By Christina Georgiou
Nearly everyone in Easton knows the Declaration of Independence was read here on the city's Centre Square, the third place ever this nation's iconic documents was announced publicly, just after Philadelphia, where it was written, and Trenton, and just before the news hit New York City.
The date was July 8, 1776.
At that point, the Northampton County Courthouse was located on Centre Square, where the Soldiers' and Sailors' memorial monument now stands, and essentially being not only the center of the city at that time but also the location of the center of government, it was a logical spot to make such an announcement.
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| The Northampton County Courthouse, as it appeared about 50 years after the 1776 reading of the Declaration of Independence. The original Northampton County archives building is third from the left. At the far right, the open walled structure was used for the Easton farmers' market. |
Robert Levers, who had some years before taken up residence in Easton, was the man who read the Declaration, having just arrived back from Philadelphia where he had served as a committeeman on behalf of Northampton County during the "Provincial Conference of Committees of the Province of Pennsylvania," held at Carpenter's Hall during the week of June 18 to 25, 1776.
The purpose of that gathering was to discuss how Pennsylvania should govern itself in the case of the 13 colonies breaking free of Great Britain's rule.
Casual research has yielded nothing regarding Lever's doings or whereabouts during the following days, but it can be reasonably assumed from his associations and role in carrying the news back to Easton that he remained in Philadelphia and was close to the action.
He arrived home in Northampton County on July 8, and within hours, he announced the proclamation of the 13 colonies to separate from Great Britain on the courthouse steps on Centre Square.
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| A bronze plaque on Centre Square commemorates the occasion of Robert Levers' reading the Declaration of Independence on the courthouse steps on July 8, 1776. |
More information about Levers, as told by historical accounts:
"...One of the most energetic patriots of Northampton County whose background was perhaps the most diversified was Robert Levers, the man who read the Declaration of Independence to his fellow Northampton County citizens from the front steps of the court house on July 8, 1776.
His background was most unusual. He was born in England and arrived in Philadelphia from that country in 1748. There he jumped ship and tried to open a school near Philadelphia, but failed to raise enoungh subscriptions to make this venture profitable. It is believed that he crossed from England as a clerk on shipboard. At any rate, he secured employment in Philadelphia as a clerk. Through the good offices of the Moravians, he was hired to help in the office of the Recorder of Deeds in that city.
Finally he settled down as secretary to Richard Peters who was at the time in charge of the provincial land office in Philadelphia. Working there Levers learned enough about land investment that he acquired 5000 acres of land north of the Blue Mountain which he planned to sell to the Moravians. This deal did not materialize due to the Gnadenhutten massacre.
About this time Levers courted and won Mary Church. Shortly after his wedding he signed up as a clerk on a privateer and spent several months at sea hoping for a fortune in prize money which did not materialize. He returned home to find himself a father and once more in need of employment, which he secured when he was hired to furnish provisions to the Northampton County Militia.
This was in 1763.
Three years later Levers was commissioned a Justice of the Peace for Northampton County. The summer of 1770 found him a resident of Hamilton Township, keeping a store and tavern near the present village of Saylorsburg.
With the coming of the Revolutionary War Robert Levers became so thoroughly involved with committees, conferences, conventions and various assignments, that to list all of these in a account of this nature would make reading wearisome. However, it is expedient to give a brief account of his more important areas of service to his embryonic nation.
In 1775 he was elected to the Committee of Safety for Northampton County representing Hamilton Township. He was reelected the next year and made chairman. He was also a member of the smaller Committee of Correspondence. In June, 1776, Levers was sent to Philadelphia as a member of the convention held to determine how best to take steps which would lead to the forming of a new government for the Province of Pennsylvania.
It was from this meeting that he returned to Easton to perform his famous duty of reading the Declaration of Independence to the crowd assembled at the steps of the county courthouse. The same day the declaration was read in Trenton and Philadelphia.
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| An image of the Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence. About 200 copies were printed in Philadelphia on or about July 5, 1776. It is extremely likely that it was from one of these copies that Levers read the news of the Colonies intent to separate from Great Britain on the county courthouse steps on July 8 in Centre Square. |
During this period Levers was in charge of just about everything in Easton. The town was a storage place for all kinds of military supplies. Levers was charged with protecting these goods as well as preventing the ferry from falling into enemy control. When the American leaders fled from Philadelphia in 1777, most of their official papers and public records were sent to Levers in Easton for safekeeping. He had to look after the prisoners of war held in Easton along with a host of other duties, many of which were far from pleasant and made him enemies.
His home in Easton was actually attacked in September 1785 by angered Tory sympathizers and considerable damage was done. Levers himself was injured and it is said that he never fully recovered from the attack.
He died in Easton, May 20, 1788."
~from "Northampton County in the American Revolution" by Dr. Richmond E. Myers
"...... As Lieutenant of the County and a colonel in the militia he had to perform the task of raising troops, getting funds to pay them, finding supplies of all sorts, and getting wagons to transport them.
These were not easy duties. Many thought it more important to maintain their farms and families than to fight for a vague ideal which would not directly benefit them. Desertions from the militia were common, especially at planting and harvesting times, or following an American defeat.
Money was scarce, and farmers were not eager to take American paper money of little value when the British paid for their foodstuffs in gold. Levers and others who had to find supplies, sometimes had to use threats and force to get the farmers and merchants to part with them.
Easton was a storage place for food, munitions and clothing, and Levers supervised the proper storage and protection of these items. The ferry across the Delaware, a most important link with New Jersey, also had to be guarded against its falling into enemy hands.
It was Robert Levers also who on the steps of the old courthouse on the Square, electrified the town by reading the Declaration of Independence. The event took place on July 8, 1776. Easton was the third town in all America (after Philadelphia and Trenton) to hear the Declaration read officially.
Levers also had to punish militiamen who broke regulations, to care for prisoners sent to Easton, and to detect traitors.
One historian says he was 'the local dictator of the new government' during the early stages of the Revolution. When the American leaders fled Philadelphia as the British moved into that city in 1777, their official papers, records, and public funds were sent to Levers at Easton for safekeeping. There seemed to be no busier man in Northampton County than Robert Levers..."
~from "Northampton Heritage" by E. Gordon Aldefer
That Levers was acquainted with George Taylor, signer of the Declaration of Independence, not only seems reasonable, but that it's a certainty is also recorded in Aldefer's book.
"...George Taylor (signer of the Declaration of Independence, from Easton) died a poor man and what remained of his estates was placed in the hands of his patriot friends, Robert Traill, Robert Hooper and Robert Levers for distribution. To Traill, Taylor willed a pair of pistols, to Hooper he gave a silver mounted small sword and to Levers he gave a silver mounted double barrel gun."
So, what else do we know about Taylor?
Taylor began working under Samuel Savage Jr. in Warwick Furnace, an iron mill in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Taylor was skilled in his trade, and soon he became the manager of the Coventry Forge iron mill. After working there for six years, Samuel Savage Jr. died, and Taylor married his widow, Ann Savage.
They had two children together.
Although the majority of George Taylor’s life was concerned with the iron industry, he also began to take on political positions during the late 1750s. In 1755, Taylor moved to Durham, Pennsylvania, and he was the justice of the peace there in 1757, 1761, and 1763.
In 1763, Taylor eventually moved to Easton, Pennsylvania. While he was there, Taylor was a member of the provincial assembly from 1764 to 1769. Additionally, Taylor was the justice of the peace for Northampton County from 1764 to 1772. In 1775, Taylor was a member of the provincial assembly and a colonel in the Bucks County Militia.
Taylor was not an original member of the Continental Congress. However, he was appointed to replace one of the representatives who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776. George Taylor signed his name to the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776. Taylor’s last significant political role was serving on the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council. Taylor was forced into an early resignation in 1777 when he became stricken with a serious illness. This marked the end of Taylor’s public service.
Although Taylor did not publish any of his written work, there are a few documents that have survived. In Benjamin Franklin Fackenthal’s 'The Homes of George Taylor, Signer of the Declaration of Independence', there is a copy of George Taylor’s Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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| The grave and memorial of Declaration of Independence signer George Taylor, in Easton Cemetary. |
After George Taylor resigned from public office, he still continued to support the patriots. From 1777 to 1780, Taylor worked at his iron mills, making canon balls for the Continental Army. In 1780, Taylor became ill again and decided to return to his home in Easton, Pennsylvania. Taylor spent the rest of his life there until he died on February 23, 1781. Taylor’s body was originally buried at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Easton, Pennsylvania.
In 1854, a memorial was constructed in the Easton Cemetery for Taylor. In 1870, his body was moved to the site of his memorial and was buried directly in front of it, where it remains today."
~from a biography prepared by Kirk Thompson, Penn State University
Though little written by Taylor survives today, earlier this year, in February, a letter written by the Declaration signer did re-surface. It was sold at auction for nearly $70,000.
Text of George Taylor's letter to Richard Backhouse: "I have just rec'd yrs and am glad to hear you have got the Furnace in Blast again. I hope you will be able to fulfill the contract you have made. One of the plates you have sent up is what I call a fork'd plate & the one I wanted is the notched plate next the Bottom plate which rests on the open side plates for a small stove. I have returned the other & when opportunity serves you will please send it. There is not a Hogshead … to be got in Town but have sent a parcel of Right Barrells which I got from Col. Hooper & which will answer the purpose as well. If you could spare me a side of good Beef it would oblige me. I have but two Cattle & not large which is not enough for me. Col. Hooper sends his complement & proposes calling on you tomorrow on his way home." Postscript: "I Rec'd the money & shall pay Mr. Trail & shall be glad [if] you would send the rest when you get it."
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An early image of the Parson-Taylor house, located at Ferry and South Fourth streets. Taylor's main residence was in Easton. The Taylor house in Catasauqua was his "summer house." It was later sold when he experienced serious financial difficulties due to the Revolutionary War and failing health. Taylor's original grave site was across the street, in what is now the parking lot of the St. John's Lutheran Church, though it was later relocated to Easton Cemetary. |
The Colonel Hooper referenced in the letter was legendary for his ability to acquire goods during scarce times during the Revolutionary War, and he was also an Easton resident. He is also the Robert Hooper to who Taylor left his small sword, which was not only a fairly valuable item, but also one showing his esteem for Hooper, as a gentleman's sword was a symbol of his personal honor.
Though in deplorable condition, owned by the Rock Church, Hooper's house still stands at the northwest corner of Northampton and Fifth streets.
