Local History: Chapters XXVIII -XXXIII: Davis's 1877 History of Northampton Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Susan Walters USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. HTML Table of Contents may be found at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/northampton/davistoc.htm _______________________________________________________________________ HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. ††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† 77 CHAPTER XXVIII. AFTER THE REVOLUTION. AT the close of the war the impoverishment of the provinces was extreme. Employment could scarcely be had at all, the rate of its remuneration was extremely low, and the currency of the country was worthless. On the other hand, the prices of every commodity were extravagantly high; none were able to indulge in the luxuries of life, and few could without great difficulty procure its barest necessities. It is true that after a time there came an improvement, but for some years this was hardly more than perceptible, The article of salt, of which the people had been so long deprived, became obtainable almost immediately after the close of hostilities; but was still, for a long time, very high, though not at one-twentieth part the price which Messrs. Vanuxem & Clark claimed to have had offered for theirs, only four years before. This was one of the very few imported articles which were absolutely indispensable, and this being within their reach, the dwellers upon the productive lands of Northampton county, and along its streams, which swarmed with fish, could support life at least, and, although deprived of nearly everything which their great-grandchildren now consider to be necessary to comfort, no doubt their struggling way of life brought them enjoyment, perhaps quite as much as if the luxuries had been within their reach. It certainly brought health in its train, and with this, and the prerogative of their newly acquired liberty, what more had they need of? The Indian raidings, on the north western frontier of the county had grown less and less frequent, and now had nearly ceased, As a consequence, settlements pushed themselves more and more rapidly into trans-montane Northampton, and filled up the rich, though rugged country lying on the waters of the Upper Lehigh. Among the people of more considerable note, who then sat themselves down in that region of hidden and unsuspected wealth, was Colonel Jacob Weiss, who had most creditable served his country as an officer in command of Continental troops, during the entire period of the Revolution. In the year 1784, he purchased of the Moravian Brethren, a tract of seven hundred acres of land, on the left bank of the Lehigh; this being the New Gnadenhutten tract, upon which stood the mission house that was given to the flames on that night of blood, the twenty-fourth of November, 1755. To this place,1 in the succeeding year, Colonel Weiss removed his family and commenced the settlement which, fifty years later, became the town of Weissport -so named in his honor. One of the first of Colonel Weis experiences in his new home was that of being suddenly inundated, and driven, with his family, from their house in the dead of the night, fly a flood in the Lehigh, which came without warning, and with such frightful rapidity, that it was with difficulty that they escaped with then, lives. This occurred in the year following their settlement, and the facts and incidents of the inundation have been thus related by the Rev. Mr. Webster, of Mauch Chuck, who gathered them from the lips of the aged Mrs. Weiss, the widow of the colonel: "On the night of the 6th of October, 1786, between ten and eleven o'clock, they were awakened by a boy from the farm-house, crying, under the windows, 'We are surrounded.' Mrs. Weiss thought, of course, it was by Indians, and shrieked out in expectation of being massacred or burned alive, or taken captive; but her husband endeavored to calm her fears, and lifting the window beheld to his dismay, the whole flat overflowed with water. "The whole family were soon aroused-the waters were wildly rushing around; and what, increased their alarm was, there had been no heavy rain. Mrs. Weiss determined to stay in the house, but her husband told her it was not safe, and that if she staid, it would be alone. "They drove the sheep into the kitchen, and put them up in the loft; the cattle were on the hills. Old Mrs. Robinson and the children, were put to a wagon and carried to the high ground; and Mrs. Weiss, at about two in the morning, mounted behind her husband to go on horseback. But the ground was so soaked that the horse sunk up to his flanks, and could not disengage himself. Men soon came and brought an arm-chair, and carried her safely to the hill. There was no rain, but it was very dark. "Besides their dwelling house and the farm house, there was only one small house near the river, where the Lehighton bridge now stands. It was swept away with the, owner, named Tippey, and his wife oil it; each holding a child in their arms. The house striking a true, the parents caught by the limbs and were saved, but in the act both the children fell off and were lost. "The most remarkable fact is, that by eight o'clock in the morning, the waters, had subsided front the flat, but the river was high, covered with boards, trees, and the wreck of a saw-mill from above Lausanne landing. This singular flood was accounted for by the opposition that a cloud or water-spout had suddenly burst in the mountains." This has always since been known and spoken of as, "Tippey's Flood," It was probably occasioned by a very heavy rain among the mountains. On the upper river, and it was no very remarkable circumstance, that it should have happened at a time when there was no rain on the lower portions of the river. Similar floods have since occurred at the same point: notably that of 1841, which did great damage to Weissport, and rose two feet higher than that of 1786. Other settlers came in, in goodly numbers, about the time of the coming of Colonel Weiss, and gradually the great wilderness region, which was called Towamensing, lost many of its wild characteristics, and even the awful precincts of the "Shades of Death" were invaded, and millions of feet of valuable pine lumber were taken from its dark recesses. With the increase of settlements, came greater security from Indian depredations; soon these ceased entirely and forever, farms were hewed out of the forests, passable roads were laid over the line of the warriors paths, and St. Anthony's Wilderness 2, became a pleasant and prosperous part of Northampton county. After the close of the Revolution, the old "Pennamite" contest, which had been temporarily quieted by the more momentous questions of the struggle against the mother century, was again revived, It was a contest between a community of people who had came from Connecticut, to settle at Wyoming and vicinity, on the one bond, and the government of the Province of Pennsylvania on the other. Without going at length into the merits of the case, it is sufficient to say that the refusal of the "Yankees," as they were termed, to recognize the authority of the province, led to actual conflict of arms in several instances: the party which acted in the name of the province, and which was determined on the expulsion of the "Yankees" -in a great measure impelled by considerations of personal advantages which they hoped to gain by such expulsion-being called "Pennamite," and the entire series of embroilments, being, known as the "Pennamite war." It seemed as if no satisfactory settlement of these difficulties could be effected, and the authorities, almost in despair of a peaceable solution, sent Colonel Timothy Pickering-for years an honored resident of Northampton county-as commissioner to pacify the differences, and to assist in the organization of the new county of Luzerne. On Colonel Pickering's arrival, he told the Connecticut people that he had the strongest and best reasons for believing that a law would be passed by the Legislature, by which they would be established in their possessions; and, doubtless, his assurances would have had a pacifying effect, but that one, of their spokesmen, one John Jenkins-whom Colonel Pickering spoke of as "a pretty shrewd man"-rose and said, that "they had too often experienced the bad faith of Pennsylvania, to place confidence in any new measure of its Legislature; and that if they should enact a quieting law they would repeal it as soon as the Connecticut settlers submitted, and were completely saddled with the laws, of the State," and this-says Colonel Pickering- "was prophetic, but I then had no faith in the prophecy. The Connecticut leader was a Colonel John Franklin, who had been so prominent in the course of the trouble that his arrest had been ordered by Chief Justice McKean. This was accomplished by four resolute inch, and Franklin was carried, on horseback, a bound prisoner, to Philadelphia. But this exasperated all followers, and wrought disaster to Commissioner Pickering. He was stopping near Wilkesbarre, and remained there quietly, to show his confidence in the ultimate, peaceful settlement of all difficulty, and at this place, in the dead of the night, on the twenty-sixth of June, 1788, a party of armed and disguised men broke into his house, made him prisoner, bound him with cords, and led him away up the North Branch. As they had told him to bring along his overcoat and blanket, and did not seem inclined to treat him roughly, he concluded that they intended no personal violence to him, but only intended to hold him as a hostage for the safety and liberation of Colonel Franklin. Therefore be made no attempt to escape. They carried him across the Lackawaanock Creek -not obliging him to wade, as they did themselves -and when venison was cooked for the party, they presented choice and well-seasoned pieces to him. On the fourth day, they rested at a point not precisely known, but being on the eastern side of the North Branch, and here they fastened an iron band around his ankle, and by this they chained him to a tree. At night he was chained to one of the party, to prevent him from escaping; though he had no intention of making the attempt. __________________________________________________________________________ 1. The house of Colonel Weiss stood on the spot occupied by Fort Allen -built by Franklin in 1756, and the old bell of the Moravian Mission House was discovered there imbedded in the earth by some of the, colonel's family who were digging a hole for a post, Colonel Weiss died January 9th, 1839 at the age of eighty-eight years, four months, and eight days. 2. This was the name given by Count Zinzendorff to the country above the Blue Mountains; particularly that along the Pokono range, 78 He was thus kept in durance for nineteen days, during ten of which he had worn the letter, and during the latter part of which time they had continually demanded of him that he should promise to intercede with the Executive Council for the release of Colonel Franklin; this promise to be the condition of his own enlargement; but as he persistently refused to make this promise, he was, at last, set at liberty, on his promise to write a petition for their pardon, and to forward it to the Council in Philadelphia. Colonel Pickering reached his home in a most sorry plight; sore, worn-out, unshaven, and ragged, from his nineteen days travel and imprisonment among the woods and mountains. It was not long before one of the very men who had captured him was brought to Wilkesbarre desperately wounded, from a fight in which he and his companions had been engaged with the militia; and then the Colonel most kindly did everything in his power to bring about his recovery. But this was impossible. Death took him; and he was committed to the earth, wrapt in a winding-sheet furnished by the man whom he had so recently held a shackled prisoner. At the close of the Pennamite war, twenty-seven of the Connecticut men were arrested and imprisoned in the Northampton county jail, where they remained for several months. An account of their deliverance from confinement is given in the history of the borough of Easton. Among the names of delegates to the Convention which met at Philadelphia, on the twenty-fourth of November, 1789, for the formation of a new State Constitution, are found those of Timothy Pickering and Samuel Sitgreaves, of Northampton. The old Constitution -adopted in 1776 -had been found deficient in many essential particulars. Chief Justice Thomas McKean said, concerning it: "The balance of the one, the few, and the many, is not well poised in the State; the Legislature is too powerful for the executive and judicial branches. "We have now but one branch -we must have another branch, a negative in the executive, stability in our laws, and permanency in our Magistracy, before we shall be reputable, safe, and happy." The new Constitution, trained by the Convention of 1789, was adopted in the following year, and was considered a most admirable model, giving strength to the government, while guaranteeing absolute security to the liberties of the people. CHAPTER XXIX. THE CONSEQUENCES OF A FOUR-PENNY TAX. As early as the Year 1756, there had been enacted a law of the Province of Pennsylvania, imposing a tax on distilled spirits, for the production of a revenue to sustain the provincial bills of credit. This law had been limited in its continuance to the term of ten years, but the limitation was met by the passage of other similar laws from time to time. These laws were exceedingly unpopular in the western counties, but, the people of those counties had, during the time of the Revolution, managed to evade their operation, no forcible resistance to them had been thought of, and, as from the ease with which these evasions were accomplished, the law had finally become a dead letter, it was at last repealed. This, however, did not leave the public mind in a condition to submit quietly to the imposing of the excise tax of four pence per gallon which was laid on distilled spirits, by the law of Congress, passed July 3d, 1791. Extreme opposition to this measure was manifested in several of the southwestern counties, but wits most intense in Washington and Fayette. The people of that region were descendants of emigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and the northern part of England, and it was not strange that they con- sidered whiskey as one of the necessities of life, as much as bread; nor that they had inherited the idea which their fathers entertained in the old country, that excise was worse than robbery, and that the government was their natural enemy Distilling there and in that day was a most honorable as well as lucrative business and the fame of Monongahela was wide. Their principal crop was rye, but for this there was no demand excepting in its quintessence; the worm of the still could alone make it available. The grain itself would not pay for transportation across the Alleghenies; four bushels was a full load for a horse, in its original state, while, if manufactured into spirits, the same home would carry the product of eight times that quantity. They must pay for the articles of necessity which they purchased of their oppressors, across the mountains, and how should they do it except through the medium of whiskey, the only article they had which would not consume itself in transportation? "The people had cultivated their1 land for years, at the peril of their lives, with little or no protection from the Federal Government; and when, by extraordinary efforts, they were enabled to raise a little more grain than their immediate wants required, they were met by a law restraining them from doing what they pleased with the surplus, The people of Western Pennsylvania, therefore, regarded a tax on whiskey in the same light, as the citizens of Ohio would now regard a United States tax on lard, pork, or flour." In short, their Celtic blood was up, and they resolved not to submit to a restriction, which they considered as unjust as, the Stamp Act, which had been one of the chief causes of the revolt of the, colonies against the tyranny of king and parliament. Public meetings were, held, at which the law was denounced; officers who were hardy enough to attempt the collection of the tax, or even to accept the appointment of collector, were subjected to attack, beatings, and even murder, while their houses and other buildings. were destroyed by the torch of the incendiary. The government determined to suppress this lawlessness, which had, in reality, assumed the proportions of rebellion. It was resolved -first- to prosecute all delinquents -second- to seize all unexcised spirits on their way to market, and -third- to make no purchases for the army, except of such spirits as had paid duty. This resolution on the part of the government, had no effect whatever, except, perhaps, to make the malcontents bolder and more determined, and after another year of temporizing, during which time, almost every crime in the calendar ad been committed by the insurgents, the government raised an army to march to the scene of the insurrection, and enforce obedience to the law by the only means which remained-gun powder. The force consisted of about fifteen thousand men, and Governor Lee, of Virginia, was placed in chief command. His subordinate generals were Mifflin, Howell, Morgan, and Hand, In Northampton county, the veterans of the recent war were ready to join this army, and experience once more the excitements of the field. Two companies were raised for this duty, although two regiments could have been recruited if required. One of these companies was commanded by Captain John Arndt, who well knew what fighting meant, and carried the wounds which he had received in 1776, at the battle of Long Island. This quota received orders from the Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania, Josiah Harmar, dated September 11th, 1794, requiring them to assemble with all possible dispatch, at Reading, to receive arms, equipments, and camp equipments, from whence they would march to the seat of war by way of Harrisburg and Carlisle. With the coming of the advance guard of this imposing force, however, the courage of the insurrectionists gave way, and no bloodshed became necessary. The dragoons were put in requisition to escort the civil officers to arrest the chief offenders, many of whom were taken to Philadelphia for trial, but after remaining in prison there for some months, were granted amnesty and set at liberty. Only two of the ringleaders were tried and convicted, and these were afterwards pardoned. The government had enforced obedience to the laws, which being all that was desired, the army returned to their homes, many of the veterans, sorry, no doubt, that they had not been allowed the opportunity to re-enact their parts in the familiar drama of battle. General Morgan was left at Pittsburg with a few battalions to preserve quiet during the winter. In the spring, these were also withdrawn, and the Whiskey Insurrection was among the events of the past. The following papers, which appeared in the public journals about the time of the commencement of the insurrection, show the humorous side of that lamentable affair. They have lain for years, filed away by the authorities, but are reprinted in vol. 4, second series, Pennsylvania Archives, pages 545 - 549. 79 CHAPTER XXX. AN INDIAN TREATY. Speeches intended to be spoken at a Treaty now holding with the Six United Nations of White Indians, settled on the heads of the Ohio, at the Towns of Pittsburg, the 20th of August 1794, by the Commissioners sent from Philadelphia for the purpose. CAPTAIN BLANKET, an Indian chief, spoke as follows: "BROTHERS: -We welcome you to the old Council Fire at this, place. It is a lucky spot of ground for holding Indian treaties. No good attended your treaties at Beaver Creek, Muskingum, &c. As the proffer of this treaty has originated with your great, council at Philadelphia, we, therefore, expect you have good terms to offer. But you know, Brothers, that it ever had been a custom to pay Indians well for coming to treaties, and you may be assured that unless we are well paid, or fully satisfied, your attempts of any kind, will not have the least effect. However, we doubt not, but the pay is provided, and that, you have a sufficiency of blankets and breech-clouts, powder, and lead, and that the waggons are close at hand. You know, Brothers, that our neighbours, the British, over the lakes, pay their Indians well, that they have inexhaustible stores of blankets and ammunition, and that if they were offering us a treaty, they would not hesitate a moment to satisfy till our demands." CAPTAIN WHISKEY spoke next: "BROTHERS:-My friend, Captain Blanket, has indulged himself in a little drollery about blankets, etc., but I must speak to the point, I am told that the people of your great council call us a parcel of drunken ragmuffins, because we indulge ourselves with a little of our homespun whiskey, and that we ought to pay well for this extraordinary luxury, what would they think if the same were said of them for drinking beer and cyder. Surely the saying will apply with equal force in both cases. We say our whiskey shall not be saddled with an unequal tax. You say it shall; and to enforce the collection of three or four thousand per annum of net proceeds, you will send an army of 12,950 men, or double that number, if necessary. This is a new fashioned kind of economy indeed. It is a pity this army had not been employed long ago in assisting your old warrior General Wayne; or chastising the British about the lakes. However, I presume it is the present policy to guard against offending a nation with a king at their head. But remember, brothers, if we have not a king at our head, we have that powerful monarch, Captain Whiskey, to command its. By the power of his influence, and a love to his person we are compelled to every great and heroic act. "You know, brothers, that Captain Whiskey has been a great warrior in all nations and in all armies. He is a descendant of that nation called Ireland; and use his own phrase, he has peopled three-fourths of this western world with his own hand. We, the Six United Nations, of White Indians, are principally his legitimate offspring, and those who are not, have all imbibed his principles and passions, that is a love of whiskey; and will, therefore, fight for our bottle till the last, gasp. Brothers, you must not think to frighten us with fine arranged lists of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, composed of your water-melon armies from the Jersey shores; they would cut a much better figure in warring with the crabs and oysters, about the Capes of Delaware. It is a common thing for Indians to fight your best armies at the proportion of one to five; therefore, we would not hesitate a moment to attack this army at the rate of one to ten. Our nations can, upon an emergency, produce twenty thousand warriors; you may then calculate what your army ought to be. But I must not forget that I am making an Indian speech; I must, therefore, give you a smack of national tongue- Tongash Getchie- Tongash Getchie -a very strong man me Captain Whiskey." CAPTAIN ALLIANCE next took the floor: BROTHERS:-My friend-Captain Whiskey-has made some fine flourishes about the power of his all-conquering monarch, Whiskey, and of the intrepidity of the sons of St. Patrick in defense of their beloved bottle. But we will suppose, when matters are brought to the test, that we should find ourselves unequal to the task of repelling this tremendous army, or that the great council should still persevere in their determination of imposing unequal and oppressive duties upon our whiskey: who knows but some evil spirit might prompt us to a separation from the union, and call for the alliance of some, more friendly nation. You know that the great nation of Kentucky have already suggested this idea to us. They are at present Mississippi mad, find we are whiskey mad; it is, therefore, hard to tell what may be the issue of such united madness. It appears as if the Kentuckians were disposed to bow knee to the Spanish monarch, or to kiss the Popes great toe and wear a crucifix, rather than be long deprived of their Mississippi: and we might he desperate enough, rather than submit to an odious excise on unequal taxes, to invite Prince William Henry, or some other royal pup, to take us by the hand, provided be would guarantee equal taxation and exempt our whiskey. "This would be a pleasing overture to the royal family of England-they would gladly embrace the favorable moment to add again to their curtailed dominion in America, to accommodate some of their numerous brood with kingdoms and principalities. We would soon find that great warrior of till, lakes-Simcoe-flying to our relief, and employing his numerous legions of white and yellow Savages for a different purpose to what they now have to view. If the Kentuckians should also take it into their head, to withhold supplies from your good old warrior Wayne, who is very often near starving in the wilderness, his army must be immediately annihilated, and your great council might forever bid adieu to their territory west, of the mountains. This may seem very improbable indeed, but as great wonders have happened within Europe in the course of three years past." CAPTAIN PACIFICUS- then arose, and concluded the business of the day: "BROTHERS:-My friend Alliance has made some very alarming observations, and, I confess, they have considerable weight with me. A desperate people Duty be drove to desperate resources, but as I am of a peaceable disposition, I shall readily concur in every reasonable proposition which may have a tendency to restore tranquility, and secure our union upon the true principles of equality and justice. It is now time to know the true object of your mission: if you are not the messengers of peace and come to offer us a treaty, why attempt to deliver it at the point of the bayonet? If you are only come to grant pardons for past offences, you need not have fatigued yourselves with such extraordinary dispatch on the journey: we have not yet begged your pardon; we are not yet at the gallows or the guillotine, for you will have to catch us first before you bring us there. But, as I am rather more of a counsellor than a warrior, I am more disposed to lay hold of the chain than the tomahawk; I shall, therefore, propose that a total suspension of hostilities, and the cause, therefore shall immediately take place on both sides, until the next meeting of our great national council. If your powers are not competent to this arrangement, we expect, as your old counsellors and peaceable men, that you will, at. least, report and recommend it to our GOOD OLD FATHER who sits at the helm. "We know it was his duty to make proclamation, &c, &c, but we expect everything that can result from his prudence, humanity, and benevolence, toward his fellow creatures." A BELT on which is inscribed, PLENTY OF WHISKEY WITHOUT EXCISE. Jersey Blue's intended answer to Captain Whiskey's intended speech to the Commissioners, at Pittsburg, if their session continues till September 1st, 1794. "BROTHER:-I apprehend that your Six Nations, have not even the excuse of drunkenness, so usual with other savages, to palliate their frothy pretensions. Our good Father will find no difficulty to brush off your cob-web argument about cyder and beer; and if the Grand Council had laid an excise on those articles, it would not here have been opposed with empty bravado, find made an excuse to cover premature ambition and past disappointment; but an amendment, if necessary, would have been procured by constitutional remonstrants and a change of representation. However, Captain Whiskey, be advised for once, to use your sober senses, if you have any, and, no longer intoxicated with a hope of power which you are much to feeble to sustain, send your swiftest runners to our common Father, and acknowledge your weakness and your errors. If yet you know not bow to estimate yourselves, remember that the water-melon army of Jersey are at hand, with five hundred long swords, which understand breathing a vein, fifteen hundred shivering irons, and quantum sufficient of ten-inch howitzers for throwing a species of melon, very useful for curing a gravel occasioned by whiskey! If you should so envy our crabs and oysters, as to take shelter with the fresh water lobsters of the lakes, don't tell them the Jerseymen are coming, or, by mere dint of memory, they'll leave you to experience a reverse of calculation; and its You say you shall not hesitate, one to ten, to attack-neither will you hesitate, ten to one, to run away. A JERSEY BLUE "NEW JERSEY, 1794" 80 Humorous as these publications were intended to be, there was very much of tragedy mingled with the comedy of the insurrection of 1794. During its continuance, its leaders and its dupes were guilty of the blackest atrocities against such as disapproved of their criminal course, and particularly against those whose faithful performance of their official duties, made them obnoxious to the law-breaken. A recital of their midnight crimes would fill a volume. They were com- mitted by men who very closely resembled-in more particulars than one the members of that diabolical brotherhood, the "Molly Maguires," who have so recently turned counties, adjacent to Northampton, into fields of cowardly and cruel murder, and made their designation one to loathe and shudder at. Let us hope they may soon be extirpated, and that it may be long before old Pennsylvania shall again groan under a like affliction. CHAPTER XXXI. FRIES' INVASION. JOHN ADAMS was inaugurated President of the United States, on the fourth of March, 1797. During his administration, there were enacted by Congress, and approved by the President, several laws which were by many of the people of the country, regarded as objectionable; and chief among these were the "Alien" and "Sedition" laws, and another, which was commonly known as the "house-tax" law. Among the provisions of this latter, was one which ordered the measurement and registering of panes of glass1 in windows; this to be made the basis of a direct tax, for government revenue. This "house-tax" became exceedingly obnoxious in certain sections, and it appears to have been most particularly so, in the Pennsylvania counties of Northampton, Bucks, and Montgomery, where the opposition to it grew to be so fierce that, in some of the townships, the assessment was entirely prevented; for the government assessors and collectors found that to continue in the line of duty imposed on them by their offices, was merely to subject themselves to the certainty of proscription, attack, and physical maltreatment, and to the strong probability of even worse consequences. The malcontents were formidable in numbers, and the chief among them, in vehemence of opposition, and in apparent determination to push resistance even to the point of bloodshed if necessary, was one John Fries; and he was looked to, and generally acknowledged, as their leader. His recognized lieutenants, in this dangerous undertaking against the integrity of the law of the land, were Frederick Heany and John Getman, and this worthy triumvirates lived in the township of Milford, in Bucks county, immediately adjoining the line of Northampton. Fries was by trade, a cooper, but this vocation he had partially, if not wholly abandoned, and had adopted that of vendue-crier, in the exercise of which, he of course, moved about the, country considerably, and it is said that in these professional movements, he was constantly attended by a small dog, of uncertain breed, which was his especial favorite, and to which he had given the name of "Whiskey." Whether or not, the bestowal of this name was on account of the owners sympathy with, or admiration of, the course pursued four or five years before, by the law-breakers of the western counties, does not appear, but it is certain that he chose to follow in their footsteps; and it came exceedingly near resulting most tragically for him. He is represented as having been a man of fair character, possessed of rather more than average natural ability, and, though he had received only the commonest rudiments, of education, yet he had born in him that power "of action and utterance to stir men's blood" which stood him in excellent stead when addressing the multitude who were, -as in this case more than half inclined to his views in the beginning. He had been a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and there is no reason to doubt that in that honorable position he did his duty well. In his new capacity of insurgent leader, he doubtless profited by the recollections of his old fighting days; for his appearance was most warlike. In his chapeau he wore a plume, which might have nodded bravely in the winter morning fight at Trenton; while from his belt, protruded the menacing butt of a formidable horse-pistol, and on his thigh, there rattled a blade which, perhaps, had been drawn in anger, on the field of the Brandywine. Accoutered in this manner, and at the head of fifty or sixty armed men, it was his custom to proceed from place to place, with fife and drum, following, harassing and pursuing the government officers; intimidating them, and preventing them from discharging their duty. This plan of operations, this system of terrorism, they carried out, not only in Northampton, but in the adjoining townships of Bucks. At last, however, one of the marshals (Nicholls of Northampton) had the hardihood to serve warrants of arrest on seventeen of the known adherents of Fries, in the absence of that chieftain and his band (it is quite doubtful, in the light of subsequent events, whether he would ever have served them, if Fries had been present, or in the vicinity), and these prisoners he rendezvoused at Bethlehem, where, some would he permitted to give bail while others would be kept in custody. It was on the sixth of March, 1799, that Fries heard of this act, and he at once formed the resolution to rescue his people from the hands of the Philistines. He at once drew up some kind of an agreement to which the members of his band affixed their names. By this, they declared their design of rescuing the prisoners, and promised to stand by their leader until it was accomplished. On the morning of the seventh, they marched to Bethlehem. Upon their way they overtook another party bound on the same errand. These combined forces, crossed the bridge, at about midday, and proceeded at once with Fries, on horseback, at their head-to the "Sun" tavern where the prisoners were, and there, amid the sound of drum and fife, the leader demanded of the marshal, the surrender of the prisoners, which, after some show of resistance, was acceded to, and, after having thus accomplished the object of his expedition, Fries rode away in triumph, with his forces at his heels. But the time of his exaltation was short, for the government, on being apprised of this act of open rebellion, sent an armed force to re-establish order in Northampton and Bucks counties, and against these ministers of the law, the puissant Fries had no stomach to contend, and so it came that, upon the arrival of the troops, he had withdrawn from the public gaze, and although be was sought for, early and late, with great persistency, he might probably have remained in seclusion for an indefinite time, had not his little favorite, "Whiskey," betrayed him into the hands of his enemies, as he lay, snugly hidden in a swamp, upon the farm of John Keichline, near Bunker Hill. This was about a month after his headlong irruption into Bethlehem, but in that short time even, his appearance was greatly changed. He carried no side arms, he wore no plume, and the high and haughty look with which he regarded marshal Nicholls, when he demanded the surrender of his prisoners, was gone. Truly the short season of his triumph was past; and like a lamb led to the slaughter, he unresistingly allowed himself to be taken by his captors, to the confinement, from which he was to emerge, only to be placed on trial for his life. It was on the fifteenth of May, 1799, that Mr. Sitgreaves, of Easton, opened the trial, on the part of the United States. The following are extracts from his speech on that occasion: "It will appear, gentlemen, from the testimony which will be presented to you, that during the latter part of the year 1798, discords prevailed to an enormous extent, throughout a large portion of the counties of Bucks, Northampton, and Montgomery; and that considerable difficulty attended the assessors for the direct tax, in the execution of their duties-that in several townships, associations of the people were actually formed in order to prevent the persons charged with the execution of these laws of the United States, from performing their duty, and more particularly to prevent the assessors from measuring their houses. This opposition was, made at many public township meetings, called for the purpose. In many instances resolutions in writing were entered into, solemnly forewarning the officers and many times accompanied with threats. "Not only so but discontents prevailed to such a height that even the friends of the government, in that part, were completely suppressed by men- aces against any who should assist those officers in their duty; repeated declarations were made, both at public as well is at private meetings, that if any person should be arrested by the civil authority, such arrest would be followed by the rising of the people, in opposition to that authority, for the purpose of rescuing such prisoners; indefatigable pains were taken, by those charged with the execution of the laws, to calm the team, and remove the misapprehension of the infatuated people; for this purpose they read and explained the law to them, and informed them they were misled into the idea ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Says the Aurora then published in Philadelphia-A person was in the act of measuring the windows of a house, when a woman poured a shower of hot-water on his head several of the Assessors were intimidated from discharging their duties, by threats of personal violence, until at last the Government interfered." 81 "The consequences were, actual opposition and resistance; in some parts violence was actually used, and the assessors were taken and imprisoned by armed parties, arid in other parts mobs assembled to compel them either to deliver up their papers or to resign their commissions; that in some instances they were threatened with bodily harm, so that, in those parts, the obnoxious law remained unexecuted in consequence. "The state of insurrection and rebellion had arisen to such a height, it became necessary to compel the execution of the laws, and warrants were, in consequence issued against certain persons and served upon them; in some instances during the execution of that duty, the marshal met with insult and almost, violence; having, however, got nearly all the warrants served, be appointed headquarters, for these prisoners to rendezvous at Bethlehem, where some of them were to enter bail for their appearance in the city, and others were to come to the city in custody, for trial. On the day thus appointed for the prisoners to meet, and when a number of them had actually assembled, agreeable to appointment, a number of parties in arms, both horse and foot, more than a hundred men, accoutered with all their military apparatus, commanded in some instances by their proper officers, marched to Bethlehem, collected before the house in which were the marshal and prisoners, whom they demanded to be delivered up to them, and, in consequence of a refusal, they proceeded to act very little short of actual hostility; so that the marshal deemed it prudent to accede to their demands, and the prisoners were liberated. "This, gentlemen, is the general history of the insurrection, I shall now state to you the part which the unfortunate prisoner at the bar took in those hostile transactions. The prisoner is an inhabitant of Lower Milford, Bucks county. Some time in February last, a meeting was held at the house of one John Kline, in that township, to consider the house-tax; at the meeting, certain resolutions were entered into, and a paper signed (we have endeavored to trace this paper so as to produce it to the court and jury, but have failed). This paper was signed by fifty-two persons, and committed to the hands of one of their number, John Fries was present tit this meeting, and assisted in drawing tip the paper, at which time his expressions against this law were extremely violent, and be threatened to shoot one of the assessors, Mr. Foulke, through the legs, if he proceeded to assess the houses, again the prisoners at a vendue, threatened another of the assessors, Mr. S. Clarke, that if he attempted to go on with the assessment be should be committed to an old stable, and there fed on rotten corn. The assessor in Lower Milford was intimidated so as to decline making the assessments, and the principal assessors together with three other assessors, were obliged to go into that township to execute the law. At the house of Mr. Jacob Fries, on the fifth of March, Mr. Chapman the assessor, met with the prisoner, who declared his determination wit to submit, but to oppose the law, and that by next morning he could raise Seven hundred men in opposition to it. On the morning of the next day, twenty or more of them, met at the house of Conrad Marks, in arms, John Fries was armed with a sword, and had a feather in his hat. On the road, as they went forward, they met young Marks, who told them they might as well turn about, for that the Northampton people were strong enough to do the business without those from Bucks county, Some were so inclined to do, but at the instance of Fries and some others, they did go forward and actually proceeded to Bethlehem. Before the arrival of these troops, a party going on the same business had stopped at the bridge near Bethlehem, where they were met by a deputation from the marshal who advised them to return home, they agreed to halt there, and sent three of their number to the marshal to declare their demand. During this period Fries and his party came up, but it appears when be came, Fries took the party actually over the bridge, and he arranged the toll and ordered them to proceed. "With respect to the proof of the proceedings at Bethlehem, it, cannot be mistaken; he was then the leading man, and he appeared to enjoy the command, with the consent of his people, he demanded the prisoners of the marshal, and when that officer told him be could not surrender them, except they were taken from him by force, and produced his warrant for taking them, the prisoner then harangued his party of the house, and explained to them the necessity of using force; and that you should not mistake his design, we will prove to you that he declared that was the third day which he had been out on this expedition, that he had had a skirmish the day before, and if the prisoners were not released he should have another that day. Now you observed, resume be, that force is necessary, but you must obey my orders. We will not go without taking the prisoners, But take my orders -you must not fire first; you must first be fired upon, and when I am gone, you must do as well as you can, as I expect to be the fist man that falls. He further declared to the marshal that they would fire till a cloud of smoke prevented them from seeing each other, and executing the office of command to the troops, which at that time over-awed the marshal and his attendants. He harangued the troops to obey his orders, which they did The marshal was really intimidated to release the prisoners; and then the object was accomplished, and the party dispersed amid the huzzas of the insurgents. After this affair at Bethlehem, the prisoner frequently avowed his opposition to the law, and justified that outrage; and when a meeting was afterward held at Lower Milford to choose assessors, the prisoner refused his assent, and appeared as violent as ever." This trial resulted in the conviction of Fries, of the crime of high treason, and his sentence to death. A new trial was, however, granted, of which the result was precisely the same; but before the time arrived for the execution of this sentence, he was pardoned by President Adams. Upon his release, he returned home, fully satisfied to try his hand no more at military leadership or insurrection. He resumed his old occupation of vendue crier, and traversed the country as of old, followed by his dog "Whiskey," against whom be seems to have cherished no ill-will on account of the bad turn he served him in Keichline's Swamp. Fries died in 1821, having passed the allotted age of three score and ten. His lieutenants, Heany and Getman, were tried, and were convicted of the same crime-high treason-but neither received sentence of death. Others who were implicated were brought, to trial, and were generally convicted, and punished by fines, or light terms of imprisonment, and so ended the somewhat notorious "House-tax Rebellion." CHAPTER XXXII. THE SECOND WAR AGAINST BRITAIN. NONE of the stirring event of the War of 1812-15 occurred within the boundaries of Pennsylvania, and no body of hostile troops gained a, foothold on her soil; but she was true to her Revolutionary traditions, and responded to every call made upon her by the government. And what was true of the State in this particular, was also true of the county of Northampton. The old military ardor which she showed in 1776, where the army of Howe was menacing New York, flamed up anew, and there was no lack of volunteer who were ready to administer another blow to the British lion. It was supposed that the enemy's movement up the Chesapeake, had the city of Philadelphia for it, objective point, and there was no more than this needed to rouse the patriotism of every Pennsylvanian. On the fourteenth of July, 1814, President Madison issued his call for ninety-three thousand five hundred militia, and of this number, the quota of the State was fourteen thousand; a great portion of whom received orders to encamp at Marcus Hook, upon the Delaware, below the metropolis it was soon discovered, however, that the designs of the British were not on the city of Philadelphia; but the excitement cannot be said to have been allayed, when it was found that the National Capital was to feel the weight. of the enemy's wrath; and when, on the twenty-sixth day of August, a messenger, who had been dispatched to procure the news, which all were anxious and yet dreaded, to hear, returned, on a gallop, up the Philadelphia road, with the astounding intelligence that the foe had applied the torch to the city of Washington, the indignation and patriotic anger of the people was intense-though probably not as extreme as many of us saw here on a similar occasion, forty-seven years later, when the, announcement came that the degenerate sons of Rutledge and Sumter, had fired on the flag of their fathers in the harbor of Charleston. But the spirit of the Revolution was there, and before a day passed, the intelligence had reached the farthest parts of the county and men came freely forward to enroll themselves in the companies which were already forming, and in some cases were already filled, as was the case with Captain Abraham Horns, which was raised to a strength of sixty men, in Easton, in a single day. 82 It, has been found impossible to collect, from the military records at Harrisburg, a full and complete roll of those who volunteered in Northampton county, at that time, for the defence of the country, but a partial list has been obtained, after long and patient searching, and it is given below: "First Company, first Rifle Regiment, at Camp Dupont, Nov. 13th, 1814. "Captain.-Abraham Horn, Jr. "1st Lieutenant.-J. Horn. "2d Lieutenant.-J. Dingler. "Ensign.-J. Biglow. "Sergeants.- M. Horn F. Mattes C. Hay. "1st Corporals.- S. Moore E. Fortner J. Shipe J. Dill. "Musicians.- W. Thompson J. Horn. " Privates.- J. Luckenbach, C. Bowen W. Mexsell W. Evans G. Lottig J, Bossier P. Miller N. Dealy H. Miller J. Doan T. Shank F. Warmkessel F. Jackson J, Hartly J. Mesene G. Shewell J. Bossler D. Roth J. Seiple W. Berlin R. Willhelm J. Smith A. Keyselback B. C. Carey J. P. Breidenbach P. Storker J. Grub A. H. Barthold I. Keider J. Kelso A. Grub J. Falkner H. Pine W. Shick E. Mettler J. Barns J. L. Jackson I. Killpatrick A. Flag B. Genther A. Ward G. Dingier J. Shipe" "Complete muster-roll of the fourth Company of 2d Regiment Volunteer Light Infantry, command of Colonel Louis Buch, Aug. 27, 1814. "Captain.-Peter Nungesser. "1st Lieutenant Lombeart. "2d Lieutenant.- H. Sitgreaves. "Ensign.- W. Barnett. "1st Sergeant, Andrew Pursol. 2d Sergeant, J. Mush 3d Sergeant, C. Hickman 4th Sergeant, J. Nagle "1st Corporal, L. Gene 2d Corporal, B. H. Arndt 3d Corporal, J. 0sterstock 4th Corporal, G. Reichart "Drum-Major- C. Horn. "Fifer- G. Stroap "Privates.- T. Arnold W. Schooley P. Bishop S. Barnes S. Bachman J. Bachman I. Cary V. Ditty John Dehart P. Reichart J. Reichart K. Yohe G. Hawk J. Skilley R. Wallace J. Otto J. Morgan W. Garron J. Simons L. Troced C. Hotter S. White W. Levers J. Inman J. Iarman I. Stucker S. Frantz P. Everhart J. Ludwich S. Swan J. Newhart L. Easterwood J. Young J. Bellows W. Snyder J. Faren D. Germing P. Drumheller S. Erwine." "Roll of Captain John Dornblaser's Company, belonging to a detachment of Northampton, Lehigh, and Pike counties militia, commanded by Lieut. Colonel C. J. Hatter. "Captain- John Dornblaser. "1st Lieutenant.- J V. Bush. "2d Lieutenant.- J. Winters. "3d Lieutenant.- F. Fenner. "Ensign.- D. Smith. "1st Sergeant J. W. Morrison 2d Sergeant John Hartzel 3d Sergeant Jacob Hartzel 4th Sergeant F. Fenner 1st Corporal N. Tell 2d Corporal H. Barret 3d Corporal S. Stocker. 4th Corporal W. Brady "Drummer.- J. Saylor. "Fifer.- J. Hickman. " Privates.- J. Dietz G. Rape P. Snyder J. Ward J. Osterstack J. Young J, Shafer G. Nolf S. Hoffert J. Bunstem C. Walter A. Young E. Stocker F. Willower A. Miller J. Wimmer G. Price M. Kehler J. Hertmacher C. Kehler D. Windan J. Staufer J. Stocker J. Gangwehr J. R. Holman L. Nye A. Nye J. Steiner E. Miller P. Hahn F. Hahn G. Myer P. Schick J. Keyser F. Yeres J. Swartwood J. Minner P. Fisher J. Crawford J. Baird D. Sheperd J. Lowman D. Evans J. Stine J. Barr P. Kaster L. Kaster H. Miller 0. Morris B. Van Horn A. Barr J. Cooper W. Davis J. Clark W. Bureau Jacob Arndt S. Snell B. Ihrie J. Gower H. Meyer H. Serfas C. Fisher I. Cristman J. Klinetrap K. Mach T. Postens G. Miller I. Swenk J. Brewer D. Smith K. Merwine J. Huston G. Rinkle S. Reese A. McGammon P. Strunk J. Foulk G. Coolbaugh P. Jayne B. Bunnell J. Place J. Adams E. Herman S. Winans S. Kinkaill P. Vandermark A. Vanetten J. Howe R. Simpson W. Van Sickle, I. Steel B. Cartright G. Watson-1814." "Camp Dupont, Nov. 13-14. List of Captain John Ott's Rifle Company, of the command of Colonel Thomas Humphreys. "Captain-John Ott. "1st Lieutenant.- Joseph Wild, "Ensign.- Casper Livingood. "1st Sergeant, F. Wittman. 2d Sergeant, J. Knipply. 3d Sergeant, M. Ox. 4th Sergeant P. Wind. "1st Corporal, T. Gennes. 2d Corporal E. Hallen. 3d Corporal L. Hearline. 4th Corporal W. Fogel H. Weber. "Drummer.-P. Jacoby. "Fifer-E. Weber. "Privates.- P. Shaforn P. Hager P. Jacoby J. Brown J. Gangwer F. Stoll J. Hofman M. Detra S. Paul J. Trapp P. Baebaker C. Romig G. Myer J. Henn J. Gain D. Gongwer J. Laskerg L. Pigenback P. Buchacker S. Shafer H. Mastaller I. Bouten G. Trapp P. Herline P. Weber P. Wild." "Captain Shafers Company,- Regiment, 2d Brigade, 2d Division. "Captain.- Adarn Shafen "Lieutenant- Jacob Keller. Ensign- J. Ratenbach. 1st Sergeant, J. Drumheller. 2d Sergeant, C. Sellers. 3d Sergeant, A.Brunner. 4th Sergeant, J. Rumfield. 5th Sergeant, J. Dotterer "Corporals.- J. Hess J. Unangst P. Lynn G, Weaver. Privates.- J. Sigfried P. Unangst P. Heager A. Engleman S. Hartman J. Jacob J. Zeigler J. Kleiner P. Klik J. Miller J. Welsh R. Laubach D. Reigh K. Hoffman J. Cooper J. Christman T. Weaver J. Freeman P. Roth J. Beidleman N. Loy J. Hess H. Bett C. Ruch L. Blaylor O. Ruth J. Hause H. Reigle A. Fehr M. Lutz J. Lantz P. Peyfer S. Hartzel S. Waldenslager L. Laugbach G. Jacoby M. Woodring H. Grotz N. Peyfer O. Stein J. Best A. Hartzel F. Garis F. Spangleberg J. Raub J. Spangleberg H. Stein F. Miller J. Miller H. Frankenfield W. Raub J. Raub J. Brotzman P. Walter Peter Mittig P. Transit E. Rauch G. Sander J. Rauch G. Falich S. Rauch S. Mest J. Rex J. Hausman J. Peter J. Lauchnor A. Ranckle V. Silger D. Delbert F. Gensenger A. Klotz A. Buckman P. Miller P. Sensenger C, Hause G. Klotz Q. Hann J. Harlan J. Hann, G. Sterwald C. Archer D. Acker B. Migus A. Fry S. Boyer J. Milton B. Heller J. Hadler H. Dapbieder I. Bremer J. Hedler A. Miller J. Frantz R. West K. Rex S. Natslove T. Sell P. Farrow L. Kramlich M. Heidard G. Hop Q. Hartman." "Rifle Company, - Regiment, Colonel - 1st Brigade, General Spring 2d Division, General Shirtz, October 14th, 1814. " Captain.- Abraham Gangaware " 1st Lieutenant.- Da'l Moyer "2d Lieutenant.- J. Newhart "3d Lieu tenant.- J. Stein " Ensign- 0. Weller " 1st Sergeant, J. Dull. 2d Sergeant, P. Minor 3d Sergeant, D. Quier. 1st Corporal, A. Keisser 2d Corporal, J. Long. 3d Corporal, D. Bickle. 4th Corporal, J. Mogler. "Musician- J. Weiper, D. Quear. Privates.- J. Pryor C. O'Daniel J. Rose J. Swenk J. Frain D. Keik N. Moyer J. Keidler D, Rhoads R. Boardgt J. Ott J. Rhoads S. Yunt G. Leitzenberger C. Shoemaker O. Kuntz D. Stileman D. Slamy J. Kinhinger P. Sloffmore H. Brobert H. Hartman G. Fisher G. Hoats H. Good G. Kentz J. Song M. Eline H. Kemery Q. Landenslager J. Loudenslager B. Fought G. Henry T. Gangwere C. Valentine H. Ocher G. Beek J, Sherry J. Deal A. Schriven J. Beek G. Woodring N. Good J. Flexer J. Richenbach J. Hamer N. Dornhamiler J. Miller J. Nerfor J. Frack J. Nagle J. Schantz J. Miller J. Guilher B. Reinbole G. Hill W. Stover M. Fryman E. Rider R. Rovenholt O. Kuntz A. Highleager H. Rich F. Heller P. Minic F. Sterner H. Rice P, Seip G. Broad Q. Elinsider J. Trexler J. Koch J. Clawell J. Eret H. Fadsinger D. Keafer I. Enbard J. Slower H. Herwig K. Mushtitz L. Poe M. Sendle G. Lehr O. Nogle C. Race C. Wile A. Loudenbach J. Hillegass J. Shoutz J. Heller G. Whitzal R. Good J. O. I. Stower J. Snider H. Shontz "Third Company, - Regiment, 2d Brigade, 2d Division. "Captain.- William Fisher. "1st Lieutenant.- D. Roth. "2d Lieutenant.- J. Lamb. "3d Lieutenant.- A. Keller. " Ensign- J. Knecht 83 1st Sergeant, J. Walp 2d Sergeant, I. L. Johnston. 3d Sergeant, J. Heyney. 4th Sergeant, M. Morris. "Corporals,- T. Shich E. Karney S. Ziegler. "Musicians.- F. Hess P. Sichfiried E. Kronkright. "Privates.- W. Major C. Ross F. Emmor G. Albert H. Pysher D. Lamberson C. Hess A. Fleming E. Carkhuff Q. Reimer F. Reimer B. Wagner I. Knacht, Jr. C. Junken J. Biggle K. Kister M. Teal L. Itterly P. Flory G. McCormel D. Shoren A. Hilliard J. Emrich J. Keim J. Walker M. Ernst J. Bloof R. Weed 0. Lester G, Walter W. Eysenbeiger J. Shelly P. Kellian E. Wanaher J. Henry W. Westfall S. Galloway J. Houch J, Jones E. Grube J. Miller, H. Hess I. Miller, Jr G. Strause A. Waaner J. Roth F. Mapes K. Miller P. Steinmetz B. Ziegler C. J. Flick C. Kreidler J. Krutzer W, Edmond J. Klotz D. Menzer J. Flory P. Weygant G. Gross A. Houch G. Gerhart B. Muffley H. Albert L. Shannon I. Pensyl T. Hopple C. Fell M. Bartholomew J. Miller J. Michell K. Smith D. Labor W. Freitchey T. Yod J. Johnston J. Nichum J. Eylenberger S. Claywell J. Russell A. Grotzman J. Williams J. Gouley W. Williams, J. Long T. Snyder B. Fort H. Kratzer I. Sirouse P. Keller "Roll of Seventh Company, First Rifle Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, in the command of Colonel T. Humphreys. "Captain.- Jacob Shurtz. "Sergeants- J. Ettwein K. King J. Humel J. Wagner. "Corporals.- J. Wolf H. Wolf J. Buss N. Kaemeres "Musicians.- A. Stehe M. Lawall I. Lawall. "Privates.- J. Kocher J. Bell C. Fry M. Fry John Blum J. Clavder S. Gross D. Beker J. Coleman J. Colver F. Engel J. Flick J. Handsher L. Cutting J. Dorwart G. Dreher J. Huber J. Hinkel O. Junken H. Kinart J. Kirkenthal I. Moser E. Kreidler B. Roth Jacob Roth John Roth George Lawall J. Santee W. W. Swain M. Transee K. Unangst F. Waglist G. Young H. Heberfing C. Fry C. Oberly D. J. Ziegnfuss made at Camp Dupont, November l3th, 1814." "Fourteenth Company, 1st Rifle Regiment, Camp Dupont, September 14th, 1814 "Captain.- George Hess, Jr. "1st Lieutenant- I. McHose 2d Lieutenant.- J. Steaver " Ensign.- S. Meyer " Musicians.- J. Weaver, W. Hinkel "Sergeants- P. Boehm, D. Beaver, C. Basbulan, W. Lynn. " Corporals.- W. Lersh, L. Eckert, G. Rush, J. Henn "Privates.- A. Braun L. Moser I. Freeman J. Sherer S. Emery B. Laubach K. Bushman J. Seiphert J. Mann H. Lee L. Shleyer J. Koesbel F. Siegle John P. Beyl J. Leidish W. Long C. Shleyer A. Reish, Jr. P. Ohl J. Leidish G. Daily H. Ramsey J. Mill J. Henn J. Beyl Q. Beaver Y. Miller, A. Emery G. Weaver J. Klau M. Biesaker E. Fogel J. Klau J. Bast M. Derr W. Graham J. Lyno, Jr." "Captain Hawks Company, 2d Brigade, 2d Division, command of Lieutenant-Colonel Christian I. Butter. " Captain.-Adam Hawk, " 1st Sergeant, J. C. Schock 2d Sergeant, J. Trokel 3d Sergeant, J. L. Knauss 4th Sergeant, Peter Belles 5th Sergeant, Wm. Fitzrandolph. "1st Corporal, Samuel Walter 2d Corporal, F. Wilhelm 3d Corporal, J. Lowry J. Lowry J. Roher, n. c. Privates.- John Rolh Thos. Pigg H. Burlinger N. Gruber F. Price J. Kriedler D. Sirick J. Rausbury B. Price G. Broadhead S. Beech A. Neiterhour J. Jones E. Rugs O. Kegs J. Walter H. Snell H. Emech A. Hickman F. Kuline I. Kern J. Kulin A. Wilhour P. Walter K. Hilliard J. Kitter G. Meksho N. Duwalt U. Plotts Q. Arnold L. Swartz J. Roup J. Stocker A. Jumper J. Winner J. Daniels H. Fry M. Koubbine V. Huffish I. Jintry H. Coffill J. Bander O. Odenwilder W. Walter K. Caplin J. Walter B. Midsker X. Koup C. Stocher L. Naumore J. Singlin J. Nagel G. Shoop J. Siglin J. Hawk G. Felber P. Daniel H. Detrich J. Keller Q. Shoop J. Delher J. Fushamer J. Putz A. Remel R. Strong J. Wisiner B. Mantania A. Gordon J. W. Drake H. Sayre J. Lee P. Hawk J. Starme H. Wergs G. Kittz A. Andrew A. Arnold M. Smith C. Burrow J. Frong A. Depew J. Strole G. Hadzsor J. Price J. Kemry J. Bush A. Tell J. Prichard A. Dennis J. Ransil J. Smith J. Targen D. Lee S. Pugh I. Klinelup P. Putz A. Kailor J. M. Carr." The foregoing company lists are not exclusively the names of soldiers who volunteered from the county of Northampton; some of the companies were entirely made up in the county, while others were only partially so; but, in all, the Northampton stock was well represented, and the patriotism of her sons was again illustrated. There is now in keeping, at the Easton Library, a company color, which was presented, from the ladies of Easton, by the hand of Miss Rosanna Beidelman, to Captain Horns company, on the morning of their departure for Camp Dupont. On delivering the flag to their custody, the young lady's presentation speech was patriotic and appropriate: "Under this flag," said she, "march on to glory!" "I will, ma'am," answered the brave, but bashful color-bearer. A speech of a quarter of an hour, brimming full of finely turned references to Leonidas, and William Tell, could not have been wore to the point, more earnest, or really eloquent. And as the company marched away, amid the din of the drums, the screaming of the fifes, the pealing of the Court House bell, and the cheers of their friends and neighbors, there were none who doubled that he who carried the banner, and every one of his companions in arms, were ready to pour out their life-blood, if necessary, to keep and to guard it. After these volunteers entered the field, the war receded, and no longer menaced their State. It was fought out on other ground; the lowlands of Louisiana, the Canadian plains, and on the ocean and lakes; and from its result, England once more learned the lesson which site bad forgotten: that Americans knew their rights and prized their liberties, and were ready to sacrifice their fortunes and lives, if need be, to maintain them. CHAPTER XXXIII. PRICES - INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS - SPECULATION. THE immediate effect produced by the War of 1812, was a general advance in the prices of all commodities which the necessities of the people of the county compelled them to purchase, Sugar (unrefined, of course) rose as high as thirty-five cents, per pound, coffee was at forty cents and all descriptions of cotton and woolen goods commanded prices as high in proportion. And yet, this state of affairs not only did not ruin the people, but it actually inured to their advantage, for the ruinous prices demanded let the luxuries, taught how to dispense with their use. There was scarcely an article produced beyond their own borders, except salt, which was wholly and absolutely indispensable; rye formed a passable substitute for coffee, while some kind of roots arid leaves, which were gathered in the forest, could be made to take the place of China tea, for which article, four dollars per pound was demanded; and both the home-made tea and coffee were drank without West India sweetening. All other articles of daily consumption they could produce at home. As for clothing, the spinning-wheel and hand-looms of the wives and daughters could supply it, for broadcloths and silks and calicoes,1 were Do prime necessity; the home-made stuffs were as warm, as durable, and in every particular, as good, as those of foreign manufacture. But, while they thus retrenched, and wholly cut off expenditure for useless luxuries, their incomes were, by no means, suffering a corresponding diminution, for the prices of every product of their home labor advanced quite as rapidly as those for foreign articles, Wheat reached three dollars per bushel, corn one dollar and a half, and oafs eighty cents; so that, although the necessary expenses of the inhabitants of the county were not increased, to any material extent, yet their incomes were fully doubled; and thus, although the war way have brought, in its train, disaster and impoverishment to the country at large, and most particularly did so to the mercantile interests of the larger cities, yet it wrought no such immediate result in Northampton. For some years previous to the opening of the conflict, the county had been making very respectable advances in population and in the spirit of progress. From 24,250 inhabitants in the year 1790, it had reached 30,062 in 1800, and 38,145 in 1810. This increase of population, too, seemed to have brought with it a desire for internal improvements and an appreciation of the wisdom of the ancient Roman maxim, that " the first step in civilization is the making of roads." As early as 1795, the route to Philadelphia had been improved and shortened by the completion of a new road due south, across the Lehigh Mountain, from Bethlehem, by the adoption of which, the old Hellertown route, past the tavern of Stoffel Wagner, fell into disuse as a through route; and immediately after the commencement of the century, the question of turnpikes appears to have become an absorbing one. The " Easton arid Wilkesbarre Turnpike Road Company " was incorporated February 11th, 1803, and the road was actually commenced in 1805, though the forty-eight miles was not completed until 1815. _______________________________________________________________________ 1 Calico was introduced about the year 1800, but was, for a long time, considered an article of luxury. 84 The "Springhouse and Bethlehem Turnpike Road Company" was incorporated April 4th, 1805; the "Northampton Turnpike Road Company" on March 28th, 1806; the "Springhouse, Northampton, and Bethlehem Turnpike Road Company" on the sixteenth of January, 1813 the "Smithfield Turnpike Road Company," March 1st, 1815 the "Easton and Oghquago Turnpike Road Company " (afterward the " Belmont and Ogliquago Turnpike Road Company"), February 26th, 1817 the "Wind Gap, Nazareth, and Hellertown Turnpike Road Company" on the twenty-fourth of March, 1817 the "Northampton and Wilkesbarre Turnpike Road Company " on the twenty-seventh of March, 1819. The ordinary country roads, too, were much more numerous, and more substantially built than had been the case, only a few years before, and lines of public conveyance ran in nearly every direction; among these being the stake lines of Peters, Stoehr, Sellers, Rinker, and others. In these years there flourished, in Northampton county, a man who became widely known, and whose fame has not even yet passed into oblivion. His name was, Nicholas Kramer, and his place of residence was Nelighsville, in Allen township. The sphere in which he became so celebrated, was that of land speculation; and his operations in this line (covering a period of nearly fifteen years-from 1802 to 1816), seem to have turned the heads of half the adult male population of the county. It is difficult to understand by what means he produced, among the people, so great an excitement on the subject of buying and selling land as in a short time to inflate prices from thirty to one hundred dollars per acre, yet such was the case. We are told that, at the time of his highest prosperity and popularity, it was his custom to go, each week, to the old Sun tavern, in Bethlehem, where-having, of course, eligible apartments, permanently engaged for the purpose-he, for two days of the seven, "kept open house," for the eager buyers and sellers, who, from all the region round about the Lehigh, never failed to make their appearance at these weekly sessions of Kraemers Real Estate Exchange. Here, he won their hearts, by his tact, and the free profusion of his good cheer find he extorted their admiration, almost their homage, by the offhanded ease with which he engaged in the heaviest transactions, and the uniform success with which he "bought, sold, and got gain." He was of very humble extraction, wholly deficient in education, and, at the commencement of his career, entirely without capital. Who can tell what personal quality it was which enabled him to achieve that extraordinary success which never failed him through so many years, and that celebrity which even yet has not faded away? It must have been an inborn aptitude for the vocation which he adopted. He had a genius for the business and a nerve which no hazard could daunt. Whether a transaction was for ten acre, or for a thousand, made no difference to Nicholas Kraemer in the time required for its consideration, for his perception was intuitive, and his decision instantaneous. From the very outset of his career, he won the confidence of the speculatively-inclined people of the county; his word and opinion came to be accepted, almost as law, in all matters pertaining to the valuation of real estate, and the cautious, steady-going East Pennsylvanians, many a time find oft, in those days of promise, paid for a lot of land three times, the price which their own judgment would have approved, simply because they had Nicholas Kraemers assurance that, in due time, it would realize for them a handsome advance-a prediction which, in the prosperous days of his career, was almost invariably verified. There seemed to have been a strange fascination-a magnetism-in his contact. Men gladly purchased, from him, lands which they would hardly have received from another, find people living in a radius of twenty-five miles from Bethlehem, attended his weekly exchange, and bought his lands, on the mountains or in the great Pine Swamp, with only less eagerness than the noblemen and trades-people, and laborers of Paris, once crowded the approaches to the office of John Law, in their headlong scramble for the purchase of his bubble shares. It was the old story of temporary speculative success. First a small transaction, entered into with many misgivings, but resulting in a profit, unexpected, and hardly hoped for; then a larger risk, with proportionately heavier gains, and at last, that over confidence which scouts the idea of disaster, and increases the ventures a hundred fold; all this bringing in its train as a natural consequence, the admiration of the unreasoning masses, whose following and support, tends to perpetuate the very success which awakened it, and to engender profusion, improvidence, and lavish expenditure; born of the belief that to-morrow will be as to-day, only more abundant. The result, too, was the usual one. There came a week when Nicholas Kraemer held no land-sale levee, at the tavern in Bethlehem; when his customers-if any were in attendance-looked in vain for his inspiring presence, and for the filling of his; mighty punch-bowl; for the bubble had at last burst, and the sheriff was the presiding genius now. Kraemers fortune-if he ever really had one-was swept away; his lands were sold under the hammer, for one-sixth of the value which ha so recently been placed on them, the baseless fabric had dissolved, and its builder left the world as poor as he had entered it. It is hard to account for the amazing hallucination of this speculative mania; why the hitherto sensible people of Northampton and adjoining counties, should, of a sudden, become so anxious to purchase lands-often- times wild and worthless ones-at five times the valuation to which they had been accustomed; but it was probably the prosperity, which at that time was so general among farmers, on account of the extremely high prices realized for their produce, added to the great abundance of paper money, issued by corporations, and even by individuals, which then flooded the country, that enabled Kraemer to prosecute his schemes successfully for so long a time; and, indeed, it cannot be said how much longer he might have kept his unballasted bark afloat, but for the hurricane which capsized and stink it in the general financial revulsion of 1817. But land speculation was not the only form of madness which had its day in Eastern Pennsylvania, about this time. From about 1810, there raged a form of insanity, which has been known as the "Merino Sheep Fever," which spread over all over the Northern find Middle States, where it ran its course with great violence for about three years, and did not wholly die out until 1814. Northampton county felt much less of this excitement than did Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks, in which it reached fever-heat, as was also probably, the case in the adjacent counties in New Jersey. Probably, it was the counter-irritation of Kraemer's projects in this county, which neutralized the merino virus in a great degree, and shielded Northampton front the full force of its attack, but still the county did not escape it entirely; there was many fin instance in which the fleecy fraud was perpetrated on its citizens, many a purchase made at the most fabulous prices, which was afterwards bitterly bewailed by the duped buyer. From two hundred to eight hundred dollars were the prices paid for full bloods, and there were instance, in Dutchess and other contiguous counties of New York, in which two thousand dollars was paid for a merino ram. The half-blooded sheep seldom brought more than fifty dollars its all extreme price. When the season of folly was over, and the insanity had worn itself out, a merino sheep, which had cost it owner his entire year's crop of wheat, could be readily purchased for five dollars. In some localities, there were people who brought ruin upon themselves, by their stupid folly in the merino business, but no such extreme cases, are known to have occurred in Northampton, though even here, the excitement developed many cases in which was exemplified the truth of the adage, which tells its that persons of weak judgment are, as a rule, soon, parted from their substance.