spectator. The house, built of stone, is still in good preservation, and is occupied by tenants who cultivate the farm. The house was evidently once surrounded with a projecting shed or pent-eaves between the lower and upper stories, like that still seen on the courthouse at Chester. This was a common appendage to all the more costly houses at that day.

Benjamin West was the youngest of a family of ten children of John West, who married Sarah Pearson. He was born on the 10th Oct. 1738. His ancestors were Quakers, and emigrated to this country with William Penn at the time of his second visit. Many of the family are still residing in Delaware co. Benjamin was reared in the faith and profession of his ancestors-a profession from which he never swerved when his genius commanded the flattery of courts, and honor from kings and princes. It is recorded of him, by Galt, that at the age of seven he made a drawing, in red and black ink, of an infant niece, of whose cradle he had the charge, and whose sweet smile in her sleep excited his imitative powers, though he had never seen a picture or engraving. With this precocious sign of inherent talent the boy's mother was charmed, and her admiration and encouragement confirmed his taste. At school, even before he had learned to write, pen and ink became his cherished favorites; and birds, flowers, and animals adorned his juvenile portfolio. His father, it is said, being admonished by some of the elders of the society of Friends, did all he could to repress his son's ardent propensity, and sought to direct his attention to more useful pursuits. But it was in vain. It is a tradition of the family that the father, having sent Benjamin out to plough, missed him from his work, and found him under a cokeberrybush, where he had sketched the portraits of a whole family so strikingly that they were instantly recognised.

At length an epoch occurred in his professional progress. A party of Indians taught him to prepare red and yellow colors, such as they used in decorating their persons; from his mother he obtained some indigo, which completed all the elementary colors of his pallet; while the tail of the family cat furnished him with hair for his pencils. At the age of sixteen he obtained the consent of his parents to pursue painting, as a profession, in Philadelphia. Several of his landscapes executed on panels, over mantel-pieces, are preserved at the Hospital in Philadelphia, where his great picture of Christ Healing the Sick is still exhibited. The sign of the Bull's Head tavern, which long hung in Strawberry-alley, was one of these early productions. It was a few years since purchased and carried to England. Its colors were remarkably fresh and wellpreserved.

After practising his art successfully in this country until 1759, he embarked for Italy, where he spent about four years in the study of the works of the great masters. On seeing the celebrated statue of the Apollo Belvidere at Rome, he is said to have exclaimed, "How like an Indian warrior!" One day at Rome, while his master had stepped out a moment, West slyly painted a fly on the work on which his master was engaged. The master came in, resumed his work, and made several attempts to scare away the fly. At last he exclaimed, "Ah! it is that American." Mr. West reached London in 1763, where he settled, and ultimately attained the summit of his fame. He was married in 1765, to a lady of Philadelphia, Miss Shewell, who, having been previously engaged to him, came out to meet him in London. Among the earliest of his produc

tions in London was the subject of Agrippina landing at Brundusium with the ashes of Germanicus. This painting originated from a conversation which took place at the table of Drummond, Archbishop of York, where our artist was a guest: it stamped the fame of Mr. West with the king, George III., who became not only his munificent patron, but his tried and intimate friend.

When, after the battle of Brandywine, several ministers of the court sought to misrepresent West to the king as a whig, or what was worse, a rebel, the king led him into conversation, at a levee, concerning the recent news of the battle. West openly but firmly set forth the wrongs his native country had suffered, and defended their course as far as his Quaker principles would allow. The king, in presence of his ministers, complimented him on his love of his native land, and told him he had raised himself in his esteem by the manly course he had taken.

Our limits will not admit of following Mr. West through his famous professional career. Honors and distinctions were heaped upon him, not only in England, but by eminent foreign bodies and princes. The honor of knighthood offered him by King George, through the duke of Gloucester, was respectfully declined. The Quaker continued true to his principles.

Mr. West died as calmly, as placidly as he had lived, on the 10th March, 1820, at the good old age of 81. His remains repose in St. Paul's cathedral.

ELK COUNTY.

As this is a new county, and its precise boundaries and other statistics are not yet ascertained, it will be noticed at the end of the volume.

ERIE COUNTY.

ERIE COUNTY was separated from Allegheny by the act of 12th March, 1800, but for several years, for all county purposes, Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango, and Warren, formed but one county, under the name of Crawford. On the 2d of April, 1803, Erie co. was fully organized for judicial purposes. The length of that part originally within the bounds of the province is 45 ms. by 10 in breadth: the triangle is 30 ms. long by 18 wide area of the whole co. 720 sq. ms.

The low ridge which divides the short tributaries of the lake from those of the Allegheny, lies in a line nearly parallel with the lake shore, and about 8 or 10 ms. from it. It is remarkable that the soil on the southeastern slope of this ridge is peculiarly adapted for grass, while that on the northwestern is very productive in wheat. This results no doubt from the fact that the northwestern slope is formed by the out-cropping edges of a variety of strata, (formations VIII, X, and XI, of the State Geologists,) principally of the Olive Slates, and argillaceous sandstones of formation VIII, and some thin seams of limestone more or less pure; while the southeastern slope is formed by the uppermost bed or roof of only one or two strata of sandstone and shales. From the mouth of Beaver river on the Ohio to the surface of Conneaut lake, the summit level of the canal, the ascent is only 418 feet. The surface of Lake Erie is 80 feet lower than that of the Ohio at the mouth of Beaver. Erie co. lies entirely beyond the coal measures, the northwestern limit of that forma

tion being the hills of conglomerate passing near Meadville. The principal streams in the co. tributary to Lake Erie are Conneaut cr., Elk cr., Walnut cr., Mill cr., and several smaller streams east of Erie, named 4 mile cr., 6 mile cr., &c., according to their distance from that place. The southern part of the co. is drained by Conneauttee cr., Cussawauga, Le Boeuf, and other branches of French cr. There are three beautiful lakes on the sources of these streams, called Conneauttee, Le Boeuf, and Pleasant lakes. The streams furnish an abundance of water-power, especially those which fall into the lake.

A turnpike road runs from Erie to Waterford, and thence to Pittsburg: good common roads cross the county in all directions. The canal from Beaver enters the county by the valley of Conneaut cr., and thence continues along the table land that borders the lake, to Erie. This canal lacks only three miles of being completed; provision has been made for the purpose, and within a year probably this very important communication will be opened.

The population of this co. is composed chiefly of settlers from New England and New York, and from the lower parts of Pennsylvania. The former predominate, and the trade and manners of the county generally have taken their tone rather from New York than from Pennsylvania. The reason is obvious, from the peculiar geographical position of the county.

The southern shore of Lake Erie is said to have been once occupied by the Eries or Irrironnons, a fierce and powerful tribe, of whom no trace now remains but their name. Although supposed originally to have been of the same family as the Iroquois or Five Nations, yet they waged with them long and bloody wars, and were at length utterly extirpated by them, about the years 1653 to '57, after the Iroquois had learned the use of firearms from the Dutch.* The name of the Eries was said to signify Wild-cats, indicating the character of the tribe.

History sheds but a dim light on the transactions in the region contiguous to Presqu'isle previous to the year 1750. Jacques Cartier, an enterprising fisherman of France, had passed up the St. Lawrence to Montreal in 1535, and from that time forth, for more than two centuries, the efforts of the fearless adventurers, and the devoted missionaries of France were unremitted to extend the French dominion and the Catholic faith over the region around the great lakes, and down the valley of the Mississippi.

The usual route, however, which their enterprises took, was from Montreal up the valley of the Ottawa river, and thence across to the head of Lake Huron. Having at an early date allied themselves with the Indian tribes of that region, and in consequence incurred the hostility of the Five Nations, who held sway over the territory around Lakes Ontario and Erie, they were prevented for more than a century from penetrating even to the northern shore of Lake Erie, and no distinct mention is made of their having touched the southern shore until after the year 1700. early indeed as 1657, the Jesuit missions had been cautiously extended among the Senecas on the Genesee; but it was nearly at the same time that the war of extermination was going on between the Iroquois and

* Bancroft.

the Eries. In 1679, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, better known as La Salle, first launched upon Lake Erie the Griffin, a bark of about 60 tons, and crossed over to the Mississippi by the Miami of the Lakes; but there is no mention of his having touched the southern shore. By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, Louisiana was confirmed to France, and she still held the northern shores of the lakes by right of discovery; while by the same treaty it was stipulated "that France should never molest the Five Nations subject to the dominion of Great Britain." But no exact limits were defined by the treaty, and each nation was guided by its own construction. France claimed that the mouth of a river governed its sources, and on this sweeping principle the bounds of Louisiana would include the whole basin of the Mississippi. The sources of the Allegheny, of the Yough'ogheny, and Monongahela would have been within the French dominions. Both the governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia protested loudly against this doctrine, but while the British ministry slumbered over their complaints, France was actively but covertly endeavoring to seduce the Six Nations from their allegiance to the British, and to establish a chain of fortifications from Lake Erie to the head-waters of the Allegheny, and thence down the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. Fort Niagara was built by France in 1726.

66

Among the public officers of the French," says Mr. Bancroft, "who gained influence over the red men by adapting themselves, with happy facility, to life in the wilderness, was the Indian agent, Joncaire. For 20 years he had been successfully negotiating with the Senecas. He was become by adoption one of their own citizens and sons, and to the culture of a Frenchman added the fluent eloquence of an Iroquois warrior." "I have no happiness," said he in council, "like that of living with my brothers," and he asked leave to build himself a dwelling. "He is one of our children," it was said in reply, "he may build where he will." Tribes of the Delawares and of the Shawanees soon afterwards (1724 to '28) migrated to the Allegheny, and Joncaire soon found his way among them, and won them over to the French interest. By the treaty of Aixla-Chapelle in Oct. 1748, a long and general war was smothered in Europe, only to break out with renewed force in America. The French took advantage of the apparent cessation of hostilities, quietly to push their favorite line of fortifications across from Presqu'isle to the mouth of Venango river or French creek. The fort erected at Erie was known as Fort de la Presqu'isle. It was probably erected early in 1749, but the precise time does not appear. It was during that year that the French sent emissaries and armed men throughout the Ohio valley to drive off or arrest the English traders who had ventured into that region from the eastern colonies. The following extracts from the records of Pennsylvania, exhibit the alarm caused by these movements of the French, in the British provinces:

June 30, 1749.-A letter, with some papers, received by express from Gen. Clinton, purporting that two New-England men, on their return from Canada, where they had been to solicit the release of some prisoners, reported that they saw an army of 1,000 French ready to go on some expedition, and they were informed it was to prevent any settlements being made by the English on Belle-riviere, (Ohio;) whereupon it was determined to dispatch a messenger to Mr. George Croghan, with a request that he would go immediately to Allegheny, and on his arrival, send away a trader, or some person he could confide in, to the lakes, or to the eastward, to discover whether any French were coming in those parts, and if any, in what numbers, and what appearance they made, that the Indians might be apprised, and put upon their guard.

Jan. 17, 1749-50.-The governor informed the council that three several letters of an extraordinary nature in French, signed "Celeron," were delivered to him by the Indian traders who came from Allegheny, informing him that this Capt. Celeron was a French officer and had the command of 300 French and some Indians, sent this summer to Ohio and the Wabash from Canada to reprove the Indians there for their friendship to the English, and for suffering the English to trade with them. The governor sent one of the letters to the proprietaries in London, and another to the governor of New-York, that the same might be laid before the ministry.

Letter from George Croghan, Logstown, in Ohio, Dec. 16, 1750.-He arrived there the 15th, was told by Indians they saw Jean Caur [Joncaire] 150 miles up the river, where he intends building a fort. The Indians he had seen were of opinion the English should have a fort or forts on this river, to secure the trade. They expect a war with the French next spring.

Feb. 6. Letter from Gov. Clinton, Fort George, Jan. 29, 1750.-" I send you a copy of an inscription on a leaden plate stolen from Jean Coeur in the Senecas' country, as he was going to the Ohio."

Inscription on the leaden plate buried at Ohio.

LAN. 1749. Dv regne de LOVIS XV Roy de France NOVS CELERON COMMANDANT DVN DETACHMENT ENVOIE PAR MONSIEUR LE M'IS DE LA GALISSONIERE COMMANDANT GENERAL DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE POVR RETABLIR LA TRANQUILLITE DANS QUELQUES VILLAGES SAUVAGES DE CES CANTONS AVONS ENTERRE CE PLAQUE AU CONFLVENT DE L'OHYO ET DE TCPADAKOJN* CE 29 JUILLET PRES DE LA RIVIERE OYO AUTREMENT BELLE RIVIERE POUR MONUMENT DE RENOUVELLEMENT DE POSSESSION QUE NOUS AVONS PRIS DE LA DITTE RIVIERE ΟΥΟ ET DE TOVTES CELLES QUI Y TOMBENT ET DE TOVTES LES TERRES DES DEUX COTES JUSQUE AVX SOVRCES DES DITTES RIVIERES AINSI QUE'n ont JOVY OV DV JOVIR LES PRECEDENTS ROIS DE FRANCE ET QUILS SY SONT MAINTENUS PAR LES ARMES ET PAR LES TRAITES SPECIALMENT PAR CEVX DE RISWICK D' VTRECHT ET D' AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.

Literal Translation. In the year 1749-reign of Louis XV., king of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis of Galissoniere, commander-inchief of New France, to establish tranquillity in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this plate at the confluence of the Ohio and of TO-RA-DA-KOIN, this 29th July-near the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful river, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and of all its tributaries, and of all the land on both sides, as far as to the sources of said rivers,-inasmuch as the preceding kings of France have enjoyed [this possession,] and have maintained it by their arms and by treaties, especially by those of Riswick, Utrecht, and Aix-la-Chapelle.

In a manuscript historical lecture delivered at Erie by Henry L. Harvey, Esq., kindly loaned us by the author, we find the following particulars respecting the French fort at Presqu'isle :

"The first of this chain of forts was erected on the same eminence of land where Erie now stands, and took its name from the adjoining peninsula-Presqu'isle being the French word for peninsula. This peninsula did not at that time extend as far down the lake by several hundred yards as at present. The point upon the shore, therefore, which could best command the then entrance, was the present eastern limit of the incorporated town. Over this point a thoughtless individual might now pass without observing any thing peculiar except a roughness of surface, and, as he begins to descend the eastern bank, a number of unwrought native stones, apparently marking some ancient burial-place. A little in the rear of this may be discovered the traces of the old fortress. Though a good portion has recently been levelled off for the convenience of a brick-maker, yet two of the bastions and the wall and ditch upon one side, remain sufficiently

* There is evidently some typographical or copyist's error in this word. It is reprinted here as found in Hazard's Register, iv. 225, and in the translation we have supplied what we suppose was intended-probably some Indian name for French creek. This opinion is confirmed by a passage in an historical lecture delivered by Mr. Harvey of Erie. He says: The Iroquois, after attacking the Algonquins, commenced upon " the nation of the Eries or Irrironons, a powerful and warlike race inhabiting the south side of the beautiful lake which still bears their name-almost the only memento that such a nation ever existed-a name signifying cats-which they had adopted as characteristic of their tribe. After a somewhat severe contest, the assailants succeeded. Seven hundred of them attacked and carried the main fortress, though it was defended by two thousand; and the survivors were either incorporated with the victors or fled to remote regions." It has been supposed by some that they went to the Lower Mississippi, where they organized under a new name. This opinion, however, rests upon nothing more than probabilities and vague conjecture, arising from a similarity of character in certain tribes there." Mr. Harvey had it from a Seneca chief, and from other sources, that the fort was situated somewhere about the mouth of Toran-a-da-kon, or French cr. This is probably the same name as that intended in the inscription.