Districts of the several Counties for holding the election for Members of the Convention, Committee to prepare a draft of an Address to the Inhabitants of the Province, Committee to obtain from the Committee of Safety a copy of all Orders given to Samuel Davidson since his appointment as principal Commander of the Navy of the Province, Draft of an Address to the Inhabitants of the Province, presented and read

v6:957

Sunday, June 23, 1776.

The Conference met.

The Committee appointed to consider of the proper time, &c˙, of holding the Election, delivered their Report at the table; which, being read by order, was unanimously agreed to by the House, and is in the words following, viz:

The Committee appointed to consider of the proper time, place, and manner of holding an election for Members of Convention, and the time of the meeting of the persons so chosen, report as followeth: That they appoint Monday, the 8th day of July next, for electing said Members; that the several Counties proceed to choose their respective Members at the following places, viz:

For the City and County of Philadelphia, the Counties of Bucks, Berks, and Bedford, at the usual places of election.

Chester County to be divided into three Districts; that is to say, Chester, Upper Chichester, Lower Chichester, Bethel, Ashton, Concord, Middleton, Thornbury, Birmingham, Nether Providence, Upper Providence, Ridley, Marple, Springfield, Darby, Haverford, Newtown, Edgamont, and Willistown, being the First District, to be held at Chester;

v6:958

York County to be divided into five Districts, viz: The First, York-Town, the Townships of York, Manchester, Codorus, Shrewsbury, Windsor, and Hellam, to be held at the Court-House in York-Town; the Second District, Cumberland, Hamilton' s Ban, Streban, Mountjoy, Menallan, and Tyrone, to be held at the house of Samuel Gaddis; the Third District, Heidelbergh, Berwick, Mount-Pleasant, Manheim, Paradise, and Germany, to be held at Hanover-Town; the Fourth Division, Faun, Hopewell, and Chanceford, to be held at Nicholson' s Mill; the Fifth Division, Dover, Newberry, Warrington, Mannahan, Huntingdon, and Reading, to be held at the house of Robert Stevenson.

Northampton County to be divided into four Districts: the First, Easton, William, Lower Saucon, Bethlehem, Forks, Mount-Bethel, and Plainfield, to be held at Easton; the Second District, Northampton, Saltsbergh, Upper Saucon, Upper Milford, Maccongy, Weisenbergh, Lynn, Whitehall, and Heidelbergh, to be held at Allen' s Town; the Third District, Allen, Moor, Chestnut-Hill, Towamensing, Penn, and Leheigh, to be held at Peter Anthony' s; the Fourth District, Hamilton, Lower Smithfield, Delaware, and Upper Smithfield, to be held at Nicholas Dupue' s.

Cumberland County to be divided into three Districts, viz: The First and Third Divisions, Carlisle, East Pennsborough, Allen, Middleton, West Pennsborough, Newton, and Hopewell, to be held at Carlisle; the Second and Fifth Divisions, Antrim, Peters, Guilford, Hamilton, Thannet, Lurgan, and Letterkenny, to be held at Chambersburgh; the Fourth Division, Tyrone, Tyboyne, Rye, Milford, Greenwood, Armagh, Leek, Derry, and Fermanaugh, to be held at Robert Campbell' s, in Tuscarora.

Northumberland County to be held at George McCandlish' s, in Turbert Township.

Westmoreland County to be divided into two divisions; that on the South side of Youghagena River at Sparks' s Fort, and Northern District at Hanna' s Town.

The County of Lancaster to be divided into six Districts, viz: In the First, the Borough of Lancaster, Lancaster Township, Leacock, Warwick, Manheim, Hempfield, Manor, Conestoga, and Lampeter, to be held at the Court-House in the Borough of Lancaster; the Second Division, Little Britain, Drummore, Bart, Coleraine, Martick, Strasburgh, and Sadsbury, to be held at James Porter' s, Jun˙; the Third Division, Derry, Londonderry, Ralpho, Donne-gall, and Mountjoy, to be held at Elizabeth-Town; the Fourth Division, Salisbury, Carnarvon, Brecknock, Earl, and Cocolico, to be held at New-Holland; the Fifth Division, Elizabeth, Heidelbergh, Bethel, Lebanon, and East Hanover, to be held at Lebanon-Town; the Sixth Division, West Hanover, Paxton, and Upper Paxton, to be held at Garber' s Mill.

And that the electors of every Borough, Ward, or Township, in each of the Counties, shall meet on Saturday, the 6th of July next, between the hours of two and six o' clock in the afternoon, and choose Inspectors to receive the votes from the electors of their Boroughs, Wards, or Townships, respectively. The place for said elections to be advertised by the County Committee, who shall also superintend such elections, and make returns of the Inspectors chosen, to the Judges of the general election. And if any District shall neglect to choose Inspectors as aforesaid, in such case the Judges of the election shall appoint Inspectors for those who so neglect, on the morning of the day of the general election; and that each of the said Inspectors, on the day of the general election, shall, before he proceeds to take or receive any votes, take the following oath or affirmation, viz:

"I, A˙ B˙ do declare, that I will duly attend the ensuing election during the continuance thereof, and will truly and faithfully assist the Judges of said election, to prevent all frauds and deceits whatever, of electors or others, in carrying

v6:959

And that the Deputies from the City of Philadelphia and from each County, shall nominate and appoint three discreet and able members of their respective Committees residing within the several Districts, to be Judges of the general election within said Districts; which said Judges, together with the Inspectors, shall appoint Clerks for taking the polls at the said election; and the said Judges and Clerks shall respectively take the same oath or affirmation as is required to be taken by the Inspectors, which shall be administered by any one of the Judges to the others, they being hereby authorized and appointed to administer the same. And that the Commissioners of the City and Counties in this Province, when required, shall deliver unto the Judges of said election true duplicates of all the taxables in the several Districts of their respective Counties. And that the Judges aforesaid shall, and are hereby, required and empowered to act in all cases respecting said elections in the room and places of Sheriffs, until the same are finished; and when the polls are closed, and the votes counted off, or cast up, in the several Districts of such Counties as are divided as aforesaid, the Judges and Inspectors shall cause certified accounts thereof to be taken by some of them to their respective County towns, on the next day, and of the names of the persons chosen in the several Districts, with the number of votes for each candidate; which, when compared and added together, the eight highest numbers shall be the persons to represent such County in Convention; and also that the Judges, or any two of them, for the City and Counties respectively, shall certify from under their hands and seals to the Convention, on the day appointed for their meeting as aforesaid, a true list or certificate of the names of the Members so chosen, in the City and Counties respectively, together with the number of votes for each of them. And the Captain or Commanding Officer of each Company in the several Battalions of this Province are hereby required to furnish complete lists of their Companies to the Judges and Inspectors of the several Districts, on the morning of the election. Which persons, so chosen to be Members of the Convention, shall meet at Philadelphia, on Monday, the 15th day of July next, in Convention as aforesaid.

Ordered, That the following gentlemen be appointed to be Judges of the Election in the Counties, and in the respective Districts, viz:

City, &c˙, of PHILADELPHIA: Samuel Massey, Frederick Kuhl, Thomas Cuthbert.

County of PHILADELPHIA: William Coates, Frederick Antis, Robert Lollar.

BUCKS COUNTY, at Newtown: Henry Wynkoop, James Wallace, Joseph Hart.

CHESTER COUNTY. — First division, at Chester: Hugh Lloyd, Thomas Levis, Mark Wilcox.

Second division, at Chatham: John McKay, Joseph Gardner, Thomas Welsh.

Third division, at the White Horse: Richard Thomas, Lewis Grono, Thomas Bull.

BERKS COUNTY, at Reading: Valentine Eakerd, Jacob Morgan, Daniel Hunter.

LANCASTER COUNTY. — First division, at the Borough: William Bowsman, H˙ Dehuff, Jacob Erb.

Second division, at James Porter' s, Jun˙: Richard Ferree, John McMullen, Robert Tweed.

Third division, at Elizabethtown: Daniel Elliot, Robert Clark, Jacob Haldiman.

Fourth division, at Lebanon: Casper Kuhn, Jacob Eckart, Philip Greenawalt.

Fifth division, at New-Holland: Is˙ McCammont, Gab˙ Davis, Michael Whitman.

Sixth division, at Garber' s Mill: John Rogers, John Harris, James Morrow.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY. — First division, at Carlisle: Robert Miller, Benjamin Blyth, James Gregory.

Second division, at Chambersburgh: John Allison, James Maxwell, John Beard.

Third division, at Robert Campbell' s: William Brown, Alexander Morrow, James Taylor.

v6:960

YORK COUNTY. — First division, at Yorktown: Charles Lukens, John Hay, Michael Hayn.

Second division, at Samuel Gaddis' s: William McClellan,

John Agnew, James Dickson.

Third division, at Hanover: Joseph Jefferies, Thomas Lilley, Frederick Wolfe.

Fourth division, at Nicholson' s Mill: James Leiper, Patrick

Scott, James Savage.

Fifth division, at Robert Stevenson' s: John Nesbit, James Naylor, William Mitchell.

BEDFORD COUNTY, at the usual place: Samuel Davidson, James Anderson, William Todd.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, at George McC' andlish' s: Thomas Hewit, William Shaw, Joseph Green.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY. — First division, at Spark' s Fort: George Wilson, John Kile, Robert McConnell.

Second division, at Hanna' sTown: James Barr, John Moore, Clement McGeary.

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. — First division, at Easton: Abraham Berlin, Jesse Jones, Jonas Hartzell.

Second division, at Allenstown: John Gerhart, David Deshler, George Breinig.

Third division, at Peter Anthony' s: Simon Driesbach, Neigel Gray, Peter Anthony.

Fourth division, at Nicholas Dupue' s: Robert Levers, Nicholas Duptie, Jacobus Vangarder.

Ordered, That Doctor Rush, the Chairman, Colonel Hill, and Colonel Smith, prepare a draft of an Address to the inhabitants of the Province, and report to the Conference.

Resolved, unanimously, That Messrs˙ Bayard, Bird, and Smith, be appointed a Committee to wait upon the Chairman of the Committee of Safety, and desire a copy of all Orders given to Captain Samuel Davidson since his appointment as principal Commander of the Navy of this Province, to be laid before this Conference.

Resolved, unanimously, That it be recommended to the said Convention to choose and appoint Delegates or Deputies to represent this Province in the Congress of the United Colonies, and also a Council of Safety to exercise the whole of the Executive powers of Government, so far as relates to the military defence and safety of the Province; and to, make such allowance for the services of the said Delegates and Council of Safety, respectively, as shall be reasonable. Which said Delegates and Council of Safety are to continue for six months, unless a new Government shall be formed within that time, in which case their appointment is to cease.

The Conference then adjourned to three o' clock P˙ M.

Sunday, June 23, 1776, P˙ M.

The Conference met.

The gentlemen appointed to prepare a draft of an Address to the inhabitants of this Province, delivered at the table a draft; which was read.