THE WAMPUM LOT:A LEGENDARY INDIAN CAMP GROUND

IN OLD CITY PHILADELPHIABy Harry Kyriakodis

Philadelphia was once reputed as the only city in the United States in which Native American campinggrounds were established to accommodate Indians whenever they visited the city. Two such reservationswere said to have been set aside in Philadelphia. The second of these was once located in the originalpart of town (now called Old City), occupying a spot adjacent to the southeastern edge of where WelcomePark came to be. (I present the story of this park in "Welcome Park: The Story of a Storied PhiladelphiaPlace," plus the tale of Philadelphia's first alleged Native American reserve in "Marble Court: A ForgottenIndian Camp Ground in Center City Philadelphia?")

The second Indian campsite in Philadelphia was granted to a group of Native Americans in 1755 by JohnPenn (1729-1795), grandson of William Penn. John's uncle, Thomas Penn (1702-1775), had sent hisnephew to the province of Pennsylvania in 1752 as a political apprentice to Governor James Hamilton.The young Penn served on the Provincial Council, associated with important Penn family appointees, anddealt with local Indian tribes before returning to England late in 1755.

The legend of this grant sometimes mistakenly identifies William Penn as the grantor of the propertybeing discussed. This may be because the founder of Philadelphia resided in a nearby house during hissecond stay in America, 1699 to 1701. That house was the famous Slate Roof House, an early colonialmansion located on the east side of Second Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Despite hisprominent position, John Penn did not live in the Slate Roof House in 1755, as it was too expensive forhim to maintain! He reportedly lived in a small house near the corner of Second and Walnut Streets,across from the City Tavern. Its address would eventually become 145 South Second Street.

A 1830S IMAGE OFTHE SLATE ROOFHOUSE BY WILLIAML. BRETON, WHOPAINTED SEVERALWATERCOLORS OFTHE DWELLING.

It was a strip of ground in the rear of this modest house that John Penn supposedly deeded to adelegation of the Six Nations of Indians, also called the Iroquois, for their exclusive use and perpetualownership. He did this in appreciation of their friendliness and support for the British crown during theFrench and Indian War. (The precise reasons are rather complicated and need not be described for thisnarrative.)

JOHN PENN (1899 ETCHING BY ALBERT ROSENTHAL),A TYPICAL WAMPUM BELT, AND

KING (OR CHIEF) HENDRICK THEYANOGUIN (1740 ENGRAVING BY JOHN FABER)

To cement the grant and their friendship, John Penn ceremoniously gave the Native Americanrepresentatives a belt with a string of wampum attached. The lead Indian envoy who received the beltwas a Mohawk chief named King Hendrick Theyanoguin (1692-1755). Also called Chief Hendrick andHendrick Peters, he was an important leader in the Mohawk Valley of colonial New York. It is unknown ifHendrick gave John Penn anything in return as a token exchange.

The event happened sometime between January 7th and January 23rd, 1755, while King Hendrick and agroup of twelve Algonquin sachems (chiefs) were visiting Philadelphia. Only a few months after meetingwith John Penn, Hendrick was killed while on a mission to stop the southern advance of the French armyat the Battle of Lake George. He died on September 8, 1755.

It is unclear who owned the 145 South Second property at the time that John Penn inhabited the house atthat address. So the question arises: Did Penn have the legal right to deed part of the backyard to anyperson or group? Probably not. Perhaps he thought he was establishing an easement on the ground,rather than a land grant to be held in fee simple. Such an easement would surely be unenforceable. Ormaybe Penn knew that he would soon be returning to England and simply did not worry about the legalityof the wampum transaction.

The plot of land that Penn set aside as an Indian reserve is variously reported as "twelve by sixteen" or"fifteen by forty-seven" feet. The site never had a formal name, but it was referred to as the "wampum lot"in late-19th century, as the quotes below indicate. This is from The American Architect and BuildingNews, vol. 36 (May 28, 1892) (reproducing a New York Evening Post story), page 140:

The Philadelphia Chamber Of Commerce Overcomes A WamPum-belt Title. —In Philadelphia under the shadow of the Chamber of Commerce is a lot of landfifteen by forty-seven feet that would seem to belong rightfully to one of the SixNations. It appears that in the period of the French and Indian War, when JohnPenn, the grandson of William, was acting as Proprietary Governor, he lived in alittle house at the corner of Second and Walnut Streets, leasing the Governor'sslate-roof house, the state of which he was too poor to keep up, to JohnClaypole, a wealthy merchant. On the occasion of a reception Governor Penngranted to a delegation of the Six Nations, otherwise known as the Iroquois, hemade a wampum-belt deed of a small lot of land on the State-house lawn to theIndians, so that they might erect a lodge on the spot in which to make treatieswith the whites and smoke the calumet with their great men.

THE DECREPIT SLATE ROOF HOUSE, JUST BEFORE BEING DEMOLISHED IN 1867.THE COMMERCIAL/KEYSTONE/BELL EXCHANGE BUILDING ON THE SAME SITE.

The Slate Roof House was torn down in 1867 and the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce built theCommercial Exchange Building on the site. It was rebuilt in 1870 after a fire and the Chamber occupiedthe multi-story French Empire edifice for some thirty years. Chamber of Commerce officials knew aboutthe Indian reserve adjacent to their property, as they had initially tried to purchase the Wampum Lot so asto expand their building tract south towards Walnut Street. In this, they were unsuccessful. The followingcontinues from The American Architect and Building News, page 140:

The late Charles Knecht, who negotiated for the purchase of the land on whichthe Chamber of Commerce now stands, discovered that the title to a part of theground which he wanted was vested in the Oneidas, who in evidence of itexhibited the famous wampum-belt deed. Nothing could induce them tosurrender it, and the lot on which the Chamber was built did not embrace the littlesection claimed by the Oneidas. To-day tenements and the rear windows of theChamber look upon the wampum lot in which a huckster's cart or a stray cur mayoften be seen. An alley leads up to the little court, and this alley, owned by theChamber, has been kept closed to the public for more than twenty years. Havingthus asserted a prescriptive right to the land, the Chamber now claims it.Whether the title could be confirmed is a question which only the Indian claimmakes at all doubtful.

1875 PHILADELPHIA ATLAS (G. M. HOPKINS)THE WAMPUM LOT OCCUPIED SOME OR ALL OF THE LOWER PART

OF THE OPEN SPACE UNDER THE "RCE" IN "COMMERCE."

Furthermore, the following is from The United Service (October 1895), edited by L.R. Hamersly, pages377-378:

It appears that there was a little plot of land just back of the [C]hamber of[C]ommerce, in that city, which had become very valuable in the course of time,for which no valid title could be obtained. It was discovered, at last, that this littlepiece of ground, only a few feet square, at the end of the south alley-way of the[C]hamber of [C]ommerce belonged to the once great Six Nations of Indians, bya proprietary right given a century and a half ago, by a wampum belt deed. Thistitle had never been dispossessed, and no other title, except a paper title, hadsince been held by any subsequent claimant.

* * *

When Mr. Knecht made his search for the wampum belt he found it in possessionof the Oueidas, who had taken and retained after the Revolution all the wampumbelts of the Six Nations. Nothing could induce the Oueidas to give up the belt orsurrender the title to the property, which they regarded as precious relics of theirpast greatness. Every means was tried to make the Indians change their minds.Ely S. Parker was brought to Philadelphia, where he had a conference with Mr.Knecht and others. Nothing came of the conference, and no title could beobtained to the property, as the wampum belt established a proprietary rightgiven by the [C]ommonwealth [of Pennsylvania], which not only exempted theproperty from taxation, but conferred the title forever, and as a proprietary rightcould not, it is claimed, be forfeited. And so the [C]hamber of [C]ommerce neverbuilt on the wampum lot, but in 1867 they took title in the rest and erected theirpresent building. Owning the driveway to the south of their building, skirting thewampum lot, the chamber of commerce about twenty years ago closed to thepublic the driveway by means of iron gates.

According to Iroquois tradition, the wampum belt received by King Hendrick was the only record and legaldocument of John Penn's land grant. It was said that this belt joined the other venerated wampum beltspassed from one generation of the Six Nations to the next. In 1898, the Iroquois placed the collection ofabout twenty belts in the custody of the State of New York after the last "wampum keeper" chief died.The belts wound up at the State Library in Albany, but many were destroyed by a fire at the Capitolbuilding on March 29, 1911. The exact fate of the Penn-Hendrick belt is unknown.

1895 PHILADELPHIA ATLAS (G. W. BROMLEY)

The quotes above show that the Wampum Lot was a valuable piece of property with many peculiaritiesattached to it, and that the Six Nation tribes long remembered what happened there in early 1755. Theyknew about the property and its provenance, as well as their unfettered right to erect a tent, smoke thecalumet, and make treaties on that special plot of ground. Furthermore, Granville Penn (1761-1844), sonof Thomas Penn, apparently visited this plot of ground in the 1830s and was aware of its significance.Yet there is no indication that the Wampum Lot was ever used as a camping place by any Indian group orindividual.

In 1901, the Commercial Exchange Building was sold to the Keystone Telephone Company and becamethe Keystone Telephone Building. The open courtyard encompassing the Wampum Lot was on the southside of the building and was surrounded by a protective railing in the early 20th century. (Bell TelephoneCompany eventually came to own the Keystone Telephone Building before selling it in 1944. Thestructure was torn down in 1977-1978 and Welcome Park was laid out on the site a few years later.)

Hancock Street, still existing in that vicinity, would have bounded the Wampum Lot on the east. (Thealleyway was previously called Petroleum Street and Zachary's Court.) The lone building remaining onthat street overlooked the Indian tract for decades. This structure, at 149 South Hancock Street, was builtbetween 1824 and 1834 by Michael Bouvier, a cabinetmaker and great-great grandfather of JacquelineKennedy Onassis. Now surrounded by parking lots once occupied by similar 19th century commercialstructures, the Bouvier Building is currently being renovated into a residence.

Five Indian chiefs from New York visited Philadelphia in November of 1922 for a ceremony presided byWilliam Penn-Gaskell Hall (1873-1927), a direct descendant of William Penn, 2nd, the only surviving sonof William Penn by his first marriage. Hall "rededicated" the Wampum Lot courtyard as an Indiancampsite in the presence of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania officials. The following is from the Bulletin ofthe Friends Historical Association, vol. 12, no. 1 (Spring 1923), pages 24-26:

A very short notice celebration occurred on 11 mo. 24, 1922, when the chiefsrepresenting four Indian tribes came to Philadelphia for conference and good will.

* * *

Following this all walked to Second and Walnut Streets, where the Indians, onthe ground granted to their forefathers by John Penn in 1755, went through theceremony of smoking the pipe of peace, and Rev. Red Fox, of the Blackfoottribe, petitioned the Great Spirit in earnest words of prayer. It seemed as thoughwe had gone back two hundred years, but in reality we were joining the past twohundred years to the future, with a prayer and a pledge for peace and good will.

* * *

Albert Cook Myers gave some further account of the Indians who visitedPhiladelphia recently, as mentioned in the President's report, above. As norecord of Albert Cook Myers's account is available, the following is presented,which is from a newspaper account, with some revision:

The chiefs were Chief Shenandoah, of the Oneidas; Chief Mountpleasant, of theTuscaroras (both of the six nations); Chief Strong Wolf, of the Ojibways, andChief Red Fox, of the Blackfeet. With them came two squaws—GladysGanloquidgeon, of the Mohicans, and Mrs. White Cloud, of the Mohawks.

* * *

Chief Shenandoah told of the wampum belt for the tract of land on SecondStreet, alleging that it is still in the possession of the Oneida tribe, and how theproof of the existence of the tract has been handed down from generation togeneration.

The party then went to the Indian Reservation in Second Street, where a wigwamhad been erected. The pipe of peace was smoked under the leadership of RedFox; and William Penn-Gaskell Hall, seventh in descent from William Penn,responded to the speech of Mountpleasant.

The Indian Reservation is said to have been presented to Chief Hendrick, of theSix Nations, when he visited Philadelphia in January, 1755, at which time he hada conference with the Governor of the Province with respect to the Indians andthe Connecticut claims to Northern Pennsylvania.

At that time, it is claimed, John Penn, son of Richard, and grandson of WilliamPenn the Founder, was living in a house near the tract in question and gave theIndians part of his lawn in appreciation of their friendship.

1922 PHILADELPHIA ATLAS (G. W. BROMLEY)

Furthermore, this is from Six Historic Homesteads (2005), by Imogen B. Oakle, pages 157-158:In 1922, a leader of the Boy Scouts conceived the idea of celebrating the rightsof the Indian Order of the Tepee on that square of Indian land that adjoins thesite of the Slate Roof House. He invited to the ceremony the chief of the SixNations, the mayor of the city, the governor of the Commonwealth, the HistoricalSociety, the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames, and all of the knowndescendants of the Penns.

Four chiefs and two notable Indian women accepted the invitation and with theBoy Scouts and the other guest smoked the pipe of piece in a Tepee of stateerected on the square. Chief Red Fox of the tribe of Black Feet recited anoriginal poem, and an address was made by a Boy Scout who was of theseventh generation from William Penn, and who stood upon the self-same spoton which John Penn is believed to have stood when he deeded the land to theSix Nations.

This quote has a few inconsistencies with the 1923 Bulletin of the Friends article. Perhaps William Penn-Gaskell Hall was the Boy Scout leader—not the Boy Scout—noted above. Or perhaps his son, WilliamPenn-Gaskell Hall, Jr., was the Boy Scout who made the address. The 1923 account also mentions aPenn Gaskell Skillern, Jr., as being present during the proceedings, and that he was the eighthgeneration descending from William Penn.

The earlier quotes above note that an alleyway led from Second Street to the enclosed court and that thePhiladelphia Chamber of Commerce had closed it off to the public in the 1870s. This dead-end alleycame to be called Moravian Street and would later provide access to the dumpsters behind Old OriginalBookbinder's Restaurant on Walnut Street. It was used this way for decades and the Wampum Lot itselfwas probably used for dumpster storage. I recall this narrow alley as being particularly grimy, and stillfenced off from Second Street.

The story of the Wampum Lot disappeared from local consciousness after the 1920s. The lastsubstantial reference that I found about it was an exhaustive report on both of Philadelphia's purportedIndian campsites published in 1940. Called "Tradition and Fact of the Indian Camp Grounds," the articlewas authored by a real estate lawyer, Michael P. McGeehan, who was asked by the Welcome Society ofPennsylvania to investigate the two properties. He conducted a thorough title search on both tracts in1938 and his report appears in Records and Activities; Charter, By-Laws, Officers, Members, Minutes;Indian Camp Grounds; Hall of Fame; Pennsbury (The Welcome Society of Pennsylvania, 1940).

Mr. McGeehan begins thus:

The tale is often told that some time in the long ago[,] William Penn or his descendants set asidea part of the property at the south east corner of Second and Sansom Streets, now occupied byThe Keystone Telephone Company, as a reservation upon which Indians, visiting the City, couldpitch their camps, and that the right, so created, still exists.

Like other legends of its kind, the tale is vague as to details...

A DIAGRAM FROM "TRADITION AND FACT OF THE INDIAN CAMP GROUNDS" (1938).

The real estate attorney then goes on to conclusively prove that William Penn did not grant any propertyin the vicinity of Second and Walnut Streets to any Native American group or person. But McGeehandoes not mention John Penn, King Hendrick, or the wampum belt in his research on the Wampum Lotand the surrounding property. He does not even acknowledge the 1755 event, which is referenced inseveral reliable accounts. This omission, whether purposeful or accidental, is especially curious since theNovember 24, 1922, "rededication" ceremony received considerable attention in the local press andoccurred only 16 years before McGeehan conducted his investigation.

Whatever the case, Movarian Street itself disappeared in that locale around 2005. Bookbinder'sRestaurant had experienced some difficult times at the start of the 21st century and its owners thoughtthat building a residential condominium on the property behind the restaurant would be lucrative. OldOriginal Bookbinder's reopened after three years of renovations, along with an attached residentialdevelopment. The Moravian, at 143 South Second Street, is a 7-story brick-faced condominium complex.It is doing well enough, but Bookbinder's went bankrupt and closed for good in 2009.

The western part of the Moravian building thus occupies the former location of Movarian Street, and itseastern portion—housing a driveway entrance and access to building systems—sits squarely atop theWampum Lot site. It is also possible that Welcome Park occupies part of the Wampum Lot tract.

APPROXIMATE SITE OF THE WAMPUM LOT INDIAN RESERVATION, LOOKING SOUTHON HANCOCK (NOT SANSOM) STREET, AT THE BACK OF THE MORAVIAN CONDOMINIUM

BUILDING (RIGHT). THE BOUVIER BUILDING IS ON THE LEFT.

Given that the site is unmarked and that all remnants of the alleged Native American camp ground therehave been obliterated, a historical marker of some sort should be affixed to the southern wall of WelcomePark. Such a marker would highlight how interesting and unusual that one small spot in Philadelphia is,regardless of whether the Wampum Lot story is true or not, and regardless of the legality of John Penn'sactions in 1755.

THIS VIEW OF THE APPROXIMATE SITE OF THE WAMPUM LOT IS LOOKINGSOUTH FROM WITHIN WELCOME PARK. THE MORAVIAN BUILDING SITS ATOP THE

WAMPUM LOT SITE, BUT PART OF THE CAMP GROUND TRACT MAYHAVE BEEN WHERE THE WORDS "WILLIAM PENN" APPEAR.

I have written a separate article on the other so-called Indian reservation in Philadelphia: "Marble Court: AForgotten Indian Camp Ground in Center City Philadelphia?"

RESOURCES:

• The American Architect and Building News, vol. 36 (May 28, 1892), page 140.

• L.R. Hamersly, ed., The United Service (October 1895), pages 377-378.

• Amelia Mott Gummere, The Quaker in the Forum (1910), pages 130-13.

• Bulletin of the Friends Historical Association, vol. 12, no. 1 (Spring 1923), pages 24-26.

• Francis Burke Brandt & Henry Volkmar Gummere, Byways and Boulevards In and About HistoricPhiladelphia (Philadelphia, PA: Corn Exchange National Bank, 1925), pages 38, 74-75.

• Imogen B. Oakley, Six Historic Homesteads (1935), pages 157-158.

• Federal Writers' Project & Pennsylvania Historical Commission, Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation'sBirthplace (Philadelphia, PA: William Penn Assn. of Philadelphia, 1937), page 19.

• Henry Paul Busch, comp. & ed., Records and Activities; Charter, By-Laws, Officers, Members,Minutes; Indian Camp Grounds; Hall of Fame; Pennsbury (Philadelphia, PA: The Welcome Society ofPennsylvania, 1940), containing "Tradition and Fact of the Indian Camp Grounds," by Michael P.McGeehan, pages 165-184.

• Maxwell Struthers Burt, Philadelphia, Holy Experiment (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co.,Inc., 1945), page 49.

• www.ushistory.org/tour/welcome-park.htm