AMERICAN

LAW MAGAZINE.

NO. 3.

OCTOBER, 1843.

ART. I.-A MEMOIR OF WILLIAM RAWLE, LL. D.

[The following Memoir was prepared at the request of the Council of the Historical Society, and was read at a meeting held on the 22d day of February, 1837, by Thomas I. Wharton Esq., and is now published here with his ap probation.]

THE ancestors of WILLIAM RAWLE came from the county of Cornwall in England.

A manuscript found among his papers contains some account of his progenitors, and some recollections of his own times, which he appears to have written in the year 1824, at the suggestion of Mr. Watson, the author of the Anuals of Philadelphia; but unfortunately, the design was soon abandoned, and a few pages of detached memoranda alone remain. From this and other sources the facts contained in the following memoir have been derived.

Francis Rawle, the first of the race who came to America, arrived at Philadelphia in the ship Desire, from Plymouth, on the 23d of June, 1686, accompanied by his son Francis,

and bringing with him five "servants," (so called in a document of the time,) who, I presume, were agricultural labourers. He died on the 23d of December, 1697.

Of his only son Francis, the second, I find the following account in the MS., of which I have spoken. "He was a man of education, though I believe of moderate property. He married the daughter of Robert Turner, a wealthy linen draper from Dublin, who took up the whole lot from Second street to the Delaware, between Arch street and M'Comb's alley. He resided on this lot, and I have seen an old draught of it, in the centre of which was the figure of a house, with this description, Robert Turner's large House.' Probably in these days his mansion would not be so described. William Penn had that confidence in Robert Turner, that he sent him from England a blank commission for the office of register-general for the probate of wills, &c., with power, if he did not choose to exercise the office himself, to fill the blank with any other name he pleased. The original letter from William Penn, is somewhere among my papers. Robert Turner accepted the office, and appointed his son-in-law his deputy. Francis Rawle published a book which, as far as I know, was the first original treatise on any general subject that appeared in this province. Religious and political controversy had, before this time, alone appeared from the press. The title of this work (I have unfortunately lost the book itself,) was, I believe, Ways and means for the inhabitants on the Delaware to become rich.' One day at Dr. Franklin's table at Pussy, he asked me if I had a copy of the work; observing that it was the first book that he had ever printed. The greatness of Franklin's mind did not disdain to refer to his early occupations, in the presence of some men of the first rank of that country with whom his table was crowded."

To this account of Francis Rawle it may be added, that he was elected a member of assembly for the city of Philadelphia, in the years 1707, 1708 and 1710, and again in 1724, 1725 and 1726. It appears from the journals, that he took

an active part in the business of the house, and was frequently at the head of the most important committees. He died on the 5th of January, 1727.

William, the third son of Francis and Martha Rawle, was the grandfather of the subject of this memoir. He was a man of parts and education. His library was extensive for those days, especially in classical literature. Many of his Greek and Latin books were in the possession of his grandson. He died on the 16th of December, 1741.

Francis, the only child of William Rawle, was born on the 10th of July, 1729. He received a liberal education, possessed a robust and active mind, and is said to have been a person of very attractive manners and conversation. He was a contributor to a literary journal of the time, as I gather from some MSS. in my possession. I have also a considerable number of letters written by him in a very easy and agreeable manner.

Francis Rawle died at the early age of thirty-two, on the 7th of June, 1761, in consequence of a wound received from the accidental discharge of his fowling piece, while shooting on his grounds near the city. He was carried into his own house; and a surgical operation having been performed, he appeared to have a fair prospect of recovery, but a lock-jaw took place and he died after a week's confinement.

WILLIAM RAWLE, his only son, was born on the 28th of April, 1759. He was, therefore, little more than two years old at the time of his father's death. On a manuscript in his father's hand-writing, I find the following endorsement by him: "I believe that the within was the composition of my revered father. It never was my lot risu cognoscere patrem. I was too young to recognise him by any thing."

He was left, however, under the care of a mother, who, with an intellect of no common strength and cultivation, possessed every virtue that befits and adorns a Christian woman; and whose tenderness and solicitude for her offspring, swelled beyond the ordinary stream of maternal love. Subjected to

early and continued trials and adversities; deprived of husband and children; exiled during the war of the revolution, and plundered of property; this excellent woman displayed a fortitude and energy of character, which contrasted remarkably with her serene and gentle disposition. She survived to an advanced life; but the progress of years and infirmities made no impression on her warm and kindly heart. Her attachment to her children and their descendants, was repaid by all that affection and duty could offer. In her son William Rawle, she found ample solace for her cares and calamities. A more affectionate and devoted son never existed. His letters to her during all periods of his life, and his private diaries, give constant proofs how deeply the sentiment of filial love was implanted in his heart, and remind one of those better days, in which reverence for parents was felt to be a duty next to that which belongs to the great Father of all.

At the period of the commencement of hostilities between Great Britain and her colonies, Mr. Rawle was about the age of seventeen years, and, I presume, was yet a student at the Friends' Academy in Fourth street, where he received his collegiate education. His immediate relations and connexions were all adherents of the royal government. His stepfather, Mr. Shoemaker, one of the old school of gentlemen, a man of extensive reading and cultivated taste, held the office of mayor of Philadelphia during the period that it was under the control of the British army. When it was resolved to evacuate this city, it became necessary for Mr. Shoemaker to retire to New York. In conformity with the wishes of his mother, and from his own personal attachment to Mr. Shoemaker, whom he always regarded with filial affection and respect, Mr. Rawle accompanied him to New York in the month of June, 1778. They were under the necessity of proceeding by water; and he mentions in a letter now before me, that they were two days and nights on board of a small sloop on their way to Reedy Island, where they found the fleet lying,