History: PA Archives: Second Series, Vol. 18: PART II - MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO THE WYOMING CONTROVERSY : DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CONNECTICUT SETTLEMENT IN THE WYOMING VALLEY. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson and Sally. USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm _____________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: An html version of this volume may be found at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/1pa/paarchivesseries/series2/vol18/paarch2-18toc.html <>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<>~~<> DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CONNECTICUT SETTLEMENT IN THE WYOMING VALLEY. EDITED BY WILLIAM HENRY EGLE, M. D. HARRISBURG: E. K. MEYERS, STATE PRINTER. 1893. [Page numbers are in carats.] TABLE OF CONTENTS. _ _ _ _ _ _ Minutes of the Susquehanna Company, 1-123 An Examination of the Connecticut Claim, 125-214 Connecticut Records examined by Pennsylvania, 215-276 The Dutch Records of New Netherlands, 277-322 Letters from the Pennsylvania Claimants, 323-388 Letters from Secretary of Land Office, 389-430 Letters from the Commissioners, 431-514 Book of the Fifteen Townships, 515-572 Journal of the Commissioners, 1810, 573-609 Miscellaneous Papers relating to the Wyoming Controversy, 611-780 Index, 781 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ <655> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. CAPTAIN SHRAWDER TO COLONEL BALLIET. _ _ _ May 11, 1786. SIR: As you have been so kind as to undertake the Settlement of my Provision Acc't, I will endeavour to convey as clear an Idea thereof as I can. Sometime in June, 1783, Mr. Weitzel, the Contractor for the Pennsylvania ranging Companies at Wyoming, acquainted me by his Issuer to forward him the Returns till the last of June, in Consequence whereof he received Robinson's and my own. Mr. Weitzel's issuing Commissary left Wyoming the 29 or 30 of June. He had nothing but a little flour on hand then; he therefore spoke before his Departure to one Abel Yarenton, an Inhabitant of Wyoming, to procure Provisions until Mr. Weitzel would send him up again with a fresh Supply, which would be very shortly. Yarenton tried to purchase, but got none for want of Money. In this Dilemma he came to me with this Report. The President's Orders of March, '83, commanded me to maintain that Post, and when I came to Philadelphia in May following I represented to Council that the Soldiers were unruly and claimed their Discharges, as they heard and saw those of the Continental Army return home. General Irvine and some other members desired me then to try to keep the men together. I therefore looked upon myself as in Duty bound to exert myself in procuring Provisions, and purchased them on my own Acc't, but as my troublesome and precarious Situation would not permit me to leave my Post to purchase to the best advantage, I had to pay a high Price for it. I had to get superfine flour for want of other in Northampton County, and paid twenty Pounds for the Transportation of two Loads. I sent also several Times Horses to fetch from Northampton and paid 20 per Horse, which I forgot to include in my Acc't. In August I went to Sunbury to urge Mr. Weitzel to forward Provisions with the greatest Expedition to Wyoming and shewed him my Acc't of Purchases. He then informed me that there were at that Time a Boat on the Way up with some flour for the Garrison, but as my Purchases came high he said he would have nothing to do with the Contractorship. So circumstanced I felt much perplexed, I knew not what to do, but meeting Fred'c Antes, Esq., of North'd, he kindly advanced me a Sum of Money and on my Return to Wyoming I <656> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. dispatched Lieutenant Erb to Philadelphia, acquainting His Excellency the President with my Situation. I then rec'd £300 from Council. Some time after I rec'd a Letter from the Hon'ble General Armstrong informing me that I was appointed Captain in Colonel Moore's Corps of P. Infantry, charging me at the same Time to Keep it secret from the Officers and Men, and to be vigilant in maintaining my Post and not to leave it by any Means, and after the arrival of Colonel Moore I durst not quit it again to look after my affairs. When I desired Captain Robinson to give me Returns for the Provision of his Comp'y he informed me that he had given them to Mr. Weitzel, who, on producing them at Philad'a rec'd the Pay for the Provisions of his Comp'y. So that I have now to look only to Captain Robinson for the Provision issued to his Comp'y by my Purchasing. Thus you see, Sir, by this long Memorandum that I did not of Choice become a Commissary, but by mere Necessity. Last Summer Mr. van Campen took my Acc't and Muster Roll to Philad'a, but as Mr. Nicholson then was very busy and Mr. van Campen had no Time to stay, they were laid by in the Compt'r Gen's Office. When I settled for my Comp'y there was then by Mr. Nicholson's Settlement due me £479 19 5, besides thirty ought Pounds Recruiting Money. I would beg to represent my Case and prevail on Council if possible to allow me out of the £300 the Amount of my Acc't, and after deducting the Ballance against me out of my Pay, to receive a Certificate for the Remainder in my favour and also the recruiting Money. I am with the highest Esteem, Sir, Your most obedient and humble Serv't, PHIL. SHRAWDER. Memorandum for the Hon'ble Stephen Balliet, Esq. - - - - - - - - JOHN FRANKLIN TO WILLIAM MONTGOMERY. _ _ _ WYOMING, June 26, 1786. SIR: I have had the perusal of your letter to Mr. Myers of the 22d Inst. As you made mention of my name with great reflections I think proper to return you an answer. I think your letter very Extraordinary. You undertake to tell us what <657> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. Congress have done, what the Susquehanna Company has consented to, &c., and what his Excellency he President has authorized you to inform us of. You tell us that Congress have resolved to grant a tract of Country Northward of Pennsylvania and Westward of New York State on Lake Erie, to the Susquehanna Company in lieu of a relinquishment of their (viz., the Company's right), and that the Susquehanna Company and all parties are satisfied with the same. I must tell you, sir, that we are not unacquainted with the resolutions of Congress, or proceedings of the Susquehanna Company; your representations are inconsistent with truth. The votes of the Susquehanna Company of the 17 of May last may convince you of their intentions. A copy of said vote I send enclosed You tell us that you expect the Wise and Virtuous amongst us will avail themselves of the kind intentions of Government and thereby secure the benefits of your free, equal and happy Constitution. I would wish to be informed wether the removal of six thousand souls from their justly acquired habitation at Wyoming to be fixed among the Natives at Lake Erie is to such Emigrates the enjoying the benefits of your free and happy Constitution, or whether your Constitution and right of Government extends to a Territory Northward of your State and Westward of New York. You Query whether it will satisfy Allen and Franklin and their adherents to give up their farms (that I never imagined, it is a wrong representation), which they have justly acquired and cultivated at Wyoming, to Pennsylvania Land Schemers and run our chance of having wild Lands on the hunting grounds at Lake Erie; be assured, sir, it's no Query in my mind. I expect to enjoy my Lands here, unless legally removed by a regular course of Law had before a proper tribunal. You Query that whether after all that the wisdom and forbearance of Government can do for us, we must be a people devoted to hardships, danger and devastation. I wish you had explained yourself more fully on that head, whether you mean the forbearance that you saved some part of our women and children alive at the time you expelled us from this Country by an armed force in the year '84, or whither by giving us Liberty to have a being in that part of God's world on the waters of Lake Erie. Wonderful forbearance indeed. You threaten us with devastation in case of our non-compliance, but let me tell you sir, that we disregard your threats. You tell us you are authorized by a letter from his Excellency the President to inform us of the resolution of Congress and 42-VOL. XVIII. <658> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. the assurances of protection from the Government. I would inform you that I have his Excellency's letter of the 12th Inst., now before me (This is wrong represented, what I wrote about Congress; I said I had from good authority about protection I had from Council). The assurances given us by his excellency and Council give us the greatest satisfaction, but his excellency does not inform us of the appointment of a substitute at Northumberland to acquaint us of the good intentions of Government, &c. You also recommend that we demean ourselves as good citizens and not be drawn from our allegiance by the wild schemes of men who live by fishing in troubled waters; that these men when distress ariseth will leave us to shift for ourselves and hunt out a new scene in which to exercise their unhappy talent. To which I answer, it ever has been and still is our desire to demean ourselves as good Citizens and would wish to be protected as such, though we are sorry to say we have never yet enjoyed the benefits of your Constitution, though solemnly plighted to us. You pretend to be afraid that the people here will be drawn from their allegiance by the wild schemes of men who live by fishing in troubled waters. Had you been honest you would have said you was afraid that the exortations of the wise, righteous and just will have such deep impression on the minds of the good people at Wyoming as will induce them to stand forth in their defence in a just and righteous cause, and overthrow the hellish schemes of the Land monopolizers, who wish to destroy the Yankees from the face of the Earth that they may enjoy the Lands our hands have cultivated and our blood enriched. You further pretend to be afraid the wild schemers (as you term) will leave the people at Wyoming when danger ariseth. I believe, sir, it's your sincere wish that the wise and virtuous would withdraw that you might thereby have a better opportunity of drawing the more ignorant and innocent people into a snare and persuade them to give up their all for a Rattle Box. I then Query whither you would not cheat that from them, provided the honor of land schemers only could be pledged for the delivery thereof. But be assured, sir, the wise and virtuous will not withdraw. We have been inured to dangers, hardship and devastations; we have been too often deceived by your people, the land schemers as well as by some of the Officers of the Government, who made great pretension of Honesty, Justice and Friendship, and whose fair words and flattering speeches are not to be believed, for thus saith the Lord, their hearts are full of all manner of abominations. <659> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. You tell us of a removal by Congress from your State, then advise us to avail ourselves of the kind intentions of Government and secure the benefits of your Constitution, embrace the offered mercy, relinquish our all to land schemers and take Lands at Lake Erie. Pray, Sir, view the inconsistency of your letter. How in the name of God do you expect to protect us by your Constitution when we are out of your State? You tell of fishing in troubled,-it reminds me of the words of Nathan to King David (thou art the man). Let me tell you sir, that we esteem ourselves capable of transacting our own business and would advise you to avail yourself of the late votes of the Susquehanna Company and thereby secure your land. I wish for Peace on just and honorable terms, and am sir, your humble servant, JOHN FRANKLIN. N. B.--The benevolent intention of the Company to your settlers, and particularly to yourself, is to the disadvantage of my honor'd Father, who is the sole owner of those lands you claim at Mahonen. _ _ _ At a Meeting of the proprietors of the Susquehanna purchase of Lands, legally warned and held at Hartford, May 17, 1786. Col. GAD STANLEY, Moderator. VOTED, That all persons settled under the authority of the State of Pennsylvania, and not actually inhabiting upon that tract of the country on the westerly waters of the Susquehannah river, and purchased of the natives by the company call'd the Susquehannah company, be and the same are hereby fully established and confirmed in the full and absolute possession of the lands by them actually possessed under the said State of Pennsylvania. VOTED, That this company conscious of the equity of their title to the lands bona fide purchased of the natives, and situate upon the waters of the river Susquehannah, will support and maintain their claim to the lands aforesaid, and effectually justify and support their settlers thereon. VOTED, That Samuel Gray, Esq., Col. Thomas Dyer and Col. Ebenezer Gray be, and they are hereby appointed a Committee with full power and authority to make out a list of all such persons as are proprietors of said company, and have paid taxes agreeable to the votes of said company, and that all persons that have neglected and shall neglect to pay the same by the first day of September next, shall, and the same are hereby <660> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. excluded from any right, interest or property within the territory aforesaid-the said list of proprietors to be completed by the first day of September next. Extract from Records. SAMUEL GRAY, Clerk. - - - - - - - - THE CONFIRMING LAW OF 1787. _ _ _ An act for ascertaining and confirming to certain Persons called Connecticut Claimants, the Lands by them claimed within the County of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned. SECTION 1. Whereas, an unhappy dispute for many years subsisted between the province and State of Pennsylvania on one part, and the Colony and State of Connecticut on the other part, relative to certain lands within the charter boundary of Pennsylvania, but which were claimed by Connecticut, as falling within the limits of her charter, which dispute was finally terminated by the decree of the Court of Commissioners at Trenton, on the thirtieth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, in the mode prescribed by the articles of Confederation of the United States, by which decree the question between the two States was decided in favour of Pennsylvania; And whereas, before the termination of the said claim of Connecticut, a number of its inhabitants with their associates settled upon and improved divers tracts of land lying on or near to the Northeast branch of the river Susquehanna, and the waters thereof, and now within the County of Luzerne; And whereas, parts of the same lands have been claimed under titles derived from the late proprietaries of Pennsylvania, and these interfering claims have occasioned much contention, Expense and bloodshed, and this assembly being desirous of putting an end to those evils by confirming such of the Connecticut claims as were acquired by actual settlers prior to the termination of the said dispute, agreeably to the petition of a number of the said settlers, and by granting a just compensation to the Pennsylvania claimants; And whereas, the lands aforesaid, claimed by the Connecticut settlers have been usually assigned to them in rights, or lots, of about three hundred acres each, which rights, or lots, have either been entire or in two or more divisions; therefore, SECTION 2. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- <661> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. vaninia in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That all the said rights, or lots, now lying within the County of Luzerne, which were occupied or acquired by Connecticut claimants, who were actually settlers there at or before the termination of the claim of the State of Connecticut, by the decree aforesaid, and which rights, or lots, were particularly assigned to the said settlers prior to the said decree, agreeably to the regulations then in force among them, be and they are hereby confirmed to them and their heirs and assigns; Provided, that all the claimants whose lots are hereby confirmed, shall, by themselves, guardians, or other lawful agents, within eight months next after the passing of this act, prefer to the Commissioners hereinafter mentioned their respective claims to the lots aforesaid, therein stating the grounds of their claims and sufficiently describing the lots claimed, so that the same may be made known and ascertained, and support the same by reasonable proofs. SECTION 3. And whereas, it will be necessary to institute a summary mode of ascertaining and establishing the right of each claimant, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that Peter Muhlenberg, Timothy Pickering and Joseph Montgomery, Esquires, be and are hereby appointed Commissioners for the purposes hereinafter expressed and declared; and in case of death, absence or refusal to serve, of any or all of the said Commissioners, the Supreme Executive Council are hereby authorized and required to supply the vacancy or vacancies occasioned thereby by other new appointment or appointments. SECTION 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Commissioners shall repair to the County of Luzerne within two months, next after the passing of this act, and at such place within the same county and at such time as the said Commissioners shall appoint to meet together, for the purpose of receiving and examining the claims of all persons to the lots intended by this act to be confirmed, and the said Commissioners are hereby empowered to adjourn their meeting from time to time, and to such places within the said county, as they shall judge best for the proper and speedy Execution of their Commission; and that all persons interested in the said lots may be duly notified to make and support their claims thereto, within the time prescribed by this act; the said Commissioners shall cause it to be published in one or more of the newspapers printed in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, with an advertisement subjoined, Expressing the time and place proposed for their first meeting, and copies of this Act, and of the said advertisement, shall also be posted up at <662> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. sundry places within the said county, for the information of the inhabitants. And the Examination of the said claims shall be by witnesses, on their oaths or affirmations (which the said Commissioners are severally empowered to administer), and such other Evidence as shall be produced to the said Commissioners, or which they can obtain. And of such claims as shall be supported by evidence satisfactory to the said Commissioners, or any two of them, there shall be made a fair entry, in which the lots so claimed shall be described, and in such a manner that the same may be clearly known and ascertained. Provided, that where two or more claims of Connecticut claimants to the same lot shall be presented, and it shall appear to the said Commissioners by satisfactory evidence that the same lot ought to be confirmed, agreeably to the meaning of this Act, they shall make a fair entry thereof as aforesaid, and if the several claimants agree to submit their claims to the determination of the said Commissioners, they shall proceed to hear and determine the same accordingly, but if they do not thus agree, either of the claimants may prosecute his claim in the proper court of law, as in ordinary cases of contested titles. SECTION 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Comissioners be, and are hereby authorized to appoint a surveyor or surveyors to survey all the lots aforesaid of the Connecticut claimants, and the surveys thereof shall be returned to the said Commissioners for their information and assistance in prosecuting their enquiries and Examinations; the surveys of such of the said lots, the claims to which shall be admitted by the said Commissioners, shall by them be afterwards returned, together with their book of entries describing the same, to the Supreme Executive Council, who shall cause patents to be issued for their confirmation, and each patent shall comprehend all the parcels of land which are to be confirmed to the same claimant or joint claimants, to whom by the return of the Commissioners aforesaid, the same shall be found to belong, and for each patent there shall be paid to the Secretary of the Council the sum of twenty shillings. And the said surveyors shall appoint proper persons for their chain carriers and markers, and the surveyors, chain carriers and markers shall severally be sworn or affirmed before a Justice of the Peace, or one of the said Commissioners, faithfully to perform their respective duties; and they shall be allowed a reasonable compensation for their services, to be fixed by the said Commissioners, and paid by the claimants aforesaid, whose claims to the lands so surveyed shall be admitted as aforesaid, and upon whom the same shall be apportioned by <663> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. the said Commissioners in the manner they shall judge most equitable. SECTION 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That each of the said Commissioners, before he acts under his commission, shall take an oath or affirmation before one of the Members of the Supreme Executive Council or a Judge of the Supreme Court, diligently to proceed in the business of his commission, and well and truly to hear and determine upon all claims and questions which shall come before him, in pursuance of this Act, without favour, affection or hope of reward. SECTION 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Commissioners be and they are hereby authorized to appoint a suitable person for a clerk, who shall before them be sworn or affirmed, faithfully to register all the proceedings of the said Commissioners, in pursuance of this Act. SECTION 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there be allowed and paid out of the public treasury to each of the said Commissioners Twenty shillings per day, and to the said Clerk Fifteen shillings per day, for each day they shall be employed in performing the duties required of them by this Act. SECTION 9. And whereas, the late Proprietaries and divers other persons have heretofore acquired titles to parcels of the lands aforesaid, agreeably to the laws and usages of Pennsylvania, and who will be deprived thereof by the operation of this Act, and as justice requires that compensation be made for the lands of which they shall thus be divested, and as the State is possessed of other lands in which an equivalent may be rendered to the claimants under Pennsylvania, and as it will be necessary that their claims should be ascertained by a proper examination, Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all persons having such claims to lands which will be affected by the operation of this Act, shall be and they are hereby required, by themselves, guardians or other lawful agents, within twelve months from the passing of this Act, to present the same to the Board of Property, therein clearly describing those lands, and stating the grounds of their claims, and also adducing the proper proofs, not only of their titles, but of the situations, qualities and values of the lands so claimed, to enable the Board to judge of the validity of their claims, and of the quantities of vacant lands proper to be granted as equivalents. And for every claim which shall be admitted by said Board, as duly supported, the equivalent by them allowed, may be <664> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. taken either in the old or new purchase, at the option of the claimant; and warrants and patents and all other acts of the public offices relating thereto, shall be performed free of Expense. The said Board shall also allow such a quantity of vacant land to be added to such equivalent as shall in their judgment be equal to the expences which must necessarily be incurred in locating and surveying the same. And that the Board of Property may in every case obtain satisfactory evidence of the quality and value of the land, which shall be claimed as aforesaid, under the proprietary title, they may require the Commissioners aforesaid, during their sitting in the said County of Luzerne, to make the necessary enquiries by the oaths or affirmations of lawful witnesses to ascertain those points; and it shall be the duty of the said Commissioners to enquire and report accordingly. Signed by order of the House, THOMAS MIFFLIN, Speaker. Enacted into a law at Philadelphia, on Wednesday, the twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven. PETER ZACHARY LLOYD, Clerk of the General Assembly. _ _ _ The Vote on the Foregoing Act. Yeas. William Will, City of Philadelphia. Robert Morris, City of Philadelphia. Thomas Fitzsimmons, City of Philadelphia. George Clymer, City of Philadelphia. Jacob Hiltzheimer, City of Philadelphia. Isaac Gray, County of Philadelphia. William Robinson, Jun., County of Philadelphia. John Salter, County of Philadelphia. George Logan, County of Philadelphia. Samuel Foulke, Bucks county. Gerardus Wynkoop, Bucks county. John Chapman, Bucks county. Valentine Upp, Bucks county. James Moore, Chester county. Richard Willing, Chester county. Robert Ralston, Chester county. Samuel Evans, Chester county. Richard Thomas, Chester county. <665> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. Townsend Whelen, Chester county. Alexander Lowrey, Lancaster county. Adam Hubley, Lancaster county. Joseph Work, Lancaster county. George Ross, Lancaster county. David McConaughy, York county. Michael Schmyser, York county. David McClellan, York county. Joseph Lilley, York county. Henry Tyson, York county. Adam Eichelberger, York county. Daniel Clymer, Berks county. Peter Trexler, Jun., Northampton county. John Canan, Bedford county. Hugh H. Brackenridge, Westmoreland county. Charles Moore, Montgomery county. Samuel Wheeler, Montgomery county. Jacob Reiff, Montgomery county. Nays. Robert Whitehill, Cumberland county. Thomas Beale, Cumberland county. Thomas Kennedy, Cumberland county. David Mitchell, Cumberland county. Gabriel Hiester, Berks county. David Davis, Berks county. Robert Brown, Northampton county Peter Burkhalter, Northampton county. John Piper, Bedford county. Joseph Powell, Bedford county. Frederick Antes, Northumberland county Samuel Dale, Northumberland county. William Findley, Westmoreland county. James Barr, Westmoreland county. Alexander Wright, Washington county. John McDowell, Washington county. John Flenniken, Washington county. James Allison, Washington county. Theophilus Philips, Fayette county. John Gilchrist, Fayette county. Abraham Smith, Franklin county. Robert Clark, Dauphin county. Jacob Miley, Dauphin county. <666> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. ADDRESS OF CAPTAIN JOHN JENKINS AT FORTY FORT IN FEBRUARY, 1787. _ _ _ We will gladly accept any proposition that will bring peace, quiet us in our possessions and protect us in our titles. This is all we ask now; it is all we have asked from the beginning. Suppose we accept of the terms proposed, what guaranty have we that Pennsylvania will keep her plighted faith? She has forfeited her honor to us time and again. If we accept the provisions of the proposed law, when she finds we are tied hand and foot, she will repeal it and leave us again without remedy or hope, except in ourselves. We have repeatedly had assurance of the desire of Pennsylvania to have this controversy settled, but the measures proposed and the men sent here to effect such settlement have shown us that they will never be satisfied except with our expulsion from our lands, and our total ruin, which we will never agree nor submit to. Our fathers have been imprisoned, robbed and whipped by the Pennsylvanians; our public papers have been wickedly taken from us; they have plundered our settlements, burnt our towns, taken the lives of our friends and brethren; driven our old men, women and children into the wilderness at the point of the bayonet, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages and totally unworthy the lead of a civilized State or nation. We have petitioned in our most humble terms for a redress of our grievances, and to be secured in our property, our lives, and our possessions, and our petitions have been treated with insult and contempt, and been rejected. They still continue in their endless persecution with obstinate fury and uncontrollable oppression. And yet in the face of all these facts, all this perfidy, all these crimes, we are again called upon by their perpetrators to give up our titles, and all claims and rights under them, and rely upon clemency of Pennsylvania for any future titles or rights to our lands. God forbid that we should be foolish enough to do anything of this kind. The blood of the martyrs who have fallen in defence of our rights would cry to us from the ground should we permit their widows and orphan children to be driven from their home and possessions out into the wide world to perish or become a public burden. What new plan do they propose to us now? Nothing but to <667> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. quiet us in possessions for a short period until we give up our titles and they can devise and put into execution some new plan for our expulsion. We have too often experienced the bad faith of Pennsylvania to place confidence in any new measure of her Legislature, and if they shall enact a quieting law they will repeal it as soon as the Connecticut settlers submit and are completely saddled with the laws of the State. What security have we if we comply with their proposals and put ourselves in their power, that the State will not repeal the law and deal as treacherously with us as in the case of Armstrong? The only safe course for the settlers to pursue is to stand by their titles and possessions until Pennsylvania shall find it to be her interest to do them justice by acknowledging their rights and establishing them through proper legislation. Whenever she shall do this, there will be an end of the controversy. If it be the disposition of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania to do us justice, as stated by Colonel Pickering, she can do it in that way and thus end all further trouble and annoyance to either party. But the proposal is to bind us and leave Pennsylvania free, to have us surrender our titles and trust to Pennsylvania for another, and, as the gentleman says, a better title. This we will never submit to. We have fought too long and shed too much of the blood of our best inhabitants, and sacrificed too much in defence of our titles and possessions to tamely yield them up to the threats or entreaties of Pennsylvania, and we will never do it. All we ask is justice, and that is in her hands to grant at any moment. If she will not grant us this she must put up with the consequences. - - - - - - - - REPORTS ON LUZERNE LANDS. (No. 1.) September 21, 1787. The Honorable the Board of Property: GENTLEMEN: We have received the general order of your Board dated the 7th day of July last, and your particular request of the 10th instant, relative to the claims of Mr. David Mead to lands within this County, and in conformity therewith make the following Report: To avoid tedious descriptions in every case we think it expedient to throw the different sorts of land into classes and <668> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. estimate their annual average product under the common cultivation of Farmers in general, and without manuring. 1st Tillage.-Land of the first quality is to be considered as producing by the acre, 20 bushels of Wheat, or of Rye, or 30 bushels of Indian Corn, or 200 lbs of flax, and meadow land of the first quality as producing 2 Tons of English hay per acre. 2d Tillage.-Land of the second quality as producing 20 bushels of Indian Corn, or 15 bushels of Wheat or Rye, or 100 lbs of flax per acre, and meadow land of the second quality as producing one Ton of English hay per acre. The other kinds of land may most accurately be estimated by considering their proportionate value compared with land of the first or second quality. On these principles we have obtained information upon oath relative to the lands claimed by Mr. David Meade, and find that his surveys, numbered 32 and 33, lying together below the Town plot of Wilkesburgh containing, viz.: 20 acres of meadow land. Of the 1st quality about 40 do. Tillage do. 140 do. Tillage do. do. 2d do. do. 20 do. meadow do. do. 3d do. do. 50 do. pasture and woodland, worth about two-thirds as much per acre as land of the second quality. The value of this land is not so easy to Estimate, very little land in the settlement having been sold. One piece of flat of the first quality in Wilkesburgh sold last winter at about 52s. 6d. an acre; another piece of like quality has lately been bargained for at 80s. per acre. To fix a market price more sales would be requisite. If we attempt to set its ready money value we shall substitute conjecture in the place of substantial facts, and those above stated we believe will be considered by your Honorable board as better grounds on which to estimate an equivalent than our own opinions. We have the Honor to be Your most Ob't Servants, TIMOTHY PICKERING, WM. MONTGOMERY, STEPHEN BALLIET. (No. 2.) To the Honorable the Board of Property: GENTLEMEN: We have made inquiry, as the law directs, relative to the lands claimed by David Meade, Esq., in Lack- <669> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. awanack or Pittstown, of which he produces a survey of 295 acres and allowance. This survey contains about 25 acres of meadow land, which when cleared may on an average produce 26 cwt. of English hay per acre annually, and about 270 acres of rough woodland, very little of which will admit of cultivation, but has growing on it white oak, black oak and hard pine, of which the latter would yield some saw logs. We also find there is a commodious Mill-seat on a branch of Lackawanack running through this survey, and about thirty rods above its junction therewith. After a deliberate consideration of the whole of our evidence relative to this claim we are of opinion that the said land and Mill-seat are of the value of about Two hundred pounds. We have the Honor to be Your msot obed't Servants, TIMOTHY PICKERING, STEPHEN BALLIET, WM. MONTGOMERY. (No. 3.) The Honorable the Board of Property: GENTLEMEN: We have made inquiry, as the law directs, relative to the lands claimed in this County by Robert Martin, Esqr., and find that the lot he claims below the Town plat of Wilkesburgh contains about 25 acres of meadow land and about 10 acres of tillable land of the first quality and about 35 acres of the second quality, and from ten to fifteen acres of pasture and woodland of about two-thirds of the value of land of the second quality. And that the lot he claims above and including a part of the Town plat of Wilkesburgh, contains about ten acres of meadow of the first quality and about 15 acres of about the five-eights of the value of land of the second quality. The upper line of the lot first above mentioned is struck by Wilkesburgh river road, about forty rods below the Town plat. To enable your Honorable Board to fix the value of these lands we beg leave to refer you to our first report of this day on the claim of Mr. David Meade. We have the Honor to be, Your most obed't Servants, TIMOTHY PICKERING, STEPHEN BALLIET, WM. MONTGOMERY. (No. 4.) The Honorable Board of Property: GENTLEMEN: We have made inquiry, as the law directs, relative to the lands claimed by Joseph Salmon in behalf of the <670> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. heirs of John Salmon, deceased, lying in Nanticoke or Hanover, about two miles and a half below the Town of Wilkesburgh, and find that it contains about 140 acres of the first quality and 72 acres of the second quality, including an Island called Buttonwood island. To enable your honorable Board to fix the value of these lands we beg leave to refer you to our first report of this day on the claim of Mr. David Meade. We have the Honor to be Your most obed't Servants, TIMOTHY PICKERING, STEPHEN BALLIET, WM. MONTGOMERY. (No. 5.) The Honorable the Board of Property: GENTLEMEN: We have made inquiry, as the law directs, relative to the claims of David Fowler, and Report that the land claimed and shewn by said Fowler lies on both sides of Toby's Creek, in Kingston, on the west side of the River, about one and a half miles from Wilkesburgh, and consists of about one hundred acres of good upland, and sixty acres of good meadow, the whole of four-fifths of the value of land of the first quality, described in our first report on David Meade's claims. (No. 6.) We also report on the claims of Dr. William Plunkett; that the land claimed and shewn as his property lies on Toby's Creek, in Kingston, about one mile and three quarters from Wilkesburgh, and consists of about 70 acres of good upland and 50 acres of good meadow, each of four-fifths of the value of land of the first quality, described in our first report above mentioned, and of about 40 acres of one-fifth the value of the two former parcels. We have the Honor to be Your obed't Servants, TIMOTHY PICKERING, STEPHEN BALLIET, WM.MONTGOMERY. P. S.-The claim of Dr. Plunket is said to be in the right of George Field. (No. 7.) September 22, 1787. The Honorable the Board of Property: GENTLEMEN: We have made inquiry, as the law directs, relative to the claims of Wm. Maclay, Esq., in right of Joseph <671> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. Wheeler, and Report that the land claimed and shown to be the right of said Wheeler, situate on the west side of the River in the upper part of Shawanee or Plymouth, three miles and a half from Wilkesburgh, consists of two-third parts thereof of the first quality and the remainder of the second quality, containing in the whole by information, one hundred and nine acres and 116 p.; for determining the value of these lands we beg leave to refer your Honors to our first Report of yesterday. We have the Honor to be Your most obed't Servants, TIMOTHY PICKERING, STEPHEN BALLIET, WM. MONTGOMERY. - - - - - - - - MEMORIAL OF THE PENNSYLVANIA LANDHOLDERS. _ _ _ [Read November 23, 1787.] To the hon. the general Assembly of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the representation and petition of sundry Landholders in the County of Luzerne: Your petitioners beg leave to represent that they have the most serious apprehensions for their property and for the peace of the State in consequence of a clause introduced into the bill relating to that county now depending before your hon. house; That they conceive the laws last past on that subject are of the Nature of a solemn compact between this independent State and a body of citizens of another independent State connected with and acknowledged by this commonwealth: That in the present state of the finances of Pennsylvania they fear the expence of a large and permanent force will be necessary to crush an opposition rendered more firm and determined by breach of public faith, destructive of all confidence in this government; That the law of 1787, by dividing the opposition, has rendered the business of reducing the late intruders easy, certain and much less expensive to Pennsylvania than any other mode that can be adopted; They, therefore, most earnestly pray your hon. house not to alter in any particular the footing on which the actual residents in the County, before the decree of Trenton, were placed, as they are perfectly convinced and satisfied that it will ren- <672> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. der nugatory any compensation the State may offer to the Pennsylvanians, and finally prove the most injurious and expensive mode that can be pursued. They beg leave further to pray that an attention to compensating their just demands on the State may not so far influence the honorable house as to induce to take any measures at this time in their favor, if it is to lead the legislature into a breach of the sacred obligations of public faith. SAM'L MER EDITH, TENCH COXE, REUBEN HAINES, TENCH FRANCIS, LEVI HOLLINGSWORTH, JOHN SITGREAVE. THO'S AFFLECK. - - - - - - - - OBSERVATIONS OF THE ROAD COMMITTEE. _ _ _ Observations by the committee of the land-holders on the utility and importance of the roads proposed to be laid open in Northampton and Luzerne. It is of consequence to the public, as well as the land-holders, that an adequate idea should be formed of the importance of having roads laid out and opened in the counties of Northampton and Luzerne, between the rivers Delaware and Susquehanna. If the expence to the public be an objection, we are fortunate in having thought of an adequate means of obviating it. Let us suppose seven hundred and fifty pounds to be granted in aid of the plan. Sixty tracts of four hundred acres each, at the rate of the old purchase, being ten pounds certificate per hundred acres, and five pounds per tract for warrants and patents, will produce a greater sum, besides the benefit of sinking one thousand nine hundred and twenty pounds more in certificates. For example, Certificates. Specie. 60 tracts of 400 acres, at £40 per tract is, £2400 Certificates being about 4s. per 20s. deduct 1920 4-5ths to make it specie, which will be sunk _____ £480 60 warrants at 31s. and 60 patents at 69s., 300 ____ Whence it appears there will be sunk in specie, £780 <673> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. Now if we consider the quantity of vacant lands which lie in the intervals of Northampton and Luzerne, there can be but little doubt but that sales in consequence of such capital and extensive roads going thro' the centre of so great a country, will take place, to the amount of sixty tracts, or twenty-four thousand acres. But when we recollect that it is part of the plan to extend the road over to Tioga Point, which will lead the population and purchases into the district of William M'Clay, Esquire, being No. 1 in the new purchase, where the lands will probably be from thirty pounds per hundred acres, down to twenty or fifteen pounds, we cannot have the least doubt that the state will be immediately refunded all its advances, and sink a handsome part of its debt in certificates besides. A second object of great importance at this moment is the effect this measure will have in quieting any remaining dispositions to disorder in the county of Luzerne. A new, easy road will be opened from the thick-settled and well-affected counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, &c., and from the lower parts of Northampton county to Tioga, by which a force, if necessary, may be rapidly moved to that place. Disturbances will be rendered much more improbable and less dangerous from the constant progress of settlement under Pennsylvania titles in the parts of Northampton and Luzerne, which lie on and near the courses of the proposed roads. This consideration, it is conceived, is of great consequence. These roads will necessarily be about one hundred and fifty miles in extent; and the country through which they are to be laid out is above seventy miles in length, north and south, and about sixty miles wide on a medium, and consequently contains four thousand two hundred square miles, or about two millions eight hundred thousand acres of land. How grand an object then does this appear to the manufactures, internal and foreign commerce, agriculture and general resources and powers of the state. If we extend the idea further, as we justly may, to the numerous tracts of land belonging to New York, which lie on the Delaware, Susquehanna and Tioga Rivers, from the first to the hundredth milestone, we shall see the importance of this plan in yet stronger light. We shall at once perceive that a very large part of the state of New York will be rendered, as to all purposes of commerce, a part of Pennsylvania by these roads, and by the improvements of the navigation of the Delaware and Susquehanna, which the settlement of this country will enable and induce the owners to effect. A great part of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, 43-VOL. XVIII. <674> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. and nearly the whole of Connecticut and Rhode Island, lie due east of the Lands thro' which these roads are proposed to pass; so that all the emigrants from those parts, now known to be full of inhabitants, will be induced by good roads to take this country in their way westward, which will give Pennsylvania a great opportunity of acquiring settlers, citizens and taxables. It is conceived that time should not be lost, for by getting the start of a season we may turn the tide of emigration into this channel. From the habits of our own countrymen, meat has become an indispensable article to our laborers and hired hands. The settlement of the country under consideration appears therefore of great importance to the manufacturers of Pennsylvania, for it is well known to contain a great proportion of meadow and pasture lands, and of course that it is adapted to raising cattle. It is surely a matter much to be desired that the farmers of New England may be induced to settle among us as citizens of Pennsylvania, and furnish us with this important article of domestic support and foreign commerce, which we have been used to obtain from other quarters, especially as we have several millions of acres suitable for breeding and raising cattle. At present we are tributary to foreign countries for barreled beef, which is imported from Ireland by a voyage of three thousand miles. A road to Tioga, whose waters nearly approach those of Lake Ontario, appears to be of great importance to our Indian trade. Tho' it be very probable that the most eligible will be through the Sinnemahoning river, yet the chances of securing that trade will be encreased by opening this practicable route thro' the Genesee country of Lake Ontario. The channels of commerce as they offer, should be immediately secured whenever the expence is moderate. The article of potash forms a part of the export of New York to the amount, it is said, of two hundred thousand dollars per annum. The woods of the country through which it is proposed these roads should be laid out are proper, for the manufactory of this article, and enough can be spared to make it in very great quantities. The proceedings of the land-holders will not be deemed an improper subject of observation. For while their numerous and generous subscriptions will prove their conviction of the public and private advantages that will result from these roads, they show a liberal and equitable disposition not to withhold their money in a case wherein they acknowledge they will be benefited. It may not be improper to add that several private owners of New York lands have exerted themselves in promot- <675> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. ing these roads, and that they are proportional contributors to the plan. JOHN NICHOLSON, TENCH COXE, MARK WILCOX, TENCH FRANCIS, HENRY DRINKER, Committee. PHILADELPHIA, March 5, 1788. - - - - - - - - THE SUSPENSION ACT OF 1788. _ _ _ An act to suspend an act, entitled "an Act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed within the County of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned." SECTION 1. WHEREAS, By an act entitled "An act for ascertaining and confirming certain persons, called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed, within the county of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned," it is, among other things, enacted, that certain commissioners therein named, or thereafter to be appointed, should, within a limited time, meet together with the said county, for the purpose of receiving and examining the claims of the said claimants, and ascertaining and confirming the same. And whereas, When these commissioners had met, in pursuance of the said law, they were interrupted in their proceedings by the combinations, threatening and outrageous violence of certain lawless people in the said county of Luzerne, and obliged to fly for the preservation of their lives. And whereas, Doubts have also arisen concerning the construction, true intent and meaning of said law, for which, and other causes, it hath become very difficult to determine the same, and to adjust the compensation to be made to those persons who will be divested of their property by the operation of the said law, if the same shall be carried into effect. And whereas, The time in which these commissioners were to receive their claims has expired, but their other powers still remain, which, if immediately executed, without further provisions and regulations being previously made, will tend to embarrassment and confusion." SECTION 2. Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the Representatives of the Freeman of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and by the authority of <676> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. the same, That so much of the said law as impowers the said commissioners to ascertain and confirm the claims of the said people, called Connecticut claimants, and all and every part of the said act, which gives any power and authority to the said commissioners, be and the same is hereby suspended, until the Legislature of this Commonwealth shall, by a law for that purpose to be enacted, make further provisions and regulations in the premises, and shall direct and require the said commissioners to proceed in the exercise of their said powers. Signed by order of the House THOMAS MIFFLIN, Speaker. Enacted at Philadelphia, Saturday the 29th day of March, 1788. PETER ZACHARY LLOYD. Clerk of the General Assembly. _ _ _ Vote on Suspending the Act of 1787. Yeas. Valentine Upp, Bucks county. James Moore, Chester county. Alexander Lowrey, Lancaster county. James Clemson, Lancaster county. Jacob Erb, Lancaster county. Michael Schmyser, York county. William Mitchell, York county. David McClellan, York county. Joseph Reed, York county. Thomas Clingan, York county. David Mitchell, Cumberland county. Thomas Beale, Cumberland county. Thomas Kennedy, Cumberland county. John Oliver, Cumberland county. Joseph Hiester, Berks county. Gabriel Hiester, Berks county. David Davis, Berks county. Joseph Sands, Berks county. Philip Kreemer, Berks county. Peter Trexler, Jun., Northampton county. Thomas Mawhorter, Northampton county. Peter Burkhalter, Northampton county. John Piper, Bedford county. Jacob Saylor, Bedford county. Samuel Maclay, Northumberland county. John White, Northumberland county. <677> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. William Findley, Westmoreland county. James Barr, Westmoreland county. John McDowell, Washington county. James Allison, Washington county. Alexander Wright, Washington county. John Flenniken, Washington county. Theophilus Phillips, Fayette county. John Gilchrist, Fayette county. James McLene, Franklin county. James McCalmont, Franklin county. Jacob Reiff, Montgomery county. Robert Lollar, Montgomery county. Benjamin Rittenhouse, Montgomery county. Jacob Miley, Dauphin county. Robert Clark, Dauphin county. John Carson, Dauphin county. Nays. George Clymer, City of Philadelphia. Thomas Fitzsimmons, City of Philadelphia. Jacob Hiltzheimer, City of Philadelphia. William Will, City of Philadelphia. William Robinson, Jun., County of Philadelphia. John Salter, County of Philadelphia. George Logan, County of Philadelphia. Richard Peters, Philadelphia. Gerardus Wynkoop, Bucks county. John Chapman, Bucks county. Samuel Foulke, Bucks county. Robert Ralston, Chester county. Richard Thomas, Chester county. Samuel Evans, Chester county. Townsend Whelen, Chester county. Adam Hubley, Lancaster county. Joseph Work, Lancaster county. John Hopkins, Lancaster. Joseph Lilley, York county. John Irvine, Westmoreland county. John Paul Schott, Luzerne county. <678> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. MEMORIAL OF PENNSYLVANIA CLAIMANTS. _ _ _ Lower Smithfield, Northampton County, July 14, 1788. To His Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, Esquire, President of the State of Pennsylvania, and to the Honorable the Executive Council: The Petition of the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the County of Northampton, Owners of Lands at Wyoming and elsewhere on the River Susquehanna, claiming under Titles derived from this State, in behalf of themselves and their associates most humbly represent: That your Petitioners from their present places of Residence, North of the Blue Mountain, have not the means of early Information on any Subject. We reside far from the Seat of Government, and, unfortunately for us, are often uninformed of the Measures pursuing by the State at Times when our Interest is essentially concerned. We Knew not of the Resolve of the Assembly passed the 27th day of March last, before the Publication thereof in Dunlap and Claypoole's Paper reached us by Accident on the 10th instant. We observe that the Commissioners require That the Claimants under this State do send "Such Papers and other Information as will enable the Commissioners to ascertain the Situation and Quantity of such Lands respectively claimed by them, to Colonel Pickering at Wilkesbarre, by the 25th Day of this Month," a Period so near at Hand and at a Season of the year with us the Heighth and Hurry of Harvest as renders the absence of every Man among us that has a sheaf of Grain of their Own to reap or depends on getting Bread for his Labour from his friends or Neighbor impossible. We, therefore, beg Council to consider the Embarrassments that present to defeat the Accomplishment of the Duty of the Commissioners. We conceive their Business is to view and value every Tract of Land claimed by us and our Associates, to have the fullest Information of the Improvements made on the Lands by the Claimants under Pennsylvania before their Expulsion, in Order that they might form a Judgment of the Value of our Property and the Amount of the Compensation to be made for our Losses. It appears to us that to effect this with any Decree of Certainty the personal attendance of the former settlers will be absolutely needful, and if we set out on this Business now, we turn our Backs on our Crops and throw ourselves defenceless and unarmed in the <679> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. way of a set of lawless Banditti, who, having formerly robbed and ruined many of us, are now quarreling and destroying One another about the Division of our Possessions and Property, and amongst whom at any Time, especially the present, neither our Papers or Persons would be safe; they have even suspected and seized upon their friend, Counsellor and Advocate, Timothy Pickering, to whose extraordinary Abilities many of our Associates owe their ruin and whose Machinations produced the Act of 27th March, 1787, which has entangled the State in Perplexity heretofore unknown in Pennsylvania. With the most perfect Respect for your Excellency and Council we pray for Leave to call to your remembrance the Proceedings of April, 1783. Messrs. Joseph and William Montgomery and Moses McClean were appointed Commissioners by the Legislature, before whom the Claimants under Pennsylvania met at Wyoming and presented a State of their respective Claims, at which Time the Surveyor of the District, Col. Stewart, was called upon to produce the original Surveys and General Drafts of that Country from Fort Augusta to the Bounds of the State, by which at one view the several Owners could shew the Spot he claimed and his Order or Warrant therefor. We can with Truth and Boldness affirm that the Commissioners were fully satisfied with our Conduct and that Demonstration beyond the Power of Contradiction shone forth then on the Side of Justice, and that we and our Associates rested from that Time in full Confidence and on the most solemn assurances of the State, pledged to us by their Commissioners for Support and Protection in our Property against all Invaders. How far and fatally we have been disappointed the act of the 27th Day of March, 1787, will shew. We, therefor, beseech Your Excellency and the Honorable the Executive Council to take our Case under your Consideration, to bring in Review before You the Hardships we labour under and the Uncertainty and Hazard of either attending in Person or transmitting our Deeds, Drafts or Contracts to Timothy Pickering, who we hear is at present in Duress. Indeed it seems doubtful to us whether the Commissioners can proceed in the Business during these Times of Confusion, But if they may, it must be evident that without a View of the Premises and General Draught of the Country now called Luzerne from Nescopeck to Tioga, they cannot neither ascertain whose the Lands of Right belong unto nor affix a Value so as to do Justice to the lawful Owners in Estimating the Compensation to be made them. Trusting therefore that your Excellency and Council will justify us in a perfect Neutrality in the present State of Riot and Quarrels at Wyoming, and that no Interference of <680> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. Ours at present would tend to any good Purpose, but on the Contrary, rather involve our worthy Citizens, the Original owners, in Feuds with the Banditti at Wyoming. We committ Ourselves and Associates to the Direction of Council on this Occasion, and as in Duty bound shall ever pray. JOHN VAN CAMPEN, JOHN CHAMBERS, WILLIAM CLARK, JOHN SMITH, Agents for the Owners of Land at Wyoming, who reside in Northampton County. - - - - - - - - DISSENTMENT TO REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS TO REPEAL CONFIRMING ACT; _ _ _ DISSENTIENT from the vote adopting the report of the committee in favor of repealing the act, entitled "An act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons, called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed within the county of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned." 1st. Because we consider the act which the resolution adopted by the House proposes to repeal, to be either in the nature of an absolute or a conditional grant to the Connecticut settlers. If the latter it has not yet been proved to our satisfaction, that the insurrection at Wyoming, which occasioned the commissioners to fly, proceeded from a general determination to resist the authority and reject the bounties of this State, or from the turbulent dispositions of some of the adherents of John Franklin, who were incensed at his sudden and secret arrest; few of whom could derive any benefit from the law which the commissioners were then carrying into execution, and consequently it has not appeared with that clearness which the importance of the subject requires that there has been any breach of implied condition of the law, viz: That the Connecticut settlers would submit to the authorities of the State. 2d. Because if the grant is absolute, it is obligatory upon the State, and can only be revoked upon the terms mentioned hereafter. We conceive that a law vesting an interest conveys the most (authentic) and (solemn) title that can be annexed to property, after which the State has not the same power over the law which it most unquestionably possesses over its own acts <681> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. of another nature. But in no instance can the power of repealing laws affect their obligations while in force, and consequently, if the effect of the law while in force is permanent and perpetual upon the subject to which it relates, a repeal, although it may destroy the law, cannot diminish the effect it has already produced. 3d. Because, although it is universally conceded that private property may at any time be taken for public uses, yet it can only be so taken on condition of making full and adequate compensation to the private proprietor; and hence, it may follow that the State, from whatever motives, having conveyed the title to the lands in dispute, under certain terms and modifications to the Connecticut settlers, will at a future day be liable to make a more expensive compensation to those settlers, than the whole amount of the demands of the Pennsylvania claimants. 4th. Because it is introducing a most dangerous principle to repeal a law of any kind from an impression, however strong, that the Legislature was deceived at the time of passing the law. A law contrary to the Constitution may, and ought to be repealed; for in that instance there is a certain guide, which, although it may be disobeyed, cannot be misunderstood. But to pass our own judgment in a legislative manner upon the sufficiency of the motives which induced a former Assembly to enact a law of the nature of that which it is now proposed to repeal, and to collect these motives from other sources than the law itself, appears to us to endanger the authority even of our own proceedings, by rendering them liable at a future day to be subverted in the same manner, with perhaps still less evidence than we have to proceed on. And it will directly tend to destroy the order, safety and happiness derived from civil society; for as the obligation of the laws is rendered less solemn and conclusive, the Legislature will naturally become less impressed with their importance, and the people will gradually learn to disregard their authority. (Signed) WILLIAM RAWLE, RICHARD THOMAS, RICHARD DOWNING, JR., LAWRENCE SICKLE, JONATHAN ROBERTS, JACOB HILTSHEIMER, HENRY DERING, SAMUEL ASHMEAD, OBADIAH GORE, HERMAN HUSBAND. <682> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. REPEAL OF CONFIRMING LAW. _ _ _ An act to repeal an act, entitled "An act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons, called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed within the county of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned." SECTION 1. WHEREAS, An act of Assembly, enacted the twenty-eighth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, entitled "An act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons, called Connecticut Claimants, the lands by them claimed within the county of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned," hath been found, in its principles and operations, to be unjust and oppressive, inasmuch as it divested many citizens of this State of their lands without their consent, and without making them any just compensation; And whereas, Depriving individuals of their property in such a summary way is unconstitutional, and of the most dangerous consequence; And whereas, Said act was enacted by the Legislature hastily without due consideration had, and proper information of the magnitude of the grant; And whereas, Carrying said act into effect would impose a grievous burthen on the good citizens of this State to make compensation to those who would thereby be divested of their property; And whereas, The reasons set forth in the preamble of said act do not appear sufficient to warrant any legislative interference or departure from the established rules of justice, in respect to private property, nor hath had the effect proposed: SECTION 2. Be it enacted, &c., That the act, entitled "An act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons called Connecticut claimants, &c.," * * * * be and the same is hereby repealed, and all proceedings had under said act are hereby rendered void, and declared to be null and of no effect; and all titles and claims which might be supposed to be affected by said act are hereby re-vested in the former owners, in as full and ample a manner as if the said act had never been enacted, anything in the same to the contrary notwithstanding. SECTION 3. AND WHEREAS, It hath been represented to this house, that judgment has been obtained in sundry actions of ejectment brought in the court of Common Pleas for the county of Northumberland, for sundry tracts of land now lying within the county of Luzerne, at the suit of persons claiming under titles derived from the late Proprietaries of <683> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. Pennsylvania, in which judgment by default has been recovered against persons holding such lands by virtue of rights or titles derived from or under the State of Connecticut, and it is right and just that the defendants in such actions should not be dispossessed without a trial by jury: Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no writ or writs of Scire Facias, or Habere Facias Possessionem, shall issue from the said court to revive such judgments, or to carry them into effect; but original suits in ejectment, for recovery of any such tracts of land within the said county, may be brought at the suit of such Pennsylvania claimants or any of them. Signed by order of the House, RICHARD PETERS, Speaker. PETER ZACHARY LLOYD, Clerk of the Assembly. Enacted at Philadelphia, Thursday, April 1, 1790. _ _ _ The Vote on Repeal of Confirming Law. Yeas. Francis Gurney, City of Philadelphia. Thomas Paul, County of Philadelphia. Thomas Britton, County of Philadelphia. Elias Boys, County of Philadelphia. Gerardus Wynkoop, Bucks county. Valentine Upp, Bucks county. John Chapman, Bucks county. James Bryan, Bucks county. John McDowell, Chester county. James Clemson, Lancaster county. Jacob Erb, Lancaster county. John Miller, Lancaster county. Jacob Schmyser, York county. William Godfrey, York county. Thomas Kennedy, Cumberland county. David Mitchell, Cumberland county. Jonathan Hoge, Cumberland county. John Ludwig, Berks county. Nicholas Lutz, Berks county. Daniel Leinbach, Berks county. John Moore, Bedford county. Samuel Maclay, Northumberland county. John White, Northumberland county. <684> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. John Baird, Westmoreland county. James Barr, Westmoreland county. James Allison, Washington county. Alexander Wright, Washington county. James Marshall, Washington county. Thomas Ryerson, Washington County. John Gilchrist, Fayette county. James Finley, Fayette county. James Johnson, Franklin county. John Rhea, Franklin county. Jacob Rieff, Montgomery county. Benjamin Markley, Montgomery county. James Vaux, Montgomery county. Jacob Miley, Dauphin county. John Carson, Dauphin county. James McCreight, Dauphin county. David Stewart, Huntingdon county. Hugh Lloyd, Delaware county. Richard Riley, Delaware county. Nays. Lawrence Sickel, City of Philadelphia. Jacob Hiltzheimer, City of Philadelphia. William Lewis, City of Philadelphia. William Rawle, City of Philadelphia. Samuel Ashmead, County of Philadelphia. Richard Thomas, Chester county. Richard Downing, Junior, Chester county. Henry Dering, Lancaster county. Thomas Lilley, York county. Herman Husband, Bedford county. Jonathan Roberts, Montgomery county. Obediah Gore, Luzerne county. John Neville, Allegheny county. John Harris, Mifflin county. _ _ _ Dissentient of the Minority. DISSENTIENT from the vote for enacting the law, entitled an act to repeal an act entitled "An act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons, called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed in the county of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned. 1st. Because the passing of the bill into a law in the same session in which it originated, and within eight days after it <685> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. was first read to the House, is beyond all example heretofore furnished by the rage or folly of party, a flagrant violation of the Constitution, which declares that "to the end that laws before they are enacted, may be more maturely considered, and the inconvenience of hasty determination as much as possible prevented, all bills of a public nature shall be printed for the consideration of the people, before they are read in General Assembly, the last time for debate, and except on occasions of sudden necessity, shall not be passed into laws until the next session of Assembly." That this bill was of "a public nature" all who have understanding to comprehend, and candor to acknowledge the obvious meaning of words, must confess; inasmuch as the compensation to be made to the Pennsylvania claimants, related to the whole State, and affected all its members; and no one will have the effrontery to say, that any "occasion of sudden necessity" had occurred for dispensing with the express provisions of the Constitution. This wanton precipitation in passing the bill, is inconsistent with its preamble, in which one motive assigned for the repeal of the confirming law is, that it was passed hastily, and without due consideration had, and another contradiction equally glaring is, that after stating that the said act divested many citizens of this State of their lands, without their consent, and without making them any just compensation, it assigns as a reason for the repeal, that the carrying said act into effect would impose a grievous burthen on the good citizens of this State, to make compensation to those who would thereby be divested of their property. The Constitution further declares, "that for the more perfect satisfaction of the public, the reasons and motives for making laws, shall be fully and clearly expressed in the preambles." Whatever might be the reasons and motives for passing the bill, the facts assumed in the preamble, but which were neither proved nor admitted, seem to have been intended to give color to a proceeding which stood in need of it, if not to bring reproach on a former House, equally respectable at least with the present one for wisdom and virtue. 2d. Because the House had no proper evidence in support of the allegations contained in the preamble, and refused to inquire either in the House or in committee of the whole House, whether they were true or not. In a measure highly interesting to the honour, dignity, and justice of the State, in a measure consigning to misery and ruin many hundred families, who had trusted to its good faith, and calculated to bring severe and merited reproach on a former Assembly, a decent regard for the opinions of men should have induced the House to <686> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. have heard the evidence which was called for, so as to give some semblance of justice to their proceedings. This was nevertheless refused, and an example set for preferring rumor to facts, assertions to proof, and conjecture to full and complete information. A solemn vote precluded probing inquiry, and then the House assuming facts, assigned them as grounds for repealing a law found in wisdom, justice, and sound policy. If this proceeding is not a mockery of justice, and a satire on the House, it must be admitted to be of the most dangerous example. 3d. Because the confirming act was founded in wisdom and sound policy, and the allegations in the preamble to the bill repealing it, that "it was unconstitutional, and of the most dangerous consequences;" and that "the reasons set forth in the preamble of the said act, do not appear sufficient to warrant any legislative interference," are without foundation. The salus populi, or safety of the people, is the supreme law of the land, to which all inferior rights and regulations must yield. They originate from and are auxiliary to society, and may, on reasonable compensation made, be lawfully resumed, whenever the great ends thereof require it, for the accomplishment of some great good, or to arrest an impending evil. These important truths result from the very nature of society, and the first principles of government. They are sanctioned by the principles of individuals and the practice of nations. They are confirmed in abundant instances by our municipal laws, and recognized by our bill of rights. The Legislature who enacted that law were neither so weak nor so wicked as men less informed and not more virtuous, have supposed them to have been. The state of the Commonwealth called for the system which they adopted, and had a policy equally just and wise been since pursued, the faith of Pennsylvania would not have been broken, or her honor tainted by her own sons. If the House had designed to inquire for themselves of witnesses at the bar, or in committee of the whole, instead of trusting to others, the truth might have appeared on our journals, and a curious spectacle would have been exhibited by contrasting it with the preamble of the bill. But the hurry with which they charged a former House with proceeding "hastily and without due consideration had," not admitting of the necessary inquires, has exposed them to that censure which has been wrongfully imputed to others. The conduct of the Legislature of November, 1787, when, the same business came before them, was very different. Instead of listening to idle rumors, they called witnesses to their bar, and examined for themselves. They had written documents laid before them, <687> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. and became well acquainted with all the facts which led to the quieting act, as well as with its effect. The charter boundaries of Pennsylvania and Connecticut were supposed to clash, and had long been contested before and since the Revolution. Each asserted her claim to the country at and about Wyoming, and manifested a resolution to maintain them at every hazzard. The Connecticut claimants settled themselves on the lands, under grants from the Susquehanna Company, and the patronage of Connecticut. They maintained and cultivated their lands, until the decree of Trenton, in 1782. That decree settled the rights of soil and territory, as between the contending States, in favor of Pennsylvania, but it neither did nor possibly could affect the private rights of individuals. The judges who pronounced that decree, nevertheless became well acquainted with the nature of the settlements, and the equity resulting from them. Under the impressions made thereby, they wrote a letter to the Executive authority of Pennsylvania, which is perhaps lost, but the following account of it has been given by one of the same judges in a subsequent letter: "We had many strong reasons for writing the letter to the President of Pennsylvania. We were fully acquainted with the circumstances of the New England settlers. We knew that many of them had honestly paid for their possessions; that they verily believed the title under which they claimed to be perfectly good; that they had cleared, built upon, and improved the land; that in doing this they had encountered many dangers, and suffered innumerable hardships; and beyond all these things, and what cannot be estimated, many of their nearest connexions had spilt their blood in defense of their possessions." Thus circumstanced, it was manifest that they had become enthusiastic for the land; that the reasoning of legislators and statesmen would have but little weight with them; that if the State should attempt to dispossess them, they would become desperate and a civil war would be the consequence. On the contrary, if the State should quiet them in their possessions, they would become peaceable good citizens, and that the State could compensate those who held the Pennsylvania title, by giving them an equivalent in lands or money, at a less expense than that of dispossessing the New England settlers. That therefore the interest, the humanity, and the policy of the State, would lead them to adopt the measures that we recommended. 4th. Because the act hath, so far as dependent on the Connecticut claimants, had the effects proposed, and the allegations to the contrary, in the preamble to the bill for its repeal, <688> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. are unfounded. It was incontestibly proved on a former occasion at the bar of the House, that the Connecticut claimants, whose rights had been acquired previous to the decree at Trenton, and who were the only persons included in the act, were perfectly satisfied therewith, and that all of them, except six or eight, had submitted to the government and laws of Pennsylvania; that all those who had been disposed to join them, had abandoned their design, except the half-share men, who had come among them since the decree at Trenton, and who were not included in the act. These being too insignificant to make any formidable opposition, have either abandoned the settlement, or encouraged by the wavering conduct of Pennsylvania, remain ready to renew their mischiefs, if by her breach of faith, others should be induced to join them. Hence the most salutary effects have been derived from the law; and war, perhaps more expensive than the compensation to have been made, was avoided; peace and tranquility were restored, or rather took place for the first time. The government and laws of Pennsylvania have been establishd, and had their free operation, and allies, formidable from their numbers and situation, abandoned their hostile views. Thus the great objects which the Legislature had in view in passing the Confirming Law, have really been accomplished. They were principally these: 1st. To conciliate the mind of those Claimants; to induce them to relinquish their designs of absolutely rejecting the jurisdiction of this State, and in conjunction with others who had associated, and were preparing to associate with them, of erecting a new and independent State in that and the adjacent country. 2d. To put an end to the distresses, expense, and bloodshed which during a series of years had attended this dispute; and to prevent the still more serious evils of a civil war, which not only a contrary policy, but a delay of that salutary confirmation were likely to produce; the measures which those people were then pursuing having a direct tendency to that fatal issue. 3d. A further object of that law was, that by having their lands confirmed to them, those people might be induced, not only to relinquish the designs already mentioned, but to submit to the government, and become useful as well as peaceful citizens of this State. 4th. Another object, and it was an object of high importance, was to render practicable the settlement of an extensive adjacent country, to which the contention about the Wyoming lands had for many years proved a fatal bar. These were the great objects of the Confirming Law; these were the effects proposed and expected to result from it; and the event has justified the expectation. The adjacent country is in a train of settlement, <689> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. and if the county of Luzerne itself has not greatly increased in population and improvement, it is to be attributed to the long suspension of the Confirming Law. 5th. Because the preamble contains most indecent and unwarrantable reflections on the Assembly by which the Confirming Law was enacted. That Assembly was impressed with the weighty considerations above stated; considerations which received additional force from many collateral circumstances, which a retrospect to the numerous mischiefs which had flowed from the dispute about the Wyoming lands could not fail to bring to remembrance. That Assembly must have recollected the many fruitless attempts of government to extend its jurisdiction over that country, and have seen that the obstacles to it were daily increasing. They saw that there was but this alternative, either to confirm the lands to the old Connecticut settlers, or immediately to raise a military force, with the hope of subduing them. They chose the former, and disinterested men of sound judgment approved the choice. It is well known that at the time when that law passed, the Union of these States was but a rope of sand; that the people of Wyoming, amidst many sufferings and oppressions, received countenance from their parent State, Connecticut; that they had numerous and interested connexions in that State; and that under such circumstances, a war commenced against the Wyoming settlers, might have drawn after it very serious consequences. A Legislature passing the Confirming Law, for such reasons and under such impressions, ought not to be charged with doing it hastily and without due consideration. It was a measure which we have seen, had been recommended to the State by men to whose judgment in this case, the highest deference was due and whose discernment and impartiality ought not to be impeached by this House. And various transaction of the Legislature, at different periods, before the Confirming Law was made, clearly manifest their opinion that some equitable provision ought to be made for the Connecticut claimants, who had settled in that country before the decree at Trenton, and for the widows and children of such as had fallen (and a multitude of them had fallen), fighting against the savages. A law passed under such circumstances cannot justly be called unconstitutional. At the time when the Confirming Law was passed, the General Assembly had the exclusive right to judge of its expediency, propriety, and necessity; and even admitting (which we do not admit) that the Assembly had on those points formed an erroneous judgment, yet so far as its grants or engagements extended, they are irrevocably binding 44-VOL. XVIII. <690> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. on the State, and cannot be canceled without the consent of those to or with whom they were made. 6th. Because all the acts of the Legislature which appear on their journals since the Confirming Law was passed, manifest an intention, ultimately, to establish the claim of the Connecticut claimants. When accidental causes had rendered it impossible for all of them to exhibit their claims within the time prescribed by the Confirming Law, the power of the Commissioners was suspended by a law made for that purpose; lest by a partial establishment of claims (which could apply only to such as they had an opportunity to receive and examine), much mischief and confusion should arise. But the suspension of a law is in its nature only a temporary measure; and in this case it was expressly declared to be only until the Legislature should make further provisions and regulations in the premises. At the same time a bill was introduced, adopted and published for consideration, for the purpose of granting the seventeen townships entire to the Connecticut claimants; a grant that there is sufficient evidence to show would greatly have exceeded the claims which could have been admitted under the Confirming Law. The next day a resolve was passed, to authorize the Supreme Executive Council to take proper measures for ascertaining the quantity and value of the land claimed by Pennsylvania owners, to be reported at the next session, "that the House might the better be enabled to decide on the compensation to be made them." All these transactions took place long after the Confirming Law had been enacted, and they will admit of but one or two meanings: Either that the Legislature still judged it proper and necessary substantially to carry the Confirming Law into execution, and meant eventually to do it, or that the cogent reasons which induced the passing of it, still continued in such force, that a repeal of it would have been dangerous, and, therefore, that the Suspending Law, the bill for granting the seventeen townships entire, and the resolution preparatory to the making compensation to the Pennsylvania claimants were necessary to excite in the Connecticut settlers an expectation of a final establishment of their claims, to soothe and keep them quiet, to prevent any accession of force, and to detach from them their new associates; but that when these views should be accomplished, and when it should be found that the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth was completely established in Luzerne county, the Confirming Law should be repealed. But if some, by their conduct in this business, are disposed to impute such base and dishonorable motives to a former Legislature, we are <691> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. not. The obvious construction of those public acts forbids the suspicion. 7th. Because the grants of land solemnly made by the Confirming Law to the Connecticut claimants, assure to them effective titles, and the property thereby vested in them a complete compensation. But such compensation would far exceed that which has been engaged to the Pennsylvania claimants: Therefore, if the mere interest of the State be regarded, the Confirming Law ought not be repealed. The journals and files of the Legislature clearly show that the Assembly which enacted the law for confirming to the Connecticut claimants the lands by them claimed in the county of Luzerne, were not ignorant of the magnitude of her grant. The petition of those claimants explicitly states, that their claims extended through seventeen towns, generally five miles square, and to some detached lots, and the committee on that petition reported to the Assembly that the petition was for entire and extensive tracts. In addition to this, the law by relative terms refers to the petition; is founded upon and confined to it; and as the claims are then stated, it is but a trifling with words to say, that "the Legislature had not proper information of the magnitude of the grant." 8th. Because, if we should say that at the time the Confirming Law was enacted, there did not exist sufficient reasons for passing it, if we should declare in the words of the preamble of the repealing law, "that it was hastily passed without due consideration," it would be to accuse that Legislature of criminal improvidence and inattention to their duty. But no subsequent Legislature can be justified in doing this, unless (which is impossible) they can see and feel all those reasons and impressions under which the law originated. 9th. Because, if the repealing law could possibly produce the effect intended by its supporters, it will nevertheless bring an indelible disgrace on the State. It will show that not honor and justice, but mere mercenary views governed its conduct; that it held itself bound by its contracts, only when a fulfillment of them coincided with its interests; and that though by its laws, it will compel the honest performance of disadvantageous contracts, entered into by individual citizens, yet in its own case, setting itself above the law, it will pay no regard to them. 10th. Because the formal repeal of the Confirming Law, while it prostrates the faith, and honor, and dignity of the State, will not procure any equivalent, if, in the nature of things, there can be any possible equivalent for the sacrifice <692> MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. of those great principles of society and government; because the repeal itself will be nugatory, for it is an infraction of the laws of nations, a violation of the Constitution of the United States, an ex post facto law, a law violating the obligation of a solemn public contract, and the courts of the United States must pronounce it to be of no effect. Hence the folly of the repeal will equal its injustice; for there will not remain even the paltry consideration of interest to console the State for the loss of its honor, dignity, and faith. It is too probable that the mischiefs resulting from the measure may be serious in their nature and of long continuance. Those who were appeased by a good policy, will not be appeased by a faithless one; and those who formerly joined them from motives of humanity, may do it again, from the additional one of our having added treachery to violence. Whatever may be the event, we dissent from the vote passing the bill into a law, and desire that our reasons may be recorded in justification of our conduct, and for the information of our constitutents. WILLIAM LEWIS, JOHN NEVILLE, OBADIAH GORE, SAMUEL ASHMEAD, HENRY DERING. - - - - - - - - Continued in Part III - MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO THE WYOMING CONTROVERSY