few last Years of his Life. About three Years before his Death, he rode alone three Miles, and home again." He is, it is believed, the only centenarian descendant of Jöran Kyn, although there are several nonagenarian descendants, and offspring of at least four centenarians* have intermarried with the family. Of his children by his first wife three have been identified:t * Nicolas de la Plaine, aged 105 years (see Rev. Timothy Alden's "Collection of American Epitaphs," pentade i. vol. v. pp. 174–5); Mrs. Hannah Milner, aged 100 years and 10 months ("The Pennsylvania Gazette," July 13, 1769); Arthur Strangeways, aged 101 years (Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia," 1st ed. p. 511); and John Strangeways Hutton, aged 108 years and 4 months (ibid. pp. 510-11, and "The Inscriptions in St. Peter's Church Yard, Philadelphia," p. 313). † Another child, most probably, was Christina Keen, who m. (Raccoon Swedish Church Register), December 2, 1724, Peter Rambo, of Gloucester County, N. J. (b. January 6, 1694; d. April-May, 1753), a Warden of the Church on Raccoon Creek (at whose house Professor Kalm on one occasion ("Travels," vol. i. p. 334) “staid the night"), son of John Rambo, described in "The Breviate, Penn v. Lord Baltimore," f. 103, in 1740, as "of New Jersey, Farmer, aged 79, born in the Place now called Pensilvania, near where the City of Philadelphia now stands, where he resided for above the first 20 Years of his Life, and since resided in the Jerseys." The latter was the youngest brother of Gunnar and Peter Rambo, Members of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania for Philadelphia County, and the son of Peter Gunnarsson Rambo, of Sweden (who came to America with Minuit or Hollender), a Magistrate of the Swedish Colony, appointed Commissary by Gov. Stuyvesant, Member of Captain Carr's Council by Gov. Lovelace, and finally, by Gov. Andros, one of the "Justices for the River." Peter Rambo's mother was Brita Cock, sister of Capt. Lawrence Cock, Justice of Upland Court, and Member of Gov. Markham's and subsequent Provincial Councils, and of the Assembly of Pennsylvania for Philadelphia County, Penn's first Interpreter with the Indians, and daughter of Peter Larsson Kock (by his wife Margaret), who was sent out from Sweden in 1641, in the service of the West India Company, and settled on a tobacco plantation on the Schuylkill, but some years afterwards received his freedom, and occupied the same offices as are above accredited to Peter Gunnarsson Rambo, besides being "Collector of Tolls on Imports and Exports for the Colony of the City of Amsterdam on the South River" (the Delaware). Peter and Christina (Keen) Rambo had seven children: of whom two sons, John (b. November, 1725), and Benjamin (b. March 3, 1732), each married twice, and 33. MOUNCE, b. August 18, 1715; m. Sarah Seeley. By his second wife he had at least five children, born in Salem County, New Jersey: 36. PETER, b. March 21, 1723; m. 1st, 37. MARY, b. April 6, 1727. 38. DAVID, b. April 28, 1735. 40. JONAS, b. April 7, 1739. -; 2dly, Catharine. left numerous descendants; and a daughter, Elizabeth (b. January 2, 1728), m. Thomas Denny, Sheriff of Gloucester Co., N. J., whose daughter, Rachel (b. October 30, 1749), m., March 25, 1772, Robert Brown, Esq., LieutenantColonel of the First Battalion of Gloucester County Militia, and of Colonel Nicholas Stilwell's Regiment of New Jersey State Troops, in the War of the Revolution, and chief contributor to, and trustee of, the fund for building the present Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church in Swedesboro, N. J. Another child may, possibly, have been Annika Keen, who m. (Raccoon Swedish Church Register), December 7, 1726, Gustaf Gustafsson (or Justis), of West New Jersey (d. July 15, 1762, aged 65 years), grandson, doubtless, of Jöns Göstafsson Illack, of Sweden, who "bought a piece of ground," says the aged son of the latter, Nils Gustafsson, in the course of a long conversation with Professor Kalm on the customs of the early Swedish settlers on our river (Kalm's "Travels," vol. ii. p. 118), "from the Indians in New Jersey." They had several children, who intermarried with the families of Dahlbo, String, and Cox, and left posterity. (To be continued.) THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1776. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ITS MEMBERS. BY WM. H. EGLE, M.D. [From the time of William Penn to the Declaration of Independence, the government of Pennsylvania was administered under the Royal Charter granted to the founder, and the several concessions made by him to the settlers. The prosperity which was attained under this form of government endeared it to the majority of those living in the Province, and all attempts failed to change it in any of its vital points. The most perilous period of its existence was the decade of years following the defeat of Braddock. At the time of that event, the inhabitants of the western frontier counties, having no scruples about bearing arms, were clamorous for the adoption of measures to prevent the incursions of the French and Indians. The Assembly, however, was under the influence of the Friends, and an anti-proprietary party, which opposed the expenditure of money for any purpose unless the estates of the Penns were subjected to the same taxation as those of others. Under these circumstances it was with the greatest difficulty that the Province was placed upon a war footing, and a feeling of uneasiness and anxiety was awakened that could not be allayed even by retreat of the Proprietaries from the stand they had taken, or the successful close of the war-the confidence of many having been shaken in the belief that the existing form of government was the best that could be devised for the Province. By 1774, quiet had in a great measure returned to the legislative councils of Pennsylvania. In that year the conduct of Tories in the Assembly, under the lead of Galloway, awakened the ill feeling against the Proprietary Charter, which had well nigh died out, and the sins of those who acted under it were visited upon the instrument itself. The people lent a more willing ear to the dictates of the Committees of Safety, and to the wishes of the Continental Congress than to the Assembly, and the government soon became a mere semblance of authority. The advice of Congress, in May, 1776, that governments sufficient to the exigencies of affairs should be established in such Colonies as they did not already exist, was seized upon by the zealous Whigs of Pennsylvania as the excuse for the abrogation of the old government. A conven tion to form a new Constitution was called early in July, and it is to the biographical sketches of the members of that body, that we now invite the attention of our readers. We will not attempt to say aught regarding the merits of their labors, as opinions regarding them could probably be debated with as much warmth to-day as they were during the last century. That the necessity for some change in the government was thought indispensable is obvious from the faint resistance that was made to the choosing of delegates. When the work of the Convention was made public, it called forth the opposition of a number of Whigs, who had not lost faith in the old government. While giving a hearty support to the cause of the Revolution, they thought the true interests of Pennsylvania could be best served by the election of men of undoubted patriotism to office under its original charter. The views of this class will be found expressed in Charles Thomson's letters to William Henry Drayton (PENNA. MAG., vol. ii. p. 420), and they never appear to have changed their opinions in the case. Gen. John Cadwalader, one of the number, was so opposed to the constitution of '76, that he became a citizen of Maryland rather than live under it. The motives of the men who formed the Convention have remained unquestioned. Unlearned in statecraft, they framed what they thought the best form of government for the people they represented, and as their lives will show gave many anxious days for its protection and support.-ED.] ALEXANDER, HUGH, of Cumberland Co., the eldest son of John Alexander and Margaret Glasson, was born near Glasgow, Scotland, in the year 1724. His parents came to America in 1736, and settled in West Nottingham, Chester County -but prior to 1753 removed and took up land in Sherman's Valley, now Perry County. Mr. Alexander was a deputy to the Provincial Conference of June, 1776, and a member of the Convention which met on July 15 of that year. Under the first Constitution he was chosen a Member of the Assembly, taking his seat on November 28th. His public life was brief, for he died while a member of that body, in the early part of the year 1777, in Philadelphia, and was interred in the Spruce Street burying-ground. He married, first, in 1753, Martha Edmeston, daughter of Dr. David Edmeston, of Fagg's Manor, by whom they had-Margaret, b. 1754, m. Capt. John Hamilton, of Fermanagh, in 1772; John, b. 1756, m. Margaret Clark, of Sherman's Valley, in 1780; Mary, b. 1760, m. Robert Clark in 1780; David, b. 1762, m. Margaret Miller in 1780; Hugh, b. 1765, m. Jemima Patterson, of Juniata Co., in 1787. Secondly, Mr. Alexander married Mrs. Lettice Thompson, and had-James, b. 1775, lived and died at McKeesport, Pennsylvania; William and Emily, b. 1777. Mr. Alexander was a staunch Whig, and took VOL. III.-7 a very active part in the organization of the Associators of Cumberland County. A rigid Presbyterian of the Rev. George Duffield's congregation; he was a man of pure and high character, and his memory is held in esteem by numerous descendants, scattered through the West and South. ANTES, PHILIP FREDERICK, of Philadelphia Co., the third child of Henry Antes and Christina De Weesin, was born near Falkner's Swamp, Philadelphia, now Montgomery County, Pa., July 2, 1730. He received a good German education, and learned the trade of an iron-founder. In 1764 he was appointed one of his Majesty's Justices for the county of Philadelphia. Early espousing the cause of the Colonies, in November, 1774, he was chosen a member of the first Committee of Inspection for Philadelphia. He was a member of the Convention of July 15, 1776, and under the government it formed was twice elected member of the Assembly. At the request of the Committee of Safety, early in 1775, Mr. Antes successfully cast at Warwick furnace, for the Revolutionary Army, the first four-pound cannons made on this side of the Atlantic. During the occupancy of Philadelphia by the British, his situation among the Tories of the locality was insecure, and by the advice of his friends he removed to Northumberland County, of which he became presiding justice of the peace, and from 1784 to 1787 served in the Assembly. Col. Antes followed the business of gunsmith at Northumberland, and Dr. Priestley in his memoirs speaks of the great aid he received from him in making his philosophical instruments. He was appointed by Gov. Mifflin as one of the Commissioners in exploration of the Susquehanna, and while acting in that capacity he took cold at Columbia, and repairing to Lancaster, died there Sept. 20, 1801. He was buried in the Reformed Church grave-yard. Col. Antes's daughter, Catharine, was the second wife of Gov. Simon Snyder. She died March 15, 1810, at Lancaster, then the seat of State Government, and is buried by the side of her father. |