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diff --git a/22471-8.txt b/22471-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9df5d72 --- /dev/null +++ b/22471-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6855 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch +Valley, 1769-1784, by George D. Wolf + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784 + A Study of Frontier Ethnography + +Author: George D. Wolf + +Release Date: August 31, 2007 [EBook #22471] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR PLAY SETTLERS *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + _The Fair Play Settlers + of the West Branch Valley, + 1769-1784: + A Study of Frontier Ethnography_ + + + + BY + GEORGE D. WOLF + + + + Commonwealth of Pennsylvania + THE PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL + AND MUSEUM COMMISSION + + Harrisburg, 1969 + + + + + THE PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL + AND MUSEUM COMMISSION + + + JAMES B. STEVENSON, _Chairman_ + + CHARLES G. WEBB, _Vice Chairman_ + + HERMAN BLUM MRS. FERNE SMITH HETRICK + + MARK S. GLEESON MRS. HENRY P. HOFFSTOT, JR. + + RALPH HAZELTINE MAURICE A. MOOK + + THOMAS ELLIOTT WYNNE + + DAVID H. KURTZMAN, _ex officio + Superintendent of Public Instruction_ + + + MEMBERS FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY + + MRS. SARAH ANDERSON, _Representative_ + + PAUL W. MAHADY, _Senator_ ORVILLE E. SNARE, _Representative_ + + JOHN H. WARE, III, _Senator_ + + + TRUSTEES EX OFFICIO + + RAYMOND P. SHAFER, _Governor of the Commonwealth_ + + ROBERT P. CASEY, _Auditor General_ + + GRACE M. SLOAN, _State Treasurer_ + + + ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF + + SYLVESTER K. STEVENS, _Executive Director_ + + WILLIAM J. WEWER, _Deputy Executive Director_ + + DONALD H. KENT, _Director + Bureau of Archives and History_ + + FRANK J. SCHMIDT, _Director + Bureau of Historic Sites and Properties_ + + WILLIAM N. RICHARDS, _Director + Bureau of Museums_ + + + + +_Preface_ + + +In an Age when man's horizons are constantly being widened to include +hitherto little-known or non-existent countries, and even other planets +and outer space, there is still much to be said for the oft-neglected +study of man in his more immediate environs. Intrigued with the +historical tale of the "Fair Play settlers" of the West Branch Valley of +the Susquehanna River and practically a life-long resident of the West +Branch Valley, this writer felt that their story was worth telling and +that it might offer some insight into the development of democracy on +the frontier. The result is an ethnography of the Fair Play settlers. +This account, however, is not meant to typify the frontier experience; +it is simply an illustration, and, the author hopes, a useful one. + +No intensive research can be conducted without the help and +encouragement of many fine and wonderful people. This author is deeply +indebted to librarians, archivists and historians, local historians and +genealogists, local and county historical societies, and collectors of +manuscripts, diaries, and journals pertinent to the history of the West +Branch Valley. A comprehensive listing of all who have assisted in this +effort would be too extensive, but certain persons cannot be ignored. My +grateful appreciation is here expressed to a few of these; but my +gratitude is no less sincere to the many persons who are not here +mentioned. + +Librarians who have been most helpful in providing bibliographies, +checking files, and obtaining volumes from other libraries include Miss +Isabel Welch, of the Ross Library in Lock Haven; Mrs. Kathleen Chandler, +formerly of the Lock Haven State College library; and Miss Barbara Ault, +of the Library of Congress. + +Archivists and historians who have been most generous in their aid are +the late Dr. Paul A. W. Wallace, of the Pennsylvania Historical and +Museum Commission; Mrs. Phyllis V. Parsons, of Collegeville; Dr. Alfred +P. James, of the University of Pittsburgh; and Mrs. Solon J. Buck, of +Washington, D. C. + +Perhaps the most significant research support for this investigation was +provided by a local historian and genealogist, Mrs. Helen Herritt +Russell, of Jersey Shore. + +Dr. Samuel P. Bayard, of the Pennsylvania State University, analyzed the +Fair Play settlers using linguistic techniques to determine their +national origins. This help was basic to the demographic portion of this +study. + +Dr. Charles F. Berkheimer and Mrs. Marshall Anspach, both of +Williamsport, magnanimously consented to loan this author their copies, +respectively, of William Colbert's _Journal_ and the Wagner Collection +of Revolutionary War Pension Claims. + +County and local historical societies which opened their collections for +study were the Clinton County Historical Society, the Lycoming +Historical Society, the Northumberland County Historical Society, the +Centre County Historical Society, the Greene County Historical Society, +and the Muncy Historical Society and Museum of History. + +For his refreshing criticisms and constant encouragement, Dr. Murray G. +Murphey, of the University of Pennsylvania, will find me forever +thankful. Without him, this study would not have been possible. + +The author would like to thank the members of the Pennsylvania +Historical and Museum Commission and its Executive Director, Dr. S. K. +Stevens, for making possible this publication; he would also like to +thank Mr. Donald H. Kent, Director of the Bureau of Archives and +History, and Mr. William A. Hunter, Chief of the Division of History, +who supervised publication; and members of the staff of the Division of +History: Mr. Harold L. Myers, Associate Historian and Chief of the +Editorial Section, who readied the manuscript for publication; Mrs. Gail +M. Gibson, Associate Historian, who prepared the index; and Mr. George +R. Beyer, Assistant Historian. + +My sincerest thanks are also extended to Mrs. Mary B. Bower, who typed +the entire manuscript and offered useful suggestions with regard to +style. + +Finally, for providing almost ideal conditions for carrying on this work +and for sustaining me throughout, my wife, Margaret, is deserving of a +gratitude which cannot be fully expressed. + + GEORGE D. WOLF + + + + +_Introduction_ + + +Between 1769 and 1784, in an area some twenty-five miles long and about +two miles wide, located on the north side of the West Branch of the +Susquehanna River and extending from Lycoming Creek (at the present +Williamsport) to the Great Island (just east of the present Lock Haven), +some 100 to 150 families settled. They established a community and a +political organization called the Fair Play system. This study is about +these people and their system. + +The author of a recent case study of democracy in a frontier county +commented on the need for this kind of investigation.[1] Cognizant of +the fact that a number of valuable histories of American communities +have been written, he noted that few of them deal explicitly with the +actual relation of frontier experience to democracy: + + No one seems to have studied microscopically a given area that + experienced transition from wilderness to settled community with the + purpose of determining how much democracy, in Turner's sense, + existed initially in the first phase of settlement, during the + process itself, and in the period that immediately followed. + +This research encompasses the first two stages of that development and +includes tangential references to the third stage. + +The geography of the Fair Play territory has been confused for almost +two centuries. The conclusions of this analysis will not prove too +satisfying to those who unquestioningly accept and revere the old local +legends. However, it will be noted that these conclusions are based upon +the accounts of journalists and diarists rather than hearsay. This +should put the controversial "question of the Tiadaghton" to rest. + +A statistical analysis has been made as a significant part of the +demography of the Fair Play settlers. However, limitations in data may +raise some questions regarding the validity of the conclusions. +Nevertheless, the national and ethnic origins of these settlers, their +American sources of emigration, the periods of immigration, the reasons +for migration, and population stability and mobility have all been +investigated. The result offers some surprises when compared with the +trends of the time--in the Province and throughout the colonies. + +The _politics_ of Fair Play is the principal concern of this entire +study--appropriately, it was from their political system that these +frontiersmen derived their unusual name. This was not the only group to +use the name, however. Another "fair play system" existed in +southwestern Pennsylvania during the same period, and perhaps a similar +study can be made of those pioneers and their life. As for the Fair Play +community of the West Branch, we know about its political structure +through the cases subsequently reviewed by established courts of the +Commonwealth. From these cases, we have reconstructed a "code" of +operation which demonstrates certain democratic tendencies. + +In addition to studying the political system, an effort has been made to +validate the story of the locally-famed Pine Creek Declaration of +Independence. Although some evidence for such a declaration was found, +it seems inconclusive. + +The West Branch Valley was part of what Turner called the second +frontier, the Allegheny, and so this agrarian frontier community has +been examined for evidence of the democratic traits which Turner +characterized as particularly American. This analysis is not meant to +portray a typical situation, but it does provide support for Turner's +evaluation. As this was a farmer's frontier, and as transportation and +communication facilities were extremely limited, a generally +self-sufficient and naturally self-reliant community developed as a +matter of survival. The characteristics which this frontier nurtured, +and the non-English--even anti-English--composition of its population +make understandable the sentiment in this region for independence from +Great Britain. This, of course, is supremely demonstrated in the +separate declaration of independence drawn, according to the report, by +the settlers of the Fair Play frontier. + +Fair Play _society_ is, perhaps, the second-most-important facet of this +ethnographic analysis. An understanding of it necessitated an inquiry +into the social relationships, the religious institutions, the +educational and cultural opportunities, and the values of this frontier +community. The results, again, lend credence to Turner's hypothesis. +Admittedly, Turner's bold assertion that "the growth of nationalism and +the evolution of American political institutions were dependent on the +advance of the frontier" is somewhat contradicted by the nature of this +Pennsylvania frontier. Western lands in Pennsylvania were either +Provincial, Commonwealth, or Indian lands, but never national lands. As +a result, western land ordinances, and the whole controversy which +accompanied the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, had no +real significance in Pennsylvania. However, in subsequent years, the +expansion of internal improvement legislation and nationalism sustains +Turner's thesis, as does the democratic and non-sectional nature of the +middle colonial region generally.[2] + +The _intellectual character_ which the frontier spawned has been +described as rationalistic. However, this was a rationalism which was +not at odds with empiricism, but which was more in line with what has +been called the American philosophy, pragmatism. Or, to put it in the +vernacular, "if it works, it's good." The frontiersman was a +trial-and-error empiricist, who believed in his own ability to fathom +the depths of the problems which plagued him. If the apparent solution +contradicted past patterns and interpretations, he justified his actions +in terms of the realities of the moment. It is this pragmatic +ratio-empiricism which we imply when we use the term "rationalistic." + +An examination of the role of _leadership_, suggested by the Curti +study, presents the first summary of this type for the West Branch +Valley. Here, too, the limited numbers of this frontier population, +combined with its peculiar tendency to rely upon peripheral residents +for top leadership, prevents any broad generalizations. The nature of +its leadership can only be interpreted in terms of this particular group +in this specific location. + +The last two chapters of this study are summary chapters. The first of +these is an analysis of democracy on one segment of the Pennsylvania +frontier. Arbitrarily defining democracy, certain objective criteria +were set up to evaluate it in the Fair Play territory. Political +democracy was investigated in terms of popular sovereignty, political +equality, popular consultation, and majority rule, and the political +system was judged on the basis of these principles. Social democracy +was ascertained through inquiries concerning religious freedom, the +social class system, and economic opportunity. The conclusion is that, +for this frontier at least, democratic tendencies were displayed in +various contexts. + +The final chapter, although relying to a large extent upon Turner's +great work, is in no way intended to be a critical evaluation of that +thesis. Its primary objective is to test one interpretation of it +through a particular analytic technique, ethnographic in nature. +Frontier ethnography has proved to be a reliable research tool, mainly +because of its wide scope. It permits conclusions which a strictly +confined study, given the data limitations of this and other frontier +areas, would not allow. + +Democracy, it is no doubt agreed, is a difficult thing to assess, +particularly when there are so many conflicting interpretations of it. +But an examination of it, even in its most primitive stages in this +country, can give the researcher a glimpse of its fundamentals and its +effectiveness. In a time when idealists envision a world community based +upon the self-determination which was basic in this nation's early +development, it is essential to re-evaluate that principle in terms of +its earliest American development. If we would enjoy the blessings of +freedom, we must undergo the fatigue of attempting to understand it. + +Some seventy years ago, a great American historian suggested an +interpretation of the American ethos. Turner's thesis is still being +debated today, something which I am certain would please its author +immensely. But what is needed today is not the prolongation of the +debate as to its validity so much as the investigation of it with newer +techniques which, it might be added, Turner himself suggested. This is +the merit of frontier ethnography, and, perhaps, the particular value of +this study. + +To me, Robert Frost implied as much in his wonderful "Stopping by Woods +on a Snowy Evening." Yes, the "woods" of contemporary history are +"lovely, dark and deep, + + But I have promises to keep, + And miles to go before I sleep, + And miles to go before I sleep." + +It is hoped that this investigation is the beginning of the answer to +that promise, but it is well-recognized that there are miles to go. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Merle Curti _et al._, _The Making of an American Community: A Case +Study of Democracy in a Frontier County_ (Stanford, 1959), p. 3. + +[2] _Frontier and Section: Selected Essays of Frederick Jackson Turner_, +intro. by Ray Allen Billington (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1961), pp. +52-55. + + + + +_Table of Contents_ + + + PREFACE iii + + INTRODUCTION v + + I. FAIR PLAY TERRITORY: GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 1 + + II. THE FAIR PLAY SETTLERS: DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS 16 + + III. THE POLITICS OF FAIR PLAY 30 + + IV. THE FARMERS' FRONTIER 47 + + V. FAIR PLAY SOCIETY 58 + + VI. LEADERSHIP AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE FRONTIER 76 + + VII. DEMOCRACY ON THE PENNSYLVANIA FRONTIER 89 + + VIII. FRONTIER ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE TURNER THESIS 100 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 + + INDEX 119 + + + + +[Map] + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + +_Fair Play Territory: Geography and Topography_ + + +The Colonial period of American history has been of primary concern to +the historian because of its fundamental importance in the development +of American civilization. What the American pioneers encountered, +particularly in the interior settlements, was, basically, a frontier +experience. An ethnographic analysis of one part of the Provincial +frontier of Pennsylvania indicates the significance of that colonial +influence. The "primitive agricultural democracy" of this frontier +illustrates the "style of life" which provided the basis for a +distinctly "American" culture which emerged from the colonial +experience.[1] + +While this writer's approach is dominantly Turnerian, this study does +not necessarily contend that this Pennsylvania frontier was typical of +the general colonial experience, nor that this ethnographic analysis +presents in microcosm the development of the American ethos. However, on +this farmer's frontier there was adequate evidence of the composite +nationality, the self-reliance, the independence, and the nationalistic +and rationalistic traits which Turner characterized as American. + +In his famed essay on "The Significance of the Frontier," Turner saw the +frontier as the crucible in which the English, Scotch-Irish, and +Palatine Germans were merged into a new and distinctly American +nationality, no longer characteristically English.[2] The Pennsylvania +frontier, with its dominant Scotch-Irish and German influence, is a case +in point. + +The Fair Play territory of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna +River, the setting for this analysis, was part of what Turner called the +second frontier, the Allegheny Mountains.[3] Located about ninety miles +up the Susquehanna from the present State capital at Harrisburg, and +extending some twenty-five-odd miles westward between the present cities +of Williamsport and Lock Haven, this territory was the heartland of the +central Pennsylvania frontier in the decade preceding the American +Revolution. + +The term "Fair Play settlers," used to designate the inhabitants of this +region, is derived from the extra-legal political system which these +democratic forerunners set up to maintain order in their developing +community. Being squatters and, consequently, without the bounds of any +established political agency, they formed their own government, and +labeled it "Fair Play." + +However, despite the apparent simplicity of the above geographic +description, the exact boundaries of the Fair Play territory have been +debated for almost two centuries. Before we can assess the democratic +traits of the Fair Play settlers, we must first clearly define what is +meant by the Fair Play territory. + +The terminal points in this analysis are 1768 and 1784, the dates of the +two Indian treaties made at Fort Stanwix (now Rome), New York. The +former opened up the Fair Play territory to settlement, and the latter +brought it within the limits of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, thus +legalizing the _de facto_ political structure which had developed in the +interim. + +According to the treaty of 1768, negotiated by Sir William Johnson with +the Indians of the Six Nations, the western line of colonial settlement +was extended from the Allegheny Mountains, previously set by the +Proclamation of 1763, to a line extending to the mouth of Lycoming +Creek, which empties into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The +creek is referred to as the Tiadaghton in the original of the treaty.[4] +The question of whether Pine Creek or Lycoming Creek was the Tiadaghton +is the first major question of this investigation. The map which faces +page one outlines the territory in question. + +Following the successful eviction of the French in the French and Indian +War, the American counterpart of the Seven Years' War, the crown sought +a more orderly westward advance than had been the rule. Heretofore, the +establishment of frontier settlements had stirred up conflict with the +Indians and brought frontier pleas to the colonial assemblies for +military support and protection. The result was greater pressure on the +already depleted exchequer. The opinion that a more controlled and less +expensive westward advance could be accomplished is reflected in the +Royal Proclamation of 1763. + +This proclamation has frequently been misinterpreted as a definite +effort to deprive the colonies of their western lands. The very language +of the document contradicts this. For example, the expression "for the +present, and until our further pleasure be known" clearly indicates the +tentative nature of the proclamation, which was "to prevent [the +repetition of] such irregularities for the future" with the Indians, +irregularities which had prompted Pontiac's Rebellion.[5] The orderly +advancement of this colonial frontier was to be accomplished through +subsequent treaties with the Indians. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 +is one such example of those treaties.[6] + +The term "Fair Play settlers" refers to the residents of the area +between Lycoming Creek and the Great Island on the north side of the +West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and to those who interacted with +them, during the period 1769-1784, when that area was outside of the +Provincial limits. The appellation stems from the annual designation by +the settlers of "Fair Play Men," a tribunal of three with +quasi-executive, legislative, and judicial authority over the residents. + +The relevance of the first Stanwix Treaty to the geographic area of this +study is a matter of the utmost importance. The western boundary of that +treaty in the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna has been a source of +some confusion because of the employment of the name "Tiadaghton" in the +treaty to designate that boundary. The question, quite simply, is +whether Pine Creek or Lycoming is the Tiadaghton. If Pine Creek is the +Tiadaghton, an extra-legal political organization would have been +unnecessary, for the so-called Fair Play settlers of this book would +have been under Provincial jurisdiction.[7] The designation of Lycoming +Creek as the Tiadaghton tends to give geographic corroboration for the +Fair Play system. + +First and foremost among the Pine Creek supporters is John Meginness, +the nineteenth-century historian of the West Branch Valley. His work is +undoubtedly the most often quoted source of information on the West +Branch Valley of the Susquehanna, and rightfully so. Although he wrote +when standards of documentation were lax and relied to an extent upon +local legendry as related by aged residents, Meginness' views have a +general validity. However, there is some question regarding his judgment +concerning the boundary issue. + +Quoting directly from the journal of Moravian Bishop Augustus +Spangenburg, who visited the West Branch Valley in 1745 in the company +of Conrad Weiser, David Zeisberger, and John Schebosh, Meginness +describes the Bishop's travel from Montoursville, or Ostonwaken as the +Indians called it, to the "Limping Messenger," or "Diadachton Creek," +where the party camped for the night.[8] It is interesting to note that +the Moravian journalist refers here to Lycoming Creek as the Tiadaghton, +some twenty-three years prior to the purchase at Fort Stanwix, which +made the question a local issue. Yet Meginness, in a footnote written +better than a hundred years later, says that "It afterwards turned out +that the true _Diadachton_ or _Tiadachton_, was what is now known as +Pine Creek."[9] + +Perhaps Meginness was influenced by the aged sources of some of his +accounts. It may be, however, that he was merely repeating the judgment +of an earlier generation which had sought to legalize its settlement +made prior to the second Stanwix Treaty. The Indian description of the +boundary line in the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768 may also have had some +impact upon Meginness. Regardless, a comparison of data, pro and con, +will demonstrate that the Tiadaghton is Lycoming Creek. + +John Blair Linn, of Bellefonte, stood second to Meginness in popular +repute as historian of the West Branch Valley. However, he too calls +Pine Creek the Tiadaghton, though the reliability of his sources is +questionable. Unlike Meginness, whose judgment derived somewhat from +interviews with contemporaries of the period, Linn based his contention +upon the statements made by the Indians at the second Stanwix Treaty +meeting in 1784.[10] + +At those sessions on October 22 and 23, 1784, the Pennsylvania +commissioners twice questioned the deputies of the Six Nations about the +location of the Tiadaghton, and were told twice that it was Pine +Creek.[11] In the first instance, Samuel J. Atlee, speaking for the +other Pennsylvania commissioners, called attention to the last deed made +at Fort Stanwix in 1768 and asked the question about the Tiadaghton: + + This last deed, brothers, with the map annexed, are descriptive of + the purchase made sixteen years ago at this place; one of the + boundary lines calls for a creek by the name of _Tyadoghton_, we + wish our brothers the Six Nations to explain to us clearly which you + call the _Tyadoghton_, as there are two creeks issuing from the + _Burnet's Hills_, _Pine_ and _Lycoming_.[12] + +Captain Aaron Hill, a Mohawk chief, responded for the Indians: + + With regard to the creek called _Tyadoghton_, mentioned in your deed + of 1768, we have already answered you, and again repeat it, it is + the same you call _Pine Creek_, being the largest emptying into the + west branch of the _Susquehannah_.[13] + +This, of course, was the "more positive answer" which the Indians had +promised after the previous day's interrogation.[14] It substantiated +the description given in the discussions preceding the Fort Stanwix +Treaty of 1768.[15] However, the map illustrating the treaty line, +although tending to support this view, is subject to interpretation.[16] +Regardless, this record of the treaty sessions provides the strongest +evidence to sustain the Pine Creek view. + +There is little doubt that Meginness and Linn were influenced by the +record. This is certainly true of D. S. Maynard, a lesser +nineteenth-century historian, whose work is obviously based upon the +research of Meginness. Maynard repeated the evidence of his predecessor +from the account of Thomas Sergeant by describing the Stanwix Treaty +line of 1768 as coming "across to the headwaters of Pine Creek." +Maynard's utter dependence upon Meginness suggests that his evidence is +more repetitive than substantive.[17] + +A more recent student of local history, Eugene P. Bertin, of Muncy, +gives Pine Creek his undocumented support, which appears to be nothing +more than an elaboration of the accounts of Meginness and Linn.[18] Dr. +Bertin's account appears to be better folklore than history.[19] + +Another twentieth-century writer, Elsie Singmaster, offers more +objective support for Pine Creek, although her argument appears to be +better semantics than geography.[20] + +Edmund A. DeSchweinitz, in his biography of David Zeisberger, errs in +his interpretation of the term "Limping Messenger" (Tiadaghton), used by +Bishop Spangenburg in his account of their journey to the West Branch +Valley in 1745. He notes that on their way to Onondaga (Syracuse) after +leaving "Ostonwaken" (Montoursville) they passed through the valley of +Tiadaghton Creek. They were following the Sheshequin Path. But he +identifies the Tiadaghton with Pine Creek. There was an Indian path up +Pine Creek, but it led to Niagara, not Onondaga.[21] + +Aside from the designation by the Indians at the second Stanwix Treaty, +there is only one other source which lends any credibility to the Pine +Creek view, and that is Smith's _Laws of the Commonwealth of +Pennsylvania_. After the last treaty was made acquiring Pennsylvania +lands from the Indians, the legislature, in order to quell disputes +about the right of occupancy in this "New Purchase,"[22] passed the +following legislation: + + And whereas divers persons, who have heretofore occupied and + cultivated small tracts of land, without the bounds of the purchase + made, as aforesaid, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven + hundred and sixty-eight, and within the purchase made, or now to be + made, by the said commissioners, have, by their resolute stand and + sufferings during the late war, merited, that those settlers should + have the pre-emption of their respective plantations: + + _Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid_, That all and + every person or persons, and their legal representatives, who has or + have heretofore settled on the north side of the west branch of the + river Susquehanna, upon the Indian territory, between Lycomick or + Lycoming creek on the east, and Tyagaghton or Pine creek on the + west, as well as other lands within the said residuary purchase from + the Indians, of the territory within this state, excepting always + the lands herein before excepted, shall be allowed a right of + pre-emption to their respective possessions, at the price + aforesaid.[23] + +It may be worth observing, however, that legislation tends to reflect +popular demand rather than the hard facts of a situation. In this case +the settlers of the region prior to 1780 stood to benefit by this +legislation and formed an effective pressure group. + +The contrary view in this long-standing geographical debate is based, +for the most part, upon the records of journalists and diarists who +traveled along the West Branch _prior_ to the first Stanwix Treaty and +who thus had no axe to grind. + +That the Lycoming Creek was in fact the Tiadaghton referred to by the +Indians at Fort Stanwix in 1768 is strongly indicated by the weight of +evidence derived from the journals of Conrad Weiser (1737), John Bartram +(1743), Bishop Spangenburg (1745), Moravian Bishop John Ettwein (1772), +and the Reverend Philip Vickers Fithian (1775). In addition, the maps of +Lewis Evans (1749) and John Adlum (1792), the land applications of +Robert Galbreath and Martin Stover (1769), and a 1784 statute of the +Pennsylvania General Assembly all tend to validate Lycoming's claim to +recognition as the Tiadaghton. Each datum has merit in the final +analysis, which justifies the specific examination which follows: + +Supporting evidence is found in Weiser's German journal, which was meant +for his family and friends, and translated into English by his +great-grandson, Hiester H. Muhlenberg. (Weiser also kept an English +journal for the Council at Philadelphia.) Weiser wrote: "The stream we +are now on the Indians call Dia-daclitu, (die berirte, the lost or +bewildered) which in fact deserves such a name."[24] (This is an obvious +misspelling of Diadachton.) Weiser was following the Sheshequin Path +with Shickellamy to Onondaga and this entry is recorded on March 25, +1737, long before there was any question about the Tiadaghton. + +There seems to be some confusion over Bishop Spangenburg's use of the +term "Limping Messenger" in his journal for June 8, 1745. He too was +traveling the Sheshequin Path with David Zeisberger, Conrad Weiser, +Shickellamy, Andrew Montour, _et al._ He describes the "Limping +Messenger" as a camp on the "Tiadachton" (Lycoming), whereas +DeSchweinitz in his _Zeisberger_ interprets the term to mean Pine +Creek.[25] + +Another traveler along the Sheshequin Path was the colonial botanist, +John Bartram. Bartram, in the company of Weiser and Lewis Evans, the map +maker, notes in his diary of July 12, 1743, riding "down [up] a valley +to a point, a prospect of an opening bearing N, then down the hill to a +run and over a rich neck lying between it and the Tiadaughton."[26] +Incidentally, the editor of this extract from Bartram's journal makes +the quite devastating point that Meginness did not know of Bartram's +journal, which was published in London in 1751 but which did not appear +in America until 1895.[27] + +One of the Moravian journalists who visited the scenic Susquehanna along +the West Branch was Bishop John Ettwein, who passed through this valley +on his way to Ohio in 1772. He wrote of "Lycoming Creek, [as the stream] +which marks the boundary line of lands purchased from the Indians."[28] + +Perhaps the most interesting and informative diarist who journeyed along +the West Branch was the Reverend Philip Vickers Fithian. Fithian came to +what we will establish as Fair Play country on July 25, 1775, at what he +called "Lacommon Creek." His conclusion was that this creek was the +Tiadaghton.[29] It is this same Fithian, it might be added, whose +Virginia journals were the primary basis for the reconstruction of +colonial Williamsburg. + +The work of colonial cartographers also substantiates the claim that +Lycoming Creek is the Tiadaghton. Both Lewis Evans, following his 1743 +journey in the company of Bartram and Weiser, and John Adlum, who +conducted a survey of the West Branch Valley in 1792 for the +Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, failed to label Pine Creek as the +"Tiadaghton" on their maps.[30] In fact, Adlum's map of 1792, found +among the papers of William Bingham, designates the area east of +Lycoming Creek as the "Old Purchase." Furthermore, as is the case with +Evans' map, Adlum does not apply the Tiadaghton label to either Pine +Creek or Lycoming Creek.[31] + +Two applications in 1769 for land in the New Purchase show that the +Tiadaghton, or in this case "Ticadaughton," can only be Lycoming Creek. +The application of Robert Galbreath (no. 1823) is described as "Bounded +on one side by the Proprietor's tract at Lycoming." Martin Stover +applied for the same tract (application no. 2611), which is described as +"below the mouth of Ticadaughton Creek."[32] The copies of these two +applications, together with the copy of the survey, offer irrefutable +proof of the validity of Lycoming's claim. + +Perhaps the final note is the action of the General Assembly of the +Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on December 12, 1784.[33] The legislators +affirmed the judgments of the frontier journalists, whose recorded +journeys offer the best proof that the Lycoming is the Tiadaghton. Prior +to this action, the Provincial authorities had issued a proclamation on +September 20, 1773, prohibiting settlement west of Lycoming Creek by +white persons. Violators were to be apprehended and tried. The penalties +were real and quite severe: £500 fine, twelve months in prison without +bail, and a guarantee of twelve months of exemplary conduct after +release.[34] Court records, however, fail to indicate any prosecutions. + +Finally, the latest scholar to delve into the complexities of the +Stanwix treaties, Professor Peter Marshall, says that there was no +prolonged and close discussion about the running of the treaty line in +Pennsylvania (the Tiadaghton question), no discussion in any way +comparable to that which took place over its location in New York.[35] + +In summary then, it appears that the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 was +responsible for opening the West Branch Valley to settlement, such +settlement being stimulated by the opening of the Land Office in +Philadelphia on April 3, 1769. James Tilghman, secretary of the Land +Office, published the notice of his office's willingness "to receive +applications from all persons inclinable to take up lands in the New +Purchase."[36] The enthusiasm generated by the opening of the Land +Office is shown by the better than 2,700 applications received on the +very first day. However, the question of the Tiadaghton came to be a +source of real contention. The ambiguity of the Indian references to the +western boundary of the first Stanwix Treaty led the eager settlers, who +were seeking to legitimize claims in the area between Lycoming and Pine +creeks, to favor Pine Creek. There was substance to the settlers' claim. + +The significance of the boundary question to this study is better +understood when it is recognized that the so-called Fair Play system of +government in lands beyond the Provincial limits must have a definable +locale. It is this writer's firm conviction that Fair Play territory +extended from Lycoming Creek, on the north side of the West Branch of +the Susquehanna, to the Great Island, some five miles west of Pine +Creek. The foundation for the establishment of Lycoming Creek as the +Tiadaghton, and consequently, as the eastern boundary of the Fair Play +territory is apparent once all the evidence is examined. Aside from the +comments of the Indians at the treaty negotiations and Smith's _Laws of +the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania_, there are only secondary accounts +with little documentation to sustain the Pine Creek argument. + +On the other hand, the Lycoming Creek claim is buttressed by such +primary sources as the journals of Weiser, Bartram, Spangenberg, +Ettwein, and Fithian, three of which were written before the location of +the Tiadaghton became a subject of dispute. Since none of these men was +seeking lands, they can be considered impartial observers. Furthermore, +the cartographic efforts of Lewis Evans and John Adlum followed actual +visits to the region and say nothing to favor the Pine Creek view. + +Perhaps the Indians were merely accepting an already accomplished fact +at the meeting in 1784. Dr. Paul A. W. Wallace says that this would have +been expected from the subservient, pacified Indian. Regardless, the +Provincial leadership made no effort to settle the lands in what some +called "the disputed territory" until after the later agreement at +Stanwix; in fact, they discouraged it.[37] The simple desire for +legitimacy gives us very little to go on in the light of more than +adequate documentation of the justice of the Lycoming view. + +This evidence might suggest changing the name of the long-revered +"Tiadaghton Elm" to the "Pine Creek Elm" and bringing to a close the +vexatious question of the Tiadaghton. However let us strike a note of +caution, if not humility. Indian place names had a way of shifting, +doubling, and moving, since they served largely as descriptive terms and +not as true place names. It is not at all unusual to find the same name +applied to several places or to find names migrating. The Tiadaghton +could have been Lycoming Creek to some Indians at one time, and Pine +Creek to others at the same or another time. Consider, for example, that +there were three Miami rivers in present Ohio, which are now known as +the Miami, the Little Miami, and the Maumee. It hardly makes any real +difference to the geography of the Fair Play territory, or to the +delimiting of its boundaries, which stream was the Tiadaghton. Actually, +it was the doubt about it which drew in the squatters and created Fair +Play. These settlers justified their contention that the Tiadaghton was +Pine Creek by moving into the territory and holding onto it. This may be +reason enough for calling the famous tree the Tiadaghton Elm, even if +early travelers and the proprietary officials said that the Tiadaghton +was Lycoming Creek.[38] + +The topography of the region also influenced the delineation of what we +call Fair Play territory. The jugular vein which supplies the life-blood +to this region is undoubtedly the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. +This branch of the great river, which drains almost fifty per cent of +the State, follows a northeasterly course of some forty miles from the +Great Island, which is just east of present Lock Haven, to what is now +Muncy, then turns southward.[39] + +The West Branch of the mighty Susquehanna, which has plagued generations +of residents with its spring floodings, was the primary means of ingress +and egress for the area. Rich bottom lands at the mouths of Lycoming, +Larrys, and Pine creeks drew the hardy pioneer farmers, and here they +worked the soil to provide the immediate needs for survival. Hemmed in +on the north by the plateau area of the Appalachian front and on the +south by the Bald Eagle Mountains, these courageous pioneers of frontier +democracy carved their future out of the two-mile area (more often less) +between those two forbidding natural walls. With the best lands to be +found around the mouth of Pine Creek, which is reasonably close to the +center of this twenty-five-mile area, it seems quite natural that the +major political, social, and economic developments would take place in +close proximity--and they did.[40] + +Thus, an area never exceeding two miles in width and spanning some ten +miles (presently from Jersey Shore to Lock Haven) was the heartland of +Fair Play settlement. Lycoming Creek, Larrys Creek, and Pine Creek all +run south into the West Branch, having channeled breaks through the +rolling valley which extends along the previously defined territory. + +"The land was ours before we were the land's," the poet said, and it +seems apropos of this moment in history.[41] Fair Play territory, +possessed before it was owned and operated under _de facto_ rule, would +be some time in Americanizing the sturdy frontiersmen who came to bring +civilization to this wilderness. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Carl L. Becker, _Beginnings of the American People_ (Ithaca, N. Y., +1960), p. 182. + +[2] Turner, _Frontier and Section_, p. 51. + +[3] Frederick Jackson Turner, _The Frontier in American History_ (New +York, 1963), p. 9. + +[4] E. B. O'Callaghan, _Documentary History of the State of New York_ +(Albany, 1849), I, 587-591. + +[5] Henry Steele Commager, _Documents of American History_ (New York, +1958), I, 49. + +[6] An earlier twentieth-century historian misinterprets the first +Stanwix Treaty in much the same manner as earlier colonial historians +erred in their judgments of the Proclamation of 1763. Albert T. +Volwiler, _George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741-1782_ +(Cleveland, 1926), p. 250, really overstates his case, if the Fair Play +settlers are any example, when he claims that the Fort Stanwix line, by +setting a definite boundary, impeded the western advance. Establishing +friendships with the Indians and then persuading them to sell their +lands proved valuable to more than speculators, whose case Volwiler +documents so well, as West Branch settlements after 1768 will attest. + +[7] The extension of Provincial authority to Pine Creek would have taken +in three-fourths of what we have labeled Fair Play territory. + +[8] John F. Meginness, _Otzinachson: A History of the West Branch Valley +of the Susquehanna_ (Williamsport, 1889), p. 106. The full passage from +the Bethlehem Diary (now in the Moravian Archives) was translated by the +late Dr. William N. Schwarze for Dr. Paul A. W. Wallace, historian of +the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, as follows: "In the +afternoon [June 8, New Style] our brethren left that place [beyond +Montoursville] and came in the evening to the Limping Messenger on the +Tiadachton Creek, where they spent the night." In the _Pennsylvania +Magazine of History and Biography_, II (1878), 432 (hereafter cited as +_PMHB_), Zeisberger's account is translated in this manner: "In the +afternoon we proceeded on our journey, and at dusk came to the 'Limping +Messenger,' or Diadachton Creek [a note identifies this as Lycoming], +and encamped for the night." Here the error is in identifying the +Limping Messenger with the stream. Meginness, of course, repeated the +error in his _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 106. Referring the passage to +Vernon H. Nelson of the Moravian Archives, through Dr. Wallace, resulted +in a clarification of the translation and the affirmation of the +"Limping Messenger" as a camp on the stream. In the Bethlehem Diary, +under June 8, 1754, the sentence appears as follows: "des Nachm. +reissten unsre Brr Wieder von da weg u kamen Abends zum hinckenden Boten +an der Tiatachton Creek, u lagen da uber Nacht." In the original travel +journal the passage reads: "des Nachm. reissten wir wieder von da weg, u +kamen Abends zum _hinckenden Boten_ an der Tiatachton Crick u lagen da +uber Nacht." De Schweinitz in his _Zeisberger_ further confused the +issue in his description of the journey. He takes the adventurers +(Zeisberger, Spangenburg, Conrad Weiser, Shickellamy, and Andrew +Montour) through the valley of the Tiadaghton Creek on the Sheshequin +Path to Onondaga (Syracuse). There was an Indian path up Pine Creek, but +it led to Niagara, not Onondaga. + +[9] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 106. This is an added note of +Meginness' commentary upon the citation noted above. + +[10] John Blair Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties, +Pennsylvania_ (Philadelphia, 1883), p. 468. Linn also deals with the +Tiadaghton question in his "Indian Land and Its Fair Play Settlers," +_PMHB_, VII (1883), 420-425. Here he simply defines Fair Play territory +as "Indian Land" encompassing the Lycoming-Pine Creek region. + +[11] _Minutes of the First Session of the Ninth General Assembly of the +Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ..._ (Philadelphia, 1784), Appendix, +Proceedings of the Treaties held at Forts Stanwix and McIntosh, pp. +314-322. + +[12] _Ibid._, Oct. 23, p. 319. + +[13] _Ibid._ + +[14] _Ibid._, Oct. 22, p. 316. + +[15] E. B. O'Callaghan, _Documents Relative to the Colonial History of +the State of New York_, VIII (Albany, 1857), 125. In the discussions +preceding the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768, the Indians' description of +the boundary line could be interpreted as favoring Pine Creek: "... to +the Head of the West Branch of Susquehanna thence down the same to Bald +Eagle Creek thence across the River at Tiadaghta Creek below the great +Island, thence by a straight Line to Burnett's Hills and along the +same...." The juxtaposition of Bald Eagle Creek, the Great Island, and +"Tiadaghta" Creek makes this conclusion plausible. + +[16] _See also ibid._, Guy Johnson's map illustrating the treaty line, +opposite p. 136. + +[17] D. S. Maynard, _Historical View of Clinton County, From Its +Earliest Settlement To The Present Time_ (Lock Haven, 1875), p. 8. The +line is given by Maynard as follows: "... and took in the lands lying +east of the North Branch of the Susquehanna, beginning at Owego, down to +Towanda, thence up the same and across to the headwaters of Pine Creek; +thence down the same to Kittanning...." + +[18] Eugene P. Bertin, "Primary Streams of Lycoming County," _Now and +Then_, VIII (1947), 258-259. + +[19] Dr. Bertin, former associate secretary of the Pennsylvania State +Education Association, adds nothing to the Meginness and Linn accounts, +his probable sources. He speaks of settlements as early as 1772, whereas +it is a matter of record that Cleary Campbell squatted in what is now +north Lock Haven sometime shortly after 1769. He refers to the +establishment of homes, properly, but then goes on to add churches and +schools. The source for his "Children and elders met together +periodically to recite catechism to the preacher, who was a travelling +missionary, one being Phillip Fithian," was J. B. Linn. But Fithian, an +extremely accurate diarist, fails to mention the occasion during his +one-week visit to this area in the summer of 1775. However, the real +value of this article is the editorial note by T. Kenneth Wood on the +Tiadaghton question. In it he refers to John Bartram's journal of 1743, +twenty-five years before the Stanwix Treaty at Rome, N. Y., with the +Iroquois, which recounts his travels with the Oneida Chief Shickellamy +and Conrad Weiser. Lewis Evans was also in the party, making notes for +his map of 1749. The party, on its way to Onondaga (Syracuse), was +approaching Lycoming Creek at a point just south of Powys, via the +Sheshequin Indian path. Bartram, the first American botanist, who wrote +in his journal nightly after checking with his two guides, gives this +account, T. Kenneth Wood (ed.), "Observations Made By John Bartram In +His Travels from Pennsylvania to Onondaga, Oswego and the Lake Ontario +in 1743," _Now and Then_, V (1936), 90: "Then down a hill to a run and +over a rich neck of land lying between it and the Tiadaughton." No +contact was made with Pine Creek. Dr. Wood contends in his note to the +Bertin article, and this writer is inclined to agree, that the Indian of +1743 and the Indian of 1768 were telling the truth and that the white +settlers of 1768, and for sixteen years thereafter, were wrong, either +through guile and design or ignorance. He says, "The original Indian +principals signing the treaty had retreated westward and sixteen years +of fighting over the question (and possibly a few bribes) had settled it +to the white man's satisfaction. The Indians always had to yield or get +out." This is essentially the point which Dr. Wallace made to me in his +letter of Feb. 16, 1961. + +[20] Elsie Singmaster, _Pennsylvania's Susquehanna_ (Harrisburg, 1950), +p. 87. Her Pine Creek description (while describing tributaries of the +Susquehanna) speaks of the gorge as the upper course of Pine Creek, +which is now part of Harrison State Park. Here, she says, "The rim is +accessible by a paved highway, and from there one may look down a +thousand feet and understand why the Indians called the stream +Tiadaghton or Lost Creek." + +[21] Edmund A. DeSchweinitz, _The Life and Times of David Zeisberger_ +(Philadelphia, 1871), p. 133. Further evidence of DeSchweinitz' +confusion is found in his Geographical Glossary in the same book. On +page 707, he calls the Great Island, Lock Haven; on page 709, he calls +Long Island, Jersey Shore; and on page 713, he refers to Pine Creek as +the Tiadaghton, "also called Diadaghton." + +[22] The term "New Purchase" was frequently used, both officially and +otherwise, to designate the area on the north side of the West Branch of +the Susquehanna from Lycoming Creek to the Great Island, although in +actuality the purchase line terminated at Lycoming Creek. + +[23] Charles Smith, _Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania_ +(Philadelphia, 1810), II, 274. + +[24] Paul A. W. Wallace, _Conrad Weiser, Friend of Colonist and Mohawk_ +(Philadelphia, 1945), p. 81. + +[25] Wallace mistakenly attaches the appellation "Limping Messenger" to +"a foot-sore Indian named Anontagketa," _ibid._, p. 220. However, this +error was corrected in a letter to this writer, August 24, 1962. + +[26] Wood (ed.), "Observations Made By John Bartram," p. 90. + +[27] _Ibid._, p. 79. + +[28] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 411. + +[29] Robert Greenhalgh Albion and Leonidas Dodson (eds.), _Philip +Vickers Fithian: Journal, 1775-1776_ (Princeton, 1934), pp. 69-76. + +[30] Hazel Shields Garrison, "Cartography of Pennsylvania before 1800," +_PMHB_, LIX (1935), 255-283. Information on Adlum's maps was obtained +from [T. Kenneth Wood], "Map Drawn by John Adlum, District Surveyor, +1792, Found Among the Bingham Papers," _Now and Then_, X (July, 1952), +148-150. + +[31] [Wood], "Map Drawn by John Adlum," pp. 148-150. + +[32] Bureau of Land Records, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, New Purchase +Applications, Nos. 1823 and 2611, April 3, 1769. + +[33] _Pennsylvania Archives_, First Series, XI, 508. + +[34] _Colonial Records_, X, 95. + +[35] In a letter to this writer, May 19, 1962, Professor Marshall +states: "It was my opinion that the treaty marked, in one aspect, a +bargain between Johnson and the Six Nations. I do not accept +Billington's charge of betrayal of their interests. But it does seem to +me that this meant hard bargaining in New York, when the state of Indian +and colonial lands was precisely known to both sides, and indifference +and ignorance beyond this point.... As far as I am aware, there was no +prolonged and close discussion about the running of the line in +Pennsylvania in the least comparable to that which took place over its +location in New York." _See_ Peter Marshall, "Sir William Johnson and +the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 1768," _The Journal of American Studies_, I +(Oct., 1967), pp. 149-179. + +[36] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 340. + +[37] Helen Herritt Russell, "Signers of the Pine Creek Declaration of +Independence," _The Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings +and Addresses_, XXII (1958), 1-15. + +[38] The fame of this historic elm stems from the fact that it is +reputed to be the site of a local declaration of independence made the +same day as the adoption of Jefferson's draft in Philadelphia, July 4, +1776. The author is indebted to Donald H. Kent, Director of the Bureau +of Archives and History, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, +for the idea and some of the expression in this paragraph. + +[39] Paul A. W. Wallace, _Pennsylvania: Seed of a Nation_ (New York, +1962) p. 3. This delightful book in the "Regions of America" series, +edited by Carl Carmer, contains an excellent chapter on the significance +of Pennsylvania's "Three Rivers." + +[40] Gristmills--meeting places of the Fair Play tribunal--a school, and +a church would all be found in this Pine Creek region. However, the +church (Presbyterian) would not be built until the territory became an +official part of the Commonwealth following the second Stanwix Treaty in +1784. + +[41] Robert Frost, _Complete Poems of Robert Frost_ (New York, 1949), p. +467. This poem somehow characterizes the experiences of the settlers of +this frontier and many frontiers to come. + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + +_The Fair Play Settlers: Demographic Factors_ + + +James Logan, president of the Proprietary Council of Pennsylvania, +1736-1738, once declared that "if the Scotch-Irish continue to come they +will make themselves masters of the Province."[1] His prediction, which +was to be generally proven in the Province during the French and Indian +War, was to be demonstrated particularly in the West Branch Valley +during the Revolutionary period. The Scotch-Irish were the dominant +national or ethnic group in the Fair Play territory from 1769 to 1784. +This dominance is demonstrated in Chart 1, which indicates the national +origins of eighty families in the Fair Play territory. + + + CHART 1 + + National Origins of Fair Play Settlers[2] + Expressed in Numbers and Percentages + + Total Scotch-Irish English German Scots Irish Welsh French + ==================================================================== + 80 39 16 12 5 4 2 2 + % 48.75 20 15 6.25 5 2.5 2.5 + -------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +Not only were the Scotch-Irish the most numerous national stock among +the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch Valley, but they also +represented a plurality and almost a majority of the entire population. +The significance of this finding in terms of the "style of life" of the +Fair Play settlers cannot be over-emphasized. It influenced the +politics, the religion, the family patterns, and thus the values of this +frontier society. + +Several other important conclusions can be drawn from this chart. In +contrast to the population of Pennsylvania in general and the +assumptions regarding frontier areas in particular, the English, rather +than the Germans, were the second most numerous national stock group. +The Germans, however, made up the third-largest segment of the West +Branch Valley population. The Scots, Welsh, Irish, and a few French +inhabitants formed the remaining sixteen per cent of the population. +Obviously, this was a dominantly Anglo-Saxon Protestant area of +settlement. + +The impact of this Scotch-Irish hegemony upon the religion, politics, +family life, and social values in general will be dealt with in a later +chapter. However, it can be noted at this juncture that the +strong-willed individualism which characterized these sturdy people was +as much influenced by their national origin as by their experience on +the American frontier. Furthermore, Presbyterianism influenced and was +influenced by a developing democratic political system, which paralleled +the American Presbyterian system of popular rather than hierarchical +church government.[3] A prominent immigration historian has pointed out +that "the theory of Presbyterian republicanism, as a matter of church +policy, could easily be reconciled with demands of the more radical +democrats of 1776."[4] Finally, the social life and customs and, hence, +the values of this frontier society were governed for the most part by +this majority group. Thus, dogmatic faith, political equality, social +and economic independence, respect for education, and a tightly-knit +pattern of family relationships express appropriately the institutional +patterns by which the Scotch-Irish of the West Branch operated. + +It is interesting to contrast the national stock groupings of this +Susquehanna frontier with the results of a study of national origins of +the American population made by the American Council of Learned +Societies and published in 1932:[5] + + + CHART 2 + + Classification of the White Population into Its National + Stocks in the Continental United States and Pennsylvania: + 1790; and in the Fair Play Territory: 1784 (Expressed in Percentages). + + Scotch-Irish English German Scots Irish Welsh French Other + ========================================================================= + Conti- + nental + United + States 5.9 60.1 8.6 8.1 3.6 0 2.3 10.6 + + Penn- + sylva- + nia 11.0 35.3 33.3 8.6 3.5 0 1.8 6.5 + + Fair + Play + Terri- + tory 48.75 20 15 6.25 5 2.5 2.5 0 + ------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +From this comparison it can readily be seen that the national origins of +the Fair Play settlers in no way conform to either the national pattern +or the State pattern of just a few years later. Although this limited +frontier area can be recognized as having its own individual ratio of +component stocks, it is representative rather than unique in its culture +and values. The reaction of those of other national stocks to the +frontier experience buttresses the conclusion that their values were +influenced more by the frontier than by national origin. It is this +common reaction to the problems of the frontier which gives rise to the +conclusion that this West Branch Valley environment was characterized by +and that its inhabitants held values which Turner evaluated as +democratic. The nature of those democratic values is, however, dealt +with in greater detail in subsequent chapters. + +The American sources of emigration form the next question to be +considered in examining the origins of the Fair Play settlers. Lacking +adequate statistical data for a complete picture of migration in terms +of percentages, the following chart indicates only the probable origins +of the three most numerous national stock groupings in the Fair Play +territory: + + + CHART 3 + + American Sources of Emigration[6] + + National Percentage of + Stock Population American Source of Emigration + =============================================================== + Scotch-Irish 48.75 Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, + Lancaster counties + + English 20 New Jersey, New York, southeastern + Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and + Bucks counties) + + German 15 Chester, Lancaster, Philadelphia, + and York counties + + Total 83.75 + --------------------------------------------------------------- + + +Obviously, the primary sources for the West Branch settlements were the +lower Susquehanna Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania. However, an +appreciable number of English settlers appear to have come originally +from New Jersey to settle in what they called "Jersey Shore," +immediately east of the mouth of Pine Creek. One explanation for the +migration of the dominant stock, the Scotch-Irish, is probably the fact +that the Provincial government refused to sell more lands in Lancaster +and York counties to the Scotch-Irish. In effect, they were driven to +use squatter tactics in the Fair Play territory.[7] + +The internal origins of sixteen of these settlers can be verified in +either Meginness or Linn. Four came from Chester County, three each from +the Juniata Valley and Lancaster County, two each from Cumberland County +and New Jersey, and one each from Dauphin County and from Orange County +in New York. Nine of these settlers, incidentally, were Scotch-Irish. +Although these data are insufficient for any valid generalization, they +do conform to the characteristic migratory trends indicated in Chart 3. + +In analyzing the migration of settlers into the West Branch Valley +beyond the line of the "New Purchase," it becomes apparent that the +Scotch-Irish came from the fringe areas of settlement, whereas the +English and Germans tended to migrate from more settled areas. +Furthermore, the English migrants often came from outside the Province +of Pennsylvania, either from New Jersey or New York. In fact, if one +were to construct a pattern of concentric zones, with the core in the +southeastern corner of the Province and the lines radiating in a +north-westerly direction, the English would be found at the core, the +Germans in the next zone, and the Scotch-Irish in the outlying area. +This zoning offers no real contradiction of the usual pattern of +Pennsylvania migrations. However, when one combines the data of internal +movements with those of external origins, certain contradictions do +appear. The most noteworthy of these is, of course, the prominence of +English settlers on this Fair Play frontier vis-à-vis the Germans. + +Since the Pennsylvania frontiersmen of the Wyoming Valley were of +English stock, and immigrated from New England, it might have been +assumed that some of these Connecticut settlers came into the West +Branch Valley. Here, however, all evidence points to the fact that +Connecticut settlers did not migrate west of Muncy, which is located at +the juncture of Muncy Creek and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River +(where the bend in the river turns into a directly western pattern). +Thus the Connecticut boundary dispute of 1769-1775, which erupted into +the Pennamite Wars, did not involve the Fair Play settlers.[8] +Nevertheless, at least one Fair Play settler looked forward to the +possibility of an advance of the Connecticut settlement along the West +Branch.[9] + +The impact of events upon the settlement of the Fair Play territory is +particularly apparent when one examines the periods of immigration to +and emigration from the region. Three events seemed to have had the +greatest influence upon the immigration: the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in +1768, which extended the Provincial limits to Lycoming Creek in this +region, and the resultant opening of the Land Office for claims in the +"New Purchase" on April 3, 1769;[10] the almost complete evacuation of +the territory in the "Great Runaway" of the summer of 1778, which was +prompted by Indian attacks and the fear of a great massacre comparable +to the "Wyoming Valley Massacre" of that same year;[11] and finally, the +Stanwix Treaty of 1784, which brought the Fair Play area within the +limits of the Province.[12] + +The first Stanwix Treaty, made by Sir William Johnson with the Six +Nations in November of 1768, extended the legitimate line of English +colonial settlement from the line established by the Proclamation of +1763 to a point on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River at the mouth +of Lycoming Creek (the Tiadaghton, as it was so ambiguously +labeled).[13] This extension, ostensibly for the purpose of providing +lands for the colonial veterans of the French and Indian War, became a +boon to speculators and an inducement to the Scotch-Irish squatters who +took lands beyond the limits of this "New Purchase" in what was to +become the Fair Play territory. + +In the summer of 1778 the war whoop once again caused the settlers of +the West Branch Valley to flee from their homes for fear of a repetition +of the Wyoming Massacre. The peril of the moment is vividly described in +this communication to the Executive Council in Philadelphia from Colonel +Samuel Hunter, commander of Fort Augusta: + + The Carnage at Wioming, the devastations and murders upon the West + branch of Susquehanna, On Bald Eagle Creek, and in short throughout + the whole County to within a few miles of these Towns (the recital + of which must be shocking) I suppose must have before now have + reached your ears, if not you may figure yourselves men, women, and + children, Butchered and scalped, many of them after being promised + quarters, and some scalped alive, of which we have miserable + Instances amongst us.... I have only to add that A few Hundreds of + men well armed and immediately sent to our relief would prevent much + bloodshed, confusion and devastation ... as the appearance of being + supported would call back many of our fugitives to save their + Harvest for their subsistence, rather than suffer the inconveniences + which reason tells me they do down the Country and their with their + families return must ease the people below of a heavy and + unprofitable Burthen.[14] + +Robert Covenhoven, who lived at the mouth of the Loyalsock Creek and who +fled to Sunbury (Fort Augusta) also, described the flight: + + Such a sight I never saw in my life. Boats, canoes, hog-troughs, + rafts hastily made of dry sticks, every sort of floating article, + had been put in requisition, and were crowded with women, children, + and plunder. There were several hundred people in all.... The whole + convoy arrived safely at Sunbury, leaving the entire range of farms + along the West Branch to the ravages of the Indians.[15] + +In this eighteenth-century Dunkirk, the West Branch Valley was +practically cleared of settlers. + +The Indians, it is true, proved troublesome to the entire advancing +American frontier; but unlike the French, whose menacing forts had been +removed in the recent wars, the Indians were unable to halt the westward +penetration. An expedition under the leadership of Colonel Thomas +Hartley was sent out expressly for the purpose of boosting morale in the +West Branch Valley following the Wyoming Massacre and the Great Runaway. +Colonel Hartley's letter to Thomas McKean, chief justice of Pennsylvania +and a member of the Continental Congress, gives bitter testimony to the +conditions which he observed in September of 1778: + + You heard of the Distresses of these Frontiers they are truly + great--The People which we found were Difident and timid The Panick + had not yet left them--many a wealthy Family reduced to Poverty & + without a home, some had lost their Husbands their children or + Friends--all was gloomy.... the Barbarians do now and then attack an + unarmed man a Helpless Mother or Infant.... + +The colonel indicated, however, that strong militia support and some +offensive action would restore confidence and cause the people to return +to the valley. His interpretation of the significance of his mission is +quite clearly stated in the conclusion of his letter: "We shall not have +it in our Power to gain Honour or Laurels on these Frontiers but we have +the Satisfaction to think we save our Country...." Hartley's solution to +the Indian problem, which had driven off the settlers, was to expel them +"beyond the Lakes" excepting only the more civilized Tuscaroras and +Oneidas.[16] + +Despite the danger from the Indians, the Fair Play settlers began +trickling back to their homes, or what was left of them, toward the end +of the Revolutionary War. Once the war was ended and the Fair Play +territory was annexed by subsequent purchase, the mass movement of +settlers to the West Branch Valley resumed. + +Incidentally, Dr. Wallace in his _Conrad Weiser_ assesses one John Henry +Lydius with the major responsibility for the Indian massacres in central +and northeastern Pennsylvania. Wallace notes that Lydius' Connecticut +purchase from the Indians in 1754 caused "war between Pennsylvania and +Connecticut and ... [precipitated] the Massacre of Wyoming in 1778." +This massacre, as West Branch historians know, had its subsequent impact +on the West Branch Valley in the Great Runaway, although the Winters +Massacre of June 10, 1778, which prompted the evacuation of the valley, +actually preceded the Wyoming affair.[17] + +Finally, the purchase of the remaining Indian lands in Pennsylvania +(except for the small corner of the Erie Triangle) was made on October +3, 1784, in a second Stanwix Treaty. This accession ended the +Pennsylvania boundary dispute with the Six Nations; and it also ended +the need for any extra-legal system of government in the West Branch +Valley, for this new treaty encompassed the Fair Play territory.[18] +However, this treaty raised the troublesome Tiadaghton question once +again, a question only partly resolved by the Legislature's designation +of Lycoming Creek as the Tiadaghton and the recognition of the +squatters' right of pre-emption to their settlements along the West +Branch of the Susquehanna.[19] The land office was opened for the sale +of this purchase July 1, 1785; by 1786 fifty heads of families were +listed for State taxes in Northumberland County.[20] Approximately fifty +per cent of these taxables had been in the area earlier. + +Perhaps the only significant nationality trend to be noted in this +important sequence of events is the tenacity of the Scotch-Irish and the +subsequent increase of English and German settlers following this last +"New Purchase."[21] Over half of the taxables in Pine Creek Township, +the new designation for much of the Fair Play territory after it became +an official part of the Province, were Scotch-Irish. As a result, these +Scots from the north of Ireland continued to maintain their position of +leadership even after the area was included in the Commonwealth. + +The reasons for migrating to the West Branch Valley in this fifteen-year +period from 1769 to 1784 were varied and numerous. For the most part, +the various nationality groups which emigrated from Europe came for +economic opportunity and because of religious and political +persecutions. Their movement to the frontier regions was prompted by +similar problems. In fact, much the same as the earlier settlers of +Jamestown and Plymouth, the squatters of the West Branch Valley came for +gain and for God. Furthermore, the promise of Penn's "Holy Experiment," +in which men of diverse backgrounds could live together peacefully in +religious freedom and political equality, encouraged them to come to +Pennsylvania. However, once the dominant group of the Fair Play +frontier, the Scotch-Irish, arrived in Pennsylvania, they found +themselves unsuited to the settled areas. The natural enemy of the +English, who had oppressed them at home, these settlers soon found +themselves repeating the Old World conflicts. In addition, the German +Pietists caused them further embarrassment in their new homes. Their +Calvinism, fierce political independence, and earnest desire for land +and opportunity soon made them _personae non gratae_ in the established +areas. Hence, they migrated to the frontier areas and even beyond the +limits of Provincial interference and control.[22] + +The paucity of population data makes impossible any extensive analysis +of the stability and mobility of the Fair Play settlers. However, the +tax lists, both in the published archives and in the files of the county +commissioners in Northumberland County, offer limited evidence for the +early years, though they provide ample data for the years after 1773. +Prior to the Great Runaway in 1778, tax lists are available for the +entire county of Northumberland; the lists simply indicate the taxable's +township, acreage, and tax. Records in the Northumberland County +courthouse give the assessments for 1773, 1774, 1776, and 1778. + +Due to the fact that the Fair Play territory was outside the Provincial +limits until after the purchase of Fort Stanwix in 1784, the assessment +lists give only those persons residing within Northumberland County. As +a result, there were only six to twelve settlers who associated with the +Fair Play men who were included in the lists for 1773-1778. Chart 4 +indicates the names, national origins, and years listed for those +settlers. + + + CHART 4 + + Fair Play Settlers on the Tax Rolls 1773-1778.[23] + + Name National Origin 1773 1774 1776 1778 + ============================================================== + James Alexander Scotch-Irish x x + George Calhoune Scotch-Irish x x x x + Cleary Campbell Scotch-Irish x + William Campbell, Jr. Scotch-Irish x x x x + William Campbell, Jr. Scotch-Irish x x + John Clark English x + Thomas Forster English x x x x + James Irwin Scotch-Irish x x x x + John Jamison English x + Isaiah Jones Welsh x + Robert King German x x x + John Price Welsh x x + --- --- --- --- + Totals 6 8 7 7 + -------------------------------------------------------------- + + +From these limited data one obviously concludes that the Scotch-Irish +were not only the most numerous but also the most persistent of these +frontiersmen. Also, nine of these men, that is all except Clark, Jones, +and King, appear on the tax lists for Northumberland County for the year +1785.[24] Interestingly enough, six of these nine were Scotch-Irish; and +although our sample is limited, it is readily apparent that the stalwart +Scots had a way of "hanging on." It would be presumptuous to conclude +that seventy-five per cent of the residents before 1778 returned by +1785; but it is fact that some forty families had made improvements in +the area by 1773 when William Cooke was sent out by the Land Office to +"Warn the People of[f] the unpurchased Land."[25] Furthermore, as +indicated earlier, some fifty families appear on the assessments for +1786, more than half of whom had been in the region before. + +Any effort to analyze the population in terms of stability and mobility +runs head-on into the creation of new townships in the 1780's, the +inability to establish death rates for this frontier, and the inadequacy +of probate records. The result is that the data are intuitively rather +than statistically sound. Chart 5 offers a comparison of tax lists over +a period of nine years as the basis for some conclusions regarding the +stability and mobility of the Fair Play settlers. + + + CHART 5 + + Population Stability and Mobility + Based Upon a Comparison of Tax Lists + For the Period From 1778 to 1787.[26] + + 1778-80 1781 1783-84 1786 1787 + ========================================================== + Number of residents + assessed 27 29 34 40 68 + Number appearing on + previous assessments 6 19 21 14 33 + ---------------------------------------------------------- + + +Except for the 1783-84 figures, all of the tax data are for State taxes. +The exception is the listing for the federal supply tax in 1783-84. The +steady growth rate of the area is easily recognizable both in raw +figures and in percentages. Beginning with an increase of a little more +than seven per cent between the first two listings, we find a seventy +per cent increase in the final figures. The tremendous increase in the +last two assessments may be due to the purchase of 1784 and the +subsequent legitimizing of claims through the establishment of +pre-emption rights. + +The stability of the population is particularly noted in the +consistently high percentage of residents with some tenure in the +valley. Furthermore, the apparent contradiction of this statement by the +decline to fourteen residents in the 1786 listing who had once left and +then returned is offset when one examines the neighboring township +assessments for that same year. Here fourteen additional names of former +Fair Play settlers are to be found which would sustain the +characteristic pattern of tenure. The statistical problem is complicated +by the creation of new townships following the purchase of 1784. Pine +Creek and Lycoming were the new designations for the former Fair Play +territory, Pine Creek running from the creek of that same name west, and +Lycoming extending from Pine Creek east to Lycoming Creek. + +Petitions from the area in 1778, 1781, and 1784 give a similar picture. +Almost half of the names which are found on the tax lists appear on two +or more of these appeals. These include a distress petition in June of +1778, and petitions asking recognition of pre-emption rights in 1781 and +1784.[27] The signatures on the petitions range in number from +thirty-nine to fifty-one, and at least twenty-four of these settlers +signed two or more of these documents. The very nature of these +petitions, particularly the later ones, indicates the tremendous desire +on the part of these sturdy pioneers to remain in or return to their +homes in the West Branch Valley. Here too, however, this tenacity of +purpose is not strictly confined to the Scotch-Irish. + +What conclusions can be drawn from this analysis of the demographic +factors in the Fair Play settlement? Particularly evident is the +dominance of the Scotch-Irish, who numerically composed the greatest +national stock group in the population. This dominance, as we have +already noted, greatly influenced the political and social institutions +of the area. Secondly, one might consider the numbers of English +settlers, as compared with the number of Germans, surprising. As a +matter of fact, if one adds the numbers of Scots and Welsh inhabitants +to the English and Scotch-Irish, the result is an "English" percentage +of seventy-seven and one half for the entire population. Thus it is +quite logical to assume that English customs and language would prevail, +and they did. Incidentally, it should be added that the "English" nature +of the population, combined with the Scotch-Irish plurality, meant that +the Scotch-Irish were more representative of this frontier than they +were innovators of its customs and values. + +If a majority of the Fair Play settlers came from the British Isles, +from where did they emigrate in America? Here it is quite clear that +these frontiersmen were predominantly from the lower Susquehanna Valley +and southeastern Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was to them a land of +liberty and opportunity;[28] and when they failed to find these +privileges in the settled areas, they moved out on the frontier where +they could make their own rules, that is to say, establish their own +familiar institutions. The result was the Fair Play system. + +Although the Fair Play settlers came to America and central Pennsylvania +for the usual political, economic, and social reasons, the two Stanwix +treaties and the Indian raids of 1778 had the most influence on +population fluctuations. The pioneers came into the territory +over-reaching the limits of the "New Purchase" of 1768. They were driven +out, almost to a man, in the Great Runaway of 1778. And finally, they +returned after the second "New Purchase" in 1784, which resulted in the +recognition of their pre-emption claims for their earlier illegal +settlements. It is interesting to note that pre-emption claims were +recognized in the West Branch Valley some forty-five years prior to +federal legislation to that effect.[29] + +Despite fluctuations in the population, the Scotch-Irish were able to +maintain their hold over the valley and thus influence the pattern of +development for this frontier outpost. Horace Walpole, addressing the +English Parliament during the American Revolution, said, "There is no +use crying about it. Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian +parson, and that is the end of it."[30] The Scotch-Irish with their +Presbyterianism had run off with the West Branch Valley as well; and +their independent spirit would see them in the foreground of the +"noblest rupture in the history of mankind." That independent spirit and +leadership is particularly noted in the political system which they +established along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Their "Fair +Play system" is the primary concern of the next chapter. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] E. Melvin Williams, "The Scotch-Irish in Pennsylvania," _Americana_, +XVII (1923), 382. + +[2] This chart was compiled by making a list of eighty names appearing +in an article on the genealogy of the Fair Play men, Helen Herritt +Russell, "The Documented Story of the Fair Play Men and Their +Government," _The Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings +and Addresses_, XII (1958), 16-43. Mrs. Russell is genealogist of the +Fort Antes chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Jersey +Shore, Pa. The names were checked in Meginness and Linn for possible +national origin. Approximately one-fourth were verified in these +sources. Although this writer questioned the validity of the geographic +conclusions of Meginness and Linn, both have ample documentation for +their findings regarding genealogy and national origins. These findings +can be validated in the published archives. The entire sample of names +was submitted to Dr. Samuel P. Bayard, a folklore specialist and +professor of English at the Pennsylvania State University, whose +determination was made on the basis of linguistic techniques. + +[3] Popular control was an American rather than a Scottish influence +necessitated by the absence of sufficient numbers of ministers. In +Scotland, the minister chose his elders and thus dominated the session; +in America, the selection was made by the congregation. _See_ James G. +Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish: A Social History_ (Chapel Hill, 1962), p. +150. + +[4] Carl Wittke, _We Who Built America_ (Cleveland, 1963), p. 57. + +[5] American Council of Learned Societies, "Report of Committee on +Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States," +_Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1931_ +(Washington, 1932), I, 124. + +[6] This summary has been prepared from three main sources: Wayland F. +Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_ (Hamden, Conn., +1962), pp. 89-91; Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), pp. 161-167; and John +B. Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania_ +(Philadelphia, 1883), pp. 447, 481-482. + +[7] Williams, "The Scotch-Irish in Pennsylvania," p. 382. + +[8] Wayland F. Dunaway, _A History of Pennsylvania_ (Englewood Cliffs, +N. J., 1948), pp. 131-137. According to John Bacon Deans, "The Migration +of the Connecticut Yankees to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River," +_The Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings and +Addresses_, XX (1954), 34-35, eighty-two Yankees came to Warrior's Run +in September of 1775, but none went farther west. + +[9] Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., The +Zebulon Butler Papers, Jonas Davis to Zebulon Butler, March 16, 1773. + +[10] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 340. + +[11] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 475; Meginness, +_Otzinachson_ (1889), pp. 508-511. + +[12] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 477; Meginness, +_Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 666. + +[13] O'Callaghan, _Documentary History of the State of New York_, I, +587-591. + +[14] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 509. This July 12, 1778, +communication from Colonel Hunter did not fall on deaf ears, for Colonel +Thomas Hartley was ordered to the area with his regiment before the +summer was out. + +[15] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 475. + +[16] Richmond D. Williams, "Col. Thomas Hartley's Expedition of 1778," +_Now and Then_, XII (1960), 258-259. + +[17] Wallace, _Conrad Weiser_, pp. 362-363. Lydius had gotten the +Indians drunk following the settlement at Albany between the Six Nations +and the Proprietaries. This boundary line (Albany) "crossed the West +Branch below the Big Island," p. 374. + +[18] _Pennsylvania Archives_, First Series, XI, 508. + +[19] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 667. + +[20] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 477. +_Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 711-713. + +[21] The ambiguity of the term "New Purchase" becomes apparent once it +is recognized that territorial acquisitions of both Stanwix treaties +adopted that appellation. + +[22] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, pp. 28-49. + +[23] Northumberland County Courthouse, Sunbury, Pa., Penns & C. +1782-1811 Tax Assessments, Cabinet #1. This book, found in the cellar of +the courthouse, also contains the Pine Creek assessment for 1789. + +[24] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 618-622. + +[25] _Pennsylvania Archives_, First Series, XII, 286-287. The squatters, +apparently warned in advance, had practically all vacated the premises. +However, neighbors across the river willingly gave their names. + +[26] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 437, 468, 557, 711, +790. + +[27] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III (1875), 217, 518-522. +The original petitions of 1781 and 1784 are located in the State +Archives, Harrisburg. + +[28] Penn's colony was well advertised, and the emphasis upon liberty of +conscience, when contrasted with the restrictions of the Test Act, gives +ample support for the significance of liberty as a motivating factor. +However, economic causes predominated. + +[29] Ray Allen Billington, _Westward Expansion_ (New York, 1960), p. +380. Billington refers here to the distribution-pre-emption measure of +1841, whereas Congress actually recognized squatters' rights in the act +of 1830. + +[30] Williams, "The Scotch-Irish in Pennsylvania," p. 382. + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + +_The Politics of Fair Play_ + + +The political system of these predominantly Scotch-Irish squatters in +the Susquehanna Valley, along the West Branch, offers a vivid +demonstration of the impact of the frontier on the development of +democratic institutions. Occupying lands beyond the reach of the +Provincial legislature, with some forty families of mixed national +origin in residence by 1773, these frontier "outlaws" had to devise some +solution to the question of authority in their territory.[1] Their +solution was the extra-legal creation of _de facto_ rule historically +known as the Fair Play system. The following is a contemporary +description of that system: + + There existed a great number of locations of the third of April, + 1769, for the choicest lands on the West Branch of Susquehanna, + between the mouths of _Lycoming_ and _Pine creeks_; but the + proprietaries, from extreme caution, the result of that experience, + which had also produced the very penal laws of 1768, and 1769, and + the proclamation already stated, had prohibited any surveys being + made beyond the _Lycoming_. In the mean time, in violation of all + law, a set of hardy adventurers, had from time to time, seated + themselves on this doubtful territory. They made improvements, and + formed a very considerable population. It is true, so far as + regarded the rights to real property, they were not under the + protection of the laws of the country; and were we to adopt the + visionary theories of some philosophers, who have drawn their + arguments from a supposed state of nature, we might be led to + believe that the state of these people would have been a state of + continual warfare; and that in contests for property the weakest + must give way to the strongest. To prevent the consequences, real + or supposed, of this state of things, they formed a mutual compact + among themselves. They annually elected a tribunal, in rotation, of + three of their settlers, whom they called _fair play men_, who were + to decide all controversies, and settle disputed boundaries. From + their decision there was no appeal. There could be no resistance. + The decree was enforced by the whole body, who started up in mass, + at the mandate of the court, and execution and eviction was as + sudden, and irresistible as the judgment. Every new comer was + obliged to apply to this powerful tribunal, and upon his solemn + engagement to submit in all respects, _to the law of the land_, he + was permitted to take possession of some vacant spot. Their decrees + were, however, just; and when their settlements were recognized by + law, and _fair play_ had ceased, their decisions were received in + evidence, and confirmed by judgments of courts.[2] + +The idea of authority from the people was nothing new; in fact, it is as +old as the Greeks. Nor is the concept of a "social compact," here +implied, particularly novel to the American scene. The theory was that +people hitherto unconnected assembled and gave their consent to be +governed by a certain ruler or rulers under some particular form of +government.[3] Theoretically justified by John Locke in his persuasive +defense of the Glorious Revolution, it had been practiced in Plymouth, +Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, where practical necessity +had required it for settlements occasionally made outside charter +limits. The frontier, whether in New England or in the West Branch +Valley, created a practical necessity which made popular consent the +basis of an actual government. + +They were not "covenanters" in the Congregational sense of having +brought an established church with them to the Fair Play territory. But +the Fair Play settlers understood and subscribed to the principle of +popular control, which was fundamental to such solemnly made and +properly ratified agreements. Separated from the authority of the crown, +detached from the authority of the hierarchy of the church by the +Protestant Reformation, possessing no American tradition of extensive +political experience, these settlers could only depend upon themselves +as proper authorities for their own political system. + +Furthermore, the great majority of the settlers who came to the Fair +Play territory came from families who had left their homes in the old +country to escape political, economic, and social restrictions, only to +be made unwelcome in their new homes in the settled areas of +Pennsylvania. Displaced persons in a new country, they were forced by +lives of conflict to seek better opportunity by moving to undeveloped +lands. As a result, they settled along the West Branch of the +Susquehanna, beyond the authority of the crown and outside the pressures +of the Provincial legislature. + +If man is a predatory beast in his natural state, a belief some +expressed in the eighteenth century, then it follows naturally that +every society must have some agency of authority and control. The +universally standardized solution to the problem of social control is +government. The Fair Play system was the answer on this Susquehanna +frontier to the need for some legitimate agency of force.[4] This system +vested authority in the people through annual elections of a tribunal of +three of their number. The members of the tribunal were given +quasi-executive, legislative, and judicial powers over all the settlers +in the West Branch Valley "beyond the purchase line."[5] + +Although no record of any of these elections has been preserved, the +composition of the Fair Play tribunal in 1776 has been established and +verified by subsequent reviews of land claims in the county courts.[6] +Also, two of the members of the tribunal of 1775 are identified in a +pre-emption claim made before the Lycoming County Court in 1797.[7] It +is interesting to note that among these five men are represented the +three most prominent national stock groups in the area, with the +Scotch-Irish, as our earlier sample demonstrated, in the majority. + +Lacking returns of the annual elections of the tribunal and minutes of +its actual meetings, we have only Smith's _Laws of the Commonwealth of +Pennsylvania_, petitions from the Fair Play settlers, and the subsequent +review of land questions by the Northumberland and Lycoming County +courts to evaluate the tribunal, its members, and its procedures. +However, these data are more than adequate in giving us a picture of +this _de facto_, though illegal, rule, which existed in the West Branch +Valley until the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 brought the territory +under Commonwealth jurisdiction. The composition of the electorate +varied with the fluctuations in population caused by the two Stanwix +treaties, the Revolution, and the Great Runaway. + +Since property and religious qualifications were the primary +prerequisites to voting at this time, it seems logical to assume that a +similar basis for suffrage operated in the West Branch Valley.[8] Having +no regular church--the first, a Presbyterian, was not organized until +1792--property qualifications appear to have been the basis for what, in +this area, was practically universal manhood suffrage. Due to the fact +that the entire settlement consisted of squatters, practically all of +the heads of households were property holders, regardless of the +questionable legality of their holdings. The tax lists indicate holdings +of some 100 to 300 acres on the average for residents, so it is +particularly difficult to know whether or not a minimum holding +requirement prevailed. The Provincial suffrage requirement in this +period was generally fifty acres of land or £50 of personal property.[9] + +Although this study encompasses a fifteen-year period from 1769 to 1784, +it appears that the Fair Play system functioned for about five years, +from 1773 to 1778. This is due to the fact that only "fourty +Improvements,"[10] meaning forty family settlements, existed in the area +by 1773, and that following the Great Runaway of 1778, the territory was +almost devoid of settlers. The void was filled, however, when settlers +began returning toward the end of the Revolution and following the +accession of the territory in the second Stanwix Treaty, in 1784. Thus, +for all practical purposes, the functioning of the Fair Play system was +confined to this more limited time. Furthermore, the system was +supplemented in 1776 by the introduction of the Committee of Safety, and +later that year by the Council of Safety.[11] + +As is indicated in Smith's _Laws_, annual meetings were held to select +the governing tribunal of three for the ensuing year. Generally convened +at some readily accessible place, these sessions were presumably held in +the open or at one of the frontier forts erected in the area: Fort +Antes, across the river from Jersey Shore; or Fort Horn, located on the +south side of the Susquehanna about eight miles west of Jersey Shore. +There were frontier forts in the vicinity of the present Muncy--Fort +Muncy--and Lock Haven--Fort Reed; but Fort Muncy was some twenty-odd +miles east of the Fair Play territory and Fort Reed was beyond the Great +Island at its western extremity. As a result, these outposts were +unlikely meeting places for the tribunal or for its election.[12] +Unfortunately, there is no recorded evidence of a specific meeting of +the Fair Play men. + +The authority of the Fair Play tribunal extended across the entire +territory from Lycoming Creek to the Great Island on the north side of +the West Branch of the Susquehanna. However, most of the disputed cases, +which can be verified by subsequent court reviews in either +Northumberland or Lycoming counties, seem to have involved land claims +in the area between Lycoming and Pine creeks. The tribunal accepted or +rejected claims for settlement in the area and decided boundary +questions and other controversies among settlers.[13] As to a specific +code of laws, there is none of record. However, the cases subsequently +reviewed in the established county courts refer to some of their regular +practices. For example, any man who left his improvement for six weeks +without leaving someone to continue it, lost his right to the +improvement;[14] any man who went into the army could count on the Fair +Play men (the tribunal) to protect his property;[15] any man who sought +land in the territory was obliged to obtain not only the approval of the +Fair Play men but also of his nearest potential neighbors;[16] and the +summary process of ejectment which the Fair Play men exercised was real +and certain and sometimes supported by the militia.[17] + +The specific membership of the Fair Play tribunal is rather difficult to +ascertain due to its failure to keep minutes of its proceedings and the +absence of any recorded code. However, as indicated earlier,[18] the +existence of the tribunal between the years 1773 and 1778, and its +actual composition in 1775 and 1776, have already been established from +the review of its decisions by the Circuit Court of Lycoming County. +Assuming the principle of rotation from a contemporary description, +some eighteen settlers held the positions of authority during the years +noted.[19] The cases reviewed reveal the names of five of these +eighteen. Recognizing the limitations of our twenty-eight per cent +sampling, however, it is interesting to note that the three major +national stocks are represented in this restricted sample. Furthermore, +as was mentioned previously,[20] the Scotch-Irish settlers, being in the +majority, enjoyed the majority representation on the tribunal. An +analysis of leadership in the territory, to be developed more fully +later, leads one to conclude that the Scotch-Irish, in the main, were +the political leaders of the area.[21] + +A diligent search of some sixty cases in the Court of Common Pleas in +both Northumberland and Lycoming counties yielded some documentary +evidence regarding the procedures of the Fair Play tribunal.[22] Three +cases in Lycoming County and one from Northumberland County contain +depositions which describe the activities of the Fair Play men in some +detail. One case, _Hughes_ vs. _Dougherty_, was appealed to the Supreme +Court of the Commonwealth. All of the cases deal with the question of +title to lands in the Fair Play territory following the purchase of +these lands at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. The depositions taken +in conjunction with these cases indicate the processes of settlement and +ejectment, in addition to the policies regarding land tenure. The +fairness of the Fair Play decisions is noted by the fact that the +regular courts concurred with the earlier judgments of the tribunal.[23] + +An anecdote involving one of the Fair Play men, Peter Rodey, illustrates +the nature of this frontier justice. According to legend, Chief Justice +McKean of the State Supreme Court was holding court in this district, +and, curious about the principles or code of the Fair Play men, he +inquired about them of Peter Rodey, a former member of the tribunal. +Rodey, unable to recall the details of the code, simply replied: "All I +can say is, that since your Honor's coorts have come among us, _fair +play_ has entirely ceased, and law has taken its place."[24] + +The justice of "fair play" and the nature of the system can be seen from +an analysis of the cases reviewed subsequently in the established +courts. As mentioned previously, these cases describe the procedures +regarding settlement, land tenure, and ejectment. Although no recorded +code of laws has been located, references to "resolutions of the Fair +Play men" regularly appear in the depositions and summaries of these +cases.[25] According to Leyburn, a customary "law" concerning settlement +rights operated on the frontier, particularly among the +Scotch-Irish.[26] This "law" recognized three settlement rights: "corn +right," which established claims to 100 acres for each acre of grain +planted; "tomahawk right," which marked off the area claimed by +deadening trees at the boundaries of the claim; and, "cabin right," +which confirmed the claim by the construction of a cabin upon the +premises. If the decisions of the regular courts are at all indicative, +Fair Play settlement was generally based upon "cabin right." However, +the frequent allusion to "improvements" implies some secondary +consideration to what Leyburn has defined as "corn right." + +In the case of _Hughes_ vs. _Dougherty_, the significance of +"improvements," or "corn rights," vis-à-vis "cabin rights" is +particularly noted.[27] The following summary of that case, found in +_Pennsylvania Reports_, emphasizes that significance, in addition to +defining a Fair Play "code" pertaining to land tenure: + + THIS was an ejectment for 324 acres of land, part of the Indian + lands in _Northumberland_ county. + + The plaintiff claimed under a warrant issued on the 2d _May_ 1785, + for the premises, and a survey made thereon upon the 10th _January_ + 1786. The defendant, on the 20th _June_ 1785, entered a caveat + against the claims of the plaintiff, and on the 5th _October_ + following, took out a warrant for the land in dispute, on which he + was then settled. Both claimed the pre-emption under the act of 21st + _December_ 1784,[28] and on the evidence given the facts appeared to + be: + + That in 1773, one _James Hughes_, a brother of the plaintiff, + settled on the lands in question and made some small improvements. + In the next year he enlarged his improvement, and cut logs to build + an house. In the winter following he went to his father's in + _Donegal_ in _Lancaster_ county, and died there. His elder brother + _Thomas_ was at that time settled on the Indian land, and one of the + "Fair Play Men," who had assembled together and made a resolution, + (which they agreed to enforce as the law of the place,) that "if any + person was absent from his "settlement for six weeks he should + forfeit his right." [Quotation marks as published.] + + In the spring of 1775 the defendant came to the settlement, and was + advised by the Fair Play Men to settle on the premises which + _Hughes_ had left; this he did, and built a cabin. The plaintiff + soon after came, claiming it in right of his brother, and aided by + _Thomas Hughes_, took possession of the cabin; but the defendant + collecting his friends, an affray ensued, in which _Hughes_ was + beaten off and the defendant left in possession. He continued to + improve, built an house and stable, and cleared about ten acres. In + 1778 he was driven off by the enemy and entered into the army. At + the close of the war, both plaintiff and defendant returned to the + settlement, each claiming the land in dispute. + + The warrant was taken out in the name of _James Hughes_, (the father + of the plaintiff who is since dead,) for the benefit of his + children. + + After argument by Mr. _Charles Smith_ and Mr. _Duncan_ for the + plaintiff, and Mr. _Daniel Smith_ and Mr. _Read_ for the defendant, + Justice _Shippen_ in the charge of the court to the jury, said-- + + The dispute here, is between a first improvement, and a subsequent + but much more valuable improvement. But neither of the parties has + any legal or equitable right, but under the act of the 21st + _December_ 1784. The settlement on this land was against law. It was + an offence that tended to involve this country in blood. But the + merit and sufferings of the actual settlers cancelled the offence, + and the legislature, mindful of their situation, provided this + special act for their relief. The preamble recites their "resolute + stand and sufferings," as deserving a right of pre-emption. The + legislature had no eye to any person who was not one of the + occupiers after the commencement of the war, and a transient settler + removed, (no matter how,) is not an object of the law. This is our + construction of the act. _James Hughes_ under whom the plaintiff + claims, died before the war, the other occupied the premises after, + and in the language of the act, "stood and suffered." If this + construction be right, the cause is at an end. + + Besides, the plaintiff claims as the heir of _Thomas_, who was the + heir of _James_, the first settler. I will not say that the fair + play men could make a law to bind the settlers; but they might by + agreement bind themselves. Now _Thomas_ was one of these, and was + bound by his conduct, from disputing the right of the defendant. + + This warrant it seems, is taken out in the name of the father, and + it is said, as a trustee for his children. It is sometimes done for + the benefit of all concerned. If this be the case, it may be well + enough; but still it is not so regular, as it might have been[.] + With these observations, we submit it to you. + + Verdict for the defendant.[29] + +This case, although originated in the Northumberland County Court in +1786, was appealed to the State Supreme Court, where the lower court +decision was affirmed in 1791. The summary runs the gamut of Fair Play +procedures from settlement, through questions of tenure, to ejectment. +Its completeness indicates its usefulness. Partial and occasional +depositions in the other cases cited help to round out the picture of +the Fair Play "code." + +For example, the right of settlement included not only the approval of +the Fair Play men, but also the acceptance of the prospective +landholder by his neighbors. Allusions to this effect are made in the +Coldren deposition as well as in the Huff-Latcha case. Eleanor Coldren's +deposition, made at Sunbury, June 7, 1797, concerns the disputed title +to certain lands of her deceased husband, Abraham Dewitt, opposite the +Great Island. Her comments about neighbor approval demonstrate the +point. She says, for instance, that + + ... in the Spring of 1775, Henry Antes and Cookson Long, two of the + Fair-Play Men, with others, were at the deponent's house, next below + Barnabas Bonner's Improvement, where Deponent's Husband kept a + Tavern, and heard Antes and Long say that they (meaning the + Fair-Play Men) and the Neighbors of the Settlement had unanimously + agreed that James Irvin, James Parr, Abraham Dewitt and Barnabas + Bonner should ... have their Improvement Rights fitted.... + +She speaks of the resolution of the claims problem "as being the +unanimous agreement of the Neighbors and Fair-Play Men...."[30] + +William King, who temporarily claimed part of the land involved in the +dispute between Edmund Huff and Jacob Latcha, also refers to neighbor +approval in his deposition taken in that case. He said, "I first went to +Edmund Huff, then to Thomas Kemplen, Samuel Dougherty, William McMeans, +and Thomas Ferguson, and asked if they would accept me as a +neighbor...."[31] + +Land tenure policy is noted by this same William King in the case of +_James Grier_ vs. _William Tharpe_. Repeating what we have already +pointed out in the case of _Hughes_ vs. _Dougherty_, King testified that +"there was a law among the Fair-play men by which any man, who absented +himself for the space of six weeks, lost his right to his +improvement."[32] In the Huff-Latcha case, King recounts the case of one +Joseph Haines who "had once a right ... but had forfeited his right by +the Fair-play law...."[33] + +The forfeiture rule was tempered, however, in cases involving military +service. Bratton Caldwell's deposition in _Grier_ vs. _Tharpe_ is a case +in point. Caldwell, one of the Fair Play men in 1776, declared that +"Greer went into the army in 1776 and was a wagon-master till the fall +of 1778.... In July, 1778, the Runaway, John Martin, had come on the +land in his absence. The Fair-play men put Greer in possession. If a man +went into the army, the Fair-play men protected his property."[34] +Meginness mentions a similar decision in the case of John Toner and +Morgan Sweeney.[35] Sweeney had attempted to turn a lease for +improvements in Toner's behalf to possession for himself, but the +Northumberland County Court honored the Fair Play rule concerning +military service and decided in favor of Toner. + +The summary process of ejectment utilized by the Fair Play men, +occasionally with militia support, is evident from William King's +deposition in the Huff-Latcha case. King, having sold his right to one +William Paul, recounts the method as follows: + + William Paul went on the land and finished his cabin. Soon after a + party b[r]ought Robert Arthur and built a cabin near Paul's in which + Arthur lived. Paul applied to the Fair-play men who decided in favor + of Paul. Arthur would not go off. Paul made a complaint to the + company at a muster at Quinashahague[36] that Arthur still lived on + the land and would not go off, although the Fair-play men had + decided against him. I was one of the officers at that time and we + agreed to come and run him off. The most of the company came down as + far as Edmund Huff's who kept Stills. We got a keg of whisk[e]y and + proceeded to Arthur's cabin. He was at home with his rifle in his + hand and his wife had a bayonet on a stick, and they threatened + death to the first person who would enter the house. The door was + shut and Thomas Kemplen, our captain, made a run at the door, burst + it open and instantly seized Arthur by the neck. We pulled down the + cabin, threw it into the river, lashed two canoes together and put + Arthur and his family and his goods into them and sent them down the + river. William Paul then lived undisturbed upon the land until the + Indians drove us all away.[37] William Paul was then (1778) from + home on a militia tour.[38] + +Although land disputes offer documentary evidence of the Fair Play +system, it seems quite likely that the tribunal's jurisdiction extended +to other matters. A few anecdotes, obviously based quite tenuously upon +hearsay, will suffice to illustrate. Joseph Antes, son of Colonel Henry +Antes, used to tell this story: It seems that one Francis Clark, who +lived just west of Jersey Shore in the Fair Play territory, gained +possession of a dog which belonged to an Indian. Upon learning of this, +the Indian appealed to the Fair Play men, who ordered Clark's arrest and +trial for the alleged theft. Clark was convicted and sentenced to be +lashed. The punishment was to be inflicted by a person decided by lot, +the responsibility falling upon the man drawing the red grain of corn +from a bag containing grains of corn for each man present. Philip Antes +was the reluctant "winner." The Indian, seeing that the decision of the +"court" was to be carried out immediately, magnanimously suggested that +banishment would serve better than flogging. Clark agreed and left for +the Nippenose Valley, where his settlement is a matter of record.[39] + +Another anecdote, if true, gives further testimony to the justice of +Fair Play. In this instance, a minister and school teacher named Kincaid +faced the Fair Play tribunal on the charge of abusing his family. Tried +and convicted, he was sentenced to be ridden on a rail for his +offense.[40] Here again, the tale, though legendary, is made plausible +by the established fact of Kincaid's residence in the area.[41] + +Doubtless the most notable political action of the Fair Play settlers is +their declaration of independence, which Meginness calls "a remarkable +coincidence" because "it took place about the same time that the +Declaration was signed in Philadelphia!"[42] Aware, as were many of the +American colonists in the spring and summer of 1776, that independence +was being debated in Philadelphia, these West Branch pioneers decided to +absolve themselves from all allegiance to the Crown and declare their +own independence. Meeting under a large elm on the west bank of Pine +Creek, mistakenly known as the "Tiadaghton Elm," the Fair Play men and +settlers simply resolved their own right of self-determination, a +principle upon which they had been acting for some time. Unfortunately, +no record of the resolution has been preserved--if it was actually +written. However, the names of the supposed signers, all bona fide Fair +Play settlers, have been passed down to the present.[43] + +As every careful historian knows, no declaration was signed in +Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, except by the clerk and presiding officer +of the Continental Congress. Consequently, the Pine Creek story arouses +justifiable skepticism. However, there does seem to be some evidence to +substantiate this famous act. + +First of all, Fithian's _Journal_ gives insight into the possible +motivation for such independent action. In an entry for Thursday, July +27, 1775, he writes of reviewing "the 'Squires Library," noting that +"After some Perusal I fix'd in the Farmer's memorable Letters."[44] +Fithian was reading John Dickinson's _Letters from a Farmer in +Pennsylvania_, which he had come across in the library of John Fleming, +his host for a week in the West Branch Valley. Dickinson's dozen +uncompromising epistles in opposition to the Grenville and Townshend +programs both inspired and incited liberty-lovers. Furthermore, Fleming +himself was a leader among the Fair Play settlers, and may have been +aroused to action by the eloquence of Dickinson's expression. Every idea +is an incitement to action and the ideas of _Letters from a Farmer_, +which made Dickinson the chief American propagandist prior to Thomas +Paine, reached into the frontier of the West Branch Valley. + +The best contemporary evidence in support of the Pine Creek declaration +is found in the widow's pension application of Anna Jackson Hamilton, +daughter-in-law of Alexander Hamilton, who was one of the early settlers +and a prominent leader along the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Mrs. +Hamilton, whose pension application and accompanying statement were +made in 1858, lived within one mile of the reputedly historic elm. In +her sworn statement she says, "I remember well the day independence was +declared on the plains of Pine Creek, seeing such numbers flocking +there, and Independence being all the talk, I had a knolege of what was +doing."[45] Her son John corroborates this in his statement that "She +and an old colored woman are the only persons now living in the country +who remembers the meeting of the 4th of July, 1776, at Pine Creek. She +remembers it well."[46] Mrs. Hamilton was ninety years old at the time +of her declaration, which was made some eighty-two years after the +celebrated event.[47] + +Following the outbreak of the Revolution and the meeting of the Second +Continental Congress, the Fair Play system of the West Branch Valley was +soon augmented by another extra-legal organization, the Committee of +Safety. Ostensibly created for the purpose of raising and equipping a +"suitable force to form Pennsylvania's quota of the Continental Army," +it soon exercised executive authority dually with the assembly.[48] The +Council of Safety was instituted as the successor to the Committee of +Safety by a resolution of the Provincial Convention of 1776, then +meeting in Philadelphia to draw up a new constitution for Pennsylvania. +It was continued by an act of the assembly that same year. It functioned +from July 24, 1776, until it was dissolved on December 6, 1777, by a +proclamation of the Supreme Executive Council.[49] Locally, however, +the township branches continued to function and were still referred to +as "committees." + +It appears from the resolutions and actions of the local committee that +the Fair Play men maintained jurisdiction in land questions, but that +all other cases were within the range of the committee's authority. In +fact, a resolution dated February 27, 1776, asserted that "the committee +of Bald Eagle is the most competent judges of the circumstances of the +people of that township."[50] This resolution was made in conjunction +with an order from the county committee to prevent the loss of rye and +other grains which were being "carried out of the township for +stilling."[51] Although cautioned against "using too much rigor in their +measures," the committee was advised to find "a medium between seizing +of property and supplying the wants of the poor."[52] The county +committee even went so far as to recommend the suppression of such +practices as "profaning the Sabbath in an unchristian and scandalous +manner."[53] In April of 1777, the county committee required an oath of +allegiance from one William Reed, who had refused military service for +reasons of conscience.[54] + +Although Bald Eagle Township did not, at this time, extend into Fair +Play territory,[55] it is interesting to note that the local committee, +whose three members frequently changed, often included settlers from +that territory or those who were in close association with the Fair Play +men.[56] The Revolution apparently gave a certain quasi-legality to the +claims of the "outlaws" of the West Branch Valley. + +One further political note is worthy of mention. After Lexington and +Concord and the formation of the various committees of safety, the +civil officers of Bald Eagle Township, that is to say the constable, +supervisor, and overseers, were often chosen from among settlers on the +borders of, or actually in, Fair Play territory.[57] + +The politics of fair play then was nothing more than that--fair play. It +was a pragmatic system which the necessities of the frontier experience, +more than national or ethnic origin, had developed. The "codes" of +operation represented a consensus, equally, freely, and fairly arrived +at--a common "law" based upon general agreement and practical +acceptance. There were subsequent appeals to regular courts of law, but, +surprisingly enough, in every instance the fairness of the judgments was +sustained. No Fair Play decision was reversed. Furthermore, the +frequency of elections and the use of the principle of rotation in +office were additional assurances against the usurpation of power by any +small clique or ruling class. Popular sovereignty, political equality, +and popular consultation--these were the basic elements of fair play. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Colonial Records_, X, 95. The Fair Play settlers were outlawed by a +proclamation of the Council signed by Governor John Penn on Sept. 20, +1773. The proclamation was issued "strictly enjoyning and requiring all +and every Person and Persons, already settled or Residing on any Lands +beyond the Boundary Line of the Last Indian Purchase, immediately to +evacuate their illegal Settlements, and to depart and remove themselves +from the said Lands without Delay, on pain of being prosecuted with the +utmost rigour of the Law." The "Last Indian Purchase" referred to here +is, of course, the Stanwix Treaty of 1768. + +[2] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[3] Richard W. Leopold and Arthur S. Link (eds.), _Problems in American +History_ (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1957), p. 22. The entire first +problem in this excellent text deals with the question of authority in +American government. + +[4] This Fair Play system was certainly not unique, for other frontier +societies employed the same technique, even down to the ruling tribunal +of three members. See Solon and Elizabeth Buck, _The Planting of +Civilization in Western Pennsylvania_ (Pittsburgh, 1939), pp. 431, 451. +However, it must be pointed out that the Bucks' "Fair Play" reference is +based on Smith, _Laws_, II, 195, which Samuel P. Bates used in "a +general application of the practice to W. Pa. areas after 1768," in his +_History of Greene County, Pennsylvania_ (Chicago, 1888). This was the +interpretation given in a letter from Dr. Alfred P. James to the author, +July 17, 1963. Dr. James also says that "It is possible that there are +evidences of Fair Play Men titles in the court records of Washington and +Greene Counties." + +[5] This designation was often employed to classify those settlers who +took up lands beyond the limits of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, +that is to say, west of Lycoming Creek on the north side of the West +Branch of the Susquehanna. + +[6] Russell, "Signers of the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence," p. +5. Mrs. Russell, whose historical accuracy can be verified through her +indicated sources, refers to old borough minutes of Jersey Shore as her +source for the names of the tribunal of 1776, namely, Bartram Caldwell, +John Walker, and James Brandon. Upon discussing the matter with her, I +learned that a clipping from an old Jersey Shore paper, now lost, which +described the minutes, was her actual source. However, adequate +documentation and meticulous research characterize her work. +Furthermore, Bratton Caldwell (he signed his name Bartram) is also +labeled a Fair Play official by Linn, "Indian Land and Its Fair Play +Settlers, 1773-1785," p. 422. Linn's identification comes in the case of +_Greer_ vs. _Tharpe_, Greer's case being a pre-emption claim on the +basis of military service. + +[7] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," _Now and Then_, XII (1959), 220-222. +The deposition reads "That in the Spring of 1775, Henry Antes and +Cookson Long, two of the Fair-Play Men, with others, were at the +deponent's house...." + +[8] Oscar T. Barck, Jr. and Hugh T. Lefler, _Colonial America_ (New +York, 1958), pp. 258-260. Although Barck and Lefler indicate in this +section on "The Colonial Franchise" that universal suffrage did not +prevail in the colonies, they do note the significance of "free land," +of which Fair Play territory was an excellent example. + +[9] _Ibid_, p. 260. + +[10] William Cooke to James Tilghman, _Pennsylvania Archives_, First +Series, XII, 286-287. + +[11] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Fourth Series, III, 545-546. + +[12] _Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts +of Pennsylvania_ (Harrisburg, 1896), I, 390, 392, 394-418. + +[13] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[14] Linn, "Indian Land and Its Fair-Play Settlers," p. 424. This six +weeks provision is noted in the deposition of John Sutton in the case of +_William Greer_ vs. _William Tharpe_, dated March 13, 1797. + +[15] _Ibid._, 422. Bratton Caldwell, one of the Fair Play men, indicates +this practice in his deposition in the _Greer_ vs. _Tharpe_ case. + +[16] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," pp. 220-222. + +[17] Linn, "Indian Land and Its Fair-Play Settlers," pp. 422-424. +William King, in his deposition taken March 15, 1801, in _Huff_ vs. +_Satcha_ [sic], in the Circuit Court of Lycoming County, notes the use +of a company of militia, of which he was an officer, to eject a settler. +Linn errs in his reference to the defendant as "Satcha." The man's name +was Latcha, according to the Appearance Docket Commencing 1797, No. 2, +Lycoming County. + +[18] _See_ nn. 6 and 7, p. 33. + +[19] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. _See also_, pp. 31 and 32, this chapter, in +which the excerpt from this source is quoted verbatim. + +[20] _Supra_, p. 33. + +[21] _Infra_, Chapter Six. The question of leadership in conjunction +with the problems of this frontier is discussed in Chapter Six. + +[22] The Appearance Dockets and Files were checked for Northumberland +County from 1784 to 1795 and for Lycoming County from 1795 to 1801. +These records, obtained in the offices of the respective prothonotaries, +produced thirty-seven cases in Northumberland and twenty-two in Lycoming +County dealing with former Fair Play settlers. Unfortunately, only four +were reviews of actual Fair Play decisions. + +[23] Northumberland County originated in 1772 and Lycoming County in +1795. Clinton County was not created until 1839. + +[24] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (Philadelphia, 1857), p. 172. + +[25] The cases referred to here are: _Hughes_ vs. _Dougherty_, _Huff_ +vs. _Satcha_, and _Grier_ vs. _Tharpe_. They were located in the +Appearance Dockets of Lycoming and Northumberland counties in the +respective prothonotaries' offices. _Hughes_ vs. _Dougherty_ appears in +the Northumberland County Docket for November, 1783, to August, 1786, in +the February term of the Court of Common Pleas, file 42. Both the Huff +and Grier cases were found in the Lycoming County Docket No. 2, +commencing 1797, court terms and file numbers indicated as follows: +_Huff_ vs. _Satcha_, February, 1799, #2, and _Grier_ vs. _Tharpe_, May, +1800, #41. A partial deposition by Eleanor Coldren, _Now and Then_, XII +(1959), 220-222, was also employed. Although the case appears to be +_Dewitt_ vs. _Dunn_, I could not locate it in the Appearance Dockets. +Depositions taken in the Huff and Grier cases were published in Linn, +"Indian Land and Its Fair-Play Settlers," pp. 422-424. + +[26] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 205. + +[27] Jasper Yeates, _Pennsylvania Reports_, I (Philadelphia, 1817), +497-498. + +[28] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[29] Yeates, _Pennsylvania Reports_, I, 497-498. + +[30] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," pp. 220-222. + +[31] Linn, "Indian Land and Its Fair-Play Settlers," p. 422. + +[32] _Ibid._ + +[33] _Ibid._ + +[34] _Ibid._ + +[35] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 469. + +[36] Now Linden, in Woodward Township, a few miles west of Williamsport. + +[37] King refers here to the Great Runaway of 1778. + +[38] Linn, "Indian Land and Its Fair-Play Settlers," p. 423-424. + +[39] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 470. + +[40] _Ibid._, p. 471. + +[41] D. S. Maynard, _Historical View of Clinton County_ (Lock Haven, +1875), pp. 207-208. Maynard has reprinted here some excerpts from John +Hamilton's "Early Times on the West Branch," which was published in the +Lock Haven _Republican_ in 1875. Unfortunately, recurrent floods +destroyed most of the newspaper files, and copies of this series are not +now available. John Hamilton was a third-generation descendant of +Alexander Hamilton, one of the original Fair Play settlers. + +[42] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1857), p. 193. + +[43] _Ibid._ An alleged copy of the declaration published in _A Picture +of Clinton County_ (Lock Haven, 1942), p. 38, is clearly spurious. The +language of this Pennsylvania Writers' project of the W.P.A. is +obviously twentieth-century, and it contains references to events which +had not yet occurred. + +[44] _Fithian: Journal_, p. 72. + +[45] Muncy Historical Society, Muncy, Pa., Wagner Collection, Anna +Jackson Hamilton to Hon. George C. Whiting, Commissioner of Pensions, +Dec. 16, 1858. + +[46] _Ibid._, John Hamilton to Hon. George C. Whiting, Commissioner of +Pensions, May 27, 1859. + +[47] The veracity of the witness is an important question here. +Meginness, in his 1857 edition, devotes a footnote, p. 168, to this +remarkable woman who was in full possession of her faculties at the +time. The Rev. John Grier, son-in-law of Mrs. Hamilton and brother of +Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Grier, wrote to President Buchanan on +Nov. 12, 1858, (Wagner Collection), stating that "Mrs. Hamilton is one +of the most intelligent in our community." Buchanan then wrote an +affidavit in support of Grier's statements to the Commissioner of +Pensions, Nov. 27, 1858, (Wagner Collection). Aside from the +declarations of Mrs. Hamilton and her son, the only other support, and +this is hearsay, is found in the account of an alleged conversation +between W. H. Sanderson and Robert Couvenhoven, the famed scout. W. H. +Sanderson, _Historical Reminiscences_, ed. Henry W. Shoemaker (Altoona, +1920), pp. 6-8. Here again, the fact that the reminiscences were not +recorded until some seventy years after the "chats" raises serious +doubts. + +[48] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Fourth Series, III, 545. + +[49] _Ibid._, p. 546. + +[50] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 473. + +[51] _Ibid._ + +[52] _Ibid._ + +[53] _Ibid._ + +[54] _Ibid._ _See also_ John H. Carter, "The Committee of Safety of +Northumberland County," _The Northumberland County Historical Society +Proceedings and Addresses_, XVIII (1950), 44-45. + +[55] _See_ map of the Fair Play territory in Chapter One. + +[56] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 469. _See also_, +Carter, "The Committee of Safety," pp. 33-45, for a full account of the +activities of the Committee. Carter notes that the county committee +consisted of thirty-three members, three from each of the eleven +townships chosen for a period of six months. + +[57] _Ibid._, pp. 472-474. + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + +_The Farmers' Frontier_ + + +The economy of the West Branch Valley was basically agrarian--a farmers' +frontier. The "new order of Americanism"[1] which arose on this frontier +was in part due to the cultural background of its inhabitants, the +knowledge and traditional values which they had brought with them. It +was further influenced by the frontier status of the region itself--an +area of virgin land in the earliest stages of development. And finally, +it was affected by the physical characteristics of the territory, +particularly the mountains which separated these settlers from the more +established settlements. It has been said that "many of the enduring +characteristics of the American creed and the American national +character originated in the way of life of the colonial farmer."[2] The +Fair Play territory was typical of this development. + +The early pioneer, particularly if he was Scotch-Irish, generally came +into the area from the Cumberland Valley, the "seed-plot and nursery" of +the Scotch-Irish in America, the "original reservoir" of this leading +frontier stock, via the Great Shamokin Path.[3] Since there were no +roads, only Indian trails, the frontier traveler customarily followed +the Indian paths which had been cleared along the rivers and streams. +The Great Shamokin Path followed the Susquehanna from Shamokin (now +Sunbury) to the West Branch, then out along the West Branch to the +Allegheny Mountains.[4] Loading his wife and smaller children on a pack +horse, his scanty possessions on another horse, the prospective settler +drove a cow or two into the wild frontier at the rate of about twenty +miles a day.[5] This meant that a trip of approximately two days brought +him from Fort Augusta to the Fair Play country. + +Indian paths were the primary means of ingress and egress, although +supplemented by the waterways which they paralleled. In addition to the +Great Shamokin Path, there were paths up Lycoming Creek (the Sheshequin +Path), and up Pine Creek, besides the path which followed Bald Eagle +Creek down into the Juniata Valley. These trails and adjoining water +routes were usually traveled on horseback or in canoes, depending upon +the route to be followed. However, the rivers and streams were more +often passages of departure than courses of entry. + +Established roads, that is authorized public constructions, were not to +reach the West Branch region until 1775, although the Northumberland +County Court ordered such construction and reported on it at the October +term in 1772.[6] Appointments were made at the August session of 1775 +"to view, and if they saw cause, to lay out a bridle road from the mouth +of Bald Eagle Creek to the town of Sunbury."[7] It was not until ten +years later that extensions of this road were authorized, carrying it +into the Nittany Valley and to Bald Eagle's Nest (near Milesburg, on the +Indian path from the Great Island to Ohio).[8] + +Travel was usually on horseback or on foot. Canoes and flatboats, or +simply rafts, were used on the rivers and creeks where available. +Wagons, however, appeared after the construction of public roads and +were seen in the Great Runaway of 1778.[9] + +The problem of communication between the frontier and the settled areas +was a difficult one compounded by the natural geographic barriers and +the fact that post and coach roads did not extend into this central +Pennsylvania region. As a result the inhabitants had to depend upon +occasional travelers, circuit riders, surveyors, and other Provincial +authorities who visited them infrequently. Otherwise, the meetings of +the Fair Play tribunal, irregular as they were, and the communications +from the county Committee of Safety were about the only sources of +information available. Of course, cabin-building, cornhusking, and +quilting parties provided ample opportunities for the dissemination of +strictly "local" news. + +Newspapers were not introduced into the upper Susquehanna Valley until +around the turn of the century. The _Northumberland Gazette_ was +published in Sunbury in 1797 or 1798.[10] The first truly West Branch +paper was not circulated until 1802, when the _Lycoming Gazette_ was +first published in Williamsport.[11] On the eve of the Revolution there +were only seven newspapers available in the entire Province, none of +which circulated as far north as the Fair Play territory.[12] As a +matter of fact, there were only thirty-seven papers printed in all +thirteen colonies at the beginning of the Revolution.[13] + +The Fair Play settler was an "outlaw," a squatter who came into this +central Pennsylvania wilderness with his family and without the benefit +of a land grant, and who literally hacked and carved out a living. The +natural elements, the savage natives, and the wild life all resisted +him; but he conquered them all, and the conquest gave him a feeling of +accomplishment which enhanced his independent spirit. + +If the story of the Great Plains frontier can be told in terms of +railroads, barbed-wire fences, windmills, and six-shooters,[14] then the +cruder tale of the West Branch frontier can be told in terms of the +rifle, the axe, and the plow. The rifle, first and foremost as the +weapon of security, was the basic means of self-preservation in a wild +land where survival was a constant question.[15] The axe, which Theodore +Roosevelt later described as "a servant hardly standing second even to +the rifle,"[16] was the main implement of destruction and construction. +It was used for clearing the forest of the many trees which encroached +upon the acreage which the settler had staked out for himself, and for +cutting the logs which would provide the rude, one-room shelter the +pioneer constructed for himself and his family. The crude wooden plow +was the implement which made this frontiersman a farmer, although its +effectiveness was extremely limited. However, the soil was so fertile, +and the weeds so sparse, that scratching the earth and scattering seeds +produced a crop.[17] + +A contemporary description of squatter settlements in Muncy Hills, some +twenty-odd miles east of the Fair Play territory, but in the West Branch +Valley, gives a vivid picture of the nature of these early +establishments: + + They came from no Body enquires where, or how, but generally with + Families, fix on any Spot in the Wood that pleases them. Cut down + some trees & make up a Log Hut in a Day, clear away the underweed & + girdle.... The Trees they have no use for if cut down after their + Hut is made. They dig up & harrow the Ground, plant Potatoes, a Crop + which they get out in three Months, sow Corn, etc., (& having sown + in peace by the Law of the Land they are secured in reaping in + peace) & continue at Work without ever enquiring whose the Land is, + until the Proprietor himself disturbs & drives them off with + Difficulty.[18] + +This experience was duplicated in the Fair Play territory where there +were no immediate neighbors whose permission was necessary for +settlement, or until a dispute was carried to the tribunal for +adjudication. This procedure was detailed in the last chapter. + +Having selected a site, preferably on or near a stream, and obtained +approval from the Fair Play men and his neighbors, the prospective +settler was faced with the long and tedious work of clearing the land +for his home and farm. This was an extended effort for he could clear +only a few acres a year. In the meantime, his survival depended upon the +few provisions he brought with him--some grain for meal, a little flour, +and perhaps some salt pork and smoked meat. These supplies, combined +with the wild game and fish which abounded in the area, served until +such a time as crops could be produced. It was a rigorous life +complicated by the fact that the meager supplies often ran out before +the first crop was brought in. The first month's meals were too often +variations on the limited fare of water porridge and hulled corn, as +described by a later pioneer.[19] + +Homes in the Fair Play territory were built "to _live_ in, and not for +_show_...."[20] The following description, by the grandson of one of the +original settlers, illustrates the cooperative nature of the enterprise, +in addition to giving a clear picture of the type of construction which +replaced the early lean-to shelter with which the frontiersman was first +acquainted: + + Our buildings are made of hewn logs, on an average 24 feet long by + 20 wide, sometimes a wall of stone, a foot or more above the level + of the earth, raised as a foundation; but in general, four large + stones are laid at the corners, and the building raised on _them_. + The house is covered sometimes with shingles, sometimes with + clapboards. [The latter required no laths, rafters, or nails, and + was put on in less time.] ... The ground logs being laid + saddle-shaped, on the upper edge, is cut in with an axe, at the + ends, as long as the logs are thick, then the end logs are raised + and a "notch" cut to fit the saddle. This is the only kind of tie or + binder they have; and when the building is raised as many rounds as + it is intended, the ribs are raised, on which a course of clapboards + is laid, butts resting on a "butting pole." A press pole is laid on + the clapboards immediately over the ribs to keep them from shifting + by the wind, and the pole is kept to its berth by stay blocks, + resting in the first course against the butting-pole. The logs are + run upon the building on skids by the help of wooden forks. The most + experienced "axe-man" are placed on the buildings as "cornermen;" + the rest of the company are on the ground to carry the logs and run + them up.[21] + +In this fashion, the frontier cabin was raised and covered in a single +day, without a mason, without a pound of iron, and with nothing but dirt +for flooring. The doors and windows were subsequently cut out of the +structure to suit the tastes of its occupants. + +In this one-room cabin lived the frontier settler and his family, who +might be joined by guests. Small wonder, then, that additions to this +construction took on such significance that they were items of mention +in later wills.[22] + +Once having cleared a reasonable portion of his property, raised his +cabin, and scratched out an existence for his first few months of +occupation, the pioneer was now ready to get down to the business of +farming. Working around the stumps which cluttered his improvement, the +frontier farmer planted his main crops, which were, of course, the food +grains--wheat, rye, with oats, barley, and corn, and buckwheat and corn +for the livestock. Some indication of the planting and harvesting +seasons can be seen from this account: + + I find Wheat is sown here in the Fall (beging. of Septr.) Clover & + timothy Grass is generally sown with it. The Wheat is cut in June or + beginning of July after which the Grass grows very rapidly & always + affords two Crops. Where Grass has not been sown they harrow the + Ground well where the Wheat is taken off & sow Buck Wheat which + ripens by the beginning & through September is excellent food for + Poultry & Cattle & makes good Cakes.[23] + +The amazing fertility of the soil, as noted by more than one journalist, +eased the difficulties of the crude wooden implements which were the +farmer's tools. Reference is made to "one [who] plowed the same spot ... +for eight years ... [taking] double Crops without giving it an Ounce of +Manure."[24] Scientific farming had not yet come to the West Branch +Valley, although the Philadelphia area had been awakened to its +possibilities through the publications of Franklin's American +Philosophical Society. + +Fertile soil was practically essential when one considers the crude +implements with which the frontier farmer carried on his hazardous +vocation. In addition to the crude wooden plow, which we have already +mentioned, the agrarian pioneer of the West Branch possessed a +long-bladed sickle, a homemade rake, a homemade hay fork, and a grain +shovel.[25] All of these items were made of wood and were of the crudest +sort.[26] As time went on, he added a few tools of his own invention, +but these, and his sturdy curved-handled axe, constituted the essential +instruments of the farmer's craft. + +July was the month of harvest for the mainly "subsistence" farmers +scattered along the West Branch. The uncertainties of the weather and +the number of acres planted had some influence upon the harvesting, so +that it was not unusual to see the wheat still swaying in the warm +summer breezes in the last week of July. However, if possible, the grain +was generally cut the first part of the month in order that buckwheat, +or other fodder, might be sown and harvested in the fall. + +Harvesttime was a cooperative enterprise and whole families joined in +"bringing in the sheaves." The grain had to be cut and raked into piles, +and the piles bundled into shocks tied together with stalks of the grain +itself. This took "hands" and the frontier family was generally the only +labor force available. In time, however, field work was confined to the +men of the family among the Scotch-Irish, who attached social +significance to the type of work done by their women. + +Fithian's _Journal_ reveals, however, that class-consciousness was not +yet apparent in the division of labor on this frontier. On two occasions +he describes daughters of leading families engaged in other than +household tasks. Arriving at the home of Squire Fleming, with whom he +was to stay for a week, Fithian notes on July 25, 1775, that Betsey +Fleming, his host's daughter, "was milking."[27] The very next day, upon +visiting the Squire's brother, who had "two fine Daughter's," this +Presbyterian journalist found "One of them reaping."[28] If Leyburn's +comment that social status among the Scotch-Irish depended in part upon +the work done by the women of the family, then these examples attest to +the fact that "status" was a luxury which the Fair Play settlers could +not yet afford.[29] + +Threshing was either done by hand with flails, or, if the family had a +cow or two (and the tax lists indicate that they did), the grain was +separated by driving the livestock around and around over the unbundled +straw. Finally, the chaff was removed by throwing the grain into the air +while the breeze was flowing. The grain was then collected and readied +for milling. + +Gristmills were available in the West Branch Valley almost from the +outset of settlement due to the many fine streams which flowed through +the territory. As a result, few farmers had to travel more than five +miles, generally on horseback, to carry their bags of grain to the mill. +If the farmer had no horse, he had to carry his sack of grain on his +shoulder. If the settler lived on or near a stream, he put his sacks of +grain in a canoe and paddled downstream to the nearest mill. In the +early days before the mills, the grain was pounded into meal by using a +heavy pestle and a hollowed-out stump, a crude mortar which served the +purpose. + +In time, the gristmill owners also operated distilleries, converting the +pioneer's wheat, rye, and barley into spirited beverages which were +freely imbibed along this and other frontiers. By the time of the +Revolution, distilling was so common as to cause the Committee of Safety +to take action to conserve the grain.[30] "Home brew," however, was +quite the custom, and it was not long before most farmers operated their +own stills. + +Self-sufficiency was both a characteristic and a necessity among these +Scotch-Irish, English, and German settlers of central Pennsylvania. +Bringing their agrarian traditions with them from the "old country," +where they had operated small farms, they were bound to a "subsistence +farming" existence by the inaccessibility of markets to the frontier. +One diarist found this conducive to a "perfect Independence" which made +a "Market to them, almost unnecessary."[31] This economic independence +carried over into frontier manufacturing, if it can be called that, +because the industry, except for the gristmills and their distilleries, +was strictly domestic. + +It has often been said that the frontier farmer was a "jack-of-all +trades," and the West Branch settler of the Fair Play territory was a +typical example. With no market of skilled labor, or any other market +for that matter,[32] he was his own carpenter, cooper, shoe-maker, +tailor, and blacksmith. Whatever he wanted or needed had to be made in +his own home. Thus, frontier industry was of the handicraft or domestic +type, with tasks apportioned among the various members of the family in +accordance with their sex and talent. It was truly a "complete little +world" in which the pioneer family supplied its every demand by its own +efforts.[33] + +Although the role of the women was to take on status significance as the +frontier areas became more stable, in the earlier years of settlement +their tasks were extensive and varied. Though they were busy with +household duties such as churning butter, making soap, pouring candles, +quilting, and weaving cloth for the family's clothing, it was not +uncommon for the women to join the men in the field at harvesttime. The +domesticity of the American housewife may be one impact on American life +made by the Germans.[34] + +The children, too, were important persons in the economic life of the +frontier family. Their labors lightened the load for both father and +mother. With no available labor market from which to draw farm hands and +household help, it was both necessary and useful to give the boys and +girls a vocational apprenticeship in farming or homemaking. The girls' +responsibilities were usually, although not exclusively, related to the +hearth; the efforts of the boys were generally confined to the field and +the implements employed there, although they did service too as +household handymen, hauling wood, making fires, and the like.[35] + +In addition to their farming and domestic industry, the other economic +activities of these agrarian pioneers included the care of their +livestock and the exploitation of the available natural resources in +their subsistence pattern of living. The tax lists for Northumberland +County indicate the possession of two or three horses and a like number +of cows for each head of a household.[36] There were also "various +Breeds of Hogs" although they were not listed by the tax assessor.[37] +Mr. Davy's comment that "Sheep are not well understood ... often +destroyed by the Wolves ... few ... except [those] of good Capital keep +them" may explain their absence from these same assessments.[38] + +Maple syrup provided the sugar supply, a fact noted by land speculators +who touted this "Country Abounding in the Sugar Tree."[39] Anti-slave +interests later thought that maple sugar would replace the +slave-produced cane sugar.[40] Mr. Davy described the process as he +observed it at Muncy: + + The Maple Trees yield about 5 w of Sugar each on an average + annually, some give as much as 15 ws but these are rare. It is drawn + off in April & May by boring holes in the Tree into which Quills & + Canes are introduced to convey the Juice to a Trough placed round + the bottom of it. This juice is boiled down to Sugar & clarified + with very little trouble & is very good.[41] + +Honey also existed in great quantities in the area and was used +extensively. Apparently the "sweet tooth" of the West Branch settlers +was well satisfied by the ample resources for saccharine products. + +The trade and commerce of the West Branch Valley were strictly confined +to its own locale. Mountain barriers, limited transportation facilities, +and insufficient contact with the settled areas of the Province only +served to heighten the essential self-sufficiency of the Fair Play +settlers. The result was an economic independence which doubtless had +its political manifestations.[42] + +Economic conditions have their political implications, but it was the +total impact of the frontier and not simply the commercial restrictions +of some outside authority which made the Fair Play settlers self-reliant +and independent "subsistence" farmers. The farmers' frontier did not +result from the impact of any particular national stock groups, for +Scotch-Irish, English, and German settlers reacted similarly. As the +most recent historian of the Scotch-Irish, the most numerical national +stock on this frontier, suggests, "authentically democratic principles, +when the Scotch-Irish exhibited them in America, were rather the result +of their experiences on colonial frontiers than the product of the +Scottish and Ulster heritage."[43] The farmers' frontier with its +characteristics of individualistic self-reliance was a product of the +frontier itself. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, p. 18. + +[2] Henry Bamford Parkes, _The American Experience_ (New York, 1959), p. +44. + +[3] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 59. + +[4] Paul A. W. Wallace, _Indian Paths of Pennsylvania_ (Harrisburg, +1965), pp. 66-72, includes two maps. + +[5] Chester D. Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," _The +Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings and Addresses_, VII +(1935), 18. + +[6] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 400. + +[7] _Ibid._, p. 401. + +[8] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 472. + +[9] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 401. + +[10] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1857), p. 454. + +[11] _Ibid._, p. 458 + +[12] Carl and Jessica Bridenbaugh, _Rebels and Gentlemen: Philadelphia +in the Age of Franklin_ (New York, 1962), p. 76. + +[13] Barck and Lefler, _Colonial America_, p. 409. + +[14] Walter Prescott Webb, _The Great Plains_ (New York, 1931), pp. +238-244. + +[15] Herbert H. Beck, "Martin Meylin, A Progenitor of the Pennsylvania +Rifle," _Papers Read Before The Lancaster County Historical Society_, +LIII (1949), 33-61. + +[16] Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," p. 19. + +[17] Lewis E. Theiss, "Early Agriculture," _Susquehanna Tales_ (Sunbury, +1955), p. 89. + +[18] Norman B. Wilkinson (ed.), "Mr. Davy's Diary," _Pennsylvania +History_, XX (1953), 261. + +[19] James W. Silver (ed.), "Chauncey Brockway, an Autobiographical +Sketch," _Pennsylvania History_, XXV (1958), 143. + +[20] Maynard, _Historical View of Clinton County_, p. 11. + +[21] _Ibid._ + +[22] The probate records of Northumberland and Lycoming counties, found +in the respective offices of the Register of Wills and Recorder of +Deeds, contain entries leaving to the widow the "best room in the +house," or, "her choice of rooms." No doubt, the simplicity of the +earlier home accentuated the value of the additions. + +[23] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 259. + +[24] _Ibid._, p. 341. The Reverend Philip Vickers Fithian notes the +richness of the land in the journal of his one-week visit to the area in +the summer of 1775. He was also surprised to find that "many have their +Grain yet in the Field," a notation for the 26th of July. _Fithian: +Journal_, p. 71. + +[25] Theiss, _Susquehanna Tales_, p. 88. + +[26] The Museum of the Muncy Historical Society contains examples of +these early farm implements and offers vivid evidence of their +crudeness. + +[27] _Fithian: Journal_, p. 71. + +[28] _Ibid._, p. 72. + +[29] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 262. + +[30] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 469. + +[31] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 258. + +[32] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 171. Even +in the more settled areas of the Susquehanna Valley markets were slow to +develop as this note from "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 338, reported on Oct. +3, 1794: "At present there is no Market here but if many English +Families settle this will soon follow as there is an excellent supply of +every necessary & even Luxury in the Neighbourhood." + +[33] J. E. Wright and Doris S. Corbett, _Pioneer Life in Western +Pennsylvania_ (Pittsburgh, 1940), p. 74. + +[34] Arthur W. Calhoun, _A Social History of the American Family_ (New +York, 1960), I, 202. + +[35] Wright and Corbett, _Pioneer Life in Western Pennsylvania_, pp. +86-92. + +[36] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 405-805. + +[37] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 265. + +[38] _Ibid._ + +[39] _Ibid._, pp. 263-264. + +[40] _Ibid._, p. 264. + +[41] _Ibid._, p. 263. + +[42] One student of the commerce of the Susquehanna Valley made sweeping +generalizations about its significance which can hardly be +substantiated. _See_ Morris K. Turner, _The Commercial Relations of the +Susquehanna Valley During the Colonial Period_ (Ph.D. Thesis, University +of Pennsylvania, 1916). This dissertation, although claiming to deal +with the Susquehanna Valley, never gets much beyond Harrisburg and +seldom reaches as far north as Fort Augusta. Its accounts of roads, +navigation improvements, and trade fail to reach the Fair Play settlers. +This lends further support to their independent and self-sufficient +existence. Turner's concluding paragraph is, however, a gem of economic +determinism and bears repeating in full. Found on page 100, it reads as +follows: + +"If then, the commercial relations of the Susquehanna Valley were so far +reaching affecting as they did in the pre-Revolutionary period the +attitude of the people on all the questions, practically, of the day it +is only fair to say that it was these relations which promoted the +Revolution in the Province and drove the old government out of +existence. The political issues were aided and abetted, yes, were +created, were born from the womb of the neglected commercial relations +of the Province and no other section at the time had such extensive +relations as the Susquehanna Valley. No other conclusion can be reached +after a serious study of the history of the period." + +[43] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 150. + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + +_Fair Play Society_ + + +The society of the Fair Play territory, between the year 1769 and 1784, +was indeed simple. There were no towns or population clusters, either in +the territory or within a range of some thirty-five or forty miles. +Furthermore, as we have already noted, transportation and communication +facilities were so limited as to make contact with the "outside world" +an exception rather than the rule. As we have also seen, economic +functions on this farmers' frontier were not highly specialized. Even +the political system, with its tribunal of Fair Play men, operated +without the benefit of any formal code. + +But it would be easy, from these indications, to magnify the simplicity +of the social structure and of social relationships in the West Branch +Valley. If we are to consider the development of democracy on this +frontier, we must take into account the various national stock groups +who settled this area and, in so doing, weigh their relative economic +and social status, the amount of intermarriage between them, and the +ease and frequency with which they visited each other. These and other +social relationships, such as their joint participation in voluntary +associations, their prejudices and conflicts, and the assimilation of +alien groups, must all be evaluated. The leadership, the existence of +social classes, and the family patterns must, of necessity, be a part of +our inquiry. And finally, the religious institutions, the educational +and cultural opportunities, and the system of values have to be +considered in arriving at a judgment regarding the democratic nature of +Fair Play society. + +Fair Play society was composed of Scotch-Irish (48.75 per cent), English +(20 per cent), German (15 per cent), Scots (6.25 per cent), Irish (5 per +cent), Welsh (2.5 per cent) and French (2.5 per cent) settlers.[1] Due +to the pioneering conditions under which all of these national stock +groups developed their "improvements," economic privilege was rather +difficult to attain. Furthermore, even after the legislature granted +pre-emption in the act of December, 1784, the grants were limited to +300 acres.[2] In consequence of this, massive holdings were impossible +to maintain legally, as the customary holdings of two to three hundred +acres indicate in the tax lists for the years after 1784.[3] In fact, +the tax lists suggest that absentee-owners or persons outside the actual +geographic limits of the Fair Play territory who participated with the +Fair Play settlers were the only ones to possess 700 to 1,000 acres or +more.[4] This fact, combined with the "subsistence farming" which all of +the area settlers pursued, suggests a relatively comparable economic +status for the members of the Fair Play society. Consequently, social +status was not necessarily dependent upon economic status. + +Social status on this frontier depended more upon achieved status than +ascribed status. This may have been an influence of the Scotch-Irish, +who judged, and thus classified, a neighbor by the size and condition of +his dwelling, the care of his farm, the work done by the women in the +family, his personal characteristics and morality, and his +diversions.[5] Journalists, pension claimants, and the operative, +although unwritten, code of the Fair Play men all give corroborative +evidence in this regard.[6] Of all these criteria, personal character +and morality seemed to have been most important. The Scotch-Irish, who, +like the people of other national stocks, accepted social classes as the +right ordering of society, shifted their emphasis, as a result of the +frontier experience, from family heritage to individual achievement.[7] + +Intermarriages provide a further key to the social relationships of the +Fair Play settlers. If a small sample is any indication, the cases of +intermarriages among the various national stock groups were relatively +high, with better than one-third of the marriages sampled falling within +this classification.[8] The fact that the Scotch-Irish frequently +married within their own group was probably due to their being more +"available" in terms of numbers. Industry and good character were the +prime criteria for selecting a frontier mate, as Dunaway points out.[9] + +The ease and frequency of neighborly visits is vividly demonstrated in +the characteristically cooperative cabin-raisings, barn-raisings, +cornhuskings and similar activities in which joint effort was usual. The +women, too, exchanged visits and, on occasion, gathered at one place for +quilting or other mutually shared activities.[10] Furthermore, the +frontier journalists often noted the fine hospitality and congeniality +of their backwoods hosts.[11] + +Further evidence of the egalitarian influence of this frontier is found +in the joint participation of Fair Play settlers in voluntary +associations.[12] This is particularly noticeable in their attendance +at outdoor sermons and involvement in the various political activities. +At a time when fewer than 100 families lived in the territory, Fithian +observed that "There were present about an Hundred & forty" people for a +sermon which he gave on the banks of the Susquehanna, opposite the +present city of Lock Haven, on Sunday, July 30, 1775.[13] Although +William Colbert, a Methodist, later "preached to a large congregation of +willing hearers" within the territory, he did not think that it was +"worth the preachers while to stop here."[14] This may have been due to +the fact that they were mainly Presbyterians. Colbert's reception was +apparently fair for he makes a point of saying, "I know not that there +is a prejudiced person among them."[15] No regular church was +established in this region until 1792, so it appears that the settlers +generally participated in group religious activities regardless of the +denominational affiliation of the preacher conducting the services. +However, as we will point out later, this is not to suggest that there +was no friction between denominations. + +The political activities of the Fair Play settlers demonstrate the mass +participation, at least of the adult males, in this type of voluntary +association. The annual elections of the Fair Play men were conducted +without discrimination against any of the settlers by reason of +religion, national origin, or property. In addition, the decisions of +the tribunal were carried out, as Smith reports, "by the whole body, who +started up in mass, at the mandate of the court."[16] Special occasions, +such as the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence, were also marked by +the participation _en masse_ of these West Branch pioneers. Mrs. +Hamilton, in her widow's pension application, speaks of "seeing such +numbers flocking there" (along the banks of Pine Creek in July of +1776).[17] Apparently, as Mrs. Hamilton says, most of the settlers "had +a knolege of what was doing," particularly with regard to political +affairs.[18] + +These evidences of group participation in religious and political +activities should not mislead one into thinking that conflict, legal or +otherwise, was alien to the West Branch frontiersmen. The cases brought +before the Fair Play "court" and the friction between Methodists and +Presbyterians affirm this strife. The first settler in the territory, +Cleary Campbell, was an almost constant litigant, both as plaintiff and +defendant, in the Northumberland County Court from the time of his +arrival in 1769.[19] His name, along with the names of other Fair Play +settlers, appeared regularly on the Appearance Dockets of the +Northumberland and Lycoming County courts. The cases usually involved +land titles and personal obligations or debts. + +The religious conflict is clearly seen in the journal of the Reverend +William Colbert. An incident which occurred about twenty miles south of +the West Branch illustrates this friction: + + This is a town [present-day Milton] with three stores, three + taverns, two ball allies. Agreeable to its size it appears to be one + of the most dissipated places I ever saw. I could not tell how to + pass them--I inquired at one of the ball allies if preaching was + expected--A religious old Presbyterian standing by where they were + playing answered that he did not know. I then asked them that were + playing ball, they answered no. I farther asked them if they did not + think they would be better employed hearing preaching than playing + ball. Their answer was a laugh, that there was time for all things + and that they went to preachings on Sundays. I told them they would + not be willing to go to judgment from that exercise--they said they + ventured that. So after a little conversation with the old man I + left them ripening for destruction....[20] + +Colbert's journal is filled with snide remarks and caustic comments +about Presbyterians in general and Calvinist doctrines in +particular.[21] He was especially concerned for the "lost souls" of the +Presbyterians of the West Branch Valley. A twentieth-century theologian +suggests that Presbyterian dogmatism had driven the Scotch-Irish to the +frontier; this same problem complicated their social relationships in +the backwoods country.[22] + +The process of acculturation of the frontier was marked by the impact of +the aborigines upon the new white settlers in terms of the developing +style of life in the West Branch Valley. In fact, the culture of the +Indian may have affected the white settlers more than theirs affected +that of the Indian. For instance, Mr. Davy says that "the Dress & +manners of the People more nearly assimilate to those of the Indians +than lower down, but the purest English Language is universally +spoken."[23] + +The West Branch Valley was a new world whose experiences made new men, +rather than a transplanted old world with its emphasis on heritage and +tradition.[24] However, the English language and Scots Presbyterianism +were basic ingredients in the melting pot of this and other frontiers +where the American character emerged. + +The social class structure of Fair Play society is rather difficult to +assess. Extensive land holdings and material possessions were not +characteristic of these "squatter" settlements. Consequently, property +was not the distinguishing factor in stratifying the social levels of +the Fair Play community. Furthermore, there was no slave population or +indentured servant class to be confined to the lowest rung of the social +ladder. Here, each man either owned his "improvement" or operated under +some condition of tenancy. However, both indentured servitude and Negro +slavery existed in the "New Purchase" of 1768 in nearby Muncy.[25] Thus, +it was a two-class pattern, in the main, which constituted the Fair Play +society--landholders and tenants. In addition, though, there was a +further delineation within the landholding class on the basis of +character and morality. This characteristically Scotch-Irish +differentiation may have been due to the predominance of the Ulsterites +in the West Branch population.[26] In consideration of this fact, a +three-class structure, consisting of an elite, other landholders, and +tenants, would best describe the social class system of the Fair Play +territory. + +The elite of the Fair Play society were generally the political and +economic leaders as well. They owned the "forts," operated the +gristmills, and held the prominent political positions in the vicinity. +Surprisingly enough, though, they frequently resided on the fringe areas +of the territory and were thus able to acquire more land.[27] A fuller +description of this elite and its leadership is given in the next +chapter. + +The frontier family was undoubtedly the key social institution in +transmitting this new "American" culture to subsequent generations. +Regardless of national origin, the families were closely-knit, +well-disciplined units, whose members formed rather complete social and +economic entities. As we have already noted, the agrarian family had its +own division of labor, with each member carrying out his assigned tasks +and, at the same time, learning the practices and procedures of the +farmers' frontier. It was also the cultural and educational core, in +which its members learned their faith, received their education, and +acquired the values which would serve them throughout their lives. +Family loyalty was a marked characteristic on the frontier and, +incidentally, among the Scotch-Irish. The woman's lot was severe but she +accepted it with a submissiveness which can still be seen in some +backcountry areas of Pennsylvania today.[28] Clannish and dependent upon +each other, the frontier family had no use for divorce, which was +practically unknown.[29] If the patterns and values of these frontier +families tended to approximate those of the Scotch-Irish in particular, +and they did, it was because the Scotch-Irish were representative rather +than unique.[30] + +The church was probably the second most important social institution in +developing a system of values and a "style of life" in the Fair Play +territory. Here again, the Scotch-Irish with their Presbyterianism +provided the most significant influence, and ultimately the first +regular church--although Methodists, such as Colbert, found little to +favor in Calvinism. Almost without exception, the wills probated in the +courts of Northumberland and Lycoming counties between 1772 and 1830 +asked for burial "in a decent and Christian like manner," and committed +the departed soul to "the Creator." A Christian life and a Christian +burial were valued in this frontier society. + +Due to the absence of regular churches, religious instruction was +primarily carried on by mothers "abel to instruct," as Mrs. Hamilton put +it.[31] Prayer, the reading of the Bible, and a rudimentary catechism +were all a part of this home worship, conducted by one or both parents. +Baptism and other sacraments of the church were provided by itinerant +pastors who made their "rounds" through the valley. Presbyterians and, +later, Methodists developed the practice of gathering together in their +cabins in "praying societies."[32] Originally consisting of neighbor +groups, these societies, in time, took in areas consisting of several +miles.[33] + +Itinerant pastors began to include the Fair Play territory in their +travels in the decade of the 1770's. Philip Vickers Fithian learned from +his host, Squire Fleming, that he was the first "orderly" preacher in +the area.[34] Fithian's visit came about after he obtained an honorable +dismissal from the first Philadelphia Presbytery--as no vacancies +existed--in order to preach outside its bounds.[35] Although in the +territory for only one week in the summer of 1775, Fithian's account of +his Sunday sermon on the banks of the Susquehanna clearly describes the +nature of wilderness preaching: + + At eleven I began Service. We crossed over to the Indian Land, & + held Worship on the Bank of the River, opposite to the Great Island, + about a Mile & a half below 'Squire Fleming's. There were present + about an Hundred & forty; I stood at the Root of a great Tree, & the + People sitting in the Bushes, & green Grass round me. + + They gave great Attention. I had the Eyes of all upon me. I spoke + with some Force, & pretty loud. I recommended to them earnestly the + religious Observation of God's Sabbaths, in this remote Place, where + they seldom have the Gospel preached--that they should attend with + Carefulness & Reverence upon it when it is among them--And that they + ought to strive to have it established here.[36] + +Fithian's recommendation was not carried out until 1792, when the Pine +Creek Church was organized under the historic "independence" elm with +Robert Love and a Mr. Culbertson as the first elders.[37] This church, +along with the Lycoming Church, which was formed in the eastern part of +the former Fair Play territory in October of that same year, was served +by the Reverend Isaac Grier, who was called to serve Lycoming Creek, +Pine Creek, and the Great Island, and ordained and installed by the +Carlisle Presbytery, April 9, 1794.[38] He thus became the first +regularly installed pastor in what had been the Fair Play territory. + +It was not until 1811 that the Presbyterian General Assembly organized +the Northumberland Presbytery, which serves West Branch Valley +Presbyterians to this day. In the days of the Fair Play system the area +was assigned to Donegal Presbytery, although in 1786 the Carlisle +Presbytery was formed out of the western part of Donegal.[39] + +Missionary efforts of Presbyterians in the Fair Play territory go all +the way back to September of 1746, when the Reverend David Brainerd +preached to the Indians of the Great Island.[40] But from that time +until the opening of the West Branch Valley to settlement, following the +first treaty at Fort Stanwix, nothing concerning the area appears on +presbytery records. However, after the treaty one Presbyterian minister, +the Reverend Francis Alison, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of +Philadelphia and vice-provost of the College of Philadelphia, applied +for land above the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek and was granted some 1,500 +acres.[41] Alison never came into the region and, in fact, sold his +entire purchase to John Fleming in 1773.[42] + +Although Fithian was the first "orderly" preacher assigned to the West +Branch, the Donegal Presbytery had received an application from "setlers +upon the W. Branch of Susquehannah" for ministerial supplies (pastors) +in the middle of April, 1772.[43] Apparently these supplies never +reached north of present-day Lewisburg. + +Presbyterianism, then, was the most significant religious influence in +the Fair Play territory. Methodists and Baptists penetrated the region +after the Revolution, but that penetration, although marked by some +conflict, was not vital to the development of a system of values on this +frontier during the period under study.[44] Furthermore, it was not +until well into the nineteenth century that other Protestant sects +established churches in the West Branch Valley. + +The extent of that influence and the nature of this frontier faith were +central to the development of Fair Play society. Since there were no +organized churches in the area, the family was the key agency of +religious instruction and service. This fact, combined with the impact +of the Great Awakening, led to the freeing of the individual from the +communal covenant, resulting in a secularization of religion which +culminated in a kind of "predestined freedom."[45] Consequently, the +political implications of American Presbyterianism, which had the +largest church membership in colonial Pennsylvania and the strongest +affiliation on this frontier, were demonstrated in the democratic +radicalism which the frontier spawned. Political maturity, that is to +say, independence, was a logical evolution from religious +emancipation.[46] + +In addition to the political implications of Presbyterianism, respect +for education was a significant factor in the value structure of this +frontier. The probate records of this period are filled with examples of +the great desire to see the "children schooled," and specific +educational instructions were often included in the wills.[47] The +Presbyterian emphasis upon an educated ministry suggests that this +reverence for education may also have been an education for reverence. +Morality, education, and political equality and freedom--these were the +basic tenets of this frontier faith. + +Despite the high value placed upon education, the educational and +cultural opportunities on this frontier, as on others, were extremely +limited. Aside from home instruction and the occasional visit of an +itinerant pastor, formal education was a luxury which these pioneers +could not yet afford. However, earlier historians of the West Branch +refer to the existence of a "log school" at "Sour's ferry" in 1774.[48] +Instruction in the "three R's," enforced with strict discipline, was +given here a few months out of the year. A Presbyterian preacher who +came into the region and stayed was the first teacher. Educational +opportunity was extremely limited but education was highly respected. + +Books, too, were a luxury in the West Branch Valley. Although some of +the wills of Fair Play settlers indicate the importance of books by +mentioning them specifically, there was no common library from which the +settlers could draw. However, Fithian's _Journal_ contains a note that +he "reviewed the 'Squires Library"; so we do know of at least one +library in the territory. Its accessibility for most of these pioneers +is, of course, another question. + +Frontier art was mainly functional. Its objects were generally the +furniture, the tools and weapons, and the implements of the household. +Individual expressions of creative talent, these items, whether they +were designs on the rifle stock or styles of tableware, were outlets of +artistic demonstration. Probably the most prized and picturesque of the +frontier folk arts was the making of patchwork quilts.[49] Although we +have found no "Fair Play" pattern, we do know that the women of every +frontier household sewed, and, because of the demand for bed quilts, +every scrap was saved for the quilt-making. Colbert's _Journal_ tells of +his dining at one Richard Manning's "with a number of women who were +quilting."[50] Quilting parties were social events in the lives of these +frontier women, and their _objets d'art_ were fully discussed from +patterns and designs down to the intricate techniques of needlecraft. +Perhaps the patchwork quilt is the enduring legacy of frontier folk art. + +The music of the frontier was primarily vocal--the singing of hymns and, +possibly, folk songs. Instrumental music was confined to the fiddle, +which one Fair Play settler felt valuable enough to mention in his +will.[51] The fiddle also provided the musical background for the +rollicking reels and jigs which the Scotch-Irish enjoyed so much.[52] +That it was a hard life is certainly true, but it had its happy moments +and music was the source of much of that happiness. + +Medical practices throughout the frontier were primitive, to say the +least, and the West Branch Valley was no exception. A diary of a +minister in the Susquehanna Valley around Lancaster provides specific +examples of the purges, blood-letting, and herb concoctions which the +frontier settler endured in order to survive.[53] In spite of the +liberal use of spirited stimulants, ailing frontiersmen often suffered +violent reactions both from their illnesses and their cures. + +Although the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch Valley doubtless had +their own mythology and folklore, most of it was passed on by word of +mouth; as a result, little of record remains. The Revolutionary pension +claims are filled with tales of the courage and patriotism of the +stouthearted men and women of this frontier. A frequent claim is that +the measures taken to defend Fort Augusta, after the Great Runaway, +urged by Fair Play settlers who had fled to that point, saved the +frontier and made independence a reality. + +Perhaps the best-known story is that of the "independence elm" on Pine +Creek. However, as a recent writer suggests, the story of the "Pine +Creek Declaration" may refer merely to the reading of a copy of the +national declaration rather than to a separate document drawn up by the +inhabitants of this frontier.[54] Mrs. Hamilton's testimony to the event +notwithstanding, no copy of the declaration has ever been found. + +Another tale concerns the frequent reference to the upper Pine Creek +area as "Beulah Land."[55] It seems that a circuit rider singing hymns +approached a camp up Pine Creek in the Black Forest. Later, asked to +sing, he offered the familiar "Beulah Land." Still later, he met with an +accident between Blackwell and Cammal resulting in his death. The +entertained were his mourners. Subsequently, they kept his name alive by +singing the old hymn to such an extent that the name "Beulah Land" +became attached to this region on Pine Creek. + +Frontier life afforded little leisure time so that recreation was +generally economically oriented or related to some household task. In +addition, wrestling, foot-racing, jumping, throwing the tomahawk, and +shooting at marks were popular sports.[56] But drinking was probably the +most common frontier recreation. It has been said that the Scotch-Irish +made more whiskey and drank more of it than any other group.[57] +Everyone drank it, even the ministers. In fact, the tavern preceded the +church as a social center in the West Branch Valley.[58] Moderation, +however, was the rule; excessive drinking was frowned upon.[59] + +The value system of Fair Play society can be analyzed in terms of the +expressed ideals and beliefs, the conduct, and the material possessions +of the pioneers who settled along the West Branch during this period. +Journalists, diarists, and pension claimants offer recorded evidence of +the ideals and beliefs of these settlers. Their actual behavior gives us +some understanding of conduct as value. And finally, the probate records +of the Northumberland and Lycoming County courts contribute some +documentation concerning the material values of these frontier +inhabitants. The result was a society dedicated to the idea of progress +and oriented to a future of political and social equality and economic +opportunity. + +A firm conviction concerning the right of property, that is, the right +of individual private ownership, was developed early in the American +experience in Virginia and Massachusetts and was reinforced by the +experience of successive frontiers, of which the Fair Play territory was +one. This is noted particularly in the pride in individual +"improvements" and the vigorous assertion of property rights before the +Fair Play tribunal and, later, in the regular courts. The large +Scotch-Irish population on this and other frontiers characteristically +asserted this view. Motivated by a spirit of individualism and the +desire for a better way of life, the Fair Play settlers found land +ownership basic to the accomplishment of their desired ends.[60] + +In conjunction with the policy of private land ownership, the support of +squatters' rights tended to emphasize the equality of achievement rather +than that of ascription. No man's position was ascribed in the Fair +Play territory--he had to earn it. However, as we noted earlier, the +pioneer farmer had to obtain the approval of his neighbors in order to +settle in the area; but no evidence exists to show that this approval +was in any way dependent upon social class or national origin. +Furthermore, the annual election of the Fair Play men by the settlers, +along with their rotation in office, gave a fair measure of political +equality, which was reflected in the decisions of the tribunal affecting +land claims. + +The hospitality of the Fair Play settlers is particularly stressed by +the journalists who traveled in the West Branch Valley.[61] Despite the +limitations of rooms and furnishings, the frontier cabin was ever open +to the weary traveler, and spirited conversation and beverages were +always available to revive him. Good food and fine friends could be +found on the frontier. The frontiersman took great pride in his +hospitality. Dependent upon outside travelers for news, the latest +remedies for ailments, and mail, the inhabitants of the frontier opened +the doors of their cabins and their hearts to visitors. Taken into a +home, the weary traveler often found himself treated to the best in food +and comfort which the limitations of the frontier permitted. Generally +sharing the one-room cabin, like any member of the family, he soon +learned that he was a welcome guest rather than a stranger in their +midst. The loneliness of the frontier stimulated the hospitality of the +frontiersman. + +Although no "frontier philosophy," as such, existed, the conduct of its +inhabitants demonstrated their faith, their patriotism, their spirit of +mutual helpfulness, and their temperance. The pioneer was not a +philosopher or a thinker, because the rigorous struggle for survival, +which was his, did not permit the leisure to develop these traits. He +was a doer whose values and beliefs were reflected in his behavior. + +The favorable, but not always eager, reception of itinerant pastors, the +religious instruction which took place in the home, and the frequent +references to "the Creator" in the wills testify to the relevance of +faith in influencing the character and behavior of these early +Americans. Faith was not only relevant but also a matter of choice, and +freedom of worship was practiced on this frontier. Here again, the +Scotch-Irish Presbyterian influence may have been significant.[62] + +Patriotism, with few exceptions, was characteristic of the frontier. But +loyalty to what? On this frontier it seems to have meant devotion to an +America which developed through New World experience. Like Topsy, "it +jus' growed," and no frontiersman wanted it taken away. The enthusiastic +reception of the Declaration of Independence by the Fair Play settlers +combined with the legend of their own resolutions on the question +indicate this patriotic feeling. Despite their political differences +with the settled areas, the West Branch pioneers were overwhelmingly +loyal to the patriot cause in the American Revolution.[63] Their +loyalty, however, was more to the ideal of freedom, or "liberty" as they +termed it, than to any organization or state. They believed in and +supported the liberty which their own hard work and the circumstances of +the frontier had made possible. + +Mutual helpfulness was essential to survival in the wilderness and +valued among its pioneers. Cabin-raisings, cornhuskings, harvesttime, +and quilting parties are just a few examples of this spirit in action. +Individualistic in his approach, the frontier farmer realized the need +for neighborly support and appreciated its offer. + +In spite of the availability of a more-than-adequate supply of spirited +liquid refreshment, temperance was both commended and respected on this +Pennsylvania frontier. One historian points out that there was probably +less drunkenness on the frontier than there was in eastern Pennsylvania, +where it was not unusual for young men to get drunk at the taverns or to +drink themselves under the table at weddings or at other social +functions.[64] Drunkards were few and generally despised on the +frontier.[65] + +Material values, in a society where possessions, beyond the land itself +and the rude cabin built upon it, are limited, are best gleaned from the +probate records, which listed the prized possessions of this frontier +community. Beds and bedsteads are the items which appear most frequently +in the wills of the Fair Play settlers. Occasionally, the ultimate in +frontier affluence is reached in the form of a "feather Bed."[66] Beds, +or feather beds, and bedsteads were so highly valued as pieces of +furniture that they were often passed on to the daughters, serving as a +substantial part of their dowries.[67] Surprisingly enough, the widow +often received "the room she now sleeps in" or, "her choise of any one +room in the house." This is not so amazing, however, when one realizes +that additional rooms beyond the original one-room cabin quite logically +became highly valued. Pewterware was the silver of the frontier, and, if +the probate records are any indication, there was little of it and no +silver. Aside from references to furniture such as spinning wheels, +bureaus, tables, and chairs, and these not too regularly, it is quite +evident that material possessions were few. + +What then was the nature of Fair Play society? The frontier, by its very +nature, had an egalitarian influence which is readily apparent from this +analysis of the "style of life" along the West Branch. A relative +political and social equality existed in this land of economic +opportunity where faith, patriotism, helpfulness, and self-determination +were the outstanding traits. The frontier brought the democratizing role +of achievement to the fore in American life, and the Fair Play settlers +were an excellent example. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _See_ Chart 1 in Chapter Two. + +[2] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[3] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 557-805. + +[4] For example, in the County Assessments for 1781, _Pennsylvania +Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 468, 484, the individual holdings of +resident property owners range from 50 to 1,500 acres, whereas +non-residents' range from 200 to 13,000. Only six of thirty residents +showed property in excess of 325 acres and four of these had 550 acres +or less. The two large landowners were peripheral Fair Play residents. +Subsequent tax lists indicate that non-residents eventually sold their +property in sections. + +[5] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 262. + +[6] _Fithian: Journal_ (1775) and _Journal of William Colbert_ +(1792-1794). These journals of the first regularly assigned itinerant +pastors, Presbyterian and Methodist, to the West Branch Valley, contain +numerous references concerning the personal character and morality of +the settlers. In the Hamilton Papers of the Wagner Collection of +Revolutionary War pension claimants, p. 11, Mrs. Hamilton writes to the +Honorable George C. Whiting, Commissioner of Pensions, on Dec. 16, 1858: +"I believe they were people of clear sound mind, just, upright, morrall, +religious, and friendly to all. I should say they came nearest to +keeping the commandment, love your nabour as yourself, then any people I +ever lived among." + +[7] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 269. + +[8] Helen Herritt Russell, "The Documented Story of the Fair Play Men +and Their Government," _The Northumberland County Historical Society +Proceedings and Addresses_, XXII (1958), 16-43. Mrs. Russell, whose +genealogical studies were the basis of Chart 1 in Chapter Two, notes 24 +marriages among the 80 names, 9 of which were intermarriages of +different national stocks. Of the 24 marriages, 9 were between +Scotch-Irish couples. Intermarriages produced 5 English-Scotch-Irish +couples, 2 German-Scotch-Irish, 1 Welsh-Scotch-Irish, and 1 +German-English. The intermarriages appear to follow the national stock +percentages in the population. This would suggest that the +intermarriages were a matter of choice rather than of necessity. + +[9] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 198. + +[10] _Journal of William Colbert_ (1792-1794). This entry for Thursday, +Sept. 5, 1793, is from a typescript belonging to Dr. Charles F. +Berkheimer, of Williamsport. The original is in Chicago at the Garrett +Biblical Seminary. + +[11] Here again, Fithian, Colbert, and Mr. Davy all mention the friendly +reception which was theirs on this frontier. Davy, in an entry for Oct. +10, 1794, p. 265, says, "In the Winter Sleighs are in general use on the +Rivers & on Land & it is time of Visiting & Jollity throughout the +Country." + +[12] _Journal of William Colbert_, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 1792. Here the +Reverend Colbert refers to the existence of a class in religion among +the group of Presbyterians, although the prospects appear none too +favorable. In fact, he says, "I had no desire to meet the class, so +disordered are they, therefore omitted it." Quarterly meetings of +Methodists were also held in the West Branch Valley, as Colbert notes in +his journal for Saturday, Sept. 15, 1792, and Saturday, Sept. 7, 1793. +In 1792, Colbert remarks that "Our Quarterly Meeting began at Joshua +White's today." The following year he wrote that "brother Paynter and I +have to hold a Quarterly meeting at Ammariah Sutton's at Lycommon." Each +of these instances indicates the presence of some sort of voluntary +religious association. However, it must be recalled that Fithian +mentioned no such classes or meetings extant during his visit in July of +1775. + +[13] _Fithian: Journal_, pp. 80-81. + +[14] _Journal of William Colbert_, Thursday, Oct. 17, 1793, and +Saturday, Aug. 18, 1792. + +[15] _Ibid._, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 1793. + +[16] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[17] Muncy Historical Society, Wagner Collection, Hamilton Papers, p. +10. + +[18] _Ibid._ + +[19] _See_ the Appearance Dockets Commencing in 1772 for Northumberland +County and 1795 for Lycoming County. + +[20] _Journal of William Colbert_, Monday, June 18, 1792. + +[21] _Ibid._, Saturday, Aug. 4, 1792: "Calvinist must certainly be the +most damnable doctrine upon the face of the globe." Sunday, July 29, +1792: "Here for telling the people they must live without sin, I so +offended a Presbyterian, that he got up, called his wife and away he +went." Sunday July 22, 1792: "... in the afternoon for the first time +heard a Presbyterian at Pine Creek.... He is an able speaker but could +not, but, Calvinistic like speak against sinless perfection." Monday, +Aug. 20, 1792: "... rode to John Hamilton's in the afternoon. Here the +unhappy souls [Presbyterian Fair Play settlers] that were joined +together in society, I fear are going to ruin." Thursday, Oct. 17, 1793: +"I went to John Hamilton's on the Bald Eagle Creek spoke a few words to +a few people: I do not think that is worth the preachers while to stop +here." + +[22] F. B. Everett, "Early Presbyterianism along the West Branch of the +Susquehanna River," _Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society_, +XII (1927), 481. According to the Reverend Mr. Everett, whose article +also appeared in the Montgomery _Mirror_ for Oct. 27, 1926, the +Scotch-Irish, with the Anglicans, were the dogmatists of Pennsylvania. +The Quakers and Pietistic German sects were anti-dogmatic. Dogmatically +adhering to his catechisms, the Scotch-Irishman "resented the aspersions +cast upon dogma and creed." The frontier gave him freedom from the +Quakers who still considered Presbyterians as those "who had burnt a +Quaker in New England from the cart's tail, and had murdered other +Quakers." + +[23] "Mr. Davy's Diary," p. 259. + +[24] Thomas J. Wertenbaker, _The First Americans, 1607-1690_ (New York, +1927). Wertenbaker's first chapter, "A New World Makes New Men," +develops this thesis generally for the American colonial experience, +and, as Turner said, those first colonies were the first frontier. + +[25] Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," pp. 28, 63. Clark notes +that indentured servitude appeared in Muncy, where Samuel Wallis' great +holdings made such service feasible. He also mentions Wallis' ownership +of slaves, verified by the Quarter Session Docket of 1778. Wallis freed +two Negro slaves, Zell and Chloe, posting a £30 bond that they would not +become a charge on the township. + +[26] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 262. _See also_ Dunaway, _The +Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, pp. 180-200. + +[27] These "fringe area" participants in Fair Play society actually +resided, for the most part, in Provincial territory and hence enjoyed +greater stability and more land. + +[28] Calhoun, _A Social History of the American Family_, I, 207. + +[29] _Ibid._ + +[30] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 271. Leyburn points out that since +the Scotch-Irish were never a "minority," in the sense that their values +differed radically from the norms of their areas of settlement, they +never suffered the normlessness which Durkheim calls anomie--the absence +of clear standards to follow. As Leyburn states it, + + Anomie was an experience unknown to the Scotch-Irishman, for he + moved immediately upon arrival to a region where there was neither a + settlement nor an established culture. He held land, knew + independence, had manifold responsibilities from the very outset. He + spoke the language of his neighbors to the East through whose + communities he had passed on his way to the frontier. Their + institutions and standards differed at only minor points from his + own. The Scotch-Irish were not, in short, a "minority group" and + needed no Immigrant Aid society to tide them over a period of + maladjustment so that they might become assimilated in the American + melting pot. + +This, however, is not to suggest that minorities are necessarily anomic. +The Jews, for example, were always a cultural minority in Europe, yet +they adhered intensely to their own cultural norms. + +[31] Muncy Historical Society, Wagner Collection, Hamilton Papers, p. +10. + +[32] J. E. Wright and Doris S. Corbett, _Pioneer Life in Western +Pennsylvania_ (Pittsburgh, 1940), p. 142. + +[33] _Ibid._ The existence of these "praying societies" is further +substantiated in Colbert's _Journal_. During these services, lay persons +gave exhortations or assisted Colbert in some fashion. + +[34] _Fithian: Journal_, p. 76. + +[35] Robert S. Cocks, _One Hundred and Fifty Years of Evangelism, The +History of Northumberland Presbytery 1811-1961_ (n. p., 1961), p. 2. + +[36] _Fithian: Journal_, pp. 80-81. + +[37] Joseph Stevens, _History of the Presbytery of Northumberland, from +Its Organization, in 1811, to May 1888_ (Williamsport, 1888), p. 38. + +[38] _Ibid._, p. 18. + +[39] Cocks, _One Hundred and Fifty Years of Evangelism_, p. 2. + +[40] Guy S. Klett, "Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Pioneering Along the +Susquehanna River," _Pennsylvania History_, XX (1953), p. 173. + +[41] _Ibid._, p. 174. + +[42] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 520. + +[43] Klett, "Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Pioneering," p. 175. + +[44] _Journal of William Colbert_, Monday, June 18, 1792; and Robert +Berger, "The Story of Baptist Beginnings in Lycoming County," _Now and +Then_, XII (1960), 274-280. According to the Reverend Robert Berger, of +Hughesville, a few Baptist settlers came into Lycoming County from New +Jersey, but were soon driven out by the Indians. Apparently, the +Philadelphia Baptist Association sent missionaries to the area in 1775 +and 1778. However, not until the association commissioned Elders Patton, +Clingan, and Vaughn in 1792 did any extensive Baptist preaching take +place in this region. They were sent out for three months on the Juniata +and the West Branch. The Loyalsock Baptist Church, established in 1822, +is the first church. + +[45] Dietmar Rothermund, _The Layman's Progress: Religious and Political +Experience in Colonial Pennsylvania 1740-1770_ (Philadelphia, 1961), p. +142. As Rothermund describes it, "The Pilgrim's progress had turned into +the layman's emancipation, and finally into the citizen's revolution" +(p. 137). He calls "the political maturity which followed the era of +religious emancipation ... America's real revolutionary heritage" (p. +138). + +[46] _Ibid._, p. 137. It must first be recognized that American +Presbyterianism differed from that of Scotland particularly with regard +to local autonomy. The Presbyterian Church, like the United States under +the Constitution of 1787, was federal in its governmental structure, and +the autonomy of the local religious institutions was later carried into +politics. Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 313, emphasizes the fact that +the Scotch-Irishman's church had accustomed him to belief in government +by the consent of the governed, in representative and republican +institutions. The relationship between the church covenant and the +social compact is quite direct. If men can bind themselves together to +form a church, then it seems quite logical that they can bind themselves +together to form a government. Fair Play democracy was simply political +Presbyterianism. Its impact has been noted by a number of historians. +Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 135, claims +that "The actual means by which Pennsylvania was transformed from a +proprietary province into an American commonwealth was the new political +organization developed by the Scotch-Irish in alliance with the eastern +radical leaders of the continental Revolutionary movement. This +extra-legal organization, consisting of the committee of safety, the +provincial and county committees of correspondence, and the provincial +conventions, supplanted the regular provincial government by absorbing +its functions." Becker, _Beginning of the American People_, p. 180, +calls the Scotch-Irish a people "whose religion confirmed them in a +democratic habit of mind." + +[47] Lycoming County Courthouse, Will Book #1, George Quigley's Will, p. +69. + +[48] Maynard, _Historical View of Clinton County_, p. 208. + +[49] Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger, _The Romance of the +Patchwork Quilt in America_ (New York, 1935), p. 27. + +[50] _Journal of William Colbert_, Thursday, Sept. 5, 1793. + +[51] Lycoming County Courthouse, Will Book #1, William Chatham's Will, +p. 177. Chatham's bequest is "To Robert Devling My Fidel." + +[52] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 196. + +[53] Rev. John Cuthbertson's Diary (1716-1791), microfilm transcript, 2 +rolls, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg. An +example, found on p. 252, is this "_famous American Receipt for the +Rheumatism_. Take of garlic two cloves, of gum ammoniac, one drachm; +blend them by bruising together. Make them into two or three bolus's +with fair water and swallow one at night and the other in the morning. +Drink strong sassafras tea while using these. It banishes also +contractions of the joints. 100 pounds been given for this." + +[54] Rebecca F. Gross, "Postscript to the Week," Lock Haven _Express_, +Aug. 3, 1963, p. 4. + +[55] Eugene P. Bertin, "Primary Streams of Lycoming County," _Now and +Then_, VIII (1947), 257-258. + +[56] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, p. 193. + +[57] _Ibid._, p. 197. + +[58] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," pp. 220-222. Mrs. Coldren refers to +a tavern, just west of Chatham's Run, in the spring of 1775. The first +church appeared in 1792. + +[59] "Diary of the Unknown Traveler," _Now and Then_, X (1954), 307. The +diarist tells of a tavernkeeper who refused a man a pint of wine because +"he had had enough" (Thursday, July 24, 1794). + +[60] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, pp. 148-150. Leyburn suggests, and the +Fair Play settlers demonstrate, that Ulster and America were similar +experiences. He says (p. 148) that the Scotch-Irish "lived on land in +both regions often forcibly taken from the natives. The confiscation +itself was declared legal by the authorities, and the actual settlement +was made in the conviction that the land was now rightfully theirs. +Might makes right--at least in the matter of life and land ownership." + +[61] _Fithian: Journal_, the _Journal of William Colbert_, and "Mr. +Davy's Diary" all refer to the hospitality of the people of this +frontier. For example, Fithian speaks of his hosts as "sociable, kind"; +while Colbert constantly mentions the "liberty" which he enjoyed in the +various homes which he visited. + +[62] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, pp. 146-147. Leyburn suggests that +belief in the superiority of the Presbyterian church to any king +justifies revolt; if one may, others may, leading to anarchy. Thus +freedom of worship for a minority allied itself in America with liberty +of worship for all. The right of revolution, as it was acted upon in +America, was also implied. + +[63] Loyalists in the West Branch Valley suffered the usual privations +as this excerpt from the "Diary of the Unknown Traveler," p. 310, +indicates: "_Thursday, July 24, 1794_.... Mr. Witteker and his family +are of the people called Quakers but was turned out of the society +during the time of war for paing the money called substitute [relief +from the draft]* money to the Congress agents. M[r]. W's case is really +hard. He suffered as above by his friends for aiding Congress and his +estate was conviscated [_sic_] by the state for being a loyalist." +[*Phrase bracketed in quotation.] + +[64] Dunaway, _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, pp. 197-198. + +[65] _Ibid._, p. 198. An example of this attitude is found in this entry +in the "Diary of the Unknown Traveler," p. 310: "This afternoon 24 July +[1794] a person with two horses, one he rode, the other lead, called at +Wittekers for a pint of wine, but on account of him being intoxicated +before Mr. W. told him he had had enough & would not let him have any. +Where could we find so disinterested a tavernkeeper in England? In +England they never refuse as long as they pay, but here the man had the +money ready if they would let him have the wine." + +[66] This conclusion was reached after the reading of some three hundred +wills in the probate records of Northumberland and Lycoming counties. +This particular reference is from James Caldwell's will, Nov. 20, 1815, +located in Will Book #1, p. 108, Lycoming County Courthouse. + +[67] Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," p. 22. Beds and feather +beds seem to have been status symbols of a sort often willed to the wife +or included as a dowry. + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + +_Leadership and the Problems of the Frontier_ + + +Any analysis of democracy in the Fair Play territory must consider the +question of leadership and the particular problems of that frontier. The +number of leaders and their roles, the marks of leadership, and the +circumstances which brought certain men to the fore must all be +considered. Was there some correlation between property-holdings, or +national origin, and leadership? Were there certain offices conducive to +the exercise of leadership? The subject of leadership entails inquiry +into each of these areas. + +Unfortunately, only one biographical study of any Fair Play leader has +ever been attempted, that of Henry Antes.[1] As a result, the patterns +of leadership must be gleaned from court records, tax lists, lists of +public officials, and petitions from the settlers of this frontier. +Consequently, what follows gives us some general understanding of the +nature of leadership but offers little in the way of insight into the +personalities of the leaders. + +Using the Curti study as an example, certain objective criteria have +been set up in analyzing leadership in the West Branch Valley.[2] +Obviously, some leaders were more important than others. Their influence +extended beyond the limits of the Fair Play territory. These leaders, +provided that they stood out in respect to at least three of the four +criteria established, have been categorized as regional leaders. These +four criteria have been used in this study to determine regional +leadership: (1) the holding of political office, (2) the ownership of +better-than-average property holdings, (3) the operation of frontier +forts, and (4) the holding of military rank of some significance.[3] + +Of these criteria, office holding appears to be the most important. +Thus, regional leaders were generally re-elected to public office, or +held more than one such office. Furthermore, it will be noted that these +offices tended to be with the established governments of the State and +county. Since some leaders never held any political office, another +classification seemed necessary. Consequently, the role of local +leadership was also classified. + +The influence of some men seems to have been strictly confined to the +Fair Play territory, either by virtue of their election to some local +office or by their prominence in some other phase of community life. As +a result, local leaders have been considered as (1) those who held at +least two local offices, or (2) those who exercised identifiable +community leadership in a non-political context. + +After an extensive examination of the lists of public officials for +Northumberland County, the tax lists for the same period, the records of +the Fair Play men and the Committee of Safety, the accounts of the +frontier forts in the region, and the military records of these +settlers, it becomes evident that only three men can be considered as +regional leaders and not more than seven or eight as local leaders.[4] +Henry Antes, Robert Fleming, and Frederick Antes are the regional +leaders; and Alexander Hamilton, John Fleming, James Crawford, John +Walker, Thomas Hughes, Cookson Long, William Reed, and Samuel Horn are +the local leaders. Obviously, the listings are too limited to offer any +valid quantitative analysis. + +Henry Antes is undoubtedly the single most outstanding leader in the +entire Fair Play country. Judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions, +sheriff, justice of the peace, Fair Play spokesman, captain (later +colonel) of Associators and commander of Fort Antes, miller and property +owner, personal friend of John Dickinson and other Provincial leaders, +Henry Antes was the top figure in civic, economic, military, and social +affairs along the West Branch. Influential within and without the Fair +Play territory, Henry Antes was truly the major leader in the valley. + +The Antes family had long played a significant role in the history of +the Province of Pennsylvania. As MacMinn relates, Henry's father, Henry, +Sr., had been "associated with the most prominent men of his time in +movements for the public good."[5] A Moravian, the elder Antes had +assisted Count Zinzendorf in his missionary efforts, aided Whitefield in +his philanthropic endeavors, worked with Henry Muhlenberg in educating +the German town community, and served with a marked impartiality as a +justice of the peace.[6] From such stock came the necessary leadership +for the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch frontier. + +Born near Pottstown in Montgomery County in 1736, young Henry may have +learned of frontier opportunity from visitors to his father's inn, such +as Zinzendorf and Spangenburg, who had traveled along the West Branch of +the Susquehanna. Consequently, joined by his brother William, he signed +an article of agreement on September 29, 1773, for the purchase of land +in the West Branch Valley.[7] When another brother, Frederick, obtained +property in the area later in that same decade, the Antes brothers, +particularly Henry and Frederick, became the dominant political, +economic, and social influence in the territory. Frederick, however, was +more of an absentee leader since he never actually resided in the Fair +Play territory. + +Although the combined holdings of the Antes brothers constituted only a +little less than 700 acres, their gristmill, the first in the region, +became the meeting place for the area settlers, providing a forum for +the usual discussions of politics and prices.[8] From Lycoming Creek on +the east to Pine Creek and the Great Island on the west, the frontier +farmers brought their grain to the Antes mill, on the south side of the +Susquehanna River opposite present Jersey Shore. While the milling went +on, the men analyzed their common problems and debated the future of +this pioneer land. If there was a center for the dissemination of news +in the West Branch Valley, it was the Antes mill and fort, which was +soon constructed on the property. Located in almost the center of the +Fair Play territory (although actually across the river from it), where +men met of necessity, and having had a father who had exerted influence +and exercised leadership in Philadelphia County, the Antes brothers were +well prepared to lead the West Branch pioneers. + +With their gristmill giving Henry and Frederick a decided economic edge, +they soon became involved in the politics of the Fair Play territory, +Northumberland County, and the Province of Pennsylvania. Henry became +primarily a local and county leader, while his brother concentrated on +county and Provincial and, later, State affairs. Both served as county +judges--Henry, appointed in 1775, and Frederick, elected in 1784--which +suggests judicial responsibility as the key to assuming major +leadership, since Robert Fleming took Frederick's judicial post when he +resigned to take a seat in the General Assembly.[9] + +By the summer of 1775, when Philip Vickers Fithian first included the +West Branch in his itinerary--the valley by then supported some 100 +families--Henry Antes had already distinguished himself as a public +servant. He, along with five others, had been commissioned by the county +court to lay out a road from Fort Augusta to the mouth of Bald Eagle +Creek;[10] he had served as a spokesman for the Fair Play men in a land +title dispute;[11] he had been made a justice of the peace;[12] and he +had been appointed as a judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions.[13] This +was to be only the beginning, for in 1775, when the Associators were +organized, Henry Antes was made captain of company eight, embodying the +Nippenose and Pine Creek settlers.[14] But even this is not the complete +picture, for when the settlers returned to the region in the eighties, +following the Great Runaway of 1778, Antes became sheriff, the chief law +enforcement officer of Northumberland County.[15] The popular miller had +become the popular leader, a popularity enhanced by his interpretation +of the sheriff's role, an interpretation which occasionally brought him +into conflict with the State's leaders.[16] + +The leadership of the Antes brothers is further accentuated by the +activities of Frederick Antes. Between 1776 and 1784 he was a delegate +to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, justice of the peace, +president judge of the county courts, county treasurer, commissioner of +purchase for Northumberland County, a representative in the General +Assembly, and a colonel of militia.[17] With Henry on the West Branch +and Frederick frequently in Philadelphia, the Antes family had a +constant finger on the pulse of Pennsylvania politics. Official duties, +plus the strategic location of the Antes fort and mill, made Frederick +and Henry Antes the most influential persons in the West Branch Valley +during the operation of the Fair Play system. Eminently qualified by +numerous public responsibilities, the Antes brothers were major leaders +of the Fair Play settlers. + +Robert Fleming, the third regional leader in the territory, also served +as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county, although that +service began in March, 1785, after the Fair Play territory was acquired +by the State of Pennsylvania in the second Stanwix Treaty of 1784.[18] +He became a justice of the peace at the same time.[19] Prior to his +judicial obligations, Fleming had been a member of the county Committee +of Safety, a township overseer, a representative in the General +Assembly, a second lieutenant of Associators, and possibly a Fair Play +man.[20] During the Revolution, he was primarily concerned with the area +around the Great Island, serving at Reed's Fort (present Lock Haven) and +on the Fleming estate, which some referred to as Fort Fleming. Robert +had a brother, John, with whom Fithian stayed during his brief sojourn +in the territory. Their combined holdings, the largest in the vicinity, +ran to almost 3,000 acres, of which 1,250 acres were Robert's.[21] + +Certain conclusions can be drawn from these data regarding the regional +leaders of the Fair Play territory. Better than average property +holdings, extensive in the case of Robert Fleming; judicial +responsibility, which was true of all three men; primary authority in +frontier forts (the Antes brothers owned and commanded Antes Fort, and +the Flemings operated their own stockade and commanded Fort Reed); and +military rank ranging from lieutenant of Associators to colonel of +militia: these characteristics signified major leadership in the West +Branch Valley among the Fair Play settlers. Coincidentally, it can be +noted that two of the three regional leaders, having served in the State +legislature, had influence which reached to the State House in +Philadelphia. Obviously, these men were known outside of the limited +environs of the Fair Play territory. In fact, both Henry and Frederick +Antes enjoyed a more than passing acquaintance with Benjamin Franklin +and John Dickinson, two of the giants of this period of Pennsylvania's +history.[22] + +A further observation which can be made concerning leadership relates to +the question of national origin. Although the Fair Play territory has +often been referred to as "Scotch-Irish country," the German Antes +brothers performed the outstanding leadership roles on this frontier. +Also, the specific geographic location of our regional leaders provides +a final note of interest. All three of them, Henry and Frederick Antes, +and Robert Fleming, actually resided outside the limits of the Fair Play +territory. They were on the geographic fringe but at the leadership +core. Their close proximity to the Fair Play territory, separated from +it only by the Susquehanna River, in addition to their contacts with and +positions in established government, gave these men an obvious political +eminence. The forts located in both places and the Anteses' gristmill +gave both the Flemings and the Anteses opportunity for leadership. + +Local leaders generally lived within the Fair Play territory, had +average property holdings, and served on either the Fair Play tribunal +or the township Committee of Safety. There are, of course, exceptions to +each of these generalizations. The fort operators, Samuel Horn, William +Reed, and John Fleming, resided on the Provincial or State side of the +Susquehanna River. Furthermore, John Fleming was the largest property +owner in the area with some 1,640 acres.[23] And one man, James +Crawford, held the highly respected county office of sheriff.[24] + +Three of the local leaders, John Fleming, Alexander Hamilton, and James +Crawford, stand out from the rest, although for different reasons. John +Fleming undoubtedly would have become a major leader had he lived +longer--he died in 1777. His extensive property made his home the usual +stop for itinerant pastors and other travelers in the valley, as +Fithian's _Journal_ attests.[25] It also made him a figure of central +significance in economic affairs. Alexander Hamilton was probably "the" +local leader. A member of the Committee of Safety and presumably a Fair +Play man, he was also the captain of Horn's Fort.[26] He is also the +reputed author of the Pine Creek declaration. James Crawford was more +noted for military exploits than for civic duties. Prior to his military +service, Crawford had represented Northumberland County in the +Constitutional Convention of 1776, which framed the State constitution +and, later, commissioned him as a major in the Twelfth Pennsylvania +Regiment.[27] Deprived of his commission after the Germantown campaign, +Major Crawford returned home and was elected county sheriff, an office +which he held until succeeded by Henry Antes.[28] + +Of the other local leaders, Horn and Reed held only lesser township +offices, overseer and supervisor, respectively, in addition to operating +frontier forts.[29] Cookson Long, mentioned as a Fair Play man in 1775 +in Eleanor Coldren's deposition, later commanded Fort Reed, for a time, +as a captain of Associators.[30] The final two local leaders, John +Walker and Thomas Hughes, both took turns as Fair Play men and as +members of the local Committee of Safety.[31] + +In analyzing the local leadership roles which these various settlers +filled, additional and pertinent conclusions become apparent. In the +first place, the Fair Play men were obviously not the top leaders of the +community. Henry Antes may have served as their spokesman in 1775, and +it is quite possible that Robert Fleming was a member of the tribunal, +but both were more important as county leaders. Secondly, Fair Play men +were members of the Committee of Safety, a fact which suggests that +their efforts may have been coordinated. Finally, returning to the +question of national origin, six of these eight local leaders were +either Scots, Scotch-Irish, or Irish. The other two were Germans. No +Englishman was a leader, either regional or local, in the Fair Play +territory between 1769 and 1784. Perhaps, as Carl Becker suggests, this +was due to the fact that neither the German nor the Scotch-Irish +immigrant held in his breast any sentiment of loyalty to King George, or +much sympathy with the traditions or the leaders of English society.[32] + +What were the particular problems of this frontier and how effective +were these leaders in meeting them? The question of defense, including +the daily task of survival in the wilderness, the right of pre-emption, +and the efforts to obtain frontier representation in the assembly: these +were the main problems in this pioneer land along the West Branch of the +Susquehanna. All were not solved during the period under analysis, but +the attempts to solve these and other problems afford us the opportunity +to evaluate the leadership in the Fair Play territory. + +Doubtless, the most pressing public need on this frontier was protection +from the marauding Indians who plagued these pioneers throughout the +fifteen years encompassed by this study. Aroused by the British during +the Revolution, the Indians of the Six Nations descended from New York +into the West Branch Valley to harass and, finally, to drive the Fair +Play settlers from their homes. Driven from their homes, the frontiersmen +of the West Branch first gathered in the hastily-constructed and +poorly-manned forts conveniently scattered along the Susquehanna from +Jersey Shore to Lock Haven, but, ultimately, these too had to be +evacuated in the Great Runaway in 1778. + +The severity of these attacks is evident from this petition from the +settlers gathered at Fort Horn, above present McElhattan, pleading for +military support in their perilous position: + + _To the Honourable the Supreame Executive Councill of the + Commonwealth of Pennsyllvania, in Lancaster;_ + + Wee, your humble petitioners, the Inhabitance of Bald Eagle + Township, on the West Branch of Susquehannah, Northumberland County, + &c., &c., humbly Sheweth: that, Wherease, wee are Driven By the + Indians from our habitations and obblidged to assemble ourselves + together for our Common Defence, have thought mete to acquaint you + with our Deplorable situation. Wee have for a month by past, + endeavoured to maintain our ground, with the loss of nearly fifty + murdered and made Captives, still Expecting relief from Coll. + Hunter; but wee are pursuaded that the Gentleman has done for us as + mutch as has layd in his power; we are at len[g]th surrounded with + great numbers on every side, and unless Our Honourable Councill Does + grant us some Assistance wee will Be obblidged to evaquete [_sic_] + this frontier; which will be great encouragement to the enemy, and + Bee very injurious to our Common Cause. We, therefore, humbly + request that you would grant us as many men as you may Judge + suficient to Defend four small Garrisons, and some amunition, and as + we are wery ill prowided with arms, we Beg that you would afford us + some of them; for particulars we refer to the Bearer, Robert + Fleming, Esq'r, and Begs leave to Conclude. Your humble petitioners, + as in Duty Bound, shall ever pray. + + Sined by us:[33] + +This petition was signed by some forty-seven settlers, including John +and Robert Fleming, Alexander Hamilton, and Samuel Horn. Unfortunately, +the much-needed assistance was not forthcoming, and Colonel Hunter soon +sent instructions from Fort Augusta for the evacuation of the valley. +This evacuation is, of course, the Great Runaway.[34] It is interesting +to note, however, that the bearer of this petition was Robert Fleming, +one of the regional leaders of the territory. + +Although forced to leave the West Branch Valley, the Fair Play settlers +responded to Colonel Hunter's fervent plea to stay at Fort Augusta to +help in the defense of this last frontier. Their gallant stand on the +West Branch and their earnestly successful support of Fort Augusta, the +last frontier outpost in central Pennsylvania, protected the interior, +enabled the Continental Congress "to function in safety at a period when +its collapse would have meant total disaster to the American cause," and +provided a vivid demonstration of what a later president of the United +States would call "that last full measure of devotion."[35] + +In the fall of 1778, following the earlier alliance with France, the +tide of the Revolution began to flow in favor of independence, +notwithstanding the fact that the Fair Play territory was now deserted. +But for two years previous, when the issue of independence had been in +grave doubt, the courageous pioneers of the West Branch stood their +ground in tiny garrisons at Fort Antes, Fort Horn, and Fort Reed, +resisting the attacking Indians at the insistence of their leaders, that +freedom might be preserved. Perhaps it is a little-known story, but the +fate of independence was in good hands with the Fair Play settlers of +the West Branch Valley, who fought to preserve it. + +Towards the end of the Revolution the Fair Play settlers returned to the +territory, and a new problem arose, that of title claims or, more +particularly, the right of pre-emption. Still outside the bounds of the +Commonwealth and organized government, these frontier squatters +petitioned the Supreme Council for validation of their land claims.[36] +Two petitions, one in August, 1781, and the other in March, 1784, were +sent. Their claims were recognized by an act of the General Assembly +passed in May, 1785.[37] By this time, the land in question had been +opened for settlement by virtue of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. +Needless to say, their petitions had been prompted in part by fear of +land speculators who were attempting to buy up their lands through the +Land Office in Philadelphia. The prominence of local leaders, such as +Alexander Hamilton and John Walker, is once again noted in these +petitions. These petitions achieved notable results in that the right of +pre-emption for the West Branch squatters was recognized by the +Commonwealth long before the national government endorsed the principle. +Furthermore, the validation of these claims beyond the purchase line of +the Stanwix Treaty of 1768 provided the first legal recognition of +pre-emption in the State of Pennsylvania. + +Unsuccessful in maintaining their homes against the incursive Indians, +but successful in regaining them by right of pre-emption, the Fair Play +settlers were also vitally concerned with representative democracy. +Locally, on the county level, and in the Province and State, these +frontiersmen sought to make their wishes known, both to and through +their political leaders. How well they achieved these goals was +influenced by the number of persons whom they elected to both legal and +extra-legal offices at the various political levels. + +The Fair Play settlers managed to send two of their associates to the +General Assembly in the decade after Lexington and Concord.[38] These +two, Robert Fleming and Frederick Antes, constituted a disproportionate +representation, when one considers the limited population of the Fair +Play community and the general under-representation of the frontier +counties at this period. In fact, a few hundred families in and around +the West Branch were surprisingly fortunate to have one of their number, +Robert Fleming, in the General Assembly when, following a petition from +the frontier counties in 1776, a new apportionment created an assembly +in which fifty-eight legislators represented Pennsylvania's 300,000 +people.[39] However, the elections of both Fleming and Antes came after +the new constitution of 1776, in which each county was given six +representatives.[40] It can hardly be said that the West Branch Valley +lacked adequate representation in the councils of the State. + +Furthermore, Frederick Antes was a delegate to that State Constitutional +Convention. This not only emphasizes the leadership role of Antes, but +also points up the good fortune of the Fair Play settlers in having one +of their community participate in the framing of the new State +government. Although the Fair Play settlers lived beyond the legal +limits of settlement, they were very much involved in its political +affairs. + +Aside from the General Assembly and the Constitutional Convention, these +pioneers of the Northumberland County frontier placed three men on the +county bench, one of whom was presiding judge.[41] Fair Play men became +justices of fair play in the county courts. + +Concerning other county offices, the key position of sheriff was held +continuously from 1779 to 1785 by members of the Fair Play +community.[42] Here again, it appears that the proper administration of +justice could be expected from Fair Play men. + +Locally, the rotational system of the Fair Play tribunal and the +frequent changes in the composition of the Committee of Safety give rise +to the conclusion that political democracy, in the sense of active +participation in public office, was truly a characteristic of the Fair +Play territory. Nine different men served on the three-man Committee of +Safety from February of 1776 to February of 1777, three new members +being elected semi-annually. Except for the two or three years following +the Great Runaway, the three members of the Fair Play tribunal were +elected annually. + +In conclusion, then, what can be said regarding the leadership of the +Fair Play settlers? Except for the dangers from Indian hostility, which +were compounded by the settlers' limited manpower, the leadership was +more than adequate, one might say eminently successful, in meeting the +needs of the frontier. It enacted law, interpreted it, and saw to it +that the law was carried out on every political level with which the +West Branch pioneers had contact. In short, it gave them a government +of, by, and for themselves. This was _real_ representation by spokesmen +of a small community, very different from _virtual_ representation in a +distant Parliament, from which their independence had now been +declared. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Edwin MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_ (Camden, N. J., +1900). This book is a mosaic of primary and secondary sources dealing +with the entire area, rather than a standard biographical treatment of +its particular subject. + +[2] Merle Curti, _The Making of an American Community: A Case Study of +Democracy in a Frontier County_ (Stanford, 1959), pp. 417-441. This +entire fifteenth chapter is devoted to both a quantitative and +qualitative analysis of "leadership." + +[3] Wealth, i.e., liquid assets, was not necessarily a criterion on this +agrarian frontier, where a man's assets were not easily convertible into +cash. Hence, property was the main economic source of value. + +[4] The records of the first State and county officers are found in the +_Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 768-772, and John Blair +Linn, _Annals of Buffalo Valley_ (Harrisburg, 1877), pp. 558-563. Some +data are also available in Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton +Counties_. + +The tax listings were located in the _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third +Series, XIX, 437, 468, 557, and 618-622. Mrs. Russell also collected a +listing for the years 1774 to 1800 for Northumberland County. Court +records, pension claims, Meginness' _Otzinachson_ (1889) and _Frontier +Forts of Pennsylvania_ provided the remaining data. + +[5] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, p. 19. + +[6] _Ibid._, pp. 20-21. MacMinn also calls the senior Antes the father +of the Unity Conferences of Christian Endeavor and presents a copy of a +letter written on Dec. 17, 1741, calling for a New Year's Day meeting of +Christians in Germantown in 1742 in support of this statement. Of his +minor judicial role, MacMinn offers this account published in +Christopher Saur's _Pensylvanische Berichte_ for May 16, 1756: "Were +such magistrates more numerous, the poor would not have cause to +complain and to weep over gross injustices which they have to suffer +because persons are respected." + +[7] _Ibid._, p. 248. + +[8] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 484. _See also_, MacMinn, _On +the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, p. 324. + +[9] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 316, 413; and +_Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, p. 769. + +[10] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 472. + +[11] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," pp. 220-222. + +[12] Linn, _Annals of the Buffalo Valley_, p. 95; and Meginness, +_Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 473. + +[13] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, p. 316. + +[14] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 473. + +[15] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 770. + +[16] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 416-420. See +also Alex. Patterson to John Dickinson (October 28, 1783) in the Zebulon +Butler Papers, Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, +Pa. Patterson, speaking of Antes' failure to arrest Zebulon Butler, said +of Antes: "The Sheriff has not done his duty nor do I believe he intends +it being. A party man among which I am sorry to see so little principels +of humanity or honnor, Men who wish for popularity at the Expense of the +Propperty and perhaps blood of their fellow Citizens...." + +[17] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 768-772, and MacMinn, +_On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 330, 395, and 413. + +[18] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 769. + +[19] _Ibid._, p. 771. + +[20] _Ibid._, pp. 769, 771; Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton +Counties_, pp. 473-474; and _Colonial Records_, XI, 367. + +[21] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 618. + +[22] MacMinn, _On the Frontier with Colonel Antes_, pp. 12 and 420. + +[23] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Third Series, XIX, 437. + +[24] _Colonial Records_, XII. 137. + +[25] _Fithian: Journal_, p. 81. + +[26] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 473. The full +account of Hamilton's military service is given in the Hamilton Pension +Papers in the Wagner Collection, Muncy Historical Society. Hamilton had +also been a member of the group commissioned to lay out a road from Bald +Eagle Creek to Fort Augusta. Linn, _History_, p. 472. + +[27] _Ibid._, p. 474, and Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 474. + +[28] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 770. + +[29] Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties_, p. 472. + +[30] _Ibid._, p. 473. + +[31] _Ibid._; Yeates, _Pennsylvania Reports_, I, 498; and Russell, +"Signers of the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence," p. 4. + +[32] Becker, _Beginnings of the American People_, p. 180. + +[33] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, pp. 217-218. The +petition was dated June 21, 1778. The situation had been further +complicated by the enlistment the previous summer of many of the +able-bodied men to aid Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These +men, "early in the service of their Country from the unpurchased land on +the West Branch of the River Susquehanna," deprived the valley of its +available manpower. + +[34] _See_ Chapter Two for a fuller description of the Great Runaway. + +[35] Helen Herritt Russell, "The Great Runaway of 1778," _The Journal of +the Lycoming Historical Society_, II, No. 4 (1961), 3-10. This article +contains a few additions to an article by the same name by Mrs. Russell +published in _The Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings +and Addresses_, XXIII (1960), 1-16. + +[36] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 518-522. + +[37] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[38] Robert Fleming and Frederick Antes, as previously noted, had been +elected in 1777 and 1784, respectively. + +[39] Dunaway, _History of Pennsylvania_, pp. 176, 196. Of these +fifty-eight, twenty-eight came from the frontier counties of York, +Berks, Bedford, Cumberland, and Northumberland. + +[40] Wallace, _Pennsylvania: Seed of a Nation_, pp. 105-106. + +[41] As previously noted, Henry Antes had been appointed judge of the +Court of Quarter Sessions in 1775, and Frederick Antes and Fleming had +been elected in 1780 and 1785, respectively. Frederick Antes was +president judge. + +[42] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 770. + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + +_Democracy on the Pennsylvania Frontier_ + + +One of the most often used and least understood words in the American +lexicon is the term "democracy." In the colonial period, it was seldom +used, except in denunciation. However, properly defined, it can help us +to evaluate the Fair Play settlers in some understandable context. +Etymologically stemming from two Greek words, _demos_, meaning "the +people," and _kratos_, meaning "authority," democracy means "authority +in the people" or, we can say, "self-determination." By +self-determination is meant the right of the people to decide their own +political, economic, and social institutions. + +Self-determination in its basic, or political, context can best be +explained through James Bryce's definition of a democracy. Lord Bryce +said: + + The word Democracy has been used ever since the time of Herodotus to + denote that form of government in which the ruling power of a State + is legally vested, not in any particular class or classes, but in + the members of the community as a whole.[1] + +Analyzing the key phrases in Bryce's statement, we can best clarify the +meaning of political self-determination. + +(1) "The ruling power of a State." Self-determination, as it is employed +here, concerns the right of the people of Fair Play society to determine +their own political institutions. Fair Play society did not constitute a +state, but it was a political community, and in that sense Bryce's +definition applies. Living outside the legal limit of settlement of +Province and Commonwealth, these people could not obtain legal authority +for their own rule, so, following the prevalent theory of the social +compact, they formed their own government. The result was the annual +election, by the people, of the Fair Play tribunal, the source of final +authority in the Fair Play territory. + +(2) "Is legally vested." Fair Play society was actually illegal; that is +to say, the settlements were made in violation of the laws of the +Province. However, the extra-legal government which was formed was +created by, and responsive to, the popular will. Since the actual +authority for rule was vested in the people, it can be considered as +legal for the Fair Play community. + +(3) "In the members of the community." The members of the Fair Play +community, as previously noted, were not strictly resident within the +geographic confines of the Fair Play territory. Communities, it has been +said, are total ways of life, complexes Of behavior composed of all the +institutions necessary to carry on a complete life, formed into a +working whole.[2] Self-determination, as it is used here, suggests that +the community as a whole participates in the decision-making process. + +(4) "Not in any particular class or classes, but in the members of the +community as a whole." Bryce's definition here extends the +interpretation of "the members of the community." Obviously, if any +particular class or classes were vested with the final political +authority, then the people as a whole, that is, the Fair Play community, +would not exercise self-determination. + +The concept of self-determination, carried to an economic context, +suggests that the people of the Fair Play community had the right to +determine their own economic institutions. This means that they had the +right to choose their own portion of land, subject, of course, to the +will of the existing community, and to utilize it according to their own +needs and interests. This meant that no undemocratic and feudalistic +practices, such as primogeniture and entail, could exist. Granted that +this is self-determination rather broadly interpreted in an economic +context, the question is whether or not these people had the right to +choose their own plot of ground and work it as they saw fit, unhampered +by any preordained system of discrimination or restriction. + +Socially, the idea of self-determination is applied to evaluate the +religious institutions, the class structure, and the value system. The +application concerns, once again, the authority of the people to +determine their own social patterns. It questions whether or not any +Fair Play settler could worship according to the dictates of his own +conscience. It evaluates the class structure to ascertain whether or not +a superimposed caste system ordered the class structure of Fair Play +society, rather than a community-determined system in which choice and +opportunity provided flexibility and mobility. And finally, it considers +whether or not the values of the Fair Play settlers were inculcated by +some internal clique or external force, rather than being developed by +the members of the community themselves. + +Did democracy exist on this Pennsylvania frontier? Was the Fair Play +system marked by real representation and popular control? These +questions must be answered before any judgment can be made concerning +political democracy in the West Branch Valley. + +Was there equality of economic opportunity on this farmers' frontier? +Was land available to all who sought it, and on equal terms? These +problems need to be considered before we can attach the label +"democratic" on the economic life of the Fair Play settlers. + +If democracy prizes diversity, as some claim, were the diverse elements +of Fair Play society equally recognized?[3] Was the class structure open +or closed, mobile or fixed? Did the mixed national stocks enjoy +religious freedom? One needs to inquire into each of these areas prior +to a final evaluation of Fair Play society. + +A useful tool for evaluating political democracy can be found in Ranney +and Kendall's _Democracy and the American Party System_.[4] It suggests +the use of popular sovereignty, political equality, popular +consultation, and majority rule as criteria for democracy. Accepting +these criteria as basic principles of democracy, we can begin to analyze +the democratic character of the Fair Play system. + +A political system based upon popular sovereignty is one in which the +final authority to rule is vested in the people. The question of who the +people are is still before us today. In the fullest sense, popular +sovereignty means rule by all the people, but in colonial America the +"people" was a much more qualified term. It generally signified white, +Protestant, adult males who were property owners. In the Fair Play +territory, the ruling "people" were "the whole body" of adult male +settlers who annually elected their governing tribunal and participated +in the decisions of its "court."[5] Lacking an established church, or +any church for that matter, and possessing property lying beyond legal +limits of settlement, the Fair Play settlers could not have enforced +religious or property qualifications for voting, even if they had so +desired, and there is no evidence to indicate that they did. +Furthermore, the frequency of elections, which were held annually, and +the principle of rotating the offices among the settlers tended to +emphasize the sovereignty of the people in this part of the West Branch +Valley. The right of suffrage, it is true, had not been extended to +women, but this was the rule throughout colonial America. Popular +sovereignty, in its qualified eighteenth-century sense, was a basic +characteristic of the political democracy which existed on this +frontier. + +Political equality, that is "one man, one vote," was practiced by the +pioneers of the West Branch. There was no additional vote given to the +large property owners; in fact, as the tax lists indicate, there were no +large property owners within the geographic limits of the Fair Play +territory. Thus, each man, rather than a small ruling oligarchy, had the +opportunity to participate in the decision-making process of the Fair +Play community. + +In a democratic society, the people must be consulted by the policy +makers prior to their exercise of the power of decision. Among the Fair +Play settlers this basically democratic principle was vividly +demonstrated in the case of disputed land titles, the primary concern of +the Fair Play men. In both Eleanor Coldren's deposition in behalf of her +deceased husband and in the Huff-Latcha case, it was established that +the unanimous consent of the prospective neighbors had to be obtained +before a favorable decision was rendered in behalf of the land +claimants.[6] The frequency of elections, combined with the ease and +regularity of assembly, provided the settlers with the opportunity to +become acquainted with the circumstances of their problems. Here again, +the paucity of specific data prompts us to some speculation regarding +the nature and location of these meetings. However, it must be added, +the Hamilton pension papers and the petitions to the Supreme Council in +Philadelphia refer specifically to meetings at Fort Horn and Fort +Antes.[7] Direct representation based upon popular consultation was a +distinct trait of the political democracy in the Fair Play territory. + +The fourth principle of political democracy, majority rule, is probably +the most controversial and confusing element of the combination. +Absolute majority rule, its critics tell us, means majority "tyranny" +and minority acquiescence, despite the fact that this fear is not +empirically demonstrable.[8] The majority ruled absolutely in the Fair +Play territory just as it did in the New England town meeting, and with +similar results. However, it never restricted suffrage or public office +to particular religious or nationality groups. Scotch-Irish, English, +and German settlers participated equally in the political process. +However, as we pointed out in the last chapter, the English did not +enjoy leadership roles in the community.[9] Whether this was by accident +or by design is difficult to ascertain. Perhaps it was just a further +demonstration of the absolute rule of the majority with the Scotch-Irish +and the Germans combining to form that majority. + +The nature of community implies shared interests and the prevailing +interest in this frontier community was survival. Necessity undoubtedly +caused the English minority to accept the Scotch-Irish and German +leadership, because forbearance meant survival. Conversely, the +Scotch-Irish and Germans could, and did, support the English in +positions of responsibility on the basis of their mutual needs and their +desire to maintain the community.[10] Not only physical survival but +also economic survival were mutually desirable to Fair Play community +members, and the decisions of the court were rendered on the basis of +equal justice.[11] + +As long as minority feelings are given free expression in an atmosphere +of mutual concern, there is little danger of misinterpretation by the +majority. Such a climate prevailed in the meetings of the Fair Play +settlers and the sessions of the Fair Play men; at least, there is no +available evidence to the contrary. + +The nature and role of consensus in the Fair Play territory hinged upon +what was best for the community. Fundamental agreement was reached, +based upon mutual need apparent from open discussion. In the event of +conflict, forbearance, which was in the best interest of the community, +could be expected.[12] An examination of the appearance dockets of the +county courts for Northumberland and Lycoming counties suggests, +however, that this consensus did not extend to questions of land titles. +Nevertheless, the all-inclusiveness of signatures on petitions to the +Supreme Executive Council for protection from the Indians and for the +recognition of the right of pre-emption, and the general response of the +Fair Play settlers to calls for troops for the Continental Army indicate +to some degree the nature and extent of that consensus.[13] + +Democracy, that is self-determination, did exist among the Fair Play +settlers of this Pennsylvania frontier. There was no outside authority +which legislated the affairs of the pioneers of the West Branch. They +selected their own representatives, the Fair Play men, and maintained +their control over them, a control which was assured both by annual +elections and the full participation of the settlers in the +decision-making process. The will of the majority prevailed, and that +will was expressed through a community consensus reached by the full +participation of political equals. It was neither radical nor +revolutionary, but it was typical of the American colonial experience. +The Fair Play settlers had not "jumped the gun" on independence, +although they participated in the movement. They did not rebel against a +ruling aristocracy. They simply governed themselves. + +Self-determination, as we have already stated, includes the right of the +people to decide upon their own economic institutions. This right was +asserted on the farmers' frontier of the West Branch. With free land +available to those who worked it, provided the neighbors and the Fair +Play men approved, economic opportunity was shared by the Scotch-Irish, +English, German, Scots, Irish, Welsh, and French settlers.[14] This +sharing, in itself, was a demonstration of economic democracy. + +The labor system, too, was an affirmation of the democratic ideal. +Because free land was available in the Fair Play territory, neither +slavery nor involuntary servitude existed in this region, although it +was found in immediately adjacent areas.[15] Free labor, family labor to +be more exact, was the system employed in this portion of the West +Branch Valley. Noticeable, too, was the spirit of cooperation in such +enterprises as cabin-raisings, barn-raisings, harvesting, cornhuskings +and the like. This mutual helpfulness was characteristic of the frontier +and obviated the necessity of any enforced labor system. + +Tenancy was occasionally practiced in the Fair Play territory, although +it appears that the tenant farmer suffered no feelings of inferiority, +if the following case is any example: + + ... Peter Dewitt ... leased the land in question to William + McIlhatton as a Cropper, who took possession of it after Huggins + left it: That the Terms of the Lease were that McIlhatton should + possess the Land about two or three Years, rendering hold of the + Crops to be raised unto Peter Dewitt, who was to find him a Team and + farming Utensils: That the Lease was in Writing and Lodged with a + certain Daniel Cruger who lived in the Neighborhood at that + Time.[16] + +Sometime later, McElhattan obtained the lease from Cruger and sold "his +right" to William Dunn, claiming that Dewitt had failed to fill his end +of the bargain, despite the fact that Eleanor Coldren gave evidence to +the contrary. When challenged for selling Dewitt's land, McElhattan +responded in a fashion which demonstrates the independent spirit of this +lessee. He said "that he only sold his Right to Dunn and if Dunn would +be such a fool as to give him forty or fifty pounds for Nothing He +McIlhatton would be a greater fool for not taking it--for that Dunn knew +what Right he (McIlhatton) had."[17] Obviously, if this case is +indicative, and there were others, share-cropping did not induce +attitudes of subservience. + +Religious freedom, in which Pennsylvania ranked second only to Rhode +Island in colonial America, was enjoyed by the frontiersmen of the West +Branch. It might, however, be better described as a freedom from +religion rather than a freedom of religion. With no system of local +taxation and no regular church, there was no establishment of religion. +Nevertheless, this is not to suggest that religious qualifications were +not applied to prospective landowners, potential voters, or members of +the Fair Play community. Religious liberty had been guaranteed to +Pennsylvanians in the Charter of Privileges of 1701, and no religious +test was required for suffrage in the new State constitution in 1776. +Belief in one God and in the inspiration of the Scriptures was required +for members of the assembly, but bona fide Fair Play settlers were +disqualified on geographic grounds anyhow.[18] + +There is no record of religious discrimination among the Fair Play +settlers. In addition to the absence of a regular church, this was +probably due, in part, to the religious composition of the population. +The pioneers of the West Branch were Protestant Christians, and if +denominational in their approach, either Presbyterian or Methodist. The +friction between Methodists and Presbyterians appears to have been +doctrinal rather than political or social.[19] + +The comparative economic equality in an area of free land had a +democratizing influence on the social class structure. This three-class +stratification, composed of property owners distinguished by their +morality, other property owners, and tenants, was an open-class system +marked by a noticeable degree of mobility. Fair Play settlers who began +as tenants could, and did, become property owners. + +Since no one in the Fair Play territory could claim more than 300 acres +under the Pre-Emption Act of 1785, there was little chance for the +development of an aristocratic class.[20] It was a society of +achievement in which the race was open to anyone who could acquire land, +with the approval of his neighbors and the Fair Play men, and "improve" +it. There is no evidence to indicate that the availability of land was +restricted because of national origin, religious affiliation, or a +previous condition of servitude. This is not to say that the judgments +of neighbors may not have been based upon these criteria, but, at least, +there is no record of such discrimination. The Fair Play settlers were +eighteenth-century souls and romantic egalitarianism was not a +characteristic of such persons. The frontier, however, broke "the cake +of custom" and the necessities of that experience contributed to the +development of democracy as we have defined it. + +A recent writer, analyzing the "democracy" of the Scotch-Irish, made his +evaluation on the basis of the contemporary French definition of +liberty, equality, and fraternity.[21] On this basis, the Scotch-Irish +fail; but if we equate democracy with self-determination, the +Scotch-Irish and the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch Valley can be +seen as thoroughgoing democrats. + +The value system of the pioneers on the West Branch of the Susquehanna +reflected, at least in part, the democracy of the frontier. The spirit +of cooperation and mutual helpfulness was a prime characteristic of this +frontier, as it was of others. Cabin-raisings, barn-raisings, and the +cooperative enterprises at harvesttime enhanced the spirit of community +and brought the settlers together in common efforts, which demonstrated +their equality. Individualism could be harnessed for the common good, +and such was the case among the Fair Play settlers in the struggle for +economic survival. + +Faith, patriotism, and temperance were not necessarily democratic, but +they also were part of the value system of the Fair Play settlers. In +matters of faith, there was a certain "live and let live" philosophy, +which had democratic implications. Despite the conflict between +Methodists and Presbyterians, the members of the Presbyterian majority +made their homes available to Methodist preachers.[22] This demonstrated +a willingness at least to hear "the other side." Such an atmosphere is +conducive to democracy, if not to conversion. There is little doubt, +however, that this receptivity was due in part to the absence of any +"regular" church or preacher. Here again, the necessities of the +frontier made "democrats" of its occupants. + +The most intense patriots are often ethnocentric and chauvinistic. The +Fair Play settlers were such patriots, according to one journalist.[23] +However, the patriotism of the eighteenth century had not reached the +level of concern for all mankind which finds expression today. The +pioneers of the West Branch were democrats in an age not yet conditioned +to democracy. + +Temperance, particularly with regard to the use of spirited beverages, +usually implies abstinence, which is certainly not democratic if it is +applied in a formally imposed prohibition without any local option. +Abstinence by choice, however, is purely a matter of self-determination. +But in an area where drinking was a commonly accepted practice, such as +the frontier, the term signifies moderation. In the Fair Play territory +drinking, but not drunkenness, was condoned. The spirit of the frontier, +or the use of it, was not incompatible with democracy. + +Frontier values, for the most part then, were democratic in tendency. +Noteworthy for their attitude of community cooperation and mutual +helpfulness, supported by a faith which could not afford to be +exclusive, temperate in their personal habits, particularly in the use +of alcohol, the patriots of the Fair Play territory looked to a future +filled with promise and opportunity for all the diverse elements of +their society. This is the democracy which the frontier nurtured. It +flourished in the West Branch Valley. + +In summary then, was self-determination the central theme in the Fair +Play territory? Did the Fair Play settlers truly determine their own +political, economic, and social institutions? The available data suggest +that they did. + +The democracy of the Fair Play settlers encompassed popular sovereignty, +political equality, popular consultation, majority rule, religious +freedom, an open class structure, free land, free labor, and a value +system whose dominating feature was mutual helpfulness. The democracy of +Fair Play was basically the fair play of democracy. + +Observable in this atmosphere were the traits of a developing American +character, traits which the frontier historian, Frederick Jackson +Turner, defined as democratic.[24] These included the composite +nationality of a population of mixed national origins; the self-reliance +which the new experience of the frontier developed; the independence, +both of action and in spirit, which the relative isolation of the +environment promoted; a rationalistic, or pragmatic, approach to +problems necessitated by circumstances lacking in precedents for +solution; and perhaps a growing nationalism, marked by an identification +with something larger than the mere Provincial assembly, something +existing, but not yet realized, the American nation. + +These traits, in conjunction with Turner's thesis, are a major concern +of the final chapter. That chapter will provide an evaluation of +frontier ethnography as a technique for testing the validity of this +interpretation of Turner's thesis on the Fair Play frontier of the West +Branch Valley. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Quoted in Austin Ranney and Willmoore Kendall, _Democracy and the +American Party System_ (New York, 1956), pp. 23-24. + +[2] Don Martindale, _American Society_ (New York, 1960), p. 105. + +[3] National Education Association, Educational Policies Commission, +_The Education of Free Men in American Democracy_ (Washington, 1941), +pp. 25-26. + +[4] Pp. 18-39. + +[5] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[6] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," pp. 220-222; Lycoming County Docket +No. 2, Commencing 1797, No. 32; _see also_, Chapter Two, _passim_. + +[7] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 217; and the Muncy +Historical Society, Wagner Collection, Hamilton Papers. + +[8] Ranney and Kendall, _Democracy and the American Party System_, p. +47. The authors argue here that the history of town meetings in America +and the Parliamentary system in Great Britain shows hundreds of years +without majority tyranny or civil war. + +[9] Chapter Six, pp. 78, 84. + +[10] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 770. For example, John +Chatham, an English miller, was elected coroner in 1782, a minor role to +be sure, but he was supported. + +[11] Smith, _Laws_, II, 196-197. In _Sweeney_ vs. _Toner_, an +Englishman, Toner's property right was upheld because his absence was +for military service, despite the fact that Sweeney, a Scotch-Irishman, +was a majority representative. + +[12] Linn, "Indian Land and Its Fair Play Settlers," p. 424. The case +cited here, _Huff_ vs. _Satcha_, saw the use of militia to drive off a +landholder whose title had been denied by the Fair Play men. + +[13] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 217-218, 417-418, and +518-522. On page 417, fifty-three officers and soldiers are described as +"early in the service from the unpurchased land." Thirty-nine +petitioners (p. 520) sought pre-emption, a claim repeated over two years +later by some fifty-three settlers. The petition to the Supreme Council +(p. 217) for protection from the Indians in 1778 prior to the Great +Runaway bore forty-seven names. + +[14] _See_ Chapter Two for a demographic analysis of the Fair Play +settlers. + +[15] Clark, "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," p. 28. + +[16] "Eleanor Coldren's Deposition," p. 222. + +[17] _Ibid._ + +[18] _See_ Chapter One for the geographic bounds of the Fair Play +territory. The Fair Play territory did not come under State jurisdiction +until the second Stanwix Treaty in 1784. Regardless, it must be +remembered that settlers on the south bank of the Susquehanna actually +participated in the political, economic, and social life of the +community. The fact that these participants were often community leaders +was pointed out in Chapter Six. + +[19] _See_ the footnotes in Chapter Five referring to _The Journal of +William Colbert_. + +[20] Smith, _Laws_, II, 195. + +[21] Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, pp. 311-314. + +[22] _The Journal of William Colbert._ Colbert had been received at +Annanias McFaddon's (Aug. 20, 1792, Sept. 4, 1793) and John Hamilton's +(July 23, 1792, Aug. 20, 1793), where he both preached and lodged. Both +were Presbyterians, and, as noted earlier, Colbert expressed grave +doubts concerning his efforts there. + +[23] "Diary of the Unknown Traveler," p. 307. + +[24] Turner, _Frontier and Section_, p. 5. + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + +_Frontier Ethnography and the Turner Thesis_ + + +In the first chapter of his recent study, _The Making of an American +Community_, Merle Curti suggests that "less is to be gained by further +analysis of Turner's brilliant and far-ranging but often ambiguous +presentations than by patient and careful study of particular frontier +areas in the light of the investigator's interpretation of Turner's +theory."[1] This study was undertaken with just such a purpose in mind. +In addition, it is hoped that this investigation will give some insight +into the value of ethnography and its usefulness as an analytic +technique in studying the frontier. + +By definition, ethnography is "the scientific description of nations or +races of men, their customs, habits, and differences."[2] Frontier +ethnography is the scientific description of the full institutional +pattern of a particular group of people, located specifically on a +certain frontier, within a certain period of time. That institutional +pattern is described from the analysis of data concerning the political +and economic systems, and the social structure, including religion, the +family, the value system, social classes, art, music, recreation, +mythology, and folklore. Also, as noted in the first two chapters of +this study, geographic and demographic data have been analyzed in an +attempt to picture the area under observation and the people who +inhabited that region. It is believed that these various data present a +fuller view of the "way of life" of these people than the earlier +politico-military accounts of nineteenth-century historians. + +Of course, there are certain limitations in this particular analysis. +This study is not meant to be typical of the frontier experience or +necessarily representative of frontier communities. However, it would +have broader implications if a similar study were made for Greene County +in western Pennsylvania, where a group composed mainly of Scotch-Irish +Presbyterians also set up a "Fair Play system."[3] Furthermore, it is my +interpretation of Turner's thesis which is being tested, not the +validity of the thesis. + +Despite the fact that the Fair Play settlers and their "system" have +been referred to by both Pennsylvania and frontier historians in the +twentieth century, neither the settlers nor their system has been +studied in depth.[4] Meginness and Linn, the foremost historians of the +West Branch, were both nineteenth-century writers, and, unfortunately, +twentieth-century scholars have not considered the Fair Play settlers +worthy of their study. Biographical studies are limited to the work of +Edwin MacMinn on Colonel Antes, completed in 1900. As a result, there +has been a definite need for an investigation collating the researches +of these earlier historians and based upon the available primary data. +This study is an attempt to fill the void. + +The seeming paucity of primary source materials is a further +complication to the student of Fair Play history. However, letters, +journals, diaries, probate records, tax lists, pension claims, and court +records offer adequate data to the inquiring historian, although the +extra-legal character of the settlement seriously reduced the public +record. Nevertheless, the broad scope of ethnography provides the kind +of study for which the data supply a rather full picture of life on this +frontier. Political, economic, and social patterns are discernible, +although no day-by-day account for any extended period has been +uncovered. + +This ethnographic analysis demonstrates the merits of the "civilization +approach" to history. Examining every aspect of a society, it provides +more than a mere "battles and leaders" account. The result gives insight +into a "style of life" rather than a chronology of highlights. This +study has investigated the full institutional structure of the Fair Play +frontier, evaluating that structure in terms of a developing democracy, +or, at least, of democratic tendencies. + +American civilization was a frontier civilization from the outset, and +that frontier experience was significant in the development of American +democracy. Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis, which has +probably inspired more historical scholarship than any other American +thesis, stated that "the existence of an area of free land, its +continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, +explain American development."[5] That development took place on +successive frontiers stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast +over a period of almost three centuries. Turner's second frontier, the +Allegheny Mountains, marked the farmers' frontier of the Fair Play +settlers of the West Branch Valley. + +It was on the frontier, according to Turner, that the "true" traits of +American character emerged; its composite nationality, its self-reliant +spirit, its independence of thought and action, its nationalism, and its +rationalistic approach to the problems of a pioneer existence. The Fair +Play settlers, American frontiersmen, suggested some of these traits in +their character. Recognizing the data limitations of this study, the +evidence indicates some validation of this test of Turner's model. +However, it would be presumptuous indeed to conclude that this analysis +offers a complete demonstration of the impact of the frontier in the +development of traits of character which Turner classified as American. + +The composite nationality of the Fair Play settlers is particularly +evident from the demographic analysis offered at the beginning of this +study.[6] Seven different national stock groups appeared on this +frontier: Scotch-Irish, English, German, Scots, Irish, Welsh, and +French. Here, indeed, was "the crucible of the frontier," in which +settlers were "Americanized, liberated, and fused into a mixed race."[7] + +The legendary self-reliance of the frontiersman is not without some +basis in fact. The nature of the frontier experience itself was +conducive to its development. Its appearance among the Fair Play +settlers is implied in various contexts. Politically, it is suggested in +the creation of the Fair Play men, the annual governing tribunal, an +extra-legal political agency in this extra-Provincial territory. +Economically, it is intimated in the image of the frontier farmer +tackling the wilderness with rifle and plow and the unbounded +determination to make a better life for himself and his family. +Socially, the self-reliance of these doughty pioneers is indicated in +the continuation of their religious practices and worship, despite the +absence of any organized church. Their self reliance is indicated, as +well, in the flexibility of a social structure whose main criterion was +achievement, a society in which "what" you were was more important than +"who" you were. These examples are, of course, only brief glimpses of +the elusive trait of self-reliance which Turner considered typical of +the frontier. + +Independence, or the ability to act independently, was a characteristic +frontier trait, according to Turner. The Fair Play settlers presented +some contradictions. It is true that they organized their own system of +government and the code under which it operated. However, their key +leaders lived on the periphery; and the settlers petitioned the +Commonwealth government for assistance in the vital questions of defense +and pre-emption rights.[8] The Fair Play settlers were generally +independent, a condition promoted by the necessities of frontier life; +but, obviously, they were not isolated. + +It is difficult to assess the nationalizing influence of this particular +frontier. In the first place, aside from the Second Continental +Congress, there was no national government during most of the Fair Play +period. The Articles of Confederation were not ratified until 1781, and +Fair Play territory was opened to settlement after the Treaty of Fort +Stanwix in 1784. Furthermore, the patriotism of the Fair Play settlers +seems to reflect an ethnocentric pride in their own territory and an +exaggerated interpretation of its significance to the developing +nation.[9] Their patriotism was apparently for an ideal, liberty, to +which they were devoted, having already enjoyed it in a nation only +recently declared, but yet to be recognized. And, for its support, there +had been a rush to the colors by these settlers "beyond the purchase +line."[10] The "real American Revolution," as John Adams described it, +was "in the minds and hearts of the people," and it was "effected before +the war Commenced."[11] That revolution had already occurred in the +Fair Play territory prior to the firing of "the shot heard round the +world" on Lexington green. + +The frontier experience had a profound influence on the development of +the American philosophy of pragmatism. Turner claimed that it was "to +the frontier" that "the American intellect owe[d] its striking +characteristics."[12] And the Fair Play settlers showed that + + ... coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and + inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to + find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in + the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, + nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and + for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with + freedom....[13] + +The frontiersman of the West Branch was a free spirit in a free land, a +doer rather than a thinker, more concerned with the "hows" than the +"whys" of survival. This practical approach to problems can be seen in +the homes he built, the tools he made, the clothes he wore, the +political and social systems under which he operated, and the set of +values by which he was motivated. The development of these +characteristic American traits owed much to the frontier and the new +experiences which it offered. + +This ethnographic analysis of the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch +Valley has attempted to present a clearer picture of the "style of life" +on this particular frontier and, in so doing, to suggest a further +technique for the frontier historian. There are, no doubt, certain +defects in this specific study, but the fault lies with the limitations +of the data rather than the technique. The scope of this investigation +has carried into questions of geography, demography, politics, +economics, social systems, and leadership. Unfortunately, the frontier +had not yet provided the leisure essential to artistic and aesthetic +pursuits. Consequently, these areas were given a limited treatment. +Furthermore, the mythology and folklore of this valley offered little of +record. However, the breadth of this analysis has furnished evidence of +the existence of democracy on this frontier and, thus, support for +Turner's thesis, or at least for this interpretation of it. + +The geographic analysis has clarified the question of the Tiadaghton, +demonstrating that Lycoming Creek, rather than Pine Creek, was the true +eastern boundary of the Fair Play territory. The substantial destruction +of an erroneous legend has been the main contribution of the geographic +part of this study.[14] It is now clear that the Fair Play territory +extended from Lycoming Creek, on the north side of the West Branch of +the Susquehanna River, to the Great Island, just east of Lock Haven. +This frontier region was beyond the legal limit of settlement of the +Province and the Commonwealth from 1769 to 1784. Hence, within its +limits was formed the extra-legal political system known as Fair Play. + +The demographic portion of this study has added to the undermining of +the frontier myth of the Scotch-Irish. The evidence presented here +indicates that it was the frontier, rather than national origin, which +affected the behavior of the pioneers of the West Branch Valley. The +Fair Play settlers, a mixed population of seven national stock groups, +reacted similarly to the common problems of the frontier experience. In +one important exception, the Fair Play system itself, there is, however, +an apparent contradiction. Since no account of any "fair play system" +has turned up in the annals of the Cumberland Valley, the American +reservoir of the Scotch-Irish, it seems quite probable that the "system" +originated in either Northern Ireland or Scotland, or else on the +frontier itself. This probability offers good ground for further study, +particularly when the existence of a similar "system" in Greene County, +which was found in conjunction with this investigation, is +considered.[15] If the Fair Play system originated on the frontier, why +did not it also appear on the Virginia and Carolina frontiers where the +Scotch-Irish predominated? Regardless, the lack of data corroborating +the American origin of the Fair Play system leads to the conclusion that +the germ of this political organization was brought to this country by +the Scotch-Irish from their cultural heritage, and that those elements +were found usable under the frontier conditions of both central and +southwestern Pennsylvania. If so, the politics of "fair play" will add +to, rather than detract from, the myth of the Scotch-Irish. + +This study has also brought forward the first complete account of court +records validating the activities of the Fair Play men. Mainly concerned +with the adjudication of land questions, this frontier tribunal +developed an unwritten code which encompassed the problems of +settlement, tenure, and ejectment. Subsequently reviewed in the regular +courts of the counties of which the Fair Play territory became a part, +these cases provide substantial evidence of the existence of a "system" +as well as insight into the manner of its operation. The fairness of the +Fair Play system is marked by the fact that none of the decisions of its +tribunal was later reversed in the established county courts. +Supplemented by the Committee of Safety for Northumberland County and +augmented by peripheral leaders, who gave them a voice in the higher +councils of the State, the Fair Play men and their government proved +adequate to the needs of the settlers, until all were driven off in the +Great Runaway of 1778. + +Some corroboration for the legendary tale of a "Fair Play Declaration of +Independence" was found in the course of this study. Although +consisting, in the main, of accounts culled from the records of +Revolutionary War pension claimants made some eighty years after the +event, the evidence is that of a contemporary.[16] However, the most +common objection to this conclusion, that the Fair Play declaration was +merely the reading of a copy of Jefferson's Declaration, is +unsubstantiated by the archival descriptions.[17] Perhaps the Fair Play +declaration is apocryphal, but, lacking valid disclaimers, the Hamilton +data offer some basis for a judgment. It is the tentative conclusion of +this writer that there was such a declaration on the banks of Pine Creek +in July of 1776. + +The Fair Play territory was truly "an area of free land" in which a "new +order of Americanism" emerged.[18] Individualistic and self-reliant of +necessity, the pioneers of this farmers' frontier rationally developed +their solution to the problem of survival in the wilderness, a +democratic squatter sovereignty. With land readily available and a free +labor system to work it, provided that the family was large enough to +assure sufficient "hands," these agrarian frontiersmen not only +cultivated the soil but also a free society. And their cooperative +spirit, despite their mixed national origins, was markedly noticeable at +harvesttime. From such spirit are communities formed, and from such +communities a democratic society emerges. + +This analysis has not only described the geography and demography, the +politics and economics of the Fair Play settlers; it has also examined +the basis and structure of this society, including the value system +which undergirded it. The results have pictured the religious liberty +extant in a frontier society isolated from any regular or established +church, a liberty of conscience which left each man free to worship +according to the dictates of his own faith. This freedom, this right to +choose for himself, made the Fair Play settler surprisingly receptive to +other groups and their practices, practices which he was free to reject, +and often did.[19] This analysis has also pointed up the class structure +and its significance in promoting order in a frontier community. And +finally, an examination of the value system of these Pennsylvania +pioneers has provided an understanding of why they behaved as they did. + +The last major aspect of this investigation concerned the nature of +leadership. Determined by the people, and thus essentially democratic, +it had certain peculiar characteristics. In the first place, the top +leaders tended to come from the Fair Play community in its broadest +social sense, but not from the Fair Play territory in its narrow +geographic sense.[20] Secondly, the political participation of the Fair +Play settlers, if office-holding is any criterion, emphasizes the high +degree of involvement in terms of the total population.[21] And last, +this leadership appeared to be overextended when faced with the problem +of defending its own frontier and the new nation which was striving so +desperately for independence. Consequently, it was forced to turn to +established government for support. This may have been the embryonic +beginning of the nationalism which the frontier fostered in later +generations. + +What then, is the meaning of this particular study, an ethnographic +interpretation of Turner's thesis? Turner himself, gave the best +argument for ethnography. He said that + + ... the economist, the political scientist, the psychologist, the + sociologist, the geographer, the student of literature, of art, of + religion--all the allied laborers in the study of society--have + contributions to make to the equipment of the historian. These + contributions are partly of material, partly of tools, partly of new + points of view, new hypotheses, new suggestions of relations, + causes, and emphasis. Each of these special students is in some + danger of bias by his particular point of view, by his exposure to + see simply the thing in which he is primarily interested, and also + by his effort to deduce the universal laws of his separate science. + The historian, on the other hand, is exposed to the danger of + dealing with the complex and interacting social forces of a period + or of a country from some single point of view to which his special + training or interest inclines him. If the truth is to be made known, + the historian must so far familiarize himself with the work, and + equip himself with the training of his sister-subjects that he can + at least avail himself of their results and in some reasonable + degree master the essential tools of their trade.[22] + +Frontier ethnography is just such an effort. + +The frontier ethnographer then, because of his interdisciplinary +approach, can capture the spirit of pioneer life. And if, as Turner +suggested, the frontier explains American development, then frontier +ethnography presents an understanding of the American ethos with its +ideals of discovery, democracy, and individualism.[23] These ideals +characterize "the American spirit and the meaning of America in world +history."[24] + +The ideal of discovery, "the courageous determination to break new +paths," as Turner called it, was abundantly evident in the Fair Play +territory of the West Branch Valley.[25] This innovating spirit can be +seen in the piercing of the Provincial boundary, despite the restrictive +legislation to the contrary, and the establishment of homes in Indian +territory.[26] It was also demonstrated in a marvelous adaptability in +solving the new problems of the frontier, problems for which the old +dogmas were no longer applicable. The new world of the Susquehanna +frontier made new men, Americans. + +Self-determination, the ideal of democracy as we have defined it, was +the cornerstone of Fair Play society. Its particular contribution was +the Fair Play "system" with its popularly elected tribunal of Fair Play +men. Perhaps this was the proper antecedent of the commission form of +local government which came into vogue on the progressive wave of the +late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Regardless, the +geographic limitations of the Fair Play territory, the frequency of +elections, and the open conduct of meetings tend to substantiate the +democratic evaluation which has been made of the politics of this +frontier community. Furthermore, as was pointed out in the last chapter, +this self-determination was the key characteristic of the economic and +social life of these people.[27] + +The pioneer ideal of creative and competitive individualism, which +Turner considered America's best contribution to history and to +progress, was an essential of the frontier experience which became an +integral part of the American mythology.[28] The "myth of the happy +yeoman," as one historian called it, is still revered in American +folklore and respected in American politics, whether it is outmoded or +not.[29] The primitive nature of frontier life developed this +characteristically American trait and the family, the basic +organization of social control, promoted it. It was this promotion, with +its antipathy to any outside control, which stimulated the Revolution, +creating an American nation from an already existing American character. + +The individualism of the West Branch frontier is also apparent in the +administration of justice. The Fair Play system emphasized the +personality of law, by its very title, rather than the organized +machinery of justice.[30] Frontier law was personal and direct, +resulting in the unchecked development of the individual, a circumstance +which Turner considered the significant product of this frontier +democracy.[31] Being personal, though, it had meaning for those affected +by it, as an anecdote noted earlier indicated.[32] + +Individualism has become somewhat of an anachronism in a mass society, +but its obsolescence today is part of the current American tragedy. The +buoyant self-confidence which it inspired has made much of the American +dream a reality. Legislation, it is true, has taken the place of free +lands as the means of preserving democracy, but it will be a hollow +triumph if that legislation suppresses this essential trait of the +American character, its individualism. No intelligent person today would +recommend a return to the laissez-faire individualism of the Social +Darwinists of the late nineteenth century, but it must be admitted that +a society emphasizing the worth of the individual and dedicated to +principles of justice and fair play, the banner under which the +frontiersmen of the West Branch operated, has genuine merit. + +Whether the historian is analyzing old frontiers or charting new ones, +the timeless question remains: does man have the intelligence adequate +to secure his own survival? The old frontiers, such as the Fair Play +territory of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, were free lands of +opportunity for a better life, and the history of the westward movement +of the American people gives ample proof of their conquest. But the new +frontiers are not so clearly marked or so easily conquered. Perhaps a +re-examination of the history of the old frontiers can give increased +meaning to the problems of the new. This investigation was attempted, in +part, to serve such a purpose. + +The intelligent solution to the problem of survival for the pioneers of +the West Branch Valley was fair play. The ethnography of the Fair Play +settlers is the record of the democratic development of an American +community under the impact of the new experience of the frontier. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] P. 2. + +[2] _The Oxford Universal Dictionary_ (Oxford, 1955), p. 637. + +[3] Solon and Elizabeth Buck, _The Planting of Civilization in Western +Pennsylvania_ (Pittsburgh, 1939), pp. 431 and 451. + +[4] _See_, for example, Dunaway, _A History of Pennsylvania_, p. 146, +and _The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania_, pp. 159-160; _also_, +Leyburn, _The Scotch-Irish_, p. 306. + +[5] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, p. 1. + +[6] _See_ Chapter Two. + +[7] Quoted by Ray Allen Billington in his introduction to Turner, +_Frontier and Section_, p. 5. + +[8] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, III, 217-218, 518-522. + +[9] This pride was notably demonstrated in the insistence of the Fair +Play settlers that a stand be made at Fort Augusta following the Great +Runaway. Previous to this, they had pleaded for support for "our Common +Cause" in the defense of this frontier. _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second +Series, III, 217. + +[10] _Pennsylvania Archives_, Second Series, X, 27-31, 417, and Fifth +Series, II, 29-35. + +[11] Quoted in Clinton Rossiter, _The First American Revolution_ (New +York, 1956), pp. 4-5. + +[12] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, p. 37. + +[13] _Ibid._ + +[14] _See also_, George D. Wolf, "The Tiadaghton Question," _The Lock +Haven Review_, Series I, No. 5 (1963), 61-71. + +[15] Buck, _The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania_, pp. +431, 451. + +[16] Anna Jackson Hamilton to Hon. George C. Whiting, Commissioner of +Pensions, Dec. 16, 1858, Wagner Collection, Muncy Historical Society. + +[17] _Colonial Records_, X, 634-635. The following resolution of +Congress was entered in the minutes of the Council of Safety on July 5, +1776: + + _Resolved_, That Copies of the Declaration be sent to the several + Assemblies, Conventions, and Councils of Safety, and to the several + Commanding Officers of the Continental Troops, that it be proclaimed + in each of the United States, and at the Head of the Army. + + By order of Congress. + sign'd, JOHN HANCOCK, Presid't. + +Provision was also made for the reading in Philadelphia at 12 noon on +July 8, and letters were sent to Bucks, Chester, Northampton, Lancaster, +and Berks counties with copies of the Declaration to be posted on Monday +the 8th where elections for delegates were to be held. For some reason, +the frontier counties of Bedford, Cumberland, Westmoreland, York, and +Northumberland, contiguous to the Fair Play territory, were omitted from +these instructions. + +[18] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, pp. 1, 18. + +[19] _The Journal of William Colbert_ gives frequent testimony to this +statement, as indicated in Chapter Five. + +[20] _See_ the map in Chapter One for the geographic boundaries of the +Fair Play territory. Note the location of the top leaders, Henry and +Frederick Antes and Robert Fleming, in Chapter Six. + +[21] The number of different office-holders runs to better than ten per +cent of the population. + +[22] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, pp. 333-334. + +[23] _Ibid._, pp. 306-307. + +[24] _Ibid._, p. 306. + +[25] _Ibid._ + +[26] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1857), pp. 163-164. + +[27] _See_ Chapter Seven for an evaluation of "Democracy on the +Pennsylvania Frontier." + +[28] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, p. 307. + +[29] Richard Hofstadter, "The Myth of the Happy Yeoman," _American +Heritage_, VII, No. 3 (April, 1956), 43-53. + +[30] The term "the personality of the law" is Turner's and emphasizes +the men who carried out the law, rather than its structure. The fact +that the ruling tribunal of the West Branch Valley was referred to as +the "Fair Play men" rather than the "tribunal" illustrates this +contention. + +[31] Turner, _The Frontier in American History_, pp. 253-254. + +[32] _See_ Chapter Three, n. 24. + + + + +_Bibliography_ + + +BOOKS + +Albion, Robert G. and Leonidas Dodson (eds.). _Philip Vickers Fithian: +Journal, 1775-1776._ Princeton, 1934. + +American Council of Learned Societies. "Report of the Committee on +Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States," +_Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year +1931_, I. Washington, 1932. + +Andrews, Charles M. _Colonial Folkways._ New Haven, 1919. + +----. _Guide to the Materials for American History to 1783 in the Public +Record Office of Great Britain._ Washington, 1912. + +---- and Frances G. 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"Early Agriculture," _Susquehanna Tales_ (Sunbury, +1955), 88-89. + +Tome, Philip. _Pioneer Life; or Thirty Years a Hunter._ Harrisburg, +1928. + +Trinterud, Leonard J. _The Forming of an American Tradition: A +Re-Examination of Colonial Presbyterianism._ Philadelphia, 1949. + +Turner, Frederick Jackson. _Frontier and Section: Selected Essays of +Frederick Jackson Turner._ Intro. by Ray Allen Billington. Englewood, +Cliffs, N. J., 1961. + +----. _The Frontier in American History._ New York, 1963. + +Volwiler, Albert T. _George Croghan and the Westward Movement +1741-1783._ Cleveland, 1926. + +Wallace, Paul A. W. _Conrad Weiser._ Philadelphia, 1945. + +----. _Indians in Pennsylvania._ Harrisburg, 1961. + +----. _Pennsylvania: Seed of a Nation._ New York, 1962. + +Webb, Walter Prescott. _The Great Plains._ New York, 1931. + +Wertenbaker, Thomas J. _The First Americans 1607-1690._ New York, 1962. + +----. _The Founding of American Civilization: The Middle Colonies._ New +York, 1949. + +Wittke, Carl. _We Who Built America._ 1963. + +Wright, J. E., and Doris S. Corbett. _Pioneer Life In Western +Pennsylvania._ Pittsburgh, 1940. + +Wright, Louis B. _Culture on the Moving Frontier._ Bloomington, Ind., +1955. + +----. _The Atlantic Frontier._ New York, 1947. + +----. _The Cultural Life of the American Colonies, 1607-1763._ New York, +1957. + +Yeates, Jasper. _Pennsylvania Reports_, I. Philadelphia and St. Louis, +1871. + + +PUBLIC DOCUMENTS + +_Appearance Docket Commencing 1797_, No. 2. Lycoming County, Office of +the Prothonotor, Williamsport. + +_Colonial Records_, IX. 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"Martin Meylin, A Progenitor of the Pennsylvania +Rifle," _Papers Read Before the Lancaster County Historical Society_, +LIII (1949), 33-61. + +Berger, Robert. "The Story of Baptist Beginnings in Lycoming County," +_Now and Then_, XII (July, 1960), 274-280. + +Bertin, Eugene P. "Primary Streams of Lycoming County," _Now and Then_, +VIII (October, 1947), 258-259. + +Carter, John H. "The Committee of Safety of Northumberland County," _The +Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings and Addresses_, +XVIII (1950), 33-54. + +Champagne, Roger. "Family Politics Versus Constitutional Principles: The +New York Assembly Elections of 1768 and 1769," _William and Mary +Quarterly_, Third Series, XX (January, 1963), 57-79. + +Clark, Chester. "Pioneer Life in the New Purchase," _Northumberland +County Historical Society Proceedings and Addresses_, VII (1935), 16-44. + +Deans, John Bacon. "The Migration of the Connecticut Yankees to the West +Branch of the Susquehanna River," _Proceedings of the Northumberland +County Historical Society_ (1954), 34-55. + +"Diary of the Unknown Traveler," _Now and Then_, X (January, 1954), +307-313. + +"Eleanor Coldren's Depositions," _Now and Then_, XII (October, 1959), +220-222. + +Everett, F. B. "Early Presbyterianism along the West Branch of the +Susquehanna River," _Journal Presbyterian Historical Society_, XII +(October, 1927), 481-485. + +Garrison, Hazel Shields. "Cartography of Pennsylvania Before 1800," +_Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography_, LIX (July, 1935), +255-283. + +Gross, Rebecca F. "Postscript to the Week," Lock Haven _Express_ (August +3, 1963), 4. + +Hofstadter, Richard. "The Myth of the Happy Yeoman," _American +Heritage_, VII (April, 1956), 43-53. + +Johns, John O. "July 4, 1776--Rediscovered." _Commonwealth: The Magazine +for Pennsylvania_, II (July, 1948), 2-16. + +Jordan, John W. (contributor), "Spangenberg's Notes of Travel to +Onondaga in 1745," _Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography_, II +(No. 4, 1878), 424-432. + +Klett, Guy S. "Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Pioneering Along The +Susquehanna River," _Pennsylvania History_, XX (April, 1953), 165-179. + +Linn, John Blair. "Indian Land and Its Fair Play Settlers, 1773-1785," +_The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography_, VII (No. 4, 1883), +420-425. + +"Map Drawn by John Adlum, District Surveyor, 1792, Found Among the +Bingham Papers," _Now & Then_, X. (July, 1952), 148-150. + +Meginness, John F. "The Scotch-Irish of the Upper Susquehanna Valley," +_Scotch-Irish Society of America Proceedings and Addresses_, VIII +(1897), 159-169. + +Neal, Don. "Freedom Outpost," _Pennsylvania Game News_, XXXI (July, +1960), 6-10. + +Russell, Helen Herritt. "The Documented Story of the Fair Play Men and +Their Government," _Proceedings of the Northumberland County Historical +Society_, XXII (1958), 16-43. + +----. "The Great Runaway of 1778," _The Journal of the Lycoming +Historical Society_, II (No. 4, 1961), 3-10. + +----. "The Great Runaway of 1778," _The Northumberland County Historical +Society Proceedings and Addresses_, XXIII (1960), 1-16. + +----. "Signers of the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence," +_Proceedings of the Northumberland County Historical Society_, XXII +(1958), 1-15. + +Silver, James W. (ed.). "An Autobiographical Sketch of Chauncey +Brockway," _Pennsylvania History_, XXV (April, 1958), 137-161. + +Stille, C. J. "Pennsylvania and the Declaration of Independence," +_Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography_, XIII (No. 4, 1889), +385-429. + +Wallace, Paul A. W., Excerpt from letter, Sept. 2, 1952, _Now and Then_, +X (October, 1952), 184. + +Wilkinson, Norman B. (ed.). "Mr. Davy's Diary," _Now and Then_, X +(April, 1954), 336-343. + +Williams, E. Melvin. "The Scotch-Irish in Pennsylvania," _Americana_ +XVII (1923), 374-387. + +Williams, Richmond D. "Col. Thomas Hartley's Expedition of 1778," _Now +and Then_, XII (April, 1960), 258-259. + +Wolf, George D. "The Tiadaghton Question," _The Lock Haven Review_, +Series I, No. 5 (1963), 61-71. + +Wood, T. Kenneth (ed.). "Journal of an English Emigrant Farmer," +_Lycoming Historical Society Proceedings and Papers_, No. 6 (1928). + +----. _Now and Then_, X (July, 1952), 148-150. + +---- (ed.). "Observations Made By John Bartram In His Travels From +Pennsylvania to Onondaga, Oswego and the Lake Ontario in 1743," _Now and +Then_, V (1936), 90. + + +UNPUBLISHED STUDIES + +Turner, Morris K. "The Commercial Relations of the Susquehanna Valley +During the Colonial Period." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University +of Pennsylvania, 1916. + + +_MANUSCRIPTS_ + +MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS + +Zebulon Butler Papers, Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, +Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. + +Rev. John Cuthbertson's Diary, 1716-1791 (microfilm, 2 reels). The +Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg. + +Journal of William Colbert (typescript). Property of the Rev. Charles F. +Berkheimer of Williamsport, Pa. Original (1792-1794) at the Garrett +Biblical Seminary, Chicago. (Copy also at Lycoming College, +Williamsport.) + +Revolutionary War Pension Claims (typescript). Wagner Collection, Muncy +Historical Society and Museum of History, Muncy, Pa. + + +PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE + +Mrs. Solon J. Buck, Washington, D. C, June 22, 1963, to the author. + +Alfred P. James, Pittsburgh, July 16, 1963, to the author. + +Peter Marshall, Berkeley, Calif., May 19, 1962, to the author. + +Mrs. Phyllis V. Parsons, Collegeville, Pa., October 21, 1962, to the +author. + +Paul A. W. Wallace, Harrisburg, February 16, 1961, July 30, August 24, +and December 17, 1962, to the author. + + + + +_Index_ + + + Adlum, John, 9, 10, 13 + + Alexander, James, 26 + + Allegheny Mountains, 1, 2, 47, 102 + + Allison, Rev. Francis, 67 + + American Revolution, 23, 33, 34, 44, 49, 54, 68, 71, 84, 86, 103, 104, 110 + + Antes, Frederick, 77-82, 87 + + Antes, Henry, Jr., 40, 42, 76-83, 101 + + Antes, Henry, Sr., 78 + + Antes, Joseph, 42 + + Antes, Philip, 42 + + Antes, William, 78 + + Antes Mill, 79, 80, 82 + + Art, 70 + + Arthur, Robert, 41 + + Atlee, Samuel J., 5 + + + Bald Eagle Creek, 22, 48, 67, 79 + + Bald Eagle Mountains, 14 + + Bald Eagle Township, 45, 46, 84 + + Bald Eagle's Nest, 48 + + Baptists, 68 + + Barn-raisings, 60, 95, 97 + + Bartram, John, 9-11, 13 + + Bertin, Eugene P., 7 + + "Beulah Land," 71 + + Bingham, William, 11 + + Blackwell, 71 + + Bonner, Barnabas, 40 + + Books, 69, 70 + + Brainerd, Rev. David, 67 + + Bryce, James, 89, 90 + + Bucks County, 19 + + Burnet's Hills, 6 + + + "Cabin right," 37 + + Cabin-raisings, 48, 51, 60, 74, 95, 97 + + Caldwell, Bratton, 40, 41 + + Calhoune, George, 26 + + Cammal, 71 + + Campbell, Cleary, 26, 62 + + Campbell, William, Jr., 26 + + Carlisle Presbytery, 67 + + Charter of Privileges, 96 + + Chester County, 19, 20 + + Children, 55 + + Clark, Francis, 42 + + Clark, John, 26 + + Colbert, William, 61-63, 65, 70 + + Coldren, Eleanor, 40, 83, 92, 96 + + Commerce, 56 + + Committee of Safety, 34, 44, 45, 48, 54, 77, 81-83, 88, 106 + + Connecticut, 20, 21, 23, 31 + + Constitutional Convention, Pennsylvania (1776), 80, 83, 87 + + Continental Congress, 85, 103 + + Cooke, William, 26 + + "Corn right," 37 + + Council of Safety, 34, 44 + + Covenhoven, Robert, 22 + + Crawford, James, 77, 82, 83 + + Cruger, Daniel, 96 + + Culbertson, Mr., 67 + + Cumberland County, 19, 20 + + Cumberland Valley, 47, 105 + + Curti, Merle, 76, 100 + + + Dauphin County, 19, 20 + + Davy, Mr., 56, 63 + + Declaration of Independence, 42, 43, 71, 74, 106 + + "Declaration of Independence" of Fair Play Settlers, 42-44, 61, 62, 71, + 74, 83, 106, 107 + + Defense, 84, 103, 108 + + Demography, 16-29, 100, 104-107 + + DeSchweinitz, Edmund A., 8, 10 + + Dewitt, Abraham, 40 + + Dewitt, Peter, 95, 96 + + Dickinson, John, 43, 78, 81 + + Donegal Presbytery, 67 + + Dougherty, Samuel, 40 + + Drinking, 71, 72, 74, 75, 98 + + Duncan, Mr., 38 + + Dunn, William, 96 + + + Economic institutions, 89-91, 97, 99-102, 104, 107, 109; + _see also_ Farming + + Education, 17, 58, 65, 69 + + Ejectment, 35-39, 41, 106 + + English, 16-20, 24-26, 28, 54, 57, 58, 83, 84, 93, 95, 102 + + Ettwein, Bishop John, 9, 10, 13 + + Evans, Lewis, 9-11, 13 + + + Fair Play men, 3, 31, 35-36, 38, 40, 41, 45, 73, 77, 81-83, 92, 94, 95, + 97, 102, 109; + _see also_ Tribunal, Fair Play + + Faith, 17, 68, 73, 75, 98, 99 + + Family life, 17, 58, 64, 65, 68, 100, 110 + + Ferguson, Thomas, 40 + + Fithian, Philip Vickers, 9, 10, 13, 43, 53, 61, 66, 67, 69, 79, 82 + + Fleming, Betsey, 53 + + Fleming, John, 43, 66, 67, 69, 77, 81, 82, 85 + + Fleming, Robert, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87 + + Forster, Thomas, 26 + + Fort Antes, 34, 78, 80, 81, 86, 93 + + Fort Augusta, 22, 71, 79, 85 + + Fort Fleming, 81 + + Fort Horn, 34, 82-84, 86, 93 + + Fort Muncy, 34 + + Fort Reed, 34, 81, 83, 86 + + Fort Stanwix, Treaties of, 2, 3, 5-9, 12, 13, 21, 25, 29, 33, 34, 36, + 67, 81, 86, 103 + + Forts, 64, 77, 81-83 + + Franklin, Benjamin, 52, 81 + + French, 2, 16-18, 58, 86, 95, 102 + + French and Indian War, 2, 16, 21 + + + Galbreath, Robert, 9, 11 + + General Assembly, 9, 11, 79, 80, 81, 84, 86, 87, 96 + + George III, 84 + + Germans, 16-20, 24-26, 28, 54, 57, 58, 82-84, 93, 95, 102 + + Germantown, 78, 83 + + Great Island, 3, 12, 14, 34, 35, 40, 48, 67, 79, 81, 105 + + Great Runaway 21-23, 29, 33, 34, 71, 80, 84, 85, 88, 106 + + Great Shamokin Path, 47, 48 + + Greene County, 100, 101, 105 + + Grier, Rev. Isaac, 67 + + Grier, James, 40, 41 + + _Grier_ vs. _Tharpe_, 40 + + Gristmills, 54, 64 + + + Haines, Joseph, 40 + + Hamilton, Alexander, 43, 77, 82, 85, 86 + + Hamilton, Anna Jackson, 43, 44, 62, 66, 71, 107 + + Hamilton, John, 44 + + Hartley, Col. Thomas, 22, 23 + + Harvest, 53, 74, 95, 98, 107 + + Hill, Aaron, 6 + + Homes, 51, 52, 59, 104 + + Horn, Samuel, 77, 82, 83, 85 + + Hospitality, 60, 73 + + Huff, Edmund, 40, 41 + + Huff-Latcha (Satcha) case, 40, 41, 92 + + Huggins, Mr., 95 + + Hughes, James, 38, 39 + + Hughes, Thomas, 38, 39, 77, 83 + + _Hughes_ vs. _Dougherty_, 36-40 + + Hunter, Col. Samuel, 21, 22, 84, 85 + + + Immigration, 19-21, 24, 25, 28, 29 + + "Improvements," 37-39, 41, 58, 64, 72, 97 + + Indentured servitude, 64, 95 + + Independence, 68, 95, 103; + _see also_ Declaration of Independence + + Indians, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 21-24, 29, 41, 42, 63, 67, 84, 86, 88, + 94, 109 + + Individualism, 17, 72, 74, 98, 104, 107, 109, 110 + + Industry, 54, 55 + + Intermarriage, 58, 60 + + Irish, 16-18, 58, 83, 95, 102 + + Irwin (Irvin), James, 26, 40 + + + Jamison, John, 26 + + Jersey Shore, 15, 19, 34, 42, 79, 84 + + Johnson, Sir William, 2, 21 + + Jones, Isaiah, 26 + + Juniata Valley, 20, 48 + + + Kemplen, Thomas, 40, 41 + + Kendall, Willmoore, 91 + + Kincaid, Mr., 42 + + King, Robert, 26 + + King, William, 40, 41 + + + Labor, 95, 99, 107 + + Lancaster, 70 + + Lancaster County, 19, 20, 38 + + Land claims, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38-40, 45, 62, 73, 80, 86, 92-94, 106 + + Land Office, 12, 21, 24, 86 + + Larrys Creek, 14, 15 + + Latcha, Jacob, 40 + + Law, unwritten, 37-39 + + Leadership, 36, 76-88, 104, 107, 108 + + Lewisburg, 67 + + Leyburn, James G., 37, 53 + + "Limping Messenger," 4, 8, 10 + + Linn, John Blair, 5-7, 20, 101 + + Lock Haven, 2, 14, 15, 34, 61, 81, 84, 105 + + Locke, John, 31 + + Logan, James, 16 + + Long, Cookson, 40, 77, 83 + + Love, Robert, 67 + + Lycoming Church, 67 + + Lycoming County courts, 33, 35, 36, 62, 65, 72, 94 + + Lycoming Creek 2-6, 9-15, 21, 24, 30, 35, 48, 67, 79, 105 + + Lycoming _Gazette_, 49 + + Lycoming Township, 28 + + Lydius, John Henry, 23 + + + McElhattan, Pa., 84 + + McElhattan, William, 95, 96 + + McKean, Thomas, 22, 36, 37 + + McMeans, William, 40 + + MacMinn, Edwin, 78, 101 + + Manning, Richard, 70 + + Marshall, Peter, 12 + + Martin, John, 41 + + Maynard, D. S., 6, 7 + + Medical practices, 70, 71 + + Meginness, John, 4-7, 10, 20, 41, 42, 101 + + Methodists, 61, 62, 65, 66, 68, 97, 98 + + Milesburg, 48 + + Military service, 38-41, 45, 77, 78, 80, 81, 83, 94 + + Milton, 62 + + Ministers, itinerant, 66, 69, 71, 73 + + Missionaries, 67 + + Montgomery County, 78 + + Montour, Andrew, 10 + + Montoursville; _see_ Ostonwaken + + Moravians, 78 + + Muhlenberg, Henry, 78 + + Muhlenberg, Hiester H., 9 + + Muncy, 14, 20, 34, 64 + + Muncy Creek, 20 + + Muncy Hills, 50 + + Music, 70, 100 + + + National origins, 16-18, 26, 33, 36, 57, 58, 61, 64, 73, 76, 82, 83, + 91, 93, 97, 99, 102, 105, 107 + + Nationalism, 99, 102, 103, 108 + + New Hampshire, 31 + + New Jersey, 19, 20 + + "New Purchase," 8, 11, 12, 20, 21, 24, 29, 64 + + New York, 19, 20, 84 + + Newspapers, 49 + + Niagara, N. Y., 8 + + Nippenose Valley, 42, 80 + + Nittany Valley, 48 + + Northumberland County, 24-26, 35, 38, 56, 77, 79, 80, 83, 84, 87, 106 + + Northumberland County courts, 33, 36, 39, 41, 48, 62, 65, 72, 94 + + Northumberland _Gazette_, 49 + + Northumberland Presbytery, 67 + + + Office holding, 76, 77, 79, 87, 88, 92, 108 + + "Old Purchase," 11 + + Onondaga (Syracuse), N. Y., 8, 9 + + Orange County, N. Y., 20 + + Ostonwaken (Montoursville), 4, 8 + + + Paine, Thomas, 43 + + Parr, James, 40 + + Patriotism, 71, 73-75, 98, 99, 103 + + Paul, William, 41 + + Pennamite Wars, 20 + + Petitions, 28, 33, 76, 86, 87, 93, 94, 103 + + Philadelphia, 52, 80, 81 + + Philadelphia County, 19, 79 + + Pine Creek, 2-15, 19, 30, 35, 43, 44, 48, 62, 67, 71, 79, 80, 105, 107 + + Pine Creek Church, 67 + + Pine Creek Township, 24, 28 + + Plymouth Colony, 31 + + Political equality, 17, 69, 73, 75, 91, 92, 95, 99 + + Pottstown, 78 + + Pragmatism, 99, 102, 104 + + "Praying societies," 66 + + Pre-emption, 27-29, 33, 38, 39, 58, 84, 86, 94, 97, 103 + + Presbyterianism, 17, 29, 33, 61-63, 65-69, 74, 97, 98, 101 + + Price, John, 26 + + Proclamation of 1763, 2, 3, 21 + + Property right, 35, 72 + + + Quilting, 49, 60, 70, 74 + + + Ranney, Austin, 91 + + Read, Mr., 38 + + Recreation, 71, 100 + + Reed, William, 45, 77, 82, 83 + + Religion, 33, 58, 61, 62, 65, 66, 68, 73, 74, 91-93, 96, 97, 99, 100, + 103, 107 + + Revolution; _see_ American Revolution + + Rhode Island, 31, 96 + + Roads, 48 + + Rodey, Peter, 36, 37 + + + Schebosh, John, 4 + + Scotch-Irish, 16-21, 24, 25, 28-30, 33, 36, 37, 47, 53, 54, 57-60, + 63-65, 70-72, 74, 82-84, 93, 95, 97, 101, 102, 105, 106 + + Scots, 16-18, 28, 58, 83, 95, 102 + + Self-determination, 89-91, 94, 97-99, 109 + + Self-reliance, 102, 103, 107 + + Self-sufficiency, 54, 56-58 + + Sergeant, Thomas, 6 + + Settlement, 35-37, 39, 72, 73, 90, 106 + + Sheshequin Path, 8-10, 48 + + Shickellamy, 9, 10 + + Shippen, Justice Edward, 39 + + Singmaster, Elsie, 8 + + Slavery, 64, 95 + + Smith, Charles, 38 + + Smith, Daniel, 38 + + Social compact, 31, 90 + + Social structure, 53, 58, 59, 64, 73, 75, 91, 97, 99-101, 103, 104, + 107, 109 + + Sour's ferry, 69 + + Spangenburg, Bishop Augustus, 4, 8-10, 13, 78 + + Squatters' rights, 24, 72, 107 + + Stover, Martin, 9, 11 + + Suffrage, 33, 34, 92, 93, 96 + + Sunbury, 22, 47-49 + + Supreme Court, Pennsylvania, 36, 39 + + Supreme Executive Council, 44, 45, 86, 93, 94 + + Sweeney, Morgan, 41 + + Syracuse, N. Y.; _see_ Onondaga, N. Y. + + + Tax lists, 25-27, 34, 56, 59, 76, 77, 101 + + Temperance, 73-75, 98, 99 + + Tenancy, 64, 95-97 + + Tenure, land, 37-40, 106 + + Tiadaghton Creek, 2-14, 24, 105 + + "Tiadaghton Elm," 13, 14, 43, 71 + + Tilghman, James, 12 + + "Tomahawk right," 37 + + Toner, John, 41 + + Tools, 49, 50, 52, 53, 70, 104 + + Tribunal, Fair Play, 32-36, 42, 48, 50, 58, 61, 72, 73, 82, 83, 88, 90, + 92, 94, 102, 106, 109; + _see also_ Fair Play men + + Turner, Frederick Jackson, 1, 19, 99-102, 104, 108, 109 + + + Values, 58, 65, 68, 72, 91, 97-100, 104, 107 + + Virginia, 72, 105 + + Voluntary associations, 58, 60-62 + + + Walker, John, 77, 83, 86 + + Wallace, Paul A. W., 13, 23 + + Weiser, Conrad, 4, 9-11, 13 + + Welsh, 16-18, 26, 28, 58, 95, 102 + + Whitefield, George, 78 + + Williamsport, 2, 49 + + Wills, 65, 69, 72, 73, 75, 101 + + Winters Massacre, 23 + + Women, 55, 59, 60, 65 + + Wyoming Massacre, 21-23 + + Wyoming Valley, 20 + + + York County, 19 + + + Zeisberger, David, 4, 8, 10 + + Zinzendorf, Nicholas von, 78 + + + + +Transcriber's Endnotes + + Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. + + Archaic spellings in quoted material have been retained. + + The following discrepancies have been noted and corrected where + possible: + + Page 26, Chart 4. The data in column headed '1774' does not tally + with the total below. With no obvious solution, the table remains + as originally published. + + Footnote 18, Chapter 3. 'See nn. 6 and 7, p. 4.' Corrected to _See + nn. 6 and 7, p. 33._ + + Footnote 20, Chapter 3. 'Supra, p. 4.' Corrected to _Supra, p. 33._ + + Index entry 'Economic institutions'. There is no index entry for + '_Farming_', however the main references to farming can found in + Chapter Four. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fair Play Settlers of the West +Branch Valley, 1769-1784, by George D. Wolf + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIR PLAY SETTLERS *** + +***** This file should be named 22471-8.txt or 22471-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/4/7/22471/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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