24 December 1853 • Philadelphia, Pa. (Muscatine Journal, 6 Jan 54, UCCL 00006)
The Ⓐemendationweather last night was intensely cold, and the wind blew almost a hurricane. During the week we have also had slight falls of snow.
On Thursday night last, there was an extensive fire in N. Third street, during the progress of which, the wall (only nine inches thick!) of a burning, four-story building Ⓐemendationcame down with a terrible crash, burying several men who were engaged in extinguishing the fire. One of these unfortunates lay for some three hours, pressed down by the rubbish, and unable to extricate himself, in sight of his friends, who were alike unable to render him any assistance. He was at length, however, delivered from his perilous situation, and conveyed to his home, but at last accounts his injuries were such as to leave very little hope of his recovery. Another man, a policeman, was completely buried; and when found, he had long been dead. His feet were burned off, his face burnt to a crisp, and his head crushed in.1explanatory note
The markets, as well as shops of all kinds, are crowded to-day, with people making their Christmas purchases. Turkeys and fowls of all kinds, are vanishing from the markets as if by magic. I asked a lady what the best turkeys were selling Ⓐemendationat. She replied that she had priced several fine ones, which were seven dollars apiece! This seems a high figure, but everything else is in proportion. Couldn’t you forward us a few hundred of the birds?
During the week I have visited several places of note near Philadelphia. The first of these places was Germantown, where the Americans made the terrible charge upon the British, quartered in the celebrated “Chew’s House.” This building is still standing, and is at present occupied as a dwelling-house. It does not appear near as old as others in its immediate vicinity. It is built in the real old English style, and still bears the cannon and musket ball marks received in the conflict which made it famous. Germantown is rich in old buildings, some bearing the dates of 1743, 1760, &c.2explanatory note
At the corner of Little Dock and Second streets, stands the queer looking old house occupied by the heroic Lydia Darrah. It was here, if I remember the story aright, that she left the British officer, and taking her flour bag, set off to inform Gen. Washington of the intended attack of the British upon his camp: and her heroic conduct defeated the plans of the red-coats, and saved the Americans. Well does she deserve a monument; but no such monument is hers. As one might almost guess, her old mansion is now occupied by a Jew, as a clothing store.3explanatory note
The next place of note is the old “Slate-Roof House,” which was the first house in the city covered with that material. It is situated in Second street, at the corner of Norris’s alley. It was erected about one hundred and sixty years ago, in the old English style of architecture. It was occupied by Wm. Penn, in the year 1700, and John PennⒶemendation, “the American,” who was born under its roof. In this house Gen. Forbes, second in command, and afterwards successor to Gen. Braddock, died, and from it was borne to the grave, with imposing military honors. In after years, it was the temporary abode of John Adams, John Hancock, and many other distinguished members of the first Congress, and also of Baron De Kalb, who fell, fighting for American independence, at the battle of Camden. The brave General Lee also breathed his last in this house, and was buried in Christ ChurchyardⒶemendation. This noble old relic is also desecrated in the same manner as the Darrah House. Unless measures are shortly taken for its preservation, it will soon go to decay and be remembered as one of the things that were.4explanatory note
Carpenter’s Hall, situated in Carpenter’s Court, is a pile dear to every American, for within its walls, the first Congress of the United States assembled—a fact which should Ⓐemendationentitle it to a place in the heart of every true lover of his country. “The building is of brick, two stories high, and surmounted by a cupola. The facade is in the Roman style of architecture. The principal entrance leads to the Assembly Room, in which Congress first met. It is now occupied as an auction mart.”5explanatory note By an auction mart—the old story. Alas! that these old buildings, so intimately connected with the principal scenes in the history of our country, should thus be profaned. Why do not those who make such magnificent donations to our colleges and other institutions, give a mite toward their Ⓐemendationpreservation of these monuments of the past? Surely their liberality would be well bestowed. It is painful to look upon Ⓐemendationthese time-honored Ⓐemendationedifices, and feel that they will soon fall into decay and be forgotten.
This communication is already too long to be interesting, and I will stop.
Clemens may have drawn on an account of the fire published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger of 23 December. On the night of Wednesday, 21 December, the blaze was first noted at 198 and 200 Third Street, shortly before it spread through a partition “only nine inches thick” to 196 Third Street. All three buildings were destroyed, and police officer Hiram Hammer was found dead in the rubble the next day (“The Third Street Fire,” 1). Jacob Albright, the “delivered” officer, died on 25 December (“Death of Officer Albright,” Philadelphia Public Ledger, 28 Dec 53, 1).
Cliveden, commonly known as “Chew House,” was a handsome stone dwelling built in 1761 by Benjamin Chew (1722–1810), who had served colonial Pennsylvania as attorney general, and later chief justice of its supreme court. During the battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777, English troops barricaded themselves in Cliveden and successfully defended it against forces under George Washington (Eberlein and Hubbard, 324–38).
In December 1777 Lydia Darragh (1729–89), a Quaker nurse and midwife, supposedly secured passage through British lines by claiming she had to buy flour, displaying an empty flour sack as proof. She then sent word to George Washington of an impending attack on his army camped near Philadelphia. Modern historians have long regarded the story of Darragh’s heroism as largely a myth (Westcott, 192–95; NAW , 1:434–35). Loxley House, her residence at the time, was built in 1759 or 1760 by Benjamin Loxley, a Philadelphia carpenter and man of property. In “style and appearance” it “was exceptional and unlike any other building, public or private, to be found in the city,” with a unique second-story railed gallery and a first story whose unusual storefront-type windows made it readily adaptable to commercial use (Westcott, 190–91). Clemens’s source for this paragraph and for the rest of this letter noted that Loxley House was “at present occupied as a clothing depot” (R. A. Smith, 429).
According to Clemens’s source, “This house, once so honoured and renowned, now, alas! wears a sadly-neglected appearance,—the front rooms of the lower story being occupied as a huckster’s shop, and those in the rear as a saw manufactory, while the upper stories are used by a cabinet-maker as a varnish-room” (R. A. Smith, 427–29). The same source incorrectly reported that the house contained the deathbed of “the brave but eccentric General Lee.” In fact, Charles Lee (1731–82) was only buried from Slate Roof House after dying in a Market Street inn. No mere eccentric, Lee was contentious, egotistical, and mercenary. Appointed second major-general of the Continental Army in 1775, he was court-martialed in 1778 for disobeying orders, misconduct in the face of the enemy, and disrespect to George Washington. Lee was suspended from the army for a year, then was dismissed in 1780 after further offensive behavior. The discovery in 1858 of Lee’s plan for defeating the American forces, written in 1777 while he was in British captivity, permanently tarnished his reputation (Jackson, 4:1094; DAB , 11:98–101).
Quoted from Philadelphia as It Is, in 1852 (R. A. Smith, 431–33).
“Correspondence,” Muscatine Journal, 6 Jan 54, 1, in the P. M. Musser Public Library, Muscatine, Iowa (IaMu), and the Historical Library, The State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.
L1 , 34–36; Branch 1942, 15–17.
The Musser Public Library file of the Muscatine Journal may be the one kept by the publisher.
More information on provenance may be found in Description of Provenanceclick to open link.