Wild Animals, Fish, Etc., Of Delaware County.

The winter of 1855 was remarkable. Up to March 16th the weather was comparatively mild, but on that date the cold was so intense that the Delaware was closed, and many persons living in this neighborhood crossed over the river on foot and in sleighs. On the night of March 6, 1858, the Delaware was frozen solidly in one night, the preceding winter months having been so mild that no ice had formed until the middle of February. The steamer "Keystone State," from Savannah, on the evening of March 5th, had to lay to at the pier at Chester, where she was compelled to discharge her cargo and transport it the remainder of the distance by rail.

On Sunday, Jan. 7, 1866, a cold wave visited Chester, increasing until by Monday morning the thermometer was ten degrees below zero, and nothing to compare to it had been known for thirty odd years. Even now it is recalled as the "cold Monday."

On the 20th and 21st of March, 1868, the most violent snow-storm known in the neighborhood for a quarter of a century occurred. The trains on the railroad were delayed several hours, no mail reaching Chester on Saturday, March 21st, until after mid-day, while the roads throughout the county were impassable by reason of the drifts.

The winter of 1872-73 was cold, while that of 1873-74 was mild. But the following year, 1874-75, was intensely cold. On February 10th the river was solidly frozen, and many persons walked from Chester piers to the bar on the ice, and the day previous the thermometer stood at two degrees below zero. The winter of 1876-77 was mild, while that of 1880 was cold, and, taking the mean temperature, it is said to have been the coldest winter since 1856. The streams leading into the Delaware were frozen six inches in thickness, and the depth of snow estimated at one foot to sixteen inches on a level.

The Court, Bench, And Bar Of Delaware County.

Beyond the possibility of refutation, it can be asserted that at Tinicum, in the present county of Delaware, justice was first dispensed within the limits of the State of Pennsylvania, and in all probabilities this remark will hold good as to the entire Delaware River territory. Crude and capricious doubtless was the code of laws administered by Governor Printz, who was required, in obedience to the instructions given him, to "decide all controversies according to the laws, customs, and usages of Sweden," and in these matters he was expected to "adopt and follow all the laudable manners, customs, and usages of the Kingdom of Sweden."² This was certainly a task more difficult to perform than to require, for the codification of all the Swedish statutes, manners, and customs had then but recently been made,³ hence it is no wonder that his Excellency the Governor of New Sweden, who, in 1647, reported "the whole number of men, women, boys and girls and children now living here is 138 souls,"⁴ occasionally, even in the sparsely-settled colony, found himself face to face with nice points of law which his military education furnished him no precedents to meet, and particularly was his position embarrassing because he was expected to maintain a sharp outlook for the interest of the company, which would necessarily compel him to act in the dual capacity of plaintiff and judge in the same case. Under the circumstances we can understand why he says, "Again, I have several times solicited a learned and able man . . . to administer justice and attend to the law business, sometimes very intricate cases occurring, in which it is difficult, and never ought to be that one and the same person appear in the court as plaintiff as well as judge."⁵ The Governor was clothed with civil and criminal jurisdiction; he was especially directed to enforce obedience and order, and could punish great offenders not only with imprisonment but even with death, "according to the crime;" in the latter cases, however, execution could only be done "according to the ordinances and legal forms, and after having sufficiently considered and examined the affair with the most noted persons, such as the most prudent assessors of justice that he can find and consult in this country."⁶

⁶ Instructions to Governor Printz, Penna. Archives, 2d series, vol. v. p. 773.

Beyond the foregoing brief mention of the administration of justice on the Delaware under Swedish rule, I have been unable to find any further reference thereto. Truly is it, as a recent accomplished writer remarks, "A mere trace, fitful at best, and rendered more faint by the shadows of time."⁷ The Dutch records, unfortunately, are hardly more explicit than the Swedish on the subject of legal tribunals among the early settlers on the Delaware before the conquest of the territory by the English. Jean Paul Jacquet, who was appointed vice-director Nov. 29, 1655, was instructed to "administer law and justice to citizens as well as soldiers," while Andrew Hudde, the sec-