The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-09
TRORTAHMANY'SGRAY
MAY NOW BE SET UP AFTER SIX
YEARS DELAY.

YEARS DELAY.
Inscription Is Somewhat Cautiously
Wefded Because OF Uncertainty as II
whether II Really Is the Grave OF tn,
Chief VINO Made . Treaty With Penn
P~ENNsBuRd, Pa, Aug. s.-After 81,
years delay it is now hoped soon to ereot
a tablet over the spot where the Indian
Chief Tammany Is supposed to be buried
The tablet was provided in 1902 by the His
toricsl Society Of Bucks county. but the
man who owned the ground where the
grave Is situated refused to permit its
erection unless the society bought the
land Immediately surrounding the grave
AS the society had nc money for the pur.
pose it abandoned the project. Recently
the site of the grave was sold. and the new
owner Ia expected to consent to the erection
OF the memorial.
The supposed grave OF Tammany Is a
few miles northeast OF D~oylestown, the
county seat Of Bucks county. 1t Ia close
to a spring on the banks Of the Neshaminy
Creek in New Britain township.
without q doubt q famous Indian wal
buried there about the middle Of the eigh-
tenth century. Whether or not he was
the sachem known as Tammany may never
be positively decided.
According to the stories preserved In the
old families Of the neighborhood. Tammany
and a large party Of Indians were on their
way toward Philadelphia from the interior
OF Pennsylvania to participate in a treaty
negotiation. The aged chief became iii
and was left in a hut on the banks Of the
Neshaminy with an attendant.
Finding himself abandoned and unable
to take part in the preparation of the treaty
the chief tried to end his life by setting fire
to the hut. but the attendant extinguished
the blaze. Soon afterward he succeeded
in stabbing himself through the heart
with his hunting knife.
The people Of the vicinity. who like
the white settlers generally held Tammany
in high esteem. buried the dead chief be-
side the spring near the hut where he died.
Later. 1t Is said, the body Of one Of Tam
many's sons was brought to the same spot
and buried beside the father. the graves
being marked by slabs Of slate. Some
fifty years ago the owner Of the land built
these slabs into the wall OF q new barn.
Thos who question the accuracy Of the
cShy jaw bboh ooycCttOhb principally
upon the fact that written accounts telling
OF Tammany show he was in his prime
about the time that William Penn came %
America In 1852. Therefore II he lived
until 1750 he must have been nearly 100
years old.
The signature OF q great chief Of the
Delaware tribe who bore a name resem-
bling Tammany appears attached to several
treaties n deeds xecuted in Pennsyi-
vania In the latter part Of the seventeenth
century. The name IL also mentioned in early
official documents and is written variousiy
as famine, Tamanend, Tamenend. Tamane
Ring Tamfnaiy. Great Sachsnn Tammany.
n finally after his death Saint Tammany.
He IL said to have been one OF the chiefs
who greeted Penn upon his arrival and
n OF those who met Penn and his
followers under the historic elm tree In
Philadelphia to complete the treaty Of
agreement OF its kind never sworn to and
never broken.
The deeds to which Tammany's-nam Ia
attached show that he did o hesitate
to sell the same land more than once to the
same purchasers. Penn not i~nfreqpently
dams declared themselves dissatisfied with
their first bargains.
The spot where Tammany is supposed
to be buried is part Of a large tract which
he first sold to Penn in 1883 for so much
wampum,. 80 many guns, shoes, stockings,
looking glasses, blankets and other goods
as ye sd William Penn shall please to give
unto u.s. Apparently PENIS generosity
did not COME up to expectations, and In
1882 and again in 1897 Penn bought the
same land again from Tammany.
These actions do not seem to have
initiated against the popular canonization
of Tammany after his death. In the
literature Of the day he vas pictured as
the 1uintessence OF Indian nobility, and
by the time OF the Revolution he was
May 1 was the day set apart in his honor.
The date was that on which the fishing
opened In the Schuylkill River.
and the observance originated with the
schuylkill Fishing Company. an ancient and
adelphia. which claimed to have obtained |
from Tammany the right to fish in the
In ira the Sons Of Tammany were
organized 10 Philadelphia. and thereafter
May 1 usually opened with the ringing Of
bells: Then there was a procession OF
militia and the Sons OF Tammany, all with |
in their hats.
Proceeding to the wigwam In the out
OF the city there was a long talk, |
followed dances and other festivities. |
OF the songs heard on these occasions
lad a stanza sainning thus:
AZ last growing old and quite worn out with years, |
As history doth truly proclaim.
wigwam was nrcd, he nobiy expired
And new TO the skies In a name,
Tammany societies were formed In
cities. That Of New York came
nto existence In the latter part OF the
eighteenth century. al the successor Of
he Columbian Order. About that time
Philadelphia society was dissolved
oecaus Of efforts to make IL a political
Similar efforts later in the New York
society were not only successful but seemed
% give IL q stability that il failed to attain
10 a purely beneficial and fraternal or
Many features of the early
societies have been adopted BY
he Imnrovad Order Of Rad Man