WATSON'S ANNALS of PHILADELPHIA vol. 1 - page171 Published 1857 THE CAVES Most Philadelphians have had some vague conceptions of the caves and cabins in which the primitive settlers made their temporary residence. The caves were generally formed by digging into the ground, near the verge of the river-front bank, about three feet in depth; thus making half their chamber under ground; and the remaining half above ground was formed of sods of earth, or earth and brush combined. The roofs were formed of layers of limbs, or split pieces of trees, over-laid with sod or bark, river rushes, &c. The chimneys were of stones and river pebbles, mortared together with clay and grass, or river reeds. The following facts may illustrate this subject, to wit: An original paper is in John Johnson's family, of the year 1683, which is an instrument concerning a division of certain lands, and "executed and witnessed in the cave of Francis Daniel Pastorius, Esq." On the 17th of 9mo. 1685, it was ordered by the provincial executive Council, that all families living in caves should appear before the Council. What a group they must have made! This order was occasioned by the representations of the magistrates of Philadelphia, and enforced by a letter they had received from Governor Penn, in England. No one, however, thought proper to obey the order. The Council gave "further notice" that the Governor's orders relating to the caves will be put in execution in one month's time. In 1685, the Grand Jury present Joseph Knight, for suffering drunkenness and evil orders in his cave; and several drinking houses to debauch persons are also presented. They also present all the empty caves that do stand in the Front Street, "which is to be sixty feet wide," wherefore, the court orders that they forthwith "be pulled down," by the constables, and "demolished;" [terms intimating they were in part above ground], and upon request of John Barnes and Patrick Robinson, [the Clerk of Council,] who asked one month to pull down their respective caves, it was granted, on condition that they fill up the hole in the street. On another occasion, they are called Caves, or "Cabins," on the king's highway. The interesting story concerning the cave at the Crooked Billet, at which the ancestors of Deborah Morris dwelt, has been told under the article "Primitive Settlement". Mrs Hannah Speakerman, when aged 75, told me that she well remembered having seen and often played at an original cave, called "Owen's Cave". It was in "Townsend's Court", on the south side of Spruce Street, west of Second Street, on a shelving bank. It was dug into the hill - had grass growing upon the roof part, which was itself formed of close-laid timber. The same man who had once inhabited it was still alive, and dwelt in a small frame house near it. Near the cave stood a large apple tree, and close by, on "Barclay's Place", so called, she often gathered filberts and hickory nuts. The whole was an unimproved place only 80 years ago; it being, from some cause, suffered to lay waste by the Barclay heirs. John Brown, and others, told me that the original cave of the Coates' Family, in the Northern Liberties, was preserved in some form in the cellar of the family mansion, which remained till 1830, at the southwest corner of Green and Front Streets. **************************************************************************** *****