ical College of the University of Pennsylvania (the oldest in America),
Jefferson Medical College (founded in 1825), Hahnemann Medical Col-
lege (1848) and the Woman's Medical College (1850). In addition to
these there are two dental colleges and a college of pharmacy. A divinity
school of the Protestant Episcopal Church was established in 1862, and an
Evangelical Lutheran theological seminary in 1864. Scientific instruction
is given by the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Science and
the Wagner Free Institute. The Federal census reported 3700 libraries
in Philadelphia, containing 2,985,770 volumes. The Philadelphia Library
was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin and others; the present edi-
fice, first occupied in 1790, contains 110,000 volumes. The Mercantile
Library occupies a building 300 feet long and 80 feet wide, on 10th street
near Chestnut. It contains 125,000 volumes (but five libraries in Amer-
ica have more), and 503 periodicals are regularly received, of which 390
are American and 113 foreign; 120 are dailies, 215 weeklies, 126 month-
lies and 30 quarterlies; 17,004 volumes were added during 1874; the
number of visitors to the rooms in 1873 was 507,742, and in 1874, 501,621 ;
total for two years, 1,009,363. Other extensive and choice collections of
books belong to the Academy of Natural Sciences (27,000 volumes), Athe-
naeum (22,000), Apprentices' Library (21,000), American Philosophical
Society (16,000), Historical Society (15,500), German Society (15,000),
Pennsylvania Hospital (14,000). Several other libraries contain between
5000 and 10,000 volumes. At Germantown is the Friends' Library (free),
with 6000 books and many pamphlets. The city contains 488 churches
and missions, among which are 99 Presbyterian (General Assembly, United
and Reformed), 91 Methodist Episcopal, 90 Protestant Episcopal, 61 Bap-
tist, 42 Roman Catholic, 26 Lutheran, 14 Friends (Orthodox and Hicks-
ite), 15 Reformed (German), 11 Jewish, 4 Reformed (Dutch), 3 Congre-
gational, 3 Swedenborgian, 3 Universalis!, 2 Unitarian, etc. The number
of newspapers and periodicals in 1875 was 151, of which 19 (4 of them
German) were issued daily.

Government and Departments. — A city charter was obtained
Oct. 25, 1701. The area remained as in the plan of 1683 (about 2 square
miles) until 1854. On the 2d of February in that year the Consolidation
Act received the governor's signature; and ten municipal corporations, six



136 BUBLEY S CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE.

lg ha and thirteen townships were included within the limits of the city

p ladelphia, which was mad- osive with the county oJ th< same

lr(1 |, ( . ma yor i- 1 for a term of three years. Legislative au-

thoritj d in a select council, « sisting of one member from each

of the M wards, and a common council, consisting of one member for
1200 taxable inhabitants. There are departments of law, health,

prison insj the i r, police; highways, water, Ore, surveys, education

:lllll toxeg The , »rce consists of 1 292 men ; expenditures of the de-

partment for 1874, $1,184 !; number of arrests, 32,472; persons lodged

m BtiIt i on .] 3 ,7: m< ssages transmitted over police mid fire-alarm

iph, 117,215. The fire department consists of 32 companies, with
■„,". :lI1 ,l 123 expenditures for 1874,0519,291.53; number

>6; loss, $754,688. Of grew 1,766,268,000 cubic feet were manu-
factured during the lasl year; number of consumers, 81,712; number of
lights, 1,124,205; street lamps, 9905; extent of street mains, 612 miles.
•|-| |( . ]; ..,.,,., lights extends for L3 miles in a direct line from Darby

| | Holmesburg. On Christmas Eve the consumption of gas was
D00 cubic feet Water was first thrown into the city from Fairmount
Jan. 21, 1801. The city is now supplied from both the Delaware and the
- huylkill through seven separate works. During 1874 the number of
lions pumped was 14,533,425,097; average per day, 42,111,730 gal-
lons; expenditures, $1,225,102; receipts, $1,229,881. The expenditures of
the highway department were $2,771,554. Vital Statistics.— Deaths were
reported to the Dumber of 15,238, of which 621 (including 19 homicides
an W ere by violence; average number of deaths per day,

11.71. There were 19,387 births (more than 50 per day and 6639 mar-
riag - 18.18 per day . In the 14 years from 1861 to 1*7."">, 216,545 per-
il, d and 229,683 were horn within the city limits. Finances.— The
municipal expenditures during 1874 were $16,148,099.50; value of real and
p. rsonal estate (city tax . $548,243,535; valuation in 1875, $575,283,968,
showing an increase during the year of $27,040,433. On the Isl of Jan-
uary, 1 875, the funded debl was $55,272,132.40; assets of city property at
ii, 177,624,025.10.

Growth in Population.— The number of inhabitants in 1684

00; in 1753, ll.oi;::; in IMIII, Sl.OO:,; in 1810, 111.210: in 1820,

137,097; in 1830, 188,961; in 1840,258,037; in 1850,409,045; in 1860,
in 1870, 674,022; and in 1875 (by per centage estimate of

B d th), 800, <>f the population in 1870, 18:;,<>24 were

Datives of foreign countries and 190,398 of the United States. Philadelphia
the capital of Pennsylvania until the beginning of the present century,
and th.- - at of govt rnmenl of il,,- United Stat.- from 1790 to 1800.

â–  I ill.- rqanofactures of Philadelphia, Bee introduc-

â–  Statistical Account >>( tin B ine$a <</ 0* L'nitoi Slides.



COmS AND CURRENCY/.



WHEN this country was first settled the colonists brought very little
money with them. In Virginia tobacco was very early used as a
currency, but, as it was not very portable in large quantities, as soon as
the settlement was well established the tobacco was deposited in ware-
houses, and then the receipts for it passed from hand to hand as money.
In Massachusetts the currency already in use among the Indians was, to
a certain extent, adopted by the white settlers. This was the famous
wampum, consisting of two kinds of beads — white ones made out of the
end of a periwinkle shell, and black ones made out of the black part of a
clam shell. When arranged in strings or belts these beads were used as
articles of jewelry. One black bead was worth two white, and the full
name of this money was wampumpeag, usually shortened for convenience
into " wampum " or " peag." At first it was made a legal tender for only
twelve pence in Massachusetts, six white beads or three black ones being
worth one penny. A fathom, or belt, consisted of 360 beads ; therefore
when these were white the value of that quantity was five shillings, and
when they were black its value was ten shillings. The white man showed
his superiority to the savages by skilfully counterfeiting their rude but
convenient money.

The use of such a currency was, of course, limited, as it would not
satisfy foreign debts, and was liable to deterioration by wear and use.
"When the colonists got gold and silver they hoarded it up to pay for
foreign commodities, and to supply its place they began to use a " barter-
currency." Corn, beaver, cattle and almost everything that possessed value
were made legal tender, at values which were fixed from time to time by
the rate at which they would be received for taxes. In 1635 even musket-
bullets were used for change at a farthing apiece, being legal tender for
sums under twelve pence. The result of such a plan is well stated by a
writer on finance : " If a cow will pay taxes, the leanest cow will be given.
If corn will pay a debt, the corn which is of the poorest quality or
damaged to a certain extent will be given. The more barter-currency
was used because money was scarce, the scarcer money became. Prices
rose to fit the worst form of payment which the seller might expect."

437



l.rr.l.l > '& UNITED STA \ i

Tl, - coined in the colonies were shillings, sixpences and three-

pences of the "pine tree currency*," so called from their having a pine

were first made in L652, and as the coining of
them was not permitted by th< mother-country, being a breach of the
king's prerogative, all that were subsequently coined bore the same date,
probably with the design of concealing the fact that the Boston mint was
.-till al work. This artifice did nol succeed, for Charles II. learned, soon
ation to the throne in L 660, that money was being coined
in Massachusetts, and threatened to Sir Thomas Temple that the colonial
ami, should be severely punished. Upon this Sir Thomas took

the pieces out of his pocket to show the king. The latter, seeing
the pine tree, asked what tr< e that was, and Temple replied that it was the
J Oak which had preserved Bis Majesty's life; whereupon the king
Bald no more about punishment, but laughed, and called the coiners
"honest d [ These coins were made 22 per cent, worse than sterling

money, and were taken in England only at 2-"> per cent, discount. The
barter currency was still continued, for in 1658 it was necessary to order
that no man should pay taxes in "lank" cattle. Silver came from the
W. si Indies, but it was straightway either smuggled out of the country or
clipped down at least to the rate of the inferior currency, but generally
below it. This silver was mostly Spanish, the dollar being worth four
shilling.- sixpence sterling, or six shillings New England currency.

In 1690 an expedition againsl Canada caused the issue of the first paper
money. Though the amount was small, being limited to only £40,000,
and one-fourth of that Bum which remained in the treasury was burned
in the following year, the soldiers to whom it was paid disposed of it at
one-third discount. Still, as the amount out was so .-mall, and the notes
ed for taxes at 5 per cent, advance over coin, they were kept
: tore than twenty years, in Connecticut at this time there were

four prices for g Is. They were called, respectively, "pay," "pay as

"money," and "trusting." The merchant asked the customer
be would pay before fixing the price. "Pay" was barter-currency
at the government rates. "Pay as money" was barter-currency at one-
third less than the government rate.-. "Money" was Spanish or New
I land coin, also wampum for change. "Trusting" \\ as an enhanced
pending upon the time allowed, and affected, of course (as it is at
day throughout the world i, by the credit and solvency of the pur-
A sixpenny knife cosl twelve pence in "pay," eight pence in
and .-i.\ pence in coin.
I ained by following oul the tedious details of the various

colonial ise paper money. Begun originally as war measure.-, they

were continued, from time to time, " to relieve the money market." The
i man "who jumped into a bramble bush and scratched out both



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 439

his eyes," was tried again and again, but not with the same success. To
relieve the distress caused by the depreciation of one issue, " new tenor "
bills would be put forth, with fresh guarantees, but these would soon be
worth little more than their predecessors. In 1740, New England paper
currency was worth twenty cents on the dollar. In 1748 its value had
sunk to ten per cent, of its face. One would think that such lessons should
have checked the over-issue of Continental currency, but the temptation to
make money with the printing-press was too strong when the wealth of
Great Britain was remembered.

The first issue of Continental currency was for 300,000 Spanish dollars,
redeemable in three years in gold or silver. This was ordered in May
and issued in August, 1775. Further issues were ordered as needed, but
the paper did not begin to depreciate before the amount was $9,000,000.
Then ensued a race between the depreciation of the currency and the
printing-press. The lower the paper went, the greater was the quantity of
it needed to purchase anything. On the other hand, the immense amount
set afloat hastened the depreciation, and the British, as we have already
noted (see Historical Sketch), lent a helping hand by printing and cir-
culating counterfeits. Over 8350,000,000 of genuine notes were issued in
all, but it is doubtful if more than $200,000,000 were out at any one time.
One man, Pelatiah Webster, insisted on taxation instead of this wholesale
money-making, but "a member of Congress indignantly asked if he was to
help tax the people when they (Congress) could go to the printing-office
and get a cartload of money."

Volumes could be filled with the details of the sufferings caused by this
currency. Never was the patriotism of a people so thoroughly tried as
was that of the Americans by the losses caused them by the bursting of
this financial bubble. In May, 1781, the paper fell in a week from 175
dollars for 1 in specie to 525 for 1. In Rivington's Gazette, a royalist
paper published in New York, appeared, at about this time, the following
announcement: " The Congress is finally bankrupt. Last Saturday a large
body of the inhabitants, with paper dollars in their hats by way of cock-
ades, paraded the streets of Philadelphia, carrying colors flying, with a
dog tarred, and instead of the usual ornament and appendage of feathers
his back was covered with the Congress paper dollars. This example of
disaffection was immediately followed by the jailer, who refused accepting
the bills in purchase of a glass of rum, and afterward by the traders of
the city, who shut up their shops, declining to sell any more goods but for
gold or silver." Barber-shops were papered in jest with bills, and sailors,
who had been paid off in bundles of this worthless money, had suits of
clothes made of it, and paraded through the streets in decayed finery
which in its better days had passed for thousands of dollars. Webster,,
after givingrsojne of these details, says: "Thus fell, ended and died the



! in BUMLEY'S UNITED STATES

Continental cui irs; the most powerful state engine, and

il„. j prodigy of Tevenue, and of the mos1 mysterious, uncontrollable

and almosl magical operation, ever known or heard of in the political or
oomn* rcial world, li seemed to retain a vigorous constitution to the very
for its circulation was never so brisk and quick as when its exchange
was 500 i" L, yel it expired without one groan or struggle; and of all
things which have suffered dissolution since life was first given to the
creation, this mighty monster died the least lamented."

In one State the Continental money was buried with all the honors of
war. It- remains were deposited in an elegant coffin, and followed to the
grave by a numerous ( nurse. Aii eloquent oration was delivered, nar-
rating its services as those of a Conner friend and benefactor. When the
obsequies were concluded the orator held in view a specimen of a new
emission, authorized by the State to replace the old Continental money,
and exclaimed, "Be thou also ready, for thou shalt surely die!" This
prophecy was soon afterward fulfilled.

In 1786 a decimal currency was adopted by Congress, in accordance
with a plan presented by Thomas Jefferson. As colonial notes were still
in circulation, the depreciation of which was greater in some States than
in others, and as the dollar had a iixed value, the currency in the different
State- had i" be valued with reference to that. The difficulty was still
further increased by the fact that the reckoning had formerly been made
in pounds, .-hillings and pence, while now it must be changed into dollars
and Borne plan must be contrived by which there would still be

twenty shillings in the pound, for convenience in changing old accounts
into the new Btyle, and yet the difference in the value of the various cur-
ii - would be preserved. The value of the dollar being fixed, that of
the pound was varied in accordance with the following



Table.



I v v. Eng. Sta



_. , 1 Virginia, I = 6s. = •?$£, called New Eng. currency ;

entucky, [ of which 1£=$3J; ls. = 16fcts.



I *•■ ■ fork,
£1 in J °W°.

i Ml. In

North < Sarolini

| Pei i -\ iv.niKt,
!r! ii



= 8s. = |,£, called New York currency ;
of which 1£ = $2J; ls. = f2Jcts.



= 7s. Gd. = !;!.*. called Pennsylvania cur-
) Delan | ,, ncj : of which l E $2j : ls. = 13J cts.

' Maryland,

c] j, f Geoi i =48.8d.=^fJB, called Georgia currency;

< arolina, ) of which 1£ = $4$; Is. -212 ofc.



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 441

It will be noticed that the table contains the names of several States
which were not admitted into the Union until long after the decimal sys-
tem was adopted. This will show how long a time was required to intro-
duce a uniform method of reckoning. Fines for offences and bounties for
killing wild beasts were down in the statute laws in the old reckoning by
pounds, shillings and pence. The bounty for killing a panther in New
,York State, for instance, was £8. This reduced to decimal currency was
820. Modes of reckoning and the names of towns and streets are very dif-
ficult things to change, requiring sometimes a whole generation. The
accounts of the treasury of Great Britain were still kept on notched
sticks at the beginning of the present centuiy.

There is one foreign gold coin which deserves mention before proceeding
to the coinage of the United States. This is the "half joe," or Johannes,
so called from bearing the figure of King John of Portugal. It is a
Portuguese or Brazilian coin, worth about eight dollars, a value which
the dictionaries of both Webster and Worcester erroneously give to the
whole joe. This had an extensive circulation in the colonies, and when our
frugal ancestors wished to criticise the high price of an article of food,
they said that to eat it was " like swallowing half joes."

The United States Mint at Philadelphia was established by act of Con-
gress in 1792, but did not get fairly into operation until 1795. In 1787 a
contract had been made with Mr. James Jarvis to furnish three hundred
tons of copper coins, but they were struck at the New Haven Mint, an in-
stitution of the State of Connecticut established in 1785. This and similar
State establishments were abolished by the adoption of the Federal Con-
stitution, which prohibited coinage by the State governments. The coins
ordered by the law establishing the mint were — in gold, \^ fine, the eagle
of ten dollars, weighing 270 grains, the half eagle and quarter eagle in
proportion ; in silver, 892.4 thousandths fine, the dollar, weighing 416
grains ; the half dollar, quarter dollar, dime and half dime in proportion ;
in' copper, the cent, weighing 264 grains, the half cent in proportion. In
1796 the weight of the cent was reduced to 168 grains. Various changes
were made in the weight and fineness of the gold and silver coins, but in
1837 the standard of fineness of .900 or -^ was adopted for both gold and
silver coins, and has been retained with one or two exceptions to the pres-
ent day. Gold dollars and double eagles ($20) were first made in 1849,
three-dollar pieces in 1853. The copper cent was replaced in 1857 by a
copper-and-nickel cent, containing 88 per cent, of copper and 12 per cent,
of nickel, and weighing 72 grains. This was abandoned in 1864 for the
present " bronze cent." All the various acts concerning this subject were
consolidated or amended by the Coinage act of Feb. 12, 1873, in accord-
ance with which the gold coins are a one-dollar piece, " which, at the
standard weight of 25.8 grains, shall be the unit of value ;" a quarter



142 BUBLET'S D SITED STATES

eagle or two-and-a-half-dollar piece, weighing 64.5 grains; a three-dollar
; . weighing 77. \ grains ; a half eagle or five-dollar piece, weighing 129
grains; au < r ten-dollar piece, weighing 258 grains; a double eagle

or twenty-dollar piece, weighing 516 grains. These coins are a legal ten-
der to any amount. The silver coins are a "trade dollar," -weighing 420
grain.-: a balf dollar, weighing 192.9 grains; a quarter dollar, and a dime,

ctively one-half and one-fifth the weight of the half dollar. These
silver coins are a " legal tender at their nominal value for any amount not

ding five dollars in any one payment." The "trade dollar" is in-
truded for tin' convenience of commerce with China and Japan. It is
really worth in gold 81.03. Professor Sumner states that these dollars

clipped upon coming into circulation in Nevada. This was a natural

I of making the coins worth more than their nominal value. The
half dollar, being half the weight of the five-franc coin of France, Bel-
gium and Switzerland, of the live-lire silver coin of Italy, and having the
same weight as the new silver florin of Austria, is a step in the direction
of an international system of coinage. The minor coins are a five-cent
and three-cent piece, weighing respectively 77. 1G and 30 grains, containing
I copper and 1 nickel, and a one-cent piece, weighing 48 grains, and con-
taiuiug 95 per cent, copper and 5 per cent, tin and zinc. These are "legal

•r at their nominal value for an amount not exceeding 25 cents at any
one time of payment." It is provided that "upon the coins of the United

- there shall be the following devices and legends: Upon one side an
impression emblematic of liberty, with an inscription of the word 'Lib-
erty,' and the year of the coinage; and upon the reverse the figure of an
with the inscription 'United States of America,' and 'E Pluribus
I nuni,' and a designation of the value of the coin; but upon the gold dol-
lar and the three-dollar piece the figure of the eagle shall be omitted, and
on the reverse of the silver trade dollar the weight and fineness of the coin
shall be inscribed, and the motto 'In God we trust ' may be added, if
acticabh ."

B anch mints wore established by the act of March 3, 1835, in New

I I in-, Charlotte, N. ('., and Dahlonega, Ga., commencing operations in

1 by the act of March 4, 1853, another branch was established

.1) Francisco, commencing operations in 1854. The initials O, D, C,
:i "d used to distinguish the coinage of the branches, that of the

| i .i Mint having no mark; but since the civil war no coinage
I at Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans, and by the
â–  of l s 7:; the mints at the la-t two places have been discon-
tinued, thai at Charlotte being retained as an assay-office. At present
there are three branch mints; one at Sun Francisco, one at Carson City,
tablished in 1870, and one at Denver City, Col., established as
an assay-office in 1864, but Btyled a "mint" in the Coinage act of 1873.



CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 443

There are also three assay-offices; one at Charlotte, already mentioned,
one in New York, established at the same time as the San Francisco
branch mint, and one at Boise City, Idaho, established in 1872. The
functions of the assay-offices are the same as those of the branch mints,
with the single exception of coinage. Gold and silver bullion is received
on deposit, weighed, melted, assayed and refined, and returns are made
either in coins or stamped bars, at the option of the depositor. The fol-
lowing-statement was published on the 6th of October, 1875: " It appears
from statistics gathered in August that the mint in San Francisco is doing
about four-fifths of all the coinage of the United States. Bullion concen-
trates in that city, and there it is largely worked into coin. The mint,
which has recently been reconstructed, is in perfect order for the large
monthly business demanded."

The word " bank " was used before the Kevolution simply to denote a
batch of paper money, issued either by the government or a corporation.
The first bank in the United States, in the modern acceptation of the
term, was the Bank of North America, established in Philadelphia in 1782
(the act of Congress chartering it was passed Dec. 31, 1781), under charters
both from Congress and from the State of Pennsylvania. This bank is
still in existence, having been rechartered from time to time. It was orig-
inally intended to be an assistant to the government in financial matters,
its plan having been devised by Robert Morris, and it rendered valuable
services during the closing months of the Revolutionary war. The first
Bank of the United States was established in 1791, with a capital stock
of 810,000,000, of which one-fifth was taken by the government. It paid
dividends of from 8 to 10 per cent, per annum ; and when an attempt to
renew its charter was lost in the Senate (Feb. 20, 1811) by the casting-vote
of Vice-President Clinton, its affairs were settled up without loss to its
stockholders. The second Bank of the United States was established by
law in 1816, and went into operation the following year. The full capital
was $35,000,000, of which (as in the former United States Bank) one-fifth