Chapter VIII: Introduction (7)

More than a score of attempts, both in this country and abroad, were made to perfect a typewriter after the birth of the idea in the mind of Henry Mill, an English engineer, who obtained a patent from Queen Ann of England, January 1, 1714, but none was successful.

It remained for an humble country boy, a printer, by the name of Christopher Latham Sholes, who was born in the little village of Mooresburg, Montour County, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1819, to perfect a model in the winter of 1866–67, which, after later improvements, was the basis for the typewriting machines which are now so much a part of commercial life throughout the world.

The patent granted to Henry Mill by Queen Ann never availed the imaginative engineer anything, because he lacked the essential ability to perfect a model which might be manufactured on a commercial basis. It is true, nevertheless, that he had the idea for a “writing machine for the impressing or transcribing of letters singly or progressively one after the other,” but this was not sufficient to be practical in any sense of the term.

The same difficulty that beset Mill prevented others from attaining success, and it was a century and a half before the actual birth of a commercial typewriter.

This interesting event was enacted in a small machine shop in the outskirts of Milwaukee. An interesting history was published recently by the Herkimer County (New York) Historical Society in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the manufacture of the first typewriter for commercial use. According to this story the principals were Carlos Gliden, the son of a successful iron monger of Ohio, who was engaged in developing a mechanical plow; Samuel W. Soule and Christopher Latham Sholes, both printers, who were engaged in developing a machine for numbering serially the pages of blank books, etc.

Sholes was the central figure in the association subsequently formed among the three. Sholes began his active life as an apprentice in the office of the Danville, Pa., Intelligencer.

The Intelligencer was then the oldest paper in Montour County, founded in 1828 by Valentine Best. At the time of Sholes’ apprenticeship the newspaper was a leading Democratic organ. The Intelligencer office was an excellent school for a boy when Christopher Sholes became the “devil” and began the career which was to stamp him as one of the great inventors of the country.

Thomas Chalfant purchased the property July 15, 1861. He was a prominent Democratic politician, serving as member of the Legislature and as State Senator. He was a Civil War veteran and many years postmaster at Danville. Through all his various offices Chalfant devoted much time to his newspaper.

Sholes was diligent and progressed in his chosen profession, becoming in turn, editor of several newspapers and ultimately an owner. In 1866 he was collector of the port of Milwaukee and had held other public offices, including State Senator and Assemblyman.

Sholes’ subsequent invention of the typewriter is ascribed to inspiration he and Glidden obtained from a description of a machine invented by John Pratt, of Alabama, which, however, was very crude and impracticable.

The three friends engaged the services of skilled mechanics to help them in the construction of their typewriter, the first working model of which was completed in that small Milwaukee shop in the fall of 1866, but it was not until the following June that a patent was obtained for the invention.

This original machine had innumerable defects and was a crude and cumbersome affair, but it wrote accurately and rapidly, and after all that was their objective.

Sholes was the one of the trio who did most to produce this machine, and while he was not satisfied, he soon scored a notable triumph and made the machine its own best advertiser. A number of letters were written with it, among them one to James Densmore, then a resident of Meadville, Pa. Densmore was immediately interested. Like Sholes and Soule, he had been both printer and editor, and could realize the importance of such a machine.

The relationship between Sholes and Densmore was a strange meeting of opposites, the former was a dreamer and an idealist, the latter was bold, aggressive and arrogant and by some considered a plain “crank.”

Densmore was not impressed with the machine more than to regard the idea as feasible, but he determined to make an attempt at selling it to some firm with the facility and financial resources to manufacture it.

Densmore paid all the debts incurred by Sholes whereby he obtained an interest in the invention. He then engaged the services of a Mr. Yost, with whom he had been associated in a Pennsylvania oil business, and together they presented the proposition to the old firm of gun makers, E. Remington & Son, of Ilion, N. Y.

A tentative agreement was effected between the Remingtons and Sholes and his new partners, and the first contract signed for the manufacture of a typewriter for commercial use, the one built by Sholes was made in March, 1873.

The original contract was for the manufacture only, but in time the Remingtons acquired complete ownership.

Sholes, soon thereafter, sold out his royalty right to Densmore for $12,000, which was a goodly sum in those days, but was the only reward that he ever received for his priceless invention and the years of earnest labor and expense he had bestowed upon it.

Densmore did not part with his royalty rights and was subsequently enriched.

Further improvements were made on Sholes’ invention when the skilled mechanics of the Remington factory were brought into service, but the fact remains that the Montour County printer was the inventor of the almost universally used typewriter and Densmore, another Pennsylvanian, was the medium by which the invention was saved from the scrap heap and commercially developed to the almost perfect machine of today. Thus Pennsylvania has given to the world the typewriter.

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German Christians Organized Harmony
Society in Butler, February 15, 1805

The Harmony Society, as it was organized by George Rapp in Wurtemberg and established in America, was an outgrowth of a Separatistic movement in Germany and an attempt to put into practice, under favorable circumstances, Separatistic principles.

The members of the society had constituted a congregation of Separatists, where they listened to the teachings of their pastor, George Rapp. According to his instructions, they left their homes in Wurtemberg and followed him to America. They settled at Harmony, Butler County, Pennsylvania.

Without election, by common consent George Rapp had maintained himself as their leader.

In order to put their society on a firm basis, and to prevent misunderstanding, articles of association were drawn up and signed by the members February 15, 1805. This was the date recognized as the birthday of the society, and in after years its anniversary was celebrated as the “Harmoniefest.”

The agreement contains five articles to which the subscribers pledged themselves:

(1) To give absolutely all their property to George Rapp and his associates.

(2) To obey the rules and regulations of the community and to work for its welfare.

(3) If they desired to withdraw from the society, not to demand any reward for labor or services.

In return, George Rapp and his associates pledged themselves:

(1) To supply the subscribers with all the necessities of life, both in health and sickness, and after death, to provide for their families.

(2) In case of withdrawal to return them the value of property contributed without interest and to give a donation in moneys to such as contributed nothing.

The original of this agreement was in German, which was the language used by the society.

George Rapp was born November 1, 1757, in Iptingen, Wurtemberg, the son of Adam Rapp, a peasant. He learned the trade of weaving. Like many of his neighbors he also engaged in wine growing.

Early in life he became deeply interested in religion. He identified himself with the Separatists of Wurtemberg, who believed that the true Christian must live a life of self-denial and that he must suffer ridicule and persecution on account of the purity of his life. They regarded the established clergy as hypocrites.

The Government interfered with their plans for living in the manner of the early Christians with community of goods, and their religious meetings were prohibited at the instigation of the clergy. George Rapp decided to lead his congregation to America.

In this great undertaking, as in others of a similar nature in later years, he displayed rare judgment in making his plans and great ability in executing them. He did not underestimate the difficulties of such an enterprise.

He advised his people of the hardships to be expected. He directed those who were determined to follow him to sell their property and prepare themselves for the journey.

He came to America in 1803, with money of his own amounting to 2000 gulden, to choose a site for the proposed settlement. He left behind him in charge of his congregation a young man of high character, Frederick Reickert, who in Pennsylvania was adopted by him as his son and is known in the history of the society as Frederick Rapp.

George Rapp landed at Baltimore and early in September, 1803, was in Lancaster, Pa., considering offers of land for his settlement.

After inspecting several tracts of land, Rapp purchased 5000 acres in Butler County, on the Connoquenessing Creek, about twelve miles from the Ohio River at Beaver. He then sent for his people.

They came in several companies. The ship “Aurora” brought about 300 persons to Baltimore, July 4, 1804.

Another party of 260 persons, headed by Frederick Rapp, arrived on the ship “Atlantic” at Philadelphia in August.

The remainder of the people came in a third ship, the “Margaretta,” but these settled in Lycoming County, under the direction of Mr. Haller, who had assisted George Rapp in exploration for a site.

The settlers who went to the new settlement worked hard to build their town, Harmony. They were sustained in their labors by religious enthusiasm. After a few months they were joined by their friends and on February 15, 1805, the Harmony Society was formally organized.

During the first year fifty log houses were erected, nearly 200 acres cleared and a house of worship, grist mill, barn and shops were built. The following year 400 acres more were cleared, a saw mill, tannery, distillery and brick store house were erected and a vineyard planted.

They raised 600 bushels of wheat more than their requirements and had 3000 gallons of whisky to sell.

They soon made woolen cloth, spinning the yarn by hand. In 1809 they erected a woolen factory for manufacturing of broadcloth from the wool of merino sheep, which they were among the first to introduce in this country. They had their own mechanics and tradesmen.

The society was always a religious community and George Rapp, in temporal affairs was extremely practical, but he was an enthusiast only in religion. He would not allow his authority to be questioned.

While the settlers were prosperous, they were disappointed in their settlement in some respects. In Germany they had raised grapes and made wine, and had hoped to engage in that industry here, but the land was poorly adapted to the culture of the vine. As their manufactures increased their transportation troubles also increased, as they were twelve miles distant from the Ohio River.

They accordingly decided to move, and in 1814 George Rapp, John L. Baker and Lewis Shriver explored the Western country in search of a new site for settlement. They found a suitable place on the Wabash, in Posey County, Indiana, and in 1815 the whole society moved there.

They had lived in Harmony ten years, during which time 100 members had died. They were buried in a small plot, and, as was their custom, the graves were not marked, but only numbered.

This little graveyard, together with the substantial brick buildings of the village, is all the memorial the Harmonists have left of their first home in America.

The society again removed, in 1825, to Economy, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where they arrived May 17, 1825, making the trip by boat, their new home being located on the Ohio River twenty miles from the first home of the society, at Harmony, and eighteen miles from Pittsburgh.

George Rapp died August 7, 1847, aged ninety years. The society remained intact, although reduced in membership, until May 12, 1903, when there were but four members.

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Johan Printz Arrives as Governor of New
Sweden, February 16, 1643

The Swedes followed the Dutch in settling along the Delaware River, which they called the Zuydt or South River. The Swedes formed several companies for the purpose of trade with the New World, as America was then called.

The first expedition came under Peter Minuit, a Hollander, in March, 1638, and settled on Christiana Creek, near the present Wilmington, Del. Here they built Fort Christiana and gave the country the name New Sweden. Two other expeditions came from Sweden and with them came colonists whose names are still borne by families in Pennsylvania.

In 1642, Johan Printz, who had been kept busy capturing delinquent Finns, who were committing all sorts of depredations in Sweden, and refusing to either desist or return to their own Finland, was knighted by the Swedish Government and appointed Governor of New Sweden.

He had been a lieutenant colonel of a regiment of cavalry in the Thirty Years’ War, and had been dismissed from the service because of what was held to be a too feeble defense of a city in which he had command.

Accompanied by his wife, daughter Armegot, and a minister, the Rev. John Campanius, and two vessels, the Fawn and the Swan, loaded with wine, malt, grain, peas, nets, muskets, shoes, stockings, wearing apparel, writing paper, sealing wax, oranges, lemons and hay, and having on board a number of poachers, deserters and culprit Finns, he arrived at Fort Christiana, February 16, 1643, after a stormy voyage of five months.

This was an unusual expedition in that it was the most important of all those sent out by Sweden and in the further fact that Printz was, next to Minuit, the most conspicuous figure connected with New Sweden.

In the instructions he received with his commission, he was to deal with the English at Varkens Kill, near the present Salem, New Jersey, and the Dutch at Fort Nassau; to treat with the Indians with humanity, protect them, and “civilize” them—especially to sell them goods at lower prices than the English or Dutch.

He was allowed to choose his residence at Cape Henlopen, Christiana, or Jacques Island; but he was ordered to see that his fort commanded the river, and that a good winter harbor for vessels was close at hand.

Printz lost no time in carrying out his instructions. Proceeding up the river from Christiana, he decided to make the seat of government at Jacques Island, the place called by the Indians Tenacong and since Tinicum. Here he built a fort of green logs, mounted on it four brass cannon, and called it Nye (New) Gottenburg.

Thus Printz made the first settlement by white men in what is now Pennsylvania which was destined to survive. Kling was sent to make a settlement on the Schuylkill, and he built a fort near its mouth, called New Korsholm.

Printz, however, was not content with the forts already erected, but a third was built, in 1643, on the east side of the river below Mill Creek, called Fort Elfborg, which was mounted with eight cannon and a mortar, and garrisoned with thirteen soldiers, under Swen Skute. The story is that later the men were driven out by mosquitoes. This fort was intended to shut up the river, a matter which greatly exasperated the Dutch, whose ships, when passing, had to lower their colors and were boarded by the Swedes.

In 1645 these Swedes started what was undoubtedly the first industrial plant in Pennsylvania. That was a small grist mill, which they built on the waters of Cobbs Creek, and when its wheels began to turn the industry of the greatest industrial State in the world began its production.

At Tinicum the Swedish settlements now centered. In three or four years following Printz’s arrival, Tinicum gradually assumed the character of a hamlet.

In 1645, he built a mansion on Tinicum Island, and it long bore the name of Printzhof.

A church was also built at this time, which the Reverend Mr. Campanius dedicated September 4, 1646. This was the first house of Christian worship within the present limits of Pennsylvania.

Indian troubles threatened during 1644. The shocking and unpardonable cruelties of Kieft, the Governor of Manhattan, in which hundreds of Indians, along the Hudson, were slain, caused the belief among the natives that the newcomers were cruel.

In the spring of 1644, two white soldiers and a laborer were killed on the Delaware, below Christiana, and later a Swedish woman and her English husband were killed between Tinicum and Upland. This event was the first tragedy in which white blood was shed in Pennsylvania by the Indians.

Printz assembled his people for defense at Upland, but the Indian chiefs of the region came in, disowned the act, and effected a treaty.

There was a long period during which no ships from Sweden came, and the colonists were destitute for necessities which they depended on receiving from the homeland. There was no vessel from March, 1644, until the “Golden Shark” arrived October 1, 1646.

The settlement of the country, however, proceeded very slowly under Swedish enterprise, while trade was pushed to an extent never before known upon the river. This greatly annoyed the Dutch, and in consequence of having lost this trade to the Swedes, the Dutch Governor, Kieft, sent Hudde to keep watch on the proceedings of Governor Printz and to resist his supposed innovation. These two soon got into angry controversy, but through the negotiation of the Reverend Mr. Campanius, an amicable arrangement was entered into regarding the trade of the Schuylkill.

But the real object of the Dutch was to plant a settlement on the western shore of the Delaware, and to this Governor Printz entered a sharp protest.

Governor Kieft was recalled about this time, and he was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesant, whose Administration commenced May 27, 1647, and continued until 1664, when the American interests of the Dutch passed into the hands of the English.

The disagreement between the Dutch and Swedes continued, giving rise to mutual hatred and jealousy. The Dutch “arms” were set up on the west bank and as promptly taken down by the Swedes.

Printz had requested to be relieved, but he was ordered to remain when new grants of land were made to him, and he remained at his post until October, 1653, when he transferred the charge of the Government to his son-in-law, John Papegoja, and sailed for Sweden.

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Captain William Trent Leads First English
Armed Force to Forks of Ohio,
February 17, 1754

Previous to the French and Indian War, and in fact until the Revolution, Virginia held that the upper Ohio Valley, in what is now Pennsylvania, was a part of their Dominion.

Governor Dinwiddie feared the aggressions of the French in that region and commenced preparations for raising a force to be sent to the “Forks of the Ohio” (Pittsburgh), to occupy that strategic point, and build a defensive work that would enable him to resist the French.

This force, a company of Colonial Militiamen under command of Captain William Trent, marched from Virginia, in January, 1754, and reached the Forks February 17, following.

Work was begun, but proceeded slowly on account of the severity of the weather, and Captain Trent returning to Will’s Creek, left in charge a young commissioned officer, an ensign, named Edward Ward.

This was not, however, the first aggressive action on the part of Virginia.

Pennsylvania authorities believed that the limits of the State were about what they are today, but they had so many internal jealousies and quarrels on their hands at the time the French became active intruders along the French Creek, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, that they delayed making any action against them.

While Virginia was experiencing almost similar difficulties as Pennsylvania, she did, in 1753, take steps to put a stop to the farther advance of the French.

Governor Dinwiddie dispatched Captain William Trent to ascertain the activities of the French, but he neglected his duty, and went no farther than Logstown. In a letter to the Lords of Trade, Dinwiddie said of them: “He reports the French were then one hundred and fifty miles up the river, and, I believe, was afraid to go to them.”

The home government advised Dinwiddie to obtain information and for this purpose to dispatch a messenger. Acting under these instructions, Dinwiddie sent a young man who was destined to become finally the most illustrious figure in American history. This was George Washington.

Following out his instructions, young Washington proceeded to Logstown, and thence with Tanacharison or the Half-King, Jeskakake, White Thunder, and Guyasutha or the Hunter, he set out November 30, and on December 11, reached Fort Le Boeuf, which was on the site of the present Waterford, Erie County, Pennsylvania.

Having accomplished the purpose of his mission, and obtained full information of the strength and plans of the French, and an answer to the letter which he had carried from Governor Dinwiddie to the French commandant, he returned with much hardship to Virginia, reaching Williamsburg, January 16, 1754, where he made his report to the Governor.

This information led at once to military measures for the defense of the Ohio, and the command of Captain Trent pushed forward.

The French were promptly warned of the arrival of Trent’s troops, and were not long idle.

On April 17, when the fort was still uncompleted, Ensign Ward suddenly found himself surrounded by a force of one thousand men, French and Indians, under the command of Captain Contrecoeur, with eighteen pieces of artillery.

By Chevalier Le Mercier, captain of the artillery of Canada, Contrecoeur sent a summons to the commanding officer of the English to surrender, informing him that he, Contrecoeur, “was come out into this place, charged with orders from his General to request him (the English commander) to retreat peaceably, with his troops from off the lands of the French king, and not to return, or else he would find himself obliged to fulfill his duty, and compel him to it.” “I hope,” continued Contrecoeur, in his summons, “that you will not defer one instant, and that you will not force me to the last extremity. In that case, sir, you may be persuaded that I will give orders that there shall be no damage done by my detachment.”

The friendly Half King, who was present, advised Ward to reply that he was not an officer of rank with power to answer the demand, and to request delay until he could send for his superior officer.

Contrecoeur refused to parley, and demanded immediate surrender.

Having less than forty men in a half finished stockade, Ward was unable to resist the force opposed to him, and therefore prudently yielded to the demand without further hesitation.

He was allowed to withdraw his men and take his tools with him, and on the morning of April 18, he left the position and started on his return to Virginia.

This affair was one of the initial events of the French and Indian War, an epoch-making struggle.

The French took possession of the half-finished fort and completed it, naming it Fort Duquesne, in honor of Marquis Du Quesne, then Governor General of Canada.

Captain William Trent who led the first English armed force into the Ohio Valley, February 17, 1754, was a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania. His name is given to Trenton, N. J.

In 1746, Governor Thomas appointed him captain of one of the four companies raised in Pennsylvania, for an intended expedition against Canada. In 1749, Governor Hamilton appointed him a justice for Cumberland County, where in the following year he formed a partnership with George Croghan to engage in the Indian trade, and he went to Logstown.

In 1753, the Governor of Virginia directed him to build a fort at the “Forks of the Ohio,” which seems to be the first time he recognized the authority of Virginia.

Captain Trent again entered the service of Pennsylvania, in 1755, as a member of the Council, but two years later he again entered the employ of Virginia.

In 1763, his large trading house near Fort Pitt was destroyed by the Indians.

During the Revolution Congress gave him a commission as major.

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William Rittenhouse, Who Built First Paper

Mill in America, Died February 18,1708

The first paper mill on the American continent was established in 1690 by the Reverend William Rittenhouse, upon a branch of Wissahickon Creek, and from that date until 1710 there was no other paper mill in the American Colonies.

This mill was situated on a meadow along the bank of a stream known as Paper-Mill Run, which empties into the Wissahickon Creek, about two miles above its confluence with the Schuylkill.

The founder emigrated from Holland, where he was born in the Principality of Broich, in the year 1644. He spelled his name then Ryttinhuisen, which is anglicized into Rittenhouse.

His ancestors had been engaged for generations in paper-making, and he had learned the same business. It has been stated that he had a brother who originally came to New York while it was a Dutch Colony; that the brother settled in New Jersey, but William, with his two sons, Claus or Nicholas, and Garrett or Gerhard, came to Pennsylvania prior to or during the year 1690. The Rittenhouses were among “sixty-four of the first Germantown inhabitants,” as they were styled, who were granted naturalization by Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor, on May 7, 1691.

At the time Rittenhouse arrived in Germantown there was a printer, William Bradford, already established in an office in Philadelphia, and it may be that he induced the paper-makers to locate there. Anyway they no sooner settled at Germantown than they began the erection of a paper mill, on property purchased from Samuel Carpenter, of Philadelphia.

It appears from the original deed that William Bradford, Robert Turner and Thomas Tresse were interested with William Rittenhouse in the enterprise. They were deeded twenty acres.

The mill was built, but soon thereafter Robert Turner died, and Bradford and Tresse assigned their rights to William Rittenhouse, who became the sole owner. Their deed for this property was acknowledged December 6, 1693. The term of the lease was for 975 years from the 29th of September, 1705, and the rent reserved was five shillings sterling per annum.

It thus appears that there was at first a company regularly organized to establish a paper mill. Samuel Carpenter and Robert Turner were extensive land owners and were advisers and coadjutors of William Penn. Thomas Tresse was a rich iron monger and William Bradford was the famous printer who established the first printing press in the middle colonies of America, in 1685.

The chief and most important member of this company was William Rittenhouse, who became the sole proprietor prior to 1705, unless the interest of Tresse was purchased by Claus Rittenhouse, about 1701. It also seems that the son bought Bradford’s interest in 1704. Father and son were practical papermakers and the owners.

Bradford got himself into trouble when he printed the charter without leave of the ruling powers, and then for printing a pamphlet of George Keith, a seceding Scotch Quaker. He was arraigned in court, and in 1693 left Philadelphia and established himself in New York, where he introduced the first printing plant in that province.

When Bradford left Philadelphia he was to receive for his share of the mill paper of the value of six pounds, two shillings, and the assurance that he had a monopoly of the entire printing paper that was made in America from September 1, 1697, until September 1, 1707. The quantity is not stated, neither is there anything by which we can determine, at this late day, the capacity of the mill.

All paper was then manufactured by hand, each sheet being made separately. At that early day and long afterward the rags were pounded into pulp in stone and iron mortars by the aid of trip-hammers, and several days were required to furnish a sample sheet of dry-finished paper. At that time a day’s production per man was one and a half reams of newspaper of the size of 20 by 30 inches. Small as was this mill, its importance can hardly be understood, for the greatest commercial metropolis of America drew its supply of printing paper from this mill.

There, in this secluded spot, away from any except the hermits who lived in the caves along the Wissahickon, and with no access to Philadelphia except by Germantown, William Rittenhouse, and his son devoted themselves with untiring industry to their useful and honorable art. They soon acquired a wide reputation as producers of “good paper,” and to this they usually affixed a water-mark.

In 1701 a great misfortune overtook the honest craftsmen. The little stream on which they depended for their water-power experienced a freshet of such fury that the mill was swept away and entirely destroyed, and all machinery, stock, tools and much personal property carried away in the flood.

Nothing daunted they resolved to begin anew. They chose another site a short distance below the first mill and in 1702 a mill, better than the original, was erected.

In the new mill Bradford still retained an interest but Claus Rittenhouse would not renew his monopoly on the mill’s supply. On June 30, 1704, Bradford sold his share in the mill, and from that day the paper mill became a Rittenhouse concern and so continued for generations, until the mill had been rebuilt a fourth time, when it was converted into a cotton factory.

William Rittenhouse died February 18, 1708, and was succeeded in the business by his son, Claus. Both father and son were also Mennonite preachers.

Claus continued to supply not only Bradford in New York, but the home market in Germantown and Philadelphia. Bradford paid partly in fine rags for his paper.

A second paper mill was erected in 1710, in Germantown, by William De Wees, a brother-in-law of Claus Rittenhouse, under whom he learned the trade of papermaking. Claus Rittenhouse obtained possession of this mill in 1713, and it was operated for many years.

When Andrew Bradford established The American Mercury, in Philadelphia, December 22, 1719, the first newspaper ever printed in the British Middle Colonies, the paper for his Mercury was made at the Rittenhouse mill.

Claus Rittenhouse, the second papermaker in America, died in May, 1734, aged sixty-eight. He was born in Holland, June 15, 1666. He was the grandfather of David Rittenhouse, the American astronomer, who was also treasurer of Pennsylvania during the Revolution.

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Canal System Started with Committee Report
of February 19, 1791

In the earliest days, before railroads and steam power were developed, water communication was the popular mode of commercial transportation. The spirit of the early settlers in Pennsylvania was alive with the idea of internal improvement, and very early they were anxious to reach out toward the western empire that was to become the promised land and furnish food for the world. The ultimate result of this vision was the construction of the grand system of canals connecting the navigable rivers, Delaware and Ohio, by which products of the States and Territories to the westward could be carried to Philadelphia, the metropolitan seaport city of Pennsylvania.

William Penn fostered the idea and recommended a scheme to connect the Susquehanna at what is now Middletown with Philadelphia by uniting the waters of the Schuylkill River at Reading with those of Tulpehocken Creek and the Quittapahilla, which flowed into the Swatara ten miles westward and thence into the Susquehanna at Middletown.

As early as 1761 Commissioners were appointed by the Proprietaries to clear, scour and make the Schuylkill navigable for boats, flats, rafts, canoes and other small vessels, from the ridge of mountains commonly called the Blue Mountains to the river Delaware. This action was the initial step in the formation of the Schuylkill Navigation Company.

The broad river itself in many portions was concentrated into pools forming slack water navigation and these pools were connected by sections of canals with a depth of six feet of water, passing boats with a capacity of 200 tons.

The committee appointed in January, 1791, to examine the report of the Commissioners who explored the Delaware and western waters of the Susquehanna, reported February 19. They considered the Delaware toward New York State and to Lake Ontario; the Lehigh and Schuylkill, the latter with the object of reaching Harrisburg; the Juniata and the north and west branches of the Susquehanna.

The several principal canals of the State in the order of the dates in which they were created by acts of Assembly, and from which all others were either extensions or feeders, were as follows:

1. Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company, created September 29, 1791, passed through the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon and Berks. It began at Columbia on the Susquehanna and extended to the mouth of the Juniata, then later on up along that river to Hollidaysburg at the eastern base of the Allegheny Mountains—a total length of 171 miles.

2. Delaware and Schuylkill, April 10, 1792, in Berks, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties.

3. Conewago Canal in York County, April 10, 1793.

4. Brandywine Canal and Lock Navigation, April 10, 1793.

5. Lehigh Navigation, February 27, 1798, in Northampton and Luzerne Counties. A total of forty-six miles.

6. Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, February 19, 1801.

7. Concocheague Navigation, February 7, 1803; connected Chambersburg with the Potomac.

8. Conestoga Lock and Dam Navigation, March 17, 1806, in Lancaster County, was an improvement of Conestoga Creek by locks and dams from its mouth to the city of Lancaster, a distance of fourteen miles.

9. Union Canal Company, April 2, 1811, connected the Susquehanna at Middletown to the Schuylkill two miles below Reading; length eighty-two miles. There was also a branch canal and feeder twenty-two miles in length with a railroad of four miles to Pine Grove coal mines.

10. Neshaminy Lock Navigation, March 26, 1814.

11. Schuylkill Navigation, March 8, 1815, in Schuylkill, Berks, Montgomery, Chester and Philadelphia Counties. This began at Port Carbon on Schuylkill, and ran to Philadelphia, a distance of 108 miles.

12. Lackawanna Navigation, February 5, 1817, a part of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, from Honesdale on the Lackawaxen to the mouth of that stream, a distance of twenty miles.

13. Monongahela Navigation, March 24, 1817, in Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland, Washington and Allegheny Counties. From Johnstown on the Conemaugh, at the western base of the Allegheny down the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas and Allegheny to Pittsburgh—distance, 105 miles.

14. Octoraro Navigation, March 29, 1819.

15. Conewago Canal, east side, March 29, 1814.

In the report of Canal Commissioners made in 1827 was this paragraph:

“In the latter end of May the location of a line from the mouth of the Juniata to Northumberland was commenced, beginning at Duncan Island, and extending up the west side to a point opposite Northumberland.” This canal was thirty-seven miles in length.

The North Branch began at Northumberland and extended to two miles below Wilkes-Barre, and later extended to New York State line.

The West Branch began at Northumberland and ran to Muncy Dam, a distance of twenty-six miles, but later was extended to Bald Eagle, where it united with the Erie Canal.

After extensive surveys made in 1824 and 1825, the Commonwealth entered, in the year 1826, into the actual construction of an extended system of internal improvements and continued the annual expenditure of large sums of money for canals and railroads for fifteen years, or until 1841.

Ground was broken at Harrisburg for the building of the Pennsylvania Canal, on July 4, 1826. By the year 1834 a total of 673 miles of public works had been completed, at a time when the credit of the State was good. But unfortunately too extensive a system was undertaken and the works were not constructed or managed with economy. The debt of 1834 had mounted to twenty-three millions. By 1841 it reached forty-two millions, and the State defaulted even the interest on these bonds and all work ceased.

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French and Indian War Started by Arrival of

Braddock’s Troops February 20, 1755

The French and Indian War opened April 17, 1754, when Ensign Ward was surprised by the appearance of a large French force, under Contrecoeur, while he was engaged in completing a stockade at the forks of the Ohio. The Ensign was obliged to surrender his position to the superior forces and retreat.

Governor Hamilton strongly urged the Pennsylvania Assembly to organize the militia and aid the Virginians, but they questioned the right of Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to invade the Province of Pennsylvania and charged his action as impudent.

Virginia raised a force of 300 men, under command of Colonel Fry and Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, and near the Great Meadows, in Pennsylvania, a detachment of the French forces, under Jumonville, which had been sent to intercept the Virginians, was defeated and Jumonville killed.

Colonel Washington erected Fort Necessity near this point, and upon the death of Colonel Fry was promoted to the command.

Washington led the small column against Fort Duquesne, but a large French force compelled the Virginians to fall back upon their stockade. The French, under M. de Villier, attacked them and, after a desperate defense, Washington was obliged to capitulate.

In October, 1754, Governor Hamilton was succeeded by Robert Hunter Morris, who assumed his duties at the same time that a new Assembly was elected. At the session in December the Governor laid before it the royal order for a concert of action with the other colonies, commanding them to act vigorously in defense of their own province and to aid the other colonies to repel every hostile invasion.

The Assembly appropriated £40,000 of which £20,000 was for the King’s use, redeemable by the excise in twelve years, the balance to supplant the torn and defaced bills of former issues.

Great Britain determined to oppose the growing power of France in America, and ordered two regiments of foot from Ireland, under command of Colonels Dunbar and Halkett, to Virginia, to be there reinforced; other troops were ordered to be raised in America, 2000 in New England, 3000 in Pennsylvania, which were to be placed at the disposal of a commander-in-chief, who would be sent over for that purpose.

Pennsylvania was, in addition, required to supply the foreign troops on their arrival with provisions and all necessaries for the soldiers landed or raised in the Province; also to provide the officers with means for traveling; and to impress carriages and quarter troops. All the expense of this program was to be borne by the Province; whilst articles of more general concern would be charged upon a common fund to be raised from all the colonies of North America, of which the Province of Pennsylvania would be required to bear its proportionate share. The Governor of Pennsylvania was also directed to urge the Assembly to contribute liberally, until a union of the northern colonies for general defense could be effected. At this late day it would appear that the mother country depended more on Pennsylvania and Virginia than on all her other possessions in North America; and more on Pennsylvania than on Virginia for men and provisions.

Governor Morris and the Assembly fenced for position on the proposition of a grant of an enormous sum for the King’s use. Neither side would yield. Finally the Assembly borrowed, on the credit of the House, £5000, to be expended in the purchase of fresh provisions, for the use of the King’s troops on their arrival, and appointed a committee to negotiate the loan. This action was unquestionably arrived at in an effort to prove to the Crown that their disposition was to assist the mother government, if treated by the Proprietary as they had a right to expect.

On January 14, 1755, Major General Edward Braddock, Sir John St. Clair, Adjutant General, and the regiments of Colonels Dunbar and Halkett sailed from Cork. They arrived at Alexandria, Va., February 20, whence they marched to Fredericktown, Md.

The place of debarkation was selected with that ignorance and want of judgment which distinguished the British Ministry. Neither the country of Maryland nor Virginia could furnish provisions or carriages for the army, while Pennsylvania, rich in grain and well stocked with wagons and stock, could readily supply food and the means of transportation required by officers and men in moving an army to any point.

The Assembly could hardly feel otherwise at such a move, than that either the British ministry or Major-General Braddock was prejudiced against the government of this Province, so Dr. Franklin was sent to General Braddock, to undeceive him.

While Franklin was yet with the army the return of the wagons obtainable was made to the general, from which it appeared that there were not more than twenty-five, and not all these serviceable.

Braddock was so thoroughly disgusted with this condition of affairs that he declared the expedition at an end and exclaimed against the Ministers who would send him into a country destitute of the means of transportation. Franklin expressed his regret that the army had not been landed in Pennsylvania, where such means abounded. Braddock seized his words and at once commissioned him on liberal terms to procure 150 wagons and 1500 pack horses.

Franklin immediately returned to Philadelphia and circulated advertisements through the counties of Lancaster, York and Cumberland, and by a clever address obtained in two weeks all the wagons, 250 pack horses and much popularity for himself.

Franklin stated in his address that he found General Braddock incensed at the delay of the horses and carriages he had expected from Philadelphia, and was disposed to send an armed force to seize carriages, horses and drivers necessary to the service. But that he, apprehending the visit of British soldiers in their present temper would be very inconvenient to the inhabitants and that he was desirous to try what might be done by fair and equitable means; and that now an opportunity was presented of obtaining £30,000 in silver and gold, which would supply the deficiency of the Provincial currency. He expended £800 received from the general, advanced £200 from his own purse and gave his personal bond for the payment of the value of such horses as should be lost in the service. The claims made upon him in consequence of this engagement amounted to £20,000, and were not settled by the Government until after much trouble and delay.

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State Capital Removed to Harrisburg by Act

of February 21, 1810

Very soon after the close of the Revolution there began an agitation about the removal of the seat of the State Government from Philadelphia.

In March, 1787, the Assembly, then a single branch, resolved that Philadelphia was “an unfortunate location” and expressed by their votes its determination to build a State house at Harrisburg on a plot of ground the property of the Commonwealth, etc., being four and a half acres, conveyed by John Harris in 1785. Harrisburg was then a town of nearly 600 inhabitants.

Action was not taken, but again in subsequent sessions, as in 1795, the House voted thirty-six to thirty-four in favor of moving the seat of Government to Carlisle. The Senate did not concur.

In 1798 the House agreed to remove to Wrightsville, York County, “without delay.” Again the Senate refused to concur.

But in 1799 the effort in favor of removal was crowned with success. Both branches voted this time to remove to Lancaster, then a town of great importance, by far the most considerable in the interior. Accordingly, in December, 1799, the Legislature met in Lancaster, continuing to do so until the spring of 1812, when the seat of Government was removed to its present location in Harrisburg.

The provisions of the Constitution now require that no removal can hereafter be made without the consent of the people at a general election, and, although there have been many attempts made to relocate at Philadelphia and elsewhere since 1812, it is hardly probable that any other city or section will ever be acceptable to the citizens.

It appears the choice of Lancaster was not as satisfactory as expected as agitation for another removal was almost immediately commenced. On December 9, 1801, a motion was made by Stacy Potts, of Dauphin County, seconded by Mr. Lord Butler, of Luzerne County, calling for the appointment of a committee to consider and report on “the most eligible place to fix the permanent seat of government of this State.” The House voted to consider the report, January 13, 1802, but nothing further was done during that session, except an attempt to introduce the measure under a fresh dress. A measure was introduced for the erection of a structure for the “safe preservation” of the State papers. Under this thin disguise, the subject of removal was very skillfully avoided by those opposed to removal in a debate extending through December, 1802, and ending latter part of the following January.

Senator Laird, January 4, 1809, presented the petition of sundry inhabitants of the town of Northumberland, at the forks of the Susquehanna, setting forth the central situation of that growing town, and showing the advantages of fixing the State government there, offering accommodations for the officers of the State and members of the Legislature, and praying a removal of the seat of government thither.

This petition was referred to a committee consisting of Senators Laird, Heston, Doty, Hiester and Laycock.

The committee shortly after submitted a report recommending the removal of the seat of government to the town of Northumberland. The Senate, however, when the report was under consideration, struck out the word “Northumberland,” and from that moment onward the subject was constantly agitated.

On February 17, 1809, the Senate, in Committee of the Whole, endeavored to have the words “City of Philadelphia,” inserted as the place for the seat of government, but, on vote, the motion was lost when only eight Senators supported the motion. Then another effort to insert the name of Northumberland was made, also Middletown, and Harrisburg. Northumberland received only seven votes, but when Harrisburg was voted upon the Senate supported it by a vote of fourteen to ten, but the House refused to consider the bill during that session. No further action was taken until February, 1810, when a bill passed both branches of the Legislature and became a law, February 21, 1810.

This act consisted of ten sections and provided “that within the month of October, 1812, all the offices attached to the seat of government of this State shall be removed to the Borough of Harrisburg,” etc.

Robert Harris, George Hoyer and George Ziegler were named in the act as commissioners to superintend and direct the removal of books, records, papers and other documents, etc., and to provide good and suitable rooms and apartments for the accommodation of the Legislature and the State departments.

The Governor was directed to accept “on behalf and in the name of the Commonwealth the offer of ten acres of land in or adjoining the said Borough of Harrisburg, at $100 per acre, made by William Maclay, adjoining to the four-acre lot formerly appropriated by John Harris for the use of the State,” etc.

Appropriations were made for the payment of this land and for the erection of office buildings. The Governor was authorized to appoint three commissioners to fix upon a site, procure plans for and superintend the erection of the buildings.

Governor Simon Snyder appointed William Findlay, Richard M. Crain, George Bryan, John B. Gibson and William Gibbons as commissioners and they selected Stephen Mills as architect.

A supplement to the act passed February 7, 1812, provided that all the offices should be removed to Harrisburg during the month of April. A second supplement passed March 10, 1812, directed “the clerks of the two houses, on or before the 1st of June next (1812), to remove or cause to be removed all the papers, records, books and documents belonging to each house aforesaid, together with whatever furniture may be thought fit for removal.”

From these records it is ascertained that the Government of the State was removed in all its departments, in the year 1812, from Lancaster to Harrisburg, and that the first organization at the latter place was in December of that year.

The first sessions of the Legislature were held in the old court house.

The cornerstone of the capitol was laid Monday, May 31, 1819, by Governor William Findlay. The construction was rapidly pushed forward, and the building made ready for occupancy in December, 1821.

The Legislature met in the new capitol, Wednesday, January 2, 1822, when proper ceremonies were held in honor of the event. This building was destroyed by fire February 2, 1897.

The present magnificent capitol building was constructed by a Commission composed of Governor William A. Stone, Edward Bailey, William P. Snyder, Nathan C. Schaeffer and William H. Graham. Other officers of the commission were T. L. Erye, superintendent; Robert K. Young, general counsel; Edgar C. Gerwig, secretary; Joseph M. Huston, architect, and George F. Payne, contractor.

The capitol was dedicated, October 4, 1906, when President Roosevelt delivered the oration, and was entertained at luncheon by Governor Pennypacker.

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Service and Captivity of Captain John Boyd,
Born February 22, 1750

One of the distinguished patriots of the Continental Army during the Revolution was Captain John Boyd, a frontiersman, who suffered Indian captivity and lived to rejoin his family and again become one of the foremost citizens of his time.

The Boyd family gained a foothold in America when John Boyd, the emigrant from the North of Ireland, landed on these shores in 1744, and settled in Chester County. He married Sarah De Vane, and they removed to Northumberland County, where they continued to reside until their decease. They were the parents of three patriotic sons—John, born February 22, 1750; Thomas, born in 1752, and William, born in 1755.

William Boyd was a lieutenant in the Twelfth Regiment of the Continental Line, under Colonel William Cooke. He fell at the Battle of Brandywine.

Thomas Boyd was a lieutenant in General John Sullivan’s command when he made his successful campaign against the Six Nations in Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York in 1779. Lieutenant Boyd was in charge of a scouting detail on the march when he was captured by the Indians and Tories under command of Colonel John Butler, near Little Beard’s Town, in the Genesee.

Boyd was surrounded by a strong detachment of the enemy, who killed fourteen of his men. He and a soldier were captured and only eight escaped. When General Sullivan learned of Boyd’s fate the advance was quickened in the hope they could reach him, but on arriving at Genesee Castle his remains and those of the other prisoners were found, surrounded by all the horrid evidences of savage barbarity. The torture fires were yet burning. Flaming pine knots had been thrust into their flesh, their fingernails pulled out, their tongues cut off and their heads severed from their bodies.

John, the eldest brother, was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Continental Army in May, 1777, which rank he held until February, 1781, when he received a captain’s commission from the State of Pennsylvania, which had resolved to raise and equip three companies of Rangers for the defense of the western frontier, then sorely distressed by the hostile incursions of the savages. It was to the command of one of these companies, that Captain John Boyd was promoted.

In June, 1781, while marching his men across the Allegheny Mountains, he fell into an ambuscade of Indians near the headwaters of the Raystown branch of the Juniata River, in Bedford County, and was made a prisoner with a number of his soldiers, and led captive through the wilderness to Canada.

Captain Boyd was confined during his imprisonment in Canada on an island in the St. Lawrence, near Montreal.

In the spring of 1782 an exchange of prisoners took place and he was returned to Philadelphia with a number of his fellow soldiers.

Previous to his capture he had been engaged in the Battles of White Plains, Germantown, Brandywine and Stony Point. He was one of the fifty who composed the “forlorn hope,” led by Mad Anthony Wayne at Stony Point, who met within the fort. He was at West Point and witnessed the execution of the unfortunate Major Andre.

At the time of the ambuscade Captain Boyd was wounded during the skirmish, but after his capture and in spite of his wounds, he made a desperate effort to escape by running, but was pursued and received three terrible gashes in his head with a tomahawk when he was re-captured.