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On the 6th various large boats came from Pittsburgh in order to load corn for Fort Washington, and on the 8th several others arrived. After they had their cargo, they all set out together for their destination. The ice which frequently drifted out of the Alleghany blockaded them about 40 miles below this place and destroyed five boats in which there were 1500 bushels of corn. The loss to the owners was £75 for the boats and £362, 10 sh for corn, making a total £437, 10 sh.

came.

On the 12th at last the long desired day of our departure There were two gentlemen in our company, Messrs. Rome and van der Benden, they were the deputies with a protest from the inhabitants of Gallipolis to Congress.

On the 16th we passed Wheeling and arrived at night at Charlestown. We sent for our horses which in spring had been left with a farmer in the neighborhood. Major Mac Mahon had just arrived on a visit to his family and because he had lately been in our ruined towns on the Muskingum, and well knew that I would like to hear something about them, he gave me the following account. He said that last fall he had eaten the largest and best apples in Gnadenhuetten, the peachtrees in the three places, had yielded most abundantly, but that the bears had attacked them, and had broken down most of the limbs. According to his account it was almost impossible to recognize Gnadenhuetten and its surroundings, as the whole town plot and cultivated land in the vicinity is thickly overgrown with tall Honey and Locusttrees. The fine large plains are also covered with high Oaks, that are thickly intertwined, a positive proof that these open plains are the result of forest fires. On his last scouting expedition he had found an encampment of four Indians near Goeckhoesing up the Wahlhanding. He attacked them, killed two of them, and one who looked specially fine and light colored he wounded. The Indian began to scream loudly threw himself with the other one of the four, who was not wounded, over the high bank into this river, the Wahlhanding, and swam across to the other shore.

On the 17th we spent the night at Charles Wells', a mem

ber of the Legislature of Virginia. The boundary line between Virginia and Pennsylvania passes this man's house.

On the 18th we slept near Canonsburgh, in Washington county, where there is an academy for young men, and on the evening of the 19th we arrived in Pittsburgh. Here on the following day, I visited several friends and acquaintances, among them Mr James Henry, son of the departed Brother William Henry, from Lancaster. The former works here at the watchmaking trade. Because he feels kindly disposed towards the Brethren; I had much pleasure in seeing him.

On the 21st we left Pittsburgh and spent the night at the Turtle, where a certain Capt. Mac Intin arrived. When he became acquainted with me he related much about the Brethren's Garden in the East Indies, where he had been in the year 1786. He seems to have become quite intimate with some of the Brethren there, had received various presents from them and given them some in return. He also knew that in the Nicobar island matter nothing had yet been done. He said that the Brethren's Garden had last year yielded revenue of more than 200 Guineas, etc.

On the 27th we reached Carlisle, where I again visited acquaintances and especially Mr Alexander who, if he has time, is to survey our land on the Muskingum.

On the 29th I bade farewell to Gen. Putnam and by way of Lititz proceeded on to Bethlehem, where I arrived on the 31st.

CHARLES BROCKDEN.

BY JOHN CLEMENT.

There is something especially attractive to the antiquarian in studying the movements of the emigrant settlers of a new and unexplored country; to know and understand the reasons that induced them to make their homes in certain places and pass by others that appear much more eligible and attractive. Occasionally these inquiries may have a solution, but the causes are past finding out when a new-comer sought a habitation in the depths of the forest, miles away from other settlers, and where no apparent attraction could exist. To be understood in part, even, some knowledge of the Indian trails and ancient highways in South Jersey must be had to know how the people passed from one point to another, where water-carriage was not practical. At this day these old paths are almost entirely abandoned, and in many places lost sight of. Among these was the "Old Cape Road," going from Philadelphia to Cape May by way of Tuckahoe, which passed north of Mount Ephraim, near Chew's Landing, Blackwood, and Williamstown, and between the heads of the streams to Tuckahoe and thence to Cape May.

On the line of this then obscure and little-used thoroughfare Charles Brockden made himself a country-seat about one hundred and fifty years since. He located 1200 acres of land in Gloucester County in 1737, where Williamstown stands, and long before this now thrifty village bore the name of "Squankum," which name it was a mistake to modernize and change. Here he erected a handsome dwelling, with all the surrounding conveniences, and where he with his family resided much of their time. The Hon. John F. Bodine, in his history of Squankum, read before the Surveyors' Association of West New Jersey, January 1, 1878, describes this house as follows: "This house in its earlier days must have been quite a palatial residence; it was built of cedar logs hewn square and dovetailed together at the corners, and was two stories high.

It was wainscoted inside with planed boards, one edge beaded, and in it was an open entry about eight feet wide with an open stairway."

In the location of this tract of land, he says, "It is in Gloucester County, New Jersey, at the 'Hospitality Ponds."" These ponds were at that time about the head-waters of a stream of the same name and covered considerable territory. Sometimes they were made by the beaver, but generally lay upon the low, flat soils peculiar to lands in South Jersey. The house stood beside the Old Cape Road, about twenty miles from Philadelphia as the crow flies, but a much greater distance when the trail was followed. As a dwelling it stood solitary and alone in the depths of the forest that covered the whole country, save perhaps a few tenements near by where lived the servants and retainers of the establishment. Enough can be gathered from Judge Bodine's description to show that it had an air of pretention about it, and was occupied by those who were not to "the manor born," nor sought their livelihood in the timber and swamps in that section.

Charles Brockden, the proprietor of this place, was an Englishman, born April 3, 1683, in the parish of St. Andrew's, near Holborn, London. At proper age he was articled to an attorney-at-law, who was opposed to the government as then administered, at whose rooms his friends of the same opinion assembled, and where a plot against the life of the king originated. Religious prejudice and political rivalry pervaded almost every class of society, and the failure of the new king (William III.) to fulfil his promises increased rather than abated the feeling. The distrust that existed among the different factions led to secret societies which boded no good to the king. The prerogatives of the crown had been abused and the people were borne down with taxes. William refused to relinquish or even relax any of the powers heretofore claimed, and, in bringing his favorites around him, created much hostility to his administration. The conspirators had reason to believe that Charles Brockden overheard their conversations and had

knowledge of their plans. Being convinced of this, they at first proposed to murder him, but better counsel prevailed, and he was sent to America.

Charles Brockden came to Philadelphia in 1706, and was employed by Thomas Story, who (under William Penn) was the first keeper of the Great Seal and Master of the Rolls. In 1712 he was appointed Deputy Master of the Rolls, and on the retirement of Mr. Story, in 1715, he was selected to succeed him. He also served as Register of the Court of Chancery from 1720 to 1739, and was appointed Recorder of Deeds, and a Justice of the Peace in 1722. His name and autograph are familiar to every student of the early deed-history of the Province of Pennsylvania, as the former is endorsed on all patents of confirmation that were issued from the Proprietaries' land-office in the interval between 1715 and 1767, in which latter year he resigned, the infirmities of old age rendering his further incumbency unsatisfactory to Governor John Penn. In early life he was a member of the Established Church, but after his first marriage he united with the Friends, and was a member of the Middletown Meeting until 1711, when he was transferred to the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. When Whitefield visited Pennsylvania he became one of his followers; but through official relations with Count Zinzendorf he united, in 1743, with the Moravians.1

Charles Brockden was twice married. His first wife was Susannah Fox, from Hackney, near London, who died in May of 1747, and, although professedly belonging to the Society of Friends, was, in accordance with her request,

1 The Moravian bishop, Cammerhoff, writing to Count Zinzendorf in June of 1747, relates the following anecdote: "Whitefield and Brockden recently met each other, and in the course of their conversation Whitefield said, 'I perceive you wish me to become a Moravian.' 'It is true,' replied Brockden, 'I wish you were a Moravian, not that I think it would add the weight of one grain to their cause, but because you would thereby find some rest and repose, which in your present situation is impossible. I pity you, for you are like those birds of the Malacca Islands, which, being destitute of feet, are therefore compelled to be always on the wing.'"-ED. PA. Mag.

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