292 HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1776. 



would indicate less apprehension of an immediate attack by way 

 of the river ; but the Committee still continued to increase its 

 defences, in order to be prepared for such an attack. The two 

 tiers of chevaux-de-frize already sunk, having been built in 

 great haste, were probably of defective construction. Be that 

 as it may, we now find two additional tiers in the course of con- 

 struction — one to be sunk opposite Billingsport, and the other in 

 a range with the piers of the Fort.^ 



The proximity of Hog Island to the Fort made it necessary to 

 guard against the enemy landing upon it in case of an attack 

 upon the Fort. This was to be effected by overflowing the island 

 with water. To be prepared for such a contingency, on the 19th 

 of June " Mr. Abraham Kinsey, Tenant at Hog Island, was 

 informed by the Committee of the necessity of laying that island 

 under wgter on the near approach of the Enemy, and at the 

 same time was assured, that whatever injury he should sustain in 

 consequence, would be hereafter made good to him by the Pub- 

 lick." 



It now became known that New York, and not Philadelphia, 

 was to be attacked, and in consequence, on the 2d of July, Col. 

 Miles was requested to march his Battalions immediately to Phi- 

 ladelphia.^ Letters were, at the same time, dispatched by the 

 Committee, " to the Colonels of the different Battalions of the 

 Counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester & Lancaster, request- 

 ing they would hold themselves in readiness to march at an hours 

 warning, with their battalions to the city." 



The representatives from Pennsylvania, in Congress, on the 

 4th of July, when the vote was taken on the Declaration of In- 

 dependence, were John Morton, John Dickinson, Robert Morris, 

 Benjamin Franklin, Charles Humphreys, Edward Biddle, Thomas 

 Willing, Andrew Allen and James Wilson. Of these gentlemen 

 Messrs. Morton and Humphreys resided within what is now 

 Delaware County. At the time the vote was taken Morris and 

 Dickinson were absent. Of those present from Pennsylvania, 

 Franklin, Wilson and Morton voted for the Declaration, and 

 Biddle, Allen, Willing and Humphreys against it. 



The Convention^ to form a State Constitution for Pennsylva- 



1 Col. Rec. X. 606 and 648. 



* Col. Saml. Miles was in command of two battalions, numbering 971, officers and men. 

 Col. Atlee commanded one battalion of 444, officers and men, and probably Captain 

 Thomas Proctor's company of artillery, numbering 117, officers and men. Penna. Ar- 

 chives, iv. 7S0. 



^ This Convention had its origin in an assembly called "the Provincial Conference," 

 which was convened in j)ursuance of a resolution of Congress recommending a change in 

 the form of State governments. It met at Philadelphia on the 18th of June. The mem- 

 bers from Chester County were, Colonel Richard Thomas, Major William Evans, Colo- 

 nel Thomas lloculey. Major Caleb Davis, Elisha Price, Esc)., Mr. Samuel Fairlamb, 

 Colonel William Montgomery, Colone' Husrh Lloyd, Richard Riley, Esq., Colonel Evan 

 Evans, Colonel Lewis Greno, Major Sketchley Morton and Captain Thomas Levis. 



