What was Tinicum Township like 250 years ago?
Tinicum Township was one of 27 townships in Bucks County in 1775. It was sparsely populated with 82 families residing within its borders totaling approximately 730 residents. The majority of whom were of Scots-Irish descent, with a small Dutch population and a growing population of German settlers.
In the decade before the American Revolution, American colonists were growing resentful of the British Parliament. Taxes on everyday goods such as tea and paper documents, restrictions on self-governance, and the increased presence of British troops, led some colonists to begin to protest against British rule.
1774
In July of 1774, the Pennsylvania Government asked its county leaders to attend a Convention in Philadelphia to discuss the possible declaration of Pennsylvania's support for independence.
July 9, 1774
In preparation for this convention, Bucks County leaders held a public meeting at the Courthouse in Newtown PA, where it was resolved:
"in favor of the creation of a general Congress of Representatives of all the colonies. At the meeting, seven Bucks County men (John Kidd, Joseph Kirkbride, Joseph Hart, James Wallace, Henry Wynkoop, Samuel Foulke, and John Wilkinson) were appointed to go to Philadelphia for the Provisional Convention scheduled for July 15.
July 15, 1774
A Provisional Convention was held at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Delegates from Pennsylvania's nine counties met in Philadelphia to prepare resolutions for a Continental Congress.
September 5, 1774
The first Continental Congress was held at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia.
November 27, 1774
The Bucks County Committee of Observation and Inspection is created.
Monthly meetings begin to be held in Newtown, PA.
From November 1774 through January 1775 the committee was formally created, an election was held to choose 29 delegates from across the county and a resolution made to accept measures received by the Continental Congress.
Robert Patterson of Tinicum Township, a Scots-Irish Presbyterian and a member of the Church at Red Hill, had been a Justice since 1764. He was elected to the Bucks Committee in December 1774 and re-elected a year later. He was one of the very few Justices who continued on the court after the Revolution had been effected, and was commissioned again on July 25, 1777.
1775
April 19, 1775
The first shots of the Revolution were fired at Lexington.
May 10, 1775
The Second Continental Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. During the Congress, the delegates published the petition for "the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms."
June 15, 1775
George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, followed two days later by the Battle at Bunkerhill.
Monthly Meetings of the Bucks County Committee of Observation and Inspection began to be held at John Bogart's Tavern in Buckingham.
From May through August of 1775 the Committee approved the resolutions of the Provincial Convention, divided Bucks into 3 Battalions of Militia, and provided lists of their townships of Associators (active supporters of the American Cause) and Non-Associators (those abstaining from the American Cause or having Loyalist leanings).
August 10, 1775
The Tinicum Militia formed and Nicholas Patterson and Arthur Erwin are named captains.
Bucks County was not only supplying the Continental Army with soldiers, they were providing essential supplies as well. Durham Furnace under the management of George Taylor was making cannon balls and shot for the war effort. Meeting minutes show Taylor offering to sell the army cannonballs as early as August 2, 1775
September 16, 1775
The Council on Safety issues orders for the ferry pilots of Bucks County to cease operations on September 20 to prevent capture by any British troops.
Monthly Meetings of the Bucks County Committee of Observation and Inspection continued to be held at John Bogart's Tavern in Buckingham but not everyone agreed with the "American Cause". Many Quakers and Mennonites in the community were pacifists and chose not to participate and other colonists actively spoke out against the "American Cause".
October 13, 1775
The Continental Navy was established. By 1776, the colonies had only 27 warships, one tenth the number of the Royal British Navy, which had about 270 warships.
At the end of 1775, The Bucks County Committee of Observation and Inspection held reelections.
1776
January 10, 1776
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" was published. His 47- page pamphlet helped to sway the 13 Colonies toward independence with a persuasive and passionate case for separation from Britain.
“We have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest purest constitution on the face of the earth,” Paine wrote. “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”
January 22, 1776
The Committee on Safety requested representatives to go to Philadelphia to learn how to manufacture salt petre for gun powder. Bucks County sent James Wallace, Andrew Kichlein and Joseph Fenton, Jr.
March 17, 1776
After an 8 year occupation which began on October 2, 1768, when the British fleet had first entered Boston Harbor with 1000 soldiers, 11,000 British troops and some 1,000 Loyalists departed Boston by ship on March 17, sailing to the safety of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
As the war progressed, Bucks County was divided into Associators (those who had joined the American cause), and Non-Associators (those who had either stayed neutral or had Loyalist leanings). Taxes were levied against the Non-Associators and the Committee was tasked with collecting arms from Non-Associators to be used by the militia.
In Committee Meetings from March through the beginning of July in 1776, initial discussions were had about purchasing muskets from Non-Associators for use by the militia. Soon plans were formed for the disarming of disassociated persons and representatives were selected to collect the arms. Orders were also issued ensuring that Bucks County Militia were ready to march within an hours notice.
June 3, 1776
The Continental Congress passes a resolution "that a flying camp (a mobile rapid reserve force) be immediately established in the middle colonies and that it consist of 10,000 men." The men recruited for the flying camp were to be militiamen from 3 colonies: 6000 from Pennsylvania, 3400 from Maryland, and 600 from Delaware.
June 18-25, 1776
At the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference in Philadelphia, 97 delegates were in attendance (out of 103 appointed). The delegates voted to declare independence and mobilize a Pennsylvania Militia.
June 29th, 1776
British Forces arrive at Sandy Hook and head into New York Harbor. Within 2 days, 48 ships arrived, carrying over 10,000 British troops, along with General William Howe, the General in charge of the war.
July 15-September 28, 1776
The Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention is held at Carpenter's Hall. During this period the state's first constitution was drafted following its declaration of independence. The constitution also established Pennsylvania's official title, the "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
July 4, 1776
America declares independence from British rule. 56 signers unanimously ratify the text.
Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was published as the printed Dunlap broadside which was widely distributed.
George Taylor was the Signer from Bucks County
The Declaration was first read to the public simultaneously at noon on July 8, 1776, in three exclusively designated locations: Easton, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia; and Trenton, New Jersey.
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Credits:
Photo Citations Cover Image: Heroes of "76," Marching to The Fight Lithograph by Currier & Ives Detail of Map Drawing of Newton Court House, by Thaddeus S. Kenderdine (1836-1922) The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "Carpenter's Hall, the place of the first Congress." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1774 - 1888. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-4c95-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 Title Page of the Extracts From the Proceedings of the American Continental Congress, Philadelphia: Printed by William and Thomas Bradford, 1775 Silhouette of Joseph Kirkbride, Emmet Collection of Manuscripts Etc. Relating to American History, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, NYPL Digital Collections “Minutes of the Committee of Safety of Bucks County,1774-1776, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. XV, no.3 The Battle of Lexington, Boston: Publsihed by John H. Daniels & Sons, c. 1903, Jan, 15. Washington, Appointed Commander In Chief, Currier & Ives, 1876 “George Washington Eqer General and Commander en Chief of the Continental Army in America . . . d’Apres l’Original de Champbell [sic] Peintre de Williambourg Capitale de la Virginie.” Likely published in Paris, ca. 1777 to 1780. Engraving of Bogart’s Tavern, from the collection of the Doylestown Historical Society Pennsylvania Gazette,7/26/1775 Tinicum Militia List, Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Associated Battalions and Militia, vol. 2, pp168-169 Letter from the Committee of Safety to Henry Wynkoop for the Associators of Bucks County, Sept 16, 1775 “Minutes of the Committee of Safety of Bucks County,1774-1776, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. XV, no.3 Robert Hopkins Esq., Commodore of the American Sea Forces, "An Impartial History of the War in America, between Great Britain and her Colonies, From the Commencement to the End of the Year 1799 (London & Carlisle, 1780), page 31 “Minutes of the Committee of Safety of Bucks County,1774-1776, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. XV, no.3 Portrait of Henry Wynkoop, Clerk and Treasurer Title Page for Thomas Paine's Common Sense Portrait of Thomas Paine by Laurent Dabos National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Wood block engraving by Paul Revere, 1774 George Washington’s entrance into Boston Following its Evacuation by British Troops, Hartnell, Edward Mussey; McGlenen, Edward Webster; Skelton, Edward Oliver, Boston and its story, 1630-1915. City of Boston (Mass.), Printing Department, 1916. The Minute Men of the American Revolution, Currier & Ives Broadsheet announcing Rations for Flying Camp, August 9, 1776 The Pennsylvania Ledger, June 29, 1776 LITHOGRAPH BY ROBERT ARCHIBALD, JUNE 1776 Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, October 1, 1776 Signing of the Declaration of Independence, Library of Congress Digital Archive Declaration of Independence with Portraits of the Signers, 1896 By Kurz & Allison, Library of Congress Digital Archive George Taylor, as he appeared in a document, circa 1876, of portraits and autographs of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. (HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) First Public Reading of the Declaration of Independence, copper engraved print from Barnard's History of England, printed in 1785