THE

JOSEPH HIESTER,

GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1790,

December 19, 1820, to December 16, 1823.

HE remote ancestors of the Hiester family in this country were of Silesian origin, and in process of time the descendants spread through the countries bordering on the Rhine. Three brothers of that name, Daniel, John, and Joseph, emigrated to America in the year 1737, and settled at Goshenhoppen, then Philadelphia County, now Montgomery. They soon afterwards purchased of the Proprietary Government a tract of several thousand acres in Bern township, now Berks County. Here John and Joseph settled, and on the 18th of November, 1752, the subject of this sketch was born. He was the son of John Hiester, and at an early age was put to the lighter labors of the farm with his father. Subduing the forest, and bringing the soil under cultivation with the imperfect farm implements then in use was a herculean task, and required a strong will and stout hands. He was himself accustomed to relate, that he was put to the plough so young that when it struck a stump or stone and was thrown from the furrow, he had not strength sufficient to right it till it had run a considerable distance, and when caught in a root the rebound would sometimes throw him prostrate.

The father often recounted to the son the considerations which induced him to leave the old country, and to contrast the freedom and independence that was here enjoyed with the vassalage in which the peasantry were there held. They were kept perpetually poor and dependent by the burdens and

taxation imposed by the government and the nobility, with no prospect of any means of improvement. The accounts which reached them of prosperous settlements in the New World, where the hand of power was scarcely felt, gave them hope; and thither the brothers turned their faces, seeking in the then wilds of Pennsylvania a habitation, where in process of time one of their offspring came to rule a State more powerful, prosperous, and happy than the ancient dynasty which they left behind.

In the intervals of farm labor which the winter season afforded, the son received the rudiments of an English and German education. In 1771, in his nineteenth year, he married Elizabeth Whitman, daughter of Adam Whitman, a highly respectable citizen of Reading, then an insignificant village. Thither shortly after his marriage he removed, and went into mercantile business in company with his father-in-law. In politics he was a Whig,-a party which had been formed in Pennsylvania to oppose the policy of the Proprietary Government, and which afterwards warmly espoused the cause of the Revolution. As a representative of that party he was chosen a member of the State Conference which met in Philadelphia on the 18th of June, 1776, and which in reality assumed the government of the Colony, called a convention to frame a new constitution, gave instructions for the guidance of its representatives in Congress, and authorized the calling out of troops for the Continental army. In all these proceedings he was a warm supporter of the popular cause.

He was then a captain of militia, and no sooner had the Conference in Philadelphia adjourned, than he hastened home to arouse the young men of his section to the importance of joining the national standard, at that time but feebly supported. A biographical sketch of this period of his life, published in the United States Gazette, furnishes the following graphic account of this summoning to arms: "It was in the twenty-third or twenty-fourth year of his age that General Joseph Hiester first rallied under the standard of his country, and took up arms in defence of her independence. It was a

gloomy period, at which many hearts, that had beaten high, were sickened and sad in the bosoms of those who now had melancholy forebodings of the issue of the contest in which they had cheerfully embarked — at a time when the great, the good, the peerless Washington had much cause to complain of the want of men and means to meet the enemies of his country. It was late in the year 1775, or early in 1776, that he, then a vigorous, powerful, influential young man, called together by beat of drum his fellow-townsmen of Reading, to take into consideration the alarming state and gloomy prospects of their country. Reading was then an inconsiderable town with a small population. Having convened about twenty-five or thirty, he explained to them the necessity there was, that they also should be up and doing in the cause of their common country. He stated that their beloved General was then believed to be in a most perilous situation in New Jersey; that his friends and fellow-soldiers were but few, while his foes and the foes of America were thickening and multiplying on every side. Having, so far as in his power, embarked the sympathies and aroused the patriotism of his hearers, he expressed his anxious desire to raise a company of volunteers, and march to the assistance of Washington. He was heard with attention and respect, and his proposition was kindly received. He then laid forty dollars on the drumhead, and said: 'I will give this sum as a bounty, and the appointment of a sergeant to the first man who will subscribe to the articles of association to form a volunteer company to march forthwith and join the Commander-in-chief; and I also pledge myself to furnish the company with blankets and necessary funds for their equipment, and on the march!' This promise he honorably and faithfully fulfilled. After our young captain had thus addressed his neighbors, they consulted together, and Matthias Babb stepped forward from among them, signed the articles and took the money from the drum-head. This example, and further advancements of smaller sums of money, induced twenty men on that evening to subscribe to the articles of association. Notices and invi

tations were sent through the neighborhood; other meetings were held, and in ten days from the first meeting Captain Hiester had eighty men enrolled. They were promptly organized and ready to march to join the Commander-inChief."

The State authorities were engaged in forming what was known as a Flying Camp. The success which had attended the efforts of Captain Hiester in obtaining men made them desirous of inducing him to extend his efforts, and a regiment or battalion was shortly obtained. The men would have gladly made him their Colonel; but this he declined in favor of one who desired the position, as he did also that of Major, declaring that he would willingly serve in the ranks, if by such duty he could better aid their common country. He in good faith went among his men and urged the choice of the gentlemen who sought the positions, and by his magnanimous exertions in their behalf secured their election. Upon the arrival of the command at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, it was found that General Washington had moved to Long Island, whereupon considerable dissatisfaction was manifested, many of the men claiming that by the terms of enlistment they were not obliged to leave their own State. Hiester was determined to hasten forward to the support of Washington, whom he knew to be in sore need of help. "This," says the authority above cited, "was a critical and painful state of affairs. What was to be done? What could be done to induce the men to go forward? They were drawn up in a compact body, and Captain Hiester addressed them in such honest, suitable, and impassioned language, that they warmed as he warmed, they soon felt as he felt, and their hearts beat in unison with his. One who was present on that trying occasion, said to me, 'I wish to God, I could tell you what the Captain said, and how the men looked and felt; "You have marched thus far," said he, "resolved to fight your country's foes, and defend your homes and families: and will you now prove cowards and desert your country, when your country most wants your help? I would be ashamed to return home with you? I will go for