[PAXTON BOYS]

Book

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18th Century Medicine in Philadelphia

Name/Title

[PAXTON BOYS]

Description

1p. Folio. Housed in custom tan morocco-backed slipcase, inner cloth chemise. An eyewitness report on the Paxton Boys. In December 1763, an armed backcountry mob marched on Philadelphia in a manifestation of ill feelings towards the eastern government. The previous month a band of frontiersmen from Paxton, Pennsylvania, had murdered twenty peaceful Native Americans without fear of court action. This gave the "Paxton Boys" rebellion its name. On 6 February 1764 the rioters were camped near the city, at Germantown but the wisdom of Governor John Penn and Benjamin Franklin quelled the uprising without further violence. They convinced the group that further violence was not the correct path and that they should put their grievances in writing. But the Paxton Boys affair set the tone for ongoing enmity between the government and the backcountry that continued for years, flaring up noticeably during the Whiskey Rebellion and Fries' Rebellion. This letter offers a colorful eyewitness account of preparations to receive the attack in Philadelphia, where rumors were flying. "On forth day our city was a Larmed By a fals Reporte of a New or fresh party of Riotous Raschals Coming to Town the Bells Rung and Drums Beat to Arms and to the Glory of the Cittizens thay Tuck up thare Arms in grater than Ever that in about halfe an nouer thay had formed them selves into a Body Capapble to Receive them had they Bin Ten times the Numbers that Ever appeared at Jourmtown and waited for Nothing But orders to a Tack them the millitary Spirit semed to increase so fast that I Believe where thay have departed to go home and slink away as if thay had stole sumthing and I Belive thay will Before thay get their I cant Larne what they demand. As yet there is so many deferent Reports about the matter that I ^can;t write with certenty..." " Joseph Fox, a carpenter, became wealthy and prominent through inheritance. A political associate of Franklin and longtime member of the Pennsylvania assembly, he was inclined to militancy as this letter demonstrates, and was disowned by the Quakers for that reason. During the Revolution he was a patriot.

Condition

Overall Condition

Very Good

Date Examined

Jun 4, 2024

Notes

1p. Folio. Housed in custom tan morocco-backed slipcase, inner cloth chemise.

Web Links and URLs

Digital Paxton

General Notes

Note Type

Historical Note

Note

Wikipedia: In February 1764, the Paxton Boys and their followers, a few hundred in total, marched on Philadelphia intending to "put to death all the Indians in the Barracks."[13] Rumors placed the number much higher. Penn appointed Franklin to organize a volunteer militia. Franklin quickly raised six companies of infantry, one of artillery, and two of cavalry. Included in the ranks of the citizenry were a substantial number of the normally pacifistic Quakers. On February 5, the Paxton Boys entered Germantown, a village six miles northwest of Philadelphia. A resident of the town, David Rittenhouse, described the occupation: "I have seen hundreds of Indians traveling the country, and can with truth affirm, that the behavior of these fellows was ten times more savage and brutal than theirs.” The Paxton Boys, he wrote, paraded through the streets, “frightening women, by running the muzzles of their guns through windows, swearing and hallooing: attacking men without the least provocation; dragging them by their hair to the ground, and pretending to scalp them.” The Paxton Boys halted their march in Germantown after learning about the sizable force that was prepared to meet them in Philadelphia. Seeking an end to the situation, Penn appointed Franklin to lead a delegation to meet with the Paxton Boys. On February 7, after a day of negotiations, they agreed to disperse and to submit their grievances in writing. Two documents were submitted. The Declaration justified the killing of the Conestoga, criticized the government's failure to establish a scalp bounty, and accused the government of favoring the indigenous population over the colonists. The Remonstrance repeated the accusation of favouritism and the demand for a scalp bounty, but also insisted that the Moravian Lenape and Mohican were enemies of Pennsylvania. According to the authors of the Remonstrance, "all Indians were perfidious and deserving of annihilation during wartime."[1] The documents were submitted to Governor Penn and the Assembly; however, the only action taken was the creation of a scalp bounty later that year.