1748.] HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 257 



No satisfactory assurance was given, and no effective defensive 

 measures were adopted. The whole responsibility of this non- 

 resistance jioliey, in a time of such great danger, did not rest 

 with the Quakers alone, their views on the subject of war being 

 endorsed by the Moravians and other German sects. This 

 pacific policy doubtless led to the capture of a large number of 

 vessels in and about the mouth of the bay, but it may well be 

 doubted whether the loss of property sustained would not have 

 been more than counterbalanced by the loss of life in case 

 armed resistance had been made. 



The repair of the road between Cobb's Creek and Gray's 

 Ferry was neglected by the Supervisors, under the belief that 

 it had never been regularly laid out, which was probably true. 

 Upon the petition of George Gray, the keeper of the Ferry, and 

 others, to the Council, all difficulty was obviated by the appoint- 

 ment of suitable persons to survey and have a proper return of 

 the road made. 



At the same time, upon petition, persons were appointed to 

 lay out the balance of the road, according to former surveys, to 

 New Castle line, but finding that the travelled road did not 

 occupy the ground upon which the road had been laid out, a 

 final report was not made till July, 1748. The survey appears 

 to have been made by the Surveyor-General, and varied but 

 little from the bed of the old road. The width adopted for the 

 road laid out at this time was sixty feet, except in the towns 

 Darby and Chester, 



The piratical depredations committed by the enemy in the 

 Delaware became more alarming this year than ever before. 

 One privateer even ventured above New Castle, and in passing, 

 exchanged a few shots with that place. The British sloop-of- 

 war Otter was then at Philadelphia, but, unfortunately, it was 

 not in a condition to repel these aggressions of the enemy. Ef- 

 forts were made to fit out another vessel, and although the As- 

 sembly agreed to provide money to defray the expense of such 

 defensive measures as might be adopted, even if they did not 

 approve of those measures ; yet moneyed men did not feel suffi- 

 cient confidence to induce them to make the necessary advances. 

 Every effort was made by the Council to procure cannon, and at 

 length some were obtained from New York, and batteries estab- 

 lished along the river. One of these was called the "Great 

 Battery, " which was probably located near the present site of 

 the Navy Yard. 



In this emergency a home guard was organized, not only in 



the city, but in the several counties, composed of citizens who 



voluntarily associated for the defence of the Province. They 



were denominated *' Associators," and furnished their equipments 



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