XIV. Historic Club

West Philadelphia Illustrated (1903) Table of Contents
Historic Club
XIV.
quaintest club in America was the State
T HEin Schuylkill.
It was, moreover, the oldest.
The house, the demolishing of which has been
decreed, is an isolated building of gray stone,
standing on a strip of land on the east side of the
Schuylkill where the Wissahickon empties into
the river.. The State in Schuylkill rented the
building from Fairmount Park. The spring
floods damaged it greatly and it being decided
that the building was too far gone to repair, it
was decided that it should be torn down, but
the demolition does not mean the extinction of the
State in Schuylkill itself. The organization is
too old, aristocratic and famous to be permitted
to pass out of existence. Its headquarters have
always been at the "Castle," a building with a
cupola like a little country church, that stands
between Andalusia and Dunk's Ferry on the
Delaware.
The history of the State in Schuylkill begins
in 1732. The original members of it were
Thomas Stretch, Enoch Flower, Charles Jones,
Isaac Snowden, John Howard, Joseph Stiles,
James Coultas, William Hopkins, William Warner, John Leacock, Thomas Tillbury, Caleb
Cash, Philip Syng, William Plumstead, Peter
Reeve, William Ball, Daniel Williams, Isaac
Garrigues, Isaac Stretch, Hugh Roberts, Samuel
Neave, Joseph Wharton, Joseph Stretch, Cadwallader Evans, William Parr, James Logan,
Samuel Garrigues and Samuel Burge.
The organization was founded under the name
of the Colony in Schuylkill, and it was then, as
it now is, a fishing, hunting and dining club conducted on peculiar lines. It was a miniature
government, formed to make war upon the fish
and - the game of the Schuylkill and its bordering
forests. The original building, or Colonial Hall,
was in a wood on the west bank of the river, between "Solitude," Penn's estate, and "Sweet
Briar," the seat of Samuel Breck, about a mile
above the Fairmount Water Works. The club
remained there for ninety years, when the damming of the river at Fairmount destroyed the
perch and rock fishing and caused a removal to
University of Pennsylvania University Archives
THE STATE IN
SCHUYLKILL
a spot near Rambo's Rock, directly opposite to
Bartram's Garden.
Two stated meetings were held each year, one
in March, the other in October. These were for
business purposes. A "gala day" was held in
May, and thereafter, on every other Thursday,
there were fowling and fishing meets until the
October election, when the season ended.. The
officers were a governor, five members of assembly, a sheriff, a coroner, and a secretary. The
banquet, served at the annual election, consisted
of rounds of beef, barbecued pig, sirloin steaks,
fish, fowl, with lemonade, Madeira, pipes of tobacco and punch—fish house punch—now famous
all over America.
The following is a copy of an invitation to a
hunt that Thomas Stretch, the first governor of
the club, sent out in 1744:
"Colony in Schu ylkill, SS., to any and all
other Schuylkillians whom it may concern :
"Whereas, great quantities of rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, partridges and others of the game
kind have presumed to infest the coasts and territories of Schuylkill in a wild, bold and ungovernable manner ; these are, therefore, to authorize
and require you, or any of you, to make diligent
search for the said rabbits, squirrels, pheasants,
partridges and others of the game kind, in all
suspected places where they may be found, and
bring the respective bodies of so many as you
shall find before the Justices, etc., at a general
Court to be held on Thursday, the fourth day of
October next, there to be proceeded against,
as by the said Court shall be adjudged ; and for
your or any of your so doing, this shall be your
sufficient warrant. Witness, myself, the twentyninth day of September, in the twelfth year of
my government, and year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and forty-four."
In 1747 the club built a Court House at
Warner's Hall, paying to William Warner, the
owner of the land, an annual rental of three sunfish. The Court House cost sixteen pounds, and
stood on the west side of the river, where the
Girard Avenue Bridge now crosses. It is said
West Philadelphia Community History Center
118 HISTORIC CLUB : THE STATE IN SCHUYLKILL.
the chiefs of the Lenni Lenape Indians attending one of the meetings and were feted royally.
The meeting of October, 1769, was the last
which the club held until 1781. The Revolution
dispersed the members widely. Nearly all of
them held commands in the army or high offices
in the country's councils. The First City Troop
enlisted a number of its original recruits from the
club, only one member of which, indeed, was on
the English side in the War of Independence.
built of hewn timber its quaint club house on the
east bank of the river, on a rock that projects
into the rapids. It was an odd building seventy
feet long and twenty feet wide. A flight of
fourteen steps led to the wide entrance door,
above the roof rose a cupola and the whole was
painted brown. A bell adorned the cupola which
was surmounted by a spire, a ball, and a vane in
the shape of a rock fish. Within was a museum
containing Indian relics, Indian dresses, a half
THE CASTLE IN SCHUYLKILL
The history of the State in Schuylkill dates back to 1 73 2. The organization was founded under the name of the " Colony in Schuylkill "
The Castle was a famous and historic club house.
The State in Schuylkill has furnished ten mayors
to Philadelphia and fifty-two members to the
City Troop.
The Society of Fort St. David's united finally
with the Colony in Schuylkill, the name of the
joint club then becoming the one that has endured—The Fishing Company of the State in
Schuylkill.
The Society of Fort St. David's established
itself in 1747 at the Falls of Schuylkill, where it
dozen pewter pots and dishes which Penn had
brought with him from England and which were
stamped with the Penn arms ; also many other
curios. The primeval spirit of the club was
demonstrated on meeting, when the president was
known to wear an Indian hunting dress.
"The Revolution dispersed the members of the
Society of Fort St. David's, as it had done with
the Colony in Schuylkill. Their club house,
furthermore, was torn down by the Hessians,
HISTORIC CLUB : THE STATE IN SCHUYLKILL.
who used the material for the building of their
huts in 1777-78. When peace was restored the
two clubs united, and in 1781 the first meeting
of the State in Schuylkill was held at 'Joseph
the Ferryman's Inn,' at the Middle (or Market
street) Ferry. Not the name alone, but the
rules of the organization as well, were now
changed. They had been originally the rules
of a dependent colony ; they were now made those
of an independent State.
"On March 25, 1812, the building of the
Castle, the club house that still exists, was begun
ceremoniously. It was modeled somewhat after
119
inal documents of great historical interest and
many relics. The kitchen has a fireplace that is
a lesson in good architecture. Upon meeting
days the members arrive in the early morning,
fish till noon, lunch upon beefsteaks that they
cook themselves, and in the afternoon help to
prepare the early dinner. The fishing hat has
upon it a silver stamp, inscribed with a perch,
and the governor's badge is a gold frying pan
filled with perch, while the caterer's is a gold gridiron, on which a beefsteak lies. The members
cook all their food themselves, and they buy none
of it save the meat, the wine and the vegetables,
BELMONT CRICKET CLUB.
Fort St. David's—a wooden building, with a
cupola rising in the middle of its roof. It stood
at a point near Girard avenue until 1822, when
the erection of the Fairmount dam spoiled the
fishing. It was then floated bodily to Rambo's
Rock, where it remained until its removal to its
present location, between Andalusia and Dunk's
Ferry. In this last removal, as in the former one,
every board and joist and nail were carried to the
new site, and the Castle to-day has not, therefore,
except in its roof and floor, a piece of modern
material in it. It is the most ancient relic—in
wood—that Philadelphians possess."
The furnishings of the Castle are simple and
picturesque. In the dining-room, with its
raftered roof, there are armchairs, framed orig-
. for their fare is simple, fish being the leading
dish upon their menu. They disperse before it
is dark.
The State in Schuylkill takes especial pride in
its fried fish. "The fish are fried," the huge club
history says, "in the best butter of the market to
a brown color, and never shapelessly broken by
turning, but in regularly-laid rows, and adhering
to each other, and not to the pan, are dexterously
tossed in the same compact form, with great
ease, after a little practice, to the surprise and
admiration of spectators. Again, drawn or
melted butter is made in perfect purity, without
any of the usual additions of flour and water
forming an unpalatable compound of liquid, batter and oil. The pound is reduced in a vessel
120
HISTORIC CLUB: THE STATE IN SCHUYLKILL.
by gradual heat and slow turning, and retains its
original taste and color without being transmitted
to oil."
There follow some of the rules of this ancient
club :
"This company shall not consist of more than
25 members.
"The premises of the company cannot be taken
and used by any party after dusk ; nor can lights
be allowed in the Castle.
"When the Castle is occupied by a private party
a member may have access to his angling box or
locker without being considered an intruder.
"Any member attending on a regular day,
without having been registered, must furnish a
beefsteak and a bottle of wine and pay his share
of the catering. On failure to do so he shall pay
to the treasurer of the company $5 in addition to
his share of the catering. But this law does not
apply to any member appearing on the ground
after dinner furnishing a bottle of wine.
"Neither religious nor political discussions can
be allowed at any time among the members or
invited guests.
"There is no restriction as to members playing
cards for amusement on other than fishing days ;
but betting for money is strictly prohibited.
"When bets of wine or other refreshments are
made the articles wagered must be consumed on
the premises of the club.
"The Governor cannot sit at the head of the
dinner table on his catering day."
Some of the clubs of later date are the following
The Rabbit Club, located near West Fairmount
Park, has a quaint old-style club house, which
members adopt as an objective point in suburban
drives. It is an exclusive body composed of
well-known citizens.
The Merion Cricket Club was organized in
1865, its grounds are located at Haverford College. It has a membership of one thousand or
more and property valued at $200,000.
The Belmont has about the same number of
members and property valued at the same figure.
Its grounds are located at Forty-ninth street and
Chester avenue. The date of the organization of
this club is 1872.
Haverford College Club was organized in 1866.
Pennsylvania Railroad Club (grounds at
Fifty-second Street Station) was organized in
1886.
St. David's (grounds at St. David's) organized
in 1892.