152 
 
 T363a 
 
 1903 
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYL- 
 VANIA AND WEST 
 'N E W E R S K Y
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THOMAS'S 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA AND 
 
 WEST NEW JERSEY 

 
 Of this edition, two hundred 
 and fifty copies have been 
 printed, and the type distrib- 
 uted. This is
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA AND 
 WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 BY GABRIEL THOMAS 
 
 Reprinted from the original edition of 1698 
 
 With Introduction by 
 
 \J 
 
 CYRUS TOWNSEND BEADY, LL.D. 
 
 CLEVELAND 
 THE BURROWS BROTHERS COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1903 
 BY 
 
 THE BURROWS BROTHERS COMPANY 
 
 Jlrr 
 CLEVELAND
 
 F 
 
 152 
 3 
 
 1103 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 GABRIEL THOMAS'S historical account, or geo- 
 graphical description of "Pensilvania and of 
 West-New-Jersey," is a very scarce book and 
 difficult to secure in its original edition. There 
 are a number of copies in existence but they are 
 jealously held in libraries and collections and are 
 not to be had. There is a rapidly increasing 
 demand for the book by collectors which naturally 
 produces a corresponding scarcity. The price of 
 the few perfect copies that have been offered for 
 sale lately has appreciated in a remarkable degree, 
 and the startling advance from one dollar to over 
 one thousand dollars, which has taken place in 
 less than one hundred years, shows, as nothing 
 else could, the increasing interest taken in mate- 
 rial of this kind by libraries and collectors, 
 private or public. 
 
 In the following account the sales, unless specif- 
 ically stated, were held in America. Probably 
 some of the sales recorded were re-sales of the 
 same examples. 
 
 The early English records, more or less imper- 
 fect at first, show that, at the Heath sale in April- 
 
 1268081
 
 / N T R O D V C T I O N 
 
 May, 1810, an original copy brought ten shillings 
 and sixpence; at one of Chalmers' s sales in 1841-42, 
 the price was thirteen shillings; at the Brighton 
 sale in March, 1845, sixteen shillings; and that 
 Willis and Sotheran sold a ropy in 1862 for three 
 pounds and ten shillings. 
 
 Sabin sold a copy in March, 1873, for $300; 
 a second copy offered a year later brought the 
 same amount; in November, 1875, a slightly 
 defective copy was sold for $120 at the Menzies 
 sale; at the Brinley sale in 1880 three copies 
 were disposed of for $150, $100, and $65 respec- 
 tively, the difference in price being due to the 
 style of binding and the condition of the several 
 examples. In 1884, at the sale of the Murphy 
 collection, the price had fallen to $74; at the 
 Barlow sale in 1890 it had risen to $190; at the 
 Ives sale in 1891, $200 was realized for an 
 unusually fine copy. In England in 1893 at the 
 Simon sale the price was 31, and in 1895, Sotheby 
 sold one for 34 lO.s. In America again in 1896 
 three copies were sold for $200, $195, and 
 $190 respectively; but in 1897 the price fell to 
 $145. At the Ashburton sale in England in 
 1900, a copy in the original half binding brought 
 the record price of 62. At the McKee sale on 
 June 12, 1902, an exquisite example brought 
 $805 which is the record auction price at the 
 present date. At the Lefferts sale in England on
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 June 17, 1902, a fine but not quite a perfect copy 
 brought 109. This copy was bound by David in 
 full green levant tooled to a Derome (so called 
 from the name of a famous French binder) pattern, 
 doubled with blue levant, having a richly gilt 
 heavy border, back and edges gilt, in a solander 
 case of green levant. With the exception of 
 the McKee copy this is the finest copy known. 
 Its only imperfections are that the title-page and 
 several other leaves have been slightly mended. 
 This spring the McKee copy mentioned above was 
 sold by Mr. George H. Richmond of New York 
 at private sale for $1,050, an advance of $245 
 over the price of the preceding year. This copy 
 is thus described : 
 
 Small 8vo; full crushed dark crimson levant morocco, floriated 
 borders on sides, with doublure of green crushed levant morocco, 
 broad gold borders, by FRANCIS BEDFORD. Enclosed in a morocco 
 slip case. 
 
 This is, I think, the finest copy known. It is in 
 " superb condition, most of the leaves being uncut, 
 while it is sound and clean throughout." 
 
 There are original examples in the British 
 Museum and the Library of Congress; in the 
 Libraries of the Pennsylvania and New York His- 
 torical Societies ; the Lenox Library of New York 
 City; the Watkinson Library of Hartford, Conn. ; 
 the New York State Library at Albany; the 
 Library of Harvard College (two copies); the
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Library of the Boston Athenaeum; the Advo- 
 cates' Library of Edinburgh, Scotland; the 
 Heath collection of London, England; the 
 John Carter Brown Library of Providence, R. I. ; 
 the E. Dwight Church collection and the Phila- 
 delphia Library (two copies). Without doubt 
 there are other examples also in different public 
 libraries and private collections in America and 
 England. Strange to say, the New Jersey His- 
 torical Society has no original copy. 
 
 The book was reissued in a rather indifferently 
 executed facsimile in 1848 for Henry Austin 
 Brady, a counsellor-at-law and a member of the 
 New York Historical Society. Six copies in folio 
 were printed of this edition and at least one small 
 quarto on blue writing-paper. In the Lenox 
 Library of New York all states of the Brady 
 reprint appear the small octavo, which is the size 
 of the original volume, the quarto, mentioned 
 above, and the large folio. Watson quotes (im- 
 perfectly and incorrectly) the portion relating to 
 Pennsylvania in his Annul* of Philadelphia, and 
 also states that the book was published in fac- 
 simile in 185- by J. W. Moore of Philadelphia, and 
 that the reprint was very scarce in 1857. I have 
 never seen it. Watson perhaps refers to the Brady 
 reprint. This portion has also been reprinted in 
 pamphlet form in the Li forty Bell Lea fiefs, published 
 by Christopher Sower Co., Philadelphia, 1900.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The portion relating to Pennsylvania only was 
 translated into German in 1702. This translation 
 was bound up with Francis Daniel Pastorius's 
 Beschreibung der Provintz Pensylvanice, published at 
 Leipsic in 1704. I have not discovered any other 
 translations or reissues of the book. 
 
 Copies of the Brady reprint are offered occa- 
 sionally and may be had for comparatively small 
 amounts, although they are becoming rare and 
 the price is increasing. 
 
 Little is known of the personality of the author 
 save what may be gathered from his book. He 
 lived in the Province of Pennsylvania between 
 1682 and 1697 and he was a Quaker. The book 
 was probably written in England. A person of 
 his name was again in Pennsylvania in 1702, an 
 applicant for a commission as collector of quit 
 rents in New Castle County. As is seen from his 
 book he inveighed against George Fox in 1697-98, 
 and in 1702 sided against Penn with Colonel 
 Quarry. 
 
 The variety and extent of his information, the 
 general accuracy of his statements, the simplicity 
 and clearness of his style, the pleasing quaintness 
 of his several addresses to the reader, the admi- 
 rable brevity with which he has discussed the 
 subjects he has allotted to himself, the absence in 
 the main of all exaggeration, the avoidance of the
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 legendary absurdities with which most travelers 1 
 tales of the period abound have all conduced to 
 render his book a classic; of its kind. It has been 
 quoted again and again by various authorities, 
 and always with approbation, in spite of its one 
 fault, the pardonable extravagance of an advocate 
 whose affections are deeply engaged in the cause 
 for which he pleads. 
 
 One statement has often been pointed out as in- 
 dicative either of misrepresentation or inaccuracy 
 on the part of the author; that is in the reference 
 on page 46 to the "Noble Town-House or Guild - 
 Hall ' ' as having been lately built. * This building 
 was not erected until 1707. On page 56 Thomas 
 plainly indicates that he was writing in England 
 in the year 1697 ("but now the year 1697," etc.), 
 which agrees with the date of the publication of 
 the volume, 1698. Attempts have been made to 
 explain this discrepancy by surmising that suc- 
 cessive editions were issued, all bearing the same 
 original date, in which at the proper time the 
 reference to the new town hall was inserted by 
 gome alien hand. I suppose rather that In this 
 instance Thomas drew upon his imagination and 
 recorded that which was to be a# actually having 
 been done. As early as 1688 Penn wrote that he 
 feared the little Letitia House, which was used 
 ae the provincial state-house, waw too contracted 
 
 *A11 page references are to this present edition. 
 IO
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 for such a purpose, and suggesting the erection 
 of a larger and more suitable building. Thomas 
 may have had this suggestion in mind when 
 he wrote. 
 
 Another error is found on page 47; where he 
 refers to the Chestnut Street Wharf the context 
 shows plainly that he means the Arch Street 
 Wharf. These are small and unimportant blem- 
 ishes; not many books are so fortunate in escaping 
 with so few. 
 
 There are several things in his pages to which 
 it seems advisable specifically to call attention 
 here. The first is the delicious if unconscious 
 humor of the testimony on pages 49-51 as to 
 the qualities of the children and the enviable 
 condition of the mothers in Pennsylvania, which 
 certainly showed that there was no thought of 
 race suicide in that province in those days. I 
 question whether under the changed conditions 
 of the present his statements would prove a recom- 
 mendation to young married folk starting in life ; 
 but they certainly, if results be a criterion, must 
 have presented fascinating allurements to the emi- 
 grants of the past. 
 
 Indeed the genial author might well argue why 
 should not people have large families in such an 
 earthly paradise as he describes Pennsylvania 
 and incidentally West New Jersey to have 
 been ; a claim which the sons ol those two famous 
 
 ii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 states are quite zealous to maintain, perhaps in 
 more moderate language but with no less vigor and 
 enthusiasm even today. The whole situation is 
 respectfully commended to President Roosevelt, 
 who has the subject much at heart, that by 
 studying this glorious past he may find further 
 inspiration with which to encourage the future. 
 
 The second especially interesting feature of the 
 book is the account unfortunately but too brief 
 of the aborigines with whom Penn made his famous 
 Treaty. These Indians were of the Lenni-Lenape 
 tribe, a branch of the great Algonquin family, 
 known to the English colonists as the Delawares. 
 The word Lenni-Lenape may be freely rendered 
 as "the men of men," or as "we men. 1 ' There 
 is a touch of savage arrogance in the title as if 
 one tribe should say of itself to the exclusion of 
 other less favored tribes, "We, the people." 
 Those on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware 
 were known as the Unamis, those on the Jersey 
 side as the Unalachtigos. 
 
 The language of these Indians was rather a 
 difficult one for the white settlers to master in its 
 purity. William Penn writes, "I have made it 
 my business to understand it that 1 might not 
 want an interpreter on any occasion." Judging 
 from the specimens contained in this book, taken 
 in connection with other specimens which have 
 been preserved, and contrasting them with the 
 
 12
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 language of the remnants of the Delawares now 
 in existence, Doctor Brinton concludes that what 
 William Penn learned and what Thomas has 
 recorded was a "trader's jargon which scorned 
 etymology, syntax, and prosody, and was about 
 as near pure Lenape as pigeon -English is to the 
 periods of Macaulay ! " 
 
 The dialect was a stumbling-block to the com- 
 positor of 1698 also, for in the original no equiva- 
 lents are provided for the second answer and the 
 third question, on page 69. The dialogue recorded 
 is interesting in one particular, for it contains 
 one of the first appearances in print of what has 
 become one of our common English words, and 
 the reader may see the inaccuracy of Thomas's re- 
 cension when he considers that the word weekin 
 is evidently intended for wickwam which is the 
 modern word ' ' wig warn ! ' ' 
 
 The third point worthy of notice is in the invalu- 
 able account of the wages prevailing in the colony 
 on pages 40-44. And as the statement is made 
 that they are about three times greater than the 
 amounts paid for the same service in the mother 
 country, they throw considerable light upon the 
 labor conditions in England as well. The colony 
 was a delectable place for all sorts and conditions 
 of men, saving lawyers and physicians, whose 
 fortunes languished because it was both peaceable 
 and healthy to an unusual degree ! 
 
 13
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is perhaps hardly necessary to note that the 
 "Cotton " in the veins of the " Salamander-Stone " 
 to which Thomas refers on page 30 is evidently 
 asbestos. 
 
 To sum up, the enthusiastic author so describes 
 the countries to which he wishes to attract that 
 emigration of "the Idle, the Sloathful, and the 
 Vagabonds of England, Scotland, and Ireland" 
 which we feel quite sure would not be best 
 designed to occupy it after all, and so paints the 
 conditions as he sees them, that we are reminded 
 of a famous line from Lalla Rookh : 
 
 And oh! If there be an elysium on earth, 
 It is this, it is this. 
 
 CYRUS TOWNSEND BBADY. 
 
 BROOKLYN, N. Y., November i, 1903. 
 
 I 4
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 LONDON : A. BALDWIN 
 1698 
 
 Title-pages, map, and text reprinted from a copy 
 
 of the original edition in the Lenox 
 
 Library, New York City.
 
 O F T II R 
 
 PROVINCE and COUNTRY 
 o F 
 
 PEN SILVAN! A 
 
 A N D' O F 
 
 Well. J 'New - 7er/ey 
 
 J */'. J ' . 
 
 I N 
 
 m 
 
 ^o 
 
 & 
 
 The Riehnefs of the Soil, the Sweets-Is cf the .Situation, 
 the Whn/tTomnefs of 'fhe Air, the N.iv-?alu- Rjv. . 
 others, the prodigious Eicre.ifi? of Corn, the flouriCutyg 
 Condi'.ionof the: City of Phii,icit:f.hi.i, wich fhe 
 Buildings, anther Improvftrmts there. The ilnw^c 
 Creatures, js #wff, iw/?j, /y,' ;i 
 feveral forts c f Minerals, J J /..r .-; x ;/ | 
 
 lately dflcovered The N.ur.'?:, 
 .vi'Wt... $*>''*', Lain, and C;//?cw j The 
 \btj>tttch, tree<ls, .1 id ^ /////.-, w.' 
 bitants ; A>-;jifo a "f 
 eJ:zicn , ui h:$ fl-cond Cf, 
 
 GABIUt, i. 
 wliorcfidcd t ! .
 
 THE 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 Friend William Perm, 
 
 I Here present Thee with a succinct (yet com- 
 pleat) Account of the late Improvement, and 
 Present State of the Noble Province, and Fertile 
 Countrey of Pemilvauia ; with the strange things 
 that have been found there, as the Salamander- 
 Stone, and several others, mentioned in this 
 Treatise; discovered since thou earnest out of 
 those Parts. I desire Thee to excuse me for 
 addressing to Thee, such a Plain and Peasant-like 
 Piece; yet however homely or coarse it may 
 appear, Thou wilt find here a true and genuine 
 Description of that (once) obscure, tho' (now) 
 glorious Place. So considering how generous and 
 candid a Man Thou art, I know thou wilt bear 
 with my weak and imperfect Performance, and 
 accept of my good Meaning and kind Intention, 
 which may encourage me, in time to come, to add 
 some more Memoirs to this rough Essay of mine. 
 Being unwilling to tire Thee with any long or 
 tedious Epistle, I take my Leave of Thee, 
 (Most Noble and Excellent 
 Governor) and am 
 
 Thy hearty Well-wisher, ever 
 ready to serve Thee on all 
 Occasions, (in the way of 
 Truth,) 
 
 Gabriel Thomas. 
 19
 
 THE 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Reader, 
 
 THere never having been any fair or full Account 
 given to the World of Pensilvania, I thought 
 the Curious wou'd be gratified with an ample Descrip- 
 tion thereof. 
 
 For tho' this Country has made little Noise in Story, 
 or taken up but small room in Maps, yet thus much 
 with great Justice may be said of it, that notwith- 
 standing the Difficulties and Inconveniencies the First 
 English Collonies met with before they ivere well 
 settled there, yet the mighty Improvements, Additions, 
 and Advantages that have been made lately there, are 
 well worth Communicating to the Publick, and I am 
 sensible they will be well received. 
 
 The late Tedious, Hazardous, and Expensive War 
 (in which England, in Conjunction with the Allies 
 was so deeply engaged) was without doubt no small Bar 
 or Obstacle to the Flourishing of this New Country. 
 The great Discouragements the Traders thither lay 
 under, (together with the frequent Capture of their 
 Ships out and home, cou'd not chuse but baulk them in 
 their honest Endeavours, which (now Peace is restor'd) 
 they may pursue with greater Security and Satis- 
 faction. 
 
 21
 
 T H O M A S ' .V P /. X N S Y L \ ' A N I A 
 
 Nor is there the least question or doubt to he made, 
 but this Noble Spot of Earth trill thrive exceedingly, 
 and that in a short time too, and adcance considerably 
 to the might a Advantage of the Prevent and Future 
 Proprietors, who hare, and are willing to gire all due 
 Encouragement to any that shall Transport themselves 
 thither. 
 
 I con'd sat/ much here in Praise of that sweet Tract 
 of Land, but having spoken so largely and particularly 
 thereof in the Book it self, I shall forbear the least 
 mention in this place. Nor trill I Anticipate or fore- 
 stal thee, by presenting thee here with what thou wilt 
 find there, with the greater Satisfaction. And so I 
 bid thee heartily farewel. 
 
 Gab. Thomas. 
 
 22
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 Pensilvania, &c. 
 
 PEnsilvania lies between the Latitude of Forty 
 and Forty five Degrees: West- Jersey on the 
 East, Virginia on the West, Mary-Land South, 
 and Canada on the North. In Length three hun- 
 dred, and in Breadth one hundred and eighty 
 Miles. 
 
 The Natives, or first Inhabitants of this Country 
 in their Original, are suppos'd by most People to 
 have been of the Ten Scattered Tribes, for they 
 resemble the Jews very much in the Make of their 
 Persons, and Tincture of their Complexions : They 
 observe New Moons, they offer their first Fruits to 
 a Maneto, or suppos'd Deity, whereof they have 
 two, one, as they fansie, above (good,) another 
 below (bad,) and have a kind of Feast of Taber- 
 nacles, laying their Altars upon Twelve Stones, 
 observe a sort of Mourning twelve Months, Customs 
 of Women, and many other Rites to be toucht 
 (here) rather than dwelt upon, because they shall 
 be handled more at large at the latter end of this 
 Treatise. 
 
 23
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 They are very Charitable to one another, the 
 Lame arid the Blind (amongst them) living as well 
 as the best ; they are also very kind and obliging 
 to the Christians. 
 
 The next that came there, were the Dutch, (who 
 call'd the Country New Neither land) between Fifty 
 and Sixty Years ago, and were the first Planter* 
 in those Parts; but they made little or no Improve- 
 ment, (applying themselves wholly to Trafique in 
 Skins and Furs, which the Indians or Natives 
 furnish' d them with, and which they Barter' d for 
 Rum, Strong Liquors, and Sugar, with others, 
 thereby gaining great Profit) till near the time of 
 the Wars between Enylaml and Them, about 
 Thirty or Forty Years ago. 
 
 Soon after them came the Swedes and Fins, who 
 apply' d themselves to Husbandry, and were the 
 first Christian People that made any considerable 
 Improvement there. 
 
 There were some Disputes between these two 
 Nations some Years, the Dutch looking upon the 
 Swedes as Intruders upon their Purchase and 
 Possession, which was absolutely terminated in 
 the Surrender made by John Rizeiny, the Swedes 
 Governour, to Peter Styreant,* Governour for the 
 Dutch, in 1655. In the Holland War about the 
 
 * So printed in the original for Stuyvesant. 
 24
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Year 1665. Sir Robert Carr took the Country from 
 the Dutch for the English, and left his Cousin, 
 Captain Carr, Governor of that place; but in a 
 short time after, the Dutch re-took the Country 
 from the English, and kept it in their Possession 
 till the Peace was concluded between the English 
 and them, when the Dutch Surrendered that 
 Country with East and West-Jersey, New-York, 
 (with the whole Countries belonging to that 
 Government) to the English again. But it 
 remain' d with very little Improvement till the 
 Year 1681, in which William Penn Esq; had the 
 Country given him by King Charles the Second, in 
 lieu of Money that was due to (and signal Service 
 done by) his Father, Sir William Penn, and from 
 him bore the Name of Pensilvania. 
 
 Since that time, the Industrious (nay Indefatig- 
 able) Inhabitants have built a Noble and Beautiful 
 City, and called it Philadelphia, which contains 
 above two thousand Houses, all Inhabited; and 
 most of them Stately, and of Brick, generally 
 three Stories high, after the Mode in London, and 
 as many several Families in each. There are very 
 many Lanes and Alleys, as first, Huttons-Lane, 
 Morris-Lane, Joneses-Lane, wherein are very good 
 Buildings; Shorter 8- Alley, Yowers-Lane, Wallers- 
 Alley, Turners-Lane, Sikes- Alley, and Flowers- Alley. 
 All these Alleys and Lanes extend from the Front 
 
 25
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Street to the Second Street. There is another Alley 
 in the Second Street, called Carters-Alley. There 
 are also besides these Alley* and Lanes, several 
 fine Squares and Courts within this Magnificent 
 City, (for so I may justly call it.) As for the 
 particular Names of the several Street* contained 
 therein, the Principal are as follows, viz. Walnut- 
 Street, Vine- Street, Mulberry-Street, Chesnut-Street, 
 Sassafras- Street, taking their Names from the 
 abundance of those Trees that formerly grew 
 there; High- Street, Broad- Street, Delaware- Street, 
 Front- Street, with several of less Note, too tedious 
 to insert here. 
 
 It hath in it Three Fair* every Year, and Two 
 Markets every Week. They kill above Twenty Fat 
 Bullocks every Week, in the hottest time in Sum- 
 mer, for their present spending in that City, 
 besides many Sliee/t, Calces, and Hoys. 
 
 This City is Situated between Schoolk ill- River 
 and the great River Delaware, which derives its 
 Name from Captain Delaware, who came there 
 pretty early: Ships of Two or Three Hundred 
 Tuns may come up to this City, by either of these 
 two Rivers. Moreover, in this Province are Four 
 Great Market-Towns^ viz. Chester, the (rerman 
 Town, New-Castle, and Lewis-Ton- H, which are 
 mightily Enlarged in this latter Improvement. 
 
 -26-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Between these Towns, the Water-Men constantly 
 Ply their Wherries ; likewise all those Towns have 
 Fairs kept in them, besides there are several 
 Country Villages, viz. Dublin, Harford, Merioneth, 
 and Radnor in Cumbry ; all which Towns, Villages 
 and Rivers, took their Names from the several 
 Countries whence the present Inhabitants came. 
 
 The Air here is very delicate, pleasant, and 
 wholesom; the Heavens serene, rarely overcast, 
 bearing mighty resemblance to the better part of 
 France; after Rain they have commonly a very 
 clear Sky, the Climate is something Colder in the 
 depth of Winter, and Hotter in the height of 
 Summer; (the cause of which is its being a Main 
 Land or Continent; the Days also are two Hours 
 longer in the shortest Day in Winter, and shorter 
 by two Hours in the longest Day of Summer) than 
 here in England, which makes the Fruit so good, 
 and the Earth so fertil. 
 
 The Corn -Harvest is ended before the middle of 
 July, and most Years they have commonly between 
 Twenty and Thirty Bushels of Wheat for every 
 one they Sow. Their Ground is harrowed with 
 Wooden Tyned Harrows, twice over in a place is 
 sufficient; twice mending of their Plow-Irons in a 
 Years time will serve. Their Horses commonly 
 go without being shod; two Men may clear 
 
 27
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 between Twenty and Thirty Acres of Land in 
 one Year, fit for the Plough, in which Oxen are 
 chiefly us'd, though Horses are riot wanting, and 
 of them Good and well shap'd. A Cart or a Wain 
 may go through the middle of the Woods, between 
 the Trees without getting any damage, and of 
 such Land in a convenient place, the Purchase 
 will cost between 7V// and Fifteen Pounds for a 
 Hundred Acres.* Here is much Meadow Ground. 
 Poor People both Men and Women, will get near 
 three times more Wages for their Labour in this 
 Country, than they can earn either in England or 
 Wales. 
 
 What is Inhabited of this Country, is divided 
 into Six Counties, though there is not the Twen- 
 tieth Part of it yet Peopled by the Christians: It 
 hath in it several Navigable Rivers for Shipping 
 to come in, besides the Capital Delaware, wherein 
 a Ship of Two Hundred Tuns may Sail Two Hun- 
 dred Miles up. There are also several other small 
 Rivers, in number hardly Credible; these, as the 
 Brooks, have for the most part gravelly and hard 
 Bottoms; and it is suppos'd that there are many 
 other further up in the Country, which are not 
 yet discover' d; the Names of the aforesaid Rivers, 
 are, HoorkiH-JRiver, alias Lewis Hirer, which runs 
 up to Lewis Town, the chief eat in tinw.r. County; 
 Cedar-River, Muskmellon-River, all taking their 
 
 28
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Names from the great plenty of these things 
 growing thereabouts ; Mother-kill alias Dover-River, 
 St. Jones's alias Cranbrook-River, where one John 
 Curtice lives, who hath Three Hundred Head of 
 Neat Beasts, besides great Numbers of Hogs, 
 Horses, and Sheep; Great Duck-River, Little Duck- 
 River, Black-Bird-River, these also took their Orig- 
 inal Names from the great Numbers of those 
 Fowls which are found there in vast quantities; 
 Apequinemy- River, where their Goods come to be 
 Carted over to Mary -Land. St. Georges-River, 
 Christen-River, Brandy -Wine-River, Upland alias 
 Chester -River, which runs by Chester-Town, being 
 the Shire or County-Town; Schoolkill-River, 
 Frankford-River, near which, Arthur Cook hath a 
 most Stately Brick-House; and Nishamany -River, 
 where Judge Growden hath a very Noble and Fine 
 House, very pleasantly Situated, and likewise a 
 Famous Orchard adjoyning to it, wherein are 
 contain' d above a Thousand Apple Trees of 
 various sorts ; likewise there is the famous Derby - 
 River, which comes down from the Cumbry by 
 Derby -Toicn, wherein are several Mills, viz. Ful- 
 ling-Mills, Corn-Mills, &c. 
 
 There is curious Building-Stone and Paving-Stone, 
 also Tile- Stone, with which latter, Governor Penn 
 covered his Great and Stately Pile, which he call'd 
 Pennsbury -House, the Name it still retains. There 
 
 29
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 is likewise Iron-Stone or Oar, (lately found) which 
 far exceeds that in England, being Richer and less 
 Drossy; some Preparations have been made to 
 carry on an Iron -Work: There is also very good 
 Lime- Stone in great plenty, and cheap, of great 
 use in Buildings, and also in Manuring Land, (if 
 there were occasion) but Nature has made that of 
 it self sufficiently Fruitful ; besides here are Load- 
 Stones, Ising- Glass, and (that Wonder of Stones) 
 the Salamander- Stone, found near Brandy- Wine- 
 River, having Cotton in Veins within it, which will 
 not consume in the Fire, though held there a 
 long time. 
 
 As to Minerals, or Metals, there is very good 
 Copper, far exceeding ours in England, being much 
 Finer, and of a more glorious Colour. Not two 
 Mile from the Metropolis, are also Purging Mineral- 
 Waters, that pass both by Siege and Urine, all out 
 as good as Epsom : And I have reason to believe, 
 there are good Coals also, for I observ'd, the Runs 
 of Water have the same Colour as that which 
 proceeds from the Coal-Mines in Wales. 
 
 Here is curious Diversion in Hunting, Fishing, 
 and Fowling, especially upon that Great and 
 Famous River Suskahanah, which runs down quite 
 through the heart of the Country to Mary-Land, 
 where it makes the Head of Chesepeck-Bay, in 
 
 30
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 which place there are an Infinite Number of Sea 
 and Land Fowl, of most sorts, viz. Swans, Ducks, 
 Teal, (which two are the most Grateful and most 
 Delicious in the World) Geese, Divers, Brands, 
 Snipe, Curlew ; as also Eagles, Turkies (of Forty or 
 Fifty Pound Weight) Pheasants, Partridges, Pid- 
 geons, Heath-Birds, Black-Birds', and that Strange 
 and Remarkable Fowl, call'd (in these Parts) the 
 Mocking-Bird, that Imitates all sorts of Birds in 
 their various Notes. And for Fish, there are 
 prodigious quantities of most sorts, viz. Shadds 
 Cats Heads, Sheeps-Heads, Herrings, Smelts, Roach, 
 Eels, Perch. As also the large sort of Fish, as 
 Whales (of which a great deal of Oyl is made) 
 Salmon, Trout, Sturgeon, Rock, Oysters, (some 
 six Inches long) Crabs, Cockles, (some as big 
 as Stewing Oysters of which are made a Choice 
 Soupe or Broth) Canok and Mussels, with many 
 other sorts of Fish, which would be too tedious 
 to insert. 
 
 There are several sorts of wild Beasts of great 
 Profit, and good Food; viz. Panthers, Woolves, 
 Either, Deer, Beaver, Otter, Hares, Musk-Rats, Minks, 
 Wild Cats, Foxes, Rackoons, Rabits, and that 
 strange Creature, the Possam, she having a false 
 Belly to swallow her Young ones, by which means 
 she preserveth them from danger, when any thing 
 comes to disturb them. There are also Bears some 
 
 _ o i ___
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Wolves, are pretty well destroy' d by the Indiana, 
 for the sake of the Reward given them by the 
 Christians for that Service. Here is also that 
 Remarkable Creature the Fly ing- Squirrel, having 
 a kind of Skinny Wings, almost like those of the 
 Baft, though it hath the like Hair and Colour 
 of the Common Squirrel, but is much less in 
 Bodily Substance; I have (my self) seen it fly 
 from one Tree to another in the Woods, but how 
 long it can maintain its Flight is not yet exactly 
 known. 
 
 There are in the Woods abundance of Red Deer 
 (vulgarly called Stays) for I have bought of the 
 Indians a whole Buck, (both Skin and Carcass) for 
 two Gills of Gunpowder. Excellent Food, most 
 delicious, far exceeding that in Europe, in the 
 Opinion of most that are Nice and Curious People. 
 There are vast Numbers of other Wild Creatures, 
 as Elks, Bufalos, &c. all which as well Beasts, 
 Fowl, and Fish, are free and common to any Per- 
 son who can shoot or take them, without any lett, 
 hinderance or Opposition whatsoever. 
 
 There are among other various sorts of Frogs, 
 the BuH-Frny, which makes a roaring noise, hardly 
 to be distinguished from that well known of the 
 Beast, from whom it takes its Name: There is 
 another sort of Froy that crawls up to the tops of 
 
 32
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Trees, there seeming to imitate the Notes of sev- 
 eral Birds, with many other strange and various 
 Creatures, which would take up too much room 
 here to mention. 
 
 Next, I shall proceed to instance in the several 
 sorts of Wild Fruits, as excellent Grapes, Red, 
 Black, White, Muscadel, and Fox, which upon fre- 
 quent Experience have produc'd Choice Wine, 
 being daily Cultivated by skilful Vinerons; they 
 will in a short space of time, have very good 
 Liquor of their own, and some to supply their 
 Neighbours, to their great advantage; as these 
 W ines are more pure, so much more wholsom ; the 
 Brewing Trade of Sophisticating and Adulterat- 
 ing of Wines, as in England, Holland (especially) 
 and in some other places not being known there 
 yet, nor in all probability will it in many Years, 
 through a natural Probity so fixed and implanted 
 in the Inhabitants, and (I hope) like to continue. 
 Wallnuts, Chesnuts, Filberts, Heckery-Nuts, Hartle- 
 berries, Mulberries, (white and black) Rasberries, 
 Strawberries^ Cramberries, Plumbs of several sorts, 
 and many other Wild Fruits, in great plenty, 
 which are common and free for any to gather; to 
 particularize the Names of them all, would take 
 up too much time ; tire, not gratifie the Reader, 
 and be inconsistent with the intended Brevity of 
 this little Volume. 
 
 33
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 The common Planting Fruit-Trees, are Apples, 
 which from a Kernel (without Inoculating) will 
 shoot up to be a large Tree, and produce very 
 delicious, large, and pleasant Fruit, of which 
 much excellent Cyder is made, in taste resembling 
 that in England press' d from Pippins and Pear- 
 mains, sold commonly for between Ten and Fifteen 
 Shillings per Barrel. Pears, Peaches, &c. of which 
 they distil a Liquor much like the taste of Ruwm 
 or Brandy, which they Yearly make in great quan- 
 tities: There are Quinces, Cherries, Goosberries, 
 Currants, Squashes, Pumpkins, Water-Mellons, Musk- 
 inellons, and other Fruits in great Numbers, which 
 seldom fail of yielding great plenty. There are 
 also many curious and excellent Physical Wild 
 Herbx, Roots, and Drugs of great Vertue, and very 
 sanative, as the Sassafras, and Sarsaparilla, so 
 much us'd in Diet-Drinks for the Cure of the 
 Veneral Disease, which makes the Indians by a 
 right application of them, as able Doctors and 
 Surgeons as any in Europe, performing celebrated 
 Cures therewith, and by the use of some particu- 
 lar Plants only, find Remedy in all Swelling*, 
 Burn inns, Ctifs, &c. There grows also in great 
 plenty the Black Snake-Root, (fam'd for its some- 
 times preserving, but often curing 1 the Plague, 
 being infused only in Wine, Brandy or Rumm) 
 Rattle- Snake-Root, Poke- Root, called in England 
 Jail op, with several other beneficial Herbs, Plants 
 
 34
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 and Roots, which Physicians have approved of, far 
 exceeding in Nature and Vertue, those of other 
 Countries. 
 
 The Names of the Counties are as followeth ; 
 First, Philadelphia County, Second, Bucks County, 
 Third, Chester County, Fourth, New-Castle County, 
 Fifth, Kent County, Sixth, Sussex County. The 
 chiefest and most commodious places for raising 
 Tobacco, as also for Breeding and Improving all 
 sorts of Cattle, are the Counties of Kent and New- 
 Castle ; the other chiefly depend upon Raising and 
 Improving English Grain, of which they have a 
 prodigious Encrease, which I have particularly 
 instanced in the beginning of this Book, both as 
 to their Quality and Quantity: All those Coun- 
 ties also very much abound in all sorts of Cattle, 
 both small and great, for the Use and Service of 
 Man. 
 
 Their sorts of Grain are, Wheat, Rye, Pease, Gates, 
 Barley, Buck-Wheat, Rice, Indian-Corn, Indian-Pease, 
 and Beans, with great quantities of Hemp and 
 Flax-, as alsOi several sorts of eating Roots, as 
 Turnips, Potatoes, Carrats, Parsnips, &c. all which 
 are produc'd Yearly in greater quantities than in 
 England, those Roots being much larger, and 
 altogether as sweet, if not more delicious; Cucum- 
 bers, Coshaws, Artichokes, with many others; most 
 
 _ 2 f 
 
 99
 
 THOMAS'S P E N N S Y L V A N T A 
 
 sorts of Saladings, besides what grows naturally 
 Wild in the Country, and that in great plenty 
 also, as Mustard, line, Sage, Mint, Tatizy, Worm- 
 wood, Penny -Royal and Purxlain, and most of the 
 Herbs and Roots found in the Gardens in England. 
 There are several Husband -Men, who sow Yearly 
 between Seventy and Eighty Acres of Wheat each, 
 besides Barley, Gates, Rye, Pease, Beans, and other 
 Grain. 
 
 They have commonly Two Harvests in the Year; 
 First, of English Wheat, and next of Buck, (or 
 French) Wheat. They have great Stocks both of 
 Hogs and Horses, kept in the Woods, out of which, 
 I saw a Hog kill'd, of about a Year old, which 
 weigh' d Two Hundred weight; whose Flesh is 
 much sweeter, and even more luscious than that 
 in England, because they feed and fatten on the 
 rich (though wild) Fruits, besides those fatned at 
 home by Peaches, Cherries and Apple*. Their 
 Horses are very hardy, insomuch that being very 
 hot with riding or otherwise, they are turn'd out 
 into the Woods at the same Instant, and yet 
 receive no harm ; some Farmers have Forty, some 
 Sixty, and from that Number to Two or Three 
 Hundred Head of Cattle: Their Oxen usually 
 weigh Two Hundred Pounds a Quarter. They 
 are commonly fatter of Flesh, and yield more 
 Tallow (by feeding only on Grass) than the Cattle 
 
 -36-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 in England. And for Sheep, they have consider- 
 able Numbers which are generally free from those 
 infectious Diseases which are incident to those 
 Creatures in England, as the Rot, Scab, or Maggots; 
 They commonly bring forth two Lambs at once, 
 some twise in one Year, and the Wooll is very fine, 
 and thick, and also very white. 
 
 Bees thrive and multiply exceedingly in those 
 Parts, the Sweeds often get great store of them in 
 the Woods, where they are free for any Body. 
 Honey (and choice too) is sold in the Capital City 
 for Five Pence per Pound. Wax is also plentiful, 
 cheap, and a considerable Commerce. Tame 
 Fowls, as Chickens, Hens, Geese, Ducks, Turkeys, 
 &c. are large, and very plentiful all over this 
 Countrey. 
 
 And now for their Lots and Lands in City and 
 Countrey, in their great Advancement since they 
 were first laid out, which was within the compass 
 of about Twelve Years, that which might have 
 been bought for Fifteen or Eighteen Shillings, is 
 now sold for Fourscore Pounds in ready Silver; 
 and some other Lots, that might have been then 
 Purchased for Three Pounds, within the space ot 
 Two Years, were sold for a Hundred Pounds a 
 piece, and likewise some Land that lies near the 
 City, that Sixteen Years ago might have been 
 
 37
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Purchas'd for Six or Eight Founds the Hundred 
 Acres, cannot now be bought under One Hundred 
 and Fifty, or Two Hundred Pounds. 
 
 Now the true Reason why this Fruitful Coun- 
 trey and Florishing City advance so considerably 
 in the Purchase of Lands both in the one and the 
 other, is their great and extended Traffique and 
 Commerce both by Sea and Land, viz. to New- 
 York, New-England, Virginia, Mary-Land, Carolina, 
 Jamaica, Barbadoes, Nevis, Monserat, Anteao, St. 
 Cristophers, Barmudoes, New-Found-Land, Maderas, 
 Saltetudeous, and Old-England', besides several 
 other places. Their Merchandize chiefly consists 
 in Horses, Pipe- Staves, Pork and Beef Salted and 
 Barrelled up, Bread, and Flower, all sorts of Grain, 
 Pease, Beans, Skins, Furs, Tobacco, or Pot-Ashes, 
 Wax, &c. which are Barter' d for Rnmm, Suyar, 
 Molasses, Silver, Negroes, Salt, Wine, Linen, Hous- 
 hold- Goods, &c. 
 
 However there still remain Lots of Land both 
 in the aforesaid City and Country, that any may 
 Purchase almost as cheap as they could at the 
 first Laying out or Parcelling of either City or 
 Country; which is, (in the Judgment of most 
 People) the likeliest to turn to account to those 
 that lay their Money out upon it, and in a shorter 
 time than the aforementioned Lots and Lands 
 
 -38-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 that are already improved, and for several Rea- 
 sons. In the first place, the Countrey is now well 
 inhabited by the Christians, who have great 
 Stocks of all sorts of Cattle, that encrease extra- 
 ordinarily, and upon that account they are oblig' d 
 to go farther up into the Countrey, because there 
 is the chiefest and best place for their Stocks, 
 and for them that go back into the Countrey, 
 they get the richest Land, for the best lies there- 
 abouts. 
 
 Secondly, Farther into the Countrey is the Prin- 
 cipal Place to Trade with the Indians for all sorts 
 of Pelt, as Skins and Furs, and also Fat Venison, 
 of whom People may Purchase cheaper by three 
 Parts in four than they can at the City of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Thirdly, Backwards in the Countrey lies the 
 Mines where is Copper and Iron, besides other 
 Metals, and Minerals, of which there is some Im- 
 provement made already in order to bring them, 
 to greater Perfection ; and that will be a means to 
 erect more Inland Market-Towns, which exceed- 
 ingly promote Traffick. 
 
 Fourthly, and lastly, Because the Countrey at 
 the first, laying out, was void of Inhabitants 
 (except the Heathens, or very few Christians not 
 
 39
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 worth naming) and not many People caring to 
 abandon a quiet and easie (at least tolerable) Life 
 in their Native Countrey (usually the most agree- 
 able to all Mankind) to seek out a new hazardous, 
 and careful one in a Foreign Wilderness or Desart 
 Countrey, wholly destitute of Christian Inhab- 
 itants, and even to arrive at which, they must 
 pass over a vast Ocean, expos' d to some Dangers, 
 and not a few Inconveniencies : But now all those 
 Cares, Fears and Hazards are vanished, for the 
 Countrey is pretty well Peopled, and very much 
 Improv'd, and will be more every Day, now the 
 Dove is return 1 d with the Olive-branch of Peace 
 in her Mouth. 
 
 I must needs say, even the present Encourage- 
 ments are very great and inviting, for Poor People 
 (both Men and Women) of all kinds, can here get 
 three times the Wages for their Labour they can 
 in England or Wales. 
 
 I shall instance in a few, which may serve; nay, 
 and will hold in all the rest. The first was a 
 black- Smith, (my next Neighbour) who himself 
 and one Negro Man he had, got Fifty Shillings 
 in one Day, by working up a Hundred Pound 
 Weight of Iron, which at Six Pence prr Pound 
 (and that is the common Price in that Countrey) 
 amounts to that Summ. 
 
 40
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 And for Carpenters, both House and Ship, Brick- 
 layers, Masons, either of these Trades-Men, will 
 get between Five and Six Shillings every Day con- 
 stantly. As to Journey-Men Shooe- Makers, they 
 have Two Shillings per Pair both for Men and 
 W omens Shooes: And Journey-Men Taylors have 
 Twelve Shillings^/- Week and their Diet. Saw- 
 yers get between Six and Seven Shillings the 
 Hundred for Cutting of Pine-Boards. And for 
 Weavers, they have Ten or Twelve Pence the Yard 
 for Weaving of that which is little more than half 
 a Yard in breadth. Wooll- Combers, have for 
 combing Twelve Pence per Pound. Potters have 
 Sixteen Pence for an Earthen Pot which may be 
 bought in England for Four Pence. Tanners, may 
 buy their Hides green for Three Half Pence per 
 Pound, and sell their Leather for Twelve Pence 
 per Pound. And Curriers have Three Shillings 
 and Four Pence per Hide for Dressing it; they 
 buy their Oyl at Twenty Pence per Gallon. Brick- 
 Makers have Twenty Shillings per Thousand for 
 their Bricks at the Kiln. Felt-Makers will have 
 for their Hats Seven Shillings a piece, such as 
 may be bought in England for Two Shillings a 
 piece; yet they buy their Wooll commonly for 
 Twelve or Fifteen Pence per Pound. And as to 
 the Glaziers, they will have Five Pence a Quarry 
 for their Glass. The Rule for the Coopers I have 
 almost forgot ; but this I can affirm of some who 
 
 41
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 went from Bristol, (as their Neighbours report) 
 that could hardly get their Livelihoods there, are 
 now reckon'd mPensilvania, by a modest Computa- 
 tion to be worth some Hundreds, (if not Thou 
 sands) of Pounds. The Baker* make as White 
 Bread as any in London, and as for their Rule, it 
 is the same in all Parts of the World that I have 
 been in. The Butchers for killing a Beast, have 
 Five Shillings and their Diet ; and they may buy 
 a good fat large Cow for Three Pounds, or there- 
 abouts. The Breirers sell such Beer as is equal in 
 Strength to that in London, half Ale and half 
 Stout for Fifteen Shillings per Barrel ; and their 
 Beer hath a better Name, that is, is in more esteem 
 than Knalish Beer in Barbadoes, and is sold for a 
 higher Price there. And for Silver- Smiths, they 
 have between Half a Crown and Three Shillings 
 an Ounce for working their Silver, and for Gold 
 equivalent. Plasterers have commonly Eighteen 
 Pence per Yard for Plastering. Last-Makers have 
 Sixteen Shillings }>er dozen for their Lasts. And 
 Heel-Makers have Two Shillings a dozen for 
 their Heels. Wheel and Mill - Wriahts, Joy tiers, 
 Br osiers, Pewterers, Dyers, Fullers, Comb-Makers, 
 Wyer-Drawers, Caae-Makers, Card-Makers, Painters, 
 Cutlers, Rope-Makers, Carvers, Block-Makers, Turners, 
 Button-Makers^ Hair and Wood Sieve-Makers, Bodies- 
 Makers, Gun-Smiths, Lock-Smiths, Nailers, File- 
 C liters, Skinners, Furriers, Glovers, Patten-Makers, 
 
 42
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Watck-Makerss Clock-Makers, Sadlers, Colter-Makers, 
 Barbers, Printers, Book-Binders, and all other 
 Trades-Men, their Gains and Wages are about the 
 same proportion as the forementioned Trades in 
 their Advancements, as to what they have in 
 England. 
 
 Of Lawyers and Physicians I shall say nothing, 
 because this Countrey is very Peaceable and 
 Healt[h]y ; long may it so continue and never have 
 occasion for the Tongue of the one, nor the Pen 
 of the other, both equally destructive to Mens 
 Estates and Lives; besides forsooth, they, Hang- 
 Man like, have a License to Murder and make 
 Mischief. Labouring-Men have commonly here, 
 between 14 and 15 Pounds a Year, and their Meat, 
 Drink, Washing and Lodging; and by the Day 
 their Wages is generally between Eighteen Pence 
 and Half a Crown, and Diet also ; But in Harvest 
 they have usually between Three and Four Shil- 
 ling each Day, and Diet. The Maid Servants 
 Wages is commonly betwixt Six and Ten Pounds 
 per Annum, with very good Accommodation. 
 And for the Women who get their Livelihood by 
 their own Industry, their Labour is very dear, for 
 I can buy in London a Cheese-Cake for Two 
 Pence, bigger than theirs at that price, when at the 
 same time their Milk is as cheap as we can buy 
 it in London, and their Flour cheaper by one half. 
 
 43
 
 THOMAS'S P E N N S V L V A N I A 
 
 Corn and Flesh, and what else serves Man for 
 Drink, Food and Rayment, is much cheaper here 
 than in England ^ or elsewhere; but the chief rea- 
 son why Wages of Servants of all sorts is much 
 higher here than there, arises from the great Fer- 
 tility and Produce of the Place; besides, if these 
 large Stipends were refused them, they would 
 quickly set up for themselves, for they can have 
 Provision very cheap, and Land for a very small 
 matter, or next to nothing in comparison of the 
 Purchace of Lands in England \ and the Farmers 
 there, can better afford to give that great Wages 
 than the Farmers in England- can, for several 
 Reasons very obvious. 
 
 As First, their Land costs them (as 1 said but 
 just now) little or nothing in comparison, of which 
 the Farmers commonly will get twice the encrease 
 of Corn for every Bushel they sow, that the 
 Farmers in England can from the richest Land 
 they have. 
 
 In the Second place, they have constantly good 
 price for their Corn, by reason of the great and 
 quick vent into Barbadoes and other Islands; 
 through which means Silrer is become more plen- 
 tiful than here in Engl-and^ considering the 
 Number of People, and that causes a quick Trade 
 for both Corn and Cattle; and that is the reason 
 
 44
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 that Corn differs now from the Price formerly, 
 else it would be at half the Price it was at then ; 
 for a Brother of mine (to my own particular 
 knowledge) sold within the compass of one Week, 
 about One Hundred and Twenty fat Beasts, most 
 of them good handsom large Oxen. 
 
 Thirdly, They pay no Tithes, and their Taxes are 
 inconsiderable; the Place is free for all Persua- 
 sions, in a Sober and Civil way ; for the Church 
 of England and the Quakers bear equal Share in 
 the Government. They live Friendly and Well 
 together ; there is no Persecution for Religion, nor 
 ever like to be; 'tis this that knocks all Commerce 
 on the Head, together with high Imposts, strict 
 Laws, and cramping Orders. Before I end this 
 Paragraph, I shall add another Reason why 
 Womens Wages are so exorbitant ; they are not 
 yet very numerous, which makes them stand upon 
 high Terms for their several Services, in Sempster- 
 ing, Washing, Spinning, Knitting, Sewing, and in 
 all the other parts of their Imployments ; for they 
 have for Spinning either Worsted or Linen, Two 
 Shillings a Pound, and commonly for Knitting a 
 very Course pair of Yarn Stockings, they have 
 half a Crown a pair ; moreover they are usually 
 Marry' d before they are Twenty Years of Age, 
 and when once in that Noose, are for the most 
 part a little uneasie, and make their Husbands so 
 
 45
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 too, till they procure them a Maid Servant to bear 
 the burden of the Work, as also in some measure 
 to wait on them too. 
 
 It is now time to return to the City of Brotherly - 
 
 Love (for so much the Greek Word or Name Ph iladel- 
 
 phici imports) which though at present so obscure, 
 
 that neither the Map-Makers, nor Geographers have 
 
 taken the least notice of her, tho she far exceeds 
 
 * Thirty her Namesake of Li/flia,* (having above Two 
 
 German Thousand Noble Houses for her Five Hundred 
 
 Miles from 
 
 Smyrna. Ordinary) or Celixia, or Ccelesyria ; yet in a very 
 short space of time she will, in all probability, 
 make a fine Figure in the World, and be a most 
 Celebrated Emporeum. Here is lately built a 
 Noble Town-House or Guild-Hall, also a Handsom 
 Market-House, and a convenient Prison. The 
 Number of Christians both Old and Young 
 Inhabiting in that Countrey, are by a Modest 
 Computation, adjudged to amount to above 
 Twenty Thousand. 
 
 The Laws of this Countrey, are the same with 
 those in Enyl(tn<l\ our Constitution being on the 
 same Foot: Many Disputes and Differences are 
 determined and composed by Arbitration ; and all 
 Causes are decided with great Care and Expedi- 
 tion, being concluded (generally) at furthest at 
 the Second Court, unless they happen to be very 
 
 -46-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Nice and Difficult Cases; under Forty Shillings 
 any one Justice of the Peace has Power to Try the 
 Cause. Thieves of all sorts, are oblig'd to restore 
 four fold after they have been Whipt and Im- 
 prison'd, according to the Nature of their Crime; 
 and if they be not of Ability to restore four fold, 
 they must be in Servitude till 'tis satisfied. They 
 have Curious Wharfs as also several large and 
 fine Timber- Yards, both at Philadelphia, and New- 
 Castle, especially at the Metropolis, before Robert 
 Turner's Great and Famous House, where are 
 built Ships of considerable Burthen; they Cart 
 their Goods from that Wharf into the City of 
 Philadelphia, under an Arch, over which part of 
 the Street is built, which is called Chesnut- Street 
 Wharf, besides other Wharfs, as High-Street Wharf, 
 Mulberry -Street Wharf, and Vine-Street Wharf, and 
 all those are Common Wharfs ; and likewise there 
 are very pleasant Stairs, as Trus and Carpenter- 
 Stairs, besides several others. There are above 
 Thirty Carts belonging to that City, Four or Five 
 Horses to each. There is likewise a very conven- 
 ient Wharf called Carpenter's Wharf, which hath 
 a fine necessary Grain belonging to it, with suit- 
 able Granaries, and Store-Houses. A Ship of Two 
 Hundred Tun may load and unload by the side 
 of it, and there are other Wharfs (with Magazines 
 and Ware-Houses) which front the City all along 
 the River, as also a Curious and Commodious 
 
 47
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Dock with a Draw-Bridge to it, for the convenient 
 Reception of Vessels ; where have been built some 
 Ships of Two or Three Hundred Tuns each : They 
 have very Stately Oaks to build Ships with, some 
 of which are between Fifty and Sixty Foot long, 
 and clear from Knots, being very straight and 
 well Grain' d. In this famous City of Philadelphia 
 there are several Ropr-Mnkew, who have large and 
 curious Rope- Walk* especially one Joseph Wilcox. 
 Also Three or Four Spacious Malt-Houses, as many 
 large Brew-Houses^ and many handsom Bake-Houses 
 for Publick Use. 
 
 In the said City are several good Schools of 
 Learning for Youth, in order to the Attainment 
 of Arts and Sciences, as also Reading, Writing, &c. 
 Here is to be had on any Day in the Week, Tarts, 
 Pies, (Jakes, &c. We have also several Cooks- 
 Shops, both Roasting and Boyling, as in the City 
 of London', Bread, Beer, Beef, and Pork, are sold 
 at any time much cheaper than in England (which 
 arises from their Plenty) our Wheat is very white 
 and clear from Tares, making as good and white 
 Bread as any in Kuro-pp. Happy Blessings, for 
 which we owe the highest Gratitude to our Plen- 
 tiful Provider, the great Creator of Heaven and 
 Earth. The Water-Mills far exceed those in 
 England, both for quickness and grinding good 
 Meal, their being great choice of good Timber, 
 
 48
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 and earlier Corn than in the aforesaid Place, they 
 are made by one Peter Deal, a Famous and Ingen- 
 ious Workman, especially for inventing such like 
 Machines. 
 
 All sorts of very good Paper are made in the 
 German-Town; as also very fine German Linen, 
 such as no Person of Quality need be asham'd to 
 wear; and in several places they make very good 
 Druggets, Crapes, Camblets, and Serges, besides 
 other Woollen Cloathes, the Manufacture of all 
 which daily improves : And in most parts of the 
 Countrey there are many Curious and Spacious 
 Buildings, which several of the Gentry have 
 erected for their Country -Houses. As for the 
 Fruit-Trees they Plant, they arrive at such Per- 
 fection, that they bear in a little more than half 
 the time that they commonly do in England. 
 
 The Christian Children born here are generally 
 well-favoured, and Beautiful to behold; I never 
 knew any come into the World with the least 
 blemish on any part of its Body, being in the 
 general, observ'd to be better Natur'd, Milder, and 
 more tender Hearted than those born in England. 
 
 There are very fine and delightful Gardens and 
 Orchards, in most parts of this Countrey; but 
 Edward Shippey (who lives near the Capital City) 
 
 49
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 has an Orchard and Gardens adjoyning to his 
 Great House that equalizes (if not exceeds) any 1 
 have ever seen, having a very famous and pleas- 
 ant Summer-House erected in the middle of his 
 extraordinary fine and large Garden abounding 
 with Tulips, Pinks, Carnations, Roses, (of several 
 sorts) Lilies, not to mention those that grow wild 
 in the Fields. 
 
 Reader, what 1 have here written, is not a Fic- 
 tion, Flam, Whim, or any sinister Design, either to 
 impose upon the Ignorant, or Credulous, or to 
 curry Favour with the Rich and Mighty, but in 
 meer Pity and pure Compassion to the Numbers 
 of Poor Labouring Men, Women, and Children in 
 England, half starv'd, visible in their meagre 
 looks, that are continually wandering up and 
 down looking for Employment without finding 
 any, who here need not lie idle a moment, nor 
 want due Encouragement or Reward for their 
 Work, much less Vagabond or Drone it about. 
 Here are no Beggars to be seen (it is a Shame and 
 Disgrace to the State that there are so many in 
 England) nor indeed have any here the least Occa- 
 sion or Temptation to take up that Scandalous 
 Lazy Life. 
 
 Jealousie among Men is here very rare, and 
 Barrenness among Women hardly to be heard of, 
 
 50
 
 AND WE STNEW JERSEY 
 
 nor are old Maids to be met with; for all com- 
 monly Marry before they are Twenty Years of 
 Age, and seldom any young Married Woman but 
 hath a Child in her Belly, or one upon her Lap. 
 
 What I have deliver'd concerning this Province, 
 is indisputably true, I was an Eye- Witness to it 
 all, for I went in the first Ship that was bound 
 from England for that Countrey, since it received 
 the Name of Pensilvania, which was in the Year 
 1681. The Ship's Name was the John and Sarah 
 of London, Henry Smith Commander. 1 have 
 declin'd giving any Account of several things 
 which I have only heard others speak of, because 
 I did not see them my self, for I never held that 
 way infallible, to make Reports from Hear -say. I 
 saw the first Cellar when it was digging for the 
 use of our Governour Will. Penn. 
 
 I shall now haste to a Conclusion, and only hint 
 a little concerning the Natives or Aborigines, their 
 Persons, Language, Manners, Religion and Govern- 
 ment \ Of Person they are ordinarily Tall, Straight, 
 well-turn' d, and true Proportion'd; their Tread 
 strong and clever, generally walking with a lofty 
 Chin. Of Complexion Black, but by design, 
 Gypsie-like, greasing themselves with Bears-Fat 
 Clarified, and using no defence against the 
 Injuries of the Sun and Weather, their Skins fail 
 
 51
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 not to be Swarthy. Their Eye* are small and 
 black. Thick Lips and flat AW* so frequent with 
 Negroes and East Indian^ are rare with them. 
 They have Comely Faces and Tolerable Complex- 
 ions, some of their Now* having a rise like the 
 Roman. 
 
 Their Language is Lofty and Elegant, but not 
 Copious; One Word serveth in the stead of Three, 
 imperfect and ungrammatical, which defects are 
 supply' d by the Understanding of the Hearers. 
 Stce,et, of Noble Sound and Accent. Take here a 
 Specimen. 
 
 Hodi hita nee huska a peechi, nee, machi 
 Pensilvania huska dogwachi, keshow a peechi 
 Nowa, huska hayly, Chetena koon peo. 
 
 Thus in English. 
 
 Farewel Friend, I will very quickly go to 
 Pensilvania, very cold Moon will come presently, 
 And very great hard frosts will come quickly. 
 
 I might Treat largely of their Customs and Man- 
 ners, but that will not agree with my proposed 
 Brevity. 
 
 As soon as their Children are born, they wash 
 them in cold Water, especially in cold Weather. 
 To harden and embolden them, they plunge them 
 
 52
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 in the River; they find their Feet early, usually 
 at Nine Months they can go. The Boys Fish till 
 Fifteen, then Hunt, and having given proof of 
 their Manhood, by a large return of Skins, they 
 may Marry (else 'tis ashame to think of a Wife) 
 which is usually at the Age of Seventeen or 
 Eighteen ; the Girls stay with their Mothers, and 
 help to hoe the Ground, Plant Corn, bear Bur- 
 dens, and Marry about Thirteen or Fourteen. 
 
 J 
 
 Their Houses are Matts, or Barks of Trees set on 
 Poles, Barn -like, not higher than a Man, so not 
 expos' d to Winds. They lie upon Reeds or Grass 
 In Travel they lodge in the Woods about a great 
 Fire, with the Mantle of Duffils they wear wrapk 
 about them, and a few Boughs stuck round them. 
 
 They live chiefly on Maze, or Indian Corn rosted 
 in the Ashes, sometimes beaten and boy I'd with 
 Water, called Homine. They have Cakes, not 
 unpleasant ; also Beans and Pease, which Nourish 
 much, but the Woods and Rivers afford them 
 their Provision ; they eat Morning and Evening ; 
 their Seats and Tables are the Ground ; they are 
 reserv'd, apt to resent and retain long: Their 
 Women are Chaste (at least after Marriage) and 
 when with Child, will not admit of their Hus- 
 bands Embraces any more till Deliver'd. Exceed- 
 ing Liberal and Generous; Kind and Affable; 
 
 53
 
 THOMAS S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 uneasie in Sickness, to remedy which, they drink 
 a Decoction of Roots in Spring- Water, forbearing 
 Flesh, which if they happen to eat, it must be the 
 Female; they commonly bury their Kettles and 
 part of their Goods with their Friends when they 
 die, suspecting (poor Soulsj they shall make use 
 of them again at the Resurrection. They Mourn 
 a whole Year, but it is no other than blacking 
 their Faces. 
 
 Their Government is Monarchical, and Suc- 
 cessive, and ever of the Mothers (the surest) side, 
 to prevent a Spurious Issue. The Distaff (as in 
 France) is excluded the Regal Inheritance. Their 
 Princes are Powerful, yet do nothing without the 
 Concurrence of their Senate, or Councils, consist- 
 ing chiefly of Old, but mixt with Young Men; 
 slow and deliberate, (Spaniard-like) in resolving, 
 naturally wise, and hardly to be out-witted. 
 Their Punishments are Pecuniary. Murder may- 
 be aton'd for by Feasts and Presents, in Propor- 
 tion to the Quality of the Offence, Person, or Sex 
 injur'd; for if a Woman be kill'd, the Mulct is 
 double, because she brings forth Children. They 
 seldom quarel, when Sober, and if Boozy, (which 
 of late they are more apt to be, having learn' d to 
 drink, a little too much Rum of the Christians, to 
 their shame) they readily pardon it, alledging the 
 Liquor is Criminal not the Man. 
 
 54
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 The way of Worship the Siveeds use in this 
 Countrey, is the Lutheran ; the English have four 
 sorts of Assemblies or Religious Meetings here; 
 as first, The Church of England, who built a very 
 fine Church in the City of Philadelphia in the 
 Year 1695. Secondly, the Anabaptists: Thirdly, 
 the Presbyterians, and two sorts of Quakers (of all 
 the most numerous by much) one Party held with 
 George Keith ; but whether both Parties will joyn 
 together again in one I cannot tell, for that Gen- 
 tleman hath alter' d his Judgment since he came 
 to England, concerning his Church-Orders in 
 Pensilvania, by telling and shewing them Precepts 
 that were lawful in the time of the Law, but 
 forbidden under the Gospel to pay Tithes, or 
 Ministers to Preach for Hire, &c. As also to 
 sprinkle Infants; and he tells the Presbyterian 
 Minister, That he must go to the Pope of Rome for 
 his Call, for he had no Scripture for it, and that 
 Water-Baptism and the Outward Supper are not 
 of the Nature of the Everlasting Gospel; nor 
 essential Parts of it, see his Truth Advanced page 
 173. He gives likewise a strict Charge concerning 
 plain Language and plain Habit, and that they 
 should not be concern' d in the compelling part of 
 the Worldly Government, and that they should 
 set their Negroes at Liberty after some reasonable 
 time of Service; likewise, they should not take 
 the Advantage of the Law against one another, 
 
 55
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 as to procure them any Corporeal Punishment: 
 These Orders he tells his Followers, would make 
 Distinction between them and Jews and Moral 
 Heathens, this was in the Year 1698. in Pensil- 
 vania: But now the Year 1697. since he came to 
 England, his Judgment is chang'd, for he tells his 
 Disciples, that Water-Baptism is come in the 
 room of Circumcision; and by so doing, they 
 would distinguish themselves from either Jews, 
 Pagans, or Moral Heat hem : He keeps his Meeting 
 once a Week at Turners-Hall in Fill-Pot-Lane, 
 London, on Sundays in the Afternoon; he begins 
 between Two and Three of the Clock and com- 
 monly ends between Four and Five. 
 
 Friendly Reader, by this thou mayst see how 
 wavering and mutable Men of great Outward 
 Learning are, if the Truth of this be by any Body 
 question' d, let them look in the Creed, and the 
 Paper against Christians being concerned in Worldly 
 Government, and the Paper concerning Negroes, that 
 was given forth by the Appointment of the Meet- 
 ing held by Gmrye Krith at Philip James's House 
 in the City of Philadelphia, in Pensilvania; and 
 his Letter also in Mary-Land against the Presbyterian 
 Catechism, Printed at Boston in New-England in 
 1695. with the Answer to it bound up together in 
 one Book and in Truth Advanced, page 1 73. And 
 for what relates to him since in England, let them 
 
 -56-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 look into the Quakers Argument Refuted, Concern- 
 ing Water-Baptism and the Lord's Supper, page 70. 
 And now Reader, I shall take my leave of thee, 
 recommending thee with my own self to the 
 Directions of the Spirit of God in our Conscience, 
 and that will agree with all the Holy Scriptures 
 in its right place ; and when we find our selves so, 
 we have no need to take any Thought or Care 
 what any Body shall say of us. 
 
 The End of the History of 
 Pensilvania. 
 
 57
 
 : COUNTRY 
 
 We ft -New -Jerfey 
 
 1 N 
 
 AMERICA, 
 
 A lliortView of their -Laxs, Cujloms zndj%stig:on'..A9 
 nlfo the TtmrcTitrn&it of the Air zndt&ltmate , The 
 is of theSci/, v/iti:the ^ft Produce of /^"ce, 3cc. 
 / -tiprovca-.cnt of their Lands (as in ILngland) to 
 i^ftnfe, Sec. Their making great quantf- 
 
 :;v5 of Fitch and 7^v as ,i!fo Turpentine, W^j'ch pro- 
 reed* fro . witli ;(.{? af c 
 
 "'trn-Ar.:- ' their 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 , . 
 
 ! I-'.)MAS
 
 To the Right Honourable Sir John Moor, Sir Thomas 
 Lane, Knights and Aldermen of the City of Lon- 
 don, and to the rest of the Worthy Members of the 
 West-Jersey Proprietors. 
 
 Worthy Friends, 
 
 TO whom can the History of West- Jersey with 
 more Justice pertain, than to you the Noble 
 and Generous Proprietors. 
 
 That was the chief Motive that inclin'd me to 
 this Dedication, which I hope will be the more 
 acceptable to you, because the Account of that 
 Country is so Sincere and Candid. 
 
 I have endeavour'd (by setting forth) the great 
 Encouragements there are) to persuade the Poor, 
 the Idle, the Lazy, & the Vagabonds of these 
 Kingdoms and of Wales to hasten thither, that 
 they may live plentifully and happily, and I 
 doubt not but they will hearken to it, because it 
 is their true Interest. I have done my best endeav- 
 ours to possess them and others of the great 
 Fertility and Plenty in those Parts, which I need 
 not repeat to you, who must needs be well 
 acquainted with the State of that Place. That it 
 may Flourish and mightily tend to your Advan- 
 tage, as also to the Benefit of England, the hearty 
 desire of your Friend, 
 
 Gabriel Thomas. 
 
 61
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE 
 TO THE 
 
 READER. 
 
 Courteous Reader, 
 
 MY Chief Design in writing this short Account of 
 West-New-Jersey, is to inform all (but espe- 
 cially the Poor) what Ample and Happy Livelihoods 
 People may gain in those Parts, whereby they may 
 subsist very well without either Begging or Stealing, 
 for if they Steal, they are Whipt, and oblig'd to pay 
 Four Fold; and if they are not of Ability to do that, 
 they must abide in Servitude till they have made Satis- 
 faction to the injur'd Person : And if they should be 
 Lazy and turn to Beg, they will get nothing by that 
 Base and Scandalous Imployment; But if they be so 
 Poor that they have not of their own to supply their 
 Wants and Necessities, nor are able to Work, they will 
 have no need to Beg, for People out of their own free 
 Compassion and pure Charity will relieve them in their 
 Necessities. Now if this were all, (though it is not] it 
 wou'd be a sufficient Encouragement to the Idle, the 
 Sloathful, and the Vagabonds of England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland to hasten thither, where besides this, they 
 have a fair prospect of getting considerable Estates, at 
 least of living very Plentifully and Happily, which 
 
 -63-
 
 THOMAS'S P E N N S Y L V A N I A 
 
 Medium of Life is far better than lingering out their 
 Days so miserably Poor and half Starved ; or Whip- 
 ping, Burning, and Hanging for Villanies, they will 
 have little Temptation, nay or Inclination to perpe- 
 trate here. The French Refugees or Protestant 
 People, wou'd soon find it their Interest to remove 
 thither, where they wou'd live for better than in Ger- 
 many, Holland, Ireland or England. Written by 
 one who earnestly wisheth thy Well/are and Pros- 
 perity in the ways of the Lord, and then thou canst not 
 do amiss in this World. 
 
 Gab. Thomas 
 
 -6 4 -
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 If^est- 
 
 WEst-New-Jersey lies between the Latitude of 
 Forty, and Forty two Degrees ; having 
 the Main Sea on the South, East-Jersey on the 
 North, Hudson's Bay on the East, and Pensilvania 
 on the West. 
 
 The first Inhabitants of this Countrey were the 
 Indians, being supposed to be part of the Ten 
 dispersed Tribes of Israel; for indeed they are very 
 like the Jews in their Persons, and something in 
 their Practices and Worship, for they (as the 
 Pensilvanian Indians) observe the New Moons with 
 great Devotion, and Reverence: And their first 
 Fruits they offer, with their Corn and Hunting- 
 Game they get in the whole Year, to a False Deity 
 or Sham -God, whom they must please, else (as 
 they fancy) many Misfortunes will befal them, 
 and great Injuries will be done them. When 
 they bury their Dead, they put into the Ground 
 with them some House-Utensils, and some Money, 
 (as Tokens of their Love and Affection) with other 
 Things, expecting they shall have Occasion for 
 
 -65-
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 them again in the other World. And if a Person 
 of Note dies very far from the Place of his own 
 Residence they will carry his Bones home some 
 considerable time after, to be buried there. They 
 are also very curious, nay, even nice in preserving 
 and repairing the Graves of their Dead. They do 
 not love to be asked twice their Judgment about 
 one Thing. They are a People who generally 
 delight much in Mirth, and are very studious in 
 observing the Vertues of Roots and Herb*, by which 
 they cure themselves of many Distempers in their 
 Bodies, both internal or ex[t|ernal. They will not 
 suffer their Beards to grow; for they will pluck 
 the Hair oft with their own Fingers as soon as 
 they can get hold of it, holding it great Deformity 
 to have a Beard. They are very loving to one 
 another ; for if three or four of them come into a 
 Christian's House, and the Master of it happen to 
 give one of them Victuals, and none to the rest, 
 he will divide it into equal Shares among them : 
 And they are also very kind and civil to any of 
 the Christians; for I my self have had Victuals 
 cut by them in their Cabbins, before they took any 
 for themselves. Their chief Imployment is in 
 Hunting, Fishing, and Fowling, and making 
 Canows, or Indian Boats and Bowls, in all which 
 Arts they are very dexterous and ingenious: 
 Their Worn ens Business chiefly consists in plant- 
 ing of Indian Corn, and pounding it to Meal, in 
 
 -66-
 
 Mortars, with Pestils, (as we beat our Spice) and 
 make Bread, and dress their Victuals, which they 
 perform very neatly and cleanlily. They also 
 make Indian Matt;, Ropes, Hats, and Baskets, (some 
 of curious Workmanship) of their Hemp, which 
 there grows wild, and Natural, in the Woods, in 
 great Plenty. In short, the Women are very 
 ingenious in their several Imployments as well as 
 the Men. Their young Maids are naturally very 
 modest and shamefac'd: And their young Women 
 when newly married, are very nice and shy, and 
 will not suffer the Men to talk of any immodest or 
 lascivious Matters. Their Houses are, for the 
 most part, cover' d with Chesnutt Bark, but very 
 close, and warm, insomuch that no Rain can go 
 through. Their Age in Computation may be 
 compared with the Christians. Their wearing 
 Habit is commonly Deer- Skins, or Duffles. They 
 don't allow of mentioning the Name of a Friend 
 after his Death; for at his Decease, they make 
 their Face black all over with black Lead ; and 
 when their Affairs go well with them, they paint 
 their Faces with red Lead, it being a Token of 
 their Joy, as the other is of their Grief. They 
 are great Observers of the Weather by the Moon. 
 They take great Delight in Cloaths of various 
 Colours. And are so punctual that if any go from 
 their first Offer or Bargain with them, it will be 
 very difficult for that Party to get any Dealings 
 
 -67-
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 with them any more, or to have any farther Con- 
 verse with them ; And moreover it is worthy of 
 Remark, that when a Company of them are got 
 together, they never interrupt or contradict one 
 another, 'till two of them have made an end of 
 their Discourse; for if never so many be in Com- 
 pany only two must discourse at a time, and the 
 rest must keep Silence. The English and they 
 live very peaceably, by reason the English satisfies 
 them for their Land. 
 
 As to the manner of their Language, it is high 
 and lofty, with a Short Sentence. Their way of 
 counting is by Tens, as to say Two Tens, Three 
 Tens, Four Tens, Five Tens, &c. 
 
 I shall now proceed to show something of the 
 manner and way of Discourse that happens 
 between them and the Neighbouring Christians 
 that use to deal and traffick with them, or when 
 they meet one another in the Woods accidentally, 
 one a looking for his Cattel, and the other a 
 Hunting the Wild Deer, or other Game, by way 
 of Questions and Answers. 1 shall put the Indian 
 Tongue on one side of the Leaf, and the English 
 just opposite.* Their Discourse is as followeth. 
 
 * In the original edition two English sentences have no Indian 
 equivalents, and the Indian questions and answers do not corre- 
 spond to their translation. In this reprint the vagary has been 
 adjusted. 
 
 68
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 The Indian Tongue. 
 
 Quest. Hitah toko- 
 man ? 
 
 Anew. 
 weekin. 
 
 Quest. 
 
 Andogowa nee 
 
 The English of it. 
 
 Quest, Friend, from 
 whence com'st? 
 Answ. Yonder. 
 
 Tony ando- Quest. Where yonder? 
 
 yowa kee weekin ? 
 
 Answ. Ar way mouse. 
 
 Quest. Keco kee hatah 
 kee iceekin ? 
 
 Answ. Nee hatah huska 
 wees youse og huska che- 
 tena chase og huska orit 
 chekenip. 
 
 Quest. Chingo kee leto 
 nee chase og youse etka 
 chekenip. 
 
 Answ. Hatopa etka 
 nisha kishquicka. 
 
 Quest. Keco kee hata 
 kee weekin ? 
 
 Answ. Nee hata orit 
 poonk og huska horit 
 
 Answ. My House. 
 
 Quest. Where is thy 
 House? 
 
 Answ. Arwaymouse, 
 which is the Name of 
 an Indian Town. 
 
 Quest. What hast got 
 in thy House? 
 
 Answ. I have very 
 fat Venison, and good 
 strong Skins, with very 
 good Turkeys. 
 
 Quest. When wilt 
 thou bring me Skins 
 and Venison, with Tur- 
 keys? 
 
 Answ. Tomorrow, or 
 two days hence. 
 
 Quest. What hast thou 
 got in thy House? 
 
 Answ. I have good 
 Powder, and very good 
 
 -69-
 
 THOMAS'S P E N N S Y L V A N I A 
 
 haloons etka neskec oy 
 marchkec ochqueon. 
 
 (0 huskia orit.J 
 Quest. Kee namen ne- 
 skec kabaij oy marchkec 
 moos etka opey meals ? 
 
 Answ. Mat a namen 
 megis nee namen neskec 
 kabay undoywa tekany. 
 
 Quest. Kef namen 
 marchkec moos undogwa 
 tekeny ? 
 
 Answ. Moyy. 
 
 Quest. Kee sqna oy 
 enychan liatnh ? 
 
 Answ. Moyy. 
 
 Quest. Kacha kaiah ? 
 
 Answ. Neit. 
 
 Quest. Benoingtid etka 
 squatid ? 
 
 Answ. Nisha benoin- 
 fid oy nuha xquatiri. 
 
 Quest. Tonntid rny- 
 chan hatah ? 
 
 Answ. Moyy. 
 
 Quest. Etka aroosiae ? 
 
 Answ. Neo fcishow. 
 
 Shot, with red and blue 
 Machcots. 
 
 (Very well.) 
 
 Quest. Did' st t h o u 
 see black Horses and 
 red Cows, with white 
 Sheep? 
 
 Amir. I saw no Sheep : 
 1 did see black Horses 
 yonder in the Woods ( 
 
 Quest. Did'st see red 
 Cows yonder in the 
 Woods? 
 
 Ansic. Yes. 
 
 Quest. Hast thou a 
 Wife and Children? 
 
 A us ic. Yes. 
 
 Quest. How many 
 hast? 
 
 Answ. Four. 
 
 Qitfsf. Boys or Girls? 
 
 Anstr. Two Boys and 
 two Girls. 
 
 Quest. Hast got a 
 young Child? 
 
 An sir. Yes. 
 
 Quest. How old? 
 
 Answ. Four months.
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Quest. Etka aroosise Quest. How old art 
 
 kee? thou? 
 
 Answ. Pelenacheenc- Answ. Fifty years 
 
 kan katingan aroosis. old. 
 
 In the next Place I shall give an account of 
 their way in counting or numbering ; which is as 
 followeth. 
 
 The Indian Counting. The English to it. 
 
 Kooty nisha nacha neo One, Two, Three, 
 pelenach Kootash nishash Four, Five, Six, Seven, 
 choesh peskonk telen. Eight, Nine, Ten. 
 
 Nishinchkan nachinch- Twenty, Thirty, For- 
 kan neochinchkan pelen- ty, Fifty, &c. 
 chinchkan. 
 
 The Names of some of the Indians. 
 
 Anachkootiny, Bussabenating, Okonycan, Potasko, 
 Quindamen, Lames, Alpoonyan, Kohonk, Hiton, 
 Temeny. 
 
 The Dutch and Sweeds inform us that they are 
 greatly decreased in number to what they were 
 when they came first into this Country : And the 
 Indians themselves say, that two of them die to 
 every one Christian that comes in here. Reader, 
 1 shall not insist any farther upon this Subject, 
 because what is deficient or short here, is inserted 
 
 71
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 already in the preceding History of I 
 for tlie Natives both of that, as well as of this 
 Country, speak the same Language, and live after 
 the same manner; for my chief aim, in the next 
 place, is to acquaint thee how, and after what 
 manner the Christians live there And 1 hope 1 
 have pleased thee so far, as it may prove a means 
 to encourage me to give a larger Description here- 
 after. 
 
 The next who came there were the Dutch ; 
 which was between Forty and Fifty Years agoe, 
 though they made but very little Improvement, 
 only built Two or Three Houses, upon an Island 
 (called since by the English) Stacies- Island', and it 
 remained so, till about the Year 1675. in which 
 King Churles the Second (or the Duke of York (his 
 Brother) gave the Countrey to Edward Billiny, in 
 whose time, one Major Fenwick went thither, with 
 some others, and built a pretty Town, and call'd 
 it Salam ; and in a few Years after a Ship from 
 London, and another from //////, sail'd thither 
 with more People, who went higher up into the 
 Countrey, and built there a Town, and called it 
 Burlington, which is now the chiefest Town in that 
 Countrey, though Salam is the ancientest; and a 
 fine Market -Town it is, having several Faint kept 
 yearly in it; likewise well furnished with good 
 store of most Necessaries for humane Support, as 
 
 72
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Bread, Beer, Beef, and Pork; as also Butter and 
 Cheese, of which they freight several Vessels, and 
 send them to Barbadoes, and other Islands. 
 
 There are very many fine stately Brick-Houses 
 built, and a commodious Dock for Vessels to come 
 in at, and they claim equal Privilege with Burling- 
 ton for the sake of Antiquity; tho' that is the 
 principal Place, by reason that the late Governor 
 Cox, who bought that Countrey of Edward Billing, 
 encouraged and promoted that Town chiefly, in 
 settling his Agents and Deputy -Governors there, 
 (the same Favours are continued by the New-West- 
 Jersey Society, who now manage Matters there) 
 which brings their Assemblies and chief Courts 
 to be kept there ; and, by that means it is become 
 a very famous Town, having a great many stately 
 Brick-Houses in it, (as I said before) with a delicate 
 great Market- House, where they keep their Market : 
 It hath a noble and spacious Hall over-head, where 
 their Sessions is kept, having the Prison adjoining 
 to it. 
 
 Likewise in the said Town there are very many 
 fine Wharfs and large Timber-Yards, Malt-Houses, 
 Brew-Houses, Bake- Houses ; and most sorts of 
 Trades-Men, (whose Wages are upon the same 
 Foot with the Pensilvanians) viz. C loath- Workers, 
 who make very good Serges, Druggets, Crapes, Cam- 
 
 73
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 blets, (part Silk or Worsted, and part Camels Hair) 
 and good Plushes, with several other Woollen 
 Cloathfts, besides Linnen. 
 
 There are many Fair and Great Brick Houses 
 on the outside of the Town which the Gentry 
 have built there for their Countrey Houses, 
 besides the Great and Stately Palace of John Tate- 
 ham Esq; which is pleasantly Situated on the 
 North side of the Town, having a very fine and 
 delightful Garden and Orchard adjoyning to it, 
 wherein is variety of Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers; 
 as Hoses, Tit lips, July -Flowers, Sun -Flowers (that 
 open and shut as the Sun Rises and Sets, thence 
 taking their Name) Carnations, and many more ; 
 besides abundance of Medicinal Roots Herbs, 
 Plants, and Flowers, found wild in the Fields. 
 
 There are kept also in this Famous Town sev- 
 eral Fairs every Year; and as for Provisions, viz. 
 Bread, Beer, Beef, Pork, Cheese, Butter, and 
 most sorts of Fruit here is great Plenty and very 
 Cheap; all those Commodities are to be bought 
 every Market- Day. 
 
 A Ship of Four Hundred Tuns may Sail up to 
 this Town in the River Delaware; for I my self 
 have been on Board a Ship of that Burthen there : 
 And several fine Ships and Vessels (besides Gov- 
 
 74
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 eraour COX'B own great Ship) have been built 
 there. 
 
 There are also two handsom Bridges to come in 
 and out of the Town, called London and York- 
 Bridges. The Town stands in an Island, the Tide 
 flowing quite round about it. There are Water- 
 Men who constantly Ply their Wherry Boats from 
 that Town to the City of Philadelphia in Pensil- 
 vania, and to other places. Besides there is 
 Glocester-Toivu, which is a very Fine and Pleasant 
 Place, being well stor'd with Summer Fruits, as 
 Cherries, Mulberries, and Strawberries, whither 
 Young People come from Philadelphia in the 
 Wherries to eat Stra[w]berries and Cream, within 
 sight of which City it is sweetly Situated, being 
 but about three Miles distance from thence. 
 
 There are several Meetings of Worship in this 
 Country, viz. the Presbi/terians, Quakers, and Ana- 
 baptists: Their Privilege as to Matter of Law, is 
 the same both for Plaintiff' and Defendant, as in 
 England. 
 
 The Air is very Clear, Sweet and Wholesom; 
 in the depth of Winter it is something colder, and 
 as much hotter in the heighth of Summer than in 
 England. Commonly (with them) the Days differ 
 two Hours in length from ours here. The longest 
 
 75
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Day in Summer is shorter by two Hours than the 
 longest Day in England, and the shortest Day 
 longer by two Hours than with us here. 
 
 As for Corn, they have Wheat, Rye, Pease, Oates, 
 Barley, Rice, &c. in vast quantities: Also Indian- 
 Corn, Pease and Beans, likewise English Hemp and 
 Flax, which prospers there exceedingly. Eating 
 Roots, Pumpkins, Cashews, Water-Melons^ Muskmel- 
 lons, Cucumbers, Squashes, Carrots, Artichokes, 
 Potatoes, Turnips, Garlic k, Onions, and Leeks grow 
 there in greater Plenty than in En[a]land. And 
 for Herbs, they have Cabbages, Coleworts, Savoys, 
 Lettice, Purslane, and other Sallads in abun- 
 dance; beside Wild Herbs which are there very 
 commom [sic], as Penny-Royal, Mint, Mustard, 
 Sane, Rue, Tansey, &c. and likewise there are 
 choice Phisical Roots, as Sassafras, Sarsaparilla, 
 Black- Snake -Root, Rattle- Snake Root, and Poake-Root, 
 with divers others, which there is great store of. 
 
 Of Fish, they have Whales, Sturyeon, Cod, Scale- 
 Fish, Cole and Hake-Fish, large Mackeril, Flatfish, 
 Rock, Shadds, Cattes, Eels, Perch, and many other 
 sorts in prodigious Shoals: And Wild- Water- 
 Fowl, as Geese, Ducks, Swans, Divers, &c. are very 
 numerous, even beyond all expectation. As to 
 Land-Fowl, Turkeys, Geese, Pheasants, Partridges, 
 *, Woodcocks, Blackbirds, &c. they are there in 
 
 -76-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 extraordinary great abundance, and very large. 
 There is also that uncommon and valuable Bird 
 (being near the bigness of a Cuckoo) called the 
 Mocking-bird (known, but not very well in England, 
 being so very Nice and Tender, that they usually 
 die by the way) with several other Charming and 
 Curious Birds, too tedious here to specific. 
 
 As to the Wild Vermin, There are Otters, Beavers, 
 Foxes, Mush-Rats Minx's, Wild-Cats, Rackoons, Poll- 
 cats, and also that cunning Creature the Possom, 
 particularly mention' d and distinguish' d in the 
 annex' d Account of Pensilvania for its remarkable 
 Qualities, whither I refer the Reader, not in the 
 least being fond of Tautology. This Creature is 
 about the bigness of an English Cat, being of a 
 light gray colour. Likewise there were some 
 Wolves and Bears, but now they are very rare to 
 be seen, by reason the Indians destroy them (as 
 before). Also that strange Creature the Flying 
 Squirril, mention' d in the foregoing Book. There 
 are great numbers of Wild Deer, and Red Deer also ; 
 and these wild Creatures are free and common for 
 any to kill and take. And for Wild Fruits, there 
 are Chesnuts, Filberts, Hickery-Nuts, Grapes, Mul- 
 berries, Strawberries, Rasberries, Huckleberries, and 
 Craneberries, with several sorts of Plumbs, and all 
 those Fruits in great plenty being free for any 
 Body to gather.
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Now I am a coming to the Planted Fruit-Trees, 
 as Apples, Pears, Apriwks, (guinea*, Plumbs, Cher- 
 ries, Gooseberries, Currants, and ^caches, from 
 which last they distil a liquor as in Pensilvania, 
 much like Jin nun or Bram///, in the taste; and all 
 those Trees will come to bear in a little more than 
 half the time, they do in Knyltind, the Soil is so 
 rich ; they have great plenty of the aforementioned 
 Fruits, which are exceeding delicious. These, as 
 also many other Fruits that come not to any pitch 
 of Perfection in Knyhml^ are the Natural Product 
 of this Country, which lies warmer, being more 
 befriended by the Sun's hot and glorious Beams, 
 which without doubt is the chief Cause and true 
 Reason, why the Fruit there so far excells the 
 Enf/Iish. They have likewise great Stocks of 
 Horses and Hoys, raised in the Woods; of the 
 latter of which I have seen some of a Prodigious 
 Weight that only fed there, their Horses are very 
 hardy, strong, and of good Spirit for Labour or 
 Travelling; they commonly go unshod (which in 
 many Years saves much Money). Their Plow- 
 shears require but small Reparation, wearing out 
 but little. They Hnn-oic their Ground with a 
 Wooden-tyned Harrow, and twice over does the 
 business. 
 
 Of Bees also they are well provided, & abound 
 in Sheep naturally very sound, and that stand 
 
 -78-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 well, the Rot, Scab, Maggots, &c. rarely invading 
 them ; they usually bring forth two Lambs at once, 
 and their Wooll is very fine, white, and thick; 
 they have great Stocks of Cattle, as Cows, Oxen, 
 &c. Their Oxen commonly weigh well. 
 
 Tame Fowl there are (almost) incredible in num- 
 bers, viz. Geese, Turkeys, Hens, &c. 
 
 In this Country also is great Plenty of working 
 Timber, as Oaks, Ash, Chesnuts, Pine, Cedar, Wal- 
 nut, Poplar, Firr, and Masts for Ships, with Pitch 
 and Rosin, of great Use and much Benefit to the 
 Countrey. Here are several good Navigable Rivers, 
 besides that famous River Delaware (which 1 have 
 mentioned elsewhere, and where the Tobacco is 
 excellent) being deep enough for Vessels to come 
 in: First Prince Morise's River, where the S weeds 
 used to kill the Geese in great numbers, for their 
 Feathers (only) leaving their Carcasses behind 
 them; Cohansey River, by which they send great 
 store of Cedar to Philadelphia -City, Allaway -River; 
 Solam-River, which runs by Salam-Town (of great- 
 est Antiquity ;) Naman-River, Rackcoon- River, which 
 had its Name from the great numbers of those 
 Creatures that always abound thereabouts; Old 
 Man's River; Manto- River; Woodberry- River; Great 
 Eggharbor River (up which a Ship of two or three 
 hundred Tuns may sail) which runs by the back 
 
 79
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 part of the Country into the Main Sea; I call it 
 back, because the first Improvement made by the 
 Christians, was Del a war River-side: This Place is 
 noted for good store of Corn, Horses, CO/AS, Sheep, 
 Hoys, &c. the Lands thereabouts being much 
 improv'd, and built upon : Little Egg- Harbor-Creek, 
 which take their N ames from the great abundance 
 of Eggs, which the Swans, Geese, Ducks, and other 
 wild Fowls on those Rivers lay thereabouts: Tim- 
 ber-River, alias Glocefifer-'RiveT, which hath its 
 Name (also) from the great quantity of curious 
 Timber, which they send in great Floats to Phila- 
 delphia, a City in Pensilvania, as Oaks, Pines, 
 Chesnut, Ash, and Cedars. This River runs down 
 by Glocester-Town, which is the Shire-Town ' t And 
 Newton-River, that runs by Newton; Cooper-River; 
 Pensokin-River; Northampton- River, with several 
 others, at a convenient distance upon the Sea, the 
 Shores whereof are generally deep and bold) of 
 less Note, as Wissahiskonk- River, that runs down 
 into the great River Delaware, by Burlington. The 
 Countrey inhabited by the Christians is divided 
 into four Parts or Counties, tho' the Tenth part 
 of it is not yet peopled; 'Tis far cheaper living 
 there for Eatables than here in Kny/<im/; and 
 either Men or Women that have a Trade, or 
 are Labourers, can, if industrious, get near 
 three times the Wages they commonly earn in 
 England. 
 
 80-
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 Courteous Reader, As yet I have given thee no 
 Account of East- Jersey, because I never was there, 
 so in reality cannot properly or pertinently speak 
 to that Matter. I will not pretend to impose any 
 thing on the World, but have all along, and shall 
 still declare nothing but Verity; therefore one 
 Word of that by and by. I might have given 
 thee a much larger Account of this Countrey, and 
 have stretch' d this (now) Pocket Volume to an 
 extraordinary Bulk and Size; and yet without 
 straining or deviating in the least from the Prin- 
 ciples of my Profession, which are Truth it self. 
 I have no Plot in my Pate, or deep Design, no, 
 not the least expectation of gaming any thing by 
 them that go thither, or losing by those who stay 
 here. My End chiefly in Writing, nay, indeed 
 my great Aim, is to inform the People of Britain 
 and Ireland in general, but particularly the Poor, 
 who are begging, or near it, or starving, or hard 
 by it (as I before took notice in my Preface) to 
 encourage them (for their own Good, and for the 
 Honour and Benefit of their Native Countrey, to 
 whom they are now a Scandal and Disgrace ; and 
 whose Milk and Honey these Drones eat up, and 
 are besides a heavy Burden to the Common- 
 wealth, in the Taxes paid by every Parish in Eng- 
 land, &c. to support them. 
 
 Law-Causes are here (as in Pensilvania) speedily 
 
 81
 
 THOMAS'S PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 determined, in the second Court at least, unless in 
 some difficult Business. One Justice of the Peace 
 hath Power to try a Cause, and give Judgment 
 therein, if the Original Debt be under forty Shil- 
 lings. And for Thieves and Robbers (as I hinted 
 before in the Preface) they must restore fourfold; 
 which, if they are not able to do, they must work 
 hard till the injured Person is satisfied. 
 
 I shall conclude with a Word or two on New- 
 East-Jersey. This Countrey is exceeding fruitful 
 in Cartel, of which I have seen great numbers 
 brought from thence, viz. Oxen, Cows, Sheep, Hogs, 
 and Horses, to Philadelphia, the Capital of Pensil- 
 pftniti. The chief est Manufactory (besides English 
 and Indian Grain) fit for Traffick that this Coun- 
 trey affords. 
 
 Now I shall give thee an Account of the English 
 Manufactory, that each County in West-New- 
 Jersey affords. In the first Place I shall begin 
 with Burlington-County, as for Pelf age, or Beavers 
 Skins, Offer- 8k ins, Minks Skins, Musk- rots Skins, 
 Karkcoon, Wihl Cats, Martin, and Deer -Skins, &c. 
 The Trade in GloceMer- County consists chiefly in 
 Pitch, Tar, and 7iW ; the latter of which is made 
 by Robert Style*, an excellent Artist in that sort 
 of Work, for he delivers it as clear as any Gum- 
 Arabick. The Commerce carried on in Salam- 
 
 82
 
 AND WEST NEW JERSEY 
 
 County, is chiefly Rice, of which they have won- 
 derful Produce every Year ; as also of Cranberries 
 which grow there in great plenty, and which in 
 Picle might be brought to Europe. The Commodi- 
 ties of Captnaif -County, are Oyl and Whale-Bone, 
 of which they make prodigious, nay vast quan- 
 tities every Year, having mightily advanc'd that 
 great Fishery, taking great numbers of Whales 
 yearly. This Country for the general part of it, 
 is extraordinary good, and proper for the raising 
 of all sorts of Cattel, very plentiful here, as Cows, 
 Horses, Sheep, and Hogs, dr. likewise it is well 
 Stor'd with several sorts of Fruits which make 
 very good and pleasant Liquors, snch [sic\ as their 
 Neighbouring Country before mention' d affords. 
 Now Reader, having no more to add of any mo- 
 ment or importance, 1 salute thee in Christ; 
 and whether thou stayest in England, Scotland, 
 Ireland, or Wales, or goest to Pensilvania, West or 
 East-Jersey, 1 wish thee all Health and Happiness 
 in this, and Everlasting Comfort (in God) in the 
 World to come. Fare thee well. 
 
 FINIS 
 
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