Item 55: Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Lord Butler (Removed to Legal Box #1), 1787 April 4
Item — Box: 12, Folder: 95
Dates
- Created: 1787 April 4
Creator
- Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790 (Person)
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
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Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Letter.
Condition Note:
Fair. Paper shows signs of age and contains some stains.
Measurements:
12 ⅞ in. x 8 ⅛ in.
Description:
The following item depicts a letter written by Benjamin Franklin to Lord Butler, dated April 4, 1787. In the letter, Franklin writes to Butler to demonstrate the petitions of the settlers residing in the valley, particularly those of Connecticut, who have requested the assembly to view their previous claims they were forcibly removed from in order to be reinstated in them. Franklin writes with a positive view of the petitions, stating that to aid these people would be not only a good demonstration of the government’s power and honor but also the principles of the Constitution.
This is referencing the various petitions by Connecticut settlers to the Pennsylvania assembly following the Decree of Trenton’s decision of jurisdiction and following abuse under Alexander Patterson. The Decree of Trenton granted the rights of jurisdiction to Pennsylvania following a three part war called the Yankee Pennamite Wars. These conflicts waged between Connecticut and Pennsylvania were an attempt to resolve a dispute over the land in the upper regions of what is now Pennsylvania after King Charles II granted the land twice, once to Connecticut in 1662, and again to William Penn as he founded Pennsylvania in 1681. While the Decree of Trenton gave Pennsylvania the right to soil, it did not give them the right to title. Yet, under the command of the Pennsylvania Assembly and Patterson, Pennsylvania would forcibly remove “one-hundred and fifty” Connecticut families from their homes. They forced the families to “find their way through the wilderness of the Lackawaxen to the Delaware Valley, a distance of about eighty miles,” without supplies or clothing to sustain them (Gnichtel, The Trenton Decree of 1782). The violence and brutality levied by Patterson’s troops was so severe that it drew attention from neighboring states, and condemnation on the governing bodies of Pennsylvania. That critique ultimately led the Pennsylvania Assembly to remove Patterson from his position within the valley around July 1784, replacing him with colonel John Armstrong.
Location:
Philadelphia, PA
Transcription:
Sir, In Council ^Philad[elphi]a April 4. 1787— —
With this you will receive a Number of printed
Copies of an Act of Assembly lately passed, respecting the
Settlers from Connecticut in your County. The Spirit of Condescension
and Good Will of the Legislature towards those Settlers,
manifested by this Act, in attending so readily to their Petitions,
and in giving them so fair an Opportunity of establishing
their Claims and quieting their Possessions for themselves
and their Posterity, will we are persuaded have its proper
Effect on the prudent and reasonable Majority, who can set
a just Value on the Blessings of Peace and Good Government,
and we hope therefore that the Endeavor of a few restless
Individuals, if such should remain, who may exceed to find
their own private and separate Advantage in public Troubles,
will not have any Effect in disturbing this Commencement of
Harmony, which in its Completion will secure to the Inhabitants
not only the Lands that have been in question, but
the additional Advantage of our excellent Constitution,
and the Protection of one of the principal States in the Union.
You will observe the Directions of the Act in making it
publick (sic) [public], and you may assure the People that the good
Disposition of Council towards them is not inferior to that
which has been manifested by the General Assembly.
I am, Sir,
Your humble Servant,
B Franklin Presid.[en]t
To Lord Butler, Esquire High Sheriff of the County of Luzerne
To Lord Butler, Esquire High Sheriff of the County of Luzerne
Creator
- Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu