School history of Pennsylvania, from the earliest settlements to the present time online

in the United States organized in Philadelphia, August
14. At this time there were but eleven Lutheran minis-
ters in the Province.

1749. Academy established at Germantown. Moravian church and

school-house erected in Warwick township, near Litiz.
School for girls established at Bethlehem. An academy
and charitable school established at Philadelphia. In
1750 it was opened as a Latin school ; in 1753 it was incor-
porated and endowed; in 1755 was chartered under the
title of "The College, Academy, and Charitable School of
Philadelphia;" and in 1779 became the University of
Pennsylvania. Indian schools established at Gnaden-
hutten by the Moravians. First settlements in Tuscarora
valley made by Scotch-Irish. "The Ohio Company"
chartered.

1750. First Moravian congregation formed at York ; first church

erected, 1756. Stone Oratorio erected near Lebanon by
Moravians. Moravians at Bethlehem introduce the
wearing of the white robe by ministers during the admin-
istration of the Eucharist, April.

1751. Pennsylvania Hospital at Philadelphia founded ; buildings

erected 1755 to 1804. First church in Reading erected
by Friends. Loganian Library, Philadelphia, founded.
James Logan died near Germantown. A German and
English newspaper published in Lancaster.

1752. Mutual assurance company, founded in Philadelphia, incor-

porated 1768. Cannon stoves first used; made at Lan-
caster and Colebrookdale Treaty between the Indians and
Ohio Company at Logstown. Franklin first experimented
in electricity.* First settlements along the Monongahela
made by the Ohio Company. State-house bell imported
from England; recast in Philadelphia, 1753. German
Reformed church erected at Reading; Lutheran church
erected at Reading.

1753. German Catholic church in Montgomery county erected at

Goshenhoppen. Benjamin Franklin appointed deputy
postmaster-general for the British colonies. French in-
vaded "Western Pennsylvania; beginning of the French



APPENDIX. 333

and Indian war. Two attempts made to find the North-
west passage, by Captain Swain, of the schooner Argo,
under the auspices of citizens of Philadelphia. Daily-
delivery of letters by carriers begun in Philadelphia.

1754. Chime of bells for Christ Church, Philadelphia, imported from

England. Pirst settlement on the site of Pittsburg. Wash-
ington returned from his mission to the French commander.
Port Du Quesne built by the Prench. March of colonial
troops for the Ohio country, April 22. Battle of Great
Meadows ; Jumonville killed, May 28. Washington in
command of the troops, May 30. Surrender of Fort Neces-
sity, July 4.

1755. Defeat of Braddock, July 9. Braddock died of wounds, July

13. Washington read the funeral service of the Episcopal
church over the body of Braddock, July 15. Massacre of
Moravian missionaries on the Mahoning, in Carbon county,
November 24. Massacre of settlers by Indians at Tulpe-
hocken, November 16. Free school erected at Easton by
subscription. First militia act passed, November 25.

1756. England declared war against Prance, May 17. Fort Granville,

on the Juniata, burned by Indians, July 30. Fort Halifax,
Dauphin county, erected. Kittanning destroyed by Colonel
Armstrong, September 8. First stage-coach communi-
cation between Philadelphia and New York. First line
of stages and wagons established between Philadelphia
and Baltimore. Charitable schools, for the education of
German and other Protestant youths, established in many
towns of the State.

1757. First weekly post between Philadelphia and Carlisle. First

settlement in Wayne county made by the Delaware Com-
pan5^ Public services in the Indian language at Bethle-
hem.

1758. Barracks erected in Philadelphia. French retreated from Fort

Du Quesne, November 24.

1759. Fort Pitt erected near the site of Fort Du Quesne. "Bedstone

Old Fort," Brownsville, erected. First theater erected in
Philadelphia.

1760. Moravian church erected in Lebanon. Classical school estab-

lished in Cumberland valley.

1761. Presbyterian church erected in Carlisle.

1762. Great'lndian 'council at Lancaster. War with Spain declared,

January 4. George III. proclaimed in Pennsylvania,
January 21. Wyoming valley settled by the Connecticut
Company. Court-house at Beading erected. First lec-
tures^ on*^ anatomy delivered in Philadelphia by Dr. Wil-
liam Shippen. Mud Fort, on Mud Island, erected. St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, erected.

1763. Peace concluded at Paris, February 10. Pontiac's war. Mason

and Dixon commenced running the boundary line between
Pennsylvania and Maryland. Massacre of settlers in
Wyoming valley by Indians, October 15. Moravian In-



334 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

dians ordered to Philadelphia for protection, November 8.
Massacre of Conestoga Indians at Lancaster. Moravian
mission established at Wyalusing, Bradford county. Swed-
ish church erected in Upper Merion township, Mont-
gomery county.

1764. Colonel Henry Bouquet's expedition against the Indians. Ee-

doubt at Fort Pitt erected. Peace concluded with the
hostile Indians. Grand Lodge of Masons of Pennsylvania
organized at Philadelphia. Medical department of the
University of Pennsylvania founded, the oldest medical
school in the United States.

1765. Lutheran church in Lower Merion, Montgomery county,

erected. First Eoiscopal church in Cumberland county
erected at Carlisle". First German Keformed and Lutheran
congregations organized at Carlisle. First Episcopal con-
gregation formed at York. Lutheran school-house erected
at Reading. Moravian chapel erected at Freidenshutten,
Bradford county. Stamp act passed, March 8. Swedish
churches of Upper Merion, Wicaco, and Kingsessing in-
corporated. Presbyterian meeting-house erected at Lan-
caster. First Lutheran church erected at Lebanon.

1766. Stamp act repealed, March 18.

1767. Lutheran church erected in Windsor township, Berks county.

First Presbyterian church at Chambersburg erected. Ro-
man Catholic chapel erected at Allentown. Duties levied
on glass, paper, etc., June 29.

1768. Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, November 5.

Widows' Home at Bethlehem completed. Moravian mis-
sion established and first church erected in Venango
county, near Teonista creek.

1769. Stewart and others took possession of the Susquehanna lands in

Wyoming valley in behalf of the proprietary government.
Second attempt of the Connecticut Company to settle Wyo-
ming valley. Forty Fort erected. Methodism first intro-
duced into Pennsylvania.

1770. Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, erected by the Carpenters'

Company. Moravian mission in Yenango county broken
* â–  up ; missionaries removed to Beaver county, established
a station, and built a chapel.

1771. Medical Society of Philadelphia organized.

1772. Lutheran church erected near Cherryville, Northampton county.

First ^jer??2a?ie«2! settlements along the Monongahela. Rev.
William White, afterward first Bishop of Pennsylvania,
installed assistant rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia.
Zion's Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, erected.

1773. First mill erected in Indiana county. Moravian mission station

at Freidenstadt, Beaver county, broken up, and mission-
aries removed to the Muskingum. The first Methodist
conference in the United States held in Philadelphia,
June 17. Oliver Evans first experimented in steam naviga-
tion on the Scliuylkill. Resolutions passed in the Province



APPENDIX. 335

to resist the duty on tea, October 18. Tea ships sent back
to London from the port of Philadelphia.

1774. The passage of the Boston port bill observed in Philadelphia

as a day of mourning, June 1. State-house steeple taken
down; the present one erected 1828. Pirst Continental
Congress assembled in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia,
September 5. Resolutions against the slave trade passed
by the First Congress. The Quakers abolished slavery
among themselves.

1775. Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, May

10. "Washington chosen commander-in-chief, June 15.
The first Pennsylvania company that marched to the seat
of war was a company of riflemen from York, July 1.
Continental money first issued. Benjamin Franklin first
postmaster-general appointed by Congress, July 26.

1776. First powder-mill in the Province, erected near Chester, com-

menced work about the 23d of May. Delegates from all
the county committees assembled in Philadelphia, June 18.
Declaration of Independence reported to Congress, June
28. Declaration of Independence adopted, July 4. De-
claration of Independence read from the rear of the State-
house, July 8. Convention for forming the State Consti-
tution met in Philadelphia, July 15. Declaration of
Independence signed, August 2. The title of "United
States" adopted by Congress, September 9. Council or-
dered the shops and schools of Philadelphia to be closed,
December 2. Council sent money, papers, and records to
Lancaster for safety. Washington retreated across the
Delaware, December 8. Congress adjourned to Baltimore,
December 12. Law passed for establishing schools in each
county.
1776-7. About two thousand American soldiers were buried in Pot-
ters' field, now Washington square, Philadelphia.

1777. Powder-mill at French creek blown up, March 10. Congress

resolved that the national flag be composed of stars and
stripes, June 14. Battle of Brandy wine, September 11.
La Fayette wounded and removed to Bethlehem, Septem-
ber 11. Congress adjourned to Lancaster, September 18.
Massacre at Paoli, September 20. John Bartram, t^e
first American botanist, died near Philadelphia, Septem-
ber 22. British occupied Philadelphia, September 26. Con-
gress assembled at Lancaster, and adjourned to York,
September 27. Supreme Executive Council met at Lna-
caster October, 1. Battle of Germantown, October 4.
State-house bell and bells of Christ Church removed to
places of safety. Articles of Confederation of the United
States ratified, November 15. British fleet sailed up the
Delaware, November 18. Hospitals at Bethlehem ordered
to be removed to Lancaster, December. Council ordered
the schools and shops of Philadelphia to be reopened, De-
cember 7. Washington retired to Valley Forge, Decern-



336 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

ber 11. Powder-magazine and military store-house erected
at Lancaster. First church in Luzerne county, Presby-
terian, erected in Hanover township.
1773. Zion's Lutheran Church, PhiLadelphia, used as a British hos-
pital. Battle of the Kegs, January 7. Treaty with
France, February 6. Congress recommended, as a day of
fasting and prayer, April 22. President Thomas Whar-
ton, Jr., died at Lancaster, May 23. British evacuated
Philadelphia, June 18. Battle of Wyoming, July 3 and 4.
French fleet arrived in the Delaware, July 8. Embargo
on provisions, August 1. John Roberts and Abraham
Carlisle executed near Philadelphia, for treason, Novem-
ber 4. Schoolmaster confined in the Lancaster jail and
fined for keeping school without having taken the oath of
allegiance. Mcintosh's campaign. Fort Mcintosh erected
near the site of Beaver. Peace Commissioners arrived from
Great Britain. University of Pennsylvania chartered.
First Presbyterian church erected at York.
9. Legislature confiscated the Penn estate. Freeland's Fort cap-
tured by British and Indians, July 28.

1780. The Coshocton campaign. An act passed for the gradual

abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania, March 1. The Bank
of Pennsylvania established, the first bank in the United
States. Humane Society of Philadelphia founded ; incor-
porated 1793.

1781. The Pennsylvania troops at Morristown mutinied, Januarj'- 1.

Bank of North America, at Philadelphia, incorporated
December 31. First Methodist circuit formed in Lan-
caster county.

1782. First Jewish synagogue erected in Philadelphia. The Penn-

sylvania ship Hyder Ali, Captain Barney, captured the
British ship General Monk, in Delaware bay, April 8.
Hannastown, Westmoreland county, burned by Indians,
July 13. Major-General Charles Lee died in Philadel-
phia, October 2. Preliminary treaty of peace signed at
Paris, November 30.

1783. Cessation of hostilities proclaimed, April 19. Treaty of peace

signed at Paris, September 3. Continental army dis-
banded, November 3. Congress recommended the second
Thursday in December as a day of thanksgiving and
prayer. First furnace in Franklin county erected in Path
valley.

1784. Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix. Court-house

at Lancaster destroyed by fire, June 11. Philadelphia
Museum founded by Charles M. Peale.

1785. Fitch experiments in steam navigation on the Delaware.

First court held at Harrisburg, May 17. Boarding-school
for young ladies' opened at Bethlehem. First general
convention of clerical and lay delegates of the Episcopal
church met in Christ Church, Philadelphia. Philadelphia
Agricultural' Society founded, July 4; the first in the
United States.



APPENDIX. 337

1786. First academy established at Pittsburg by act of legislature,

First mail established between Philadelphia and Pitts-
burg. First Presbyterian church at Pittsburg incorpo-
rated. The Pittsburg Gazette issued ; the first newspaper
published west of the Alleghanies. The Philadelphia
Dispensary founded; first of the kind in the United
States. An act passed appropriating the proceeds of
60,000 acres of public land in aid of public schools,
April 7. Western boundary of Pennsylvania settled.

1787. Academy of the Protestant Episcopal cburcli, Philadelphia, in-

corporated. First German Reformed and Lutheran
churches erected at Harrisburg. " Free African Society"
of Philadelphia formed. College of Physicians of Phil-
delphia established. First wagon passed over the mount-
ains from Hagerstown to Brownsville. Rev. William
White, first Bishop of Pennsylvania, and second in the
United States, ordained in England, February 4. Con-
vention for framing the national Constitution met in
Philadelphia, May 10; continued in session until Sep-
tember 17. National Constitution adopted, September 17.
First Universalist society formed in Pennsylvania; church
erected 1808. Fort Franklin, on French creek, Venango
county, erected.

1788. Triangle on Lake Erie purchased from the United States.

Charity school of the German Lutheran church of Phila-
delphia incorporated.

1789. "Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of

Slavery" incorporated. College of Physicians, Philadel-
phia, chartered, March 26. Boundary between New York
and Pennsylvania confirmed by act of Assembly. Con-
vention for forming the new State Constitution met in
Philadelphia, November 24. First stage-coach between
Philadelphia and Reading. First Presbyterian church
erected at York. Baptist church, Marcus Hook, Dela-
ware county, erected.

1790. Congress occupied the County Court building at Philadelphia

until 1800. First Methodist and Presbyterian churches
erected at Huntingdon. Public school of Huntingdon
incorporated.

1791. First "Bank of the United States" in Philadelphia, incorpo-

rated February 25. Philadelphia Society for the Establish-
ment and Support of Charity Schools incorporated, April 6.
Whisky insurrection began, ended 1794. Legislature ap-
propriated 5000 acres of land to the Lutheran free school
at Philadelphia. First Sunday-school societ}^ in the
United States founded in Philadelphia.

1792. Poor's Academy for Young Ladies, at Philadelphia, incor-

porated. First turnpike in the United States began be-
tween Philadelphia and Lancaster, completed 1794.
United States Mint at Philadelphia founded ; coining
commenced 1793.

29



338 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

1793. "Washington's second inauguration took place in old Congress
Hall, March 4. Yellow fever in Philadelphia, i'irst
post-office established in Reading. Bank of Pennsylvania
chartered for 20 years, March 30. Lehigh Coal Mine
Company formed.

1793-5. "Wayne's campaign.

1793. Female Employment Society of Philadelphia founded. First

Methodist society formed in Germantown.

1794. St. Thomas's African Church, Philadelphia, erected. Linden

Hall, a Boarding-school for Young Ladies, founded at
Litiz.

1795. "Wayne's treaty at Greeneville, Ohio. Three block-houses

built at Erie.

1796. The first successful type foundery in America established in

Philadelphia. First paper-mill, west of the mountains,
erected near Brownsville. General Anthony "Wayne
died at the garrison at Presque Isle, September 17.
"Washington's last speech to Congress, in old Congress
Hall, December 7.

1797. Seminary at "Westown, Delaware county, established by

Friends. John Adams inaugurated President of the United
States in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, March 4.

1798. "Schuylkill Permanent Bridge," at Philadelphia, erected, — the

first of the kind in America, and the only one known to
exist, at that time, in the world with a pier of regular
masonry in so great a depth of water. Academy and Free
School of Bucks county established. First mill in Mercer
county erected.
1799-12. State legislature met in Lancaster.

1800. First church in "Wilkesbarre erected by Presbyterians and

Methodists. First Methodist church in Germantown
erected. Magdalen Society of Philadelphia organized;
incorporated 1812. Seat of the national government
removed to "Washington. "General Book Concern" of
the Methodist Episcopal church established at Philadel-
phia; afterward removed to New York.

1801. Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia, founded. Ground for

the United States Navy Yard, at Philadelphia, purchased
by the general government. First church in Erie county
(Presbyterian) erected at Middlebrook.

1802. Meadville Academy incorporated. Presbytery of Erie organ-

ized, April 13. Law Library of Philadelphia established.
Act passed by the legislature for the education of the poor,
gratis.

1804. Philadelphia Bank chartered, March 5. First stage between

Chambersburg and Pittsburg. "Wilkesbarre Academy,
the first in Luzerne county, established.

1805. Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, founded ; incorporated

1806.

1806. First railroad in the United States built in Ridley township,

Delaware county. Robert Morris died in Philadelphia.



APPENDIX. 339

1807. College and Theological Seminary founded at Nazareth. First

court-house erected in Erie.

1808. Eoman Catholic Orphan Society of St. Joseph, Philadelphia,

established. First newspaper published in Erie, The
Mirror. Philadelj)hia Bible Society, the first in America,
founded ; Bishop White, President.

1809. Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Philadelphia chartered, March

16. Monument erected to General Anthony Wayne, at
Eadnor, Delaware county, flarrisburg Academy estab-
lished.

1810. Treaty tree, at Kensington, blown down.

1811. First steamboat launched at Pittsburg. Loller Academy, Hat-

borough, Montgomery county, incorporated. Water ford
Academy, in Erie county, incorporated. Associate Re-
formed church, the first church in Erie, organized ; church
erected 1816.

1812. Steam water-works at Fairmount, Philadelphia, commenced.

State Legislature removed to Harrisburg. Girard Bank,
founded by vStephen Girard, Philadelphia. Yellow fever
in Philadelphia. Declaration of war against Great Britain,
June 19. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,
founded; incorporated 1816.

1813. Two block-houses built near Erie. Perry's fleet sailed from

the harbor at Erie, August 12. Battle of Lake Erie fought,
September 10. Robert Proud and Dr. Benjamin Rush
died in Philadelphia.

1814. Battle of Fort Erie, August 15. Sortie at Fort Erie, Septem-

ber 17. Philadelphia Orphan Society Asylum founded;
incorporated 1816. Treaty of peace between United States
and Great Britain, December 24. First Methodist society
organized in Waterford, Erie county.

1815. Athenteum, at Philadelphia, chartered. First Presbyterian

church organized in Erie, church erected 1824.
1816-17. Wire bridge over the falls of the Schuylkill erected; first
of the kind in the country.

1816. Pittsburg incorporated as a city. Second "Bank of the United

States," at Philadelphia, chartered. April 10. Four Luth-
eran churches organized, Meadville, Erie, Conneaut, and
on French creek.

1817. Friends' Insane Asylum, Frankford, Philadelphia county,

founded. First Episcopal church in Luzerne county
erected at Wilkesbarre. Monument erected at Paoli.
Medical Institute of Philadelphia founded. Bridge over
the Susquehanna, Market street, Harrisburg, completed.
Erie Academj^ incorporated.

1818. Bridge over the Monongahela, at Pittsburg, erected. First

steamboat launched on Lake Erie, at Black Rock, May 28.
Commodore Barney died at Pittsburg. City and county
of Philadelphia erected into the "first school district of
Pennsylvania." First light- house on the great lakes
erected at Presque Isle; rebuilt 1857. Lehigh canal com-
menced. Completed 1838.



340 HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

1819-24. United States Bank building at Philadelphia erected.

1819. Eirst bridge over the Alleghany at Pittsburg erected. Ap-

prentices' Library, Philadelphia, founded. First Epis-
copal church erected in Gerinantown. Corner-stone of
the State capitol at Harrisburg laid, May 31 ; main build-
ing completed 1821. State arsenal at Harrisburg com-
menced. First newspaper published in Delaware county ;
issued at Chester.

1820. General synod of the Lutheran church established.

1821. Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Philadelphia, founded ; building

erected 1825. The Law Academy of Philadelphia estab-
lished.

1822. State legislature first met in the State capitol at Harrisburg,

January 2. Mercantile Library, Philadelphia, founded;
chartered 1842; building erected 1845. The present dam
and water-works at Fairmount erected. City and county
of Lancaster erected into the "second school district of
Pennsylvania,-' April 1. Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of
Pennsylvania organized.

1823. Eastern Penitentiary, Philadelphia, erected.

1824. La Fayette's second visit to Pennsylvania. Franklin Institute,

Philadelphia, incorporated, March 30. Charles Thomp-
son, secretary of the First Congress, died near Philadel-
phia. The American Sunday-school L^nion was formed
in Philadelphia by the combination of several local socie-
ties, the largest of which was the " Philadelphia Sunday
and Adult School Union," founded in 1817.

1825. Schuylkill Navigation Canal completed; commenced 1815.

First Catholic church in Delaware county erected in Hav-
erford township. Theological Seminary of the German
Eeformed church founded at Carlisle; removed to York,
1828, and to Mercersburg, 1834, Historical Society of
Philadelphia established.

1826. First steamboat launched at Erie, the William Penn, May 18.

1827. Corner-stone of the first lock of the Pennsylvania canal, laid

at Harrisburg, March 14. Pennsylvania Horticultural
Society, Philadelphia, the first in the United States,
founded; incorporated 1831. Union canal finished, De-
cember. Monument erected on the site of the Treaty tree,
Kensington. Mauch Chunk railroad built ; second iron
track road in the United States. House of Refuge, Phila-
delphia, incorporated, March 23. Pittsburg water-works
finished. Western Penitentiary, Pittsburg, completed.
School district of Harrisburg established, April 11. Penn-
sylvania State Temperance Society organized, July.

1828. Chesapeake and Delaware canal finished. School district of

Pittsburg established, February 19.

1829. Conostoga Navigation canal completed.

1830. United States Mint at Philadelphia erected. Pennsylvania

Colonization Society incorporated.

1831. Free Trade National Convention held in Philadelphia, Octo-



APPENDIX. 341

ber 1. Little Schuylkill railroad completed. Stephen
' Girard died in Philadelphia, December 26.

1832. General Joseph Heister, ex-governor, died in Beading, June 16.

Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown railroad fin-
ished; first eft'ective locomotive in Pennsylvania, "Old
Ironsides," used on this road, Moyamensing Prison,
Philadelphia, begun. West Chester railroad completed ;
formally opened, September 13. Monument erected to
General St. Clair at Greensburg.

1833. Blockley Hospital, Philadelphia, erected.* First National Tem-

perance Convention held in Independence Hall, Philadel-
phia, May 24. John Kandolph died in Philadelphia, May.
Corner-stone of Girard College laid, July 4; college opened
Januar}^ 1, 1848. Dickinson College transferred to the
control of the Methodist church. La Fayette College
building, Easton, erected. Delaware County Institute of
Science" organized, September 21. Corner-stone of Wyo-
ming monument laid, July 3. Institute for the Blind at
Philadelphia opened, March.