| |
|
Early America
1607 - 1799 |
|
| 1607 |
Jamestown,
Virginia, the first English settlement in North America,
is founded by Captain John Smith. By the end of the year,
starvation and disease reduce the original 105 settlers
to just 32. Capt. John Smith is captured by Native
American Chief Powhatan and saved from death by the
chief's daughter, Pocahontas. |
| 1608 |
In January,
110 additional colonists arrive at Jamestown and in
December, the first items of export trade are sent from
Jamestown back to England including lumber and iron ore. |
| 1609 |
The Dutch
East India Company sponsors a seven month voyage of
exploration to North America by Henry Hudson. In
September he sails up the Hudson River to Albany
exploring the Hudson River. |
| 1619 |
The first
African slaves are brought to Jamestown. |
| 1620 |
Pilgrims from
England arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the
Mayflower. |
| 1624 |
The Virginia
Company charter is revoked in London and Virginia is
declared a Royal colony. |
| 1626 |
Peter Minuit
buys Manhattan island for the Dutch from Man-a-hat-a
Indians for goods worth $24. The island is renamed New
Amsterdam |
| 1630 |
In March John
Winthrop leads a Puritan migration of nine hundred
colonists to Massachusetts Bay, where he will serve as
the first governor. In September, Boston is officially
established and serves as the site of Winthrop's
government. |
| 1634 |
Maryland is
founded as a Catholic colony, with religious freedom for
all granted in 1649. |
| 1638 |
The first
colonial printing press is set up in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. |
| 1640 |
From now
until 1659 an English Civil War erupts between the
Royalists of King Charles I and the Parliamentary army,
eventually resulting in defeat for the Royalists and the
downfall of the monarchy. On January 30, 1649, Kings
Charles I is beheaded. England then becomes a
Commonwealth and Protectorate ruled by Oliver Cromwell. |
| 1652 |
Rhode Island
enacts the first law in the colonies declaring slavery
illegal |
| 1660 |
The English
monarchy is restored under King Charles II. |
| 1664 |
The English
seize New Amsterdam from the Dutch. The city is renamed
New York. |
| 1664 |
Maryland
passes a law making lifelong servitude for black slaves
mandatory to prevent them from taking advantage of legal
precedents established in England which grant freedom
under certain conditions, such as conversion to
Christianity. Similar laws are later passed in New York,
New Jersey, the Carolinas and Virginia. |
| 1675 |
King Philip's
War erupts in New England between colonists and Native
Americans and will last a year. As a result of tensions
over colonist's expansionist activities, this bloody war
rages up and down the Connecticut River valley in
Massachusetts and in the Plymouth and Rhode Island
colonies, eventually resulting in 600 English colonials
being killed and 3,000 Native Americans, including women
and children on both sides. |
| 1676 |
King Philip
(the colonist's nickname for Metacomet, chief of the
Wampanoags) is hunted down and killed on August 12th in a
swamp in Rhode Island, ending the war in southern New
England and ending the independent power of Native
Americans there. In New Hampshire and Maine, the Saco
Indians continue to raid settlements for another year and
a half. |
| 1681 |
Pennsylvania
is founded as William Penn, a Quaker, receives a Royal
charter with a large land grant from King Charles II |
| 1682 |
French
explorer La Salle explores the lower Mississippi Valley
region and claims it for France, naming the area
Louisiana for King Louis XIV |
| 1682 |
A large wave
of immigrants, including many Quakers, arrives in
Pennsylvania from Germany and the British Isles. |
| 1685 |
The Duke of
York ascends the British throne as King James II. |
| 1688 |
Quakers in
Pennsylvania issue a formal protest against slavery in
America. |
| 1688 |
In December,
King James II of England flees to France after being
deposed by influential English leaders. |
| 1689 |
In February,
William and Mary of Orange become King and Queen of
England. In April, New England Governor Andros is jailed
by rebellious colonists in Boston. In July, the English
government orders Andros to be returned to England to
stand trial. |
| 1698 |
Several
French laymen and three Catholic priests found a mission
at present-day Cahokia, Illinois, just east of the site
where St. Louis will be established. |
| 1692 |
Hysteria
grips the village of Salem, Massachusetts in May as
witchcraft suspects are arrested and imprisoned. A
special court is set up by the governor and between June
and September, 150 persons are accused. Twenty persons,
including 14 women, are executed and by October prisoners
are released and the special court is dissolved. |
| 1693 |
The College
of William and Mary is founded in Williamsburg, Virginia. |
| 1699 |
French
settlers move into Mississippi and Louisiana |
| 1700 |
The Anglo
population in the English colonies in America reaches
250,000. |
| 1704 |
The first
enduring newspaper in America, The Boston News-Letter, is
begins publication in April. |
| 1706 |
Benjamin
Franklin is born in Boston on January 17th. |
| 1711 |
Hostilities
break out between Native Americans and settlers in North
Carolina after the massacre of settlers there. The
conflict, known as the Tuscarora Indian War will last two
years. |
| 1718 |
New Orleans
is founded by the French. |
| 1727 |
King George
II ascends the English throne. |
| 1729 |
Benjamin
Franklin begins publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette,
which eventually becomes the most popular colonial
newspaper |
| 1732 |
George
Washington is born in Virginia on February 22nd. |
| 1732 |
Georgia, the
13th English colony, is founded. |
| 1732 |
Benjamin
Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanack. |
| 1739 |
England
declares war on Spain. As a result, in America,
hostilities break out between Florida Spaniards and
Georgia and South Carolina colonists. |
| 1754 |
The French
and Indian War results in the defeat of France which
cedes its holdings east of the Mississippi to Great
Britain in 1763. |
| 1764 |
In
mid-February Auguste Chouteau, age 14, and a band of men
land on the west bank of the Mississippi River to begin
construction of a new trading post. The site is chosen a
few months earlier in 1763 by Chouteau and Pierre
Laclede, who had come upriver from New Orleans when the
trading company of Maxent, Laclede and Company is given
permission by French authorities to trade with the Indian
tribes on the Missouri River. |
| 1767 |
Clement de
Lor de Treget establishes the town of Louisbourg a few
miles south of St. Louis. When France cedes the western
half of the Mississippi Valley to Spain, Delor changes
the name to Carondelet to honor the Spanish governor of
New Orleans. Carondelet later becomes part of the city of
St. Louis |
| 1769 |
Indian Chief
Pontiac is buried in St. Louis after being murdered by a
member of another tribe at a settlement in Cahokia |
| 1773 |
Boston Tea
Party: English tea is thrown into the harbor to protest a
tax on tea |
| 1774 |
Jean Baptiste
Truteau opens a school for the sons of leading families
in St. Louis. |
| 1775 |
Fighting breaks out between Massachusetts
and the British and Congress names George Washington
commander of the newly formed Continental Army hoping to
promote unity between New England and Virginia.
|
| 1775 |
Aaron Burr
serves under George Washington's staff during the
Revolution, but is transferred after antagonizing
Washington. |
| 1775 |
On April
18th, Samuel Adams and his colleague, John Hancock are
arrested on orders by General Thomas Gage, the royal
governor of Massachusetts. |
| 1775 |
On May 9th, a
daring frontiersman, Ethan Allen, leads comrades he has
dubbed the Green Mountains Boys, on a successful raid
against the British troops at Fort Ticonderoga in New
York where they capture sixty pieces of artillery. |
| 1775 |
On May 18th,
Peyton Randolph is roused from bed by a rider bearing
news of the victory by the Vermont militiamen nine days
earlier; and a colonel in the Massachusetts militia,
Benedict Arnold, who is setting up plans for just such a
raid, hurries to join Allen and leads an attack on Crown
Point. |
| 1775 |
In mid-July,
Washington takes command of the force and besieges the
British in Boston. |
| 1775 |
At the close
of the year, the Second Continental Congress asks
Pennsylvania to recruit troops for the Continental Army
to replace troops detached for Canada, and Anthony Wayne
is one of four colonels chosen by Franklin. |
| 1776 |
Thomas
Jefferson is chosen as a member of the Continental
Congress to draft the declaration of independence.
Other members were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston |
| 1776 |
Anthony
Wayne begins his commission on the 3rd of January. |
| 1776 |
In
March Washington moves his army to New York where he is
defeated in August under the forces of Sir William
Howe. He retreats across the Hudson River into New
jersey, and a month later crosses the Delaware to
Pennsylvania. |
| 1776 |
On the 25th
of December, Washington re-crosses the Delaware and
captures Trenton in a surprise attack the following
morning. |
| 1777 |
Washington's
troops defeat the British at Princeton on the 3rd of
January and by the spring he as recruited 8000 men. |
| 1778 |
Valley Forge
is chosen as the encampment for the winter campaign of
1777-78 and Anthony Wayne lives in the nearby house of
Joseph and Sarah Walker, his cousin. Here a secret
closet is built into his bedroom which he uses to hide
his confidential papers. |
| 1778 |
George Rogers
Clark, who had been surveying lands along the Ohio during
the mid-1770's, leads an expedition of about 175 men. |
| 1778 |
In June,
after France's entry into the war as an American
alliance, British commander, Sir Henry Clinton, evacuates
Philadelphia and marches overland to New York.
Washington then attacks him at Monmouth New Jersey, but
is repulsed and blames the defeat on General Charles
Lee's insubordination throughout the battle, which is a
climax between their long-brewing rivalry. |
| 1778 |
Treaties of
Alliance between France and the United State, which
contained provisions for military assistance, are still
in effect. Should war break out, Hamilton wants to
suspend the treaties, out of distaste for revolutionary
France and the practical realization of importance of
British trade. Jefferson voices the opinion that
the treaties should be honored, in order to retain French
friendship and draw concessions from Britain. |
| 1778 |
Congress
sends John Adams (b.1735) and John Jay to join Benjamin
Franklin as diplomatic representatives in Europe.
John's son, John Quincy Adams, accompanies him and will
serve as a French translator to Francis Dana, U.S.
minister to Russia, in 1781-83 and act as his father's
secretary in 1783 during the peace negotiations. |
| 1779 |
Anthony Wayne
takes command of the Light Corps on July 1st at Sandy
Beach near Fort Montgomery. He is wounded by a
bullet to the forehead and though the wound seems fatal,
insist the men carry him into the British works so that
if he dies, he can die at the head of the column. |
| 1779 |
Vincennes,
now occupied by the British, is seized by U.S. forces
under George Rogers Clark. |
| 1780 |
Twenty-one of
St. Louis’ 700 residents are killed in the Battle of
Fort San Carlos, the only Revolutionary War battle fought
west of the Mississippi River. The St. Louisans
successfully repelled an attack by the British and Indian
forces which could have turned the tide of the war
against the new United States by establishing a western
foothold for the British. The battle took place on land
that is now occupied by the Gateway Arch |
| 1780 |
On July 20th,
Washington detaches Anthony Wayne with the 1st and 2nd
Pennsylvania Brigades, four pieces of field artillery
under Colonel Thomas Proctor and Colonel Stephen
Maryland's dragoons to undertake the destruction of the
blockhouse on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River
below Fort Lee. |
| 1780 |
Anthony Wayne
is the general Greene and Washington rely on to hold the
fort which Benedict Arnold tries to place in the hands of
the enemy, but Arnold is court martialed, and found
guilty of misconduct as a military commandant. |
| 1780 |
On October
2nd, John André, Clinton's adjutant general in New York
and former admirer of Peggy Shippen-Arnold (wife of
Benedict Arnold) is hanged after being caught out of
uniform carrying the plans of West Point from Arnold to
Clinton. Lafayette weeps while Washington remains
in his headquarters, blinds drawn. |
| 1781 |
On January 1,
Pennsylvania soldiers under Anthony Wayne start a mutiny,
and a little more than a month later he is ordered to
take them to Virginia to assist Lafayette. |
| 1781 |
On September
2nd, Anthony Wayne is accidentally shot in the thigh by
an American sentry. This wound turns to gout and
will plague him the remainder of his life. |
| 1781 |
After the
Battle at Yorktown, four coastal cities remain under
British occupancy until the British evacuate on the 14th
day of December. Anthony Wayne hereafter goes to
Augusta to seal a better peace with the Creek and
Cherokees Indians and returns to his elected seat in the
Pennsylvania legislature. |
| 1782 |
John Adams,
John Jay and Benjamin Franklin negotiate the Treaty of
Paris ending the 8-year war with Great Britain. |
| 1782 |
The west is
quiet, the Revolution is over, and by time Colonel George
Rogers Clark returns to Kentucky from a campaign against
the Ohio tribes, peace talks have begun in Paris. |
| 1783 |
Between now
and 1790, in the sparsely settled Kentucky, 1500 persons
- men, women and children have been killed or captured by
the Indians. |
| 1783 |
Eli Moore is
born in Ireland about this time and emigrates to
Pennsylvania as a young man. |
| 1785 |
In January
George Rogers Clark and two other commissioners meet
Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, and Chippewa chiefs in a
treaty council that cedes Indian lands along the upper
Ohio. |
| 1785 |
Fort Harmar
is built at the mouth of the Muskingum River to keep
squatters from Indian lands. It is the only fort
ever erected to protect the rights of red men, but when
surveyors begin work on the Seven Ranges, the soldier are
called to protect them and Fort Harmar proves to be on
the white man's side, after all. |
| 1785 |
Tradition has
it that six Shaw brothers came to Lexington between this
time and 1800 from North Adams, Massachusetts. Of
these, two remained, Nathaniel and Hiram Shaw who became
a hatter and married into the Pilcher family. |
| 1786 |
On January
25th an ad appears in newspapers in Boston and Worcester
two, addressing all who might wish to become adventurers
in the Ohio country, where the lands "are of a much
better quality than any other known to New England
people." It is signed by Rufus Putman and
Benjamin Tupper. |
| 1787 |
Deborah
Updegraff or Updegraph, is born in Pennsylvania about
this time. |
| 1787 |
From the ad
placed by Putman and Tupper, a first party of twenty-two
men, including boat builders, left Danvers,
Massachusetts, early in December and after seven weeks of
travel they reach Sumrill's Ferry, thirty miles above
Pittsburgh on the Youghiogheny River, and begin hewing
boat timbers. |
| 1787 |
Rufus
Putnam's two parties have met up with each other and on
April 2, the forty-eight men take to the river.
Five days of travel brings the flotilla to the Muskingum
and they land at the point where its current mingles with
the broad Ohio River. |
| 1788 |
On July 2 the
pioneers put down their plows and axes and hold a company
meeting voting that their city, first called Adelphia (to
suggest brotherhood), should be named Marietta in honor
of Marie Antoinette, who had prompted the weak-willed
Louis XVI to favor the American Revolution. |
| 1788 |
George
Washington is elected president. |
| 1788 |
During the
first autumn at Marietta (Ohio), the town population is
232. They harvest corn, potatoes, pumpkin, squash,
and cabbage while the hunters bring in deer, turkey, and
occasionally elk and buffalo. Four miles upriver,
on Duck Creek, Ebenezer Sproat and two partner begin
cutting timber for a saw and grist mill. Although
Marietta is not molested, Indians across the river are
killing settlers, burning their houses, and an Ohio
company man is killed in the new settlement of Belpre,
eight miles down the Ohio, so in the clearing about
Marietta, they raise a small stockade and post sentries. |
| 1788 |
Martin Cook
is born in Pennsylvania. His daughter, Rebecca,
will eventually marry James Updegraph Moore.
[Martin's birthdate obtained from 1850 census of Perry
Township, Carroll County, Ohio]. |
| 1789 |
Elizabeth
Firebaugh, daughter of Philip and Magdalena Kieffer, is
born in Elk Lick, Somerset County, PA. She later
marries Martin Cook. |
| 1789 |
Rosina Wentz,
daughter of Adam and Catherine, is born in Manchester, MD
on the 17th of March. |
| 1790 |
Dolley Payne,
age 22, marries a Quaker lawyer, John Todd, four years
her senior (Pennsylvania). |
| 1790 |
Joshua
Pilcher, Jr. is born in Culpeper County, Virginia on
March 15th and is the son of Joshua and Nancy. |
| 1790 |
Fort Steuben
is burned, but the settlement of Steubenville, (Ohio)
spreading around the garrison, is there to stay. As
river traffic grows it becomes a busy town with a
pottery, a coal mine, a foundry, and a woolen mill
sending cargos of wheat, pork, whiskey, and peltry down
to New Orleans. |
| 1792 |
On the 1st of
January, John Arbaugh, son of William and Maria
Margaretta Mueller, is born in Silver Run, MD. He
later marries Rosina Wentz. |
| 1792 |
Anthony Wayne
puts his Georgia affairs in order and departs for
Pittsburgh, accepting the command of the U.S. Army where
he assembles recruits, including 19 year-old William
Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, the Virginia
Patriot, friend of Washington, and signer of the
declaration. Another of Wayne's lieutenants is
William Clark, the younger brother of George Rogers
Clark. |
| 1792 |
Washington is
re-elected and presides over the formation and initial
operation of the new government. Also this year he
entertains the tribal leader of the Six Nations
confederation, including Seneca Chief Red Jacket who
rallies to the American cause during the War of 1812. |
| 1793 |
John Todd
dies in his 29th year in the yellow fever epidemic,
leaving a widow, Dolley Payne Todd and son, John Payne
Todd in Philadelphia. |
| 1793 |
The Joshua
Pilcher family moves from Culpeper Virginia to Fayette
County, Kentucky, except for Moses Pilcher, who moves to
Illinois. |
| 1794 |
The Battle of
Fallen Timbers takes place on the 20th of August and
thereafter Anthony Wayne sends William Clark on an
exploration and reconnaissance down the Ohio River to
check on the activities of the Spaniards. One of
Clark's subordinates is Meriwether Lewis. |
| 1796 |
Anthony Wayne
returns to Philadelphia amidst the volley of fireworks
celebrating him and the peace on February 6th. His
wife, Polly, has died since his excursions to Ohio. |
| 1796 |
On September
20th, by mandates of John Jay's treaty, all have
surrendered by the British to the American troops
"in the most polite, friendly & accommodating
manner; - without any injury or damage other than what
time has made. - Anthony Wayne has been sent to be
present at the transfer of lands, and begins his journey
home, but discomforts of riding irritate his leg and he
seeks lake transportation where he is taken off board the
sloop Detroit from which he would have proceed overland
to his home Waynesborough. He dies on December 15th
at the fort near Presque Isle. "Never again
will the blacksnake coil. The "Chief Who Never
Sleeps" is asleep at last. |
| 1797 |
John Adams
takes the office of President on March 4th with Jefferson
as his vice-president. The threat of war with
France and debates over foreign policy will dominate the
politics of his administration. |
| 1797 |
Shadrach
Pilcher, son of Joshua and Nancy, marries Sarah Proctor
on September 26th and live in Fayette County, Kentucky. |
| 1799 |
After
the Treaty of Greenville, and after serving under
"Mad Anthony Wayne," John Cass resigns his
commission at Pittsburgh and then moves his family into
the Ohio Valley, settling in Marietta where Lewis begins
to study law under Mr. R.J. Meigs who is afterwards
governor of Ohio. |
| 1799 |
On December
14th, George Washington dies after receiving severe
chills from a horseback ride about his estate two days
previous when it had begun to sleet, rain, then snow. |
|
