Liberty on the Anvil

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The Right
to Right Wrongs

The 5th article of the charter ensured "that all Criminals shall have the same Priviledges of Wittnesses and Councill as theire Prosecutors." Two landmark civil liberties cases, Patrick Lyon's alleged robbery of the Bank of the Pennsylvania in 1798, and Passmore Williamson's assistance to an enslaved woman seeking freedom in 1855, tested the ability of Pennsylvania authorities to protect individual rights against governmental power. Though both plaintiffs suffered significant injustices, both sued successfully for redress, in the process shaping the changing laws of their times.

Study for the Second Version of Pat Lyon at the Forge

Painting
Study for the Second Version of Pat Lyon at the Forge
John Neagle, Philadelphia, 1828
Oil on paper laid down on canvas, mounted on masonite
Purchase, 1900

On September 1, 1798, the Bank of Pennsylvania (a painting
of which hangs in the Society's grand stairwell) was robbed of $162,821.61. Patrick Lyon, a blacksmith and recent immigrant from England, was jailed as the primary suspect since he had made the doors and locks to the vault. Ultimately vindicated, Lyon went back to his forge and became a well-respected citizen. In 1825 he commissioned a full-length portrait from artist John Neagle, requesting, "I want you to paint me at work at my anvil…."

 

Copyright 2001 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

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