“Thus far I have proceeded without accident to man, horse or carriage, although the latter has had wherewith to try its goodness, especially in ascending the North Mountain from Skinners by a wrong road, that is, by the old road, which never was good, and is rendered next to impassable by neglect.”
Sailors Cause of Bloody Election in
Philadelphia October 1, 1742
One of the early Mayors of Philadelphia was the distinguished Quaker, Isaac Norris, who had been a member of the Provincial Assembly and the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He had also served as a member of the Governor’s Council for more than thirty years, and was named by William Penn in his will as one of the trustees of the Province. He died June 4, 1735, and was succeeded by his son of the same name, known in the history of Pennsylvania as “The Speaker.”
Isaac Norris, “The Speaker,” married one of the daughters of James Logan, and soon retired from commercial life. He was a member of the Assembly for thirty years and for the latter half of that time its Speaker.
Notwithstanding his connection with Logan, and the further fact that he was a grandson of Hon. Thomas Lloyd, one of the Commissioners of the Province from December, 1686, to December, 1688, and Deputy Governor from March, 1691, to April 26, 1693, he was a leader of the strict Friends in the Assembly who differed in politics from Logan, “who represented the Proprietary, or Governor’s party,” on all questions relating to the Province.
So persistently did Speaker Norris oppose the Proprietaries in the various disputes between the Governor and the Quakers, or “Norris Party,” that there resulted such bitter contests for office as would be fashionable in modern times.
The re-election of Norris to the Assembly in 1741 could not be prevented, and the Quakers gained much ground with Norris in that body, and with his brother-in-law, Griffiths, and uncle, Preston, who were aldermen of the city of Philadelphia.
The corporation was too important a political factor to submit to his influence and the Proprietary Party succeeded in electing four new aldermen and five new members of the City Council who would further the Governor’s plans, but it was no easy matter to defeat Norris at a popular election.