GW's time in Philly 1757
Colonel George Washington's stay in Philly was approximately a month. Could this have been the first time George Washington heard Rule Britannia? He saw a play there whose finale was that rousing anthem. Once reassured of permission to go see Lord Loudoun, Colonel George Washington left Fort Loudoun Winchester VA on or just after 2 Feb 1757. His chief aides helping him to pack and travel to Philly were Capt Robt Stewart and Thomas Bishop, both of whom were at the Battle of the Monongahela. Stewart has a Winchester street named after him. And Bishop was Braddock's personal white servant, who GW hired after that battle and who stayed most of the rest of his life with Washington.
A lot happened in Philadelphia on his stay there.
Each matter that came up is a whole big story itself.
Despite all contrary indications, Washington is considered a suspect for being a traitor. Descriptions of this traitor who wrote letters telling privileged information to France seemed to fit the description of George Washington. George Washington never finds out he was a suspect before and during his stay in Philadelphia. To his dying day there is no indication he ever knew about this story.
Instead, what catches Colonel George Washington's interest is the advertisement of a coming story featuring his confiscated journal from 1754. He is being accused in a French propaganda tract of being one of the culprits in starting this present war with France. And here in Philly is the Pennsylvania Gazette advertising news of it. He gets busy trying to find this French publication and finds a translator. He wants to figure out how to respond to such charges. This contradiction of how he can be accused of being a traitor to England and starting this war against France, does not go unnoticed. We are sure this observation occurred to Lord Loudoun as he never acted to arrest George Washington.
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We give a little vignette on the Governors who attended the conference and the decisions made there.
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We end all these stories with GW going to that play, whose finale song is Rule Britannia. This has a special association to GW. Most of his defensive fort network lies in the frontier old Frederick Co VA - a county named after Prince Frederick of Wales who was the next in line to be King and who was the first of English royalty along with Admiral Vernon to hear the first play production with Rule Britannia in it.
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There are a lot of stories in here
about his stay in Philadelphia. Feel free to jump around and read bits and pieces.
When did GW arrive and leave Philly?
Colonel
George Washington
with his aides
stayed in
Philadelphia
21 February 1757 to
25 March in 1757.
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GW had to prepare for that trip first.
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That took some time.
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After getting
to see Lord Loudoun,
"Washington departed promptly
(leaving Fort Loudoun Winchester VA)
some time after 2 Feb 1757),
stopped at home (Mt Vernon)
on his way to the city (Philadelphia),
left on the 13th (Feb 1757)
with Capt Robert Stewart
and
and reached
the place of the conference
(Philadelphia)
about the 21st (Feb 1757) --
only to be told
that the new Commander-in Chief
(Lord Loudoun)
had not made his appearance. "
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-- writes Douglas Southall Freeman in
Young George Washington,
published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons
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Lord Loudoun had originally scheduled this conference for February 17, 1757 but changed it, arriving in Philadelphia on March 14, 1757.
When did they leave?
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From Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 242, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons:
Colonel George Washington:
Ledger entries from March 17 to April 5 lack dates but they indicate Washington was in the town [Alexandria] a few days before writing on the [April] 5th to Governor Dinwiddie. Founders Online notes this timeline: "The southern governors’ conference with Loudoun in Philadelphia broke up on 23 Mar., and GW was in Annapolis on his way to Alexandria on 30 March."
From Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 241, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons:
Lord Loudoun:
For the departure of the General [Lord Loudoun] from Philadelphia, see Penn Gazette , March 21, 1757.
The Governors:
The Governors' [VA, MD, NC] return, via Annapolis, is described in Ridgely, Annals of Annapolis, 130..
Who travelled with GW to Philly?
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Both his principle aides who travelled with him to Philadelphia reminded each other of a horrible shared experience. And this trip was meant to remedy that bad experience.
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Both Capt Robert Stewart
and
were his chief aides
going along with GW
on this trip
to Philadelphia.
Stewart Street in Winchester VA
is named after Captain Robert Stewart.
He and Thomas Bishop
were both with Washington
in the disastrous Braddock Expedition.
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Four horses have now been shot and killed under Braddock; still he keeps his ground. At length, as he mounts a fifth horse, a bullet passes through his right arm and lodges itself in his lungs. He falls from his horse into the arms of Captain Robert Stewart, of the Virginia Light Horse. The mortally wounded General asks to be left amid the dead and dying on the scene of slaughter, but Captain Stewart and another Virginian officer assisted by Braddock's servant, Bishop, later carry him from the field in his military scarf. SEE SOURCE --- PAGE 188 -The Indian wars of Pennsylvania : an account of the Indian events, in Pennsylvania, of the French and Indian war, Pontiac's war, Lord Dunmore's war, the revolutionary war, and the Indian uprising from 1789 to 1795 ; tragedies of the Pennsylvania frontier based primarily on the Penna. archives and colonial records / by C. Hale Sipe ; introduction by Dr. George P. Donehoo Sipe, C. Hale (Chester Hale), b. 1880 
And the Thomas Bishop mentioned above?
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He was an aide
to General Braddock
who GW later picked up
to be his own aide after that battle.
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Founders Online tells his story:
Three months after Braddock’s defeat
in July 1755,
Washington as colonel
of the new Virginia Regiment,
hired Bishop as his personal military servant.
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Bishop remained with the young colonel until Washington left the Virginia Regiment at the end of 1758. Bishop then returned to the British army at Philadelphia. In the spring of 1760 Washington decided that he wished to have Bishop with him at Mount Vernon and paid £10 to secure his release from the British service. The old soldier lived at Mount Vernon for the next thirty-four years, until his death in 1795. See Source.
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What were some of the issues encountered by Colonel George Washington in Philadelphia?
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Is GW a Traitor?
He was there to meet Lord Loudoun for his own purpose and for his officers and men to seek a closer position within the official British Army.
Lord Loudoun wants to meet him too.
Unbeknownst to GW are reports of a description that seem to fit GW as being a traitor.
Lord Loudoun has been receiving reports about an officer sending secret information to the French.
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The descriptions of that officer seem to fit George Washington.
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See full story as told by Douglas Southall Freeman, here.
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So when Lord Loudoun
finally calls GW
to his conference
with the Mid-Atlantic and
Southern Governors,
Lord Loudoun has 2 purposes in mind.
See what GW looks like.
Does he match the descriptions made of the Traitor?
The other purpose was just to ask GW about the forts and their garrisons.
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Lord Loudoun was pleased with his earlier reports submitted by Colonel George Washington on the defensive fort plan in Virginia. See Loudoun's aide, James Cuninghame, 27 February 1757.
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Or is GW an Assassin?
Paradoxically at the same time GW is being accused by the French as being one of the reasons for starting this war. GW is busy trying to obtain the French document that includes their translation of his journal taken from him when he surrendered at Fort Necessity.
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GW started this War
While waiting for Lord Loudoun, GW sees the newspaper advertisement on 3 March 1757, of a future publication date for GW's lost journal. GW is listed by the French as one of the causes of this present war. .
Ben Franklin
This is the same day, 3 March 1757, Ben Franklin writes Lord Loudoun. Ben Franklin has delayed his trip to England upon Lord Loudoun's request to see Ben Franklin in Philadelphia. Also Bank Franklin's apprentice is James Chattin the one who advertised in the newspaper a future coming publication of GW's Journal among other items in which the English govt sought to counter the French accusation that England started this war.
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Be a part of the British Army
But Lord Loudoun's purpose for meeting GW was not GW's reason for meeting Lord Loudoun. GW wanted to ask Lord Loudoun to recognize himself and his officers and his men as part of the official British Army. First, GW wrote to Lt Gov Dinwiddie while Dinwiddie and GW were in Philadelphia. GW wrote his plea 10 February 1757 to Lt Gov Dinwiddie as a test run before submitting the same plea to Lord Loudoun 23 March 1757. What is notable in GW's plea to have his men considered for meriting British commissions was his phrase in that letter, " We can't conceive that being Americans shoud deprive us of the benefits of British Subjects; nor lessen our claim to preferment . . ."
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What got accomplished at these conferences with the Governors?
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Secret
One plan Lord Loudoun never mentioned was his plan to attack in the north. That north attack was orginally for Quebec. But Pitt took over direction of the war and changed Loudoun's plan to attack the Fortress Louisbourg, guarding the mouth of the St Lawrence. Not one word was mentioned to any of the Governors there, nor was anything of it mentioned to GW or to Ben Franklin.
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From Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 240, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons:
Loudoun told the council virtually nothing concerning his plan of operations in the North — he was “very reserved and secret” Dinwiddie said, in half praise and half grumble — but he and the Governors agreed confidentially that no offensive could be undertaken in Pennsylvania or to the southward during 1757.
A defensive must be maintained there, by an enlarged force, and particularly in South Carolina where a French attack from Santo Domingo or from the Alabama fort in the Creek country was apprehended.
Contingents from North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania must be sent to Charleston to strengthen the regulars and the South Carolina forces.
What decisions were made?
Some Virginia Regiment troops will go to guard Charleston South Carolina. This freed up the South Carolina troops from patrolling Charleston to go west to meet the French and Indian danger. Fort Cumberland is to be solely Maryland's responsibility and no longer Virginia's. That freed up Lt Colonel Adam Stephen. That also finally relieved Colonel Washington from the insult of Captain Dagworthy ruling over him, since Dagworthy claimed his expired active British commission outranked Washington's provincial Colonel rank. Lt Gov Dinwiddie then designated Lt Col Adam Stephen to leave Fort Cumberland and Captain George Mercer to leave Fort Loudoun Winchester VA to go to Charleston SC.
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GW relieved of Indian duties
Edmond Atkin was there too, bugging Lord Loudoun for money and troop and supplies for his job of being the Indian agent south of the more prominent northern Indian agent, Sir William Johnston. Edmond Atkin, who wrote a policy paper of 1755that led to the creation of his job as superintendent of Indian affairs south of Sir William Johnston's turf was in Winchester VA when he writes to George Croghan, 8 June 1757 " when we parted last in Philadelphia 26th of March," he Atkin wanted Croghan to give him a report of Croghan's talks with the Indians at either Harris Ferry, or Lancaster." Source for this is Pennsylvania Archives, Series 1, Volume III, page 175-176.
Atkin was also there to obtain financial backing from Lord Loudoun to conduct his job. Lord Loudoun gave him some, but if he wanted more, then he was to try ask for more from Virginia. It was in this conference and after that since Edmond Atkin was to be head Indian Agent for the Southern Department, that this meant Colonel George Washington was to be relieved of all official duties dealing with the Indians.
Loudoun also proposed an embargo of colonial ships.
What Governors attended?
This was not as complete a "Grandest Conference," like the one Braddock conducted at Carlyle's House, two years ago. Only some of the Mid-Atlantic and Southern colonies attended.
Lt Gov Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia
was there. He was the acting governor. The actual governor of Virginia was Lord Loudoun himself, but often the Lt Gov was the real one to do the work of the Governor, while the titled Governor was most often absent. And in this case, really absent -- because Lord Loudoun never ended up going to Virginia. Before GW wrote his plea to Lord Loudoun to gain a better establishment with the British Army, GW first wrote Dinwiddie of that plea.
Dinwiddie's movements after the conference:
Founders Online notes: Dinwiddie returned from Philadelphia on 31 Mar. or 1 April and immediately summoned the assembly to meet in Williamsburg on 14 April. See William Fairfax to GW, 31 Mar. 1757. Founders Online notes: On 29 Mar. in Dinwiddie’s absence Fairfax as president of the council met in Williamsburg with “King Blunt and thirty three Tuscaroroes, seven Meherrins, two Saponies and thirteen Nottoways” before sending them up to GW in Baker’s charge (Exec. Journals of Virginia Council, 6:38). Founders Online reports: The southern governors’ conference with Loudoun in Philadelphia broke up on 23 Mar., and GW was in Annapolis on his way to Alexandria on 30 March. The council met on 4 April to receive Dinwiddie’s report on the meeting in Philadelphia with Loudoun. Although Philip Ludwell Lee’s commission as a member of the council was read at the meeting of 22 Mar. 1757, he first attended the council on 14 April. John Tayloe’s commission was read on 11 April and he made his first appearance on 14 April.
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Horatio Sharpe, Governor of Maryland,
was there. This colony was a proprietorship. Douglas Southall Freeman in his Young Washington Volume 2, page 235, states GW often met Horatio Sharpe while in Philadelphia. Both built a substantial fort at the same time. Horatio Sharpe's Fort Frederick still stands. As a Park Ranger at the fort today will tell a Winchester VA resident: "We might have a fort, but you have George Washington."
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Governor of of the Royal Colony of North Carolina, was there. He quite the interesting fellow who "discovered" the Venus Flytrap and was interested in pursuing the Northwest Passage between the Arctic and Canada. In here is a summary of when both North and South Carolina was one colony. Some incidental background: Capt. Edward Brice Dobbs, son of North Carolina governor Arthur Dobbs, arrived at Fort Cumberland on 30 May 1755 to help on the Braddock Expedition leading a company of 80 North Carolina men. And after that from 1755 to Spring of 1756, "Majr Dobbs is Posted at the German Flatts in the Way to Oswego where I beleive he is like to Continue & has Little prospect of Joyning the Regulars this Camphain"
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South Carolina representation was not there.
William Henry Lyttelton, the designated Governor of this Royal Colony in 1755 but was captured by the French. He was detained in Brest as a prisoner of war. He finally was released and arrived at Charleston on June 1, 1756, and held office until he left the colony on April 4, 1760. We do not know for sure why he did not attend this Philadelphia conference with Lord Loudoun but his colony did receive a decision at that conference to send Virginia troops to guard Charleston SC while South Carolina provincials went west to encounter a perceived French and Indian threat. Founders Online notes: Dinwiddie wrote William H. Lyttelton from Williamsburg in a letter dated 2 April that he had arrived the day before. Arthur Dobbs became governor of North Carolina in 1754.
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William Denny,
Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, a proprietorship, was there. He was staying at the Shippen House, according to Douglas Southall Freeman in his Young George Washington Vol 2, page 235 footnote. Founders Online has an interesting description of his issues: ". . . His polite attempt to submerge party disputes in a concentration on the war effort, laudable enough in itself, left the fatuous Denny isolated and despised. Richard Peters found him “a triffler, weak of body, peevish and averse to business”; his predecessor, Morris, reported that his object “seems to be money”; a prominent Quaker moaned “he is a wavering, weak, unstable gentleman, and under his administration, Lord have mercy upon us”; and the Indians at one time wondered whether he was man or woman. Although bf in the Council’s presence called him a Bashaw, Denny seems to have been complaisant enough for bf to recall later that “Between us personally no Enmity arose.” By the end of his administration he had disgusted everyone, having among other things beaten and virtually imprisoned his wife, sold flags of truce to smugglers, and disobeyed his instructions in exchange for salary payments from the Assembly. Recalled in 1759, he spent the rest of his life in ease and idleness . . ."
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Sir Charles Hardy,
Governor of New York , was not there. But that Governor Sir Charles Hardy was busy in the search for the writer of letters sending privileged information to France. And those letters seemed to describe George Washington.
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From Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 239, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons:
. . . Lord Loudoun undertook to sift suspects. They found nobody who seemed to have the position the anonymous writer asserted to be his.
At length, on Jan 1, 1757, Samuel Vanhorne, a New York merchant, residing on Wall Street, came to Sir Charles Hardy, Governor of New York, and explained that business often took him to Philadelphia where friends frequently asked him to inquire if there were letters for them in the New York Post Office and, if so, to forward the communications.
During a visit from which he had just returned, said Vanhorne, a man dressed like an officer had accosted him and had asked if there was m the New York office a letter for Pierre Fidel.
Doubtless having been informed of the decoy, Vanhorne answered that such a letter was awaiting its addressee The man in military dress replied that he wished he had it, as “the man for whom it was intended was on the frontier ”
Sir Charles immediately notified Lord Loudoun, who went that same evening with Colonel Stanwix to the Governor’s quarters to interview
Vanhorne.
The merchant repeated his story With some difficulty and
much persuasion, Loudoun won Vanhorne’s promise to go back to Philadelphia with Colonel Stanwix The Colonel was ordered to arrest
the suspect, if Vanhorne pointed him out, and to secure all his papers 44 .
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What was staying in Philadelphia like from February to March 1757?
A Big Town
While in this town,
there were
a number of other moments
to catch
Colonel George Washington's
interest.
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Along with all the Governors having a daily audience with Lord Loudoun is Ben Franklin.
which later becomes known
as Independence Hall.
And perhaps the Liberty Bell
before it became known as
the Liberty Bell,
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Also there was much dancing,
card playing,
shopping in this great town,
a town that had street gas lights.
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Those gas lights
were first introduced by
but Ben Franklin mentions
before he went to England in 1757
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And then a theatre presentation:
GW even
the 1757 College of Philadelphia Production of Alfred: A Masque.
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This college by the way was matriculating its first graduates ever this Spring. That is their 1757 seal. The school became the University of Pennsylvania.
And that play?
This play
was first presented at
on 1 August 1740.
Attending were
who was next in line to be King,
and for his wife's birthday
and for Admiral Vernon .
He was the first son of King George II.
Frederick Co VA is named after that Frederick.
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When does GW leave Philly?
While Colonel George Washington is still in Philadelphia, Indian allies are coming up from the south. Founders Online notes this timeline: "The southern governors’ conference with Loudoun in Philadelphia broke up on 23 Mar., and GW was in Annapolis on his way to Alexandria on 30 March."
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Compile by Jim Moyer , researched in late Feb and early, first published on blog website March 16,2021,
first published on Facebook March 21, 2021, updated 4/5/2021, 4/11/21
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RESEARCH NOTES
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GW's timeline in Philly Jan-Mar 1757
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January 1757
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GW was ordered to Fort Cumberland and stayed there December 20, 1756 and January 25, 1757. While there in Fort Cumberland, GW wrote to Lord Loudoun 10 Jan 1757.
He then travelled to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA and stayed there from January 26, 1757 to possibly 2 February 1757 when Lt Gov Dinwiddie, again but grudgingly gives permission to GW to go to Philadelphia to see Lord Loudoun.
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February 1757
"Washington departed promptly
(leaving Fort Loudoun Winchester VA
some time after 2 Feb 1757),
stopped at home (Mt Vernon)
on his way to the city (Philadelphia),
left on the 13th (Feb 1757)
with Capt Robert Stewart
and Thomas Bishop,
and reached
the place of the conference
(Philadelphia)
about the 21st (Feb 1757) --
only to be told
that the new Commander-in Chief
(Lord Loudoun)
had not made his appearance.
" -- writes Douglas Southall Freeman
in Young George Washington,
published 1948,
Charles Scribner's Sons: .
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March 1757
ASSASSIN !!!!
GW started this War
While waiting for Lord Loudoun, GW sees the newspaper advertisement on 3 March 1757, of a future publication date for GW's lost journal. GW is listed by the French as one of the causes of this present war. .
Ben Franklin
This is the same day, 3 March 1757, Ben Franklin writes Lord Loudoun. Ben Franklin has delayed his trip to England upon Lord Loudoun's request to see Ben Franklin in Philadelphia. Also Bank Franklin's apprentice is James Chattin the one who advertised in the newspaper a future coming publication of GW's Journal among other items in which the English govt sought to counter the French accusation that England started this war.
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Lord Loudoun Arrives His Lord, Lord Loudoun was originally scheduled to arrive in 17 Feb 1757 but reschedules it and shows up on March 14, 1757 in Philly.
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GW's reason for this Philly Trip
From George Washington writes a plea to Robert Dinwiddie, 10 March 1757 for his officers to have British commissions and his men to be part of the British Army establishment. GW writes a memorable two words, ". . . being Americans . . ."
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Liberty Bell
Lord Loudoun is greeted with great fanfare 14 March 1757. The noise of ship's guns and the city's bells heralded his arrival. We wonder if the Liberty Bell (it wasn't called that name of Liberty Bell until 1835) rang for him that day?
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Conferences
Lord Loudoun holds conferences with the southern Governors the very next day on 15 March 1757 thru 21 March 1757.
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Independence Hall
A big dinner to honor Lord Loudoun was held on 18 March 1757 by the corporation of Philadelphia at the State House (the future Independence Hall).
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GW NO LONGER CONSIDERED A SUSPECT
Finally GW meets Lord Loudoun
Colonel George Washington finally has an audience with Lord Loudoun 20 March 1757. This meeting removes all doubt that GW is the man as described as traitor giving secrets to the France. Lord Loudoun no longer writes about any further reports concerning GW as the suspect. Lord Loudoun's other purpose was just to ask GW about the forts and their garrisons. Of all the days of conferences between 15 March and 25 March 1757 with the Governors of the Mid-Atlantic and Southern colonies, only one day was GW invited official business.
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Plea to be part of British Army:
Although GW was called to meet Lord Loudoun, they did not discuss in official business GW's plea for himself and his officers and his men to part of the official British Army. So GW sent Lord Loudoun this plea 23 March 1757 after having earlier run a test drive by Lt Gov Dinwiddie on 10 March 1757.
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Lord Loudoun leaves
Lord Loudoun anticipates leaving Philly for NYC, 25 March 1757.
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Links found on unrelated items in the course of doing this research:
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Two soldiers robbed a man, during the time GW was in Philly
CLIPPED FROM
10 Mar 1757, Thu • Page 2
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RULE BRITANNIA
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The 1757 College of Philadelphia Production of Alfred: A Masque—Some New Observations
Interstingly, at the same time this was happening, the first public concert in Philadelphia occurred in the Assembly Room on Lodge Alley (near Second and Chestnut (or Walnut) Streets) under the direction of a John Palma. The fist such concert was on January 25, 1757; the second was on March 17. This appears to be the first known chamber music subscription series in the colonies, as well as the first known public concert in America). Among those who attended the second concert was a young colonel named George Washington.
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McGinley, Kevin J. "The 1757 College of Philadelphia Production of Alfred: A Masque - Some New Observations." Huntington Library Quarterly 77.1 (2014): 37-58. JSTOR. Web.
while plays like Alfred: A Masque addressed contemporary political issues between America and England, which Washington saw performed in Philadelphia in 1757. (4)
The work was initially devised as a masque in 1740 and was first performed at Cliveden, country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740 to commemorate the accession of George I and the birthday of the Princess Augusta.[1] Arne later revised the work turning it into an all-sung oratorio in 1745 and then an opera in 1753. It is best known for its finale "Rule, Britannia!".
LIGHTING
PlacesMarch 23, 2016
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S RESIDENCES ON CRAVEN STREET, LONDON: 1757 – 1775
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JOURNAL ARTICLE
Colonial Libraries of PennsylvaniaE. V. Lamberton, Christian Lehman, Joshua Potts, David Reese, Samuel Magaw, Thomas Penn and John Penn
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 42, No. 3 (1918), pp. 193-234 (42 pages)
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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Benjamin Franklin and a group of friends founded the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731 when Franklin was 25 years old. It was America's first lending library and can lay claim to being the predecessor of the free public library. For a brief period (Dec. 1733-Mar. 1734) Franklin actually served as the librarian for the Library Company. He also served as its secretary from 1746 to 1757.
"And now I set on foot my first project of a public nature, that for a subscription library ... this was the mother of all the North American subscription libraries, now so numerous. It is become a great thing itself, and continually increasing. These libraries have improved the general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges." - The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Initially the library was located in the private residence of one of its members. The Library moved to the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in 1740. It stayed in this location for 34 years.
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Reference to Amicable Library
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Clipping found in The Pennsylvania Gazette in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 26, 1757. 1757 Dutch servant woman runaway: 1757 "elderly" Dutch woman aged between 30-40. White & black striped linsey woolsey petticoat and a brown Dutch made jacket.
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The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 8 December 1757 Page 3
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The Pennsylvania Gazette from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Page 4
Publication:The Pennsylvania Gazette iLocation:Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaIssue Date:Thursday, May 12, 1757
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A Directory of Friends in Philadelphia, 1757-1760
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 16, No. 2 (Jul., 1892), pp. 219-238 (20 pages) Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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Selected items from the collections of the University Archives may be viewed online.
FINANCIAL RECORDS
Academy of Philadelphia and College of Philadelphia
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1757 Indian Peace medal background October 4, 2018 1:36PM edited October 4, 2018 1:42PM in U.S. Coin Forum Here's a little information about the 1757 Indian Peace medal prepared by a private Philadelphia association, mostly of Quakers (Betts 401). Thought it might be of interest to medal collectors.
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In 1757 Philadelphia had its first street lights, whale oil lamps designed by thi
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The January 20, 1757 edition of the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser included the following notice:
By particular desire; On Tuesday next, the 25th Instant, at the Assembly Room, in Lodge Alley, will be performed a CONCERT of MUSIC, under the Direction of Mr. John Palma … Tickets to be had at the London Coffee-house, at one Dollar each.
John Palma’s January 25th concert must have been fairly successful, for a few months later the Journal and Weekly Advertiser carried a notice for another concert to be held March 25th at the same place. John Palma is not mentioned by name in this notice, but we know from another source that he was involved.
In attendance that evening was young Virginia military officer named George Washington. In his ledger book, Washington recorded an entry on March 17, 1757 for purchase of “Mr. Palmas Tickets.” This was probably Washington’s first concert in Philadelphia, but it would not be his last. Some thirty years later he would be a regular concertgoer as a resident of the city, first as President of the Constitutional Convention and later as President of the United States.
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In addition to raising troops, Philadelphia served as a military staging area. In late 1756, the British commander, Lord Loudon, dispatched the Sixtieth, or Royal American, Regiment to the city. At the time, Philadelphia did not possess any barracks to house them, which touched off a major controversy. Numerous inn and tavern keepers refused to take the British soldiers at the rates then being offered by the Crown. The commander of the Royal Americans, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Bouquet (1719-65), sought to make an arrangement with the mayor of the city, but to no avail. On receiving word of the situation, the commander of British forces in North America, John Campbell, Lord Loudon (1705-82), threatened to use force to acquire shelter for these troops, who were suffering from the effects of exposure to the weather and an outbreak of smallpox. At this point, a committee led by Benjamin Franklin succeeded in getting the tavern owners and innkeepers to accept the prescribed rates, ending the controversy.
Philadelphia also served as the staging area for the successful campaign led by Brigadier General John Forbes (1707-59) against Fort Duquesne in 1758. On his return, Forbes died in the city and was interred in the cemetery at Christ Church
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he money was quickly used up, so at the end of January 1757 the Assembly passed another supply bill, but this time sunk with a property tax. Denny informed the Assembly that he could not sign it. Benjamin Franklin wrote to Robert Charles in London that the Assembly was
So confin’d as to the Time of Raising, the Property to be tax’d, the Valuation of that Property, and the Sum per Pound to be Tax’d on the Valuation that tis demonstrably Impossible by such a Law to raise one Quarter of the Money absolutely necessary to defend us” [7]
Unable to get the governor to reconsider and knowing that a second petition to the King in Council was pointless, the Assembly decided to send one of their own as an agent to England. The person they selected was Benjamin Franklin. His purpose was meet with Thomas Penn and “solicit the Removal of our Grievances occasioned by Proprietary Instructions.” [8] On March 31, the Assembly gave Franklin a list of five grievances and they instructed him to seek their redress.[9] On June 6, the day Franklin set sail for England, Governor Denny asked the Assembly for additional funds in order to raise more troops. The Assembly refused to pass a bill, stating they believed that they had given enough for defense and
We shall think it happy for ourselves and our posterity, if, in this Time of Distress, we can guard against the many Attempts on the People’s Rights and Liberties, and preserve to the Constitution those Principles of Freedom on which it was originally founded.
Three months later, they begged the governor to “let not arbitrary Proprietary instructions be the sole Rule of your Conduct; exercise your own Judgement and Reason in your publick Acts.” [10]
On July 17, Franklin arrived at Falmouth, England. His arrival did not surprise Penn. He had been informed of the probability seven months earlier
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A Society consisting principally of Friends, was formed in this city, in the year 1756, entitled “The Friendly Association of Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures.”
In the year 1757, besides other proofs of its regard for the Indians, and in order that they might be possessed of an object which would frequently remind them of the intentions of their friends, the association had a medal designed and struck, bearing an appropriate device and motto, which was distributed among them, it has on the obverse, a bust of George II, “Georgius II Dei Gratia.”
Reverse, a man in Quaker dress sitting under a tree holding a pipe of peace in his hand over a council fire, and Indian sitting opposite a sun above the. Legend: “Let us look to the most high who blessed our fathers with peace,” in a circle, exergue “1757.” The dies was engraved in Philadelphia by Edward Duffield, and cost the Society fifteen pounds. The following letter will authenticate the genuine origin of the die.
Philadelphia, Sixth Month, 12th 1813. To Thomas Westar,
The impressions which I now respectfully offer for thy acceptance, at [illegible due to damage] dies that have long been in possession of my predecessor and myself; at the early time they were engraves, coining presses were unknown in this Country, they were therefore cut on punches, fixed in a socket, and struck with a sledge hammer. The Indian medal of 1757, was struck at the expense of a Society (chiefly composed of Friends) formed in Philadelphia, for the express purpose of promoting peace with the Indian tribes. The appropriate inscription it truly characteristic, and will serve to convey to posterity a just idea of the men of influence of those days. I remember well the striking of the Indian medal by my father and it was executed in silver and presented to the Indians by the Society. Although this medal may at present be thought of little value, I have no doubt in a future day it will be considered interesting, not only from the occasion for which it was struck, but as it may serve to show the progress of the arts in our Country.
Thy Friend, Joseph Richardson.
NB: Joseph Richardson, the elder, was a member of the “Friendly Association,” and by profession a silversmith. The author of the above letter was Assayer of the Mint, commissioned Dec 12.1795.
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A picture of a truncated Independence Hall is in here on a blog on Biddle
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Construction of Independence Hall, then known as the Pennsylvania State House would begin in 1732. The construction of the building was an enormous undertaking. Designed to house the Pennsylvania Assembly, the Governor’s Office, the Supreme Court of the Colony of Pennsylvania, as well as a large hall for banquets and celebrations, the building was among the largest in America at the time of its construction. The Pennsylvania Assembly began meeting in the building in 1735, but construction was not considered complete until 1748. Not long after the Pennsylvania State House was initially completed, the building was once again undergoing construction. William Strickland was hired around 1750 to build a bell tower as an addition to the State House, a tower which would eventually house the famous bell known as “The Liberty Bell.”
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COURTS OF OYER AND TERMINER 1757-1787 BEDFORD, BERKS, BUCKS, CHESTER, CUMBERLAND, LANCASTER, NORTHAMPTON, PHILADELPHIA AND YORK COUNTIES
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Minutes of conferences, held with the Indians at Easton, in the months of July, and August, 1757. https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt:31735054857580
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The five-pound note (equal to 100 shillings) bears the date April 25, 1759. One hundred thousand pounds in legal tender bills were issued on April 25, 1759, to be valid until March 1, 1767. This was later extended until October 15, 1769. The Penn family's coat of arms appears on the front of the bill and a nature print is on the back. Benjamin Franklin and David Hall printed the bills in Philadelphia. The spelling of "Pennsylvania" differs on most of the denominations of the notes, and it is thought that Franklin purposely did this to deter counterfeiting.
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The beginnings of Lodge No. 2 are practically inseparable from the origins of Pennsylvania Freemasonry as it is today. Pennsylvania Lodge No. 4, the first iteration of our lodge, was established on June 24, 1757. However, as this new lodge began its work, it quickly became apparent that Lodge No. 4 was not following the “Modern” Masonic ritual under the rules of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the “Modern” Grand Lodge of England. Instead, this new lodge was working in the “Ancient” form, a new branch of Freemasonry that sought to return to the Craft’s traditional landmarks and customs. Long dissatisfied with the inconsistent and disorganized state of “Modern” Freemasonry, the “Ancients” had established their own “Ancient” Grand Lodge of England in 1751. The brethren of Lodge No. 4, realizing that their true loyalties did not lie with the other “Modern” lodges, petitioned the Ancient Grand Lodge of England for the proper Masonic authority to constitute a new “Ancient” lodge in Philadelphia, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. On June 7, 1758, the Ancient Grand Lodge of England issued a warrant establishing Lodge No. 69 on the rolls of England and No. 1 in Pennsylvania. This is the date that we in Lodge No. 2 celebrate as the day our lodge was born.
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INDIAN ATTACKS IN NORTHKILL
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College Class of 1757: The First Graduates
WHO WERE THE FIRST COLLEGE STUDENTS AT PENN?
As can be seen by the list of the members of the College Class of 1757, the first class of the newly incorporated College of Philadelphia, the Class of 1757, originally consisted of twelve students, eight of whom would earn the A.B. degree. It is also possible that the young artist, Benjamin West, a private student of Provost Smith, attended classes with this group. The Class of 1757 was part of a larger student body. During their time at the College of Philadelphia these dozen students were joined by twenty members of the Class of 1759 and thirteen members of the Class of 1760. Furthermore, the College shared its campus and sometimes its faculty, with the Academy of Philadelphia, which by this time enrolled over a hundred students. At this time, the same building provided classroom space for the young men of the College as well as the boys of both the Philadelphia Academy and the Charity School. Classes for the girls’ branch of the Charity School, begun in 1753, were held in a nearby house.
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20 YEARS LATER
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lewis's visit to Philadelphia in 1803 came at a time of diminished status for the State House. The national government had moved to Washington and the state government to Lancaster. Old City Hall was no longer occupied by the Supreme Court of the United States. Congress Hall was without Congress. Charles Willson Peale's Museum specimens were housed in the State House's upper floor, in the tower and even in the first-floor Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence had been approved and signed.
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Liberty Triumphant or The Downfall of Oppression
The artist’s opposing scenes concern the American resistance, beginning late 1773 and early 1774, to the tea tax and the East India Company monopoly, presumably engraved shortly after the Boston Tea Party but before news arrived of the retaliatory “Intolerable Acts” that would close the Port of Boston. There is no evidence that Dawkins produce it as a magazine illustration or book frontispiece but rather printed it on his own, as one of the few large, separate engravings of the American Revolutionary period.
Each of the historical figures is identified from a key provided at the bottom, including Lord North, Lord Bute, John Kearsley, John Vardill, the Duke of Richmond, and others (18 in all). Interspersed with the living characters are allegorical figures, such as Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils, who whispers to Kearsley, “Speak in favor of ye [the] Scheme Now’s the time to push your fortune” and Kearsley replies “Gov T[ryon] will cram the Tea down the Throat of the New Yorkers.”
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Callender, James Thomson (1757 or 1758–1803)
SUMMARY James Thomson Callender was a partisan journalist known for attacking Federalists but also his one-time Republican ally, Thomas Jefferson. Born in Scotland, Callender was a Scottish nationalist who published pamphlets critical of the British government. When a warrant was issued for his arrest, he fled first to Ireland and then, in 1793, to Philadelphia. There he wrote newspaper items critical of the administrations of George Washington and John Adams and a pamphlet that exposed an extramarital affair by Alexander Hamilton. After the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798, Callender, who had moved to Richmond by this time, published another pamphlet critical of President Adams. In the spring of 1800 he was tried and convicted of sedition in Richmond and served nine months in jail. When Jefferson was elected president in 1801, Callender expected to be rewarded with a political position. When he was not, he turned on his former ally, accusing the president of having fathered children by his enslaved servant Sally Hemings. Callender purchased part ownership of the Richmond Recorder newspaper, but quit after quarrels with his coeditor. He accidentally drowned in the James River in 1803.
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John Morgan1735 - 1789
ohn Morgan, M.D., the son of Evan Morgan, a Welshman, and Joanna Biles, was born in Philadelphia in 1735. He received a classical education at Nottingham Academy in Chester County, Pennsylvania, before entering the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) on May 25, 1754. He was part of the College’s first graduating class, receiving an A.B. on May 17, 1757. During his undergraduate years of 1755 and 1756, he began to study medicine under Dr. John Redman of Philadelphia, also working at the Pennsylvania Hospital as Resident Apothecary.
After leaving the College, Morgan first devoted himself to the military for four years, holding a commission as lieutenant and acting as a surgeon on the western frontier in the war between Great Britain and France.
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William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. What he called his prophetic works were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language".[2] His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".[3] In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.[4] While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham,[5] he produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God"[6] or "human existence itself".[7]
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William Blake 1757-1827: A Descriptive Catalogue of an Exhibtion of the Works of William Blake Selected From Collections in the United States
Published by The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1939
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William Goddard Publishes One of the Earliest American Political Cartoons (1772)
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Letters on Founders Online from March 10 to March 31, 1757
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Authorization to William Frizzel to Carry Mail, 10 March 1757
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From George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, 10 March 1757
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A Testimonial, 11 March 1757 Printed in John Gordon’s Mathematical Traverse Table, &c. Printed in the Year 1758, and Sold by Mr. W. Dunlap, in Philadelphia, Mr. G. Noel, in New-York, Mr. B. Mecom, in Boston, and by the Author. (Yale University Library)6
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To George Washington from Joseph Chew, 14 March 1757
Joseph Chew, a merchant in New London, Conn., and a native of Virginia, corresponded with GW fairly frequently during these years. 1. Colby Chew was associated with Thomas Walker as early as 1750 when Walker led his expedition into the Kentucky territory. GW made Colby Chew an ensign in the Virginia Regiment in October 1757. 2. GW stayed with Beverley Robinson and his family in New York on his journey to and from Boston to see William Shirley early in 1756. It was then that GW paid some attention to “Pretty Miss Polly” (Mary Eliza Philipse, 1730–1825).
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To George Washington from Clement Read, 15 March 1757 Lunenburg March 15th 1757. Dear Sir, About 10 Daies agoe, there came to my House twenty Six Indians of the Cawtaba Nation, with
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From Benjamin Franklin to the Earl of Loudoun: Answers to Criticisms of the Supply Bill, [21 March 1757] (Franklin Papers)
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To George Washington from William Fairfax, 22 March 1757 (Washington Papers)
I rec’d your Favor from Philadelphia dated the 2d inst. since which finding the Governor likely...
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1Provincial Commissioners: Order to Pay James Young, 23 March 1757 (Franklin Papers)
DS : Yale University Library Till the New Money to be struck by the One hundred Thousand Pound...
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2Memorial to John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun, 23 March 1757 (Washington Papers)
To His Excellency, The Right Honorable John Earl of Loudoun, General, and Commander in Chief, of...
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3To George Washington from Thomas Bullitt, 24 March 1757 (Washington Papers)
I Recd yours Janry 1st wherein you was pleased to Signifie that I had not proceeded in a Regular...
4To George Washington from Thomas Bullitt, 24 March 1757 (Washington Papers)
as I have not bin Troublesom to you with Cilicitations on Acct of my Brothers prefermt make free...
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1Philadelphia Post Office Record Book, 1757–1764 (Franklin Papers) MS record book: American Philosophical Society [March 30, 1757] When Franklin was preparing to... 2Philadelphia Post Office Accounts, 1757–1764 (Franklin Papers) MS account papers: American Philosophical Society In addition to the Philadelphia Post Office... 3Bill to the Proprietors, 30 March 1757 (Franklin Papers) ADS : Friends Library of the Society of Friends, London; also copy: Historical Society of...
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1Pennsylvania Assembly: Instructions to Benjamin Franklin, 31 March 1757 (Franklin Papers)
MS (fragment): American Philosophical Society On March 1, 1757, the Assembly named the same...
2To George Washington from William Fairfax, 31 March 1757 (Washington Papers)
Yesterday by the Return of Capt. Ouchterlony I had the Pleasure to enquire of Him concerning your...
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First posted on Facebook
9am 3/21/2021
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Sunday Word 1 We continue our trek thru 1757 in this year of 2021. Could this be the first time our Colonel George Washington has heard Rule Britannia? He sees a play in Philly and its finale is that rousing anthem. That song was first played for Prince Frederick of Wales oldest son of King George II and next in line to be King. Frederick Co VA is named after him. BTW Admiral Vernon was there at that first presentation with Prince Frederick.
We followed GW from the beginning of this year from Fort Cumberland to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA to Mt Vernon and now to Philadelphia with his two chief aides to help him pack and move to Philly for a month. His goal is to see Lord Loudoun.
Both were there with GW in the Battle of the Monongahela, Braddock's Defeat. Capt Robt Stewart Street was head of the Light Horse company of the Va Regiment there. A street in Winchester VA is named after this Captain Stewart and not the tavern owner of the same name. And Bishop. Thomas Bishop was one of Braddock's white servants there. He is hired 3 months after that battle and remain mostly throughout his life with George Washington. . While there in Philly GW is simultaneously suspected of being a traitor as well as being one of the culprits causing this war with France. All the Bells of Philly, probably including what is later known as the Liberty Bell, ring and cannons shoot to herald Lord Loudoun's arrival.
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