Historic Philadelphia

ands were in the line of march, as they
always were in Philadelphia parades (the
firemen repeated the parade successfully on
May 1). Trumpeter Frank Johnson led the
most popular band in the city, and Johnson’s
Collections of Cotillions, published in 1818,
was followed by dozens of other of his
compositions. His band played for the ball
given for Lafayette in 1825, and made a
European tour in 1837.
On a Sunday in June 1849, the Killers
No. 1 set four buildings on fire. It was fashionable
at that time for hooligan gangs to
append “No. 1” to their names; there were the
Buffers No. 1, and the Rats No. 1, for
instance. No gangs labeled No. 2 seemed to
be in operation. Killers No. 1 were allied with
the Moyamensing Hose Company. The purpose
of their arson was to lure out the rival
Shiffler Hose Company, named for the “martyr”
of the 1844 riots. The Killers attacked
when the Shiffler firemen showed up, and an
all-day battle resulted, with bricks, rocks and
musket balls flying from Eighth to Eleventh
Street, from Christian to Fitzwater. Over the
next few weeks, assorted arson and mayhem
took place, involving rival fire companies but
with varied ethnic undertones.
On the night of the general election,
October 9, some raucous men were seen
towing a burning wagon up Seventh Street in
lower Moyamensing. They may just have been
staging a fiery celebration of the election of
Joel Jones as mayor. Their arrival upset African
American residents of the area, because there
had been rumors of possible violence against
the California House, a tavern at Sixth and St.
Mary’s Streets, just below Federal Street. It had
a black clientele, and its black proprietor had
a white wife. Some worried black men threw
rocks at the white men with the burning
wagon. When word of this spread, whites set
the California House on fire. Black neighbors
fought back. Police arrived, but were driven
back as far as Lombard Street, where they
came upon a crowd of African Americans
coming down to join the fray. Two fire
companies arrived: Hope and Good Will. The
engine was taken away from the Hope
Company, and two Good Will men were fatally
shot. The fire spread to some houses.
The State House bell was clanging to call
the military. The rioters scattered. Soldiers
came marching down at 2:30 a.m. on the
10th. All was calm, so they tramped back up
Fifth Street to Chestnut and were dismissed
outside the mayor’s office. A few hours
later, incendiaries were torching African-
American residences in Moyamensing. Three
fire companies had men injured and equipment
damaged. Black resistance was
organized to protect the white firemen, and a
battle with the rioters commenced about 8
a.m. in Eighth Street. The militia finally
returned at about 10, chased the rioters, and
posted guards at intersections as far up as
Pine Street. The day ended with four dead and
twenty-five taken to the hospital. It is on
record how many were of which race, but
what’s the difference?
THE QUAKER CITY
The nickname “The Quaker City” became
popular in the 1840s, in a way that didn’t
contribute much to civic pride. George
Lippard, twenty-one, a flamboyant newspaper
reporter, covered the trial of Singleton Mercer,
accused of shooting Mahlon Hutchinson
Heberton, a wealthy Philadelphia playboy.
Trial testimony revealed that Heberton had
picked up Mercer’s sister, Sarah, sixteen, on
the street, took her to a house of ill repute on
Elizabeth Street (now Panama Street),
detained her at pistol point and seduced her.
Her brother went looking for Heberton,
✧
George Lippard.
COURTESY OF THE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN PORTRAITS.
CHAPTER III
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