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THE WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE

Volume 57 October 1974 Number 4

JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE PENNSYLVANIA POPULATION COMPANY Robert D. Arbuckle

Nicholson, 1757-1800, was an early Pennsylvania land spec- Johnulator, financier, and entrepreneur. While serving as comptroller- general of the state, 1782-1794, he was a major factor inhelping Penn- sylvania achieve financial solvency after the revolutionary war. In this capacity Nicholson created political alliances with those who stressed state rather than national sovereignty, and in the 1790s he was instru- mental inhelping to form the Democratic-Republican party. Nicholson was a friend of many prominent national and state political figures, such as Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Mifflin,Robert Morris, Aaron Burr, and Edmund Randolph. Inaddition to his political activities, Nicholson engaged in many entrepreneurial promotions. He and his partners were the major private purchasers of building lots in the Federal District (Washington. D.C.) in its infancy; he was a flour merchant and an ironmonger, helping to establish with John Haydn the first iron furnace west of the Allegheny Mountains, near present-day Uniontown; owned many lead, copper, silver, and coal mines; promoted inventors like John Fitch, James Rumsey, and Oliver Evans; managed and spon- sored internal improvement projects, such as the Philadelphia-Lancas- ter Turnpike and the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal ;and participated in many humanitarian activities, such as helping blacks inPhiladelphia. However, Nicholson's primary activity was land speculation. He

Dr. Arbuckle is associate director of academic affairs and is an assistant professor of history at the Pennsylvania State University, New Kensington, Pa., campus. —Editor 354 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER became the major land speculator of Pennsylvania and one of the major speculators of the nation. In order to meet the expenses of tax payments and of promoting sales of his vast holdings, he became en- tangled in many incorporated and unincorporated land companies which eventually helped to cause his ruin. His first stop on the road to disaster was the Pennsylvania Popu- lation Company, which was incorporated on May 4, 1792. 1 Pennsyl- vania was a fertile field for speculative endeavors in the 1790s. The population was increasing every year; for example, in 1787 it was estimated at 360,000, and by 1791 it had grown to 434,713. 2 Thus, speculators had an increasing number of settlers to purchase their lands. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, who later invested in lands in Pennsylvania, calculated that if a speculator bought lands in the state at four dollars per acre in 1794, he could expect to sell those lands twelve years later at 13% dollars per acre and realize a profit of 233 percent. 3 Little wonder then that Nicholson was so enthusiastic about this avenue of investment. The lands which formed the basis for the Population Company's operations were chiefly Nicholson's and were located primarily in the Erie Triangle. The boundary line between the states of New York and Pennsylvania had been drawn at the forty-second parallel by James Clinton and Simon DeWitt for New York, and David and Andrew Ellicott for Pennsylvania, the latter both friends of Nichol- son's, in 1788-1789. By the Fort Harmar treaty of January 9, 1789, the Iroquois Nation sold the Erie Triangle to the United States, which in turn sold it to the state of Pennsylvania. Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chief, denounced the sale by Cornplanter and Little Billy at Canandaigua, New York, in October of 1794; for acting without au- thority ;and for receiving only the paltry sum of $4,000. 4 This led to Indian resistance which helped to thwart the operation of the Popula- tion Company and brought pleas for assistance from Nicholson to Governor Thomas Mifflin.

1 For an account of the company see Robert Hale, "The Pennsylvania Popu- lation Company" (Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1950). This article is an attempt to highlight Nicholson's connection with the company. 2 Gazette of the United States, Apr. 15, 1789. 3 Hans Huth and Wilma Pugh, eds., Talleyrand in America as a Financial Promoter ... (Washington, 1897), 161-62. 4 Sherman Day, ed., Historical Collections of Pennsylvania— (Philadelphia, 1843), 315-16; Northern Boundary of Pennsylvania Middle of Lake Erie, pamphlet of the Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, Bul- letin 2 (no. 11) :17-19. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 355

Contributing factors to the purchase of the triangle by the state had been the efforts of General William Irvine (another friend of Nicholson's and a stockholder in the Population Company) who saw the need for Pennsylvania to secure an outlet on the Great Lakes. 5 Governor Mifflinobligingly appointed John Nicholson to handle the financial transactions for the state; he negotiated the purchase in 1792, with Joseph Nourse acting on behalf of the national government. The Erie Triangle consisted of 202,187 acres and cost the state $151,640.25, or seventy-five cents per acre. 6 In what was probably the best example of Nicholson using his state office of comptroller-general for personal gain, he brashly pre- empted the entire area, with the exception of a few tracts retained by the state for future public use, as soon as the land was offered for sale. One might ponder how he was able to do this since under the Pennsylvania Land Act of 1792 only 400 acres could be granted to any one person. When one considers that Nicholson was a good friend and business partner of Governor Mifflin,coupled with the fact that the governor was to own at least 400 shares in the Population Company out of a total of 2,500, the mystery can be partly solved. 7 Furthermore, Daniel Brodhead in the surveyor-general's office, another friend and partner of Nicholson's, could be useful, because when fictitious names were used in the land offices to cover this large purchase, no questions were asked. Nicholson confessed that since only 400 acres could be taken out, "the necessity resulted of using borrowed names as was usual in the Land Office in cases where one person takes out more than the quantity aforesaid .. . ." 8 Nicholson

5 For Irvine's efforts see C. W. Butterfield, ed., Washington-Irvine Corres- pondence (Madison, Wise, 1882), 69. New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all claimed this area at one time. New York relinquished its claim to the national government on Mar. 1, 1781 ;Massachusetts on Apr. 19, 1785 ;and Connecticut on Sept. 3, 1786. 6 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania, 2: 454-86 (hereafter cited as Pa. Statutes); Pennsylvania Archives, 4th ser., 3: 991-1012; ibid., 4: 225 (hereafter cited as Pa. Archives). For Mifflin's appointment of Nichol- son see Pa. Archives, 1st ser., 12: 91. 7 Diary of John Nicholson, Jan.-July 1792, entry for Apr. 16, 1792, box 3, Public Records Division, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commis- sion, Harrisburg (hereafter cited as Nicholson Diary, PRD). For the close association of Nicholson and Mifflin see Robert D. Arbuckle, "John Nicholson, 1757-1800, A Case Study of an Early American Land Speculator, Financier and Entrepreneur" (Ph.D. diss., Pennsylvania State University, 1972), 73-85. 8 Entry for Feb. 21, 1795, Pennsylvania Population Company Minute Books, 1792-1815, Crawford County Historical Society Papers, Meadville, Pa. (hereafter cited as Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS). 356 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER simply dispersed the various warrants among different land offices using borrowed names with Brodhead and Mifflinproviding a pro- tective shield. On April 3, 1792, the speculator made out 390 warrants of 400 acres each to cover the Erie Triangle. On April 16, 1792, just two weeks after Nicholson had taken out his warrants, Theophilus Cazenove, one of the major stockholders in Nicholson's Population Company, who represented Dutch financiers, made a call on Governor Mifflinand agreed to take 200 of the governor's shares in the company. He also received names which could be used on warrants from Mifflinand turned these over to Nicholson. 9 Some of the more interesting names appearing on the list of warranties submitted by Nichol- son to cover the purchase included :John Donaldson, the register- general of the state who was supposed to watch Nicholson's activities ; Hannah Nicholson, John's wife; Joseph Nourse, register- general of the United States, who had negotiated the sale of the Erie tract with Nicholson ;Jonathan Mifflin,the governor's cousin ;Charles Pettit, one of the leading merchants and Republicans in the state ; John Nixon, president of the Bank of North America; and Edmund Randolph, attorney-general of the United States. 10 Nicholson not only used their names on warrants for the Erie tract, but he also applied these and other names to 250 additional warrants to cover 100,000 acres of land near Beaver and Shenango creeks where another settlement of the company was planned. On May 18, 1792, after the company was formally launched and all the subscriptions for stock filled, Nicholson made application for 500 more warrants to cover 200,000 additional acres west and north of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers in the donation district, including land along French Creek. 11 In1793, Nicholson was stillsending blank conveyances to his friends in the land office to be filled out in his name to cover these purchases. Edward Robinson, one of the Land Office clerks, was given seventy-five of these to be backdated to May 1, 1792. Nicholson conveyed 490 acres of Population Company lands to Robinson for "favors rendered." 12 And even after the surveys were

9 Nicholson Diary, PRD, entry for Apr. 16, 1792. 10 List of Warranties of the Pennsylvania Population Company, 1792, in the Pennsylvania Population Company Papers, Francis Spencer Estate Col- lection, Erie Public Museum Manuscript Collections, Erie, Pa. (hereafter cited as Population Co. Papers, EPM). 11 Entries for May 4, 18, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 12 Nicholson toRobinson, Apr. 27, 1793, Nicholson Letterbooks, 1779-93, Pub- lic Records Division (hereafter cited as Nicholson Letterbooks, PRD). 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 357 made on this land, Nicholson's secretary, Solomon Marache, was roaming Philadelphia trying to secure enough names to fill the deed polls.13 Thomas McKean, the man who succeeded Mifflin as governor in 1799, charged that Nicholson and his company, in order to help get these warrants approved under the Act of 1792, bribed the deputy surveyors. One of these deputies received $6,000, and Theophilus Cazenove admitted that inorder to meet the competition of the actual settlers, the directors of the company judged itnecessary to make some "extraordinary gratifications to the deputy surveyors/' 14 Nicholson was able to make a partial payment for these lands by using bills of credit (presumably acceptable by Brodhead) and depreciation certificates. In relation to the latter, which were obtained from the former soldiers for a paltry sum, an observer, Pelatiah Webster, wrote, "like flies about a sore or crows around a carcass, these vermin have no design to heal the sore, or restore life,but to feed themselves." 15 A total of 483,000 acres was turned over to the Pennsylvania Population Company, including the 202,813 acres of the Erie tract and 297,813 acres in that portion of the state bounded by the Ohio and Allegheny rivers and Conewango Creek. On May 11, 1792, the company was officially organized and an election of officers held in the courtroom of the statehouse in Philadelphia. Nicholson was elected to the presidency by a unanimous vote of the 1,430 stockholders present and served as the president until 1798. Tench Francis was elected treasurer, and the first board of managers included : Theophilus Cazenove, representing his Dutch financiers ;General William Irvine, a commissioner of the United States; George Meade, Philadelphia merchant and broker ; Daniel Leet, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives ;John Hoge, a member of the Pennsylvania Senate; and former general of the army Walter Stewart. 16 The election was held after 1,000 shares had been subscribed. Be- cause all the subscriptions had been taken by May 18, 1792, Nicholson and the managers applied for the additional 200,000 acres mentioned

13 Marache to Nicholson, Mar. 22, 1795, Nicholson General Correspondence, 1778-1800, Public Records Division (hereafter cited as Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD). 14 Cazenove to Nicholson, Dec. 6, 1792, ibid. See also Paul Evans, The Holland Land Company (Buffalo, 1924), 140. 15 Quoted in Joseph Dorfman, The Economic Mind in American Civilization, 1606-1865, 2 vols. (New York, 1953), 1: 245. The quote applies to speculators throughout the U.S. 16 Entry for May 11, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS; Hoge to Nicholson, Dec. 5, 1792, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 358 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER above. A total of 2,500 shares were placed on the market with each share representing 200 acres. Nicholson and the others also agreed that whoever should turn over to the company a donation tract of 200 acres should in return be entitled to one share of stock in the company. 17 Nicholson used this stipulation to good advantage, as he had secured rights, through the use of his office as comptroller- general, to several tracts in the donation district and had secured additional ones through broker John Young of Philadelphia. 18 Initially, Nicholson—was the largest shareholder in the company, subscribing 535 shares 347 to be paid for in money and 188 in donation lands. Eventually, he acquired 860 shares, but by January 13, 1796, this had dwindled to 14 because of his need to raise ready cash to appease his creditors. In fact, Nicholson never transferred the 200 donation tracts to the company as promised in payment for part of his shares. He shrewdly conveyed unfulfilled soldiers' certificates which did not give title to a single acre.19 As late as 1797, the managers of the company were stillasking Nicholson where the titles were to 40,000 acres of donation lands. 20 Inaddition to Nicholson, the other large shareholders included : Robert Morris, 100 (subscribed for him by Nicholson) ; James Wil- son, 100; Aaron Burr, 524 (again subscribed for him by Nicholson) ; and Theophilus Cazenove, l,000.21 Theophilus Cazenove was the major agent for the Holland Land Company which operated in northern Pennsylvania and western New York. He took out subscriptions for the following Dutch capitalists :Peter Stadnitski, Peter and Christian Van Eghen, Isaac Tinlake, and T.Vallenhover. 22 Itwas Cazenove who introduced Prince Talleyrand to American land speculation and speculators. The prince said, "M. Cazenove was a man of a rather en- lightened, though slow, mind and ofa timid and almost careless nature.

17 Plan of Association of the Pennsylvania Population Company, Pennsyl- vania Population Company Minute Books, CCHS, Booklet 2: 8 (hereafter cited as Population- Co. Minute Books). 18 Young to Nicholson, Aug. 1, 1792, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 19 Harm Jan Huidekoper, Remarks on the Late Proceedings of the Nicholson Commissioners, and on the Nicholson Lien in Relation to the Lands Formerly of the Pennsylvania Population Company (Meadville, 1842), 5, 7, pamphlet inCCHS. Huidekoper served as the bookkeeper and later secretary-treasurer of the company. 20 Cazenove to Nicholson, Jan. 20, 1797, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 21 The complete list of original subscribers can be found in the entry for May 4, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. See also Thomas Mont- gomery, ed., Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, 2 vols. (Harrisburg, 1916), 2: 558-59. 22 Entry for May 4, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 359

But his qualities and his defects made him very useful to me." 23 Nicholson could have said the same thing of Cazenove because Nicholson was able to persuade the Dutch representative to make the first payments on the lands of the company, June 6, 1792. 24 In addition to this service, Nicholson utilized Cazenove's brother, John Henry Cazenove, who operated a financial house in London, in his land and stock affairs. Nicholson even used the Dutch minister to the United States, Van Berekel, to help sell company lands. 25 Aaron Burr, a major force in New York politics and later vice- president of the United States, could also be of value to the Phila- delphian. Nicholson used Burr's reputation to entice New England and New York speculators, such as George Eddy and James Wads- worth, to take shares inhis company. 26 Burr and Nicholson also en- dorsed each others notes, and later, when Burr had gotten into financial difficulties, he asked Nicholson to sell some of his shares in the company for him.27 By this time Burr's financial reputation could bring nothing, but : Ihave faithfully tried to raise a Loan on Poppulation [sic] Shares, but Find it impossible. Mr.Burr's Notes the Discounters have nothing to do with. They have at present so great a choice of paper that Nothing but what they call prime willbe looked at.28 As for Robert Morris and James Wilson, they both had national reputations and could thus be useful inpromoting the company. Morris was regarded as a hero by some because of his financial contribution to the Revolution and his services in framing the Constitution of the United States. Nicholson was a political opponent of Morris, but he always put profits above politics and knew that Morris could be very useful as a business partner. He had the same attitude in regard to James Wilson who had been a member of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Constitutional Convention and later one of the ablest lawyers 23 Prince de Talleyrand, Memoirs, De Due de Broglie, ed., 2 vols. (London, 1891), 1: 175. 24 Huidekoper, 3, 4. 25 Meade to Nicholson, Nov. 28, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 26 Thomas Ketland to Nicholson, Feb. 18, 25, 1794, ibid. Burr became a manager of the company on Jan. 8, 1794, entry for Jan. 8, 1794, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 27 Nicholson to Burr, Mar. 27, June 19, 25, 26, 30, 1795 ;Apr. 17, May 2, 6, 7, 1796 ;Mar. 14, 1797, Nicholson Letterbooks, 1, 2, 4, 6, Historical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (hereafter cited as Nicholson Letter- books, HSP). 28 WilliamDuncan to Nicholson, May 3, 1796, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. For Burr's heavy involvement in New York speculations and financial difficulties see Herbert Parmet and Marie Hecht, Aaron Burr, Portrait of an Ambitious Man (New York, 1967), 112-23. 360 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER and judges in the United States. Wilson also was a rival speculator in Pennsylvania lands and a debtor of Nicholson's, so Nicholson probably felt that he could partly eliminate a rivaland possibly collect the money due him by having Wilson as a stockholder. The promoters formed the company with altruistic platitudes stating : Whereas the forming [of]settlements on the Western Boundary of Pennsylvania willestablish a barrier to the frontiers and enable the settlement of the other lands to be made in safety, and willpromote and expedite the population of the same, and therefore promise a great public utility, ... the subscribers hereto agree ... [to form the Pennsylvania Population Company.] 29 The noble assertions were for public consumption, for there was no doubt that the actual motivation for the formation—of the company was speculation. All six of the original—managers Cazenove, Irvine, Meade, Leet, Hoge, and Stewart were land speculators as were most of the stockholders — and no decade was more conducive to this type of activity than the 1790s. The profit motive was clearly evident in the stipulations that the company was to hold the lands in common with title vested in trustees ;that the president— and managers were to dispose of the lands "for common account and the proceeds to be divided, pro rata, among the stockholders" and that the company was to exist for fifteen years, at which time the assets of the company were to be divided among the shareholders. 30 Since the land law of 1792 stated that warrants taken out for lands would not vest title "unless the grantee has, prior to the date of such warrant, made, or cause to be made, ... within the space of two years ... an actual settlement thereon," the managers had to conduct a campaign to attract settlers. Furthermore, actual settlement was defined in the law as "clearing, fencing and cultivating at least two acres for every hundred acres contained in one survey .. . and residing, or causing a family to reside thereon for the space of five years a Since the company estimated that it would have to pay for the lands at the rate of eighty dollars per 400-acre tract within two years or face forfeiture, except in cases where Indian uprisings impeded settlements, 31 the managers were all the more anxious to attract settlers. Therefore, Nicholson and his associates thought that the most

29 Entry for May 4, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 30 Huidekoper, 2. 31 Francois La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Travels Through the United States of North America, 4 vols. (London, 1800), 4: 73-74. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 361 attractive offer that could be made would be to give free land to the first families that would come to the Population Company tracts and hope that once these established homesteads other relatives and friends would follow. Accordingly, an offer was made whereby the first 50 families to settle on any of the company's lands would receive 150 acres, gratis; the next 100 families would be given 100 acres; and thereafter, individuals would be required to purchase the land. The first 30,000 acres, including some of the donation lands, sold for $1.00 per acre, and by 1795 the company's lands were selling for the stipulated price of $2.50 per acre. No more than 300 acres were to be sold to any one person. 32 As an added inducement to those who could not immediately secure the funds, the company provided a credit feature when it placed the initial 30,000 acres on the market. A settler was permitted to pay one-third of the purchase price within the first two years without interest, one-third the following year with interest, and the balance the fourth year with two years interest. The company also offered to help furnish supplies and gunpowder on easy terms. 33 The settler was required by the company to establish a settlement within two years, to build a house, and to clear ten acres of land. These requirements would enable Nicholson and the others to fulfill the terms of the land law of 1792. To publicize the lands, 2,000 copies of the Plan of Association were printed in a brochure and distributed. It also included the act of the Pennsylvania legislature which permitted aliens to own lands in the state. Inclusion of the latter would facilitate sales to European investors. George Barclay and Company of London was sent these circulars and given 100 shares in the company. 34 The managers were reluctant to sell more than 300 acres to any one individual,because they feared that rival speculators would gain a base of operations in the Population Company's domain. Ironically, Andrew Ellicott, the surveyor of the Erie Triangle and therefore

32 Population Co. Minute Books, Booklet 2: 2; Nicholson to John Henry Cazenove Nephew and Company, July 28, 1795, Nicholson Letterbooks, 2, HSP; entry for Mar. 8, 1793, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. These terms were published ina prospectus. However, the company, even with these liberal terms, never was able to attract enough settlers to make it a success. 33 Entry for May 4, 1792. Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. See also Population Co. Minute Books, Booklet 2 :9, 50. 34 Entry for May 18, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS; George Barclay and Company toNicholson, July 2, 1792, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 362 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER knowledgeable about the quality of the lands, once offered to buy 4,000 acres from the company but was refused, "itbeing obviously intended as a matter of speculation rather than actual settlement ... ." Later, after Ellicott helped to survey and establish the town of Presque Isle (Erie), both he and General William Irvine were given 4,000 acres on Lake Erie for services rendered. 35 Not only did Nicholson utilize the services of Ellicott and Irvine but he also was able to acquire the services of Thomas Rees, a state surveyor, to serve as agent for the company in the Erie Tract. William Power served as the agent for lands along French Creek, and Ebenezer Denny and later John Hoge carried on the same responsi- bilities for the lands along Beaver Creek (now the Beaver Falls area of Pennsylvania). 36 Rees and the others not only did the surveys but also advised Nicholson of additional lands to buy and of rival speculator activities. 37 Neither Rees nor anyone else had much success in bringing settlers onto the company's lands. In fact, by 1795 only four—families were permanently settled in all of what is now Erie County Reeds, Talmages, Mileses, and Bairds. 38 This extreme sparsity of settlement stemmed from the fact that Nicholson had begun his company at an inopportune moment. Indian hostilities raged as Joseph Brant and his Indian allies objected to the land-grabbing treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort Harmar ;they were not to stop until Mad Anthony Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794. One grievance that the Indians had was that the Population Company paid $250 to them for their claim to lands on the northwestern boundary of Pennsylvania near Lake Erie. 39 Later Nicholson tried to placate Cornplanter by sending him $1,200 worth of presents so that some surveys could be finished in safety. 40 Nicholson naturally was quite disturbed about the situation in northwestern Pennsylvania and solicited the aid of his friend and fellow stockholder, Governor Mifflin.He complained to the governor that the military forces in the area were inadequate to protect settlers on the company's lands. "We wished not to take out families to be

35 Population Co. Minute Books, Booklet 2: 42; Nicholson to Irvine, May 27, 1796, Nicholson Letterbooks, 4, HSP. 36 Entries for May 18, 1792, Jan. 23, 1794, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS; Nicholson to Denny, Oct. 20, 1792, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 37 For example see Thomas Rees toNicholson, Sept 1, Oct 24, Dec. 24, 1792, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 38 Montgomery, 559. 39 Population Co. Minute Books, Booklet 2: 42. 40 Andrew Norny to Nicholson, Apr. 18, 1794, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 363 massacred by the Indians/' wrote Nicholson, and he requested that troops from other parts of the state be sent. 41 Coupled with the request for troops was a request by Nicholson and others for forts and towns to be established by the state. This would afford additional protection for the company's operations. Alexander J. Dallas, secretary of the commonwealth, replied to Nicholson that the governor would take steps to protect Pennsylvania citizens. 42 Consequently, on April8, 1793, an act was passed by the legislature for laying out a town at Presque Isle, "inorder to facilitate and promote the progress of settlement within the Commonwealth, and to afford additional security to the frontiers thereof." 4B Nicholson and other speculators then offered to build roads to the town from French Creek. Upon receiving these proposals, the legislature, obviously influenced by Morris, Nicholson, Wilson, and Mifflin,with the governor making speeches on behalf of internal improvements, appro- priated 1,000 pounds for the construction of roads. 44 Under the act of April11, 1793, the governor was empowered to contract with private individuals or companies to get the work done. Very conveniently, Nicholson acquired a contract to build a road from French Creek to Lake Erie.45 Mifflincommissioned William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott, both shareholders in the Population Company, to conduct the surveys for the town at Presque Isle and sent the following order to Major Ebenezer Denny, an agent of the company : The Legislature having made provision for surveying and opening the roads, one from Reading and the other from French Creek to Presque Isle, ... therefore you should deem it your duty to grant all the aid and protection to the re- spective commissioners and contractors employed in surveying ... M

41 Nicholson to Mifflin,May 25, 1792, ibid. 42 Entries for May 18, 23, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. For some of the settlement difficulties in the area see Elizabeth K. Hender- son, "The Northwest Lands of Pennsylvania, 1790-1812," PMHB 60 (1936) :131-60; and C. Hale Sipe, The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, 1931), 692-714. 43 Pa. Statutes, 14 :233. 44 Pa. Archives, 4th ser., 4: 217; John Bioren and Matthew Carey, comps., Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 8 vols. (Philadelphia, 1803), 4: 249-51. This was part of a major internal improvement project in the state. 45 Philadelphia General Advertiser, Jan. 1, 1794; Nicholson to William Power, July 2, 1793, Nicholson Letterbooks, PRD; entry for May 25, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 46 Ebenezer Denny, Military Journal of Major Ebenezer Denny (Phila- delphia, 1859), 263. See also John Earle Reynolds, In French Creek Valley (Meadville, 1938), 56-57. 364 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER

But Irvine and Ellicott could not do their surveys, nor Nicholson con- struct his road, because, as Nicholson explained in a letter to Aaron Burr: altho much was contemplated and desired here with respect to Lake Erie the executions of all hath been suspended for the issue of the Indian Treaty in which Ifear littlegood willresult to the United States. 4? Nicholson, Ellicott,and Mifflinblamed the British for causing the Indian difficulties on the Pennsylvania frontiers that were delaying the company's operations. Mifflinwas determined to proceed with the town and the internal improvements early in 1794, with Nicholson and other major speculators probably lending him support. But Presi- dent Washington asked the governor not to send the 1,000 troops as he had planned until a new treaty could be drafted with the Indians. "A Pennsylvanian" in the General Advertiser urged the governor to abide by the president's wish, "because the private interest of a few men is to be promoted by this settlement must the great interests of the nation be sacrificed to their clamours ?" He urged the governor not to be terrified by the speculators but to do his duty and avoid sacrificing himself "for sake of securing a local and partial popularity/' 48 The governor delayed the operations but complained to the president about federal interference in a state matter. 49 The situation was eased when General Wayne defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers. Then a treaty was negotiated at Canandaigua between the Six Nations and the United States government on November 11,1794. Nicholson sent Thomas Rees, agent of the company, to the parley and reported that "the Indians there gave up Presque Isle County entirely & don't ever claim to claim any part of it because they said they already sold it... ." 50 As a result of the treaty, the government lifted the suspension of operations in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Assembly then passed an act authorizing the establishment of the towns of Franklin, Warren, Waterford, and Presque Isle, with the town of Presque Isle to be called Erie — all sites in the Population Company's lands. But towns in the company's lands were not of much value unless settlers could get access to them. Therefore, Nicholson became one of

47 Nicholson to Burr, June 29, 1793, Nicholson Letterbooks, PRD. 48 Philadelphia General Advertiser, Aug. 1, 1794. 49 See Mifflinto Washington, May 25, 1794, Pa. Archives, 2nd sen, 6: 669-71 ; Mifflinto Washington, June 13, 1794, ibid., 699. 50 Rees to Nicholson, Nov. 14, 1794, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 365

the major promoters of internal improvements in the state and solicited Mifflin'said inpushing these projects. One project directly affected the Population Company. This was Nicholson's efforts to improve the navigation on French Creek. He was able to get Governor Mifflin to appoint a commission to explore the possibilities of improving not only this waterway but also all the major rivers and streams that ran through the Population Company lands. 51 Animprovement committee for Western Pennsylvania was formed, and Nicholson and other speculators, like William Bingham, served on it.52 Isaac Weld helped to explain the interest of Nicholson, and of others like him, in these projects when he wrote the following about lands inthe United States : if the lands in one part ... are superior to those in another in fertility; if they are in the neighborhood of a navigable river, or situated conveniently to a good market ;if they are cheap and rising in value, thither the American willgladly emigrate ... ,53 Nicholson realized the importance of Weld's observations and did all that he could to make his lands accessible and attractive, but getting settlers to come into northwestern Pennsylvania proved to be an arduous task. Many promotional schemes were used both at home and abroad to get individuals to settle on company lands. Nicholson and Morris employed agents in Europe to try and sell Population Com- pany shares and lands. One such agent was Gouverneur Morris, one of the stylists of the United States Constitution and later minister to France. He wrote many notes to the speculators concerning the difficulties of the task and of the techniques that he utilized to entice immigrants to come to the company's holdings. Lands were not selling, though Gouverneur Morris even "caused an offer to be held out to the Priests but they, whether they believed in Efficacy of their own Prayers or found it most convenient to seem to believe, Iknow not, but they declined also on the Score of Indigence." u It is a cliche in American foreign policy that Europe's distress has meant America's success, but in the case of Nicholson and his fellow speculators, Europe's distress meant their own duress. All Nicholson's agents, like William Crammond, Enoch Edwards, and James Gibson, reported that because of the wars of the French Revo-

51 Entry for May 18, 1792, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 52 Nicholson to John Adlum, Dec. 28, 1791, Nicholson Letterbooks, PRD. 53 Isaac Weld, Travels Through the States of North America and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Can-ada During the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797, 2nd ed., 2 vols. (London, 1779), 2: 93. 54 Beatrix Davenport, ed., A Diary of the French Revolution b\ Gouverneur Morr^, 1752-1816, 2 vols. (Boston, 1939), 2: 49. 366 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER

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in -JiJl 111" III IIIIjiI|l4 I II I!I? 'iifil-ijj. c Ii; *': 1^ > M-« T^"^ v-3 „ .*j | .ill I«J y^K « fe t 1% 1 £*% 368 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER lution, the land market was depressed in Europe, as funds were being channeled into the war effort. 55 A typical answer to one of Nicholson's queries about foreign land sales was made by GriffithEvans, another agent of his, when he wrote from Amsterdam : The Capitalists here have their funds tied up in loans to their government. This includes the Willinks and Cromilyns. Willink told me the Hamburgh market is just as bad. The European market willbe poor until peace is restored to the continent. 56 Part of the agents' difficulties stemmed from the fact that Nichol- son was trying to sell Population Company shares at $600 each in this depressed market. 57 Coupled with this was the fact that European investors who were buying land were buying forfeited aristocratic estates in France. GriffithEvans reported, "... speculations in Na- tional [French] and other property cuts out every thing &renders our pursuits very hopeless indeed." 58 An interesting case inpoint was that of James Monroe, minister to France, 1794-1796, and a future president of the United States. Monroe was a friend of Nicholson's, and many of the latter's letters sent to his agents in France were forwarded through Monroe. 59 Monroe helped Nicholson inhis land promotions until Monroe himself began to speculate in the French property. On August 26, 1795, Edwards wrote that "Mr.Monroe is not a Friend to our Land Specu- lations in this Country nor does he like to be the vehicle thro which Settlers be sent there." 60 He advised Nicholson that : Mr.Monroe has purchased [of the owner] twenty three acres of Land within the Walls of Paris with a very elegant House & great Improvements for less than two thousand pounds & which cost above forty thousand pounds in good Times —

55 Edwards to Nicholson, May 8, 13, Nov. 22, 1793; Gibson to Nicholson, July 6, 1795 ;Benjamin Parsons to Nicholson, Mar. 9, 1796, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. See also Evans, 204. 56 GriffithEvans to Nicholson, Sept. 21, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 57 Nicholson to Edwards, Apr. 22, 1795, Nicholson Letterbooks, 1, HSP. 58 Evans to Nicholson, Aug. 27, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 59 James Odier to Nicholson, Dec. 7, 1794, ibid.; Nicholson to Dr. Enoch Edwards in Care of His Excellency Mr. Monroe, Minister from United States, June 27, 1795, Nicholson Letterbooks, 3, HSP. 60 Edwards to Nicholson. Aug. 26, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. Mon- roe's reluctance to favor American speculators could have resulted from the disenchantment of French buyers and emigres stemming from the ill- fated Scioto fiasco when Frenchmen were misled by Joel Barlow and others into buying lands from the Scioto Company, but when they ar- rived to claim them in 1790 found they had no legal titles. Also, one William Playfair, who had negotiated some of the sales in Paris, absconded with the proceeds. See Aaron Sakolski, The Great American Land Bubble (New York, 1932), 103-10; Shaw Livermore, Early American Land Companies (New York, 1939), 138-46. Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago John Nicholson

1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 369

Idon't know but there are forty thousand as good Bargains as that for Sale — besides forfeited Property — in short the Americans, English, Dutch & all the world are buying here very largely.61 Nicholson replied that he was not sending any more of his agents' letters through Monroe nor would he ask the minister to promote his land companies. As for Monroe's dislike of land speculators, Nichol- son wrote :

Icannot however but suppose a part of that dislike may arise out of the different situation by which he now feels himself since his own great land speculation within the walls of Paris, a purchase in which speculating on the instability of the government of France he hath amassed an amazing fortune at one throw. Iwish him wellof itand long may he enjoy it — but he would recollect there was a time when he even for the means of his support and living he asked the aid of a land Speculator [Nicholson] and that he did not ask in vain.62 Not only was Nicholson having problems with Monroe, but the British consul at Philadelphia, Phineas Bond, was warning his coun- trymen not to invest in the wild lands of America, even though Bond himself was speculating in these lands in several deals with Nicholson. 63 But despite the difficulties, Nicholson did all inhis power to lure settlers to the Population Company lands. He was especially active with immigrant groups. In these promotions, he was probably trying to fulfillThomas Jefferson's goal when he wrote in 1782, "the Present desire of America is to produce rapid population by as many great importations of foreigners as possible." 64 The population of the United States, and Pennsylvania in particular, swelled in the 1790s and early 1800s. From 1783 to 1790, there was a 50 percent increase in the population of the state, bringing the total to upwards of 430,000. In the years from 1790 to 1800, 168,000 more came to the Key- stone State from abroad, and to capitalize on this influx the "Pennsyl-

61 Edwards to Nicholson, Aug. 1, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 62 Nicholson to Edwards, Nov. 7, 1795, Nicholson Letterbooks, 3, HSP. For evidences of Nicholson's former friendship and monetary support of Monroe see Odier to Nicholson, Dec. 7, 1794, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD ;Nicholson toMonroe, June 29, 1793, Nicholson Letterbooks, PRD. 63 Phineas Bond, "Letters," Annual Report of the American Historical Asso- ciation 1 (1897) : 472, 482-83, 536-37; Bond to Nicholson, Feb. 11, 1796, Jan. 23, 1799, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD; Nicholson to Bond, Apr. 11, 1796, Nicholson Letterbooks, 4, HSP. A recent biography of Bond, Joanne Neel, Phineas Bond, A Study in Anglo American Relations, 1786- 1812 (Philadelphia, 1968), does not mention these episodes. 64 A. A. Lipscomb, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 20 yols. (Wash- ington, 1903), 2: 118; Jefferson discussed the need for immigrants inhis "Notes on Virginia." The full discussion can be found on pp. 116-24. 370 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER vania Society for the Information and Assistance of Emigrants and Persons Emigrating from Foreign Countries" was formed in 1793. 65 Nicholson became the president of the organization and even helped to draft the birthday greeting the organization sent to President George Washington. 66 The society provided food, shelter, medical care, legal and financial aid, and above all, advice on land and settlements. Nicholson was especially active in aiding French immigrants and en- ticed some of them to go to the lands of another company of his, the Asylum Company. Nicholson and his company continued their attempts to entice settlers to their lands in northwestern Pennsylvania after the Indian dangers abated. On May 19, 1795, the agents were— instructed to sell the lands of the company at one dollar per acre one-third in cash, one-third in one year, and one-third in two years. The buyer had to build on the land within two years and clear at least ten acres in order for the company to meet the requirements of the Pennsylvania law of 1792. Alternate tracts of land were to be reserved for future company use. Inaddition, the company would help settlers open roads to their lands as long as the expense did not exceed $400. The company also granted 400 acres to ministers who would come and establish congre- gations on its lands. 67 Nicholson also brought English farmers to the Population Company lands in order to show American settlers improved agricultural techniques and, for the same purpose, sent Penn- sylvania Dutch farmers into the northwest. 68 He provided other necessities as well by importing experienced gunsmiths and cabinet- makers. However, all these efforts brought little results. The company could not attract enough buyers, so in 1797 it started to give lands away. To induce settlers, advertisements were circulated offering 100 acres free in each 400-acre tract and another 100 acres adjoining the first at one dollar an acre, with seven years to pay for them. There was no compulsion for the settler to purchase the rest of the tract but he could for one dollar per acre on the same credit terms. The company

65 Erna Risch, "Immigrant Aid Societies before 1820," PMHB 60 (1936) :15. 66 Philadelphia General Advertiser, Oct. 1, 1794; Robert Spencer to Nicholson, Dec. 13, 1794; William Turner to Nicholson, Apr. 3, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD ;Nicholson to Benjamin Dandridge, Feb. 21, 1796, Nicholson Letterbooks, 3, HSP. 67 Entries for May 19, 1795, Jan. 13, 1796, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 68 William Richards to Nicholson, Mar. 22, Aug. 4, 1794, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD; Nicholson to WilliamPower or Thomas Rees, Sept. 7, 1795, Nicholson Letterbooks, 2, HSP. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 371 also offered employment for men who would come and clear company lands at the rate of twelve dollars per month plus five dollars for expenses. 69 Part of the difficulties of the company derived from the fact that the people who were coming onto its lands were not paying for them but simply squatting. A typical instruction to the company's agents stated, "an important part of your trust willbe to prevent intrusions on the Land of the Company"by persons not settling under them [Articles of Agreements] .... 70 The Population Company was having difficultyfulfillingthe stipulation of the land law of 1792 which required improvements and families on the lands within two years ;the company's failure would result in the lands reverting to the state and becoming subject to resale. The actual settlers in the western part of the state were well aware of the improvements required under the Pennsylvania laws and knew that if they could prove that they had settled and improved the land, it would be offered to them at reduced rates. Liancourt, in describing American speculators, might have had Nicholson in mind when he said : ... the increase of the population in the United States renders it every day- more difficult to the speculators in land to preserve their titles to the immense tracts they possess, without clearing and cultivating them. 71 The settlers formed squatter clubs and were represented in the legislature by Albert Gallatin, John Smilie, William Findley, and others. They pressed hard for the enforcement of the Land Law of April 23, 1794, which stated that no warrants would be issued for lands unless persons could prove that settlement and improvements had been made and also provided that application for lands on file in the land office, if not paid by June 15, 1794, would be void. Knowing that this law was going to be passed, and in order to thwart their efforts, Nicholson brashly applied for 202,400 acres in the New Pur- chase on April21, 1794, paying for them with a check. 72 Later, when these lands were not delivered to him, Nicholson applied to Attorney-

69 Entry for Jan. 25, 1797, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 70 Entry for May 19, 1795, ibid. 71 Liancourt, 4: 74. 72 The New Purchase was the land obtained from the Six Nations at the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768. For 10,000 pounds the Indians surrendered the present counties of Greene, Washington, Somerset, Fayette, Wyoming, Westmoreland, Cambria, Susquehanna, Sullivan, and parts of Beaver, Allegheny, Armstrong, Indiana, Lackawanna, Wayne, Union, Pike, Snyder, Luzerne, Clearfield, Centre, Clinton, Lycoming, Bradford, Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland. See Pennsylvania Colonial Records, 9: 554-55; Sipe, 484. 372 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER

General Jared Ingersoll to force the issue. 73 So the bona fide settlers had a formidable adversary in the speculator. Nevertheless, as soon as the Indian danger subsided in 1795, squatters invaded in increasing numbers. All the company's agents complained to Nicholson about the intrusions and asked for help.74 Nicholson answered one of his agents with, "they will serve me more than themselves." 75 The Philadelphian meant that they would improve the land, and then his agents would move them off. Liancourt ob- served that the speculators "... sue for the ejectment of the poor families who took possession on the faith of the law." 76 Aiding the speculators, and especially Nicholson, in this process of ejectment was the Board of Property, an agency established to settle land disputes, which, with Brodhead and Mifflin serving as members, was very friendly to him in the 1790s. The board gave the Population Company more time to make settlement if the company could present "preven- tion certificates" from local justices of the peace certifying that the Indian hostilities of 1792-1793 had prevented actual settlements from being made. Since Nicholson and the other speculators in his company were responsible for the appointment of many of these justices, these certificates were not difficult to obtain. The board in 1796 certified that the Population Company had rightful title to its lands under the law of April 3, 1792. To reinforce the board's decision, Nicholson and the Board of Managers of the company solicited the opinions of some of the leading lawyers of Phila- delphia, including Jared Ingersoll, Edward Tilghman, William Lewis, William Rawle, and Moses Levy, and they agreed with the Board of Property. 77 The Population Company, Nicholson's North American Land Company, and the Holland Land Company, each of which held lands in northern Pennsylvania, split in thirds the cost of a pamphlet which contained these opinions. This pamphlet was then distributed to the settlers. 78 However, the settlers recognized the biased opinions of the board and of these lawyers, many of whom held stock in the land companies. Thomas Collins, another agent for the Population Company, warned that the people would not look kindly on the com-

73 Nicholson to Ingersoll, May 3, 1796, Nicholson Letterbooks, 4, HSP. 74 For examples see Alexander Power to Nicholson, Apr. 30, 1796 ;John Davis to Nicholson, May 14, 1796; Power to Nicholson, June 12, 1796, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 75 Nicholson to Power, Oct. 24, 1796, Nicholson Letterbooks, 4, HSP. 76 Liancourt, 4: 74. 77 Notice of May 13, 1796, in Population Co. Papers, EPM. 78 Nicholson to Cazenove, Mar. 29, 1796, Nicholson Letterbooks, 3, HSP. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 373 pany appeals to the Board of Property because they feared that speculators controlled it and its decisions. 79 The settlers also received legal help of their own. William Power reported to Nicholson that ". .. the Intruders are getting support from some Character of Influence at Fort Pitt." 80 The man to whom Power was referring was Hugh Henry Brackenridge, the most prominent lawyer in Western Pennsylvania. Nicholson also knew of Brackenridge's presence and influence and tried to woo him into the company's employ, but Brackenridge wanted the company to give him $5,000 as a retainer and, in addition, to pay him a sizable salary. 81 Nicholson and the company were financially embarrassed at that point and could not meet his demands. So Brackenridge started to support the settlers and countered the other lawyers' arguments with the con- tentions that those who had settled on the lands and made improvements thereon should prevail and that the company had taken out warrants fraudulently. 82 Brackenridge later accepted an offer to serve as legal counsel for the company. 83 To counter the efforts of the actual settlers and their supporters, the company secured the services of Judah Colt, one of the major land agents for Alexander Macomb in the Adirondacks region of the state of New York. Colt had come into the triangle with his brother Samuel on a mission to pacify the Indians in 1795-1796. He met Thomas Rees, the company's agent, and purchased some land from him.84 Wanting to purchase more in March 1796, he set out for Philadelphia to appear before the board of the Population Company to get his purchase confirmed and to ask for permission to buy 30,000 acres more at the east end of the triangle at one dollar per acre. Nicholson and the others declined to sell him such a large tract. Aaron Burr then suggested that Colt become an agent for the company. Nicholson, Morris, and Cazenove then wrote to Morris's son William, his father's agent in New York, inquiring about the character of Colt.85 Evidently his response satisfied them, because Colt was

79 Entry of Aug. 22, 1796, in blotter of Judah Colt, 1804, Pattee Library, Pa. State University (hereafter cited as Colt Blotter). 80 Power to Nicholson, June 12, 1796, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 81 Entry of Aug. 22, 1796, Colt Blotter. 82 Brackenridge to Alexander Addison, Jan. 7, 1796, Manuscript Collections, Darlington Memorial Library, University of Pittsburgh. 83 Entry for Feb. 23, 1797, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 84 Judah Colt, "Judah Colt's Narrative," Publications of the Buffalo Histori- cal Society, 57 vols. to date (Buffalo, 1904), 7: 15-18. For Macomb's activities see Sakolski, chap. 3. 85 Morris to WilliamMorris, Mar. 22, 1796, Morris Letterbooks, PRD. 374 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER made the general agent for the company in the Erie Triangle at $1,500 yearly salary plus 10 percent of the profits from his sales. Furthermore, he was elected to be a manager of the company to re- place Tench Francis who had resigned. 86 Colt's instructions were written by Nicholson and Cazenove, and they required that he give all settlers on company land a twelve- month credit in the company store in proportion to their improvements at the rate of fifteen dollars per acre for the first two acres cleared and fifteen dollars for the construction of a house. Inaddition, he was to build gristmills and sawmills at the company's expense and to build roads and hire workmen to clear land. Nicholson shrewdly also instructed him to have settlers build so that their houses would stand on the point where boundaries of four tracts intersected and to divide their improvements equally among the four tracts so that their improvements and settlements would satisfy the land laws for al) four tracts.—87 They then sent Colt out to the squatters with this ad- monition "MayJudah Colt, agent for the Population Company, drive the intruders before him as Samson did the Philistines." 88 Colt may have had divine sanction, but just to be certain, he employed from forty to one hundred men to help fight the squatters. Occasionally, he did resort to force inorder to combat those who were destroying company property and to enforce ejectment notices. 89 But Colt and the company preferred to use nonviolent means in regard to intruders. The latter instructed all its agents to avoid open ruptures ;they were to give squatters formal legal notice in the presence of a witness, present the company's title to the tract, and then make an offer for the squatter to buy the tract on easy terms. Ifthis failed, then ejectment was to follow.90 The company also tried a different approach— with another intru- der, the McNair brothers of Pittsburgh Robert, David, and Dun- ning. The McNair brothers claimed 240 tracts, totaling 96,000 acres, of Pennsylvania Population Company lands. The McNair s were de-

86 Entry for Apr. 19, 1796, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS ; Colt, "Narrative," 18-19 ;Population Co. Plan of Association, Booklet 1:150, EPM. 87 Entry for Apr. 26, 1796, Judah Colt Accounts and Letters, 1796-99, Francis Spencer Estate Papers, EPM;entry for Apr. 26, 1796, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 88 Entry for Aug. 22, 1796, Colt Blotter. 89 Entry for July 24, 1797, Journal of Judah Colt, vol. 1, Francis Spencer Estate Papers, EPM. 90 Entry for Feb. 17, 1797, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 375 stroying company improvements and harassing surveying crews, 91 so the company decided to compromise. The McNairs were to supervise the settlement of the disputed tracts in the Erie Triangle which were to be held in common with the company partially financing the operations. Ultimately the company had to pay $23,000 in expenses. Profits from land sales were to be evenly divided between the McNairs and the company. The company benefited from this arrangement, because the McNairs were assuming the settlement and improvement requirements of the Pennsylvania land laws. The McNairs eventually became indebted to the company and were forced to sell their holdings. 92 But instances of expediencies such as these were of little value in promoting the company's fortunes. Land sales were poor despite Nicholson and the board instructing their agents to build houses, make improvements, and then "...give such houses and improvements [to settlers] as an encouragement to get the lands settled." 93 Despite all their efforts, by 1796 only 113 sales of 26,000 acres had been made, and by 1798, only 248 actual settlers had complied withtheir contracts in the Erie Triangle. Judah Colt's total expenditures for the 1796- 1799 period were $113,595.34; his income from sales was only $31,995. 94 Settlers preferred to squat on lands rather than to pay for them even on the very liberal terms offered by the company. Judah Colt once became— so exasperated that he exclaimed, in a masterly un- derstatement "the obstinacy of adverse settlers renders my employment in some respects unpleasant." 95 Nicholson and his associates also had an unpleasant experience with the Pennsylvania Population Company. Since income from land sales was slight and taxes on unsold lands remained to be paid, the managers were hard pressed to sustain solvency. Nicholson, because of difficulties in this and other ventures, was especially desperate. He offered to buy Robert Morris's shares in the company, giving as his reason, "Iwant to make the same use of them that you do, that is to

91 Colt to Dunning McNair, Nov. 13, 1797, McNair Papers, HSWP Manu- script Collections. 92 Marian Silveus, ed., "McNair Correspondence: Land Problems in North- western Pennsylvania," WPHM 18 (1935) :239-40; entries for Feb. 21, 23, Mar. 11, 1797, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS ;David McNair to Dunning McNair, Jan. 30, 1800, McNair Papers, HSWP. 93 Population Company Minute Books, Booklet 2: 80. 94 Entries for Apr. 17, 1798, Dec. 23, 1799, Colt Accounts and Letters, EPM. 95 Colt, "Narrative," 347. For additional terms and credit features, see entries for Mar. 2, 3, 1797, Colt Accounts and Letters, EPM. ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER 376

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Xanie of Claimant, Residence. When

Septembe David Achesou, Washington, county, Smith, Philadelphia, do Jacob do do Thoma3 Learning, Jr. Graham, do do Y/illiam do Francis Lowndes,- Georgetown, Estate, Philadelphia, do Thomas Elder's do do Jacob Clement, Estate, Hartshorn, do do Robert do. do Samuel Grifnn's Estate, Paul, Estate, Belleair, Maryland, do John Philadelphia, do Francis Deakin's, Estate, Vanghan, do do John Baltimore, do Thomas Hall,Estate, do Peter A.Grotjan, Philadelphia, do do James Glenthworth, estate, do Flowers, estate, do John do do John Hough, McConnell, estate, Huntingdon, do Matthew Philadelphia, do Thompson, estate, ; George do do John Dungan, do do Thomas Shields, estate, Barclay's estate, do. do John do do Peter Lolira, estate, deceased, do do Samuel Jones, do Johnson, estate, Maryland, Gov. Washington, Pa. do David Acheson, do William Meredith, estate, Philadelphia, Randall, do do Thomas Bates do Dubbs, of J •Levis,) do Martin (use II. do do Daniel Bray, iMaryland, August Benjamin Stoddard, I 1, Philadelphia, September Thomas Learning Jr. do and Andrew Petlit, do Andrew Bayard do Samuel Jackson's estate, '{Tennessee, Duncan, IPhiladelphia, do V/illir.rn do % Sharpless, do Jesso &J. do James Vanusera, for ihc use of theFrench Republic, Johnson, iPhiladelphia, ! do Franc!:i deceased, I do Joseph estate, do Ilud-JeH's do do ICobert Covrey, do Thomas estate, do Wilson's do do John Lisle, I do Thomas .Bcdwcill,estate, ! do city, publisher A listof claims against the estate of John Nicholson, The Journal of Law,no no given, 1830, vol. 1, no. 6, 4 (a two-vol. set). 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 377

Es/ate of Jb/m Nicholson. 1

•eceivcd. Nature of claim. Principal. Interest io 1st April, Total. 1839. 24, 1839. Judgment." $ 557 00 $ 1,469 73 8 2,046 73 24 " 3,000 00 7,500 00 10,560 00 25 1,552 56 3,940 01 5,492 57 25 Notes'' 20,000 00 48,829 97 08,829 97 19 " 49,000 00 .119,532 62 103,532 62 17 " 13,000 00 '32,210 54 45,210 54 24 27,000 00 06,562 83 93,562 83 21 Judgments, 45,000 00 108,^90 00 153,090 00 19 Bonds 3,333 56 8,478 23 11,811 79 14 Note 10,000 00 24,633 33 34,633 33 18 Notes 130,000 00 319,899 39 449,899 39 24 Judgments, note?, &c. 121,860-91 302,140 63 424: 54 25 Note 1,333 33 3,515 0& 4,848 41 14 Notes 14,000 00 34,439 67 .48,439 67 25 Notes 23,253 34 70,102 63 39.355 97 25 Note" 10,000 00 24,300 60 34,-306 63 26 2,000 00 .4,945 09 6,945 00 24 Judgment 21,583 88 43,01T 97 70,1*95 85 24 Notes and judgments 179,547 00 441,165 94 620,712 94 25 " " 15,000 00 37,230 00 52,230 00 26 Judgments 15,072 53 7,269 96 22,342 49 26 Judgment 10,566 67 25,333 76 36,555 43 26 Judgments . 221,840 00 534,232 57 756,072 57 26 Judgment 5,000 00 12,333 34 17,333 34 4 Notes 56,269 54 337,243 49 193,513 03 3 Note 2,000 00 4,920 00 6,020 CO 26 Judgment 50,000 00 120,450 CO 176,400 00 26 Judgment 3,000 00 7,523 50 10,523 50 26 '• 10,000 OOj 25,257 23 35,287 23 21 Note' 2,000 00. 4,045 CO 0,945 00 29 Notes" 87,000 00 213,26! 65 200,201 66 27 " 4,000 00 10,052 65 14 052 65 27 " 20,000 00 49.700 00 09,700 00 30 "' 113,917 79 281,679 82 305,588 61 26 112,000 00 274,219 53 380,219 53 30 Judgments 9,783 55 24,670 77 34,454 32 30 Judgment 25,000*00 66,236 10 91,200 10 30 Note 4,000 00, 10,022 67 1-1,023 07 30 Notes 19/.00 00 40,00.1 15 05,004 15 30 Judgment 5,000 Co! 52,230 8-1 17,250 Si- 30 Notes 12,000 00": 29,033 66 41,933 00 28 (Judgment 6,000 OOj 15/.-25 00 21,025 On 28 JNole 5.000 00! V^2 00 3,1-12 00 OCTOBER 378 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE r~rr?vr-^—rer^.Trg'tig^^jLyttJU^tiJ^jn&'rjrTrr^ Page 4. List—C<

Karac of Claimant. Residence. When

Dr. John Ewing, deceased. Philadelphia, September .Tcne Uouvert, do do WilliamMoulder, Jr. deceased, do do Jrv.nes C. Fisher, do do Lr.inbert Cadwallader, do do George McCall, do do Archibald McCall, do do WilliamLorman aud Son, Baltimore, do Henry Payson, do do <.»' cargo McCalmont, Philadelphia,; do LcviHollingiwonh,deceased, do do William Dcwees, estate, do do J. Clement &B. Taylor, do do Willing&Francis, do October T. W. Francis, deceased, do September James N. Barker, Washington city, do Nicholas Deehl, Philadelphia, do John Fries, do do Juhn IT. Huston, do do I'lairMcClenachan, do do Deborah Stewart and others, executors, do do 1». McClenachan &P. Moore, dQ do T. W. Francis, . do do Charles Pryor, deceased, do October Richard Robison, deceased, do September Gavin Hamilton's estate, do county, do riiarles Woodward, in trust, do city, do (.'eorgo &Henry "Wescott, do do Corporation for the relief of poor Presbyterian Ministers, do do Abraham Duflield's estate, do do Will»am Drew's estate, do do Peter Devicmon's estate, do do Jfaac Ash ton's estate, do October Daniel Smith's estate, do September A. Henry &James Boggs, do do Samuel Mains, Assignee of J. Downing, do do William &John Ncwbold, do do ,'c.ne. Ross Bennier, do October 'chn Craig, do September /.dam Zantzingcr, do October T. B.Freeman, do September I'cujnmin Lay, deceased, do do C wenRice, 'Bethlehem, October 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 379

«sr**»a>aasa&*v-irs£K***S2$k B«ggmm»i-iEv'ivam' jmaa^a n\^tKxsnuu.vMtit:xisaKsstP^aff ;ya.a^x3iW-vffi«ra^y-.K;c3nw nlinued. * ' • Nature of claim* Principal. Interest toN UtApril, Total* *ccivc£ 1839.

*28 1839. Judgments * 48,666 67 0 125,717 55 0174,384 22 28 Notes 10,500 00 25,953 49 36,453 49 Noto 1,814 81 4,521 37 0,336 18 28 18 27 Judgment' 14,500 00 36,564 18 51,064 28 « 15,000 00 36,517 50 51,517' 50 2g « 5,000 00 12,471 05 17,471 .65 93 i< 30,000 00 76,103 70 106,103 70 30 Notes 34,000 00 83,016 6G 117,016 66 30 « 10,000 00 24,503 34 34,503 34 28 Note 4,000 00 0,901 34 13,901 34 23 Judgments 48,352 00 121,927 60 170,279 66 27 Notes 110,000 00 268,915 32 378,915 32 29 Judgment 14,000 00 34 >G25 00 48 »G25 00 1 Judgments 52,000 00 129,932 66 181,922 66 2g V 58,700 00 147,014 62 205,720 62 29 Notes 6,500 00 15,948 79 22,448 79 50 Judgment 14,920 00 37,785 73 52,705 73 30 « 13,333 33 34,493 32 47,S26 65 30 Judgments 160,000 00 389,520 00 549,520 00 30 °ic 67,000 00 168,896 84 235,806 84 •30 « 127,000 00 319,133 22 446,133 22 30 « 39,815 49 10^,034 83 141,859 37 30 Notes 47,000 00 110,453 04 1G3,453 64 1 Judgments 11,375 00 23,708 50 40,143 50 30 Not! 5,000 00 12,206 G6 17,266 66 30 Notes 2,000 00 5,250 00 7:250 00 30 « 138,000 00 287,935 97 425,935 97 30 Judgments 7,233 77 18,357 25 25,561 02 30 «• 50,454 23 136,459 91 180,914 14 30 Judgment 10,000 00 24,590 00 31,590 00 \ 30 Note 8,000 00 10,719 33 27,749 33 25 Notes 28,107 00 08,330 17 00,937 17 1 Nole 5,000 00 12,260 06 17,2G6 G6 30 Judgment 3,345 39 8,579 09 11,024 48 1 30 °« 4,000 00 9,829 60 13,829 66 30 »' 2,000 00 5.323 33 7,328 33 30 « 726 29 1,875 05 2,001 34 1 Notes 11,000 00 20,980 49 37,980 49 f 30 Judgments 11.871 00 30,160 77 42,031 77 1 Judgment 10,000 00 24,018 33 3-1,018 33 30 Notes, &c 3,11110 8,002 99 11,174 09 30 Notes 32,012 7:1 79,772 17 111,785 21 05; 3 I «» 17,000 00 41,714 58,714 65 380 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER

Pago 4. LlSt—Ci

Name of Claimant. Re; idencc- When

Hartman Kuhn,- Philadelphia, October Charles McKniglit,- do do J. S. &D.Hoofman, Baltimore, September Daniel Steinmetz, Philadelphia, October Adeline S. Calvin, Washington city, do Samuel Hays, deceas3d f Philadelphia, do Paul Deck, Jr. do do William Richardson's estate*, do do Richard North, deceased, do do Jonathan Pickering, do do John II.Price, attorney forF.Brown* Rock Run, Maryland, do Samuel Coates 1 estate, Philadelphia. do Franklin Comlv, do do George L:uimore and Son, do do Gabriel Kerns 1 estate, do do James Rces, Geneva, New York, do Thomas Grant's estate, Philadelphia, do Charles K.Bcymoth, Louisville, Kentucky, do Mrs. Lydia Bidelle, Carlisle, do William.Montgomery's estate, Philadelphia, do Samuel Rees, Stroudsburg, Monroe county, do J, Tracel and N.Mailack, Philadelphia, do Daniel Parker, Administrator of Z. Collins, do do 1 The Union Canal Company ofPennsylvania* do do Joseph Boon's estate, do do Robert Porler, do do WilliamParker, do do David W. Barton, Winchester, Ya, do "Walter Franklin, Lancaster, do George. Brilton, Philadelphia^ do James Hopkin's estate, Lancaster, do Benjamin Thaw's estate, Philadelphia, do Rev. Walter D. Addison, Washington city* do Samuel H.Perkins, Philadelphia, do Samuel G. Darby, do do Aaron Levy, estate, do do Charles Young's estate, do do Margaret Fullerton's estate, do November WilliamHenderson's estater Norristown* September'

George W. Bedwell, St, Louis, Novembef 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 381 rdinued. 3 e reived. Nature of claim. Principal., Intrust to 1st April, Total 1839. 4 1830 Notes" $ 10,000 00 3 39.384 00 '$5,384 CO 7 " 3,000 00 7,319 00 10,319 CO 27 " 20.100 00 63,942 91 90,012 9' 9 163:637 21 403,340 76 506,977 £ 4 Note 5,000 00 12,213 75 17,243 16 4 Notes" 9,500 00 23,492 91 3.?^i)2 91 4 " 14,500 00 35,015 58 50,115 58 12 22,500 00 53,095 00 77,5!)5 (0 4 Note'" 10,000 00 24,475 00 34,475 CO 16 9,000 00 22,139 *16 31,139 16 11 Notes 20,000 00 49,172 38 69,172 38 11 Judgment 5,000 00 7,447 2 12,447 25 15 Notts 112,000 CO 274,601 0J 380,001 09 12 Balance of account 9,285 33 23,874 21 33,159 54 1 Judgment 12,000 Q0 30,326 00 42,320 00 11 Notes 6,320 00 20,893 87 29,213 87 •• 5,929 42 10,0.71 55, 14,000 98 9 " 23,000 00 69,017 9!) 97,017 09 10 « 10,059 48 40,084 53 56,14! 01 3 Judgment 1,202 00 3,« 70 10 4,273 10 22 Notes 8,500 00 21,011 88 29,511 83 23 Judgment 4,154 55 10,114 Cfi 14,2^9 52 Notes 2,500 00 23.4-8 83 32 9:3 S3 23 Note and Judgment 42,856 50 111,852 75 154,740 25 22 34,532 80 84,910 52 119,443 32 25 Judgment 17,332 00 43,704 74 ;036 74 25 Notes 25,00') 00 6',2 18 75 86,218 75 26 Note 4,000 00 9,833 57 13,833 87 28 Note and Judgment 21,000 00 51,620 66 72,0*20 60 29 Notes" 8,000 00 19,770 66 27,770 6ff 30 6,000 00 14,760 00; 20,700 00 26 " 20,000 00 49,100 M 00,100 63 25 Note 8,627 57 21,166 09 29/703 00 28 Judgment 22,0(0 00 54,307 33 76,307 33 28 Notes 23,000 00 56,784 16 79,734 16 29 Notes and Bonds 31,675 59 76,720 86 103,390 45 25 Balance of account 221,697 22 501,035 09 722,732 31 5 Judgment 3,444 00 9,295 89 12,739 89 16 Note 8,000 00 19,660 00 27,000 00 $3,797,170 26 39,259,602 97 013,050,603 23 1 3,500 00 8,557 49 12,057 49 83,800,070 26 $9,268,250 46 613,068,020 72 382 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER *

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S g-i f i 11 I * * * 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 383 raise ready money on them ...." 96 Morris did sell him his shares for $20,000, but ithad to be a credit arrangement. Nicholson by 1796 was heavily in debt to the company, as he had not paid for the assessments on shares that had been levied to keep the company in operation. 97 One of the managers, John Field, blamed Nicholson for mismanage- ment, and Nicholson countered by ridiculing Field. It was a fact that Nicholson was so involved with other land schemes and ventures by 1796 that he was not devoting as much time as he should have to the Population Company, but it was decided to continue the enterprise. 98 Nicholson had sold many of his shares in the company by 1797 in order to try to raise cash to pay his innumerable debts. 99 In this period he wrote, "Ihave been endeavoring to save the shares in the Population Company from fine & forfeiture.° Ihope Ican get an ad- vance to pay the contributions." 10 But he could escape neither fine nor forfeiture, and his associates, on one occasion, thought that he had absconded. He later dejectedly informed them: Were Icircumstanced as Iformerly have been Ishould add ... that the sum should be paid by me within the time stipulated, but my situation is not un- known to most of you. Iam without the command of money. 101 The only recourse he had was to give notes, with his remaining Popu- lation Company shares in the hands of a trustee as security for payment. In 1798, Nicholson was forced to relinquish the presidency of the company he had founded and was succeeded by John Field.102 The managers, upon Nicholson's failure to honor his notes, held a sheriff's sale of 400,000 acres of Nicholson's lands in the donation tract and

96 Nicholson to Morris, Jan. 13, 1795, Nicholson Letterbooks, 1, HSP ;Morris to Nicholson, Jan. 17, 1795, Morris Letterbooks, Library of Congress. 97 Entries for Feb. 1, May 13, June 29, 1797, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS; Gazette of the United States, Feb. 2, 1797; James Gibson to Nicholson, Jan. 22, 1797, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD. 98 Field to Nicholson, Jan. 26, 1795, Nicholson Gen. Corres., PRD; entry for Mar. 17, 22, 1796, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 99 Nicholson to James Crammond, Aug. 3, 1797; Nicholson to Denny, July 3, 1797, Nicholson Letterbooks, 4, 7, HSP ;Cazenove to Nicholson, Jan. 6, 1798; Hartshore, Large and Company to Nicholson, Feb. 9, 1798, Nichol- son Gen. Corres., PRD. 100 Nicholson to William Crammond, Feb. 23, 1797, Nicholson Letterbooks, 5, HSP. 101 Nicholson to Managers of the Population Co., Mar. 1, 1797, ibid. 102 Entry for Jan. 10, 1798, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. One of the managers elected was Paul Busti, formerly chief agent for the Holland Land Company. See Day Book of the Holland Land Co., 1795-1800, CCHS. 384 ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE OCTOBER later held another sale of his Erie lands. 103 Finally, on January 1, 1812, twelve years after Nicholson's death, the secretary of the company declared his fourteen remaining shares forfeited. 104 After the Republican administration of Thomas McKean attained control of the state in December 1799, the land policy of Pennsylvania underwent a transformation. The Board of Property then—became dominated by Republicans and reversed its earlier policies itnow favored the actual settlers in their disputes with the companies. There- after, many court battles ensued over contested land, which cost the company both money and buyers for its lands. As a result, when a decision was reached to liquidate in 1812 the company even had to borrow $500 to conduct an auction sale. Itreceived $70,739 from the sale with debts to be paid totaling $44,715.94. The remainder was divided among the stockholders, 105 and on June 1, 1815, the company closed its books. Judge William Griffithof New Jersey and J. B. Wallace, a Phila- delphia attorney, purchased some of the company's lands, but clear titles to most of its holdings required long litigation. 106 Many of the lands of the company after 1812 were sold to actual settlers. Later, in conjunction with a lien the state of Pennsylvania had placed on Nicholson's lands, a dispute developed. The Nicholson commissioners, who had been appointed by the state to collect monies due from Nicholson to the state, were to sell the lands the state claimed belonged to Nicholson's heirs at auction in Pittsburgh in 1842. This land had been sold by the Population Company and individual proprietors long before, and the lands were no longer the property of the Nicholson family. Harm J. Huidekoper, a former secretary-treasurer of the company, wrote a pamphlet in 1842 in which he defended the right of the 40,000 settlers who had purchased the lands and were then residing on them. In it he stated : for nearly forty years a special Board of Commissioners has existed, charged with the duty of finding out, and selling, the property of John Nicholson and

103 Population Co. Minute Books, Booklet 2 : 4. Some of these lands later re- verted to the state. 104 Entry for Jan. 1, 1812, Population Co. Minute Books, CCHS. 105 Entry for Apr. 24, 1813, ibid.;Huidekoper, 10. 106 Population Co. Minute Books, Booklet 1: 1-2; for various court litigations see Marshall Anspach, "The Sunbury Case," Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings 19 (1952) :103-18; Walter McClintock, "Title Difficulties of the Holland Land Company in Northwestern Pennsylvania," WPHM 21 (1938): 119-38; Russell Ferguson, Early Western Pennsylvania Politics (Pittsburgh, 1938), 182-85. 1974 JOHN NICHOLSON AND THE POPULATION COMPANY 385 none of these has ever pretended, that any of the lands [of the Population Com- pany] were subject to the State Lien.107 The state must have agreed with him because the sale was not held, and the Nicholson court and state lien were abolished shortly thereafter.

107 Huidekoper, 11. For the career ofHuidekoper see Nina and Francis Tiffany, Harm Jan Huidekoper (Cambridge, Mass., 1904). However, they do not mention his pamphlet nor his efforts on behalf of the actual settlers.