with those from a greater distance, who exchanged their furs and peltries for beads, blankets, cutlery, and rum, as is still done in many parts of the western country. The house in which the North American Hotel is kept, was occupied by the land commissioners a few years later.

I remember the forest-trees standing in East King-street, nearly as far down as Mr. McGoni gle's tavern. What is now called Adams-street, then Adamstown, was the most thickly inhabited place about. It was a village unconnected with Lancaster. The old two-story brick house now owned by Mr. Donelly, was used as an hospital for the sick and wounded soldiers of the revolution, and numbers lie buried in the lot on which it stands. What is now the old storehouse, was then the new college, at which I was placed, by way of making me a "gentleman."

Annually in those days a fair was held on the first Thursday and Friday in June. You could hardly see the street for the tables and booths, covered with merchandise and trinkets of every kind. There were silks, laces, and jewellery, calicoes, gingerbread, and sweetmeats, such as the ladies love; and that was the time they got plenty of them, too, for the young fellows used to hoard up their pocket-money for months together to spend at the fair; and no girl felt ashamed to be treated to a fairing, even by a lad she had never seen before. This was the first step towards expressing admiration, and she who got the most fairings was considered as the belle. Then the corners of the streets were taken up with mountebanks, rope-dancers, and all the latest amusements. To see these, each young man took the girl that pleased him most; or, if he had a capacious heart, he sometimes took half a dozen.

Then there were the dances, the crowning pleasures of all. In every tavern there was to be heard the sound of the violin. * * # * Even the mode of dress has changed. In my young days the girls wore shortgowns and pe- but I dare not pronounce the word in this refined

age.

One thing I know, the girls looked very neat and trim in their linsey-woolsey short-jackets

or gowns.

At the establishment of the county, in 1729, a jail and temporary courthouse were built at Postlewaite's, five miles from Lancaster; but this site did not satisfy the settlers on the Susquehanna. Gov. Hamilton, accordingly, at the request of the proprietaries, laid out Lancaster, in 1730, at a place where George Gibson then kept a tavern, with the sign of the hickory-tree, on the public road, by the side of a fine spring. "A swamp lay in front of Gibson's, and another of some extent lay to the north." Near the spring there once stood a tall hickory-tree, which tradition says was the centre of a little hamlet of a tribe called the Hickory Indians. Another small tribe took its name from a poplar-tree standing near their village, which was on a flat by the side of the Conestoga, northeast of the residence of William Coleman, Esq. Roger Hunt, of Downingtown, was Hamilton's surveyor, and built the first house after the plot was made. The following paragraphs are culled from the collections of Mr. Conyngham:

The swamp north of Gibson's is supposed to have extended from the centre of the square bounded by Duke, Queen, Chestnut, and Orange streets, to the swamp along the run, now Waterstreet. Gibson's pasture, afterwards Sanderson's pasture, was leased at an early period by Mr. Hamilton to Adam Reigart, Esq. An old letter mentions "the log-cabin of the widow Buchanan." She was probably merely a tenant, as her name is not among the purchasers.

Among the early deeds may be found the names of Jacob Funk, Frederick Stroble, John Powel, and George Gibson. Their deeds were dated in 1735, except Gibson's, which was dated in 1740, and granted lot No. 221. Gibson's original tavern is said to have been situated where Slaymaker's hotel now is, and the spring was nearly opposite.

1734. Seat of justice removed from Postlewaite's to Lancaster, and the first German Lutheran church and schoolhouse built.

1745. The German pastor of the Lutheran church united a portion of his congregation with the Moravian. A great ferment was excited among the Lutherans: they told the governor they were compelled either to hear a doctrine which they did not approve, or resign their church. The governor told them he could not interfere, but that the law would protect them in their rights. 1751. House of employment erected; farm connected with it, and manufacturing implements. Lancaster became remarkable for the excellent stockings made in that establishment.

1759. Barracks erected to contain 500 men, for the security of this part of the province, [and to accommodate Gen. Forbes's returning army.] Mr. Bausman, barrack-master.

1760. Lancaster co.: 436,346 acres of land, 5,635 taxables-each taxed £1 2s. Total tax, £6,178 10s.

1763. House of correction erected.-1765. Presbyterians put up a large meetinghouse; building committee, William Montgomery, John Craig, James Davis.-1769. The German Reformed church completed; the Episcopal church enlarged; and several other religious denominations-Friends, Roman Catholics, Baptists-mentioned as being in prosperous circumstances. Gov. Pownal visited Lancaster in 1754. In his journal he says, "Lancaster, a growing town and making money; a manufactory here of saddles and pack-saddles. It is a stage town-500 houses, 2000 inhabitants." In the same book, (an ancient copy,) some one has written in manuscript "When Gov. Pownal visited Lancaster there was not one good house in the town; the houses were chiefly of frame filled in with stone, of logs, and a few of stone. When Lancaster was laid out, it was the desire of the proprietor to raise an annual revenue from the lots; no lots were therefore sold of any large amount, but settlers were encouraged to build and receive a lot, paying an annual sum as ground-rent. Hence the large number of persons in indigent circumstances, who were induced to settle in Lancaster. The Lancaster town was therefore too large, at an early period, in proportion to the population of the surrounding country, and its inhabitants suffered much from a want of employment; as from its local situation, remote from water, it was not, nor could it ever possibly become, a place of business. The proprietor was therefore wrong in forcing the building and settlement of Lancaster. The town outgrew its strength, and looks dull and gloomy in consequence."

The ground-rents above mentioned have continued on many lots down to the present day. A few years since there was considerable excitement on the subject among the citizens, and some attempts were made to get rid of the vexatious encumbrance.

A treaty was held in 1744, at Lancaster, between the chiefs of the Six Nations and the governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. The business related chiefly to the purchase of lands in the two latter provinces. From the minutes of this treaty, we learn that the Six Nations complained that "their cousins the Delawares, and their brethren the Shawanees," had been annoyed by the white settlers on Juniata, and requested their removal. They also acknowledged that the purchases made by the Marylanders of the Conestogas were just and valid; but as they (the Six Nations) had conquered the Conestogas, they insisted that purchases should be made of them. They also said that "the Conoy (called in former treaties Ganaway) Indians" had informed them, that they had sent the governor of Pennsylvania a message, some time ago, complaining of ill usage by white people, and their determination to remove to Shamokin; and requested some satisfaction for their land.

Few subjects have caused more excitement in their day, in Pennsylvania, than the murder of the Conestoga Indians. The people of Philadelphia were astounded with the news of this horrible massacre; and, in the first moments of alarm, exaggerated narratives were published, embellished with the pictures of editorial fancy, and tinged with the sectarian or political prejudices of the narrators. The affair was intimately connected with the political disputes at that time hotly carried on-between the people of the interior counties and those on the Delaware, between the proprietaries and the landholders, and between the Quakers and the men of the frontier-in regard to the policy to be pursued towards the Indians. The feeling that existed among the Scotch-Irish party in Lancaster may be estimated by reference to the documents on this subject inserted on pages 278, 279, 280. The following narrative of the massacre is compiled from the various conflicting accounts:

On the night of the 14th Dec. 1763, a number of armed and mounted men from the townships of Donnegal and Paxton, most of them belonging to the company of frontier Rangers of those townships, concerted an attack on the Indians at Conestoga, for the purpose, as they alleged, of securing one or more hostile Indians, who were harbored there, and who were supposed to have recently murdered several families of the whites. The number of the Paxton men is variously

estimated from twenty to upwards of fifty. Few of the Indians were at home-the men probably being absent either in hunting or trading their baskets and furs at Lancaster. In the dead of night the white men fell upon the village: some defence was doubtless attempted by the few male Indians present, (Dr. Franklin's narrative says there were only three men, two women, and a young boy,) but they were overpowered, and the whole, men, women, and children, fell victims to the rifle, the tomahawk, and the knife of the frontier-men. The dwellings were burnt to the ground.

The citizens and magistrates of Lancaster, shocked at the horrible outrage, with commendable humanity gathered the scattered individuals of the tribe who remained into the stone work-house at Lancaster, where, under bolts and bars, and the strict supervision of the keeper, they could not doubt but the Indians would be safe until they could be conveyed to Philadelphia for more secure protection.

But the Paxton men were satisfied with nothing short of the extermination of the tribe, alleging, however, that one or two of the hostile Indians were still among the Indians protected by the civil authority at Lancaster. Concealing themselves at night near Lancaster, they waited until the next day, 27th Dec., when the whole community was engaged in the solemnities of the sanctuary; then, riding suddenly into town at a gallop, the band seized upon the keeper of the workhouse and overpowered him, and rushing into the prison, the work of death was speedily ac complished: the poor Indians, about fourteen in number, were left weltering in gore, while the Paxton men left the town in the same haste with which they had entered it. The alarm was raised through the town; but, before the citizens could assemble, the murderers were beyond their reach. In consequence of this affair, the Moravian Indians from Wyalusing and Nain, who had come to Philadelphia for protection, were removed to Province island near the city, and placed under the charge of the garrison.

The Paxton men, elated by their recent success, assembled in greater numbers early in January, and threatened to march to Philadelphia in a body, and destroy the Indians there. The people of the city were prodigiously alarmed, and several companies of foot, horse, and artillery were formed to repel the expected attack. The Paxton men, who had approached the Schuylkill on their march, finding such a force prepared to receive them, returned home.

A proclamation was issued by the governor, expressing the strongest indignation at the outrage at Conestoga and Lancaster, and offering a reward for the arrest of the perpetrators; but such was the state of public opinion in the interior counties that no one dared to bring the offenders to justice, although they mingled openly among their fellow-citizens.

The press of the day teemed with pamphlets, letters, appeals, pasquinades, and caricatures, many of which are still preserved in the Philadelphia Library. While some of these present calm and forcible arguments on their respective sides, others exhibit the most rancorous malignity, and others show that that age was not a whit behind our own in the scurrility of its political writers. After the Indians were killed, all parties busied themselves, as usual in such cases, to ascertain who was to blame. The governor was blamed for not having removed the Indians long before to Philadelphia, as he had been repeatedly warned to do. The Quakers and Moravians were blamed for fostering murderous Indians, and sheltering them from merited vengeance. The magistrates of Lancaster were charged with remissness of duty, since they might have applied to Capt. Robinson, who was then stationed at the barracks in Lancaster with his company, for a guard; but the magistrates say they did apply to him, and he denied their request. The citizens of Lancaster, too, and the keeper of the workhouse, were charged with collusion and connivance with the Paxton men; but they indignantly denied the charge. And the whole Presbyterian church, it was plainly insinuated, was, if not aiding and abetting in the massacre, ready, at all events, to shield the guilty from punishment, and extenuate the crime.*

"The insurgents," says Mr. Gordon, "were not the ignorant and vulgar of the border counties-persons more likely to yield to their passions than

Those who would investigate these questions more fully, are referred to the various pamphlets in the Philadelphia Library, and to the voluminous mass of documents recently republished in the Lancaster Intelligencer for 1843.

to respect the laws of their country and of humanity. They were of such consideration, that whilst the public voice and the press execrated the cruelty and illegality of their conduct, they forbore to name the guilty individuals. Nor did the latter remain silent, and shrink from reproach without an attempt at self-defence. They urged the repeated murders perpetrated by the Indians, and their convictions of the union of the neutral with the belligerent tribes."

During the old French war, and that of the revolution, the Scotch-Irish of Lancaster county, and such of the Germans (the Lutherans chiefly) as were not conscientiously opposed to it, cheerfully took arms in defence of the frontier. At the time of Braddock's expedition, Dr. Franklin, by his tact and perseverance, raised a large force of horses and wagons among the farmers of the county. Those who scrupled themselves to fight, did not object to send a horse and wagon to carry provisions, and to relieve the wounded. At Lancaster, on the return of Gen. Forbes's army from Fort Pitt, a barrack was erected for the accommodation of his troops. This building is still standing, though recently somewhat altered in its appearance, in Middle-street, near Mr. Fries' tavern. It is generally known as the British prison, from the fact that during the revolution it was selected for the confinement of the British prisoners, who were brought here because the inhabitants were thought to be decidedly hostile to the English. The following narrative of an adventure which occurred at that time, is abridged from a communication in the New England Magazine for 1833. The writer obtained his facts from the former intendant of the prison.

The prisoners were confined in barracks, enclosed with a stockads and vigilantly guarded; but in spite of all precautions, they often disappeared in an unaccountable manner, and nothing was heard of them until they resumed their places in the British army. It was presumed that they were aided by American tories, but where suspicion should fall, no one could conjecture. Gen. Hazen had charge of the post. He devised a stratagem for detecting the culprits, and selected Capt. Lee, afterwards Maj. Lee, a distinguished partisan officer, to carry out his plan. It was given out that Lee had left the post on furlough. He, however, having disguised himself as a British prisoner, was thrown into the prison with the others. So complete was the disguise, that even the intendant, familiar with him from long daily intercourse, did not penetrate it. Had his fellow-prisoners detected him, his history might have been embraced in the proverb, “Dead men tell no tales."

For many days he remained in this situation, making no discoveries whatever. He thought he perceived at times signs of intelligence between the prisoners and an old woman who was al lowed to bring fruit for sale within the enclosure. She was known to be deaf and half-witted, and was therefore no object of suspicion. It was known that her son had been disgraced and punished in the American army, but she had never betrayed any malice on that account, and no one dreamed that she could have the power to do injury if she possessed the will. Lee watched her closely, but saw nothing to confirm his suspicions. Her dwelling was about a mile distant, in a wild retreat, where she shared her miserable quarters with a dog and cat.

One dark stormy night in autumn, Lee was lying awake at midnight. All at once the door was gently opened, and a figure moved silently into the room. It was too dark to observe its motions narrowly, but he could see that it stooped towards one of the sleepers, who immediately rose. Next it approached and touched him on the shoulder. Lee immediately started up. The figure then allowed a slight gleam from a dark lantern to pass over his face, and as it did so whispered, impatiently, "Not the man-but come!" It then occurred to Lee that it was the opportunity he desired. The unknown whispered to him to keep his place till another man was called; but just at that moment something disturbed him, and making a signal to Lee to follow, he moved silently out of the room. They found the door of the house unbarred, and a small part of the fence removed, where they passed out without molestation. The sentry had retired to a shelter, where he thought he could guard his post without suffering from the rain; but Lee saw his conductors put themselves in preparation to silence him if he should happen to address them

* See page 242.