The Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania, also known as the State in Schuylkill, was the first angling club in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

and remains the oldest continuously operating social club in the English-speaking world.

History

The club was established in 1732 as the Colony in Schuylkill under a treaty with the chiefs of the

Lenni-Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

(Delaware) Indians. Officers of the club assumed governmental titles: governor, lieutenant governor, three councilors, sheriff, coroner, secretary. Among its 28 founding members were James Logan,

Philip Syng Philip Syng (September 29, 1703May 8, 1789) was, like his namesake father, Philip Syng, Sr. (1676–1739), a renowned silversmith who created fine works in silver and sometimes gold for the wealthy families of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1752 ...

, and

Joseph Wharton Joseph Wharton (March 3, 1826 – January 11, 1909) was an American industrialist. He was involved in mining, manufacturing and education. He founded the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, co-founded the Bethlehem Steel compa ...

; the first Governor was

Thomas Stretch Thomas Stretch (March 30, 1697 – October 19, 1765) was an American clockmaker and a founder and first Governor of the Colony in Schuylkill, later known as The State in Schuylkill, or Schuylkill Fishing Company. In 1753 he erected the first cloc ...

(born

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, 1695), who held the office for 34 years. Other early members included Samuel Howell,

Thomas Wharton Jr. Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735May 22, 1778) was a Pennsylvania merchant and politician of the Revolutionary era. He served as the first president of Pennsylvania (an office akin to governor) following the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain ...

Tench Francis Jr. Tench Francis (1730–1800) was an American merchant, lawyer and agent for the family of William Penn and the first cashier of the Bank of North America. He was born the son of Elizabeth Turbitt and Tench Francis Sr., a prominent Philadelphia l ...

, William Bradford,

Samuel Nicholas Samuel Nicholas (1744 – 27 August 1790) was the first officer commissioned in the United States Continental Marines (predecessor to the United States Marine Corps) and by tradition is considered to be the first Commandant of the Marine Corps ...

Clement Biddle Colonel Clement Biddle (May 10, 1740 – July 14, 1814) was an American Revolutionary War soldier. Life Biddle was born May 10, 1740, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John Biddle (1707–1789) and Sarah Owen (1711–1773). He was the younger ...

William Bingham William Bingham (March 8, 1752February 7, 1804) was an American statesman from Philadelphia. He was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788 and served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801. Bingham was o ...

, Mayor Anthony Morris,

Thomas Mifflin Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Pennsylvania, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the American Revolution. Mifflin was ...

, and Samuel Morris, second governor for 46 years. In 1737, membership was limited to twenty-five. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, in 1782, the club changed its name to "State in Schuylkill", but retained its rules and organization. The club claims to be the oldest in the world. The

Beefsteak Club Beefsteak Club is the name or nickname of several 18th- and 19th-century male dining clubs in Britain and Australia that celebrated the beefsteak as a symbol of patriotic and often Whig concepts of liberty and prosperity. The first beefsteak clu ...

of London antedates it, but was suspended for a while. In 1747, the members decided to build a clubhouse, dubbed The Castle, at the foot of the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

falls near Fairmount, now part of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. It used some of the nearby walnut trees for timber. During the American Revolution, Samuel Morris, the club's governor, was the captain of the

First City Troop The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, also known as the First City Troop, is a unit of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. It is one of the oldest military units in the United States still in active service and is among the most decorat ...

, which many other members joined. The club also changed its name to the "State in Schuylkill." While Philadelphia was the young nation's new capital, President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, an honorary member, was a frequent visitor to the clubhouse, as on June 14, 1787. On July 21, 1825,

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemasonry, freemason and military officer who fought in the Ameri ...

visited the Castle and was elected a member. When the Fairmount Dam was constructed in 1822, spoiling the fishing at the Falls, the Castle was moved downriver to

Rambo's Rock Bartram's Garden is a 50-acre public garden and National Historic Landmark in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, situated on the banks of the Tidal Schuylkill River. It is a venue for art, an access to the tidal river and wetlands, an outdoor ...

, opposite

Bartram's Garden Bartram's Garden is a 50-acre public garden and National Historic Landmark in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, situated on the banks of the Tidal Schuylkill River. It is a venue for art, an access to the tidal river and wetlands, an outdoor ...

and below Gray's Ferry. On April 27, 1844, the club was incorporated under the name Schuylkill Fishing Company. When the fish in the Schuylkill were poisoned by sewage, the club was forced to move again. In 1887, the club bought the Clock House, on the Delaware River at Eddington near Cornwells Heights, two miles above Andalusia. Over the winter of 1887–1888, the Castle and Kitchen were re-erected on this new site, where the Company remained until 1944. In 1944, the former estate of William B. Chamberlain, Devon House on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

near

Andalusia, Pennsylvania Andalusia is a historic neighborhood and unincorporated community in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia along the Poquessing Creek. The ZIP Code is 19020. The area is the southernmost part of the township and ...

, was conveyed to the State in Schuylkill. The Company moved all of its possessions, including the Castle and Kitchen, to this new site. Inside the State House, portraits of the Governors lined the north wall of the entry hall and part of its south side. There were interesting ones of Governors

and Samuel Morris, and several of the nineteenth century successors, as well as likenesses in oil of all nine Governors who served between 1896 and 1970. The door onto the porch was flanked by a piano and by a tall case clock made by

Peter Stretch Peter Stretch (October 14, 1670 – September 11, 1746) was among the most prominent early American clockmakers and among the first makers of scientific instruments in America. Family He was born on October 14, 1670, at Leek, Staffordshire, Englan ...

about 1740, father of the Schuylkill Fishing Company's first Governor,

, which had been donated by Governor William Fisher Lewis. The State in Schuylkill was assigned the place of honor in the Grand Centennial Torchlight Procession held July 3, 1876, celebrating the centennial of the Nation's founding. The company was to have served as the personal escort of President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, but since he was unable to attend it escorted the Governor of Pennsylvania and Mayor of Philadelphia throughout the city, passing

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Fa ...

at midnight amidst the ringing of bells, firing of salutes, and cheers of a large crowd. On October 13, 1947, 225 years after its founding, members of the Schuylkill Fishing Company dedicated a memorial at the original clubhouse site on West River Drive (now Martin Luther King Drive) in

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

. The memorial was of gray stone, inset with a tablet of pink marble bearing the inscription: During the 1950s, when the Schuylkill Expressway was under construction, the Park Commission moved the monument about 200 yards west of the Girard Avenue Bridge (Martin Luther King Drive near Sweet Briar Drive) between West River Drive and the Expressway, some 125 yards from the actual spot where the Castle had stood. On the frigid winter night of December 21–22, 1980, the State House, its caretaker's wing, and virtually all of its contents were destroyed in a fire. The separate Castle and Kitchen structures were not harmed. A new State House was built on the site in 1981–82.

Activities

The Club designated May 1 as the "opening day" of the sporting season and claimed to have received its rights for fishing and fowling on the river directly from Chief

Tammany Tamanend (historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, "the Affable," ) (–) was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the Peace Treaty with ...

in 1732. There are 13 appointed fishing days in each year, at equal periods between May 1 and October 1, when the company assembles at the castle and a citizen, designated "Caterer," assisted by the apprentices, prepares the

golden perch The golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua'') is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, an ...

in the ancient pans and old manner. Each club member serves as an apprentice at some time, and must learn to hold three perch in a long-handled frying pan over the blazing wood fire until one side is done to a tum, then, with a quick twist of his wrist, toss the fish up the old chimney, catching them as they fall on the uncooked side. The perch are served to the company assembled about the ancient table, on one of William Penn's platters presented to the club by his son John who was a member while Governor.

Statehood

The club maintained a rather ambiguous claim to state sovereignty throughout its early history. During

Prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...

, it claimed that it was unaffected, and continued to openly manufacture and drink alcoholic beverages.

Fish House Punch

The club is reputed to have been the origin of Fish House Punch, an

alcoholic drink An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

consisting mainly of rum. The first mention of Fish House Punch — though not yet by that name — may be in the notes of William Black, the secretary of an embassy of Virginia Commissioners who visited Philadelphia in 1744. He recounted being met by local poobahs on the bank of the Schuylkill, where they were greeted “very kindly and welcomed . . . into their Province with a Bowl of fine Lemon Punch big enough to have Swimmed half a dozen of young Geese." The Punch is traditionally made in a large bowl also used as a baptismal font for the citizens' infant sons; “its an ample space . . . . . would indeed admit of total immersion”, as one citizen noted. I doubt that there was Punch in it at the time — it was far too precious for such usage, and far too potent. According to legend, on a visit to the Castle

drank so much of the potent Fish House Punch, he subsequently couldn't bring himself to make an entry in his diary for three days. It was said to be Washington's favorite.

References

External links