Nottingham and Leicester.
It was not until 1850 that patents for knitting-
machines were taken out. In 1840 workmen familiar
with the hand-looms began to produce woolen hosiery
and fancy knit goods at their homes, and from this
small beginning, aided by the cheapness of American
wool, the manufacture has developed until importa-
tion has almost ceased. So extensively has Philadel-
phia engaged in the manufacture of these goods that
the name of "Germantown goods" has been stamped
upon them, — descriptive both of their character and
the location of their principal production.
The establishment at Germantown known as the
Hosiery-Mills was founded in 1831 by John Button,
a native of Leicestershire, England, who emigrated to
this country in 1830. His father, Joseph Button, was
a lace manufacturer, and the son brought with him
as " tools" two small machines for knitting hosiery.
These, upon his arrival in Philadelphia, he put in
operation, and for twelve months manufactured chil-
dren's socks, which, from their superior character,
found a ready sale. Being the only manufacturer of
hosiery by machinery, he enjoyed a monopoly for
some years. He removed to Germantown, and set up
his two machines on Negley's Hill, near the site of
Henson Brothers' mill, and soon afterward added
eight other machines. Following the manufacture
of children's socks came that of men's hose, as the
natural result of success in the former enterprise.
Equally fortunate in the latter manufacture, he
founded the large establishment, and " Germantown
knit goods" became familiar in every city and village
of the country. In 1835 he greatly enlarged aud ex-
tended his manufacture, having purchased three acres
at the corner of Main Street and Walnut Lane, and
erected a building sufl5ciently large to accommodate
his machinery. Other enlargements followed as the
business grew in extent. Conyers Smith, a brother-
in-law, was associated with the founder from the first,
but withdrew in 1851, and returned to England, pos-
sessed of an ample fortune. Joseph Button, a son,
was admitted to the partnership. In 1861 the father
retired from the business he had founded and so suc-
cessfully conducted for thirty years. In 1865, Joseph
Button withdrew, and his brother, Conyers, became
sole proprietor. In 1869 the nephew, Theodore A.
Flew, was admitted, the style of the firm becoming
Conyers Button & Co.
Thomas Dolan is the senior partner of the firm of
Thomas Dolan & Co., proprietors of the vast manu-
factory of men's wear known as the Keystone Knit-
ting-Mills, which has been entirely built up by his
foresight and energy. He was born in Montgomery
County, Pa., Oct. 27, 1834. His early tendencies were
in the direction of commercial life, and while yet a
young man he became connected with a Philadelphia
commission house, whose principal trade was in the
sale of fancy knit goods and hosiery. It was while
engaged in the service of this house that Mr. Dolan
acquired his first knowledge of the possibilities in-
volved in the manufacture of knit and kindred woolen
goods.
In May, 1861, he began manufacturing, establish-
ing himself at the corner of Hancock and Oxford
Streets, on the spot where his present extensive factory
buildings are erected. This was early in the era of
Germantown goods, and he speedily built up a pros-
perous trade in them. By 1866, however, there had
been a heavy overproduction in the line of kuit goods,
and the market became sluggish and rather unprofit-
able for a while. At this juncture Mr. Dolan inaugu-
rated the use of the finest worsted yarns in the manu-
facture of various lines of goods, particularly of
" Berlin shawls," as they were called. Within five
years this latter business had been run up to 81,000,000,
when suddenly, in 1871, it began to decline with great
rapidity. In 1872, Mr. Dolan abandoned the manu-
facture of Berlin shawls, and, instead, began making
worsted materials for men's wear. In 1875 he intro-
duced the manufacture of men's fancy cassimeres and
ladies' cloakings,the knit goods trade still being main-
tained. About 1878 he abandoned the manufacture
of hosiery, which he had instituted several years be-
fore, and in 1882 the manufacture of knit goods,
which had been carried on since his start in business,
in 1861, was also given up, and from thenceforth Mr.
Dolan devoted himself exclusively to men's wear. At
the present time his establishment is the largest in
America producing its particular line of goods, and
there are very few in the world engaged in so exten-
sive a business.
For many years Mr. Dolan was individually en-
gaged in the manufacturing business. He is now,
however, the senior partner of the firm of Thomas
Dolan & Co., under whose name the great industry is
carried on. Mr. Dolan's partners are Rynear Wil-
liams, Jr., Charles H. Salmon, and Joseph P. Truitt.
Mr. Dolan has general superintendence of the entire
business. Mr. Williams supervises the financial
affairs of the establishment. Mr. Salmon superin-
tends the weaving and finishing department, while
BOB
IlllOgnt.
'UosepI
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i financial
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2307
Mr. Truitt's duties are mainly 'iin-i l.i; ■
iglit of the spinning Hepiirtmpn'
Although distinclly engrossi ■
' -hment, yet Mr. I>o]
: lerests, anil i.t ofliciM; !
i.ii'ercial and p"'^'-
• I the Quaker '
of the Philad'
..-rrs of Textile Fabrioa, pixaidi-ut ui tii
ere Association, v.ice-presiiient of th*
<«sociation of Wool Mauufaclurer^,
'" the Union League Club, trustee oi
ania Museum of Industrial Art, :■" I
llowing-haracd corporations: M
l!ank, Delaware Mutual Insuraii; .
'Jaa Improvement Company, Bin
-■ompany, PhiladelphiaTracti'ii'
-of Design for Women, and tl.' i
~ The Hinckley Knitting-Mills,
their foundation to Aaron Jonc-;. ■.
came to this country in 1830, ain;
old-fashioned knitting frames, tir
small way the manufacture of ■■-
woolen hosiery. His sou Aaron
emigration, and wa.s employeil .
goofls. In 1834 the machincf,
Thomas R. Fisher, proprietor <•!
Fisher's Hollow, Germanton-n,
son, becamf the manager of the n:
to manage the Wakefield Mills will
sagacity, and with entire satisfarti' '
until 1840, when he retired, and
• OD his own account. 'He »t»rtr-:
machines," in a small
was the germ of lli
his three sons, — lij;
were taken into partnership, a;.
managed the eataulishment. T!.
Aaron Jones' Sons, and they tn
Thomas Thompson cnmmeno<^(l
upholstery goods ar. "
134 Dock Street. 'I
kind in fhe Unite-i
associated with him».i. 'wo oi
and Lewis A., who, v.- • ■
posed the firm of '•
Every article whic)
■labinet-ivare, cans, .
ion, are produced i.
iheir ejoods wp
ind to a gri
■ nergy of Lb
heir way all ■ •
The man Hi
Vlartin Landen
Mcreased unti! 1 ^
■re iiro-*;'<r'.ij-'v ih:ci' before. In
•■ (juarterx,
xd
\ plied. '■ '
I branch, is ' . t-
j States. Militar-
tlii:- branch oft*'
■ I to
alj
iiig
:e iinicit.: may bo ap-
:aRH," a^ a distinctive
• • - ' '■.■it«d
'dpr
r«i
J, It!"'
w<4*
.01, IK^*
\x~* W
•M**
•mtm
<:mi^mm9
I
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2309
I
distent with thtwe ni
K>wn increa:?e
;i 1882, set .
■ rom which il ..,., .
iiere were as tolk-w
TRports, and with
he city author-
lion of indus-
rpit wanufac-
' -i.l i.^lHl Value of
Li-hiu. iit». I^bor. rruducta.
r«rpeU, BniBsela, tapefltr;, ingnitii,
• l' ii7 l),U4:i S20,300,M8
- rafc, liatandchaiD 9» lit!. 2:ii>,00u
-"Od _ 1 M 82,500
' - » «I 1,49T,8A0
'"tuJ , 340 11,7S« 122,116,785
The Monitor Carpet-Mills were estahlistiied by John
)orDan in 1863 with three Iooihb Hn.'i f'mr luiuJa'. In
H6G, 4be demand for increased r.- ..n an. I i,i,e concen-
.'ttlioQ of his workmen induced him lu purchase tlie
te on Oxford, Howard, and Waterloo t«treeU», at the
time raising the niiiiiljtr '.f Jiis looms to tifly.
' i Dornan, a brother, became at this lime a
-;er, and in 1868, still larger quarters were de-
iiiided..
I'he carpet-mills of John Bromley & Sons origin-
ii 1845, with a single hand-loom worked by John
';y in 'a rented room at Gcrmanlown road and
Street. In I860, he had ihirly-scven hand-
in operation, and larger ijuarti-ra being neces-
\c removed to the corner of York and Jasper
-. In 1868, his elder sons wilhdri-.w and estab-
•l the carpet-house of Bromley Brothers, opposite
«, iheir father's mill.
In the manufacture of carpets in 1880, Mr. Blodget
'numerated by name, location, power emplovo*!,
•loms, etc., 216 establishments, with 4132 liuml-looms
Aiui 1346 power-looms, whose monthly prcxhiction
»«•< 2,756,400 yacds, making a yearly prixu!. tion of
■ '076,800 yards. When the statement wa« ma'lc at
-','.■ meeting of the National Association of Wool
klanufacturers, held in November, 1879, in Philadel-
I'bia, that the carpet manufacture of the city would
'each 20,000,000 yards for the year, it was received
vith much incredulity, yet thn r ' - ly faitb-
il examination and record • tration,
nfterward made, showe<l that o , wiu the
product of the city's looms.
The carpetmaniifiuture' was begun in 1830 by An-
drew and William M •(' iSini, who had then recently
emigrated from Sooii:.i.i In' 1831 the three-story
.itorie building erei-t. ' , Jacob Clemens, and
.vhich ha(i been .. occupants in many
ways, was purcha*> - ^!cCallum, and,
from its location i: ■ was a rather
remarkable echo, r- In- Glen-Echo
Mills, hy which tl. ■•■r the Union.
The firm is now AI -inan.
The origin of th. .s in 1832,
the tounder bting '' iiiued the
business until 1 -4' -amassed
a considerable. I -his son,
William, whi.. r l)rother,
cootinuad the Mme until 1850, when the partnenhip
was disKolved, William becoming sole proprietor.
The Kallf of .S'huylkill Woolen-Mills were estab-
lished by John Dobson in ix.'.j, who associated with
himself, in 1861, his brother, James Dobaun. K;?:ten-
sivc additions were made from that time to 1874, when
it became the largest individual enterprise in the
United States, employing 1400 hands.
The manufacture of carpets by William Hunter A
Sons commenced in 1857, on Hanover Street. Id
1863 it wa« found necessary to enlarge the facilities,
and he rented the adjoining property until that on
Cumberland Street was purchased, in 1866, when the
concern became known aii the Cumberlund Mills.
T\\i- early Qerman and Irish population in the
j)rovince gave much attention to the cultivation of
flax and hemp, and a duty was imposed at a very
early day on the importation of these articles. As
early a<* 1684 the productions from both flax and
hemp won the commendations of the proprietary, and
to stimulate their manufacture a premium was offered
for the first piece of cloth. The ex|iort of flaxseed
to the extent of ;>89o hogsheads, ■ 2(j3,
shows the 'Stent to which thi» mi: (fi
as early as 1-760, Tl.- n<iu
hemp, together with ubiy
in the " Act for Com. ^ .,., ,,..v.-,,..._i,uwit for
Raising aud Imposing Penalties on Persons Manu-
facturing Unmerchantable Hempin to Cordage," gave
an impetus to the^e manufactures, which Thomaa
Maskin illustrated in Latin hexameters as the happy
condition of the farmer, fed and clothed from the
products of his own fields.'
In 1698 the manufacture of a variety of linen goods
is mentioned, which daily improved in quality, and
Beauchamp Platagenet say.«, "The soil would yield
a half-ton of flax and a ton of hemp, worth £12 to
the acre, and a profit of 6». a day to the labourer."
The linens made at that day were for the most part
of quite a coarse texture, but served the purpose of
the colonist. The cost of- labor, we loam from a let-
ter of Peun, retarded the work aud^caused the stop-
page of the one establishment engaged in the manu-
facture of sail-cloth, ticking, and linens. Id 1727,
Charles Brockdcjn, Samuel Harrison, and Joseph
Breintnall petitioned the Assembly, setting forth
that they had advanced a considerable joint stock
for the manufacture of sail-cloth, and. utter many
impediments, had manufactured a good merchantable
piece; " but, as it happens to things new aud usefiil,
many must be made before the operators can become
expert and ready, so that it is not yet capable to de-
fray its expense without some suitable encourage-
ment of the publick.'' For this reason they prayed
that a bill should be brought in upou the subject. The
petition was laid ou the table. In 1764 efforts were
> "bntiaa dulces epnlns depromit JuempUu.
Et proprio VMttfl veUere toxU pUa«t."
2310
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
made to assist the poor in several ways. A number
of the inhabitants, for the purpose of furnishing means
of employment, agreed to form themselves into a com-
pany and to raise a common stock to be laid out in the
purchase of hemp, flax, and land, in employing people
to manufacture the same into coarse linen. For the
better carrying this plan into execution, they agreed
to purchase William Brown's interest on Penn Street,
near Pine, and there to prepare and erect suitable
buildings for carrying on the design. Buildings were
erected, and more than 100 persons were employed in
spinning and weaving. Others wanting to engage, it
was resolved to reduce the shares to £100, the capital
not being less than £75,000. This enterprise flourished
until the troubles of a few years afterward distracted
the attention of the company from the proper prose-
cution of their business. In 1774 a linen-printing
establishment was set up on the Germantown road,
near the three-mile stone, by John Walters and
Thomas Bedwell, where it was advertised " a single
gown may be printed ; waistcoats, chair-bottoms, &c.,
in durable colors." In 1775, John Marshall, thread-
maker, an Englishman, who had been employed by
the managers of the House of Employment, requested
patronage for a twisting- and throwing-mill of his
own invention. A committee reported that he was
worthy of encouragement, and in the same year the
Society for Promoting American Manufactures ap-
plied for assistance, stating that they employed 700
spinners, weavers, and bleachers. The high price of
flax operated as a discouragement. They desired the
Assembly to oflTer bounties for raising it " on the
Dublin plan."
In 1779, Hewson & Long re-established, in the
latter part of the year, in Kensington, adjoining the
glass-works, a linen-printing factory. In the adver-
tisement they said, —
" They intend carrying on the printing of bine handlterchiefs with
white spots ; also neat gown-patterns of the same color, which they will
warrant to be as durable in washing and color as any imported from
Europe. Little need be said of the ability of the subscribers, as there
are a number of yards now in wear, done by them, equal to any done by
the boasted Britons. The savage followers of Great Britain have made
such destruction of their works and materials that renders them unable
to carry on their business in all its branches."
The number of oil-mills in the province in 1784
indicated a great production of flax, and as but few,
if any, linen-factories existed, a vast household manu-
facture of linen was to be inferred. In the celebration
of the adoption of the Federal Constitution there
were about sixty representatives of the rope-makers
of the city, who bore the motto, " May the produc-
tion of our hands be the neck-cloth of him who at-
tempts to untwist the political rope of our Union."
One of the earliest manufactories of any extent in
the United States for spinning and weaving flax,
hemp, and tow by water-power was that of James
Davenport, put in operation with machinery, patented
in 1791, at the Globe Mills, at the north end of Sec-
ond Street. It was visited by Washington and sev-
eral members of Congress, who expressed their great
satisfaction at the ingenuity and novelty of the ma-
chinery. The President, in particular, evinced a high
opinion of the merits of the patentee, Mr. Davenport,
and an earnest wish that a work so honorable to the
infant manufactories of the Union might be extended
to other parts of the country. The labor was per-
formed by boys, one of whom was able to spin, in a
day often hours, 292,000 feet of flax or hempen thread,
using 20 to 40 pounds of flax or hemp, according to
its fineness. One boy could also weave, on the ma-
chinery, 15 or 20 yards of sail-cloth in a day. Speci-
mens of the spinning were deposited in Peale's Mu-
seum for public inspection. It was the purpose of
Mr. Davenport to manufacture the machinery for
sale, but he died soon after, and the apparatus of the
Globe Factory was sold in 1798, and the business
broken up.
John G. Baxter was recommended by Governor
Snyder in a special message, sent to the Legislature
in 1809, for patronage and reward as the meritorious
inventor of a machine to manufacture flax and hemp
into yarn, whereby four persons could do the work
of thirty. Notwithstanding this strong indorsement,
the committee to which the subject was referred
grudgingly recommended an appropriation of three
hundred dollars, but the Legislature, yet more nig-
gardly, refused to give anything.
Two establishments for the spinning and weaving
of flax existed in 1810 in the vicinity of the city, one of
which produced annually 72,000 yards of canvas made
of flax and cotton ; in the other the flax was both
packed and spun by machinery. Thirty looms were
employed, and it is said 500,000 yards of cotton bag-
ging, sail-cloth, and coarse linen might be made an-
nually. The manufacture of linen goods fell off all
over the country as the development of cotton manu-
facture progressed. The censuses of 1860, 1870, 1880,
and the summary for 1882 do not enumerate one es-
tablishment in the city. The manufacture of cordage
in this city was begun at a very early day, there being
in 1689 several rope-makers having "large and cu-
rious ropewalks, especially Joseph Wilcox." Robert
Graves' patent for a cordage-machine was purchased
in 1827-28 by Tiers & Myerle, of Philadelphia, who
established a large factory for the manufacture of
cordage on a new principle, the threads being placed
on different revolving spools, passed through perfo-
rated cast-iron plates, and then through a cast-iron
tube of suitable diameter for any size of rope. The
cordage factories of the city in 1860 numbered 7
establishments, with an aggregate capital of $187,500,
in which the raw material annually consumed was
valued at $131,389, giving employment to 183 men
and 3 women, and producing an annual product of
the value of $252,850. In 1870 there were 9 estab-
lishments engaged in this manufacture, whose aggre-
gate capital was $528,700, in which the wages paid
for the year amounted to $114,720, the raw material
''^/1^6^ ^'/^,
/T
THE INDUSTRIRS OF PFITT, ADRT.PRT A
^'^ll
:> s43S,882, and the annual pnnln. ; m »i''.
here were 10 establishme:.
■'>0, the material onn^u :
'.500, and the annual proJiKxa;
. xt in 1882 wax vhIuciI iit !?I,97L,
[Micllea then nainStred 1000.
The largest niHiui:,io'.ar(-r8 oT t-oni.,
ire the firm of F2(lwin H, Fitlt-r .V •
Pitler, the senior of this firm, 'a
December, 1 825, at the old Fit k
*rid Otter Streets, where his paion:*, \\ i
£Uza Filler, hat) resided fur laany vcari-. '
i-eived an academic education
the law, together with convey:.
With this purpose in view,!.: . . ..
Charles E. Lex, afterward city »m' -iior. He »■
nlso for some time in the office d!' hi.* brother, Alir.
Filler. During this periol ui hia life he aivjuired
much practical information which has Rir.''i hofi\ •<(
great benefit to him. As he hir
enough law to know when and
entanglements. But his taste$<
almost entirely toward mechau. .
suits, and he finally conchKlcn
studies for more congenial a**'
In 1846 he entered the cor.
establishment of George .). V.
tijne wdA situated at the corm-
nuo and Tenth Street. Tv. o v- :,
associated with Mr. Weaver in ti.i
business, the name of the firm being G.-
&Co. Ini859, Mr. Filler bought -^
After that, at various times, a DumVM-
changes occurred, until the fvn:-
iirii! of Edwin H. Filler & Co.
!:Mwiu H. Filler, Conim) •
, Jr., .ind William \V. F.
lir, Mr. Filler lias been tl,
1 al head of- the firm, the business opf
...iblisbment, under his vigorou" in '
:ioii, expanding year by year, un;
in there is no other maniifhcfir
which prodn
s the firm -^
Lablishmeni ■■ - . ....
■"astern ii.irij.
■' beiug rvjii
-.ing
i'lr a
iture,
; -t for
i,i)o-
i;ug
.0 of
■■►.-i his grc.
:fid with oih
jnce. He
.Irtilioa.i
acres oi
gent It!
•ant. In
intrust*-
• IS uu unsullied
Society
cientious con-
copy o: '
which '
u»try, Mr. Filler is
trom t!.
of wide scope and
C'"!r-'
lie North Pennsyl-
a,-
^■ortl3ern Liberties
ru
' buy. and the
£16,411
•.U" president
:a(es, as
for £2t'.
and the
tnenced.
Bilk
uiess man, ' importe<l, and
2312
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
lished, and distributed. In January, 1750, the fila-
ture was opened on Seventli Street, between Arch and
Marlcet. In 1771, 2300 pounds of cocoons were
bought and reeled by the society. The first and
second prizes were awarded for silk culture to Susan-
nah Wright, of Columbia, and Joanna Entween, of
Bethlehem. Out of Mrs. Wright's silk a court dress
was made for the queen of England, and samples of
it were deposited in the Philadelphia Library. New
premiums were proposed of £20 for any quantity of
cocoons over fifty thousand, £15 for forty thousand,
and £10 for twenty thousand. Nicholas Garrison, of
Eace Street, notified the public that he would have
mulberry-trees to sell in the spring at two pence each ;
and John Kaighn, Second Street, next door but one
to Christ Church, had silk-worm eggs for sale. The
society prepared during the season 150 pounds of
reeled silk of such quality as sold in England for 20s.
and 25s. per pound, exclusive of the Parliamentary
bounty.
A considerable quantity of silk stufis was made by
Grace Fisher, a minister among the Quakers, some of
which Governor Dickinson presented to the celebrated
Mrs. Catherine Macauly. Dresses of domestic silk
were worn before the Revolution by the mother of
the Hon. Francis Hopkinson, and many other ladies,
some of which, as heirlooms, have descended to, and
are cherished by, their families. The reeled silk of
the filature brought 19s. 2d. per pound, in London,
while the China silk was selling at the same time for
£1 2s. Gd. The filature undertook to reel silk for pri-
vate owners at 6(/. per ounce. The Assembly granted
£1000 to the society in March. Nevertheless, the
society lost by paying too much for cocoons, many of
which were dried and useless.
This early effort at silk-raising and manufacture
was terminated as a public enterprise by the Revolu-
tion. After the peace with Great Britain it was par-
tially revived by individuals, and Dr. Aspinwall, of
Connecticut, planted a nursery of Italian mulberries
on Poplar Lane, in Philadelphia, but as the filature
was never reopened, the cultivation was abandoned.
In 1827 Dr. James Mease, of Philadelphia, in ac-
cordance with a Congressional resolution, prepared a
manual on the growth and manufacture of silk, and
the business was resumed in this city by Mr. Tees and
B. F. Pomeroy. The Mork multicaulis fever sprang up,
and in April, 1828, the Pennsylvania Society for the
Promotion of the Culture of the Mulberry and the
Raising of Silk-Worms was organized, and ofl^ered
premiums of various amounts for the greatest quan-
tity of sewing-silk of the best quality, for cocoons,
mulberry-trees, etc.
Another filature was opened in Philadelphia, but
it did not succeed, although it turned out .some prod-
ucts of the finest grade. Two banners of Philadel-
phia silk, each twelve feet long and six feet wide, were
woven, and, having been dyed by some Germans in
the city, were exhibited, with a few smaller articles, as
cravats, handkerchiefs, etc., at the fair of the Frank-
lin Institute, in 1830, and at the ensuing session were
presented one to the Congress and the other to the
Legislature of Pennsylvania, and were received by
both bodies with appropriate acknowledgments. The
samples of silk from this filature were assayed for the
Chamber of Commerce at Lyons by a sworn and
licensed assayer, and declared to be of an extraordi-
nary quality, and admirably adapted to the uses of
fabrication.
The excitement upon the subject of silk continued
through 1835, in which year the "Philadelphia
Silk Culture and Manufacturing Company" and
other associations were formed. The Legislature
of Pennsylvania added to the excitement by oflfer-
ing, in 1838, a premium of twenty cents a pound
for cocoons, and fifty cents for reel silk, produced
in the State, until 1843. The reaction came in
1839, and silk-raising died out. The manufacture of
goods from silk, however, is now an important in-
dustry in Philadelphia. In 1880, Mr. Blodget wrote,
" There are several new classes of goods made in the
mills in and near Philadelphia, seven or eight of
them being occupied in making silk-mixed upholstery
goods or furniture coverings, with as many more on
reps and terry, not including silk. Fringes and trim-
mings of silk and of Schappe silk, or silk waste,
chenille trimmings and ornaments are largely made,
ten or twelve establishments being so occupied. The
silk and silk-mixed ornamental manufactures will
reach fully $6,000,000 in value for the year 1880, if
continued at the present rate of production." There
were 51 silk-manufacturing establishments here in
1880, with 14,250 spindles.
The silk industry in 1882 was as follows :
Establish- Value of
ments. products.
Silk, tram, organzine, and spun 5 $710,000
" machine twist !^ 1 140,000
•' spun and n..ils yarn 4 170,0 0
" curtains and turcomans 10 5"i4,00O
" and mixed upholstery goods 14 1,6S2,(IOO
" ribbon % 1 261,000
" dress-goods % 1 329,400
" and mixed trimmings 30 4,166,800
" gimp 2 111,600
" knit goods 6 114,000
" dyers'yarns 7 255,600
All silk 80 88,464,400
In both the wholesale and retail departments of the
dry-goods trade Philadelphia has long been conspicu-
ous among the commercial centres of the Union ;
and although the business is now so vast and diverges
into so many channels that it is impossible to accumu-
late its statistics, yet, as a dealing and distributing
point, this city undoubtedly surpasses all others, with,
perhaps, the exception of New York. A brisk trade
between Philadelphia and the English ports began soon
after 1790, and " about this time," as an old chronicler
says, " on the arrival of the spring and fall ships from
England, the pavements all along Front Street, from
Walnut to Arch Street, used to be lumbered and
strewed before the doors of the importing dry-goods
I
oy<~
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2313
■ with b'lxej: itr\i* Via!.
. . . Theci
men hovei i
■ngling »<»•
'.on the h'
and calicoe-
!'. such begii"
.« city has, ■
jiroportions '
reUiil houses .
n' worth of lulnu i.
..rs has long stood UiSi '" ...
The Ann! uc rtomplfxhinanl of Uie
' 'i:> crowoifif kucccM
imes Bon bright, n. i
le 19th of Februarv
eland Co., Pa. At :
' 'Uiladolphia, aud oiiir ■
V, of Samuel Hood iV
.'t. A few years later !>»■
.;, and upon the retireiii- ■
•.I, the existing firranann.
was adopted, Thontias '.
tiiiher. The business of tht: >■
■ ts requirements being met .'
moval to more commodion^
Aoe warehouse, on Market S?
Filbert, was occupied 'n
greatly enlarged by an !!..
Street. The business o: •
largest ever done by any rir^
jobbing house in Philadclpi
almost every State and Tii'-i'
Though Col. Thomas G. Ho(,..
in 1882,Jeaving Mr. Bonbrigli
heail of the house, the tirni-n.i .
A memorable a<;l of integrii ,
firm with which ihf subject of this • ^
long identified, deserves record ;ii d '
name. The following paragraph, relauug i/ i!xc .*. i^
is taken from The North American, in it« issue of Xov
18, 1881 :
** Kliawhnre in
nry remarkable and
bit-sineas man nf rhi
prlile and aduiirutioi-,
itlliu<trati-i,nn<lilrM'
Itui vrbicb liiu fiirui
miuded liupNty. Nc
ttteii dpvelupod into 11^
h Co., sustaiupd, tblt"
to compel it^ suepen!.
oreditortt and contluii
mioed ibat tbe obliK-^
the iMt dollnr, »■)<( t'
In accumulHiJi;.
tliA n-iiillred .<n
•noiinl of uvt -,
firm au opportii.i'v
mieuanlmity, Tor tUf %
The event ' •
ptiifoundf
»a.so<nat.>s. :
coK-rnTi- 'hi? mornir.^r '
I publitb * ttatemeut of «
<ich a statement m no
n fMlfng of iilin«)ed
Munaintegilty wiilrh
nutlvt. PliilndclpliU
. .hI examplci of -blgU-
r':t'i» wliicb hafi stucc
.' of Uuod. Uoubrlght
■ <«nte« ao diwulrousas
•^'^mpf>Mt|{on with iu
: <1 Ibere detor-
' Id he paid lo
on "neajed
jiiH reached
I mallei W Iha
' :Lo'iaaoIv«nt
-: • iriing by thelt
■ ' ■iudinl«ru8tlufull.'*
.-. Bon bright the
L'conded by his
td for it with un-
' the m:i!nj-
of all kinds
u.;ijii Butler, "cot-
■i.iker," carried on
■ ird f^treet, and Mr.
vtreai Briuiin, also made them. Felix
- IT of flyini.' ..jUuttlcs, advertised himself
■ I Street.
jeuny seen in America was ex-
nii'iiuia early in the year l"?.*). In tbe
^!aifasi7if or Ainericaii Monthly Mtueum
.„. may be seen a cut and description of
a:w invented machine for spinoing cotton or
.iu.bu Hague had invented at thiii time another
spiiiniug-jenuy, and received from the Assembly £100
a!t a recompense "for iutroduciug iuto this State a
useful machine for carding cotton." In April, 1776,
a committei. of the Assembly report -i "tiiat upon
eiamioation they find the .said machine w.ia made
and Used in this province by both the persons above
named (Tully and Hague) nearly at the same time,
but unknown to each other, and that the committee
think they are therefore alike deserving of reward."
They recommended that £15 be awarded to each.
On the recommendation of the United Soe''-'^ ' *'■—
Promoting American Manufactures in Phil; i
the Assembly resolvd to distribute one m»c'
each county at the expense of th<; State,. Au appm-
priation of j£40 wa.s awardefl by the 3am«> societT t<.
John Marshall, au Engti^b thread-maker iu •
ploy of the society, in 177C, ki a 8ilk-twi«Li
throwing mill of his inveution. The encourttijc^ji;. ...
2314
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
given to such inventions by the State Legislature, the
American Philosophical Society, and by associations
for promoting general or special manufactures was
such that in 1789 some machinery of the kind was
was made in Philadelphia as well as in England.
From the writings of Mr. Tench Coxe, it appears that
a full set of Arkwright machinery for spinning cotton
was in the city prior to 1790.
The first joint-stock company formed for the manu-
facture of cotton,' and by some authorities believed
to be the first joint-stock company for any kind of
manufactures in this country, was the United Com-
pany of Philadelphia for Promoting American Manu-
factures.^ It was to continue three years from the
date of the first general meeting, Feb. 22, 1775. The
shares were £10 each, and the company was to begin
the manufacture of woolens, cottons, and linens, and
to carry it on to the greatest extent that their capital
would admit. The first general meeting of the sub-
scribers was held March 16th. Dr. Rush was elected
president; Joseph Stiles, treasurer; James Cannon,
secretary ; Christopher Marshall, Jacob Winey, Isaac
Gray, Samuel Wetherill, Jr., Christopher Ludwick,
Frederick Kuhl, Robert Strettel Jones, Richard
Wells, Thomas Tilbury, James Popham, and Isaac
Howell, directors. On the 21st of March the house of
William Smith, in Market Street, was leased for three
years, at £40 per annum, for a factory. In October
the factory employed 400 women. On November 8th,
Robert Strettel Jones delivered the oration of the
third year, fi-ora which it appears that the value of the
linen goods manufactured amounted to £1443 Is. 7rf.,
and the value of the woolen and cotton goods was
£474 12s. With raw materials and other assets, the
stock amounted to £5081 9s. lOd., exclusive of imple-
ments, new looms, and other machines valued at
£254 143. The value of one share, originally £10,
was at the end of the second year £17 6s. 6d. It does
not appear how long the original company conducted
the business. Samuel Carpenter appears to have
continued the woolen and cotton manufactory, as
two years later he contracted with Congress to make
woolens for the army. The business of the original
company was resumed in 1787 by Tench Coxe and
several of the first members in the same building,
which was burned by an incendiary about 1790.
We have seen that to the United Company of
Philadelphia belongs the honor of introducing the
first spinning-jenny into this country, as well as that
of first attempting to make cottons. This was in
1775. Two years after, the Pennsylvania Society
for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the
> "The first cotton-miU established in Philadelphia, Mr. rreedley is
infornii-d, was at La Grange Place, near Holmesburg, Ihe machinery of
which was supplied by Alfred Jenks, a pupil and colaborer Willi Samuel
Slater, who established his manufacture of cotton machinery at Holmes-
burg in 1810, The oldest now in operation is the Keating Mill, in
Manayunk, owned by J. C. ii.emploB."—Philaddphia and Ua ilerclumU,
p. 2i2.
3 This company is often spoken of as " the Manufacturing Society."
Useful Arts was instituted. An effort to obtain
Arkwright's machinery had failed, but the ordinary
cotton goods were nevertheless being manufactured.
The society was opened to all citizens of the United
States, and its organization provided for a president,
four vice-presidents, two secretaries, a treasurer,
twelve managers, and a committee for manufactures.
An admission fee of 10s. was required, with an an-
nual fee of the same amount for expenses and pre-
miums, and a manufacturing fund was to be raised
by subscriptions of £10 or upwards, the profits from
which were to be divided among the subscribers, who
were to be the owners of the grounds, buildings, and
improvements of the society, and the shares were
made transferable. The development of the industry
of the country was so fully aroused that there were
eight hundred and fifty-three subscribers to thesociety
iu August, 1787.
Gen. Thomas Mifflin was elected president, and
committees were appointed in the various wards to
solicit further aid. The society also took measures
to procure machinery for the manufacture of cotton
from Europe, and in March, 1788, the managers ob-
tained two complete machines for carding and spin-
ning cotton, one of which would card forty pounds
of cotton per day, and the other was capable of spin-
ning fifty threads at a time. The news of the arrival
of this apparatus was considered so important that
it was thought worthy of special public congratu-
lation.
The society immediately set to work to establish
the enterprise. The" machines were set up and some
pieces of stuff" were woven. In June, 1788, another
bulletin of the progress of the undertaking was sent
out.
By the 1st of November from the factory of the
society there had been turned out 11,197 yards of
jeans, satinets, and other goods.
The contributions to the Society for the Encour-
agement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts up to
the 1st of November amounted to £1327 10s. 6d. The
expenses were £453 10s. 2d. There were then 26
looms at work. Application was made to the As-
sembly for assistance. The managers stated that, by
actual experiment, they had demonstrated the prac-
ticability of carrying on the manufacture of divers
kinds of cotton goods to great advantage. They
were of opinion that further beneficial results might
be had by introducing the most approved machines
used iu Great Britain. An artist skilled in the man-
agement of them was in the city, and had offered his
services. The society was too poor to engage him,
and the encouragement of the Legislature was re-
quested. The committee of the Assembly reported
favorably ; and on the 26th of March, 1789, was
passed "an act to assist the cotton manufactures of
this State," by which £1000 were appropriated as a
subscription to one hundred shares of the stock of
the society. The people were strongly in favor of
I
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2315
every measure that would tend to assist the manufac-
tures of the country. Frequently arguments were
written and published to add additional strength to
the popular opinions. An article stated that jeans
could be made so as to undersell those imported from
England ; and that the thread, cotton, and worsted
hosiery manufactured in Germantown, Bethlehem,
Lancaster, and Reading, which were sold at a dollar
a pair, were of the same fineness as the imported
stockings, which sold at 8s. 4d. and 8s. 6d. per pair.
There were two hundred and fifty stocking-looms in
the State, producing, on an average, one pair and a
half of stockings per day, worth per annum £44,015
12s. 6d.
The manufacturing operations were under charge
of the manufacturing committee. The address of
Tench Coxe, before the society, on Aug. 9, 1789, in
the University of Pennsylvania, furnishes somewhat
in detail both the objects and the operations of the
society. They seem to have been charitable as well
as useftil, and to design relief to the industrious poor
as well as the employment of machinery. The inter-
ests of agriculture were not outside its care, and the
encouragement of the cultivation of cotton came
within its scope. Since 1762 great progress had been
made in the manufactures of Philadelphia, which, Mr.
Cose's address shows, included hosiery, hats, gloves,
wearing apparel, coarse linens and woolens, cotton
goods, wool-cotton cards, and many other articles.
The board of managers ofleredjin 1787, a gold medal
of $20 value for the most useful machine or engine to
be moved by water, fire, or otherwise, by which the
ordinary labor of hands in manufacturing cotton,
wool, flax, or hemp, should be better saved than by
any machine then in use in the State; also for rais-
ing and. cleaning the greatest quantity of hemp, flax,
or cotton : for the best specimens or patterns of
printed linens or cotton goods stained w'ithin the
State ; for letter-press, in bound volumes, from Penn-
sylvania types and paper ; for earthenware, flint-glass
and bottles ; for the greatest quantity of wool, and for
bleached wax for candles. ■ Premiums of $30 were
offered for the greatest quantity of hemp or swingled
flax, and the greatest number of smiths' anvils ; and
premiums of ^50 for the greatest quantity of potash
and pearlashes, and for the greatest quantity and va-
riety of painters' colors made from the fossils and
earths of the United States.
The premiums and awards of the society greatly
promoted the cause of manufactures, and in connec-
tion with the large sum offered by the Legislature for
a machine for making rolls for spinning, are said to
have induced Samuel Slater, the father of cotton
manufacturers in this country, to emigrate here. John
Hewson, stimulated by these premiums, and with a
loan of £200 from the State, under the act of March,
1789, was able " to enlarge and carry on the business
of calico-printing and bleaching within this State."
He was elected to print for the society in 1788, and
Gen. Washington was accustomed to point with pride
to the domestic fabrics upon the person of Mrs.
Washington from the establishment of Hewson.'
The report of Samuel Wetherill, Jr., chairman of
the manufacturing committee, made in 1788, shows
the progress of the society in its first year. The con-
tributions received in cash amounted to £1.327 10s. dd. ;
the expenditures for machinery, etc., to £453 10s. 2d.,
leaving a "circulating" capital of £874. Between
200 and 300 poor women had found employment and
competent wages ; a carding-machine and four jennies
of 40, 44, 60, and 80 spindles had been setup. There
had been manufactured 2959J yards of jeans, 197J
yards of corduroys; 67 of federal rib, 57 of beaver
fustian, 1567J of plain cottons, 925 of linen, 13371 of
tow linen ; total, 7111 yards. The net profit of their
business was about thirty per cent. This exhibit of
the operations for the first year was considered highly
satisfactory by the Board of Managers, and being im-
pressed with the importance of the cotton branch,
they " beg leave to recommend in the strongest terms
the prosecution of the manufacture by fresh subscrip-
tions until a knowledge and due sense of its value
shall induce some proper persons, either citizens or
foreigners, to undertake the business.
This society succeeded the United Company of
1775, and occupied its building at the southwest
corner of Market and Ninth Streets, which was rented
from William Bingham at $40 per annum. The build-
ing was burned by an incendiary on the night of March
24, 1790. The Supreme Executive Council offered a
reward of $300 for the apprehension of the author of
an anonymous letter threatening to burn the manu-
factory, or for the incendiary. The perpetrator was
never discovered. It was supposed that the place was
burned by some enemy of American manufiictures.
The influence of both of these companies upon the
rising manufacturers of Philadelphia is traceable for
several years through many of the branches of manu-
facture. Their influence extended even into political
circles, and, together with that of Mr. Coxe, was ex-
erted into so shaping the Federal Constitution that it
would remedy many of the evils existing under the
Articles of Confederation. Its success in manufac-
turing cotton caused many of the Southern delegates
to the Federal convention earnestly to urge upon the
people of their States an increased cultivation of cotton.
Tench Coxe, the ardent and able promoter of do-
1 In November, 1789, the managers of Ihisaociety addressed the Assem-
bly in a petition. They stated that it was necessary, in order to protect
the manufactures of the commonwealth, that a stop should be put to the
practice of seducing artists and sliilled mechanics to leave the State and
take employment elsewhere. Another abuse was the exportation of
machines and models, the evil efTects of which had been shown in the
purchase of two models for cotton factories, which had beeu sent abroad.
They therefore proposed that the Legislature should pass a law to pre-
vent such practices in the future. Under the influence of this memorial
the Assembly was induced to pay attention to this subject, and in the
next session, March 28, 1788, an act was passed to encourage and protect
the manufactures of the State, which prohibited the exportation of
manufacturiug machines for two years.
2316
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
mestic manufactures, deserves the gratitude of every
American for tlie ability with which he encouraged
their growth and his persistency in advocating their
protection and advancement.
Both the United Company of Philadelphia for Pro-
moting American Manufactures, in 1775, and the
Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Arts
and Domestic Manufactures, in 1787, were aided and
advanced by Mr. Coxe. Indeed, his whole life was
devoted to encouraging and developing American
manufactures. He early became an authority upon
the subject, and his writings served both to encourage
and develop the infant industries of this country.
The cultivation as well as the manufacture of cotton
received impetus from the life and labors of this leader
in American industry, to whom Mr. Madison, in 1809,
wrote, " Though tardy, I am not the less sincere in the
acknowledgments of your two favors, — the one inclos-
ing your printed remarks on the subject of cotton and
wool. Your very early and continued attention to
this important interest is entitled to the thankfulness
of your countrymen."
The premium for calico and linen printing offered
by the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement
of Manufactures and Useful Arts, in 1775, pro-
bably led John Hewson, a Revolutionary soldier,
to establish his calico-printing works about the year
1788-89. In the latter year he received a loan of
£200 from the State of Pennsylvania " to enlarge and
carry on the business of calico printing and bleaching
in this State." He is said to have been an English-
man invited to America by Benjamin Franklin. He
espoused the Revolution, and was taken prisoner at
the battle of Monmouth by the British. Having
made his escape, fifty guineas were offered for his re-
covery, dead or alive. His print-works were near
Richmond, where Dyottville now is, and were con-
tinued by his son, of the same name, who inherited
his father's probity and benevolence, and died at the
advanced age of ninety-three. John Hewson, Jr., in
1808 manufactured calicoes, shawls, pocket-handker-
chiefs, and bedspreads. His name appears in the
Directory for 1817 as a calico-printer in Hall [Beach]
Street near Warren, which was a short distance above
Maiden [Laurel] Street. John Hewson, Sr., had re-
tired at this time, and lived on Queen Street, near the
Point bridge.
The calico-printing factory of Stewart at German-
town, and that of Thorburne, at Darby, date from
1803, in which year machinery for cotton-mills was
made in Philadelphia by Eltonhead, which included
carding-engines, drawing- and roving-frames, iron
rollers, mules, and spindles. Seth Craige set up at
the Globe Mills, about 1805, the first cotton-mill for
the weaving of girth webbing. His business at the
time was that of a saddler, and his shop was at No.
110 High Street. The webbing-mill was afterward
developed into a cotton-mill of the most extensive
character. About 1816 the establishment was en-
larged, and was considered the most extensive cotton-
mill in the Union. Mr. Craige and John Houston
conducted it. The sons of Mr. Craige, — Seth, Jr., and
John Craige, — were afterward admitted to the firm,
together with John Holmes, and the firm became
Craige, Holmes & Co.
Among the earliest manufacturers of cotton and
wool were the occupants of the Philadelphia Alms-
house. In September, 1806, the managers of that in-
stitution gave notice that they would receive wool and
cotton "to be carded by machinery for hatters and
spinners at a moderate price. In subsequent years
the managers of the almshouse received premiums
for specimens in the manufacture of shirtings. At
that institution, in 1808, Nicholas Mayer, formerly of
the Northern Liberties, weaver and blue dyer, was
superintendent of the manufactory. From the alms-
house looms at that time were turned out flax and
cotton sheetings, linseys, stripes, diapers, tickings,
cotton and wool blankets, counterpanes, threads, etc.
John Hill, whose office was at No. 247 South Second
Street, in the new market, wove in 1808 on his own
looms, and had for sale, satinets, muslinets, cotton
stripes, shirtings, bed-tickings, and other cotton goods ;
and he said, —
*' Of foreign gewgaws let's be free,
And wear the webs of liberty."
John Thorburne & Son were in business in 1808,
printing calico on North Third Street. They sub-
sequently removed to the west side of the Schuylkill,
near the Falls, where they carried on the same busi-
ness. Their mill was at the mouth of Mill Creek,
above the place where Flat Rock dam was afterward
built. The construction of the dam by the Schuylkill
Navigation Company backed the water around about
Mr. Thorburue's mill and broke up his business.
Their lines of manufacture in 1808 were printed cali-
coes, shawls, bedspreads, coatings, dressed cloths, tick-
ings, dimity, shirtings, and sheetings of cotton.
Capt. John Towers, as early as 1808, wove and
made seine twine, cotton bagging, and thread.
William Wood established the manufecture of cotton
and woolen goods in 1838, and in 1860 occupied the
Mount Vernon Mills, at Twenty-fourth and Hamilton
Streets. The increase of the business in 1861 de-
manded larger quarters, and, by associating with him-
self John McGill, the house of William Wood & Co.
was established. In 1867 additional premises were
secured, embracing the area of ground from Twenty-
first and Hamilton Streets to Twenty-second Street,
and thence to Spring Garden Street. These mills
are now the largest of their class in the city, employ-
ing 1000 people.
The firm of Thorp, Siddiill & Co. established bleach-
and print-works about six miles from the city, between
Germantown and Branchtown, in 1809, upon a new
method of printing. Previous to this time blocks
were used for the printing of cottons, a tedious
process, and not entirely satisfactory, even with the
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THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2317
best attainable results. Mr. Siddall went to England
in 1809, and brought back with him machinery and
engraved rollers, which were used with the assistance
of water-power. From this factory the first lot of
cotton goods printed on the engraved rollers reached
Philadelphia in October, 1810. The new process, as
compared with the old, was considered wonderful.
One man and two boys were able to print ten thou-
sand yards of cloth, or fifty thousand children's hand-
kerchiefs, in a single day. Within two or three years
afterward, cotton 'and linen goods were stained and
dyed in one color for various uses. In 1810, Alfred
Jenks, who had worked with Samuel Slater in the
cotton-mills at North Providence, E. I., came to
Philadelphia, bringing with him drawings of cotton-
working machinery, which he proposed to manufac-
ture. It is probable that he built the machinery for
the Globe Mill in Kensington. He built looms for
weaving cotton lace for Joseph Eipka, and he con-
structed the first woolen-mill machinery for Bethel
A. Moore's mill at Conshohocken. About 1819-20,
Mr. Jenks removed his factory to Bridesburg. Francis
C. Labbe, better known in later years as a dancing-
master than as a manufacturer, came from France in
1812, and set up the business of calico-printer at No.
206 Cherry Street. After four years' trial he aban-
doned the effort, and found better remuneration in
terpsichorean than in mechanical employment.
About the year 1816, Capt. John Towers built at
Flat Kock (Manayunk) two mills. On the 10th of
April, 1819, he purchased the right to use one hun-
dred inches of water from the Schuylkill Navigation
Company at Flat Rock. Here be built a mill. He
occupied the two lower stories as a woolen-mill for
the manufacture of cloths. He afterward leased a
part to Edward and John Preston. The third story
was rented to Isaac Baird, cottou-spinner, who was
the first to engage in that manufacture at the place,
which was afterward the most extensive manufactur-
ing neighborhood in Philadelphia County. Charles
V. Hagner was the second mill-builder at Flat Rock.
He commenced his operations in 1820, and probably
had his mill buildings finished in the next year. Mr.
Hagner devoted his water-power to the preparation
of oil and grinding drugs ; but subsequently he
added a fulling-mill, the machinery of which was
made by Alfred Jenks, of Holmesburg. These were
power-looms for weaving satinets, and they were the
first ever used in Pennsylvania for that purpose.
Subsequently Mr. Hagner rented a part of his mill to
Mark Richards & Co. They afterward erected a large
cotton-mill farther up on the Schuylkill canal, at
Manayunk. Moses Hey and Joseph Ripka were
afterward part tenants of the Hagner mill, but even-
tually they built mill establishments for themselves.
Mark Richards & Co. built a cotton-manufactory,
operated with two hundred and fifty inches of water,
I at Flat Rock, in 1822. Samuel R. Wood built a mill
I for making white lead, the upper part of which was
rented to Borie, Laguerenne & Keating, for cotton-
spinning. Ann Dawson, in 1822, built a cotton-mill
at the lower end of the canal, which was operated by
Morris & Wilson, and afterward by S. & T. Wagner.
Borie, Laguerenne & Keating commenced the con-
struction of a cotton-mill in 182.5 at Manayunk.
David H. Mason and Matthias W. Baldwin, who
were in business in 1825, manufacturing book-binders'
tools and hydraulic presses for book-binders, formed a
partnership for the purpose of engraving cylinders
for calico-printing. They were the first engravers in
the United States who undertook this sort of work,
and they were assisted greatly by the increase of
print-works throughout the eountry. Mr. Mason ob-
tained a patent in 1822 for engraving and printing
metallic plates. They began operations " in a narrow
street, in the rear of Walnut Street, between Fourth
and Fifth." Mason & Baldwin increased their busi-
ness at No. 14 Minor Street, until they were ready to
furnish not only engraved cylinders for calico-printers,
but also calico-printing machines, drying calendering
machines for the manufacture of cotton, silk, and
paper, engravers' machines, stationary engines and
machinery, and drop- and seal-presses. In the " Me-
morial of Matthias W. Baldwin," an account of the
improvements of Mason & Baldwin in calico-printing
cylinders is given.
This device had been previously used in bank-note
engraving ; but the application of the same principle
to the preparation of copper cylinders for printing
calico was a most useful process.
The following account of the construction of mills,
comprising all that were erected at Flat Rock (after-
ward Manayunk), is compiled from "The Early His-
tory of Falls of Schuylkill, Manayunk," etc., by
Charles V. Hagner. The dates are those of the sale
of the water-powers. The mills were constructed
afterward :
1819, April 10. — John Towers, 100 inches, woolen-
weaving and cotton-spinning.
1820, September.— Charles "V. Hagner, 100 inches,
making oil, grinding drugs, fulling woolen cloth,
weaving, and cotton-spinning.
1821, September 5.— William J. Brooke, 50 inches,
flock for woolen rags, saw-grinding, and hat-body
making.
1821, September 14.— James Elliot, 50 inches, oak-
bark grinding and flax-spinning.
1822, January 8.— Mark Richards & Co., 240 inches,
cotton-spinning and weaving.
1822', January 9.— Samuel R. Wood, 100 inches,
white lead manufacturing and cotton-spinning.
1822, April 11.— Peter Robeson and George Smick,
100 inches.
1822, April 23. — William Alexander and William
Rowland, 65 inches, saw-mill and grinding saws.
1822. — Ann Dawson, 150 inches.
1825, March 7.— Borie, Laguerenne & Keating,
100 inches, cotton manufacture.
2318
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
1825, May 6.— Thomas B. Darrach, 100 inches.
1825, August 27.— Smick & Gorgas, 50 inches.
1825, September 3.— William .7. Brooke, 25 inches.
An inch of water was " as much as will pass through
an aperture one inch square under a head pressure of
three square feet measured from the surface of the
water to the centre of the aperture."
The price at the commencement of the operations
of the company was S3 per inch. In 1822 it was in-
creased, after the sale to Ann Dawson, to $4.50 per
inch, and after Sept. 3, 1825, it was raised to $6 per
inch. These prices were annual payments. In 1819
the Navigation Company advertised "the price is for
the present, at $3 per annum, in the nature of a
ground- and water- rent for each .square inch of an
aperture under a three-foot head." One hundred
square inches, it was computed, would yield enough
power to grind ten bushels of wheat per hour. .
The following is taken from an article published in
one of the journals in 1823:
"The number of looms employed in the cotton manufactories in
Philadelphia is estimated at 20(K), requiring annually a supply of near
3,000,000 ponndsof raw cotton, which produce 2, ."lOCOOO pounds of yarn.
This is woven into 9,984,000 yards of cloth, of the average value of 20
cents a yard, and amounts to the sum of S1,996,S00. The value is sup-
posed to he distributed as follows: To the planters, S39I,515 ; to the
spinners, $446,4l!8 ; to the weavers and spoolers, S648,960; to the master
weavers, on the interest of money and profit. $49,920; and to the mer-
chant, for dye-stuffs, freights, and commissions, $349,102."
It was believed that at that time the number of
looms in Philadelphia would not fall short of 5000,
and that there were in the city and its vicinity up-
ward of 30 cotton-factories, most of them on an ex-
tensive scale. The average number of spindles used
in these establishments was about 1400, and the num-
ber of persons actually employed was about 3000.
"The Picture of Philadelphia in 1824," by Thomas
Wilson, which included the well-known work of Dr.
Mease, published in 1811, is a summary of " the prin-
cipal factories of note in and near the city." A con-
siderable number of them " near" were not in Phila-
delphia but in adjoining counties, and some in New
Jersey within a radius of thirty or fortj- miles from
the city.'
^ The following were noted as heing in the city and county;
The Arkwright Steam-Mill in Front Street, Kensington, ten horse-
power; calculated to spin annually about 90,000 pounds of cotton yarn.
McCredy's cotton-factory on Darhy Creek, 1700 spindles, 16 looms,
works by water-power, employs about 60 hands, and manufactures
cotton yarns and brown sheetings.
Frankford cotton-factory, 1816 spindles, manufactures weekly about
600 pounds of cotton yarn of Nos. 20-30.
Frasier manufactory, by steam-power, of sheetings, shirtings, and
cotton yarn, corner of Fifth and Christian Streets, 1000 spindles.
Globe Mills, Northern Liberties, Germantown road, between Second
and Third Streets, employs about 300 hands; manufactures ginghams,
drillings, checks, shirtings, and sheetings; has in use 3200 spindles,
with carding and other machinery; weekly consumption of cotton, 18
bales, each weighing 300 pounds.
Holmesburg factory, 1800 spindles.
Kensington Cotton-Mill, employs constantly 163 persons, men, women,
and children ; uses 1500 pounds of raw cotton weekly into yarn Nos. 14
-20; 1200 spindles.
Lodge's cotton-mill. Darby Creek, 924 spindles.
In 1824 there was a machine card-factory at No. 68
Market Street, which it was represented gave employ-
ment to 50 persons.
The cotton manufacturing establishments in 1827
numbered about 50, at an average annual rental of
$180 ; the houses occupied by weavers about 1500,
at $60 to $80 a year ; indigo used weekly, 2200 pounds ;
the goods daily produced were 81,000 yards, at an
average value of 16 cents a yard. The whole wages
of the operatives amounted to $1,470,000 per annum ;
rents, ta $114,000; indigo, to $228,800; flour for sizing,
to $9100 ; and the goods manufactured to $3,888,000 ;
requiring 20,050 bales of cotton, worth $607,500. The
goods made were ginghams, checks, bed-tickings, and
stripes, and were sold in the Southern and Western
States, and shipped by packet to Boston. It was re-
solved at a meeting of cotton manufacturers, Feb. 3,
1829, to establish one or more private houses for the
sale of their goods, and to discontinue sales at public
auction, as having a tendency to reduce the prices
below value and injurious to the interests of manufac-
turer, workman, dealer, and consumer.
Thomas Hunter established the Conestoga Print-
works at Hestonville, in 1829, in an old building
which antedated the Revolution, and was during the
war used as a foundr)- for casting cannon-balls ; subse-
quently it was turned into a button-factory, and then
altered to a dyeing and bleaching establishment, in
which latter condition it was being used when Thomas
Hunter purchased the property and commenced the
business of calico-printing. In 1832 he began to
work a copper cylinder made by John Agnew. The
engraving of the rolls was the handiwork 'of Matthias
W. Baldwin. When the cylinder for printing the
cloth was introduced, steam-power was employed, and
this is believed to have been the first use of a steam-
engine in this connection. Thomas Hunter continued
the business until his death, in 1848, when he was suc-
ceeded by two of his sons, James and John Hunter.
The Summerdale Print- Works owe their origin to
John Large, who, in 1834, established the business of
dyeing and printing cotton goods. In 1853, Charles
H. Wilson became a partner. The business increased
enormously, the production being 40,000 yards of
finished goods per day.
The Richmond Dyeing and Finishing Works were
established in 1838, on Richmond road, by James
Martin, an experienced English dyer and weaver.
In 1850 the works were removed to the corner of
Richmond and Tioga Streets, where the introduction
McCalmont's factory, Bristol township, 18 carding-machines , gives
work to about 100 persons.
Merion Cotton-Mill, Mill Creek, for the manufacture of cotton yarn,
940 spindles.
Richards' Flat Rock Canal cotton-factory, seven miles from Philadel-
phia, at Manayuuk, 1500 spindles, employs 200 people.
The woolen manufactories were as follows:
Falls of Schuylkill, 7 carding-machines and other apparatus.
Fisher's woolen-factory, Germantown.
Kelly's woolen-factory, Germantown.
Rodman's woolen-factory, Germantown.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2319
of machinery enabled the proprietor to carry on the
business of dyeing and finishing to an immense extent.
Thomas Martin, a brother of the founder, James Mar-
tin, and Thomas I. Martin, became members of the
firm in 1851. In 1864, James T. Martin, son of
Thomas, and John Thornley were admitted. In 1868,
Edwin Martin was admitted. The firm is now James
Martin & Co. Jacob Berges, in 1849, established on
Amber Street the dye-works which bear his name, for
fancy yarns, such as are used by hosiers or manufac-
turers of military goods. In its special lines this is
the largest establishment in the city. The Arasapha
Mills were erected in 1854, by John Larkin, and put
in operation for the production of tickings, stripes,
and denharas, by Abraham Blakeley, who, in 1860, as-
sociated with himself his son, Benjamin W. Blakeley,
under the firm-name of A. Blakeley & Son, to which
William S. Blakeley, another son, was admitted in
1874. The manufacture of bags, rope, and twine, by
John T. Bailey and James Cascaden, under the style
of John T. Bailey & Co., commenced in 1859,'on Arch
Street, west of Front. In 1860 the establishment was
removed to Front, above Arch, where it remained
until 1864, when it was removed to the northeast
corner of Market and Water Streets, and in 1874 to
No. 120 Chestnut Street. In 1868, James Cascaden
died, and Christopher Bailey, a brother of John T.,
became one of the firm, the name being unchanged.
The following year the extensive factory at Front and
Tasker Streets was erected, and the manufacture of
ropes and twines established on a very large scale.
The census of 1860 showed the following condition
of cotton manufactures in the city at that time :
No. Estab- Capital Value of
lishmenta. Invested. Product.
Cotton goods, doth 51 $2,101,000 84,347,645
Cotton goods, hand-looms 18 69,000 258,743
Cotton yarns 15 612,000 849,253
Cotton wadding, laps, etc.. 10 63,500 164,360
Cotton and woolen goods, power 61 l,05a,600 3,593,326
Cotton and woolen goods, hand 5 31,500 98,000
Cotton webbing, tape and braid 7 157,800 262,960
Cotton and woolen machinery 6 273,700 49 1,000
Coverlets, hand-woven, blankets 7 14,200 48,400
Totals 170 $4,472,300 $10,112,687
By the census of 1870 the following figures are
shown :
No. Estab- Capital Value of
lishments. Invested. Product.
Laps and wadding 9 $79,000 $134,462
Bleaclieries 6 9,500 37,200
Cotton yarns 7 524,300 766,130
11 ixed carpet yarns 7 117,000 224,552
Print cloths 1 100,000 140,000
Prints 9 2,056,000 7,773,417
Checks and ginghams 64 6,313,950 7,604,981
liinseys (mixed). 38 1,925,000 3,840,249
Balmorals (mixed) 9 224,760 1,341,750
Covcilets (mixed) 14 1»3.120 519,060
Webbing and tapes 5 462,000 483.441
Hosiery (cotton) 27 339,100 1,499,6.36
Hosiery (cotton and wool). 14 389,40 J 865,666
Totals— All cotton 118 $8,882,850 $18,369,266
Cotton and wool 96 3,242,390 6,797,277
The census of 1880 reports cotton goods as made
in 157 establishments, whose aggregate capital was
$9,539,550, employing at "one time" during the year
12,274 hands, paying in wages during the year $3,446,-
440, and using in raw material $9,026,672, producing
products valued at $16,349,238. The enumeration of
Philadelphia industries in 1882 exhibits the following
condition of the cotton industry :
No. Estab- Hands Value of
lishments. Employed. Product.
Cotton yarn goods 81 9,523 $13,100,333
Cotton yarn goods, finishers 7 237 472,.'.O0
Cotton coverlets 18 484 697,8(X)
Cotton towels, separate 4 81 113,400
Cotton laps and wadding 3 9 9,500
Cotton thread, cord, and twine 3 22 37.800
Cotton webbing, bindings, etc 4 414 622,000
Cotton yarns 15 783 1,245,200
Cotton waste, for packing 5 70 87,600
Totals 141 11,623 $15,286,033
Authorities diflfer as to who first introduced ready-
made clothing in Philadelphia. In 1794, William
Smiley kept a ready-made clothing store, southeast
corner of Water and Market Streets ; also Thomas
Dobbins, Front and Market Streets. A year or two
later John Culin kept a similar establishment in
Market Street, near Water, and a few years after (say
1805) John Ashton kept a ready-made clothing store
in Market Street, above Front ; and Charles Collins, in
Front Street, above Chestnut; and, about this period,
Alexander Dougherty, Front Street, near Chestnut ;
Enoch Allen, Chestnut and Water Streets ; Henry
Hugg, Market Street, below Second ; Siliis W. Sexton
and Jacob Painter, Market Street, above Front;
Charles Harkness, same locality ; Charles Hill, south-
west corner Water and Arch Streets ; James Wilson,
northwest corner of Water and Arch Streets ;
Laurence, near Water and Market Streets; James
Boyd, Water Street, near Race. Also in those days
there were Samuel Owens, Auley Brown, S. C. & B. C.
Cooper, and others. The first clothing establishments
upon Market Street were those of Ashton, Harkness,
Sexton, and Collins, all between Front and Second
Streets. In those days the clothing business was
carried on exclusively east of Second Street, and
chiefly opposite to that which was so long known as
the Jersey Market-House, and contiguous to the old
court-house.
The " slop-shops" of other days still haunt the by-
ways of the city, but the ready-made clothing houses
of the present time are vast and elegant establish-
ments. The Philadelphia houses in this trade have
their work done in their own establishments, where
the interested supervision of the managers secures a
better article than any " contract system" can supply.
The goods'from which the clothing is made are manu-
factured to a very great extent in the city, thus en-
abling these large houses to select from first hands.
Shirts, shirt collars, and underwear form another
branch of ready-made clothing which in Philadelphia
is extensively manufactured. The statistics of em-
ployment in these branches of trade show that there
are engaged in making " clothing, men's and boys',"
562 establishments, where 20,396 persons are em-
ployed, producing a yearly value, in 1882, of $31,220,-
958; "clothing, women's, suits and cloaks," 276
2320
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
establishments, employing 3132 persons, and pro-
ducing, in 1882, $3,138,833 ; " clothing, men's shirts
and underwear," 109 establishments, employing 3804
persons, and producing, in 1882, $4,010,450 ; " cloth-
ing, suspenders and web goods," 12 establishments,
employing 144 persons, and producing $149,000 in
1882 ; " clothing, neckwear, scarfs, etc.," 9 establish-
ments, employing 295 persons, and producing, in 1882,
$334,500; "clothing, of rubber cloth," 3 establish-
ments, employing 84 persons, and producing, in 1882,
$110,000; "clothing, of oiled cloth," 2 establish-
ments, employing 15 persons, and producing, in 1882,
$30,000.
These 973 establishments in the ready-made cloth-
ing business give employment to 27,870 persons, and
produced, in 1882, S38,983,241 worth of goods. In
1860, "Clothing, men's," the only item of this kind
mentioned in the census of that year, was made in
352 establishments, whose capital was $4,369,575, and
the value of the raw material used was $5,147,344,
the number of persons employed 14,087, and the
annual product was valued at $9,984,497. In 1870 a
division of the industry appears in the census for
that year. " Clothing, men's and boys'," was made in
420 establishments, " neckties" in 5 establishments,
and "suspenders" in 2 establishments; "clothing,
women's, cloaks, etc.," in 72 establishments, and
"corsets and skirts" in 18 establishments; "gloves,
men's leather," in 3 establishments. These 520 estab-
lishments in 1870 employed a capital of $7,187,727,
and used raw material valued at $7,647,977 ; they
employed 12,293 persons, and the value of their pro-
ducts in that year was $15,015,493. The increase in
this business has been from 520 establishments in
1870 to 973 in 1882, from 12,293 persons employed
in 1876 to 27,870 in 1882, and from $15,015,493 in
1870 to $38,983,241 in 1882.
As an appropriate conclusion tothe history of the rise
and development of the manufacture of textile fabrics
in Philadelphia, the following table is appended :
SUMMARY OF THE TEXTILE INDU.STEIES, CLASSIFIED AS BY THE CITY CENSOS OF 1882-83.
No. Estati-
lishments. Men. Women. Youths. Total. Values.
Carpets, Brussels, ingrain, etc 237 6,402 3,022 1,019 11,043 J20,300,445
Carpets, rag 99 169 10 8 187 235,000
Cloth-flnishing, woolen chiefly 3 24 0 0 24 62,800
Cotton yarn goods 81 3,332 6.019 1,172 9,5J3 13,100,333
Cotton yarns 15 219 404 260 783 1.24.6,200
Cotton manufactures, ail other* 44 630 616 172 1,317 1,940,600
Dye- and print-works 8G 1,786 113 195 2,094 6,621,200
Includes cotton yarn goods finisliers, cotton coverlets, cotton towels, cotton caps and wadding, cotton thread, cord, and twine, cotton
d bindings, and cotton waste for paclting.
The American colonists were quick to introduce the
manufacture of white paper after it had been made in
England. The first paper-mill in Philadelphia was
also the first in any of the colonies. In 1693 a mill
for the manufacture of paper is believed to have been
in existence in the borough of Roxborough. H. G.
Jones, in a paper read before the Historical Society,
and published in the Historical Magazine, vol. i.
p. 86, has established this fact from unquestionable
records :
' This
lili
situated on a small rivulet, now called Pjtper-Mill
Run, in Roxborougli, near the southwestern line of Germantown town-
ship. It was owned by David Rittenhausen (now spelled Riltenliouse),
hia son Clause (Nicholas), 'William Bradford, of New York, and Thom;is
Tresse, of Philadelphia, each of the latter two owning a fourth part. . . .
The precise date of its erection is not known ; but as Bradford was inter-
ested .IS partowner, it was doubtless built before 1693, when he removed
to New York. The Kittenhouses are said to have settled in Pennsylva-
nia about 1690, having emigrated from Holland, where their ancestors
were engaged in paper-making. We have positive proofl however, that
paper was made at the Ro.\boiough mill in 1697, for Gabriel Thomas, in
his 'History of the Provi[ice of Pennsylvania,' written in that year,
says, * All sorts of very good paper are made in Germantown,' with which
place Roxborough was often identified ; and besides, there now lies
before me a MS. lease dated ' this 24th day of September, in ye year of
our Lord, 1697,' signed by William Bradford, who is described as
'having one-fourth part of ye paper mill, near Germantown.' He
rented his share to the Rittenhouses for ten years, upon the following
terms: 'That they, the s* William and Clause Rittenhausen shall pay
and deliver to said William Bradford, his executors or assigns, or their
order, in Philadelphia, ye full quantity of Seven Ream of Printing Paper,
Two ream of good writing paper, and two Ream of blue paper, yearly,
and every year during y" terme of Ten years.' "
This mill was destroyed by a freshet, and aid was
asked by Penn of his people to help Rittenhouse in
rebuilding.
Rittenhouse, the elder, was succeeded by his son
Nicholas.' This mill supplied Franklin with much
of the paper used by him.
De AVarvilie says there were forty-eight paper-mills
in Pennsylvania in 1787, and mentions a paper-mill
on the Brandywine owned by Mr. Gilpin and Myers
Fisher, a Philadelphian, in which the process for
grinding the rags was much more simple than that
used by the French, and the specimens of paper made
at this mill he regarded as equal to the finest made
in France. The first machines for producing paper
complete in all its processes were made by Thomas
Gilpin, of Philadelphia, in 1816, but Col. Forney, in
1 Amongthe "Notes and Queries" of the Sundoff Z>(8j;a(cft, a writer says,
" David Rittenhausen (now Rittenhouse), some forty-five years ago, told
me one day — on a Sunday afternoon, on a visit at his house — that the
first paper-mill built in Pennsylvania was on Crab Creek (now called
Tulpehocken Creek), one-quarter of a mile northeast of the Wissahickon,
directly opposite his house, now owned by his son Jonathan. He also
showed me part of the foundation wall. They carried the rags in bags
on the backs of horses from School Lane, and returned the paper in
hampers in the same manner, by a bridle-path on the back-hills of the
Wissahickon. School Lane was the first road opened from Germantown
main road and Ridge turnpike. The rags were brought from Philadel-
phia in carts, and the manufactured paper was returned in the same
manner." Tulpehocken Street is near the stream which may at some
time have been known as Tulpehocken Creek, or, earlier, as Crab Creek.
Paper-Mill Run is its present name.
..^^^^^ /;5^:S^
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2321
hia oration du the 4th of July, 1877, aai'); •^'■x paper-
mills were started in and around PhiiadelpWa by
Franklin aloue; but in 180U it still toolf tbn-e months
to transfi .'^m a pair of old linen pant« into a sheet
of writing-paper." In those mills there was coargi-
machinery, but the paper van hand-made until Gil-
pin's machinery enabled paper to be madi? complete
from washing and grinding the rags to the laying of
the pulp in sheets, pressing and drying it, whereby
the manufacture was greatly expedited The industry
grew rapidly, as has been .shown by De Wai villi?, and
paper-mills arose witliiu the city proper. In 1S34,
Jeaper Harding: established one at t' '"■.
berton Court and Lodge Alley. •'
nf'wspapers were printed in thi -. '
mill was in operation. .'< 'ly
lo/cA set up its pressofsin ii .lere
■ Game in at one d<><ir auvi ^nuied j.jU. ....;.^ '.vcDt
tt another. The imii!f«ibilily of obtaiuing a suf-
nt supply of water forced Jesper Harding to re-
a from Lodge Alley to Trenton, N. J.
iame-s M. Wilcox, of Pennsylvania, in a letter
a Dec. 17, 1850, and addressed to Thomas Ew-
., commissioner of patents, sives the following
■ as to the early manufacture of paper:
■ iKiut the year 17'26 iii>- ..-ui: 'i-.; ..r «*. w.v '^rv>vr, t , >■ t.^ t.i'-
business iu Engliini], i-ui.
documents to pryvi' tl
- MCtiiring paper. Thokin
' "■ preBS-boar'l, and ^'ich hs u wt'^ uowi h>
: ve there was anot'^T mill a little iturtis ..
lloetOD, einiiliirly occupied, I believe n'
: .jiedt at that limo proliibitiug ti.
• i.T iu the colonlen. As iliere ».■;
>i.nie», the progren of papor in«!
:-.iied until about the dawn uf it.
i'lclured the paper fr-r X>r Prai'i^ '
in Philadelphia !• . . r. i ;
■-:' that lime uij
; ; he commeii'
in America. V
v.?ment occurred ihat wae miputiatil, t'L-i>
aiced for facilitatlDg the operation. Th<? .
. '.i innrli.M. t.. .! ■■ •'.'. yen^'tl quQDtitJ of y
ve began to i:
'igi"i t-o naon
creaniug :•*•
pr'.fO
tablisbment.s, employing 751 bands, and prodaoiog
$2,246,000.
Marl: W ilcos, for many years the proprietor of great
paper-making industries, was the great-grandson of
Tli'inias Wilcox, a native of England, who married
Elizabeth Cole, a native of Ireland, and in 1727 settled
at Ivy Mills, Delaware- Co., Pa., on a property pur-
chased from William Penn. In 1729, Thomiis Wilcox
erected there the third mill established in America for
the manufacture of paper. He fur(M-"'ied !he paper
uiied by Franklin to print the '
ao'l .'/(••.o fhe paper on which 'I
tory ol national paper ciiirmuj iu this cour
uishing the government with its bond mil '
paper up to within a few years past. *. >
' the governments of Venezuela and otiv-
; ican C'luntrie.-!, and subsequently thost oi J .;
I many, and Greece, were supplied from th< >
: Thomas Wilcox had thri'.' »on<. .'.in, In,.
Mark, the latter of whom livcii ■.
' He married Mary Caufroan b;
seph, John, and James M. Wi.-
wa« twice married. By his tir*! ■
11 were Mark and Willie
Marv Braoi ?tt. — Jamc« ' '
Tlie census of ' .|.-.-
■ I iUs in the cit,. .'0,-
■ . the ra\N n.-. ' ,075,
. that they empioy^i -'>-^ iiauu.'?, xud produced
.; lally a value of $082,000. Tic wnu number of
mills existed in 1870, but th" '.>yed had
incrc-wed to $2,12G,600, and I i, raw ma-
terial to ;?l,314,609. Their '■ 617
hands, and the value of i' vas
$2,60'.),000. In IfioO lli" pa;. .Mic.r
than paper-hangin;;', was couoiicletl in 7 e.slablii<h-
ments, with an airsrroeitte capital of $960,0ft0, with raw
material valued nt $87!.00(», employing 4.>2 hands,
and producing anuaally $411,830. In 1882 the paper-
"ils for "book, news, and roofing" numbered 9 es-
;iau. i'., who reut.a ti.r •■■
.->ne of thp prniiri etftrs »ti
cent's Semi:, ■
pital. For n;
the Girard '
priet"'r ""<!
officiui
Thef^..
to th.
eiucuvj, Ih'.s rooiii iu '.viivju n)
the last century Avas included i.
used exclusively as an orat/iry .•
2322
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
in all the relations of life, Mr. Wilcox's liberalitj' to
his church had scarcely any limits. The church at
Ivy Mills, which was built by his father, was largely
supported by Mr. Wilcox, and when the parochial
residence was destroyed by fire he contributed the
principal part of the cost of rebuilding.
Plunket Fleeson, who lived at the corner of Fourth
and Chestnut Streets, commenced, in 1769, the manu-
facture of American paper-hangings " of all kinds and
colors, not inferior to those generally imported, and
as low in price. Also, papier-mache, or raised paper
mouldings for hangings, in imitation of carving, either
colored or gilt." He added: "As there is consider-
able duty irapo.sed on paper-hangings imported here,
it cannot be doubted but that every one amongst us
who wishes prosperity to America will give a prefer-
ence to our own manufactures, especially on the
above proposition of equally good and cheap."
Fleeson was an upholsterer, and this enterprise was
certainly one of the earliest in this branch of manu-
facture in America. In 1774-75 Ryves and Fletcher
established a manufactory of paper-hangings on Pine
Street. In the autumn of 1789, Burrell Carnes, under
the firm of LeCollay & Chardon, established another
manufactory, in which 10,000 pieces were produced
in nine months. The establishment, it was expected,
when thoroughly in operation, might turn out between
20,000 and 30,000 pieces of wall-paper in one year.
The manufacture of paper-hanging was continued in
1806 by Anthony Chardon and S. Austin. Their
manufactorv' was at No. 323 Sassafras Street, and the
warehouse was at No. 85 Chestnut Street. Samuel
Law, who was originally a painter, engaged in busi-
ness as a paper-staiuer about 1799 at No. 324 South
Front Street. Subsequently he removed his factory
to Christian Street, above Second. In 1810 he em-
ployed twelve persons, and turned out 25,000 pieces
of paper-hangings annually, worth $16,666, on a cap-
ital of §80,000. Robert A. Caldcleugh & Daniel
Thomas, who were originally in business as stationers
at No. 68 Chestnut Street, undertook the manufac-
ture of paper-hangings in 1806. They announced in
that year that they had on hand " many thousands
of feet of paper-hangings and borders of their own
manufacture, embracing the most extensive variety
of all the new, tasty, and fashionable patterns suit-
able for dining-rooms, parlors, drawing-rooms, halls,
entries, staircases, printed in various grounds and
colors, or may be had in any color, to suit the taste
of the customer."
In the early part of 1809, John Cook established a
manufactory of paper-hangings on Race Street, near
the Schuylkill, under the direction of Charles Smith,
formerly of Caldcleugh & Thomas. This establish-
ment was about the site of Honey's Garden (after-
ward D'Arras), between Schuylkill Second [Twenty-
first) and Schuylkill Third [Twentieth] Streets, and
extended from Race Street south of the line of Cherry
Street. The warehouse of John Cook & Co. was at
the northeast corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets.
At the same time Orth, Cook & Co. were in business
at the same place as venders of paper-hangings. In
1811 the title of this firm was changed to Orth &
Smith. Orth continued the manufacturing, while
Smith remained in charge of the warehouse at Fourth
and Chestnut Streets. Virchaux & Co. commenced
the manufacture of paper-hangings about 1814, and
gave notice, in the latter part of that year and in the
succeeding year, of their having entered copyrights
for certain designs, these probably being among the
earliest of American patterns. Their warehouse was
at No. 85 Chestnut Street, where they seem to have
succeeded Chardon & Austin. John B. Howell, an
Englishman, who had come to the United States
from London about 1793, and who established a man-
ufactory of paper-hangings at Albany, N. Y., came to
Philadelphia about 1817, and commenced business as
a paper-stainer back of No. 351 North Second Street.
In 1820 his factory was at No. 125 North Front Street,
in 1822 he was at No. 34 North Third Street, and
in 1825 his shop was at No. 72 North Sixth Street.
The business subsequently went into the hands of
his sons, — John A. Howell, George Howell, Zophar
Howell, Darius C. Howell, and William Howeli, —
who built up by their industry- a great manufacturing
house.
This manufacture in 1860 was returned in the cen-
sus of that year as conducted by 4 establishments,
with a capital of $310,000, the raw material used
being valued at $201,100, and the labor employed
numbering 299 hands, with an annual product of
8435,000. In the same year marbled and grained
paper was produced in 4 establishments, with a capi-
tal of $20,000, using $12,026 worth of raw material,
employing 35 hands, and producing $32,500 annually.
Paper boxes, band-boxes, and paper bags were pro-
duced by 20 establishments, with capital aggre-
gating $54,900, and using raw material of the value
of $62,576, employing 341 hands, and producing an-
nually $194,350. Pasteboard and binders' boards
were manufactured in 2 establishments, with $15,000
capital, the raw material being valued at $11,960, and
the hands employed numbering 13, with an annual
product of $22,000. In 1880 the census reported
paper-hangings in 4 establishments, with $820,000 of
capital, employing 401 hands, with raw material
valued at $384,252, producing an annual value of
$708,979. The tabular returns for Philadelphia in-
dustries in 1882 gave :
No. Estab-
Hehments, Labor. Product.
Paper putp 1 187 S74«,noo
Paper-lianging8 mannf- 5 372 681,000
Paper-bangers 28 247 446,900
Paper boards 7 127 444.500
Paper-boxes 36 1919 1,877,400
Paper-cap tubes 2 8 12.l>00
Pappr envelopes 4 94 lon.OiX)
Papier-mache 1 15 27,000
The statistics of paper in all its forms, from 1860 to
1882, are as follows :
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2323
No. Estab- Knw Ma-
lishments. Capital. terial. Labor. Product.
28 8384,900 $275,702 676 $6.'il,360
3,065,824
54 1,072,823 728,800 ... 1,226,991
4,638,089
11 1,780,000 1,265,262 462 2,120.809
84 2969 4,40.5,900
1860
1867
1870
1875
1880
1882
John Baine, an aged type-founder of Edinburgh,
established a type-foundry in Philadelphia soon after
the war, and he cast the types for a portion of the
"Encyclopsedia Britannica," which was republished
in Philadelphia by Thomas Dobson.
In Philadelphia 'a very crude substitute for stereo-
typing was introduced by the industrious publisher,
Mathew Carey, in the year 1810. Mr. Carey had
issued, in 1790, an edition, in quarto, of the Douay
Bible in 978 pages. The price of this book was six
Spanish milled dollars. So popular was this edition
that Carey, when publishing his Protestant Bible,
twenty years later, determined to find some improve-
ment over merely setting the type, and made up his
mind to have it stereotyped. He pursued this process
in a very costly manner, merely keeping the type
intact in pages, and placing them in a store-room, to be
ready for instant use. In this way the indomitable
Mathew Carey locked up in idleness 30,000 pounds of
type.
Thomas' " History of Printing" supplies the follow-
ing catalogue of booksellers in Pennsylvania from the
first settlement of the country to the commencement
of the Revolutionary war in 1775 :
1692.— William Bradford, sold pamphlets and other small articles.
ms.—Avdrew Bradford, " Sign of the Bible, in Second Street." He
was also a primer and binder.
1718.— Jo/m CopsTO, bookseller, but dealt chiefly in other goods ; he was
concerned with Andrew Bradford in the first newspaper which was pub-
lished in Pennsylvania.
1129.— Benjamin Franilin, in Market Street. He likewise was a
printer and binder.
Vm.— Alexander Aunard, " in Second Street, near the church."
1742. — William Bradford, the younger, "in Second Street."
1742.— Jo/iii Barkley, " at the Sign of the Bible on Second Street j'from
Great Britain."
1742. — Jamea Reed, "next door to the po3t-oflice," on Market Street.
nii.—Jos-ph Goodwin, " in Second Street, near Black Horse Alley."
He afterward moved into Black Horse Alley. Goodwin was from Eng-
land, and was a bookseller, binder, and stationer. It appears that he was
a considerable dealer.
im.— Stephen Polls, " at the Bible and Crown in Front Street."
1743.— y. Schuppey, " at the siyn of the book, in Strawberry Alley." He
was a binder, and wold a few books. It is pi obable that he was a German.
1743.— c'onjeiia Bradford, " in Second Street."
niS.—Dauid Hall, "in Market Street." He was a printer and the
partner of Benjamin Franklin. He dealt largely in books and sta-
tionery.
1755. — Heimj Sandij, " Lffititia Court."
1757.— yVilluim Dimlap, " in Market Street." He was bred to printing,
which be followed, but dealt somewhat extensively as a bookseller.
About 1767 ho removed to Virginia, and settled there as a minister of
the Church of England.
nbS.— Black Harry, "in LKtitia Court," was a binder, and sold small
Vlb9.— Andrew Stewart,—" Leetitia Court," but removed in 1762 to
" the Bible-iu-Heart, in Second Street." He was a printer and dealer in
pamphlets.
17611 —,Aime» Rinngton, " in Second Street," by his agent, who became
his partner in the following year.
nsi.—Ririiiglon d Brown, " in Second Street," but they some time
after took another stand. They were both from England. Rivington
soon after opened bookstores in New York and Boston, and resided in
New York.
1764.— ITiffiam Sellert, on Arch Street, between Second and Third
Streets. He was a printer and bookseller from England, and became
the partner of David Hall.
1765.— Snmuei Tatjlor, "corner of Market and Water Streets."
1706. — John Diinlap, "in Market Street," succeeded to the printing and
bookselling business of William Bunlap.
IIK— Robert Bell, " at .the Union Library in Third Street in 1770."
He was from Ireland, became a printer, and was celebrated as a book
auctioneer.
mx.— William Woodhoute, "in Front Street, near Chestnut Street,"
afterward " in Second Street." He was a binder and bookseller.
1768. — John Sparhawk, at the London bookstore, on Market Street,
j afterward at the " Unicorn & Mortar, in Second Street." He published
several books.
1768. — John Anderlon,&t the London Book Store on Second Street. lie
was from England, and was a binder, letter case and pocket-book
maker, and as such first began business in New York. He sometimes
advertised books for sale in his own name, and at other times as con-
nected with Sparhawk.
1768. — Roger Bowman, merchant, sold books on consignment from
England.
1769. — Robert Ailken commenced bookselling in Front Street; he was
from Scotland, to which country he returned in 1770; but, in 1771, came
back to Philadelphia, and opened a book store and printing-house on
Market Street.
1770. — Crukshank & Collins, on Third Street, were a short time part-
ners as printers and booksellers. Afterward Jamea Crukskank opened
his printing-house and a book-store on Market Street.
1110.— James Stewart,on Second Street, between Cbestnut and Walnut
Streets, from Glasgow, shopkeeper ; sold Scotch editions on commission.
1770. — Seinple & Buchanan, on Front Street, shopkeepers, from Scotland ;
sold Scotch editions on commission. Semple afterward sold books and
British goods.
1771. — Robert MacGill, corner of Lsetitia Court, binder and bookseller.
1771. — John MacGibbons, on Front Street, between Arch and Race.
Not largely in trade. He published Josephus* works in four volumes,
octavo.
1771.— Samuel Dettop, on Front Street, between Market and Arch. He
kept a book- and print-shop.
1773. — James Young, at his book-store adjoining the London CoflFee-
House.
1773. — Thomas 3IaGee, Jr., Second Street, nearly opposite Christ
Church.
1773. — George Reinhold, on Market Street, traded in Dutch books,
Qermantown.
1735. — Christopher Sowers, from Germany, printed books in the Ger-
man language.
1744. — Christopher Saur, Jr., succeeded to the business of bis father.
It was not until 1807 that the old balls for inking
began to be dispensed with. In that year Hugh Max-
well introduced into three or more printing-offices in
the city rollers in place of balls for inking type,
which were estimated to save to each press six dollars
per week in addition to the gain in time and supe-
riority of workmanship. The cost of the machine
complete was $100. Barlow's " Columbiad" was issued
in 1808, in a style that made it tiie most magnificent
volume in America. It was in quarto form and illus-
trated with many engravings executed in London, of
which several were designed by Robert Fulton. The
printing-offices in the city in 1810 numbered 51 and
the presses 153, and there were upward of 60 engravers.
The petition of paper-makers, printers, and book-
sellers to Congress in 1822, for a reduction of duty on
imported books, stated that the cash value of books
manufactured annually at Philadelphia was over
$1,000,000.
Mr. Adam Ramage, press-maker of Philadelphia, in
2324
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Carter's Alley, was in 1804, a manufacturer of printing
presses, copper-plate, and book-binders' presses and
printing-bouse furniture of all kinds. In 1817 he im-
ported the " Euthven press" from Scotland, and manu-
factured a number of them. May 23, 1818, he patented
the Kamage press, an improvement upon the " Ruth-
ven." A patent hand press, called the " Columbian"
press, was this year introduced in England in an im-
proved form by George Clymer, of Philadelphia, the
inventor. In style of finish and embellishments, with
various devices emblematic of the art, it exceeded any-
thing then known in the trade there, and the certificates
and testimonials of masters and workmen were much
in its favor. These presses were probably the earliest
improvements on the old screw-press introduced into
the city. The first book-trade sale in the city was
held in 1824, according to the suggestion and plan of
Henry C. Carey. The auctioneer was Moses Thomas,
by whom these sales were generally conducted semi-
annually under the name of Moses Thomas & Sons ;
they were, however, during a part of the intermediate
time under the management of Cowperthwait & Lord,
Lord & Carlisle, and George W. Lord & Son. They
have been continued ever since. The city contained at
that day 55 printing-oiEces with 112 presses, support-
ing 150 workmen. In 1833, Cary, Lea & Blanchard
were said to have paid annually during the five pre-
ceding years to American authors and writers the
sum of $30,000.
Thomas S. Ellis, who has been identified for the
last half-century with the business I'nterests of the
city, was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 24, 1815, and,
after having had a limited education at the public
schools, became engaged in the lower departments of
the business in which he has since been so highly
successful. He had quitted school and was but eleven
years of age when his parents placed him in the auc-
tion-house of M. & S. Thomas, whose stores and ofiices
were then on Chestnut Street, below Third. He was
so assiduous in his attention to all the details of the
business, andso quickly familiarized himself with them,
that his employers selected him in the earliest days of
his career for rapid promotion. The house had very
numerous connections, the volume of its trade was
immense, and an ambitious, energetic, and diligent
young man, such as Mr. Ellis was, found in the mem-
bers of the firm men who were quick to afford his
talents a wide and fertile field of exercise. His prog-
ress was steadily upward, his grasp of the theory and
system of a great auction business showing itself
almost daily. In the course of years the house of
M. & S. Thomas dropped that title, for which that of
Moses Thomas & Son was substituted, and has ever
since been retained. When the junior partner died,
on Aug. 25, 1865, Mr. Ellis became the senior partner,
and the death of John D. Thomas, which occurred in
January, 1867, threw into his hands the sole control
of the manifold interests of this great and important
house. He associated with himself, under the firm-
name of Moses Thomas & Son, N. A. Jennings, for
many years a partner in the firm, and a son-in-law of
Moses Thomas; and there is perhaps no commercial
centreinPhiladelphiabetter known than their auction-
rooms, at No. 139 and No. 141 South Fourth Street, both
on account of the diversity of their operations and the
vast scale upon which those operations are conducted.
Their dealings are in household goods, real estate,
books and periodicals, horses, carriages, and harness
and every other valuable article of trafiic that is sold
and bought at auction. The value of the transactions
amounts to many millions of dollars yearly. In
recent years the partnership has been enlarged, and
now includes, besides Mr. Ellis and Mr. Jennings, J.
Harbeson Barnes, John H. Lafland, and Samuel 8.
Ellis.
Thomas S. Ellis was for many years actively con-
nected with the old Volunteer Fire Department as a
member of the Fame Hose Company, of which he
was treasurer for over thirty years. He is now a
director of the Franklin Fire Insurance Company
and of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Com-
pany. He was chairman of the committee of auction-
eers at the Sanitary Fair in 1864, and under his guid-
ance that committee earned many thousands of dol-
lars for the fund for the relief of the troops in the
hospital and the field. He was then so successful
that he was chosen chairman of the committee of
auctioneers for the Centennial Exhibition, in which
capacity he was largely instrumental in making the
brilliant record of his department. Caring little for
any allurements outside of business and social life,
he has refused all invitations to a political career or
official preferment, but he has been connected with
numerous public enterprises of a commendable char-
acter. He was married in 1841.
Type-founding, commenced in Philadelphia by
Christopher Saur in 1735, and continued, as has
been stated, by John Baine, owes to Archibald Bin-
ney and James Eonaldson the improvement in the
type-mould by which the number of type cast has
been greatly increased. Both Binney and Ronaldson
were from Scotland. Binney established his foundry
in 1796, and Ronaldson was soon after associated
with him ; the latter died in Philadelphia March 31,
1841, aged upward of sixty years. He was a devoted
horticulturist, and laid out, in 1831, the beautiful
cemetery in the southwestern section of the city, be-
tween Ninth and Tenth Streets, which bears his name.
The casting capacity of the Binne}' & Ronaldson mould
was greatly multiplied by the patent of William
L. Johnson, in 1808, by which also a much sharper
outline and better face was acquired. In the succe.ss-
ful house of Binney & Ronaldson Lewis Pelouze ob-
tained a practical knowledge of the art and mystery
of type-founding, and in 1842 this gentleman went
into business for himself at the northwest corner of
Third and Chestnut Streets. The later establishments
in this line of manufacture in Philadelphia are those
•i JH
Jf2(r-^.cSM.t
^"S'lyAHBj.ixli.ii
'l^^iC.
n
TUV. TNTDTTSTRTPS fW PWTT. 4 DRT.PHT A
2325
r.'kellsr, Smiths & Jordu..,
iibnson Type Foundry, '
i.'O A Son, and A. Robb, a:.
■ for marking line:'
is also largely '
•anufacture in Ph.:
1 any other city.
■mas Mackellar, present lipad
(Iry, printer, author, and poet, iv:
Vug. 12, 1812. One of hi* ran
.le second man, whose m»T
i-ords of iho Reform<'i '
the date being Ifi ! i '' •
i; employed in th^
. he evinced his a :.
iiy learning the case liie .•■<-.• aa-
..nsing-room.* On the failure ol'
■I'ly a brief life, he found an *
leat publishing hous« of J. & ■'
ility quickly marked lu!-! ; "
H6 was promoted t" i
lOader when in bis? ^etci'
1 off his father and mother wn-.
ears of age, and as the supj>' :•
V devolved upon him, he ami. ■
-tatc from tin- difficulties in v.
involved, but the tr '-
iishment.
tictantly rein; -■;
of the Q':; ~
Imt if he wo'j •
or fortune -ii'
.iture career ;•
i. the Harpei>
aghly skilU.-fi ■ -
L;an work, on
ureotype for:
•■. His v,iluat';
A'rence Johnson, seuiui i ■
him foreman of the depai "
jsing-rooms and stereotypy !••
s taken into the business as a ;• -
ihe two sons of (if.TL''e F. Smith. ■
'■t time previotuly. Tht style <<> i
ue L. Johofton <S; t \<. He removt : ■.
-inantown in ISSrt, part.iy on account 'jf !'
had been somewhat impaired by h'.-
i'ln to business and the loss of his oldi«l ■
• eighteenth year. In 1860, Mr. Johrn.
•le surviving partners formed a i''
ime of Peter A. Jordan, under t'.:'
Smiths & Jordan. The ev ■
■ 1 the Johnson Type Foundry,
ed partner. Ever since Mr.
i ited with it it has incr<.iiBe«i '. .« t.'K
= '.rans.actions, until it i.i n.m the most ii.
■ '•! most celebratf ' i.ts wori'<
-pecimen books, : .s varieticr
•npsi made in tin .■■ ^.^i up ui"!-r
2326
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
Bible Society, and wrote its annual reports. He is
director of several insurance and trust companies.
Until recently he was president of the Philadelphia
Book Trade Association, and is president of the Type
Founders' Association of the United States. He is
also a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society,
the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Pennsyl-
vania Museum of Art.
In 1834, Mr. Mackellar married Miss Eliza Koss,
daughter of Samuel Ross, of Philadelphia, who was a
stanch Scotch-Irish Presbyterian. His wife proved a
true helpmeet, and aided him in his settled purpose
never to contract a debt, and never to buy anything that
he could not at once pay for. The union continued
thirty-seven years, until her death, in 1871, and re-
sulted in a family of two sous and eight daughters, of
whom one son and four daughters survive. He has
not married again, but finds his home enjoyments in
the company of his children and grandchildren.
Jacob Perkins, a most ingenious artisan, at one time
resided in Philadelphia, and in 1814 was a member of
the house of Murray, Draper & Fairman. He pat-
ented, in 1799, an improvement for decarbonizing and
hardening steel for the indenting cylinders of en-
gravers. In 1819, Perkins, "late of Philadelphia,"
took out a patent in England for " machinery appli-
cable to engraving, etc." He was awarded by the
London Society of Arts the " thanks of the society"
for communicating to it for publication certain parts
of " the siderographic process for multiplying copies
of engravings." The second lithographic establish-
ment in the United States was opened in Philadelphia
in 1828 by Kennedy & Lucas, but for want of practi-
cal printers was soon abandoned. About the same
time Messrs. John Pendleton, Kearney, and Childs
employed the late Rembrandt Peale, the great por-
trait-painter, who, together with Swett Pendleton,
removed to New York, where they established the first
lithographic establishment in that city, while the
business in Philadelphia was continued by C. J.
Childs and H. Inman. Two years later Mr. Lehman
took the place of Inman, and the firm became Childs
& Lehman, and continued until 1834, when P. S.
Duval succeeded Childs, the firm becoming Lehman
& Duval, and in 1836, Mr. Duval became sole pro-
prietor. Prior to the establishment of a lithographic
office the art had been introduced from Germany
as early as 1819. The Analedic Magazine for July,
1819, vol. xxiv. p. 67, contained the first speci-
men of lithographic printing executed in America.
The design, as well as the print itself, was made at the
works of B. Otis, of Philadelphia, at the suggestion
of Dr. Samuel Brown, of Alabama, and Judge Cooper,
upon a stone brought from Munich, and presented to
the American Philosophical Society by Thomas Dod-
8on. Mr. Otis also executed specimens of lithography
upon stone procured near Dicks River, Ky.
This city is also very intimately associated with
the original experiments in what has now become
the art and science of photography. When that dis-
tinguished investigator and inventor, the late Dr.
John W. Draper, was making his earliest tests in pro-
ducing " sun-pictures," he regularly announced the
results of his labors in the Journal of the Franklin
Institute, and in its files between 1834 and 1839 many
of the papers in which he reported his curious and
interesting efforts may be found. In 1839 the success
which Daguerre had achieved in France was noticed
in the Philadelphia papers, and Dr. Bird, then chem-
ical professor in one of the medical schools, was asked
what he thought of this new mode of copying objects
with a sunbeam. He laughed it down then as a
hoax, but he soon had reason to change his opinion,
and at the time of his death, in 1854, he was probably
the ablest writer on the subject in the United States.
Joseph Saxton, a thorough genius in mechanics, went
to work to construct a camera and baths, and with
this, the first apparatus of the kind ever made in
Philadelphia, he took a picture of the old Arsenal
and the cupola of the old Philadelj^hia High School.
This view was made from a window of the United
States Mint, in which Saxton was an employ^. In
the Journal of the Franklin Institute for October, 1839,
Professor J. F. Frazer, of Philadelphia, published a
translation, made by himself from the French, of a
full description of the Daguerre process ; and by fol-
lowing the directions therein contained he succeeded
in making a daguerreotype picture. The earliest por-
trait from life taken in Philadelphia is believed to
have been of Dr. Kennedy, principal of the Polj'-
technic Institute, made by Professor Walter R. John-
son in 1839. Robert Cornelius was the first to enter
into the business of taking portraits, and the first pic-
ture made and sold in this city was that of John Mc-
Allister, the optician. Thompson, Retzer, and John
Plumb soon afterward established their galleries.
Much interest was stirred up among gentlemen given
to scientific pursuits, and Dr. Goddard, at that time
engaged with Dr. Hare, professor of Chemistry in the
University of Pennsylvania, made a valuable im-
provement by the introduction of bromine as an ac-
celerator. Dr. J. E. Parker at this early date sur-
passed all rivals in producing out-door views of street
scenes and buildings, and he and a Mr. Reed did very
much toward perfecting the apparatus. A Mr. Mason,
in 1839, produced by the light of a small gas-burner
an excellent copy of an engraving, which was prob-
ably the first picture ever taken by artificial light,
and he also made a daguerreotype on steel.
Langenheimer was an artist who attained a great
reputation shortly after 1840. He was a brother-in-
law of Voigtlander, of Vienna, the inventor of the
achromatic object-glasses, and, taking up the art where
Cornelius left it, he was for several years the leading
photographer, not only in Philadelphia, but probably
in the world. He was succeeded, in 1850, by Mr.
Schreiber. In 1844, Samuel Van Loan introduced
into Philadelphia the Laborde process, by which
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2327
a pure natural white was produced ou the plate.
J. E. Mayall became, in 1845, the proprietor of a
gallery at No. 140 Chestnut Street, which, in the next
year, he disposed of to M. A. Root, who had pre-
viously been a member of the firm of Root & Collins.
Samuel Broadbent, who had been a pupil of Professor
Morse, went into the business in this city in 1851.
John Quail, another Philadelphia artist, invented tlie
multiplying camera in 1848. Some time about 1853,
McClees & German were the original users here of
the crystal lotype, thereby pictures were impressed
on glass. They copied and transferred to boxwood
blocks, ready for the engraver, a fac-simile of the
treaty with Japan, which was cut upon wood, stereo-
typed, and printed in the Japanese language. In
1852-53 the photographic process was taking the place
of Daguerre's methods, and Dr. Charles M. Cresson and
Dr. Giles Langdell, of Philadelphia, were making very
good portraits and views on papers by the employment
of collodion. One branch of this system, a solar im-
pression upon a glass plate, was given the name of the
ambrotype or " imperishable picture," which was de-
vised in M. A. Root's gallery. In 1860 the leading
photographers in Philadelphia were Gutekunst, Hip-
pie, Turner, Morgan, Cooper, Rehn, Hum, Willard,
Keenan, and Reimer. One of the later and most use-
ful improvements is the phototype process, invented
by Jacoby, of Neuendorff", Germany. In 1878, F.
Gutekunst, a leading Philadelphia artist, bought the
right for the United States to Jacoby's patents, and
brought over as his superintendent the sou of the in-
ventor, who directs Mr. Gutekunst's establishment, and
has brought the phototype to a high degree of com-
pleteness and artistic value. By this process the neg-
ative is transferred by the aid of gelatine and bi-chro-
mates to a glass plate, from which any number of
impressions may be taken on a printing-press. Liter-
ally, it is photographing on printers' ink, and is ap-
plied to portraits, street scenes, landscapes, buildings,
vessels, machinery, etc. Its simplicity, economy, and
fidelity to detail are so generally appreciated that it
is employed for every purpose that photography can
fulfill.
In the twenty-four years that have elapsed sinse 1860
the number of photographers has not only become
greatly enlarged, but the art has been correspondingly
improved until now it commands the services of men
of the highest artistic power and the widest technical
skill. Many of the Philadelphia photographers are
not surpassed in the world, and the work which they
produce has a universal reputation.'
1 AmoDg the contemporary artists William T. Richards, a native and
resident of Philadelphia, has won tioth fame and success. He owes liis
early encouragement in the artistic career to Paul Weber, and when, in
1854, he painted his first picture, a -view of Mount Vernon, connolBseura
were quick to see that he possessed genuine gifts in cunlpo^itiun and
color. This work is now in the possession of Mrs. Joseph ILirrison.
Some of his principal canvases and their owners are the following:
"Study of Tulip-Trees." William T. Walters, Baltimore ; "Path in the
Woods," Hugh Davids, Philadelphia ; " Midsummer," Mrs. Charles
148
The typographical art was in its infancy as com-
pared with the present day, when the ponderous
tomes of Barlow's *'Columbiad," Rees' "Cyclopaedia,"
Hume's " History of England," Robertson's Histor-
Sharpless, Philadelpliia ; " Woods in June," R. L. Stewart, New York ;
"The Meadows," William Wilstacb, Philadelphia; and "The Wissa-
hickon" and *'The Forest," George Whitney, Philadelchia. Since 1870,
Air. Richards haa given most of his attentinn to marine subjects, and has
produced " Mid-Ocean," and a series of studies at Atlantic City, whii li
were purchitsed by William Sellers, and "Sea and Sky," now owned by
Mrs. Zabri>key, of New York. From his studies on tlie south coast of
England he has painted "Land's End," now the property of George
Whilney, of Philadelphia. "Cliffs of St. Levan," bought by Potter
Palmer, of Chicaf:o, and " King Arthur's Castle," which the artist has
retained. In 1883, Mr. W. W. Corcoran ordered from Mr. Richards two
large works for the Coro-ran Art Gallery at Washington, one of which
is a view upon the New Jersey coast. Another picture — "Thus far shalt
thou go, and no farther" — was painted for William B. Bement, of Phila-
delphia. Between 1870 and 1880, Rev. E. L. Miigoon collected eighty
water-color drawings, mostly of marine subjects, made by Mr. Richards,
and presented them to the Metropolitan Art Museum of New York. Mr.
Magoon also gave an order to him for seven of the historical landscapes
of England in watpr-colors, which in I88;i he presented to Vassar Female
College. Mr. Richards has bad the honor of exhibiting at the Royal
Academy of London.
No Philadelphia artist is more widely known than Peter F. Rother-
mel, who, in the sixty-seventh year of hie age, still paints with much
vigor and expieeeion. To the general public his name is most closely
associated wilh the immense canvas upon which he has delineated the
battle of Gettysburg,— a work which he produced in compliance with a
commission from the Pennsylvania Legislature, and which is the great
battle-piece of the civil war. His penius inclines to historical painting,
and among his subjects have been " De Soto discovering the Mississippi,"
•'Columbus before Isabella the Catholic," "Christian Martyrs in the
Colosseum," "Patrick Henry before the Virginia House of Burgesses,"
and the "Noche Triste." A "St. Agnes," that he painted more than
forty years ago, is owned in St. Petersburg. His "Christabel" and
"Katherine and Petruchio" earned critical commendation in the early
portion of his artist life.
Paul Weber was a German artist, whom many Philadelphians will
remember as having had a studio in this city from 1848 to 1860, when
he removed to Munich. He was at his best as a landscapist, and many
of his pictures are still to be seen in the Academy of Fine Arts and in
the private galleries of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, James L. Claghorn, and
Mr. Tilge. His son Carl, who was born here in 1850, returned to Phila-
delphia in 1873, after studying in Europe, and established his studio.
Some of his pictures are in the Academy of Fine Arts, and otliers are in
the possession of private patrons of art. Paul Weber's nephew, Philip
Weber, is another Philadelphian by birth, and also opened a studio in
this city in 1873. His " Yosemite Falls," " Heidelberg Castle," and two
views of Rio Janeiro, belong to Charles J. Harrah, of Philadelphia. Mr.
Craig, of Philadelphia, purchased his "Rainy Day in Munich" and
"Twilight in Munich."
Charles E. Dana, who has taken a leading position among painters in
water-colors, is young in the art world, not liaving established his studio
until 1881, when he returned to Philadelphia from the foreign schools,
but his ability is distinctly recognized, and he has already achieved an
enviable reputation.
Peter Moran is one of the three Moran brothers, who are all distin-
guished as artists. His studio has been located in Philadelphia since
1865, aud in 1872 he was elected a professor in the Philadelphia School
of Design for Women. During the summers of 1878, 1880, and 1881 he
visited the far West, and made sketchns that have since been repro-
duced in most striking pictures of scenes in the new country. The
greater portion of his works have been sold in New York, but the " Re-
turn of the Herd," which was on exhibition at the Centennial, is owned
here. For ten years past he has been largely engaged in etching from
original designs, and has done much to develop that branch of art. He
is now president of the Etching Club, of which his brother-in-law, Ste-
phen J. Ferris, is a member. Botli of them rank among the most ac-
complished of American etchers. Mr. Ferris is, moreover, an admirable
figure- and portrait-painter, and a teacher in the Philadelphia School of
Design for Women, and his son, Gerome Ferris, is following in his foot-
2328
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
ical Works, Wilson's "Ornithology," and Marshall's
" Life of Washington," were printed in the offices of
the city. The war of 1812-15 did not advance the
art of printing, but when, a few yeai's later, the coun-
try began to accumulate capital, and the new art of
stereotyping came in to supplement that of printing,
there was a decided change. Not being obliged to
pay for setting type for a new edition, the cost of
book-making was reduced, and hence more customers
were to be found around the counters of booksellers.
It was about the year 1820 that Lawrence Johnson
directed his attention to the new art of stereotyping.
This eminent type-founder, son of Edward Johnson,
a merchant of Hull, England, was born Jan. 23, 1801,
in that city. While a mere boy he exhibited in his
studies that industry, energy, and quickness of per-
ception which characterized his whole after-life.
Newbold H. Trotter ia a Philadelphia artist, who h.is been at work
eince 1858, and whose specialty is the painting of animals. His " Herd
of Buffaloes Attacked hy Wolves" and " The Last Stand" were in the
Centennial Exhibition, and were bought by Gen. Sherman for the army
headquarters at Washingtou. In the three years following he painted
for the War Department "After the Combat," "Grizzly Bears," and
"The Indian Camp." On a commission from Gen. Sherman he has
since made a picture of the famous soldier on horseback, and he is now
engaged upon painting the mammalia of North America for Ha^den's
Journal.
Isaac L. Williams, who has been since 1869 president of the Artists'
Fund Society,is highly distinguished as a portrait-painter, although
many landscapes have come from his easel. Among his portraits are
those of Governor Shunk, Richard Penn Smith, Thaddeus Stevens, Dr.
Frederick Muhlenberg, and Rev. Dr. C. P. Krautb. His other works in-
clude the " Castle of Baiaie," and " Ruins of Cumse." He painted a
series of views of the historic mansions of Fhilailelphia, which are now
the possession of the Historical Society.
James Hamilton was an Irishman by birth, and his style was strongly
influenced by his study of Turner and Clarkson Stanfield. Previous to
1875 he had for some years a studio in Philadelphia. His best known
works are "The Sceptre shall depart from Egypt," "The finding of
Perdita," " The Home of the Sea Gulls," " What are the Wild Waves
Saying?" and " The Ancient Mariner." He died in San Fraucisco after
leaving this city.
Bernhardt Uhle, a native of Saxony, has a studio in Philadelphia.and
his work is highly praised for the strength and fidelity that are features
of the German schools in which he was a student.
George C. Lambdin is a son of James R. Lambdin, and studied with
his father at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1859 he was a portrait-
painter in Philadelphia, and in 1868 he removed to New York, where he
remained three years, becoming an academician in the mean time. He
has since returned to Philadelphia, and made great success in flower-,
figure-, and portrait-painting.
Hermann Herzog is now permanently settled in West Philadelphia,
after spending some years in American and foreign travel. Mr. Wern-
wag, of this city, bought his " Waterfall in Norway," and others of his
paintings are owned by William B. Bement and Mr. Hazeltine.
Prosper L. Senat, who has had a studio in Philadelphia for fourteen
years, is a painter of massive subjects. A large picture from his brush
is one of the Temple collection, and hangs in the Academy of Fine Arts.
James B. Sword was a pupil of William T. Richards. He has a studio
in Philadelphia, but, as he principally paints pictures of New England
and its sea-coast, most of his works are sold in Boston. Some, however,
are in the private galleries of Philadelphia. Mr. Sword is president of
the Philadelphia Society of Artists.
J. Henry Brown is the leading painter of miniatures in this city, and
has produced in that style portraits of Buchanan, Lincoln, Commodore
Stockton, Harriet Lane, Horace Biuuey, John M. Reed, Joshua Lippin-
cott, and many others.
Samuel B. Waugh began his artistic career in Philadelphia about 1843,
and has piincipally devoted himself to portrait-painting, in which he
excels.
Having attained the age of nineteen years, he decided
that the United States was his proper field of labor,
as affording the scope which his ambition craved. He
succeeded in inducing his parents to accompany him,
and on July 4, 1819, they arrived in New York. His
father, not liking that cit)', purcha.sed land in Cayuga
County, N. Y., on which he made his home. Law-
rence Johnson remained in New York, and entered the
employ of a Mr. Gray, a printer, where he devoted
himself to his business with a diligence almost in-
credible, frequently protracting his labors from sixteen
to eighteen hours a day. Not many months afterward
his attention was directed to the comparatively new
! art of stereotyping, and, with a view of obtaining a
I knowledge of it, he entered the employ of Messrs. B.
I & J. Collins, of New York. This knowledge obtained,
j about 1820 he removed to Philadelphia, and set up a
stereotype foundry. Owing to his imperfect knowl-
edge of its details and his limited means, he met with
many difficulties, but with that indomitable perse-
verance which never forsook him he overcame them
I all. In 1833, Mr. Johnson added tyi^e-founding to
his previous calling. The original proprietors of the
Philadelphia Type Foundry, Messrs. Archibald Binny
and James Ronaldson, had withdrawn from the
business with considerable wealth, and Mr. Richard
Ronaldson, brother of one of the preceding firm, who
then held it, felt himself unsuited to the progressive
demands of the time. Mr. Johnson thought he saw
what was needed, and, in connection with George
Smith, purchased the establishment, connecting stereo-
typing with type-founding.
Throwing all his energies into the business, he soon
found that he was not mistaken in his calculations
that the foundry was susceptible of resuscitation, and
under his judicious management the Philadelphia
Type Foundry began to emerge from the slough of
despond into which it had hopelessly drifted, and
gradually but steadily advanced to the prominent
position which it now holds. Availing himself of the
newly-discovered art of electrotyping immediately
upon its development, he bore down all rivalry in the
production of a new quarto specimen-book that has
no superior in the world of typography. Mr. John-
son was aware that there was no standstill in type-
founding, — all must be onward and progressive. He
was ever a patron of improvement, and encourager of
the mechanic and artisan, and to his memory be it
spoken he was never known to appropriate to himself
the labor of an artist by electrotyping, but acquired the
matrix by purchase; indeed, one of the last acts of
his life, in conjunction with other leading type-foun-
ders of this city, was to procure, by petition to Con-
gress, such a modification of the copyright law as to
afford protection to letter-cutters, engravers, and orig-
inators of designs. In 1845 he associated with him
Thomas Mackellar, John F. Smith, and Richard
Smith, all of whom had been in his employ for many
years, and who, after his death, which occurred
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2329
April 26, 1860, continued the business. We may
here add that it was by no means as a type-founder
only that his influence was felt. He contributed
largely to the development of other important indus-
tries and pursuits, such as coal-mining, banking, etc.
A friend, who for more than thirty years prior to
Mr. Johnson's death enjoyed his uninterrupted friend-
ship, traveled with him in foreign lands and in our
own land, and for months was his only companion,
has furnished the following excellent analysis of his
character and proper tribute to his worth :
" Mr. Jobnsou'8 tneutal character was strong and well balanced. He
possessed a vigorous understanding, great mental resources, remarkable
powei-8 of concentration and abstraction, and a well-cultivated mind.
In his active and useful life he studied men and things continually,
and was a precise and logical reasoner. Those who had intercourse
with him cannot but have noticed how largely decision of character
was developed. His mind was not only rapid in its operations, but of
great grasp. While listening to the recital of anything in which he
was concerned, his opinions (which he rarely found it necessary to
change) were made up, so that when the statements were finished he
was ready to act in the matter on band at once, although involvijig
large interests. He was a liberal and benevolent man. After his de-
cease it became the duty of the writerto examine critically his books of
accounts and papers. The goodly array of figures of his charity ac-
count abundantly attests that with his increasing means his charities ex-
tended. There was no ostentation in his benevolence. Slany a widow's
heart has leaped for joy in receiving a ton of coal or a barrel of flour
from an unknown donor. Many a poor man's rent has been paid, and
the landlord's acknowledgment been anonymously forwarded. Many a
poor boy has been benefited by his counsels, and assisted with material
aid, of which his own family, much less the world, knew nothing. He
waa a just man ; while he expected and insisted on punctuality and strict
probity from othei-s, he was prompt and scrupulously exact in rendering
to every man his due. All whoknew him relied implicitly on his word,
from which he was never known to swerve. Where his confidence was re-
posed, no amount of misfortune or diflHculties could shake it; but when
once forfeited Ity tricliery, breach of faith, or otherwise, it could never
be regained. In compounding or arranging with honest, but unfortunate
debtors, his large liberality became almost proverbial, and many in-
stances could be cited where, in meetings of creditors, his manly and
liberal course so moved his fellow-creditors that arrangements were
effected upon the spot whereby the unfortunate debtor was enabled to
go on with his business, and in many cases afterward to attain pros-
perity. The many corporations and societies in Philadelphia with which
he was connected have spread in their minute-books their estimate of
bia value as a citizen, and the personal loss they sustained when his
wise counsels were withdrawn. At a meeting of book publishers held
immediately after his death, the venerable chairman, Henry C. Carey,
Esq., said of him, 'I have known him perhaps longer than any of you.
One of his first business operations was undertaken for me. I have
found bim, in all his relations, honest, intelligent, and upright. "NVe
could scarcely find a better man, and I have no hesitation in saying that
he was as worthy as any man I ever knew.' "
Among the resolutions adopted at that meeting
was the following:
"Remlved, That in his decease the community has lost one of its
worthiest citizens, for with an unsullied personal integrity and a heart
of the kindest promptings he united clearness of judgment, activity
of enterprise, faithfulness and diligence in an extensive business, and
thus presents, in bis finished character, a union of qualities rarely com-
bined, which we shall ever cherish as an iucentive and an example."
Contemporaneous with Johnson was that other
great type-founder of Philadelphia, Jedediah Howe,
who came to the city from New York in 1823, and
soon after his arrival formed a copartnership with
Lawrence Johnson, which continued in force until
Howe's death, in 1834. After Howe's death his estab-
lishment was purchased by John Fagan, who, on his
accession to the business, increased it largely, and
prosecuted it for thirty years. In 1863, Mr. Fagan
retired from active business,' and was succeeded by
his son, the firm-name being J. Fagan & Son.
Conger Sherman, one of the old and wealthy
printers of the city, was born at New Scotland, N. Y.,
Aug. 7, 1793, and came to Philadelphia in Septem-
ber, 1811. He purchased, in May, 1830, the printing
establishment of Towar & Hogan, and began busi-
ness with four or five hand-presses, printing the Bible
and Henry's " Commentaries." His progress was
very slow for the first four or five years. In 1837 he
put up his first steam press, — -the second press of the
kind for printing books in the city. In 1864 the busi-
ness passed into the hands of Roger Sherman, the
son of Conger, with Messrs. M. F. Benerman and
Andrew Overend, as Sherman & Co. Robert P. King
and Alexander Baird in 1838 formed a copartnership
in the printing business. In 1844 they commenced
the publication of the National Clay Almanac, the
pioneer of millions of other almanacs issued by them.
They possessed rare facilities for printing in foreign
languages, and issued a hymn-book in Cherokee, nu-
merous works in Swedish, several in Norwegian, a
stereotyped Episcopal prayer-book in the Grebo lan-
guage, and also a dictionary of the Grebo dialects.
In addition to being the great centre of publication
for medical and educational books, the city possesses
the most extensive distributing concern in the world.
The latter was founded by and owes its success to
John Grigg. In 1816, Mr. Grigg came to Philadel-
phia, and made the acquaintance of Benjamin War-
ner, a bookseller, with whom he immediately became
associated in business. Among the clerks were John
Bouvier, afterward the eminent judge, Uriah Hunt,
and John B. Ellison. In 1817, Mr. Grigg visited
almost every part of Virginia for the purpose of re-
placing by a correct map the defective one then pub-
lished. His map became successful, and was cor-
dially acknowledged by the State Legislature. After
the dissolution of Warner & Grigg, by the death of
the former, a new firm was formed of Grigg, Elliott
& Co., which continued until 1850, prior to which
date, Jan. 1, 1847, Henry Grambo, Edmund Claxton,
and George Remsen were taken in as partners. Upon
Mr. Grigg retiring the firm became Lippincott,
Grambo & Co., and afterward J. B. Lippincott & Co.
Familiar as is the name of the great publishing house
of J. B. Lippincott & Co. throughout the reading
world, there are probably not many people who know
from what small beginnings it has grown, or that it
can trace its foundation back to a date more than a
hundred years in the past. In that time extensions
and the absorption of other establishments have aided
in building it up ; but it is a fact that it comes in
direct descent from the book-shop that Benjamin
Johnson kept on Market Street in the concluding
quarter of the eighteenth century. Johnson relin-
qiiished the business by sale to Benjamin Warner,
2330
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
and the latter sold it to John Grigg, a business man
of rare sagacity and energy. Soon after 1825, Mr.
Grigg took Hugh Elliott into partnership, and with
their conjoint enterprise the firm of Grigg & Elliott
was made the principal publishing concern of its day ;
but it was destined to be eclipsed by its successor, the
house of J. B. Lippincott & Co. Joshua B. Lippin-
cott, the founder and present head of the house, was
bom in Burlington County, N. J., of a family whose
members belonged to the Society of Friends. Within
two years previous to 1830 he came to Philadelphia,
and obtained a situation in a book -store. It was not
within his honorable aspinitions to be a leader in his
field of labor that he should remain a subordinate in
his chosen career, and he only continued an employ^
until he had amassed sufficient capital to command
an independent business. Still, while patiently wait-
ing and working for his opportunity, he had thor-
oughly mastered the details of the book trade, and
had so gained the confidence of his employers that he
was entrusted with the entire charge of their store.
The opportunity came in 1836, when he founded the
publishing firm of J. B. Lippincott & Co., at the
corner of Fourth and Race Streets. Its first issues,
and those of some time afterward, were chiefly Bibles
and prayer-books, which proved immensely popular
on account of the elegant styles of print and binding,
to which Mr. Lippincott gave special attention, and
of which he had made a study.
The house gave other publications to the world,
and its operations became so large that it removed
to a six-story building at the corner of Fourth and
Commerce Streets, erecting another edifice of similar
dimensions in Fifth Street, above Cherry, for the
manufacturing department. Many men in Mr. Lip-
pincott's position would then have considered that
they had garnered the full crop of success, but he
had a loftier ambition, nothing less than that of
placing his firm at the head of the Philadelphia
book trade, and to do that it was necessary for him
to buy out Grigg & Elliott. It was a bold stroke,
and required almost his entire capital ; but he did not
shrink irom it, and in the consummation he made
himself the master of the field. The purchase was
made in 1850, when Grigg, Elliott & Co. occupied
premises on Fourth Street above Market. Their suc-
cessors remained in the same location for thirteen
years, steadily enlarging the business and adding
to the list of their publications, which embraced
every branch of English literature and translations
from foreign languages. In 1860, Mr. Lippincott
found that the Fourth Street premises were be-
coming too limited for his operations, and he bought
a large lot on Market Street, above Seventh, on
which were erected, in 1863, the buildings, Nos. 715
and 717 Market Street, that the house now occupies.
They cover a ground surface of two hundred by forty-
five feet, and are five stories high, and at the time of
their erection it seemed to persons not familiar with
the needs of the business that so much space could
not be possibly occupied with advantage. But in
1871 it was found that the firm had really not sufli-
cient room, and to increase its facilities, property was
purchased on Filbert Street, in the rear of the original
building, and on it were erected the accommodations
for the manufacturing department, in order to bring
all the departments substantially under one roof The
ground space is run together in one vast room, extend-
ing northward three hundred and sixty-five feet from
Market Street, and in its arrangement as a book-store
is simply unsurpassable. The front section, nearly
two hundred feet long, is used for the large retail
trade, and on these long arrays of shelves and coun-
ters may be found the standard volumes of all the
leading publishing houses in the English-speaking
world. Mr. Lippincott gave early attention to the
importation of the imprints of London publishers,
with the result that his house has long been recog-
nized as having no superior in the import trade. The
arrangement and classification is exceedingly simple,
and yet so perfect that a salesman can instantly put
his hand on any work called for. The lover of books
could have no keener enjoyment than permission to
walk among and choose from this collection of all
that is best in all departments of literature.
Back of the retail department, and occupying the
middle of the ground floor, is the counting-room,
where the members of the firm and their business as-
sistants have their desks and offices. Here is centered
the management of the divers afl^airs of the establish-
ment, and how manifold these interests are may be
judged from the fact that each morning's mail brings
in an average of 260 letters, and as many postal
cards. Here, too, is the especial sanctum of Mr.
Lippincott himself, — an apartment which holds many
a secret of aspiration and disappointment in the
world of letters. " Could I relate the scenes that
have occurred within that room," he has said, "you
would fully appreciate the annoyances and trials of a
publisher's life. But its mysteries are sacred, and the
blank, sad histories of would-be authors, and the
little foibles of the really great authors, must all
slumber there untold."
At the rear of the counting-room is the publication
department, with the various offices and desks of the
salesmen and clerks. It opens at the farther end on
Filbert Street, near which are situated the business
offices of the magazines and the school-book depart-
ment. The very heavy trade in these publications is
conducted here, but the bulk of the shipping is done
in the vast basement. On an average over twenty
States are reached daily by the shipments from this
department, which aggregate 25,000 boxes and pack-
ages yearly, independent of the local deliveries. A
sub-basement in the rear contains the engines and
boilers, and near by are the fire-proof vaults in which
are stored stereotype plates representing an invest-
ment of half a million dollars.
>l;v@&a;H<,.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2331
Above the first floor the front and rear buildings
are connected by bridges. The second, third, and
fourth floors of the front building are devoted almost
entirely to the immense stationery trade, and at the
rear of the second floor are the editorial offices of the
'' Gazetteer," dictionaries, and other works of refer-
ence. The fifth floor is used chiefly for storage pur-
poses, especially of the stock of unbound sheets of
various publications. Passing over the bridges from
tlie front fifth story, the visitor finds himself in the
midst of an industrial town with a population of over
450 persons. Book composition is conducted in light
and airy quarters on the Filbert Street side of the
third floor, containing facilities for employing several
hundred printers. The remainder of this floor is
taken up with the blank-book manufactory, and on
the fourth floor are the press-rooms, equipped with
twenty-seven printing-machines. The bindery is on
the fifth floor, and is very complete in all its appoint-
ments. The remaining features of the factory are a
stereotype foundry and an engraving department,
which, though not owned by J. B. Lippincott & Co.,
furnish them with all the facilities of the kind
required.
While the original trade of the house was largely in
Bibles and prayer-books, the literary territory which
it now covers includes miscellaneous books, history
and biography, religious, fiction, poetry, gift-books,
juvenile, medical, scientific, law, dictionaries, works
of reference, and educational publications. These
embrace the titles of over 2500 volumes, and the
number is increasing at the rate of over 100 a year.
The first five departments, taken together, constitute
one of the finest lists of general literature issued and
imported by a single firm to be found in the whole
world. Beginning with the miscellaneous depart-
ment, we find, among many others, the complete
works of such standard authors as Addison, Carlyle,
Goethe, Irving, "Junius," Lamb, Landor, Schiller,
Sheridan, Sterne, and Swift ; the philosophical specula-
tions of Berkeley and Fichte ; the graceful and favorite
writings of Heine and Lamartine; complete sets of
Bohn's valuable libraries; and Lippincott's famous
edition of the Ancient Classics, translated under the
editorial direction of Rev. Lucas Collins by some of
the most eminent scholars of the day, and rapidly
approaching the dimensions of a large library. His-
tory and biography are even more richly represented.
Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,"
Hume's and Macaulay's Histories of England, Agnes
Strickland's "Queens of England," Knight's "Popu-
lar History of England," the complete historical
works of Prescott, Kirk's " History of Charles the
Bold," Ranke's " History of the Popes," Henry A.
Wise's "Seven Decadesof the Union," Charles Fran-
cis Adams' "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams" and
"Life of John Adams," Rev. William R. Alger's in-
teresting " Life of Edwin Forrest," Bigelow's edition
of " Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography," Bulwer's
"Life of Palmerston," Forster's "Life of Charles
Dickens," Hazlitt's " Napoleon," Randall's " Jeffer-
son" and " 'Stonewall' Jackson." These titles suffi-
ciently indicate the wealth of learning and reminis-
cence here accumulated.
Turning to the departments of religion, fiction,
and poetry, we shall find each in its way equally com-
plete and valuable. The former includes several
special publications, such as Jamieson and Fausset's
" Commentary on the Old and New Testaments," one
of the greatest works of the kind ever put forth, and
Kitto's "Comprehensive Biblical Cyclopiedia," on
which vast labor and large capital have been ex-
pended. In the same department is a very valuable
collection of the hymn-books used in the Protestant
Episcopal Church. To attempt to enumerate the
authors and works included under the heads of fic-
tion and poetry would be to name nearly everything
of value in the long list of classic imaginative liter-
ature, besides much of the choicest in later writings.
The standard novelists, like Scott, Thackeray, Dick-
ens, Bulwer, and Charlotte Bronte, are found in a
great variety of editions, cheap and costly, regard
being had to every grade of taste and means, — as, for
example, in the Waverley novels, which can be had
in the paper edition at 25 cents a volume, or the sub-
stantial but plain "People's" edition, at .S12 per set,
or the chaste and beautiful " Abbotsford" edition, at
$18 to $39, or the " Walter Scott" edition, handsomely
illustrated from steel plates, at $25 to $62, or, finally,
the magnificent " Edinburgh" edition, containing
over 1500 wood-cuts and steel engravings, and selling
at $84 to $125, according to binding. The popular
" Aldine" edition of the British poets includes the
standard English authors, and recent American poets
are represented in the works of Boker, Buchanan
Read, and Sidney Lanier.
More attention is paid by this house than by most to
the old favorites of fiction, the interest in which never
diminishes. Among the later writers whom Mr. Lip-
pincott may be said to have brought out is Mrs. A. L.
Wister, whose translations from the German, embracing
the Marlitt novels and others, are having an immense
sale. The gift books include the superb artist's edition
of Gray's "Elegy," issued in 1883 at a cost of many
thousand dollars, Irving's "Sketch Book," and the va-
riorum " Shakespeare." The scientific, medical, and
legal departments reveal such names and titles as Drs.
Agnew, Garretson, Duhring, Bartholow, Thomas, Da
Costa, Hammond, Leidy, Mitchell, and Wood, the
"United States Dispensatory," of which more than
100,000 copies have been sold, Sharswood's edition of
" Blackstone's Commentaries," Bouvier's "Law Dic-
tionary," and many more standard works. Of the
works of reference, the first in order of publication
was the " Dictionary of Authors," prepared by Dr. S.
Austin AUibone, which was followed by Lippincott's
exhaustive " Pronouncing Gazetteer of the World,"
which has now grown to a ponderous volume of nearly
2332
HISTOKY OF PHILADKLPHIA.
2500 octavo pages. Side by side with the " Gazetteer"
may be placed the " Pronouncing Dictionary of
Biography and Mythology," — a work of vast erudi-
tion.
J. B. Lippincott & Co. purchased, in 1876, from
Brewer & Tileston, Boston, the entire rights in Wor-
cester's Dictionar}'. Under the management of the
new proprietors the sale has been pushed with such
vigor that it has more than trebled, the increase in
the European demand especially having been of late
very marked.
Other standard reference works issued by this tirm
include Allibone's dictionaries of "Poetical" and
" Prose Quotations," " Thomas' Medical Dictionary,"
the important " United States Dispensatory," the
" Encyclopedia of Chemistry," and Chambers' valua-
ble " Eucyclopfedia," " Cyclopredia of Literature,"
" Book of Days," and " Information for the People ;"
also Brewer's " Eeader's Hand-Book." The publica-
tion of Chambers' " Encyclopasdia," which has en-
joyed large sales, was begun in 1860.
As at present (1884) organized, the firm includes,
besides its senior partner, Craige, Walter, and J.
Bertram Lippincott, sons of J. B. Lijjpincott, J.
Shoemaker, George Wood, R. P. Morton, and W. S.
Washburn.
One of the great firms of publishers and booksellers
in Philadelphia is that of Porter & Coates, one of
the members of which is George Morrison Coates.
He was boi'n in this city Aug. 20, 1817, and traced his
lineage to the Percys of England, a family that warmly
supported the royalist cause during the bitter contest
between Charles I. and Parliament, and some of whose
members became Quakers, and emigrated to America
with Penn. Educated in the Quaker schools of Phila-
delphia, his business life was commenced in the dry-
goods trade, and he subsequently established with his
brother Benjamin the firm of Coates Bros., which
became one of the largest dealers in wool in Phila-
delphia ; and in 1869 he and his brother also became
partners in the publishing house of Porter & Coates.
From a small beginning it has advanced to the front
rank of American publishers, each succeeding year
witnessing an increase of its transactions. Mr. Coates
has all his life been engaged in large enterprises. For
ten years he was a director of the Pennsylvania Eail-
road Company, which he entered into when many
shrewd business men feared that its future laid in the
direction of failure and bankruptcy. But foreseeing its
coming prosperity, he not only invested his own means
in its securities, but he persuaded his friends to pur-
chase, and no one was more effective than himself in
procuring from the city the subscription of 85,000,000
toward the completion and equipment of the road.
He was one of the early members of the Union League,
and gave his time and money freely to movements in
behalf of the national government. Although he
would never accept any oflice of emolument, he was
an elector on the Republican Presidential tickets of
1864, 1868, and 1872, and probably has had more votes
cast for him than any other man in the United States.
From 1863 to 1870 he was a member of the Board of
Health, and for many years a director of the Board of
Trade. He was married in 1840, and has several
sons, who are associated with him in both the wool
and the publishing business.
Maj. Louis H. Everts, the publisher of this history
of the great city of Philadelphia, has qualified him-
self by long experience and large enterprise for the
preparation and issue of local historical works, in
which line of business he is not excelled by any com-
petitor in the United States. He had but recently
left the militar.y service of his country, when, in
1866, he established a publication house in the West,
and as his operations extended, a removal to a more
central point of business facilities was found indis-
pensable, and he therefore transferred his headquar-
ters to Philadelphia in 1872. Since then he has been
a very busy and successful man. In all he has issued
over two hundred local histories, embracing cities,
counties, towns, etc., in New York, Pennsylvania,
Michigan, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Maine, Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Tennessee, Mis-
souri, New Hampshire, and California. In these
many volumes are preserved, in an enduring and
concise form, the valuable records of many Ameri-
can cities or other political divisions, from the day
when they came into existence to that of the issue of
the books, a fact the simple statement of which de-
notes the importance of his publications. In authen-
ticity, in literary finish, in fineness of illustration, and
in typographic style excellence is always aimed at
and attained. Besides the histories, Maj. Everts has
published the "Cyclopaedia of Methodism," edited by
Bishop Matthew Simpson; the "Baptist Encyclo-
paedia," edited by Rev. William Cathcart, D.D. ; and
the " Cyclopaedia of Freemasonry," edited by Dr.
Albert G. Mackey.
Major Everts is the son of Samuel C. Everts, and is
a native of Cattaraugus County, N. Y. In 1861 he
resigned from the house of Potter Palmer, Chicago, to
enter the army, assisting to raise a regiment in Kane
County, 111., and accepting a commission as lieuten-
ant. He served with the western armies, and was de-
tailed as aide de-camp to Gen. Hackleman just before
the battles of luka and Corinth, in the fall of 1862.
From President Lincoln he received the commission
of assistant adjutant-general of volunteers, with the
rank of captain, and was assigned to the staff of Gen.
T. W. Sweeny, commanding the Second Division,
Sixteenth Army Corps. He marched with Sherman
from Atlanta to the sea, and on to Washington.
At the close of this memorable campaign, the
field and staff otficers of the division united in a
testimonial to the adjutant-general, which secured
his promotion for meritorious services, and was
indorsed by the major-general commanding as fol-
lows:
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2333
pectfiilly forwnr«to<T
irhriil, uud gniUlii. (n
(Signc.;;
c applicatii
landers, aiu;
Fifteenth Army Coups,
~ 'nneS, 1865.
basiness he established in 1831. Before that, little
baskets were chiefly used. The personnel of the
'— ii,g underwent many changes in the course of
'^■lally terminated in the ownership of
'..vp of children's carriages,
" '" the census
1882 the piifitinit btmiuAs w---^ a« !i»lii
^
f> hanii;
9C83.
'Jarriages wero mm
Bringhurst before 17'J(',
of coaches, chariots, po
waggons, curricles, chn
the newest fashion, fo'- '
great improvement ma-:
carriages wau the intro-.
springs, by which prcn
strength, was acquircil
tax of from one to ton ■
private carriages. Thc'
in 1796, 307 four-whec'
coaches and .15 charioi->
wheeled carriages. It is
Pennsylvania Society of .-
farriages bad neirly cea;
imported carriages Ky :!.
per cent, ad vilorem. r.,
result, as well as stiuiulu
In 184G the carriage re;
was establi^hH. -t'i-c*
larged in
greatest i ' .
The sta"L. ■ ■ ■ :i.
coaches in Pliiimlvlphia
follows:
V rt.- ! I
1S7U
1B7B
188.1. Carri. •
wagons...
Of waguus, .
1860
1870
1880
1S82, wngon-luakeni,
828.1,000; ol k1i4., >
E. W. V. -
drfn's >;>w :
i) ll- SODS :
rills '■ Ml-
2334
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
extending business, eschewing public life, and his
success, which is to be measured by the business he
established and maintained, was due to the most inde-
fatigable perseverance and strict probity of char-
acter. Mr. Vollmer died May 17, 1883, leaving his
business to be continued by his eldest son, whom he
had practically educated for it in this city and in
Paris.
The following are statistics of the manufacture of
furniture from 1860 to 1882 :
No. Eetalj-
Tears. lishments. Capital.
I860.... 161 $1,008,850
1870.... 202 2,724,830
1880.... 218 3,239,953
1882.... 271
Raw
Material.
8638,623
1.690,012
2,625,819
Value of
Labor. Prtiduct.
1627 $l,8.'i4,436
2298 4,578.583
3283 6,229,(1-17
4953 7,.594,979
Traces of gold had been found in this colony in
the days of Printz. To search out the mineral treas-
ures of the South River or Delaware Colony was en-
joined upon the first Dutch Governors by the authori-
ties at Amsterdam, and the inhabitants, as an induce-
ment, were allowed for ten years the sole use of any
valuable minerals they might discover ; and at Mini-
sink the evidences of their search are to be seen in
the "mine-holes" and mine-road thence to the Hud-
son.
Watchmaking was carried on in 1745 by Robert
Leslie, the father of the artist, C. R. Leslie, Maj.
Leslie, of the United States army, and Miss E. Leslie,
the authoress. In 1789 the Assembly granted him a
patent for certain improvements in the mechanism of
clocks and watches, which was extended under the
United States patent laws.
Among the early clockmakers, advertisements and
cards mention Augustine Neisser, who was born in
Sehlen, Moravia, in 1717, came to Georgia in Feb-
ruary, 1736, and from thence removed to Pennsylvania
in 1739. He settled in Germantown, and married
Catharine Reisinger, a member of the Reformed
Church, in 1770. By this marriage he had three sons,
— George Henry, born in 1771 ; Augustine, born in
1774 ; and Jacob, born in 1777. Augustine, the father,
died in 1780, and lies buried somewhere in German-
town. All the clocks of Augustine Neisser's make
bear his name on their faces, but none of them have
any date of manufacture affixed. John Wood, watch
and clockmaker, had his shop at the southeast corner
of Front and Chestnut Streets in 1785. He was there
in 1791. His name does not appear in the Directory
of 1793 or afterward. The locality was known in the
middle of the last century as " Peter Stretch's cor-
ner." The latter died probably before the Revolu-
tion, and was succeeded by Wood. Edward Duffield,
clock and watchmaker, was born in Philadelphia
County in 1720, and died in 1801. He made the first
medals ever executed in the province of Pennsylvania,
in honor of the victory over the Indians at Kittanning
in 1756. He made philosophical apparatus for Dr.
Kinnersly, Franklin, and others. He was in business
in Philadelphia probably from about 1741 to 1747.
He removed to Lower Dublin, Philadelphia Co., in
the latter year, and while there made many clocks
and other machinery. David Rittenhouse made clocks
from 1751 till 1777. Originally they were manufac-
tured at Norriton, and during the last seven years at
Philadelphia. Barton says that Matthias Rittenhouse,
the father of David Rittenhouse, had ten children,
four of whom were boys, and among whom was Ben-
jamin. The latter is mentioned as the maker of a
chronometer in 1786.
William D. Rapp was a well-known clockmaker
and watchmaker who, as early as 1831, and probably
before, had his shop on the south side of Race Street,
between Seventh and Eighth. Benjamin Clark,
clockmaker and watchmaker, at the southwest corner
of Front and Market Streets, was the son of Ephraim
Clark, clockmaker and watchmaker, who was at the
same place in 1791. Benjamin succeeded his father
about 1792-93. He and his sons were at the same
place in 1830 and afterward. During his time the
southeast corner of Front and Market Streets was one
of the most conspicuous and well-known places in
the city.
In " The Traveler's Pocket Companion," published
by Mathew Carey, in 1804, mention is made of the
Rittenhouse clock in the Philadelphia Library, which,
the writer says, " gives notice by ringing an alarm
every evening at the setting of the sun, and winds
itself up at the same time." The Rittenhouse as-
tronomical clock, in the possession of George W.
Childs, was made for Joseph Potts, who paid $640
for it. In 1774 this clock was purchased by Thomas
Prior. Gen. Howe offered a large price for it while
the British were in possession of the city. The am-
bassador of the Spanish court also made an effort to
purchase it for the king of Spain. After Mr. Prior's
death it passed into the hands of Professor Barton.
The late Dr. James Swaim purchased it from Dr.
Barton.
Another clock made by Rittenhouse is now the
property of Ephraim Clark, of this city. This has a
chime of bells, and shows the phases of the moon.
Rittenhouse made several beautiful time-pieces con-
taining the machinery of a musical clock, with minia-
ture planetarium.
The manufacture of gold and silver ware in Phila-
delphia has maintained the front rank for many
years. Mr. Freedley quotes from Mr. Wallis' "Re-
port on the Industry of the United States" to show
that there were "some twelve or fourteen establish-
ments in which a considerable number of persons are
employed, and the productions of which are of a
varied, but, for the most part, of a useful, as well as
ornamental, character. The presentation services of
gold and silver plate bear the imprint of Philadelphia
manufacture, while every variety of diamond and
pearl jewelry, gold chains, gold and silver pencil- and
pen-cases, and other articles of personal ornament are
manufactured in her shops and sold in her splendid
THE INDUSTRIES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2335
stores." William Warner, prior to 1812, established
his manufacture of watch-cases, and gold and silver
watches are made to a very large extent. The state
of this trade in 1860 was as follows :
No. Estab-
Gold leaf and foil 8
Gold pens, gold watches, etc. 26
Gold and silver assayers, etc. '3
In 1870:1
Coinage and assay 3
Gold chains 3
Gold watch-cases .>. 8
Gold pans 2
Gold leaf and foil 9
In 1880 :
Gold and silver leaf and foil. 7
In 1882 :
Gold assay 1
Gold coinage 1
Gold chains 2
Gold leaf and foil 10
Gold platers 3
Gold watch-cases l:i
Assayers and refiners 7
Diamond cutters, etc '.)
Silver wateh-cases 1
Watchmakers' dials and
cases 6
Watch and jewelry repairs.. 88
Raw
Material.
$146,240
1,UI3,8.'J6
100,000
237,000
7,00()
149,100
342,050
2,800
164,130
Product.
$224,600
4,667,168
12.'),000
628,000
8,000
287,324
490,000
36,849,960
30.000
393,760
1,386,(144
490,000
120,400
357,800
The Keystone Watch-Case Manufactory, Nine-
teenth above Wylie Street, owes its origin to patents
which James Boss took out about twenty-five years
KEYSTONE WATCH-CASE MANUFACTORY.
ago upon his invention for making watch-cases of
two thicknesses of gold, with one thickness of com-
position metal sandwiched between them, such a case
being stronger than one of all gold, firmer, more dur-
able, and yet much less expensive. His plan met with
great favor, and in the course of time his business
and patents were purchased by the jewelry manufac-
turing firm of Hagstoz & Thorpe, who so greatly en-
larged the trade that it gave rise to the present factory,
one of the largest and most complete in the world.
1 In 1873 gold and silver manufactures were estimated at $9,038,755,
and that of leaf, chains, cases, etc., at $1,422,486.
There is one five-story and one six-story building, both
of brick, and connected by bridges on the various
floors. Within they are perfectly equipped with ma-
chinery for every phase of the work, from the assay-
ing of metals to the most elaborate ornamentation
known to the art. In the basement the ingots of gold,
silver, and other metals are melted, and Ijy means of
rolls and presses the combinations are formed and the
cases cut out. Elsewhere the turning and jointing,
the springing and polishing, the engraving and finish-
ing are done, until out of the gold ingot and the com-
position amalgam are produced the best watch-cases
in the world. Several hundred skilled artisans are
employed in the different departments of tlie factory,
and much of their work is of the finest and most deli-
cate nature. The apparatus is in many respects a
marvel of ingenuity and of adaptation to the pur-
poses for which it is designed. Over 200,000 of these
cases have been sold, and the manufacturers state
that in every instance they have given entire satis-
faction. The firm of Hagstoz & Thorpe continued
under that name until July, 1883, wh6n it was reor-
ganized as C. N. Thorpe & Co., with Charles N.
Thorpe as general partner and George W. Childs as
special partner. H. L. Roberts is the manager, and
E. C. Chappatte, superintendent.
In 1816, Marcus Bull
removed his gold-beat-
ing shop from Hartford,
Conn., to Philadelphia,
where it was established
in Pearl Street. It was
in this shop that den-
tists' gold-foil was first
made. In 1835, when
Charles Abbey, pre-
viously superintendent,
was admitted as a part-
iK-r, the making of gold-
leaf was abandoned, and
dentists' gold-foil exclu-
sively produced.
In 1704, the felt-
makers asked the As-
sembly to prohibit the
exportation of beaver
and other furs proper and needful to be worked up,
and leave was granted to bring in a bill to that effect.
Means were found to evade the statute, and hats con-
tinued to be exported to other provinces. Felts, which
were the ordinary wear of the people, were made in
large quantities, and much of tlie business was carried
on in interior towns, where, wool being cheap, the
manufacture was less exposed to official scrutiny than
in the sea-ports. At the meeting of the Provincial
Council, July 15, 1716, a petition from Thomas Mas-
ters was presented, showing that the king had issued
to liim a patent for " the sole working and weaving,
in a new method, palmetto, chip, and straw, for
-"]
2336
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
No. EBtab-
Tears.
lishments
1867...
1870....
60
1875....
1880...
69
1882...
191
covering hats and bonnets, and other improvement.s
in that ware.'' He asked that he should have per-
mission to record it, which was allowed, with right to
publish it. The manufacture of wool hats was a very
early and very considerable department of Philadel-
phia industry. In 1796, the hat manufacture had
increased, as ascertained by a report of the Manu-
facturers' Society of Philadelphia, to over 160,000
wool and upwards of 54,000 fur hats annuall)'. There
were 68 hatters in the city. In 1810, Philadelphia
made 92,000 hats worth $5 each, in addition to 50,000
" country" hats, worth $3.
The statistics of the manufacture of hats from 1860
to 1882 are as follows :
Capital. Kaw Material. Labor. Product.
S365,3r'0 $546,866 998 $1,164,222
1,25(1,000
648,900 084,:i71 1074 l,72l),9:i3
2,-.i5:j,744
831,853 1,138,291 606 2,4:12,SSH
2827 3,640,168
Notwithstanding Pennsylvania from her earliest
settlement was an agricultural community, the manu-
facture of the implements of husbandry was not un-
dertaken in this city until a very late date. Mr.
Freedley says that " regular agricultural machine-
shops are of quite recent establishment, the larger
portion of the implements formerly sold at the city
warehouses having been imported from New England,
whose sterile soil had compelled its energetic sons to
seek more profitable occupation than tillage." Prior
to 1854 certain kinds of implements, such as grain-
drills, were made by Sleacy and by Pennock, but it
was not until David Landreth & Son, in 1854, estab-
lished their steam works at Bristol that this manufac-
ture began either in the city or in its vicinity.
The growth of this industry is best traced in its
statistics from 1860 to 1882:
No. Estab- Raw
lisbmetits. Capital. Material. Labor. Product.
7 $67,800 $46,542 83 $142,910
4 62,000 80,500 80 184,700
5 454,000 392,875 344 739,808
.. 19 429 710,735
Tears.
1860
1870
1880
1882
The manufacture of artificial manures is naturally
associated with agricultural implements. Those made
in Philadelphia are the superphosphate of lime, bone-
dust, plaster of Paris, poudrette, urate, bone-black
waste, together with imported guano and blood
manure.
There were, in 1860, 12 establishments engaged in
the manufacture of bone-dust, phosphates, poudrette,
etc., the value of whose products was $207,450. In
1870 there were 17 establishments, the value of whose
products was §1,463,662. In 1880 there were 13 es-
tablishments, with an annual production of $977,750.
In 1882 there were 10 establishments, whose products
that year were valued at §1,697,500.
Ship-building was an industry at Philadelphia as
early as 1683, when the ship-yard of William West,
at the foot of Vine Street, had been established, and
Penn in that year wrote that " some vessels have been
built here and many boats." West acquired consid-
erable fortune, his orders coming chiefly from Eng-
lish and Irish houses. In 1698 the wharves and
other facilities for receiving, discharging, and storing
merchandise, for loading and unloading, building
and repairing ships, were so numerous and conve-
nient as to attract the notice of an English writer.'
There existed a curious and commodious dock, with
a drawbridge to it, "for the convenient reception of
vessels, where have been built some ships of two or
three^hundred tons each. They have very stately
oaks to build ships with, some of which are between
fifty and sixty feet long, and clear of knots, being
very straight and well grained. In this famous city
of Philadelphia are several ropemakers, who have
large and curious ropewalks, especially Joseph Wil-
cox." ^ Ship-carpenters, carvers, ropemakers, block-
makers, turners are mentioned as receiving adequate
compensation and full employment.
The ship-yards of Philadelphia, in colonial times,
occupied the river front from Market to Vine or Cal-
lowhill, and were gradually driven north by the im-
provements in the city. Jonathan Dickinson, writing
in July, 1718, says, " Here is a great employ for ship
work for England. It increases and will increase,
and our expectations from the iron works, forty miles
up the Schuylkill, are very great." The vessels built
at Philadelphia in 1722-24, were : 1722, 10 vessels of
458 tons; 1723, 13 of 507 tons; and 1724, 19 of 959
tons. The clearances from 1719 to 1725 averaged 119
sails annually, and, a few years later, it is said that
as many as twenty vessels were to be seen upon the
stocks at one time, so well adapted were the docks for
ship-building. At that early day the city was said
to contain a great many wealthy merchants, and the
profits of its trade were prodigious. The return of
new shipping, built at Philadelphia for 1769, was
1469 tons; in 1770, 2354 tons; in 1771, 1309 tons.
The tonnage entered in 1771 was 50,901 tons, and that
cleared amounted to 49,654 tons. Fully three-eighths
of this tonnage was owned in the province. At the
time of the Revolution Philadelphia had become
among the first cities in naval architecture ; her
vessels being no less noted for beauty of form and
finish than for their swiftness. A species of ship,
constructed at Philadelphia in early times, but
scarcely belonging to naval architecture, perhaps,
were huge raft ships,'' similar to those constructed at
a later period in Canada. These colossal structures
were built for the purpose of carrying a great quantity
of timber, and were designed to be broken up on
1 Bisbop on Manufaclure", p. 70.
- Hi.story of Peniisylvauia and New Jersey, by Gabriel Thomas,
London, 1698.
3 " Navis," a correspondent of the Gazette, said that '* in the last one
which left there were eight hundred logs of timber, — enough to build six
ships of two hundred and fifty tons each." They were denounced as a
means of deptiviog the colony of material for building ships, and of en-
hancing the price of timber. These ships twisted much in launching,
but, in the water, they looked much like other vessels in form.
THE INDUSTRIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2337
arriving at tlieir destination. The last of this class
from Philadelphia was constructed at Kensington a
few years before the Revolution. The "B:cron Ren-
frew," built at an earlier period, of upward of 5000
tons, or double the measurement of an ordinary
seventy-four, made a safe passage to England.
The reputation of her naval architects had now be-
come high; and the position of the city as the largest
in the provinces, with an extensive commerce, nu-
merous productive iron -works in the vicinity, and the
greatest facilities ,for procuring the best timber and
naval stores from the Southern colonies, gave her
superior advantages. These were brought into requi-
sition during the war for the naval defense of the
port and the country generally. Of the thirteen
frigates ordered by Congress under the law of De-
cember, 1775, the "Washington" and the "Ran-
dolph," of thirty-two guns each, the " Effingham" of
twenty-eight, and the " Delaware" of twenty-four,
were built at Philadelphia. One of the three seventy-
fours ordered the next year, a brig of eighteen guns,
and a packet-boat were also assigned to the ship-yards
of Philadelphia. The flourishing commerce of the
city was nearly destroyed by the war of the Revolution,
and her shipping nearly swept from the sea. But it
is doubtful if any other city iu the country saw both
resuscitated with more remarkable success after the
return of peace. In 1793 there were eight thousand
one hundred and forty-five tons of shipping built at
Philadelphia, au amount double that built at any
other port in the United States. The exports of
Philadelphia, in 1793, exceeded those of all New
England $1,717,572, and those of New York by
$2,934,370. In 1792, the aggregate value of goods
shipped to foreign ports was $3,820,646, and in 1793,
$6,958,736. Her exports in 1793 were more than one-
fourth of the exports of the whole Union.'
The success of Philadelphia in this branch of in-
dustry was due in a great measure to the genius of
several of her eminent citizens. Thomas Godfrey, a
native of Pennsylvania, if not the inventor, was the
improver of the reflecting quadrant which bears the
name of Hadley. It was first brought into use in
West India vessels about the year 1731-32, and was
thence carried to England, where Hadley acquired
the credit of the invention. Dr. Franklin made
many suggestions for the improvement of the model
and sailing qualities of vessels, among them the
water-tir/hi compartments which have of late years
been introduced into naval structures. Joshua
Humphreys was the first naval constructor of the
United States navy, and built many of the ships of
war belonging to the government.
Thomas P. Cope, the great ship-owner, greatly en-
couraged the ship-builders of this city, and the most
of his splendid ships were built here. As we have
seen, Philadelphia was indebted to Mm for the estab-
1 Cuxe'o "View of the United States."
THOJIAS P. COPE.
lishment, in 1821, of the first regular line of packet-
ships between this city and Liverpool, England, and
the first ship em-
ployed in the line
was, it is said, the
" Lancaster," of two
hundred and ninety
tons, commanded by
Capt. Dixey.
William Rush, the
son of a ship-car-
penter of Philadel-
phia, was born July
4, 1756. He was
without a superior
as a ship-carver and
sculptor, having
been ajiprentieed to
Edward Cutbush, of London, the best carver of his
day. Walking attitudes were then unknown for
figure-heads, but all rested astride the cutwater.
He introduced the upright figure, and soon excelled
all his competitors. His figures attracted notice
in foreign ports, and soon orders were received for
foreign vessels. His " Indian Trader," dressed in
Indian habiliments, excited great admiration when
seen from the ship " William Penn" in Loudon. The
carvers of London came in boats to sketch and make
designs of it, and in Paris plaster casts of the head
were taken. His " River God," as the figure-head of
the ship " Ganges," attracted the wonder of the Hin-
doos, who came in numerous boats to express their de-
light. Tbe house of Nicklin & Griffiths gave orders
to Rush to carve two figure-heads for ships building
in London. Among his most noted figures were
the female personation of "Commerce," the full-size
statue of Washington for the Academy of Arts, his
William Penn, Franklin, Voltaire, Rousseau, Gen.
Wade Hampton, and the representation of the cruci-
fixion in St. Augustine Church, destroyed with the
church by the mob of 1844. His figures of " Tragedy"
and " Comedy" were owned by Edwin Forrest. Mr.
Rush was often a member of City Councils, and died
Jan. 27, 1833. Among the most skillful of the ship-
carpenters about the beginning of the century was Mr.
Grice, who built the ship " Fanny," for Capt. Charles
Macalester, the fastest sailing merchantman of that
day, making her first voyage from Philadelphia to
Cowes iu seventeen days, and carrying the wealthy
and distinguished citizen of Philadelphia, William
Bingham, with his wife, as passengers. Capt. Macal-
ester relinquished the sea in 1824, and engaged in
mercantile pursuits. After a successful life therein,
Capt. Macalester was elected, in 1825, president of
the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania,
then in some financial trouble. In two years such
was his success in relieving the company from embar-
rassment that he was presented in 1827, by the stock-
holders, with a service of plate, as a testimonial of
2338
HISTOKY OF PHILADELPHIA.
their grateful sense of the manner in which he had
managed the affairs of the company. He died Aug.
29, 1832, aged sixty-seven.
Previous to the Eevolutionary war the wharfage
accommodation of Philadelphia had become much
impaired by the accumulation of mud. Arthur Don-
aldson invented a drcdging-machine for cleaning and
deepening the docks, a cut and description of which
were given in the Pennsylvania Magazine for 1775.
The committee of the Philosophical Society recom-
mended an award to the builder of £100 for his in-
genuity.' In 1785, Donaldson was granted by the
Assembly the exclusive privilege, for a term of years,
of making and using in the Delaware his machine for
cleaning docks, called the " Hippopotamus." He
also invented a balance-lock. His constructive abili-
ties procured for him an offer from Fulton of a part-
nership in his steamboat scheme. To this invention
he afterward set up an independent claim, based on
the construction of a pump-boat on the principle of
Bernoville's, and for some time he strongly contested
with Fitch, the originator of that and other modes of
applying power. The agency of steam was applied
to dredging purposes by Oliver Evans, in 1804, in the
" Eruktor Amphibolis."
The number and tonnage of vessels built in Penn-
sylvania in 18-17 were 8 ships, 2 brigs, 31 schooners,
121 sloops and canal-boats, 66 steamers; total, 228,
with an aggregate tonnage of 24,126.37.
The history of ship-building in 1854 in Philadel-
phia is condensed in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine for
September, 1855, as follows :
Launched. On Stock.
T. Birely 13
Taughan & Linn 1
William Cramp 4
Hillman & Strealier 5
Birely Si Linn 4
John K. Hammitt 1
M. Vandusen 1 V>» 1 120
Eeaney, Neafie & Co 2 25:'. 1 24B
Stewart & Walters 4 1060 2 455
Total 35 8357 9 5440
The builders of iron ships in 1860 confined them-
selves to 3 establishments, with a capital of §400,000,
the raw material used being valued at §245,900. The
hands employed numbered 350, and the value of the
product was $448,500. The builders of wooden ships,
by the census of that year, numbered 13, with $1,350,-
000 capital, employing 608 hands, and using $297,855
of raw material, the annual product being valued at
$804,500. The ship-joiners and boat-builders were
9 in number, with a capital of $18,150, using raw
1 In January, 1774, Arthur Donaldson presented a petition to the
Assembly declaring that he had invented a machine to cleanse and
deepen the docks, but *' whicli might be beneficial in cleansing and
deepening the piers, opening the shallow and too-contracted mouths
and channels of rivers, and in raising stoues and sand for buildings, and
for a variety of other works of public utility." The American Philo-
sophical Society, he declared, had seen the mach ine at work and had
approved of it, and he asks that encouragement should be given to him.
A committee was accordingly appointed to see the machine perform.
Is. Tonnage.
Vessels
Tonnage.
1429
2
600
1600
1
1200
2495
2
2919
534
728
240
material valued at $23,790, employing 76 hands, and
producing annually a value of $78,829. The ship-
smiths numbered 12, with $31,400 of capital, $14,387
of raw material, employing 52 hands, and producing
an annual value of $55,600. These different classes
aggregated 37 establishments, whose total capital was
$1,799,.550 ; the raw material annually used was valued
at $579,932, the hands employed numbered 1086, and
the value of the product aggregated $1,387,429.
In 1870, the ship-builders numbered 12, with aggre-
gate capital of $3,705,700, paying annually in wages
$1,129,590, and using raw material of the value of
$820,912; the annual product being valued at $3,012,-
663. By the census of 1880 ship-building was con-
ducted in 52 establishments, with an aggregate
capital of $2,075,132, the raw material used being
valued at $1,438,574, and the annual product at
$2,981,381. In 1882, the enumeration of Philadel-
phia industries gave for iron ships and ship-building,
4 establishments, whose aggregate annual product was
$5,620,000; ship-repairing (iron), 7 establishments,
whose annual product was valued at $253,400; ship-
builders (wood), not boats, 3 establishments, whose
annual product was valued at $415,000 ; boats and
barges (not steam), 12 establishments, with an annual
product of $190,400; blocks, pumps, and ship-fittings,
8 establishments, whose annual product was valued
at $145,300; ship propellers, 1 establishment, with an
annual product of $120,000. These 35 establishments
employed 3092 hands and jiroduced annually a value
of $6,743,400.
Of all the ship-yards in the United States, there
is no one better known than that of William Cramp
& Sons, which among its work has turned out the
famous steam yachts " Corsair," for Charles J. Os-
borne, in 1881; "Stranger," for George A. Osgood,
in 1881, and " Atalanta," for Jay Gould, in 1883.
William Cramp, to whom this great industry owes
its origin, was born in the district of Kensington, now
the Eighteenth Ward of the city of Philadelphia, in
September, 1807. His parents were of English de-
scent, but were natives of this country. He was
educated in the Philadelphia schools, and in 1823 was
apprenticed to Samuel Grice, the most celebrated
shipbuilder of that period, whose yard occupied the
site of what is now Verree's rolling-mill. After he
had completed his term of service with Grice, he
worked for several years as a journeyman ship-car-
penter. In 1830 he determined to establish an indi-
vidual business enterprise, and acquiring some prop-
erty in Kensington and fronting on the Delaware
River, he began the building of wooden vessels and
steamboats. In 1857 he took into partnership his
two sons, Charles H. and William M. Cramp, and in
1863 three other sons, Samuel H., Jacob C, and The-
odore Cramp, were also admitted into the firm. In
I 1860 the changes that had taken place in marine
' architecture induced the firm to discontinue the con-
I struction of wooden craft and devote its attention
T,
■I111IL^
eiiui;i:an
*
1^
Z;^/-:;^-^^
^^^/>%
THE INDUSTRIES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2339
entirely to iron vessels, in which business it has made
a reputation with which every maritime country in
the world is familiar. It furnished the government
with a number of iron-clads and other ships of war
during the Rebellion, including the famous armed
frigate " New Ironsides," which did such effective
service in Charleston harbor. In addition to the ves-
sels built at the Cramps' yards for the navy, many
others were there refitted and equipped. After the
close of the war, the firm contracted with the Ameri-
can Steamship Cotnpany to build four first-class iron
steamers for the Philadelphia and Liverpool Line.
As more room than was then occupied was needed for
this large undertaking, a large tract of land in Ken-
sington, having a river frontage of 700 feet, was pur-
chased, and is now the establishment of the firm.
The necessary piling having been put down, the ship-
houses, docks, piers, machine-shops, etc., were speed-
ily erected, and a numerous force of hands engaged
for building the American Line steamers. Each of
these four vessels is 355 feet long, 43 feet breadth of
beam, and 34.J feet depth of hold, and 3016 tons
burden. The first ship, the " Pennsylvania," was
launched in August, 1872 ; the " Ohio," in October of
the same year ; the "Indiana," in March, 1873; and
the " Illinois" in the succeeding May. About the
same time there were built for the Reading Railroad
Company six iron steam colliers, each 250 feet long.
In 1874, William Cramp & Sons constructed the
largest iron steamer ever built for the American
coastwise trade. This was the " Columbus," a screw-
ship 285 feet long, and measuring 1850 tons.
In 1876 Russian officials, who were visiting the
Centennial Exhibition, inspected the Cramp yards,
and they were so highly gratified with what they saw
that they persuaded the czar's government to send the
corvette " Craysser" there to be overhauled and re-
paired. This transaction led to further contracts with
Russia, for which the Cramps built four vessels, the
"Europe," "Asia," "Africa," and " Zabiaca." The
Russian government also bought the steamship "State
of California," which had just been completed for the
Pacific Coast Steam Navigation Company. Subse-
quently the steamships "Saratoga" and "Columbia,"
which had been built by John Roach & Son to ply
between New York and Havana, were purchased by
Russia, and they, as well as the "State of California,"
were altered at Cramps' into war-vessels. The busi-
ness of the firm is immense in its extent, and is
directly the fruits of the sagacity and energy of Wil-
liam Cramp. A practical man himself, each of the
five sons, who have conducted the vast interests of the
firm since his death, learned the branches of ship-
building in the yards. He was a model of integrity,
and was noted for the promptness with which he met
every obligation. In an unostentatious fashion he
was quite charitable. He was a member of the Pres-
byterian Church at Kensington, where his father had
worshiped before him. He died July 6, 1879, at
Atlantic City, and was buried from his home, No.
1503 North Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia. He mar-
ried a lady from the Kensington district, who died in
1874. Of their ten children, five were the sons above
named, who now constitute the firm, which has pros-
pered under their management. Fourteen hundred
men are now employed at the yards, where there are
three steamships on the stocks for the Southern Im-
provement Company and one for the Boston and New
York Line.
Adolph E. Borie was another representative mer-
chant of Philadelphia. He was born Nov. 25, 1809,
in this city, and was educated at the collegiate depart-
ment of the University of Pennsylvania, in the class
of 1825. He was sent to France to continue his
studies, and returned home in 1828. His father in-
tended him for the profession of the law, but owing
to his health it was deemed best to relinquish a study
involving close mental application, and he entered
the counting-house of his father, the late John Joseph
Borie. In 1848 he was elected president of the Bank
of Commerce, which position he retained until 1860.
He took a leading part in sustaining the government
during the war, and was among the founders of the
Union Club, which in 1862 developed into the Union
League, of which he became the first vice-president.
In March, 1869, he entered the cabinet of President
Grant, as Secretary of the Navy, but resigned June
25, 1869, to attend to his private affairs, much against
the expre.ssed wishes of the President. He died Feb.
5, 1880, aged seventy years.
The necessity for a navy was felt by the gov-
ernment almost as soon as it was organized. The
insults offered to the flag and the injuries done
to the commerce of the country by the Algerian
pirates prior to 1795 induced Congress to pass the act
of March 27, 1794, " to provide for a naval arma-
ment." The peace with Algiers, purchased rather
than conquered, put an end to the building of the
" armament," and left the country without a navy.
By act of Feb. 25, 1799, two docks for repairing ships
were ordered to be constructed, and to that end 5*50,000
was appropriated. In 1798 the Navy Department was
created, and upon the Secretary of the Navy devolved
the duty of constructing the two docks ; but on the
same day on which the dock act passed Congress also
enacted a law providing for the building or purchasing
of six ships of war, each to carry not less than 74
guns, and six sloops of war, each to carry 18 guns.
It was through these two acts that the first navy-yard
at Philadelphia was provided. The appropriations
for the building of the two docks was So0,000, and
for the construction of the 12 ships $1,000,000. The
first sum was too small for its purpose, so the Secre-
tary, arguing that without a navy-j-ard it was not pos-
sible to build ships, determined to supplement the
$50,000 with a portion of the $1,000,000, and purchase
a site for a navy-yard. To this end, in 1800 several lots
of ground in Southwark were purchased. The streets
2340
HISTORY OP PHILADELPHIA.
of the district, as it was originally laid out, crossed
these lots, and the Legislature was applied to to close
the streets and vacate the right of the district to open.
Not until the navy-yard had been established for
many years was this exemption granted. The Secre-
tary of the Navy did not wait for the favor, but on
the 21st of February, 1801, bought from William and
John Allen, of Huntington County, N. J., and from
Anthony Morris and wife, and from Luke Morris and
wife, three parcels of land beginning at the south side
of Prince [formerly called Weccacoe] Lane, in South-
wark, and extending eastward 546 feet to the Delaware
River, for which three lots the sum of 837,000 was
paid. Adjoining land to the south was bought after-
ward. Thelands purchased costaltngetherS199,030.92.
The building of proper houses for the business of the
yard was also necessary, — store-houses, blacksmith-
shops, mould-lofts, and offices for the civil establish-
ment of the yard, together with saw-shed, blockmakers'
shed, etc. In 1807 the barracks for the marines were
erected upon the west side of the j'ard, south of the
principal offices. For the accommodation of the com-
manding officer of the marine corps a substantial
brick building was constructed in 1821, south of the
barracks, and facing on Front Street. Up to the year
1820 all vessels constructed at the navy-yard were
built in the open air, and unprotected from the
weather. In 1821, Philip Justice commenced the
erectionof a ship-house, which was completed the next
year, and was known as the " Frigate House." It was
210 feet long, 74 feet wide, and 80 feet high. In 1822
he commenced a much larger building, 270 feet long,
103 feet high, and 84 feet wide. These houses were
for a half-century the most conspicuous objects in and
around the city. The price paid to Justice for his
work was $23,000. The work of supplying the houses
with launching-ways and slips was done years after.
The first keel that was laid at the navy-yard was that
of the frigate " Franklin."
The dry-dock which Congress designed to be built,
but which the Secretary of the Navy converted into a
navy-yard, was finally provided for by Congress, and
completed in July, 1851, at a cost of $831,840.34.
The navy-yard was sold by the government by pub-
lic sale at the Merchants' Exchange, Dec. 2, 1875, for
$1,000,000, to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
The removal to League Island took place on the 7th
of January, 1876.
VESSELS BUILT AND LAUNCHED AT THE UNITED STATES
NAVY-YARD.
1S15, Aug. 25.— Sailing frigate " Franklin," 74 guns.
1820, Sept. 7.— Ship-of-the-liDe " North Carolina," 7i guns.
1821, June 23.— Schooner " Dolphin," 10 guns.
1828, Aug. 26.— Sloop of war " Vandalia," 20 guns.
1836, Sept. 14.— Sloop of war " Relief," 4 guns.
1837, July IS,— Ship-of-the-line "Pennsjlvania," 120 guns.
1839, Oct. S.— Sloop of war "Dale," 3 guns.
1841, May 6.— Side-wheel steamer '• Mississippi," 10 guns.
1843, June 13.— Frigate "Raritan," 44 guns.
1843, Sept. 7. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Princeton," 31 guns.
1846, Aug. 21. — Sloop of war " Germantown," 20 guns.
1850, April 6. — Side-wheel steam frigate "Susquehanna."
1855, May 1. — Steam-propeller "Arctic," built for light-boat, afterward
in Kalgbu^s polar expedition.
1855, Oct. 11.— Light-boat " Martin's Industry."
1865, Oct. 24.— Steam-propeller sloop of war "Wabash."
1857, Aug. 8.— Side-wheel steamer " Shubrick,"
18.58, Jan. 9.— Light-boat " Second Class."
1868, Oct. 20. — Steam-propeller sioop of war " Lancaster," 22 guns.
1859, Jan. 19.— Steam-propeller sloop of war " Wyoming," 7 guns.
1859, Oct. 8. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Pawnee," 11 guns.
1861, Aug. 24. — Steam-propeller sloop of war "Tilscarora," 7 guns.
1861, Nov. 16.— Side-wheel steamer " Miami."
1862, Macch 20.— Steam-propeller sloop of war " Juniata," 9 guns.
1862, July 10. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Monongahela," 12 guns.
1862, Dec. 8. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Shenandoah."
1863, May 7.— Side-wheel steamer (double end) " Tacony," 10 guns.
1S63, Sept. 29.— Steam-propeller "Kansas," 8 guns.
1864, March 18.— Steam-propeller " Yantic," 3 guns.
18G4, March 31. — Steam-propeller iron-clad "Tonawanda," now "Am-
phitrite."
1865, May 23. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Swatara," 10 guns up;
•new "Swatara" built at New York.
18G5, Oct. 5. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Neshaminy," afterward
"Arizona," afterward " Nevada," 15 guns.
1867, .Inly 17. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Pushmataha," afterward
" Cambridge," afterward " Congress," 13 guns.
1869, June 10. — Steam-propeller sloop of war "Astoria," now " Omaha,"
12 guns.
1875, Sept. 28. — Steam-propeller sloop of war " Quinnehaug."
1875, Nov. 13.— Steam-propeller sloop of war "Antietam."
1882.- Steam gun-boat "Ossipee."
UNITED STATES VESSELS NOT BUILT AT NAVY-YABD.
1797, March 10.— Sailing frigate " United States," built at Southwark
by .Toshua Humphreys, naval constructor.
1799, Nov. 28. — Sailing frigate " Philadelphia," presented by citizens of
Philadelphia, built at Southwark, by Joshua Humphrey.
1814, March 23.— Sloop of war, built by Adam & Noah Brown.
1814, June 20.— Sailing frigate "Guerriere," built by Joseph Grice,
Kensington.
1864, Oct. 13.— Steam sloop of war " Chattanooga," built at Kensing-
ton, Oct. 13, 1864 ; sunk at League Island, Dec. 26, 1871.
1802, May 10. — Iron-clad " New Ironsides," launched at Kensington,
May 10, 1862; partially burned at League Island, Dec. 16, 1866.
1869, Oct. 25.— Steamer "Alianthus."
1883, March 24. — Monitor "Terror," from ship-yard of William Cramp
& Son, Kensington.
CHAPTER LVIII.
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADEL-
PHIA.
The Philadelphia Board of Trade is the largest
organization of its kind in the country, and in point
of influence is second to none. Its general objects
are " the promotion of the trade of the city, the giving
a proper direction to all commercial movements, the
improvement of facilities for transportation, and gen-
erally the use of all proper measures for advancing
the interests of the business community." In its
membership it embraces- men engaged in almost
every branch of business, and its utterances must
therefore be regarded as, in the most representative
degree, the sentiments of the business men of Phila-
delphia. It dates its existence from a meeting held
at Wade's Hotel, Oct. 15, 1833, which was called " to
consider the propriety of forming an association by
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OP PHILADELPHIA.
2341
means of which the commercial and trading com-
munity in the city might be enabled to act with
united efforts on all subjects relating to their inter-
ests." A committee on a constitution made a report
the same evening, which was adopted, and a commit-
tee of twelve was appointed to receive subscriptions
for membership. A second meeting was held at the
Franklin Institute a week later, at which Thomas P.
Cope was chosen president of the new association,
Matthew Newkirk vice-president, Thomas C. Rock-
hill treasurer, and' George W. Toland secretary. A
board of directors was also elected, consisting of the
following gentlemen : Robert Toland, Caleb Cope,
John Haseltine, John S. Riddle, Lewis Wain, Wil-
liam H. Hart, William R. Thompson, Mordecai D.
Lewis, Evans Rogers, William W. McMaiu, Thomas
P. Hoopes, Hugh F. Hollingshead, John Grigg, Rich-
ard D. Wood, Alexander Read, Edward Roberts,
Robert Patterson, George Handy, J. G. Stacey, J. C.
Oliver, and Charles Schaffer, Jr.
The association at once entered upon the prosecu-
tion of its work by recommending to the board of
directors the appointment of a committee to confer
with a committee already appointed at a meeting of
citizens, and select delegates to attend an Internal
Improvement Convention to be held at Warren, Ohio,
on the 13th of November, 1833. The appointment
was made by the directors, and a conference was held
by the committee with the committee of citizens, re-
sulting in the selection of Josiah White, Jacob S.
Wain, Abraham Miller, Thomas P. Hoopes, J. M.
Atwood, Alexander McClurg, and George Handy as
delegates to the convention. The prompt and ener-
getic action of the board with regard to this conven-
tion is thought to have been the cause of much of
the success which subsequently attended the trans-
portation in Western produce through this State, and
to Philadelphia markets.
The association's first fixed place of meeting was in
a room at the Merchants' Exchange. In October,
1847, a resolution was passed that the meetings of
the board of directors should be open to members of
the association, and at the same time it was decided
in consequence to abolish the quarterly meetings of
the association and hold them yearly instead. The
system of annual meetings prevailed until 1871, when,
the board having increased very much in size and
importance, a return was made to the old plan of
assembling quarterly.
On April 17, 1845, the Board of Trade resolved to
unite with the then existing Chamber of Commerce,
which had already signified its willingness for a con-
solidation, and the union subsequently took place.
At the annual meeting in the early part of 1858, a
line of policy was explained by the directors to the
board which was designed to extend the influence and
increase the usefulness of the association, and which
did result in its complete reorganization, and the ful-
fillment of the highest hopes of the projectors of the
movement. In accordance with the policy suggested,
a committee was appointed to choose another room
for the association, and also to select a permanent
secretary for the executive council, which had taken
the place of the old board of directors, and at that
time consisted of twenty-one members. The com-
mittee selected rooms at 505 Chestnut Street, and the
association moved thither in June, 1858. Lorin
Blodget was made secretary of the executive council,
and instead of the rooms being open only once or
twice a month, as formerly, they were now kept open
every day in the week except Sunday. In order to
render the association more democratic in its organ-
ization, and to secure a wider participation in its
proceedings than had previously been given, the an-
nual subscription of firms for membership was re-
duced from ten to five dollars. The appreciation felt
by merchants of these changes is shown by the fact
that within a year one hundred and twenty new
members, consisting of men engaged in almost every
branch of business, were added to the association.
In process of time the number of members reached
almost twelve hundred, but from those figures it after-
ward declined. At the present time there are on the
rolls over eight hundred names.
The National Board of Trade was formed at the
annual convention of the Boards of Trade held in
Philadelphia June 31, 1869, and Frederick Fraley, of
this city, was chosen its president, an action that was
a decided compliment to the Philadelphia Board.
In the early part of 1872 the location of the board
was again changed to its present room in the Mer-
cantile Library building, on Tenth Street, between
Chestnut and Market Streets. In March, 1872, George
L. Buzby became secretary for both the board and its
I executive council, and thus the confusion of having a
secretary for each, as had been the case previously,
was obviated. Since its last removal, the Board of
Trade has had a very quiet and uneventful history.
The board has had but four presidents. Thomas
P. Cope, the first incumbent in the oflSce, held the
position until his death, on the 22d of November,
1854.
Mr. Cope's successor was Thomas P. Hoopes, one
of the original members of the association. Mr.
Hoopes was a native of Bucks County, Pa., and was
of Quaker descent. On coming to Philadelphia, he
entered the hardware store of Bird & Earps, at the
southwest corner of Fifth and Market Streets. Sub-
sequently he became one of the proprietors of the
store, the firm-name being Hoopes, Wolfe & Baker.
Toward the latter part of his life he retired from busi-
ness with what was considered in those days a hand-
some fortune, and devoted his attention to the Board
of Trade, and to matters of public interest.
He was succeeded in 1857 by Samuel C. Morton.
Mr. Morton was a native of Wilmington, Del.,
and, on coming to Philadelphia, served an appren-
ticeship with Bunker & Starr, flour merchants, on the
2342
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
river front, near Walnut Street. He afterward be-
came one of the proprietors of the store, the firm-
name being Samuel C. Morton & Co. From 1847 to
1857, he was president of the American Fire Insur-
ance Company of this city. Mr. Morton resigned the
presidency of the Board of Trade in 1865, and in
February, 1866, was succeeded by John Welsh, the
present incumbent, and at one time United States
minister to Great Britain.
The present officers are as follows: President,
John Welsh ; First Vice-President, James C. Hand ;
Second Vice-President, Frederick Fraley ; Third
Vice-President, John Price Wetherill ; Fourth Vice-
President, T. Morris Perot ; Secretary, George L.
Buzby ; Treasurer, Richard Wood. The executive
committee numbers thirty-three members.
Lack of space forbids any extended notice of the
questions considered and conclusions reached by the
Board of Trade, which, as the clearest expression of
the opinions of Philadelphia merchants, have exerted
a great influence on legislation. In 1834 a memorial
was prepared to Congress against the destruction of
the Bank of the United States, and others were drawn
up subsequently. In 1834 delegates were sent to Har-
risburg to secure a reduction in the State tolls upon
merchandise passing over the canals and the Portage
road, and to visit Columbus, Ohio, in order to advo-
cate the connection of the public works in Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio. In their first effort the committee
■were successful, and several subsequent efforts for
further reductions met with a like fortunate result.
In 1835 a committee was sent to Washington to urge
upon Congress the erection of new lights at Brandy-
wine Shoal and Reedy Island, a reduction of rates in
postage, and the establishment in Philadelphia of a
new custom-house. The committee reported that
they had obtained the assent of the proper commit-
tees to these measures. In October, 1836, delegates
were appointed to attend a convention called to pro-
mote the construction of a railroad from Northumber-
land to Erie Harbor, afterward the Sunbury and Erie
Railroad, and now the Philadelphia and Erie Rail-
road.
In February, 1837, a memorial was transmitted to
the Legislature urging the modification of the usury
laws of the State, which was the first of quite a num-
ber. In August, 1838, a committee was appointed to
" consider the expediency of establishing a line of
steam packets between this city and certain points in
Europe." The promotion of this project in one form
or other was always a favorite matter of consideration
by the board. In 1848 the efforts made by the board
in connection with the citizens generally to obtain the
incorporation of the Pennsylvania Railroad were
successful. ' In 1849 the board obtained the pas-
sage of a law for the incorporation of manufacturing
companies. The improvement of the Delaware River
and Bay has always been a matter of the deepest in- i
terest to the board. In 1852 they sent a committee to I
Washington to urge the construction of works in the
Delaware, and succeeded in obtaining an aggregate of
appropriations exceeding $100,000 for the construction
of the breakwater, and for an ice-harbor at Reedy
Island. In 1853 the board took the initiative, at the
first meeting of the directors, in a plan for widening
Delaware Avenue and extending the wharf-line, and
in the same year a paid fire department was recom-
mended to the city government. A general banking
law was advocated as early as 1856, and on the intro-
ductioij of the National Banking Bill into Congress,
in 1862, the board, after careful consideration, gave it
their approval. Frequent action has been taken by
the board with regard to unsound insurance com-
panies, and in 1859 the annual report refers with sat-
isfaction to the fact that these efforts had already
brought the insurance companies on a better basis.
Previous to 1876 the board was active in advancing
the interests of the Centennial Exhibition, both in
urging appropriations from the Legislature and in
providing help in other ways. It has always been in
favor of a protective tariff, and has expressed itself
clearly on the subject a number of times. In 1882
the abrogation of the reciprocity treaty of the United
States with the Sandwich Islands was advocated.
The United States received large imports from them.
A Congressional committee having been appointed
to take evidence on the subject of differential rates by
railroads in their charges to seaport cities from the
West, the Board of Trade opened its rooms for several
days for the fullest discussion of the subject before the
committee. The recommendation of the majority of
the business men was against the adoption of any
measures disturbing the rates of the railroads, on the
ground that differential rates recognized the relative
advantages of different seaports. The committee re-
ported in accordance with these views. The adoption
of the Lowell Bankruptcy Bill was urged on Congress.
The passage of a bill introduced into Congress to in-
crease the efficiency of the Signal Service Department
was advocated. The bill for an act giving the consent
of the United States for the erection of a bridge across
the Delaware River, from Philadelphia to Camden, hav-
ing been made the occasion of a request for the opinion
of the Board thereon, it was resolved that the project
was not a feasible one, owing to the hindrance it would
offer to navigation. A petition was offered to Congress
to provide by law for a liberal compensation to Amer-
ican steamships for ocean mail-service, under proper
terms and conditions, in order to induce American
capitalists to invest the large sums of money required
to establish and maintain foreign steamship lines, and
thus promote the interests of American shipping.
Resolutions were adopted requesting Councils not to
grant privileges to telegraph or telephone companies
to erect additional poles in the city to carry their wires,
the belief being expressed that wires could be laid
underground with results satisfactory to the companies
and more agreeable to the public.
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2343
The association is composed of persons interested
in the commerce, finance, manufactures, and mechanic
arts of Philadelphia.
Frederick Fraley, the vice-president of the Board
of Trade, has been so intimately a.ssociated with the
prominent institutions and public atTairs of this city
as to require a sketch of his biography. He is the
son of John Urban Fraley and Elizabeth Laskey, and
was born in the city of Philadelphia on the 28th of
May, 1804. His ancestry on his father's side was
Swiss, his grandfather, Frederick Fraley, having come
to Philadelphia fiom Zurich at an early age. His
maternal ancestors were English.
His predilection was for the practice of the law,
which, as a lad, he had studied for his own gratifica-
tion ; but it was finally determined that he should
receive a mercantile training, and he accordingly en-
tered a house in the hardware trade, continuing in
that business for a number of years. His first par-
ticipation in public enterprise was in the year 1824,
when, in conjunction with several of the leading
mechanics and scientific men of the city, he took a
prominent part in founding the Franklin Institute,
of which body he has continued through life an active
member and manager, and many years its treasurer.
In the year 1834 he was elected to the City Council,
and was at once placed upon its most important com-
mittees. During his service in Councils the suspen-
sion of specie payments, in 1837, occurred, which
brought great complications in the municipal credit.
At the height of this, when the city was on the brink
of insolvency, Mr. Fraley, as chairman of the Finance
Committee, proposed, as a measure of relief, the issue
of certificates of debt in small denominations. This
measure was carried through the committee and Coun-
cils, and at once relieved the city from embarrassment.
The introduction of gas-lighting in face of much public
opposition, and the subsequent organization and man-
agement of the Philadelphia Gas- Works upon the
system still in force, were the result of his report, in
1835, as chairman of a Councils committee. He also
prepared the plan for the reorganization of the com-
mittees of Councils, and the keeping and auditing of
the city's accounts, which continued in force until the
period of consolidation.
In October, 1837, Mr. Fraley was elected a member
of the Senate of Pennsylvania. During his term of ser-
vice the amended State Constitution of 1837 went into
operation, and he took an active part in framing the
laws needed to carry the new Constitution into efl'ect.
The difficulty of this duty was aggravated by the
serious political complications which resulted in what
is known in State history as " the Buckshot war."
He was personally present during the disturbances
which forced the memorable adjournment of the
Senate, and, at the request of his colleagues, prepared
an address to the people giving an account thereof.
Subsequently he served as chairman of the commit-
tee of investigation, conducting its labors to a suc-
149
cessful issue, with the confidence and respect of both
political parties. In politics he was a leading Whig
during this period.
In 1847 he was elected to the presidency of the
Schuylkill Navigation Company, which office he still
holds; and in the same year, upon the completion
of the Girard College buildings, Mr. Fraley was
elected one of the board of directors of the institu-
tion, and prepared the report adopted for the organi-
zation and management of the college. During a
number of years he continued at the head of the
board of directors, and spent his Sunday afternoons
in giving to the pupils instruction upon moral and
religious duties, voluntarily discharging, also, the
duties of president during a vacancy of about six
months.
In 1853 he became an active and prominent mem-
ber of the committee of citizens, organized to prepare
a plan for the consolidation of the city with its many
separate districts, and most of the provisions of the
act of Assembly relating to the financial manage-
ment of the city were drafted by him.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion he ardently sup-
ported the government by his social as well as by his
political influence, and was one of the founders of the
Union Club and its successor, the Union League of
Philadelphia. Since 1863 he has been a trustee of the
University of Pennsylvania, and worked devotedly
toward the reorganization of the collegiate system and
the raising of the endowment fund, which has placed
that institution upon its present footing.
Having been from a very early period a member of
the Philadelphia Board of Trade, and its president for
many years, he was selected as a delegate, in 1868, to
the commercial convention which was held in Boston
for the establishment of a National Board of Trade,
and for the discussion of the grave financial questions
then pending. In the midst of a dangerous diversity
of opinions upon the question of specie payments
and kindred subjects, Mr. Fraley had the tact and
genial influence to harmonize the views of his associ-
ates, and to win from the convention a nearly unani-
mous vote upon the adoption of the resolutions sub-
mitted by him. The organization of a National
Board of Trade followed this convention, and he was
at once elected president. By unanimous re-election
he has continued in that office until the present time
(1884), and has been the chosen and permanent
spokesman of the board before the Houses of Con-
gress, and on all occasions when its views have been
made public.
When it was determined to hold the Centennial
National Exhibition of 1876, Mr. Fraley was called
upon to aid in the preliminary arrangements, and
assisted the committees of Councils in sketching the
system upon which its financial management should
be conducted. The important features of the plan
submitted by him were adopted in the act of Congress
of 1872, and when the Board of Finance was estab-
2344
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
lished, in 1873, he was unanimously elected treasurer
of the Centennial Board of Finance, which raised the
millions of money required for that historic exhibi-
tion. In association with his life-long friend, Hon.
John Welsh, he supervised the immense and compli-
cated financial details, and satisfactorily adjusted the
difficult questions of internal organization that con-
tinually arose between the commissioners and the
Board of Finance.
In 1878, Mr. Fraley was elected president of the
Western Saving Fund, and still continues in that
office. In addition to active work of a purely public
character, his skill in organizing and administering
the affairs of various institutions of a philanthropic
and semi-public character has been largely employed.
The Merchants' Fund, the School of Instruction for
the Blind, the Apprentices', Mercantile, and Philadel-
phia Libraries, and the Pennsylvania Hospital have
all shared his attention and reaped the benefit of his
experience. He is now, and has been for some years,
the president of the American Philosophical Society.
From the foregoing much abbreviated sketch it
will be seen that Mr. Fraley's prominent character-
istics as a citizen have been those "of an organizer; a
man to set good and useful works in motion, both
public and private ; a man whose counsel is always
in demand, because his fellow-citizens have confidence
in his integrity and wisdom. He is noted for the
soundness of his judgment in all matters of finance,
political economy, and trade in their broad range,
and for all administrative affairs. Still active in his
eightieth year, in his many and diverse engagements
and duties he is one of Philadelphia's veteran worthies
who does not lag superfluous on the stage.
The Chamber of Commerce.— Previous to the in-
stitution of a Corn Exchange, the flour and grain mer-
chants of this city possessed but little unity of pur-
pose or feeling. It was to bring them together for
their general benefit that a meeting of gentlemen con-
nected with the grain business was held at the house
of Henry Budd, in the early part of January', 1854.
Besides Mr. Budd, there were present Samuel L. Wit-
mer, Samuel L. Ward, James Steel, John Wright,
William L. James, James Perot, and Benjamin B.
Bunker, who took part in the discussion whether the
establishment of a Corn Exchange was practicable.
A few days later a general meeting of the trade was
called, which convened in a room at the old Mer-
chants' Exchange, corner of Third and Walnut Streets,
and adopted measures looking towards a permanent
organization. The first board of managers was elected
February 4th, and consisted of W. M. Goodwin,
James Barrett, Sr., Henry Budd, William B. Thomas,
A. McHenry, A. J. Derbyshire, B. M. Bunker, S. C.
Witmer, Alexander Nesbit, and T. A. Goodwin. Col.
William B. Thomas was chosen the first president,
Samuel L. Witmer secretary, and John Derbyshire
treasurer.
The first location of the Exchange was in the
rotunda of the Merchants' Exchange, but this room
was occupied only a few months before removal to a
hall on the southwest corner of Second and Gold
Streets, which was occupied until the change was
made to the Chamber of Commerce in 1869. The
original title was The Flour and Grain Exchange
Association of Philadelphia, but this was altered in
1856 to The Corn Exchange Association of Philadel-
phia. The original number of members was 32, and
by the end of the first year it had increased to 83.
The treasurer's report for the first year (1854) showed
receipts amounting to only $414, and disbursements
to the amount of S406.62, leaving a balance in the
treasury of $7.38. During 1855 the membership in-
creased to 154, and the treasury receipts to $1280.
GHAUBEB OF COMMERCE.
At the end of the third year the number of members
was 230, and the increase thereafter was slower; hut
almost every year recorded an advance. One of the
first measures adopted by the board of managers was
the establishment of a fixed and uniform rate of com-
mission for selling flour and produce. The change
for the better in the morale of the whole trade was
marked, and justified the wisdom and fulfilled the
highest hopes of the organizers of the association.
On the 20th of October, 1863, a revised tarifi' of
charges was adopted, fixing the commission of the
merchant for selling flour, grain, feed, and other pro-
duce at 2J per cent, on the gross sales, with various
charges for incidentals. At these figures the rates
still remain.
At the first meeting of the board of managers, in
1858, an appropriation of $100 was made toward
purchasing books for a library, which now contains
many volumes upon commercial topics, and is a
valuable one of its kind. During the civil war the
membership increased from 283 in 1861 to 404 in 1865.
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2345
As a generous contributor to the Union cause and the
alleviation of the miseries of war, the Exchange made
a record of which it is justly proud. It raised about
$30,000 for the relief of the families of soldiers, while
at the Sanitary Fair the Corn Exchange table returned
a large revenue. At a special meeting, on July 24,
1862, over $27,000 was subscribed to raise and equip
a regiment for the government service. This com-
mand was officially the One Hundred and Eighteenth
Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, but was much
better known as .the Corn Exchange Regiment of
Philadelphia, mustered into the service Aug. 30, 1862,
and out on June 1, 1865. It was conspicuous for its
gallantry and discipline in the Army of the Potomac.
The Exchange was incorporated in 1863, and on
May 24, 1867, it decided to apply for a change of
name from The Corn Exchange Association of Phil-
adelphia to the Commercial Exchange of Phila-
delphia, and to make the Exchange a general busi-
ness mart for merchants of all classes. The order was
granted April 8, 1869, and a number of members
of other trades joined the Exchange under its more
liberal organization, but the movement was not gen-
eral, and the objects contemplated when the change
of title was asked for were not accomplished. At the
present day the Commercial Exchange is still a Corn
Exchange in fact, the chief commodities bought and
sold being grain, flour, and, to a small extent, whiskey.
Quite a large number of individuals, firms, and cor-
porations outside of the grain business, however, are
members. In 1864 expectations were aroused that
a number of wealthy members would erect a building
for the use of the association. A committee on a
room, appointed in 1865, reported to the board of
managers, on September 19th of that year, that it had
received assurances from responsible parties, mostly
members of the Exchange, that they were willing to
form a company to erect a building almost opposite
the location then occupied, if the Exchange would
agree to take the lease of the hall for ten years, at
$6000 a year. The.se conditions were agreed to, and
the company obtained a charter in 1866, under the
title of The Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, with
a capital of $200,000. Ninety per cent, of the stock-
holders were members of the Exchange, and the Ex-
change itself was a subscriber for one hundred shares.
On Oct. 14, 1867, the corner-stone was laid with
appropriate ceremonies, and on Dec. 12, 1868, the
building was transferred by the contractor to the
officers of the company. The dedicatory exercises
took place in the new hall March 1, 1869, when
the building was tastefully decorated for the oc-
casion, and upon the walls hung the battle-scarred
banners carried by the Corn Exchange Regiment
through the war. The building dedicated with so
much display was destroyed by fire Dec. 7, 1869,
and the association took up its quarters in the ware-
house of President Michener, 122 and 124 Arch
Street, while the Chamber of Commerce set about
rebuilding. On Jan. 25, 1870, the Exchange removed
to the large room of the Board of Brokers, at No.
421 Walnut Street, which had been generously ten-
dered to them for their use by the brokers. A plan
for a new building was drawn up by James H. Wind-
rira, and the contract for its erection was given to
Benjamin Ketchum. On the evening of Dec. 20,
1870, a little more than a year after the destruction
of the first edifice, the new building was thrown
open for the inspection of members of the Exchange,
and on the 27th of December following the associa-
tion removed from their room at 421 Walnut Street,
and took possession of their new hall.
The Exchange has occupied the building ever since.
It is a very handsome structure, ninety-two feet front
on Second Street, and one hundred and fifty feet deep
on Gothic Street, built of fine pressed brick, with
brown stone elevation and a granite base. The lot
cost $60,000, and the building $164,400. The annual
revenue from rentals is $18,000, of which the Ex-
change pays $8000. In its new house the Exchange
received President Hayes on April 25, 1878, and Gen.
Grant on Dec. 19, 1879. In 1877 the open board for
the sale of grain was established.
The number of members at the beginning of 1884
was 600. The total receipts into the treasury from
all sources during 1883 were $45,853.72, and the
expenditures, excepting for investment purposes,
$18,176.91, making an increase in the assets of
$27,676.81. The total assets at the end of the year
were $92,991.81. The Exchange holds 527 shares of
Chamber of Commerce stock out of a total of 1644,
or thirty-one per cent, of the entire amount, and is
endeavoring to gain possession of it all.
The Commercial Exchange is the largest and most
important active commercial organization in the city.
While not a deliberative body, like the Board of
Trade, it very frequently adopts memorials to Con-
gress or the Legislature, or expresses its opinions on
matters affecting the business community, and exer-
cises a wide and pronounced influence in this respect.
The admission fee was $250, until the membership
reached 600, when it became $500, and was advanced
Jan. 1, 1884, to $1000. The annual assessment is $35.
The presidents of the Exchange are elected annually,
and since its inception have been as follows:
1S54-56. William B. Thomaa.
1856. Heui y Budd.
1867. Alexauder O. Cattell.
1868. George L. Buzby.
1869. James Barrett.
18C0. James Steel.
1861. A. J. Derbyshire.
1862. C. J. Hoffman.
1863. Archibald Getty.
1864. Henry Winsor.
1865. Charles Knecht.
1806. Charles H. Cummings.
1867. Howard Hincliman.
1868. E. Harper Jeffries.
1809. John H. Michener.
1870. Nathan Brooke.
1871.
1872.
187a.
1874.
1875.
1870.
1877.
1878.
1879.
1879.
1880.
1881.
1882.
188:i.
1884.
Seth I. Comly.
William Brico.
Robert Gray.
Samuel Ilartranft.
William Slass.y.
George W. Moars.
Seneca E. Malone.
Francis M. Brooke.
S. Jenks Smith.
John T. B;.iley.
William McAleer.
John T. Dailey.
Waller G. Wilson.
Harry K. Cummings.
E. A. Hancock.
2346
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The Produce Exchange.— The first meeting for
the organization of the Philadelphia Produce Ex-
change was held on Saturday, April 25, 1874, at 37
South Water Street, in pursuance of a call signed by
sixteen of the firms engaged in the produce business.
At this meeting William H. Dunlap was elected
chairman, and Matthew Semple secretary. It was
resolved to form an association of produce commission
merchants, and a committee of five was appointed to
prepare a constitution and by-laws. The next meet-
ing was held on the Wednesday following, April 29th,
when the report of the committee on the constitution
and by-laws was adopted, and nineteen firms affixed
their signatures. At a meeting held on May 4th, fol-
lowing, J. M. Gilbough was elected president, and
Matthew Semple treasurer and secretary.
The first location of the Exchange was in the
second story of the building at 37 South Water Street.
After some time removal was made to the southwest
corner of Arch and Front Streets, and then to a room
in the Chamberof Commerce, on Second Street. Upon
their withdrawal from this location, the Exchange was
without settled quarters, its meetings being held in
the offices of members. When its affairs began to
assume better shape, rooms were taken at 59 North
Water Street, and still later at the corner of Chestnut
Street and Delaware Avenue. From this last loca-
tion, on the 3d of May, 1882, removal was made to
the present location, in the second story of the build-
ing corner of Arch Street and Delaware Avenue. It
was chartered Nov. 11, 1878.
During tliese frequent changes the vicissitudes of
fortune of the Exchange were almost as numerous.
While it occupied the rooms in the Chamber of Com-
merce thenumber of members rose to one hundred and
twenty-five, but later there was a falling off to about
thirty. When located at the corner of Arch and Front
Streets an attempt was made to institute a call board,
but without success, and the rooms were used simply as
a place of meeting, where members of the trade might
discuss matters pertaining to their business, but very
little trading was done. In the early part of 1881 an
effort was made by a number of energetic members to
infuse the association with more life and vigor, and to
increase its usefulness. A call board was established,
daily meetings were held, telegraphic reports of the
markets of the principal cities were introduced, and
the advantages of a central place of assemblage were
represented to persons engaged in the produce busi-
ness. The result was a decided increase in the mem-
bership, which rose from thirty-three, at the opening
of the year, to about ninety at its close. In the begin-
ning of 1882 the initiation fee was increased, audit was
determined to limit the membership. New York pro-
duce merchants were brought to see the advantages of
being represented in the Exchange, and nearly two
hundred of them joined. Their advent was the occa-
sion of a renewal of interest among Philadelphia mer-
chants, and there were many more additions from
among them. The rapid development of this Ex-
change has been unexampled among Philadelphia
trade organizations. From the list of about ninety
members at the beginning of 1882, its roll had in-
creased, by the beginning of 1883, to five hundred
and fifty individuals and firms, representing the major
portion of the produce trade of Philadelphia, and a
considerable part of that of New York and other
cities. At the beginning of 1884 the number of
members was five hundred and fifty-three, and the
Exchange was in sound condition, the treasury
showing a handsome surplus.
The opening of the new rooms, at the corner of Arch
Street and Delaware Avenue, on the 3d of May, 1882,
was attended with interesting ceremonies.
During 1883 the attention of the board of managers,
in connection with the committee on statistics, was
directed toward the gathering of information with
regard to the amount of produce received daily in the
city, which has supplied a great need to the trade.
A sheet prepared by the committee on quotations,
with the aid of the secretary, attained a high reputa-
tion as a reliable market report, and secured a wide
circulation among produce men. On Dec. 3, 1883,
the Exchange established a gratuity fund, which,
upon the death of a member, pays a thousand dollars
to his heirs. In order to secure and maintain the
fund, members are assessed $3 each upon a death, and
if the amount collected is in excess of the sum re-
quired it goes into a surplus fund. The board of
managers were able to congratulate the Exchange, in
their report for 1883, that many certificates of mem-
bership which had been bought for speculative pur-
poses were being purchased by business men, and
thus the strength and dignity of the Exchange were
being augmented.
During 1883 the total number of transactions on
the floor of the Exchange was 2124. The amounts
of the sales of the principal articles were as follows :
Eggs, 8830 barrels and 22,426 crates ; butter, 833 tubs,
42 barrels, and 140 boxes; poultry, 321 packages;
dried fruits, 527 packages; walnuts, 2440 bushels;
seeds, 1300 bushels ; flour, 37 barrels ; and cheese, 340
boxes. The treasurer's report for the same period
showed receipts of $14,430.83, and expenditures
amounting to $3158.60, leaving a balance of $11,-
272.23. The total assets were $12,337.28.
The successive presidents of the Exchange have
been as follows : 1874-75, J. M. Gilbough ; 1876-77,
J. D. Ferguson ; 1878-79, W. H. Dunlap ; 1880, J. B.
Myers; 1881-82, John J. MacDonald; 1883, Henry
D'Olier; 1884, J. E. Hendrickson.
The standing committees of the association are :
a Committee of Arbitration, a Committee on Trans-
portation, a Committee on Quotations, and a Commit-
tee on Trade and Statistics.
The Maritime Exchange. — Among the various
agencies which have been influential in obtaining
improvements for the harbor of Philadelphia, and in
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2347
advancing the importance of the city as a port of
entry, none is entitled to more credit than the Mari-
time Exchange. It was organized in March, 1875, its
purpose being principally to advance the maritime
and commercial interests of Philadelphia, by the col-
lection and dissemination of information, and to bring
Delaware breakwater into prominence as a port of call.
It further contemplated the establishment of an asso-
ciation of ship-owners, ship-brokers, merchants, and
others, by which their mutual interests might be pro-
tected and advanced, and their differences adjusted.
The following gentlemen were chosen aa the first offi-
cers : President, William Brockie ; Vice-President,
George W. Mears ; Treasurer, E. W. Adams; Secre-
tary, Frank S. Urie.
The Exchange was opened on the 1st of April,
1875, at the rooms which it still occupies, in the
Chamber of Commerce, on Second Street.
Outside of its efforts to accomplish the objects for
which it was created, the history of the Exchange
has been uneventful, but these efforts have been vig-
orous, unremitting, and successful. The gathering
and furnishing of news of interest to maritime men
has claimed the attention from the start, and has been
developed to a high degree of perfection. The front
room of the Exchange is occupied as a news-room,
and is supplied with all the principal daily as well as
commercial and maritime newspapers, both foreign
and domestic. On its records and bulletins are dis-
played telegraphic reports on all subjects of interest,
including reports of the stock, grain, and general
markets at home and abroad, reports of marine dis-
asters, of the sailing and arriving of vessels at United
States ports, and of mail steamers at both European
and American ports, and of the passing of all vessels
observed at Cape Henlopen and New Castle, Del.,
and also at Fire Island and Sandy Hook. The Ex-
change has been put into direct connection with the
similar organizations at Boston, New York, Baltimore,
and other ports.
Observing and reporting stations have been estab-
lished, the most important of which is the Henlopen
Observatory, a substantial building erected in 1880
by the Exchange at Cape Henlopen, from which the
earliest observations are made of vessels approaching
Delaware Bay, and immediate notice telegraphed to
the Exchange. Two reporters and a telegraph oper-
ator are employed to man the observatory, and sig-
nals can be exchanged at any hour. An observing
office, manned by one reporter and one telegraph
operator, is maintained at New Castle, Del., which is
also connected by wire direct with the Exchange. A
reporter is maintained through the ice season at
Chester, Pa., and another at Delaware City, Del., and
the lazaretto supplies the movements of all vessels at
that point during the quarantine season. Arrange-
ments have been made for the immediate transmis-
sion from various points along the coast of informa-
tion concerning disasters to vessels at those points, or
other matters of interest to the shipping trade. The
office of the Signal Service in this city is connected
with the Exchange, so that news received from the
signal station on the Delaware breakwater is promptly
received and displayed in the Exchange rooms. A
branch office of the United States Naval Hydro-
graphic Department was established in the news-
room in October, 1884, under the charge of Lieut.
W. H. H. Southerland, of the United States navy,
and has been of great service to mariners and others
interested in maritime matters.
In the beginning of 1884 a time-ball was placed in
the Exchange, which drops at precisely the hour of
twelve o'clock noon on the seventy-fifth meridian,
the time being furnished from the Naval Observatory
at Washington.
In addition to its work of gathering and dissem-
inating news, the Exchange has been active and
energetic in promoting in other ways the interests of
the shipping trade, and, to a considerable extent, the
commercial interests of the city, especially by deputa-
tions and memorials to the State and national govern-
ments, to obtain proper legislative measures. In ac-
cordance with an ordinance passed by City Councils
and signed by the mayor, March 25, 1882, the Ex-
change, in conjunction with the Board of Trade, the
Commercial Exchange, and the Vessel Owners' and
Captains' Association, has made nominations for the
Board of Port Wardens whenever vacancies have oc-
curred, from which Councils have elected the requisite
number of members to that important body. The
Exchange has frequently, in conjunction with other
commercial organizations and the City Councils,
urged upon Congress the necessity of appropriations
for continuing and extending works in progress for
deepening and otherwise improving Delaware River
and Bay, and the Schuylkill River, and with gratify-
ing success. That Delaware Bay is as well lighted
as any harbor in the world is due to a great degree to
these appeals.
The regulation and improvement of the pilotage
service has been a subject to which it has devoted
much attention, but thus far its endeavors have met
with only a limited amount of success. A bill to im-
prove the service, framed by the Exchange, was passed
by the Legislature on the 8th of June, 1881. It pro-
vided, among other things, that vessels which had not
been spoken outside of a line drawn from Cape May
to Cape Henlopen, should not be compelled to em-
ploy a pilot, and, in order to encourage the Pennsyl-
vania coal trade, American vessels, carrying their
registered tonnage of Pennsylvania coal, were granted
the same exemption. The good effects hoped for by
the passage of this act were not realized, as a law
passed by the Legislature of Delaware in the same
year established higher rates than Pennsylvania, and
made pilotage compulsory in both the cases men-
tioned above. Consequently a vessel coming to Phil-
adelphia without a pilot, under the Pennsylvania
2348
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
rules, was subject to a pilotage tax, notwithstanding,
from the State of Delaware. The oppressive law of
Delaware was contested a number of times in the
courts by Philadelphia merchants, but without avail,
the merchants being informed that their only hope of
relief lay in Congressional legislation. A bill intro-
duced into Congress by Senator Hale, "to relieve
ships and vessels from compulsory pilot fees," was
accordingly strongly indorsed by the Exchange in a
resolution adopted on the 22d of January, 1884.
During 1883 a protective fund was instituted, by
the provisions of which any registered or enrolled
vessel making payment of five dollars was entitled to
the services of the solicitor of the Exchange for one
year, free of charge, in the prosecution of all demur-
rage claims, or claims for freight, incurred through
any fault of the consignee of the cargo, when the
cargo was to he delivered from on board at a regular
lading or discharging berth
within the customs district
of Philadelphia; and was
also entitled to his services
in all cases where the vessel
had been made the subject
of extortion or frauds while
within the Capes of the
Delaware, providing the
vessel was at the time either
lying at or bound to or from
a regular lading or dis-
charging berth within the
customs district of Phila-
delphia, and that the pay-
ment of the dues to the
Exchange had been made
previous to the occurrence
of the trouble.
The Exchange was in-
corporated on the 31st of
March, 1882. The number
of its members at the be-
ginning of 188-t was 250,
among whom were quite a number of corporations and
companies not directly interested in maritime matters.
Annual reports have been issued every year since 1878,
with the exception of 1883, which have contained many
statistics of interest to those connected with the ship-
ping interests. William Brockie has been president
of the Exchange since its organization. Frank S.
Urie was secretary in 1875 and 1876, since which time
Edward R. Sharwood has held the position.
The Merchants' Exchange.— The necessity felt by
the Philadelphia merchants from a very early period
of the city's history for some common point of meet-
ing where they could talk over matters pertaining to
their business and arrange for purchases and sales
has resulted in the selection of various places from
time to time for that purpose. At first these meet-
ings were at the " coffee-houses," of which there were
several on Front Street at an early period. The Lon-
don Coffee-House, which was started by William
Bradford at the southwest corner of Market and Front
Streets in 1754, became the first prominent place of
resort for merchants. The City Tavern, finished
about the beginning of the Revolution, succeeded to
the distinction, which it maintained until about 1800.
Its importance was revived in 1806, for a time, by
James Kitchen. Subsequently, under the name of
the Merchants' Coffee-House, corner of Second and
Gold Streets, it served the purposes of an Exchange
for a number of years.
As the city grew, the accommodations furnished by
the Coffee-House became too limited, and to meet
the demand for larger quarters the Philadelphia Mer-
chants' Exchange Company was formed to erect a
suitable building. The company was organized at a
meeting held at Girard's Bank on the 19th of May,
THE MERCHANTS EXCHANGE.
1831. Among the prominent stockholders were
Joshua Lippincott, Thomas P. Cope, John Siter, Jr.,
Alexander Ferguson, Samuel Comly, William Yard-
ley, Jr., John Hemphill, William D. Lewis, Laurence
Lewis, Thomas C. Rockhill, George Handy, Ashbel
G. Ralston, John J. Borie, Matthew L. Bevan, Wil-
liam Piatt, John A. Brown, and Samuel Grant. The
corner-stone of the structure was laid on the 22d of
February, 1832, in the presence of the building com-
mittee and a number of spectators, and an address
was delivered by Mr. John K. Kane. It was opened
for business early in 1834, and has been occupied
ever since. The cost of the building was $184,000,
and of the lot on which it was erected $98,000 ; 2069
shares of stock were issued, of a par value of $100 each.
The building is constructed of Pennsylvania marble,
and is in the shape of a parallelogram, having a front-
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2349
age of 95 feet on Third Street, and a depth of 114
feet on Walnut Street. There is a semicircular at-
tachment in the rear, with a radius of 36 feet, which
makes the total length, from front to rear, 150 feet.
The semicircular portion is embellished with a por-
tico of eight Corinthian columns and antse. A cir-
cular lantern rises forty feet above the roof, and is
pierced with windows and ornamented. The build-
ing is of very striking beauty, and is modeled after
the choragic monument at Athens, called the Lantern
of Demosthenes. William Strickland was the archi-
tect of the building, John Struthers the marble-mason,
John O'Neill the carpenter, and Joseph S. Walton &
Son the bricklayers.
As the population and business interests of the city
increased, exchanges for particular branches of busi-
ness were formed, and the Merchants' Exchange
gradually lost its position as the meeting-place of
merchants. At present it is simply rented to various
firms and associations.
The presidents of the Exchange Company have
been as follows: 1831 (May to December), Samuel
Comly; 1831-41, Joshua Lippincott; 1841-47, Wil-
liam Yardley; 1847-53, William E.Bowen; 1858-64,
Moncure Robinson ; 1864-68, Joseph W. Ryers ;
1868-69, Edward S. Handy ; and since 1869, W. J. P.
White.
The American Iron and Steel Association.— The
first general meeting of the iron trade of the United
States, as far as can be ascertained, was called on
Dec. 6, 1846, to meet in Philadelphia on the 20th of
the same month, "to consider the existing depression
of the iron industry, and to appeal to Congress for
relief through a revision of the tarifi."
No further movement occurred for more than five
years, but the necessity for a general organization
grew with the growth of the trade, and finally, on
March 6, 1855, the American Iron Association was
formed in Philadelphia, and existed until 1859. From
that time until Oct. 19, 1864, the iron and steel manu-
facturers appear to have been without any national
organization.
On the 19th day of October, 1864, a number of iron
manufacturers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, New Jersey, Missouri,
and Maryland met in Philadelphia, and determined
to invite the iron- and steel-makers of the United
States to meet together for the purpose of considering
a plan of organization, " whereby the whole American
iron interest might be promoted, and each branch
known and cared for." A letter of invitation was
issued on the 1st day of November, calling a meeting
on the 16th day of that month at the Board of Trade
rooms in Philadelphia, which assembled accordingly,
and organized the American Iron and Steel Associa-
tion, which has ever since maintained a healthy and
active existence. Capt. Eber B. Ward, of Detroit,
was chosen president of the meeting; William B.
Ogden, of Chicago, vice-president; and E. Y. Town-
send, of Philadelphia, and Thomas 8. Blair, of Pitts-
burgh, secretaries.
The American Iron and Steel Association is now a
recognized authority in all matters connected with
the trade, and is consulted by Congressmen and gov-
ernment officials at home, and by persons in all coun-
tries who desire accurate information concerning our
special industries. Its work is properly divisible into
five branches, as follows : 1st, statistical, which takes
shape annually in a report by the secretary; 2d, the
revision and publication every two years of a direc-
tory to all the iron- and steel-works in the United
States ; 3d, the publication of the liulletin, a weekly
trade newspaper, at present edited by the secretary,
Mr. James M. Swank, and its free distribution to all
American iron and steel manufacturers ; 4th, educa-
tional and special work, such as watching legislation,
and looking after decisions of the Treasury Depart-
ment upon questions affecting the interests of the
iron trade ; the publication and distribution of tariff
pamphlets and other documents, etc. ; 5th, the main-
tenance of a bureau of general information, and a
place of general resort for iron and steel manufac-
turers. The office of the association is centrally lo-
cated, at 261 South Fourth Street, in Philadelphia, is
tastefully but plainly furnished, and is daily open to
members and to all engaged in the iron trade. A
library of several hundred volumes has been accumu-
lated by purchase and exchange, and all the leading
trade and scientific journals of this country and
Europe are constantly on file ; these are open to all
members and others engaged in the business of
making or selling iron and steel.
The list of the present officers of the association is
as follows ; President, Daniel J. Morrell ; Vice-Presi-
dents, Joseph Wharton, Samuel M. Felton, Abram S.
Hewitt, William Metcalf, B. F. Jones; Secretary,
James M. Swank ; Treasurer, Andrew Wheeler ; Ex-
ecutive Committee, J. B. Moorhead, Abram S. Hewitt,
William Metcalf, Joseph Wharton, Samuel M. Felton,
E. Y. Townsend, A. B. Stone, B. F. Jones, Andrew
Wheeler, W. E. C. Coxe, Paris Haldeman, D. J.
Morrell; Auditing Committee, David Reeves, Perci-
val Roberts, Powell Stackhouse.
The Textile Association.— A very large portion
of Philadelphia's wealth and importance is derived
from her manufactures, and among these the produc-
tion of textile fabrics occupies. the most prominent
place. According to the census of 1880, there were in
this city 4484 hand-looms, 17,184 power-looms, 152,818
cotton-spindles, 223,110 wool-spindles, 68,187 worsted-
spindles, and 9705 knitting- and stocking-frames. The
textile interest employed nearly 60,000 people, and the
production annually amounted to nearly $90,000,000
worth of goods. It was to protect an interest so vast
as this that the Textile Association was formed at a
meeting held Jan. 27, 1880. Thomas Dolan was chosen
president ; James Dobson, first vice-president ; Con-
yers Button, second vice-president; William T. Seal,
2350
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
secretary ; and William Arrott, treasurer, who have
continued to hold their positions up to the present
time. In May, 1881, the rooms at 161 Chestnut Street
were occupied. The original number of members
was 21. By the end of the year they numbered 176,
but later there was a falling off, and at the beginning
of 1884 there were about 130 individuals and firms
upon the rolls.
The objects of the association, as set forth in the
constitution, are "to promote an interchange of infor-
mation and experience, to encourage schools of design
for industrial purposes, and in general to advance the
manufacture of textile fabrics in the city of Philadel-
phia." In the furtherance of these objects the asso-
ciation has issued annual reports since the first year
of its existence, has started a library composed of
books treating on industrial topics, and displays at
its rooms a number of periodicals and trade journals.
The establishment of a school for instruction in tex-
tile arts has been a matter of deep interest to the
association from its beginning, and subscriptions to
that end have been collected by a committee appointed
for the purpose, until a fund aggregating over $35,000
has been obtained. It is proposed to organize the
school as a corporation separate and distinct from the
association, the management of which shall be in the
hands of those who have furnished money for its
establishment and maintenance. Believing that the
sum raised has not yet reached an amount that would
warrant the commencement of active operations, the
managers of the association have not applied for a
charter for the school.
The association has exerted a wide influence in
matters pertaining to the textile industry, and has
aided materially in shaping legislation affecting that
interest. Its protests have been presented to Congress
frequently against reductions of the tariff. It sent
twenty -seven delegates, eight of whom were workmen
employed in mills operated by members, to the Na-
tional Tariff Convention in New York, on the 29th
and 30th of November, 1881. A decision having
been given by the Supreme Court in March, 1881, in
the case of Vietor et al. vs. the Government of the
United States, by which a specific duty previously
charged on knit goods was declared illegal, thereby
producing an injurious effect on that branch of manu-
facture, the association raised a large amount of money
for the rehearing of the case. The Supreme Court,
however, reaffirmed its decision on the second trial,
and Congressional legislation had to be obtained be-
fore the injury could be remedied. The association
met and appointed delegates to appear before the
Tariff Commission on their visit to this city in 1882.
About 75,000 copies of publications giving a view of
the tariff question from the manufacturers' standpoint
were distributed throughout the country by the board
of managers in 1882, at an expense of $1820.50.
While the rates of tariff passed by Congress at the
session of 1882-83 were not so favorable to the textile
industry as was hoped for, yet the association was
able to congratulate itself upon the fact that its efforts
had prevented the duties in some cases from being
more inimical than they otherwise would have been.
For example, on reaching Washington during that
session the representatives of the association found
that much of the benefit to be expected from the duty
placed on cloths and cassimeres was neutralized by
an insufficient tariff on ready-made clothing. They
pointed out the defect, and the rates on ready-made
clothing were advanced.
In 18§1 the manufacturers of knit goods being un-
willing to pay the royalty exacted by the owners of
certain attachments to sewing-machines for trimming
hosiery, met together to consult as to the way in which
they might escape this burden. Other matters of com-
mon interest developing, it was finally determined to
form an association for the advancement of their
branch of business. Later in the year this body was
merged into the Textile Association, though retaining
its organization for the transaction of business be-
longing particularly to the hosiery or knit goods in-
dustry. The suggestion was made at the time of this
junction that members be allowed to form sections,
according as they were interested in certain depart-
ments of manufacturing industry, which might frame
for themselves whatever rules and by-laws were de-
sirable, provided the same should not be inconsistent
with the constitution and by-laws of the association.
A new constitution and by-laws were adopted by the
association at a meeting held on the 18th of February,
1884, in which the above suggestion was incorporated
as an article. At the same time the name of the as-
sociation was changed from the Philadelphia As-
sociation of Manufacturers of Textile Fabrics, the
original title, to the more concise one, the Phila-
delphia Textile Association.
The Grocers' and Importers' Exchange was or-
ganized in the spring of 1872, as the Wholesale
Grocers' Association, and the first permanent ofla-
cers were elected on the 5th of April of that year.
Edward C. Knight was chosen president ; Thomas L.
Gillespie, first vice-president ; H. H. Lippincott, sec-
ond vice-president ; Charles S. Boyd, treasurer ; and
Charles J. McClary, secretary. Its growth was
gradual, but steady.
The admission fee was placed at first at S25, but
afterward reduced to $10, with the effect of increasing
the number of the members. When the growth
seemed to warrant it, the fee was restored to $25, and
in April, 1882, it was advanced to $100, and at the
same time it was resolved to advance it to $200 as
soon as the number of members should reach 200. In
1878 removal was made to a room in the second story of
the building at 43 South Front Street, which is still
occupied. At the quarterly meeting in December,
1879, the name of the association was altered to the
Grocers' and Importers' Exchange of Philadelphia,
and it was incorporated on the 15th of December, 1883.
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2361
Since its removal to its present quarters, the pro-
ceedings of the Exchange have been marked with more
life and energy than formerly. A daily call was tried
a number of years ago and failed, and a revival of the
practice during 1883 for about half an hour each
day at noon, wixs also unsuccessful, and it was finally
abandoned. Members, nevertheless, assemble in con-
siderable numbers every day shortly after twelve
o'clock, to talk over matters pertaining to their busi-
ness, and effect purchases and sales with one another.
Sugar, molasses, rice, canned goods, coffee, and tea,
are the principal'articles dealt in.
The Exchange at the beginning of 1884 was in good
financial condition, having a permanent fund of
$2000 invested in Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore Railroad trust certificates, and $500 in
four and a half per cent, government bonds, and a
balance in the treasury of $478.27. The number of
members at the same time was 197, and included
almost every firm in the city whose interests were of
the character of those which the Exchange was in-
tended to promote.
The successive presidents since its organization have
been as follows: 1872, E. C. Knight; 1873, Thomas
L. Gillespie; 1874, S. L. Kirk; 1875, John H. Cather-
wood; 1876, Francis B. Reeves; 1877, William M.
Sinclair ; 1878, James Graham ; 1879, Solomon
Smucker, Jr. ; 1880, Marvin E. Clark ; 1881, James S.
Martin ; 1882, John L. Hough ; 1883, Henry A. Fry ;
1884, Alexander Harding.
The Tobacco Trade Association.— The meeting
to organize an association of persons interested in the
tobacco business in Philadelphia, was held April 26,
1879, and on the 7th of May following oflScers were
elected as follows : President, Arthur Hagen ; Vice-
President, L. Bamberger ; Treasurer, George W.
Bremer ; and Secretary, Arthur R. Fougeray. The
same ofiicers have continued in their positions ever
since. The meetings of the association have been
held at various places, but chiefly at the ofiice of the
president, Mr. Arthur Hagen. The number of firms
who are members at present is forty.
During the agitation of the reduction of the tobacco
tax by Congress, in 1882 and 1883, the association
adopted frequent memorials expressing its views upon
the subject. At a meeting of persons interested in
tobacco, held at the Board of Trade rooms on the 11th
of March, 1882, three delegates were chosen to attend
a national convention of tobacco men in Washington,
to take place on the fifteenth day of the same month.
At a subsequent meeting a resolution was adopted re-
questing Congress to abolish entirely the internal
revenue tax on tobacco, snuff, cigars, and cigarettes,
and to grant a rebate to the full extent of the tax to
manufacturers and dealers having stamped goods on
hand at the time of the law becoming operative. A
bill was passed by Congress on the 3d of March, 1883,
which reduced the tax about fifty per cent, and pro-
vided for a rebate upon all unbroken packages of
tobacco at the time of the law going into effect, but no
appropriation was made by which the rebate could
be pai<l to dealers, though the manufacturers, being
allowed to receive payment in revenue stamps, were
enabled to satisfy their claims. The association joined
in calling the attention of Congress to the omission,
and early in 1884 an appropriation was made to rectify
the error.
The association was organized, according to its con-
stitution, for the purpose of preserving good feeling
between members and branches of the trade, advanc-
ing their common interests, and paying proper re-
spect to members at their death.
The Drug Exchange was organized at a meeting
held at the Merchants' Hotel, Jan. 22, 1861, in answer
to a call issued by thirteen wholesale firms, when
John M. Maris presided, and James Palmer was ap-
pointed secretary. A preamble and resolutions, re-
citing the necessity for the wholesale drug trade to
combine, and recommending the formation of an
association of wholesale and jobbing druggists, im-
porters of drugs, manufacturing chemists, drug
brokers, and manufacturers of articles connected
with the trade who were not retailers, were adopted.
There were twenty-one firms or representatives of
firms present at the meeting, who signed their names
to this resolution, and John M. Maris was chosen
president of the new organization, and Thomas P.
James, vice-president. A constitution adopted by the
association on the 2d of February described the ob-
jects aimed at as " the facilitating of the purchase and
sale of drugs, the common interest of its members by
encouraging personal intercourse with each other,
and the protection of the individual and united in-
terests of the drug trade." On the 30th of January,
1861, the board of directors selected as the meeting-
place rooms in the second story of the building at 37
South Third Street, which have been occupied ever
since, except for two short periods while they were
undergoing renovation and repairs. The Exchange
was incorporated April 5, 1862.
In January, 1866, an arbitration committee was
established to settle business disputes among members,
but it has had very little labor to perform, owing to
a lack of disagreements requiring adjudication. In
1869 a change was made from the plan of allowing
the board of directors to elect the president and vice-
president, the association itself assuming that duty.
In the early part of 1870 an invitation was received
from the Commercial Exchange, which was at that
time endeavoring to consolidate into one association
all the commercial organizations of the city, for the
Drug Exchange to join with them, and hold their
meetings at the Chamber of Commerce. The offer,
however, was refused, as it was feared by the druggists
that such a move might result in the dissolution of
their association. For several years subsequent to
1875 a Drug Exchange Monthly Circular was published,
but has since been discontinued. The number of
2352
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
members fell off later, and at the beginning of 1884
there were only ninety- nine names on the rolls. This
number embraced, however, almost all the wholesale
drug firms or other firms eligible to membership in
the city.
The course of legislation affecting the drug trade
has been influenced to a very considerable extent by
the action of the Exchange. As illustrative of its
procedures in this respect may be mentioned the fol-
lowing instances : In 1861 a committee of the Ex-
change was sent to Washington to secure some changes
on the tariff imposed on drugs in a tariff' bill intro-
duced by Senator Morrill, which was then before
Congress. This committee were very successful in
their mission, and a number of alterations were made
at their suggestion. A bill to appoint a drug inspector
for the State of Pennsylvania, which was brought
before the Legislature in 1869, was defeated through
the instrumentality of the Exchange. An act pro-
viding for an internal revenue, which contained a
section requiring a stamp on proprietary medicines,
was interpreted by the commissioner of the internal
revenue (1872) as embracing all medicines which con-
tained on the bottles inclosing them directions as to
the amount of the dose or the manner of using.
This decision was strenuously resisted by the Ex-
change, and it eventually secured its aim through
Congressional legislation. It resisted the repeal of
the duty on quinine, and has urged upon Congress
the advantages of a stable tariff". It has raised over
$7000 in the cause of charity.
The presidents of the Exchange from the beginning
have been as follows : 1861, John M. Maris; 1862-64,
Thomas P. James; 1865-66, M. G. Rosengarten;.
1867-70, Robert Shoemaker; 1871, William Gu-
lager; 1872, William W. Wilson; 1873, Edward
H. Hance ; 1874-76, Alexander H. Jones ; 1877-78,
William Wilson ; 1879-80, H. B. Rosengarten ; 1881,
H. N. Rittenhouse ; 1882, William J. Jenks ; 1883,
John Ferguson ; 1884, Malilon N. Kline.
The Petroleum and Mining' Exchange is the
result of the consolidations of the Philadelphia
Mining and Stock Exchange, the Mining Annex of
the Stock Exchange, and the Philadelphia Oil Ex-
change. The first named was the oldest, having been
started in the fall of 1879, mainly through the efforts
of Messrs. Samuel W. Powell, Lawrence Emig, and
Frederick Schuellermann. The original number of
members was 48, each of whom paid into a common
fund to meet the expenses of the new organization
the sum of $50. The first quarters of the Exchange
were at No. 310 Chestnut Street, and were occupied
on Dec. 4, 1879. Its officers during the first year of
its existence were : President, William M. Capp ;
First Vice-President, Edward H. Green ; Second
Vice-President, Frederick Schuellermann ; Treasurer,
Samuel W. Powell; Secretary, George A. Q. Miller.
It had been in operation but a little over a year,
when a split occurred, and in January, 1881, a
number of the members withdrew, and formed the
National Mining Exchange of Philadelphia, with
headquarters in the rotunda of the Merchants' Ex-
change. This separation lasted about six months.
In the mean time, a Mining Annex had been started
to the Stock Exchange, with headquarters in the
basement of the building at No. 310 Chestnut Street.
There were thus atone time three Mining Exchanges
in active operation in the city. Upon the reunion of
the two original organizations, as intimated above,
they occupied the rotunda of the Merchants' Ex-
change. Toward the close of the spring of 1882, a
further consolidation took place with the Mining
Annex of the Stock Exchange, and all the three
organizations became united with the one body, as
the Mining Annex of the Stock Exchange. In this
relation they existed, first occupying quarters at No.
310 Chestnut Street, and afterward in the Merchants'
Exchange, until their union with the Oil Exchange,
on the 1st of June, 1883. At the time of this last
junction, the number of members in the Mining Ex-
change was 157.
Previous to the institution of the Philadelphia Oil
Exchange, transactions in oil in this city were very
limited, being carried on chiefly by the firms of Wen-
zell & Foster, and Hilton & Waugh, which were
branches of Oil City houses, and effected their pur-
chases and sales in that city. The Philadelphia Oil
Exchange was organized in 1882, the prime movers
in its establishment being S. S. Wenzell, John H.
Waugh, and Samuel W. Powell, who had also been
active in organizing the Mining Exchange, and Wil-
liam N. Viguers, also as mining broker. About the
middle of June, 1882, there were sixty-seven names
on its roll of membership. The officers chosen to
serve for the first year were : President, William Hastie
Smith ; First Vice-President, William N. Viguers ;
Second Vice-President, Junius R. Clark; Treasurer,
John H. Waugh; Secretary, Alfred Newhouse. After
the Exchange had been in operation somewhat less
than a year, overtures were received from the Mining
Exchange for a consolidation. A committee of three
was appointed from each Exchange, who, upon con-
ference, agreed upon terms of union, which were rati-
fied by the Exchanges. On the 1st day of June,
1883, the two Exchanges came together as one body,
under the title of the Philadelphia Petroleum and
Mining Exchange, and occupied the rotunda of the
Merchants' Exchange. The number of members at
the beginning of 1884 was 282. The daily operations
in oil amounted to about 800,000 barrels on the aver-
age, and in mining and miscellaneous stocks to from
25,000 to 35,000 shares. The original intention of the
organizers of the Oil Exchange was to have dealers
in the different varieties of oil represented in its mem-
bership, and make their purchases and sales upon its
floor. This design has not been realized, however,
and most of the transactions are in pipe-line certifi-
cates. The officers of the Exchange at present (1884)
THE COMMERCIAL EXCHANGES OF PHILADELPHIA.
2353
are as follows : President, John S. Davis ; First Vice-
President, William N. Vigiiers ; Second Vice-Presi-
dent, Junius R. Clark ; Secretary and Treasurer, A.
Douglas.
The Butchers' Hide and Tallow Association
dates its origin from the year 1849, when a num-
ber of butchers conceived the idea of associating to-
gether for mutual benefit in the matter of salting
the hides which came from the cattle that they had
slaughtered. At that time the tanners of the city
were paying them but three cents per pound for
green hides, and in the beginning of that year they
refused to enter into contracts to take them, even at
that low rate. This determined the butchers to form
an association or partnership for salting them on their
own account; and the experiment proved so bene-
ficial and was so successful that in the following year
the building on Noble Street, above Eleventh, after-
ward known as the " Hide House," was purchased,
and the partnership was put upon a permanent basis.
The experiment in hides having been so successful,
it was determined to handle the fat in the same man-
ner, and in 1851 the property at 1.519, 1521, and 1523
Pennsylvania Avenue was purchased and fitted up
for rendering the fat into tallow. This building is
commonly known as the "melting-house." The prop-
erty on Noble Street was eventually given up as a
hide-house, and the whole work was consolidated in
the melting-house, where it is still performed.
The melting-house and lot are the property of a
stock company, who derive the interest on their in-
vestment from the rental paid by the association.
Members bringing hides and fat to the melting-house
receive an advance of money upon them, according
to their quality. The hides being salted and the fat
rendered, the products are disposed of, and the amount
received is placed to the credit of the association. At
the end of the year any surplus remaining, after all
claims are paid, is divided among the members in pro-
portion to the amount of hides and fat they have fur-
nished. The profits of the association have all along
been very satisfactory. The association is under the
management of fifteen trustees, including the presi-
dent, secretary, and treasurer. The oflScials for 1884
were John H. Hight, president; George E. Mancill,
treasurer ; and John F. Strickland, secretary. The
number of members is one hundred and twenty.
Beef-Butchers' Hide and TaUow Association
was a split from the Philadelphia Butchers' Hide and
Tallow Association, and was organized on the 1st of
April, 1883, its object being the same as that of the
other association, namely, to enable butchers to salt
the hides and render the fat of animals slaughtered
by them so as to procure the largest possible returns.
A board of nine directors was chosen, who selected
from their own number John J. Stark as president,
L. S. Boraef as vice-president, Edward Willig as
treasurer, and John Young as secretary. A tem-
porary location was secured at 436 North Eleventh
Street, which is still occupied. The association con-
sists of thirty members. It salts hides brought to it
by members, but sells its oleomargarine fat to parties
making oleomargarine butter, and has an arrange-
ment with other parties by which its tallow fat is
rendered on very advantageous terms.
The Vessel-Owners' and Captains' Association
was organized March 1, 1868, for the protection of
the rights and interests of vessel-owners of all classes,
the dissemination of information of interest to them,
and the promotion of their welfare by urging the
enactment of beneficial laws and the repeal of inju-
dicious ones. The particular cause which led to its
formation was the fact that consignees found it in-
convenient or undesirable to receive their cargoes at
once, frequently detaining vessels laden with coal for
weeks at a time without affording the owners any
compensation for the losses occasioned thereby.
Another object of the association, which it has con-
stantly carried out, has been the prosecution of suits
coming from a disagreement over freights, in which
a member has been concerned, such as, for instance,
the rejection of the part of a cargo by the consignee
as unmerchantable. It has also defended jnembers in
suits brought against them for shortages of cargoes,
when the master, officers, and crew of the vessel have
first made oath that all the cargo which was received
on board has been discharged.
The usefulness of the association to its members
and to the shipping interest has been very great, and
may be instanced by fact that out of 184 cases brought
to the attention of the solicitor in Philadelphia dur-
ing 1883 all but two were settled by the end of the
year. The estimate has been made that not one-fifth
of the amount of demurrage which has been collected,
and paid over to owners of vessels without charge,
could have been obtained without the existence of the
association. Oftentimes demurrage-fees, which have
been refused to certain captains, have been paid
promptly and without contest to members of the asso-
ciation, although the circumstances have been the
same in each case.
In pursuit of its object of obtaining beneficial laws,
and. the repeal of injudicious ones, the association has
frequently adopted resolutions setting forth its views
on matters of legislation. It has devoted a great deal
of attention to the pilotage question, and in 1884 for-
warded to Congress a resolution indorsing a bill to
abolish compulsory pilotage, claiming that, as almost
all of the captains of coastwise vessels are thorough
pilots, compulsory pilotage was unnecessary.
Since its organization the association has had en-
rolled upon its books 1030 vessels, aggregating a
registered tonnage of over 260,000 tons, and a valua-
tion of upward of $15,525,000. The value of the
vessels enrolled at the beginning of 1884 was about
$1,250,000. The treasurer's report for the year, ex-
tending from March 1, 1883, to March 1, 1884, showed
receipts from dues of vessels, captains, and indi-
2354
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
viduals, and from other sources of $4062.94. The
assets of the association amounted to S9581.06, most
of which were invested in Philadelphia City 6's of a
par value of S7300 and a market value of $9563. The
chief items of expense were the salaries of officers
and solicitors. The association has occupied room
No. 5, in the second stoiy of 205J Walnut Street, for
a number of years.
The oflScers for 1884 are as follows: President,
Charles Lawrence ; Vice-President, Capt. Jonathan
May ; Treasurer, Jeremiah Smith ; Corresponding
and Recording Secretary, James F. Wallace ; Agent,
James Nelson.
The Tow-Boat Owners' Association was organized
April 1, 1874, at the advice of a number of captains
of vessels, for the purpose of establishing uniform
rates of towage, and at the same time of advancing in a
general way the interests of tow-boat owners. Stephen
Flanagan was its first president. He was succeeded in
April, 1881, by F. A. Churchman, who has held the
position ever since. The association has met from
the beginning at 119 Walnut Street. It has been very
successful in carrying out its objects, and at present
the rates of towage in the harbor of Philadelphia are,
it is claimed, from twenty-five to fifty per cent, less
than in any other port upon the Atlantic coast. The
number of members at present is 70, and consists ex-
clusively of the managing owners of tugs.
The government of the association is vested in a
board of twelve managers, including the president,
secretary, and treasurer, and they have full power to
make rules and regulations with regard to towage,
and fix the rates of the same. The annual dues of
the members vary according to the expenses incurred.
DiiBculties among members are settled by an arbitra-
tion committee. The annual meeting is held in April.
The officers during 1883 were as follows : President,
F. A. Churchman; Secretary, Thomas Winsmore;
Treasurer, J. A. McCauley ; Assistant Secretary,
John Sholdice ; Collector, Richard Banks.
The Shoe and Leather Trade Association was
organized at a meeting held at the room of the Board
of Trade, on Feb. 22, 1883. A committee appointed
then on a constitution and by-laws made a report on
February 28th following, which was adopted. Paul
Graff was elected president ; Thomas C. Else, Thomas
Y. England, John J. Ziegler, and William Clark,
vice-presidents ; Thomas C. Babb, recording secre-
tary ; John T. Monroe, corresponding secretary ; and
David J. Horr, treasurer. In October, 1883, a credit
bureau, for the investigation of the characters of cus-
tomers asking members of the association for credit,
was established, Mr. Howard Van Court being ap-
pointed actuary. The bureau is conducted in the
manner usual with institutions of that character.
The Clothing Exchange was organized at a meet-
ing held in Mercantile Hall, Nov. 6, 1882, at which
every clothing-manufacturing firm in the city was
represented. The establishment of a credit bureau,
the consideration of the transportation of agents,
samples, and merchandise, the regulation of the time
of labor, the establishment of a board of arbitration,
the obtaining of the recognition of Philadelphia as a
trade centre, and the consideration of matters in gen-
eral relating to the clothing trade were the objects.
Within the six months previous to the last annual
meeting on Dec. 12, 1883, 1438 names had passed
through the bureau, and 4197 reports had been fur-
nished by the actuary. Interchange of information
has befen established with New York, Baltimore, and
Rochester, and Cincinnati and Chicago were visited
by a committee from Philadelphia and New York,
with the result of securing a favorable prospect of
intercommunication with the former city. The Ex-
change was chartered June 12, 1883, and the number
of members at the beginning of 1884 was 33.
The officers of the association for 1884 are as fol-
lows: President, Herman L. Freedman ; Vice-Presi-
dent, Leo Loeb ; Treasurer and Secretary, S. L. Haas ;
Board of Managers, Benjamin F. Greenewald, Simon
Fleisher, Joseph Goldsmith, Emanuel Schwerin, Jo-
seph Loucheim, and Joseph Stern.
The Merchant Tailors' Exchange was formed in
the year 1870, and a room taken at 911 Chestnut
Street, where a " book of delinquents" was kept,
which was free for consultation to members, and in
which they were expected to inscribe the names of
their delinquent customers.
On the 25th of February, 1871, the Merchant Tailors'
Exchange was organized, and negotiations were shortly
afterward entered into for consolidation with an
already-existing Merchant Tailors' Exchange, con-
sisting of small German firms engaged in business
away from the central portion of the city ; and on
the 21st day of July, 1871, the union took place, the
Germans paying the sum of $500 for the privilege of
becoming members of the new organization. The
number of members of the Exchange previous to the
\ consolidation was 26, and the number added 46,
making a total membership of 72.
The presidents since its organization have been as
follows; 1871, George Miiller; 1872, E. O.Thomp-
son; 1873-76, William Milligan ; 1877, Edward P.
Kelly; 1878-81, George Miiller; 1882-83, James B.
Mageoch ; 1884, John A. Carr.
The objects of the Exchange are to elevate the pro-
fession, to promote social intercourse among its mem-
bers, to obtain protection against adventurers who en-
deavor to clothe themselves elegantly without paying
their tailors, and to insist on having a voice in making
out " bills of prices," which should be generous to
employes and just to employers.
The Bottlers' Protective Association was formed
some time between 1844 and 1850, for the purpose of
mutual benefit and the protection of bottles and other
property connected with the transaction of the busi-
ness. The law requires that bottles containing beer
or various other articles of drink shall not be sold.
BURYING-GROUNDS AND CEMETERIES.
2355
but the carelessness of many parties to whom bottles
were delivered resulted frequently in their never being
returned to their owners. There was, besides, a great
deal of smuggling of bottles into other States, where
the laws in force in Pennsylvania did not prevail, and
where they could be sold without risk of punishment.
The association set itself to work to correct these
evils by dividing itself into committees, each of
which took a separate district of the city, in which it
made collections, and which afterward sorted the
bottles thus gathered for return to their owners.
Prosecutions were also instituted in a number of cases
for smuggling, which resulted in the source of loss
being checked to a considerable degree. Robert
Wagner was president of the association for many
years. The workings of the committees, however,
were not satisfactory, as during the busy season of
the year, when the prompt collection of bottles was
most necessary, the membership of the committees
were too busy to attend to the performance of their
duties, and bottles which had been collected were
sometimes retained for months before being sorted
and returned to their owners.
To meet the demand for a more systematic method
of operating, the association was reorganized early in
1881, and Mr. C. D. O'Farrell succeeded Mr. Wagner
to the presidency. A central depot was established,
which was put under the control of a superintendent,
to which all bottles gathered from various points of
the city are brought and sorted for return to their
owners.
During 1833 there were altogether 1,230,000 bot-
tles brought to the depot, at a cost of $17,000, and
the payments of some of the larger firms to the depot
averaged about $30 a week. The association has
also employed detectives to ferret out cases of smug-
gling of bottles into other States, where they might
be sold with impunity for a considerabh' larger sum
than can be obtained from the association. Quite a
number of prosecutions have resulted, which have
been the means of bringing offenders to punishment,
and have in a great measure destroyed this class of
thievery.
The officers elected at the time of reorganization, in
1881, have been continued without change. They are
as follows: President, C. D. O'Farrell; Secretary,
Robert Lelar ; Treasurer, E. Posten ; Superintendent,
William Arlitz. The number of members at the
beginning of 1884 was 54.
CHAPTER LIX.
BURYING-GROUNDS AND CEMETERIES.
When the English authority supplanted the
Dutch government on the Delaware, there were
already within the settlement three churches with
burial-grounds attached, — one at New Castle, a sec-
ond at Craine Hoeck, and the third at Tinicum Island.
At a special court held at New Castle in 1675, it was
ordered that another church be built at Wicacoe for
the people of Passyunk. Church-wardens were ap-
pointed by this court in 1677. For seventeen years
after the arrival of Penn it does not appear that there
was any necessity for providing burial-places for the
poor and for strangers, and the first movement in that
direction was made by Common Council, Sept. 21,
1705. The minutes say, —
" It ie ordered tliat the mayor(Griffith JoneB), recorder {David Lloyd),
and Alderman Wilcox (taking along with them euch p'sons of the re-
spective religious p'suations of thia city as they shall think p. p.), apply
themselves to the Com'rs of Property for a publick piece of ground in
this city for a buryiug-place for straingers dying in this city, and report
their doing therein to the next meeting."
The commissioners met this request by persuading
the corporation to accept the Southeast Square, which
had been dedicated to the public use by the original
plan of the city in 1682, and a patent was issued Jan.
29, 1706, which recited that an application had been
made " by the mayor and commonalty of the city of
Philadelphia to the commissioners, that they would
grant some convenient piece of ground for a common
and public burying-ground, for all strangers or others
who might not so convenient be laid in any of the
particular enclosures appropriated by certain religious
societies to that purpose." The commissioners there-
fore stated that they had appropriated " a certain
square belonging to those squares which at the original
plotting of the said city were intended for public uses."
The ground was bounded north by Walnut Street, on
the south by a street forty feet wide, and on the east
by Sixth Street. The dimensions were five hundred
feet in length by five hundred feet in breadth.'
The purpose of the grant was declared to be " for
a common burying-place for the service of the city of
Philadelphia for interring the bodies of all manner
of deceased persons whatsoever, whom there shall be
occasion to lay therein." For the improvement of
the burjMng-place, full and free liberty was given to
the mayor and corporation " to enclose, fence, plant,
build on, or by any ways or means whatsoever that
will improve the aforesaid piece of ground, ... to
be held as of the manor of Springettsbury in free
and common socage, at the rent of one ear of corn,
payable on the first day of March in every year."
The grant was scarcely made before Joshua Carpen-
ter, a Common Councilman, made application for a
lease of the ground. It might be useful as a place of
pasture for cattle, and as the burials were not likely
to be many for some years ensuing, the grass crop
could be available in nearly the whole of the in-
cloaure. Council ordered, March 8, 1706, that a lease
should be granted to Carpenter for twenty-one years,
" at the rent of p. Ann., he fenceing the same
& from time to time enlarging the ground as there
1 The ground extended on the weet to the back end of Eighth Street
lota. The street now on the west side of the square was not laid out
until long afterward.
2356
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
shall be occasion for roome to bury in." The rent
was subsequently fixed at the nominal rate of one
shilling per annum, "if demanded." The expense of
the fencing must have been considered nearly equiv-
alent to the value of the premises in rent during the
long term named in the lease, which was not signed
until the 30th of March, 1708. In 1730 the lease to
Carpenter having expired, Jacob Shoemaker pro-
posed " to take the potters' field." Carpenter was
dead, and his representatives, it was a matter of com-
plaint, had not complied with the conditions of his
lease, and kept the premises in order. A committee
was appointed to inquire into the condition of the
ground, but there is no minute of the conclusion
which was arrived at. Shoemaker was informed at
the same time that the corporation was not inclined
to lease the premises for more than three years. He
entered into possession, and was still tenant of the
property in 1762, on a three-years' lease, at ten
pounds per annum. Jasper Carpenter succeeded
Shoemaker as lessee of the square on a seven-years'
lease in 1766. He applied for a renewal in 1773, and
a new grant was made by the board for seven years
longer. When this term expired, the corporation of
the city of Philadelphia had ceased to exist. There
could be no renewal, and Carpenter was the last
lessee. Indeed, it may be presumed that the value of
the ground for the purpose of raising hay or for pas-
ture was very small after the Revolution had set in.
Potter's Field was uneven, and near its southwest
corner was entered by a stream which flowed in from
beyond Arch Street. A second rivulet, having its
source in a pond about where the First Presbyterian
Church was afterward built, met the other west of
Sixth Street, and the brook took a course nearly
eastward to Fifth Street, and half-way to Fourth
Street, where it turned north, then east to about Hud-
son Street, where it emptied into the northwestern
branch of Dock Creek. In after-years a culvert
carried the water to Fifth Street and through adjoin-
ing properties. The Carpenter family inclosed in the
centre of the field a plot about forty feet square for a
private burial-ground, and it is said that Joshua
Carpenter was buried there beneath an apple-tree.
Almost as soon as the property was vested in the
corporation, interments were made there of the
wretchedly poor, the slaves, and the free blacks. In
times of festival it has been said that the slave blacks
of both sexes used to go to the square in considerable
numbers, and amuse themselves by dancing, singing,
and speaking. When the war of Independence began,
this was the only place available for the burial of
soldiers who died in the service, or as prisoners. In
that poor privilege, the regular American and British
soldier were served alike. The men who in hospi-
tals yielded their lives to the attacks of camp fever,
and the prisoners of war held captive in the adjoining
Walnut Street jail, were brought to this Potter's Field.
Pits of twenty by thirty feet square were dug along
the line of Walnut Street by Seventh, and filled by
coffins piled one upon the other. On the south line
of the square long trenches were dug, which were
kept open until necessary to be used. Then, com-
mencing at one end, the coffins were piled up and
covered with dirt, leaving the space beyond open and
ready for future deposits. John Adams, member of
Congress, and afterward President of the United
States, in a letter dated April 13, 1777, gives a gloomy
picture of the condition of the ground :
"I have spent an hour tliie morning in the congregation of the dead.
I took a walk into the 'Potter's Field' (a burying place between the
new stone prison and the Hospital), and I never in my whole life was
so alTected with melancholy. The graves of the soldiers w ho have been
buried in this grouud from the Hospital and bettering-house during the
course of last summer, fall, and winter dead of the smallpox and camp-
diseases, are enough to make the heart of a stone to melt away. Tlie
sexton told me that upwards of 2000 soldiers had been buried there;
and by the appearance of the grass and trenchfs, it is most probable to
me that he speaks within bounds. To what cause this plague is to be
attributed I don't know, — disease lias destroyed 10 men for us where
the sword of the enemy has killed one! We have at last determined
on a plan for the sick, and have called into the service the best abilities
in physic, etc., that the continent affords."
In less than four months after this letter was
written the British army occupied the city with a
body of men greatly in excess of the number of
troops previously in town. The mortality among
these soldiers might not have been as great as among
the Americans, but there was continual necessity for
the services of the grave-digger. Acting in an enemy's
country, it was not necessary to respect the rights of
religious congregations. Many of the British soldiers
who died might have been interred in the burying-
grounds belonging to the churches and meeting-
houses, yet the Potter's Field had its share.
In the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 there were so
many burials in Potter's Field that there was no more
room unless made by disturbing the remains of those
who had been previously interred. About January,
1794, some attemjit was made to improve the square
by planting trees upon it, and it was ordered that a
portion of the public lot on Lombard Street should
be used for burials, after which interments were di-
rected to be made there and not in Potter's Field,
and so the latter ceased to be the public burying-
ground.
Lombard Street Burying-Ground.— By the pro-
visions of an act of Assembly passed April 8, 1786, the
Supreme Executive Council was ordered to transfer
to the wardens of the city "the lots of ground on the
south side of Lombard Street, between Tenth and
Twelfth Streets, bounded southward by ground of
Barron, Hurst & Co., to be appropriated as a burial-
ground for the interment of strangers and others who
have not been in communion with a religious society
at the time of their decease." The conveyance was
not at once made, but soon after the new municipal
government was organized it obtained, Dec. 13, 1790,
a patent for the two lots between Tenth and Twelfth
Streets. It was discovered, however, that the ground
BURYING-GROUNDS AND CEMETERIES.
2357
between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets had been pre-
viously patented to Christian Eitiz and William Ad-
cock, and therefore the city only took clear title to
the lot between Tenth and Eleventh Streets. The
Council had previously designated a piece of ground
on Vine Street, between Front and Second Streets,
from the Schuylkill [Twenty-second and Twenty-first
Streets] for burial purposes. The lot took up the
greater portion of the square. It was three hundred
and ninety-six feet on Vine Street from Front Street to
Second, and extended southward toward Race Street
three hundred and sixteen feet, but it is believed that
no burials were ever made there.
In 1794 it was ordered that the Lombard Street
ground be fenced in, and in six years it was so crowded
with corpses that further interments were prohibited.
The commonwealth had not parted with its title to
this property under the act of 1790, and for more than
fifty years the city made use of it without absolute
ownership. On April 26, 1846, an act was passed
granting to the city the lot between Eleventh and
Twellth Streets, freed and discharged from the uses
mentioned in the act of 1790. Under this authority
the city sold out the lot upon ground-rents, which at
the time of the consolidation in 1854 were valued at
$11,250 principal.
The third Potter's Field was on Lombard Street,
between Ninth and Tenth, extending from street to
street, three hundred and eighty-six feet in breadth
and seventy-six feet in depth, north and south. It
was granted to the city in 1800, but does not appear
to have been used for burials in 1812, and four years
later it was ordered that no more interments be made
therein. In after-time the city made of it a storage
ground.
Potter's Field in Northwest Square.— When in-
terments first began to be made in the Northwest
Square, lying between Race and Vine and Schuylkill
Fourth [Nineteenth] and Schuylkill Fifth [Eigh-
teenth] Streets, is not known. In the early part of
the century it was far out of town, and quite beyond
the very limited police supervision established under
the city administration. It might have been used
before the Southeast Square was closed for burial pur-
poses, being convenient for the interment of persons
residing in the western part of the city. It may have
been occasionally used for interment while Washing-
ton Square was also a public burying-ground. At
all events, the title " Potter's Field" was transferred
from the Southeast to the Northwest Square at an
early period in the present century. On the 18th of
June, 1812, City Councils passed an ordinance "to
prevent the interment of deceased persons in the pub-
lic squares of the city of Philadelphia." The pre-
amble recited that " for a considerable time the public
square situated on the north side of Sassafras and on
the east and west sides of Schuylkill Fourth and
Fifth Streets had without any authority been used
as a place of interment for the bodies of persons
dying at the almshouse, at the State prison, and at
the Pennsylvania Hospital, and of strangers not be-
longing to any religious society." This was declared
to be an infringement upon the rights of the citizens
of Philadelphia, and it was enacted thatafterthe 10th
of July, 1812, no bodies should be buried in any of
the public squares of Philadelphia.
Burials in Northeast Square. — A portion of the
Northeast Square having been occupied since 1741
by the congregation of the German Reformed Church
for a burial-ground, it is probable that unauthorized
burials were made there outside of the plot used by
that congregation. This theory is sustained by the
city ordinance of 1815, by which it was ordered that
the Northeast Square should be inclosed, and by the
ordinance of the succeeding year, for the improve-
ment of the square, which directed that if the lease
to the congregation for the ground used by it for
burial purposes should be renewed, it was upon con-
dition that the congregation would put up an open
wooden fence corresponding with that placed on other
parts of the square by city commissioners. By ordi-
nance of March, 1816, establishing the Vineyard
burial-ground, it was ordered that, after the latter
was opened, "burials in the Northeast Square should
cease." The prohibition was not intended to apply
to interments made by the German Reformed congre-
gation in the piece of ground held for burial pur-
poses. This appears by a subsequent ordinance,
passed in 1818, directing the opening of the Vine-
yard ground, in which there is a special proviso that
the right of the German congregation under its patent
shall not be affected.
Burying-Ground at the Vineyard. -In 1816, when
it was resolved to close the public burying-ground on
Lombard Street, between Ninth and Tenth, a com-
mittee was appointed by City Councils with instruc-
tion to purchase a lot suitable for a burying-ground
in some other place. Under that authority a lot of
ground was selected adjoining the northwest boun-
daries of Francisville. It was situate at the north-
east corner of George and Charles Streets, and was
purchased at a cost of two thousand dollars. The
access was by Ridge road to George Street [now
called Ginnodo]. The present Twentieth Street goes
through this ground, and Parrish Street also inter-
sects it. In May, 1818, Councils ordered that the
lot purchased under authority of the ordinance of
March, 1816, adjoining the Vineyard, should be in-
closed with a fence, and that after the 15th of June it
should be used as a public burying-ground. A house
for the grave-digger was ordered to be built at an ex-
pense not exceeding three hundred dollars. By ordi-
nance of September 14th, in the same year, the lot
was appropriated "as a place for interment of the
bodies of deceased strangers and persons not members
I of any religious society at the time of their decease."
The second section of the ordinance directed that it
should be an offense, punishable with a fine of
2358
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
twenty dollars, to inter, or cause to be interred, the
body of any deceased person in any of the public
squares or lots of ground belonging to the city other
than the lot thereby appropriated.
Lower Burying-Grovuid on West Side of Sclmyl-
kill.— On the west side of the Schuylkill, north of
Market Street, on the road to the Upper Ferrj' and
near the river, a burying-ground had been in use from
an early period. The true secret of the ownership of
the property was known but by few persons, and they
took no care to impart their knowledge to others. As
a consequence, a belief was general that this was
ground dedicated for public uses. As there was no
one to interfere, burials were made there by poor per-
sons at a very early period, and were continued for
more than one hundred years. In 1806 the members
of the Society of Friends took possession of this
ground and refused to allow other denominations to
use the property for burial purposes. In 1809 appli-
cation was made to the Legislature by citizens of
Philadelphia, in which they set forth that the ground
had been used for many years as a free place of in-
terment and was no doubt public property, and that
the rights of the people had been interfered with by
the Society of Friends. They asked that a law should
be passed vesting the property in the county commis-
sioners for the use of the public as a free burying-
ground. A committee of the House of Representa-
tives, to which the matter was referred, reported that
the Friends had no exclusive right or title to the
burying-ground, and that it ought to be vested in the
public. The bill which they prepared for the purpose
passed the House by the vote of fifty-three yeas to
twenty-seven nays. When this vote was known the
Society of Friends took means to vindicate its title,
and sent a petition to the Legislature remonstrating
against the passage of the law, and, after the House
committee had heard all the facts in the case, it re-
ported " that the said burial-ground was applied very
early after the foundation of the province for the ac-
commodation of Friends, who held their public meet-
ings at stated intervals at Duckett's farm, on the west
side of the Schuylkill, adjoining the said ground. It
appears by public records that survey had been made
of said ground for a burial-ground, and that of course
it is not vacant, unappropriated land, and is not liable
to legislative iuterference. Although the title is not
complete, there is strong presumptive evidence that
it has been held by the Society for one hundred and
twenty years, and positive evidence that they have
exercised ownership for sixty years. Although per-
sons of various sects have been buried in the ground,
there has generally been an application to and per-
mission of the Society of Friends (cases of improper
intrusion excepted). This conduct has been misun-
derstood and an impression created that it belonged
to the public." The committee, coming to the conclu-
sion that the Legislature had no authority in the
matter, asked to be discharged.
The controversy as to ownership was carried on be-
tween the Board of Health and the Friends, until in
1819 the latter made an agreement in accordance
with which they relinquished the ground on condi-
tion that the title be vested in the board, and without
prejudice to the rights of individuals, " to the use of a
burial-ground, or a place of interment of the dead for-
ever." More than thirty years afterward, when the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company was seeking ground
for depots on the west side of the Schuylkill, this trust,
as well -as that concerning the burial-ground imme-
diately on the north, belonging to the Board of Health,
was vacated, and the two plots were sold to that cor-
poration.
Upper Burying-Ground on West Side of Sclmyl-
kill. — Adjoining the lower ground on the west side of
the Schuylkill to the north, on the road from the per-
manent bridge to the Upper Ferry, was another bury-
ing ground which had also been in use for free inter-
ments for many years, and which seemed to have no
owner. In 1811, when the State Senate passed the
act to vest the lower burying-ground in the Board of
Health, another act was passed to vest the upper
ground in the Guardians of the Poor as a place
of interment. This bill, like the other, was lost in
the House. March 4, 1813, the right of the com-
monwealth to the burial ground on the west side of
the Schuylkill, near the Upper Ferry, of two acres and
twenty-two perches, was vested in the guardians and
overseers of the poor, for the use thereof for a burial-
ground, with a proviso that " nothing herein shall be
construed to impair the right or interest any person
or persons may now have in said land." The pre-
amble said that this place had been recognized as a
burying-ground from the earliest settlement of Penn-
sylvania, and that it appeared to be property of the
commonwealth. It has been conjectured that this
ground was originally the burying-ground of Friends'
Meeting, at Centre Square, which was abandoned a
few years after the city was founded.
Cherry Hill burying-ground was the name given
by the Board of Health to a piece of ground adjoin-
ing the City Hospital, on Coates Street, between
Schuylkill Third and Fourth Streets.
Potter's Field, Germantown. — In Germantown
the upper burying-ground was given to the use of the
inhabitants by Paul Wolf, shortly after the settle-
ment of the town. The lower ground was also given
by John Streepers and Leonard Arets for public use
at an early period. These inclosures were for general
convenience, but they were not considered Potter's
Fields. The Potter's Field of Germantown, situate
on Bowman's lane, southwest of Germantown, Main
Street, was bought by Baltes Rezer, July 23, 1755, at
sheriff's sale, the property having formerly belonged
to George Arnold. It contained one hundred and
forty perches of land. The deed-poll recited that the
ground was bought " for and as a strangers' burying-
ground or Potter's field, for all Germantown, to serve
BURYING-GROUNDS AND CEMETERIES.
2359
for a burial place for all strangers, negroes, and
mulattoes as died in any part of Germantown, for-
ever."
Potter's Field, Moyamensing.— The district of
Moyamensing was chartered by act of 24th of March,
1812. Under this authority the commissioners some
time afterward established their public burying-
ground upon a lot on the north side of Tidmarsh
Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth.
Hart's Lane Burying-Ground was appropriated as
a Potter's Field in 1855, and is bounded by Lehigh
Avenue, Twentieth Street, and Hart's Lane. Up to
1883 it was still in use for burial purposes.
The Morgue. — The first place brought into service
for the deposit of unknown or unclaimed bodies, was
the Green House at the Potter's Field, on Lombard
Street, between Ninth and Tenth, and in 1870 the
Morgue was built ou the north side of Noble Street,
east of Front.
Cemeteries. — As distinguished from the burial-
places, in churchyards, the first cemetery in Phila-
delphia was that established in 1826 by the Mutual
Burying-Ground Association, which bought ground
on the south side of Prime Street [Washington
Avenue], east of Tenth. It was followed by the
Philadelphia, Passyunk road between Twentieth and
Twenty-second Streets, and by the Union Burial-
Ground Society, which in 1841 was regularly incor-
porated. A lot was purchased on the east line of
Sixth Street, which has been extended from Wash-
ington Avenue to Federal Street, and half-way to
Fifth Street.
Machpelah Cemetery dates back to about 1827,
and is owned by the Machpelah Cemetery Society,
which bought ground on the north side of Prime
Street, at Tenth Street. The Philanthropic Ceme-
tery, on Passyunk road, was also established about
1827, and was followed in the next year by Lafayette
Cemetery, covering the block between Ninth and
Tenth, and Federal and Wharton Streets. Philadel-
phia or Eonaldson's Cemetery was projected by
James Konaldson in 1826, and founded a year or so
subsequently on the ground bounded by Tenth, Ship-
pen, Ninth, and Fitzwater Streets. He spent money
liberally upon it, and for many years it was the model
burying-place of the city.
Laurel Hill Cemetery, unsurpassed in its beauties
of location and adornment, was planned in 1835 by
some gentlemen, principal among whom were Fred-
erick Brown, Benjamin W. Richards, and John Jay
Smith. They purchased, in February, 1836, the
country-seat of Joseph Sims, on the east bank of
the Schuylkill, and called "Laurel," which then
became Laurel Hill Cemetery, and in later years
North Laurel Hill. The Laurel Hill Cemetery Com-
pany was incorporated Feb. 9, 1837, and the first
interment was made a few months later. It was that
of Mrs. Mary Carlisle, who had visited the grounds a
few weeks before her death and selected for her grave
150
a spot under a group of pines near the centre of the
inclosure. Laurel Hill at once became the chief
cemetery of the city, because of its rural charms, its
picturesque variety of hill and dale, its noble trees,
and its splendid architectural adornment. One of the
first pieces of decoration selected by the managers
was the exceedingly appropriate group executed in
red sandstone by James Thorn, a Scotch sculptor,
representing " Old Mortality" with his pony, and
in conversation with Sir Walter Scott, the author of
that famous character in fiction. In course of time
other art-creations were added, and the owners of
many lota erected in them the costly and superb
tombs and monuments that now everj'where dot the
surface of this beautiful city of the dead. Within a
short time after its opening it was found necessary to
enlarge Laurel Hill. An extension northward was
not possible, as the ground fell off sharply, and the
Reading Railroad ran below. Immediately adjoining,
on the south, was situate Fairy Hill, the seat of the
Pepper family, but it was not to be bought when the
cemetery company would have been glad to acquire
ownership. As a matter of necessity, the managers
were compelled to purchase somewhere else, and a
negotiation was entered into for the estate, formerly
Harleigh, on the Ridge road, adjoining Fairy Hill
on the north and Strawberry Mansion on the south.
This was bought some time before 1852, and opened
as South Laurel Hill. In course of time the Fairy Hill
property came into the market, and was purchased
by the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company, and thus the
north and south sections were united, while to the
newly-acquired property was given the name of
Central Laurel Hill.
Monument Cemetery, situated on the west side
of Broad Street, between Montgomery Avenue and
Diamond Street, was laid out in 1836-37, by Dr. John
A. Elkinton, who was owner of the property, under
the title of Pere La Chaise. The lot-holders were in-
corporated March 19, 1838, as the Monument Ceme-
tery Company of Philadelphia.
Woodlands Cemetery was previously the country-
seat of William Hamilton, lying southeast of the
Darby road, or what is now Woodland Avenue. It
was purchased by a number of citizens, who, on April
13, 1840, were incorporated as the Woodlands Ceme-
tery Company of Philadelphia. This cemetery occu-
pies an admirable site, commanding views of the
course of the Schuylkill and the city, and embraces
numerous monuments that are marked by a high
standard of artistic design and execution.
Franklin Cemetery. — In 1840 Mrs. Catharine R.
Livingston, of the township of the Northern Liber-
ties, proposed to convey to Rev. George Boyd and
John W. Kester a lot of ground containing about
seven acres, situate near the two-mile stone on the
Frankford road, for the purposes of a rural ceme-
tery. On the 29th of May, 1840, the association was
incorporated as the Franklin Cemetery Company.
2360
HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.
The ground lies north of Lehigh Avenue, and stands
hack from the Frankford road.
Lebanon Cemetery is located on the northerly line
of Passyunk road, about a quarter of a mile west of
Broad Street, and contains eleven acres. The com-
pany is composed of colored persons, and was char-
tered Jan. 24, 1849.
Olive Cemetery is situated immediately west of
the home for aged colored persons, at Girard Avenue
and Belmont Avenue, and is a place of interment for
colored people. It was established in February,
1849.
Odd-Fellows' Cemetery is on Islington Lane,
northwest of Broad Street, and is the property of au
association of members of the Order of Odd-Fellows,
the charter of which was granted on March 14, 1849.
Glenwood Cemetery, corner of Kidge Avenue and
Islington Lane, contains the Scott Legion monument.
The Glenwood Cemetery Company was incorporated
Feb. 19, 1850, and was largely made up of Odd-
Fellows.
The American Mechanics' Cemetery was pro-
iected by members of the Order of United American
Mechanics and Daughters of America, who pur-
chased grounds adjoining the Odd-Fellows' Cemetery,
on the northeast side of Islington Lane. Their rights
were confirmed by an act of the Legislature March 20,
1849.
The Cathedral Cemetery, West Philadelphia, at
Forty-eighth Street and Lancaster Avenue, consists of
forty-three acres purchased in 1849. It was consecrated
on September 16th of thatyear, by Et. Rev. J. M. Odin,
D.D., Bishop of Galveston, Texas, assisted by Very
Rev. F. X. Gartland, Rev. William O'Hara, and Rev.
J. J. Deane, of Pittsburgh. Bishop Kenrick delivered
the sermon. In January, 1850, Bishop Kenrick ap-
pointed a committee to assist him in conducting its
affairs. They were Very Rev. F. X. Gartland, Rev.
■Q. S. Waldron, and Messrs. Robert Ewing, Charles
A. Repplier, and M. A. Frenaye. It is now managed
by Episcopal authority.
The New Cathedral Cemetery is at Second and
Butler Streets, in the northeastern part of the city.
It consists of the forty-one acres bought in 1868 by
Bishop Wood, and on August 30th of that year conse-
crated by Rt. Rev. William O'Hara, Bishop of
Scranton. An addition has since been made to the
original purchase.
Mount Moriah Cemetery, north of the road to
Darby, near the Blue Bell Tavern, was established
about 1855, and opened about the beginning of July.
The company was incorporated March 27th of that
year. This ground, far removed from the heart of
the city, is in a situation where improvements and
the opening of streets will be less likely to interfere
with it than any other cemetery in the city.
Mount Vernon Cemetery is on the east side of
Ridge Avenue, immediately opposite Laurel Hill.
By the charter of Mount Vernon Cemetery Company,
Feb. 28, 1856, authority was given to purchase a lot
of ground, not exceeding thirty acres, bounded north
by Cambria Street, east by Thirty-second Street, south
by Lehigh Avenue, and west by Ridge Avenue.
Mount Peace Cemetery, managed in connection
with the Odd-Fellows' Cemetery on Islington Lane,
is principally under the control of members of that
order. It adjoins Mount Vernon Cemetery, and was
originally the country-seat of the Ralston family, and
known as the Mount Peace estate. In this inclosure
is a fine monument to the memory of William Curtis,
who was for many years Grand Secretary of the Grand
Lodge of Odd-Fellows of Pennsylvania.
Cedar Hill Cemetery, Main Street, above Paul,
Frankford, is a small inclosure. North Cedar Hill,
some distance beyond, on the Bristol and Smithfield
turnpike, is much larger, and is finely situated. Old
Cedar Hill was established by a company incorporated
March 25, 1850.
Mount Sinai, a Jewish cemetery, adjoins North
Cedar Hill on the east, and has a fine entrance, occu-
pying a space of one hundred and forty-six feet.
Leverington Cemetery, Ridge road, Roxborough,
at the corner of Rittenhouse Lane, is well situated
and handsomely laid out. The company was incor-
porated May 13, 18.57.
Fair Hill Cemetery, Germantown road, above
Cambria Street, is upon the ancient ground granted
by William Penn for the use of Fair Hill Meeting.
It is under the control of members of the Society of
Friends belonging to the branch commonly called
Hicksites. It was a peculiarity of the Society of
Friends, for more than a century and a half in Penn-
sylvania, not to allow any tombstone or memorial
to be set up to mark the resting-place of the dead,
but at some time after the opening of Fair Hill
Cemetery, low headstones bearing merely the name
and date of death of the deceased were permitted.'
Old Oaks Cemetery was projected in 1868, and
laid out upon the estate of John Tucker, upon Wis-
1 Concord Monthly Meeting in 1729 bore the following testimony;
" WlieretM, It hath been upon the minds of Bome Friends to suppress all
superfluous practices of putting names and dates upon coffins, and it is
the mind of this meeting that for the future Friends desist from all such
idolatrous practices." In 1759 the following minute was also adopted:
"Though it was the early care of Friends to advise and caution
against the vanity and superstition of erecting monuments and en-
tombing the dead with singular notes ormarks of distinction, which is
but worldly pomp and grandeur, for no encomium nor pompous inter-
ment can add worth to the deceased, — yet some professing with us have
set up tombs or grave-stones in some burying-grounds which, coming
under our notice, brought a concern on this meeting to advise and cau-
tion against them. And the Monthly Meetings wbereunto such bury-
ing-grounds belong are desired to take care to put a stop thereto ac-
cording to the directions of this meeting given by a minute on this
occasion, viz. : ' The Friends or overseers of each meeting, where tomb-
stones are begun to be placed, are to admonish against any usage of
that kind, and where they already are to caution and request the rela-
tives or those concerned to remove such tombstones away, and to deal
with such as refuse or after a reasonable term neglect to do so.' "
In the burj-ing-ground at Third and Arch Streets were interred many
of the best citizens of Philadelphia in colonial time without a headstone
to distinguish their graves.
BURYING-GROUNDS AND CEMETERIES.
2361
sahickon Avenue, extending from the Reading Rail-
road, at Erie Avenue, to Abbotsford Street. Tlie
company was incorporated in July, 1869, but the
cemetery has since been abandoned.
Hood Cemetery, Germantown, goes back in its
history to 1690. The ground, originally half an acre,
was granted by Leonard Arets, by deed dated Feb.
12, 1692, to Paul Wolff, his heirs and assigns, for no
other use than a buryingplace forever. The grant
was a half-acre of a square form, and lying on the
eastern side of Germantown, on the Main Street. A
stone wall was placed round it, and the inclosure was
known as the lower burying-ground. Wolff is under-
stood to have held upon the implied trust that the
burying-ground should be for the use of the inhabit-
ants of Germantown, and it was managed by trustees,
residents of that village. By subsequent purchases
the premises were enlarged to five acres. In March,
1847, William Hood, of Germantown, made a propo-
sition that, in consideration of allowing him to build
a vault in the footway near the front gate, he would
erect a marble gateway and entrance. This was car-
ried out, and Mr. Hood put up a beautiful entrance-
gate of Pennsylvania marble, arched, and the canopy
supported by Corinthian columns, and a marble wall
and handsome railing along the whole front. In
1866 the trustees obtained a charter, under the title
of the Hood Cemetery Company.
Palmer Street Burying-Ground owes its origin to
Anthony Palmer, a native of England, who came to
Philadelphia at an early period, and was a member of
the Provincial Council in 1708, and president of the
board, and acting Governor in 1747^8. He purchased
in 1730 a tract of ground in Northern Liberties,
bounded by Gunner's Run, the Delaware, Frankford
road, and by what is now known as Hanover Street.
There were one hundred and ninety-one and a half
acres, and here Mr. Palmer laid out a town, which he
called Kensington. It was his intention to dedicate
there a piece of ground for the purposes of a burying-
ground for the use of the inhabitants of that village.
He died without making any formal deed of dedica-
tion, and in 1749 his daughter, Mrs. Thomasine Kieth,
by her will, bequeathed the ground to trustees, for the
use of a burying-ground and a school, the lot having a
front of two hundred and ten feet on Cherry Street.
In 1704 the trustees of the Palmer Ground purchased
additional space adjoining, and enlarged the inclosure
accordingly.
Ivy Hill Cemetery, on the Germantown and Wil-
low Grove turnpike, about a mile east of Germantown
Avenue, contains about eighty acres. The stock-
holders were chartered Dec. 5, 1867, as the German-
town and Chestnut Hill Cemetery Company, but in
June, 1871, the title was changed to Ivy Hill. The
Second Baptist Church has removed to this ground
about three hundred bodies from the old burying-
ground on New Market Street.
Beth El Emeth Cemetery, corner of Fisher's Ave-
nue and Market Street, West Philadelphia, is under
the care of the Jewish Congregation. There is also
a Hebrew cemetery at Market and Fifty-fifth Streets,
extending to Fifty-fourth Street on the east, and
northward to Arch Street, and another on Federal
Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets. The ancient
Jewish Cemetery at Spruce and Ninth Streets is but
rarely used.
Greenwood Cemetery, Adams Street, Frankford,
was established by the benevolent order of the
Knights of Pythias, for the interment of their mem-
bers and others. The company was chartered Dec. 9,
1869,^ and bought the property, which was formerly
Mount Airy, the residence of Commodore Stephen
Decatur, Sr.
West Laurel Hill Cemetery is on the west bank
of the Schuylkill, at Pencoyd Station, in Lower
Merion township, Montgomery Co., and immediately
opposite Manayunk. The ground is high, — one hun-
dred and fifty feet above the Schuylkill, — and com-
mands a fine view from every portion of it. In the in-
closure are about one hundred and ten acres and some
fine monuments and tombs. This cemetery is sepa*
rate and distinct from Laurel Hill on the east side of
the Schuylkill, and is under different control, although
some of the managers of the old cemetery are inter-
ested in this. The charter was obtained Nov. 8, 1869.
IN DEX.
.A-
Abell, Arunah S., iii. 196", 2000, 2005, 2006.
Abercrombie, Rev. Dr. James, i. 506.
Abolition publicatioDS, i. 642.
Abolition Society, the Pennsylvania, i. 445,
479,567, 642,6.50; ii. 1477.
Abolition of slavery, efforts to promote the, i.
446, 453, 607.
Abolition party, the, i. 642, 719.
Abolitionists, prejudice against the, i. 637.
Dangerfield slave case, i. 730.
excitement from hanging of John Brown,
i. 732.
Academy, the Philadelphia, i. 239, 246, 260,
487; ii. 871.
Academy of Fine Arts, i. 323, 521, 676, 677; ii.
924, 949, 979, 1037, 1054, 1061, 1066, 1070; iii.
1773, 1860.
Academy of Music, the, i. 621, 717, 724, 729,
733, 765, 826, 827, 835, 842, 852,852b, 8620; ii.
1083.
Academy of Natural Sciences, i. 616; ii. 1199 ;
iii. 1773, 1985, 22.39.
Academy of Surgery, ii. 1653.
Academy of the Sacred Heart (Catholic), iii.
1954.
Academy, Episcopal, i. 452.
Acadian refugees, i. 248, 267.
Acrelius, Israel, ii. 1239,
• " Act of Settlement," i. 102.
Adams, John, i. 485, 488, 490, 604, 608, 639.
death of, i. 619.
inaugurated President, i. 488.
Vice-President, i. 462, 467.
Adams, John Quincy, i. 583, 608, 610, 688.
Adjutants-General, iii. 1768.
Admiral Kepple Tavern, i. 260.
Admiral ^Varren Tavern, i. 348.
Admiralty judges, ii. 1676.
Advance and Review, iii. 2059.
Advancement Society, ii. 1361.
Advent Christians, ii. 1449.
Advent Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1363.
Advertiser, iii. 2057.
Advertisements, ii. 888.
Advocate of Christian Holiness, iii. 2044.
Advocate of Science, iii. 1999.
Advocates for the crown, ii. 1577.
Afield and Afloat, iii. 2057.
African Insurance Company, iii. 2117.
Age, iii. 2U32.
Agent's Bulletin, iii. 2060.
Agent's Herald, iii. 2053.
Agent's Telegraph, iii. 2061.
Agnew, D. Hayes, ii. 1626.
Agricultural Hall, iii. 1862.
Agricultural Society of Philadelphia, i. 448,
461, 642.
Aitken, Robert, ii. 1065.
Alters, B. P., ii. 1067.
Alberti, George F., i. 658.
Albion Society, i. 726.
Albright, Col. Peter, i. 720.
151
Albright, William, ii. 1053.
Album and Ladies' Weekly Gazette, iii. 1990.
Algiers, war declared against, by the United
States, i. 438.
pirates of, capture of American vessels by.
i. 477.
peace with, i. 4S6.
tribute to, and Ame
491.
captii
All Saints' Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1360.
All Saints' Catholic Church, ii. 1384.
All Souls' Mission Protestant Episcopal Church,
ii. 1300.
All the Tear, iii. 2067.
Allegiance, oath of, required by act of Assembly,
i. 377.
" Alliauce" frigate, the famous, i. 441, 449.
Allibone, Thomas, i. 525, 699.
Allibone, Samuel A., ii. 1165.
Allison, Dr. Francis, i. 245, 255, 262, 274.
Allison, Judge Joseph, i. 703, 761, 767, 806, 822,
836, 848.
Alien law, i. 631.
disturbances resulting from the, i. 496.
Allen, Andrew, i. 311, 350, 366.
attainted, i. 377.
member of Continental Congress and de-
serted to enemy, i. 317, 318, 336.
Allen, Col. Ethan, i. 305.
Allen, Joseph, i. 36.
Allen, Nathaniel, i. 94.
Allen, E., ii. 1397.
Allen's race-course, i. 723.
Allen, Rev. Benjamin, ii. 1143.
Allen, Samuel, i. 716.
Allen, William, i. 206, 210, 233, 240, 244, 298,
336, 350.
member of Continental Congress and de-
serted to enemy, i. 317, 318, 336.
attainted, i. 377; ii. 1604; iii. 1739, 1781,
1786, 1802, 1866, 2063.
Allen, William H., M.D., LL.D., iii. 1947.
Almanacs, i. 221, 238; ii. 1103.
Almshouse in Philadelphia, i. 7, 191, 205-6,646,
648, 712, 817 ; ii. 1449.
Blockley, i. 654.
America Hose Company, i. 725.
American Philosophical Society, i. 231, 233, 265,
267, 319, 322, 467, 514. 690, 601, 725, 813; iii.
1782, 1788, 1796, 1844, 1849, 2199, 2259, 2262,
2263, 2311, 2314, 2326.
American flag, the, first adopted, 1. 303.
American Steamship Company, i. 838; ii. 2170.
American Weekly Mercury, first newspaper in
Philadelphia, i. 200, 220, 227, 228, 232 ; iii.
1826, 1958, 1901, 2112.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, i.
264.
American Sentinel, 1. 605 ; iii. 1984.
American Sunday-School Union, i. 590; ii.
1488.
American Iron and Steel Association, iii. 2349.
American Bible Society, i. 604.
American Baptist Historical Society, ii. 1224.
American Colonization Society, i. 688.
American Mechanics' Cemetery, iii. 2360.
American Academy of Music, ii. 1075.
American Medical Association, ii. 1631.
American Legion of Honor, iii. 2074.
American Circus, ii. 980.
American District Telegraph Company, Hi.
2132.
American Republicans, i. 545.
American Republican Association, i. 663.
American Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2117.
Life Insurance Company, iii. 2120.
Naval and Commercial Register, iii.
1978.
American Annual Register, iii. 1978.
American Universal Blagazine, iii, 1978.
American Register, iii. 1981.
American Sunday-School Magazine, iii. 1989.
American Journal of Pharmacy, iii. 1990,
American Magazine, iii. 1964.
American Museum, iii. 1977, 2231, 2313.
American Messenger, iii. 2030.
American E.\change and Review, iii. 2032.
American Historical Record, iii. 2044.
American Weekly Messenger, iii. 1985.
American Medical Recorder, iii. 1986.
American Jouin.il of Medical Science, iii. 1986.
American Lancet, iii. 1999.
American Law Register, iii. 202:^.
American Journal of Medicine, iii. 2024.
American Banner, iii. 2024.
American Journal of Conchology, iii. 2036.
American Naturalist, iii. 2037.
American Journal of Homo-opathic Materia
Medica, iii. 2038.
American Journal of Homoeopathy, iii. 2012.
American Phrenological Journal, iii. 2012, 2013.
American Advocate, iii. 2016.
American Citizen, iii. 2016,
' American Quarterly Register, Iii. 2019.
Law Journal, iii. 2021.
Vegetarian, iii. 2021.
American Mechanics' Advocate, iii. 2021.
American Pulpit and Pew, iii. 2059.
American Silk and Fruit Culturist, iii. 2060.
American, iii. 2068.
American Journal of Photography, iii. 2059.
American Textile Manufacturer, iii. 2059.
American Catholic Quarterly Review, iii. 2052.
American Psychological Journal, iii. 2061.
American Cricketer, iii. 2063.
Amerikanischer Beobachter, iii. 1984.
Amerikanischer Correspondent, iii. 1990.
AmericuB Club, ii. 1098.
Amiens, treaty of, iii. 2219.
"Amphibious Digger," i. 521.
Amsterdam Company, i. 56.
Amusements, ii. 854, 868, 887, 906, 1076.
of early settlers, ii.863, 864.
dancing, ii. 909, 917,959.
history of, ii. 939.
music and musical societies, ii. 1076.
Analectic Magazine, iii. 1984, 2326.
2364
INDEX.
Ancient Britons' Society, i. 232.
Ancient Order of United Workmen, iii. 2081.
Ancient York Masons, Grand Lodge of, i. 669.
Ancora, P., ii. 1052.
Anderson, Maj. Robert, i. 740, 747, 749, 767, 769,
760, 764, 766, 769, 778, 784.
Anderson, Alexander, ii. 1064.
Andre, Maj. John, i. 371, 377, 383, 392.
Andrews, John, i. 658.
Annunciation Catholic Church, ii. 1388.
Annunciation Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1369.
Anti-Constitutionalists, i. 520.
Antietam, battle of, news received, i. 802, 803.
Anti-Jackson party, i. 637, 640.
Antis, Col. Frederick, i. 323, 333.
Anti-Slavery Society, the Pennsylvania, i. 651,
720, 732, 836.
Anti-Slavery Standard, iii. 2026.
Anti-slavery agitation, i. 698.
party, i. 736.
Apollo Street Theatre, ii. 970.
Apprentices' Library, i. 601; ii. 1208.
Company, i. 811.
Appropriations for 1883, iii. 1756.
Arab sheik at Philadelphia, i. 208.
Aramingo Canal, i. 684.
Aramingo, borough of, i. 697, 713.
Arcade, the Philadelphia, i. 617, 734.
Arcadian, ii. 1989.
Architectural Review, iii. 2039.
Archives of Dermatology, iii. 2057.
Archives of Science and Practical Medicine and
Surgery, iii. 2044.
Arch Street Theatre, i. 698 ; ii. 979.
Arch Street Opera-House, ii. 980.
Arch fitreet bridge, iii. 2143.
Arch Street prison, iii. 1832.
Arch Street ferry, iii. 2138.
Arch Street Presbyterian Church, i. 743.
Architects, ii. 1068.
Arctic expedition, first American, i. 24G.
Area of city, iii. 1752.
of public squares, iii. 1761.
Ariel, iii. 1990.
^mis manufactured in Philadelphia, i. 780.
Armories, ii. 998.
Armstrong, Gen. John, Secretary of War, 1.
563, 674.
Armstrong, Col., testimonial to, for capture of
Kittauning, i. 252.
Arnold, Gen. Benedict, i. 303, 402 ; ii. 899.
commands at Philadelphia, i. 385, 388.
charges against preferred by Council, i. 390.
house of in Philadelphia, i. 389.
property of confiscated, i. 393, 412, 419.
treason of, i. 392.
Arnold, Mrs. Benedict, ii. 1692
Arsenals at Philadelphi
1012.
atFrankford, i.609.
brick, i. 568, 573.
grounds, i. 740.
Arthur,!. S.,ii. 1167.
Arthur's Home Gazette,
Arthur's Home Magazin ,
Artificial teeth, first manufactured In Philadel-
phia, I. 264.
Artisans' Order of Mutual Protection, iii. 2074.
Artists, ii. 946, 1029; iii. 2327, 2328.
Artists' Society, ii. 1073.
Artists' Fund Society, ii. 1074.
Art Club, ii. 1093.
Art Union, ii. 1074.
Asbury, Bishop Francis, ii. 1396.
Ascension Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1352,
Ashmead, Samuel, i. 447.
Ashhurst, John, i. 699.
Asiatic cholera in Philadelphia, i. 690, 834.
Assheton, Ralph, ii. 1607.
Assheton, Thomas, ii. 1506.
Assheton, William, ii. 1606.
i.9, 16, 610;
. 2021.
. 2022.
Buildings, i. 732; ii. 979.
Dancing, ii. 864, 878, 960, 1688.
Assembly of Pennsylvania, iii. 1752.
appropriation for State-House, iii. 1770.
act against forestalling, i. 397.
at Lancaster, i. 370, 377.
changes in militia laws by, 426.
first meeting of at Upland, i. lOV
first met in Philadelphia, iii. 1780.
legalize acts of Committees of Safety, i. 431.
last acts of as a colonial body, i. 324.
meeting-places of, iii. 1781.
petition to, to empower city to erect State-
House, iii. 1781.
removal from Philadelphia, i. 348.
return to Philadelphia, i. 396.
various acts before Revolution to end of
century, i . 433, 438, 443, 445, 464, 460, 463,
477, 492, 501.
Associated Presbyterian Cburch, ii. 1276.
Association Battery, i. 12, 216, 251, 239,246, 510;
ii. 1025.
Association of artists and manufacturers, i.
517.
Association, News, iii. 2067.
Association of Friends for the Instruction of
Poor Children, ii. 1475.
Association of Dental Surgeons, ii. 1641.
AsBOciatore, companies of, i. 215, 248, 340.
in the Revolution, i. 280, 295, 307, 329, 330,
337, 339.
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Catholic
Church, ii. 1384, 1389.
Astley, Thomas, i. 621.
Astor, John Jacob, i. 562.
Asylum for Aged of Lutheran Church, ii. 1457.
AtheuKum, Philadelphia, i. 577, 704 ; ii. 1206.
Atlanta, fall of, announced, i. 818.
"Atlanta," Confederate ram, i. 810, 813.
Atlantic cable, first, i. 728.
second, i. 807.
Atlantic City, beginning of, t. 712.
Atlee, Col. Samuel J., i. 308, 328, 331.
Atonement, Protestant Episcopal Church of the,
ii.l355.
Attainder, Act of, passed, i. 377.
Attorneys-General, ii. 1560.
Auction mart, ii. 865.
Auction monopoly, i. 604.
Auditors-General, iii. 1768.
Auditors of accounts, iii. 1767.
Augsburg Sunday-School Teacher, iii. 2052.
Aurora, newspaper, i. 486, 489, 493, 496, 504, 508,
616, 519, 624, 626, 531, 636, 638, 641, 548, 551,
660, 668, 598; iii. 1822, 1844, 1977, 1993, 1999,
2171.
Austin, Dr. John, i. 586.
Authors and Literature, ii. 1099.
Ayres, Capt. George, i. 688.
Aztec Club, i. 756.
Bache, Prof. A. D , i. 724; ii. 1148, 1166.
Bache, Benjamin F., i. 4S9, 493, 496; ii. 1136,
1147; iii. 1S22, 1960, 1977.
Bache, Dr. Franklin, i. 813 ; ii. 1616.
Bache, Richard, i. 29;, 341, 396, 448, 460,673,
576, 691, 602 ; iii. 1808, 1960, 1977.
Bachelors' Clnb, i. 232.
I Bailly, Joseph A., ii. 1068.
Bainbridge, Commodore, i. 523, 662, 666, 621.
Baird, Matthew, iii. 2179, 2257.
Baird, Rev. S. J., i. 830.
Baird, W. M., i. 696.
Baker, George N., i. 680.
Baker, William V., i. 699.
Baker, Col. E. D., i. 771, 777, 782, 785, 787.
Bakeries, i. 148, 163.
Bakers, ii. 868.
Balance, Independent, iii. 1986.
Baldwin Locomotive Works, iii. 2265.
Baldwin, M. W., i. 621, 731 ; ii. 1062; iii. 2179,
2265.
Baldwin, H., ii. 1637.
Balloon ascension, i. 436, 471, 598, 602.
Balls, ii. 889.
Ball's Bluff, battle of, i. 785.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, i. 680, 763.
Bands of music, ii. 1092.
Band Club, i. 232,
Banks and Financial Institutions ;
Commercial, iii. 2098, 2099.
condition of in 1848, iii. 2099.
Farmers' and Mechanics', iii. 2096, 2099.
Fidelity Trust and Safe-Deposit Company,
iii. 2102.
Girard, iii. 2097, 2099.
Guarantee Trust and Safe-Deposit Com-
pany, iii. 2104.
Kensington, iii. 2099.
Merchants' and Mechanics', iii. 2099.
Moyamensing, iii. 2099.
Northern Liberties, i. 646, 640, 660; iii.
2099.
list of, iii. 2110-13.
North America, i. 323, 339, 417, 423, 429,
439, 441, 464, 495, 548, 660; iii. 2089-
2099.
Penn Township, i. 660; iii. 2099.
Pennsylvania, i. 409, 436, 470, 495, 518, 623,
■626, 657, 660, 726 ; ii. 883 ; iii. 2088, 2096,
2099.
Philadelphia Trust, Safe-Deposit, and Insur-
ance Company, ii. 2105.
Philadelphia Clearing-House Association,
iii. 2106.
Philadelphia Stock Exchange, iii. 2108.
Philadelphia, i. 618, 525, 636, 548, 585, 602,
640, 667, 660; iii. 2096, 2099.
Philadelphia Loan Company, iii. 2099.
suspend specie payment, i. 677.
Schuylkill, iii. 2099.
Sonthwark, iii. 2099.
Union Trust Company, iii. 2105.
of the United States, i. 464, 489, 496, 546, 548,
658, 585, 590, 593, 636, 639, 640, 646, 653,
656, 657, 668, 659, 675 ; iii. 2093, 2099.
Western, iii. 2099.
Banner, Protestant, iii. 2014.
Banner, American, iii. 2024.
Banner of the Union, iii. 2022.
Banner of the Constitution, iii. 1994.
Banner of the Cross, iii. 2013.
Baptist, National, iii. 2035.
Publication Society, ii. 312, 1489.
Record, iii. 2013.
Superintendent, iii. 2060.
Tract Society, ii. 312.
Teacher, iii. 2040.
Association of Philadelphia, i. 839.
Historical Society, i. 312 ; ii. 1224.
Baptists, ii. 856, 965.
German, or Dnnkards, 1. 302.
history of, ii. 1300.
Bar Association, ii. 1565.
Barbers' National Journal, iii. 2058.
Barbers' Society, ii. 1469.
INDEX.
2365
Barclay, Gilbert, i. 287.
Barclay, Robert, Govern
i. 79.
r of East New Jersey,
Barclay, Thomas, i. 289, 292.
Barclay, John (Mayor), i. 467, 479, 571, 672.
Barclay, James J., i. 663; ii. 1641 ; iii. 1840.
Bard, Dr. S., ii. 1592.
Baring, Alexander, ii. 920.
Barker, James N., i. 663, 671, 600, 616, 634.
Barker, Joseph, i. 729, 733.
Barker, Gen. John, i. 626, 628, 633, 639, 648,
671.
Barnes, Albert, i. 637 ; ii. 1293.
Barnes, Mrs. P., ii. 1062.
Barney, Commodore Joshua, i. 49.
Barron, Commodore James, i. 614, 681, 748.
Bartello, painter, ii. 1045.
Barline, Rev. D. W., i. 751.
Bartram, George, i. 546, 651, 570.
Bartram, John, botanist at Gray's Ferry, i. 234.
Bartram, John, ii. 1115.
Bartol's Grocers' Steam Sugar Refinery, iii.
. 1845.
Bartholomew, 1
Barralett, J. J.,
Barry, John, iirst commodore United States
navy, i. 303, 446, 490.
Barry's Union Hotel, i. 651.
Barracks, ii. 99S, 1002.
in Northern Liberties, i. 263.
occupied by Moravian Indians, i. 241, 242.
removed, i. 434, 546, 681.
Barnum's Hotel, i. 648.
Barnum's Museum, i. 698, 704.
Barton, B. S., ii. 1124, 1597.
Bastile, demolition of, i. 469, 474.
Battle-flags, delivery of to the State, i. 828.
Battles, Germantown, i. 330.
New Orleans, i. 578,
"of the Kegs," i. 278, 372, 525.
Point-no-Point, i.634.
sham (1809), i. 634.
" Bathtown," in Northern Liberties, 1. 260.
Baths, i. 628 ; ii. 943.
Baxter Telephone Company, iii. 2135.
Bayard, Andrew, 1. 493, 526, 664, 696, 601, 619.
Bayard, Col. John, i. 292, 295, 312, 324, 330, 332,
341, 370, 436.
Bayard, James A., i. 580.
Bayard, Samuel, i. 568.
Bayonne Decree, i. 530.
Bayerische Wochenblatt, iii. 2057.
Beacon, the, iii. 1984.
Beadle, ii. 8.58.
Beck, Paul, Jr., iii. 2217.
Bedell, Samuel, ii. 119S.
Bedford Street Mission , ii. 1487.
Beef Butchers* Hide and Tallow Association,
Ui. 2353.
Beefsteak Club, i. 236.
Beer, ii. 865.
Bell, Thomas S., ii. 1644.
Bell of St. James' Church, i. 628.
Bell Telephone Company, iii. 2135.
Belles of Philadelphia, i. 379.
Belles-Lettres Society, 1. 690.
Beln
.16.
district of, i. 707.
abolished, i. 713.
Mansion, i. 837, 844; ii. 873.
Beloved Disciple Protestant Episcopal '
ii. 1359.
Belvidere Delaware Railroad, i. 711.
Belsterling, John F.,i. 688.
Bembridge, H., ii. 1035.
Bement, William B., ii. 1075; iii.2265.
Benneville, Dr. G. D., ii. 1592.
Bennevllle, De, ii. 1443.
Bench and Bar of Philadelphia, Ii. 1491.
BeneHcial Societies, 11. 1490.
Benezet, Anthony, 1. 207.247; ii. 1258.
Benezet, Daniel, i.272, 284.
Benezet, John, I. 292, 409.
Benezet, Philip, i. 215, 284.
Beneficial Saving Fund, robbery of, i. 836.
Bennage's Musical Library, iii. 2069.
Benner, Henry L., i. 693.
Benevolent Bhie.^, i. 671.
Benevolent Society, Philadelphia, i. 674.
Berdt, Ester De, ii. 1688.
Berlin Decree, 1. 627, 645.
Berks County formed, i,244.
Bernard, Gen. S.,i. 621.
Bertrand, Marshal, of France, in Philadelphia,
i. 662.
Beth Eden Baptist Church, i. 621.
Beth El Emeth Cemetery, iii. 2361.
Bethune, Rev. George W., i. 677.
Bezalion, Louis and Peter, French traders, i.
171.
Bible Banner, iii. 2044.
Bible Christians, ii. 1403.
Bible Society, i. 537, 685; ii. 1489.
Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, iii.
2020.
Bicknell's Reporter, iii. 2013.
Bi'Centennial of Germantown, celebration of,
i. 852b, 852c.
Bi-Centennial Association, i. 860, 862 ; iii. 1863.
Bickley, Abniham, first fire-engine of Phila*
delphia purchased from, i. 192, 691.
Biddle, Owen, i. '298, 301, 311, 322, 336, 341,
409.
Biddle, Charles J
Biddle, Edward, i
Biddle, Richard,
Biddle, Charles,
666, 571, 687.
Biddle, Dr. J. B.,
i. 679, 724, 770, 772, 807, 820.
290, 298, 318, 396.
567; ii. 1140.
, 473, 528, 546, 561, 564, 664,
i. 1621.
Biddle, Clement, i. 448, 464, 479, 820.
Biddle, Chapman, i. 694.
Biddle, Clement C.,i. 563, 671, 573,596, 608,693 ;
ii. 1138.
Biddle, Samuel, i. 668.
Biddle, William L., i. 657.
Biddle, Henry J., i. 563.
Biddle, James C, i. 609, 640.
Biddle, Alexander, iii. 1948.
Biddle, Thomas, i. 555, 611, 621, 625.
Biddle, John, i. 665.
Biddle, Hon. Craig, i. 842.
Biddle, George W., i. 770.
Biddle, Charles, Jr., i. 499.
Biddle, John G., i. 573.
Biddle, Commodore James, i. 324, 380, 666, 680,
614, 688.
Biddle, Capt. Nicholas, i. 327, 657.
Biddle, Nicholas, i. 571, 577, 591, 611,620, 625,
637, 642, 658, 659; ii. 1206, 1539.
Bigler, Governor William, i. 680, 706, 716, 718,
804, 807.
Billingsport, defenses of, i. 306, 322, 339, 342,
395, 404.
captured by British, i. 362, 360.
garrisoned, i. 415.
skirmishes at, i. 374.
Sir Henry Clinton at, i. 377.
Bill of Settlement (1683), i. 111.
Billinge, Edward, i. 78, 88.
Billiard tables, ii. 864, 942.
protest against, i. 440.
Bingham, William, i. 625; ii. 864, 883, 911, 920,
925,970,991,1180,1693.
Bingham, Mrs. W., ii. 905, 991, 1693.
Binney, Horace, I. 601, 60«, 616, 619, 623, 043,
656, 667, 674, 6«1, 688^ 12*, T43, 7«4, 770, 780;
il. 1070, 1541.
Binney, Horace, Jr., I. 764.
Binney, Dr. Barnabas, il. 1592.
Binns, John, II. 1062, 1161.
Birch, Thomas, ii. 1061.
Birch, William R., ii.l066.
Birkey, Dr. William J., i. 698.
Biruey, Gen. David B., i. 77li, 774, 818,819.
Bird, R. M., ii. 1170, 10(r9.
Bispham, Samnel, iii. 2224.
Birch, William T., stotue of, ill. 1878.
Black, William, I. 152, 161, 235, 236, 239.
Blackbeard and other pirates, 1. 120, 166, 198.
Blackburne, Francis, i. 712.
Blacking and ink manufacture, ii. 916; 111.
2280.
Blacksmiths, ii. 862.
Black Hawk in Philadelphia, i. 637.
Blackwell, Governor John, i. 122, 128.
Blaine, Epliraini, i. 396.
Bleakley, John, i. 513.
Blewer, Joseph, i. 322, 323.
Block, Adrian, i. 64.
Blockade of seaports by British, i. 562.
Blockade runners, i. 771, 775, 778,783, 786,789.
Blodget, Samuel, ii. 1068.
Blue Anchor Tavern, i. 8, 107, 172, 266, 861 ; 11.
981.
Blue House Tavern, i. 204.
Blue Bell Tavern, i. 10, 364.
Blue Reserves, i. 772, 809, 813.
Biunston, John, i. 128.
Boardman, H. A., ii. 1294.
Boardman, Rev. H. G., i. 724, 762, 765, 766, 809.
Board of Missions Protestant Episcopal Charch,
. 1481.
Boat clubs, i. 646 ; ii. 1S70.
Board of Trade, i. 640, 655, 71.'i, 731, 733, 741,
745, 756, 799, 807, 817, 819, 824, 842; iU. 1721,
2226, 2340.
Board of Trade, National, iii. 2341.
Board of Fire Underwriters, iii. 2120.
Board of Health, iii. 1719,1727.
Boarding Home for Young Women, ii. 1482.
Board of Presidents of City Passenger Railways,
i. 2205.
Boileau, Albert D., i. 806.
Boker, George H., ii. 1161.
Boker, Charles S., i. 699.
Boileau, Nathaniel B., i. 646.
Bolivar House, i. 635, 726.
Bond, Dr. Thomas, i. 239, 244, 332, 406; ii.1080.
Bond, Dr. H., ii. 1166, 1610.
Bond, Dr. P., ii. 923.
Bonaparte, Joseph, i. 590; ii. 925; iii. 1867.
Bonaparte, Jerome, ii, 924.
Bonnets, ii. 916.
Bonbright, James, iii. 2313.
Boogher's Repository, iii. 2061.
Books, ii. 883, 886, 1103, 1188, 1638.
Booksellers' dinner, i. 512 ; iii. 2325.
Boot and shoe manufacture, iii. 2288.
Boot Tavern, i. 348.
Boots and shoes, ii. 906, 915.
Bottlers' Protective Association, iii. 2354.
Borie, Adolph E., ii. 1203 ; iii. 2339.
Boston, i. 289, 290, 327, 839.
City Guards in Philadelphia, i. 628.
and Philadelphia Line of steamers, iii. 2170.
Boswell, James J., i. 681.
Botanic Sentinel, iii. 1999.
Botanic Medical Reformer, iii. 2013.
Bounties offered for Indian scalps, i. 248, 251.
for heads of Delaware chiefs, i. 250.
Bondinot, Ellas, i. 604 ; ii. 883, II40.
2364
INDEX.
Ancient Britons' Society, i. 232.
Ancient Order of United 'Workmen, iii. 2081.
Ancient Torls Masons, Grand Lodge of, i. 669.
Ancora, P., ii. 1062.
Anderson, Maj. Robert, i. 740, 747, 749, 757, 769,
760, 764, 765, 769, 778, 784.
Anderson, Alexander, ii. 1064.
AndrS, Maj. John, i. 371, 377, 383, 392.
Andrews, John, i. 658.
Annunciation Catholic Church, ii. 1388.
Annunciation Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1359.
Anti^Constitutionalists, i. 520.
Antietatn, battle of, news received, i. 802, 803.
Anli-Jaclison party, i. 637, 640.
Antis, Col. Fredericll, i. 323, 333.
Anti-Slavery Society, the Pennsylvania, i. 661,
720, 732, 836.
Anti-Slavery Standard, iii. 2026.
Anti-slavery agitation, 1. 698.
party, i. 736.
Apollo Street Theatre, ii. 970.
Apprentices' library, i. 601; ii. 1208.
Company, i. 811.
Appropriations for 1883, iii. 1756.
Arab sheili at Philadelphia, i. 208.
Aramingo Canal, i. 684.
Aramingo, borough of, i. 697, 713.
Arcade, the Philadelphia, i. 617, 734.
Arcadian, ii. 1989.
Architectural Review, iii. 2039.
Archives of Dermatology, iii. 2057.
Archives of Science and Practical Medicine and
Surgery, iii. 2044.
Arch Street Theatre, i. 698 ; ii. 979.
Arch Street Opera-House. ii. 980.
Arch Street bridge, iii. 2143.
Arch Street prison, iii. 1832.
Arch Street ferry, iii. 2138.
Arch Street Presbyterian Church, i. 743.
Architects, ii. 1068.
Arctic expedition, first American, i. 246.
Area of city, iii. 1762.
of public squares, iii. 1761.
Ariel, iii. 1990.
&rms manufactured in Philadelphia, i. 780.
Armories, ii. 99S.
Armstrong, Gen. John, Secretary of War, i.
563, 674.
Armstrong, Col., testimonial to, for capture of
Kittauning, i.252.
Arnold, Gen. Benedict, i. 303, 402 ; ii. 899.
commands at Philadelphia, i. 385, 388.
charges against preferred by Council, i. 390.
house of in Philadelphia, i. 389.
property of confiscated, i. 393, 412, 419.
treason of, i. 392.
Arnold, Mrs. Benedict, ii. 1692.
Arsenals at Philadelphia, i. 9, 16, 510; ii. 998,
1012.
atrrankford,i.609.
brick, i. 568, 573.
grounds, i. 740.
Arthur, T. S., ii. 1157.
Arthur's Home Gazette,
Arthur's Home Magazir
Artificial teeth, first mal
phia, i. 264.
Artisans' Order of Mutual Protection, i
Artists, ii. 946, 1029; iii. 2327, 2328.
Artists' Society, ii. 1073.
Artists' Fund Society, ii. 1074.
Art Club, ii. 1093.
Art Union, ii. 1074.
Asbury, Bishop Francis, ii. 1396.
Ascension Protestant Episcopal Church
Ashmead, Samuel, i. 447,
. 1770.
ii. 2021.
, iii. 2022.
ifactured in Philadel-
i.2074.
1352.
Ashhnrst, John, i. 699.
Asiatic cholera in Philadelphia, i. 690, 834.
Assheton, Ralph, ii. 1607.
Assheton, Thomas, ii. 1506.
Assheton, 'William, ii. 1606.
Assembly, ii. 878.
Buildings, i. 732; ii. 979.
Dancing, ii. 864, 878, 960, 1688.
Assembly of Pennsylvania, iii. 1752.
appropriation for State-House,
act against forestalling, i. 397.
at Lancaster, 1. 370, 377.
changes in militia laws by, 426.
first meeting of at Upland, i. 101-.
first met in Philadelphia, iii. 1780.
legalize acts of Committees of Safety, i. 431.
last acts of as a colonial body, i. 324.
meeting-places of, iii. 1781.
petition to, to empower city to erect State-
House, iii. 1781.
removal from Philadelphia, i. 348.
return to Philadelphia, i. 306.
various acts before Revolution to end of
century, i . 433, 438, 443, 445, 454, 460, 463,
477,492,501.
Associated Presbyterian Church, ii. 1276.
Association Battery,!. 12, 215, 251, 239,246,510;
ii. 1025.
Association of artists and manufacturers, i.
517.
Association, News, iii. 2057.
Association of Friends for the Instruction of
Poor Children, ii. 1476.
Association of Dental Surgeons, ii. 1641.
Associators, companies of, i. 215, 248, 340.
in the Revolution, i. 280, 295, 307, 329, 330,
337, 339.
Assumption of the Blessed 'Virgin, Catholic
Church, ii. 1384, 1389.
Astley, Thomas, i. 621.
Astor, John Jacob, i. 562.
Asylum for Aged of Lutheran Church, ii. 1457.
AthenKum, Philadelphia, i. 577, 704 ; ii. 1206.
Atlanta, fall of, announced, i. 818.
" Atlanta," Confederate ram, i. 810, 813.
Atlantic cable, first, i. 728.
second, i. 807.
Atlantic City, beginning of, i. 712.
Atlee, Col. Samuel J., i. 308, 328, 331.
Atonement, Protestant Episcopal Church of the,
ii. 1355.
Attainder, Act of, passed, i. 377.
Attorneys-General, ii. 1560.
Auction mart, ii. 855.
Auction monopoly, i. 604.
Auditors-General, iii. 1768.
Auditors of accounts, iii. 1767.
Augsburg Sunday-School Teacher, iii. 2062.
Aurora, newspaper, i.486, 489, 493, 495, 504, 508,
516, 519, 524, 526, 531, 536, 638, 541, 548, 551,
660, 568, 698; iii. 1822, 1844, 1977, 1993, 1999,
2171.
Austin, Dr. John, i. 686.
Authors and Literature, ii. 1099.
Ayres, Capt. George, i. 688.
Aztec Club, i. 766.
B.
Bache, Prof. A. D , i. 724; ii. 1148, 1166.
Bache, Benjamin F., i. 489, 493, 495; ii. 1136,
1147; iii. 182-2, 1960, 1977.
Bache, Dr. Franklin, i. 813 ; ii. 1616.
Bache, Richard, i. 29?, 341, 396, 44S, 460, 673,
676, 591, 602 ; iii. 1808, 1960, 1977.
Bachelors' Club, i. 232.
Bailly, Joseph A., ii. 1068.
Bainbridge, Commodore, i. 523, 562, 666, 621.
Baird, Matthew, iii. 2179, 2267.
Baird, Rev. S. J., i. 830.
Baird, 'W. M., i. 695.
Baker, George N., i. 680.
Baker, William V., i. 699.
Baker, Col. E. D., i. 771, 777, 782, 785, 787.
Bakeries, i. 148, 153.
Bakers, ii. 858.
Balance, Independent, iii. 1985.
Baldwin Locomotive 'Works, iii. 2256.
Baldwin, M. W., i. 621, 731 ; ii. 1062; iu. 2179,
2256.
Baldwin, H , ii. 1537.
Balloon ascension, i. 436, 471, 598, 602.
Balls, ii. 889.
Ball's Bluff, battle of, i. 786.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, i. 680, 763.
Bands of music, ii. 1092.
Band Club, i. 232.
Banks and Financial Institutions;
Commercial, iii. 2098,2099.
condition of in 1848, iii. 2099.
Farmers' and Mechanics', iii. 2096, 2099.
Fidelity Trust and Safe-Deposit Company,
iii. 2102.
Girard, iii. 2097, 2099.
Guarantee Trust and Safe-Deposit Com-
pany, iii. 2104.
Kensington, iii. 2099.
Merchants' and Mechanics', iii. 2099.
Moyamensing, iii. 2099.
Northern Liberties, i. 546, 640, 660; iii.
2099.
Ust of, iii. 2110-13.
North America, i. 323, 339, 417, 423, 429,
439, 441, 464, 496, 548, 660; iU. 2089-
2099.
Penn Township, i. 660 ; iii. 2099.
Pennsylvania, i. 409, 436, 470, 495, 518, 523,
526, 667, 660, 726 ; ii. 883; iii. 2088, 2095,
2099.
Philadelphia Trust, Safe-Deposit, and Insur-
ance Company, ii. 2105.
Philadelphia Clearing-House Association,
iii. 2106.
Philadelphia Stock Exchange, iii. 2108.
Philadelphia, i. 518, 625, 536, 548, 585, 602,
640, 657, 660; iii. 2096, 2099.
Philadelphia Loan Company, iii. 2099.
suspend specie payment, i. 577.
Schuylkill, iii. 2099.
South wark, iii. 2099.
Union Trust Company, iii. 2105.
of the United States, i. 464, 489, 495, 546, 548,
558, 685, 590, 593, 636, 639, 640, 646, 663,
656, 657, 658, 669, 675 ; iii. 2093, 2099.
'Western, iii. 2099.
Banner, Protestant, iii. 2014.
Banner, American, iii. 2024.
Banner of the Union, iii. 2022.
Banner of the Constitution, iii. 1994.
Banner of the Cross, iii. 2013.
Baptist, National, iii. 2035.
Publication Society, ii. 312, 1489.
Record, iii. 2013.
Superintendent, iii. 2060.
Tract Society, iL 312.
Teacher, iii. 2040.
Association of Philadelphia, 1. 839.
Historical Society, i. 312 ; ii. 1224.
Baptists, ii. 856, 965.
German, or Dunkards, i. 302.
history of, ii. 1300.
Bar Association, ii. 1555.
Barbers' National Journal, iii. 2068.
Barbers' Society, ii. 1469.
aS>nk«lM*> ■
'tttmrHmtmlkmm
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INDEX.
2367
Canula :
Catholic Churches:
Cemeteries :
Union, i. 549, 550, 661, Cll.
Assumption of the BlosBed Virgin, ii.
Hood, ill. 2.360.
Delaware and Rnritan, i. 002, 012, 695.
1384.
Ivy Hill, ill. 2361.
projects, various, i. Oil.
All Saints, ii. 1384.
Laurel HIM. i. 726, 730, 804, 813; III.
Susquehanna to Erie, i. 612.
Annunciation, ii. 1388.
2369.
commissioners, i. 614.
Assumption, ii. 1389.
Lafayette, i. 787.
Cbeaaiiealte and Delaware, i. 509, 515, 614,
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, ii.
Lebanon, i. 693 ; iii, 2359.
761.
1384.
Leveriugton, ill. 2360.
Cannon, foundry for casting, at Southwark, i.
Holy Tiinity, ii. 1376.
Machpelah, Iii. 2359.
339.
Immaculate Conception, ii. 1382.
Monument, iii. 2:1.19.
shot and shell for, cast in Philailelphia, i.
Gesu, ii. 138:1.
Mount Vernon, iii. 2360.
411.
Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ii.
Mount Peace, ill. 2360.
girts of, to the city, i, 777, 782, 784.
1388.
Mount Sinai, iii. 2.360.
Cannon, James, i. 322-24.
Our Lady of the Nativity, Ii. 1384.
Mount Moriah, 1. 712, 831 ; iii. 2360.
Capolla Italiana Protestant Episcopal Church,
Our Lady of the Visitation, ii. 1383.
Morgue, the, iii. 2369.
ii. 1360.
Our Mother of Sorrows, ii. 1380.
Odd-Fellows', i. 693, 726; iii. 2:i60.
Captures of English vessels by French, in Dela-
St, Augustine, ii. 1077, 1370.
Old Oaks, iii. 2360.
ware Bay, i. 474.
St. Bonifacius, ii. 1383.
Olive, i. 693; iii. 2360.
Carey, Mathew, 1. 511, 631, 537, 603, 608, 611,
Polish, ii. 1384.
Palmer Street burying-ground, Hi. 2361.
616,619, 624; ii. 1141; iii. 1976, 1977, 2172,
St. Clement, ii. 1383.
Philadelphia, i. 620, 693.
2231, 223G, 2303, 2323.
St. Alphonsus, il. 1388.
Potter's Field, iii. 2357, 2368, 236C.
Carey, Henry C, i. 663, 712, 722, 728, 741, 837;
St. Ann, Ii. 1388.
West Laurel Hill, iii. 2301.
ii. 1148.
St. Agatha, ii. 1389.
Woodlands, i. 7 ; iii, 2369,
Carpenters' Hall, i. 290, 464, 489, 762 ; iii. 1784,
St. Charles, ii. 1389.
burying-ground, Schuylkill, upper and
1787.
St. Edward, ii. 1389.
lower, iii. 2358.
Carpenters' Company, i. 232, 291, 601 ; ii. 1469.
St. Francis Xavier, ii. 1388.
burying-ground, Lombard Street, iii. 2366.
Carpenter, Thomas P., i. 712.
St. Bridget's, ii. 1384.
burying-ground. Vineyard, iii. 2357.
Carpenter, Joshua, i. 159, 617; ii. 854.
St. Elizabeth, ii. 1383.
burials in Northwest Square, iii. 2357.
Carpenter, George W., i. 680; ii. 1171 ; iii. 2059,
St. Dominic, ii. 1382.
Centennial, celebration of, i. 839.
2273.
St. John, ii. 1379, 1.38:1.
exhibition, i. 840, 842; ii. 1099; iii. 1860,
Carpenter, Samuel, i. 123,128,159,174,198,200,
St. Joachim, ii. 1.382.
2239.
243 ; ii. 854.
St. James, ii. 1389.
government loan in aid of, i, 844.
SlHte-Roof House, built by, i, 147.
St. Mary Magdalene di Pazzi, ii. 1384.
opening of, i. 846.
Carding and spinning, i. 518.
St. Malachi, ii 1384.
Pennsylvania day at, i. 847.
Carpet manufactures, i. 293, 528, 532; ii. 868,
St. Mary, ii.l371, 1376.
close of, i. 847.
877, S87, 910; iii. 2231, 2232, 2308, 2309.
St. Joseph, ii. 1371.
Board of Finance, i. 842,
Bromley Brothers', iii. 2309.
St. Michael, ii. 1391.
Commission, i. 842.
Bromley, John Sc Sons', iii. 2309.
St. Paul,ii. 1391.
Buildings at Lansdowne, the, i. 840, 843;
Cumberland, iii. 2309.
St. Philip, ii. 1392.
iii. 1860.
Falls of Schuylkill, iii. 2309.
St. Peter, ii. 1390.
Centre or Penn Square, iii. 1773, 1841, 1842.
Monitor, iii. 2309.
St. Patrick, ii. 1391.
brick meeting-house erected in, iii. 1860.
McCallum, Crease & SIoau'8,iii. 2309.
St. Teresa, ii. 1389.
Centre House Tavern, i. 255, 343, 498, 692.
Oxford, iii. 2309.
St. Stephen, ii. 1:588.
Century, our second, iii. 2052.
Carpet Journal, iii. 2052.
St. Veronica, ii. i:390.
Cent, newspaper, the, iii. 1996.
Carriage Company, American Steam, iii.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, ii. 1:184.
Central Congregational Church, ii. 1408.
2264.
St. Vincent de Paul, ii. I:1S:1.
Central High School, establishment of, iii. 1928,
Carriages, il. 880, 909, 912, 960.
Catholics, census of, in 1766, i. 262, 253.
1930.
Carriage manufacturers, iii. 2332.
celebrate passage of relief bill, i,C24.
Central Sanitary Fair, i. 842.
Cards, ii. 878, 941.
Catholic home for destitute orphan girls, ii.
Central Sick Diet, ii. 1482.
Cars, first railroad, iii. 2259.
1484.
Census of Philadelphia (1777), i. 367.
Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, i. 633, 635.
Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute, ii.
(1808) i. 637.
Carroll, Mrs. Charles, il. 1696.
1484.
Cessna, John, i. 733, 795.
Carr, Benjamin, ii. 1077.
Catholic Benevolent Union, ii. 1484.
Chadd's Ford, battle at, i. 347.
Carr, Robert, i. 751.
Catholic Total Abstinence Societies, ii. 1485.
Chaff, iii. 2060.
Carrigan, Charles W., i. 719.
Catholic Club, ii. 1095.
Chain bridge over Schuylkill, i. 641, 589.
Carson, Dr. John, ii. 1602.
Catholic Advance, iii. 2( 57.
Chaloner, John, i. 326, :196.
Carson, Capt. John, murderof, i. 584.
Catholic centennial fountain, iii. 1874.
Charcoal Jimmy, ii. 929.
Carteret, Sir George, i. 78, 79, 88.
Catholic educational institutions, iii, 1949.
Chamber of Commerce, i. 510, 625, 530, 542, 616,
Cartmen, early, of Philadelphia, i. 183, 262.
Catholic Herald, iii. 2013,
622; iii 2344, 2345.
Castor, Gen. Thomas, i. 608.
Catholic Quarterly Review, iii. 2062.
Charter of Philadelphia, i. 15.
Cash, Andrew D., i. 062.
Catholic Standard, iii, 2037.
Chattanooga, victories around, announced, i.
Cass, Gen. Lewis, i. 722.
Catholic Visitor, iii. 2026.
810.
Cassidy, Lewis C, i. 719, 723, 733, 741, 743.
Causici, Henrico, ii. 1067, ,
Chasseurs, Philadelphia, i. 573.
Cassin, John, ii. 1170.
Cavender, Thomas S,, i. 7'22.
Chastellux, Chevalier de, i. 414.
Catlin, George, ii. 1064.
Caves, inhabited, i. 101, 120, 149.
Chauucey, Nathaniel, i. 669, 585.
Cattell, A. G,, i. 748, 806, 817 ; iii. 2224.
Cedar Hill Cemetery, iii. 2360.
Cbauncey, Charles, i. 620; ii. 1640.
Cathcart, Rev. William, i. 731 ; ii. 1311.
Celebrations, ii, 930.
Chandler, Joseph R., i. 6'26, 586, 700, 725, 782 ; ii.
Cathrall, Dr. Isaac, ii. 1166, 1616.
Cemeteries, iii. 2359.
1171.
Cathedral Cemetery, iii. 2360.
American Mechanics', iii. 2360.
Chambers, Joseph G., i. 575.
Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, i. 797, 809,
Beth El Emeth, iii. 2:161.
Chambersburg burned by Confederates, i. 817.
819, 823 ; ii. 1384.
Cathedral, i. 7, 666, 688 ; iii. 2360.
Chapman, Dr. N., i. 620, 633, 088; ii. 1134, 1194,
Cattle, auction sales of, i. 510.
Cedar Hill, iii. 2300.
1012.
market established, i. 492, 582.
Fair Hill, iii. 2300.
Charleston, S, C, surrender of, i. 408.
shows at Bush Hill, i. 543, 608.
Franklin, iii. 2359,
Chase, Salmon P., i. 812,
society for improving breeds of, i. 568,
Glenwood, i 695, 718, 732; iii. 2360.
Charter of Exemptions and Privileges, i. 59.
Catholic Churches, ii. 866, 1077, 1393.
Greenwood, iii. 2361.
Charity Hospital, i. 767; ii. 1682.
history of, ii. 1365.
Hart's Lane burying-gronnd, iii. 2359.
Champneys, Benjamin, i. 080.
2368
INDEX.
Chapel of Christ Church, ii. 1346.
Charity Hospital, ii. 1682.
Chancery, masters in, ii. 1559.
Charles, William, ii. 1058.
Chauncy, Elihu, ii. 15«.
Charitable school, ii. 1471.
Chambers, Rev. John, i. 702, 728, 731. 786.
Chemical Society, Columbian, iii. 2233.
works, iii. 2277.
Cherry Hill burying-ground, iii. 2358.
Chestnut Hill, skirmish at, i. 368.
Chesapeake Bay, British blockade of, i. 565,
667.
" Chesapeake outrages," the, i, 528, 529, 634, 561.
Chester Dramatic Association, i. 851.
Chester, Pa., i. 5.
erection of piers at, i. 294, 486, 586, 589.
Penn's arrival at, i. 157.
Chestnut Street bridge, i. 778, 834; iii. 2146.
wharf, iii. 2153.
Chestnut Hill and Montgomery News, iii. 2062.
Chestnut Street Theatre, i. 658, 686 ; ii. 968.
burned in 1820, i. 600.
the now, i. 703, 781, 806.
Chew mansion, the, i. 355-58, 368, 379, 386,
403, 615, 817.
Chew, Benjamin, i. 242, 259,264, 273, 278, 285,
817 ; ii. 1507.
arrested as a Tory, i. 343.
councilman of Philadelphia, i. 456.
sent from the State, i. 345.
Chew, Harriet, ii. 005, 1696.
Cheves, Langdon, i. 608.
Chevalier, Peter, i. 272, 284, 290, 294.
Chevalier de la Luzerne, i. 617.
Chicago fire, aid for sufferers by, i. 837.
Chicago Zouaves at Philadelphia, i. 736.
Chicago and Milwaukee Boards of Trade, visit
of, i. 748.
Children's Friend, 2037.
Children's free e.vcur8ions, i. 837.
Children's Hospital, ii. 1684.
Children's Homoeopathic Hospital, ii. 1684.
Childs, Cephas G., i. 741, 745, 756, 761, 765, 791 ;
ii. 1059.
Childs, George W., i. 834 ; iii. 1960, 2007.
Childs, George K., 1. 694.
Chimes of Christ Church, ii. 1344.
Chinaware, ii. 858, 887.
Chinaware manufactory of Southwark, i. 263.
Chinaware manufacture, iii. 2235, 2297.
Chinese Museum, i. 621, 680; ii. 948.
Chinese Protestant Episcopal Mission, ii. 1362.
Cholera Gazette, i. 632; iii. 1998.
Cholera, Asiatic, i. 630 .
Cholera hospitals, i. 631, 633.
Christian, iii. 1990.
Advocate, iii. 1989.
Chronicle, iii. 2020.
Fireside, iii. 2052.
Holiness, iii. 2044.
Instructor, iii. 2015.
Observer, i. 777, 784 ; iii. 2013.
Recorder, iii. 2032.
Statesman, iii. 2037.
Standard, iii. 2039.
Woman, iii. 2043.
Worker, iii. 2052.
Christian Commission, i. 823, 829.
Christian Church, ii. 1402.
Christ Church, i. 236, 250, 290, 303, 337, 340, 346,
397, 407, 446, 457, 463, 478, +83, 501, 508,
518, 537, 619, 624, 656, 661, 697, 705, 826 ;
ii. 894, 1335, 1342, 1345 ; iii. 1783, 1879.
bells removed, iii. 1793.
Cemetery, monuments in, iii. 1879.
Hospital, i. 790 ; ii. 1676.
Christ Church, Germantown, ii. 1356.
Christ Church, Franklinville, ii. 1360.
Christina Harbor, Swedish settlement at, 1. 31,
64.
Christiana Creek, i. 64, 146, 347.
Christiaensen, Hendrick, i. 54.
Christmas festivities, ii. 936.
Christmas Fund Society, ii. 1480.
Christadelphians, ii. 1449.
Chronicle, Pennsylvania, i. 280, 286.
and Advertiser, iii. 2040.
Daily, iii. 1992, 2013.
Herald, iii. 2037.
Saturday, iii. 2011.
Whig, iii. 1984.
Church Herald, New, iii. 2024.
Church Life, New, iii. 2024.
Church's Bizarre, iii. 2022.
Church of the Epiphany, i. 743.
Church of St. Philip de Neri, i. 669.
assault on, i. 671, 754.
Church of the Evangelist, i. 726.
Church of God, ii. 1449.
Church Home for Children, ii. 1482.
Church Dispensary of Southwark, ii. 1685.
Churches, ii. 850, 1229, 1449.
Ciceronian Society, the, i. 478,
Cincinnati, Society of the, i. 448,463, 469, 478,
482, 485, 604, 518, 543, 646, 551, 577, 590, 597,
609, 633, 636, 789.
Circus, i. 471, 496, 589; ii. 864, 952, 975, 977,
979.
Circulating Library, Waldie's, iii. 1999.
" Citizen Genet," French minister, i. 473-76,
478.
Citizen, the, iii. 2059.
" City of Homes," i. 852i, 852D.
City Armory, i. 708.
City Coffee-House, i. 492, 494, 515, 538, 548, 663,
577, 693, 60O, 634.
City Courts, i. 456 ; ii. 1567 ; iii. 1769, 1772.
City Guards, i. 670, 671, 679, 687.
City Hall, i. 551, 699; iii. 1770, 1772, 1791.
City Hospital, ii. 1676.
City Hotel, i. 539, 656, 670, 636.
City Iron Foundry, iii. 2251.
City Museum Theatre, i. 713, 715.
City Mission Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1481.
** City of Glasgow," steamship, loss of at sea, i.
699.
"City of Philadelphia," frigate, i. 494, 603,
654.
" City of Philadelphia," steamship, loss of at
sea, i. 699.
City solicitors, ii. 1575.
City Troop, the, i. 337, 401, 437, 442, 446, 448,
454, 479, 486, 495, 504, 546, 548, 561, 567, 569,
572, 609, 636, 638, 050, 066, 705, 724, 750, 770,
7T2, 776, 805, 819, 827, S29 ; ii. 1017.
CUy Tavern, i. 289, 291, 295, 301, 304, 320, 338,
343, 366, 371, 388, 397, 407, 414, 428, 438, 454,
464, 472, 494, 512, 626 ; ii. 983; iii. 2348.
City passen^r railways, iii. 2200.
dates of charters of, iii. 2202.
business of, in 1882, iii. 2204.
board of presidents of, iii. 2205.
Civil war, the, i. 735-833.
first call for troops in, 764.
Clark's Inn, ii. 982.
Clark, Enoch W., iii. 2100.
Clark, Col. John, Continental spy, i. 368.
Clark, W. G., ii. 1170.
Clark, C. H., ii. 1172.
Clark, Kev. Henry Steele, i. 751.
Clarke, William, i. 128.
Clarke's Hall, i. 181 ; ii. 854.
Clarkson, Matthew, i. 307, 408, 409, 466, 468.
Clay, Henry, 569, 610.
in Philadelphia, i. 637, 687.
death of, i. 705.
Clay Telephone Company, iii. 2135.
Clay, J. C, ii. 1240.
Clay, E. W., ii. 1063.
Claypoole, James, ii. 1034.
Claghorn, James L., ii. 1061, 1070, 1071.
Claridge, Mrs. Emmeline, ii. 1700.
Clarkson, Dr. G., ii. 1592.
Clerks of the Court of Quarter Sessions, ii.
1673.
aerk, iii. 2060.
Cleveland, C. D., i. 722.
Clew, Johanna, trial offer murder, i. 629.
Clermont Seminary, iii. 1925.
Clinical Society, ii. 1632.
Clinton Street Boarding Home, ii. 1482.
Clinton, Sir Henry, i. 351, 364, 377, 383, 385,
411, 427, 620.
agents of, hanged as spies, i, 414.
Clinton, George, i. 657.
Clinton, De Witt, i. 539, 614, 616.
Clothing Exchange, iii. 2354.
Clothing, ii. 900, 902.
Clothing-stores, iii. 2319.
Clover Club, ii. 1095.
Clubs and club life, iL 1092.
Leather Apron, ii. 864.
Clymer, George, i. 273, 278, 284, 289, 292, 301,
311, 319, 323, 324, 329, 396, 401, 409, 435, 445,
448, 452, 465, 621, 538, 576.
Clyde Line of steamers, iii. 2170.
Coaches, ii. 854, 880.
Coal, anthracite:
attempts to use as fuel, i. 516.
proposed company for mining, i. 558.
successful use of, i. 578, 582, 596, 603.
Coal Company, Mutual Assistance, i. 568, 582.
Coal, Lehigh, iii. 2271.
Coates, Dr. B. H., ii. 1626.
Coates, Isaac, i. 292.
Coates, George M., iii. 2332.
Coates, William, i. 292, 3'23.
Coates, Dr. L. M., i.731.
Cobbett, William, i. 485, 490, 493, 497-99.
Cockade, the French, i. 493.
styles worn by partisans, i. 507 .
the State, i. 670.
Cockburo, Admiral, i. 565.
Cock and Lion Tavern, i. 652.
Cock-fighting, ii. 941.
Cochran, Thomas, iii. 2104.
Coffey, George A., i. 722, 733, 813.
Coffee-House, ii. 855, 866, 905, 960, 982.
Cohocksink Creek, i. 2.
a public highway, i. 487, 492.
canal proposed, i. 612.
Cohen's Advertiser, iii. 2023.
Cohen, Mrs. Henry, ii. 1698.
Coinage, first by United States, i. 472 ; iii. 1813,
1815.
table of, iii. 2043.
Coin counterfeited, iii. 1812.
Coin Collector's Herald, iii. 2045.
Columbus, statue of, iii. 1876.
Columbia Fishing Company, i. 491.
Columbia Railroad bridge, iii. 2146, 2255, 2260.
Columbia Railroad, iii. 2171.
Columbian Chemical Society, iii. 2233.
Columbian Pottery, iii. 2297.
Columbian Museum, ii. 950, 956.
Columbian Observer, i. 605, 610 ; iii. 1988.
Columbian Magazine, iii. 1976.
Columbian Advocate, iii. 1986.
Colonists, early buildings of, iii. 2292.
INDEX.
2369
ColoDization Society, the, i. S90.
Colonization Herald, iii. 2011.
ColoDy in Schuylkill Fishing Club, 1. 233.
Colored troops, raised (1814), i. 575.
in civil war, i. SOU, 811, 814, 825.
of Philadelphia, list of, i. 828.
Colored orphans, ii. 1455.
Coleman, John M., i. 693, 716.
Colesberry, Alexander P., i. 850.
Coldest day in Philadelphia, i. 833.
Colket, Coffin, iii. 2201.
Color and Paint Company, the American, i.
548.
Collins, Zaccheus, i. 621.
Colden, Cadwalader, i. 162; ii. 1583.
College and Clinical Record, iii. 2058.
College of Dental Surgery, ii. 1062.
College Hall, i. 336.
College of Pharmacy, i. 605; ii. 1659.
College of Philadelphia, i. 405, 418, 435, 458.
College of Physicians, i. 452, 458, 675; ii. 1197,
1601, 1643.
Commissioners of Defense (1814), i. 570.
Commissioners' Hall, i. 681.
Committee of Inspection and Correspondence,
i. 290, 292, 293, 295, 302, 304, 311, 320, 323,
326, 330.
acta of legalized, i. 431.
Committee of Trade, i. 401.
Committee of Defense, the, i. 571-75, 579 ; iii.
1769.
Committee of Safety, i. 298-300, 301-8, 312, 320,
323, 329, 331, 333-35, 339, 375.
acts of legalized, i. 431-32.
Committee of 1814, i. 555.
Committee, Democratic, i. 653.
Committee of One Hundred, i. 838, 849, 862b,
8520.
Commerce of Philadelphia, 1808 to 1812, iii.
2219.
with Great Britain from 1697 to 1776, iii.
2206.
revival of after Revolution, i. 427, 428.
decadence of (1807), i. 627.
Commercial Bulletin, iii. 2059.
Commercial Herald, iii. 1991, 2260.
Commercial, Germantown, iii. 2052.
Commercial List, iii. 1990.
Commercial Register, iii. 1978.
Commercial Register, United States, iii. 2013.
Commercial Exchange Association, new hall of,
i. 836; iii. 2345.
Commercial Weekly, iii. 2024.
Commercial Bank, i. 546, 660, 726; iii. 2098,
2099.
Commercial and Political Register, iii. 1982.
Commissioners for settling colony, iii. 1767.
of property, iii. 1767.
City, iii. 1754.
of United States shipping, iii. 1805.
of insolvents, ii. 1573.
Common Prayer-Book Society of Pennsyl-
vania, i. 5'Jl.
Comly, Franklin, i. 611.
Comly, Franklin A., iii. 2187.
Comly, Joshua, i. 552.
Company for Improvement of the Tine, i. 511.
Common Pleas justices, ii. 1563.
Commonwealth, iii. 2030, 2045.
CTub, ii. 1098.
Insurance Company, iii. 2121.
secretaries of, iii. 1766.
treasurers of, iii. 1766.
Comptroller-general, iii. 1768.
Cometock's Phonetic Magazine, iii. 2016.
Congress, adjournment of, to Annapolis, i.
Congress, centennial celebration of adjourn-
ment to Annapolis, i. 839.
Continental, i. 291, 313.
first act of, for levying duty on goods, iii.
1803.
members of, iii. 1764.
presidents of. In Philadelphia, ill. 1787.
general, of the colonies, i. 272.
oflFei's of peace rejected by, i. 383.
of the United States, i. 323, 489.
removal to Baltimore, i. 334.
removal to York, i, 349.
removal to Princeton, i. 429.
resolutions of independence introduced in,
i. 314.
return to Philadelphia, 1.386.
Congress Hall Hotel, i. 637.
Continental army at Brandywine, i. 347.
at Germantown, i. 354-59.
at Monmouth, i. 388.
at Morrifltown, i. 408.
at Valley Forge, i. 369, 373, 377.
at White Marsh, i.368.
battalions formed for, i. 307.
campaigns of, in 1776-77, i. 327-33, 335-37.
deserters from, i. 36U.
march through Philadelphia, i. 343, 416.
Pennsylvania troops in, i. 340.
Continental Loan Commissioners, i. 370.
Continental money, i. 308, 324, 325, 334, 336,
361, 367, 397, 399, 40S, 409, 416-19, 425.
Continental navy, i. 326, 399, 403, 404.
vessels destroyed in the Delaware, i. 364,
376.
Continental Hotel, i. 733.
Continental Theatre, fatal accident at, i. 779.
Constables, ii. 858, 874.
Connor, Commodore David, i. 682.
Conscription law,'i. 800.
Connell, George, i. 712.
Concordia Theatre, i. 713.
Consolidation, act of, iii. 1703.
Consolidation of Philadelphia, i. 4, 15, 713.
Contracts, iii. 1728.
Consuls, foreign, iii. 1806.
Convents and Religious Communities (Catho-
lic), iii. 1950-52.
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (Cath-
olic), iii. 1953.
Conference, provincial, i. 323.
Confiscated estates sold, i. 411, 424.
Convicts, labor of, on streets, introduced, i. 444.
abandoned, i. 457.
escaped, executed for burglary and mur-
der, i. 457.
Convention, Constitutional, of 1776, i. 312, 322,
323.
of 1787, i. 447.
of 1838, in Philadelphia, i. 649.
of 1873, i. 838.
Contraband trade with New York, i. 412, 424.
Concordia Lodge, F. and A. M., i. 504.
Conrad, R. T., i. 642, 678, 715, 718, 726 ; ii. 1149.
Constant, Benjamin, academy of, i. 615.
Conyngham, Capt. Gustavus, i. 665,
Confederation of the States, i. 418.
Confiscation, ordinance of, i. 370.
Controller, iii. 1756.
Controllers, list of, iii. 1756.
Continent, Our, iii. 2060.
Constitutional Union Party, i. 733, 735, 752,770,
772.
Constitutionalists, i. 526.
" Constitutional Democrats," i. 533.
" Constitutional Republicans," i. 520.
Constitutional Society, i. 396.
" Constitution," frigate, i. 748.
"Constitution," captures the " Guerri6re,»» I.
656.
captures the " Java," i. 562.
Constitution, the first, ill. 1763.
Concert Hall, i. 621, 710, 738.
Concerts, ii. 1087.
Confederate advance (1862), i. 802.
(1863), i. 808.
(1864),!. 816.
army of Northern Virginia, surrender of
announced, i. 823.
prisoners in Philadelphia, i. 807, 813.
spies, i. 777.
Couestoga Print-Works, iii. 2318.
Confectioners' Journal, iii. 2045.
Conshohocken Woolen-Mill, iii. 2303.
" Constellation," frigate, i. 611, 748.
Congregationalist Churches, ii. 1406.
Connolly, Dr. .lohn, i. 305, 339.
Condie, D. F., ii. 1162, 1626.
Cooper-Shop Refreshment Saloon, i. 774, 786,
791, 801, 805, 814, 826, 831.
hospital connected with, i. 831.
Soldiers' Home, i. 832.
Cooper, James, i. 703.
Cooper, William M., 831.
Cooke, Arthur, i. 128.
" Cooke's Folly," i. 487.
Cooke, Alexander, i. 612.
Cooke, George F., 11. 972, 982.
Cooke, Jay, & Co., i. 786, 806, 838 ; iii. 2101.
Cook, Joel, i. 729; ii.'ll72.
Cook's Circus, ii. 948, 979.
Copley, J. S., ii. 1035.
Cope, Thomas, iii. 2337.
Cope, Thomas P., i. 656, 677, 680 ; iii. 2216.
Cope, Edwin B., i. 694.
Cope, Caleb, i. 734, 78U, 832.
Cope, M. C, i. 621.
Cornbury, Lord, i. 158, 176, 181,185.
Cornwallis, Lord, i. 158, 328, 347-50, 365, 364,
369.
news of surrender of, i. 415.
personal appearance of, i. 351.
Corbit, Henry C, i. 681.
Coroners, iii. 1754.
Cordage manufacture, iii. 2311.
Corn Exchange, i. 635,726, 748, 800, 806, 823;
iii. 2344.
Comman, 0. P., i. 721.
Corcoran, Col. Michael, i. 789, 801.
Cornplanter, an Indian chief, at Philadelphia, i,
442.
Costumes, ii. 861, 884, 889, 900, 907, 916.
Cosmos, Medical, iii. 2044.
Cosmos, Dental, iii. 2031.
Cotillion parties, ii. 961.
Cotton manufactures, early, i. 522, 631, 661,
687.
Cotton gin, i.569.
Cotton- and woolen-mills, iii. 2317.
Cotton and woolen manufacture, iii. 2254.
Cotton goods first sold by Pennsylvania So-
ciety, iii. 2230.
Council of Censors, i. 432, 435, 465.
Council of Pennsylvania, the, i. 91.
feuds in, i. 120-23.
Council Committee, iii. 1769, 1709.
Council, Common, take action in reference to
building City Hall, iii. 1770.
duties of, 1703.
members of, Iii. 1768,
Council, Supreme Executive, iii. 1768, 1821.
Council, Provincial, members of, iii. 1763,1777.
clerks of, iii. 1765.
Council of Safet}', i. 323, 325, 330, 332-34, 336-
39; iii. 1768.
2370
INDEX.
Counterfeit Detector, iii. 2014, 2021, 2030.
Counterfeitiug, i. 201, 203.
County Medical Society, ii. 1632.
County lieutenant, law establishing office of
(1777), i. 340.
County Courts, justices of, ii. 1562.
Court of Equity, ii. 1668.
Courts, history of, ii. 1492.
Courts of nisipriu« established, i. 524.
Court of Appeals, ii. 1677.
Cou^^hollse, " the old," i. 187, 199, 447, 470.
Court, Alderman and Justice, iii. 1772.
City, iii. 1769.
City and Mayor's, iii. 1772.
District, iii. 1770.
bouse partially destroyed by fire, iii. 1793.
houses, iii. 1819.
house, county, iii. 1820,
new house, iii. 1823.
Northern Liberties, iii. 1776,
United States, iii. 1770, 1791.
Courier, Sunday, iii. 2032,
Saturday, iii. 1997.
Covenant Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1357.
Covenant, iii. 2057.
Covenanter, iii. 2026.
Cowperthwait, Joseph, i. 296, 324, 617, 658, 659.
Cowperthwait, Maj. James, i. 337.
Cox, John, i. 289, 292, 296, 312.
Coxe, Daniel W., i. 686, 611, 619.
Coxe, Judge J. D., i. 497 ; ii. 1531.
Coxe, Edward S., i. 609.
Coxe, Col. Daniel, Grand Master Provincial
Lodge of Freemasons, i. 233.
Coxe, Charles S., i 567, 690, 608.
Coxe, Richard S., i. 677.
Coxe, Tench, i. 365, 387, 395, 436, 445, 449, 606,
615, 517, 531 ; ii. 1135 ; iii. 2.316.
Coxe, Dr. John Kedman, death of, i. 814; ii.
1064, 1602.
Craig, Hugh, iii. 2224.
Craig, William, i. 614.
Craige, Thomas H,, i. 522.
Craige, Seth, i. 622.
Cracraft, Rev. T. W., i. 743.
Cramp, William, iii. 2338.
Crazy Norah, ii. 933.
Cresson, John C, i, 686, 780, 816.
Criminal Sessions Court, ii. 1573.
Crispin, William, i. 94.
Critic, iii. 1987.
Crittenden, Hon. John J., i. 752.
Crown Tavern, i. 206.
Crooked Billet Tavern, i. 208, 376.
Crozer, John P., i. 830.
Crump, William H., i. 712.
Crucifixion Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1355.
Cruisers, Continental, fitted out, i. 302.
Cummings, Alexander, i. 693.
Cunningham, William, i. 371.
Curtis, George William, i. 733, 738.
Currency, paper, ii, 901.
Currie, Dr. William, ii. 1601.
Curtin, Governor Andrew G., i. 733, 735, 736,
764, 768, 790, 792, 793, 794, 795, 799, 802, 807,
810, 815-17, 825, 829, 833.
Customs and manners of early settlera, ii. 853,
857.
Custom-House, i. 454, 587, 690, 592 ; iii,
180,3, 1805.
opened for business, i. 697.
collector of, iii. 1800-1, 1804.
commissioner, iii. 1800,
first United States, iii. 1803.
United States, iii. 1804.
Customs, ofilce of surveyor of, iii. 1803.
1799,
Cuyler, Theodore, i. 739, 760, 764, 780, 791, 794,
816; ii. 1070, 1646.
Cynic, iii. 1984.
Da Costa, Dr. J. M., ii. 1627.
Dahlgren, Col. Ulrio, funeral of, i. 827.
Daily Advertiser, the American, i. 483, 495, 521,
579, 698; iii. 1891, 1958, 1966.
Chronicle, iii. 1692, 2013.
Day, iii. 2010.
Express, iii. 1998.
Focus, iii. 2012.
Globe, iii. 2039.
Intelligencer, iii. 1999.
Legal News, iii. 20.57.
Morning Times, iii. 2024.
Register, iii. 2020, 2062.
Sun, iii. 2015.
Standard, iii. 2013.
Dale, Commodore Richard, i. 638, 556, 664, 667,
590.
Dallas, Alexander J,, i. 473-75, 481, 505, 508,
511, 613, 620, 637, 541, 666, 687, 821 ; ii. 1140,
1524, 1525.
Dallas, George M., i. 688, 625, 677, 682, 703, 719,
721, 769, 780, 820 ; ii. 1165, 1646.
Dalley's Tavern, i. 477, 482.
Damages sustained during Revolution, i. 384,
386.
Dana, C. E., iii. 2327.
Dancing, ii, 863, 866, 909, 917, 969, 1688.
Assembly, the City, i. 469, 473, 482, 590.
schools, ii. 864, 879, 886, 962.
Dangerfield slave case, i. 730, 734.
Darlington, Dr. Robert M., i. 614.
Darrach, Lydia, i. 368.
Dartmoor prison, i. 683.
Darli Woods Run, i. 7.
Pond, i. 689.
Darby's Geographical Repository, iii. 1989,
Darley, Felix 0. C, ii. 1063.
Davis, Jefferson, in Philadelphia, i, 708.
Davis, Dr. David J., i. 586.
Dawson, David, hanged as a spy, i. 411.
Deas, Charles, ii. 1063.
Deane, Silas, i. 296, 300, 3(l9, 314, 393-94.
Deane, Joseph, i. 312, 341.
Deaf-mute Mission, ii. 1482.
Deaf and Dumb Asj'Ium, Pennsylvania, i. 601,
614.
Debt, funded and floating, iii. 1757.
Debtors, ii; 867.
Decimal system of money, i, 464, 507.
Decatur, Commodore Stephen, i, 494, 496, 504,
623, 629, 656, 666, 580.
remains of, reinterred, i. 681.
statue of, iii. 1874.
Decatur, Stephen, Jr., iii. 1874.
Decatur Fire Company, i. 780.
Decoration Day, i. 836.
Declaration of Independence, i. 16, 312.
favored by Provincial Conference of Penn-
sylvania, i. 316.
first anniversary of, i. 343.
house in which written by Jefferson, i. 319.
notable celebrations of, i. 447-61, 846.
prepared, adopted, and signed, i. 316-19.
proclamation of, i. 320.
resolution for, in Congress, i. 314.
vote of the Pennsylvania delegation on, i.
318.
Deeds, recorders of, iii. 1739.
Deer-sliins, ii 861.
Deering, Christopher, and family, murder of, 1.
833-34.
Defenses of Philadelphia in 1776, i. 322.
Defenses of Philadelphia in 1814, i. 573, 676.
in civil war, i. 777, 790, 793, 796, 808.
De Grasse, Count, commander of French fleet,
i. 415.
De Laet, John, Dutch historian, i. 31, 59.
De la Warr, Lord, explores the American coast,
i. 63-55.
Delaware, Fort, ii. 1028.
Delaware and Atlantic Telephone Company,
iii, 2135.
Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company,
iii. 2119.
Delaware township, i. 707.
Delaware breakwater, i. 621-23.
Delaware Bay, exploration of, i. 55.
attempted whale fishery in, i. 58, 59.
Delaware and Schuylkill Railroad, iii, 2180.
Delaware counties, separation from, reunion
with, and final separation from Pennsylva-
nia, i, 124, 173.
" Delaware," frigate, captured by British, i. 352.
" Delaware," steamboat (1812), i. 560.
Delaware and Schuylkill navigation, i. 466.
Delaware River, blockade of (1812-13), i. 566,
562-66.
bridge across, at Trenton, i. 497, 518.
discovery and occupation of, i. 52, 54.
defenses of, in 1775, i. 299.
English settlements on, i. 67.
fur trade of, i. 31, 65, 68.
islands in, jurisdiction of, defined, i. 431.
ice blockade in 1856, i. 597, 601.
improvement of navigation of, i. 460, 464,
620.
militarj' preparation for crossing, i. 334.
naval engagement in 1776, i. 306.
obstructions placed in, i, 302, 306.
other names of, i. 8.
opened by Lord Howe, i, .362, 362-66.
Pennsylvania fleet in, i. 364,
piers in, at Chester, i. 486, 686, 589,
project to bridge in front of city, i 597, 601.
project to bridge above Bristol, i. 516.
removal of obstructions and improvement
of channel, i. 428, 431.
topography of, i. 2.
Delaplaine, Jos., ii. 1059.
Democratic party, i. 475, 482, 484, 489, 493, 495-
98, 504, 606, 608, 610, 611, 513, 617, 526, 631,
533, 638, 641, 646, 548, 552, 565, 557, 663, 567,
676, 681, 683, 688, 591, 696, 603-8, 610, 637,
646, 652, 655, 678, 715, 719, 723, 725-29, 733,
747, 752, 769, 801, 803, 818, 833-35, 840, 848,
860, 862i, 852c.
Democratic Society, i. 474, 482, 484, 486.
Club, i. 807.
Fremont Club, i. 723.
League, i. 719.
Liberal party, i. 838.
Press, i. 529, 533, 555, 576, 588, 691 ; iU.
1982.
Young Men's Association, i. 663.
Democratic-Republican party, i. 480, 493.
Democratic-Republican Benevolent Society, i.
618.
Dennie, Joseph (editor of Portfolio), i. 609.
Denny, William (Lieutenant-Governor of Penn-
sylvania), i. 158, 179, 249, 261, 254.
De Normandie, Abraham, i. 249.
Dentists, ii. 885, 1598, 1638.
Dental College and School of Oral Surgery, ii.
1663.
Cosmos, iii. 2031.
Intelligencer, iii. 2016.
News Letter, iii. 2018.
Office and Laboratory, iii. 2040.
Practitioner, iii, 2062.
INDEX.
2371
Dental Quarterly, iii. 2032.
Surgeons' Association, ii. 1641,
Times, iii. 2037.
Departments, city, iii. 1731.
Deputy Attorney-Generals, ii. 1574.
Der Wochentliche Staatsbote, iii. 1966.
Description of Philadelphia in 1811, iii. 2232.
Dessert to tlie True American, iii. 1979.
Deutsche Wochenblatt, iii. 1997.
De Yries, David Pietersen, i. 31, 58, 59, 60, 67,
269.
Dewees, Dr. W. P., i. 632 ; ii, 1149, 1692.
Dickinson College, i. 466, 486.
Dickinson, Anna, ii. 1698.
Dickinson, Mahlon H., i. 722.
Dickinson, Samuel, i. 275; ii. 867; iii. 1807.
Dickinson, John, i. 242, 267, 271, 280, 289, 292,
296, 298, 309, 311, 313-18, 321, 324, 329-32,
334, 336, 338, 368, 424, 429, 432, 437, 617 ;
ii. 854, 898, 1125, 1521.
character and peculiarities of, i. 275.
denunciation of Stamp Act hy, i. 273.
public offices and positions held by, i. 275.
Totes of against Declaration of Independ-
.277.
Dickii
, Jonathan, i. 187, 198-200, 204, 205,
224; ii.867; iii. 1807.
Dickenson, John, i. 510.
Dickeson, Dr. Montroville W., i. 713.
Dickson, Dr. S. H., ii. 1617.
Die Neue Welt, iii. 2026.
Die-sinking, ii. 1064.
Diligent Hose Company, i. 691, 693, 819.
Diocese of Philadelphia (Catholic), ii. 1393.
Directory, Philadelphia City, for 1796, i. 485.
Distances in Philadelphia, iii. 1750.
from Philadelphia to cities and towns, iii.
1753.
to various points in the Park, iii. 1762.
Dispensary, Philadelphia, i. 632.
Dispensary for Skin Diseases, ii. 16S5.
Distillers, iii. 2282.
Disston, Henry, iii. 2266.
DiBBton, Henry, & Sons, iii. 2267.
District Court, ii. 1572, 1677.
District attorneys, ii. 1574, 1577.
Disciples or Christians, ii. 1449.
Dispatch, Sunday, iii. 2020,2220.
Districts :
Belmont, i. 707.
Kensington, iii. 1776, 1852.
Northern Liberties, iii. 1775, 1862.
Penn, i. 676, 685, 713; ill. 1776.
Southnark, iii. 1775.
Spring Garden, iii. 1775.
Dixon, Jeremiah, i. 258-60.
Doane, Abraham and Levi, executed, i. 453.
Doak, Rev. John W., i. 540.
Dock Creek, filling of, i. 433.
Doctors, ii. 889, 1578.
Dog-tax laid, i. 265.
Dohnert, John H., i. 693.
Dolan, Thomas, iii. 2306.
Dolan, Thomas, mills of, iii. 2306.
Domestic Manufactures, Philadelphia Society
for Promoting, i. 627 ; iii. 2302.
Doran, Joseph M., ii. 1545.
Dorsey, Dr. Philip Syng, ii. 1615.
Douglass, David, opens Society Hill Theatre, i.
254.
Douglas, Stephen A., i. 722, 728, 730, 733, 746,
769.
Dougherty, Daniel, i. 728, 730, 741, 762, 799,
842: ii. 1655.
Doughty, Thoman, ii. 1054.
Drake, Roger Dillon, i. 626, 627.
Drake, Thomas, iii. 2303.
Drake's woolen-mill, iii. 2303.
Drake, Dr. Alfred, i. 626, 027.
Drama, ii. 865.
Dramatic Censor, iii. 1983,
Dramatic Companion, iii. Ilt99.
Dramatic Mirror, iii. 2014.
Drawing-Eoom Journal, iii. 2021.
Draper, Sir William, i. 262.
Draper, Dr. W. C, i. 636.
Drays, early licensing of, i. 547.
Drayton, William H., i. 739.
Drayton, T., ii. 1069.
Dress of early settlers, ii.853,S60,861, S70, 878,
884, 906, 913, 1264, 1699.
Drexel, F. M., i. 807; ii. 1063.
Drexel, Mrs. P., ii. 1702.
Drexel, A. J., iii. 2102.
Drew, Mrs. John, ii. 1699.
Drinking in early days, ii. 860, 865, 866, 891.
Drove- Yard Company, Farmera*, Drovers', and
Butchers', i. 712.
Druids, Order of, i. 725.
Drug Kxchange, iii. 2361.
Drug miinufacture, iii. 2273.
Druggists' Reference, iii. 2039.
Dry-goods, ii. 886, 886, 904, 906; iii. 2312.
Duane, William, i. 496, 504, 512, 616, 619, 526-
29, 633, 639, 545, 661-53, 561, 563 ; ii. 1137,
1540; iii. 1850, 1925, 1960, 1978.
Duane, William J., i. 567,683,688,691,695,608,
611,626,688; ii. 1137.
Duche, Rev. Jacob, i. 291, 303,360, 397 ; ii. 1128.
Duche, T. S., ii. 1040.
Ducachet, Rev. Henry W., i. 688, 730, 743, 763,
765, 786.
Ducking-stool, necessity for the, presented by
grand jury, i. 157.
Duels, i. 157, 192, 206 ; ii. 879.
Duffleld, Edward, i. 290.
DufBeld, Kev. George, i. 731.
Duke of York, royal patent to, i. 75, 78, 86, 118,
259.
laws of, i. 127, 180.
Protective deed to by Penn, i. 87.
Duke of Saxe-Weimar, in Philadelphia, i. 611
(note), 615.
Dunlap, Thomas, i. 658.
Dunlap, John, ii. 926.
Dunglison, Dr. R., i. 724; ii. 1149, 1620.
Dunkin, Robert Henry, i.473
Dundas, James, iii. 2U98.
Duncan, Judge, ii. 1530.
Duncan, Gen. William, i. 590, 610.
Duncan, Stephen, i. 611.
Dunwoody's Tavern, i. 492, 497.
Du Ponceau, Peter S., i. 106, 473, 474, 507, 699,
610, 625, 643.
Dupont Powder-Mills menaced by the British,
i. 565.
Durborrow, Rev Dr., i. 730.
Durham Furnace, iii. 2219.
Durang, John, ii. 969.
Dutch, overthrow of, in New Netherlands, i.
75, 76.
East India Company, i. 62, 53.
Calvinist Church, i. 407.
Reformed Church, ii. 1417.
Duties collected at port of Philadelphia for
1881-82, iii. 2216.
Dyott, Dr. Thomas W., i. 655; iii. 2299.
Dyottville Glass-Works, i. 655, 684; iii. 2299.
K.
Eagle Journal, iii. 2068.
Eagle Tavern, I. 703.
Eagle Iron-Works, i. 561; iii. 2251.
Earle, Caroline, ii. 1698.
Earle, George H., i. 722, 730.
Earle, Samuel F., i. 567.
Earle, Thomas, ii,1170.
Early courts, ii. 1667.
East India Company, i. 283, 286, 288, 295.
Eastern Penitentiary, i. 603, 606, 804; iii.
1835.
Easy Hour, iii. 2059.
Eaton, Gen. William, i. 623.
Eaves, John, ii. 1061.
Echo, iii. 2060.
Eckstein, John, ii. 1067.
Eclectic Journal of Medicine, iii. 2011.
Eclectic Magazine (Flowers'), iii. 2«i3.
Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania, i.
698.
Eclectic Medical Journal, iii. 2024.
Eclectic Repertory, iii. 1984.
Education, i. 125; iii. 1921.
Lancasterian system, iii. 1926.
Pestalozzian system, iii. 1925.
Educational Institutions:
Academy of the Sacred Heart, iii. 1954.
Brothers of the Christian Schools, iii.
1953.
Clermont Seminary, iii. 1925.
Central High School, iii. 1928, 1929, 1930.
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph,
iii. 1963.
Friends' Academy, iii. 1923.
Fellenburg School, iii. 1926.
Girls' Normal School, iii. 1933.
Educational Home, ii. 1487.
Girard College, iii. 1877, 1944.
Ludwick School, iii. 1924.
LaSalle College, iii. 1960.
Mount St. Joseph Academy, iii. 1966.
Ogontz Seminary, iii. 1956.
Public Schools, iii. 1921.
Private Schools, iii. 1955.
Poor's Academy, iii. 1923.
Philadelphia Society for Instruction, iii.
1924.
Present High School building, iii. 1931.
Philadelphia Firat School District, iii. 1926.
Protestant Episcopal Institution, ii. 1360.
Religious schools, iii. 1955.
St. Joseph College, iii. 1950.
St. Vincent's College, iii. 1950.
Teachers' Institute, iii. 1934.
St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, iii. 1949.
University of Pennsylvania, iii. 1876, 1935,
1938, 1942, 1943.
Wilson's School, iii. 1924.
Educational Visitor, iii. 2069.
Edison's Review, iii. 2061.
K. D. Baker Post, No. 8, G. A. B., i. 832.
Edwin, David, ii. 1056.
Eichholtz, Jacob, ii. 1049.
Ein Schall und Geganschall, iii. 1965.
Elder, Dr. William, i. 703, 756, 791.
Elections, i. 210 ; ii. 865, 937.
bribery punished, i. 246.
disputed, act for deciding, i. 505.
Election ground campaign song, i. 513.
Election officers, qualifications of, iii 1703.
Electors, qualifications of, iii. 1703.
Electric lights, iii. 2134.
introduced on Chestnut Street, i. 849.
Electricity, lectures on and experiments with,
by Franklin and others, i. 235, 237.
Elevations above high tide, iii. 1761.
Ellen Butler Memorial,
Eller, George, killed in c
Elliott, Commodore Jess
Elliott, H. H. K., i. 727.
Elliott, Isaac, i. 671.
1483.
irt, i. 8:i4.
2372
INDEX.
Elliott, Thomas, i. 596.
Ellis, G. B., ii. 1059.
Ellis, Thomas S., iii. 2324.
EUisoD, John B., iii. 2306.
Ellmaker, Peter C, i. 756.
Ellsworth, Oliver, chief justice, i. 488.
Ellsworth, Col. Elmer E., i. 735, 767.
Elwyn, Dr. Alfred L., i. 752 ; ii. 1462.
Ely, Kev. Dr., ii. 1297.
Emanuel Episcopal Church, i. 726; ii. 1352,
1354.
EmaDuel's Lutheran Church, ii. 1431.
Embargo laid by Lord Loudoun, i. 253.
laid by Gen. Abercrombie, i. 254.
of 1762, i. 267.
of 1793, i. 477.
act of 1807, i. 529, 631, 638, 545.
repeal of, i. 539.
Emergency troops, i. 809.
Emerson, Dr. G., i.633.
Emigrant Society, ii. 1468.
Emieu, Dr.S., ii. 1614.
Emperor of Brazil in Philadelphia, i. 846.
Empire Hook-and-Ladder Company, i. 700.
Empress Itnrbide in Philadelphia, i, 614.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, republication of, i.
469.
Engineers, city, iii. 1748.
Engine-house, first, in Philadelphia, i. 192.
English, T. D., ii. 1171.
Engravers in Philadelphia, ii. 1054, 1064.
Enoch Story's Tavern, William Penn, Jr., ar-
rested at, 1. 182.
Enterprise, iii. 2068.
Entertainments, ii. 854, 866, 936.
Epidemic, malignant, i. 213.
Epidemics, iii. 1726.
Epiphany Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1352.
Episcopal Churches, ii. 1331.
Board of Missions, ii. 1481.
Christ Church, ii. 894.
City Mission, ii. 1481.
educational institutions, ii. 1360.
Hospital training school, ii. 1685.
Hospital, ii. 1677.
Hospital dispensary, ii. 1686.
relief aasociatiooB, ii. 1480.
Episcopal Magazine, iii. 1986.
Episcopal Recorder, iii. 1989.
Episcopal Register, iii. 2042.
Episcopal school, i. 462.
Epizootic distemper, i. 838.
Eppley's Tavern, i. 447.
Equity Court, ii. 1568.
Ericsson line of steamers, iii. 2160.
Erin, iii. 1989.
Escheators-general, iii. 1768.
Esculapian Register, iii. 1989.
Esher, Jacob, i. 693.
Esher, William, i. 662.
Essex Junto, i. 639, 553.
" Essex," sloop-of-war, prizes captured by, i.566.
Establishment of various branches of manu-
facture, iii. 2234.
European news, iii. 2021.
Evangelical Association, ii. 1449.
Evangelical Educational Society, ii. 1489.
Evangelical Repository, iii. 1986, 2U26.
Evangelists' Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1363.
Evans, Dr. Cadwalader, i. 262, 640, 568, 686,
611; ii. 1582.
Evans, John, Lieutenant-Governor, i. 177, 181,
185, 186, 246.
Evans, Oliver, i. 517, 521, 644, 669, 677, 593, 606 ;
iii. 2233, 2261, 2253, 2260, 2263, 2296.
Evening Bulletin, i. 823 ; iii. 2016.
Evening Call, iii. 2061.
Evening Journal, iii. 2014.
Evening Mercury, iii. 2014.
Evening National Argus, iii. 2023.
Evening News, iii. 2058.
Evening Post, i. 314, 317, 326, 350, 387, 617.
Evening Republican, iii. 2040.
Evening Reporter, iii. 2030.
Evening Telegraph, iii. 1930, 2033.
Evening Star, iii. 1930,1984, 2036.
Everts, Louis H., iii. 2332.
Everybody's Album, iii. 2010.
Ewing, Dr. John, i. 261, 406, 424. ^
Ewing, James, i. 424.
Ewing, Robert, i. 699, 783, 789.
Exchange Company, Philadelphia, i. 526.
building of, i. 434, 634.
Exchange Coffee-House, i. 525.
Excise tax on spirits, i. 266, 467.
Execution for counterfeiting, i. 201.
of highway robbers, i. 217.
of spies, Tories, and deserters, i. 394.
of several felons, i. 437, 457.
last, under old code, i. 445.
last public, in Philadelphia, i. 649.
Exhibitions, ii. 864, 887, 950.
Exilius, J., ii. 1052.
Extravagance, ii 900.
Eyre, Emanuel, i. 339, 409 ; iii. 2217.
Eye, iii. 1983.
P.
Fairhill Square, iii. 1851.
Fair HUl, ii. 877, 1498.
Fair Hill Cemetery, iii. 2360.
Fairs, ii. 892; iii. 2300.
first in Philadelphia, i. 153.
semi-annual, i. 294.
literary, i. 611, 512.
Fairman, Thomas, i. 9, 16, 95, 98.
Fairmount Park, i. 7, 675, 697, 812, 836, 842,
844, 862c; ii. 873, 1074; iii. 1852.
objects of historic interest in, iii. 1864.
works of art and decoration in, iii. 1868.
Fairmount Park Art Association, iii. 1869,
1864, 1869, 1870.
Fairmount Water-Works, i. 661.
proposals to operate by perpetual motion
machine, i. 662.
completed (1822), i. 605.
mention of, i. 697, 612, 617, 662, 675.
the three turbine wheels put in motion, i.
800.
steam fire-engines used for pumping, i.
836; iii. 1745, 1863.
Faith Home for crippled children, ii. 1482.
Faith and Works, iii. 2052.
Falls Advertiser, iii. 2068.
Falls of Schuylkill Carpet-Mill, iii. 2309.
Tales, Samuel B., i. 832.
Fallon, Christopher, i. 693, 699.
Falstaff Hotel, i. 595, 719.
Family Herald, iii. 2059.
Family Review, iii. 2060.
Familiar Journal, iii. 2052.
Farmer, Edward, i. 182, 187.
Farmer, Richard, i. 215.
Farmers, ii. 874.
Farmers' Magazine, iii. 2057.
Farmers' Cabinet, iii. 2013.
Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, i. 527,535,542;
iii. 2096, 2099.
Farquhar, E. T., i. 716.
Farragut, Admiral David, i. 827.
Fashions, ii. 858, 860, 900, 912, 916, 1254.
Fashion Journal, Benedict's, iii. 2066.
Fatland, Ford, i. 349.
Federalist party, the, i. 447, 481, 486, 486, 494,
495, 497,498, 504, 606, 5(T7, 508, 510, 614, 517,
620, 526, 529-31, 533, 538-40, 545, 546, 652,
653, 566, 557, 562, 563, 567, 570-72, 576, 677,
581, 683, 584, 688, 591, 692, 695, 60.3-8, 610-11.
Federal Independents, the, i. 604.
Federal Constitution, the convention to form,
i. 446, 447.
ratified by Pennsylvania, i. 447.
Federal Republicans, the, i. 670, 604, 611.
Federal Gazette, iii. 1977.
Feilis, William T., i.712.
Feithner, Frederick, i. 712.
Fellenburg School, iii. 1926.
Female Seamen's Friend Society, ii. 1478.
Female Society for the Relief of the Distressed,
u. 1469.
Female Hospitable Society, the, i. 537, 615; ii.
1469.
Female Medical College of Philadelphia, i. 698,
699.
Female Seminary burned, i. 666.
Female Association, ii. 1469,
Fenwick, John, i. 78, 88, 143.
Fenian Brotherhood, i. 834.
Fencing, ii. 879, 886, 942, 962.
Fenno, John, iii. 1960, 1968.
Ferguson, Col. Ebenezer, i. 664, 566. 571.
Ferguson, Mrs. E., i. 390; ii. 865, 1118, 1128, .
1691.
Ferguson, Commodore James M., i. 851.
Ferry over Schuylkill, i. 148, 202, 208, 254.
rights granting of, 188, 199.
to Gloucester, i. 191, 199.
across the Delaware, i. 208.
Jersey, i. 254.
Arch Street, i. 254, 534.
Point Pleasant, opened (1766), i. 260.
Borden, i. 376.
Penrose, ii. 362.
at Market Street, i. 634.
01d,i. 534.
Upper bridge at, i. 612.
Ferries, iii. 2136.
Arch Street, iii. 2138.
Burnep's, iii. 2138.
Callowhill Street, iii. 2144.
Camden and Philadelphia Company, iii.
2139.
Federal Street, iii. 2137.
Gray's, iii. 2140, 2141, 2143.
Kensington, iii. 2139.
Middle Schuylkill, iii. 2140, 2141.
Mendenhall, iii. 2145.
Market Street, iu. 2136.
over tributary streams, iii. 2147.
Penrose, iii. 2145.
Eoyden, iii. 2139.
Richmond, iii. 2139.
Eighter's, iii. 2146.
Schuylkill, iii. 2139, 2143.
Upper Schnylkill, iii. 2140, 2199.
Ferry-boats, steam, iii. 2137.
Fickard, Dr. Frederick A., i. 698.
Fidelity Mutual Aid Association, iii. 2123.
Field, Cj-rus W., i. 807.
Fifteenth Amendment, celebration of, i. 836.
Fillmore, Millard, i. 688, 701, 721.
Filbert Street bridge, iii. 2146.
Fine Arts, ii. 924, 1070.
Fines, ii. 867.
Finley, James, ii. 1069.
Finley's American Naval and Commercial Reg-
ister, iii. 1978.
Financial institutions, list of, in 1848, iii. 2110-
13.
Financial Register, iii. 2013.
INDEX.
2373
First Pennsylvania Kegiment, passage through
Fleece and Dove Tavern, i. 602.
Fox, Daniel M., i. 835, 837.
Baltimore, i. 758, 763, 765.
Fleming, Thomas, i. 712.
Fox, George, i. 78, 95, 114, 123, 141, 104, 223.
First Presbyteiian Church, i. 255, 264, 337, 359,
Flora and fauna of Philadelphia, i. 17.
Fox, James, i. 123, 125.
484, 496, 636, 656.
Floating battery, i. 676.
Fox, Joseph, i. 289.
First Baptist Church, i. 496, 738.
Florence, Thomas B., i. 715, 718, 723, 728.
Fraley, Frederick, i. 667, 080, 756, 775, 816, 842 ;
Firet Keformed Presbyterian Church, i. 713.
Flower, Enoch, i. 233.
ii. 1193,1194, 1217 ; iii. 2343.
First Keformed Church, ii. 1411.
Flowers, ii. 864, 876, 943.
France, war with, proclaimed (1744), i. 211,
Firemen, Fire Companies, and Large Fires, iii.
Flowers' Eclectic Magazine, iii. 2053.
236.
18S.3.
Flour-mill at Mill Creek, i. 586.
privateers of, 211, 2.35, 236.
Fires, notalile, in Philadelphia, i. 205, 266, 367,
Flying-camp, the, troops raised for, i. 312.
alliance with, celebrated (1779), i. 407.
368, 467, 492, 515, 616, 623, 628, 614, 621, 639,
Philadelphia troops in, i. 331.
sympathy with, after French Revolution, i.
641, 647, 652, 654, 657, 661, 665, 667, 676, 677,
Focus, Daily, iii. 1985.
472-78, 481, 482, 485.
683, 692, 695, 696, 700, 701, 703-6, 719-22, 724,
Foering, Frederick, i. 548, 554, 564.
armed vessels of, in the Delaware, i, 475.
725, 786, 793, 797, 806, »\0, 811, 814, 817, 821,
Folwell, Richard, ii. 934.
seizure of American ships by, i. 492.
S26, 834, 836.
Fonciu, Col. I., i. 674.
growth of hostile feeling against, i. 492,
Fires, protection against, i. 187, 192, 482, 483,
Fontaine, John, visit to Philadelphia (1716), i.
493.
4S7, 616, 617, 620, 628, 642.
191.
war with, anticipated, i. 495.
Fire Association, the, i. 695, 636, 683.
Forney, John W., i. 721, 723, 727, 730, 742
744,
Francis' Onion Hotel, i. 488, 608, 613.
Fire-engines in Philadelphia, the first, i. 192,
771, 800, 817, 840, 842; iii. 1960, 1972,
2007,
Francis, Tench, 1. 284, 296, 409, 436, 448, 466.
193.
2026, 2027, 2045, 2053-55.
Frantz, Jacob, i. 712.
building of, in Philadelphia (1735), i. 193.
Forbes, Gen. John, takes Fort Du Quesne, i.
Franklin, Benjamin, i. 161, 176, 190, 196, 197,
mentioned, i. 264.
263.
198, 203, 208, 211, 214, 217, 228-30, 232,
number of, in 1771, i. 266.
troops of, quartered in Philadelphia, i
253.
238-40, 251, 262, 265, 269, 271,280,288,
manufacture of, in 1786, i. 439.
returns to aud dies in Philadelph
a, i.
292, 297, 310, 312-16, 318, 324, 326, 329,
number of, in 1818, i. 693.
264.
405, 427, 440, 447.
Fire companies, i. 208, 214, 238, 262, 271.
Foreign Mail, iii. 2057.
birth and extraction of, i. 218.
in 1807, i. 628.
Forges and furnaces, iii. 2250.
becomes a printer, and moves to Philadel-
number of, in 1818, i. 693.
Forrest, Col. Thomas, i. 605.
phia, i. 219, 228.
engage in politics (1819), i. 595.
Forrest, Edwin, Home, ii. 1460.
advocates irredeemable paper money, .
Firemen's parade, first, in Philadelphia, i. 634.
Forrest, Edwin, ii. 974, 976.
196.
later parades, i. 636, 691, 727.
Forepaugh, A., circus, ii. 980.
services in the Revolution, i. 220, 267, 273.
in 1865, i. 826, 827.
Ford, Ignatius, i. 678.
antagonism to Quaker influence, i. 228,
in 1870, i. 836.
Forts, ii. 1022.
239.
Fire police established, i. 725.
Allen, i. 322.
his influence, i. 228, 231.
Fire department, the first appropriation for, i.
Altona, i. 71.
in London, i. 228.
551.
Association, i. 12.
autobiography of, i. 229.
the volunteer (note), i. 664, 666.
Beversrede, i. 11, 31, 68, 72, 74.
founder of the Junto, i. 229.
act for better regulation of, i. 689.
Billingsport, i. 306.
founder of the Philosophical Society, i. 231,
great parade of, i. 691.
Casimir, i. 68, 66, 69, 70, 72, 130.
233, 264.
mentioned, i. 700, 706.
Christiua, i.64-67, 70, 72.
founder of the Gazette, and of Philadel-
superseded by paid department, i. 710, 836.
Delaware, i. 43, 759, 770, 772, 777, 797
807,
phia Library, i. 237.
Fire-engines manufactured, iii. 2262.
814.
Clerk of the Assembly, Deputy Postmaster-
Fire-arms manufacture, iii. 2270.
Donelson, fall of, announced, i. 793.
General, and publisher of the General
Fire Insurance Company of County of Philadel.
Elfsborg, i. 67.
Magazine, i. 238.
phia, iii. 2118.
Gripsholm, i. 11.
founder of the Philadelphia Academy,
Fireworks suppressed before Bevolution, i.
Island, i. 306, 330, 342, 347, 361, 363, 431.
judge of the Common Pleas, member of
267.
Eorsholm, i. 68, 74.
the Assembly, and secretary of the Gen-
Fireworks, ii. 943,946.
Eingsessing, i. 68.
eral Hospital Board, i. 239, 244.
Fire Zouaves, the Philadelphia, i. 774, 776, 779,
Manayunk, i. 11, 68.
advocate of tax to pave and light streets.
782, 817.
McHenry, i. 575.
and of plan of union, i. 239.
Fireside Visitor, iii. 2025.
Mercer, i. 360, 361-64.
builder of frontier forts, i. 240.
Fire-ships in the Delaware, i. 343.
Mifflin, i. 12, 280, 361, 362, 363, 364, 367
394,
commands troops, opposes proprietary gov-
Fishing Company, the Old, iii. 1871.
477, 494, 562, 563, 572, 674, 679, 690,
696,
ernment, and made Speaker of Assembly,
Fisher, James C, i. 614, 619, 634.
779.
i. 241.
Fisher, Peter, i. 712.
Mud, i. 7, 12.
London agent of Pennsylvania, i. 240, 243.
Fisher, Sidney G., i. 674.
Nassau, i. 31, 56, 68-61, 66, 68.
originator of first American Arctic expe-
Fisher, Joshua F., i. 106.
New Castle, i. 186.
dition, i. 246.
Fisher, Thomas, ii. 1169.
Nya Gotheborg, i. 6, 11 , 67, 68, 74.
delegate to Continental Congress, i. 297.
Fish, protection of, in Delaware, i. 266.
destroyed by Dutch, i. 70.
president of Committee of Safety, i. 299.
Fish market, the first, in Philadelphia, i. 260.
Oplandt, i. 31, 69, 60.
member of Constitulional Convention of
mention of, i. 682, 685.
Penn, i. 306.
1776, i. 322.
Fishbourne, Sally, ii. 1690.
Red Bank, i. 209.
president of Supreme Executive Council,
FiBhbonme, William, i. 198, 205,243.
Rittenhouse, i. 640, 646.
i.440.
Fitch, John, builder of first steamboat, ii. 462,
Sumter, attack on, announced in Philadel-
birthday of, celebrated, i. 442.
22, 543, 644; iii. 1878, 2165, 2166, 2167-69.
phia, i. 753.
president of Society for Abolition of
Fitzsimons, Thomas, i. 610, 612, 525, 638, 639,
Susquehannocks, i. 31, 40.
Slavery, i. 446.
548.
Trinity, i. 70.
member of Constitutional Convention of
sketch of, i. 339 (note).
Washington, battle of, i. 332.
1787, i. 457.
Filler, Edwin H., iii. 2311.
Wicaoo, i. 11.
death of, i. 467.
Filler, Edwin H., & Co., iii. 2311.
Wilson, ii. 901.
honors to memory of, i. 458.
Flat Rock bridge, iii. 2146.
Foster, Henry D., i. 733.
bequests by, i. 459.
Flags of the United States and of the colonies.
Fourth of July celebrations, ii. 936.
home life in last years, i. 460.
i. 346.
Foundry, Soulhwark, iii. 2263.
eulogy on, i. 467.
Flags, ii. 893.
Fountain, first, in Philadelphia, i. 643.
Franklin, Benjamin, ii. 1105, 1173 ; iu. 1786,
Flanagan, Stephen, i. 699.
Fountain Inn, i. 201, 253.
1796, 1808, 1812, 1820, 1875, 1879, 1884,
Fletcher, Benjamin, Captain-General of Penn-
Fountain, Catholic Centennial, iii. 1874.
1939, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1977, 1987, 2063,
sylvania, i. 124, 126, 269.
Fowler, Capt. Alexander, i. 404.
2114, 2140, 2141, 2167, 2210, 2230, 2311.
2374
INDEX.
Franklin, Benjamin :
cream-pot presented to Henry Hill, ii. 859.
house, ii. 8S2.
and Philadelphia Library, ii. 1173.
statue of, iii. 1875, 1879.
tomb of, ii. 1343.
Tranklin, Mrs, Benjamin, ii. 859, 900.
Franklin Institute, i. 609, 616, 620, 839 ; ii. 1074,
1214; iii. 1773, 1860,2234.
Franklin Institute Journal, iii. 1990, 2265, 2272,
2326.
Franklin Gazette, i. 591, 6a5 ; iii. 1986.
Franklin Square, iii. 1S46.
Franklin Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2118.
Franklin Benevolent Institution, i. 574.
Franklin Cemetery, iii. 2359.
Franklin Hall, i. 729.
Franklin Hose Company, i. 692.
Franklin Flying Artillery, i. 571, 573.
Franklin Hotel (1S02), i. 515, 516.
Franklin Reformatory Home for Inebriates, ii.
1685.
Franklin, Sarah, ii. 1688.
Franklin. Walter, i. 624, 628, 55U.
Franklin Woolen-Mill, iii. 2303.
Franks, Rebecca, ii. 900, 903, 1692.
Frankford, i. 2, 115.
early mill at, i. 1,53.
mention of, i. 187, 213.
military operations at, i. 365.
borough of, i. 503, 676.
abolished, i. 713.
Frankford Atsenal, ii. 1015.
Frankford Chemical-Works, iii. 2277.
Frankford Company, i. 115, 116, 186.
mills of, i. 153.
Frankford Creek, a public highway, i. 502.
ferry and bridge across, i. 550.
Wernwag's bridge over, i. 559.
Frankford Dispatch, iii. 2053.
Frankford Gazette, iii. 2039.
Frankford Hall, iii. 1777.
Frankford Herald, iii. 2024.
Frankford Mutual Fire Insurance Company,
iii. 2119.
Free Dispensary for Skin Diseases, ii. 1685.
Free institutes, ii. 1491.
Free schools advocated (1787), i. 445.
Free Society of Traders, i. 86.
manor of, erected by Penn. i. 87.
society organized, i. 87, 89.
Penn's letter to, i. 106.
Nicholas More, president of, i. 119.
saw-mill and glass-house of (1683), i. 153.
tannery of, i. 154.
end of, i. 202.
Freeman, Charles D., i. 721.
Freeman, H. G., i. 676.
Freeman's Journal, i. 318, 424, 425, 517, 633,
560; iii. 1975, 1981.
Freemen, list of, i. 193.
Freemasons, order of, Benjamin Franklin a
member, i. 229.
Grand Lodge of, in Philadelphia, i. 233,
700.
William Allen, Grand Master (1732), 233.
The " Hoop" Lodge, i. 233.
African Grand Lodge of, i. 638.
Grand Lodge of, reorganized (1778), i. 397.
Gen. Washington present on St. John's
Day, i. 397.
mention of, i. 573.
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, i. 616.
Freedley, E. T., ii. 1163.
Fredericksburg, news of battle of, i. 805.
Freie Presse, iii. 2020.
Freneau, PhiHp, ii. 1128; iii. 1948.
French army, the arrival of, in America, i.
411.
in Philadelphia, i. 415.
cockade worn in Philadelphia, i. 485.
spoliations, i. 512, 550.
refugees in Philadelphia, i. 470.
Revolution of 1830, i. 626.
and Indian war, i. 179.
Benevolent Society, i. 473.
Creek, stores and powder removed from, i.
348.
Patriotic Society, i. 470, 472, 474, 476.
Society, ii. 1467.
Friends, ii. 855, 861 ; iii 1991.
Friends' Burying-G round, i. 170, 337 ;"iii. 2368.
Friends' Intelligencer, iii. 2015.
Friends' Asylum for the Insane, ii. 1677.
Friends' Free Library, ii. 1189, 1228.
Friends' Charity Fuel Association, ii. 1479.
Friends' Meeting-House erected, iii. 1781.
Friends' Academy, iii. 1923.
Friedlander, Julius R., statue of, iii. 1878.
Frigate " Pennsylvania," i. 263.
Fritz, Peter, i. 717,721, 728.
Front Street Methodist Episcopal Church, i.
726.
Fruit-trees, ii. 854, 875.
Fry, William H., ii. 1168.
Fuerst, Moritz, ii. 1064.
Fuel Savings Society, ii. 1479.
Fugitive slave law of 1818, i. 691.
of 1850, cases under the, i. 701, 702 (note).
Fuller, Henry M., i. 721.
Fulling-mills, iii. 2300, 2;;01.
Fulton, Robert, i. 522, 562, 576, 587 ; ii.1040; iii.
2168, 2169.
Funerals, ii. 867, 880, 890, 894.
Fnrness, Eev. W. H., i. 722, 732 ; ii. 1070, 1172,
1406.
Furniture, ii. 858, 877, 887, 911, 960; iii. 2333.
Furnaces and forges, iii. 2260.
G.
Gaines, Gen. Edmund P., i. 575.
Games, ii. 863.
Gaming, ii. 941.
Galloway, Joseph, i. 242, 264, 267, 2«4, 267-69,
273, 274, 277, 279, 280, 290, 292, 293, 298, 326,
329, 336, 347, 348, 360, 360, 36.')-67, 372, 381,
382, 383, 385, 396, 397, 412, 424.
Gallatin, Albert, i. 613, 553, 562, 580, 683, 607,
614, 821.
Garde Lafayette, i. 751 .
Gardens, ii. 876.
public, ii. 943, 968.
Gardener's Monthly, iii. 2030.
Garrett and Eastwick. iii. 2258.
Garrett, Philip, iii. 2258, 2269.
Garrison, William Lloyd, i. 651, 720.
Gas-lights, i. 486, 614, 683, 585, 586, 589, 643,
645.
Gas-Light Tavern, i. 644.
Gas-Light Ckjmpany, Philadelphia, i. 614, 643.
Gas Company, Germantown, i. 707.
Kensington, i. 662.
Manayunk, i. 707.
Northern Liberties, i. 676.
Spring Garden, i. 676.
Gas-Works, erected by Grand Lodge of Free-
masons (1816), i. 643.
Manayunk and Frankford, i. 646.
Northern Liberties, i. 646, 662.
Philadelphia, i. 643, 645, 646, 686.
Point Breeze, i. 646.
Port Richmond, i. 646.
Gas and gas-works, iii. 1759.
Gaul, Frederick, iii. 2279.
Gazetteer, Independent, i. 480.
Gazette, Pennsylvania, iii. 1786, 1804, 1807, 1885,
1962, 2062, 2086, 2114.
Gazette, iii. 2066.
Geary, Gen. John W., i. 773, 774, 833, 835.
General Magazine, the first literary periodical
in America, i. 238 ; iii. 1964.
General Advertiser, i. 476, 477, 478, 480.
General Sessions Court, ii. 1673.
General Lafayette Tavern, 602.
Gentleman's Magazine, i. 239, 309, 377.
Gentleman, fashionable, ii. 861, 880.
Gentleman's Vade Mecum, iii. 1999.
Geographical Historical Repository, iii. 1989.
Germantown, i. 7, 13, 17, 118, 119, 143, 148, 149,
153, 186, 203, 363-60, 386; U. 902, 1008,
1103, 1116.
Academy, i. 25, 256, 275.
barracks at (1776), i. 331.
battle of, i. 343,344.
brick-making, i. 160, 161.
consoUdated with Philadelphia, i. 713.
court records, i. 156.
Christ Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1366.
Dispensary and Hospital, ii. 1682.
divided into wards, i. 656.
founding of, i. 115, 116.
Howe's house in, ii. 897.
incorporated, i. 117.
iron furnace, 1716, i. 191.
grammar school, i. 245.
Paxton boys at, i. 242.
prison at, i. 148.
review of troops, 1756, i. 261.
rendezvous of Washington at, i. 327, 329.
roads to, i. 496, 609.
sketch of, ii. 895.
Tunker Church at, ii. 1315.
Unitarian Society, ii. 1406.
Germantown and Reading turnpike, i. 496.
Germantown and Perkiomen turnpike, i. 606.
Germantown Railroad, iii. 2176, 2255, 2269.
Germantown Hall, iii. 1777.
Germantown Square, iii. 1852.
Germantown Telegraph, iii. 1995.
Germantown Gazetteer, iii. 1989.
Germans, ii. 863, 899.
German and English Gazette, iii. 1965.
German Eye and Ear Infirmary, ii. 1684.
German Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2122.
German Hospital, i. 795 ; ii. 1680.
German Illustrated Newspaper, iii. 2021.
German Lutheran Church, i. 386, 467.
German Pennsylvania Journal, iii. 1965.
German Republican Society, (1793), 473-82.
German Reformed Church, i. 353-60, 386, 504,
508, 510-11, 586 ; ii. 856, 1408.
German Society, ii. 1465.
Gerard. Monsieur, ii. 899, 922.
Gerhard, B., ii. 1536.
Gesu Catholic Church, ii. 1383.
Gettysburg battle, news of, i. 808.
national cemetery at, dedicated, i. 810.
Gibbons, Charles, i. 721.
Gibbons, Dr. Henry, i. 698.
Gibson, Chief Justice John B., i. 688 ; ii. 1532.
Gibson, H. C, ii. 1075, 1203.
Gibson, John F., i. 727, 746.
Gibson, Dr. William, ii. 1615.
Giddings, Joshua K., in Philadelphia, i. 732.
Gilpin, Charles, i. 682, 699, 702, 711, 721, 728,
741, 742, 756, 780, 792.
Gilpin, Henry D., i. 677, 686; ii. 1645.
Gilpin, John F., i. 722.
Gillingham, Joseph J., i. 722.
INDEX.
2375
Gillespie, Mrs. E. D,, ii. 1700.
Girard Avenue bridge, opening of, i. 839, 840 ;
iii. 2146.
Girard Bank, the, i. 8, 640, 657, 659, 660, 667,
672, 673, 726, 754; iii. 2097, 2099.
Girard College, the, i. 629, 630, 699, 700, 726 ; iii.
1877, 1944.
Girard Fire and Marine Insurance Company,
iii. 2120.
Girard Life Insurance Annuity and Trust Com-
pany, iii. 2119.
Girard Hotel, ii. 998.
Girard, Stephen, 323 (note), 476, 481, 486, 600,
611, 612, 624, 527, 533, 548, 651, 560, 662, 664,
685, 695, 029, 634, 669,' 700; ii. 1606; iii. 1877,
1927, 2097, 2212.
Girard, Stephen, statue nf, iii. 1876.
Girls' Normal School, iii. 1933.
Gist, Col. Mordecai, i. 374.
Gla-s manufacture, i. -407, 632 ; iii. 2297-99.
Glass-works, iii. 2299.
DyottTille, iii. 2299.
in 1810, iii. 2300.
Schuylkill, iii. 2300.
Glassware, ii. 859.
Gleowood Cemetery, iii. 2360
Glen Riddle Wooleu-Mill, iii. 2304.
Glentworth, James, i. 690.
Glentworth, Dr. G., ii. 1582.
Globe Cotton-Mills, Kensington, i. 622.
Gloria Dei Church, i. 12 ; ii. 1234, 1360.
Glue manufacture (1786), i. 4;)9.
Gobrecht, C, ii. 1064.
Goddard, William, i. 274, 285, 286, 293, 425 ; iii.
18U8, 1812, 1959, 1960.
Godfrey, Thonias, ii. 872, 1117; iii. 1876, 2231,
2337.
Godey, Louis A., iii. 1996, 1999, 2010, 2022.
Godley, Jesse, i. 690.
Golden Days, iii. 2058.
Golden Fish Tavern, i. 668.
Golden Fleece Tavern, i. 212.
Golden Swan Tavern, i.515.
Golden Year, iii. 2059.
Good Shepherd Protestant Episcopal Church,
ii. 1369.
Good Intent Hose Company, i. 691.
Good Will Fire Company, i. 652, 654, 692.
Goodman, George, ii. 1057.
Goodman, ('liarles, i. 612.
Goodman, Col. James, i. 682.
Goodman, John, i. 671, 672.
Goodson, John, i. 128.
Goodwin, John D., i. 612, 626, 628.
Gookin, Charles, Lieutenant-Governor, i. 92-95,
177, 186-8S, 191.
Gordon, Patrick, Lieutenant-Governor, i. 178,
189, 203, 204, 207 ; iii. 1781, 2207.
Gordon's Ford, i. 349.
Gordon, Thomas F., ii. 1160, 1644.
Gouge, William, ii. 1168.
Governor's Club (1744), i. 235.
Governor's grist-mill, i. 622.
Governors of Pennsylvania, list of, iii. 1762.
Governors of United States Naval Asylum, ii.
1669.
Government Counterfeit Detector, iii. 2021.
Government loans, subscriptions to, i. 786.
vessels, sale of, i. 826.
Gowen, Franklin B., iii. 2187.
Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1352,
1368.
Graeme, Dr. Thomas, i. 617; ii 864,864,1118,
1579, 1691.
Grafr, Frederick, i. 661,716; iii. 1862, 1866,1868,
1876, 1877, 1881.
Graham's Magazine, iii. 2011.
Grain elevator put iu operation, i. 807.
Grand Duke Alexis, visit of, i. 837.
Granaries In 1697, i. 148.
Grammar school, first in Philadelphia, i. 123.
Graphic World, iii. 21169.
Grant, Gen. U. S., i. 825, 827, 833, 838, 844, 846,
848, 849.
Grant, W. K., 11. 1621.
Graydon, Alexander, ii. 1139.
Grandom, Hart, bequests by, i. 066.
Grandom Institution, i. 666; ii. 1479.
Gray, George, i. 290, 298.
Gray's Ferry, i. 7, 12, 16, 203, 206, 366, 370.
bridge at, i. 569; ii. 942, 1029; iii. 2143.
Gray's Gardens, i. 404, 468.
Gray Reserves, i. 708, 772, 773, 776, 777, 809,
813,819; ii. 1021.
Graveyards, ii. 879.
Grand Army of the Republic, i. 836, 846, 862,
852c; iii. 2076.
Grand Army Review, iii. 2067.
Grand Army Scout, iii. 2069.
Great Britain, hostile feeling against (1794), i.
477.
flag of, burned in Philadelphia, i. 478.
outrages by (1809), i. 646.
"Great Eastern Steamship" oft Cape May, i.
736.
" Great Law," i. 102, 104, 123.
Great Senate of Sparta, history of, iii. 2076.
Greble, Lieut. John T., killed at Big Bethel, i.
769.
Greek Legion, and aid for the Greeks, i. 619.
Green-Tree Inn, i. 601, 666.
Greenwich Point Ferry Company, i. 589.
Green Street Methodist Church, i. 631, 770.
Greenwich Island, i. 261.
Green, Dr. Jacob, ii. 1170.
Greenwood Cemetery, iii. 2361.
Grew, Mary, anti-slavery speaker, i. 732.
Griffith, H. Wharton, i. 626.
Griffitts, Dr. S. P., ii. 1697.
Grinnell, Henry, i. 722.
Grist-mill, first, Iii. 2295.
Grier, Judge Robert C, i. 712 (note), 724, 786,
786 ; ii. 1647.
Grice, James, ship-builder, i. 670.
Griswold, Roger, afi^ray of, with Lyon, i. 495.
Grigg, John, death of, i. 817.
Gross, Dr. Samuel D., ii. 1165, 1623.
Grocers' and Importers' Exchange, iii. 2360.
Growden, Joseph, i. 123, 128, 164.
mansion of, i. 148; ii. 1506.
Grouchy, Marshal, of France, in Philadelphia,
i. 690.
Grund, Francis J., i. 686.
deathof, i. 810; ii. 1170.
Guardian Angel, iii. 2038.
Guardians of the Poor, iii. 1739.
presidents of the Board, iii. 1743.
*' Guerriere," American frigate, i. .578.
" Guerri6re," British frigate, captured, i. 556.
" Guerriere," American frigate, built, i. 670.
Gulph Mill, i. 433.
Gulph road, i. 682.
Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company,
iii. 2104.
Guide, iii. 2044.
Gunboats in the Delaware (1776-76), i. 299,
300, 306,307 (1813-14), 565, 670.
built in Philadelphia in civil war, 783,784,
787, 789, 807, 813.
Gunner's Run, i. 2.
company for improvement of, i. 684.
Gunpowder, manufacture of, i. 294, 301, 305,
306.
inspection and test of, i. 483.
Gypsum as a fertilizer introduced by Franklin,
i. 232 (note).
H.
Hahnemann Medical College, 11. 1656.
Hahnemannian Monthly, iii. 20:i6.
"Hail Columbia," first sung by Gilbert Fox, i.
493.
Hailstorm, the great, i. 834.
Haines, Edward, i. 712.
Hair-dressing, ii. 890.
Half-Moon, i. 63, 64.
Halle:
City and District, iii. 1769.
District of Penn, iii. 1776.
Frankford, iii. 1777.
Germantown, iii. 1777.
Independence, iii. 1777, 1784, 1796, 1798,
1823, 1873.
Kensington, iii. 1776.
Moyamensing, iii. 1776.
New City Hall, iii. 1772.
Richmond, iii. 1776.
Southwark, iii. 1775.
Spring Garden, iii. 1775.
West Philadelphia, iii. 1777.
Hallam's Theatre Company, ii.965.
Hallett, Mrs. Hughes, ii. 1702.
Hallowell, Mrs. S. C, ii. 1701.
Haly, William W., i. 703.
Hamilton, Andrew, i. 174, 176, 180, 204, 206, 208,
217,235; ii. 854,864,943.
residence of, ii. 872.
sketch of, ii. 1501; iii. 1739, 1781, 1782,
1786, 1806, 1807, 2207.
Hamilton, A. Boyd, i. 694.
Hamilton, Alexander, i. 360, 462, 482, 619.
Hamilton, James, Lieutenant-Governor of
Pennsylvania, i. 178, 180, 217, 239, 243.
Hamilton, James, iii. 1769, 1782-84, 1786, 2114.
Hamilton, James, i. 240, 259.
Hamilton, William, i. 7, 445,448.
Hamburg Tavern, i. 613.
Hammer, iii. 2061.
Hancock, John, i. 262, 295,314, 316.
Hancock, Gen. W. S., i. 809, 813, 828, 848.
Hand, Col. Edward, i. 327.
Hand-in- Hand Fire Company, i. 528.
Hand, James C, i. 699, 721, 728, 762.
Handel aud Haydn Hall, i. 723.
Handy, Moses Purnell, iii. 2028.
Hanging, ii. 867.
Hanna, James, i. 676.
Harbeson, Benjamin, i. 292, 324, 424.
Harbeson, William, i.712.
Harbor, artificial, iu Delaware Bay, i. 616, 622.
Harbor masters, i, 480.
Harding, Jesper, iii. 1986, 1993.
Hare, Prof. Robert, i. 645, 674,720, 752 ; ii. 1140,
1615.
Harlan, Dr. Richard, i. 631, 633 ; iii. 1619.
Harmony Hall, i. 511.
Harmony Lodge, No. 52, F. and A. M., i. 504.
Harnish, Henry K., i. 712.
Harp and Crown Tavern, i. 476.
Harpsichord, ii. 879.
Harrah, Charles J., iii. 2203.
Harris, Dr. Thomas, i. 633.
Harrisburg, founding of, By John Harris, i. 434.
Harrison Hall, i. 723.
Hartshorne, Charles, iii. 2188.
Hartshorne, Dr. Joseph, ii. 1150, 1613.
Hartranft, Gen. John F., i. 839, 842, 862.
Hart, Abram, publisher, i. 703.
Hart, Charies H., ii. 1167.
Hart, George H., i. 712.
Hart, John S.,i. 729.
Hart Lane burying-ground, ill. 2359.
2376
INDEX.
Hartfelder, Jarian.i. 16.
Harri8on, Joseph, i. 723, 730 j ii. 1089.
Harrison, Joseph, Jr., iii. 1856, 18S9, 2258.
Harrison, John, iii. 2273.
Harrison, George, i. 704.
Harrison, Havemeyer & Co., sugar refiners,
Ui. 2284.
Harrison, Gen. William H., visit to Philadel-
phia, i. 647.
death of, i. 656.
Haslett, Col. John, remains of, reinterred, i.
656.
Hats, ii. 861, 887, 906, 916.
Haviland, John, i.616, 618 ; ii. 1069.
Havre de Grace burned, i. 565.
Hajes, President E. B., i. 842, 847.
Hay-market, i. 582.
Hazard, Erskine, i. 541, 596; ii. 1167.
Hazard's Register, extracts from, i. 270; iii.
1992.
Hazard, Samuel, i. 620.
Hazlehurat, Isaac, i. 677, 716,721, 726, 732, 739,
800.
Head's Hotel, i. 625.
He.-id-dresses, u. 860, 861, 877, 884, 890, 893, 900,
907, 913, 916.
Health, Journal of, iii. 1994.
Hearth-stone, iii. 2060.
Hebrew Synagogues, ii. 1436, 1442.
Heinrich, A. P., ii. 1079.
Helltown, part of Philadelphia, so called, i.
157, 212.
Hemphill, Jos., i. 550.
Henry, Alexander, i. 728, 735, 738, 748, 750, 753,
756, 760, 764, 769, 774, 780, 785, 789, 792, 794,
799, 801, S03, 811, 813, 815, 821, 826.
Heury, John, secret agent of England, i. 563.
Henry, P., ii. 1052.
Henderson, John N., i. 716.
Henderson, Samuel J., i. 677.
Hendrickson, Capt. Cornelis, exploration of the
Delaware by,i. 31, 65,129.
Henkels, George J., i. 726.
Hentz.N. M., ii. 1053.
Hepburn, Hopewell, death of, i. 806.
Herald, Agents', iii. 2053.
Herald, Family, iii. 2069.
Herald, Sunday, iii. 2057.
Herald of Truth, iii. 1996.
Hermits of St. Augustine, i. 667.
Hesselius, painter, ii. 1031.
Hessian mercenaries, i. 313, 327, 328, 332, 335,
350, 366, 368, 360, 364, 369, 371, 382, 425; ii.
895.
Heston, Isaac, i. 567.
Hewson, Dr. T. T., ii. 1614.
Heyberger, Jacob, i. 662.
Hibernia Hose Company, i. 664.
Hibernia Fire Company, i. 271, 763, 799.
Hibernian Society, i. 656, 765 ; ii. 1466.
Hibernian Club, ii. 1466.
Hibberd, Thomas, i. 620.
Hickory Club of Philadelphia, i. 610.
High Dutch Gazette, iii. 1965.
High Dutch Pennsylvania Historiographer, iii.
1964.
High Street prison, ii. 857.
Highway robberies, r. 217.
Highway department, iii, 1768.
Hill's map. i. 2.
Hill, Henry, i. 323 ; U. 859.
Hill, John, ii. 1059.
Hill, Capt. Joseph, i. 672.
Hill, Richard, i. 185-187, 191, 198, 204.
Hillegas, Michael, i. 264, 299.
Hinckley Knitting-Mill, iii. 2307.
Hirst, H.B.,ii. 1161.
Hirst, William L., i. 693.
Historic houses and mansions, iii. 1864.
Historical Society, i. 106, 109, 221, 248, 258, 322,
329, 379, 672 ; ii. 1029, 1116.
history of, ii. 1219.
Historical Record, American, iii. 2044.
Historical Register, iii. 1984.
Hodge, Dr. Hugh L., i. 633; ii. 1610.
Hoeckley, Edward F., i. 693.
Holker, John, French consul-general, i. 398,
403.
Holland, J. J., ii. 1045.
Hollander, i. 8.
Hollander's Creek, i. 261.
Hollingsworth, Levi, i. 500, 509, 554; "iii. 2217,
2223.
Hollingsworth, Thomas G., i. 716.
Hollow School, i. 535.
Holm, Kev. John Campanius, i. 67.
Holme, John, i. 124, 143.
Holme, Capt. Thomas, i. 87, 89, 90, 94, 96, 851.
Holme, Thomas, iii. 1767, 1772, 1781, 1840, 1841.
Holy Apostles Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1358.
Holy Comforter Protestant Episcopal Church,
ii. 1360.
Holy CommuDioQ Lutheran Church, ii. 1430.
Holy Innocents Protestant Episcopal Church,
ii. 1369.
Holy Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1367.
Holy Trinity Catholic Church, ii. 1376.
Home Companion, iii. 2061.
Home Gazette, .Arthur's, iii. 2021.
Home manufactures in 1795, i. 294.
Home Missionary Society, ii. 1471.
Home Circle, iii. 2061, 2075.
Home Guard, i. 756, 759, 760, 771, 773, 776, 780,
783, 787, 792, 802, 807, 816.
Home Magazine, Arthur's, iii. 2022.
Home Protector, iii. 2060.
Home, School, and Church, iii. 2024.
Home Visitor, New Monthly, iii. 2023.
Home Protection, iii. 2060.
Home for Orphan Children, i. 585.
Home for the Homeless, ii.l482.
Home for Destitute Colored Orphans, ii. 1465.
Home for Aged Couples, ii. 1487.
Home for Aged and Infirm, ii. 1482.
Home for Aged and Infirm SIethodists,ii. 1460.
Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Peisons,!!.
1460.
Home for Aged Poor, ii. 1483.
Home for Incurables, u. 1487.
Homceopathy,ii. 1634; iii. 2022.
Homoeopathic Materia Medica, Journal of, iii.
2038.
Homoeopathic Medical Society, ii. 1637.
Homoeopathic News, iii. 2024.
Hominy-man, ii. 930.
Hood Cemetery, monuments in, iii. 1881, 2360.
Hooper, Lucy H., ii. 1166.
Hooper, Robert Letlis, Jr., i. 409.
Hoopes, Barton, iii. 2267.
Hoopes & Townsend, iii. 2267.
Hopper, Edward, i. 730.
Hope Hose Company, i. 697.
Hope Fire Company, i. 692.
Hope Fire-Engine, the first, i. 852.
Hopkins, Commodore Esek, commandiog offi-
cer Continental navy, i. 302.
Hopkinson, Francis, i. 239, 273, 309, 404, 406,
408, 448, 461, 454 ; ii. 1127, 1521.
author of the " Battle of the Kegs," i. 278.
judge of United States District Court, i.
278.
impeached and acquitted, i, 813.
Hopkinson, Joseph, i. 493, 504, 528, 567, 576,
684, 616, 619, 637, 643 ; ii. 1055, 1.533.
Hopkinson, Thomas, ii. 1505.
Horner, fugitive slave case, i. 734.
Horner, Dr. William E,, i. 633 ; ii. 1619.
" Hornet," sloop of war, i. 562.
Horticultural Hall, i. 621, 839.
Horticultural Society, i. 620, 634 ; ii. 949.
Horse-power ferries, i. 547.
Horse racing, i. 153, 244.
at Camden by " Fashion" and *' Peytona,"
i. 676.
"Memorial" against, i. 126.
prohibited, i. 689.
Hosiery-mills, iii. 2306.
Hosiery and knit goods manufacture, iii.
2059.
Hose Company, the Philadelphia, organized, i.
516.
Hospitals :
Children's, ii. 1684.
Children's Homojopathic, ii. 1684.
Church Dispensary, ii. 1685.
Christ Church, ii. 1676.
City, i. 499, 513, 519, 621, 530, 631, 633; ii.
1676.
Charity, ii. 1682.
St. Christopher's, for Children, ii.l684.
Dispensary for Skin Diseases, ii. 1685.
Episcopal ii. 1676.
Episcopal Training-School, ii. 1685.
Episcopal Dispensary, ii. 1686.
Free Dispensary for Skin Diseases, ii. 1685.
Friends' Asylum for the Insane, ii. 1677.
Franklin Reformatory Home for Inebriates,
ii. 1685.
German, ii. 1680.
Germantown Dispensary and, ii. 1682.
German Eye and Ear Infirmary, ii. 1684.
Howard, and Infirmary for Incurables, 11.
1682.
Home for Consumptives, ii. 1682.
Home for Incurables, ii. 1684.
Homoeopalhic, ii. 1684.
Insane, i. 723, 733 ; ii. 1669.
Jewish, ii. 1682.
Jeffetson, ii. 1677.
Lying-in Charity and Nurse Society, ii.
1680.
Maternity, ii. 1684.
Northern Dispensary, ii. 1685.
Orthopsedic, and Infirmary for Nervous
Diseases, ii. 1683.
Presbyterian, ii. 1682.
Philadelphia, ii. 1681.
Philadelphia Dispensary, ii. 1685.
Preston Retreat, ii. 1680.
Pennsylvania, ii. 10O4, 1195, 1669.
Quarantine, ii. 1664.
Sanitarium Association, ii. 1684.
St. Mary's, ii. 1682.
St. Joseph's, ii. 1679.
Southern Dispensary, ii. 1685.
Wills, ii. 1679.
Woman's, ii. 1680.
University of Pennsylvania, ii. 1683.
Hospitals, military, closed, i. 825.
Hospital, general, i. 239-44.
Hospital Register, West Philadelphia, iii. 2032.
Hospitality, early, ii. 859.
Hot-water war, i. 497.
Hotels, ii. 980.
Aldine, ii. 994.
Centre Square, ii. 944.
City, ii. 960.
Continental, ii. 998.
Columbia, U. 994.
INDEX.
2377
Hotels :
Oirard, ii. 998.
Lafayette, ii. 998.
North American, ii. 994.
Rising Sun, ii. 938.
United States, ii 991.
Houdon, ii. 1066.
Houses, early, i. 160; ii. 854, 869, 882, 908.
Houselteeping in early days, ii. 863.
Household Visitor, iii. 2069,
House-funiishing, ii. 910.
House, town of Northern Liberties, iii. 1774.
House of Prayer, Protestant Episcopal, ii. 1358.
House of Mercy, ii. 1482.
House of the Good Shepherd, ii. 1484.
House of Correction, i. 712, 839.
House of Refuge, iii. 1838.
Howe, Admiral Lord, i. 378, 380, 382, 395 ; ii.
939.
Howe, Lieut.-Gen. Sir William, i. 313, 318, 326,
332, 339, 342, 346, 362, 369, 364, 373, 389.
departure for England, i. 383.
his licentiousness in Philadelphia, i. 384.
Meschianza f6te, in honor of, i. 377-82.
orders advance of British to Watson's
rord, i. 382.
personal appearance of, i. 361.
resignation of, i. 377.
Howard Institution, ii. 1470.
Howard Beneficial Society, i 574.
Howell, Isaac, i. 290, 298,338.
Howell, Samuel, i. 272, 284, 289, 292, 311, 323,
436.
Hoxie, S. K., i. 732.
Hubbell, Gen. Horatio, i. 669, 682.
Huckel, Benjamin, i. 721.
Hudson, Henry, i. 30, 62, 63.
Hughes, John, i. 271, 277, 279, 288.
Hull, Capt. Isaac, i. 656, 661.
Hulme, John, i. 762.
Humane Society, ii. 1477.
Humboldt, Baron Von, ii. 927.
Humboldt Monument, i. 836, 844, 847 ; iii. 1878.
Humphreys, Charles, i. 290, 318.
Humphreys', Clement, assault on Bache, i. 490.
Humphreys, James, Sr., i. 343.
Humphreys, Joshua, i. 490, 493, 538.
Humphreys, Samuel, i. 616.
Hunter, Benjamin, crime and execution of, 1.
849.
Hunter, Charles G., i. 626.
Hunter, John, iii. 1715, 1716.
Hunting Park, i. 536, 634, 723; iii. 1851.
Hutchinson, Dr. James, i. 406, 473, 478 ; ii.
1596.
Hutter, Rev. E. W., i. 738, 743 ; ii. 1428.
Hotter, Mrs. E. B., ii. 1456.
Ice-boat for Delaware River, i. 649.
Ice-houses, building of, i. 586.
Ice Trade Journal, iii. 2066.
I. C. B. U. Journal, iii. 2044.
Illustrated World, iii. 2061.
Life, iii. 2024.
Newspaper, iii. 2021.
Fashion Bazar, iii. 2063.
Immaculate Conception, Catholic Church,
1382.
Imhoff, Henry, i. 712.
Immigrants, Society to Aid, i. 480.
Impressment of seamen, i. 527, 552.
Imports for sixty-three years, iii. 2222.
Imprisonment for debt, i. 262.
Improved Order of Red Men, history of,
2081.
Incarnation Protestant Episcopal Charcb, ii.
1368.
Independence Hall, iii. 1777, 1784, 1796, 1798,
1823, 1873.
Independence Jubilee (1876), i. 846.
Independence Square, iii. 1797.
proposition to erect monument in, iii. 1797.
Independent Blues, i. 634, 663, 666, 672.
Independent Whig, iii. 1981.
Independent Weekly Press, iii. 2000.
Independent Medical Journal, iii. 2043.
Industrial Home for Girls, ii. 1455.
Independent Volunteers, i. 548, 565.
Independent Order of Good Templars, history
of, iii. 2078.
Independent, National, iii. 2044.
Independent, Germantown, iii. 2060.
Independent Democrat, iii. 2011.
Independent Republicans, i. 604.
Independent Gazetteer, i. 424; iii. 1976.
Industries in Philadelphia, iii. 2227,2230, 2231,
2233, 2248.
Industrial Home for Blind Women, ii. 1463.
Industries, tabular statement of. in 1882, ill.
2240.
Industrial Review, iii. 2061.
Indians, ii. 1008.
Algonkins, i. 30, 42.
neuter nation of, i. 39.
Autographs of chiefs, i. 39.
Andastes, i. 38, 40.
Conestogas, i. 30, 38, 106, 188.
massacre of, by Paxton Boys, i. 40, 241.
Cherokees, in Philadelphia, i. 246, 251.
Cayugas, in Philadelphia, i. 469.
Conoys, i. 38.
described by Campanius, Penn, and others,
i. 32.
Five Nations, i. 38-41, 43, 47, 125, 171, 188,
206.
in Philadelphia, i. 188.
Iroquois, i. 31, 38, 41, 44, 47.
lands purch.ised from, i. 79, 107.
Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, i. 6, 30, 38,40,
42, 44, 47, 106, 125, 188, 250, 261, 252.
long-houses of, i. 41.
Mohegans, i. 30, 47.
Minquas, i. 6, 31, 38, 40, 42, 56, 106.
Mohawks, i. 40, 247, 261.
Moravian, i. 241.
modes of life, i. 48, 62.
Nanticokes, i. 6, 38.
Nottoways, i. 38.
Oneidas, i. 374, 469, 637.
Onondagae, i. 106, 469.
population, i. 46.
speculations on origin of, i. 36.
Schuylkills, i. 188.
Senecas, i. 170, 188.
Snsquehannocks, i. 6, 30, 31, 38,40, 41, 106,
171.
Shawanese, i. 40, 43, 106, 171, 188, 612.
Six Nations, i. 208,241, 235, 308.
Tuscaroras, i. 38, 469.
traditions and legends of, i. 42, 44.
trade with, i. 171.
villages and relics of, i. 129, 130.
visit Hudson's ship, i. 30.
Wyandots, i. 40, 44.
Indian King Tavern, i. 253, 371, 383, 502.
Indian Queen Tavern, i. 253, 312, 326, 343, 442,
488,491,610; ii. 983.
Indian Harry, the interpreter, i. 188.
Indian Aid Association, ii. 1480.
Ingorsoll, Jared, i. 343, 346, 404, 439, 446, 448,
466, 468, 481, 500, 611, 519, 541, 667, 671, 598;
ii. 1624.
. 2119.
. 2120.
uity, and Trust,
ii. 2123.
Ingersoll, Joseph R., i. 663, 567, 671, 621, 626,
633. 732, 739, 751, 778, 780, 821 ; il. 1136,
1532.
Ingersoll, Charles J., i. 563, 667, 697, 671, 676,
603, 607, 611, 615, 625, 653, 732, 797, 804, 807 ;
ii. 1136, 1632.
Ingersoll, Joseph, i. 636.
Ingersoll, Charles, i.747, 786, 801, 821, 826.
Ingersoll, Edward, i. 568, 609, 826.
Ingersoll, Harry, i. 737.
Ingleside, iii. 2068.
Ingram, Charles M,, i. 692.
Ingraham, Edward D., i. 643, 701 ; ii. 1163.
Ingham, Samuel D., i. 606.
Ink and blacking manufacture, iii. 2286.
Inland Navigation. Society for Promoting, i. 465.
Inns, ii. 980.
Inoculating Society, ii. 1475.
Inquirer, Philadelphia, iii. 1983, 1992.
Insurance companies, iii. 2114-26.
first, in Philadelphia, i. 201.
African, iii. 2117.
American Fire, iii. 2117.
American Life, iii. 2120.
Board of Fire Underwriters, iii. 2120.
Commonwealth, iii. 2121.
Delaware Mutual Safety, iii. 2119.
Fidelity Mutual Aid Association, iii. 2123.
Fire Insurance Company of the County of
Philadelphia, iii. 2118.
Franklin Fire, iii. 2118.
Frankford Mutual Fire
German Fire, iii. 2122.
Girard Fire and Marine, iii
Girard Life Insurance, Ann
iii. 2119.
Jefferson Fire, iii. 2121.
Liverpool and London and Globe,
Lumberman's, iii. 2123.
Manufacturers' Mutual, iii. 2123.
Marine Underwriters' Association, iii. 2121.
Mechanics' Fire, iii. 2121.
Mutual Fire, iii. 2119, 2121.
New Era Life Association, iii. 2123.
North America, i. 339; iii. 2115.
Penn Mutual Life, iii. 2120.
Pennsylvania Fire, i. 613 ; iii. 2118.
Philadelphia Contributionship,' iii. 2114,
2120.
Philadelphia Manufacturers' Mutual Fire,
iii. 2123.
Philadelphia, i. 613.
Phcenix Fire, of London, iii. 2123.
Philadelphia Fire Underwriters Tariff As-
sociation, iii. 2124.
Provident Life and Trust, iii. 2122.
Real Estate Title Insurance and Tmst, iii.
2123.
Reliance Fire, iii. 2221.
Spring Garden Fire, iii. 2119.
Sun Fire, iii. 2123.
Teutonia Fire, iii. 2122.
Underwriters' Association, i
Union Mutual, iii. 2115.
United Firemen's, iii. 2121.
United States Plate-Glass, ii
Insurance Reporter, iii. 2031.
Insane Hospit.al, ii. 1669.
Insolvent law passed and repealed (1812), i. 559.
Insolvent commissioners, ii. 1673.
Instruments, musical, ii. 864.
Institute for Colored Youth, ii. 1475.
Institution for the Blind, ii. 1461.
Instruction of poor children, i. 536.
Internal improvements, system begun, i. 464.
Pennsylvania Society for Promotion of, i.
611, 613, 614.
. 2121.
. 2122.
2378
INDEX.
iDteroal Affaire, Secretary of, iii. 1767.
Interpreters of Court of Quarter Sessions, ii.
1674.
Intelligencer, Dental, iii. 2016.
Intelligencer, Daily, iii. 1999.
Intelligencer, Friends', iii. 2015.
Irish Emigrant Society, ii. 1468.
Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, ii. 1484.
Iron, iii. 2069.
Foundry, City, iii. 2261.
mannfactures, i. 191, 280, 644; iii. 2269,
2248.
Bridgewater, iii. 2253.
Eagle Works, iii. 2261.
Pennypack Works, iii. 2252.
Port Kichniond, iii. 2262.
Pascal, iii. 2262.
and Steel-Works, Bush Hill, iii. 2263.
Schuylkill Works, iii. 2252.
ron and Steel Association Bulletin, iii. 2037.
ron and Steel Association, iii. 2349.
ron Hall, history of, iii. 2074.
ronsides. Old, locomotive, iii. 2265.
rvine, Gen. James, i. 368, 447, 470.
rvine, Gen. William, i. 478.
slands, i. 8.
vy Paper Mills, iii. 2321.
vy Hill Cemetery, iii. 2361.
Jackson,Gen. Andrew, i. 562, 678, 591, 607, 601
610, 618, 627, 635, 665.
death of, i. 737.
in Philadelphia, i. 697, 666.
removal of bank deposits by, i. 639.
Jackson, David, i. 631.
Jackson, Maj. William, i. 604; iii. 1787, 1982.
Jackson, Dr. Samuel, ii. 1616, 1617.
Jackson, Dr. Samuel P., i. 599, 631, 633.
Jackson, William, i. 292.
Jackson party, i. 638.
Jail, i. 122, 192, 265, 323, 327 ; ii. 856.
James Page Library Company, i. 760, 780.
James, Dr. Thomas C, ii. 1608,
Jansen, Reynior, i. 224.
Jansen, Jan, second printer in Philadelphia,
118.
. 686.
.1644.
Janeway, llev. Jacob J.
Japanese Embassy, i. 734.
Jaudon, Samuel, i. 658.
Jay, John, i. 477, 480, 481.
Jay's Treaty, iii. 2219.
Jayne, Dr. David, i. 618.
Jayne's Hall, i. 728, 732.
Jefferson fund, i. 618.
Jefferson Guards, i. 679, 687.
Jefferson Hospital, ii. 1677.
Jefferson, Martha, ii. 1690.
Jefferson Medical College, i.
Jefferson Square, iii. 1860.
Jefferson, Thomas, i. 316, 318, 462, 488, 491, 493,
604, 506, 627, 629, 631, .539, 618, 619.
Jefferson Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2121.
Jeffrey. Rev. Reuben, i. 743.
Jenks, Alfred, iii. 2253.
Jenks, Barlon H., iii. 22.64.
Jennings, S., ii. 1045.
Jewell, Dr. Wilson, i. 711, 716, 727, 825 ; ii.
1617.
Jewelry, ii. 877, 915.
Jewish Advocate, iii. 2014.
Jewish Foster Home, ii. 1467.
Jewish Hospital, ii. 1682.
Jewish synagogues, ii. 1436, 1442.
Jimmy Charcoal, ii. 929.
Johnson, Andrew, i. 833.
Johnson, Oliver, i. 732.
Johnson, Lawrence, iii. 2328.
Johnson Republicans, i. 833.
Johnson Type Foundry, iii. 2325, 2329.
Johnson, Walter R., i. 615.
Johnson, William F., i. 688.
Johnson, William H., i. 836.
Johnston, D. C, ii. 1058.
Johnston, James F., i. 712.
Jones, Charles Thomson, i. 734.
Jones, Edward, i. 215.
Jones, Horatio Gates, i. 223, 734, 784, 830 ; ii.
1163.
Jones, Commodore Jacob, i. 566, 697.
Jones, Dr. John, i. 1592.
Jones, Gen. John Sydney, i. 701.
Jones, Capt. John Paul, i. 303, 416, 418, 441.
Jones, Owen, i. 723.
Jones, William, i. 685.
Journalists' Club, ii. 1090.
Journal of Academy of Natural Sciences, iii.
1986.
Journal of Medical Science, iii. 1986.
Journal, Analectic, iii. 1989.
Journal of Franklin Institute, iii. 1990, 2272,
2326.
Journal of Health, iii. 1994.
Journal of Homoeopathy, iii. 2012.
Journal, Phrenological, iii. 2012, 2013, 2024.
Journal, Evening, iii. 2014.
Journal, Medical and Surgical, iii. 2024.
Journal of Medicine, iii. 2024.
Journal, Eclectic, iii. 2024, 2032.
Journal, Insurance, iii. 2024.
Journal, Philadelphia Business, iii. 2024.
Journal, Philadelphia Evening, iii. 2020.
Journal, Univeraity Medical and Surgical, iii.
2036.
Journal of Conchology, iii. 2035.
Journal of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, iii.
2038.
Journal, Trade, iii. 2039.
Journal, I. C. B. U., iii. 2044.
Journal of Fashion, iii. 2053.
Journal of Fashion, Benedict's, iii. 2056.
Journal of Photography, iii. 2069.
Judges of the Admiralty, ii. 1576.
Judges of the United States District Court, ii.
1577.
Judges of the courts, ii. 1557.
Judges, provincial, appointed, i. 118.
Judges of the United States District Court, ii.
1577.
Junior American Mechanics, iii. 2044.
Junior Democratic Society, i. 567.
Junior Artillerists, i. 563,572, 670.
"Junto" in Philadelphia, i. 229, 231, 235, 237;
ii. 1113, 1174.
Justices of the peace, ii. 1660.
Juvenile Portfolio, iii. 1985.
Kalm, the Swedish traveler, iii. 1807.
Kane, Judge John K., i. 634, 680, 688, 702, 703,
720; ii. 1645.
Kane, Dr. Elisha Kent, i. 724; ii. 1160.
Kane, Robert P., i. 698.
Kearney, Philip, Jr., i. 266.
Kearsley, Dr. John, i. 206, 214, 234, 260, 301,
302, 350; ii. 1580.
Kearsley, John, iii. 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1879.
Keen, Judge Reynold, i. 292, 497.
Keith, George, i. 123, 124.
Keith, William, ii. 863, 1293.
Keith, Governor William, i. 168, 177, 188, 196,
196, 198, 200, 204, 227, 270.
Keimer, Samuel, i. 195, 204, 206, 220, 224, 225,
232.
Kelley, Hon. William D., i. 686, 699, 702, 712,
722, 728, 730, 733, 766, 786, 793, 799, 816,
819, 827 ; ii. 1551.
Kelly, Abby, i. 661.
Kenrick, Bishop Francis P., i. 667.
Kennett Square, i. 672.
Kennebeck Woolen-Mill, iii. 2303.
Kennedy, Robert, i. 568.
Kennedy, John M., i. 693, 711, 730.
Kensington Bank, i. 660; iii. 2099.
Kensington Ferry, iii. 2139.
Kensington Hall, iii. 1776.
Kensington, i. 2.
glass-works at, i. 293.
ship-building at, i. 339,
riot in, i. 623.
district of, i, 689.
abolished, i. 713.
Kern, William H., i. 729, 741.
Kersey, Jesse, ii. 1261.
Ketler, Joseph, i. 535.
Key, John, i. 101,
Keystone State, origin of term, i, 517, 533.
Keystone Watch Manufactory, iii. 2335.
Keystone Club, i. 722.
Keystone Bridge Company, i. 559.
Keystone newspaper, i. 852; iii, 2038,
Keystone Battery, ii. 1021.
Kidnapping of colored children, i. 617.
Kieft, William, i. 64.
King's Arms Inn, i. 253.
King, D. Rodney, i. 621.
King, Robert P., i. 712,733, 770, 831.
King Hendrick, i. 260.
King Hendrick Tavern, i. 247, 253.
King, Judge Edward, i. 624, 642, 649, 700, 762.
King, Gen. Bufus, i. 748.
King, Henry T,, i. 728, 732.
King, Edward, ii. 1638.
King's Arms taken down, ii. 856.
Kindergarten instruction, ii. 1480.
Kind Words, iii. 2059.
Kintzing, Abraham, iii. 2212.
Kirk, John Foster, ii. 1170.
Kirkhride, Dr., ii. 1622.
Kissing, ii. 864.
Kitt's Tavern, i. 487.
Kittanuing captured by Col. Armstrong, i. 252.
Kittera, Thomas, ii. 1638.
Kneass, Horn R., i. 674, 695, 732, 789.
Kneass, Strickland, iii. 1749, 1750, 1866, 2146,
2190.
Knee-breeches, ii. 861.
Kneeland, Abner, ii. 1446.
Knights of the Golden Eagle, i. 862.
Knights Templar, tournament of, i. 839.
parade in Bi-Centennial, i. 862.
Knights of the Golden Rule, history of, iii.
2074.
Knights of Honor, history of, iii. 2074.
Knights of Pythias, history of, iii. 2079.
Knights of the Golden Eagle, history of, iii.
2061, 2080.
Knight, Edward C. iii. 2186.
Knight, Mary, ii. 1251.
Knitting and stocking weaving, iii. 2305.
Knitting-mills, iii. 2306.
Keystone, iii. 2306.
Hinckley, iii. 2308.
Leicester, iii. 2.3C7.
Landenberger's, iii. 2307.
Knox, Gen. Henry, i. 364, 414, 464, 482, 490.
Knox, Robert, i. 292, 417.
Knox, John C, ii. 1548.
Know-Nothing party, i. 715, 717, 720.
INDEX.
2379
Koch, Jacob Gerard, i. 564, 666, 679 ; iii. 2216.
Kosciusco, TliaJdeiis, i. 332, 334, 491 ; ii. 921.
Kossuth, Louis, in Philadelphia, i.702.
Krauth, Rev, Charles P., ii. 111,7.
Kremer, George, i. 610.
Krimmel, J. L., ii. 1060.
Kugler, Dr. Charles, i. 643.
Kuhl, Frederick, i. 323, 466.
Kuhn, Adam, ii. 1689.
Kuhn, HarlmaD, i. 663.
L.
L'Abeille Americaiue Journal, iii. 108;..
Labor World, iii. 20671
" Labrador," largest stennior ever at Philadel-
phia, i. 845.
Ladies, early manners and cnstoms of, ii. 85:1,
SCO, 878, 889, 801, 900, 900.
Ladies' and Gentlemen's Literary Miigazine,
iii. 1986.
Ladies' Aid Society, i. 780, 8.30.
Ladies' Union Belief Association, i. 701, 76.1.
Ladies' Dollar Newspaper, iii. 2020.
Ladies' Garland, iii. 2011.
Ladies' Journal of Fashion, iii. 2053.
Ladies' Literary Portfolio, iii. 1092.
Ladies' Museum, iii. 1979.
Ladies' National Magazine, iii. 2013.
Ladies' Paper, iii. 2026.
Ladies' Weekly Gazette, iii. 1990.
Lady's Book, Godey's, iii. 1996.
Lady, fashionable, ii. 861.
Lafayette, Marquis de, i. .'',44, :!4S, 364, 410, 437,
625; iii. 1873.
rcTisits America, i. 607.
reception in Philadelphia, i. OiiS; iii. 1790,
1863, 2068.
second visit, i. 615.
death of, i. 641.
Lafayette, G. W., ii. 920.
Lafayette Hotel, ii. 998.
Lafayette Cemetery, i. 787.
La Gazette Franf ais, iii. 2024.
Lailson's circus, ii. 053.
L'Ameuile Lodge, F. and A. M., i. .501, 697.
Lambdln, George C, iii. 2328.
Lamps, street, ii. 879.
Lang, G. S.,ii. 1059.
Land-ofEce, receivers-general of, iii. 1767.
" Lancaster," sloop-of-war, i. 729.
Lancaster turnpike, i. 518.
Lancaster, Joseph, i. 593.
Lancaster, Jacob B., i. 636.
Laucasterian schools, i. 689, 693, 694 ; iii. 1926.
Lane, Washington L., i. 827 ; iii. 2006, 2014.
Lausdowne, i. 670; ii. 925.
Landy, James, i. 723.
Landieth, Thomas, i. 621.
Landreth, David, Jr., i. 620, 621.
Landenberger's hosiery-mill, iii. 2307.
Larduer, Lynford, i. 215, 604.
Laryngological Society, ii. 1033.
La Santisima Trinidad Protestant Episcopal
Church, ii. 1360.
La Salle College (Catholic), iii. 1950.
Latter-Day Seminary, iii. 1986.
Latrobe, Benjamin H., i. 499, 600, 610, 511; ii.
1052, 1068.
Latrobe, J. H. B., i. 258, 269.
Latimer, George, i. 671.
Laurens, Henry, i. 407, 416.
Lauer, Frederick, iii. 2280.
Laussat, Anthony, i. 635.
Laurel Hill Cemetery, i. 725, 730, 804, 813 ; iii.
1880, 2359.
West, iii. 2361.
152
Laurel Run Improvement Company, iii.
L'Avenir, iii. 20.59.
Lavalette, Rear Admiral, Elie A. F , i. &
Lawler, Matthew, i. 428,434, 511, 6f)8.
Lawson, Alexander, ii. 1056.
Lawrence Beneficial Society, i. .574.
Lawrence, Thomas, Lieut.-Col.. i. 21.5.
Lawyers, early, of IMiiladelphia, i. 22.!.
Law Association, i. 643; ii. 1198.
Department, iii. 1727.
Journal, iii. 2067.
Library, i. 604.
Register, American, iii. 2023.
Reports, ii. 1656.
Law and Order Advocate, iii. 2060.
Lay, Benjamin, ii. 1120, 1249.
Lazaretto, i. 6, 609, 513, 616, 521, 626, 532, 651,
588,711,716,787; ii. 1067.
Lea, H. C, ii. 1170.
Lead, white, manufacture, iii. 2274,2275.
I League Island, i. 8, 714, 813.
Leather Apron Club, ii. 862.
Leather inspection, i. 265.
I Leather manufacturers, iii. 2286.
I Lebanon Garden, i. 567, 577.
Lebanon Cemetery, iii. 2359.
Le Courrier de la France, iii. 1979.
Ledger, Public, iii. 1930, 1962, 2000, 2129, 2130,
2031, 2134, 2135, 2238.
Ledger, Sunday, iii. '2021.
' Lee, Col. Robert M., i. 678.
I Lee, Arthur, i. 289.
Lee, Henry, i. 410, 602.
Leech, Henry, i. 676.
I Legal Gazette, iii. 2040.
Legal and Insurance Reporter, iii. 2031.
*' Legislator" steamboat explosion, i. 613.
Legion, the Philadelphia, i. 518, .528, .534.
Lehman, William, i. 686.
Lehigh River, improvement of navigation of, i.
465, 577.
Lehigh Coal-Mining Company, i. 515; iii. 2271.
Lehigh Navigation and Coal Company, i. 603,
805.
Leib, Dr. Michael, i. 509, 611, 513, 517, 619, 526,
533, 539, 545, 652, 671, 576, 681, 684, 691,'695.
Leiper, Thomas, i. 511, 644. 565, 560, 605, 571,
582, 585, 689, 699, 605, 608, 610.
Leicester Knitting-Mill, iii. 2307.
Leidy, Dr. Joseph, ii. 1172, 1202, 1619.
Leland, Charles G., ii. 1160.
Lemon Hill, i. 436, 676, 725,728.
L'Enfant, P. C, ii. 1068.
Lenox, Muj. David, i. 398, 402, 447, 467, 528,
560, 664, 791.
Leslie, Eliza, ii. 1062, 1162.
Leslie, C.R.,ii. 1050.
" Le Trembleur" Tavern, i. 216, 322.
Letitia House, i. 108, 652.
Leverington Cemetery, iii. 2360.
Levin, Lewis C, i. 671.
Levy, Sampson, ii. 1533.
Levis, Hosea J., i. 654.
Lewis, Judge Ellis, i. 724, 728, 741, 742, 744,
807.
Lewis, Mordecai, i. 467, 582
Lewis, Slordecai S., i. 609.
Lewis, Samuel N., iii. 2276.
Lewis, John T., * Brothers,
Lewis, \. J., i. 681.
Lewis, William, ii. 1527.
Lewis, William
765, 770.
Lewes, town of.
Lex, Charles E.
Lexington, battle, n
Leyburn, Dr., i. 728.
. 2276.
D,i. 649, 741, 743, 747, 766,
.166,186,332,562,564.
i. 739, 762.
of received, i. 295.
L'Heniisphere, iii. 1983.
Liberty Bell, i. 244, 619.
Liberty Cop Tavern, i. 507.
Liberty Island, fortifications of, i. .306.
" Libertador," Venezuelan war-ship, i. 69S, 099.
Liberal Club, ii. 1096.
Liberal, iii. 1989.
Liberalisi, Philadelphia, iii. 1998.
Libel, ii. 1603.
Librarian, iii. 2066.
Libraries, ii. 1173, 1491.
American Baptist Historicftl .Society, ii.
1224.
Academy of Natural Sciences, ii. 1199.
Athen(eum,ii. 1206.
Apprentices', ii. 120S.
Belmont, ii. 873.
College of Physicians, ii. 1197.
Friends', ii. 1180, 1222.
Friends' Free Reading-Room, ii. 1228.
Franklin Institute, ii. 1214.
Historical Society, ii. 1219.
Law Association, ii. 1198.
Loganian, i. 161; ii. 1114, 1173, 1182.
Mutual, ii. 1228.
Mercantile, ii. 1210.
Numismatic and Aiiliijnarian Society, ii.
1227.
People's, iii. 2014.
Pennsylvania Hospiral, ii. 1105.
Presbyterian Historical Society, ii. 1224.
Philadelphia, i. 235, 246, 291 ; ii. 1030, 1173 ,
1182.
Philosophical Society, ii. 1190.
Southwark, ii. 1214.
.Spring Garden Institute, ii. 1123.
University of Pennsylvania, ii. 1194.
Wagner Free Institute of Science, ii. 1225
Wilson's Circulating, ii. 1228.
Lieutenant-GovernoiB of Pennsylvania, list ot,
iii. 1764.
Life insurance company, incorporated, i. 558.
Lincoln, Abraham,!. 722, 733, 735, 7.37; iii. 1850,
1877, 1878.
death of, i. 824.
reception of, i. 7.50, 8 7, 811, 810, 822.
Institute, ii. 1457.
monument, i. 825, 837 ; iii. 18.59.
Woolen-Mill, iii. 2304.
Lindsay, John, i. 716.
Lind, Jenny, ii. 1087.
Linen, manufacturers of, i. 408, 631 ; iii. 2300.
Lippard, George, ii. 1168.
Lippincott's Magazine, iii. 2039.
Lippincott, J. B. i Co., iii. 2320.
Liippincott, Joshua B., i. 740, 817; iii. 2329.
Lippincott, Samuel, i. 510.
Lippincott, S. J., ii. 1163.
Lippincott, Thomas, i. 560.
Liquor, ii. 860, 865.
List of insurance companies, iii. 2136, 2127.
Little Tinicum annexed to Pennsylvania, i.
431.
Lithography, iii. 2326.
Littell, John S., i. 680.
Little Genius, iii. 2013.
Little Pilgrim, iii. 2024.
Literalist, iii. 2013.
Literary Portfolio, iii. 1995.
Literary Omnibus, iii. 2011.
Literary Era, iii. 2060.
Literary Magazine, iii. 19N1.
Liverpool Line of packets, i. 640.
Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance
Company, iii. 2123.
Lloyd, David, i. 123, 128, 156, 168, 164, 178, 180.
186, 222.
2380
INDEX.
Lloyd, Mordecai, i. 211.
Lloyd, Thomas, i. 118, 122. 124, 128, 275.
Locomotive, first, ill. 2254.
Locomotive Works, Baldwin, iii. 2255.
LogaD, Algernon S., i. 604.
Logan, Dr. George, i. 605, 520; il. 1610.
Logan, James, i. 0, 149, 157, 160, 161, 166, 174,
177, 181, 185, 191, 105, 203, 207, 221, 225, 227,
233, 236, 239, 275, 353, 725, 795 ; ii. 1115, 1181,
1497 ; iii. 1766, 1786, 1848, 2086, 2249.
Logan, Patrick, i. 161.
Logan, William, i. 217; ii. 872, 883.
Logan Square, iii. 1848.
Loganlan Library, ii. 1114.
Lombard Street burying-ground, iii. 2356.
Long Island, battle of, Pennsylvania troops in,
i. 331.
Longstreth, Joshua, i. 634.
Longstreth, John, i. 698.
Longacro, James B., ii. 1059.
Longshore, Dr. Joseph S., i. 098.
London Company, i. 53, 66, 63.
London Coffee-House, i. 201, 207, 2U, 216, 251,
279, 282, 293, 300, 306, 333, 336, 385, 393, 417,
425, 432, 437, 441, 473 ; ii. 082.
Loper, Robert T., i. 695.
Loper, William F., i. 695.
Lotteries, i. 201, 204, 214, 217, 250, 255, 256, 2n3,
266, 336, 434, 4.15, 466, 486, 487, 546, 648, 550 ;
ii. 863, 874.
Louisiana acquired by the United States, i. 518.
Loudoun, Lord, i. 249, 252, 253.
Louis Philippe in Philadelphia, i. 485.
Lovett, Robert, ii. 1064.
Lowry, Philip, i. 729.
Loxley House, ii. 869.
Lucas, Mrs. John, ii. 1701.
Ludlow, Judge James R., i. 726, 731, 77.6, 777,
783, 806, 834.
Ludwig, William C, i. 690, 766.
Ludwig, Christopher, i. 335, 610.
Ludwick School, iii. 1924.
Lukens, John, i. 269, 261, 365.
Lukens, Dr. Charles, i. 633.
Lumberman's Insurance Company, iii. 2123.
Luther, Martin, birthday celebrated, i. 852.
Lutherans, German, i. 190.
Lutheran Observer, iii. 1997.
Lutheran Sunday-School Herald, iii. 2032.
Lutheran Churches, ii. 856.
Emanuel, ii. 1430.
Holy Communion, ii. 1430.
history of, ii. 1418.
St. Matthew's, ii. 1427.
St.James', ii. 1429.
St. Mark's, ii. 1429.
St. Paul's, ii. 1431.
Siion, ii.l431.
Luzerne, Chevalier, ii. 922.
Lyceum, Philadelphia, i. 661, 713.
Lyle, David M., i. 836.
statue of, iii. 1878.
Lying-in Charity and Nurse Society, ii. 1680.
Lyon, Gen. Nathaniel, i. 778.
M.
MacVeagh, Wayne, ii. 1555.
Mackenzie, Robert S., ii. 1167.
Macalester, Miss Lily, ii. 1701.
Macalester, Charles, i. 726, 732, 746, 764, 780.
Machinery Hall, iii. 1861.
Maclay, Samuel, i. 461.
Macpherson, John, Directory of Philadelphia
by (1786), i. 440, 441.
Macpherson Blues, the, i. 479, 494-96, 502, 506,
607.
Mackellar, Thomas, ii. 1167 ; iii. 2325.
Machpelab Cemetery, i. 620 ; iii. 2359.
Madison, James, i. 493, 531, 533, 539, 641, 544,
663, 657, 562, 563.
Magazines, ii. 998, 1127.
Magazine of History and Biography, Philadel-
phia, iii. 2053.
Magaw, Col. Robert, i. 307, 328, 331, 332.
Magaw, Kev. Samuel, i. 504.
Magragh, George, ii. 1067.
Magdalen Society, ii. 1453.
Magee, George, i. 719, 722.
Magee, William, i. 577.
Magistrates, list of, iii. 1761.
police, iii. 1760.
Magnetic Telegraph Company, iii, 2132.
Mail-routes establish'd, i. 206.
Mails, provisions for regulating, iii. 1809.
transportation, iii. 2169.
robbery (1828), i. 623, 624.
stage, last one from Philadelphin, i. 719.
Makin, Ben,iamin, i. 123.
Mallery, Garrick, i. 693.
Malcolm, James P., ii. 1055.
Mammoth, il. 947.
Manufactures, 1.322, 323, 446, 448, 449, 461, 500,
515, 522, 524, 531, 532, 568 ; iii. 2226, 2229,
2231, 2236, 2285, 2320, 2321, 2322, 23.35.
proposed) iii. 2228.
Manufactories established from 1826 to 1832, iii.
2235.
Manufacturers in 1811, iii. 2232.
Blauufactnrers' Mutual Insurance Company,
iii. 2123.
Manufacturers' Exchange, i. 738.
Manufacturers and mechanics, meeting of, iii.
2230.
Manufacturing Company, Bridesburg, iii. 2254.
Manufacturers' and Mechanics' Bank, i. 660.
Manufacturing Society, iii. 2230.
Manufacturing industries in Philadelphia in
1850, iii. 2236.
in 1860, iii. 2238.
in 1870, iii. 2238.
Mansion House Hotel, i. 525, 529, 539, 548, 551,
568, 560.
Mansions, early, ii. 854, 869, 882, 897.
Manners and customs of early settlers, ii. 853-
891.
Manayunk bridge, iii. 2146.
borough of, i. 683.
abolished, i. 713.
dam and mills at. i. 696.
Manayunk Star, iii. 2031.
Manor of Billton, i. 119.
of Gilberts, i. 119.
of Highlands, i. 95.
of Moreland, i. 119, 222.
of Mountjoy, i. 119,
of Pennsbury, i. 96, 96, 108, 118.
of Bockland, i. 119.
of Springettsbury, i. 119, 161, 262.
of Springfield, i. 119.
of Williamstadt, i. 119.
Mann, William B., i. 721, 723, 732, 742, 745,
800, 808, 836,837.
Manual Labor Bank, i. 665.
Maniere, B. F., i 830.
Manage, in Philadelphia, i. 507.
M,^p8, i. 12.
Hill's, i. 2, 14.
Lindstrom's, i. 4.
Holme's, i.9, 12.
Scull & Heap's, i, 14.
Clarkson & Biddle's, i. 14.
Faden's, i. 14.
Varle, i. 14.
Markets in Philadelphia, space and bell for
(1683), i. 125, 148 (note).
clerk of the, i. 264.
house (1710), i. 187.
house, first, ii. 857.
house, second, in Philadelphia, i. 212.
houses, ii. 892.
houses, enlarging of, i. 515, 543, 547.
house, attempt to build, in Market Street,
i.266.
houses, privileges of farmers in, i. 582.
house on Second Street, i.597.
on Broad Street, i. 568, 708, 716.
on High Street extended, i. 480.
regulations, i. 208.
space for, in Dock Street, i. 260.
City, i. 730.
Callowhill, lottery proposed for, i. 548.
Eastern, i. 730, 733.
Franklin, i. 730.
Jersey, i. 258.
Kater, i. 730.
"Nanny Goat," i. 661, 664.
burned by mob, i. 666.
Philadelphia, i. 235, 236.
Race Street, i. 708, 716.
South Eleventh Street, i. 730.
Western, i. 729, 730, 740.
Wharton, i. 560, 568, 638, 672.
Markets and city property, iii. 1758.
Market Protective League, i. 729.
Market Street bridge, iii. 2140-42.
burned and rebuilt, i. 840.
ferry, iii. 2137.
Markham, Capt. William, Deputy Governor, i.
84, 94, 97, 98, 107, 124-26.
autograph of, i. 128.
mention of, i. 129, 151, 167, 158, 164-66, 172,
259, 851; iii. 1764,1786, 2136.
Maryland boundary, i. 107, 118, 207, 259.
Maryland Association, i. 747.
Marshall, Christopher, i. 311, 312, 320, 324, 325,
332, 333, 335, 342, 350, 367, 369, 370, 386, 388,
411.
Marshall, Benjamin, i. 289, 290, 292.
Marshall, John A., i. 723.
Marshall, Chief Justice John, i. 642.
Marshall, John, i. 494, 601.
Marshall, William L., Secretary of War, i. 679.
Marshals of the Admiralty, ii. 1677.
Marklaud, John H., i. 674.
Marcus Hook, five piers erected at (1775), i. 294.
burned at, 438.
military' rendezvous at (1814), 576.
JIala Iron- Works, i. 532 (note).
Marine Artillery, Philadelphia, i. 570.
Marine Band, i. 614.
Marine Hospital, i. 499.
Marine Insurance Company, i. 642.
Marine Society (1788), i. 449.
Marine Underwriters' Association, iii. 2121.
Maritime Exchange, iii. 2346.
Marriages, early, ii. 853, 868, 888, 1252.
Marbois, de M. B., ii. 922.
Martin, John Hill, ii. 1172.
Martin, Dr. Joseph, i. 617.
Martin, George H., i. 699.
Markoe, James, i. 662.
Marble manufacture, iii. 2293.
Maaon and Dixon's Line, i. 3, 258-60.
Mason, Charles, i. 258-60.
Mason, James M., of Virginia, injunction
against asked for, i. 775, 777.
Mason, Stevens T., i. 481.
Mason, William, ii. 1062.
Masonic Hall, i. 679, 596, 609, 614, 619, 621, 643,
644; ii. 949, 979; iii. 2254.
INDEX.
2381
Masonry, iii. 2002.
Masons, Grand Lodge of, iii. 1788, 1877, 2003.
Masonic Mirror, iii. 2024.
Masonic order, liistory of, iii. 2062.
Masonic Temple, dedication of the, i. 839.
Masters in chancery, ii. 1559.
of rolls, iii. 1738.
Masters, William, i. 678.
Massachusetts Eighth Regiment, reception of,
i. 759, 703.
Sixth Regiment, reception of, i. 758.
Massey, William, ii. 1203.
Masquerade halls prohibited (1808), i. 536.
Maternity Cntholic Chvirch, ii. 1388.
Maternity Hospital, ii. 1684.
Matthews, Dr. Hugh, i. 253.
Matthews & Moore (iron), iii. 2253.
Mathematical Society, Philadelphia, i. 527.
Matlack, Timothy, i. 302, 307. 312,324, 330, 332,
i. 337, 398, 402, 406, 461,466, 581,590, 601.
sketch of, i. 323 (note).
Mattocks, Peter, hanged, i. 722.
Mayor, ii. 857; iii. 1732.
list of, iii. 1736.
salaryof (1760), i. 254.
Mayor's Court, i. 455, 509 : ii. 1571.
May day, ii. 936.
McAran's Garden, ii. 979.
McCahen, John J., i. 677.
McCandless, Gen. William, i. 835.
McCallum, Crease & Sloan, iii. 2309.
McCarthy, John, i. 712.
McCall, Maj. Samuel, i. 215.
McCall, Peter i. 643 (note), 723, 752, 801, 807.
McClellan, Dr. George, ii. 1611.
McClellan, Gen. George B., i. 774, 779, 802,
804, 805, 818, 836.
McClellan, Dr. John H. B., i. 774.
McClellan, Dr. Samuel, ii. 1611.
McClure, A. K., i. 733, 735, 753,804,840; iii.
2045, 2046, 2047, 2048, 2049, 2050, 2051.
McClenachan, Blair, i. 298, 409, 413, 424, 428,
452, 477, 481, 485, 620.
McCleau, Archibald, i. 259.
McClean, Alexander, i. 260.
McDonald, Gen. Donald, and other Carolina
Tory prisoners, i. 305.
McHeury, Dr. .lames, i. 624; iii. 2224.
McGrath, William V., i. 725.
Mcllvaine, Bloomfleld, i. 609.
McIWaine, Hugh, i. 676.
Mcllvaine, Joseph, ii. 1546.
Mcllvaine, Richard, i. 676.
McKean, Joseph B., i. 533, 663, 590 ; ii. 1539.
McKean, Pratt, ii. 1203.
McEeaD, Thomas, member Stamp Act Con-
gress, signer Declaration of Independence,
Chief Justice and Governor of Pennsylva-
nia, i. 273, 278, 302, 307, 312, 313, 316-19,
324, 326, 330, 346, 387, 393, 394, .396, 400,
406, 408, 409, 415, 416, 418-20, 426, 437, 440,
443, 440-48, 452, 468, 463, 468, 469, 475, 481,
485, 490, 491, 497, 498, 604, 506 (note), 609,
613, 617, 619, 620, 527, 528, 532, 633, 540, 546,
671 ; ii. 1516 ; iii. 1820, 1829, 1922, 1924.
McKean, Robert, i. 76.
McKean, Sally, ii. 906, 913, 922; ii. 169.5.
McKean, William V., iii. 1960, 2006. 2007.
McKeone, Van Haagen & Co., soap-works, iii.
2283.
McLane, Capt. Allen, i. 376, 376, 381, 382, 385,
401,402; ii. 1039.
McLane, Hon. Louis, sketch of, i. 376 (note).
mention of, 637.
McLane, Hon. Robert M., i. 376 (note).
McMichael, Clayton, i. 861.
McMichael, Col. William, i. 837.
McMichael, Morton, i. 6.52, 666, 669, 670, 678,
686, 699, 702, 716, 721, 722, 723, 728, 733,
741, 743, 745, 766, 770, 792, 803, 819, 834.
837, 842; iii. 1856, 1870, 1878, 1928, 1960,
1970, 1971, 1972, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2010,
2016, 2048.
unveiling of statue of, i. 862.
McMullin, Robert, ship-builder, i. 538, 640, 554,
571,681,584,692, 695.
McPherson, Cupt. John. i. 302, 303 (note), 404.
McPherson, Capt. John, Jr., killed at Quebec,
i. 303 (note).
McPherson, Maj. William, i. 303 (uole), 404
(note), 447, 454.
McPherson Blue? , ii. 1018.
McQuillen, Dr. J. H., ii. 1640.
Meade, Gen. George G., i. 339 (note), 808, 809,
811, 812, 813, 826, 827, 829, 837.
death and funeral ceremonies of, i. 838.
Meade, Robert, i. 339.
Mease, Dr. James, i. 2, 409 (note), 511, 632, 620,
820; ii. 1140,1617.
Advocate, iii. 2021.
Bank, i. 646, 660.
Junior American, iii. 2044,
Fire Insurance Comp;
liens (1803), 616, 525.
National, iii. 2030.
2012.
2121.
ii. 1980.
. 2013.
. 2015.
Mechan
Mechani
Mechan
Mechan
Mechan
Mechan
Mechan
Mechanical Museum, ii. 856.
Mediator Protestant Episcopal Church, ij. 1355,
Medical Advisory, iii. 2069,
Medical colleges, ii, 1643,
Medical Cosmos, iii, 2044,
Medical department of University of Pennsyl-
vania, established, iii, 1940,
Medical Examiner, iii. 2012,
Medical Independent, iii, 2043.
Medical Jurisprudence Society, ii, 1634,
Medical Journal, Eclectic, iii, 2024,
Medical Journal, Quarterly Eclectic, iii, 2032,
Medical News, iii. 2015,
Medical profession, ii, 1578,
Medical Review, iii, 1989.
Medical Recorder, American,
Medical Reformer, Botanic, i
Medical Register, iii. 2060.
Medical Science, Bulletin of.
Medical Sciences, Journal of the, iii. 1986,
Medical Science, Monthly Abstract of, iii, 2045,
Medical Society, ii, 632,
Medical students. Southern, in Philadelpljia, i,
732, 733,
Medical Times, iii, 2043,
Medical and Surgical Reporter, iii. 2019.
Medical and Surgical Journal, Philadelphiti,
iii. 2024.
Medical and Surgical Journal, North American,
iii. 1990.
Medical and Surgical Journal, University, iii.
2036.
Medicine, ii. 1600.
Medicine, American Journal of. iii, 2024,
Medicine and Surgery, Photographic Review
of, iii, 2043,
Medicine, Eclectic Journal of, iii, 2011.
Medicine and Pharmacy, Review of, iii. 2067,
Medico-Chirurgical College, i, 698; ii, 1661,
Medico-Chirurgical Review, iii, 2026,
Medico-Legal Society, ii. 1633.
Meetings, public, i. 739, 740-49, 761, 752, 756,
759, 762, 780, 799, 800, 801, 807, 816, 818, 819.
Meigs, Dr. J. A., ii. 1627.
Meigs, Dr. Charles D., i. 631-33.
Melodeon, burned, i. 725.
Mellish, John, ii. 1140.
Memorial Church of Holy Comforter, ii. 1347,
Memorial Hall, iii, 1802.
Mendenhall's Ferry, i. 546 ; iii. 2145.
Meng, John, ii. 1034.
Menin, Saint, ii, 1063.
Mennonites, i, 113, 114, 115, 117, UK, 141, 190,
302, 354, .356, 368; ii. 856, 1316.
Mercantile Library Company, iii, 1N77,
Mercantile Library, i, 005, 730, 83.'.; ii, 1210,
Mercantile Club, ii, 1095,
Merchants' Coffee-House, i, 525, 653, 602; ii.
866; iii. 2.348.
Merchants and dealers in Philadolpliia (1706),
signers of non-importation agreement, i. 273.
Merchants' Exchange, i. 634, 636; iii. 2348.
Merchants" Fund, i. 842.
Merchants' Fund Society, ii. 1477.
Merchants' Guide, iii. 2057.
Merchants, ii. 874, 876, 885, 904.
Merchants' and Mechanics' Bank, iii, 2099,
Merchant Tailors' Exchange, iii, 2364,
Merchant and Salesnum, iii. '2052.
Mercury, American Weekly, iii, 1825, 1958,
1961-64, 2112,
Mercury, Evening, iii, '2014,
Mercury, Sunday, iii, '2022.
Mercer, Fort, ii. 11126,
Mercer, Gen, Hugh, i, 337, 650 ; ii, 8'J4,
statue of, iii, 1873,
Meredith, William, i, 619, 660, 572,001, 619,
Meredith, William M,, i, 608, fill, 656, 077,678,
686, 692, 699, 705, 760, 764, 771, 772, 780, 790 ;
ii, 1541,
Meredith, Kev, J, E,, i, 751,
Merion Meeting-IIouse, ii, 1244.
Merino sheep, fii-st, iii, 2302.
Merrick & Sons, iii. 2263.
Merrick, Samuel V., i. 646, 715, 760
iii. 1998.
American, iii. 20:111,
Messenger, American Weekly, iii, 1985,
Messenger, Weekly, iii, 2011,
Messiah Protestant Episcopal Church, ii, 1365,
1359,
Meschianza fete to Sir William Howe (1778), i.
377-82, 388 ; ii. 899.
Metcalfe, Rev. William, i. 804.
Methodist history in Philadelphia, ii. 1394.
Methodist Home for the Aged, ii, 1460,
Methodist Magazine, iii, 1979,
Methodist, Philadelphia, iii, 2067.
Mexico, war with, i. 678-80, 682, 686, 687.
Mey, Capt. Cornelis Jacobson, builds Fort
Nassau, i, 31, 68.
mention of, i, 54, 57,
Middle Ferry, i, 474, 479,
Middle, Schuylkill, Ferry, iii. 2140, 2141,
Midnight Mission, ii, 1170,
Mifflin, Benjamin, i, 693,
Mifflin, George, ii, 1645,
Mifflin, Thomas, Gen,, presidentof Council and
Governor of Pennsylvania, i, 264, 266, 267,
273, 278, 284, 289, 290, 292, 296, 328, 333, 341,
342, '396, 401, 402, 409, 416, 425, 435, 446, 447,
452, 454, 455, 458, 461, 463, 465, 467, 468, 470-
72, 474, 475, 477-79, 482, 485, 486, 490, 493, 494,
498, 501,545; iii, 1788, 2141, 2160, ■.il68, 2213,
2230,2314,
Mifflin, James L,, iii. '2213.
Mifflin, John R , i. 503, 573.
Mifflin, John, i. 214, 239, 244, 261, 284.
Mifflin, Samuel, i. 272, 323, 326, 331, 409 (note)
661.
Milan Decree of Napoleon, i. 529, 546.
Milbourne, C, ii, 1042,
Miles, Col, Samuel, i, 290, 307,
sketch of, i. 308 (note),
mentioned, i, 328, 331, 334, 466, 486.
2382
Miller, Daniel L., i. 699.
Miller, George M., ii. 1067.
Miller, William, killed in a duel, i. 620, 6-27.
Millers' Eeview,iii.20GI.
Millerites, i. 675 ; ii. 1448.
Military draft, first (1802), i. 800.
Military Nurse Corps, i. 760.
Military organizations, i. 494, 551, 571 ; ii. 'JVt^,
1002.
Milliners, ii. 904.
Miles, Edward, ii. lOol.
MilDor, 'William, i. 676, 584.
Milnor. Kev. James, i. 551, 585.
Mills, Kobert.i. 559.
Mills boilt by Swedes, i. 139, 140.
grist-, saw-, and fulling-, i. 149, 153.
Governor's, i. 522.
on Darby Creek (1698), i. 153.
Penn's, Priutz's, Rittenhouse's, Robeson's,
on Pennypack and Cresheim Creeks,
i. 153.
woolen (1690), i. 146.
list of, on Scull's map, iii. 2296.
powder-, ii. lO&O.
list of, water-power, iii. 2317.
Mill, paper-, first, iii. 2320.
Mind and Matter, iii. 2056.
Miner, Charles, i. 578.
Minerva, Philadelphia, iii. 1978.
Minerals of Philadelphia, i. 23.
Mineral waters, manufacture of (1808), i. 532.
Minnow Run, i. 549.
Mint, United States, i. 264, 468, 601, 004; iii.
1812-17.
Minuet, ii. 902.
Minuit, Peter, i. 53, 58, 00, 62-65, 130, 131.
Minute-men (1775), i. 298.
Mining Journal, iii. 2059.
Miquon, Indian name of William Peun, i. 108.
Mirror, Philadelphia, iii. 2030.
Mirror of Taste and Dramatic Censor, iii.
1983.
Missionary Intelligencer, iii. 1989.
Mitchell, E. Coppee, ii. 1655.
Mitchell, Dr. John K., i. 633; ii. 1019.
Mitchell, Dr. S. W., ii. 1019.
Modern Reporter, iii. 2061.
Moland, John, ii. 1508.
Mompesson, Roger, i. 158, 170, 181, 201.
Monarch City World, iii. 2059.
Monatsbericht, Nordamerikanischer, iii. 2021.
Monthly Insurance Journal, iii. 2024.
Monthly Magazine, Philadelphia, iii. 1979.
Monthly Record, Preshyteiian, iii. 2021.
Monthly Register, iii. 2057.
Monges, Dr. J. A., ii. 1610.
Monument Cemetery, i. 688, 830; iii. 2359.
Monitor Carpet-Mill, iii. 2309.
Monitor, Southern, iii. 2026.
Monastery, iii. 1868.
Montressor, Capt., i. 204.
Monroe Guards, i. 060, 679, 687.
Monroe, James, i. 336, 491, 493, 531, 584, 688.
in Philadelphia, i. 690.
Montgomery, John, i. 298.
Montgomery, John C, 702, 712 (note).
Montgomery, Gen. Richard, i. 303, 305.
Montgomery, Robert, i. 272.
Montgomery, Thomas, i. 272.
Montgomery, William, i. 608.
Montgomery County, i. 4, 9, 15.
erected, i. 434.
Montgomery Ilibernia Greens, i. 670, 671.
Montgomeiy Guards, i. 679.
Monuments:
Christ Church Burying-Giound, iii. 1879.
Hood Cemetery, iii. 1881.
INDEX.
Monuments;
Laurel Hill Cemetery, iii. 1880.
Mount Moriah Cemetery, iii. 1881.
Mount Vernon Cemetery , iii. 1882.
Monument Cemetery, iii. 1882.
St. Peter's Churchyard, iii. 1874, 1880.
St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church-
yard, hi. 1882.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Churchyard, iii.
1882.
Swedes' Church Burying-Ground, iii. 1881.
Third Presbyterian Churchyard, iii. 1882.
West Laurel Hill Cemetery, iii. 1881.
Woodlands Cemetery, iii. 1882.
Monuments, public, iii. 1872.
Birch, William Y., iii. 1878.
Catholic Centennial Fountain, iii. 1874.
Columbus, Christopher, iii. 1875.
Decatur, Commodore Stephen, iii. 1874.
Decatur, Stephen, Jr., iii. 1874.
Fireman, iii. 1878.
Fitch, John, iii. 1878.
Franklin, Beiyamin, iii. 1875.
Fricdlander, Julius E., iii. 1878.
Girard, Stephen, iii. 1876.
Godfrey, Thomas, iii. 1876.
Graff, Frederick, iii. 1876.
Humboldt, Frederick von, iii. 1878.
Lafayette, iii. 1873.
Lincoln, Abraham, iii. 1878.
Lyle, David M., iii. 1878.
McMichael, Morton, iii. 1878.
Meicer, Gen. Hugh, iii. 1873.
Penn's Treaty, iii. 1873.
Religious Liberty, iii. 1875.
Reynolds, Gen. J. F., iii. 1870.
Soldiers' :
Scott Legion, iii. 1876.
mural tablet, iii. 1876.
at Frankford, iii. 1870.
at Germantown, iii. 1876.
at Girard College, iii. 1S77.
Thomson, Charles, iii. 1874.
Twiggs, Maj. Levi, iii. 1875.
Washington, George, iii. 1873.
Washington and Lafayette, iii. 1873.
Witherspoon, John, iii. 1874.
Moody and Sankey revival, i. 840.
Moore's Cottage, iii. 1806.
Moore, Henry D., i. 721, 728, 792.
Moore, Thomas, ii. 927.
Moore, John, i. 155, 157, 164, 180.
Morris, Gouverneur, i. 440, 533 ; ii. 1539. .
Morris, Henry, i. 661.
Morris, Joshua, i. 252.
Morris, Samuel B., ii. 897.
Morris, J. C.,ii.ll63.
Morris, George P., ii. 1148.
Morris, Anthony, i. 123, 165,106, 171, 174, 181,
182, 192, 201, 210, 217, 244. 247, 252 ; iii. 1782,
1788, 2086.
Morris, Tasker & Co., iii. 2252.
Morris, Mrs. Robert, ii. 1695.
Morris City, i. 663.
Morris, CadwaLader, i. 399, 409.
Morris, Anthony, Jr., i. 290, 615.
Morris mansion, ii. 897.
Morris, Deborah, ii. 1686.
Morris, Robert, i, 267, 268,271, 273, 276, 277, 278,
290, 292, 298, 315, 316, 318, 319, 324, 334, 370,
393, 394, 396, 398, 399, 401-3, 409, 414-18, 435,
436, 441, 440, 454, 455, 462, 466, 468, 495, 626,
699, 703, 712; ii. 8S0, 1163; iii. 1829, 1866,
1960, 2080, 2089, 2091, 2141, 2157, 2209, 2216,
2230, 2251, 2299, 2302.
Morris, Anthony, of City Troop, killed at bat-
tle of Princeton, i. 337.
of
Morris, Charles, i. 656.
Morris, E. Joy, i. 721, 728, 772.
Morris, Robert Hunter, Lieutenant-Gi
Pennsylvania, i. 178, 247-62.
Morris, Samuel, i. 341.
Morris, Samuel, Jr., i. 298, 323, 324, :!39.
Morris, Samuel Cadwalader, i. 312, 341.
Morgan, Benjamin, i. 202.
Morgan, Benjamin R., i.638, 567, 567, 581, 596,
599, 042.
Morgan, Gen. Daniel, famous rifle-corps of, i
364. 368, 370, 375, 381, 382.
Morgan, B. R., ii. 1539.
Morgan, Dr. Thomas, i. 257.
Morgan, Dr. John, iii. 1940.
Morgan, Orr & Co., iron, iii. 2253.
Moravian Meeting at Germantown, i. 386.
Moravians, i. 743 ; ii. 866, 1320; iii. 2025.
Morgue, iii. 2369.
More, Nicholas, chief justice, i. 120-22, 128, 165
222.
Moreau, J. V., Marshal, of France, i.521.
Morocco manufacture, iii. 2287, 2288.
Mormon Churches, ii. 1449.
Mormon recruits arrive at Philadelphia, i. 725
734.
Morse, Professor S. F. B., iii. 2129.
Morning Times, Daily, iii. '2024.
Morning Post, iii. 1990.
Morning Mail, Saturday, iii. 2011.
Morning Journal, iii. 1994.
Moran, Peter, iii. 2327.
Morton, Samuel C, iii. 2341.
Morton, Dr. S. G., ii. 1151, 1010.
Morton. Dr. J. Knox, i. 679. .
Morton, John, signer of the Declaration, i
318.
Mott, Lncretia, i. 720, 732 ;
Mott, James, 1. 732.
Mothers' Journal, iii. 2024.
. 1097.
. 2360.
i. '2360.
, 712, 831, 837; i
Mount Sinai Cemetery,
Mount Peace Cemetery, iii
Mount Moriah Cemetery,
2360.
Mount Yernon Cemetery, iii. 2360.
Mount St. Joseph Academy, iii. 1955.
Mount Pleasant, Benedict Arnold's estate at, i.
389, 390, 393, 670.
Moyamensing Bank, i. 660; iii. 2099.
Moyamensing prison, iii. 1835.
Moyamensing Potter's Field, iii. 2359.
Moyamensing Soup Society, ii. 1488.
Moyamensing Hall, iii. 1776.
Moyamensing, i. 74, 148, 261, 410, 636, 549, 569,
656, 684, 689, 692, 713, 717, 834.
Mud Island fortifications, i. 7, 299, 404, 415,
476, 477 ; ii. 1026.
Muhlenberg, Rev. Henry M., D.D., i. 242, 326,
332, 333, 335, 349, 354, 360.
Muhlenberg, Frederick A., i. 475, 481, 489
(note).
Muhlenberg, Henry, J i., i. 332.
Muhlenberg, Hon. Peter, i. 448.
Muhlenberg, William A., ii. 1143.
Muhlenberg, G. H. E., ii. 1124.
Mummeries, ii. 936.
Municipal Hospital, i. 825.
government, iii. 1703.
officers of, iii. 1707, 1708, 1717, 1719.
Mundell, John, iii. 2286.
Mundy, Marcellus, i. 744, 745, 752, 756, 761.
Munitions of war, i. 299, 301, 305, 307, 339,
334.
Murphy, John K., i. 713, 801.
Murphy, James J., i. 718.
Murat, Achille, i. 614.
Murat, Napoleon, i. 614.
INDEX.
2383
Murray, George, ii. 1057.
Music, ii.86;i, 879, 1070.
Music-store, first, iii. 2291.
Musical Library, Benuage's, iii. 20.59.
Musical Fund Hall, i. G36, 640, 642, 643, 649,
677, 703, 705, 721, 722; ii. 1083, 1088.
Musical drama, ii. 1075.
Musical Fund Society, formed, i. 601; iii. 2291.
Musical instruments, ii. 864, 884.
Musical Times and Art Journal, iii. 2057.
Musicians and teachers, iii. 2291.
Museum, ii. 940, 948, 957, 997.
of '
x-fig
. 950.
Mutter, Dr. Tliomas D., ii. 1620.
Mutual Library, ii. 122S.
Mutual Cemetery, i. 620.
Mutual Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2119-2121.
Myers, John B., i. 699, 722, 7:!3, 739, 780.
Naglee, John, i. 671, 572, 677, 612.
Naglee-Brouvard case, i. 537.
Nails, manufacture of, iii. 2251.
Nancrede, Dr. Joseph G., i. 586; ii. 1616.
Napoleon Hotel, i. 654.
Napoleon, Prince, in Philadelphia, i. 775.
National Union Club of Philadelphia, i. 807, 823.
National Union party, i. 801, 803, 818.
National Hall, i.727, 728, 732, 733, 743, 746, 751,
835,837; ii. 980.
National Guards' Hall, i. 723, 727, SIO, 817, 818;
ii. 980.
National Guards, ii. 1019.
National Banit of the United States, i. 646, 047.
National Board of Trade, iii. 2341.
National capital at Philadelphia, i. 462, 503.
naturalization, i. 149, 156, 186.
Nativity Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1354,
Native American party, i. 663, 664, 668, 669, 671,
678,717-21,726,729.
Naval Asylum, i. 658 (note), 677, 801; ii. 1667.
Naval operations in Delaware Bay, i. 421, 423,
782.
Navigation and roada, act for improvement of,
i. 460, 461.
Navy, the ContineiSal, i. 302, 303.
vessels of, engaged with enemy in Dela-
ware Bay, i. 306, 307.
Navy of Pennsylvania, i. 326, 339, 364, 403, 404.
Navy of the United States, beginning of, i. 490
(note).
Navy-yard, United States, i. 8, 16, 215, 510, 614,
763, 769, 775, 777, 779, 781, 791, 792, 795, 799,
826 ; iii. 23.39.
Navy Board, i. 339, 341, 347.
Naylor, Charles, i. 663, 670, 671, 679, 687.
Nazareth Hall, ii. 1328.
Neal, Joseph C, ii. 1167.
Neagle, John, ii. 1054.
Nebinger, Dr. George, i. 722, 728, 831.
Nebinger, Dr. Andrew, i. 801, 831, 832.
Negro minstrels, ii. 1090.
Negroes, ii. 884, 1258.
Nesbitt, John Maxwell, i. 438, 439, 456, 475.
Neurological Society, ii. 1634.
Neutral ground, the, at Shackamaxon, i. 130.
Neville, Joseph, i. 260.
New American Theatre burned and rebuilt, i.
834.
New Amstel, Dutch settlement of, i. 60, 71, 72,
75.
captured by English, and became New
Castle, i. 76.
Newbold, Thomas E., i. 665.
New Castle, i. 76,140, 165, 168, 172.
Spanish privateer at, i. 216.
batteries erected at (1813), 562.
New Castle money, list of persons agreeing to
receive, i. 203, 205.
mention of, i. 232.
New Churcli (New Jerusalem), ii. 1432, 1435.
New Era Life Association, iii. 2123.
New Marltot Inn, i. 566, 620.
New Netherlands, i.66, 04.
Dutch claim to, i. 64.
English opposition to Dutch occupancy uf,
i. 57, 69.
overthrow of Dutch in, i. 75, 77.
New Sweden, i. 64, 66.
Governors of, i. 67, 69, 130.
Swedish power overthrown in, i. 70.
"New Ironsides," built at Philadelphia, i. 786,
797.
" New Jei-sey" ferry-boat burned, i. 720.
New York Sixty-ninth Regiment, i. 174, 809.
New York Seventh Regiment, i. 769, 763, 808.
New York and Washington Telegraph Com-
pany, iii. 2152.
Newkirk, Matthew, i. 699, 717.
Newlin, Thomas S., i. 699.
Newsboys' Aid Society, ii. 1478.
Newgam, Albert, ii. 1064.
Newspaper, first, in Philadelphia, i. 200.
Newspapers, ii. 888, 892, 1105, 1127, 1184, 1638.
Newspapers and magazines, history of, iii. 1968.
Advocate of Science, iii. 1999.
Advocate of Christian Holiness, iii. 2044.
Advance and Review, iii. 2069.
Advertiser, iii. 2057.
Afield and Afloat, iii. 2057.
Agent's Herald, iii. 2053.
Agent's Bulletin, iii. 2060.
Age, iii. 2032.
Agent's Telegraph, iii. 2061.
Album and Ladies' Weekly Gazette, iii.
1990.
All the Tear, iii. 2067.
American Psychological Journal, iii. 2061.
American Catholic Quarterly Review, iii.
2052.
American Lancet, iii. 1999.
American Silk and Fruit Culturist, iii.
2060.
American Phrenological Journal, iii. 2012,
2013.
American Historical Record, iii. 2044.
American Journal of Medicine, iii. 2024.
American Messenger, iii. 2030.
American Naturalist, iii. 2037.
American Banner, iii. 2024.
American Journal of Conchology, iii, 2035.
American Law Journal, iii. 2021.
j American Law Register, iii. 2023.
I American Journal of Homoeopathic Ma-
I teria Medica, iii. 2038.
American Exchange and Review, iii. 2032.
American Advocate, iii. 2016.
American Citizen, iii. 2016.
American Journal of Homceopathy, iii.
2012.
American Quarterly Register, iii. 2019.
American Sunday-School Magazine, iii.
1989.
American Journal of Pharmacy, iii. 1990.
American Vegetarian, iii. 2021.
American Mechanics' Advocate, iii. 2021.
American Medical Recorder, iii. 1986.
American Sentinel, iii. 1984.
.American Magazine, iii. 1964-66.
American Journal of the Medical Sciences,
iii. 1986.
American Weekly Mercury, ii. 1105; iii.
1825, 1958, 1961, 1902-64, 2112.
American Weekly Messenger, iii. 1985.
Newspapers and Magazines :
American, iii. 2068.
American Register, iii. 1982.
American .lournal of Photography, iii.
2069.
American Cricketer, iii. 2053.
American Museum, iii. 1977,2231,2313.
American Textile Manufacturer, iii. 2059.
American Universal Magazine, iii. 1978.
American Pulpit and Pew, iii. 2059.
American Annual Register, iii. 1978.
Amerikanischer Beobachter, iii. 1984.
Amerikanischer Correspondent, iii. 1990
Analectic Magazine, iii. 1984.
Anti-Slavery Standard, iii. 2026.
Architectural Review, iii. 2039.
Arcadian, iii. 1989.
Archives of Science and Practical Medicine
and Surgery, iii. 2044.
Archives of Dermatology, iii. 2057.
Ariel, ill. 1990.
Arthur's Home Gazette, iii. 2021.
Arthur's Home Magazine, iii. 2022.
Association News, iii. 2067.
Augsburg Sunday-School Teacher, iii. 2052.
Aurora and General Advertiser, iii. 1822,
1844, 1977, 1993, 1909, 2171.
Banner of the Union, iii. 2022.
Banner of the Constitution, iii. 1994.
Banner of the Cross, iii. 2013.
Baptist Record, iii. 2013.
Baptist Family Magazine, iii. 2068.
Baptist Teacher, iii. 2040.
Baptist Superintendent, iii. 2062.
Barbers' National Journal, iii. 2059.
Bayerische Wochenblatt, iii. 2057.
Beacon, iii. 1984.
Bee, iii. 1987.
Bennage's Musical Library, iii. 2059.
Benedict's Fashion Journal, iii. 2056,
Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review,
iii. 2020.
Bible Banner, iii. 2044.
Bicknell's Reporter, iii. 2013.
Boogher's Repository, iii. 2061.
Botanic Sentinel, iii. 1999.
Botanic Medical Reformer, iii. 2013.
Bridesburg Standard, iii. 2059.
Brewers' and Dealers' Journal, iii. 2059.
Building Association, iii. 2040.
Bullion Miner and Coal Record, iii. '2069.
Busy Bee, iii. 2039.
Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel
Association, iii. 2037.
Bulletin of Medical Science, iii. 2016.
Business Advocate and Price-Current, iii.
2040.
Campbell's Foreign Semi-Monthly, iii. 2014.
Camp News, iii. 2039.
Carpenter, iii. 2059.
Carriage Monthly, iii. 2035.
Carpet Journal, iii. '2062.
Casket, iii. 1990.
Cash Grocer, iii. 2046.
Catholic Herald, iii. 2013.
Catholic Standard, iii. 2037.
Catholic Visitor, iii. 2026.
Catholic Advance, iii. 2057.
Caterer, iii. 2060.
Cent, iii. 1996.
Centennial, iii. 2044.
ChaCf, iii. 2060.
Chestnut Hill and Montgomery News, iii.
2062.
Child's Treasury, iii. 2032.
Children's Friend, iii. 2037.
Christian Advocate, iii. 1989.
2384
Newspapers and Matjazinea :
Chronicle-Herald, iii. 2037.
Chronicle and Advertiser, iii. 2040.
Christian Fireside, iii. 2052.
Christian Standard, iii. 2(fc9.
Christian Woman, iii. 2043.
Christian Worker, iii. 2052.
Christian Chronicle, iii. 2020.
Christian Recorder, iii. 2032.
Christian Statesman, iii. 2037.
Christian Observer, iii. 2013.
Christian Gazette, or Youths' Herald
19S9.
Christian, iii. 1990.
Christian Instructor, iii. 2015.
Cholera Gazette, iii. 1998.
Church's Bizarre, iii. 2022.
Citizen, iii. 2059.
City Register, iii. 1989.
Clerk, iii. 2060.
Cohen's Advertiser, iii. 2023.
Coin-Collectors' Herald, iii. 2045.
College and Clinical Record, iii. 2058.
INDEX.
ii. 2011.
ii. I98G.
ii. 1988.
iii. 1976.
. 2016.
Price-Cnri
i. 1991.
. 2058.
.1982.
Colonization Herald,
Columbian Advocate,
Columbian Observer,
Columbian Magazine,
Comstock Phonelic W
Commercial Bulletin,
Commercial List an
1980.
Commercial Herald, i
Commercial World, ii
Commercial and Political Register,
Commonwealth, iii. 2030, 2049.
Confectioners' Journal, iii. 2045.
Covenant, iii. 2059.
Covenanter, iii. 2026.
Critic, iii. 1987.
Cynic, iii. 1984.
Baily Register, iii. 2019.
Daily Chronicle, iii. 1992, 2013.
Daily Express, iii. 1908.
Daily Focus, iii. 2012.
Daily Globe, iii. 2039.
Daily Intelligencer, iii. 1999.
Daily Legal News, iii. 2057.
Daily Morning Times, iii. 2024.
Daily Keystone, iii. 2016.
Daily Register, iii. 2062.
Daily Standard, iii. 2013.
Daily Sun, iii. 2015.
Daily Transcript, iii. 1999.
Darby's Geographical, Historical, and Sta-
tistical Repository, iii. 1989.
Day, iii. 2040.
Democratic Press, iii. 1982.
Dental News Letter, iii. 2018.
Dental Times, iii. 2037.
Dental Intelligencer, iii. 2016.
Dental Practitioner, iii. 2062.
Dental Cosmos, iii. 2031.
Dental Office and Laboratory,
Dental Quarterly, iii. 2032.
Der Wochentliche Staatsbote,
Dessert to the True American
Die Alte und Nene Welt, iii. 2011.
Die Philadelphischer Correspondent, iii.
1995.
Die Neue Welt, iii. 2026.
Die Republicanische Flagge, iii. 2026.
Dollar Newspaper, iii. 2014.
Drawing-Koom Journal, iii. 2021.
Dramatic Mirror, iii. 2014.
Druggists' Reference, iii. 2039.
Dye's Government Counterfeit Detector,
iii. 2021.
. 2040.
. 1966.
i. 1979.
Newspapers i
Eagle Journal, iii. 2059.
Easy Hour, iii. 2059.
Echo, iii. 2060.
Eclectic Journal of Medicine, iii. 2011.
Eclectic Medical Journal, iii. 2024.
Eclectic Repertory, iii. 1984.
Edison's Review, iii. 2061.
Educational Visitor, iii. 2059.
Ein Schall und Gegenschall, iii. 1905.
Enterprise, iii. 2059.
Episcopal Recorder, iii. 1989.
Episcopal Register, iii. 2042.
Episcopal Magazine, iii. 198G.
Erin, iii. 1989.
Esculapiao Register, iii. 1989.
European News, iii. 2021.
Evangelical Repository, iii. 1985,2026.
Evening Star, iii. 1930, 1984, 2036.
Evening Journal, iii. 2014.
Evening Mercury, iii. 2014.
Evening National Argus, iii. 2023.
Evening News, iii. 2058, 2073.
Evening Republican, iii. 2045.
Evening Telegraph, iii. 1930, 2033.
Evening Reporter, iii. 2030.
Evening Call, iii. 2061.
Everybody's Album, iii. 2010.
Eye, iii. 1983.
Faith and Works, iii. 2052.
Falls Advertiser and Riverside Gazette,
iii. 2058.
Family Review, ii;
Family Herald, iii
Familiar Journal,
Farm and Garden
Farmers' Magazin
Farmers' Cabinet,
Federal Gazette, ii
, 2060.
2059.
ii. 2052.
iii. 2059.
), iii. 2057.
ii. 2013.
. 1977.
Finley's American Naval and Commer-
cial Register, iii. 1978.
Financial Register, iii. 2013.
Fireside Visitor, iii. 2025.
Flowers' Eclectic Magazine, iii. 2053.
Focus, iii. 1985.
Fonim, iii. 2014.
Foreign Mail, iii. 2067.
Franklin Gazette, iii. 1986.
Frankford Dispatch, iii. 2053.
Frankford Gazette, iii. '2039.
Frankford Herald, iii. 2024.
Freeman's Journal, iii. 1981.
Freeman's Journal, or the North American
Intelligencer, iii. 1975.
Freie Presse, iii. 2020.
Friend, iii. 1991.
Friends' Intelligencer, iii. 2015.
Friends' Review, iii. 2019.
Gardeners' Monthly, iii. 2030.
Gazette, iii. 2056,
Gazetteer, iii. 1989.
General Magazine, iii. 1964.
Gentleman's Vade-Mecum, or Sporting and
Dramatic Companion, iii. 1999.
German and English Gazette, iii. 1965.
German Illustrated Newspaper, iii. 2021.
German Pennsylvania Journal, iii. 1965.
Germantown Commercial, iii. 2052,
Germantown Express, iii. 2045.
Germantown Independent, iii. 2060.
Germantown Telegraph, iii. 1995.
Godey's Lady Book, iii. 1995.
Golden Days, iii. 2058.
Golden Tear, iii. 2059.
Graham's Magazine, iii. 2011.
Grand Army Scout and Soldier's Mail, iii.
2059.
Newspapers and Magazines :
Grand Army. Review, iii. 2067.
Graphic World, iii. 2059.
Grocers' Price-Current, iii. 20(4.
Guardian, iii. 2021.
Guardian Angel, iii. 2038.
Guide, iii. 2044.
Hahnemannian Monthly, iii. 2035.
Hammer, iii. 2061.
Hazard's Register, iii. 1992.
Hearthstone, iii. 2060.
Herald of Truth, iii. 1990.
High Dutch Gazette, iii. 1965.
High Dutch Pennsylvania Historitigra-
pher, iii. 1864.
Historical Register, iii. 1984.
Home Circle, iii. 2061.
Home Companion, iii. 2062.
Home Protector, iii. 2060.
Home, School, and Church, iii. 2024.
Homojopathic News, iii. 2024.
Hosiery and Knit Goods Manufacturer, iii.
2059.
Household Visitor, iii. 2059.
Ice Trade Journal, iii. 2056.
I. C. B. U. Journal, iii. 2044.
Illustrated Fashion Bazar, iii. 2053.
Illustrated World, iii. 2061.
Independent Balance, iii. 1985.
Independent Weekly Press, iii. •2(»0.
Independent Gazetteer, iii. 1975.
Independent Democrat, iii. 2011.
Independent Whig, iii. 1981.
Industrial Review, iii. 2061.
Ingleside, iii. 2058.
Insurance Reporter, iii. 2031.
Iron, iii. 2059.
Item, iu. 2019.
Items of Interest, iii. 2067.
Jewish Record, iii. 2051.
Journal, iii. 2044.
Journal of the Franklin Institute, iii.
1990.
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sci-
ences, iii. 1985.
Journal of Health, iii.<994.
Junior American Mechanic, iii. 2044.
Juvenile Olio, iii. 1981.
Juvenile Portfolio, iii. 1985.
Keystone, iii. 2038.
Kind Words, iii. 2059.
Knights of the Golden Eagle, iii. 2061.
L'Abeile Americane Journal, iii. 1985.
Labor World, iii. 2057.
La Gazette Franfais, iii. 2024.
L'Avenir, iii. 2069.
Ladies' Companion, iii. 2013.
Ladies' Gariand, iii. 2011.
Ladies* and Gentlemen's Literary Maga-
zine, iii. 1986.
Ladies' Journal of Fashion, iii. 2063.
Ladies' Literary Portfolio, iii. 1992.
Ladies' Paper, iii. 2026.
Ladies' Magazine, iii. 1978.
Ladies* Museum, iii. 1979.
Lady's Amaranth, iii. 2012.
Lady's Dollar Newspaper, iii. 2020.
Latter-Day Luminary, iii. 1986.
Law and Order Advocate, iii. 2060.
Le Courrier de la France, iii. 1979.
Legal Gazette, iii. 2040.
Legal Intelligencer, iii. 2015.
Legal and Insurance Reporter, iii. "2031.
L'Hemisphere, iii. 1983.
Liberal, iii. 1989.
Librarian, iii. 2056.
Life, iii. 2059.
INDEX.
2385
Newspapers and Magazines :
Life Illustrated, iii. 2024.
LippiDCOtt's Miigazlne, iii. 2039.
Litetslist, iii. 2ill3.
Literary Era, iii. 2060.
Literary Gazette, iii. 19.S7.
Literary Magazine and America!
iii. 1981.
Literary Portfolio, iii. 19y5.
Little Genius, iii. 2013.
Little Pilgrim, iii. 2024.
Luncheon, iii. 1985.
Lutheran Sunday-School Herald, iii. 2032.
Lutheran, iii. 2032.
Lutheran Observer,' iii. 1997.
Manayunk Sentinel, iii. 2043.
Manayunk Courier, iii. 2020.
Manayunk Star, iii. 2031.
Masonic Mirror, iii. 2024.
Mechanics' Register, iii. 2012.
Mechanics' Free Press, iii. 1992.
Medical News, iii. 201.5.
Medical and Surgical Register, iii. 2019.
Medical Cosmos, iii. 2fH4.
Medical Register, iii. 2060.
Medical Examiner, iii. 2012.
Medical Advisory, iii. 20.59.
Medical Independent, iii. 2043.
Medical Review and Analectic Journal, iii.
1989.
Medico-Chirurgical Review, iii. 2013.
Merchant and Salesman, iii. 2052.
Merchants' Guide, iii. 2057.
Messenger, iii. 1998.
Methodist Magazine, iii. 1979.
Mind and Matter, iii. 2056.
Mining Journal, iii. 2059.
Miller's Review, iii. 2061.
Mirror of Taste and Dramatic Censor, iii.
1983.
Modern Reporter, iii. 2061.
Monarch City World, iii, 2059.
Monthly Abstract of Medical Science, iii.
2U46.
Monthly Register, iii. 2067.
Monthly Insurance Journal, iii. 2024.
Monthly Rainbow, iii. 2024.
Moravian, iii. 2025.
Morning Star, iii. 2012.
Morning Journal, iii. 1994.
Morning Post, iii. 1990.
Mothers' Journal, iii. 2024.
Musical Times and Art Journal, iii. 2057.
Nation, iii. 2026.
National Agent, iii. 2059.
National Atlas and Sunday Morning Mail,
iii. 2011.
National Baptist, iii. 2035.
National Brewer and Maltster, iii. 2059.
National Gazette (note), 495, iii. 1978.
National Gazette and Literary Register, iii.
1987.
National Independent, iii. 2044.
National Intelligencer, i. 509, 010.
National Mechanic, iii. 2030.
National Merchant, iii. 2026.
Native American, i.665; iii. 2016.
Native Eagle and Advocate, iii. 2016.
Neal's Saturday Gazette, iii. 2016.
Ned Buntline's Own, iii. 2025.
New Church Herald, iii. 2024.
New Church Life, iii. 2059.
New England Courant, 1. 219, 220.
New Era, iii. 2035.
New Leaves, iii. 20.59.
New Monthly Home Visitor, iii. 2023.
New Northwest, Iii. 2063.
Newspapers and Magazines:
New World, i. 486 ; iii. 1978.
Nord Amerika, iii. 2044.
Nordamerikanischer Monatsbericht, iii.
2021.
North American and United States Gazette.
iii. 1958, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1991
North American Manufacturer, iii. 2059.
North American Medical and Surgical
Journal, iii. 1990.
North Philadelphian, iii. 2057.
Northwest, iii. 2059.
Oar, iii. 2059.
Occident and American Jewish Advocate,
iii. 2014.
Ocean Grove Record, iii. 2052.
Open Fire-Grate, iii. 2067.
Oriental Casket, iii. 2060.
Our Second Century, iii. 2052.
Our Young People, iii. 2069.
Our Little Ones, iii. 2034.
Our Continent, iii. 2060.
Our Once a Week Visitor, iii. 2010.
Our Own House, iii. 2040.
Paine's Journal of Medicine, iii. 2044.
Palmetto Flag, iii. 2032.
Peacemaker, iii. 2061.
Pennsylvanian, iii. 1998.
Pennsylvania Chronicle, iii. 1808, 1966.
Pennsylvania Evening Herald, iii. 1976.
Pennsylvania Freeman, iii. 2016.
Pennsylvania Gazette, iii. 1786, 1804, 1807,
1885, 1962, 2062, 2086, 2114, 2321; iii.
1991.
Pennsylvania German, iii. 2013.
Pennsylvania Journal, iii 1802, 1964.
Pennsylvania Law Journal, iii. 2057.
Pennsylvania Magazine, iii. 1812, 1973,
1978, 2313.
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and
Biography, iii. 2053.
Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Adver-
tiser, iii. 1891, 1968,1966.
Pennsylvania Sentinel, iii. 1996.
Pennsylvania Statesman, iii. 2022.
Pennsylvania Whig, iii. 1996.
Penn Monthly, iii. 2043.
Penny Post, iii. 1966.
People's Magazine, iii. 2040.
People's Library, iii. 2014.
Pepper's Musical Times, iii. 2057.
Peterson's Counterfeit Detector and Na-
tional Bank-Note List, iii. 2030.
Peterson's Ladies' National Magazine, iii.
2013.
Philadelphia Abendpost, iii. 2036.
Philadelphia Business Journal, iii. 2024.
Philadelphia Christian Advocate, iii. 2024.
Philadelphia Daily News, iii. 2020.
Philadelphia Daily Record, iii. 2031.
Philadelphia Demokrat, iii. 2012.
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, iii. 2016.
Philadelphia Evening Journal, iii. 20 .'5.
Philadelphia Evening Post, iii. 1974.
Philadelphia Gazette, iii. 2063.
Philadelphia Grocer, iii, 2052.
Philadelphia Herald, iii. 2023.
Philadelphia Journal of Homceopathy, iii.
2022.
Philadelphia Intelligencer, iii. 2026.
Philadelphia Inquirer, iii. 1983, 1992.
Philadelphia Lancet, iii. 2026.
Philadelphia Ledger, iii. 1973.
Philadelphia Liberalist, iii. 1998.
Philadelphia Magazine, iii. 1979.
Philadelphia Medical Journal, iii. 1982.
Philadelphia Medical Times, iii. 2043.
Newspapers and Magazines :
Philadelphia Medical and Snrgical Jour-
nal, iii. 2024.
Philadelphia Merchant, iii. 2026.
Philadelphia Mercury, iii. 1974, 1976.
Philadelphia Methodist, iii. 2057.
Philadelphia Minerva, ill. 1978.
Philadelphia Mirror, iii. 2030.
Philadelphia Monthly Journal of Medicine
and Surgery, iii. 19'.*0.
Philadelphia Monthly Magazine, iii. 1979.
Philadelphia Photographer, iii. 2033.
Philadelphia Police Gazette, iii. 2026.
Philadelphia Post, iii, 2038.
Philadelphia Record, iii. 2040, 2135, 21.36.
Philadelphia Recorder, iii, 1989.
Philadelpbia Register, iii. 1986.
Philadelphia Reporter, iii. 2013.
Philadelphia Repertory, iii. 1984.
Philadelphia Repository, iii. 1981, 2013.
Philadelphia Saturday News, iii. 2010.
Philadelphia Sonntags Journal, iii. 2052.
Philadelphia Tageblatt, iii. 2063.
Philadelphia er Telegraph und Dentsches
Wochenblatt, iii. 1997.
Philadelphia Tobacconist, iii. 2061.
Philadelphia Trade Journal, iii. 2039.
Philadelphia Visitor, iii. 2011.
Philadelphia Volksblatt, iii. 2044.
Philadelphia Wochenblatt, iii. 2024.
Philadelphian, iii. 1990.
Photographic Review of Medicine and Sur-
gery, iii. 2043.
Photographic World, iii, 2044,
Phrenological Journal, iii. 2024.
Picture World, iii. 2069.
Pioneer, iii. 1995.
Playbill, iii. 2043,
Polyclinic, iii. 2061.
Polytechnic Review, iii. 2052.
Porcupine, iii. 1985.
Porcupine's Gazette, iii, 1079.
Portfolio, iii. 1979.
Post and Camp, iii. 2059.
Practical Farmer, iii, 2026,
Presbyterian, iii. 1997, 2026.
Presbyterian Banner, iii. 2023.
Presbyterian Journal, iii. 2051.
Presbyterian Magazine, iii. 2023.
Presbyterian Monthly, iii. 2067.
Presbyterian Monthly Record, iii. 2021.
Presbyterian Treasury of Education, iii.
2020.
Presbyterian Quarterly Review, iii. 2024.
Press, iii, 2026.
Price-Current, iii. 1976.
Printers' Circular, iii. 2036.
Progress, iii. 2053.
Propagator, iii. 2057.
Protestant Banner, iii. 2014.
Protestant Episcopalian, iii. 1995.
Protestant Standard, iii. 2053.
Proof-Sheet, iii. 2038.
Public Ledger, iii. 1930, 1962, 2000, 2129,
2130, 2131, 2134, 2136.
Public Opinion, iii. 2040.
Quaker City Gazette, iii. 2059.
Quaker City Review, iii, 2057.
Quarterly Eclectic Medical Journal, iii,
2032.
Quarterly Theological Review, iii. 1986.
Quinologist, iii, 2057,
Quiz, iii. 2059.
Radical Reformer and Workingman's Ad-
vocate, iii. 1999.
Railway World, iii, 2026,
Real Estate Reporter, iii. 2052.
2386
wspapera and Magazines:
Kecord of Growth, iii. 2060.
Reformer, iii. 1987, 1990.
EeligiouB Eemembrancer,iii. 19r)8, 1985.
Review of Medicine and Pharmacj', iii. 2057.
Review, iii. 2061.
Revelateur Jonrnal, iii. 1984.
Robinson's Epitome of Literature, iii. 2053.
Royal Spiritual Magazine, iii. 1973.
Royal Spiritual Gazette, iii. 1974.
Rural Magazine, iii. 1986.
Salmagundi, iii. 1986, 2010.
Sartain's Magazine, iii. 2020.
Saturday Bulletin, iii. 1991.
Saturday Chronicle, iii. 2011.
Saturday Courier, iii. 1941.
Saturday Emporium, iii. 2021.
Saturday Evening Post, iii. 1987.
Saturday Gleaner, iii. 2020.
Saturday Journal, iii. 2060.
Saturday Mail, iii. 2025.
Saturday Morning, iii. 2053.
Saturday Museum, iii. 2014.
Saturday Night, iii. 2035.
Scattered Seeds, iii. 2040.
Scholars' Quarterly, iii. 2061.
Schwaebiaches Wochenblatt, iii. 2061.
Scott's Weekly Paper, iii. 2021.
Select Reviews and Spirit of the Magnzi ues,
iii. 1983.
Smith's Weekly Volume, iii. 2016.
Southern Monitor, i_ii. 2026.
Southern and Western Journal, iii. 2023.
Sower, iii. 2060.
Spectator, iii. 2061.
Spirit of the Press, iii. 1982.
Spirit of the Times, iii. 2012.
Sporting Life, iii. 2061.
Spy in Philadelphia, iii. 19'.i9.
Stage, iii. 2043.
Statesman, iii. 1989.
Stewart's Banjo and Guitar Journal, iii.
2061.
St. George's Journal, iii. 2053.
Stockton's Dental Intelligencer, iii. 2016.
Stoddart's Review, iii. 2058.
Strawbridge & Clothier's Quarterly, iii. 2061.
Sugar Beet, iii. 2058.
Sunlight, iii. 2061.
Sunday Argus, iii. 2057.
Sunday Atlas, iii. 2030.
Sunday Courier, iii. 2032.
Sunday Dispatch, iii. 2020.
Sunday Delta, iii. 2024.
Sunday Gazette, iii. 1998.
Sunday Globe, iii. 2021.
Sunday Hour, iii. 2061.
Sunday Herald, iii. 2057.
Sunday Independent, iii. 2059.
Sunday Ledger, iii. 2021.
Sunday Mercury, iii. 2022.
Sunday Mirror, iii. 2052.
Sunday Observer, iii. 2033.
Sunday Press, iii. 2024.
Sunday Republic, iii. 2038.
Sunday Sun, iii. 2011,2015.
Sunday-School Journal, iii. 1996.
Sunday-School Times, iii. 2031.
Sunday World, iii. 2052.
Sunday Times, iii. 2033.
Sunday Transcript, iii. 2025.
Sunday Tribune, iii. 2044.
Sunday-School World, iii. 2032.
Tacony New Era, iii. 2060.
Teacher's Offering, or Sabbath Scholars
Magazine, iii. 1989.
Teacher, iii. 2057.
INDEX.
Newspapers and Magazines;
Temperance Advocate, iii. 2014.
Terpsichore, iii. 2061.
Textile Monitor, iii. 2061.
Textile Record of America, iii. 2058.
Textile Colorist.iii. 2057.
Thoroughbred Stock Journal, iii. 2061.
Tickler, iii. 1983.
Times, iii. 2045.
Trangram, or Fashionable Trifler, iii.
1984.
Traveler and Every Saturday, iii. 2044.
Travelers' Official Railway Guide, iii.
2040.
Tribune and Farmer, iii. 2057.
Tribune, iii. 2022.
Truth in Life, iii. 2060.
Truth, iii. 2062.
True Blue, iii. 2061.
Typographical Advertiser, iii. 2026.
University Magazine, iii. 2051.
University Medical and Surgical Journal,
iii. 2036.
Universal Advertiser, iii. 1979.
United States Magaziue and Democratic
Review, iii. 2012.
United States Recorder, iii. 1979.
United Brethren Missionary Intelligencer,
iii. 1980.
United States, iii. 2013.
United States Magazine, iii. 1974, 2024.
CTnited States Commercial Register, iii.
2013.
United Service, iii. 2057.
United States Review, iii. 2040. .
United States Gazette, iii. 1808, 1827, 1968,
2130, 2132, 2172, 2173, 2176.
Vancourt's Counterfeit Detector, iii. 2014.
Vereinigte Staaten Zeitung, iii. 2016.
Voice of Peace, iii. 2045.
Waldie's Circulating Library, iii. 1999.
Waldie's Literary Omnibus, iii. 2011.
AVeekly Messenger, iii. 2011.
Weekly Commercial, iii. 2024.
Weekly Register, iii. 2024.
Weekly Magazine, iii. 1979.
Weekly Public Sale Report, iii. 1984.
Weekly Notes of Cases, iii. 2044.
West Philadelphia Hospital Register, iii.
2032.
West Philadelphia Advertiser, iii. 2063.
West Philadelphia Telephone, iii. 2052.
West End, iii. 2053.
Westminster Teacher, iii. 2044.
Whig Chronicle, iii. 1984.
Woman's Advocate, iii. 2024.
I Woman's Words, iii. 2045.
Words of Faith, iii. 2045.
World, iii. 2013.
Young People's Book, iii. 2014.
Young People's Magazine, iii. 2040.
Young Reaper, iii. 2026.
Youth's World, iii. 2014.
Nicola, Col. Lewis, i. 331, 333-334 (note), 343,
367, 414, 439 (note).
Nicholson, James B., i. 731.
Night-watch of Philadelphia, i. 264, 266.
Nisi Prius courts established, i. 524.
Nixon, John, i. 290, 292, '296, 320, 321, 335, 337,
409, 448, 456, 476, 611, 515.
Noah, M. M., ii. 1137.
Noble, Henry, ii. 934.
, i. 436 (note), 563.
resolution and policy, i. 271,
Nones, Benjam
Non-importati(
273, 281-84.
" No Party" co
Norrie, Isaac, i
ivention.
777.
Norris, Charles, ii. 870, 149^.
Norris, Isaac, i. 126, 171, 180, 182, 186, 187, 192,
199, 210, 218, 232, 239, 242, 244, 245, 257, 275,
601.
Norris, Isaac W., i. 680.
Norris, Samuel, i. 678.
Norris, Joseph Parker, i. 620, 6:i4, 648; il.
1499.
Norris mansion, i. 593,
Norris Square, iii. 1861.
North American Bank, iii. 2099.
" North Carolina," launch of frigate, i. 599.
North Pennsylvania Railroad, i. 707, 715
(note), 717, 719, 722, 842.
Northwestern Railroad Company, i. 709, 715
(note).
Northern Liberties Bank, iii. 2099.
Northern Liberties, town-house of, iii. 1774.
Northern Home, ii. 1456.
Northern Dispensary, ii. 1685.
Northern AssociaUou, ii 1471.
Northern Liberties, i. 74, 119, 207, 212, '241
(note), 242, 245, 2-53, 260, 261, 264, 265, 292,
410, 434, 445, 467, 483, 486, 511, 513, 516, 549,
692, 596, 601, 617, 713 ; iii. 2297.
Northern Liberty Fire Company, i. 780.
Northern Liberty Blues, i. 494.
Northampton County erected, 245.
" Nova Csesarea," i. 78, 79, 88, 143-45.
Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, ii. 1227.
" Nunnery," so-called, attacked by mob (l.'<44),
i. 666.
Nurseries, ii. 945.
Nurses, volunteer, accepted, i. 773.
O.
Oar, iii. 2059.
Observatory, old, at State-House, i. .321.
Observer, Sunday, iii. 2033.
Obstetrical Society, ii. 1633.
Occident and American Jewish .\dvocate, iii.
2014.
Ocean Grove Record, iii. 2052.
Ocean Steamship Line, iii. 2170.
Odd-Fellows, i, 725, 836.
Cemetery, i. 726; iii. 2360.
Hall, i. 704, 731.
history, iii. 2071.
Home, ii. 1460.
Odenheimcr, John M., i. 712 (note).
Odontographic Society, ii. 1642.
Oeller's Hotel, i. 469, 472, 473, 476, 482, 485,489,
491.
Ogden, John M., i. 693, 694.
Ogontz Seminary, ii. 1956.
Oils, manufacture of, iii. 2283, 2284.
" Old Hob" Society, i. 655.
"Old Ironsides" locomotive, i. 852a; iii. 2178i
2256.
Old Ladies' Home, ii. 1486.
Old maids, none in Philadelphia, i. 148.
Old Oaks Cemetery, i. 836.
Old Quaker school-house burned, i. 516.
Old red bridge, iii. 2145.
Olive Cemetery, iii. 2360.
" Oliver Oldschool," i. 508, 509.
Olivet Baptist Church, i. 726.
Olmsted, Capt. Gideon,!. 546.
Olympic Circus, i. 567.
Olympic Theatre, i. 679; ii. 973, 975, 977.
Omnibus line, iii. 2199.
coaches on, iii. 2199.
Onas, Indian name of William Penn, i. 107,
200.
Onderdonk, Rt. Rev. Bishop, i. 657 ; ii. 1336.
O'Neill, Charles, i. 770, 772.
Open Fi re-Grate, iii. 2057.
INDEX.
2387
Opera, Italian, in Philadelphia, i. 717.
Opera-Hoiise, Sanford's, i. 713 ; ii, 1078, 1080.
Oratorio, the first, ii. 1077.
Order of Elks, iii. 2074.
Order of United Friends, iii. 2075.
Order of United American Mechanics, iii. 2076.
Orders in council, British, i. 538, 639, 562.
Ordinances, city, iii. 1708.
Organists, professional, in 1824, iii. 2290.
Organizing charity society, ii. 1479.
Organs, manufacture of, iii. 2290.
Oriental Casket, iii. 2060.
Orne, Benjamin, i. 681.
Orphin asylum, i. 590.
burned (1822), i. 60S.
Orphan Society, i. 584, 685; ii. 1454.
Orphans' Court, ii. 1668.
Orphans' Home and Asylum for the Aged of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church, ii. 1457.
Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Ner-
vous Diseases, ii. 1683.
Osiers introduced on Delaware River lowlands
by Franklin, i. 232 (note).
Oswald, Capt. Eleazer, i. 425, 426, 442, 443.
Otis, Bass, ii. 1052.
" Otter," sloop-of-war, i. 216.
Otto, Dr. John C, i. 633 ; ii. 1610.
Our Continent, iii. 2060.
Our Lady of the Nativity Catholic Church, ii.
1384.
Our Little Ones, iii. 2044.
Our Mother of Son-ows Catholic Church, ii.
13S9.
Our Own Home, iii. 2040.
Our Once a Week Visitor, iii. 2040.
Our Second Century, iii. 2052.
Our Young People, ii. 2059.
Owen, Dr. Griffith, ii. 1578.
Owen, Gen. Joshua T., i. 726, 745, 770, 775, 833,
835.
Oxford Carpet-Mill, iii. 2309.
P.
Pacific telegraph opened, i. 786.
Packer, William F., i. 726.
Packets, i. 524; iii. 2156, 2157, 2169.
Paez, Gen. Antonio, in Philadelphia, i. 697.
Page, Col. James, i. 625-28, 666, 678, 682, 688,
702, 728, 732, 780, 7S6, 821 ; ii. 1540.
Paine, Thomas, i. 301, 309, 310, 313, 315, 338,
348, 354, 350, 398, 405, 415, 516; iii. 2141,
2229.
Paine's Journal of Medicine, iii. 2044.
Paintings, Sully's gallery of, i. 690.
Palatines, i. 190, 202, 203, 206, 209, 217, 246.
Palmer, Anthony, i. 178, 185, 214.
Palmer Street Cemetery, iii. 2361.
Palmer, Thomas Hope, i. 712.
Palethorp, Robert, i. 746.
Palmetto Flag newspaper suspended, i. 753; iii.
2032.
Pancoast, Dr. Joseph, ii. 1159, 1620.
Pancoast, Samuel,!. 588.
Panics, financial, i, 648, 726, 838.
Paoli, massacre of, i. 348.
Paper currency, i. 196, 197, 203, 208, 212, 232,
243, 246, 267, 271, 294, 311, 325, 365, 370, 408,
416, 438, 446, 686, 648, 653.
Paper-mills, i. 7, 117, 146, 148, 223, 263, 397; ii.
1103; iii. 2320-22.
Paper Company, American Wood-, iii. 2238.
Paper-hangings, ii. 858, 877.
Parrish, Dr. Isaac, i. 532 ; ii. 1262.
Parrish, Dr. Joseph, i. 633, 637; ii. 1618.
Parsons, William, i. 232, 234.
Parker, 0. H. P., i. 728.
153
Parker's Ford, i. 349.
Parke, Dr. Thomas, i. 632.
Parry, William F., i. 679.
Parry, Lieut.-Col. Caleb, i. 328-31.
Paradise, John, Ii. 1049.
Passyunk, i. 74, 410, 713.
Passyunk Square, iii. 18.50.
Passmore Williamson case, i. 720.
Pa.ssenger railways, city, iii. 2200.
Pascal Iron-Works, iii. 22.52,
Pastorius, Francis Daniel, i, 116,117,121,164,
170,180; ii. 896; iii. 2296.
Pattison, Robert E., i. 849, 852a, 852b.
Patroons, i. 59.
Patton, Col. Robert, i. 570.
Patents granted, iii. 2260, 2261.
Pathological Society, ii. 1632.
Patterson Guards, i. 679.
Patterson, Gen. Francis E.,i. 755, 764, 770, 773,
775, 778, 788, 794, 805.
Patterson, Dr. Henry S., i. 694 ; ii. 1611.
Patterson, Jonathan, i. 585.
Patterson, Joseph, i. 83n, 842; ill. 2107.
Patterson, Gen, Rol.ert, i. 611,5)6, 560,590,608,
614, 621, 625, 628, 634, 637, 653, 666, 669, 672,
682, 687, 696, 699, 7o2, 74(1, 749, 754, 759, 763,
768, 775, 789, 794, 829, 837 ; ii. 1170.
Patterson, Professor Robert, i. 544, 577.
Patterson, Dr. Robert M., i. 574, 614, 020, 688;
ii. 1611.
Patterson, Col. William C, i. 099, 715.
Patriotic Sons of America, iii. 2075.
Paul, James W., i, 674.
Paul, Jeremiah, ii. 1046.
Paul, John Rodman, i. 681.
Paul, William, i. 500.
Pawling, Henry, i. 304.
Pawlet, the beadle, i. 200.
Pa.\ton massacre, i. 240-42.
Paxton Boys, ii. 1007.
Peacock Tavern, i. 602.
Pea Patch Island, i. 671, 574, 676, 608, 615.
Pearson, James, i. 261.
Pearce, H. W., i. 831.
Peacemaker, iii. 2061.
Peale's Museum, i. 487, 604, 614, 646, 579, 686,
690, 643 ; ii. 946, 979, 1037 ; iii. 1788, 2256.
Peale, Ann C, ii. 1039.
Peale, Charies Wilson, i. 338, 370, 394, 396, 398,
407, 420, 427, 432, 514, 546, 692, 711; ii. 996,
1036, 1069, 1192 ; iii. 1788, 2260.
Peale, Raphael, ii. 947, 1037, 1039.
Peale, Rembrandt, i. 514, 521 ; ii. 947, 1036, 1070.
Peale, Sarah M., ii. 1039.
Peale, Titian, ii. 947, 1037, 1039.
Pekin Woolen-Mill, iii. 2)04.
Pemberton, Israel, i. 199, 209, 242-44, 247, 261,
202, 279, 298, 345, 352 ; ii. 856, 883, 1251.
Pemberton, Israel, Jr., i. 218, 239.
Pemberton, Isaac, i. 100.
Pemberton, James, i. 252, 272.
Pemberton, John, i. 247, 346.
Pemberton, Phineas, i. 128, 174.
Pemberton plantation, ii. 1668.
Penn Club, ii. 1094.
Penn, Granville John, i. 704.
Penn, Hannah, i. 161, 174, 178, 198.
Penn, John, i. 3, 169, 179, 207,242, 246, 258, 261,
265, 270, 281, 286, 289, 322, 324, 336, 345, 406,
435,483, 592; iii. 1827, 1866,2137, 2152,2230.
Penn, Letitia, i. 119, 152,160,103,171, 174,279;
ii. 855, 1086.
Penn, Margaret, i. 207.
Penn, Richard, i. 3, -258, 259, 261, 265, 313, 406,
436; iii. 1787, 1938,2137, 2270.
Penn, Thomas, i. 206, 258, 261 ; iii. 1827, 1846,
1806, 1938, 2137, 2152.
Penn, William, i. 3, 15, 33, 34, 36, 72, IS, 77, ftt,
88, 144, 198, 221 ; ii. 863, 855, 869, 981, 1686 ;
ill. 1739, 1769, 1771, 1780, 1781, 1786, 1^90,
1799, 1800, 1806, 1812, 1842, 1848, 1873,
1921, 2161, 2165, 2208, 2217, 2249, 2281,
2296, '2311.
life of, i. 80, 82.
proprietor of part of New Jersey, i. 79.
address by, to settlers in America, i.,84.
policy of, towards Indians, i. 86.
frame of government and code of laws by,
i. 89-93.
arrival in Pennsylvania, i. 97.
first residence in Philadelphia, i. 95.
dress and appearance, i. 98.
the " great law" framed by, passed, i. 102-4.
visit to Ijord Baltimore, i. 104.
treaty by, with Indians at SbacbamaxoD,
i. 104-7.
residences of, at Pennsbury and Philadel-
phia, i. 108, 160, 163.
a peacemaker, i. 112, 120.
return of, to England, i. 119.
deposed from Governorship, i. 124.
reinstated, i. 125.
autograph of, i. 127.
return to Philadelphia, i. 128,157.
a slaveholder, i. 163.
as a Governor, i. 167-69.
final departure from Philadelphia, i. 174.
proposes to sell his charter of Pennsyl-
vania, i. 170.
in Fleet prison, i. 186.
deed given by, in 1082, i. 190.
death of, i. 199.
Penn, William, Jr, i. 1.56, 159, 181, 200.
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, iii. 2120.
Penn Treaty, monument of, iii. 1873.
Penn, or Centre Square, iii. 1773, 1841, 1842.
Penn Township Bank, iii. 2099.
Penn Rolling-Mill, iii. 2253.
Penn Monthly, iii. 2043.
Penn Woolen-Mill, iii. 2303.
Penn, District of, i. 062, 670, 686, 713.
Penrose, Charles, i. 601.
Penrose, Charles B., i. 653.
Penrose, Jonathan, i. 446.
Penrose, Samuel, i. 292.
Penrose, Thomas, i. 289, 409, 609.
Penrose, William, i. 642.
Penrose Ferry, iii. 2145.
Penrcise Bridge Company, i. 707.
Pennsliuiy Manor, residence of William Penn,
i. 103, 161, 159, 160, 162-64.
Penny Pot House, i. 101, 146, 172, 183, 217; ii.
981 ; iii. 2161.
Pension Board, i. 771.
Pennock, William, i. 657.
Pennington, Edward, i. 262, 289, 290, 456, 470,
515, 546, 601.
Penuypack Iron-Works, iii. 2252.
Pennypacker, S. W., ii. 1108.
Pennsylvania, condition of, i. 3.
geological survey of, i. 18.
charter of, to William Penn, i. 83.
first Constitnlion of, i. 89-92, 111, 250, 322.
fir^t laws of, promulgated, i. 92, 93.
first Council of, i. 94.
first meeting of Assembly of, i. 109, 110.
first Council of, i. 109, 110.
freedom of religion established in, i. 113.
great seal of, i. 122.
first tax levied in, i. 125.
Constitution of, i. 127.
iron manufacture in, i. 154.
charter of privileges of, i. 173.
a description of, i. 2'23.
2388
Pennsylvania;
troops of, in Bevolntion, i. 327-37, 340.
revolts of line troops of, i. 414, 429, 430.
Supreme Executive Council of, created, i.
338.
abolished, i. 465.
State Constitution of 1790, i. 454, 463.
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, ii. 1061,
1066, 1070.
Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, i. 616.
Pennsylvania Bank, i. 323, 511 ; iii. 2088, 2099.
Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company, iii.
2118.
Pennsylvania Hall, i. 650.
destruction of, by a mob, i. 651, 652.
Pennsylvania Historical Society, 1219.
Pennsylvania Hospital, i. 267, 332, 420, 556, 599,
631, 614 ; ii. 1004, 1195.
Pennsylvania Improvement Company, i. 511.
Pennsylvania Museum, ii. 957.
Pennsylvania Railroad, i, 677, 680, 689, 692, 708,
715, 732, 792, 799, 807, 811, 839, 848 ; iii. 2189.
Pennsylvania Ueserves, i. 812, 816.
Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement
of Manufacturers, iii. 2314, 2316.
" Pennsylvania," steamboat, exploded, i. 711.
Pennsylvania Bible Society, ii. 1489.
Pennsylvania Deaf and Dumb Institution, ii.
1463.
Pennsylvania Institution for Feeble-Miuded
Children, ii. 14.57.
Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind, ii. 1461.
Pennsylvania Law Beports, ii. 1556.
Pennsylvania Medical College, ii. 1650.
Pennsylvania Retreat for Blind Mutes and
Aged and InBrm Blind, ii. 1463.
Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men,
ii. 1463.
Pennsylvania Evening Herald, iii. 1976.
Evening Post, iii. 1974, 1976.
Freeman, iii. 2015.
Gazette, i. 228, 233, 237, 245, 271, 278, 303,
360, 383, 386, 424, 529; iu. 1786, 1804,
1807, 1885, 1962, 1991, 2062, 2086, 2114,
2:321.
Chronicle, iii. 1808, 1966.
Penny Post, iii. 1966.
Inquirer, i. 642.
Journal, i. 256, 278, 283, 303; iii. 1802,
1964.
Magazine, i. 235, 309, a30, 335, 337, 342, 357,
379 ; iii. 1812, 1973, 1978, 2311.
Ledger, i. 359, 3C5, 374; iii. 1973.
Packet, i. 387, 392, 397, 411, 424; iu. 1891,
1958, 1966.
Wliig, iii. 1996.
Sentinel, iii. 1996.
Statesman, iii. 2022.
Magazine of History, iii. 2053.
Law Journal, iii. 2057.
Pennsylvaniau, i. 723 ; iii. 1999.
" People's party," i. 729, 731, 733, 735, 770, 803.
People's Literary Institute, i. 738.
People's Library, iii. 2014.
Pepper, William, M.D., i. S42; ii. 1614.
Pepper, George, i. 620.
Pepper's Musical Times, iii. 2057.
Perry, Commodore Oliver Hazard, i. 566, 586,
592.
Perry, William S., ii. 1160.
Perry, William, murder of, i. 638.
Permanent bridge over Schuylkill, iii. 2145.
Permanent Exhibition, inauguration and fail-
ure of, i. 849.
Perpetual motion, discovery of, annonnced, i.
561, 587.
Periwigs, ii. 862.
INDEX.
Persico, E. L., ii. 1067.
Perkins, Joseph, ii. 1059.
Perkins, Jacob, iii. 2263, 2326.
Perkins, Samuel H., i. 716, 770.
Perot, John, iii. 2217.
Perseverance Hose Company, i. 683.
Pestalozzian School System, iii. 1925.
Petroleum and Mining Exchange, iii. 2359.
Peter Evans' tavern, i. 583.
"Peter Porcupine," i. 485, 490.
Gazette of, i. 498.
Peters, Richard, i. 217, 235, 239, 242, 296, 334,
403, 409, 431, 448, 454, 596, 609, 615, 643; ii.
1528, 1541 ; iii. 1866, 1938, 2141, 2146^
Peters, William, ii. 873 ; iii. 1866.
Peterson, George W., i. 784.
Peterson's Counterfeit Detector, iii. 2030.
Peterson, Charles J., ii. 1171.
Petty's Island, i. 9.
Pettit, Thomas M., i. 642, 680; ii. 1544.
Pettengill, B.D.,i. 722.
Philadelphia:
art and artists of, ii. 1029.
authors and literature of, ii. 1099.
amusements of, ii. 939.
Asiatic cholera in, i. 630-33, 690.
Age (newspjiper), i. 810.
Arctic expeditiun sails from, in 1753, i.
246.
batteries erected in, i. 215.
Bank Meeting-House in, i. 121.
bench and bar of, ii. 1491.
blockade of port of, i. 327.
bounds of, i. 4.
British occupation of, ii. 894, 1009.
burying-grounds and cemeteries of, iii.
2356.
census of, in 1748, i. 217.
in 1777, i. 367.
in 1808, i. 537.
cartmen of, in 1704, i. 183.
capital of the State, iii. 1763.
climate of, ii. 895.
consolidation of adjoining districts with, i.
4,16,713-16.
Clearing-House Association, iii. 2106.
clubs of. ii. 1092.
charitable and benevolent institutions of,
ii. 1449.
Commercial Exchanges of, iii. 2340.
court-house, wharves, and bridges in 1710,
i. 187.
County prison, iii. 1836.
College of, i. 275, 456.
commerce of, in 1735. i. 208.
College of Medicine, ii. 1651.
charter of, i. 15, 173-75, 261.
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, action concerning slavery, L
752.
description of, in 1697, i. 145-48.
inl7l6, i. 191.
Declaration of Independence proclaimed
in, i. 320.
damages sustained by people of, during
Revolution, i. 384, 386.
Dispensary, ii- 1685.
Domestic Society, iii. 2.302.
early printers, publishers, and poets in, i.
221-25.
early lawyers and physicians in, i. 154, 155,
222, 234, 408.
early steel furnaces in, i. 218.
early occupants, i. 12, 13.
enumeration of houses of, in 1769, i. 261.
Exchange, i. 634.
early elections in, i. 210.
Philadelphia:
evacuation of, by British, i. 383-85.
extraordinary flood in, i. 657.
first settlements in limits of, i. 72, 130.
patents to Swedes, i. 73-75.
jail in, i. 122.
market-place in, i. 125.
salary to mayor of, i. 216.
literary society in, i. 229, 231.
Congress in, i. 291.
directory of, i. 303.
convict labor on streets of, i. 443, 457.
ordinance against erection of wooden
buildings in, i. 483.
literary periodical in America, i. 238.
gas-lights in, i. 486.
race-course in, i. 536.
purchasers of lots in, i. 97, 101, 108, 119.
mayor of, i. 158.
English child born in, i. 101.
brick house in, i. 108.
meeting of Council in, i. 109.
school in, i. 112.
ferrj- and night-watch in, i. 120.
fire company and sewerage system, i. 208.
public conveyance and ship-building, i.
203.
vspaper i
. 200.
;e in, i. 201.
Sledical College in, i. 257.
founding the city of, i. 94.
Fire Underwriters' Association, iii. 2124.
ferry from, to Gloucester, l. 191.
fire-engines of, in 1771, i. 265.
fortified by Gen. Howe, i. 352, 360.
fortifications of, dismantled, i. 395.
fountain Society, iii. 1798.
Firemen's Monument, iii. 1878.
flora and fauna of. i. 24.
frigate, i. 557, 669.
general introduction of Schuylkill water
in, i. 607.
great number of tippling-houses in, i. 211.
general immorality of, complained of by
Friends, i. 255.
Grays, i. 679 ; ii. 1019.
geology of, i. 17.
hospitals and dispensaries of, ii. 1664.
Hospital, ii. 1681.
harbor of, buoyed, and roads laid out, i.
121.
Hose Company, i. 705, 718.
Indian treaties in, i. 178, 208, 235, 246.
inns and taverns of, ii. 980.
ladies of, contributions to Revolutionary
army, ii. 902.
leading men of, in Revolution, i. 273.
Light Guard, i. 679, 687, 765, 772.
Legion, i. 554, 566.
Library Company, i. 237, 795 ; ii. 1185 ; iii.
1773, 1784, 1821.
latitude and longitude of, i. 3.
laid off, i. 3, 13.
libraries and historical and scientific so-
cieties, ii. 1173.
linen manufacture of, in 1764, i. 260.
Local Telegraph Company, iii. 2132.
march of Washington's army through, i.
343.
Marine Exploring Company, i. 727.
martial law declared in, i. 333.
manors in, i. 13.
mayors of, ii. 857.
manners and customs of early settlers of,
ii. 853.
Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance
Company, iii. 2123.
INDEX.
2389
Philadelphia:
mauufactories of, in 1808, 1. 632,
military governors of, i. 334, 336.
menaced by British in war of 1812, i. 562-65.
military of, ii. 998.
music and musicians of, ii. 1075.
minerals of, i. 23.
medical profession of, ii. 1578.
Museum Company, ii. 999; iii. 1789.
Dames of merchants and tradesmen of, in
1779, i. 399, 408.
Dame given to, i. 96, 97.
non-importation policy of merchants of, in
1705, i. 272, 381-84.
national capital established at, i. 462.
removed from, i 603.
number of inns in, in 1756, i. 252.
new divisloD of wards of, in 1825, i. 614.
numbering of houses in, i. 440.
new system of, i. 725.
occupation of, by British army, i. 350-52,
369, 306-68, 370-73, 377-86.
Ornamental Iron-Works, iii. 2266.
original landholders in, i. 72.
panic in, at Braddock's defeat, i. 247, 248.
Penn's plan.s for, i. 76, 88.
police force of, increased and consolidated,
i. 674, 694.
Price-Current, first mercantile paper in
United States, i. 426.
prominent women in history of, ii. 1685.
religious denominations of, ii. 1229.
reincorporation of, i. 454, 463.
roads of, i. 10.
removal of State capital from, i. 424, 434.
reoccupation of by American forces, i. 385,
388.
BtatisticB of, i. 852D.
scarcity and distress in, i. 365.
scenes in, at opening of Revolution, 1. 295-
97.
Stamp Act and' Port Bill excitement in, i.
270-73, 278, 289.
State-House built, i. 206-S.
Society for the Free Instruction of Indi-
gent Boys, iii. 1924.
Stock Exchange, iii. 2108.
selection and purchase of site of, i. 86, 87,
89, 94-96.
streets of, ordered paved, i. 200.
seat of Congress, iii. 1821.
slavery in. i. 186.
Society for Organizing Charity, ii. 1479.
streets of, i. 3,17, 108.
society of, ii. 910.
second market-house in, 212.
streets of, renamed, i. 709.
streams of, i. 6.
taxable inhabitants of, in 1741, i. 209.
in 1761, i. 245.
taverns and tippling-houses of, in 1816, i.
686.
trades of, represented in 1788, i. 448-62.
Trust, Safe Deposit, and Insurance Com-
pany, iii. 2105.
townships in, i. 17.
troop of horee, ii. 893, 1017.
topography of, i. 2, 13.
Union Society, ii. 1473.
Volunteer Fire Department of, i. 710.
water supply of, i. 264, 400, 499, 501, 510, 607.
William Penn's arrival at, i. 98.
war spirit in, ii. 892.
wards of, i. 16.
yellow fever in, i. 209, 210, 217, 490, 491,
493,496,512,699,711.
Philadelphia Correspondent, iii. 1995.
Philadelphia Telegraph, iii. 1997.
Liberalist, iii. 1998.
Saturday News, iii. 2010.
Visitor, ill. 2011.
Demokrat, iii. 2012.
Reporter, iii. 2013.
Repository, iii. 2013.
Evening Bulletin, iii. 2010.
Daily News, iii. 2020.
Journal of Homoeopathy, iii. 2022.
Chrialiun Advocate, iii. 2024.
Medical Times, iii. 2043.
Medical Journal, iii. 2024.
Business Journal, iii. 2024.
Wochenblatt, iii. 2024.
Merchant, iii. 2025.
Evening .lournnl, iii. 2026.
Police Gazette, iii. 2026.
Lancet, iii. 2026.
Intelligencer, iii. 2026.
Mirror, iii. 2030.
Daily Record, iii. 2031.
Photographer, iii. 2033.
Abendpost, iii. 2036.
Post, iii. 2038.
Record, iii. 2040, 2135, 2136.
Trade Journal, iii. 2038.
Volksblatt, iii. 2044.
Grocer, iii. 2062.
Sonntags Journal, iii. 2062.
Tageblatt, iii. 2053.
Gazette, iii. 2053.
Methodist, iii. 2057.
Tobacconist, iii. 2061.
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Rail-
road, i. 677, 078, 698, 760, 761, 764, 765, 799,
802,832; iii. 2181.
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, i. 818.
Philadelphia and Germantown Railroad, i.
8.52a ; iii. 2176.
Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad
Company, i. 707.
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, i. 793, 799,
848,8.52b; iii. 2185.
Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, i. 677, 678,
680,692,708; iii. 2171.
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad, i. 711 ; iii.
2183.
Photographer, iii. 2033.
Photographic Review of Medicine and Surgery,
iii. 2043.
Photography, iii. 2320, 2327.
Photographic World, iii. 2044.
Phonetic Magazine, iii. 2016.
Phrenological Journal, iii. 2024.
Physicians, early, of Philadelphia, 1. 222, 234,
244.
Physicians' College, ii. 1642.
Physick, Edward, i. 320.
Physick, Dr., i. 020; ii. 883, 1168, 1603.
Piano manufacture, iii. 2289, 2290.
Pickering, Col. Asa, i. 309.
Pickering, Timothy, i. 486, 488, 506, 639.
Pickering, Charles, i. 222.
Picture World, iii. 2069.
Pierce, William S., i. 720, 721, 722, 730, 731,
848.
Pierce, Franklin, i. 708.
Pillory, i. 201, 203, 282, 444; ii. 857.
Pine Street Church, ii. 1267.
Pine-tree shillings, i. 112.
Pine, R.E.,ii. 1041.
Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, i. 492, 551.
Pirates in Delaware Bay and vicinity, i. 120,
127, 160, 107, 170, 198.
false alarm of, at capes of Delaware, i. 649,
Plain Truth, pamphlet by B. Franklin, i. 214,
239.
Plantou, Madam, il. 1053.
Playbill, Iii. 2043.
Pleasonton, Gen. A. J., I. 760,761, 780, 788, 789,
792-96.
Plowden, Sir Edmund, i. 63, 54,60.
" Pluck Parade" of nnlitary, i. 015, 616.
Plumstead, William, i. 233, 271 ; ii. 1505.
Plymouth Company, i. 67-76.
Poets and poetry, i. 225 ; ii. 888.
Point Breeze, i. 649, 735, 783.
Polish Catholic Church, ii. 1384.
Polyclinic and College for Graduates of Medi<
cine, ii. 1656.
Political clubs, ii. 1096.
Police force, i. 674, 676, 094,712,713,718; ill.
1780.
Pollock, Governor James, i. 724, 783, 799, 826.
Polk, James K., i. 678, 682.
Poor, overseers of the, i. 183, 191, 204, 207, 268,
260, 264.
guardians of the, i. 616, 648, 649, 668.
"Poor Eichard" Almanac, i. 223, 224, 231, 237,
238.
Poor-house, ii. 856, 1449.
Pool's bridge, i. 180.
Pope, Thomas, i. 559.
Population, increase of (1682 to 1684), i. 140,
141.
Porter & Coates, iii. 2332.
Porter, Governor David R., i. 666, 660, 067, 669,
673.
Porter, Admiral David D., i. 809.
Porter, Capt. David, i. 650.
Porter, William A., i. 661,721.
Porter, Dr. John, i. 533.
Porter, James Madison, i. 663, 607, 062, 711 ; il.
1640.
Port physicians, ii. 1666.
Port wardens, i. 463, 480, 520, 650.
Port Richmond Iron-V^orks, iii. 2252.
Portfolio, i. 693 ; iii. 1979.
Porcupine, iii. 1985.
Porcupine's Gazette, iii. 1979.
Porcelain and china, manufacture of, iii. 2235,
2297.
Portrait-painters, ii. 947, 1029.
Post-offlce, i. 125, 454, 806 ; iii. 1806, 1807, 1808,
1810, 1811.
Postmasters, iii, 1812.
Potter, Et. Rev. Alonzo, D.D., i. 699, 724, 726,
739, 761, 764, 778, 78.5, 791, 794, 795, 798, 810,
826 ; ii. 1137.
Polts, Thomas, i. 323.
Potter's Field, iii. 2356, 2359.
Potteries, i. 544, 600; iii. 2297.
Poulson, Zachariah, ii. 1106, 1183, 1188; iU.
1798,1958,1967,1968.
Powel, John Hare, i. 573, 640, 697.
Powel, Samuel, i. 456, 468, 468.
Powers & Weightman, iii. 2274.
Power, Capt. E. W., i. 724.
Powder magazine, i. 202, 216, 301, 305, 463, 625,
529, 636 ; ii. 998.
Powder-mills, i. 301, 305. 306.
at French Creek, Kensington, and Ger-
mantown, blown up, i. 369, 463; ii. 1100.
Powdered hair, ii. 860.
Pratt, Henry, i. 073; iii. 2212.
Pratt, M., ii. 1034.
Premium Society of Philadelphia, i. 611, 631.
Prevost, A. M., i. 693.
Preble, Commodore Edward, i. 619, 748.
" President," frigate, i. 652, 657.
President's house, in Philadelphia, i. 462,463,
488, .501, 603.
2390
INDEX.
Preston, Dr. [Jonas, founder of lyiug-in hos-
pital, i. 647 ; ii. 1617.
Preston Retreat, i. 648; ii. 1680.
Preston & Winpeuny, iii. 2304.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Society, ii.
1480.
Press, history of the, iii. 1968.
Press, the Philadelphia, i. 727, 840; iii. 2026-
30.
Preebyterians, ii. 965.
first church, ii. 856.
Historical Society, ii. 1224.
history of, ii. 1262.
Board of Publication, ii. 1489.
Hospital, ii. 1862.
Presidents of city passenger railways, iii. 2202.
Privateers, i. 186, 208, 210-14, 236, 239, 251, 253,
257,307,314, 326, 327, 3.39,403,413,416,
421-23, 426, 480.
in war of 1812-15, i. 565, 566, 579.
Confederate, i. 776-78, 786-87 ; ii. 999.
Prince de Joinville, i. 657.
Prince of Wales, i. 735. I
Princeton, battle of, i. 337.
" Princeton," United States steamer, i. 667, 682,
801.
Priestley, Dr. Joseph, ii. 1602.
Price, Thomas, i. 261.
Price, Eli K., i. 693, 704; ii. 1154, 1636.
Price, Richard, i. 699.
Price, Williams., i. 721. I
Price, Chandler, i. 585, 664, 606, 610, 614. i
Pricesinl779, iii. 2211.
Printz, John, Governor of New Sweden, i. 4, 6, >
63, 67, 69, 130-33.
Printz's Hall, i. 67.
Printing-presd made by George Clymer, i. 577.
Printing-presses, iii. 2323.
Printing, commencement of, iii. 2230. 1
Prisons, iii. 1824, 1826, 1826.
Prison (1698), i. 149.
old city, i. 202.
Walnut Street, i. 267, 305, 327, 444, 445
(note), 463, 457, 495 (note), 516, 551, 597,
602, 650.
_ Arch Street, i. 546, 548, 570, 574, 686, 592,
603; iii. 1832.
cholera in, i. 632 ; iii. 1834.
Walnut Street, iii. 1827.
Philadelphia County (Moyamensing), iii.
1835.
Eastern Penitentiary, iii. 1834.
House of Refuge, iii. 1838.
riots in, iii. 1830, 1831.
Prisoners' Relief Society, i. 444.
Prisoners of war (1776) confined in " new"
prison, i. 323.
Hessian, in Philadelphia,!. 335.
American, held by Howe in Philadelphia, i.
371, 372.
exchange of, i. .383.
liberated, i. 427.
American, brought to Philadelphia, i. 418.
Private wharves, owners of, iii. 2156.
Province Island, i.2l0, 217, 347. 674
Lancaster Indians sent to, i. 241.
Acadian refugees quartered at, i. 248.
batteries on, i. 362.
Province Hall, i. 207.
Provisions, committee to regulate sale of in
Philadelphia, i. 398.
Prothonotaries of the Conn of Common Pleas,
ii.l666.
Prominent women in Philadelphia history, ii.
1685.
Produce Exchange, iii. 2316.
Property, valuation of, iii. 1756.
Proud, Robert, i. 124.
History of Pennsylvania, i. 22:i; ii. 1130.
Provident Society, ii 1470.
1 Provident Life and Trust Company, iii. 2122.
Proctor, Col, Thomas, i. 330, 404, 425, 442, 447,
470, 478, 480, 482, 403, 608.
Protection of lionie manufactures, i. 439, 461.
Proprietary government, determination to over-
throw, i. 311, 312.
superseded by the State, i. 316, 322, 324.
Proprietary interests in Pennsylvania, extin-
guishment of, i. 406, 4: 7.
attempt to revive, i. 424.
Proprietarj' agents, iii. 1767. ^
secretaries, iii. 1767.
Protestant Episcopal Church, history of, ii.
1131.
City Mission, ii.l481.
educational institutions, ii. 1360, 1480.
Board of Missions, ii. 1481.
Hospital, ii. 1677.
Public Ledger newspaper, i. 662, 704, 717, 721,
728, 729, 732, 738, 766, 796, 807, 809, 822, 827,
828, 834, 840; iii. 1930, 1962, 2000, 2031, 2034,
2035, 2129, 2130.
PublicOpinion, iii. 2040.
Public buildings on Peun Squares, i. 735, 836,
839.
Public schools, iii. 1921.
Public Model School, i. 683.
Public resorts, ii. 942.
Public conveyance, first, in Philadelphia, i. 203.
Public landings, iii. 21.51.
Blue Anchor, iii. 2151.
PennyPot, iii. 2152.
Hay-Scale, iii. 2154.
Callowhill Street, iii. 2155.
Green Street, iii. 2155.
Coates Street, iii. 2155.
Davidson's, iii. 2155.
Shackamaxon Street, iii. 2155.
Schuylkill, iii. 2155.
Wood Street, iii. 2166.
Fairmount Street, iii. 2156.
Public wharves, iii. 2151.
Walnut Street, iii. 2153.
Chestnut Street, iii. 2153.
Mulberry [Arch] Street, iii. 2153.
Sassafras [Race] Street, iii. 2154.
Vine Street, iii. 2164.
Spruce Street, iii. 2167.
Public squares and parks, iii. 1840.
area of, iii. 1761.
Centre or Penn Square, iii. 1773, 1841, 1842.
Washington Square, iii. 1773, 1845.
Franklin Square, iii. 1.S46.
Logan Square, iji. 1848.
Rittenhouse Square, iii. 1849.
Independence Square, iii. 1773, 1850.
Passyuuk Square, iii. 1860.
Jefferson Square, iii. 1850.
Hunting Park, iii. 1851.
FairhiU Square, iii. 1851.
Norris Square, iii. 1861.
Shackamaxon Square, iii. 1862.
Germantown Square, iii. 1852.
Union Square, iii. 1852.
Thouron Square, iii. 1852.
Fairmount Park, iii. 1852.
Public accounts, registers-general of, iii. 1768.
Public meetings to establish omnibus lines, iii.
2200.
Publishing houses, iii. 2329.
Louis H. Everts, iii. 2332.
J. B. Lippincott 4 Co., iii. 23.30.
Porter & Coates, iii. 2332.
Pulaski, Count, light-horse corps of, u 365.
Purves, Alexander, i. 636 (note).
Purvis, Robert, i. 732, 836.
Purdon, John, ii. 1544.
Putnam, Gen. Israel, military governor of Phil-
adelphia, i. 334, 335, 341, 491.
lilitary company (1775),
Quaker Blues,
296.
Quaker City Review, iii. 2067.
Quakers, ii. 854, 965.
dress of, ii. 860, 905, 916.
Quadrant, ii. 872.
Quarantine, i. 201, 204, 210, 217, 267, 480, 494,
512, 613, 520, 690.
hospital, ii. 1664.
masters, ii. 1667.
Quarry, Judge, i. 157, 158, 160, 164, 165, 166, 168,
170, 181, 269.
Quarter Sessions Court, ii. 1573.
Queen's Head Tavern, i. 232.
Quiz, iii. 2059.
R.
Babbit Club, ii. 1093.
Race [Sassafras] Street wharf, iii. 2154.
Race-course, first (1808), i. 536.
Races, ii. 863, 940.
Rachel, the French actress, i. 720.
Rademaoher murder, i. 685, 686.
Radical Reformer, iii. 1999.
Raguet, Condy, i. 672, 573-76, 577, 596, 591.
Railways, first proposed, i. 510.
prophecy concerning, by Oliver Evans, i.
622.
experimental, i. 544.
Railway Guide, Official, iii. 2040.
Railway World, iii. 2025.
Raili'oads, iii. 2171.
Columbia, iii. 2171.
Baltimore Central, iii. 2180.
Baltimore and Ohio, iii. 2197.
Camden and Amboy, iii. 2182.
Delaware and Schuylkill, iii. 2180.
Germantown, iii. 2176.
time table of, iii. 2178.
Lehigh Valley, iii. 2188.
North Pennsylvania, iii, 2187.
Pennsylvania, iii. 2189.
Philadelphia and Reading, iii. 2183.
Philadelphia and Trenton, iii. 2183.
Soulhwark and Philadelphia, iii 2181.
West Chester, iii. 2179.
West Chester and Philadelphia, and Wil-
mington and Baltimore, iii. 2181.
Railroad cars, first, iii. 2259.
Railroad strikes of 1877, i. 848.
Railroad wagcn, model of, iii. 2260.
Ralston, Robert, i. 551, 685, 586,589,698,599,
634.
Balston, Gerard, i. 612.
Ralph, James, i. 228 ; it 1108.
Rambouillet decree, i. 546.
Rand, B H , ii. 1171, 1625.
Randall, Hon. Archibald, i. 668; ii. 1544.
Randall, Josiah, i. 605, 607, 608, 611, 614, 625,
640,674,678, 693,721.
Randall, Samuel J., i. 804 ; iii. 2218.
Randolph, Dr. J., ii. 1621.
Randolph, John, of Roanoke, death of, in PhiU
adelphia, i. 6:i7.
Rankin, W. B.,i. 722.
Bawdon, Lord, i. 378.
Bawie, William, i. 625, 643, 693 ; ii. 1143, 1221,
1531.
Bawlo, WUliam, Jr., i. 643 ; ii. 1544.
INDEX.
2391
Bead, Charles, ii. 855.
Bead, Ctonimodore George C, i. 702, 724, 801.
Read, Col. James, i. 564, 565.
Bead, John M., i. 067, 082, 09:i, 72:) ; ii. 1161,
1163, 1644.
Bead, John, i. 581, 588.
Bead, Thomas B., ii. 1172.
Real E.state Reporter, iii. 2052.
Real Estate Title Insurance and Trust Com-
pany, iii. 212:J.
Real and personal property for 1883, iii. 1717.
Recruiting for French war (1747), i. 214.
Record of growth of newspapers, iii. 2060.
Record, iii. 2040, 2135, 2136.
Recorder, i. 495.
Recorder's court for Northern Liberties, Ken-
sington, and Spring Garden, ii. 1576.
Recorders of the city, iii. 1738.
Recorders of Deeds, iii. 1739.
Recruiting camp in Independence Square, i.
802.
Recruiting for Civil War, commencement of, i.
753.
Red Bunk, fortiHcations at, i. .334,342.
obstructions in river at, i. 360.
island annexed to New Jersey, i. 431.
Redman, Dr. John, i. 4.52 ; ii. 1.591.
Redmond, Mary, ii. 1693.
Red Jacket and other chiefs in Philadelphia, i.
469.
Red Liou Tavern, i. 366, 415, 515.
Bed Men, Independent Order of, i. 702, 851,
852, 2084.
Improved Order of, 2081.
Red Row, burned by a mob, i. 641, 642.
Red Star Line, iii. 2170.
Redemptioners, i. 190, 202, 203, 372; ii. 866, 863.
Redemption Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1359.
Reed, Joseph, sketch of, i. 278.
mention of, i. 267, 268, 273, 288, 290, 293,
296, 298, 301, 309, 313, 315, 319, 330, 358,
36S, 390, 391, 396, 397, 400, 402, 404, 406,
411,413,414,426,571,672,690; ii. 880,
1522, 1690.
Reed, Esther, ii. 889, 902, 1689.
Reed, Henry, ii. 1152.
Beed, William B., i. 656, 721, 724; il. 1167.
minister to China, i. 725.
treaty made by, with China, i. 731, 732.
mention of, 1. 747.
Redeemer Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1360.
Reedy Island, breakwater at, i. 260.
tea ship ordered to, i. 287.
erection of piers at, i. 294,
mention of, i. 642, 566.
Beese, David M., ii. 1163.
Beformed Quaiterly Review, iii. 2021.
Reformer, iii. 1990.
Reformers, iii. 1987.
Befreshment Committee, i. 774, 791, 795.
Registers of the Admiralty, ii. 1577.
Registers of wills, ii. 1570.
Beich, John, ii. 1064.
Reliance Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2121.
Reliance Fire Company,!. 761.
Belief of widows and orphans of deceased
clergymen, ii. 1480.
Belief of the children of the poor, ii. 1470.
Belief for the blind, ii. 1461.
Believing the miseries of indigent persons, ii.
1470.
BeligiouB denominations, ii. 855, 1229.
history of, ii. 1229.
Swedish Church, ii. 1229.
Society of Friends, ii. 1241.
1202
Religious denominat
Presbyterians, ii.
Baptisis, ii. 1300.
Tnnkers, ii. 1313.
Mennunites, ii. 1316.
Moravians, ii. 1320.
Protestant Episcopal
Catholics, ii. 1366.
Methodists, ii. 1400.
Christians, ii
Bible Cbristii
Unitarians, ii
German Bef(
1402.
ns, ii.l403.
1404.
-med, ii. 1408.
681.
! (1814), i. 675.
d Mitchell (1730), i. 206.
ge, iii. 2026.
Club, the Central, i. 733.
Society (1779), i. 396 (1789), 464,
Dutch Reformed, ii. 1417.
Church of the New Jerusalem,
Hebrews, ii. 1436.
Universalists, ii. 1442.
Millerites, ii. 1448.
Religious Remembrancer,!. 686 ; iii.
Religious Tract Society,
Beligious Historical Society,
Religious Liberty, statue of,
Eemak, Stephen S., i. 724.
Rensbaw, William, i. 625.
Renaissance Hall, i. 839.
Repeating 6
Repository, iii. 1989
Reprieve of Prouse
Republikanisclie Fl
Kepubl
Republ
455.
Republican party, i. 605-8, 719, 720, 726-29, 735,
736, 833, 835-38, 840, 848-50, 862a, 852c.
Republican Legion, i. 494, 506-8, 612,516.
Republican Greens, i. 520.
Republican National Convention, first, i. 722.
of 1872, i. 837.
Republican Committee, first, in Philadelphia
(1856), i. 723 (note).
Reserves, Pennsylvania, i. 776.
Reserve Corps, iii. 1735.
Resurrection Protestant Episcopal Church, iii.
1356.
" Restless" in Delaware Bay, i. 55.
Revelateur Journal, iii. 1984.
Review of Medicine, iii. 2067.
Revere, Paul, i. 289.
Revolt of the Pennsylvania line, at Morris-
town, i.414.
at Lancaster, and march to Philadelphia, i.
429, 430.
Revolution, surviving oflicerB of, i. 544.
Reynolds, John F., statue of, iii. 1876.
Reynolds, Dr. James, i. 496, 497.
Rhymes, earliest, published in Philadelphia, i.
223.
Rice, Stephen Edward, i. 624.
Richmond, capture of, announced, i. 822.
Richmond Ferry, iii. 2139.
Richmond, district of, incorporated,!. 683.
mentioned, i. 684.
boundaries extended, i. 689.
abolished, i. 713.
Richmond Theatre destroyed (1811), i. 558.
Richmond Hall, iii. 1776.
Richmond Dyeing- and Finishing-Works, iii.
2318.
Richards, William T., iii. 2327.
Richards, Mark, i. 645.
Richards, Mark, Jr., i. 612.
Richards, Benjamin W., i. 624, 633, 688.
Richardson, Thomas, i. 699.
Richardet's Tavern, i. 478.
Ricketts' Circus, i. 491 ; ii. 952.
Ridgway, Thomas, iii. 2224.
Ridgway Library, i. 190.
Ridgway, Jacob, ii. 094, 1187; iii. 2224.
Ridge roail, i. 119.
Rider, Alexander, ii. 1053.
BidingClub, ii. 1095.
Bighter's Ferry, iii. 2146.
Bints, anti-negro, i. 624, 637, 638, 041, 642, 655,
660, 061, 692, 693, 837.
Native Americon, i. 663-73, 754.
list of killed in, i. 672, 673 (note).
election, i. 638, 639.
railroad, iii. 2184.
in prisons, iii. 1831.
Rising Sun Tavern, burned by British, i. 368,
369.
mention of, i. 615, 517, 609.
Risingh, John Claudii, i. 69, 130.
Ritner, Governor Joseph, i. 653.
Ritter, A., ii. 1163.
Bittenhouse, David, i. 269, 261, 263, 264, 266,
267, 291, 323, 333, 338, 341, 345, 346, 370,
398, 406, 431, 433, 447, 468, 474, 475, 477,
483.
death of, 484.
mention of, ii. 1121; iii. 1790, 1815, 1849,
1868, 1882, 2141, 2167, 2168. 2230, 2231.
Bittenhouse, Benjamin, i. 461.
Bittenhouse Square, iii. 1849.
Riverside Gazette, iii. 2058.
Rivington, James, the Tory printer, i. 159, 275.
Roach, Isaac, i. 688.
Roads, i. 10, 202, 207.
Chester, i. 261.
Philadelphia and Lancaster, i. 262.
Society for Promoting Improvement of, i.
466.
Philadelphia and York, i. 470.
Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, i. 624, 659.
Roads and stages, iii. 2158.
Robbins, John, i. 718, 733.
Robeson, Andrew, i. 124.
Robeson, George M., i. 842, 849.
Robeson, Capt. James, i. 253.
Robeson, Richard, i. 192.
Robert Morris Hose Company, i. 693.
Roberts, Algernon S., i. 681.
Roberts, George B., iii. 2195.
Robb's Row, burned in election riot,i. 639,647.
Robinson, John, ii. 1053.
Robinson, Patrick, i. 126.
Bobbery, highway (1723), i. 201.
Boberdeau, Daniel, i. 284, 296, 298, 300, 308,
311,331,334,398.
Robertson, James, i. 604.
Robin Hood Tavern, i. 346, 493.
Robin Hood Ford, i. 348.
Bochambeau, Count, in Philadelphia, i. 414.
Roche, M.B.,ii. 1434.
Roche, Dr. Rene La, ii. 1610.
Rodgers, Commodore John, i. 552-66, 670.
Rogers, H. D., ii. 1147.
Rogers, Dr. J. B., ii. 1618.
Rogei^, Randolph, statue of Lincoln, iii. 1878.
Rogers, Fairman, i. 621 ; ii. 1070.
Rogers, Rev. Dr. William, death of, i. 609.
Rolling-mill on Schuylkill, i. 541.
Rolling-mills, list of in 1867, iii. 2268.
Roman Catholic Society of St. Joseph, i. 537.
Roman Catholic Orphans' Asylum of St. John,
i. 704, 710, 791.
I Roman Catholics, i. 668, 069.
Ronaldson, James, i. 620.
Root, Henry, i. 712.
Rope-walk (1697), i. 148.
" Rope Ferry," i. 708.
Rose, Aquila, i. 202, 225, 226, 228.
Rosettes, tri-colored, adopted by ladies (1861 ), i.
757.
2392
INDEX.
Bosine Associatiou, ii. 1454.
Boss, Anna Maria, ii. 1698.
Boss, CIiarleB Brewster, abduction of, i. 839.
EosB, George, i. 290, 298, 307.
sketch of, 1. 323 (note).
Boss, John, i. 290, 774 ; ii. 1515.
Boss, George, ii. 1508.
Botbermel, Peter, battle of Gettysbm-g, iii.
1859, 2327 (note).
Boumfort, Gen. A. L., i. 682, 686.
Bcwan, Archibald H., i. 481.
Borland Saw-Worlcs, iii. 2267.
BoJLborongh, paper-mill at (1690), i. 223.
borough of, i. 707.
abolished, i. 713.
monument at, dedicated, i. 734.
Boyal Pennsylvania Gazette, iii. 1974.
Boyal Spiritual Magazine, iii. 1973.
Boyal Arcanum, history of, iii. 2076.
Eoyden Ferry, iii. 2139.
Bnnaway marriage, ii. 854.
Bnral 9Iagazine, iii. 1986.
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, i. 289, 299, 301, 309, 310,
312, 313, 319, 394, 398, 409, 424, 445, 447, 455,
498, 615, 532, 740, 780; ii. 994, 1589.
Rush, James J., i. 645.
Rush, Dr. James, ii. 883, 1164, 1186. 1696.
Bush, Mrs. Dr. James, ii. 1186, li;96.
Bush, J. Murray, i. 744, "93.
Rush, Jacob, ii. 1136, 1531.
Rush, Lewis, i. 544, 545, 561, 554, 564, 565, 582,
587, 6S8, 690, 608.
Bush, William, i. 521 ; ui. 1803, 1863, 1868, 1873,
2142,2337.
Bush, Richard, i. 607, 615, V89 ; ii. 1164, 1533.
Bush, Samuel, ii. 1544.
Rush, William, i. 254, 290, 292, 560, 564; ii.
1066.
Bushlight, i. 499.
Butter*6 iron forge, iii. 2249.
S.
St. Agatha's Catholic Church, ii. 1389.
St. Albans, ii. 1358.
St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, i. 852c; i.
1388.
St. Ambrose Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1360.
St. Andrew's Society, i. 656, 725 ; ii. 1464.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, i. 785, 791, 798 ;
ii. 1350, 1356.
St. Ann's Catholic Church, ii. 1388.
St. Ann's Widows' Asylum, ii. 1483.
St. Augustine's Church, i. 666 ; ii. 1077. 1376.
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, i. 800 ; iii,
1360.
St. Bonifacius Catholic Church, ii. 1383.
St. Bridget's Catholic Church, ii. 1384.
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, ii. 1389,
St. Chrysostom's Protestant Episcopal Church,
ii. 1360.
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, ii.
1684.
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, i. 327, 364, 410, 424, 437,
463, 523.
St. Clement's Episcopal Church, i. 726, 839 ; iii.
1356.
8t. Clement's Catholic Church, ii. 1382.
St. David's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1362.
St. Edward's Catholic Church, ii. 1389.
St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church, ii. 1382.
St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Church, ii. 1388.
St. George's Society, i. 233,526; ii. 1048.
St. George Tavern, i. 253.
St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 386,
393 ; ii. 1396.
St. George's Journal, iii. 2053.
St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church, it
1359.
St. James' Episcopal Church, i. 10, 322, 528,
620; ii. 1349, 1350. 1358.
St. James the Less Protestant Episcopal Church,
ii. 1364.
St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church Indus-
trial School, ii. 1482.
St. James Lutheran Church, ii. 1429.
St. Joachim's Catholic Church, ii. 1382.
St. John's Orphanage, iii. 2192.
St. John's Catholic Orphan Asylum, ii. 1483.
St. John's Catholic Church, ii. 1379, 1383.
St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1350,
1357, 1368.
St. John the Evangelist Protestant Episcopal
Church, ii. 1358.
St. Johannes Lutheran Church, ii 1430.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 413, 446; ii.
1371, 1389.
St. Joseph's Catholic Orphan Asylum, ii. 1483.
St. Joseph's Hospital, i. 770, 779 ; ii. 1679.
St. Joseph's Catholic College, iii. 1960.
St. Jude's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1355.
St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1350, 1363, 1368.
St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church Home,
ii. 1482.
St Malachi's Catholic Church,
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, i
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, ii. 1429.
St. Mary's Hospital, ii. 1682.
St. Mary Magdalen Asylum, i:
St. Mary's Catholic Church,
1371.
St. Mary Magdalene di Pazzi,
St. Mary's Churchyard, monuments in, iii. 1882.
St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1352.
St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, i. 738, 743 ;
ii. 1427.
Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
ii. 1384.
. 812 ; il. 1355.
. 1483.
i. 496, 604; ii.
.1384.
Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
St. Matthe
1350.
St. Matthi
1367.
St. Michael's Catholic Church, burned by mob,
i. 666; mention of, i. 722 ; ii. 1391.
St. Michael's Lutheran Church, i. 359.
St Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1358.
St. Patrick's Catholic Church, ii. 1392.
St. Patrick's Society, i 619.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, i. 256 ; ii. 1348,
1366, 1359.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, ii. 1431.
St. Paul's Catholic Church, i. 789 ; ii. 1391.
St. Peter's Catholic Church, ii. 1390.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, i. 506, 680, 654,
681, 705, 839.
centennial anniversary of, i. 778; ii. 1347,
1359.
St. Peter's Churchyard, monuments in, iii.
1874, 18S0.
St. Peter's Church bells removed, iii. 1793.
St Peter's House, ii. 1482.
St. Peter's and St. Paul's Cathedral, ii. 1.384.
St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1353.
St. Philip's Catholic Church, ii. 1392.
St Sauveur's Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1359.
St Stephen's Episcopal Church, i. 688, 730,
743, 7G3, 765, 785 ; ii. 1350, 1359.
St. Stephen's Churchyard, monuments in, iii.
1882.
St. Stephen's Catholic Church, ii. 1388.
St. Tammany, Society of, i. 407, 432, 436, 442,
447, 493, 604, 529.
St. Teresa's Catholic Church, ii. 1389.
St. Thomas' Protestant Episcopal Church, ii.
1348.
St, Timothy, ii. 1358.
St. Veronica's Catholic Church, ii. 1390.
St. Vincent's Home, ii. 1484.
St. Vincent de Paul's Catholic Society, ii. 1484.
St. Vincent dc Paul's Catholic Chnrch, ii. 1383.
St. Vincent's Catholic Orphan Asylum, ii. 1483.
St. Vincent's College, ii. 1950.
Sabbath Scholars' Magazine, iii. 1989.
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Chnrch, ii.
1384.
Salmagundi, iii. 1986, 2010.
Salt, scarcity of, iu Revolution, i. 325, 326, 360,
365, 366.
works for manufacture of, i. 326, 339.
exportation of, forbidden, i. 340.
seized after British evacuation, i. 386.
Saltpetre manufacture in Revolution, i. 298,
299,301,305.
Salaries of county officers, ii. 1575.
Samson and the Lion Inn, i. 570.
Sanderson, James Bl., i. 677.
Sanderson, John, ii. 1139.
Sanitary Commission, i. 791.
fairof.i. 815,816.
entire receipts and expenditures of, i. 816,
825.
Sansom Street Circus, ii. 979, 980.
Sansom Street Hall, i. 021, 715.
Sansom, William, i. 511, 635, 599.
Sanitarium Association, ii. 1684.
Sanford, S. S., ii. 1091.
Sargeant, Dr. W. T., i. 690.
Sargeant, W., ii. 1184.
Sartain, John, ii. 1060, 1070, 1164.
Sartain, Emily, ii. 1062.
Sartain, William, ii. 1062.
Sartain, Samnel, ii. 1062.
Sartain's Magazine, iii. 2020.
Saturday Club, i. 755 ; ii. 1098.
Saturday Courier, iii. 1997.
Saturday Morning, iii. 2053.
Saturday Journal, iii. 2060.
Saturday Evening Post, iii. 1987.
Saturday Gleaner, iii. 2020.
Saturday Mail, iii. 2025.
Saturday Gazette, Neal's, iii. 2016.
Saturday Emporium, iii. 2021.
Saturday Chronicle, iii. 2011.
Saturday Night, iii. 2035.
Saturday Museum, iii. 2011.
Saturday Bulletin, iii. 1991.
Saur, Christopher, printer at Germantown, i.
7,151,250,254,387,397,412,420; ii. 877; iiL
1964.
Savings Fund, Franklin, i. 838, 839.
Sixpenny, i. 712.
Philadelphia, i. 596, 804.
Savings-banks proposed, i. 589.
Saviour Protestant Episcopal Church, ii. 1356.
Savage, E., ii. 1042.
Savannah, great fire in (1820), i. 600.
Savings and loan companies, i. 648.
Saw-Works, Keystone, iii. 2267.
Rowland, iii. 2267.
Say, Dr. Benjamin, i. 511, 533.
Say. Thomas, ii. 1147.
Scattergood, Thomas, i. 535.
Scattered Seeds, iii. 2O40.
Schuylkill River, topography of, i. 2.
names of, i. 7.
falls of, i. 7.
INDEX.
2393
Schuylkill Biver :
mention of, i. 67, 68, 73, 74.
caves in banks of, i. 101.
first ferry on, i. 120, 126.
mills on, i. 146.
Swedes' Ford on, i. 148.
shad flsberies of. i. 207, 264.
bridge over, projected, i. 244, 261.
projects to improve navigation of, i. 254,
266, 260, 264, 4.31, 433, 434, 460, 461, 466,
627, 861, 668, 569, 682, 612.
Middle Ferry across, i. 257, 261, 294, 296,
343, 347, 348, 364, 365, 369.
Gray's Ferry over, i. 524, 569.
Upper Ferry across, i. 628, 650, 659.
Lower Ferry over, i. 524.
Matson's Ford of, i. 382.
floating bridges over, i. 295, 348, 360, 547.
bridge at Middle Ferry, i. 294,396, 492,603.
bridge at Gray's Ferry proposed, i. 624, 559.
at Upper Ferry, i. 559.
company to bridge the, incorporated, i. 642.
Falls bridge over, i. 560.
chain bridge over, bnilt, i. 541.
destroyed, i. 550.
rolling-mill on, i. 541, 542.
permanent bridge over, i. 496, 619, 623.
Schuylkill Navigation Company, i. 649, 561, 589,
592, 696, 612, 663.
Schuylkill Falls Bridge Company, i. 689; iii.
2145.
Schuylkill election district formed, i. 610.
Schuylkill West Branch Navigation Company,
i. 696.
Schuylkill Fishing Company, i. 215.
Schuylkill Bank, closing of, i. 653, 654.
Schuylkill Railroad Company, i. 677, 678, 698,
715 (note).
Schuylkill Navigation Company's bridge, iii.
2146.
Schuylkill Glass-Works, iii. 2399.
Schuylkill Upper Ferry, iii. 2140.
Schuylkill Iron-Works, iii. 2252.
Schuylkill Ferry, iii. 2139, 2143
Schuylkill Arsenal, ii. 1014.
Schuylkill Coal Company, i. 611.
Schuylkill Middle Ferry, iii. 2140, 2141.
Schaeffer, Willinm L., i. 621.
Schools, first, in Philadelphia, i. 112, 113.
taught by George Keith, i. 123, 124.
in 1698, i. 148.
taught by Thomas Makin (1705), i. 184.
Walton's, i. 214.
by Enoch Flower and Keith, i. 221-23,
charity, in Philadelphia (1765), i. 250.
Academy, ii. 871.
charitable, ii. 1471.
dislrict, first, in Pennsylvania, i, 587, 594.
dancing, ii. 864, 962.
Protestant Episcopal, ii. 1360.
Scholars' Quarterly, iii. 2061.
Schetky, C.,ii. 1053.
Schneider, William B., Masonic dedication of
monument to, i. 837; iii. 1876.
Schooner" White Fish," aiTival of, at Philadel-
phia from Lake Erie (1795), 483.
Schofield & Bronson's Woolen-Mill, iii. 2304.
Schwaebisches Wochenblatt, iii. 2061.
Scots' Presbyterian Church, i. 442.
Scots' Society, ii. 1466.
Scott Legion, i. 689, 702, 717, 750, 761, 774, 776,
777.
Scott, James M., i. 674, 687, 688, 721.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, i. 554, 565, 662, 663, 676,
601, 682, 759, 763, 764, 772, 773, 776, 778.
Scott, Capt. Robert K., i. 671.
Scott, Thomas A., iii. 2193.
Scott Methodist Episcopal Church, 1. 726.
Scott's Weekly Paper, iii. 2021.
Scotch Thistle Society, i. 726.
Scull, Nicholas, i. 211, 232.
Scull, Robert, i. 1J55.
Scull, Edward, i. 218.
Scull, John, i. 189.
Scull's map, list of mills on, iii. 2296.
Sculptors, ii. 1065.
Seamen's Protestant Episcopal Mission, ii, 1362,
Seamen's Aid Society, ii. 1478.
Seamen's Friend Society, ii. 1478.
Secret orders and societies, iii. 2062.
Masonic order, iii. 2062.
Odd-Fellows, iii. 2071,
list of officers of Grand Lodge, iii. 2073.
American Legion of Honor, iii. 2074.
Order of Elks, iii. 2074.
Artisans' Order of Mutual Protection, iii.
2074,
Iron Hall, iii. 2074.
Knights of the Golden Rule, iii. 2074.
Ancient Order of Good-Fellows, iii. 2074.
Knights of Honor, iii. 2074.
Order of United Friends, iii. 2075.
Royal Arcanum, iii. 2075.
Home Circle, iii. 2075.
Order of United American Mechanics, iii.
2075.
Patriotic Sons of America, iii. 2075.
Great Senate of Sparta, iii. 2076.
Sons of Temperance, iii. 2076.
Grand Army of the Republic, iii. 2076.
Independent Order of Good Templan^, iii.
2078.
Knights of Pythias, iii. 2079.
Knights of the Golden Eagle, iii, 2080,
Ancient Order of United Workmen, iii,
2081.
Improved Order of Red Men, iii. 2081.
Independent Order of Red Men, iii. 2084.
Second Presbyterian Church, i. 725; ii. 1272.
Second Baptist Church, i. 731 (note).
Second Uuiversalist Church, i, 713,
Secession of States, i. 736, 737.
Sedgeley, i, 669, 676,
Sedition Law, i. 605, 527, 531.
Seidenstricker, Oswald, ii. 1167.
Sellers, John, i. 201 ; iii, 2260.
Sellers, William, iii. 2263,
Select Council created (1796), i. 486.
Select Review and Spirit of the Magazines, iii.
1983.
Seminole war, i. 687, 591.
Senior Military Association, i, 570.
Senate, Speakers of, iii. 1765.
Presidents of. iii. 1765.
Senate and House of Representatives meet in
Philadelphia, iii. 1771,
Senators of United States, iii, 1765, 1822,
Senat, Prosper L,, iii, 2328,
Sergeant, John, i. 564, 571, 681, 584, 608,611,
614, 619, 626, 636, 643, 648, 656, 657, 668, 680,
705,812; ii.l534.
Sergeant, Jonathan D., i. 370, 408, 425, 473-75,
478.
Sergeant, Thomas, i. 667, 691, 592, 695.
Sergeant, Henry, i. 614, 573.
Sergeant, William, ii. 1636.
Seybert, Dr. A., ii. 1617 ; iii. 2273.
Seymour, Hon. Horatio, in Philadelphia, i. 835.
Shackamaxon, the supposed treaty at, i, 104-7.
the neutral ground of, 1, 130,
the Fairman house at, i. 186.
Shackamaxon Square, iii, 1862,
Shakespeare buildiug, an old landmark,
burned, i, 703,
Shakespeare Hotel, the, i, 534, 643,544, 546,648.
Sharpless, James, ii, 1045,
Sharpless, Townsend, death of, i, 810, 811.
Sbarswood, Jal
Sharswood, H(
1548.
Shaw, Joshua,
Shee, Col. Job
!s, i. 549.
. George, i. 770, 784; ii, 1165,
mcouraged, i. 51
863, 937.
on the Delawa
Sericulture
Servants, ii.
Settlements
96.
Settlers,
Welsh, i. 118.
Scotch-Irish, i. 118.
Seward, William H., i. 792, 821, 833.
and customs of, i, 129-57,
1054,
i, 284, 292, 296, 307, 328, 331,
409, 428. 448, 463, 469, 494, 506, 509, 520.
Sheep, fine, importation of, i, 532,
merino, iii, 2302,
Shelter for Colored Orphans, attacked and fired
by a mob, i. 652.
Sheltering Arms, ii. 1483,
"Shenandoah," 8loop-i>f-war, launched, i, 805,
Sbeppard, Furman, ii, 1169, 1651.
Sherry, John, 1.719,
Sherman, Gen, W. T,, i, 812, 818, 849,
Sherman, Conger, iii, 2329.
Sheriffs, iii, 1737,
Shields, Rev. C. W., i. 725.
Shiloh Baptist Chnrch, i. 732.
Shippen, Edward, i. 123, 126, 128, 129, 148, 168,
169, 174, 175, 177, 180-82, 184, 186, 212, 214,
276, 294, 364, 379, 389, 390, 396, 436, 452,
515, 517, 619, 866 ; ii. 1029, 1609.
mansion of, ii. 871.
Shippen, Capt. William, killed at battle of
Princeton, i. 337.
Shippen, Joseph, i. 244,261.
Shippen, Br. William, originator of first medi-
cal college in Philadelphia, i. 267.
mention of, i, 336, 406, 481 ; ii. 1585 ; iii.
1940.
Shippen, Dr. Joseph G., i. 686,
Shippen, Thomas Lee, i, 481.
Shippen, Margaret (Mrs, Benedict Arnold), i.
378, 389, 390, 392, 393; ii, 899, 1692,
Ship Tavern, i, 262,
Ship " William Brown," foundering of at sea,
i, 669.
Ships in China trade prior to 1822, iii. 2216.
Ships of Philadelphia (1805), i. 522.
Ship-building, i. 616, 617 ; iii. 2336.
Ship-yard of Robert Turner, i. 148.
Shoe and Leather Trade Association, i, 862b ;
iiii. 2364.
Shoes, ii. 860, 880, 884, 916.
Shoemaker, Samuel, ii. 898.
Shot-towers, i. 631, 544, 679.
Shulze, Governor John Andrew, i. 606, 609,
616.
Shubert, Michael, i. 324.
Shunk, Governor Francis B., i. 612, 679, 688.
Sick diets, ii. 14S2.
Sickel, Gen. H. G., i. 724, 818.
Sign-boards, ii. 875.
Signs, tavern, ii. 986.
Silk production, i. 203, 265.
Society to promote, and memorial of Philo-
sophical Society on, i. 262.
Silk manufacture, iii. 2311, 2312.
Silversmiths of Philadelphia apply for an assay
oface, i. 260.
Simpson, Bishop Matthew, i. 815, 816, 829, 830,
846; ii. 1400.
Simpson, Mrs, Matthew, ii. 1700,
Simpson, Stephen, ii, 1147.
Simmons, A. H., i. 712 (note).
2394
INDEX.
Simcocke, John, autograph of, i. 128,
Singerly, William M., iii. 2042.
Singing societiee, ii. 1088.
Sisters of St. Joseph (Catholic), iii. 1953.
Sistere of Charity, i. 633, 666, 667.
Sixth Presbyterian Church, i. 838.
Skating, ii. 939.
Skene, Maj., in Philadelphia, i. 300, 301.
Sketch Club, ii. 1074,1094.
Slate-Koof House, i. 147 (note), 159, 160, 254 ;
ii. 854 ; iii. 1786.
Slavery among the Dutch on the Delaware, i.
65 (note), 76.
discountenanced by Germans, i. 117.
in Philadelphia, i. 186.
mention of, i, 189, 190, 200, 256, 304, 306.
abolition of in Pennsylvania, i. 396, 405,
419.
first slave-case under the law abolishing, i.
426 ; ii. 863, 884.
society for the abolition of, ii. 1477.
Slave-trade, prohibited by Congress, i. 479.
vessels engaged in, confiscated, i. 491, 492.
at Philadelphia, 507 (note),
convention for suppression of the, i. 607.
Slemmer, Lieut., i. 769.
Sloan, Samuel, i. 621 ; ii, 1063, 1159.
Small, Col. William F., i. 679, 687, 754, 758, 760,
763, 768, 769, 770, 777, SuO, 808, 817.
Smith's Beneficial Hall destroyed by a mob, i.
661.
Smith, Charles S., i. 716.
Smith, Charles Emory, iii. 2028.
Smith, Edmund, iii. 2196.
Smith, Dr. F. G., ii. 1625.
Smith, Judge Charles, i. 043.
Smith, Jonalh.iD Bayard, i. 559, 567.
Smith, Jonathan, cashier of the Bank of the
United States, i. 585.
Smith, Col. James, i. 319.
Smith, John Jay, ii. 11S3; iii. 1960.
Smith, Horace W., ii. 1158.
Smith, Henry H., ii. 1164.
Smith, Thomas S., i. 693.
Smith, Mrs. Mary B., ii. 1700.
Smith, Kev. William, D.D., i. 261, 289, 290,306,
394-97, 405, 435, 463.
Smith, William, ii. 1126, 1588, 1593.
Smith, Peter Sken, i. 678, 686.
Smith, Samuel, iii. 2223.
Smith, Robert, i. 29u.
Smith, Richard Somers, iii. 2116, 2123.
Smith's Weekly Volume, iii. 2016.
Smith, Lloyd P., ii. 1158, 1185.
Smith, Robert, ii. 1068.
Smith's Island, i. 8, 705.
Smithers, James, ii. 1056.
Smugglers, iii. 1802.
Smuggling, i. 127, 282, 284.
association to prevent, i, 446 (note).
Snowden, Isaac, i. 233.
Snowden, James Ross, i. 687, 7.56, 769, 788.
Snowden, Archibald Loudon, ii. 1193; iii. 1810,
1818.
Snuff-mill at Mill Creek, i. 586.
Snyder, Governor Simon, i. 620-29, 533, 639-41,
544r-46, 562, 553, 557, 563, 568, 574, 576, 577,
588
Soap manufacture, iii. 2283.
Soap, perfumery, etc., statistics of,iii. '2283.
Social Art Clnh, ii. 1093.
Social clubs, ii. 1092.
Society for the Alleviation of Miseries of Pub-
lic Prisons, iii. 1820, 1829.
Society for the Relief of Distressed Prisoners,
i. 805 ; iii. 1826.
Society, Philadelphia Premium, iii. 22:U.
Society of Friends, history of, ii. 1241.
Society, ii. 865, 879.
Society for the Relief of Poor and Distressed
Masters of !?hips, ii. 1469.
Society for the Free Instruction of Female
Children, ii. 1475.
Society of Covenanters, i. 661.
Society of Sons of St. George, i. 725, 762 ; ii.
1467.
Society of United Irishmen, i. 493, 497.
Society for Encouragement of Domestic Manu-
factures, i. 524; iii. 2314.
Society Hill Theatre, first in Philadelphia
(1759), by David Douglass, i. 254.
Society of Fort St. David's Welsh fishing club,
i. 233, 281, 496.
: Societies organized in Philadelphia (1787), i.
[ 445.
j Soda, manufacture of (1785), i. 439.
I Soldiers of 1812-15, i. 579-80 (note).
I Soldiers' Monument at Germantown, i. 8528.
j Soldiers, sick and wounded, brought to Phila-
I delphia, i. 797, 798, 800, 802, 803, 805, 809, 814,
j 818, 825.
j Soldiers' Hospital, i. 783, 786.
Soldiers' votes, returns of excluded (1S61), i.
783,784,786.
Soldiers' Relief Association of the Episcopal
Church, i. 789.
Soldiers' families, relief for, i. 762.
Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, i. 827.
Soldiers' Home of Philadelphia, i. 832 ; ii. 1487.
Soldiers' costumes, ii. 893.
Soldiers' monuments, iii. 1875-77.
"Solitude" mansion, i. 705 (note).
Solicitors of the district, ii. 1575.
Sons of Washington Society, i. 568.
Sons of Liberty, i. 269.
Sonntags Journal, iii. 205 -.
Sorrel Horse Tavern, i. 257, 538.
Souder, Caspar, Jr., i. 712 (note) ; ii. 1155.
Sender, Edmund A-, i. 681.
Southwark, district of, erected, i. 256, 257, 549.
overseers of poor for, i. 264.
regulations in, i. 266.
joined with city for military purposes, i.
410.
streets laid ont in, i. 446.
regulators and supervisors for, i. 453.
incorporated, i. 480.
town-house for, i. 486, 487.
construction of naval vessels at, i. 491,568.
night-watch and lighting streets in, i. 560.
Schuylkill water introduced in, i. 617.
divided into wards, i. 647.
Southwark Foundry, iii. 2253.
Southwark Theatre, i. 407, 420 ; ii. 966.
Southwark Hall, iii. 1775.
Southwark and Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore Railroad, iii 2181.
Southwark Library, ii. 1214.
Southwark Pottery, iii. 2297.
Southwark Bank, i. 615, 616, 640.
Southwark Light Infantry, i. 488, 494.
Southby, William, i. 123.
South Street bridge, iii. 2147.
South Street Theatre, the old, i. 371 ; ii. 968.
Southern Dispensary, ii. 1684.
Southern Home for Destitute Children, ii. 1455.
Southern Monitor, iii. 2026.
Soup societies, ii. 1471.
Sower, iii. 2060.
Sparks, Thomas, i. 680.
Spain, war with, proclaimed, i. 209, 210.
Specie payments, suspension of, i. 577, 581, 585.
resumption of, i. 5S8.
suspension of (1837), i. 048,
Specie payments :
resumption of, i. 650, 653.
second suspension of, i. 653, 655.
second resumption of, i. 657.
suspension of, by banks (1860), i. 738.
Spectator, iii. 2061-
Spies, American, i. 339, 375.
Spirit of the Press, iii. 1882.
Spirit of the Times, iii. 2012.
Spiritual associations, ii. 1449.
Spinning-jenny, iii. 2313.
Sporting and Dramatic Companion, iii. 1999.
Spring, Arthur, crimes and execution o^ i.
709, 710.
Spring Garden, district of, i. 542.
incorporated, i. 568.
district formed, i. 662.
abolished, i. 713.
Spring Garden Fire Insurance Company, iii.
2119.
Spring Garden Association, ii. 1470.
Spring Garden Institute, ii. 1223.
Spring Garden Unitarian Society, ii. 1406.
Spring Garden Hall, iii. 1775.
Spring Garden Presbyterian Church, i. 701.
Spruce Street Woolen-Mill, iii. 2303.
Spruce Street, iii, 21.57,
Spy in Philadelphia, iii. 1999.
Staats Zeitung, iii. 2ul6.
State-House, ii. 1013.
attempt to fire, iii. 1791.
purchased by Philadelphia, i. 852c; iii.
1770, 1782.
feast at the, iii. 1786.
occupation of, iii. 1790, 1791.
steeple erected, iii. 1792.
restored, iii. 1793.
grounds improved, iii. 1795.
yard a place for public meeting, iii. 1796.
bell purchased, iii. 1792.
removed, iii. 1793.
! other bells for, iii. 1794.
I clock, iii. 1794.
I pumps, iii. 1797, 1798.
1 trustees appointed to build, iii. 1781.
purchase of lots south of, iii. 1782.
grounds declared a '* public green forever,"
iii. 1782.
erection of, iii. 1783.
committee on erection of, iii. 1783.
finished, iii. 1785.
State offices, location of, in 1786, i. 440.
State armories, ii. 1016.
State arsenals, ii. 1012.
State capital, removal of to Harrisburg, i. 424,
434, 445, 501, 558.
State Fencibles, i. 663-66, 571-73, 625, 679, 702,
707; ii.1018.
Star and (Sarter Inn, i. 200, 201 (note).
Star, Evening, iii. 1930, 1984, 2036.
Staughton, Rev. William, i. 573, 685, 591. .
Stage, iii. 1808, 2043.
Stage lines, i. 206, 487, 518, 524, 547.
Stamp Act, i. 260, 269, 278, 279, 623 ; ii. 856 ; iii.
1801.
Stamp duties in 1813, i. 669.
Standard, Christian, iii. 2039.
Standard, Catholic, iii. 2037.
Standard, Protestant, iii. 2053.
Statement, tabular, of the several industries,
number of persons employed, value produced
in 1882, iii. 2240-46.
Stanhope .S: Supplee, iii. 2253.
Station-houses, iii. 1779.
Statesman, iii. 1989.
Statesman, Pennsylvania, iii. 2022.
Statesman, Christian, iiL 2037.
INDEX.
2395
stamper, Jolin, ii. 883.
Steam-engines and boilers, iii. 1759.
Steam Tow-Boat Company, the Philadelpbia, i.
648, 711.
Steam fire-engines introduced in Philadelphia,
i.7I8.
Steamboats, i. 838.
the Pennsylvania and New Jersey, i. 582;
iii. 2262, 2165.
on Delaware, i. 543, 544, 577.
Ericsson Line, i. 720 ; iii. 2169.
Philadelphia, Albany and Troy, iii. 2170.
Steamboat of Oliver Evans, i. 621, 522.
of John Fitch, i. 72, 462, 543, 644.
Steamship Line, European, established, i. 699.
to Charleston, i. 693, 704, 711.
to New Orleans,!. 691.
to Liverpool, i.704, 811, 825,838.
to Ciilifornia, i. 707.
American, iii. 2170.
Boston and Philadelphia, iii. 2170.
Clyde, iii. 2170.
Providence, iii. 2170.
Red Star, iii. 2170.
Steamship company, the Philadelphia and
Savannah, i. 090.
the Ocean, iii. 2170.
tlie Pennsylvania, i. 699.
Steam ferry, first, to Camden, i. 547.
Steam Carriage Company, iii. 2254.
Steam carriages first put in operation, i. 521,
Steam Navigation Company, the Philadelphia
and Atlantic, i. 693.
the Philadelphia and New York, i. 695.
Steadfast Woolen-Mill, iii. 2304.
Steel, James W., ii. 1058.
Steel, Maj.-GBD. John, i. 644, 563-65, 571, 590,
599.
Steel engraving, ii, 1064.
Steel manufacture, early, i. 218, 263, 264,280, 439.
furnaces, iii. 2250, 2251.
Steeples, towers, domes, etc., heights of, iii.
1752.
Stenton.i. 9, 161,363; ii. 872.
Steuben, Baron, i. 728.
Stevens Water Battery, i. 749.
Stevens, Rt. Rev. William Bacon, i. 697, 785,
791, 815 ; ii. 1.339.
Stevens, Paran, i. 734.
Stewart, Robert R., i. 641.
Stewart, George, i. 259.
Stewait, Commodore Charles, i. 558, 586, 649,
682, 724, 739, 744, 748, 765, 780, 797.
sketch of, i. 748.
Rear-Admiral, i. 801.
death and funeral of, i. 836.
Stewart's Banjo and Guitar Journal, iii. 2061.
Stills, A. C, ii. 1155, 1198.
Stockton's Dental Intelligencer, iii. 2016.
Stoddart's Review, iii. 2058.
Stokes, John W., i. 730.
Stokes, William A., i. 668, 674, 679.
Story, Enoch, i. 286, 387, 396.
property of, sold, i. 397.
Sto
.877.
manufactured, iii. 2261.
Stone cutters' Society, ii. 1469.
Stocking-weaving and knitting, iii. '2305.
Stockings, ii. 915.
Stocks, ii. 867.
Stockton, F. K., ii. 1106.
Stokley, William S., i. 837, 840, 844, 845, 848,
860.
Strawbridge and Clothier's Quarterly, iii. 2061.
Streets of Philadelphia, ii. 869, 874.
Street passenger railways, introduction of, i.
717, 727, 729, 730, 733.
Street pa'^senger railways, Sunday running of,
i.731.
cars on, propelled by steam, i. 730, 810,
838.
fares on, raised, i. 805, 821.
Streets cloned by chains on Sundays, i. 628,
629.
Streets, sewers, length of, iii. 1761.
numbering of, iii. 1747.
Strickland, William, i. 613, 6'22; ii. 979, 1068,
1069, 1169; iii. 1793, 1803, 1816.
Struthere, William, iii. 1798, 2293, 2294.
Struthers, John, iii. 1793.
Stuart, George H., i. 728, 732, 799, 823, 827,
830.
Stuart, Gilbert, ii. 1043.
Stuyvesant, Peter, i. 68-71, 73.
Stylus Club, ii. 1096.
Sugar refineries, iii. 2284.
Franklin, iii. 2284.
Grocers' Steam, iii. 2284.
Morgan, Douglas & Shaffer, iii. 2284.
Sugar-refining, early, i. 439, 668.
Sugar beet, iii. 2058.
Suicide, ii. 857.
Sullivan, Gen., i. 345, 347.
at Germantown, i. 355-68.
Sully, Thomas, ii. 1046.
Summary of iron manufacture in 1882, iii.
■2269.
Summerdale Print- Works, iii. 2318.
Sunday Sun (first), iii. 2011, (second) 2016.
Sunday Atlas, iii. 2030.
Sunday Gazette, iii. 1998.
Sunday Transcript, iii. 2025.
Sunday Globe, iii. 2021.
Sunday Times, i. 730: iii. 2033.
Sunday Independent, iii. 2059.
Sunday Ledger, iii. 2021.
Sunday Observer, iii. 2U33.
Sunday Republic, iii. 2038.
iii. 2044.
. 2057.
i. 2062.
2024.
. '2052.
2024.
Sunday Tribune,
Sunday Argus, iii
Sunday Mirror, ii
Sunday Press, iii.
Sunday World, iii
Sunday Delta, iii.
Sunday Dispatch, iii 2020.
Sunday Mercury, iii. 2022.
Sunday Courier, iii. "2032.
Sunday Hour, iii 2061.
] Sunday-School Magazine, iii. 1989.
Sunday-School Union, ii. 1488.
Sunday-schools, ii. 13G2.
Sunday-School Journal, iii. 1996.
Sunday-School Herald, Lutheran, iii. 2032.
i Sunday-School Teacher, Augsburg, iii. 2052.
j Sunday-School World, iii. 2032.
Sun Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2123.
Sun, Daily, iii. 2015.
Sun. the Philadelphia, i. 665.
Sunlight, iii. 2001.
Sunbury and Erie Railroad, i. 708, 709, 714,
715 (note).
Sunderland, Rev. Byron, i. 728.
Supreme Executive Council, i. 338, 339, 341,
342, 345-48, 370, 377, 383.
removes to Lancaster, 1. 350.
returns to Philadelphia, i. 386.
mention of, i. 387, 390-92, 394-96, 398, 399,
400, 403-5, 408, 410, 412, 414-18, 420, 424,
427-30, 434, 437, 438, 440, 443, 445, 447,
462-64.
abolished, i. 456, 463.
mention of, i. 457, 458, 549, 671.
Supreme Court, held in Philadelphia, Iii.
1770.
Supreme Court, ii. 1557.
Superintendent of Naval Asylum, ii. 1669.
Supplies, government, furnished from Philadel-
phia, i. 773.
Surveys and surveyors, iii. 1748.
Surveyors-general, iii. 17(37.
Surveyors and regulators, district, iii. 1749.
Surgical Register, Medical aud, iii. 2019.
Surgical Journal, North America Medical and,
iii. 1990.
Susquehanna and Schuylkill Canal, i. 525.
Susquehanna River, fortifications on, i. 780.
Sutherland, Joel B., i. 667, 681, 584, 588, 692,
604-0, 608, 718, 746, 751, 769, 780 ; il. 1644.
death of, i. 787.
Swaim, William, iii. 1704 (note).
Swain, Gen. Francis, i. 649, 568.
Swain, William M., i. 834 ; iii. 200O, 2004, 2005,
2130.
Swann'e amphitheatre, ii. 953.
Swan Tavern, i. 478.
Swaanendael, colony at, i. 31, 59, 60, 259.
Swedes on the Delaware, i. 2, 4.
old mill of the, i. 6.
at Christiana, last settlement of, on the
Delaware, i. 70-72.
fii-st landholders in Philadelphia, i. 73-75,
130.
settlers, list of, i. 131, 132, 134, 135, 137-39.
bouses of, i. 139, 150.
Church at Wicaco, i. 153.
habits of, i. 154.
mention of, i. 259.
Swedes' Ford, i. 348, 349, 382.
Swedes' Church burying-ground, monuments
in, iii. 1881.
Swedish immigrants, ii. 1232.
Swedish colony, iii. 2300.
Swedish Church history, ii. 1229.
Swedenborgian Church, ii. 1432, 1435.
Swiss colony near Conestoga, i. 190.
Swift, John, i. 609, 637, 038, 052, 665, 657, 678,
682, 686, 692, 693 ; ii. 1539.
Swords, James B., iii. 2328.
Tacony Chemical- Works, iii. 2277.
Tacony New Era, iii. 2060.
Tacony Print-Works burned, i. 834.
Tageblatt, Philadelphia, iii. 2053.
Taggart, John H., i. 730 (note).
Tamanend, or Tammany, Indian Sachem, i. 38,
I 39, 107. 125, 265, 851.
I Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, i. 265,
493, 508, 512, 517-19, 526, 629, 545, 562, 653,
573, 677.
Tanneries, early, i. 154.
"Tartar," frigate, launched, i. 235.
Tavern rates established, i. 206.
Taverns, ii. 858, 860, 955, 900, 980.
Taverns, number of, in Philadelphia in 1766, i.
252.
Taxes and taxation, iii. 1710, 1717.
Taxes first levied in Pennsylvania, i. 125-27.
board of revision of, iii. 1717.
proprietary, i. 180.
Taxables in Philadelphia in 1751, i. 245.
Taylor, Col. Abraham, i. 215.
Taylor, Gen. Zachary, i. 679, 682, 688, 692.
death of, and funeral honors to, i. 696,
697.
Taylor, Jacob, printer, i. 224.
Taylor, Dr. Oliver H., i. 6.33.
Taylor, Rev. W. J. R., i. 829.
Taylor, Stephen, i. 720.
2396
INDEX.
Tea, ii. 910.
combiQation against importation of, i. 283,
286.
ship laden with, forced to return to Eng-
land, i. 286-88.
interdiction of uee of, i. 295, 304.
thrown into the Delaware, i. 326.
service of William Penn, iii. 869.
Teacher, iii. 2067.
Teacher, Augsburg Sunday-School, iii. 2052.
Teacher, Baptist, iii. 2040.
Teachers' Institute, iii. 1934.
Teacher's Offering, iii. 1989.
Teedyuscung, the Delaware sachem, i. 44.
" Telegraph," steamboat, explosion of boiler of,
i. 698,
Telegraph, the police and fire-alarm, intro-
duced, i. 721.
Telegraph line, first, i. 642.
Telegraph, iii. 1930, 2033.
Telegraph und Wochenblatt, iii. 1997.
Telegraphs, telephones, and electric lights, iii.
2128.
Magnetic Telegraph Company, iii. 2132,
New York and Washington Telegraph
Company, iii. 2132.
Philadelphia Local Telegraph Company,
iii. 2132.
American District Telegraph Company, iii.
2133.
Telegraph companies in 1884, iii. 2134.
Telephone lines in 1884, iii. 2134.
Electric lights, iii, 2134.
Telephone Company, Baxter, iii. 2136.
Telephone Company, Bell, iii. 2135.
Telegraphers, Brotherhood of, i. 852b.
strike of, i, 852b.
Telephone, West Philadelphia, iii. 2062.
Temperance Advocate, iii. 2014.
Temperance Si icieties, ii, 1362.
Ten Eyck, J. P„ i. 712 (note).
Tennent, Kev. Gilbert, i. 214, 236, 242.
Terpsichore, iii. 2061.
Teutonia Fire Insurance Company, iii. 2122.
Textile Association, iii, 2349,
Textile fabrics, narrow, manufacture, iii. 2307.
Textile manufacture, American, iii. 2069.
Textile Monitor, iii. 2061.
Textile Record of America, iii. 2058.
Theatricals, ii. 804.
Theatres, ii. 865, 953, 957, 1075, 1091.
Academy of Music, ii. 1083.
American Museum, ii. 980.
American, ii. 975.
Arch Street, ii. 979.
Arch Street Opera-Hou8e,ii'. 980.
Apollo Street, ii. 970,
Chestnut Street, ii. 968, 970, 977, 980, 1081.
Fox's New American, ii, 980.
Hallam's American, ii. 887, 965, 1075.
McDonough's Olympic, ii. 980.
National,ii.948, 980, 997.
Northern Exchange, ii. 979.
of Art, ii. 980.
Olympic, ii. 973, 975, 977, 978.
Peale's Museum, ii. 979.
Pennsylvania, ii. 979.
Sanford's Opera-House, ii. 980.
South Street, ii. 968, 1076.
South wark, ii. 966,
Summer, ii. 968.
Walnut Street, ii. 975, 977, 978.
Washington Amphitheatre, ii, 979.
Washington Museum, ii. 978,
Wood's Museum, ii. 980.
Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo,
iii. 1949.
Theological Review, iii. 1986.
Third Baptist Church, i. 743.
Third Reformed Dutch Church, i. 829.
Thomas, Col. George, Lieutenant-Governor, i.
178, 208, 214, 235, 236,
Thomson, Edward, i. 756.
Thomas, Gabriel, i. 36, 129, 146, 147, 164, 222.
Thomas, Joseph, ii, 1167.
Thomas, Joseph M., i. 756.
Thomas, Martin, i, 727.
Thomas, William B., i. 719, 720, 722; iii. 2224.
Thomson, Charles, i. 46, 47, 124, 239, 246, 266,
261, 267, 271, 273-75, 284, 289-91, 292, 304,
315, 318, 409, 419, 609 ; iii. 1874.
Thomson, J. Edgar, i. 483, 732, 755, 780 ; iii.
1749, 2190, 2202.
Thomson, C.W.,ii. 1143.
Thomson, William, i. 695.
Thompson, Col. John, i. 634.
Thompson, Gen. William, i. 393, 401.
Thompson, James, ii. 1540.
Thompson, John,], 721.
Thompson, Judge Oswald, i. 731.
Thompson, Thomas M,, i, 851.
Thompson, Thomas McK., i. 626.
Thorn, George W,, i, 728.
Thornhill, John, ii. 1068.
Thornton, Dr. William, ii, 1068.
Thoroughbred Stock Journal, iii. 2061.
Thorpe, C, N, & Co., iii. 2335.
Thorpe. Siddal & Co., Bleach- and Print- Works,
iii, 2316.
Thouron Square, iii. 1852.
Three-months' troops, return of, i. 773, 774,
776.
of Philadelphia, list of, i. 827.
Three.years' troops, return of, i. 825, 826.
of Philadelphia, list of, i.827, 828.
Three Crowns Tavern, i. 253 ; ii. 982.
Tickler, iii. 1983.
Tiernan, Francis, i. 693.
Tilden, Samuel J,, i. 847.
Tilghman, Chief-Justice William, i. 626, 541,
556, 668,566, 569, 677, 681, 683, 686, 691, 600,
611, 615, 617; ii. 1206, 1508, 1513.
Tilghman, Edward, i.500, 528.
Tilghman, James, i. 271, 343 ; ii. 1508.
Tilton, Theodore, i. 732,
Tilt-hammer forge (1760), i. 218.
Timber-yards (1697), i, 148.
Times, Daily Morning, iii. 2022.
Times, Denial, iii. 2037.
Times, Philadelphia Medical, iii. 2043.
Times, Sunday, iii, 2033.
Times, Sunday-School, iii. 2031.
Times, the, i. 840; iii. 2045.
Tinicum Island, i. 63 (note), 67, 70, 72, 133,
140, 370.
Tippecanoe, battle of, 562.
Tobacco inspection and storage warehouse, i.
649.
Tobacco, manufacture of, iii. 2230.
Tobacco Trade Association, iii. 2351.
Toland, Robert, i. 680, 681.
Tomatoes first used, ii. 938.
Tomlinson, John & Co., i. 647.
Toutine Exchange, i, 625.
Torpedoes, submarine (1814), i. 575.
Tories, i. 32S, 329, 336, 340, 368, 40O, 401, 410-
13, 428.
disarmament of, advised by Congress, i.
314.
prisoners from Carolina and New York, i.
326.
severely dealt with, i. 339.
in Philadelphia during British occupation,
i. 365, 366.
Tories, persecutions by, i. 384-86.
attainted as traitors, lists of, i. 386, 387
(note).
forfeited estates of, sold, i. 397, 419, 420.
Tory ladies, ii. 901.
Totten, Lieut.-Col. J, G., i. 621.
Tow-boat Owners' Association, iii. 2354.
Towers, Robert, i, 301.
Town bell, ii, 857, 868.
Town crier, ii. 867, 858.
Town hall of Philadelphia (1710), i. 187.
Town house, ii. 867,
Townsend, George Alfred, i. 729.
Townships, i. 16.
laid out by Penn, i. 119.
Trade, ii. 876.
Trade and commerce, iii. 2205.
Trade revived in 1815, iii. 2233.'
Tradesmen, ii. 862, 876, 904.
Trades Union, first in Philadelphia, i. 541.
Traquair, James, ii. 1066.
Transcript, Daily, ii. 1999.
Transcript, Sunday, iii. 2025.
Transfiguration, Protestant Episcopal Church
of, ii, 1360.
Transportation lines to New York, i. 613.
Trangram, or Fashionable Trifler, iii. 1984,
Travel, early lines of, to New York, i. 647,569,
691, 613,
to Baltimore, i. 547, 591.
People's Line, i. 640.
proposed to Norfolk, Va,, i. 613.
Traveler and Every Saturday, iii. 2044.
Travelers' Oflicial Railway Guide, iii. 2040.
Traitors attainted, i. 395, 400, 412.
Treaty of Amiens, iii. 2219.
Treaty Island, i. 9.
Treaty Councils with Indians, first on Delaware,
i 60.
at Tinicum, by Swedes, i. 70,
at Shackamaxon, by Penn, i. 104, 107.
at Pennsbury, i. 171.
at Philadelphia, Conestoga, i. 188, 189.
and White Marsh, i. 178, 188, 189, 208, 210.
Treaty-tree, i. 104, 106.
Treaties with England, i. 427,432,477,478,480,
481,486,488,578,579,581.
Treasurer, city, iii, 1718.
Treasury of Education, iii. 2020.
"Trenton" steamboat, i. 613.
Trees, shade, ii. S75.
Tribune, iii. 2022.
Tribune and Farmer, iii, 2057.
Tribune, Sunday, iii, 2044.
Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, ii, 1349,
1351, 1366.
Trott, Benjamin, ii. lOW.
Trotter, Newbold H., iii. 2328.
True Blue, iii. 2061.
True Republican Society, i. 493, 508, 518, 626,
553, 573.
Truth, iii. 2062.
Truth in Life, iii. 2060.
Truxlun, Commodore Thomas, i. 538, 539, 546,
684, 690.
Tryon, George W., i. 693, 694 ; ii. 1162.
Tryon, Jacob G., i. 606, 606.
Tucker, John, i, 727.
Tunkers, history of, ii. 1313.
Tun Tavern, i, 203, 233, 236, 251.
Turner, Robert, ii 864.
Turkish bath, by Dr. Kearsley (1765), i. 260.
Turnpike, the Philadelphia and Lancaster, i.
466, 487, 627.
Chestnut Hill, i. 470.
to Germantown, i. 496.
Beading, i. 496.
INDEX.
2397
Turnpikes:
Perkiomen, i. 509.
ChelteDham and Willow Grove, i. 515.
Northern, i. 535.
Philadelphia, Brandywine and New Lon-
don, i. 542, 549.
Ridge, i. 549,682.
•' Tuscarora," launch of bloop-of-war, i. 777.
Tiistin, Thomas, i. 680.
Twaddell, James, i. 676.
T\yigg3, Slaj. Levi, i. 688
monument of, iii. 1875.
Tyler, John, President of the United States, re-
cepti,>n in Philadelphia, i. 662.
Tylei-, Robert, i. 679, 732.
Tyng, Rev. Stephen H., i. 628.
Type-founding, iii. 2324.
Typographical Advertiser, iii. 2026.
Tyson, Edward T., i. 662.
Tyson, Job R., i. 693; ii. 1166.
V.
Uhle, Bernnrdt, iii. 2328.
Umbrellas, ii. 889.
Umbrella manufacture, iii. 2286.
Undertakers, ii. 880.
Undenominational churches, ii. 1449.
Underwriters, iii. 2040.
Underwriters' Association, iii. 2121.
Uniforms, ii. 880.
Unitarian Church, ii. 1404.
Unitarian Society, ii. 1406.
University of Pennsylvania, i. 406, 424, 435,
456, 463, 510, 520, 615, 645, 770, 798, 804,
814, 842, 843, 862a; ii. 1121, 1127; iii.
1876, 1936, 1938, 2316.
history of library of, ii. 1194.
Hospital of, ii. 1683.
officers of, iii. 1942.
medical department of, established, iii.
1940.
University Club, ii. 1096.
University filedical and Surgical Journal, iii.
2035.
University Magazine, iii. 2061.
Universal Magazine, iii. 1978.
Universal Gazette, i. 509.
Universalists, ii. 1442.
UniveiBalist Church, Lombard Street, i. 567, 600.
Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, i. 770,
774, 791, 802, 809, 811, 813, 814, 816, 817, 826,
826, 832, 833 ; ii. 1697.
Union Volunteer Refreshment Committee, re-
port of, i. 791.
Union Adult Society, i. 602; ii. 1476.
Union Society of Philadelphia, i. 646.
Union Fire Company, i. 208, 238, 528; ii. 876.
Union League, i. 809, 810, 817, 823, 824, 826,
826, 833, 836 ; ii. 1097.
Union declaration, signers of, i. 754.
"Union," steamer, explosion on, i. 720.
"Union," receiving-ship, sunk by ice, i. 724.
Union Mutual Insurance Company, iii. 2115,
2122.
Union Trust Company, iii. 2105.
Union Square, iii. 1862.
Union Temporary Home for Children, ii. 1455.
Union Benevolent Association, ii. 1471.
Union Club, ii. 1096.
United States Gazette, i. 475, 481, 493, 496,
506, 609, 511, 529, 638, 539, 644, 563, 668, 666,
667, 678, 583, 587, 696, 598, 605, 606, 607, 610,
612, 613, 616 ; iii. 1808, 1827, 1808, 2130, 2132,
2172, 2173, 2176, 2259, 2261, 2272.
Uuited States Magazine and Democratic Re-
view, iii. 2012.
United States Magazine, iii. 1974.
United States Recorder, iii. 1979.
United States Commercial Register, iii. 2013.
" United Statea" frigate launched at South-
wark, 1.490.
mention of, i. 556.
United States Naval Asylum, ii. 1667.
United States Hospital, i. 797.
United States Bank, iii. 1864.
United States Court, iii. 1770, 1791.
United States, first piece of property owned by,
iii. 1815.
United States District Attorneys, ii. 1677.
United States District Court, ii. 1577.
United States Mint, i. 264, 468, 601, 604; iii.
1812-17.
United States Navy Tard, i. 8, 16, 216, 610, 614,
763, 769, 776, 777, 791, 792, 795, 799, 826 ; iii.
2339.
United States Plate-Glass Insurance Companies,
iii. 2122.
United States Review, iii. 2040.
United Trade Association, i. 748.
United Company of Philadelphia, iii. 2314, 2315,
2316.
United Brethren in Christ, ii. 1449.
United Brethren's Missionary Intelligencer, iii.
1989.
United Firemen's Insurance Company, iii. 2121.
United Service, iii. 2057.
Upland, i. 5, 72, 74, 94, 96, 100, 134, 140, 269.
Essex House at, i. 95.
courts at, i.95, 132,133.
first Assembly at, i. 163.
Upper Ferry Tavern,!. 597, 819.
Vaccination of the Poor, Society for, i. 542, 586.
Vaccine Society, the Philadelphia, i. 568,586;
ii. 1476.
Valley Forge, i. 329, 330, 346, 348, 349, 369, 370,
373.
spy hanged at, i. 383.
revisited by Washington, i. 446.
Van Bureu, Martin, President of the United
States, in Philadelphia,!. 654.
Vancourt's Counterfeit Detector, iii. 2014.
Van Dyke, Captain Rush, i. 679.
Vanuxem, Miss Nancy, i. 543.
Vaux, George, i. 595, 621 .
Vaux, Richard, i. 658, 674, 678, 715, 721, 723-28,
732, 764, 803 ; ii. 1641.
Vaux, Roberts, i. 106, 535, 577, 683, 686, 689,
696,599,620; ii. 1136.
Vaux, Williams., ii. 1203.
Vauxhall Garden, i. 598, 615, 579.
Vegetarian, American, iii. 2021,
Vegetarian Society, American, i. 733,
Venerable Military Corps, i. 554.
Verree, John P., i. 716, 721.
Vereinigte Staaten Zeitung, iii. 2016.
Verrazano, his discoveries, i. 52.
Vessel Owners' and Captains' Association, iii.
2353. \
Vessels, ii. 874.
list of, in 1800, iii. 2214.
built at navy-yard, iii, 2340.
Veterans of 1812, i. 793, 813.
Vice-admiralty judges, ii. 1577.
Victuallers' Society, i. 519.
Vicksburg, fall of, announced, i. 809.
Vigilant Fire Company, i. 697.
Vine Street Wharf, iii. 2164.
Vine, the, a club in Philadelphia, i. 232.
Vining, Miss, ii. 903.
Vineyards in and near Philadelphia (1801), i.
511.
Vineyard Burying-Ground, Iii. 2367.
Visitor, Once a Week, 111. 2040.
Visitor, Catholic, iii. 2026.
Visitor, Fireside, iii. 2026.
Vitriol, oil of, manufactured, i. 528.
Vogdes, MaJ. Jacob, i. 548, 672.
Vogdes' Inn, i. 518, 623.
Voice of Peace, iii. 2045.
Volozan, D. A., i
Volunteer Greeni
Volunteer Firen
1062.
Philadelphia Association
Voluuteers' families, aid to, I. 776.
VolksblatI, Philadelphia, iii. 2044.
Vollmer, Gottlieb, iii. 2333.
Wadsworth, Rev. Charles, i. 743.
Wages, ii. 863.
Wagner Free Institute of Science, i. 718 ; ii.
1226.
Waldie's Circulating Library, iii. 1999.
Waldie's Literary Omnibus, iii. 2011.
Wain, Jacobs., i. 611.
Wain, Nicholas, ii. 1527.
I Wain, Robert, i. 538, 548, 550, 564, 686, 589, 595,
601 ; ii. 1143 ; iii. 2213.
Wain. S. Morris, i. 699, 732, 832.
Walnut Street prison, i. 267, 305, 327, 444,
446, 463, 467, 471, 496 (note), 616, 561, 686,
597, 602 ; iii. 1827.
Walnut Street Wharf, iii. 2163.
Walnut Grove, the Wharton house at, 377, 378.
Walnut Street Theatre, i. 624, 698, 717; ii. 975.
Walsh, Robert, ii. 1137.
Walker, James B., ii. 1164.
Walking purchase, i. 43, 44.
Walter, Thomas U., iii. 1836, 1944.
Wallace, H. B , ii 1156.
Wallace, J. B., ii. 1164.
Wallace, John William, ii. 1221.
Wallace, James S., i. 712 (note).
Wallace, Robert, i. 577.
Walloon settlers on the Delaware, i. 57, 58,88,
96, 113.
Wananiaker, John, i. 729, 830, 850.
Ward, Townsend, ii. 1164.
Warville, Brissot de, ii. 919.
Wartman, Michael D., i. 712.
War of 1812-16, events leading to, i. 652.
preparations for and events of, i. 553-58,
562-06, 669-76, 578, 579.
War-vessels built at Philadelphia, i. 790, 818,
827.
War, the Old French, i. 124-27.
French and Indian, i. 236, 254.
Warping-mills, iii. 2303.
Washington, Gen. George, i. 303, 364, 397, 400,
404, 407, 411, 416, 42", 421, 430, 436, 471,
472, 475, 478, 479, 487, 488, 496.
appointed commander-in-chief, i. 302.
review of troops hy, in Philadelphia, i. 308.
military operations of, in 1776, i. 327-35,
(1777), 336, 337.
dictatorial powers conferred on, i. 334.
main army of, marches through Philadel-
phia, i. 343, 344, 415.
at battle of Brandywine, I. 347.
at Germantown, i. 354-69.
at White Marsh, i. 368.
at Valley Forge, i. 369, 370, 374, 377, 383.
at battle of Monmouth, i. 388.
at Morristown, i. 408-10.
in Philadelphia with Count Rochambeau,
i.414.
degree of LL.D. conferred c
.432.
2398
Washington, Gen. George :
president of convention of 1787, i. 446.
passage of, through Philadelphia, to inau-
guration as President, i. 453, 454.
residence of, in Philadelphia, during Presi-
dency, i. 389, 462, 484.
second inauguration of, i. 473.
statue of, ii. 1873.
farewell banquet to, i. 489.
farewell address of, i. 483, 484.
death of, and funeral honors to, i. 501, 502.
birthday anniversary of, celebrated, i. 442,
453, 463, 467, 469, 473, 482, 488, 503, 604.
centennial of, i. 633, 634.
monument to, in Philadelphia, i. 551, 615,
635, 636, 836 ; ii. 9i)7 ; iii. 1787, 1815, 1873.
Washington, Mrs. Martha, i. 304, 339, 397, 407,
413, 454 ; ii. 899.
Washington, Bnshrod, ii. 1518.
Washington Light Infantry, i. 679, 687.
Washington Grays, i. 638, 656, 688, 705, 721,
751, 756, 819.
Washington Blues, i. 670, 679, 754; ii. 1018.
Washington Benevolent Society, i. 567, 568, 669,
673, 577, 585, 593, 597, 614.
Washington Association, i, 667, 569, 573.
Washington Lodge, No. 59, F. and A. M., i.
504.
Washington Society, incorporated, i. 646, 648.
Washington Square, iii. 1773, 1845.
Washington Monument Fund Company, iii.
1798.
Washington Pottery, iii. 2297.
Washington Guards, i. 563, 565, 572, 573.
Washington Hall, i. 569, 577, 590, 597, 598, 614,
615,621.
Washington and Lafayette monument, iii.
1873.
" Wasp," sloop-of-war, capture of the '* Frolic"
by, i. 566,557.
Water supply for Philadelphia, first project for,
i. 466.
nrged by Governor, i. 491.
construction of first works for, i. 499, 501.
mention of, i. 519, 614, 617, 662, 663.
Water- Works of Philadelphia, first constructed,
i. 499, 501, 610.
the old, at Chestnut Street, i. 644.
for Spring Garden and Northern Liberties,
i. 663, 609 (note),
break of reservoir, i. 689.
Kensington, i. 685, 698. (See Fairmount
Water- Works. I
Water Department, i. 686 ; iii. 1743.
Water-mill, first on Delaware River, i. 68.
Watmough, John G., i. 655, 728, 780,789.
Watts, Henry M., i. 693, 694, 770.
Watson, Henry C, ii. 1162.
Watson, John, ii. 1169, 1188 ; iii. 1783, 1796, 1828,
2098.
Watson, Joseph, i. 609, 614, 620.
Watson, John Davis, i. 712 (note).
Watches, ii. 916; iii. 2334.
Watcli-house, i. 183,187; iii. 1777,1735.
Watch-making, iii. 2334.
Watchmen, ii. 868, 874, 932.
Waugh, S. B., iii. 2328.
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, i. 298, 300, 307, 327, 330,
344, 347, 353, 366, 358, 373, 410, 435, 437,
439, 440, 486, 523.
monument to, i. 543, 561.
Wayne, Col. Isaac, i. 577.
Weaders, Michael, ii. 934.
Weavers' riot in Kensington,
Weaving, early, i. 153.
Webb, Capt. Thomas, ii. 1394.
Welib, Edward G., i. 730, 741.
. 623, 661.
INDEX.
Webb, James Watson, 1. 640.
Weber, Carl, iii. 2327.
Weber, Paul, iii. 2327.
Weber, Philip, iii. 2327.
Webster, Daniel, in Philadelphia, i. 681, 701.
death of, i. 705.
Webster, David, i. 730.
Webster, Noah, ii. 1168.
Weddings, early, ii. 854, 866,
Weekly Messenger, iii. 1985, 2011.
Weekly Volume, Smith's, iii. 2016.
Weekly Commercial, iii. 2024.
Weekly Notes of Cases, iii. 2044.
Weekly Public Sale Report, iii. 1984. ^
Weekly Paper, Scott's, iii. 2021.
Weekly Register, iii. 2024.
Weed's Tavern,!. 486.
Weems, Mason L., ii. 1141.
Weiaer, Conrad, i. 240, 262.
Welcome Creek, i. 162.
" Welcome," the ship, passengers in, i. 14, 99,
100, 119, 149.
mention of, i. 107, 851, 852.
Welch & Raymond's Circus, ii. 980.
Welfare, Michael, hermit of Conestoga, 207.
Welsh, Henry, i. 6S0.
Welsh, William, i. 721.
Welsh, John, i. 721, 842, 846; ii. 1203.
Welsh Club, ii.l468.
Welsh tract, i. 118.
Welsh Society, i. 496.
Wernwag, Louis, i. 559, 589.
Wertmuller, ii. 1044.
West, Benjamin, i. 336 (note) ; ii. 939.
sketch of, ii. 1U31.
West India Company, Dutch, i. 31, 54, 66-69,
61, 63-66,76,96.
West India Company, Swedish, i. 58, 61-63, 66,
73, 131, 134.
West Chester, Philadelphia and Baltimore Kail-
road, iii. 2180.
West Chester Railroad, iii. 2179.
West End, iii. 2063.
West Laurel Hill Cemetery, iii. 2361.
monuments in, iii. 1881.
West Point Military Academy, i. 572.
West Point cadets, visit Philadelphia, i. 602.
West Philadelphia, borough of, incorporated,
i. 676.
mentioned, i. 697.
abolished, i. 713.
West Philadelphia Advertiser, iii. 2053.
West Philadelphia Hall, iii. 1777.
West Philadelphia Hospital Register, iii. 2032.
West Philadelphia Telephone, iii. 2052.
Westcott, Bayse N., i. 703.
Westcott, Gideon G., i. 693, 699.
Westcott, Lieut. Hampton, i. 626, 627.
Westcott, Thompson, ii. 1167.
Western Bank, i. 640, 660 ; iii. 2009.
Western Charitalde Society, ii. 1470.
Western Drove-Yards, i. 712.
Western Liberties, i. 119.
Western and Southern Journal, iii. 2023.
Western Temporary Home, ii. 1470.
Westminster Presbyterian Church, i. 726.
Westminster Teacher, iii. 2044.
Wetherill, William, ii. 1156.
Wetherill, Samuel, i. 294, 515, 526, 585, 591, 607,
612,619; iii. 2272.
Wetherill, .Tohn Price, i. 681, 699, 770.
Wetherill, Sanmel, Jr., i. 520, 531, 568.
Wetherill. Joseph, i. 618.
Wharf, public, iii. 2161, 2274.
Chestnut Street, iii. 2153.
Mulberry [Arch] Street, iii. 2153.
Sassafras [Race] Street, iii. 2154.
Wharf, Spruce Street, iii. 2157.
Vino Street, iii. 2164.
Walnut Street, iii. 2153.
Wharves, i. 8, 14, 187, 211, 217, 264; ii. 864.
private, owners of, iii. 2156.
Wharton, Thomas, i. 126, 269, 285,286, 290.
Wharton, Francis R., i. 673.
Wharton, George M., i. 721, 723, 726, 747, 821.
Wharton, Bees, i. 345.
Wharton, Thomas, Jr., i. 273, 289, 290, 298, 323,
338, 369, 370.
Wharton, Chambers, i. 610.
Wharton, Robert, i. 497, 630, 546, 550, 551, 554,
564, 569, 570, 572, 577, 590, 609.
Wharton, Joseph, i. 210, 212, 233, 286 (note),
560.
Wharton, Samuel, i. 272.
Wharton, Francis, i. 693.
Wharton, Thomas I., i. 643, 680; ii. 1164.
Wharton mansion, i. 377, 378.
Wheeler, Charles, iii. 2262.
Whelen, Townsend, iii. 2087.
Whelen, Israel, iii. 2086, 2087, 2109.
Whig Association, i. 387, 388, 413.
Whig Chronicle, iii. 1984.
" Whig Festival" (1808), i. 534.
WhigParty.i. 639, 640, 647, 652, 663, 662,678,
679.
national convention of 1848, i. 687, 688.
mention of, i. 715, 717, 720, 721, 726.
Whig, Pennsylvania, iii. 1996.
Whig Society, of Philadelphia, i. 338, 545, 546.
White & Hazard, rolling- and wire-mills of, i.
541; iii. 2145, 2260, 2272.
mention of, i. 578, 684.
White, Bight Rev. William, D.D., i. 406, 436,
444, 602, 539, 558, 690, 591, 615, 636, 641, 642 ;
ii. 1138, 1332.
White, Josiah, i. 541, 661-68, 678, 582, 696.
White, Canvass, i. 612.
White, Robert, i. 298.
White, Francis, Directory of Philadelphia
(1785), i. 440, 441.
White Hall, borough of, erected, i. 693.
consolidated with city, i. 713.
White Horse Tavern, i. 201, 348, 631.
White Swan Tavern, i. 613.
White lead manufacture, i. 439, 531, 632 ; iii.
2274, 2275.
Whitefield, Rev. George, i. 187, 238, 261,270;
iii. 1820, 1938.
Whitestone Manufacturing Company,!. 684.
Whitney, William, i. 700.
Whitpaine, John, i. 7.
Whipping, ii. 868.
of female pickpocket, i. 208.
Whiskey Insurrection, i. 330 (note), 478, 479.
"Whiskey Ring," i. 836.
Wicaco Block-House, ii. 1024.
Wickersham, Morris S., i. 727.
Wickofl', Henry, ii. 1162.
" Widc-Awakes," i. 735.
Wigs in early days, ii. 860, 862, 880, 885, 893,
904, 914, 918.
Wilcox, Edward, i. 715.
Wilcox, Mark, iii. 2321.
Wiler, Edward, i. 712.
Wilderness, news of battle of, received, i. 814.
Wilmot, David, i. 726, 752.
Wilson, Joseph N., i. 718.
Wilson, Fort, ii. 901.
Wilson, Henry, Vice-President of the United
States, death of, i. 840.
Wilson, James, i. 292, 317, 318, 398.
house of, i. 401, 402.
if, i. 408, 426, 435, 446, 447, 452,
463, 466.
INDEX.
2H99
Wilson, Alexander, ii. li)99, 11S6; iii. la
Wilson, James, ii. 1507.
■' William Penu" Bteamboat burned, i. •>
William Penn Hose Company, i. 691, irti
Williams, Henry J., i. 6S6, 7liO. 821,
Williams, Isaac L., iii. 2328.
Williams, William, ii. 10:!0.
.Jonathan, i. 568, .i7I, .'>72, .i74.
Willial
576.
Williams, Heniy J., i. 612.
Williamson, Peter, i. 693, 752.
Williamson, Dl-. Hngh, i, 242, 261.
Williamson, Passniore, i. 722.
Williamson, Kev. I. D., i. 731.
Willing, Thomas, i. 272, 273.
sketch of, i. 276, 277.
President of Bank of the United .Stale
277.
mention of, i. 290, 298, 311, 316, 318
370, 409, 423, 436, 449, 458, 481, 4S9, 516, i Wood, Wil
519,585,603; ii. 1694. 781.
Willing, Charles, i. 276, 448.
Willius, Richard, i. 448, 663, 664, 625, 6S8,
Willing mansion, ii. 871, 882.
Willing, Anue, ii. 1693.
Willis, Col. Thomas, i. 516.
Wills Hospital, ii. 1679.
Wine, manufacture of, iii. 2281, 2882.
Wine production, i. 163, 198, 266, 611.
H., arrested for treas>
Winder, William
779.
Windmill Island
executions o
annexed to Pennsylv
project to bridge th'
697, 601.
Winsor, Henry, iii. 2170.
Wire suspension bridge c
8, 16, 266, 416, 579, 705
i. 412. 419.
r Schuylkill, i. 359,
584.
Wire-cloth manufacture, iii. 2260.
Wire-mills on Schuylkill, i. 541, 678,584.
Wire-mill, White i Hazard's, iii. 2260.
Wistar, Richard, i, 444.
Wistar, Sally, ii. 1688.
Wistar, Thomas, i. 668, 603.
Wistar, Dr. Caspar, i. 516; ii. 1595; iii 22
Wister, Annis Lee, ii. 1164, 1699.
Witherspoon, John, iii. 1874, 1974.
Witchcraft, trial for, i. 112.
statute against, i. 199 (note).
Witte, William H., i. 718.
Wochenblatt, iii. 2024.
Wolbert, Frederick, I. 646.
Wolcott, Oliver, !., 611.
Women, prominent, in Philadelpliia In
1686.
Women's Pavilion, iii. 1862.
Women's Words, iii. 2(>45.
Women's Bible-Renders' Society, li. Ill
W(.men'8 Medical College, i. 699 (n
1663.
W.imen's crusade, i. 839.
Women's Hospital, ii. 1680
Wood- and willow-ware manufactnie,
Wood ensraving, ii. 1062.
Wood, James F., Kt. Rev. Bishop, i. 79'
1386.
Wood, Richard D., iii. 2237
Wood, Dr. George B , ii. 1194, 1198, l«(
Wood, James, iii. 1882, 2252, 2359.
Wood, William, & Co., iii. 2316.
B., vele
•lealh
Wood, Dr. H. 0.,ii. 1162.
Woodlands road, i. 549.
Woodlands Cemetery, i. 7; iii. 1882, 23.59.
Woodlands mansion, ii. 873.
Woodside, John A., ii. 1053.
Woodward, Chief Justice George W., c. 739, :98
810,811,815, SSri; ii. 1548.
Wool, home manufacture, iii. 2303.
Woolen and cotton manufacture, iii. 2*254.
Woolen manufacture proposed, iii. 2226.
Woolen raanulacture, iii. 2301.
Woolen manufacture (1770), i. 263.
law against, i. 280.
Society to Encouiage (1775), i. 294.
mention of, i. 531, 532, 661, 587, 596.
Woolen-factories, iii. 2303.
Conshohocken, iii. 2303.
Drake's, iii 2303.
Franklin, iii. 2303.
Kennebec, iii. 2303.
Penn, iii. 2303.
Spruce Street, iii. 2330.
Glen Riddle, iii 2304.
Pieston 4 Winpenny, iii. 2:104.
Pekiu, iii. 2304.
Schofield & Branson, iii. 2304.
Lincoln, iii. 2304.
Steadfast, iii. 2304.
Washington, iii. 2304.
Words of Faith, iii. 2045.
Workingmen's Convention (186T), i. 751, 752.
Work-house, i 1S7. 191, 19ft, 202, i«
ii. 857.
Worrall, George, i 682.
Worrall, Samuel, i. 588.
Worrall, Joseph, i. 595.
Worrell, Gou. Isaac, i. 670, .576, •!(«;,
Wright, Jos., ii. 106:!, 1041
Wright, Fanny, i. 624.
Wright, Hendrick B., i. 733
Wright, Mrs. R. K, ii. 1701.
Wright, Patience, a secret iib""< '
in the Revolution, i. 275.
Wnrts, John, ii. 1545.
•' Wyalusing," United States steanin
i. 807.
Wylie, Rev. Samuel B , i. 585.
Wynkoop, Col. Frederick M., i. ti
(note).
Wynkoop, HeniT, i.298.
Wynne, Dr. Thomas, i. 128, 1+7
Tardley, William, i. 100.
Yarn, manufacture of, i. 643.
Yearly Meeting of Friends, ii. 861, 863, 865, S6K.
Yeates, Jasper, i. 181, 615, 617, 519.
Yellow fever in Philadelphia,!. 209, 217, 3'23
(note), 469, 470, 48", 490, 495, 512, 613.
616, 621. 697, 699, 600 (note), 711.
at Norfolk, Va., names of Philadelphiann
who died of, i. 730 ; ii. 1690. 1605, 1630.
York, Lieut.-Col. Thomas, i. 215.
Youth's Woild, iii. 2014.
Young People's Magazine, iii. 2040.
Young, Brighnm, i. 726.
Young, Lieut. Montgomery P., i. 688.
Young Men's Christian Commission, i. 830.
Young Men's American Club, i. 725.
Young Men's Christian Association, i. 728, 729,
830; ii. 1488, 1489.
Young Republicans' Club, ii. 1098.
Y'mjo, Marchioness De, ii, 922, 1695.
Zinzendorff, Count, ii. 13'20.
Zion Protestant Episcopal Church, i. 726; ii.
1366.
Lutheran Church, i. 359, 386, ,503, 504, 551,
614,641,686; ii. 1431.
Zoological Garden, ii. 946.
970'?
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