Cresap's War
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- For the 1774 conflict also known as "Cresap's War," see Dunmore's War.
Cresap's War (also known as the Conojocular War) was a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a series of violent incidents prompted by disputes over property rights and law enforcement, and escalated through the first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A final settlement was not achieved until 1767, when the Mason-Dixon Line was recognized as the permanent boundary between the two colonies.[1]
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[edit] Background
Pennsylvania's Charter (1681) specified that the colony was bounded "on the South by a Circle drawne at twelve miles distance from New Castle Northward and Westward unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of Northern Latitude, and then by a streight Line Westward...."[2] Later surveys established that the town of New Castle in fact lay a full 25 miles south of the fortieth parallel, setting the stage for a boundary dispute. Maryland insisted that the boundary be drawn at the fortieth parallel as specified in the Charter, while Pennsylvania proposed that it be drawn by an elaborate method which purported to compensate for the geographic misunderstanding on which the Charter had been based. This proposal placed the boundary near 39 36', creating a twenty-eight mile wide strip of disputed territory.[3]
Because the fortieth parallel lay north of the city of Philadelphia, Maryland pressed its claim most seriously in the sparsely inhabited lands west of the Susquehanna River. By the late 1710s, rumors had begun to reach the Pennsylvania Assembly that Maryland was planning to establish settlements in the disputed area near the river. In response, Pennsylvania attempted to bolster its claim to the territory by organizing a proprietorial manor along the Codorus Creek, just west of the river, in 1722. This action prompted a crisis in relations between the two colonies, leading to a royal proclamation in 1724 which prohibited both colonies from establishing new settlements in the area until a boundary had been surveyed. However, the two sides failed to reach agreement on the location of the boundary, and unauthorized settlement recommenced within a short time.[1]
In 1726, John Wright opened a ferry service across the Susquehanna, greatly easing transportation between the disputed area and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. By 1730, a number of Pennsylvania Dutch settlers had crossed the river and taken up residence.[4] Determined to counter this development, a Marylander, Thomas Cresap, opened a second ferry service at Blue Rock, about four miles south of Wright's Ferry.
Owing to the royal proclamation of 1724, the Pennsylvania settlers did not have clear title to the lands that they occupied. Apparently in defiance of the proclamation, Maryland granted Cresap title to five hundred acres along the west bank of the river,[5] much of which was already inhabited. Cresap began to act as a land agent, persuading many Pennsylvania Dutch to purchase their farms from him, thus obtaining title under Maryland law, and began collecting quit-rents (an early form of property tax) for Maryland. In response, Pennsylvania authorities at Wright's Ferry began to issue "tickets" to new settlers which, while not granting immediate title, promised to award title as soon as the area was officially opened to settlement.[6]
[edit] Outbreak of hostilities
Sometime in late October, 1730, Cresap was attacked on his ferry boat by two Pennsylvanians. According to Cresap's deposition, the two men declared that they intended to murder him, but he escaped when the boat drifted into shallow water. Cresap was dissatisfied by the response of the Pennsylvania magistrate to whom he reported the attack. Then, significantly, Cresap filed charges with Maryland authorities, claiming that Pennsylvania officials had conspired with the attackers and with local native tribes to drive him from the area.,[7] From this point onward, Cresap would maintain that as a resident of Maryland, he was not bound by Pennsylvania law and was not obliged to cooperate with Pennsylvania's law enforcement officers.
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[edit] Mistreatment of natives
[edit] Patterson/Lowe incident
[edit] 1732 agreement
[edit] Hendricks plantation affair
[edit] Attempt to arrest Cresap
[edit] German farmers renounce Cresap
[edit] Arrival of Maryland militia
[edit] Arrival of Pennsylvania militia
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Cresap first obtained a patent from Maryland for a ferry at Peach Bottom, near the Patterson farm, then shot several of Patterson's horses. One of the Marylanders, Lowe, was arrested and jailed, but the other Marylanders broke into the jail and freed him.
Cresap then obtained one for "Blue Rock Ferry" and several hundred acres of land, about 3½ miles south of Wrightsville, forcibly took possession of John Hendricks' planation at Wrightsville.[8]
Cresap was no Quaker by any means; he had previously "cleft" an assailant in Virginia with a broad-ax when clearing disputed land there.[8]
Lord Baltimore had been unwilling to entreat with Indians for what he took,[8] but in 1733, reached an accommodation with the Pennsylvanians, but by 1734, Cresap was again evicting settlers from their Lancaster and York county homes, rewarding his gang members with the properties.[8]
The sheriff of Lancaster County brought a posse to arrest Cresap, but when deputy Knowles Daunt was at the door, Cresap fired through it, wounding Daunt. The sheriff asked Mrs. Cresap for a candle, so that they could see to tend to Daunt's wounds, but Mrs. Cresap refused, "crying out that not only was she glad he had been hit, she would have preferred the wound had been to his heart."[8] When Daunt died, Pennsylvania Governor Gordon demanded that Maryland arrest Cresap for murder. Governor Ogle of Maryland responded by naming Cresap a captain in the Maryland militia.[8]
Cresap continued his raids, destroying barns and livestock, until Sheriff Samuel Smith raised a posse of 24 armed "non-Quakers" to arrest him on November 25, 1736. Unable to get him to surrender, they set his cabin on fire, and when he made a run for the river, they were upon him before he could launch a boat. He shoved one of his captors overboard, and cried, "Cresap's getting away", and the other deputies pummeled their peer with oars until the ruse was discovered. Removed to Lancaster, a blacksmith was fetched to put him in steel manacles, but Cresap knocked the blacksmith down in one blow. Once constrained in steel, he was hauled off to Philadelphia, and paraded through the streets before being imprisoned. His spirit unbroken, he announced, "Damn it, this is one of the prettiest towns in Maryland!"[8]
[edit] Resolution
Following Cresap's arrest, Maryland sent a petition to King George II requesting that he intervene to restore order pending the outcome of the Chancery suit. On August 18, 1737, the king issued a proclamation instructing the governments of both colonies to cease hostilities.[9] Sporadic violence continued, prompting both sides to petition the king for further intervention. In response, the royal Committee for Plantation Affairs organized direct negotiations between the two colonies, which resulted in the signing of a peace agreement in London on May 25, 1738. This agreement provided for an exchange of prisoners and the drawing of a provisional boundary fifteen miles south of the city of Philadelphia. Each side agreed to respect the other's authority to conduct law enforcement and grant title to land on its own side of this boundary, pending the final action of the Chancery Court.[10]
Because Blue Rock Ferry lay well to the north of the provisional boundary, Cresap did not return to the area following his release in the prisoner exchange. In 1750, the Chancery Court upheld the validity of the 1732 agreement, which became the basis on which Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed the modern boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland in 1767. Today the conflict area is part of York County, Pennsylvania.
Cresap's son Michael played a prominent role in Lord Dunmore's War (1774).[8] For this reason some historians also refer to the 1774 conflict as "Cresap's War."
[edit] References
- ^ a b Paul Doutrich, "Cresap's War: Expansion and Conflict in the Susquehanna Valley," Pennsylvania History 53(1986), pp. 89--104.
- ^ Charter for the Province of Pennsylvania.
- ^ Christopher Whong, The Boundary Disputes of Colonial Maryland, 2000.
- ^ Jim McClure, Never to be Forgotten, York County Heritage Trust.
- ^ Kenneth P. Bailey, Thomas Cresap: Maryland Frontiersman, Cristopher Publishing, 1944, p. 32.
- ^ Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Everts & Peck, 1883.
- ^ Kenneth P. Bailey, Thomas Cresap: Maryland Frontiersman, Cristopher Publishing, 1944, pp. 32--36.
- ^ a b c d e f g h John Gibson, ed., History of York County, Pennsylvania, F.A. Battey Publishing Co., 1886. pp. 602-604.
- ^ Proceedings of the Council of Maryland 28(1732--1753), pp. 130--133.
- ^ Proceedings of the Council of Maryland 28(1732--1753), pp. 145--149.
