Saint Tamany Patron Saint of Fisherman - by J. Willis Martin

ST. TAMANY Patron Saint of Fishermen

(The following account of "St. Tamany" was prepared by J. WILLIS MARTIN, Governor of "The State in Schuylkill.")

St. Tamany, the patron saint of fishermen, was a famous chief, head of the Delaware tribe, and king of the confederation of the Lenni Lanape. He is described as "having been a marvelous man, endowed with mental as well as physical strength, filled with wisdom, forbearance, and patriotism and supposed to have intercourse with the Great Spirit. He, with chief Malanequan, conveyed to William Penn a tract of land between the Pennypack and Neshaminy creeks, by deed, dated April 23rd, 1683, to which their seals are attached."

His name is variously spelled Tamanen, Tamanend, Tamanand, and finally Tamany.

Heekewelder, calling him Tamanend, writes, "He was an ancient Delaware chief who never had his equal. He was in the highest degree endowed with wisdom, virtue, prudence, charity, affability, meekness, hospitality, in short, with every good and noble qualification that a human being may possess. He was supposed to have had intercourse with the Great and Good Spirit; for he was a stranger to everything that is bad."

In 1683 it is reported that William Penn visited Chief Tamany at Perkasie.

The chief passed away at a ripe old age and is buried by the side of a spring on Capt. Robert's farm, about three miles and a half southwest of Doylestown, within the bounds of the former cherished hunting grounds of the Delaware Indians. Along State Road, about a mile southwest of Doylestown, on the property of the Farm School, stands an old house, on the site of the building in which funeral services over the body of Tamanend (Tamany) were held.

The memory of his exalted career remained as a price less treasure among his own people and the whites. During the Revolutionary War his enthusiastic admirers declared him a saint, and he was established under the name of St. Tamany, Patron Saint of America. His name as a saint appeared in almanacs; and in his memory there was a festival celebrated on the first day of May in each year.

In the early periods of Pennsylvania history, about the time that citizens of foreign birth began to celebrate in Philadelphia the days of their tutelary saints, St. David of Wales, St. Andrew of Scotland, St. George of England, and St. Patrick of Ireland, the natives of Pennsylvania began to celebrate St. Tamany's Day. His festival was also celebrated in many cities with considerable pomp.

The Schuylkill Fishing Company, known as the "Colony in Schuylkill," the oldest club in the world, having a continuous existence from the period of its origin in the reign of George II, on the 11th of October, 1789, adopted a by-law providing that "a meeting of the company shall be held annually on the first day of May to commemorate the day of our illustrious saint and patron, St. Tamany. " The custom has been continued to this day.

Following the footsteps of The Schuylkill Fishing Company, on January 14, 1921, the Ocean City Fishing Club passed a resolution, by which the opening date for their fishing season is also the first day of May; and that prizes be issued as of May, June, July, August, and September, their fishing season.

In 1805 "The Tamany Fishing Company" was organized, with a wigwam clubhouse at 85 Race St., Philadelphia, Pa., and named in honor of Chief Tamany. In 1809 a club house was located on the "Pea Shore," the eastern bank of the Delaware River, a few miles north of Camden.

An elaborately carved figurehead by Rush, the famous Philadelphia sculptor, a photograph of which is shown on page 30, was attached to the old wooden Ship of the Line "Delaware." When the vessel was dismantled this figure head was retained and now stands on the lawn of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Occult powers are attributed to this effigy by the cadets; it is known as "Old Tecumseh" and "God of the 2.5," those figures rep resenting the passing mark for examinations.

Midshipmen who salute the figurehead during a march past are assured of obtaining a passing mark, the feature of the performance being that it is contrary to military discipline for men in rank to salute. To further propitiate the god, the custom prevails of tossing pennies as an offering prior to examination.

(Yearbook 1921 - Ocean City NJ Fishing Club)

.