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CHESTER  COUNTY 


AND 


ITS  PEOPLE 


<^%(,6> 


Of  all  the   things  which  man  can  do  or  make   here   below,  by  far  the  most   momentous, 
wonderful  and  worthy  are  the  things  we  call  books — THOMAS  CARLYLE 


^^   EDITED   BY 

wf  W.  THOMSON 


ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO  AND  NEW  YORK;.'.:,   , 
THE  UNION  HISTORY  COMPANY 
1898 


^ 


y^U^'% 


PRCPACe. 


THE  Publishers  herewith  present  to  their  friends  in 
Chester  County  this  fine  volume  of  local  history. 
Upon  examination  it  will  be  found  full  of  interesting 
matter  concerning  the  county,  and  will  be  accepted  as  a 
standard  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  State.  The  Pub- 
lishers have  drawn  freely  from  every  available  source,  giving 
due  credit  therefor,  and  gratefully  acknowledge  their  indebt- 
edness to  the  press  throughout  the  count}'  and  to  the  owners 
of  private  libraries  and  rare  and  valuable  documents.  In  a 
work  of  this  character,  more  or  less  hurriedly  prepared,  it 
has  been  found  impracticable  to  avoid  mistakes;  but  the 
Publishers,  as  is  their  custom,  stand  ready  to  correct,  after 
notification,  all  errors  by  special  errata  sheet  to  be  sent  to 
every  subscriber  to  be  pasted  in  the  book.  We  cordially 
thank  our  friends  and  patrons  for  their  encouragement  and 
support, 

THE  pu^i^ianma. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


"^  Octagonal  School-house 65-66 

«  View  of  Coatesville i  ig-120 

'^  William  Wayne 137-138 

V  Josiah  Hoopes 173-174 

.     H.    H.    GiLKYSON 209-210 

V  Bayard  Taylor 227-228 

V  Wayne  MacVeagh 227-228 

-i  Anthony  Wayne 227-228 

V  Galusha  Pennypacker 227-228 

T.  Buchanan  Read 227-228 

V  Unveiling  of  Paoli  Monument 245-246 

i  General  Lafayette 263-264 

J  Main  Building,  Normal  School 281-282 

V  Group  of  Buildings,  Lincoln  University 299-300 

j  P.  M.  Sharfless 317-318 

i  A.   P.    Reid 335-336 

J  G.  M.  Philips 371-372 

/  A.  Gibbons 389-390 

<  Roxborough  Home  for  Women 407-408 

■!  Charlton  Lewis 425-426 

i  H.  A.  Beale 443-444 

-I  J.  A.  M.  Passmore 461-462 

:  M.  S.  Way 479-480 

V  Charles  Huston 497-498 

;  G.  G.  Groff : 515-516 

,;    J.    S.    FuTHEY 533-534 

/  Joseph  B.  Jacobs 587-588 

/   J.  B.  Everhart 605-606 

n/  Gilbert  Cope 670-671 

/Jesse  C.  Green 702-703 

■/  Birmingham  Meeting-house 766-767 

n'  L.  G.  McCauley 878-879 

III 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK  I. 


PAGE. 

Situation  of  the  Coimty 51 

Area  and  Boundary 52 

Appearance  of  the  Country,  Early 52 

Varieties  of  Trees 53 

Early  Events  on  the  Atlantic  Coast 54-57 

Attempts  on  the  Delaware,  Swedes' 58 

Eilorts  of  the  Dutch 60 

The  English  Colonists 61 

Special  Court  Held  at  New  Castle 61 

First  Eoad  Law 62 

Upland  and  Chester  Counties 62-63 

Arrival  of  William  Penn 63 

Three  Counties  Formed 63-6-1 

Original  Extent  of  Chester  County 64-65 

First  County-seat  and  Courts 64-65 

The  Dutch  Again  Take  Possession 68 

Final  English  xiscendency 68 

First  Legislative  Assembly • 69 

Extinguishment  of  the  Indian  Title 69 

Settlers  of  the  County,  Their  Nationality 69 

The  Quakers,  the  Welsh,  etc 70 

Oldest  House  Kemoved 70 

Assimilation  of  Early  Names 71 

Drainage  of  Chester  County 71-73 

Sketch  of  the  Boundary  Controversy 73-80 

Mason  and  Dixon's  Line 82-89 

IV 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  v 

PAGE. 

The  Circular  Bouudary  Line 89-95 

Delaware  County  Formed 96 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Indians ; 99 

The  Original  People,  Lenni-Lenape 99 

Name  Delaware  Given  Them 99 

Their  Trails,  Villages  and  Customs 100-111 

Other  Tribes  Residing  Here 100 

Warrant  of  Survey 103 

The  Famous  Treaty  of  William  Penn 101-105 

Facts  More  or  Less  Obscure 106 

Earliest  Deeds  to  Penn lOG-110 

Location  of  Indian  Villages  and  Trails Ill 

Indian  Implements  and  Utensils 113-111 

Forts  and  Other  Earthworks Ill 

An  Indian  Alarm 115 

Status  of  the  Delawares 116 

Claims  of  the  Indians 117 

Proceedings  of  the  Assembly 118-127 

The  Newlin  Claim  Settled 127 

The  Last  of  the  Indians 128-129 


CHAPTER  IIL 

Geology    133 

Primary  Stratified  Rocks 133 

Silurian-Cambrian  Limestones 134 

Potsdam  Sandstone 131 


VI  TABLE  OF.CONTENTS. 

PAT.E. 

South  Valley  Hill  Rocks 134-135 

The  Five  Geological  Sections 130 

The  Southern  Gneiss  Region 13G 

The  Mica  Slates 141 

The  Valley  Region Ill 

The  Northern  Gneisses 113 

The  Red  Sandstone  Region Ill 

The  Mesozoic  Boundary 115 

Ancient  Features  and  Markings 116 

Minerals  of  the  County 147-157 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Welsh  and  Other  Settlers 161 

Early  Prominence  of  the  Welsh 161-162 

The  Welsh  Warrant 162-63 

Purchases  of  Tliat  People 164-66 

Settlers  of  Merion  Township 167 

Struggle  to  Maintain  the  Barony 168 

Sales  to  Other  Settlers 170 

Settlement  of  the  Townships  Considered 167 

Names  of  Prominent  Families 175-80 

Lffititia  Penn  Manor 179 

Sales  Therefrom 183 

Boundary  of  the  Welsh  Tract 186 

The  Indenture  of  Servants 187 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Revolutionary  War 193 

The  French  War  of  1744 193 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE. 

Organization  of  the  Associators 194 

Events  Preceding  the  Eevolution 194-98 

Circular  Issued  Calling  People  Together 199 

Action  of  the  Meeting  at  Chester 199 

Meeting  of  the  Committees 200 

Proceedings  of  Congress 201 

Other  Meetings  and  Conventions 202 

Military  Exercises  Practiced 203 

Committee  of  Safety 204 

Officers  Chosen  and  Arms  Provided 204-G 

Powder  and  Lead 206 

Military  Laws  and  Eegulations 207 

Provincial  Army  Formed 208 

Chester  County  Troops 208 

Hardships  Endured 211 

Cannon  Cast  in  This  Vicinity 212 

Number  Capable  of  Bearing  Arms 212 

Substitutes  Hired 213 

Battle  of  Brandywine 214-19 

Fight  at  Birmingham  Meeting-house 219 

Lafayette  Wounded 220 

Other  Engagements 222 

Grey's  Attack  Upon  Wayne 223 

The  Paoli  Massacre 225 

Howe  Occupies  Philadelphia 225 

Depredations  of  the  British  Troops 226-32 

Action  Against  the  Tories 231 

Sufferings  at  Valley  Forge 233-35 

Germantown 233 

Severe  Measures  for  Relief 234 

"  Washington's  Opinion  of  the  Soldiers 236 

The  Various  Hospitals 236 

Incidents  of  Local  Interest 238 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Military  Status  of  the  County 239 

British  Ravages  in  Chester  County 240 

Surrender  of  Cornwallis 241 

Patriots,  Tories  and  Neutrals '. 242 

Subsequent  Action  of  the  Patriots 243-47 

List  of  Fines  and  Forfeitures 248-49 

List  of  Militia  Officers 249-51 

The  Tory's  Position  Considered 251-54 

First  Monument  at  Paoli 254-55 

The  Monument  of  1877 255-57 

The  Whisky  Insurrection 257-61 

lleoeption  of  General  Lafayette 261-66 

The  Lafayette  Monument 266-68 

The  McClellan  Monument 268 


CHAPTER  VL 

War  of  1812  and  Mexican  War 271 

First  Chester  County  Volunteers 271 

The  Ninety-seventh  Regiment 271 

Its  Commissioned  Officers 271-72 

Encampment  at  Kennett  Square 272 

The  Assemblage  at  Marcus  Hook 272 

General  Officers  from  this  County 273 

The  Companies  and  Their  Captains 273 

The  Mexican  War 274 

The  Quota  from  Pennsylvania 274 

Names  of  Several  from  this  County 274 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Great  Rebellion 277 

Preliminary  Facts  and  Dates 277-78 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE. 

News  of  the  Fall  of  Fort  Sumter 278 

First  Great  War  Meetings 278 

The  Earliest  V^olunteers 278-79 

Companies  Organized  and  Officered 279 

The  Entire  County  Aroused 279-80 

Numerous  Companies  Organized 280-84 

Phffinixville  Iron  Works .284 

Location  of  Camp  Wayne 284 

Efforts  to  Eaise  the  Ninety-seventh  Eegiment 285-86 

Its  Departure  and  Engagements 286-87 

Central  and  Other  Aid  Societies 287-88 

New  Calls  for  Volunteers 289 

Continued  Enlistments 290 

The  Enrollment  and  Draft 291-92 

Conscientious  Scruples  Against  War 291-92 

Invasion  of  Pennsylvania  Threatened 291-92 

Drafted  Men  and  Substitutes 292-93 

A  Colored  Squad  Raised  Here 294 

Union  Leagues  Organized 294-95 

Military  Keceptions 295 

Lee's  Invasion  of  the  State 296 

Companies  Formed  in  this  Emergency 296-97 

Three  Months'  Men  Called  for 297 

Wounded  at  Gettysburg  Cared  for 298 

County  and  Other  bounty 298-801 

Veteranization   301 

Another  Invasion  Threatened 301-02 

Continued  Eecruiting  to  Fill  Calls 302 

News  of  the  Fall  of  Richmond 302 

Surrender  of  General  Lee 303 

The  Glad  Tidings  Celebrated 302-03 

Gloom  Over  Lincoln's  Assassination 303 

Soldiers  Furnished  by  the  County 304 

Several  Distinguished  Officers 305 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE. 

The  Spanish-American  War 311 

Cause  of  the  War 311-12 

Its  Formal  Declaration 312 

The  Quota  of  Pennsylvania 312 

Departure  of  CoruwelFs  Company 312 

The  Company's  Roster 312-13 

Company  I  of  the  Sixth 313 

Company  D  from  Phoenixville 314 

Copies  of  the  Muster  Rolls 313-17 

Company  L,  Colored 31G 

Other  Squads  and  Companies 319-22 

Soldiers'  Aid  Societies 320 

Battery  C,  National  Guard 321 

Major-General  Galusha  Pennypacker 322-24 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Slavery    327 

Its  Early  Existence  in  this  State 327 

The  Enslavement  of  Indians 327 

Law  Prohibiting  the  Latter 327-28 

Misgivings  of  the  Indians 328 

Significance  of  Their  Wampum  Belts 328-29 

First  Negro  Slaves 330 

Mennonites  and  Quakers  Against  Slavery 330 

The  Anti-slavery  Law  of  1780 330-31 

Motives  in  Freeing  the  Slaves 331-34 

Slaves  Registered 334-40 

Slavery  Ceased  to  Exist  in  the  County 339 

Slaveholders  in  the  County 334-40 

Welsh  and  Quakers  thus  Compared 340 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE. 

Colonization  Societies  Formed  Here 340-41 

Kedemptioners  and  Indentured  Servants 341-42 

Form  of  Apprentice's  Indenture 343 

Kidnapping 344 

The  Underground  Kailroad 345-48 

Eespectability  of  the  Colored  People 349 


CHAPTER  X. 

Education 355 

Inducements  Held  Out  to  Settlers 356 

The  First  Schoolmaster 356-57 

Traveling  Teachers 357 

First  Teaching  in  Chester  County 358 

Friends  Were  Pioneers  in  Education 358-59 

Extract  from  the  "Great  Law" 359 

Compulsory  Act  of  the  Second  Assembly 359 

Early  Schools  Started  Here 360-61 

Recommendations  of  the  Yearly  Meeting 361 

Fagg's  Manor  Classical  School 361-64 

New  London  Academy 364 

Nottingham  Academy 364 

Brandy  wine  Academy 365 

Upper  Octoraro  Classical  School 365 

Other  Schools 365-67 

Birmingham  Classical  School 366 

The  Friends'  Boarding  School 367-78 

West  Chester  Academy 379 

West  Chester  State  Normal  School 380 

Its  Faculty 383 

George  M.  Philips 384 


xu  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Other  Good  Schools 385 

Mrs.  Phelps'  Young  Ladies'  School 386-87 

Villa  Maria  Academy 387 

Kimber's  School 387-88 

Miscellaneous   Schools 388-96 

Ashmun  Institute 396 

Ercildoun  Seminarv 398 

Penn  High  School 400 

First  Common  Schools 401-02 

Early  Laws  on  Education 403 

Poor  Children  Provided  for 403-04 

Law  of  1834 404-05 

Position  of  this  County 406-09 

Non-accepting  Districts  in  1848 409-10 

Laws  of  1849,  1854,  1855  and  1857 410-12 

County  Superintendents 412 

Statistics  in  the  '60's 413 

High  and  Graded  Schools 414-15 

Temperance  and  Directors'  Associations 415 

Teachers'  Associations. 416-17 

Circulating  Library 418 

The  Massachusetts  System 419 

Miss  Susan  Gorgas 421-22 


CHAPTEE  XL 

Politics 427 

Form  of  Penn's  Government 427 

Assembly  Met  in  this  County 427 

Composition  of  the  Assembly 427-28 

Chester  County  Representation 428 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAGE. 

Members  of  the  Legislature 428-42 

First  and  Second  Congresses 442 

Congressional  Kepresentation 442-51 

The  Congressional  Districts 445-4ft 

John  Morton,  the  Signer 446-48 

United  States  Senator 448 

Prominent  Politicians 451-58 

Form  of  Government  Changed 458 

The  Powers  of  the  Councils 458-59 

The  Kevolutionary  Convention 459 

The  Provincial  Conference 460 

Constitution  of  1776 460 

Chester  County  Members  of  Council 460 

Members  During  the  Revolution . 463 

Terms  of  Service  in  the  Assembly 463 

Members  of  the  State  Senate 464 

County  Offices 465 

Prothonotary 465 

Registers  of  Wills 466 

Recorders  of  Deeds 467-68 

Clerks  of  Court 469-70 

Sheriffs   470-73 

Coroners  473-74 

Commissioners 474-78 

County  Treasurers 478-81 

Prohibition   Convention 481-82 

Republican  Convention 482-83 

Population  of  the  County,  1890 483-86 


XIV  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE. 

Roads  489 

Indian  Trails  Were  the  First 489 

Passage  Ways  Ordered  Built 489 

Overseers  of  Roads 490 

Petitions  for  Many  Roads 490-95 

Philadelphia  and  Lancaster  Turnpike 495-96 

Other  Turnpikes 496 

Plank  and  Macadamized  Roads 499-500 

Railroads 500 

Old  Style  Teaming 501 

The  First  Railroad • 502 

The  Canal  Projected 503 

Early  Railway  Experiments 503 

Completion  of  the  Columbia  Road 503-04 

Proceedings  at  West  Chester  in  1830 504 

Rush  for  the  Stock 505 

The  Road  in  Operation 505-06 

Railway  Improvement  and  Manipulation 507-08 

The  Second  Road  Projected 508-09 

Its  Eventual  Completion 509-10 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad 510-13 

Brandywine  and  Waynesburg  Railroad 513 

Wilmington  and  Northern  Railroad 513 

Other  Roads 512-19 

Philadelphia  and  Delaware  Railroad 514 

Pickering  Vallej'  Railroad 514 

Perkiomen  Railroad 514-15 

Philadelphia  and  Chester  Valley  Railroad 517 

Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad 517 

Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Central  Railroad 517-18 

TS'est  Chester  Street  Railway 518 

Philadelphia,  Castle  Rock  and  West  Chester  Railway 519 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xv 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

PAGE. 

The  Courts 523 

First  Court  after  Penn's  Arrival 523 

Tlie  Tribune  of  Peacemakers 523 

Several  Interesting  Early  Cases 524-25 

First  Court  of  Equity 525 

First  Orphans'  Court 525 

Jails  and  Court-houses 52(> 

Judicial  Districts  in  1790 526 

The  State  Eedistricted 527 

The  Elective  System 527 

Judge  Futhey 527-28-32 

Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer 528-29 

Distinguished  Members  of  the  Bar 529-40 

Deputy  Attorneys-General 540-41 

Punishment  of  Crime 542-45 

The  Goss-Udderzook  Murder  Case 544-45 

Other  Eminent  Lawyers 545-58 

Admissions  to  the  County  Bar , 558-60 

Law  Librarv  Association 566-67 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Mining  and  Manufacturing 573 

First  Lead  and  Silver  Mined 573 

Bogus  Coins  Manufactured 573-75 

Iron  Ore  Early  Mined , 576 

The  Furnaces  and  Forges 576-77 

The  Restrictive  Law  of  1750 577 

Slitting  and  Rolling-mills ■ 577 

Other  Iron  and  Steel  Mines 578-80 


XVI  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Famous  Valley  Forge 580 

Cast-steel  Made  581 

Many  Iron  and  Steel  Mills  Named 581-84 

Location  of  the  Best  Ore-banks 584-90 

Lead  and  Copper  Ore  Located 590 

Marble  and  Limestone 592 

Graphite,  Chrome  and  Corundum 593 

Clocks  Manufactured 594 

Saw  and  Grist-mills 595 

Carding,  Spinning  and  Weaving 596-97 

Miscellaneous  Industries 596-98 

The  Platinum  Works 598-99 

Other  Iron  and  Steel  Works 594-99 

Boiler  Works 599-604 

Other  Manufacturing  Enterprises 604-25 

Abraham  Gibbons 625 


CHAPTEK  XV. 

The  Press  and  Literature 629 

The  First  Weekly  Newspaper 629 

Other  Early  Ventures 629 

The  First  Editors  and  Publishers 630-31 

Characteristics  of  the  First  Papers 629-31 

Later  Newspapers  and  Editors 632-34 

Politics  of  the  Newspapers 629-40 

Failures  and  Successes 629-35 

Successors  to  the  First  Papers 636 

Contests  of  the  Partisan  Weeklies 630-39 

Newspapers  of  Recent  Dates 639-56 

Other  Periodicals 630-56 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xvii 

PAGE. 

Literary  Ability  of  the  Editors 630-56 

The  Local  News 653 

Literature  in  Chester  County 656 

Writers,  Early  and  Late 656-78 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Medical  Profession 681 

First  Society  in  the  County 681 

Its  Officers  and  By-Laws 681-82 

Fee-bill  Adopted  682 

Meetings  and  Proceedings 682-83 

The  Society  in  Later  Years 683-84 

Sketches  of  the  Early  Practitioners 684 

Their  Scientific  and  Professional  Attainments 684 

The  Various  Schools  Represented 685 

Physicians  of  a  Later  Date 690-711 

Tlieir  Membership  in  Societies 685-708 

Influence  of  the  Local  Organizations 686-711 

Dentistry    704-11 

Its  Eminent  Practitioners 704-11 

Dental   Societies 710 

Homeopathic  Society 711 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Banking  and  Insurance 715 

National  Bank  of  Chester  County 715 

Acts  of  the  Assembly 715 

2 


XVIII  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Veto  of  the  Governor 716 

Stock  Subscribed 716 

Form  of  Early  Bank-note 717 

Statistics  of  the  Bank 718-19 

Its  Officers  719-20 

Metliods  of  Transacting  Business 720 

First  National  Bank 721-22 

Private   Banking 722-21 

Other  National  Banks 724-26 

Other  Private  Bankers 721-26 

Savings  Institutions 727 

Other  Banking  Houses 728-31 

Insurance    732 

The  Various  Local  Companies 732-35 

Their  Officers  and  Methods 732-35 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Religion 739 

Churches  Were  Very  Early  Established 739 

Names  of  the  First  Ministers 739-40 

First  Meetiug-houses 740-41 

The  Society  of  Friends 741-61 

Their  Congregations  and  Doctrines 742-44 

Importance  of  Their  Work 745-60 

Their  Monthly  Meetings,  Where  Held 746-60 

Their  Meeting-houses 745-60 

The  Rise  of  the  Hicksites 756-59 

The  Catholics    761-67 

Their  First  Church  in  the  State 761 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xix 

PAGE. 

Antagonism  to  Tliem 761-62 

Chester  County  Catholics 762 

Their  Later  Churches,  Schools,  etc 763-67 

The  Presbyterians   767-82 

Oldest  Church  in  the  County 768-82 

The  Various  Congregations 768-82 

Their  Pastors  and  Buildings 769-82 

The  Baptists   783-801 

Churches  of  the  Associations 783-801 

Early  Pastors  and  Meeting-houses 784-85 

Later  Organizations  and  Statistics 786-90 

Other  Baptists 798-801 

The  Methodists 802-28 

Their  Buildings  and  Congregations 802-28 

The  Pastors,  Statistics 804-28 

The  Circuits 806-08 

The  Episcopalians 829-45 

The  Sectors  and  Their  Followers 830-45 

Eev.  Mr.  Ussher 839-45 

The  Lutheran  Churches 845 

Their  Statistics 847-53 

The  Reformed  Churches 854 

The  Mennonites 858 

Disciples  of  Christ 858 

Christian  Church 859 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Towns  and   Townships 863 

Birmingham  Township 863 

Bradford  Township .864 


XX  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Brandywine  Township 865 

Charlestown  Township 865 

Tlie  Manor  of  Bilton 867 

Cain  Township 867 

DoAvnington 869 

The  Coveutries 871 

Easttown  Township 871 

Goshen  Township 872 

West  Chester 873-90-1: 

Marshall  S.  Way 893 

The  Jacobs  Family 894 

Chester  County  Hospital 897-901 

Masonic  Lodges 901-03 

J.  C.  Smith  Memorial  Home 903-01 

The  Epileptic  Hospital  and  Colony  Farm 904-05 

Tallowfield  Township 905 

Honeybrook  and  Other  Townships 906 

Borough  of  Honeybrook 906-07 

Hamorton    907 

Kennett  Township 907 

Kennett  Square 908 

Bayard  Taylor  Memorial  Library 910 

London  Britain  Township 910 

Londonderry  and  Londongrove  Townships 911 

West  Grove  Borough 912-13 

Avondale  Borough 913-14 

Marlborough  Township  914 

Nantmeal  Township  915 

New  London  Township 915 

New  Garden  Township 916 

Newlin  Township 917-18 

Nottingham  Township 919-20 

Oxford  Borough  and  Township 920-21 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xxi 

PAGE. 

Pocopsou  Township 922-23 

Peuu  ami  PeDusburv  Towusliips 923-24 

Pikelaud  Towuship   924-26 

Sadsbiiry  Towuship   926 

Atgleu  927-28 

Parkersburg 928-29 

Coatesville   929-35 

Schuylkill  Township 935 

Phosnixville   936-43 

Thornbury  Township   943 

Tredyffrin  Township 943 

Uwchlan  Township   944-45 

Valley  Township 946 

Vincent  Towuship   946-48 

Wallace  Township    948 

Warwick  Township 948-49 

Westtown  Township 949 

Willistown  Township 950 

Whiteland  Township   950 

Vallev  Forue 951-53 


CHAPTEK  XX. 

Agriculture 957 

Importance  of  the  Subject  Admitted 957 

Extract  from  Message  to  the  Council 957-58 

Place  of  Agriculture 958 

Early  Size  of  Farms 958 

The  Soil  and  Crops * 959 

A  Eeapiug  Incident 959-60 

The  Baily  Mowing-machine 960-61 


XXII  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

The  Copo-Hoopes  Mowing-machine OGO-fil 

Hay-ralies  Inyented   9G1 

Sickles  and  Cradles 962 

Threshing-machines  Invented 962-63 

Important  Agricultural  Exhibits 964 

The  Agricultural  Society 965 

Exhibitions,  Premiums,  etc 966 

Ground  Bought  by  the  Society 966 

Officers  of  the  Society 966-68 

Model  and  Experimental  Farm 967 

Patrons  of  Husbandry 968-69 

Dairy  Interests  of  the  County 969 

The  Shipping  of  Milk 970 

Creameries  970-71 

Butter-making 971-72 

The  Milling  Business 972-73 

Decay  of  Industries 973-74 

The  Growing  of  Carnations 974-75 

County  Best  Fitted  for  What? 975 

The  Rearing  of  Stock 975-76 

John  A.  M.  Passmore 976 

Nurseries   and  Green-houses 976-77 

Fruit  Trees  and  Shrubbery 977 

Botanical  Gardens 977-79 

Work  of  Humphrey  Marshall 979 

Excellence  of  the  County  Products 979 

Other  Advantages  Enjoyed  Here 980 

Statistics  of  1890 981 


THE  BRANDYWINE. 

By  lion.  James  B.  Everhart. 

How  beautifully  glides  the  Braudywine! 
On  and  forever  from  dawn  to  decline — 
Under  tlie  bridges  and  arches  of  trees. 
Gilding  the  landscape  and  cooling  the  breeze, 
Parting  the  pastures  and  swelling  their  stores, 
Flowering,  perfuming  the  sinuous  shores, 
Glossing  the  squirrel   disporting  above, 
Sweetening  the  tanager's  carol  of  love. 

How  beautifully  flows  the  Brandywine! 
Laving  the  limbs  of  the  indolent  kine. 
Kissing  the  sedges  aud  smoothing  the  stones, 
Charming  the  air  with  its  murmuring  tones, 
Bord'ring  the  cottage  ensconced  in  the  vale, 
Whitening  the  wheat  for  the  garner  and  flail. 
Shaking  the  mill  with  its  slumberous  sounds. 
And  feeding  the  forge  as  it  smokes  and  pounds. 

How  beautifully  streams  the  Brandywine! 
Slowly  or  swift  with  its  silvery  shine, 
Under  the  clifl:s*  where  traditional  fame 
Pictures  the  plunge  of  the  desperate  dame, 
Rounding  the  hollowt  where  suubeams  illume 
With  changeable  gleams  the  arboreous  gloom, 
Neariug  the  lodge  of  the  Indian  Maid.i 
Lingering  alone   where  her  fathers  strayed. 

How  solemnly  surges  the  Brandywine! 
Armies  of  nations  contesting  its  line. 
Foreigners  fording  its  turbulent  flood. 
Signal  guns  distantly  pealing  their  thud — 
Column  on  column,  heroic  with  zeal. 
Waving  their  pennants  and  flashing  their  steel. 
Trampling  the  rushes  and  climbing  the  bank, 
Startling  their  foemeu,  assailing  their  flank. 

How  solemnly  surges  the  Bradywlue! 
Marking  with  crimson  its  course  serpentine- 
Forces  reserved  closing  in  from  afar, 
Scallug  with  fury  the  ridges  of  war. 
Cannon  exploding  with  terrible  roar, 
Dark'uing  the  heavens  and  rocking  the  shore. 
Squadrons  of  troopers  o'ersweeping  the  plain, 
Regiments  recoiling,  retreating  or  slain. 

XXIII 


XXIV  THE  BBAKBYWIXE. 

How  solemnly  surges  the  Brandywiuel 
Teeming  with  many  a  sorrowful  sign — 
Heroes  and  horses,  distorted  and  torn. 
Bloated  and  dead,  on  its  surface  upborne. 
ATounded  ones  writhing  and  wailing  for  aid. 
Fragments  and  missiles  o'er  hillock  and  glade. 
Havoc  and  horror,  disaster  and  night 
Palling  the  scenery  and  quenching  the  fight. 

How  exultingly  leaps  the  Brandywine! 
Welcoming  Peace  with  her  features  divine. 
Bearing  the  olive,  and  pourmg  her  horn 
Over  the  region  so  smitten  and  shorn. 
Causing  the  barrens  to  bloom  as  the  rose. 
Soothing  the  passions  of  rage  to  reposa 
Blessing  the  labors  of  genius  and  art. 
Rearing  the  altar  and  crowding  the  mart. 

How  complacently  pours  the  Brandywinel 
Voicing  its  sounds  in  songs  crystalline — 
Orders  abolished  and  merit  secure, 
Fortune  unfolding  her  gates  to  the  poor, 
Science  displaying  the  secrets  of  time, 
Yolving  the  forces  of  nature  sublime, 
Progress  and  weal  with  the  country  allied. 
And  Glory  adorning  her  banner  of  pride. 

How  beautifully  rolls  the  Brandywine! 
Hasfning  to  mingle  itself  in  the  brine, 
AVater  fowls  dijjping  their  wings  in  its  crest, 
Swimmers  fomenting  its  waves  into  yest, 
Holiday  barks  sailing  gaily  along. 
Freighted  with  frolic  and  graces  and  song. 
Fishermen  watching  the  tremulous  line. 
And  dreamers  in  quest  of  the  Muses'  shrine, 
In  the  haunted  dells  of  the  Brandywine. 

''Deb<  rail's  Rock  is  so  called,  says  the  story,  from  a  disappointed  girl  of  that 
name,  who  destroyed  herself  by  leaping  from  it. 

tDungeon  Hollow  is  the  name  of  a  picturesque  turn  of  the  stream  near  Paint- 
er's Bridge. 

ilndian  Hannah  was  the  last  of  the  Lenape  tribe.    She  lived  in  a  hut  near  the 
Brandywine  long  after  her  people  had  disappeared. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 


Chester  County  and  Its  People. 


CHAPTER    I. 

LOCATION      AND      AREA TIMBER      AND      DRAINAGE THE      ROYAL     CHARTERS 

EXPLORATIONS     AND      DISCOVERIES THE      FIRST     SETTLERS COLONI- 
ZATION    COMPANIES LAND    CONTROVERSIES COUNTIES     OR- 
GANIZED  ORIGINAL      EXTENT     OF     THE     COUNTY 

COUNTY  SEAT THE  SWEDES,     WELSH  AND 

QUAKERS THE      BOUNDARY 

CONTROVERSY. 

CHESTER  COUNTY,  Penusylvauia,  is  situated  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  State.  It  is  in  the  form  of  an  irregular  oblong, 
with  its  gi'eatest  leng-th,  from  northeast  to  southwest,  aud  with 
no  boundary  corresponding  to  the  cardinal  directions,  except  tht> 
southern,  which  runs  nearly  east  aud  we.st,  separating  it  from 
Maryland  aud  being  the  famous  Mason  aud  Dixon's  line.  A  por- 
tion of  the  southeast  boundary  is  the  section  of  a  circle,  separating 
the  county  from  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  the  other  portion  of 
the  southeast  bouudaiy  is  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania,  which 
was  once  a  part  of  Chester  County.  Montgomeiy  County 
bounds  it  on  the  uorthoast,  the  two  counties  being  separated  from 
each  other  by  the  Schuylkill  River.  On  the  uorthwest  it  is  bounded 
by  Berks  Couuty  aud  Lancaster  County,  the  latter  extending  from 
Berks  County  down  to  the  State  of  Maryland. 

The  county  lies  between  39  degrees  42  minutes  and  40-  degrees 
30  minutes  north  latitude,  and  bet\yeen  75  degrees  15  minutes 
and  7G  degrees  15  minutes  west  longitude  from  Greenwich,  Eug- 

51 


52  CHESTER     COUNTY 

land,  and  between  55  minutes  and  1  degree  -40  minutes  east  longi- 
tude from  the  Capitol  building  at  Washington,  District  of  Colum- 
bia. In  Maryland  the  counties  which  border  it  are  Newcastle, 
Delaware  and  Cecil.  The  line  of  the  Peunsylvauia  IJailroad  pass- 
ing through  the  county  from  east  to  west  is  thirty  miles  long. 
The  extreme  length  of  the  county  from  north  to  south  is  thirty- 
six  miles;  its  northern  boundary  is  fifteen  miles  long;  its  nortli- 
eastern  twenty-one  miles  long;  its  southeastern,  eighteen  miles; 
its  southern,  thirty  miles,  and  its  western  border  line  twenty- 
eight  miles,  so  that  its  entire  periphery  is  112  miles  in  length. 
The  area  of  the  county  is  equal  to  763  squai'e  miles,  or  488,320 
acres.  It  has  a  gently  rolling  surface,  there  being  within  its  limits 
no  considerable  elevations,  the  highest  point  on  any  railroad  pass- 
ing through  it  being  750  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  its 
greatest  depression  200  feet  above  the  same  level. 

Originally  this  county  was  covered  with  timber,  the  principal 
varieties  being  the  oak,  hickory,  walnut,  sycamore  and  poplar. 
The  condition  of  the  forests  when  first  visited  by  white  men  can 
hardly  be  conceived.  The  woods  were  quite  free  from  underbrush 
and  the  ground  was  covered  with  a  short,  thick,  nutritious  grass. 
The  trees  were  some  distance  apart,  the  lower  limbs  were  high 
above  the  ground,  and  it  was  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  ride 
on  horseback  anywhere  through  the  woods.  The  forests  were 
simply  magnificent,  and  many  men  would  no  doubt  ride  to-day 
a  hundred  miles  on  horseback  to  see  such  a  sight.  This  condition 
of  things  would  probably  have  lasted  many  years  had  not  the 
Englishman  come  in  to  occupy  the  land;  for  the  Swedes,  who  took 
the  country  as  they  found  it,  occupied  the  meadow  and  open  lauds 
along  the  rivers,  never  attempting  to  clear  the  woods  of  trees. 
Sidney  George  Fisher  says: 

"In  nothing  is  the  diftei^ence  in  nationality  so  distinctly  shown. 
The  Dutchman  builds  trading  posts  and  lies  in  his  ship  to  collect 
the  furs.  The  gentle  Swede  settles  on  the  soft,  rich  meadow 
lands;  his  cattle  wax  fat  and  his  barns  are  full  of  hay.     The 


AJ^D     ITS    PEOPLE.  53 

Freuch  enter  the  forests,  sympathize  with  their  inhabitants,  and 
turn  half  savage  to  please  them.  All  alike  bow  before  the  wilder- 
ness and  accept  it  as  a  fixed  fact.  But  the  Englishman  destroys 
it.  There  is  even  something  significant  in  the;  way  his  old  charters 
gave  him  the  land  straight  across  America  from  sea  to  sea.  He 
grasped  at  the  continent  from  the  beginning,  and  but  for  him 
the  oak  and  the  pine  would  have  triumphed  and  the  prairies  still 
been  in  possession  of  the  Indian  and  the  buffalo." 

The  various  kinds  of  trees  that  grew  here  in  the  early  day, 
when  the  forest  was  in  its  primeval  state,  are  mentioned  by 
William  Penn,  in  a  letter  dated  January  9,  1GS3,  to  the  Duke  of 
Ormond,  then  Viceroy  of  Ireland.     Penn  said: 

"The  land  is  generally  good,  well  watered  and  not  so  thick 
of  wood  as  I  imagined.  There  are  also  many  open  places  that 
have  been  old  Indian  fields.  The  trees  that  grow  here  are  the 
mulberry  (white  and  red),  walnut  (black  and  gray),  hickoiy,  pop- 
lar, cedar,  cypress,  chestnut,  ash,  sassafras,  gum,  pine,  spruce,  oak 
(black,  white,  rod,  Spanish,  chestnut  and  swamp),  which  latter 
has  a  leaf  like  a  willow  and  is  most  lasting." 

That  some  of  these  trees  grew  to  great  size  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  previous  to  December  31,  1897,  on  which  day  it  was 
blown  down  in  a  storm,  there  was  an  ash  tree  growing  on  the 
farm  of  John  B.  Ralston  in  'West  Vincent  Township  which  was 
one  of  the  largest  in  its  section  of  the  county.  It  was  twelve 
feet  in  circumference  at  the  base,  was  clear  of  limbs  for  fifty-nine 
feet,  and  just  below  the  first  fork  was  seven  feet  in  circumference. 
To  the  next  limb  above  this  it  was  thirty-five  feet,  making  a  straight 
shaft  of  ninety-three  feet  with  but  one  limb.  In  1895  this  tree 
was  photographed  by  Charies  S.  Bradford,  of  West  Chester,  for 
the  Pennsylvania  Forestry  Association,  and  was  then  thought  to 
be  the  finest  tree  in  the  county. 

Early  events  in  the  settlement  of  the  Atlantic  coast  are  hero 
briefly  related  for  the  purpose  of  comparison  of  dates,  in  order  that 
the  reader  may  prc^perly  place  the  first  settlement  of  what  later 


54  CHESTER     COUNTY 

became  Chester  County  among  other  movements  of  the  kind.  The 
tirst  settlement  in  Virginia  was  made  at  Jamestown  in  1607,  and 
in  1609  the  famous  navigator,  Henrv  Hudson,  an  Englishman  in 
the  service  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  discovered  the 
great  river  which  has,  for  most  of  the  time  since  then,  borne  his 
name,  and  which  at  other  times  has  been,  or  rather  was  called,  th<; 
North  River,  the  present  Delaware  Eiver  being  called,  to  distin- 
guish it,  the  "South  Iviver."  The  bay  into  which  the  Delaware 
IJiver  flows  was  discovered  by  Henry  Hudson  on  August  28,  1609, 
when  he  was  in  latitude  39  degrees  5  minutes  noi-th.  This  bay 
was  in  1610  visited  by  Lord  De  la  A^'arc,  and  named  Delaware  Bay 
in  honor  of  that  nobleman. 

Inasmuch  as  Henry  Hudson  was  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch, 
that  nation  laid  claim  to  the  territory  on  either  side  of  the  Hudson 
River  and  to  that  on  either  side  of  both  Delaware  Bay  and  Dela- 
ware River,  thus  claiming  an  extensive  territory  nhmg  the  Atlantic 
coast  for  a  considerable  distance  north  and  south.  The  Delaware: 
River,  one  of  the  noblest  of  those  flowing  directly  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  was  known  in  the  eaiiy  history  of  the  coimtry  by  various 
names,  particularly  among  the  Indians,  who  called  it  "Pautaxat," 
^'Mariskitton,"  "Makerish-kiskeu,"  and  "Lenape-Whittuck."  By 
the  Dutch  it  was  named  the  "Zuyt,"  or  South  River,  Nassaii  River, 
Prince  Hendrick  River  and  Charles  River.  By  the  Swedes  it  Avas 
known  as  New  Swedeland  stream;  by  Ileylin,  in  liis  "Cosmog- 
raphy,'' it  was  called  "Arastapha,"  and  finally  by  the  English  it 
was  named  the  Delaware  River;  and  as  the  English  finally  tri- 
umphed over  their  enemies  or  livals  in  the  settlement  of  the  Atlan- 
tic coast,  the  name  given  by  them  to  this  fine  sti'eam  has  been 
retained. 

Delaware  Bay  had  at  least  two  names  api)lied  to  it  before  its 
Ijresent  name  became  the  permanent  one,  these  two  names  being 
Newport  Me.y  and  Godyn's  Bay. 

The  States  General  of  Holland,  on  March  27,  1611,  granted  a 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  55 

general  charter  securinji-  "the  exclusive  privileges  of  trade  during 
four  voyages  to  the  discoverers  of  any  new  courses,  havens,  coun- 
tries or  places,  under  which  charter  the  merchants  of  Amsterdam 
fitted  out  five  vessels,  one  of  which  was  named  the  "Fortune." 
It  belonged  to  the  city  of  Hoorn,  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Corneli.s  Jacobson  Mey,  and  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Delaware  Bay. 
Its  capes  were  named  after  himself,  Comelis  and  Mey.  Another 
vessel  commanded  by  Captain  Adrian  Block  was  burned  at  the 
mouth  of  "Manhattan  River,"  and  immediately  afterward  Captain 
Block  built  a  small  vessel,  sometimes  called  a  yacht,  which  was 
44 J  feet  long  and  11^  feet  wide,  which  he  named  the  "Unrest,"  or 
Restless,  this  being  the  first  vessel  built  by  Europeans  in  North 
America.  In  this  small  vessel  Captain  Cornells,  Hendricksou  made 
further  explorations  and  expeditions  up  the  Delaware  River,  and 
even  went  as  far  up  it,  it  has  been  said,  as  the  mouth  of  the  Schuyl- 
kill. But  whetlier  this  statement  is  correct  or  not,  tJie  extent 
and  value  of  the  discoveries  made  by  Captain  Hendrickson  may 
be  judged  to  some  degree  by  the  report  he  made  to  the  States  Gen- 
eral, which  report  will  be  found  of  special  interest,  as  it  throws 
a  gi'eat  deal  of  light  upon  the  condition  of  the  counti-y  in  this 
immediate  vicinity  at  the  time  of  his  visit.  This  report  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

"Report  of  Captain  Cornells  Hendrickson  of  Meunickendam 
to  the  High  and  Mighty  Lords  States  General  of  the  free  United 
Netherland  Provinces,  made  the  XVIIIth  August,  Ad.  1616,  of  the 
country,  bay  and  three  rivers,  situated  in  latitude  from  38  to  40 
degrees,  by  him  discovei'ed  and  found  for  and  to  the  behoof  of 
his  owners  and  directors  of  New  Netherlands,  by  name,  Gerrit 
Jacob  Witzen,  burgomaster  at  Aurit,  Jonas  Witzen,  Lambreht  Van 
Tweenhuysen,  Palas  Pelgrom  and  others  of  their  company. 

"First,  he  hath  discovered  for  his  aforesaid  Masters  and  Direct- 
ors, certain  lands,  a  bay  aud  three  rivers,  situated  betnx-en  38 
and  40  degrees. 


56  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"And  did  there  ti'ade  with  tlie  iubabitants;  that  trade  con- 
sisting of  sables,  furs,  robes  and  other  skins. 

"He  hath  found  the  said  couutrj'  full  of  trees,  to  wit.:  oaks, 
hickory  and  pines,  which  trees  were  in  some  places  covered  with 
vines. 

"He  hath  seen  in  said  country  bucks  aud  does,  turkeys  and 
partridges. 

"He  hath  found  the  climate  of  said  country-  very  temperate, 
judging  it  to  be  as  temperate  as  this  country  (Holland). 

"He  also  traded  for  and  bought  from  the  Inhabitants,  the 
Minguas,  three  persons,  being  people  belonging  to  this  company, 
which  three  persons  w^ere  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Mohawks 
and  Machicans,  giving  for  them  kettles,  beads  and  merchandise. 

"Read,  August  19, 1G16." 

Dr.  Smith,  in  his  History  of  Delaware  County,  observes  that 
it  cannot  be  inferred  from  this  report  that  Captain  Hendrickson 
had  discovered  the  Schuylkill,  but  he  does  not  attempt  to  determine 
what  three  rivers  were  discovered  by  the  Captain.  He  adds  that  if 
any  knowledge  of  tlie  Schuylkill  Eiver,  or  even  of  the  Delaware 
River,  was  obtained  it  was  probably  from  the  tJiree  Indians  pur- 
chased, or  from  the  Indian  tribes  in  general,  which  supposition 
appeal's  to  be  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  States  General 
refused  to  grant,  or  at  least  did  not  grant,  the  trading  privileges 
to  these  applicants;  and  tlie  trade  to  New'  Netherland,  which  was 
regarded  by  the  Dutch  as  extending  beyond  the  Delaware,  was 
thrown  open  in  a  measure  to  individual  competition. 

There  are  writers,  however,  a\  ho  do  not  agree  with  Dr.  Smith 
on  this  point,  Sydney  George  Fisher,  in  his  "Making  of  Pennsyl- 
vania," says:  "The  first  person  who  conquered  the  shoals  and 
really  explored  the  river  was  a  Dutchman,  Captain  Hendrickson. 
In  the  year  1616  he  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Schuylkill,  just  below 
the  present  site  of  Philadelphia.  He  had  a  small  yacht,  the  'Unrest,' 
or  'Restless,'  only  forty-five  feet  long,  which  had  been  built  at 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  57 

New  York  after  tlie  loss  of  his  lar<;er  ship.  lu  iising  this  boat 
he  may  have  been  influenced  by  Jiiet's*  warning  that  it  would 
require  a  vessel  of  light  draft  to  explore  thoroughly  that  great 
bay." 

Up  to  this  time  it  would  appear  that  discoveries  for  the  pur- 
poses of  colonization  had  not  been  thought  of  by  the  Dutch,  and 
that  their  attention  was  engrossed  wholly  by  the  extension  of 
trade.  But  now  a  proposition  was  made  which,  in  its  execution, 
changed  the  current  of  history.     This  proposition  was  made  by 

t 

the  Directors  of  the  New  Xetherland  Trading  Company,  for  the 
emigration  to  America  of  a  certain  English  preacher  versed  in  tlie 
language  of  the  Dutch,  then  residing  at  Leyden,  together  witli 
more  than  four  hundred  families  from  both  Holland  and  England, 
whom  he  had  assured  the  petitioners  he  could  induce  to  accompany 
him.  These  petitioners  also  asked  that  tn-o  ships  of  war  might 
be  dispatched  "for  the  preserA^ation  of  the  counti'y's  rights,  and 
that  the  aforesaid  minister  and  the  four  hundred  families  might 
be  taken  under  the  protection  of  the  government;  alleging  that 
His  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  would  be  disposed  to  people  the  afore- 
said lands  with  the  English  nation." 

This  petition  did  not  meet  with  a  favorable  reception.  Bur 
tlie  preacher  referred  to,  the  Eev.  Mr.  Eobinsou,  and  a  portion  of  tlie 
four  hundred  families,  did  embark  for  America — started  from  Delft 
in  the  Mayflower  and  Speedwell,  July  IG,  1620,  and  as  is  well 
known,  though  they  were  destined  for  the  Hudson  Elver,  yet  they 
lauded  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  and  became  the  pioneers  of  the 
reuoAvued  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

The  Dutch  West  India  Company,  though  incorporated  in  l(i2l, 
did  not  go  into  operation  until  1G23.    Then,  having  taken  posses- 


*  This  was  Robert  Juet,  Hemy  ITuilson's  mate,  wlio  was  with  him  iu  his 
explorations  of  the  Hudson  and  Delaware  Kivers,  and  also  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
was  also  one  of  the  mutineers,  who  put  Hudson  and  his  son  on  a  boat,  leaving: 
them  to  their  fate. 


5<S  CHESTER     COUNTY 

sion  of  tlie  Hiidsou  and  Delaware  Kivers,  they  sent  out  a  vessel 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Cornelis  Jacobson  Mey  and  Captain 
Adriaen  Joris  Trenpont,  the  former  of  wlioni,  passing  np  the  Dela- 
ware Kiver,  eret-ted  Fort  Nassau,  near,  as  has  since  been  ascer- 
Taind,  the  mouth  of  Little  Timber  Creek,  the  date  of  its  erection 
havinji'  been  1024.  The  seat  of  government  of  New  Netherlands 
was  fixed  upon  Manhattan  Island,  and  Peter  Minuit  made  governor, 
or  director,  as  he  Avas  more  properly  called.  This  settlement  on 
the  Delaware,  however,  was  of  short  duration,  being  vacated  in 
lt)25,  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  colony  on  Manhattan 
Island.  Rut  later,  in  order  to  niaiiitniu  their  ])ossessions  on  the 
Delaware,  the  Dutch  sent  out  two  of  the  directors  of  the  West  India 
Coiuiiany,  Samuel  Gi>d.\n  and  Samuel  Blomaert,  to  ptirchase  a 
large  tract  of  laud  at  the  motith  of  the  bay,  which  purchase  was 
confirmed  July  Hi,  ItiSO.  A  suuill  colony  on  Lewes  Creek  was  cut 
off  by  Indians,  and  a  colony  of  Englisli  from  Connecticut  attempted 
in  1G35  to  settle  on  the  DelaAvare,  but  were  taken  ])risoners  by 
the  Dtitcli  and  sent  to  Manhattan. 

A  Swedish  West  India  Company  was  organized  as  early  as 
1630,  for  the  purpose  of  colonization  and  commerce;  but  owing  to 
the  death,  in  lfi32,  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  nothing  was  accom- 
plished until  KiST,  when  a  settlement  was  made,  or  rather  pro- 
jected, ou  tlie  Delaware  Kiver.  Two  ships,  named  the  "Kalmar 
Nyckel"  and  the  "Gripen,"  or,  in  other  Avords,  the  "Key  to  Kalmar'' 
;md  the  "Griffin,"  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Peter  Minuit, 
who  will  be  remembered  as  a  former  director,  or  governor,  of  Man- 
hattan Island,  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch,  and  witli  these  two  ves- 
sels he  sailed  from  Gotteuburg  late  in  the  year  1G37.  Some  time 
during  the  following  March  Minuit  ptirchased  land  ou  tlie  west 
side  of  the  Delaware  River  from  the  Indians,  these  lands  lying  on 
what  these  Indians  called  the  Minquas  IJiver,  to  which  river  Minuit 
gave  the  name  Christina,  in  honor  of  the  Queen  of  Sweden,  and 
upon  these  lands  he  erected  a  fort,  which  he  nauiwl  Fort  Christina, 


AN/)    rrs    I'l'.orLE.  59 

aboiil  two  and  ii  lialf  miles  aliovc  ilic  inoiitli  of  (ho  rivei"  of  tho 
saiiic  name.  While  these  i(r(»cee(liii;;s  oT  the  Swedes  were  not  ])leas- 
hv^  ((I  the  Diilrli,  Ihev  did  no  inofe  than  to  i)i'otest  nfjaiiist  them, 
and,  accordinL;  to  Acrelins,  llie  Swedes  pni'chased  lands  of  the 
Indians  alon^  the  weslein  bank  of  t  lie  Delawari',  as  far  n]i  as  tin; 
present  site  of  the  cil  v  of  Trenton. 

Upon  the  JHdaware  Minnit  left  twenty-three  men  under  the 
command  of  Mans  Klinj;  and  Ilenriek  lluyehens,  the  former  bein<;- 
the  military  and  the  latter  the  civil  jiovernor  of  the  colony. 

The  "Knimar  Nyckid,"  in  Kilt),  brought  out  reinforcenienis 
foi-  the  colony,  and  in  Kill  the  sann-  vessel  brought  out  a  third 
ex])edilion,  bcim;  I  his  tinu'  a(((nnpanied  by  the  "Charitas."  Many 
of  the  colonists  coming  al  this  linu'  were  Finns.  By  i)ermission 
of  the  Sweilish  j;()vernnH'nt,  a  colony  of  Hollanders  was  established 
below  Christina.  In  1<)42  a  further  expediticm  sailed  from  the  old 
countiy  in  two  vessels,  the  "Sfoork"  and  the  "J{enown,"  under 
command  of  John  I'lintz,  who,  thinkini;  that  Fort  Christina  did 
not  snlliciently  commainl  the  riser,  erected  a  new  lortress  on  the 
island  of  'i'eniU'conU,  or  as  it  has  been  known  for  many  years, 
Tinicum,  this  island  at  jiresent,  beini;  within  the  limits  of  Delaware 
County,  but  being  a  part  of  Chester  C(junty  when  this  county  Avas 
first  established.  It  is  separated  from  the  mainland  by  Darby 
Creek. 

This  lorli-ess  on  Tenneconk  Island  was  named  Xew  (lotten- 
biiri;,  and  in  addition  lo  the  fort,  (iovernor  Priutz  erected  a  line 
mansion  for  himscdf  and  his  family,  which  he  named  "I'rintz  ITall," 
ii  very  handsome  and  convenient  home,  which,  after  standing  for 
about  one  humlred  and  sixty  years,  was  accidentally  destroyed  by 
lire  within  I  he  limits  of  Die  present  century.  Within  eight  mtrnths 
from  the  time  of  his  arrival  (iovernor  I'rintK  erected  another  fori, 
w  liirh  he  named  Fort  Elsiid)org,  upon  which  he  mounted  eight  12- 
ponnd  brass  cannon. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  (hat  when  Covernor  I'rintz  arrived  there 


6o  CHESTER    .COUNTY 

were  a  few  persons  at  Fort  Nassau,  a  few  at  the  Swedish  colony  at 
Christina,  now  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  also  a  few  at  the  Dutcn  col- 
ony a  short  distance  below  Christina.  Governor  Printz  brought  out 
with  him  his  wife  and  one  daughter,  a  lieutenant-governor  and 
secretary,  a  chaplain  and  a  surgeon,  twenty-four  regular  soldiers, 
and  officers  enough  for  a  considerably  larger  force.  The  two  vessels 
iie  commanded  were  well  filled  with  stores  and  provisions,  mer- 
chandise suitable  for  traffic  with  the  Indians,  and  also  a  few  set- 
tlers. This  colony  established  by  Govei'nor  Printz  was  the  first 
one  within  the  limits  of  Pennsylvania,  and,  of  course,  the  first 
within  the  earlier  limits  of  Chester  County,  that  was  successful. 

The  Swedes  made  such  rai)id  progress  in  the  settlement  of  the 
lower  Delaware,  in  the  State  subsequently  bearing  the  name  of 
Delaware,  and  also  in  Pennsylvania,  that  the  Dutch  became  some- 
what alarmed  lest  they  shovild  lose  tlie  trade  of  the  Indians.  The 
extent  and  importance  of  this  trade  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in 
1044  they  had  loaded  two  vessels,  the  "Kalmar  Nyckel''  and  the 
"Fame,"  Avith  cargoes  including  2,127  packages  of  beaver  skins 
and  70,421  pounds  of  tobacco.  During  the  year  1646  they  erected  a 
church  at  Tinicum,  which  they  dedicated  on  October  4,  dedicating 
also  at  the  same  time  the  burying-ground  in  which  the  first  body 
deposited  was  that  of  Catherine  Hanson,  daughter  of  AndreAV  Han- 
son, which  was  laid  to  rest  October  28,  1646. 

"  During  and  on  account  of  the  controvei'sies  betA\-een  the 
Swedes  and  the  Dutch  over  the  possession  of  this  fertile  territory. 
Governor  Stuyvesant  of  New  Amsterdam  caused  the  erection  of  a 
fort  at  the  present  site  of  New  Castle,  Delaware,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Foil;  Casimir.  To  the  erection  of  this  fort  Governor 
Printz,  although  he  protested  against  it  for  a  time,  ultimately 
became  reconciled.  But  his  successor,  John  Eysingh,  who  arrived 
and  began  his  administration  in  1(!54,  captured  the  Dutch  fort, 
Casimir,  on  Trinity  Sunday,  and  called  it,  in  honor  of  that  day, 
Trefalldiglieet.    The  Dutch  in  the  vicinity  of  this  fort  then  took  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  6i 

oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Swedish  government.  This  capture  of 
Fort  Casimir,  as  might  have  been  expected,  aroused  the  anger  of 
the  Dutch  to  such  a  degree  that  on  September  5,  1055,  Governor 
Stuyvesant,  with  seven  men  of  war,  and  some  600  or  700  armed 
soldiers,  sent  over  from  Holland  for  the  purpose,  arrived  in  the 
Delaware  Eiver.  The  next  day  Fort  Trefalldigheet  surrendered 
to  Governor  Stuyvesant,  and  For-t  Christina  followed  soon  after- 
ward, without  bloodshed  in  either  case,  or  a  battle  of  any  kind,  the 
name  of  the  former  then  becoming  New  Amstel,  which  name  it 
retained  until  it  came  into  possession  of  the  English,  who  called  it 
Newcastle, as  it  lias  since  remained.  The  capture  of  these  two  forts 
terminated  Swedish  authority  on  the  Delaware,  which  had  ex- 
tended up  into  Pennsylvania,  their  most  northern  settlements 
reaching  to  the  present  limits  of  Philadelphia. 

But  the  Dutch  did  not  long  remain  in  possession  of  the  terri- 
tory they  had  conquered  from  the  Swedes.  Charles  II  having  been 
restored  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain,  granted  to  his  brother 
James,  Duke  of  York,  the  territory  embracing  the  whole  of  the 
States  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  afterward  the  State  of 
Delaware.  Articles  were  drawn  up  between  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish, which  were  signed  by  eight  persons  of  each  nationality,  and 
approved  by  Colonel  Eichard  Nicolls,  Deputy  Governor  of  New 
York,  by  the  terms  of  which  the  Dutch  surrendered  to  the  Eng- 
lish all  their  rights  in  New  Netherlands,  including  the  settlements 
on  the  Delaware,  the  date  of  the  affixing  of  these  signatures  being 
August  27, 1GG4,  old  style.  Soon  aften^'ard  the  English  took  posses- 
sion of  the  Delaware,  which  they  continued  to  hold  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  short  period  in  1673  and  1674. 

Passing  over  several  important  events  of  general  importance, 
but  which  may  be  considered  of  minor  interest  as  pertaining  to  the 
histoiT  of  Chester  County,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  May,  1675, 
Governor  Andros  of  New  York  visited  the  settlements  on  the  Dela- 
ware, and  on  the  13tli  and  14th  of  that  month  held  a  special  court 


62  Cni'JSTER     COUNTY 

at  New  Castle,  at  AAiiicli  it  was  ordered  that  "higliAvays  should  be 
cleared  from  place  to  place  within  the  precincts  of  the  govern- 
ment." It  was  also  ordered  that  the  chnrch  in  the  toAvn  should 
be  regulated  by  tlie  court,  aud  tliat  the  meeting  at  Crane  Hfteck 
should  continue  as  previously;  and  also  that  the  church  at  Tinicum 
Island  should  serve  for  Upland  and  the  adjoining  portions  of  that 
section  of  the  country.  The  magistrates  of  Upland  were  ordered 
to  have  a  church  built  at  Wiokegkoo,  which  should  serve  for  the 
inhabitants  of  Passayuuk  aud  those  higher  up  the  river,  and  these 
magistrates  were  empowered  to  levy  a  tax  for  this  purpose  and  to 
maintain  a  minister. " 

This  is  the  eai'liest  record  of  the  proceedings  of  auy  court  on 
the  Delaware  River,  and  the  order  with  reference  to  the  clearing  of 
the  roads  from  place  to  place  was  the  first  step  taken  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  roads  in  the  States  of  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania, or  in 
other  words,  was  the  first  road  law  in  either  State. 

By  the  Swedes  the  territory  which  afterward,  in  a  somewhat 
remarkable  manner,  became  Chester  County,  was  organized,  if  it 
may  be  said  to  have  been  organized,  as  Upland  County.  The  name 
was  changed  to  Chester  County  by  William  Penn,or,in  better  words, 
William  Penn  permitted  his  friend,  Tlinmas  Pearson,  so  to  name  it 
in  honor  of  the  city  of  Clu^ster,  the  county  seat  of  Cheshire  County, 
in  the  west  of  England.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  interesting 
to  note  that  the  names  of  many  towns  in  England  have  this  word, 
Chester,  as  a  part  of  their  composition,  as  Chichester,  for  example, 
and  that  these  places  were  originally  Roman  camps.  The  Roman 
Avord  castra  and  the  Saxon  word  ceaster,  became  in  time  the  Eng- 
lish word  Chester. 

From  Dr.  Smith's  "History  of  Delaware  County,"  published  iu 
1862,  the  following  paragraph  is  quoted  with  reference  to  this 
change  of  name:  "He  (Penn)  landed  at  Upland,  but  the  place  was  to 
bear  that  familiar  name  no  more  forever.  Without  refiection  Penn 
determined  that  the  name  of  this  place  should  be  changed.    Turning 


AND     IT^     PEOPLE.  65 

round  to  liis  Mend  Pearson,  one  of  his  own  society,  wlio  luvd  ncconi- 
panied  him  in  the  shijt  "Welcome,  he  said:  'Providence  has  bron^lit 
us  here  safe.  Thou  hast  been  the  companion  of  my  perils.  Wliut 
would  thou  that  I  should  call  this  place?'  Pearson  said:  'Chester, 
iu  remembrance  (»f  that  city  from  whence  we  came.'  William  Pena 
replied  that  it  sliouhl  be  called  Chester,  and  that  when  he  divided 
the  land  into  counties,  one  of  then  should  be  called  by  the  same 
name  Thus,  from  a  mere  whim,  the  name  of  the  oldest  town;  the 
name  of  the  one  settled  part  of  the  province;  the  name  which  would 
naturally  have  a  place  in  the  affections  of  a  large  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  new  province,  was  effaced,  to  gratify  the  caprice 
or  vanity  of  a  friend!    All  great  men  occasionally  do  little  things." 

Eeviewing  briefly  what  has  been  presented  above  as  to  the  gov- 
ernments which  at  different  times  held  swaj'  over  the  west  bank  of 
the  Delaware  IJiver,  it  will  be  seen  that  Avhat  was  afterward  formed 
into  (Chester  County  was  a  part  of  the  folloAving  colonies  from  time 
to  time:  Xew  Netherlands,  from  KIOO  to  1G38;  Xew  Sweden,  from 
1638  to  1055;  New  Netherlands,  from  1(!55  to  1(>5G;  New  Amstel, 
from  l(i5(!  to  lOGl;  New  York,  from  l(i(U  to  KITS;  New  Netherlands, 
from  1()73  to  Kill ;  and  New  York,  from  lOTl  to  1G82. 

This  was  the  year  iu  which  William  Penn  arrived,  took  jjosses- 
sion  of  his  grant  and  divided  his  province  into  three  counties: 
Chester,  Bucks  and  Philadelphia.  The  precise  date  when  this  di- 
vision into  counties  was  made  is  not  definitely  known,  but  accord- 
ing to  tradition  it  was  November  25,  the  province  having  been 
granted  to  Penn  by  royal  charter  dated  March  4,  1G81.  The  three 
counties  above  named  were  located  on  the  right  or  west  bank  of 
the  Delaware  Kiver,  and  extended  indefinitely  to  tlie  west^-ard. 
The  western  boundary  of  Chester  County  was  definitely  established 
by  the  erection  of  Lancaster  County,  May  10,  1729,  and  the  north- 
ern boundary  was  fixed  by  the  erection  of  Berks  County,  March  11 , 
1752. 

Philadelphia  Couuty  formed  the  northeast  and  east  bound- 


64  CHESTER     COUNTY 

aries  of  the  original  Chester  County  until  Montgomery  County  was 
established,  September  10,  1784,  and  Delaware  County  was  estab- 
lished September  26,  1789.  The  southern  limits  of  the  county  were 
determined  by  the  section  of  a  circle  of  a  radius  of  twelve  miles 
and  having  for  its  center  the  court-house  at  New  Castle,  so  far 
as  the  State  of  Delaware  was  concerned,  and  by  the  famous  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  so  far  as  Maryland  was  concerned,  which  line  is  in 
latitude  30  degrees  43  minutes  2G.3  seconds  north.  The  history  of  tliis 
famous  line  may  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

The  original  extent  of  Chester  County  may  be  inferred,  from 
the  fact  that  twenty-five  counties  have  been  taken  either  directly  or 
indirectly-  fi'om  its  territory  as  at  first  organized.  Lancaster  and 
Delaware  were  taken  from  it  directly  at  the  dates  above  given,  and 
the  following  have  since  been  taken  from  it  indirectly: 

York,  from  Lancaster,  August  19,  1749; 

Cumberland,  from  Lancaster,  January  27,  1750. 

Bedford,  from  Cumberland,  March  9, 1771; 

Westmoreland,  from  ]'>edford,  February  6, 1773; 

Washington,  from  Be<lfo¥d,  March  28,  1781; 

Fayette,  from  Westmoreland,  September  26,  1783; 

Franklin,  from  Cumberland,  September  9,  1784; 

Dauphin,  from  Lancaster,  March  4,  1785; 

Huntingdon,  from  Bedford,  September  20,  1787; 

Allegheny,  from  Westmoreland,  September  24, 1788; 

Somerset,  from  Bedford,  April  17,  1795; 

Greene,  from  Washington,  February  9,  1796; 

Beaver,  from  Washington,  March  12,  1800; 

Butler,  from  Allegheny,  March  12, 1800 ; 

Erie,  from  Allegheny,  iNlarch  12,  1800; 

Mercer,  from  Allegheny,  March  12,  ISOO; 

Crawford,  from  Allegheny,  March  12,  1800. 

Cambria,  from  Allegheny,  March  26,  1804; 

Lebanon,  from  Allegheny,  February  16,  1813. 


s 

o 
o 

o 

J 

<: 


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U 

o 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  67 

Perry,  from  Cumberland,  March  22,  1820; 

Blair,  from  Cumberland,  February  2G,  1846; 

Lawrence,  from  Cumberland,  March  20, 1849,  and 

Fulton,  from  Bedford,  April  19,  1850. 

These  counties,  however,  together  with  the  present  Chester 
County,  do  not  embrace  all  of  the  original  Chester  County,  for  por- 
tions of  several  other  counties  were  taken  from  the  original  terri- 
tory of  Chester  County. 

The  first  county  seat,  or  seat  of  justice,  of  Chester  County  was 
at  the  town  of  Chester,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Delaware  Eiver,  at 
the  mouth  of  Chester  Creek.  As  has  been  stated  elsewhere,  the 
first  European  inhabitants  of  this  place  were  for  the  most  part 
Swedes,  who  named  the  place  Upland.  The  first  court  held  there, 
of  the  proceedings  of  which  there  is  any  record,  was  held  by  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  September  13,  IGSl,  and  on  the  ancient  record  of 
this  court  at  the  February  temi  of  1682  Upland  is  first  named 
Chester. 

However,  it  should  not  be  inferred  that  this  was  the  first  court 
lield  at  Upland;  for  at  least  ten  years  previously  there  had  been 
held  a  court  at  that  place.  Governor  Lovelace  of  New  York  having 
in  1672  issued  an  order  respecting  a  piece  of  land  in  Amosland,  now 
in  Ridley  Township,  Delaware  County,  which  order  was  as  follows: 
"Whereas,  complaint  hath  been  make  unto  him  by  Jan  Cornells 
Mattys  Mattysen  and  Martin  Mai'tinsen,  inhabitants  at  Amosland, 
in  Delaware  Eiver,  that  after  having  been  quietly  possessed  of  a 
parcel  of  Valley  or  MeadoAv  Ground  by  the  island  over  against  Oal- 
coon  Hooke,  near  their  plautacon,  Israel  Helm  did,  by  misin- 
formacon,  obtain  a  patent  for  the  same,  having  never  possession 
or  pretense  thereto  before,  so  that  the  said  inhabitants  are  dispos- 
sessed to  the  ruin  of  their  plantacons  without  relief;  these  are  to 
authorize  and  empower  the  court  at  Upland,  with  the  assistance 
of  one  or  two  of  the  High  Court,  to  examine  into  the  matter  and 
make  report  of  the  truth  thereof  unto  me,  that  I  ma/  make  som.e 
5 


68  CHESTER     COUNTY 

order  hereu^iou  in  equity  ami  _i;oo(l  eouscieuce.  Given,  etc.,  tlii-; 
8th  day  of  August,  1672." 

The  sheriff  for  the  Dehnvare  Kiver  for  1()72  was  Edmund  Cani- 
well,  and  lie  was  also  made  collector  of  quit  rents  in  place  of  Wil- 
liam Tom,  resigned.  It  Avas  in  tliis  year  that  the  war  broke  out 
between  the  English  and  the  Dutch,  and  a  fleet  of  the  latter  named 
nation  appeared  before  NeAv  York  Aiigust  0,  1G73,  in  the  absence 
of  Governor  Lovelave  in  New  Haven.  The  fort  at  New  York  sur- 
rendered after  a  slight  resistance,  and  the  country  again  passed 
under  the  autliority  of  the  Dutch.  A  governor  and  council  having 
been  appointed,  the  council  held  sittings  at  Fort  William  Hendrick, 
which  name  the  Dutch  gave  to  Fort  New  York.  Before  this  trib- 
unal the  Delaware  deputies  appeared,  submitting  to  the  "ITigu 
Miglitinesses,  the  Lords  iStates  General  of  the  New  Netherlands 
and  his  Serene  Highness  the  Prince  of  Orange,"  on  September  12. 
These  Delaware  deputies  obtained  in  return  for  their  submission 
for  their  constituents  the  privileges  of  "free  trade  and  commerce 
with  Christians  and  Indians";  freedom  of  conscience;  secur- 
ity in  the  possession  of  their  houses  and  lands,  and 
exemption  from  all  rent  charges  and  excise  duties  on  wine, 
beer  and  distilled  liquors,  consumed  on  tlie  South  or  Delaware 
River.  Tliis  last  privilege  Avas  to  continue  until  1070.  Three 
courts  of  justice  were  established  at  this  time  on  the  Delaware — 
one  at  New  Amstel,  one  at  Hoorn  kill  and  one  at  Upland,  the  juris- 
diction of  the  latter  extending  provisionally  from  the  east  and  west 
banks  of  Kristina  kill  upward  to  the  head  of  the  river. 

When  the  peace  was  made  between  the  English  and  Dutch, 
February  9,  1674,  the  possessions  along  the  Delaware  were  again 
restored  to  the  English,  and  Edmund  Andros,  appointed  governor 
of  New  York  July  15,  upon  liis  arrival,  received  possession  from  the 
Dutch  governor,  Colve. 

After  1661  the  Dutch  did  not  figure  in  the  history  of  Pennsjd- 
vania,  nor  did  the  Swedes,  nor  did  either  people  in  either  Pennsyl- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  69 

yania  or  Delaware  after  lOT-i.  But  still  that  they  wei'e  present 
in  the  State  at  one  time  will  always  be  evident  from  the  fact  that 
in  several  places  Dutch  names  remain,  such  as  Schuylkill,  Hen- 
lopen  and  Boomties  Hoeck.  Schuylkill'  means  "hidden  creek," 
and  was  given  to  the  river  because  its  mouth  could  not  be  easily 
seen.  That  there  were  Indians  here  is  also  evident  from  names  of 
places  still  remaining,  and  which  will  doubtless  ever  remain.  The 
Indians  called  the  Schuylkill  Mauaiung,  and  Manayunk  is  now  the 
name  of  a  suburb  of  Philadelphia  near  the  Wissahickon.  While 
the  Swedes  were  in  the  early  day  excellent  people  and  settlers,  yet 
they  left  very  few  names  of  places.  After  the  conquest  of  tlie 
country  by  the  English  there  were  many  Swedes  still  in  the  country, 
and  sixty  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Quakers  there  were  on  the 
DelaAvare  Kiver  nearly  a  thousand  persons  speaking-  the  Swedish 
language. 

As  stated  elsewhere  William  Penn  ai*rived  on  the  Delaware^ 
in  1682.  After  dividing  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  into  three 
counties,  he  divided  Delaware  also  into  three  counties,  and  that 
State  has  still  but  that  number  of  counties.  The  first  legislative  as- 
sembly convened  December  4, 18G2,at  Chester, united  the  two  States 
of  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania,  naturalized  the  Swedes  and  other 
aliens,  and  established  a  code  of  laws.  The  provincial  council  was 
organized  in  Philadelphia  March  10,  1G83,  and  the  land  purchases 
of  1682,  1736,  1749,  1758,  1768  and  1784,  extinguishing  the  Indian 
titles  to  the  land,  indicate  the  progress  of  the  settlement  of  the 
province  up  tlie  Delaware  River  and  westward  through  Chester 
County. 

In  a  general  Avay  it  may  be  stated  that  those  who  settled  in 
the  eastern  townships  of  this  county-  were  Welsh;  those  who  set- 
tled in  the  southern  and  middle  townships  were  English  Quakers, 
and  those  who  settled  in  the  northern  and  western  townships  were 
Dutch  and  Germans.  To  a  considerable  extent  the  population  of 
the  several  sections  exhibits  to  this  day  the  peculiar  character- 
istics of  its  ancestors. 


JO  CHESTER     COLXTT 

Most  of  the  Welsh  that  came  to  Pennsj'lvania  in  the  early 
day  were  Quakers.  They  moved  here  to  liaA'e  a  country  of  theii* 
own.  At  first  they  were  assisted  in  this  hope  by  William  Peuu, 
with  whom,  before  leaviiiu  their  native  country,  they  had  made  an 
agreement  by  which  they  were  to  have  a  tract  of  land  containing- 
forty  thousand  acres  set  apart  for  them,  on  which  they  could  have 
a  little  government  of  their  own,  and  live  by  themselves.  In  1682, 
when  they  began  to  arrive,  this  forty  thousand  acre  tract  was  sur- 
veyed for  them  west  of  the  Schuylkill  Eiver,  and  it  included  that 
fine  stretch  of  counti'y  now  so  familiar  to  the  people  of  eastern 
Pennsylvania  and  so  atti'active  to  them  on  account  of  its  elegant 
suburban  homes  along  the  Pennsylvania  railroad.  This  is  tlie 
watershed  between  the  Schuylkill  and  the  Delaware  Elvers, 
rising  steadily  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Schuylkill  for  about 
twenty-five  miles,  the  summit  of  which  is  near  Paoli,  where  the 
elevation  is  about  630  feet  above  tidewater,  or  perhaps  it  would  be 
better  to  say,  the  level  of  the  sea.  On  the  northern  side  beautiful 
views  are  obtained  of  what  is  now  well-kno-\An  as  the  Chester  valley, 
but  which  the  Welsh  themselves  called  Duffrin  Mawr,  or  Great 
Valley.  The  tract  thus  assigned  to  them  was  a  magnificent  do- 
main of  hill  and  dale,  covered  with  splendid  oaks,  poplars  and  syca- 
mores. For  a  time  the  Quaker  meetings  niled  this  counti'y,  but  in 
1690  the  three  townshijis  witliin  its  limits,  Merion,  Haverford  and 
Eadnor,  were  organized,  aud  as  time  went  forward  the  Welsh 
spread  out  into  Newton,  Goshen  and  Uwchlan,  others  spreading 
out  into  Montgomery  County,  wliere  places  like  Gwyuedd  aud 
Penllyn  still  remain. 

At  the  present  writing  (1S9S)  what  is  said  to  be  the  oldest 
house  in  Gwynedd  Township  is  being  torn  down.  It  was  built  in 
1712,  and  is  thus  186  years  old.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected 
by  William  John,  who  was  certainly  Welsh,  his  name  being  in- 
dubitable evidence  of  that  fact,  and  the  site  was  within  the  limits 
of  his  tract  of  land.    It  was  verv  substantiallv  built  of  stone. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  71 

lu  1GS5  Merion  Township  was  separated  from  Haverford  aud 
Iiadnor  and  was  a  separate  township  of  Philadelphia  County.  Up 
to  this  time  they  had  been  the  controlling  influence  in  Chester 
County,  but  by  this  division  they  became  a  minority  of  both  Chester 
and  Philadelphia  Counties,  and,  though  they  resisted  it,  as  was 
natural,  yet  they  were  gradually  assimilated  with  or  absorbed  by 
theirneighbors,aud  long  since  became  an  undistinguishable  portion 
of  the  great  American  people.  As  a  general  thing  their  names  be- 
came Anglicized.  Ap  Humphrey  became  Pumphrey;  Ap  Howell 
became  Powell;  Ap  Hugh  became  Pugh,  etc.  Some  of  their  names 
were  so  nearly-  of  English  form  that  no  change  has  ever  taken 
place,  as  Roberts,  Thojuas,  etc.,  and  some  of  them  still  remain  as 
in  the  original  Welsh:  Eastcaln,  Westcaln,  Uwchlan  and  Tredy- 
ffrin.  There  are  also  many  Welsh  names  along  the  Pennsylvania 
railway,  as  folloMs:  Merion,  Wynnefood,  Haverford,  Bryn  Mawr, 
Radnor  and  Berwyn.  St.  David,  which  is  also  retained,  Avas  tlie 
patron  saint  of  the  "S^'elsh. 

One  of  the  principal  features  of  the  drainage  of  Chester 
County,  as  well  as  of  other  counties  in  tJie  southeast  corner  of  the 
State,  is  that  most  of  the  streams  flow  southeastwardly  into  the 
Delaware  River.  No  stream  enters  Chester  County  from  Lancaster 
County.  The  northeastern  part  of  the  county  is  bordered  by  the 
Schuylkill  River  for  a  distance  of  about  twelve  miles. 

Darby  Creek  rises  near  Paoli  and  flows  through  Easttown  into 
Delaware  County,  and  so  on  down  to  the  Delaware  River,  but 
before  reaching  the  latter  it  divides  into  two  branches,  which  to- 
gether separate  Tinicum  Island  from  the  mainland.  Crum  Creek 
rises  west  of  Paoli  and  flows  through  Willistown  in  a  southerly 
direction.  Ridley  Creek  rises  near  Frazer  station  and  flows  through 
East  Goshen  and  Willistown.  Chester  Creek,  east  branch,  rises  in 
West  Whiteland  and  flows  south  through  East  Goshen  and  West- 
town  into  Thornbury,  where  it  unites  with  the  west  branch,  which 
rises  near  ^^'est  Chester,  and  then  flows  southeast  into  Delaware 


72  CHESTER    COUNTY 

Ooiintv.  These  four  streams  rise  along  the  crest  of  the  South 
Valley  hill,  on  a  straight  line  which  is  about  ten  miles  in  length. 

Brandywine  Eiver,  east  branch,  rises  in  the  northwest  part  of 
the  county,  in  West  >>'antmeal  ToAvuship,  flows  southward 
across  the  valley  at  Downingtown  station,  and  then  past  what  was 
once  Oopesville,  Sagersville,  opposite  Lenape  station,  and  Chadd's 
Ford,  and  then  passes  on  into  Delaware  and  enters  the  Delaware 
Kiver  near  Wilmington.  It  is  joined  by  the  west  branch  about 
midway  between  North  Brook  postoffice  and  Lenape  postoffice. 
Valley  Creek  flows  west  along  the  valley  to  near  Garland,  turns 
south  and  unites  with  the  Brandywine  about  a  mile  above  Oopes- 
ville. Broad  Uun  flows  west  into  Valley  Creek  near  Harmony. 
Taylor's  liuu  flows  west  into  Blackhorse  Run,  which  latter 
flows  west  into  the  Brandywine  near  Copesville.  Plum  Bun  rises 
in  West  Chester  borough  and  flows  southwest  into  the  Brandj^wine 
at  Sagersville,  as  also  does  Radley  Run,  except  that  this  stream 
flows  into  the  Brandywine  one-half  mile  further  south. 

Brandywine  River,  west  branch,  rises  in  the  extreme  north- 
western part  of  the  county,  flows  across  the  valley  and  then  south- 
southeast  ten  miles  to  the  east  branch,  which  it  joins  between 
Copesville  and  Sagersville. 

Pocopsou  Ci-eek  flows  east  into  the  Brandywine  one  mile  below 
Sagersville.  Ring's  Ruu  flows  from  the  west  into  the  Brandywine 
at  Chadd's  Ford.  Red  Clay  Creek,  east  and  west  branches,  drains 
most  of  the  county  west  of  the  Brandywine  and  flows  south  into 
the  State  of  Delaware.  White  Clay  Creek,  east  branch,  rises  at 
and  west  of  Upland  and  flows  south  past  Avondale.  While  Clay 
Creek,  middle  branch,  rises  at  Londonderry  and  flows  south-south- 
east eight  miles,  when  it  joins  the  west  branch,  and  then  two  miles 
further  down  this  enlarged  stream  joins  the  east  branch  at  the 
State  line  of  Delaware.  White  Clay  Creek,  west  branch,  rises  at 
Kelton  and  flows  south  and  then  east. 

Elk  Creek  rises  in  the  vicinity  of  Eussellville  and  the  Lincoln 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  73 

TJuiversity,  and  flows  southeast  into  MarTland.  Little  Elk  Creek 
rises  at  New  Prospect  and  Oxford  Borough,  and  flows  east  and 
south  into  Maryland.  Northeast  Creek  rises  at  Nottingham  post- 
office,  and  flows  southeast  and  then  south  into  Maryland.  Octoraro 
Creek  bounds  tlie  county  on  the  west  from  near  Christiana,  and 
flows  southwest  to  the  Maryland  state  line  and  on  into  the  Sus 
quehanna. 

Buck  llun  and  Doe  liun  drain  Highland  Township  and  parts 
of  several  other  townships,  and  flows  eastward  into  the  Brandy- 
wine  six,  miles  below  Coatesville.  Muddy  Eun  rises  near  Cochrau- 
ville  and  flows  seven  miles  into  the  Octoraro  below  Hellbank 
bridge.  French  Creek  rises  at  the  Berks  County  line  and  flows 
soutlieast,  entering  the  Schuylkill  at  Phn>nixville. 

Pickering  Creek,  with  its  branches,  Pine  IJuu  and  Pigeon  Run, 
flows  east  into  the  Schuylkill,  about  a  mile  beloAV  Phoanixville. 
Pigeon  Creek  flows  into  the  Schuylkill  four  miles  below  Pottstown. 
Stony  Ivun  enters  the  Schuylkill  just  below  Phoenixville. 

The  fall  of  the  Schuylkill  Elver  from  Douglasville,  four  and  a 
half  miles  above  Pottstown,  down  to  Philadelphia,  is  from  161 
feet  t  o  28  feet  above  sea  level,  or  133  feet. 

The  nature  of  the  rocks  through  which  these  several  streams 
flo\\',  together  with  some  remarks  as  to  the  amount  of  erosion  some 
of  them  have  caused,  will  be  treated  of  under  the  geological  de- 
scrix)tion  of  the  county. 

The  history  of  th(-  soutlicrn  boundary  of  Chester  County  is 
of  e()ual  interest  with  that  of  the  southern  boundaiy  of  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  history  of  the  one  is  substantially  that  of 
the  other.  In  order  to  correctly  understand  this  historj'  it  is  neces- 
sary to  begin  with  the  grants  to  the  original  English  proprietors. 
The  proprietary  charter  of  Pennsj'lvania  was  drawn  in  1(!S1,  and, 
as  was  supposed,  in  plain  and  simple  terms.  Prior  thereto  William 
Penn  ^^•as  flnancially  interested  in  the  Jerseys,  but  that  interest 
gradually  dwindled  until  it  became  of  little  iH-actical  importance. 


74  CHESTER     COUNTY 

But  it  was  liis  experience  in  the  Jerseys  that  led  him  to  choose 
Pennsylvania,  as  it  came  afterward  to  be  known,  as  the  field  for 
his  "holy  experiments,"  the  results  of  which  have  long  been  known 
to  the  world. 

To  the  father  of  William  Penn,  Admiral  Penn,  the  English 
government  was  indebted  for  services  to  tlie  extent  of  £16,000, 
which  the  Admiral  had  attempted  in  vain  to  collect,  either  in  the 
form  of  money  or  in  a  grant  of  laud,  and  he  therefore  suggested  to 
his  son,  William,  that  he,  if  possible,  should  secure  the  grant, 
which,  upon  the  Admiral's  death,  William  immediately  set  himself 
about.  On  June  1,  1680,  he  presented  a  petition  to  the  King  out- 
lining the  extent  of  the  grant  desired  in  lieu  of  tlie  £16,000,  men- 
tioning, however,  only  pecuniary  considerations. 

At  length,  after  long  deliberation,  and  after  the  Privy  Council 
had  held  several  meetings,  at  which  the  counsellor  for  the  Duke  of 
York  and  the  agents  for  Lord  Baltimore  played  important  parts, 
Penn  obtained  his  desire  on  March  4, 1681,  O.  S.,  and  a  royal  letter 
was  sent  to  the  inhabitants  April  2,  1681,  commanding  due  obedi- 
ence to  the  proprietaiy,  his  heirs  and  assigns;  and  the  Duke  of  York 
was  kind  enough  to  execute  a  quit-claim  deed  to  all  the  region  in- 
cluded in  Pennsylvania,  though  his  grant  did  not  extend  to  tlio 
westward  of  the  Delaware  River. 

This  grant  of  laud  to  William  Penn  embraced  all  that  section 
of  country  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Delaware  River  from  a 
point  twelve  miles  from  New  Castle  to  the  43d  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude if  the  river  extended  that  far,  but  if  it  did  not,  then  by  a 
meridian  line  from  the  head  of  the  river  to  the  13d  degree,  and  this 
region  extended  westward  through  5  degrees  of  longitude  a.s. 
computed  from  the  eastern  bounds.  This  region  was  to  be  bounded 
on  the  uorth  by  the  beginning  of  the  43d  degree,  on  the  south  by 
a  circle  drawn  twelve  miles  distant  from  New  Castle,  northward 
and  westward  to  the  begiuuing  of  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude, 
and  by  a  straight  line  drawn  thence  westward  to  the  limit  of 
longitude. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  yy 

Befoi'e  proceeding  further  with  the  history  of  the  difficulty 
that  existed  between  Lord  Baltimore  and  William  Penn,  or,  as  it 
perhaps  would  be  better  to  say,  between  Maryland  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, with  regard  to  the  dividing  line  between  them,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  quote  from  the  charter  gi'anted  to  Lord  Baltimore  in  1G32, 
which  was  nearly  fifty  years  before  the  grant  was  made  to  William 
Penn.    This  grant  to  Loi'd  Baltimore  reads  in  part  as  follows: 

''AH  that  part  of  the  ijeninsula,  or  Chersouese,  lying  in  the- 
borders  of  America,  between  the  ocean  on  the  east  and  the  bay  of 
Chesapeake  on  the  west,  divided  from  the  residue  thereof  by  a  line 
drawn  from  the  promontory  or  headland,  called  Watkin's  Point, 
situated  on  the  bay  aforesaid  and  near  the  river,  ^Vighco  (Wicom- 
ico), on  the  west  unto  the  main  ocean  on  the  east,  and  between  that 
boundary  on  the  south  and  that  part  of  Delaware  Bay  on  the  nortli 
which  lieth  under  the  40t.h  degree  of  latitude,  where  New  England 
terminates." 

The  difficulty  about  the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania 
was  primarily  caused  by  the  use  of  the  term  "beginning  of  the  iOth 
degree."  Lord  Baltimore  claimed  that  his  lands  extended  through- 
out the  lOth  degree,  that  is,  from  what  is  ahvays  understood  as  thc^ 
39tli  parallel  to -v^hat  is  ahvays  understood  as  the  40th  parallel,  and 
that  no  part  of  the  40th  degree,  or  the  belt  of  country  between 
these  two  parallels,  was  excluded  from  the  grant. 

The  Penns  claimed  tliat  the  beginning  of  the  40th  degree  had 
reference  to  the  entire  space  between  the  39th  and  40th  parallels,, 
and  thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  claim  of  the  Penns,  if  allowed, 
would  make  the  39th  parallel  the  southeni  limit  of  Pennsylvania;, 
but  that  this  could  not  really  have  been  intended  is  proven  by  the 
charter,  which  stated  that  the  beginning  should  be  twelve  miles 
from  New  Castle.  But  Avhen  this  place  of  beginning  was  first 
chosen  it  was  supposed  that  the  beginning  of  tlie  40th  degree  was 
twelve  miles  north  of  New  Castle.  The  original  intention  was  that 
Lord  Baltimore  should  liave  two  degrees  in  width  of  latitude,  a  de- 


76  CHESTER     COUNTY 

gree  at  that  time  being  sixty  miles,  and  that  Penu's  grant  should 
include  three  degrees  of  latitude,  from  the  beginning  of  the  40th 
degree  to  the  beginning  of  the  43d  degree. 

Had  the  claims  of  Lord  Baltimore  been  allowed  all  the  lands 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Delaware  Kiver,  from  the  site  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  to  the  capes,  would  have  been  given  to  Mary- 
hintl,  and  the  Penns  would  have  been  deprived  of  several  valuable 
seaports.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  Penn  should  resist  the 
claim  of  Lord  Baltimore.  Had  the  claims  of  Penn  been  conceded 
the  southern  limit  of  Pennsylvania  would  have  extended  south  to 
the  89th  pai'allel,  and  Lord  Baltimore  would  have  had  a  strip 
of  hind  not  much  more  than  sixty  miles  in  width  at  its  eastern  end. 

In  order  to  settle  the  matter  satisfactorily,  all  that  was  needed 
to  be  conceded  was  the  fact  that  the  charter  itself  expressh^  states 
that  the  beginning  of  the  43d  degree  and  the  43d  degree  were  pre- 
cisely the  same,  for  it  states  that  the  province  shall  be  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  Delaware  Kiver  fi'om  the  point  twelve  miles 
north  of  Xew  Castle  to  tlie  43d  degree,  and  that  on  the  north  it 
should  be  bounded  by  the  43  degree,  or,  in  other  words,  those  who 
wrote  the  charter  understood  the  same  thing  by  the  beginning  of 
i\  degree  and  the  degree  itself. 

The  difficulties,  it  will  be  seen,  Avere  caused  by  the  ambiguities 
and  uncertainties,  if  not  contradictions,  of  the  language  used  in 
the  grants.  Both  sides  were  laid  before  the  King  in  1GS4,  and  in 
1G83  an  order  in  council  was  issued,  which  said  in  substance  that 
as  the  lands  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore  were  originally  designed 
to  be  only  sncli  as  were  then  inhabited  by  savages,  the  said  Lord 
was  not  entitled  to  the  land  lying  between  the  river  and  bay  of 
Delaware  and  the  Eastern  sea  on  the  one  hand  and  Chesapeake 
Bay  on  the  other;  but  still  they  decided  that  this  tract  of  land 
should  be  dividcil  into  two  iMjual  parts  by  a  line  from  the  latitude  of 
Cape  Henlopen  to  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude,  the  southern 
hoinidiny  of  I'ennsvlvania  by  charter,  and  that  one-half  thereof 


A2iD     ITS     PKOl'LE.  yj 

should  belong  to  his  majesty  and  tlie  other  half  should  remain  to 
Lord  Baltimore,  as  comprised  in  his  charter. 

There  was  much  difficulty  afterward  in  the  survey  of  the  par- 
allel from  Cape  Heulopeu  to  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  precise  middle 
of  which  was  to  be  the  starting  point  for  the  line  to  run  north- 
ward to  the  said  10th  parallel,  but  here  it  can  only  be  stated  that 
finally,  on  May  15,1750,  Lord  Chancellor  Hardwicke  pronounced  his 
decree,  according  to  which  the  survey  began  November  12,  tlie  same 
year.  According  to  this  decree  the  circle  about  which  there  had 
been  so  much  discussion  should  have  its  center  at  the  center  (if 
the  town  of  New  Castle,  and  that  its  radius  should  be  twelve 
miles.  Immediately,  however,  a  curious  difficulty  arose  as  to  the 
method  of  measuring  the  radii  of  this  circle,  the  commissioners 
from  Maryland  claiming  that  they  should  he  measured  according 
to  tlie  inequalities  of  the  ground,  that  is,  superficially,  which  would 
of  course  make  the  circle  smaller  than  if  the  horizontal  or  geomet- 
rical method  were  pursued,  which  was  the  claim  of  the  Penns.  The 
latter,  however,  finally  won  their  case  and  the  circle  was  so  drawn 
that  all  parts  of  the  circumference  were,  or  were  supposed  to  be, 
equally  distant  from  the  center. 

This  being  settled,  the  survey  of  the  base  line  from  Cape  Heu- 
lopeu to  Chesapeake  Bay  was  begun,  both  sides  agreeing  that  a 
point  should  be  selected  139  rods  due  east  from  a  stone  already 
fixed  on  the  northern  part  of  Fenwick's  Island,  near  the  former 
Cape  Henlopeu,  and  should  nm  across  the  peninsula  to  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  The  surveyors  established  the  east  and  west  line  as  far 
as  Slaughter's  Creek,  when  the  Maryland  commissioners  insisted 
that  the  line  should  go  no  further,  and  that  its  length  should  be 
06  miles  aud  248^  rods,  while  the  Pennsylvania  commissioners 
declared  that  it  should  be  extended  to  the  shore  of  Chesapeake 
Bay,  aud  should  be  69  miles  298  rods  in  length.  The  deadlock 
over  this  question  lasted  from  April,  1751,  Avhen  the  survey  com- 
menced, until  November,  1754,  and  the  question  was  afterward  in 


78  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  courts  until  1760,  when  Lord  Baltimore  succumbed  to  the  cou- 
tentions  of  the  Penns,  the  base  line  was  made  69  miles  298  rods 
long,  and  its  exact  middle  was  34  miles  309  rods  from  the  fixed 
point  on  Fenwick's  Island. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  loss  to  Maiwland  and  the  gain  to 
Delaware  by  the  success  of  the  Penns  was  a  strip  of  land  1  mile 
184f  rods  in  width,  the  lengtli  of  the  north  and  south  line  from  the 
base  line  to  the  northern  boundary  of  Maryland,  or  rather  to  the 
twelve  mile  circle.  And  thus  it  will  also  be  seen  the  peculiarly 
shaped  point  that  runs  down  from  the  south  part  of  Chester- 
County  between  the  twelve  mile  circle  and  the  eastern  boundary 
of  Marj'land  was  correspondingly  affected. 

This  north  and  south  line  from  the  middle  of  the  base  line 
was  required  to  be  run  northward  up  the  said  peninsula  until  it 
should  touch  the  circle  above  mentioned  so  as  to  make  a  tangent 
thereto,  and  there  the  said  straight  line  should  end.  Then  at  the 
northern  point  or  end  of  the  said  straight  line,  a  line  was  to  begin 
and  run  due  north  above  tlie  said  peninsula,  but  so  far  only  until  it 
should  come  into  the  same  latitude  as  a  line  running  east  and  west 
through  a  point  which  was  fifteen  English  statute  miles  due  south 
of  the  most  southern  jjoint  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Then  a  due 
east  and  west  line  was  to  be  run  in  the  manner  following:  It 
should  begin  at  the  northern  point  of  the  due  north  and  south  lino 
and  should  thence  run  due  west  across  the  Susquehanna  Kiver  to 
the  utmost  western  extent  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  that  is, 
through  five  degrees  of  longitude  from  its  eastern  boundary  on  the 
Delaware  River. 

The  running  of  the  temporary  southern  boundary  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Pennsylvania  was  an  important  episode  of  the  histoi'y  of 
Chester  County,  that  is,  that  part  of  it  aside  from  the  drawing  of 
the  twelve  mile  circle,  and  hence  it  is  treated  of  briefly  in  this  work. 
An  order  in  council  dated  May  25,  1738,  provided  for  the  running  of 
this  temporary  line.    On  December  5,  1738,  the  commissioners,  on 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  79 

the  part  of  Maryland,  Colonel  Levin  Gale  and  Samuel  Cliamber- 
laine,  met  the  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Pennsylvania,  Richard 
Peters  and  Lawrence  Growdon,  on  Society  Hill,  the  mayor  of  Phil- 
adelphia being-  present,  as  well  as  several  of  the  aldermen  and 
prominent  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  most  southern  point 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  was  ascertained.  The  commissioners 
then  adjourned  to  the  house  of  John  Postlethwaite,  where  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  to  settle  the  vai'iation  of  the  compass  by 
fixing  a  meridian  line  by  an  observation  to  be  made  when  the  Pole 
Star  and  the  first  star  in  the  tail  of  the  Great  Bear  under  the  Pole 
should  be  in  the  same  vertical  circle,  or  in  a  perpendicular  line, 
one  above  the  other.  But  on  account  of  the  cloudiness  of  the 
weather  no  observation  could  be  made  until  the  evening  of  the 
8th,  and  then  the  meridian  line  was  fixed  according  to  the  rule 
aforesaid. 

A  theodolite  in  the  x>ossession  of  Benjamin  Eastburn,  sur- 
veyor for  Pennsylvania,  was  tried  and  the  variation  of  the  needle 
was  found  to  be  5  degrees  25  minutes  to  the  west,  and  then  a  civ- 
comferenter  in  the  possession  of  John  Warner  was  tried,  and  the 
A'ariation  of  its  needle  was  found  to  be  5  degrees  30  minutes  to  the 
west.  The  variation  of  the  needle  of  the  theodolite  was  accepted  as 
that  by  which  to  run  the  temporary  line.  On  the  11th  of  December 
about  two  miles  of  tlie  line  were  run,  but  wintry  weather  coming 
on  it  was  decided  to  adjourn  until  April  5,  1739. 

But  it  Avas  not  until  April  11,  1739,  that  Avork  on  this  survey 
Avas  found  to  be  :')  degrees  25  minutes  to  the  west,  and  then  a  circum- 
Eastburn's  theodolite  was  precisely  the  same  as  before.  On  April 
23  the  commissioners  proceeded  on  a  line  to  an  old  field  belonging 
to  John  Xewlin,  Avithin  the  Society  land,  on  or  near  its  north  line, 
at  a  distance  of  about  thirty-one  miles  due  Avest  from  Philadelphia, 
Avhere  it  was  agreed  that  the  line  had  been  run  far  enough  to  the 
Avest  for  avoiding  the  large  Avaters  of  the  Brandywine  and  Chris- 
tina Creeks,  and  that  the  surveyors  should  begin  to  set  off  the 


8o  CHESTER     COZ'XTY 

south  line  of  iiftoeu  miles  aud  a  quarter,  this  distance  from  the  east 
and  west  line  from  the  southernmost  point  of  the  city  of  Philadel- 
])hia  having  been  agreed  upon  instead  of  fifteen  miles,  between 
Lord  Baltimore  aud  the  Penns,  by  which  the  latter  gained  a  strip 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  in  width  as  far  west  as  the  Susquehanna 
Eiver,  but  to  the  west  of  the  Susquehanna  IJiver,  the  distance  be- 
tween this  base  line  of  survey  was  to  be  only  fourteen  and  thi'co- 
fourths  miles. 

It  was  not  long  after  beginning  this  survey  of  the  south  line 
before  a  dispute  arose  as  to  whether  the  superficial  or  horizontal 
method  of  measuring  this  loi  mile  line  should  be  employed,  the 
Marylaud  commissioners  of  course  insisting  on  the  superficial  meth- 
od and  the  Pennsylvania  commissioners  insisting  on  the  horizontal 
method.  The  result  of  the  discussion  over  this  nmtter  was  that 
the  Maryland  commissioners  yielded  to  the  extent  of  allowing 
twenty-five  perches  over  the  fifteen  and  a  quarter  miles  superficial 
measxire  for  the  difference  between  the  two  methods.  On  April  24 
the  two  parties,  after  coming  to  this  agreement,  surveyed  two  miles 
of  the  line,  and  left  off  on  the  ground  of  Mr.  Wickersham  in  East 
Marlboro  Township.  On  the  25th  they  set  off  the  twenty-five 
perches  and  surveyed  seven  statute  miles,  getting  to  the  south 
line  of  the  road  leading  to  New  Castle,  in  New  Garden  Town- 
ship. On  the  next  day  they  completed  the  survey,  and  drove  into 
the  ground  a  stake  at  the  distance  of  twenty  perches  from  the 
road  leading  to  Charles  Tennent's  Meeting  House,  in  Mill  Creek 
Hundred,  New  Castle  County,  Del.,  and  on  April  27.  they  began 
the  west  line  at  the  aforesaid  stake. 

Before  reciting  the  history  of  the  west  line,  just  mentioned, 
it  will  be  of  interest  to  note  an  instance  or  two  connected  with 
the  survey  of  the  first  thirty-oue  miles  of  the  line  running  west 
from  the  most  southern  point  of  Philadelphia,  from  which  the 
distance  of  fifteen  and  a  quarter  miles  was  laid  off  to  the  south. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  survey  of  tliis  base  line  began  on 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  8i 

tJie  lltli  of  April.  While  it  was  beinii-  surveYed,  ou  the  IStli  of 
April,  Ikiehard  Peters,  one  of  the  conimissionei's  for  Peun.syl- 
vauia,  reported  to  Governor  Thomas  that  in  the  Avork  they  had 
found  "a  number  of  Attractions  in  runnino-  the  line,  so  many  as  to 
make  it  a  doubt  whether  the  Attractions  Avere  not  stronger  in  the 
spring  than  in  the  fall  of  the  year;  sometimes  the  needle  will  be  five- 
degrees  to  the  southward  and  sometimes  to  the  northward,  within 
a  station  or  two,  that  is  to  say,  in  other  terms,  the  variation  will 
be  ten  degrees  westerly  at  one  time  and  in  an  hour  or  two  after  that 
the  variation  will  be  lialf  a  degree  east,  or,  perhaps,  no  variation  ar 
all.  We  are  got  as  far  as  one  Weslow  Parnell's  in  Edgemont  Town- 
ship, about  IG  miles  west  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  this  distance  we 
have  crossed  the  forcer  lines,  that  have  been  run,  several  times;  and 
now  we  are  something  to  the  south  of  the  line  run  by  John  Taylor, 
and  more  to  the  south  of  the  line  run  by  the  Jersey  commissioners, 
and  if  Ben.  Eastburn  says  truly  we  shall  gain  still  more  and  more 
upon  the  last  line,  so  as  to  come  xevy  near  Elislia  Gatchell's  plan- 
tation. The  surveyors  go  on  amicably  yet,  but  Col.  Gale  is  much 
disturbed  to  lind  the  line  jirove  so  as  it  does,  and  as  he  is  disai»- 
poiuted  by  John  Lad,  he  comes  to  town  to  procure  another  sur- 
veyor." 

On  the  20th  of  the  mouth  Mr.  Peters  again  Avrote  to  Governor 
Thomas,  saying:  "He"  (Col.  Gale)  "has  been  extremely  uneasy 
on  account  of  the  line  continuing  to  gain  on  them,  and  it  being 
apprehended  tJiat  the  needle  in  Mr.  Eastburn's  theodolite  might 
have  been  altered  by  some  accident  in  its  direction,  we  this  morn- 
ing compared  their  theodolite  and  their  two  needles  with  ours,  as 
we  had  done  before  on  Society  Hill,  and  the  variation  in  all  the 
three  needles  agreed  most  exactly  with  what  it  was  then  and 
now."  And  Col.  Gale  being  then  satisfied  that  the  survey  was  going 
on  rightly,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  line  they  were  then  run- 
ning differed  from  the  Jersey  line,  either  because  the  Jersey  com- 
missioners had  got  into  an  Attraction  that  carried  them  too  far 


S2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

north,  Aviliout  their  being  .lAvare  of  it,  or  that  they  had  not  been 
careful  to  fix  the  index  bv  which  the  variation  was  rightly  regu- 
lated. 

The  diflimlty  ^vith  reference  to  tlie  method  of  surveying  the 
fifteen  and  a  quarter  miles  has  been  already  mentioned;  but  there 
was  a  peculiar  feature  of  it  that  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
touched  upon  by  writers  on  local  history.  After  the  agreement 
had  been  reached  on  April  25,  that  an  allowance  of  twenty-five 
perches  should  be  made  in  favor  of  the  Pennsylvania  claim,  or,  in 
other  words,  added  to  the  length  of  the  fifteen  and  a  quarter 
miles  line,  Mr  Eastburn,  the  suiTeyor  for  the  Pennsylvania  com- 
missioners, ascertained  that  the  allowance  of  twenty-five  perches 
would  fully  cover  the  difference  between  the  methods  of  survey- 
ing the  line,  and,  iu  fact,  Mr.  Eastburn  was  satisfied  that  the  dif- 
ference would  not  exceed  twenty  perches.  Jtli*.  Peters  thereupon 
wrote  to  Governor  Thomas,  "humbly  desiring  your  Honor  to  keep 
it  private  that  this  is  the  difference,  lest  they  should  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  it."  >So  that  by  this  supei'ior  knoAvledge  and  skill 
of  her  surveyor  Pennsylvania  was  getting  five  perches  in  the 
length  of  the  fifteen  and  a  quarter  mile  line  more  than  she  was 
in  reality  entitled  to.  Or,  in  other  words,  Pennsylvania  thus 
gained  a  strip  of  land  along  the  southern  border  of  the  province 
eighty-two  and  a  half  feet  iu  Avidth  for  the  entire  five  degrees  of 
longitude,  provided  the  temporary  line  had  become  permanent. 

It  now  remains  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  sui'vey  of  the 
southern  boundaiy  line  of  the  State,  which  is  the  southern  bound- 
ary line  of  Chester  County,  from  the  peculiarly  formed  triangle,  or 
point,  so  far  as  Chester  County  extends  to  the  westward,  and 
which  is  noAV  famous  in  history  as  Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 

The  commissioners  appointed  under  the  deed  of  ITGO  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  the  work  of  completing  the  survey,  but 
their  progress  was  slow.  Hence,  on  August  4,  17G.3,  Thomas  and 
Richard  Penn  and   Lord  Baltimore,  all  of  whom  were  then   in 


-    AND     ITS     PEG  PI. E.  85 

Londou,  made  an  agreement  with  Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah 
Dixon,  two  mathematicians  and  snrveyors,  "to  mark,  rnn  out,  set- 
tle, fix  and  determine  all  the  parts  of  the  circle,  marks  of  lines 
and  boundaries  as  were  mentioned  in  the  several  articles  and 
commissions  and  were  not  yet  completed."  Mason  and  Dixon 
landed  at  Thiladelphia  November  15,  1763,  and  at  once  began 
their  work  with  more  perfect  instruments  than  had  been  previously 
used  in  these  surveys.  They  adopted  the  twelve-mile  radius  of 
their  predecessors,  and  also  their  tangent  point,  as  suflSciently  ac- 
curate, and  adjourned  to  Philadelphia  to  find  its  southern  limit,  on 
Cedar  (now  South)  Street,  on  which  street  they  erected  an  observ- 
atory that  they  might  ascertain  the  latitude  of  this  southern  limit, 
this  observatory  being  the  first  in  America  used  for  taking  observa- 
tions of  the  stars.  According  to  their  observations  this  southern 
limit  was  in  latitude  39  degrees  56  minutes  29  seconds.  They  then 
extended  this  latitude  to  the  west  sufficiently  far  to  be  due  north 
of  the  tangent  point,  this  being  accomplished  in  Januaiy,  1764,  and 
the  distance  run  to  the  westward  being  thirtj^-one  miles,  to  the 
forks  of  the  Brandywine,  where  they  planted  a  quartzose  stone, 
which  was  long  known  in  the  vicinity  as  the  "star-gazers'  stone," 
which  stood  on  Joel  Harlin's  land,  in  Xewlin  Township,  a  short 
distance  west  of  the  Chester  County  almshouse,  six  miles  264 
perches  west  of  the  meridian  of  the  West  Chester  court-house  and 
446i  perches  south  of  the  parallel  of  the  West  Chester  court-house. 
Fi-om  this  "star-gazers'  stone"  they  ran  a  line  south  to  the  lati- 
tude of  the  great  due  west  line,  fifteen  miles,  and  there  planted  a 
post,  from  which  they  ran  the  due  west  line  a  short  distance.  Then 
going  to  the  tangent  point  they  ran  a  line  due  north  to  the  latitude 
of  the  due  west  line,  and  at  the  intersection  of  the  two  lines,  in  a 
deep  ravine,  near  a  spring,  they  established  the  corner  stone, 
which  thenceforward  was  to  be  at  the  beginning  of  the  due  west 
line,  the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  the  northern  bound- 
ary of  Maryland,  the  famous  Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 
6 


86  CHESTER     COUNTY 

This  stoue  whicli  thns  stands  at  the  nortlieast  oorner  of  Mary- 
land was  ascertained  bv  Mason  and  Dixon  to  be  in  latitude  30  de- 
grees 43  minutes  18  seconds,  but  was  afterward  ascertained  to  be 
in  latitude  39  degrees  43  minutes  26.3  seconds.  During  the  sum- 
mer of  17(!4  they  ran  and  marked  the  north  and  south  line,  or  tlii- 
tangent  line,  which  separates  Max"yland  from  Dehxware,  and  then 
started  for  the  stone  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Maryland. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  17G5  they  returned  to  their  work,  and 
described  that  portion  of  the  circle  surrounding  New  Castle  which 
fell  to  tJie  westward  of  the  meridian  line,  joining  the  tangent  point 
with  the  stone  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Mai'yland,  whicli  meridian 
line  cut  off  a  segment  of  the  circle  which  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
long  and  116  feet  wide  in  the  widest  part,  which  segment  of  the 
circle,  according  to  the  agreement,  belongs  to  New  Castle  County, 
Delaware.  From  the  point  where  this  meridian  line  crosses  the 
circle  to  the  eastward,  Mason  and  Dixon  did  not  survey  the  circle, 
as  Lord  Baltimore  had  no  interest  in  its  location.  But  this  point, 
which  is  at  tlie  meeting  of  three  States,  was  carefully  marked. 
From  this  point  north  to  the  northeast  corner  of  Mai'yland  is  about 
three  miles  and  a  half,  and  the  distance  from  the  northeast  corner 
of  Maryland  to  the  circle  in  a  line  running  due  east  is  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile.  These  were  the  distances  established  by  Mason 
and  Dixon,  but  recent  controversies  over  the  circular  boundary 
between  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania  have  changed  the  measure- 
ments somewhat.  These  controversies  will  be  treated  of  briefly 
later  on  in  this  article. 

By  June  17,  1765,  the  surveyors  had  carried  the  due  west  line 
to  the  Susquehanna  Eiver,  and  received  instructions  to  cari"y  it  as 
far  west  as  Mainland  and  Pennsylvania  were  settled  and  inhabited. 
By  the  27th  of  October  they  had  reached  the  North  (Cove  or  Kit- 
tatinny)  Mountains,  ninety-five  miles  west  of  the  Susquehanna, 
where  the  temporary  line,  run  in  1739,  terminated.     Early  in  1766 


AWD    ITS    PEOPLE.  87 

they  again  began  the  survey,  and  by  June  4  they  liad  reached  the 
Little  Alleghany  Mountains,  about  160  miles  from  the  beginning. 
In  1767  they  extended  the  line  to  a  distance  of  230  miles  18  chains 
and  21  links  from  the  northeast  coraer  of  Maryland,  or  277  miles 
38  chains  and  36  links  from  the  River  Delaware,  near  to  an  Indian 
war  path,  on  the  borders  of  Dunkard  Creek. 

But  trouble  now  began  with  the  original  inhabitants  of  the 
soil,  that  is,  with  the  Six  Nations,  whose  consent  had  to  be  obtained 
to  the  further  survey  of  the  line,  and  soon  afterward,  with  an  escort 
of  fourteen  stroud-clad  warriors,  an  interpreter  and  a  Mohawk 
chief,  deputed  by  the  Iroquois  council,  they  pushed  on  from  the 
summit  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  down  into  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio,  whose  tributaries  they  soon  crossed.  Coming  to  the  western 
limit  of  Maryland  they  still  pushed  on,  resolved  to  reach  the  utmost 
limits  of  Peun's  five  degi'ees  of  longitude  from  the  Delaware. 
By  August  21  they  came  to  the  crossing  of  Braddock's  Ford,  and 
the  escort  became  restless.  The  Mohawk  chief  and  his  nephew 
left  the  party,  and  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares,  who  then  occupied 
the  territory  into  which  the  surveying  part^-  Avas  penetrating,  be- 
gan to  grow  hostile,  and  on  September  27,  at  the  distance  of  233 
miles  from  the  Delaware,  twenty-six  of  the  laboring  men  deserted, 
leaving  only  fifteen  ax-men  with  the  surveyors,  who,  however, 
pushed  on,  regardless  of  the  danger,  until  they  came  to  a  point  a 
little  to  the  west  of  Mount  Morris,  in  Greene  County,  when  their 
Indian  escort  said  to  them  that  they  had  been  instructed  by  their 
chiefs  not  to  let  the  line  be  run  westward  of  the  Avar  path  at  which 
they  had  then  arrived — the  old  Catawba  war  path. 

The  instruments  used  by  Mason  and  Dixon  Avere  an  ordinary 
surveyor's  compass,  to  find  their  bearings  in  a  general  way;  a  quad- 
rant and  a  four-foot  zenith  sector,  which  they  brought  from  Eng- 
land for  absolute  accuracy.  The  needle  could  not  be  relied  upon 
because  of  the  ferruginous  character  of  the  soil  over  which  they 


88  _  CHESTER     COIXTY 

had  to  mark  the  line.  The  sector  enabled  them  to  be  guided  by 
the  heavenly  bodies,  which  changed  their  positions  very  slowly. 

The  "visto,"  as  they  called  it,  that  is,  the  opening  cut  through 
the  woods  as  they  went  along,  was  twenty-four  feet  in  width,  and 
throughout  this  width  they  had  cut  dowu  all  the  trees  and  bushes, 
leaving  them  to  rot  upon  the  ground.  Along  the  middle  of  this 
"visto,"  in  the  true  parallel,  monuments  were  erected  at  the  dis- 
tance of  five  miles,  eacli  monument  consisting  of  a  stone  bearing 
the  coats  of  arms  of  AYilliam  Penn  on  the  side  toward  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  those  of  Lord  Baltimore  on  the  side  toward  Maryland, 
most  of  these  stones  having  been  brought  from  England.  This 
mode  of  demarkation  was  used  as  far  the  eastern  base  of  the  Side- 
ling Hill  Mountain,  132  miles  from  the  northeast  corner  of  Mary- 
land, and  from  this  point  to  the  great  Alleghany  Mountains  the 
line  was  denoted  by  conical  heaps  of  dirt  and  stones  six  or  seven 
feet  high  on  the  tops  of  ridges  and  mountiiins,  and  still  further  to 
the  west  as  far  as  they  went  similar  marks  were  erected  at  the  end 
of  every  mile. 

As  to  the  length  of  a  degree  of  longitude  on  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line,  it  may  be  said  that  they  made  it  ec^ual  to  53  miles  157.1  perches, 
hence  Penn's  five  degrees  of  longitude  would  extend  from  the  Dela- 
ware Eiver  westward  to  a  distance  of  267.4:54:0  miles.  The  length 
of  a  degree  of  longitude  on  the  Mason  and  Dixon  arc  of  the  parallel, 
for  which  the  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  takes  the 
latitude  of  39  degrees  43  minutes  20  seconds,  is,  according  to 
Clarke's  spheroid,  53.277  miles,  and  hence  the  five  degrees  of  longi- 
tude eqiml  200.385  statute  miles.  Hence  Mason  and  Dixon  made 
an  error  in  their  measurement  of  these  five  degrees  of  1.090  statute 
miles. 

Auothcn"  point  of  interest  connected  with  tlie  lines  run  by 
Mason  and  Dixon  is  their  determination  of  the  length  of  a  degree 
of  latitude,  in  17G4,  on  the  line  separating  Delaware  from  Mary- 
land, known  as  tlie  taugent  line.     They  made  the  length  of  a  degree 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  89 

ou  this  line  363,7G3  feet,  or  68,894  statute  miles,*  for  mean  latitude 
39  degrees  12  minutes,  measuring  the  whole  line  with  deal  rods, 
triangulation,  which  was  brought  into  use  in  1617,  being  inapplica- 
ble in  this  case.  But  according  to  Clarke's  spheroid  the  true  length 
of  a  meridianal  degree  at  this  latitude,  39  degrees  12  minutes,  is 
68.983  miles,  or  469.92  feet  in  excess  of  the  length  as  ascertained 
by  Mason  and  Dixon.f 

The  circular  boundary  line  is  one  of  interest  as  to  its  history 
and  of  importance  as  to  tlie  effect  its  location  has  had  upon  the 
people  living  in  its  vicinity.  When  it  was  first  located  it  was 
merely  tlie  division  line  between  two  counties,  but  later  it  came 
into  controversy  between  two  States.  The  first  mention  of  it  is 
made  in  the  records  of  Upland  Court,  November  12,  1678,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"The  limits  and  divisions  between  this  (Upland)  and  New  Cas- 
tle County  were  this  day  agreed  upon  and  settled  by  the  Court  and 
Mr.  John  Moll,  President  of  New  Castle  Court,  to  be  as  followeth, 
viz. :  'This  county  of  Upland  to  begin  from  the  north  side  of  Oele 
Francens  Creeke,  othen\'ays  called  Steenkill,  lying  in  the  voght 
above  the  Yerdrietege  hoeck,  and  from  the  said  creek  oner  to  the 
Singletree  Point  on  the  east  syde  of  this  river.'  " 

"Steenkill,"  otherwise  Stony  Creek,  is  now  known  as  Quarry 
Creek.     "It  crosses  the  Philadelphia,  AVilmington  &  Baltimore  rail- 


*It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  this  weasuremeut  of  a  degree  of  latitude 
by  Mason  and  Dixon  was  the  first  ever  measured  on  the  surface  of  the  ground; 
but  this  is  not  exactly  correct,  for,  according  to  the  Encyclopedia  Brilaunica,  the 
Caliph  Almamoum,  in  814  A.  D.,  fl^ed  upon  a  spot  in  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia, 
sent  one  company  of  astiouomers  north^^ard  and  another  southward,  measuring 
the  journey  by  rods  until  each  fouud  the  altitude  of  the  Pole  Star  to  have  changed 
one  degree,  the  northern  party  mailing  a  degree  56  miles  and  the  southern 
party  50  2-3  miles.  Again,  about  the  year  1500,  a  Frenchman  named  Pernel 
measured  a  distance  in  the  direction  of  the  meridian  near  Paris  by  counting  the 
number  of  revolutions  of  the  wheel  of  his  carriage  as  he  traveled. 

fThese  precise  figures,  according  to  Clariie's  spheroid,  were  suppUed  upon 
request  by  Henry  .S.  Pritchett,  superintendent  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic 
Survey. 


90  CHESTER     COUNTY 

road  about  three  and  tliree-qiiarters  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Naa- 
mau's  Creek,  in  Brandywine  Hundred,  New  Castle  County." 
■'Verdrietege  hoeck,"  also  called  Trinity  Hook,  lay  between  Stony 
Creek  and  Shellpot  Creek;  and  Singletree  Point  is  now  known  as 
Old  Man's  Point  of  the  New  Jersey  shore,  one  mile  below  the  mouth 
of  Old  Man's  Ci'eek. 

Stony  Creek  is  there  on  the  dividing  line,  as  at  first  located, 
and  so  remained  until  the  grant  to  Penu  fixed  the  boundaiw  of  his 
tract  "on  the  south  by  a  circle  drawn  at  a  distance  of  twelve  miles 
from  New  Castle  northward  and  westward. 

Later  Naaman's  Creek  was  recognized  as  the  boundary  line, 
and  was  so  laid  down  by  Thomas  Holme,  surveyor-general  of  the 
province,  but  still  the  boundarj^  line  between  the  two  counties  was 
not  fixed,  and  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Chester  County  petitioned 
for  a  division  line  between  their  county  and  that  of  New  Castle. 
Therefore  on  the  9th  of  August,  1G93,  it  was  resolved  by  the  Council 
that  the  boundary  of  New  Castle  County  should  begin  at  the  mouth 
of  Naaman's  Greek  and  upward  along  the  southwest  side  of  the 
northmost  branch  (excluding  the  townships  of  Concord  and  Bethel), 
and  not  to  extend  baekA\  ard  of  the  said  northmost  branch  above 
the  said  two  townships. 

Still  this  arrangemeni  did  not  prove  satisfactory,  and  as  there 
appeared  to  be  danger  of  the  three  lower  coiinties  separating  from 
the  province,  a  conference  was  lield  and  a  warrant  issued  dated 
28th  of  the  Sth  mo.,  1701,  directed  to  Isaac  Taylor  of  Chester 
County,  and  Th(»mas  Pierson  of  New  Castle  County,  authoi'izing 
them  to  accompauj'  the  magistrates  of  the  two  counties  interested, 
and  in  tlieir  presence  to  "admeasure  and  survey  from  the  town  of 
New  Castle  tlie  distance  of  twelve  miles,  in  a  right  line,"  up  the 
River  DelaAvare,  "and  from  said  distance,  according  to  the  King's 
letters  patent  and  deeds  from  the  Duke,"  to  survey  the  said  circular 
line  and  mark  it  well  two-thirds  of  the  length  of  a  semicircle. 

The  magistrates  agreed  upon  and  established  the  center  of  the 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  91 

circle  "at  llie  eud  of  the  bor.se  dyke  uext  to  the  towu  of  New  Castle," 
aud  tiie  survey  was  accordiuglA'  made. 

It  may  be  interesting-  to  note  the  method  nsed  in  1701  by 
Messrs.  Taylor  and  Pierson  in  surveying  this  t^\e]ve-mile  circular 
boundary  line,  and  hence  the  following  quotation  from  their  report: 

"We  did  begin  in  the  presence  of  said  justices  at  the  said  end 
of  the  horse  dyke  and  measured  due  north  twelve  miles  to  a  white 
oak  marked  with  twelve  notches,  standing  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Brandywine  Creek  on  the  land  of  Israel  Helm,  and  from  the  sai<l 
white  oak  we  ran  eastward  circularly,  changing  our  direction  from 
the  east  southward  one  degree  at  the  end  of  every  sixty-seven 
perches,  which  is  the  chord  of  one  degree  at  a  radius  of  twelve 
miles;  and  at  the  end  of  forty-three  chords  we  came  to  the  Delaware 
River,  on  the  upper  side  of  Nathaniel  Lumplugh's  old  house  at  Chi- 
chester. And  then  returning  to  the  said  white  oak  on  Israel 
Helm's  land  we  ran  from  thence  Avestward,  changing  our  course 
one  degree  from  the  west  southward  at  the  end  of  every  sixty- 
seven  perclies  until  we  had  extended  seventy-seven  chords  (which 
being  added  to  the  forty-three  chords  make  two-third  parts  of  the 
semicircle  to  a  twelve-mile  radius),  all  of  which  said  circular  line 
being  well  marked  on  each  side  of  the  trees  to  a  marked  hickory 
standing  near  the  western  branch  of  Ciiristina  Creek.'' 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  method  of  marking  out  a  circular 
was  peculiarly  liable  to  error,  as  a  very  slight  error  in  running  the 
lines  which  formed  the  choi-ds  would  amount  to  a  considerable  error 
in  running  one  hundred  and  twenty  chords;  and  it  may  also  be  re- 
marked that  a  very  slight  error  in  measuring  the  "one  degree"  at 
eacii  cliange  of  direction  would  also  lead  to  a  considerable  eiTor, 
and  if  all  these  errors  should  happen  to  be  in  the  same  direction, 
the  circle  would  in  after  years,  when  more  scientific  and  accurate 
!iietlio(ls  had  come  into  use,  be  found  to  be  far  from  i1s  correct 
position. 

This  survey  of  1701  held  good  until  184!l,  when  the  Legislature 


92  CHESTER     COUNTY 

of  Pennsylvania  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  Governor  to  appoint 
a  commissioner  to  act  in  connection  with  commissioners  appointed 
or  to  be  appointed  by  the  States  of  Delaware  and  Maryland,  with 
power  to  survey  and  determine  the  point  of  intersection  of  the 
three  States  and  to  fix  some  suitable  mark  or  monument  whereby 
its  location  would  afterward  be  known.  Under.similar  laws  passed 
by  the  States  of  Delaware  and  Maryland  commissioners  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governors  of  those  States,  and  the  tJiree  members 
of  the  commission  were,  on  the  part  of  Pennsylvania,  Joshua  P. 
Eyre;  on  the  part  of  Delaware,  George  Read  Eiddle,  and  on  the 
pai't  of  Maryland,  H.  G.  S.  Key. 

At  the  request  of  this  commission  the  Secretary  of  War  of  the 
United  States  detailed  Col.  J.  D.  Graham,  of  the  Topographical 
Engineers,  to  make  the  survey.  Proceeding  to  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Maryland  the  commissioners  and  Col.  Graham  found  the 
stone  monument  set  up  by  Mason  and  Dixon  had  been  remove<l, 
but  that  a  stake  was  found  firmly  driven  into  tlie  ground  at  the 
place  the  monument  had  occupied,  Avhich  they  ascertained  to  be 
correct  by  subsequent  sui-veys.  After  establishing  this  point  they 
planted  a  new  stone  of  cut  gi*auite  about  seven  feet  long,  set  five 
feet  into  the  ground,  marking  it  with  the  letter  "P"  on  the  nortli 
and  east  sides,  and  Avith  the  letter  "M"  on  the  south  and  west 
sides. 

They  also  found  that  the  points  of  tangent  and  intersection 
were  substantially  correct,  though  according  to  their  measure- 
ments the  twelve-mile  radius  Avas  tAvo  feet  four  inches  short,  and 
that  b.y  errors  in  the  location  of  the  tangent  point  and  the  intersec- 
tion point  Mainland  had  obtained  about  one  and  three-fourths 
acres  more  than  she  was  entitled  to.  New  monuments  Avere  placed 
at  the  tangent  point,  at  the  intersection  point,  and  at  the  meridian 
of  the  circle,  that  at  the  junction  of  the  thi*ee  States,  or  the  inter- 
section point,  being  the  most  important.  This  Avas  a  triangular 
prismatic  post  of  cut  granite  seven    feet    long,  inserted  into  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE. 


93 


ground  four-  aud  a  half  feet,  and  inai-ked  with  the  letters  "P,"  "J)"' 
and  "M,"  according  to  the  State  indicated,  and  also  with  the  date, 
1849,  on  the  north  side. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  1889,  an  act  was  approved  by  the  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania  which  provided  for  a  resurvey  of  this  circle,  aud 
under  it  commissioners  were  appointed  for  Pennsylvania  as  fol- 
lows: lion.  Wayne  McVeagh  of  Philadelphia;  Eon.  E.  B.  Moua- 
ghan  of  Chester  County,  and  Mr.  William  H.  Miller  of  Delaware 
County.  The  Delaware  commissioners  Avere  the  Hon.  Thomas  F. 
Bayard,  J.  H.  Hoffecker  and  B.  L.  Lewis. 

A  meeting  of  the  joint  commission  was  held  at  Philadelphia,  at 
which  a  series  of  four  resolutions  was  adopted,  the  first  one  being 
to  the  effect  that  the  boundary  line  between  the  State  of  Dela- 
ware and  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  shall  be  held  to  commence  at 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  State  of  Maryland  and  to  extend  due 
east  4,109  feet  to  the  monument  then  fixed  and  agreed  upon  by 
the  joint  commission  as  the  western  terminus  of  the  circular 
boundary  Hue  between  the  said  States,  said  monument  being  at  a 
distance  of  twelve  English  statute  miles  from  the  spire  of  the  court- 
house in  New  Castle. 

In  November,  1891,  the  joint  commission  appointed  Daniel 
Farra  surveyor  for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Benjamin  II. 
Smith  for  Delaware.  The  commission  decided  that  the  most  eco- 
nomical means  of  effecting  its  object  would  be  to  make  use  of  the 
triangulation  stations  of  the  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic 
Survey,  and  the  positions  Avere  furnished  by  Prof.  T.  C.  Mendenhall, 
superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey,  who  offered  to  detail  a  compe- 
tent civil  engineer,  with  the  necessary  instruments  to  cany  on  the 
work.  A  preliminary  survey  developed  the  fact  that  no  single 
curve  could  be  made  to  pass  through  all  the  points  previously 
agreed  upon,  and  a  compound  curve  was  therefore  adopted  coui- 
posed  of  two  arcs  of  nearly  equal  lengths,  the  eastern  arc  or  curve 
having  its  center  some  little  distance  south  and  east  of  the  court- 


94  CHESTER     COUNTY 

house  in  New  Ca.stle,  and  the  western  arc  havinij'  its  center  some- 
what more  distant  from  the  court-house  in  the  directly  opposite 
direction.  The  preliniinai'^'  survey  developed  the  fact  that  a  cir- 
cular arc  with  a  twelve-mile  radius  from  the  court-house  in  New 
Castle  as  a  center  would  fall  entirely  within  the  State  of  Dela- 
ware, would  intersect  the  Delaware  Eiver  near  the  mouth  of  Naa- 
mau's  Creek,  over  3,000  feet  below  the  point  agreed  upon  for  the 
terminal  monument,  and  cut  off  nearly  5,000  acres  from  the  State 
of  Delaware;  and  it  Avas  also  found  that  a  curve  from  the  initial 
point  through  the  stump  at  the  corner  of  Kennet  Township  and  a 
line  hickory  tree  near  the  corner  of  Concord  would  also  intersect 
the  river  several  hundred  feet  below  the  terminal  point;  and  a 
curve  from  the  terminal  point  through  the  Concord  tree  and  the 
corner  of  Kennet  would  intersect  the  east  and  west  line  near  the 
corner  of  Maryland,  and  thus  transfer  several  hundred  acres  to 
Delaware  from  Pennsjdvania.  For  these  reasons  a  compound 
curve  AAas  determined  upon  in  order  to  leaAe  the  boundary  line 
practically  in  tlie  same  position  as  it  had  been  since  1701. 

^Vitliout  attempting  to  present  the  details  of  the  survey, 
which  would  at  best  interest  only  those  vei'sed  in  the  higher  math- 
ematics, it  will  be  sutiicient  to  say  that  the  terminal  monument 
was  set  uj)  near  tlie  Delaware  Kiver,  December  12,  1892,  and  the 
initial  monument  on  December  20,  1892.  The  stones  along  the  cir- 
cular boundary  line  were  set  every  half  mih'  and  every  mile,  the 
mile  stones  being  so  distinguished  from  tlie  Iialf  mile  stones  as  to 
cause  no  confusion.  The  entire  lengtli  of  this  circular  boundary 
line  as  thus  surveyed  was  found  to  be  23.3(519  miles.  In  this  sur- 
vey the  latitude  and  longitude  of  many  points  Avas  determined  with 
greater  accuracy  tlian  had  ever  been  done  before;  but  only  those 
of  three  points  will  be  presented  here,  the  three  most  important 
points  on  the  Hue,  or  indirectly  connected  therewith.  The  latitude 
of  the  initial  monument  was  found  to  be  39  degrees  43  minutes 
19.91  seconds;  the  longitude,  7."  degrees  40  minutes  2G.70  seconds; 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  95 

the  latitude  of  the  terminal  monninent  was  found  to  be  39  degrees 
48  minutes  27.92  seconds;  the  longitude,  75  degrees  25  minutes 
31.53  seconds;  and  the  latitude  of  the  northeast  corner  of  Mary- 
land was  found  to  be  39  degrees  43  minutes  19.91  seconds,  and  the 
longitude  75  degrees  47  minutes  20.03  seconds. 

In  still  more  recent  years  the  question  of  the  location  of  the 
circular  bouudary  line  has  attracted  considerable  attention.  A 
certain  gentleman  claiming  to  live  in  Delaware  refused  to  jiiiy 
taxes  to  a  collector  for  the  township  of  London  Britain,  in  Chester 
County,  Pennsylvania,  the  name  of  the  collector  being  Thomas  E. 
Crossan.  The  formei*,  in  order  to  prevent  the  collection  of  the 
taxes  claimed  by  the  Chester  County  official,  secured  au  injunction 
against  the  exercise  of  his  official  functions,  which  injunction  was 
made  perpetual  by  Judge  Hemphill  at  West  Chester,  Januai'y  15, 
1897.  The  judge,  in  an  elaborate  review  of  the  boundary  line  dis- 
pute, decided  that  the  lands  upon  which  taxes  were  claimed  to  be 
due  lie  in  White  Clay  Creek  Hundred,  New  Castle  County,  Dela- 
ware; that  they  lie  "north  of  the  circular  arc  of  the  compound 
curve,  his  (Mr.  .Johnson's  residence)  being  600  feet  north  of  it,  and 
600  feet  south  of  the  traditional  curve  line  of  1701,  as  established 
by  evidence.  His  laud,  therefore,  having  always  heretofore  been 
considered  and  treated  as  Avithiu  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  the 
proceedings  of  the  commissioners  of  1889  lacking  the  assent  of  the 
two  States  and  of  Congress,  he  is  not  liable  for  taxes  assessed,  and 
the  injunction  must  be  made  perpetual." 

However,  if  the  assent  of  the  two  States  of  Delaware  and 
Pennsylvania  should  be  obtained  to  the  resolutions  of  the  joint 
commission,  and  should  the  consent  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  also  be  obtained,  then  the  said  land  of  Mr.  Johnson  will 
clearly  be  within  the  limits  of  Pennsylvania,  as  his  land  is  north 
of  the  compound  curve,  and  his  residence  is  six  hundred  feet  north 
of  that  curve. 

About  the  year  1786  the  people  of  the  southeastern   part   of 


96  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Chester  Coiiutv  thought  that  the  county  seat,  at  Turk's  Head,  was 
too  Tar  away,  and  consequently  petitioned  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  State  to  erect  a  new  county  consisting  of  the  borough  of 
Chester  and  the  southeastern  part  of  the  county.  This  petition 
being  regarded  as  just  and  reasonable  by  the  General  Assembly, 
that  body  on  September  2G,  1789,  authorized  the  division  of  the 
county  of  Chester  and  the  erection  of  the  new  county  desired. 
This  new  county  was  to  be  within  the  following  limits: 

"Beginning  in  the  middle  of  tlie  Brandywine  River  where  the 
same  ci'osses  the  circular  line  of  New  Castle  County,  thence  up  the 
middle  of  the  said  river  to  the  line  dividing  the  lands  of  Elizabeth 
Chads  and  Caleb  Brintou  at  or  near  tlie  ford  commonly  called  or 
known  as  Chads'  Ford,  and  from  thence,  as  nearly  straight  as  may 
be  so  as  not  to  split  or  divide  plantations,  to  the  great  road  leading 
from  Goshen  to  Chester,  where  the  Westtown  line  intersects  or 
crosses  said  road,  and  from  thence  along  the  lines  of  Edgemont, 
Newtown  and  Radnor,  so  as  to  include  these  townships,  to  the  lino 
of  Montgomery  County,  and  along  the  same  and  the  Philadelphia 
County  line  to  the  River  Delaware,  and  down  the  same  to  the  circu- 
lar line  aforesaid,  and  along  the  same  to  the  place  of  beginning, 
to  be  henceforth  known  and  called  by  the  name  of  Delaware 
County." 

By  this  act  the  townships  of  Birmingham  and  Thoi'nbury  were 
divided;  but  provision  was  made  that  the  parts  falling  in  each 
county  should  each  constitute  a  separate  township,  each  new  town- 
ship retaining  the  name  of  the  original  township  from  which  it  was 
taken. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  INDIANS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  INDIANS — THE    LENNI    LENAPE SITES    OF    INDIAN    VILLAGES — TRIBES    REP- 
RESENTED—  TREATIES     AND     RESERVATIONS — DEEDS     AND      SURVEYS 

THE  PENN    ELM COMPLAINTS    OF    THE    INDIANS — THEIR    CUS- 
TOMS   REVIEWED — LOCATION    OF    THEIR    CAMPS — AN 

INDIAN    ALARM THE    CHIEFS — ACTION    OF 

THE      PROVINCIAL      ASSEMRLV 

INDIAN      HANNAH. 

"WHEN  the  white  niau  first  ciiine  to  the  eastern  part  of  wliat 
is  uow  Pennsylvania  lie  found  a  numerous  body  of  natives 
here,  which  he  named  the  Delaware  Indians,  because  they  lived 
on  and  near  the  Delaware  River.  They,  however,  called  them- 
selves Lenui-Lenape,  by  which  they  meant  the  original  people. 
These  Lenni-Leuape  Indians  were  usually  divided  up  into  small 
bodies  or  tribes,  each  tribe  living  in  some  river  valley  or  the  valley 
of  a  creek.  The  Nanticokes  were  one  of  these  smaller  tribes,  they 
at  one  time  dwelling  and  for  a  long  time  lingering  along  the  valley 
of  the  Brandywine. 

It  has  been  said  of  them  by  certain  historians  that  when  the 
name  Delaware  was  first  applied  to  them  thej^  were  displeased, 
thinking  it  was  given  to  them  in  derision;  but  when  they  were  in- 
formed that  it  was  given  to  them  because  of  a  gTeat  white  chief. 
Lord  De  La  Ware,  tliey  not  only  became  reconciled  to  it,  but  took 
it  as  a  compliment,  for  they  always  liked  to  be  named  after  dis- 
tinguished people. 

In  some  portions  of  the  county  they  were  more  thickly  settled 
than  in  others,  being  quite  numerous  along  the  Great  Valley,  and 
they  were  quite  sparsely  settled  west  of  White  Clay  Creek.      In 

99 
L.ofC. 


ICO  CHESTER     COUNTY 

other  parts  of  the  county  they  were  quite  eveuly  distributed.  They 
usually  located  their  wigAvams  in  clusters,  the  numbers  in  each 
cluster  varying-  according  to  circumstances,  and  when  there  were 
a  considerable  number  of  them  together  they  were  called  an  In- 
dian town.  One  of  these  towns  stood  in  Upper  Oxford  Township, 
and  another  near  the  Baptist  Church,  in  London  Britain  Town- 
ship. Bome  of  their  paths  leading  from  point  to  point  have  since 
become  public  roads.  One  of  these  paths  led  from  Pequea,  Lancas- 
ter Country,  to  the  headwaters  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  ran  along 
the  ridge  dividing  the  waters  which  How  into  the  Susquehanna 
fr(;iii  those  whicii  lluw  into  the  Delaware.  This  is  now  known  as 
the  Limestone  Txoad,  Avhich  name  it  has  borne  for  a  long  period  of 
time,  having  been  nn'ntioned  in  the  I'ecord.s  as  a  public  road  as 
early  as  1731. 

One  of  their  villages  was  located  near  two  fine  springs  in 
Wallace  Township.  When  Daniel  and  Alexander  Henderson,  in 
1733,  purchased  their  lands,  they  promised  that  the  burial  ground 
sliould  never  be  disturbed,  and  they  and  their  children  religiously 
kept  the  promise,  but  now  this  burial  ground  is  a  part  of  a  culti- 
A'ated  field.  It  was  shortly  after  Braddock's  defeat  that  these  In- 
dians removed  to  that  pai*t  of  the  State  embraced  in  Crawford  and 
Mercer  Counties. 

Some  time  ])revious  to  this  time  the  Shawnese  Indians  made 
a  settlement  in  Lancaster  County,  and  after  a  time  spread  out  into 
Chester  County,  they  having  a  large  town  near  the  site  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Doe  Eun,  and  they  also  had  a  settlement  in  the  vicinity  of 
Steeleville,  on  Octoraro  Creek. 

Among  the  early  tribes  of  Indians  occupying  the  country  bor- 
dering the  Delaware  River  was  one  known  as  the  Okehockings, 
the  menibers  of  which  tribe  had  their  lodges  on  the  banks  of  Eidley 
and  Crum  Creeks.  By  a  warrant  of  a  survey  dated  10th  month  15, 
1702,  it  appears  that  a  reservation  of  five  hundred  acres  of  land 
was  granted  this  tribe  near  Williston,  Chester  County,  the  bounda- 


AND     ITU    PEOPLE.  103 

ries  of  which  reservation  are  shown  on  the  map  of  the  early  settle- 
ments of  the  couutj'.  It  is  stated  in  the  minutes  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  property,  under  date  of  10th  month  7th  and  8th,  1702, 
that  the  Ockauickon  Indians  had  been  removed  from  their  old  hab- 
itations before  the  proprietor's  departure,  by  his  order,  and  seated 
by  Caleb  Pusey,  Nicholas  Pyle,  Nathaniel  Newlin  and  Joseph 
Baker  on  the  tract  in  Chester  Coiinty  formerly  laid  out  by  Griffith 
Jones,  but  then  vacant.  The  names  of  the  chiefs  of  this  tribe  were 
Pokkais,  Sepopauny  and  Mattagooppa.  Following  is  the  warrant 
of  survey-  issued  by  the  commissioners  of  property  to  the  surveyor 
of  Chester  County: 

"Whereas,  Pokias,  Sepopawny,  Mettagooppa  and  others  of  the 
nation  called  Okehocking  Indians,  in  Chester  County,  with  their 
families,  upon  their  removal  from  their  late  settlements  near  Kid- 
le^^  and  Crum  Creeks,  have,  by  the  proprietor's  order  and  appoint- 
ment, been  seated  on  another  certain  tract  in  the  said  county,  and 
on  the  said  Eidley  Creek,  near  the  head  thereof,  formerly  surveyed 
to  Griffith  Jones,  but  by  him  left  and  acquitted,  and  now  belonging 
to  the  Proprietary;  in  which  place  the  said  Indians  request  we 
would  grant  them  a  certain  settlement,  under  sure  metes  and 
bounds,  to  them  and  their  posterity,  in  pursuance  of  the  proprie- 
tor's engagement  in  that  case,  made  before  his  departure,  who 
granted  them,  as  it  is  creditably  affinned  to  us,  five  hundred  acres 
in  the  said  place.  These,  therefore,  are  in  pursuance  of  the  said 
gi-ant,  to  authorize  and  require  thee  to  survey  and  lay  out  to  the 
said  Pokhais,  Sepapawney,  Mattagooppa,  and  others  of  the  said 
nation,  called  the  Okehocking  Indians,  who  were  lately  seated 
lower  down  on  the  said  creeks,  and  their  relations,  and  to  no  other 
whatsoever,  the  full  quantity  of  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  one 
square  tract,  in  such  place  within  the  aforesaid  tract  as  the  said 
Indians  shall  desire;  which  said  five  hundred  acres  we  do  hereby 
grant  to  the  said  Pokhais,  Sepopawney,  Mattagooppa  and  others  of 
the  said  nation  called  the  Okehocking  Indians,  who  were  lately 
7 


I04  CHESTER     COUNTY 

seated  as  aforesaid,  and  to  their  relations,  and  to  no  otlier  what- 
soever; to  take  and  to  hold  to  them,  the  said  Indians,  for  settle- 
ment, and  to  their  posterity  of  the  same  nation  of  Indians  (and  ta 
no  other)  forever;  jjrovided,  always,  that  the  said  Indians,  uor  any 
of  them,  shall  not  give,  grant  or  attempt  to  sell,  or  in  any  way  dis- 
pose of  any  of  tlie  said  five  hundred  acres  of  land  hereby  granted,, 
to  any  person  whatsoever;  but  at  such  time  as  the  said  Indians 
shall  quit  or  leave  the  said  place,  it  shall  be  surrendered  to  the 
Proprietary  without  any  further  claim  of  the  said  Indians,  or  any 
person  whatsoever,  by  or  under  them,  their  title  of  procurements; 
and  make  returns  into  the  General  Surveyor's  office. 

"Given  under  our  hands  and  the  seal  of  the  Province,  at  Phila- 
delphia, the  15th  of  the  10th  month,  1702. 

"EDWARD  SHIPPEN, 
"GRIFFITH  OWEN, 
"THOMAS  STORY, 
"JAMES  LOGAN." 

"To  ISAAC  TAYLOR,  Suiweyor  of  the  County  of  Chester." 
Five  hundred  aci*es  were  therefore  surveyed  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  present  township  of  Williston,  on  the  east  side  of  Ridley 
Creek,  which  the  Indians  occupied  for  a  number  of  years,  leaving 
it,  however,  some  time  prior  to  1737,  the  lands  returning  under  the 
grant  to  the  Proprietary.  The  proprietary  on  August  1,  1737, 
issued  a  warrant  for  the  entire  tract  of  five  hundred  acres  aban- 
doned by  the  Indians  to  Amos  and  Mordecai  Yarnall,  who  divided 
it  between  them,  Amos  taking  19G  acres  and  allowance  on  the  east- 
ern and  southern  part,  and  Mordecai  taking  the  remainder,  about 
276  acres  and  allowance.  Surveys  having  been  returned  to  the 
surveyor's  office,  patents  were  granted  to  them  January  29,  1738, 
by  Thomas  Penn. 

The  famous  treaty  held  or  made  between  William  Penn  and 
the  Indians,  under  an  elm  tree  no  less  famous  than    the   treaty 


-     AXD     TTS     PEOPLE.  105 

itself,  was  at  what  is  now  called  Kensington.  It  was  formerly 
called  by  the  Indians  Shaekamaxou,  or  Sacliam axing,  Place  of 
Kings,  from  Sakim,  which  in  the  Delaware  language  means  king, 
or  chief.  It  was  held  before  the  meeting  of  the  assembly  at  Ches- 
ter, December  4,  1682.  The  Indian  tribes  represented  at  this 
famous  meeting  were  the  Lenui-Leuape,  living  near  the  banks  of 
the  Delaware;  the  Mingoes,  a  tribe  which  sprang  from  the  Iro- 
quois, otherwise  known  as  the  Minguas,  and  settled  at  Conestoga, 
and  the  Shawnese,  a  southern  tribe,  which  had  removed  to  the  Sus- 
quehanna, and  which  has  a  most  interesting  and  tragic  history. 

At  this  treaty  Tamminel  announces,  through  an  interpreter, 
to  William  Penn,  that  the  nations  are  ready  to  hear  him.  Penn 
then  made  his  speech,  to  which  an  Indian  chief  replied.  Though 
the  treaty  then  made  cannot  be  found,  yet  some  historians  say 
there  is  evidence  that  it  was  committed  to  wi*iting.  The  elm  tree 
under  which  it  was  made  was  blown  down  in  1810.  It  was  believed 
to  be  283  years  old,  and  was  twenty-four  feet  in  circumference.  It 
has  been  made  immortal  in  a  painting  by  Benjamin  West,  a  fox'mer 
resident  of  Chester  County,  whose  grandfather  was  present  at  the 
making  of  the  treaty.  This  was  the  first  time  Penn  had  met  the 
Indian  chiefs  in  council  to  make  with  them  a  firm  league  and 
friendship,  which  was  never  violated.  Voltaire  said  of  it  that  it 
was  the  only  league  between  these  nations  and  the  Christians 
which  was  never  sworn  to  and  which  was  never  broken. 

To  the  Iroquois  William  Penn  was  known  as  "Ouas,"  and  to 
the  Delawares  as  "Miquon,"  each  word  meaning  quill  or  pen.  How- 
ever, according  to  Watson,  the  treaty  under  the  great  elm  tree  was 
not  a  treaty  for  lands  at  all,  but  a  treaty  of  friendship,  merely  a 
great  meeting  for  conference  and  pledge,  in  which  presents  were 
exchanged  and  mutual  civilities  extended  from  either  side  to  the 
other  and  reciprocal  promises  of  friendship  and  good  will  sever- 
ally made.  He  then  says  that  if  this  assumption  of  his  be  true  it 
will  account  for  the  absence  of  any  deed  or  written  title  to  lands 


io6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

and  prove  that  the  alleged  instrument  of  writing  had  no  existence 
at  that  time,  for  it  wonld  have  been  wholly  unnecessary. 

Historians  differ  among  themselves  concerning  many  facts  of 
interest  regarding  tlie  relations  of  the  whites  with  the  Indians  dur- 
ing the  early  days.  One  of  these  points  of  difference  is  in  regard 
to  the  deeds  of  lands  made  bj-  the  Indians  to  William  Penn,  and 
they  also  occasionally  differ  in  reference  to  the  same  deed.  Some 
say  that  there  was  but  one  deed  made  by  Indians  to  William  Penn, 
but,  however  this  may  be,  numerous  deeds  were  executed  by  the 
Indians  of  lands  to  William  Penn,  the  transactions  being  conducted 
either  by  Penn  himself  or  by  his  agents.  These  deeds  were  often 
very  indefinite  as  to  the  boundaries  of  the  tracts  sold  to  Penn,  and 
in  many  cases  the  same  tract  was  sold  to  Penn  or  his  representa- 
tives several  times  by  different  tribes  or  bodies  of  Indians,  Penn 
preferring  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  all  who  professed  original 
ownership  of  the  lands  than  to  stand  vipon  the  rights  he  had  ac- 
quired by  previous  purchases.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  state 
whether  the  land  described  in  one  of  these  Indian  deeds  was  or 
was  not  any  portion  of  what  is  now  Chester  County.  Some  of 
them  evidently  covered  the  whole  or  a  part  of  this  county,  others 
as  evidently  covered  lands  quite  distant  thei'efrom,  and  others 
may  or  may  not  have  included  some  portion  of  the  county. 

The  first  deed  to  William  Penn  was  dated  July  15,  1682,  ("ac- 
cording to  English  Accompt"),  and  conveyed  lands  east  of  the 
creek  named  in  the  deed,  "Xeshamonyes."  These  lands  were  a 
long  distance  above  Philadelphia,  and  in  Bucks  County.  This  deed 
was  confirmed  b}-  another  made  August  25,  1737,  and  is  referred 
to  here  because  it  is  known  in  history  as  the  famous  "Walking  Pur- 
chase," about  which  there  has  been  considerable  difference  of  opin- 
ion as  to  the  real  grounds  of  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  In- 
dians as  to  the  advantage  taken  of  them  by  the  whites.  But  the 
merits  of  the  discussion  concern  this  history  still  less  than  does  the 
purchase  itself. 

The  next  deed  was  made  June  23,  1683,  by  King  Tammanens, 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  107 

the  original  "St.  Tammau}-,"  to  all  his  lands  between  Pemmapecka 
and  Neshiminehs  Creeks,  and  is  remarkable  for  that  reason,  and 
also  more  particularly  for  the  terms  of  the  purchase,  viz.:  "For 
the  consideration  of  so  much  Avampum,  so  many  guns,  shoes,  stock- 
ings, looking-glasses,  blankets,  and  others  goods  as  he,  the  said 
William  Penu,  shall  please  to  give  unto  me." 

Three  other  deeds  were  made  on  the  same  day  to  the  same  and 
perhaps  to  contiguous  lands  by  other  tribes  or  parties  of  Indians, 
because  they  had  an  interest  in  this  laud,  to  William  Penu,  and  all 
upon  the  same  terms,  "For  the  consideration  of  so  much  wampum, 
etc.,  as  he,  the  said  William  Penn,  shall  please  to  give  us." 

The  first  deed  for  lands  lying  on  the  Schuylkill  River,  which 
borders  Chester  County,  was  dated  June  2.3,  1683,  and  was  made 
by  Wingebone,  for  himself  and  his  heirs,  "of  all  my  lands  lying  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Schuylkill  Elver,  beginning  from  the  first  falls 
of  the  same  all  along  upon  the  said  river  and  backward  of  the 
same  so  far  as  my  right  goeth,"  etc.,  "for  so  much  wampum  and 
other  things  as  he  shall  iilease  to  give  unto  me." 

The  above  is  probably  the  first  deed  that  conveyed  to  William 
Penn  any  portion  of  what  is  now  Chaster  County,  and  that  it  did 
convey  a  portion  of  Chester  County  is  probable  for  the  reason  that 
a  line  running  backward  from  the  Schuylkill  River  would  have  to 
run  only  a  short  distance  before  reaching  the  eastern  limits  of  the 
county. 

The  next  deed,  made  July  14,  1683,  certainly  covered  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  Chester  County.     It  reads  in  part  as  follows : 

"We,  Secana  and  Icquoquehan,  Indian  Shackamakers,  and 
right  owners  of  the  land  lying  between  Manaiunk,  als  Schuylkill, 
and  Macopanackhan,  als  Chester  Rivers,  do  this  14th  day  of  the 
fifth  month,  in  the  year,  according  to  English  account,  1683,  hereby 
grant  and  sell  all  our  right  and  title  in  the  said  lands,  lying  be- 
tween the  said  rivers,  beginning  on  the  west  side  of  Manaiunk, 
called  Consohockhan,  and  from  thence  by  a  westerly  line  to  the 


io8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

said  river  Macopanackhan,  unto  "William  Penn,  proprietor  and  gov- 
ernor of  tlie  province  of  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 
forever,  for  and  in  consideration  of  150  fathoms  of  wampum,  14 
blankets,  68  yards  duffils,  28  yards  stroud  waters,  15  guns,  3  great 
kettles,  15  small  kettles,  16  pair  of  stockings,  7  pair  of  shoes,  6  caps, 
12  gimlets,  6  drawing  knives,  15  pair  of  scissors,  15  combs,  5  papers 
of  needles,  10  tobacco  boxes,  15  tobacco  tongs,  32  pounds  of  powder, 
3  papers  of  beads,  2  papers  of  red  lead,  15  coats,  15  shirts,  15  axes, 
15  knives,  30  bars  of  lead,  IS  glasses,  15  hoes,  unto  us  in  hand  paid," 
etc. 

Another  deed  was  made  on  the  same  day  for  lands  above  the 
Schuylkill,  and  hence  does  not  concern  this  work.  The  deed  made 
July  30,  1685,  by  the  Indians,  Shakhoppoh,  Secane,  Malibore,  and 
Tangoras,  covered  a  considerable  poi'tion  of  Chester  County.  It 
I'eads  in  part  as  follows: 

"We,  8hakhoi)poh,  Secane,  Malibor,  Tangoras,  Indian  Saka- 
makers,  and  right  owners  of  the  lands  lying  between  Macopanac- 
Icau,  als  Upland,  now  called  Chester  Elver  or  Creek,  and  the  river 
or  creek  of  Pemapecka,  now  called  Dublin  Creek,  beginning  at  the 
hill  called  Cnnshohockiu,  on  the  river  Manaiunk,  or  Skoolkill,  from 
thence  extends  in  a  parallel  line  to  the  said  Macopanackan,  als 
Chester  Creek,  by  a  southwesterly  course,  and  from  the  said  Cou- 
shohockin  hill  to  the  said  Pemapecka,  als  Dublin  Creek,  by  the  said 
parallel  line  northeasterly,  and  so  up  along  the  said  Pemapecka 
Creek  so  far  as  the  creek  extends,  and  so  from  thence  northwesterly 
back  into  the  woods,  to  make  up  two  full  days  journey,  so  far  as  a 
man  can  go  in  two  days  from  the  said  station  of  the  said  pai'allel 
line  at  Pemapecka,  also  beginning  at  the  said  parallel  at  Macopa- 
nackan, als  Chester  Creek,  and  so  from  thence  up  the  said  ci:eek  as 
far  as  it  extends;  and  from  thence  northwesterly  back  into  the 
woods  to  make  up  tAvo  full  days'  journey,  as  far  as  a  man  can  go  in 
two  days,  from  the  said  station  of  the  said  parallel  line  at  the  said 
jMacopanackan,  als  Chester  Creek,  for  and  in  consideration  of  two 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  109 

hundred  fathoms  of  Avarapuni,  30  fathoms  of  duffils,  30  guns,  60 
fathoms  of  stra^sed  waters,  30  ketth^s,  30  shirts,  20  gunbelts,  12 
])air  of  shoes,  30  pair  of  stockings,  30  pair  of  scissors,  30  combs, 
30  axes,  30  knives,  20  tobacco  tongs,  30  bars  of  lead,  30  pounds  of 
powder,  30  awls,  30  glasses,  30  tobacco  boxes,  3  papers  of  beads, 
44  pounds  of  red  lead,  30  pair  of  hawk's  bells,  6  drawing  knives, 
6  caps,  12  lioes,  and  do  by  these  presents  grant,  bargain  and  sell, 
etc.,  all  right,  title  and  interest  that  we  or  any  others  shall  or  may 
have — hereby  renouncing  and  disclaiming  forever  any  claim  or  pre- 
tense to  the  premises  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  sucecssors,  and  all  other 
Indians  whatsoever". 

Subsequently  the  following  letter  was  sent  out  to  the  above- 
named  Indian  kings  by  Thomas  Holme,  in  reference  to  the  proposed 
marking  out  of  the  boundaries  of  the  tract  thus  purchased: 

"To  my  loving  friends,  Shakhoppah,  Secaming,  Maleboro,  Tan- 
goras,  Indian  kings,  and  to  Maskeansho,  Wawarrin,  Tenoughan, 
Tarrecka  and  Xesonliakin,  Indian  Sakamackers,  and  the  rest  con- 
cei-ued : 

"WJiereas,  I  have  purchased  and  bought  of  you,  the  Indian 
kings  and  sakamackei^s,  for  the  use  of  Governor  William  Penn,  all 
your  land  from  Pemapecka  Creek,  and  so  backward  to  Chesapeake 
Bay  and  Susquehanna  River,  two  days'  journey,  that  is  to  say  so 
far  as  a  man  can  go  in  two  days,  as  under  the  hands  and  seals  of 
you  the  said  kings,  may  appear;  and  to  the  end  I  may  have  a  cer- 
tain knowledge  of  the  land  backward,  and  that  I  may  be  enabled 
and  be  j^rovided  against  the  time  for  running  the  said  two  days' 
journey,  I  do  hereby  appoint  and  authorize  my  loving  friend,  Ben- 
jamin Chambers,  of  Philadelphia,  with  a  convenient  number  of 
men,  to  assist  him,  to  mark  out  a  westerly  line  from  Philadelphia 
to  tlie  Susquehanna,  that  so  the  said  line  may  be  prepared  and 
made  ready  for  going  the  said  two  days'  journey  hereafter,  when 
notice  is  given  to  you  that  said  kings  or  some  of  you,  at  the  time 
of  going  the  said  line;  and  I  do  liereby  desire  and  require  in  the 


no  CHESTER     COUNTY 

name  of  our  Governor  Penn,  that  none  of  tou,  the  said  kings,  saka- 
mackers,  or  any  other  Indians  whatsoever,  that  have  formerly  been 
concerned  in  the  above  tracts  of  land,  do  presume  to  offer  any  inter- 
ruption or  hindrance  of  the  marking  of  the  said  line,  but  i*ather  I 
expect  jour  furtherance  and  assistance  if  occasion  be  herein;  and 
that  yon  v^ill  be  kind  and  loving  to  my  said  friend,  Benjamin  Cham 
bers,  and  his  company,  for  which  I  shall,  in  the  Governor's  behalf, 
be  kind  and  loving  to  you  hereafter,  as  occasion  may  require.  Wit- 
ness my  hand  and  a  seal,  this  7th  day  of  the  5th  month,  called  July, 
being  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  our  great  King  of  England, 
and  the  eighth  of  our  proprietan-,  William  Penn's  government. 
A  true  copy  of  tJie  original,  by  Jacob  Taylor." 

A  diagram  with  the  above  shows  a  ground  plot  of  the  survey, 
it  going  direct  from  Philadelphia  city,  to  a  spot  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, about  three  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Conestoga  Eiver,  near 
to  a  spot  marked  "fort  demolished." 

Another  sale  was  made  October  2,  1GS5,  the  lands  conveyed 
including  a  portion  of  Chester  County.  The  deed  referred  to,  so 
far  as  it  is  necessary  to  quote  from  it,  reads  as  follows: 

"This  Indenture  witnesseth  that  Ave,  Lare  Packenah,  Taree- 
kham,  Sickais,  Pettquessitt,  Tewis,  Essenpenaick,  Petkhoy  Keke- 
lappan,  Feomus,  Mackaloha,  Melleonga,  Wissa-Powey,  Indian 
Sachemakers,  Right  owners  of  all  the  lands  from  Quing  Quingus, 
called  Duck  Creek,  unto  Upland,  called  Chester  Creek,  all  along  by 
the  west  side  of  Delaware  Eiver,  and  so  between  the  said  creeks 
backwards  as  far  as  a  man  can  ride  in  two  days  with  a  horse,  for 
and  in  consideration  of  these  following  goods  to  us  in  hand  paid,"^ 
etc. 

Another  deed  and  a  very  impoi'tant  one  was  made  October 
11,  173G,  by  eight  Indian  chiefs  of  the  Onondagas,  six  chiefs  of  the 
Senecas,  four  of  the  Oneidas,  two  of  the  Tuscaroras,  and  three  of 
the  Cayugas,  in  order  to  finally  settle  the  ownershiii  to  "All  the 
said  river  Susquehanna,  with  the  lands  lying  on  both  sides  thereof  to- 


AND     IT.S     PEOPLE.  in 

extend  eastward  as  far  as  the  head  of  the  branches  or  sprinj>s  which 
inn  into  the  said  Susquehanna,"  to  say  nothing  of  those  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  because  they  do  not  concern  this  history,  and  this 
is  believed  to  be  the  last  Indian  deal  made  that  in  any  way  does  con- 
cern this  work.  The  lands  thus  sold  may  or  may  not  have  come 
within  the  present  limits  of  Chester  County;  but  they  were  certainly 
within  the  original  limits,  and  to  a  considerable  extent. 

With  reference  to  the  mode  of  life  and  the  places  in  Chester 
County  frequented  or  occupied  by  tlie  Indians,  the  following  exti-act 
from  a  paper  written  by  Philip  P.  Shariiless,  of  AVest  Chester,  who 
has  given  much  thought  to  the  habits  of  a  race  of  men  now  lost 
to  this  eastern  country,  and  who  in  his  eighty-ninth  year  is  now 
living  in  West  Chester,  is  here  presented  as  being  authoritative  and 
concise: 

"In  selecting  a  suitable  place  for  his  winter  quarters,  the 
Indian  preferred  a  south  laying  land,  near  to  a  spring  of  good 
water,  surrounded  and  sheltered  by  wood,  and  easily  accessible  to 
friendly  neighbors  by  a  common  path. 

"Such  was  the  situation  where  A^'est  Chester  now  stands.  On 
the  south  side  of  the  town,  within  one  or  two  hundred  yards,  ran 
the  great  path  which  left  their  hunting  grounds  on  the  Susque- 
hanna at  Peach  bottom  crossed  over  to  the  rapids  of  the  Delaware. 
Near  and  on  both  sides  of  it  are  the  sites  of  many  of  their  villages. 
The  Susquehanna  was  visited  early  in  the  spring  by  whole  tribes 
on  arriving  of  fish  from  southern  waters,  as  was  common  at  that 
season  of  the  year;  returning  to  the  Delaware  as  the  season  ad- 
vanced. 

"The  great  path,  which  is  still  visible  in  some  places,  com- 
mences, so  far  as  I  know  it,  and  is  still  well  marked  at  that  point, 
in  a  piece  of  woods  on  lands  of  the  late  Abraham  Williams,  for- 
merly known  as  the  southeast  corner  of  the  eighty  acres.  Passing 
nearly  directly  west,  it  enters  the  small  woods  formerly  of  Joshua 
Darlington,  now  (1888)  belonging  to  William  Smith,  where  it  may 


112  CHESTER     COUNTY 

still  be  traced.  Continuing-  west  through  the  south  side  of  the 
Friends'  Burial  Company's  Grounds,  thence  it  passes  between  the 
residences  of  Smedley  and  John  Darlington.  Continuing  its  west- 
erly course,  it  now  crosses  over  the  hill  onto  the  land  of  W.  T. 
Ingram,  then  to  about  fifty  feet  south  of  the  gateway  leading  to 
the  dwelling  of  the  late  Emmor  Davis,  crossing  the  Birmingham 
road  north  of  Sconneltowu  school-house,  it  runs  through  the  farm 
of  Paschal  Hacker,  thence  onto  the  laud  of  William  Eeid,  still  con- 
tinuing the  same  course  its  i-oute  was  iip  the  road  on  Dr.  Price's 
farm  in  front  of  his  greenhouses,  and  so  on  through  Greorge  Little's 
woods  to  the  Brandy  wine,  being  nearly-  a  straight  line  from  where 
it  enters  the  land  of  Abraham  Williams,  until  it  reaches  the  creek 
about  one-half  mile  above  the  forks. 

"On  the  sides  of  this  great  highway  I  can  locate  the  sites  of  at 
least  twenty-  old  camping  grounds  that  have  been  occupied  by  the 
Indians,  not  one  of  which  is  more  than  three  miles  from  West  Ches- 
ter. To  find  these  locations  they  must  be  looked  for  after  the 
ground  lias  been  recently  plowed  or  harrowed,  whilst  it  is  still  free 
from  vegetation,  and  soon  after  a  rain.  When  a  field  is  in  corn  or 
after  it  has  been  cut,  it  affords  the  best  opportunity  to  ascertain 
tlie  location  of  an  Indian  camp,  but  an  amateur,  when  in  the  midsi 
of  a  town  site,  will  be  often  disappointed,  because  of  his  impatience 
and  his  want  of  knowledge.  He  will  look  for  arrow  or  spear  points, 
when  these  may  have  all  disappeared,  having  been  gathered  and 
sent  away,  while  the  s])alls  under  his  feet,  the  hammer,  the  knife, 
or  pieces  of  basin  or  other  worked  stone  may  surround  without 
attracting  notice. 

"A  little  itractice  with  an  expert  will  soon  enable  him  to  over- 
come this  diiticulty,  if  he  have  patience,  and  of  this  he  will  need  a 
good  store,  as  it  may  be  years  before  grass  lands  may  be  turned 
into  fallow  grounds,  and  until  this  is  done  his  labor  will  be  in  vain, 
as  juost  of  the  objects  he  is  in  search  of  are  buried  beneath  the  sod, 
whilst  the  farmer  has  removed  those  that  lay  on  the  surface  and 
sent  them  a^^•ay  to  help  macadamize  some  road. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  113 

"There  are  four  well-marked  cainpiuf!,'  sites  AAithin  the  borough 
of  West  Chester.  The  first  is  in  the  southwest  part,  about  one  hun- 
dred yards  west  of  the  Philadelphia  and  West  Chester  railroad, 
whei'e  it  crosses  the  borough  line.  The  hill  faces  to  the  southeast, 
and  the  camp  extends  from  top  to  foot  of  the  same,  covering  about 
four  acres. 

"It  is  located  near  a  spring  of  good  water.  On  this  ground  I 
have  found  sixty  or  seventy  arrow  and  spear  points,  and  many  of 
them  have  been  carried  away  bj^  others.  Among  those  in  my  pos- 
session is  one  of  black  jasper,  nearly  perfect,  made  by  a  good  work- 
man, a  hammer,  several  knives,  one-half  of  a  banner  stone,  and 
those  used  for  heating  in  the  fire  to  do  their  cooking  with,  besides 
the  usual  amount  of  spalls  found  around  an  old  camp. 

"The  second  camp  is  on  a  streami  in  the  soutii  part  of  the  bor- 
ough, between  Uarlington  Street,  extended,  and  New  Street,  and 
where  it  is  proposed  in  the  future  to  lay  Nields  Street,  on  the  line 
between  the  lands  of  George  Fitzsimmous,  Albert  Hall  and  others. 
On  these  lots  I  have  picked  up  a  broken  red  stone  liammer,  a  broken 
pestle,_an  axe,  a  few  aiTow  and  spear  points,  and  the  usual  amoimt 
of  burned  stone  and  spalls.  Others  ha^e  found  here  a  part  of  a 
stone  basin,  a  pestle,  several  stone  ornaments,  an  axe,  tomahawk, 
and  other  implements.  Most  of  the  ornaments  have  ])assed  into 
the  collection  of  Charles  H.  Pennypacker. 

"Number  three  is  on  the  same  stream  in  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  borough,  on  the  farm  of  Dr.  Jacob  Price,  near  the  fine  spring 
which  he  now  uses  for  dairy  purposes. 

"Tlie  new  house  west  of  his  barn  is  near  the  center  of  the 
camping  ground.  In  the  field  I  have  found  many  reliques  similar 
to  those  already  described,  and  this  camp,  I  think,  must  have 
exceeded  either  of  the  others  in  size  or  contained  a  greater  number 
of  inmates  tlian  they  did. 

"James  A.  Ingram,  a  former  occupant  of  this  farm,  collected 
many  fine  specimens  here,  and  still  retains  them  in  his  cabinet. 


114  CHESTER     COUNTY 

This  plot  of  ground  is  at  present  in  grass.  Between  numbers  two 
and  three  are  several  places  that  have  been  tempoi*arily  occupied 
by  the  Indians,  where  their  marks  are  not  so  distinct  as  in  those 
named. 

"To  the  north  of  number  three  in  a  lot  belonging  to  M.  B. 
Hickman,  between  Wayne  and  Brandywine  Streets,  and  north  of 
Price,  around  an  excellent  spring,  have  been  found  many  good 
arrow  points;  but  a  more  thorough  examination  will  be  required 
to  ascertain  how  they  came  there.  If  a  village  stood  there  at  any 
time,  it  must  have  been  a  small  one. 

"Number  four  is  on  the  lands  of  Hoopes  Bros.  &  Thomas,  east 
of  the  old  borough  waterworks.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  spring  from 
which  the  savages  obtained  their  supply  of  water.  The  center  of 
their  camp  must  have  been  near  where  the  barn  of  the  company 
now  stands  situated  northwest  of  the  road  leading  to  the  residence 
of  William  P.  Marshall,  and  about  two  hundred  yards  northeast 
of  the  public  park.  On  these  gToimds  was  found  one  of  the  most 
perfect  stone  axes  I  have  ever  seen,  a  hammer  of  red  sandstone, 
many  arrow  points  and  the  usual  chert  chips  that  mark  the  site  of 
a  camp.  These  grounds  have  long  been  under  cultivation,  and 
most  of  their  treasures  have  been  caiTied  away;  but  there  remains 
sufHcieut  of  waste  material  to  mark  it  as  a  favorite  dwelling  jjlace." 

Alfred  Sharpless,  brothm-  of  Philip  P.  Sharpless,  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  Chester  County  Historical  Society,  November  19, 
1897,  mentions  and  describes  an  old  Indian  fort,  which  he  says  was 
located  "less  than  half  a  mile  above  the  forks  of  the  Brandywine, 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  east  branch'"  thereof.  This  old  fort  con- 
sists of  a  collection  of  rocks  "at  the  brow  of  a  sharp  hill  about 
eighty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  creek,  and  not  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  from  it  at  the  nearest  point.  *  *  *  The  old  fort 
is  formed  by  two  or  three  large  rocks  that  project  from  the  hill- 
side, covering  a  space  about  fifteen  by  twenty  feet.  Under  these 
is  a  cave  or  space,  varying  in  height  from  five  feet  to  less  than  a 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  115 

foot,  and  extending  back  some  twelve  or  fourteen  feet.  *  *  *  Xd 
doubt  this  old  fort  was  often  a  resting  place  and  a  shelter  for  parties 
of  nomads  as  they  passed  to  and  fro  between  the  Delaware  and 
Susquehanna  Elvers,  as  it  could  not  have  been  far  from  their  great 
pathway,  and  having  convenient  fording  places  in  the  vicinity.  It 
may  have  been  the  site  of  many  a  sanguinary  battle,  of  which  we 
have  no  record,  as  the  approach  to  it  must  always  have  been  very 
difficult  and  dan-gerous  to  a  storming  part}."' 

"The  only  tradition  in  relation  to  the  fort  that  we  have  been 
able  to  obtain,  comes  down  to  us  through  one  of  the  old  inhabitants 
of  the  neighborhood.  He  states  that  an  alarm  came  one  morning 
and  spread  rapidly  around  among  the  neighbors  that  a  party  of 
Indians  on  the  war  path  were  coming  down  the  creek  road  and  soon 
was  heard  what  appeared  to  be  the  screaming  and  yelling  of  a  large 
party  of  savages.  The  neighbors  hurriedly  assembled  with  guns 
and  pitchforks  at  the  old  fort,  as  the  best  place  for  defense.  Later 
the  cause  of  alarm  proved  to  have  come  from  a  farmer's  ox  cart 
that  was  coming  down  the  valley  hills  making  a  great  screeching, 
the  farmer  having  failed  to  grease  the  axle  before  starting  in  the 
morning.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  Indian  scare  in  Chester 
County." 

While  the  Delaware  or  Lenni-Lenape  Indians  were  the  only 
native  occupants  of  the  eastern  part  of  Pennsylvania  when  the 
white  men  first  settled  upon  it,  yet  there  were  other  Indians  that 
occasionally  came  into  this  region,  sometimes  making  trouble  not 
only  for  the  Delawares  but  also  for  the  whites.  These  were  the 
confederated  nations,  known  as  the  Five  Nations,  whose  domain 
extended  from  Vermont  to  Lake  Erie,  and  from  Lake  Ontario  to 
the  headwaters  of  the  Delaware,  Susquehanna  and  Alleghany 
Elvers.  By  the  Delawares  these  Five  Nations  were  called  the 
Minguas  or  Mingoes;  and  by  the  French  they  were  called  the  Iro- 
quois. They  were  composed  of  the  Onoudagas,  Cayugas,  Oneidas, 
Senecas  and  Mohawks.     In  1712  the  Tuscaroras  being  expelled 


ii6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

from  North  Carolina  were  adopted  into  the  family  of  the  Five  Na- 
tions, the  confederation  being  thereafter  called  the  Six  Nations. 

At  some  remote  period  the  Lenni-Lenape  Indians  had  been 
conquered  by  the  Five  Nations,  had  been  reduced  to  a  stiite  of 
vassalage,  had  been  compelled  to  acknowledge  a  condition  of  fealty 
to  their  conquerors,  which  enabled  them  to  hold  their  lands  only 
by  permission,  and  which  prevented  them  from  engaging  in  war. 
This  was  their  status  among  other  Indian  tribes. when  the  white 
people  first  visited  them.  And  although  they  were  the  permanent 
occupiers  of  the  soil  on  the  shoi'es  of  the  Delaware,  they  were 
frequently  siibject  to  intrusion  on  the  part  of  the  Five  Nations,  who 
occupied  portions  of  the  country  at  their  own  pleasure. 

When,  therefore,  these  predatory  incursions  were  indulged 
in,  there  was  always  more  or  less  apprehension  on  the  part  of 
the  Lenni-Lenapes  and  the  whites.  The  Indians  with  whom  Penn 
made  his  first  and  most  famous  treaty  of  friendship,  were  the  peace- 
ful Lenni-Lenapes,  but  in  1701  he  made  a  treaty  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  Five  Nations,  and  with  the  Indians  from  the  Susquehanna  and 
the  Potomac,  and  also  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Shawnese.  In  course 
of  time  the  Delawares  Avere  able  to  throw  off  the  yoke  that  had  so 
long  galled  them,  and  at  a  treaty  of  1756  their  great  chief,  Tedyus- 
cung,  compelled  the  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations  to  acknowledge  their 
independence. 

The  Indians  that  lived  latest  in  Chester  County  were  removed 
therefrom  in  1757  to  the  valleys  of  the  Wyoming  and  the  Wyalus- 
ing,  on  the  Susquehanna.  At  the  great  treaty  of  St.  Mary's  in  1S20 
there  were  present  about  twenty  chiefs  of  the  Nanticokes,  one  of 
whom  was  nearly  ninety  jears  old. 

It  is  usually  the  great  men  of  a  tribe  or  nation  that  make  its 
history.  One  of  the  great  chiefs  of  the  Delawares  was  Tedyuscung, 
who  frequently  visited  Philadelphia  and  eastern  Pennsylvania 
from  1750  to  1700.  Another  great  man  among  them  was  Isaac 
Stille,  who  had  a  good  education,  had  much  good  sense,  was  of  good 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  n- 

morals  and  was  a  professing  CJinstiau.  He  had  traveled  all  ovei.' 
the  West  and  the  Kockj^  Mountain  region  and  had  seen  the  "White 
Indians,"'  Avho  are  said  to  liave  lived  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
this  country.  In  1771  lie  moved  into  Buckingham  County,  where 
he  collected  together  the  scattered  remnants  of  his  tribe,  and  in 
1775  led  them  far  away  to  the  Wabash  country,  where  he  said  they 
would  be  free  "from  war  and  rum." 

The  Shawnese  Indians  came  to  Pennsylvania  about  1698,  desir- 
ing to  settle  among  the  Indians  and  whites  of  this  province  as 
strangers,  the  Conestoga  Indians  becoming  secui'ity  for  their  good 
behavior.  They  were  also  under  the  protection  of  the  Five  Nations, 
who  had  set  Shakallamy  over  them  as  their  chief. 

The  Indians  claimed  that  after  they  had  sold  all  tlieir  lands  to 
William  Penn,  that  is,  all  in  Chester  County,  that  he  re-conveyed 
to  them  a  tract  one  mile  in  width  on  each  side  of  the  Brandywine 
from  its  mouth  up  the  west  branch  to  its  head — but  that  the  writing 
was  accidentally  destroyed  by  the  bui'ning  of  a  cabin.  In  1706  at 
the  request  of  the  white  inhabitants  on  the  Brandywine,  the  com- 
missioners of  property  purchased  from  the  Indians  their  claim  to 
these  lauds  from  the  mouth  of  the  creek  up  to  a  certain  rock  in  the 
west  branch,  for  the  consideration  of  £100.  The  rock  mentioned 
was  in  the  line  of  Abraham  Marshall's  land,  and  also  in  the  line  of 
the  Society  tract  purchased  by  Nathaniel  Newlin. 

Mr.  Xewlin  soon  afterward  began  disposing  of  his  lauds,  and 
within  six  months  had  sold  off  about  uiue  parcels,  varying  in  size 
from  150  to  300  acres.  Some  of  these  parcels  were  located  on  the 
creek.  The  Indians  immediately  complained  that  Newlin  was  sell- 
ing their  lands;  for  they  were  still  the  owners  of  the  land  one  mile 
in  width  on  each  side  of  the  creek  from  the  rock  mentioned  to  the 
head  of  the  creek.  As  no  attention  appears  to  have  been  paid  to 
the  claims  of  the  Indians  they  carried  their  cause  to  the  Provincial 
Assembly  in  the  summer  of  1725,  and  the  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings before  the  Assembly  is  so  interesting  that  it  is  worth  quoting 
entire: 


I  IS  CHESTER     COUXTY 

"13th  of  6  mo.  1725.  The  petition  of  divers  inhabitants  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  setting  forth  that  the  Proprietai'j'  having  pur- 
chased of  the  natives  all  the  lands  within  certain  bounds;  and  that 
the  proprietary  did  afterward  release  back  to  some  of  the  said 
natives  a  certain  tract  of  land  on  the  Bi*andywine,  which  said  land 
is  lately  talcen  up  and  settled,  to  the  great  disturbance  of  said 
natives, 'and  praying  that  this  House  would  take  the  same  into 
consideration;  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  considered  this  after- 
noon. 

"Then  this  House  was  given  to  understand  that  the  Heads  of 
the  said  Indian  complainants  desire  to  attend  the  House  in  person, 
to  set  forth  their  grievances.  Ordered,  that  they  wait  on  the  House 
at  three  o'clock  this  afternoon  with  their  interpreters. 

"3  p.  m.,  the  House  met. 

"The  Indians  ordered  to  attend  this  afternoon,  waited  at  the 
door  desiring  to  be  heard.  Then  chairs  were  placed  for  them,  they 
were  called  in,  and  the  Speaker,  on  behalf  of  the  House,  said:  'The 
House  has  had  information  that  you  have  been  with  the  Governor 
and  Commissioners  already.    Have  you  received  satisfaction?" 

"Indians  (by  interpreter) — 'We  have  not.' 

"Speaker — 'What  it  is,  then,  that  you  have  to  offer  to  the 
House?' 

"Indians — 'When  William  Penn  came  to  this  country,  he  set- 
tled a  iierpetual  friendship  with  us,  and  after  we  sold  him  our 
country,  he  re-conveyed  back  a  certain  tract  of  land  upon  the 
Brandywine,  for  a  mile  on  each  side  of  said  creek,  which  writing 
was,  by  the  burning  of  a  cabin,  desti'oyed;  but  we  all  remember 
very  well  the  contents  thereof:  That  AVilliam  Penn  promised  that 
we  should  not  be  molested  whilst  one  Indian  lived,  grew  old,  and 
blind  and  died, — so  another,  to  the  third  generation;  and  now  it  is 
not  half  the  age  of  an  old  man  since,  and  we  are  molested,  and  our 
lands  surveyed  out  and  settled  before  we  can  reap  our  coi*n  off; 
and  to  our  great  injury,  Brandywine  Creek  is  so  obstructed  with 


AND     i7VS'     PEOPLE.  121 

dams,  that  the  fish  cannot  come  np  to  our  habitations.  We  desire 
you  to  take  notice  that  we  are  a  poor  people,  and  want  the  benefit 
of  the  fish,  for  when  we  are  out  hunting,  our  children  with  their 
bows  and  arrows,  used  to  get  fish  for  their  sustenance,  therefore,  we 
desire  that  those  dams  be  removed,  that  the  fish  may  have  their 
natural  course.' 

"Speaker — 'How  did  you  understand  that  writing  to  be?     That 
you  should  enjoy  that  land  forever?' 

"Indians — 'Not  only  we,  but  all  the  Indians  understood  it  to  be 
theirs  as  long  as  the  waters  ran  down  the  creek.' 

"Speaker — 'Have  you  anything  more  to  say?' 

"Indians — -'No;  but  if  you  hear  us  not  we  shall  be  obliged  to 
come  again  next  spring.' 

"Speaker — 'The  House  is  inclined  to  do  you  all  the  favor  that 
lies  in  their  power.' 

"Indians — 'We  hope  we  are  all  friends,  and  desire  to  continue 
so,  as  long  as  we  draw  breath.' 

"Then  the  Indians  withdrew,  and  after  some  debate  it  was 
ordered  that  Francis  Kawle,  John  Kearsley,  and  John  Swift,  go  to 
James  Logan,  one  of  the  commissioners  of  property,  and  inform  him 
of  the  substance  of  said  petition,  and  matter  complained  of  by  the 
Indians;  who  being  returned  report  that  the  said  commissioner 
shows  a  very  hearty  inclination  to  accommodate  the  affair  with  the 
Indians,  and  although  their  right  does  not  appear  so  clear,  yet  they 
ai-e  possessed  of  such  strong  notions  of  it,  that  there  is  no  divesting 
them  of  it;  and,  therefore,  he  is  ready  to  do  what  he  can  to  quiet 
their  complaints,  by  granting  the  person  who  possesses  the  said 
lands  other  lands  in  the  stead  thereof. 

"Ordered  that  Francis  Kawle  and  John  Kearsley  draw  up  an 
address  to  the  Governor,  on  behalf  of  the  Indians.     Adjourned. 

"6th  mo.  14th  day,  1725.     The  House  met,  etc. 

"Then  the  members  appointed  yesterday  in  the  afternoon,  to 
draw  up  an  address  to  the  Governor,  on  behalf  of  the  Indians, 
8 


122  CHESTER     COUNTY 

brought  in  the  same,  which  was  read  aud  agreed  to.  Ordered, 
That  the  same  be  transcribed,  and  tlien  the  House  adjourned  to 
two,  p.  m. 

"Two  o'cloclv,  p.  in.     The  House  met,  etc. 

"The  address  to  the  Governor,  on  behalf  of  the  Indians,  accord- 
ing to  order,  being  transcribed,  is  as  follows,  viz.:  'The  Address  of 
the  Eepresentatives  of  the  said  Province,  in  General  Assembly  met: 
May  it  please  the  Governor,  as  next  to  Divine  Providence,  the 
peace,  happiness,  and  quietness  which  this  Pi'ovince  first  enjoyed, 
was  owing  to  the  wise  conduct  of  the  Hon.  William  Penn,  our 
Proprietary  and  Governor,  by  procuring  a  good  friendship  betwixt 
him  and  the  native  Indians  at  his  first  arrival  here,  so  by  diligent 
care  in  cultivating  and  preserving  the  like  friendship,  the  great 
happiness  of  peace  hath  been  hitherto  enjoyed  among  us,  when 
divers  of  the  neighboring  colonies  have  been  obnoxious  to  the  in- 
sults of  the  barbarous  Indians,  to  the  great  damage  of  their  coun- 
tries; and  as  the  Governor's  care  and  indefatigable  pains  upon  all 
occasions,  has  been  very  conspicuous  to  that  good  end,  this  House 
do  address  themselves  on  an  unhappy  dissatisfaction  some  Indians 
are  under  (who  have  always  lived  very  peaceable  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  tills  province)  fi'om  an  opinion  that  they  are  likely  to  be 
dispossessed  of  some  lauds  they  had  long  enjoyed  on  the  river 
Brandywine,  as  also  for  being  depri'\ed  of  the  benefit  of  fishing 
on  tlie  said  river;  all  which  they  have  by  personal  complaint 
laid  before  this  House.  And  the  House  having  taken  into  serious 
consideration  the  fatal  consequences  it  may  be  to  the  peace  of 
this  Province,  represented  the  same  to  James  Logan,  one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Property,  who  has  given  the  Hoiise  ample  satis- 
faction of  his  intentions  to  accommodate  the  difference  with  the 
said  Indians.  And  we  are  fully  satisfied  (were  it  not  for  a  purchase 
made  of  some  part  of  these  lands  by  Nathaniel  Newlin,  and  his 
too  wilful  resolution  to  hold  and  settle  the  same),  this  part  of 
this  difference  relating  to  the  pretended  encroachments  on  their 


AKD     ITS    PEOPLE.  123 

lands  would  be  immediately  silenced.  And  notwithstanding  this 
obstacle,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  Nathaniel  Newlin  will,  in  a 
very  short  time,  become  sensible  that  it  will  be  as  much  to  his  o^\u 
private  interest  as  to  the  Province  in  general,  to  be  more  conde- 
scending in  this  affair. 

"  'But,  whereas  there  are  dams  or  wares  which  do  obstruct  the 
passage  up  of  fish  to  the  place  where  the  said  Indians  are  settled, 
without  the  verge  of  this  government,  this  House  doth  humbly 
request  the  Governor,  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  exert  his  authority, 
in  such  manner  as  he  shall  think  propel",  for  quieting  and  satisfying 
the  said  Indians,  and  preserving  the  ancient  friendship  between 
them  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  Province;  and  herein  we  also  have 
that  confidence  as  to  hope  that  the  Government  of  New  Castle, 
Kent  and  Sussex,  will  so  far  think  it  conducive  to  their  peace  and 
quiet,  that  they  will  not  fail  to  do  what  is  necessary  on  their  part, 
for  the  full  settling  and  composing  this  dissatisfaction. 

"  'August  14,  1725.     Signed  by  the  order  of  the  House. 

"  'WILLIAM  BILES,  Speaker.' 

"Ordered,  That  Thomas  Chandler  and  Elisha  Gatchell  present 
the  same  to  the  Governor;  who  return  and  report  that  they  had 
delivered  the  said  address  according  to  order,  and  that  the  Gov- 
ernor perused  the  same,  and  said  he  was  entirely  of  the  opinion 
of  the  House,  and  that  he  and  bis  Council  would  use  their  utmost 
endeavors  to  satisfy  these  Indians,  and  that  he  was  going  down 
to  New  Castle,  where  he  would  order  the  persons  concerned  to  move 
those  dams  complained  of,  wliich,  if  they  did  not  do,  he  would  give 
orders  to  the  King's  attorney,  to  prosecute  them,  and  oblige  them 
thereunto  by  process  of  law.'' 

The  claims  of  the  Indians  not  being  adjusted  to  their  satisfac- 
tion they  again  sought  an  interview  in  the  spring  of  1726,  and  the 
following  proceedings  were  had : 

"3d  month  31st,  172G.     The  House  met,  etc. 

"The  Indians  (who  claim  certain  rights  on  Brandywine  Creek) 


124  CHESTER     COUNTY 

came  to  wait  upon  the  House,  and  by  a  member  sent  in  a  paper  they 
received  from  James  Logan,  and  likewise  a  message  that  they  were 
not  satisfied  therewith,  and  thei'efore  made  further  application  to 
this  House  for  redress,  which  paper  being  read,  the  House  went 
into  a  debate  thereon,  and  after  some  time  referred  the  further  con- 
sideration thereof  until  to-morrow,  and  th^^^n  the  House  adjourned 
until  to-morroAV  morning  at  nine  o'clock. 

"J:th  month  Ist,  1720,  9  a.  m.     The  House  met,  etc. 

"The  House  proceeded  further  on  the  consideration  of  the 
affair  relative  to  the  Indians. 

"Ordered,  That  Evan  Owen  go  to  the  commissioners  of  property 
and  desire  some  of  them  to  attend,  in  order  to  infonn  the  House 
what  progress  hath  been  made  with  Nathaniel  Newlin  toward  an 
accommodation;  who  returned  and  reported  that  he  spoke  with 
James  Logan,  one  of  the  commissioners  of  property,  according  to 
order,  and  that  he  was  ready  to  attend  the  House  in  order  to 
acquaint  them  with  what  had  been  done  in  that  affair;  who,  being- 
called  in,  i^roduced  an  Indian  deed,  dated  1685,  signed  by  thirteen 
Indian  kings,  which  conveys  all  the  lands  from  Duck  Creek  to  Up- 
land Creek,  alias  Chester  Creek,  and  as  far  back  as  a  man  could 
ride  on  horseback  in  two  days,  and  says  he  finds  no  footsteps  of 
any  re-conveyance,  neither  in  the  land  office  nor  upon  record,  bui 
that  in  1705  the  Indians  laid  claim  to  all  the  lands  from  the  moutli 
of  Brandywine  up  the  west  branch  to  the  head,  in  breadth  a  mile 
on  each  side  of  that  branch;  and  afterward  the  commissioners  of 
property  purchased  of  the  Indians  all  tlie  lands  from  the  mouth  of 
Brandywine  Creek  up  to  a  certain  rock  by  Abraham  Marshall's 
land  for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds,  seventy -three  pounds  and 
eight  shillings  of  which  was  then  paid  to  their  chiefs,  and  the 
remainder  they  paid  yesterday,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Indians  signed 
a  release,  but  said  they  wanted  some  iastrument  given  to  them 
that  they  might  know  what  was  theirs  and  be  secure  in  it.  But 
the  commissioners  told  them  it  was  not  at  this  time  in  their  power 


AXD     IT^     PEOPLE.  125 

to  make  them  any  grant  of  the  said  lands,  but  that  they  should 
not  be  disturbed  in  their  quiet  possession  thereof,  neither  by 
Nathaniel  Newlin,  nor  by  any  other  person.  That  the  commis- 
sioners had  told  Nathaniel  Newlin  that  it  was  in  vain  for  him  to 
pretend  to  that  land,  let  the  disappointment  be  what  it  would,  so 
long  as  the  Indians  laid  claim  to  the  same  and  would  continue  upon 
it;  tJiat  after  the  Indians  came  up  last  year  and  made  the  complaint, 
and  a  re-conveyance  was  generally  reported  to  have  been  given  to 
the  Indians,  he  went  down  to  Chester  and  took  certificates  of  all 
those  who  were  reported  to  have  seen  and  knoAvn  of  such  a  writing; 
Avliich  certificates  being  produced  and  read  in  the  House,  none  of 
which  did  amount  to  any  certainty  as  to  what  that  writing  did 
contain;  but  since  the  Indians  had  an  iraiierfect  idea  of  it,  and  a 
strong  resolution  to  hold  it,  the  commissioners  used  such  means  as 
they  thought  most  likely  to  satisfy  them  and  continue  them  in  the 
quiet  possession  of  their  claims,  and  for  that  end  said  they  had 
agreed  and  accommodated  the  matter  with  Nathaniel  Newlin  as 
far  as  was  in  their  power  to  do  at  present,  and  then  withdrew. 

"Then  the  House,  after  some  debate,  Avas  of  the  opinion  that 
Nathaniel  Newlin  be  sent  for  to  give  some  further  assurance  that 
what  is  done  by  the  paper  delivered  yesterday,  that  he  will  not  mo- 
lest the  said  Indians  in  their  claims. 

"Ordered,  That  John  Wright  send  a  letter  that  the  House  re- 
quire his  attendance  to-morrow  morning,  and  then  the  House  ad- 
journed till  3  p.  m. 

"4t]i  mo.,  2d. — Tiie  House  met,  etc.,  adjourned  to  3  p.  m. 

"3  p.  m. — The  House  met,  Nathaniel  Newlin  not  attend- 
ing, according  to  the  expectation  of  the  House,  after  some  debate 
a  motion  was  made  and  the  question  put  that  if  Nathaniel  Newliu 
come  not  to  toAvn  tliis  evening  he  be  sent  for  by  the  sergeant-at- 
arms,  and  that  an  order  be  forthwith  issued  under  the  Speaker's 
hand,  and  the  sergeant  be  dispatched  therewith  this  evening.  Car- 
ried in  the  attirmative.     Adjourned  till  9  a.  m. 


126  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"4th  mo.,  3d,  9  a.  m.— The  House  met.  The  sergeant-at-arms 
reports  that  Nathaniel  Newlin  came  to  town  last  evening  and  will 
attend  the  House  this  morning. 

"The  House  being  informed  that  Nathaniel  Newlin  attended, 
he  was  called  in,  and  said  that  he  expected  the  value,  and  not  the 
quantity  only  of  land,  in  lieu  of  that  the  Indians  claimed  of  his; 
and  that  he  was  to  meet  the  commissioners  of  property  this  after- 
noon, and  then  doubted  not  that  they  should  settle  that  affair  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  House,  and  withdrew,  and  then  the  House 
adjourned  till  3  o'clock  this  afternoon. 

"3  p.  m. — The  House  met,  etc.  Nathaniel  Newlin  attended, 
and  being  called  in  delivered  on  the  table  a  paper  subscribed  with 
his  hand,  doth  declare  and  promise  that  neither  he  nor  his  heirs 
will,  by  any  means,  disturb  or  molest  the  Indians  in  their  posses- 
sions or  claims.     Then,  after  some  debate  thereon,  it  was 

"Kesolved,  That  the  Indians  be  sent  for  and  the  contents  of 
the  said  paper  be  explained  to  them  and  inquiry  made  whether  it 
be  satisfactory  to  them. 

"Ordered,  That  John  Wright  and  Samuel  Ilolliugsworth  ac- 
quaint them  thereof,  that  they  may  attend  forthwith;  who  return 
and  report  that  they  have  been  with  the  Indians,  and  that  they  are 
now  attending  with  their  interpreters,  who,  being  called  in,  the  said 
pai^er  was  explained  to  them  by  their  interpreters,  and  they  de- 
clai'ed  that  they  were  well  satisfied  therewith,  and  they  desired 
that  the  said  paper  might  remain  among  the  records  of  this  House 
and  a  copy  thex'eof  be  given  to  them. 

"Ordered,  That  a  copy  be  made  out  accordingh^  and  delivered 
to  them,  and  the  original  lodged  in  the  House,  which  was  done  ac- 
cording]}'. 

"And  the  Indians  further  said  that  they  had  been  very  much 
disturbed  in  their  minds,  but  that  now  they  Avere  perfectly  easy, 
since  they  found  that  this  House  would  stand  by  them  and  see 
them  righted. 


AND     IT^    PEOPLE.  127 

"Then  Nathaniel  Xewliu  was  called  in  and  acknowledged  the 
said  writing  to  them;  so  they  shook  hands  together  and  parted 
fnllv  reconciled,  and  then  the  House  adjourned." 

From  this  time  on  until  1729  peace  appears  to  have  hovered 
over  the  Brandy  wine;  but  in  the  latter  year  difficulties  broke  out 
again,  and  the  Indian  chief,  Checochinican,  under  date  of  June  2i, 
wrote  to  Patrick  Gordon,  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  at  that  time, 
the  following  letter: 

June  24,  1729. 
Honoured  Governeur: 

It  is  with  regret  of  mind  that  I  take  this  opportunity  of  laying 
our  great  grievances  before  your  consideration,  hoping  that  you 
will  be  pleased  to  take  care  and  protect  us  from  any  wrongs  and 
injuries  done  me  and  our  people,  whom  in  the  behalf  of  I  now 
w^rite.  In  time  past  we  sold  our  interest  to  William  Penn  (our 
brother);  he  was  pleased  to  grant  us  a  wrighting  for  the  creek  of 
Brandy  wine,  up  to  the  head  thereof,  which  said  wrighting  by  some 
accident  was  lost,  with  all  the  land  a  mile  wide  of  the  creek  on  each 
side,  which  afterward  we  disposed  of  so  far  up  as  to  a  certain 
known  i-ock  in  the  said  creek,  it  being  in  the  line  of  the  land  be- 
longing to  one  Abraham  Marshall,  and  of  late  to  the  great  preju- 
dice and  disquiet  of  us,  a  people  that  has  done  and  still  desires  to 
do,  to  continue  in  peace  and  love  and  be  as  one  heart  and  soul  with 
William  Penn  and  his  people,  the  land  has  been  unjustly  sold, 
whereby  we  are  reduced  to  great  wants  and  hardships,  notwith- 
standing in  the  year  1726  application  was  made  to  the  assembly 
for  relief  in  that  case,  and  a  wrighting  was  given  by  Nathaniel 
Newlin  that  neither  the  said  Nathaniel  Newlin,  to  whom  some  of 
the  land  was  sold,  nor  his  heirs  Avould  anyways  disturb  or  molest 
us  in  the  free  and  peaceable  enjoyment  thereof,  but  contrary  to  the 
same  it  has  been  sold,  and  greatly  disquieted  us;  nay,  we  have  been 
so  much  interrupted  that  we  have  been  forbid  so  much  as  to  make 
use  of  timber  growing  thereon  for  the  convenience  of  building  some 


128  CHESTER     CnrXTY 

cabins,  and  further,  that  the  town  at  the  head  of  Brandywiue  is 
surveyed  to  one  James  Gibbons  and  many  more,  aud  now  has  an  as- 
sui'ance  of  a  conveyance  of  the  same  from  the  commissioners  "of 
property,  as  he  himself  says,  by  James  Steel,  the  which  grievances 
we  here  take  freedom  to  laj'  before  your  consideration,  hoping  that 
nothing  will  be  wanting  more  now  to  cultivate  and  preserve  a  good 
and  lasting  friendship  between  us  aud  the  descendants  of  our 
bi"other,  William  Penn,  who  had  shown  their  love  and  care  so  par- 
ticularly to  us  as  to  give  it  so  principally  in  charge,  and  as  nothing- 
has  yet  appeared  to  give  us  the  least  umbridge  that  our  cases  as 
before  represented  will  b(»  always  neglected.  We  take  freedom  to 
lay  it  before  your  further  consideration,  aud  subscribe  myself  your 
sincere  friend  and  brother. 

N.  B. — James  Logan  promised  to  me  that  James  Gibbons  nor 
anybody  else  should  never  have  a  confirmation  thereof,  nor  any 
other  person  withiu  our  claim." 

Nathaniel  Newlin,  who  seems  to  have  given  the  ludians  so 
much  trouble  on  the  Brandywine,  died  in  1729.  The  settlement  of 
the  lands  weut  ou  without  apparent  interruption  by  or  from  the- 
comjjlaints  of  the  Indians,  and  they  not  many  years  afterward  re- 
moved from  the  county,  when  all  difficulty  growiug  out  of  their 
claims  came  to  an  end.  The  location  of  the  town  "surveyed  out 
to  James  Gibbons,"  mentioned  in  the  letter,  just  quoted,  is  believed 
to  have  been  about  where  the  "ludiautown  Schoolhouse"  stands  in 
Wallace  Township. 

The  last  of  the  Lenni-Leuai)e  Indians  of  Chester  Count}-  died  in 
1802,  in  the  person  of  Indian  Hannah.  She  had  her  wigwam  for 
many  years  upon  the  Brandywine,  and  was  accustomed  to  travel 
about  a  good  deal,  selling  baskets,  etc.  On  such  occasions  she  was 
often  followed  by  her  dog  and  pigs,  aud  at  the  time  of  her  death 
was  nearly  one  hundred  years  old.  She  possessed  a  proud  aud  lofty 
spirit  to  the  last,  hated  black  people  aud  scarcely  brooked  the  loAver 
class  of  whites.     She  often  spoke  emphatically  of  the  wrongs  of  her 


AXn     irs     PEOPLE.  129 

race,  and  feelingly  of  their  misfortimes,  and  bestowed  her  aifections 
on  them  to  the  last  days  of  her  life.  A  certain  individual,  visiting 
her  cabin  on  the  farm  of  Humphre.y  Marshall,  thus  expressed  his 
emotion  upon  seeing  where  she  had  lived  in  her  later  years: 

"Was  this  the  spot  where  Indian  Hannah 
Was  seen  to  linger,  weary,  Avorn  with  care? 

Yes — that  mute  cave  was  once  the  happy  home 
Of  Hannah,  last  of  her  devoted  race; 

But  she,  too,  now  has  sunk  into  the  tomb. 

The  briars  and  thistles  wave  above  the  xjlace." 

Her  family  consisted  of  Andrew,  Sarah,  Jimmy  and  herself, 
and  she  was  the  "Last  of  the  Lenape."  As  she  grew  old  she  left 
her  wigwam  and  lived  with  those  who  were  friendly  to  her,  and  at 
length,  on  the  opening  of  the  pooi'-ho\ise  of  Chester  County,  she  be- 
came an  inmate  of  that  institution,  the  only  representative  of  New- 
lin  Township,  and  there  she  died  March  20,  1S02. 


CHAPTER   111. 

GEOLOGY. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

GEOLOGY ROCKS    OF     THE     COUNTY     CLASSIFIED  CHARACTERISTICS     OF    THE 

VARIOUS  REGIONS THE  DIP  OF  THE  STRATA ECONOMIC    ROCKS FOS- 
SIL    PLANTS    AND    ANIMALS THE    FIVE   GEOLOGIC  REGIONS 

THEIR     FEATURES    DESCRIBED THEORIES     OF      THE 

GEOLOGISTS — MINERALS — ORES LEAD 

COPPER ZINC ROCKS — A  DESCRIP- 
TION      OF       ALL SCALE 

OF  HARDNESS. 

IN  this  work  there  is  uo  attempt  made  to  treat  of  the  geology 
of  Chester  County  in  an  exhaustive  manner.  Such  a  thing  could 
not  be  done  for  want  of  space,  and,  besides,  it  is  only  the  profes- 
sional geologist  that  can  do  such  a  work  in  a  creditable  and  sat- 
isfactory manner.  All,  therefore,  that  will  be  attempted  is  to 
summarize  the  leading  facts  and  features  of  this  interesting  topic 
in  such  a  manner  as  may  lead  those  who  may  read  this  chapter,  and 
who  have  not  given  much  thought  to  the  geology  of  their  county, 
to  turn  their  attention  in  that  direction  and  thus  become  more  par- 
ticularly informed. 

Chester  County  lies  principally  withiu  what  is  known  as  the 
Atlantic  slope  district,  which  lies  between  the  tide  waters  of  the 
Delaware  River  and  the  Susquehauna  Kiver  and  the  southeast  base 
of  the  range  of  hills  known  as  South  Mountain.  All  of  this  county 
which  lies  south  of  the  valley,  comprising  more  than  half  of  its 
area,  is  composed  of  rocks  belonging  to  the  primary  stratified 
group.  These  rocks  consist  chiefly  of  gneiss,  but  there  is  a  belt  of 
mica  and  talc-slate  conueoted  with  the  limestone  of  the  valley, 
which  belt  bounds  the  gneiss  on  the  north  and  west. 


134  CHESTER     COUNTY 

This  limestone  vallej^  is  the  most  I'emarkable  feature  of  the 
geology  of  the  county,  and  as  it  divides  the  county  into  two  al- 
most equal  portions,  it  will  first  be  treated.  It  is  a  perfectly 
straight  valley,  running  nearly  east  and  west  through  the 
county,  but  is  inclined  slightly  toward  the  northeast  and  south- 
west, the  divergence  being  about  IS  degrees.  This  valley  is  two 
miles  wide  at  the  Schuylkill  River,  on  the  Montgomery  County 
line,  which  width  it  practically  maintains  toward  the  westward 
about  half  across  the  county,  and  then  tapers  to  about  one  mile 
in  width  at  the  Lancaster  County  line.  This  valley  separates 
the  northern  from  the  southern  townships.  The  sti'ata  which 
occupy  this  Chester  County,  or  Downingtown  Valley,  are  what 
some  geologists  have  named  the  Siluro-Oambrian  Limestones, 
and  they  dip  generally  from  30  degrees  to  50  degrees  southward; 
but  small  anticlinal  rolls  run  diagonally  across  their  general 
strike,  and  the  white  marble  strata,  which  are  confined  to  the 
southern  edge  of  the  valley,  stand  almost  perfectly  vertical. 
There  are  other  areas  of  this  limestone,  lying  mainly  to  the  south 
of  this  principal  valley,  in  West  Marlborough  and  London  Grove 
Townships. 

The  North  Valley  Hill  is  made  by  the  Potsdam  sandstone, 
No.  1,  rising  northward  from  beneath  the  lowest  limestones  and 
spi'eading  in  sheets  and  patches  over  a  considerable  gneiss  re- 
gion, embracing  Honeybrook,  East  and  West  Nantmeal,  West 
Vincent,  East  and  West  Pikeland,  Charlestown,  Upper  Uwchlan, 
East  and  West  Brandywine,  and  parts  of  West  Cain  and  Sands- 
bury  Townships;  and  it  is  plain  that  the  fundamental  gneiss  area 
now  exposed  was  formerly  entirely  covered  hy  the  Potsdam 
quartzite  and  the  overljdng  limestone. 

The  South  Valley  Hill,  on  the  contrary,  is  the  edge  of  a  low 
tableland,  composed  (1)  of  a  belt  of  magnesian-mica  slate;  also 
vertical  or  dipping  at  the  liighest  angle  southwai'd,  apparently  in 
contact  and  conformity  with  and  over  the  marble  beds  of  the  south 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  135 

edge  of  the  valley,  but  possibly  overturned  and  beneath  the  mar- 
ble, in  which  latter  case  tJie  valley  is  a  synclinal  trough,  and  the 
slates  south  of  it  are  equivalent  to  the  quartzite  north  of  it,  or  else 
a  fault  runs  along  the  south  edge  of  the  valley.  The  belt  of  South 
Valley  Hill  slate  is  only  two  miles  wide  at  the  Schuylkill  end, 
widens  westward  to  tJiree  miles  at  West  Chester,  four  and  a  half 
miles  at  the  Avest  branch  of  the  Brandywine,  and  then  spreads  over 
East  and  ^'\'est  Fallowtield,  Highland,  Londonderry,  Upper  and 
Lower  Oxford,  and  East  and  West  Nottingham  Townships  inta 
Lancaster  County.  (2)  A  belt  of  older  and  newer  gneisses  and 
mica-schists  occupy  all  the  townships  to  the  south  and  east. 
Slight  areas  of  limestone,  however,  occur  in  this  belt  near  West 
Chester,  Doe  IJun,  Keunett  Square,  Avondale,  Landenburg,  etc.; 
and  Potsdam  quartzite  seems  to  be  observed  around  London  Grove 
and  at  points  on  the  Delaware  State  line.  A  long  range  of  ser- 
pentine sepai'ates  the  two  belts  in  East  Goshen  and  Willistown 
Townships,  and  another  still  more  extensive  serpentine  belt 
ranges  along  the  Maryland  line  into  Lancaster  County  and  car- 
ries deposits  of  chrome  iron  sand.  A  trap  dyke  enters  from  Dela- 
ware County  at  tlie  soutli  edge  of  the  slate  belt,  and  extensive  out- 
spreads of  trap  boulders  occur  along  the  Berks  County  boundary 
in  the  north,  other  local  exposures  of  trap  being  numerous  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  tiie  county.  Between  the  Schuylkill  River  and  French 
Creek  the  counti^  is  wholly  of  mesozoic  foi'mations,  sandstone 
and  shale,  and  in  the  tunnel  at  Phoenixville  through  these  rocks  a 
large  collection  of  fossil  plants  and  reptiles  was  made  by  Dr.  C.  iL 
"\'\'heatley.  Cop])er,  lead  and  zinc  veins  have  long  been  mined 
to  a  small  extent  along  the  contact  line  of  the  mesozoic  and  gneissie 
rocks.  The  large  magnetic  iron  mines  of  Warwick  connect 
witli  both  trap  and  new  red  sandstone  rocks,  but  really  belonging 
to  th"  underlying  azoic  lioor,  are  still  worked.  vSmall  quantities 
of  brown  liematite  ore  have  also  been  obtained  from  the  valley 
limestones.  The  wliite  marble  (juarries  are  numerous,  but  are 
none  of  them  large. 


136  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Tlie  above  is  a  brief  summary  of  tlie  geology  of  the  county  by 
Prof.  J.  P.  Lesley,  who,  together  with  Dr.  Persifor  Frazer,  is  the 
best  authority  on  this  subject.  They  must  both  be  consulted  by 
any  on  •  who  would  become  tolerably  familiar  with  the  scientific 
and  useful  features  of  the  geology  of  the  county  without  them- 
selves making  original  iuvestigations. 

For  purposes  of  convenience  of  description  and  a  clearer  un- 
derstanding of  this  important  subject  it  is  customary  to  divide  the 
county  into  five  sections,  as  follows: 

1.  The  Southern  Gneiss  region. 

2.  The  Mica-slate  region. 

o.  The  Downingtown  Valley  region. 

4.  The  Js^orthern  Gneiss  region. 

5.  The  New  Ked  Sandstone  region. 

The  Southern  Gueiss  region  has  a  general  elevation  above  the 
level  of  the  sea  of  about  400  feet,  below  which  general  elevation 
its  streams  have  cut  many  valleys  and  ravines  to  a  depth  of  from 
100  to  200  feet,  which  valleys  and  ravines  are  often  bounded  by 
steep  and  rocky  slopes.  The  northern  boundary  of  this  southern 
gneiss  region  is  a  line  nearly  straight,  extending  east-northeast 
and  passing  by  West  Chester.  To  the  north  of  this  line  is  a  belt 
of  hydro-mica-schist,  and  south  of  it  spreads  a  country  of  syenite 
rocks,  feldspar-porphyrj^  rocks,  horneblendic  gneiss,  micaceous 
schists,  chlorite-schists  and  quartzite  beds.  Over  this  region  are  to 
be  found  patches  of  seiiDentine  and  crystalline  limestone,  beds  of 
impure  limestone,  pure  kaolin,  and  often  an  abundance  of  corun- 
dum. Accoi'ding  to  Prof.  Frazer  these  rocks  were  originally  sedi- 
ments of  mud,  sand  and  gravel,  their  real  stratification  being  visi- 
ble wherever  they  are  quarried. 

"Infinitely  numerous  and  rapid  variations  of  constituent  char- 
acter, texture,  hue  and  ciystalline  contents  make  the  study  of 
these  rocks  extremel.y  difficult  in  a  sti'uctural  sense.  There  are 
no  key  rocks  to  mark  geological  horizons,  and  so  large  a  iiortion  of 


■■-  -*j^'-.^~<ifTTTT„T";K.-* 


\VILLIA:\I  WAYNE. 


AND     ITf^     PEOPLE.  139 

the  uplaud  is  cultivated  that  the  exposures  along  all  the  valleys 
cauuot  be  traced  across  and  identified  with  those  of  another  valley 
only  a  few  miles  distant." 

Without  going  into  a  detailed  description  of  the  various  geo- 
logical formations,  it  may  be  stated  that  Prof.  H.  D.  Eogers  divides 
this  southern  gneiss  region,  which  is  now  passing  under  review, 
into  three  belts,  as  follows: 

1.  A  northern  anticlinal,  hard  gneiss  belt,  on  which  West 
Chester  stands. 

2.  A  southern  monoclinal,  hard  gneiss  belt,  on  which  Philadel- 
phia stands 

3.  The  middle  synclinal,  soft  gneiss  and  mica-slate  belt,  sep- 
arating the  other  two  belts. 

The  prevailing  varieties  of  the  northern  belt  of  the  southern 
gneiss  region  are  as  follows: 

1.  Massive  feldspathic  gneiss,  some  of  it  micaceous,  some  of 
it  like  stratified  syenite,  sometimes  porphyroidal,  and  very  much 
like  that  at  the  falls  of  the  Schuylkill.  Dark,  hard,  hornblendic 
feldspar  gneiss,  thinly  laminated  and  strongly  striped  when  viewed 
in  transverse  sections.  In  this  belt  feldspar  is  in  excess;  mica  is 
next  in  abundance,  generally  black  and  in  minute  scales.  Horn- 
blende appears  mostly  in  the  upper  beds. 

2.  The  southern  gneisses  are  usually  gray  and  bluish,  finely 
laminated,  metamorphosed  strata  of  Avhite,  chalky  feldspar,  white 
or  transparent  quartz,  and  black  or  dark  brown  mica  in  small 
plates.  The  next  commonest  variety  is  a  dark-bluish  gray  or 
greenisli  black  gneiss,  hornblende  or  quartz  or  a  little  feldspar. 
A  third  common  variety  is  a  light  gray  micaceous  quartz,  some 
beds  so  made  up  of  minute  quai'tz  grains  as  to  be  whetstones.  A 
fourth  variety  of  coarser  gray  micaceous  gneiss  beds,  with  a  pre- 
ponderance of  mica  in  rather  large  flakes,  and  less  feldspar  and 
quartz,  is  unstratified  with  the  other  varieties,  and  makes  a  ti'ansi- 

9 


140  CHESTER     COUNTY 

tion  between  common  sjneiss  and  common  mica-slate.     The  more 
micaceous  the  gneiss  the  more  garnets  it  contains. 

3.  The  middle  or  mi(  aceous  belt  contains  four  noticeable  va- 
rieties of  rock,  as  follows: 

1.  Garnetifer(»us  micaceous  gneiss. 

2.  Wavy,  contorted  mica  schist. 

3.  Horublendic  gneiss  beds,  or  hornblendic  schists. 

4.  "Whetstone  schists. 

This  fourth  variety  is  a  schistose,  gi'ay,  tine-grained  mixture 
of  granular  qiiartz  and  minute  mica  scales,  a  kind  of  whetstone  of 
jnany  layers,  breaking  up  into  long,  narrow  chunks  with  smooth 
sides  and  very  ragged  ends,  like  rotten  wood. 

The  most  important  kinds  of  rock  for  economic  purposes  in 
this  Southern  Gneiss  section  are  the  serj^entine,  hydro-mica  slates, 
limestones,  sand.st<jnes  and  syenites.  The  Laureutian  syenite  areas 
south  of  the  Chester  Valley  are  the  eastern  area,  which  is  a  con- 
tinuation of  that  found  in  Delaware  County,  and  extends  through 
Easttown,  Willistowu  and  East  Goshen  Townships;  an  area  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Brandywine,  in  East  Bradford 
and  Pocopson  Townships;  an  area  extending  through  the  central 
portion  of  Keunett  Townsliip  into  New  Garden  ToAVUsliip,  south  of 
the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Central  Railroad  and  Kennett 
Square,  and  fourth,  a  small  area  bordering  the  Delaware  State  lino 
in  the  south  part  of  Kennett  Township;  but  there  is  some  doubt  as 
to  whether  this  last  area  belongs  to  the  Laureutian  system  of 
rocks. 

There  are  three  principal  areas  of  sandstone-quartz,  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  An  area  a  short  distance  north  of  Dilworthtowu,  along  the 
road  to  Thornbury  postoffice. 

2.  A  small  area  on  the  Baltimore  Central  Eaili-oad,  between 
NorAvay  postoffice  and  Kennett  Square,  in  Kennett  Township,  and 

3.  A  larger  belt  extending  through  East  Marlborough  Town- 
ship into  London  Grove  and  West  Marlborough  Townships. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  141  . 

Lime.stones  exist  in  so  many  places  that  it  would  be  scarcely 
worth  while  to  attempt  to  eunmerate  them  all.  The  Hydro-Mica- 
Schists  belt  is  Avell  defined  fi'om  the  Delaware  County  line  to  Braii- 
dywine  Creek.  iScrpentine  is  found  in  a  large  number  of  places, 
and  is  of  exceeding  value,  being  used  in  the  construction  of  many 
prominent  public  buildings  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  among 
them  the  West  Chester  State  Normal  School  building. 

The  northern  border  of  the  gneiss  region  is  the  southern  bor- 
der of  the  belt  of  Talc-Mica-Schist,  or  Hydro-Mica-Schist  region, 
which  outcrops  along  the  southern  slope  and  summit  of  the  Soutli 
Valley  Hill  and  spreads  out  over  the  southwestern  townships. 
The  northern  edge  of  this  region  runs  along  the  foot  of  the  hill  in 
contact  with  the  valley  limestone  or  marble. 

"The  geological  relationship  of  the  dark  mica  belt  to  the  gneiss 
region  south  and  east  of  it  is  not  understood  by  anyone.  All  that 
can  be  affirmed  is  that  the  Mica-Slate  is  of  later  age  and  overlies 
the  gneiss.  *  *  *  The  geological  relationship  of  the  dark  Mica 
Slate  to  the  Valley  limestone  is  also  in  dispute."  Both  Professor 
Rogers  and  Professor  Frazer  place  the  mica  slate  formation  be- 
neath the  Valley  Limestone  formation.  The  former  makes  it  the 
base  of  the  Palaeozoic  system,  uncouformably  resting  on  the  Azoic 
or  Hypozoic  gneiss  system.  But  the  arguments  in  favor  of  these 
positions  are  too  extensive  and  intricate  for  insertion  in  this  work. 

The  Valley  Limestone  region  is  the  most  striking  feature  of  the 
geology  of  the  county.  The  region  itself  is  fifty-five  miles  in  length, 
extending  both  eastward  and  westward  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
county.  Its  eastern  termination  is  at  AMllow  Grove,  Montgomery 
County,  and  its  Avestern  end  is  at  QuaiTyville,  Lancaster  County. 
It  extends  in  almost  a  perfectly  straight  line  from  east  to  west,  its 
direction  being  about  18  degrees  north  of  east.  Its  greatest 
breadth  is  only  two  miles,  east  of  Downingtowu,  and  again  west  of 
Willow  Grove.  At  Coatesville  it  is  little  more  than  a  mile  wide, 
and  it  tapers  rapidly  into  Lancaster  County. 

Two  opinions  are  prevalent  among  geologists  as  to  the  geolog- 


,142  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ical  features  of  this  remarkable  limestone  valley.  Professors  Rou- 
ers  and  Frazer  regard  it  as  a  long,  straight,  deep  basin  of  limestone, 
with  its  northern  side  sloping  southward  at  angles  vailing  from 
30  degrees  to  60  degrees,  and  its  sonthem  side  turned  vertical,  or 
even  overturned  a  little,  so  as  to  make  the  beds  on  that  side  of  tlie 
trough  or  basin  dip  from  80  degrees  to  90  degrees  southward. 

Mr.  Hall,  ou  the  contrary,  considers  it  a  monoclinal  valley,  the 
whole  mass  of  limestone  dipping  southward  beneath  the  talc-mica- 
schists  of  South  Valley  Hill. 

But  there  appears  to  be  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  age 
of  this  deposit.  Different  geologists  have  given  different  names  to 
this  fomiation,  but  it  is  sufficient  here  to  say  that  all  of  them  agree 
in  considering  it  the  same  as  the  Upper  Cambrian  limestone  of 
Sedgwick,  the  Trenton  limestone  of  the  New  York  survey,  the 
Lower  Silurian  of  Murchison,  and  the  Silui"o-Cambrian  of  Sterry 
Hunt.  It  is  the  Knoxville  limestone  of  the  South  and  the  Mag- 
nesian  limestone  of  the  West. 

It  overlies  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  which  rises  from  beneath 
it  to  form  the  North  Valley  Hill,  and  also  appears  in  anticlinal 
ridges  through  it  east  of  the  Schuj'lkill.  Professor  Frazer  shows 
that  this  Valley  limestone  lies  on  Potsdam  sandstone  from  the 
Schuylkill  to  near  Coatesville;  that  here  for  a  short  distance  thin 
mica-schist  layers  come  in  between  the  limestone  and  sandstone, 
and  that  west  of  Pomeroy  and  all  the  Avay  to  Quarryville,  Lancaster 
County,  no  sandstone  \inderlies  the  limestone,  but  instead  the  lime- 
stone rests  on  the  feldspathic  gneiss  beds,  gneissic  mica-schists,  etc. 

In  closing  a  long,  detailed  description  of  the  Valley  limestone, 
very  interesting  and  valuable,  but  occupying  too  much  space  for 
insertion  here.  Professor  Eogers  says: 

"If,  while  inspecting  the  geological  map  of  the  State  to  assist 
our  conceptions,  we  lift  aAvay  in  imagination  the  superficial  depos- 
its of  mesozoic  red  shale  and  sandstone  concealing  a  part  of  the 
older  rocks  of  the  Atlantic  slope,  we  shall  perceive  this  sinking  and 


A^D     ITS     PEOPLE.  143 

dying  out  of  the  northeastern  and  southwestern  oroups  and  auti- 
clinals  much  more  obviously. 

"It  is  to  this  fortunate  abatement  in  amount  of  vertical  uplift 
of  the  crust  in  the  district  between  the  Delaware  and  the  Susque- 
hanna that  Pennsvlvauia  is  indebted  for  the  inestimable  advantase 
above  her  sister  States  to  the  northeast  and  southwest  of  so  re- 
markable an  extension  southward,  or  toward  the  tide,  of  her  fertile 
and  iron-yielding-  Auroral  limestone;  and  it  is  to  the  same  cause 
that  she  owes  her  inexhaustible  basins  of  anthracite,  nearer  to  the 
seaport  markets  by  very  many  miles  than  any  of  the  other  Appa- 
lachian coal  fields." 

Perhaps,  however,  Professor  Kogers  would  not  have  said  "iu- 
exhaustible  basins  of  anthracite"  had  he  been  writing  at  the  pres- 
ent time. 

The  Northern  Gneiss  region  is  fourth  in  order  of  these  divi- 
sions. The  northeastern  boundary  of  this  northern  gneiss  region 
is  a  gently  curving  line  commencing  at  the  eastern  point  near  Val- 
ley Forge,  passing  Wheatley's  lead  mine,  near  Pickering  Creek, 
which  it  crosses  at  Kenzie's^mill,  and  then  passes  by  the  little  vil- 
lage of  Kimberton.  It  tJien  goes  nearly  straight  to  Coventry  vil- 
lage, crosses  French  Creek  about  two  miles  northea.st  of  Kimberton, 
and  follows  the  north  side  of  this  valley  to  Coventry,  except  for  a 
short  distance. 

The  northwest  boundary  of  the  gneiss  is  traceable  from  the 
sources  of  Pine  Creek  southwestward  along  the  southern  base,  first 
of  the  eastern  spur  of  Welsh  Mountain  to  Springfield,  and  thence 
along  the  base  of  the  main  Welsh  Mountain  over  the  Lancaster  line 
north  of  the  little  village  of  Cambri'dge  to  within  two  miles  of  the 
western  end  of  the  ridge. 

The  southern  limit  of  the  northern  belt  commences  at  the  east 
branch  of  the  Brandywine,  and  running  almost  due  westwai'd  fol- 
lows the  south  side  of  the  south  branch  of  Indian  Eun,  and  after 
crossing  the  west  branch  of  the  Brandywine  it  extends  along  the 


144  CHESTER     COUNTY 

south  edge  of  the  valley  of  Two-log  Run,  beyond  which  it  crosses 
the  county  line  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  village  of  Cani- 
biidge,  when  it  turns  northward,  and  one  mile  further  it  again 
turns  westward  across  the  Pequea  and  runs  for  three  miles  further 
toward  the  west  end  of  Welsh  Mountain  to  unite  with  the  northwest 
boundary  of  the  same  area  of  gneiss. 

In  this  Northern  Gneiss  region  there  is  a  great  deal  of  iron  ore, 
wliicli  is  usually  found  in  a  deep,  narrow  trough,  confined  between 
steeply  dipping  beds  of  gneiss,  or  between  a  hill  of  granite  on  the 
one  side  and  moderately  steep  southeast  dipping  strata  of  the  red 
sandstone  on  the  other,  within  or  behind  which  no  ore  is  ever  found. 

Brown  hematite  iron  ore  is  found  in  West  Pikeland  and  West 
A^incent  Townships,  in  the  valley  of  Pickering  Creek,  and  there  are 
other  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  Yellow  Springs  which  have  been 
developed  by  mining. 

The  Mesozoic  Red  Sandstone  region  is  the  last  of  the  live  di\'i- 
sions  of  the  county.  Of  this  Mesozoic  system  it  may  be  said  in  a 
general  way  that  it  embraces  the  great  division  of  stratified  rocks 
which  lies  between  the  Palaeozoic  sj'stem  on  the  one  hand,  lying 
below  the  Mesozoic,  and  the  Kainozoic  sjstem  on  the  other,  which 
lies  above  the  Mesozoic.  The  Mesozoic  formation  contains  the  fos- 
sils which  belong  to  the  Middle  Ages  of  geologic  time. 

According  to  Professor  Rogers  this  Mesozoic  Red  Sandstone 
region  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Ohl  Red  Sandstone  of  Scotland, 
but  consists  of  sediments  deposited  after  all  the  Palaeozoic  forma- 
tions (including  the  Coal  measures)  had  been  elevated  and  folded 
into  what  are  now  the  Apiialachian  and  Alleghany  Mountains. 
Then  an  arm  of  the  sea  or  ocean  stretched  across  New  Jersej',  and 
through  Bucks,  Montgomery,  Chester,  Lancaster,  York  and  Adams 
Counties  in  Pennsylvania,  into  Maryland  and  Virginia,  in  which 
arm  or  estuary  many  thousands  of  feet  of  stratified  mud  and  sands 
were  deposited,  which  Professor  Rogers  named  Mesozoic  Red  Sand- 
stone, because  tliey  were  formed  in  the  Middle  Age  of  geologic  time. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  145 

But  it  is  believed  by  ^eologi-sts  that  tlie  absence  ol'  limestone 
and  sandstone  along  the  edge  of  the  Mesozoic  rocks  in  Chester 
County  indicates  that  an  age  of  erosion  elapsed  after  the  uplift 
of  the  continent  and  before  the  tirst  Mesozoic  sediments  began  to 
fill  this  estuary.  If  this  be  correct,  then  during  this  age  of  erosion 
this  estuary  could  not  have  been  under  water.  And  tlie  first  sedi- 
ments deposited  in  this  estuary  after  it  had  become  estjiblished  by 
the  invasion  of  the  sea,  were  shore  gravels  or  conglomerates, derived 
from  the  gneiss  countiy  on  either  side.  Then  over  these  con- 
glomerates there  were  deposited  many  thousand  feet  of  fine  sand 
and  mud,  in  alternate  layers,  until  the  estuary  was  filled  from 
shore  to  shore,  or  from  the  Philadeli»hia  gneiss  hills  to  the  Ilead- 
iug  hills,  and  along  the  south  foot  of  the  South  Mountains  in  York 
and  Adams  Counties.  This  latter  species  of  conglomerates  does 
not  anywhere  appear  in  Chester  County. 

The  strange  fact  that  these  Mesozoic  sand  and  mud  deposits 
are  not  horizoutiil  has  caused  a  good  deal  of  perplexity  to  geolo- 
gists. The  dip  is  constant  to  the  north-northwest,  all  the  way  up 
to  within  ten  miles  of  Keadiug,  from  Xon'istown.  The  explana- 
tion coming  nt-arest,  perhaps,  to  the  truth,  is  that  Avhich  assumes 
a  series  of  faults,  which  repeat  the  stratification  at  intervals 
across  the  belt.  AVhile  the  composition  of  this  Mesozoic  sand- 
stone is  not  by  any  means  of  a  uniform  or  homeogeneous  nature, 
yet  it  is  from  this  material  that  many  beautiful  brown  sandstone 
buildings  have  been  erected  in  cities. 

Professor  Frazer  thus  describes  the  boundary  line  of  this 
Mesozoic  formati(ui  in  Chester  County: 

"Passing  in  a  gentle  meadering  line  generally  following  the 
roail  from  Valley  Forge  in  Schuylkill  Township  to  Pickering  post- 
oflice  in  CharlestoAvn  Township,  for  two-thirds  of  that  distance, 
then  branching  to  the  northwestward  it  cuts  the  townshi])  of  East 
Pikeland  in  almost  equal  parts  by  a  line  deviating  but  little  froui 
straight.     It  cuts  off  the  northeast  eud  of  West  Vincent  Township, 


146  CHESTER     COUNTY 

following  up  the  creek  dividing  East  and  West  Vincent  Town- 
ships, it  passes  then  the  lower  end  of  South  Coventry  Township  a 
short  distance  to  the  south  of  Pughtown  and  into  Warwick,  where, 
having  similarly  skirted  Knauertowu,  it  is  prolonged  in  a  uaiTow 
strip  between  the  dolerite  region  and  the  mica-schists  south  of 
French  Creek.  This  narrow  strip  does  not  pass  the  county  line, 
but  dies  away,  being  cut  into  by  the  Irap  and  schists  a  very  short 
distance  west  of  St.  Mary's.  The  boundary  of  the  larger  mass 
skirts  the  above-mentioned  dolerite  area,  makes  an  abrupt  angle 
at  the  point  of  the  thin  neck  which  projects  northeast  of  Harmony- 
ville,  incloses  the  latter  hamlet  and  passes  west  almost  to  the 
county  line,  when  it  suddenly  turns,  being  met  by  a  mass  of 
Primal,  and  alters  its  coui'se  to  one  east  of  north  for  a  couple  of 
miles,  turns  abruptly  again  and  passes  into  Berks  County  in  a 
westwardly  course." 

It  may  be  remarked  in  this  connection  that  the  i>riucipal 
exhibitions  of  trap  are  for  some  reason  pei'haps  not  yet  known  to 
geologists,  confined  to  the  areas  occupied  by  Mesozoic  rocks.  "In 
the  midst  of  the  open  rolling  countiy  of  red  shale  and  sandstone 
rise  high,  isolated  hills  of  trap,  the  eroded  outcrops  of  outbursts 
of  igneous  rocks  aloug  cracks  which  go  down  to  great  depths 
beneath  the  floor  of  older  rocks  to  some  profounder  reservoir  of 
lava  now  extinct,  but  similar  to  that  which  at  the  present  time 
underspreads  the  western  j^art  of  the  United  States,  feeding  active 
volcanoes  and  geysers,  and  producing  earthquakes  and  fractures 
of  the  ci'ust  of  the  earth.  Ancient  volcanoes  and  geysers  do  not 
seem  to  have  existed  on  the  Atlantic  border,  but  outbursts  of  lava 
took  place  through  and  between  the  layers  of  Mesozoic  strata,  and 
these  now  constitute  the  trap  hills  of  the  Mesozoic  region." 

Another  remark  is  appropriate  in  this  connection,  and  that 
is  that  the  trap  rocks  are  of  insignificant  size  in  the  Gneiss  region. 
This  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  gneiss  country  afforded  no 
facilitv  for  wide  fissures,  while  the  Mesozoic  strata  could  be  lifted 


AJ^D    ITS    PEOPLE.  147 

like  tliP  lid  of  a  box,  and  -would  thus  allow  of  any  amount  of  out- 
flow. But  inasmuch  as  some  of  these  Mesozoic  traps  are  fre- 
quently overflows,  they  nmst  have  occurred  after  lower  deposit* 
had  been  made,  and  then  the  upper  Mesozoic  strata  were  deposited 
upon  the  trap, 

MINERALOCiY. 

Tt  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  present  a  better  outline  of  the 
minerals  to  be  found  within  the  lists  of  Chester  County  than  that 
prepared  by  Dr.  George  G.  Grofl',  a  graduate  of  the  West  Chester 
State  Normal  School,  first  president  of  the  Alumni  Association  of 
that  school,  later  Professor  of  Natural  Science  in  the  same  institu- 
tion, and  at  present  Professor  of  Organic  Science  in  Bucknell  Uni- 
versity, Lewisburg,  Pa.,  and  which  was  published  in  Futhey  i^; 
Cope's  History  of  Chester  County  in  1881.  That  outline  or  list  is,, 
therefore,  incorporated  in  this  work.     It  is  as  follows: 

THE    MOST    COMMON     :\IINERALS.     ORES    AND     KOCKS     OF    CHESTER. 

COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

MINERALS. 

Quartz. — Hardness,  7;  white,  red,  blue,  yellow;  luster,  glassy; 
brittle;  form,  six-sided  crystals  and  massive;  breaks  irregularly; 
composition,  silica  (SiO);  common  in  all  parts  of  the  countj-;  cuts 
glass  readily;  infusible;  the  most  common  of  all  our  minerals. 

Chalcedony. — Hardness,  7;  all  colors;  luster,  waxy;  tough;, 
form,  massive,  no  crystals;  has  a  curved  fractui^e;  composition, 
silica;  a  variety  of  quartz,  often  translucent,  and  in  beautiful 
forms;  common  on  serijentine  ban-ens,  and  in  Warwick. 

Jasper. — Hardness,  7;  red,  yellow;  luster,  earthy;  tough;  form, 
massive;  has  a  curved  fracture;  composition,  silica  and  clay;  a 
variety  of  quartz,  made  impure  by  presence  of  clay;  common  oti 
barrens.  West  Goshen. 

Calcite. — Hardness,  3;  white,  all  colors;  luster,  glassy,  pearl; 


148  CnEHTETi     COUNTY 

brittle;  form,  cnstalfs,  rhombs,  prisms;  cleaves  iuto  crystiiLs;  com- 
positicm,  earbouite  of  lime;  this  is  limestone  purified  and  crystal- 
lized, same  as  marble;  common  in  mines  and  limestone  quarries. 

Dolomite. — Hardness,  4;  Avhite,  yellow,  red;  luster,  glassy, 
jpcai-ly;  brittle,  form,  crystal,  rhombs,  massive;  cleaves  into  crys- 
tals; composition,  carbonate  of  lime  and  magnesia;  calcite  and 
magnesia;  both  effervesce  in  acids;  common  in  mines  and  lime- 
stone south  of  Great  Valley. 

Serpentine. — Hardness,  3-5;  shade  of  green;  luster,  feeble; 
brittle;  form,  massive,  no  crystals,  breaks  irregularly;  composition, 
silica,  magnesia,  water,  distinguished  by  its  green  color  and  soft, 
grassy  feel;  found  in  liarrens  in  the  southern  and  western  parts 
of  the  county. 

Talc.^ — Hardness,  1;  white,  green;  luster,  pearly,  greasy;  flexi- 
ble; form,  in  scales  and  plates;  splits  into  thin  leaves;  composition, 
,silica,  magnesia,  water,  distinguished  from  mica  by  its  greasy  feel; 
is  not  so  elastic  as  mica;  common  with  serpentine. 

Hornblend. — Hardness,  ."»-(>;  brown,  black;  lust<-r,  ])early, 
glassy;  tough;  form,  crystals,  blades,  scales;  cleaves  in  smooth 
blades;  composition,  silica,  magnesia,  iron;  the  dark  mineral  in 
our  gneiss  and  hornblend  or  trap  rocks;  found  in  gneiss  rocks  and 
at  Knauertown. 

Toui-maline. — Hardness,  7;  brown,  black,  i-ed ;  luster,  glassy; 
brittk^;  form,  long,  tliree-sided,  striated  crystals,  breaks  irregu- 
larly; composition,  silica,  lime,  magnesia,  iron;  often  resembles 
hornblend,  but  usually  in  long,  free,  radiating  crystals;  common 
in  all  the  southern  and  western  parts  of  the  county. 

Mica. — Hardness,  2;  whitish;  luster,  pearly;  elastic;  form,  in 
plates  and  scales,  splits  into  tliin  leaves;  composition,  silica,  potas- 
sium, al.  fe.;  many  varieties,  but  all  are  in  thin  plates,  elastic,  and 
not  greasy;  common  in  the  southern  and  western  portions  of  the 
<:ounty. 

Feldspars. — Hardness,    (i;    white,    all    colors;    luster,    glassy, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  149 

pearly;  brittle;  form,  usually  massive;  splits  readily  in  plates; 
composition,  silica,  potiissium,  al.;  many  varieties;  the  light-col- 
ored constituents  of  our  gneiss  rocks;  found  in  gneiss  rocks  and  in 
tlie  south(>ru  and  western  parts  of  the  county. 

Asbestos.— Hardness,  1-i;  white,  gray,  luster,  dull,  silky; 
tough;  form,  in  fibers,  like  linen  or  wool;  splits  into  fibers;  compo- 
sition, silica,  magnesia,  lime,  etc.;  its  fibrous  nature  marks  it; 
common  with  serpentine.    Its  value  is  increasing. 

Garnet. — Hardness,  7;  all  colors;  luster,  glassy,  resinous; 
brittle;  form,  lound  crystals  and  dodecahedrons;  breaks  uneven: 
composition,  silica,  fe.,  ca.  mti.;  always  in  crj^stals,  which  are  never 
elongated;  common  in  gneiss  or  mica  schist. 

Cyanite. — Hardness,  4-7;  blue,  green,  white,  yellow;  luster, 
glassy,  pearly;  tough;  form,  in  long,  flat  blades;  splits  readily  one 
way;  composition,  silica,  aluminum,  iron,  it  is  distinguished  by  its 
long-bladed  crystals  and  bright  blue  colors;  found  in  the  southern 
and  western  parts  of  the  county. 

Tremolite. — Hardness,  (!;  graA',  green,  w^hite;  luster,  glassy; 
brittle;  form,  massive,  fibrous,  spliits  iiTegfularly;  composition, 
silica,  lime,  magnesia;  bladed  or  fibrous  crystals,  gray  or  white 
color;  fimnd  in  southern  part  of  the  county. 

Actinolite. — Hardness,  5-0;  bright  green;  luster  glassy;  brit- 
tle; form,  crystals,  columnar,  fibrous;  smooth  and  even;  composi- 
tion, silica,  magnesia,  lime,  iron,  bladed  or  acicular  crystals,  and 
bright  green  or  yellow  colors;  found  in  southern  part  of  the  county. 

Magnesite. — Hardness,  4-5;  white,  yellow;  luster,  glassy,  dull; 
sectile;  form,  cn'stals,  granular,  massive;  even,  smooth;  composi- 
tion, magnesia,  carbonic  acid;  radiated  crystals  on  serpentine; 
foams  in  acids;  found  in  sei'pentine  quarries. 

Apatite. — Hardness,  5;  green,  all  colors,  luster,  glassy,  all 
colors,  brittle;  form,  crystals,  massive;  even,  good;  composition, 
phosphate  of  lime;  in  abundance  this  mineral  would  be  vei*j'  valu- 
able for  its  phosphoric  acid;  found  in  limestone  in  southern  part  of 
the  county-. 


1 50  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Graphite. — Hardness,  1;  iron-black;  luster,  metallic;  sectile; 
form,  scales,  massive;  into  scales;  composition,  pure  carbon;  soils 
"vvhite  paper;  is  infusible;  a  valuable  mineral,  found  in  gneiss  in 
Uwchlan,  Cliarlestown,  Pikeland. 

Corundum. — Hardness,  S;  blue,  j^raj,  brown;  luster,  glassy; 
tough;  form,  crystals,  massive;  good  in  crystals;  composition, 
pure  alumina;  next  to  the  diamond  in  hardness;  vei*y  valuable; 
found  in  granular  albite  in  Xewliu. 

Epidote. — Hardness,  0-7;  green,  yellow;  luster,  glassj';  brit- 
tle; form,  ci'ystals  massive;  even,  good;  composition,  silica,  lime, 
iron  and  magnesia;  distinguished  by  its  peculiar  yellow  green 
color;  found  in  central  parts  of  the  country  on  hornblend. 

Aragonite. — Hardness,  4;  white,  yellow,  red;  luster,  glassy; 
brittle;  form,  crystals,  massive;  even,  good;  composition,  carbonate 
of  lime;  same  as  calite,  but  liarder;  in  six-sided  crystals;  effervesces 
in  acids;  found  iu  quarries  and  mines  throughout  the  county. 

Scapolite. — Hardness,  5-0;  gray,  all  light  colors;  luster,  greasy, 
glassy;  tough;  form,  ci'j'stals,  massive;  even  in  crystals;  composi- 
tion, silica,  alumina,  lime;  lieavier  and  more  fusible  than  feldspars; 
with  acids  gelatinizes;  found  in  New  Garden,  Kennett,  Marlbo- 
rough. 

Jefferisite. — Hardness,  1-5;  brown,  yellow;  luster,  pearly;  brit- 
tle; form,  plates  and  scales;  into  thin  plates;  composition,  silica, 
alumina,  iron,  magnesia  and  water;  swells  up  in  flame;  found  iu 
Westtown  and  Newlin,  ^\•ith  serpentine.  Named  after  William  W. 
Jefferis,  of  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania. 

Deweylite. — Hardness,  2-5;  yellow,  brown;  luster,  resinous; 
brittle;  form,  massive,,  granular;  into  cuiwed  grains;  composition, 
silica,  magnesia,  water;  known  by  its  peculiar  resinous  appearance; 
found  witli  serpentine  in  West  G'osheu  and  West  Nottingham. 

Fluorite. — Hardness,  4;  purple,  white;  luster,  glassy;  brittle; 
from,  crystals,  massive;  even,  regular;  composition,  fluoride  of  lime; 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  151 

commouly  of  a  beautiful  purple  color,  aud  on  limestoue  or  culiute, 
and  found  in  Pho?nixville,  Newliu  aud  Tredyffriu. 

Beryl. — Hardness,  7-8;  green;  luster,  glassy;  brittle;  form,  in 
hexagonal  crystals  and  massive;  breaks  unevenly;  composition,  sil- 
ica, glucinum,  altiminum;  is  distinguished  by  its  color  aud  its 
hexagonal  crystals;  found  in  Xewlin,  East  Nottingham  and  West- 
town. 

Staurolite. — Hardness,  7-8;  brown,  black;  luster,  glassy;  brit- 
tle; form,  in  ciystals,  which  are  never  slender;  uneven;  composition, 
silica,  lime,  alumintim,  iron;  named  from  crystals  which  are  often 
cross-shaped,  but  never  slender;  found  in  West  Bradford,  West 
Goshen  and  West  Marlborough. 

Zoisite. — Hardness,  6-7;  green,  gray;  luster,  glassy;  pearly; 
brittle;  form,  long,  fluted  crystals;  splits  smoothly;  composition, 
silica,  iron,  lime,  aluminum;  green  color  and  crystals  fluted,  longi- 
tudinally marked;  found  on  hornblend  rocks  near  West  Chester 
and  Kennett. 

Ziricon. — Hardness,  7-8;  all  colors  except  black;  luster,  ada- 
mantine; brittle;  form,  crystals  and  grains;  curved  fracture;  com- 
position, silica  and  zirconia;  hyacinthe,  a  variety  of  zoisite;  found 
in  South  Coventry,  West  Pikelaud,  East  Bradford,  and  Unionville. 

Kaolin. — Hardness,  1;  white;  luster,  dull;  sectile;  form,  mas- 
sive; even,  earthy;  composition,  silica,  alumium,  water;  formed  by 
the  decomposition  of  gneiss  and  feldspar;  valuable;  found  in  New- 
lin,  East  Nottingham,  and  Kennett. 

Margarite. — Hardness,  4-5;  white,  gray;  luster,  pearly;  sectile; 
form,  plates,  scales;  splits  into  thin  scales;  composition,  silica, 
aluminum,  iron;  a  micaceous-like  mineral,  pearlj'  luster  implanted 
on  corundum;  found  in  Newlin  with  corundum. 

Chesterlite. — Hardness,  5-G;  white,  yellowish;  luster,  glassy; 
pearly;  brittle;  form,  crystals,  very  jjerfect;  even,  good;  composi- 
tion, aluminum,  silica;  named  from  Chester  County,  aud  found  in 
poorhouse  quarry  and  Baily's,  East  Marlborough. 


1 52  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ORES. 

Pyrites. — Hardness,  6-7;  pale  brass  yellow;  sti'eak,  black,  brit- 
tle; form,  iu  cubes,  tnstals,  massive;  breaks  irregularly;  compo- 
sition, iron  and  sulphur;  yellow  color  and  striking  fire  with  knife 
distinguish  it;  found  in  most  parts  of  the  county. 

Limouite. — Hardness,  2-();  brown,  yellow;  streak,  yellow,  yel- 
lowish-brown; brittle;  form,  massive,  columnar;  fracture  curved; 
composition,  iron,  oxygen,  water;  marked  by  a  brown  or  yellow- 
color  and  yellow  streak;  this  is  the  common  iron  ore  of  the  county. 

Hematite. — Hardness,  6-7;  gray,  black,  red;  streak,  re<l;  brittle; 
form,  massive  in  scales;  irregular;  compositi<m,  iron  and  oxygen; 
not  common;  bright,  shining  pieces  or  occasionally  in  scales;  found 
in  Wan\ick,  Phunixville  and  East  Brandj'wine. 

Magnetite. — Hardness,  5-6;  iron-black;  streak,  black;  brittle; 
form,  octahedron  crystals,  massive;  irregular;  composition,  iron 
and  oxygen;  most  valuable  of  the  iron  ores,  but  rare;  found  in  War- 

« 

wick,  Newlin  and  Westtown. 

Chromite. — Hardness,  6;  iron-black;  streak,  dark-brown; 
tougli;  form,  massive;  irregular,  uneven;  composition,  iron,  chro- 
mium; often  magnetic,  on  fresh  edge,  dull  luster;  found  with  ser- 
pentine throughout  the  county. 

Titanic  Iron. — Hardness,  6;  iron-black;  streak,  black  to  red; 
brittle;  form,  massive  usually;  uneven,  irregular;  composition,  iron 
and  titanium;  often  magnetic,  infusible,  contains  rare  element  ti- 
tanium; found  in  Elk,  Newlin,  Westtown,  Thornbury  and  East 
Bradford. 

LEAD. 

Galena. — Hardness,  3;  lead-gray;  blue;  streak,  gray-black;  brit- 
tle; form,  cubes,  ma.ssive,  granular;  regular,  smooth;  composition, 
lead  and  sulphur,  marked  by  softness  and  cubical  form;  found  at 
the  mines  near  Phoenixville. 

Pyromorphite. — Hardness,   4;   green,   brown,   yellow,   white; 


AND     n\S     PEOPLE.  155, 

streak,  p-ay  to  white;  brittle;  form,  colnmnar  crystals;  reonlar; 
fompositiou,  lead  and  phosphorus;  crystals  beautiful  columnar 
green;  change  form  on  heating;  found  at  the  lead  mines  near  Pho'- 
nixville. 

Cerussite. — Hardness,  3-5;  white,  green,  black;  streak,  gray 
to  white;  brittle;  form,  hexagonal  ci'ystaki;  goo<l  and  regular;  com- 
position, carbonate  of  lead;  fuses  very  readily;  foams  in  acids; 
found  at  the  lead  mines  near  Phfenixville. 

Anglesite. — Hardness,  3;  white;  adamantine  luster;  streak, 
Avhite,  brittle;  form,  beautiful  crystals;  regular;  composition,  sul- 
phate of  lead;  fuses  readilj',  but  does  not  foam  in  acids;  found  in 
the  lead  mines  near  Phcenixville. 

COPPER. 

i'alcopyrite. — Hardness,  4;  brass-yellow;  streak,  green-black; 
sectice;  form,  crystals,  massive;  uneven,  irregular;  composition, 
copper,  iron,  sulphur;  resembles  iron  pyrites;  but  is  much  softer; 
found  at  the  lead  mines  near  Phoenixville. 

Malachite. — Hardness,  3-5;  emerald  green;  streak,  green;  brit- 
tle; form,  massive,  incrusting;  smooth,  curved;  composition,  car- 
bonate of  copper,  colors  flame-green;  foams  in  acids,  and  is  a  valu- 
able ore;  found  in  Wai-wick  and  in  the  mines  at  Phoenixville. 

Azurite. — Hardness,  4;  azure-blue,  streak,  blue;  brittle;  form, 
massive;  regular,  uneven;  composition,  carbonate  of  copper;  same 
as  malachite,  but  blue;  found  in  mines  near  Phoenixville. 

riirysocolla. —  Hardness,  5;  sky-blue  green;  streak,  blue;  brit- 
tle; form,  massive;  curved  fracture;  composition,  copper  and  silica; 
forms  jelly  with  acids;  found  with  copper  ores,  and  in  Warwick 
and  mines  near  Phoenixville. 

ZINC. 

Calamine. — Hardness,  4-5;  white,  pale-yellow;  streak,  gray;^ 
brittle;  form,  crystals,  massive;  regular;  composition,  silica,  zinc^ 


1 54  CHESTER     COUNTY 

water,  silky  tufts  and  small  white  or  yellowish  crystals;  a  valuable 
ore;  found  in  the  mines  near  Phoenix ville. 

Sphalterite. — Hardness,  i;  yellow,  brown;  streak,  yelloAV, 
brown;  brittle;  form,  crystals,  tables,  massive;  into  plates,  smooth; 
composition,  zinc  and  sulphur;  bright,  glistening  appearance,  waxy 
luster,  a  valuable  ore;  found  at  the  lead  mines  near  Phoenixville. 

Entile. — Hardness,  6-7;  black,  red,  adamantine;  streak,  black- 
brown;  brittle;  form,  crystals,  massive;  imperfect;  compositiou, 
titanium  and  oxygen;  brown,  red  color,  mitred  crystals;  "money 
stone;"  found  in  Sadsbury,East  Bradford, New  Garden,  Thornbury 
and  London  Grove. 

Pyrolusite. — Hardness,  2;  gran,  iron-black;  sectile;  brittle; 
form,  massive;  uueveu;  composition,  manganese  and  oxygen;  iu- 
fusible;  the  black  oxide  of  manganese  in  chemisti-y;  found  in  Os- 
borne's Hill,  East  Bradford. 

ROCKS. 

Gneiss. — A  hard,  tough  or  brittle,  light  or  dark  rock,  composed 
of  quartz,  mica  and  feldspar;  found  in  the  southeast  part  of  the 
county  and  north  of  North  ^'alley  hill. 

Mica  Slate. — Constituents  same  as  in  Gneiss,  but  of  a  slaty 
structure,  owing  to  great  excess  of  mica.  Found  in  a  belt  through 
the  central  and  western  part  of  the  county. 

Talc  Slate. — Same  as  mica  slate,  but  mica  takes  the  place  of 
talc;  soft  and  greasy  feel;  associated  with  mica  slate. 

Serpentine. — Same  as  mineral  serpentine,  in  the  southern 
gneiss  belt,  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  county,  in  isolated  deposits. 

Limestone. — Impure  calcite,  found  in  many  parts  of  the  county, 
but  principally  in  the  great  limestone  belt,  called  the  Great  Valley. 

Sandstone. — Small  grains  of  quartz  cemented  together.  A  belt 
of  sandstone  runs  the  entire  length  of  North  Valley  hill. 

Eed  Sandstone. — A  soft,  shaly  sandstone,  colored  red  by  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  157 

oxide  of  iron.  It  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  county  north  of  French 
Creek. 

Hornblende  Eock. — A  gneiss  in  which  mica  is  replaced  by 
hornblende.    It  is  dark  in  color,  hard  and  tough. 

Trap. — An  igneous  rock  of  volcanic  origin,  dark,  hard,  tough, 
and  consisting  of  feldspar  and  hornblende  closely  mixed. 

Quartz. — Same  as  mineral  quartz,  rather  a  rock  constituent 
than  a  rock,  as  it  never  alone  forms  hills  and  mountains. 

Scale  of  Hardness. — 1.  Keadily  scratched  by  nail  (Talc). 
2.  Scarcely  scratched  by  nail  (Gypsum).  .3.  Scratched  by  copper 
(Calcite).  4.  Harder  than  copper,  but  will  not  cut  glass  (Fluorite). 
5.  Scratches  glass  slightly  (Apatite).  6.  Scarcely  scratched  by 
knife  (Feldspar).  7.  Not  scratched  by  knife  (Quartz).  8.  Cannot 
be  filed,  and  scratches  7  (Topaz).  9.  Scratches  8  (Corundum). 
10.  Scratches  9  (Diamond.) 


10 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WELSH  AND  OTHER  SETTLERS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    WELSH  TRACT  AND  THE  EARLY  SETTLEMENTS — A  BARONY  DESIRED TEXT 

OF  THE    WARRANT EXPLORATION  OF  THE  TRACT — THE  WELSH  PURCHASES 

FIRST     SETTLEMENT     IN     MERION     TOWNSHIP SUFFERINGS    OF     THE 

WELSH    SETTLERS — OTHER  BUYERS     AND     SETTLERS — SURVEY    OF 
THE  FARMS TRANSFERS FIRST  SETTLERS  IN    OTHER    TOWN- 
SHIPS—  QUIT-RENTS LETITIA's     MANOR — MANY      OF 

THE      FIRST       SETTLERS      NAMED — INDENTURES. 

IT  is  natural  and  is  also  liigUy  commendable  for  men  to  take 
pride  in  the  achievements  of  their  ancestors;  and  from  the  his- 
torian each  i"ace,  nationality  and  class  is  entitled  to  proper  credit 
for  the  part  it  may  have  played  in  the  great  drama  of  the  settle- 
ment of  a  new  coiintiy,  or  in  the  establishment  and  development 
of  its  institutions,  though  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  the  human 
mind,  especiall.y  when  necessarily  working  within  prescribed 
limits  of  space  and  time,  even  it  is  not  impossible,  to  accurately 
apportion  to  each  the  credit  due.  These  remarks  are  intended  to 
introduce  a  brief  account  of  the  introduction  of  the  Welsh  into 
eastern  Pennsylvania  by  William  Peuu.  These  early  Welsh  are 
certainly  entitled  to  respectful  consideration,  even  if  their  own 
claims  and  the  claims  of  their  descendants  should  not  be  granted 
to  the  full  extent.  Many  of  the  eai'ly  mayors  of  Philadelphia, 
both  during  Colonial  times  and  for  the  first  half  of  the'  present 
centurj-,  Avere  either  Welsh  or  the  descendants  of  Cymric  ancestry,^ 
and  it  is  noteworthy  that  most  of  the  distinguished  physicians  of 
the  earlier  days,  and  even  mauy  down  to  the  present  time,  were 
and  are  of  the  same  descent. 

For  some  time  before  they  came  to  America  William  Penn 

i6i 


1 62  CHESTER     COUNTY 

had.  professed  a  friendship  for  the  Cymric  Friends,  which  senti- 
ment was  natural,  if  it  be  true  that  he  himself  was  on  the 
paternal  side  of  his  family  of  Welsh  descent.  It  is  cei-tain  that 
he  offered  extraordinary  inducements  to  Welsh  settlers  within 
his  domains  in  this  country.  A  conference  was  held  in  London 
by  prominent  Welshmen  with  the  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  regard  to  the  terms  of  settlement  of  Welsh  people  on  a  tract-r-'  Q^^ 
of  laud,  in  the  latter  part  of  1681,  those  present  being  as  follows:  .  ^  _ 
Dr.  Griffith  Owen,  Dr.  Edward  Jones,  Dr.  Thomas  Wynne,  Jojin 
ap  Thomas,  Charles  Lloyd,  -John  ap  John,  Richard  Davies,  Ed- 
ward Pri chard  and  otJiers.  The  principal  object  of  the  Welsh 
appears  to  have  been  to  establish  a  barony  on  a  considerable 
tract  of  land  in  the  new  country,  upon  which  they  could  control 
themselves,  according  to  the  ancient  system  of  baronial  govern- 
ment, which,  as  every  student  of  history  knows,  wag  in  reality 
inimical  to  individual  freedom  and  equal  justice.  But  the  idea 
of  a  Cymric  barcuy  within  the  limits  of  Penn's  province  was  never 
realized,  although  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  leading  Welshmen 
who  settled  on  this  Welsh  tract  anticipated  such  a  government 
and  thought  they  had  good  grounds  for  such  anticipation  from 
the  promises  of  Penn. 

The  mistake  they  made  at  the  conference  above  mentioned 
was  that  they  "allowed  themselves  to  be  persuaded  by  the  founder 
that  the  powers  given  to  him  in  his  charter,  and  the  general  arti- 
cles of  concession  to  all  colonists,  which  papers  were  signed  by 
the  Welsh  patentees,  woiild  be  sufficient,  with  his  personal  prom- 
ise, to  protect  them,  and  enable  them  to  carry  out  the  plan  they 
had  in  view." 

So  far  as  known  no  one  questions  the  sincerity  of  purpose  of 
William  Penn,  but  it  was  found  by  him  utterly  impracticable  to 
carry  out  all  the  promises  he  had  made  to  those  whom  he  induced 
to  become  settlers  within  his  province.  Following  is  the  warrant 
given  in  1681  to  Thomas  Holmes,  the  surveyor-general.  It  is  clear 
and  concise  and  cannot  be  misunderstood. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  163 

"Whereas  divers  considerable  persons  among  ye  Welsh 
Friends  have  requested  me  yt  all  ye  Lands  Purchased  of  me  by 
those  of  North  Wales  and  South  Wales,  together  with  ye  adjacent 
counties  to  ym,  as  Herefordshire,  Shi'opshire  and  Cheshire,  about 
forty  thousand  acres,  may  be  layd  out  contiguously  as  one  Barony, 
ailed  ging  that  yt  ye  number  already  come,  are  such  as  will  be 
capable  of  planting  ye  same  much  within  ye  proportion  allowed 
by  J  e  custom  of  ye  country,  &  so  not  lye  in  large  useless  vacancies. 
And  because  I  am  inclined  and  detenniued  to  agree  and  favor  ym 
with  any  reasonable  Conveniency  and  priviledge:  I  do  hereby 
charge  thee  and  strictly  require  thee  to  lay  out  ye  sd  tract  of  Land 
in  as  uniform  a  manner  as  conveniently  may  be,  upon  ye  west  side 
of  Skoolkill  Kiver,  running  three  miles  upon  ye  same,  and  two 
miles  backward,  &  then  extend  ye  parallel  with  ye  river  six  miles 
and  to  run  westwardly  so  far  as  this  yt  sd  quantity  of  land  be 
Compleately  surveyed  unto  you. — Given  at  Pennsbury,  ye  13th  1st 
mo.  1684." 

As  a  general  explanation  of  the  method  of  disposing  of  the 
lands  in  this  tract  to  the  coming  Welsh  settlers,  it  may  be  stated 
that  after  they  were  satisfied  as  to  their  safety  in  proceeding  with 
their  arrangements  for  a  settlement  in  Pennsylvania,  they  organ- 
ized themselves  into  companies  of  adventui-ers  and  selected  promi- 
nent members  among  them  as  trustees,  who  took  out  a  patent  in 
their  own  names  for  all  the  land  for  which  the  company  had  sub- 
scribed. This  was  in  all  probability  agreed  upon  at  the  London 
conference,  with  the  approval  of  the  proprietor,  in  order  to  carry 
out  successfully  the  proposed  plan  of  a  bai'onial  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  it  was  also  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  a  first  choice  of 
land. 

After  the  above-named  warrant  to  the  surveyor-general  was 
issued,  he  authorized  an  order  to  one  of  his  deputy  surveyors, 
David  Powell,  under  date  of  2d  mo.  4th,  1684,  by  which  the  latter 
was  directed  "to  survev  and  set  out  unto  the  said  purchasers  the 


i64  CHESTER     COUNTY 

said  quantity  of  land,  there,  in  manner  as  before  expressed,  and 
in  metliod  of  townships  lately  appointed  by  the  governor  at  five 
thousand  acres  to  a  township,""  which  directions  M'ere  carried 
out  only  in  part.  Following  is  an  account  of  the  Welsh  purchases 
by  David  Powell:  ? 

"My  Respected  Friend, 

"James  Logan: — I  hold  myself  obliged  to  give  thee  an  account 
of  those  lands  belonging  to  the  purchases  of  Thomas  Lloyd  where 
David  Lloyd  is  concerned,  and  likewise  Eichard  ap  Thomas:  that 
is,  how  much  is  taken  up  and  subdivided  to  them  and  sold  by 
them  and  what  remains  not  disposed  of  by  the  said  Thomas  Lloyd 
and  the  said  Eichard  Thomas. 

Acres. 

"Thomas  Lloyd  had  a  right  by  his  brother  Charles  to  2,500 


took  up  between  Mirion  and  Harford  1,100 

and  one  100  acres  he  ordered  in  his  right  to  Thomas 
David  the  which  was  laid  out  to  him  100 


1,200 


He  also  bought  of  Francis  Smith  Eemaining      1,300 

the  share  Margaret  Davis  reserved  to  herself:  1,250 


2,550 
There  is,  I  think,  100  acres  of  Liberty  land  laid  out 
to  him  100 

The  rest  is  to  be  yet  settled;  and  wari'ants  to  be 
granted  for  the  subdividing  of  it  within  the  Welsh 
tract. 
Also  Eichard  ap  Thomas:  his  purchase  is,  5,000 


out  of  which  he  sold  to  Phillip  Howell  700 

and  one  100  of  Liberty  land  to  Hugh  Eobarts  100 


AND     7r,S'     PEOPLE.  i6s 

and  to  Robert  William  300 

and  I  think  to  Edward  Joanes  200 


1,300 
Remaining  to  him  to  have  warrants  to  himself  for  3,700 
As  to  David  Lloyd  part  there  is  an  imaginary  sur- 
vey made  about  1,800  acres,  but  not  perfected. 
"When  thou  art  pleased  to  order  Avan-ants  for  them  or  any 
others  of  the  said  Welsh  purchase,  I  think  there  ought  to  be  a 
recital  of  the  first  warrant  by  which  the  land  was  first  bounded: 
and  the  time  of  the  surrey  likewise  commanding  a  return  of  the 
respective  subdivisions  within  the  bounds  of  the  said  tract  when 
not  already  subdivided  to  any  other  of  the  company,  the  which 
survey  was  done  on  the  28th  of  the  8th  mo.  1GS4,  and  finished 
the  —  day  of  the  11th  mo.  ensuing.  I  request  thee  also  to  put 
an  end  to  Philliii  Howell's  business  to  ease  both  thyself  and  tlie 
rest  of  the  commissioners  of  his  continual  importuning;  and  I 
think  it  were  best  to  let  him  have  that  lot  on  Thomas  Joanes' 
account,  and  let  him  pay  the  money  to  Joanes,  least  the  warrant 
granted  by  the  Governor  to  Xealson  takes  hold  of  it,  and  the 
Governor  forced  to  pay  the  35  pounds  to  Joanes  out  of  his  own 
pocket;  these  things  I  refer  to  thy  consideration,  leaving  it  wholly 
to  thee  to  order  it  as  thou  think  best,  and  desire  thy  favor  in  letting 
me  have  an  end  to  my  one  business  that  my  most  cordial  friend  and 
Governor  left  me  to  do;  for  me  else  I  am  afraid  that  I  shall  suffer 

for  want  of  it;  who  am  thy  real  friend 

"D.  POWELL. 
"Dated  5th,  12th  mo.,  1701." 

Following  is  "an  account  of  the  purchasers  concerned  in  the 
■\V>lsh  Tract  granted  by  the  general  warrant  by  which  the  said 
tract  was  laid  out,  and  such  lands  as  hath  been  laid  out  by  war- 
rants duly  executed  within  the  same,  and  first  of  the  old  Eugland 
jiurchasers: 


1 66  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"Charles  Llojd  and  Margaret  Davis,  5,000  acres;  Richard 
Davis,  5,000  acres;  William  Jenldns,  1,000;  John  Poy,  750;  John 
Burge,  750;  William  Mordant,  500;  William  Powell,  1,250;  Lewis 
David,  3,000;  Mon-is  Llewlin,  500;  Thomas  Simons,  500;  John 
Bevau,  2,000;  Edward  Prichard,  2,500;  John  ap  John  and  Thomas 
Wynu,  5,000;  Edward  Joanes  and  John  Thomas,  5,000;  Richard 
Davis,  1,250;  Richard  ap  Thomas,  5,000;  Mordicia  Moore,  in  right 

of ^,  500;  Jolin  Millinton,  500;   Henry   Right,   500;   Daniel 

Medlecot,  200;  Thomas  Ellis,  1,000;  Thomas  Ellis  for  B.  Roulles, 
250;  Thomas  Ellis  on  acconnt  of  Humphrey  Thomas,  100;  David 
Powell,  1,000;  John  Kinsy,  200;  David  Meredith,  250;  David 
Davis,  200;  Thomas  John  Evan,  250;  John  Evans,  100;  Jolin 
Jormon,  50;  David  Kinsy,  200;  Evan  Oliver,  100;  Samuel  Mills, 
100;  Thomas  Joanes,  50;  David  Joanes,  100;  John  Kinsy,  100; 
Daniel  Hurry,  300;  Henry  Joanes,  400;  John  Fish,  300;  John  Day, 
300;  Burke  and  Simson,  1,000;  the  whole  complement,  50,000 
acres." 

Among  the  above  names  is  that  of  John  ap  John,  Avho,  accord- 
ing to  Thomas  Allen  Glenn,  author  of  "Merion  in  tlie  Welsli 
Tract,"  from  which  book  numerous  facts  are  taken  to  complete 
tliis  brief  outline  of  the  Welsh  in  Chester  County,  purchased  Ids 
lands  September  15,  1681,.  but  who  never  came  to  tliis  county. 
Of  the  lands  thus  purchased  John  ap  John  sold  as  follows  to  dif- 
ferent persons:  To  Thomas  Taylor,  500  acres;  to  John  Roberts, 
500  acres;  to  Treial  Reider,  400  acres;  to  Maiy  Fouk,  200  acres; 
to  Richard  Da  vies,  250  acres;  to  Owen  Parry,  150  acres;  reserving 
for  himself,  500  acres;  but  he  rebought  the  400  acres  sold  to 
Treial  Reider,  so  that  he  had  at  last  900  acres  reserved  for  him- 
self, which,  however,  he  never  saw. 

Besides  John  ap  John  and  Thomas  Wynne,  the  principal 
patentees  to  these  lands,  that  is,  those  who  bought  for  others  in 
the  capacity  of  trustees,  were  as  follows:  Charles  Lloyd  and  Mar- 
garet Davis,  who  bought  5,000  acres;  John  Bevan,  2,000  acres; 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  167 

Johu  Thomas  and  Dr.  Edward  Bala,  5,000;  Richard  ap  Thomas, 
5,000;  Eichai'd  Davies,  5,000,  aud  Lewis  David,  3,000. 

There  was  considerable  land  taken  up  by  individuals  on  their 
own  account,  and  outside  of  the  4:0,000-acre  tract  there  were  10,000 
acres  taken  up  by  Welshmen,  or  so  reported,  previous  to  IGS-i. 
Some  of  these  lands  were  in  Goshen,  and  some  of  it  as  far  south 
as  in  what  is  now  Delaware. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  township  of  Mei'ion  was  made  by 
Dr.  Edward  Jones,  Edward  Reese,  William  ap  Edward,  and  a  fe\v 
others  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  16S2,  a  short  time  previous  to 
the  arrival  of  William  Penn,  they  having  come  from  near  Bala, 
Merionethshire,  Wales.  The  Haverford  and  Radnor  purchasers 
came  later,  those  in  the  former  township  coming  prior  to  March  '2, 
1683,  and  those  in  the  latter  township  about  the  same  time. 
As  the  country  became  more  aud  more  settled  by  these  Welsh 
immigrants  their  troubles  increased,  they  suffeiing  not  only  from 
the  difficulties  necessarily  incident  to  the  settlement  of  a  new 
countrv',  but  tliey  were  discouraged  by  their  failure  to  establish 
their  barony,  as  they  had  confidently  expected  to  do.  Other  set- 
tlers encroached  upon  their  tract,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Englisli 
immigrants,  for  Avhom  Charles  Ashcombe,  a  deputy  surveyor',  had 
laid  out  lauds  within  the  limits  of  the  40,000  acres;  but  in  this 
case  the  Welsh  successfully  resisted  the  encroachment,  aud  for  a 
time  afterward  maintained  intact  the  territory  they  had  pur- 
chased. 

Afterward  tliere  arose  a  dispute  over  the  Chester  County  line. 
On  March  25,  1689,  Thomas  Lloyd  appeared  before  the  Council 
and  said  that  he  understood  something  had  been  moved  about 
adding  the  Welsh  Tract  to  the  County  of  Chester,  and  also  said 
that  if  anything  of  the  kind  were  contemplated  he  desired  to  speak. 
To  this  Governor  Blackwell  replied  that  nothing  of  the  kind  was 
yet  brought  before  them;  but  that  if  anything  should  be  wherein 
it  were  necessarv  to  hear  him,  he  should  be  notified  thereof. 


1 68  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  fact,  however,  was  that  the  justices  of  Chester  County 
had  already  prepared  the  petition  for  adding  the  townships  of 
Eadnor  and  Haverford  to  Chester  County,  the  purpose  being  to 
cut  off  from  Philadelpliia  County  some  sixty  Welshmen,  who,  if 
left  in  that  county,  would  elect  jiersons  to  the  Council  who  would 
oppose  the  poliry  <if  Covernor  Blackwell.  This  petition  of  the 
justices  was  presented  in  tlie  afternoon  and  came  up  for  argument 
next  day.  After  earnest  discussion  and  protest  on  the  part  of  the 
Welsh,  the  two  townships  were  set  off  into  Chester  County;  but, 
notwithstanding  this,  the  sixty  Welsh  voters  insisted  upon  voting 
for  their  candidate  with  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia  County, 
which  caused  a  long  debate,  and  resulted  in  an  order  for  a  new 
election.  The  final  resiilt  of  the  contention  was  that  after  a  long 
effort  to  maintain  their  barony  intact,  they  were  obliged  to  suc- 
cumb to  influences  too  powerful  for  them  longer  to  resist.  A  per- 
sistent effort  was  made  by  many  outside  of  the  tract  to  break  up 
the  Cymric  Barony,  in  1090  and  1691;  but  it  should  be  said  that 
the  Welsh  appear  to  have  departed  at  that  particular  time  from  a 
determination  to  be  too  grasping.  They  decided  that  they  would 
not,  as  asked  to  do,  pay  quit-rent  on  the  entire  tract  from  1681, 
though  they  did  consent  to  pay  the  quit-rent  on  the  entire  10,000 
aci-es.  The  commissioners  of  property  thereupon  resolved  that 
the  lauds  already  laid  out  within  the  tract  to  other  purchasers 
should  be  confirmed  to  them.  Not  long  afterward  the  Welsh  agreed, 
or  offered,  rather,  to  pay  quit-rent  from  16S4,  but  the  commis- 
sioners decided  lliat  it  was  then  too  late,  the  matter  having  been 
already  settled.  However,  from  this  time  on  until  about  1700  the 
Welsh  continued  their  attempts  to  regain  what  they  had  lost,  but 
without  success,  and  the  Welsh  Barony  became  a  barony  only  in 
name  The  three  townships  of  Merion,  Eadnor  and  Haverford 
continued  to  be  kuowu  as  the  Welsh  Tract  down  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  even  into  the  present  century. 

John  ap  Thomas  was  one  of  the  prominent  Welshmen  that  set- 


AXD     /TO     PEOPLE.  169 

tied  ou  the  great  T^'elsli  Tract.  He  and  Dr.  Edward  Joues  were 
the  leaders  of  the  Meriou  company,  they  taking  out  a  patent  for 
5,000  acres  of  land,  one-half  of  that  which  was  allotted  to  Thomas 
in  the  county  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  other  half  in  the  township 
of  Goshen,  Chester  County.  John  ap  Thomas'  portion  was  1,250 
acres,  612^  acres  being-  in  Goshen.  He  did  not,  howevei',  ever 
reach  America,  dying  in  England  just  when  he  was  on  the  point 
of  departure  for  this  country.  But  his  wife,  Catherine  Roberts,  as 
she  was  called,  according  to  the  Welsh  custom,  came  across  the 
sea  with  her  children,  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  set- 
tled on  his  lands,  some  of  which  are  to  this  day  in  the  possession 
of  her  descendants.  Besides  John  ap  Thomas,  others  purchasing 
lands  in  Goshen  were  as  follows:  Hugh  Eoberts,  67  acres;  Dr. 
Edward  Jones,  353  acres;  Edward  Jones,  Jr.,  158^  aci'es;  Eobert 
David,  234^  acres;  Eichard  Eees,  75  acres;  John  Eoberts,  230 
acres;  Eobert  William,  76^  acres,  and  John  Eoberts,  78^  acres. 
The  sons  of  John  ap  Thomas,  named  respectively,  Thomas,  Eobert 
and  Cadwallader  Jones,  owned  the  612^  acres  taken  up  by  their 
father  in  Goshen. 

An  important  part  of  Chester  County,  which  was  a  portion 
of  the  great  Welsh  Tract  and  was  early  settled  by  Welshmen,  was 
Tredyffrin  Township,  which  is  northwest  of  Eadnor  Township  in 
Delaware  County,  and  of  Easttown  Township,  in  Chester  County. 
The  name,  Tredyffrin,  is,  of  course,  Welsh.  It  is  thus  divided: 
Tre,  meaning  town,  and  Dyffrin,  meaning  "wide,  cultivated 
valley,''  and  the  whole  meaning  is,  therefore,  the  town  in  a  wide, 
cultivated  valley.  In  the  early  days  an  effort  was  made  to  Angli- 
cize the  word,  it  being  then  sometimes  called  Valleytown,  or  Val- 
leyton.  In  1708  a  deed  was  made  in  which  Lewis  Walker,  the 
grantoi',  is  referred  to  as  "of  the  township  of  Valleyton,  in  the 
county  of  Chester." 

As  showing  the  course  pursued  by  William  Penn  in  the  sale 
of  his  lands  outside  of  the  Welsh  tract,  the  dates  of  several  of 


I/O  CHESTER     COUNTY 

these  sales  together  with  the  names  of  the  parties  purchasiu!^ 
lands  of  him,  with  a  few  other  particulars,  are  here  presented : 

Penn  sold  lands  while  in  England  to  numerous  parties  still 
in  England,  definite  amounts  of  land  for  definite  prices  and  (juit- 
rents,  but  without  locating  these  lands  further  than  to  state  that 
they  were  within  the  province  of  Pennsylvania.  As  to  Bartholo- 
mew Coppock,  of  KSaltney,  in  the  county  Palatine  of  Chester,  Eng- 
land, March  22,  1681,  five  hundred  acres  of  land  for  £10,  the  quit- 
rent  being  one  shilling  for  each  one  hundred  acres  of  land  per 
year.  This  was  the  second  purchase  by  B.artJiolomew  Coppock  of 
500  acres  on  the  same  terms,  the  other  being  on  March  21,  1681. 

Penn  sold  to  James  Dicks  250  acres  of  land  March  3,  1681, 
which  James  Dicks  sold  to  Peter  Dicks  August  16,  1684.  Other 
purchasers  were  as  follows:  llandall  Vernon,  March  4,  1681,  625 
acres;  Thomas  Vernon,  March  3,  1681,  625  acres;  Thomas  Minshall, 
March  22,  1681,  625  acres;  liobert  Vemon,  March  7,  1681,  625 
acres;  William  Taylor  and  others,  March  3,  1681,  1,250  acres; 
Thomas  Powell,  March  20,  1681,  500  acres;  Randall  Malin,  March 
7, 1681,  250  acres;  John  Pusey,  October  11,  1681,  250  acres;  Robert 
Taylor,  March  3,  1682,  1,000  acres;  John  Sharpless,  April  5,  1682, 
1,000  acres;  John  Hicks,  October  11,  1681,  250  acres;  Caleb  Pusey, 
October  11, 1681,  250  acres;  Daniel  Smith  on  several  different  occa- 
sions bought  land  in  various  quantities,  from  500  acres  up  to  2,000 
acres,  but  none  of  these  purchasers  were  located  fui-ther  than  to 
be  within  the  province  of  Pennsylvania.  One  of  the  first,  if  not 
the  first,  to  be  described  by  metes  and  bounds,  was  a  piirchase  by 
William  Hitchcock,  a  tract  of  500  acres:  "Beginning  at  a  corner 
walnut  tree  of  Philip  Roman's  land,  running  from  thence  south- 
southeast  83  perches,  to  a  corner  marked  hickory;  from  thence  east- 
north-east  100  perches;  thence  east-north-east  by  land  of  Nicholas 
Newlin  180  perches  to  a  corner  marked  red  oak;  thence  north- 
north-west  83  perches,  to  a  corner  marked  red  oak;  thence  west- 
south-west  by  land  of  John  Harding,  480  perches  to  a  sti'eet  in  the 


ASfD     ITS     PEOPLE.  171 

said  towu;  and  thence  west-south-west  by  the  hind  of  Philip 
Koman,  480  perches,  to  the  first-mentioned  walnut  tree,  contiiin- 
ing  and  laid  out  for  500  acres,"  etc. 

On  the  8th  day  of  the  4th  month,  1G97,  George  Willard  exe- 
cuted a  deed  for  500  acres  of  land  lying  in  Willistown  Township  to 
Peter  Thomas,  which  500  acres  was  one-third  of  1,500  acres  of 
land  formerly  surveyed  and  laid  out  by  the  order  of  the  Governor, 
William  Penu,  for  Thomas  Brassie.  This  500-acre  tract  was  de- 
scribed in  the  deed  as  follows: 

"Beginning  at  a  marked  red  oak,  being  the  comer  mark  of 
Francis  Yarnell's  land;  from  thence  north-north-west  1G6  perches 
to  a  corner  post;  thence  east-north-east  to  a  corner  chestnut  stand- 
ing by  Crum  Creek's  side;  from  thence  down  the  several  courses 
thereof  to  a  corner  maple,  being  also  the  corner  of  Francis  Yar- 
nell's land,  and  thence  west-south-west  by  the  said  Yarnell's  land 
to  the  mentioned  red  oak."  It  was  in  the  present  township  of 
Willistown. 

Francis  Yarnell  had  purchased  five  hundred  acres  of  George 
Willai'd,  a  portion  of  the  same  tract,  and  on  the  1st  of  October, 
1708,  he  sold  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  his  purchase  to  John 
Caldwell  for  £60. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1690,  John  Bennett,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed constable  of  Birmingham  Tpwnship  in  1686,  sold  to  David 
Davis  fifty  acres  of  laud,  "Beginning  at  a  marked  small  hickory, 
standing  in  Hugh  Henry's  line,"  etc.,  for  £10  curi-ent  silver  money. 
And  on  May  8,  1695,  Edward  Harris  sold  to  John  Beckiugham  fifty 
acres  of  land  adjoining  Samuel  Scott's  land,  for  £5,  good  and  lawful 
silver  money. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  1705,  John  Guest  sold  to  Henry  Hol-^ 
lingswor-th,  who  was  a  very  prominent  man  in  the  early  history 
of  Chester  County,  one  hundred  acres  of  land  for  £20,  the  land 
being  "situate  on  the  west  side  of  the  BrandyAvine  Creek,  begin- 
ning at  a  corner  black  oak,  being  a  corner  of  a  tract  purchased 


1/2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

by  the  said  Henry  Hollingswortli  from  John  Budd;  thence  west 
by  the  said  Henry  Hollingsworth's  line  324  perches  to  a  post  stand- 
ing near  a  corner  black  oak;  thence  south  49  perches  and  a  half  to  a 
post;  thence  east  324  pei'ches  to  a  hickory;  thence  north  49 ^ 
perches  to  the  place  of  beginning;  being  part  of  a  tract  of  land 
held  by  patent  from  the  commissioners  of  property.''  The  land 
mentioned  above  as  having  been  purchased  by  Mr.  Holliugsworth 
of  John  Budd,  was  purchased  in  August,  1704,  and  consisted  of 
one  htmdred  acres. 

Among  the  early  purchasers  of  land  in  the  township  of  West- 
town  were  Daniel  Hoopes,  wlio,  in  1097,  purchased  300  acres  in 
the  east  part  of  the  township.  Aaron  James  and  Benjamin  Hick- 
man were  there  in  1700,  and  John  Bowater  of  Middletown  pur- 
chased land  in  this  township  as  early  as  1704.  He  appears  to 
have  died  in  this  township  abotit  the  beginning  of  the  year  1705, 
for,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1705,  his  widow,  Frances  Bowater,  sold 
to  George  Smedley  four  hundred  acres  of  land  for  £350,  the  laud 
being  described  in  the  deed  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  a  white  oak 
tree  standing  at  the  corner  of  Daniel  Hoop,  his  land;  from  thence 
by  said  land  north  24  west,  4()2  perches  to  a  lyme  tree;  from  thence 
running  by  the  land  of  Eichard  Snead  north  66  east,  139  perches 
to  a  chestnut  tree;  from  thence  by  land  untaken  up  south  24  east, 
460  perches  to  a  post;  from  thence  extending  by  the  lands  of  John 
Wilcox  and  Joseph  Baker  south  65  west,  139  perches  to  the  first- 
mentioned  white  oak  or  place  of  beginning,  containing  in  the  whole 
400  acres  of  land." 

The  Baker  family  was  quite  numerous  in  the  early  history  of 
the  county,  and  some  members  thereof  very  prominent.  One  of 
the  Bakers,  named  Joseph,  was  a  member  of  the  general  assembly 
and  died  in  1716.  There  is  a  full  genealogy  of  the  Baker  family 
in  Dr.  Futhey's  History  of  Chester  County. 

Edward  liees,  of  the  township  of  Merion,  Philadelphia  County, 
sold  to  Ellis  David,  of  the  township  of  Goshen,  Chester  County,  a 


tJ^^Z^C 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE. 


'/3 


tract  of  laud  containing  3(57  acres,  which  is  described  as  follows 
in  the  deed:  "Beginning  at  the  corner  of  Evan  Jones  &  Co.'s  land; 
thence  north-north-west  400  perches  to  a  corner  post;  thence  by 
vacant  land  east-north-east  147  perches  to  a  post,  being  a  corner 
of  Thomas  Jones  &:  Co.'s  land;  thence  by  the  same  land  south- 
sonth-east  400  perches  to  anotlier  corner  post;  thence  by  Griffith, 
Owen's  land  west-sonth-west  147  perches  to  the  place  of  begin- 
ning, containing  367  acres.'' 

Griffith  Owen  was  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by 
William  Penn  October  28,  1701,  the  others  being  Edward  Shippen, 
Thomas  Story,  and  James  Logan,  who  were  authorized  to  grant 
lands  for  such  sums  and  quit-rents  as  they  should  see  fit.  His 
name  occurs  frequently  in  the  early  history  of  the  county,  and  he 
was  a  very  prominent  and  useful  man. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1708,  Lewis  Walker  sold  to  Llewellyn 
David  two  parcels  of  land,  one  containing  160  acres,  the  other  400 
acres,  whicli  are  described  in  the  deed  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  a 
corner  post  standing  by  the  land  of  John  David;  thence  by  the 
land  of  John  Mordent,  north-north-west  300  perches  to  another  post 
set  in  the  ground;  thence  east-north-east  160  perches  to  a  third 
post  standing  in  the  line  of  John  Havard's  land;  thence  south- 
south-east  360  perches  to  the  place  of  beginning.'' 

Lewis  Walker,  who,  as  elsewhere  stated,  is  mentioned  in  this 
deed  as  "of  the  township  of  Valleyton,  of  the  county  of  Chester," 
purchased  this  land  of  David  Powell,  who  had  purchased  it  of 
David  Meredith,  who  had  purchased  it  of  the  commissioners  of 
property  appointed  by  William  Penn. 

The  Meredith  family  was  a  numerous  one  in  the  early  history 
of  this  county,  and  there  is  given  a  full  genealogical  history  thereof 
in  Dr.  Futhey's  History  of  Chester  County,  as  also  of  that  of 
Llewellyn  David,  the  latter  of  whom  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  and 
a  prominent  citizen. 

On  June  5,  1719,  James  Johnston  sold  to  William  Carter  two 
1 1 


176  CHESTER     COUNTY 

hundred  acres  of  land  in  New  Garden  Township,  "Bounded  east  of 
lands  lately  owned  by  William  Peun,  Jr.,  northward  by  Marlboro 
Township,  westward  by  John  M.  Cook's  land,  and  south  by  Robert 
Tranter's  land." 

This  land  had  been  originally  purchased  by  Thomas  Garrett 
of  Evan  Evans,  who  was  a  most  useful  citizen,  not  only  to  the 
people  who  were  his  neighbors,  but  also  to  the  country  during  the 
Revolutionai"y  War.  Among  the  tirst  settlers  in  this  township 
were  Mary  Rowland,  who  purchased  land  here  in  1708;  Gayen 
Miller,  who  purchased  700  acres  in  1712;  and  in  the  next  year  quite 
a  number  came  into  tlie  township,  land  being  bought  by  John 
Miller,  James  Lindley,  John  Lowden,  James  StaiT,  Michael  Light- 
foot,  William  Halliday,  Joseph  Hutton,  Abraham  Marshall,  and 
Thomas  Jackson;  and  in  1714  Thomas  Garuett  and  Joseph  Sharp 
came  in.  These  persons  paid  for  their  lauds  £20  per  hundred 
acres. 

The  next  year  William  Peun,  Jr.,  sold  what  was  left  of  his 
lands,  originally  consisting  of  14,500  acres  in  this  township,  pat- 
ented to  him  May  24,  1700,  by  the  commissioners  of  property  and 
bounded  as  follows: 

"Beginning  at  a  hickory  tree  on  the  west  side  of  a  branch  of 
White  Clay  Creek;  thence  east  925  perches  to  a  coi'uer  of  Letitia's 
Manor  (Kenneth);  thence  by  the  saane  2,314  perches  to  another 
comer;  thence  west-south-west  930  perches  to  White  Clay  Oreek,^ 
west  58  perches  and  north  by  land  of  the  London  company  2,674 
perches  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

Previous  to  1715  William  Penn,  Jr.,  had  sold  somewhat  more 
than  5,000  acres  of  his  lands,  and  in  this  year  he  sold  the  remainder, 
with  the  exception  of  500  acres,  to  John  Evans,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence this  tract  so  sold  was  afterward  sometimes  called  Col. 
Evans'  Manor.  The  greater  part  of  this,  however,  reconveyed  be- 
fore the  death  of  William  Penn,  Jr.,  which  occurred  in  1720,  and 
who,  when  dying,  left  three  children,  viz.:  Gulielma  Maria,  Sprin 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE. 


'// 


gett  aud  William.  Spriugett  inherited  his  father's  lands  in  Penn- 
sylvania, but  as  he  died  unmarried  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
William,  to  whom  Col.  Evans  granted  a  release  to  the  manor  iu 
1736. 

June  9,  1696,  George  Willard  sold  to  Edmund  Butcher  cue 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  township  of  Bimiingham  for  £4  down 
and  one  shilling  quit-rent  per  year  forever.  Edmund  Butcher  ou 
May  4, 1703,  sold  one  hundred  and  eleven  acres  to  Francis  Chadsey, 
in  the  same  townshi]),  for  £6  Os. 

On  September  20,  1718,  William  Penn,  Jr.,  for  £40  sold  to 
James  Lindley,  "All  that  piece  or  parcel  of  land  beginning  at  a 
corner  marked  hickory  tree,  near  the  corner  of  Thomas  Garrett's 
land;  thence  south  by  vacant  land  ICO  perches  to  a  small  white 
oak;  thence  east  by  north  on  the  top  of  Tankenemou  Hill  239. 
perches  to  a  black  oak;  thence  north  by  vacant  land  114  perches 
to  a  gum  tree;  thence  westerly  by  vacant  land  and  the  line  of  the 
said  Thomas  Grarrett's  land  234  perches  to  the  place  of  beginning, 
containing  200  acres  of  land,  situated  in  Chester  County." 

This  land  was  in  New  Garden  Township.  The  name  of  the 
hill  given  in  this  description  is  spelled  as  above  in  the  deed.  In 
1700  the  surveyor  stated  that  he  crossed  the  Dochcanamon  Hill. 
Other  forms  of  the  name  are  as  follows:  Tokenamou,  Taukenamon, 
Taughlikenemon,  aud  that  in  use  at  the  present  time,  Toughkena- 
nion,  the  meaning  in  the  Indian  language  being  according  to  tradi- 
tion, "Fire-brand  Hill."  In  this  same  township  there  were  in  the 
early  day,  besides  those  already  mentioned,  the  following:  Robert 
Johnson,  who  owned  200  acres;  Evan  Evans,  500;  Joseph  Sharp, 
200;  John  Sharp,  200;  Thomas  Garnett,  300;  William  Tanner,  200; 
Benjamin  Fred,  300;  John  Wiley,  200;  Francis  Hobson,  200;  Gayen 
Miller,  700;  Abraham  Marshall,  who  has  been  mentioned  above, 
owned  200  acres  of  land,  partly  in  New  Castle  County. 

Joseph  Wood  sold  to  r)a\id  Phillip  for  £100,  "All  that  mes- 
suage or  tenement  and  plantation  where  Richard  David  formerly 


178  CHESTER     COUNTY 

dwelt,  situated  in  Easttown  iu  the  said  countj-  of  Chester,  together 
with  all  of  a  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land  thereto  belonging  npon 
part  of  said  Joseph's  purchase,  of  the  said  3,380  acres  of  laud," 
etc.,  "containing  200  acres." 

With  reference  to  the  above  purchase,  it  should  be  said  by  way 
of  explanation,  that  William  Wood  and  William  Shardlow  had 
received  from  William  Penn  a  grant  of  5,000  acres,  of  which  3,380 
acres  were  on  December  1,  1084,  laid  out  and  surveyed  by  Charles 
Ashton,  surveyor,  in  the  county  of  Chester,  at  the  head  of  the 
township  of  Newton,  and  Joseph  Wood,  after  the  death  of  his 
father,  \Villiam,  on  the  29th  of  August,  1704,  obtained  a  writ  of 
partition  directed  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county  to  cut  into  two  equal 
parts  the  aforesaid  3,380  acres,  so  that  Joseph  Wood  and  William 
Shardlow  should  each  have  1,690  acres,  and  it  was  a  part  of  Joseph 
Wood's  1,690  acres  that  he  sold  to  David  Phillip. 

Joseph  Wood  on  September  1,  1690,  sold  2.50  acres  of  land  to 
George  Simcock,  who  sold  it  to  Matthew  Clomison,  who  sold  it  to 
John  Bently,  who  sold  it  to  William  Davies  of  Radnor,  who  sold 
it  to  John  Hugh.  Then  John  Hugh  on  December  2,  1705,  sold  this 
250  acres  of  land  "Situated  and  being  in  Easttown,  in  the  county 
of  Chester,  beginning  at  a  corner  post  of  the  lands  of  William 
Shardlow,  and  from  thence  south-south-east  by  a  line  of  trees  196 
perches;  thence  south  55  west,  202  perches  to  a,  corner  post;  and 
from  thence  north-north-west  196  perches,  and  from  tlience  north 
55  east,  202  perches  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

On  the  20th  of  Febraary,  1706,  John  Guest  sold  to  Daniel  Mc- 
Farson  for  £60  three  hundred  acres  of  land,  "The  said  three  hun- 
dred acres  lying  and  being  in  the  township  of  Kenuett,  in  the 
county  of  Chester,  beginning  at  a  post  in  the  line  of  Lwetitia  Penn's 
Mannor,  being  a  corner  of  Alexander  Frazer's  land,  and  thence 
east  in  the  line  of  the  said  Frazer's  land  324  perches  to  a  post; 
thence  south  by  vacant  land  148;^  perches  to  a  white  oak;  thence 
west  by  the  land  of  the  said  John  Guest  324  perches  to  a  white 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  i79 

oak;  thence  north  by  Laetitia  Penii's  Mannor,  148^  perches  to  the 
jilace  of  beginning!-' 

John  Guest  on  the  21st  of  November,  170(5,  .sold  to  Alexander 
Frazer  for  £10  two  liundred  acres  of  bind  in  the  same  township 
of  Kennett,  which  two  lumdred  acres  was  a  part  of  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six  and  two-tliirds  acres  which  he  owned  by  virtue  of  a 
warrant  from  the  commissioners  of  property,  laid  out  and  sur- 
veyed to  him  on  the  25th  of  December,  1703,  the  said  two  hundred 
acres  adjoining  the  "Mannor"  of  Laetitia  Penu. 

Francis  Smith  was  also  one  of  the  early  landowners  and  sel- 
tUn's  in  this  part  of  the  county,  he  having  been  ]irobably  one  of 
the  very  first,  if  not  the  first,  for  laud  was  surveyed  to  him  in  168G. 
I  p  to  1703,  however,  the  settlement  of  this  township  had  not 
made  much  jjrogress,  the  following  being  all,  or  nearly  all,  of 
those  who  had  taken  up  land  therein:  Francis  Smith,  110  acres; 
Henry  Peirce,  190;  Robert  Way,  125;  Thomas  Hope,  310;  George 
Harlan,  Israel  and  the  Chandlers,  850;  and  a  few  years  later  the 
surveyor,  Isaac  Taylor,  estimated  the  number  of  acres  of. laud 
Taken  up  at  12,100,  and  there  were  2,000  acres  in  Laetitia  Penn's 
Manor  not  surveyed.  The  settlers  near  the  Brandywine  about  this 
time  were  the  following:  Peter  Dicks,  John  Hope,  George  Har- 
lan, for  whom  Isaac  Taylor  surveyed  land  in  1702,  and  in  1703 
he  surveyed  for  the  following:    Isaac  Few  aud  William  Huntley. 

The  Laetitia  Penn  Manor  nmy  be  as  well  be  mentioned  here 
as  elsewhere.  The  Tract  of  land  included  within  this  manor  was 
conveyed  by  William  Penn  to  Sir  John  Fagg  of  Sussex  County, 
England,  in  trust  for  his  wife,  GNlielma  Maria  Penn,  the  convey- 
ance beiug  dated  September  1  and  5,  1()82.  The  land,  however,  re- 
mained unlocated  until  after  the  death  of  William  Penn's  wife, 
Gulielma  Maria,  and  also  until  after  the  death  of  all  of  her  chil- 
dren, with  the  exception  of  two,  William  Penu,  Jr.,  and  Laetitia. 
On  the  17th  of  the  12th  month,  1099,  a  w^irrant  was  directed  to 
Henry  Ilollingsworth  requiring  him  to  lay  out  for  these  two  chil- 


iSo  CHESTER     COVISTY 

dren  a  tract  of  land,  and  on  the  25th  of  the  2d  month,  1700,  he 
surveyed  for  them  30,000  acres.  This  survey  included  all  of  the 
present  township  of  Xew  Garden,  the  larger  portion  of  Kenuett, 
and  a  smaller  portion  of  NeAV  Castle  County,  Delaware. 

By  a  patent  dated  October  23,  1701,  the  eastern  part  of  this 
large  tract  of  land  was  confirmed  to  Laetitia  Penn,  and  was  de- 
scribed in  the  following  language: 

"Whereas,  There  is  a  certain  tract  of  land  situated  on  the 
south  side  of  Braudywine  Creek  in  the  province  of  Pennsylvania. 
Beginning  at  a  bounded  hickory  tree  standing  by  a  branch  of  Red 
Clay  Creek,  called  Burrow's  Enn,  being  a  comer  tree  of  William 
Dickson's  land,  thence  by  a  line  of  marked  trees  south  and  by  west 
over  Red  Clay  Creek  at  the  fork  thereof,  twelve  hundred  and  eleven 
perches  to  a  bounded  black  oak  standing  in  the  line  of  George 
Reed's  land;  thence  by  the  said  line  west  forty -two  perches  to  a 
bounded  black  oak,  being  a  corner  of  said  George's  land;  thence 
south-south-west  half  westerly  thirty-six  perches  to  a  bounded 
hickprj^  being  a  comer  of  William  Guest's  land;  thence  by  the 
said  Guest's  land  west  112  perches  to  a  bounded  white  oak,  being 
a  corner  of  Brian  McDonald's  land;  thence  north  fifty  perches  to  a 
bounded  poplar;  thence  west  forty-eight  perches  to  a  black  oak; 
thence  nortli-west  eighty-four  perches  to  a  bounded  chestnut  tree; 
thence  south  four  degrees  westerlj-  one  hundred  and  ten  perches 
to  a  bounded  black  oak;  thence  west  one  liundred  and  forty-four 
perches  to  a  bounded  black  oak,  being  a  corner  of  the  aforesaid 
William  Guest's  land;  thence  by  a  line  crossing  Mill  Creek,  west- 
south-west  to  a  bounded  tree  standing  near  Peck  Creek,  six  hun- 
dred and  seventy  perches;  thence  north  by  a  line  dividing  it  from 
a  large  tract  laid  out  for  the  use  of  my  sou  William  Penn,  2,311 
perches  to  a  bounded  tree;  thence  east  635  pei'ches  to  a  bouudetl 
white  oak;  hence  south  638  perches  to  a  bounded  white  oak;  thence 
east-north-east  210  i^erches  to  a  bounded  red  oak;  thence  north- 
east 420  perches  to  a  corner  jiost  of  George  and  Michael  Harlan's 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  i8i 

land;  tbeiice  by  the  Hue  of  their  said  land  east-north-east  427 
perches  to  a  bounded  black  oak;  thence  south  one-fourth  westerly 
900  perches  to  a  bounded  black  oak;  thence  west-north-west  268 
perches  to  the  place  of  beginning-,  containing  15,500  acres  of  land, 
being  one  moiety  (allowance  being  first  made  for  lands  within  the 
same  already  taken  up)  of  a  tract  of  thirty  thousand  acres  granted 
by  virtue  of  my  warrant  bearing  date  tJie  17th  of  the  12th  montli, 
1699,  to  my  children,  William  and  Laetitia  Penn,  in  right  and  as 
part  of  50,000  acres  by  me  originally  granted  to  their  mother, 
Gulielma  Maria  Penn,  to  hold  to  her  and  her  heirs  forever; 
which  said  30,000  acres  being  by  my  order  divided,  the  afore-de- 
scribed moiety  by  my  will  and  disposition  becomes  the  lott  and 
share  of  my  said  daughter,  Letitia,  \\'lio  requesting  me  to  confirm 
the  same  to  her  by  patent.  Know  Ye  that  as  well  in  due  regard  to 
the  memory  of  my  dearly  beloved  wife,  her  mother,  deceased,  as  for 
the  fatherly  love  and  natural  affection  I  bear  to  her,  my  said 
daughter,  Letitia  Penn,  I  have  given,  granted  and  confirmed  and 
do  by  these  presents,  for  mee,  my  heirs  and  successors,  fully, 
freely  and  absolutely,  give,  grant,  release  and  confirm  to  the  said 
Letitia  Penn,  her  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  all  that  the  said  de 
scribed  tract  of  15,500  acres  of  land,  as  the  same  is  now  set  forth, 
bounded  and  limited  as  aforesaid,  togetlier  with  all  mines,  minerals, 
quarries,  swamps,  cripples,  woods,  timber  and  trees,  ways,  water 
courses,  liberties,  profits,  commodities  and  appurtenances,  what- 
soever to  the  15,500  acres  of  land,  or  to  any  part  or  parcel  thereof, 
belonging  or  in  an.y  Avis"  appertaining;  together  with  all  rents, 
issues,  profits,  commodities  and  advantages,  whatsoever,  from  any 
part  or  parcel  of  the  said  land  lieretofore  to  me,  my  heirs  or 
successors  reserved,  arising  or  in  any  wise  accruing;  as  also  all  full 
and  free  liberty  to  and  for  the  said  Letitia  Penn,  her  heirs  and  as- 
signs, to  hawk,  liunt,  fish  and  fowl,  in  and  iipon  the  premises 
hereby  granted,  or  upon  any  part  tliereof;  reserving  always  to 
^11  persons  the  fee  of  anj'  parcel  of  land  which  has  at  any  time 


1 82  CHESTER     COUNTY 

beeu  granted  or  confirmed  to  them  by  patents  from  myself  or  my 
commissioners  of  property. 

"To  Have,  Hold,  Possess  and  Enjoj^  the  said  described  tract  of 
15,500  acres  of  land  with  the  appurtenances  and  all  other  the 
premises,  to  the  said  Letitia  Penn,  her  heirs  and  assigns  forever, 
to  the  sole  proper  use  and  behoof  of  the  said  Letitia  Penn,  her 
heirs  and  assigns.  To  be  holden  of  mee,  my  heirs  and  successors, 
proprietors  of  Pennsylvania,  as  of  our  manor  of  Eocklands  in  the 
said  province,  in  free  and  common  soccage,  by  fealty  only  for  all 
services.  Yielding  and  paying  therefor  to  me,  my  heirs  and  suc- 
cessors, a  Bever  skinn,  to  be  delivered  at  Philadelphia,  at  or  upon 
the  first  day  of  the  first  month  of  every  year,  to  such  person  or 
})ersons  as  shall  be  appointed  to  receive  the  same,  and  also  three 
full  and  clear  fifths  parts  of  all  Koyall  mines,  which  shall  from  time 
to  time  happen  to  be  found  within  the  limits  of  the  premises 
hereby  granted,  free  from  all  deductions  and  reprisals  for  dig- 
ging and  refining  the  same.  And  out  of  my  own  further  pleas- 
ure, free  will,  certain  knowledge,  and  meer  motion,  I  have  thought 
fitt  to  erect  the  herein  before  granted  tract  of  land  into  a  manor 
by  the  name  of  the  Manor  of  Stansing,  and  so  will  have  it  called 
henceforth.  To  have  and  to  hold  a  Court  Baron,  belonging  and 
to  have  and  to  hold  view  of  ffrank  jiledge,  for  the  conservation  of 
the  peace,  and  the  better  government  of  the  tenants  holding  or 
hereafter  to  hold  of  the  said  manor,  and  all  other  persons  that 
shall  live  within  the  limits  thereof,  by  the  said  Letitia  and 
her  heirs  or  by  her  or  by  these  stewards;  and  in  the  same  to  use  ail 
things  that  to  the  view  of  ffrank  pledge  do  belong.  In  witness 
whereof  I  have  caused  these  letters  to  be  made  patents." 

This  document  was  signed  b}^  William  Penn  in  Philadelphia, 
This  manor,  named  Stansing  in  the  above  description,  was  really 
the  Manor  of  Stenning,  though  in  the  records  it  is  sometimes 
.spelled  Staning,  ^^teyning,  Staining,  or  Staineing.  Letitia  Penn 
accompanied  her  father  to  tliis  country  on  his  second  visit,  and 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  183 

returnpdwitliliim,bntwliileslie  was  iu  America  she  signed  a  powi-r 
attorney,  November  3,  1701,  authorizing  James  Logan  and  Edward 
Penington  to  manage  her  property  in  the  province.  After  the 
death  of  the  latter  James  Logan  was  her  sole  attorney,  until  De- 
cejuber  24,  1711,  she  and  her  husband,  William  Aubrey,  executed 
a  i)ower  of  attorney  including  Samuel  Carpenter,  who,  together 
witli  James  Logan,  thereafter  managed  her  manor.  They  surveyed 
land  to  the  following  persons  in  the  years  named:  To  Gayeu  Mil- 
ler, who  has  already  been  mentioned,  200  acres  on  the  east  branch 
of  Ked  Clay  Creek;  this  including  the  eastern  part  of  the  present 
borough  of  Kenuett  Square;  to  Mary  Kowland,  in  1712,  138  acres 
between  Mr.  Miller's  land  and  the  line  of  New  Garden  Township; 
in  1713,  to  William  Pyle,  280  acres;  to  Alexander  Steward,  3,")0 
acres;  Silas  Pryor,  371  acres;  Caleb  Prew,  200  acres;  John  Gregg, 
100  acres;  John  Cloud,  335  acres  on  the  circular  boundary  line; 
in  1715,  Ellis  Lewis,  293  acres;  iu  1717,  Jacob  Bennett,  215  acres;  in 
171G,  Benjamin  Fred,  200  acres;  in  1720,  John  Packer,  200  acres; 
iu  3  723,  Eobert  Eoberts,  170  acres;  and  in  1730,  William  Levis, 
100  acres. 

That  portion  of  this  30,000  acres  designed  for  William  Penn, 
Jr.,  11,500  acres,  was  patented  to  him  in  May  2t,  1706,  by  the  com- 
missioners, Edward  Shippen,  Griffith  Owen  and  Thomas  Story, 
and  received  the  same  name,  Stenning.  Its  boundaries  are  much 
more  briefly  described,  as  follows: 

"Beginning  at  a  hickory  tree  on  the  west  side  of  a  branch  of 
White  Clay  Ci-eek,  thence  east  925  perches  to  a  corner  of  Letitia's 
Manor  (Kennett),  thence  by  the  same  soutli  2,311  perches  to  an- 
other corner,  thence  west-south-west  930  perches  to  White  Clay 
Creek,  west  fifty-eight  perches,  and  north  by  land  of  the  London 
company,  2,074  perches  to  the  place  of  beginning."  Settlers 
within  this  manor  have  been  given  heretofore. 

Francis  Yarnell  on  June  8,  1708,  sold  to  John  Cadwallader  for 
£(!0  iu  the  township  of  Williston  containing  150  acres,  whicli 
had  been  granted  to  him  by  the  commissioners  of  property  iu  1703. 


1 84  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Edward  Ilughes  on  December  20, 1708,  sold  to  Eichard  Hill  for 
£100  live  hundred  acres  in  the  township  of  Easttowu,  which  prop- 
erty was  then  called  "Travelywyn,"  and  on  June  13,  1709,  Francis 
Yarnell,  as  administrator  of  the  estate  of  Noah  Watkins,  sold  one 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  Goshen  Township  to  Mordecai  Bean. 

William  Penn,  by  his  commissioners,  Shippen,  Owen  and 
Logan,  on  June  25,  1703,  granted  to  Eobert  Penuel  and  Benjamin 
Mendeuhall  a  tract  of  laud  containing  six  hundred  acres  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Brandywine  in  Chester  County.  This  land  Eobert 
Penne]  sold  to  Benjamin  Mead  April  18,  1711,  with  the  exception 
of  one  hundred  acres  then  owned  by  William  Home. 

Barnabas  Wilcox  piirchased  land  of  the  commissioners  of  prop- 
erty in  Westtown  late  in  the  last  century,  and  on  March  23,  109(5, 
his  heirs  and  successors  sold  five  hundred  acres  to  John  Gibbous, 
whicJi  he  gave  to  his  son,  James  Gibbons. 

John  Blunstone  on  November  27,  1711,  sold  to  Aaron  James 
two  luiudred  and  seventy-six  acTes  of  land  for  £112,  whicli  is  in 
the  toAvnship  of  WesttoAvn,  and  ^^lli(■ll  Mr.  Blunstone  had  re- 
ceived from  the  commissioners  of  ijropei"ty.  This  land  adjoined 
land  owned  by  Benjamin  Hickman  and  John  Bellows.  That. 
John  Blunstone  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  early  history  of  this 
county  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  when  William  Penn,  on  No- 
vember 1,  1701,  went  to  England,  he  had  established  a  council  of 
state,  composed  of  ten  members,  of  which  John  Blunstone  and 
Caleb  Pusey  were  from  Chester  Count}'. 

The  land  in  this  townshiji  was  resurveyed  in  1703  by  Isaac 
Taylor,  who  made  a  return  of  lands  owned  by  several  parties  as 
follows:  William  Swarf ar,  237  acres;  Daniel  Hoopes,  170;  Ben- 
jamin Hickman,  230;  Aaron  James,  208;  Eicliard  Whitepaiue"s 
heirs,  1,918;  Richard  Collett,  1,090.  The  laud  of  the  latter  was  at 
the  west  end  of  the  township,  and  was  probablj^  in  charge  of  tlie 
surveyor,  at  least  for  a  time.  It  was  purchased  September  2,  1727, 
bv  Joliu  Salkeld  of  Chester,  while  he  was  on  a  visit  to  England. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  185 

On  his  return  to  this  country  he  sold  one-half  of  it  to  his  nephew, 
Joseph  Parker,  and  lie  also  sold  three  hundred  acres  to  William 
Harvey  of  Kennett. 

Eichard  Whitpaine  of  London,  England,  bought  a  large 
amount  of  land  in  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  some  of  it  in 
Montgomery  County.  His  land  in  Westtown,  Chester  County,  ex- 
tended from  the  Collett  tract,  above  mentioned,  to  the  present 
School  farm.  After  his  death  in  1689  his  creditors  assumed  the 
care  of  his  Pennsylvania  lands,  and  the  surviving  creditor  in 
1712  conveyed  the  property  to  William  Aubrey  in  trust,  who,  in 
171.3  conveyed  to  Eees  Thomas  of  Merion  and  to  Anthony  Morris, 
Jr.,  of  Philadelphia  to  whom  a  patent  was  granted  by  the  commis- 
sioners of  property  July  10,  1718.  On  May  28,  1718,  these  two 
gentlemen  conveyed  a  one-third  interest  in  the  land  to  John 
Whitpaine  of  Philadelphia,  grandson  of  the  original  owner,  and 
after  the  death  of  this  grandson  his  widow  disposed  of  it  to  set- 
tlers. On  March  30  and  31  she  sold  an  undivided  third  interest  to 
James  Gibbons,  and  on  the  same  days  Thomas  and  Morris,  men- 
tioned above,  sold  the  other  two-thirds  to  the  same  man.  Land  in 
the  same  township  was  also  sold:  to  Thomas  Mercer,  401  acres;  to 
Richard  Eavenson,  219  acres;  to  John  Yearsley,  290  acres;  to 
Philip  Taylor,  200  acres,  and  to  Joseph  Hunt,  252|-  acres. 

Joseph  Shippen,  then  of  Westtown,  Chester  County,  in  1792 
purchased  of  Jacob  Gibbons  two  tracts  of  land,  one  containing 
187  acres  and  the  other  somewhat  more  than  67  acres,  parts  of 
100  acres  which  had  belonged  to  Joseph  Gibbons,  father  of  Jacob, 
Joseph  having  received  it  by  will  from  his  father,  James,  who  had 
purchased  it  of  tiie  widow  of  John  Whitpaine  of  Philadelphia. 

Joseph  Shippen  was  for  some  time  associate  judge  of  Chester 
County  courts,  built  a  mansion  on  his  property,  and  gave  his  plan- 
tation the  name  of  "Plumley."  Richard  Thomas  on  March  30, 1711, 
sold  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  township  of  Goshen  to  Alex- 
ander Beans,  which  land  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  land  owned  by  Evan 


186  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Joues  and  Jolin  Haines  and  "the  reputed  land  of  Thomas  Bo- 
water."  This  two  hundred  acres  of  hind  was  a  part  of  1,G65  acres 
granted  to  Eichard  Thomas  by  William  Penn  by  patent  dated 
July  5,  1703,  and  on  the  2Sth  of  November,  1711,  Mr.  Thomas  sold 
to  the  same  party  two  hundred  acres  more  of  the  same  tract. 

It  is  stated  in  Futhey  and  Cope's  History  of  Chester  County 
that  this  John  Haines  became  the  owner  of  all  the  land  in  the 
borough  of  West  Chester  south  of  Gay  street  in  1702,  of  which  in 
1715  he  sold  36.5  acres  to  his  son  John;  and  that  the  latter  in  1751 
sold  fifty  acres  to  John  Hoopes,  and  in  1753  to  his  son  David  fifty- 
one  acres  and  112  perches,  and  that  he  devised  one  hundred  acres 
at  his  death  to  his  grandson  John,  sou  of  David  Haines.  John 
Hoopes  also  became  the  owner  of  the  land  sold  to  David  Haines,^ 
mentioned  above,  and  sold  the  entire  quautitj''  to  John  Patton  in 
1781.  This  101  acres  and  ]12  perches  of  htud  formed  the  southeast 
part  of  the  town  of  West  Chester,  adjoining  the  Turk's  Head. 

The  great  Welsh  Tract  was  bounded  as  follows:  The  north- 
ern line  is  tliat  which  separates  the  townships  of  Tredyffrin  and 
East  and  West  Whiteland  Townships  from  Schuylkill,  Charles- 
town  and  Lower  Uwchlau;  the  western  line  is  that  which  separates 
AVest  Whiteland,  West  Goshen  and  West  Chester  from  East  Cain 
and  East  Bradford,  the  northwest  corner  being  thus  the  north- 
west corner  of  West  Whiteland  Township.  The  southern  bound- 
ary does  not  appear  to  be  now  certain,  but  the  sur\ey  pretty 
surely  included  the  townships  of  Haverford,  Radnor,  Merion, 
Tredyffrin,  Whiteland,  Willistown,  Easttown,  Goshen  an<l  a  part 
of  Westtown. 

Of  these  townships  ITaverford  and  Radnor  are  now  in  Dela- 
ware County,  though  formerly  they  were  a  part  of  Chester  Countj', 
and  Merion  Township  is  in  I'liiladelphia  County.  When  the  divis- 
ion line  was  run  through  the  Welsh  Tract,  separating  Merion  from 
Chester  County,  there  was  great  dissatisfaction  among  the  Welsh, 
for  this  line  divided  their  barony  into  two  parts,  but  the  sequel 


AX  I)     ITS     PEOPLE.  187 

has  been  treated  of  above  aud  need  not  be  pursued  further  her<', 
except  to  note  that  if  the  southern  and  eastern  boundaries  were 
parallel  respectively  to  tlie  northern  and  western  boundaries  of 
the  Welsh  Tract  the  area  thereof  would  be  very  nearly  40,000 
acres;  but  the  three  townships  first  named  above  were  in  part  a  I 
least  outside  of  these  limits,  which  was  made  necessary  from  the 
fact  that  others  besides  the  Welsh  settled  within  the  limits. 

One  of  the  features  of  early  life  in  Chester  County,  thoujih 
not  exclusively  in  Chester  County,  was  that  of  the  indenture  of 
servants,  or  the  binding  of  them  to  serve  for  a  term  of  years.  Such 
advertisements  as  the  following  were  common  in  the  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century: 

SIX  CENTS  REWARD! 

"Kan  away  from  the  suscribers,  living  in  Sadsbury,  Chester 
County,  about  five  months  ago,  an  apprentice  boy  turned  seven- 
teen years  old,  named  .John  Watson  McCord.  I  do  hereby  warn  all 
persons  not  to  harbor  said  runaway  servant  about  their  houses, 
and  any  person  bringing  him  home  .shall  be  entitled  to  the  above 

reward,  but  no  expenses  paid. 

"WILLIAM    BKIGGS.'* 

THREE  CENTS  REWARD! 

"Ran  away  from  the  subscriber,  living  in  West  Brandywine 
Township,  on  the  ith  of  this  instant  (March,  1819),  an  indentured 
servant  girl  of  color,  named  Hannah  AA'aits,  near  seventeen  years 
of  age.  Whoever  takes  her  up  and  brings  her  home  shall  receive 
the  above  reward,  but  no  charges. 

"HUMPHREY  MARSHALL." 

As  has  been  stated  elsewhere  in  this  work,  it  was  customary  in 
the  early  history  of  the  province  for  many  who  could  not  pay  their 
passage  to  this  country,  to  bind  themselves  out  for  a  term  of  years 
to  anyone  that  would  pay  tlieir  way  across  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR THE  REVOLUTION ACTION  OF  THE    COLONISTS 

— PRELIMINARY  STATEMENT WAR  MEETINGS  IN  CHESTER  COUNTY RESOLU- 
TIONS ADOPTED THE  CONTINENTAL  COMMITTEE — ITS  PROCEEDINGS — WAR 

MEASURES MUNITIONS   OF    WAR CONSCIENTIOUS  SCRUPLES — THE    RAIS- 
ING OF  TROOPS — GREAT  HARDSHIPS MILITARY  CAMPAIGNS — BRANDY- 
WINE LAFAYETTE    WOUNDED MOVEMENTS    OF    THE    ARMIES — THE 

PAOLI      MASSACRE  DEPREDATIONS    OF     THE     BRITISH      SOLDIERS 

OTHER    ENGAGEMENTS — THE    VALLEY  FORGE  ENCAMPMENT 

CLOSING  SCENES    OF  THE   REVOLUTION HOSTILITY  TO  TORIES 

FORFEITURE    OF  ESTATES THE  TORY's  SOLILOQUY THE 

PAOLI       MONUMENT THE      WHISKY      INSURRECTION 

LAFAYETTE'S  VISIT  TO  CHESTER  COUNTY THE  LA- 
FAYETTE   AND  THE    MC  CLELLAN  MONUMENTS. 

ASIDE  from  the  difficulties  connected  with  the  boundary  line 
settlement  between  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  which  difficul- 
ties occurred  mainly  to  the  westward  of  Chester  County,  there 
were  no  warlike  demonstrations  of  interest  until  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  between  England  and  France,  which  began  in  1744. 
The  declaration  of  war  by  England  against  France  was  made 
March  29,  1744,  and  notice  thereof  was  given  to  the  people  of  the 
province  of  Pennsylvania  by  the  Governor  thereof  by  proclama- 
tion dated  June  11,  1744.  While  it  was  fortunately  true  that 
Chester  County  was  not  the  scene  of  active  operations  during  thai 
war,  yet  enlistments  were  made  within  the  county,  and  petitions 
were  presented  to  the  assembly  by  James  Mather,  David  Cowp- 
land,  John  Salkeld  and  Aubrey  Bevan,  travern  keepers,  of  Ches- 
ter, for  feeding  a  company  of  soldiers  under  the  command  of  Cap- 
tain Shannon,  and  payment  was  asked  by  Dr.  Gandouit  for  medi- 
12  193 


194  CHESTER     COUNTY 

fines  anrl  atteiidnncp  on  sick  soldiers.  In  this  war  the  liidiaiis 
eventnally  sided  with  the  Frencli,  and  as  the  assembly  did  not 
make  any  effeotiA'e  military  laws,  i3repai*ations  for  defense  were 
necessarily  left  to  ihe  voluntarily  action  of  the  people,  if  made 
at  all.  It  was  this  necessity  that  led  to  the  formation  of  military 
bodies  or  organizations  under  the  name  of  "Associators,"  two  regi- 
ments of  his  kind  being  formed  in  Chester  County.  One  of  these' 
regiments  A^■as  commanded  by  Colonel  William  Moore,  and  its 
ranks  were  filled  with  men  from  the  townships  of  East  and  West 
Xantmeal,  Uwchlan,  West  Cain  and  Charlestown.  The  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  this  regiment  was  Samuel  Flower  and  the  major  John 
Mather.  The  line  officers  of  the  second  regiment  were  Andrew 
McDowell,  colonel;  John  Frew,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  John 
Miller,  major. 

Neither  the  histoiy  of  the  causes  that  led  to  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  nor  the  history  of  that  war  can  be  expected  or  desired 
in  this  work;  yet  it  will  be  serviceable  to  note  a  few  of  the  im- 
portant events  in  each  case  for  the  pui'pose  of  introduction  to  the 
part  played  in  that  great  conflict  by  Chester  County.  In  April, 
1770,  the  British  ministry  had  taken  off  all  the  taxes  of  which  the 
colonists  complained  except  the  tax  on  tea,  three  pence  per  pound; 
and  as  the  result  of  various  movements  and  disagreements  a  body 
of  some  fifty  persons,  disguised  as  Indians,  went  on  board  the 
vessels  in  Boston  harbor  loaded  Avitli  tea  and  threw  the  same  over- 
board, December  16,  1773,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  crowd  of 
people  collected  to  see  this  act  performed.  In  March  and  April, 
1774,  the  British  ministry  passed  a  series  of  acts  making  an  open 
struggle  only  a  question  of  time.  The  Boston  Port  act  closed  the 
port  of  Boston  against  all  commerce  until  the  tea  thus  destroyed 
should  be  paid  for  and  the  town  itself  should  return  .to  loyalty. 
The  Massachusetts  act  changed  the  charter  of  the  colony;  th*- 
Quebec  act  extended  the  boundary'  of  Canada  over  the  whole  tei'ri- 
tory  of  tlie  northwest  north  of  the  Ohio  River  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi. 


AXD     ITH     PEOPLE.  195 

The  consequence  of  these  acts  was  to  largely  crj'stallize  the 
union  elements  in  the  colonies,  and  the  necessity  for  another  con- 
gress was  widely  felt.  This  congress  uiet  at  Philadelphia  Sep- 
tember 5,  1774,  all  the  colonies  being  represented  except  Georgia, 
and  it  was  well  known  that  Georgia  was  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
movement.  This  was  called  the  First  Continental  Congress,  the 
first  national  body  in  the  histoi*y  of  America.  The  ultimatum 
adopted  by  this  congress  October  8,  1774,  was:  "That  this  con- 
gress approve  the  opposition  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  the  execu- 
tion of  the  late  acts  of  Parliament;  and  if  the  same  shall  be  at- 
tempted to  be  carried  into  execution  by  force,  in  such  case  all 
America  oiight  to  support  them  in  their  opposition."  Summon- 
ing a  new  congress  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  May  10  following, 
this  first  Continental  Congress  adjourned. 

In  February,  1775,  Go^  ernor  Gage  of  Massachusetts  sent  a 
water  expedition  to  Salem  to  search  for  powder,  but  as  the  day 
was  Sunday  a  conflict  was  prevented  by  the  ministers.  An- 
other expedition  sent  out  April  19  to  Concord,  a  small  vil- 
lage twenty  miles  from  Boston,  to  seize  a.  stock  of  powder  said  to  be 
there  stored,  resulted  in  the  battle  of  Lexington,  but  the  troops 
proceeded  nevertheless  to  Concord,  and  destroyed  the  powder,  and 
were  so  hotly  pursued  on  their  return  to  Boston  that  had  not  a 
rescue  party  been  sent  out  to  their  assistance  they  would  all 
have  been  taken  prisoners.  From  April  II,  177."i,  dates  the  uatiimal 
existence  of  the  United  States. 

On  May  10,  1775,  two  historic  events  occurred — the  meeting 
in  Philadelphia  of  the  second  Continental  Congress  and  the  capture 
of  Ticonderoga.  This  second  congress  adopted  the  army  around 
Boston  as  the  "American  Continental  Army,''  and  Washington 
appears  for  the  first  time  on  the  stage  of  history,  which  for  so 
long  a  time  he  completely  filled.  The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  oc- 
curred on  June  17,  1775  and  on  December  31,  1775,  Montgomery 
fell  at  (Quebec  and  Benedict  Arnold  was  wounded.     In  June, 


196  CHESTER     COiXTY 

1776,  Congi'ess  began  to  issue  bills  of  credit,  or  continental  cur- 
rency, but  it  failed  to  seize  the  power  of  taxation  to  provide  for 
its  redemption,  the  consequences  of  which  are  well  known  to  all 
readers  of  history.  In  February,  1776,  the  first  American  fleet  of 
eight  vessels  sailed,  but  its  work  was  of  but  little  importance. 

During  all  this  time  there  were  two  elements  at  work  in 
opposition  to  each  other  throughout  the  colonies — one  in  favoi* 
of  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain,  the  other  in  favor  of  inde- 
pendence. The  provincial  congress  of  Massachusetts,  the  conven- 
tion of  Maryland,  the  assembly  of  New  Jersey  and  other  colonial 
bodies  declared  in  the  strongest  terms  their  affection  for  the 
"mother  country"  and  their  desire  for  a  reconciliation  and  har- 
mony between  themselves  and  Great  Britain.  What  was  called 
a  reunion  with  Great  Britain,  on  constitutional  principles,  was 
the  favorite  object  of  the  (Continental  Congress,  whose  conduct 
was  constantly  marked  with  defensive  movements,  at  no  time 
giving  way  to  revenge  or  resentment — -passions  inconsistent  with 
the  dignity  of  public  bodies.  They  deeply  sjmpathized  with  the 
distress  of  their  country,  and  made  a  redress  of  grievances  and  the 
protection  of  America  their  only  care.  Nothing  appeared  up 
to  this  time  to  show  that  independence  was  what  they  desired. 
Those  who  opposed  any  attempt  to  secure  the  independence  of 
the  colonies  made  the  statement  that  outside  of  the  Continental 
Congress  there  were  310,174  people  in  Maryland  represented  by 
their  convention;  372,208  people  in  Pennsylvania  represented  by 
their  assembly;  161,290  peojjle  in  New  Jersey  represented  by 
their  assembly,  and  124,069  people  in  New  Hampshire  represented 
by  their  convention,  amounting  in  all  to  967,741  people,  nearly 
one-third  of  the  population  of  the  entire  thirteen  colonies,  who 
v>'ere  opposed  to  separation  from  the  mother  country,  and  that 
the  proportion  was  as  great  in  the  colonies  not  enumerated. 

But  notwithstanding  such  arguments,  there  were  manj^  people 
who  fully  believed  that  reconciliation  was  impossible,  and  these 


AXD    /7',s'    pjjoru:.  197 

people  were  represented  in  the  public  prints  by  able  writers,  who 
presented  such  arguments  as  the  following:  Governments  should 
always  be  considered  as  matters  of  convenience,  not  of  right. 
The  Scripture  institutes  no  regular  form  of  government,  but  it 
enters  a  protest  against  the  monarchical  foi*m;  and  a  negation  of 
one  thing  where  two  things  only  are  offered  and  one  of  them 
must  be  chosen,  amounts  to  an  affirmative  as  to  the  other.  Mon- 
archical government  was  first  set  up  by  the  heathens,  and  the 
Almighty  peimiitted  it  to  the  Jews  as  a  punishment.  "I  gave  them 
a  King  in  mine  anger,"  was  quoted  (but  the  Avriter  omitted  the  last 
part  of  the  same  sentence:  "I  took  him  away  in  my  wrath.")  A 
republican  form  of  government  is  pointed  out  by  nature,  and  a 
Kingly  government  by  an  inequality  of  power.  In  republican 
governments  the  leaders  of  the  people  if  improper  are  remov- 
able by  vote;  Kings  only  by  arms.  An  unsuccessful  vote  in  the  first 
case  leaves  the  voter  safe;  but  an  unsuccessful  attempt  in  the 
latter,  death.  Strange!  that  what  is  our  right  in  one  should  be  our 
ruin  in  the  other — from  which  reflection  follows  this  maxim — that 
that  mode  of  government  in  which  our  right  becomes  our  ruin  can- 
not be  the  right  form  of  government.  A  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment has  more  true  grandeur  in  it  than  a  Kingly  government; 
on  the  part  of  the  public  it  is  more  consistent  with  freemen  to 
appoint  their  rulers  than  to  have  them  born,  and  on  the  part 
of  those  who  preside  it  is  far  nobler  to  be  a  ruler  by  choice  of  the 
people  than  a  King  by  the  chance  of  birth.  Every  honest  dele- 
gate is  more  than  a  monarch.  If  the  history  of  the  creation  and 
the  history  of  Kings  be  compared  the  result  will  be  this:  That  God 
made  the  world  and  Kings  have  robbed  him  of  it. 

While  these  movements  were  taking  place  in  the  American 
colonies  and  wJiile  such  arguments  were  being  used  for  and  against 
independence,  England  was  making  her  preparations  for  a  recon- 
ciliation very  different  from  the  kind  desired  even  by  those  whose 
ties  bound  tliem  strongest  to  the  mother  countrj-.     On  February 


198  CHESTER     COUXTY 

27,  177(1,  :i  messenger  arrived  at  St.  James's  bearing  some  very  im- 
portant aispatches  from  the  Regency  of  Hanover,  and  on  the  1st 
of  March  he  was  sent  over  with  several  packets  for  the  lords  of 
that  electorate.  At  that  time  the  following  forces  were  agreed 
to  in  council  to  be  sent  to  America:  Hessians,  12,000;  Bruns- 
wickers,  4,000;  Waldeckers,  2,000;  British,  37,000;  total,  55,000. 
The  treaty  with  tlie  Duke  of  Brunswick  was  signed  by  Colonel 
William  I'awcitt  on  the  Dtli  of  January,  177G.  By  that  treaty 
3,9(i-i  men  were  taken  into  the  pay  of  Great  Britain,  and  also  33(j 
light  cavalry,  dismounted,  while  half  of  them  were  to  be  ready  to 
march  on  the  15th  of  February  and  to  arrive  at  the  place  of  em- 
barkation on  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  the  other  half  to  be 
ready  to  march  the  last  Aveek  of  March.  Levy  money  to  be  paid 
to  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  was  thirty  crowns  for  each  man,  at  the 
rate  of  Is.  O^d.  to  the  crown,  and  the  King  was  to  pay  the  Duke  a 
subsidy  of  01,500  Gennan  crowns  a  year  while  in  pay,  and  double 
that  for  two  years  after  the  troops  returned.  The  treaty  with  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse  was  signed  at  Cassel  on  the  15th  of  January 
and  by  it  12,000  Hessians  were  hired,  a  part  of  whom  Avere  to 
begin  their  marcli  on  the  27th  of  February,  and  the  remainder 
within  four  Aveeks  thereafter,  twenty  pounds  banco  to  be  paid  for 
levy  money  for  each  man,  the  subsidy  to  be  45,000  crowns  banco  per 
annum  at  4s.  9fd.,  the  treaty  to  continue  one  year  after  the  troops 
arrived  back  in  the  Kingdom  of  Hesse. 

The  treaty  with  the  Count  of  Hanau  was  signed  February  5 
for  (W)S  infantry,  to  begin  to  march  on  the  20th  of  March,  levy 
money  to  be  30  croAvus,  and  the  annual  subsidy  to  be  35,000  crowns. 

Thus  arrayed  before  the  world  were  the  three  parties  to  the 
coming  contest,  Avhich  lias  proved  so  momentous  in  the  history  of 
the  world — the  patriots,  the  loyalists  and  the  British  nation. 
And  it  is  now  time  to  turn  attention  to  such  events  in  Chester 
County  that  Avere  the  natural  result  of  greater  movements  in  the 
outside  world.    Immediately  after  the  closing  of  the  port  of  Bos- 


.l.\7)     ITS     I'EOl'IJL  199 

ton,  as  narrated  above,  meetings  were  held  iu  Philadelphia,  and 
the  committee  of  correspondence  for  this  city  sent  ont  a  circular 
to  the  principal  citizens  of  each  of  the  several  counties  in  the  prov- 
ince, in  which  tliey  say:  "'ilie  Governor  declining  to  call  the 
assembly  renders  it  necessary  to  take  the  sentiments  of  the  in- 
habitants; and  for  that  purpose  it  is  agreed  to  call  a  meeting  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  city  and  the  county  at  the  State  House  on 
AVednesday  the  IHth  instant.  And  as  we  would  wish  to  have  the 
sentiments  and  concurrence  of  our  brethren  in  the  several  coun- 
ties, who  are  equally  interested  with  us  in  the  general  cause,  we 
earnestly  desire  you  to  call  together  the  principal  inhabitants  of 
jour  county  and  take  their  sentiments.  We  shall  forward  to  you  by 
every  occasion  any  matters  of  consequence  tha!t  come  to  our 
knowledge  and  we  should  be  glad  you  would  choose  and  appoint 
a  committee  to  correspond  with  us." 

This  circular  was  sent  to  the  following  persons  in  Chester 
County:  Francis  Eichardson,  Elisha  Price  and  Henry  Hayes. 
These  three  gentlemen  as  a  committee,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1774, 
issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  others,  inhabit- 
ants of  the  County  of  Chester,  qualified  by  law  to  vote  for  repre- 
sentatives in  the  general  assembly,  to  meet  at  the  court-house  in 
Chester  on  July  13  folloA\iug,  wliicli  meeting  was  accordingly  held, 
and  of  which  Fraincis  Pichardson  was  selected  chairman  and 
Francis  Johnston  secretary-.  A  long  series  of  resolutions  was 
adopted  afiirniing  "Allegiance  to  our  lawful  and  rightful  sovereign 
lord,  George  III,  King  of  Great  Britain,"  etc.,  but  at  the  same 
time  condemning  the  act  of  Parliament  closing  the  port  of  Bos- 
ton as  unconstitutional,  oppressive  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties 
of  the  British  colonies;  favoring  a  Congress  of  Deputies  from  the 
colonies,  and  expressing  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  highly  con- 
ducive to  the  liberties  of  America  "should  the  colonies  enter  into 
a  solemn  agi'eement  not  to  purchase  any  goods,  wares  or  mer- 
chandise imported  from  Great  Britain  under  such  restrictions  as 


200  CHESTER     COUNTY 

be  agreed  upon  by  the  colonies.  We,  for  our  part,  sensible  of  the 
great  advantages  which  must  arise  from  jaromotiug  economy  and 
manufacturing  among  ourselves  are  determined  to  use  as  little 
foreign  manufactures  of  what  kind  or  quality  soever  as  our  neces- 
sities will  permit  until  the  several  acts  of  the  British  Parliament 
injurious  to  American  interests  be  repealed." 

The  meeting  then  appointed  the  following  committee  to  meet 
with  other  similar  committees  from  other  counties  in  the  province 
to  unite  them  in  such  measures  as  should  be  deemed  advisable  and 
expedient:  Francis  Eichardson,  Elisha  Price,  John  Hart,  Anthony 
Wayne,  John  Sellers,  Hugh  Lloyd,  Francis  Johnston,  Richard 
Ililey,  William  Montgomery,  William  Barker,  Thomas  Hockley, 
Eobert  Mendeuhall  and  John  Fleming,  the  first  eight  of  whom  were 
present  at  Philadelphia  on  the  1.5th  of  that  month. 

At  this  meeting  so  held  a  series  of  sixteen  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted,  in  which  they  again  expressed  their 
allegiance  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  condemned  the  Parlia- 
ment and  urged  that  a  Congress  of  Deputies  from  the  several 
colonies  be  immediately  assembled,  which  should  take  siich  meas- 
ures as  would  procure  relief  for  their  gi'ievauces  and  restore 
harmony  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.  John  Dickin- 
son was  chairman  of  the  committee  which  presented  the  resolu- 
tions and  was  the  author  of  the  resolutions.  This  committee  was 
to  give  instructions  to  the  assembly,  which  met  the  week  after- 
ward, and  request  them  to  appoint  a  proper  number  of  repre- 
sentatives to  attend  the  Congress  of  Deputies  from  the  several 
colonies,  which  should  meet  at  some  convenient  time  and  place 
to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  those  having  the  interests  of  the 
colonies  at  heart.  Chester  County's  member  of  the  committee 
presenting  these  resolutions  was  Elisha  Price. 

The  assembly,  which  met  as  expected,  appointed  as  member* 
of  the  Congress  of  Deputies:  Joseph  Galloway,  Daniel  Ehoads, 
Thomas  MifiHin,  John  Morton,  Charles  Humphreys,  George  Eoss^ 


AM)     /7'.S'     PEOPLE.  201 

Edward  Biddle,  and  later,  John  Dickinson,  John  Morton  and 
Cliarles  riumphreys  being  from  Cliester  County.  The  congress 
was  composed  of  fifty-five  delegates,  and  met  in  Philadelphia  on 
September  5 

On  December  20,  1774,  another  meeting  was  h^d  at  the  coiirt- 
honse  in  Chester  County  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  committee 
to  carry  into  execution  the  association  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, the  committee  selected  for  this  purpose  being  as  follows: 
Anthony  AA'ayue,  Francis  Johnston,  Eichard  Kiley,  Evan  Evans, 
James  Moore,  Hugh  Lloyd,  Thomas  Hockley,  David  Cowpland, 
John  Hart,  Sketchley  Morton,  Samuel  Fairlamb,  Isaac  Eyre,  John 
Crosby,  >Jicholas  Diehl,  Jesse  Bonsall,  Aaron  Oakford,  Benjamin 
Branuan,  John  Talbot,  Joseph  Brown,  Samuel  Price,  John  Craw- 
ford, John  Taylor,  Lewis  Cronow,  Edward  Humphreys,  Henry 
Lawrence,  Bichard  Thomas,  William  Montgomery,  Persifor  Frazer, 
Thomas  Taylor,  John  Foulke,  Eobett  Mendenhall,  Joseph  Penuell, 
George  Pierce,  Nicholas  Fairlamb,  Samuel  Trimble,  Charles  Dil- 
worth,  Jf>hu  Hannum,  George  Hoops,  Joel  Bailey,  John  Gilliland, 
Joseph  Bishop,  Jr.,  John  Kerlin,  Edward  Bones,  William  Lewis, 
Patrick  Anderson,  Joshua  Evans,  Thomas  Hartman,  Dr.  Bran- 
son Van  Leer,  William  Evans,  Thomas  Cowan,  Thomas  Haslep, 
Patterson  Bell,  Dr.  Jonathan  Morris,  Andrew  Mitchell,  Thomas 
Buffington,  James  Bennett,  Joseph  Musgrave,  William  Miller, 
Eichard  Flower,  Walter  Finney,  James  Simpson,  David  Wherry, 
James  Evans,  Thomas  Bishop,  William  Edwalrds,  Jonathan  Ver- 
non, Jr.,  Lewis  Davis,  Sr.,  Joseph  Gibbons,  Jr.,  and  Thomas  Evans. 
TJiis  committee  was  authorized  to  continue  until  one  month  after 
the  adjournment  of  the  next  Continental  Congress,  and  to  transact 
such  business  and  to  enter  into  such  associations  as  to  them 
might  apear  expedient. 

Of  this  committee  Anthony  Wayne  was  selected  chairman  and 
Francis  Johnston  secretary.  The  committee  then  unanimously 
resclved  that  anj-  twelve  or  more  of  their  number  should  be  a 


202  rilESTJ'JR    corxTY 

quorum,  but  that  uothing  should  be  done  except  upon  the  sanc- 
tion of  at  least  twelve,  and  that  in  their  opinion  it  was  neces- 
sary that  a  provincial  convention  should  be  held  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. They  also  resolved  that  tAvelve  persons  of  their  committee 
sliiiuld  be  appointed  to  attend  as  delegates  such  a  convention  at 
sucli  time  and  place  as  should  be  generallj'  agreed  upon. 

The  ]iroposed  provincial  convention  assembled  at  Philadel- 
pliia  January  23,  1775,  and  remained  in  session  until  the  2Stli. 
Chester  ('ouuty  was  represented  therein  by  the  following  ten 
persons:  Anthony  Wayne,  Hugh  Lloyd,  Kichard  Thomas,  Fran<'is 
Johnston,  Samuel  Fairlamb,  Lewis  Davis,  William  Montgomery, 
Joseph  Musgrave,  Joshua  Evans  and  Persifor  Frazer.  The  two 
members  elected  to  attend  that  could  not  be  present  were  Thomas 
Hockley  aiiti  Tliomas  Taylor. 

A  meeting  of  the  Chester  County  committee  was  held  March 
20,  1775,  at  the  house  of  Eichai'd  Cheyney  in  East  Cain,  at  which 
meeting  it  was  ordered  that  Mr.  Hockley,  Mr.  Johnston,  Mr. 
Gronow,  ilr.  Idr)yd,  Mr.  Frazer,  Mr.  Moore  and  Mr.  Taylor  be  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  essay  a  draught  of  a  petition  to  i)resent 
to  th(*  general  assembly  of  the  province,  with  regard  to  the  mauu- 
mision  of  slaves,  especially  relating  to  the  freedom  of  infants 
hereafter-  born  of  black  women  within  this  province,  and  to  make 
report  of  the  sajue  to  this  committee  at  its  next  meeting. 

At  the  iirsi  meeting  of  the  Chester  County  committee  it  had 
been  resolved  that  subscriptions  be  taken  u]»  for  the  suffering  peo- 
ple of  liostou  and  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  accordance  with  which 
rcsolurion  Ihc  Society  of  Friends,  acting  in  their  meeting  capacity, 
liberally  c(mtril)uted  to  tlie  object.  Chester  Monthly  Meet- 
ing contributed  £70,  Darby  Meeting  contributed  £33  and 
Haverford  Meeting  also  contributed  to  such  an  amount  as 
Avas  practicable.  At  the  meeting  of  the  committee  held  iu  March, 
above  mentioned,  it  was  on  motion  ordered  that  each, member  of 
the  committee  use  his  utmost  diligence  in  collecting  the  several 


AXD     /7',s'     PEOPLE.  203 

sums  of  money  subscribed  for  the  use  of  Boston,  and  pay  the  same 
into  the  bands  of  Anthony  Wayne,  treasurer,  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  committee. 

The  committee  hehl  a  meeting  at  Chester  May  22,  1775,  at 
which  it  was  resolved,  in  order  to  avert  the  evils  and  calamities 
which  threatened  the  country,that  they  would  use  their  utmost  eu- 
deavors  to  learn  the  militarj-  exercise,  that  tbey  would  Tpaj  a  due 
regard  to  their  officers,  and  that  they  would  at  all  times  be  ready 
to  defend  their  lives,  liberties  and  property  against  all  attemjjt.s 
to  deprive  them  of  them.  On  the  2.5th  of  September,  1775,  a  meet- 
ing was  held  at  tlie  sign  of  the  Turk's  Head  in  the  township  of 
Goshen,  at  which  it  was  resolved  that  inasmuch  as  certain  per- 
sons inimical  to  the  liberties  of  America  had  industriously  cir- 
culated a  report  that  the  military  associators  in  the  county,  in 
conjunction  with  the  militaiw  associators  in  general,  intended  to 
overturn  the  constitution  by  declaring  an  independency,  etc.,  and  as 
the  report  could  only  originate  among  the  worst  of  men  for  the- 
worst  of  purposes,  "This  committee  have  thought  proper  to 
declare,  and  they  do  hereby  declare,  their  abhorrence  even  of  an 
idea  so  perniciou.s  in  its  nature,  as  they  ardently  wish  for  nothing- 
more  than  a  happy  and  speedy  reconciliation  on  constitutional 
principles  with  that  state  from  whom  they  derive  their  origin." 

On  the  2ad  of  October,  1775,  the  committee,  composed  in  part 
of  new  members,  met  again  at  the  house  of  David  Cowpland  in 
Chester  and  passed  a  motion  ordering  each  of  its  members  to 
immediately  make  return  of  the  quantity  of  powder  he  had  already 
collected  or  might  collect  within  his  district,  together  with  the 
prices  and  the  name  of  the  owner  thereof,  that  the  same  might 
be  paid  for,  and  it  v/as  also  resolved  that  Anthony  Wayne,  Francis 
Johnston,  Elisha  Price,  Mr.  Eichardson,  Mr.  Knowles,  Mr.  Lloyd, 
and  Mr.  Brannan  be  appointed  a  committee  of  correspondence  for 
the  count}'. 

The  assembly,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1775,  appointed  a  com- 


204  CHESTER     COUNTY 

mittee  of  safety,  of  which  the  Chester  County  members  were  as 
follows:  Anthony  Wayne,  Benjamin  Bartholomew,  Francis  John- 
ston, and  Eichard  Iviley.  Each  county  was  required  to  furnish  a 
certain  number  of  firelocks,  six  hundred  being  required  from  Ches- 
ter County.  These  six  hundred  firelocks  were  manufactured  by  a 
Mr.  Dunwicke  and  were  ready  to  be  tested  by  October  G,  1775.  Of 
the  committee  of  safety  Benjamin  Franklin  was  made  president, 
William  Garrett  clerk,  and  Michael  Hillegas  treasurer.  And 
among  the  first  labors  of  this  committee  of  safety  was  the  prepara- 
tion of  articles  for  the  government  of  those  military'  organizations 
known  as  "Associators."  In  October  the  committee  of  safety  was 
reorganized,  but  the  Chester  County  members  were  all  retained^ 
and  Nicholas  Fairlamb  was  added  to  their  number.  The  Chester 
County  committee  held  a  meeting  on  December  26,  1775,  in  order 
to  secure  a  more  perfect  organization  of  the  Associators,  and  it  was 
resolved  that  Anthony  "Wayne,  James  Moore,  Francis  Johnston, 
Dr.  Samuel  Kennedy,  Caleb  Davis,  William  Montgomery,  Persifor 
Frazer  and  Eichard  Thomas,  or  any  five  or  more  of  them,  be  ap- 
pointed to  represent  the  county  if  there  should  be  any  occasion  in 
provincial  convention  for  the  ensuing  year. 

At  its  session  in  May  previous.  Congress  had  resolved  to  raise 
a  continental  army,  of  which  the  portion  allotted  to  Pennsylvania 
amounted  to  4,300  men,  and  the  assembly  recommended  to  the 
several  counties  that  they  i)rovi(l('  arms  and  accouterments  for  this 
force.  At  the  request  of  Congress  the  committee  recommended 
proper  persons  for  officers  in  the  several  battalions.  The  com-, 
mittee  recommended  Anthony  Wayne  of  Chester  Coimty  as  colonel 
of  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  battalion.  Francis  Johnston  was  rec- 
ommended as  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Nicholas  Hansecker  of  Lan- 
caster County  as  major.  Of  the  three  the  latter  was  the  only  one 
that  went  over  to  the  enemy,  this  being  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Trenton. 

The  Provincial  Convention  that  met  in  Philadelphia,  January 


AND     IT^    PEOPLE.  205 

23,  1775,  recommended  among  other  tliiugs  the  making  of  salt- 
l)eter,  and,  in  accordance  with  this  recommendation,  extraordinary 
means  were  adopted  to  insure  a  proper  supply.  Benjamin  Bran- 
nan,  Walter  Finney  and  John  Beaton  were  appointed  to  attend 
the  saltpeter  manufactory  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  order  to 
perfect  themselves  in  the  art,  and  afterward  made  appointments  to 
meet  at  several  different  houses  in  the  county  to  teach  and  instruct 
all  persons  who  might  be  pleased  to  apply  at  the  times  and  places 
appointed.  On  February  7,  177G,  a  powder-maker  by  the  name  of 
Thomas  Heimberger  engaged  to  erect  a  powder  mill  in  Chester 
County,  about  thirty-three  miles  from  Philadelphia,  a  few  miles 
from  Yellow  Springs,  provided  the  committee  advanced  him  £150 
and  kept  him  employed  one  year.  On  February  26,  1776,  John 
Beaton  advertised  that  he  would  be  at  several  places  at  as  many 
different  times  to  instruct  in  making  saltpeter,  and  on  March  29  an 
order  was  drawn  by  the  committee  of  safety  in  favor  of  the  com- 
mittee of  Chester  County  for  £500  for  the  purchase  of  arms  on 
account  of  Congress. 

Every  necessary  precaution  was  taken  to  prevent  any  portion 
of  the  British  navy  from  passing  up  the  Delaware  Eiver  to  Phila- 
delphia, chevaux-de-frize  being  sunk  in  the  river,  and  only  persons 
specially  appointed  to  conduct  vessels  through  the  opening  in  the 
obstruction  permitted  to  go  below  Chester.  Provincial  troops  were 
rapidly  organized  along  the  river,  and  collected  in  such  numbers 
that  there  were  not  houses  enough  in  and  around  Chester  to  accom- 
modate them,  for  which  reason  the  committee  of  safety  on  April 
13,  1776,  resolved  that  Col.  Miles  procure  for  the  use  of  the  troops 
one  hundred  good  tents  on  the  most  reasonable  temis  possible. 
On  April  17,  an  order  was  drawn  for  £1,500  by  the  committee  of 
safety  in  favor  of  the  commissioners  and  assessors  of  Chester 
County  for  the  payment  of  firelocks,  etc.,  made  in  that  county  for 
the  use  of  the  province.  An  application  was  made  to  the  com- 
mittee of  safety  for  850  pounds  of  powder,  in  addition  to  the  400 


2o6  CHESTER     COTXTY 

pounds  on  banil,  and  lead  enough  for  the  whole,  and  for  1,500 
Hints  to  be  distributed  anioug  the  Associators,  in  order  to  supply 
them  with  twenty-three  pounds  per  man. 

May  7,  1770,  Eobert  Towers  was  directed  to  deliver  to  Col. 
Samuel  Miles,  for  the  use  of  the  rroviucial  troops  under  his  com- 
mand, 1,000  pounds  of  gunpowder  and  2,000  pounds  of  lead,  or  a:i 
frreat  a  part  thereof  as  is  in  store.  At  the  same  time  20,000  car- 
tridges for  muskets  for  the  use  of  the  Associators  of  Chester 
County  were  directed  to  be  conveyed  to  Chester,  and  ou  the  next 
day  the  commissary  was  directed  to  send  down  to  Chester,  for  tlie 
use  of  the  Provincial  troops  under  Col.  Miles,  sixty  firelocks. 

In  June,  1776,  the  powder  works  in  Chester  County  were  as 
follows:  That  owned  by  Cowperthwaite  &  Biddle  on  French  Creek, 
about  four  miles  above  Moore  Hall;  that  of  Thomas  lleimberger,  ou 
a  branch  of  French  Creek  about  five  miles  above  that  first  men- 
tioned; one  on  Crum  Creek  belonging  to  Dr.  Robert  Harris,  and  be- 
sides these  there  was  a  small  one  in  Bucks  County  on  Swamp 
Creek.  At  this  time  tlie  number  of  firearms  fit  for  service,  in 
Chester  County,  was  as  follows:  First  battalion,  Col.  James  Moore, 
380;  Second  battalion.  Col.  Thomas  Hockley,  100;  Third  battalion. 
Col.  Hugh  Lloyd,  300 ;  Fourth  battalion.  Col.  AMlliam  Montgomery, 
450;  Fifth  battalion.  Col.  Eichard  Thomas,  300;  total,  1,830. 

By  order  of  the  committee  of  safety  the  commissary,  Robert 
Towers,  was  ordered  to  deliver  to  the  colonels  of  the  several  bat- 
talions of  Associators  in  Chester  County  the  following  quantities 
of  ammunition:  To  Col.  James  Mooi'e,  2,300  cartridges  for  jirovin- 
cial  muskets;  2,070  cartridges  sorted  for  the  other  bores  of  fire- 
locks, and  1,500  flints;  to  Col.  Thomas  Hockley,  2,300  of  the  first 
kind,  2,300  of  the  second  kind,  and  1,000  flints;  to  Col.  Hugh  Lloyd, 
1,840  of  the  first  kind,  1,010  of  the  second  kind,  and  1,200  flints; 
to  Col.  William  Montgomery,  2,7G0  of  the  first  kind,  2,115  of  the 
second  kind,  and  1,800  flints;  to  Col.  Richard  Thomas,  1,810  of  the 
first  kind,  1,610  of  the  second,  and  1,200  fiints.  Each  of  these  bat- 
talions also  received  lead  and  loose  powder  in  the  same  proportion. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  207 

One  of  the  important  duties  of  tlie  eonimittee  of  safety  was 
the  preparation  of  articles  govei'ning  the  military  organizations 
of  the  province,  which  articles  are  too  lengthy  and  of  too  general 
a  nature  to  require  introduction  here;  but  tliey  were  very  rigid, 
^lany  of  the  citizen  soldiers  refused  to  subscribe  to  them  or  to 
submit  to  theni,  for  the  reason,  as  they  claimed,  that  many  persons 
claimed  exemption  from  military  service  because  of  conscientious 
or  religious  scruples,  the  citizen  soldiers  thinking  that  where  tiic 
liberties  of  all  were  in  danger,  all  should  bear  their  proportionare 
share  of  the  risk  and  of  the  expense  of  defense.  As  a  result  of 
these  objections  to  the  performance  of  militan-  duty  on  the  part 
of  those  who  were  otherwise  willing  to  perform  them,  tlie  com- 
mittee of  safety  I'ecommended  to  the  assembly  that  provisions  be 
made  that  such  persons  as  were  opposed  to  becoming  soldiers  on 
account  of  their  conscientious  or  religious  scruples  might  be  per- 
mitted to  pay  an  equivalent  in  money  for  such  services  as  they 
would  otherwise  have  to  perform.  The  assembly  thereupon  re- 
solved that  all  persons  between  sixteen  and  fifty  years  of  age,  capa- 
ble of  bearing  arms,  who  did  not  associate  for  the  defense  of  the 
province  ought  to  contribute  an  equivalent  for  the  time  spent  by 
the  Associators  in  acquiring  military  discipline,  except  ministers  of 
the  gospel  and  servants  purchased  bona  fide.  And  the  county 
commissioners  were  empowered  to  assess  on  those  not  associated 
the  sum  of  £2  10s.  annually  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  tax. 

July  4,  1770,  was  the  day  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
went  foiiJi.  On  the  5th  Congress  resolved  that  the  declaration  be 
sent  to  the  several  assemblies  and  conventions  and  councils,  and 
to  the  several  commanders  of  the  Continental  troops,  that  it  be 
read  at  the  head  of  the  army  and  in  each  of  the  United  States. 
Letters  wei-e  sent  out  by  the  committee  to  the  different  colonels 
of  the  battalions  of  the  counties  of  Philadelphia,  Bucks,  Chester 
and  Lancaster,  requesting  them  to  have  their  troops  ready  to  march 
at  an  hour's  notice.     The  Associators  of  the  province,  divided  into 


2o8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

liftj-tliree  battailous,  met  by  delegates  at  Lancaster  July  ■!,  177(i, 
to  elect  two  brigadier-generals  to  command  the  forces  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Daniel  Koberdeau  and  James  Ewing  being  chosen.  To 
this  convention  at  Lancaster,  Chester  County  sent  Major  Culbert- 
son,  Col.  Montgomery,  Lieut.-Col.  Gibson,  Captains  Wallace,  Scott 
and  Gardiner,  and  Privates  Cunningham,  Dennj^,  Culbertson  and 
Fulton. 

On  July  12,  177G,  Kobert  Smith,  who  had  been  chosen  lieu- 
tenant of  the  county,  wrote  to  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  president  of 
the  i^rovince,  that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  applying  to  him 
for  money  to  enable  him  to  fill  the  first  class  of  the  militia  of 
Chester  County,  which  had  long  before  been  ordered  to  march, 
but  that  only  320  had  arrived,  of  whom  200  were  substitutes,  and 
that  the  class  when  full  would  contain  700  men. 

The  musket  battalion  composed  of  444  men  was  under  com 
raand  of  Col.  Samuel  John  Atlee,  the  captains  of  the  several  com- 
panies being  Patrick  Anderson,  Peter  Z.  Lloyd,  Francis  Muncy, 
Abraham  Marshall,  Abraham  Dehuff,  Thomas  Herbert,  John  Nice 
and  Joseph  Howell.  On  July  15,  Abraham  Mai'shall  was  per- 
mitted to  I'esign  and  was  succeeded  by  Jose^jh  McClellan.  This 
battalion,  along  with  other  troops  from  Chester  County,  was  pres- 
ent in  the  campaign  of  New  York.  The  fourth  battalion,  of  Chester 
County,  which  was  one  of  those  in  the  New  York  campaign,  was 
commanded  by  Col.  Montgomery.  One  of  the  companies  in  this 
battalion  was  commanded  hj  Captain  James  McDowell,  the  lieu- 
tenants being  James  Thorn  and  Daniel  Hayes,  the  ensign  Abra- 
ham Smith,  the  sergeants  Charles  Ramsey,  John  Wallace^  Ezekiel 
Hopkins  and  John  Arnell,  and  the  drummer  Neal  Crossin.  The 
number  of  j^rivate  soldiers  in  this  company  was  forty-six.  Three 
battJilions,  including  that  of  Col.  Atlee,  were  formed  into  a  regi- 
ment under  command  of  Col.  Samuel  Miles,  and  were  in  the  dis- 
astrous battle  at  Flatbush,  Long  Island,  on  the  27th  of  August. 
Several  of  Capt.  Pat.  Anderson's  comijany  were  killed,  one  sergeant 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  211 

ami  niue  privates  were  missing,  and  the  Captain  himself  nar- 
rowly escaped  with  his  life.  Colonels  Miles  and  Atlee  were  taken 
]»risoners,  and  Lieut.-Col.  Caleb  Perry  was  killed.  The  command 
of  tlie  regiment  then  devolved  upon  Col.  Daniel  Broadhead.  On 
August  1  there  were  397  men  in  Col.  Alice's  battalion,  but  oil  Sep- 
tember 22,  according  to  a  letter  from  Capt.  Anderson,  there  were 
only  eighty-three  men  left,  on  account  of  losses  in  killed,  wounded, 
prisoners  and  deserters. 

The  I'eunsylvauia  troops  suffered  severely,  not  only  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Long  Island,  but  also  in  the  reduction  of  Fort  Washington, 
Col.  Atlee's  and  Col.  Montgomery's  battalions,  among  several 
others,  being  taken  prisoners.  General  Howe  then  threatened 
Philadelphia,  to  which  city  Gen.  Washington  sent  Major-General 
Israel  Putuam  to  take  charge  of  its  defense.  In  the  absence  of  the 
rroo])s  from  Chester  County  on  the  expeditions  mentioned  above, 
the  young  women  followed  the  plow  and  prepared  the  fallow  fields 
for  tlie  fall  seeding.  All  of  the  coarse  blankets,  clothing  and 
stockings  in  the  county  were  purchased,  and  the  owners  of  stock, 
by  order  of  the  committee  of  safety,  prepared  to  remove  their 
stock  back  from  the  Delaware  to  a  place  of  security,  at  least,  to  a 
distance  of  five  miles.  The  salt  in  the  possession  of  the  committee 
was  sent  to  the  several  counties  in  the  province,  Chester  County, 
jcceiving  eighty  bushels,  which  was  to  be  sold  to  the  people  at  the 
rate  of  fifteen  shillings  per  bushel.  Dr.  Kobert  Harris  received 
£.">S  for  making  powder,  and  it  was  proposed  by  Dr.  Thomas  Bond 
that  hospitals  be  established  for  the  sick  at  Darby,  Chester,  Marcus 
Hook,  Wilmington  and  New  Castle. 

The  battle  of  Trenton,  won  by  General  Washington  December 
25,  1770,  greatly  relieved  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  people  and 
removed  the  apprehensions  that  had  been  felt  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Chester  County  of  any  immediate  attack  on  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, which  city  was  so  near  to  them,  an,d  which  would  bring  the 
war  so  near  to  their  homes.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  March, 
13 


212  CHESTER     COUXTY 

1777,  a  serious  accident  occurred,  in  the  explosion  of  the  powdcn' 
mill  on  French  Creek,  Avhich,  however,  may  not  have  been  wholly 
an  accident,  for  Peter  Dehaven,  who  had  charge  of  the  mill,  wrote 
to  the  committee  of  safety  that  he  suspected  the  mill  was  blown 
up  by  Mr.  Peck  or  his  men,  and,  as  a  natiiral  result,  Mr.  Peck  and 
his  men  were  all  taken  prisoners  and  kept  under  guard  until  an 
investigation  could  be  made.  One  man  was  so  badly  burned  that 
he  died  next  day.  After  the  investigation  had  been  made  Mr. 
Peck,  who  was  the  powder-maker,  and  his  men  were  set  at  liberty. 

The  cannon  cast  at  Warwick  furnace  during  the  year  177(! 
consisted  of  23  12-pounders  and  37  18-pounders,  <>()  in  all,  and 
those  cast  at  Heading  furnace  consisted  of  31  12-pounders  and 
Gl  18-pounders,  02  in  all.  On  the  11th  of  November,  1776,  Daniel 
Joy,  from  Reading  furnace,  wrote  to  Daniel  Ivittenhouse  in  Phila- 
delphia, that  he  had  sent  him  two  9-pounder  cannon,  proved  with 
eight  pounds  of  powder,  two  shot  and  three  wads,  that  he  in- 
tended to  cast  six  more  of  the  same  size,  and  afterward  one  each 
day,  but  they  would  be  somewhat  larger. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1777,  the  officers  of -the  Fifth  Pennsyl- 
vania regiment  were  as  follows:  Francis  Johnston,  colonel;  Persi- 
for  Frazer,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Thomas  Robinson,  major.  On 
April  3  a  requisition  for  wagons  was  made  upon  Colonel  Caleb 
Davis,  Chester  County;  Major  Evans,  near  Yellow  Springs;  Col- 
onel William  Dewees,  at  Valley  Forge,  and  Isaac  Webb,  Milltown, 
now  Downingtown. 

On  April  28,  1777,  Lieut.  Robert  Smith  wrote  to  President 
Wharton  that  he  had  used  all  the  industry  in  his  power  in  for- 
warding the  business  of  the  militia  of  Chester  County,  which  had 
been  divided  into  eight  districts  or  battalions,  that  the  field  officers 
had  been  elected,  and  met  that  day  to  draw  for  rank,  and  he  said 
that  the  number  of  persons  returnable  to  him  in  the  county  as 
capable  of  bearing  arms  was  upward  of  5,000. 

On  July  9  the  council  made  a  request  that  the  justices  of  the 


AXD     /T.S'     PEOPLE.  213 

peace  should  nominate  proper  persons  to  take  an  account  of  all 
the  wheat,  flour,  grain  and  other  stores  in  the  county  of  Chester 
witJiiu  twenty  miles  of  the  Delaware  to  the  westward,  and  in 
accordance  therewith  the  justices,  namely,  Isaac  Davis,  James 
Moore,  Daniel  Griffith,  Philip  Scott  and  Robert  Smith,  made  a 
return  as  follows: 

John  Wilson,  Isaac  Taylor,  George  Curry,  Chai'les  Dilworth, 
Thomas  McCall,  Joshua  Evans,  James  Ewing  and  James  Lindsey. 

For  the  purpose  of  providing  for  and  feeding  the  poor  that 
might  be  removed  from  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  anticipation  of 
an  attack  on  that  city  by  the  British  general,  Howe,  the  foUoAving 
gentlemen  were  appointed: 

Benjamin  Bartholomew  of  East  Whiteland,  Daniel  John  of 
Charlestown,  David  Thomas  of  Vincent,  Michael  Hallman  of  Pike- 
laud,  Peter  Crumbacker  of  Coventry,  William  James  of  East  Xant- 
meal,  John  Brower  of  West  Jsantmeal,  Thomas  Evans  of  Uwchlan, 
George  Thomas  of  West  Whiteland,  James  Thompson  of  East  Cain, 
John  Fleming  of  West  Cain,  Joseph  Parker  of  Sadsbury,  Thomas 
Heslip  and  Samuel  Futhey  of  East  and  West  Fallowiield,  William 
Wilson  of  Oxford,  William  Pake  of  West  Nottingham,  and  David 
Wherry  of  East  Xottingham. 

On  August  5,  1877,  Lewis  Grouow  wrote  to  Timothy  Matlack, 
stating  that  great  dissatisfaction  was  expressed  with  the  mode  of 
hiring  substitutes.  The  advance  of  such  large  premiums  as  was 
being  made  iu  Philadelphia  County  for  two  months'  service  was 
unreasonable  and  absurd.  The  county  had  given  £25  for  several 
that  had  been  supplied,  and  the  news  quickly  reached  Chester 
County,  which  made  it  necessary  to  give  as  much  in  Chester  County, 
otherwise  the  men  would  go  elsewhere  to  enlist;  that  is,  men  who 
were  not  under  marching  orders,  for  Avhich  he  said  they  could  not 
be  blamed.  The  question,  therefore,  was,  Mr.  Gronow  said, 
whether  he  should  pay  such  extravagant  premiums. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  British  fleet  approached  Dela- 


214  CHESTER     COUXTY 

ware  Bay,  and  it  was  expected  that  fleet  would  ascend  the  bay  and 
river  as  far  as  XJrac'ticable,  and  make  the  attack  on  Philadelphia 
from  that  direction.  "Washington  was,  therefore,  directed  to  re- 
jmir  with  his  army  to  Philadelphia,  and  the  militia  of  Maryland, 
Delaware  and  Northern  Virginia  were  ordered  to  join  the  Pennsyl- 
vania troops.  Upon  Washington's  arrival  in  Philadelphia  he  first 
met  Lafayette,  who  had  then  recently  arrived  in  that  city,  and 
Lafayette  at  once  took  up  his  quarters  with  the  commander-in- 
chief.  General  Howe,  after  entering  Delaware  Bay,  found  ap- 
proach to  Philadelphia  too  diilicult  by  that  route,  so  withdrew  his 
fleet  to  the  ocean,  and  entered  Chesapeake  Bay.  August  25,  the 
British  army,  consisting  of  18,000  men,  including  a  portion  of  the 
Hessians,  disembarked  near  the  head  of  the  Elk  Kiver,  and  on  the 
28th  the  vanguard  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  Elk,  and  the  day  fol- 
lowing at  Gray's  Hill.  Here  it  was  joined  by  the  rear  guard  under 
General  Knyphausen,  and  the  entire  army  posted  itself  behind  the 
river  Christiana,  with  Newark  on  the  right  and  Pencauder  on 
the  left. 

In  the  month  of  September  two  companies  of  militia  of  Chester 
County  embodied  themselves  and  applied  for  ammunition  and  arms 
at  headquarters,  fearing  that  the  enemy  would  invade  the  county; 
but  their  application  was  refused,  it  was  thought,  for  the  reason 
that  they  were  unwilling  to  join  in  with  the  other  militia  and  be 
taken  under  the  direction  of  the  commander-in-chief.  The  day  be- 
fore the  British  army  landed,  as  narrated  above.  General  Washing- 
ton marched  his  army  through  Philadelphia  toward  the  Brandy- 
wine,  and  as  the  means  of  transportation  for  the  army  baggage 
was  inadequate,  an  order  was  issued  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  of 
each  county  of  Philadelphia  and  Chester  for  twentj^-five  four-horse 
wagons.  The  headquarters  were  established  at  Wilmington,  and 
on  September  1  the  militia  called  out  in  Lancaster  County  were 
ordered  by  him  to  join  his  forces  at  that  place. 

The  British  army  being  j^ut  in  motion,  threatened  with  its  right 


AXD     77\s'     PEOPLE.  215 

the  center  of  General  Washington's  position,  and  with  its  left  ex- 
tended threatened  to  turn  his  right  wing.  Perceiving  the  danger, 
General  Washington  retired  behind  the  Brandywine  and  took  up  a 
position  at  Chadd's  Ford,  as  the  most  practicable  of  all  for  defense, 
and  encamped  on  the  rising  ground  extending  from  Chadd's  Ford 
in  the  direction  of  northwest  to  southeast  General  Maxwell's 
riflemen  scoured  the  right  or  west  bank  of  the  Brandywine  in 
order  to  harass  and  retard  the  approach  of  the  British  army  as 
much  as  possible,  and  the  militia  under  General  Armstrong  was 
assigned  a  position  on  the  left  or  east  bank  of  the  Brandj-wine, 
about  two  miles  below  the  principal  encampment  of  Washington, 
which  enabled  him  to  guard  two  fords,  named  Pyle's  Ford  and 
Corner  Ford.  In  order  to  fortify  the  position  at  Chadd's  Ford  a 
line  of  breastworks  was  hastily  thrown  up  on  the  bluff  bordering 
on  level  ground  a  little  to  the  north  of  the  main  road,  and  the  right 
wing  of  the  American  army  lined  the  banks  of  the  Brandywine 
higher  up,  where  the  passages  were  more  difficult. 

Having  thus  disposed  his  army  Washington  awaited  the 
approach  of  the  British,  which,  on  the  evening  of  September  'J, 
entered  Chester  County  in  tAvo  divisions,  one  of  which,  under  Gen- 
eral Knyphausen,  encamped  at  Xev/  Garden  and  Kennett  Square, 
and  the  other  under  Cornwallis,  a  short  distance  below  Hockessin 
Meeting-house.  The  next  day  the  two  divisions  of  the  army  united 
at  Kennett  Square,  in  the  evening  the  forces  under  Knyphauseji^ 
advancing  toward  Welsh's  Tavern,  afterward  known  as  the  Anvil, 
those  under  Cornwallis  remaining  on  the  hills  north  and  west  of 
Kennett  Square. 

On  this  day  Peter  De  Haven  wrote  to  Vice-President  Bryan 
that  Doctor  Kanady  had  requested  him  to  spare  one  hundred  stand 
of  arms  at  the  '^Yallo  Spring,"  as  there  was  a  suspicion  of  the 
"Towrys  raising."  But  Mr.  De  Haven  could  not  spare  any  anus  or 
ammunition  with(.ut  an  order  from  the  executive  council.  On  the 
same  day  Mr.  De  Haven  wrote  another  letter  to  the  effect  that  a 


2i6  CHESTER     COUXTY 

part  of  "Mr.  Hows  armey  is  within  four  miles  of  Downing  Town, 
and  I  believe  they  intend  for  our  Magazcue,  and  we  are  in  a  very 
I>oor  situation  for  defending  it.  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  would 
send  a  proper  Gard  for  this  place.  I  have  Eid  threw  this  Naber- 
hood  to  Procure  Waggons  but  could  get  but  8  or  10  to  move  som 
of  the  Powder  toward  Eeddin,  but  to  what  place  I  am  a  sti'anger." 

By  the  v;i])i(l  approach  of  "Mi\  Hows  armey,"  Mr.  De  Haveu 
was  compelled  to  depart  and  to  burn  the  mills,  removing  to  Hum- 
mel st  own. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  11th  of  September  General  Howe 
divided  his  army  into  two  columns,  one  commanded  by  General 
Knyphausen,  the  other  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  former  marching 
direct  to  Chadd's  Ford  by  the  Philadelphia  road,  and  the  other, 
accompanied  by  General  Howe,  taking  a  circuitous  route  through 
the  toAvnships  of  Kennett,  East  Marlborough,  Xewlin,  West  and 
East  Bradford,  and  Birmingham,  on  the  way  crossing  the  West 
Branch  of  the  Brandywine  at  Trimble's  Ford,  and  the  East 
Branch  at  Jefferis'  Ford,  and  approaching  Birmingham  Meeting- 
house from  the  north.  While  this  movement  was  being  made  by 
Cornwallis'  column,  Knyphausen's  column  was  making  repeated 
attempts  to  cross  the  Brandywine  at  Chadd's  Ford,  merely  to  divert 
the  attention  of  the  Americans  from  this  important  flank  move- 
ment. Bj'  furious  cannonading  on  the  part  of  Knjphausen,  alter- 
nate retreats  and  eager  pursuits  of  the  portions  of  Washington's 
army  thrown  across  the  Brandywine  at  Chadd's  Ford,  the  flank 
movement  was  kept  from  General  Washington  until  about  noon, 
when  General  HoAve  had  crossed  both  of  the  upper  branches  of  the 
Brandywine  and  was  proceeding  down  the  left  bank  of  the  main 
branch  with  the  view  of  suddenly  falling  upon  and  crushing  the 
right  wing  of  the  American  army.  Upon  being  advised  of  this 
movement  of  the  British  general,  Washington  decided  on  the 
boldest  movepossible  to  bemade — tocross  the  Brandywine  with  his 
entire  army,  fall  upon  Knyphausen  with  terrible  force  and  to  crush 


.L\7>    /7W    i'i:(ti'Li:.  217 

him  before  Howe  could  arrive  upou  the  scene.  Had  this  move- 
ment been  carried  out  the  fortunes  of  the  day  would  have  been  with 
the  Americans,  but  when  in  the  execution  of  this  design  a  second 
report  arrived  at  Washington's  headquarters  that  no  such  move- 
ment as  previously  reported  had  been  made  by  General  Howe,  that 
he  had  not  crossed  the  upper  branches  of  the  Brandywine,  that  he 
had  made  a  feint  of  crossing,  but  that  he  had  really  marched  down 
the  right  bank  of  the  stream,  instead  of  crossing  over,  and  was 
then  on  tlie  point  of  uniting  his  forces  with  those  of  Knyphausen; 
in  which  case,  Gen.  Washington  knew  that  the  British  ai-my  would 
be  superior  to  his  both  in  numbers  and  in  the  fact  of  acting  on  the 
defensive,  and  hence  his  failure  to  crush  Knj'phausen  and  the  loss 
to  him  of  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine. 

In  the  midst  of  conflicting  reports  as  to  the  movements  of 
Lord  Coi"nwallis'  column,  a  citizen  of  Thornbury  Township  named 
Thomas  Cheyney,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  rode  up  to  the  forces  under 
General  Sullivan,  and  informed  that  geuei-al  of  the  true  state  of 
affairs — that  Cornwallis  had  crossed  the  Brandywine  and  was  rap- 
idly marching  down  its  left  bank.  Being  rather  uncourteously 
received  by  General  Sullivan,  Mr.  Cheyney  demanded  that  he  should 
be  conducted  to  the  commander-in-chief,  who  at  first  disposed  to 
doubt  the  correctness  of  the  infonnation,  was  at  length  convinced 
of  its  truth,  and  immediately  disposed  of  his  troops  in  such  a 
nuuiner  as  best  to  meet  the  new  and  unexpected  emergencj*.  The 
right  wing  of  the  army  of  Washington  was  in  command  of  Gen- 
erals Stephen,  Stirling  and  Sullivan,  and  under  their  respective 
commanders  the  three  divisions  of  the  right  wing  advanced  to 
meet  the  British  coming  down  from  the  north.  The  division 
under  command  of  General  Anthony  Wayne  remained  at  Chadd's 
Vo\^\  to  keep  Knyphausen  in  check,  and  General  (h-eene's  division, 
accompanied  by  General  Washington,  fomied  a  reserve,  taking  a 
position  between  the  right  and  left  wings,  and  ready  to  march 
either  to  the  succor  of  Sullivan  or  Wayne,  as  circumstances  might 
require. 


2 1 8  CHEf^TER     COUNTY 

The  coliimu  of  Cornwallis  being  now  in  siglit  of  the  American 
forces,  General  Sullivan  drew  up  his  troops  on  the  ground  above 
Birmingham  Meeting-house,  his  left  extending  toward  the  Braudv- 
wine,  and  his  riglit  toward  a  thick  piece  of  woods.  His  artillery 
was  advantageously  planted,  but  his  division  having  taken  a  cir- 
cuitous route  in  getting  into  position,  the  battle  began  before  he 
was  really  ready  for  it,  about  half-past  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. The  riglit,  having  been  formed  under  the  enemy's  fire,  first 
gave  way,  exposing  that  flank  of  the  remaining  divisions  to  a  gall- 
ing lire,  and  the  right  continuing  to  break  all  along  the  line,  the 
flight  became  general.  The  vanquished  soldiers  fled  into  the  woods 
in  their  rear,  the  victors  pursuing  and  advancing  by  the  great  road 
toward  Dilworth.  In  order  to  check  the  pursuit  the  Tenth  Vir- 
ginia, under  Col.  Stephens,  and  a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  under 
Col.  Stewart,  neither  of  which  had  participated  in  the  battle,  were 
advantageously  posted,  on  the  road  taken  by  the  fleeing  army,  and 
though  at  length  dispersed  by  Gen.  Howe's  troops,  j'et  performed 
good  Service  in  checking  and  putting  an  end  to  the  pursuit.  Gen. 
Greene  also  contributed  largely  to  the  same  end,  for,  having  placed 
himself  at  the  liead  of  Muhlenberg's  Brigade,  in  the  rear  of  tlie 
retreating  army,  he  kept  up  so  destructive  a  fire  from  his  artillery 
as  to  retard  the  enemy,  and  arriving  at  a  narrow  defile  strongly 
protected  on  both  right  and  left  bj-  woods,  he  immediately  halted 
liis  forces,  sent  forward  his  cannon,  and  formed  liis  troops,  de- 
termined to  dispute  the  pass,  notwithstanding  the  superiority  of 
the  pursuing  army.  Thougli  he  was  dislodged  by  IIoAve,  the  pur- 
suit was  here  abandoned. 

While  the  above  movements  were  in  progress  General  Anthony 
Waj'ne  was  at  the  defense  of  Chadd's  Ford,  with  tliree  flehl  pieces 
and  a  howitzer,  his  army  for  some  time  standing  firm;  but  learning 
that  the  right  of  their  army  had  been  defeated,  and  seeing  some 
British  soldiers  coming  out  of  the  woods  on  their  flank,  they  also 
retired  in  disorder,  leaving  their  artillery  and  munitions  to  the 


-!\7.'     ITS     PEOI'LIJ.  219 

Hes.sian  geueral.  lu  their  retreat  tliey  passed  behind  the  position 
of  General  Greene,  Avho  still  defended  the  position  he  had  taken, 
and  was  the  last  to  leave  the  field.  Finally,  after  a  long  and 
obstinate  conflict,  darkness  coming  on,  he  also  retired,  and  the 
whole  American  army  retreated  that  night  by  different  roads  to 
Chestei'.     The  next  day  Washington's  army  retired  to  Philadelphia. 

The  losses  of  the  American  army  in  this  battle  are  stated  to 
have  been  300  killed,  GOO  wounded  and  about  400  taken  prisoners. 
They  also  lost  ten  held  pieces  and  a  howitzer.  The  loss  of  the 
British  was  something  over  500,  the  killed  being  about  100.  The 
reason  for  this  great  disparity  of  loss  is  thought  to  have  been  that 
many  of  the  muskets  used  by  the  Americans  were  totally  unfit  for 
service.  In  his  report  to  Congress,  dated  at  Chester,  twelve  o'clock 
at  night,  September  11,  1777,  (xen.  Washington  stated  that  he 
believed  his  loss  was  uiucli  less  than  that  of  the  enemy. 

While  the  Amei'icau  army  was  encamped  on  the  Braudywiiie 
th?  headquarters  of  (ien.  Washington  were  in  the  dwelling  of 
Benjamin  King,  a  mile  from  Chadd's  Ford,  and  the  headquarter.'^ 
of  Lafayette  were  at  the  dwelling  of  Gideon  Gilpin,  who  was  still 
living  when  Lafayette,  who  was  wounded  in  the  leg  during  the 
battle  of  the  Braudywine,  made  his  memorable  visit  to  this  country 
in  1824  and  1825.  Other  Frenchmen  who  participated  in  this 
battle,  whose  names  are  worthy  of  mention,  were  Baron  St,  Ouai'y 
and  Captain  De  Fleury,  the  latter  of  whom  had  a  horse  killed 
under  him,  and  the  fonner  being  taken  prisoner.  Count  Pulaski, 
a  noble  Pcde,  was  also  in  this  battle,  and  displayed  conspicuous 
bravery  at  the  head  of  the  light  horse. 

"In  the  tight  at  Birmingham  Meeting-house  a  party  of  tlie 
Americans  for  a  time  occupied  a  position  inside  the  rear  wall  i>f 
the  graveyard.  A  number  of  the  British  fell  here.  The  killed  of 
both  arinies  v.ho  fell  in  the  vicinity  of  the  meeting-house  were 
buried  in  the  graveyard  which  partly  surrounds  it,  their  remains 
occupying  one  common  grave  just  inside  of  the  gate    and  on  the 


220  CHESTER     COUNTY 

side  next  tp  the  meeting-house.  The  meeting-house  was  used  as  a 
hospital  while  the  British  army  remained  in  the  neighborhood." 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  four  or  five  hundred  of  the  Ameri- 
can wounded  were  taken  to  Ephrata,  in  Lancaster  County,  and 
placed  in  a  hospital,  where  the  camp  fever  set  in,  and  this,  togetlier 
with  the  wounds  of  the  soldiers,  so  baffled  the  skill  of  the  surgeons 
that  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  tlie  soldiers  died,  a  fearful  mortality. 
They  were  principally  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  England, 
though  there  were  among  them  a  few  British  soldiers  who  had 
deserted  and  joined  the  Americans. 

The  place  where  Lafayette  received  his  wound  was  on  tlic  high 
ground  a  little  northwest  of  the  frame  public  schoolhouse,  and  south- 
east of  the  residence  afterAvard  occupied  by  John  Bennett.  It  was 
south  of  ^^'istar's  woods,  a  lield  which  for  years  after  the  war  was 
strewn  with  musket  balls.  In  his  Memoirs,  General  Lafayette 
says:  "La  confusion  devint  extreme,  et  c'est  en  ralliant  les  troub(,^s 
<ine  M.  de  Lafayette  eut  la  jambe  traversee  d'une  balle.  A  cette 
epoque,  tout  ce  qui  restait  plia.  M.  de  Lafaj^ette  dut  a  Gimat, 
son  aide-de-camp,  le  bonheur  de  remonter  a  cheval." 

The  story  as  to  Thomas  Cheyney's  caiTying  the  correct  infor- 
mation of  the  movements  of  Cornwallis'  wing  of  the  arm}'  to  Gen- 
eral Sullivan  is  thought  by  some  to  be  wholly  apocryphal;  but  it 
is  given  on  the  authority  of  a  "Lady  near  West  Ghester,"  she 
relating  it  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  A.  L.  Elwyn  of  Philadelphia.  But 
wliether  this  story  is  true  or  false,  it  appears  perfectly  clear  that 
the  false  infonnation  which  led  to  the  abandonment  by  Gen. 
Washington  of  his  excellent  plan  for  defeating  the  British  army 
in  detail,  or  at  least  the  crushing  of  the  German  wing  of  it  under 
Gen.  Knyphausen,  was  conveyed  to  Gen.  Sullivan  by  Major  Spear, 
whom  Washington  had  himself  sent  out  to  gain  the  very  informa- 
tion that  was  needed,  and  that  this  false  information  was  trans- 
mitted to  Gen.  Washington  by  Gen.  Sullivan  in  time  to  prevent 
the  success  of  Washington's  proposed  movement  across  the  Brandy- 


Axn    ]T>!    pi:()i'Li:.  221 

wine.  This  false  iuformatiou  was  confirmed  bv  Sergeant  Tucker 
before  being  forwarded  to  Wasliiugton.  This  is  all  most  remark- 
able, for  the  reason  that  it  was  in  direct  contradiction  of  Gen. 
Snllivan's  opinion  of  what  Gen.  Howe  would  do  as  a  military  man, 
and  which,  in  fact.  Gen.  Howe  did  do,  and  it  was  this  unfortunate 
communication  of  Gen.  Sullivan  to  Gen.  Washington  that  led  to 
the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  and  to  many  other  misfor- 
tunes which  folloAved  in  its  wake. 

A  considei'able  portion  of  the  British  army  remained  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  battlefield  from  the  11th  to  the  morning  of  the  16th, 
the  chief  portion  about  Dilworthtown  and  south  of  that  place.  On 
the  12th  a  detachment  marched  to  Goncord  Meeting-house,  where 
it  was  joined  on  the  13th  by  Cornwallis  with  some  light  infantry 
and  British  grenadiers,  and  soon  after  Howe  moved  his  anny 
through  Chester  County  toward  the  Schuylkill  Eiver,  with  the  view 
of  crossing  that  river  and  then  taking  possession  of  Philadelphia. 
One  of  the  principal  crossing  places  of  that  river  was  at  Swede's 
Ford,  near  the  present  southern  limits  of  Non-istown,  and,  as  the 
water  was  deep  lower  down  the  Schuylkill,  it  was  expected  the 
British  army  would  attempt  to  cross  there  or  higher  up  the  stream. 
As  Washington  did  not  want  Philadelphia  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  British,  he  determined  to  risk  another  battle,  and  on  the  15tli 
of  September  left  his  camp  at  Germantown,  crossed  the  Schuylkill 
with  the  main  body  of  his  army,  and  marched  up  the  Lancaster 
road,  with  the  intention  of  meeting  the  enemy  and  giving  him 
battle.  The  British  commander,  learning  that  Washington  was 
advancing  on  the  Lancaster  road,  resolved  to  make  an  attack  upon 
him,  and  that  portion  of  his  army  which  had  been  encamped  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Village  Green  left  that  point  on  the  morning 
of  the  16th  under  Cornwallis,  proceeding  northward  toward  the 
Great  Valley  on  the  Chester  road  by  the  present  villages  of  Glen 
Riddle,  Lima  and  Howellville,  and  by  Eocky  Hill  and  Goshen 
Friends'  Meeting-house. 


222  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  two  armies  moved  to  positions  between  the  White  Horse 
and  (Joshen  meeting-houses,  on  the  high  ground  soutli  of  the 
valley,  and  began  making  prepai'ations  for  a  battle.  To  Gen. 
Wayne  was  assigned  the  duty  of  leading  and  opening  the  battle, 
and  skirmishing  began  between  the  advancing  forces;  but  just  at 
this  time  a  sudden  and  violent  thunderstorm  came  up  and  put  an 
end  to  hostilities  for  the  time  being.  Theu,  after  a  consultation, 
Washington  decided  to  retire  and  form  on  the  high  ground  in  the 
Great  Valley  east  of  the  White  Horse,  north  of  the  old  Lancaster 
road,  where  he  waited  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  for  the 
advance  of  the  British  army.  The  point  where  the  above-men- 
tioned skirmishing  occurred  was  one  and  a  half  miles  north  of 
Goshen  Meeting-house  and  about  a  half  mile  a  little  west  of  south 
of  the  old  "Three  Tuns"  tavern,  where  twelve  American  soldiers 
were  killed,  a  few  wounded  and  some  taken  prisoners. 

When  Cornwallis  moved  northward  from  the  Village  Green 
or  Seven  Stars,  the  British  forces  that  had  remained  in  camp  near 
the  battlefield  niovi-d  forward  under  Kiiyi)haus('n  by  the  way  of 
Turk's  Head,  now  ^Vest  Chester,  with  the  view  of  uniting  with 
Cornwallis.  A  portion  of  this  force  under  Brig.-Gen.  Matthews 
proceeded  from  the  Turk's  Head  by  the  Beading  road  to  the  Indian 
King  tavern,  and  thence  to  the  northeastern  part  of  the  farm 
occupied  by  James  Dunwoody,  near  the  Ship  road,  and  went  into 
camp  in  order  to  protect  themselves  from  the  rain,  while  the  Hes- 
sian line  took  the  road  leading  from  the  Turk's  Head  to  the  Boot 
tavern,  and  proceeded  thence  uorthAvard  toward  the  Ship  tavern. 
On  the  farm  of  Daniel  Meredith  they  encountered  a  detachment  ol' 
Americans,  with  which  they  had  a  shaqi  skirmish,  a  few  being 
killed  on  both  sides,  and  some  prisoners  being  taken  bj*  the  Hes- 
sians. This  engagement,  \\hich  A\as  likewise  interrupted  by  the 
rain,  occurred  about  the  same  as  the  other  between  Cornwallis'  and 
Washington's  forces,  the  two  skirmishes  being  about  three  miles 
apart.     The  army  of  'S^'ashington  retired  to  the  Yellow  Springs, 


AND     IT>^     PEOPLE.  223 

and  there  an  iuspectiou  disclosed  the  fact  that  on  aeconnt  of  tlic 
wet  condition  of  the  powder  there  was  scarcely  a  musket  in  tin- 
army  that  could  be  discharged.  Washington  therefore  continued, 
his  retreat  to  Warwick  furnace,  on  the  south  branch  of  French 
Creek,  where  a  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition  was  obtained.  On 
the  ISth  of  the  month  the  two  divisions  of  the  British  army,  under 
Cornwallis  and  Knyphausen,  united  their  forces  and  moved  down 
the  Lancaster  and  l?^wede's  Ford  road  into  the  township  of  Tre 
dyffrin,  encamping  at  the  village  of  Howellville  and  between 
that  village  and  Centerville. 

On  the  17th  Gen.  Wayne,  with  his  division  of  about  1,500  men, 
was  ordered  to  join  Gen.  Smallwood,  in  command  of  the  Maryland 
militia,  in  the  rear  of  the  British  army,  and  to  seize  every  oppor- 
tunity to  annoy  the  enemy,  to  cut  off  his  baggage  train,  and  thus 
arrest  his  march  to  the  Schuylkill  until  the  Amei'ican  armj'  under 
Washington  could  cross  the  river  higher  up,  pass  down  the  east 
side  and  thus  be  in  a  position  to  i)revent  Gen.  Howe  from  cross- 
ing over.  On  the  18th  Gen.  Wayne  was  encamped  about  thi'ee 
hundred  yards  to  the  eastward  of  the  present  Pa(di  monument, 
securely  concealed,  as  he  believed,  from  all  knowledge  of  Gen. 
Howe.  W^ayne  thought  that  he  had  taken  abundant  precautions 
against  himself  being  surprised,  and  under  ordinary  circumstances 
such  would  have  been  the  case,  for  the  British  general  did  not 
knoAv  the  whereabouts  of  Wayne's  forces;  but  there  were  Tories 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Wayne's  camp,  who  not  only 
knew  of  his  precise  locality  and  the  nature  of  the  approaches,  but 
who  also  conveyed  all  the  necessary  information  to  the  British 
commander,  who  at  once  sent  General  Grey  out  to  surprise  him  and 
cut  him  ofl',  and  Col.  Musgrave  with  the  Fortieth  and  Fifty-fifth 
regiments  was  moved  up  to  the  Lancaster  road  in  order  that  if 
necessary  he  might  aid  Gen.  Grey,  and  to  intercept  any  of  Gen. 
Wayne's  troops  who  might  attempt  to  retreat  over  that  route. 

Gen.  Grey  marched  from  his  encampment  near  Howellville 


224  CHESTER     COUXTY 

up  the  Swede's  Ford  road  and  massed  his  troops  as  near  the  camp 
of  Gen.  Wayne  as  practicable  without  permitting  Wayne  to  know 
of  his  approach.  Sevei-al  of  Gen.  Wayne's  pickets  upou  the  ap- 
proach of  the  British  fired  upon  them  and  escaped,  but  otliers  of 
the  pickets  were  silently  bayoneted  in  the  darkness,  and  the  livsc 
knowledge  Gen.  Wayne  had  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy  was  from 
one  of  the  videttes  whom  he  had  sent  out.  Wayne  directed  Col. 
Humpton,  who  was  second  in  command,  to  gain  the  road  leading 
toward  the  White  Horse  tavern,  and  a  part  of  the  troops  took  the 
right  road  while  others  took  the  wrong  one,  being  thus  brought 
within  the  light  of  their  own  tires,  giving  the  attacking  force  a 
most  important  advantage  over  them.  The  artillery  had  taken  the 
right  road  and  were  retreating  safely.  While  General  Wayne  was 
attempted  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  artillery  and  preparing  to 
receive  the  enemy.  Gen.  Grey  approached  his  position  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  21st,  under  cover  of  the  darkness. 
The  troops  under  Wayne  fought  bravely  for  a  considerable  time, 
giving  the  enemy  several  close  and  well  directed  fires,  but  were 
soon  obliged  to  retire  before  largely  superior  forces.  Wayne  there- 
upcm  immediately  flew  to  the  Fourth  Regiment,  with  which  he  again 
received  the  enemy's  charge,  covering  the  retreat  of  the  rest  of  his 
line,  and  after  being  again  compelled  to  retire  he  rallied  those  of 
Col.  Humpton's  troops  that  had  taken  the  right  road  in  their  re- 
treat about  three  hundred  yards  in  the  rear  of  the  last  stand,  where 
he  formed  them  ready  to  renew  the  conflict.  Both  i)arties,  how- 
ever, withdrew  without  renewing  the  contest,  and  Gen.  Wayne  re- 
tired to  the  White  Horse  tavern,  taking  with  him  his  artillery  and 
ammunition,  with  the  exception  of  that  left  upon  the  field,  which 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

The  attack  upon  Wayne's  men  was  made  with  the  bayonet 
and  light  swords  only,  in  a  most  ferocious  spirit.  Gen.  Grey  having 
ordered  his  men  to  remove  the  flints  from  their  guns  in  order  that 
not  a  single  shot  should  be  fired.     Many  were  killed  after  they  had 


AXD     77W     PEOPLIL  225 

ceased  to  resist,  and  even  the  wounded  and  sick  were  killed.  It 
was  this  feature  of  the  attack  that  has  stigmatized  the  conduct 
of  the  British  in  this  midnight  battle  as  "barbarity"  and  "cold 
blooded  murder,"  and  which  has  given  to  it  the  title  of  the  "Paoli 
massacre."  The  loss  of  the  Americans  was  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  killed  and  wounded,  while  the  British  report  a  loss  of 
onlj-  seven  or  eight,  though  it  is  altogether  likely  that  their  loss 
was  considerably  larger.  Fifty  three  mangled  bodies  were  found 
upon  the  field  and  decently  buried  by  those  living  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  battlefield  on  the  very  spot  where  now  stands  the  Paoli 
monument. 

Among  the  killed  was  Major  Marion  Lamar,  who  fell  in  the 
midst  of  the  British  on  the  retreat,  and  in  honor  of  this  martyr 
in  the  cause  of  liberty  a  township  in  Chester  County  Avas  given  his 
name.  This  attack  upon  Wayne's  forces  enabled  General  Howe  to 
move  his  army  without  molestation,  that  general  resuming  his 
march  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  down  the  road  leading  to  Swede's 
Ford,  with  the  intention  of  crossing  the  Schuylkill  at  that  point, 
but  as  he  discoAcred  breastworks  ou  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
occupied  by  Washington's  troops,  he  turned  up  the  river  on  the 
west  side  witJi  the  view  of  crossing  at  some  of  the  fords  higher 
uj)  (ir,  as  Mr.  Peiiuypacker  saj's  in  his  "PlHenixville  and  Its  Viciu- 
itj',"  he  induced  Washington  to  suppose  that  was  his  object,  or  else 
to  seize  by  a  sudden  movement  the  deposit  of  ammunition  and 
other  stores  at  Reading.  Washington,  deceived  by  this  movement, 
hastened  up  the  east  bank  of  the  river  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Pottsgrove,  when  Gen.  Howe  suddenly  wheeled  his  army  on  the 
23rd  of  September,  marched  rapidly  down  the  river  and  crossed 
with  but  little  opposition  at  what  was  then  called  Gordon's  Ford, 
now  Phcenixville,  and  at  Fatland  Ford,  a  short  distance  below,  and 
slipped  into  Philadelphia  almost  before  Washington  knew  how 
thoroughly  he  had  been  deceived,  entering  that  city  on  the  26tli. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  the  army  under  General  Howe 


226  CHESTER     COUNTY 

entered  Chester  Coimty  ou  September  9,  and  left  it  on  the  23rd, 
having  been  within  its  then  limits,  includiuf;'  what  is  now  Dela- 
ware County,  twelve  days.  This  was  the  only  time  during  the 
entire  period  of  the  Eevolutionary  War  when  a  Bi'itish  army  was 
in  the  county,  though  foraging  parties  were  sent  out  from  Phila- 
delphia while  the  British  remained  in  possession  of  that  city.  In 
his  "Phoenixville  and  Its  Vicinity"  Mr.  Pennj'packer  says  with 
reference  to  the  depredations  committed  on  the  people  of  this 
county  by  the  British  army  during  tliose  two  weeks: 

"In  the  course  of  these  maneuvers,  on  Sunday  afternoon,  at 
four  o'clock,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1777,  the  British  army,  num- 
bering about  14,000  men,  entered  Schuylkill  Township  and  en- 
camped along  Nutt's  road  from  Fountain  Inn  to  Fatland  Ford. 
Tlie  English  occupied  tlie  upper  side  of  the  road,  and  upon  the 
other  side  the  Hessians  were  stationed.  The  headquarters  of  Gen. 
Knyphausen,  commander  of  the  Hessians,  was  at  the  house  of 
Frederick  Buzzard,  which,  at  that  time,  stood  about  midway  be- 
tween the  Corner  stores  and  the  Morris  woods.  The  headquarters 
of  Gen.  Howe  were  at  the  house  of  William  Grimes,  recently  occu- 
pied by  John  Acre,  and  the  first  house  below  the  Bull  tavern. 

"No  sooner  were  the  men  dismissed  and  ordered  to  encamp 
than  they  commenced  depredations  upon  the  suiTounding  neigh- 
borhood. In  a  little  while  every  house  had  been  visited.  All  the 
provisions;  clothing,  straw  and  hay  that  could  be  found  were  car- 
ried off,  and  the  cattle  and  horses  were  driven  away.  So  com- 
pletely were  the  people  divested  of  everj^thing  which  could  be 
used  in  the  camp,  that  they,  in  many  instances,  suffered  from  the 
want  of  food  and  clothing.  The  only  means  by  which  anything 
could  be  retained  was  by  application  to  the  commanding  general 
for  a  guard.    Requests  of  this  kind  were  usually  granted. 

"To  the  residence  of  Moses  Coates,  Jr.,  the  Hessians  came  in 
droves  as  soon  as  the  army  halted,  and  they  continued  their  in- 
eursions  until  the  next  morning,  when  a  guard  was  obtained.    The 


BAYARD  TAYLOR. 

GEN.   G.   FliNNYPACKER. 


GEN     ANTHONY  WAYNE. 


T.   BUCHANAN   READ. 
WAYNE  McVEAGH. 


AXD     /T,s'     PEOPLE.  229 

garden,  cellar  and  lai'der  were  emptied  and  the  ben  roosts  soon 
made  desolate.  Among  otJier  things  carried  awaj^  was  a  large 
flock  of  geese.  The  last  of  them,  an  old  gander,  was  pursued 
through  the  yard  and  finally  caught  around  the  neck  by  a  huge 
Hessian,  who  held  the  bird  aloft  as  he  throttled  it  and  cried 
exultingly  to  the  members  of  his  family:  'Dis  bees  goot  for  the 
poor  Hessian  mans.'  One  of  the  daughters  expressed  the  hope 
that  it  would  choke  him  to  death,  upon  which  he  began  to  cur^e  and 
departed  with  his  prey. 

"The  family  of  Patrick  Anderson  had  been  informed  of  their 
approach,  and  had  removed  and  secreted  as  many  things  of  value 
as  possible.  The  bedding  and  clothing  were  locked  up  in  the 
bureau  drawers  and  the  house  was  abandoned.  The  English, 
who  knew  that  Anderson  was  absent  in  the  American  cause, 
broke  open  the  doors  of  the  dwelling  and  completely  destroyed 
everything  in  it.  They  pushed  the  locks  off  from  the  bureau  draw- 
ers and  closets  by  thrusting  their  bayonets  through  the  keyholes, 
and  took  possession  of  the  contents.  The  furniture,  which  was  in 
good  condition,  they  broke  into  pieces  and  used  for  their  fires. 
Mirrors  were  thrown  upon  the  floor  and  paintings  and  others 
articles  of  vertu,  with  the  single  rather  remarkable  exception  of  a 
portrait  of  George  Washington,  which  was  left  in  its  place  upon 
the  wall,  were  mined.  The  cattle  and  sheep  were  slaughtered  and 
the  meat  was  salted  and  prepared  in  the  parlor  for  transporta- 
tion. The  bloodstains  remaining  after  this  butchery  could  be 
seen  upon  the  floors  when  the  house  was  removed  in  1842. 

"They  came  to  the  residence  of  Matthias  Pennypacker  in  the 
night  and  ransacked  it  in  the  search  for  provisions  and  clothing. 
The  grain  and  flour  in  the  mill  became  a  valuable  acquisition. 
The  mill  was  at  that  time  new  and  in  excellent  order,  and  to 
prevent  its  future  use  they  hacked  the  machineiy  and  cut  the 
bolting  cloth  into  strips. 

"From  the  Fountain  Inn,  where  William  Fussell  then  lived, 
14 


230  CHESTER     COUNTY 

they  can-ied  away  whatever  coukl  be  obtained.  In  order  to  secure 
some  bed  curtains  which  she  considered  to  have  particular  value, 
Mistress  Fussell  wrapped  them  about  her  person  and  covered 
them  witli  lier  dress.  Some  Hessian  women,  however,  who  ac- 
companied the  army,  having  their  suspicions  aroused,  threw  the 
lady  unceremoniously  on  the  floor,  unwound  the  wrapping  from 
about  her  and  made  it  their  spoil. 

"Lord  Cornwallis  came  himself  to  the  house  of  Benjamin 
Boyer  after  it  had  been  thoroughly  strip^jed.  The  beehives,  for 
preservation,  had  been  carried  into  a  room  in  the  west  end  of 
the  house  and  covered  over  with  sheets.  Cornwallis  inquired 
what  was  concealed  there  and  was  informed  they  were  bees.  Not 
to  be  deceived,  however,  by  what  he  thought  to  be  a  subterfuge, 
with  an  impatient  movement  he  removed  the  covering.  The  in- 
sects, already  disturbed  by  their  recent  trausportiitiou,  resented 
the  interference  by  flying  into  his  face  and  hair,  and  they  probed 
him  unmercifully.    His  lordship  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 

"A  horse  belonging  to  a  son  of  Moses  Coates,  then  quite  a 
youth,  was  taken  from  the  pasture  field  and  it  was  known  that 
the  animal  was  among  the  British  forces.  The  youug  man  went 
to  the  headquarters  of  the  commanding  general  and,  upon  mak- 
ing inquiries  of  some  of  the  attendants  about  that  officer's  per- 
son, received  only  insolent  and  taunting  replies.  He  insisted, 
however,  upon  an  interview  with  their  superior  and  was  finally 
shown  into  Howe's  presence.  Upon  making  his  errand  known  he 
was  treated  politely  and  detained  in  conversation.  The  subject 
of  the  condition  of  the  American  army  was  adroitly  introduced 
and  every  effort  made  to  elicit  information  from  him.  At  length 
Howe  said  to  him  that  he  could  have  his  horse  if  he  would  go 
over  the  ►Schuylkill  and  learn  as  accurately  as  he  could  the  num- 
ber of  Washington's  troops.  The  offer  was  rejected,  and  Howe 
increased  it  by  saying  that  he  would  not  only  return  his  horse,  but 
give  him  in  addition  six  guineas  in  gold.    The  youth  replied  witli 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  231 

iudiguatiou  that  he  could  not  be  bribed  to  perform  an  act  so  base, 
and  when  it  was  found  that  he  would  not  answer  Howe's  pur- 
poses he  was  given  permission  to  search  through  the  camp  for  his 
horse  and  to  take  it  away." 

Historians  generally  agree  that  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties 
with  which  General  Washington  had  to  contend  during  the  en- 
tire period  of  the  Revolutionary  War  was  the  fact  that  when  the 
early  enthusiasm  had  in  some  measure  subsided  and  the  war  be- 
come a  stern  reality  there  was  a  large  number  of  disaffecte'd  people 
always  ready  to  convey  correct  and  valuable  information  to  the 
British  commanders  but  who  made  it  exceedingly  difficult  for  the 
American  general  to  procure  reliable  information  of  the  movements 
and  numbers  of  the  British  forces.  Had  Washington  known  the  in- 
tentions of  General  Howe  in  moving  northwax'd  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Schuylkill  on  the  21st  of  September  he  might  have  pre- 
vented Howe's  crossing  that  river,  and  tiius  have  saved  Phila- 
delphia. In  corroboration  of  this  view  of  the  case  the  following 
letter,  taken  from  the  Pennsylvania  archives,  is  here  introduced: 

"BOARD   OP   WAR   TO   PRESIDENT   WHARTON, 

"War  Office,  October  IS,  1777. 
"Sir:  *  =i^  *  *  *  *■ 

"I  am  directed  to  communicate  to  you  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Committee  of  Safety  that  the  board  have  received  satis- 
factory information  that  a  great  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Chester  County  conveyed  intelligence  and  supplied  provisions  to 
the  enemy  during  their  progress  through  that  county  and  without 
such  assistance  their  attempt  upon  Philadelphia  would,  in  all 
probability,  not  have  succeeded.  These  persons  can  be  considered 
in  no  other  light  than  as  traitors  to  this  state  and  avowed  enemies 
to  the  United  States,  and  therefore  the  great  principle  of  self- 
preservation  requires  that  the  most  effectual  measures  should  be 
forthwith  pursued  to  put  it  out  of  tlieir  power  to  persist  in  their 


232  CHESTER     COLXTY 

former  mal-practices  by  taking  from  them  such  articles  of  cloth- 
ing and  provisions,  and  of  the  former  particularly  shoes,  stock- 
ings and  blankets,  as  might  serve  for  the  comfort  and  subsistence 
of  the  enemy's  army,  and  the  acquisition  whereof  is  of  absolute 
necessity  to  the  existence  of  our  own.  The  board,  therefoi'e, 
earnestly  requests  that  the  Council  will  with  the  utmost  dispatch 
call  forth  and  send  to  the  county  of  Chester  spirited  and  detenuiued 
militia  under  the  command  of  discreet  and  active  officers  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  shoes,  blankets  and  stockings  for  the  use  of 
the  American  Army  from  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  county 
as  have  not  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  have  shown  their  attachment  to  the  cause  of  the  enemy, 
etc.  EICHAED  PETERS,  Sec." 

In  accordance  with  the  above  suggestion  of  Richard  Peters 
the  following  resolution  of  the  Council  of  Safety  was  adopted  at 
Lancaster,  October  21,  1777: 

"Ordered.— That  Ool.  Evan  Evans,  Col.  William  Evans,  Col. 
Thomas,  Col.  Gibbons  Capt.  Thomas  Levis,  Capt.  William  Brooks 
and  Capt.  Jacob  Rudolph  be  authorized  and  required  to  collect 
without  delay  from  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  of  Chester 
as  have  not  taken  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  abjuration  or  who 
have  aided  or  assisted  the  enemy,  arms  and  accoutennents,  blan- 
kets, shoes  and  stockings  for  the  use  of  the  army,  and  that  they  ap- 
praise the  same  when  taken  according  to  their  quality,  allowing 
at  the  rate  of  £3  for  a  new  single  blanket,  and  give  certificates  of 
the  same  to  the  owners,  etc.  TIMOTHY  MATLACK,  Sec." 

On  October  31,  1777,  President  Wharton  wrote  to  Col.  Cheney 
and  Col.  Gronow  of  Chester  County  to  the  effect  that  no  time  should 
be  lost  in  the  embodiment  of  light  horse  militia  in  the  county,  and 
urged  the  immediate  formation  of  three  or  four  troops  of  light 
horse,  and  that  they  be  put  under  the  command  of  General  Potter. 

Having  quietly  taken  possession  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
Gen.  Howe  considered  it  a  good  opportunity  to  move  his  fleet  up 


AXD     1T!<     PEOPLE.         .  233 

the  Delaware  to  that  eitv,  aud  while  he  was  engaged  at  this  work, 
capturing  the  fort  at  Billingsport,  and  driving  awaj'  the  small  gar- 
rison under  Col.  Bradford,  Washington  thought  he  could  success- 
fully attack  that  wing  of  the  British  stationed  in  Germantown. 
The- result  was  the  battle  of  Germantown,  fought  October  4,  1777, 
and,  through  a  combination  of  circumstances  favoring  the  British, 
was  won  by  them,  and  Washington  had  to  retire  from  the  field. 
After  this  defeat,  and  after  the  junction  of  his  army  and  that  of 
Gen.  Gates,  who  had  compelled  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Sara- 
toga, the  combined  forces  went  into  camp  at  Whitemarsh,  in  Mont- 
gomery County.  Here  Gen.  Howe  made  several  attempts  to  draw 
the  American  army  out  of  camp  into  a  battle,  but  failed  to  do  so, 
and  Washington  finally  decided  to  go  into  camp  at  Valley  Forge, 
the  sufferings  of  his  army  at  that  place  having  become  most  his- 
toric. While  the  army  was  thus  encamped  many  of  the  farm 
houses  were  selected  by  its  officers  for  their  quarters.  Col.  Clement 
Biddle  was  for  some  time  at  Moore  Hall;  Generals  Gates  and 
Mifflin  were  at  the  house  of  Moses  Coates,  as  were  also  Colonels 
Davis  and  Ballard.  The  house  of  Edward  Lane  and  also  that  of 
Jacob  Pennypacker  were  utilized  in  the  same  manner  by  other 
officers,  and  a  company  of  horse  soldiers  was  stationed  at  the  house 
of  Matthias  Pennypacker.  A  number  of  sick  soldiers  was  taken 
care  of  at  the  house  of  Philip  Eapp,  two  of  whom  died  and  were 
buried  in  the  woods.  The  house  of  Henry  Miller  was  converted 
into  a  commissaiw  store,  and  in  the  barn  of  David  James  delin- 
quents, deserters  and  spies  were  confined,  and  were  continually 
Avatched  by  a  guard.  The  old  Varley  house  was  converted  into 
a  hospital,  and  there  was  also  a  large  hospital  on  the  farm  of  Joest 
Smith,  Avhere  many  of  the  soldiers  had  the  smallpox  and  camp 
fever.  But  the  largest  hospital  was  erected  on  some  high  ground 
in  a  field  of  the  Gwynn  farm,  and  about  the  hospital  about  1.50  men 
are  believed  to  have  been  buried. 


234  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Many  of  the  farmers  in  the  vicinity  were  en.G;age(i  in  teaming 
for  the  army,  most  of  them  voluntarily,  others  having  to  be 
impressed.  All  the  rails  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  most 
of  the  timber,  were  biirned  to  keep  the  army  warm.  The  head- 
quarters of  the  commanding  general  were  at  a  stone  house  on  the 
lower  side  of  Valley  Creek,  only  a  few  yards  distant  from  the  Read- 
ing Eailroad,  his  wife  spending  tlie  winter  with  him.  One  very 
cold  morning,  upon  starting  away  from  his  house  after  breakfast, 
Washington  passed  the  sentry  standing  in  front  of  his  house,  who 
was  stamping  his  feet  and  clapping  his  hands  in  order  to  keep 
warm.  Washington  asked  the  sentry  if  he  had  had  anything  to  eat 
that  morning,  and  on  receiving  a  negative  reply,  took  the  soldier's 
musket  and  stood  guard  in  front  of  his  own  house  while  the  soldier 
went  inside  and  ate  some  breakfast,  waited  upon  by  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington. 

December  10,  1777,  Congress  passed  a  resolution  requesting 
the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  to  enact  a  law  requiring  all  per- 
sons at  the  distance  of  seventy  miles  and  upward  from  Washing- 
ton's headquarters  and  below  the  Blue  Mountains,  to  thresh  out 
their  wheat  and  other  grain  within  a  short  space  of  time,  to  be 
fixed  by  the  legislature  in  its  law,  and  in  case  of  failure  on  the 
part  of  the  farmers  to  comply  with  the  law,  to  subject  the  same 
to  seizure  at  the  price  of  straw.  The  legislature  failed  to  comply 
with  this  request,  but  the  commander-in-chief,  on  the  29th  of  the 
month,  issued  the  following  proclamation: 

"By  virtue  of  the  power  and  direction  to  me  especially  given, 
I  hereby  enjoin  and  require  all  persons  residing  within  seventy 
miles  of  my  headquarters  to  thresh  out  half  their  grain  by  the  first 
day  of  February,  and  the  other  half  by  the  first  day  of  March, 
next  ensuing,  on  pain  in  case  of  failure  of  having  all  that  shall 
remain  in  sheaves  after  the  periods  above  mentioned,  seized  by 
the  commissaries  and  quartermasters  of  the  army  and  paid  for  as 
straw. 


A\l>     ITS     I'FJU'Li:.  235 

"Given  under  my  hand,  at  headquarters  near  the  Valley  Forge, 
in  Philadelphia  County,  the  20th  day  of  December,  1777. 

"GEO.  WASHINGTON." 

There  was  au  outpost  of  Valley  Forge  encampment  in  Radnor, 
on  ]ir(»perty  subsequently  OAvned  by  Tryou  Lewis,  on  -vvhicli  prop- 
erty about  seven  acres  of  timber  laud  was  cleared  near  the  middle 
of  a  large  tract  of  woodland,  which  was  afterward  ciiltivated 
and  known  for  many  years  in  the  neighborhood  as  the  "camp 
flehl."  During  nearly  all  that  winter  Gen.  Wayne's  command 
was  eucamped  at  Mount  Joy,  in  Lancaster  County,  and  aided  in 
securing  supplies  for  the  army  at  Valley  Forge. 

The  eucampment  at  Valley  Forge  was  partly  in  Chester  and 
partly  in  Montgomery  County.  That  part  of  it  in  Chester  County 
was  iu  Tredyft'rin  Towushij),  iu  this  township  the  headquarters  of 
Generals  Lafayette,  Wayne,  Knox  and  Woodford  being  located. 
Count  DuportaiTs  hcadciuartcrs  were  \\\t\\  (leu.  Woodford.  Gen- 
eral Washington's  headquarters  were  near  the  mouth  of  Valley 
Creek,  where  it  empties  into  the  Schu.ylkill  River,  and  on  the  south 
side  of  the  creek.  The  winter  of  1777-78,  during  which  Washing- 
ton's army  remained  in  camp  at  Valley  Forge,  was  uncommonly 
severe,  and  the  troops  suffered  intensely  from  lack  of  clothing, 
food  aud  shelter  from  the  storms  aud  wintry  winds.  But  their 
patience  and  fidelity  to  the  cause  for  which  they  bore  arms  was 
sufficient  to  enable  them  to  bear  hardships  almost  if  not  quite 
uuparalleled  iu  the  history  of  Avar.  Lafayette,  in  his  old  age, 
said  of  them:  "The  patience  aud  endurance  of  both  soldiers  and 
officers  Avas  a  miracle  Avhich  each  moment  seemed  to  reneAV." 

Thomas  Wharton,  iu  the  name  of  Pennsylvania,  Avrote:  "The 
unparalleled  patience  and  magnanimity  with  which  the  army 
under  your  Excellency's  command  have  endured  the  hardships 
attending  their  situation,  unsupplied  as  they  have  been  through 
an  uucommonly  severe  Avinter,  is  an  honor  which  will  be  consid- 


236  CHESTER     COUXTY 

ered  as  more  illustrious  than  could  have  been  derived  to  them  by 
a  victorj^  obtained  by  any  sudden  and  vigorous  exertion." 

Washington's  own  opinion  of  his  soldiers  was  thus  expressed: 
"Without  arrogance  or  the  smallest  deviation  from  truth  it  may 
be  said  that  no  history  now  extant  can  furnish  an  instance  of  an 
army's  suffering  such  uncommon  htirdships  as  ours  has  done  and 
bearing  them  with  the  same  patience  and  fortitude.  To  see  men 
without  clothes  to  cover  their  nakedness,  without  blankets  to  lie 
upon,  without  shoes  (for  the  want  of  which  their  marches  might 
be  traced  by  the  blood  from  their  feet),  and  almost  as  often  without 
provisions  as  with  them,  marching  through  the  frost  and  snow, 
and  at  Christmas  taking  up  their  winter  quarters  within  a  day's 
march  of  the  enemy,  without  a  house  or  hut  to  cover  them  till 
they  could  be  built,  and  submitting  without  a  murmur,  is  a  proof 
of  patience  and  obedience  which,  in  my  opinion,  can  scarce  be 
paralleled." 

Before  taking  up  other  military  matters  and  movements  of 
interest  to  Chester  County  peojjle  as  being  more  or  less  directly  con- 
nected with  their  history,  it  will  be  well  to  note  the  various  hospi- 
tals used  in  the  county  for  the  benefit  of  the  wounded  and  sick  sol- 
diers after  the  battle  of  Brandywiue.  General  Lafayette  was  cared 
for  by  the  Moravians  at  Bethlehem  in  their  great  Inn,  called  the 
Sun.  The  German  Seventh-day  Baptists,  whigs  in  sentinuMit,  but 
opposed  to  war,  ojjened  their  monastic  institution  at  Eplirata,  Lan- 
caster County,  converting  {lieir  entire  establishment  into  a  hospital. 
Joseph  Downiug's  barn  at  Downingtown  was  iised  for  hospital  pur- 
poses, and  in  the  vicinity  forty  soldiers  were  buried.  The  Uwchlan 
Friends'  Meeting-house  was  used  as  a  hospital,  as  was  the  old 
school-house  at  the  intersection  of  the  Valley  and  Brandywine 
roads  at  the  Turk's  Head  tavern,  and  also  the  buildings  at  Yellow 
Springs,  now  named  Chester  Springs,  where  for  a  time  Washing- 
ton had  his  headquarters.    The  wives  of  Zachariah  Bice  and  Chris- 


.i:v/>    iT>i   PEori.E.  237 

tian  Hench,  through  their  attention  to  sick  soldiers  at  Yellow 
Springs,  contracted  typhus  fever  and  died  therefrom. 

On  the  farm  of  Herman  Prizer  in  East  Coventry  Township 
there  was  a  barn  that  was  used  as  a  hospital  for  sick  American 
soldiers,  and  there  were  many  churches  and  meeting-houses  in 
the  county  which  were  converted  into  hospitals,  among  them  being 
the  Brandywine  Meeting-house,  the  German  Reformed  Church  in 
East  Vincent  Township  and  Zion  Lutheran  Church,  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill road  in  East  Pikeland  Township,  which  were  about  one  mile 
apart,  and  which  continued  to  be  used  during  the  entire  winter 
of  1777-78.  Near  the  East  Vincent  Church  twenty-two  of  the 
soldiers  that  died  there  were  buried  on  grounds  belonging  to 
Henry  Hippie,  Sr.,  and  in  1831  steps  were  taken  by  the  military 
organizations  of  Chester  County  to  inclose  the  graves  of  these 
soldiers  and  to  erect  a  monument  to  their  memory.  The  monu- 
ment as  erected  was  a  marble  pyramid  about  eight  feet  high, 
inclosed  by  a  strong  wall  and  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 
Appropriate  inscriirtions  were  engraved  on  each  of  the  four  sides 
of  the  monument.  The  wall  beginning  to  crumble,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  make  the  necessary  repairs,  the  grounds  were 
conveyed  to  trustees,  funds  were  collected  and  a  substantial  wall 
erected  on  three  sides  of  the  grounds,  containing  twelve  and  thirty- 
seven  hundredths  square  perches,  and  an  iron  fence  was  built  in 
front. 

On  the  llth  of  Xevember,  1777,  the  Council  of  Safety  wrote 
from  Lancaster  to  Robert  Smith,  lieutenant  of  Chester  County, 
advising  him  to  be  on  the  watch  for  Mr.  John  James  of  Philadel- 
phia, who  had  lately  been  clandestinely  sent  out  by  General 
Howe  to  promote  the  views  of  the  invaders.  On  January  13, 
1778,  Jacob  Dingee  and  Richard  Strode  delivei'ed  the  body  of 
Charles  Dingee,  late  of  Chester  County,  to  the  Council  of  Safety, 
to  be  committed  to  the  gaol  of  Lancaster  County  until  he  should 
take  tlie  oath  or  affirmation  of  allegiance  and  give  security. 


2  38  CHESTER     COUNTY 

On  April  2,  1778,  au  order  was  drawu  on  the  treasurer  in 
favor  of  Stephen  Cochran  for  the  sum  of  £2,000,  to  be  paid  to  Sam- 
uel Futhey  of  Chester  County,  to  purchase  horses  with  which  to 
mount  the  cavalry.  On  the  12th  of  this  month  the  following 
forfeited  estates  were  noted  to  be  sold:  Of  Nathaniel  Vernon, 
late  sheriff  of  the  county;  of  Curtis  Lewis,  blacksmith,  and  of  Eich- 
ard  Swanwick.  On  April  22,  Col.  Andrew  Boyd  Avrote  to  President 
Wharton  that  there  was  a  set  of  tory  horsethieves  in  the  county, 
and  he  also  wrote  that  in  some  few  instances  Quakers  insulted 
and  even  attempted  to  tire  on  two  different  giiards  Col.  Boyd  had 
out  collecting'  fines. 

On  May  0,  1778,  commissioners  were  appointed  for  Chester 
County,  as  follows:  William  Evans,  Thomas  Cheyney,  Thomas 
Levis,  Patterson  Bell  and  John  Hannum,  and  on  the  8th  orders 
were  issued  that  Henry  Skyles,  Thomas  Bulla,  David  Dawson, 
Jacob  James,  Joseph  Thomas,  Nathaniel  Vernon,  Jr.,  and  John 
Swanwick,  all  late  of  the  county  of  Chester,  be  required  to  appear 
and  abide  trial  for  adhering  to  the  enemy. 

June  15,  1778,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  Supreme' 
Executive  Council,  designating  as  traitors  nearly  500  persons,  of 
Avhom  sixty-tive  were  named  as  then  belonging -to  or  having  of 
late  belonged  to  Chester  County. 

General  Joseph  Eeed,  who  had  been  elected  President  of  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  December  1,  1778,  wrote  on  July  28,  1780,  to 
Lieut.  Eobert  Smith,  regarding  the  j)atriotism  manifested  by  some 
of  the  peojile  of  Chester  County.  He  said:  "It  has  been  observed 
that  less  attention  has  been  paid  by  your  county  to  furnishing  vol- 
unteers than  any  other  county  in  the  state.  We  fear  that  you 
have  not  sufficiently  attended  to  tli(>  imiiortancc  of  this  duty,  as 
Ave  cannot  suppose  the  county  Avould  not  exert  itself  if  the  officers 
would  lead  the  way.  It  is  unpleasant  to  suppose  that  at  so  critical 
a.  season  any  gentleman  in  office  Avhose  exertions  are  important 
would  omit  them,  but  there  has  certainly  been  a  deficiency  in  your 
county  which  we  flatter  ourselves  will  be  made  up,"  etc. 


A^'D     /7'.s'     PFOPLE.  239 

Thus  challenged  by  the  president  of  the  state,  Lieut.  Eobert 
Hniith,  who  was  really  a  capable  and  patriotic  officer,  replied  as 
follows,  on  September  4,  1780: 

"Sir:  The  particular  situation  of  this  county  under  the  late 
course  of  the  militia  induces  me  to  lay  before  Council  the  follow- 
ing state  of  facts,  and  to  request  their  advice  and  instruction 
thereon : 

"Our  justices  at  their  session  in  May  last  rated  the  average 
prices  of  farm  labor  at  |20  per  dayas  the  standard  of  militia  fines. 
This,  as  I  was  verballA*  informed  by  the  president  of  the  court, 
but  no  certificate  under  their  hands  and  seals  was  received. 
According  to  this  rate  the  fines  for  non-attendance  on  days  of 
exercise,  the  former  part  of  the  present  year  were  laid,  and  four 
companies  of  the  militia  were  ordered  into  actual  service,  were 
marched  before  the  August  sessions  under  the  same  circumstances. 
Upon  the  militia  being  called  out  they  expressed  great  dissatis- 
faction at  their  wages  being  lower  than  those  in  the  city  and  other 
counties;  and  the  court,  at  their  August  sessions,  rated  labor  at 
|30  per  day.  And  in  the  interim  between  the  marching  of  the 
militia  and  the  sitting  of  the  court,  some  few  officers  were  received 
at  the  former  rate,  as  money  was  much  wanted  for  the  purpose  of 
advancing  those  who  marched;  and  it  is  now  strongly  controverted 
whether  we  have  the  right  to  levy  the  advanced  price  of  labor 
upon  delinquents,  as  the  militia  were  ordered  out  and  the  fines 
incurred  before  the  sitting  of  the  court.  It  is  likewise  contended 
by  some  that  as  the  militia  are  discharged  before  the  expiration 
of  their  two  months,  the  fines  noAV  collected  should  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  time  of  service  given.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
state  these  circumstances,  and  would  humbly  request  the  advice 
and  instructions  of  the  Honorable  Council  on  the  subject,  both 
with  respect  to  the  fines  upon  delinquents  and  the  wages  of  those 
who  have  marched  upon  the  late  call,  in  order  that  we  may  proceed 
in  a  regular  and  uniform  line  of  conduct  in  this  matter. 

"ROBERT  SMITH." 


240  CHESTER     COUXTy 

The  extent  of  the  ravages  committed  by  the  British  army  in 
its  march  thi'ough  Chester  County  Avas  very  great.  It  is  not 
deemed  necessary  in  this  worii  to  present  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  hisses  of  individuals,  that  having  been  done  in  a  pretty 
thorougli  manner  by  Messrs.  Futhey  and  Cope,  in  their  "History  of 
Chester  County;"  lience  only  the  summary  of  losses  by  townships 
will  bo  given,  which  is  altogether  likely  considerably  within  the 
limit  of  truth,  as  umuy  people  made  no  return  of  losses  in  any 
way.     That  n-capituhitiou  is  as  follows: 

TOWNSHIPS.  PERSONS. 

New  Garden S 

Oxford 1 

Xew  Lciiidoii   2 

Londougrove 1 

Kennett   i 

East  Marlborough -4 

Xewliu   4 

West  Marlborough 5 

West  Bradford 5 

East  Bradford  1 

Peunsbury 12 

Birmingham   20 

Thorubury tl 

WesttoM  u 4 

Goshen 20 

^^■i^isT^wu 13 

Easttown 17 

West  Wliiteland   10 

East  Whiteland 18 

Tredyffriu 30 

Charlestown 15 

Pikeland    1 


AMOUNTS. 

£ 

s 

D 

951 

8 

500 

0 

0 

Hi 

9 

0 

451 

1 

6 

1,302 

1 

5 

109 

4 

6 

213 

12 

6 

225 

4 

0 

583 

9 

o 

125 

5 

0 

894 

o 

9 

5,844 

C 

7 

787 

IS 

1 

1G9 

0 

10 

2,372 

13 

8 

636 

18 

4 

420 

7 

G 

1,116 

14 

4 

1,415 

14 

10 

9,358 

13 

10 

1,967 

3 

o 

252 

7 

6 

AND     /7'.S'     PEOPLE.  241 


East  Nantmeal 1 

Coventry 1 

West  Cain 2 

Chester 31 

Chichester 1 

Aston 6 

Concord 12 

Marple 3 

Newtown 3 

Eidley 6 

Edgemout T 

Haverford 22 

Darby 26 

Radnor 29 


200 

0 

0 

18 

0 

0 

88 

0 

0 

2,742 

12 

0 

87 

17 

6 

1,245 

2 

9 

961 

9 

6 

217 

1 

11 

86 

3 

3 

639 

17 

10 

504 

16 

0 

1,733 

1 

3 

1,475 

18 

2 

1,499 

9 

0 

363  41,372  6  10 
This  sum  was  equal  to  .^110,326.24.  Among  the  items  of  loss 
were  318  horses,  546  cattle,  1,480  sheep,  580  hogs,  9,062  bushels  of 
wheat,  2,324  bushels  of  rye,  2,881  bushels  of  Indian  corn,  775 
bushels  of  buckwheat,  4,287  bushels  of  oats,  and  about  550  tons 
of  hay. 

The  capitulation  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  October  29,  1781, 
not  only  gladdened  the  hearts  of  all  patriots  throughout  the  coun- 
try, but  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the  war.  The  treaty 
acknowledging  the  independence  of  the  United  .States  was  signed 
November  30,  1782,  and  on  January  20,  1783,  the  preliminary 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed.  On  April  11,  following.  Congress 
issued  a  proclamation  enjoining  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  and 
on  the  16th  of  the  same  month  the  Supreme  Executive  Council 
announced  at  the  court-house  the  happy  event.  And  thus  at 
length  the  long  strife  and  unhappy  war  were  brought  to  an  end. 
But  not  so  the  feelings  engendered  by  differences  of  attitude,  nor 
the  difficulties  and  settlements  that  were  necessarily  of  longer  con- 
tinuance. 


242  CHESTER     COUNTY 

After  the  movement  in  favor  of  independence  of  the  colonies 
was  fairly  launched  upon  the  great  ocean  of  events,  there  were 
within  each  of  the  colonies  at  least  three  classes  of  people,  with 
regard  to  their  relations  to  this  movement.  First  of  these  classes 
may  be  enumerated  the  Patriots,  or  those  who  believed  in,  fought 
for  and  sustained,  if  they  did  not  actually  fight  for,  the  move- 
ment; second,  those  who  opposed  independence,  aiding  in  every 
Avay  in  their  power  the  effort  of  what  they  considered  the  mother 
country  to  suppress  the  rebellion  against  her  authority;  and  third, 
those  who  remained  in  motive  and  in  action  neutral,  permitting 
the  other  two  parties  to  fight  the  battle  to  the  end ;  that  is,  per- 
mitted the  attempted  suppression  of  the  rebellion  to  go  on  with 
the  aid  of  the  second  class,  who  were  called  tories,  while  the  first 
class  were  called  whigs.  The  neutral  class  was  composed  in  the 
main  of  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  could  not  engage 
in  war,  on  account  of  their  conscientious  and  religious  scruples 
against  bearing  arms.  The  whigs,  liowever,  could  uot  in  those 
active  times  distinguish  between  the  active  participants  on  the 
side  of  the  Crown,  that  is,  the  tories,  and  the  non-participants 
on  eitlier  side;  but  regarded  all  who  did  not  take  an  active  part 
in  the  establishment  of  independence  as  having  been  enemies,  and 
called  both  the  secoiid  and  third  class  tories  alike,  under  the  famous 
saying:    He  that  is  not  for  me  is  against  me. 

It  is  not  necessary  now  to  present  an  analysis  of  the  motives 
of  the  individual  members  of  any  one  of  these  three  classes  of 
men.  It  is  sufdcient  to  know  and  to  admit  that  generally  speaking 
all  men  of  all  classes  were  conscientious  in  the  course  they  took. 
But  the  sad  fact  has  always  existed  that  it  is  possible  for  men  to  be 
strictly  honest  and  conscientinus  and  at  the  same  time  wrong, 
and  it  is  altogether  probable  that  this  will  always  be  true.  Men 
have  always  been  divided  on  all  questions — political,  religious,  his- 
torical, sociological  and  even  scientific  ones,  and  it  appears  to  be 
correct  to  say  that  every  opinion  has  a  right  to  life,  liberty  and 


AM)     /7W     PEOPLE.  243 

the  pursuit  of  happiness,  as  well  as  men,  if  it  can  only  convince 
the  world  that  that  right  exists.  Then  it  is  perhaps  true  that  no 
system  of  religious  or  political  thought  is  entirely  without  some- 
thing that  is  unreasonable,  and  hence  it  follows  that  each  and 
every  class  of  men  should  look  with  charity  upon  what  they 
consider  the  frailties  of  all  the  other  classes;  and  first  "pull  the 
beam  out  of  their  own  eyes  before  they  attempt  to  pluck  the- 
mote  out  of  their  brother's  eyes.'" 

After  the  victory  was  won  it  was  perfectly  natural  that  the 
state  of  feeling  toward  those  who  had  activeh'  or  passively 
opposed  the  patriot  war  should  find  expression,  as  it  did  in  such 
resolutions  as  follow: 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  officers  and  other  respectable  inhabitants 
(jf  the  Fifth  Battalion  district,  Chester  County  Militia,  at  the  house 
f)f  James  Miles,  in  East  Cain  Township,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1783, 
Lieut.-Col.  John  Gardner  in  the  chair, 

"Resolved  unanimously.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  com- 
pany it  is  inconsistent  with  reason,  justice  and  sound  policy  that 
such  persons,  of  every  description,  as  have  deserted  their  country 
in  the  time  of  its  calamities,  and  distress,  and  joined  our  enemies, 
or  who  have,  by  a  conduct  inimical  to  the  Government  and  laws 
of  their  country,  been  obliged  to  fly  to  them  for  refuge,  should 
ever  be  permitted  to  return  or  remain  amongst  us,  to  participate- 
in  the  blessings  of  that  Freedom  and  Independence,  now  so  happily 
established,  and  which  they  have  done  all  in  their  power  to  deprive- 
us  of; 

"Resolved,  2ndly,  That  we  highly  approve  the  laudable  exam- 
ple of  the  officers  of  the  militia  of  the  City  and  Liberties  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  will  cheerfully  concur  with  them  in  carrj-ing  their 
patriotic  resolves  into  execution. 

"Resolved,  Srdiy,  That  we  will  join  with  others  of  the  com- 
munity in  instructions  to  our  Representatives  in  Assembly  upon 
the  subject,  and  in  the  meantime  use  our  utmost  endeavors  and 


244  CHESTER     COUNTY 

iufluence  to  prevent  the  return  of  any  of  those  enemies  to  their 
country';  and  that  we  will  consider  all  persons  who  connive  at, 
harbor  or  entertain  them  as  unworthy  the  character  of  Free  citi- 
zens, and  justly  liable  to  the  displeasure  and  resentment  of  all 
true  Patriots  and  Friends  of  Liberty. 

"Resolved,  4thly,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting;  be 
communicated  to  the  several  and  respective  battalions  of  the  militia 
in  this  county  as  soon  as  possible,  for  their  concurrence,  and  like- 
wise published  in  the  Philadelphia  newspapers. 

"Resolved,  Sthly,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to 
correspond  with  and  meet  committees  that  may  be  appointed  from 
the  other  battalions  in  this  county,  to  draw  up  a  set  of  instruc- 
tions to  our  Representatives  in  Assembly,  on  this  subject.  The 
persons  chosen,  Colonel  John  Gardner,  Major  John  Culbertson, 
Mr.  Samuel  Cunningham,  Col.  Robert  Smith  and  Mr.  John  Beaton. 

"Signed  by  order  of  the  company, 

"JOHN  GARDNER,  Chairman." 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  officei's  of  the  Seventh  Battalion  of  tlu' 
Chester  County  Militia,  at  the  house  of  Ezekiel  Webb,  in  the  town- 
ship of  Kennett,  on  Saturday,  the  26th  of  July,  1783,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Isaac  Taylor  in  the  chair. 

"Whereas,  During  the  late  cruel  and  unjust  war  waged  against 
these  United  States  by  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  a  number  of 
persons,  lost  to  all  sense  of  honor  and  virtue,  have  deserted  their 
country,  joined  her  enemies  and  used  every  means  in  their  power 
to  distress  and  enslave  us.  And  whereas  (our  struggles  for  liberty 
have  beeen  successful  and  their  cruel  designs  frustratd),  there  is 
every  reason  to  fear  that  these  pe(jple  Avill  endeavor  to  insinuate 
themselves  into  these  states:  Therefore,  to  prevent  this  slate  from 
being  a  harbor  for  villains  of  every  denomination, 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  we  Avill  use  our  utmost  endeav- 
ors to  prevent  persons  of  the  above  description  from  settling 
Avithin  the  limits  of  this  Battalion.     And  we  hereby  pledge  our- 


3 
■J 

> 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  247 

selves  to  each  other,  to  unite  and  stand  by  each  other,  in  expelling 
them  from  amongst  us.  And  as  there  is  reason  to  think  that  some 
of  the  aforesaid  persons  are  harbored  amongst  us;  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  we  will  hereafter  inquire  into 
the  chai'acter,  and  examine  every  suspicious  person  that  comes 
within  our  knowledge,  and  that  we  will  assist  each  other  in  appre- 
hending and  securing  them,  that  they  may  be  brought  to  justice; 
and  that  we  will  unite  in  the  bringing  to  condign  punishment  all 
persons  who  aid,  abet  or  harbor  any  of  the  said  persons. 

"Eesolved,  unanimously,  3rd,  That  we  will  concur  with  other 
battalions  of  this  county  in  instructing  our  Representatives  in 
Assembly,  agreeably  to  the*above  resolutions;  and  that  Colonel 
Isaac  Taylor,  Major  John  Craig,  Peter  Bell  and  Captains  William 
Whiteside  and  Absalom  Baird  be  appointed  as  a  committee  to  meet 
committees  which  may  be  appointed  from  the  other  battalions  in 
this  countj',  to  draw  up  said  instructions. 

"Resolved,  4th,  That  these  resolutions  be  published  in  the 
Philadelphia  newspapers. 

"Signed  by  order  of  the  meeting, 

"ISAAC  TAYLOR,  Chairman." 

Col.  Robert  Smith,  mentioned  above  as  lieutenant  of  Chester 
County,  was  appointed  March  12,  1777,  and  served  until  March 
21, 1785.  His  sub-lieutenants  were  Lewis  Gronow,  Thomas  Straw- 
bridge,  Thomas  Cheyney,  Andrew  Boyd,  Robert  Wilson,  Thomas 
Wilson  and  Benjamin  Brannan.  The  militia  of  the  county  was 
divided  into  eight  classes,  and  when  a  class  was  called  out  many 
failed  to  respond,  and  it  was  necessary  to  make  the  deficiency 
good  by  hiring  substitutes,  procured  by  means  of  a  bounty  paid 
by  the  state,  which  was  to  be  remunerated  by  fines  imposed  on 
delinquents  and  ranging  from  £15  to  £50. 

Following  is  a  statement  of  the  amount  of  fines  received  by 
Col.  Robert  Smith  and  his  sub-lieutenants  from  March  1,  1780, 
to  April  1,  1783: 
15 


248  CHESTER     COUXTY 

CONTINENTAL   MONEY.     STATE  MONEY.  SPECIE. 

NAMES.  £  go  £  S       D  £  s        D 

Kobert  Smith 155,336  17  7  07     8  7  1,028  10  8 

Lewi.s  Grouow 97,712  17  G  10  0  405  10  9 

Andrew  Boyd 27,634  15  4 

Thomas  Levis   89,915  14  9  110     3  6  701  7  0 

Kobert  Wilson 30,075  IC  8  6  15  0  18G  11  3 

Thomas  Cheyney 100,279  14  9  410  8  3 

506,955     10     7       185     7     1      2,732     13  11 

The  methods  of  the  patriots  in  dealing  with  traitors  are  clearly 
shown  by  the  following  proceedings:  On  August  1,  1779,  an  adver- 
tisement appeared  in  the  Philadelphia  papers  to  the  effect  that 
whereas  the  estates  of  Joseph  Galloway,  Nathaniel  Vernon,  Gideon 
Vernon,  David  Dawson,  Eichard  Swanick,  William  Maddock,  Alex- 
ander Bartman,  Curtis  Lewis,  Philip  Marchiuton  and  Joshua  Proc- 
tor, late  of  Chester  Coimty,  having  been  by  due  process  of  law  for- 
feited and  seized  to  the  use  of  this  State,  we  the  subscribers, 
agents  for  the  said  county,  do  hereby  give  notice  that  the  planta- 
tions heretofore  belonging  to  the  above-named  persons,  which  are 
well  watered  and  wooded,  will  be  sold  by  public  vendue  on  Satur- 
day, the  4th  day  of  September  next. 

Signed,  THOMAS  LEVIS  AND  JOHN  HANNUM. 

The  estate  of  Joseph  Galloway,  thus  offered  for  sale,  contained 
422  acres;  that  of  Nathaniel  Vernon,  244  acres;  that  of  George 
Vernon,  113  acres,  all  of  them  lying  near  the  village  of  Chester; 
that  of  David  Dawson,  450  acres,  in  the  township  of  West  Cain; 
that  of  Richard  Swanick,  300  acres;  that  of  William  Maddock,  80 
acres;  that  of  Alexander  Bartram,  90  acres,  his  place  being  known 
by  the  name  of  "Fox  Chace;"  that  of  Curtis  Lewis,  403  acres,  a 
part  of  which  was  near  the  Ship  tavern;  that  of  Philip  Marchiuton, 
400  acres,  and  that  of  Joshua  Proctor,  80  acres,  located  in  New 
Garden  Township. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.        ■  249 

At  least  oue  of  the  above-named  individuals  was  hanged  on 
attainder  for  treason,  viz.:  David  Dawson,  who  was  executed  on 
tlie  commons  in  Philadelphia,  November  25,  1780,  which  fact  was 
so  stated  in  a  letter  by  Hon.  George  Bryan  to  Hon.  James  Irwin 
of  Philadelphia,  the  letter  being  dated  October  20,  1784. 

In  a  report  to  President  Eeed,  dated  in  1781,  sent  by  John  Shee 
and  Jacob  Morris,  it  was  stated  that  up  to  that  time  the  amount  of 
sales  of  forfeited  estates  in  Chester  County  was  £128,030  14s.  7d., 
the  commissions  on  which  amoimted  to  £3,991  2s. 

As  supplementary  to  the  fact  of  the  sale  of  forfeited  estates 
it  should  be  mentioned  that  children  were  not  always  deprived 
of  their  inheritances  because  of  the  treason  of  their  parents.  An 
act  was  passed  by  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  October  6,  1779, 
in  behalf  of  Thomas  Yeruon,  Job  Vernon,  a  captain  of  the  Fifth 
Pennsylvania  regiment  of  Continental  troops;  Franklin  Vernon, 
a  major  of  the  Eighth  Pennsylvania  regiment  of  the  Continental 
troops,  and  John  Vernon,  all  of  them  being  children  of  Nathaniel 
Vernon,  late  of  Chester  County,  one  of  the  persons  attainted  of 
high  treason  by  the  laws  of  I'ennsylvania,  who  showed  by  their 
petition  that  no  matter  how  guilty  their  father  might  have  been 
of  the  crime  which  occasioned  the  forfeiture  of  his  estate,  yet  that 
the  petitioners  had  every  one  of  them  demeaned  themselves  as 
good  citizens,  tAvo  of  them  having  served  in  the  army  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  having  thus  aided  in  establishing  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, and  they  therefore  prayed  that  they  might  not  be  reduced 
to  indigence  on  account  of  their  father's  crime  or  transgressions, 
and  they  asked  that  his  estate  subject  to  his  debts  might  be  vested 
and  established  in  themselves.  The  law  passed  in  accordance  with 
and  in  answer  to  their  petition  gave  to  them  all  the  estate  of  their 
father,  except  what  had  already  been  sold  in  accordance  with  the 
act  of  attainder,  and  such  as  was  not  needed  to  pay  his  just  debts. 

The  (jfficers  of  the  several  battalions  of  militia  of  Chester 
County,  and  the  number  of  men  in  each  battalion,  were  as  follows: 


250  CHESTER     COIXTY 

1st.— Lieut.-Col.,  Thomas  Bull;  Major,  Peter  Hartman;  uuni- 
ber  of  men,  672. 

2ncl.— Lieut.-Col.,  John  Bartholomew;  IMajor,  Cromwell 
Pearce;  number  of  men,  873. 

3r(l,_Lieut.-Col.,  George  Pierce;  Major,  Edward  Vernon;  num- 
ber of  men,  510. 

4th.— Lieut.-Col.,  Richard  Willing-;  Major,  William  Brooke; 
number  of  men,  670. 

5th.— Lieut-Col.,  John  Gardner;  Major,  John  Culbertson;  num- 
ber of  men,  623. 

6th. — Lieut.-Col.,  David  McKey;  Major,  Samuel  Evans;  number 
of  men,  484. 

7th. — Lient.-Col.,  Isaac  Taylor;  Major,  John  Craig. 

8th. — Lieut.-Col.,  Joseph  Speer;  Major,  John  Boyd;  number 
of  men,  570. 

The  captains  who  served  at  different  times  in  the  above  bat- 
talions were  as  follows:  Thomas  Carpenter,  Joseph  Mendenhall, 
William  Whiteside,  Joseph  Luckey,  Hugh  Eeed,  John  Boyd,  John 
Bryan,  David  Curry,  Robert  Curry,  Thomas  Taylor,  Joseph  John- 
ston, Sampson  Thomas,  Jonathan  Rowland,  Evan  Anderson,  Wil- 
liam Harris,  Isaac  Thomas,  Alexander  Lockart,  John  Craig, 
Thomas  Levis,  John  Flower,  Jonathan  Veimon,  John  Lindsey, 
Edward  Vernon,  John  Pitts,  Mordecai  Morgan,  Joseph  Bogg,  John 
Fleming,  and  others  whose  Christian  names  are  not  at  hand,  as 
follows:  Cypher,  Wilson,  Hister,  Boylan,  Morrell,  Moore,  Smith, 
Cochran,  Henry,  Marsh,  McCloskey,  Quin,  Kirk,  Price,  Kemp, 
Pierce,  Huston,  Dunning,  Allen,  Graham,  Denny,  Barker,  Elton, 
Scott,  Beatty,  Griffith,  Carroll,  Hollman,  Brumback,  Barber,  Sny- 
der, Evry,  Cummings,  Jenkins,  Kincaid,  Corby,  Hays,  Williamson, 
Blackburne,  Colby,  Ramsay,  McKee,  Fulton,  Evans,  Black,  Ram- 
age  and  Strode.* 

On  July  1, 1776,  there  was  a  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Rich- 
ard Cheyney,  in  Dowuingtown,  of  the  Chester  County  committee,  at 


AM)     ITS     PEOPLE.  251 

wiiicli  the  following  appointments  were  made  of  officers  in  the 
battalion  of  Chester  County  Flying  Camp: 

Captains. — Joseph  Gardner,  Samiiel  Wallace,  Samuel  Culbin- 
son,  James  Boyline,  John  McDowell,  John  Shaw,  Matthew  Boyd 
and  John  Beaton. 

First  Lieutenants. — William  Henry,  Andrew  Dunwoody, 
Thomas  Henry,  Benjamin  Culbiuson,  Samuel  Lindsay,  Allen  Cun- 
ningham, Joseph  Strawbridge  and  Joseph  Bartholomew. 

Second  Lieutenants. — Robert  Filsou,  William  Lockard, 
Thomas  Davis,  Samuel  Hamill,  Jeremiah  Cloud,  Joseph  Wherry, 
David  Curry  and  Alexander  McCarragher. 

Ensigns. — William  Cunningham,  John  Grardtrencher,  John 
Filling,  Andrew  Curry,  Thomas  James,  Lazarus  Finney,  Archibald 
Desart  and  John  Llewellyn. 

That  there  were  in  Chester  County,  as  in  other  counties  in  all 
of  the  colonies,  men  who  were  opposed  to  the  war  for  independence, 
can  neither  be  denied  nor  doubted,  and  hence  it  may  be  permiss- 
ible to  briefly  discuss  the  question  as  to  why  thej-  maintained 
the  position  which  they  did.  This  position  was  the  same  as  that 
which  for  a  long  time  was  maintained  by  the  several  conventions, 
assemblies  and  legislatures  of  the  colonies,  and  even  by  the  Con- 
gress itself,  down  to  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
they  all  apparently  preferring  and  hoping  for  an  honorable  adjust- 
ment of  the  difficulties  then  existing  between  the  colonies  and 
Great  Britain,  a  redress  of  grievances,  the  difference  being  that 
those  who  are  now,  and  have  ever  since  been,  called  "Tories," 
adhered  to  that  position  all  through  the  war,  while  the  patriots 
became  convinced  that  there  could  be  no  redress  of  grievances 
while  they  remained  loyal  to  the  crown.  The  tories  feared  that 
no  government  could  be  established  in  this  country  that  would 
ever  be  sufficiently  strong  to  preserve  order,  to  protect  the  citizens 
against  mobs  and  anarchy.  That  all  parties  were  equally  honest 
and  conscientious  in  their  convictions  is  now  almost  universally 


2  52  CHESTER    COUXTY 

conceded.  But  it  is  altogether  likely  that  the  tory  part  of  the 
popnlatiou,  in  addition  to  their  hesitancy  to  taking  up  arms  against 
Great  Britain  for  the  reason  above  given,  also  feared  any  move- 
ment looking  toward  independence  would  certainly  be  crushed 
out  by  the  arms  of  the  mother  country;  while  the  i^atriots  were 
willing  to  take  the  risk  of  success  in  war.  No  one  could  with  any 
degree  of  certainty  foresee  the  end.  That  the  issue  was  for  years 
doubtful  is  of  course  well  known,  and  this  fact  must  ever  be  a 
partial  justification  for  the  hesitancy  of  the  tory  in  attempting 
to  expel  Bi'itish  power  from  the  country. 

The  situation  of  the  tory  after  the  war  he  had  opposed  had 
been  brought  to  a  successful  termination  was  anything  but  an 
enviable  one.  The  accounts  of  the  meetings  of  the  militia  of  Ches- 
ter Count}',  and  the  proceedings  of  the  courts  in  the  conviction  of 
individuals  of  treason,  their  execution  and  the  confiscation  of 
their  estates,  proves  this  fact  abundantly.  The  state  of  doubt  in 
the  mind  of  the  tory  as  to  what  was  best  for  him  to  do  in  the  face 
of  persecution,  to  which  he  was  frequently  subjected  for  years 
after  the  war  had  closed,  is  well  expressed  in  the  following  parody 
on  Hamlet's  soliloquy,  doubtless  written  by  some  patriot  poet  of 
the  times: 

THE  TORY'S  SOLILOQUY. 

"To  go  or  not  to  go?"  that  is  the  question! 
Whether  'tis  best  to  trust  the  inclement  Ksky, 
That  scowls  indignant  o'er  the  dreary  Bay 
Of  Fundy,  and  Cape  Sable's  rock  and  shoals, 
And  seek  our  new  domains  in  Scotia's  wilds, 
Barren  and  bare; — or  stay  among  the  Kebelsl 
And,  by  our  stay,  raise  up  their  keenest  rage, 
That,  bursting  o'er  our  now  defenseless  heads, 
Will  crush  us  for  the  countless  wrongs  we've  done  them. 
Hard  choice;  »Stay,  let  me  think,  T'explore  our  Avay 
Through  raging  seas  to  Scotia's  rocky  coast, 


.l.\V>     /7'N     I'I'JU'IJ:.  253 

At  this  dire  season  of  this  direful  year 

Where  scarce  the  sun  affords  a  cheerful  rav, 

Or  stay  and  cringe  to  the  rude,  surly  whigs, 

Whose  wounds,  yet  fresh,  may  urge  their  desperate  hand 

To  s]»urn  us  Avliile  we  sue — perhaps  consign  us 

To  the  Icind  care  of  some  outrageous  mob, 

Who,  for  their  si>ort,  our  persons  may  adorn 

In  all  the  majesty  of  tar  and  feathers; 

Perhaps  our  necks,  to  keep  their  humor  warm, 

May  grace  a  rebel  halter!    There's  the  sting! 

This  peoijles  the  bleak  clime — for  who  can  brook 

A  rebel's  frown;  or  bear  his  children's  stare 

When  in  tlie  streets  they  point,  and  lisp,  "A  Tory,"  etc.* 

But  now,  while  looking  upon  the  entire  question  in  a  calmer 
and  more  philosophical  spirit  than  was  then  possible  for  any  one, 
and  while  we  cheerfully  grant  honesty  and  conscientious  con- 
viction to  all,  including  the  poor,  despised  tory,  yet  we  must 
ourselves  have  convictions  as  to  the  merits  of  the  positions  assumed 
by  each  of  the  several  parties  to  the  contest,  as  well  as  of  those 
Avho  refused  to  range  themselves  on  either  side.  The  patriots 
established  for  themselves,  for  their  immediate  descendants,  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  for  all  generations  to  come,  a  f(n"m  of  government 
under  which  a  resort  to  arms  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  redress 
of  grievances  has  been  so  far,  is  now  and  must  continue  to  be  so 
long  as  that  form  of  government  shall  remain,  not  only  unneces- 
sary, but  even  wicked  and  criminal  in  the  highest  degree.  While 
it  may  be  true,  as  we  are  occasionally  told,  that  sometimes  in  all 
places,  and  perhaps  at  all  times  in  some  places,  a  portion  of  the 
people  suffer  from  grievances  equal  to  or  even  greater  than  any  of 
which  in  17T(!  the  patriots  complained,  yet  under  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment they  established,  the  people  can,  if  a  majority  of  them  so 


*  Published  in  November,  1783. 


2  54  CHESTER    COUNTY 

desire,  quietly  remove  those  grievances,  by  the  simple  process  of 
resorting  to  an  election,  which  shall  come  at  the  end  of  a  campaign 
carried  on  in  a  reasonable  manner,  during  which  the  people  may 
become  convinced  that  they  do  really  suffer  from  the  grievances 
of  which  perhaps  only  a  few  at  first  complained,  and  by  which 
election  the  majority  place  in  power  in  the  municipality,  or  county, 
or  state,  or  nation,  men  of  the  same  views  and  convictions  with 
themselves.  All  that  is  required  on  the  part  of  the  people  is  a  clear 
knowledge  of  what  they  themselves  complain,  and  of  the  proper 
remedy  to  be  applied;  and  in  addition  to  this  knowledge,  virtue, 
intelligence,  sound  judgment,  cultivated  reason  and  self  control. 
The  institutions  of  government  which,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
operated  successfully,  require  such  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  as 
here  enumerated,  are  most  admirably  calculated  to  develop  in 
man  the  Ycry  qualities  themselves,  and  it  is  this  that  makes 
so  conspicuous  the  wisdom  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Revolutionary 
times,  who  founded  and  established  the  most  perfect  republican 
form  of  government  that  has  so  far  been  established  in  the  world. 

September  20,  1817,  the  Republican  Artillerists  of  Chester 
County,  aided  by  their  fellow-citizens,  erected  a  monument  over 
the  remains  of  those  killed  at  Paoli,  September  20,  1777,  by  the 
British  soldiers  under  Gen.  Grey.  On  that  occasion  an  address 
was  delivered  by  Major  Isaac  D.  Barnard,  and  an  account  of  the 
massacre  was  given  by  Rev.  David  Jones,  who  was  chaplain  of 
Gen.  Wayne's  ill-fated  army  at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  and  who 
at  the  time  of  the  erection  of  the  monument  was  in  his  eighty-, 
second  year.  Col.  Isaac  Wayne,  son  of  Gen.  Wayne,  was  present 
at  the  time.  This  monument  stood  in  Willistown  Township,  less 
than  half  a  mile  southwest  of  Malvern. 

On  the  one  hundredth  anniversay  of  the  massacre  a  new 
monument  was  erected  at  this  place,  the  old  one  having  become 
injured  and  defaced  to  a  great  extent.  On  this  occasion  there  were 
present  from  8,000  to  10,000  persons,  one  of  the  largest  gatherings 


AXD     77'N     PEOPLE.  255 

ever  known  in  the  history  of  the  county.  On  this  occasion  Capt. 
William  Wayne,  a  great-grandson  of  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne,  was 
I^resent,  the  captain  having  been  an  officer  in  the  Union  army  dur- 
ing the  Eebellion.  This  new  monument  is  of  Quincy  granite, 
twenty-two  and  a  half  feet  high,  and  a  well-proportioned,  chaste 
and  beautiful  obelisk.  The  jiolished  die  bears  on  its  four  sides 
appropriate  inscriptions,  those  on  the  west,  north  and  south  sides 
having  been  written  by  Dr.  William  Darlington,  the  master  spirit 
in  the  erection  of  the  first  monument  in  1817,  as  Dr.  Wood  was 
in  the  erection  of  this  in  1ST7,  he  being  the  principal  mover  in  the 
entire  enterprise,  including  the  raising  of  the  money. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  new  monument  in 
1877,  Governor  John  F.  Hartranft  and  his  staff  were  in-esent.  The 
meeting  was  organized  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Wood  of  Westchester,  at  12 
o'clock,  who  named  as  president,  Hon.  Washington  Townsend, 
and  numerous  vice-presidents  and  secretaries.  The  exercises  were 
then  conducted  in  the  following  order: 

1.  Delivery  of  the  monument  by  Mr.  Yan  Gunden,  on  behalf 
of  Messrs.  Van  Gunden,  Young  &  Drumm,  of  Philadelphia,  the  con- 
tractors for  the  construction  of  the  monument,  to  the  committee. 

2.  Eecejition  of  the  monument  on  behalf  of  the  committee  by 
Capt.  Eobert  T.  Cornwell. 

3.  Presentation  of  the  monument  by  Dr.  Wood  on  behalf  of 
the  committee  to  the  president,  Hon.  Washington  Townsend,  for 
dedication. 

4.  Dedicatory  address  of  the  president. 

5.  Unveiling  of  the  monument  by  Dr.  Wood. 

G.  National  salute  of  thirty-eight  guns  by  the  Griffen  battery. 

7.  Prayer  by  Rev.  Joseph  S.  Evans. 

8.  Historical  address  by  J.  Smith  Futhey. 

9.  Oration  by  Hon.  Wayne  MacYeagh. 
10.  Benediction  by  Rev.  Mr.  Elliott. 

The  military  and  citizens  then  formed  in  line  and  marched 


2  56  CIIEfiTEli     COrXTY 

round  the  monument  to  the  solemn  musie  of  the  bands  and  the  low 
roll  of  the  muffled  drums,  which  completed  the  exercises  of  the 
day,  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  by  those  who  participated  in  the 
<-eremonies. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  Pour  sides  of  this  monument  are  as  fol- 
lows: 


West  Side: 


North  Side: 


South  Side: 


"Sacred 

to  the  memory  of  the 

PATRIOTS 

Avlio  on  this  spot 

fell  a  sacrifice  to 

British   barbarity 

during  the  struggle  for 

AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE 

on  the  night  of  the 

20tli  of  September,  1777." 

"THE  ATROCIOUS  MASSACRE 

which  this  stone  commemorates 

was  perpetrated 

by  British  troops 

under  the  immediate  command 

of 
MAJOR  GENERAL  GREY." 

"Here   repose 

the  remains  of  fifty-three 

AMERICAN  SOLDIERS, 

who  were  the 

victims  of  cold-blooded  cruelty 

in  the  well-known 

'MASSACRE  AT  PAOLI,' 


.l.\7>     /7'.s'     PEOPLE.  257 

while  under  c-ommand  of 

GENERAL  ANTHONY  WAYNE, 

an  oflficer 

whose  military  conduct, 

bravery  and  humanity 

were  equally  conspicuous 

throughoiit  the 

REVOLUTIONARY  WAR." 


East  Side: 


"Erected  by  the  citizens   of 

Chester  and  Delaware  Counties, 

September  20,  1877,  being 

THE  CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY 

of  the  Paoli  Massacre." 

"The  other  inscriptions  on  this  monument  are 

copied  from 

the  memorial  stone 

formerly  standing  here, 

which  was  erected  by 

the  Republican  artillerists, 

and  other  citizens  of 

Chester  County, 
September  20,  1817." 

THE   WHISKY   INSURRECTION. 

What  is  known  as  the  "Whisky  Insurrection"  broke  out  in 
1791,  in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  while  Washington, 
was  President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  confined  to  the  coun- 
ties of  Fayette,  Washington,  Allegheny  and  Westmoreland.  Tur- 
bulent proceedings  continued  in  these  counties  for  several  years 
prior  to  1791,  in  which  year  measures  were  taken  both  by  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  government  of  the  tlnited  States  to 
restore  peace.     Governor  Thomas  Mifflin,  on  the  6th  of  August, 


2  58  CHESTER     COUNTY 

appointed  Chief  Justice  M'Kean  and  General  William  Irvine  to 
proceed  immediately  to  these  western  counties  to  ascertain  the 
facts  relative  to  the  riots  that  had  then  lately  taken  place,  and  on 
the  next  day  President  Washington  issued  a  proclamation  of 
warning,  commanding  all  insurgents,  on  or  before  the  1st  day  nf 
September  to  disperse  and  retire  peaceably  to  their  respective 
homes.  By  this  proclaiuation  the  President  also  directed  the 
laising  of  troops,  which  were  to  be  held  in  readiness  to  march 
at  a  moment's  warning.  The  quotas  of  the  states  from  which 
troops  were  called  out,  were  as  follows: 

STATES.  INFANTRY.      '^''IJt^,^'        '^^T'^'         TOTAL. 

Pennsylvania 4,500  500  200  5,200 

New  Jer.sey 1,500  500  100  2,100 

Maryland 2,000  200  150  2,350 

Virginia 3,000  300  ...  3,300 

11,000      1,500         150      12,950 

On  the  same  day  Governor  Mifflin  issued  a  proclamation 
similar  to  that  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  direct- 
ing the  quota  of  the  State  to  be  armed  and  equipjjed  as  soon  as 
possible.  Of  the  5,200  troops  reqiiired  of  the  State,  Chester  County 
was  required  to  furnish  378,  to  be  drawn  from  the  First  Brigade 
of  the  Third  Division  of  the  militia.  The  entire  body  of  state 
ti'oops  was  to  be  under  the  command  of  Major-General  William 
Irvine,  and  was  to  be  divided  into  three  brigades,  the  first  brigade 
to  be  under  the  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  Thomas  Proctor,  and  to 
include  the  Chester  County  troops.  When  the  command  to  secure 
these  troops  had  been  given,  the  Governor  himself  paid  a  visit 
to  West  Chester  to  aid  in  raising  them,  his  intiueuce  being  imme- 
diately felt,  and  the  county's  quota  was  quickly  raised.  At  that 
time  Joseph  McClellan  was  sheriff  of  the  county.  He  had  been  a 
captain  of  infantry  during  the  greater  jjovtion  of  the  Eevolution- 


AND    rn<i   Pfjoi'Li:.  259 

ary  War  in  Geu.  Anthonj-  Wayne's  army,  and  when  the  difficulty 
arose  over  the  excise  tax  on  wliisky  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State  he  was  soon  at  the  head  of  a  troop  of  cavalry,  and  Aaron 
Musgrave  was  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  artillery.  Upon  the 
organization  of  the  troops  into  regiments  Capt.  McClellan  became 
major  of  the  regiment  to  which  his  companj^  was  assigned,  and 
Thomas  Taylor  became  captain  of  the  comijany  in  his  stead. 

This  "Whisky  Insurrection"  was  a  resistance  to  the  execution 
of  the  excise  laws  passed  by  the  congress  of  the  United  States, 
which  were  designed  to  take  the  place  of  similar  laws  by  the 
different  colonies;  as  under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
"All  duties,  imjiorts  and  excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States.''  While  it  will  scarcely  be  expected  that  in  this 
w'ork  a  full  history  of  the  legislation  in  Pennsylvania  which 
affected  the  minds  of  the  people  toward  excise  laws  and  which 
led  up  to  this  insurrection,  yet  that  legislation  must  be  mentioned 
and  the  reader  referred  thereto  for  a  full  and  clear  understanding 
of  the  conllict  between  the  people  and  the  Government  resulting 
therefrom.  The  people  in  the  Western  counties  of  this  State,  within 
the  confines  of  which  the  opposition  to  the  excise  laws  so  strongly 
manifested  itself,  were  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  and  had  heard 
of  the  oppressions  and  exactions  that  had  been  suffered  in  the 
old  country,  under  precisely  such  laws  as  they  were  then  opposing. 
They  also  remembered  that  the  colonies  themselves  had  rebelled 
against  England  a  few  short  years  before,  in  part  on  account  of 
the  stamp  act  and  the  duty  on  tea,  they  themselves  having  taken 
active  and  honorable  part  in  said  rebellion,  and  hence  they  could 
not  understand  how  it  was  that  the  new  government  of  the  United 
States  should  so  soon  after  resisting  with  all  their  power  the 
■enforced  use  of  royal  stamps  and  the  payment  of  the  duty  on  tea, 
attempt  to  impose  upon  her  own  inhabitants  precisely  the  same 
kind  of  injustice,  even  though  the  duty  was  on  whisky  instead 
of  on  tea. 


26o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

While  the  insurgents,  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  situated  aud  by  which  they  were  surrounded, 
had  some  show  of  reason  on  their  side,  yet  on  the  whole  that  pro- 
vision of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  under  which  the 
excise  laws  were  passed  that  caused  this  outbreak  was  wise  and 
necessary,  and  the  government  had  no  recourse  biit  to  suppress 
the  insurrection,  which  it  did  under  the  connuand  of  President 
<s  Washington,  and  it  was  discovered  by  all  concerned  in  the  incipient 
rebellion  as  well  as  by  those  who  were  merely  interested  spectatoi's 
from  a  distance  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  was  a 
fixed  and  established  institution,  which  could  not  safely  be  resisted 
by  any  State  or  part  of  a  State,  simply  because  its  laws  were 
distasteful  to  the  people  of  such  State  or  part  of  State. 

The  officers  of  the  several  companies  sent  out  from  Chester 
County  at  this  time  were  as  f(dlows:  Captain,  Aaron  Musgrave; 
Philip  McAffi-y,  first  lieutenant,  aud  William  Culbertson,  clerk. 
The  captain,  first  lieutenant  and  several  of  the  men  of  this  com- 
pany were  from  West  Chester,  the  number  of  men  voting  for  their 
officers  being  thirty-six. 

Another  company  made  up  of  men  mostly  from  Tredyffrin 
Township  contained  thirty-three  men,  including  officers,  who  were: 
Captain,  John  Parker;  first  lieutenant,  John  Lewis,  and  clerk^ 
David  Craig. 

Captain  Joseph  McClellan's  comapny  of  light  dragoons  con- 
tained thirty-nine  men,  including  the  officers,  who  were  voters,  and 
who  elected  Joseph  McClellan  captain,  Thomas  Taylor  first  lieu- 
tenant and  Joseph  Moore  clerk.  The  entire  number  of  men  in  this 
company  was  fifty-four. 

Captain  George  Wersler's  company  contained  thirty  voters,, 
who  elected  the  officers,  Daniel  Shimer  being  first  lieutenant  and 
Yost  Smith  clerk,  and  there  were  fifty-two  others  in  this  company. 

Captain  Harris'  company  contained  fortj-one  votei's,  who 
elected  William  Harris  captain,  Stephen  Bowen  first  lieutenant 
and  Thomas  J.  BoAven  clerk. 


AM)     ITS     PEOPLE.  261 

Captain  Alexandei'  Steri'ett's  company  contained  twenty-two 
voters,  who  elected,  in  addition  to  their  captain,  Samuel  McClellan 
first  lieutenant  and  Jesse  Mason  clerk. 

Captain  William  Weston's  company  contained  sixteen  voters, 
who  elected,  in  addition  to  their  captain,  William  Ploughman  first 
lieutenant  and  Charles  llowell  cleric. 

Captain  Isaac  Lewis's  company  contained  twenty-six  voters, 
who  elected,  in  addition  to  their  captain,  Alexander  Nesbit  first 
lieutenant  and  Robert  Darlington  clerk. 

Captain  Arthur  Andrews'  company  elected  Ebenezer  Kennedy 
first  lieutenant  and  -J.  Montgomery  clerk.  This  company  contained 
forty-four  voters. 

GENERAL   LAFAYETTE'S   VISIT   TO   CHESTER  COUNTY. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  historic  events  connected 
with  the  name  of  any  individual  was  the  visit  in  1825  of  Lafayette 
to  the  county.  This  visit  to  the  United  States  was  made  by  the 
general  in  response  to  an  invitation  authorized  by  Congress  and  ex- 
tended in  1824:  by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Accom- 
panied by  his  son,  George  Washington  Lafayette,  and  his  private 
secretary,  Lafayette  landed  in  New  York  on  August  15,  1821, 
and  the  news  of  his  arrival  reached  West  Chester  on  the  17th.  A 
meeting  was  called  to  be  held  at  the  court-house,  of  which  Colonel 
.Joseph  McClellan,  who  had  served  in  the  Continental  army  under 
Lafayette  as  a  captain,  was  made  chairman  and  General  Isaac  D. 
Barnard  secretary.  Judge  Darlington  delivered  a  short  speecli  and 
offered  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  be 
held  at  the  court-house  on  Saturday,  August  27,  "to  make  ar- 
rangements for  a  suitable  reception  of  that  venei'able  patriot  and 
friend  of  freedom,"  if  he  should  be  induced  to  visit  Chester  County. 

At  the  meeting  held  August  27  Hon.  Isaac  Darlington  was 
made  chairman  and  John  W.  Cunningham  secretary,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  consisting  of  Colonel   Joseph   McClellan, 


262  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Colonel  Jacob  Humphrey,  Colonel  Isaac  Wayne,  Dr.  Jacob  Ehreu- 
zeller.  Colonel  Cromwell  Pearce,  General  Isaac  D.  Barnard,  General 
John  W.  Cunningham,  Dr.  William  Darlington,  General  Joshua 
EA'ans  and  Abram  Baily,  to  wait  upon  the  general  immediately 
upon  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia  and  invite  him  to  honor  Chester 
County  by  a  visit  and  to  also  visit  the  battle-field  of  the  Brandy- 
wine. 

When  it  was  learned  tliat  General  Lafayette  and  his  com- 
panions would  visit  the  battle-ground  of  the  Brandywine  July  2(], 
1825,  and  proceed  thence  to  West  Chester,  preparations  were 
made  for  his  reception  in  the  county,  and  early  in  the  morning  of 
that  day  the  general  was  waited  \ipon  at  the  Duponts,  where  he 
had  passed  the  night,  by  General  John  W.  Cunningham,  one  of  the 
committee  of  arrangements,  and  by  Samson  Babb  and  William 
Williamson,  two  of  the  marshals  of  the  day,  by  whom  he  was  con- 
ducted to  Chadd's  Ford,  Avhich  place  the  general  and  his  party 
reached  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.  Here  he  was  received  by  the  committee 
from  Delawai'e  and  Chester  Counties,  headed  respectively  by  Cap- 
tain William  Anderson  and  Colonel  Joseph  McClellan.  A  large 
party  was  in  waiting  at  Chadd's  Ford  to  conduct  the  illustrious 
visitor  over  the  battle-ground  on  which  he  had  ftroven  his  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  American  liberty,  and  on  the  battle-ground 
itself  there  was  a  large  concourse  of  people  in  carriages,  on  horse- 
back and  on  foot,  to  welcome  the  nation's  guest. 

About  a  mile  from  Chadd's  Ford  the  general  alighted  from 
his  carriage  to  call  upon  Gideon  Gilpin,  a  very  aged  man,  at 
whose  house  during  the  battle  of  the  Bi*andywine  he  had  made 
his  headquarters.  The  procession  then  moved  to  Dilworthtown, 
where  another  large  concourse  of  citizens  awaited  the  arrival  of 
the  distinguished  party.  It  then  passed  on  to  the  Birmingham 
Meeting-house,  where  the  general  pointed  out  the  spot  where  he 
had  been  wounded,  a  short  distance  east  and  south  of  the  point 
where  the  road  from  the  meeting-house  comes  in  at  right  angles 


GKXERAL  LAl'AVETTK.    1824. 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  265 

with  the  east  and  west  road.  At  the  meeting-house  another  large 
assemblage  of  people  had  collected.  The  party  then  took  dinner 
at  the  house  of  Samuel  Jones,  a  short  distance  of  the  meeting- 
house, and  the  procession  moved  to  Strode's  Mill  and  thence  to  the 
Darlington  woods,  near  the  west  line  of  the  borough  of  West 
Chester.  Here  the  volunteers  of  the  Third  Division  were  drawn  up 
to  escort  the  general  and  his  party  into  town,  the  volunteers  num- 
bering about  seventeen  companies.  A  salute  of  thirteen  guns  was 
fired  by  the  Eepublieau  Artillerists,  after  which  the  entire  party 
pi'oceeded  in  to  the  borough  commanded  by  General  Isaac  D.  Bar- 
nard, by  way  of  what  is  now  Kosedale  Avenue,  to  High  Street,  and 
thence  up  High  Street.  It  was  estimated  that  fully  10,000  people 
were  assembled  in  West  Chester  to  receive  the  general,  and  the 
welcome  accorded  was  both  hearty  and  sincere.  The  procession 
moved  up  High  to  Market,  to  Walnut,  to  Gay,  to  High,  to  Market, 
to  Church,  to  Gay,  to  High  and  out  to  a  field  owned  by  Jesse  Mat- 
lack  on  the  hill  east  of  the  Friends'  Meeting-house.  Here  the  troops 
were  reviewed  by  General  Lafayette,  who  complimented  them 
highly-  on  their  appearance,  and  then  he  was  taken  to  the  residence 
of  Ziba  Pyle,  chief  burgess  of  the  borough,  for  a  short  rest.  Then 
going  to  the  grand  jury  room  of  the  court-house  he  partook  of  an 
excellent  dinner  provided  by  Eber  Worthington,  proprietor  of 
the  Turk's  Head  hotel,  and  was  thei'e  welcomed  hj  Colonel  Joseph 
McClellan  in  a  neat  speech,  to  which  General  Lafayette  responded 
in  a  most  happy  manner.  Toasts  were  drank  and  a  song,  "La- 
fayette at  Brandywine,"  was  sung  by  Dr.  William  Darlington.  A 
large  number  of  persons  paid  their  respects  to  the  general  at  the 
residence  of  Ziba  Pyle,  where  he  passed  the  night  Next  morning 
he  took  breakfast  at  Humphreyville  with  Major  John  Filson, 
where  a  great  concourse  of  people  had  assembled,  and  whence  he 
was  conducted  to  Lancaster  by  a  committee  from  that  place, 
the  Chester  County  committee  returning  home.  On  the  whole,  it 
16 


266  CHESTER     COUNTY 

was  an  occasion  of  great  joy  to  the  people  of  the  county,  such  a  one 
as,  perhaps,  can  never  occur  again. 

The  h:)ve  of  and  veneration  for  the  distinguished  patriot  and 
lover  of  liberty  entertained  by  the  ancient  inliabitants  of  Chester 
County  has  been  in  its  full  strength  transmitted  to  their  descend- 
ants, which  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  1895  a  movement, 
started  by  the  Chester  County  Historical  Society,  was  so  nobly 
responded  to  by  all  the  citizens  of  the  county,  young  as  well  as 
old,  this  movement  having  in  view  the  erection  of  a  monument 
to  mirk  the  spot  where  the  general  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Brandywine.  After  the  necessary  loreliminary  movements  a  com- 
iuittee  was  appointed  consisting  of  James  Monaghan,  Edwin  A. 
Barber  and  James  C.  Sellers  to  conduct  the  correspondence  and  to 
consider  the  designs  presented.  The  committee  suggested  a 
Eoman-Corinthian  column,  fifteen  feet  high,  to  be  made  of  terra 
cotta,  and  a  sum  sufticient  to  pay  for  the  sliaft  was  quickly  raised 
among  the  citizens  and  the  school  children.  The  place  selected 
for  the  erection  of  this  monument  is  a  tinangler  piece  of  ground 
on  the  north  side  of  a  public  road  leading  from  Dilworthtown  to  th(^ 
Birmingham  Meeting-house,  at  a  point  where  tlie  ]»r()])erties  of  Mrs. 
Mardy  D.  Biddle  and  Minshall  Sharpless  join.  It  is  one  of  the 
highest  points  on  what  is  known  as  "Battle  Hill,"  is  in  full  view  of 
the  meeting-house  and  the  hills  to  the  north,  over  which  the  British 
aiJi^roached  on  that  eventful  day.  It  is  a  short  distance  from 
where  Lafayette  was  wounded. 

This  monument  was  dedicated  September  11,  1895,  a  large 
number  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  county  being  present.  The* 
public  school  children  from  West  Chester  were  taken  there  in 
wagons,  others  finding  other  means  of  transportation  or  going  on 
foot,  the  whole  number  of  children  present  being  about  1,000.  The 
entire  number  of  people  on  the  grounds  was  probably  about  7,000. 
The  exercises  of  the  day  began  at  West  Chester  by  the  firing  of  a 
salute  by  General  George  A.  McCall  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  of  thirteen 


AND     IT^     PEOPLE.  267 

guns,  and  were  continued  throughout  the  day  by  different  organ- 
izations and  individuals.  They  were  unusually  interesting  and 
will  long  be  remembered.  Arriving  upon  the  groimd  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  monument  the  meeting  was  called  to  oi'der  by  Dr.  George 
M.  Philips,  president  of  the  Historical  Society,  who  announced 
the  organization  of  the  meeting,  Captain  William  Wayne  being  the 
president  and  There  being  seventy-iive  vice-presidents  and  twenty- 
six  secretaries.  The  Phoenixville  band  furnished  music  for  the 
day.  The  opening  prayer  was  made  by  Eev.  Dr.  Owen  P.  Eachus, 
the  address  at  the  unveiling  of  the  monument  by  M.  Louis  Vossion, 
the  address  of  presentation  by  James  Monaghan,  the  dedicatory  ad- 
dress by  Dr.  George  M.  Philips,  the  historical  address  by  Mr.  Gil- 
bert Cope,  the  oration  of  the  day  by  Charlton  T.  Lewis  and  the 
benediction  by  Eev.  William  L.  Bull. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  monument  are  as  follows: 

(Front.) 
"On  the  Kising  Ground 
A  Short  Distance  South  of  This  Spot 
LAFAYETTE 
Was  Wounded  at  the  Battle  of  Brandywine, 
September  11,  1777." 
(Right  Side.) 
"Erected 
By  the  Citizens  and  School  Children 
Of  Chester  County,  Pa., 
Under  the  Auspices  of  the 
Chester  County  Historical  Society 
•  September  11,  1895." 
(Back.) 
"The  honor  of  having  mingled  my  blood  with 
that  of  many  other  American  soldiers,  on  the 
heights  of  the  Brandywine,  has   been  to  me  a 
source  of  pride  and  delight." — Extract  from  La- 
fayette's speech  at  West  Chester,  July  26,  1825. 


268      •  CHESTER     COUNTY 

(Left  Side.) 
"May  the  blood  spilled  by  thousands,  with 
equal  merit  in  the  cause  of  independence  and 
freedom,  be  to  ensuing  generations  an  eternal 
pledge    of    unalloyed    Eepublicanism,    Federal 
Union,  Public  Prosperity  and  Domestic  Happi- 
ness."— Lafayette's  toast  at  West  Chester,  July 
26,  1S2.5. 
This  monument  thus  ei*ected  is  now,  however,  sinking  rapidly 
to  decay,  the  ten'a  cotta  not  standing  the  weather  as  it  was  sup- 
posed that  it  would.     It  is  becoming  evident  as  time  passes  that  if 
the  historic  spot  where  Lafayette  received  his  wound  is  to  remain 
marked  for  the  contemplation  of  coming  generations  some  more 
substantial  monument  must  be  erected  in  the  near  future. 

On  the  same  day  that  this  monument  was  dedicated  to  La- 
fayette there  was  dedicated  also  a  monument  to  Colonel  Joseph 
McClellan,  who  was  also  in  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  The  design 
of  this  monument  was  furnished  by  E.  James  Dallett,  a  great- 
great-grandson  of  Colonel  McClellan.  This  monument  consists  of 
two  blocks  of  Brandywine  marble,  one  above  tJie  other,  the  lower 
one  being  about  four  feet  square,  the  upper  one  somewhat 
smaller,  and  supporting  a  polished  ball  bearing  the  following  in- 
scription : 

"In  memory  of  Colonel  Joseph  McClellan,  born  April  28,  1747. 
Died  October  14, 1S34.  Served  in  the  brigade  of  General  Anthony 
Wayne  in  the  Battle  of  Brandywine,  September  11,  1777." 

On  the  lower  of  the  two  blocks  there  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion: 

"Erected  by  his  descendants  September  11,  1895." 
The  total  cost  of  this  monument  was  |285.92.  It  was  unveiled 
by  James  D.  McClellan  of  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  a  grandson  of 
Colonel  Joseph  McClellan,  and  the  oration  of  the  occasion  was  de- 
livered by  Colonel  Joseph  McClellan  Bell  of  Milwaukee,  Wis- 
consin. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  WAR  OF  1812. 
THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    WAR   OF    l8l2 — CALL    FOR    TROOPS — FIRST    OFFER   OF   CHESTER    COUNTY — 

NINETY-SEVENTH    REGIMENT ITS    OFFICERS ENCAMPMENTS GENERAL 

OFFICERS — COMPANIES     FROM     CHESTER     COUNTY THE    MEXICAN 

WAR VOLUNTEERS — NAMES    OF    SOLDIERS. 

IT  is  well  kiiuwu  that  difficulties  between  the  United  States 
and  England  existed  for  years  before  war  was  actually  declared 
by  Congress  against  tlie  latter  country,  which  was  done  June  IS, 
1812.  But  it  was  on  May  12  that  Governor  Simon  Snyder  made  a 
call  upon  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  for  11,000  militia,  which  w'ere 
to  be  formed  into  two  divisions,  four  brigades  and  twenty-four 
regiments,  the  whole  to  be  in  the  proportion  of  11,200  infantry, 
1,400  riHemen,  700  cavalry  and  700  artillery. 

The  first  offer  of  Chester  County  troops  was  made  almost  im- 
mediately after  war  was  determined  upon  bj'  the  Government, 
this  offer  having  been  made  June  21,  1812,  by  Captain  James 
IJaLstou  of  his  company  of  cavaby. 

The  Ninety-seventh  Regiment  was  mustered  in  May  5,  18i;>, 
rendezvoused  at  New  London  cross  roads  by  order  of  Bi'igadier- 
General  John  W.  Cunningham,  went  to  Elkton,  Md.,  and  was  dis- 
charged May  21,  1813.  The  officers  of  this  regiment  were  as  fol- 
lows: Colonel,  Andrew  Thompson;  lieutenant-colonel,  George  W. 
Thompson;  major,  Washington  Parke;  paymaster,  Robert  Futhey; 
quartermaster,  David  Parke;  Captains,  Thomas  Stewart,  John 
Holmes,  Robert  Ralston,  John  Wright,  J.  Skyles,  James  Alex- 
ander, William  Steele  and  John  Naglee.  There  were  several  men 
from  Chester  County  in  Captain  Stewart's  company,  among  whom 
were    Reaziu    Terry,    Samuel    Black,    Robert  Futhey,    Archibald 

271 


-/- 


CHESTER     COUNTY 


Thomas,  George  W.  Parke,  Peter  Rambo,  Jolin  Wallace,  James 
Stewart,  Israel  Hamill,  Levi  McCormick,  Silas  Wilson,  James 
Eamsey  and  Enos  Hughes. 

After  the  burning  of  the  Capitol  building  at  Washington  by 
General  Eoss  grave  fears  were  entertained  that  an  attempt  was 
designed  upon  several  Atlantic  cities,  among  them  Baltimore  and 
Philadelphia,  and  Pennsylvania  bore  an  honorable  part  in  the 
preparations  made  to  prevent  such  a  disaster.  The  Governor  of  the 
State,  under  date  of  August  27, 1814,  issued  a  proclamation  in  order 
to  guard  against  a  surprise  and  to  have  ready  a  force  sufficient 
to  meet  all  emergencies  that  might  arise,  ordering  and  directing 
the  militia  within  the  counties  of  Philadelphia,  Bucks,  M(mt- 
gomery,  Delaware,  Chester,  Lancaster,  Daiiphiu,  Lebanon,  Berks, 
Schuylkill,  Lehigh,  Northampton  and  Pike  to  be  held  in  readiness 
to  march  at  a  moment's  notice  to  such  place  as  might  be  designated 
in  subsequent  orders,  which  were  to  be  issued  in  case  of  necessity. 

An  encampment  was  formed  at  Kennett  Square  called  "Camp 
Bloomfield,"  the  troops  there  to  serve  under  Colonel  Berry,  this 
being  on  or  before  September  3.  September  10  Governor  Snyder 
reported  that  General  Bloomlield  had  suggested  a  camp  at  Marcus 
Hook,  and  on  September  12  General  Thomas  Cadwallader  was 
assigned  to  the  command  of  the  militia  at  Kennett  Square,  which 
were  to  be  formed  into  one  brigade.  The  next  day  General  Bloom- 
field  oi'dered  that  all  the  troops  from  Chester  and  neighboring 
counties  should  assemble  at  Marcus  Hook,  completely  equipped 
for  the  field.  On  September  17  the  Governor  of  tlie  State  ordered 
that  an  election  should  be  held  for  officers  and  that  the  volunteer 
troops  should  be  organized  into  regiments.  Isaac  Wayne  of 
Chester  County  was  elected  colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment  of 
volunteer  light  infantry,  but  this  honor  he  declined  on  the  ground 
of  previous  and  sacred  engagements  with  volunteer  cavalry. 
Early  in  October  several  regiments  of  militia  marched  to  "Camp 
Marcus  Hook,"  then  under  the  command  of  Major-General  Isaac 


.LY7)     ITS     PEOPLE.  27.5 

Worrell,  who  had  command  of  the  First  Division  of  Penusyl- 
Tania  militia. 

Chester  County  furnished  the  following  general  officers: 
Major-General  Cromwell  Pearce  of  the  Third  Division;  Major-Geu- 
eral  James  Steel,  same  division;  Brigadier-General  William  Harris, 
same  division,  Second  Brigade;  Brigadier-General  John  W.  Cun- 
ningham, same  division.  First  Brigade;  Brigade  Inspector  James 
Park,  same  division.  First  Brigade;  James  Ealston,  caiDtaiu  of  cav- 
alry. 

The  companies  from  Chester  County  were  as  follows:  The 
"American  Greys,"  Captain  Titus  Taylor,  with  ten  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  forty-one  private  soldiers;  Captain  John  G. 
Worsler's  company,  with  seven  non-commissioned  officers  and 
forty-one  private  soldiers;  Captain  Jacob  Campbell's  company,  with 
nine  non-commissioned  officers  and  ninety-two  private  soldiers; 
Captain  Benjamin  W^therby's  company,  with  eight  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  and  one  hundred  and  five  private  soldiers;  Cap- 
tain James  Lackey's  company,  with  eight  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers and  one  hundred  and  ten  private  soldiers;  Captain  George 
Hartman's  company,  with  eleven  non-commissioned  officers  and 
one  hundred  private  soldiers;  Captain  Beerbower's  company, 
Peter  Smith  as  first  lieutenant  and  fifty-one  voting  members  as 
private  soldiers;  Captain  John  Harris'  company,  with  David  Bees. 
as  first  lieutenant  and  forty-four  voting  members  as  private  sol- 
diers; Captain  Christopher  Wigton's  company,  with  nine  non-com- 
missioned officers  and  forty-seven  private  soldiers;  Captain  Rob- 
ert Wilson's  company,  with  nine  non-commissioned  officers  and 
eighty-three  private  soldiers;  Captain  William  Stuart's  company^ 
with  five  non-commissioned  officers  and  twenty-seven  private  sol- 
diers; Captain  William  Steele's  company,  with  nine  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  sixty-five  private  soldiers;  and  Captain  John 
Holmes'  company,  with  nine  non-commissioned  officers  and  fifty- 
nine  private  soldiei*s.  Captain  D.  B.  Keim's  company  of  volun- 
teer militia  had  in  it  Samuel  Shaffer  and  Thomas  Baird  as  voters. 


274  CHESTER     COUNTY 

THE   MEXICAN   WAR. 

On  May  13,  1840,  Congre.ss  aunounced  that  by  the  act  of 
Mexico  a  state  of  war  existed  between  that  country  and  the 
United  States,  and  authorized  the  President  to  employ  the  militia 
and  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  in  order  to 
bring  it  to  a  speedy  close.  He  was  authorized  to  accept  the  serv- 
ices of  50,000  volunteers.  Pennsylvania  was  asked  to  furnish  six 
regiments  to  serve  for  twelve  months,  or  to  the  end  of  the  war. 
Within  thirty  days  ninety  companies  offered  themselves,  quite  a 
number  of  individuals  being  from  the  county  of  Chester,  but  no 
<;-omijan3'  or  organization  of  any  kind.  The  names  of  a  portion  of 
those  who  went  are  here  appended,  it  being  understood  that  the  list 
would  be  much  longer  could  the  names  of  others  be  ascertained. 

Levi  P.  Kuerr  served  as  a  lieutenant  tlirougli  the  war;  William 
S.  Mendenhall,  though  born  at  Chadd's  Ftu'd,  Delaware  County, 
volunteered  from  West  Chester  in  184(i,  he  being  at  the  time  six- 
teen years  of  age,  and  served  two  years,  taking  part  in  most  of  the 
important  battles  that  occurred  during  that  time.  He  Avas  slightly 
wounded  in  the  foot  in  one  battle  and  in  the  head  in  another  battle, 
and  returned  to  West  Chester  when  eighteen  years  of  age.  Thomas 
King  and  John  Yocum  also  went  to  the  Mexican  war,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Columbus  I'enn  Evans  served  in  the  Eleventh  United  States 
infantry  was  breveted  captain  and  was  presented  with  a  sword  by 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Delaware  for  meritorious  conduct 
in  several  battles  of  the  war.  Ir\in  Parke  was  a  jirivate  soldier  in 
Captain  Samuel  Hyams"  company  of  the  Sixth  Louisana  Eegimeut, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Payton,  and  J  Robert  Taylor  of  West  Chester 
was  also  a  private  soldier  in  that  war. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  REBELLION. 


CHAPTEK  VII. 

THE     GREAT     REBELLION — ITS    ORIGIN — FALL  OF    SUMTER PROMPT  WAR    MEAS- 
URES  THE      FIRST      VOLUNTEERS — THEIR      DEPARTURE       FOR      THE     FIELD 

CARE     FOR     THEIR    FAMILIES — THE     ENTIRE      COUNTY      AT      WORK 

OFFICERS     AND      COMPANIES RECRUITING — SERVICE    OF    THE    REGI- 
MENTS— AID  SOCIETIES CONTINUED  ENLISTMENTS THE  DRAFT 

INVASION    OF    THE    STATE — THE    UNION    LEAGUE THE  SECOND 

DRAFT THE   VETERANS — THE  SURRENDER    OF  LEE  AND    THE 

ASSASSINATION     OF     LINCOLN — ESTIMATE    OF     MEN     FUR- 
NISHED      BY      THE      COUNTY  SPECIAL     MENTION 

OF        DISTINGUISHED        OFFICERS. 

THE  causes  of  the  War  of  the  Kebellion  are  well  known  to  all 
and  are  fully  recorded  in  general  history  and  in  many  well  written 
biographical  works  on  the  great  men  of  that  time,  both  North  and 
South.  A  few  dates  of  important  events  immediately  pertaining  to 
the  beginning  of  actual  hostilities  are  therefoi'e  all  that  will  be 
represented  here  in  relation  to  general  history,  to  serve  as  a  mere 
introduction  to  the  brief  narrative  given  of  Chester  County's  part  in 
that  great  conflict. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States 
November  G,  1S60,  and  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1861.  In  the 
meantime  South  Carolina  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession  De- 
cember 20,  1860,  other  Southern  States  following  with  similar  ordi- 
nances on  different  dates,  until  eleven  of  them  had  seceded,  as  they 
thought,  from  the  Union.  Fort  Sumter  surrendered  to  the  Seces- 
sionists April  13,  1861,  and  on  April  15  President  Lincoln  issued 
his  first  proclamation  calling  for  militia  from  the  several  States 
under  the  act  of  Congress  of  February  25,  1795,  to  the  number  of 
75,000  men,  to  serve  for  three  months.     The  number  of  troops 

277 


278  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Pennsylvania  was  asked  to  raise  was  fourteen  regiments;  but  so 
strong  was  the  feeling  throughout  the  State  in  favor  of  main- 
taining the  Union  that  instead  of  fourteen  regiments  enough 
men  offered  their  services  to  organize  twenty-five  regiments  al- 
most immediately  after  the  call  was  made.  Out  of  the  excess  of 
men  above  the  fourteen  regiments  Governor  Curtin  organized  the 
famous  Pennsylvania  Ifeserve  Corps,  which  was  the  only  well  or- 
ganized and  well  disciplined  coiiJS  in  the  Union  Army  at  the  time 
of  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  July  21,  1861. 

So  far  as  Chester  County  is  concerned  it  is  proper  to  state 
that  no  county  in  the  country  was  more  patriotic  or  prompt  to 
offer  soldiers  and  to  equip  them  for  the  war,  and  no  county  was 
more  prompt  to  see  that  the  families  of  the  soldiers  that  went  to 
the  front  should  be  provided  Avith  the  necessai'ies  of  life  while 
those  soldiers  were  fighting  the  battles  of  their  country. 

The  reception  of  the  news  of  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sum- 
ter, which  was  on  Sunday,  April  l-t,  aroused  the  people  of  the 
county  to  a  most  remai'kable  degree.  Before  night  of  the  next 
day  measures  were  taken  to  raise  troops  for  the  support  of  the 
Government.  An  immense  meeting  was  held  at  the  court-house,  at 
which  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington  presided,  and  at  which  addresses 
were  made  by  Major  Wyck,  F.  P.  Smith,  Kev.  Mr.  Xewtou,  Hon. 
Townsend  Haines,  Uriah  V.  Penuypacker,  Hon.  .John  Hickman, 
Wayne  MacVeagh  and  Captain  James  Givin.  A  roll  for  a  company 
of  riflemen  was  opened,  quite  a  number  of  young  men  put  down 
their  names  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  raise  funds  witli 
which  to  equip  the  company. 

On  Tuesday  evening  a  meeting  was  held  in  Horticultural  Hall 
at  which  an  election  was  held,  resulting  as  follows:  Captain, 
James  Givin;  first  lieutenant,  Benjamin  H.  Sweney;  second  lieu- 
tenant, Thomas  S.  Bell,  Jr.;  third  lieutenant,  John  H.  Babb;  or- 
derly sergeant,  Walter  Hibbard,  Jr.;  .quartermaster,  George  F. 
Smith.  The  services  of  this  company  were  at  once  accepted  by 
Governor  Curtin  and  left  for  Harrisburg  on  April  23. 


AXn     ITS     PEOPLE.  279 

On  Wednesday,  April  17,  the  National  Guards  held  a  meeting 
at  the  armory,  at  which,  upon  motion  of  Henry  W.  Carnthers,  the 
services  of  the  company  (A)  were  offered  to  the  Government.  The 
officers  of  this  company  were:  Captain,  Henry  R.  Guss;  first  lien- 
tenant,  Francis  M.  Guss;  second  lieutenant,  Richard  D.  Town- 
send,  and  quartermaster,  Galusha  A.  Penuypacker.  Company  B 
of  tlie  National  Guards  was  officered  as  follows:  Captain,  James 
F.  Andress;  first  lieutenant,  1).  W.  Clinton  Lewis;  second  lieuten- 
ant, William  M.  Hinksdu.  And  Company  C  had  the  following  offi- 
cers: Captain,  t^amuel  Hufty,  Jr.;  first  lieutenant,  David  Jones; 
second  lieutenant,  Joseph  T.  Barnett.  These  three  companies  be- 
came parts  of  the  Ninth  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantn,  winch 
will  be  mentioned  later  on. 

A  comjjany  of  soldiers  was  organized  on  Saturday  evening, 
April  20,  which  on  that  evening  elected  Henry  Mclntyre  captain, 
John  W.  Nields  first  lieutenant  and  C.  B.  Lamborn  second  lieuten- 
ant.   This  company  was  named  the  Braudywine  Guards. 

At  Downington  Colonel  Ringwalt,  Dr.  Leech  and  others  made 
efforts  to  raise  a  company  of  soldiers,  and  from  Valley  Forge  a 
number  of  young  men  unable  to  Avait  for  the  formation  of  a  cora- 
]iany  in  their  immediate  neighborhood  went  down  to  Philadelphia 
to  join  volunteer  companies  forming  there.  On  April  IS  a  num- 
ber of  j'oung  men  of  Howellville  enlisted  with  the  company  then 
forming  at  Norristown,  and  a  number  left  their  homes  in  Oxford 
for  Philadelphia,  where  thej'  united  witli  regiments  forming  for 
the  war.  At  Oxford  a  meeting  was  held  at  Nichols'  Hotel,  of 
which  \Squire  Sloan  was  president,  at  which  meeting  a  committee 
was  aj)pointed  consisting  of  C.  S.  Riding,  E.  Newman,  J.  T.  Massey, 
F.  B(jwnian  J.  B.  Whitcraft,  P.  F.  Ash,  Joseph  Showalter  and  H. 
H.  Grubb,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  money  with  which  to  pur- 
chase a  flag  to  be  raised  over  the  railroad  depot. 

At  Phoenixville  David  Reeves,  president  of  the  Phoenix  Iron 
Works,  gave  notice  that  of  any  of  his  employes  enlisted  in  the 


28o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

armv  thev  should  have  the  houses  they  lived  iu,  owned  bj'  the 
company,  free  of  rent  during  their  absence  in  the  service  of  their 
Government.  In  a  few  hours  a  subscription  of  |4,000  was  raised 
for  the  support  of  the  families  of  such  as  should  enlist.  On  the 
19th  of  April  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  West  Chester  was  held  an 
the  court-house  for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  for  the  support 
of  the  families  of  such  as  should  go  to  the  war,  of  which  meeting- 
Joseph  Hemphill  was  the  president,  A  committee  was  appointed 
consisting  of  William  Darlington,  Edwin  Otley,  John  Marshall, 
Rev.  W.  E.  Moore,  John  G.  Robison,  Eev.  John  F.  Pendergast,  Lewis 
W.  i^hields.  Dr.  J.  B.  Wood  and  Captain  Apple,  to  solicit  and  re- 
ceive the  funds  contributed  for  this  purpose. 

A  company  was  raised  at  West  Chester  called  the  Reserve 
Guards,  composed  of  men  under  forty  years  of  age  and  armed  with 
Sharp's  rifles,  of  which  the  officei's  were:  Captain,  E.  L.  Christmau; 
first  lieutenant,  Charles  B.  Lee;  second  lieutenant,  William  Lynch. 
Another  company,  raised  within  the  limits  of  the  county,  was 
called  the  Union  Guards,  which  had  the  following  officers:  Cap- 
tain, John  W.  Newlin;  first  lieutenant,  George  Silvers,  and  second 
lieutenant,  William  Bailey.  This  company  was  named  the  Ander- 
son Light  Artillery. 

On  April  20  a  company  was  fully  organized  at  Kennett  Square 
containing  sixty  members.  This  district  was  inhabited  largely  by 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  the  company  was  named 
the  Kennett  Rifles,  or  the  "Quaker  Company."  Its  officers  were: 
Captain,  C.  F.  Taylor;  first  lieutenant,  Chandler  Hall,  and  second 
lieutenant,  Evan  P.  Dixon.  They  were  equipped  with  blankets, 
etc.,  by  the  people  of  their  section  of  the  county,  .|4,000  being 
quickly  raised  for  this  purpose  on  the  day  they  were  organized. 
On  the  30th  of  the  month  a  company  of  home  guards  was  raised 
at  Milltown,  of  which  Jesse  Matlack  was  the  captain,  William 
B.  Hoopes  first  lieutenant  and  Eli  S.  Moore  second  lieutenant.  A 
company  was  raised  at  Kennett  Square    called    the    Kennett 


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AND     ITH     PEOPLE.  283 

Square  Home  Guards,  to  which  a  large  cannon  was  presented  by 
Bayard  Taylor,  to  protect  the  town  from  invasion. 

At  Coatesville  two  companies  were  raised,  one  of  infantry  and 
one  of  cavalry,  the  officers  of  the  infantrv'  being  J.  T.  Minster,  cap- 
tain; Samuel  Greenwood,  first  lieutenant,  and  Eobert  Kussell, 
second  lieutenant.  On  the  22d  of  April  there  was  a  meeting  at 
Unionville,  in  the  hall,  at  which  were  present  many  citizens  of 
East  and  West  Marlborough,  Pocopson  and  Xewlin  townships,  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  company  of  home  guards.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  men  enrolled  their  names  and  elected  William  S.  Collier 
captain  and  D.  M.  Taylor  lieutenant.  On  this  same  day  there  was 
a  meeting  at  Amity  schoolhouse  to  form  a  volunteer  rifle  corps. 

The  Phffinixville  artillerists  about  the  same  time  offered  their 
services  to  the  Government,  their  officers  being  captain,  J.  E. 
Dobson;  first  lieutenant,  Joseph  T.  McCord,  and  second  lieutenant, 
Joseph  Taggart.  A  company  called  the  Wayne  Guards  was 
raised  hj  Captain  P.  J.  Phillips.  At  West  Chester  there  was  organ- 
ized a  home  guard  company  of  men  over  forty-five  years  of  age,  to 
protect  Chester  County  from  being  ovemin  by  marauders.  This 
company  held  a  meeting  April  22,  and  elected  officers  as  follows: 
Captain,  William  Apple;  first  lieutenant.  Maris  Frame,  and  second 
lieutenant,  Eichard  Townsend.  At  East  Fallowfield  a  meeting 
was  held  April  23  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  company  of  home 
guards,  and  more  than  fifty  men  united  with  the  company,  which 
was  named  the  Fallowfield  Guards.  A  home  guard  company  was 
formed  at  Parkesburg,  one  at  Kimbleville,  and  one  at  Pennington- 
ville.  One  of  the  features  of  the  times,  even  at  that  early  day,  the 
latter  part  of  April,  was  the  arrival  of  refugees  from  the  seceding 
states,  many  coming  into  and  some  passing  through  Chester 
County. 

On  April  27  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  James  Beale, 
at  which  a  company  was  raised  and  officered,  called  the  Exton 
Guards.  Its  officers  were  as  follows:  Captain,  William  Beale; 
17 


284  CIIEtiTER     COUXTY 

first  lieiitenant,  Charles  Jacobs,  and  second  lieutenant,  William 
H.  Gunkle.  A  company  of  cavalry  Avas  organized  between  Ches- 
ter and  Delaware  Counties,  called  the  Chester  and  Delawaro 
cavalry  company,  of  which  Samuel  Davis  was  chosen  captain. 
The  New  London  home  guard  company  was  officered  as  follows: 
Captain,  James  M.  McDowell;  first  lieutenant,  Lewis  Gause,  and 
second  lieutenant,  Charles  Cornell.  A  company  was  organized 
called  the  Oxford  company,  with  Charles  K.  McDonald  captain. 

The  Phoenixville  Iron  Works  during  the  month  of  April  or 
early  in  May,  1861,  made  a  number  of  wrought-iron  cannon  fm- 
the  government,  six  and  twelve  pounders,  for  Philadelphia,  and 
turned  out  several  thousand  s(did  12-pound  balls  and  shells.  It 
was  thus  in  all  parts  of  the  county,  everyone  talking  about  and 
preparing  for  war.  The  Phoniixville  field  ])iece  was  known  as 
the  Griffen  gun,  the  patentee  being  John  Griffen,  superintendent 
of  the  works  at  that  time. 

By  the  military  authorities  of  the  State  it  was  early  resolved 
to  establish  a  military  encampment  at  West  Chester,  and  the 
managers  of  the  Agricultural  Society  offered  the  use  of  the  Fair 
Grounds  for  that  purpose.  The  camp  here  Avas  named  "Camp 
Wayne,''  in  honor  of  Gen.  Anthony  AYayne.  On  Friday  evening, 
May  3,  the  Ninth  Eegiment  arrived  from  Harrisburg  in  a  special 
train,  the  number  of  men  in  the  regiment  being  about  SOO.  The 
next  day  brought  the  Eleventh  Eegiment,  and  on  that  day  the 
two  regiments  went  into  camp,  although  the  preparations  were 
far  from  complete.  On  Sunday,  the  5th,  Eev.  William  E.  Moore, 
by  request,  held  religious  services  at  the  camp.  The  colonel  of 
the  Ninth  Eegiment  was  Longnecker,  the  lieutenant-col- 
onel, W.  H.  E.  Hangen,  and  the  adjutant,  Thomas  S.  Bell  of  West 
Chester.  The  colonel  of  the  Eleventh  Eegiment  was  Phalen  Jar- 
rett,  and  lieutenant-colonel,  Eichard  Coulter.  The  Ninth  Eegi- 
ment joined  Gen.  Patterson's  army  in  June,  and  through  it  was 
attached  to  the  Fourth  Brigade  of  the  First  Division,  and  served 


AXD     ;7'»S'     PEOPLE.  285 

between  Maitiusburg  aud  Wiuchester,  Va.  It  was  mustered  out 
July  24. 

The  Second  Pennsylvania  volunteer  infantry  was  hastily  re- 
cruited and  organized  April  21,  18G1,  at  Harrisburg.  Captain 
James  (Jivin's  company,  mentioned  above,  became  Company  G 
of  this  regiment,  and  he  became  major  of  the  regiment.  The 
regiment  left  Harrisburg  for  Washington  on  April  21,  but  was 
ordered  to  halt  at  York,  Pa.,  where  it  remained  until  June  1,  when 
it  moved  to  Chambersburg.  Here  it  was  assigned  to  the  second 
Brigade  of  the  Second  Division,  and  on  June  16  went  to  Funks- 
town,  Md.,  crossing  the  Potomac  July  2,  with  Gen.  Patterson's 
army,  advancing  to  Martinsburg  and  thence  to  Bunker  Hill.  It 
was  mustered  out  Julj-  20. 

During  the  month  of  July,  1861,  a  general  movement  took 
place  in  many  parts  of  the  county  to  raise  a  i*egiment  for  three 
years,  Henry  R.  Guss,  who  had  been  a  captain  in  the  three  months' 
service,  being  authorized  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  recruit  such 
a  regiment.  Seven  companies  of  this  regiment  were  raised  in 
Chester  County,  while  three  i-ompanies,  D,  G  and  I,  were  princi- 
pally from  Delaware  County.  The  several  companies  rendez- 
voused at  Camp  ^Vayne,  after  the  departure  therefrom  of  the 
First  and  Seventh  Kegiments  of  Pennsylvania  Reserves.  Col. 
Henry  R.  Guss  was  at  that  time  proprietor  of  the  Green  Tree 
Hotel,  West  Chester,  and  verj^  popular  in  the  county.  His  regi- 
ment was  the  Ninety-seventh  Pennsylvania  volunteer  infantry, 
aud  had  the  following  officers:  Colonel,  Henry  R.  Guss;  lieutenant- 
colonel,  Augustus  P.  Duer;  major,  Galusha  A.  Pennypacker;  Com- 
pany A,  captain,  Francis  M.  Guss;  first  lieutenant,  Lewis  Y.  Evans, 
and  second  lieutenant,  William  Peace;  Company  B,  captain,  Will- 
iam B.  McCoy;  first  lieutenant,  Jonas  M.  G.  Savage;  second  lieu- 
tenant, James  Hughes;  Company  C,  captain,  Isaiah  Pnce;  first 
lieutenant,  Emmor  G.  Griffith;  second  lieutenant,  William  Gardi- 
ner; Company  D,  captain,  William  S.  Mendenhall;  first  lieutenant, 


286  CHESTER     COCXTY 

George  W.  Williams,  and  second  lientenant,  Israel  Fawkes;  Com- 
pany E,  captain,  William  McConnell;  first  lieutenant,  John  II. 
Babb,  and  second  lieutenant,  John  McGrath;  Company  F,  cap- 
tain, De  Witt  Clinton  Lewis;  first  lieutenant,  Joseph  T.  Burnett, 
and  second  lieutenant,  Oliver  B.  Strickland;  Company  G,  captain, 
Jesse  L.  Cummins;  first  lieutenant,  Caleb  Iloopes,  and  second 
lieutenant,  Joshua  M.  BuiTell;  Company  H,  captain,  Charles  Mc- 
Ilvaine;  first  lieutenant,  Thomas  S.  Taylor,  and  second  lieutenant, 
Elwood  P.  Baldwin;  Company  I,  captain,  George  W.  Hawkins; 
first  lieutenant,  Sketchley  Morton,  Jr.,  and  second  lieutenant, 
Annesley  L.  Morton;  Company  K,  captain,  William  Wayne;  first 

lieutenant,  John  J.  Barber,  and  second  lieutenant, . 

Attached  to  this  regiment  there  was  an  excellent  band  of 
twenty-two  members.  While  the  regiment  was  in  Camp  Wayne  it 
was  visited  by  Governor  Curtin  and  his  staff,  November  12,  and  on 
the  15th  of  that  month  received  marching  orders,  leaving  West 
Chester  on  the  16th,  marching  from  camp  through  the  principal 
streets  of  West  Chester,  partaking  of  a  lunch  of  coffee  and  sand- 
wiches on  Church  Street,  and  leaving  the  depot  on  the  train  for 
Washington  at  11:20  a.  m.  On  December  1,  they  were  encamped 
about  two  miles  from  Fortress  Monroe,  Va.,  and  from  the  time 
they  took  the  field  made  a  most  brilliant  and  honorable  recoi'd  for 
themselves  and  for  the  county  which  sent  them  forth  to  the  war. 
Soon  after  reaching  Fortress  Monroe  this  regiment  went  to  Port 
Eoyal,  S.  C,  to  Warsaw  Sound,  and  to  Florida  and  Georgia.  It 
participated  in  the  South  Carolina  campaign  and  under  Gen.  Gill- 
more  took  part  in  the  assault  on  Fort  Wagner.  After«\ard  it 
garrisoned  the  fort  at  Fei-nandina  and  the  works  at  Fort  Clinch, 
Florida.  On  April  23,  1864,  it  was  ordered  to  Fortress  Monroe  to 
join  the  Army  of  the  James  under  Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butlei",  under 
whom  it  marched  on  Richmond,  and  was  engaged  in  severe  fight- 
ing in  front  of  Petersburg.  In  the  assault  on  the  rebel  Fort  Gil- 
more  this  regiment  particularly  distinguished  itself,  Col.  Penny- 


AM)     ITS     PEOriJJ.  287 

packer  being  iu  command  of  a  brigade,  wliicli  he  le<l  on  tlie  rigiit 
of  the  attacking  column.  It  was  in  the  expedition  of  Gen.  Butler 
and  Commodore  Porter  against  Fort  Fisher,  North  Carolina,  and 
later  in  Gen.  Terry's  expedition  against  this  fort,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  its  capture,  which  was  effected  after  seven  hours  of  the 
most  desperate  hand-to-hand  fighting  in  the  annals  of  the  war. 
Here  the  regiment  lost  four  killed  and  thirty-seven  wounded, 
among  the  wounded  being  Col.  Galusha  A.  Penm-packer,  then  com- 
manding the  Second  Brigade.  It  participated  in  the  capture  of 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  February  23,  1865,  remaining  at 
Weldon,  North  Carolina,  until  August  26,  when  and  where  it  was 
mustered  out.  H.  W.  Carruthers  was  adjutant  <»f  this  regiment, 
and  Isaiah  Price,  who  was  at  first  (■a])taiii  of  Company  (',  was  sub- 
sequently major. 

Turning  attention  again  to  what  the  people  at  home  were 
doing,  it  is  necessary  to  note  the  fact  that  all  through  the  war 
there  were  numerous  aid  societies  within  the  county  that  per- 
formed important  services  in  the  way  of  making  clothing  of  all 
kinds  and  collecting  money  for  the  benetit  of  the  "boys"  in  the 
field.  There  was  a  Central  Aid  Society  at  West  Chester,  and 
numerous  branch  societies  in  all  parts  of  the  county.  These 
societies  were  in  the  hands  of  women,  who,  in  their  support  and 
management,  attested  their  interest  in  and  loyalty  to  the  cause, 
the  only,  or  at  least  tlic  principal,  way  in  wliicii  they  could  serve 
the  government.  There  was  the  Ladies'  Union  Aid  Society  of 
r'oatesville,  Midway  and  vicinity,  wliich  was  organized  early  in 
1S(;1,  with  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Penrose,  president;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Worth 
and  Mrs.  Mary  Valentine,  vice-presidents;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Morri- 
son, treasurer;  Miss  Martha  J.  Mora-ison,  corresponding  secretary, 
and  Miss  Mary  B.  Thomas,  recording  secretary.  The  meetings  of 
this  society  were  held  in  the  hall  of  Mr.  J.  D.  Bi'oomall,  who  per- 
mitted the  use  of  it  free  of  rent.  In  aid  of  the  societies  under 
consideration  lectui-es  were  given  by  prominent  gentlemen,  Wayne 


288  CHESTER     COUXTY 

MacYeagli  lecturing  for  the  benefit  of  this  society  January  14, 
1862. 

Mortonville  Aid  Society  also  performed  effective  and  noble 
work  in  tlie  line  of  making  clothing  and  supplies  of  various  kinds 
for  the  soldiers  at  the  front.  Of  this  society  Miss  Lizzie  McFadlen 
was  president,  Miss  Maggie  Moore  and  Miss  Sallie  McFadlen  secre- 
taries, and  about  30  other  ladies  were  members.  The  East  Brandy- 
wine  Aid  Society  was  not  behind  similar  organizations,  nor  was 
the  Kimbertou  Aid  Society,  nor  the  Upper  Uwchlan  Aid  Society. 
Many  other  societies  were  equally  active  and  efficient  in  the  work 
performed.  F.  Crossby  lectured  in  the  Willistown  Baptist  Church 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  in  that  part  of  the 
county;  Dr.  I.  I.  Hayes,  the  famous  Arctic  explorer,  lectured  Jan- 
uary 10,  1862,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Soldiers'  Fund,  and  on  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1862,  A.  K.  Warrington  of  Philadelphia  lectured  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Union  Eelief  Society.  The  Central  Aid  Society  of 
the  county  at  this  time  had  for  its  officers  Mary  F.  Wyers,  treas- 
urer, and  E.  W.  Smith,  secretary.  This  society  for  the  month  of 
January,  1862,  received  |282.39  in  money,  besides  a  large  quantity 
of  supplies  suitable  for  men  in  hospital,  a  part  of  which  was 
sent  to  Louissille,  Ky.,  and  a  part  to  hospitals  in  Missouri.  The 
list  of  donations  for  the  benefit  of  this  society  for  February  fills 
half  a  column  in  the  newspapers.  Xo  one  seemed  ever  to  tire  of 
doing  good  in  this  way.  February  15,  1862,  Washington  Towns- 
end  lectured  for  the  benefit  of  the  Union  Relief  Society  at  Uniou- 
ville. 

Enlistments  were  not  specially  active  in  the  early  part  of  1862, 
but  there  was  something  done  in  that  line.  In  .January  of  that 
j-ear  Capt.  Price  and  Sergeant  Fithian  opened  a  recruiting  ofiice 
in  West  Chester,  and  Lieut.  Barber  and  Jefferson  Massey  opened  a 
similar  oflftce  in  the  borough  of  Oxford. 

On  the  27th  of  February  a  pleasant  incident  occurred  in  the 
presentation  of  a  handsome  saber  to  Col.  Josiah  Harlan,  who  had 


.l.V/>     ITS     I'EOl'LIL  289 

beeu  commissioned  to  raise  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  the  committee 
of  presentation  being  Owen  Hamilton,  Elwood  McFarlan  and 
William  D.  Pruin.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Bayai'd  Taylor 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  Legation  to  St.  Petersburg,  one  of  the 
reasons  being  that  he  was  unusually  well  versed  in  the  modern 
languages. 

When  news  reached  Chester  County  that  Col.  Guss's  regiment, 
the  Ninety-seventh,  had  had  a  severe  battle  at  or  near  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  the  ladies  began  immediately  to  prepare  articles 
for  the  wounded  soldiers,  and  to  collect  and  fonvard  a  large  quan- 
tity of  hospital  stores,  the  list  of  articles  filling  half  a  column  in 
the  Village  Keeord.  It  was  at  this  battle  in  June,  1SG2,  that  a 
remarkable  incident  occuri-ed  in  connection  with  this  regiment, 
lliat  their  nnnierous  liairbreadth  escapes  are  "to  be  accounted  for 
only  by  the  fact  that  our  fire  was  so  rapid  and  tlie  smoke  in  con- 
sequence so  dense  as  partially  to  hide  our  men  from  view." 

President  Lincoln,  on  July  20,  made  a  call  for  troops,  and  on 
the  21st  Gov.  Curtin  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  volunteers 
for  nine  months  and  for  twelve  months,  the  nine  months'  volun- 
teers to  aid  in  filling  up  old  regiments,  and  the  twelve  months' 
men  to  be  organized  into  new  regiments.  According  to  the  sched- 
ule published  the  quota  of  Chester  County  was  six  companies 
under  this  call.  In  aid  of  this  movement  there  was  a  meeting 
hehl  at  tlie  court-house  on  .July  23,  Wednesday  evening,  at  which 
Townsend  Haines  presided;  Capt.  William  Apple  and  John  T. 
Worthington  were  vice-presidents,  and  Dr.  Frank  Taylor  and  John 
^larshall  secretaries.  At  this  meeting  it  was  agreed  unanimously 
that  to  each  and  every  enlisted  man  upon  his  being  mustered  into 
the  service,  a  bounty  of  f-lO  should  be  given,  and  in  order  to  raise 
the  money  a  committee  of  seventy  gentlemen  was  appointed  from 
West  Chester  and  vicinit}'.  Meetings  were  also  held  in  other  por- 
tions of  the  county  to  encourage  enlistments.  James  Whitcraft 
<jf  Oxford  raised  a  company  of  meu.     In  West  Chester  G.  C.  Mar- 


290  CHESTER     COUNTV 

shall  was  recruiting  of3ficer,  and  Capt.  Hawley's  company  left 
Downingtown  for  Harrisburg  on  August  6.  On  this  same  day 
Capt.  Stoll's  company  came  into  West  Chester,  and  on  the  next 
day  Capt.  Whitcraft's  company  from  Oxford. 

However,  with  all  the  activity  then  manifested  volunteering 
did  not  fill  up  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  troops  in  the  field  and  the 
new  regiments  required  fast  enough,  and  it  became  evident  that 
a  draft  was  necessary  to  secure  the  men.  The  number  of  men 
called  for  from  Chester  County  under  the  first  draft  was  1,800,  and 
here,  as  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  the  number  was  claimed  to  be 
too  great.  It  was  claimed  that  as  the  State,  which  had  a  popula- 
tion of  2,900,000,  was  required  to  furnish  only  42,000  troops,  which 
was  one  to  every  sixty-nine  persons,  Chester  County  ought  to  be 
called  upon  for  only  1,115,  as  her  population  was  77,000.  In  order 
to  aid  recruiting  and  to  avoid  if  possible  the  necessity  for  a  draft 
in  Chester  County,  subscriptions  were  made  to  a  fund  to  be  used 
in  paying  bounties  to  volunteers,  and  up  to  August  20,  18G2,  $30,- 
000  had  been  subscribed.  In  order  to  secure  the  requisite  number 
of  volunteers,  a  call  was  made  by  James  P.  Everhart,  Francis  C. 
Hooton,  William  B.  Waddell,  Isaac  McClure,  William  A.  Moore, 
J.  Stuart  Leech,  Joseph  Umstead,  John  W.  Davis,  Joshua  Karnes 
and  David  Potts,  and  to  give  time  for  the  raising  of  the  requisite 
number  of  volunteers,  the  draft  was  postponed  uutil  September  15. 
By  August  30  Capt.  Waddell  had  101  men  enlisted,  Capt.  Everhart 
eighty,  Capt.  Hooton  seventy-five,  and  other  captains  about  the 
same  average  number. 

In  order  to  be  prepared  to  go  forward  with  the  draft,  should 
the  county  fail  to  raise  her  quota  through  voluntary  enlistments, 
it  was  necessary  to  enroll  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  subject  to 
military  service,  for  which  purpose  a  sufficient  number  of  marshals 
Avas  appointed.  These  marshals  fouud  the  work  of  enrollment  un- 
expectedly pleasant,  there  being  very  little  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  people  to  giving  all  needed  information  as  to  number  of  men 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  291 

in  each  family  within  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five.  And  the 
marshals  reported  that  even  where  there  was  some  hesitancy  in 
giving  names  of  those  subject  to  duty  in  the  families  of  those  called 
upon,  they  were  always  willing  to  give  all  information  about  their 
neighbors.  This  enrollment  commenced  on  August  25,  1862,  un- 
der Mr.  Barber,  chief  marshal,  and  resulted  as  follows:  Total 
number  enrolled,  13,289;  volunteers  in  Pennsylvania  regiments,. 
o,0G7;  volunteers  in  regiments  belonging  to  other  States,  220; 
total  number  of  volunteers  from  the  county,  3,287. 

In  connection  with  the  draft,  which  the  county  did  not  siicceed 
in  evading,  the  following  extract  from  the  constitution  of  the 
State  then  in  force  is  of  interest: 

"Those  who  conscieutiouslj-  scruple  to  bear  arms  shall  not  be 
compelled  to  do  so,  but  shall  i>ay  an  equivalent  for  personal  serv- 
ices.'' But  each  person  claiming  exemption  under  this  provision  of 
the  constitution  was  required  to  be  sworn  or  affirmed  that  he  was 
conscientiously  opposed  to  bearing  arms.* 

Francis  C.  Hooton,  commissioner  of  the  draft  for  Chester 
County,  appointed  the  following  places  for  the  hearing  and  deter- 
mining of  excuses  of  persons  who  had  been  enrolled  hy  the  mar- 
shals and  who  claimed  exemption  from  military  duty:  West 
Chester,  Phoenixville,  Buck  Tavern,  Marshallton,  Chatham  and 
Oxford, 

On  September  10,  the  danger  of  invasion  by  tbe  rebel  army 
having  become  imminent.  Governor  Curtin  issued  a  general  order 
calling  on  all  able-bodied  men  to  enroll  immediately  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  State  and  on  the  12th  of  the  month,  at  8  o'clock  a.  m.,, 
an  enthusiastic  meeting  was  held  at  the  court-house  in  ^Yest 
Chester,  at  which  it  was  announced  that  the  Governor  had  called 
for  50,000  men.     Captain  Hannum  announced  that  his  company 


*  The  constitution  of  1874  provides  that  ''The  General  Assembly 
exempt  from  military  service  persons  having  consciention  scruples  against  beai-ing- 
arms." 


292  CHESTER     COUNTY 

would  be  ready  to  move  at  the  call  of  the  Governor.  Three  volun- 
teer companies  Avere  also  announced  as  ready  to  move,  each  com- 
pany containing  eighty  men.  Under  this  call  of  the  Governor 
Chester  County  was  among  the  first  to  send  forward  her  soldiers 
to  the  rescue  by  t^eptember  IG,  three  companies  having  already 
left  West  Chester,  one  of  tliem  going  on  Sunday  morning,  Septem- 
ber li.  One  company,  with  William  llanua  as  captain,  formed  for 
the  emergency,  Joel  1'.  ( "ouard  being  tirst  lieutenant  and  John  Davis 
second.  At  Chatham  a  c<inipany  of  100  men  sprang  up  in  a  day, 
elected  Thomas  Hicks  captain,  Joseph  Terrell  tirst  lieutenant  and 
Enoch  Moore  second.  In  East  and  ^^'est  Whiteland  a  company  of 
infantry  was  organized,  with  Joseph  McMullen  captain,  and 
there  was  a  company  of  cavalry  formed  under  Captain  Wayne 
Mac'S'eagh,  the  latter  leaving  Parkesburg  September  14. 

The  time  for  making  the  draft  was  again  postponed  until 
September  .5  C'lmmissioner  Hooton  publishing  the  number  re- 
quired September  23  as  1,.330  from  Chester  <\)unty.  But 
once  more  the  draft  was  postponed  until  October  KJ,  when  it 
was  made,  tlie  number  drafted  being  1,159  men.  It  was  con- 
ducted by  Commissioner  Hooton,  assisted  by  Sheriff  Heffelfluger 
and  William  McCormick,  the  latter  being  blindfolded  and  drawing 
the  names  out  of  a  wheel  made  somewhat  like  a  cliurn.  The  num- 
ber of  men  exempted  in  tiie  rouuty  under  this  tirst  enrollment  for 
physical  disability  was  1,190  and  for  conscientious  scruples  197.  Of 
the  1,159  drafted  men  up  to  October  25,  161  had  furnished  sub- 
stitutes, and  up  to  November  1,  79  more  had  done  so.  At  that  time 
the  price  paid  for  substitutes  ranged  from  -f  100  to  .1:500. 

The  drafted  men  and  substitutes  assembled  on  Tuesday,  Octo- 
ber 28,  at  Cam])  ^^  ayne,  no  one  else  being  permitted  to  enter  tlie 
camp.  Upon  ariiving  inside  the  camp  they  were  classified  under 
sergeants,  sixteen  to  a  sergeant;  but  as  many  of  the  men  came 
ali'eady  organized  through  the  election  of  officers  to  suit  them- 
selves the  arrangements  made  by  the  commissioner  of  the  draft 


AXD     ]TS     PEOPLE.  293 

were  abandoned.  Quite  a  large  number  of  men  did  not  appear, 
and  ujion  inquiry  in  tlie  neighborhood  of  their  homes  it  was  found 
that  tlie  missing'  ones  had  not  been  seen  for  about  a  weelv, 
and  it  was  generally  supposed  that  they  liad  "skedaddled."  The 
missing  ones  were  in  the  main  substitutes,  who  had  received  their 
pay  as  such  before  being  sworn  in.  At  i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  day  last  mentioned  the  list  of  the  drafted  men  was  called  over 
and  570  found  to  be  absent;  but  it  was  known  that  some  of  these 
had  merely  left  camp  for  the  borough,  it  being  late  in  the  day. 
On  Wednesday  morning  all  present  in  camp,  after  breakfast, 
formed  into  line  and  marched  to  the  depot  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  in  charge  of  Colonel  John  Nields,  and  at  12:30  p.  m.,  when 
the  cars  arrived,  all  boarded  the  train  and  left  West  Chester  for 
Camp  Phi]adeli»hia  in  fine  spirits,  cheering  and  singing  songs  as 
they  were  pulled  out  of  the  dejiot.  Before  leaving  camp  that  morn- 
ing upon  the  calling  of  the  roll  810  responded  to  their  names. 

Upon  arriving  in  camp  at  Philadelphia,  this  camp  being  the 
rendezvous  for  the  counties  of  Piiiladelphia,  Noithampton,  Mon- 
roe, Wayne,  Bucks,  Delaware,  Montgomery,  Lehigh,  Carbon,  Pike 
and  Chester,  it  was  found  that  still  quite  a  number  of  substi- 
tutes were  absent  and  measures  were  taken  to  find  them.  Two 
were  (]uickly  found  in  New  Jersey  and  placed  in  jail  in  Philadel- 
phia. The  drafted  men  from  Chester  County  were  formed  into 
nine  companies,  Avhich  companies  elected  captains  as  follows: 
Peter  Colehower,  Vincent;  Levi  Fetters,  East  Whiteland;  Thomas 
Hicks,  Londongrove;  Evan  P.  Dixon,  Kennett;  Joseph  Thompson, 

East  iXantmeal;  Theodore   Woollens;  Rowland   of  New 

York,  formerly  of  Chester  County;  George  W.  Werntz,  Honey- 
brook;  William  X.  Worthington,  West  Goshen.  On  Tuesday,  No- 
vember 11,  eight  of  these  companies  were  mustered  into  the  serv- 
ice of  the  LTnited  States,  biit  none  of  the  companies  was  full, 
only  710  an.swering  to  their  names,  the  rest  being  absent  on  fur- 
lough.   In  order  to  make  a  full  regiment  two  companies  from  Mont- 


294  CHESTER     COUNTY 

gonierj  County  joined  the  Chester  County  men  and  thus  completed 
the  regiment,  which  elected  Francis  C.  Hooton  colonel,  Samuel 
Dyer  of  Chester  lieutenant-colonel  and  Isaac  McClure  of  Chester 
County  major. 

James  H.  Bull  of  West  Chester  was  appointed  provost  marshal 
of  Chester  County  early  in  September,  receiving  his  commission 
September  S,  18G2.  The  Oxford  Guards,  Captain  James  Whit- 
craft's  company,  were  assigned  to  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
fourth  Pennsylvania  volunteer  infantry.  Of  this  company  W.  C. 
Dickey  was  first  lieutenant  and  Levi  Crowl  second  lieutenant.  In 
the  Twelfth  Pennsylvania  volunteer  militia  there  were  the  Key- 
stone Guards  and  two  other  companies  from  Chester  County,  one 
from  WJiitelaud  and  the  other  from  Liouville.  Of  the  Keystone 
Guards  the  captain  was  William  R.  Ash;  first  lieutenant,  J.  D. 
Bromall;  and  second  lieutenant,  W.  H.  Gilbert.  In  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Pennsylvania  volunteer  militia  was  Captain  George  B. 
Thomas'  company,  of  which  the  first  lieutenant  was  Charles  J. 
Hunt  and  second  lieutenant  Isaac  Massey. 

About  March  1,  1863,  the  recruiting  of  colored  men  began  in 
Chester  County,  those  enlisted  being  taken  in  charge  by  a  gentle- 
man from  Boston  who,  as  soon  as  a  squad  had  been  secured, 
took  them  to  Massachusetts  to  fill  the  quota  of  that  State.  They 
Avere  paid  $13  per  month.  Twenty-seven  men  left  Chester  County 
on  February  2(i  and  twenty-five  more  were  ready  to  go  on  March  3. 
This  movement  of  enlisting  colored  ti'oops  for  Eastern  States 
was  quite  general  throughout  the  eastern  and  central  parts  of 
Pennsylvania. 

A  few  weeks  later  the  most  prominent  matter  in  the  minds  of 
the  patriotic  people  of  the  county  was  the  formation  of  Union 
Leagues,  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  the  government  in  sup- 
pressing the  Rebellion  of  open  and  armed  foes  and  also  to 
guard  against  the  machinations  of  secret  foes  at  home.  A  call 
was  issued  for  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  to  take  place  at  the  court- 


.l.\7>     ITS     PEOPLE.  295 

house  on  Wednesday  evening,  March  25,  1863,  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  such  a  league.  This  meeting  was  largely  attended 
and  ably  addressed  by  B.  F.  Brewster  of  Philadelphia,  Governor 
Cannon  of  Delaware,  Colonel  Wilmer  of  Delaware  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Jackson  of  the  Methodist  Conference,  then  in  session  in  West 
Chester.  All  were  in  favor  of  maintaining  the  Union  at  whatever 
cost,  no  matter  what  might  become  of  slavery.  The  result  of  the 
meeting  Avas  the  organization  of  the  West  Chester  Union  League, 
which  adopted  a  constitution  and  by-laws,  the  condition  of  mem- 
bership in  the  league  being  unqualified  loyalty  to  the  government 
and  unwavering  support  of  that  government  in  its  efforts  to  sup- 
press the  Eebellion.  There  was  also  formed  a  Union  League  of 
^Vesttown  and  Thornbury,  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  organiza- 
tion being  held  at  the  house  of  David  H.  Taylor,  April  25,  1863,  at 
the  call  of  Robert  H.  Miller,  John  Q.  Taylor,  Charles  E.  Heister, 
Joseph  H.  Briuton,  Caleb  II.  Cox  and  many  others. 

In  May,  1863,  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fourth  Pennsyl- 
vania militia,  nine  months'  men,  returned  home,  receiving  a  warm 
welcome.  The  marshal  of  the  day  upon  which  they  arrived,  Mon- 
day, May  18,  was  Captain  William  Apple,  and  the  committee  of  ar- 
rangements for  the  reception  of  the  returning  soldiers  was  com- 
posed of  Colonel  R.  Maris  Frame,  Bentley  Worth  and  S.  S.  Heed 
from  the  borough  council  of  West  Chester,  and  H.  S.  Evans,  Cap- 
tain William  Apple,  Colonel  T.  Hyatt,  William  F.  Wyers,  Maris 
T.  Chandler  and  W.  E.  Burlin  of  the  Union  League.  The  regi- 
ment reached  West  Chester  at  2  p.  m.  and  almost  immediately 
partook  of  a  hearty  collation  prepared  by  the  patriotic  ladies  of 
West  Chester  and  vicinity  in  the  market  house  and  were  wel- 
comed home  in  a  neat  and  eloquent  address  by  Judge  Butler.  It 
was  an  occasion  long  to  be  remembered  by  those  present.  Tlie 
Delaware  companies  remained  in  West  Chester  until  next  day, 
when  they  went  to  Media  and  had  a  warm  reception  in  Everett 
Grove.. 


296  CHESTER     COIXTY 

« 

Preparatory  to  another  draft  Captain  E.  L.  Christman,  provost 
marshal  of  Chester  Couuty,  appointed  eni'olling  officers  for  each 
township  and  borough  in  the  county  and  made  Lieutenant  William 
D.  Christman  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fourth  Regiment, 
liis  brother,  one  of  his  deputies  and  George  W.  Downing  and  P.  W. 
Ash  clerks.  It  was  not  long  after  this  before  the  entire  country  wa^s 
alarmed  by  General  Lee's  invasion  of  Pennsylvania,  in  anticipation 
of  which  Governor  Curtin,  on  June  12,  called  out  the  entire  militi;i 
of  the  State.  On  the  15th  he  sent  a  telegram  to  Colonel  Joseph  W. 
Hawley  to  "(Jo  to  work  at  oncel  Call  out  the  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-fourth  Regiment,"  &c.  Lee  was  then  invading  Pennsyl- 
vania and  on  the  16th  there  was  a  grand  rally  of  the  people  ol 
Chester  County.  The  bells  on  the  court-house  and  churches  rang 
out  the  alarm,  the  streets  were  soon  filled  with  people,  farmers 
came  into  West  Chester  direct  from  the  fields  of  peaceful  labor 
and  an  impromptu  meeting  was  held  at  the  court-house,  at  which 
Judge  Butler  and  Messrs.  Darlington,  MacVeagh,  Everhart,  Towns- 
end  and  others  made  brief  but  eloquent  appeals  to  the  people  to 
rush  to  arms,  for  it  was  thought  General  Lee  would  cross  Chester 
County  on  his  way  to  take  and  sack  Philadelphia.  Arrangements 
were  at  once  made  to  enlist  and  send  forward  all  the  troops  possi- 
ble, the  captains  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fourth  Regiment, 
just  mustered  out  of  service,  endeavoring  to  collect  and  organize 
their  former  comrades.  Early  on  Wednesday  morning,  June  17, 
men  came  into  town  in  squads  of  various  sizes  from  all  parts  of  the 
county  with  tlieir  knapsacks  on  their  backs.  They  kept  coming 
in  all  day,  and  at  5  p.  m.  several  companies  left  their  quarters, 
marched  to  the  depot  and  took  the  train  for  Harrisburg,  their 
numbers  being  augmented  at  Downingtown,  Coatesville,  Parkes- 
burg  and  Penningtonville.  At  5  o'clock  next  morning  they  arrived 
at  Harrisburg.  The  captains  of  companies  formerh-  belonging 
to  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  that  went  out  at 
this  emergency  call  were  C.  W.  Roberts,  W.  M.  ffinkson,  E.  F. 


AXD     /7",s'     PEOPLE.  297 

James  aud  W.  T\'.  Scott,  and  besides  them  there  were  Captains  C. 
W.  Thomas  of  the  Second  Pennsylvania  militia,  Wayne  MacVea<ili 
of  the  Pennsylvania  cavalry  and  J.  H.  Thorp,  who  also  had  a  com- 
pany of  cavalry.  On  Thnrsday  Captain  J.  B.  Everhart,  then  late 
of  the  Tenth  Pennsylvania  militia,  left  Avith  his  company,  and  the 
uprising  was  the  same  all  over  the  county.  At  Coatesville,  Down- 
ingtown,  Parkesburg,  Penuingtonville,  Kenuett  Square,  Phoenix- 
ville,  Oxford  and  all  other  towns  and  villages  men  and  women 
Avere  alive  to  the  situation  and  active  in  taking  such  measures  as 
they  could  for  the  defense  of  the  State.  At  Coatesville  Capt<ain 
W.  Tv.  Ash  raised  a  full  company,  and  Steel  &  Worth  and  Pennock 
&  Bro.  put  out  the  fires  in  their  rolling  mills,  mai'shaled  their  men 
and  led  them  forth  to  do  battle  for  their  country.  At  Downingtown 
Captain  -J.  A.  Eicholtz  raised  a  company  and  was  soon  on  his  way 
to  Harrisburg.  Kennett  Square  was  fully  alive,  tlie  Quakers  in 
that  part  of  the  county  turned  out,  organized  a  company,  which  im- 
mediately took  up  its  line  of  march.  Aud  James  Maxton  and 
Isaac  Wiekersham  marshaled  the  yeomen  of  the  Marlboroughs. 

On  June  20  Governor  Curtin  called  for  00,000  three  months' 
men  and  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  citizens  of  West 
Chester  consisting  of  Washington  Townsend,  William  Darlington, 
David  McConkey,  W.  E.  Barber,  J.  Smith  Futhey,  Captain  William 
Apple,  William  Butler,  P.  F.  Smith,  James  H.  Bull,  Dr.  J.  B. 
Wood,  Henry  S.  Evans,  Henry  Buckwalter  aiid  George  W.  Pearce, 
which  committee  issued  a  call  for  volunteers.  The  commissioners 
of  the  county  offered  each  volunteer  a  bounty  of  |15,  to  be  paid  im- 
mediately upon  his  being  sworn  into  the  service  of  the  State, 
under  this  call.  Several  gentlemen  began  raising  companies  and 
almost  immediately  after  the  call  was  made  John  W.  Davis  had  a 
company  ready,  named  the  Anthony  Wayne  Guards  and  belonging 
in  Tredyffrin  Township.  Under  this  call  for  00,000  men  the  quota 
of  Chester  County  was  881  men.  Up  to  Friday,  July  3,  five  full 
companies  of  three  months'  men  had  left  the  county  for  the  de- 


298  CHESTER     COUNTY 

fense  of  the  State,  those  of  Guss,  Cochran,  Roberts,  Stott  and 
Davis,  and  on  Saturday,  the  4th,  the  sixth  company,  that  of  Cap- 
tain Stncldand  of  Oxford,  left  the  county.  But  then,  of  course, 
the  emergency  that  called  forth  all  this  activity  had  passed,  for  on 
that  day  General  Lee  was  defeated  by  General  Meade  at  Gettysburg 
and  was  en  route  for  Virginia. 

On  July  5,  Sunday,  about  1,500  paroled  Union  prisoners  taken 
in  the  first  day's  battle  at  Gettysburg  came  into  West  Chester,  be- 
longing to  the  First  and  Eleventh  Corps,  a  number  of  them 
wounded.  The  wounded  ones  were  given  quarters  in  the  gym- 
nasium at  the  Normal  School,  the  others  being  taken  to  the  Agri- 
cultural Fair  Grounds,  where  they  remained  rnitil  the  10th,  when 
they  Avere  transferred  to  the  new  camp  grounds  on  the  new 
railroad,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  southeast  of  West  Chester. 

Some  short  time  before  these  stiiTing  times  a  Mr.  Beugless 
opened  an  enrollment  list  f(ir  colored  soldiers,  in  two  weeks  secur- 
ing nearly  100  names  of  colored  men  willing  to  fight  for  their  coun- 
try, and  took  them  to  the  new  camp  mentioned  above  on  the  new 
railroad,  the  camp  being  on  the  farm  of  Abraham  Williams.  On 
July  14  Frederick  Douglas  delivered  an  address  in  the  Horticul- 
tural Hall  in  West  Chester  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  enlist- 
ments on  the  part  of  members  of  his  race. 

In  the  draft  which  began  in  West  Chester  August  4,  1863,  and 
which  was  conducted  throughout  the  county  at  different  places  at 
different  times  until  early  in  October,  there  were  drawn  1,789,  of 
which  nvimber  1,640  procured  exemption  from  service  in  one 
way  or  another,  either  because  they  were  the  only  support  of  a 
widowed  mother,  from  physical  disability,  from  furnishing  a  sub- 
stitute, or  from  the  payment  of  the  amount  reqiiired  by  the  Gov- 
ernment as  an  equivalent. 

Under  the  call  of  February  1,  1864,  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  for  500,000  men,  Chester  County  filled  her  quota  in 
large  part  by  re-enlisted  men  and  volunteers.     Each  man  enlisting 


''■-o*.^  ^'^^j^^/^^xi 


^^-^^:¥>^ 


1.     MARY    DOD    BROWN    CHAPEL. 
2.     LINCOLN    HALL. 

3.     CRESSON    HALL. 

4.     HOUSTON    HALL. 

5.     UNIVERSITY    HALL. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  301 

uuder  this  call  became  entitled  to  a  count}-  bounty  of  |350,  this 
policy  being  determined  on  by  the  county  commissioners  imme- 
diately after  the  President's  call.  One  hundred  dollars  of  the 
money  was  paid  in  cash,  and  |250  was  given  in  county  bonds.  If 
anyone  preferred  a'll  cash,  be  was  paid  .f337.50  in  that  way,  a  dis- 
count of  five  per  cent,  being  charged  for  the  payment  of  the  |250. 
The  entire  amount  of  the  bounty  paid  reached  somewhere  between 
P50,000  and  |400,000.  Quite  a  number  of  colored  men  joined  the 
ranks  under  this  call,  and  were  highly  pleased  at  the  receipt  of  the 
"Greenbacks,"  so  large  a  pile  of  which  they  had  never  before  seen. 
The  commissioners  said,  after  experimenting  with  tliis  method  of 
I'aisiug  the  county's  quota,  "Chester  County  is  the  first  in  the  State 
to  fill  her  quota,"  and  of  course  it  was  said  with  no  little  satisfac- 
tion and  pride. 

As  is  well  remembered,  the  winter  of  1864-65  was  the  one  dur- 
ing which  the  men  at  the  front  re-enlisted,  or  veteranized,  as  many 
of  them  preferred  to  call  it.  This  has  been  hinted  at  above.  The 
Ninety-seventh  Eegiment  came  home  to  veteranize  in  April,  1864, 
reaching  West  Chester  April  9.  They  were  heartily  welcomed  by 
the  citizens,  the  address  of  welcome  being  delivered  by  Rev.  W.  E. 
Moore.  After  a  month  spent  at  home  on  furlough  those  who  had  re- 
enlisted  left  West  Chester  for  the  field  on  May  9.  The  Brandywine 
Guards,  Co.  A  of  the  First  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  reached  West 
Chester  from  the  field  June  8,  being  welcomed  in  a  neat  and 
eloquent  speech  by  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington  and  being  afterward 
addressed  by  General  McCall,  who  complimented  them  highly  on 
their  services  to  the  government.  The  ladies  of  the  borough  gave 
them  a  dinner  at  the  Noi'mal  School. 

In  July,  1864,  the  rebels  made  an  invasion  into  Maryland, 
causing  great  excitement  throughout  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
Governor  Curtin  called  for  12,000  men  for  one  hundred  days  on 
July  5,  and  on  the  10th  of  the  month  a  large  meeting  was  held  at 
the  court-house,  at  which  a  committee  was  appointed  to  raise 
18 


302  CHE.^TER     COUXTY 

about  700  men  for  Chester  County,  this  committee  consisting'  of 
William  Darlington,  General  George  A.  McCall,  Dr.  Wilmer 
Worthington,  Henry  K.  Guss,  George  F.  Smith,  Colonel  Francis  C. 
Hooton,  Galusha  Pennypacker,  Enoch  E.  Lewis,  Mott  Hooton, 
William  McConnell,  Washington  Townsend,  William  B.  Waddell, 
Townsinid  Haines,  and  Daniel  McConkey.  Colonel  Hooton  called 
on  his  old  regiment,  the  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-flfth,  and  Major 
Everhart  made  a  similar  call  on  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
fourth,  Colonel  Henry  K.  Guss  endeavored  to  rally  his  battery,  and 
Mr.  Beugless  was  authorized  to  raise  a  regiment  of  colored  men, 
and  in  order  to  do  this  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  court-house  July 
14,  at  which  Rev.  John  Brown  (colored)  presided. 

A  company  of  one  hundred  days'  men  left  West  Chester  July 
22,  uniting  at  camp  Cadwallader  with  a  companj-  from  Delaware 
County.  On  July  18,  18(34,  the  President  made  a  call  for  300,000 
men,  and  by  October  4,  nearly  all  of  the  to\A'nships  in  Chester 
County  had  their  quotas  full,  only  eighty-four  men  being  still 
required.  Under  the  call  of  December  19,  18(54,  for  300,000  men, 
Chester  and  Delaware  Counties  were  required  to  furnish  1,121  raen^ 
the  propor-tion  from  Chester  County  being  740.  This  quota  was 
never  filled,  for  after  the  surrender  of  Lee  on  April  0,  orders  were 
issued  from  Washington  to  discontinue  the  draft  and  to  stop 
enlistments,  as  it  was  known  the  war  was  then  practically  at  an 
end. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  throughout  Chester  County  on 
April  3  and  4,  the  news  having  reached  there  that  Ivichmond  had 
fallen.  The  court-house  bell  and  the  church  bells  rang  out  the 
glad  tidings,  which  spread  with  great  rapidity  throughout  the 
county,  cannon  boomed,  flags  wei'e  thrown  to  the  breeze,  farmers 
rushed  into  the  county  seat,  to  learn  the  particulars,  and  crowds 
surrounded  the  telegraph  office  to  learn  the  latest  reports  from  the 
seat  of  war.  Speeches  were  made  to  suit  the  occasion  by  Colonel 
Hooton,  Wayne  McVeagh,  Dr.  Worthington,  Dr.  Taylor  and  others. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  303 

and  ou  Tuesday  night,  April  4,  tiie  private  aud  public  buildings 
were  illuminated  in  honor  of  the  event. 

On  April  10,  upon  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Lee, 
the  provost  marshal  fired  a  salute  of  200  guns,  and  Colonel  Hyatt's 
battery,  one  of  100  guns.  The  band  marched  all  through  the  town 
playing  patriotic  airs,  and  everj-one  was  full  of  gladness.  The 
news  of  Lee's  surrender  was  brought  to  West  Chester  on  Monday 
morning  in  advance  of  telegraphic  reports,  by  two  colored  men, 
Samuel  J.  Williams  and  Alexander  Gladman,  who  left  Philadel- 
phia at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  William  Darlington,  chief 
burgess  of  the  borough,  allowed  these  colored  men  to  first  ring  the 
court-house  bell,  announcing  the  news  to  the  people. 

Ou  April  14,  the  last  day  of  the  draft  in  Chester  and  Delaware 
Counties,  four  men  were  drafted  in  Darby,  eighteen  in  Elk,  four  in 
New  Garden  and  eight  in  West  Brandywine. 

Then  came  the  news  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  which 
spread  the  deepest  gloom  over  a  triumphant  aud  happy  land. 
Commenting  on  this  great  crime  the  Village  Eecord  said:  "In  this 
sudden  death  of  President  Lincoln  we  are  forced  to  the  conviction 
that  it  is  the  hand  of  Providence.  By  God  were  the  Pilgrim  Fath- 
ers guided  to  the  shores  of  America — by  God  were  they  protected 
from  savage  foes — by  Him  were  they  made  a  great  nation,  and  by 
Him  slavei'y  has  now  almost  been  blotted  out.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  but  His  instrument.  He  is  now  been  taken  and  another  great 
man,  Andrew  Johnson,  takes  up  the  work  yet  to  be  done!" 

The  war  was  over.  Chester  County  had  done  her  duty  nobly 
during  the  ordeal  through  which  the  country  had  passed.  While 
there  was  a  large  number  of  persons  in  the  county  who  were  con- 
scientiously opposed  to  bearing  arms,  yet  most  of  them  without 
any  other  thought  than  the  jireservation  of  the  Union  from  dis- 
ruption, took  up  arms  in  its  defense,  and  fought  as  hard  as  any, 
many  of  them  laying  down  their  lives  during  the  conflict.  Their 
zeal  aud  courage  were  equal  to  the  bravest  in  the  ranks  or  in  com- 


304  .  CHESTER     C0UX7T 

mission,  and  all  are  to-daj-  proud  of  the  record  that  they  in  com- 
mon with  other  citizens  of  the  county-  made.  Under  the  last  call 
of  the  President  the  proportion  of  the  county  to  be  drafted  was  less 
than  that  of  any  other  county  in  the  State.  There  had  been  at 
work  throughout  the  war  about  forty  aid  societies,  through  which 
the  people  had  contributed  clothing,  food,  nurses,  etc.,  without 
complaint  and  without  stint,  to  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the  hospi- 
tal and  in  the  field.  It  is  a  record  of  which  all  will  always  be 
proud  so  long  as  history  shall  be  read,  and  so  long  as  men  are  will- 
ing to  die  for  the  preservation  of  their  country  and  the  rights  and 
liberties  which  it  confers  upon  them  and  protects  them  in  enjoying. 
"While  it  is  impracticable  to  give  the  precise  number  of  soldiers 
furnished  to  the  army  during  the  war  of  the  Eebellion,  yet  it 
may  be  stated  that,  making  due  allowance  for  re-enlistments  and 
recounts,  the  number  of  names  which  appear  on  the  several  mus- 
ter rolls  is  6,73G.  vSome  of  these  enlisted  twice,  some  three  times, 
and  some  perhaps  more  than  three  times,  taking  into  consideration 
the  numerous  emergency  cases  that  arose  in  Pennsylvania  more 
than  in  any  other  Northern  State,  occasioned  by  the  invasion 
of  the  State  by  the  rebel  armies,  and  several  threatened  invasions 
where  no  actual  invasion  occuiTed.  Then  in  case  of  promotions 
the  same  soldier's  name  necessarily  occurs  at  least  twice,  in  the 
same  company  or  regiment,  and  in  such  instances  the  tendency  in 
counting  the  names  would  lead  to  an  excess  greater  than  that  due 
to  re-enlistments.  Therefore  it  may  perhaps  be  stated  that  the 
probable  number  of  different  soldiers  belonging  to  Chester  County 
in  the  war  was  not  far  from  (5,000. 

This  number  cannot  seem  extravagant,  for  in  the  Ninety-sev- 
enth Eegiment  alone  there  were  in  the  aggregate  2,034  men,  includ- 
ing volunteers,  drafted  men  and  substitutes.  Of  these  sixty-nine 
were  killed,  and  sixty-eight  died  of  wounds.  One  hundred  and 
sixty-six  died  of  disease,  and  finally  701  were  mustered  out 

It  would  seem  eminently  proper  in  tJiis  connection  to  make 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  305 

brief  mention  of  a  few  of  the  men  tliat  made  Chester  County  fa- 
mous in  the  war.  Of  these,  Brev.  Major-General  Henry  R.  Guss, 
first  colonel  of  the  Mnety-Seventh  Regiment,  may  well  be  mentioned 
first,  as  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  prominently  connected  with 
the  movement  to  raise  troops  in  Cliester  County.  He  raised  a  com- 
pany of  men  almost  immediatelj'  after  the  President's  first  call 
for  militia,  and  became  its  captain.  This  was  Company  A,  Ninth 
Pennsylvania  volunteer  infantry,  three  months'  men.  Upon  return- 
ing from  this  service  he  raised  the  Ninety-seventh  Regiment,  hav- 
ing been  commissioned  colonel  in  July,  and  leading  his  regiment  to 
the  field  in  November,  1861.  He  was  ordered  to  the  Department 
of  the  South  and  was  brigaded  under  Gen.  Wright,  and  com- 
manded his  regiment  in  the  expedition  resulting  in  the  capture 
of  Fernandina,  Florida,  and  other  important  points  on  the  coast  of 
that  state.  He  served  through  the  James  Island  campaign  with 
marked  ability  until  July,  1862,  when  he  was  assigned  to  the  com- 
mand of  Hilton  Head,  retaining  this  command  until  October,  when 
he  returned  to  the  command  of  his  own  regiment.  In  April,  1863, 
Col.  Guss  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  First 
Brigade,  Tei*ry's  Division,  Tenth  Army  Corps,  in  the  expedition 
against  Charleston,  and  afterward  he  was  assigned  successively 
to  the  posts  of  Edisto,  Botany  Bay  and  St.  Helena  Islands,  and 
later,  when  the  assault  on  Fort  Wagner  was  ordered,  Col.  Guss 
was  selected  to  command  the  advance  storming  party,  containing 
300  men  of  his  own  regiment  and  300  of  the  Third  New  Hamp- 
shire regiment.  The  following  October  the  Ninety-seventh  was 
ordered  to  Fernandina,  Florida,  and  its  colonel  to  the  command  of 
the  forces  at  that  place,  and  there  he  remained  until  April,  1864, 
and  then  received  leave  of  absence  to  accompany  the  veterans 
home  on  furlough.  Rejoining  his  regiment  at  Bermuda  Hundred 
in  May,  he  was  assigned  to  the  First  brigade.  Third  division.  Tenth 
Army  Corps,  retaining  this  position  during  active  operations  on 
the  south  side  of  the  James.    He  was  then  relieved  of  his  command 


3o6  CHESTER     COIXTY 

for  alleged  disobedience  of  oi'ders,  which  was  never  proved  and 
was  not  true,  but  on  account  of  this  injustice  he  resigned  his  com- 
missiou  and  returned  to  his  homo,  liis  resignation  bearing  date 
June  2,  1804. 

Charles  Frederick  Taylor,  brother  of  Bayard  Taylor,  was  an- 
other brave  soldier  from  Chester  County.  Immediately  after  the 
attack  on  Fort  Sumter  young  Taylor  raised  a  company  of  young 
men  of  the  vicinity  of  Kennett  Square,  who  elected  him  cap- 
tain, took  the  company  to  Harrisburg,  and  had  it  incorporated 
into  tlie  famous  l?u<ktail  regiment.  After  the  battle  of  AutJetam 
he  was  promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  regiment,  to  fill 
the  vacancy'  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Colonel  McNeil. 
He  was  the  youngest  colonel  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  Gen- 
eral Meade  pronounced  him  one  of  the  most  promising  young  offi- 
cers in  the  service.  In  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  on  July  2,  186:5, 
when  in  advance  of  his  column,  encouraging  his  men  to  attempt  to 
"take  them  all  prisioners,"  he  was  shot  through  the  heart  by  a  rebel 
sharpshooter.  His  I'emains  were  interred  in  Longwood  Cemetery, 
where  a  beautiful  monument,  purchased  by  the  surviving  officers 
and  men  of  his  regiment,  was  erected  over  his  grave. 

Colonel  Henry  M.  Mclntyre  died  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  from 
wounds  received  in  the  Seven  Days'  battles,  his  death  occurring 
January  14,  1863.  He  was  wounded  in  the  ankle,  which  rendered 
amputation  of  the  leg  necessary.  He  was  a  native  of  Cecil  County, 
Maryland,  was  a  graduate  of  Yale,  began  the  study  of  law  in  New 
Haven,  tinishing  with  Joseph  J.  Lewis  in  ^^'est  Chester,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  and  opened  an  office  in  the  latter  place.  He 
joined  the  Brandywine  Guards  upon  their  organization,  was  made 
captain  of  the  company,  which  united  with  the  First  Pennsylvania 
Reserves,  of  which  regiment  he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
after  leaving  Camp  Wayne,  the  regiment  was  joined  to  the  Penn- 
sylvania Reserve  Corps  under  General  McCall. 

Major-General  George  A.  McCall  secured  the  organization  of 


AXn     ITS     I'EOl'LE.  307 

the  thirteen  Pennsylvania  regiments,  and  was  invited  by  Governot 
Curtin  to  accept  the  position  of  major-general,  to  which  he  con- 
sented, and  was  commissioned  on  May  16,  1861.  On  the  same  day 
he  entered  upon  the  command  of  the  Reserve  Corps,  the  history  of 
which  is  well  known  to  readers  of  the  history  of  the  war.  He  im- 
mediately organized  fifteen  regiments  of  troops  in  the  manner  pro- 
vided for  tlie  law,  and  throughout  the  war  for  the  Union  per- 
foriiH'd  valiant  luid  valuable  services  to  the  cause. 

Lieut.-Col.  Thomas  S.  Bell  was  another  hero  of  the  war.  He 
was  born  in  West  Chester,  May  12,  1838,  and  was  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  Col.  Joseph  McClellan,  who  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
serving  under  Gen.  Wayne  in  the  battle  of  Brandy  wine.  He 
studied  law  under  the  instruction  of  his  father,  Hon.  Thomas  S. 
Bell,  and  was  admitted  t<>  the  bar  in  1859.  Mandi  11,  18.j8,  he  was 
commissioned  aid-de-camp  to  the  major-general  of  the  Third 
Division  of  the  uniformed  militia  of  Chester  and  Delaware  Coun- 
ties, and  was  appointed  paymaster  of  the  same  division  with  the 
rank  of  major,  October  3,  1859. 

When  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  broke  out  he  was  among  the 
first  to  respond  to  his  country's  call,  and  was  made  adjutant  of  the 
Ninth  Pennsylvania  three  months'  men.  Later  he  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  governor  of  the  State  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fifty- 
first  Pennsylvania  volunteer  infantry,  and  at  Roanoke  Island  had 
command  of  a  portion  of  the  regiment.  At  Newbera  he  had  com- 
mand of  the  regiment,  and  being  ordered  to  charge  the  enemies' 
batteries,  captured  the  first  battery  and  was  the  first  man  to  mount 
it.  At  Camden  he  had  command  of  the  brigade  to  which  his  regi- 
ment belonged,  the  brigade  leading  the  charge.  At  Antietam  he 
was  killed  after  the  capture  of  the  stone  bridge,  September  17, 
1SC2.  His  loss  was  deeply  felt,  for  he  was  not  only  a  brave  soldier, 
but  he  had  endeared  himself  to  all  whose  acquaintance  he  had 
formed,  not  only  those  inferior  to  him  in  i^osition,  but  also  to  those 
of  superior  rank.     His  remains  were  brought  to  West  Chester,  and 


3o8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

lie  buried  in  Oaljland  Cemetery,  where  it  was  his  wish  to  be  laid. 

Col.  Augustus  P.  Duer  entered  West  Point  military  academy 
July  1, 1837,  and  after  leaving  that  institution  aided,  as  a  civil  engi- 
neer, in  laying  out  the  railroad  from  West  Chester  to  Philadelphia 
by  way  of  Media.  When  the  war  of  the  Eebellion  broke  out  ho 
promptly  responded  to  the  call  of  duty,  and  was  appointed  Lieut.- 
Colouel  of  the  Xiuety-seveuth  Peuusylvauia  volunteers,  October  7, 
1861.  He  was  in  command  of  tlie  regiment  a  portion  of  the  time 
while  it  was  in  Camp  Wayne;  at  Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina,  in 
September,  1862;  at  Seabrook  Island  in  Maj,  1863;  and  at  St. 
Helena,  South  Carolina,  from  June  20,  1863,  to  September  20,  fol- 
lowing. He  was  honorably  discharged  April  3,  1864,  from  which 
time  to  his  death,  March  29,  1898,  he  lived  quietly  at  Atglen,  Ches- 
ter County. 


CHAPTER  Vlll. 

THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN     WAR CAUSE    OK  THE  WAR CALL  FOR  TROOPS — COM- 
PANY   I    OF    THE    SIXTH — ROSTER    OF  THE    COMPANY RECRUITS — COM- 
PANY D    OF    PHCENIXVILLE THE  NEW    COMPANY COLORED  RE- 
CRUITS  OTHER    VOLUNTEERS EFFORTS  OF  THE  WOMEN 

BATTERY      C GENERAL      PENNYPACKER. 

WHEN  the  war  broke  out  betweeu  the  United  States  au<l 
Spain  Chester  Coiiutv  was  not  less  ]iatriotie  tlian  in  tU" 
wars  that  had  gone  before.  This  war  with  Spain  was  brought 
about  by  reason  of  the  failure  of  President  McKinley,  through 
the  most  patient  and  persistent  efforts  known  to  diploiuaer,  to 
secure  relief  to  the  people  of  Cuba  from  the  horrible  cruelties  of 
concentration  by  which  they  were  brought  to  starvation,  disease 
and  death  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  including  old  men, 
women  and  children,  and  also  by  reason  of  the  destruction  of  the 
United  States  battleship  Maine,  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  by  a 
submarine  mine,  on  February  15,  1898,  two  of  the  officers  and  264 
of  the  men  of  the  Maine  being  crushed  and  drowned  to  death. 
A  Court  of  Inquiry  Avas  appointed  by  the  President,  which,  after 
twenty-three  days  of  continuous  labor,  reached  the  conclusion  that 
the  Maine  was  not  destroyed  through  any  interior  explovsion  or 
accident,  for  which  any  of  her  officers  or  men  were  responsible, 
thus  fixing  the  responsibility  by  imiJlication  and  inference  on 
some  agent  of  the  Spanish  government.  On  April  11,  1898,  Presi- 
dent McKinley  transmitted  this  report  to  Congress,  and  asked  that 
he  be  authorized  and  empowered  to  employ  the  army  and  navy  of 

3" 


312  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  United  States  to  secure  the  termination  of  hostilities  between 
Spain  and  the  people  of  Cuba,  and  to  carry  into  effect  on  the  island 
the  establishment  of  a  stable  government,  capable  of  maintaining 
order,  observing  international  obligations,  and  securing  tranquil- 
lity and  peace.  In  accordance  with  a  joint  resolution  of  Con- 
gress, passed  April  19,  1898,  the  President  on  April  20  sent  an  ulti- 
matum to  the  Spanish  government,  requiring  it  to  withdraw  its 
laud  and  naval  forces  from  Cuban  waters,  with  which  that  govern- 
ment declined  to  comply. 

War  was  therefore  formally  declared  by  Congress  April  25, 
and  in  the  meantime  the  people  of  Chester  County  were  taking 
Ijroper  measures  to  enlist  their  quota  of  men  when  the  anticipated 
call  should  be  made.  Company  I  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  National 
Guards  of  Pennsylvania,  had  everything  jjacked  ready  to  move 
into  camp  by  April  21,  and  on  Ai)ril  23,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  125,000  troops  for  two 
years,  unless  sooner  discharged  Under  this  call  the  quota  of 
Pennsylvania  was  10,762.  April  26  Col.  Perry  M.  Washabaugh 
received  orders  from  Brigadier-General  John  W.  Schall  to  move 
the  Sixth  Eegiment  to  Mount  Gretna,  on  Thursday  morning,  April 
28,  and  on  that  morning,  an  unusually  inclement  one  for  the  season,. 
Company  I  of  West  Chester  marched  through  the  streets  of  that 
place  to  the  train  at  the  Gay  Street  crossing,  accompanied  by  about 
2,000  people,  including  100  veterans  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
and  the  West  Chester  Band.  Following  is  the  roster  of  the  com- 
pany as  it  left  West  Chester: 

Captain — Gibbons  Gray  Cornwell. 

First  Lieutenant — Granville  S.  Bennett. 

Second  Lieutenant — Herman  J.  Smith, 

Quartermaster-Sergeant — G.  H.  Hazard. 

Sergeants — George  A.  Black,  Charles  W.  Reagan,  George  B. 
McCormick. 

Corporals — T.    Lincoln    Ingram,     Nathaniel    Leaf,     William 


AXD     JT(<!     PEOPLE.  SU 

Tbomp.sou,  Grauville  Pratt,  Roskell  Woodward,  Fulton  Beatty, 
Frank  Missimer. 

Privates — Howard  Beatty,  P.  T.  Conner,  George  Budd,  George 
G.  Cardwell,  Jr.,  Joseph  Chase,  Vim.  D.  Cornwell,  Joseph  Cudlipp, 
William  Cndlipp,  James  Dooley,  Thomas  Fullertou,  George  Gar- 
rett, Howard  Garrett,  Joseph  Hemphill,  E.  D.  Hemphill,  Jr.,  Frank 
C.  Harp,  William  Johnson,  William  Kane,  John  S.  Clark,  Paul 
Ludwick,  Alexander  McCausland,  William  McConnell,  P.  H.  Gib- 
bons, W.  H.  Graham,  Charles  Murtagh,  Hariw  C.  Xields,  John 
Painter,  Edmund  D.  Painter,  Warren  Sliarpe,  George  Eupert, 
James  McC.  D.  Euth,  H.  T.  Lear,  Herbert  T.  Yance,  Leon  Lys- 
ter,  Lewis  Good,  Frank  Brown,  Edward  Manley,  Arlington  Cani- 
zares,  Abram  Darlington,  H.  T.  Cunningham,  C.  F.  Kellings,  Frank 
H.  Diesem,  Charles  Bennett,  George  Hoffman,  Carl  Schrader. 

Cooks — Clement  Tuck  and  William  Callahan  of  Wayne;  Fred 
Deery  of  West  Chester.    The  latter  will  serve  the  officers. 

Company  I,  as  a  part  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  left  camp  at 
Mount  Gretna  along  witli  the  Eighth,  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
Regiments,  on  May  19,  1898,  for  Falls  Church,  Virginia,  which 
place  is  within  about  eiglit  miles  of  Washington,  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, and  here  it  is  necessary  to  take  leave  of  the  soldiers  from 
Chester  County,  so  far  as  this  work  is  concerned,  for  they  are 
undoubtedly  to  go  South,  and  perhaps  to  Cuba. 

On  May  7,  1898,  twenty-nine  young  men  left  West  Chester  to 
unite  with  Company  I,  a  crowd  of  several  hundred  people  bidding 
them  adieu  at  the  railway  station.  The  list  of  those  who  thus 
went  out  to  Join  the  company  is  as  follows: 

Sanford  Singer,  Percy  S.  Darlington,  Norman  D.  Gray,  J.  Bert 
Smith,  James  Rox,  Ralph  Wood,  Eugene  Boyles,  Martin  Echoff, 
William  M.  Sager,  Jacob  S.  Smith,  Augustus  Michiner,  Edward  H. 
Musser,  James  H.  Varnum,  Harry  C.  Kugel,  Fred  W.  Guie,  Wilfred 
G.  Priest,  William  S.  Baird,  Rufus  T.  Cheyney,  William  G.  Middle- 
ton,  William  Armour,  James  A.  Riley,  Henry  F.  Taylor,  Franklin 


314  CHESTER     COUNTY 

H.  Long,  John  P.  Haves,  Joseph  H.  Bahlwin,  Charles  B.  Heck,  Wil- 
liam Fisher,  Alfred  Barrv,  Bentley  Foster  and  Horace  Brinton. 

By  June  25,  1898,  other  recruits  uniting  with  this  company 
brought  its  number  up  to  110. 

Phoenixville  sent  out  Company  I)  to  the  war,  the  roster  of 
which  was  as  follows: 

Captain — Louis  R.  Walters. 

First  Lieutenant — Frank  M.  Crossman, 

iSecond  Lieutenant — Wm.  A.  Gilbert. 

First  Sergeant — Wm.  A.  March. 

Sergeants — Horace  Seigfried,  Kalston  Lambkin,  James  Mor- 
timer, George  L.  Walters. 

Corporals — William  Hertinstine,  John  W^adsworth,  Fred  Kar- 
rer,  Wm.  Kirkner,  James  Carlin,  Harry  McDonald,  Charles  Barnes, 
Robert  Dunn. 

Musicians — Frank  Heist,  Harry  O'Koenig. 

Privates — Wm.  Ashenfelter,  James  Barnes,  Lewis  Benner, 
James  Bitting,  Elmer  Carruthers,  Harry  Carter,  Jesse  Corbet,  John 
Drake,  Walter  Fulmer,  David  Fitzcharles,  Charles  Frick,  Samuel 
Ferguson,  Harry  Gregory,  Wm.  Horner,  Benj.  Hallman,  Wm.  Kirk, 
Wm.  Kuler,  Harvey  Mosteller,  Abraham  Mosteller,  Richard  March, 
Luther  Moses,  Lorenzo  Neiman,  John  J.  Robinson,  Frank  E.  Quay, 
John  Swartley,  Wm.  Swartley,  George  Shoemaker,  John  Simmers, 
Wm.  Shaner,  John  Stewart,  W^m.  Stern,  Julius  Sockel,  Chas.  Sper- 
ick,  Herman  Springer,  Ed  Shoffner,  James  Turish,  James  Winters, 
Howard  McClaskey,  Bernard  Gillen,  Irvin  Ziegler,  Daniel  Ottinger. 

Immediately  after  the  departure  of  Company  I  for  Mount 
Gretna,  Capt.  Sharpless  M.  Paxtou  and  Lieut.  St.  Julien  Ogier,  for- 
merly of  that  company,  began  to  raise  a  company  to  take  the 
place  of  Company  1,  and  if  necessary  to  make  up  the  State's  quota, 
to  take  the  new  company  to  the  front.  The  following  list  of  mem 
bers  was  enrolled  in  the  new  company  by  April  29,  1898: 

S.  M.  Paxson,  St.  Julien  Ogier,  J.  H.  Varnum,  Harry  C.  Kugel, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  31 5 

H.  Ilowanl  Plank,  Edward  S.  Turner,  Frank  L.  Elliott,  Frank  K. 
Burnett,  Trevor  H.  Dawson,  Granville  T.  Mitchell,  F.  W.  Wood- 
ward, AVilfred  G.  Priest,  Isaac  Lawrence,  Joseph  H.  Hunt,  Howard 
W.  Sharpe  Jr.,  Win.  J.  Cobourn,  J.  Hayes  Still,  W.  T.  Hunt,  Howard 
Hawley,  Jos.  H.  Baldwin,  T.  L.  Eyre,  George  W.  Griffith,  Norris  S. 
Ingram,  James  B.  Fisher,  Lewis  H.  Miller,  O.  F.  Groff,  John  G.  Au- 
dress,  Uuionville;  L.  Walter  vJarrett,  Harry  ("obb,  Wra.  M.  Bleukin, 
J.  F.  Shields,  John  Kerwin,  Harry  B.  Kussell,  Amos  K.  Mackie, 
Edward  B.  Musser,  E.  B.  Ferrell,  Philip  H.  S?Mith,  Clinton  J. 
Lacey,  Thomas  M.  Hayes,  Glen  Loch;  John  F.  Hayes,  Harry  S. 
Williams,  James  A.  Burns,  William  A.  Webb,  W.  F.  Musser,  E.  A. 
Hodgson,  Jr.,  E.  M.  Boyles,  H.  B.  Moore,  Henry  B.  Guss,  Jr., 
Lemuel  H.  Kenny,  Percy  Darlington,  John  A.  Jackson,  F.  W. 
Guie,  Martin  Echoff,  David  Jones,  J.  Bert  Smith,  George  C.  Guss, 
John  P.  Hayes,  Edward  H.  Hayes,  John  F.  Byan,  Bentley  W.  Fos- 
ter, James  K.  Box,  William  Miller,  Greene  Hill,  William  Armour, 
John  F.  Barry,  Albert  Biles,  Clyde  S.  Hannum,  Van  Wyck  Bull 
Ralph  Wood,  H.  O.  Beaumout,  Clarence  Beaumont,  James  A. 
Riley,  Wilmer  W.  Miller,  John  F.  Woodhouse,  Maryatt  Paxson,, 
P.  W.  Hoopes,  Jr.,  E.  1).  Hoopes,  Hamorton,  M.  P.  McFadden, 
W.  S.  Snead,  Harry  Clower,  Thomas  Ford,  Fred  Ginceley,  Charles 
McCorkle,  John  Douglass,  Sanford  Singer,  Ralph  Beekman.  Melvin 
C.  Musser,  Washington  Sellers,  John  C.  Brennan,  William  G.  Mid- 
dleton,  Harry  D.  Lewis,  Curtis  H.  H.  Reeder,  Addison  M.  Reeder, 
Harry  Black,  Harry  J.  Wickersham,  Glen  Hall,  Frank  A  Smith, 
Jesse  W.  Dilworth,  Fred  H.  Lewis,  George  Ford,  Willard  J.  Smith, 
Howard  Hetherington,  Joseph  W.  Clark,  Benjamin  S.  Hughes, 
William  Bartholomew,  William  M.  Hutton,  John  T.  Hazard, 
Michael  F.  Marra,  Frank  H.  Long,  Thomas  S.  Lack  and  Albert  M. 
Ingram. 

This  company  was  then  drilled  for  some  time  in  the  armory  of 
Company  I,  in  order  that  if  called  upon  they  might  be  ready  to 
move  at  a  moment's  notice.    On  May  20,  1898,  word  was  received 


3i6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

that  this  company  had  been  accepted  and  would  form  a  portion 
of  the  First  Brigade  of  the  new  provisional  guard,  the  First  Bri- 
gade to  be  commanded  by  Col.  Edward  Morrell. 

On  May  25,  1898,  President  McKinley  issued  a  call  for  75,000 
moi'e  men,  under  which  Pennsylvania  was  required  to  furnish 
eighteen  companies.  Under  this  call  Capt.  Paxson's  company 
was  called  upon  to  join  the  regiment  under  Col  Morrell  of  Philadel- 
phia. 

On  April  29,  the  next  day  after  Company  I  left  West  Chester, 
a  call  was  made  for  colored  men  to  enlist  in  the  war  by  J.  S.  Prigg, 
■who  had  his  office  at  the  corner  of  Market  and  Matlack  Streets. 
A  company  was  raised  and  became  Company  L,  First  Regiment 
Penusjlvania  Colored  Volunteers.  The  famous  old  Liberty  Cornet 
Baud,  which  has  recently  acquired  a  high  state  of  efficiency,  also 
united  with  the  First  Eegiment,  accepting  an  invitation  extended 
to  them  by  Col.  James  E.  Gillespie  of  this  regiment.  This  com- 
pany's enrollment  was  as  follows: 

Captain — John  S.  Prigg. 

First  Lieutenant — Thomas  H.  Derry. 

Second  Lieutenant — John  M.  Boardley. 

Quartermaster-Sergeant — Harry  A.  Clark. 

Sergeants — John  Bond,  Franklin  Curry,  Nathan  Prigg,  Eu- 
gene Bell,  Joseph  H.  Jones,  George  Henry. 

Corporals — William  E.  Curry,  George  Wilson,  William  H. 
Price,  Clifford  Washington,  Isaac  Fullerton,  John  E.  Clark,  Eugene 
A.  Biddle. 

Musicians — Frederick  Burton,  James  Williams. 

Privates — L.  Sadler,  John  Dorsey,  Wesley  Denny,  Isaac  Har- 
ris, H.  B.  Walker,  Thomas  Wesley,  Newton  Eichardson,  John  Wes- 
ley, Elwood  Spriggs,  John  Chrisman,  Walter  Washington,  Walter 
Herod,  Fred  Goines,  Isaac  Moore,  Jones  Wilson,  Linford  Eeed, 
Jesse  Kelly,  Wellington  Kelly,  John  L.  Price,  Percy  D.  Morgan, 
George  H.  Eicketts,  Harry  Johnson,  T.  Cheyney  Lewis,  .Jesse  Eeese, 


% 


AND     /T.Sf     PEOTLE.  319 

Eugene  Cole,  Benjamin  F.  Spriggs,  Chas.  E.  Pierce,  Charles  Pen- 
nington, William  Wilson,  L.  Willis  Denny,  Charles  Shirley,  George 
Beckett,  Wm.  T.  Fitzgerald,  Henry  Watkins,  Frank  Reed,  George 
Trowery,  John  F.  Boyer,  Henry  Derry,  Jos.  Jones,  Harry  Hall, 
Joseph  W.  Sharp,  Albert  Kelly,  Harry  Thomas,  Acre  Jacobs, 
James  Davis,  John  H.  Price,  Lewis  Hickson,  George  Dennis,  John 
Conway,  Chas.  Fields,  George  Boyer,  Owen  States,  Jos.  Harrod, 
Charles  Anderson,  Harry  Fullertoii,  .Jolm  .Johnson,  William  Peach, 
Fred  Spence,  Jesse  Johnson,  -James  Waruick,  Thomas  Burnett, 
John  Goodwin,  Jacob  C.  Borton,  George  Young. 

Drum  major,  Herman  W.  Spence;  bandmaster,  Wilson  Luff; 
first  musician,  William  T.  Burton;  second  musician,  -Jacob  Milby; 
sergeant,  George  Boardley;  William  Washington,  Charles  Esley, 
Frank  Bell,  William  B.  Gibbs,  Harry  M.  Petersan,  Amos  Fairfax, 
Charles  Bostic,  Clarence  Cooper,  Keuben  Washington,  Fred  B.  Fry, 
liichard  Thomas,  James  Miller,  Harry  Miller,  William  Spence, 
Steven  Boardley,  John  Thomas,  William  Curiy,  -John  Clark,  Wm. 
A.  Biddle. 

On  June  14,  1898,  twenty -seven  young  men  left  West  Chester 
for  Camp  Alger,  near  Falls  Church,  Virginia,  their  names  being 
as  follows,  together  with  the  companies  to  which  thej'^  were 
assigned : 

Company  I — -James  Kenworthy,  John  Kelleher,  Mayfield 
Weidler,  Charles  M.  Clark,  Charles  G.  Zook,  John  C.  Kacy,  Law- 
rence A.  Sullivan,  Hayes  Miller,  all  of  Coatesville;  Harry  L.  Esray, 
William  M.  Blenkin,  -John  F.  Duuleavy,  William  Burt  Bi*own, 
James  A.  Burns,  Joseph  J.  Finegan,  James  Frank  Taylor,  West 
Chester;  Darlington  F.  Hannum,  Poc.opson;  James  W.  Dorat, 
Charles  A.  Lightcap,  George  W.  Berkenheiser,  of  Dowiugtown; 
Warren  B.  Pechin,  Sylvester  Detterliue,  Strafford;  -James  C.  Rob 
eils,  Bondsville. 

Company  C — John  L.  McLear,  Lewis  H.  Shank,  Addison  M. 
19 


320  CHESTER    COUNTY 

Keeder,  of  West  Chester;  Edward  P.  Harrison,  Eber  S.  Nether v, 
Longwood. 

Company  H — John  Francis  Barry  of  West  Chester. 

John  N.  Guss,  a  young  member  of  the  Chester  County  bar, 
enlisted  in  Battery  A  of  Philadelphia,  stationed  at  the  time,  June 
14,  at  Newport  News,  Virginia,  and  made  up  largely  of  college 
men. 

Scarcely  had  the  soldiers  left  home  for  camp  when  the  women 
of  the  county,  always  as  patriotic  as  the  men,  began  the  work  of 
preparing  such  articles  of  comfort  as  their  husbands  and  sons 
would  need  while  away  in  the  service  of  their  country.  On  April 
30  a  number  of  women  assembled  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Charles  IJ. 
Palmer  in  West  Chester,  when  a  temporary  organization  was 
effected  by  electing  Miss  Mary  I.  Stille,  chairman,  and  Mrs.  Ben- 
jamin Uaines,  secretary.  The  object  of  the  ladies  present  was  to 
secure  the  making  of  what  they  called  "housewives"  for  the  sol- 
diers. At  an  adjourned  meeting  held  the  same  day  at  the  home  of 
Mrs.  L.  G.  McCauley,  the  following  ladies  were  present:  Mrs.  L.  G. 
McCauley,  Mrs.  Jerome  B.  Gray,  Mrs.  Smith,  Miss  Mary  Bogle,  Mrs. 
Chester  P.  Martindale,  Mrs.  T.  Cary  Carver,  Mrs.  William  Hemphill 
(Chestnut  Street),  Miss  Alice  Hoopes,  Mrs.  Henry  C.  Wood,  Mrs. 
W.  C.  Mullen,  Mrs.  W.  K.  Thorp,  Miss  Sallie  Fairlamb,  Mrs.  Sarah 
K.  Ruth,  Miss  Mabel  James,  Miss  Hettie  Strode,  Mrs.  John  J. 
Gheen,  Miss  Sarah  Bogle,  Miss  Worstall,  Miss  Stille,  Miss  Slonaker, 
Miss  Bessie  liupert.  Miss  Clara  Hemphill,  Mrs.  John  Thorp,  Mrs. 
George  W.  Conway,  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Palmer,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Husted, 
Miss  Ella  Nields,  Mrs.  H.  C.  Cochran,  Miss  Lillie  Hemphill,  Mrs. 
E.  M.  Scott,  Mrs.  Benjamin  W.  Haines. 

It  was  the  same  throughout  the  county,  the  ladies  taking  as 
much  interest  in  the  war  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  soldiers  that 
had  gone  forth  as  any  of  the  soldiers  themselves.  On  May  17  there 
was  a  meeting  of  ladies  in  Library  Hall,  at  which  the  question  of 
supjjlying  sanitary  appliances  was  discussed,  and  it  was  felt  tbat 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  321 

the  interest  the  women  of  the  county  were  taking  in  the  soldiers' 
welfare  would  be  helpful  to  them  in  every  way. 

Battery  C,  National  Guard  of  Pennsj'lvania,  left  PhoMiix- 
vllle  for  the  front  April  27,  ISOS.  The  roster  of  the  battery  at  thai 
time  was  as  follows: 

Captain,  George  L.  Waters,  Sr.;  First  Lieutenant,  Francis  M. 
Bean;  Assistant  Sr.  First  Lieutenant,  Walter  Boardman;  Sec. 
Lieut.,  Q.  M.,  Horace  H.  Walters;  Sec.  Lient.,  William  F.  Fulmer; 
First  Sergeant,  John  W.  Shupe;  Sergeants,  Alexander  Wilkinson, 
Jacob  Bartzer,  George  Schenck,  Charles  Swier;  Corporals,  Charles 
T.  Mayer,  Lewis  Williams,  Irwin  Yarnall,  George  F.  Clare,  .John  ^V. 
Shaffer,  Benjamin  T.  Mauley,  Charles  Xewhall  and  William  Swier, 
Jr.;  Musicians,  Joseph  B.  Bailey,  Lentz  L.  Gold  and  James  Lewis. 

Private  soldiers:  Edward  F.  Allison,  Ch.arles  A.  Bailey,  Jacob 
R.  Baum,  Mahlon  E.  Beard,  Neal  Briley,  John  J.  Byerley,  Edward 
J.  Drazel,  Charles  Davis,  George  C.  Davis,  George  W.  Davis,  Isaac 
J.  Decker,  ^Villiam  H.  Geery,  Lewis  Dietrich,  Sylvester  Dawson, 
Carl.  E.  Eaby,  Norwood  G.  Elvin,  Hiram  Fulton,  Charles  Goelz, 
Lewis  Greer,  Frank  B.  Gundy,  Edward  Griel,  William  H.  Hall- 
man,  William  H.  Hayes,  Joseph  L.  Hendi-icks,  Joseph  R.  Jenkins, 
William  M.  Koehu,  John  Kennedy,  Da  Costa  Lightcap,  Edward 
Longaker,  Edward  T.  Mai'ch,  Allen  J.  Mosteller,  Isaac  E.  Pearson, 
Harry  M.  Pharoah,  .James  Patton,  John  H.  Reed,  Samuel  H.  Smith, 
Daniel  S.  Smith,  Evan  G.  Speakman,  -Joseph  Sitler,  Joseph  Sho- 
walter,  .John  Clarence  Wier,  Carl  Witmeyer,  J.  Chester  Storey, 
Frederick  Swiss,  George  H.  Swiss,  William  H.  Swier,  Sr.;  Frederick 
G.  Trunk,  Addison  M.  Vanderslice,  John  S.  Walker,  Isaac  A.  Wal- 
ters, John  P.  Williamson,  Joseph  Wall  and  Charles  Wier. 

Ou  May  3,  1S9S,  Captain  Waters  left  Phoenixville,  with  the 
following  recruits  for  his  company:  B.  F.  Longacre,  John  Ruckles, 
Clifford  J.  Nix,  Irvin  Everhart,  Jesse  Hunter,  Pierce  Pontius, 
William  Davis,  Walter  Seissinger,  .John  F.  Tyson,  William  Hart- 
man,  William  Evans,  .John  McKeever,  McClellan  Currj-,  George 


322  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Beale,  Michael  McMahon,  Irviu  Kremer,  James  O'Dounell,  G.  ^^'. 
Whiteside,  William  Diamoud,  August  Isett,  Stephen  Donahue, 
W.  E.  Kline  and  George  Sassaman. 

Pha^uixvillc  claimed  for  itself  the  credit  of  raising  mon' 
soldiers  for  the  war  with  Spain,  up  to  the  time  these  recruits  went 
out,  than  any  other  town  of  the  State,  in  proportion  to  population, 
she  having  sent  out  nearly  200,  her  population  being  0,000. 

Brevet  Major-General  Galusha  Pennypacker,  United  States 
Army,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  soldiers  of  the  war  of  the 
Eebelliou,  was  born  in  Chester  County,  June  1,  1844.  Joseph  J. 
Pennypacker,  youngest  son  of  Joseph  Pennypacker,  was  his  father, 
and  during  the  early  life  of  his  son,  Galusha,  resided  at  Valley 
Forge.  Serving  on  the  staff  of  General  ^Vorth  during  the  Mexican 
war,  he  afterward  removed  to  California,  and  there  died  a  few  years 
ago.  The  mother  of  Galusha  Pennypacker,  a  lady  of  wealth  and 
many  accomplishments,  was  Tamson  A.  Workizer,  only  daughter 
of  John  and  Sarah  A.  Workizer  of  Valley  Forge.  She  died  when 
her  son,  the  only  child,  was  in  his  infancy.  The  house  at  Valley 
Forge  in  which  he  was  born  was  owned  by  his  mother,  was  known 
as  "Valley  Forge  Mansion,''  and  was  occupied  by  General  Wash- 
ington's soldiers  as  a  hospital  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

Young  Pennypacker  received  a  liberal  education  in  Chester 
County  and  in  Philadelphia,  and  at  the  instance  of  his  grandmother 
entered  the  ottice  of  the  Chester  County  Times  at  West  Chester, 
with  the  view  of  an  editorial  career,  and  was  entrusted  with  a  col- 
umn of  the  paper  devoted  to  matters  of  interest  to  youthful  minds. 
But  an  appiiintment  to  a  cadetship  at  the  West  Point  Military 
Academy  having  been  promised  him  by  lion.  Jolm  Hickman,  then 
member  of  Congress  from  the  Sixth  District,  through  his  uncle, 
Uriali  V.  Pennypacker,  Esq.,  he  would  in  all  probability  have  en- 
tered the  academy  in  ISOl  or  18G2,  but  for  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  of  the  Eebelliou. 

On  April  22,  1861,  he  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  323 

United  States  as  quarteraiaster-sei'geaut  of  the  Ninth  Pennsylva- 
nia Volunteer  Infantn'  (declining  a  first-lieutenancy  on  account  of 
his  youth),  and  acted  as  quartermaster  of  his  regiment  during  the 
three  months'  service,  serving  with  his  regiment  in  Major-General 
Patterson's  column  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  When  three  years' 
troops  were  called  out  he  entered  the  service  as  captain  of  Com- 
pany A,  Ninet3'-seveuth  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  infantry,  August 
22,  1861,  and  on  October  7,  following,  was  promoted  to  major  of  his 
regiment.  This  regiment  joined  the  Tenth  Corps  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  South,  and  during  the  years  1862  and  1863  partici- 
pated in  all  the  movements  and  engagements  in  which  that  corps 
took  part  on  the  coasts  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Florida. 

Major  Penuypacker  commanded  the  regiment  and  the  post  of 
Fernandina,  Florida,  in  April,  1861,  when  that  regiment  was 
ordered  with  the  Tenth  Corps  to  Virginia,  and  became  part  of  the 
Army  of  the  James.  On  April  3,  1864,  he  was  ])romoted  to  lieut- 
colonel,  and  on  June  23  following,  to  colnuel.  He  was  in  active 
command  of  his  regiment  at  Swift  Creek  May  9;  at  Drury's  Bluff, 
May  16,  and  at  Chester  station,  May  18.  On  May  20  he  led  his 
regiment  in  an  assault  upon  the  enemy's  lines  at  Green  Plains, 
Bermuda  Hundred,  receiving  three  severe  wounds  himself  and 
losing  175  men  in  killed  and  wounded  out  of  21).j  taken  into  the 
charge.  Returning  to  duty  in  August,  he  was  in  actiou  at  Deep 
Bottom  on  rlie  16th  of  the  mouth,  and  at  Wierbottom  Churcli  on  the 
25tli.  In  August  and  September  in  the  treuches  before  Petersburg. 
Assigned  to  command  the  Second  Brigade,  Second  Division  of  the 
Tenth  Corps,  on  the  29th  he  led  his  brigade  in  the  successful  assault 
upon  Fort  Harrison.  Here  he  was  again  wounded  and  had  his 
horse  shot  under  him.  He  was  in  action  October  7,  at  Chaffin's 
Farm,  and  ou  the  29th  at  Darbytuwu  Ivoad.  With  the  first  Fort 
Fisher  expedition  under  General  Butler,  December  1-31,  1864, 
General  Pennypacker's  brigade,  composed  of  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania troops,  formed  a  portion  of  the  expeditionary  corps  under 


324  CHESTER     COUNTY 

command  of  Major-General  Terry,  that  made  the  successful  aud 
pei'haps  the  most  brilliant  charge  of  the  war  upon  Fort  Fisher, 
North  Carolina,  January  15,  1865.  For  his  distinguished  personal 
pallautry  in  this  assault,  in  which  he  was  most  severely  wounded 
(it  was  thought  for  a  time  mortally),  aud  "for  gallant  and  merito- 
rious sei'vices  during  tlie  war,"  General  Peiinypacker  received  six 
brevets,  or  ](V(iiii()tious,  as  follows:  Brevet  brigadier-general  of 
United  States  volunteers,  January  15,  1865;  brigadier-general  of 
United  States  volunteers,  February  18.  1865;  major-general  (»f 
Ignited  States  volunteers,  March  13,  1865;  colonel  of  the  Thirty- 
Fourth  (designation  changed  to  the  Sixteenth)  Infantry,  United 
States  Army,  Jnly  28,  1866;  brevet  brigadier-general  United 
States  Army,  March  2,  1S(;7,  and  major-general  United  States  Army, 
March  2,  ISCT,  and  besides  these  six  appointments  he  received 
the  Congressional  medal  of  honor  for  "bravery  at  the  Battle 
of  Fort  Fisher."  He  was  the  youngest  geueral  officer  in  the  war 
and  the  youngest  man  in  the  history  (tf  the  regular  army  to  be 
commissioned  a  colonel  and  brevet  major-general.  His  command- 
ing general  made  theemphatic  statement  that  General  Penny- 
packer,  and  not  himself,  AAas  the  real  hero  of  Fort  Fisher,  and  that 
his  great  gallantry  was  equaled  only  by  his  modesty. 

Since  the  war,  with  the  exception  of  two  years  spent  in 
Europe,  General  Pennypacker  has  served  in  the  Southern  and 
Western  States,  performing  the  duties  pertaining  to  a  regimental 
aud  post  commander.  He  was  temporarily  in  command  of  the 
District  of  the  Mississippi  in  1867;  of  the  Fourth  Military  District 
in  1868;  the  Department  of  Mississippi  in  1870;  the  United  States 
troops  in  New  Orleans  in  1871,  and  the  Department  of  the  South 
in  1876.  He  was  placed  on  the  retired  list  of  the  regular  army  in 
1883,  "on  account  of  wounds  received  in  battle,"  from  which  he 
was  then  and  is  still  suffering.  Since  his  retirement  he  has  lived 
in  Philadelphia,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  greatest  respect  from  his 
fellow  citizens.     The  record  of  his  deeds  is  his  sufficient  eulogy. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SLAVERY. 


CHAPTEPv     IX. 

SLAVERY ENSLAVEMENT     OF     INDIANS — OPPOSITION    OF     THE     NATIVES — FIRST 

NEGRO    SLAVES — ORIGIN     OF    THE    CUSTOM ABOLITION    ACT    OF   lySo^lTS 

PROVISIONS  EXPLAINED — THE    REAL  MOTIVES — REGISTRY  OF    SLAVES — 
NUMBER  IN     CHESTER  COUNTY ANTI-SLAVERY    SOCIETIES — SERV- 
ANTS    AND    REDEMPTIONERS  INDENTURES — KIDNAPPING 

RESCUES THE       UNDERGROUND       RAILROAD ITS 

STATIONS       AND       BRANCHES INCIDENTS. 

SLAVERY  existed,  of  course,  in  tlie  colony  and  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  as  it  did  in  the  other  colonies  of  the  Crown  and  in 
the  other  States  after  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
became  established.  But  in  Pennsjdvania  the  enslavement  of 
Indians,  while  somewhat  common  in  colonies  further  to  the  south, 
was  very  rare.  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  cus- 
tom of  bringing  Indian  slaves  from  Carolina  into  Pennsylvania 
appears  to  have  been  so  extensive  as  to  be  noticeable,  and  as  to 
give  the  Indians  of  Pennsj-lvania  considerable  concern;  and  iu 
order  to  allay  the  uneasiness  of  the  Indians  of  this  province  the 
assembly  passed  the  following  law,  which  is  somewhat  peculiar  as 
a  statute,  and  which  appears  to  have  been  misapprehended  by  cer- 
tain writers  on  local  history,  hence  its  introduction  here: 

"Whereas,  the  importation  of  Indian  slaves  from  Carolina  or 
other  jjlaces  hath  been  observed  to  give  the  Indians  of  this  province 
some  umbrage  for  suspicion  and  dissatisfaction, 

"Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  that  from  the  25th  of  March,  1707,  no  per- 
son shall  import  any  Indian  slaves  or  sei'vants  whatsoever  from 
any  colony  or  province  in  America  into  this  province,  by  land  or 
water,  such  only  and  their  children  (if  anj-)  excepted,  as  for  the 


328  CHESTER     COUNTY 

space  of  one  year  before  such  importation  shall  be  proved  to  have 
been  menial  servants  in  the  family  of  the  importer  and  are  brought 
in  together  with  the  importer's  family;  every  snch  slave  or  servant 
so  here  landed  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  government,  and  shall  be 
eitlier  set  at  liberty  or  otherwise  disposed  of  as  the  governor  and 
council  shall  see  cause." 

At  that  time  laws  passed  by  colonial  assemblies  had  to  receive 
the  approval  of  the  Crown  before  going  into  effect,  and  this  law 
awaited  the  action  of  the  Queen  of  England  until  1709,  when  it 
became  a  laAv  simply  because  it  did  not  receive  the  Queen's  disa]i- 
l^roval.  This  delay  did  not  serve  iu  any  manner  to  allay  the  fears 
of  the  Indians,  and  it  is  altogether  probable  tliat  they  were  ignorant 
of  its  having  become  a  law,  even  Mdien  such  was  the  fact.  Then, 
too,  it  will  be  observed  that  it  did  not  absolutely  i:)rohibit  the 
enslavement  of  Indians  within  the  province,  or  at  least  their  being 
held  in  slavery  here.  And  it  may  be  that  this  fact  caused  the 
apprehension  of  the  Indians,  which  it  is  evident  that  they  felt,  a 
fact  i)roveii  by  the  Cnllowing  narrative  of  an  event  of  much  iiiipor- 
taiice  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence: 

From  this  event  it  is  clear  that  the  Indians  feared  that  some 
of  th<^ir  young  pe(>])]e  miglit  be  reduced  to  slavery,  as  Avill  be  seen. 
William  Dalbo  of  Gloucester  County  informed  the  Governor  that  a 
belt  of  wampum  had  come  from  Mahquahotoni  to  Couestoga,  that 
there  was  a  tomahawk  in  red  in  the  belt,  and  that  the  French  with 
Five  Nations  of  Indians  Avere  designed  for  war  and  jilanned  to  fail 
on  some  of  the  plantations.  This  information  was  laid  by  the 
Governor  before  the  Council  on  April  14,  together  with  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Yeates,  Caleb  Pusey,  and  Thomas  Powell,  the  letter  stat- 
ing that  on  the  next  day,  A^jril  15,  there  would  be  a  great  concourse 
of  Indians,  those  of  Conestoga  and  those  of  New  Jersey,  and  that  in 
their  opinion  it  would  be  a  seasonable  opportunity  for  the  Governor 
to  visit  them,  as  the  meeting  would  be  the  greatest  that  had  been 
lield  in  twentv  vears. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  329 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  board  that  the  Governor  with  some 
of  the  Council  should  attend,  with  as  many  others  as  could  be 
induced  to  go,  and  inquire  further  about  the  belt  of  wampum,  and 
about  whatever  else  might  be  thought  necessary.  But  if  the 
Governor  attended  this  great  meeting  there  seems  to  be  no  record 
of  such  visit.  On  the  29th  of  April  more  alarming  news  was 
brought  to  the  Council  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Indians,  and  upon 
its  receipt  the  Governor  proceeded  to  Conestoga  to  meet  the  red 
men.  Thej-  appeared  to  be  inclined  to  the  English,  but  complained 
of  aggresssions  committed  upon  them  by  the  white  man.  Upon 
returning  from  Conestoga  the  Governor  sent  Colonel  French  and 
Henry  Wesley  to  the  Indians  in  order  to  ascertain  more  fully  their 
desires,  and  on  the  IGth  of  June  these  two  gentlemen  returned  with 
eight  belts  of  wampum,  each  belt  having  a  special  significance. 
The  import  of  three  of  these  belts  is  here  given,  as  bearing  some- 
what upon  the  question  of  slavery  of  the  Indians,  now  under  dis- 
cussion. 

The  first  of  the  three  belts  was  from  the  old  women,  and  sig- 
nified that  they  implored  the  friendship  of  Christians  and  Indians, 
that  without  danger  they  might  fetch  wood  and  water. 

The  second  belt  was  sent  from  their  children,  born  and  in  the 
womb,  requesting  that  room  to  sport  and  play  be  granted  without 
danger  of  slavery. 

The  third  belt  was  from  their  young  men,  fit  to  hunt,  that  the 
privilege  to  leave  their  towns  and  seek  provisions  for  their  aged 
might  be  granted  to  them  without  fear  of  death  or  slavery. 

Without  much  research  it  would  be  difficult  to  state  just  how 
such  Indians  as  were  slaves  in  Chester  County  became  slaves,  and 
hence  it  will  be  stated  only  that  seventy  years  after  the  occurrences 
above  narrated,  when  the  registration  under  the  gradual  emanci- 
pation act  of  1780  was  made,  there  were  at  least  two  Indian  slaves 
in  the  county. 

Slavery  having  been  abolished  in  this  country    and    having 


330  CHESTER     COUNTY 

become  universallj  considered  a  crime  against  mankind,  it  is  but 
natural  that  different  classes  of  people  should  strive  to  fasten  on 
others  the  original  guilt  of  bringing  the  first  slaves  to  America; 
but  history  seems  to  have  clearly  established  the  fact  that  in  1020 
the  Dutch  brcnight  a  cargo  of  negroes  from  the  coast  of  (luinea  and 
sold  a  part  of  their  cargo  to  the  tobacco  planters  of  Virginia  at 
Jamestown.  This  was  the  beginning  of  slavery  in  British  America. 
In  1790,  when  the  first  United  States  Census  was  taken,  there  were 
in  Virginia  200,000  negroes. 

It  apijears  also  that  the  Dutcdi  and  Swedes  were  the  first  to 
introduce  slaves  into  Pennsylvania,  bringing  them  in  before  tlie 
coming  of  William  Penn.  But  in  1712  the  Colonial  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania  passed  an  act  to  prevent  the  further  importation  of 
negroes  into  the  province,  which  some  time  afterward  was  vetoed 
by  the  home  government.  Subsequently  another  act  was  passed 
with  the  same  object  in  view,  which  was  also  repealed  by  the 
Crown.  As  a  general  thing  the  slaves  brought  into  Pennsylvania 
came  from  the  West  Indies,  after  having  undergone  a  process  of 
seasoning,  or  gradual  acclimation.  The  history  of  the  movement 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  belongs  more  to  general  history  than  to 
this  work;  but  it  is  eminently  proper  to  give  credit  to  the  Friends 
or  (Quakers  for  their  efforts,  which  were  among  the  first  made  for 
establishment  of  freedom  for  all  men  in  this  country,  and  were 
preceded  only  by  those  of  the  Mennonites.  It  is  only  proper  here 
to  give  the  result  of  the  continued  agitation  of  the  subject  of 
abolition  of  slavery  by  Friends  and  other  large-minded  and  just 
men,  which  came  in  1780,  in  the  form  of  a  law  for  the  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  Pennsylvania.  This  law 
provided  tliat  all  negroes  and  mulattos  born  within  Pennsylvania 
after  its  passage,  which  was  on  March  1,  that  year,  should  not 
be  deemed  or  considered  slaves  for  life,  and  that  all  servitude 
for  life  should  be  entirely  extinguished,  taken  away  and  abolished, 
except  that  chihlren  born  within  the  State  after  the  passage  of  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  33 1 

act,  wlio  would  have  been,  in  case  the  act  had  not  been  passed, 
shives  for  life,  should  be  slaves  until  they  became  twentv-eijiht 
years  of  age,  and  should  be  held  in  the  same  manner  as  were 
servants  then  held  as  bound  out  for  a  term  of  four  years. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  following  the  approval  of  the  act, 
every  owner  of  a  slave  was  required  by  this  law  to  register  his 
slave  or  slaves  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  peace  of  the  cininty; 
that  is,  all  that  \\  ere  shn>'s  for  life  or  for  thirty-one  years,  accord- 
ing to  laws  as  they  then  existed,  and  that  all  slaves  who  were 
not  registered  were  to  be  free  by  the  failure  of  the  owner  to  register 
them  on  or  before  November  1.  All  children  born  of  slaves  were 
required  to  be  registered  before  thej*  were  six  months  old,  and  they 
oul^-  were  to  be  slaves  until  twenty-eight  years  of  age.  Subse- 
quently a  penalty  was  provided  for  forcibly  or  fraudulently  carry- 
ing away  any  negro  or  mulatto  out  of  the  State  with  the  design  of 
selling  him  or  her  or  to  keep  him  a  slave  for  a  term  of  years. 

Inasmuch  as  in  recent  years  it  has  been  frequently  stated  by 
eminent  orators  and  writers  that  the  motive  leading  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  was  wholly  selfish 
and  mercenary,  the  climate  and  soil  of  those  States  not  being 
adapted  to  that  species  of  civilization;  and  inasmuch  as  many 
thousands  of  people  have  charged  it  upon  the  people  of  these 
States  that  they  first  sold  off  their  slaves  to  the  Southern  States 
and  then  immediately  favored  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  South- 
ern States,  it  is  deemed  eminently  projjer  in  this  History  of  Chester 
County  and  Its  People,  inasmuch  as  the  sentiment  against  the 
crime  of  slavery  was  to  a  great  extent  awakened  and  strengthened 
by  the  Friends  of  this  county  as  well  as  of  other  portions  of  tlie 
Pro^■ince  and  State  after  it  became  a  State,  to  set  fortli  in  tlii,? 
connection  the  ti'ue  motives  that  did  actuate  the  people  of  the 
whole  State  in  the  giving  of  freedom  to  the  enslaved.  This  can  be 
done  in  no  more  forcible  manner  than  in  the  quoting  of  the  pream- 
ble to  the  act  of  March  1,  1780,  which  presents  the  reasons  for  the 


332  CHESTER     COUNTY 

act  itself,  uud  bears  the  strongest  possible  internal  evidence  of  the 
sincerity  and  honesty  of  those  engaged  in  this  most  meritorious 
work.    That  pi'eamble  is  as  follows: 

"When  we  contemplate  onr  abhorrence  of  that  condition  to 
which  the  arms  and  tyranny  of  Great  Britain  Avere  exerted  to 
reduce  us,  when  we  look  back  on  the  variety  of  dangers  to  which 
we  have  been  exposed  and  how  miraculously  our  wants  in  many 
instances  have  been  supplied  and  our  deliverance  wrought,  when 
even  hope  and  human  fortitude  have  become  unequal  to  the  con- 
flict, we  are  unavoidably  led  to  a  serious  and  grateful  sense  of 
the  manifest  blessings  which  we  have  undeserA'edly  received  from 
the  hand  of  that  Being  from  whom  cometh  every  good  and  perfect 
gift.  Impressed  with  these  ideas  we  conceive  it  to  be  our  duty, 
and  we  rejoice  that  it  is  within  our  power  to  extend  a  portion  of 
tliat  freedom  to  others  which  hath  been  extended  to  us,  and  release 
from  that  state  of  thraldom  to  which  we  were  ourselves  diabol- 
ically doomed,  and  from  which  we  have  now  every  prospect  of 
heing  delivered.  It  is  not  for  us  to  inquire  why  in  the  creation 
of  mankind  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  parts  of  the  earth  were 
distinguished  by  a  difference  of  feature  or  complexion.  It  is  svif- 
ficient  for  us  to  know  that  all  are  the  work  of  an  almighty  hand. 
Vi'e  line!  in  the  distributiou  of  tlie  human  species  that  the  most 
fertile  as  well  as  the  most  barren  portions  of  the  earth  are  inhab- 
ited by  men  of  complexions  different  from  ours  and  from  each 
other,  from  whence  we  may  reasonably  as  well  as  religiously 
infer  that  Ue  who  i>laced  them  in  their  various  situations  hatli 
extended  equally  His  care  and  i)rotection  to  all,  and  that  it  becom- 
eth  nut  us  to  counteract  ITis  purposes.  We  esteem  it  a  peculiar 
blessing  granted  to  us  that  we  are  enabled  this  day  to  add  one  more 
step  to  universal  civilization,  by  removing  as  much  as  possible 
the  sorrows  of  those  who  have  lived  in  undeserved  bondage  and 
from  which,  by  the  assumed  aiithority  of  the  Kings  of  Great 
Britain,  no  effectual  legal  relief  could  be  obtained.     Weaned  by 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  333 

a  long  course  of  experience  from  those  narrow  prejudices  and  par- 
tialities we  had  imbibed,  we  find  our  hearts  enlarged  with  kindness 
and  benevolence  toward  man  of  all  conditions  and  nations;  and  we 
conceive  ourselves  at  tliis  particular  period  extraordinarily  called 
upon  by  the  blessings  which  we  have  received  to  manifest  the 
sincerity  of  our  profession  and  to  give  substantial  proof  of  our 
gratitude."' 

It  would  appear  impossible  to  read  this  statement  of  the  rea- 
sons for  the  euactmeut  of  the  law  to  which  it  is  the  preamble  with- 
out being  profoundly  impressed  with  a  lively  sense  of  the  sincerity 
of  its  authors.  They  did  actually  and  in  a  most  effectual  manner 
manifest  to  the  world  the  sincerity  of  their  profession  and  give 
substantial  pi'oof  of  their  gratitude,  if  such  a  thing  were  ever 
done  in  the  history  of  the  world.  If  they  were  not  sincere  it  would 
seem  impossible  to  believe  any  man  or  body  of  men  ever  to  have 
been  sincere  or  to  be  sincere  at  any  time  or  place  or  under  any 
conditions.  The  authors  of  this  preamble  were  the  legislators  of 
and  for  the  peo^jle  of  the  State,  and  it  is  only  fair  to  infer  that 
the  people  were  as  much  in  favor  of  granting  freedom  to  the  slave 
as  were  their  representatives  in  the  Assembly.  Then,  too,  all 
of  the  slaves  living  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act  were, 
according  to  its  provisions,  to  remain  slaves  for  life,  hence  no 
motive  of  gain  could  actuate  their  owners  to  sell  them  to  prevent 
loss.  Those  who  were  born  slaves  after  the  passage  of  the  act 
were  to  so  remain  until  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  a  penalty 
was  provided  by  law  for  anyone  taking  out  of  the  State  any 
slave  to  sell  him  or  to  hold  him  in  slavery  for  life.  If  there 
were  individuals  that  did  this,  and  it  is  probably  true  that  there 
were,  sucli  an  act  cannot  be  made  to  reflect  upon  the  body  of  the 
people  who  had  specially  provided  for  its  punishment;  and  hence 
it  would  seem  certain  that  the  verdict  of  history  must  always 
be  to  the  effect  that  at  least  in  Pennsylvania  the  emancipation  of 
The  slaves  was  wholly  commendable  and  just  and  wise,  not  only 
in  the  matter  itself  but  also  in  the  manner. 


334  CHESTER     COUNTY 

As  has  been  stated  above,  .every  owner  of  a  slave  in  Pennsyl- 
vania was  required  by  the  act  of  March  1,  1780,  to  register  his 
slaves  on  or  before  November  1,  that  year,  and  in  case  he  failed 
to  so  register  any  slave,  that  slave  was  by  such  failure  made  free. 
In  a  book  provided  for  such  registry  in  the  office  of  the  court  of 
Quarter  Sessions  of  Chester  County,  the  name,  age,  sex  and  time  of 
service  of  every  slave  was  recorded.  This  book  of  record,  however, 
aijpears  to  have  been  destroyed  A\ithin  recent  years,  as  it  cannot 
now  be  found.  What  is  here  presented  in  regard  to  this  registry 
is  therefore  taken  mainly  from  the  excellent  History  of  Chester 
County  by  Judge  J.  Smith  Futhey  and  Mr.  Gilbert  Cope,  who  prac- 
tically exhausted  the  subject.  The  entries  in  tJiis  registn'  were  in 
the  following  form: 

"Thomas  Potts  of  Coventry  Township  returns: 

"1.  A  negro  man  named  Cudge,  aged  fifty-eight  years,  a  slave 
i'or  life. 

"2.  A  negro  man  named  Ben,  aged  twenty-four  years,  a  slave 
for  life. 

"3.  A  negro  boy  named  Peter,  aged  seventeen  years,  a  slave 
for  life. 

"4.  A  negro  child  named  (ieorge,  aged  nine  months,  a  slave 
for  life. 

"5.  A  negro  woman  named  Moll,  aged  thirty-four  years,  a 
slave  for  life. 

"6.  A  negro  woman  named  Sail,  aged  nineteen  years,  a  slave 
for  life." 

"Evans  Evans  of  London,  Britain  Township,  returns: 

"1.  A  negro  woman  named  Kachel,  aged  thirty-eight  years,  a 
slave  for  life. 

"2.  A  mulatto  boy  named  Ca>sar,  aged  sixteen  years,  a  slave 
for  life. 

"3.  A  negro  girl  named  Sue,  aged  thirteen  years,  a  slave 
for  life. 


AXD     /7\S'     PEOPLE.  337 

"4.     A  negro  hoy  named  Samp,  aged  nine  years,  a  slave  for  life. 

"5.  A  negro  boy  named  Frank,  aged  seven  years,  a  slave 
for  life. 

"G.  A  mulatto  female  child  named  Sal,  aged  four  years,  a 
slave  for  life." 

"Abel  Hodgson  of  East  Xottiugbam  returns: 

"1.  An  Indian  servant  man,  till  be  attains  tbe  age  of  thirty- 
one  years,  named  Jam,  aged  twenty-eight  years. 

"2.  An  Indian  girl  named  Sarah,  aged  twenty-four  years,  a 
slave  for  life. 

"3.  A  negro  man  named  C<T>sar,  aged  twenty-five  years,  a 
slave  for  life." 

"Samuel  Futbey  of  West  Fallowtield  Township  returns: 

"1.  A  mulatto  woman  named  Jince,  aged  twenty  years,  a 
slave  for  life. 

"2.  A  mulatto  girl  named  Dinah,  aged  one  year  and  nine 
months,  a  slave  for  life. 

"3.  A  mulatto  girl  named  Sail,  a  slave  until  she  attains  the 
age  of  thirty-one  years." 

At  tbe  time  of  this  registration  Delaware  County  was  stiU 
a  part  of  Chester  County.  In  Chester  County  there  were  205  slave- 
holders who  made  returns,  and  of  these  140  resided  in  what  is  now 
Chester  County.  According  to  Dr.  Smith,  author  of  the  "History 
of  Delaware  County,"  there  were  in  the  several  townships  which 
afterward  were  set  off  into  Delaware  County  tbe  following  num- 
bers of  slaves  registered  on  or  before  November  1,  1780: 

SLAVES  FOR  SLA\'ES  FOR  A 

TOWNSHIP.  LIFE.  TERM  OF  YEARS. 

Aston 13  1 

Bethel 0  0 

Birmingham 0  0 

Chester 16  1 

Chichester  (Upper) 0  0 

20 


338  CnESTER     CQUXTY 

Chichester  (Lower) 12  1 

Concord ._.  7  0 

Darby  (Upper) 2  0 

Darby 2  0 

Edgmont 5  0 

Haverford 24  2 

Marple 2  0 

Middletown T  1 

Newtown 1  0 

Providence  (Upper)  0  0 

Providence  (Lower) 0  0 

Ridley 34  3 

Kaduor 0  0 

Springfield 10  5 

Thornbury 3  0 

Tiuicnm   8  2 

14G  16 

Dr.  Smith  says  that,  judging  from  such  records  as  were  access- 
ible to  liim,  there  were  in  what  is  now  Delaware  County  not  less 
than  300  slaves  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Eevolutionary  War.  Th(? 
Friends  had,  between  the  beginning  of  the  war  and  the  time  of  the 
gradual  emancipation  act,  liberated  a  large  number  of  slaves,  but 
the  number  so  liberated  cannot  be  accurately  stated. 

According  to  Judge  Futhej^  and  Mr.  Cope  there  were  in  the 
entire  county  of  Chester,  as  then  constituted,  495  slaves;  hence  in 
what  is  now  Chester  County  there  were  333;  but  as  Futhey  and 
Cope  state  that  therei  were  335,  someone  has  made  a  mistake 
of  two  slaves.  Of  the  total  number  of  495,  472  were  slaves  for 
life,  and  23  until  they  arrived  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years.  The 
negroes  numbered  410,  mulattos  83,  and  Indians  2.  Of  the  472 
held  for  life  the  males  numbered  243  and  the  females  229;  and  of 
those  held  for  a  term  of  years  the  males  numbered  13  and  the 


AXD     lT>i     PEOPLE.  339 

females  10.  Of  the  whole  number  there  were  207  over  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  228  under  eighteen.  William  Moore  of  Charles- 
town  (now  Schuylkill)  Township,  owned  the  oldest  male  slave, 
George,  who  was  seventy-five  years  of  age;  and  John  Evans  of 
London,  Britain  Township,  owned  Nanny,  the  oldest  female  slave, 
her  age  being  seventy-eight.  John  Bowen  of  Goshen  Township 
owned  Tom,  one  month  old,  the  youngest  registered  slave.  There 
were  nine  slaves  under  one  year  of  age  and  thirteen  upward  of 
sixty.  William  Moore  was  the  largest  slaveholder  in  the  county, 
owning  ten.  Only  eleven  of  the  slaves  registered  had  surnames,  the 
rest  being  registered  only  by  one  name. 

A  registi'y  of  those  born  after  the  passage  of  the  act  was  also 
made,  the  number  being  85,  of  whom  47  were  males  and  38  females. 
The  last  return  made  was  by  Eev.  Levi  Bull,  of  East  Nantmeal, 
afterward  Warwick,  who  returned  his  negro  boy,  Andrew,  born 
December  23,  1820. 

It  is  not  known  when  slavery  ceased  to  exist  in  Chester  County, 
but  as  there  was  one  slave  registered  November  1,  1780,  that  was 
only  one  month  old,  that  slave  might  have  lived  to  75  or  80  years 
old,  or  even  older;  and  as  the  same  thing  probably  occurred  in  other 
counties  of  the  State,  there  may  have  been  a  few  slaves  in  the  State 
and  even  in  Chester  County,  down  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Kebel- 
liou,  but  there  probably  were  none  after  about  1810.  The  number 
of  slaves  in  Pennsylvania  was  estimated  at  10,000  in  the  year  1776; 
and  according  to  the  United  States  census  for  the  different  years 
was  in  1790,  3,737;  1800,  1,706;  1810,  795;  1820,  211;  1840,  64. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  townships  in  what  is  now  Chester 
County  with  the  number  of  slaves  in  each: 

Birmingham,  0;  East  Bradford,  0;  West  Bradford,  0;  Coventry, 
9;  Charlestown,  24;  East  Cain,  4;  West  Cain,  5;  Easttown,  1;  East 
Fallowfield,  7;  West  Fallowlield,  12;  Goshen,  13;  New  Garden, 
1;  Kennett,  3;  New  London,  30;  London  Britain,  19;  Londonderry, 
20;  Londongrove,  4;  West  Marlborough,  2;  East  Marlborough,  0; 


340  ClIEtiTER     COiXTY 

Newlin,  0;  East  ^'autmeal,  14;  West  Nantmeal,  19;  East  Notting- 
ham, 26;  West  Nottiugham,  6;  Oxford,  28;  Pennsbury,  0;  Pikeland, 
9;  Sadsbury,  13;  Tredyftrin,  23;  Thornbury,  2;  Uwchlan,  7;  Vincent, 
0;  East  Whiteland,  8;  West  Whiteland,  11;  Westtown,  1;  Willis- 
town,  1. 

Besides  these  there  vrere  13  other  slaves  registered,  the  resi- 
dences of  whose  owners  wei'e  not  given.  From  the  above  list  i{ 
appears  that  the  townships  settled  principally  by  the  Welsh,  as 
Charlestown,  East  and  West  Nantmeal  and  Tredj'ifriu,  and  those 
largely  settled  by  Scotch-Irish,  New  London,  Londonderry,  Oxfora 
and  East  Nottingham,  had  the  largest  numbers  of  slaves;  while 
the  townships  largely  inhabited  by  Friends,  the  more  central 
townships,  had  the  smallest  numbers  of  them. 

Of  the  children  of  slaves  for  life  I'egistered  as  servants  until 
they  should  become  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  the  returns  from  the 
several  townships  were  as  follows:  Charlestown,  2;  Coventry,  1; 
East  Fallowfield,  1;  West  Fallowfleld,  4;  Goshen,  1;  East  Cain,  1; 
West  Cain,  5;  New  London,  9;  West  Marlborough,  1;  Londonderry, 
2;  Oxford,  23;  East  Nantmeal,  1;  West  Nantmeal,  11;  London 
Britain,  1;  East  Notingham,  G;  Londongrove,  2;  Sadsbury,  2;  Tre- 
dyffrin,  3;  East  Whiteland,  2;  total,  83. 

The  Pennsylvania  Society  for  Promoting  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery,  the  Kelief  of  Free  Negroes  Unlawfully  Held  in  Bondage, 
and  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  African  Itace,  was  oi'gan- 
ized  April  14,  1775,  was  reorganized  in  1784,  and  incorporated  by 
an  act  of  the  Assembly  December  8,  1789,  with  nearly  three  hun- 
dred members.  The  American  Colonization  Society  was  organized 
about  181G,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Colonization  Society  in  182G. 
County  societies,  auxiliary  to  the  State  society,  were  formed  to  the 
number  of  nine  within  a  year,  one  of  which  was  in  Chester  County. 
In  December,  1827,  Simeon  Siegfried  of  West  Chester  published  an 
eight-page  pamphlet  containing  the  constitution  and  address  of  the 
managers  of  the  Chester  County  Auxiliary  Colonization  Society,  the 
officers  being  at  that  time  as  follows: 


AXD     IT><     PEOPLE.  34 1 

President,  William  Darlingtou;  vice-presidents,  Jesse  Kersey 
and  Rev.  Eobert  Graham;  secretary,  Thomas  Williamson;  treas- 
urer, David  Townsend;  managers,  William  H.  Dillingham,  Towns- 
end  Haines,  Thomas  S.  Bell,  Jonathan  Jones,  Gen.  John  W.  Cuning- 
ham,  Eev.  William  Hodgson,  Dr.  Samuel  McClean,  George  Hart- 
man,  Jr.,  Rev.  Ebenezer  Dickey,  Rev.  Simeon  Siegfried,  William 
Everhart  and  Jonathan  Gause. 

In  colonial  days  there  were  other  servants  besides  slaves,  who 
were  known  by  the  names  of  servants  and  redemptioners.  The 
master  owned  the  time  of  the  servant  for  a  definite  period.  In  the 
early  settlement  of  the  country,  servants  were  in  great  demand,  and 
to  supplj'  this  demand  people  of  more  or  less  wealth  who  were 
emigrating  to  the  new  country  from  Europe  would  bring  over 
with  them  cargoes  of  laboring  people,  such  as  could  not  pay  their 
own  passage  over  the  sea,  and  were  willing  to  be  bound  out  for  a 
term  of  years  in  order  to  repay  the  expense  of  their  transportation 
and  support  while  (lu  the  way  over,  and  dispose  of  them  upon 
arriving  in  this  province.  The  indentures  were  prepared  usually 
in  the  country  whence  the  emigration  took  place,  binding  the 
servant  to  serve  for  a  number  of  years,  rarely  less  than  four,  after 
his  ari'ival  in  Pennsylvania,  in  consideration  of  his  passage,  cloth- 
ing and  provisions.  Even  mechanics  sold  their  services  for  a  cer- 
tain length  of  time.  Orphan  children  were  also  bound  out  by  the 
court  as  servants,  the  process  by  which  this  was  accomplished 
being  called  "judging"  them  or  "adjudging."  At  the  October 
court,  1693,  Maurice  Trent  brought  into  the  country  eight  boys 
who  were  called  up  to  be  judged,  they  being  according,  to  the 
opinion  of  Dr._Smith,  negroes.  The  boys  were  adjudged  to  serve 
their  respective  masters  until  they  were  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
In  1695  Maurice  Trent  brought  in  another  set  of  boys  to  be  judged, 
their  periods  of  servitude  being  fixed  by  the  court.  In  1697  there 
Avere  as  many  as  thirty-three  orphans  who  were  indentured  as 
servants  for  different  lengths  of  time.  Following  are  a  few  sam- 
ples of  entries  on  the  records  in  connection  with  cases  of  this  kind: 


342  CHEi^TER     COUXTY 

"Francis  Cliadsey  brought  a  boy  whose  name  was  Alexander 
Stewart,  who  was  adjudgecl  to  serve  eight  years  from  the  14th  of 
September  last  past,  to  be  taught  to  read  and  write,  or  else  to 
serve  but  seven  years;  also  he  had  a  servant  maid  whose  name  is 
Ann  Beam,  who  was  adjudged  to  serve  five  years  from  this  court,  to 
said  Francis  Chadsey  or  his  assigns." 

"William  Cope  brought  a  boy  whose  name  is  Thomas  Harper, 
who  was  adjudged  to  serve  five  years  and  three-quarters,  if  he  be 
taught  to  read  and  Avrite,  or  else  to  serve  but  five  years  to  him  or 
his  assigns." 

"Elizabeth  Withers  brought  a  servant  girl  whose  name  is  Mar- 
garet Mongey,  who  was  adjudged  to  be  eleven  years  of  age  and  to 
serve  ten  years  to  Thomas  W^ithers  or  his  assigns." 

"Elinor  Clayton,  an  orphan  of  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  was 
ordered  by  the  court  to  serve  Daniel  Hoopes  for  the  term  of  seven 
years,  on  condition  that  he  should  teach  her  to  read,  knit  and  sew, 
and  pay  £12  according  to  the  order  of  the  court." 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  captains  of  vessels 
brought  over  persons,  selling  their  time  in  this  country  to  pay  for 
their  passage.  These  were  called  redemptioners,  and  such  cases 
occurred  even  down  into  the  nineteenth  century.  Those  who  im- 
ported servants  were  accustomed  to  take  them  in  companies 
through  the  country  and  dispose  of  them  to  farmers,  in  some  of 
which  cases  the  masters  were  outwitted  by  the  servants  they  were 
attempting  to  sell.  An  anecdote  is  told  of  a  certain  master  who 
had  disposed  of  all  but  one  of  his  drove,  and  this  one  getting  up 
first  in  the  morning  sold  his  master  to  the  landlord  of  the  tavern 
where  the  two  had  remained  over  night,  giving  the  master  an  ex- 
cellent character,  except  in  one  respect,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
lying,  and  that  when  he  should  arise  he  would  be  apt  to  try  to 
pass  himself  off  as  the  master. 

Following  is  the  form  of  an  indenture  of  apprenticeship,  in 
which  there  is  nothing  peculiar  except  the  compensation  in  live 
stock: 


AXD     /7'.S'     PEOPLE.  343 

"This  Indenture  Witnesseth  that  Elizabeth  Hastings,  Daugh- 
ter of  Henry  Hastings  of  West  Bradford  in  the  County  of  Chester 
and  Province  of  Pennsilvania,  Yeoman,  hath  put  herself,  and  by 
these  presents  doth  voluntarily  put  herself  and  of  her  own  free 
will  and  accord  and  with  the  Consent  of  her  Parents  put  herself 
Apprentice  to  Phebe  Buffington  of  West  Bradford  afforesaid  and 
after  the  manner  of  an  apprentice  to  serve  her  from  the  day  of  the 
date  hereof  for  and  During  the  Term  of  Five  Years  Eight  Months 
next  ensuing  the  date  hereof.  During  all  which  term  the  said  ap- 
prentice her  said  Mistress  faithfully  shall  serve,  her  secrets  keep, 
her  Lawful  Commands  everywhere  gladly  obej^  She  shall  do  no 
damage  to  her  said  mistress'  goods  nor  lend  them  unlawfully  to 
any.  She  shall  do  no  damage  to  her  said  Mistress  nor  see  it  to  be 
done  by  others  without  letting  or  giving  notice  thereof  to  her  said 
Mistress.  She  shall  not  commit  fornication  nor  contract  matri- 
mony within  the  said  term.  At  Cards,  Dice,  or  any  other  unlawful 
Game  she  shall  not  play  whereby  her  Mistress  maj-  have  damage. 
With  her  own  goods  nor  with  the  goods  of  others,  without  License 
from  her  said  Mistress  she  shall  neither  buy  nor  sell.  She  shall 
not  absent  herself  Day  nor  Xight  from  her  Mistress'  service  without 
her  leave,  nor  haunt  Ale-Houses,  Taverns  or  Play  Houses,  but  in 
all  things  behave  herself  as  a  faithful  aj)prentice  ought  to  do,  Dur- 
ing the  said  Term.  And  in  Consideration  of  the  said  Term  the 
said  Mistress  shall  procure  and  provide  for  her  said  apprentice 
Sufficient  meat.  Drink,  Apparel,  Lodging  and  Washing  fitting  for 
an  apprentice  both  in  health  and  sickness  during  the  said  Term, 
Together  with  Two  Cows  and  two  calves.  Each  Cow  and  calf  to 
be  worth  Four  pounds  of  Current  monej'  of  Pennsilvania  in  the 
following  manner — One  Cow  and  Calf  to  be  delivered  unto  the 
above  named  Henry  Hastings  for  the  use  of  said  apprentice  in  the 
year  ITiC  and  the  other  Cow  and  Calf  in  the  spring  of  the  year  of 
our  Loi"d  1748.  And  the  said  mistress  shall  learn  her  said  ap- 
prentice to  Sew  and  Knitt  so  as  to  know  how  to  make  a  man's  Shirt 


344  CHESTER     COUNTY 

and  Knitt  Stocking  and  to  give  ber  one  month's  scliooling  in  Read- 
ing and  Writing  within  the  said  Term,  and  at  the  expiration  of  said 
Term  said  Mistress  shall  procure  for  her  said  apprentice  One  full 
Suit  of  new  Apparel  besides  her  working  apparel.  And  for  the 
true  performance  of  all  and  every  the  said  Covenants  and  agree- 
ments either  of  said  parties  bind  themselves  unto  the  other  by 
these  presents.  In  Witness  whereof  they  have  interchangeably 
put  their  hands  and  seals  this  ninth  day  of  Ai^ril,  One  Thousand 
Seven  Hundred  and  forty  and  three.     1743. 

"PHEBE  BUFFINGTON.     (Seal) 

"Signed  seald  and  Delivered  in  the  presence  of  John  Buflfing- 
ton,  Amy  Bate,  John  McCarty." 

While  it  is  true  that  many  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1789  were  opposed 
to  the  continuance  of  slavery,  and  that  though  thus  opposed  to  it 
they  yielded  their  opposition  to  it  in  order  that  the  Constitution 
might  be  adopted,  hoping  that  with  the  prohibition  of  the  slave 
trade  after  1808  the  sentiment  would  steadily  increase  among  the 
people  and  become  so  strong  that  the  institution  could  not  exist 
in  its  presence,  yet  they  did  not  for  years  take  any  active  measures 
to  secure  its  abolition.  But  in  1804  cases  of  kidnapping  of  free  ne- 
groes occurred  at  Columbia,  Pennsylvania,  which  fully  aroused 
this  latent  anti-slavery  feeling  among  the  people  in  that  vicinity, 
who  were  mostly  Friends,  and  incited  them  to  do  what  they  could 
to  protect  slaves  Avho  were  attempting  by  flight  to  secure  the 
liberty  to  which  nature  and  nature's  God  entitled  them.  One  of 
the  most  active  in  this  movement  was  William  Wright  of  C/olumbia, 
who  assisted  all  who  came  to  him,  and  did  all  in  his  power  both 
inside  and  outside  of  court  to  aid  the  fleeing  negro  to  escape. 
These  escaping  negroes  invariably  desii'ed  to  reach  Canada,  where 
there  was  no  fugitive  slave  law  in  force,  and  hence  all  along  the 
road  or  route  to  the  British  dominion  there  Avere  agencies  estab- 


AXD     1T8     PEOPLE.  345 

lished  wherever  such  agencies  could  be  made  of  service  to  the 
cause. 

The  priucipal  route  throu<;h  this  i)art  of  the  country  lay- 
through  the  counties  of  Yorlc,  Lancaster,  Chester,  Montgomery, 
Berks  and  Bucks,  to  Pha-nixville,  Norristown,  Quakertown,  Bead- 
ing, Philadelphia,  and  other  cities  and  towns.  The  principal  agents 
iu  Lancaster  County  were  Daniel  Gibbons,  Thomas  Whitson,  Lind- 
ley  Coates,  Dr.  Eshleman,  James  Moore,  Caleb  C.  Hood  and  Jere- 
miah Moore.  Those  who  were  most  active  on  this  line  in  Chester 
County  were  James  Fulton,  Gideon  Peirce,  Thomas  Bonsall, 
Thomas  Vickers,  John  Vickers,  Esther  Lewis  and  daughters,  Dr. 
Edwin  Fussell,  William  Fussell,  Xorris  Maris,  Emmor  Kimber, 
Elijah  F.  Pennypacker  and  Lewis  Peart.  In  Norristown  those 
most  active  iu  secreting  and  forwardiug  the  fugitive  were  Rev. 
Samuel  Aaron,  Isaac  Boberts,  John  Boberts,  Dr.  William  Corson, 
Dr.  Jacob  L.  Paxou  and  Daniel  Boss  (colored),  and  there  were  also 
others.  The  gentlemen  as  above  mentioned  as  being  active  in  Lan- 
caster and  Chester  Counties  and  in  Norristown,  were  the  agents 
along  the  northern  route  through  Chester  Country;  but  later  in  the 
history  of  this  movement  the  more  traveled  routes  lay  through  the 
central  and  southern  parts  of  the  county.  It  was  on  these  routes 
that  many  lively  incidents  occurred,  as  they  lay,  particularly  tlie 
more  southern  one,  along  the  boundary  of  the  slave  States  of  Mary- 
land and  Delaware.  Bo  great  was  the  travel  along  the  southern 
route  that  it  became  necessary  to  have  several  branches,  and  these 
branch  routes  interlaced  the  more  northern  lines  in  several  places, 
this  being  especially  the  case  at  tlie  Peirces  and  Fultons  in  Ercil- 
doun;  Esther  Lewis'  iu  Vincent;  John  Vickers'  near  Lionville,  and 
Elijah  F.  Pennypacker's  near  Phoenixville.  From  Pennypacker's 
place  many  negroes  were  sent  over  into  Montgomery  County — • 
many  of  them  to  Norristown.  There  was  a  route  from  Havre  de 
Grace  through  Penn  Township  to  Ercildoun,  by  waj^  of  Eli,  Thomas 
and  Chai'les  Hambleton's,  and  thence  to  John  Vickers'  place,  and 
that  of  Esther  Lewis'. 


346  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Generally  speaking  the  negroes  were  guided  when  traveling  at 
night  (and  this  Avas  absolutely  necessary  in  many  cases  in  order  to 
elude  their  pursuers)  by  the  Polar  Star,  which  they  knew  lay  in  the 
direction  of  liberty,  and  following  this  guiding  star  many  of  them 
on  the  main  route  from  Wilmington  passed  through  the  townships 
of  Kennett,  East  Marlborough,  Pocopson,  Newlin,  and  so  on  to  the 
north.  In  Kennett  they  found  assistants  in  the  ])ersons  of  Allen 
and  Maria  Agnew,  Isaac  and  Dinah  Mendenhall,  and  Dr.  Bartholo- 
mew Fussell  in  Kennett;  John  and  Hannah  Cox,  Simon  and  Sarah 
D.  Barnard  in  East  Marlborough;  William  and  Mary  Barnhard, 
Eusebeus  and  Sarali  Marsh  Barnhard,  in  Pocopson;  Isaac  and 
Thamsine  Meredith,  Mordecia  and  Esther  Hayes,  in  Newlin;  James 
Fulton,  Jr.,  and  Gideon  Peirce,  in  Ercildoun;  Zebulon  Thomas  and 
daugliters,  in  Downingtown;  Micajah  and  William  Speakman,  in 
Uwchlan;  John  Tickers  and  Charles  Moore,  in  Lionville;  Estlier 
Lewis  and  her  daughters,  Marian,  Elizabeth  and  Graceanna,  Wil- 
liam Fussell,  Dr.  Edwin  Fussell  and  Norris  Maris,  in  West  Vin- 
cent; Emmor  Kimber,  at  Kimbertou,  and  Elijah  F.  Pennypacker, 
at  Phoenixville. 

There  was  still  another  branch  which  passed  through  Kennett 
Township,  the  station  here  being  at  ("handler  Darlington's;  East 
Bradford,  the  agent  being  Benjamin  Price;  to  West  Cliester,  where 
the  agents  Avere  the  Darlington  sisters  and  Abram  D.  Shadd  (col- 
ored). At  West  Chester  there  were  two  forks  to  this  branch,  one 
leading  to  John  A'ickers',  on  the  middle  route,  and  the  other  to 
Nathan  Evans'  place  in  ^ViIlistown,  wlio  was  a  sterling  old  Friend, 
and  stood  almost  alone  in  the  work  in  his  neighborhood.  Davis 
Garrett,  of  the  same  township,  however,  frequently  aided  Mr. 
Evans.  James  Lewis  of  Marple  Township,  Delaware  County,  was 
also  an  efficient  Avorker  on  this  line,  and  James  T.  Dannaker,  Avho 
lived  with  Mr.  Lewis,  was  made  a  conductor  on  the  line. 

The  great  central  station  at  which  the  Chester  County  and 
-other  southern  routes  converged  was  at  the  anti-slavery  headquar- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  347 

ters  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  in  charge  of  J.  Miller  McKini, 
assisted  by  several  persons,  among  whom  was  William  Still,  a, 
former  slave.  In  the  early  part  of  this  combined  movement  to 
aid  the  slave  to  escape  it  was  very  difficult  for  the  master  and 
others  in  i)ursuit  of  the  fugitives  to  trace  them  beyond  Columbia. 
AVheu  the  pursuers  arrived  there  all  trace  of  the  fleeing  slaves 
was  as  completely  lost  as  if  they  had  dropped  down  into  the  earth, 
and  those  in  pursuit  were  accustomed  to  say,  "There  must  be  an 
underground  railroad  somewhere,"  and  it  was  this  saying  that 
gave  name  to  the  route  by  which  the  slaves  made  their  escajte. 
This  "Underground  Railroad"  had  many  branches  in  all  parts 
of  the  Free  States,  even  as  far  West  as  Kansas  and  Iowa,  during 
the  later  years  of  the  existence  of  the  "peculiar  institution." 

AA'est  Chester  was  really  one  of  the  main  stations  on  one  of 
these  routes,  and  one  of  those  who  distinguished  himself  in  the 
service  of  the  fugitives  in  this  city  was  George  Maris,  who,  as  a 
lad,  drew  many  a  map  of  the  road  from  there  to  Elijah  F.  Penny- 
packer's  place,  Mr.  Pennypacker  having  a  two-horse  wagon  iu 
which  he  used  to  carry  the  slaves  onward  to  friends  in  Montgomery 
County,  or  to  Daniel  Ross's  at  Norristown.  At  one  time  there  was 
an  exciting  chase  of  a  slave  woman  in  West  Chester,  she  having 
lived  there  for  some  years  in  a  little  home  on  W^est  Miner  street. 
Her  master  offered  a  large  reward  for  her  apprehension,  which 
tempted  one  of  the  citizens  of  that  place  to  divulge  her  where- 
abouts, and  when  the  master,  with  a  constable,  had  arrested  her 
and  carried  her  into  court,  before  Judge  Thomas  S.  Bell,  whose 
office  was  at  the  southeast  corner  of  South  Church  and  Miner 
Streets,  she,  by  a  ruse,  got  outside  the  office  into  the  back  yard, 
ran  and  jumped  over  a  fence,  which  is  said  to  have  been  seven  feet 
high,  and  then  running  through  alleys  and  streets,  finally  success- 
fully hid  herself,  and  could  not  be  found  by  anyone  searching  for 
her,  though  she  remained  in  the  town  for  some  days.  She  at  length 
made  her  escape  in  safety  and  got  away  to  Canada.    There  were 


348  CHESTER     COUNTY 

many  incidents  of  escape  from  the  clutches  of  the  mastei"  and  the 
law  which  would  make  interesting  reading,  which  would  be  in- 
serted in  this  work  but  for  the  fact  that  there  is  so  much  recent 
history  that  has  not  yet  been  put  in  book  form,  to  which  the  pub- 
lishers feel  in  dutj'  bound  to  give  attention;  hence  only  one  instance 
of  this  kiud  will  be  here  inserted,  merely  to  show  that  lawyers  were 
then  to  be  found  who  were  as  keen  in  their  lookout  for  technicalities 
as  any  of  the  present  day,  and  who  would  labor  like  many  good 
phj'sicians  and  other  good  Samaritans,  without  the  hope  of  pecu- 
niary reward. 

About  1838  Eobert  Purvis,  a  resident  of  Philadelphia,  and  well 
remembered  even  now  to  many  citizens  of  Chester  County,  had  in 
his  employ  a  colored  man  named  Basil  Dorsey,  who  was  an  escaped 
slave,  and  who  was  betrayed  to  his  former  owner  by  a  brother-in- 
law  of  his  wife.  This  former  master,  together  with  a  noted  slave- 
catcher,  found  Doi'sey  plowing  in  a  field  ou  Mr.  Purvis'  farm.  They 
caught  him,  handcuffed  him  aud  took  him  to  Bristol,  whei"e  they 
had  him  locked  up  in  the  prison  cell.  Mr.  Pui'vis  immediately 
followed  them  aud  next  morning,  before  the  case  was  brought 
before  Judge  Fox  at  Doylestown,  had  enlisted  the  sympathies  of 
the  entire  crowd.  Thomas  Ross  was  employed  as  counsel,  and  in 
order  to  put  up  the  best  possible  defense  when  the  case  should 
come  to  trial,  succeeded  iu  having  it  postponed  a  couple  of  weeks. 
Dorsey  remained  in  jail,  and  the  colored  population  made  prepara- 
tions to  rescue  him  by  force  in  case  Mr.  Purvis  should  lose.  Mr. 
Purvis  secured  as  counsel  for  the  defense  David  Paul  Brown,  then 
the  most  noted  criminal  lawyer  in  Philadelphia,  who  would  not 
accept  any  fee.  The  counsel  for  the  claimant,  named  Griffith, 
made  a  clear  statement  of  the  claim,  pi*esenting  the  bill  of  sale  and 
other  evidence  of  ownership,  and  als<j  laws  that  seemed  to  seal  the 
fate  of  Dorsey.  Then  Mr.  Brown  arose,  and  after  admitting  tlie 
force  of  the  arguments  presented  by  Mr.  Griffith,  went  on  to  say: 

"But  there  is  one  fatal  defect  in  the  indictment,  and  upon  that 


AXD     /7\s'     PEOPLE.  349 

T  take  my  staud:  This  is  a  laud  of  law,  this  is  a  court  of  law,  aud 
uothiug  cau  be  decided  iu  this  court  without  strict  sanction  of  la\v. 
You  have  not  shown  by  proper  evidence  that  under  the  laws  of 
Maryland  a  man  maj'  be  held  as  a  slave,  and  not  showing  this,  his 
case  goes  by  default." 

Mr.  Griffith  then  denianded  a  iiostponement  of  the  case  until 
the  necessary  proof  could  be  procured,  which  could,  of  course,  easily 
have  been  done;  but  Brown  was  unrelenting,  as  might  have  been 
expected  he  would  be,  as  he  had  won  his  case  as  it  then  stood,  and 
he  demanded  the  dismissal  of  the  case  for  want  of  proper  proof. 
Judge  Fox  thereupon  arose  and  said,  "The  case  is  dismissed." 
Basil  Dorsey  went  therefore  free. 

In  closing  this  part  of  the  present  chapter  it  remains  only 
to  be  said  that  ^Vest  Chester  was  well  known  far  and  wide  as  being 
friendly  to  the  slave,  willing  to  aid  him  in  securing  what  was  most 
dear  in  life,  freedom  to  follow  his  own  inclinations  and  interests; 
and  it  is  largely  for  this  reason  that  so  many  colored  people  have 
made  and  now  make  this  city  their  home.  They  now  constitute 
about  one-fourth  part  of  the  population,  have  a  wai'd  of  the  city 
practically  all  to  themselves,  and  have  had  representatives  in 
the  Council.  They  are  as  well  treated  here  in  the  way  of  educa- 
tion as  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  in  the  present  condition  of 
civilization,  aud  are  working  out  their  own  destiny  to  the  best  of 
their  abilitj'. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EDUCATION. 


CHArTER     X. 

EDUCATION SCHOOLS     FOSTERED     BY    THE     CHURCH — FIRST    TEACHER    IN    THE 

PROVINCE—  BOOKS  AND  WAGES EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  FRIENDS THE  FIRST 

COMPULSORY    LAW — ESTABLISHMENT  OF  VARIOUS  SCHOOLS STUDIES  EM- 
BRACED  STUDENTS  AFTERWARDS  PROMINENT  MEN THE  BOARDING 

SCHOOL FIRST     SCHOOL    AT    WEST    CHESTER ACADEMIES   AND 

NORMAL     SCHOOLS THE      BUILDINGS ATTENDANCE 

STUDIES FACULTY — COLORED  SCHOOLS FUNDS THE' 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  ESTABLISHED THEIR  EFFICIENCY 

HIGH    SCHOOLS — GRADED    SCHOOLS — INSTI- 
TUTES  EDUCATIONAL      ASSOCIATIONS 

COUNTY  SUPERINTENDENTS — LIBRARY 

THE  TRANSPORTING  SYSTEM 

INTRODUCED. 

THE  histoiy  of  education  in  Chester  County  is  more  or  less 
directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  the  earliest  movements  to 
educate  the  young  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  Hence  it  may 
not  be  inappropriate  to  briefly  refer  to  the  conditions  and  ideas 
from  which  the  educational  systems  and  institutions  since  then 
established  in  the  present  county  have  sprung. 

When  the  first  Swedish  colony  was  planted  on  the  Delaware 
Iviver  there  was  no  regular,  independent  educational  system  in 
their  native  land,  that  educational  system  being  in  the  hands  of 
the  clinrch,  as  agent  for  the  State,  and  in  the  hands  of  heads  of 
families.  The  Church,  in  1693,  forbade  the  marriage  of  anyone  who 
was  without  a  knowledge  of  Luther'si  catechism;  which  shows  the 
strength  of  the  position  of  the  Church  in  educational  matters. 

From  Holland,  which  country  is  said  to  have  been,  in  the 

later  pai't  of  the  Sixteenth  centurj-,  the  first  in  Europe  to  establish 

public  schools,  came  a  considerable  portion  of  the  eaidier  settlers 

of  the  country  on  the  Delaware;  and  a  still  larger  portion  of  the 

21  355 


3  56  CHESTER     COUXTY 

oar]y  settlers  of  New  York  were  from  that  country.  Aud  it  is 
doubtless  true  that  the  Piliirim  Fathers,  during-  their  twelve  years' 
residence  in  Holland,  became  familiar  with  the  fundamental  jtrin- 
ciples  which  have  made  New  England  famous  in  the  educatitnial 
and  intellectual  history  of  tiie  I'nited  states.  It  was  also  in  Hol- 
land that  William  Penu  acquired  those  broad  and  liberal  ideas 
in  regard  to  the  education  of  the  young  Mhich  have  made  Penn- 
sylvania no  less  famous  in  educational  matters,  and  far  inorc 
famous  for  religious  liberty  than  even  New  England. 

Among  the  inducements  offered  emigrants  from  Sweden  to 
the  New  World  was  the  promise  that  "in  the  same  way  schools 
and  churches  will  floiirish  through  it  and  be  sustained,  and  further- 
more those  who  have  learned  something  Avill  be  promoted  to  dig'- 
nities  aud  jjositions." 

In  planting  the  Dutcli  colonies  in  America  the  same  promise 
was  made.  "The  patrons  of  New  Netherlands  shall  also  exert  them- 
selves to  find  speedy  means  to  maintain  a  ( lergymau  and  scliool- 
master,  in  order  that  Divine  Service  and  zeal  for  religion  may  be 
planted  in  that  country,  aud  shall  send,  at  first,  a  Comforter  for 
the  sick  thither."    This  was  about  1G30. 

On  July  12,  1G56,  the  city  of  Amsterdam  offered  the  following 
conditions  to  persons  settling  in  its  colony  at  New  Castle  on  the 
Delaware : 

"Said  city  shall  cause  to  be  erected  about  the  market,  or  in  a 
more  convenient  place,  a  public  building  suitable  for  Divine  Serv- 
ice; item,  also  a  house  for  a  school  which  can  likewise  be  occupied 
by  a  person  who  will  hereafter  be  sexton,  i^salmsetter  and  school- 
master; the  city  shall  besides  have  a  house  built  for  a  minister. 

"The  city  shall  i^rovisionally  provide  and  pay  the  salaries  of 
the  minister  and  schoolmaster." 

The  same  year  in  which  these  conditions  were  prescribed  Evert 
Pietersen,  a  man  of  some  learning,  was  sent  out  to  act  as  school- 
master, aud  zieken-trooster,  to  read  the  Bible,  and  to  lead  the  sing- 
ing until  the  arrival  of  a  clergyman. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  357 

Tlms  was  Evert  Pieterseu  the  first  school-teacher,  or  school- 
master, as  such  professiouals  were  theu  called,  to  take  charge  of  a 
school  in  what  afterward  became  for  a  time  a  part  of  the  province 
of  William  Penn.  However,  he  was  not  the  first  Eiiro])eau  school- 
master in  the  colonies,  or  in  North  America,  haviuii  been  preceded 
by  several  teachers  among  the  Dutch  at  Manhattan,  the  first  of 
these  being  Adam  Koelansen,  who  taught  the  school  of  the  Dutcli 
Chnrch  in  1G33,  the  first  school  established  in  what  is  now  the 
United  States,  and  which  is  still  in  existence.  But  as  this  chapter 
does  not  pretend  to  be  a  history  of  education  in  the  United  States, 
or  even  in  Pennsylvania,  it  appears  appropriate  to  mention  only  one 
more  fact  in  this  connection,  which  item  in  reality  covers  in  part 
at  least  the  territory  to  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  confine  this 
sketch;  and  that  is  that  along  the  Delaware  Eiver  there  was  not 
for  many  years  a  high  scIkioI  or  academy,  and  it  was  customary  for 
those  who  could  afford  to  do  so,  for  some  years,  to  send  their  chil- 
dren from  the  Delaware  River  section,  and  even  from  Virginia,  to 
an  academy  established  in  IfioO  at  New  Amsterdam,  of  which,  in 
lf)r)2,  Dominie  Aegilius  Luyck  was  Latin  master. 

According  to  Wickersham,  from  whose  History  of  Education  in 
Pennsylvania  the  above  facts  liave  been  extracted  (without  i)ain), 
there  was  no  schoolhouse  on  the  Delaware  up  to  1082,  nor  had 
there  been  any  regular  schoolmaster  except  Pieterseu;  and  though 
the  colonists  were  much  in  favor  of  the  education  of  their  children, 
yet  it  was  very  difficult  for  them  to  obtain  for  those  children  the 
proper  instruction.  On  account  of  the  scattered  location  of  the 
families  which  rendered  it  impracticable  to  sustain  schools,  as  is 
now  done  throughout  the  country  districts,  it  was  the  custom  of 
the  ministers  and  missionaries,  who  had  the  education  of  the  young 
in  charge,  to  visit  individual  families  scattered  about  in  the  settle- 
ments, and  thus,  in  conjunction  with  the  parents,  to  teach  the 
young  as  best  they  could;  but  the  difficulties  they  encountered 
may  be  imagined  when  it  is  stated,  as  it  rests  on  good  authority, 


358  CHESTER     COUNTY 

that  in  1C()7  there  Avere  but  three  books  in  the  entire  Swedish  col- 
ony on  the  Delaware,  and  these  three  books  had  been  passed  around 
from  one  family  to  another  in  order  that  all  might  learn  to  read. 

The  above  reinarks  bring  this  narrative  down  to  the  first  men- 
tion of  education  Avithin  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  first  attempt  at  education  within  what  was  once 
Chester  County.  This  is  a  copy  of  a  record  of  the  court  at  Uphind, 
and  is  the  case  of  Edmund  Draufton  vs.  Dunck  Williams: 

"March  12,  167  . 

"The  Pit  demands  of  this  Def*  200  Gilders  for  teaching  this 
Deft  children  to  read  one  yeare." 

"The  Co^'t  haveiug  heard  the  debates  of  both  parties  as  alsoe  ye 
attestation  of  ye  witnesses,  Doe  grant  Judgment  ag***  ye  def*  foi- 
200  gilders  w^^  ye  costs." 

"Richai'd  Ducket  sworne  in  Court  declares  that  hee  was  p'sent 
at  ye  making  of  ye  bargaiue,  and  did  hear  that  ye  agreem*  w'as 
that  Edmund  draufton  should  Teach  Dunkes  Children  to  Read  ye 
bybell,  &  if  he  could  doe  itt  in  a  yeare  or  a  half  yeare  or  a  quarts' 
then  he  should  have  200  gilders." 

While  the  location  of  this  primitive  school  is  not  certainly 
known,  yet  there  is  some  evidence  to  prove  that  it  was  at  Passa- 
yunk.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  Draufton  taught  a  school,  the 
evidence  showing  that  he  taught  the  children  of  Williams  how  to 
read  "ye  bybell,"  in  doing  which  he  probably  earned  the  200  gilders 
thus  given  him  by  tlie  court. 

It  is  altogether  correct  to  say  that  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Friends,  which  will  be  found  treated  of  briefly  under  the  head  of 
religious  history  in  this  work,  much  that  is  noble  and  ennobling 
in  education, as  well  as  in  religion  and  jurisprudence,  is  to  be  traced. 
The  Friends  fully  believed  in  education,  and  only  feared  that 
abuse  of  learning  which  is  sometimes  visible  in  the  magnification 
of  self.  They  were  all  fairly  well  educated,  and  they  had  among 
them  some  very  learned  men,  such  as  William  Penn,  Robert  Bar- 


AXD     /T.S'     PEOPLE.  359 

c-laj,  Thomas  Loe,  Thomas  Ellwood,  Isaac  Pennington  and  others^. 
And  as  the  Friends  were  the  pioneers  in  education  in  the  province 
and  also  in  the  county  of  Chester,  it  is  only  appropriate  that  their 
proceedings,  ideas  and  institutions  should  first  be  dealt  with  iu 
this  work.  The  first  assembly  called  together  by  William  Penn 
after  his  arrival  in  this  country  passed  what  is  known  in  history 
as  the  "Great  Law,"  of  seventy-one  chapters.  Chapter  LX  con- 
tains a  provision  of  great  significance,  as  follows: 

"That  the  laws  of  this  Province,  from  time  to  time,  shall  be 
published  and  printed,  that  every  person  may  have  the  knowledge 
thereof;  and  they  shall  be  one  of  the  books  taught  in  the  schools 
of  this  Province  and  territories  thereof." 

The  Second  Assembly,  which  met  at  Philadelphia,  March  10, 
1683,  passed  numerous  laws,  of  which  the  following  is  the  most 
interesting  in  this  connection: 

"And  to  the  end  that  poor  as  well  as  rich  may  be  instructed 
in  good  and  commendable  learning,  which  is  to  be  preferred  before 
wealth.  Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  all  persons  iu  this  province  and  ter- 
ritories thereof  having  children,  and  all  the  guardians  and  trustees 
of  orphans,  shall  cause  such  to  be  instructed  in  reading  and  writ- 
ing, so  that  they  may  be  able  to  read  the  Scriptures  and  to  write 
by  the  time  they  attain  to  twelve  years  of  age;  and  that  then  they 
be  taught  some  useful  trade  or  skill,  that  the  poor  may  work  to 
live  and  the  rich  if  they  become  poor  may  not  want,  of  which 
every  County  Court  shall  take  care.  And  in  case  such  parents, 
guardians  or  overseers  shall  be  found  deficient  in  this  respect, 
every  such  parent,  gimrdian  or  overseer  shall  pay  for  each  such 
child  five  pounds,  except  there  should  appear  an  incapacity  in 
body  or  understanding  to  hinder  it." 

Extended  comment  on  this  remarkable  law  is  left  to  the 
reader.  But  it  may  be  stated  here  that  it  was  at  once  the  most 
comprehensive  and  strong  compulsory  educational  law  ever  en- 
acted by  any  legislative  body  in  America.     After  it  had  remained 


36o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

in  force  ten  years  it  was  abrogated  by  King  and  Queen  William 
and  Mary;  but  it  was  re-enacted  by  Governor  Fletcher,  "by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  representatives,"  and  though 
never  formally  repealed  so  far  as  anyone  knows,  yet  it  was  per- 
mitted to  become  a  dead  letter,  not  being  revived  by  subsequent 
forms  of  government. 

As  a  few  of  the  first  teachers  in  the  country  have  been  men- 
tioned, it  would  be  scarcely  just  to  pass  over  Thomas  Makin,  the 
first  teacher  required  to  procure  a  cei'tificate  to  teach  in  the 
Province.  Thomas  Makiu  was  usher  under  George  Keith,  who, 
for  one  year,  had  charge  of  the  Friends'  Public  School  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  then  succeeded  by  Makin,  Avho  remained  in  cliarge 
of  it  several  years.  On  August  1,  1693,  Mr.  Makin  was  called  be- 
fore the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Council  and  told  that  he  must 
not  keep  school  withoiit  a  license,  and  that  he  must  procure  a  cer- 
tificate of  his  ability,  learning  and  diligence  from  the  inhabitants 
of  note  in  the  town  (of  Philadelphia)  by  the  16th  inst.  in  order  to 
obtain  a  license,  which  he  promised  to  do.  Makin  lived  to  be  a 
very  old  man,  wrote  a  Latin  poem  descrijitive  of  Pennsylvania  in 
1729,  and  on  or  about  November  28,  1733,  fell  off  a  wharf  in  Phila- 
delphia into  the  Delaware  River  and  was  drowned. 

Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  century  the  Friends, 
throughout  the  State,  continued  to  work  faithfully  and  well  to 
increase  the  general  intelligence  of  the  people  by  means  of  the 
education  of  the  young;  but  from  that  tiTiie  on  to  the  Revolution- 
avy  War  little  was  accomplished  by  the  State  in  this  direction, 
the  work  falling  back  into  private  hands  and  into  the  hands  of 
the  several  churches.  It  seems  to  have  been  too  early  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  human  race  for  the  universal  education  of  the 
youth  throughout  the  Province  by  public  authority.  The  diffi- 
culty may  have  been  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  Province  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  noted  the  world  over  as  being  the  asylum  of  those 
who  were  persecuted  at  home  for  their  religious  opinions,  and 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  361 

that  on  this  account  it  attracted  to  its  bosom  such  large  numbers 
of  divers  opinions  that  it  was  difficult  for  those  entertaining  these 
different  opinions  to  work  harniouiously  together  even  for  the  pro- 
motion of  their  best  interests.  But  order  must  at  length  come 
out  of  chaos,  and  though  there  were  but  few  schools  established 
from  1700  to  1776,  yet  there  were  a  few.  In  December,  1754,  or 
early  in  1755,  there  Avas  a  school  established  in  Vincent  Township, 
Chester  County,  with  John  Louis  Ache  as  teacher;  Mr.  Ache,  how- 
ever, being  retired  to  first  qualify  himself  better  in  the  use  of  the 
English  language  by  an  attendance,  at  the  expense  of  the  Pro- 
prietaries, at  the  Academy  in  Philadelphia. 

Among  the  Friends  the  yearly  meeting  gave  much  earnest  and 
practicable  advice  couoerniug  the  establishment  of  schools,  sug- 
gesting that  in  the  compass  of  each  monthly  meeting  there  should 
be  ground  provided  upon  which  to  erect  a  suitable  house  and 
stable,  and  room  for  a  garden,  orchard  and  pasture,  as  an  encour- 
agement to,  and  making  provision  for,  a  teacher  of  proper  quali- 
fications and  good  character.  The  yearly  meeting  also  recom- 
mended that  funds  should  be  collected  for  the  establishment  and 
supi>ort  of  schools. 

In  writing  the  biography  of  an  individual  it  is  often  ueces- 
.sary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  career  of  that  individual 
to  trace,  at  least  briefly,  the  antecedent  members  of  the  family. 
So  in  writing  of  Fagg's  Manor  Classical  School  it  is  at  least  useful 
to  mention  its  ancestor  in  the  line  of  events,  the  famous  "Log  Col- 
lege." This  college  was  established  by  the  Rev.  William  Tennent, 
in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  forks  of  the  Neshaminy, 
or  near  there,  in  1726;  but  the  land  on  which  stood  the  building- 
hereafter  described,  and  to  which  the  above  name  was  given,  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  Tennent  September  11,  1735,  of  Mr.  John  White, 
of  Philadelphia,  for  £110,  the  school  having  been  kept  at  some 
other  location,  doubtless  near  this  place,  up  to  that  time.  Ilev. 
George  Whitefield,  while  on  a  visit  to  this  country  in  1739,  was 


362  CHESTER     COUNTY 

with  Mr.  Tennent  at  this  log  school-house  November  22,  1739,  and 
upon  his  arrival  at  the  academy,  where  he  was  expected  to  preach, 
"found  about  three  thousand  people  gathered  together  in  the 
meeting-house  j^ard,"  Mr.  Whitefield  in  his  journal  says:  "The 
place  wherein  the  young  men  study  is,  in  contempt,  called* a  Col- 
lege." 

The  purpose  of  Mr.  Tennent  in  the  establishment  of  his  acad- 
emy was  to  prepare  young  men  for  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  education  then  being  the  handmaid  of  religion  almost 
exclusively.  The  log  building  in  which  he  taught  was  about 
twenty  feet  square,  or  nearly  square,  and  in  this  small  building- 
were  educated  many  young  men  who  afterward  became  distin- 
guished in  the  ministry. 

Rev.  Mr.  Tennent  had  four  sons — Gilbert,  William,  John  and 
Charles — all  of  whom,  like  their  father,  were  born  in  Ireland,  and 
all  of  whom  became  distinguished  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
it  is  the  latter's  meeting-house  that  is  mentioned  in  what  is  said 
in  previous  pages  about  the  survey  of  the  north  and  south  line 
from  the  Philadelphia  parallel  down  to  the  southern  parallel  of 
Pennsylvania.  Rev.  Charles  Tennent  was  installed  at  White 
Clay  Creek  Chapel,  or  meeting-house,  in  Delaware,  in  1737,  and 
remained  there  as  minister  until  17G2. 

Among  the  distinguished  graduates,  or  perhaps  it  would  be 
better  to  say  alumni,  of  "Log  College"  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair, 
who  was  born  in  Ireland  June  14,  1712,  came  early  to  this  country, 
and  was  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Tennent  probably  from  1730  to  1735.  It 
was  he  that  established,  in  1739,  in  New  Londonderry,  or  on  Fagg's 
Manor,  as  it  was  often  called,  a  school  similar  to  that  at  the  forks 
of  the  Xeshaminy,  his  alma  mater,  for  the  education  of  young  men 
for  the  ministry;  and  it  was  in  this  school  thus  established  by  Mr. 
Blair  that  many  who  afterward  became  distinguished  as  scholars 
and  divines  received  their  early  educational  discipline.  This 
school  was  called  Fagg's  Manor  Classical  School,  and  was  the  first 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  363 

classical  institution  within  the  limits  of  Chester  County,  as  those 
limits  run  to-daj-.  Rev.  Mr.  Blair  was  considered  by  his  biog- 
rapher, Dr.  Miller,  not  only  one  of  the  most  able  and  learned,  but 
also  one  of  the  most  pious  and  excellent  men  that  ever  adorned 
the  American  church.  This  school  at  Fagg's  Manor  was  of  a  high 
order,  the  pupils  being  trained  in  it  to  a  great  familiarity  with  the 
ancient  languages  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith.  While 
they  had  fewer  books  than  have  students  of  the  present  day,  yet 
they  mastered  those  tliey  had,  carrying  out  in  their  study  the 
motto,  Multum,  non  multa. 

ICev.  Samuel  Davies,  educated  at  Mr.  Blair's  school,  was  licensed 
to  preach  in  1745,  and  was  chosen  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  to 
accompany  the  Kev.  Gilbert  Tennent  to  England  and  Ireland  for 
the  purpose  of  soliciting  funds  for  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  noAV 
Princeton,  of  which  institution  he  was  elected  president  to  suc- 
ceed Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  soon  after  the  latter's  death,  which, 
occurred  in  1759.  Rev.  Mr.  Davies  died  in  1761,  when  nearly 
thirty-seven  years  of  age. 

Rev.  Samuel  Blair  remained  at  the  head  of  Fagg's  Manor 
School  until  1751,  when  he  died,  being  then  a  little  more  than 
thirty-nine  years  of  age.  Soon  afterward  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother.  Rev.  John  Blair,  who  took  charge  of  both  sciiool  and 
church  at  that  place,  and  at  the  school  prepared  many  young  men 
for  the  ministry  by  instructing  them  in  the  languages,  philosophy 
and  theology.  After  remaining  at  the  head  of  this  school  about 
nine  years  he  was  called  to  a  professorshij)  of  divinity  in  tlie  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  and  was  elected  to  the  vice-presidenc/  of  the 
institution,  in  which  position  he  performed  the  duties  of  president 
after  the  death  of  Doctor  Finley  and  until  the  arrival  of  Doctor 
Witherspoon,  who  was  elected  president. 

Among  the  distinguished  men  who  acquired  their  education 
at  Fagg's  Manor  Classical  School  were  Rev.  Alexander  Cummings, 
Rev.  John  Rodgers,  D.  D.;  Rev.  James  Finley,  Rev.  Hugh  Henry, 


364  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Bex.  Eobert  Suiitli,  D.  D.,  a  noted  teaolier;  Eev.  John  McMillan, 
D.  D.,  fonnder  of  Jefferson  College;  Rev.  John  Woodhull,  D.  D.; 
Eev.  Hugh  McAden,  Rev.  James  F.  Armstrong,  Eev.  James  Dun- 
lap,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Irwin,  and  Rev.  John  Ross,  the  latter  being 
one  of  the  first  professors  of  Dirldnson  College,  a  noted  teacher  of 
the  classics,  and  antlior  of  a  Latin  and  Greek  grammar. 

The  next  institution  of  this  kind  established  in  Chester 
County  Avas  what  was  known  as  New  Loudon  Academy.  Founded 
in  174:3,  this  school  became  a  famous  institution.  Rev.  Francis 
Aliscm  was  tlie  founder  of  the  scho(d,  Avhich  furnished  many  men 
of  distinction  to  both  church  and  State.  Among  these  noted  men 
were  Charles  Thomson,  secretary  of  the  Continental  Congress; 
Dr.  John  Ewing,  provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  Dr. 
David  Ramsey,  the  historian;  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  Rev.  James 
Latta,  D.  D.;  llev.  Matthew  Wilson,  D.  D.,  and  three  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Thomas  McKean,  George 
Reed  and  James  Smith.  In  1752  Dr.  Alison  removed  to  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  succeeded  in  the  priucipalship  of  this  school  by 
Alexander  McDowell,  who  removed  the  academy  to  Newark,  Del- 
aware, where  it  afterward  became  the  basis  upon  which  was 
founded  Delaware  College. 

In  1828  another  school,  by  the  name  of  the  New  London  Acad- 
emy, was  established,  and  was  for  many  years  a  prosperous  insti- 
tuti(m.  Some  of  its  ablest  principals  were  James  Magraw,  T. 
Marshall  Boggs,  William  S.  Graham,  W.  S.  F.  Graliam,  William  F. 
Wyers,  George  Dullield  and  Edward  1).  Porter. 

Next  after  the  early  New  Loudon  Academy  came  the  Notting- 
ham Academy,  established  in  1744  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley, 
D.  D.  At  this  institution  were  educated  some  of  the  ablest  men 
who  figured  in  the  early  history  of  the  country.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  famous  all  over  the  civil- 
ized world  for  his  scientific  attainments;  Judge  Jacob  Rush,  his 
brother;  Governor  ^lartin,  (»f  North  Carolina;  Governor  McWhor- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  365 

ter,  of  Xew  Jersey;  Governor  Henry,  of  Maryland;  Ebenezer  Haz- 
ard, Colonel  John  Bayard,  William  M.  Tennent,  D.  D.;  Eev.  Joseph 
Smith,  D.  D.;  Eev.  James  Waddell,  D.  D.,  the  blind  preacher,  who 
is  enlogized  for  his  eloquence  by  William  Wirt  in  his  "British 
Spy."  Dr.  Samuel  Finley,  according  to  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  was 
one  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  men.  His  j;chool  was  broken  up  by 
bis  removal  to  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  to  take  the  presidency  of 
the  college  at  that  place;  but  its  place  was  some  time  afterward 
well  supplied  by  the  West  Kottingham  Academy,  which  was  es- 
tablislied  in  1S12  through  the  instrumentality  of  Rev.  Dr.  James 
Magraw  and  located  in  Maryland. 

From  1793  to  181G  there  was  in  existence  an  institution  of 
learning  called  the  Brandy  wine  Academy,  near  the  Manor  meet- 
ing-house, in  what  is  now  West  Brandywine  Township.  Here  the 
classics  and  the  higher  branches  of  science  were  taught.  At  dif- 
ferent times  this  institution  was  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  M. 
McPherson,  Matthew  G.  Wallace,  John  Ralson,  John  F.  Grier  and 
Rev.  John  W.  Grier. 

Rev.  Nathan  Grier  was  in  the  early  day  a  prominent  educator, 
his  students  being  principally  theological.  From  1792  to  1814  he 
prepared  twenty  young  men  for  the  ministry,  among  them  being 
Rev.  David  McConoughey,  who  was  at  one  time  president  of  Wasli- 
ington  College,  Pennsylvania;  Rev.  John  H.  Grier,  Levi  Bull  and 
John  N.  C.  Grier. 

From  1779  to  about  1783  a  school  was  in  existence  at  Upper 
Octoraro,  called  the  Upper  Octoraro  Classical  School.  It  was  es- 
tablished by  Rev.  William  Foster,  and  came  to  an  end  with  the 
death  of  its  founder. 

From  1750  to  the  end  of  the  Eighteenth  century  the  Friends 
had  in  operation  numerous  schools  in  Chester  County.  One  was 
established  at  Birmingham  meeting-house  in  1753.  Several  were 
established  within  the  limits  of  Kennett  Monthly  Meeting,  the 
one  near  Marlborough  meeting-house  having  tAvo  acres  of  ground, 


366  CHESTER     COUNTY 

a  residence  for  the  teacher,  and  a  fund  which  in  1886,  according 
to  Wickersham,  amounted  to  |3,000.  But  there  was  one  school 
iu  existence  long  before  any  of  these,  that  in  Willistown  Town- 
the  Friends  having  purchased  ground  for  which  as  early  as  1713, 
At  an  early  day  there  were  school-houses  connected  with  the 
meeting-houses  at  New  Garden,  Marshallton,  Grove  and  West 
Grove  and  others.  In  1779  Goshen,  Bradford  and  Birmingham 
meetings  jointly  purchased  four  acres  of  ground  and  erected  a 
school-house  thereon  one-half  mile  west  of  West  Chester,  and 
Bradford,  New  Garden  and  Kennett  Monthly  Meetings  jointly  es- 
tablished a  school  iu  1781.  In  1703  Kennett  Preparative  Meeting 
purchased  a  piece  of  land  for  a  school  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
west  of  Kennett  meeting-house,  alongside  the  road  leading  to  Not- 
tingham. 

But  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  the  schools  above  referred  to 
was  that  established  in  1753  at  Birmingham  meeting-house  by  the 
Friends  on  the  site  of  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine.  For  many 
years  this  school  was  in  charge  of  John  ^''orsjthe,  one  of  the  best 
:iud  most  famous  of  the  early  teachers  of  Chester  County.  One 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  pupils  of  this  school  was  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Darlington, who  enjoyed  a  world-wide  fame  as  a  botanist.  John 
Forsythe  came  from  Ireland  to  this  country  in  1773,  when  he  was 
nineteen  years  of  age,  and  on  his  mother's  side  of  the  family  was 
a  descendant  of  the  vStuarts.  He  was  a  good  Presbyterian  when 
he  reached  this  County,  was  well  educated,  was  a  fashionable 
young  mau,  and  a  line  performer  of  the  violin.  After  coming  to 
Chester  County  he  became  a  Quaker,  and  for  many  years  was  at 
the  head  of  the  Birmingham  Classical  School.  He  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  upon  all  the  young  people  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact  in  favor  of  education,  to  the  great  gratification  of  many 
a  head  of  a  family.  For  a  short  time  he  presided  over  the  destinies 
of  the  Westtowu  Boarding  School,  a  history  of  which  is  hereafter 
introduced,  and  then  he  retired  to  his  farm  in  East  Bradford.     In 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  3^7 

ISll  be  presided  over  the  first  meeting  held  to  promote  the  estab- 
lishment of  West  Chester  Academy-,  was  one  of  the  most  liberal  con- 
tributors to  that  enterprise,  which  at  lenght  developed  into  the 
present  West  Chester  State  Normal  School. 

Before  leaving  these  early  schools  of  the  Friends  it  is  due  to 
the  Frieuds  and  to  the  schools  they  established  in  this  early  day  to 
record  the  fact  that  they  were  not  merely  the  elementary  institu- 
tions that  many  might  suppose.  Notwithstanding  that  they  were 
located  in  the  rural  districts,  their  masters  frequently  taught  the 
higher  branches  of  learning,  such  as  Algebra,  Geometry,  Men- 
suration and  Surveying.  They  also  taught,  but  less  frequently. 
History,  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy,  and  still  less  fre- 
quently Latin  and  Greek. 

About  1790  a  prominent  Friend  named  George  Churchman 
established  in  East  Nottingham,  Chester  County,  a  boarding 
school  in  Chester  County;  but  as  the  day  for  this  class  of  schools 
the  higher  branches  being  introduced.  This  was  the  first  normal 
school  in  Chester  County:  but  as  the  day  for  this  class  of  schools 
had  not  yet  arrived,  it  did  not  long  survive. 

It  is  altogether  likely  that  it  was  about  1790  that  some  of  the 
leading  Friends  began  to  consider  the  propriety  of  establishing 
a  larger  and  better  institution  of  learning  than  any  they  had  so 
far  had,  for  at  the  yearly  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  for  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  Jersey,  DelaAvare,  and  the  eastern  parts  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  the  matter  respecting  the  establishment  of  a  board- 
ing school,  which  had  been  brought  up  from  the  Philadelphia 
Quarter  in  the  year  1792,  was  entered  upon  and  considered.  At 
this  meeting  a  committee  of  fifty-four  Friends  was  appointed 
which  on  October  3,  1794,  brought  in  a  report  to  the  effect  that 
inasmuch  as  many  of  the  Friends  had  taken  into  consideration  the 
many  advantages  to  the  Society  to  be  derived  from  one  or  more 
such  institutions  in  a  suitable  place  or  suitable  places  within  the 
limits  and  under  the  care  of  the  yearly  meeting,  the  use  and  benefit 


368  CHESTER     COUXTY 

whereof  were  to  be  coutined  to  the  children  of  Friends,  etc.,  they 
were  unanimously  agreed  in  sentiment  that  an  institution  of  the 
kind  proposed,  if  managed  witli  religious  care  and  circumspection, 
might  tend  to  the  prosperity  of  truth  by  promoting  the  real  good 
of  the  rising  generation:  and  they  therefore  recommended  the 
said  proposal  to  the  yearly  meeting,  and  proposed  that  a  com- 
mittee be  appointed  to  consider  and  digest  the  plan  and  rules  for 
the  government  and  management  of  the  house,  school  and  other 
parts  of  the  economy,  etc.  This  report  was  signed  on  behalf  of 
the  committee  of  fifty-four  by  Joseph  Potts,  Thomas  Gaskill,  Dan- 
iel Smith  and  Eobert  Kirkbride. 

The  following  committee  was  then  appointed  to  carry  into 
effect  the  several  matters  contained  in  the  report  and  to  submit 
a  full  and  clear  statement  of  their  proceedings  at  the  next  yearly 
meeting:  Henry  Drinker,  Owen  Biddle,  John  Drinker,  Thomas 
Fisher,  Jesse  Foulke,  William  Jackson,  Humphrey  Marshall, 
Joshua  E.  Piisey,  Warner  Mifflin,  Jonathan  Evans,  Jr.,  ^Nicholas 
Wain,  George  Churchman,  John  Hoskins,  and  there  were  thirty- 
three  others  added  to  the  committee  on  October  2,  1795,  among 
whom  were  Phillip  Price,  Jr.,  James  Emlen,  William  Savery  and 
Eli  Yarnall. 

Plans  having  been  sufficiently  matured,  it  was  determined  to 
name  two  Friends  in  each  of  the  quarterly  meetings  to  receive  the 
voluntary  contributions  and  subscriptions  of  the  members  of  the 
society.  For  the  Philadelphia  Quarterly  Meeting  Thomas  Fisher 
and  Joseph  Sansom  were  appointed,  and  two  others  in  each  of  the 
other  quarterly  meetings,  of  which  there  were  nine.  Thomas 
Fisher  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  treasurer  of  the  committee. 
Some  of  the  Friends  who  were  interested  jiroposed  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  meeting  as  a  suitable  situation  for  the  boarding  school 
a  tract  of  land  called  Langhorne  Park,  in  Bucks  County,  twenty 
miles  out  from  Philadelphia,  bounded  on  one  side  by  the  Xesham- 
iny  Creek,  and  containing  450  acres.     Humphrey  Marshall,  Jona- 


.l.\7)     ]TS     PEOPLE.  369- 

tliau  Evans,  Owen  Biddle  and  eleven  others  Avere  named  to  view 
this  spot  and  to  i-ejxn-t  at  the  next  meeting,  they  being-  also  author- 
ized to  view  any  other  places  that  might  be  thought  more  likely 
to  answer  the  purpose. 

On  December  17,  1794,  the  Friends  above  named  reported 
that  all  of  them  but  three  had  been  to  Langliorne  Park,  but,  still 
having  one  or  more  places  they  desired  to  view,  they  wished  fur- 
ther time.  Eight  other  Friends  were  then  added  to  the  commit- 
tee, and  at  a  meeting  held  on  December  10  a  sub-committee  laid 
before  the  committee  a  description  of  several  tracts  of  land  which 
they  had  viewed,  and  it  was  ascertained  that  the  general  senti- 
ment was  in  favor  of  the  farm  of  James  Gibbons,  in  Westtown, 
Chester  County,  containing  595  acres  of  laud.  Then  Humphrey 
Marshall,  John  Pierce,  Thomas  Fisher  and  Samuel  Canby  were 
named  to  treat  with  Mr.  (ribbons  and  to  confirm  the  bargain  with 
him  if  the  terms  and  title  should  prove  satisfactory. 

In  this  case  the  deed  was  to  be  made  in  trust  to  -Jonathan 
Evans,  Joseph  Sausom,  Thomas  Morris,  Thomas  Stewardson,  .John 
Field  and  John  Wistar.  On  the  29th  of  the  same  month  articles 
of  agreement  were  signed  by  James  ( Hbbons  and  his  wife,  Eleanor, 
and  on  the  12th  of  the  1st  month,  1795,  the  above-named  commit- 
tee was  continued  to  perfect  the  bargain,  with  the  addition  to  it 
of  Henry  Drinker,  John  Morton  and  Roger  Dicks. 

This  James  Gibbons  was  one  of  the  remarkable  men  of  early 
('hester  County  history.  He  was  a  stanch  Friend,  a  non-combat- 
ant, and  retired  from  all  public  service  upon  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  a  tine  scholar,  especially  well 
versed  in  ancient  and  modern  languages,  and  at  his  residence 
opened  a  school  for  instruction  in  Latin,  French  and  Greek.  He 
was  a  competent  surveyor,  and  was  also  competent  to  make  deeds 
and  wills.  His  judgment  was  so  universally  respected  that  hiis 
neighbors  often  submitted  their  disputes  to  him,  and  almost  al- 
ways abided  by  his  decision,  feeling  satisfied  that  they  had  ob- 
tained justice  as  nearly  as  it  was  possible  for  them  to  obtain  it 


370  CU  ESTER     COUNTY 

The  aggregate  price  be  received  for  his  farm  was  £G,083  6s  8d. 
lu  regard  to  the  account  in  Futhey  and  Cope's  History  of  Chester 
County  of  the  attempt  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  that  went 
to  visit  him  to  make  a  sharp  bargain  for  his  farm  by  trying  to  beat 
him  down  £1  per  acre,  a  certain  writer  in  "The  Friend,"  No.  25, 
Yo\.  LV,  states  that  there  was  no  Englishman  on  the  committee, 
all  being  natives  of  this  country',  ami  that  it  was  not  the  custom  of 
the  Friends  to  conduct  business  through  a  chairman.  The  four 
Friends  that  made  the  bargain  with  Mr.  Gibbons  for  this  farm 
were  John  Pierce,  of  Tliornbury,  Delaware  County;  Samuel  Canby, 
Wilmington,  Delaware;  Humphrey  Marshall,  of  Marshallton, 
Chester  County,  and  Thomas  Fisher,  and  to  the  perfecting  of  the 
bargain  three  others  were  added,  viz.:  Drinker,  Morton  and  Dicks, 
as  stated  above. 

On  March,  23,  1795,  Thomas  Stewardson,  Benjamin  Sweet, 
John  Drinker  and  Owen  Biddle  were  desired  to  attend  at  James 
Gibbons'  house,  on  the  first  of  the  next  month,  to  get  the  deed  exe- 
cuted. Then,  having  attended  to  the  arbitration  of  water  rights 
on  Chester  Creek  with  Eobert  Green  and  William  Ashbridge,  the 
details  of  which  would  require  too  much  space  for  introduction 
here,  it  may  be  next  stated  that  the  committee  were  informed, 
probably  in  the  fifth  month,  1795,  that  John  Elliott,  of  London, 
from  a  desire  to  promote  the  institution,  had  authorized  Henry 
Drinker  to  draw  on  him  for  £100  to  be  applied  for  its  benefit.  A 
milldam  and  a  mill  were  then  erected  northwest  of  Walnut  Hill, 
not  far  from  the  northern  boundary  of  the  farm  and  south  of  Ches- 
ter Creek.  A  meeting  of  the  boarding  school  committee  was  held 
at  the  farm  on  August  17,  1795,  those  present  being  John  Shoe- 
maker, Owen  Biddle,  John  Wistar,  Jonathan  Evans  and  eight 
others,  who  "viewed  the  eminence  north  of  the  old  mansion,  re- 
markable for  the  fine  i:)rospect  it  affords."  On  the  18th  of  the 
same  month  the  committee  of  women  Friends  were  invited  to  pro- 
cure feather  beds,  pillows,  mattresses,  etc.,  for  the  accommodation 


GEORGE  M.  PHILIPS. 


AXD     /7W     PEOPLE.  373 

of  such  members  of  the  committee,  meu  or  women,  us  might  occa- 
sionally attend  to  the  dnties  of  their  appointment  at  that  place. 
This  is  the  first  mention  of  women  in  connection  with  the  pro- 
ceedings, and  at  the  meeting  of  September  16  three  of  the  seven 
women  Friends  named  by  the  yearly  meeting  were  in  attendance. 

A  road  was  opened  on  the  east  side  of  the  farm  to  connect 
with  Marlboro  Street  road  and  Goshen  Township  road,  and  a 
building  committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  Jonathan  Evans, 
Owen  Biddle,  Thomas  Morris,  Thomas  Stewardson  and  Joseph 
Sansom,  the  building  to  stand  on  the  eminence  mentioned  above, 
north  of  the  old  mansion.  The  size  of  the  building  finally  deter- 
mined upon  was  100  feet  front,  56  feet  deep,  and  three  stories  in 
height. 

A  notable  donation  was  offered  to  this  school  about  the  first 
of  February,  1790,  by  John  Dawson  Coates,  a  Friend,  and  then 
a  late  banker  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  the  donation  amounting  to  |500, 
Irish  currency,  which  was  accepted  by  the  committee,  Henry 
Drinker,  Thomas  Fisher  and  three  others  being  appointed  to  re- 
ceive it.  John  Pemberton  in  his  will  left  22|  pistoles  annually 
to  the  institution  after  his  widow's  death,  the  annual  amount  be- 
ing $80.10.  Henry  Drinker  also  made  a  donation  of  a  tract  of  land 
containing  4,9S9f}  acres  in  Luzerne  County,  Pennsylvania.  Bar- 
tholomew Wistar,  in  his  will,  left  £150  to  the  school,  and  James 
Emleu,  in  his  will,  £100.  Samuel  Walles  gave  802^  acres  of  land 
in  Luzerne  County,  and  on  February  15,  1799,  Richard  and  Cath- 
arine Hartshorne  offered  to  take  charge  of  the  family  of  the  board- 
ing school  "without  any  view  to  pecuniary  satisfaction,  which  it 
is  stated  they  cannot  agree  to  receive."  This  offer  was  accepted 
by  the  committee. 

The  school  was  finally  opened  on  May  6,  1799,  and  on  July  19, 

at  the  request  of  the  teachers  in  the  school,  the  following  visiting 

committee  was   appointed:    Benjamin    Sweet,  Philip    Price,  Jr., 

Henry  Drinker  and  Eli  Yarnall.     On  November  15,  the  number  of 

22 


374  CHEl^TEE     COUNTY 

applicants  for  admission  to  the  school  had  reached  300,  and  it  was 
decided  to  discontinue  entering  names.  About  this  time  Kichard 
Hartshorne  desiring  to  retire  from  the  position  of  superintendent 
of  the  institution,  Jonathan  Evans,  Eli  Yarnall,  Philip  Pi-ice,  Jr., 
Abraham  Sharpless,  Catharine  Wistar,  Rachel  Malin  and  Mar- 
garet Marshall  took  upon  themselves  the  charge  of  attending  to 
the  wants  of  the  family.  Philip  Price  is  thought  to  have  been 
superintendent  temporarily  until  January  i,  1800,  when  Joshua 
Sharpless  took  charge,  receiving  for  his  services  £100  per  year. 
About  this  time  or  soon  afterward  it  was  deemed  necessary,  in 
order  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  institution,  to  raise  the  price 
of  board  and  tuition  to  £30  per  year  for  boys  and  £25  10s.  for  girls. 

At  Ihe  opening  of  the  school  there  were  three  teachers  em- 
ployed, the  principal  being  John  Forsythe,  who  has  heretofore 
been  mentioned  as  tlie  popular  teacher  of  the  Birmingham  school. 
On  the  19th  of  the  9th  month,  1800,  at  a  meeting  at  which  were 
present  twenty-one  men  and  ten  women,  it  was  agreed  to  erect  a 
two-story  stone  house,  18x28  feet  in  size,  for  the  accommodation 
of  a  teacher.  And  it  w^as  also  decided  to  erect  a  building  for  an 
infirmary  on  the  east  side  of  the  plantation,  G4x27  feet  in  size. 
The  original  cost  of  the  farm  and  buildings  was  about  .|4G,000, 
but  there  have  been  many  additions  and  improvements  since  that 
time,  and  it  is  altogether  likely  that  the  expenditures  on  the  prop- 
erty now  exceed  .^300,000. 

On  January  21,  1811,  a  stone  house  having  been  erected  op- 
posite the  lane  east  of  the  schoolhouse,  which  it  was'believed  was 
designed  for  a  store,  with  which  it  was  apprehended  it  would  be 
difficult  to  prevent  improper  communications  on  the  part  of  the 
scholars,  it  was  determined  to  purchase  the  property,  which  in- 
cluded one  and  one-half  acres  of  land,  the  price  asked  being  .f  1,300. 
About  the  same  time  it  was  decided  to  make  the  salary  of  the 
superintendent  of  the  school  |500  per  year. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  matters  with  which  the  management 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  375 

had  to  contend  was  that  of  making-  the  income  meet  the  expendi- 
tures. The  price  of  tuition  and  board  was  often  changed  to  meec 
changed  conditions,  but  if  it  were  placed  high  enough  to  meet  the 
cost  then  students  fell  off,  and  the  aggregate  income  was  reduced. 
If  the  price  were  placed  low  enough  to  attract  plenty  of  students, 
then  the  aggregate  cost  of  board  and  tuition  was  so  increased  that 
the  income  was  too  small.  When  the  charge  for  board  and  tuition 
was  placed  at  floO  jjer  year,  the  cost  of  such  board  and  tuition 
was  more  than  |200,  so  that  there  was  a  deficiency  on  each  pupil's 
payments  to  the  extent  of  more  than  .fSO  per  year.  Another  diffi- 
culty was  that  teachers  would  remain  in  the  school  only  long- 
enough  to  find  other  positions  at  better  pay,  and  hence  as  early 
as  1834  it  was  suggested  that  the  only  way  to  secure  the  services 
of  competent  teachers  was  to  establish  a  permanent  fund,  the  in- 
terest of  which  should  be  applied  so  far  as  it  would  go  to  the  pay- 
ment of  salaries  to  the  best  teachers  that  could  be  obtained  by  the 
payment  of  adequate  salaries.  Such  a  fund  was  afterward  estab- 
lished. 

In  1844  the  farm  was  carefully  surveyed,  and  found  to  con- 
tain 599  acres,  2  rods  and  34  perches. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  institution  a  library  was  added  to 
the  other  educational  features,  comprising-  a  considerable  variety 
of  woi'ks  on  history,  biography,  science  and  general  literature. 
Extensive  philosophical  and  chemical  apparatus  was  introduced, 
and  the  regular  course  of  study  was  so  arranged  and  selected  as 
to  confer  the  greatest  possible  benefit  upon  the  students.  This 
school  was  established  with  the  view  mainly  of  instructing  the 
young  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Friends,  first  educating  the  mind  in 
such  a  way  and  to  such  a  degree  that  it  could  readily  comprehend 
tliem  and  perceive  their  beauty.  This  idea  was  well  expressed 
by  William  Evans  in  his  journal  in  1853,  when  he  said:  "There  is 
something-  of  importance  that  money  cannot  purchase.  It  is  that 
Friends  should  be  preserved  under  a  right  exercise  that  the  insti- 


376  CHESTER     COrXTY 

tiitiou  may  be  couducted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  support  the  primi- 
tive doctrines  and  testimonies  of  the  Friends,  and  educate  the  chil- 
dren in  them.  This  was  the  original  couceru,  and  that  has  been 
blessed,"  and  Mr.  Evans  expressed  his  belief  that  as  Friends  kept 
to  this  ground  a  blessing  would  continue  to  rest  upon  the  school. 

From  the  beginning  of  this  school  both  sexes  have  been  ad- 
mitted to  its  benefits,  communication  between  them  being  judi- 
ciouslv  regulated.  Since  the  division  that  occurred  in  the  Society 
of  Frinds  in  1S27,  this  school  has  been  continuously  in  the  hands 
of  the  orthodox  branch,  and  none  but  children  of  members  of  that 
branch  are  admitted  to  its  privileges.  The  school  is  now  heavily 
endowed,  and  the  cost  of  board  and  tuition  is  much  lower  than 
in  the  earlier  days.  Many  are  boarded  and  instructed  entirely 
without  expense.  Up  to  1872  the  number  of  students  that  had  at- 
tended the  school  was  4,215  boys  and  5,39G  girls.  There  has  been 
a  very  large  number  of  teachers  connected  with  the  faculty  of 
this  school,  and  some  of  them  unusually  prominent  in  their  re- 
spective callings.  Among  them  may  be  named  John  Comly, 
author  of  Comly 's  Gi*ammar;  Enoch  Lewis,  author  of  several  works 
on  mathematical  subjects;  John  Gummere,  author  of  Gummere's 
Surveying,  Astronomy,  etc.;  Joseph  Foulke,  Samuel  Alsop,  Emmor 
Kimber,  Joshua  Hoopes,  at  one  time  principal  of  a  boarding  school 
at  West  Chester,  and  a  distinguished  authority  on  botanical  sub- 
jects; Jonathan  Gause,  a.  noted  Pennsjdvania  teacher,  and  Joseph 
C.  Strode,  one  of  the  most  famous  mathematicians  in  the  United 
States. 

The  original  buildings  have  been  several  times  added  to  and 
enlarged.  The  main  building  was  175  feet  long  and  four  stories 
high,  and  in  1S(>9  a  building  was  erected  G8x54  feet  in  size.  In 
addition  to  the  school  and  farm  buildings  there  is  a  gristmill  on 
the  place.  This  school  has  very  largely  contributed  to  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  among  mankind,  and  especially  among  Friends, 
and  many  of  the  private  seminaries  conducted  by  Friends  may  be 
traced  directly  or  indirectly  to  this  famous  institution. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  377 

Since  1799  the  total  uumber  of  boys  that  have  entered  this 
school  has  been  5,350,  and  the  total  number  of  girls  G,425,  or  a 
total  enrollment  of  11,775.  Besides  these  there  have  been  a  few 
children  of  married  teachers  in  attendance  as  "day  scholars." 
At  the  present  time  (February,  1898),  owing  to  the  hard  times  of 
the  past  few  years,  there  are  but  90  boys  and  70  girls  in  attendance. 
The  highest  aA'erage  attendance  ever  reached  was  in  1810,  when 
it  was  241,  and  in  18G7,  when  it  was  243.  The  lowest  average 
attendance  was  in  1830,  when  it  was  down  to  103. 

From  the  beginning  down  to  1896  the  leading  officer  was  al- 
ways called  the  superintendent,  but  in  that  year  the  office  of  prin- 
cipal was  created.  Other  noted  teachers,  besides  those  named 
.above,  have  been  Samuel  Alsop,  Jr.,  afterward  well  known  at 
Haverford  College;  Joseph  G.  Harlan,  also  afterward  of  Haver- 
ford;  Sarah  Bailey,  leading  teacher  of  the  older  girls  for  thirty- 
five  years;  Isaac  Sharpless,  now  president  of  Haverford  College; 
J.  Henrv'  Bartlett,  now  principal  of  the  Friends'  school  at  Six- 
teenth and  Cherry  Streets,  Philadelphia,  and  Thomas  K.  Brown, 
still  at  the  school  and  author  of  a  text  book  on  Algebra.  William 
F.  Wickersham  was  appointed  in  189(5  the  first  principal  to  fill 
the  office  then  created,  a  position  which  he  still  occupies. 

During  the  year  ending  March  15,  1897,  the  expenses  of  the 
school  were  |48,S27.G5,  while  the  income  from  the  various  funds 
was  as  follows:  From  board  and  tuition,  |30,910;  from  merchan- 
dise, 1368.85;  from  farm,  $706.94;  from  income  of  fund  for  paying, 
salaries,  |734.88;  from  income  of  invested  fund  for  general  pur- 
poses, |G,825.11;  from  amount  appropriated  for  use  of  school  from 
income  of  Teachers'  and  Educational  funds,  $5,145.98,  leaving  the 
amount  against  the  institution,  |4,135.89. 

With  reference  to  the  course  of  study  pursued  at  this  insti- 
tution the  following  extract  from  the  .catalogue  of  189G  will  be 
sufficiently  specific: 

"To  suit  the  requirements  of  the  long  and  short  terms,  most 


378  CHESTER     COUNTY 

of  the  subjects  are  arranged  to  be  completed  in  three,  six,  or  nine 
months,  the  latter  time  being  the  whole  school  year.  Three  months' 
work  in  any  subject  is  technically  known  as  one  study.  Four 
studies  are  generally  taken  at  once  and  twelve  studies  constitute 
a  year's  work.  Three  years'  work,  or  thirty-six  studies,  selected 
as  hereafter  explained,  will  entitle  the  pupil  to  the  diploma  of  the 
school. 

"The  subjects  in  the  prescribed  course  are  divided  into  seven 
sections.  Section  I  embraces  English  and  Histoi*y;  Section  II, 
Science;  Section  III,  Mathematics;  Section  IV,  Latin;  Section  V, 
German;  Section  VI,  Greek,  and  Section  VII,  French. 

"A  student  may  graduate  Avhen  any  three  of  the  first  six  sec- 
tions have  been  completed,  and  enough  additional  work  has  been 
taken  from  the  other  sections  to  make  the  whole  number  of 
studies  amount  to  thirtj^-six.  Certain  subjects,  however,  are  re- 
quired of  all  students,  and  must  be  included  within  the  three 
sections  taken,  or  in  the  additional  work.  These  are  marked  *  in 
the  following  list." 

Then  follows  the  "Prescribed  Course"  for  three  years,  which 
it  is  not  considered  incumbent  on  this  work  to  present;  but  in 
order  to  show  the  limit  of  the  course  the  studies  for  the  senior 
class,  or  third  year,  are  here  appended,  with  the  studies  marked  * 
as  above  mentioned: 

"Third  Year.     Senior  Class. 

"Section  I.  English.— Moral  Philosophy*  (1).  Rhetoric*  (1). 
English  Literature*  (1).     Political  Economy  (1).     Psychology  (1). 

"Section  II.     Science. — Astronomy  (1).     Geology  (1). 

"Section  III.  Mathematics. — Analytical  Geometry  (1).  Ana- 
lytical Geometry  or  Arithmetic  (1). 

"Section  IV.  Latin.— Horace  (2).  Elective  Work  in  Ca?sar, 
Vergil  or  Cicero  (1). 

"Section  V.  German. — William  Tell,  die  Harzreise,  etc. 
Eapid  Eeading.     Narration.     Sight  Reading. 


AXIJ     ITS     PIX)I'LE.  379 

"Section  VI.      Greek. — Herodotus.       Homer.       Plato's  Apul- 
■ooy." 

The  first  successful  movemeut  looking  to  the  establishment 
of  an  institution  of  learning  in  West  Chester  was  made  in  1811,  in 
■wliicli  year  the  West  Chester  Academy  was  incorporated.  It  was 
one  of  the  leading  schools  of  its  class  for  fifty  j-ears.  The  academy 
was  established  for  the  reason  that  the  Chester  County  Academy, 
which  had  then  been  recently  endowed  by  the  State  Legislature 
with  |2,000,  did  not  suit  many  of  the  citizens  of  West  Chester  as  to 
its  location.  Under  the  lead  of  William  Hemphill  nearly  |8,000 
was  promptly  subscribed  by  the  citizens  of  West  Chester  and 
vicinity  for  the  establishment  of  this  institution  in  their  midst. 
An  acre  of  land  was  purchased  on  which,  in  1812,  a  building  was 
erected,  and  the  institution  duly  launched  upon  its  career.  But 
the  war  with  England  which  broke  out  in  1812  prevented  the 
academy  from  receiving  the  attention  it  would  otherwise  have 
received  at  the  beginning,  and  its  growth  was  consequently 
checked  to  some  extent  thereby.  The  first  teachers  in  the  school 
were  Dr.  John  Gemniil  and  Jonathan  Cause,  the  former  having 
charge  of  the  classical  department,  and  the  latter  of  the  mathe- 
matical. Dr.  Gemmil  died  in  1814,  and  soon  afterward  Mr.  Gause 
became  the  principal  teacher,  holding  the  position  most  of  the 
time  until  1829,  when  he  resigned  to  establish  a  private  school. 
During  the  time  Mr.  Gause  was  principal  the  academy  flourished, 
in  the  meantime  receiving  in  1817  a  grant  of  |1,000.  Many  men 
who  afterward  became  distinguished  were  educated  at  West 
Chester  Academy  while  Mr.  Gause  was  in  charge,  among  them 
jSlmrod  Strickland,  Washington  Townsend,  John  Hickman,  Jo- 
seph Hemphill,  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington,  William  W.  Jefferis, 
James  B.  Everhart  and  Dr.  George  Smith,  the  latter  of  whom 
served  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  wrote  what  is  still  the 
best  "History  of  Delaware  County.'' 

From  1829  to  1831  the  academy  had  several  different  princi- 


38o       ,  CHESTER     COLXTY 

pals,  but  in  this  latter  year  a  noted  individual,  Jean  Antoine 
Bruniu  de  Bolniar,  a  native  of  France,  became  principal,  and  re- 
mained in  charge  until  1840.  Mr.  Bolmar  was  one  of  the  most 
energetic  of  teachers,  and  is  still  remembered  with  great  respect. 
Under  his  direction  the  school  reached  the  zenith  of  its  fame  and 
usefulness,  being  crowded  with  pupils.  From  1840  to  1854  this 
academy  was  in  charge  of  James  Oowell,  and  from  1854  to  1800 
William  F.  Wyers  was  the  principal.  During  this  latter  period 
it  became  necessary  to  erect  new  buildings  in  order  to  accommo- 
date the  scholars,  and  when  Mr.  Wyers  wi-thdrew  in  1800  he  was 
succeeded  by  J.  Hunter  Worrall  and  Eugene  Paulin,  they  remain- 
ing in  charge  until  1809,  when  the  institution  was  closed  as  a 
separate  and  distinct  school,  and  merged  into  the  W^est  Chester 
State  Normal  School. 

This  change  came  about  through  a  proposition  made  in  1809 
by  the  trustees  of  the  W^est  Chester  Academy  to  the  citizens  of 
West  Chester,  to  the  effect  that  the  change  be  made.  The  citizens 
responded  in  a  most  liberal  manner,  raising  more  than  |40,000  for 
the  purpose.  At  the  same  time  the  trustees  of  the  Chester  County 
Cabinet  of  Natural  Sciences,  which  was  founded  in  1820,  merged 
their  property  and  valuable  collections  into  the  enterprise.  Alto- 
gether there  was  raised  |75,000,  and  much  valuable  property  in 
the  shape  of  libraries,  museums,  etc.,  was  contributed.  Ten  acres 
of  ground  in  the  southern  part  of  the  borough  of  West  Chester 
were  purchased  from  the  Hon.  Wayne  MacVeagh,  and  upon  this 
land  in  1870-71,  the  original  building,  comprising  about  one-third 
of  the  present  main  building,  a  cut  of  which  as  it  now  appears  is 
here  introduced,  was  erected. 

This  building  was  opened  in  the  fall  of  1S71,  with  Ezekiel  H. 
Cook,  a  graduate  of  Bowdoin  College,  as  principal,  and  a  strong 
faculty'  of  teachers.  There  were  about  100  students  in  attendance 
during  the  first  year,  but  from  various  causes  the  first  year's  work 
was  not  Avholly  a  success,  and  at  its  close  the  Principal  and  scv- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  381 

oral  members  of  the  faculty  resij;iied.  The  secoud  year  opeued 
with  Dr.  William  A.  Chandler,  a  ^^radnate  of  the  University  of 
Michigan,  as  principal,  and  with  a  decreased  attendance.  Dr. 
Chandler  resigned  at  the  beginning  of  the  spring  term  of  1873, 
having  served  as  Principal  about  six  months.  He  was  immedi- 
ately succeeded  by  Professor  (ieorge  L.  Maris,  also  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Michigan,  and  who  had  just  completed  his  terra 
as  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  of  Chester  County.  Pro- 
fessor Maris  found  the  school  greatly  reduced  in  numbers,  and  for 
more  than  eight  yeai's  labored  diligently  and  successfully  in  build- 
ing up  and  maintaining  the  school. 

The  first  addition  to  the  original  main  building  was  erected 
in  1878-79,  being  the  north  wing  of  the  building  as  it  is  to-day. 
The  first  class  graduated  under  Professor  Maris'  administration 
in  1874,  and  he  resigned  in  1881  to  accept  a  professorship  in 
Swarthmore  College  as  well  as  the  Superinteudency -of  the  Friends' 
schools  connected  with  the  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting. 

Professor  Maris  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  George  Morris  Philips, 
the  present  Principal  of  the  school.  Dr.  Philips  had  previously 
been  connected  with  the  scho(d  as  professor  of  higher  mathematics 
frona  the  close  of  Professor  Chandler's  principalship  in  the  spring 
of  1873  until  the  summer  of  1878,  when  he  became  professor  of 
mathematics  and  astronomy  at  his  alma  mater,  the  University  at 
Lewisburg,  Pennsj'lvania,  now  Bucknell  University.  This  posi- 
tion he  resigned  in  1881  when  he  succeeded  Professor  Maris  in 
the  principalship  of  the  Normal  school.  Upon  the  accession  of 
Dr.  Philips  to  this  i^osition  the  school  at  once  entered  upon  a 
period  of  growth  and  prosperity,  which  has  caused  it  to  be  geu- 
erally  recognized  as  the  foremost  Normal  School  in  the  State,  ami 
(-ne  of  the  foremost  in  the  entire  country.  Its  students  ha^e 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  quadrupled  during  this  period,  and  its  faculty 
has  grown  in  the  same  proportion  and  has  been  greatly  strength- 
ened, until  it  is  now  scarcely  equaled  for  scholarship  and  experi- 
ence in  teaching  by  that  of  any  other  normal  school  in  the  country. 


382  CHESTER     COUNTY  ' 

The  south  wing  of  the  main  building  was  begun  during  the  first 
year  of  Dr.  Philips'  incumbency,  and  it  was  soon  followed  by  the 
laundry  and  boiler  building  in  1885,  the  dining-room,  chapel  and 
Sanitary  towers  in  1880-87,  the  gymnasium  in  1890,  the  Principal's 
residence  and  infirmary  in  1891-92,  the  recitation  liall  in  1892-93, 
tlie  kitchen  and  storeroom  in  1893.  Four  acres  were  added  to  the 
original  Mac^'eagh  lot  in  1889,  to  the  northward;  five  acres  were 
purchased  and  also  a  site  for  the  infirmary  in  1891;  the  grounds 
of  the  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society  in  1895,  and  a  piece 
adjoining  the  latter  tract  in  1898,  increasing  the  original  ten  acres 
1<i  forty-six.  In  1890  a  complete  electric  light  plant  and  a  large 
elevator  were  put  in,  and  in  the  aggregate  the  i)roperty  of  the 
school  has  up  to  the  present  time  (1898)  cost  about  |500,000. 

The  enrollment  of  students  each  year  is  about  1,000,  and 
these  students  come  from  all  parts  of  Pennsylvania  and  from  other 
states  of  the  Union,  and  also  some  from  foreign  countries.  Each 
year  the  school  graduates  a  hundred  or  more  young  men  and 
women  well  equipped  for  the  profession  of  teaching,  which  pro- 
fession, with  but  few  exceptions,  they  enter  upon,  and  they  are 
almost  universally  successful.  Its  graduates  now  number  more 
than  a  thousand,  almost  all  of  them  at  present  eugaged  in  teacli- 
ing,  winning  success  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  while  its  under- 
graduates number  nearly  ten  times  as  many  as  its  graduates. 

The  school  is  well  equipped  in  all  departments;  its  grounds 
fire  ample  and  handsomely  laid  out  and  improved,  and  its  buihl- 
ings  are  pronouuced  by  all  who  have  seen  them  to  be  the  finest 
State  Normal  School  buildings  in  the  United  States.  They  are 
constructed  of  green  or  serpentine  stone  from  quarries  in  Chester 
County,  and  are  substantial  and  massive.  Its  gymnasium  has 
long  been  admitted  to  be  the  best  and  most  completely'  equipped 
of  any  of  its  class  in  the  country,  and  it  is  scarcely  second  to  that 
of  any  of  the  first-class  universities.  Its  library  is  large,  well- 
selected,  aud  is  constantly  increasing,  and  it  possesses  valuable 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE. 


383 


botanical,  zoological  and  mineralogical  collections.  Every  de- 
partment of  the  school  is  well  equipped  with  the  necessary  ap- 
paratus, and  the  school,  as  a  whole,  is  in  a  thoroughly  first-class 
and  efficient  condition.  It  is  now  larger  and  more  prosperous 
than  at  any  time  in  the  past,  and  gives  every  evidence  of  con- 
tinued and  increasing  success. 

The  faculty  of  the  school  during  the  year  1897-98  was  as  fol- 
lows: 


George   Morris    Philips,    A.  M., 

Ph.  D.,  Principal. 
David  M.  Sensenig,  M.  S., 

Higher  Mathematics. 
C.  B.  Cochran,  A.  M., 

Physics  and  Chemistry. 
Elvira  Y.  Speakman, 

Geography  and  Spelling. 
A.  Thomas  Smith,  Ph.  D., 

Pedagogy. 
Francis  H.  Green,  A.  M., 

English. 
Eva  J.  Blanchard, 

Principal  of  Model  School. 
C.  E.  Ehinger,  M.  D., 

Director  of  Gymnasium. 
Charlotte  X.  Hardee,  Mus.  B., 

Music. 
Esther  M.  Groome, 

Drawing  and  Writing. 
S.  C.  Schmucker,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D., 

Biological  Sciences. 
Foster  H.  Starkey,  A.  M., 

Languages. 
Joseph  S.  Walton,  Ph.  D., 

History  and  German. 


Cora  E.  Everett, 

Beading. 
J.  W.  F.  Wilkinson,  A.  M., 

Higher  Mathematics. 
Joseph  J.  Bailey, 

Manual  Training. 
Lydia  A.  Martin,  M.  E., 

Mathematics. 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Sensenig,  M.  E., 

Mathematics. 
Sara  S.  Kirk,  M.  E., 

English  Grammar. 
Mrs.  C.  E.  Ehinger, 

Physical  Culture. 
Helen  H.  Ely,  M.  E., 

Model  School. 
Robert  Anderson,  A.  B., 

Mathematics. 
William  S.  Delp,  M.  E., 

Bookkeeping      and      Mathe- 
matics. 
Anna  M.  Esler,  M.  E., 

Reading  and  Grammar. 
Elizabeth  F.  Criley,  M.  E., 

English  Branches. 


384  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Elizabeth  D.  Perry,  Ethel  M.  Davie, 

3Iusic.  Model  School. 

Louis  J.  Palmer,  A.  M.,  Humphrey  M.  Carpenter, 

Latiu  and  History.  Violin,  Flute  and  Violoncello. 

Harriet  Baldwin,  Edgar  H.  Sensenich,  B.  E., 

Pedagogy  and  Latin.  Secretary. 

Carl  G.  vSchrader,  Alice  Cochran, 

Assistant  in  Gymnasium.  Librarian. 
Nathena  P.  Young, 

Assistant  in  Gymnasium. 

George  Morris  Philips,  Ph.  D.,  Principal  of  the  West  Chester 
State  Normal  Sc;hool,  was  born  in  Penningtonville  (now  Atglen), 
Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  October  28,  1851.  Having  i-e- 
ceived  his  elementary  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  village, 
and  his  academic  education  in  the  high  school  there  taught  by 
Prof.  William  E.  Buck,  he  then  attended  the  Lewisburg  University, 
now  Bucknell  Universitj',  graduating  from  this  latter  institution 
in  1871.  He  was  immediately  elected  professor  of  mathematics  in 
Monongahela  College,  and  tilled  that  position  for  about  two  years, 
resigning  in  1873  to  accept  a  similar  position  in  the  West  Chester 
State  Normal  School,  which  position  he  retained  five  years.  Then 
resigning  this  latter  position  he  accepted  the  professorship  of 
mathematics  and  astronomy  in  Lewisburg  University,  which  he 
retained  until  1881,  when  he  was  chosen  princiixil  of  the  West 
Chester  State  Normal  School,  and  has  held  this  position  ever  since. 

During  his  administration  of  this  office  the  attendance  at  the 
Normal  School  has  trebled,  more  than  |300,000  has  been  expended 
in  permanent  improvements,  and  the  school  has  come  into  the  first 
rank  of  Nonual  Schools  in  this  country.  Dr.  Philips  is  a  member 
of  the  College  and  University  Council  of  Pennsylvania;  a  director 
of  the  National  Bank  of  Chester  County  and  of  the 
Dime  Savings  Bank  of  West  Chester;  president  of  the  Chester 
County  Historical  Society;  a  trustee  of  Bucknell  University,  and  a 


.LA7)     /7',S'     PEOPLE.  385 

luauager  of  the  Chester  Couuty  Hospital.  He  is  tlie  author  of 
several  popular  and  widely  read  text  books,  is  a  popular  lecturer 
and  institute  instructor.  In  1SS8  he  was  elected  president  of 
r>ucknell  University,  and  in  1890  was  tendered  by  Gov.  Beaver  the 
State  Superintendency  of  Public  Instruction  of  Pennsylvania,  both 
of  which,  in  addition  to  various  other  tempting  positions,  he  de- 
clined. He  is  a  Son  of  the  Revolution,  being  a  great-grandson  of 
Lieut.  John  Philips  of  the  Bevolutiouary  Army.  In  1877  he  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  M.  Pyle,  daughter  of  William  H.  Pyle,  of 
Chester  County,  and  has  two  children,  Willie  P.  and  Sarah  E. 

After  retiring  from  the  principalship  of  A^'est  Chester  Acad- 
emy in  1829  Jonathan  Cause  opened  a  private  school,  Avhich  he 
named  "The  West  Chester  Boarding  School  for  Young  Men  aud 
Boys."  This  institution  he  conducted  until  1832,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Cheyney  Hannum.  Then,  retiring  to  his  farm  in 
West  Bradford  Township,  he  opened  "The  Greenwood  Dell  Board- 
ing School,"  which  became  very  popular  and^was  continued  until 
1839,  when  Mr.  Gause  became  principal  of  the  Unionville  Academy, 
which  he  conducted  until  1847,  when  he  reopened  the  Greenwood 
Dell  Boarding  School  and  was  its  principal  until  1865  Then,  hav- 
ing been  a  teacher  for  more  than  fifty-seven  years,  he  retired  to  a 
well-earned  private  life. 

Joshua  Hoopes  established  "The  Downingtown  Boarding  School 
for  Boys'"  in  1817,  and  continued  it  until  1834,  when  he  removed 
to  West  Chester,  aud  there  opened  "Hoopes'  Boarding  School  for 
Boys,"  which  he  continued  until  18G2,  when,  on  account  of  advanc- 
ing age,  he  ceased  to  teach. 

Edward  Sparks  in  1816  established  "The  East  Bradford  Board- 
ing School  for  Boys,"  and  was  succeeded  in  the  principalship 
thereof  in  1818  by  Joseph  C.  Strode,  who  remained  its  principal, 
with  an  occasional  interval,  until  1846.  Lewis  Levis  then  became 
t))e  principal  and  conducted  the  school  until  18.57,  when  Mr.  Levis 
closed  the  school  and  became  a  teacher  in  the  school  being  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Bolmar. 


386  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Mrs.  Phelps'  Young  Ladies'  Boarding  School  was  established 
in  1838,  by  a  joint  stock  company,  the  company  erecting  an  elegant 
edifice  in  West  Chester  for  the  accommodation  of  young  ladies. 
This  school  was  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Almira  IT.  Lincoln  Phelps,  an 
accomplished  lady,  and  well  known  as  the  author  of  a  work  ou 
botany.  Townsend  Eachus  was  the  principal  mover  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  schodl,  wliicli  flourished  abundantly  while  in 
charge  of  Mrs.  Phelps.  However,  at  length  the  comjiany  failed, 
and  the  property  was  sold  bj-  the  sheriff,  being  purchased  in  1840 
by  Anthony  Bolmar,  who  is  often  referred  to  as  the  Napoleon  ijf 
teachers.  Mr.  Bolmar  converted  the  school  into  a  boarding  school 
for  young  men  and  boys,  and  it  became  widely  known,  attracted 
numerous  pupils  even  from  the  Southern  States  and  West  Indies, 
and  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  most  floiirishing  institutions  of  the  kind 
in  tlie  land.  The  school  was  noted  for  its  thoroughly  systematic 
and  exact  discipline,  and  its  principal  was  too  watchful  ever  to  be 
outwitted  by  any  of  his  pupils.  He  was  the  author  of  several  edu- 
cational works  for  the  instruction  of  pupils  in  French.  He  re- 
mained at  the  head  of  the  institution  until  1859,  when  business  re- 
quired his  presence  in  France,  and  during  his  absence  from  this 
country  the  school  was  closed.  Upon  his  return  he  made  an  at- 
tempt to  reopen  it,  but  his  health  was  too  badly  shattered,  and  he 
died  February  27,  1861,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years,  leaving  a 
widow  and  six  children. 

From  1862  to  1865  the  property  was  occupied  by  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Military  Academy,  under  the  presidency  of  Col.  Theodore 
Hyatt,  in  the  latter  year  being  removed  to  Chester.  The  property 
was  then  purchased  by  another  of  Chester  County's  noted  teachers, 
William  F.  Wyers,  who  in  1866  opened  a  school  therein,  called  by 
him  "Wyers'  Scientific  and  Classical  Institute  for  Boys."  This 
school  Mr.  Wyers  conducted  until  his  death  in  1871.  Mr.  Wyers 
was  succeeded  by  Robert  M.  McGlellan,  who  conducted  the  school 
for  two  years,  when  the  property  was  purchased  for  the  Catholic 


AND     ITti     PEOPLE.  387 

Convent  of  the  Immaculate  Heart,  and  a  school  establisheil  thereiu 
entitled  "Villa  Maria  Academy  for  Young  Ladies,"  which  has  since 
been  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Immaculate  Heart.  Under 
their  efficient  management  the  original  property  has  more  than 
trebled  in  value,  and  several  spacious  additions  have  been  made 
to  the  buildings,  among  them  an  exquisite  building  of  Avondale 
stone  containing  chapel  and  commencement  hall.  A  fifth  story 
lias  been  addeil  to  the  entire  main  building,  and  an  extensive  north 
wing,  for  the  use  of  the  community,  raised  to  an  equal  height. 

Villa  Maria  has  an  attendance  of  about  one  hundred  ami 
twenty  resident  pupils,  and  the  course  of  study  is  arranged  on  a 
modern  basis,  conducive  to  a  most  thorough  training.  The  de- 
partments are  four  in  number,  viz.:  primary,  intermediate,  senior 
and  academic.  The  instniction  includes  a  systematic  course  in 
English,  mathematics,  elementary  sciences,  Latin,  German, 
French,  history,  bookkeeping,  drawing  and  music,  the  latter  in  all 
its  branches. 

In  December,  1894,  a  purchase  of  four  acres  was  annexed  to 
the  convent  property  upon  which,  in  September,  1895,  a  boarding 
school  for  small  boys  was  opened  under  the  title  of  St.  Aloysius 
Academy,  the  present  number  of  pupils  here  being  twenty-seven, 
and  the  lads  are  laying  a  first-class  foundation  for  a  future  busi^ 
ness  or  college  course. 

Mr.  McClellan,  above  mentioned,  moved  his  school  to  the 
Evans  school  property,  on  West  Union  Street,  which  is  now  partly 
occupied  by  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  where  he  continued 
to  teach  .a  few  years  longer. 

Emmor  Kiniber  in  1817  established  the  French  Creek  Board- 
ing School  for  Girls,  the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  the  Kim- 
berton  Boarding  School  when  a  postoffice  was  established  there, 
named  Kimberton,  .January  15,  1820,  Mr.  Kimber  being  made  the 
first  postmaster.  This  school  was  conducted  on  principles  quite 
different  from  those  usually  in  operation  in  such  schools,  there 


388  CHEtiTER     COUNT  y 

being  no  rules  iu  operation,  the  entire  plan  of  government  being 
based  on  tlie  Golden  Kule.  In  the  management  and  teaching  of 
the  pupils  attending  this  school,  Mr.  Kimber  was  aided  hy  his 
accomplished  daughters,  and  all  of  them,  father  and  daughters, 
had  the  faculty  of  maintaining  an  invisibLe  government,  which  was 
none  the  less  effective  because  it  was  based  entirely  upon  the  sense 
of  honor  of  the  pupils,  who  came  not  onl}^  from  other  States,  but 
also  from  the  West  Indies.  Mr.  Kimber  died  in  1850,  and  the 
school  was  closed  after  a  most  useful  career  of  thirty-three  years. 

Afterward  a  school  was  conducted  at  the  same  place  by  the 
Kev.  J.  K.  Dimm. 

George  Pierce  established  the  Brandywine  Boarding  School 
iu  ISIG,  and  conducted  it  until  1823,  when  it  was  closed. 

Rev.  Francis  Alison  Latta  established  Moscow  Academy,  a 
classical  and  literary  institution,  in  Sadsbury  Township,  in  182G, 
and  it  was  a  successful  institution  for  some  years,  though  under 
different  principals.  It  closed  its  career  in  1840.  Rev.  Mr.  Latta 
was  a  tine  scholar,  especially  in  the  classics  and  theology,  and 
was  a  Presbyterian  minister.     He  died  April  21,  1834. 

Rev.  James  Latta  in  1830  opened  Mantua  Female  Seminary,  a 
sort  of  companicn  school  to  Moscow  Academy,  and  located  only  a 
short  distance  from  it.  For  several  years  it  had  a  successful 
career. 

LTuionville  Academy  was  established  in  1834  by  the  liberalitj' 
of  citizens  in  the  vicinitj',  who  donated  the  land  and  erected  the 
buildings.  It  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
successful  private  schools  iu  the  county.  Among  its  principals 
were  such  men  as  Milton  White,  Gaylord  L.  More,  Cheyney  Hau- 
num,  James  Fling,  Jonathan  Gause,  Milton  Durnall,  Henry  S. 
Kent,  Jacob  W.  Harvej',  A.  A.  Meader,  and  among  its  illustrious 
pupils  were  Bayard  Taylor  and  James  P.  Wickersham. 

Evan  Pugh  opened  a  school  for  young  men  in  1847  in  East 
Nottingham  Township,  which  was  known  as  Jordan  Bank  Acad- 


..-/^^^^^^^^vj' 


A^'D     /r^S'    PEOPLE.  391 

t'iny.  This  school  he  coudueted  iintil  1853,  when  he  went  to 
Europe,  graduated  at  the  Uuiversity  of  Heidelberg,  Avhich  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Physical  Science,  and 
upon  his  return  home  in  1859  he  at  once  became  president  of  the 
Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania. 

At  Kockville  in  Houeybrook  Township  there  was  established 
in  1848  a  school  by  the  name  of  Howard  Academy,  under  the 
principalship  of  Prof.  James  McClune,  LL.  D.,  and  the  same  school 
was  aftei'ward  conducted  by  Rev.  S.  Ogdeu,  A.  Kirkland,  and 
others,  until  1862. 

Benjamin  Price  conducted  a  school  in  East  Bradford  from 
about  1842  to  1847,  which  was  known  by  the  name  of  Prospect  Hill 
Boarding  School. 

Philip  and  Eachel  Price  in  1830  opened  Price's  Boarding 
School  for  Girls  in  West  Chester,  and  this  school  was  conducted 
by  their  daughter,  Mrs.  Hannah  P.  Davis,  until  1852,  when  it  was 
purchased  by  Miss  P.  C.  Evans  and  her  sisters.  The  school  then 
became  the  West  Chester  Female  Seminary,  and  was  conducted 
in  the  same  building  until  1872,  which  in  that  year  was  purchased 
by  Pobert  M.  McClellan,  who  established  therein  McClellan's  In- 
stitute for  Boys,  which  was  discontinued  some  years  later. 

Mary  B.  Thomas  and  her  sistere  in  1839  opened  a  boarding- 
school  for  girls,  in  Downingtown,  which  they  conducted  for  many 
years. 

Carl  Heins  had  a  similar  institution  in  the  same  town  for  boys, 
which  he  conducted  from  1800  to  his  death,  in  1865. 

F.  Donleavy  Long  in  1871  opened  in  Downingtown  the  Chester 
A'alley  Academy  for  Boys,  which  he  conducted  for  many  years. 

Alexander  Moore  opened  the  Downingtown  Academy  for  Boys 
in  1872,  and  conducted  it  for  some  years. 

Moses  Coates  conducted  a  boarding  school  in  Coatesville  from 
1834  to  1838,  and  a  select  school  was  carried  on  there  for  some 
years,  beginning  in  1871,  by  Francis  Parke  and  Benjamin  I.  Miller. 
23 


392  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  Coatesville  Academy,  under  several  different  principals,  was 
in  operation  at  Coatesville  from  1S53  to  18GS. 

The  Eaton  Institute  for  Girls  was  established  in  1843  at  Keu- 
nett  Square,  and  this  school  was  for  a  long  time  an  excellent  insti- 
tution. It  was  afterward  under  the  principalship  of  Evan  T. 
Swayne.  Joseph  B.  Phillips  had  a  noted  school  for  some  years  at 
Kennett  Square,  having  among  his  pupils  such  men  as  Bayard 
Taylor,  Dr.  Howard  Pugh,  Dr.  Elisha  Gatchell  and  Dr.  John  B. 
Phillips. 

Dr.  Franklin  Taylor,  Dr.  Elwood  Harvey  and  Prof.  Pordyce  A. 
Allen  in  1852  opened  a  normal  school  in  West  Chester,  Professor 
Allen  soon  afterward  becoming  sole  proprietor,  and  opening  in 
1860  a  female  institute  in  connection  therewith.  These  schools 
Avere  continued  until  1864.  Dr.  Franklin  Taylor  in  1875  opened 
Kennett  Academy,  and  conducted  it  for  some  years.  Dr.  Taylor 
had  previously  had  charge  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Academy,  in  West 
Chester,  from  1867  to  1870,  a  school  Avhich,  under  the  name  of  the 
Young  Ladies'  Select  School,  was  established  in  18C0  by  Miss 
Lamboru  and  Miss  Worrall,  and  it  was  conducted  by  them  until 
1867. 

The  Oxford  Female  Seminary  was  established  by  Rev.  J.  M. 
Dickey  about  1835,  always  had  a  large  number  of  students  from 
Maryland  and  Delaware,  received  the  State  appropriation  in  183S, 
and  for  many  years  was  an  excellent  institution  of  learning. 

Rev.  Alfred  Hamilton  in  1847  established  at  Fagg's  Manor  an 
institution  which,  in  honor  of  the  old  school  of  the  Blairs  at  that 
place,  he  named  "Blair's  Hall."'  It  Avas  iu  operation  about  eight 
years. 

A  school  for  females  was  in  operation  at  Parkesburg  from 
1853  for  some  years,  and  was  in  charge  of  Miss  Hannah  Cooper, 
and  later  of  the  Misses  Kelley  and  Johnson. 

Benjamin  Swayne  established  Londongrove  Boarding  School 
for  Young  Men  and  Boys  in   1849,  and  it  was  successfully  con- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  393 

In  the  same  place  Eebecca  B.  Pugli's  Boardinji-  and  Day  School 
for  Children  was  opened  in  1848,  removed  to  West  Chester  in  1854, 
condncted  there  until  1874,  when  it  was  discontinued. 

Thomas  H.  Harvey  had  a  school  for  young  men  in  Penn  Town- 
ship from  1S40  to  1855,  and  sent  out  into  the  world  many  well- 
educated  young  men,  among  them  the  celebrated  Isaac  I.  Hayes, 
Arctic  explorer. 

Thomas  Berry,  for  some  years  prior  to  1835,  conducted  a  school 
near  Fairville,  named  Harmony  Hill  Boarding  School  for  Girls. 

Jesse  D.  Sharpless  established  Fairville  Institute,  for  pupils  of 
both  sexes,  in  1854,  and  it  was  in  operation  until  1868,  as  many  as 
ninety  students  being  sometimes  in  attendance.  "■• 

Fremont  Academy  in  East  Nantmeal  Township  was  con- 
ducted from  1847  to  1858  by  Jesse  E.  Phillips. 

Oakdale  Academy  was  conducted  fi'om  1855  to  1875  by  David 
Phillips,  and  then  by  J.  C.  Guilden,  being  located  at  Pughtown. 

Ivy  Institute  for  Girls,  at  Pughtown,  was  under  the  charge  of 
Jesse  Hawley  and  his  daughters  there  from  1856  to  1870,  in  the 
latter  year  being  removed  to  Phoenixville. 

Eev.  J.  E.  Bradley  was  in  charge  of  the  Grovemont  school  at 
Phoenixville  from  1856  to  186G. 

The  Ividge  Koad  Academj  was  in  operation  from  1S52  to  1853. 
The  Springville  Academy  from  1858  to  1872;  Johnson's  School  at 
Guthrieville  from  1870  until  a  few  years  ago.  Malvern  Boarding 
School,  for  both  sexes,  under  Jane  M.  Eldridge,  was  established 
in  1860.  Thomas  Conard  and  Thomas  P.  Conard  were  success- 
ively principals  of  West  Grove  Boarding  School  for  Girls  from 
1853  to  1869.  Henry  S.  Kent  had  a  boarding  school  in  Beun  Town- 
ship from  1860  to  1863.  Hannah  M.  Cope's  Toughkenamon  Board- 
ing School  was  established  in  1867.  Abraham  Fetters  established 
Edgefield  Institute  in  Upper  UAVchlan  in  1867.  Cheyney  Hannum 
taught  a  school  in  West  Chester  from  1832  to  1838.  Mrs.  Sarah 
Fales  also  had  a  school  there  from  1838  to  1842.     Miss  Sarah  Ed 


394  CHESTER     COUNTY 

munds  bad  one  in  the  same  city  fioui  1842  to  1850.  J.  W.  Pinker- 
ton  taught  a  school  for  girls,  and  Thomas  B.  Jacobs  one  for  boys, 
in  West  Cliester  for  some  years.  James  M.  Hughes  had  a  school 
for  girls  there  from  1854  to  1858.  Miss  Barclay's  sele<-t  school  was 
located  at  No.  96  West  Miner  Street.  Miss  Emma  Dennis'  primary 
school  was  at  (!4  West  Gay  Street.  Miss  Hannah  Embree's  pri- 
mary school  was  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Church  and  Barnard 
Streets.  Miss  Mary  C.  Pratt's  day  school  for  young  ladies  was  in 
the  rear  of  the  Chester  County  Cabinet.  Miss  E.  W.  llichards' 
Young  Ladies'  Boarding  School  was  at  No.  96  East  Gay  Street. 
The  Student's  Home,  kept  by  Isabella  B.  Butler  and  Sarah  Hughes, 
was  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Market  and  High  Streets,  where  is 
now  the  Turk's  Head  Hotel. 

Edward  E.  Orvis  conducted  a  female  seminary  for  two  or 
three  years  in  New  London  called  the  New  London  Female  Semi- 
nary, beginning  May  16,  1853. 

J.  William  Thorne  began  his  boarding  school  in  Sadsbury 
Township,  four  miles  north  of  Parkersburg,  in  the  summer  of  1856, 
and  there  taught  the  Latin  and  French  languages  and  lectured  on 
English  classics,  historj'  and  astronomy.  This  school  was  discon- 
tinued in  1866. 

In  1857  the  citizens  of  Parkesburg  and  its  vicinity  had  deter- 
mined to  establish  an  academy-  at  the;  village  named,  and  organ- 
ized a  board  of  seven  trustees  for  the  purpose.  Three  acres  of 
ground  immediately  north  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  shops 
were  purchased,  and  the  school  A\as  opened  in  November,  1857,  in 
the  basement  of  the  Baptist  Church,  by  W.  ^^'.  Woodruff,  a  grad- 
uate of  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  he  being  the  only  teacher.  In  the 
summer  of  1858  a  large  building  Avas  erected  suitable  for  a  board- 
ing school,  costing,  together  with  the  grounds,  about  |7,000,  to 
which  the  schoolwas  transferred.  In  this  new  building  Mr.  Wood- 
ruff taught  until  the  spring  of  1860,  having  an  average  attendance 
of  about  thirty-live  students,  all  boys.     Professor  Woodruff,  being 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  395 

a  friend  of  the  co-educatiou  of  the  sexes,  proposed  to  lease  the 
academy  property  for  five  years,  provided  he  were  permitted  to 
receive  both  sexes  into  his  school;  but  his  proposition  being  de- 
clined by  the  trustees,  he  removed  to  West  Chester,  and  was  soon 
after  elected  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  the  county.  Several 
attempts  were  subsequently  made  to  revive  the  academy,  but  with- 
only  partial  success,  the  property  being  finally  sold  and  a  private 
school  for  both  sexes  established  and  kept  up  for  a  few  years.  The 
property  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  private  citizen,  and  is 
now  occupied  as  a  dwelling.  In  Professor  Woodruff's  academy 
were  taught  algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry,  Latin,  Greek  and 
French.  Those  who  succeeded  Professor  Woodruff  in  the  man- 
agement of  this  school  were  Kev.  David  X.  Juukin,  J.  Morgan  Raw- 
lins, Eev.  J.  Landis,  William  W.  Rupert  and  Milton  R.  Alexander. 

In  1854  an  institution  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania,  under  the  name  of  tlie  Aslimun  Institute,  for  the 
education  of  young  men  of  negro  parentage,  in  response  to  a  reso- 
lution ])assed  by  the  New  Castle  Presbytery,  October  5,  1853.  This 
resolution,  introduced  and  advocated  by  the  I{ev.  Dr.  John  Miller 
Dickey,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Oxford,  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  as  follows: 

"Considering  the  many  Christian  congregations  of  colored 
people  in  this  country  which  are  unable  to  secure  educated  minis- 
ters of  their  own  color;  considering  the  communities  of  such  peo- 
ple in  many  parts  who  need  educated  men  amongst  them  to  fill 
the  places  of  teachers  and  other  responsible  situations;  consider- 
ing the  wants  of  Liberia  and  the  importance  to  its  present  and 
future  welfare  of  having  suitably  qualified  men  to  fill  its  offices 
and  posts  of  authority,  instruction  and  influence;  considering  the 
vast  missionary  work  yet  to  be  done  in  Africa,  and  to  be  mainly 
done  by  persons  of  African  descent;  considering  how  extremelj' 
dilficult  it  is  for  coloi^ed  youth  to  obtain  a  liberal  education  in  this 
land,  arising  from  want  of  schools  for  that  purpose,  and  their  ex- 


396  CHESTER     COUNTY 

elusion  from  all  regular  institutions  of  learning  of  a  higher  grade; 
considering  the  strong  recommendation  to  that  effect  from  oiir 
board  of  education  and  its  full  indorsement  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  our  Church,  and  considering  the  favorable  indications 
of  Providence  at  this  time  apparently  calling  us  to  such  a  work: 

^'This  Presbytery,  trusting  in  God,  and  under  Him,  depending 
on  the  Christian  liberality  of  the  friends  of  the  African  race 
throughout  our  country,  do  determine  as  follows: 

"1.  That  there  shall  be  established  Avithin  our  bounds  and 
under  our  supervision  an  institution  to  be  called  the  Ashmun  In- 
stitute,* for  the  scientific,  classical  and  theological  education  of 
colored  youth  of  the  male  sex." 

Doctor  Dickey  was  in  reality  the  founder  and  the  animating 
spirit  of  the  euterimse,  and  continued  to  be  so  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  March,  1S7S.  From  the  day  of  the  inception  of 
the  institute  he  continued  to  labor  for  its  success  with  abiding 
faith.  When  it  was  in  need  of  funds,  and  there  was  no  other  way 
10  raise  them,  he  mortgaged  his  own  property  to  secure  the  nec- 
essary resources. 

Ashmun  Institute  existed  as  such  for  ten  years,  during  which 
period  it  did  good  work  without  a  fixed  curriculum  or  a  graded 
course  of  study.  Theology  was  taught  with  the  classics  and  other 
studies,  and  about  thirty  joung  men  whom  it  had  instructed  were 
sent  out  into  the  field,  twelve  of  whom  became  ministers,  and  two 
of  whom  went  as  ministers  to  Africa.  At  the  close  of  the  year, 
1865,  when  nearly  4,000,000  slaves  were  suddenly  freed  and  thrown 
upon  the  compassion  of  the  church  and  the  coimtry  with  almost 
no  education,  with  few  schools,  few  churches,  few  teachers  and 
few  preachers,  it  was  at  once  evident  that  Ashmun  Institute  was 
wholly  inadequate  to  the  work  needed  to  be  done,  and  the  charter 
secured  in  1854  was  so  amended  as  to  grant  new  and  enlarged 


*  Named  after  Jehudi  Ashmun,  well  knuwn  for  his  labors  in  Liberia. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  397 

powers  to  the  board  of  trustees  and  faculty,  increasing  their  right 
to  hold  property,  and  authorizing  them  to  confer  degrees.  The 
name  was  changed  to  that  of  the  "Lincoln  University,"  to  indicate 
the  broader  scope  it  had  acquired  and  to  honor  the  great  Emanci- 
pator. 

In  1S70,  when  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
"Old  and  New  school,"  were  reunited.  New  Castle  Presbytery, 
which  up  to  that  time  had  had  control  of  this  institution,  was  de- 
prived of  all  ecclesiastical  control  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line,  another  change  in  the  charter  became  necessary,  and  by  this 
change  the  control  of  theological  instruction  was  transferred  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States,  this  relation  between  the  institution  and  the  General  As- 
sembly still  continuing.  The  Theological  Department,  which  pro- 
vides a  full  three  years'  course,  has  been  from  the  first  the  heart 
of  the  university's  work,  but  in  1871  it  was  rearranged  and  en- 
larged. In  connection  with  this  course  there  is  a  more  limited 
one,  in  English  only.  In  1871  tAvo  other  courses  or  departments 
were  organized,  Medicine  and  Law,  which  in  1874  were  discon- 
tinued on  account  of  the  financial  depression  then  existing. 

The  catalogue  of  1897  states  that  more  than  500  young  men 
had  then  been  sent  out  from  the  Preparatory  Department  and  the 
lower  classes  in  the  Collegiate  Department,  and  that  from  the  Col- 
legiate Department  551  had  been  graduated,  after  a  course  of  in- 
struction extending  over  four  years,  and  in  many  cases  over  seven 
years,  including  the  preparatory  and  the  regular  collegiate  course. 
Most  of  these  graduates  are  engaged  in  educational  and  profession- 
al labors  in  the  Southern  States.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-five  of 
the  students  had  received  ordination  as  ministers  of  Evangelical 
Protestant  denominations,  and  thirteen  had  gone  to  Africa  as 
missionaries. 

This  university  has  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Lower  Oxford, 
Chester  County,  and  its  buildings  consist  of  a  Chapel,  the  Yail 


398  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Memorial  Library  buildino;,  University  Hall,  a  builfliuft-  for  general 
purposes;  Livingston  Hall,  for  commencement  assemblies  and  ca])- 
able  of  seating  1,000  persons;  the  Harriet  Watson  Jones  Hospital; 
Ashmim  Hall,  Lincoln  Hall,  Cresson  Hall,  and  Houston  Hall,  the 
four  containing  dormitories  for  students,  and  there  are  besides, 
nine  residences  for  the  professors.  The  value  of  the  entire  property 
of  the  university  is  now  f 250, 000;  the  professorship  fund  bearing- 
interest  is  fl40,000,  and  the  fund  for  scholarship  is  .foO,000. 

At  the  present  time  the  corps  of  professors  numbers  ten,  though 
through  the  death  of  Rev.  Gilbert  T.  Woodhull,  February  11,  1898, 
one  chair  became  vacant.  The  nine  professors  remaining  are  as 
follows:  Eev.  Isaac  N.  Eendall,  D.  D.,  president  and  professor  of 
logic,  psychology  and  ethics  since  1855;  Eev.  John  B.  Kendall,  A. 
M.,  professor  of  Latin  since  1871;  J.  Craig  Miller,  M.  D.,  professor 
of  natural  science;  Eev.  E.  L.  Stewart,  D.  D.,  i)rofessor  of  pastoral 
theology,  evidences  of  Christianity  and  Biblical  antiquities;  Eev. 
J.  Aspinwall  Hodge,  D.  D.,  professor  of  Biblical  instruction;  Wal- 
ter L.  Wright,  Jr.,  A.  M.,  professor  of  mathematics;  Eev.  William 
Deas  Kerswill,  B.  D.,  professor  of  Hebrew  and  history;  Rev.  George 
B.  Carr,  D.  D.,  professor  of  rhetoric;  Eev.  William  E.  Bingham, 
D.  D.,  instructor  in  systematic  theology. 

Eev.  Edward  Webb,  financial  secretary  of  this  institution 
from  1873  until  his  death,  was  born  in  Lowestoft,  Suffolk,  England, 
December  15,  1819,  and  was  at  different  times  pastor  of  Pres- 
byterian Churches  at  Darby,  Glasgow,  Delaware,  Andover  and  the 
Ashmun  Church  at  Lincoln  University.  His  death  occurred  sud- 
denly' from  heart  disease  just  after  he  had  taken  the  train  at 
Oxford,  Chester  County,  his  place  of  residence,  for  Philadelphia, 
on  the  morning  of  April  6,  3898. 

Ercildoun  Seminary  is  noted  in  part  for  having  been  destroyed 
by  a  tornado  or  whirlwind  July  1,  1877.  This  institution  of  learn- 
ing was  established  in  1851  by  Smedley  Darlington,  as  a  boys' 
academy,  but  in  1854  it  was  changed  to  a  school  for  girls.     The 


AXD     /TaS?     people.  399 

buikling-  was  a  four-story  structure  and  capable  of  accommodatinji- 
about  fifty  pupils.  It  was  conducted  by  its  founder  as  a  girls' 
school  for  about  seven  years,  and  then  it  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Richard  Darlington,  brother  of  Smedlej'.  Richard  Darlington, 
after  viewing  the  ruins  of  liis  property  caused  by  the  storm, 
araountiug  to  |9,500,  decided  that  it  Avould  be  best  to  change  the 
locution  of  his  school,  and  purchased  a  valuable  property,  contain- 
ing twenty-six  acres  of  land,  in  the  vicinity  of  West  Chester, 
twelve  miles  east  of  its  former  location.  Upon  this  property  he 
erected  buildings  of  the  most  approved  character,  and  had  more 
room  for  pupils  than  before.  It  was  also  believed  that  other 
advantages  besides  additional  room  would  accrue  to  it,  from 
its  being  more  easy  of  access,  and  because  of  its  being  near  to 
such  a  beautiful  and  well-situated  town. 

The  grounds  embrace  twenty-seven  acres  of  land,  lying  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  southwest  of  the  court-house  in  West 
Chester,  and  are  surrounded  by  a  line  privet  hedge.  The  build- 
ings are  four  in  number — one  of  stone,  two  of  brick  and  one  frame 
building  containing  the  gymnasium.  They  are  all  connected  by 
interior  halls.  The  main  school  building  is  45x60  feet  in  size  and 
three  stories  high.  The  second  building  contains  the  dining-room, 
capable  of  seating  frcmi  sixty  to  seventy  pupils.  The  stone  build- 
ing contains  the  double  parlors  and  office  of  the  seminary,  and  the 
fourth  or  frame  building,  as  statecj,  the  gymnasium.  The  build- 
ings, which  are  altogether  ISO  feet  long,  were  expected  expressly 
for  school  purposes,  and  contain  all  necessary  modern  improve- 
ments. They  are  all  supplied  with  pure  spring  water  by  means 
of  a  windmill,  which  tills  a  tank  in  the  upper  part  of  the  buildings. 
Excellent  spring  water  is  also  forced  up  by  a  hydraulic  ram  to  all 
the  buildings. 

The  course  of  instruction  comprises  a  thorough  P^ugiish  educa- 
tion, together  with  the  Latin,  (J reek,  German  and  French  lan- 
guages.    Music,  drawing,  crayoniug,  painting,  in  oil  and  water 


400  CHESTER     COUXTY 

colors,  are  all  tanglit.  The  Fuller  Literary  Society  holds  its  meet- 
iugs  every  week,  and  there  is  an  excellent  library  of  about  1,000 
volumes,  to  which  all  students  have  access. 

The  electric  railway  (Lenape  Branch)  passes  the  grounds  on 
the  south,  and  has  a  station  near  and  on  purpose  for  the  seminary. 

Richard  Darlington,  Ph.  D.,  is  the  Principal  of  the  school,  and 
is  assisted  by  nine  other  teachers,  seven  of  whom  are  ladies.  The 
number  of  graduates  since  1888  has  been  as  follows:  1888,  (!; 
1889,  7;  1890,  10;  1891,  3;  1892,  10;  1893,  (i;  1894,  G;  1895,  7;  1890, 
10;  1897,  7. 

The  entire  number  of  pupils  that  have  attended  this  well- 
known  institution  since  it  was  founded  is  about  2,500,  some  of 
whom  have  attained  a  wide  reputation  in  the  professions  of  teach- 
ing, medicine,  law  and  literature,  and  they  are  living  in  nearly 
every  State  of  the  Union.  The  value  of  the  sx-hool  buildings, 
grounds  and  private  dwellings  on  the  property  is  more  than  |35,- 
000.  This  school  has  prepared  a  large  number  of  pupils  for  admis- 
sion to  some  of  the  leading  colleges  of  the  country,  such  as  Wel- 
lesley,  Vassar,  Bryu  Mawr,  Swarthmore  and  others.  It  has  all 
the  features  of  a  home  school,  yet  its  numbers  give  it  the  advantage 
of  a  large  seminaiy.  Pegular  courses  of  lectures  are  given  on 
scientific  and  literary  subjects,  which  are  well  attended  and  valu- 
able. This  is  one  of  the  oldest  private  institutions  of  its  kind  in 
Eastern  Pennsylvania,  a  section  widely  known  for  its  excellent  pri- 
vate schools. 

In  1865  William  E.  Buck  of  New  Hampshire  opened  an  acad- 
emy at  Atglen  under  the  name  of  the  Penn  High  School,  which  he 
conducted  with  constantly  increasing  success  and  efficiency  for 
about  five  years.  At  first  this  school  was  kept  in  the  basement 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but,  outgrowing  its  accommodations, 
it  was  found  necessary  by  Mr.  Buck  to  purchase  adjoining  grounds, 
which  he  did,  and  upon  which  he  erected  a  two-story  building, 
which  gave  ample  room  for  his  school  during  the  remainder  of 


AND     TTS     PEOPLE.  401 

his  stay.  Mi*.  Buck  was  an  excellent  scholar  nutl  a  fine  teacher 
and  disciplinarian,  and  many  yonng  people  for  miles  around  were 
educated  by  him.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  he  s'^^'e  up  the 
school  and  returned  to  his  native  state,  and  has  been  for  many 
■years  and  is  now  the  efficient  superintendent  of  the  city  schools 
of  Manchester,  New  Hampshire. 

For  a  short  time  his  school  at  Atglen  was  owned  and  con- 
ducted by  a  Mr.  McClellan,  who  sold  the  property  to  the  school 
directors  of  the  village,  and  recently  a  new  and  modern-graded 
school  building  and  school  has  taken  the  place  of  the  former 
academy. 

Still  anotlier  private  school  was  maintained  at  Penningion- 
ville  for  many  years  by  the  late  John  M.  Philips,  father  of  Dr. 
Philips  of  the  Normal  School  at  West  Chester.  There  being  no 
public  school  in  or  near  the  village  he  erected  a  building  at  his 
own  expense,  and  for  a  number  of  years  engaged  and  paid  a 
teacher  for  his  own  and  for  his  neighbors'  children.  This  school 
has  been  superseded  also  by  public  schools  of  more  recent  date. 

The  history  of  the  public  schools  in  Chester  County  must  be 
brieriy  traced.  Some  of  these  common  schools  were  at  first  kept 
in  the  session-houses  of  the  churches,  but  at  a  later  period  houses 
were  built  on  purpose  for  their  accommodation.  These  early  dis- 
trict school-houses  were  either  of  logs  or  stone,  and  sometimes  they 
were  in  octagonal  form,  and  then  were  called  eight-square  school- 
houses.  The  desks  were  placed  around  the  outside  of  the  interior 
of  the  building,  the  children  sitting  with  their  faces  to  the  walls. 
Benches  without  backs  were  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  room 
for  the  smaller  pupils,  there  was  a  desk  for  the  teacher,  a  large 
stove  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  there  was  a  "pass,"  which  was 
a  small  paddle  with  the  words  "in"  on  one  side,  and  "out"  on  the 
other.  The  early  teachers  were  often  characters  in  their  way- 
One  of  them  named  Abel  AVickersham  was  the  proprietor  of  a 
remarkable  book,  called  "Sjnopsis  Mathematica  Universalis,"  or 


402  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"Brief  System  of  Mathematics  for  Young  Students."  It  included 
cliajitei's  on  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Astronomy, 
Dialling,  ("hronometry.  Geography,  Optics,  Catoptrics,  Dioptrics 
and  Statics.  It  was  printed  in  London,  England,  in  1729.  There 
were  in  these  early  public  schools  no  female  teachers,  young 
women  scarcely  considering  it  respectable  to  teach  school,  or  at 
least  they  avoided,  the  profession,  in  part  possibly  because  of 
the  difficulty  of  governing  the  boys  in  those  earlier  days.  Tlie 
teachers  were  then  paid  by  the  parents  and  guardians  of  the  pupils, 
the  schools  being  conducted  upon  the  subscription  plan. 

The  earliest  schools  of  tliis  kind  were  established  by  the 
Friends.  In  lT5o  they  purchased  an  acre  of  ground  in  Willistown 
for  school  purposes,  and  there  was  a  school  set  up  by  the  Bradford, 
New  Garden  and  Kennett  Monthly  Meetings,  jointly,  sometime 
before  1781.  There  was  also  a  joint  school  established  about  the, 
same  time  by  Goshen,  Bradford  and  Birmingham  meetings,  these 
meetings  purchasing  four  acres  of  ground  one-half  mile  west  of 
West  Chester,  where  the  walls  still  stood  until  recently,  to  mark 
the  spot  where  the  school-house  was  erected  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years  ago.  There  was  also  a  house  for  a  public  school  of  this 
kind  erected  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  property  belonging 
to  the  Branilywine  Manor  Presbyterian  church,  which  Avas  28x18 
feet  in  size,  liad  two  doors  in  front,  which  faced  the  south,  and 
was  divided  by  a  swinging  jjartition.  One  division  of  the  room 
was  used  for  the  common  school  and  the  other  for  the  classical 
school.  It  stood  within  three  liundred  yards  of  where  three  town- 
ships joined,  these  three  townships  constituting  the  eighth  elec- 
tion district,  and  elections  Avere  held  therein  from  1798  to  1811. 
This  Avas  the  first  stone  school-house  built  in  that  part  of  Chester 
County,  most  school-houses  being  built  of  logs. 

While  the  history  of  the  efforts  of  the  State  to  establish  com- 
mon schools  supported  out  of  the  State  Treasury  is  exceedingly 
interesting,  yet  it  cannot   be  traced    in    this   Avork,    except   vei'v 


AXD     n\S     PEOPLE.  403 

briefly,  and,  in  fact,  can  be  scarcel.y  more  than  referred  to  for  want 
of  propriety  and  space.  The  constitution  of  1790  contains  the  fol- 
lowing section: 

"The  Legishiture  sliall,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  pro- 
vide by  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools  thronghout  the  State, 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis.'' 

This  section  was  incorporated  into  the  constitution  of  1838, 
and  is  the  basis  of  the  common  school  system  of  the  State.  The 
first  law  imder  this  provisicm  of  the  constitution  was  enacted 
in  1802,  but  it  was  soon  found  inadequate  to  the  requirements 
of  a  system  of  public  education,  and  another  act  was  passed  in 
1804.  This  act  was  but  little  better  than  the  former,  and  in  ISO!) 
another  act  was  passed,  which  Avas  more  carefully  drawn,  and 
found  to  work  out  better  results.  This  act  required  "the  assessors 
in  each  and  every  township,  ward  and  district  to  receive  from 
the  parents  the  names  of  all  children  between  the  ages  of  five 
and  twelve  years,  who  reside  therein,  and  whose  parents  are  un- 
able to  pay  for  their  schooling."  These  names  were  to  be  jjlaced 
on  the  township  transcripts,  and  the  lists,  after  revision,  were 
returned  to  the  assessors,  whose  duty  it  was  to  notify  the  pareuts 
of  the  children  to  what  schools  they  should  be  sent. 

The  townships  which  are  here  named  reported  jjoor  children 
in  1810:  Brandy  wine,  3;  East  Bradford,  15;  West  Bradford,  2; 
London  Britain,  4;  East  Cain,  (i;  Charlestown,  39;  Coventry,  .">; 
Londonderry,  6;  West  Chester,  7;  East  Fallowfield,  8;  Goshen,  l.j; 
Londongrove,  3;  New  Garden,  5;  Honeybrook,  12;  Newlin,  5;  East 
Marlborough,  10;  East  Nottingham,  3;  Upper  Oxford,  7;  Lower 
Oxford,  21;  Pennsbury,  1;  Sadsbury,  3;  Easttown,  4;  Westtown, 
11;  East  Whiteland,  (1;  West  Whiteland,  20.  The  following  re- 
ported in  1811  as  follows:  Birmingham,  1;  West  Marlborough, 
3;  Thornbury,  3;  Tredyffrin,  10;  Uwchlan,  3,  and  WillistOAvn,  2.  In 
1812:  West  Cain,  3;  New  London,  18;  East  Nantmeal,  12;  West 
Nantmeal,  7,  and  West  Nottingham,  2.     In  1813:     West  Fallow- 


404  CHESTER     COUNTY 

field  reported  3  aud  Kennett  8.  In  1811  East  and  West  Vincent 
reported  8,  and  in  1812,  East  and  West  Pikelaud  reported  4.  The 
total  number  thus  reported  in  the  county  was  304. 

The  law  under  which  such  reports  as  the  abpve  were  required 
to  be  made  was  unpopular,  as  it  compelled  the  parents  to  publicly 
record  their  poverty  and  to  send  their  children  to  "pauper  schools.'' 
Even  public  schools,  to  whidi  all  the  children  were  permitted  lo 
be  sent,  have  thus  been  branded,  while  the  people  were  prejudiced 
against  them.  And  it  is  altogether  likely  this  act  of  1809,  together 
with  those  enacted  previous!}',  tended  to  increase  the  prejudice 
against  public  education  than  otherwise.  At  any  rate  the  struggle 
for  and  again.st  such  a  system  was  maintained  with  vigor  for 
many  years,  aud  it  was  }iot  until  1834  that  an  act  was  passed 
that  had  in  it  the  elemeuts  of  success.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to 
attribute  a  jjart  of  the  opposition  to  a  system  of  public  education 
to  the  various  religious  denominations  that  were  in  those  days 
sustaining  schools  in  which  children  were  being  taught  at  the  least 
possible  expense.  These  semi-public  schools  were  maintained  in 
large  part  for  the  purpose  of  inculcating  certain  religious  tenets 
i-n  the  minds  of  the  young,  and  i*  was  clear  to  many  of  those  who 
desired  their  children  to  be  brought  up  Friends,  or  Presbyterians, 
or  Baptists,  or  Episcopalians,  or  Methodists,  that  in  a  public  school, 
where  children  of  parents  of  various  denominations  were  collected 
together,  that  no  one  particular  system  of  religion  or  faith  could 
be  taught  to  the  exclusion  of  others;  for  this  would  be  unjust 
to  those  who  entertained  the  other  system  of  belief,  and  it  would 
be  equally  impracticable  to  teach  all  systems,  for  that  would  be 
to  divert  the  entire  school  system  from  an  educational  force  to  a 
religious  one,  and  would  result  in  the  greatest  possible  confusion 
even  in  this  field  of  instruction.  The  only  possible  course,  there- 
fore, with  reference  to  religious  instruction,  would  be  to  exclude 
everything  of  a  sectarian  or  denominational  nature,  which  would 
render  the  schools  non-religious,  to  say  the  least,  aud  it  miglit 
render  them  even  irreligious. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  405 

But  as  time  passed  on  it  became  more  and  more  evident  to 
the  most  intelligent  of  the  citizens  that  a  public  school  system 
was  a  real  necessity.  Free  schools  were  in  the  public  mind,  and 
they  must  be  established.  In  1833-34  therefore  the  State  took 
more  active  measures  than  before  to  put  such  a  system  into  opera- 
tion. At  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  those  years,  on 
motion  of  Samuel  Breck  of  Philadelphia  a  joint  committee  was 
appointed,  which  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  framing  a  general 
system  of  education  for  the  commonwealth.  Dr.  Wilmer  Worth- 
ingtou  was  the  Ciiester  County  member  of  this  committee  from  the 
lower  house,  and  at  the  same  time  Elijah  J.  Pennypacker  was 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Chester  County.  The  act  framed 
by  this  joint  committee  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  and  was 
entitled,  "An  Act  to  Establish  a  General  System  of  Education 
by  Common  Schools."  It  was  approved  April  1,  1834,  but  it  did 
not  get  into  operation  without  long  and  bitter  opposition.  The 
details  of  this  struggle  cannot  be  here  traced,  but  it  may  be  stated 
further  with  reference  to  the  opposition  with  which  it  met  that 
different  classes  of  the  people  fought  it  for  widely  different  "rea- 
sons, and  what  is  perhaps  what  is  most  remarkable  is  that  those 
needed  free  schools  the  most  fought  it  with  the  greatest  bitterness. 

At  that  time  there  were  987  school  districts  in  the  State,  and 
when  the  question  of  accepting  the  law  was  submitted  to  a  vote, 
of  these  987  districts  502  accepted  it,  264  rejected  it,  57  were  not 
represented  and  1G4  made  no  return.  Chester  County  Avas  then 
divided  into  forty-four  districts,  of  which  seventeen  accepted  the 
law  and  twentj'-seven  rejected  it.  But  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
George  Wolf,  was  a  firm  and  steadfast  friend  of  the  law,  and  did 
much  in  aid  of  its  proper  enforcement. 

During  the  succeeding  session  of  the  Legislature  petitions 
went  up  from  all  over  the  State  for  the  repeal  of  the  law,  and 
for  its  modification,  as  well  as  many  remonstrances  against  its 
repeal  or  modification.    Chester  County  was  on  both  sides  of  this 


4o6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

question,  as  might  naturally  be  expected;  but  it  was  found  by 
careful  count  that  in  the  entire  Commonwealth  about  32,000  per- 
sons petitioned  for  repeal,  and  2,084  for  some  modification  of  the 
law.  It  was  also  found  and  given  out  as  a  curious  fact  that  "not 
more  than  five  names  in  every  hundred  were  written  in  English," 
and  most  of  those  signed  to  the  petitions  for  repeal  were  very 
illegibly  written.  Chester  County  sent  up  forty  petitions,  contain- 
ing 2,261  names,  asking  for  repeal,  but  the  final  result  was  that 
a  bill  was  passed  strengthening  the  act  of  1834,  anil  from  that 
time  on  there  was  never  any  doubt  as  to  the  attitude  of  Pennsyl- 
vania on  the  free  school  question.  It  was  a  great,  even  a  mag- 
nificent, victory  that  was  won  for  free  schools,  for  the  intelligence 
of  the  people  at  large,  instead  of  for  the  education  of  classes,  and 
it  appears  to  be  generally  conceded  that  to  no  man  is  more  credit 
due  than  to  Thaddeus  Stevens,  then  a  member  of  the  lower  house 
of  the  Legislature,  who  theu  for  the  first  time  gave  an  exhibition 
of  his  masterly  strength.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Elijah  J.  Penny- 
packer,  mentioned  before  as  one  of  the  members  from  Chester 
County,  who  was  himself  also  a  steadfast  friend  of  free  education 
in  the  State.  The  following  paragraph  pi'esents  the  number  of 
children  reported  in  each  township  in  Chester  County  in  183.5, 
and  the  year  in  which  each  township  adopted  the  free  school  law: 

East  Cain,  68,  1830;  Schuylkill,  43,  1836;  West  Bradford,  37, 
1837;  East  Fallowfield,  68,  1837;  West  Cain,  71,  1837;  West  Nant- 
meal,  51,  1837;  in  1838,  AVest  Chester  115,  Honeybrook  80,  East 
Marlborough  50,  East  Whiteland  30,  West  Marlborough  59,  Willis- 
town  49,  West  Nottingham  31,  West  Fallowfield  76,  West  ^'lu- 
cent 22;  in  1839,  Goshen  101,  Londongrove  21,  NeM^  Garden  87, 
East  Nottingham  108,  Uwchlan  45,  East  Nantmeal  126;  in  1840, 
London  Britain  22,  Coventry  92,  Thornbury  9,  Tredyffrin  87,  East 
Vincent  36;  in  1841,  Brandywine  111,  Charlestown  48,  Londonderry 
26,  Newlin  37,- Upper  Oxford  74,  Lower  Oxford  51,  Pennsbury  51, 
Sadsbury  110,  A^'est  Whiteland  io,  Birmingham  16,  New  London 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  409 

84,  Kennett  45,  Penu  45,  East  Pikeland  and  West  Pikeland  45; 
in  1843,  East  Bradford  79,  Westtown  31,  Easttown  48. 

From  the  time  of  its  snccessful  (establishment  on  through  the 
years  public  sentiment  steadily  and  even  rapidly  grew  and 
strengthened  in  its  favor;  and  it  was  further  seen,  or  at  least 
thought,  that  the  State  could  afford  to  aid  higher  institutions 
of  learning.  In  this  movement  Chester  County  was  not  behind 
other  counties  in  the  State.  Her  representative,  William  H.  Dil- 
lingham, introduced  a  bill  in  the  house,  as  did  also  Thaddeus 
Stevens  of  Adams  County,  making  a  liberal  appropriation  for 
ten  years  to  incorporate  colleges  and  academies,  that  is,  such  as 
were  able  to  comply  with  certain  easy  conditions. 

Chester  County  was  the  birthplace  of  Townsend  Haines,  who 
was  secretai'y  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  term  of  Governor 
Johnston.  As  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  Mr.  Haines 
made  two  reports,  in  which  he  objected  to  the  short  terms  of  the 
district  schools,  then  less  than  five  months  in  the  year;  and  to  the 
low  salaries  paid  teachers,  male  teachers  receiving  then  on  the  aver- 
age $17.27  per  month,  and  females  .flO.25  per  month.  He  sug- 
gested for  the  e^'ils  then  existing  an  iuci'eased  school  tax,  and  to 
cure  tlie  apathy  of  the  people  he  suggested  periodical  conven- 
tions of  teachers  in  the  several  counties.  In  his  second  report 
he  complained  among  other  things  of  the  incapacity  of  the  teach- 
ers, and  of  the  improper  selection  of  school  books,  of  the  want  of 
funds,  and  of  the  absence  of  some  direct  and  intelligible  com- 
munication between  the  school  directors  and  the  State  Superiu- 
.tendent  of  Schools.  To  remedy  these  defects  he  suggested  the 
establishment  of  the  county  superintendency  of  schools,  and  the 
normal  school  connected  with  central  high  schools. 

But,  notwithstanding  all  the  work  that  had  been  done  up  to 
1848,  and  the  widespread  public  sentiment  that  had  by  that  time 
gro-nn  up  in  favor  of  the  system,  yet  there  were  still  in  Chester 
24 


4IO  CHESTER     COUNTY 

County  a  few  districts  that  had  not  accepted  it.  These  disti'icts 
■wei"e  East  Bradford,  North  Coventry,  Kennett,  Westtown  and 
West  Vincent.  In  this  year,  a  provision  of  the  law  making  ap- 
propriations, repealed  all  laws  concerning  non-accepting  school 
districts,  and  made  the  common  school  law  applicable  to  every 
school  district  in  the  State.  Afterward  one  by  one  of  the  nearly 
two  hundred  non-accepting  school  districts  put-schools  into  opera- 
tion within  their  limits,  and  by  1868  there  were  only  twenty-three 
districts  in  the  State,  with  about  6,000  school  children,  that  had  no 
common  schools  in  operation. 

The  law  of  1849,  while  it  marked  no  new  departure  with  refer- 
ence to  educational  affairs,  was  yet  a  step  in  advance,  as  it  pro- 
hibited teachers  from  teaching  without  a  certificate  enumerating 
the  branches  they  had  been  found  capable  of  teaching,  the  cer- 
tificate to  be  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  board  of  directors  con- 
ducting the  examination;  and  it  increased  the  minimum  length  of 
time  during  which  schools  should  be  kept  open  from  three  to  four 
months.  It  also  fixed  the  school  age  as  being  from  five  years  to 
twenty-one.  This  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  by  Henry  S. 
Evans  of  Chester  County. 

"In  1855  an  act  of  Assembly  was  passed  establishing  a  teach- 
ers' institute  in  Chester  County,  requiring  one  to  be  held  each  year 
at  the  county  seat,  and  appropriating  from  the  coimty  treasury 
annually  two  liundred  dollars  for  that  purpose.  This  was  a  step 
in  advance  of  any  other  county,  and  has  rendei'ed  the  institutes 
more  efficient  than  they  otherwise  would  have  been."  * 

From  the  beginning  of  the  public  school  system  the  Secretary 
of  State  was  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  for  the  State 
up  to  1857,  on  the  ISth  of  April  of  which  year  an  act  was  approved 
which  provided  for  the  separation  of  the  two  offices,  and  for  the 
appointment  of  a  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  Avho  should 
hold  his  office  for  three  years. 


'  Futhey  and  Cope's  History  of  Chester  County. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  411 

Previously  to  this  time  it  became  apparent  tliat  more  efficient 
county  superintendency  was  required,  if  the  people  were  to  re- 
ceive the  full  benefits  of  the  system  in  the  thorough  education  of 
the  young,  and  as  a  consequence  an  act  was  approved  May  8,  1851, 
"For  the  regulation  and  continuance  of  a  System  of  Education  by 
Common  Schools,"  Section  37  of  wliich  is  as  follows: 

"Section  37.  That  there  shall  be  chosen  in  the  manner  here- 
after directed  an  officer  for  each  count}',  to  be  called  the  County 
Superintendent,  It  shall  be  his  duty  to  visit  as  often  as  practica- 
ble the  several  schools  of  the  county,  and  to  note  the  course  and 
method  of  instruction  and  branches  taught,  and  to  give  such  di- 
rections in  the  art  of  teaching  and  the  method  thereof  in  each 
school  as  to  him,  together  with  the  directors  or  controllers,  shall 
be  deemed  expedient  and  necessary;  so  that  each  school  shall  be 
equal  to  the  grade  for  which  it  was  established,  and  that  there 
may  be,  as  far  as  practicable,  uniformity  in  the  course  of  study  of 
the  several  grades  respectively.'' 

Section  38  provided  tliat  it  should  be  the  duty  of  each  county 
superintendent  to  see  that  in  every  district  there  were  taught 
orthography,  reading,  writing,  English  grammar,  geography  and 
arithmetic,  "as  well  as  such  other  branches  as  the  board  of  di- 
rectors or  controllers  may  require." 

Section  39  provided  that  the  school  directors  of  each  county 
should  meet  in  convention  at  the  seat  of  justice  of  their  respective 
counties  on  the  first  Monday  (5th)  of  June,  1851,  and  on  the  first 
of  May  (in  186G  changed  to  the  first  Tuesday  of  May),  in  each  third 
year  thereafter,  and  select  viva  voce,  by  a  majority  vote  of  those 
present,  one  person  of  literary  and  scientific  acquirements  and 
of  skill  and  experience  in  the  art  of  teaching  as  County  Superin- 
tendent for  three  successive  school  years.  The  school  directors 
by  a  majority  vote  in  such  convention  were  also  authorized  to  fix 
the  salary  of  the  superintendent. 

Section  11  made  it  the  duty  of  the  County  Superintendent  to 


412  CHESTER     COUNTY 

examine  all  the  candidates  for  tlie  profession  of  teaching,  in  the 
presence  of  the  board  of  directors,  should  they  desire  to  be  present, 
and  to  give  each  person  found  qualified  a  certificate  setting  forth 
the  branches  said  candidate  was  found  capable  of  teaching. 

Under  this  law  the  following  gentlemen  have  been  County 
Superintendents  of  Schools  in  Chester  County:  E.  Agnew  Futhey, 
1854  to  1857;  Dr.  Franklin  Taylor,  1857  to  1860;  W.  W.  Woodruff, 
1860  to  1869;  George  L.  Maris,  1869  to  1872;  Hiram  F.  Pierce,  1872 
to  January,  1877,  when  he  died;  Jacob  W.  Harvey,  appointed 
February  1,  1877,  and  served  until  1887;  Joseph  S.  Walton,  1887  to 
September,  1896,  Avhen  he  resigned  and  F.  P.  Bye  was  appointed 
and  has  served  ever  since. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  C-ommon  School  System  itself,  when  it 
was  first  proposed,  it  was  strongly  j)pposed,  so  in  case  of  the 
county  superintendency,  it  likewise  met  with  lively  opposition.  It 
would  appear  that  in  the  economy  of  human  nature,  all  innova- 
tions have  to  demonstrate  their  fitness  before  they  become  ac- 
ceptable to  mankind.  Those  who  opposed  the  county  superin- 
tendency were  divisible  into  two  classes — First,  those  who  con- 
sidered themselves  fully  competent  to  examine  the  teachers,  and 
who  were  jealous  of  the  new  officer;  and  second,  those  who  thought 
the  office  useless  and  that  the  salaiw  of  the  new  official  should  be 
added  to  the  school  fund. 

Through  the  judicious  conduct  of  the  first  County  Superin- 
intendent  the  opposition  gradually  subsided.  He  gradually  sur- 
mounted all  the  difficulties  that  he  encountered,  held  the  first 
county  institutes  and  left  the  ground  comparatively  clear  for  Dr. 
Taylor,  his  immediate  successor.  Mr.  Futhey  held  seven  teachers' 
institutes,  each  lasting  a  week.  There  were  then  in  the  county 
sixty-two  school  districts,  and  292  schools. 

So  far  as  the  County  Supei'intendents  are  concerned  it  would 
appear  that  Dr.  Taylor  held  the  first  special  Normal  School  in  the 
county,  opening  it  on  Monday,  May  3,  1858,  in  connection  with 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  413 

F.  A.  Allen  and  Dr.  E.  Harvey,  in  the  borough  of  West  Chester. 
This  normal  school  lasted  twenty  weeks,  and  there  were  forty-six 
teachers  in  attendance. 

In  1860  there  were  still  twenty-four  private  schools  in  exist- 
ence, attended  by  1,250  students.  Phoenixville  that  year  com- 
pleted two  very  superior  school  buildings,  capable  of  accommodat- 
ing 800  pupils.  In  1861  two  graded  schools  were  established,  one 
at  West  Chester,  the  other  at  Phoenixville.  In  1862  there  were  in 
the  county  172  male  teachers,  the  number  in  1859  having  been  174; 
and  in  1862  there  were  223  female  teachers,  the  number  in  1859 
having  been  175.  In  1863  two  school-houses  in  the  county  were 
heated  from  below,  the  stoves  being  placed  in  the  cellar  and  sur- 
rounded by  non-conducting  substances.  During  this  year  there 
were  engaged  only  152  male  teachers,  on  account  of  so  many  of 
them  having  gone  off  to  the  war,  and  there  were  243  female  teach- 
ers. In  the  year  1868,  besides  the  two  graded  schools  mentioned 
above,  there  were  such  schools  in  Coatesville,  Downingtown,  Ken- 
nett  Square,  and  Oxford,  and  there  were  schools  partially  graded 
in  Marshallton,  Sugartown,  Unionville  and  Waynesburg.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1867,  the  most  useful  institute  so  far  held  was  held  in  the 
county. 

During  the  nine  years  of  Professor  Woodruff's  incumbency  of 
the  office  of  County  Superintendent  tliere  were  erected  100  new 
school  buildings,  at  a  cost  of  about  |150,000;  during  that  period 
the  number  of  schools  increased  from  304  to  335;  the  pupils  in- 
creased from  16,032  to  17,628;  tJie  length  of  the  school  year  in- 
creased from  7.41  months  to  8  months,  and  the  average  salary  of 
the  male  teachers  increased  from  |26.22  to  |36.50  per  month,  while 
that  of  tbe  female  teachers  increased  from  |22.09  to  $33.04  per 
month.  The  highest  salary  paid  any  teacher  in  the  county  in  1800 
was  $80  per  month,  while  in  1869  the  highest  salary  paid  any  male 
teacher  was  fill. 11.  The  highest  salary  paid  any  female  teacher 
in  1800  Avas  |30  per  month,  while  in  1809  it  had  increased  to  |110. 


414  CHESTER     COUNTY 

During  the  school  year  1869-70  there  were  erected  eleven  new 
school-houses  in  the  county,  the  finest  one  of  the  eleven  being  at 
Kennett  Square.  This  was  a  two-story  structure,  with  four  large 
assembly  rooms  and  the  same  number  of  convenient  class-rooms. 
The  yard  contained  two  and  a  half  acres  of  gently-sloping  land,  and 
according  to  Mr.  Maris,  then  superintendent,  the  building  was 
better  suited  to  its  purposes  tliau  any  other  in  the  county.  The 
entire  property  was  Avorth  |10,000.  Of  the  eleven  erected  that 
year  the  one  at  Waynesburg  came  next,  woi'th  |5,100. 

The  high  school  at  West  Chester  in  June,  1869,  graduated  a 
class  of  seven  members,  the  course  of  study  embracing  Latin, 
German,  French,  algebra,  geometi'y,  botany,  physiology,  and  nat- 
iiral  philosophy.  This  event  marked  a  new  era  in  the  educational 
history  of  Chester  County.  Phojuixville,  Coatesville  and  Oxford 
had  adopted  similar  coui'ses  of  study.  A  teachers'  institute  was 
held  in  West  Chester  in  October,  1869,  at  which  there  were  pres- 
ent 492  teachers,  and  there  were  present  as  instructors,  amoug 
other  distinguished  men,  Theodore  Tilton,  Wayne  MacVeagh,  and 
Dr.  Isaac  I.  Hayes. 

The  schools  of  Honeybrooli,  West  Nantmeal  and  Sadsbury 
were  graded  during  the  year  ending  June  5,  1871.  The  annual 
institute  for  that  year  was  held  in  October,  1870,  and  among  tlie 
distinguished  instructors  and  lecturers  present  were  Hon.  E.  E. 
White  of  Oliio,  Prof.  Lewis  B.  Monroe  and  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope.  There 
Avere  numerous  local  institutes  held,  at  which  among  other  dis- 
tinguished men  were  present  Prof.  James  McCosh,  Bayard  Taylor, 
M,  Brosius,  W.  W.  Woodruff  and  T.  Clarkson  Taylor. 

During  the  winter  of  1873-74  there  was  opened  a  night  school 
for  the  factory  children  of  Boudsville,  Fisherville  and  the  vicinity, 
in  the  Chestnut  Dell  school,  of  Cain  District,  ladies  and  gentlemen 
of  the  neighborhood  volunteering  their  services  as  teachers. 

About  1883  the  question  of  teaching  temperance  in  the  public 
schools  began  to  attract  attention,  and  has  since  then  been  con- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  41 S 

tinned.  There  were  then  380  pnblic  schools  in  the  county,  and 
forty-eight  private  schools  having  an  attendance  of  1,900  students. 
During  the  year  1887-88  originated  the  formation  of  directors'  as- 
sociations, and  the  attemi)t  was  made  to  form  a  teachers'  organiza- 
tion by  dividing  the  county  into  thirteen  districts,  and  the  thor- 
ough introduction  of  a  graded  course  of  study  in  the  rural  schools. 
The  school  directors  effected  a  permanent  organization,  which  Avas 
to  meet  semi-annually,  the  first  chairman  being  William  W.  Parker, 
and  the  first  secretary  being  Edwin  J.  Durnall.  It  had  an  execu- 
tive committee  of  nine,  the  principal  of  the  Normal  School  and  the 
county  superintendent  being  members  ex-officio.  By  1889  seven 
of  the  rural  districts  had  adopted  the  graded  course  of  study.  The 
Berwyn  School-house,  built  this  year,  was  considered  the  model 
school-house  of  the  county.  By  1890  fifty-two  of  the  sixty-eight 
school  districts  in  the  county  furnished  the  text  books  free  of 
cost,  and  all  but  three  or  four  of  the  remainder  furnished  them  at 
not  more  than  one-half  or  two-thirds  cost.  By  1891  manual  train- 
ing had  been  introduced  into  eleven  of  the  schools,  mostly  in  the 
counti'y  districts. 

By  1893  Tredyft'rin  had  established  a  township  grammar 
school,  and  had  given  the  local  supervision  of  the  schools  in  the 
township  to  the  principal,  Kichard  S.  Macnamee,  who  holds  the 
position  at  the  present  time.  Easttown  has  done  the  same  thing, 
and  at  the  present  time  J.  Alexander  Clarke  of  Berwyn  is  the  dis- 
trict superintendent.  The  West  Chester  Public  Schools  are  in 
charge  of  a  superintendent,  at  present  Addison  Jones,  and  the 
Ph(]enixville  Public  Schools  are  managed  in  the  same  manner  by 
H.  F.  Leister.  The  rest  of  tlie  borough  schools  in  the  county  ava 
conducted  by  supervising  principals. 

The  graded  school  system  during  the  past  tAventy  years  has 
been  slowly  but  steadily  gaining  ground,  and  at  the  present  time 
the  demand  for  systematizing  the  work  is  stronger  than  ever  be- 
fore.    A    general    outline   ijrepared    under   the    direction  of  the 


4i6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

County  Directors'  Association  is  used  over  the  greater  part,  of  the 
county.  Eacli  townsliip  makes  such  modifications  in  the  general 
plan  as  are  necessary'  to  adapt  it  to  its  special  needs.  Graduates 
in  the  elementary  course  are  given  diplomas  which  are  uniform 
tlirougliout  the  county,  the  examinations  sent  out  from  the  office 
of  the  County  Superintendent  having  been  satisfactorily  passed. 
A  feature  of  the  woi'k  lately  introduced  which  is  giving  general 
satisfaction  is  the  requirement  of  some  specific  work  in  English. 
Besides -a  general  knowledge  of  American  and  English  literature 
each  candidate  is  required  to  be  familiar  with  certain  English 
classics  announced  at  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

The  Chester  County  Teachers'  Association  is  a  purely  repre- 
sentative body,  its  work  being  to  direct  the  operations  of  the  dis- 
trict association  throughout  the  county.  Of  these  there  are  thir- 
teen, each  of  which  reports  annually  to  the  general  association. 
This  organization  has  in  it  great  possibilities,  wliich  are  being  de- 
veloped and  appreciated  more  and  more  as  time  goes  on. 

The  Chester  County  School  Directors'  Association  was  organ- 
ized in  February,  1888,  Isaac  A.  Cleaver  of  Berwyn  being  the  first 
president  and  Edwin  J.  Durnall  the  first  secretary.  This  is  an 
exceedingly  strong  organization,  and  is  a  powerful  instrument  in 
the  worlc  of  unifying  and  advancing  the  schools  of  the  county.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  efficient  associations  in  the  State,  and  has  re- 
ceived special  mention  by  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools.  The  two  meetings  held  each  year  are  well  attended,  all 
parts  of  the  county  being  represented.  The  efficiency  of  the  pres- 
ent officers.  President  Isaac  Richards  of  New  Garden  and  Secre- 
tary John  L.  Balderston  of  Kennett  Township,  is  sufficiently  at- 
tested by  the  fact  that  they  are  now  serving  a  third  term. 

Several  years  ago  a  few  of  the  principals  of  the  county  held  a 
meeting  to  discuss  methods  of  school  supei-vision,  as  it  had  been 
felt  for  years  that  the  local  and  county  institutes  did  not  reach 
the  duties  of  the  principal.     It  was  thought,  too,  that  all  would 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  4U 

be  benefited  by  an  interchange  of  views  regarding  tlie  courses  of 
study,  methods  of  teaching,  means  of  supervision  and  discipline. 
As  a  I'esult  of  the  meeting  mentioned  there  is  now  the  organization 
known  as  the  Principals'  Association  of  Chester  County,  which 
meets  at  stated  intervals  during  the  year,  at  which  subjects  of 
interest  are  discussed.  Someone  is  appointed  to  open  the  discus- 
sion with  a  short  paper,  and  the  members  make  reports  or  ask 
questions  as  they  see  fit.  A  prominent  feature  of  all  the  meetings 
is  the  absence  of  set  speeches,  while  the  topics  placed  before  the 
association  are  such  as  to  prompt  nearly  all  the  members  to  take 
part  in  the  discussion.  All  the  principals  of  the  county  are  eligible 
to  membership. 

The  Chester  County  Teachers'  Association,  at  its  annual  meet- 
ing during  the  Institute  week  in  the  autumn  of  1896,  organized  the 
Teachers'  Professional  Society  for  the  improvement  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  through  their  improvement  the  improvement  of  the 
county  schools.  Although  many  of  the  teachers  of  tie  county  take 
Saturday  work  at  schools  in  West  Chester  and  Philadelphia,  and 
under  tutors,  yet  there  are  many  to  whom  these  means  of  self- 
improvement  are  not  available,  and  to  those  who  cannot  reach  the 
professional  school  the  school  has  been  taken.  A  committee  of 
leading  local  educators  conducts  a  correspondence  course  in  pro- 
fessional study,  in  which  the  tuition  fee  is  but  twenty-five  cents 
per  year,  and  each  teacher  taking  the  course  invests  in  two 
or  three  good  books  bearing  on  the  work  of  the  course  taken.  Dur- 
ing the  school  year  1898-99  the  County  Institute  and  the  Profes- 
sional Society  will  be  merged  along  the  same  lines  of  work,  thus 
turning  the  entire  coi-ps  of  teachers  in  the  county,  four  huudi-ed 
and  fifty  in  number,  into  a  great  professional  society.  In  other 
words  the  themes  of  the  Institute  lectures  will  follow  lines  laid 
down  by  the  society,  and  the.  society,  on  the  other  hand,  will  am- 
plify and  re-enforce  the  work  of  the  County  Institute.  Four 
courses  will  be  open  to  the  teachers  from  which  they  may  select 


41 8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

their  professional  line  of  work.  Subjects  for  themes  will  be  an- 
nounced by  the  instructors  who  will  examine  the  papers  prepared 
by  the  teachers.  The  preparation  of  these  themes  will  form  a 
part  of  the  work  of  the  society.  At  the  end  of  each  year  the  so- 
ciety faculty  issues  a  certificate  setting  forth  the  work  done  by 
the  holder  thereof. 

The  Circulating  Library  is  the  result  of  an  agitation  carried 
on  of  late  years  within  the  county,  but  there  was  no  general  move- 
ment looking  toward  a  solution  of  the  problem  until  the  summer 
of  1897.  A  plan  was  evolved  by  the  present  County  Superin- 
tendent, Frank  P.  Bye,  which  combines  a  maximum  of  circulation 
with  a  minimum  of  cost.  At  a  meeting  in  the  office  of  the  super- 
intendent in  West  Chester,  representatives  from  nearly  all  parts 
of  the  county  being  present,  an  organization  was  effected  under 
the  name  of  the  Public  School  Circulating  Libraiy  of  Chester 
County  and  Superintendent  Bye's  plan  adopted.  The  fundamental 
principle  on  which  it  is  based  is  that  of  co-operation  in  the  pur- 
chase or  use  of  books.  David  C.  Windle  of  West  Chester  was 
made  president;  Watson  W.  Dewees  of  Westtown,  treasurer,  and 
Superintendent  Frank  P.  Bye,  secretary  and  librarian.  The  head- 
quarters are  in  the  Supei'intendenfs  oflice  in  the  court-house, 
where  books  may  be  obtained  or  exchanged  at  any  time.  The 
reading  itself  is  to  a  considerable  extent  directed  from  this  office. 
This  library  system  has  met  with  general  approval  and  has  been 
endorsed  unanimously  by  the  Directors'  Association. 

From  the  annual  report  of  the  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools  for  1897,  the  following  statistics  are  obtained:  Whole 
number  of  schools,  436;  average  number  of  months  taught,  8.59; 
number  of  male  teachers,  63;  number  of  female  teachers,  396; 
average  salary  of  male  teachers,  |54.48;  average  salary  of  female 
teachers,  |39.42;  number  of  male  scholars,  9,191;  number  of  female 
scholars,  8,767;  average  number  attending  school,  12,549;  average 
per  cent,  of  attendance,  86;  cost  per  month  of  educating  each 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  419 

pupil,  11.37;  total  amount  of  taxes  levied  for  school  and  building 
purposes,  $181,736.25;  receipts  fi-om  State  appropriation,  |S9,- 
977.77;  receipts  from  taxes  and  all  other  sources  aside  from  State 
appropriation,  |250,507.90;  total  receipts,  $340,185.67;  teachers' 
salaries,  |169,339.58;  total  expenses,  |320,337.84. 

In  1895  what  is  known  as  the  "Massachusetts  Sj'stem"  of  con- 
solidating country  schools  and  transportating  pupils  to  a  central 
school  at  public  expense,  was  introduced  into  Tredvffrin  Town- 
ship. 

The  system  has  for  its  purpose  the  closing  and  abandoning  of 
one-teacher-country  schools,  and  supplying  in  theii  place  large, 
well-equipped  buildings,  in  which  thoroughly  graded  and  classified 
consolidated  schools  may  be  established,  to  the  end  that  rural  edu- 
cation may  be  broadened,  the  usefulness  of  country  schools  greatly 
increased,  and  many  of  the  educational  advantages  now  enjoyed 
almost  exclusively  by  towns  and  cities  may  be  extended  to  rural 
sections. 

This  movement  had  its  origin  in  the  generally  recognized  fact 
that  the  demand  upon  ungraded  country  schools  are  increasing 
more  rapidly  than  it  is  possible  to  meet  them  in  the  old  way;  that 
the  small,  ungraded  school  is  an  expensive  one,  and  that  there  is 
not  only  economy  in  "centralization,"  but  that  it  furnishes  the 
only  means  by  which  sufficient  numbers  can  be  brought  together 
in  the  country  to  make  pi'oper  grading  and  thorough  classification 
of  pupils  possible. 

The  circumstances  leading  to  its  adoption  by  Tredyffrin  Town- 
ship were  as  follows:  An  increasing  population  in  the  neighbor- 
hood or  vicinity  of  Devon  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  new  public 
school  in  a  private  dwelling;  but  in  1893  a  new  double  school 
building  was  erected  at  Strafford  on  the  site  of  the  old  Eagle 
school,  which  had  then  recently  been  destroyed  by  fire.  The 
Devon  school  and  the  old  Eagle  school  were  then  consolidated  in 
this  new  double  building,  and  the  school  was  henceforth  called 


420  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"Strafford  School."  But  on  account  of  the  distance  of  this  school 
from  Devon,  and  of  the  fact  that  there  was  a  suiiicient  number  of 
children  in  that  vicinity  to  support  a  school,  the  school  board  was 
asked,  two  years  later,  to  re-establish  a  school  at  or  near  Devon. 

The  friends  of  consolidation  advocated  the  enlarging  of  the 
Strafford  school  building  instead,  and  tlie  establishment  of  the 
free  ti'ansportation  of  the  Devon  pupils,  in  order  that  bj-  the  em- 
ployment of  another  teacher  and  the  establishment  of  another 
division  in  the  Strafford  school,  the  advantages  to  be  derived  there- 
from might  be  enjoyed  by  both  sections.  The  directors,  fully  im- 
pressed with  the  merits  of  the  latter  plan,  adopted  it,  and  during 
the  first  week  in  September,  1895,  the  transportation  of  the  pupils 
from  the  Devon  distTict  was  begun.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
while  the  entire  school  board  was  suflficiently  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  progi'ess  to  favor  this  important  step  in  the  educational 
affairs  of  that  townsliip,  yet  it  was  due  largely  to  the  intelligent 
advocacy  of  the  plan  by  the  secretary  of  the  board,  S.  C.  Weadley, 
that  sufficient  sentiment  was  molded  to  carry  the  system  into  suc- 
cessful operation. 

Three  years'  experience  with  the  system  in  that  township  has 
confirmed  the  wisdom  of  those  directors  in  its  adoption ;  for  it  has 
not  only  proved  itself  to  be  practicable,  and  shown  that  in  point 
of  economy,  grading,  classification  and  teaching  facilities  it  pos- 
sesses the  merits  claimed  for  it  by  its  friends,  but  it  indicates  the 
way  to  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  improved 
rural  school  facilities,  which  problem  is  forcing  itself  more  and 
more  persistently,  year  by  year,  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  have 
the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  country  school  districts  at  heart, 
and  upon  whom  the  responsibility  of  their  continued  and  increas- 
ing usefulness  rests.* 


*This  article  of  Transportation  was  prepared  for  this  work  by  Professor  R.  S. 
Macnamee,  of  Straflford. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  421 

Miss  Susan  Gorjras,  born  in  Wilmington,  Delaware,  April  23, 
1845,  is  a  member  of  a  family  long  noted  for  their  philanthropic 
and  charitable  deeds.  Her  father,  John  Gorgas,  was  born  May 
11,  1804,  and  her  mother,  Ann  (Wills)  Gorgas,  December  17,  1807, 
The  latter  died  August  G,  1818,  and  the  former,  July  30,  18G0. 
Both  lie  buried  in  Brandywine  Cemetery,  Wilmington,  Delaware. 
Samuel  Gorgas,  grandfather  of  Miss  Susan  Gorgas,  died  October 
2,  1857,  and  her  grandmother,  Susanna  Gorgas,  died  April  18, 
1845.  iler  uncle,  Samuel  Gorgas,  Jr.,  died  April  3,  18G8,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-seven  years,  and  her  aunt,  Margaret  Gorgas,  died  July  30, 
1884,  in  her  seventy-seventh  year.  Her  uncle,  Matthias  Gorgas, 
died  January  3,  1885,  and  her  aunt,  Susan  Gorgas,  died  March  29, 
1892. 

Mr.  John  Gorgas  removed  from  Wilmington  to  West  Chester 
in  18G4.  His  daughter,  Susan,  attended  the  school  of  Miss  W. 
Anna  Hoopes,  at  1409  Locust  street,  Philadelphia,  and  remained 
there  six  years,  returning  to  West  Chester  in  18G4.  In  1874-75 
she  made  a  tour  of  Euroj)e,  visiting  the  British  Isles,  France, 
Germany,  Switzerland  and  Italy.  Miss  Gorgas  has  lived  mostly 
with  her  aunt.  Miss  Sarah  W.  Wills,  at  No.  100  South  High  street, 
West  Chester,  Miss  Wills  being  eighty-one  years  old  July  4,  1898. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  find  generous  and  large- 
hearted  women,  who,  blessed. with  abundant  means,  take  delight 
in  helping  those  who  are  needy.  Miss  Gorgas  lives  an  unostenta- 
tious and  quiet  life,  devoting  herself  to  the  service  of  others.  The 
ancient  home  at  Koxborough  has  been  occupied  by  four  genera- 
tions of  her  family,  and  is  still  owned  by  her.  It  is  a  beautiful 
and  romantic  spot,  full  of  Kevolutionary  memories,  fragrant  with 
Philadelphia  and  Germaoitown  associations.  In  this  home  Miss 
Gorgas  spends  a  portion  of  every  summer,  where  the  Wissahickou 
waters  her  fruitful  lands.  The  stone  house  in  which  her  maternal 
great-grandfather,  Andrew  Wood,  once  lived   still  stands  in  Box- 


422  CHESTER     COUNTT 

borough,  and  the  barn  attached  thereto  was  occupied  by  the 
British  soldiers  during  tlieir  sojourn  in  Philadelphia. 

Samuel  and  Margaret  Gorgas  (brother  and  sister),  uncle  and 
aunt  of  Miss  Susan  Gorgas,  gave  an  endowment  fund  of  $160,000 
to  the  Roxborough  Home  for  Indigent  Women,  and  which  was 
erected  in  1887.  To  the  erection  of  this  building  Miss  Gorgas 
gave  115,000,  aud  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  its  success. 
Seventeen  women,  mostly  residents  of  the  neighborhood,  find 
therein  a  comfortable  and  secure  retreat  in  their  declining  years. 
The  Home  occupies  a  beautiful  site  upon  Levering  Avenue,  over- 
looking the  waters  of  the  Wissahickon.  Miss  Gorgas  is  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Managers. 

Miss  Gorgas  also  takes  a  warm  interest  in  the  work  of  Lin- 
coln University,  and  secured  the  erection  of  Livingston  Hall.  In 
this  hall  commencements  are  held,  and  it  has  been  a  most  useful 
adjunct  to  the  school.  The  Home  for  Incurables,  aud  the  Epis- 
copal Hospital,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  have  each  a  bed  en- 
dowed by  Miss  Gorgas. 

Gorgas  Park  on  Kidge  Avenue,  Eoxborough,  containing  about 
five  acre.s  of  ground,  was  presented  by  her  in  1893  to  the  City  of 
Philadelphia.  This  park  has  since  been  enlarged  by  the  addition 
thereto  of  adjoining  properties.  Miss  Gorgas  is  a  member  of  Holy 
Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  West  Chester,  and  has  ever  been  a 
generous  patron  of  its  charities  and  has  contributed  largely  to 
its  building  fund. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

POLITICS. 


CHARLTON  LEWIS. 


Ai\D     IT  8     PEOPLE.  '  427 


CHAPTER  XI. 

POLITICS — GOVERNMENT  UNDER  PENN — THE  COLONIAL  ASSElir.LV — THE  SEVERAL 

CONSTITUTIONS — MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY — THE  EARLV  CONGRESSES 

REPRESENTATION  OF  CHESTER  COUNTY MEMBERS  OF  CONGRESS  — 

JOHN  MORTON — SENATORS PROMINENT  POLITICIANS  OF 

THE  COUNTY ELECTORS POLITICAL  CHANGES 

CONVENTIONS — MEMBERS  OF  THE  COUNCIL 
COUNTY  OFFICERS — RECENT  CON- 
VENTIONS  POPULATION  OF 

THE    COUNTY. 

THE  form  of  government  prepared  by  William  Peun  for  the 
government  of  his  Province  was  somewhat  unique,  especially  as 
compared  with  the  forms  of  government  now  in  existence  in  the 
several  States  and  in  the  United  States  itself.  Under  Penn's 
form  of  government  there  was  to  be  but  one  legislative  body, 
which  was  called  the  Assembly,  and  the  executive  branch  con- 
sisted of  a  Governor  and  a  Council.  The  Assembly  was  to  consist 
of  not  less  than  200  nor  more  than  500  persons.  The  first  Assem- 
bly elected  under  writs  issued  by  William  Penu  to  the  sheriffs  of 
the  several  counties  convened  at  Chester,  December  4,  1682,  and 
this  is  the  only  meeting  of  the  Assembly  within  the  ancient  limits 
of  Chester  County. 

The  second  Assembly,  which  convened  at  Philadelphia,  March 
12,  1683,  consisted  of  nine  members  from  each  county,  in  the  writ 
calling  for  the  election  of  members  of  this  Assembly,  Penn  having 
directed  the  election  of  twelve  members  of  the  Council.  Each 
county,  however,  sent  twelve  persons,  requesting  that  nine  of  them 
might  serve  in  the  Assembly  and  three  in  the  Council.  During  the 
25 


428  CHESTER     COiXTY 

session  of  this  second  Assembly  a  new  frame  of  govevument  was 
prepared,  according  to  whicli  the  Assembly  was  to  consist  of  not 
less  than  thirty-six  persons,  six  from  each  connty,  nor  more  than 
two  hnndred,  and  that  it  shonld  meet  annually  on  May  10. 

From  this  time  to  1703  the  number  of  members  from  Chester 
County  in  the  Assembly  varied  from  three  to  six,  and  from  1703  to 
1776  the  number  was  usually  eight.  Under  the  constitution 
adopted  in  1776  the  number  of  members  from  each  county  for  the 
years  1776, 1777  and  1778  was  six,  and  afterward  according  to  the 
population,  to  be  determined  by  the  Assembly  itself.  In  1779  the 
number  was  increased  to  eight,  so  remaining  until  1786,  when  it 
was  again  reduced  to  six,  and  in  1789,  on  the  creation  of  Delaware 
County,  Chester  County  had  four  members,  while  Delaware  County 
had  two. 

A  new  constitution  was  adopted  in  1790,  which  provided  that 
within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly 
there  should  be  an  enumeration  of  the  taxable  inhabitants  of  each 
county,  and  that  the  members  of  the  two  houses  created  by  that 
constitution  should  be  apportioned  according  to  the  number  of 
taxables.  This  enumeration  and  apportionment  were  to  be  made 
every  seven  years  thereafter,  the  number  of  members  from  each 
county  to  remain  the  same  until  the  first  enumeration  and  appor- 
tionment were  made.  Chester  County  therefore  had  four  members 
in  the  Assembly  until  1895,  and  under  the  first  apportionment  she 
had  five.  In  1822  the  number  was  reduced  to  four;  in  1813  it  was 
reduced  to  three,  and  in  1S71  to  two.  In  1S74  the  number  again 
became  four. 

The  members  from  Chester  County  in  the  Assembly,  so  far  as 
can  be  ascertained,  have  been  as  follows  from  1682  to  tl\e  present 
time: 
1682. — John  Simcock,  Thomas  Brassey,  Ralph  Withers,  Thomas 

Usher. 
1683. — John  Hastings,  Robert  Wade,  George  Wood,  JohBJ  Bluns- 


AXD     JTS     PEOPLE.  429 

ton,  Dennis  Eochford,  Thomas  Brassey,  John  Bezer,  John 

Harding,  Joseph  Phipps. 
1684. — Joshua   Hastings,  Robert   Wade,   John   Blunston,   George 

Maris,  Thomas  Usher,  Henry  Maddock. 
1685. — John    Blunston,    George    Maris,    John    Harding,    Thomas 

Usher,  Francis  Stanfield,  Josiah  Fearn. 
1686. — Eobert  Wade,  John  Blunston,  George  Maris,  Bartholomew 

Coppook,  Samuel  Lewis,  Caleb  Pusey. 
1687. — John  Blunston,  George  Maris,  Bartholomew  Coppock,  Caleb 

Pusey,  Edward  Bezer,  Randall  Vernon. 
1688. — John  Blunston,  James  Sandelands,  George  Maris,  Robert 

Pyle,  Edward  Carter,  Thomas  Coeburn. 
1689. — James  Sandelands,  Samuel  Levis,  John    Bartram,  Robert 

Pyle,  Michael  Blunston,  Jonathan  Hayes. 

I' 

1690. — John  Bristow,  William  Jenkin,  Robert  Pyle,  Joshua  Fearn, 

George  Maris,  Caleb  Pusey. 
1692. — Philip    Roman,    George    Maris,    Bartholomew    Coppock, 

Robert  Pyle,  Caleb  Pusey,  Thomas  Withers. 
1693. — John  Simcock,  George  Maris,  David  Lloyd. 
1694. — David  Lloyd,  Caleb  Pusey,  Samuel  Levis. 
1695. — John  Blunston,  Bartholomew    Coppock,    William    Jenkin, 

Robert  Pyle,  Walter  Forest,  Philip  Roman. 
1696. — John  Simcock  (Speaker),  .John  Blunston,  Caleb  Pusey. 
1697. — John  Blunston  (Speaker),  Bartholomew  Coppock,  Thomas 

Worth,  Jonathan  Hayes. 
1698. — Caleb   Pusey,    Samuel    Levis,    Nathaniel    Newlin,    Robert 

Carter. 
1699.— John  Blunston  (Speaker),  Robert    Pyle,    John    Worrilow, 

Robert  Carter. 
1700.— John   Blunston   (Speaker),   Robert   Pyle,   Richard   Ormes, 

John  Hood,  Samuel  Levis,  Henry  Lewis. 
1700.— Elected  October  14:    Joseph  Baker,    Samuel    Levis,  Na- 
thaniel Newlin,  Nicholas  Pyle. 


430  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1701.— John  Blunston,  Kobert  Pyle,  Nathaniel    Newlin,    Audrew 

Job. 
1703. — Nicholas  Pyle,  John  Bennett,  Andrew  Job,  David  Lewis, 

Nathaniel  Newlin,  Joseph  Baker,  Robert  Carter,  Robert 

Wood. 
1704. — Nicholas  Pyle,  John  Bennett,  Nicholas  Fairiarab,  Joseph 

Coebourn,  John  Hood,  Richard  Hayes,  Joseph  Wood,  Isaac 

Taylor. 
1705. — Robert  Pyle,  Richard  Webb,  Caleb  Pusey,  Nicholas  Fair- 
lamb,  John   Bennett,   Isaac   Taylor,   Nathaniel   Newlin, 

Joseph  Coebourn. 
1706.— Samuel    Levis,   Richard    Hayes,   Francis   Chadds,   Joseph 

Baker,  Evan  Lewis,  John  Hood,  George  Pearce,  William 

Garrett. 
1707. — Francis  Chadds,  William  Smith,    Samuel    Levis,    Richard 

Hayes,  John  Hood,  William.  Garrett,  John  Bethell,  Evan 

Lewis. 
1708. — Daniel  Williamson,  Samuel  Levis,  Henry  Lewis,  Richard 

Hayes,  John  Hood,  Thomas  Pearson,    William   Bartram, 

Daniel  Hoopes. 
1709. — Samuel  Levis,  John  Maris,  John  Hood,  Henry  Lewis,  Daniel 

Williamson,    Daniel    Hoopes,    Richard    Hayes,    William 

Smith. 
1710. — Nicholas  Pyle,  Joseph  Pyle,  Willijvm  Lewis,  John  Wood, 

Nathaniel  Newlin,  Ephraim  Jackson,  Caleb  Pusey,  Isaac 

Taylor. 
1711. — Francis  Yarnall,  John  Bezer,  Caleb  Pusey,  Nicholas  Pyle, 

Nathaniel   Newlin,    Joseph    Baker,    Nicholas   Fairlamb, 

David  Llewelin. 
1712. — Caleb  Pusey,  David  Lloyd,  William  Davis,  Nicholas  Fair- 
lamb,  John  Wood,  George  Harlan,  Isaac    Taylor,    John 

Maris. 
1713. — David  Lloyd,  William  Davis,  Joseph  Baker,  Nathaniel  New- 


AXD     /7'»S'     PEOPLE.  431 

lin,  Nicholas  Fairlamb,  Richard  Hayes,  William  Brinton, 
John  Blunston,  Jr. 

1714. — David  Lloyd  (Speaker),  Nathaniel  Newlin,  Nicholas  Pyle, 
Evan  Lewis,  John  Miller  (died  and  was  succeeded  by 
Gayen  Miller),  Benjamin  Meudeuhall,  Samuel  Garrett, 
Richard  Maris. 

1715. — David  Lloyd,  Samuel  Garrett,  Henry  Lewis,  Henry  Hayes, 
William  Pyle,  Edward  Bezer,  Philip  Taylor,  David  Lewis. 

1716. — David  Lloyd,  John  Blunston,  Jr.,  Henry  Hayes,  Joseph  Pen- 
nock,  David  Harry,  John  Maris,  John  Worrall,  Henry 
Oborn. 

1717. — David  Lloyd,  Nathaniel  Newlin,  Richard  Hayes,  Samuel 
Garrett,  James  Gibbons,  John  Wood,  George  Maris, 
Henry  Miller. 

1718. — David  Lloyd,  Richard  Hayes,  Nathaniel  Newlin,  John 
Wright,  James  Gibbons,  Henry  Lewis,  William  Lewis, 
Henry  Oborn. 

1719. — Isaac  Taylor,  Joseph  Pennock,  Moses  Key,  John  Bezer,  Na- 
thaniel Newlin,  John  Maris,  James  Gibbons,  Evan  Lewis. 

1720. — Joseph  Pennock,  Samuel  Levis,  Jr.,  Isaac  Taylor,  Israel 
Taylor,  John  Maris,  Ralph  Pyle,  Daniel  Williamson, 
David  Lewis. 

1721. — Samuel  Levis,  Jr.,  William  Pyle,  Daniel  Williamson,  Isaac 
Taylor,  David  Lewis,  Henry  Oborn,  Nathaniel  Newlin, 
Israel  Taylor. 

1722. — Samuel  Levis,  Jr.,  Joseph  Pennock,  David  Lewis,  William 
Pyle,  Daniel  Williamson,  Israel  Taylor,  Nathaniel  New- 
lin, Isaac  Taylor. 

1723. — Thomas  Chandler,  Samuel  Levis,  Jr.,  Samuel  Nutt,  John 
Crosby,  Moses  Key,  William  Webb,  Joseph  Pennock, 
David  Lloyd. 

1724. — Moses  Key,  Joseph  Pennock,  William  Webb,  AVilliam  Pyle, 


432  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Thomas   Chandler,    Elisha   Gatchell,   John    Parry,   John 
Crosby. 
1725. — David  Lloyd  (Speaker),  Thomas  Chandler,  William  Webb, 
John  Wright,  Samuel    HoUingsworth,    William    Pusey, 
George  Ashton,  William  Paschall. 
1726. — David  Lloyd  (Speaker),  Samuel    Nutt,    Samuel    HoUings- 
worth, John  Wright,    Richard    Hayes,  Joseph  Pennoek, 
Thomas  Chandler,  William  Pusey. 
1727. — John  Parry,  Samuel  HoUingsworth,  Da^id  Lloyd.  Thomas 
Chandler,  John  Carter,  Daniel  Williamson  (died  and  was 
succeeded  by  Philip  Taylor),  Simon  Meredith,  William 
Webb. 
1728. — David  Lloyd  (Speaker),  Thomas  Chandler,  Samuel  HoUings- 
worth, John  Parry,  William  Webb,  Philip  Taylor,  -John 
Carter,  Henry  Hayes. 
1729. — Caleb  Cowpland,  Richard  Hayes,  Joseph  Brinton,  Thomas 
Chandler,  William  AVebb,  Samuel  Gilpin,  James  James, 
Joseph  Pennoek. 
1730. — Henry  Pierce,  John  Taylor,  Samuel    Lewis,    John    Parry, 
Thomas  Chandler,  Samuel  Gilpin,  William  Webb,  Henry 
Hayes. 
1731. — Joseph  Harvey,  John  Parry,  Samuel  Lewis,  Caleb  Cowp- 
land, John  Taylor,  Joseph  Brinton,  Henry  Pierce,  Evan 
Lewis. 
1732. — Caleb  Cowpland,  Joseph  Harvey,  Joseph  Brinton,  Thomas 
Thomas,  William  Webb,  Joseph  Pennoek,    John    Davis, 
William  Hughes. 
1733. — Caleb  Cowpland,  Joseph  Harvey,    Joseph    Brinton,    John 
Davis,  Thomas  Thomas,  Joseph  Pennoek,    John    Owen, 
William  Moore. 
1734. — Joseph  Harvey,  Joseph  Brinton,    Caleb    Cowpland,    John 
Evans,    William    Moore,    William    Webb,    John    Owen, 
Joseph  Pennoek. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  433 

1735. — Joseph  Harvey,  William  Moore,  Joseph    Penuock,    Caleb 

Cowpland,  John  Evans,    John    Parry,    Joseph    Brinton, 

Thomas  Cummings. 
1736. — Joseph  Harvey,  Thomas  Cummings,    John    Evans,  Caleb 

Cowpland,    William    Webb,    William    Moore,    Thomas 

Chandler,  .John  Parry. 
1737. — Thomas  Chandler,  Jcsejih  Harvey,  John    Evans,    Thomas 

Cummings,    William    Moore,    James    Gibbons,    William 

Hughes,  Eichard  Hayes. 
1738. — William  Moore,  James  Gibbons,  Thomas  Chandler,  Joseph 

Harvey,  John  Owen,  Thomas  Tatnall,  William  Hughes, 

Jeremiah  Starr. 
1739. — James  Gibbous,  Thomas  Chandler,  Joseph  Harvey,  William 

Hughes,  Jeremiah  Starr,  William  Moore,  Samuel  Lewis, 

John  Owen. 
1740. — Thomas  Chandler,  Joseph  Harvey,  James  Gibbons,  William 

Hughes,    Samuel    Levis,    .John    Owen,    .Jeremiah    Starr, 

Thomas  Tatnall. 
1741. — Joseph  Harvey,  Thomas  Chandler,  .James    Gibbous,  .John 

Owen,  Thomas  Tatnall,  Samuel  Levis,  William  Hughes, 

Jeremiah  Starr. 
1742. — James  Gibbons,  .Johu  Owen,  Samuel  Levis,  Jeremiah  Starr, 

Thomas    Chandler,    Joseph    Harvey,    William    Hughes, 

Thomas  Tatnall. 
1743. — Jeremiah  Starr,  James  Gibbons,  Thomas  Chandler,  Joseph 

Harvey,   Samuel   Levis,   Joseph   Penuock,    George   Ash- 
bridge,  Jr.,  Francis  Yarnall. 
1744. — George    Ashbridge,    Francis    Yarnall,    Joseph   Pennock, 

Samuel  Levis,  James  Gibbons,  Joseph  Harvey,  Thomas 

Cummings,  Thomas  Chandler. 
1745. — Joseph  Pennock,  Thomas  Cummings,  George  Ashbridge, 

Francis  Yarnall,  Joseph  Harvey,  Samuel  Levis,  Kobert 

Lewis,  Thomas  Chandler. 


434  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1746. — Francis  Yarnall,  George  Ashbridge,  Robert  Lewis,  Thomas 
Worth,  Samuel  Levis,  Peter  Dicks,  Thomas  Chandler, 
John  Owen. 

1747. — Samuel  Levis,  Francis  Yarnall,  George  Ashbridge,  Thomas 
Worth,  Peter  Dicks,  John  Owen,  John  Davis,  Thomas 
Chandler. 

1748. — Thomas  Worth,  George  Ashbridge,  Francis  Yarnall,  John 
Davis,  John  Owen,  Joseph  .James,  Thomas  Chandler, 
Joseph  Gibbons. 

1749. — Joseph  Gibbous,  George  Ashbridge,  Henry  Hockley, 
Thomas  Chandler,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  Nathaniel  Pennock, 
Roger  Hunt,  Thomas  Cummings. 

1750. — Joseph  Gibbons,  George  Ashbridge,  Thomas  Cummings, 
Henry  Hockley,  Thomas  Chandler,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  Na- 
thaniel Pennock,  Peter  Dicks. 

1751. — Joseph  Gibbous,  Thomas  Cummings,  George  Ashbridge, 
Nathaniel  Grubb,  Peter  Dicks,  Nathaniel  Pennock,  Henry 
Hockley,  Thomas  Chandler. 

1752. — Joseph  Gibbons,  Thomas  Cummings,  Nathaniel  Pennock, 
George  Ashbridge,  Peter  Dicks,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  Wil- 
liam Peters,  Jacob  Howell. 

1753. — Thomas  Cummings,  Nathaniel  Pennock,  George  Ashbridge, 
Joseph  Gibbons,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  William  Peters,  Peter 
Dicks,  Joseph  James. 

1754. — George  Ashbridge,  Joseph  Gibbous,  Thomas  Cummings, 
Peter  Dicks,  Nathaniel  Pennock,  Nathaniel  Grubb, 
Joseph  James,  William  Peters. 

1755. — Thomas  Cummings,  George  Ashbridge,  Nathaniel  Pennock, 
Joseph  .James,  .Joseph  Gibbons,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  Wil- 
liam Peters  (resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  John  Morton), 
Nathaniel  Grubb. 

1756. — Joseph  Gibbons,  John  Morton,  Roger  Hunt,  George  Ash- 
bridge, Hugh  Trimble,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  Peter    Dicks, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  435 

^Nathaniel  Pennock  (the  latter  two  resigning  and  being 
succeeded  by  Isaac  Wayne  and  Ralph  Pyle). 

1757. — Joseph  Gibbons,  George  Ashbridge,  John  Morton,  Roger 
Hunt,  Isaac  Wayne,  Nathaniel  Grubb,  Hugh  Trimble, 
Joshua  Ash. 

1758. — Joseph  Gibbons,  John  Morton,  George  Ashbridge,  Roger 
Hunt,  Hugh  Trimble,  Joshua  Ash,  Nathaniel  Grubb, 
Isaac  Wayne. 

1759. — John  Morton,  George  Ashbridge,  Joshua  Ash,  Joseph  Gib- 
bons, Hugh  Trimble,  Roger  Hunt,  Peter  Dicks,  Isaac 
Wayne. 

1760. — George  Ashbridge,  John  Morton,  Roger  Hunt,  Joshua  Ash, 
Joseph  Gibbons,  Nathaniel  Pennock,  William  Boyd,  Isaac 
Wayne. 

1761. — Joseph  Gibbons,  George  Ashbridge,  Nathaniel  Pennock, 
Joshua  Ash,  John  Morton,  Isaac  Pearson,  Roger  Hunt, 
Isaac  Wayne. 

1762. — Nathaniel  Pennock,  George  Ashbridge,  Joshua  Ash,  Isaac 
Pearson,  John  Morton,  Joseph  Gibbons,  John  Jacobs, 
Isaac  Wayne. 

1763. — George  Ashbridge,  Joshua  Ash,  Isaac  Pearson,  .John  Mor- 
ton, Nathaniel  Pennock,  John  .Jacobs,  Charles  Hum- 
phreys, Isaac  Wayne. 

1764. — George  Ashbridge,  Nathaniel  Pennock,  John  Morton, 
Joshua  Ash,  Isaac  Pearson,  Charles  Humphreys,  John 
Jacobs,  John  Fairlamb. 

1765. — George  Ashbridge,  John  Morton,  John  Jacobs,  Nathaniel 
Pennock,  John  Fairlamb,  (died  and  was  succeeded  by  John 
Minshall),  Charles  Humphreys,  Isaac  Pearson,  Joshua 
Ash. 

1766. — George  Ashbridge,  Nathaniel  Pennock,  John  Jacobs, 
Charles  Humphreys,  Isaac  Pearson,  Joshua  Ash,  John 
Minshall,  John  Morton  (accepted  the  office  of  sheriff  and 
Jonas  Preston  took  his  place). 


436  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1767. — Isaac   Pearson,    Charles    Humphreys,    George    Ashbridge, 

John  Minshall,  Jonas  Preston,  John  Jacobs,  John  Sellers, 

Nathaniel  Pennock. 
1768. — John    Jacobs,    Nathaniel    Pennock,     George    Ashbridge, 

Charles  Humphreys,  John  Sellers,  John  Minshall,  John 

Crosby,  Isaac  Pearson. 
1769. — George   Ashbridge,   Charles    Humphreys,    Isaac    Pearson, 

John  Sellers,  John  Jacobs,  John  Minshall,  John  Crosby, 

John  Morton. 
1770. — Charles  Humphreys,  Isaac  Pearsou,  John    Minshall,  John 

Morton,  John  Jacobs,  John  Crosby,  John  Sellers,  George 

Ashbridge. 
1771. — John  Morton,  John  Jacobs,  John  Sellers,  John  Minshall, 

John  Crosby,  Charles  Humphreys,  Isaac  Pearson,  George 

Ashbridge. 
1772. — Chai'les   Humphreys,   Isaac   Pearson,  John   Morton,   John 

Jacobs,   John    Minshall,    James    Hockley,    Geoi'ge    Ash- 
bridge, Benjamin  Bartholomew. 
1773. — Isaac    Pearson,    Benjamin    Bartholomew,    John    Jacobs, 

Charles  Humphreys,  John  Morton,  James  Gibbs,    John 

Minshall,  Joseph  Pennock. 
1774. — Benjamin   Bartholomew,   John   Jacobs,    Joseph    Pennock, 

James  Gibbons,  Isaac  Pearson,  Charles  Humphreys,  John 

Morton,  Anthony  Wayne. 
1775. — John  Morton  (Speaker),    Benjamin    Bartholomew,    James 

Gibbons,    Isaac    Pearson,    John    Jacobs,    Charles    Hum- 
phreys, Joseph  Pennock,  Joseph  Pyle. 
1776. — John  Jacobs,  Caleb  Davis,  Joseph  Gardner,  John  Fulton, 

Samuel  Cunningham,  John  Sellers. 
1777. — Joseph  Gardner,  John  Fulton,  Samuel  Cunningham,  John 

Culbertson,  Lewis  Gi'onow,  Stephen  Cochran. 
1778. — Joseph   Gardner,  John   Fulton,  John  Culbertson,  Stephen 

Cochran,  John  Fleming,  Patrick  Anderson. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  437 

1779. — John  Fulton,  David  Thomas,  Henry  Haves,  James  Boyd, 
Patrick  Anderson,  Joseph  Park,  William  Harris,  Sketch- 
ley  Morton. 

1780. — David  Thomas,  Henry  Hayes,  Joseph  Park,  AVilliam  Har 
ris,  James  Boyd,  Patrick  Anderson,  John  Culbertson 
Evan  Evans. 

1781. — John  Culbertson,  Evan  Evans,  James  Moore,  Persifor  Fra 
zer,  Thomas  Maffat,  Patrick  Anderson,  John  Hannuni 
John  Lindsay. 

1782. — Persifor  Frazer,  James  Boyd,  Evan  Evans,  Thomas  Straw 
bridge,  Benjamin  Branuan,  David  Thomas,  John  Lind 
say,  Thomas  Maffat. 

1783. — David  Thomas,  Evan  Evans,  John  Hannum,  Joseph  Park, 
Eichard  Willing,  Thomas  Potts,  Thomas  Bull,  Edward 
Jones. 

1784.— Richard  Willing,  Anthony  Wayne,  Edward  Jones,  Robert 
Ralston,  James  Moore,  Thomas  Potts,  Persifor  Frazer, 
Joseph  Strawbridge,  Charles  Humphreys. 

1785. — Anthony  Wayne,  Robert  Ralston,  James  Moore,  Thomas 
Bull,  John  Hannum,  Robert  Smith,  Samuel  Evans,  Jona- 
than Morris. 

1786.— Robert  Ralston,  Richard  Willing,  James  Moore,  Samuel 
Evans,  Richard  Thomas,  Townsend  Whelen,  and  in  1787 
the  same  members. 

1788. — Richard  Thomas,  James  Moore,  Mark  Wilcox,  John  Mc- 
Dowell, Caleb  James,  Richard  Downing,  Jr. 

1789._Eichard  Thomas,  John  McDowell,  Caleb  James,  Richard 
Downing,  Jr. 

1790._Kichard  Downing,  Caleb  James,  John  McDowell,  James 
Boyd. 

1791. — Richard  Downing,  Caleb  James,  James  Boyd,  Samuel 
Evans. 

1792. — Dennis  Whelen,  Charles  Dilworth,  John  Hannum,  Samuel 
Sharp. 


438  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1793. — Dennis  Whelen,  Thomas  Bull,  John  Ross,  Joseph  Pierce. 
1794. — Thomas  Bull,  John  Boss,  Eobert  Frazer,  Roger  Kirk. 
1795. — Thomas  Bull,  Robert  Frazer,  Roger  Kirk,  Joseph  Pierce, 

Abiah  Taylor. 
1796. — Thomas  Bull,  Robert  Frazer,  Roger  Kirk,  Abiah    Taylor, 

James  Hannum. 
1797. — Thomas  Bull,  Roger  Kirk,  Abiah  Taylor,  James  Hannum, 

Joseph  Hemphill, 
1798  and  1799.— The  same  as  in  1797. 

1800. — Thomas  Bull,  Roger  Kirk,  Abiah  Taylor,  Isaac  Wayne. 
1801. — Thomas  Bull,  John  McDowell,  Abiah  Taylor  (died  and  was 

succeeded  by  Isaac  Anderson),    Isaac    Wayne,    William 

Gibbons. 
1802. — Joseph  Park,  James  Fulton,  Edward  Darlington,  Thomas 

Taylor,  Methuselah  Davis. 
1803. — James    Fulton,    Edward    Darlington,    Methuselah    Davis, 

John  Boyd,  Hezekiah  Davis. 
1804. — The  same  members. 
1805. — John    Boyd,    Methuselah    Davis,   James    Kelton,    Francis 

Gardner,  John  G.  Bull. 
1806. — Same  members  re-elected. 
1807. — Joseph  Park,  James  Kelton,  William  Worthington,  Isaac 

Darlington,  George  Evans. 
1808. — James  Kelton,  John    G.    Bull,    Isaac    Darlington,    George 

Evans,  Abraham  Baily. 
1809. — James  Steele,  John  W.  Cunningham,  John  Ramsay,  Jacob 

Clemmons,  Roger  Davis. 
1810. — James  Steele,  John  W.  Cunningham,  John  Ramsay,  Jacob 

Clemmons,  William  Harris. 
1811. — Edward    Darlington,   Jacob    Clemmons,    William    Harris, 

John  Reed,  James  Brooks. 
1812. — John  G.  Bull,  Abraham  Baily,  John  Menough,  2sathan  Pen- 

nypacker.  Lea  Pusey. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  439 

1813. — Edward  Darlington,  John  Harris,  Jolin  Reed,  James 
Brooks,  James  Hindman. 

1814.^ — Nathan  Pennypacker,  John  Menough,  Lea  Pusey,  Jacob 
Humplirey,  James  Roberts. 

1815. — John  Menough,  Jacob  Humphrey,  James  Roberts,  Joseph 
Sharp,  John  Jones  (died  and  was  succeeded  by  Isaac  Dar- 
lington). 

1816-17. — John  Menough,  Thomas  Ashbridge,  Evan  Evans,  Joseph 
Sharp,  Samuel  Cochran. 

1818. — Thomas  Ashbridge,  Wallace  Boyd,  John  G.  Parke,  Joseph 
Sharp,  Joshua  Hunt. 

1819. — James  Kelton,  Thomas  Ashbridge,  Joshua  Hunt,  Abraham 
Baily,  Thomas  Baird. 

1820. — James  Kelton,  Joshua  Hunt,  Thomas  Baird,  Stephen  Webb, 
Joshua  Evans. 

1821. — Wallace  Boyd,  Timothy  Kirk,  Jonathan  Jones,  Elijah 
Lewis,  Stephen  Webb. 

1822. — Wallace  Boyd,  Timothy  Kirk,  Elijah  Lewis,  Jonathan 
Jones. 

1823. — Elijah  Lewis,  Joshua  Hunt,  David  Potts,  Jr.,  John  Chand- 
ler. 

1824. — Joshua  Hunt,  David  Potts,  Jr.,  John  Chandler,  William 
Thompson. 

1825.— Same. 

1826. — William  Thompson,  Townsend  Haines,  Robert  Miller,  Mat- 
thias Pennypacker. 

1827. — Same  members  re-elected. 

1828. — Robert  Miller,  John  Morgan,  Isaac  Trimble,  Dr.  Samuel 
McCleane. 

1829. — Joshua  McMinn,  Jesse  James,  Jesse  Pugh,  Gen.  Matthew 
Stanley. 

1830. — Thomas  Ashbridge,  Matthias  Pennypacker,  Arthur  An- 
drews, Dr.  Benjamin  Griffith. 


440  CHESTER     COUXTY 

1831. — Thomas  Ashbridge,  Arthur  Andrews,  Dr.  Benjamin  Grif- 
fith, Elijah  F.  Pennvpacker. 
1832. — Same  members. 
1833.— Oliver  Alison,  Dr.  Samuel  McCleane,  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthing- 

tou,  Dr.  Thomas  I. . 

1834. — Elijah  F.  Pennypacker,  Charles  Brooke,  John  Hutchinson, 

John  Parker. 
1835. — Same  members  re-elected. 
1836. — John  Parker,  Abraham  K.  Mcllvaine,  Maurice  Richardson, 

Isaac  Downing. 
1837. — Abraham  II.  Mcllvaine,  Maurice  Richardson,  William  H. 

Dillingham,  Benjamin  J.  Passmore. 
1838. — Maurice  Richardson,  Richard  M.  Barnard,  William  K.  Cor- 

rey,  Beynard  Way. 
1839. — Joseph     Baily,    Joshua   ITartshorne,   John   Morgan,   Joel 

Swayne. 
1840.— John  D.  Steele,  Robert  Futhey,  William  K.  Correy,  Dr.  John 

B.  Chrisman. 
1841.— William  K.  Correy,  Robert  Futhey,  Emmor  Elton,  Robert 

Laverty. 
1842. — Emmor  Elton,  Robert  Parke,  Jesse  C.  Dickey,  John  Beidler. 
1843. — Robert  Parke,  Jesse  C.  Dickey,  Joseph  Whitaker. 
1844. — Robert  Parke,  Jesse  C.  Dickey,  William  Price. 
1845. — William  Price,  William  D.  Thomas,  George  Ladley. 
1846-47. — George  Ladley,  Henry  S.  Evans,  Thomas  K.  Bull. 
1848.— Henry  S.  Evans,  Thomas  K.  Bull,  David  J.  Bent. 
1849. — David  J.  Bent,  John  S.  Bowen,  John  Acker. 
1850. — David  J.  Bent,  John  S.  Evans,  James  M.  Dorian, 
1851. — John  Acker,  William  Chandler,  Jesse  James. 
1852. — William  Chandler,  Jesse  James,  Dr.  Joseph  Hickman. 
1853. — Robert  E.  Monaghan,  Henry  T.  Evans,  William  Wheeler. 
1854. — Dr.  Matthias  J.  Pennypacker,  Mark  A.  Hodgson,  William 

R.  Downing. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  44 1 

1855. — Andrew  Buchanan,  Joseph  Dowdall,  Kobert  Irwin. 

1856. — Dr.  Ebeuezer  V.  Dickey,  James  Penrose,  Paxon  Vickers. 

1857.— John  Hodgson,  Eber  W.  Sharpe,  Morton  Garrett. 

1858. — Isaac  Acker,  William  T.  Shafer,  Caleb  Pierce. 

1859  and  1860.— The  same. 

1861-62-63.— P.  Frazer  Smith,  William  Wiudle,  Robert  L.  McClel- 

lan. 
1864-65-66.— William  B.  Waddell,  Nathan  J.  Sharpless,  Dr.  Nathan 

A.  Pennypacker. 
1867. — John  Hickman,  James  M.  Phillips,  Dr.  Stephen  M.  Meredith, 
1868. — James  M.  Phillips,  Dr.  Stephen  M.  Meredith,  Archimedes 

Kobb. 
1869. — James  C.  Roberts,  Joseph  C.  Keech,  Abel  Darlington. 
1870. — Joseph  C.  Keech,  Levi  Prizer,  Samuel  H.  Hoopes. 
1871. — Joseph  C.  Keech,  Levi  Prizer. 
1872.— Levi  Prizer,  Dr.  E.  W.  Baily. 
1873. — The  same  two  members  re-elected. 
1874.— Dr.  E.  W.  Bailey,  Peter  G.  Carey,  John  P.  Edge,  George  F. 

Smith. 
1876.— Samuel  Butler,  William  T.  Fulton,  Jesse  Matlack,  John  P. 

Edge. 
1878. — Samuel  Butler,  William  T.  Fulton,  Jesse  Matlack,  John  A. 

Reynolds. 
1880.— John  A.  Reynolds,  Theodore    K.  Stubbs,  John    T.    Potts, 

William  Wayne. 
1882.— John  T.  Potts,  Theodore  K.  Stubbs,  William  Wayne,  Levi 

Fetters. 
1884.— Theodore  K.  Stubbs,  William  Wayne,  Levi  Fetters,  Levi  B, 

Kaler. 
1886. — Lewis  K.  Evans,  W.  W.  McConnell,  John  W.  Hickman,  D. 

Smith  Talbot. 
1887. — William  Evans. 
1888. — Lewis  H.  Evans,  John  W.  Hickman,  W.  W.  McConnell,  D, 

Smith  Talbot. 


442  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1S90. — David  H.  Branson,  William  P.  Snyder,  Dr.  J.  G.  West. 
1892.— D.  Smith  Talbot,  J.  H.  Marshall,  T.  J.  Phillips,  D.  F.  Moore. 
1894.— D.  Smith  Talbot,  J.  H.  Marshall,  T.  J.  Phillips,  D.  F.  Moore. 
1896.— J.  H.  Marshall,  T.  J.  Phillips,  D.  F.  Moore,  Phimmer  E. 
Jefferies. 

On  the  first  Tuesday  of  October,  1765,  the  first  American  Con- 
gress convened  in  the  city  of  New  York,  composed  of  delegates 
from  nine  of  the  colonies,  and  originating  in  a  call  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  Massachusetts  to  take  into  consideration  the  oppressive 
measures  of  the  British  Parliament,  The  result  of  the  delibera- 
tions of  this  Congress  was  a  declaration  of  rights,  a  memorial  to 
Parliament,  and  a  petition  to  the  king,  in  which  they  objected  to 
being  taxed  except  by  their  own  representatives.  Their  proceed- 
ings were  approved  by  the  assemblies  of  the  several  colonies,  and 
thus  for  the  first  time  a  semblance  of  a  federal  union  was  formed 
or  at  least  prefigured.  In  this  first  Congress  Chester  County  was 
represented  by  John  Morton,  who  resided  in  what  is  now  Delaware 
County,  and  who  afterward  signed  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. 

In  the  second  Congress,  usually  known  in  history  as  the  "First 
Continental  Congress,"  which  met  September  5,  1774,  in  Carpen- 
ter's Hall,  Philadelphia,  Chester  County  was  represented  by  John 
Morton  and  Charles  Humphreys,  and  eight  of  the  fifty-five  mem- 
bers were  from  Pennsylvania.  In  the  next  Continental  Congress, 
usually  known  as  the  Second,  Chester  County  was  represented  by 
the  same  two  membei-s,  and  this  was  also  the  case  in  the  next 
Congress,  which  met  in  1776.  In  this  Congress,  when  the  vote  was 
taken  on  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration,  John  Morton  voted  in  its 
favor,  and  Charles  Humphreys  against  it.  Only  two  other  mem- 
bers from  Pennsylvania  voted  against  the  Declaration,  John  Dick- 
inson, its  ablest  opponent,  Thomas  Willing  of  Philadelphia  County, 
and  these  three  gentlemen  were   succeeded  in    the  Congress    by 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  445 

Colonels  George  Ross  and  James  Smith,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush, 
George  Clymer,  and  George  Taylor,  all  of  whom  signed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  as  they  had  opportunity. 

Chester  County  was  represented  in  Congress  from  1777  to  1779 
by  William  Clingan  of  West  Cain  Township,  and  in  1784  and  1785 
by  Dr.  Joseph  Gardner,  who  resided  near  Sadsburyville.  Previous 
to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  members 
of  Congress  were  elected  by  the  legislatures  of  the  several  states, 
and  at  the  first  election  for  members  of  Congress  held  under  that 
Constitution  they  were  elected  on  a  general  ticket,  the  votes  cast 
in  Chester  County  for  delegates  to  the  fii'st  Congress  under  the  Con- 
stitution being  ai5  follows:  Henry  Wynkoop,  901;  Thomas  Hai'tley, 
903;  Frederick  A.  Muhlenberg,  901;  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  900; 
John  Allison,  896;  Thomas  Scott,  895;  George  Clymer,  890;  Stephen 
Chambers,  890. 

When  the  State  was  divided  into  congressional  districts  by 
act  of  March  16,  1791,  Chester  and  Montgomery  Counties  became 
the  Third  district,  and  at  the  election  held  in  October  following, 
Israel  Jacobs  of  Montgomerj-  County  was  elected  to  represent  it  in 
Congress.  On  April  7,  1792,  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  elec- 
tion of  congressmen  on  a  general  ticket,  and  under  this  arrange- 
ment the  candidates  for  Congress  in  the  State  who  were  elected 
and  the  votes  cast  for  them  in  Cbester  County  were  as  follows: 
Frederick  A.  Muhlenberg,  2,031;  William  Irvine,  2,011;  Daniel 
Heister,  2,009;  William  Findley,  2,003;  John  Wilkes  Kittera,  1,999; 
Thomas  Hartley,  1,973;  Thomas  Fitzsimmons,  1,843;  Henry  Wyn- 
koop, 1,801;  Thomas  Scott,  1,787,  and  Samuel  Sitgreaves,  1,721. 

The  State  was  divided  into  twelve  congressional  districts  by 
an  act  passed  April  22,  1794,  Chester  and  Delaware  Counties 
forming  the  Third  district,  and  this  arrangement  lasted  until  1802, 
in  which  year  the  State  was,  as  it  has  been  in  every  tenth  year 
since  then,  districted  according  to  the  number  of  members  to 
which  it  was  entitled  under  the  several  censuses  of  the  United 
26 


446  CHESTER     COUNTY 

States.  Since  1802  the  districts  to  which  Chester  County  has  be- 
longed, and  the  r^umber  of  members  of  Congress  t]i(>  district  has 
been  entitled  to,  have  been  as  follows: 

1802. — Third  district,  Chester,  Berks  and  Lancaster,  three 
members. 

1812. — Second  district,  Chester  and  Montgomery,  two  mem- 
bers. 

1822. — Fourth  district,  Chester,  Delaware  and  Lancaster,  three 
members. 

1832. — Four-th  district,  Chester,  Delaware  and  Lancaster,  three 
members. 

1842. — Seventh  district,  Chester  County,  one  member. 

1852. — Sixtli  district,  Chester  and  Delaware,  one  member. 

1862. — Seventh  distinct,  Chester  and  Delaware,  one  member. 

1872. — The  same,  and  1882,  the  Sixth,  as  it  still  remains. 

When  the  vote  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  first 
taken,  the  colonies,  aside  from  Pennsylvania,  were  equally  divided, 
and  the  vote  of  Pennsylvania  was  itself  divided  equally'  in  the 
absence  of  one  of  Chester  County's  representatives  in  the  Congress. 
John  Morton,  coming  into  the  hall,  turned  the  tide  in  favor  of  the 
Declaration,  for,  with  his  vote  in  favor  of  it,  Pennsylvania  was 
ranged  on  its  side,  and  thus  there  was  a  majority  in  the  colonial 
vote.  At  least  this  is  the  way  this  important  point  of  history  has 
usually  been  written  and  understood.  And  it  is  for  the  reason 
that  John  Morton  was  of  such  importance  at  a  most  ci'itical  junc- 
ture that  an  exception  is  made  in  his  case,  and  a  full  sketch  of  his 
life  here  introduced. 

The  first  mention  of  the  name  of  Morton  in  the  history  of 
ancient  Chester  County  is  in  the  list  of  names  attached  to  the  oath 
of  allegiance  of  the  Swedes  to  the  Dutch  in  1655,  where  it  was 
spelled  Martin  Martens.  In  an  old  book  of  service  at  Harrisburg, 
dated  1675,  may  be  found  the  following:  "Laid  out  for  John  Cor- 
nells and  Martou  Marteson  (Morton  Mortonson)  one  piece  or  parcel 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  .447 

of  land  where  they  now  dwell,  situate,  lying  and  being  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Delaware  Eiver,  and  on  a  creek  which  cometh  out  of 
said  river,  said  creek  commonly  known  and  called  Amsland,  or 
Mill  Kill,"  etc.  Morton  Mortonson  as  early  as  1655  lived  on  his 
plantation  at  Ammeslaad  in  Eidley  Township,  old  Chester  (now 
Delaware)  County.  He  is  always  spoken  of  as  "of  Ammesland." 
There  was  a  Morton  Mortonson  of  "Calking  Hook,"  whose  will  is 
dated  November  1,  1718.  Whether  these  two  Morton  Mortonsons 
were  one  and  the  same  individual,  or  whether  there  were  two  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  name,  appears  not  yet  to  have  been  settled  by 
local  historians.  But  the  Morton  Mortonson  of  "Calking  Hook" 
had  children  as  follows:  David,  Andrew,  John,  Matthias,  Katha- 
rine and  Margaret. 

John  Morton,  the  third  of  the  above-named  children,  married 
Mary  Archer,  daughter  of  John  Archer  of  Eidley,  by  whom  he  had 
but  one  son,  also  named  John,  born  after  his  father's  death,  early 
in  the  year  1725.  The  widow  married  John  Sketchley,  an  English- 
man, yeoman,  who  came  from  England  in  1718,  and  settled  in  Eid- 
ley Township  in  1724,  and  died  in  1753  without  children.  His  step- 
son, John  Morton,  in  remembrance  of  his  kindness,  named  one  of 
his  sons  Sketchley,  who  became  a  major  in  the  Eevolutionary  army, 
and  a  man  of  note  in  his  day. 

John  Morton,  the  signer,  married  Ann  .Justis,  by  whom  he  had 
three  sons  and  five  daughters.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly  for  eleven  years  from  1756;  was  a  justice  of  the  peace 
for  Chester  County  in  1757;  was  sheriff  in  1767  and  1768;  was  a 
member  of  the  Congress  that  sat  in  New  York  in  1765;  and  was  re- 
elected in  1771  and  again  reelected  in  1776;  was  a  member  of  the 
first  convention  to  frame  a  constitution  for  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1776.  He  was  appointed  associate  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Provincial  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  the  last  appointment 
to  that  court  under  the  old  order  of  things.  He  died  in  December, 
1777,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 


448  CHESTER     COUNTY 

His  children  were  Aaron,  Sketchley,  John,  Mary,  Sarah,  Lydia, 
Ann  and  Elizabeth.  Major  Sketchley  Morton  married  Rebecca 
Taylor  of  Tinicum,  and  had  children  as  follows)  Charles,  Rebecca, 
Ann,  Aaron  Taylor,  and  John  S.,  the  latter  of  whom  was  born 
February  21,  1780.  He  married  Susannah  Crosby,  June  30,  1S03, 
and  had  the  following  children:  Ann  Crosby,  Rebecca  Taylor, 
Susan  Crosby,  Sketchley,  John  Crosby,  Ellen  Elizabeth,  Crosby 
Peirce,  Franklin  H.,  and  Catharine  Plummei*.  Of  these  Sketchley 
Morton  was  born  October  12,  1810,  and  maiTied  Annesley  Newlin, 
by  whom  he  had  John  S.,  Benjamin  N.,  Elizabetli  N.,  Sketchley, 
Annesley,  Susan,  Mary,  Crosby  and  Hattie,  the  latter  two  twins. 

That  patriotism  is  inherent  in  the  family  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  Sketchley  Morton,  Jr.,  son  of  Judge  Sketchley  Morton  of 
Springfield,  Delaware  County,  Pennsylvania,  enlisted  in  the 
Ninety-seventh  Pennsylvania  volunteers,  becoming  first  lieutenant 
of  a  company,  and  serving  until  his  death  by  yellow  fever  Novem- 
ber 12,  1862,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  Upon  his  death  a 
poem  was  written  as  has  been  thought  by  Rev.  John  Pleasanton  du 
Hamel,  at  one  time  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Redemption,  Phila- 
delphia.    The  poem  in  part  is  as  follows : 

"A  noble  youth,  a  noble  lineage. 
Descent  of  man  whose  patriot  deed 
Gave  Independence  to  our  glorious  Union; 
Aye,  set  his  State,  the  Keystone 
Of  this  loved  temple  of  our  Liberties. 

"The  name  of  Morton — when  the  Nation's  fate 
Poised  in  dubious  scale  of  destiny, 
(Who  doubts  may  read)  the  balance  shook,  and  to 
The  side  of  Freedom  sent  the  quivering  beam,"  etc. 

Chester  County  has  been  represented  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  by  one  of  her  distinguished  citizens,  viz.,  Gen.  Isaac 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  449 

D.  Barnard,  who  was  elected  to  that  high  office  in  1828,  took  his 
seat  March  4,  1829,  and  served  until  1831,  when  he  resigned  on 
account  of  failing  health.  He  died  at  West  Chester  in  1834.  Gen- 
eral Barnard  was  born  in  1791  at  Che.ster,  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  West  Chester  in  181fi.  He  had  been  a  gal- 
lant soldier  and  officer  in  the  war  of  1812,  being  under  the 
command  of  Winder  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  He  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  major  in  the  year  1813,  and  descended  the  Saint 
Lawrence  Eiver  with  Wilkinson  and  heard  the  firing  at 
Chrysler  Farm,  unable  to  be  present  on  account  of  illness.  He 
greatly  distinguished  himself  for  bravery  at  the  battle  of  Lyons' 
Ci'eek,  conducting  the  charge  and  driving  the  enemy  from  their 
ground.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  war  he  applied  himself  to  the 
practice  of  the  law  in  West  Chester,  becoming  unusually  popular 
on  account  of  his  courage  and  high  character.  In  1820  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate  from  the  district  composed  of  Chester 
and  Delaware  Counties,  and  in  1824  he  was  elected  major-general 
of  the  Third  district  of  the  militia,  in  which  capacity  he  aided 
largely  in  the  hospitalities  extended  to  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
on  his  visit  to  Chester  County.  In  1826  he  was  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  the  Commonwealth,  aud  in  1828  he  was  elected  to  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States,  as  above  stated.  In  1829  his  friends  made 
the  attempt  to  nominate  him  for  Governor  of  the  State,  but  on  ac- 
count of  a  factional  fight  in  Chester  County,  the  attempt  was  not 
successful.  As  a  lawyer  he  Avas  eminently  successful,  notwith- 
standing the  many  interruptions  in  his  practice,  by  his  engage- 
ments in  niilitai7  and  political  life,  and  the  many  able  competitors 
then  practicing  at  the  Chester  County  bar.  On  October  19,  1854, 
his  remains  were  removed  from  the  Friends'  graveyard  on  High 
Street,  to  the  Oaklands  Cemetery,  where  a  monument  to  him  had 
already  been  erected,  Dr.  William  Darlington  delivering  an  ora- 
tion on  this  occasion,  which  was  made  a  very  imposing  military 
pageant,  the  procession  reaching  from  the  court-house  to  the  cem- 
etery. 


450  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Following  is  a  list  of  tlie  members  of  Congress  from  Chester 
Connty,  together  with  the  number  of  the  Congress  in  which  they 
severally  served,  ami  the  year  in  which  they  were  elected,  since 
1794: 

1794-96-98.— IVth,  Vth  and  Vlth  congresses,  Eichard  Thomas, 
West  Whiteland. 

1800.— VII,  Joseph  Hemphill,  West  Chester. 

1802-04. — VIII  and  IX,  Isaac  Anderson,  Charlestown. 

1806.— X,  John  Heister,  Coventry. 

1808.— XI,  Daniel  Heister,  West  Chester. 

1810.— XII,  Dr.  Eoger  Davis,  Charlestown. 

1812.— XIII,  the  same. 

1814.— XIV,  Dr.  William  Darlington,  West  Chester. 

1816.— XV,  Isaac  Darlington,  West  Chester. 

1818-20.— XVI  and  XVII,  Dr.  William  Darlington.  West 
Chester. 

1822.— XVII,  Col.  Isaac  Wayne,  Easttown. 

1824-26.— XIX  and  XX,  Charles  Miner,  West  Chester, 

1828-30.— XXI  and  XXII,  Joshua  Evans,  TredyfCrin. 

1830-32-34-36.— XXII,  XXIII,  XXIV  and  XXV,  David  Potts, 
Jr.,  East  Nautmeal. 

1838-40.— XX^'I,  XX^'II,  Francis  James,  West  Chester. 

1843-44-46.— XXVIII,  XXIX  and  XXX,  Abraham  K.  Mcll- 
vaine.  West  Nantmeal. 

1848.— XXXI,  Jesse  C.  Dickey,  New  London. 

1850.— XXXII,  Dr.  John  A.  Morrison,  West  Fallowfield. 

1852.— XXXIII,  William  Everhart,  West  Chester. 

1854-56-58-60.— XXXIV,  XXXV,  XXXVI  and  XXXVII,  John 
Hickman,  West  Chester. 

1862-64-66.— XXXVIII,  XXXIX  and  XL,  John  M.  Broomall, 
Delaware  County. 

1868-70-72-74.— XLI,  XLII,  XLIII  and  XLIV,  Washington 
Townsend,  West  Chester. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  451 

1876-78-80.— XL^',  XLVI  and  XLYII,  ^Villiam  Ward,  Dela- 
ware County. 

1882-84.— XL VIII  and  XLIX,  James  B.  Everhart. 

188G-88.— L  and  LI,  Smedley  Darlington. 

1890-92-94.— LII,  LIII  and  LIV,  .John  B.  Robinson,  Delaware 
County. 

189G.— L^',  1  honias  S.  Butler. 

Hon.  John  Hickman,  elected  four  times  to  Congress  from 
Chester  County,  was  one  of  the  historic  personages  of  his  times. 
While  he  was  a  youth  he  was  noted  for  his  uncommon  intellectual 
ability,  and  it  was  this  that  led  his  parents  to  secure  for  him  the 
best  education  obtainable.  Having  read  law  with  the  Hon.  Town- 
send  Haines,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1832,  and  being  a 
good  speaker  he  soon  wou  a  prominent  position  in  the  Democrat 
party  of  Chester  County.  In  1844  he  Avas  a  delegate  to  the  National 
Convention  that  nominated  James  K.  Polk  for  President,  but  was 
himself  in  favor  of  AndrcAv  Jackson.  In  that  year  he  was  nomi- 
nated by  the  Democrats  of  his  district  for  Congress,  but  was  de- 
feated by  Hon.  Abraliam  II.  ilclhaiue.  In  184.5  he  was  appointed 
district  attorney,  and  was  again  appointed  to  the  same  office  about 
the  first  of  tlie  year  1847.  In  18.54  he  was  again  nominated  for 
Congress  by  the  Democracy,  and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of 
2,656,  securing  the  vote  of  the  Know  Nothings,  ''through  some 
influences" which  have  neA^er  been  satisfactorily  explained."  In 
Congress  Mr.  Hickman  was  an  opponent  of  slaver^-,  notwithstand- 
ing which  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress  in  1856  by  the  Democ- 
racy of  his  district.  Though  he  supported  Mr.  Buchanan  for  Presi- 
dent that  year,  yet  in  a  speech  delivered  in  the  House  on  .January 
28,  1858,  he  declared  that  the  President  had  broken  faith  with  the 
party  in  his  Kansas  policy,  and  he  could  no  longer  support  him. 
In  1858  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress  by  a  large  majority  over 
both  the  regular  Republican  and  Democi'atic  nominees,  and  aided 
the  Republicans  to  break  the  deadlock  in  the  famous  contest  of 


452  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Speaker  of  the  House,  the  result  of  which  was  the  election  of  Mr. 
Pennington. 

During  the  two  years  that  followed  Mr.  Hickmau  made  for 
himself  a  world-wide  reputation  by  his  able  and  sarcastic  speeches 
against  slavery.  In  reply  to  the  threat  of  disunion,  he  said  that 
the  North  wotild  never  tolerate  a  division  of  territory,  because 
"eighteen  millions,  reared  in  industi'y,  with  habits  of  the  right 
kind,  will  always  be  able  to  cope  successfully,  .if  need  be,  with 
eight  millions  of  men  with  these  appliances"  of  art. 

In  1860,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency, 
Mr.  Hickman  confidently  anticipated  the  nomination  for  Vice- 
President;  but  failing  in  this  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress, 
and  at  the  end  of  this  term  declined  re-election.  He  gave  his  dis- 
trict a  national  reputation,  and  Avas  much  in  advance  of  the  times 
in  regard  to  the  freeing  of  the  slaves,  the  right  of  the  President 
to  confiscate  all  kinds  of  property  of  the  rebels  in  arms,  including 
slaves,  and  the  arming  of  the  blacks  as  soldiers  in  the  Union  army, 
his  views  at  length  being  acted  upon. 

It  is  presumed  that  all  know  how  Presidential  electors  are 
chosen,  hence  all  that  is  deemed  necessary  to  do  in  this  connection 
is  to  present  a  list  of  the  Pennsylvania  Presidential  electors  that 
have  been  residents  of  Chester  County.  Though  it  is  proper  to 
state  that  the  electors  who  voted  for  General  Washington  when 
he  was  first  elected  President  of  the  United  States  were  appointed 
by  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  Following  is  the  list  since  1792, 
including  two  from  Delaware  County,  representing  the  Congres- 
sional district: 

1792,  Washington's  second  election,  Thomas  Bull;  179(),  John 
Adams"  election,  James  Boyd;  1801,  Thomas  Jefferson's  second 
election,  James  Boyd;  1808,  James  Madison's  first  election,  Georg-e 
Hartman;  1812,  Madison's  second  election,  James  Fulton;  1816, 
James  Monroe's  first  election,  Isaac  Anderson;  1820,  Monroe's  sec- 
ond election,  William  Clingan;  1824,  John  Quincy  Adams'  election, 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  453 

Cromwell  Pearce;  1828,  Andrew  Jackson's  first  election,  John  W. 
Ounningham ;  1832,  Jackson's  second  election,  Oliver  Alison ;  ISSC, 
Martin  Van  Buren's  election,  Oliver  Alison;  1840,  William  Henry 
Harrison's  election,  A.  R.  Mellvaine;  1844,  James  K.  Polk's  elec- 
tion, Jesse  Sharp;  1848,  Zachai-y  Taylor's  election,  John  D.  Steele; 
1852,  Franklin  Pierce's  election,  N.  Strickland;  1856,  James  Bu- 
chanan's election,  John  H.  Brinton;  18G0,  Abraham  Lincoln's  first 
election,  J.  M.  Broomall;  1864,  Lincoln's  second  election,  Robert 
Parke;  1868,  \J.  S.  Grant's  first  election,  Francis  C.  Hooton;  1872, 
Grant's  second  election,  John  M.  Broomall;  1876,  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes'  election,  Joseph  W.  Barnard;  1880,  James  A.  Garfield's  elec- 
tion, David  F.  Houston ;  1884,  Grover  Cleveland's  election,  Horace 
A.  Beale;  1888,  Benjamin  Harrison's  election,  Joseph  R.  T.  Coates. 
Delaware  County:  1892,  Grover  Cleveland's  second  election.  Max- 
well Glower;  1896,  William  McKinley's  election,  Joseph  H.  Huddell. 
Gen.  Anthony  Wayne,  one  of  the  most  famous  soldiers  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  and  in  the  Indians  wars  in  the  West,  whose 
rapid  movements  and  fearless  courage  led  to  his  being  styled  "Mad 
Anthony  Wayne,"  was  born  in  Easttown,  Chester  County,  Pa., 
January  1,  1745.  Having  received  a  good  academic  education  he 
began  life  as  a  professional  surveyor  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
and  when  he  was  twenty  years  old  he  was  sent  to  Nova  Scotia 
to  locate  lands  for  a  company.  After  a  two  years'  residence  there 
he  returned  to  Chester  County,  married,  and  resumed  the  business 
of  a  surveyor.  In  1773  he  was  elected  to  the  Assembly,  and  in 
1775  he  was  appointed  to  a  command  in  the  Continental  Army, 
proceeding  to  Canada  with  General  Thomas,  and  remaining  there 
one  year.  He  was  then  promoted  to  brigadier-general,  and  w^as 
actively  engaged  with  General  Washington  in  the  battles  of  the 
Brandywine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth.  In  1779  he  made  a 
determined  attack  by  night  on  Stony  Point  on  the  Hudson,  making 
the  entire  garrison  prisoners.  After  conquering  the  Western  In- 
dians in  1794,  he  died  at  Presque  Isle,  now  Erie,  Pennsylvania, 


454  CHESTER     COUNTY 

December  14,  1796,  and  his  remains  were  there  buried;  but  they 
were  removed  in  1809  to  the  family  lot  in  the  cemetery  connected 
with  St.  David's  Church,  Delaware  County,  where  they  now  repose. 
Washington  Townsend,  formerly  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Chester  County,  was  born  in  Chester  County,  January  13, 1813.    He 
was  a  son  of  David  and  Eebecca  (Sharpless)  Townsend,  and  was 
educated  by  such  old-time  teachers  as  Jonathan  Cause  and  Joseph 
Strode  at  West  Chester  Academy.     While  occupying  the  position 
of  teller  in  the  IJank  of  Chester  County  he  began  the  study  of  the 
law,  reading  with  William  Darlington,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  May  7,  1844.    From  tliat  time  until  his  death  he  was  success- 
fully engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  though  he  served 
from  1848  to  1857  as  cashier  of  the  bank,  resigning  this  position 
in  the  latter  year  in  order  that  he  might  devote  himself  more  closely 
to  the  law.    He  served  as  prosecuting  attorney  from  October,  184S, 
to  April,  1849;  was  a  delegate  to  tUe  National  Whig  Convention  of 
1852  and  to  the  National  llepublican  Convention  of  1800,  which 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency  of    the    United 
States.    He  served  in  Congress  from  1868  to  1876,  during  which 
time  he  warmly  advocated  a  tariff  for  the  protection  of  American 
industries,  the  national  banking  system,  the  appropriation  of  the 
public  lands  for  educational  purposes,  and  an  improved  policy 
with  reference  to  the  Indian  Avars  of  the  nation.     Succeeding 
John  H.  Ketcham  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands, 
he  was  also  a  member  of  the  committee  on  education,  the  com- 
mittee on  Freedmen's  affairs  and  of  the  committee  on  finance  and 
commerce.     He  strenuously  opix>sed  the  bill,  by  the  passage  of 
which  tlie  members  of  Congress  voted  themselves  back  pay  to  the 
amount  of  •'!!2,500  to  each  man,  and  after  the  bill  became  a  law  he 
refused  to  accept  the  sum  to  which,  under  its  provisions,  he  was 
entitled.     Returning  to  Chester  County  from  Congress  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  National  Bank  of  Chester  County,  filling 
the  office  until  his  death,  March  18,  1894. 


AND     ITS!     PEOPLE.  455 

Hon.  James  Bowen  Everhart,  a  man  of  rare  ability,  highly 
distinguished  for  his  public  services,  was  the  third  son  of  Hon. 
William  and  Hannah  (Matlack)  Everhart.  He  was  born  in  West 
Whiteland  Julj  26,  1821,  and  received  his  education  at  Anthony 
Bolmar's  Academy  and  at  Princeton  College,  graduating  from  the 
latter  institution  in  1812.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  181."), 
and  took  special  law  courses  in  the  universities  of  Edinburgh  and 
Berlin.  Keturning  to  the  United  States,  he  practiced  his  profession 
until  1861,  and  then  served  bravely  and  faithfully  in  the  army  of 
the  Union.  He  was  a  popular  Republican  leader  in  Chester  County, 
and  served  as  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  from  1876  to  1882, 
during  which  time  he  pronounced  eulogies  on  Bayard  Taylor,  Wil- 
liam Penu  and  Anthony  Wayne,  which  have  been  pronounced 
the  finest  memorials  ever  heard  in  the  State.  Having  in  1882  been 
elected  to  the  Forty-eighth  Congress,  he  I'esigned  his  seat  iu  the 
State  Senate,  and  was  re-elected  to  Congress  in  1881.  He  was  a 
noted  author,  and  his  "Miscellanies,"  his  "Poems,"  "The  Fox 
Chase,"  and  his  "Speeches,"  are  volumes  of  great  usefulness  and 
interest.  He  died  August  23,  1888,  honored  and  mourned  by  all 
that  knew  him. 

Hon.  Wayne  MacVeagh  was  bom  in  Phoenixville  iu  1833,  and 
is  a  son  of  Major  and  Margaret  (Lincoln)  MacVeagh.  He  was 
educated  at  Freeland's  Seminary  in  Montgomery  County  and  at 
Yale  College,  graduating  from  the  latter  institution  iu  18.53,  the 
class  of  that  year  being  rendered  famous  by  many  of  its  afterward 
distinguished  members,  among  whom,  besides  Mr.  MacVeagh,  were 
Chauncey  M.  Depew,  Andrew  I).  White,  Charlton  T.  Lewis  and 
Isaac  Bromley  of  the  Xew  York  Tribune.  Mr.  MacVeagh  read  law 
with  Hon.  Joseph  J.  Lewis  of  West  Chester  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1856.  He  was  made  district  attorney  iu  1859,  and  was  chair- 
man of  the  Eepublican  State  Committee  in  1863,  in  which  Gov- 
ernor Curtin  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Governor  the  second  time. 
During  the  Civil  ^^'ar  he  served  on  the  staff  of  General  Couch,  with 


456  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  rank  of  major,  was  appointed  by  President  Grant  Ambassador 
to  Tui'key,  and  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  1872-73,  and 
was  appointed  by  President  Hayes  as  a  member  of  the  Louisiana 
Commission,  which  decided  in  favor  of  seating  Governor  Nichols 
as  against  Packard,  some  of  the  other  members  of  that  commission 
being  ex-Gov.  Joseph  Brown  of  Georgia  and  Joseph  Hawley  of 
Connecticut.  He  Avas  solicitor  for  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  made  Attorney-General  of  the 
United  States  under  President  Garfield.  By  President  Cleveland 
he  was  appointed  in  1894  Ambassador  to  Italy,  and  is  now  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  tJie  law  in  Washington  the  winters,  and  resides 
on  his  farm  at  Bryn  Mawr  in  summer  seasons. 

Mr.  MacVeagh  is  noted  for  scholarship,  and  is  in  great  demand 
as  an  orator  on  public  celebrations,  as  at  college  commencements 
and  other  educational  occasiops.  For  years  he  has  been  president 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Civil  Service  Reform  Association,  and  in  poli- 
tics, though  acting  most  of  his  life  with  the  Republican  party,  is 
in  favor  of  the  Democratic  doctrine  of  tariff  for  revenue  only. 

His  first  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  and  his  sec- 
ond wife  a  daughter  of  Gen.  Simon  Cameron.  By  his  first  wife 
he  has  two  sons  living,  one  of  whom  is  practicing  law  in  New  York 
City,  and  the  other  residing  in  Pliiladelphia.  By  his  second  wife  he 
had  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  the  former  of  whom  is  dead, 
but  the  second,  Margarretta,  is  living. 

Major  Levi  G.  McCauley,  auditor-general  of  tlie  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, was  born  in  Chester  County,  September  2,  1837,  and  is 
a  son  of  John  and  Lydia  (Gheen)  McCauley.  He  was  educated  in 
the  i)ublic  schools  and  at  Abiugtou  Center  and  at  Wyoming  Semi- 
nary. Prior  to  the  late  Civil  War  he  was  a  practical  mechanical 
engineer.  He  was  the  eldest  of  four  brothers  who  joined  a  battalion 
of  200  men  raised  by  their  father  in  Susquehanna  County  in  the 
latter  pai-t  of  April,  1861,  and  as  the  father  was  refused  a  commis- 
sion on  account  of  his  age,  by  Governor  Curtin,  Levi  left  the  bat- 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  457 

talion  and  joined  a  company  of  soldiers  at  Wilkesbarre,  com- 
manded by  Col.  E.  B.  Harvey,  this  company  afterward  becoming 
Company  F,  Seventh  Regiment  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  and  going 
into  camp  at  Camp  Wayne,  West  Chester,  as  a  private  soldier.  He 
was  promoted  to  first  sergeant  at  Camp  Wayne,  and  to  first  lieu- 
tenant in  November,  1862.  At  the  battle  of  Charles  City  Cross  Roads 
Mr.  McCauley  was  severely  wounded,  in  consequence  of  which  his 
right  arm  had  to  be  amputated.  Taken  prisoner  by  the  rebels,  he 
was  taken  to  the  famous  Libby  prison,  where  he  was  confined 
seventy  days,  and  being  at  length  paroled  he  was  taken  to  David's 
Island  Hospital,  Xew  York,  remaining  there  until  the  following 
November,  when  he  was  ordered  to  Harrisburg  for  duty  in  the 
recruiting  service.  Notwithstanding  his  maimed  condition  he  re- 
joined his  I'egiment  in  January,  1863,  and  in  Februai'y,  1864,  he  was 
promoted  to  cajttain  of  his  company  and  performed  his  duty  with 
his  regiment  until  the  next  December,  when  he  was  transferred  to 
the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps.  He  was  breveted  major  in  1865  for 
gallant  and  meritorious  services,  and  on  January  30,  1866,  was  dis- 
charged because  his  services  were  no  longer  needed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Ever  since  the  close  of  the  war  Major  McCauley  has  been  an 
active  leader  in  the  Republican  party.  He  was  elected  register 
of  wills  in  the  fall  of  1869;  was  chairman  of  the  Republican  com- 
mittee from  1866  to  1890,  and  has  been  a  delegate  to  numerous 
county,  state  and  national  Republican  conventions.  He  was  nomi- 
nated by  the  Republican  State  Convention  in  August,  1897,  for 
auditor-general  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  November 
following  was  elected  by  a  vote  of  412,652  as  against  268,341  given 
to  his  Democratic  opponent.  His  majority  over  all  opponents  was 
79,456,  and  he  led  his  ticket  by  a  vote  of  40,214.  He  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  Republican  State  Convention  in  the  spring  of 
1898. 

Major  McCiauley  was  married  October  6,  1870,  to  Miss  Isabel 


458  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Darlington,  daughter  of  the  late  Hon.  AYilliaiii  and  Catherine  P, 
Darlington. 

For  more  than  one  hundred  years,  or  from  1681  to  1790,  the 
frame  of  government  under  which  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania 
prospered  provided  for  a  Governor,  a  Council  and  an  Assembly, 
the  Council  being  a  portion  of  the  time  appointed  by  the  Governor 
and  a  part  of  the  time  elected  by  the  people  of  the  several  counties. 
But  all  of  this  time  it  was  a  portion  of  the  executive  branch  of 
the  government,  instead  of  being  as  the  Senate  has  been  since  1790, 
a  part  of  the  legislative  branch.  It  has  often  been  a  matter  of 
uncertainty  as  to  where  those  constitution  builders  of  Tennessee, 
in  1796,  found  a  form  of  government  after  which  to  pattern,  who 
attempted  to  provide  the  then  new  State  with  a  legislative  body, 
consisting  of  but  one  branch,  or  part;  but  they  may  have  had  the 
frame  of  government  in  vogue  in  Pennsylvania  for  the  then  past 
one  hundred  years  in  mind. 

At  first,  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  it  was  directed 
that  the  freemen  on  the  20th  of  the  twelfth  month  (February) 
should  elect  seventy-two  persons  as  councilors,  one-third  for  three 
years,  one-third  for  two  years  and  one-third  for  one  year,  next 
ensuing,  and  that  on  the  20th  of  the  twelfth  year  afterward  twenty- 
four  persons,  instead  of  seventy-two,  should  be  so  elected.  The 
first  election  for  counciloi's  was  therefore  held  on  the  20th  of 
February,  1682,  and  the  Council  elected  met  on  the  10th  of  the 
next  month,  the  sheriffs  making  their  returns  and  presenting 
petitions  from  the  inhabitants  on  that  day.  Thomas  Usher  pre- 
sented a  petition  from  Chester  County,  to  William  Penn,  proprie- 
tary and  governor  of  the  Province,  to  the  effect  that  the  freeholders 
of  Chester  County  had  chosen  twelve  persons  for  delegates  to 
serve  in  the  Provincial  Council,  and  asking  that,  in  consideration 
of  the  fact  that  there  were  but  few  people  in  the  county  acquainted 
with  public  business,  and  of  the  further  fact  that  the  county  was 
unable  to  support  greater  elections  and  assemblies,  three  of  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  459 

twelve  elected  might  serve  as  oouncilorsj,  aud  that  the  other  nine 
might  serve  in  the  Assembly.  This  ari-angement  was  agreed  to, 
the  three  men  selected  for  the  Council  by  the  votei*s  of  Chester 
County  being  John  Simcock,  for  three  years;  Ealph  Withers,  for 
two  years,  and  AVilliam  Clayton,  for  one  year.  By  a  new  frame 
of  government  the  number  of  councilors  was  reduced  to  three 
from  each  county,  which  number  was  subject  to  changes  by  the 
Governor,  Council  or  Assembly,  but  was  never  to  exceed  the  limita- 
tions of  the  charter. 

Governor  Fletcher  of  New  York,  being  placed  in  charge  of 
the  Province  in  1693,  chose  his  own  Council  of  twelve  persons,  who 
served  two  years.  Under  Governor  Markham  the  plan  of  electing 
the  Council  Avas  resumed,  but  in  the  next  year,  1796,  the  Governor 
selected  his  own  Council.  In  this  latter  year  a  new  frame  of  gov- 
ernment went  into  operation,  under  which  there  were  two  council- 
lors from  each  county,  who  served  for  one  year.  In  1700  the 
number  of  councillors  from  each  county  again  became  three,  but 
the  charter  was  suii'endered  in  May  of  that  year,  and  a  new  one 
granted,  under  which  the  councillors  were  appointed  by  the  pro- 
prietary or  his  lieutenant.  In  1702  John  Finney,  sou  of  Capt.  Samuel 
Finney,  was  selected  as  the  member  from  Chester  County,  to  serve 
in  the  Council,  and  from  this  time  on  until  the  Revolutionary 
War  there  were  but  few  members  chosen  from  Chester  County. 

In  January,  1775,  the  Revolutionary  convention  appointed  a 
"Council  of  Safety,"  as  did  the  convention  of  1776,  the  latter  con- 
vention finding  it  necessary  for  them  to  usurp  the  entire  govern- 
ment, and  to  form  a  constitution,  which  went  into  immediate  effect 
without  having  been  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  a  high- 
handed proceeding,  which  would  not  be  submitted  to  at  the 
present  time,  and  only  justified  by  the  overpowering  necessities  of 
the  time.  The  members  of  Chester  County  to  this  convention 
were  Benjamin  Bartholomew,  John  Jacobs,  Thomas  Strawbridge, 
Albert  Smith,  Samuel  Cunningham,  John  Hart,  John  Mackey  and 
John  Fleming. 


46o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

This  constitutional  convention  originated  in  an  assembly  called 
a  "Provincial  Conference,"  convened  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of 
Congress,  recommending  a  change  in  the  form  of  State  Govern- 
ments. Of  this  provincial  conference,  which  met  at  Philadelphia, 
June  18,  1776,  the  members  from  Chester  County  being  Col.  Rich- 
ard Thomas,  Maj.  William  Evans,  Col.  Thomas  Hockley,  Maj.  Caleb 
Davis,  Elisha  Price,  Samuel  Fairlamb,  Col.  William  Montgomery, 
Col.  Hugh  Lloyd,  Kichard  Itiley,  Col.  Evan  Evans,  Col.  Lewis 
Greno,  Maj.  Sketchley  Morton  and  Capt.  Thomas  Levis. 

Under  this  constitution  the  power  of  legislation  was  vested  in 
a  general  assembly  of  one  house,  and  the  supreme  executive  power 
in  a  council  of  twelve  persons,  elected  in  fours  for  a  term  of  three 
years,  and  the  council  and  assembly  elected  a  president  annually 
by  joint  ballot.    This  constitution  remained  in  force  until  1790. 

Following  is  as  complete  a  list  as  could  be  made  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Council  from  Chester  County: 

1681. — Kobert  Wade,  James  Sandelands,  William  Wootlman- 
see,  William  Clayton. 

1683. — William  Clayton,  Ralph  Withers,  John  Simcock. 

1684.— William  Qayton,  William  Wood,  Christopher  Taylor. 

1685. — Nicholas  Newlin. 

1686. — John  Simcock,  Francis  Harrison. 

1687. — John  Bristow. 

1688. — Bartholomew  Coppock. 

1689. — John  Blunston,  declined  to  serve,  and  William  Howell 
fleeted  in  his  place. 

1689.— John  Simcock. 

1690. — John  Blunston,  declined  to  serve,  and  William  Howell 
elected  in  his  place. 

1691.— John  Bristow. 

1692. — Samuel  Levis,  John  Simcock. 

1693-94. — George  Foreman. 

1695. — George  Maris,  one  year;  Caleb  Pusey,  two  years,  and 
David  Lloyd,  three  years. 


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AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  463 

1G96. — Jasper  Yutes. 
1697. — John  Simcock,  Caleb  Piisey. 
1G9S. — Joliu  Simcock,  David  Lloyd. 
1699.— Caleb  Pusey,  David  Lloyd. 

1700. — David  Lloyd,  three  years;  Caleb  Pusey,  two  years,  and 
John  Simcock,  one  year. 

After  the  Surrender  of  the  Charter. 

1700. — Caleb  Pusey,  continued  until  1715. 

1702. — John  Finney. 

Committee  of  Safety. 

1775. — Anthony-  Wayne,  Benjamin  Bartholpmew,  Francis 
Johnston,  Richard  Riley,  and  after  October,  the  same,  with 
Nicholas  Fairlamb  added. 

1776. — Council  of  Safety,  Benjamin  Bartholomew. 
Supreme  Executive  Council. 

1777. — John  Evans  and  John  Mackey,  from  November  21. 

1779. — Dr.  Joseph  Gardner;  1782,  Dr.  John  McDowell;  1785, 
Evan  Evans;  17SS,  Col.  Richard  Willing. 

lu  1789  Dr.  Thomas  Huston  was  elected,  by  1,586  votes,  but  his 
claim  to  a  seat  was  rejected. 

In  1790  the  Legislature  was  for  the  first  time  in  this  State 
made  to  consist  of  two  bodies,  a  Senate  and  a  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  by  the  Constitution  under  which  this  form  of  gov- 
ernment was  established,  the  Senate  was  to  consist  of  not  less 
than  one-fourth  nor  more  than  one-third  of  the  House.  Upon  its 
organization  the  Senate  was  composed  of  eighteen  members;  but 
in  ISOl  the  number  was  increased  to  25,  in  1808  to  31,  in  1822 
to  33,  and  in  1874  to  50. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  1790  the  term  of  service  was  four 

years;  under  that  of  1838,  three  years,  aud  under  that  of  1871, 

four  years.     In  the  division  of  the  State  into  districts,  Chester 

County,  from  1790  to  1808,  was  a  district  in  itself,  and  had  one 

27 


464 


CHESTER     COUNTY 


member:  in  1808  it  was' united  with  Delaware  County  in  one  dis- 
trict, wliich  was  allowed  two  members;  in  1830  Montgomery  County 
was  added  to  the  district,  which  had  three  members;  in  1843  Mont- 
gomery County  was  placed  in  auother  district,  and  Chester  and 
Delaware  were  allowed  one  member;  in  1861  Montgomery  County 
was  again  added  and  the  district  was  allowed  two  members,  and 
in  1871  Delaware  and  Chester  again  became  a  district,  with  one 
member. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  senate  from  Chester 
County : 


1790. — Richard  Thomas,  elected 

for  four  years. 
1791. — Dennis     A^^helen,     three 

years. 
1797. — Joseph    McClellan,    one 

year. 
1798. — Dennis      Whelen,      four 

years. 
1802. — John  Reister,  four  years. 
1806. — Isaac       Wayne,        four 

years. 
1810. — Isaac  Wayne,  one  year. 
1811. — John      Gemmill,      three 

years. 
1814. — Abraham      Baily,      four 

years. 
1818. — Samuel     Cochran,     four 

years. 
1820. — Isaac  D.  Barnard,  four 

years. 
1822. — James       Kelton,       four 

years. 
1826. — Joshua  Hunt,  four  years. 
1830. — William     Jackson,    four 

years. 
1834. — Francis       James,      four 

years. 
1838.— Nathaniel    BrtK)ke,    four 

years. 


1842. — Joseph       Baily,       three 

years. 
1845. — William         Williamson, 

three  years. 
1851. — Henry   S.    Evans,    three 

years. 
1857.— Thomas     S.     Bull,   three 

years. 
1863. — Dr.    Wilmer     Worthing- 

ton,  3  years. 
1866. — Dr.     Wilmer    Worthing- 

tou,  three  years. 
1870. — Henry  S.  Evans,  served 

until  his  death  in  February, 

1872. 
1872.— William  B.  Waddell,  for 

balauce  of  term. 
1874. — Robert  L.  McClellan,  two 

years. 
1876. — James  B.  Everhart,  four 

years. 
1880. — James  B.  Everhart,  four 

years. 
1884. — A.  D.  Harlan,  six  years. 
1892. — S.  E.  Neviu,  sensed  one 

day. 
1892.'— William  P.  Snyder,  four 

vears. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  465 

COUNTY  OFFICES. 
The  county  offices,  those  of  the  Prothonotary,  Register  of 
Wills,  Kecorder  of  Deeds,  Clerk  of  the  Orphan's  Court,  Cleric  of 
the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  and  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer,  were,  under  the  Provincial  Government,  filled  by 
appointment  by  the  proprietarj'  government.  Under  the  Consti- 
tution of  1776  these  appointments  were  made  by  the  Supreme 
Executive  Council  and  General  Assembly.  Under  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1790  they  were  made  by  the  Governor,  and  under  the 
Constitution  of  1838  they  became  elective. 

From  1777  to  1821  the  offices  of  prothonotary  and  clerk  of 
the  Orphans'  Court  and  of  the  Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions  and 
Oyer  and  Terminer  were  filled  by  the  same  persons,  and  from 
1821  to  1824  one  person  was  prothonotary  and  clerk  of  the  Court 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  and  one  person  was  cleric  of  the  Court  of 
Quarteii  Sessions  and  of  the  Orphans'  Court.  From  1777  to  1824 
the  same  person  held  the  offices  of  register  of  wills  and  re- 
corder of  deeds.  From  1824  to  1836  the  same  persons  held  the 
offices  of  prothonotary  and  clerk  of  the  Courts  of  Quarter  Ses- 
sions and  Oyer  and  Terminer,  and  from  1824  to  1828  the  same 
person  held  the  offices  of  clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court  and  register 
of  wills.  From  1828  to  1836  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  Orphan' 
Court  was  separate  from  any  other  office. 

From  1824  to  the  present  time  the  office  of  recorder  of  deeds 
has  been  separate  from  other  offices,  and  the  same  is  true  of 
the  office  of  register  of  wills  since  1828.  From  1836  to  the  pres- 
ent time  the  office  of  prothonotary  has  been  separate  from  others, 
and  the  offices  of  clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court  and  of  the  Courts 
of  Quarter  Sessions  and  Oyer  and  Terminer  have  been  filled  by 
the  same  person. 

PROTHONOTARY. 

Previous  to  1777  the  prothonotary  was  generally  the  clerk 
of  the  Quarter  Sessions  and  of  the  Oi-plians'  Court.    Robert  Asshe- 


456  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ton  was  commissioned  protlionotary  in  1712;  Joseph  Parker,  pro- 
thonotary  and  cleric  of  the  peace,  in  1733,  and  Ilenrj-  Hale 
Graham,  prothonotarj-,  clerk  of  the  Courts  and  recorder,  in  1770. 
Since  1777  the  prothonotary  has  been  as  follows: 

Benjamin  Jacobs,  March  22,  1777,  to  April  4,  1777;  Caleb 
Davis,  appointed  June  20,  1777;  William  Gibbons,  appointed  in 
1791;  Daniel  Heister,  January  6,  1800;  Jesse  John,  February  1, 
1809;  John  G.  Wersler,  March  25,  1818;  Thomas  Davis,  February 
29,  1821;  William  Williamson,  Januai-y  17,  1821;  David  Town- 
send,  August  3,  1827;  Dr.  William  Darlington,  August  17,  1827; 
John  W.  Cunningham,  February  15,  1830;  Benjamin  I.  Miller, 
January  26,  1836;  Samuel  Pinkerton,  appointed  February  2,  1839, 
elected  under  Constitution  of  1838,  and  commissioned  November 
4,  1839;  Abner  M.  Chamberlain,  November  12,  1812;  James  Davis, 
November  17,  1845;  Samuel  B.  Thomas,  November  25,  1848;  Wil- 
liam Wollerton,  November  22,  1851;  James  Bayard  Jefferis,  No- 
vember 10,  1854;  Jacob  Gillough,  November  10,  1857;  Emmor  B. 
Lamborn,  November  19,  1860;  Franklin  Haines,-  November  16, 
1863;  Alfred  Kupert,  November  10,  1866;  Seneca  G.  Willauer,  No- 
vember 20,  1869;  John  A.  Rupert,  November  19,  1872;  Hannum 
Baldwin,  December  28,  1875;  James  Lynch,  December  28,  1878; 
Davis  K.  Loomis,  in  1881;  Jeremiah  T.  Carpenter,  in  1884;  William 
P.  Snyder,  in  1887;  David  C.  Windle  in  1890;  Elisha  G.  Cloud,  in 
1893,  and  E.  D.  Baldwin,  the  present  incumbent,  in  1896. 

REGISTERS  OP  WILLS. 

Previous  to  1714  all  wills  made  in  Chester  County  were  taken 
to  the  office  of  the  register-general  in  Philadelphia  and  there  filed. 
In  1712  an  act  of  assembly  directed  the  appointment  of  deputies 
in  each  county;  but  even  such  appointments  were  made  many 
wills  from  Chester  County,  especially  from  the  northeastern  part, 
continued  to  be  taken  to  Philadelphia,  almost  down  to  the  time  of 
the  Revolution.  Following  are  the  names  of  the  deputy-register.s 
for  Chester  County  for  the  times  given: 


AXD     ]TS     PEOPLE. 


467 


John  Simcork,  from  1714  to  May,  1716. 

Joseph  Parker,  August  14,  1716,  to  Jauuarj-  12,  1759. 

Henry  Hale  Graham,  March  5,  1759,  to  February  13,  1777. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  Kegisters  of  Wills  from  March  '2~>, 
1777,  to  the  present  time,  together  with  the  dates  of  their  several 
commissions: 


Thomas  Taylor,  MarcJi  25,  1777. 
John  Beaton,  Ajn'il  6,  1782. 
Persifor  Frazer,  April  8,  178)5. 
Stephen  Jloylau,  April  7,  1792. 
John  Hannum,  Dec.  13,  1793. 
Richard  M.  Hannum,  December 

6,  1798. 
John  Christie,  January  6,  1800. 
James  Bones,  Feb.  22,  1804. 
John  Smith,  January'  12,  1806. 
Charles  Kenny,  Jan.  12,  1809. 
Jesse  Sharp,  March  25,  1818. 
Daniel  Heister,  Feb.  28,  1821. 
Joseph  Pearce,  Jan.  17,  1824. 


Alexander  Leslie,  November  22, 

1851. 
Hickman  James,  November  10, 

1854. 
Araariah  Strickland,  November 

10,  1857. 
Dr.  Charles  L.  Seal,  November 

10,  1860. 
George  C.  M.  Eicholts,  Novem- 
ber 17,  1S63. 
Hampton  S.  Thomas,  November 

14,  1866. 
Levi     G.    McCauley,     Nov.    20, 

1869. 


Eber     Worthingtou,     April   23,  Lewis  H.  Evans,  Nov.  19,  1872. 

1828.  George  H.    Paxton,    December 

Robert  Ralston,  Feb.  15,  1830. '  28,  1875. 

Nimrod     Strickland,    April    20,  William  S.  Underwood,  Decem- 

1833.  ber  30,  1878. 

James  Walker,  Jan.  26,  1836.  1881,  B.  Frank  Widdicombe. 

Jesse  Coulson,  Feb.  2,  1839.  B.  Tevis  Hoopes,  in  1884. 

George    W.    Parke,    November  Nathan  J.  W^aitneight,  in  1887. 

12,  1842.  Frank  A.  Thomas,  in  1890. 

Henry    Buckwalter,    November  Jesse  J.  Hickman,  in  1893,  and 

17,  1845.  William    Eachus,    the     present 

William  Baker,  Nov.  25,  1848.  incumbent,  in  1896. 


RECORDERS  OP  DEEDS. 

The  first  deed  recorded  in  Chester  County  was  a  grant  from 
Urin  Keen  for  a  lot  on  which  stood  Chester  ileeting-honse,  the 
date  of  the  deed  being  March  1,  1688,  and  "Inrooled"  on  the  10th 
of  the  same  month.  There  were  but  few  documents  recorded  pre- 
vious to  July  1,  1688.  Following  is  a  list  of  those  who  ha-e  held 
the  office  of  recorder  of  deeds  from  1688  to  1898: 


468 


CHESTER     COUNTY 


John  Bi'istow,  about  March  10,     Joshua  Fearne,  March  25,  1691.. 

IfiSS.  John  Chikle,  January  3,  l(i95. 

Robert  Eyre,  March  26,  1693.         Teter  Erans,  April  17,  1706. 
Henry    Holling.sworth,  October 

10,' 1700. 

John  Simcock,  January  28,  1707,  and  on  the  24th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1707-08,  his  commission  was  read  in  open  court.  At  the  ses- 
sion of  the  assembly  of  1714-15  an  act  was  passed,  making  the 
prothonotary  or  county  clerk  of  Chester  County  the  recorder  of 
deeds  until  he  should  be  removed  by  the  Court  of  Quarter  Ses- 
sions, his  bond  being  fixed  at  £200.  At  this  time  John  Bimcock, 
who,  it  will  have  been  seen,  filled  at  one  time  or  another  most  of 
the  offices  in  the  county,  was  still  recorder  of  deeds,  and  it  is 
thought  he  was  succeeded  in  1716  by  George  Yeates,  he  being  clerk 
of  the  courts  in  1717.  Eichard  Marsden,  who  was  employed  in  the 
office  as  clerk  as  early  as  1716,  was  either  clerk  or  deputy  clerk 
from  1719  to  1723,  and  in  1724  Joseph  Parker  became  clerk 
and  continued  in  office  until  1766,  when  he  died.  Henry  Hale 
Graham  then  became  recorder  and  held  the  office  until  1777. 
Since  then  the  following  persons  have  held  the  office,  the  dates 
of  their  commissions  being  given  in  connection  with  their  names: 


Thomas  Taylor,  March  25,  1777. 
Persifor  Frazer,  April  8,  1786. 
John  Haunum,  Dec.  13,  1793. 
John  Beaton,  April  6,  1782. 
Stephen  Moylau,  April  7,  1792. 
Richard  M.  Hannum,  December 

6,  1798. 
John  Christie,  January  6,  1800. 
James  Bones,  Feb.  22,  1804. 
John  Smith,  January  12,  1806. 
Charles  Kenny,  Jan.  12,  1809. 
Jesse  Sharp,  March  25,  1818. 
Daniel  Hiester,  Feb.  28,  1821. 
Kimrod    Strickland,     February 

15.  1830. 
Robert  Ralston,  April  29,  1833. 
Stephen  Marshall,  Jan.  17,  1831. 


Edwai-d  Bartholomew,  January 
26,  1836. 

George  Hartman,  Feb.  2,  1839. 

Abner  Williams,  Xov.  12,  1842. 

^\'illiam  McCullough,  Novem- 
ber 17,  1845. 

Edward  H.  Hibbard,  Nov.  25, 
1848. 

Thomas  Walter,  Nov.  22,  1851. 

Robert  F.  Hoopes,  Nov.  10,  1854. 

Thomas  S.  Taylor,  Nov.  10,  1857. 

Jonas  G.  Bossart,  Nov.  19,  1860. 

David  Andrews,  Nov.  17,  1863. 

Dilwyn  Parker,  Nov.  14,  1866. 

John  A.  Groff,  Nov.  20,  1869. 

C.  Burleigh  Hambleton,  Novem- 
ber 19,  1872. 


"^AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  469 

Edwin  Bateman,  Dec.  22,  1875."  Hugh  Kenwortliy,  Jr.,  iu  1880, 
Franklin  P.  Ash,  Dec.  18,  1877.         and 

Harry  Sloyer,  Dee.  13,  1880.  Samuel  Ivison,  Jr.,  in  1892. 

Kichard  H.  Plank,  in  1883.  Thomas  D.  Grover,  the  present 
Sharpless  M.  Paxson,  in  188G.  incumbent,  in  1895. 

CLERK  OF  COURTS. 

The  tirst  sitting  of  the  Upland  Court,  f)f  which  there  is  any 
record,  was  held  November  4,  167G,  and  at  this  time  it  was  ordered 
that  Mr.  William  Tom,  the  former  "clarke,"  should  deliver  unt<j 
the  clerk  at  that  time,  Ephraim  Herman,  the  records  and  other 
jjublic  books  and  writings  belonging  to  the  court. 

Since  March  1,  1G81,  the  date  of  the  charter  for  Pennsylvania, 
the  following  have  been  clerks  of  courts: 

Thomas  Eevell,  September  13,  1681,  to  August  22,  1083;  Octo- 
ber 17,  1683,  to  December,  1689;  Joshua  Fearne,  September,  1600, 
to  April  18,  1693;  John  Childe,  June  13,  1693,  to  March,  1699-1700; 
Henry  Hollingsworth,  June  11,  1700,  to  February  22,  1708-09;  John 
Simcock,  May  24, 1709,  to  about  1716;  George  Yeates,  1717;  Eichard 
Marsden,  clerk  or  deputy,  1719  to  1723;  Joseph  Parker,  1724  to 
about  1766;  Henry  Hale  Graham,  1766  to  1777. 

Since  that  time  the  dates  of  the  commissions  of  those  holding 
office  have  been  as  follows: 

Caleb  Davis,  clerk  of  all  the  courts,  July  1,  1777;  William 
Gibbons,  the  same,  1791;  Daniel  Hiester,  the  same,  January  6, 
1800;  Jesse  John,  same,  February  1,  1809;  John  G.  Wersler,  same, 
March  25,  1818;  Thomas  Davis,  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  February 
28,  1821 ;  Henry  Fleming,  of  Orphans'  Court  and  Quarter  Sessions, 
February  28,  1821;  William  ^Mlliamsou,  Oyer  and  Terminer  and 
Quarter  Sessions,  January  17,  1824;  Joseph  Pearce,  Orphans' 
Court,  January  17,  1824;  Jose]>h  Pearce,  Orphans"  Court,  Decem- 
ber 21,  1826;  David  Towusend,  Oyer  and  Terminer  and  Quarter 
Sessions,  August  3,  1827;  Dr.  William  Darlington,  Oyer  and  Ter- 
miner and  Quarter  Sessions,  August  17,  1827;  Simeon  Siegfried, 


470  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Orphans'  Coui't,  April  23,  1828;  John  W.  Cunningham,  Oyer  and 
Terminer  and  Quarter  Sessions,  February  15,  1830;  George  Fisher, 
Orphans'  Court,  Februai-y  15,  1830;  John  W.  Cunningham,  Oyer 
and  Terminer  and  Quarter  Sessions,  April  29,  1833;  George  Fisher, 
Orphans"  Court,  April  29,  1833;  P.  Frazer  Smith,  Orphans'  Court, 
May  2, 1835;  Horatio  G.  AVon-all,  of  all  the  courts,  January  26, 183G; 
James  M.  Kinnard,  of  all  the  courts,  Febi'uary  2,  1839;  James  M. 
Kinnard,  elected  and  commissioned  November  14,  1839;  Oheyney 
Nields,  commissioned  November  12,  1812;  Alexander  Marshall, 
November  17, 1845;  Thomas  P.  William,  November  25,  1848;  James 
Sweney,  November  22,  1851;  Thomas  W.  Parker,  November  10, 
1854;  Addis  M.  Ayars,  November  10,  1857;  Thomas  P.  Evans, 
November  19, 1860;  Thomas  H.  Windle,  November  17,  1863;  James 
E.  McFarlan,  November  16,  1866;  William  H.  Guie,  November  20, 
1869;  James  H.  Wyun,  November  19,  1872,  died  October  31,  1874; 
William  W.  Scott,  appointed  to  the  vacancy,  February  17,  1875; 
William  W.  Scott,  elected  in  November,  1875,  commissioned 
December  22, 1875;  Pierce  Hoopes,  Jr.,  December  30, 1878;  Edvrard 
Paist,  in  1881;  Davis  O.  Taylor,  in  1884;  Thomas  W.  Taylor,  in 
1887;  H.  Morgan  Kuth,  in  1889;  Elias  Pair,  in  1893,  and  E.  Jones 
Patrick,  the  present  clerk,  in  1896. 

SHERIFFS. 

The  Dutch,  while  they  exercised  jurisdiction  on  the  Delaware, 
had  an  officer  which  they  called  a  "schuut,"  who  performed  offices 
similar  to  those  of  a  sheriff  under  the  English  system  of  govern- 
ment. And  Governor  Lovelace  granted  a  commission  to  Hennan 
Frederickson  as  schout  at  the  Hoare-Kill,  and  notwithstanding 
that  at  a  council  held  at  Fort  James  May  17,  1672,  it  was  agreed 
that  the  office*of  schout  should  be  converted  into  that  of  a  sheriif 
for  the  corporation,  and  that  the  sheriff  should  be  chosen  annually, 
yet  the  name  was  not  dropped,  for  on  August  1,  1672,  Governor 
Lovelace  signed  the  following  order: 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  4/1 

"Upon  the  return  of  a  double  number  from  the  inhabitants  at 
the  Whorekill,  in  Delaware  Bay,  for  Schout  and  Comisary,  I  do 
approve  of  Hermans  Frederick  Wilbank  to  be  Schout,  and  of  Ottho 
Wolgast,  William  Claessen,  and  Isaac  Savo  to  be  Comisarys  for 
the  space  of  one  year  ensuing,  after  Avhich  time  they  are  to  make 
a  new  return." 

And  as  Edmond  Cautwell  was  one  of  the  two  persons  returned 
to  the  Governor  of  whom  to  choose  the  high  sheriff,  Mr.  Cantwell 
was  chosen  for  that  office,  and  appointed  to  be  high  sheriff  in  place 
of  the  schout,  and  he  was  to  enjoy  all  the  perquisities  and  priv- 
ileges of  a  schout.     This  appointment  was  made  August  2,  1672. 

Captain  Cantwell  was  also  authorized  to  receive  the  arrears  of 
rents,  in  the  place  of  William  Tom,  who  had  been  commissioned 
receiver  of  quit-rents  August  10,  1669,  but  had  resigned.  The 
Dutch  having  resumed  control  on  the  Delaware  in  1673,  Peter 
Alrichs  Avas  appointed  schout;  but  this  arrangement  did  not  last 
more  than  a  year  before  the  English  again  became  rulers  on  the 
Delaware  and  Captain  Cantwell  was  appointed  sheriff,  serving 
from  1676  to  1681,  when  Governor  Markham  arrived  and  John  Test 
became  sheriff,  and  served  until  the  arrival  of  William  Penn. 

Under  the  "Charter  of  Privileges,"  granted  by  Penn  in  1701, 
each  county  was  authorized  to  present  two  persons  to  the  proprie- 
tary for  the  office  of  sheriff,  one  of  whom  he  was  to  commission  for 
three  years,  which  arrangement  continued  until  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  1776,  which  provided  that  in  each  county  two  per- 
sons should  be  annually  elected,  one  of  whom  should  be  commis- 
sioned by  the  President  of  the  State.  Under  the  constitution  the 
commission  to  the  sheriff  was  issued  by  the  Governor  for  three 
years.  Under  the  amended  Constitution  of  1838  one  person  was 
elected  in  each  county. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  sheriffs  of  Chester  Countj',  believed 
to  be  nearly  correct,  from  1676  to  the  present  time: 


4/2 


CHESTER     COUNTY 


Capt.  Edmund  Cantwell,  1670. 

John  Test,  lGSl-82. 

Thomas  Usher,  l(i82-83. 

Thomas  Witliers,  Dec,  1«jS3-S4. 

Thomas   Usher,   June,   108(5,   to 
April,  1687. 

George  Foreman,  1689  to  W9'2. 

Joseph  ^Vood,  1093  to  1697. 

John  Hoskins,  1701  to  1708. 

John  Hoskins,  1709. 

Nicholas     Fairlamb,     1717     to 
1719. 

John  Tavlor,  1721  to  1728. 

John  Parry,  1732  to  1734. 

John  Parry,  1738  to  1739 

John  Ov.en,  1743  vo  174.j. 

John  Owen,  1749  to  1751. 

John  Fairlamb,  1755  to  1758. 

John  Fairlamb,  1762  to  1703. 

John  Morton,  170<)  to  1768. 

Henry  Hayes,  1772  to  1733. 

Ivobert  Smith,  1777. 

Robert  Smith,  Xov.  21,  1778. 

John  Gardner,  October  19,  1780. 

Ezekiel  Leonard,  Oct.  13,  1786. 

Joseph  McClellan,  Oct.  13,  17D2. 

"\Mlliam  Worthiugton,  October 
13,  1798. 

James  Kelton,  October  21,  1801. 

Titus  Taylor,  October  22,  1807. 

Jesse  Good,  October  22,  1813. 

Samson  Babb,  October  21,  1819. 

Jonathan  Jones,  Oct.  29,  1825. 

Peter  Osborne,  Oct.  28,  1831. 

Jo.seph  Taylor,  Oct.  24,  1837. 

Nathan  Frame,  Nov.  1,  1843. 

James  Bayard  Wood,  November 

7,  1844. 
David  Bishop,  Oct.  30,  1850. 
David  McNutt,  Oct.  20,  1856. 
Kees  Welsh,  Navember  7,-  1SG2. 

De  Witt  Clinton  Lewis,  Novem- 
ber 2,  1868. 
William   B.   Morrison,   Jauuarv 
2,  1875. 


George  E.  Hoopes,  Dec.  30, 1880. 
Benjamin   Irey,  in  1886;  killed 

on  his  tirst  day's  work. 
William  Gallagher,  in  1887. 
Jeremy  Collett,  1684-85. 
Joshua  Fearne,  1687  to  1689. 
Caleb  Pusey,  1692  to  1()93. 
Andrew  Job,  1697  to  iVirx. 
•John  Simcock,  1708. 
Henry  Worley,  1715. 
John  Crosby,   1720. 
John  Owen,"  1729  to  1731. 
John  Owen,  1735  to  1737. 
Benjamin  Davis,  1740  to  1742. 
Benjamin  Davis,  1746  to  1748. 
Isaac  Pears(m,  17.52  to  1754. 
Benjamin  Davis,  1759  to  1761. 
Philip  Ford,  1764  to  1766. 
Jesse  Maris,  1769  to  1771. 
Nathaniel  Vernon,  1774  to  1775. 
( 'harles  Dilworth,  Oct.  17,  1778. 
David  Mackey,  October  16,  1779. 
^\'illiam  Giblbons,  Oct.  20,  1783. 
Charles  Dilworth,  Oct.  17,  1789. 
Ezekiel  Leonard,  Oct.  17,  1793. 
James  Bones,  April  17,  1801. 
Jesse  John,  October  16,  1704. 
George  Hartman,  Oct.  25,  1810. 
Cromwell  Pearce,  Oct.  19,  1816. 
Jesse  Sharp,  (October  15,  1822. 
Oliver  Alison,  October  30,  1828. 
Pobert  Irwin,  October  25,  1834. 
^^'illiam  Bogers,  Nov.  9,  1840. 
Clinton  Frame,  March  20,  1844. 
Brinton  Darlington,  October  21, 

1847. 
Lewis    Heffelfiuger,    November 

4,  1853. 

Jacob     Heffeltinger,    November 

5,  1859. 

Pusey  J.  Nichols,  Nov.  3,  1865. 
Davis  Gill,  November  1,  1871. 
James  E.  McFarlau,   December 

31,  1877. 
William  Baker,  in  1883. 


A^'D     ITS     PEOPLE. 


473 


George  E.  Hoopes,  appointed  iu     Alexauder  H.  Ingram,  in  1898. 

1887.  Robert  L.  Hayes,  the  present  in- 

James  G.  Parker,  in  1S90.  cumbeut,  in  189G. 


The  several  coroners,  or,  as  they  were  sometimes  called  in 
early  days,  the  '"crowners,"  so  far  as  has  been  ascertained,  have 
been  as  follows  since  1684: 

CORONERS. 


James  Keuela,  1G81. 
Henry  Worley,  1710. 
Robert  Barber,  October  1,  1721. 
Robert  Parke,  October  3,  1728. 
John  Wharton,  October  3,  1730. 
John  Wharton,  October  i,  1734. 
Aubrey  Bevau,  October  4,  1738. 
Joshua  Thomson,  Oct.  3,  1751. 
Joshua  Thomson,  Oct.  3,  1753. 
Davis  Bevau,  October  4,  17G3. 
John  Trapnall,  May  27,  1760. 
John  Crosby,  Jr.,  Oct.  5,  1771. 
David  Denny,  Nov.  21,  1778. 
Benjamin  Rue,  October  12,  1782. 
Isaac  Thomson,  Oct.  14,  1785. 
John  Underwood,  Oct.  15,  1787. 
James  Bones,  Dec.  19,  1794. 
Jacob  Righter,  Nov.  4,  1800. 
Ephraim     Buffiugtou,     October 

31,  1805. 
Joseph  Pearce,   Dec.  2,  1811. 
Joel  C.  Bailey,  October  23,  1817. 
Emmor  Bradley,  Nov.  25.  1823. 
Davis  Brooke,  Nov.  5,  1829. 
Thomas  Ervin,  Nov.  6,  1835. 
Hezekiah  Jackson,  in   1841. 
Thomas  Walker,  iu  1847. 
Hashabiah  Cleuious,  in  1853. 
Benjamin  F.  Smith,  iu  1859. 
William  H.  Turner,  in  1869. 
Joseph  B.  Smith,  in  1872. 
Barclay  Lear,  in  1878. 
Ernest"  White,  in  1884  and  1887. 


C.  G.  Troutman,  the  present  in- 
cumbent, in  1896. 

Jacob  Simcock,  1696. 

Henry  Holliugsworth,  1707. 

Jonas  Saudelands,  commission 
dated  October  3,  1717. 

John  Meudeuhall,  Oct.  4,  1726. 

Abraham  Darlington,  October 
4,  1729. 

Anthony  Shaw,  October  8,  1732. 

Stephen  Hoskins,  Oct.  4,  1737. 

Isaac  Lee,  October  4,  1746. 

Joliu  Kerlin,  October  4,  1752. 

Philip  Ford,  May  22,  1761. 

Abel  Jauuey,  October  4,  1765. 

Joseph  Gibbons,  Jr.,  October  I, 
1768. 

Johu  Bryau,  October  4,  1773. 

Allen  Cuuuiugham,  October  19, 
1780. 

Johu  Harper,  October  20,  1783. 

Johu  Harjjer,  October  18,  1786. 

Xatliau  Scholtield,  O.ctober  17, 
1789. 

Josliua  Weaver,  Julv  16,  1798. 

L'obert  Miller,  October  27,  1803. 

Jacob  Righter,  Dec.  8,  1808. 

Jesse  McCall,  Dec.  15,  1814. 

Emmor  Bradley,  Nov.  9,  1820. 

Authouy  W.  Olwine,  1826. 

Bvmjamiu  J.  Passmore,  Novem- 
ber 3,  1833. 

William  Taggart.  Oct.  30,  1S3S. 


474  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Daniel  Kields,  in  1844.  William  V.  Eambo,  1875. 

David  Williams,  in  1850.  William  Mercer,  in  1881. 

Robert  McNeely,  in  1856.  J.  Jones  McFadger,  in  1890  and 
Joseph  W.  Barnard,  appointed         1898. 

in  1862,  and  elected  in  1863 

and  in  1866. 

Of  the  above-named  coroners  it  is  proper  to  note  that  John 
Harper  was  in  olHce  when  the  county-seat  was  removed  from 
Chester  to  West  Chestei",  an  account  of  which  is  presented  in 
another  portion  of  this  Avork,  and  that  he  M'as  opposed  to  the 
removal,  because  he  had  property  in  Chester  and  natural!}'  pre- 
ferred to  remain  there.  It  is  also  said  that  he  had  command  of 
the  belligerent  forces  that  came  over  to  the  Turk's  Head,  with 
the  view  of  demolishing  the  county  buildings  then  in  course  of 
erection.  Afterward  he  removed  to  West  Chester,  and  for  some 
time  kept  the  famous  Turk's  Head  Hotel. 

COMMISSIONERS. 

It  is  probable  that  the  officers  called  "commissioners,"  in  the 
early  history  of  the  county,  performed  duties  somewhat  different 
from  those  performed  by  the  county  commissioners  of  the  present 
time.  The  earliest  legislation  found  regarding  commissioners  was 
an  act  passed  February  28,  1710-11,  entitled  "An  act  empowering 
commissioners  to  compel  the  collection  of  all  arrearages  of  former 
taxes,  of  which  the  following  language  is  a  part: 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  honorable  Charles  Gookin,  Esquire,  by 
the  Queen's  Royal  approval  Lieutenant-Governor  under  the  hon- 
orable William  Penn,  Esquire,  absolute  proprietary  and  governor- 
in-chief  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  etc.,  and  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  freemen  of  the  said  Province  in  general 
assembly  met,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  in  each  re- 
spective county. of  this  Province  the  persons  hereafter  named  shall 
be  commissioners  for  putting  this  act  into  execution:  That  is  to 
say     *     *     *     for  the  county  of  Chester,  Nathaniel  Xewlin,  Rich- 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  475 

ard  Webb  and  Isaac  Taylor,  who  are  hereby  empowered  and 
required  to  meet  together  on  the  13th  day  of  the  month  of  March, 
1710,  at  the  place  where  the  respective  courts  of  the  county  are 
held,"  that  is,  at  the  county  seat,  and  they  were  empowered  to  call 
before  them  all  collectors  and  receivers  and  all  other  officers  and 
persons  whatsoever  who  had  been  employed  in  the  assessing,  levy- 
ing and  gathering  the  rates  and  assessments  aforesaid,  and  to 
cause  them  and  every  one  of  them  to  make  and  give  a  true  and 
perfect  account  of  all  and  every  the  aforesaid  rates  and  assess- 
ments, etc. 

On  the  same  day  an  act  was  passed  entitled,  "An  act  for  rais- 
ing a  supply  of  two  pence  per  pound  and  eight  shillings  per  head," 
under  which  for  Chester  County  Jasper  Yeates,  Caleb  Pusey, 
Nicholas  Pile  and  Henry  Peirce,  or  any  two  of  them,  were  ap- 
pointed to  put  the  act  into  execution. 

An  act  was  passed  February  22,  1717-18,  entitled,  "An  act 
for  the  more  eilectual  raising  of  the  county  rates  and  levies,"  ap- 
parently never  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  crown,  under 
which  for  the  County  of  Chester,  David  Lloyd,  Nathaniel  Newlin, 
John  Wood  and  Henry  Miller  were  appointed  commissioners  to 
put  the  act  into  execution;  and  still  later  an  act  was  passed, 
March  20,  1721-25,  which  was  apparently  not  considered  by  the 
Crown,  entitled,  "An  act  for  raising  the  county  rates,"  which  pro- 
vided "that  the  present  commissioners  for  putting  the  said  act  into 
execution  together  with  the  assessors  of  the  respective  counties  of 
Philadelphia,  Chester  and  Bucks,  now  in  being,  shall  continue  in 
their  several  places  and  execute  the  powers  and  authorities  given 
and  required  of  them  by  the  same  acts  for  and  during  all  the  time 
they  were  respectively  appointed  to  serve  according  to  the  direc- 
tion of  those  acts." 

The  duties  of  commissioners  in  the  first  place  was  probably 
the  same  as  those  performed  by  justices  and  the  grand  jury,  and 
later  by  the  grand  jury  and  assessors.     It  is  also  probable  that 


476  CHESTER     COUXTY 

four  comiiiissiouers  were  elected  t<i  serve  oue  year,  for  iu  January, 
1721-22,  when  a  supplementary  tax  bill  was  uuder  consideration 
it  was  ordered  that  the  three  eldest  commissioners  in  Philadelphia 
County,  the  two  first  named  in  Chester  Couut}'  and  the  first  named 
in  Bucks  County,  should  be  discharged  on  ►September  30,  1722, 
and  that  on  October  1,  that  year,  one  commissioner  should  be 
elected  to  take  their  places. 

A  petition  from  Chester  ("ounty  was  read  February  28,  1721-22, 
praying  that  the  county  levy  might  be  repealed,  or  that  three 
commissioners  might  be  elected  yearly.  On  March  1  (the  next 
day),  petitions  from  the  other  counties  were  read,  and  the  bill  was 
read  for  the  third  time.  And  it  was  enacted  that  three  commis- 
sioners should  be  elected  annually  on  October  1.  The  act  as 
finally  passed  enacted  that  one  commissioner  should  be  elected 
annually.  And  the  act  referred  to  above,  passed  March  20, 
1724-25,  provided  that  the  newly  elected  commissioner  and  the 
assessors  should  take  the  following  qualification  of  oath: 

"Thou  Shalt  well  and  truly  cause  the  county  debts  to  be 
speedily  adjusted  and  the  rates  and  sums  of  money  by  virtue  of 
this  act  imposed,  to  be  duly  and  equally  assessed  and  laid  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  thy  skill  and  knowledge;  and  herein  thou  shalt 
spare  no  person  for  favor  nor  affection,  nor  grieve  any  for  hatred 
nor  ill-will." 

By  this  act  the  commissioners  were  required  to  issue  precepts 
to  the  constables,  requiring  them  to  make  return  to  the  assessors 
of  the  names  and  estates  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  assessors  were 
required  to  lay  the  rates  thereon. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  commissioners  since  1721,  with  the 
dates  of  their  appointment  or  election: 

1721,  David  Lloyd,  John  Wood,  Nathaniel  Newlin,  Henry 
Miller;  1722,  Kobert  Pyle;  1723,  Nathaniel  Xewlin;  1724,  Samuel 
Hollingsworth;  1725,  Kobert  Pyle;  1726,  Isaac  Taylor;  1727,  Wil- 
liam Webb;  1728,  Henry  Miller,  Evan  Lewis;  1729,  Samuel  Nutt; 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  477 

1730,  Evan  Lewis;  1731,  Jacob  Howell;  1732,  Samuel  Lewis;  1733, 
George  Aston;  1734,  John  Davis;  1735,  Eichard  Jones;  1736,  Sam- 
uel Lightfoot;  1737,  John  Parry,  Jr.;  1738,  William  Jefferis;  1739, 
John  Davis;  1740,  John  Parry,  Jr.;  1741,  John  Yaruall;  1742,  .John 
Davis;  1743,  Jacob  Howell;  1744,  Joseph  Mendenhall;  1745,  John 
Davis;  1746,  Thomas  Pennell;  1747,  Joshua  Thompson;  1748,  Isaac 
Davis;  1749,  Thomas  Pennell;  1750,  Edward  Brinton,  Samuel  Bun- 
tinm,  vice  Thomas  Pennell,  deceased;  1751,  William  Lewis;  1752, 
John  Fairlamb;  1753,  Robert  Miller;  1754,  Thomas  Pearson;  1755, 
Jo.seph  Ashbridge;  1756,  Joseph  Davis;  1757,  Joseph  James;  1758, 
John  Hannum;  1759,  Jonas  Preston;  1760,  Joseph  Pennock;  1761, 
John  Griffith;  1762,  Lewis  Davis;  1763,  John  Brice;  1764,  Ben- 
jamin Bartholomew;  1765,  Richard  Baker;  1766,  John  Davis;  1767, 
Robert  Pennell;  1768,  John  Webster;  1769,  John  Evans;  1770, 
Jesse  Bonsall;  1771,  Robert  Mendenhall;  1772,  John  Fleming; 
1773,  Thomas  Levis;  1774,  Thomas  Taylor;  1775,  William  Evans; 
1776,  Sketchley  Morton;  1777,  David  Cloyd;  1778,  Andrew  Boyd; 
1779,  Benjamin  Braunau;  1780,  John  Bartholomew;  1781,  Joseph 
Strawbridge;  1782,  Caleb  James;  1783,  John  Davis;  1784,  Joseph 
McClellan;  1785,  Caleb  James;  1786,  Caleb  Xorth;  1787,  John 
Worth;  1788,  Joseph  Gibbous;  1789,  James  Moore;  1790,  Elijah 
McClenachan;  1791,  John  Mecham;  1792,  Wiliam  Trimble,  Jr.; 
1793,  Samuel  Cochran;  1794,  George  Davis;  1795,  George  Miller; 
1796,  James  Kelton;  1797,  William  Rogers;  1798,  Even  Evans; 
1799,  John  Menough;  1800,  Titus  Taylor;  1801,  John  Riuehart; 
1802,  John  Ramsey;  1803,  Thomas  Taylor;  1804,  James  Lockhart; 
1805,  John  G.  Parke;  1806,  Joshua  Gibbons;  1807,  David  Denny; 
1808,  Jesse  Good;  1809,  William  Evaus;  1810,  David  Wilson;  1811, 
James  Ramsey;  1812,  Eber  Worthiugtou;  1813,  David  Townsend; 
1814,  Alexander  Chandler;  1815,  Jesse  Mercer;  1816,  Samuel  Bald- 
win; 1817,  Maris  Taylor;  1818,  Joshua  Weaver;  1819,  Benjamin 
Thomas;  1820,  Jesse  Pugh;  1821,  Isaac  Trimble;.  1822,  James  Davis; 
1823,  Abisha  Clark;  1824,  Ezra  Cope;  1825,  Joseph  Hughes;  1826, 


4/8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Benjamin  Parker;  1827,  Isaac  Thomas;  1828,  Melchi  Happersett 
1829,  James  Alexander;  1830,  George  Gregg;  1831,  Evan  Evans 
1832,  Joseph  Wood;  1833,  Walker  Yarnall  (Eber  Woi;thington  ap 
pointed  in  place  of  George  Gi'egg,  deceased);  1834,  John  Malin 
1835,  Alexander  Correy;  1836,  Elijah  Lewis;  1837,  John  Beidler 
1838,  John  W.  Passmore;  1839,  Hibbard  Evans;  1810,  John  Tem 
pleton;  1841,  Hatton  Mercer;  1842,  John  Worth;  1843,  Mordecai 
Lee;  1844,  Enos  Pennock;  1845,  Smith  Sharpless;  1846,  David 
Byerly;  1847,  Daniel  Thompson;  1848,  John  Hannum;  1849,  Eees 
Welsh;  1850,  Joel  Thompson;  1851,  Thomas  Vendever;  1852,  Jacob 
Kulp;  1853,  Newton  I.  Nichols;  1854,  Albert  Way;  1855,  William 
G.  Martland;  1856,  Joseph  Russell;  1857,  Titns  W.  Gheen;  1858, 
Benjamin  Ilartman;  1859,  Caleb  Windle;  1860,  Thomas  Bateman; 
1861,  Joseph  G.  King;  1862,  Andrew  Mitchell;  1863,  Lorenzo  Beck; 
1864,  Levi  H.  Grouse;  1865,  Thomas  H.  Charlton,  by  appointment 
to  fill  vacancy  caused  by  Andrew  MichelFs  death,  and  in  1865, 
Thomas  M.  Charlton  by  election  for  three  years;  1866,  Joseph  F. 
Hill;  1867,  Joseph  Doan;  1868,  Washington  Haggerty;  1869,  C. 
Marshall  Ingram;  1870,  Nathan  G.  Grimm;  1871,  Alfred  Wood; 
1872,  Matthew  Barker;  1873,  John  Irey;  1874,  David  Ramsey; 
1875,  David  Ramsey,  John  Irey,  John  McWilliams;  1878,  Jacob 
M.  Zook,  William  M.  Elliott,  Edwin  Otley;  18S1,  Joseph  T.  Reyn- 
olds, Wellington  C.  James,  Walter  McFeat;  1884,  Thomas  Mercer, 
Samuel  Whitson,  G.  Washington  Beei'bower;  1887,  Thomas  Mer- 
cer, Samuel  D.  White,  Ebenezer  D.  Johnson;  1890,  Samuel  D. 
White,  J.  Harrison  Rennard,  D.  Morgan  Cox;  1893,  Davis  W.  En- 
trekin,  R.  Thomas  Garrett,  John  S.  Mullen ;  1896,  R.  Thomas  Gar- 
rett, D.  E.  Chambers,  Townsend  Mouler. 

COUNTY  TREASURERS. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  county  treasurers  since  1695: 
1695,   Jeremiah  Collett;    1697,  Walter  Marten;    1704,    Caleb 
Pusey;  1706,   Walter  Marten;  1720,  Henry   Pierce;   1724,   Philip 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  481 

Taylor;  1740,  Joseph  Briuton;  175G,  Robert  Miller;  1761,  Humphrey 
Marshall;  1765,  Jesse  Maris,  Jr.;  1766,  Lewis  Davis;  1770,  James 
Gibbons;  1775,  Philip  Taylor;  1776,  John  Brinton;  1778,  Thomas 
Levis;  1779,  William  Evans;  1780,  Persifor  Frazer;  1781,  David 
Cloyd;  1785,  Andrew  Boyd  and  David  Cloyd;  1786,  William  Evans; 
1788,  Andrew  Boyd;  1786,  William  Haslitt;  1791,  John  Hannum; 
1793,  Elijah  MeClanaohan;  1791,  John  Mecham;  1795,  William 
Trimble;  1796,  Samuel  Cochran;  1797,  George  Davis;  1798,  Robert 
Miller;  1799,  James  Kelton;  1801,  Evan  Evans;  1802,  John  Men- 
ough;  1803,  Titus  Taylor;  1804,  William  Worthington;  1806,  John 
Rinehart;  1807,  James  Lockhart;  1808,  John  G.  Parke;  1809, 
Joshua  Gibbons;  1810,  David  Denny;  1811,  Jesse  Good;  1812, 
William  Evans;  1813,  David  Wilson;  1814,  John  Ramsey;  1815, 
Eber  Worthington;  1816,  David  Townsend;  1817,  Alexander  Chan- 
<ller;  1818,  Jesse  Mercer;  1819,  Samuel  Baldwin;  1820,  Maris  Tay- 
lor; 1821,  Joshua  Weaver;  1822,  Benjamin  Thomas;  1823,  Jesse 
Pugh;  1824,  Robert  Miller;  1826,  James  Davis;  1827,  Abisha  Clark; 
1828,  Ezra  Cope;  1829,  Joshua  Hughes;  1830,  Benjamin  Parker; 
1832,  Melchi  Happersett;  1833,  James  Alexander;  1834,  Abraham 
Darlington;  1835,  Joseph  B.  Jacobs;  1837,  William  Embree;  1840, 
Samuel  M.  Painter;  1842,  S.  C.  Jefferis;  1843,  Samuel  M.  Paiter, 
appointed  in  place  of  S.  C.  Jefferis,  deceased;  1844,  Morgan  Reese; 
1846,  James  M.  Hughes;  1848,  Samuel  Davis;  1850,  George  W. 
Pearce;  1852,  Henry  Beidler;  1854,  Samuel  Wickersham;  1856, 
Townsend  Walter;  1858,  Charles  Fairlamb;  1860,  Joseph  I.  Tustin; 
1862,  Reuben  Bernard;  1864,  C.  H.  Kinnard;  1866,  John  T.  Potts; 
1868,  Philip  Price;  1870,  Edwin  Baker;  1872,  Frank  Shellady; 
1874,  Jesse  E.  Phillips;  1875,  John  G.  Moses;  1878,  John  H.  Buck- 
waiter;  1881,  Emmor  G.  Griffith;  1884,  David  Cope;  1887,  Robert 
L.  Hayes;  1890,  Wilmer  E.  Pennypacker;  1893,  Joel  B.  Pusey,  and 
1896,  E.  Vinton  Philips. 

The  Prohibition  County  convention  held  meetings  May  10, 
1898,  with  John  Flint,  chairman.     They  named  Richard  T.  Ogden 
28 


482  CHESTER     COUNTY. 

of  Swarthmore,  Delaware  County,  as  their  candidate  for  Con- 
gress, and  the  following  executive  committee  was  chosen:  Ilarry 
L.  Skeen,  Downington;  Granville  Tyson,  Spring  City;  James  D. 
Peck,  West  Whiteland;  J.  H.  Earp,  Kennett  Square;  Dr.  Levi 
Hoopes,  West  Chester;  Rev.  Alford  Kelley,  Frazer;  J.  H.  Broom- 
all,  Upper  Oxford;  Mordecai  T.  Bartram,  Willistown,  and  J.  E. 
Diverty,  Pha?nixville.  The  convention  expressed  themselves  as 
being  in  favor  of  Dr.  Silas  C.  Swallow  for  Governor,  and  adopted 
the  following  platform: 

"We,  the  members  of  the  Prohibition  party  of  Chester  County, 
Pennsylvania,  in  County  Convention  assembled,  renewing  our 
acknowledgment  of  and  allegiance  to  Almighty  God  as  the  right- 
ful ruler  of  the  universe,  declare  as  follows : 

"First.  We  reaffirm  our  approval  of  the  platform  and  declara- 
tions of  the  National  and  State  Conventions. 

"Second.  We  declare  ourselves  as  opposed  to  all  forms  of 
wrong  everywhere,  and  hope  suffering  Cuba  may  gain  her  free- 
dom and  independence,  and  that  6ur  flag  may  soon  cease  to  pro- 
tect the  saloon  and  all  other  evils. 

"Third.  We  instruct  the  delegates  to-day  elected  to  the  State 
Convention  to  use  their  best  endeavor  to  secure  the  nomination 
of  Eev.  Dr.  Silas  C.  Swallow  for  Go\ernor,  believing  he  eminently 
represents  the  principles  of  the  Prohibition  party,  and  commands 
the  entire  respect  and  confidence  of  all  good  citizens  of  oiir  State, 
to  the  end  that  his  election  would  secure  an  honest  and  economical 
administration  of  State  affairs." 

In  closing  this  chapter  on  the  politics  of  the  county  it  is  neces- 
sary to  present  the  result  of  the  Republican  Convention  held  in 
West  Chester,  June  7,  1898.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Repub- 
lican party  in  Pennsylvania  is  divided  into  two  factions — Quay 
and  Anti-Quay — and  this  is,  of  course,  the  case  in  each  county. 
The  convention  was  held  in  the  opera-house  and  was  under  the 
control  of  the  Quay  faction.     The  ticket  nominated  was  as  follows: 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  483 

Congress,  Thomas  S.  Butler,  West  Chester;  Legislature  (East- 
ern District),  D.  Smith  Talbot,  West  Chester;  Northern  District, 
William  P.  Corwell,  East  Coventry;  Western  District,  James  G. 
Fox,  Cain  Township;  Southern  District,  Evan  B.  Evans,  Penn 
Township;  Eecorder  of  Deeds,  Oscar  E.  Thomson,  Phoenixville; 
Director  of  the  Poor,  Samuel  Wickersham  (Anti-Quay),  New  Gar- 
den, and  county  surveyor,  Walter  A.  McDonald,  West  Chester. 

Following  is  the  platform  adopted  by  this  convention: 

First.  The  Republican  party  of  Chester  County  at  the 
convention  assembled  ratifies  and  reaffirms  the  doctrines  enun- 
ciated by  the  Republican  National  platform  adopted  at  St.  Louis 
in  1896  and  the  Republican  State  platform  adopted  in  ITarrisburg 
in  1898. 

Second.  We  declare  our  emphatic  approval  of  the  wise  and 
patriotic  course  of  President  McKinley  in  his  general  administra- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  the  Government,  and  we  pledge  to  the  admin- 
istration and  to  Congress  our  universal  support  in  the  wise  and 
proper  course  which  they  are  pursuing  in  the  defense  of  humanity 
and  the  honor  of  the  nation. 

Third.  We  congratulate  Pennsylvania's  representatives  in 
the  United  States  Senate  and  our  member  of  Congress  from  the 
Sixth  Pennsylvania  District  upon  the  support  which  they  are  giv- 
ing to  the  National  Adminstration  during  this  critical  period. 

Fourth.  We  congratulate  the  Republican  State  Convention 
upon  its  selection  of  standard  bearers  of  unimpeachable  personal 
character  and  worth  to  lead  the  party  to  victory  in  the  coming 
campaign  and  pledge  to  the  Republican  party  the  usual  majority 
from  Chester  County. 

I'OPULATION  OF  CHESTER  COUNTY. 

The  following  table  shows  the  population  of  the  county  from 
1790  to  1890,  both  years  inclusive,  according  to  the  various  cen- 
suses: 


484  CHESTER    COUNTY 

Year.  White.       Colored.     Total. 

1790 27,249  688  27,937 

1800 30,902  1,191  32,093 

1810 37,775  1,821  39,596 

1820 41,710  2,741  44,451 

1830 47,911  2,999  50,910 

1840 53,372  4,143  57,535 

1850 61,215  5,223  66,438 

1860 68,671  5,907  74,578 

1870 71,569  6,233  77,802 

1880 76,402  7,073  83,475 

1890 81,695  7,682  89,377 

According  to  the  Census  of  1830  there  were  then  five  slaves 
in  Chester  County,  three  of  whom  were  under  twenty-eight  years 
of  age.  This  was  somewhat  of  a  surprise  to  a  portion  of  the  people, 
although  it  need  not  to  have  been,  for  from  1780  to  1830  was  only 
fifty  years,  and  in  1780  there  were  slaves  that  were  very  young, 
one  at  least  that  was  only  one  month  old,  and  female  slaves  of 
this  age  in  1780  might  have  become  mothers  late  enough  to  have 
had  children  not  yet  twenty-eight  years  old  in  1830. 

Following  is  the  census  table  for  the  townships,  boroughs 
and  a  portion  of  the  villages  of  the  county  in  1880  and  1890: 

Townships,  etc.  1880.  1890.      . 

Atglen 347  397 

Birmingham 503  458 

East  Bradford 1,480  1,043 

West  Bradford 1,620  1,281 

East  Brandywine 1,011  995 

West  Bradford 874  723 

Cain 863  1,053 

East  Cain 539  256 

West  Cain 1,275  1,146 

Charlestown 902  790 

Coatesville 2,766  3,680 

East  Ward 1,426 

Middle  Ward 1,630 

West  Ward 624 

East  Coventry 1,259  1,219 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  485 

Township,    etc.                                 1880  1890. 

North  Coventry 1,441  1,605 

South  Coventry 569  495 

DowuingtoAvn 1,480  1,920 

East  Ward 872 

West  Ward 1,048 

Easttown 845  1,082 

Elk 830  789 

East  Fallowfield 1,461  1,505 

West  Fallowfleld 1,048  1,039 

Franklin 966  791 

East  Goshen 724  684 

West  Goshen 1,133  1,111 

Highland 896  910 

Honeybrook    Township,    including 

borough 1,849  1,876 

Honeybrook  Borough 470  514 

Hopewell 216  213 

Kennett  Square 1,021  1,326 

Kennett 1,247  1,185 

London  Britain 621  607 

Londonderry 727  671 

Londongrove 2,148  2,613 

Malvern 641 

East  Marlborough 1,337  1,327 

West  Marlborough 1,146  1,041 

New  Garden 1,942  2,126 

Newlin 779  680 

New  London 891  789 

East  Nantmeal 936  837 

West  Nantmeal 1,027  995 

East  Nottingham 1,351  1,305 

West  Nottingham 864  817 

Oxford 1,502  1,711 

Lower  Oxford 1,429  1,384 

Upper  Oxford 1,696  1,096 

Parkesburg 817  1,514 

Pennsburv '795  773 

Peun     ..." 739  632 

PhoE-nixvilie 6,682  8,514 

Ward  1 1,801 

Ward  2 1,086 

Ward  3 2,127 

Ward  4 1,724 

Ward  5 :...  1,176 


486  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Township,  letc.  1880.  1890. 

Pooopson 5G4  513 

East  Pikeland 80i  823 

West  Pikeland 1,005  664 

Sadsbury 749  843 

West  Sadsbury 693  774 

Scliuylkill 1,416  1,254 

Spring  City 1,112  1,797 

Tliornbury 262  251 

Tredyffrin 1,975  2,549 

Upper  Uwclilan 848  824 

Uwclilan 698  684 

Valley 1,072  1,187 

East  Vincent 1,252  1,285 

West  Vincent 1,238  1,081 

Wallace 711  662 

Warwick 1,267  1,487 

ATest  Chester 7,046  8,028 

East  Ward 2,157 

Northward 1,324 

South  Ward 2,314 

West  Ward 2,233 

Westtown 848  895 

East  Whiteland 1,273  1,157 

West  Whiteland 1,345  1,096 

Willistown,  together  with  Malvern.  1,620  1,390 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ROADS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ROADS — INDIAN      TRAILS      THE      FIRST — THE      UPLAND      COURT'S     ORDER OLO 

METHOD  OF  MAKING    ROADS — PETITIONS,  ETC. MANY  ROADS  VIEWED — 

ROAD  DISTRICTS BRIDGES  AND  FERRIES — TURNPIKES — TAVERNS 

AND      TOLL      HOUSES PLANK      ROADS STAGE       ROUTES — 

RAILROADS — LEGISLATIVE      ACTS CANALS — CHAR- 
TERS  THE     FIRST     TRACKS — RIVAL     PRO- 
JECTS  SUBSEQUENT      RAILWAYS. 

THE  making  of  roads  in  any  country  is  a  matter  of  great 
importance.  In  the  United  States  good  roads  have,  as  a  matter  of 
necessity,  come  slowly,  because  of  the  great  extent  of  the  country^ 
of  the  jjoverty  of  the  people  and  the  great  cost  of  such  highways. 
The  first  roads  in  the  country  wei*e  the  Indian  trails,  and  in  many 
cases  more  modern  roads,  even  the  railroads,  have,  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  followed  the  ancient  paths  of  the  Eed  Man. 

Early  in  the  history  of  Chester  County  the  question  of  the 
laying  out  and  the  establishment  of  better  roads  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  authorities.  In  1678  the  court  at  Upland  ordered 
that  every  person  should,  T\ithin  two  months,  so  far  as  his  land 
reached,  make  good  and  passable  ways  from  neighbor  to  neighbor,, 
with  bridges  wliere  they  were  needed,  to  the  end  that  neighbors 
might  on  occasion  come  together.  Those  who  failed  to  comply 
with  this  order  were  to  forfeit  twenty-five  guilders. 

Later  the  manner  of  making  roads  was  pi*escribed,  and  was 
in  effect  as  follows:  That  the  road  should  be  made  clear  of  stand- 
ing and  lying  trees,  and  to  be  at  least  ten  feet  wide;  stumps  ami 
shrubs  to  be  cut  close  to  the  ground,  and  sufficient  bridges  to  be 
be  made  over  all  marshy  and  difficult  places.     The  earliest  ap- 

489 


490  CHESTER     COUNTY 

pointment  of  overseers  of  roads,  or  supervisors,  was  made  October 
13,  1680,  and  the  court,  under  the  government  of  William  Penn, 
continued  to  appoint  overseers  of  roads  and  fence-viewers  for  dif- 
ferent precincts  and  townships  until  1(392,  when  the  authority  to  so 
appoint  these  officers  Avas  conferred  upon  the  townships  them- 
selves. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Province  public  roads  were  laid  out 
by  the  grand  jury,  which  was  continued  until  1699,  and  after  this 
time  the  practice  was  that  six  persons  were  appointed  by  tln^ 
court  upon  application.  The  first  appointment  of  this  kind  was  on 
December  12,  1699,  and  the  first  report  of  a  jury  specially  ap- 
pointed by  the  court  was  made  in  December,  1700.  This  jury  was 
composed  of  .John  Worrell,  Kandall  Malin,  William  Edwards, 
(reorge  Smedley,  Ivobert  Pennell  and  Daniel  Hoopes. 

In  1703,  upon  the  petition  of  Humphrey  Ellis,  Daniel  Lewis 
iind  fifty-eight  others,  to  the  Council,  that  council  appointed  Sam- 
uel Kichardson,  David  Lloyd,  Kowland  Ellis,  William  Howell, 
William  Jenkins  and  Eichard  Thomas  to  view  certain  roads  which 
had  been  laid  out,  and  to  survey  and  lay  out  one  direct  road  fifty 
feet  wide  leading  from  ^Villiam  Powell's  ferry  on  Schuylkill  ai^d 
passing  Haverford  Meeting-house  to  the  principal  part  of  Goshen 
Township,  and  thence  continued  in  a  direct  course  to  the  up]>er 
settlements  on  the  Brandywiue. 

In  1716  a  petition  Avas  presented  for  a  road  leading  from  the 
-west  side  of  William  Fleming's  laud  to  Cain  Mill,  and  thence  to 
William  Brinton's  in  Birmingham,  and  James  Gibbons,  Bichard 
Woodward,  John  Yearsley,  Kichard  Thomas,  Thomas  James  and 
David  Davis  were  appointed  to  view.  In  1717  a  road  was  laid  out 
from  Ellis  Lewis'  mill  southeast  to  the  county  line.  And  the  same 
year  a  road  was  laid  out  from  the  land  of  Grittith  Owen  on  King's 
Road  from  Goshen  to  Edgemont  and  Che.ster,  8.  60  E.  80;  east 
a  little  south  through  Owen  and  George  Ashbrldge,  440  perches 
to  mill;  thence  through  Ashbridge,  William  Hudson,  in   Willis- 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  491 

town,  Thomas  Garrett,  east  and  east  by  north,  352  perches  to  road 
from  mill  to  Chester,  and  across  to  corner  of  Thomas  Garrett's 
laud  and  Samuel  LeAvis'  land,  00  perches  E.  ^  N.,  between  Lewis 
and  Thomas  James,  and  through  James  and  Thomas  Mary,  220; 
east  somewhat  southerly  to  road  from  Chester  to  Valley,  100 
perches  to  end  of  road  formerly  laid  out  from  Newtown  to  Phihi- 
delphia.  Also  in  the  same  year  a  road  was  laid  out  from  Joseph 
Pennock's  to  west  end  of  Marlborough  Street,  and  aloug  the  same 
1,120  perches,  and  then  north  52  east,  along  Thomas  Wicker- 
sham's  and  Moses  Key's  land  132  perches  to  road  running  from 
Henry  Hayes'  to  Brandywiue  Creek. 

lu  1717-18  a  road  was  laid  out  from  John  Mendenhall's  in  th<' 
valley  to  the  forks  of  the  Brandywine,  by  way  of  Edward  Clayton, 
George  Carter,  Abraham  Marshall,  Thomas  Buflington,  William 
Buffington,  William  Baldwin  and  Jacob  Taylor. 

In  1719  a  road  was  laid  out  from  Goshen  to  I'hiladelphia, 
commencing  at  the  intersection  of  the  Goshen  Mill  IJoad  with 
the  Pro\  idence  Boad,  this  road  passing  by  what  had  been  know  u 
as  the  "Old  Square,"  in  Newtown  Township,  and  a  short  distance 
be3'ond  that  point  it  entered  the  great  road  leading  to  Philadel- 
phia. 

In  1736  a  road  was  laid  out  from  the  Susquehanna,  near  the 
house  of  John  Hari'is,  and  falling  into  Conestoga  Old  Eoad  near 
Edward  Kinnison's  in  Whiteland,  passing  near  Uwchlan  Meeting- 
house, and  was  about  GS|  miles  in  length. 

According  to  S.  W.  Pennypacker,  in  his  "Phoenixville  and 
Vicinity,"  "An  early  road  entered  the  township  at  the  French 
Creek  Bridge,  and  pursued  a  southeasterly  course  until  it  reached 
the  trail,"  this  trail  extending  from  the  Indian  village  near  the 
mouth  of  Pickering  Ci-eek,  to  a  large  and  permanent  settlement 
•called  Indiantown.  In  the  other  direction  it  passed  over  Green 
Hill,  reaching  the  Schuylkill  at  the  old  fording  place  near  Perk- 
iomen  Junction.    "It  remained  the  only  thoroughfare  in  that  direc- 


493  CHESTER     COUNTY 

tidu  until  a  jury  in  1735  opened  a  road  on  a  line  between  the  prop- 
erties of  Coates  and  Starr.  From  the  active  participation  of  Sam- 
uel Nutt  in  obtaining  and  locating  this  road,  it  received  and  has 
since  borne  his  name. 

"The  road  leading  from  the  village  of  Chai'lestowu  to  the 
Fountain  Inn  and  Starr's  Ford,  was  opened  in  August,  1731,  and 
at  one  time  was  called  the  'Egypt  Road,'  because  it  connected  two 
settlements,  one  in  Chester  County,  the  other  in  Philadelphia 
County,  respectively  honored  with  the  suggestive  names  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt. 

"The  White  Horse  Road,  southward  from  tlie  Ijong  Ford,  in 
the  direction  of  Cedar  Hollow,  was  laid  out  in  the  early  days  of 
the  settlement  to  accommodate  the  residents  of  the  valley  on 
their  way  to  the  Schuylkill  fisheries. 

"The  road  leadjng  from  Phoenixville  northward  to  the  Black 
Rock  Bridge,  was  opened  about  the  year  1730." 

On  February  25,  1762,  the  county  was  divided  into  fifty-one 
districts,  each  township  to  be  one  road  district. 

The  following  extract  from  a  communication  of  Ziba  Darling- 
ton to  the  Jeffersonian  furnishes  some  interesting  history  con- 
nected with  the  laying  out  of  the  Street  Road. 

"William  Penn  laid  out  a  public  road  in  Marlborough  Town- 
ship, and  named  it  Marlborough  Street.  It  ran  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
straight  its  whole  distance,  a  stretch  of  some  live  miles,  beginning 
in  the  Pennsbury  line,  east  of  the  present  Red  Line  Tavern,  and 
ending  at  Marlborough  Friends'  Meeting-house. 

The  highway  from  the  end  of  Market  Street,  Philadelphia,  was 
laid  out  in  sections,  as  settlements  extended  westward  in  the 
colony.  It  was  not  known  as  the  Street  Road.  Long  after  these 
old  colonial  times  and  ways,  in  1815,  the  Legislature  of  Penn- 
sylvania authorized  a  State  road  to  be  laid  out  from  Market  Street 
Bridge,  Philadelphia,  to  McCall's  Ferry  on  the  Susquehanna 
River,    (xovemor  Snyder  appointed  John  Thompson  of  Delaware 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  493 

County,  Edward  Darlington  of  Chester  County,  and  Samuel  Au- 
krim  of  Lancaster  County,  commissioners  for  sucii  purpose.  They, 
with  their  corps  of  target-bearer,  chain-carriers,  axnien  and 
assistants,  began  the  work  at  Market  Street  Bridge,  but  madv 
no  change  in  the  existing  road  thence  to  Marlborough  Friends' 
Meeting-house.  From  thence  to  McCall's  Fern-  tjhe  road  laid 
out  was  pretty  much  a  new  one.  Burr,  a  noted  bridge-builder, 
had  got  the  heavy  timbers  for  the  bridge  at  McCall's  Ferrs-  i-eady, 
and  during  the  winter  of  1815  moved  them  on  the  Ice  to  their 
position.  The  floor  was  not  laid  when  the  commissioners  arrived 
there,  and  the  target-bearer  recollects  walking  out  on  the  timbers 
over  the  Susquehanna  Elver.  The  commissioners  would  have 
cut  off  an  angle  in  the  road  at  the  Marlborough  Meeting-house 
premises  had  it  not  been  for  an  old  burial  ground;  so  the  right 
angle  turn  there  yet  remains. 

"The  Street  Koad  is  the  name  applied  to  the  highway  from 
Market  Street  Bridge  to  McCall's  Ferry,  and  got  it  from  the  old 
Marlborough  Street  of  Penn." 

The  above  survey  was  made  in  1815,  John  Thompson  acting 
as  surveyor,  and  Ziba  Darlington  of  Chester  County  as  target- 
bearer. 

At  an  early  period  a  public  road  was  laid  out  from  Philadel- 
phia to  Lancaster,  which  was  known  as  the  "Old  Lancaster,''  or 
"Provincial"  Eoad.  In  Chester  County  it  passed  the  present  Eagle 
Station  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railway,  Paoli,  Admiral  Warren, 
White  Horse,  Moore's  Mill,  Ship,  Cain  Friends'  Meeting-house, 
Wagon  and  Mariner's  Compass.  A  portion  of  the  bed  of  this 
roadis  now  occupied  by  the  Lancaster  Turnpike,  but  the  greater 
portion  is  still  used  as  an  ordinary  i^ublic  road. 

The  Swede's  Ford  Eoad  ran  from  a  fording  over  the  Schuyl- 
kill just  below  Norristown,  westward  joining  the  old  Lancaster 
Road  in  East  Whiteland  Township.  The  road  known  as  the  "Boot 
Road"  ran  from  the  ferry  at  Philadelphia  by  way  of  the  "Boot 


494  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Tavern,'*  in  Goslieu,  to  Moore's  Mill  (Downingtown).  The  Great 
Chester  Road,  running  north  from  Chester,  intersected  this  road 
at  the  "Boot,"  and  is  said  to  have  been  laid  out  on  an  old  Indian 
trail.  A  road  ran  from  Moore's  Mill  westward,  a  continuation 
of  the  Boot  Eoad,  crossed  the  west  branch  of  the  Brandywine 
near  Coatesville,  and  Buck  IJuu  at  Pomeroy,  and  running  north- 
ward of  the  valley  to  the  Gap. 

The  Strasburg  Koad  dates  from  1794  and  was  laid  out  at 
different  times.  Part  of  the  original  road  is  what  is  now  known 
as  "Goshen  Street,"  forming  the  northern  line  of  the  borough  of 
West  Chester,  and  in  its  westward  coiirse  it  unites  with  the  pres- 
ent Strasburg  Eoad  at  the  foot  of  Black  Horse  Hill,  in  East  Brad- 
ford, passing  eastwardly  by  the  residence  of  William  P.  Marshall 
and  Fern  Hill  Station  on  the  railway  leading  from  West  Chester 
to  Frazer. 

The  road  from  Wilmington  to  Beading,  passing  through  West 
Chester,  is  a  very  old  one,  and  there  was  a  road  running  from 
Downingtown,  by  way  of  Waynesburg,  to  the  Conestoga  settle- 
ments. On  the  bed  of  this  last  mentioned  road  runs  for  a  portion 
of  its  length  the  "Horseshoe  Turnpike."  The  road  from  Philadel- 
phia by  way  of  Concord,  Chadd's  Ford,  Hamorton,  Kenuett  Square 
and  New  Loudon,  and  on  to  Baltimore,  is  also  an  old  one,  and 
was  long  a  leading  stage  route  between  Philadelphia  and  the 
Southern  States.  There  was  also  a  road  from  Wilmington  to  the 
Pequea  Valley,  by  the  way  of  Hamorton,  Unionville,  Doe  Bun, 
Ercildoun,  Humphreyville  and  Sadsburyville.  This  last  men- 
tioned road  was  intersected  at  Humphreyville  by  another  road 
which  led  past  Upper  Octorara  Church  and  the  old  Black  Horse 
Tavern  northward.  The  "Gap  and  Newport  Koad"  led  from  the 
"Gap"  in  Lancaster  County  to  Newport,  Delaware,  and  was  long 
a  leading  road  from  Lancaster  to  Wilmington. 

There  was  a  road  leading  from  West  Chester  in  a  southwest 
direction,  crossing  the  Brandywine  at  Jefferis  Ford,  Avhich  was 


AXD     /7'.s'     PEOPLE.  495 

known  as  the  "Oil-mill  Eoad,"  fpom  an  oil-mill  which  stood  on  a 
farm  lately  owned  by  EdA\iu  James.  This  road  was  superseded 
by  a  State  road  laid  out  in  1830  from  New  Hope,  on  the  Delaware 
River,  through  Doylestown,  Norristown,  West  Chester,  Unionville, 
White  Horse  and  Oxford  to  the  Maryland  line.  The  "Limestone 
Eoad,"  in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  which  passes  through 
Oxford,  was  at  one  time  an  old  Indian  trail.  The  Valley  or  Mc- 
Call's  Ferry  Koad,  which  runs  from  Parkesburg  to  McCall's  Ferry, 
on  the  Susquehanna  River,  was  authorized  in  1809  by  an  act  of 
the  Assembly  of  the  State. 

Much  might  be  written  on  the  history  of  early  staging  on  all 
of  these  roads  did  space  and  time  permit.  A  brief  sketch  of  the 
first  turnpike  in  the  United  States  is  here  introduced. 

The  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster  Turnpike  Road  was  the  first 
of  its  kind  constructed  in  America,  and  hence  is  worthy  of  special 
mention.  It  was  in  1790  or  1791  that  it  was  agreed  in  the  Assembly 
of  the  State  to  cause  a  survey  to  be  made  between  Philadelphia 
and  Lancaster,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  most  eligible 
route  for  a  turnpike  road  between  the  two  cities.  A  company 
was  incorporated  under  the  name  of  the  "Philadelphia  and  Lan- 
caster Turnpike  Road  Company,"  April  9,  1792,  and  the  eager- 
ness of  people  to  subscribe  for  stock  in  this  company  was  remark- 
able, it  being  necessary  to  resort  to  the  drawing  of  lots  in  order 
to  determine  who  should  first  subscribe.  This  road  as  it  was 
constructed  has  a  length  in  Chester  County  of  thirty-six  miles, 
nearly  seventeen  miles  along  the  Great  Valley.  It  was  a  very 
expensive  undertaking,  on  account  of  the  inexperience  of  the  engi- 
neers. The  entire  length  of  the  road  is  sixty-tAvo  miles,  and  it  was 
formed  of  three  highways  between  its  terminal  points,  the  King's 
Highway  of  Lancaster  County  being  extended  to  join  the  two  lower 
sections.  It  was  opened  to  travel  in  1795  and  immediately  became 
the  leading  thoroughfare  between  Philadelphia  and  the  West. 
The  road  was  made  of  hard  stones  broken  small,  the  pavement 


496  CHESTER     COUNTY 

being  twenty-four  feet  wide,  eighteen  inches  thick  in  the  middle 
and  twelve  inches  thick  at  the  sides.  The  cutting  down  of  hills 
to  the  limits  of  four  degrees  elevation  and  the  leveling  of  the 
platform  was  very  expensive,  the  total  cost  of  the  road,  including 
the  construction  of  the  bridges  and  aqueducts,  being  |465,000,  or 
$7,500  per  mile.  For  the  first  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  the  cor- 
poration had  at  its  head  Mr.  Ellison  Perot,  of  Philadelphia.  For 
many  years  the  travel  upon  it  was  enormous,  which  is  one  of  the 
strongest  evidences  of  the  value  to  the  community  of  good  roads. 
It  was  lined  with  public  houses,  these  houses  being  in  some  parts 
of  its  course  through  Chester  County  not  more  than  one  mile 
apart.  At  night  the  yards  of  these  public  houses  or  taverns  were 
filled  with  teams,  the  horses  standing  on  each  side  of  the  wagon- 
tongue,  on  which  a  trough  was  placed  for  their  feed.  The  team- 
sters spread  their  beds,  which  they  carried  with  them,  on  the 
barroom  floors  or  on  the  floors  of  other  rooms.  These  taverns 
were  usually  conducted  by  their  owners  and  were  remarkable  for 
their  good  order. 

But  the  glory  of  this  great  route  of  travel  and  of  its  hotels 
were  doomed  to  disappear,  for  when  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
went  into  operation  about  forty  years  after  its  construction,  it 
took  away  the  travel  and  the  transportation  of  merchandise 
over  this  turnpike,  and  its  income  from  tolls  diminished  and  the 
number  of  its  hotels  as  gradually,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  better 
to  say  as  rapidly,  decreased,  until  at  the  present  time  the  use  of 
the  road  is  only  local,  and  the  traveler  may  pass  over  many  a 
mile  of  it  without  seeing  a  single  sign  inviting  him  to  refreshment 
or  to  rest. 

Other  early  turnpikes  were  as  follows:  The  Downingtown,  Eph- 
rata  and  Harrisburg,  otherwise  known  as  the  Horseshoe  Pike,  char- 
tered March  24,  1803;  the  Gap  and  Newport,  taking  the  place  to  a 
great  extent  of  the  old  Gap  and  Newport  Road,  chartered  April  7, 
1807;  the  Little  Conestoga,  running  from  the  Philadelphia  and  Lan- 


^S^^M^, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLi:.  499 

caster  Tiu'Ditike,  near  the  Warren  Tavern,  to  a  point  in  Berks 
ConutT,  Avliere  the  Reading  Road  intersects  the  Morgantown  Road, 
chartered  March  Ifi,  1809. 

In  1811  a  survey  was  made  for  a  turnjjilce  from  the  Phihidel- 
]ihia  and  Lancaster  Turnpike  at  or  near  the  twenty-sixth  milestone 
through  Westchester  to  Wilmington,  laws  being  passed  by  both 
Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  authorizing  the  work;  but  the  people 
of  Delaware  declined  to  take  stock  in  the  enterprise  and  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania  then  felt  justified  in  abandoning  the  project.  The 
people  of  Delaware  then  constructed  a  turniiike  from  Wilmington 
to  the  State  line,  a  distance  of  about  six  miles,  in  the  direction  of 
West  Chester. 

The  West  Chester  and  Wilmington  Plank  Road  Company  was 
organized  in  1854  and  a  plank  road  constructed  from  West  Chester 
to  Dilworthtown,  and  in  1858  this  road  was  converted  into  a 
macadamized  road. 

]Much  of  this  information  on  early  roads,  with  the  exception 
of  what  is  presented  on  the  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster  Turnpike 
Road,  has  been  derived  from  Judge  Futhey's  excellent  "History 
of  Chester  County,"  due  credit  for  which  is  thus  given. 

In  the  early  day  there  were  the  following  stage  routes  ex- 
tending out  of  West  Chester: 

One  leading  to  Reading,  over  which  a  stage  coach  was  run 
from  West  Chester  every  Tuesday,  Tliursday  and  Saturday,  and 
leaving  Reading  every  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  by  way 
of  Oakland,  Lionville,  Eagle,  Wallace,  Loags,  Morgantowni,  Joanna 
Furnace  and  Beckersville,  the  fare  to  Reading  being  |2.  Of  this 
line  John  G.  Dunwoody  was  proprietor  in  1857. 

One  to  Cochran ville,  leaving  West  Chester  on  the  same  days, 
and  Cochranville  also  on  the  same  days  as  the  above,  the  fare  to 
Cochranville  being  |1.  Of  this  line  Francis  Conway  was  the  ])ro- 
prietor  in  1857. 

One  to  New  Holland,  lea\iug  West  Chester  on  the  opposite 
29 


500  CHESTER     COUNTY 

clays  from  the  above,  as  well  as  New  Holland,  passiufi'  Dowuiiig- 
towu,  Gallagliei'ville,  Brick,  Brandywine  Manor,  Kockville  and 
Waynesburg-,  the  fare  each  way  being  |1.87|,  and  the  proprietor 
of  the  line  being  IJ.  Fox. 

One  to  Wilmington,  leaving  both  West  Chester  on  every  Tues- 
day, Thursday  and  Saturday,  the  fare  to  Wilmington  being  $1,  the 
liro])rietor  of  this  route  being  George  Court,  in  1S57. 

()ue  to  Philadelphia,  leaving  ^A'est  Chester  every  morning,  and 
leaving  Philadelphia  everj-  afternoon,  the  fare  each  way  being 
G2^  cents,  and  the  proprietor  being  Stackhouse  &  Co.,  in  1S5T. 

RAILROADS. 

Chester  County  is  well  supplied  with  railroads.  The  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  passes  through  the  county  from  east  to  west; 
the  Wilmington  and  Northern  Railroad,  crosses  it  from  north  to 
south,  passing  down  the  valley  of  the  Brandj'wiue;  the  'West  Ches- 
ter and  Philadelphia.  Railroad  connects  West  Chester  with  Phila- 
del}diia,  and  the  West  Chester  Railroad  connects  the  latter  rail- 
road with  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  at  Frazer.  The  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Delaware  Railroad  runs  from  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road at  Pomeroy  Station  with  Delaware  City;  the  East  Brandy- 
wine  and  Waj'nesburg  Railroad  runs  from  Downingtown  nortii- 
westerly  to  Waynesbxirg;  the  Chester  Valley  Railroad  runs  from 
Downingtown  eastAvard  to  Norristown;  the  Pickering  Valley  Rail- 
road runs  from  Uwchlan  to  Pho^nixville;  the  Wilmington  and 
\V'estern  Railroad  connects  Wilmington  with  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware  Railroad  at  Liindeuburg;  the  Reading  Railroad 
passes  along  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  county,  and  the  Perkio- 
meu  Railroad  connects  with  the  Reading  Railroad  between 
Phoenixville  and  Valley  Forge. 

Previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  railroad  in  Chester  County, 
travel  and  transportation  across  the  county  and  the  country  were 


AND    IT^    PEOPLE.  50 1 

principally  by  stages  and  wagons.  Passengers  and  freight  were 
carried  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg  and  from  Pittsburg  to 
Philadelphia  by  means  of  these  vehicles  drawn  by  four  or  six 
horse  teams,  all  owned  by  farmers  of  Chester  and  adjoining  coun- 
ties. The  wagons  Avere  large  and  high,  on  high  wheels,  strongly 
built,  and  covered  over  with  canvas,  supported  by  hickory  hoops 
or  bows.  In  this  J^tate  these  vehicles  were  known  as  Conestoga 
wagons,  while  farther  to  the  west  they  were  frequently  called 
Pennsylvania  wagons,  and  are  still  thus  referred  to,  though,  as 
things  of  the  past.  .V  half  dozen  or  more  teams  were  in  those 
early  days  frequently  seen  traveling  in  company  along  the  Lan- 
caster Pike,  on  which  a  line  of  four-horse  stages  was  run,  which 
became  quite  popular  Avitli  the  traveling  public  and  profitable  to 
their  owners.  Tliis  pike  was  almost  invariably  taken  in  fine 
weather  when  the  roads  were  good;  otherwise  both  stages  and 
wagons  would  take  the  Strasburg  Koad  passing  through  West 
tliester.  In  addition  to  these  two  roads  there  were  numerous 
others  passing  through  West  Chester.  In  addition  to  these  two 
roads  there  were  numerous  others  passing  in  different  directions 
through  the  county,  and  at  their  intersections  villages  greAV  up 
and  postoflices  were  established.  The  trip  from  Philadelphia  to 
Pittsburg  and  return  usually  occupied  from  four  to  six  weeks, 
the  average  value  of  a  trip  one  Avay  was  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
in  case  a  load  was  found  from  Pittsburg  back  to  the  east  it  was 
1150. 

About  1S23  the  public  mind  began  to  be  exercised  over  tlie 
question  of  railroads,  but  the  ideas  entertained  as  to  what  a  rail- 
road was  Avere  not  ahvays  clear.  From  that  time  until  1828  sev- 
eral attempts  were  made  to  organize  a  company  to  build  a  rail- 
road to  connect  with  the  canals  of  the  State,  by  Avhich  means  it 
was  expected  to  form  a  through  line  for  both  passengers  and 
freight  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg;  bnt  capitalists,  being  like 
the  rest  of  the  world,  ignorant  of  what  a  railroad  Avas,  were  sIoav 


502  CHESTER     COUNTY 

to  invest,  as  they  always  have  been  and  always  will  be  in  a  new 
thinji-.    Each  of  these  attempts  therefore  came  to  nan.cht. 

But  at  length,  in  1828,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  passed  an 
act  providing  for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Philadelphia 
to  Columbia,  in  Lancaster  County,  to  be  styled  the  "Pennsylvania 
Railroad,"  and  directed  that  twenty  miles  at  each  end  of  the  road 
be  built  at  once.  Soon  after  this  the  i)eople  of  "West  Chester 
began  to  take  up  the  question  of  building  a  railroad  and  to  discuss 
the  question  of  hoAV  much  more  a  horse  could  draw  on  such  a  road 
than  on  a  common  dirt  road;  for  the  idea  of  steam  being  used 
as  a  motive  power  on  such  a  road  had  tben  entered  the  minds  of 
but  few  peoi>le,  at  least  in  the  United  States. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  proper  to  state  that  according 
to  Dr.  George  Smith,  in  his  History  of  Delaware  County,  the  first 
railroad  constructed  in  this  country  was  in  what  was  once  a  por- 
tion of  Chester  County — in  IJidley  Township,  Delaware  County,  in 
180(;.  This  railroad  was  built  by  Thomas  Leiper,  who  had  seen 
a  road  of  the  kind  in  either  England  or  Scotland,  and  before  buikl- 
ing  his  road  in  Delaware  County  he  had  constructe'i  for  him  an 
experimental  road  on  a  vacant  lot  in  the  Northern  I>iberties  in 
Philadelphia,  at  a  grade  of  one  and  a  half  inches  to  tht  yard, 
which  on  the  day  of  trial  proved  to  be  a  great  success.  This  rail 
road  in  Delaware  County  was  constructed  by  Mr.  Leiper  for  the 
purpose  of  transporting  stone  from  his  quarry  on  Crum  Creek  to 
his  landing  on  Kidley  Creek,  a  distance  of  about  one  mile,  the 
ascent  being  a  graded  incline  plane,  and  the  superstructure  being 
made  of  white  oak,  with  cross-ties  and  str-ing-pieces.  The  wheels 
of  his  cars  wei"e  made  of  cast-iron,  and  had  flanges  to  keep  them 
on  the  rails.  This  short  railroad  was  afterward  superseded  by 
the  Leiper  Canal,  built  in  1828  by  Hon.  George  G.  Leiper,  son  of 
the  builder  of  the  railroad,  the  canal  being  in  use  until  1852. 

The  great  event  which  startled  the  country  from  one  end  to 
the  other,  and  which  really  determined  the  merchants  of  Phila- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  .  503 

delphia  and  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  to  build  the  railroad  to 
rolumbia,  was  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  182().  They 
were  quick  to  perceive  that  unless  something-  were  done  to  prevent 
it  their  previously  obtained  and  profitable  Western  trade,  which 
had  up  to  that  time  been  carried  bj-  means  of  the  great  Conestoga 
wagons,  would  go  by  way  of  the  Erie  ("anal  to  the  city  of  New 
York;  hence  the  passage  of  the  act  above  referred  to,  to  build  the 
railroad  from  Philadelphia  to  Columbia.  Thence  it  was  thought 
travel  could  go  b}'  canal  to  Hollidaysburg,  whence  a  railroad  would 
pass  over  the  mountains,  and  from  Johnstown  a  canal  would 
extend  to  Pittsburg.  By  such  a  route  it  was  thought  practicable 
to  compete  with  the  Erie  Canal,  as  there  would  be  a  gain  of  time 
over  the  two  stretches  of  railroad  which  this  plan  contemplated. 

In  the  construction  of  this  first  railroad  from  Philadelphia 
to  Columbia  many  experiments  were  made  in  order  to  ascertain 
what  kind  of  rail  Avould  be  suitable.  From  the  head  of  the  inclined 
plane  at  Philadelphia  to  AVhite  Hall  a  heavy  stone  sill  was  laid, 
with  a  flat  bar  of  iron  spiked  upon  it;  but  this  proved  a  failure. 
Then  flat  bars  of  iron  were  laid,  which  were  two  and  a  half  inches 
wide  by  one-half  an  inch  thick;  but  these  proved  too  light.  They 
would  draw  loose,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  the  bars  curled  up  at  the 
end  and  pierced  the  bottom  of  the  car.  Then  even  these  rails 
had  to  be  imported  from  England  at  a  great  expense,  and  were 
very  poor,  there  being  then  no  American  mills  in  operation. 
American  mills  came  later  on. 

The  Columbia  Road  was  completed  into  Philadelphia  in  1833, 
entering  the  city  at  Vine  Street,  whence  a  city  track  laid  on  stone 
sills  was  extended  down  Broad,  Market  and  Third  to  the  foot  of 
Dock.  Upon  the  completion  of  this  road,  although  it  would  not 
by  any  means  compare  with  railroads  of  the  present  day,  the 
competition  of  the  Conestoga  wagon  was  soon  extinguished, 
and  the  drivers  and  their  horses  were  transferred  to  the  railroad. 
The  first  cars  for  passengers  which,  as  intimated,  were  for  a  time 


504  CHESTER     COUNTY 

drawn  by  horses,  were  four-wheeled  vehicles,  the  body  being-  sim- 
ilar to  but  much  larger  than  that  of  a  Troy  coach. 

It  is  now  time  to  turn  attention  to  the  construction  of  the 
fii'st  railroad  that  entered  West  Chester.  It  was  in  1830  that  this 
matter  was  taken  up  in  earnest,  the  question  being,  or  rather,  per- 
haps, one  question  being,  at  Avhat  point  should  a  railroad  from 
West  Chester  connect  with  the  Columbia  IJaili-oad,  then  well 
under  way.  A  2:)ublic  meeting  was  held  December  11,  at  the 
Turk's  Head  Hotel,  at  which  a  committee  was  appointed  to  con- 
fer with  Major  John  Wilson,  and  as  a  result  of  this  conference, 
with  the  consent  of  the  canal  commissioners.  Major  Wilson  sent 
a  corps  of  engineers  to  make  a  preliminary  survey,  tlie  Major 
himself  making  an  estimate  of  the  probable  cost.  A  second  meet- 
ing was  held  December  22,  at  which  a  general  town  meeting  was 
called  for  December  24,  to  take  further  and  definite  action.  Dr. 
William  Darlington  of  the  committee  made  a  report  which  was 
accepted,  and  the  following  resolutions  adopted: 

"Kesolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  construct  a  railroad  from 
the  borough  of  West  Chester  to  intersect  the  Pennsylvania  Eail- 
way  at  such  point  as  shall  be  found  most  eligible. 

"Resolved,  That  Dr.  Vv'illiam  Darlington,  William  11.  Dilling- 
ham, Thomas  Williamson,  Ezra  Cope,  David  Towusend,  Thomas  S. 
Bell  and  John  II.  Bradley,  Esq.,  be  a  committee  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  obtain  a  law  authorizing  the 
incorijoration  of  a  company  to  construct  the  said  railway."' 

Major  Wilson  reported  on  January  8,  1831,  that  he  had  located 
a  satisfactory  route  and  submitted  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the 
road,  which  he  had  placed  at  $S8,021.2!J.  The  charter  was  granted 
July  18  following,  with  all  the  privileges  and  concessions  asked 
for  by  the  petitioners. 

Anticipating  the  granting  of  the  chartei'  subscription  books 
were  opened  in  Philadelphia  at  the  Merchants'  Coffee  House,  at 
West  Chester,  at  the  Paoli  Tavern  and  at  the  Washington  House, 


AXD     ITS!     PEOPLE.  505 

on  March  22,  1831.  There  was  a  grand  rush  made  by  those  who 
wished  to  subscribe  to  the  stock  of  the  company,  and  in  a  very 
slioi-t  time  more  than  donble  the  amount  of  stock  autliorized  liad 
been  subscribed;  but  this  amount  was  later  reduced,  as  provided 
for  in  the  chai'ter.  Tlie  first  board  of  directors,  elected  March  28, 
was  comijosed  of  the  following  gentlemen:  Dr.  William  Darling- 
ton, Ziba  Pyle,  William  Williamson,  IS.  C.  Jefferis,  Jonathan  Jones. 
Joseph  Hemphill  and  Elihu  Chauncy,  Esq.  On  May  3,  1831,  Major 
John  Wilson  was  appointed  chief  engineer,  and  John  P.  Bailey, 
assistant,  and  on  May  2(5,  the  grading  of  tlie  line  was  let  out  in 
one  mile  sections,  and  the  work  pushed  rapidly  to  completion. 
A  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  was  held  September  18,  1832, 
at  which  it  Avas  announced  that  John  P.  Bailey  had  complclcl 
the  construction  of  the  entire  line  in  sixteen  months.  The  traik 
laid  at  that  time  consisted  of  chestnut  cross  tics,  sup]iorting  yel- 
low pine  string  pieces,  on  which  were  laid  liat  iron  bars  two  and 
a  half  inches  wide  by  one  half  an  inch  thick,  and  the  road  was  so 
ballasted  between  the  rails  as  to  make  a  good  iiathway  for  lioises. 

The  first  superintendent  of  the  road  was  .1.  Lacey  Darlington, 
M  ho  Mas  i»aid  a  salary  of  one  dollar  per  day,  when  he  was  engaged 
in  the  service  of  the  company,  and  the  first  general  agent,  Hickman 
-James,  received  for  his  services  -fSOO  per  year.  The  second  annual 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  was  held  January  23,  1833, 
and  it  was  then  announced  that  the  road  had  been  opened  pro  forma 
September  13,  1832,  and  horses  placed  on  the  road,  making  ])ar- 
tial  trips  for  the  accommodation  and  entertainment  of  t!ie  friends 
of  the  enterprise.  On  the  18th  of  October,  1833,  tlie  Canal  Com- 
missioners had  conjpleted  a  line  of  rails  to  the  head  of  the  inclined 
idanes,  and  the  cars  of  the  West  Chester  Bailway  Company  were 
at  once  run  to  that  point,  m  hence  passengers  were  conveyed  into 
IMiiladelphia  in  stages  and  omnibuses,  a  drive  of  about  four  miles 
down  the  west  side  of  the  Schuylkill  Kiver. 

On  January  1,  1831,  the  company  declared  the  first  dividend 


5o6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

aud  the  stockholders  were  made  happj'  with  tlie  ])rosi>e<t  of  future 
earnings  of  their  road.  During  the  j'ear  following  it  was  deemed 
advisable  by  the  West  Chester  Company  to  cousti'uit  a  connecting 
road  from  Kirkland  Station  across  to  Whitelaml,  in  order  to  readi 
the  limestone  and  marble  quarries  in  that  section,  and  to  shorten 
the  distance  to  Columbia,  where  lumber  was  then  obtained.  The 
capital  stock  was  increased  |10,000  and  the  road  was  built.  This 
road,  howevei",  was  but  verj-  little  used  and  w(Mit  to  decay  for 
want  of  repairs,  proving  an  almost  total  loss  to  the  company. 

During  the  year  1S35  a  lot  was  purchased  in  Philadelphia,  on 
liioad  Street,  south  of  iJace  Street,  on  which  lot  was  built  a  hotel 
called  the  West  Chester  House,  Avith  tracks  for  tlie  company's 
cars  under  it.  In  July,  183G,  William  P.  Sharpless  was  a])pointed 
superintendent  of  llie  road  aud  property  to  reside  in  Philadelphia, 
whence  it  Avas  thought  a  better  supervision  could  be  had  of  the 
]>i'0]>erty.  Soon  afterward  adjoining  lots  were  purcliase<1  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Broad  aud  Kace  Streets,  upon  which  lots  was 
built  a  large  warehouse  suitable  for  a  forwarding  and  commission 
house,  and  from  this  house  the  freighting  to  West  Chester  was 
done  for  several  years. 

About  this  time  the  railroad  boom  that  had  so  excited  the 
entire  country  subsided,  times  becoming  hard,  and  there  was  but 
little  done  for  some  years.  Tlie  times  continuing  hard  it  became 
difficult  for  people  to  meet  their  obligations,  and  tlie  West  Chester 
Hallway  Company  Avas  no  exception  to  the  general  rule.  There 
was  no  relief  until  after  the  passage  of  the  tariff  act  of  1842.  In 
order  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  the  situation  the  company  Avas 
compelled  to  raise  the  fare  from  one  dollar  to  one  dollar  and 
twenty-live  cents  for  the  single  trip.  Then,  too,  the  road  had  ene- 
mies, and  an  opposition  company  put  four-horse  coaches  on  the 
road  to  comjiete  with  the  railroad,  carrying  passengers  at  reduced 
rates,  and  getting  the  carrying  of  the  United  States  mails  at  about 
half  Avhat  had  been  formerly  paid  to  the  railway  company.     Be- 


AXD     /7\s'     I'EOI'LE.  507 

sides  all  this  the  Canal  ("oinuiissioners  were  eudeavorinp;  to  induce 
the  State  Lefjislatiire  to  apiiropriate  money  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  go  down  ihe  Chester  A'alley  from  I)owningtown,thus  avoid- 
ing the  inclined  planes,  as  it  had  been  discovered  that  these  phines 
Avere  a  great  obstruction  to  travel,  and  must  be  avoideil.  Had 
the  Canal  Commisioners  accomjilished  their  object  the  West  Ches- 
ter Kailwaj-  Company  would  have  been  left  high  and  dry  at  Mal- 
vern, but  the  State  was  in  debt  to  the  extent  of  some  |40,000,()l»0  and 
the  Canal  Commissioners  failed  of  their  object. 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  January  15,  1844,  the  following 
gentlemen  were  elected  directors:  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  Isaac  Thomas, 
Philip  P.  Sharpless,  Edward  Hoopes,  James  Martin,  George  Camp- 
bell and  William  M.  Spencer.  Philip  Sharpless  and  Isaac  Thomas 
became  members  of  the  executive  committee  and  at  once  determined 
that  if  possible  they  would  lift  tlie  road  out  of  its  difficulties. 
One  of  these  difficulties  was  the  exorbitant  charge  made  by  the 
Canal  Commissioners  in  the  shape  of  tolls  over  their  road,  and 
it  was  resolved  that  because  of  tliese  excessive  charges  they  would, 
in  case  they  could  not  secure  a  reduction  of  these  tolls  within 
three  months,  suspend  the  running  of  all  cars,  and  call  a  meeting 
of  the  stockholders  to  consult  upon  the  best  means  of  disposing 
of  their  property.  In  a  few  weeks,  however,  tlie  demands  for  a 
reduction  of  tolls  were  conceded  and  the  fare  to  Philadelphia  Avas 
reduced  to  seventy-five  cents.  Efforts  had  been  made  at  various 
times  to  induce  the  State  authorities  to  furnish  steam  power  to 
iiaul  the  company's  cars,  and  on  .lanuary  31,  1844,  the  executive 
committee  reported  that  they  had  api)ointed  Samuel  M.  Painter, 
superintendent,  and  that  an  agreement  had  been  made  with  the 
Canal  Commissioners  by  Avliich  th<'  company's  cars  were  to  be 
hauled  from  the  head  of  the  inclined  planes  to  the  intersection 
at  the  rate  of  fifteen  dollars  per  (hiy  for  each  train.  This  agree- 
ment Avent  into  operation  May  25,  1844,  at  which  time  two  second- 
hand eight- wheeled  passenger  cars  ^vere  purchased  for  the  service. 


5o8  ( 'U ESTER     (  OUXTY 

Aftenvarcl  two  new  passenger  cars  were  ordered  bnilt,  which  had 
a  compartment  for  baggage  nuderneath  the  body  of  Ihc  cars,  to 
save  wheel  toll  on  the  baggage  car.  These  were  for  a  time  the 
best  equipped  and  the  most  highly  ornamental  cars  ou  tlie  road. 
Previously  only  horse  cars  had  been  nsed,  and  liorse  cars  were 
still  to  be  used  from  the  inclined  ])lanes  to  tlie  city  and  on  the 
AVest  Chester  Eailroad.  On  May  26,  1845,  the  Canal  ( "oiinnission- 
ers  agTeed  to  haul  tlie  cars  of  the  company  from  the  inclined 
jdanes  into  the  city  of  West  Chester  for  .|C,000  per  annum,  and 
horses  were  continued  to  haul  the  cars  into  tlie  city  of  Philadel- 
phia from  the  foot  of  the  inclined  planes. 

In  1846,  a  turntable  was  constructed  at  West  Chester,  and 
the  fare,  which  had  been  raised  to  fl  to  Philadelphia,  was  again 
reduced  to  seventy-five  cents.  Although  the  locomotives  used  ;it 
this  time  were  very  light,  yet  they  Avere  too  heavy  for  the  light 
irons  on  the  road,  and  it  was  determined  to  lay  a  heavy  T-rail  as 
early  as  possible.  Money  was  raised  and  the  road  rebuilt  more 
permauently  in  1847. 

About  this  time  the  Canal  Commissioners  were  liaving  a  great 
deal  of  difficulty  with  the  properties  under  their  management. 
Tliey  were  confronted  with  a  deficit  every  year,  and  appeared  de- 
termined to  prevent  the  railroad  now  under  consideration  from 
making  any  better  showing.  And  the  ()flicers  of  the  railroad  began 
to  consider  the  question  of  a  new  route  to  Philadelphia  by  which 
it  would  be  possible  to  avoid  the  8fate  works  altogether.  An  engi- 
neer, with  a  small  corps  in  charge,  was  sent  out  to  find  a  new  route 
and  to  make  a  rough  survey  of  such  route  when  found.  It  was 
found  tliat  the  cost  of  a  railroad  over  this  route  would  be  about 
•fl, 000, 000,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  interest  on  this  sum  could 
not  be  earned  if  the  road  were  built.  Then  some  of  the  ablest 
professional  men  of  West  Chester,  together  with  a  few  sound  busi- 
ness men  of  DelaM'are  County,  determined  to  make  a  trial  survey 
of  a  route  through  the  northern  end    of  Delaware  Countv,   and 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  509 

engaged  Edward  F.  Gay  to  make  the  suvvey  and  estimate  the 
cost.  His  estimate  footed  np  $708,829.03,  which  -nas  too  high 
for  the  gentlemen  coutemphiting  the  enterprise.  T.  G.  Sickles  was 
therefore  engaged  to  make  an  estimate,  and,  seeing  where  the  dif 
ficnlty  lay,  and  knowing  that  none  of  those  by  whom  he  was  em- 
ployed knew  anything  about  railroading  brought  in  an  estimate 
about  1100,000  less  than  that  of  Mr.  Gay.  This  estimate  was  satis- 
factory, and  a  public  meeting  was  at  once  called  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  a  company  to  build  what  became  aften\-ard  known 
as  the  West  Chester  and  Philadelphia  Eailroad.  Of  this  com- 
pany  John  S.  Bowen,  a  lawyer  of  West  Chester,  was  elected  presi- 
dent; T.  C.  Sickles  was  the  engineer-in-chief,  and  work  Avas  com- 
menced to  locate  the  road.    This  was  in  1851. 

About  this  time  the  old  West  Chester  Eailroad  Company  made 
an  exchange  of  their  Broad  Street  Depot  in  Philadelphia  for  a 
lot  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Eighteenth  aud  Market  Streets,  upon 
which  they  erected  a  passenger  and  freight  depot,  and  in  the  mean- 
time earnest  efforts  were  made  to  effect  a  union  between  the  old 
road  and  the  direct  West  Chester  road.  But  the  owners  of  the  old 
road,  finding  that  their  property  Avas  steadily  increasing  in  value 
and  promised  dividends  in  the  near  future,  rejected  all  overtures, 
advising  all  people  to  take  warning  by  the  exi^erience  they  had 
had.  However,  after  a  fierce  newspaper  war,  the  West  Chester 
Direct  succeeded  in  getting  a  single  track  laid  down  to  Glen  Mills, 
where,  for  a  time,  the  company  was  stranded.  West  Chester,  by 
a  popular  vote,  had  invested  to  the  amount  of  .f20,000  in  the  stock, 
which  was  sold  a  few  years  afterward  for  |4,000,  and  some  of  the 
original  stock  sold  as  low  as  $1  per  share.  But  at  length,  in  1858, 
a  great  effort  brought  the  road  through  to  West  Chester,  it  having 
been  chartered  about  ten  years  before.  The  road,  having  thus 
been  completed,  was  transferred  by  the  trustees,  J.  and  I.  T. 
Thomas,  to  the  company,  it  having  at  the  time  .fl,000,000  worth 
of  bonds  outstanding  and  all  stock  sunk.    The  road  had  cost  about 


5IO  CHESTER     COUNTY 

$2,000,000,  and  several  of  the  origiual  projectors  had  been  ruined 
and  had  pas.sed  out  of  the  management.  In  the  meantime  the  old 
West  Chester  Company  had  been  improving  and  strengthening 
their  road  and  reserving  their  income  for  the  contest  with  the  new- 
road  for  the  business  of  West  Chester,  which  they  realized  must 
come. 

The  Pennsylvania  Ifailroad  Company  was  chartered  April  13, 
1S4().  This  company  was  authorized  to  construct  a  railroad  from 
Harrisburg  to  Pittsburg,  a  distance  of  248  miles.  The  work  of 
construction  began  at  Harrisburg  in  July,  1847,  and  the  division 
from  Harrisburg  to  the  junction  with  the  Portage  llailroad  (then 
a  State  work)  at  Hollidaysburg  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  moun- 
tains, being  opened  September  l.j,  1850.  The  western  division, 
from  the  we.stern  end  of  the  Portage  Railroad  to  Pittsburg,  was 
opened  September  10,  1852;  the  mountain  division,  and  with  it  the 
whole  line,  being  opened  February  15,  1854. 

From  Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia,  a  distance  of  105  miles,  the 
road  was  made  up  of  the  old  Philadelphia  and  Columbia  Railroad 
(originally  a  State  work),  and  the  Harrisburg,  Portsmouth,  Mount 
Joy  and  Lancaster  Railroad,  chartered  in  1832,  opened  in  1838, 
and  leased  in  1849.  The  Philadelphia  and  Columbia  Railroad 
was  purchased  in  1857,  with  the  main  line  of  a  system  of  public 
Avorks  in  the  State.  This  system  of  public  works  was  iuaugunated 
iu  1826,  and  contemplated  the  canals  along  the  leading  water 
courses.  In  this  year  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  providing  for 
a  canal  to  be  constructed  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  and  to  be 
styled  the  Pennsylvania  Canal.  This  canal  was  to  extend  from 
the  Swatara  River,  at  or  near  Middletown,  where  the  Union  Canal 
commenced,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Juniata,  and  from  Pittsburg  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Kiskiminetas  and  the  Allegheny  River.  The 
design  appears  to  have  been  to  make  the  Juniata  and  the  Kiski- 
minetas navigable  by  slackwater,  and  to  u.se  the  Union  Canal  as 
the  eastern  end  of  the  line,  connecting  with  Philadelphia. 


AND     7rA<?    PEOPLE.  511 

In  1827  the  Canal  Commissiouem  were  authorized  by  the  Leftis- 
hitiire  to  make  examinations  through  Chester  and  Lancaster  Coun- 
ties preliminary  to  the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  connect  "with 
the  canal,  and  in  1828  the  Commissioners  were  directed  to  locate 
a  railroad  from  Philadelphia  through  Chester  County,  and  on  to 
Columbia,  via  Lancaster,  the  road  to  be  completed  within  two 
years.  This  road  was  completed  to  Columbia  with  a  double  track 
in  1833.  When  this  great  public  system  of  internal  imi^rovements 
was  first  undertaken  it  was  supposed  that  a  canal  from  the  waters 
of  the  Susquehanna  to  those  of  the  Allegheny  was  practicable. 
The  Portage  road  across  the  summit  was  worked  by  a  series  of 
inclined  planes,  which  was  abandoned  upon  the  completion  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Kailroad.  For  the  work  purchased  of  the  State  be- 
tween Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg  the  company  paid  |T,500,000 
in  its  fi\  e  i^er  cent,  bonds,  payable  at  the  rate  of  •?4()0,000  per  year, 
the  balance  of  this  payment,  after  the  interest  had  been  taken  care 
of,  to  apply  on  the  principal  debt. 

In  1833  besides  the  completion  of  the  road  to  Columbia  the 
Portage  was  completed  with  a  single  track,  and  the  main  line  of 
the  canal  was  also  finished.  In  1831  the  entire  line  between  Phila.- 
delphia  and  Pittsburg  was  opened  to  travel.  The  first  train  of 
cars  that  passed  over  the  Columbia  Eailroad  from  Columbia  passed 
over  it  on  Wednesday,  February  26,  1834.  On  March  (5,  1834,  tlu- 
Whig,'  a  newspaper  published  in  West  Chester,  contained  an  ac- 
count of  this  first  trip,  a  portion  of  which  account  is  as  follows: 

"One  track  of  this  important  State  improvement  being  com- 
pleted, arraugejnents  were  made  by  Mr.  S.  K.  Slaymaker  of  Lan- 
caster for  passing  a  train  of  ears  from  that  city  to  Philadelphia  on 
Wednesday.  The  members  of  the  Legislature  from  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  and  the  counties  adjacent  to  the  line  of  the  road, 
with  others,  arrived  at  Columbia  on  Tuesday  evening,  by  the 
canal-packet  from  Harrisburg,  and  were  immediately  conveyed  to 
Lancaster  in  a  train  drawn  by  the  locomotive,  'Black  Hawk.'  The 
engine  performed  the  trip  in  fifty-five  minutes. 


512  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"Ou  TN'ednesday  morning''  (February  2G)  "a  train  of  cars  was 
again  attached,  and  left  Xortli  Qneen  Street  at  eight  o'clock,  ar- 
rived at  the  Gap  at  ten,  passed  with  ease  the  works  there  con- 
structed, and  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  Inclined  Plane,  near  the 
Schuylkill,  at  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon,  having  made  the 
trip  in  eight  hours  and  a  half,  all  stoppages  for  taking  in  water, 
receiving  and  discharging  passengers  and  incidental  delays  in- 
cluded. *  *  *  *  '■■ 

"Throughout  the  whole  line  the  progress  of  the  train  was 
hailed  with  hearty  acclamations  by  crowds  of  persons  collected 
to  witness  the  novel  spectacle.  An  immense  concourse  of  citizens 
was  also  assembled  at  the  head  of  the  inclined  plane  to  greet  its 
arrival  at  that  point.  The  locomotive  was  there  detached,  the  cars 
passed  down  without  obstruction  or  serious  diiiiculty,  and  were 
thence  conveyed  to  Broad  Street  and  other  points  in  the  city." 

The  locomotive  Black  Hawk,  built  in  England,  was  the  first  put 
ou  the  road.  This  was  in  1832.  In  1835  there  were  tliree  locomo- 
tives, and  in  1837  forty,  horses  being  then  relieved  of  the  duty  of 
hauling  cars  on  the  railroad. 

An  offer  having  been  made  by  the  Pennsylvania  Company  for 
a  lease  of  the  old  West  Chester  Railroad,  an  agreement  was  entered 
into  by  the  two  companies  April  G,  1859,  by  which  the  former 
company  agreed  to  run  trains  on  satisfactory  terms  for  five  years. 
The  manner  in  which  the  road  was  operated  under  this  lease  was 
not  satisfactory  to  the  old  company,  as  there  was  no  apparent 
effort  put  forth  by  the  Pennsylvania  -to  increase  the  value  of  the 
projjerty,  and  the  impression  gained  strength  that  the  operating 
company  intended  to  permit  the  property  to  run  down  and  its 
value  to  become  so  impaired  that  they  would  be  able  at  the  end 
.of  their  lease  to  purcliase  it  at  a  merely  nominal  figure.  But  not- 
withstanding this  the  old  company  were  able  to  pay  dividends 
and  to  lay  aside  a  considerable  surplus. 

In  the  meantime  the  direct  line  to  Philadelphia  by  Avay  of 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  513 

Media  was  doiug  a  fair  aud  iucreasiug  biisiucss  throiiiili  the  ener- 
getic management  of  its  president,  Marsliall  B.  Iliclvman.  A  sliort 
time  previons  to  the  expiration  of  the  lease  referred  to  above, 
Mr.  Hickman  made  an  offer  to  pnrchase  the  old  line.  Terms  were 
agreed  upon  and  the  transfer  of  the  road  made  without  consulta- 
tion Avith  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  the  old  line  thus  passing 
into  the  possession  of  the  Media  Company.  The  Pennsylvania 
Comjjany  was  not  satisfied  with  this  arrangement,  as  it  needed 
West  Chester  as  a  local  station  to  aud  from  Philadelpliia,  aud  the 
result  was  that  this  company  purchased  both  roads,  since  which 
time  the  old  and  new  lines  from  West  Chester  to  Philadelphia 
have  been  parts  of  the  Great  Pennsylvania  System. 

The  East  Brandywine  and  Waj'nesburg  Eailroad  Coui])auy 
was  incorporated  March  3,  1854,  the  road  originallj^  extendiug 
from  Downingtown  to  Waynesburg,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles. 
The  road  was  leased  to  the  Pennsylvania  Eailroad  Company  for 
ninety-nine  years,  November  1,  1876,  and  was  reorganized  after 
foreclosure,  June  7, 1888.  The  name  of  the  road  was  then  changed 
to  the  Downingtown  and  Lancaster  Eailroad,  and  now  extends 
from  Downingtown  to  Couestoga  Junction,  a  distance  of  37.58 
miles. 

The  Wilmington  and  Northern  Eailroad  is  the  result  of  sev- 
eral consolidations.  The  Berks  and  Chester  Eailroad  Company 
was  incorporated  April  20,  1864,  and  in  1866  it  was  consolidated 
Avith  the  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania  Eailroad  Companj-,  under  the 
name  of  the  Wilmington  and  Heading  Eailroad  Company.  The 
road  from  Wilmington  to  Birdsboro'  was  opened  in  1870,  and  was 
extended  to  Beading  in  1871.  On  May  8, 1876,  the  road  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  trustees,  A.  Gibbons,  George  Brooke  and  George 
Eichardson,  by  order  of  court,  and  by  them  operated  until  it  was 
sold  December  4,  1870.  The  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  Eailroad  Company,  successor  to  the  State  Line  and  Juniata 
and  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania  Eailroad  Companies,  having  the 


514  CHESTER     COiXTY 

liiiht  to  build  a  railroad  from  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia,  was 
absorbed  by  the  Wilmington  and  Keadiug,  and  the  purrliasers 
of  the  road  organized  as  the  Wilmington  and  Northern,  January 
IS,  1877.  The  extension  of  the  road  to  Keadiug  was  sold  sepa- 
rately; but  during  the  year  1887  the  Reading  branch  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  main  line,  of  which  it  still  forms  a  i)art.  The 
total  length  of  line  operated  on  June  30,  18!:Mi,  was  92.30  miles,  and 
the  total  number  of  miles  owned  by  the  company  was  then  88.11 
miles. 

■  The  Philadelphia  and  Delaware  Railroad  Company  was  incor- 
porated under  the  name  of  the  Doe  llun  and  AVhite  ("lay  Creek 
Kailroad  Company,  March  21,  1868,  the  road  to  extend  from  the 
I'enusylvania  IJailroad  at  Pomei'oy  to  DelaAvare  State  line,  where 
it  was  to  connect  with  a  road  running  to  Delaware  City,  t^ub- 
sequeutl}^  the  name  of  the  company  was  changed  to  the 'Pennsyl- 
vania and  Delaware  liailroad  Company,  and  in  1873  the  road  was 
leased  by  the  Pennsylvania  Uailroail  Comi)any,  by  which  it  has 
since  been  operated.  It  connects  with  the  Baltimore  Central 
Kailroad  at  Avondale,  with  the  Wilmington  and  Western  at  Land- 
enberg,  and  with  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore  llail- 
road  near  Newark.  The  road  extends  from  Pomeroy  to  Delaware 
City. 

The  Wilmington  and  Western  Kailroad  ((muects  Wilmiugtcm 
with  the  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  Kailroad  at  Landerberg,  its 
length  within  Chester  County  beiiig  between  two  and  three  miles. 
It  was  opened  October  19,  1872. 

The  Pickering  Valley  Pailroad  C(mipany  was  iuccn-porated 
April  3, 1869,  and  was  leased  for  ninety-nine  years  from  September 
1,  1871,  by  the  Pennsylvania  and  Beading  Kailroad  Company  for 
thirty  per  cent,  of  its  gross  earnings.  Its  capital  stock  is  .|95,655. 
The  road  extends  from  Phoenixville  to  P.yer's  Station,  a  distance  of 
11.3  miles. 

The  Perkiomen  Kailroad  Com])any  was  chartered  Miircli  23, 


A^A'S^ 


AND     /r.Sf    PEOPLE.  517 

1865,  and  the  road  was  opened  May  8,  1868.  It  was  leased  from 
August  16,  1868,  to  May  11,  1879,  to  the  Philadelphia  and  Heading 
Eailroad  Company,  the  road  having  been  completed  October  11, 
1875.  It  extends  from  Perkiomen  Junction  to  Emaus  Junction, 
Pennsylvania,  a  distance  of  38.5  miles,  the  trac]<  of  the  East  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company  being  used  from  Emaus  Junction  to 
Allentown.     Tlie  company  was  reorganized  in  1887. 

The  Pliiladelphia  and  Chester  Valley  Eailroad  Company  was 
chartered  May  7,  1888,  as  the  successor  of  the  Chester  Valley  Rail- 
road Company,  which  was  chartered  April  2,  1850,  reviving  the 
charter  of  an  old  company  by  the  name  of  the  Norristown  and  Val- 
ley Railroad  Company,  incorporated  April  15,  1835,  to  construct 
a  railroad  from  some  point  on  the  Philadelphia  and  Columbia 
Railroad  east  of  Braudywine  Creek  to  a  point  on  the  Philadelphia, 
Germantown  and  Norristown  Railroad  near  Norristown;  but  this 
company,  after  expending  $850,000,  became  unable  to  complete 
their  road  within  the  time  prescribed.  The  road  is  21.50  miles 
in  length,  from  Downingtown  to  Bridgeport,  and  is  operated  by  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  in  1891  the  latter  company  pay- 
ing for  its  use  45  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earnings  up  to  $30,000  and 
50  per  cent,  on  all  above  $30,000.     The  road  cost  $1,073,613.88. 

The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  was  constructed  pre- 
vious to  1812,  being  opened  for  business  January  10  of  that  year. 
The  bill  incorporating  the  company  was  introduced  into  the  Leg- 
islature by  Elijah  F.  Pennypacker,  during  the  session  of  1832-33. 
This  was  a  difficult  and  expensive  railroad  to  build,  at  least 
through  Chester  County,  for  bridges  were  required  over  the  Valley, 
Pickering  and  French  Creeks,  besides  one  over  the  Schuylkill 
River.  There  is  also  a  tunnel  cut  through  solid  rock,  1,932  feet 
long,  and  which  was  originally  19  feet  wide  and  17  feet  high. 
This  tunnel,  begun  in  December,  1835,  was  completed  in  September, 
1837. 

The  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Central  Eailroad  Company 

30 


/ 


5i8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

was  incorporated  March  IT,  1853,  and  on  April  6,  1854,  was  author- 
ized to  form  a  union  with  a  corporation  chartered  by  the  State  of 
Maryland.  The  main  line  of  this  road  from  West  Chester  Junction 
to  the  junction  near  Port  Deposit  Avith  the  Columbia  and  Port  De- 
posit Eailroad,  is  46  miles  in  length,  of  which  36f  miles  is  in  Penn- 
sylvania. From  West  Chester  Junction  to  Lamoldn  is  seven  miles. 
The  road  was  opened  to  Oxford  in  1859,  to  Rising  Sun,  Maryland, 
in  18G5,  and  to  River  Junction  in  1869.  It  had  been  brought  into 
use  to  Chadd's  Ford  and  soon  afterward  to  Avondale,  some  time 
previously.  Among  the  men  who  carried  forward  this  enter- 
prise to  success  may  be  mentioned  John  M.  Dickey,  Samuel 
Dickey,  Dr.  E.  V.  Dickey,  Samuel  J.  Dickey,  Ebenezer  Dickey, 
Dr.  Franklin  Taylor,  John  M.  Kelton,  James  R.  Ramsey,  Mark  A. 
Hodgson,  Isaac  Watkius,  John  Richards,  Samuel  Martin,  James 
A.  Strawbridge,  Job  H.  Jackson,  Daniel  Stubbs,  Milton  Conard  and 
David  Woelpper.  Each  of  these  men  served  for  a  time  during  the 
construction  of  the  road  as  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors. 

The  West  Chester  Street  Railway  Company  was  chartered 
August  4, 1890,  with  a  capital  of  |60,000,  divided  into  shares  of  |50 
each.  The  officers  of  the  company  since  its  organization  have  been 
as  follows:  AVilliam  Hayes,  president;  William  S.  Hari'is,  secre- 
tary, and  F.  W.  Woi-thington,  treasurer.  The  directors  have  been 
as  follows:  William  M.  Hayes,  R.  T.  Cornwell,  M.  H.  Matlack, 
J.  Carroll  Hayes  and  A.  (i.  McCausland.  That  part  of  the  railway 
within  the  limits  of  West  Chester  was  commenced  in  November, 
1890,  and  the  cars  began  running  on  it  September  28,  1891.  It 
consists  of  one  track  on  High  Street,  extending  from  Vix"ginia  Ave- 
nue to  Rosedale  Avenue,  and  one  track  on  Market  Street,  extend- 
ing from  the  Pennsylvania  Railway  to  New  Street,  down  New 
Street  to  Sharpless  Street,  the  intersection  of  the  tAVO  branches 
being  at  High  and  Market  Streets.  That  part  of  the  road  extend- 
ing from  Sharpless  Street  to  Lenape  Station  on  the  Wilmington 
and  Northern  Railway,  a  distance  of  nearly  five  miles,  was  built 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  519 

during  the  month  of  June  to  November,  inclusive,  1891,  and  the 
oars  began  running  on  tliis  line  November  10,  1891.  Power  to  pro- 
pel the  rars  on  the  lines  of  this  company  is  derived  from  theWest 
Chester  Electric  Light  and  Power  Company. 

The  Philadelphia,  Castle  Rock  and  West  Chester  Railway 
Company  was  organized  December  15,  1892,  and  chartered  with 
an  authorized  capital  stock  of  |1,000,000,  of  which  |100,000  has 
been  subscribed.  This  company  has  already  constructed  an  elec- 
tric railway  from  Philadelphia  to  Ridley  Creek  on  the  Phila- 
delphia and  West  Chester  Road,  and  on  March  31,  1898,  it  passed 
a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  in  order  to  increase  its  business  and 
accommodate  the  travel  of  the  public  it  was  necessary  to  con- 
struct its  railway  from  its  western  terminus,  as  above  given,  to 
the  line  of  the  borough  of  West  Chester,  and  into  the  said  borough 
along  Market  Street  to  Adams  Street,  then  north  on  Adams  Street 
to  Gay  Street,  and  then  on  Gay  Street  to  Walnut.  Permission 
being  asked  of  the  borough  council  of  West  Chester  to  so  construct 
its  railway  inside  the  borough,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  the 
Council  on  April  11,  1898,  granting  the  privilege  asked.  The 
president  of  this  railway  company  is  John  N.  M.  Shriner  and 
the  secretary,  William  S.  Taylor. 


CHAPTER  Xlll. 

THE  COURTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COURTS — THE  FIRST  IN  CHESTER  COUNTY — THE   TRIBUNE— SEVERAL    INTEREST- 
ING   EARLY    CASES — FIRST    COURT    OF    EQUITY — FIRST    ORPHANS*    COURT 

FIRST  COURTHOUSE  AND  PRISON — STOCKS  AND  WHIPPING  POST — COURT 
DISTRICTS THE  PRESIDING  JUDGES OYER  AND  FERMINER CHAR- 
ACTER OF  OFFENSES — -PROFESSIONAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  LEAD- 
ING PRACTITIONERS — LISTS  OF  OFFICERS— PUNISHMENT  FOR 

CRIME MURDERS     COMMITTED ADMISSIONS     TO     THE 

BAR LAW    ASSOCIATIONS — LIBRARIES. 

THE  first  court  of  Chester  County,  after  William  Peun's  ar- 
rival, met  at  Chester  February  14,  1G82:  John  Simcock,  president; 
Thomas  Brasy,  William  Clayton,  Eobert  Wade  and  John  Bezer, 
justices;  Thomas  Usher,  sheriff;  and  Thomas  Revell,  clerk;  Will- 
iam Kaw'son,  James  Browne,  Jeremiah  Collett,  William  Hewes, 
Walter  Martin,  Nathaniel  Evans,  Joshua  Hastings,  William 
Woodmanson,  Thomas  Colborne,  Albert  Hendrickson,  Joseph 
Richards,  and  Edward  Carter,  jurors. 

There  was  also  a  Tribune  established  called  the  Peace  Makers, 
consisting  of  three  persons  holding  their  appointment  from  the 
court.  The  duties  of  the  Peace  Makers  appear  to  have  been  to 
arbitrate  upon  such  questions  as  were  brought  before  them.  They 
were  appointed  for  a  specified  time  and  held  meetings  regularly. 

At  a  court  held  June  27,  1683,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Peace 
Makers  are  to  meet  on  the  first  Fourth-day  everj-  month,  and  at  a 
court  held  August  5,  1684,  the  Peace  Makers  made  the  following 
order : 

"According  to  the  order  of  the  court  to  us  directed  we  have 
seriously  considered  the  premises  between  the  plaintiff,  Richard 

523 


524  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Crosby,  and  the  defendant,  George  Andrews,  whereby  we,  the 
Peace  Makers,  do  give,  grant,  judge  and  allow  that  the  said  de- 
fendant, George  Andrews,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  shall  pay  or 
cause  to  be  paid  unto  the  said  plaintiff,  Kichard  Crosby,  or  his 
assigns,  such  full  and  just  sum,  eighteen  pounds,  in  lawful  money 
of  this  province,  at  or  upon  the  twentieth  day  of  this  instant, 
December,  at  the  now  dwelling  house  of  James  Saunderlaine,  at 
Chester,  one-half  of  said  eighteen  pounds,  the  said  defendant, 
George  Andrews,  or  his  assigns,  is  to  pay  the  said  plaintiff,  Kich- 
ard Crosby,  or  his  assigns,  as  aforesaid  in  ready  money,  the  other 
half  as  aforesaid,  in  good  and  merchantable  wheat  or  rye  at  the 
common  market  price  of  this  river.  To  which  conclusion  we,  the 
Peace  Makers,  for  this  County  of  Chester,  have  set  our  hands  at 
the  aforesaid  Chester,  the  17th  of  the  10th  month,  1GS3. 

"JOHN  HASTINGS, 
"JOHN  HARDING." 

At  a  court  held  August  22,  1683,  a  most  interesting  case  was 
tried,  a  case  involving  the  title  to  the  whole  of  Tiuicum  Island. 
This  island  had  been  given  by  deed  of  November  fi,  1613,  to  Gov- 
ernor John  Printz,  and  the  Governor's  daughter,  Mrs.  Papegoya, 
in  1662,  had  sold  it  to  Jost  De  LagTange,  receiving  in  part  pay- 
ment a  bill  of  exchange  which  Avas  protested.  After  returning 
from  Sweden  she  brought  suit  to  recover  that  portion  of  the  con- 
sideration represented  by  the  bill  of  exchange.  The  case  was 
taken  from  the  High  Court  of  the  Delaware  to  the  Court  of  As- 
sizes of  New  York,  where,  on  October  2,  1672,  a  verdict  was  ren- 
dered for  the  plaintiff  for  £350  and  costs.  Jost  De  Lagrange  hav- 
ing died,  his  widow  married  Andrew  Carr,  and  at  the  time  of  this 
verdict  Andrew  Carr  and  his  wife  were  in  possession  of  the  island. 
The  sheriff  was  ordered  to  put  Mrs.  Papegoya  in  possession  of  the 
island  and  of  the  stock  in  payment  of  the  debt,  which  Avas  done, 
and  Mi's.  Papegoya  afterward  sold  the  island  to  Otto  Ernest  Cock. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  525 

To  trace  this  case  further  wouhl  scarcely  be  interestino;  to  the  gen- 
eral reader,  hence  it  is  here  dismissed. 

At  a  court  held  in  December,  1684,  Joseph  Cookson  was  pre- 
sented by  Robert  Wade  "for  taking  a  wife  contrary  to  the  good 
and  wholesome  laws  of  this  Province,"  and  was  ordered  to  find 
security  in  the  sum  of  ten  pounds,  which,  so  far  as  could  be  ascer- 
tained, was  the  end  of  the  case. 

A  most  interesting  case  came  before  the  court  which  met 
January  6,  1685,  entitled,  "Justa  Anderson  vs.  Laurentius  Caro- 
lus  and  James  Saunderlaine."  It  appeared  that  Justa  Anderson 
a  few  years  before  had  purchased  of  Laurentius  Garolus,  the 
Swedish  priest,  his  house  and  land,  about  200  acres,  for  which  he 
gave  or  agreed  to  give  800  guilders.  It  was  probably  in  1684  the 
Swedish  priest  had  sold  the  same  land  or  tried  to  do  so,  with  the 
exception  of  the  house  and  a  small  piece  of  land  on  which  it  stood, 
to  John  Grubb,  and  hence  the  suit  against  Carolus  and  Saunder- 
laine, for  weakening  the  title  to  land.  The  verdict  was  in  favor  of 
the  plaintiff,  but  the  defendants  carried  the  case  to  the  next  court 
of  assizes  held  at  Chester. 

Thus  proceedings  were  held  in  the  courts  for  many  years,  the 
recital  of  the  details  of  which  would  be  both  tedious  and  uninter- 
esting to  the  general  reader. 

The  first  Court  of  Equity  for  Chester  County  was  held  in 
March,  1685-86,  the  record  being: 

"Att  a  court  of  equity  held  att  Chester,  the  5th  day  of  the 
1st  week  of  the  10th  month,  1686: 

"Commissioners  present: — John  Blunstone,  John  Simcocke, 
George  Maris,  Bartholomew  Coppock,  Samuel  Levis,  Robert  Wade, 
Robert  Pile. — Robert  Eyre,  clerk." 

The  first  Orphans'  court  was  held  at  Chester  on  the  3rd  day  of 
the  1st  week  of  the  8th  month,  1687. 

The  first  court-house  in  the  county,  called  the  "House  of  De- 
fence," was  erected  about  1678,  and  soon  afterward  a  prison  was 


526  CHESTER     COUXTY 

erected.  A  new  prison  was  provided  for  in  1691,  which  was  de- 
signed as  a  work-lionse  for  felons.  It  was  to  be  of  stone  and  18x2G 
feet  in  size.  This  order  was  not,  however,  carried  out,  and  an- 
other order  was  made  in  1692,  a  poll-tax  being  levied  to  provide 
foy  the  expense,  this  being  the  first  poll-tax  levied  in  the  county 
in  which  no  distinction  was  made  between  freemen  and  servants. 
This  levy  not  being  made,  a  new  order  was  issued  in  December, 
1693,  and  early  in  1694  an  assessment  was  authorized  for  i*aising 
£150  for  defraying  the  expense  of  the  building  of  the  new  jail  "at 
the  triie  value  of  two  pence  per  pound  upon  the  real  and  personal 
estates  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  tlie  county,  seasable  by  the  first 
act  of  the  new  laws — all  freemen  6s  per  head.*'  In  1693  the  num- 
ber of  taxables  in  the  ten  townships  in  what  is  now  Delaware 
County  was  110,  and  in  1696  this  number  had  become  182. 

In  1697  a  new  court-house  had  been  erected,  and  in  1700  the 
necessity  for  a  pair  of  stocks  and  a  whipping-post  had  become  evi- 
dent. In  1703  this  necessity  was  again  presented.  In  1721  an- 
other new  court-house  was  erected  in  Chester,  which  served  until 
after  the  separation  of  Delaware  from  Chester  County,  and  for 
many  years  served  as  a  town  hall  in  Chester  Borough. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  1790  the  State  was  divided  into  dis- 
tricts, each  district  to  contain  not  less  than  three  counties  nor 
more  than  six.  There  was  to  be  api)ointed  by  the  Governor  of  the 
State  a  president  judge  for  each  district  and  associate  justices  for 
each  county,  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  four.  In  the  divi- 
sion of  the  State  into  districts,  Chester  County  came  in  the  second, 
along  with  Lancaster,  Dauphin  and  York.  The  first  [)resident 
judge  of  this  district,  William  August  Atlee,  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Thomas  Mitlliu.  He  presided  over  the  courts  of  his  dis- 
trict from  November,  1791,  to  August,  1793.  John  Joseph  Henry 
was  also  appointed  by  Governor  Mifflin,  and  presided  from  Febru- 
ary, 1791,  to  May,  1800.  John  D.  Coxe  was  the  next  president 
judge,  serving  from  May,  1800,  until  May,  1805.  William  Tilghman 
presided  from  August,  1805,  to  February,  1806,  both  terms. 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  527 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  February  24,  ISOfi,  the 
State  was  redlstrictecl,  Chester  County  being  placed  in  the  Seventh 
District,  along  with  Montgomerj^,  Delaware  and  Bucks;  and  soon 
afterward  Bjrd  Wilson,  otherwise  referred  to  in  these  pages,  was 
appointed  president  judge  of  this  district,  remaining  from  Febru- 
ary, 1806,  uutil  November,  1817,  when  he  became  a  clergyman  in  the 
Episcopal  Church. 

In  1818  John  Boss  became  president  judge,  remaining  in  that 
oflSce  until  May,  1821.  A  new  district  was  then  formed,  composed 
of  Chester  and  Delaware  Counties,  and  named  the  Fifteenth  Judi- 
cial District,  over  which  Isaac  Darlington  presided  from  May,  1821, 
until  his  death,  April  27,  1839.  Thomas  S.  Bell  was  then  appointed, 
and  presided  over  the  district  from  1839  until  he  was  elevated  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  November  18,  1846.  John  M.  Foi-ester,  of  Har- 
risburg,  was  then  appointed,  and  served  from  December,  1846,  to 
March,  1847,  and  then  James  Nill,  of  Chambersburg,  was  ap- 
pointed, presiding  from  March  23,  1847,  ujitil  March  IS,  1S4S. 
Henry  Chapman,  of  Doylestown,  succeeded  Judge  Nill,  and  pre- 
sided from  March  18,  1848,  until  December  2,  1851,  the  office  then 
becoming  elective,  and  though  Judge  Chapman  was  solicited  by 
both  political  parties  to  become  a  candidate  for  election  to  the 
office,  he  declined,  because  it  was  not  convenient  for  him  to  reside 
within  the  district,  as  the  law  required. 

Under  the  elective  system  Townsend  Haines  was  elected  in 
October,  1851,  was  commissioned  November  6,  and  presided  over 
the  district  until  December  2,  1861.  William  Butler  was  elected 
to  this  office  in  October,  1861,  was  commissioned  November  20, 
1861,  and  served  until  February  24, 1879,  when  he  resigned,  having 
been  appointed  United  States  district  judge  for  the  Eastern  Dis- 
trict of  Pennsylvania.  On  February  27,  1879,  J.  Smith  Futhey 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Hoyt  to  serve  during  the  remainder  of 
Judge  Butler's  term,  or  until  January  5,  1880,  and  was  elected  in 
November,  1879,  there  being  no  opposing  candidate.  Judge  Futhey 


528  CHESTER     COUNTY 

served  until  his  deatli,  which  occurred  November  26, 1888.  During 
the  greater  part  of  his  term  he  was  the  only  judge,  the  associate 
judges  having  been  legislated  out  of  office,  as  will  be  seen  later  on, 
in  ISTC,  and  it  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  of  the  great  amount 
of  labor  performed  by  Judge  Futhey  on  the  bench  that  his  life  was 
terminated  as  early  as  it  was.  It  was  also  due  to  this  gi-eat 
amount  of  labor  performed  by  him  that  an  additional  law  judge 
Avas  provided  for  by  an  act  of  Assembly  approved  June  15,  1887, 
under  which  William  B.  Waddell  was  appointed  by  the  Governor 
to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  creation  of  this  office.  Judge  \^'ad- 
dell's  commission  being  dated  July  7,  1887.  Judge  Waddell  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  additional  law  judge  in  the  fall  of  1887,  and 
was  commissioned  January  3,  1888. 

Upon  the  death  of  Judge  Futhey,  Judge  Waddell  Avas  ap- 
pointed president  judge,  his  commission  as  sucli  being  dated  De- 
cember 4,  1888,  and  in  February,  1889,  Thomas  S.  Butler  became 
additional  law  judge.  Judge  Waddell  served  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  June  3,  1897,  when  Joseph  Hemphill,  who  was 
elected  additional  law  judge  in  November,  18S9,  became  president 
judge,  and  is  serving  as  such  at  the  present  time.  William  Butler, 
Jr.,  was  appointed  additional  law  judge  August  29,  1897,  and  was 
subsequently  elected,  and  on  January  3,  1898,  was  commissioned 
for  a  term  of  ten  jears. 

Previous  to  1790  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  was  held  by 
the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  \\ho  at  stated  times  made  a 
circuit  of  the  counties.  A  sitting  of  this  court  was  held  at  Chester 
October  3,  1698,  before  Joseph  Growdon  and  Cornelius  Empson  to 
hear  an  appeal  in  a  suit  between  Thomas  Thomas  and  Morgan 
James,  and  another  session  was  held  October  2,  1705,  before  John 
Guest  and  Jasper  Yeates,  at  which  time  the  Governor's  commis- 
sion to  John  Guest,  Joseph  Growdon,  Jasper  Yeates,  Samuel  Fin- 
ney and  William  Trent,  or  any  two  of  them,  was  read.  At  this 
time  David  Lloyd,  who  was  attorney  for  the  defendant,  showed 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  529 

that  the  Governor's  conunissiou  was  defective,  and  consequently 
nothing  conUl  be  done.  The  members  of  this  court  came,  of  course, 
from  all  parts  of  the  State,  the  following  being  from  Chester 
County:  John  Simcock,  who  served  in  1690,  and  David  Lloyd,  who 
served  from  1717  to  172G,  both  of  whom  were  citizens  but  not  na- 
tives of  Chester  County;  and  Thomas  McKean,  who  was  a  native 
of  Chester  County  and  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his  time.  He 
served  in  1777. 

Under  "William  Peun's  form  of  go^•erument  murder  was  the  only 
capital  crime;  but  about  the  time  of  his  death  the  counterfeiting 
of  bills  (if  credit  and  current  coin  were  made  capital.  After  the 
lievolutionary  War  a  revised  penal  code  was  adopted,  in  tlie  pre- 
amble of  which  it  recited  the  provisions  of  tlie  royal  cluu'ter,  that 
the  English  laws  on  felony  should  be  in  force  in  Pennsylvania 
until  altered  by  the  Proprietor  and  freemen.  And  it  was  enacted 
that  high  treason,  murder,  robbery,  mayliem,  witchcraft,  arson 
and  six  other  crimes  should  be  cai^ital  crimes,  and  fines,  whipping, 
branding  and  imprisonment  were  j^rovided  foi*  crimes  of  lesser 
grade. 

Since  then,  however,  one  by  one  these  crimes  have  been 
dropped  from  the  list  of  capital  ones,  and  at  present  the  State  has 
returned  to  the  more  humane  code  of  William  Penn,  only  one 
crime,  that  of  murder,  being  now  capital. 
^  Isaac  Darlington,  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  of  the  early 
part  of  the  present  centui'y,  was  born  in  the  township  of  West- 
town,  Chester  County,  December  13, 1781,  and  it  is  said  of  him  that 
probably  no  young  man  in  Chester  Count}-  was  trained  to  more 
laborious  habits  in  early  life  than  he.  He  was  instructed  in  the 
rudiments  of  an  English  education  by  the  celebrated  John  For- 
sythe,  the  best  schoolmaster  of  that  period,  and  for  two  or  three 
years  he  taught  a  country  school,  acquitting  himself  with  remark- 
able success.  When  nearly  eighteen  yeafs  of  age  he  began  reading 
law  in  the  office  of  Joseph  Hemphill,  a  distinguished  member  of  the 


530  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Chester  County  Bar,  and  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  a  short  time 
before  he  was  twentj-one  years  of  age.  In  1807  and  in  1808  he 
was  elected  to  the  Legishitui'e,  and  declined  a  re-election,  but  at  a 
special  election  held  in  February,  1810,  to  till  a  vacaucy,  he  was 
again  chosen  to  that  body. 

At  the  general  election  in  1816  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the 
Fifteenth  Congress,  to  represent  Chester  and  Montgomery  Coun- 
ties, and  in  1820  he  was  appointed  deputy  attorney-general  for 
Chester  County,  holding  the  position  until  1821,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed president  judge  of  the  district  composed  of  Chester  and 
Delaware  Counties.  This  position  he  held  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  April  27,  1839. 

Hon.  Thomas  S.  Bell,  foi'merly  a  distinguished  attorney,  and 
president  judge  of  the  district  composed  of  Chester  and  Delaware 
Counties,  was  boi'n  in  Philadelphia,  October  22,  1800.  Having 
studied  law  under  James  Madison  Porter,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Philadelphia  Bar  April  11,  1821,  and  in  May  following  removed  to 
West  Chester.  In  1823  he  was  appointed  dei'mty  attorney-general 
for  Chester  County,  and  held  the  office  until  August,  1828.  Con- 
tinuing in  practice  until  May,  1837,  he  then  became  a  member  of 
the  convention  to  revise  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  in  1838 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  but  owing  to  some 
alleged  errors  in  the  returns  his  seat  was  contested  and  awarded 
to  Nathaniel  Brooke. 

On  May  16,  1839,  he  was  appointed  president  judge  of  the  dis- 
trict composed  of  Chester  and  Delaware  Counties,  which  position 
he  filled  until  November  18,  1846,  when  he  was  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  holding  this  position 
until  December  1,  1851,  when  the  tenure  of  office  was  changed  by 
the  Constitution.  He  represented  Chester  and  Delaware  Coun- 
ties in  the  State  Senate  in  1858,  1859  and  1860,  and  in  all  the  public 
positions  he  held  was  able  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  du- 
ties.    His  mind  was  remarkably  active  and  correct  in  its  opera- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  531 

tions,  and  lie  mastered  his  subjects,  as  it  were,  almost  by  intuition. 
A  fluent  speaker,  a  clear  and  forcible  writer,  uniformly  courteous 
and  honorable  in  his  dealings  and  associations  with  men,  he  was 
missed  greatly  by  all  at  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Philadelphia, 
June  G,  1861. 

Hon.  Pei'sifor  Frazer  Smith,  born  in  Philadelphia,  January 
23,  1808,  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Frazer)  Smith,  the  former 
being  a  son  of  Robert  Smith,  of  Uwchlan,  Chester  County,  and  lieu- 
tenant of  the  county  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  Persifor 
Fraser  Smith  was  educated  in  Philadelphia,  principally  in  the 
classical  schools  of  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Wylie  and  Joseph  P.  Engle,  and 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  July  31,  1821,  and 
immediately  removed  with  his  father  to  East  Whiteland,  Chester 
County.  In  October,  1826,  he  began  the  study  of  the  laAV  in  the 
office  of  William  H.  Dillingham,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Chester  County  in  1829.  In  Decembei*,  1831,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  in  October,  1832,  to  the  Circuit 
Court  of  the  Third  District  of  Pennsylvania.  In  May,  1835,  he  was 
appointed  clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court  of  Chester  County,  and  on 
February  25,  1839,  he  was  appointed  prosecuting  attorney  for  Del- 
aware County.  In  February,  1819,  he  was  admitted  to  practice 
before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  became  widely 
known  as  an  able  and  honest  practitioner  by  both  lawyers  and 
jurists.  He  was  well  skilled  in  the  intricacies  of  the  law,  and  his 
opinion  was  frequently  sought  by  his  professional  brethren. 

In  1861  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
was  returned  in  1862,  1863  and  1861.  During  the  Civil  War  he 
was  one  of  the  strongest  sustainers  of  the  Union  cause  in  its  strug- 
gle with  armed  rebellion,  and  in  1866  he  was  appointed  State  Re- 
porter of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  a  position  which  he 
filled  with  ability  for  ten  years,  resigning  in  May,  1876.  Almost 
every  law  library  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  contains  the  thirty- 
two  volumes  of  State  Reports  compiled  and  arranged  during  the 


532  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ten  years  lie  lield  the  office  of  State  Reporter.     He  was  also  tlie 
author  of  a  vahiable  legal  text-book  entitled  "Forms  of  Procedure." 

He  was  a  man  of  wide  and  varied  reading,  keeping  fully 
abreast  of  the  progress  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived  in  scientific 
and  literary  matters,  and  he  was  always  closely  identified  with 
every  good  work  calculated  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  his  town 
and  county. 

^  Hon.  J.  Smith  Futhey,  who  became  president  judge  in  1879, 
and  died  while  still  holding  that  ofiice,  November  20,  18S8,  was  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  Chester  County.  He  was  pos- 
sessed of  unusual  ability,  was  of  independent  thought  and  action, 
and  of  great  and  untiring  industrj^  He  was  the  only  judge  of  his 
district  for  about  eight  years.  It  was  stated  that  his  death  was 
largely  due  to  overwork,  and  in  1887  the  Legislature  enacted  a  law 
providing  for  an  additional  law  judge,  in  order  that  the  president 
judge  might  be  to  some  extent  relieved. 

Besides  performing  his  duties  as  judge,  Mr.  Futhey  spent  most 
of  his  leisure  hours  in  historical  research  and  other  literary  work, 
and  it  is  to  him  that  the  people  of  Chester  County,  as  well  as  histo- 
rians generally,  are  mainly  indebted  for  information  in  regard  to 
the  early  history  of  the  county  in  all  its  varied  lines.  His  genius 
for  and  appreciation  of  detail  in  matters  of  this  kiml  was  very 
great. 

Mr.  Futhey  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  upright  and  faith- 
ful of  the  common  pleas  judges  of  the  State,  and  it  may  be  truth- 
fully said  of  him,  and  without  the  least  disparagement  of  others, 
that  no  one  preceded  him  or  has  succeeded  him  who  was  or  has 
been  of  more  sterling  integrity  or  possessed  of  a  higher  apprecia- 
tion of  the  value  of  justice.  Soon  after  his  death  the  Bar  of  Chester 
County  adopted  the  following  memorial  address : 

"The  death  of  Hon.  J.  Smith  Futhey  is  a  serious  loss  to  the 
bench  and  bar  of  this  county.  When  stricken  down  he  had  nearly 
completed  a  ten  years'  term  as  president  judge  of  this  district. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.      '  535 

The  absence  of  so  pi'ominent  a  personage  from  our  midst  leaves  a 
void  whicli  will  be  long  felt  and  mourned.  He  was  worthy  of  the 
ermine — able,  industrious,  merciful  and  just.  In  the  trial  of  cases 
he  knew  no  parties,  and  followed  implicitly  where  the  law  and  the 
evidence  led.  He  was  uniformly  courteous  and  exceedingly  tender 
and  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  others.  His  denials  left  no  sting; 
his  judgments  no  offense;  his  inflictions  no  wound.  Taking  him 
all  in  all,  he  will  be  hard  to  follow  and  his  place  difficult  to  fill. 

"As  a  member  of  the  bar  for  nearly  forty-six  years,  he  was 
endeared  to  us  by  all  the  ties  that  can  unite  professional  brethren. 
He  was  proud  of  his  profession,  and  had  a  high  sense  of  the  integ- 
ritv',  honor  and  courtesy  essential  to  it.  His  ability,  industiT  and 
worth  won  for  him  a  large,  devoted  and  influential  clientage.  He 
was  a  consistent  Christian  gentleman,  and  was  highly  esteemed 
as  a  citizen.  A  friend  of  popular  education,  he  labored  assidu- 
ously for  its  promotion.  His  historical  and  other  researches  and 
publications  are  valuable  contributions  to  the  literature  of  the 
times  and  have  been  widely  read.  As  husband,  father,  citizen, 
author,  lawyer  and  judge,  his  life  has  been  an  exemplary  one  and 
full  of  good  works." 

These  eulogistic  words  were  signed  by  William  B.  ^N'addell, 
president,  and  by  J.  Newton  Huston,  secretary. 

Hon.  William  Bell  Waddell,  formerly  president  judge  of  the 
District  Court,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  September  21, 1S2S.  The 
family  was  of  Scotch-Irish  origin  and  traced  its  ancestry  back  to 
the  north  of  Ireland,  peopled  by  the  Scotch  after  the  native  inhab- 
itants liad  been  driven  out  by  King  James  I  of  England.  One 
member  of  the  family,  born  in  Ireland,  has  been  rendered  famous 
by  William  Wirt  as  the  -'Blind  Preacher,""  in  the  History  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  another  member,  grandfather  of  the  judge,  Avhose  name 
was  William,  was  also  born  in  Ireland.  His  son  Robert  married 
Mary  Bell,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  Judge  \Mlliam  Bell  Wad- 
dell. 

31 


536  CHESTER     COIXTY 

Judge  Waddell  pursued  his  academic  studies  iu  the  private 
school  of  James  Crowell,  and  entered  Princeton  College  in  18-16, 
graduating  therefrom  in  1849.  l\eturning  to  West  Chester,  he  read 
law  with  Joseph  Hemphill,  father  of  Judge  Joseph  Hempliill,  and 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  March  2,  1852.  From  this  time  <m  until 
his  death  he  was  almost  continuously  engaged  iu  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  West  Chester,  until  1887,  when  he  was  elevated 
to  the  bench. 

In  1864  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
State  Legislature,  serving  until  1867.  In  1871  he  was  elected  to 
the  State  Senate,  and  served  until  the  close  of  his  term  in  1873, 
when  he  returned  to  the  practice  of  law.  In  1887  he  was  appointed 
to  serve  as  additional  law  judge  until  the  election  in  tlie  fall  of 

1887,  when  he  was  elected  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  from  1888  to 
1898,  but,  upon  the  deatli  of  Judge  J.  Smith  Futhey,  he  was  ap- 
pointed president  judge,  his  commission  being  dated  December  4, 

1888.  This  position  he  filled  untl  his  death,  which  occurred  June  3, 
1897. 

He  was  always  courteous  as  a  jurist,  was  an  able,  honorable 
man  and  an  upright  judge;  He  was  well  respected  by  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  was  widely  and  sincerely  mourned  at  th.e  time  of 
his  death. 

Hon.  Joseph  Hemphill,  president  judge  of  Chester  County,  was 
born  at  West  Chester,  September  17,  1842.  After  attending  private 
schools  at  West  Chester  he  went  to  Willistou  Seminary  at  East 
Hampton,  Massachusetts,  where  lie  remained  until  compelled  by 
sickness  to  return  to  his  liome.  Entering  his  father's  law  office 
in  1860  as  a  law  student,  he  read  law  there  three  years,  and  tlien 
spent  one  year  in  the  law  department  of  Harvard  University,  under 
the  special  instruction  of  Parsons  and  Washburue,  well-known 
authorities  on  American  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  October 
31,  1864,  and  the  law  partnership  then  formed  with  his  father 
lasted  until  the  latter's  death,  February  11,  1870.     From  1864  to 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  537 

at  tlie  time  of  his  election  as  additioual  law  judge  lie  was   in 
oonstaut  practice. 

Judge  Hemphill  is  a  democrat,  aud  in  1872  served  as  a  member 
of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  rendering  valuable  service  in 
framing  the  present  constitution  of  the  State.  This  led  to  his 
nomination  by  the  Democratic  party  of  the  county  for  additional 
law  judge  in  1889,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  he  was  elected  over 
Thomas  S.  Butler,  by  a  majority  of  thirty-two  votes.  Taking  his 
seat  January  G,  1890,  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all,  and  upon  the  death  of  President  Judge  William 
B.  Waddell,  succeeded  to  that  position,  which  he  is  now  filling. 

As  stated  above,  the  Constitution  of  1790  provided  that  in  each 
county  there  should  be  associate  judges,  not  less  than  three  nor 
more  than  four,  to  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior.  The 
first  associate  judg-es  in  Chester  County  were  appointed  by  Cov- 
ernor  Thomas  Mifflin,  August  17, 1791.  They  were  Joseph  Shippen, 
of  Westtown;  Walter  Finney  of  New  London;  and  James  Moore 
of  West  Nantmeal.  Benjamin  Jacobs  of  West  Whiteland  was  ap- 
pointed the  fourth  associate  judge  July  3,  1792. 

Judge  Hhipi^en  held  the  judgeship  until  December  28,  1792, 
when  he  resigned,  and  on  January  5,  1793,  Samuel  Evans  was  ap- 
pointed first  associate  judge  in  his  place.  Samuel  Evans,  having 
removed  to  Lancaster  County,  resigned  his  office,  June  29, 1793,  and 
was  succeeded  by  James  Boyd,  of  what  is  now  Penn  Township, 
November  1,  1793.  These  four  associate  judges,  Walter  Finney, 
James  Moore,  Benjamin  Jacobs  and  James  Boyd,  presided  together 
until  1802,  in  which  year  Judge  Moore  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
John  Ralston  of  Vincent,  who  was  appointed  April  7,  1802.  Judge 
Jacobs  served  until  March  31,  1803,  and  was  succeeded  by  John 
Davis  of  Tredyffrin.  From  this  time  on  until  September,  1820, 
Judges  Finney,  Boyd,  Davis  and  Ralston  were  associates,  Judge 
Finney  dying  in  that  month,  and  no  appointment  was  made  to 
fill  the  vacancy,  because  the  Legislature  in  1803  has  passed  an  act 


538  CHESTER     COUNTY 

providing  that  when  a  vacancy  shouhl  thereafter  occur,  there 
should  be  no  appointment  until  the  number  of  associate  judges 
had  been  reduced  by  death,  resignation  or  otherwise,  to  less  than 
three.  In  1806  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  the  reduction  of  the 
number  of  associate  judges  to  two.  Judge  Boyd  died  August  10, 
1821,  and  the  number  was  thus  reduced  to  two. 

Judge  Ralston  died  September  1,  1825,  in  the  eighty-first  year 
of  his  age,  and  was  succeeded  by  Cromwell  Pearce  of  East  White- 
land,  his  commission  being  dated  September  5,  1825.  Judge  Davis 
died  in  1827,  and  was  succeeded  by  Jesse  Sharp,  who  was  com- 
missioned January  26,  that  year.  Judges  Pearce  and  Sharp  were 
associate  judges  until  1839,  when,  on  account  of  defective  hearing, 
Judge  Pearce  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Jones  of 
East  Whiteland,  for  the  term  of  five  years,  in  accordance  with 
the  Constitution  of  1838. 

Judge  Sharp's  term  having  expired  February  27,  1841,  he 
was  re-appointed  for  the  constitutional  term  of  five  years,  and  on 
the  expiration  of  this  term  he  was  again  re-appointed  for  another 
term  of  five  years.  But  on  account  of  liis  age  he  resigned  in 
December,  1847,  and  was  succeeded  by  Nimrod  Strickland  of  West 
Chester,  whose  commission  was  dated  January  31,  1848. 

Upon  the  expiration  of  Judge  Jones's  term  of  five  years, 
February  19,  1844,  he  was  re-appointed,  and  at  the  expiration  of  his 
second  term,  in  February,  1849,  he  retired  from  the  bench.  Samuel 
Shafer  was  appointed  to  succeed  Judge  Jones,  and  .Judges  Strick- 
land and  Shafer  served  until  the  expiration  of  their  terms  of  office, 
December  1,  1851,  the  office  being  made  elective  by  amendments  to 
the  Constitution. 

At  the  election  of  1851  Samuel  Shafer  and  Joseph  Hodgson 
were  elected  for  five  years,  and  took  their  seats  December  0,  1852. 
Judge  Hodgson  was  a  resident  of  Penn  Township,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  his  five  years'  term  declined  a  re-election.  Judge 
Shafer,  who  was  an  unusually  popular  man,  filled  the  office  until 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  539 

liis  death,  April  2G,  ISCG,  and  was  succeeded  by  Eobert  Parke  of 
Sadsbury  Township,  commissioned  by  the  Governor  May  9,  1856, 
for  the  remainder  of  Judge  Shafer's  term. 

At  the  general  election  in  1856  Nimrod  Strickland  and  William 
Wollerton  were  elected,  and  commissioned  for  the  term  of  five  years 
from  December  7,  1857,  but  in  October,  1857,  Judge  Strickland 
was  elected  canal  commissioner,  and  to  fill  out  his  unexpired 
term  John  P.  Baily  of  West  Chester  was  appointed,  and  was 
commissioned  January  21,  1858.  In  October,  1858,  Robert  Parke 
was  elected  in  opposition  to  Judge  Baily,  and  took  his  seat  on  the 
bench  December  G,  1858.  In  October,  1861,  John  P.  Baily  was 
elected  to  succeed  Judge  Wollerton,  who  had  declined  a  re-election 
and  was  commissioned  for  the  term  of  five  years  commencing  De- 
cember 2,  1861.  In  1866  he  was  re-elected  for  another  term  of  five 
years. 

In  1863  Benjamin  J.  Passmore  of  West  Chester  was  elected  to 
succeed  Judge  Parke,  and  was  commissioned  for  the  term  of  five 
years  commencing  December  7,  1863.  He  was  subsequently  re- 
elected twice,  and  served  until  his  death,  March  1,  1875.  In  1871 
Joel  Ilawley  of  Uwchlan  was  elected  to  succeed  Judge  Baily,  was 
commissioned  by  the  Governor  and  held  the  office  until  the  ex- 
piration of  the  term,  December  4,  1876.  On  the  death  of  Judge 
Passmore  in  1875,  no  successor  was  elected,  the  new  Constitution 
of  1874  having  provided  for  the  abolition  of  the  office  on  the 
death,  resignation  or  termination  of  the  office  of  any  incumbent. 
Judge  Hawley  was  the  only  associate  judge,  therefore,  until  the 
expiration  of  his  own  term  of  office,  December  4,  1876. 

For  a  period  of  110  years  previous  to  171)3  the  criminal  busi- 
ness of  Chester  County  was  conducted  by  the  attorney-general  in 
person,  on  account  of  the  prosecution.  lu  1793  the  first  deputy 
attorney-general  was  appointed,  and  from  that  time  to  1850  the 
pleas  of  the  Commonwealth  were  prosecuted  by  deputies  ap- 
pointed by  the   attorney-general,  with   the   exception  of   a  brief 


540  CHESTER     COUNTY 

period.  In  1850  an  act  of  Assembly  was  enacted  creating  the 
office  of  district  attorney,  and  since  then  these  officers  have  been 
elected  by  the  people. 

Among  the  attorneys-general  of  the  Province,  whose  names 
it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  present  in  this  work,  was  Thomas 
Clarke,  who,  at  a  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  held  May  25,  1708, 
"appeared  in  open  court  and  was  qualified  attorney-general  for  the 
county  of  Chester  according  to  \aw.  Of  these  attorneys-general, 
some  of  them  were  very  able  and  distinguished  men.  One  of 
them,  Andrew  Hamilton,  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  greatest 
lawyers  of  his  time,  and  filled  several  public  stations  with  con- 
spicuous ability  and  integrity.  His  son,  James,  was  sevei'al  times 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania  between  1748  and  1771.  Tench  Francis, 
attorney-general  from  1711  to  1755,  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
lawyers  of  the  Province,  and  a  relative  of  Sir  Philip  Francis,  the 
one-time  reputed  author  of  the  celebrated  Junius  Letters.  Benja- 
min Chew,  attorney-general  from  1755  to  17C0,  was  in  1774  ap- 
pointed chief  justice  of  Pennsylvania,  but  being  opposed  to  the 
Eevolution,  he  retired  from  the  bench  in  1776,  being  thus  the  last 
chief  justice  of  the  Crown  in  Pennsylvania.  Andrew  Allen  was 
the  last  attorney-general  under  the  King  of  England,  was  also 
opposed  to  the  Revolution,  placed  himself  under  the  protection  of 
Gen.  Howe  at  Trenton,  and  lost  his  estates  by  confiscation  by  the 
new  government.  He  died  in  England  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 
He  was  a  grandson  of  Andrew  Hamilton  above  mentioned. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  deputy  attorneys-general  from  May, 
1793,  to  the  year  1850:  Robert  Frazer,  May,  1793,  to  February, 
1800;  John  Sergeant,  May,  1800,  to  May,  1803;  Thomas  Sergeant, 
August  sessions,  1803;  William  Hemphill,  November,  1803,  to 
November,  1808;  John  Duer,  Jr.,  February,  1809,  to  April,  1816; 
Robert  Frazer,  July  and  November  sessions,  1816;  Isaac  D.  Bar- 
nard, January,  1817,  to  November,  1820;  Isaac  Darlington,  Jan- 
uary and  April  sessions,  1821;  William  H.  Dillingham,  July,  1821, 


AA'D     ITS     PEOPLE.  541 

to  November,  1823;  Thomas  S.  Bell,  January,  1S24,  to  May,  1828; 
Henry  H.  Van  Amringe,  August,  1828,  to  August,  1829;  and  from 
May,  1830,  to  February,  1835,  the  interim  betAveen  August,  1829,. 
and  May,  1830,  there  being  no  deputy;  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  May,  Au- 
gust and  November  sessions,  1835;  William  Darlington,  1836,  1837 
and  1838;  Joseph  Hemphill  from  1839  to  1814,  six  years;  John 
Hickman,  during  1845  and  the  sessions  in  Jauuai*y  and  April, 
184G;  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  July  and  October  sessions,  1846;  John 
Hickman,  January-  sessions,  1847;  John  H.  Briuton,  Ajn-il,  1847,  to 
July,  1848;  Washington  Towusend,  October  sessions,  1848,  and 
January  sessions,  1849;  J.  Smith  Futhey,  from  April  sessions, 
1849,  to  November  sessions,  1850,  both  inclusive,  being  the  last  of 
the  deputy  attorneys-general  who  prosecuted  in  Chester  County. 

In  1850  an  act  of  Assembly  created  the  office  of  district  at- 
torney, elected  by  the  people,  and  the  following  gentlemen  hava 
since  then  filled  this  office:  ■. 

Paschall  Woodward,  November,  1850,  to  September,  1853; 
J.  Smith  Futhey,  at  October  sessions,  1853,  the  remaining  session 
of  Mr.  Woodward's  term,  and  then  by  election  from  November, 
1853,  to  November,  1856;  William  Butler,  November  1856,  to  No- 
vember, 1859;  Wayne  MacVeagh,  from  November,  1859,  to 
November,  1862;  Henry  M.  Mclntire,  elected  in  October, 
1862,  to  January,  1863,  when  he  died  from  wounds  re- 
ceived in  the  service  of  his  country;  James  .J.  Creigh, 
appointed  in  -January,  1863,  to  serve  until  the  election,  and 
was  elected  in  November,  1863,  and  served  until  November,  1866; 
Francis  C.  Hooton,  November,  1866,  to  Novembei-,  1869;  George 
F.  Smith,  November,  1869,  to  November,  1872;  Abraham  Wauger, 
November,  1872,  to  January,  1876;  James  H.  Bull,  January,  1876, 
to  January,  1879;  Thomas  W.  Pierce,  January,  1879,  to  1882; 
Francis  Windle,  1882  to  1885;  John  J.  Gheen,  1885  to  1888; 
Thomas  W.  Baldwin,  1888  to  1891;  E.  D.  Bingham,  1891  to  1894; 
Joseph  H.  Baldwin,  1894  to  1897,  and  W.  W.  MacElree,  1897  to 
1900. 


542  CHESTER     COUNTY 

It  is  not  deemed  necessary  in  this  work  to  present  a  detailed 
account  of  the  various  crimes  tiiat  have  been  committed  within 
the  county;  but  it  is  necessary,  as  a  matter  of  history,  to  note  the 
degree  and  nature  of  the  punishment  meted  out  to  criminals  in 
the  different  periods  of  the  county's  history.  In  the  earliest  times 
the  most  common  punishment  for  oi'dinary  offenses  was  the  inflic- 
tion of  fines.  But  from  1714  to  1759  most  of  the  sentences  em- 
braced whipping  as  the  chief  feature  of  punishment  for  offenses  of 
this  kind,  and  usually  consisted  of  "twenty-one  lashes  on  the  bare 
back  well  laid  on.''  During  this  period  there  was  no  imi^risou- 
ment,  and  rarely  was  standing  in  the  pilloiy  resorted  to. 

One  of  the  noted  crimes  in  the  early  day  was  the  murder  of 
Jonathan  Hayes  of  Chester  County  by  Hugh  Pugh  and  Lazarus 
Thomas,  the  murderers  being  immediately  apprehended  and 
lodged  in  jail.  This  was  in  1715,  but  their  trial  did  not  begin  until 
near  the  beginning  of  the  year  1718,  when  the  Supreme  Court  was 
so  constituted  as  to  hold  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  for  the 
purpose.  Being  found  guilty  they  were  sentenced  to  be  executed. 
On  May  18,  1718,  asserting  three  legal  defects  in  their  conviction, 
they  petitioned  the  Governor  for  a  reprieve  until  the  pleasure  of 
the  King  could  be  ascertained,  these  three  defects  being  that  the 
jurj'  had  been  composed  of  Quakers,  who  affirmed  instead  tak- 
ing an  oath;  that  the  act  for  the  proper  qualification  of  judges, 
juries  and  witnesses  was  passed  after  the  supposed  commission  of 
the  murder,  and  that  the  said  act  was  contrary  to  the  statutes  of 
Great  Britain.  The  Governor  rejected  the  petition,  and  in  so  do- 
ing was  sustained  by  "a  majority  of  his  council.  The  two  mur- 
derers were  ordered  to  be  executed  May  9,  1718. 

In  April,  1728,  John  Winter  and  Walter  Winter  killed  an  In- 
dian and  two  squaws  in  the  upper  part  of  Chester  County;  war- 
rants were  issued  for  their  arrest,  and  they  were  soon  safely  lodged 
in  jail  at  Chester,  On  June  19,  1728,  they  were  guilty  by  a  jury  of 
twelve  men,  and  sentenced  to  "be  hanged  by  the  necks  until  they 
and  each  of  them  be  dead." 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  543 

On  August  1,  1752,  Joliu  Thomas  and  Eleanor  Davis  were 
cruelly  murdered  in  Tredyffrin  Township  by  Bryan  Doran,  James 
Eice,  alias  Dillon,  and  Thomas  Kelly.  Rice  and  Kelly  were  soon 
afterward  arrested,  and  tried  November  27,  1752,  the  latter  plead- 
ing guilty.  Kice  was  executed  December  9,  1752,  and  Kelly  on 
the  16th  of  the  same  month. 

In  1764  a  slave  named  Phebe,  belonging  to  Joseph  Richard- 
son, was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  for  burglariously  enteriug  the 
house  of  Thomas  Barnard  and  stealing  divers  goods. 

On  March  23,  1772,  Patrick  Kennedy,  Thomas  Fryer,  Neal  Mc- 
Oarriber  and  James  Dever  were  convicted  of  a  rape  on  Jane  Wal- 
ker, committed  November  30,  1771,  and  they  each  sentenced  to 
death.  Kennedy  was  ordered  to  be  executed  May  2,  1772,  but  the 
others  were  rej^rieved. 

On  September  26,  1778,  James  Fitzpatrick  was  executed  for 
burglary  and  larceny,  of  which  he  had  been  regularly  convicted. 

In  May,  1780,  William  Boyd,  while  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty,  as  tax  collector  in  Chester  County,  was  murdered  by  John 
and  Robert  Smith,  and  on  May  13,  the  Governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth, Joseph  Reed,  offered  a  reward  of  |20,000  for  their  appre- 
hension. They  were  captured  while  en  route  to  join  the  British 
army,  by  David  Furmau,  sheriff  of  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey, 
and  were  tried  in  Chester  County,  June  26,  and  executed  July  1, 
1780. 

On  November  2,  1784,  Joseph  Chalk,  John  McDonnell,  and 
John  Varnum,  alias  Benson,  were  executed  for  burglary. 

Since  1789,  when  Cliester  County  was  reduced  to  its  present 
limits,  the  following  executions  have  been  had: 

Hannah  Miller  for  the  murder  of  her  infant  child,  tried  at  the 
May  session,  1805,  sentenced  June  1,  and  executed  in  public  Au- 
gust 1,  1805,  under  the  direction  of  the  sheriff,  Jesse  John. 

Edward  Williams  (colored),  for  the  murder  of  his  wife,  tried 
at  the  November  sessions,  1830,  sentenced  November  30,  and  exe- 
cuted in  public  December  31,  1830. 


544  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Charles  Bowman  (colored),  for  the  murder  of  Jonathan  Mc- 
Euen,  a  blind  fiddler,  tried  at  the  August  session,  1834,  sentenced 
August  25,  and  executed  November  21,  1834. 

Jabez  Boyd,  for  the  murder  of  Wesley  Patton,  fourteen  years 
old,  tried  at  the  July  sessions,  1845,  sentenced  August  8,  and  exe- 
cuted November  21,  1845. 

George  Pharaoh,  for  the  murder  of  Rachel  Sharpless,  tried 
at  the  January  Sessions,  1851,  sentenced  February  12,  1851,  and 
executed  August  29,  1851. 

Lewis  Green  (colored),  for  the  murder  of  Jacob  Marks,  a  ped- 
dler, generally  known  as  Dutch  Jake,  tried  at  the  August  Sessions, 
1861,  sentenced  November  1,  18(11,  and  executed  March  7,  18(i2. 

George  Grant  (colored),  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Amanda 
Spence  (colored),  tried  at  the  October  Sessions,  1871,  sentenced 
January  31,  1872,  and  executed  November  13,  1872. 

William  Eachus  Udderzook,  for  the  murder  of  Wiufield  Scott 
Goss,  tried  at  the  October  Sessions,  1873,  sentenced  December  13, 
1873,  and  executed  November  12,  1874. 

This  was  one  of  the  famous  murder  trials  of  the  country. 
Udderzook  and  Goss  were  brothers-in-law,  having  married  sisters. 
They  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  defraud  insurance  companies, 
Goss  securing  insurance  on  his  life  in  several  comjiauies  for  $25,- 
000.  A  dead  body  was  then  introduced  into  a  frame  shop  in 
which  Goss  worked  by  himself  near  Baltimore,  aud  the  building 
fii'ed  and  burned  to  the  ground.  Goss  disappeared;  it  was  given 
out  that  he  was  la.st  seen  in  the  burned  building,  aud  the  charred 
remains  of  the  body  of  a  man  was  found  in  the  ruins.  These  re- 
mains Udderzook  stated  were  those  of  Goss,  and  they  were  buried 
as  such. 

The  insurance  companies  were  not  satisfied  that  the  remains 
were  those  (jf  Goss,  aud  instituted  inquiries  with  such  success  that 
they  learned  of  a  man  whom  they  believed  to  be  Goss  in  hiding 
under  the  assumed  name  of  A.  C.  Wilson,  and  as  it  was  impossible 


AND     /7VS'     PEOPLE.  545 

to  keep  Goss  in  hiding  Udderzoolv  detei'mined,  in  order  to  conceal 
bis  part  in  the  attempt  to  defraud,  to  take  the  life  of  his  brother- 
in-law.  Accordingly  he  decoj-ed  him  to  Jeunerville,  Chester 
Countj^  stabbed  him  to  death,  and  buried  the  hodj  in  the  woods. 
The  body  was  discovered  through  the  agency  of  buzzards.  Udder- 
zook,  suspected,  was  tried  and  executed  as  above  stated. 

Since  the  execution  of  Udderzook  there  has  been  no  one 
hanged  in  Chester  County;  but  the  pi'obabilities  are  that  there  will 
be  an  execution  for  murder  in  the  near  future.  Jonas  Preston,  Jr., 
was  tried  at  the  April  Sessions,  1898,  for  the  murder  of  his  wife, 
Ella  Preston,  in  Peun  Township.  The  defense  set  up  was  that  of 
insanity,  but  Preston  was  convicted  on  April  28,  of  murder  in  the 
first  degree,  and  if  a  new  trial  should  not  be  granted,  or  if  aa 
appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  should  be  without  avail,  he  must  be 
sentenced  to  hang. 

Robert  Emmet  Monaghan,  formerly  one  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Chester  County  bar,  was  a  son  of  James  and  Catherine 
(Streeper)  Monaghan.  He  was  born  in  West  Whiteland  Town- 
ship, Chester  County.  James  Monaghan  was  engaged  in  tlu^  re- 
bellion with  Robert  Emmet,  and  this  rebellion  failed  young  Mon- 
aghan was  compelled  to  flee  to  the  United  States,  and  died  on  his 
farm  in  Chester  County  in  1841. 

It  was  on  this  farm  that  Robert  E.  Monaghan  was  born  and 
on  it  he  remained  until  he  was  nearly  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
Receiving  his  preliminary  education  at  the  academies  at  Uniou- 
ville  and  at  Xew  Loudon  in  Chester  County,  and  at  the  Strasburg 
Academy  in  Lancaster  County,  he  then  began  life  for  himself  as  a 
school  teacher,  at  twenty  dollars  per  month.  Being  offered  a  posi- 
tion as  collector  on  the  Pennsylvania  Canal  at  Liverpool,  Perry 
County,  he  retained  it  three  years,  in  the  meantime  reading  law 
with  Hon.  Hamilton  Aldricks  of  Harrisburg.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  Chester  County  bar  at  West  Chester,  and  there  began  the 
practice  of  the  law,  continuing  in  practice  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  June  29,  1895. 


546  CHESTER     COUNTY 

He  served  as  a  member  of  the  borough  council  of  West  Ches- 
ter, and  as  a  trustee  of  the  West  Chester  State  Normal  School,  for 
a  few  years  being  president  of  the  board.  He  also  served  as 
president  of  the  Cliester  County  Agricultural  Society,  and  was  in 
all  the  positions  he  filled  faithful  and  efficient  and  trustworthy. 
In  1890  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Beaver  a  member  of  the 
joint  commission  from  the  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware, 
composed  of  himself,  Hon.  Wayne  MacVeagh,  W.  H.  Miller,  from 
the  foiTuer  State,  and  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  Dr.  B.  L.  Lewis,  and 
Hon.  John  H.  Hoffecker  from  the  latter  State,  the  duties  of  these 
commissioners  being  to  define,  settle  and  mark  the  dividing  line 
between  the  States,  this  subject  being  fully  ti'eated  in  the  chapter 
on  the  boundary  lines  of  the  State. 

William  H.  Dillingham,  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  of  Ches- 
ter County  during  the  period  he  devoted  to  the  lu'ofession,  was 
born  in  Lee,  Massachusetts,  August  3,  1791.  His  preparatory 
educated  was  received  at  Lenox  Academy,  and  when  fifteen  years 
of  age  he  entered  the  sophomore  class  of  Williams,  remaining 
there  as  a  student  about  a  year  and  a  half,  and  although  he  did 
not  graduate,  yet  in  1815  his  alma  mater  conferred  upon  him  the 
honorary  degi-ee  of  Master  of  Arts.  In  1808  he  began  reading  law 
in  the  office  of  Charles, Chauncey  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  1811  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  Removing  to  West  Chester  in  1817  he  there 
rapidly  rose  in  his  professioji,  and  was  always  prepared  for  trial. 
In  1821  he  was  appointed  prosecuting  attorney,  holding  the  oflice 
a  little  more  than  two  years.  He  was  employed  as  solicitor  of  the 
Bank  of  Chester  County  for  more  than  fifteen  years,  and  in  1837 
was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  and  in  the  fall  of  1811  after  a 
residence  of  nearly  twenty-five  years  in  West  Chester,  he  returned 
to  Philadelphia,  and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

Mr.  Dillingham  was  a  man  of  public  spirit,  and  aided  every 
good  work  that  needed  aid,  the  public  schools,  charitable  institu- 
tions of  all  kinds,  and  scientific  and  literary  societies  always  found 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  547 

in  liim  a  frieud.  Altlioujih  the  produotious  of  his  own  pen  were 
not  numerous,  yet  he  contributed  judicious  essays  to  the  leading 
journals  of  the  times.  His  literary  taste  was  refined,  and  his 
style  was  polished  and  terse.  And  it  has  been  truly  said  of  him 
that  he  touched  nothing  that  he  did  not  adorn. 

Townsend  Haines,  one  of  the  most  able  and  distinguished  of 
the  earlier  citizens  of  Chester  County,  was  born  at  West  Chester, 
January  7,  1792.  He  was  a  son  of  Caleb  Haines,  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  one  of  their  number  that  took  the  side  of 
Great  Britain  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  after  its  close  becoming 
a  refugee  in  Xova  Scotia,  and  remaining  there  until  an  act  of  Con- 
gress provided  an  amnesty  for  all  cases  of  the  kind.  Then  re- 
turning to  West  Chester  he  married  Ann  Ryant  early  in  17'J1, 
Townsend  Haines  being  their  eldest  son.  In  October,  1809,  young 
Townsend  entered  the  school  of  Euorh  Lewis  at  New  Garden, 
where  he  imj^roved  his  knowledge  of  the  various  branches  of 
higher  mathematics  up  to  and  including  trigonometry,  and  by  this 
means  became  familiar  with  the  processes  of  abstract  reasoning, 
by  which,  if  the  premises  are  true,  the  conclusion  is  irresistible. 
In  his  latter  life  while  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law  he  be- 
came fully  convinced  of  this  means  of  intellectual  discipline,  and 
to  it  was  largely  due  his  great  measure  of  success.  From  his 
mother,  who  was  a  woman  of  taste  and  culture,  he  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  elocution  and  rhetoric,  which  in  his  forensic  efforts 
was  of  use  to  him,  as  was  the  development  of  his  reasoning  fac- 
ulties in  the  preparation  of  his  cases. 

Removing  to  West  Chester  in  1815  he  took  lessons  in  Latin 
of  Mr.  Glass,  with  the  view  of  entering  the  profession  of  t-he  law. 
After  a  dilligeut  course  of  study  in  the  office  of  Judge  Isaac  Dar- 
lington, he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  February  7,  1818,  but  for  some- 
time the  law  practice  of  the  county  was  divided  up  among  the 
older  professionals,  and  he  was  compelled  to  be  content  with  a 
small  amount  of  business  in  the  Orphans'  Court,  and  with  such 


548  CHESTER     COUNTY 

criminal  practice  as  came  to  bim.  This  latter  class  of  practice 
brought  him  fame  and  popularity  and  led  to  the  trial  of  jury  cases 
in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  In  1826  Mr.  Haines  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  was  re-elected  in  1827.  Mr. 
Haines  was  a  good  lawj-er,  excellent  in  the  examination  of  wit- 
nesses, and  powerful  in  the  presence  of  a  jury.  He  always  ap- 
pealed to  the  better  nature  of  a  witness  and  not  to  his  fears,  fram- 
ing his  questions  in  such  a  way  as  to  elicit  the  truth  without  pro- 
ducing the  feeling  of  humiliation  even  in  a  witness  that  was  un- 
willing. He  was  equally  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  his  fellow- 
attornej's,  his  conduct  being  so  uniformly  courteous  and  fair  that 
no  resentment  was  ever  awakened.  Mi'.  Haines  was  an  able  man. 
The  position  he  attained  at  the  bar  was  the  result  of  spontaneous 
action  on  his  part;  but  the  position  he  might  have  attained  and 
which  he  knew  he  might  attain,  he  studiously  declined  to  strive 
for.  He  thought  he  could  not  afford  the  sacrifices  such  a  struggle 
Wduld  involve.  He  felt  sure  that  his  profession  would  sustain 
him,  and  for  distinction,  which  he  knew  was  practically  in  his 
grasp,  he  did  not  care.  The  prominence  he  acquired  came  to  him 
unsought,  and  simply  from  the  force  of  circumstances,  whether 
that  prominence  were  in  the  legal  or  political  field. 

In  1846  Mr.  Haines  was  a  candidate  for  Congress  on  the  Whig 
ticket,  but  was  defeated  by  a  single  vote,  his  defeat  being  the  nat- 
ural result  of  his  opposition  in  previous  years  to  Anti-Masonry. 
When  William  F.  Johnson  became  Governor,  he  offered  to  Mr. 
Haines  the  position  of  Secretai*;^^  of  the  Commonwealth,  which 
offer  was  accepted,  and  in  1850  he  was  appointed  by  President 
Taylor,  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  fall  of  1851  ho 
was  elected  to  the  position  of  president  judge  of  the  Fifteenth 
Judicial  District,  composed  then  of  the  counties  of  Chester  and 
Delaware,  filling  the  office  most  acceptably  for  the  ten  years  of  the 
term. 

In  February,  1865,  his  wife  died,  and  he  felt  her  loss  vei'v 


A^^D     ITS     PEOPLE.  549 

severely.  In  September  following  he  was  himself  taken  ill,  and 
rapidly  sank  to  his  death  in  October,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year 
of  his  age,  respected  and  honored  by  all  for  his  great  ability,  and 
for  the  upi-ightness  and  kindliness  of  his  life. 

Hon.  Joseph  J.  LeAvis,  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his  time,  and 
a  lawyer  of  distinction,  was  born  October  5,  ISOl,  at  Westtown, 
Chester  County.  His  education  was  received  at  the  Westtown 
Boarding  School,  and  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  studied  Latin  and 
Greek  under  Thomas  Dugdale,  and  aftenvard  he  took  charge  for 
some  time  of  the  Chester  County  Academy  in  the  Great  Valley. 
In  1822  he  was  invited  by  Jonathan  Gause  to  assist  him  in  teach- 
ing mathematics  in  West  Chester  Academy.  In  1824  he  went  to 
New  York  to  complete  his  legal  studies,  and  remained  some  time 
under  the  direction  of  Chancellor  Kent,  returning  to  West  Chester 
in  April,  1825,  being  admitted  to  the  bar  May  1,  of  that  year.  In 
1835  he  was  appointed  deputy  attorney-general  for  Chester  County, 
and  in  1844  he  was  again  appointed  to  the  same  position.  He  took 
a  leading  part  in  politics  and  in  1800  aided  largely  in  securing  the 
nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  Presidency  of  the  United 
States.  From  March,  18G3,  to  July,  1865,  he  held  the  office  of  com- 
missioner of  internal  revenue,  and  drafted  many  important  acts 
necessary  for  the  eflftcient  working  of  the  internal  revenue  system. 

Taking  him  all  and  all  there  were  few  men  more  useful  to 
their  fellow-citizens  than  was  Mr.  Lewis,  and  his  death  was  sin- 
cerely mourned  by  all  that  knew  him. 

Joseph  Hemphill,  formerly  a  lawyer  of  Chester  County,  and 
one  of  the  deputy  attorney-generals  for  Chester  County,  was  a 
worthy  descendant  of  honorable  ancestry.  Alexander  Hemphill, 
great-grandfather  of  Joseph  Hemphill,  came  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  in  the  early  part  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  settled  in 
Thornbury  Township,  Chester  County.  Joseph  Hemphill,  the  eld- 
est son  of  Alexander,  married  Amy  Wills,  and  by  her  had  eight 
children,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  also  named  Joseph.     The  latter 


55b  CHESTER    COUNTY 

Joseph  Hemphill  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Seventh,  Sixteenth,  Nineteenth  and  Twenty-first  Congresses, 
and  for  fourteen  years  presided  over  the  district  court  for  the 
coiinty  and  city  of  Philadelphia. 

Joseph  Hemphill,  father  of  the  present  president  judge  of 
Chester  County,  was  a  prominent  and  distinguished  member  of 
the  Chester  County  bar.  He  was  born  in  West  Chester  December 
7,  1807,  and  received  his  classical  education  at  the  hands  of  such 
teachers  as  Jonathan  (lause,  and  Joshua  Hoopes  of  Chester 
County,  and  James  W.  Eobbius  of  Lennox,  Massachusetts.  He 
read  law  with  his  brother-in-law,  Hon.  Thomas  S.  Bell,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  August  3,  1829,  and  immediately  afterward 
began  the  practice  of  the  law.  Being  an  industrious  and  an  hon- 
est man  he  rapidly  rose  in  his  profession  and  soon  won  a  place 
among  the  most  prominent  and  successful  members  of  the  Chester. 
County  bar.  His  career  extended  from  his  admission  to  the  bar  in 
1829  to  1870,  and  while  he  was  always  watchful  of  the  interests 
of  his  clients,  yet  he  was  at  the  same  time  always  fair  to  his 
opponents.  From  1839  to  181.5  he  was  deputy  attorney-general  for 
Chester  County,  and  he  was  nominated  by  the  Democrats  in  18(51 
for  i^resideut  judge  in  a  district  then  composed  of  Chester  and 
Delaware  Counties,  but  was  defeated  at  the  polls,  though  no  one 
doubted  his  peculiar  fitness  for  the  place.  _  His  death  occurred 
February  11,  1870,  and  on  that  day  numerous  deserved  tributes 
of  respect  were  paid  to  his  memory,  by  Wayne  MacVeagh,  William 
B.  Waddell,  Eobert  E.  Monaghan  and  othei's.  His  loss  was 
greatly  felt  by  all  that  knew  him. 

Hon.  William  Darlington,  born  October  19,  1801,  studied  law 
with  his  brother,  Judge  Isaac  Darlington,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  January  31,  1826.  From  this  time  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  December  6,  1879,  he  was  devoted  to  his  profession, 
which  has  always  been  looked  upon  as  "a  jealous  mistress." 
While  he  occasionally  engaged  in  the  trial  of  cases  before  the 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  553 

District  Court  of  the  United  States  at  Pliiladelphia,  yet  his  princi- 
pal practice  was  confined  to  the  county  courts  of  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania. He  served  as  deputy  attorney-general  for  Chester 
County  from  1835  to  183S,  but  he  preferred  legal  scieuce  to  crimi- 
nal jurisprudence,  and  as  a  consequence  enjoyed  a  lucrative  prac- 
tice. In  1837  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  convention  to 
remodel  the  Constitution,  and  he  was  also  elected  to  represent  the 
people  of  his  county  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1873, 
His  leading  characteristics  were  courage,  sagacity,  equanimity, 
aptness,  precision,  brevity  and  force,  an  array  of  qualities  which 
should  make  any  man  a  formidable  antagonist,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  powerful  friend.  He  was  most  emphatically  a  scorner  of 
cant,  bigotry  and  hypocrisy,  and  though  he  had  a  birthright  in 
the  Society  of  Friends,  yet  beyond  that  he  had  no  connection  with 
any  religious  denomination.  He  was  not  in  the  ordinary  accepta- 
tion of  the  term  an  educated  man,  but  his  success  in  life  demon- 
strates the  fact  that  college  training,  though  of  inestimable  value 
to  a  man  of  sound  mind  and  of  lofty  ambition,  is  not  always  essen- 
tial to  the  attainment  of  distinction  among  one's  fellow  men.  But 
without  natural  ability  no  man  can  greatl.y  distinguish  himself. 
He  was  the  youngest  child  in  a  family  of  twelve,  but  notwithstand- 
ing this  he  acquired  the  greatest  estate  of  them  all.  While  he 
did  not,  as  many  men  do,  mingle  with  the  masses  of  the  people, 
yet  he  was  unusually  and  deservedly  popular  aud  highly  respected 
by  all. 

Uriah  V.  Pennypacker,  third  sou  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth 
(Funk)  Pennypacker,  was  born  in  Schuylkill  Township,  Chester 
County,  October  6,  1809.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  the  family 
were  Mennonites,  descendants  of  a  Dutch  emigrant,  Heiurich  Pen- 
nebaker,  who  had  settled  in  Moutgoraery  County  about  171'3. 
Uriah  was  a  pupil  at  the  Union  School-house  in  Charlestown  Town- 
ship during  the  winter  seasons,  aud  was  an  interested  listener  to 
all  debates  held  therein  in  the  evenings.  At  eighteen  years  of  age 
32 


554  CHESTER     COUNTY 

he  spent  one  session  at  the  West  Chester  Academy,  taught  then 
by  Jonathan  Gaiise,  and  the  following  year  began  the  study  of 
law  Avith  his  uncle,  Matthias  Pennypacker,  a  member  of  the  Ches- 
ter County  bar,  and  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  after  three  years' 
study.  He  possessed  a  prodigious  memory,  and  in  a  short  time 
was  noted  for  his  vast  and  exact  knowledge  of  the  law  and  where 
to  find  it.  He  could  repeat,  verbatim,  every  definition  in  Black- 
stone.  In  1834  he  married  Mary  Fisher  Wheeler,  of  West  Chester. 
About  that  time  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  West  Chester  was 
founded,  Mr.  Pennj-packer  being  a  charter  member.  He  was 
active  in  the  formation  of  the  Central  Union  Association  of  Bap- 
tist Churches.  In  politics  he  was  an  energetic  Whig  and  retained 
during  all  his  life  an  intense  interest  in  public  affairs.  His  rise 
in  his  profession  was  rapid,  and  for  more  than  twenty  years  the 
Reports  of  the  Supreme  Court  attested  his  zeal,  his  skill  and  his 
learning.  His  manner  was  easy  and  graceful  and  his  presentation 
of  a  case  to  a  court  or  a  jury  was  clear,  concise  and  convincing. 
He  enjoyed  the  marked  confidence  of  his  friends  and  neighbors, 
and  was  so  liberal  and  considerate  in  his  views  that  all  parties 
supported  him  when  he  was  twice  elected  chief  burgess  of  West 
Chester.  He  was  six  feet  seven  inches  in  height,  and  used  to  re- 
mark facetiously  that  he  "stood  highest  at  the  bar."  His  love  of 
humor  was  great  and  his  sayings  and  his  stories  were  the  delight 
of  many  a  Chester  County  audience. 

Ill  health  diminished  his  ability  to  work,  and  the  last  ten 
years  of  his  life  witnessed  a  gradual  relinquishment  of  business 
cares.  He  died  August  16,  1867,  and  was  buried  at  Oakland  Cem- 
etery, surviving  his  wife  six  years.  He  was  one  of  a  group  of 
great  lawyers,  who  had  made  the  bar  of  Chester  County  famous 
for  learning,  integrity  and  ability,  and  for  a  high  sense  of  per- 
sonal and  professional  honor.  In  all  the  relations  of  life  he  was 
careful  and  exact,  and  at  his  death  he  was  mourned  by  the  bar,  by 
the  church  and  by  the  community  of  which  he  had  so  long  formed 
a  conspicuous  part.     His  son  is  Charles  H.  Pennypacker. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  5SS 

Charles  H.  Pennypacker,  one  of  the  ablest  members  of  the 
Chester  County  bar,  was  born  in  West  Chester,  April  10,  1845. 
Having  received  his  preliminary  and  preparatory  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  hi.s  native  city  and  in  West  Chester  Academy,  he 
then  attended  Philips  Exeter  Academy,  at  Exeter,  New  Hamp- 
shire, which  he  left  in  1802.  In  December,  1803,  he  married  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  A.  Passmore,  widow  of  Levis  Passmore,  formerly  of 
West  Marlborough,  Chester  County.  Mrs.  Pennypacker,  while  a 
young  lady,  attended  and  graduated  from  the  Friends'  Westtown 
Boarding-school,  and  she  has  been  for  nine  years  a  school  director 
in  West  Chester. 

Mr.  Pennypacker  studied  law  with  his  father,  Uriah  Y.  Penny- 
packer,  until  his  father  died,  and  then  with  William  B.  Waddell, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1869.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
i^upreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  in  1870,  and  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  in  1888.  He  has  tried  hundreds  of  cases  in 
all  the  courts  mentioned,  and  the  first  case  argued  by  him  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  is  repox'ted  at  length  in  Twentieth 
P.  F.  Smith.  In  1873  he  was  counsel  for  the  insurance  com- 
panies in  the  celebrated  Udderzook  murder  trial. 

His  uncle,  after  whom  he  was  named,  was  a  distinguished 
lawyer  of  South  AYest  Yirginia,  having  studied  law  with  Y'illiam 
Eawle  of  Philadelphia.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Dr.  Thomas 
Ruston,  was  a  graduate  of  the  college  of  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton, 
New  Jersey,  and  was  the  first  American  graduate  of  the  medical 
department  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

Mr.  Pennypacker  has  devoted  many  years  to  the  study  of  sev- 
eral of  the  modern  languages,  especially  the  English.  He  has 
lectured  in  several  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  has  writteu 
many  articles  for  leading  magazines  and  other  periodicals.  Dur- 
ing his  entire  life  he  has  taken  great  interest  in  natural  science, 
especially  mineralogy,  conchology  and  chemistrj-,  and  has  had 
correspondence   with   reference  to   these   subjects   with   leading 


556  CHESTER     COUNTY 

scientists  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  who  have  furnished  him  ma- 
terial for  the  purposes  of  examination  and  identification.  Mr. 
Pennypaoker  is  a  member  of  the  Microscopical  Society  of  Liver- 
pool, England,  and  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Phila- 
delphia. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  West  Chester  Philo- 
sophical Society,  and  has  lectured  before  it  many  times. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pennypacker  have  had  four  children,  as  follows: 
Levis  Passmore,  a  graduate  of  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute at  Troy,  New  York,  in  the  class  of  1888,  and  now  a  civil  engi- 
neer engaged  in  his  profession  in  Guatemala,  where  he  has  re- 
sided five  years;  Henry,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  t^niversity  in  the 
class  of  1888,  and  now  a  Master  in  the  Boston  Latin  School,  Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts,  where  he  has  resided  for  the  last  five  years; 
Joseph  Albert,  accidentally  killed  when  twenty  years  of  age  while 
residing  in  Salvador,  Central.  America,  and  Blanche,  who  died  in 
infancy. 

Alfred  P.  Eeid,  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  bar 
of  Chester  County,  was  born  in  Highland  Township,  Chestei' 
County,  September  3,  1842,  and  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm.  His 
early  education  was  secured  at  Parkesburg,  Coatesville  and  West 
Chester,  and  he  then  entered  Lafayette  College,  graduating  from 
this  institution  in  1861.  Beading  law  with  Judge  J.  Smith  Futhey 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  August  11,  1860,  and  has  ever  since 
been  engaged  in  the  successful  practice  of  his  i>rofession  in  West 
Chester,  though  that  practice  extends  into  the  adjoining  counties 
and  thus  brings  him  in  contact  with  the  ablest  legal  minds  in  the 
State.  Possessed  of  a  fair,  logical  and  judicial  mind,  his  argu- 
ments are  always  of  weight  with  the  court  and  his  influence  is  felt 
by  all  the  judges  on  the  bench.  Outside  of  his  regular  profession 
Mr.  Eeid  has  given  much  time  to  banking,  and  is  recognized  as  an 
able  financier.  He  has  been  president  and  vice-president  of  sev- 
eral diiJerent  banks,  among  them  the  First  National  Bank  of 
West  Chester,  to  the  presidency  of  which  he  was  elected  soon  after 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  557 

the  death  of  President  Wollerton.  By  hiss  abilitj',  energy  and  in- 
tegrity he  has  won  for  himself  a  distinguished  position  in  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law  and  also  in  the  financial  world. 

Col.  Hamilton  H.  Gilkyson,  of  Phoenixville,  one  of  the  most 
successful  members  of  the  Chester  County  bar,  is  a  son  of  James 
and  Anna  (Henry)  Gillvyson,  and  was  born  in  December,  1S4S,  at 
Doylestowu,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  James  Gilkyson,  his 
father,  was  of  Irish  ancestry,  and  was  for  many  years  a  prominent 
practitioner  at  the  bar  of  Bucks  County,  and  served  for  a  number 
of  years  as  district  attorney  of  that  county. 

Hamilton  H.  Gillvyson  received  his  education  at  private 
schools  in  Doylestowu  and  at  Pennington  Seminary  in  New  Jer- 
sey, graduating  from  the  latter  institution  in  1804.  For  several 
years  afterAvard  he  was  engaged  n  the  West  as  a  teacher  and  in 
business  as  a  merchant.  Eeturning  to  Pennsjdvania  he  read  law 
in  the  office  of  his  father  in  Doylestowu,  being  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1872.  He  immediately  afterward  established  himself  in  prac- 
tice in  Pho'nixville  and  has  there  been  successfull.y  engaged  ever 
since,  pi'acticing  in  the  courts  of  Montgomery  and  Philadelphia 
Counties,  and  is  well  known  in  all  three  counties  as  a  careful, 
painstaking  and  able  attorney,  always  thoroughly  preparing  him- 
self for  the  trial  of  cases  before  going  into  court. 

During  the  early  history  of  Chester  County,  or  say  prior  to 
1750,  there  were  but  few  attorneys  at  law  within  its  limits.  The 
method  of  bringing  cases  into  court  also  seems  to  have  been  dif- 
ferent from  what  it  is  at  the  present  time,  the  parties  interested 
being  permitted  to  make  their  presentations  in  person  or  through 
a  friend.  In  June,  1(;77,  it  was  ordered  in  the  Upland  Court  that 
all  declarations  must  be  entered  at  least  the  day  before  the  court, 
and  that  no  person  be  admitted  to  plead  for  any  other  person  as 
an  attorney  in  court  without  first  having  his  admittance  of  the 
court  or  a  warrant  of  attorney  for  so  doing  from  his  client. 

While  many  persons  appeared  in  behalf  of  others,  those  ap- 


558  CHESTER     COUXTY 

peariug  not  being  familiar  with  the  law,  yet  there  were  the  follow- 
ing who  were  admitted  to  practice  or  who  practiced  in  the  conrts 
of  the  county  prior  to  1750:  In  1683,  John  White  and  Abraham 
Mann;  in  1698,  John  Moore  and  David  Lloyd;  in  1726,  Ralph  Asshe- 
ton,  John  Kinsey,  Peter  Evans,  Francis  Sherrard  and  Joseph 
Growdon,  Jr.;  in  1730,  Alexander  Keith;  in  1734,  William  Eawle; 
1735,  John  Eoss,  James  Hamilton,  John  Eobinson,  Thomas  Hop- 
kinson;  1736,  Alexander  Piercey,  James  Keating  and  Andrew  Ham- 
ilton; 1738,  William  Assheton;  1739,  WMlliam  Peters;  1740,  John 
Webb;  1741,  Tench  Francis,  Edmund  Ackworth,  Neil  Harris; 
1742,  Eobert  Hartshorne,  Eichard  Peters,  John  Mather  and  James 
Eead;  1743,  John  Moland  and  Townsend  White;  1744,  David  Ed- 
wards; 1745,  Benjamin  Price;  1747,  John  Lawrence;  1748,  Edward 
Shippen,  Jr.;  1749,  Joseph  Galloway  and  John  Evans. 

Following  is  a  list  of  those  admitted  from  1750  to  1776: 
17.52,  David  Finney;  1753,  Thomas  Otway,  John  Price,  Will- 
iam Morris,  Jr.;  1754,  Benjamin  Chew;  1755,  Samuel  Johnson, 
Thomas  McKean,  David  Henderson,  William  Whitebred;  1756, 
George  Eoss,  John  Armond;  1760,  Jcdm  Morris;  1763,  Nicholas 
Wain,  James  Tilghman;  1764,  Hugh  Hughes,  John  Currie,  Elisha 
Price,  Lindsay  Coates;  1765,  Andrew  Allen,  Alexander  Porter, 
Nicholas  Vandyke,  Alexander  Wilcocks,  Joshua  Yeates,' Stephen 
Porter,  Eichard  Peters,  Jr.,  James  Biddle,  James  Allen,  Henry 
Elwes,  James  Loyre;  1766,  Isaac  Hunt,  David  Thompson,  James 
Vandyke;  1767,  William  Hicks,  James  Wilson;  1769,  Jacob  Eush, 
Miers  Fisher,  Daniel  Clymer,  John  Euley,  Stephen  Watts;  1770, 
Abel  Evans,  Thomas  Good,  James  Lukens;  1773,  Joseph  Eead, 
George  Noarth,  Jacob  Bankson,  Francis  Johnson,  Asheton  Hum- 
phreys; 1772,  Eichard  Tilghman,  John  Lawrence,  Peter  Zacliary 
Lloyd;  1773,  Christian  Hook,  William  L.  Blair,  Phineas  Bond,  John 
Stedman,  John  McPherson,  William  Lewis;  1774,  Edward  Tilgh- 
man, Gunning  Bedford;  1775,  Andrew  Eobeson,  John  Vannost; 
1776,  William  Prince  Gibbs,  Collinson  Eead. 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  559 

Of  those  above  named  Beujamin  Chew  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent.  In  1755  he  became  attorney-general  of  the  Province 
and  he  was  president  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Phila- 
delphia. From  1774  to  177G  he  was  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Province,  and  from  1790  to  ISOG  he  was  president  of 
the  High  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals,  this  court  being  abolished 
in  1806,  upon  the  reorganization  of  the  judiciary  department. 

Another  prominent  man  whose  name  is  in  the  above  list  was 
Thomas  McKean.  He  was  born  in  New  London  Township,  Ches- 
ter County,  March  19,  1734,  and  in  1757  was  elected  to  the  Assem- 
bly of  the  Province.  From  1762  to  1769  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Assembly  from  New  Castle  County,  In  1765  assisting  in  framing 
the  address  of  the  colonies  to  the  House  of  Commons  of  England. 
He  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  first  Provincial,  or  "Stamp  Act,*' 
Congress,  which  was  dissolved  October  24,  1765.  In  1774  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  was  annually 
re-elected  until  1783.  In  1778  he  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
which  framed  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  in  1781  he  was 
president  of  Congress.  He  Avas  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania 
convention  which  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
He  had  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  had  served 
during  a  part  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution  under  Washington,  in 
command  of  a  battalion.  He  was  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  from 
1798  to  1808,  and  was  distinguished  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his 
time.     His  death  occurred  June  24, 1817. 

One  more  of  the  above-named  attorneys  was  an  unusually  able 
man,  Hon.  James  Wilson,  and  was  distinguished  as  being  both  a 
great  lawyer  and  a  great  orator.  He  was  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1789  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Washington  an  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  holding  the  office  until  his 
death  in  1798.  One  of  his  sons,  Eev.  Bird  Wilson,  LL.  D.,  D.  D., 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  lawyers  and  divines  of  the  early 


56o  CH  ESTER     COUXTV 

day.  He  was  born  in  1777,  and  in  1806  was  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor McKean  president  jndsje  of  tlie  judicial  district  composed 
of  Chester,  Delaware,  Bucks  and  Montgomery  Counties,  holding 
the  office  until  1818,  when  he  became  a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Ordained  deacon  by  Bishop  William  White,  D.  D.,  March 
12,  1810,  he  became  a  priest  in  1820.  After  about  a  year's  rector- 
.ship  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Norristown  he  became  a  professor 
in  tlie  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  NeAV  York, 
and  occupied  this  position  twenty-nine  years.  He  died  April  14, 
1859,  aged  eight^'-two  years. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  attorneys  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Chester  County  from  1776  to  1800,  some  of  Avhom  it  will  be  seen 
were  readmitted  after  the  Eevolutionary  War,  none  being  permit- 
ted to  practice  law  except  those  who  supported  the  order  of  things 
brought  about  by  that  war: 

1777. — John  Morris,  Andrew  liobeson,  ^VilliaIll  Lewis,  Will- 
iam L.  Blair,  John  Kaley. 

1778. — George  Boss,  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant,  Jacob 
Bush,  Elisha  Price,  Alexander  Wilcocks,  Gunning  Bedford,  John 
Pancoast. 

1779. — Edward  Burd,  Francis  Johnston,  Henry  Osborne, 
CJeorge  Campbell,  Jacob  Baukson,  Jared  Ingersoll,  William  Brad- 
ford, Jr. 

1780. — Moses  Levy. 

1781. — Nicholas  Vandyke,  John  Coxe,  William  Moore  Smith, 
John  Lawrence,  Nathaniel  Potts. 

1782.— Joseph  Eeed,  John  F.  Mifflin,  Daniel  Clymer,  John  ^^in- 
ing. 

1783. — John  Wilkes  Kittera,  Henry  H.  Graham,  William 
Kawle. 

1781. — William  Ewing. 

1785. — Peter  Zachary  Lloyd,  Jacob  E.  Howell,  Thomas  Eoss, 
James  Hanna,  John  Andra  Hanna,  Joseph  B.  McKean,  .John  Todd. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  561 

1786. — Eobert  Hodson,  Charles  Smith,  John  Young',  Benjamin 
Chew,  Jr.,  B.  II.  Morgan,  .Jr.,  Bichard  Wharton,  Thomas  Mem- 
mi  nger. 

1787. — David  Smith,  James  Wade,  John  Joseph  Henry,  Will- 
iam E.  Atlee,  W.  Montgomery,  Sampson  Levy,  James  Hopkins, 
Samuel  Roberts,  Samuel  Bayard,  Matthias  Baldwin,  James  A. 
Bayard. 

1788. — Thomas  Armstrong,  Peter  S.  Duponceau,  Jasper 
Yeates,  Peter  Hoofnagle,  Joseph  Hubley,  William  Graham. 

1789. — John  Hallowell,  Joseph  Thomas,  Robert  Porter,  Charles 
Healty,  Anthony  Morris,  John  Craig  Wells,  John  Cadwallader, 
John  Moore. 

1790. — Thomas  B.  Dick,  Abraham  Chapman,  .John  Thompson, 
Marks  John  Biddle,  David  Moore,  Isaac  Telfair. 

1791. — Robert  Henry  Dnrkin,  Seth  Chapman. 

1792. — Miles  Merion,  Robert  Frazer,  John  Price. 

1793. — Thomas  W.  Tallman,  John  H.  Brinton,  Evan  Rice 
Evans,  Joseph  Hemphill,  Michael  Kepple,  John  Shippen,  Henry 
Kelmuth,  A.  W.  Foster. 

1794. — Jacob  Richards,  Joseph  B.  Hopkinson,  William  Martin. 

1795. — J.  Harvey  Hurst,  James  Hunter,  Jr.,  James  Milner, 
James  Lattimer,  Jr.,  John  Cloyd,  Joseph  Reid,  Isaac  Wayne. 

1797. — W.  Lee  Hannum. 

1798.— C.  Chauncey,  Jr. 

1799.— Jonathan  T.  Haight,  John  Taylor,  William  Hemphill. 

Jacob  Rush,  mentioned  above  as  having  been  admitted  in  1778, 
was  a  brother  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.  He  was  president  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Philadelphia,  of  the  Court  of  Errors 
and  Appeals,  and  also  of  the  Supreme  Court.  John  Lawrence  and 
John  Coxe  were  judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  Moses  Levy  was  president  of  the  District  Court  of  I'hila- 
delphia.  Jonathan  D.  Sergeant  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  and  was  attorney-general  of  the  State  from  1777  to  1780. 


562  CHESTER     COUNTY 

William  Bradford,  after  whom  Bradford  County  was  named,  be- 
came attorneY-general  in  1780,  and  was  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  from  1791  to  1794,  becoming  in  the  lat- 
ter year  attorney-general  of  the  United  States  by  appointment  by 
President  Washington.  Jared  Ingersoll,  admitted  to  the  Chester 
County  bar  in  1779,  was  twice  attorney-general  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  president  judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Philadelphia  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  Joseph  B.  McKean,  a  son  of  Governor  McKean, 
succeeded  Jared  Ingersoll  as  attornej'-general,  and  also  served  as 
president  of  the  District  Court  of  Philadelphia.  Jasper  Yeates 
became  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and 
Seth  Chajjmau  became  a  district  judge. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  attorneys  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Chester  County  from  1800  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the 
l^bellion  in  ISGl: 

1800. — Jonathan  W.  Condy,  John  Sergeant,  T.  Barton  Zantzin- 
ger  and  William  Dewees. 

ISOl. — Isaac  Darlington. 

1803. — James  D.  Barnard,  Thomas  Sergeant,  Samuel  Jacobs, 
John  Ewing  Porter. 

1804.— John  Duer. 

1806.— John  Edwards,  Charles  W.  Humphrey. 

1807.— Eeuben  Eachus. 

1808.- Ziba  Pyle. 

1809. — Jefferis  Moore,  Matthias  Morris  and  Daniel  Addis. 

1810.— Blaithwaite  J.  Shober,  Archibald  T.  Dick. 

1811.— Philip  S.  Markley,  Michael  W.  Ash, 

1813. — Benjamin  Tilghman,  Thomas  Breintnall. 

1814. — James  Madison  Porter,  William  B.  Smith,  Clement  B. 
Buckley,  Henry  Shii^pen,  John  Kerlin,  Benjamin  Evans. 

1815. — George  B.  Porter,  Samuel  Edwards. 

1816.— George  C.  Willing,  William  H.  Dillingham,  Isaac  D. 
Barnard,  Thomas  Kittera,  Thomas  A.  Maybin. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  563 

ISIS. — Towusend  Haines. 

1S19. — Jesse  Conard. 

1820.— William  WilliamsoD. 

1821.— William  S.  Haines,  David  Paul  Brown,  Thomas  S.  Bell, 
Edward  Darlington,  Henry  II.  Van  Ami'inge,  John  Freedley  and 
Samuel  Parke. 

1822.- Abraham  Marshall. 

1821.— Daniel  Buekwalter,  John  D.  Pettit. 

182.5. — Matthias  Pennypacker,  Francis  James,  .Joseph  J.  Lewis, 
Lewis  G.  Pearce,  Owen  Stover. 

182G. — Benjamin  Bartholomew,  William  Darlington,  James  M. 
Kinnard,  Davis  H.  Hoopes. 

1827.— John  K.  Zellin,  Levi  B.  Smith. 

1828.- William  McK.  Ball,  John  H.  Bradley,  Kobert  B.  Dod- 
son,  James  A.  Hemphill,  .James  S.  Tongue. 

1829.— Mark  Denny,  Joseph  Hemphill,  Kichard  Bailey,  P.  Fra- 
zer  Smith. 

1830.— Lea  Bennett,  John  Butter. 

1831. — Volney  Lee  Maxwell,  Uriah  V.  Pennypacker. 

1832.— John  H.  Briuton. 

1833. — .John  Hickman. 

1831. — Horatio  G.  Worrall. 

1835. — Addison  May. 

1836.— William  Wheeler. 

1839.— Ferdinand  E.  Hayes. 

1840.— William  Penn  Miner,  James  H.  Bull,  B.  Franklin  Pyle. 

1812.— John  S.  Bowen,  George  W.  Pearce,  Matthew  A.  Stanley. 

1813.— J.  Smith  Futhey,  James  Davis,  Joseph  B.  Townsend, 
William  M.  Bull,  Howard  Darlington. 

1811.— John  M.  Broomall,  Isaac  D.  Pyle,  Washingtcm  Town- 
send,  John  P.  Baily,  Edward  H.  Williamson,  Samuel  B.  Thomas, 
Thomas  H.  Speakman. 

1815.— James  B.  Everhart,  Joseph  P.  Wilson,  James  A.  Gil- 


564  CHESTER     COUXTY 

more,  William  G.  Smith,  William  Parker  Foulke,  William  Butler. 

1846.— William  E.  Barber,  William  Nicholson,  Thomas  P. 
Potts,  W.  Eoss  Cunuiugham,  Henry  C.  Townsend. 

1847. — James  P.  Fleming,  Paschall  Woodward. 

1848. — Robert  E.  Monaghan,  Joseph  R.  Morris,  Samuel  Rush, 
Robert  Frazer,  James  M.  Meredith,  James  L.  Jones. 

1849. — Ezra  Lewis,  Edward  Shippen,  Jesse  Landis,  John  F. 
Roberts,  Charles  H.  Garber. 

1850. — Franklin  Pennington,  Clinton  Auge. 

1851. — Francis  Darlington,  A.  Herr  Smith. 

1852.— William  Bell  Waddell,  William  L.  Marshall,  Jesse 
Bishop,  Levi  Kimes. 

1853.— EdAvard  J.  Lewis,  Charles  D.  Manley,  AYilliam  H.  Dar- 
lington. 

1854. — B.  Markley  Boyer,  James  Merrill  Linn. 

1855. — W.  Arthur  Jackson. 

1856. — Wayne  MacVeagh. 

1857. — James  J.  Creigh,  Egbert  K.  Nichols,  George  W.  Conar 
roe,  Samuel  M.  Du  Bois,  Francis  C.  Hooton. 

1858.— George  M.  Roberts,  Cheyney  W.  Xeilds,  Henry  M.  Mc- 
Intire. 

1859. — Thomas  S.  Bell,  Jr.,  George  M.  Rupert. 

I860.— William  T.  Haines,  Henry  W.  Carruthers,  John  J.  Pink- 
erton,  W.  M.  Hinkson,  Gardner  Furness,  George  W.  Wollaston  and 
J.  C.  Price. 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  attorneys  admitted  to  the  bar  since 
1860: 

1861.— William  T.  Fulton. 

1862. — Oliver  Sidwell,  Henry  C.  Bergstresser. 

1863. — John  J.  Pyle,  Abraham  Wagner,  Elbridge  Meconkey, 
David  Ruth. 

1864. — Rees  Davis,  Joseph  Hemphill,  George  F.  Smith,  Will- 
iam W.  Hayes,  John  A.  McCaughey. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  565 

1865.— Joseph  Beale,  William  J.  Gibsou,  William  H.  White- 
head, James  Alien  Morris. 

1866.— Augustus  J.  Feather,  Nimrod  Strickland,  Jr.,  Alfred  P. 
Keid,  liobert  T.  Cornwell. 

1867.— William  T.  McPhail,  Joseph  W.  Barnard. 

1869. — Charles  H.  Pennypacker. 

1870.— Joseph  T.  Perdue,  D.  Smith  Talbot. 

1871. — Abner  Pjle,  Thomas  W.  Pierce,  Samuel  D.  Ramsey, 
William  S.  Windle. 

1872.— Andrew  C.  Fulton,  William  B.  Keid,  Henry  H.  Gilky- 
son,  Charles  Wesley  Talbot,  Francis  Windle,  B.  F.  McAtee. 

1873. — George  L.  Maris,  Kobert  J.  Monaghan,  Isaac  Newton 
Wynu,  Frederick  S.  Dickson,  John  B.  Kinnard. 

1871. — William  E.  Dingee,  Curtis  H.  Hannum. 

1875.- Theodore  K.  Stubbs,  Thomas  B.  Taylor. 

1876. — Ezra  Evans,  John  A.  Groff,  William  T.  Barber. 

1877.— Thomas  S.  Butler,  Archibald  D.  Thomas,  H.  T.  Fair- 
lamb. 

1878. — John  Jay  Gheen,  J.  Newton  Huston,  Edward  D.  Bing- 
ham. 

1879. — James  Monaghan,  William  N.  Needles,  Jr. 

1880. — Samuel  H.  Holding,  George    B.  Johnson,  Wilmer  W. 
MacElree. 

1881. — John  Austin  Purcell,    Benjamin    Miller,    Leonard   R. 
Thomas. 

1882.— William  Rhoads  Murphy. 

1883.— J.  Frank  E.  Hause,  Thomas  W.  Baldwin. 

1884.— Archibald  McCall  Holding,  Arthur  T.  Parke. 

1885.— Robert  Scott  Waddell,  Wallace  Scott  Harlan,  William 
Butler,  Jr.,  Barton  Darlington,  N.  Warren  Talbot. 

1886.— Henry  P.  Waitueight. 

1887.— S.  Duffield  Mitchell,  William  S.  Harris. 

1888.— R.  E.  M.  Strickland,  William  W.  Montgomery,  Wilbur 
S.  Yearsley. 


566  CHESTER     COUNTY      \ 

1889. — Gibbons  Gray  Cornwell,  Joseph  H.  Baldwin. 

1890.— Joseph  McClellan  Bell. 

1891. — Thomas  Lack,  John  Russell  Hayes. 

1892.— J.  Carroll  Hayes. 

1893.— John  Noble  Guss,  Hector  Lee  Ball. 

1897. — Isabel  Darlington,  Carroll  Brinton  Jacobs. 

1898.— George  S.  Dewees. 

The  Chester  County  I^aw  and  Miscellaneous  Library  Associa- 
tion was  organized  December  1,  1861,  by  the  members  of  the 
Chester  County  bar.  The  first  meeting  of  the  association  was  held 
at  the  office  of  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  who  presided  over  the  meeting, 
and  William  B.  Waddell  was  the  secretary.  After  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution  Joseph  J.  Lewis  was  chosen  president  of  the 
association,  and  George  M.  Iiupert,  secretary,  treasurer  and  libra- 
rian. The  first  executive  committee  was  composed  of  J.  Smith 
Futhey,  William  B.  AVaddell  and  TS'ashington  Townsend. 

January  22,  1877,  at  an  annual  meeting  Joseph  J.  Lewis, 
William  Darlington  and  William  B.  Waddell  were  appointed  to 
secure  the  grand  jury  room  for  the  use  of  the  association,  report- 
ing to  the  association  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month  at  a  special 
meeting  that  an  arrangement  had  been  effected  with  the  com- 
missioners of  the  county  for  the  use  of  the  room.  This  room  was 
in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  old  court-house,  and  is  now  used 
for  the  cotirts  of  Judges  Hemphill  and  Butler. 

At  an  annual  meeting  of  the  association  held  June  5,  1891,  a 
motion  carried  in  favor  of  the  enlargement,  the  initial  movement 
having  this  object  in  view,  and  on  January  4,  1892,  the  committee 
on  enlargement  reported  that  the  plans  had  been  completed  and 
the  erection  of  the  addition  or  annex  begun.  May  13,  1893,  at  a 
special  meeting,  William  B.  Waddell  announced  that  the  room  as- 
signed to  the  library  association,  which  is  in  the  south  end  of  the 
annex,  was  ready  for  occupation,  and  the  books  were  soon  after- 
ward removed  thereto. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  567 

The  libraiT-  at  the  present  time  contains  the  following  classes 
of  books:  The  statutes  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  from  the  earl- 
iest times  clown  to  the  present;  all  the  Pennsylvania  State  reports, 
and  most  of  the  side  bar  reports  from  the  earliest  times;  all  the 
British  common  law  and  equity  reports  commencing  with  Lord 
Coke  in  1562  and  coming  down  to  the  present  time;  the  reports 
of  the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Massachusetts;  re- 
ports of  the  courts  of  various  other  States;  a  complete  series  of 
the  reports  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States;  numerous 
editions  of  general  reports  covering  the  entire  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain;  and  editions  of  text  books  cov- 
ering all  branches  of  the  law.  This  also  contains  numerous  curi- 
osities of  legal  literature  in  the  form  of  old  black  letter  volumes 
setting  forth  the  functions  of  justices  of  the  peace,  etc.,  as  they 
were  defined  in  the  earliest  times,  obtained  by  Judge  Hemphill 
from  the  British  Museum.  There  are  also  bound  volumes  of  the 
American  Republican  from  its  earliest  issues  down  to  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion,  and  numerous  miscellaneous  works.  The  number 
of  volumes  of  all  kinds  now  in  the  library  is  6,745. 

The  officers  of  the  association  at  the  present  time  are  as  fol- 
lows: William  M.  Hayes,  president;  Thomas  Lack,  secretary  and 
treasurer,  and  A.  M.  Holding,  librarian.  The  executive  com- 
mittee consists  of  A.  P.  Reid,  J.  J.  Pinkerton  and  J.  Frank  E. 
Hause. 


J^X^^<j' 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MINING  AND  MANUFACTURING, 


33 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MINING     AND    MANUFACTURING FIRST    IRON    MINES    OPENED — LEAD     MINING 

BOGUS    MONEY FURNACES THE    LAW    OF    I750 — SLITTING    AND    ROLLING 

MILLS FORGES — ^PRODUCTS — BLISTER    STEEL CANNON    CAST LATER 

EXPERIMENTS    IN    STEEL RECENT  IRON  WORKS — ORE    DEPOSITS — 

COPPER— MARBLE OTHER     STONE VARIOUS     MANUFACTUR- 
ING    ESTABLISHMENTS PERSONAL     NOTES. 

IT  appears  to  be  certainly  true  that  one  of  the  first  miners  of 
lead  in  Chester  County,  if  not  the  first,  was  Charles  Pickering, 
after  whom,  as  stated  elsewhere  in  this  work,  Pickering  Creek 
was  named,  and  also  Charlestown  Township.  Charles  Pickering 
was  an  Englishman,  and  owned  land  in  the  above-named  town- 
ship and  also  in  Schu.ylkill  Township.  He  had  for  his  principal 
assistant  a  man  named  Samuel  Buckley,  whose  house  was  situated 
on  Zachariah  Acker's  farm  in  Schuylkill  Township.  These  two 
men  in  addition  to  mining  lead  also  obtained  silver  to  some  ex- 
tent, by  melting  the  galena  in  an  ordinary  forge,  and  from  the 
silver  thus  obtained  they  manufactured  silver  coins,  using  copper 
as  their  alloy,  or  "allay,"  as  it  was  called  at  that  time.  For  this 
offense  Messrs.  Pickering  and  Buckley  were  tried  before  Governor 
William  Penn  and  a  council,  consisting  of  Thomas  Holmes,  Lasse 
Cock,  William  Biles,  William  Clayton,  Chr.  Taylor,  and  John  Sym- 
cock,  the  trial  commencing  on  the  24:th  of  the  8th  mo.,  1683. 

On  this  day  Governor  William  Penn  informed  the  board  that 
it  was  convenient  that  warrant  should  be  sent  from  the  board 
to  apprehend  some  persons  upon  suspicion  of  putting  away  bad 
money.  The  first  person  called  on  to  testify  was  Robert  Felton,  to 
whom  the  question  was  put  as  to  whether  he  had  received  any 

573 


574  CHESTER     COUXTY 

silver  of  Charles  Pickering  "to  Quine  for  Lim."  He  answered: 
"Yes,  twenty-four  pounds  of  Bard  silver.''  He  also  said  that  he 
made  the  scales  and  that  Charles  Pickering  and  Samuel  Buckley 
helped  him.  The  next  question  asked  him  was:  "What  did  they 
add  to  the  allay  of  the  15  lb.  2  oz.  of  silver?''  He  answered: 
"About  4  oz.  of  copi)er."  "And  what  to  the  9  lb.  of  silver?'' 
"About  3  or  i  oz.  of  copper,"  but  he  could  not  be  exact,  however, 
as  to  the  allay,  because  they  did  sometimes  put  in  more  than  he 
knew  of.  Robert  Felton  also  said  that  he  had  no  silver  brought 
to  him  but  by  the  persons  above  named,  and  he  "scroopled  to  do 
it,  the  silver  having  already  been  allayed,  and  if  they  did  not  put 
more  copper  in  it  they  would  lose  by  it,  and  they  said  they  would 
Bare  him  out  in  what  he  did  for  them." 

The  Governor  then  told  Charles  Pickering  and  Samuel  Buck- 
ley of  their  abuse  to  the  government  in  "Quining"  of  Spanish  bitts 
and  Boston  money,  to  the  great  damage  and  abuse  of  the  subjects 
thereof,  and  he  asked  them  if  they  were  guilty  of  the  fact.  They 
confessed  they  had  put  off  some  of  those  new  bitts,  but  they  said 
that  all  their  money  was  as  good  silver  as  any  Spanish  money, 
but  they  denied  that  they  had  any  hand  in  the  matter  of  "quining." 
Charles  Pickering  said  he  would  stand  by  and  be  tried,  and  he 
declared  that  he  had  heard  John  Rush  swear  that  he  spent  half 
his  time  in  making  the  bitts. 

The  Governor  then  asked  Samuel  Buckley  if  he  had  not  helped 
to  melt  money  and  to  put  in  some  of  the  copper  allaj-  into  the 
silver  more  than  should  be,  and  to  have  been  at  the  stamping  of 
new  bitts  and  striking  on  the  stamp.  Samuel  Buckley  confessed 
that  "he  had  been  guilty  of  somewhat  of  that,"  and  also  that  he 
had  knowledge  as  to  the  amount  of  copper  put  into  the  silver  that 
was  melted.  He  also  admitted  that  he  had  helped  Charles  Pick- 
ering's man  to  melt  the  silver  and  to  strike  the  hammer  and  to  see 
the  silver,  and  to  disperse  some  of  the  bitts,  more  or  less.  He 
also  confessed  that  there  was  more  copper  put  into  the  silver  than 
there  should  be. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  575 

Cliarles  Pickering  and  Saninel  Buckley  were  then  required  to 
give  bail  in  the  sum  of  £500  each  to  appear  at  the  next  opening 
of  the  court,  which  was  the  next  day,  when  it  was  ordered  that 
an  indictment  be  brought  against  them  both.  Griffith  Jones  testi- 
fied against  Mr.  Pickering,  as  also  did  Mary  Bartholomew.  The 
grand  jury  brought  in  the  indictment,  and  the  petit  jury  taking 
the  case,  in  a  short  time  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty  as  they 
were  indicted. 

The  Governor  then  imposed  sentence  on  Charles  Pickering  to 
the  effect  that  he  should  make  full  satisfaction  of  good  and  current 
pay  to  every  person  that  should  within  one  month  bring  in  any 
of  this  false,  base  and  counterfeit  "coyne,"  according  to  their 
respective  proportions,  and  the  money  should  be  melted  down  into 
gross  before  it  was  returned  to  him,  and  that  he  should  pay  a 
line  of  £J:0  into  the  court  toward  the  building  of  a  new  court-house 
in  that  city,  and  should  stand  committed  until  the  hue  was  paid, 
and  that  afterward  he  should  find  security  for  his  good  "abear- 
ance." 

Then  Samuel  Buckley  was  sentenced,  but  "being  considered 
more  Engenious  than  he  that  went  before,  they  hath  thought  fit 
to  fine  thee  £10  toward  the  public  court-house,  and  that  thee  find 
good  security  as  to  thy  good  abearance." 

Kobert  Felton  was  sentenced  to  stand  in  the  stocks  one  hour 
the  next  morning. 

The  proclamation  of  the  Governor  notifying  all  that  held 
auy  of  the  spurious  or  counterfeit  coin  to  bring  it  in  within  one 
month  was  issued  on  the  27th  of  that  month. 

As  stated  above,  Pickering  Creek  was  named  after  Charles 
Pickering.  It  had  been  formerly  named  "Vincent  River.''  French 
Creek  was  also  called  ^'inceut  Kiver,  but  at  what  time  the  change  in 
name  was  made  in  ethier  case  is  not  now  known.  Sir  Francis 
Vincent  was  a  large  laud  owner  in  that  part  of  the  county  in  those 
days,  and  the  two  streams  must  have  been  named  after  him. 


576  CHESTER     COUXTY 

The  most  valuable  mineral  in  Chester  Connty  is  its  iron  ore, 
which  is  found  in  various  parts  of  the  county  and  has  been  rained 
for  many  years.  This  industry  began  in  171t>,  Thomas  llutter 
establishing  the  industry  at  Pool  Forge,  three  miles  above  Potts- 
town.  In  1718  Samuel  Nutt  took  out  patents  for  400  acres  of  land 
in  one  place  and  800  acres  in  another,  on  French  Creek.  The 
400  acres  here  mentioned  is  believed  to  be  the  property  now 
owned  by  I.  J.  Brower  and  Dr.  Z.  Taylor  Chrisman.  In  1719  there 
were  surveyed  650  acres  at  Warwick  Furnace;  in  1720  there  was 
laid  out  300  acres  in  Coventry,  and  in  1721  Mr.  Nutt  purchased 
300  acres  in  Coventry. 

There  were  in  operation  at  this  early  day  several  forges  and 
furnaces  in  the  northern  part  of  the  countyj  as  the  Pool  Forge 
and  Warwick  Furnace  above  mentioned.  On  French  Creek  there 
was  a  forge  in  operation  before  1720,  which  was  assessed  in 
1722  in  Nantmeal,  and  in  1721  in  Coventry,  so  that  it  must  have 
been  on  the  line  or  very  near  it.  Nutt's  road  was  laid  out  in  1726 
from  the  iron-works  on  St.  Vincent  River  in  tlie  township  of 
Coventry  leading  to  Uwchlan  Meeting-house,  beginning  at  the 
forge  and  passing  over  Mt.  Austrie  at  the  distance  of  four  miles. 
In  1736  Mr.  Samuel  Nutt  and  W.  Branson  agreed  with  John  Potts 
to  carry  on  Redding  Furnace,  then  recently  built  near  Coventry. 
Soon  afterward  the  widow  Nutt  and  her  daughter  built  War- 
wick Furnace.  Another  furnace  was  built  one  and  a  half  miles 
further  up  the  creek,  and  the  interests  of  all  parties  were  consoli- 
dated by  Rutter  &  Potts,  of  the  Warwick  Furnace,  which  consoli- 
dation lasted  from  1778  to  1783. 

An  iron-works  was  established  on  Crum  Creek,  in  wliat  is  now 
Delaware  County,  but  in  what  was  then  Chester  County,  in  1712, 
by  John  Crosby  and  Peter  Dicks,  and  as  one  of  the  consequences 
Thomas  Dell  complained  that  the  dam  overflowed  his  land.  Sarum 
Forg«  on  Chester  Creek  was  owned  by  John  Taylor  and  ^as  worked 
from  1745  to  1751,  at  least.     In  1748  the  Swedish  naturalist,  Peter 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  ^77 

Kalm,  passed  through  the  lower  part  of  Chester  County,  spend- 
ing some  time  at  Chichester,  "a  borough  on  the  Delaware,  where 
travellers  pass  the  river  in  a  ferry,  and  where  they  build  every 
year  a  number  of  small  ships  for  sale,  and  froin  an  iron-work 
Avhich  lies  higher  up  in  the  country  they  carry  iron  bars  to  this 
place  and  ship  them.  About  two  English  miles  behind  Chester 
I  passed  an  iron  forge,  which  was  to  the  right  hand  by  the  road- 
side. It  belonged  to  two  brothers,  as  I  am  told.  The  ore,  how- 
ever, is  not  dug  here,  but  thirty  or  forty  miles  hence,  where  it  is 
first  melted  in  an  oven  and  then  carried  to  this  place."  This 
must  have  been  the  forge  on  Crum  Creek,  mentioned  above,  and 
the  ore  must  have  been  dug  in  what  is  now  Chester  County. 

A  most  remarkable  fact  connected  with  the  early  iron  indus- 
tries of  this  and  other  counties  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  other 
counties  must  be  mentioned  here,  James  Hamilton  was  then 
Deputy  Governor,  serving  fi'om  1748  to  1754,  and  in  pursuance 
of  an  act  of  Parliament  having  for  its  object  the  restriction  of 
the  manufacture  of  iron  in  the  colonies.  Governor  Hamilton  issued 
his  proclamation  requiring  the  sheriffs  of  the  several  counties  to 
make  a  return  to  him  of  "every  mill  or  engine  for  slitting  or  rolling 
iron,  every  plating  forge  to  work  with  a  tilt  hammer,  and  every 
furnace  for  making  steel  which  were  erected  within  their  several 
and  respective  counties,"  the  date  of  this  proclamation  being 
June  24,  1750.  In  response  to  this  proclamation  John  Owen, 
then  sheriff  of  Chester  County,  certified  "that  there  is  but  one 
mill  or  engine  for  slitting  and  rolling  iron  within  the  county 
aforesaid,  which  is  situate  in  Thornbury  Township,  and  was 
erected  in  the  year  1746  by  John  Taylor,  the  present  proprietor 
thereof,  who,  with  his  servants  and  workmen,  has  ever  since 
the  24th  day  of  June  last  used  and  occupied  the  same."  Sheriff 
Owen  also  certified  that  there  was  not  any  plating  forge  to  work 
with  a  tilt-hammer  nor  any  furnace  for  making  steel  within 
the  county  of  Chester. 


578  CHESTER     COUNTY 

What  had  become  of  the  iron-works  ■nitliin  two  English  miles 
of  Chester,  as  seen  by  Peter  Kalm,  above  mentioned,  can  only 
be  guessed  at.  They  must  have  gone  into  disuse,  for  Peter  Kalm 
was  too  careful  an  observer  to  make  a  mistake  in  such  a  simple 
and  important  mattei',  and  Sheriff  Owen  was  too  honest  to  certify 
to  a  misstatement. 

The  partnership  between  Branson  and  Anna  Ntitt,  widow  of 
Samuel  Nutt,  who  died  about  the  close  of  the  year  1737,  and  Mrs. 
Kutt's  nephew  was  continued  as  if  Mr.  Xutt  had  not  died,  for 
several  years,  terminating  jjrobably  aboiit  1740,  after  Avhich  the 
Warwick  and  Reading  estates  were  conducted  independently  of 
each  other.  Warwick  Furnace  was  built  on  land  devised  to  Mrs. 
Anna  Nutt  by  her  husband  for  that  purpose,  and  the  property 
remained  in  the  possession  of  her  descendants,  by  the  name  of 
Potts,  except  that  in  1771  a  half  interest  was  purchased  therein 
by  Thomas  Eutter. 

William  Branson  erected  a  second  furnace  in  what  is  now 
Warwick  Township,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  Warwick 
Furnace,  which,  according  to  tradition,  melted  ore  before  the 
Heading  Furnace.  William  Branson  obtained  a  warrant  for  2,000 
acres  of  land  on  French  Creek  near  the  iron-works  on  July  12, 
1733,  and  on  November  29,  1736,  he  obtained  another  warrant 
for  1,500  acres  in  the  township  of  Nantmeal,  near  French  Creek. 
William  Branson  died  in  1760  and  his  grandchildren,  fifteen  in 
number,  inherited  his  property.  The  interests  of  all  these  heirs 
were  purchased  by  Eutter  «&  Potts,  by  several  conveyances,  from 
1778  to  1783,  as  stated  above. 

In  his  "History  of  New  Sweden"  (1759)  Acrelius  writes  of 
iron-Avorks  in  Chester  County  as  follows: 

"Friends'  (French)  Creek,  in  Chester  County,  near  the  Schuyl- 
kill. The  mine  is  rich  and  baundant,  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  deep, 
commencing  on  the  surface.  Its  discoverer  is  Mr.  Nutt,  who  after- 
ward took   Mr.  Branz  (Branson)   into  partnership.     They  both 


AND     /TO     PEOPLE.  579 

went  to  England,  brought  workmen  back  with  them  and 
continued  together.  Eacli  lias  his  own  furnace — Branz  at  head- 
ing, Xutt  in  Warwick.  Each  also  has  his  own  forges — Branz  in 
\^'indsor.  Nutt  supplies  four  forges  besides  his  own  in  Chester 
County. 

"Sarum  belongs  to  Taylor's  heirs;  has  three  stacks,  and  is  in 
full  blast. 

"C'rum  Creek  belongs  to  Peter  Dicks;  has  two  stacks,  is  worked 
sluggishly,  and  has  ruined  Crosby's  family. 

"Two  others  are  in  the  Great  Valley. 

"At  French  Creek,  or  Branz's  works,  there  is  a  steel  furnace, 
built  with  a  drauglit-hole,  and  called  an  'air-oven."  In  this  iron 
bars  are  set  at  the  distance  of  an  inch  apart.  Between  them 
are  scattered  horn,  coal-dust,  ashes,  etc.  The  iron  bars  are  thus 
covered  with  blisters,  and  this  is  called  'blister-steel.'  It  serves 
as  the  best  steel  to  put  upon  edge-tools.  These  steel  works  are 
now  said  to  be  out  of  operation." 

It  will  also  be  of  interest  to  note  that  on  January  IS,  1745, 
John  Taylor,  mentioned  above  as  the  owner  of  8arum  Forge, 
made  an  agreement  with  Thomas  Wills,  forgeman  and  liner,  who 
was  to  work  in  the  forge  two  years,  making  anconies  at  22s.  (id. 
per  ton,  and  with  Bees  Jones  on  June  10,  1710,  to  coal  200  cords 
of  wood  in  Middletown  for  lis.  8d.  per  100  bushels.  In  1851  John 
Taylor  sent  an  invoice  of  bar-iron  to  Mr.  Plumsted  of  Philadel- 
phia, for  shipment  to  Boston,  asking  for  the  returns  to  be  made 
in  oil,  loaf-sugar  and  rum. 

After  its  purchase  by  Butter  &  Potts,  Beading  Furnace  was 
permitted  to  fall  into  decay  and  was  replaced  by  a  forge,  which 
in  17SS  was  owned  by  Captain  Samuel  Van  Leer,  a  grandson  of 
William  Branson,  the  forge  being  carried  on  successfully  f(tr  many 
years  by  Captain  Van  Leer  ^.-  Sons,  but  at  length  it  had  its  fall 
and  decline. 

Mordecai  Peirsol,  about  17G4,  built  Bebecca  Furnace,  which 


5  So  CHESTER     COUNTY 

was  supplied  Avith  ore  from  Jones'  mines.  In  1793  this  furnace 
was  owned  by  Jacob  Vinance,  Thomas  Tvutter,  Sarah  May  and 
Samuel  Potts,  but  in  1794  it  was  discontinued  because  farmers 
refused  longer  to  sell  wood  for  charcoal. 

In  1786  Jesse  Potts  was  assessed  in  Coventry  for  a  steel  fur- 
nace, which  in  1787  appears  to  have  been  operated  by  Ellis  .Jones 

6  Co.,  and  in  1788  by  North  &  Evans.  In  178G  David  Moore  had  a 
forge  in  West  Nantmeal,  whicli  in  1788  appears  to  have  belonged 
to  James  Moore,  together  with  5»>1  acres  of  land.  At  Warwick 
Furnace,  during  the  year  177(>,  sixty  cannon  were  cast,  of  twelve 
and  eighteen-pound  caliber. 

Vincent  Forge  existed  during  the  later  years  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  was  owned  by  John  Young,  who  in  his  will  March  2, 
1781,  devised  it  to  his  son,  John,  upon  his  becoming  of  age.  In 
1788  it  appears  to  have  been  operated  by  James  Templin. 

Valley  Forge  was  built  originally  about  five-eighths  of  a  mile 
from  the  mouth  of  Valley  Creek,  in  Chester  County.  From  the 
spring  of  1757  it  was  operated  by  members  of  the  Potts  family 
until  its  destruction  by  the  British,  in  1777,  about  two  months 
before  the  American  army  encamped  at  this  historic  place.  Col. 
William  Dewees,  a  son  of  Sheriff  William  Dewees  of  Philadelphia, 
became  associated  with  the  Pottses  in  1771,  and  probably  pur- 
chased an  interest  in  1773.  Warwick  Furnace  furnished  the  iron 
for  this  forge.  After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  a  slit- 
ting mill  was  erected  in  Chester  County  by  Isaac  and  David  Potts, 
brothers.  In  1786  this  mill  and  a  forge  across  the  Schuylkill,  in 
Montgomery  County,  were  operated  by  Isaac  Potts  &  Company, 
the  "Company"  consisting  of  David  Potts  and  his  son  .James. 
In  1814  these  works  were  sold  to  John  Rogers  and  Joshua  Malin, 
the  latter  being  a  cousin  of  the  former,  and  the  manager  of  the 
works.  On  April  1,  1816,  Rogers  bought  iLalin's  half  interest 
in  the  property,  and  in  the  following  autumn  James  Woods  became 
a  partner   of  Rogers  and   manager  of  the  works.     Wood   com- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  581 

pleted  certain  improvements  began  by  Maliu  and  converted  it  into 
a  saw  factory  mainly,  but  also  manufactured  shovels,  spades, 
files  and  other  implements  of  industry.  At  the  rolling-mill  boiler- 
plate, sheet-iron  and  band-iron  were  made.  A  portion  of  this 
output  .was  slit  for  the  nail-mill  at  Phoenixville,  at  which  place 
there  were  no  such  facilities.  The  iron  used  by  Wood  was  obtained 
from  Laurel  Forge,  Coventi^y  Forge  and  Springton  Forge. 

Not  long  after  ISIS,  several  experiments  having  been  made, 
cast-steel  was  successfully  made  here  by  Wood,  clay  for  crucibles 
being  brought  from  Terth  Amboy.  Early  in  1821  Brooke  Evans, 
of  Sheffield,  England,  leased  the  property  from  Rogers,  converted 
the  gun  factory  and  rolling-mill  into  gun  factories,  raised  the 
roof  of  the  rolling-mill  and  added  two  stories  to  it,  and  at  Valley 
Forge  made  20,000  muskets.  Subsequently  this  building  was 
destroyed  hj  a  freshet,  but  the  building  on  the  Montgomerj' 
County  side,  after  serving  its  purpose  as  a  gun  factory,  was  en- 
larged and  converted  into  a  cotton  and  woolen  factory. 

Mary  Ann  Forge  was  built  in  1785  and  was  located  on  the 
north  branch  of  the  Brandywine,  two  miles  north  of  Downing- 
towu.  Springton  Forge  was  built  in  1766  and  was  five  miles  north 
of  Mary  Ann  Forge,  on  the  same  stream.  Hiberuia  Forge  was 
built  in  1793  on  West  Brandywine  Creek,  four  miles  north  of 
(.'oatesville.  A  small  rolling-mill  was  added  in  1837,  and  both 
were  abandoned  in  1880.  Kokeby  Eolling-mill  was  built  in  1795 
on  Buck  Run,  foui-  miles  south  of  Coatesville,  and  Brandywine 
Kolliug-mill  was  built  at  Coatesville  in  1810.  Sadsbury  Forges 
were  built  in  1800  and  1802  on  Octoraro  Creek,  near  Christiana. 
Kingwood  Forge,  also  near  Christiana,  was  built  in  1810,  was  in 
operation  as  late  as  1856,  since  which  time  it  has  been  abandoned. 
Pine  Grove  Forge  on  Octoraro  Creek,  was  built  in  1800,  and  in 
1841  a  small  rolling-mill  was  added  on  the  Chester  County  side 
of  the  line,  but  these  enterprises  have  been  abandoned.  Pleasant 
Garden  Forge  was  built  about  1806  and  was  about  two  miles  south- 


582  CHESTER     COl'lsTY 

west  of  New  London,  and  a  small  rolling-mill  was  built  about 
1845,  both  of  them  being  abandoned  soon  after  this  later  date. 

Eentgen's  Works,  which  obtained  considerable  celebrity  from 
the  attempts  made  there  to  manufacture  German  steel,  were  sit- 
uated in  Pikeland  Township.  They  were  established  in  1793,  and 
in  Swank's  history  of  iron  manufacture  it  is  stated  that  Ifentgeu, 
on  November  17,  1790,  obtained  a  patent  for  forging  round-iron, 
and  that  on  June  27,  1810,  he  obtained  a  patent  for  rolling-iron 
in  round  shapes. 

The  Pha^nix  Iron  ANorks  were  started  some  time  late  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century  for  the  manufacture  of  nails.  In  1828  they 
were  bought  at  sheriff's  sale  by  Eee-^es  &  Whitaker,  the  partners 
being  Benjamin  and  David  Keeves  and  James  and  Joseph  Whitaker. 
Reeves  &  Whitaker  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  the  works  and 
added  new  machinery,  building  a  new  and  improved  rolling-mill 
and  introducing  self-heading  nail  machinery,  thus  more  than  quad- 
rupling the  product  of  the  establishment.  They  also  erected  a 
charcoal  blast-furnace,  which  they  ran  until  wood  could  no  longer 
be  obtained,  and  in  1845  they  began  the  erection  of  two  anthracite 
coal  blast-furnaces,  and  in  1846  the  erection  of  a  rolling-mill  for 
the  manufacture  of  railroad  iron.  This  rolling-mill  was  at  the  time 
it  first  v\-ent  into  operation  at  least  equal  to  any  other  rolling- 
mill  in  this  country,  and  the  quality  of  its  output  was  equal  to 
that  of  any  similar  mill  in  England,  i^till  later  another  and  larger 
blast-furnace  was  erected,  the  mills  again  enlarged,  and  the  ma- 
chine shop  also  increased  in  capacity,  so  that  not  only  the  qualit}' 
of  the  mills  was  improved,  but  the  quantity  was  considerably 
increased. 

Up  to  the  close  of  the  Mar  railroad  rails  were  a  large  part  of 
the  product  of  these  mills,  but  since  then  attention  has  been  given 
more  to  the  manufacture  of  higher  and  finer  qualities  of  iron.  The 
manufacture  of  nails  was  transferred  from  these  works  to  other 
works  owned  by  the  same  firm  at  Bridgeton,  New  Jersey,  in  1848, 
the  nail-mill  being  at  that  time  burned  down  at  Phoenix ville. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  5^3 

Since  1828  the  owners  of  the  works  have  been  Reeves  it  Whit- 
aker,  Keeves,  Buck  &  Co.,  and  the  Plioenix  Iron  Company,  the 
Messrs.  Keeves  being  from  1828  to  1881  the  largest  owners.     The 
new   mill,   erected  some  time  previous  to  1881,  was  fire-proof, 
having  an  iron  frame,  iron  sides  and  slate  roof.     It  was  in  the 
last  named  vear  the  largest  single  mill  in  the  country.     At  these 
works  are  manufactured  all  kinds  of  structural  iron,  such  as  is 
used  by  architects,  engineers,  bridge  builders,  fancy  iron  workers, 
including  iron  beams  and  joists  used  in  buildings,  and  the  ribs 
and  decks  of  iron  ships.     These  works  rolled  out  most  of  the  iron 
used  for  ribs  and  decks  of  ships  built  on  the  Delaware  River,  includ- 
ing iron  steamers  running  in  the  interest  of  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Company  to  Liverpool,  and  those  built  at  Chester  for  the 
Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company.     They  also  made  for  the  govern- 
ment large  numbers  of  wrought-iron  guns  during  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  these  guns  being  an  invention  of  Mr.  John  Griffeu,  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  company  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  years, 
dying  in  1881.     The  number  supplied  was  about  500,  and  they  were 
the  most  efficient  field  guns  in  the  service. 

The  presidents  of  this  company  have  been  as  follows: 
David  Reeves,  Samuel  J.  Reeves  and  David  Reeves. 
Secretaries— James  Milliken,  Robert  B.  Aertsen  and  George 
G.  White. 

Treasurers — Samuel  J.  Reeves,  and  James  O.  Pease. 
The  Phoenix  Bridge  Company  is  practically  the  same  as  the 
Phoenix  Iron  Company,  taking  contracts  for  the  construction  of 
bridges  and  then  making  contracts   for  the  materials  Avith   tlu> 
latter  company. 

As  above  narrated,  iron  mining  began  at  a  very  early  day. 
It  is  now  of  interest  to  note  where  it  has  been  mined  in  more  re- 
cent times.  According  to  Professor  H.  D.  Rodgers,  there  were  iu 
1853  several  excavations  for  iron  ore  iu  the  narrow  limestoue 
vallev  south  of  Bethel  Hill,  two  of  these  excavations    being  east 


584  CHESTER     COUNTY 

of  the  gorge  by  Avliicli  Gulf  Ci'eek  passes  through  that  hill.  At 
that  time  one  group  of  pits  was  about  a  mile  southwest  of  this 
hill,  and  about  150  yards  south  of  the  road  running  along  the 
north  side  of  the  valley.  The  ore  was  smelted  in  Merlon  furnace. 
An  1)1(1  pit,  near  the  fork  of  the  road  at  the  Baptist  meeting- 
house, had  a  shaft  seventy-six  feet  deep,  the  ore  from  which  was 
of  a  superior  quality,  and  there  was  another  opening  further  east 
on  the  southwest  side  of  the  road. 

For  some  time  there  had  been  an  ore-bank  of  considerable 
size,  not  far  from  the  marble  quarry  owned  by  a  Mr.  Henderson 
of  Upper  Merion,  which  up  to  about  1854,  yielded  excellent  ore, 
but  which  at  length  became  unprofitable  to  mine.  About  1,250 
feet  northeast  of  this  bank  there  was  another  bank,  then  mined 
by  George  Fisher,  and  which  contained  good  ore,  the  ore  being 
used  by  the  Phoenixville  Iron  Works.  The  average  amount  of 
dirt  in  this  bank  was  about  three  to  one  of  ore.  Thomas  Wid- 
dart's  bank,  Milliton's  bank.  Otto's  bank,  and  Hughes  &  Jones' 
banks  were  all  in  this  vicinity,  and  all  yielded  tolerably  good  ore. 

Ore  was  also  mined  in  Tredyffrin  Township,  south  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Howellville,  and  there  was  a  small  ore-bank  northwest 
of  Howellville,  on  the  Swede's  Ford  Road.  Woodman's  ore-bank 
was  about  500  yards  west  of  the  Valley  Forge  Road,  where  tiie 
ore  was  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one  of  dirt.  Nathaniel  Jones, 
Charles  Beaver,  and  Buck  &  King  had  ore  mines  about  half  a 
mile  from  Centerville,  and  Samuel  Beaver  had  one  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  head  of  "S'alley  Forge  dam,  which  was  of  consid- 
erable size,  and  yielded  good  ore.  Holland's  Bank,  the  ore  from 
which  was  smelted  at  Phoenixville,  was  located  about  one  and 
a  half  miles  northwest   of  Howellville. 

Then,  too,  to  the  westward  of  the  meridian  of  Paoli,  there 
was  another  district  of  ore  mines,  in  which  were  located  William 
Buchanan's  Ore-bank,  about  400  yards  north  of  Oakland  Hotel, 
the  ore  from  which  was  taken  to  Jones"  Furnace  on  the  Schuyl 


A.YZ>     ITS     PEOPLE.  585 

kill;  (jr.  W.  Jacob's  bank,  between  the  North  Valley  and  the 
Columbia  Kailroad,  about  two  miles  east  of  Oakland,  and  two 
other  banks  belonging  to  the  same  party,  about  one-fourth  of  a 
mile  of  Ship  Tavern;  Maguire's  bank,  about  one  mile  north  of 
the  Ship  Tavern,  was  of  considerable  size  and  furnished  good 
ore.  A  Mr.  Evans  had  a  bank  three-fourths  of  a  mile  east  of 
Ship  Tavern,  which  yielded  good  ore,  and  was  a  large  deposit; 
Frederick  Neal  had  ore-banks  in  the  vicinity  which  also  yielded 
good  ore,  and  about  a  mile  northwest  of  Downingtown  there  was 
an  ore  mine  near  the  foot  of  North  Valley  Hill,  which  had  not  been 
extensively  opened,  and  which  was  not  very  promising.  West  of 
Coatesville  there  had  been  two  or  three  openings  for  ore  toward 
the  southern  side  of  the  valley,  between  the  west  branch  of 
Brandywine  and  Buck  llun. 

Two  extensive  excavations  developed  large  deposits  of  iron 
ore  about  a  half  mile  northeast  of  Yellow  Springs,  one  of  which 
was  formerly  known  as  the  Fegley  mine,  the  valley  in  which 
these  excavations  occur  being  separated  from  the  valley  con- 
taining the  Lewis  mine  by  a  narrow  belt  of  gueissic  hills,  the 
main  body  of  the  ore  being  in  loose  earth.  The  principal  excava- 
tion at  Fegley's  Mine  in  1853  was  about  200  feet  long,  100  feet 
wide  and  50  feet  deep,  the  irregular  ore  bed  itself  being  only  about 
40  feet  wide.  A  short  distance  to  the  northeast  of  Fegley's  Mine 
there  was  one  still  larger,  where  the  ore  dipped  to  the  southeast 
and  reposing  against  a  slanting  wall  of  altered  (Mesozoic)  red 
sandstone.  The  ore  here  Avas  about  twelve  feet  thick  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  bed.  About  the  time  mentioned  Fegley's  Mim-  was 
yielding  2,400  tons  of  ore  per  annum,  which  was  taken  by  tlie 
Phwnix  Iron  Works.  The  other  mine  in  the  near  proximity  was 
yielding  2,000  tons  per  annum. 

The  Latschaw  Mine  was  situated  about  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  southwest  of  Yellow  Spriugs,  and  there  was  antither  mine 
owned  by  Keeves,  Buck  &  Co.,  of  Phtenixville,  known  as  the  Stite- 


586  CHESTER    C0V2\TY 

ler  Mine,  or  Ore-bank,  which  was  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
further  to  the  southwest  of  Yellow  Spdjigs.  It  was  situated 
five-eighths  of  a  mile  from  the  West  Vincent  line,  was  about  300 
yards  long-  hy  200  yards  wide,  and  at  one  time  yielded  from  5,000 
to  8,000  tons  of  ore  per  annum.  It  has  been  abandoned  for  many 
years.  Jones'  Mine  was  near  the  Latschaw  Mine,  or,  as  it  was 
otherwise  called,  the  Harvej'  Mine,  upon  another  rupture  of  the 
strata. 

Iron  ore  occurred  also  on  the  West  Chester  and  Pottsgrove 
State  Eoad,  one-fourth  of  a  mile  north  of  Little  Eagle  Tavern,  in 
Uwchlan  Township.  Similar  iron  ore  was  also  found  on  the  farm 
of  Morgan  Hoffman,  and  there  was  a  small  ore  pit  on  the  farm 
owned  by  William  Parker.  In  1853  the  principal  ore-banks  being 
operated  were  the  Stauft'er,  seven-eighths  of  a  mile  southeast  of 
Pughtown,  which  was  leased  in  October,  1880,  by  the  Phoenix 
Iron  Company,  and  afterward  abandoned,  they  exhausting  the 
ore  when  they  had  taken  out  about  4,000  tons;  the  Morris  Kussell 
Mine,  one  mile  jiorth  of  Chester  Spi'ings,  in  West  Pikeland  Town- 
ship, and  owned  by  the  Pha?nix  Iron  Company;  the  Jones  Mine, 
one-half  mile  northwest  of  Chester  Springs,  in  West  Pikeland 
Township,  and  worked  by  James  Harvey;  the  Old  Prizer  Mine, 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  north  of  Chester  Springs  railway  depot, 
and  one-eighth  of  a  mile  off  the  line  of  the  railway  to  the  north- 
west, leased  in  July,  18(i5,  by  thePhienix  Iron  Company,  and  later 
by  the  Monocacy  Furnace  ('(unpany,  which  took  out  a  large 
quantity  of  ore,  but  abandoned  it  because  the  ore  extended  to 
too  great  a  depth;  the  Isaac  Tustin  Mine,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
south  of  Chestei'  Springs,  first  explored  in  1851,  and  leased  to 
the  Monocacy  P'urnace  Company,  and  in  18(il  to  the  Phoenix 
Iron  Company,  which  took  several  hundred  tons  of  surface  ore 
from  it,  and  tlnm  abandoned  it,  because  the  ore  did  not  extend 
to  any  dejtth. 

The  Kaby  Mine  was  owned  by  IJev.  Mr.  Kaby,  and  situated 


^^ni:^/i^/d.J^c^  - 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  589 

one  mile  southwest  of  the  Kiiubertuii  raihvay  stiitiou,  and  was 
worked  in  1882,  several  hundred  tons  of  ore  going  to  the  S.  Til- 
ton's  Plvmouth  Furnace  at  Conshohocken.  The  Orner-farm  Mine 
lay  one-half  a  mile  due  west  of  the  old  Fegley  Mine,  and  Avas 
owned  by  the  PIkpuIx  Iron  Company.  The  Acker  Mine,  one- 
fourth  of  a  mile  due  west  from  the  Harvey  Mine,  was  worked 
for  some  years  by  the  Phoenix  Iron  Company,  under  a  lease  dated 
January  1,  1863,  but  in  1883  it  was  being  worked  by  Mr.  Acker 
for  the  Monocacy  Furnace  Compauy.  The  John  Mosteller  Mine 
of  brown  hematite  iron  ore,  about  one-eighth  of  a  mile  south  of  the 
Eagle  and  Kimberton  Koad,  was  in  1883  being  worked  by  the 
Phoenix  Iron  Company,  and  was  yielding  about  fifteen  tons  of 
surface  ore  per  day. 

The  Hopewell  Middle  Mine,  in  Warwick  Township,  was  one 
of  the  most  famous  in  the  county.  It  was  originally  owned  aud 
run  by  Mr.  HoiJewell  and  by  him  worked  by  the  open-cut  method 
of  mining,  until  the  workings  became  too  deep  for  this  method. 
He  then  sank  a  shaft,  and  after  the  mine  passed  to  the  possession 
of  the  Pottstown  Iron  Compauy  in  1873,  that  compauy  sank  an- 
other shaft,  which  passed  down  through  the  ore  at  the  depth  of 
150  feet,  where  the  vein  averaged  from  twelve  to  fourteen  feet 
in  thickness.  In  1882  the  miners  were  robbing  the  pillars,  and 
cutting  away  about  thirty  tons  per  day. 

St.  Mary's  Mines,  in  1882,  were  being  worked  by  the  E.  & 
G.  Brooke  Iron  Company,  the  mining  being  done  by  shafts,  and 
the  yield  being  about  twenty  tons  of  magnetic  iron  ore  per  day. 
Steel's  Iron  Ore-pits  were  about  one-half  mile  north  of  St.  Mary's 
village  in  Warwick  Township,  but  it  had  not  been  worked  for 
many  years.  The  Leighton  Iron  Ore-mine  was  a  little  to  the  south 
of  the  village  of  St.  Mary's,  from  which,  before  its  abandonment, 
more  than  20,000  tons  of  ore  had  been  taken.  Knauertown  Iron- 
mine  lay  a  little  to  the  north  of  Kuauertown,  the  iron  found  here 
being  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Warwick  Mine,  but  there  waa 
34 


590  CHESTER     COUNTY 

not  enough  ore  to  encourage  mining  to  any  considerable  extent. 
Crossley's  Iron  Ore-pits  were  worked  at  one  time,  but  were  aban- 
doned previous  to  1854,  their  location  being  about  one  mile  north  of 

Knauertown. 

Lead  and  copper  ore  come  next  in  point  of  value  to  iron  ore 

in  the  minerals  of  Chester  County,  but  are  far  less  extensively 
found.  The  Wheatley  and  Brookdale  Lode  in  the  Pickering  Creek 
district  is  the  best  known  and  most  valuable.  This  lode  cuts 
at  least  three  of  the  trap  dykes  of  that  region,  and  the  metallifer- 
ous lodes  which  extend  from  the  Perkiomen  Mines  in  Montgomery 
County  to  the  Charlestown  Mines  of  Chester  County  are  situated 
not  far  from  the  boundary  line  which  separates  the  gneissic  rocks 
of  this  region  from  the  Middle  Secondary  formation  of  the  red 
shale  and  sandstone,  some  of  them  lying  on  one  side  of  this 
boundary  line  and  some  on  the  other;  and  some  are  partly  within 
the  gneiss  and  partly  within  the  shale.  Then,  too,  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  as  a  general  thing  those  veins  which  are  confined  en- 
tirely or  mainly  to  the  gneiss  bear  lead  principally,  while  those 
veins  that  are  confined  entirely  within  the  red  shale  forma- 
tion contain  principally  the  ores  of  copper.  But  the  zinc  ores, 
as  zinc-blende  or  calamite,  prevail  in  both  sets  of  veins,  though 
perhaps  to  a  relatively  larger  amount  in  the  copper-bearing  lodes 
of  the  red  shale.  The  Perkiomen  and  Ecton  Lode,  the  United  Mine 
Lode,  the  Shannonville  South  Lode,  the  small  French  Creek  Lode, 
the  Port  Kennedy  Lode,  and  the  Morris  Lode,  near  Phoenixville, 
are  genuine  copper  veins,  and  with  no  single  exception  are  within 
the  red-shale  formation;  while  on  the  other  hand  the  Wheatley 
and  Brookdale  Lode,  the  Chester  County  Lode,  the  Montgomery 
Lode  and  the  Charlestown  Lode  all  lie  within  the  gneissic  forma- 
tions and  are  all  genuine  lead  veins. 

The  following  paragraph  from  Prof.  Kodgers  shows  the  rich- 
ness of  these  lodes  and  the  variety  of  minerals  which  they  contain: 

"Selecting  the  Wheatley  Lode  as  presenting,  perhaps,  the 


AND     /r.S'     PEOPLE.  591 

greatest  diversity  of  species,  and  as  that  which  has  received  alto- 
gether the  closest  study,  we  find  the  mineralogy  of  these  veins 
I'epresented  by  the  following  large  and  interesting  catalogue: 
Sulphate  of  lead,  carbonate  of  lead,  phosphate  of  lead,  arseniate 
of  lead,  molybdate  of  lead,  chromate  of  lead,  arsenio-phosphate 
of  lead,  sulphuret  of  lead,  antimonial  sulphuret  of  lead  and  silver, 
sulphuret  of  zinc,  carbonate  of  zinc,  silicate  of  zinc,  sulphuret  of 
copper,  green  malachite,  blue  malachite,  black  oxide  of  copper, 
native  copper,  oxide  of  manganese,  native  sulphur,  native  silver, 
quartz,  cellular  quartz,  oxide  of  iron  containing  silver,  haematite 
iron,  brown  spar,  sulphate  of  barytes,  iron  pyrites,  and  two  or 
three  other  species." 

The  Brookdale  Lode,  an  extension  of  the  Wheatley  Lode,  was 
a  remarkably  regular  silver  lead  vein.  On  May  1,  1853,  there 
had  been  wrought  a  total  length  of  1,111  feet,  and  between  the 
Wheatley  and  Brookdale  engine  shafts  there  was  a  further  open- 
ing by  an  adit  level  of  456  feet,  and  there  was  but  little  if  any 
doubt  that  the  vein  was  much  more  extensive  than  its  openings 
showed.  In  width  the  vein  varied  from  one  foot  to  two  and  a  half 
feet  and  it  was  very  productive.  In  the  Wheatley  vein  the  aver- 
age width  was  about  eighteen  inches,  while  in  the  Brookdale 
vein  it  was  about  two  feet.  The  latter  vein  was  rather  fuller  of 
quartz  than  the  former.  The  main  shaft  at  the  Wheatley  Mine 
was,  in  1853,  234  feet  deep,  and  the  lode  was  very  productive  in  ore, 
as  was  also  the  Brookdale  end. 

The  Elizabeth  Copper  Mine  was  at  one  time  a  noted  one.  It 
was  situated  on  the  Knauertown  Copper  Lode,  not  far  from  Cross- 
ley's  ore-pits,  previously  mentioned.  The  vein,  according  to  Prof. 
Eodgers,  consists  largely  of  crystallized  calcareous  spar,  in  which 
occur  crystallized  oxide  of  iron,  many  brilliant  octahedral  crystals 
of  sulphuret  of  iron,  and  some  copper  pyrites.  The  width  of  this 
vein  or  bed  was  about  forty-five  feet,  an  engine  shaft  descended 
140  feet,  and  there  'was  an  interior  underlay  shaft  descending 


592  CHESTER     COUNTY, 

from  the  bottom  of  the  main  shaft  forty-five  feet  deeper.     Active 
work  was  suspended  there  in  May,  1854. 

Sulphurets  of  copper  and  iron  were  found  in  the  French  Creek 
Magnetic  Ore-mines,  situated  half  a  mile  south  of  Harmonyville, 
where  there  were  in  1854  two  shafts  about  250  feet  deep,  with 
hoisting  and  pumping  engines  at  both,  and  the  capacity  of  the 
mines  was  about  15,000  tons  per  annum.  They  were  then  worked 
by  the  E.  &  G.  Brooke  Iron  Company. 

Valuable  marble  is  found  in  various  parts  of  the  county. 
About  three  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Downingtown,  just  south  of 
the  Valley  Turnpike,  is  an  extensive  quarry  of  superior  marble, 
which  for  years  supplied  Philadelphia  with  the  beautiful  white 
marble  of  Avhich  so  many  of  her  public  and  private  buildings 
were  constructed.  The  beds  of  this  quarry  were  slightly  con- 
torted, the  portion  worked  for  marble  separating  into  two  beds. 
These  beds  were  massive,  mainly  white,  sometimes  with  a  bluish 
tinge,  and  were  quarried  with  ease  and  great  facility.  It  was 
much  used  in  the  construction  of  Girard  College  and  other  public 
buildings  in  Philadelphia  and  neighboring  towns. 

There  have  been  opened  extensive  quarries  of  marble  or  lime- 
stone in  the  vicinity  of  the  Valley  Church,  where  the  limestone 
is  very  similar  to  that  quaiTied  two  or  three  miles  below  Valley 
Forge,  and  on  the  road  from  Glassley  to  Valley  Forge,  near  the 
county  line,  there  is  a  small  hill  over  the  east  end  of  which  the 
road  passes,  which  hill  is  composed  of  slaty  talcose  calcareous 
rock.  Near  Valley  Forge  there  is  a  stratum  of  feldspathic  rock 
exposed  in  the  creek  and  occasionally  appears  overlying  the  primal 
white  sandstone  at  the  foot  of  North  Valley  Hill.  Near  the 
White  Horse  Tavern  the  limestone  is  talcote  and  slaty,  but  near 
the  Steamboat  Tavern  the  limestone  is  of  the  more  usual  gran- 
ular structure.  The  limestone  at  Downingtown  is  compact  and 
of  a  light  color,  several  quarries  of  compact  and  granular  lime- 
stone having  been  opened  in  the  vicinity  of  this  place. 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  593 

A  blue  limestone  quarry-  near  Downingtown  was  opened  in 
1831,  the  rock  being  stratified,  with  regular  jointing  and  fine 
texture.  It  was  used  for  building,  lime  burning  and  ballast.  It 
was  used  in  building  Villanova  CJollege,  Villanova  railway  station, 
railway  bridge,  abutments  and  piers.  At  Bell's  Quarry,  Midway, 
the  limestone  is  of  a  light  color,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Buck's  Run 
and  Parkesburg  it  becomes  darker  and  more  slaty. 

Graphite  and  chrome  are  both  extensively  mined  in  Chester 
County,  the  latter  mineral  being  found  in  considerable  quantities 
in  the  southwest  part  of  the  county  in  both  rock  and  sand.  Dug 
and  shipped  to  Europe  it  commands  a  high  price.  For  many  years 
the  trade  in  chrome  was  under  the  exclusive  control  of  Isaac  Tyson 
of  Baltimore,  who  procured  from  the  farmers  the  right  to  dig 
and  remove  the  mineral  found  on  their  farms.  In  this  manner 
Mr.  Tyson  amassed  a  considerable  fortune,  and  it  doubtless  was 
a  profitable  proceeding  for  the  farmers,  as  the  lands  where  this 
mineral  is  found  are  comparatively  valueless  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. 

Graphite  or  plumbago  of  a  superior  quality  is  found  apparently 
in  inexhaustible  quantities  in  Upper  Uwchlau  and  adjoining  town- 
ships, near  the  line  of  the  Pickering  Valley  Railroad. 

Corundum  has  been  mined  for  many  years,  esi)ecially  in  New- 
lin  Townshii),  and  formerly  in  numerous  quantities.  This  ma- 
terial existed  in  a  narrow  vein  of  hard  white  albite.  An  attempt  to 
mine  it  regularly,  made  some  years  ago  by  D.  Lewis  Williams,  Avas 
not  persisted  in.  But  loose  blocks  of  corundum  rocks  were  at  one 
time  collected  to  the  amount  of  six  or  seven  tons  and  exported 
to  Europe.  By  geologists  corundum  is  said  to  be  a  metamor- 
phose of  the  gneiss  composed  more  largely  of  alumina  tluin  the 
rest  of  the  same  rock,  and  while  it  is  seldom  found  pure  in  nature, 
yet  where  found  pure  it  is  pure  alumina.  In  the  spring  of  1806 
John  Leslie  took  up  about  five  tons  of  corundum,  which  he  sold 
at  |(jO  per  ton. 


594  CHESTER     COUNTY 

It  is  remarkable  that  during  tlie  last  century  there  were  sev- 
eral persons  within  the  county  who  were  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  clocliS.  The  brass  worlvs  were  probably  brought  across 
the  sea,  and  fitted  together  in  the  county,  the  cases  being  gen- 
erally made  where  the  clock  was  needed.  Among  the  earlier  work- 
men in  this  line  Avere  the  Chandlees,  of  jVottingham,  Benjamin 
Chandlee  being  the  pioneer,  and  removing  from  the  neighborhood 
in  1741.  His  son,  Benjamin,  manufactured  not  only  clocks,  but 
also  compasses  and  a  general  line  of  mathematical  instruments. 
His  son,  Ellis,  also  carried  on  the  same  lines  of  manufacture,  and 
is  said  to  have  been  the  most  ingenious  of  the  family. 

Isaac  Thomas  of  Willistown  made  clocks  during  tlie  later 
years  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  his  residence  being  on  the  Boot 
Koad,  near  Crujiib  Creek.  Caleb  Hibberd,  living  a  mile  east  of 
Sugartown,  in  the  same  township,  made  clocks  during  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century.  Isaac  Jackson  of  NeAV  Garden  is 
remembered  as  a  man  of  ingenuity,  working  in  the  finer  ma- 
terials, and  being  a  maker  of  clocks.  Benjamin  Garrett  began 
to  make  clocks  about  the  year  1800,  importing  the  castings,  and 
his  work  was  carried  on  quite  extensively  for  twelve  of  fifteen 
years.  Joseph  Cave,  of  West  Chester,  made  clocks  and  watches 
from  about  1824  to  1834,  his  cases  being  made  by  Thomas  Ogden. 
Others  can-ied  on  the  work  until  about  1835,  when  the  Yankee 
clocks  began  to  be  introduced,  and  the  home-made  clocks  were 
from  that  time  on  gradually  su])erseded. 

The  Thorndale  Iron  Works  were  erected  in  1847,  J.  iV:  J. 
Forsythe  &  Sons  erecting  the  mill  and  sixteen  dwelling  houses. 
Soon  afterward  Horace  A.  Beale  pui'chased  the  establishment, 
and  he  in  turn  sold  them  to  J.  B.  Moore  of  Philadeli)hia,  from 
whom  they  jiassed  into  the  hands  of  William  L.  Bailey  in  1808. 
Mr.  Bailey,  in  connection  with  J.  B.  Hayes,  ran  the  works  about 
eight  years,  under  the  firm  name  of  William  L.  Bailey  &  Co.,  iuid 
still  later  they  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  stock  company,  of  which 


AXD     /7\S'     PEOPLE.  595 

Charles  L.  Bailey  of  HaiTisbiirg  was  president;  Abraham  t^.  Pat- 
terson, of  the  same  citj,  vice-president;  and  William  L.  Bailey, 
treasurer.  They  manufactured  plate-iron,  such  as  is  used  in  the 
construction  of  locomotives,  boilers,  bridges,  ships,  and  tanks,  in 
1880  turning  out  6,495,777  pounds  of  finished  iron.  These  works 
ceased  to  operate  several  years  ago. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  first  mill  in  Pennsylvania  was 
located  on  Cobb's  Creek,  near  the  Blue  Bell  Tavern,  erected  about 
1643.  In  1683  the  "Chester  Mills"  were  erected  on  Chester  Creek, 
not  far  above  the  present  manufacturing  village  of  Upland,  in 
Delaware  County.  Richard  Townseud  about  1730  set  up  a  mill 
on  Chester  Creek,  "which  served  for  grinding  corn  aud  sawing 
boards,"  he  being  a  tenth  owner  in  the  mill. 

t^ome  of  the  earliest  mills  in  Chester  County,  as  at  present 
bounded,  were  as  follows:  In  Birmingham,  Francis  Chadds',  in 
Tredyffrin,  Thomas  Jerman's,  both  mentioned  as  early  as  1710; 
at  Avondale,  John  Miller's,  in  1714;  in  Kennett,  Gayen  Steven- 
son's in  1715;  at  Downington,  Thomas  Moore's  1716;  in  Goshen, 
George  Ashbridge  and  others  in  1717;  in  Kennett,  Ellis  Lewis' 
same  years;  in  Birmingham,  James  Huston's  1719;  in  Bradford, 
Abiah  Taylor's,  in  1719;  in  Coventry,  Thomas  Miller's,  in  the 
.same  year;  in  Sadsbury,  John  Jones'  1721;  in  East  Bradford, 
Carter,  Hcott  and  Willis',  1721;  in  Pocopson,  Joseph  Taylor's, 
1724;  in  New  London,  Abraham  Emmit's,  on  Big  Elk  Creek,  and 
Henry  Ilollingsworth's  on  Little  Elk  Creek,  in  1724;  in  London- 
grove,  William  Pusey's,  1730;  in  Sadsburj-,  James  Hamor's,  in 
1722;  in  Whiteland,  "Vale  Koyal"  Mill,  Bichard  Thomas,  Sam- 
uel Phipps,  William  Williams  and  Magdalen  Howell,  in  1730; 
Jones'  Mill,  where  afterward  was  erected  Sager's  Mill,  on  the 
Brandywine,  in  1744. 

In  West  Nantmeal,  in  the  west  branch  of  the  Brandywine, 
there  was  a  mill  erected  in  1840,  a  title  above  Beaver  Dam.  This 
mill  went  to  decay  after  the  erection  of  Mackekluff's  Mill,  this 


596  CHESTER     COUNTY 

beino  in  1762,  there  not  being  water  enough  for  both.  Mordecai 
Piersol  built  a  mill  in  17G2,  and  in  1760  there  Avas  a  mill  built  at 
Glen  Moore.  In  1770  Aokland's  Mill  was  built,  and  White's  Mill 
near  Cupola  Station,  was  erected  in  1811.  In  this  same  year 
there  was  a  mill  on  Naaman's  Creek,  owned  by  John  Bellach, 
who  "paid  the  highest  price  for  grain,"  and  Benjamin  Jeffries 
owned  a  mill  neAr  Kennett  Square. 

Pennypacker's  Mill  was  located  in  Pikeland  Township,  at 
least  as  early  as  1812,  this  being  for  carding,  spinning  and  weav- 
ing. The  prices  were  as  follows:  Carding  into  "roles,"  10  cents 
per  pound;  spinning,  12  cuts  to  the  pound  or  less,  1-^-  cents  per 
cut;  all  over  12  cuts  to  the  pound,  2  cents  per  cut.  This  mill  was 
owned  bj'  Harman  Pennypacker  and  William  Stidham. 

Levi  John  and  William  McFarlan,  in  April,  1813,  erected  "a 
jiair  of  machines  for  carding  wool,"  at  the  mill,  then  lately  occu- 
pied as  a  clover-mill  in  Vincent  Township,  near  William  Reed's 
Mill.  ^Vool-carding  was  also  cai'ried  on  by  John  Woodward,  at 
the  mill  of  William  Woodward  iu  East  Bradford,  by  Mordecai 
Thomas  at  his  own  mill  in  Willistown,  and  by  Joseph  H.  Down- 
ing in  Downingtown.  At  this  same  time  John  Taylor  had  a  grist- 
mill in  East  Bradford,  run  by  water  from  Braudywine  Creek. 

In  1817  James  Hance  built  a  mill  in  West  AVhiteland,  which 
mill,  iu  18i>l,  was  purchased  by  George  Hoopes,  aud  later  became 
the  property  of  his  son,  Robert  F.  Hoopes.  The  Charlestown 
Woolen  Mill  was  owned  by  Hood  &  Sandham,  Avho  maniifactured 
both  broad  and  narrow  cloth,  cassimeres,  satinets,  flannels,  lin- 
sey  and  plaid,  as  well  as  broad  and  narrow  blankets,  carded  aud 
and  wove  woolen  goods,  and  purchased  wool.  In  West  Chester, 
in  1818,  Joseph  Jones  began  the  making  of  chairs,  fancy,  Windsor 
and  rush-bottom,  carrying  on  the  business  for  several  years. 

The  Bloomfield  Factory,  located  near  Kennett  Square,  was 
operated  by  John  P.  Chambers,  who  manufactured  woolen  cloths 
at  the  following  prices:      Blankets,  1  yard   wide,  8  cuts  to  the 


AiYD     ITS    PEOPLE.  597 

pound,  55  cents;  flannels,  1  yard  wide,  12  cuts  to  the  ])ouud,  75 
cents;  thick  flannels,  f  of  a  yard  wide,  12  cuts  to  the  pound,  !»() 
cents;  cloth,  ^  of  a  yard  wide,  12  cuts  to  the  pound,  fl;  cloth  I 
of  a  yard  wide,  16  cuts  to  the  pound,  |1.25;  cardinji  coniniou  wool 
into  rolls,  10  cents;  spinning,  from  8  to  12  cuts  per  pound,  20 
cents  per  dozen;  from  12  to  20  cuts  per  pound,  24  cents  per  dozen; 
all  under  8  cuts,  10  cents  per  pound. 

There  was  a  Union  Woolen  Manufactory  in  Sadsbury,  Town- 
ship, manufacturing  wotd  into  broad  and  narrow  (loth,  cassi- 
meres,  cassinettes,  coarse  and  fine  flannel,  etc.  Andrew  Wilson 
carried  on  the  carding  and  fulling  business  "at  the  stand  formerly 
occupied  by  Calvin  Cooper,  deceased,"  in  West  Bradford  Town- 
ship. Seneca  Warner  carried  on  wool  carding  at  J.  Buffington's 
Tilt-mill  in  East  Bradford  Township,  and  himself  owned  a  grist- 
mill in  East  Marlborough  Township.  The  fulling  business  was 
also  carried  in  by  Elisha  Davis,  in  West  Bradford,  on  the  road 
leading  from  Downingtown  to  the  Center  House.  Jei'emiah  Bailey 
made  fans,  wire  screens,  rolling  screens,  etc.,  at  his  mill  near  Ken- 
nett  Square.  And  that  there  was  brick-making  earh^  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  county  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  1818  Jose])li 
Townsend  of  West  Chester  offered  50,000  bri(dvS  for  sale,  and  also 
some  draining  tile.  For  several,  if  not  for  many  years,  William 
Work  carried  on  coach-making  in  West  Chester,  commencing 
about  1821,  and  he  had  for  sale  the  "highly  approved  patent  C 
springs." 

The  Doe  Kuu  Woolen  Factory,  located  in  West  Nautmeal 
Township,  was  owned  by  Abel  I.  Thomas,  and  the  Downington 
pottery,  which,  in  1824,  was  managed  by  Eber  James,  was  pre- 
viously owned  and  managed  by  Jesse  Kersey.  Caleb  Jackson  ar 
this  time  carried  on  coach  and  Dearborn-wagon  making  about 
half  a  mile  west  of  Kennett  Square,  at  the  place  then  lately  oc- 
cupied by  Isaac  Philips. 

In    1825    Samuel    Bellerjeau    carried  on  cabinet-making  in 


598  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Downingtown,  as  did  Thomas  Ogden  in  West  Cliester,  and  Jona- 
tlian  Kowlaud  was  a  wool  carder  at  Lai)p's  mill,  near  the  Fox  Chase 
Tavern  in  Ti*edyffrin  Township.  Townsend  Eachns  carried  on 
wool-carding  at  his  chiver-mill  in  West  Goshen  Township,  abont 
one  and  three-quai-ter  miles  from  West  Chester,  as  also  did  Josepli 
Painter  in  East  Bradford.  George  S.  Downing  had  a  tan-yard  in 
East  Cain  Township,  three  miles  west  of  Downingtown,  and  in 
182G  liobert  and  Canby  Steel  manufactured  hats  in  West  Chester. 
This  year  John  Tweddle  managed  the  Downingtown  Brewex'y,  at 
which  he  brewed  porter,  ale  and  small  beer. 

The  Platinum  Works  of  J.  Bishoj)  &  Co.  are  located  at  Sugar- 
town,  in  Willistown  Township,  six  miles  east  of  West  Chester 
and  three  miles  south  of  Malvern,  on  the  main  line  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Ivailroad.  The  founder  of  these  works  was  born  in 
Portugal  in  180G,  where  his  father,  an  Englishman,  was  tempo- 
rarily residing,  and  where  he  was  director  of  the  Royal  Fabrics. 
Joaquin  Bishop,  the  founder,  came  to  the  United  States  witli  his 
parents  in  1810,  settled  in  Philadelphia  in  1811,  and  was  there 
ai)i)reuticed  to  a  jeweler  in  182G.  In  1832  he  became  instrument 
maker  and  assistant  chemist  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
under  Dr.  Eobert  Hare,  and  in  1831)  he  began  to  work  in  platinum, 
in  1812  establishing  Avhat  is  now  the  fii'ui  of  J.  Bishop  «&  Co.  In 
1845  he  drew  first  premium  at  Franklin  Institute  for  platinum 
work.  In  1858  he  removed  his  business  to  Radnor,  and  in  18G5 
to  its  present  location.  In  187(i  he  received  first  premium  and 
dipkima  from  the  Centennial  Commission,  and  in  1881  he  asso- 
ciated witli  himself  in  partnership  Edwin  T.  Cox,  under  tlie  firm 
name  of  J.  Bisliop  &  Co.  After  a  life  of  activity  and  usefulness 
he  died  August  1,  1880,  leaving  his  interest  in  the  business  to 
his  grandson,  Joaquin  B.  Matlack.  Mr.  Matlack  and  Mr.  Cox  have 
since  then  carried  on  tlie  business  under  the  old  firm  name.  Their 
work  consists  of  refining  and  melting  platinum  ore  or  scraps, 
and  manufacturing  said  metal   into  assaying  apparatus  vessels 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  599 

and  tubes  of  all  decriptions,  and  all  kiuds  of  experimental  instru- 
ments in  use  by  analytical  chemists,  and  in  short  anything  made 
of  platinum.  For  these  goods  a  market  is  found  in  the  labora- 
tories of  universities,  colleges,  steel  and  iron  manufactories,  and 
among  all  kinds  of  professional  and  scientific  men  in  the  country, 
in  Canada,  Mexico,  and  to  some  slight  extent  in  Europe. 

The  Lukens  Iron  and  Steel  Compauy  was  originally  estab- 
lished in  1790,  though  not  under  its  present  name.  In  that  year 
Isaac  Pennock,  great-grandfather  of  Mr.  A.  F.  Huston,  present 
president  of  the  company,  built  a  mill  and  began  the  manufacture 
of  iron  at  a  place  called  Eokeby,  on  Buck  Ilun,  Chester  County, 
about  four  miles  south  of  Coatesville.  This  mill  was  called  the 
"Federal  Slitting  Mill,"  charcoal  slabs  being  heated  in  an  open 
c-harcoal  fire,  rolled  out  into  plates,  and  then  slit  up  into  rods  for 
general  blacksmith  use.  In  ISIO  he  bought  a  saw-mill  property 
on  the  Brandywine,  at  Coatesville,  which  he  converted  into  an  iron- 
mill.  This  mill  was  called  Brandywine,  and  afterward  developed 
into  the  large  plant  now  in  operation,  covering  many  acres  of 
ground  and  furnishing  employment  to  a  large  number  of  men. 

Eebecca  W.  Pennock,  daughter  of  Isaac  Pennock,  married 
Dr.  Charles  Lukens,  the  latter  leasing  Brandywine  of  his  father- 
in-law  in  1816  and  carrying  on  the  business  of  iron-making  until 
his  death  in  1825.  It  was  between  1816  and  1825  that  steam 
boilers  first  came  into  use,  and  the  first  boiler  plates  produced  in 
this  country  were  made  in  this  mill  by  Dr.  Lukens.  After  the 
death  of  Dr.  Lukens,  his  widow,  in  accordance  with  his  request, 
continued  to  carry  on  the  business,  greatly  increased  the  plant 
and  continued  successfully  for  many  years,  and  it  was  as  a  tribute 
to  her  memory  that  the  name  of  the  w^orks,  after  her  death,  was 
changed  to  the  "Lukens  Eolling-mills."  The  works  have  been 
continuously  operated  by  the  family  from  1810  to  the  present 
year,  1898. 

After  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lukens  the  business  was  conducted 


6oo  CHESTER     COUNTY 

by  lier  sous-in-laAv,  Abraham  Gibbons  and  Dr.  Charles  Huston. 
In  1855  Mr.  Gibbous  retired  after  a  short  but  prosperous  and 
honorable  biisiness  career.  The  works  then  remained  in  Dr. 
Charles  Huston's  hauls,  who,  together  with  his  partner,  Mr. 
Charles  reurosi',  who  joined  him  a  few  years  later,  oaiTied  on 
the  manufacture  of  iron  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Penrose,  in  1881; 
in  the  meantime  Dr.  Huston's  two  sons,  A.  F.  and  O.  L.  Huston, 
upon  their  graduation  from  college,  in  1872  and  1875,  having 
joined  the  company.  The  company  was  known  from  this  time 
until  1890  as  "Charles  Huston  &  Sons."  In  this  latter  year  a 
stock  company  was  formed  and  chartered  under  the  title  of  "The 
Lukens  Iron  and  Steel  Company,"  the  officers  of  which  were  as 
follows:  Dr.  Charles  Huston,  president;  A.  F.  Huston,  vice  presi- 
dent; Charles  L.  Huston,  general  manager;  R.  B.  Haines,  secretary, 
and  Joseph  Humptou,  treasurer.  Xot  long  after^'ard  Mr.  Haines 
resigned  the  position  of  secretary,  and  Mr.  Humpton  was  ap- 
pointed to  this  position,  since  then  filling  both  offices  of  secretary 
and  treasurer.  Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Charles  Huston,  in  189V, 
A.  F.  Huston  succeeded  to  the  presidency  and  Charles  L.  Hustan 
became  vice-president. 

Originally  the  boilers  plates  were  made  from  single  charcoal 
blooms,  the  blooms  being  made  in  the  old-fashioned  forge  fire, 
then  reheated  over  an  ordinary  grate  fire  and  rolled  into  plates. 
These  plates  were  shipped  without  being  sheared.  Later  shears 
were  introduced  and  the  shearings  were  cut  into  nails.  After- 
ward a  reverbatory  heating  furnace  was  introduced,  enabling  the 
scrap  to  be  worked  up.  The  plate-rolls  at  this  time  were  from 
sixteen  to  eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  from  three  to  four  feet 
long  between  the  housings,  and  were  driven  by  an  overshot  water- 
wheel.  Many  a  time,  when  it  looked  as  ifithe  mill  would  stall,  the 
workmen  would  rush  to  the  water-wheel,  climb  upon  its  rim,  and 
by  their  weight  help  the  pass  through  the  rolls.  In  this  way  ;i 
"sticker"  was  often  prevented,  which,  whenever  it  <  auie,  meant 
fire-cracked  rolls  and  later  on  broken  ones. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  60 1 

Owing  to  the  constant  increase  of  business  the  oversliot 
water-wheel  was  superseded  by  the  breast-wheel,  so  geared  as 
to  convey  more  power  to  the  rolls,  and  in  addition,  a  heavy  fly- 
wheel was  introduced,  geared  to  a  high  speed  for  the  storage  of 
power.  The  use  of  larger  rolls  was  thus  permitted,  those  now 
introduced  being  twenty-one  inches  in  diameter  and  sixty-six 
inches  long.  In  1870  a  modern  steam  plate-mill  was  erected  with 
chilled  rolls  twenty-five  by  eighty-four  inches,  the  old  mill  be- 
coming a  puddling  mill.  At  length  there  was  put  in  position 
a  three-high  mill,  with  solid  chilled  rolls,  34  inches  in  diameter 
by  120  inches  hmg,  weighing  eighteen  tons  each.  At  that  time 
this  was  the  largest  mill  of  its  kind  ever  erected  in  the  United 
States. 

The  capital  (and  surplus)  employed  in  the  business  is  over 
$1,000,000,  the  capacity  of  the  works  being  75,000  tons  per  year. 
The  number  of  men  on  the  pay  roll  is  500,  and  the  amount  of  money 
paid  out  annually  to  employes  is  |250,000.  The  plant  covers 
nearly  fifty  acres  of  ground,  and  the  quantity  of  freight,  both  in 
and  out  of  the  works,  is  175,000  tons  per  year.  Connected  with 
the  plant  at  the  present  time  are  six  open-hearth  furnaces— in 
three  of  which  is  used  the  basic  process,  and  in  the  other  three 
the  acid  process.  The  heating  furnaces  number  nine  and  the 
trains  of  rolls  three.  A  machine-shop,  a  fitting-shop,  a  carpenter- 
shop,  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  turning  department,  a  supply  building 
and  an  electric  apparatus  constitute  portions  of  the  equipment. 
An  electric  charging  machine  performs  the  work  of  several  men, 
and  two  small  locomotives  move  material  from  place  to  place. 
Hydraulic  handling  cranes  are  placed  wherever  they  can  be  used 
to  advantage,  the  largest  lifting  eighteen  tons.  Four  hydraulic 
cranes  in  the  shipping  house,  which  is  240  feet  long,  are  each  ca- 
pable of  lifting  five  tons.  Two  large  flanging  machines,  capable 
of  turning  the  largest  sized  boiler  heads,  machines  for  making 
flue  holes  in  boiler  heads,  one  of  them  a  hydraulic  machine  with 


6o2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

a  cylinder  48  iaches  in  diameter,  and  macliines  for  manufactur- 
ing patent  steel  boiler  braces,  of  which  latter  Mr.  A.  F.  Huston 
is  the  patentee,  are  in  position.  One  of  the  engines  is  60x3( 
inches,  having  an  indicated  horse  power  of  2,000,  and  another 
engine  is  48x28  inches.  The  twenty-live  large  gas  producers  sup 
ply  the  steel  plant  and  the  i)late  mills,  the  four  reverbei'atory  fur 
naces  using  coal.  The  mill  across  the  Brandywine  has  four  fur 
naces. 

The  officers  of  this  company  at  the  present  time  are  A.  F. 
Huston,  president;  C.  L.  Huston,  vice-president,  and  Joseph  Hump- 
ton,  secretary'  and  treasurer. 

This  history  of  the  Lukens  Iron  and  Steel  Company  cannot 
well  be  closed  without  at  least  brief  reference  to  the  man  to  whose 
efforts,  since  the  death  of  Mrs.  Lukens,  its  success  and  present 
standing  in  the  industrial  world  are  mainly  due.  Dr.  Charles 
Huston  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1822,  graduated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  in  1840,  finished  a  three  years'  course  in 
medicine  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia  in  1843, 
and  supplemented  this  coui'se  in  medical  study  by  an  eighteen 
months'  special  course  in  Europe.  He  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Philadelphia,  married  Miss  Isabella  Lukens  of 
Coatesville,  and  settled  down  to  the  laborious  life  of  a  practicing 
physician.  In  LS48  he  moved  to  the  country,  and  in  1849  became 
engaged  in  the  iron  business,  which  he  continuously  followed  un- 
til his  death  in  Januarj',  1897.  Iq  1875,  when  the  government 
of  the  United  States  began  requiring  that  plates  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  steamboat  boilers  should  be  stamped  with  their 
tensile  strength.  Dr.  Huston  promptly  purchased  a  testing  ma- 
chine, and  began  investigating  the  properties  of  iron  and  steel, 
and  in  1877,  when  the  manufacturers  of  boiler  plates  were  re- 
quested by  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment to  send  a  committee  to  Washington  to  advise  with  the 
Board  of  Supervising  Steamboat  Inspectors  in  framing  a  proper 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  603 

standard  of  tests,  Dr.  Hustou  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  because  of  his  practical  knowledge  of  the  character 
of  metal  and  his  experience  in  testing,  his  recommendations  were 
adopted  by  the  Board  of  Inspectors.  In  later  years  his  conn  eel 
was  frequently  sought  by  tlie  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  liis  views  were  also  sought  and  followed  by  tlie  leading  steam 
boiler  inspectors  and  insurance  companies  in  this  country.  Dr. 
Huston  was  one  of  the  leading  authorities  in  the  United  States 
upon  the  iron  and  steel  industry,  and  in  1878-79  he  published 
revised  articles  in  the  journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute  upon  the 
behavior  of  iron  and  steel  under  varying  conditions  of  heat  and 
stress.  These  articles  attracted  the  attention  of  engineers  abroad 
years  afterward,  when  they  began  this  line  of  investigation. 

In  1895  Dr.  Huston  was  selected  by  Chauncey  M.  Depew  as 
the  man  best  qualified  by  ability  and  experience  to  write  the  article 
on  the  iron  and  steel  industrj'  in  his  comprehensive  history  of 
"One  Hundred  Years  of  American  Commerce."  The  natural 
ability  of  Dr.  Huston  and  his  scientific  acquirements  permeated 
every  department  of  the  Lukens  Works,  and  the  influence  of  his 
high  personal  character  was  always  felt,  not  only  throughout 
these  works,  but  also  throughout  the  community  in  which  he 
lived. 

The  Coatesville  Boiler  Works  were  started  in  1886  by  Fred- 
erick Potter,  A.  J.  George,  H.  C.  Smith  and  Cyrus  Shank,  who 
rented  the  old  planing-mill  property  of  William  T.  Hunt's  estate, 
and  began  making  boilers  under  the  firm  name  of  Setter,  George 
&  Co.  The  entire  amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  business  at 
first  was  less  than  $700,  but  each  member  of  the  firm  was  a  skilled 
mechanic,  and  by  turning  out  first-class  work  at  moderate  prices 
they  gradually  built  up  the  business  w'hich  amounted  the  first 
year  to  $11 ,000. 

In  1887  Messrs.  Smith  and  Shank  withdrew  from  the  part- 
nership, and  were  succeeded    by    Frederic    and    George  E.  Eeif, 


6o4  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Frederic  Eeif  selling  his  interest  in  1890  to  Charles  Edgerton,  a 
mechanical  engineer  of  Philadelphia.  This  year  the  firm  pur- 
chased the  oM  round-house  property  of  the  Wilmington  and  North- 
ern Railroad  Company,  and  erected  their  present  shops.  The 
main  building  is  60x160  feet,  with  additional  buildings  for  the  en- 
gine and  tool  rooms,  and  an  annex  for  the  flanging  department. 

September  15,  1891,  the  Coatesville  Boiler  Works  were  in- 
corporated, with  a  capital  stock  of  |50,000,  and  since  the  enter- 
prise has  grown  to  its  present  large  proportions.  The  machinery 
in  this  plant  cost  $20,000,  and  among  the  most  important  pieces 
is  a  pair  of  bending  rolls  IS  feet  6  inches  between  housings,  with 
double  engines  attached,  capable  of  bending  plates  18  feet  wide 
to  a  circle  of  38  inches.  These  rolls  cost  |6,000  and  weigh  thirty- 
five  tons.  There  are  also  large  machines  punching  five-inch  holes 
in  g-inch  plates  with  perfect  ease.  There  is  also  other  necessary 
machinery,  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe. 

The  products  of  these  works  consist  of  boilers  of  various  sizes, 
smoke-stacks,  stand-pipes,  all  kinds  of  tanks,  including  congealing 
tanks  for  ice  plants,  as  well  as  other  articles  of  iron.  The  num- 
ber of  men  employed  is  about  sixty,  the  annual  pay  roll  amount- 
ing to  more  than  .|20,000.  The  volume  of  business  amounts  to 
something  over  |125,000  per  year,  and  the  business  has  been  so 
prosperous  that  the  stock  of  the  company  is  usually  at  a  premium. 

The  officers  of  the  company  at  present  are  as  follows:  F. 
Softer,  president;  Charles  Edgerton,  vice-president,  and  A.  J. 
George,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

Ridgway's  Foundry  of  Coatesville,  manufacturing  water- 
wheels  and  cranes,  was  established  in  1863,  the  main  business  for 
many  years  being  that  of  keeping  in  repair  the  rolling-mills  of 
the  town  and  neighborhood,  and  the  manufacture  of  the  old  Tyler 
water-wheel.  In  1879  William  H.  Ridgway  was  admitted  to 
partnership  with  Mr.  Craig  Ridgway,  and  soon  improved  the  Tyler 
wheel,  bringing  out  the  now  celebrated  Perfection  water-wheel. 


/u^/^^ 


AXD     ITH     PEOPLIJ.  607 

•which  was  a  success  from  the  start,  and  which  is  iu  use  in  Asia, 
Africa  and  all  parts  of  Europe,  as  well  as  iu  the  United  States. 
In  1888  Mr.  Eidgway  produced,  in  the  invention  of  his  Balanced 
Steam  Crane,  one  of  the  most  notable  inventions  of  the  day.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  successful  enterprises  of  its  iiind  in  the  country. 

The  Coatesville  Casket  Company  was  organized  at  a  stock- 
liolders'  meeting  held  February  20,  189G,  the  directors  elected  then 
being  Joseph  N.  AVoodward,  L.  B.  Henson,  Charles  W.  Ash,  John 
W.  Thompson,  W.  P.  Moore,  O.  A.  Boyle,  W.  S.  Young,  J.  L. 
Xiovett,  and  .J.  H.  C.  McClure,  and  these  directors  elected  J.  N. 
Woodward  president,  John  W.  Thompson  treasurer  and  H.  0. 
McClure  secretary.  The  company  was  incorporated  in  March, 
1896,  with  a  capital  of  $25,000,  at  Avhich  it  still  remains.  They 
purchased  an  old  shoe  factory  building  at  the  corner  of  Main 
Street  and  Sixth  Avenue,  to  which  they  made  some  improvements 
and  additions,  and  which  they  still  use.  The  product  of  the  fac- 
tory consists  of  all  kinds  of  caskets,  the  specialty  being  those 
made  of  oak  and  mahogany.  The  first  year's  output  was  worth 
about  .f  10,000,  the  capacity  of  the  works  being  about  $50,000  worth 
of  products.  The  officers  of  the  company  at  the  present  time  are 
the  same  as  those  mentioned  above. 

The  Viaduct  Iron  Works  were  purchased  at  sheriff's  sale 
about  1853  by  Hugh  E.  Steel  and  S.  B.  Worth,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Steel  &  Worth.  They  were  then  known  as  the  Tridelphi  Iron 
Works,  but  the  name  was  changed  by  the  new  owners  to  the 
Viaduct  Iron  Works,  they  being  situated  in  the  borough  of  Coates- 
ville, directly  underneath  the  high  Pennsylvania  railway  bridge 
spanning  the  Brandywine.  At  this  time  the  mill  consisted  of  two 
small  trains  of  rolls,  driven  by  water.  Steel  &  Worth  immedi- 
ately increased  in  size  both  sets  of  rolls,  using  all  the  water  power 
to  drive  one  set,  and  introducing  a  steam  engine  to  drive  the 
other.  In  1861  they  erected  another  steam  mill,  and  in  1868  still 
another  and  larger  mill  was  erected.  Since  1872  all  the  rolls  have 
35 


6o8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

been  operated  by  steam.  In  1874,  owing  to  the  death  of  !^.  B. 
Worth,  the  firm  was  dissolved,  and  later  the  works  were  continued 
by  Hugh  E.  Steel  and  the  heirs  of  S.  B.  Worth,  under  the 
name  of  Steel  &  Worth  Company,  the  same  being  incorporated. 
In  1880  the  Worths  withdrew  from  the  corporation,  and  the  name 
was  changed  to  the  Coatesville  Ii'on  Company.  In  1888  the  works. 
were  purchased  by  J.  S.  &  AV.  P.  Woi"th,  who  have  since  continued 
it  under  the  firm  name  of  the  Coatesville  Boiling  Mill  Company. 
The  present  capacity  of  the  works  is  about  15,000  tons  annually. 

The  Brandywine  Rolling  Mills  was  erected  in  1880  by  Worth 
Brothers  (J.  Sharpless  and  William  P.).  Upon  its  commencement 
the  product  of  the  mills  was  about  3,000  tons  of  finished  plates 
annually,  and  this  capacity  was  increased  from  time  to  time,  as 
occasion  demanded.  In  1895  the  firm  was  iucorj^orated  as  Worth 
Brothers  Company,  the  Worths  being  the  principal  stockholders, 
the  capital  stock  being  placed  at  |250,000.  Radical  improve- 
ments were  made  and  the  works  generally  enlarged.  An  open- 
hearth  steel  plant  and  a  large  three-high  plate-mill,  including 
rolls  eleven  feet  wide  (the  largest  in  Pennsylvania),  were  estab 
lished.  These  works  are  located  in  East  Fallowfleld  Township, 
about  one-half  a  mile  from  the  borough  line  of  Coatesville,  and 
contiguous  to  the  Wilmington  &  Northern  Railway.  The  busi- 
ness consists  mainly  in  the  manufacture  of  open-hearth  steel- 
plates  and  sheets.  Steel  is  manufactured  by  both  the  basic  aud 
the  acid  process,  and  all  the  improvements  in  the  methods  or  pro- 
cesses of  making  steel  are  here  in  use.  The  mills  have  a  capacity 
of  about  40,000  tons  of  finished  steel  per  year,  and  this  capacity  is 
being  increased  by  the  addition  of  more  furnaces. 

Hoopes  Bros.  «&  Darlington,  manufacturers  of  wheels  of  all 
kinds,  established  themselves  in  business  in  West  Chester  in  1868, 
though,  at  the  beginning,  only  William  and  Thomas  Hoopes  were 
in  the  firm.  Shortly  afterward  Stephen  P.  Darlington  became 
a  member  of  the  firm,  and  the  name  given  above  was  adopted. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  609 

The  business  at  first  consisted  of  tlie  manufacture  of  spolies,  but 
in  1870  tiie  manufacture  of  bent  rims  was  added,  and  in  1872  the 
manufacture  of  Avheels.  From  that  time  on  the  manufacture  of 
spolves  gradually  was  discontinued,  as  the  timber  fit  for  such 
purposes  diminished  in  quantity,  and  the  manufactui'e  of  wheels 
as  gradually  increased,  until,  at  the  present  time,  it  is  almost  ex- 
clusively the  business  of  the  company.  All  kinds  of  wheels  are 
made,  from  those  on  the  lightest  wagons  up  to  those  on  wagons 
which  carry  twenty-five  tons.  The  market  for  the  product  of  this 
establishment,  which  is  located  on  Market  Street,  just  east  of  the 
railroad,  is  confined  mainly  to  a  radius  of  three  hundred  miles, 
but  still  a  portion  of  the  product  is  shipped  to  England  and  other 
European  countries.  The  floor  space  of  the  buildings  is  equal  to 
about  two  acres;  the  capital  employed  is  about  |200,000;  the  force 
ranges  from  140  to  175  men,  and  the  product  of  the  works  ranges 
from  12.50,000  to  |300,000  per  year.  The  members  of  the  firm  at 
the  present  time  are  William  and  Thomas  Hoopes  and  Edwin  S. 
Darlington,  the  two  brothers  having  been  continuously  in  the  com- 
pany. 

The  Sharpless  Separator  Works  were  established  in  1885  by 
Philip  M.  Sharpless  in  a  building  where  the  stocking  factory  now 
is  located,  with  five  men  and  less  than  .f200  capital,  the  success 
with  which  he  has  met  being  attributable  to  the  mechanical 
knowledge  acquired  in  various  manufactories  of  steam  engines 
and  other  factories  of  a  similar  nature  and  to  industi*y  and  de- 
termination to  succeed.  The  business  which  Mr.  Sharpless  owns 
and  manages  has  grown  in  sixteen  years  to  be  one  of  the  most 
successful  in  the  country,  turning  out  a  product  that  goes  ex- 
tensively into  every  dairy  country  of  the  earth.  Many  carloads 
of  machinery  were  shipped  in  1897  to  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
Africa,  South  America,  Europe,  and  other  foreign  countries. 

The  special  product  is  the  Cream  Separator,  an  implement 
which,  within  the  last  few  years,  has  revolutionized  the  dairying 


6io  CHESTER     COUNTY 

business  of  the  country.  Thousands  of  machines  are  annually 
put  into  the  hands  of  dairymen  and  farmers,  who,  though  not 
skilled  in  the  handling  of  machinery,  yet  have  no  difficulty  in  man- 
aging a  separator  which  makes  25,000  revolutions  per  minute, 
day  after  day,  with  an  expense  that  is  merely  trifling,  with  rarely 
a  breakdown  and  never  a  life  endangered.  The  buildings  are 
located  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Villa  Maria  Academy, 
on  the  railroad,  thus  possessing  every  needed  shipping  facility. 
The  works  spend  |20,000  per  year  in  advertising,  and  in  connec- 
tion with  its  branch  houses  at  Dubuque,  Omaha,  and  at  Elgin, 
employ  about  300  people,  and  over  half  a  million  dollars  of  capital, 
and  on  January  1,  1898,  there  was  not  a  dollar  outstanding 
against  them  anywhere.  The  success  of  Mr.  Sharpless  in  build- 
ing up  and  conducting  this  business  has  been  most  remarkable, 
and  is  a  valuable  object  lesson  to  those  who  may  feel  that  they 
have  within  them  the  enterprising  spirit  necessary  to  success, 
but  yet  hesitate  to  put  it  into  practical  operation. 

The  Edison  Electric  Ilhaminating  Company  of  West  Chester 
was  organized  in  1885,  and  erected  in  that  place  the  third  plant 
of  the  kind  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  directors  of  the 
company  at  first  were  K.  T.  Cornwell,  H.  C.  Baldwin,  E.  H.  Hemp- 
hill, T.  Brown,  Dr.  Isaac  Massey,  A.  Hoopes,  K.  E.  Monaghan,  W. 
Hoopes  and  F.  P.  Darlington.  The  officers  of  this  company  from 
its  organizatiou  to  the  present  time  have  been  and  are  as  follows: 
K.  T.  Cornwell,  president;  John  A.  Eupert,  secretary,  and  D.  M. 
McFarland,  treasurer. 

The  object  for  which  this  company  was  organized  was  th<j 
manufactui'e  of  light  and  power,  and  for  this  purpose  it  purchased 
a  building  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Walnut 
Streets,  into  which  the  first  plant,  which  was  much  less  in  com- 
pleteness and  effectiveness  than  that  at  present  in  use,  was  placed. 
The  present  building  is  a  two-and-a-half-story  brick,  50x120  feet 
in  size,  and  there  is  a  boiler-house  one  story  high.     The  equip- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  6ii 

ment  at  the  present  time  consists  of  five  boilers  and  six  engines, 
with  an  aggregate  of  750-horse  power.  All  of  the  engines  are 
high-speed  automatic  ones,  three  of  them  straight  lines,  one  of 
the  others  being  made  by  the  McEwen  Company,  one  by  the  Beck 
Company,  and  one  by  the  Ames  Company.  The  dynamos  are  as 
follows : 

Four  30-kilowatt  dynamos,  with  125  voltage,  the  first  intro- 
duced in  1885,  for  the  purpose  of  incandescent  lighting  and  fur- 
nishing power  to  manufacturers  of  AVest  Chester. 

Two  50-kilowatt  dynamos,  introduced  in  Februai-y,  1887,  for 
the  same  purpose. 

Two  60-kilowatt  railway  generators  of  500  voltage,  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  power  to  the  street  railway  company,  in- 
troduced in  the  early  part  of  1801. 

One  Edison  series-arc  thirty-five  lights  machine,  for  supply- 
ing commercial  lights  to  stores,  introduced  in  1891,  and  another 
for  the  same  purpose,  introduced  in  1892. 

One  Thomson-Houston  series-arc  fifty  lights  machine,  for 
supplying  arc  lights  for  the  streets,  introduced  in  1893,  and  a 
similar  machine,  introduced  in  1895. 

It  may  be  proper  to  state  in  this  connection  that  a  kilowatt 
is  a  thousand  watts,  and  that  T4G  watts  is  equal  to  one  horse- 
power. 

The  present  directors  of  this  company  are  as  follows;  E.  T. 
Coruwell,  H.  C.  Baldwin,  T.  Brown,  J.  S.  Evans,  F.  P.  Darlington, 
P.  E.  Jefferis,  Abuer  Hoopes,  and  Samuel  Marshall. 

Damon  &  Speakman  jvere  engaged  for  several  years  in  the 
manufacture  of  a  arious  implments  that  are  used  on  or  about  the 
farm,  their  I'ouudry  and  machine  shop  being  located  in  West  Ches- 
ter, where  now  stands  the  artificial  ice  plant.  They  began  busi- 
ness about  1855,  making  horse-powers,  corn-shellers,  lime-spread- 
ers, etc.  In  1858  they  began  nmkiug  the  Hubbard  mowing  ma- 
chine, then  the  best  in  use.     They  also    made    one-horse    power 


6i2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

maoliine,  for  running  the  churn,  and  the  butter  worker,  all  of 
these  before  the  war  of  the  Eebellion. 

The  Parkersburg  Iron  Company's  Works  were  started  in  1873, 
by  Horace  A.  Beale,  and  afterward  the  firm  became  Horace  A. 
Beale  &  Co.  by  the  admission  of  William  H.  Gibbous  of  Coates- 
ville  to  partnership.  In  1882  the  present  companj-  was  organ- 
ized and  incorporated  with  a  capital  of  .fl2o,000.  The  first  offi- 
cers were  Horace  A.  Beale,  president;  William  H.  Gibbons,  vice- 
president;  Amos  Michener,  secretary,  Samuel  E.  Parke»' treasurer, 
and  A.  J.  Williams,  general  manager.  These  persons  remained 
in  their  respective  offices  until  the  fall  of  1897,  when  Horace  A. 
Beale  died,  and  Mr.  Gibbons  became  president,  Horace  A.  Beale, 
Jr.,  vice-president;  William  C.  Michener,  secretary;  George 
Thomas  (3),  treasurer,  and  the  general  manager  remaining  the 
same,  though  an  assistant  general  manager  was  provided  in  the 
person  of  E.  H.  Brodhead. 

The  product  of  these  mills  consists  of  boiler  tube-iron  skelp, 
the  annual  output  being  about  10,000  tons.  The  buildings  con- 
sist of  three  mill  buildings,  one  forge  building,  two  charcoal 
houses,  two  scrap  houses,  a  machine  shop,  two  trimming  houses 
and  other  necessary  buildings.  The  mill  consists  of  three  two- 
high  plate  lines  driven  by  a  horizontal  slide-valve  engine;  one 
three-high  muck-bar  roll-train  driven  by  a  vertical  slide-valve 
engine;  three  puddling  furnaces  with  double-acting  upright  ham- 
mer; nine  heating  furnaces;  twelve  forge  fires,  and  two  horizontal 
hammers.  The  inachine  shop  is  fitted  up  with  all  necessar.y  ma- 
chinery.    There  are  employed  at  these  works  about  300  men. 

Capt.  Horace  A.  Beale,  deceased,  former  president  of  the 
Parkesburg  Iron  Company,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  January  2.5, 
1827.  The  first  member  of  the  Beale  family  to  settle  in  Chester 
County  was  William  Beale,  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Catherine  Beale, 
of  Calne,  in  Wiltshire,  England.  Horace  A.  Beale  was  a  son  of 
Joseph  and  Margaret  (McDowell)  Beale,  the  former  of  whom  died 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  613 

on  his  farm  uear  Downiugtown,  iu  ISil,  his  wife  having  died  in 
1834. 

Keared  mainly  in  Chester  County,  Horace  A.  Beale  received 
his  education  in  the  old  Philadelphia  Academy  and  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania.  In  1846  he  became  a  clerk  at  the  Laurel 
Iron  Works,  and  there  gained  his  first  knowledge  of  the  iron  busi- 
ness. Going  to  Phoenixville  soon  afterward,  he  became  a  clerk 
in  the  Phoenixville  Iron  "Works,  and  there  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  tbe  iron  business  in  all  its  details.  In  1852  he  purchased  the 
Thorndale  Iron  Works,  and  while  occupied  in  the  management 
of  these  works  made  himself  familiar  with  everything  connected 
with  the  industry  in  which  he  was  engaged.  In  1882  he  estab- 
lished the  Parkesburg  Iron  Company,  of  which  he  was  president 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  which  he  made  an  unusual  success. 
One  of  the  results  of  the  location  of  the  works  in  this  place  was 
the  growth  of  Parkesburg  from  a  population  of  about  300  to  one 
of  nearly  2,000,  as  it  is  at  the  present  time.  While  Capt.  Beale 
encoutered  many  obstacles,  yet  he  overcame  them  all,  and 
achieved  a  very  substantial  success. 

One  of  the  features  of  Mr.  Beale's  character  was  his  uniform 
courtesy  and  kindly  disposition.  He  was  in  reality  the  idol  of 
his  employes,  all  of  whom  he  knew  by  name,  and  all  of  whom 
he  always  treated  with  the  greatest  interest  and  sympathy.  The 
result  of  this  kindly  interest  was  that  every  man  in  his  employ 
labored  diligently  for  the  interest  of  his  employer,  and  strikes  iu 
his  works  were  unknown.  This  is  believed  to  be  the  true  secret 
of  success  in  the  treatment  of  the  laboring  man.  He  is  entitled  to 
justice  under  the  bare  contract  for  the  surrender  of  his  time  and 
the  expenditure  of  his  energy,  and  he  is  in  a  certain  sense  entitled 
to  more  than  justice,  iu  order  that  he  may  be  in  some  degree 
contented  Avith  his  lot.  And  no  one  can  appreciate  more  than  he 
such  kindly  sympathy  as  was  always  extended  by  Capt.  Horace  A. 
Beale.  When  he  died  November  3,  1897,  he  was  sincerelj'  mourned 
hy  all,  family,  friends,  employes,  all  that  knew  him. 


6i4  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  Downingtown  Manufacturing  Company  (Limited),  was 
organized  as  a  stock  company  under  the  act  of  June  2,  1874,  ou 
November  20,  1884,  though  the  business  had  been  carried  on  from 
1881  by  Guyon  Miller  and  A.  B.  Tutton  as  a  private  concern. 
When  the  stock  company  was  fomied  it  was  authorized  to  have  a 
capital  of  |33,500,  which  was  subsequently  increased  to  $50,500. 
The  first  officers  of  the  company  were  A.  B.  Tutton  chairman,  and 
Guyon  Miller  secretary  and  treasurer.  The  works  are  located  on 
Washington  Avenue  and  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  and  consist 
of  several  buildings  such  as  are  needed  in  an  establishment  of  the 
kind.  The  products  of  the  works  consist  of  patent  beating  en- 
gines and  fourdrinier  and  cylinder  paper  machines.  The  annual 
capacitj^  of  the  works  is  |125,000  worth  of  these  goods. 

S.  Austin  Bicking's  Paper  Mills,  Nos.  1  and  2,  ai-e  located  in 
Downingtown,  No.  1  having  been  started  in  1881  by  Mr.  Bicking 
at  the  corner  of  Brandywine  and  Lancaster  Avenues.  No.  2  was 
started  in  1895,  a  flour  mill  formerly  belonging  to  Mr.  Shelmire 
being  converted  into  a  paper  mill.  At  the  present  time  Mr.  Bick- 
ing's  sons  are  in  partnership  with  him  in  the  operation  of  the 
mills,  which  manufacture  wrapping,  roofing  and  rosin-sized  build- 
ing pajjer,  and  binders'  and  trunk  boards. 

F.  P.  Miller  manages  a  paper  mill  as  agent,  and  William 
Kerr  also  has  a  paper  mill  in  the  southern  part  of  Downingtown. 

The  Downingtown  Brick  Works  are  located  in  East  Downing- 
town, and  are  owned  by  W.  Logan  Rogers  and  Lewis  Miller,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Rogers  &  Miller.  They  were  established  in  1892 
by  Rogers  &  Kerr,  who  ran  them  about  one  year,  when  the  firm 
became  Rogers  &  Parke.  In  1897  the  firm  became  Rogers  & 
Miller,  as  it  is  at  present.  Twenty-one  acres  are  occupied  by  the 
firm,  who  employ  an  average  of  about  thirty  men,  and  manu- 
facture about  3,500,000  brick  per  annum. 

James  Florey's  brick  yard  is  also  in  East  Downingtown,  and 
was  established  in  1895.     He  OAvns  fourteen  acTes  of  laud,  em- 


AND     JTS    PEOPLE.  615 

ploys  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  meu,  auti  makes  about  5,000,000 
brick  per  year. 

The  Ohalfaut  Maniifaoturiug  Company's  business,  located  at 
Atglen,  was  established  in  1873  by  Isaac  P.  Clmlfant,  who  carried 
on  the  business  alone  until  tlie  company  was  incorporated  in 
1890,  under  the  above  name.  Isaac  P.  Chalfant  was  the  first 
president  of  the  company,  and  T.  vS.  Chalfant  secretary.  The 
business  of  Isaac  P.  Chalfant  and  of  the  company  has  been  and  is 
the  manufacture  of  the  Potts  sad-irons,  invented  b.y  Mr.  Potts. 
These  sad-irons  are  known  all  over  the  world,  and  since  the  patent 
expired  in  1888  have  been  manufactured  largely  in  most  civilized 
countries.  At  the  i^resent  time  the  headquarters  of  the  company 
are  at  Lancaster,  the  establishment  at  Atglen  being  only  a  bramli, 
and  being  located  on  a  small  branch  of  Octoraro  Creek,  about 
half  a.  mile  above  the  borough  of  Atglen. 

The  American  Eoad  Machine  Company  was  organized  Marc  h 
1,  188G,  with  the  following  officers:  Samuel  Pennock,  pi'esideut; 
George  W.  Taft,  vice-president;  C.  J.  Pennock,  secretary,  and  Ed- 
ward Lewis,  treasurer.  From  1881  to  188G  the  business  was  car- 
ried on  under  the  name  of  S.  Pennock  &  Sons'  Company,  and 
from  1877  to  1881  under  the  name  of  S.  Pennock  &  Sons. 

Samuel  Pennock  is  the  patriarch  of  Kennett  Squan\  From 
a  farmhouse  just  beyond  the  borough  limits  this  now  venerable 
man  came  to  the  place,  and  together  with  his  brothers,  Morton 
and  Barkley,  erected  the  machine  shops  now  owned  by  J.  M. 
Worrall,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments. Moses  Pennock  and  his  son,  Samuel,  invented  the  first 
practical  grain  drill  in  America,  and  also  a  corn-sheller.  Samuel 
Pennock's  harvesting  machine  was  tfie  first  machine  of  the  kind 
which  enabled  the  operator  to  manipulate  it  while  remaining 
seated  upon  it.  In  the  establishment  where  these  implements 
were  manufactured  there  were  employed  about  thirty  men.  In 
1858  or  1859  the  car  shops  were  built  by  the  Penuocks,  in  which 


6i6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

freight  cars,  principally,  were  made,   and   about   125  u:en  were 

employed. 

Mr.  Pennock  invented  the  road-machine  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  American  Road  Machine  Company,  in  1877^  without 
knowing  of  the  existence  of  any  similar  invention  in  the  country, 
but  others  were  at  work  on  the  same  idea,  and  many  t\iOusauds 
have  been  sold,  but  the  combined  inventions  of  several  companies 
have  given  the  public  the  perfection  of  such  a  machine.  For  the 
past  eighty-one  years  Mr.  Samuel  Pennock  has  been  a  resident  of 
Kennett  Square,  with  the  exception  of  two  years  spent  in  Uniou- 
ville,  one  year  with  the  Pusey  &  Harlem  Company  of  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  and  four  and  a  half  years  in  Ithaca,  Xew  York.  He 
lias  been  an  anti-slavery  man,  a  in'ohibitionist  and  a  equal  suf- 
fragist, and  is  in  favor  of  more  light  being  thrown  on  every  phase 
of  socialism. 

In  188G  George  W.  Taft,  of  Abington,  Connecticut,  made  a 
consolidation  with  the  tirm  in  Kennett  Square,  and  the  capital  of 
the  new  company  was  increased  to  .f250,000.  Then  about  half  of 
the  buildings  now  in  use  had  been  erected,  their  elegant  brick 
office  building  having  also  been  erected  since  then.  This  com- 
pany- manufactures  road-machines,  rock-crushers,  road-rollers, 
and  other  valuable  inventions.  The  officers  of  the  companj-  at 
the  present  time  are:  George  W.  Taft,  president;  Edward  Lewis, 
vice-president;  S.  Jones  Philips,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  the 
board  of  directors  consists  of  the  above-named  officers  and  Henry 
O.  Davis  and  Wilfred  Lewis. 

Cassel's  Terra  Cotta  Works  at  Kennett  Square  were  located 
in  this  place  in  1894,  but  had  been  in  existence  pi-eviously  for 
about  twenty  years,  for  fifteen  of  which  years  in  Philadelphia.  In 
Kennett  the  building  is  a  three-story  brick,  40x80  feet  in  size,  and 
here  all  kinds  of  rustic  teiTa-cotta  are  made.  The  goods  find  a 
market  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  in  Europe.  The 
■office  of  the  works  is  at  700  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  617 

Joseph  E.  Gawthrop  is  eugaged  in  the  manufacture  of  fei'- 
tilizers  of  all  kinds  in  Keunett  Square,  succeeding  his  father, 
James  Gawthrop,  ■n'ho  clied  in  ISST,  his  factoi*j'  being  located  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  village. 

The  Fiber  Specialty  Company  was  organized  June  S,  1898, 
with  officers  as  follows:  George  W.  Taft,  president;  Ishael  Mai*- 
shall,  vice-president;  C.  J.  Pennock,  secretary,  and  S.  Jones  Philips, 
treasurer.  The  capital  stock  of  the  company  is  $50,000,  and  tin- 
plant  is  located  on  AYest  Cedar  Street  and  the  railway.  The 
building  is  a  two  and  a  half  story  brick,  40x120  feet,  and  contains 
all  the  machinery  for  the  proper  carrying  on  of  the  business.  The 
boiler  is  a  forty-horse  power  one,  and  the  engine  is  of  fifteen-horse 
power.  All  kinds  of  fiber  goods  are  manufactured,  such  as  trunks, 
valises,  traveling  bags,  etc. 

The  Kennett  Foundry  and  Machine  Works,  of  which  -T.  Eli 
Crozier  is  the  proprietor,  were  established  in  1887,  by  Mr.  Crozier. 
They  are  located  on  South  Union  Street  and  the  railway,  the 
building  consisting  of  a  brick-machine  shop,  a  lafge  brick  foundry, 
and  several  others  necessary  to  such  an  enterprise.  Mr.  Crozier 
turns  out  about  |25,000  worth  of  products  each  year,  which  con- 
sist in  part  of  parts  of  the  rock-crusher  and  of  the  road-machine 
made  by  the  American  Eoad  Machine  Company-,  and  he  employs 
on  the  average  twenty-two  men.  • 

The  Oxford  Milling  Company  was  organized  in  March,  18S8, 
with  a  capital  of  .f2.5,000.  The  company  manufactures  high-grade 
winter  wheat  flours,  their  mill  being  equipped  with  the  latest  im- 
proved roller  process  machinery.  The  leading  brands  of  flour 
made  are  the  "Passmore  Fancj-,"  the  "White  Daisy,"  the  "White 
Plume,'"  and  the  "Arbutus."  The  officers  at  present  are  W.  F. 
Dowdall,  president;  H.  P.  Passmore,  secretary  and  manager; 
D.  M.  Taylor,  treasurer,  and  J.  Haunan,  superintendent.  The 
mills  are  adjacent  to  the  ti'acks  of  the  Central  Division  of  the 
Philadelphia,  Wilmington  &  Baltimore  Railroad,  and  they  have  a 
large  export  ti-ade  to  Cuba  and  European  countries. 


6i8  CHESTER    COUNTY 

Wilson,  Piigli  &  Wilson,  successors  to  Bailey  &  "SVilson,  have 
been  in  the  business  of  manufacturing  carriages,  buggies,  etc., 
for  more  than  thirty-five  years.  Their  buildings  on  Pine  Street  are 
conveniently  arranged,  the  main  building  being  30x100  feet,  two 
stories  above  the  basement,  and  is  used  as  a  repository.  Three 
other  buildings  are  in  use,  a  smith-shop, .a  wood-shop  and  a  two- 
story  building  used  both  as  a  I'epository  and  a  paint  and  trimming 
shop.  The  territory  over  which  the  trade  of  this  firm  extends  em- 
braces the  surrounding  country  in  Southern  Pennsylvania  and 
Northern  Maryland,  and  such  large  cities  as  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, Chicago,  and  portions  of  the  states  of  Maine,  New  York, 
Ohio,  and  states  intermediate  between  Ohio  and  Alabama.  The 
firm  is  now  composed  of  Samuel  W.  Wilson,  A.  Louis  Pugh  and 
J.  Henry  Wilson,  the  last  named  being  the  son  of  the  first  named. 
In  1897  this  firm  began  the  sale  of  agricultural  implements. 

Chandler  &  Andrews  operate  the  only  planing-mill  in  Oxford. 
The  building  consists  of  a  two-story  brick,  60x40  feet,  with  an 
"L"  18x21  feet,  and  is  well  designed  for  rapid  and  perfect  worl;. 
Every  description  of  sash,  doors,  blinds,  moldings,  and  finishing 
materials  are  turned  .out,  and  the  firm  deals  extensively  in  lumber, 
tiour,  feed,  grain  and  hay.  F.  G.  Andrews  became  a  member  of  the 
firm  in  September,  1895.  In  the  planing  is  one  large  planer  and 
several  joiners,  the  machinery  being  propelled  by  a  thirty-horse 
power  engine. 

The  Oxford  Caramel  Company  was  incorporated  according  to 
the  laws  of  Pennsylvania  November  1,  1891,  with  a  capital  of 
1100,000.  The  officers  at  first  were  as  follows:  President,  W.  F. 
Parker;  secretaiy  and  treasurer,  H.  U.  Williams;  directors,  W.  F. 
Parker,  H.  U.  Williams,  D.  M.  Taylor,  J.  E.  Eamsey  and  W.  T. 
Donald.  At  the  present  H.  U.  Williams  is  president,  H.  L.  Shum- 
Avay,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  the  directors  are  as  follows: 
H.  U.  Williams,  D.  M.  Taylor,  J.  E.  Ramsey,  H.  L.  Shumway  and 
W.  II.  Wieting. 


AND     77'.S'     PEOPLE.  619 

The  business  was  founded  in  1882  in  Pliiladelpliia  by  W.  I". 
Parker.  On  January  1,  1892,  Mr.  Parlier  and  H.  U.  Williams 
formed  a  co-partnership  under  the  firm  name  of  W.  F.  Parker  & 
Co.,  removing  the  business  to  Oxford  in  April  following".  The 
establishment  has  always  been  distinguished  for  enterprise  and 
its  business  has  steadily  and  rapidly  increased.  The  daily  ca- 
pacity of  the  works  is  between  seven  and  eight  tons,  caramels 
being  manufactured  under  fifty  or  sixty  different  forms,  and 
special  novelties  are  being  constantly  added.  These  caramels  be- 
ing made  of  the  best  materials  to  be  had  command  a  steady 
preference  wherever  introduced.  About  three  hundred  hands  are 
employed  and  the  products  of  the  factory  are  shipped  all  over  the 
United  States,  Canada,  Mexico,  South  America,  Europe  and  Aus- 
ti'alia. 

The  Johnson  Carriage  Company,  Limited,  was  organized  in 
1880,  and  manufactures  a  full  line  of  carriages,  buggies,  phaeton, 
road  carts,  spring  wagons,  etc.  A  specialty  is  made  of  the  three- 
spring  handy  milk-wagon,  and  prompt  attention  is  given  to  re- 
pairing. The  officers  of  the  company  are  as  follows:  Joseph 
Leeke,  president;  John  H.  Kimbell,  treasurer;  Joseph  E.  Johnson, 
general  manager.  Mr.  Johnson  has  had  many  years'  experience 
in  every  department  of  carriage  building,  and  his  experience  is  of 
much  value  to  the  enterprise. 

The  Oxford  Machine  Works,  formerly  the  Woodside  Manu- 
facturing Company,  were  established  in  1895,  by  John  W.  Wood- 
side,  the  name  being  changed  to  the  Oxford  Machine  Works  in 
1897.  The  factory  is  located  on  Fourth  and  South  Streets,  and 
manufactures  flour  and  feed  mill  machinerj',  as  well  as  other  kinds 
of  machineiw.  The  officers  at  the  present  time  are:  John  W. 
Woodside,  president;  J.  H.  Dawson,  vice-president;  J.  C.  Worth, 
secretai-j-,  and  E.  (1.  Woodside,  treasurer. 

The  Chester  Pottery  Company,  Limited,  was  incorporated 
June  1,  1891,  with  the  following  officers:  E.  L.  Buckwalter,  presi- 


620  CHESTER     COUNTY 

dent ;  H.  I.  Brownback,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  David  Smith, 
general  manager.  The  officers  have  remained  the  same  to  the- 
present  time,  except  that  David  Smith  died  in  May,  1896,  and  was 
succeeded  by  William  M.  Chantry.  The  capital  stock  of  the  com- 
pany was  at  first  |20,000,  and  is  now  .^2.5,000. 

The  business  carried  on  by  this  company  was  started  in  1805, 
by  a  Mr.  Shriver,  who  made  yellow  ware.  L.  B.  Beerbower  & 
Company  had  the  works  from  about  1872  to  1874,  when  Mr.  Beer- 
bower  sold  out  to  Griffen,  Smith  &  Co.,  wlio  were  the  proprietors 
until  1881,  and  then  Griffen,  Love  &  Co.  succeeded  to  the  business 
retaining  it  until  1890.  Then  the  Griffen  China  Company  came 
into  possession  of  the  property  and  business,  running  it  about  one 
year.  From  1891  to  1891  the  works  remained  idle,  and  then  the 
present  company  purchased  the  pi»operty,  and  have  since  been 
maniifacturing  all  kinds  of  pottery,  employing  from  eighty-five  to 
one  hundred  hands,  and  turning  out  from  |fiO,000  to  |70,000  worth 
of  product  per  year.  The  works  are  located  at  the  corner  of 
Church  and  Starr  Streets. 

Byrne,  Parsons  &  Co.,  the  firm  being  composed  of  Thomas  F. 
Byrne  and  William  H.  Parsons,  proprietors  of  the  largest  knitting 
works  in  Phoenixville,  began  the  business  in  which  they  are  now 
engaged  in  1885.  At  first  they  were  located  in  a  small  frame 
building  on  Jackson  Street,  remaining  there  until  1890.  Then, 
after  being  on  Hall  Street  until  1890,  they  removed  to  their  pres- 
ent three-story  and  basement  building,  which  is  140x40  feet  in 
size,  and  fully  equipped  with  knitting  and  sewing  machines,  the 
machinery  being  propelled  by  a  seventy-five-horse  power  engine. 
The  company  manufactures  hose  and  ladies'  underwear,  employs 
about  175  hands,  and  turns  out  annually  about  $175,000  worth  of 
goods. 

The  Phoenixville  Knitting  Mills  were  established  in  1891,  by 
the  present  firm,  Davis,  IJussell  &  Co.,  composed  of  Amber  Davis, 
William  Eussell  and  Jonathan  Davis.     Their  building  is  on  Breck- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  621 

enridge  Street,  is  two  stories  high,  and  at  first  was  32xG0  feet  in 
size,  an  addition  of  the  same  size  being  erected  in  1894.  These 
works  are  well  equipped  with  knitting  and  sewing  machines, 
which  are  run  by  a  ten-horse  power  steam  engine.  The  company 
employs  about  eighty  hands  and  manufactures  about  |TO,000 
worth  of  hose  and  ladies'  underwear,  the  latter  feature  of  the 
business  being  added  in  1S94,  when  the  second  building  was 
erected. 

The  Pereeverance  Knitting  Company  was  organized  in  the 
spring  of  1896  at  Spring  City,  and  moved  down  to  Phcenixville  in 
September,  1897.  This  company  is  composed  of  William  Eice, 
Annie  R.  Davis  and  Hiram  Buckwalter.  The  business  is  ou  Van- 
derslice  Street,  and  is  in  the  same  building  with  the  Schuylkill 
Valley  Illuminating  Company.  This  company  manufactures 
ladies'  undem-ear,  employs  about  thirty  hands,  and  turns  out 
about  |25,000  worth  per  year.  Mrs.  Annie  R.  Davis  is  president 
of  the  company-  and  William  Rice  secretary  and  treasurer. 

William  J.  O'Donuell  began  the  business  of  knitting  ladies' 
underwear  in  February,  1896,  in  the  upper  story  of  a  two-story 
building  owned  by  himself  on  Hall  Street,  the  lower  story  being 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  paper  boxes.  He  employs  about  ten 
hands  and  manufactures  from  .f6,000  to  .flO,000.  Power  for  pro- 
pelling the  machinery  in  this  factoiy  is  derived  from  the  Schuyl- 
kill Yallej'  Illuminating  Company. 

Parsons  &  Angstadt,  proprietors  of  knitting  mills  at  the 
corner  of  Hall  Street  and  Lincoln  Avenue,  Phcenixville,  the  firm 
being  composed  of  Lewis  Parsons  and  Peter  Angstadt,  began 
business  in  August,  1897.  Their  building  is  a  two-story  brick,  and 
is  fitted  np  with  machinery  suitable  to  the  knitting  of  ladies'  fine 
hosiery.  The  firm  employs  about  twenty  hands,  and  turns  out 
from  |7,000  to  .|10,000  worth  of  goods  per  year.  Power  is  de- 
rived from  a  steam  engine  in  the  first  story  of  the  building. 

The  Union  Knitting  Company,  composed  of  H.  W.  and  E.  PJ. 


622  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Walters,  began  business  in  April,  1897,  renting  a  two-story  brick 
building  on  Main  Street,  near  Church.  They  carry  on  the  business 
of  knitting  ladies'  undei-wear,  tlieir  machinery  being  propelled 
by  electric  power  derived  from  the  Schuylkill  Valley  Illuminating 
Company,  about  twenty-five  hands  being  employed,  and  from  |G0,- 
000  to  170,000  worth  of  product  being  manufactured  annually. 

The  Phoi-nixville  Industrial  Association  was  incorporated 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  March  22,  1898,  with  a 
capital  of  |100,000.  The  stockholders  numbered  about  150,  and 
the  first  board  of  directors  and  officers  were  as  follows:  Paul  S. 
Reeves,  president;  Amos  G.  Gotwals,  treasurer;  Dr.  J.  P.  Eldridge, 
vice-president;  C.  H.  Howell,  secretary;  Thomas  D.  Grover,  David 
Schmutz,  V.  N.  Shaffer,  Thomas  L.  Snyder,  John  S.  Dismant  and 
J.  F.  Starkey,  Jr. 

Five  acres  of  land  was  donated  to  the  enterprise  by  John 
Gallagher  of  Pho?nixville,  the  land  being  located  on  Franklin 
Avenue  at  the  coruer  of  Grant  Street.  Ground  was  broken  for 
the  erection  of  a  building  June  15,  1898,  the  building  to  be  of 
brick,  and  50x300  feet  in  size,  aud  there  is  to  be  also  a  boiler  and 
engine  building  and  a  good  sized  office  besides.  The  purpose  of 
the  association  is  to  manufacture  silk  ribbon,  and  the  works  are 
to  be  operated  by  Johnson,  Cowden  &  Co.  of  Xew  York  City. 
When  in  full  operation  it  is  expected  this  company  will  employ 
400  hands. 

The  Schuylkill  Valley  Illuminating  Company  was  organized 
in  1892,  and  purchased  its  present  plaut  of  a  construction  com- 
pany. It  is  located  at  No.  413  Vanderslice  Street,  the  building 
being  of  brick.  The  equipment  consists  of  three  steam  engines, 
one  of  125,  one  of  85  and  one  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-horse 
power;  one  fifty-light  arc  dynamo;  one  65  kilowatt  and  one  25 
kilowatt  machine;  two  alternating  dynamos,  one  of  (30  amperes 
and  the  other  of  30  amperes;  the  steam  for  the  three  engines  be- 
ing supplied  by  three  boilers  of  an  aggregate  of  five-hundred-horse 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  623 

power.  This  company  have  on  their  circnit  at  present  55  are 
lights  in  Phoenixville,  and  about  3,000  incandescent  lights.  They 
have  about  100  miles  of  wire,  and  besides  lighting  Phoenixville, 
they  light  Spring  City  and  Eoyer's  Ford  with  both  arc  and  in- 
candescent liglits,  and  Mont  Clare  with  incandescent  lights  alone. 
They  also  supply  electricity  for  direct  and  alternating  fans,  and 
for  ten  electric  motors. 

The  Schuylkill  Iron  Works  were  established  in  1873  by  Deni- 
thorue  Brothers.  The  business  consists  in  the  manufacture  of 
bridges,  standpipes,  tanks  and  boilers  and  passed  into  the  hands 
of  John  Denithorne,  Sons  &  Co.  in  1886.  The  plant  covers  about 
two  acres  of  ground,  one  of  the  buildings  being  50x60  feet,  and 
another  90x105  feet,  the  latter  erected  in  1892.  The  line  of  manu- 
factures consists  of  roadway  bridges,  roof  trusses,  standpipes,  rail- 
way bridges  and  iron  roofing,  and  many  contracts  are  taken  for 
work  in  all  parts  of  the  county. 

The  Ahwaga  Manufacturing  Companj'  of  Phoenixville  was  in- 
corporated under  the  laws  of  New  Jersey  for  the  purpose  of  manu- 
facturing parlor,  sulphur  and  other  matches.  Its  officers  are  Ed- 
ward M.  Lockwood,  president;  Allen  W.  Poucher,  treasurer,  and 
■George  R.  Moore,  Jr.,  secretary.  The  board  of  directors  consists 
of  the  above-named  gentlemen  and  Prof.  I.  B.  Poucher,  Os- 
wego, New  York;  W.  A.  Poucher,  Oswego,  New  York;  Paul 
S.  Reeves,  Phoenixville,  and  Alexander  Duer,  Camden  New 
Jersey.  This  company  has  the  exclusive  right  to  use  new, 
improved,  patented  and  exceedingly  valuable  machinery  for 
manufacturing  matches,  thus  effecting  a  great  saving  in  the 
cost  of  production,  and  besides  improved  methods  in  the  manu- 
facture of  matches,  the  matches  after  they  are  made  are  counted 
and  boxed  by  machine  and  are  delivered  for  shipment  directly 
from  it.  The  earning  capacity  of  the  plant  of  twenty  machines 
working  ten  hours  per  day  is  |18T,500,  and  the  cost  of  the  plant 
was  $250,000. 
36 


624  CHESTER     COUNTY 

William  Walter  Jefferis  is  the  son  of  Horatio  Townseud  and 
Hannah  (Paul)  Jefferis,  and  was  born  in  West  Chester,  Jauuaiy 
12,  1820.  At  an  early  age  he  became  interested  in  mineralogy, 
from  hearing  a  lecture  on  the  subject,  and  at  once  took  up  the 
hammer,  proceeding  to  investigate  the  minerals  to  be  found  within 
walking  distance  of  his  home.  Two  older  experts,  Lewis  White 
Williams  and  Dr.  William  Hartman,  rendered  him  valuable  as- 
sistance, and  through  the  industrious  use  of  all  his  spare  time  his 
collection  grew  to  respectable  dimensions,  many  fine  specimens 
from  local  quarries  adorning  his  shelves. 

His  education  was  derived  at  the  old  West  Chester  Academy 
and  principally  under  the  instruction  of  Jonathan  Gause,  and  on 
leaving  school  he  was  offered  a  clerkship  in  the  Chester  Count}' 
Bank,  in  which  his  father  had  long  been  teller.  After  filling  this 
position  some  years  he  was  called  to  the  cashiership  of  the  bank, 
and  in  all  positions  held  by  him  he  was  ever  faithful  to  the  inter- 
ests of  his  employers,  devoting  still  his  spare  time  to  his  favorite 
study,  mineralogy. 

Mr.  Jefferis  in  his  early  researches  discovered  a  mineral  some- 
what similar  to  mica  that  had  not  yet  been  named,  and  on  its  being 
submitted  to  the  best  authorities  it  was  named  Jell'erisite,  in 
honor  of  its  discoverer.  Mr.  Jefferis  made  the  acquaintance  of 
several  eminent  foreign  mineralogists,  and  with  them  made  manj- 
profitable  exchanges,  thereby  greatly  increasing  the  value  of  his 
own  collection. 

After  retiring  from  the  cashiership  of  the  bank  he  made  two 
voyages  to  England  and  the  Continent  of  Europe,  making  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  cabinets  of  minerals  of  those  countries. 
He  was  handsomely  treated  by  scientists  wherever  he  went,  his 
name  having  already  become  familiar  to  mineralogists  through- 
out the  world.  Having  retired  from  all  business  and  settled  in 
Philadelphia  in  1882  he  there  took  an  active  interest  in  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  particularly  in  its  minei'alogical 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  625 

section,  and  he  has  ever  since  then  added  much  to  the  beauty  and 
strength  of  that  department. 

His  own  private  collection,  still  retained  in  West  Chester,  is  a 
monument  to  his  energy  and  perseverance,  and  though  there  may 
be  larger  collections  in  this  country,  yet  there  are  probably  no 
private  ones  to  excel  it  in  the  quality  or  beauty  of  its  specimens. 
His  collection  of  local  minerals  cannot  now  and  probably  never 
will  be  duplicated,  at  any  price.  In  the  pursuit  of  his  favorite 
study  Mr.  Jefferis  was  thrown  more  or  less  into  contact  with  other 
natural  scientists,  and  having  the  advantage  of  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  Dr.  William  Darlington,  Benjamin  M.  Everhart 
and  other  eminent  botanists,  he  became  familiar  with  and  took 
delight  especially  in  the  flora  of  his  native  county. 

Abraham  Gibbons,  a  histoi-y  of  whom  is  a  part  of  the  history 
of  Coatesville,  was  born  in  Leacock  Township,  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  on  December  29th,  1812.  He  was  the  son  of  William 
and  Hannah  Gibbons,  the  sixth  in  descent  from  John  and  Margery 
Gibbons,  who  as  early  as  1634  had  immigrated  from  Warminster, 
in  Wiltshire,  England,  and  settled  in  Delaware  County. 

His  early  life  was  spent  on  his  father's  farm  in  Lancaster  Coun- 
ty. In  1841  he  removed  to  Coatesville,  having  married  Martha 
Pennock,  the  daughter  uf  Dr.  Cliarles  and  Rebecca  W.  Lukeus. 
He  became  associated  with  Mrs.  Lukens  in  the  management  of  the 
Brandywine  Iron  Works.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  about  184G, 
Mrs.  Lukens  having  retired  from  the  business,  he  associated  with 
him  his  brother-iu-law,  tlie  late  Dr.  Charles  Huston,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Gibbons  ^^  Huston,  and  continued  actively  and  sucess- 
fuUy  in  the  iron  business  until  1857,  at  which  time,  the  Bank  of 
Chester  Valley  being  organized,  he  retired  from  the  iron  business 
and  was  elected  president  of  the  bank,  occupying  that  position 
continuously  for  twenty-five  years,  until  1882. 

Desiriuo  to  be  relieved  from  the  arduous  duties  connected  with 
this  office,  he  then  resigned  his  position  as  president,  and  was  soon 


626  CHESTER    COUNTY 

chosen  as  president  of  the  Mutual  Insurance  Company  of  Chester 
County.  He  continued  to  occupy  that  position  until  declining 
health,  in  1893,  caused  him  to  give  up  all  active  pursuits. 

He  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  first  council  of  Coatesvillo, 
and  was  the  means  of  securing  for  that  borough  the  splendid  supply 
of  water  that  it  still  enjoys.  In  many  ways  he  labored  for  the 
good  of  the  community  of  which  he  was  a  part. 

We  have  spoken  of  his  character  as  a  public  man  and  a  citi- 
zen. As  a  friend,  and  in  his  domestic  relations,  his  was  an  ideal 
nature. 

Absolutely  just,  his  wise  counsel  and  advice  were  sought  by 
all  soi-ts  and  conditions  of  men.  His  fine  judgment,  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  and  keen  sense  of  humor  made  him  a  very  delight- 
ful companion.  His  manners  were  so  genial  and  coui'teous,  he 
made  friends  wherever  he  went.  His  temper  so  equable,  those  who 
had  known  him  for  years  said  no  angry  word  had  ever  passed  his 
lips. 

An  earnest  and  sincere  Christian,  his  charities  were  numerous 
tut  unobtrusively  bestowed;  and  no  deserving  person  ever  left  his 
presence  without  the  help  they  had  asked  for.  While  he  was  known 
to  be  a  consistent  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  he  was  broad- 
minded,  and  found  good  in  all  men.  His  friendship  was  most 
highly  prized,  and  those  who  mourned  his  loss  felt  that  of  him  they 
could  truly  say,  "The  path  of  the  just  is  as  a  shining  light."  He 
died  May  24th,  1S95,  full  of  years  and  beloved  and  regretted  by  all 
who  knew  him. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PRESS  AND  LITERATURE, 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    PRESS — EARLIEST  NEWSPAPER  VENTURES — GAZETTE TEMPERATE    ZONE — 

FEDERALIST POLITICAL    NOTES INTELLIGENCER AMERICAN  REPUBLICAN 

DEMOCRAT — JOURNAL VILLAGE       RECORD REGISTER      AND       EXAMINER 

EDITORS     AND    PUBLISHERS — PRESS    AND    ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT — ADVO- 
CATE— WHIG JOURNAL       OF        THE        TIMES — AMERICAN       STAR OTHER 

PAPERS — HERALD — REGISTER TIMES — PIONEER LEDGER — PHOENIX 

PULESTON RECENT     VENTURES OXFORD       PRESS LEADER — FREE 

PRESS ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT  —  INDEPENDENT REPUBLI- 
CAN  UNION TIMES ADVANCE — LOCAL     NEWS — MIRROR 

HERALD PERSONAL    OBSERVATIONS,  LITERATURE. 

THE  first  attempt  to  publish  a  weekly  newspaper  in  Chester 
County  was  made  near  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  by 
three  young  men  named  Jones,  Hoff  and  Derrick.  They  called 
their  paper  the  West  Chester  Gazette.  After  finding  their  venture 
to  be  premature  they  discontinued  its  publication,  a  few  numbers 
only  being  presented  to  the  community.  The  latter  of  the  above- 
named  three  young  printers  was  Philip  Derrick,  father  of  William 
iS.  and  Alexander  H.  Derrick,  who  for  many  years  were  connected 
with  the  State  Department  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia, 
and  he  was  the  father-in-law  of  the  Hon.  Townsend  Haines  and 
of  William  H.  Price. 

Philip  Derrick  was  also  connected  with  the  first  attempt  to 
supply  Chester  County  with  periodical  literature,  he  and  Nathan 
H.  Sharpless  establishing  a  monthly  paper,  entitled  the  Literary 
Museum  or  Monthly  Magazine,  in  January,  1797.  It  was  printed 
in  a  frame  building  on  South  High  Street,  West  Chester.  For 
the  times  it  was  an  ambitious  publication,  containing  fifty-sis 
octavo  pages  of  excellent  reading  matter,  and  selling  for  twenty- 
five  cents  jjer  number.  Being  like  the  weekly',  in  advance  of  the 
requirements  of  the  age,  it  was  published  only  six  months,  from 

629 


630  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Jauuarr  to  June,  1797.  Some  of  the  numbers  were  illustrated 
with  copper-plate  engravings. 

The  next  paper  to  be  established  in  this  county  was  the 
Temperate  Zone,  a  weekly  paper  started  in  August,  1808,  at  Down- 
ingtown,  by  Charles  Mowry.  Downingtown  was  then  a  village  of 
some  note,  situated  on  the  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster  Turnpike, 
a  thoroughfare  running  through  the  vei'y  heart  of  the  then  settled 
portion  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  and  quite  extensively  traveled. 
Having  been  published  one  year  iinder  the  title  given  above,  the 
Temperate  Zone,  its  name  was  then  changed  to  the  Downingtown 
American  Kepublican,  and  with  the  change  of  name  came  a 
change  in  the  political  complexion  of  the  paper,  from  neutral  to 
Democratic.  This  change  in  politics  was  occasioned  by  the  estab- 
lishment at  West  Chester  in  1809  of  a  paper  called  the  Chester 
and  Delaware  Federalist,  the  politics  of  which  is  indicated  by  its 
name,  and  of  course  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  paper  on  each  side 
of  the  political  questions  as  they  then  shaped  themselves  in  the 
public  mind. 

In  those  days  a  Democrat  was  a  Republican  and  a  Republican 
was  a  Democrat,  but  the  term  of  Republican  was  more  often  used 
than  the  term  Democrat  to  indicate,  an  individual  opposed  to  the 
Federal  Party. 

This  paper  was  continued  under  the  name  of  the  Downing- 
town American  Republican  until  August  13,  1813,  when  the  first 
word  of  tie  title  was  dropped,  and  it  was  afterward  called  the 
American,  and  it  was  published  by  Mr.  Mowry  until  November  28, 
1820,  when  he  sold  out  to  William  Schultz  and  William  J.  Mar- 
shall, who,  under  the  firm  name  of  Schultz  &  Marshall,  commenced 
a  new  series  of  the  paper,  which  they  published  one  month,  when 
the  interest  of  Mr.  Schultz  reverted  to  Mowrj-,  and  from  that  time 
until  June,  1821,  the  paper  was  published  by  Mr.  Mowry  and  Mr. 
Marshall  under  the  firm  name  of  W.  J.  Marshall  &  Co.  At  this 
time  Samuel  Johnson  purchased  Mr.  Mowry's  interest,  and  he  and 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  631 

Mr.  Marshall  publislu'd  the  paper  under  the  firm  name  of  Marshall 
&  Johusoii,  until  May  29,  1822,  when  Mr.  Marshall  sold  his  interest 
to  Mr.  Johnson,  who  thus  became  sole  proprietor. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Mowry,  Avho  was  a  vij^orous  writer, 
was  selected  by  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic-Republican  Party 
to  go  to  Harrisburg-  to  assume  editorial  control  of  the  Peunsyl- 
A"ania  Intelligencer.  This  selection  was  made  because  Mr.  Mowry, 
as  editor  of  the  American  Republican  at  Downingtown,  had  used 
his  pen  in  such  a  vigorous  manner  in  defense  of  William  Findlay, 
then  candidate  for  Governor,  who  was  assailed  for  some  alleged 
malfeasance  in  the  office  of  t^tate  Treasurer,  which  he  had  pre- 
viously held. 

In  the  meantime,  also,  the  American  Republican  was  removed 
to  West  Chester,  the  removal  occurring  April  9,  1822,  because  of 
the  opportunities  afforded  by  a  county  seat  than  by  a  mere  town  in 
the  county,  but  not  because  of  any  dissatisfaction  with  the  town  of 
Downingtown.  November  17,  1824,  Mr.  Johnson  sold  the  paper  to 
Simeon  Siegfiied,  who  was  sole  proprietor  until  May  12,  1829, 
when  he  sold  a  half  interest  to  Edgar  S.  Price,  they  two  publish- 
ing it  under  the  firm  name  of  Siegfried  &  Price  until  August  18, 
following,  when  Mr.  Siegfried  sold  the  half  interest  he  had  re- 
tained to  Robert  B.  Dodson,  and  from  that  time  on  until  July  11, 
1832,  it  was  published  by  Dodsou  &  Price.  At  this  time  Mr.  Dod- 
son sold  his  interest  to  Mr.  Price,  who  was  then  sole  proprietor 
until  January  29,  1833. 

On  January  29,  1833,  the  American  Republican  was  united 
with  the  Chester  County  Democrat,  a  paper  which  had  been 
started  by  George  Fisher  and  George  W.  Crabb,  and  which  paper 
in  reality  succeeded  a  paper  called  the  Independent  Jnurnal,  which 
will  be  mentioned  later  on.  The  first  number  of  the  Chester 
County  Democrat  was  published  April  20,  1830.  In  1831  Mi'. 
Fisher  purchased  the  interest  of  Mr.  Crabb,  and  continued  the 
publication  of  the  paper  until  1832,   when  he  removed  it  from 


632  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Downingtown  to  West  Chester,  and  it  was  united  with  the  Ameri- 
can Ivepublioan,  as  stated  above. 

Upon  the  consolidation  the  firm  became  Fisher  &  Price,  and 
the  name  of  the  paper  became  the  American  liepublican  and 
•Chester  County  Democrat.  Tlie  motto  adopted  for  this  united 
paper  was  "In  Union  there  is  vStrength."  March  31,  1835,  Mr. 
Fisher  sold  his  interest  to  Caleb  H.  Kinuard,  who  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  American  Spectator  at  Dowuiugtown,  the  firm 
name  becoming  Price  &  Kinnard.  May  7,  1839,  Mr.  Kinnard  sold 
his  interest  to  Nimrod  Strickland,  the  firm  name  becoming  Price 
&  .Strickland.  March  24, 1846,  Mr.  Price  sold  his  interest  to  Henry 
Bosee,  the  latter  of  whom  had  been  editor  of  the  Delaware  Ga- 
zette, and  the  new  firm  was  known  as  Strickland  &  Bosee.  This 
firm  published  the  paper  until  October  11,  1853,  when  they  sold  it 
to  George  W.  Pearce,  who  published  it  until  his  death,  April  14, 
18(54,  from  which  time  until  November,  that  year,  it  was  published 
by  his  estate,  and  then  it  was  sold  to  Caleb  H.  Kinnard,  who  pub- 
lished it  until  January,  1800,  when  he  sold  it  to  Major  Edward 
B.  Moore,  who  remained  its  proprietor  until  June  1,  1878,  when  he 
sold  it  to  Walter  E.  Hall.  On  April  1,  1881,  Robert  P.  Sharpless 
became  part  proprietor,  and  it  was  then  publislied  by  Walter  E. 
Hall  &  Co.  until  1884,  when  the  West  Chester  Publishing  Company 

was  formed,  which  continued  its  publication  until ,  when 

it  was  purchased  by  its  present  editors  and  proprietors,  Messrs. 
Donath  «&  Temple. 

During  the  time  this  paper  was  conducted  by  George  W. 
Pearce,  from  1853  to  1804,  the  Democratic  Party  became  divided 
in  sentiment,  and  the  paper  joined  itself  to  the  Douglas  Demo- 
crats, losing  many  subscribers  in  consequence.  As  a  result  of  the 
changes  going  on  in  the  political  sentiments  of  the  people  the 
Republican  and  Democrat  became  a  Republican  publication  in 
the  modern  sense  of  the  word  Republican,  and  so  remained. 

Until  July  29,  1870,  this  paper  was  a  weekly  publication,  and 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  633 

then  it  became  a  semi-weekly,  wLiioIi  was  coutinued  until  July  J, 
1S7S,  when  it  again  became  a  weekly,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
daily  issue  was  started,  which  has  since  continued.  The  daily 
was  issued  in  the  afternoon  until  November  1,  1878,  since  which 
time  it  has  been  issued  in  the  morning. 

The  next  paper  established  in  the  county  was  the  Chester  and 
Delaware  Federalist,  started  by  Dennis  ^yheleu  June  8,  1809.  Its 
publication  was  probably  suggested  by  the  fact  of  the  publication 
of  the  Temperate  Zone  at  Downingtown ;  the  size  of  this  paper  \\as 
ten  by  sixteen  inches,  and  its  establishment  as  a  party  organ  led 
to  the  conversion  of  the  Temperate  Zone  into  a  Democratic  paper. 
The  Chester  and  Delaware  Federalist  continued  under  the  charge 
of  Dennis  ^^'helen  until  August  (3,  1817,  when  he  sold  the  paper  to 
Charles  Miner,  who  changed  the  name  to  the  Village  Record. 
January  1,  1818,  but  continued  to  use  the  former  name  of  the 
■paper,  Chester  and  Delaware  Federalist,  as  a  sub-title.  He  also 
enlarged  his  printed  page  to  one  twelve  by  eighteen  inches.  For 
a  part  of  the  year  182-1  the  paper  was  conducted  by  Miner  & 
Bryan,  and  for  some  time  after  July,  1825,  Asher  Miner,  a  brother 
of  Charles,  was  associated  with  the  latter  in  the  management  of 
the  paper.  In  1830  the  paper  was  again  enlarged,  the  page  becom- 
ing fourteen  by  nineteen  inches,  and  the  sub-title  And  General 
Advertiser  was  substituted  for  Chester  and  Delaware  Federalist. 
The  Miner  brothers  conducted  the  paper  until  April  1,  1834,  when 
they  sold  it  to  Henry  S.  Evans,  and  both  went  to  Wilkesbarre, 
where  Asher  Miner  had,  previously  to  coming  to  West  Chester, 
published  a  paper  for  a  time,  and  where  they  both  died,  the  latter 
in  1841,  the  former  in  18G5. 

From  April  1,  1834,  until  February  9,  1872,  Henry  S.  Evans 
published  the  Village  Record,  a  period  of  twenty-eight  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  it  was,  under  Mr.  Evans'  management,  the  most 
influential  paper  in  Chester  County.  In  1854  Mr.  Evans  purchased 
the  Register  and  Examiner  from  John  S.  Bowen,  and  united  it 


634  CHESTER     COUNTY 

with  the  Vilhige  Eecord,  using  the  terra  Register  and  Examiner 
as  a  sub-title.  Mr.  Evans  died  on  February  9,  1872,  and  from  that 
time  on  until  1894  the  Village  Record  was  published  by  his  sons,. 
Barton  D.  and  Willie  D.  Evans.  In  1851,  when  the  consolidation 
above  mentioned  was  effected,  the  paper  became  a  serai-weekly 
one,  anrl  on  August  8,  1878,  the  sons  of  Mr.  Evans  added  a  daily 
to  the  weekly  and  semi-weekly  editions. 

In  1891  the  property  passed  into  the  hands  of  S.  Edward  Pas- 
chal], of  Bucks  County,  the  daily  and  semi-weekly  editions  being- 
then  discontinued.  Mr.  Paschall  changed  the  entire  appearance 
of  the  paper  by  converting  it  into  a  pamphlet  form  of  sixteen  pages. 
For  some  time  it  was  under  the  editorial  management  of  W.  W. 
AVoodruff,  formerly  county  superintendent  of  common  schools,  and 
was  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  agricultural  topics,  its  news 
feature  being  made  quite  a  secondary  matter.  Under  its  new  form 
and  managment,  however  the  paper  failed  to  thrive,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1895  Mr.  Paschall  disposed  of  his  interest  to  H.  C.  Boyer,  of  Potts- 
vjlle,  Pennsylvania,  who  restored  it  to  its  original  form;  but  he  did 
not  long  retain  the  proprietorship.  About  this  time  the  stalwart, 
or  Quay  wing  of  the  Republican  Party  was  casting  about  for  a  rec- 
ognized organ,  and  in  February,  1896,  the  Village  Record  was  pur- 
chased by  T.  Lawrence  Eyre,  the  leader  of  that  wing  of  the  party, 
James  B.  Fisher,  formerly'  of  the  morning  Republican,  being  in- 
stalled as  editor.  The  Record  then  became  a  vigorous  champion 
of  the  principles  of  the  Quay  Republican  organization,  and  during 
the  following  two  years  aided  in  winning  three  of  the  most  notable 
battles  ever  fought  within  the  Republican  Party  ranks  in  Chester 
County. 

Originally  the  Village  Record  was  a  supporter  of  the  Federal- 
ist policy  so  long  as  that  party  existed.  It  then  became  a  Whig 
publication,  and  when  the  Whig  Party  was  disbanded  and  the  Re- 
publican Party  oi'ganized,  it  became  an  aggressive  organ  of  the 
latter  party,  and  while  under  the  direction  of  Henry  S.  Evans  was- 
a  powerful  factor  in  Chester  County  politics. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  635 

In  recognitiou  in  part  of  the  influeuce  of  Mr.  T.  Lawrence 
Eyre,  the  present  publisher  of  the  Village  Record,  he  has  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  Federal  Government  Deputy  Collector  of  Customs 
of  the  port  of  Philadelphia. 

Charles  Miner  was  one  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Chester 
County  from  1817  to  the  time  of  his  removal,  or  rather  return,  to 
the  Wyoming  Valley  in  1834,  and  it  is  eminently  appropriate  that 
brief  mention  should  be  made  of  him  in  this  work.  He  was  born 
February  1,  1780,  in  Norwich,  Connecticut.  In  1802  he  became 
associated  with  his  brother,  Asher  Miner,  in  conducting  the  Fed- 
eralist in  Wilkesbarre,  Pennsylvania,  which  they  sold  in  1809  to 
Steuben  Butler  and  Sidney  Tracy,  who  in  1811  enlarged  it  and 
changed  its  named  to  the  Gleaner,  Charles  Miner  becoming  a  few 
months  afterward  associated  with  Mr.  Butler  in  the  place  of  Mr. 
Tracy,  and  it  was  in  the  columns  of  the  Gleaner  that  Mr.  Miner 
made  himself  celebrated  as  a  writer. 

In  1807  and  1808  and  in  1816  he  represented  Luzerne  County 
in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  in  the  latter  year  taking  charge  of 
a  paper  in  Philadelphia  called  the  True  American,  conducting  it 
one  year.  Removing  to  West  Chester  in  1817,  he  purchased  the 
Chester  and  Delaware  Federalist,  the  name  of  which  he  changed 
to  the  Village  Record.  He  conducted  it  with  signal  ability  until 
1837,  when  he  sold  it  to  Henry  S.  Evans.  From  March,  1825,  to 
March,  1829,  he  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  district  of 
which  Chester  County  formed  a  part,  and  in  this  body  he  took  great 
interest  in  the  subject  of  slavery,  to  which  institution  he  was 
greatly  opposed,  and  made  efforts  to  have  slavery  and  the  slave 
trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  abolished. 

Mr.  Miner  was  the  associate  of  the  great  men  of  his  day,  and 
he  was  intelligent,  social  and  attractive,  his  abilities  and  useful- 
ness being  recognized  by  Henry  Clay,  at  that  time  Secretary  of 
State,  and  Mr.  Clay  looked  to  Mr.  Miner,  nearly  as  much  as  to  any 
other  member  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress,  to  carry  into  effect 


636  CHESTER     COUNTY 

his  views  on  the  tariff,  internal  improYements,  and  the  United 
States  Bank.  From  1834  to  October  26,  1865,  the  date  of  his 
death,  he  continued  to  reside  in  the  beautiful  Wyoming  Valley, 
dying  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-five. 

On  September  25,  1833,  apjieared  the  first  number  of  a  paper 
established  in  Waynesburg,  now  Honeybrook,  by  the  name  of  the 
Wayuesburg  Press  and  Chester,  Berks  and  Lancaster  Advertiser, 
by  Henry  S.  Evans  and  William  Jenkins.  After  the  expiration 
of  six  months  Mr.  Evans  purchased  the  Village  Record,  of  West 
Chester,  which  fact  has  already  been  narrated,  the  management 
of  the  Press  and  Advertiser  devolving  upon  Mr.  Jenkins,  who  con- 
ducted it  until  May  28,  1834,  when  Mr.  Evans  sold  his  interest 
therein  to  Caleb  H.  Kinnard.  Mr.  Jenkins  and  Mr.  Kinnai'd  then 
removed  the  paper  to  Downingtown,  where  on  June  10,  1834, 
started  the  American  Spectator  and  People's  Friend,  which  was 
published  until  April  1,  1835,  Avhen  it  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Evans 
and  merged  by  him  into  the  Village  Eecord.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  Mr.  Kinnard  purchased  the  interest  of  George  Fisher  in  the 
Amei'ican  Republican. 

Nathan  Blackman,  Jr.,  a  native  of  New  England,  established 
in  1814  a  weekly  paper  by  the  name  of  the  Eden  Star  in  the  village 
of  Edentown,  in  Upper  Oxford  Township,  the  first  number  of  which 
appeared  March  28  that  year.  The  village  at  that  time  consisted 
of  a  store-house,  a  public  house  and  the  building  in  which  the  Star 
was  printed,  the  village  being  owned  and  the  tavern  and  store 
being  kept  by  John  Downing.  At  the  expiration  of  two  years  the 
building  in  which  the  Star  was  published  was  accidentally  burned 
down,  and  as  there  was  no  other  building  in  which  it  could  be  pub- 
lished it  was  removed  to  Eussellville,  about  one  mile  away,  and 
was  there  published  for  some  time  longer  under  the  name  of  the 
American  Star.  Soon  after  this  it  was  discontinued,  and  the  pub- 
lisher took  Horace  Greeley's  advice  and  went  to  the  West. 

On  August  29,  1827,  the  first  number  of  the  Independent  Jour- 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  637 

nal  appeared,  published  in  Downingtown  by  Dr.  George  A.  Fair- 
lamb  and  George  Plitt.  It  was  a  Democratic  paper  of  the  Jack- 
sonian  kind,  and  from  the  first  advocated  the  election  to  the  Presi- 
dency of  Andrew  Jackson.  In  addition  to  being  a  Jackson  paper 
it  advocated  the  noniiuatiou  of  George  Wolf  for  the  governorship 
of  Pennsylvania,  another  portion  of  the  Democi'atic  party  being 
in  favor  of  the  nomination  of  General  Isaac  D.  Barnard,  a  citizen 
of  Chester  County.  After  a  very  bitter  contest  two  sets  of  dele- 
gates were  sent  to  tlie  convention  from  Chester  County,  those  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Wolf  being  admitted,  and  this  determined  the  nomi- 
nation of  Mr.  Wolf.  Had  those  in  favor  of  General  Barnard  been 
admitted  to  seats  in  the  convention  he  would  have  been  nominated 
by  a  majority  of  one  vote,  and  would  have  been  elected  Governor 
of  the  State. 

Dr.  Fairlamb  died  April  10, 1829,  and  the  Independent  Journal 
was  then  conducted  by  George  Plitt  until  April  13,  1830,  when  he 
sold  out  to  George  Fisher  and  George  W.  Crabb,  the  latter  gentle- 
man having  for  some  time  been  associated  with  Mr.  Plitt  in  the 
editorship.  Discontinuing  the  Indei)endent  Journal,  Fisher  & 
Crabb  established  in  its  stead  the  Chester  County  Democrat,  the 
first  number  appearing  April  20,  1830.  In  1831  Mr.  Fisher  pur- 
chased the  interest  of  his  partner,  Crabb,  continued  the  publica- 
tion of  the  paper  until  1832,  Avhen  he  removed  it  to  West  Chester, 
and  there,  on  January  29,  1833,  it  was  united  with  the  American 
Eepublican,  as  has  been  stated  earlier  in  this  chapter. 

The  Literary  Casket  and  General  Intelligencer  was  started 
at  Yellow  Springs,  now  Chester  Springs,  in  March,  1829,  by  Alex- 
ander Marshall  and  Nathan  Siegfried.  After  a  few  months  Mr. 
Siegfried  retired,  Mr.  Marshall  becoming  sole  proprietor.  This 
paper  was  published  in  the  Washington  House,  a  building  erected 
for  a  hospital  during  the  Kevolutionary  War.  This  paper  let  poli- 
tics entirely  alone,  confining  itself  exclusively  to  the  literary  field, 
and  many  of  the  first  essays  of  young  writers  of  Chester  County 


63S  CHESTER     COUNTY 

appeared  in  its  columns.  In  February,  1830,  this  paper  was  sold 
to  Morris  Mattson  and  Oheyney  Hannum,  who  removed  it  to  West 
Chester.  Soon  afterward  Mr.  Mattson  sold  his  interest  to  James 
A.  Hemphill,  and  the  firm  of  Hannum  &  Hemphill  conducted  it 
until  the  fall  of  1830,  when  it  was  merged  into  the  National  Re- 
publican Advocate  and  Literary  Gazette,  a  new  weekly  paper  es- 
tablished at  West  Chester  by  them  for  the  purpose  of  advocating 
the  principles  of  the  National  Republican  Party  as  against  the 
Democratic  Party,  the  first  number  of  this  paper  appearing  No- 
vember 30,  1830. 

Hannum  &  Hemphill  published  the  Advocate  until  April  3, 
1832,  when  the  former  sold  his  interest  to  John  Hickman  and  Wil- 
liam Whitehead,  and  the  paper  was  then  published  by  the  firm  of 
Hannum,  Hickman  &  Co.  until  July  31,  1832,  when  John  T,  Denny 
and  William  Whitehead  became  editors  and  proprietors,  Mr. 
Denny  retiring  June  18,  1833,  he  was  succeeded  by  John  Bicking, 
the  firm  then  being  Bicking  &  Whitehead  until  April  8,,  1834,  when 
the  paper  was  sold  to  a  company  of  gentlemen  who  were  in  favor 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  Whig  Party,  then  beginning  to  attract 
attention. 

The  name  National  Republican  Advocate  was  dropped  and 
that  of  Whig  substituted,  the  first  number  of  the  Whig  appearing 
April  15,  1831,  and  it  was  ostensibly  edited  by  Simeon  Siegfried, 
formerly  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  American  Republican;  but 
the  editorial  matter  was  furnished  by  such  prominent  gentlemen 
as  Dr.  William  Darlington,  William  H.  Dillingham,  Townsend 
Haines  and  William  Williamson.  The  motto  of  this  paper  was 
"True  to  the  principles  of  '76."  Previous  to  taking  edit'oriaj 
charge  of  the  Whig,  Mr.  Siegfried  had  always  been  a  Democrat, 
but  as  he  differed  from  General  Jackson  on  the  subject  of  the 
National  Bank,  he  was  willing  to  publish  a  paper  which  advocated 
the  continuance  of  the  National  Bank,  as  the  Whigs  very  gen- 
erally, if  not  universally  did.  He  remained  with  the  Whig  until 
May,  1835. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  639 

But  Mr.  Siegfried  was  in  principle  a  democrat,  and  when  it  was 
suggested  to  liim  that  he  should  discontinue  the  Whig,  he  readily 
consented  to  do  so,  especially  as  it  was  not  self-supporting,  there 
being  two  other  i)apers  in  the  county  of  the  same  political  pro- 
clivities, lie  therefore  removed  the  Whig  establishment  to  Down- 
ingtown  and  there  in  May  of  that  year  established  the  Republican 
Standard  and  Democratic  Journal,  w^hich  advocated  the  election 
to  the  governorship  of  George  Wolf,  who  had  then  served  as 
Governor  six  years,  and  who  was  opposed  by  Henry  A.  Muhlenberg, 
another  Democratic  candidate,  and  by  Joseph  Ritner,  the  Whig 
candidate,  the  latter  of  whom  was  elected  through  the  division 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party.  This  paper  was  published 
by  George  W.  Mason  »&  Company,  Mr.  Siegfried  being  the  "com- 
pany," and  it  was  edited  by  Nimrod  Strickland  and  others.  ,Upon 
the  election  of  Mr.  Ritner,  the  publication  of  the  paper  ceased,  and 
Mr.  Mason  removed  to  Elmira,  New  York,  where  he  for  some  years 
published  the  Elmira  Gazette  with  gratifying  success.  The  next 
year  after  the  election  of  Mr.  Ritner  to  the  Governorship  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Martin  Van  Buren  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  divisions  in  the  Democratic  party  were 
healed. 

Simeon  Siegfried  in  September,  1831,  began  the  publication 
in  West  Chester  of  the  Temperance  Advocate,  conducting  it  in 
West  Chester  until  May,  1835,  when  he  removed  it  to  Downingtown, 
continuing  it  there  until  September,  following,  when  it  was  merged 
into  the  Philanthropist,  a  paper  published  in  Philadelphia. 

The  General  Advertiser  and  Journal  of  the  Times  was  started 
March  1, 1836,  by  William  Jenkins,  whose  name  has  been  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  publication  of  earlier  newspapers  in  Chester 
County.  After  two  years  this  paper  was  discontinued,  and  the 
materials  of  the  ofiice  were  purchased  by  John  S.  Bowen  and 
Benjamin  I.  Miller,  who  in  May,  1S38  started  the  Coatesville  Star, 
which  was  published  in  the  interest  of  those  who  favored  a 

37 


640  CHESTER     COUXTY 

distinct  organization  for  the  Whig  Party.  Mr.  Bowen  was  the 
editor  of  this  paper.  At  the  expiration  of  about  one  year  this 
paper  was  removed  to  West  Chester  and  the  name  changed  to  the 
American  Star,  with  George  Shidell,  formerly  foreman  in  the  office, 
as  editor  and  proprietor.  In  June,  1839,  Townsend  Haines  be- 
came its  owner  and  editor  and  published  it  in  an  office  which 
stood  where  the  First  National  Bank  of  West  Chester  now  stands. 
The  party  sustained  by  the  American  Star  formed  an  independent 
Whig  ticket  in  the  autumn  of  the  last-mentioned  year,  forming 
their  ticket  on  Monday,  the  other  Whig  Party  being  made 
up  of  Whigs  and  Anti-Masons,  forming  theirs  on  Tuesday. 
One  of  these  wings  of  the  Whig  Party  was  called  the  "Mon- 
day'' Whigs  and  the  other  the  "Tuesday"  Whigs,  and  the 
result  of  their  running  separate  tickets  was  that  the  Demo- 
crats carried  the  county.  The  American  Star  was  published 
until  August  23,  1841,  when  everything  connected  with  it  was 
sold  to  Asher  M.  Wright  and  Alfred  J.  Creyou,  who  discontinued 
the  Star  was  established  the  Independent  Journal  and  Working- 
men's  Advocate,  the  first  number  of  which  appeared  August  31, 
1841.  This  was  considered  a  new  series  of  the  Independent  Journal 
published  in  Downingtown,  which  has  alreadj^  been  mentioned. 
As  a  neutral  in  jjolitics  it  was  soon  found  that  it  could  not  succeed, 
and  hence  on  October  4,  1842,  it  was  discontinued,  and  the  Jef- 
fersonian  established  in  its  stead,  which  was  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  the  Democratic  Party. 

On  October  3,  1843,  after  a  suspension  of  five  months,  the 
Jeffersonian  was  united  with  the  West  Chester  Herald,  which  first 
appeared  on  September  5,  1843,  and  the  consolidated  paper  was 
named  the  JeiTersonian  and  Democratic  Herald,  the  latter  name 
being  used  as  a  subtitle.  It  was  published  by  John  Hodgson  and 
Asher  M.  Wright  until  February,  1845,  when  Mr.  Wright  retired 
and  Mr.  Hodgson  became  the  sole  proprietor,  and  so  remained  until 
ISGG,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  William  H.  Hodgson,  who 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  641 

still  owns  and  publishes  it,  though  in  changed  and  enlarged  form. 
For  several  rears  the  Jeffersonian  was  published  in  the  basement 
of  the  building  east  of  the  Mansion  House,  whence  it  was  removed 
about  the  year  1860  tO'  the  west  side  of  South  High  street,  and 
where  it  still  remains. 

The  Anti-Masonic  Eegister  was  established  in  West  Chester 
October  1, 1829,  by  Joseph  Painter,  and  the  Anti-Masonic  Examiner 
was  started  in  Coatesville  about  the  same  time  by  Dr.  John  D. 
Perkins.  As  there  was  not  sulficient  support  for  two  Anti-Masonic 
papers  in  the  county,  Joseph  Painter,  in  1831,  purchased  the  Ex- 
aminer, united  it  with  the  Eegister,  under  the  name  of  the  Anti- 
Masonic  Eegister  and  Chester  County  Examiner,  and  in  January, 
1836,  when  the  Anti-Ma,sonic  Party  united  with  the  Whigs, 
Mr.  Painter  dropped  the  "Anti-Masonic"  from  the  title  of  his  paper, 
and  published  it  under  the  name  of  the  Eegister  and  Examiner 
until  January  1,  1851,  when  he  sold  it  to  John  S.  Bowen  and 
James  M.  Meredith,  who  enlarged  it  and  improved  it,  and  sold  it 
in  1854  to  Henry  S.  Evans,  who  published  it  a  short  time  under 
its  old  name,  under  the  firm  name  of  William  Baker  &  Co., 
but  it  soon  became  absorbed  into  the  Village  Eecord,  which  then 
became  a  semi-weekly  paper  under  the  name  of  the  Village  Eecord 
and  Eegister  and  Examiner,  the  latter  part  of  the  title,  however, 
being  soon  discontinued. 

The  Pennsylvania  Farm  Journal  was  published  for  some  time 
by  John  S.  Bowen  and  James  M.  Meredith,  but  upon  the  dissolution 
of  their  partnership  Mr.  Bowen  became  proj^rietor  of  the  Eegister 
and  Examiner  and  Mr.  Meredith  of  the  Pennsylvania  Farm  Journal. 
Later  Mr.  Meredith  removed  his  paper  to  Philadelphia,  where  for 
some  time  he  continued  its  publication. 

On  January  1,  1854,  Henry  Bosee  began  the  publication  of  the 
Independent  Herald  in  West  Chester.  One  yeal*  afterAvard  he  sold 
it  to  Lewis  Marshall,  who  conducted  it  from  January  1,  1855,  to 


642  CHESTER     COUXTY 

May  1,  1856,  when  he  sohl  it  to  William  L.  and  Edwin  F.  James, 
who  then  published  it  until  February  6,  1857,  under  the  title  In- 
dependent Herald  and  Free  American.  At  the  date  last  men- 
tioned they  disposed  of  it  to  Samuel  E.  Downing  and  John  J.  Pink- 
erton,  who  conducted  it  under  the  same  name  until  April  25,  1857, 
when  they  changed  it  to  Chester  County  Times.  Mr.  Pinkerton 
retired  from  the  paper  March  20, 1858,  Mr.  Downing  then  becoming- 
sole  proprietor,  and  on  August  1, 1858,  Mr.  E.  W.  Capron  becoming 
editor.  On  July  9,  1861,  the  paper,  which  had  previously  been  a 
weekly,  became  a  semi-weekly  under  the  name  of  the  Chester 
County  Semi- Weekly  Times.  January  1,  1863,  the  Times  was  sold 
by  Mr.  Downing  to  George  W.  Pearce,  who  consolidated  it  with 
the  American  Eepublican,  which  he  was  then  publishing,  started  in 
Coatesville  about  1836. 

A  paper  was  established  in  Coatesville  about  1836  called  the 
Colonization  Herald,  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  the  cause  of 
the  colonization  of  the  negro  as  against  the  doctrine  of  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  the  publisher  being  named  Walton;  but  only  a  few 
numbers  of  the  paper  were  issued. 

In  December  of  this  year  a  paper  was  started  by  Jason  M.  Ma- 
hau  in  Sadsbury  Township,  Mr.  Mahan  being  interested  in  the  silk 
culture,  the  name  of  his  paper  being  the  Silk-Growers'  Instructor 
and  the  Farmer's  Friend;  but  as  knowledge  on  the  culture  of  silk 
did  not  seem  to  manifest  itself,  the  paper  did  not  have  an  extended 
career.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  sixteen-page  octavo  pamphlet,  and 
was  issued  monthly  as  long  as  it  lasted. 

For  about  six  months  during  the  year  1839  a  temperance  paper 
was  published  at  the  oflice  of  the  Register  and  Examiner,  under 
the  editorial  supervision  of  Cyrus  P.  Painter  and  others,  but  it  had 
too  little  support  to  be  continued. 

Another  temperance  paper,  called  the  Crystal  Fountain,  was 
started  in  1817  by  Caleb  N.  Thornbury,  and  was  continued  about 
one  year. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  643 

Sanmel  Moses  aud  Jobu  Lewis  began  the  publication  in 
Plioeuixville  of  the  Phoenix  Gazette,  the  first  number  appearing 
October  G,  1846.  After  a  short  time  Mr.  Moses  withdrew,  selling 
his  interest  to  Benjamin  P.  Davis.  On  December  29,  1846,  Mr. 
Lewis  and  Mr.  Davis  sold  their  paper  to  Bayard  Taylor  and  Fred- 
erick E.  Foster,  they  changing  the  name  to  the  Phoenixville  Pio- 
neer. This  venture  not  being  pecuniarily  satisfactory,  Mr.  Taylor 
withdrew  from  it  on  January  4,  1848,  and  became  assistant  editor 
of  the  New  York  Tribune,  from  which  time  to  February  21,  1849, 
the  Pioneer  was  published  by  Mr.  Foster,  in  conjunction  with  S.  L. 
Hughes,  the  latter  date  being  that  of  its  last  number. 

The  Phoenix  Ledger  was  then  published  for  a  short  time  by 
Messrs.  Hughes  «&  Greene,  but  it  ceased  to  exist  in  1850.  During 
the  same  two  years,  1849  and  1850,  the  Iron  Man  was  published, 
but  ceased  to  exist  about  the  same  time  with  the  Ledger.  With 
the  Iron  Man  a  poet,  A.  .J.  H.  Duganne,  was  associated.  Mr.  Du- 
gaune  was  the  author  of  a  notable  patriotic  poem  entitled  "Bethel," 
beginning  with  the  line:  "We  mustered  at  midnight,  in  darkness 
we  formed,"  aud  contained  the  following  stanza: 

"When  our  heroes,  like  bridegrooms,  with  lips  and  with  breath, 
Drank  the  first  kiss  of  Danger  and  clasped  her  in  death. 
And  the  heart  of  brave  Winthrop  grew  mute  with  his  lyre, 
When  the  plumes  of  his  genius  lay  molting  in  fire — 
"Column !  Forward !"' 

John  Royer  and  his  son,  John  11.,  on  April  4,  1857,  issued  the 
first  number  of  the  Weekly  Phtpnix,  which  name  they  changed  to 
the  Phoenix,  and  later  to  the  Independent  Phoenix.  This  paper 
in  1871  became  the  property  of  Vosburg  N.  Shaffer,  who  changed 
the  name  to  that  of  the  Pho?nixville  Independent,  and  also  pub- 
lished a  daily  edition  called  the  Daily  Independent. 

Col.  J.  H.  Puleston  started  the  Pennsylvania  Guardian  in  1860, 
but  discontinued  it  on  being  appointed  by  Governor  Curtin  State 
agent  for  Pennsylvania  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 


644  CUE^TER     COUNTY 

Marshall  is  credited  with  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California 
in  ISil,  and  the  semi-centennial  of  this  supposed  discovery  was 
celebrated  in  1897.  But  the  first  number  of  the  Phoenisville  Ga- 
zette, published  October  6,  1846,  contains  the  following  paragraph, 
which  shows  that  history  needs  correction  in  regard  to  this  matter: 

"A  correspondent  writing  from  Upper  California  says:  'Near 
the  Town  of  the  Angels  is  a  large  sandy  plain  at  the  foot  of  some 
mountains,  in  which  they  have  discovered  quantities  of  gold.  A 
comuKjn  laborer  can  gather  to  the  amount  of  |2  per  day.  The  plan 
of  getting  the  ore  is  to  wash  the  sand  in  a  flat  basket.  They  have 
introduced  ounce  currency  of  the  metal.'  " 

Col.  J.  H.  Puleston,  formerly  a  resident  of  Phcenixville,  was 
born  in  Wales,  coming  to  the  United  States  m  1857,  and  establish- 
ing himself  in  New  York  as  a  physician  among  the  Welsh.  The 
story  is  that  in  this  occupation  he  failed,  and  that,  making  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Horace  Greeley,  he  was  sent  by  the  latter  gentleman 
to  the  Wyoming  Valley  during  the  campaign  of  1858  to  speak  to 
the  Welsh  of  that  region  in  favor  of  the  Republican  candidates. 
Colonel  Puleston  was  interested  in  the  first  charter  granted  to  a 
street  railway  company  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  1800  he  went  to  Pho^nixville  and  there  started  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Guardian,  ran  it  through  the  campaign  in  favor  of  Gen. 
John  C.  Fremont  for  President  of  the  United  States,  dropping  the 
publication  of  the  paper  at  the  close  of  the  campaign.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1801,  Colonel  Puleston  was  in  Washington,  and  was  made 
assistant  secretary  of  the  famous  Peace  Convention,  presided  over 
by  ex-President  John  Tyler,  and  when  the  secretary  of  the  conven- 
tion, S.  C.  Wright,  was  compelled  to  return  to  his  home  on  account 
of  serious  illness  in  his  family.  Colonel  Puleston  became  secretary 
of  the  convention.  Later  he  was  made  agent  for  the  Pennsylva- 
nia troops  at  Washington,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  Still  later  he 
studied  law  and  practiced  in  the  courts  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 


AXJ)     /7',S     PEOPLE.  645 

Afterward  he  became  a  member  of  the  banking  firm  of  Hugh  Mc- 
Cullough  «&  Co.,  of  Xew  York  City,  and  was  sent  to  London,  En- 
gland, as  the  representative  of  that  company.  He  was  then  elected 
a  member  of  Parliament  for  Plymouth,  and,  running  again  for  the 
same  position  as  the  candidate  for  a  constituency  in  Wales,  was 
defeated.  Subsequently  he  was  knighted  by  Her  Majesty,  Queen 
Victoria,  and  is  now  Sir  John  H.  Puleston,  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Lords.  ' 

Wilmer  W.  Thomson  on  October  17,  1868,  began  the  publica- 
tion in  Phcenixville  of  an  advertising  sheet  entitled  Everybody's 
Business,  continuing  it  as  a  weekly  three  months,  and  on  January 
23, 1869,  Mr.  Thomson  began  the  publication  of  another  advertising 
sheet  called  the  Legal  Tender,  which  on  August  21, 1869,  became  a 
regular  subscription  weekly  publication,  published  by  Pi'ice  Sc 
Thomson. 

John  Pawling  in  1870  published  one  niimber  of  a  paper  called 
the  Phcenixville  EeiDublican. 

David  Euen  and  Hadley  Lamborn  in  January,  1871,  began  the 
publication  of  the  Messenger,  which  in  January,  1873,  became  the 
property  of  John  O.  K.  Robarts.  Mr.  Eobarts  changed  the  name 
to  the  Phcenixville  Messenger,  and  has  since  continued  to  conduct 
it.  Mr.  Eobarts  was  born  in  Plymouth,  England,  in  1835;  came  to 
the  Ignited  States  in  1850,  landing  in  New  York.  After  residing  in 
Keading,  Pennsylvania,  five  years  he  removed  to  Phcenixville, 
■Chester  County,  and  has  since  then  been  a  continuous  resident  of 
that  place. 

The  Downiugtown  Archive  was  established  in  1872  by  Potter 
&  Cordery,  from  Xew  York,  as  a  weekly  ijublication,  and  in  Decem- 
ber, 1874,  it  was  purchased  by  its  present  proprietor  and  editor, 
Harry  L.  Skeen.  At  first  it  was  a  six-column  paper;  was  soon  en- 
larged to  a  seven-column,  and  is  now  an  eight-column  paper,  pub- 
lished weekly,  and  advocating  the  legal  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic.     In  other  matters  it  is  independent. 


646  CHESTER   couxrr 

The  Cliestei"  County  Journal  was  established  at  Downingtown 
by  a  company  at  the  head  of  which  was  Joshua  Karnes,  the  Journal 
being  managed  by  Joseph  Pepi^er,  who  on  August  29,  1868,  became 
the  proprietor.  Later  it  was  owned  by  Potter  &  Cordery;  was  for 
some  time  managed  by  W.  H.  Hineline,  and  still  later  by  William 
S.  Kames,  and,  though  a  large  and  well-edited  paper,  it  proved 
unprofitable,  and  its  publication  was  discontinued  in  1873. 

Henry  S.  Evans,  under  the  direction  of  the  Chester  County 
and  Delaware  County  Medical  Societies,  published  at  West  Chester 
the  Medical  Eeporter,  a  quarterly  journal,  from  July,  1853,  until 
some  time  in  185G.  It  was  a  thirty-two-page  octavo,  of  suitable 
size  for  binding,  and  contained  matter  of  interest  to  the  medical 
profession. 

The  Children's  Friend,  a  monthly  juvenile  magazine,  was 
commenced  in  May,  1866,  by  Mrs.  Esther  K.  Smedley,  wife  of  Dr. 
K.  C.  Smedley,  at  the  request  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends.  It  was  an  illustrated  octavo  of  twenty-four 
pages  at  first,  but  afterward  was  twice  increased,  both  as  to  the 
size  of  its  page  and  the  number  of  its  pages.  In  1872,  owing  to  fail- 
ing health,  Mrs.  Smedley  sold  the  magazine  to  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Anna  F.  Bradley,  of  Coatesville,  who  continued  its  publication 
until  November,  1879,  when  it  was  sold  to  Mary  Y.  Hough,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, who  continued  its  publication  there. 

Lydia  H.  Hall,  who  for  a  short  time  assisted  Mrs.  Dr.  Smedley 
in  the  publication  of  the  Children's  Friend,  began  the  publication 
of  an  illustrated  monthly  called  Scattered  Seeds,  which  was  de- 
signed for  the  use  of  children  and  was  circulated  largely  in  schools. 
In  1881  its  circulation  had  reached  5,700  copies,  indicating  an  ex- 
ceiitional  popularity.  Though  edited  by  a  Friend,  it  was  strictly 
non-sectarian,  and  was  welcome  in  all  families. 

In  September,  1880,  The  Student  was  established  in  connection 
with  the  Haverford  College  and  the  Westtown  Friends'  Boarding 
School.     It  was  an  octavo  of  twenty-four  pages,  and  was  edited  by 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  647 

Isaac  Sharpless,  a  professor  iu  Hiiverford  College,  and  by  Watson 
W.  Dewees,  a  teacher  in  the  Boarding  School. 

The  first  number  of  the  Chester  County  Reporter  appeared 
April  6,  1880.  It  was  a  weekly  legal  journal  devoted  to  the  publi- 
cation of  the  proceedings  and  decisions  of  the  Chester  County  bar, 
and  for  some  time  was  edited  by  James  Monaghan,  of  the  West 
Chester  bar. 

The  Oxford  Press  was  established  iu  Oxford  February  14, 
1866,  by  Henry  L.  Brinton.  January  1,  1870,  he  sold  a  half  interest 
to  George  D.  Hayes,  and  it  was  published  until  the  next  year  by 
tlie  firm  of  Brinton  iSc  Hayes.  Then  Mr.  Brinton  sold  the  other  half 
interest  to  E.  Howard  Kollins,  the  name  of  the  firm  becoming 
George  D.  Hayes  &  Co.  Mr.  Eollins,  on  September  1, 1875,  sold  his 
interest  to  John  I.  Moore  and  1».  Frank  Cochran,  the  firm  name  re- 
maining the  same,  and  in  March,  1876,  they  sold  their  half  to  Henry 
L.  Brinton,  who  had  been  engaged  in  editing  the  i^aper  since  the 
fall  of  1872,  the  firm  name  of  the  proprietors  then  becoming  Hayes 
&  Brinton.  This  paper  has  a,lways  maintained  a  high  moral  tone, 
and  has  been  well  supported.  January  1,  1892,  Mi*.  Brinton  and 
his  sons,  Douglas  E.  and  William  G.,  purchased  Mr.  Hayes'  inter- 
est, and  since  then  the  paper  has  been  owned  and  published  by 
them  under  the  name  of  H.  L.  Bi"inton  &  Sons.  It  is  a  weekly 
paper,  in  form  half  folio  and  half  quarto,  the  subscription  price 
being  $1.50  per  year,  and  holds  the  leading  place  among  the  weekly 
papers  of  the  county. 

In  October,  1871,  Franklin  P.  T  'Wvre  started  a  monthly  jour- 
nal  under  the  name  of  the  Fai*mers''Club,  which  was  devoted  to 
agriculture,  and  which  he  published  about  three  years. 

George  C.  Stroman  &  Co.  published  a  weekly  paper  called  the 
Oxford  Kepublican  from  March  28,  1874,  to  July  25,  1874. 

The  Keuuett  Square  Free  Press  was  established  July  21,  1855, 
by  B.  F.  Coles,  at  Kennett  Square,  the  first  paper  published  iu  the 
place.     The  paper  was  devoted  to  literature  and  local  nev/s.     The 


648  CHESTER     COUNTY 

first  number  coDtained  a  poem  by  Bayard  Taylor,  sketches  of  Scan- 
dinavia, and  translations  from  Hans  Christian  Andersen  by  Bar- 
clay Pennock.  Dr.  Franklin  Tayor  was  its  editor,  and  the  paper 
Avas  well  printed,  as  well  as  being  conducted  with  exceptional  abil- 
ity. October  16,  1855,  D.  J.  Godshalk  became  associated  with  Mr. 
Coles,  they  continuing  its  publication  for  about  three  years. 

The  Weekly  Leader  was  published  at  Kenuett  Square  by 
H.  M.  Worth  &  Co.,  the  first  number  appearing  January  11,  1871, 
SAvithin  C.  Shortlidge  as  editor.  In  July,  1872,  it  was  enlarged 
from  a  seven-column  to  a  nine-column  folio,  and  was  published  by 
the  "Leader  Association,"  semi-weekly,  one  edition  at  Kennett 
Square  on  Saturday  morning,  the  other  edition  at  Oxford  on 
"Wednesday  morning,  the  edition  published  at  Oxford  being  called 
the  Oxford  Leader,  that  published  at  Kennett  Square  being  called 
the  Kennett  Leader.  The  first  number  of  the  Oxford  Leader  ap- 
peared March  20,  1872.  This  journal  was  Eepublican  in  politics 
until  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1872,  when  it  supported  Horace 
Greeley  for  the  Presidency.  When  the  panic  of  1873  came  on  the 
Leader  Association  became  financially  embarrassed,  and  the  paper 
was  suspended  in  February  of  the  latter  year.  The  Kennett 
Leader  was  revived  by  William  W.  Polk  in  April  following,  and 
was  conducted  by  him  until  July,  when  he  abandoned  its  publica- 
tion. 

The  next  paper  to  be  published  in  Kennett  Square  was  the 
Kennett  News  and  Advertiser,  started  in  January,  1877,  by  Theo- 
dore D.  Iladley  and  J.  Frank  Holton,  the  latter  of  whom  withdrew 
on  July  1  of  the  same  year.  Mr.  Uadley,  thus  becoming  sole  pro- 
prietor, enlarged  it  to  a  seven-column  folio,  twenty-four  by  thirty- 
eight  inches,  and  continued  its  publication  until  January  1,  1891, 
when  his  sou,  Charles  C.  Hadley,  who  had  been  in  the  office  ever 
since  it  was  started,  became  publisher  and  editor,  as  he  still  con- 
tinues. This  paper  has  been  published  in  the  same  place  since 
1880,  in  Swayue  Bl-ock,  on  State  Street,  near  Union  Street.      In 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  649 

politics  tlie  paper  is  neutral,  and  is  mainly  devoted  to  local  news. 
It  is  now  an  eight-column  folio,  20x44,  and  is  printed  on  a  cylinder 
press  by  hand.  Its  circulation  in  1,400,  and  the  subscription  is  |1 
per  year.  ' 

The  Chester  County  Democrat  was  established  in  West  Ches- 
ter September  11,  1879,  the  second  paper  of  the  name  published  in 
the  county.  For  some  time  it  was  published  by  J.  Henry  Long  & 
Company,  the  "company"  being  George  E.  Guss.  In  September, 
1880,  Mr.  Guss  purchased  the  interest  of  Mr.  Long,  and  was  there- 
after sole  proprietor  until  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
January  24, 1897.  As  the  name  of  the  paper  indicates,  it  was  pub- 
lished in  the  interest  of  the  Democratic  Party,  and  after  the  death 
of  Captain  Guss  its  publication  was  discontinued. 

Captain  George  E.  Guss  was  a  son  of  Colonel  Henry  E.  Guss, 
and  during  General  Lee's  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  raised  an  in- 
dependent battery,  securing  his  men  in  and  around  West  Chester, 
commanded  it  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  from  July  1  to 
August  24,  1863,  when  it  was  discharged.  He  also  was  captain 
of  a  section  of  the  Grifiin  Battery  of  Phoenixville,  which  performed 
good  service  in  connection  with  the  Pittsburg  riots  in  1877. 

Edward  E.  Orvis  commenced  the  publication  at  Kew  London 
in  March,  1853,  of  the  Day  Spring,  a  weekly  paper  devoted  to  gen- 
eral news,  literature  and  temperance.  John  Larkin  soon  after- 
ward became  associated  with  Mr.  Orvis,  they  publishing  the  paper 
nntil  October  29,  1853,  when  they  sold  it  to  Pearsol  &  Geist,  of  the 
Saturday  Express,  a  temperance  paper  ijublished  in  Lancaster. 

From  1853  to  1856  Mr.  Orvis,  who  was  a  minister  or  elder  of 
the  Christian  Church,  conducted  at  New  London  the  Christian 
Union  and  Eeligious  Eeview,  a  monthly  periodical  of  thirty-two 
pages,  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  religious  denomination  to 
which  he  belonged.  Mr.  Orvis  had  charge  of  a  congregation  of 
Christians  near  New  London. 

Mr.  Larkin  in  December,  1855,  purchased  the  printing  office 


6  so  CHESTER     COUNTY 

and  materials  that  had  been  used  by  Bayard  Taylor  and  Frederick 
E.  Foster  when  they  were  publishing  the  Phoenixville  Pioneer,  and 
carried  on  a  job  printing  office  in  Phoenixville  until  1856,  when  he 
removed  his  outfit  to  East  Brandywine  and  there  carried  on  job 
printing  until  May,  1870. 

In  1870  Mr.  V.  N.  Shaffer  purchased  the  Independent  Phceuix 
and  changed  the  title  to  Pha?nixville  Independent,  and  on  Jan- 
uary 3,  1881,  he  began  the  publication  of  the  Daily  Independent, 
the  first  daily  paper  published  iu  Ph(euixville.  Later  he  sold 
the  Dail}^  Independent  to  E.  P.  Sharpless,  who  changed  the  title 
to  The  Star.  In  1888  Mr.  Shaffer  sold  the  Phoenixville  Independ- 
ent to  the  Phoeuixville  Kepublican  Company,  the  name  of  the 
paper  being  again  changed  to  suit  the  corporation  name.  The 
Star  having  ceased  to  exist  the  Daily  Eepublican  took  its  place. 
In  1890  the  weekly  edition  of  was  discontinued  aud  the  daily 
became  the  paper  of  Phoenixville. 

The  Daily  Republican  was  purchased  December  1,  1893,  by 
John  H.  Miller  and  Mark  F.  Sullivan,  who  are  still  the  proprietors. 
It  is  now  a  seven  column  folio,  the  columns  being  twenty-two 
inches  loug.  In  politics  it  is  Kepublican,  and  is  devoted  to  liter- 
ature and  local  news.  It  is  the  only  dailj^  paper  in  Chester  County 
outside  of  West  Chester.  It  has  a  circulation  of  about  3,000 
copies,  aud  the  subscription  price  is  $3  per  year.  While  Mr. 
Sullivan  is  at  the  present  time  the  nominal  editor  of  the  paper, 
yet  the  editorial  work  is  being  done  by  H.  C.  Gillingham,  during 
the  absence  of  Mr.  Sullivan  in  college.  Mr.  (iilliugham  was  born 
in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  May  25,  1858,  became  a  Pres- 
byterian minister,  aud  preached  for  churches  in  Wisconsin,  Iowa 
aud  California  from  1884  to  1891,  aud  in  1896  became  editor  of  the 
Daily  Republican,  a  position  he  still  retains.  Mr.  Miller  is  the  bus- 
iness manager.  This  paper  has  connected  with  it  one  of  the  finest 
job  offices  to  be  anywhere  fouud,  all  kinds  of  job  work  being  done, 
even  to  half-tone  printing.     There  are  employed  on  this  pajjer  aud 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  651 

in  the  job  office  twenty  people,  thirteen  of  the  compositors  being 
girls. 

The  Chester  Valley  Union  was  established  in  Coatesville, 
June  6,  1863,  by  William  J.  and  J.  C.  Kauffman.  It  was  a  four 
page,  six  column  weekly  paper,  and  was  printed  on  an  old  fash- 
ioned Washington  hand-press.  The  above-named  gentlemen  were 
editors  and  proprietors  until  September,  180G,  when  the  latter 
sold  his  interest  in  the  paper  to  John  P.  Brooke,  the  firm  name 
then  becoming  Kauffman  &  Brooke,  and  one  year  later  Mr.  Kauff- 
man purchased  Mr.  Brooke's  interest,  thus  becoming  sole  pro- 
prietor, which  he  still  remains. 

The  Coatesville  Weekly'  Times  was  established  in  1ST9  by  Wil- 
liam E.  Ash,  then  an  attorney-at-law  in  Coatesville.  The  paper 
was  begun  as  a  four-page,  six-column  sheet,  and  has  been  enlarged 
from  time  to  time  until  at  the  present  time  it  is  an  eight-column 
paper.  Mr.  Ash  was  soon  ottered  a  position  on  the  Philadelphia 
IS'orth  American,  and  sold  his  paper  to  Clarence  F.  Jenkins,  who 
conducted  it  until  1882,  when  he  sold  it  to  Joseph  F.  Perdue,  who 
wa.s  then  practicing  at  the  West  Chester  bar.  On  February  18, 
1881,  Mr.  Perdue  sold  the  Times  to  E.  H.  Graves,  of  Uniontowu, 
Pennsylvania,  who  also  purchased  the  printing  office  from  A.  H. 
Potts  &  Co.,  of  Parkesburg,  and  engaged  F.  L.  Campbell  as  local 
editor.  Mr.  Graves  remained  sole  proprietor  of  the  paper  until 
December  1,  1890,  when,  on  account  of  having  been  appointed 
post  master  of  Coatesville,  he  sold  a  half  interest  to  D.  H.  Weaver, 
the  firm  name  bC'C-oming  Graves  &  Wea^ver,  which  continued 
until  May  1,  1891,  when  F.  L.  Campbell  pui'chased  a  one-third 
interest,  and  the  business  was  then  carried  on  under  the  firm  name 
of  E.  H.  Graves  &  Co. 

William  W.  Polk  and  William  H.  Phillips,  the  former  being 
the  editor,  established  the  Kennett  Advance,  a  weekly  paper, 
the  first  number  coming  out  August  4,  1877.  It  is  especially 
devoted  to  the  publication  of  home  news,  is  Eepublican  in  politics, 


652  CHESTER     COUNTY 

and  in  size  is  twenty-four  by  thirty-eiglit  inches.  Mr.  Phillips, 
on  June  1,  1878,  sold  his  interest  to  Mr.  Polk,  who  has  since  been 
sole  proprietor,  and  who  soon  after  enlarged  the  paper  from  seven 
to  an  eight-column  folio,  and  continues  its  publication  until  the 
present  time.  During  the  year  1897  the  Advance  was  published 
every  other  day,  on  Mondays,  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  but  was 
returned  to  a  weekly  in  January  1898. 

The  Eural  Economist  was  started  in  West  Chester  April  1, 

1861,  by  Dr.  Edmund  C  Evans,  who  published  it  until  April  1^ 

1862,  as  a  monthly  of  thirty-two  pages.  It  was  devoted  to  rural 
affairs,  horticulture  and  agriculture.     It  lasted  only  one  year. 

Nelson  P.  Boyer  &  Co.  in  September,  1801,  founded  at  Gum 
Tree  in  Highland  Township,  the  American  Stock  Journal,  a  thirty- 
two  page  octavo  monthly.  The  office  was  removed  to  Parkesburg 
in  1868,  where  the  publication  of  the  Journal  was  continued  until 
June,  1871,  Avhen  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  American 
Stock  Journal  Company,  and  published  by  them  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Eobert  A.  Young,  until  January,  1875,  when  it  was  pur- 
chased by  Potts  Brothers.  Suspended  by  them  until  October  of 
that  year,  it  was  then  revived  and  published  until  December,  1878, 
when  its  publication  ceased  altogether. 

Robert  A.  Young  in  1874  established  the  Parkesburg  Herald, 
published  it  one  year  and  then  sold  out  to  A.  H.  Potts  &  Co.,  who 
changed  the  name -to  the  Chester  County  Times,  under  which  title, 
as  a  four-page,  eight  column  weekly,  tliey  continued  its  publication. 

The  first  number  of  the  Local  News  was  issued  November 
19,  1872.  At  the  head  of  its  cohimns  it  had  the  name  of  W.  H. 
Hodgson,  proprietor,  and  that  of  W.  W.  Thomson,  editor.  Those 
names  have  remained  there  ever  since,  a  period  of  nearly  twenty- 
six  years.  At  first  the  paper  was  a  four-column  folio,  the  size  of 
each  page  being  12^x83  inches..  Preceding  and  leading  up  to 
the  establishment  of  this  little  daily  was  the  publication  of  a 
programme  of  the  Teachers'  Institute  held  in  West  Chester  from 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  653 

Xovember  11  to  15,  iuclusive,  Monday  to  Friday,  1872,  this  pro- 
gramme being  a  neatly  printed  four-page  slieet,  tlie  first  page  of 
which  was  devoted  to  the  programme  of  the  Institute  for  the  day, 
and  the  other  three  pages  being  given  up  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
previous  day,  to  local  and  general  news  and  to  advertisements. 

Learning  that  the  business  men  of  West  Chester  would  miss 
the  visits  of  the  little  sheet,  the  editor  suggested  to  the  proprie- 
tor the  establishment  of  a  daily,  which  was  at  once  determined 
tipon,  and  on  vSaturday  morning  and  on  Monday  morning,   the 
16th  and  ISth  of  the  month,  the  Local  News  was  distributed  gra- 
tuitotisly  throtighout  the  city.     On  Ttiesday  morning,  the  19th, 
carriers  were  put  on  the  streets.     ProsiJerity  appearing  to  dawn, 
the  paper  was  enlarged  February  3,  1873,  by  the  addition  of  a 
column  to  each  page,  the  page  itself  being  correspondingly  length- 
ened, so  that  each  page  was  after  this  first  enlargement  15x11 
inches  in  size.     By  June  the  paper  had  eiglit  hundred  subscribers. 
At  this  time  the  machinery  in  the  office  consisted    of    a    small 
vertical  engine  and  a  good  Campbell  press.     At  the  time  of  the 
murder  of  W.  S.  Goss  by  L'dderzook  the  subscription  list  suddenly 
sprung  up  to  5,600  names,  which   number,  however,  died  down 
to  about  half  when  the  law  had  been  vindicated  by  the  ptmish- 
ment  of  the  mtirderer.     November  19,  1873,  the  paper  was  again 
enlarged  to  a  page  seventeen  inches  long,  and  on  June  20,  1874, 
one  of  Hoe's  three-revolution  presses  was  put  in,   at  a  cost  of 
|3,500,  and  a  short  time  afterward  a  ten-horse  power  engine  was 
set  up  with  which  to  run  the  new  press.     Another  enlargement 
was  deemed  necessary  May  1,  1876,  each  page  being  then  made 
18^x13  inches,  which  enlargement  was  not  justified  by  immediate 
events,  was  yet  maintained.     October  8,   1878,  still  another  en- 
largement was  made,  each  page  being  194x13  inches,  and  on  Oc- 
tober 23,  1886,  each  page  was  made  21x13  inches.     This  enlarge- 
ment rendered  it  necessary  to  put  in  another  press,  and  one  of 
Hoe's  Type-Web  Perfection  presses  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of 


654  CHESTER     COUNTY 

116,000.  This  uew  press  had  a  capacitj-  of  12,000  per  hour,  each 
paper  being  neatlj'  printed  and  fokled,  which  fact  was  a  marvel 
to  contemplate.  But  even  this  fast  press  was  deficient  in  capacity 
by  the  fall  of  1895,  and  in  December  of  that  year  one  of  Hoe's 
fast  perfecting  presses  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of  .|25,000,  includ- 
ing four  of  the  celebrated  Mergenthaler  Linotypes,  or  type-setting- 
machines,  and  a  complete  stereotyping  outfit.  About  the  same 
time  the  reporters  began  to  use  type-writers  in  the  preparation 
of  their  copy,  which  greatly  facilitates  the  labor  of  the  linotype 
operator.  At  the  present  time  the  office  of  the  Local  News  is 
probably  as  well  equipped  as  any  newspaper  office  in  any  inland 
town  in  the  State,  if  not  in  the  country.  The  circulation  at  the 
present  time  is  about  13,000  in  Chester  and  adjoining  counties, 
and  it  is  mainly  devoted  to  local  news,  although  there  appears 
each  day  a  generous  amount  of  general  news. 

Mr.  Hodgson  and  Mr.  Thomson  have  been  respectively  pro- 
prietor and  editor  ever  since  the  first  number  was  issued,  and 
the  present  business  manager,  John  G.  Moses,  has  been  at  his 
post  since  1880.  The  foreman  in  the  composing  room,  Walter 
Clark,  has  been  with  the  paper  now  twenty  years,  and  the  press- 
man and  engineer  for  a  period  of  more  than  thirteen  years. 

The  Local  News  is  independent  in  politics  and  aims  to  treat 
all  jjarties  with  that  impartiality  that  leads  to  correct  opinions 
and  views  on  the  part  of  its  readers. 

On  April  19,  1898,  a  number  of  leading  Democrats  of  Chester 
County  held  at  a  meeting  at  the  Green  Tree  Hotel  to  plan  for  the 
founding  of  a  new  paper,  which  should  be  the  organ  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  the  county.  Editor  P.  Gray  Meek,  of  the  Belle- 
fonte  Watchman,  made  a  proposition  to  the  Democrats  of  the 
county  to  the  effect  that  if  they  would  insure  him  a  subscription 
list  of  2,000,  he  would  start  a  paper  in  West  Chester,  conducting 
it  as  his  own  enterjjrise,  but  in  the  interest  of  the  Democrats  of 
Chester  County.     The  proposition  was  generally  favored,  and  the 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  655 

county  chairman,  John  Cavanaugh,  was  instructed  to  issue  a  let- 
ter to  the  various  county  committeemen  and  other  prominent 
Democrats,  asking  them  to  solicit  subscriptions  for  the  proposed 
paper,  and  to  secure  aid  from  all  the  Democrats  possible. 

Among  those  who  were  present  at  the  meeting  and  who 
promised  their  aid  to  tlie  enterprise  were  the  following:  Bur- 
gess William  H.  Bitting,  Phoenixville ;  Harry  B.  Schofield,  Paoli; 
J.  Harry  Hoskins,  Paoli;  Joshua  E.  Hibberd,  Malvern;  Theodore 
Bye,  Franklin;  Thomas  Kettew,  Nantmeal;  John  Ecker,  North 
Coventry;  Thomas  Eettew,  Brandy  wine;  Jury  Commissioner  Jesse 
B.  Eamstine,  Upper  Uwchlan;  Wayne  L.  Battin,  Pocopson;  Dan- 
iel Slieeliau,  New  Garden;  Plari'y  C.  Hall,  West  Bradford;  Pat- 
rick McCormick,  Darlington's  Corner. 

This  project  has  not,  however,  up  to  July  1,  1898,  been  re- 
alized. 

The  West  Grove  and  Chester  County  Mirror,  published  at 
West  Grove,  was  started  there  by  Morris  Lloyd  in  1884.  It  is 
a  four-page  paper,  24x36  inches,  is  independent  in  politics,  and 
mainly  devoted  to  local  affairs.  The  circulation  at  the  present 
time  is  1,000,  and  the  subsciiption  price,  |1  per  year. 

The  Avondale  Herald  was  established  in  1891,  and  was  a 
very  small  paper  at  first.  In  189G  it  became  the  property  of 
Charles  C.  Hadley,  and  was  then,  and  is  now,  managed  by  Charles 
W.  Pierson.  It  is  a  seven-column  folio,  and  is  devoted  to  local 
news,  is  neutral  in  politics,  has  a  circulation  of  800,  and  the  sub- 
scription price  is  |1  per  year.  The  Kennett  News  and  Advertiser 
was  established  January  1,  1877,  by  Hadley  &  Holton,  Thomas 
D.  Hadley  and  J.  Frank  Holton.  The  latter  retired  from  the 
paper  at  the  end  of  six  months;  and  from  that  time  on  Mr.  Hadley 
has  been  sole  proprietor.  He  continued  its  publication  until 
January  1,  1891,  at  which  time  his  son,  Charles  C.  Hadley,  who 
had  bieen  connected  witb  the  office  from  the  beginning,  took 
charge    as    publisher    and    editor.     Since  1880  it  has  been  pub- 

38 


656  CHESTER     COUNTY 

lishecl  in  the  Swayne  Block,  on  State  Street,  near  Union.  In  poli- 
tics it  is  neutral,  and  is  devoted  exclusively  to  local  news.  It  i.s 
an  eio-ht-column  f(dio,  20x44,  and  is  printed  on  a  cylinder  press 
by  hand.  It  has  a  circulation  of  1,400  copies,  and  the  subscrip- 
tion price  is  |1  per  year. 

LITERATURE  IN  CHESTER  COUNTY. 

In  what  is  said  under  this  head  it  will  not  be  expected  that 
an  exhaustive  review  of  the  writings  of  Chester  County  people 
can  be  attempted,  for  the  reason  that  the  county  has  been  so 
prolific  in  authors  of  merit  that  any  such  attempt,  if  made  in 
good  faith,  would  require  a  volume  of  itself.  All  that  can  be 
done,  therefore,  is  to  present  the  names  of  most  of  the  authors, 
with  the  titles  of  their  respective  works. 

Caleb  Pusey  was  one  of  the  prominent  settlers  in  the  earliest 
history  of  the  county,  was  a  Quaker,  and  wrote  much  in  defense 
of  the  doctrine  of  his  sect  or  denomination,  but  more  particularly 
in  contravention  of  the  doctrines  of  George  Keith.  The  principal 
works  of  Caleb  Pusey  were  as  follows: 

1.  A  Serious  and  Seasonable  Warning  Unto  All  People  Occa- 
sioned by  Two  Most  Dangerous  Epistles  to  a.  Late  Book  of  John 
Falldoe's,  subscribed  by  Eichard  Baxter  and  others,  printed  in 
1675. 

2.  A  Modest  Account  from  Pennsylvania  of  the  Principal 
Differences  in  Point  of  Doctrine  Between  George  Keith  and  those 
of  the  People  Called  Quakers,  etc.,  printed  in  1G9G. 

3.  Satan's  Harbinger  Encountered,  etc.,  printed  in  1700. 

4.  Daniel  Leeds  Justly  Rebuked  for  Abusing  William  Penn, 
etc.,  printed  in  1702. 

5.  Proteus  Ecclesiasticus,  or  George  Keith  Varied  in  Funda- 
mentalls,  etc.,  printed  in  1704. 

G.  George  Keith  Once  More  Brought  to  the  Test,  and  Proved 
a  Prevaricator,  etc.,  printed  in  Philadelphia  about  the  same  time. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  657 

7.  The  Bomb  Searched  and  Found  Stuffed  with  False  Ingre- 
dients, etc.,  printed  in  1705. 

Eev.  David  Evans,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Tredyffriu  Township,  known  as  the  Great  Valley  Church,  was 
the  author  of  a  work  called:  "Law  and  Gospel,"  in  which  he 
attempted  to  show  that  man  is  ruined  by  the  Law  and  recovered 
by  the  Gospel. 

Rev.  Samuel  Blair  wrote  numeroiis  sermons  on  religious  sub- 
jects, which  he  collected  and  published.  Rev.  John  Blair,  brother 
of  the  above,  wrote  three  works,  all  on  religious  subjects. 

John  Churchman  published  "An  Account  of  the  Gospel  La- 
bours and  Christian  Experiences  of  a  Faithful  Minister  of  Christ." 

John  Churchman,  grandson  of  the  preceding,  published  a 
Map  of  the  Peninsula  between  the  Bays  of  Delaware  and  Chesa- 
peake, etc.,  and 

The  Magnetic  Atlas  or  Variation  Chart  of  the  Whole  Terra- 
queous Globe,  the  object  of  which  was  to  determine  with  greater 
accuracy  the  longitude. 

Humphrey  Marshall  published  two  works  of  merit,  one  enti- 
tled Arbutum  Americanum,  and  Alphabetical  Catalogue  of  Forest 
Trees  and  Shrubs,  and  the  other  called  Observations  on  Botany,  as 
Applicable  to  Rural  Economics,  etc.  Humphrey  Marshall  was 
one  of  the  earliest  botanists  of  Chester  County. 

James  Ross,  A.  M.,  LL.  D.,  published  a  Latin  Grammar,  which 
by  1S29  had  reached  its  ninth  edition.  Also  a  Greek  Grammar, 
which  reached  its  second  edition  in  1817.  He  also  published  the 
Select  Colloquies  of  Erasmus;  A  Select  Century  of  the  Colloquies 
of  Corderius,  Selectee  Profanis  Scriptoribus  Historiae,  yEsop's  Fa- 
bles, Latin  and  English,  and  Ciceronis  Epistolfe. 

Thomas  Huston,  M.  D.,  published  two  works,  one  an  Essay 
on  Inoculation  for  Small  Pox,  and  the  other  a  Collection  of  Facts 
and  Observation  on  Yellow  Fever. 

Hugh  Williamson,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  wrote  on  Civil  History,  on 


6s  8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  Climate  of  Different  Pai'ts  of  America,  A  History  of  North 
Carolina,  and  An  Essay  on  Comets. 

John  Gummere  wrote  a  Treatise  on  Surveying,  which  passed 
through  many  editions  and  was  extensively  used  in  schools. 

Francis  Glass  wrote  a  life  of  Washington  in  Latin  prose. 

Hezekiah  Niles  wrote  Principles  and  Acts  of  the  Eevolution 
in  America  and  published  Niles'  Weekly  Register,  the  latter  well 
known  to  the  reading  public  of  his  times  throughout  the  United 
States,  and  containing  much  valuable  historical  matter.  He  edited 
fifty  volumes  and  his  son,  William  Ogden  Xiles,  twenty-six. 

John  Jones  wrote  "The  Power  of  Deception  Unveiled  and  the 
Man  of  Sin  Kevealed." 

Thomas  L.  Smith,  M.  D.,  wrote  "The  Chronicles' of  Turkey- 
town;  or  the  Works  of  Jeremy  Peters,"  etc. 

Alexander  Maitland  wrote  "The  Political  Instructor  and  Guide 
to  Knowledge,"  etc. 

Joshua  Jones  wrote  "English  Grammar  in  Two  Pai'ts,"  etc. 

Jesse  Conard  wrote  two  novels,  one  called  "Stephen  More- 
land,"  the  other,  "The  Secrets  of  Mount  Echo." 

Enoch  Lewis  was  a  very  prolific  writer,  among  his  works  being 
A  Eevised  Edition  of  Simpson's  Trigonometry,  A  Revised  Edition 
of  Bonnycastle's  Algebra,  A  Treatise  on  Arithmetic,  A  Familiar 
Introduction  to  English  Grammar,  A  Treatise  on  Plane  and  Spher- 
ical Trigonometry,  all  of  which  passed  through  several  editions 
and  were  used  extensively  in  the  schools.  Mr.  Lewis  also  wrote 
A  View  of  the  Militia  System  of  Pennsylvania,  A  View  of  the 
Present  State  of  the  African  Slave  Trade  (1824),  Vindication  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  (1834),  A  Work  on  Domestic  Slavery  (1837), 
A  Dissertation  on  Oaths  (1838),  Observations  on  Legal  and  Judicial 
Oaths  (1816),  Essay  on  Baptism,  showing  that  the  Baptism  of  the 
Spirit  is  the  true  baptism,  and  not  Water  Baptism  (1839),  A  Life 
of  William  Penn  (1844  and  1845),  and  edited  the  African  Observer 
and  the  Friends'  Review. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  659 

Joseph  J.  Lewis  wrote  twenty-seven  letters  on  the  early  his- 
tory of  Chester  County,  published  in  the  Village  Record  in  1824. 

Anthony  Bolmar  was  a  prolific  writer  on  language  and  litera- 
ture. He  wrote  A  Collection  of  One  Hundred  Fables,  Les  Adven- 
ture de  Telemaque,  par  Fenelon,  with  a  key,  etc.,  A  Collection  of 
Colloquial  Phrases,  A  Complete  Treatise  ou  the  Gender  of  Freuth 
Nouns,  A  Book  of  the  French  Verbs,  both  regular  and  irregular, 
A  Theoretical  and  Practical  Grammar  of  the  French  Language, 
and  the  Institutes  of  Morality  for  the  Instruction  of  Youth. 

Charles  Miner,  one  of  the  ablest  minds  ever  engaged  in  literary 
work  in  Chester  County,  wrote  Essays  from  the  Desk  of  Poor 
Robert  the  Scribe,  and  a  History  of  Wyoming,  wliich  is  the  stand- 
ard History  of  the  Wyoming  Valley. 

William  Darlington,  M.  D.,  one  of  the  most  industrious  and 
successful  laborers  the  county  has  produced  in  the  botanical  field, 
wrote  Florula  Cestrica,  and  Flora  Cestrica,  the  latter  a  revised 
edition  of  the  former.  He  also  wrote  a  work  which  he  called 
Reliquiae  Baldwiniaua^,  an  Essay  on  tlie  Development  and  Modi- 
fications of  the  External  Organs  of  Plants,  a  work  on  Agricul- 
tural Botany,  on  American  Weeds  and  Useful  Plants,  the  latter 
being  a  revised  edition  of  the  former;  Memorials  of  John  Bartram 
and  Humphrey  Marshall,  Sesqui-Centennial  Gathering  of  the  Clan 
Darlington,  and  aided  in  the  compilation  of  Notfe  Cestrienses, 
Notices  of  Chester  County  Men  and  Events,  a  series  of  biograph- 
ical and  historical  papers,  published  in  the  Village  Record  in 
1860-62,  J.  Smith  Futhey  being  the  compiler  of  about  one-third 
of  the  numbers  and  Dr.  Darlington  of  the  remainder. 

Ezra  Michener,  M.  D.,' wrote  A  Retrospect  of  Early  Quakerism; 
A  Brief  Exposition  of  the  Testimony  to  Peace;  Christian  Casket, 
or  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price,  the  latter  being  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  combined  from  Matthew  and  Luke,  with  notes,  and  a 
Manual  of  Weeds,  or  the  Weed  Extei'minator. 

William  D.  Hartman,  M.  D.,  and  Ezra  Michener,  M.  D.,  to- 


66o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

getLer  wrote  a  work  entitled  Coiichologia  Cestrica,  the  Molluscous 
Animals  and  Their  Shells  of  Chester  County,  and  Dr.  Hartinan 
has  published  papers:  On  the  Opercula  of  the  Family  Strepo- 
natida';  A  Bibliographical  Catalogue  of  the  Genus  Partula  Fer- 
russac;  On  the  Duplicates  of  the  same  genus;  and  also  a.  Catalogue 
of  the  same  genus,  the  latter  printed  in  18S1. 

Jesse  Kersey  has  written  Letters  on  Agriculture,  A  Treatise 
on  the  Fundamental  Doctrines  of  the  Christian  Religion,  and  A 
Narrative  of  the  Life,  Travels,  and  Gospel  Labors  of  Jesse  Kersey. 

Thomas  Woodward  wrote  the  Columbian  Plutarch,  a  work 
containing  twenty-eight  biographical  sketches  of  pei'sons  con- 
nected with  American  History. 

William  Gibbons,  M.  D.,  wrote  a  work  entitled  Truth  Vindi- 
cated, in  defense  of  the  Doctrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends;  and 
An  Exposition  of  Modern  Skepticism. 

Rev.  George  I.  Miles  wrote  a  work  entitled  A  Glance  at  the 
Baptists. 

llalliday  Jackson  wrote  a  work  on  the  Civilization  of  the  In- 
dian Natives,  in  which  he  gave  a  brief  view  of  the  friendly  con- 
duct of  William  Penn  toward  the  Indians  in  the  early  settlement 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  William  Johnson  wrote  a  work  entitled  The  Good  Sa- 
maritan; or.  Sick  Man's  Friend. 

Gen.  Josiah  Harlan  wrote  a  Memoir  of  India  and  Afghan- 
istan; and  A  Personal  Narrative  of  General  Harlan's  eighteen 
years'  I'esidence  in  Asia. 

Henry  H.  Van  Amringe  wrote  a  work  entitled  The  Seals 
Opened;  or  A  Voice  to  the  Jews. 

Morris  Mattson,  M.  D.,  wrote:  The  Patriot,  A  Story  of  the 
Revolution;  Hours  of  Devotion;  Paul  Ulric;  and  The  American 
Vegetable  Practice,  or  A  New  and  Improved  Guide  to  Health. 

Bayard  Taylor  was  the  most  ijrolific  and  distinguished  man 
of  letters  that  may  be  claimed  by  Chester  County,  and  his  name 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  66 1 

and  fame  will  alwaj-s  be  cherished  by  her  people.  Only  a  portion 
of  his  numerous  works  need  be  here  named,  which  is  more  to 
recognize  his  value  as  an  author  than  to  give  a  complete  cata- 
logue of  his  writings.  Among  them  were  Ximena,  or  the  Battle 
of  the  Sierra.  Morena,  and  other  Poems;  Views  Afoot,  or  Europe 
seen  with  Knapsack  and  Staff;  Eldorado,  or,  Adventures  in  the 
Path  of  Empire;  A  .Journey  to  Central  Africa;  The  Lands  of  the 
Saracens;  A  Visit  to  India,  China  and  Japan,  in  1853;  Northern 
Travel,  Summer  and  Winter  Pictures,  Sweden,  Lapland;  Hannah 
Thurston,  a  Story  of  American  Life;  The  Story  of  Kennett;  By- 
Ways  of  Europe;  The  Ballad  of  Abraham  Lincoln;  Gpethe's 
Faust,  Parts  I  and  II,  Translated  into  English;  The  Masque  of  the 
Gods;  Egypt  and  Iceland  in  the  Year  187-4;  School  History  of 
Germany;  Boys  of  Other  Countries;  Bismarck,  his  Authentic 
Biography;  Prince  Deukalion,  and  besides  the  above-named  works 
Mr.  Taylor  edited  numerous  volumes,  and  wrote  extensively  for 
newspapers  and  magazines,  as  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Harper's 
Monthly  Magazine,  North  American  Review,  and  Scribner's 
Monthly.  Since  his  death  his  widow,  Mrs.  Marie  Taylor,  has 
edited  "Studies  in  German  Literature,"  which  has  been  published 
with  an  introduction  by  Hon.  George  H.  Boker. 

Barclay  Pennock  wrote  a  work  entitled  The  Religion  of  the 
Nortlimen. 

Rev.  John  Crowell,  at  one  time  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  West  Chester,  wrote  a  work  entitled  Republics 
Established  and  Overthrown  by  the  Bible. 

Thomas  Baldwin  compiled  three  works  entitled:  A  Univer- 
sal Pronouncing  Gazetteer;  A  New  and  Complete  Gazetteer  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  Complete  Pronouncing  Gazetteer,  or  Geo- 
grapliieal  Dictionary  of  the  World. 

Rev.  \A'illiam  Newt<m,  at  one  time  rector  of  the  Holy  Trinity 
Church  of  West  Chester,  wrote  Lectures  ou  the  First  Two  Visions 
of  the  Book  of  Daniel. 


.662  CHESTER     COUNTIT 

Gilbert  Cope,  the  author  of  many  genealogical  works  and  joint 
author  of  Futhey  &  Cope's  History  of  Chester  County,  was  born 
August  17,  1840,  in  East  Bradford  Township,  at  the  present  resi- 
dence of  George  B.  Mellor,  near  the  old  Black  Horse  tavern.  He 
is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Eliza  (Gilbert)  Cope,  and,  like  his  father 
and  grandfather,  he  was  the  youngest  of  eight  childi'en.  His 
father  owned  the  land  now  comprising  the  two  farms  of  George  B. 
Mellor  and  Herman  Hoope«,  and  in  1852,  having  erected  new 
buildings  on  the  hill,  removed  thereto,  leaving  his  eldest  son  in 
charge  of  the  homestead. 

Joseph  Cope  was  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Ann  (Taj-lor)  Cope  of 
East  Bradford,  and  grandson  of  John  and  Charity  (Jefferis)  Cope 
of  the  same  township.  Eliza  Gilbert  was  a  daughter  of  Abner 
and  Ann  (Cooper)  Gilbert,  of  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsylvania, 
and  granddaughter  of  Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  (Walton)  Gilbert, 
who,  with  her  father  and  some  of  their  other  children,  were  taken 
captives  by  the  Indians  from  their  home  in  Northampton  County, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1780,  and  carried  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 
A  narrative  of  their  captivity  has  passed  through  several  editions. 

Gilbert  Cope  received  his  education  in  a  family  school  at  home 
and  at  a  neighbor's,  taught  by  a  sister;  at  a  Friends'  School  in 
West  Chester,  and  at  the  Friends'  Boarding  School  in  Westtowu 
Township;  but  as  was  common  with  farmers'  boys  at  that  early 
day,  attended  only  in  the  winter  months,  and  his  school  educa- 
tion ceased  before  he  was  seventeen  years  old.  When  about  four- 
teen he  became  interested  in  botany,  and  in  succeeding  years  spent 
many  happy  hours  in  becoming  familiar  with  the  vegetation  of  his 
native  county.  At  seventeen  the  subject  of  genealogy  was  brought 
to  his  attention,  and  after  the  publication  of  a  work  on  the  Cope 
family  in  1861,  he  turned  his  attention  to  other  families  from  which 
he  is  descended,  and  also  began  to  collect  data  for  local  history. 
After  his  father's  death  and  the  sale  of  the  homestead  he  became- 
a  resident  of  West  Chester  in  1872,  and  has  continued  there  to 
reside  ever  since. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  663, 

Before  the  colleetiou  of  family  aud  local  history  he  has 
been  much  interested  in  the  preservation  of  public  and  private 
records  and  manuscripts,  and  has  put  into  book  hundreds  of 
volumes  of  manuscripts  for  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  So- 
ciety, Philadelphia  Library,  College  of  Physicians  and  of 
Chester  County  records.  His  own  collections  demanded  a 
place  of  security,  and  a  fireproof  vault  has  been  added 
to  his  residence  for  their  storage.  Believing  that  future  genera- 
tions would  justify  the  measure,  he  has  endeavored  to  secure  the 
passage  of  an  act  for  the  recording  of  old  aud  unrecorded  deed* 
within  the  county. 

Gilbert  Cope  is  a  most  industrious  compiler  of  genealogies, 
among  his  works  being  a  IJecord  of  the  Cope  Family;  a  Geneal- 
ogy of  the  Button  Family  of  Pennsylvania;  The  Browns  of  Not- 
tingham, besides  numerous  other  works  of  a  similar  nature. 

In  1880  he  married  Anna  Garrett,  daughter  of  David  aud 
Mary  Ann  (Hoopes)  Garrett,  late  of  Birmingham  Township,  aud 
by  her  has  had  four  childreu,  viz.,  Herman,  Ellen,  David  G.,  wlio 
died  in  infancy,  and  Joseph. 

Thomas  Buchanan  Read  is  one  of  the  most  famous  authoi-s 
to  whom  Chester  County  can  lay  claim.  His  writings,  mostly 
poetic,  are  numerous,  and  of  the  several  volumes  some  of  them 
are  entitled  merely  "Poems."  They  may  be  named  as  fcdlows: 
Poems,  Boston,  1847;  Lays  and  Ballads,  Philadelphia,  1848;  The 
Female  Poets  of  America,  1848;  The  Pilgrims  of  the  Great  f>t. 
Bernard,  published  in  the  successive  numbers  of  a  magazine;. 
Poems,  London,  1852;  Poems,  Philadelphia,  1853;  The  New  Pas- 
toral, A  Poem,  3855;  The  House  by  the  Sea,  1856;  Sylvia,  or  the 
Lost  Shepherd  1857;  Eural  Poems,  London,  1857;  The  Wagoner 
of  the  Alleghenies,  a  Poem  of  the  Days  of  Seventy-Six,  1802;  A 
Summer  Story,  Sheridan's  Ride,  etc.,  1865;  Poems,  New  and  En- 
larged Edition,  1865;  and  Good  Samaritans,  a  Poem,  published 
in  Cincinnati. 


664  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Ell  K.  Price  was  a  prolific  writer,  among  his  works  being  the 
following:  Memoir  of  Philip  and  Rachel  Price;  Memorial  of  Our 
Daughter;  Discourse  on  the  Family  as  an  Element  of  Govern- 
ment; Discourse  of  Trial  by  Jury;  Of  the  Limitations  of  Actions 
and  Liens  Against  Ileal  Estate  in  Pennsylvania;  The  Act  for  the 
Sale  of  lieal  Estate;  and  the  History  of  the  Consolidation  of  the 
City  of  Philadelphia. 

James  P.  Wickershain  ^^'rote  several  works,  among  them: 
School  Economy;  Methods  of  Instruction,  and  The  Common  School 
Laws  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Decisions  of  the  Superintendent,  with 
Explanations,  Forms,  etc. 

Edward  H.  AVilliamson  wrote  several  volumes,  among  them 
being:  The  Scout,  a  Storj-  of  the  Revolution;  The  Quaker  Par- 
tisans, a  Story  of  the  Revolution;  Philip  ]Morton;  The  Book  of 
Deeds,  and  The  List  of  Notaries. 

Daniel  G.  Erinton,  M.  D.,  wrote:  The  Floridian  Peninsula; 
The  Shawnees  and  Their  Migrations;  The  M^^ths  of  the  Xew 
World;  A  Guide  Book  of  Florida  and  the  South;  The  National 
Legend  of  the  Chahta-Muskokee  Tribes;  The  Phonetic  Alphabet 
of  Yucatan;  Grammar  of  the  Choctaw  Language;  The  Arawack 
Language  of  Guiana  in  its  Linguistic  and  Ethnological  Relations;; 
Contributions  to  a  Grammar  of  the  Chahta-Muskokee  Language; 
The  Religious  Sentiment,  Its  Source  and  Aim;  and  the  Brinton 
Family. 

Gen.  George  A.  McCall  wrote  a  series  of  Letters  from  the 
Frontier,  covering  a  period  of  thirty  years'  service  in  the  army. 

Isaac  I.  Hayes,  M.  D.,  tlie  great  Arctic  explorer,  wrote:  An 
Arctic  Boat  Journey  in  the  Autumn  of  1854;  The  Open  Polar 
Sea;  The  Land  of  Desolation;  and  Cast  Away  in  the  Cold. 

J.  Smith  Futhey  wrote:  History  of  the  Upper  Octorara  Pres- 
byterian Church;  History  of  Educational  Institutions  in  Chester 
County;  and  an  Address  on  the  One  Hundreth  Anniversary  of 
the  Paoli  Massacre.  Judge  Futhey  and  Gilbert  Cope  wrote  a 
History  of  Chester  County,  which  Avas  published  in  1881. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  665 

Major  Isaiah  Price  wrote  a  history  of  the  Xinetj-seventh  Eegi- 
ment,  Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry,  during  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion. 

Samuel  W.  Peuuypacker  was  the  author  of  the  Annals  of 
Phoenixville  and  Its  Vicinity;  The  Pennypacker  Reunion;  Abra- 
ham and  Dirck  Op  Den  Graeff,  and  the  Settlement  of  Germantown. 

Charlton  T.  Lewis,  son  of  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  in  company  with 
Marvin  E.  Vincent,  professor  in  Troy  University,  translated  John 
Albert  Bengel's  Gnomon  of  the  New  Testament;  and  Mr.  Lewis 
wrote  A  History  of  Germany  from  the  Earliest  Times,  and  Har- 
per's Latin  Dictionary,  witli  the  exception  of  the  first  21(5  pages. 

Mrs.  Mary  D.  K.  Boyd  has  written  largely  in  the  line  of  Svm- 
day-school  literature;  Fannie  H.  Bent  is  also  a  writer  of  literature 
designed  for  the  use  of  Sunday-schools. 

Isaac  D.  Johnson,  M.  D.,  of  Kennett  Square,  has  written  a 
Therapeutic  Key,  and  a  Guide  to  Homeopathic  Practice. 

Joseph  T.  Eothrock,  M.  D.,  has  written  a  Sketch  of  the  Flora 
of  Alaska;  a  Work  on  Botany;  the  sixth  volume  of  the  United 
States  Geographical  Surveys  West  of  the  One  Hundredth  Merid- 
ian; A  Catalogue  of  Trees  and  Shrubs,  Native  and  Introduced  in 
the  Horticultural  Gardens  Adjacent  to  Horticultural  Hall,  Fair- 
mount  Park,  Philadelphia,  and  a  work  called  Medical  Botany  of 
America. 

John  Russell  Young,  at  present  Librarian  of  Congress,  has 
written  Around  the  World  with  General  Grant. 

George  L.  Maris,  A.  M.,  is  the  author  of  a  work  entitled 
The  Normal  English  Grammar. 

Prof.  George  G.  Groff,  M.  D.,  has  written  on  the  Common  Min- 
erals, Ores  and  Rocks  of  Chester  County;  The  Common  Minerals 
and  Ores  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Delaware  and  Maryland; 
The  Chemical  Elements;  Geological  Chart;  Plant  Description;  Ele- 
ments of  Animal  Physiology;  Elements  of  Mineralogy;  Elements 
of  Agricultural  Chemistry;  and  A  Manual  of  Accidents  and  Emer- 
gencies. 


666  CHESTER    COUNTY 

Francis  C.  Hooton  is  the  antlior  of  a  work  on  The  General 
and  Special  Pennsylvania  Road  Laws,  and  The  Supervisor's  Guide. 

Hon.  P.  Frazer  Smith  wrote  a  work  on  the  Forms  of  Pro- 
cedure in  the  Courts  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Pennsylvania  State 
Eeports,  comprising  cases  adjudged  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Penn- 
sylvania from  18G5  to  1876. 

Thomas  Louis  Ogier  is  the  author  of  two  books,  one  a  pamphlet 
of  26  pages  on  Capital  Punishment,  and  the  other  a  Life  of  the 
Hon.  James  Bowen  Everhart,  of  156  pages,  published  in  1889. 

George  M.  Philips,  Ph.  D.,  in  connection  with  President  Isaac 
Sharpless  of  Haverford  College,  wrote  an  Elementary  Astronomy 
and  an  Elementary  Natural  Philosophy,  and  also  a  key  to  the 
latter,  published  in  a  separate  volume.  Dr.  Philips  also  wrote 
a  work  on  the  Civil  Governmeut  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  Supple- 
ment to  Mowry's  Civil  Govei'ument.  He  also  wrote  a  work  on 
the  Geography  of  Pennsylvania  which  was  published  as  a  supple- 
ment to  Kand  &  McNally's  Grammar  School  Geography. 

Professor  James  McClune  wrote  a  History  of  the  Brandywine 
Manor  Presbyterian  Church;  A  Comprehensive  Calendar,  a  Cal- 
endar for  all  time  indexed  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years;  a 
Eeport  on  the  Solar  Eclipse  of  August  7,  1869;  a  Biography  of 
the  Chiss  of  1825,  Princeton  College,  compiled  by  four  of  the 
class,  including  himself. 

Howard  M.  Jenkins  wrote  an  address  on  William  Penn,  his 
character  and  career,  and  prepared  Historical  Collections  relatiug 
to  Gwynedd  Township,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  settled 
in  1698  by  the  Welsh,  together  with  data  referring  to  the  adjoining- 
township  in  the  same  county. 

Frank  M.  Stauffer  wrote  a  work  entitled  The  Queer,  the 
Quaint,  the  Quizzical,  a  Cabinet  for  the  Curious,  367  pages,  pub- 
lished in  1882. 

Col.  Isaiah  Price  wrote  an  account  of  the  Reunion  of  the  Nine- 
ty-seventh Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  October  29,  1881,. 
on  the  old  camp  ground  at  Camp  Wayne. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  667 

Thomas  D.  Ingram,  M.  D.,  wrote  a  work  on  Representative 
Oovernment,     *     *     »     »     Ti^g  Civil  Evil  and  its  Eemedy. 

Pennock  Hney  wrote  A  True  History  of  the  Charge  of  the 
Eighth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry  at  Chancellorsvile. 

Benjamin  Moran  wrote  The  Footpath  and  Highway,  or  Wan- 
derings of  an  American  in  Great  Britain  in  1851  and  1852. 

t^amuel  W.  Penuypacker  wrote  a  choice  woi*k  entitled  Histor- 
ical and  Biographical  Sketches,  published  in  1883. 

James  Grier  Ralston  wrote  an  Historical  Sketch  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Norristown,  Pennsylvania,  with  Biograph- 
ical Sketches  of  its  Ministers,  etc.,  and  a  work  entitled  Solar  Hiero- 
glyphics. 

James  Monaghan  prepared  The  Chester  County  Reports,  cases 
decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  several 
courts  of  the  Commonwealth,  arising  chiefly  in  the  courts  of 
Chester  County,  and  also  Pennsylvania  County  Court  Reports, 
cases  decided  in  the  courts  of  the  several  counties  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. 

Horatio  McLean  Jones  compiled  Missouri  State  Reports,  vol- 
umes 21  to  30,  published  1856  to  1861. 

George  L.  Maris  and  Annie  M,  Maris  prepared  a  volume  on 
The  Maris  Family  of  the  United  States;  a  Record  of  the  Descend- 
ants of  George  and  Alice  Maris,  1683-1885. 

Edwin  Atlee  Barber  prepared  a  Genealogical  Record  of  the 
Atlee  Family :  The  Descendants  of  Judge  William  Augustus  Atlee 
and  Colonel  Samuel  John  Atlee,  of  Lancaster  County. 

Thomas  Maxwell  Potts  wrote  a  Bi-Centennial  Memorial  of 
Jeremiah  Carter,  who  came  to  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  in 
1682,  published  in  1883. 

Edward  H.  Williamson  wrote  in  addition  to  the  works  men- 
tioned above  several  other  works,  some  of  them  as  follows:  Ances- 
tral Brief:  A  Brief  of  Lineage  of  the  Descendants  of  William 


668  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Williamson  of  Thornbury  Township,  Chester  County;  The  Clip- 
ping of  the  Osprey's  Wings,  and  other  Tales  of  Battle  and  Adven- 
ture on  Sea  and  Land;  After  Work  Hours;  State  Laws  llelating 
to  Wills;  and  The  Scout,  a  Legend  of  Old  Thornbury  Township. 

Cyrus  Stern  wrote  a  work  entitled  Our  Kindred — The  McFar- 
len  and  Stern  Families. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Louisa  Oberholtzer  wrote  Violet  Lee  and  Other 
Poems;  Come  for  Arbutus;  Daisies  of  Verse,  and  Hope's  Heart 
Bells. 

Frances  Lavinia  Michener  wrote  Prose  and  Poetical  Works, 
octavo,  386  pages,  published  in  1SS4,  third  edition  in  1888. 

Ann  Preston  wrote  Cousin  Ann's  Stories,  a  book  of  poems  for 
children. 

Mrs.  Levi  G.  McCauley  wrote  Stories  for  Little  Ones,  1886. 

Thomas  Elwood  Garrett  wrote  the  Masque  of  the  Muses. 

Mrs.  Isabella  P.  Huston  wrote  Superficial  Glimpses  of  Travel, 
published  in  1888. 

Fenelon  Darlington  wrote  A  Short  History  of  Great  Inven- 
tions and  Discoveries,  and  A  Token  of  Esteem  and  IJemembrance 
for  My  Young  Friends  at  School. 

Eev.  James  Koberts,  D.  D.,  wi'ote  a  Memorial  of  the  Rev. 
James  W.  Dale,  D.  D.,  for  private  circulation. 

Eev.  William  H.  H.  Marsh  wrote  The  Modern  Sunday-school, 
and  Two  Theories  of  the  Visible  Church. 

Rev.  Francis  J.  Collier,  D.  D.,  wrote  Quarter  Century  Reunion 
of  Jefferson  College,  and  Temperance  Truth  for  Young  and  Old. 

Eev.  Samuel  Fulton  wrote  Golden  Promises  Selected  from 
God's  Word ;  Compend  of  Chronology,  and  A  Family  Manual,  Seven 
Don'ts. 

Eev.  Robert  P.  Dubois  wrote  a  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Char- 
acter of  the  Eev.  James  Latta,  D.  D. 

Eev.  David  Evans  wrote  The  Minister  of  Christ  and  the  Duties 
of  His  Flock. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  669 

Key.  John  Duer  wrote  a  Memorial  of  Kev.  John  Duer,  his^ 
father. 

Kev.  J.  W.  Ilood  wrote  The  Negro  in  the  Christian  Pulpit, 
or  the  Two  Characters  and  the  Two  Destinies. 

Tiev.  Mathias  Sheeleigh,  D.  D.,  wrote  numerous  works,  the 
principal  ones  being  as  follows:  Outlines  of  Old  Testament  His- 
tory, for  Youth;  Outlines  of  New  Testament  History,  for  Youth; 
Brief  Life  of  Martin  Luther,  the  Great  Reformer;  The  delation  of 
the  Sunday-school  to  the  Church;  and  the  Conservation  of  Our 

Church's  History. 

Thomas  K.  Brown  wrote  an  Academic  Algebra,  designed  as 

an  Advanced  Algebra  for  High  Schools. 

Esther  J.  Trimble  wrote  a  Handbook  of  English  and  American 
Literature,  Historical  and  Critical. 

William  M.  Rupert  wrote  a  Guide  to  the  study  of  History 
and  the  Constitution  of  the   United   States. 

William  Vogdes,  A.  M.,  wrote  a  United  States  Arithmetic, 
designed  for  Schools  and  Academies,  a  Ke.y  to  the  same  and  a 
Treatise  on  Mensuration. 

Joshua  Jones  wrote  an  English  Grammar,  founded  on  tlie 
natural  principles  of  speech,  and  a  Lecture  on  English  Grammar. 

David  M.  Sensenig,  M.  S.,  wrote  a  work  entitled  Xumbors 
Symbolized:     An   Elementary  Algebra. 

Elijah  W.  Beans  wrote  a  Manual  of  Practical  Surveyors. 

SaiQuel  Sloan  wrote  the  Model  Architect:  a  Guide  for  the 
Builder  and  Carpenter;  City  and  Suburban  Architecture;  Home- 
stead Architecture;  Constructive  Architecture;  and  Architectural 
Review  and  Builders'  Journal. 

Marie  Hansen  Taylor  and  Horace  E.  Scudder  wrote  the  Life 
and  Letters  of  Bayard  TayloV,  two  volumes,  18S4. 

T.  B.  Read  wrote  Paul  Redding,  a  Tale  of  the  Braudywine. 

Alfred  L.  Elwyu,  M.  D.,  compiled  a  Glossary  of  Supposed 
Americanisms. 


670  CHESTER     COUNTY 

George  Lipjiard  wrote  an  Original  Revolntionary  Clironicle 
and  tlie  White  Banner. 

IJev.  Edwin  McMinn  wrote  Eambles  in  Mineral  Fields. 

Stephen  P.  Sharpless  wrote  a  work  entitled  The  Woods  of 
the  United  States. 

William  Mc(?lay  wrote  Sketches  of  Debate  in  the  First  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States,  most  interesting  reading.  William  Mo- 
Clay  was  born  in  Chester  Connty,  was  educated  in  the  famous 
school  of  Eev.  John  Blair  at  Fagg's  Manor,  and  was  a  Senator 
in  Congress  from  Pennsylvania,  and  it  has  been  often  stated  that 
he.  and  not  Jefferson,  was  the  father  of  the  Democratic  party. 

Benjamin  M.  Everhart  has  written  much  for  the  Journal  of 
Mycology,  or  the  Science  of  the  Fungi.  Mr.  Everhart  has  given 
much  time  to  the  study  of  botany,  and  is  at  the  present  time 
one  of  the  foremost  authorities  on  this  department  in  the  world. 

Edwin  Atlee  Barber  wrote  a  Genealogical  Eecord  of  the  At- 
lee  Family,  1884;  a  Genealogy  of  the  Barber  Family,  1890,  and 
The  Pottery  and  Porcelain  of  the  United  States,  1893. 

John  Vanderslice  Avrote  Around  the  World,  Sketches  of 
Travel  Through  Many  Lands  and  Over  Many  Seas,  1876. 

William  Whitehead  wrote  Etoile  and  Other  Poems,  1872. 

Brinton  W.  Woodward  wrote  Old  Wine  in  New  Bottles,  1890. 

Dr.  J.  T.  Eothrook  wrote  Vacation  Cruising  in  Chesapeake 
and  Delaware  Bays,  and  has  also  written  a  large  number  of  sci- 
entific articles,  which  have  been  embodied  in  government  reports, 
mainly  on  forestry. 

Judge  Samuel  Whitaker  Pennypacker  wrote  Annals  of  Pha- 
nixville  and  Vicinity;  Historical  and  Biographical  Sketches,  1883; 
Pennsylvania  Supreme  Courts,  four  volumes,  1882  to  1886;  Weelcly 
Notes  of  Cases  argued  and  deternfiued  in  the  Supi'eme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania,  1875  to  1891;  and  the  Descent  of  Samuel  Whitaker 
Pennypacker,  1898. 

•    Dr.  William  Darlington  compiled  a  Directory  of  West  Ches- 


^  m^ 


F-GuUfyuii  Cd 


GILBERT  COPE. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  671 

ter  in  1857,  iu  wliicli  he  publislied  a  short  History  of  West  Chester 
lip  to  that  (late. 

Gilbert  Cope  is  also  author  of  the  following  works:  Gene- 
alogy of  the  Shai^Dless  Family,  descended  from  John  and  Jane 
Sharpless,  settlers  near  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  1682;  together 
with  some  account  of  the  English  aucestiT  of  the  family,  includ- 
ing the  results  of  researches  by  Henry  Fishwick,  F.  H.  S.,  and 
the  late  Joseph  Lemuel  Chester,  LL.  D.;  and  a  full  report  of  the 
Bi-Centennial  Keunion  of  1S82.  Compiled  by  Gilbert  Cope  of 
West  Chester,  Pa.  Published  for  the  Family,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Bi-Ceutounial  Committee.  Philadelphia,  1887.  pp.  xvi., 
1333. 

This  contains  the  names  of  over  19,000  descendants  of  John 
and  Jane  Sharpless,  with  several  thousand  otliers  connected  with 
the  family  by  marriage.  The  Grubb  Family  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Delaware,  1893.  This  is  a  pamphlet  of  twelve  double-column 
pages,  reprinted  from  the  Daily  Local  News;  Ancestral  Chart. 
This  is  a  blank  for  filling  up  with  the  names  of  all  a  person's 
ancestors  covering  eight  generations;  first  published  in  1875,  with 
a  second  edition  in  1879.  This  is  much  in.  demand  by  those  iater- 
ested  in  their  ancestry;  Genealogical  Records  of  the  ancestry  of 
William  Hood  Dunwoody,  of  Minneapolis,  Minnesota.  Now  iu 
press;  Darlington  Genealogy,  nearly  ready  for  the  press,  and  to  be 
published  this  year  (1898);  Smedley  Genealogy,  in  preparation — a 
large  work,  which  will  probably  appear  in  1899. 

Thomas  Buchanan  Read  was  born  about  four  miles  from 
Downingtown,  Chester  County,  on  March  12,  1822,  and  died  in 
New  York  City,  May  11,  1872.  His  mother,  a  widow,  apprenticed 
him  to  a  ta.ilor,  but  he  ran  away,  learned  in  Philadelphia  the 
trade  of  cigar-making,  and  iu  1837  made  his  way  to  Cincinnati, 
where  he  found  a  home  with  the  sculptor,  Shobal  V.  Clevenger. 
He  learned  the  trade  of  a  sign  painter,  and  attended  school  at 
intervals.  Not  succeeding  in  Cincinnati,  he  went  to  Dayton,  and 
39 


672  CHESTER    COUNTY 

obtained  an  engagement  in  the  theater.  Returning  to  Cincin- 
nati in  about  a  year,  he  was  enabled  by  the  liberality  of  Nicholas 
Longworth  to  open  a  studio  as  a.  portrait-painter.  lie  did  not 
long  remain  in  Cincinnati,  but  wandered  from  town  to  town  paint- 
ing signs  when  he  could  find  no  sitters,  sometimes  giving  public 
entertainments,  and  reverting  to  cigar-making  when  other  re- 
sources failed.  In  1841  he  removed  to  New  York  City,  and  withiu 
a  year  to  Boston.  While  there  he  made  his  first  essays  as  a  poet, 
publishing  in  the  Courier  several  lyric  poems  in  1843-44.  Tie 
settled  in  Philadelphia  in  1S4G,  and  visited  Europe  in  1850.  In 
1853  he  went  again  to  Europe  and  devoted  himself  to  the  stud^- 
and  practice  of  art  in  Florence  and  Rome  until  1858.  He  after- 
ward spent  much  time  in  Philadelphia  and  Cincinnati,  but  in  the 
last  years  of  his  life  made  Rome  his  principal  residence.  While 
in  the  United  States  during  the  Civil  War  he  gave  public  read- 
ings for  the  benefit  of  the  soldiers,  and  recited  his  war  songs  in 
the  camps  of  the  National  army.  He  died  while  making  a  visit 
to  the  United  States. 

His  paintings,  most  of  which  deal  with  allegorical  and  mytho- 
logical subjects,  are  full  of  poetic  and  graceful  fancies,  but  the 
technical  treatment  is  careless  and  unskillful,  betraying  his  lack 
of  early  training.  The  best  known  are  The  Spirit  of  the  \Vater- 
fall.  Undine,  The  Lost  Pleiad,  The  Star  of  Bethlehem,  Longfel- 
low's Children,  Cleopatra  and  her  Barge,  and  Sheridan's  Ride. 
He  painted  portraits  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  the  ex-queen 
of  Naples,  George  M.  Dallas,  Henry  W.  Longfellow,  Leigh  Hunt, 
Tennyson,  and  others.  His  group  of  Longfellow's  daughters  was 
popular  in  photographs.  He  turned  his  hand  occasionally  fo 
sculpture,  producing  one  work,  a  bust  of  Sheridan,  that  attracted 
much  attention.  He  possessed  a  much  more  thorough  mastery 
of  the  means  of  expression  in  the  art  of  poetry  than  in  painting. 
His  poems  are  marked  by  a  fervent  spirit  of  patriotism  and  by 
artistic  power  and  fidelity  in  the  description  of  American  scenery 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  673 

and  rural  life.  His  first  volume  of  Poems  (Philadelphia,  181T> 
was  followed  by  Lays  and  Ballads  (1848).  He  next  made  a  col- 
lection of  extracts  and  specimens  from  the  Female  Poets  of 
America  (1848),  containing  also  biographical  notices  and  portrait 
(IraAvn  by  himself.  An  edition  of  his  lyrics,  with  illustrations 
by  Kenny  Meadows,  appeared  in  London  in  1852,  and  1853  a 
new  and  enlarged  edition  was  published  in  Philadelphia.  A  prose 
romance,  entitled  The  Pilgrims  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard,  was  pub- 
lishe<l  as  a  serial.  The  New  Pastoral,  his  most  ambitioiis  poem,  de- 
scribes in  blank  verse  the  pioneer  life  of  a  family  of  immigrants, 
(1854).  The  more  dramatic  and  imaginative  poem  that  followed, 
entitled  The  House  by  the  Sea  (1856),  gained  for  it  more  readers 
than  had  been  attracted  by  its  own  superior  merits.  Next  appeared 
Sylvia,  or  the  Lost  Shepherd  and  Other  Poems  (1857)  and  A  Voy- 
age to  Iceland  (1857),  and  the  same  year  a  collection  of  his  Eural 
Poems  was  issued  in  London.  His  Complete  Poetical  Works  (Bos- 
ton, 1800)  contained  the  longer  and  shorter  poems  tliat  had  bei'ii 
already  published.  His  next  narrative  poem  was  The  Wagoner 
of  the  Alleghenies,  a  tale  of  IJevolutionary  times  (Philadelphia, 
186).  During  the  Civil  ^^'ar  he  wrote  many  patriotic  lyrics, 
including  the  stirring  poem  of  Sheridan's  Eide,  which  was  printed 
in  a  volume  with  A  Summer  Story  and  other  pieces,  chieflj'  of 
the  war  (Philadelphia,  1865).  His  last  long  poem  was  The  Good- 
Samaritans  (Cincinnati,  1867).  The  fullest  editions  of  his  poetical 
works  were  printed  in  Philadelphia  (3  vols.,  1865  and  18G7). 

Bayard  Taylor,  one  of  the  most  widely  known  literary  writers 
of  America,  was  born  at  Kennett  Square,.  Chester  County,  Janu- 
ary 11,  1825,  his  father  and  mother  (Joseph  and  Rebecca  (Way) 
Taylor,  both  living  after  his  death.  Robert  Taylor,  a  rich  Quaker 
who  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1681  with  William  Penn,  was  his 
ancestor,  and  a  part  of  tlie  land  taken  up  by  this  rich  Quaker 
is  now  the  site  of  Cedarcroft.  The  grandmothers  of  Bayard  Tay- 
lor were    both  of    South   German   descent.     The  name    Bayard 


674  CHESTER     COUNTY 

was  given  him  in  honor  of  James  A.  Bayard,  the  United  States 
Senator  from  Delaware  at  that  time,  and  Bayard  was  "his  only 
and  triie  name."  In  1829  the  family  moved  to  the  farm  a  mile 
from  Kennett  Square,  and  there  continued  to  live  until  the  build- 
ing of  Cedarcroft.  "The  education  which  he  received  at  home  and 
under  the  impulse  of  his  own  nature  took  precedence  of  the  more 
formal  culture  of  school  life.  Especially  was  he  indebted  to  his 
mother,  who  understood  well  the  refinement  of  his  nature."  And 
he  says  of  himself  that  the  books  he  read  came  from  the  village 
library,  and  the  task  of  helping  to  fodder  on  the  dark  winter 
evenings  was  lightened  by  the  anticipation  of  sitting  down  to 
Gibbon's  Rome  or  Thaddeus  of  Warsaw.  He  derived  the  greatest 
satisfaction  from  books,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  he  read 
was  measured  by  the  retentiveness  of  his  memory  of  those  early 
readings,  and  before  he  was  twelve  years  of  age  he  had  "devoured" 
the  contents  of  the  circulating  library  of  the  little  town  of -Kennett 
Square,  and  Cooper's  novels,  and  the  histories  of  Gibbon,  Eobert- 
son  and  Hume.  But  his  chief  delight  was  in  books  of  travel  and 
poetry. 

His  earlier  education  was  supplemented  by  a  regular  course 
of  study  in  the  school,  which  was  a  great  delight  to  him.  The 
influence  of  the  writings  of  other's  upon  the  tender  mind  is  aptly 
illustrated  by  that  upon  his  mind  of  a  certain  stanza  of  poetrj% 
which  in  writing  later  to  his  old  teacher  at  Kennett  Square  had 
cheered  and  encouraged  him  a  thousand  times  when  his  prospects 
seemed  gloomy. 

"O,  why  should  we  seek  to  anticipate  sorrow, 
By  throwing  the  flowers  of  the  present  away. 

And  gathering  the  dark  rolling  cloudy  to-morrow 
To  darken  tJie  generous  sun  of  to-day? 

In  addressing  old  Quaker  friends  it  was  easy  for  him  to  throw 
his  letters  into  the  Quaker  form,  for  his  family,  though  not  for- 


AXD     IT.^     PEOPLE.  675 

mallv  Quakers,  vet  generally  adhered  to  the  principles  of  the 
society.  Eis  mother  was  reared  a  Lutheran,  yet  she  became  at- 
tached to  the  Quakers  in  early  life,  and  taught  her  children  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  society.  At  fourteen  he  began  the 
study  of  Latin  and  French,  and  at  fifteen  Spanish.  At  sixteen 
his  schooling  practically  ceased,  but  he  kept  on  until  he  was 
nineteen  with  Latin  and  French.  In  1837  his  father  was  elected 
sheriff  of  Chester  County,  and  moved  to  West  Chester,  remain- 
ing there  three  years,  and  it  was  during  this  time  that  young 
Bayard  attended  Anthony  Bolmar's  school.  Shortly  afterward 
he  attended  the  academy  at  Unionville,  and  there  completed  his 
formal  schooling  in  1842. 

It  was  in  this  latter  year  that  he  became  apprenticed  for  a 
term  of  four  years  to  Henry  E.  Evans,  publisher  of  the  Village 
Record,  and  it  was  during  this  apprenticeship  that  he  began  to 
write  poems.  One  of  these  poems,  to  which  he  had  given  the 
name  of  "Rosalie,"  he  afterward  named  Ximena.  He  believed 
that  poetry  owns  as  its  true  field  the  happiness  of  mankind. 
Quoting  Channing,  he  said,  "its  use  is  to  lift  the  mind  out  of  the 
beaten,  dusty,  weary  walks  of  life,  to  rouse  it  into  a  purer  element, 
and  to  breathe  into  it  a  moj'e  i)rofouud  and  generous  emotion." 

The  first  journey  he  ever  made  was  to  the  Catskill  Mountains, 
and  his  first  purpose  in  publishing  his  volume  of  poems,  Ximena, 
was  to  secure  money  enough  to  carry  out  a  plan  of  going  to  the 
West  Indies.  After  reading  Howitt's  Rural  Life  in  Germany 
he  became  convinced  that  it  was  possible  for  him  to  see  Europe 
on  foot,  after  once  having  crossed  the  Atlantic.  In  order  to 
accomplish  this  object  he  purchased  the  remainder  of  his  appren- 
ticeship time  from  Mi".  Evans,  and  made  arrangements  with  cer- 
tain editors  of  magazines  for  letters  from  abroad,  some  of  them 
paying  him  in  advance  as  much  as  |50  for  twelve  letters.  In  this 
way  he  secured  §140,  a  sum  which  he  thought  sufficient  to  cany 
him  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.     He  made  an  agreement  with  Horace 


6/6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Greelej-  by  which  he  was  to  write  for  the  Tribune  letters  descrip- 
tive of  German  life  and  society,  Mr.  Greeley  admonishing  him  not 
to  write  until  he  knew  something. 

Bayard  Taylor  reached  the  old  world  July  26,  1844,  and  spent 
there  two  years  in  travel  and  study,  which  comprised  his  univer- 
sity education.  While  he  ardently  desired  to  travel  in  Greece, 
yet  Rome  was  tlie  end  of  his  journey  toward  the  East.  Upon 
returning  home  in  184G  his  anxiety  was  great  to  undertake  some 
occupation  which  should  yield  him  a  fixed  income  so  that  he 
might  marry  and  settle  down  in  life.  Determining,  therefore,  to 
establish  a  weekly  paper  in  Chester  County,  he  was  joined  by 
Frederick  E.  Foster,  and  they  located  in  Phoenixville,  purchasing 
the  Phoenixville  Gazette,  and  changing  its  name  to  the  Phoenix- 
ville Pioneer.  The  first  number  of  this  paper  appeared  Decem- 
ber 29,  1846,  but  its  career  was  not  what  he  anticipated.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  village  of  Phoenixville  were  mostly  workmen 
in  the  several  manufacturing  establishments,  and  the  country 
people  were  conservative  farmers,  and  they  preferred  local  news 
to  anything  he  felt  like  preparing  for  publication  in  the  Pioneer. 
His  neutrality  iu  politics  made  him  enemies  in  both  parties,  and 
after  one  year's  experience  he  gave  up  the  business  in  despair 
and  went  to  New  York,  "weighed  down  with  a  debt,  the  paying 
of  which  cost  me  the  earnings  of  the  next  three  years." 

Remaining  in  New  York  until  1849  his  prosperity  was  so  great 
that  he  was  enabled  to  buy  into  the  New  York  Tribune,  which 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  pecuniary  fortune.  Mr.  Greeley  and 
he  became  vei*y  friendly,  and  in  1850  he  went  to  California  for  the 
Tribune.  In  1851  he  went  to  Egypt,  traveled  up  the  Valley  of 
the  Nile,  and  saw  much  of  the  country.  After  ti*aveling  in  Syria, 
Palestine  and  Asia  Minor  he  reached  Constantinople  in  July  12, 
1852,  and  reached  Catania  in  Sicily  in  time  to  see  the  grand  festival 
of  St.  Ag"atha,  which  takes  place  only  once  in  a  hundred  years. 

After  this  he  went  to  the  Farther  East,  reaching  Bombay 


AXD     /7VS'     PEOPLE'.  677 

December  27,  1852,  went  to  Agra,  Delhi,  Landowr,  Dehra,  Meerut, 
Cawnpore,  Allahabad  and  Calcutta.  In  1854  he  returned  home 
to  find  himself  famous,  and  invitations  to  lecture  poured  in  upon 
him.  Though  he  found  this  field  of  labor  profitable,  yet  he  also 
found  it  very  irksome.  In  1856  he  went  to  Scandinavia,  being 
present  before  returning  home  in  1858  at  the  three  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  University  of  Jena. 

In  1859-60  he  built  Cedarcroft,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  of  the  Kebellion,  when  his  brother  Frederick  enlisted,  he 
sold  a  share  of  his  stock  in  the  Tribune  and  devoted  a  thousand 
dollars  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Then  after  a  short  tour  in 
Germany  he  returned  to  his  native  country  to  aid  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war.  In  1862  he  was  sent  with  Simon  Cameron  to  Rus- 
sia, as  secretary  of  legation,  and  upon  Mr.  Cameron's  return  from 
St.  Petersburg  he  was  made  charge  d'  affaires,  and  in  this  position 
was  eminently  useful  to  his  country  in  preventing  Russia  from 
uuiting  with  England  and  France  in  an  intervention  in  American 
affairs,  by  showing  Gortchakoff  that  the  United  States  was  abun- 
dantly able  to  suppress  the  Rebellion. 

Bayard  Taylor  was  engaged  in  literary  work,  novel  writing 
and  poetry  from  1863  to  1867,  most  of  the  time  at  Cedarcroft.  After 
this  he  spent  a  year  in  Europe,  and  then  another  year,  1869,  at  Ce- 
darcroft. In  1872  he  again  went  to  Europe,  where  his  translation 
of  Faust  made  him  a  man  of  mark  and  interest.  From  Germany  he 
returned  to  America  in  the  fall  of  1871,  in  October  of  which  year 
he  removed  to  Xcav  York  Citj-  with  the  view  of  making  that  his 
permanent  home,  leaving  his  parents  in  possession  of  Cedarcroft. 
In  1876  he  wrote  the  National  Ode,  and  early  in  1878  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Hayes  minister  to  Germany.  He  was 
greatly  honored  by  his  fellow-citizens  of  Kennett  Square  and 
West  Chester  on  the  occasions  of  his  visits  to  those  places  when 
on  his  way  to  take  passage  to  Germany.  His  last  great  work 
was  "Prince  Deucalion,"  and  the  last  verse  he  wrote  was  called 


6/8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

"Epicedium,"  written  in  September,  1878,  and  read  at  the  Cen- 
tury Memorial  to  William  Cullen  Bryant.  He  died  November  19, 
1878,  and  bis  remains,  after  lying  in  the  cemetery  at  Jerusalem, 
reached  America  March  13,  1879. 

It  is  needless  to  say  in  conclusion  more  than  that  Bayard 
Taylor  was  one  of  the  most  industrious  and  illustrious  writers  of 
his  day,  and  taken  in  every  way  one  of  the  best  of  men,  high- 
toned,  honorable  and  unselfish  to  an  unusual  degree. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1SC3  Bayard  Taylor  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  intercept  dispatches  fi'om  Secretary  of  State  Bejamin  of 
the  Confederate  States  Government  to  Mr.  Lamar,  who  had  been 
appointed  agent  of  the  Confederate  States  at  St.  Petersburg. 
These  dispatches  instructed  Mr.  Lamar  not  to  permit  the  intro- 
duction into  any  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  which  the  Con- 
federate States  might  make  of  a  clause  prohibiting  the  African 
slave  trade.  In  transmitting  these  dispatches  to  Hon.  William  H. 
Seward  Mr.  Taylor  caustically  remarked: 

"It  is  a  curious  illustration  in  the  combat  of  the  powers  of 
light  and  darkness  for  the  possession  of  the  world,  that  on  this 
3d  day  of  March,  1863,  the  day  of  the  jubilee  on  which  twenty 
millions  of  serfs  became  forever  free,  that  I  forward  to  you  an 
insidious  document  in  favor  of  human  slavery." 

Upon  the  appointment  of  Hon.  Cassius  M.  Clay  as  minister 
to  Russia,  Mr.  Taylor  immediately  resigned  as  secretary  of  lega- 
tion, and  upon  learning  of  the  death  of  his  youngest  brother,  Fred- 
erick, who  fell  at  Gettysburg,  he  at  once  returned  to  America. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION — FIRST  SOCIETY  ORGANIZED  IN    THE  COUNTY — LATER 

SOCIETIES THEIR    PROCEEDINGS — STATE  MEDICAL  SOCIETY OFFICERS — 

PROFESSIONAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OF     EMINENT    PRACTITIONERS 

HOSPITAL  SERVICES LABOR  OF  PHYSICIANS  IN  OTHER  FIELDS 

SCIENTIFIC    ATTAINMENTS — THE    SCHOOLS  REPRE- 
SENTED— DENTISTRY 

THE  first  medical  society  in  Chester  County  was  organized 
in  West  Chester  in  1809,  by  the  physicians  of  the  place  and  the 
vicinity.  It  was  not  sufficiently  well  attended  to  be  maintained. 
Another  was  organized  in  1828,  which  incliided  the  entire  county. 
This  society  nourished  for  a  number  of  years  and  then  suffered  a 
period  of  suspended  animation,  when  it  was  revived,  and  by  about 
1850  it  was  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

The  society  organized  in  1828  was  named  the  Chester  County 
Medical  Society,  and  its  first  meeting  appears  to  have  been  held 
February  5  that  year.  Dr.  Isaac  Thomas  being  the  chairman  and 
Dr.  "\Tilmer  Worthington,  secretary.  A  committee  to  prepare  a 
constitution  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Drs.  William  Darling- 
ton, George  A.  Fairlamb,  William  Harris,  Samuel  McClean,  Ezra 
Michener,  Joseph  Griffith  and  John  Kennedy.  In  addition  to  those 
najued  above  the  following  participated  in  the  forming  of  the 
society:  Jacob  Sharpless,  Isaac  L.  Coffmau,  Bartholomew  Fussell, 
Isaac  Pennington,  Charles  W.  Parish  and  John  B.  Brinton.  The 
constitution  as  adopted  provided  for  a  president,  two  vice-presi- 
dents, a  recording  and  a  corresponding  secretary,  and  a  treasurer. 
The  by-laws  made  it  incumbent  on  the  members  to  report  to  the 
society  all  remarkable  cases  of  disease  within  their  knowledge. 
A  permanent  organization  was  effected  by  the  elecjjion  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Darlington,  president;  Drs.  George  A.  Fairlamb  and  William 

68i 


682  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Harris,  vice-presidents;  John  Kennedy  and  Wilmer  Worthington, 
secretaries;  Thomas  Seal,  treasurer,  and  Samuel  McClean,  orator. 
During  the  next  three  years  the  new  members  added  were  Drs. 
Enoch  P.  Hoopes  and  Gideon  G.  Palmer.  From  1831  to  1847  no 
meetings  were  held.  In  the  latter  year  six  of  the  old  members 
and  thirteen  other  members  met  June  8,  in  the  hall  of  the  Chester 
County  Cabinet  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  effected  a  reorganiza- 
tion. At  the  next  meeting,  held  in  December,  1817,  the  society 
adopted  the  code  of  ethics  then  recently  adopted  by  the  American 
Medical  Society  and  also  a  fee-bill,  which  it  was  hoped  would  '"he 
found  to  approach  as  near  as  may  be  to  the  views  aud  practices 
of  the  physicians  of  the  county,  and  furnish  no  just  grounds  of 
complaint  to  patients." 

At  the  same  December  meeting  resolutions  were  introduced 
by  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington  and  adopted  by  the  society,  having 
in  view  the  formation  of  a  State  Medical  Society,  and  directing 
the  corresponding  secretary  to  invite  the  cooperation  of  the  vari- 
ous medical  associations  and  schools  of  the  State.  The  result 
of  this  correspondence  was  the  organization  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  held  its  first  meeting  in  Lan- 
caster, in  April,  1848, 

In  1S49  the  stated  meetings  of  the  Chester  County  Medical 
Society  were  made  semi-annual  instead  of  quarterly,  and  the  plan 
was  adopted  of  holding  an  adjourned  meeting  in  some  other  part  of 
the  county  about  a  month  after  the  stated  meeting.  In  1850  tlie  Del- 
aware County  Medical  Society  was  organized,  the  members  of  Ches- 
ter County  Medical  Society  living  in  Delaware  County  withdraw- 
ing to  unite  with  their  own  society.  This  left  in  the  Chester  County 
Society  somewhat  more  than  forty  members.  In  1852  Drs.  William 
Darlington,  Charles  W.  Parish  and  Wilmer  Worthington  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  prepare  and  report  biographical  sketches 
of  deceased  physicians  of  the  county,  which  biographies  were 
published  in  the  Medical  Eeporter,  a  quarterly  journal  published 


AyO     ITS     PEOPLE.  683 

uuder  the  directiou  of  the  Chester  aud  Delaware  County  Medical 
Societies,  its  first  number  appearing  in  July,  1853.  This  journal 
was  published  for  three  years,  and  was  in  charge  of  five  editors, 
viz.:  From  Chester  County,  Drs.  Wilmer  Worthingtou,  Isaac 
Thomas  and  Jacob  Price,  and  from  Delaware  County  Drs.  J.  T. 
nuddleston  and  George  Martin.  Previously  to  the  time  of  the 
Medical  Keporter  the  proceedings  of  the  society  were  published 
in  pamphlet  form,  first  in  1848,  and  again  in  1852.  All  other 
publications  authorized  by  the  society  have  been  made  through 
the  transactions  of  the  State  Medical  Society. 

In  1857  the  State  Medical  Society  held  its  annual  meeting  in 
the  West  Chester  Court-house,  and  for  several  years  after  1860 
the  Chester  County  Medical  Society  was  in  an  inactive  condition, 
for  the  reason  that  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  attracted  from  it  its 
most  active  members.  The  society  in  other  ways  showed  the 
patriotism  of  its  members  by  offering,  in  April,  1861,  in  a  unani- 
mous resolution,  aud  to  attend  the  families  of  those  who  should 
volunteer  in  the  service  of  the  Union,  in  cases  of  sickness,  so  long 
as  those  volunteers  should  remain  in  the  service,  without  charge. 
In  1869  the  membership  was  thirteen  and  in  1880  it  was  thirty. 

Since  1880  the  oificers  of  this  society  have  been  as  follows: 
Presidents — J.  D.  W.  Henderson,  E.  V.  Swing,  George  K. 
Spratt,  E.  Hopkins,  William  B.  Briuton,  E.  B.  Carey,  Thomas  D. 
Ingram,  E.  V.  Swing,  William  E.  Perdue,  James  Fulton,  Thomas 
D.  Dunn,  J.  K.  Evans,  E.  B.  Ewing,  W.  T.  Sharpless,  Charles  J. 
Eoberts,  J.  H.  Stubbs,  U.  Grant  Gifford,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  H.  C. 
Howell,  Benjamin  Thompson,  Ida  V.  Eeel,  who  fills  the  office  at 
the  present  time. 

The  corresponding  secretaries  have  been  as  follows:  Ephraim 
Hopkins,  W.  E.  Perdue,  Thomas  D.  Ingram,  S.  H.  Wollertou,  J.  E. 
McClurg,  P.  C.  Hoskius,  both  corresponding  and  recording  secre- 
tary from  1885  to  1896,  when  S.  H.  Scott,  the  present  official,  suc- 
ceeded. 


684  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  recordiug  secretaries  have  been  as  follows:  Epliraim  Hop- 
kins, Edward  Jackson,  James  Fulton,  and  P.  C.  Hoskins  as  above. 

The  treasurers  have  been  as  follows:  Charles  E.  Woodward, 
until  1895,  when  Wilhelmina  T.  Nelson  of  West  Chester  became 
treasurer,  holding  the  office  until  the  present  time. 

Dr.  James  Anderson,  one  of  the  early  physicians  of  Chester 
County,  was  born  in  Charlestown  Township,  April  11,  1782,  and 
in  1804  began  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  iustriiction  of  Dr. 
Eoger  Davis.  After  attending  lectures  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania two  years  he  received  his  degree  in  1806,  and  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  county 
for  upward  of  tliirty  years.  He  died  June  1,  1858,  in  the  seventy- 
seventh  year  of  his  age. 

Di*.  Nathan  Hayes,  one  of  the  older  physicians  of  Chester 
County,  was  born  in  the  township  of  West  Marlborough,  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1787.  He  commenced  the  stud}'  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
T.  Griffith,  a  practitioner  in  the  village  of  Unionville,  completing 
his  study  with  Dr.  William  Baldwin  of  Wilmington,  Delaware. 
In  the  spring  of  1808  he  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  from  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  subject  of  his  thesis  being  the 
"Modus  Operandi  of  Medicine."  He  immediately  located  in  Edge- 
mont  Township,  Delaware  County,  but  at  the  end  of  a  year  he 
removed  to  Unionville,  where  he  continued  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  died  of  consumption  In 
July,  1819. 

Dr.  Frederick  William  Heckel,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Saarbruck, 
Germany,  in  January,  18U0,  and  came  to  the  United  iStates  in  1823, 
In  1825  he  settled  in  East  A^incent  Township  and  immediately 
began  there  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  continued  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  until  his  death,  which  occurred  June  30, 
1861. 

Dr.  Frederick  William  Heckel,  Jr.,  was  born  February  2-1, 
1829,  and  began  reading  medicine  with  his  father  and  Dr.  Charles 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  685 

Fronefield,  of  Philadelphia.  After  attendiug  lectures  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  he  was  graduated  from  that  institution 
April  7,  184:9,  and  thereafter  spent  one  year  in  practice  with  his 
father.  Then  setting  up  for  himself  he  continued  in  practice  with 
increasing  success  until  1858,  when  he  removed  to  his  farm  near 
Phcenixville,  when  he  removed  to  East  Vincent  Township,  and 
continued  there  to  reside.  In  September,  1862,  he  was  commis- 
sioned assistant  surgeon  in  the  Fifth  Pennsylvania,  and  in  Decem- 
ber following  promoted  to  surgeon,  and  was  ordered  to  take 
charge  of  the  medical  department  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixty- 
fifth  Pennsylvania  Kegiment,  with  which  he  served  until  it  wa.s 
mustered  out.  He  has  been  always  unusually  successful  as  a 
physician,  and  highly  respected  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  man. 

Dr.  Eoger  Davis  was  born  in  Charlestown  Township,  October 
2,  1762,  and  pursued  his  medical  studies  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Duffield  of  Philadelphia,  afterward  taking  three  full  courses  of 
lectures  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  though  he  took  no 
degree.  From  1785  to  his  death,  which  occurred  November  20, 
1815,  he  continued  the  practice  of  medicine  in  his  native  town- 
ship, with  gratifying  success. 

Dr.  Samuel  Kennedy,  one  of  Chester  County's  early  physi- 
cians, and  one  of  its  most  sterling  patriots  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  was  descended  from  the  Kennedys  of  Ayrshire, 
Scotland.  On  January  3,  1776,  he  offered  his  services  as  a  sur- 
geon to  the  C\)ntinental  C<mgress,  and  on  the  19th  of  tJie  same 
month  it  was  resolved  in  Committee  of  Safety  that  he  be  ap- 
pointed surgeon  to  the  Fourth  Battalion  of  Pennsylvania  troops 
in  the  service  of  the  United  Colonies.  In  May,  1777,  he  was  ap- 
pointed senior  surgeon  in  the  military  hospitals,  and  in  November 
following  he  was  appointed  senior  surgeon  and  physician  in  the 
General  Hospital  of  the  Middle  Department. 

The  general  hospital  had  been  erected  at  the  Yellow  Springs, 
on  which  property  the  American  army  was  quartered  for  a  time, 


686  CHESTER     COUNTY 

while  the  British  occupied  his  homestead  in  the  Great  Valley,  the 
occupation  by  the  one  being  equally  with  that  of  the  other.  Dr. 
Kennedy  went  with  Wayne  to  Long  Island,  was  at  Ticonderoga, 
and  on  the  borders  of  Canada.  He  was  also  at  the  battle  of  the 
Brandywiue,  and  of  GeiTuantown,  and  superintended  the  hospital 
at  Bethlehem.  For  his  invaluable  services  he  received  nothing  ■ 
from  the  public  treasury.  In  his  will  he  bequeathed  a  sum  of 
money  to  be  expended  in  the  building  of  a  stone  wall  around  the 
graveyard  of  Charlestown  Meeting-house,  whei*e  a  neat  monument 
commemorates  his  virtues  and  his  services.  His  death  occurred 
June  17,  177S,  in  tJie  forty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  , 

Dr.  Thomas  Kuston  Kennedy,  son  of  the  above,  was  born  in 
Chester  County  in  1763,  studied  medicine  under  Dr.  Morgan  of 
Philadelphia,  and  graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
By  Governor  Mifflin  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  Major  Denny's 
battalion  which  was  to  relieve  the  garrison  at  Le  Boeuf,  near  Lake 
Erie,  the  appointment  being  made  November  17,  179'4.  He  was 
subsequently  surgeon  to  the  troops  under  charge  of  Andrew  Elli- 
cott,  who  constructed  a  fort  at  Presque  Isle  (Erie),  and  whose 
daughter  Dr.  Kennedy  married.  When  Crawford  County  was  or- 
ganized in  1800  he  was  appointed  prothonotary  and  clerk  of  the 
courts,  and  died  in  Meadville,  March  24,  1813. 

Dr.  Thomas  Kennedy  was  born  in  Wallace  Township,  Chester 
Count}',  then,  however,  a  part  of  Nantmeal  Township,  in  IIGC). 
Having  attained  his  majority  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  Harris  of  Indiantown  and  graduated  from  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  Entering  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  his 
native  township,  he  became  in  1797  the  successor  of  his  preceptor, 
Dr.  Harris.  He  had  a  large  practice,  and  was  strongly  opposed 
to  amputation  whenever  there  was  a  chance  of  saving  the  limb. 
He  died  in  April,  1814. 

Dr.  John  Kennedy  was  born  in  Baltimore  February  13,  1800. 
Having  graduated  from  the  University  of  Maryland  in  1820,  he 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  687 

became  resident  physician  of  the  Baltimore  City  Hospital,  and  in 
February,  1822,  located  in  Oxford,  Chester  County,  where  he  rap- 
idly acquired  an  extensive  practice  and  rose  to  deserved  eminence 
in  his  profession.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the  Chester 
County  Medical  Society,  organized  June  7,  1828,  and  which  was 
the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in  the  State.  He  died  May  28, 
1838. 

Dr.  William  Darlington,  LL.  D.,  one  of  the  most  noted  physi- 
cians and  citizens  of  Chester  County,  widely  known  as  a  botani.st. 
was  the  first  student  to  graduate  from  the  Medical  Department  «  f 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  While  he  gave  much  time  to 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  yet  he  gave  more  of  it  to  botanical 
research.  In  1826  he  published  his  "Cestrica,"  and  in  1847  his 
"Agricultural  Botany."  He  also  published  many  papers  upon  the 
science  of  botany,  and  served  in  the  Fourteenth,  Sixteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Congresses,  and  was  always  an  active  man.  His  death 
occurred  April  23,  1863,  and  a  monument  erected  to  his  memory 
bears  the  following  inscription,  written  by  himself  twenty  years 
before  his  death: 

"The  plants  of  Chester  Avhich  he  loved  and  described. 
May  they  bloom  forever  above  his  tomb." 

At  a  meeting  held  April  22,  1898,  Dr.  William  T.  Sharpless 
spoke  in  part  as  follows,  concerning  the  effect  of  Dr.  Darling-ton's 
life  on  the  people  of  Chester  County: 

Dr.  William  Goodell,  who  once  practiced  medicine  in  West 
Chester,  and  who  afterward  became  an  eminent  professor  of  a 
branch  of  surgery  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  a  man  of 
great  skill,  fine  scholai-ship  and  wide  expei-ience  with  the  world, 
says  in  his  book  published  in  1887:  "I  once  knew  a  man,  a  mem- 
ber of  our  profession,  a  general  scientist  and  withal  a  great  bot- 
anist, who  so  molded  the  tastes  of  his  fellow  townsmen  that  there 
is,  I  venture  to  assert,  no  other  town  in  this  country-  which  in  pro- 
40 


688  CHESTER     COUNTY 

portion  to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  contains  so  many  excel- 
lent botanists,  geologists,  mineralogists,  conchologists  and  ento- 
mologists. Few  farmers  in  that  county  have  not  had  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, and  scores  there  are  who  can  show  a  well  arranged  hortus 
siccus  or  give  the  botanical  names  of  the  indigenous  plants  and 
weeds.  The  town  in  which  he  lived  has  at  this  moment  more  suc- 
cessful schools,  normal,  public  and  private,  than  any  other  of  its 
size  in  the  United  States." 

Dr.  John  Bowen  Brinton,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physi- 
cians of  his  day,  was  born  in  East.  Bradford  Township,  Chester 
County,  on  the  banks  of  the  Brandywine,  in  1804,  and  graduated 
from  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  1825,  and  also  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  1826.  His  preceptor  was  the  celebrated  sur- 
geon. Dr.  George  McClellan,  father  of  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan. 
Almost  immediately  after  his  graduation  he  located  in  West  Ches- 
ter, and  there  practiced  his  profession  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred October  13,  1881,  when  he  was  seventy-seven  years  of  age. 
"His  urbanity  and  professional  skill,  ere  the  lapse  of  many  years, 
enabled  him  to  rank  among  the  prominent  physicians  of  the  county. 
The  bent  of  his  mind  was  in  the  direction  of  surgery,  and  he  be- 
came well  and  widely  known  for  his  skill  in  surgical  operations. 
During  his  professional  career  he  performed  many  difficult  and 
highly  important  operations  previous  to  the  introduction  of  anajs- 
thetics.  At  that  time,  however,  the  patient  was  frequently  stupe- 
fied with  laudanum." 

Dr.  Brinton  was  devotedly  attached  to  his  profession,  and  he 
was  scrupulously  observant  of  its  ethical  code.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Chester  County  Medical  ^Society,  and  remained 
deeply  interested  in  its  proceedings  until  advancing  age  com- 
pelled that  interest  to  decay.  His  death  occurred,  as  above  stated, 
October  13,  1881,  and  his  loss  was  deeply  felt  not  only  by  his 
immediate  relatives  and  friends,  but  also  by  the  profession  itself. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  689 

Dr.  William  B.  Rrinton  Avas  born  November  30,  1842,  in  West 
Chester,  was  educated  in  Wyer's  Academy  and  afterward  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  graduating  with  honors  from  the 
latter  institution.  From  this  time  on  until  his  deatJi  he  success- 
fully followed  his  practice  in  medicine  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred March  7,  1883.  The  cause  of  his  death  was  determined 
by  his  i^hysicians  to  have  been  uriemia  of  the  most  positive  kind, 
his  system  being  weakened  by  overwork  in  his  profession,  to  which 
he  was  much  attached.  Dr.  Brintou  was  appointed  assistant  sur- 
geon of  the  Fourth  Eegiment,  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  on  March 
14,  1863,  and  was  transferred  to  the  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- 
fourth  Pennsylvania  Regiment  March  3,  1864.  He  was  mustered 
out  with  this  regiment  July  14,  1865.  In  1881  he  succeeded  his 
father  as  physician  of  the  Chester  County  prison,  the  vacancy  be- 
ing occasioned  by  his  father's  death.  Dr.  William  B.  Brinton  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  Judge  J.  Smith  Futhey,  and  by  her  had  two 
children. 

Dr.  Isaac  Hayes,  known  all  over  the  world  as  a  famed  Arctic 
explorer,  wa.s  born  in  Chester  County,  March  5,  1832.  After  re- 
ceiving his  education  at  the  public  and  private  schools  of  the 
county,  and  at  the  ATesttowu  Boarding  School,  he  entered  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  graduating  from  that  institution 
in  1853.  Soon  after  graduating  he  accompanied  Dr.  E.  K.  Kane 
on  his  Arctic  expedition  as  surgeon,  and  in  1860  started  with  an 
expedition  of  his  own  to  the  polar  regions,  being  absent  about 
a  year  and  a  half.  In  these  northern  regions  he  reached  a  point 
within  480  miles  of  the  North  Pole,  which  was  a  point  further 
north  than  had  previously  been  reached.  For  this  distinguishing 
feat  he  received  gold  medals  from  the  leading  societies  of  the 
world,  besides  numerous  decorations.  He  became  a  surgeon  of 
United  States  volunteers,  with  the  rank  of  major  and  brevet  rank 
of  colonel,  and  he  built  and  commanded  until  the  close  of  the 
war  the  army  hospital  at  West  Philadelphia,  capable  of  accommo- 
dating 4,000  patients. 


-690  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Dr.  Jacob  l{ickabaiigli  was  boru  iu  Chester  County,  February 
6,  1815,  read  medicine  with  Dr.  James  Francis  Latta  of  TredyiSrin 
and  attended  lectures  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  graduating  from  this  institution  in  March,  1812. 
Then,  immediately  locating-  at  his  old  home  in  Tredyffriu  Town- 
ship, he  still  remains  there  iu  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Dr.  James  Bayard  Wood,  once  one  of  the  prominent  and  hon- 
ored citizens  and  physicians  of  Chester  County,  was  born  in  XeAv 
Castle  County,  Delaware,  November  5,  1817.  While  his  educa- 
tional advantages  were  only  such  as  were  afforded  by  the  common 
schools  of  the  day,  yet  through  persistent  private  study  he  ac- 
quired much  useful  learning,  and  it  was  during  the  period  from 
1849  to  1853,  while  he  was  postmaster  at  West  Chester,  he  studied 
medicine,  graduating  from  the  Homeopathic  Medical  College  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  March,  1851,  from  which  time  on  he  devoted 
liis  energies  to  the  pi-actice  of  his  profession,  which  was  quite  ex- 
tensive and  in  which  he  was  unusually  successful.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Chester  County  and  the  State  Homeopathic  Medical  So- 
-cieties,  and  in  civil  life  was  highly  honored.  It  was  through  the 
instrumentality  of  Dr.  Wood  that  in  1877  the  present  enduring 
monument  was  erected  on  the  grounds  of  the  "Paoli  Massacre.'' 
His  only  son.  Dr.  Henry  C.  Wood,  also  practiced  medicine  in  West 
Chester. 

Dr.  William  Dell  Hartman  was  boru  in  Pikeland,  Chester 
■County,  December  24,  1817,  and  Avas  educated  by  such  teachers  as 
Joseph  C.  Strode,  Jonathan  Cause  and  Anthony  Bolmar,  in  the 
West  Chester  Academy,  and  later  read  medicine  with  Dr.  Wilmer 
Worthiugton,  and  attended  lectures  at  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania three  full  years,  and  then  had  to  wait  some  months  until  he 
tame  of  age  before  he  could  graduate,  his  graduation  occurring  iu 
1839.  Locating  immediately  iu  Went  Chester,  he  has  been  con- 
tinuously in  practice  since  that  time,  a  period  of  fifty-nine  years. 

Dr.  Ilartmau,  outside  of  his  regular  practice,  is  one  of  tlie  dis- 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  6gi 

tingiiished  men  of  Chester  Countr,  having  by  his  own  exertions 
made  himself  known  as  a  scientist  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized 
world.  He  has  given  great  attention  to  the  conchology  of  Chester 
County,  to  herpitology,  to  ichthyology,  to  ornitiiology  and  ento- 
mology, pnd  his  publications  on  these  subjects  are  numerous 
and  valuable.  Among  these  works  may  be  mentioned  Biblio- 
graphic and  Synonimic  Catalogue  of  the  Genus  Partula,  and  also 
a  Bibliographic  and  Synonimic  Catalogue  of  the  Genus  Auricu- 
lella,  and  also  a  paper  on  a  new  species  of  Partula. 

Dr.  I.  D.  Johusou,  homeopathic  physician  of  Kennett  Square, 
was  born  at  Elkview,  August  10,  1827,  and  began  the  study  of 
medicine  with  Dr.  C.  Harlan  of  Wilmington,  Delaware.  In  1852 
he  graduated  from  Hahnemann  Medical  College  at  Pliiladelphia 
and  practiced  medicine  one  year  between  West  Grove  and  Jenners- 
ville,  and  one  year  in  Wilmington,  locating  in  Kennett  Square  in 
1855,  wJiere  he  has  been  engaged  in  practice  ever  since.  His 
"Therapeutic  Key"  is  largely  used  as  a  text-book  in  colleges  in 
the  United  States  and  in  Europe;  his  "Homeopathic  Guide"  has 
been  translated  into  German  and  French,  and  his  "Counsel  to 
Pareuts"  is  largely  used  and  is  dedicated  to  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union. 

Dr.  Morris  Hughes,  homeopathic  physician  of  Kennett  Square, 
was  born  in  Marshallton  in  1854.  Receiving  his  elemental^  and 
higher  education  in  the  public  schools  and  in  Eaton  Academy  iu 
Kennett  Square,  he  then  attended  Hahnemann  Medical  College  at 
Philadeli^hia,  graduating  in  1884.  After  practicing  medicine  one 
year  in  Philadelphia  with  Dr.  Middleton,  he  located  in  Kennett 
Square  in  1885,  and  has  been  there  ever  since. 

Dr.  H.  Graham,  homeopathic  physician  of  Kennett  Square,, 
was  born  in  Chester  County  in  1852.  He  was  educated  at  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts,  and  attended  Hahnemann  Medical  College 
in  Philadelphia,  graduating  in  1891.  Then  locating  in  Kennett 
Square,  lie  has  been  engaged  there  iu  the  practice  of  his  profession 


692  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ever  siiue,  with  the  exception  of  two  rears,  1894  aud  1895,  speut 
iu  Oliio. 

Dr.  Levi  Hoopes,  liomeopatliio  physician  of  West  Chester,  was 
born  iu  Chester  Count}'  in  1812,  -nas  educated  iu  private  schools 
mainly,  and  graduated  from  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Phila- 
delphia in  March,  1871.  On  June  1,  1871,  he  located  iu  Pottstown, 
remaining  there  iu  the  practice  six  years.  Removing  then  to 
Downingtown,  he  was  there  engaged  iu  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fessitm  ten  and  a  half  years,  and  removed  to  West  Chester  Janu- 
ary 5,  1888,  wliere  he  has  since  been  engaged  iu  practice.  At  the 
present  time  he  is  surgeon  for  the  Pennsylvania.  Railroad  Company. 

Dr.  Charles  Rees  Palmer  was  born  iu  West  Chester  July  10, 
1870,  was  educated  iu  the  public  schools  of  that  place,  in  the  West 
Chester  State  Normal  School,  attended  the  biological  department 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  aud  graduated  from  Hahne- 
mann Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  April  19,  1893.  Immedi- 
ately afterward  he  located  in  ^Vest  Chester,  where  he  has  since 
been  engaged  in  the  general  practice  of  medicine. 

Dr.  S.  A.  Mullin  was  born  in  Downingtown  iu  1857,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools  of  that  place,  at  Long's  Academy  of 
Downingtown,  and  graduated  from  Hahnemann  Medical  College 
of  Philadelphia  in  1880.  Since  then  he  has  been  engaged  iu  the 
general  practice  of  medicine  in  West  Chester.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  of  Chester,  Delaware  and 
Montgomei-y  Counties,  aud  also  of  the  Homeopathic  Medical  Coun- 
cil of  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Joseiih  E.  Jones  was  born  iu  West  Chester  iu  1832,  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Lewisburg,  now  the  Buckuell  Uni- 
versity*, and  graduated  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  iu 
1850.  Then,  after  spending  a  year  as  resident  physician  at  the 
Alms  House  in  Philadelphia,  he  entered  Hahnemann  Medical  Col- 
lege of  that  city,  aud  graduated  therefrom  in  1859.  Since  that 
time  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  iu  West 
Chester. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  693 

Albert  ^A'eeks,  M.  D.,  read  mediciue  with  Dr.  D.  D.  Kicliardsou, 
tlieu  of  Pliiladelpliia,  and  graduated  from  the  Jefferson  Medical 
College  of  Philadelphia  in  ISSO.  Then  becoming  assistant  physi- 
cian in  the  insane  department  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  he 
remained  there  until  April  1,  1882,  when  he  removed  to  Phcenix- 
ville,  opened  an  office  and  has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  there  ever  since,  with  more  than  ordinary  success, 
owing  to  his  superior  and  knowledge  and  skill. 

Percy  C.  Hoskins,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  East  Goshen  Township, 
Chester  County,  December  17,  1852.  Having  been  educated  in 
West  Chester  Academy  and  the  State  Normal  School  at  AVest  Ches- 
ter, he  read  medicine  with  his  father.  Dr.  John  K.  Hoskins,  who 
was  engaged  in  practice  first  at  Sugartown,  and  later  at.  East 
Goshen,  but  who  removed  to  West  Chester  in  1877,  remaining 
there  in  practice  until  his  death  in  1884.  Dr.  Percy  C.  Hoskins 
completed  his  medical  education  at  Jefferson  Medical  College  of 
Philadelphia,  graduating  therefrom  March  13,  1875,  and  imme- 
diately opened  an  office  at  East  Goshen;  but  in  1883  he  removed  to 
West  Chester,  and  has  since  been  engaged  in  practice  there. 

Frank  D.  Emack,  M.  I).,  received  his  literary  education  at  Co- 
lumbia College  at  Washington,  D.  C,  and  graduated  from  the  Medi- 
cal Department  of  the  University  of  Maryland  in  1875.  Almost 
immediately  afterward  he  was  appointed  resident  physician  of 
the  Bay  View  Asylum  of  Baltimore,  resigning  shortly  afterward 
to  locate  in  Schuylkill  County,  Pennsylvania.  Kemoving  to 
Phoenixville  in  1881  he  soon  acquired  a  large  and  active  practice. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Chester  County  Medical  Society  and  of  the 
American  Medical  Society,  and  his  standing  among  physicians  is 
deserveilly  high. 

G.  1).  Armstrong,  M.  D.,  one  of  the  prominent  physicians  of 
Chester  County,  graduated  from  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  1839, 
having  previously  read  medicine  with  Dr.  H.  F.  Askew  of  Wil- 
mington, Delaware.     He  began  practice  at  New  London,  Chester 


694  CHESTER     COUNTY 

County,  at  which  place  he  has  been  ever  since  engaged  in  a  large 
and  successful  practice. 

Charles  S.  Homing,  M.  D.,  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the 
office  of  Dr.  Thomas  L.  Pratt  of  Norristown.  After  he  entered  the 
Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia,  graduating  from 
that  institution  in  the  spring  of  1881.  Beginning  practice  at 
Phoenisville,  he  remained  there  until  188(3,  when  he  removed  to 
Shannonville,  Montgomery  County,  but  still  continuing  his  prac- 
tice in  Phoenixville. 

James  Kea  Maxwell,  M.  D.,  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the 
office  of  Dr.  John  B.  Maiijn,  at  Bart,  Lancaster  Countj',  and  after- 
ward entered  Jeiferson  Medical  College  at  Philadelphia,  from 
which  institution  he  gi'aduated  in  1888.  He  immediately  located 
at  Parkesburg,  where  he  has  since  continued  in  practice,  and 
where  he  is  deservedly  popular.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Chester 
Countj'  Medical  Society. 

Charles  E.  Woodward,  M.  D.,  was  born  at  Marshallton,  Chester 
County,  January  8,  1846.  Having  received  a  liberal  education 
at  the  Westtown  Boarding  School,  he  attended  the  College  of  Phar- 
macy of  Philadelphia,  graduating  therefrom  in  1867.  In  1872  he 
entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  which  he  graduated  in  1874.  Immediately  he  located 
in  West  Chester,  where  he  has  siuce  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  is  no^A-  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Pension  Examining  Board  that  meets  at  Malvern,  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  board  beiug  Dr.  Swizer  and  Dr.  I.  K.  Evans. 

Dr.  Sujnner  Stebbins,  who  died  July  12,  1884,  was  one  of  the 
prominent  men  of  Chester  County.  Born  in  1809,  his  boyhood 
was  passed  in  a  manner  commou  to  boys  of  that  day.  After  a 
careful  schooling  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine,  and  as  a 
physician  ranked  second  to  none  in  the  county.  For  several  years 
prior  to  his  death  he  lived  a  retired  life,  but  many  of  the  older 
citizens  yet  remember  his  manv  acts  of  mercv  and  kindness.    In  all 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  695 

matters  he  was  a  man  of  advanced  ideas,  being  no  less  prominent 
in  public  than  in  social  life,  the  temperance  cause  finding  in  him  a 
warm  advocate,  and  his  influence  in  this  direction  was  widely  felt. 

During  the  fifties  he  removed  to  Iowa,  and  there  read  law,  but 
never  practiced  that  profession  to  any  great  extent.  After  a  time 
he  removed  to  Michigan,  where  he  achieved  considerable  promi- 
nence as  editor  of  the  Marshall  Statesman,  and  in  1860  he  re- 
turned to  Chester  County,  resuming  the  practice  of  medicine,  his 
home  being  in  Unionville.  Dr.  Stebbins  was  a  man  of  rare  attain- 
ments and  left  the  impress  of  his  character  for  good  upon  the 
people  of  the  county  and  was  highly  respected  by  all  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  He  married  Mary  Ann  Pierce,  by  whom  he 
four  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Dr.  Edward  Penn  Worrall,  formerly  one  of  the  prominent 
dentists  of  Chester  County,  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  July  14, 
1S20,  and  died  in  West  Chester  on  his  birthday,  1880.  After  the 
death  of  his  mother,  when  he  was  yet  a  lad,  he  went  to  \\\e  with 
his  grandparents  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  edu- 
cated at  Westtown,  Chester  County.  He  studied  dentistry  in 
Philadelphia,  and  there  practiced  his  profession,  and  was  the  first 
to  administer  ether  in  that  city  or  in  West  Chester.  In  Phila- 
delphia he  married  Miss  Sarah  Foster,  a  native  of  Baltimore,  and 
located  in  West  Ckester  in  1847,  residing  there  until  his  death. 

Dr.  Worrall  was  a  Christian  in  spirit  and  in  deed,  a  great 
reader,  an  ever  earnest  student,  and  his  writings  for  the  press  on 
religious  and  other  subjects  were  widely  read  and  as  widely  ap- 
proved. For  many  years  he  prepared  lessons  for  Sunday-schools. 
Accumulating  considerable  property,  he  believed  that  half  what 
he  earned  should  be  bestowed  to  charity,  and  this  idea  he  carried 
out  to  the  end.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  parents  of  five  children, 
Thomas  being  the  only  one  now  living.  Few  better  men  have  ever 
lived  than  Dr.  Edward  Penn  Worrall. 

Septimus  Augustus  Ogier,  M.  D.,  born  in  Charleston,  South 


696  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Carolina,  September  17,  1821,  was  the  seveutli  child  of  Thomas  ■ 
and  Sarah  Ogier,  of  Hngnenot  extraction,  the  family  being  forced 
to  flee  from  France  during  the  reign  of  Charles  IX.  In  1810  he 
began  reading  medicine  with  liis  brother,  Dr.  Thomas  Louis  Ogier, 
in  Charleston,  and  in  1812  he  graduated  from  the  State  Medical 
College  of  South  Carolina,  at  Charleston.  In  1813  he  entered 
Jefferson  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia,  graduating  from  that 
institution  in  1811.  In  ISlfi  he  settled  in  Philadelphia  and  en- 
gaged in  the  business  of  an  apotliecary,  but  this  business  not 
being  suited  to  his  tastes  he  removed  to  Glenloch,  then  called 
"The  Steamboat,"'  and  succeeded  Dr.  Stephen  Harris  in  the  prai-- 
tice  of  medicine  in  1810.  Dr.  Ogier  was  one  of  those  physicians 
who  ]U'actice  in  part  at  least  for  the  love  of  doing  good,  and  was 
always  at  the  post  of  duty,  whether  in  the  htimble  home  of  tUe 
poor  or  in  the  mansion  of  the  rich.  He  soon  became  a  member  of 
the  Chester  County  Medical  Society,  was  its  president  one  year, 
and  (»n  several  occasions  represented  it  in  State  and  National  As- 
sociations. In  18.j(i  he  was  elected  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the 
Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Society,  an<l  so  remained  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  East  Whiteland  Townslii])  November 
2(\  1857. 

Dr.  ^^'illiam  Brower,  an  eminent  physician  of  Chester  County, 
was  born  in  East  Coventry  Township,  February  25,  1812.  Having 
received  his  academic  education  at  Oakdale  and  Freeland  Sem- 
inaries he  entered  the  Millershurg  State  Normal  School  in  18(i2 
and  left  there  in  18()3  as  a  member  of  the  senior  class.  After  read- 
ing medicine  with  Dr.  A.  K.  Savidge  of  Parker  Ford,  he  entered 
Jefferson  Medical  (\»llege,  graduating  therefrom  March  9,  18G7, 
and  immediately  after'\\ard  located  at  Spring  City,  Chester  County, 
where  he  has  since  been  actively  and  successfully  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  lie  is  an  affable  and  agreeable  gen- 
tleman, and  is  well  versed  in  the  principles  of  medicine,  and  is 
skillful  in  his  practice. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  697 

Dr.  Notman  Catauaeli  was  boru  iu  Philadelphia  iu  1S72,  was 
educated  at  the  Episcopal  Academy  iu  Philadelphia,  and  pro- 
fessioually  at  Jeffersou  Medical  College,  graduatiuo-  from  this  lat- 
ter iustitutiou  in  189G.  After  a  j^ear's  practice  iu  Jeffersou  hospi- 
tal he  located  in  West  Chester,  where  he  is  now  engaged  in  general 
practice. 

Dr.  Wilhelmina  T.  Nelson,  a  native  of  Ehode  Island,  was  edu- 
cated first  at  Mount  Holyoke  Semiuar^',  graduating  from  tJiis 
institution  iu  1871,  taught  school  ten  years,  and  graduated  from 
the  Womau's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  at  Philadelphia  in 
1891.  Then  locating  in  West  Chester,  she  has  been  since  engaged 
iu  tlie  general  practice  of  her  profession. 

Dr.  Mary  B.  Cheyney  was  educated  at  the  Woman's  Medical 
College  of  Pennsylvania  at  Philadelphia,  graduating  with  the 
class  of  1885,  and  located  in  West  Chester  iu  188G,  where  she  has 
since  been  engaged  in  general  practice. 

Dr.  H.  U.  Umstad  of  Phceuixville  was  boru  iu  Lower  Provi- 
dence Township  in  1828.  Having  been  educated  at  Xon-istown 
Seminaiw  and  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  graduating  from 
the  latter  institution  in  1851,  he  immediately  began  practice  in 
the  vicinity  of  Phceuixville,  removing  into  the  city  of  Phceuixville 
iu  1887.    Here  he  has  been  engaged  in  practice  ever  since./ 

Dr.  George  B.  II.  Umstad,  son  of  the  above,  was  educated  at 
Ursiuus  College  and  at  Jefferson  Medical  College,  graduating  from 
this  iustitutiou  iu  1888.  Since  then  he  has  been  engaged  in  prac- 
tice iu  Phoeuixville  and  its  vicinity. 

Dr.  I.  Z.  Colfman  was  at  one  time  one  of  the  most  promineuL 
physicians  in  Chester  County.  He  began  practice  iu  Phceuixville 
more  than  fifty  years  ago.  He  was  born  in  1805,  and  at  his  death 
was  eighty-seven  years  of  age,  and  at  this  time  was  the  oldest 
graduate  of  the  Universitv  of  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  K.  C.  Sharp  of  Atglen  was  born  in  Weymouth,  England, 
<-oming  to  the  United  States  when  six  weeks  old.    He  read  niedi- 


698  CHESTER     COUNTY 

cine  with  Dr.  J.  D.  Schoales,  then  graduated  from  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy,  and  later  from  Jefferson  Medical  College 
in  1881.  Locating  immediately  in  Atglen,  he  has  been  there  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  his  profession  ever  since. 

Dr.  E.  Y.  Swing  of  Coate,sville  was  born  in  Pittsgrove,  New 
Jersey,  Febrnary  2(5,  1840.  His  education  was  received  in  tlie 
public  schools  and  under  a  private  tutor,  and  then,  teaching  four 
years  and  reading  medicine  meauAvhile,  he  afterward  attended 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  graduated  from  that  institu- 
tion March  14,  1807.  Locating  in  Compassville,  he  practiced  there 
fifteen  years,  and  removed  to  Coatesville  in  1882,  and  has  been 
there  ever  since.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  So- 
ciety. 

Dr.  Ida  V.  IJeel  of  Coatesville  graduated  from  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  afterward  in  Norristown 
as  a  physician  in  the  State  Asylum  for  the  Insane  for  some  time^ 
locating  in  Coatesville  in  1880,  and  has  been  there  engaged  in 
practice  ever  since. 

Dr.  S.  H.  Scott  of  Coatesville  was  born  in  Chester  County  in 
186.5.  After  reading  medicine  at  Coatesville  he  attended  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  graduating  therefrom  .in  1889.  Ever  since  then 
he  has  been  engaged  in  practice  in  Coatesville. 

Dr.  D.  P.  Rettew  of  Coatesville  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  1890,  locating  in  Coatesville  that  year.  After 
being  relief  surgeon  for  two  years  he  returned  to  Coatesville  in 
1894,  and  has  been  there  ever  since. 

Dr.  .J.  W.  Pratt,  liomeopathic  surgeon,  of  Coatesville,  was  born 
in  Cliester  County  in  1850,  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  of 
Coatesville,  took  a  commercial  course  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  gradu- 
ated from  tlie  Hahnemann  Medical  College  in  1873.  After  prac- 
ticing in  DoAvningtown  from  May  11,  187.3,  to  August,  1876,  he 
removed  to  Coatesville,  and  has  been  there  ever  since. 

Dr.  H.  E.   Williams,  homeopathic  physician,   of  Coatesville^ 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  699 

.graduated  from  Hahnemann  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  in 
1868,  and  has  been  in  practice  in  Coatesville  since  that  time. 

Di'.  George  E.  Spratt  was  boni  in  Northumberland  County, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1839,  graduated  in  1864  from  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  second  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Forty- 
ninth  Pennsylvania  Eegiment  during  the  rest  of  the  war,  being 
mustered  out  as  surgeon.  After  practicing  at  Corry,  Pennsyl- 
vania, for  a  couple  of  years,  he  removed  to  Chautauqua  Countj', 
New  York,  and  remained  there  in  practice  for  si.x  years.  In  1873 
he  removed  to  Coatesville  and  has  been  there  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  ever  since. 

Dr.  John  Ivison  was  born  in  Philadelphia  July  16,  1847,  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  and  the  high  schools  of  that  city, 
and  then,  entering  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  he  graduated 
from  that  institution  in  1874.  From  that  time  until  1889  he  prac- 
ticed in  Philadelphia,  aud  then  removing  to  Coatesville,  he  has 
been  there  ever  since. 

Dr.  Edward  Kerr  of  East  Downingtown  was  born  in  Ea.st 
Bradford,  Chester  County,  November  16,  1868.  After  receiving 
his  literary  education  at  the  Normal  School  at  West  Chester  he 
attended  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  grad- 
uated in  1890.  Ever  since  then  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  in  Downingtown. 

Dr.  James  Stuart  Leech  of  Downingtown  was  born  in  Har- 
risburg,  December  11,  1812,  graduated  from  Jefferson  College  at 
Canonsburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  1836,  aud  from  Jefferson  Medical 
College  at  Philadelphia  in  1841.  Immediately  afterward  he  lo- 
cated in  Downingtown,  where  he  has  been  ever  since  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  though  in  1841,  after  establishing 
himself  in  the  regular  practice,  he  read  homeopathy  and  has  since 
practiced  that  system  of  medicine. 

Isaac  Massey,  M.  D.,  was  one  of  the  most  successful  and  popu- 
lar practitioners  of  Chester  County.    Born  in  West  Goshen  Tott  n- 


700  CHESTER    COUNTY 

ship,  be  Avas  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  native  of  West  Chester, 
which  place  was  his  home  from  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  a 
son  of  John  and  Jemima  (Garrett)  Massey,  was  born  Febrnarv 
15,  1838,  and  was  of  English  ancestry.  His  grandfather,  Israel 
Massey,  was  a  lifelong  resident  of  Valley  Forge,  and  owned  tlie 
land  upon  which  were  located  the  headquarters  of  General  Wash- 
ington while  at  that  celebrated  camping  ground  with  his  Ooq- 
tiuental  Army.  John  Massey,  father  of  Dr.  Isaac  Massey,  was 
born  at  Valley  Forge  in  1798,  and  die<l  while  a  resident  of  West 
Chester  in  1893,  at  the  age  of  ninety-five.  His  wife,  Jemima 
Garrett,  was  born  in  1800,  and  died  in  1883. 

Dr.  Isaac  Massej'  was  educated  at  Ercildouu  and  Norristown 
Academies.  In  1859  he  became  professor  of  English  and  higher 
mathematics  in  the  William  F.  Myers  Academy,  West  Chester, 
holding  this  position  five  terms.  In  the  meantime  he  read  medicine 
preparatory  to  a  regular  course  of  study  at  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege, from  which  institution  he  graduated  in  1864.  Then,  becoming 
assistant  surgeon  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  he  served  in 
this  capacity  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Returning  then  to  West 
Chester  he  opened  an  office,  and  there  he  ever  afterward  remained 
in  the  successful  practice  of  his  profession.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Chester  County  Medical  Society,  of  tlie  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  in  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Medi- 
cal Association.  For  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  he  was  physician 
to  the  Westtown  Boarding  School,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Health  of  West  Chester.  For  several  years  he  served  as 
physician  and  surgeon  for  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company 
and  for  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore  Railroad 
Company  at  West  Chester,  and  from  1873  to  1890  he  was  a  member 
of  the  West  Chester  Borough  School  Board,  in  that  i)Osition  having 
much  to  do  A\itli  building  up  the  excellent  school  system  of  which 
West  Chester  is  justly  proud.  From  1881  to  1883  he  was  a  member 
of  the  board   of  trustees   of  the   State  Xormal   School  at  West 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  701 

Chester,  and  be  was  a  director  in  tbe  Dime  Savinos  Bank  froia 
the  beginniuji  of  its  eareer.  But  the  institution  in  which  lie  toolc 
especial  pride  was  the  Boys'  House  of  Eefuge  at  Glen  Mills.  He 
was  a  member  of  (General  Georoe  A.  McCall  Post,  No.  31,  G.  A.  II., 
and  also  of  the  Union  League,  Philadelphia. 

Belonging  to  that  class  of  physicians  who  practice  largely  for 
the  love  of  the  i)rofessiou  and  the  good  they  can  do,  often  with  full 
knowledge  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  pecuniary  compensation 
for  their  labors,  and  being  cme  of  the  most  kind-hearted  of  men,  he 
was  highly  regarded  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  was  devoutly  loved 
bj'  those  who  had  intimate  knowledge  of  his  character  and  career. 
His  death  occuri'ed  suddenly  of  apoplexy  while  on  a  visit  to  a 
patient  at  the  8tate  Normal  School,  on  January  31,  1898,  which 
caused  a  great  shock  to  the  community  and  especially  to  his  rela- 
tives and  intimate  friends. 

Dr.  Thomas  D.  Dunn,  one  of  the  most  popular  physicians  of 
West  Chester,  died  in  that  city  as  the  result  of  an  accident  wiih 
which  he  met  at  Westtown  about  two  months  previously,  May  (i, 
1898.  He  was  born  in  CVawford  County,  Pennsylvania,  January 
30,  1855,  and  was  of  Scotch  ancestry,  his  paternal  great-grand- 
father coming  to  the  country  from  Scotland  and  settling  in  XeAV 
Jersey.  His  parents  were  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Dunn,  a  Seventh-Day 
Baptist  preacher,  and  Diantha  M.  Curtis,  a  daughter  of  Miles 
Curtis  of  NeAV  York. 

Dr.  Thomas  D.  Dunn  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Jacob  Price  of 
West  Chester,  later  entering  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1881.  Imme- 
diately afterward  he  entered  the  University  Hospital  as  resident 
physician,  serving  one  year,  and  then  spent  six  months  at  the  Chil- 
dren's Hospital  in  Philadelphia.  Then,  settling  in  West  Chester, 
he  was  continuously  in  pi-actice  there  until  his  death.  He  shared 
the  office  of  Dr.  Jacob  Price  on  South  Church  Street,  the  latter 
having  everv  confidence  in  his  judgment,  and  knowing  him  to  be  an 


702  CHESTER     COUNTY 

excellent  physician  and  siirsieon,  in  Avbich  capacities  he  was  for 
years  in  great  demand.  Dr.  Dunn  was  frequently  called  upon  to 
give  expert  testimony  in  the  county  courts,  and  in  tlie  courts  of 
other  counties  of  the  State,  and  it  was  to  him,  perhaps,  more  than 
to  any  other  man  that  the  Chester  County  Hospital  became  an 
established  success,  and  it  was  at  this  hospital  that  he  died,  and 
-at  the  time  of  his  death  lie  was  president  of  its  medical  staff.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Pathological  Society,  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  State 
Medical  Society,  and  during  the  first  year  of  President  Han-ison's 
administration  he  Avas  appointed  one  of  the  Board  of  Examiners 
of  applicants  for  pensions,  Dr.  Woodward  and  Dr.  Patrick  of 
West  Chester  being  the  other  two.  During  the  four  years  of  his 
sen-ice  he  gave  excellent  satisfaction. 

Dr.  Jacob  Price,  born  in  East  Bradford,  Chester  County,  in 
1826,  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  and  Jane  (Paxson)  Price,  the  former 
of  whom  was  a  son  of  Philip  Price,  founder  of  Price's  Boarding 
School  for  Gii-ls,  at  which  school  many  a  Chester  County  girl  was 
educated.  Dr.  Price  was  educated  in  the  Friends'  School  in  West 
Chester,  and  at  the  academy  of  John  Gummere  in  New  Jersey, 
John  Gummere  being  an  eminent  mathematician  of  the  day  in 
which  he  lived.  Engaging  next  in  a  survey  of  New  Castle  County, 
Delaw-are,  he  made  a  map  of  that  county,  and  later  of  the  State 
of  Delaware,  by  which  means  he  earned  the  money  to  pay  his 
expenses  while  piu'suing  the  study  of  medicine.  Entering  Jeifer- 
son  Medical  College  in  the  fall  of  1848,  he  graduated  from  that  insti- 
tution in  September,  1850,  and  then  locating  in  West  Chester  he 
has  ever  since  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  both  medicine  and 
surgery.  At  first  he  purchased  the  house  at  the  southwest  comer 
of  South  Church  and  Miner  Streets,  which  he  occupied  until  1863, 
and  then  purchased  the  property  at  No.  Ill  South  Church  Street, 
fonnerly  owned  by  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington.  Here  he  resided 
and  had  his  office  until  1885,  when  he  sold  his  residence  to  Dr. 


Ml 


^-^llxA    ^/CC^^^ 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  703 

Dunn,  noAV  deceased,  aud  removed  to  a  farm  in  the  south  corner 
of  the  borough  of  ~\^'est  Chester,  where  he  still  resides,  retaiiilnj» 
his  office  at  No.  114  South  Church  Street.  Dr.  Price  is  still  actively 
engage<l  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Since  18.50  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Chester  County  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  has  been  twice  vice-president  of  the  Medical  So- 
ciety of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  and  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
of  Philadelphia.  In  18.51  Dr.  Price  married  Rachel  L.  Thomas, 
daughter  of  Col.  Philip  D.  Thomas,  who  at  one  time  represented 
Chester  County  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State. 

Dr.  Isaac  A.  Peunypacker,  one  of  the  early  physicians  of  Ches- 
ter County,  was  born  in  Schuylkill  Township,  July  9,  1812,  and  was 
a  son  of  Matthias  and  Sarah  (Anderson)  Peunypacker,  the  latter 
being  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Anderson.  Isaac  A.  Pennypacker  read 
medicine  with  his  uncle,  Isaac  Anderson,  and  also  with  Prof.  Will- 
iam E.  Horner,  and  graduated  from  tlie  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  March  26,  1835.  In  1836  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Phcenixville,  continu- 
ing to  follow  the  profession  until  1854,  when  he  became  Professor 
of  the  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medi- 
cine. 

In  this  professorship  he  displayed  all  the  energy,  manliness, 
integrity  and  sagacity  which  had  previously  distinguished  him 
in  his  country  practice,  and  as  a  professor  as  well  as  a  man  won 
the  love  and  regard  of  his  pupils  to  a  high  degree.  In  his  manners 
he  was  mild  and  agreeable  and  in  deportment  affectionate  and 
kind,  and  his  wide  and  varied  experience  and  reading  of  the  best 
authorities  fitted  him  admirably  for  the  duties  of  life  which  he 
w' as  called  upon  to  perform. 

Dr.  Nathan  A.  Pennypacker  of  Schuylkill  Township  was  born 
October  20,  1835.    During  the  war  of  the  Eebellion  he  was  captain 
-of  Company  K,  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  and  in  1865,  1866 
-      41 


704  CHESTER     COUNTY 

and  1867  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  In  1877  lie 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  to  erect  the  State  Hospital  for  the 
Insane  at  Xorristown,  and  he  also  served  as  lieutenant-colonel 
on  the  staff  of  Governor  Hoyt.  His  practice  of  medicine  was  car- 
ried on  for  many  years  successfully  when  not  otherwise  engaged. 
The  history  of  dentistry-  in  Chester  County  is  practically  tbe 
same  as  in  other  counties  in  the  State  and  in  the  cities  throughout 
the  country.  Progress  has  been  made  sometimes  slowly,  and  at 
other  times  sudden  developments  have  come  along  to  surprise 
and  delight  the  profession  and  the  public,  by  which  the  filling  of 
teeth  and  the  extraction  of  them  when  they  could  not  be  saved 
has  been  more  successful  and  less  painful.  Among  the  very  first 
dentists  to  visit  the  county  was  Dr.  A.  M.  Freeman,  or  at  least 
he  was  among  the  first  to  advertise  in  the  local  papers.  This  was 
in  1824.  Dr.  Freeman  appears  to  have  been  located  at  Lancaster 
and  to  have  visited  West  Chester,  Wilmington,  Delaware,  and 
other  places  on  his  regular  tours.  There  were  two  dentists  in 
Philadelphia  who  advertised  in  the  Chester  County  papers,  one  of 
whom  was  then  recently  from  London,  England,  and  who  had  a 
tooth  powder  that  would  almost  instantly  cure  the  toothache. 
The  other  cleaned  teeth  and  blocked  them.  This  dentist  said  in 
his  advertisement  that  "if  the  teeth  are  not  preserved  by  the  above 
operations  they  will  fall  into  a  state  of  decay,  unless  the  mouth 
is  very  large  and  the  teeth  grow  irregularly.''  He  also  bnilt  up 
teeth  on  stumps.    Dr.  Fi'eeman  continued  to  visit  Chester  County 

as  late  as  1829. 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  resident  dentist  in  West  Chester 
was  Dr.  Jesse  W.  Cook,  who  came  to  the  place  in  1835,  and  avus 
a  physician  as  well  as  a  dentist.  For  some  time  subsequently  he 
was  president  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Seminary,  located  where  is 
now  the  Catholic  School  for  Young  Ladies.  He  left  here  about 
1839,  first  going  to  Baltimore,  and  then  became  instrumental  in 
founding  the  Ohio  College  of  Dental  Surgery,  in  1812  or  1813,  in 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  70S 

Dr.  S.  Sherburne  Smith  came  to  the  county  about  183!^,  and 
was  a  man  of  considerable  note  as  an  operator. 

Dr.  Wilb'ara  Whitehead,  who  studied  dentistry  with  Dr.  Smitli, 
began  to  practice  in  West  Chester  in  1840,  and  continued  to  follow 
his  profession  there  many  years.  He  was  also  prominent  in  many 
other  ways,  as  in  literature  and  in  temperance  work. 

About  the  same  time  came  Dr.  Mahlon  J.  Gallagher,  who 
was  for  that  age  a  first-class  dentist.  He  remained  in  West  Chester 
until  1S45.  Besides  dentistry  he  gave  considerable  attention  to 
mechanics,  and  was  somewhat  of  an  inventor,  inA'enting  a  self- 
priming  hammer  for  the  rifle  and  also  a  breech-loading  rifle. 

Dr.  Jesse  Cope  Green  was  one  of  his  x)upils  in  1842  and  1843. 
Dr.  Green  began  tke  practice  of  dentistry  in  West  Chester  in 
August,  1843,  and  has  ever  since  been  continuously  engaged  there, 
besides  being  engaged  in  multifarious  other  lines  of  mental  activ- 
ity, believing  that  every  man  owes  it  to  himself  first  to  keep  him- 
self busy  about  something  useful  to  mankind.  He  received  his 
degree  of  D.  D.  S.  from  the  Pennsylvania  College  of  Dental  Surger}' 
in  Philadelphia  in  the  year  18(!5,  and  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Association  of  Dental  Surgeons  in  1855.  He  took 
an  active  part  in  effecting  the  organization  of  the  Smte  Dental 
Society  in  1868,  was  treasurer  thereof  in  1880  and  jiresident  in 
1883.  He  held  a  membersliip  in  the  American  Dental  Association, 
which  was  organized  in  1850,  for  many  years,  and  was  active  in 
forming  the  first  national  convention  of  dentists  in  Philadelphia  in 
1855. 

In  1876,  upon  the  enactment  of  the  law  requiring  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  State  Dental  Examining  Board,  Dr.  Green  was  made  sec- 
retary, a  position  which  he  has  filled  ever  since.  While  the  limits 
of  this  sketch  preclude  inentiou  of  almost  everything  else  con- 
nected with  Dr.  Green's  career,  yet  it  must  be  stated  that  since 
1855  he  has  been  a  volunteer  observer  of  meteorological  phenom- 
ena for  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  also  for  the  Weather 


7o6  cm  ESTER     COUXTY 

Bureau  at  Wasbiugton  since  its  establirsliment,  and  also  for  tlie 
State  Weather  Service  since  its  establishment  in  1887. 

Dr.  William  Smedlej  graduated  at  the  Pennsylvania  College 
of  Dental  Surgery  and  located  in  West  Chester  about  1866.  There 
he  practiced  six  years,  when  he  went  to  Denver  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health  and  is  living  there  at  the  present  time. 

Dr.  Joseph  Eldridge  succeeded  Dr.  Smedley  in  1872,  pui-chas- 
ing  his  professional  business,  remained  in  practice  in  West  Chester 
until  1882,  when  he  sold  out  to  Dr.  Justin  E.  Harlan,  son  of  State 
Senator  Harlan,  and  who  continued  in  practice  in  West  Chester 
until  1897,  when  he  went  to  China  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing 
his  profession  there,  returning,  however,  to  West  Chester  early  in 
1898,  and  is  there  now  engaged  in  successful  practice. 

Dr.  John  M.  Surgison  followed  Dr.  Price,  practiced  in  West 
Chester  some  time  and  then  removed  to  Marietta,  Ohio. 

Dr.  J.  Lewis  Baker  graduated  from  the  Philadelphia  Dental 
College  in  1866,  and  soon  afterAvard  began  tlie  practice  of  dentistry 
in  Coatesville,  remaining  there  until  1881.  Then  going  to  Phila- 
delphia he  was  there  one  year,  and  located  in  West  Chester  in  1882 
and  remained  in  practice  until  his  death  in  1889. 

Dr.  Charles  McCowan  located  in  West  Chester  in  1882,  having 
graduated  from  the  Pennsylvania  College  of  Dentistry  in  1881. 
Eemaining  in  West  Chester  three  or  four  years  he  then  removed 
to  Kichmond,  Virginia,  Avhere  he  remained  a  short  time,  and  then 
returning  to  Chester  County  located  in  Malvern,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  death  of  Dr.  Baker,  when  he  immediately  re- 
turned to  West  Chester,  where  he  has  since  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  the  public,  and  has  a  successful  practice. 

Dr.  Bobert  M.  Scott  graduated  from  the  Dental  Department 
of  the  University  of  Pennnsylvania  in  1883,  and  located  in  West 
Chester  in  1883,  going  there  from  Gettysburg.  He  succeeded  to 
the  practice  of  Dr.  Baker  and  has  been  unusually  successful. 

Franklin  Pierce  Cobura  graduated  from    the    Pennsylvania 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  707 

Dental  College  in  1SS5,  beginning-  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 
West  Chester  the  same  year.  In  West  Chester  he  has  continued 
to  reside  and  practice  dentistry  ever  since.  In  May,  18!)2,  Dr. 
Coburu  gave  the  fii*»t  demonstration  of  local  anaesthetics,  by  mean.s 
of  hypodermic  injections,  as  applied  to  dentisti-y,  in  Chester 
County,  and  in  1892  and  1893  he  successfully  demonstrated  before 
the  University  of  Maryland  the  value  of  local  anieesthetics  in  the 
painless  extraction  of  teeth.  In  1894  and  1895  he  was  honored 
with  a  judgeship  in  the  gold  medal  contest  given  by  the  University 
of  Maryland  to  the  student  perfonning  the  best  work  in  operative 
dentistry,  and  has  met  with  unusual  success. 

Dr.  D.  G.  Snyder  was  born  in  Chester  County  in  1867,  gradu- 
ated at  the  West  Chester  State  Normal  School  in  1890,  and  from 
the  Philadelphia  Dental  College  in  1895.  Locating  in  West  Ches- 
ter this  same  year,  he  is  still  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession in  that  place. 

Dr.  John  Anderson  commenced  the  practice  of  dentistry 
at  Kennett  Squai'e  about  1812,  and  was  for  years  an  unusually 
noted  and  successful  practitioner,  commencing  life  as  a  black- 
smith, he  later  acquired  Icnowledge  of  dentistry,  which  seemed  to 
be  better  suited  to  his  tastes,  and  he  therefore  followed  this  pro- 
fession for  many  years  with  great  success  and  popularity. 

Dr.  Robert  L.  McClellan,  a  member  of  the  noted  McClellan 
family  of  Chester  County,  began  the  study  of  dentisti-y  in  April, 
1847,  with  Sharpless  Clayton.  After  spending  fifteen  months  in 
this  way  he  became  an  assistant  alternately  with  William  PI. 
Thompson  of  Coatesville  and  Robert  W.  McKissick  of  Cochranville 
lintil  the  death  of  Dr.  McKissick  in  the  early  part  of  1851,  when 
he  began  the  practice  of  dentistrj-  for  himself.  After  being  for 
some  time  in  practice  he  attended  lectui"es  in  dentistry  and  in 
tlie  Philadelphia  School  of  Anatomy,  graduating  from  the  Dental 
College  with  the  degree  of  D.  D.  S.,  and  returning  to  Cochranville 
for  the  practice  of  his  profession.     Dr.  McClellan  was  successful 


708  CHESTER    COUNTY 

not  only  in  his  profession,  but  also  in  politics,  being  a  member 
of  the  lower  house  of  the  State  Legislature  during  the  years  18G2 
and  1863. 

Dr.  George  M.  Yard  came  to  West  Chester  from  Philadelphia 
about  1843,  was  a  fair  dentist,  and  remained  until  1849,  when  be 
went  to  California.  For  some  time  he  was  postmaster  in  West 
Chester. 

Dr.  Chalkley  M.  Valentine  was  another  student  of  Dr.  Galla- 
gher, and  located  first  in  Coatesville  in  1843.  Kemoviug  to  West 
Chester  in  1847  he  remained  there  until  his  death  in  1883.  He  was 
a;  sou-iudaw  of  Joseph  Painter. 

Dr.  Elwood  Penn  Worrall  located  in  West  Chester  in  184T 
and  practiced  dentistry  until  his  death  iu  1878.  He  was  a  good 
and  successful  practitioner,  and  was  in  other  ways  a  promiueut 
citizen. 

Dr.  Isaiah  Pi'ice  graduated  about  1853  from  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Dental  Burgery.  He  practiced  in  Chester  County  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  Eebellion,  when  he  raised 
a  company  for  the  Ninety-seventh  Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Volun- 
teers, became  its  major  and  was  breveted  colonel  of  United  States 
volunteers.  He  was  the  husband  of  Lydia  H.  Price,  a  prominent 
minister  among  the  Friends,  and  is  now  living  iu  Philadelphia,  but 
is  not  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Dr.  George  G.  Cardwell  located  in  West  Chester  in  1860.  He 
graduated  from  the  Second  Philadelphia  College  of  Dental  Sur- 
gery, and  pursued  a  most  successful  career  as  dentist  in  Chester 
County  until  his  death.  May  1,  1898.  He  was  Demonstrator  of 
Dentistry  duding  the  years  1895-96-97  in  the  Pennsylvania  Dental 
College,  and  was  well  kuown  and  highly  esteemed  as  a  professional 
gentleman  and  citizen. 

Dr.  Meta  T.  Haley,  the  only  lady  dentist  in  Chester  County,  is 
a  native  of  Virginia,  and  graduated  from  the  Pennsylvania  College 
of  Dental  Surgery  in  1892.     In  April,  1893,  she  opened  an  oflice 


AXD     n\S     PEOPLE.  709 

iu  the  Assembly  building  in  West  Chester,  and  has  been  in  active 
practice  ever  since.  In  1897  she  was  quiz  master  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania College  in  the  Department  of  Operative  Dentistry  and 
Dental  Physiology,  and  in  1898  she  was  Demonstrator  of  Opei*ative 
Dentistry  in  the  same  college. 

Dr.  C.  I.  Reese  'was  born  iu  Atgleu  (then  Penningtonville)  Sep- 
tember 17,  1849,  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  of  Atglen  and 
professionally  at  the  Pennsylvania  College  of  Dental  Surgery,  grad- 
uating from  the  latter  institution  in  1S71.  He  inimediatel.y  located 
in  Atglen,  and  has  been  there  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession ever  since. 

Dr.  J.  H.  McClure  of  Coatesville  was  born  in  Chester  County 
in  1860.  He  studied  dentistry  with  Dr.  J.  L.  Baker,  and  afterward 
attended  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  graduating  with  the 
class  of  1881.  Immediately  locating  in  Coatesville,  he  has  bfeen 
there  engaged  in  practice  ever  since. 

Dr.  Joseph  Huggins,  dentist  of  Downingtown,  located  there 
in  1897,  immediately  after  graduating  from  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  David  Z.  Sahler,  dentist,  of  West  Chester,  was  bora  in 
West  Whiteland,  Chester  County,  was  educated  at  the  West  Ches- 
ter State  Normal  School,  and  at  the  Pennsylvania  College  of  Den- 
tal Surgery,  graduating  from  tlie  latter  institution  in  1887.  Lo- 
cating immediately  afterward  in  West  Chester,  he  has  since  then 
been  engaged  there  iu  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Dr.  Wendell  P.  Lambora,  dentist,  of  West  Chester,  was  born  in 
Newlin  Township,  Chester  County,  December  21,  18(52.  Upon  the 
home  farm  in  that  township  he  was  reared,  obtaining  his  educa- 
tion principally  iu  the  public  schools.  Then  he  attended  Edgefield 
Academy  in  Chester  County  two  years,  and  entered  the  dental 
office  of  Frank  P.  Coburu  of  West  Chester,  and  graduated  from  the 
Pennsylvania  Dental  College  of  Philadelphia  February  26,  1888. 
In  January,  1891,  he  located  in  West  Chester,  and  has  there  suc- 
cessfully followed  the  profession  of  dentist  ever  .since. 


7IO  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Dr.  F.  Barnard,  dentist,  of  Kennett  Square,  was  born  in  Chester 
County,  was  educated  in  Chester  and  Lancaster  Counties,  and  at- 
tended the  Baltimore  Dental  College,  and  began  practice  in  Ken- 
nett, in  1S79.  Since  then  he  has  been  continuously  engaged  there 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Dr.  E.  L.  Coffman,  dentist,  of  Phoenixville,  is  a  native  of  that 
city.  He  is  a  son  of  the  late  I.  Z.  Coffman,  mention  of  whom  is 
elsewhere  made  in  this  work.  After  learning  the  science  and 
acquiring  the  art  of  dentistry  he  established  himself  in  his  pro- 
fession in  Phoenixville,  and  has  been  there  successfully  engaged 
therein  ever  since. 

The  Chester  and  Delaware  County  Dental  Society  was  organ- 
ized at  the  house  of  Dr.  Jesse  C.  Green,  October  27,  1894,  Dr.  S. 
Blair  Luckie  of  Chester,  Delaware  County,  being  made  president; 
Dijt  James  L.  Paish  of  Avondale,  Chester  County,  vice-president; 
Dr.  Meta  T.  Haley,  of  West  Chester,  secretary,  and  Dr.  Harry 
Leedom  Smedley,  of  Media,  treasurer.  The  society  meets  in  Janu- 
ary at  Media,  in  April  at  Chester,  and  in  October  at  West  Chester, 
It  has  now  twenty-five  active  members  and  three  honorary  mem- 
bers. The  ofQcers  of  this  society  at  the  present  time  are  as  folloAvs: 
Dr.  J.  L.  Paist,  president;  Dr.  Ellen  MacM array,  secretary,  and 
Dr.  H.  L.  Smedley  of  Media,  ti'easurer. 

Geoi'ge  G.  Groff,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  was  born  on  the  Welsh  Tract, 
in  Tredyffrin  Township,  Chester  County,  April  5,  1851.  Until  he 
reached  his  twenty-second  year  his  home  was  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  he  was  educated  at  the  public  schools,  at  the  Norristown  Sem- 
inarj^  and  at  the  West  Chester  State  Normal  School,  at  Michigan 
University  and  the  Long  Island  College  Hospital,  Brooklyn,  New 
York.  He  taught  in  the  public  schools,  in  the  West  Chester  State 
Noiinal  School,  and  since  1880  hasi  been  professor  of  Organic 
Science  in  Bucknell  University  at  Lewisburg,  Pennsylvania.  He 
takes  an  interest  in  public  affairs,  has  been  coroner  of  his  county 
and  assistant  surgeou  in  the  Pennsylvania  State  National  Guard, 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  711 

He  lias  been  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  since  lS8fi, 
and  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  since  1889,  and  is  now 
(1898)  president  of  the  State  Board  of  Health.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  State  Medical  Council,  and  of  the  State  Dental  Council. 
He  is  autiior  of  a  series  of  school  physiologies  and  of  numerous 
papers  and  pamphlets  on  hygiene  and  sanitary  science. 

The  Chester  County  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  was  or- 
ganized in  West  Chester,  July  21,  1898,  v.ith  the  following  officers: 
President,  Dr.  H.  E.  Williams,  of  Coatesville;  Vice-president,  Dr. 
Hamilton  Graham,  of  Kennett  Square;  Secretary,  Dr.  Charles  U. 
Palmer,  of  West  Chester;  Treasurer,  Dr.  S.  A.  Mulliu,  of  West 
Chester,  and  Board  of  Censors,  Drs.  Hoopes,  Taylor  and  Hughes. 
The  new  society  meets  bi-monthly. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

BANKING  AND  INSURANCE. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

BANKING      AND      INSURANCE NATIONAL       BANK      OF      CHESTER     COUNTY — THE 

UNITED    STATES    BANK THE    BANKING    LAW    OF    1814 COMMISSIONERS 

CHARTERS STOCKHOLDERS — FORM  OF   NOTES — BUILDINGS CAPITAL 

AND    LOANS — OFFICERS — EARLY    liANKlNG    METHODS — SKETCHES 
OF  THE  VARIOUS  BANKS,  NATIONAL  AND  PRIVATE,  THROUGH- 
OUT      THE      COUNTY  INSURANCE  —  COMPANIES — 

OFFICERS    RISKS   LOSSES,       ETC. 

The  National  Bank  of  Chester  County  has  a  history  of  unusual 
interest.  At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1812-13  a  movement 
was  made  to  establish  twenty-flve  new  banks  in  the  State.  The 
reason  for  this  movement  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  United  States 
Bank  in  Philadelphia,  the  fate  of  which  had  been  decided  by  the 
casting  vote  of  Vice-President  Clinton  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  was  about  to  wind  up  its  affairs.  The  bill  authorizing  the 
establishment  of  these  twenty-five  new  banks  was  passed  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania  by  a  vote  of  43  to  42, 
and  by  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  14  to  13.  Rev.  John  Gemmil,  then 
the  Senator  from  Chester  County,  and  a  Democrat,  voted  against 
the  bill.  On  March  19,  1813,  this  bill  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor. 
It  did  not  provide  for  a  bank  in  Chester  County,  no  request  having 
been  made  for  one.  The  members  of  the  lower  house  from  Chester 
County,  all  DemocraJ:s,  voted  against  the  bill. 

At  the  next  session  of  the  Assembly  a  bill  was  passed  entitled 
"An  Act  Regulating  Banks,"  authorizing  the  establishment  of 
forty-one  new  banks,  one  of  which  was  to  be  in  Chester  County,  al- 
though, curiously  enough,  no  one  had  asked  for  it,  and  the  mem- 
bers from  this  county  in  the  lower  house,  John  Harris,  John  Reed, 
Edward  Darlington,  James  Brooke  and  James  Hiudman,  all  Demo- 
crats, voted  against  the  bill,  which  is  all  the  more  remarkable,  as 
members  of  the  Democratic  Party  hav^,  throughout  the  entire  his- 

715 


7i6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

tory  of  the  United  States,  been  generally  in  favor  of  local  as 
against  national  banks.  On  the  19th  of  the  month  (March,  1814), 
the  Governor  returned  the  bill  with  his  objections;  but  it  passed 
the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  20  to  10  and  the  House  by  a  vote  of  OG  to  24, 
and  became  a  law  on  the  21st  of  the  month. 

The  commissioners  for  taking  the  stock  named  in  the  act  for 
the  Bank  of  Chester  County  were  Dr.  William  Darlington,  John  W. 
Cunningham,  Jesse  John,  James  Kelton,  Joseph  Taylor,  Henry 
Chrisman,  Matthew  Stanley,  and  Joshua  Evans,  Jr.  Henry  Chris- 
man  declining  to  serve,  the  Court  of  Cominou  Pleas  appointed 
Joseph  Pearce  to  serve  in  his  place.  Books  for  subscription  to  tlie 
stock  of  the  bank  were  opened  June  8,  1814,  at  West  Chester, 
Downingtown,  Tredyffrin,  New  London,  Cross  Koads,  and  Cochran- 
ville,  the  commissioners  distributing  themselves  among  the  several 
places  named.  A  few  persons  promptly  subscribed  for  as  much 
of  the  stock  as  they  could  conveniently  carry,  but  soon  the  subscrip- 
tions fell  off,  the  people  generally  being  somewhat  shy  of  the  i)ro- 
posed  new  institution.  Up  to  near  the  tinie  for  subscriptions  to 
close  the  indications  were  that  the  new  institution  would  fail  to 
have  a  career;  but  then  Charles  Bogers  and  Daniel  Hiester  came 
forward  and  each  subscribed  for  1,000  shares,  which  left  but  little 
of  tlie  stock  to  be  taken,  and  that  little  was  then  quickly  sul>- 
scribed.  The  bill  provided  for  a  capital  stock  of  4,500  shares  at  f  oO 
per  share,  and  as  soon  as  the  subscription  books  were  closed  the 
stock  was  immediately  in  demand. 

The  charter  was  obtained  August  2,  1814,  and  at  a  meeting  of 
the  stockholders  held  Se]>tember  8,  1814,  thirteen  directors  were 
chosen,  as  follows:  Jesse  Mercer,  Jesse  John,  Joseph  Taylor, 
Charles  Kogers,  Daniel  Hiester,  Josejjh  McClellan,  James  Ketou, 
Dr.  William  Darlington,  John  W.  Townsend,  Jesse  Good,  Isaac 
Dai'lington,  Joshua  Weaver  and  James  Jefferis.  The  next  day 
Joseph  McClellan  was  chosen  president  and  Daniel  Hiester, 
cashier.     Mr.  Hiester  then  resigned  as  director  of  the  bank,  and 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  717 

Thomas  Hoopes  was  appointed  in  his  stead,  liooms  over  tlie 
county  ofiSces  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Market  and  High  Streets 
were  obtained,  which  were  opened  for  business  November  11,  1811. 
On  November  21,  1811,  the  second  board  of  directors  was  chosen 
as  follows:  Joseph  McClellan,  Jesse  Mercer,  Jesse  John,  Dr. 
William  Darlington,  Charles  Rogers,  David  Dickey,  Isaac  Darling- 
ton, Jesse  Good,  Thomas  Hoopes,  Joseph  Taylor,  John  W.  Town- 
send,  Thomas  "N^'orth  and  David  Towusend. 

At  that  time  on  account  of  the  fact  that  West  Chester  was  not 
widely  known  the  directors  thought  it  wise  to  state  on  the  face  of 
the  circulating  notes  that  the  bank  Avas  "between  Philadelphia 
and  Lancaster,''  in  order  that  holders  might  know  where  the  bauk 
was  located.    The  following  is  the  form  of  the  note  first  issued: 

THE  ^ANK  OF  CHESTER  COUNTS, 

TSetween  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster,  5 

tq  Promises  to  pay  to  bearer  on  demand  § 

I  FIVE  DOLLARS.  ^ 

IVest  Chester,  Penna.  ^ 

DANIEL  HIESTER,  JOSEPH  McCLELLAN,  S! 

Cashur.  President. 

On  January  6,  1818,  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a  banking-house 
and  a  committee  previously  appointed  to  select  a  site  for  the  pro- 
posed building  was  directed  to  olfer  William  Towusend  |500  for  a 
lot  forty  feet  front  on  Gay  Street  at  the  coi'uer  of 'Walnut,  asking 
for  a  positive  answer  within  a  week.  On  January  20,  1818,  it  was 
resolved  to  purchase  a  lot  thirty  feet  front  on  High  Street  for  |500, 
and  on  the  23d  the  committee  produced  a  deed  for  the  lot  therein 
described,  but  for  some  reason  the  project  was  not  carried  out.  On 
March  17,  I8I8,  it  was  ordered  that  the  house  and  lot  on  High  Street 
opposite  the  Court-house,  belonging  to  Nathan  H.  Sharpless,  be 
purchased  for  the  use  of  the  bank  for  |5,250,  and  the  banking-house 
was  fitted  up  at  a  cost  of  |1,12G.19,  and  Joseph  McClellan,  presi- 


71 8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

dent  of  the  bank,  was  allowed  |250  for  his  wages  for  the  year  then 
closing.  The  bank  was  re-chartered  March  22, 1824,  and  during  the 
next  few  years  the  business  of  the  institution  was  exceptionally 
good.  So  rapid  indeed  did  the  business  increase  that  it  became 
necessary  to  erect  a  new  building,  which  was  done  about  183G,  the 
funds  for  its  erection  coming  out  of  the  profits  of  the.^bank,  whicli 
would  otherwise  under  the  law  have  been  turned  over  to  the  State, 
as  a  dividend  of  more  than  six  per  cent,  could  not  be  declared.  This 
building  is  a  large  and  substantial  one,  built  of  Chester  County 
marble,  and  having  a  noble  Doric  portico  in  front,  there  being  four 
large  fluted  columns,  four  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base  and  tapering 
to  three  feet  at  the  top,  and  being  twenty-five  in  height.  The 
architect  of  this  building  was  Thomas  U.  Walter  of  Philadelphia, 
one  of  the  most  noted  architects  so  far  produced  by  the  United 
States.  The  cost  of  the  building  was  about  |30,000.  To  this  build- 
ing the  business  of  the  bank  was  transferred  in  1837. 

On  May  30,  1843,  the  capital  stock  of  the  bank,  which  had  then 
increased  to  $300,000,  was  reduced  to  |22.5,000,  and  the  par  value 
Aif  the  shares  became  |2.5.  This  reduction  was  made  by  deducting 
from  the  capital  stock  the  following  loans:  Union  Canal  Loans, 
$25,000;  Chesapeake  &  Delaware  Canal  Loans,  $25,000;  Susque- 
hanna &  Tide-water  Canal  Loans,  $35,000;  Loans  to  individuals, 
$23,548.50;  Loans  to  the  State,  $26,451.50;  total,  $135,000. 

On  October  11,  18G4,  Avhen  it  was  in  contemplation  to  change 
to  a  National  bahk,  Joel  Hawley,  Joseph  Dowdall,  and  P.  G.  Carey, 
not  holding  suflicient  stock  to  warrant  them  in  retaining  their 
positions  as  directors,  resigned.  And  on  October  14,  1864,  a  series 
of  resolutions  was  adopted  providing  for  the  surrender  of  the  State 
charter,  which  had  been  renewed  in  1837  for  fifteen  years  and  in 
1852  for  the  same  length  of  time,  and  organizing  under  the  National 
Banking  Law  of  1863.  The  name  of  the  bank  then  became  the 
National  Bank  of  Chester  County,  and  the  capital  stock  of  the 
bank  was  fixed  at  $225,000,  with  authority  to  increase  it  to  any 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  719 

amcmut  uot  to  exceed  |-l:50,000.  The  number  of  this  bank  among 
the  Xational  banks  is  552,  the  certificate  of  authorization  bearing 
tliis  number  being  signed  by  Hugh  McCulJough,  October  25,  18()4. 
On  November  1,  following,  P.  P.  Sharpless,  Joseph  DoAvdall,  Will- 
iam Darlington  and  M.  B.  Hickman  were  appointed  to  fill  vacan- 
cies in  the  board  of  directors  occasioned  by  the  resignations  of 
others.  The  other  membei's  of  the  first  board  of  directors  of  this 
as  a  National  bank  were  as  follows:  John  Marshall,  Thomas  S. 
Cox,  Brinton  Darlington,  ^Yalter  Hibbard,  Samuel  H.  Hoopes, 
Eusebius  FI.  To^nsend,  Dr.  Isaac  Thomas,  Dr.  George  Thomas  and 
William  B.  Waddell. 

Among  the  prominent  men  who  were  directors  of  the  old  Ches- 
ter County  Bank  were  the  following:  William  Darlington,  who 
was  the  last  survivor  of  the  original  board  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
April  23,  1863;  Isaac  Darlington,  Joshua  Weaver,  William  Wil- 
liamson, Isaac  D.  Barnard,  W.  H.  Dillingham,  Joseph  Hemphill, 
Enoch  Harlan  and  John  Smith  Futhey. 

The  other  members  of  the  board  of  directors  since  the  organi- 
zation of  this  as  a  Xational  bank  have  been  as  follows:  Lorenzo 
Beck,  Henry  P.  Sharpless,  Charles  Fairlamb,  Washington  Town- 
send,  Milton  Conard,  Kobert  Neely,  Francis  .J.  Darlington,  H.  T. 
Fairlamb,  James  Smith,  M.  Shaner  Chrisman,  William  P.  Marshall, 
J.  Preston  Thomas,  Edwin  James,  TS'illiam  F.  Dowdall,  Joshua  E. 
Hibbard,  William  B.  Sharpless,  Thomas  W.  Marshall,  G.  Morris 
Phillips,  D.  M.  McFarland,  Thomas  S.  Chambers  and  Thomas 
Hoopes,  the  last  eleven  of  whom  constitute  the  boai'd  at  the  present 
time,  the  number  of  directors  having  been  reduced  October  5,  1897, 
from  thirteen  to  eleven. 

In  1871  the  interior  of  the  bank  was  entirely  remodeled  and 
ijew  vaults  put  in,  all  at  a  cost  of  |10,048.73.  In  1889  safety  deposit 
vaults  were  put  in  at  a  cost  of  |15,223.G2,  and  in  1898  a  new  floor 
^\as  laid,  of  iron  joists  and  iron  lining,  in  order  to  render  the  build- 
ing entirely  fire-proof. 
42 


720  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  presidents  of  this  bauli  since  its  organization  have  been 
as  follows: 

Joseph  McClellan,  September  0,  1814,  to  November  25,  181 G, 
and  from  November  24,  1817,  to  November  22,  1819;  James  M.  Gjb- 
bous.  November  25,  1816,  to  November  24,  1817;  Eiehard  Thomas, 
Jr.,  November  22,  1819,  until  his  death  in  Febrnary,  1830;  Dr. 
William  Darlington,  Febrnary  23,  1830,  until  his  death  April  23. 
18G3;  John  Marshall,  May  1,  1863,  until  his  death  June  22,  1873; 
Walter  Hibbard,  June  27,  1873,  to  his  death  July  31,  1879;  Wash- 
ington Townsend,  August  5,  1879,  to  his  death  March  18,  1894,  and 
William  P.  Marshall,  March  27,  1894,  to  the  present  time. 

The  cashiers  of  the  bank  have  been  as  follows: 

Daniel  Hiester,  September  9,  1814,  to  October  1,  1817;  David 
Townsend,  October  1,  1817,  to  April  10,  1849;  Washington  Town- 
send,  April  10, 1849,  to  October  30,  1857;  William  W.  Jefferis,  Octo- 
ber 30,  1857,  to  June  12,  1883;  Paul  F.  Whitehead,  July  1,  1883, 
until  his  deatb,  October  14,  1884,  and  I.  Gary  Oarver  from  Novem- 
ber 1,  1884,  to  the  present  time. 

The  present  charter  of  this  bank  will  expire  October  12,  1904. 

Methods  of  transacting  banking  business  were  in  the  early 
days  quite  different  from  those  now  in  vogue.  The  directors  of  this 
bank,  thirteeen  in  number,  were  selected  in  such  manner  as  to 
give  each  part  of  the  county  a  representation  on  the  board,  and 
these  directors  in  coming  from  their  homes  to  West  Chester  were 
entrusted  with  the  money  which  their  neighbors  desired  to  deposit 
in  the  bank.  When  a  depositor  desired  to  use  money  in  the  trans- 
action of  his  business  it  was  customary  for  him  to  withdraw  it  in 
specie  or  paper  and  pay  it  out  direct  to  his  creditor.  The  great 
advantages  of  the  check  system  had  not  then  dawned  upon  the 
minds  of  the  people,  whereas  now  from  ninety  to  ninety-five  pti 
cent  of  the  transfers  fi'om  debtor  to  creditor,  including  the  payment 
of  foreign  bills,  that  is,  debts  in  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  other 
distant  places,  are  paid  by  the  debtor  sending  his  personal  check 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  721 

on  his  own  bank.  The  deposits  of  this  bank  have  steadily  in 
creased,  ther  being  in  1850  from  .|215,000  to  |250,0()0;  in  ISOO  from 
1175,000  to  1247,000;  in  1870  frcmi  1300,000  to  |COO,0(IO;  in  1800 
from  1430,000  to  |645,000,  and  in  1898  from  |750,000  to  |950,000. 
Semi-annnal  dividends  have  been  declared  by  this  bank  as  follows: 
From  1850  to  18G0,  5  to  G  per  cent;  18G0  to  1890,  G  to  8  per  cent 
and  from  1890  to  1898,  from  6  to  7  per  cent. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  West  Chester  had  its  origin  in  the 
following  manner:  On  November  13,  18G3,  the  following-named 
gentlemen  met  in  the  banking-house  of  Brinton  &  Wilson  in  West 
Chester,  to  consider  the  expediency  of  establishing  a  national  bank 
in  said  borough,  viz.:  George  Brinton,  David  Woelffer,  Joseph 
Hemphill,  William  WoUerton,  Wellington  Hickman,  John  Smith 
Futhey,  and  William  S.  Kirk.  The  following  resolution  was 
adopted : 

"  Kesolved,  That  we  associate  ourselves  together  for  the  imr- 
pose  of  carrying  on  the  business  of  banking  under  the  act  of  Con- 
gress entitled:  "An  Act  to  provide  a  National  Currency  secured 
by  a  pledge  of  United  States  stocks,  and  to  provide  for  the  circula- 
tion and  redemption  tliereof,"  approved  February  25,  18G3." 

The  name  adopted  for  this  new  financial  in.stitution  was  tlie 
First  National  Bank  of  West  Chester,  and  the  capital  stock  was 
fixed  at  150,000,  each  share  to  be  flOO.  Articles  of  association 
were  entered  into  November  13,  18G3,  and  on  November  17,  18G3, 
an  election  for  directors  was  held,  resulting  in  the  election  of  the 
above  named  seven  gentlemen.  At  the  fii'st  annual  election  the 
same  gentlemen  were  re-elected,  and  George  Brinton  was  chosen 
president  and  William  S.  Kirk  cashier.  On  November  17,  18(>3, 
Joseph  Hemphill,  William  Wollerton  and  John  Smith  Futhey  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  procure  a  building  in  which  to  carry  on 
the  business  of  banking,  and  on  December  11  reported  in  favor 
of  the  house  then  owned  by  David  Meconkey,  which  stood  im- 
mediately north  of  the  Bank  of  Chester  County,  which  was  leased 


722  CIIEtiTER     COUXTY 

for  five  years.  December  IG  the  capital  stock  of  tJie  bank  was  in- 
creased to  flOO,000,  and  on  January  2,  1804,  tlie  business  of  bank- 
ing was  regularly  coiumeuced.  On  January  9  the  number  of  direc- 
tors was  increased  to  nine,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were 
elected:  George  Brinton,  William  Chalfant,  John  Smith  Futhey, 
Joseph  Hemphill,  Wellington  Hickman,  Andrew  Mitchell,  Robert 
Parke,  David  Woelffer  and  William  Wollerton. 

On  May  24,  18(54,  it  was  i-esolved  to  erect  a  building  for  the 
use  of  the  bank,  and  a  lot  was  purchased  of  James  D.  McClellan, 
on  which  the  present  bank  building  stands,  and  the  building  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  |25,000.  Into  this  building  the  bank  moved 
March  15,  18G5.  On  August  9,  18G4,  the  capital  of  tJie  bank  was 
increased  to  1200,000. 

The  presidents  of  this  bank  have  been  as  follows:  George 
Brinton,  from  the  organization  as  given  above  to  Januar^^  15,  18G9; 
William  Wollerton,  Januaiy  15,  18G9,  until  his  death,  April  29, 
1898;  Alfred  P.  Reid  elected  president  May  21,  1898. 

The  cashiers  have  been  as  follows:  William  S.  Kirk,  from  the 
organization  until  April  16,  1867;  James  G.  McCollin,  April  1<>, 
1807,  to  Februai-y  14,  1808;  Thomas  W.  Marshall,  February  14, 
18(58,  to  December  17,  1872;  Enos  E.  Thatcher,  December  17,  1872, 
to  January,  1887;  F.  W.  Wollerton,  from  January,  1887,  to  the 
present  time. 

In  1897  the  interior  of  the  building  was  remodeled  and  im- 
proved, safety  deposit  vaults  being  put  iu  containing  300  private 
boxes,  the  capacity  of  the  vaults  being  upward  of  000,  the  entire 
cost  being  about  .f  11,000.  These  private  boxes  rent  for  from  .fS  to 
|12  per  year,  making  it  one  of  the  most  convenient  banking  rooms 
in  the  county. 

The  Firet  National  Bank  of  Honeybrook  was  organized  Jan- 
uai*y  1,  1868,  Avith  the  following  directors:  Joshua  Kames,  E.  I). 
White,  R.  W.  Morton,  Thomas  Millard,  William  Gorbit,  Joseph  C. 
Davis,  Samuel  Lemmon,  James  C  Roberts,  and  Thomas  S.  Ingram. 


AyD     ITS     PEOPLE.  7^3 

Josliiui  Kaiiies  was  the  first  president  and  l\ii-hard  D.  Wells  first 
cashier.  The  bank  was  opened  for  business  at  Honeybrook  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1868,  and  on  April  9,  1808,  both  the  president  and  cashier 
resigned  their  iiositions.  E.  D.  White  then  became  president  and 
R.  W.  Mottou,  cashier.  January  11, 1877,  Samuel  Lemmon  became 
president,  serA-injj  until  his  death  in  Februan-,  1892.  Then  he  was 
succeeded  by  John  S.  Gait,  who  has  seized  ever  since. 

Mr.  Morton  served  as  cashier  until  January,  1892,  when  he 
died  and  was  succeeded  by  John  E.  Tinger,  who  has  served  ever 
since. 

The  capital  of  this  bank  was  at  first  |100,000,  at  which  it  re- 
mains. Tlie  present  directors  are  John  S.  Gait,  Theodore  M.  8toob, 
Jacob  Hertzler,  John  A.  Lemmon,  Thonms  Millard,  William  Mar- 
tin, John  Stauffer,  Jacob  Hartz. 

E.  D.  Haines  &  Co.,  private  bankers  of  West  Chester,  began 
business  in  18()8.  The  members  of  tlie  firm  at  the  beginning  of 
and  up  to  1883,  wlien  Mr.  Haines  died,  were  E.  D.  Haines  and  J.  T. 
Murtagh,  their  place  of  business  being  No.  19  North  High  Sti'eet. 

Pyle  &  Brown  (Abner  Pyle  and  Thomas  B.  Brown),  private 
bankers  of  West  Chester,  began  business  in  February,  1871,  each 
of  them  having  been  in  business  separately  in  West  Chester  for 
two  years.  They  moved  into  their  present  building  in  1872,  Nos. 
Ill  and  113  North  High  Street.  The  business  is  of  the  nature  of 
general  banking,  loan,  real  estate  and  insurance. 

D.  M.  McFarland,  banker  of  Wester  Chester,  has  been  engaged 
in  this  business  since  18(18.  It  was  established  in  1820  by  a  Mr. 
Warren,  who  was  succeeded  therein  by  Thomas  Williamson,  and 
he  was  succeeded  in  1834  by  David  Meconkey.  The  latter  gentle- 
man carried  on  the  business  until  1868,  when  Mr.  McFarland  took 
charge.  The  business  includes  in  addition  to  banking,  conveyanc- 
ing, and  the  drawing  u])  of  legal  papers  of  all  kinds,  and  Mr.  Mc- 
Farland has  acted  as  administrator  for  many  estates.  The  office 
of  the  bank  is  on  North  High  Street,  opposite  the  Court-house. 


724  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  Dowuingtowu  Bauk  was  organized  as  a  State  institution 
Septembers,  1800,  beginning  business  May  16,  18G1,  with  a  capital 
of  150,000,  which  in  1863  was  increased  to  .*100,000.  It  was 
changed  to  a  National  bank  December  30,  1864,  under  the  name  of 
the  Downingtown  National  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  with  the  follow- 
ing directors:  William  Edge,  Jonathan  C.  Bald-nin,  Samuel  Eing- 
walt,  Peter  Dampman,  David  Shelmire,  Dr.  John  P.  Edge,  Leonard 
F.  Roberts,  William  Kogers,  Jacob  Edge,  Samuel  P.  Millei",  and 
Jonathan  P.  Butler. 

The  presidents  of  this  bank  have  been  as  follows:  Charles 
Downing,  November  23,  1860,  until  his  death,  May  3,  1863;  David 
Shelmire,  June  1,  1863,  to  November  3,  1863;  William  Trimble,  No- 
vember 23,  1863,  to  his  death,  December  18,  1863;  William  Edge, 
December  28,  1863,  to  May  29,  1865;  Jacob  Edge,  May  29,  1865,  to 
March  13,  1889;  Joseph  R.  Downing,  April  4,  1889,  to  the  present 
time. 

The  cashiers  have  been :  Mordecai  T.  Euth,  from  the  organiza- 
tion until  December  1, 1863;  Joseph  E.  Downing,  December  1,  1863, 
until  April  4,  1889;  Thomas  W.  Downing,  April  11,  1889,  to  the 
present  time. 

The  Parkesburg  National  Bank.  On  April  14,  1869,  Parke, 
Smith  &  Co.,  a  private  firm,  established  themselves  in  the  banking 
business,  with  a  capital  of  150,000,  and  a  board  of  directors  consist- 
ing of  Robert  Parke,  Robert  Baldwin,  Robert  Fairlamb,  John  N. 
Chalfant,  John  A.  Parke,  and  Ezekiel  R.  Young.  Robert  Parke  was 
l>resident,  and  Samuel  R.  Parke,  cashier.  The  name  of  this  pri- 
vate in.stitution  was  the  Parkesburg  Bank.  On  April  22,  1873, 
Robert  Parke  resigned  as  president.  Samel  R.  Parke  becoming- 
president,  and  Robert  Agnew  Futhey,  cashier.  On  March  30,  1880, 
this  institution  became  a  National  bank,  under  the  name  at  the 
head  of  this  article,  Avith  the  same  president  and  cashier,  and  the 
following  directors:  Samuel  R.  Parke,  Robert  Parke,  Robert  Fair- 
lamb,  John  A.  Mon'ison,  M.  D.,  John  Y.  Latta,  and  James  B.  Ken- 


AXI)     ITH     PEOPLE.  725 

uedy.  At  the  present  time  tlie  directors  of  this  bank  are  as  fol- 
lows: John  A.  Morrison,  John  Y.  Latta,  James  B.  Kennedy,  Robert 
Futhey,  John  A.  Parke,  and  A.  T.  Parke,  the  officers  being  Samuel 
R.  Parke,  president,  and  M.  F.  Hamill,  cashier. 

The  National  Bank  of  Chester  Valley,  at  Coatesville,  was  or- 
ganized hrst  as  a  State  bank.  May  1,  1857,  with  the  following 
board  of  directors:  Abraham  Gibbons,  Nathan  Eambo,  Enoch  S. 
McCaughey,  William  Dripps,  Henry  G.  Thomas,  Caleb  Pierce, 
Lewis  Maxton,  Hugh  E.  Steele,  Isaac  Hayes,  Charles  Downing, 
John  W.  Wagoner,  Samuel  Slokum  and  James  King  Grier.  Abra- 
liam  Gibbons  was  the  president  and  Francis  F.  Davis  cashier. 

On  November  17,  ISO-i,  it  became  a  National  bank,  the  same  of- 
ficers remaining  in  charge  until  1882,  when  Mr.  Gibbons  i-esigned 
and  was  succeeded  by  William  Mode.  Cashier  Davis  died  in  1883 
and  Avas  succeeded  by  John  \\.  Thompson.  In  1893  Mr.  Mode  re- 
signed the  presidency  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Thompson,  H.  J. 
Branson  becoming  cashier.  The  first  directors  of  this  bank  when 
it  changed  to  a  National  bank  were  the  following:  Abraham  Gib- 
bons, Samuel  Slokoni,  James  Penrose,  Hugh  W.  Robinson,  Alex- 
ander Moore,  Jr.,  Joseph  .Davis,  Levis  Pennock,  Jr.,  James  King 
Grier  and  Dr.  Charles  Huston.  The  present  board  of  directors  is 
as  follows:  H.  Preston  Baker,  William  H.  Gibbous,  Lewis  B.  Hen- 
son,  A.  F.  Huston,  Alexander  Mode,  Jesse  Shallcross,  J.  H. 
Schrack,  Brinton  Walker  and  J.  W.  Thompson. 

In  1895  the  building  was  enlarged  and  improved,  and  a  large 
fire  and  burglar  ]n'oof  vault  was  put  in,  containing  210  small  safes 
of  various  sizes,  which  are  rented  at  a  merely  nominal  cost. 

The  Octoraro  Bank  at  Oxford  «'as  cliartered  by  the  State  in 
1857  and  organized  in  July,  1858.  The  first  board  of  directors  of 
this  bank  was  as  follows:  Samuel  Dickej',  John  M.  Keiton,  John 
B.  Harlan,  Dr.  D.  \\.  Hutchinson,  J.  C.  Taylor,  G.  W.  Lefevre,  A. 
F.  Eves,  David  Hayes  and  Daniel  Stubbs.  Dr.  E.  V.  Dickey,  the 
first  president,  died  soon  after  his  election,  and  was  succeeded  by 


726  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Eev.  Samuel  Dickey,  who  remained  president  until  his  death,  Janu- 
ary 14,  1884,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  S.  1\.  Dickey. 
,__^  On  Februaiy  19,  18G5,  the  State  charter  was  surrendered  and 
the  bank  was  opened  as  a  National  institution  under  the  name  of 
"The  National  Bank  of  Oxford,"  with  the  following  directors: 
Samuel  Dickey,  John  M.  Kelton,  J.  C.  Taylor,  K.  H.  Kirk,  A.  F. 
Eves,  Alexander  Turner,  D.  W.  Hutchison,  Newtou  I.  Nichols,  P. 
W.  Housekeeper,  James  K.  Eamsey,  James  A.  Strawbridge,  Will- 
iam E.  Bingham  and  Daniel  Stubbs.  The  present  directors  are:  S. 
K.  Dickey,  William  R.  Bingham,  William  T.  Fulton,  0.  D.  Arm- 
strong, R.  B.  Patterson,  Edgar  F.  Fulton,  T.  J.  Foulk,  J.  M.  0.  Car- 
hart  and  J.  E.  Kamsey.  The  capital  of  the  bank,  which  at  first  was 
1100,000,  is  now  |125,000,  the  surplus  fund  is  |25,000  and  the  un- 
divided profits  125,000,  and  the  total  amount  of  dividends  paid 
since  it  became  a  National  bank  is  f27G,000. 

Dr.  James  H.  Cunningham  was  cashier  of  the  Octoraro  bank 
and  of  the  National  bank  until  May,  1866,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  John  Janvier,  who  died  in  July,  1878,  and  was  succeeded  by 
by  James  E.  Ramsey,  who  is  still  cashier. 

The  Farmers'  National  Bank  of  Oxford  was  established  in  1868 
as  a  private  bank  by  Kirk,  MacVeagh  &  Co.  In  1870  it  became  a 
State  bank  under  the  name  of  the  Oxford  Banking  Company,  was 
incorporated  Mai-ch  11, 1872,  and  was  chartered  as  a  National  bank 
in  1883.  The  president  of  the  Oxford  Banking  Company  was 
James  Wood,  president,  aiud  David  M.  Taylor,  cashier.  The  of- 
ficers at  the  present  time  are  as  follows:  President,  D.  M.  Tay- 
lor ,and  cashier,  R.  A.  Walker.  The  board  of  directors  is  as  follows: 
H.  A.  Menough,  J.  Dickey  Smith,  J.  D.  Nelsou,  Eber  Hestou,  M.  D., 
C.  Blackburn,  Ainos  K.  Bradley,  Levi  B.  Kirk,  D.  M.  Taylor  and 
Henry  Cope.  The  capital  stock  is  |75,000;  deposits,  .5!170,672.1.5 ;. 
discounts,  .f20o,4G0.32,  and  the  surplus  fund  and  undivided  profits, 
$32,000. 

J.  A.  Watt  &  Co.,  bankers  at  Oxford,  began  business  here  in 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  727 

1873,  aud  carry  ou  a  general  baukiug  business  in  all  its  branches. 
J.  A.  Watt  is  s.ole  proprietor  of  the  business  aud  C.  N.  Lawrie  is  the 
cashier. 

The  Dime  Savings  Bank  of  Chester  County,  located  in  the  As- 
sembly Building,  at  West  Chester,  was  incorporated  April  22, 
1890.  The  purposes  of  the  bank  are  indicated  by  the  act  under 
which  it  was  organized,  which  was  approved  May  20,  1889.  It 
receives  deposits  from  all  classes  in  any  amount,  from  ten  cents  to 
f  5,000,  and  allows  interest  at  the  rate  of  three  per  cent,  per  annum 
ou  all  deposits  aggregating  two  dollars  remaining  on  deposit  three 
calendar  months  or  more.  The  net  earnings  of  the  bank  are  also 
divided  among  the  depositors.  The  officers  of  this  bank  at  present 
are  Alfred  P.  Reid,  president;  William  P.  Marshall,  vice-president;, 
Thomas  E.  Parke,  second  vice-president;  Joseph  S.  Evans,  secre- 
tary, and  John  A.  Rupert,  cashier. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  condition  of  this  bank  at 
the  close  of  business  May  14,  1898:  Mortgages,  |195,675;  munic- 
ipal bonds  and  premiums  on  same,  |;j5,944.75,  and  money  in  bank 
and  cash  on  hand  .f4,194.;)9.  Total  resources,  |255,814.74;  liabili- 
ties, to  depositors,  1250,344.89,  and  undivided  profits,  |5,4C9.85. 

This  bank  has  issued  altogether  6,75G  bank  books,  aud  at  the 
present  time  there  are  4,500  open  accounts.  The  board  of  trustees 
of  this  bauk  are  as  follows: 

R.  T.  Cornwell,  kS.  D.  Ramsey,  Henry  C.  Baldwin, 

L.  J.  Brower,  Wallace  S.  Harlan,       J.  Frank  E.  Hause, 

Davis  W.  Entriken,      :Marsliall  H.  Matlack,  Joseph  S.  Evans, 
Lewis  C.  Moses,  Alfred  P.  Reid,  Geo.  Morris  Philips, 

J.  Preston  Thomas,       Plummer  E.  Jefferis,  Addison  Jones, 
William  P.  Marshall,  Michael  J.  Murphy,       Elislia  G.  Cloud, 
J.  Comly  Hall,  Thos.  E.  Parke,  M.  D.  Evan  T.  Pennock. 

The  National  Bank  of  West  Grove  was  organized  in  1882,  with 
a  capital  of  150,000.  The  officers  have  been  as  follows:  President, 
Samuel  K.  Chambers;  cashier,  Walter  W.  BroAvn;  vice-presidents^ 


728  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Samuel  C.  Kent,  1882-94;  Menander  Wood,  1804-97;  Robert  L.  Tyle, 
1897  to  the  present  time.  The  first  board  of  directors  was  as  fol- 
lows: Samuel  K.  Chambers,  KSamuel  C.  Kent,  Henry  Cope,  Charles 
Diugee,  David  IMercer,  Ivobert  T>.  Pylc,  'William  11.  I'yle,  Mordecai 
y.  Taylor  and  Menander  Wood.  The  present  board  is  as  foUous: 
Samuel  K.  (lluDubeJ's,  Henry  Cope,  Alfred  F.  Couard,  Joel  P. 
Conard,  Alouzo  B.  Criswell,  William  B.  Harvey,  David  Mercer, 
Robert  L.  Pyle  and  Emmor  B.  Wood. 

The  bank  is  located  on  Exchange  Place,  owns  its  building, 
and  rents  rooms  to  the  postottice  authorities  and  to  private  parties. 
The  capital  remains  as  at  first,  tlie  surplus  is  |22,000,  deposits, 
1125,000,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  first  six  months,  a  dividend 
of  three  per  cent,  has  been  declared  semi-annually. 

The  National  Bank  of  Avcmdale  was  established  June  25,  1891, 
with  the  same  officers  as  at  present,  except  the  vice-president,  viz.: 
Samuel  Wickersham,  president;  M.  B.  Kent,  vice-president,  and  E. 
Pusey  Passmore,  cashier,  then  the  youngest  cashier  in  the  State. 
The  vice-president  since  1891  has  been  W.  J.  Pusey.  The  first 
board  of  directors  was  as  follows:  S.  Wickersham,  S.  John  Pyle, 
W.  J.  Pusey,  M.  B.  Kent,  Edwin  C.  Cloud,  Augustus  Brosius,  Will- 
iam \A'illard,  Harry  C.  Taylor,  1.  Frank  Chandler,  A\'.  F.  \'ernou 
iind  Z.  Lamborn. 

The  present  board  is  as  follows:  S.  Wickersham,  W.  J.  Pusey, 
S.  John  Pyle,  Augustus  Brosius,  B.  H.  Chambers,  Samuel  Sharp- 
less,  William  Willard,  Tliomas  H.  Marvel,  M.  G.  Brosius,  John  T. 
Alexander,  and  Solomon  J.  Pusey. 

The  bank  building,  one  of  the  most  neat  and  elegant  little 
buildings  in  the  county,  stands  on  Pennsylvania,  No.  116.  It  is  of 
Avondale  limestone,  and  cost  |13,000.  There  is  in  it  a  safety  deposit 
vault  of  uKidern  construction,  whicji  contains  seventy-two  boxers 
which  rent  from  .|2.50  to  |G  per  annum.  The  business  was  trans- 
ferred to  this  new  building,  ^\  liicli  is  heated  by  a  water  heater,  in 
October,  189G.     The  capital  of  this  bank  is  as  at  first,  150,000,  the 


AXD     /7W     PEOPLE.  729 

surplus  ou  May  5, 1898,  was  |15,000,  the  deposits  then  amounted  to 
1127,000,  and  beginning  in  1891,  it  has  declared  a  dividend  of  two 
and  a  half  per  oent.  semi-amiually. 

Tlie  Farmers'  National  Bank  of  West  Chester  was  organized 
December  5,  18S2,  and  was  chartered  January  11,  1883,  with  a  capi- 
tal of  .$100,000.  It  commenced  business  in  a  rented  room  in  the 
building  standing  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Market  and  High 
.Streets,  West  Chester,  but  purchased  the  building  January  1,  1897. 
Its  presidents  have  been  as  folhiws:  Samuel  Butler,  H.  B.  Buckwal- 
ter  and  A.  P.  Hall,  and  its  casliier  has  been  and  is  William  Dowlin. 
The  directors  at  the  present  time  are  J.  M.  Baker,  A.  P.  Hall,  11.  F. 
Hooi)es,  Levi  G.  McCauley,  Thomas  W.  Baldwin,  Jesse  Darlington, 
John  E.  Huey,  H.  P.  Worth  and  Samuel  R.  Downing.  The  capital 
remains  as  at  the  beginning  and  the  sui'plus  is  now  f  15,350. 

The  National  Bank  of  Keuuett  Square  was  authorized  to  begin 
the  business  of  banking  by  certificate  dated  May  16,  1881.  The 
first  board  of  directors  was  Jolin  Marshall,  Tliomas  Marshall, 
George  B.  Sharpe,  J.  Mitchell  Baker,  Elbvood  Micheuer,  Thomas 
J.  Webb,  Ezra  L.  Baily  and  William  Press.  The  first  president 
was  John  Marsliall,  and  the  first  cashier  D.  Duer  Philips.  On  May 
23,  1885,  John  Marshall  died,  and  uas  succeeded  by  Edward  B. 
Darlington,  who  is  still  president.  The  capital  stock  of  the  bank 
has  been  increased  to  |100,000,  the  deposits  amount  to  from  $210,- 
000  to  $250,000,  and  the  bank  is  in  an  uuusually  prosperous  con- 
dition. 

Tile  National  Bank  of  Coatesville  was  established  March  0, 
1889,  and  began  business  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month  with  a 
capital  of  .flOO,000.  Ou  April  1,  1889,  the  erection  of  the 
present  handsome  brownstone  structure  occupied  by  tliis  bank 
and  the  postoffice  was  begun,  and  by  October  1  of  the  same  year 
it  was  ready  for  occupancy.  The  first  board  of  trustees  of  tliis 
bank  was  as  follows:  Samuel  Greenwood,  president,  W.  P.  Worth, 
James  B.  W^right,  J.  S.  Worth,  J.  W.  Boyle,  K.  W.  Schrack,  Joseph 


730  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Beale,  Joliu  Gillillau,  and  O.  A.  Boyle.  The  cashier  has  been  M.  W. 
Powuall  since  the  establishment  of  the  institution. 

The  National  Bank  of  Spring  City  was  organized  Jnly  23,  1872, 
with  directors  as  follows:  Casper  S.  Francis,  Charles  Peters,  Ben- 
jamin Prizer,  Jacob  Chrismau,  John  Stanffer,  Benjamin  Bambo, 
A.  D.  Ilunsicker,  John  X.  Miller,  and  Charles  Tyson.  The  first 
president  of  this  bank  was  Casper  S.  Francis,  and  the  first  cashier, 
John  T.  Eachns.  The  capital  originally  was  |100,000,  but  in  1873 
it  was  increased  to  |150,000.  The  second  president  of  the  bank 
was  Daniel  Latshaw,  and  the  third  and  present  one,  A.  P.  Fritz. 
The  second  and  present  cashier  was  W.  J.  Wagoner.  The  directors 
of  this  bank  at  tlie  present  time  are  A.  P.  Fritx,  Davis  Kuauer,  Dr. 
W.  Brower,  Daniel  B.  Latshaw,  Edward  Browuback,  Miltcm  Lat- 
shaw, Franklin  March  and  P.  W.  BroAvuback. 

The  Farmers'  and  Meclianics'  National  Bank  of  PlKenixville 
was  incorporated  February  5, 1872,  with  a  capital  of  |50,000,  which 
in  1871  was  increased  to  |150,000.  The  first  board  of  directors  was 
composed  of  Elias  Oberholtzer,  Newton  Evans,  Matthias  C.  Penny- 
packer,  Hyram  H.  Stover,  Abraham  Grater,  Andrew  Tyson,  J.  D. 
Wismer,  and  Jesse  Gabel.  The  first  president  was  Elias  Ober- 
holtzer, who  died  December  17,  1S7().  John  Kennedy  succeeded 
him  and  died  September  4,  1877.  Aaron  H.  Stover  then  became 
president  and  held  the  office  until  February,  1887;  John  Detwiler 
was  president  until  1889;  J.  Thomas  F.  Hunter  until  1801,  and  tlie 
present  president,  I.  J.  Brower,  was  elected  January  \7t,  1891. 

The  first  cashier  was  J.  Newton  Evans,  who  was  succeeded 
in  the  office  July  1,  1875,  by  J.  Theodore  F.  Hunter  who  held  the 
office  until  1887;  George  K.  Poberts,  until  1890;  I).  W.  Brower,  uutil 
1892,  and  H.  A.  Jenks,  the  present  cashier,  was  elected  January 
11,  1892.  Harry  W.  Brower  is  now  teller  in  the  bank.  This  bank 
was  re-organized  in  1891,  placed  under  new  management  and  since 
then  it  has  had  a  very  successful  career.  The  present  board  of 
directors  is  as  follows:  I.  J.  Brower,  Mahlon  Miller,  Isaac  Detwiler, 


AND     IT^     PEOPLE.  t^si 


Hiram  Biukwalter,  J.  G.  Detwiler,  E.  L.  Bmkwalter,  J.  II.  Jolm- 
son,  H.  F.  Ralston  and  Amos  G.  Gotwals. 

The  National  Bank  of  Pbd'uixville.  The  tirst  attempt  to  estab- 
lish a  bank  in  Ph(euixA-ille  was  in  1852,  when  Messrs.  Peunypacker, 
xSherwood,  Kreamer,  Bonner,  AVbeatley,  Xicliolas  Bean  and  Joseph 
^^'hitake^  organized  themselves  into  sneh  an  institution;  but  the 
Legislature  refused  to  grant  a  charter,  and  the  attempt  was  aban- 
doned. 

The  next  attempt  was  made  in  1S5(>,  which  resulted  in  the 
organization  of  the  Bank  of  Phoenixville  March  12,  1859,  the  first 
board  of  directors  being  Joseph  J.  Tustin,  William  M.  Taylor, 
Nicholas  Bean,  Daniel  Latshaw,  Nathan  T.  MacVeagh,  Jolm  Mor- 
gan, Levi  B.  Kaler,  N.  M.  Ellis,  Benjamin  Prizer,  William  ]M. 
Stephens,  Isaac  Chrisman  and  Daniel  Bucher.  The  first  president 
was  Samuel  Buckwalter,  and  the  first  cashier,  Jacob  B.  Morgan, 
who  resigned  in  1890,  and  was  succeeded  by  Horace  Lloyd,  who  has 
held  the  office  ever  since. 

This  bank  on  December  30,  18G4,  organized  as  the  National 
Bank  of  Phcenixville,  with  the  following  directors:  Samuel  Buck- 
waiter,  John  Morgan,  Samuel  Kreamer,  Samuel  Moses,  Jacob  B. 
Landis,  Henry  Fink,  Casper  S.  Francis,  Joel  Fink,  Levi  Prizer,  and 
C.  B.  Heebner.  The  first  president  of  the  bank,  Samuel  Buck- 
waiter,  held  the  position  until  his  death,  his  successor,  Henry 
Loucks,  being  elected  March  18,  1869,  and  holding  the  office  until 
January,  1890,  and  was  succeeded  by  P.  G.  Carey  who  held  the 
office  until  his  death,  in  June,  1897,  and  then  L.  B.  Kaler,  the  pres- 
ent official,  succeeded  him. 

The  capital  of  this  bank  was  originally  |100,000,  but  it  was  in- 
creased from  time  to  time  until  it  became  $200,000.  At  first  the 
business  was  conducted  in  a  dwelling-house,  but  a  commodious 
banking-house  was  afterward  erected,  which  has  all  the  modern 
appliances  for  convenience  and  safety.  This  bank  has  a  surplus 
of  150,000,  and  for  many  j'ears  has  paid  its  stockholders  a  semi- 
annual dividend  of  four  per  cent. 


732  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  Phcpnix  Mutual  Fire  Insiirauce  Company  was  incorporat- 
ed Xovember  8,  1875,  its  tirst  president  being  W.  W.  Waitneight 
and  first  secretary,  George  M.  Bishop.  The  business  of  the  com- 
pany has  always  been  conducted  in  a  careful  and  conservative  man- 
ner, and  has  in  consequence  been  eminently  successful.  It  has 
paid  losses  by  fire  aggregating  |151,120,  and  has  averaged  only 
one  assessment  a  year.  The  officers  at  the  present  time  are  as 
follows:  George  M.  Bishop,  president;  P.  Strode  Brown,  secretary, 
and  G.  C.  Browubaclv,  treasurer.  Tlie  directors  are  as  follows: 
George  M.  Bishop,  Plujenixville;  A.  E.  Eachus,  Pha'nixvilie;  Daniel 
Eixstine,  Phoenixville;  L.  R.  Walters,  Phoenixville;  Abraham  Det- 
wiler,  Pbcenixville;  H.  Pratt,  Coatesville;  Gideon  S.  Moore,  Mil- 
foi'd  Mills;  John  Eees,  Aldham;  Daniel  Schlipp,  8t.  Peters;  John 
White,  Honeybrook;  Jcdin  T.  Comly  Jenkintown;  E.  Kranser,  Nor- 
ristown;  L.  P.  G.  Fegley,  Boyertown,  Pa. 

The  Phoenix  Mutual  Storm  Insurance  Company  of  Phoenix- 
ville was  chartered  July  30,  188G,  for  the  purpose  of  insuring 
property  against  losses  by  wind,  hail  and  lightning;  and  also  cro|)s 
in  the  field,  glass  in  houses  and  hothouses  against  loss  by  hail. 
Many  people  are  protecting  their  property  against  losses  of  this 
nature  by  insuring  in  this  company.  Its  officers  and  directors  are 
as  follows:  Hon.  D.  F.  Moore,  president;  P.  Strode  BroAvu  sec- 
retary, and  Abraham  Detwiler,  treasurer.  The  directors  are:  Hon. 
D.  F.  Moore,  Phoenixville;  Daniel  Rixstine,  Phoenix ville;  Abraham 
Detwiler,  Phoenixville;  P.  Strode  Brown,  Phoenixville;  Harry 
Pratt,  Coatesville;  Jacob  Emery,  Chester  Springs;  John  White, 
East  Earl;  L.  P.  G.  Fegley,  BoyertoAvn;  Joseph  Kelso,  Douglass- 
ville;  Heni'y  Wamsher,  Mcmocacy;  Daniel  Schlipp,  Smedley;  John 
Comly,  Jenkintown;  Jonathan  Bees,  Aldham. 

The  Penn  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Chester  County 
was  incorporated  August  14,  18(57,  and  its  first  policy  was  issued 
January  1, 1868.  The  first  board  of  directors  was  as  follows:  Will- 
iam P.  Towuseud,  William  Darlington,   Washing-ton   Townsend, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  733 

Elijah  F.  Pcunypaoker,  Isaac  Hayes,  William  AViiulle,  Levi  U. 
Croiise,  John  D.  Worth,  E.  Haines  Passmore,  Jonathau  Koberts, 
Pennock  E.  Marshall,  and  George  C.  M.  Eioholtz.  The  first  of- 
ficers were  William  P.  Townsend,  president;  Elijah  F.  Penny- 
packer,  vice-president;  and  Enoch  Harlan,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
The  succeeding  presidents  have  been  as  follows:  William  Windle, 
January,  1870,  to  January,  1877;  J.  Smith  Fut.hey,  until  February, 
1879;  Elijah  F.  Pennypacker,  until  1887;  Edwin  James,  until  1892; 
and  Alfred  P.  Keid,  from  1892  until  the  present  time. 

Enoch  Harlan  remained  secretary  and  treasurer  until  his 
death  in  the  summer  of  1872,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Thomas  W.  Harlan,  who  resigned  in  July,  1873.  He  was  succeeded 
by  George  M.  Eupert,  who  held  the  office  until  1884,  and  was  then 
succeeded  by  Barclay  Lear,  the  present  secretary,  the  two  offices 
being  separated  in  1884,  William  P.  Sharpless  becoming  treasurer 
and  serving  until  1891,  when  Plummer  E.  Jefferis  was  elected  and 

still  holds  the  position. 

The  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Chester  County,  lo- 
cated in  Coatesville,  was  incorporated  April  21,  1810,  and  \\'as  or- 
ganized on  May  16  followiug,  at  the  public  house  of  Hayes  Clark  in 
Doe  Eun  village.  Joseph  M.  Thompson  was  elected  its  first  presi- 
dent; Amos  Fredd,  treasurer,  and  Enoch  Harlan,  secretary.  On 
October  5,  1810,  business  was  commenced  with  fire  risks  to  the 
amount  of  .f;iOO,000,  but  the  company  was  without  a  permanent 
office  until  18(30,  the  directors  in  the  meantime  meeting  in  various 
places  throughout  the  county.  During  the  summer  of  1800  a 
building  was  erected  in  Coatesville,  at  which  place  the  business  of 
the  company  has  since  been  conducted.  This  building  was  iised 
until  189(5,  when  the  present  commodious  structure  was  erected. 

Commencing  with  policies  to  the  amount  of  |100,000  the  com- 
pany had  policies  out  January  1, 1898,  to  the  amount  of  |31,070,211, 
and  the  total  amount  of  losses  paid  by  the  company  up  to  the 
same  date  was  .|1,C55,610.11,  while  the  amount  received  for  assess- 


734 


CHESTER     COUNTY 


ments  was  -f  1,800,559.87.    Xo  extra  assessment  has  ever  been  made. 

The  Storm  Department  of  the  company  was  organized  in  1890, 
and  on  December,  1896,  it  had  in  force  insurance  to  the  amount 
of  11,708,542. 

The  following  oflficers  have  served  the  company  since  its  or- 
ganization: 


PRESIDENTS. 

Jos.  M.  Thompson, 

Morris  Cope, 

Solomon  Lukens, 

Moses  Whitson, 

Charles  Downing, 

Smedley    Darlington    to    fill    unexpired    term    of    Chas. 

Downing,  dec'd. 
Enoch  Harlan,  to  April,  1864 

Jacob  Edge,  from  April,  1864    to    1868 


from 

1840 

to    1844 

« 

1844 

"     1848 

a 

1848 

"     1850 

n 

1850 

"     1853 

(I 

1853 

"     1863 

Wm.  W.  Eachus, 

1808 

a 

1869 

Archimides  Eobb, 

1869 

a 

1876 

Levis  Peunock,  Jr., 

1876 

a 

1880 

Abraham  Gibbons, 

1880 

a 

1894 

John  P.  Edge, 

1894 

a 

date. 

SECRETARIES. 

Enoch  Harlan, 

from 

1840 

to 

1863 

Caleb  H.  Bradley, 

(I 

1863 

(( 

1880 

Isaac  Spackman, 

t( 

1880 

a 

1895 

Briutou  Cooper,  Ass't, 

a 

1880 

a 

1895 

B.  P.  Cooper,  Sec'y, 

(C 

1895 

it 

date. 

Thos.  Speckman,  Ass't  Sec'y, 

a 

1895 

it 

date 

TREASURERS. 

Amos  Fredd, 

from 

1840 

to 

1841 

Morris  Cope, 

a 

1841 

a 

1844 

AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  735 

Jos.  M.  Thompson, 

Henry  G.  Thomas, 

John  A.  Eeynolds, 

Dr.  fTiarles  Huston, 

Levis  Pennock,  Jr., 

Alexander  Mode, 

Wm.  H.  Ridgway, 

John  M.  Lindsay,  of  Bryn  Mawr,  appointed  a  receiver  in  1857, 
and  surveyor  in  1862,  still  holds  both  positions,  having  served  for 
a  longer  term  than  any  other  of  the  present  officers. 

Moses  Rambo  was  elected  manager  in  1869,  and  still  holds 
the  office. 


PEOPLE. 

<( 

1844 

(( 

1854 

ct 

1854 

« 

1867 

tt 

1867 

« 

1874 

(I 

1874 

a 

1881 

« 

1881 

i< 

1887 

« 

1887 

i< 

1894 

u 

1894 

u 

date. 

43 


CHAPTER  XVIll. 

RELIGION. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

RELIGION — THE  EARLIEST  CHURCHES — NAMES  OF  PASTORS — THEIR  METHODS  OF 

INSTRUCTION — THE     FRIENDS — THEIR     VARIOUS    SOCIETIES — DIVISION     IN 

THEIR     RANKS  —  THE    CATHOLICS — THEIR    GROWTH     AND     PRESENT 

STRENGTH  — THE     PRESBYTERIANS — BAPTISTS — METHODISTS — 

EPISCOPALIANS — REV.      MR.      USSHER — LUTHERANS — OTHER 

DENOMINATIONS  —  SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  —  CHARACTER 

OF    PASTORS — BUILDINGS    AND   STATISTICS. 

IN  writing  the  history  of  religion  in  Chester  County  it  is  not 
deemed  necessarj'  to  go  fui-ther  back  into  the  history  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  PenDS.Alvania  than  about  the  time  when  WiJliam  Penn 
landed  upon  the  Delaware,  in  1082.  Tben  tliere  were  churches  at 
Christina,  New  Castle,  Wicaco  and  Tinicum.  The  church  at  Chris- 
tina was  built  soon  after  the  arrival  of  Minuit,  the  date  of  which 
has  already-  been  given.  Kev.  lieorus  Torkillus  was  the  first  min- 
ister to  begin  the  performance  of  his  duties,  probably  in  1040.  A 
handsome  frame  church  building  was  erected  on  Tinicum  Island 
by  Governor  Printz,  which  was  de<iicated  in  September,  1040.  The 
first  pastor  here  was  the  Kev.  John  Campanius.  In  what  is  now 
Houthwark,  Philadelphia,  there  stood  in  1682  a  small  bhxk-house, 
which  appears  to  have  been  fiii^t  used  for  religious  purposes  in 
1077,  the  fir-st  ser-mon  therein  having  been  delivered  on  Ti'inity 
Hunday,  that  year.  In  1007  the  peoide  of  Christina  and  New  Castle 
united  in  the  building  of  a  church  at  Cranehook,  half  way  between 
the  two  i)Iaces.  During  or  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  Governor  Printz,  llev.  Lars  Carlsson  L<x>ck,  Iie\'.  Israel 
Holgh,  and  j>erhaps  a  few  otliei-s,  came  from  Kweden.  Dominie 
Loock  had  charge  of  two  congregations,  that  at  Christina  and  that 
at  Tinicum.  Kev.  Petrus  Laurentii  Hjort  and  Rev.  Mathias  Nico- 
lai  Nertimius  came  over  with  Governor  Kisingh  in  1054,  but  left 
with  him  The  next  year.     Rev.  Evai^lus  \\'elius,  a  Dutch  minister, 

739 


740  CHESTER     COUNTY 

iu  1657  came  to  New  Castle  and  relieved  Pieterseu  of  bis  pastoral 
duties.  Pietersen  remained  thereafter  simply  "fore-singer,  zieken- 
trooster,  and  deacon." 

For  some  years  the  necessity  for  religious  instruction  was 
greatly  felt  as  those  who  had  come  over  from  Europe,  as  mentioned 
above,  grew  old  and  sick,  unable  to  perform  their  usual  duties,  and 
for  some  time  thei*e  was  not  one  active  Swedish  clergyman  in  the 
province,  none  but  lay  readers.  At  Tinicum  Church  Anders 
Beng-tson,  an  old  man,  sat  and  read  postils,  and  at  Christina, 
Charles  Springer,  a  Swede  who  had  been  a  slave  in  A'^irgiuia,  read 
to  the  congregation.  But  at  length  under  Charles  XI.,  King  of 
Sweden,  missionaries  and  books  were  supplied  at  the  expense  of 
the  government,  and  aftei'T\'ard,  between  1G96  and  1786,  not  less 
than  twenty-four  miuisters  were  sent  out  by  Sweden  to  the  settlers 
on  the  Delaware. 

Rev.  John  Campanius  was  pastor  at  Tinicum  from  1612  to 
1648,  spent  much  time  in  missionary  work  among  the  Delaware  In- 
dians, and  according  to  his  own  account  converted  many  of  them 
to  Christianity.  He  studied  Indian  languages,  and  framed  a 
vocabuhuy  of  the  Delaware  language,  into  which  he  translated  for 
the  benefit  of  that  nation  Luther's  Shorter  Catechism. 

Dr.  Smith  in  his  History  of  DelaAvare  County  says:  "This 
year''  (1668)  "a  Swedish  church  was  erected  at  Crane  Hook,  at 
Avhich  Mr.  Loock  officiated,  as  well  as  at  the  church  at  Tinicum." 
This  has  reference  to  the  church  built,  as  stated  above,  in  1667. 
Cn  April  13,  1671,  according  to  the  same  authority,  a.  pass  was 
granted  "to  the  Magister  Jacobus  Fabritius,  pastor  of  the  Lutheran 
confession,"  to  go  to  New  Castle.  Mr.  Fabritius  became  the  first 
pastor  at  Wicaco. 

In  1675  Itev.  William  Edmundson,  a  minister  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  traveled  through  this  new  country  and  found  Robert 
Wade  settled  at  Upland,  and  at  Mr.  Wade's  house,  a  few  other 
Friends  having  been  collected,  Mr.  Edmundson  held  a  meeting, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  .741 

after  wLich  they  weut  in  a  boat  to  Salem,  where  they  met  with 
John  Fenwick  and  a  few  Friends,  who  that  year  had  come  from 
England  with  John  Feuwiclc.  These  names  are  especially  note- 
,  worthy,  for  Robert  Wade  and  John  Fenwick,  who,  together  with 
other  Friends  who  in  1675  came  from  England,  were  the  first  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends  that  settled  within  the  limits  of 
ancient  Chester  County,  or  even  within  the  limits  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania,  and  this  meeting  at  Eobert  Wade's  house 
was  the  first  meeting  of  Friends  within  the  county  or  common- 
wealth. And,  of  course,  the  Eev.  William  Edmundson  was  the 
fii'st  minister  of  that  Society  to  hold  a  meeting  within  the  county. 
Eobert  Wade  was  a  purchaser  of  land  from  John  Fenwick.  While 
there  were  doubtless  several  other  meetings  within  the  county 
earlier  than  1681,  yet  there  is  no  record  of  any  such  meeting  in 
Pennsylvania  before  that  year,  the  first  minute  being  as  follows: 

"The  10th  day  of  the  11th  month,  1681.  A  monthly  meeting 
of  Friends  belonging  to  Marcus-hook,  alias  Chester  and  Upland, 
held  at  the  house  of  Eobert  Wade." 

Meetings  were  held  alteraately  at  the  places  above  mentioned 
and  were  but  one  monthly  meeting;  but  later  the  meeting  at 
Eobert  Wade's  became  Chester  Monthly  Meeting,  and  that  at  Mar- 
cus Hook,  though  at  first  calld  the  Chichester  Monthly  Meeting, 
became  at  length  merged  in  the  Concord  Meeting. 
)/(^H^UJ-(fe^(According  to  Dr.  Smith  the  only  Friends  or  Qimkers  who  were 
heads  of  families  settled  at  Chester  and  Marcus  Hook,  at  the  time 
of  the  arrival  of  the  first  vessel  sent  out  by  ^^'illiam  Penn,  were  as 
follows:  Eobert  Wade,  Eoger  Pedrick,  Morgan  Drewet,  William 
Woodmanson,  Michael  Izzard,  Thomas  Eevel,  Henry  Hastings, 
William  Oxley,  James  Browne,  Henry  Eeynolds  and  Thomas  Nos- 
siter. 

But  it  would  be  scarcely  proper  to  pass  over  the  Eev.  William 
Edmundson  without  further  mention.  He  is  spoken  of  as  an  "emi- 
nent minister  of  the  Friends,"  and  in  1675-77  made  a  missionary' 


742 


CHESTER     COVNTTi 


tour  along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Ehode  Island  to  the  Caro- 
linas,  stopping  on  the  way  at  several  places,  holding  meetings 
with  the  Friends  and  taking  part  in  several  controversies  upon 
religious  doctrines  with  ministers  and  others  of  other  denomina- 
tions, according  as  he  was  moved  "by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

Inasmuch  as  the  central  idea,  thought  or  principle  of  the 
religion  of  the  Friends  has  had  a  most  powerful  effect  upon  the 
civilization  of  Pennsylvania,  and  other  colonies  and  later  States,. 
and  so  upon  the  entire  country,  in  its  educational,  religious  and 
civil  history,  it  is  not  only  proper  but  actually  necessary  to  present 
in  as  clear  light  as  possible  that  central  thought  or  doctrine  in  this 
connection.  And  it  will  doubtless  be  more  entertainingly  and  in- 
sti'uctively  presented  in  the  language  of  this  eminent  minister  of 
the  Friends  as  he  was  holding  an  argument  with  a  certain  minister 
of  another  religious  society. 

After  describing  his  expulsion  from  a  "Worship-House"  and 
his  removal  under  guard  to  the  "Guard  Firelocks  upon  the  Hill," 
in  New  Hertford,  Connecticut,  he  says: 

"So  that  the  officer  who  had  me  in  charge  first  complained  of 
the  sharpness  of  the  weather,  and  askt  me,  How  I  could  endure  the 
Gold?  For  he  was  very  cold.  I  told  him  It  was  the  Entertain- 
ment, that  their  great  Professors  of  Religion  in  New  England,  af- 
forded a  stranger,  and  yet  professed  the  Scriptures  to  be  their 
rule,  which  commanded  to  entertain  strangers,  and  besides  they 
had  drawn  my  blood,  &c.  *  *  *  Then  he  took  me  to  an  Inn, 
and  presently  the  room  was  filled  with  Professors,  much  discourse 
we  had,  and  the  Lord  strengthened  me,  and  by  his  Spirit  brought 
many  passages  of  Scripture  to  my  Eemembrance;  so  that  Truth's 
Testimony  was  over  them.  As  one  company  went  away,  another 
came. 

"When  they  were  foiled  a  Preacher  amongst  the  Baptists  took 
up  the  argument  against  Tinitli,  charging  Friends  with  holding  a 
great  error,  (Avhich  was)  That  every  Man  had  a  Measure  of  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  745 

Spirit  of  Clirist,  and  would  know  if  I  held  tlie  same  Error?  I  told 
him,  that  was  no  Error,  for  tlie  Scriptures  witnessed  to  it  plenti- 
fully: he  said,  he  denied  that  the  World  had  received  a  Measure 
of  the  Spirit,  but  Believers  had  received  it.  I  told  him,  that  the 
Apostle  said,  a  Manifestation  of  the  Spirit  was  given  to  every  owe,, 
to  profit  with  all;  he  said,  that  was  meant  to  every  one  of  the  Be- 
lievers. I  told  him,  Christ  had  enlightened  every  one  that  came 
into  tlie  World,  with  the  Light  of  his  Spirit;  he  said,  that  was^ 
every  one  (►f  the  Believers  that  came  into  the  World:  and  as  I 
brought  him  Scriptures,  he  still  applied  them  to  the  Believers,, 
saying,  there  was  the  Ground  of  our  Error,  in  applying  that  to 
every  Man,  which  properly  belonged  to  Believers.  Then  the 
Lord  by  his  good  Spirit  brought  to  my  mind  the  Promise  of  our 
Saviour,  (when  he  told  his  Disciples  of  his  going  away,)  that  he 
would  send  the  Comforter,  the  Spirit  of  Tiiith,  that  should  con- 
vince the  World  of  Siu,  and  should  guide  his  Disciples  into  all 
Truth;  thus  the  same  Spirit  of  Trath,  that  leads  Believers  intc^ 
all  Truth,  convinces  the  World  of  Sin.  So  thou  must  grant,  that 
all  have  received  it,  or  else  show  from  the  Scriptures  a  SELECT 
Number  of  Believers,  and  besides  them  a  WOKLD  of  Believers,, 
that  hath  the  Spirit,  also  another  WORLD  of  Unbelievers,  that 
hath  no  Measure  of  the  Spirit  to  convince  them  of  Sin. 

"Here  the  Ijord's  Testimony  came  over  him,  so  that  he  was 
stopped,  and  many  sober  Profesvsors,  who  staid  to  see  tlie  end, 
acquiesced  therewith,  and  said,  indeed  Mr.  Rogers,  the  Man  is  iu 
the  right;  for  you  must  find  a  SELECT  Number  of  Believers,  be- 
sides a  WORLD  that  hath  a  Measure  of  the  Spirit,  that  convinces^ 
them  of  Siu,  and  a  WORLD  that  hath  not  the  Spirit,  so  not  con- 
vinced of  Sin.     This  thou  must  do  or  grant  the  argument. 

"He  was  silent  and  the  people  generally  satisfied  in  that  mat- 
ter, their  Understandings  being  opened :  so  they  took  their  Leave 
of  me  very  lovingly,  it  being  late  in  the  Night."* 


*The  passage  of  Scripture  on  which  the  Friends  rely  to  sustain  this  doctrine  of 
the  Light  of  the  Spirit,  or  the  Inner  Light,  is  as  follows:  "  That  was  the  true  light 
that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world."    John  1,  9. 


744  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Tliis  doctrine  of  the  luuer  Light  is  still  entertained  by  and 
is  still  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Friends.  In  an  address 
delivered  in  West  Chester,  Februarv  1,  1898,  John  J.  Cornell  of 
Baltimore,  a  leading  Friend,  said  that  he  had  heard  the  silent 
nxouitor  within  address  him  im  the  "First  day  morning  last,  the 
vommand  being  'Go  to  West  Chester  on  Second  day."  "  And  as 
he  made  it  a  rule  to  obey  this  voice  he  had  come,  and  the  passage 
of  Scripture  suggesting  itself  to  him  was  "What  shall  I  do  to  be 
saved?"  In  answer  to  this  (question  he  said  that  obedience  to 
the  inner  voice  to  the  highest  expression  of  what  is  right,  is  that 
which  will  bring  salvation.  He  said  that  a  man  needs  not  so 
much  a  pardon  at  the  close  of  life  for  errors  committed  while  he 
lived  a.s  he  does  guardianship  during  life  that  will  keep  him 
from  error.  To  keep  him  from  error  is  the  mission  of  the  inner 
light,  and  if  a  man  be  preserved  from  sin  in  the  present  life  he 
will  have  no  sin  to  atone  for  at  the  end  of  life.  This  is  the  sub- 
stance of  Mr.  Corneirs  remarks  on  the  Inner  Light.  William 
Penn's  idea  as  to  religious  liberty  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  from  his  "Frame  of  (xovernmenf: 

"That  all  persons  living  in  this  Province,  who  confe.ss  and 
acknowledge  the  one  almighty  and  eternal  God  to  be  the  creator, 
upholder  and  ruler  of  the  world,  and  that  hold  themselves  obliged 
in  conscience  to  live  peaceably  and  justly  in  civil  society,  shall  in 
no  ways  be  molested  or  prejudiced  for  their  religious  persuasion  or 
practice  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship,  nor  shall  they  he  com- 
pelled at  any  time  to  frequent  or  maintain  any  religious  worship, 
place  or  ministry  whatever." 

While  this  for  the  times  in  which  it  was  promulgated  was 
very  broad  and  liberal,  much  more  so  than  were  the  laws  laid 
down  for  the  government  of  religious  matters  in  most  of  the  other 
colonies,  yet  it  is,  as  will  be  noticed,  not  without  qualification.  And 
it  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Friends  regarding  religious  liberty  and 
peace  on  earth  and  good-will  toward  men  that  drew  so  large  a 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  745 

number  of  ijeople  from  opj^ression  in  Europe,  who  entertained  such 
a  great  variety  of  opinion  on  religious  matters,  to  this  province, 
and  this  great  variety  of  opinion  would  have  made  religious  tolera- 
tion a  necessity,  even  had  there  been  any  disf»osition  on  the  part 
of  the  government  or  of  any  one  denomination  to  interfere.  The 
Friends,  however,  remained  in  the  majority  as  to  numbers  up 
to  the  time  of  the  IJevolutionary  War,  yet  there  were  many  repre- 
sentatives of  the  German  sects,  as  Mennoniter«,  Bunkers,  Amish, 
etc.,  and  also  Episcopalians,  Lutherans,  Presbyterians,  Baptist.s, 
Catholics,  etc. 

It  is  with  these  various  denominations  that  this  hist<jry  ha.s 
now  to  treat.  Among  the  Friends  meetings  wer-e  at  first  held 
in  private  houses;  but  at  length,  as  soon  as  their  numbers  had 
sufficiently  increa.sed,  they  erected  small,  plain  buildings,  usually 
of  logs,  which  plain  buildings  were  used  for  religious  or  educa- 
tional purposes,  or  both.  Among  the  oldest  of  these  buildings 
in  what  was  once  Chester  County,  but  which  is  now  Delaware 
County,  were  those  at  Springfield,  Providence,  Middletown, 
Radnor  and  Xewtown,  and  the  oldest  in  what  is  now  Chester 
County  were  at  Goshen,  Uwchlan,  Cain,  Kennett,  Birmingham, 
Nottingham,  West  Nottingham,  New  Garden,  London  Grove,  Brad- 
ford and  Valley. 

"Meetings"  among  the  Friends  are  of  several  kinds.  The 
Preparative  Meetings  consist  of  one  or  more  meetings  for  wor- 
ship. The  Monthly  Meetings  consist  of  one  or  more  Preparative 
Meetings.  The  Quarterly  Meetings  consi.st  of  one  or  more  Monthly 
Meetings.  The  Yearly  Meetings  consist  of  several  Quarterly 
Meetings.  The  Monthly  Meetings  are  the  principal  executive 
branch  of  the  Society. 

As  nearly  all  of  the  Meetings  within  the  limits  of  Chester 
County  belong  to  the  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  the  date  of  the 
organization  of  that  meeting  is  here  given,  16SL  The  Meetings  in 
both  Delaware  and  Chester  Counties  which  belong  to  this  Yearh 


746  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Meeting,  are  here  i)reseuted,  those  in  Dehxware  County  having  been 
in  Chester  County  when  established. 

Philadelphia  Quarterly  Meeting,  1682;  Haverford  Monthly 
Meeting,  1G84;  Haverford  Meeting,  1G83;  Radnor,  1686;  Valley 
1714. 

Chester  (Concord)  Quarterly  meeting,  1683;  Chester  Monthly 
Meeting,  KiSl;  Chester  Meeting,  IGTii;  Springfield,  1686;  Provi- 
dence, 1696;  Middletown,  1686. 

•Darby  Monthly  Meeting,  1684;  Darby  Meeting,  1683  (?). 

Concord  Monthly  Meeting,  1684;  Chichester  Meeting,  1683; 
Concord,  1685. 

The  dates  of  the  organization  of  the  several  Meetings  in  the 
present  Cliester  County  are  as  follows: 

Goshen  Monthly  Meeting,  1722;  Goshen  Meeting,  1702;  New- 
town (Delaware  County),  1696;  Willistown,  1784;  Whiteland,  1816^ 
Malvern,  1880. 

Birmingham  Monthly  Meeting,  1815;  Birmingham  Meeting, 
1690;  West  Chester,  1810. 

Wester  Quarterly  Meeting,  1758;  Newark  (Kennett)  Monthly 
Meeting,  1686;  New  Castle  (DelaAvare)  Meeting,  1684;  Newark, 
1686;  Kennett,  1707;  Wilmington,  1737;  Marlborough,  1801; 
Kennett  Square,  1812;   Unionville,  1845  (Hicksite). 

NeAV  Garden  Monthly  Meeting,  1718;  New  Garden  Meeting, 
1712;    West  Grove,  1787;  London  Britain,  1834;   Mill  Creek,  1838. 

London  Grove  Monthly  Meeting,  1792;  London  Grove  Meet- 
ing, 1714;  Fallowfield,  1792. 

Fallowfield  Monthly  Meeting,  1811;  Fallowfield  Meeting, 
1792;  Doe  Kun,  180.5. 

Penn's  Grove  Monthly  Meeting,  1842;  Penn's  Grove  Meeting, 
1820;  Oxford  Meeting,  1879;  Homeville,  1839. 

Centre  Monthly  Meeting,  1808;  Centre  Meeting,  1687;  Hockes- 
sin,  1730. 

Cain  Quarterly  Meeting,   1800;    Bradford   Monthly   Meeting, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  747 

1737;  Bradford  Meeting,  1711);  Calu,  171();  West  Calu,  175G; 
Eomansville,  1840. 

Sadsbury  Monthly  Meeting,  1738;  Sadsbury  Meeting,  1723; 
East  Sadsbury,  1810;  Lampeter,  1732. 

Uwfhlan  Monthly  Meeting,  17G3;  Uwchhui  Meeting,  1712; 
Nautmeal,  1739;  Pikeland,  1758;  Downingtowu,  1784. 

Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  includes  the  following  meetings  ia 
Chester  County:  Nottingham  Quarterly  Meeting,  1819;  Notting- 
ham Monthly  Meeting^  1730;  East  Nottingham  Meeting,  1705; 
West  Nottingham,  1719;  Elk,  1825. 

From  the  time  of  the  first  recorded  meeting  at  the  house 
of  Robert  Wade,  already  mentioned,  meetings  continued  to  be 
held  there  from  time  to  time  for  some  years.  One  was  held  on 
the  9th  day  of  the  3d  month,  1G82,  and  another  on  the  3d  day  of  the 
6th  month,  1(582.  At  the  first  Quarterly  Meeting  held  at  Chester, 
12th  month,  4,  1083-4,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Chester  Monthly 
Meeting  be  held  on  the  first  second  day  of  every  month,  the  time 
being  changed  in  1695  to  one  week  earlier.  The  meeting  having 
been  held  for  some  time  at  the  house  of  Robert  Wade,  was  in  the 
12tli  month,  1686,  changed  to  the  house  of  W^alter  Fosett,  from 
that  time  on  until  1700  being  held  at  various  places,  private 
houses,  and  in  this  latter  year  it  became  settled  at  Providence. 

In  1721  the  number  of  meetings  had  increased  to  seven,  viz.: 
Chester,  Springfield,  Providence,  Middletown,  Goshen,  Newtown 
and  Uwchlan,  these  meeting  together  for  the  last  time,  12th 
month,  26, 1721,  afterward  Goshen,  Newtown  and  ITwchlan  holding 
a  separate  monthly  meeting. 

Newark  Monthly  Meeting  was  first  held  in  1686,  and  has  been 
known  as  Kennett  Monthly  Meeting  since  1760.  The  preliminary 
steps  for  holding  this  meeting  were  taken  in  1685,  but  the  meetings 
for  a  year  or  so  were  very  in-egular.  It  was  held  for  the  last  time 
at  Newark  in  1707,  and  then  for  some  time  in  Center  Meeting- 
house. At  length  it  settled  at  Kennett,  when  it  dropped  the 
old  name,  Newark. 


748  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Center  Meetiug  met  for  some  time  at  the  bouse  of  Georsje 
Harlau,  avIio  iu  1(389  lived  probably  in  New  Castle  County,  Dela- 
ware, but  later  he  lived  in  what  is  now  Pennsbiiry,  Chester  County. 
In  1702  the  Friends  belonging  to  this  meetiug  were  accustomed 
to  meet  at  Newark,  at  Valentine  Hollingsworth's  house,  one  First 
day,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  Brandywine  on  the  other  First 
day.  In  1708  a  meeting-house  was  directed  to  be  erected;  in 
1710  Alphonsus  Kirk  was  allowed  7s  Cd  per  acre  for  such  an 
amount  of  land  as  the  meeting-house  might  need,  not  to  exceed  six 
acres,  and  in  1711  Mi*.  Kirk,  George  Harlan,  Thomas  Hollings- 
worth  and  Samuel  Graves  were  appointed  a  committee  to  take  tlie 
oversight  of  the  erection  of  a  meeting-house, 

Birmingham  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  William  Brin- 
ton  for  the  first  time  29th,  9th  month,  1690,  and  in  1701  a  meeting 
began  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  John  Bennett.  In  1718  permis- 
sion was  granted  to  the  Friends  of  Birmingham  to  build  a  meeting- 
house, the  place  selected  being  iipon  Kichard  Webb's  land  near 
the  "Great  Road."  Trustees  were  appointed  and  to  them  one 
acre  of  ground  was  conveyed  by  Elizabeth  Webb  for  £3',  and  on 
this  land  the  meeting-house  was  erected  in  1722.  This  meeting- 
house is  said  to  have  been  built  of  cedar  logs.  The  western  end  of 
the  pi'esent  meeting-house  was  erected  iu  1763,  and  was  used  as  a 
hospital  during  the  Revolutionary  \^'ar. 

In  1701  some  of  the  Friends  dwelling  at  Goshen  applied  for 
permission  to  erect  a  meeting-house,  applying  again  in  1702,  their 
meetings  being  then  held  on  eveiy  other  First  day  at  the  house 
of  Griffith  Owen.  In  1703  their  meeting-house  was  built,  and 
meetings  were  held  therein  every  First  day  of  the  week,  with  the 
exception  of  the  last  First  day  in  the  1st,  1th,  7th  and  10th  months, 
when  they  were  held  at  the  house  of  David  Jones  at  Whiteland,  in 
the  Great  Valley.  These  latter  meetings  in  1701  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  house  of  Robei't  Williams,  and  still  later  to  the 
house  of  James  Thomas.     In  1707  they  contemplated  the  erec- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  749 

tiou  of  a  meeting-kon.SL',  wliicli  was  later  built,  and  was  ready 
for  occupancy  in  1709.  David  Jones  lived  iu  what  is  now  East 
Whiteland.  In  173G  a  new  meeting-house  was  erected,  whiili 
stood  nntil  about  1875,  when  it  was  superseded  by  the  present 
meeting-house. 

East  Nottingham  meeting,  after  being  held  in  private  houses 
for  some  years,  began  to  be  held  in  the  new  meeting-house  in 
1709.  This  meeting-house  was  replaced  by  one  of  brick  in  1721, 
which  was  afterward  partly  destroyed  by  tire.  A  stone  addition 
was  made  to  wlia,t  remained,  and  the  entire  structure  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  1810.  In  1811  the  present  building  was  erected, 
which,  though  one-half  stone,  is  usually  referred  to  as  the  "Brick 
Meeting-house.''  The  land  upon  which  it  stands  was  granted  by 
William  Penn,  but  when  the  boundary  line  was  finally  located,  the 
meeting  fell  into  Maryland. 

Kennett  Meeting-house  was  erected  in  1710,  was  enlarged 
in  1719,  and  again  iu  1731. 

New  Garden  Meeting-house  was  erected  in  1714  or  1715.  In 
the  latter  year  a  preparative  meeting  was  held  therein,  and  in 
1713  the  south  end  of  the  present  church  was  built,  and  the  north 
end  in  1790. 

Uwchland  Meeting  was  held  for  some  time  in  the  house  of 
John  Cadwallader,  who  allotted  a  i^iece  of  land  for  a  burying-place 
and  a  meeting-house  on  the  side  of  the  King's  Koad.  The  build- 
ing that  stands  tliere  at  present  was  erected  in  1736,  but  was  re- 
modeled about  1875.  The  house  erected  in  1736  was.  used  as  a 
hospital  during  the  Eevolutionary  War. 

Valley  Meeting  was  held  for  a.  time  at  the  house  of  Lewis 
Walker,  and  in  1731  a  meeting-house  was  erected  at  the  grave- 
yard near  his  house. 

London  Grove  Meeting  was  held  in  1714  at  the  house  of  John 
Smith  in  Marlborough.  In  1724  the  Friends  here  were  granted 
permission  to  build  a  meeting-house  where  tlie  corner  of  London 


750  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Gi'uve  TowDsbip  joius  Marlborough  Township.  The  house 
erected  in  accordance  with  this  permission  was  superseded  by 
a  larger  one  in  1743,  which  iu  turn  gave  way  to  the  present  one  in 
1818.  A  short  distance  to  the  southward  the  Orthodox  Friends 
haA'e  erected  their  meeting-house. 

Cain  Meeting  was  first  held  in  171(!,  with  Thomas  Pierson  and 
William  Cloud  as  overseers,  permission  being  given  the  same 
year  to  build  a  meeting-house.  In  1720  this  meeting  proposed  four 
Friends  as  trustees  of  their  house  and  grounds,  viz.:  Thomas 
Parks,  Aaron  Mendenhall,  Thomas  Eldrech  and  Edward  Tomson. 
In  1801  this  house  wa.s  enlarged  to  accommodate  the  new  Quar- 
terly Cain  Meeting. 

Bradford  Meeting,  composed  of  Friends  iu  the  forks  of  the 
Brandywine,  was  granted  penuission  to  assemble  for  worship  in 
1719,  and  in  1726  were  allowed  to  hold  a  preparative  meeting,  their 
first  meeting-house  being  on  or  near  the  corner  of  land  owned 
by  Abraham  Marshall.  The  present  site  was  purchased  10th 
month,  10th  day,  1729,  upon  which  site  they  erected  a  house  which 
stood  until  17G5,  iu  which  year  the  present  structure  was  erected. 
In  1788  the  roof  of  this  structure  took  fire  and  most  of  the  build- 
ing was  burned,  but  by  throwing  snow  in  at  the  doors  and  win- 
dows the  floor  was  saved.  The  building  was  soon  aftei*ward  re- 
paired by  William  Woodward  at  a  cost  of  £115. 

West  Nottingham  Meeting  was  first  held  in  1719  at  the  house 
of  James  King,  and  continued  to  be  held  there  until  1720.  Then 
permission  was  granted  to  erect  a  meeting-house,  which  was 
ready  for  occupancy  in  1729.  In  1730  this  meeting  was  made  a 
preparative  one.  The  present  church,  which  stands  on  the  Mary- 
land side  of  the  line,  was  erected  in  1811. 

Goshen  Monthly  Meeting  was  set  off  fi'om  Chester  Monthly 
Meeting  in  1722,  including  at  the  time  the  meetings  of  Goshen, 
Newtown  and  Uwchlan.  Aftenvard  Xantmeal  and  Pikeland  were 
-added.      For  three  years  the  meetings  were  held  alternately  at 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  751 

Goshen  aud  Newtown.  In  1762  the  Monthly  Meeting  was  di- 
vided, l,eaving  only  the  Goshen  and  Newtown  meetings  under  the 
Goshen  Monthly  Meeting,  to  which  were  afterward  added  Willis- 
town,  Whiteland  and  West  Chester,  the  latter  remaining  in  this 
group  only  a  short  time.  In  1801  the  place  of  meeting  was 
changed  from  Willistown  to  Goshen,  and  in  1827,  when  the  division 
in  the  Society  took  place,  the  Orthodox  Friends  met  at  Goshen. 

Sadsbury  Meeting  was  granted  permission  in  1725  or  soon  aft- 
erw'ard  to  erect  a  meeting-house.  It  stood  on  the  edge  of  Lan- 
caster County,  but  many  of  the  members  lived  in  Chester  County. 

Lampeter  Meeting  was  established  at  the  house  of  Hattill 
^'arman  in  Leacock  in  1732,  and  in  1719  was  removed  to  Lampeter 
Township. 

Sadsburj-  Monthly  Meeting  was  fonned  upon  the  division 
of  New  Garden  Monthly  Meeting,  and  was  comprised  of  the  two 
preparative  meetings  of  Sadsbury  and  Leacock^  The  first  meet- 
ing was  held  12th  mouth,  (ith  day,  1737-8. 

Nottingham  Monthly  Meeting  was  established  in  1730,  by  the 
division  of  NeAV  Garden  Monthly  Meeting,  and  it  comprises  East 
aud  West  Nottingham  meetings  and  Elk. 

Hockessin  Meetiug,  named  after  an  Indian  town,  which  for- 
merly stood  near  its  location,  was  first  held  at  the  house  of  William 
Cox  upon  the  Sixth  day  of  the  week,  this  day  being  changed  to  the 
First  day  of  the  week  in  1737.  In  1738  a  meeting-house  was 
built,  which  was  enlarged  in  1745.  This  house  stands  in  Mill 
Creek  Hundred,  south  of  Kennett  Square. 

Bradfoi'd  Monthly  Meetiug,  established  in  1737,  had  two 
branches,  one  at  Bradford,  the  other  at  Cain,  and  alternated  be- 
tween the  two  meeting-houses. 

Uwchlan  Monthly   Meeting  was  established   in   1763  at  the 
Uwchlan  meetiug-house.     It  was  formed  hj  the  division  of  Goshen 
Monthly  Meeting,  and  at  the  time  included  Uwchlan,  Nantmeal 
and  Pikeland.     Later  Downingtown  Meeting  was  added. 
44 


752  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Uwehlan  Meeting  has  already  been  mentioned.  Xantnieal 
Meeting  was  first  considered  in  1839  and  first  held  in  1740,  a  ineet- 
ing-liouse  being  immediately  erected.  In  1781  a  preparative 
meeting  Avas  established,  and  in  1777  a  new  meeting-house  was 
erected  near  the  first  one  built.  In  1795  the  house  was  burned 
down,  and  since  then  affairs  in  this  meeting  have  been  quite 
unsatisfactory  to  the  Friends. 

Pikeland  Meeting  was  first  held  in  1758,  and  for  the  reason 
that  tliose  who  desired  its  establishment  lived  a  long  distance 
from  any  other  meeting.  In  1802  a  new  house  was  erected  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  preparative  meeting,  then  recently 
established. 

Downingtown  Meeting  was  permitted  to  be  held  first  in  the 
summer  of  1781,  in  a  school-house.  This  privilege  was  con- 
tinued during  the  summer  of  1785-89  by  the  Monthly  Meeting. 
Meetings  were  also  held  in  1795  and  1798,  and  at  length  Down- 
ingtown Meeting  was  fully  established  by  the  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing in  1806.  At  first  after  this  it  was  held  in  a.  school-house  which 
stood  back  of  Clara  Dowuing's,  but  in  1807  ground  was  purchased 
and  a  meeting-house  built. 

Willistown  Meeting  was  first  held  in  1781,  and  was  fulh' 
established  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting  in  1788.  In  1791  a  prepar- 
ative meeting  was  first  held  here,  and  in  1799  a  new  meeting- 
house was  built  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  one. 

West  Grove  Meeting  was  first  held  about  1787,  in  which 
year  a  house  was  built,  and  in  1788  the  meeting  was  fully 
established  by  the  Quarterly  Meeting. 

Fallowfield  Meeting  was  held  for  some  time  prior  to  1792  at 
the  house  of  George  Welsh  by  permission  of  New  Garden  Monthly 
Meeting,  and  later  by  the  permission  of  London  Grove  Monthly 
Meeting.  In  1794  a  house  was  built  and  the  meeting  was  fully 
established  in  1795. 

Doe  Run  Meeting  was  established  in  1805,  several  Friends  be- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  753 

ing  permitted  to  hold  meetings  iu  a  sehool-liouse.  lu  ISOS  a  liouse 
was  built  and  the  meeting  fully  established  as  a  branch  of  the 
Fallowfield  Monthly  Meeting. 

Loudon  Grove  Monthly  Meeting  was  established  by  a  division 
of  New  Garden  Monthly  Meeting,  in  1792,  containing  at  the  time 
but  one  preparative  meeting,  that  of  Loudon  Grove. 

Cain  Quarterly  Meeting,  composed  of  Bradford,  J^adsbury 
and  Uwchlan  Monthly  Meetings,  was  established  in  1800,  and  also 
of  Robeson  Monthly  Meeting,  which  previously  had  belonged  to 
Philadelphia,  and  which  is  outside  the  limits  of  Chester  County. 

Marlborough  Meeting  was  established  in  1801,  when  a  meet- 
ing-house was  built  and  the  meeting  established  as  a  branch  of 
Kenuett  Monthly  Meeting.  The  members  had  previously  been 
members  of  the  Bradford  and  London  Grove  Meetings. 

Center  Monthly  Meeting  was  forme<l  in  1808,  at  which  time 
Kenuett  Monthly  Meeting  was  divided.  Center  Monthly  being  com- 
posed of  Center  and  Hockessin,  at  which  places  the  Monthly  meet- 
ing was  alternately  held. 

AVest  Chester  Meeting  was  establishe<l  about  1810,  the  Friends 
there  desiring  at  that  time  to  erect  a  meeting-house;  but  their 
desires  did  not  take  tangible  shape  until  1812,  they  iu  the  mean- 
time holding  meetings  in  a  school-house.  Their  ueAV  meeting- 
house was  first  occupied  in  1813.  It  stood  on  High  Street,  and 
in  1868  was  considerably  eularged  to  accommodate  the  increas- 
ing attendance,  and  also  the  Quarterly  Meeting. 

The  Orthodox  Friends,  when  they  separated  from  the  other 
body,  for  a  time  held  their  meetings  in  the  house  of  George  G. 
Ashbridge;  but  iu  1830  they  erected  a  meeting-house  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Church  aud  (Chestnut  streets,  which  was 
opened  on  the  26th  of  the  12th  month,  that  year.  In  1841  they 
built  a  neat  stone  meeting-house  ou  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
same  streets. 

East  Sadsbury  Meeting,  not  now  held,  was  established  about 
1810,  and  was  located  near  Buck  Eun  aud  the  Lancaster  Pike. 


754  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Loudon  Grove  Moutbly  Meeting  was  divided  in  1811,  and  Fal- 
lowfield  Monthly  Meeting  established,  with  Fallowfield  and  Doe 
Run  Meetings.  After  1828  the  Orthodox  Friends  who  had 
previously  belonged  to  the  Fallowfield  Monthly  Meeting  returned 
to  London  Grove  Monthly  Meeting. 

Kennett  Square  Meeting  w^as  held  first  in  1812,  at  the 
house  of  John  Phillips,  just  west  of  Kennett  Square.  In  1814  a 
meeting-house  was  erected  and  the  meeting  fully  established. 

Birmingham  Monthly  Meeting-  was  formed  with  West  Ches- 
ter and  Birmingham  Meetings  as  branches,  and  was  first  held  in 
1815.  Previously  these  two  branches  had  belonged  to  Concord 
Monthly  Meeting. 

Whiteland  Meeting  was  first  held  in  a  meeting-house  built  in 
East  Whiteland  in  181G;  but  it  was  not  until  1818  that  the  meet- 
ing was  fully  established.  A  preparative  meeting  was  estab- 
lished in  1822,  and  in  1878  the  membership  w^as  transferred  to 
Malvern  Meeting  and  the  former  house  closed. 

Nottingham  Quarterly  Meeting  was  held  at  East  Xottingham 
Meeting  in  1819,  and  was  composed  of  Xottingham,  Little  Britain 
and  Deer  Creek  Monthly  Meetings.  This  is  a  branch  of  Balti- 
more Yearly  Meeting. 

Penn's  Gi'ove  Meeting-house  was  erected  in  1833.  A  short 
time  previous  to  1828  New  Garden  Monthly  Meetii^g  granted  per- 
mission to  a  few  Friends  to  hold  meetings  at  the  house  of  Josepli 
Brown,  which  in  1828  were  transferred  to  the  house  of  Samuel 
Hadley,  and  in  1833  to  the  house  erected  as  above  mentioned. 

Little  Elk  Meeting  was  established  in  1825  and  a  house 
erected  in  1826.  This  meeting  belongs  to  the  Baltimore  Yearly 
Meeting. 

Homesville  Meeting-house  was  erected  in  1839,  the  Friends 
holding  meetings  here  having  previously  held  them  in  a  school- 
house  at  Colerain,  Lancaster  County. 

London  Britain  Meeting  was  first  held  in  1831,  in  the  house 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  755 

of  Eichai'd  Cbambers  in  White  Clay  Hundred,  and  in  this  year 
the  Friend.s  interested  purchased  a  piece  of  hind  near  Stricker- 
ville,  upon  which  they  erected  a  meeting-house. 

Unionville  Meeting  was  formed  about  1845,  in  which  year 
the  Friends  belonging  thereto  erected  a  meeting-house,  they  hav- 
ing belonged  to  Kenuett  and  London  Grove  Monthly  Meetings. 

Eomansville  Meeting-house  was  built  about  1846.  When 
the  division  in  the  Society  occurred  in  1827,  the  Orthodox  Friends 
retained  the  Bradford  house,  and  the  other  Friends  built  a  meet- 
ing-house on  an  adjoining  lot.  This  house  lasted  them  until 
1846,  when  theA'  built  the  present  one,  as  mentioned  above. 

Oxford  Meeting-house  was  erected  in  1879,  the  Friends  here 
having,  by  permission  of  Penn's  Grove  and  Nottingham  Monthly 
Meetings,  previously  held  meetings  at  Oxfox'd.  The  new  house 
was  opened  for  service  on  November  9,  1879. 

Malvern  Meeting-house  was  erected  in  1879,  of  serpentine 
stone,  and  in  the  wiuter  of  1879-80  the  Whitelaiid  Meeting  was 
transferred  thereto.  The  first  meeting  was  held  in  this  house 
February  15, 1880. 

Longwood  Me|pting-house  was  erected  in  the  later  forties, 
upon  a  piece  of  laud  donated  for  the  purpose  by  .John  Cox,  in  East 
Malborough.  The  purpose  in  the  erection  of  this  meeting-house 
was  general,  but  most  of  those  interested  in  the  carrv-ing  out  of 
this  purpose  Avere  Friends.  It  seemed  to  tliem  that  more  active 
efforts  should  be  made  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  human 
rights,  and  they  determined  to  hold  meetings  for  the  promulga- 
tion of  their  views,  and  in  this  they  were  aided  by  prominent 
philanthropists.  They  considered  slavery  and  intemperance  two 
of  the  greatest  evils  then  afflicting  the  country.  They  stjded 
themselves  "Progressive  Friends,"  and  their  central  idea  was  that 
of  progress  in  whatever  might  benefit  humanity.  From  1853  on- 
ward for  many  years  a  Yearly  Meeting  was  held  in  this  meeting- 
house, at  which  some  of  the  most  able  and  eloquent  speakers  de- 


756  CHESTER     COUNTY 

livered  orations  or  made  more  commonplace  addresses.  Among 
the  sjieakers  Avere  such  persons  as  Lucretia  Mott,  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Theodore  Parker,  Frederick  Douglas,  Oliver  Johnson, 
Charles  (\  Burleigh,  Mary  Gi'ew  and  Abby  Kelly  Foster,  be- 
sides a  large  number  of  i^eople  from  Chester  and  adjoining  coun- 
ties. 

In  connection  with  the  meeting  there  was  laid  out  a  cemetery. 

That  there  are  two  divisions  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in 
Chester  County  cannot  be  overlooked.  This  fact  is  one  for  which 
the  historian  is  not  responsible,  but  he  is  responsible  for  a  fair 
and  truthful,  even  though  brief,  statement  of  the  origin  and  re- 
sults of  the  schism  leading  up  to  the  division  in  the  Society,  which 
division  is  a  matter  of  regret  to  many,  even  down  to  the  present 
day. 

From  the  fact  that  human  nature  is  what  it  is  it  might  be  in- 
ferred that  the  division  was  not  the  work  of  a  day.  For  many 
years  the  operation  of  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  Society^ 
of  Friends,  variously  affected  by  various  environments,  led  to  dif- 
ferent conclusions  as  to  doctrinal  teachings.  The  coming  event 
<.*ast  its  shadows  before  for  many  years,  observers  in  England,  Ire- 
land and  America  perceiving  the  causes  and  jiointing  them  out  in 
clear  language  and  with  great  concern.  These  causes  were 
enumerated  to  some  degree  as  follows:  The  fascinations  of  worldly 
life;  the  dread  of  sufferings  to  be  inflicted  by  the  enemies  of  the 
Truth;  a  state  of  lethargy  within  the  Society  itself;  a  sad 
ignorance  of  the  fundamental  truths  or  principles  of  the  Society; 
their  perversion  on  the  part  of  a  portion  of  the  members;  a  relaxed 
and  inefficient  exercise  of  the  discipline  of  the  Society;  its  main- 
tenance in  a  formal,  legal  and  lifeless  manner;  a  reckless  spirit 
of  "free  inquiry;"  a  presumptuous  determination  not  to  believe 
what  was  not  understood;  the  Deistical  writings  of  Joseph 
Priestley;  a  worldly  spirit  and  a  lukewarm  state  of  feeling  as  to 
the  standard  of  truth;    self-exaltation  and  spiritual  pride  on  the 


AND     IT8     PEOPLE.  757 

part  of  a  portion  of  the  ministers;  and  more  than  all  else,  per- 
haps, the  infiueuoe  of  the  institution  of  slavery. 

A  remarkable  dilference  of  opinion  sprang  up  in  Ireland  in 
the  year  1797,  whirh  made  the  schism  painfully  manifest  to  those 
who  desired  unity  and  harmony  within  the  Society.  In  the  answer 
to  the  Queries  from  the  several  monthly  meetings  came  in  an 
answer  from  Carlow,  which  differed  from  the  others  in  the  omis- 
sion of  the  word  "holy"  from  the  phrase  "Holy  Scriptures."  The 
defense  of  this  omission  was  that  if  the  Scriptures  were  to  be 
denominated  "holy,"  then  all  other  writings  proceeding  from  the 
same  Spirit  must  also  be  called  "holy."  Those  who  objected  to  the 
epithet  "holy"  in  this  connection  also  believed  that  Christ  was  a 
good  man  because  he  was  wholly  obedient  to  the  Inner  Light,  or 
the  light  which  lighteth  every  nian  that  cometh  into  the  world.  In 
time  this  same  ]>arty  publicly  declared  their  unbelief  in  the  Di- 
vine authority  of  the  Scriptures,  discarded  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement  of  Christ  and  attempte«l  t(»  abolish  the  comely  order  of 
the  discijdine  long  established  among  the  Friends. 

This  brief  narrative  is  here  presented,  in  order  to  show  that 
although  Elias  Hicks,  after  whom  the  independent  branch  of  the 
Societj-  of  Friends  has  since  been  named  may  have  been  origi- 
nal in  his  thinking,  was  not  in  point  of  fact  the  originator  of 
the  views  that  now  for  the  most  part  distinguish  those  who  are 
looked  upon  as  his  followers.  The  views  taken  of  several  of  the 
orthodox  doctrines  by  Elias  Hicks  have  sometimes  been  denomi- 
nated the  liicksian  or  Kationalistic  system.  The  main  differences 
between  the  Orthodox  and  Hicksite  Friends  may  be  stated  as 
follows:  The  former  affirm  and  the  latter  deny  the  following 
propositions:  The  miraculous  birth  of  Christ;  the  divine  Sonship 
and  Mediatorship  of  Christ;  His  atoning  sacrifice  on  the  cross; 
the  existence  of  such  places  as  Heaven  and  Hell;  that  the  Scrip- 
tures were  given  by  the  special  inspiration  of  the  Deity;  but  the 
latter  do  not  insist  upon  uniformity  of  opinion  cm  these  points  as 
■essential. 


758  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Both  branches  alike  dispense  with  the  sacraments  and  with  a 
regular  ordained  ministry.  Both  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
inner  light,  and  both  practice  the  patient  waiting  upon  God  in 
silence. 

During  Elias  Hicks'  ministry  and  travels  he  was  several 
times  in  Chester  County  and  the  counties  adjoining,  and  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  several  of  those  adhering  to  orthodox 
views  should  attempt  to  show  to  him  the  error  of  his  ways,  ac- 
cording to  their  way  of  thinking.  Among  those  who  thus  la- 
bored with  him  was  "an  ancient  and  venei'able  Friend,  Willia7n 
Jackson,  a  minister,  of  London  Grove,  in  Pennsylvania."  William 
Jackson  was  greatly  astonished  at  the  expression  of  such  senti- 
ments as  those  entertained  by  Elias  Hicks,  such  as  that  Christ 
suffered  as  a  martyr,  that  he  was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  that 
Spirit  could  only  beget  spirit,  and  that  the  account  we  have  of 
the  creation  is  the  account  of  Moses,  oiily,  and  is  allegorical. 
Upon  this  declaration  it  is  reported  that  William  Jackson  left 
him  with  a  heavy  heart.  William  Jackson  was  of  the  thii*d  gen- 
eration from  Isaac  Jackson,  the  original  emigrant  of  this  family 
from  Ireland,  in  1725. 

But  it  was  impossible  to  check  the  movement  which  resulted 
in  the  division  of  the  Society  into  two  bodies.  In  the  winter  of 
1826-27  Elias  Hicks  made  a  visit  to  Philadelphia,  and  the  appre- 
hensions of  many  members  of  the  Society  were  then  fully  con- 
firmed, as  his  presence  there  tended  to  animate  his  adherents  in 
the  pursuit  of  those  measures  which  I'esulted  a  few  months  later 
in  the  separation.  Among  those  who  labored  zealously  for  the 
separation  was  John  Comly,  a  minister  of  Byberry,  near  Phila- 
delphia. It  was  at  the  Select  Yearly  Meeting,  held  on  the  14th 
of  the  4th  month,  1827,  that  after  careful  consideration,  William 
Jackson  suggested  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  visit  the 
Select  Quarterly  and  Preparative  meetings  and  endeavor  to  ex- 
tend such  advice  and  assistance  as  might  conduce  to  the  health 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  759- 

of  the  body  and  the  welfare  of  individuals.  This  su<i'S'Cstion  was 
accepted,  but  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month  John  Comlj-  at- 
tempted to  have  the  appointment  rescinded,  failing  in  which  he 
bade  the  meeting  an  affectionate  farewell. 

In  the  Yearly  Meeting  there  was  great  difficulty  over  the  elec- 
tion of  a  clerk,  Avhich  seized  to  separate  the  two  parties  more 
than  before,  and_at  length,  in  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  the 
month,  those  who  had  striven  to  elect  John  Comly  clerk  held  a 
meeting,  at  which  an  address  was  adopted  which  recognized  that 
a  division  existed  in  the  Society,  "developing  in  its  progress  views 
which  appear  incompatible  with  each  other,  and  feelings  averse 
to  a  reconciliation.  Doctrines  held  by  one  part  of  society,  and 
which  we  believe  to  be  sound  and  edifying,  are  pronounced  by 
the  other  part  to  be  unsound  and  spurious.  From  this  has  re- 
sulted a  state  of  things  that  has  proved  destructive  of  peace  and 
tranquility,  and  in  which  the  fruits  of  love  and  condescension  have 
been  blasted,  and  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  even  of  social  in- 
tercourse greatly  diminished."  But  the  Yearly  Meeting  closed 
without  a  formal  separation. 

But  those  who  had  favored  Mr.  Comly  for  clerk  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  were  not  satisfied  to  remain  in  religious  communion  with 
those  they  considered  as  having  introduced  and  who  seemed  dis- 
posed to  continue  disorders,  and  they  therefore  proposed  holding 
a  Yearly  Meeting  for  Friends  in  unity  with  them,  and  invited 
such  Quarterly  and  Monthly  Meetings  as  were  prepared  to  do  so 
to  appoint  representatives  to  meet  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  third 
second-day  of  the  tenth  month  ensuing,  that  is,  on  October  10,  1827. 

Those  who  thus  separated  from  the  Society  rapidly  increased 
their  numbers  and  took  possession  of  the  meeting-houses  to  such 
an  extent  that,  according  to  William  Hodgson,  in  his  "The  So- 
ciety of  Friends  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  there  were  in  Penn- 
sylvania but  very  few  meeting-houses  left  to  the  Society,  ex- 
cept four  or  five  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.     The  same  difficulty 


76o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

was  felt  all  over  the  couuti'j'  where  there  were  members  of  the 
Societies  of  Friends,  for  the  next  few  years,  and  it  was  plain  that 
nothing  but  an  absolute  separation  could  restore  harmony,  each 
division  enjoying  harmony  within  itself,  but  not  when  in  meetings 
with  each  other. 

As  to  the  number  of  the  respective  members  of  the  two 
brunches  at  the  time  of  the  division,  it  may  be  stated  that  it  U 
now  estimated  that  in  Chester  County  there  were  about  3,000  be- 
longing to  the  orthodox  branch  and  13,000  belonging  to  the  Hicks- 
ite  branch.  In  the  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  to  which  both 
branches  belonged  in  1829,  according  to  the  account  submitted 
by  Halliday  Jackson,  on  the  part  of  the  Hicksites,  the  whole  num- 
ber of  members  of  botli  parties  was  26,258,  of  whom  18,485  were 
Hicksites,  7,341  Orthodox,  and  429  neutral. 

With  regard  to  the  meeting-houses  in  Chester  County,  it 
i-auuot  be  definitely  stated  to  which  branch  several  of  them  belong. 
Some  of  them  have  ever  been  used,  as  it  were,  conjointly  by  both 
branches,  and  some  are  not  used  at  all.  Others  are  held  by  the 
Orthodox  branch  and  still  others  by  the  Hicksite  branch.  Where 
it  Avas  impossible  to  agree  to  use  the  property  conjointly  the  one 
branch  Avhich  had  to  vacate  the  meeting-house  has  in  some  cases 
erected  a  separate  meeting-house,  as  is  the  case  in  Loudon  Grove 
and  in  West  Chester,  the  Hicksite  branch  in  the  latter  place  hold 
ing  the  meeting-house  <m  the  hill  on  North  High  Street,  while  the 
Orthodox  branch  erected  for  themselves  a  building  on  Chestnut 
and  Church  Streets.  Throughout  the  county,  besides  the  meeting- 
house in  West  Chester,  the  orthodox  Friends  have  houses  at 
Goshenville,  which,  however,  is  not  now  in  use;  at  Malvern,  built 
shortly  before  1890;  at  Birmingham,  Parkersville,  Kennett  Square, 
London  Grove,  New  Garden,  West  Grove,  Strickersville  and  Mar- 
shalltou,  aud  possibly  one  or  two  others.  The  Hicksite  Friends, 
upon  the  division  being  made,  were,  as  stated  above,  largely  in  the 
majority  in  Chester  Couuty,  and  retained  most  of  the  meeting- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  761 

houses  for  that  reason.  They  now  have  houses  at  West  Chester, 
(loshenville,  Willistown,  Birmingham,  Marlborough,  Old  Keunett, 
Kennett  Square,  Uuionville,  London  Grove,  New  Garden,  West 
Grove,  Ereildoun,  Doe  Run,  Penu's  Grove,  Homeville,  Oxford,  Lion- 
ville,  Cain,  Eomansville,  Schuylkill  and  Valley  Meeting-house. 
There  is  also  a  house  at  Little  Cain  and  Hickory  Hill. 

It  appears  altogether  probable  that  Catholics  came  to  Penn- 
sylvania as  early  as  1708,  and  the  fact  that  some  of  these  religion- 
ists were  located  in  the  Province  gave  considerable  annoyance  to 
William  Penn  in  tJie  English  court,  but  still  he  never  made  any 
attempt  to  suppress  them;  and  it  has  been  thought  by  s(mie  that 
it  was  ou  this  account  that  he  was  looked  upon  in  certain  quar- 
ters as  a  Jesuit  in  disguise.  The  first  Catholic  Church  in  Penn- 
sylvania was  St.  Joseph,  mentioned  about  1730,  and  in  1737  there 
were  Catholics  in  most  if  not  all  of  the  counties  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State,  including  Chester  Sounty,  of  course. 

But  the  growth  of  the  Catholic  Chui'ch  in  Pennsylvania  A^as 
quite  slow  during  the  eighteenth  century,  and  also  during  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  because  of  the  antagonism 
to  it  felt  in  the  minds  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Province  and  by 
some  of  the  people,  as  is  shown  in  the  instructi(ms  to  the  colonial 
governors  in  1738,  in  1703  and  in  1700.  The  0th  article  of  those 
instructions  is  as  follows: 

"Whereas  the  said  Province  and  counties  were  happily  at  first 
.settled  and  afterward  subsisted  without  any  considerable  mix- 
ture of  Papists,  it  is  with  concern  we  now  hear  that  of  late  times 
I'apists  liave  resorted  thither.  Now  as  their  Political  Principles 
(which  they  ever  inculcate  as  Religious  Princi])les)  tend  to  the 
breach  of  public  Faith,  are  destructive  to  morality  and  totally 
subvert  every  civil  and  Religious  Right  of  a  Free  People,  We 
recommend  it  to  you  to  prevent  as  much  as  in  you  lies  the  coming 
in  or  settling  of  Papists  within  your  government,  and  that  you  do 
not  extend  any  Privileges  to  them  nor  admit  any  of  them  into  any 
office,  post  or  Employment  whatsoever  within  your  Government." 


762  CHESTER     COUNTY 

In  1757  there  were  in  Chester  County  the  following  numbers 
of  Catholics:  Under  the  care  of  Robert  Harding,  18  men  and  22 
women;  under  the  care  of  Theodore  Schneider  (Germans),  13  men 
and  9  women;  and  of  Irish,  9  men  and  6  women;  under  the  care 
of  Ferdinand  Farmer,  Irish,  23  men  and  17  women,  and  of  Ger- 
mans, 3  men.  Owing  to  the  antagonism  above  notetl  the  Catholics 
in  this  county  existed  only  in  small  groups  in  different  parts  of  the 
country;  but  in  later  years  the  numbers  of  Catholics  have  so  in- 
creased that  now  they  are  one  of  the  strongest  religious  bodies  in 
the  county. 

The  first  Catholic  Church  erected  in  West  Chester  was  called 
"Christ's  Church,"  a  little  chapel  at  the  west  end  of  Gay  street, 
erected  in  1793,  in  which  mass  was  occasionallj-  offered  up.  From 
that  time  on  until  about  1840  the  priest  holding  services  therein 
came  out  from  Philadelphia,  and  on  such  occasions  the  Catholics 
of  the  surrounding  country  came  in  from  miles  around  to  attend 
services.  In  the  meantime  missionaries  or  priests  were  ac- 
customed to  travel  through  the  county,  holding  services  and  say- 
ing mass  at  farm-houses  and  such  other  places  as  were  con- 
venient, wherever  a  group  of  members  could  be  gathered  to- 
gether, but  about  the  year  last  named  Bishop  Kendrick  of  I'hila- 
delphia  sent  out  the  Eev.  D.  D.  Donahoe  to  West  Chester  as  a 
pei'manent  pastor.  The  name  St.  Agnes  Avas  adopted  in  the  year 
1853,  the  Rev.  Father  Donahoe  remaining  with  the  church  until 
1851,  on  the  20th  of  June  of  which  year  Rev.  John  Francis  Preu- 
dergast  entered  this  field  of  service  and  labored  therein  success- 
fully for  twenty  years.  At  this  time  the  following  parishes  were 
attached  to  the  West  Chester  Church:  Parkesburg,  Downingtown, 
Doe  Run,  in  Chester  County;  Ivy  Mills,  in  Delaware  County,  and 
a  parish  in  Lancaster  County. 

After  remaining  in  West  Chester  a  few  months  Rev.  Father 
Prendergast  began  the  erection  of  a  church  at  Downingtown,  which, 
was  named  St.  Joseph's,  and  which  was  dedicated  in  1852.       In 


slXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  763 

August  of  that  year  the  corner-stone  of  St.  Agues'  Church  was 
laid,  the  first  mass  was  celebrated  therein  in  May,  1853,  and  th(? 
church  was  dedicated  iu  .juue  following,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moriai'ty,  0. 
S.  A.,  officiating.  St.  Main's  Sodarity  was  organized  iu  1857. 
Eev.  Father  Prendergast  and  Rev.  Johu  Wall  both  lie  buried  in 
the  cemetei'y  of  this  church,  and  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Spaulding  came  to 
the  church  in  tlie  year  1885,  remaining  here  until  the  present  time. 
William  Barrett,  in  his  history  of  the  church,  states  that  in  the 
autumn  of  1893,  when  the  centenary  of  the  church  was  celebrated, 
during  a  mission  held  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  Rev.  F.  A.  Smith,  Rev. 
M.  O.  Kane,  and  Rev.  J.  Goediug,  and  which  lasted  eight  days, 
1,457  confessions  were  made,  and  1,310  communions,  from  which  it 
may  be  estimated  that  noAV  the  members  aggregate  upward  of  1,500 
iu  number,  many  of  them,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  coming  in  from 
the  country.  The  Sunday-school  has  about  250  members.  The 
principal  church  societies  are  the  following:  The  Temperance 
and  Benevolent  Society,  organized  in  1873,  May  4,  and  having  now 
a  membership  of  110;  the  Cadets"  Temperance  Society,  organized 
in  1874,  and  having  now  a  membership  of  70;  the  Catholic  Mutual 
Burial  Society,  organized  in  1887,  and  now  having  a  membership  of 
150;  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  organized  in  1892,  and  now- 
having  a  membership  of  800;  the  Independent  Catholic  Benevolent 
Union  Society,  organized  in  1892,  and  now  having  a  membership 
of  100,  and  the  Angel  Sodarity,  for  boys  and  girls,  organized  in 
1893,  and  at  the  present  time  having  a  membership  of  100.  St. 
Mary's  Sodarity  has  at  present  a  membership  of  275. 

The  property  of  the  church  is  as  follows:  The  church  build- 
ing, worth  125,000;  the  parochial  school,  worth  |2,500;  the  Joseph 
J.  Lew^is  mansion,  worth  -15,000,  and  the  parochial  residence,  worth 
18,000;  total  value  of  the  property,  |40,500.  The  i)arochial  school 
is  attended  by  about  250  scholars  and  has  five  teachers. 

,  In  Phoenixville  the  Catholics  at  first  occupied  the  Tunnel  Hill 
School-house,    then    recently    abandoned    by    the    Episcopalians, 


764  CHESTER     COVXTY 

their  Hist  pa.stoi'  being  IJev.  P.  D.  Doualiiie.  In  1841  they  ereeteil 
their  chnreh  building,  and  the  church  for  many  years  was  in  charge 
of  Eev.  Patrick  O'Farrell,  wlio  died  in  1868.  He  was  succeeded 
that  year  by  Pev.  Father  Scanlan,  who  enlarged  the  church  and 
made  it  into  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  next  pastor  was  Kev.  Father 
Martin,  who  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Father  Lynch.  The  present 
priest  in  Pev.  Father  John  A.  Wagner,  and  the  congregation  uum- 
bers  about  thirty-three  hundred  communicants. 

The  Catholic  Church  at  present  in  use  at  Coatesville,  St. 
Cecilia's,  was  erected  in  1870-71,  the  corner-stone  having  been  laid 
December  11,  1870,  during  the  pastorate  of  Pev.  Charles  McFad- 
den,  and  it  was  dedicated  November  22,  1874,  by  the  Most  Pev. 
James  F.  AYood,  archbishop  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia. 
Previous  to  this  time  services  had  been  held  in  Midway,  in  Me- 
chanics' Hall.  The  old  parish,  of  which  Coatesville  was  only  a 
mission,  was  named  Our  Lady  of  the  Seven  Dolors,  Parkesburg, 
the  priest  residing  at  the  latter  place,  and  from  there  as  a  center 
attending  the  missions  all  around  from  Dry  Wells  and  McCall's 
Ferry,  in  Lancaster  County,  to  Coatesville,  Doe  Pun,  West  Grove, 
Oxford  and  the  country  round  down  to  the  Maryland  line.  Pev. 
L.  V.  McCabe  succeeded  Father  McFadden,  and  was  himself  suc- 
ceeded hj  Pev.  James  Brehony,  by  Pev.  James  Nash,  by  Rev.  M.  C. 
Donovan,  by  Rev.  Hugh  Garvey  and  by  the  present  pastor,  Pev. 
J.  A.  Calahau. 

A  little  church  building  was  erected  at  Doe  Pun  in  1835,  but  it 
was  replaced  by  a  larger  one  in  1865.  It  was  attended  from  West 
Chester  until  the  church  in  Parkesburg  was  built,  in  1855,  from 
which  time  on  the  church  in  Doe  Pun  was  attended  from  Parkes- 
burg. Early  in  the  seventies  West  Grove,  Oxford  and  the  lower 
part  of  the  county  were  cut  away.  The  first  resident  priest  at 
Parkesburg  was  Pev,  Father  Doyle,  who  from  the  time  of  his 
establishment  here,  in  1855,  attended  the  church  at  Coatesville 
once  in  three  or  four  weeks;   but  as  the  number  of  Catholics  in- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  765 

creased  in  and  around  Coatesville  it  became  necessary  to  erect  a 
churcli  for  tlieir  accommodaticni  in  1870,  and  at  tliat  time  tlie 
seat  of  the  parish  was  located  at  Coatesville,  Parkesbnrg  becominy; 
the  mission.  The  new  church  at  Coatesville  was  called  St.  Cecilia, 
and  it  was  dedicated  at  the  time  above  given  under  the  pastorate 
of  Rev.  L.  McCabe.  The  church  at  Doe  Kun,  formerly  known  iis 
the  Church  of  St.  Catherines,  is  now  known  as  the  Church  of  St. 
Malachi. 

The  corner-stone  of  St.  Cecilia's  Churcli  was  laid  December 
11,  1870,  by  the  late  Kioht  Rev.  Archbishop  Wood,  and  the  build- 
ing itself  was  dedicated  November  22,  1874.  Rev.  James  A.  Bre- 
hony  succeeded  Rev.  Father  McCabe,  and  remained  two  years. 
Rev.  James  Nash  was  pastor  of  this  church  ten  years  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  M.  C.  Donovan,  being  himself  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Hugh  Garvey. 

St.  Patiick's  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  Kennett  Square  was 
established  as  a  mission  in  1868,  in  which  year  a  building  was 
erected  on  South  Side,  and  first  opened  for  services  December  2o, 
18G8.  Rev.  Mr.  McElroy  was  pastor  for  some  time,  and  subse- 
quently Rev.  James  F.  Kelly  of  West  Grove  made  visits  to  this 
congregation  once  in  two  weeks.  The  parish  was  organized  in 
1893  and  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  John  H.  O'Donnell,  placed  in 
charge.  One  of  the  finest  building  sites  in  Kennett  Square  was 
purchased  and  upon  it  a  modern  and  commodious  parochial  resi- 
dence was  built,  and  it  is  now  in  contemplation  to  erect  a  church 
building  at  an  early  date. 

St.  Joseph's  Catholic  Church  at  Downiugtown  was  organized  in 
August,  18G9,  when  Rev.  N.  Bowden  took  charge.  There  had, 
however,  been  services  there  from  1850,  and  also  at  Gallagherville. 
Some  time  afterward  Rev.  John  Prendergast  organized  a  parish 
there  and  said  mass  for  the  people  once  a  month.  The  first  mass 
in  Downingtowu  was  said  in  a  private  house,  still  standing  on 
Bradford  Avenue,  near  the  railway  station.     Later  sei-vices  were 


766  CHE.STER     COUNTY 

held  iu  a  large  room  iu  the  third  story  of  3Iichael  McFadden's 
house,  close  to  the  railway  station,  aud  in  this  room  Rev.  Mr. 
Premlergast  said  mass  monthly  until  St.  Joseph's  parish  was  or- 
ganized, as  above  stated.  The  chun/h  building  was  erected  in 
1852,  being  then,  however,  only  half  its  pi'esent  size.  The  corner- 
stone of  this  church  was  laid  by  very  Rev.  E.  J.  Sourin,  V.  G.,  and 
Rev.  Father  O'Keefe  of  Philadelphia,  stationed  at  St.  Philip's 
Church,  officiated.  Rev.  Father  Prendergast  went  to  Europe  in 
1867,  remaining  a  year,  and  during  his  absence  the  congregation 
was  attended  monthly  by  Rev.  Father  Maroney,  from  West  Ches- 
ter. After  the  return  of  Father  Prendergast  he  was  assisted  by 
Father  Moouey,  who  was  afterward  stationed  at  St.  Malachi's 
Church,  Philadelphia,  where  he  died. 

Iu  1SG9,  owing  to  the  increase  in  the  size  of  the  congregation, 
the  Church  was  enlarged  and  otherwise  improved.  Still  later 
Father  Prendergast  w-as  assisted  by  Father  Maginn,  who  also  oc- 
casionally attended  in  Dowuiugtown,  until  Rev.  Nicholas  Bowdeu 
was  appointed  resident  pastor.  A  house  just  south  of  the  church 
was  secured  as  a  pastoral  residence,  and  in  this  house  Father 
Bowdeu  lived  until  his  death,  in  1871.  The  present  fine  residence 
was  erected  on  the  site  of  that  building  by  Rev.  James  Maginn. 
In  1872  Father  Maginn  took  charge  of  the  parish,  remaining  until 
1886,  and  about  this  time  ground  was  secured  for  a  cemetery.  In 
July,  1886,  Rev.  Thomas  Toner  was  appointed  to  succeed  Father 
Maginn  aud  remained  until  his  death  in  1892.  Succeeding  Father 
Magiuu  came  Rev.  J.  J.  McAnany,  who  remained  until  1891,  when 
Hey.  James  O'Reilly  came  to  the  church  and  still  remains.  He  has 
greatly  improved  the  church,  has  remodeled  .the  sanctuary,  fres- 
coed the  entire  interior,  built  a  ueAV  sacristy  on  the  north  side  of 
the  church  and  has  added  a  handsome  front  porch.  Three  beauti- 
ful altars  adorn  the  sanctuary,  and  on  each  of  these  altars  is  placed 
a  fine  statue,  impoi'ted  from  Europe  and  presented  to  the  church 
bv  Mrs.  Margaret  Murphy,   a  member   of  the  congregation.     A 


y. 


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AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  7^7 

fiue  bell  is  in  the  tower  of  the  church,  which  is  much  admired  for 
its  sweetness  of  tone.  It  is  the  gift  of  Michael  Murphy  of  Milford 
Mills,  Chester  County. 

There  are  two  out  missions  attached  to  St.  Joseph's  parish — 
St.  Mary's,  at  Glenloch,  and  St.  Thomas',  at  Reilly's  Banks. 
Father  O'Reilly  is  ai^sisted  by  the  Rev.  Father  Martin  Gorman. 

The  Church  of  St,  Francis  de  Sales  at  Landenburg  was  es- 
tablished in  1893,  the  building  being  erected  the  same  year,  a  frame 
on  a  stone  foundation,  which  will  seat  250  people,  and  which  cost 
13,300.  The  church  was  erected  by  Rev.  James  F.  Kelly  and  it 
was  dedicated  October  21,  1893.  Then  Father  Kelly  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  John  O'Donnell  of  Kennett  Square,  who  has  had 
charge  of  both  parishes  ever  since.  The  membership  consists  of 
about  twenty-five  families. 

West  Grove  Catholic  Church  building  stands  on  Evergreen 
Street  at  the  head  of  Prospect  Street.  It  is  60x41  feet  in  size,  in 
the  clear,  and  two  stories  high,  including  the  basement  It  is  of 
brick  and  cost  .$11,000.  In  1897  a  tower  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
$750,  and  a  bell  was  placed  in  this  tower  in  July,  1898,  anc*  conse- 
crated by  Archbishop  Ryan  of  Philadelphia  on  Sunday,  July  3, 
1898.    The  membership  of  this  church  is  now  400. 

Oxford  Catholic  Church  is  merely  a  mission  from  the  West 
Grove  Church.  The  building  at  Oxford  is  of  brick,  70x28  feet  in 
size,  and  cost  |3,500.  It  was  erected  in  1877.  The  membership 
is  now  150. 

Tlie  Presbyterians  of  Chester  County  are  in  reality  the  descen- 
dants of  the  early  Scotch-Irish  settlers,  who  were  animated  by 
the  same  spirit  which  led  to  the  American  Revolution.  Unable 
to  bear  the  oppressions  of  their  English  King,  they  sought  by  a 
change  of  residence  to  find  a  field  of  greater  liberty.  Hence  they 
sought  Pennsylvania,  where  they  were  welcomed  by  the  Friends, 
who  were  then  the  most  liberal  in  their  views  upon  religious  sub- 
jects of  any  of  those  professing  Christian  sentiments. 
45 


768  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  oldest  Presbyterian  Ohurcli  iu  Chester  County  is  the  Great 
Valley  Presbyterian  (liiircli,  located  in  Tredyffrin  Township, 
which  was  reonlarly  organized  in  1714.  The  membership  was 
made  np  of  Welsh  and  Scotch-Irish,  and  the  tirst  minister  was  Rev. 
Malachi  Jones,  who  preached  for  this  church  until  1720,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Eev.  David  Evans,  who  was  pastor  of  the  church 
for  about  twenty  years.  In  1720  a  church  buildinc;  was  erected 
which  stood  for  more  than  seventy  years.  Succeeding  Eev.  Mr. 
Evans  in  the  pulpit  of  this  church  came  Eev.  John  Eowland,  to 
whom  there  was  strong  opposition,  which  resulted  in  his  being- 
debarred  from  preaching  in  the  church  by  the  "Old  Side"  members, 
a  majority'  of  the  membership  being  of  the  opinions  known  as  "old 
side"  by  the  religionists  of  that  day.  However,  Eev.  Mr.  Eowland 
preached  to  the  minority  of  the  congregation  in  barns  and  such 
other  places  as  could  be  utilized  for  the  purpose,  until  a  new 
church  building  could  be  erected  for  them.  The  foundations  of 
this  church  were  laid  in  1713,  on  a  lot  given  by  Job  Harvey,  a 
Friend. 

The  next  preacher  of  the  Great  Valley  Presbyterian  Church 
was  Eev.  Samuel  Evans,  a  son  of  Eev.  David  Evans,  who  was  in- 
stalled in  1712,  and  who  remained  until  1717.  Eev.  John  Kiu- 
kead  was  installed  pastor  in  1753,  and  Eev.  John  Simonton  in 
1761,  he  remaining  until  1791. 

The  church  established  by  Eev.  John  Eowland,  called  the 
Charlestown  Presbyterian  Church,  in  1743,  maintained  a  separate 
existence  until  1791,  having  had  as  pastors  Eevs.  John  Campbell, 
John  Griffith,  Benjamin  Chestnut,  John  Cannichael  and  Daniel 
McCalla,  returned  at  this  latter  date  to  the  Great  Valley  Church, 
the  reunion  being  effected  by  Eev.  John  Gummel,  who  remained 
with  the  church  until  1798.  Where  Eev.  William  Latta  was  pastor 
of  the  Great  Valley,  in  1799,  a  new  church  building  was  erected 
in  1793,  and  the  Eev.  Mr.  Latta  remained  with  this  church  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  1847.       The  next  pastor  was  Eev. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  769 

William  E.  Bingham,  from  February  28,  1848,  imtil  Jamiary  :'., 
1859.  Then  came  Rev.  Robert  M.  Patterson,  installed  August  2", 
1859,  and  remaining  until  18(*)7;  Rev.  Edward  P.  Hebert.on,  ti-din 
April  13,  18G8  until  October  11,  1871;  Rev.  Samuel  Fulton,  in- 
stalled October  18,  1872,  and  remaining  until  1881;  Rev.  Robert 
M.  Patterson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1885  to  the  present  time.  The  present 
membership  of  this  church  is  108. 

The  Cliarlestown  again  separated  from  the  Great  Valley  upon 
the  resignation  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bingham,  and  in  1859  united  with  the 
Phoenixville  Presbyterian  Church.  Aften\ard  it  united  with  the 
East  Whiteland  Presbyterian  Church  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
John  Cylde,  again  uniting  with  the  Phoenixville  Church. 

Upper  Octorara  Presbyterian  Church,  one  mile  north  of 
Parkesburg,  was  organized  in  1720,  and  for  four  years  was  served 
by  Revs.  David  Evans  and  David  Magill.  The  first  regular  pastor 
was  Rev.  Adam  Boyd,  who  came  to  the  church  in  1721,  being  in- 
stalled October  13.  In  1711  this  church,  like  others  in  this 
county,  was  divided  into  two  branches  by  the  "Old  Side"  and  "New 
Side"  controversy,  a  new  church  being  organized  by  the  New 
Siders,  named  the  Second  Congregation  of  Upper  Octorara,  of 
which  latter  church  Rev.  Andrew  Sterling  was  pastor  from  1747  to 
1765.  Rev.  Mr.  Boyd  remained  with  the  old  church  during  the  di- 
vision, which  was  terminated  in  1708,  the  two  churches  then  be- 
coming one  again,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Boyd  remained  pastor  of  the  re- 
united body  until  his  death,  November  23,  1768.  A  son  of  his,  Col. 
Andrew  Boyd,  was  a  lieutenant  of  Chester  County  during  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

Rev.  William  Foster  became  pastor  of  this  church  almost  im- 
mediately after  the  death  of  Mr.  Boyd,  and  remained  until  his 
death,  September  30,  1780.  Rev.  Alexander  Mitchell  succeeded 
him,  and  remained  until  1796,  dying  December  6,  1812.  In  1810 
Rev.  James  Latta  was  installed  pastor  and  remained  until  1850, 
the  present  church  edifice  being  erected   during  his  pa^itorate. 


770  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Siuoe  tlien  the  following  have  beeu  pastors:  Revs.  James  M. 
Crowell,  Alexander  Reed,  John  Jay  Pomeroy,  William  B.  Reed; 
James  A.  Marshall,  Maj  29,  1897,  to  August  31,  1886;  Matthew  C. 
Woods,  December  19,  1887,  to  January  20,  1889,  and  Thomas  R. 
McDowell,  May  22,  1889,  to  the  present  time. 

On  September  11,  1870,  this  church  celebrated  its  sesqui-ceu- 
tennial  anniversary,  on  which  occasion  J.  Smith  Futhey  delivered 
an  historial  address,  from  which  much  of  the  matter  here  pre- 
sented was  taken.  On  September  1,  1895,  the  church  celebrated 
its  oue  hundred  and  seventy-fifth  anuiversai-y,  at  which  there  were 
present  about  2,500  people.  The  membership  of  the  church  at  the 
present  time  is  460,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  175,  the  church 
property  being  valued  at  -f  40,000. 

Fagg's  Manor  Tresbyterian  Church,  at  first  called  New  Lon- 
donderry Presbyterian  Church,  was  established  in  1730,  the  build 
inii"  standing  on  the  northwest  corner  of  what  was  known  as  Sir 
John  Fagg's  Manor.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  from 
1740  to  his  death,  June  5,  1751.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother, 
Rev.  John  Blair,  who  remained  until  1767,  after  which  time  the 
■church  had  no  regular  pastor  until  1781,  when  Rev.  John  Evans 
Fiuley  was  installed.  He  remained  until  1793,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  Patrick  Davidson.  The  next  pastor  was  Rev.  Rob- 
ert White,  who  was  installed  in  1809,  and  remained  until  his  death, 
September  20,  1835.  Rev.  Alfred  Hamilton  came  next,  remaining 
from  March,  1836,  until  May,  1859,  the  present  church  edifice  be- 
ing erected  during  his  incumbency.  Since  his  removal  to  the  West 
the  pastors  have  beeu :  Revs.  J.  T.  Umsted,  William  B.  Noble,  .John 
K.  Andrews,  1881-83;  Joseph  L.  Polk,  Ph.  D.,  1885  to  the  present 
time.  The  present  membership  of  this  church  is  389  and  of  the 
Sundaj'-school,  includiug  officers  and  teachers,  603. 

Rock  Presbyterian  Church,  first  kuowu  as  Elk  ICiver  Pres- 
byterian Church,  was  organized  in  1720,  its  first  house  of  wor- 
ship being  erected  at  what  is  known  as  the  "Stone  Graveyard,"  in 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  771 

Lewlsville,  Elk  Towusliip.  The  secoud  building  was  erected  by 
the  "New  Side"  people  in  1741,  at  "Stump's  Graveyard,"  at  Fair 
Hill,  Cecil  County,  Maryland.  Its  third  chiuch  was  erected  at  Us 
present  location  in  Cecil  County,  Maryland. 

Xew  London  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  March  20, 
1728,  it  having  separated  from  the  Rock  Church  in  1726.    The  first 
pastor  was  Kev.  Samuel  Gelster,  who  preached  for  a  short  time 
after  September,  1728.     Next  came  Eev.  Francis  Alison,  installed 
about  173G,  and  removed  to  Philadelphia  about  1752.    The  second 
church  edifice  was  erected  about  1744,  but  from  the  time  of  the  re- 
tirement of  Eev.  Mr.  Alison,  there  was  no  regular  pastor  until  ( >c- 
tober  15,  1771,  .when  Eev.  James  AYilson  was  installed,  and  served 
until  October  27,  1778.    Next  came  Rev.  Eobert  Graham,  installed 
December  13,  1809,  and  succeeded  by  Eev.  Eovert  Patterson  Du 
Bois,  who  was  installed  November  20,  183(i,  and  remained  until 
November  1, 187G.    Ik'ev.  B.  F.  Meyers  became  pastor  April  24,  1877, 
and  remained  until  April  8,  1879,  being  succeeded  by  Eev.  Daniel 
E.  Workman,  October  23,  1879,  who  remained  until  1883;  Rev. 
James  B.  Clark,  1884-86;  Eev.  William  Hayes  Moore,  1889-90;  Eev. 
Daniel  E.  Jenkins,  1891-96;  Eev.  Henry  E.  Jackson,  1897,  and  Eev 
Charles  E.  Williamson,  1898.    The  present  church  membership  is 
180,  and  of  tlie  Sunday-school,  inclndiug  officers  and  teachers,  124. 
Doe  Eun  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  1740,  and  its 
building  was  erected  tlie  same  year  in  East  Fallowfield  Township 
on  the  Strasburg  Eoad.    This  organization  belonged  to  the  "New 
Side"  Presbyterian  branch.    For  the  first  seven  years  of  its  exist- 
ence it  had  no  regular  pastor,  the  supplies  being  sent  from  the 
New  Side  Presbytery^  of  New  Castle,  but  in  1747  Eev.  Andrew 
Sterling  became  pa.stor,  and  remained  pastor  of  this  and  the  Sec- 
ond Congregation  of  Upper  Octoraro  about  eighteen  years.    In  1768 
Eev.  Mr.  Foster  became  pastor  of  the  two  churches,  giving  Doe  Euu 
about  one-fourth  of  his  time.     In  1785  Eev.  Alexander  Mitchell 
came  to  this  church,  dividing  his  time  as  his  predecessors  had  done 


772  CHESTER     COUNTY 

between  the  two,  and  reniainerl  until  179G  with  the  Octoraro 
Church  and  with  Doe  Kun  until  1809.  Eev.  Samuel  Henderson  be- 
came pastor  in  1813,  remaining  about  one  vear,  and  Eev.  Elkanah 
Kelsej'  Dare  was  then  pastor  from  May  13,  1817,  until  August  26, 
1826.  Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Alexander  G.  Morri- 
son, John  Wynne  Martin,  D.  D.,  .John  V.  Clarke,  Thomas  Thompson, 
Eobert  E.  Flickiuger,  Samuel  Philips,  and  Van  Derveer  V.  Nicho- 
las, 1893-97.  The  membership  of  the  church  is  119  and  of  the  Sun- 
day-school  144. 

Braudywine  Manor  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  as  a 
separate  congregation  in  1735,  the  first  pastor  being  the  Eev.  Sam- 
uel Bljvck,  who  was  installed  November  10, 1736,  and  remained  until 
May,  1741.  In  this  year  the  churcli  became  divided  into  an  "Okl 
Side"  and  a  "Xew  Side"  branch,  the  latter  branch  erecting  for 
themselves  a  new  house  of  worship.  Eev.  Adam  Boyd  was  pastor 
of  the  former  branch  until  about  1743,  Avhen  he  was  succeeded  by 
Eev.  William  Dean,  who  remained  until  1760,  wlien  the  two 
branches  reunited  and  Eev.  John  Carmichael  became  pastor,  being 
installed  April  21,  1761,  and  remaining  until  his  death  November 
15,  1785.  The  cliurch  was  int'orporated  September  1,  1786,  and 
Eev.  Nathan  drier  became  pastor  August  22,  1787,  and  he  remained 
until  his  death,  March  30,  1814,  being  then  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Eev.  John  Nathan  Caldwell  Grier,  who  remained  from  1814  until 
April  14,  1869.  The  pastorate  of  his  father  and  himself  extended 
over  a  period  of  eighty-two  years.  Since  tlien  the  ijastors  have  been 
Eevs.  W.  W.  Heberton,  John  McCall,  and  Hector  A.  McLean,  tlie 
present  pastor.  The  membership  of  this  church  is  now  300,  and  of 
the  Sunday-school,  including  officers  and  teachers,  329. 

The  church  building  erected  in  1761  was  bunaed  down  and  re- 
built in  1786,  and  in  1839  tlie  house  was  rebuilt  and  remodeled.    In 
1875  the  old  building  was  taken  down,  and  in  1876    a    new    one 
erected,  at  the  time  being  the  most  complete  and  convenient  of  any. 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Chestei-  County.    It  was  dedicated  Decem- 


AXD     TTS     PEOPLE.  771 

ber  14,  ISTO,  and  s'tands  ou  liij;li  oToimd,  si^'ii.U'  an  excellent  view  of 
the  surronnding-  country. 

The  Oxford  Presbyterian  Chnrcli  was  established  at  the  time 
of  the  union  of  the  Associate  Kefornied  Church  with  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1822,  as  is  related  in  the 
sketch  of  the  Oxford  United  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Dickey  connected  himself  with  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  and  remained  pastor  of  it  until  1832.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son.  Rev.  John  Miller  Dickey,  in  May  of  the  latter 
year,  who  remained  pastor  until  185(5.  Rev.  James  R.  Reardon 
came  next  as  a  supply,  the  next  regular  pastor  being  Rev.  Casper 
W.  Hodge,  who  remained  until  18(?0,  being  succeeded  then  by  Rev. 
William  R.  Bingham,  who  remained  imtil  the  summer  of  1802. 
Rev.  F.  B.  Hodge  was  installcKl  in  the  spring  of  18(i3  and  remained 
until  the  fall  of  1868,  and  it  was  during  his  pastorate  that  a  new 
church  building  was  erected  on  the  old  site  at  a  cost  of  .|35,00U. 
Rev.  Orr  Lawson  became  x>astor  in  March,  1870,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  M.  W.  Jacobus,  and  he  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  L.  Hodge.  The 
membership  of  this  church  is  about  600,  and  of  the  8unday-school 
300,  and  the  church  ])roperty  is  worth  about  |30,000. 

Xottingham  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  with  mem- 
bers formerly  belonging  to  the  Lower  Nottingham  Presbyterian 
Chui'ch  in  .Cecil  County,  Maryland,  these  members  withdrawing 
because  of  a  change  in  the  location  of  the  church  building  in  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  worship.  Upon  withdrawing  they 
formed  the  Up])er  West  Xottingham  Church,  and  erected  a  build- 
ing in  1802,  which  was  enlarged  in  1810.  Dr.  Samuel  Magraw  was 
pastor  of  this  churcli  until  1821,  after  which  time  it  was  supplied 
until  1826,  when  it  was  connected  witli  the  Oxford  Church,  this 
connection  remaining  in  force  until  the  summer  of  1862,  when  it  be- 
came a  separate  church.  The  pastors  since  then  have  been  Revs. 
William  F.  P.  Xoble,  Robert.  Gamble,  S.  M.  Pierce,  Lindley  C.  Rut- 
ter,  Jr.,  who  was  installed  in  1872.    In  1878-79  a  new  church  build- 


774  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ing  was  erected  at  Nottingham  Station,  and  the  name  of  the  church 
organization  changed  to  the  Nottingham  Presbyterian  Church 
about  1880.  Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  as  follows:  Edward 
W.  Russell,  Kent  M.  Bull,  and  John  M.  Jenkins.  The  church  mem- 
bership is  now  102,  and  that  of  the  Sunday-school  100. 

Oxford  United  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  1735, 
though  not  as  a  unit  of  the  present  connection.  A  small  house  of 
worship  had  been  erected  in  this  part  of  Chester  County  as  early 
as  1739,  *and  this  house  was  in  use  for  many  years  before  there  was 
any  organized  body  to  occupy  it.  This  church  was  organized  in 
connection  with  the  Associate  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Edinburgli, 
being  one  of  the  first  of  that  brancli  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  colonies.  This  synod  in  1753  sent  out  two  ministers,  Kev. 
Alexander  Gellatley  and  Ilev.  Andrew  Aruott,  who  left  Scotland 
soon  after  receiving  their  ai^pointment,  the  latter  returning  to 
Scotland  in  1755,  and  the  former  remaining  in  this  country.  While 
both  were  in  this  counti"}'  they  organized,  as  they  had  been  in- 
structed to  do,  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania,  the  prin- 
cipal'settlements  of  its  adherents  being  at  Octorai'o  and  at  Oxford. 
From  these  two  churches  Eev.  Mr.  Gellatlej'  received  a  call  to  be- 
come their  pastor,  and  accepting  the  call  he  was  pastor  of  both  a 
short  time,  and  of  the  Octoraro  Church  until  his  death  in  1761.  The 
next  pastor  of  the  Oxford  Church,  Rev.  Matthew  Henderson,  came 
from  Scotland,  in  1758,  and  remained  until  1775.  The  next  regular 
pastor,  Eev.  Ebenezer  Dickey,  was  installed  in  1796,  a  union  having 
in  the  meantime  been  effected  between  the  Associate  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  united  bodies  calling  themselves  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church,  the  union  being  effected  June  13,  1782.  The  Oxford 
Church  remained  in  this  connection  fortj'  years. 

Rev.  Mr.  Dickey  continued  to  preach  for  this  church  until 
1822,  when  at  a  small  meeting  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  As- 
sociate Reformed  Church,  a  iirojected  union  with  the  General  As- 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  77S' 

sembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  declared  cousumiuated, 
and  the  Associate  Reformed  >;>ynod  dissolved.  This  was  on  May 
21,  1822.  Several  of  the  members  of  the  Oxford  Church  declined 
to  enter  this  uuiou  thus  effected,  aud  uniting  with  a  number  of 
others  who  in  1782  had  stood  out  against  the  union  they  were  re- 
ceived with  the  congregation  of  Octoraro,  into  the  Associate  Pres-^ 
byterj'  of  Philadkphia,  and  again  taking  the  name  of  Associate^ 
Avhich  they  continued  to  bear  until  the  union,  May  2G,  1858,  of  the 
Associate  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  when  entering  that 
union  they  took  the  name  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
Thus  this  church,  while  it  has  beeu  known  under  several  different 
names,  has  always  maintained  the  same  principles. 

Succeeding  Kev.  Mr.  Henderson  the  Rev.  John  Smith  was  pas- 
tor of  this  church  from  1783  to  1791;  Rev.  Ebenezer  Dickey  from 
1796  to  1822;  Rev.  William  Easton,  D.  D.,  from  1827  to  1851;  Rev, 
J.  H.  Andrew  from  1855  to  1863;  Rev.  E.  T.  .JefCers,  D.  D.,  from  1865 
to  1872;  Rev.  G.  A.  B.  Robinson  from  1873  to  1876;  Rev.  R.  T. 
Wylie,  from  1877  to  1880;  Rev.  A.  H.  Crosbie,  from  1881  to  1887; 
Rev.  W.  M.  Story,  1888  to  1891;  Rev  J.  Leyda  Vance,  1891  to  1892; 
Rev.  A.  P.  Hutchson,  1892  to  1895;  Rev.  J.  L.  Hervey,  1896  (o 
1897,  and  Rev.  McEhvee  Ross,  June  4,  1898,  to  the  present  time. 

The  present  brick  church  building  was  erected  in  Oxford  in 
1851,  and  in  the  spring  of  3  869  it  was  determined  to  build  a  parson- 
age, which  together  with  a  stable  was  erected  for  $3,900  and  in 
1889  the  congregation  became  entirely  free  from  debt.  The  church 
property  now  consists  of  one  acre  of  land  in  a  growing  part  of  the 
town,  a  good  brick  church,  10x00  feet,  and  a  two-story  brick  par- 
sonage, 32x32  feet,  the  whole  being  worth  |8,875.  The  membership 
of  the  church  is  now  95. 

The  First  Presbj-terian  Church  of  West  Chester  was  organized 
January  11,  1834,  the  field  having  been  previously  cultivated  bv 
the  Rev.  William  A.  Steveus,  and  a  house  of  worship  was  erected  on 
the  corner  of  Miner  and  Darlington  Streets,  which  was  opened  for 


7/6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

wortship  in  January,  1834.  After  the  deatli  of  Rev.  Mr.  Stevens, 
wliieli  occurred  October  3,  1834,  Kev.  James  J.  Graff  became  pas- 
tor, being  installed  April  29,  1836,  and  the  succeeding;  pastors  have 
been  IJev.  John  Crowell,  1840  to  1850;  Rev.  William  E.  Moore, 
1850  to  1872;  Kev.  Benjamin  T.  Jones,  January  15,  1873,  to  April 
11,  1883;  Rev.  John  C.  Cakhvell,  October  10,  1883,  to  August  15, 
1891;  and  Rev.  Washington  R.  Laird,  November  17,  1892,  to  pres- 
ent time. 

On  the  division  of  the  Presbj'terian  Church  into  the  Old  au<l 
New  Scho(ds,  this  church  became  a  part  of  the  New  School  Pres- 
byterian Chni'ch,  and  so  remained  until  the  reunion  of  the  two 
branches  in  1870.  In  1860-61  the  church  building  was  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  tAventy-five  feet  to  its  length,  and  in  1874  the  pipe 
organ  was  removed  from  the  gallery  over  the  entrance  to  an  alcove 
in  the  rear  of  the  pulpit.  In  1880  a  parsonage  was  purchased  on 
Miner  Street  at  a  cost  of  |7,000.  The  membership  of  this  church 
at  the  present  time  is  513,  and  of  the  Sunday-school,  500.  A  chapel 
in  the  form  of  an  "L"  on  tlie  east  and  south  sides  of  the  cluirch 
building  was  erected  in  1894-95,  of  brownstone,  including  audito- 
riimi,  ladies'  parlor  and  kitchen,  the  auditorium  having  a  seating 
capacity  of  1,000.    The  cost  of  this  inqirovement  was  about  |18,000. 

UilworthtoAAu  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  April, 
1878,  a  building  having  been  erected  in  1877,  at  a  cost  of  |4,417.15, 
tlie  membershi])  having  been  gathered  together  through  the  efforts 
of  the  Presbyterians  of  West  Chester.  Rev.  Hector  Alexander  Mc- 
Lean was  pastor  from  September  9,  1878,  until  February  24,  1881. 
Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Joel  S.  Giltillan,  from  April, 
1881,  to  September  27,  1887;  Josiah  L.  Estlin,  June  6,  1888,  to  May, 
1893,  and  Thomas  AY.  Pearson,  installed  June  28,  1894,  and  still  re- 
mains. In  1885  a  parsonage  was  built  of  greenstone,  at  a  cost  of 
f2,642.49,  not  considei-ing  the  work  of  members.  A  kitchen  was 
added  in  1889  at  a  cost  of  •*229,  exclusive  of  the  value  of  the  stone, 
wliicli  was  given  by  Joseph  Brinton.    The  principal  contx-ibutor  to 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  777 

building  of  the  cliurch  erected  iu  1877,  and  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  organization  since  tlien  was  and  lias  been  Mrs.  Henry  I.  Biddle. 
Church  nieiubership  at  the  present  time  is  about  75  and  the  Sunday- 
school  has  about  100  members. 

Coatesville  Presbyterian  Church  Avas  organized  in  1833,  the 
first  building  being  erec-ted  that  year.  This  building  was  used  by 
the  Presbyterians,  Baptist,  Episcopalians,  Methodists  and  Friends, 
but  no  minister  was  permitted  to  preach  in  it  unless  he  could  come 
well  recommended  as  a  member  of  one  of  the  churches  nanieti 
above.  The  constitution  also  ])rovided  that  no  minister  should  re- 
ceive a  salary  for  preaching  iu  that  house,  and  tliat  no  collections 
should  be  taken  up  except  for  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  con- 
gregation. This  latter  jirovisiou  v.as,  however,  stricken  out  of  the 
constitution  by  more  than  a  two-thirds  vote  in  1838.  In  1842  the 
trustees  of  the  property  were  authorized  to  sell  it  to  the  Presbyte- 
rians, and  it  was  conveyed  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Coates- 
ville, September  20,  1843.  This  building  was  taken  down  in  1840, 
and  a  new  one,  43x55  feet  in  size,  erected,  which  was  used  until 
I860,  and  in  this  year  and  1807  it  was  enlarged  to  its  present  size. 
In  1877  a  neat  stone  chapel  was  erected  at  IJock  Ivun  for  a  Sunday- 
school  and  other  religious  purposes. 

From  April,  1823,  to  184G,  Kev.  Alexander  G.  Morrison  was  the 
I^astor  of  this  church  and  of  the  Doe  Run  Church,  at  which  time 
he  became  ]»astor  of  the  Coatesville  Church  alone,  and  so  continued 
until  his  death,  October  20,  1870,  although  for  the  last  three  years 
of  his  life  he  took  no  active  part  in  tlie  ministry.  He  was  followed 
by  I\ev.  James  Roberts,  who  was  called  January  15,  1868,  and  was 
installed  May  28,  1868,  remaining  with  the  church  until  1885,  and 
being  succeeded  by  Rev.  Henry  A.  MacKubbin,  who  remained  nine 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  S.  Harry 
Leeper,  who  was  installed  in  September,  1S95.  The  membership 
of  the  church  is  about  519,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  618.  The 
building  stands  at  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue, 


7/8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

is  a  handsome  stone  structure,  Avill  seat  (500  persons,  and  is  valued 
at  .?45,000. 

Honeybrook  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  November 
28,  1835.  It  was  the  result  of  a  great  revival  in  Brandywine  Pres- 
byterian Church,  some  of  the  new  converts  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
Waynesburg,  too  far  awaj-  from  the  Brandywine  to  attend.  The 
first  meeting  was  held  Januaiy  10,  1835,  and  the  first  pastor  was 
Kev.  W.  ^A'.  Latta,  Avho  was  installed  May  0,  1837,  resigning  in 
1858.  The  church  was  incorporated  April  l(i,  1840.  The  second 
pastor  was  Kev.  John  C.  Thorn,  from  May  19,  1859,  to  September, 
1865,  he  resigning  to  go  to  St.  Louis.  Kev.  J.  H.  Young  became  pas- 
tor in  1866,  and  remained  until  Februan-  7,  1869.  Kev.  William  A. 
Ferguson  then  came  and  remained  until  October  3,  1871;  Kev.  W. 
W.  Tothei'oh  was  installed  October  31,  1872,  and  remained  until 
1882;  Kev.  Thomas  J.  Sherrard  became  pastor  in  1883,  and  re- 
mained six  years;  Kev.  James  B.  Umberger  came  in  1890  and  re- 
signed in  1893,  and  Kev.  Oswell  Gifford  McDowell,  the  present  ef- 
ficient pastor,  was  installed  September  18,  1897. 

The  present  large  and  commodious  church  edifice  was  erected 
in  1871  on  a  lot  donated  in  1852  by  Kev.  W.  W.  Latta  and  Abnor 
Grittith.  The  pro])erty  of  the  church  is  valued  at  |10,000,  the  mem- 
bership is  287,  and  the  Sunday-school  in  all  a  membership  of  140. 

Fairview  Presbyterian  Church,  formei'ly  AA'est  Xantmeal  Pres- 
byterian Church,  was  organized  January  1,  1840,  the  first  building 
being  erected  about  that  time.  The  first  pastor  was  Kev.  Alexan- 
der Porter,  from  1840  to  1845.  The  second  was  Kev.  William  IT. 
McCarer,  until  1849;  Kev.  Beriah  B.  Hotchkiss,  until  1858;  Kev. 
David  C.  Meeker,  until  1868;  Kev.  Ambrose  N.  Hollifield,  until 
1876;  Iiev.  Adam  Boyd,  Jr.,  installed  in  .June,  1876,  and  remained 
until  1883;  Kev.  William  P.  Breed,  Jr.,  1883-89;  Kev.  Albert  F. 
Lott,  1893-96;  Kev.  Charles  E.  Gubler,  1897  to  the  present  time. 
The  church  membership  is  now  200,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  180. 
The  present  church  was  erected  in  1861. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  779 

%  East  Whitelaud  Pre.sbyteriau  Claircli  was  oi-gauized  in  183!). 
and  was  incorporated  May  21,  1840.  Its  pastors  have  been  Revs. 
D.  H.  Emerson,  Mr.  Barton,  .J.  McKini  Dinuau,  W.  t>.  Drysdale, 
Oeorge  Foote,  Mr.  Jones,  John  McLeod,  A.  M.  Stewart,  Thomas  J. 
Aiken,  John  C.  Clyde,  William  C.  Stull,  installed  October  28,  1879, 
and  remained  nntil  1880;  Rev.  Villeroy  D.  Reed,  D.  D.,  1887-81); 
Rev.  Yates  Dickey,  1890-92;  Rev.  Alford  Kelly,  1891  to  the  present 
time.  The  present  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1877,  and  the 
property  of  the  church  is  now  worth  .f  5,000.  The  present  member- 
ship is  105,  and  of  the  Sunday-school   55. 

Phrf*nix^ille  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  April  Ki, 
1818,  in  the  Mennonite  Meeting-house.  A  handsome  church  edi- 
fice was  erected  on  Main  Street,  south  of  \Yashingtou  Avenue,  and 
•dedicated  September  30,  1850.  The  pastors  of  this  church  have 
been  as  follows:  Revs.  Jacob  Bellisle,  John  Thomas,  Joseph  F. 
Jennison,  Joseph  W.  Porter,  George  H.  S.  Campbell,  1876-80; 
Nathaniel  P.  Crause,  1881-9G,  and  William  Mudge,  1897-98.  The 
church  membership  is  210,  and  that  of  the  Sunday-school   239. 

The  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  of  Downington,  was  or- 
ganized July  17,  1861,  and  had  for  its  first  preacher  Rev.  John  L. 
With  row,  he  being  at  that  time  a  student  at  Princeton  College. 
The  first  regular  pastor  was  Rev.  Matthew  Newkirk,  Jr.,  installed 
May  21, 1862,  and  remaining  until  1868.  Rev.  John  Rea  was  pastor 
until  1872,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Francis  J.  Collier,  installed 
October  9,  1872,  and  remained  imtil  September  18,  1888;  Rev. 
Charles  E.  Craven,  from  January  17,  1889,  to  December  12,  1894; 
the  pulpit  was  then  vacant  about  a  year,  and  Rev.  John  S.  Helm 
came  and  remained  about  a  year,  leaving  in  August,  1896,  and  was 
followed  February  11,  1897,  by  the  present  pa.stor,  Rev.  William  P. 
Patterson.  The  church  membership  is  165,  and  that  of  the  Sunday- 
school   151.    A  parsonage  was  erected  in  1889. 

The  Trinity  Presbyterian  Church,  of  Reeseville  (Berwyn),  was 
organized  April  29,  1862,  the  church  building  being  dedicated  De- 


-So  CHESTER     COUNTY 

cember  30,  1S()2.  The  pastors  of  this  cliiirfh  have  been  TJevs.  John 
MfLeod,  A.  M.  Stewart,  Tliomas  J.  Aiken,  William  M.  Rice,  D.  D., 
Dr.  Ilartniail,  Alj^ernon  Marccllns,  installed  October  IT,  1879,  and 
remained  until  1SS5;  Kev.  Thomas  J.  Aiken,  1S80  to  the  present 
time.  Tlie  membership  of  this  chincli  is  now  252,  and  of  the  Snn- 
daT-school  292. 

Kennett  Square  I'resbvterian  Church  was  oroanized  November 
1,  1802,  Rev.  John  S.  Gilmor  becoming  its  first  pastor,  he  being  in- 
stalled May  15,  1803,  and  remaining  until  1872.  lie  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  James  Frazer,  installed  May  22,  1872,  and  remained  until 
1883;  Rev.  D.  W.  Moore,  1883-80;  supplies  until  1890;  Rev.  R.  A. 
Hunter,  1890-98.  The  presenl  membership  of  the  church  is  139, 
and  of  the  Sunday-school  100.  In  1889  a  Young  People's  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavor  was  organized,  and  in  1892  a  junior  society 
of  the  same  order.  In  October  of  this  year  a  Circle  of  the  King's 
Daughters  was  formed,  and  there  is  also  a  Presbyterian  Union 
which  has  aided  the  church  largely  in  a  financial  way.  There  i.s 
also  a  AV'oman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  and  the  Anemone 
Band. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Avondale  was  organized  Decem- 
ber 9,  1870,  with  Rev.  -lohn  S.  Gilmor  as  pastor.  In  May,  1872, 
Rev.  .lames  Frazer  succeeded,  remaining  until  April  9,  1873.  Rev. 
William  R.  Bingham  then  became  stated  supply  and  remained  in 
that  relation  until  1870,  and  since  then  the  pastors  have  been  Rev. 
Charles  H.  Whitaker,  Rev.  George  B.  Carr  and  Rev.  J.  Calvin 
Krause.  The  church  membership  is  74,  and  that  of  the  Sunday- 
school   70. 

The  church  building  was  erected  in  1873  and  dedicated  -lanu-  ■ 
ary  17,  1871.  There  was  a  Presbj'terian  Chapel  erected  in  Tough- 
kenamon  in  1877,  ajid  in  1878  the  building  which  had  belonged  to 
the  Episcopalians  was  purchased,  repaired  and  fitted  up  as  a  Pres- 
byterian Chapel.  The  pastors  here  since  1890  have  been  as  follows: 
Rev.  Malcolm  J.  McLeod,  1890-92;  Rev.  George  B.  CaiT,  1895;  Rev. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  7S1 

Charles  C.  Walker,  ISOO,  aud  Kev.  J.  Marshall  Kutlierford,  1S97-!IS. 
The  mebership  of  this  churcli  is  3it,  and  that  of  the  Sunday-schiJdl 
100. 

There  was  a  Presbyterian  Church  at  Lincoln  University,  ^ir- 
ganized  in  ISOT,  and  known  as  the  Ashmiin  Church. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  West  Chester  (colored), 
was  organized  May  2,  1887,  with  twenty  members.  A  Sunday- 
school  was  organized  some  time  previously.  At  the  present  time 
the  church  is  without  a  pastor,  but  the  membership  is  kept  up  to 
about  fifty,  and  that  of  the  Sunday-school  to  about  the  same  num- 
ber. 

Westminster  Presbyterian  Church  of  West  Chester  v.as  or- 
ganized May  25,  1892,  with  103  members,  100  of  whom  were  from 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Suhday-sthoo]  was  organized 
May  29,  1892.  A  lot  was  purchased  on  the  corner  of  Church  and 
Barnard  Streets,  for  •'J9,000,  and  a  chapel  erected  thereon  at  a  cost 
of  18,110.43.  Eev.  B.  Canfield  Jones  was  pastor  from  1892  to  189.j. 
Rev.  Alexander  Esler  has  been  the  pastor  of  this  church  since  June 
1,  1890,  aud  the  membership  is  396.  The  Sunday-school  has  51(> 
membei's,  that  at  Goshenville  has  75  members  and  that  at  Cope- 
land  65,  total  number  of  Sunday-school  scholars,  510. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oxford  (colored)  was  es- 
tablished in  1881,  and  is  the  strongest  church  organization  among 
the  colored  people  at  this  place.  First  pastor  was  Kev.  F.  L.  Logan, 
who  remained  until  1880;  Kev.  E.  F.  Eggleston  from  1886  to  1887; 
Kev.  W.  A.  H.  Albony  as  a  supply  from  1891  to  1892,  then  Kev. 
Samuel  W.  Johnson  from  1892  t(j  the  present.  The  church  was 
erected  in  1881,  aud  is  worth  |1,700.  The  membership  is  13,  aud 
of  the  Sundaj'-school  66. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Peuningtonville  (now  Atgleu),  was 
regularly  constituted  by  a  committee  of  New  Castle  Presbytery,  in 
1851.  In  1852  the  present  building  was  erected,  and  during  the 
same  vear  the  church  was  dedicated.    A  unanimous  call  was  ex- 


7S2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

tended  to  Kev.  James  Latta,  wlui  had  been  pastor  of  Upper  Octo- 
raro  Presbyterian  Chiircli  for  a  period  of  forty  years,  and  in  1857, 
the  tillage  of  Oliristiana,  in  Lancaster  County,  having  no  place  of 
worship,  erected  a  church  in  connection  witli  that  of  Atgleu.  The 
pastors  have  been  as  folloAvs:  Rev.  James  Latta,  1852  to  1862;  Rev. 
J.  W.  Edie,  18f)2  to  1868;  Rev.  W.  F.  P.  Noble,  1869  to  1872;  Rev. 
W.  R.  Halbert,  1872  to  1878;  Rev.  C.  D.  Wilson,  1880  to  1883;  Rev. 
A.  Marcellus,  1884  to  1887;  Rev.  J.  D.  Randolph,  1887  until  near 
the  time  of  his  death,  May  21, 1898,  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Rendall,  Jr.,  from 
October,  1897,  to  the  present  time.  The  membership  of  this  church 
at  the  present  time  is  90,  and  of  the  Sunday-school,  50. 

West  Grove  Presbyterian  Church  was  the  result  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Sunday-school  by  Edward  P.  Capp,  in  August,  1860. 
In  1871  the  Sunday-school'moved  to  a  hall.  Dr.  R.  B.  Ewing  being 
then  the  superintendent.  In  1876  Dr.  W.  R.  Bingham  became  pas- 
tor, and  services  continued  to  be  held  in  the  hall  until  it  became 
necessary  to  erect  a  church  building.  For  this  purpose  money  was 
raised  in  1883,  and  in  1884  a  building  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  S.  K.  Chambers,  James  Mendenhall,  and  Isaac  Conard, 
who  held  the  title  to  the  property  until  the  organization  of  the 
church.  The  cornerstone  of  the  new  building  was  laid  October  3, 
1884,  Dr.  Bingham,  Rev.  B.  T.  Jones  and  Prof.  John  B.  Rendall 
officiating.  The  church  was  organized  May  27,  1886,  and  Dr.  Bing- 
ham continued  as  stated  supply  until  1890,  when  Rev.  Charles  H. 
Whitaker  became  pastor  in  connection  with  Avondale,  remaining 
until  October  17,  1893,  when  he  resigned.  On  October  9,  1893,  the 
relations  existing  between  West  Grove  and  Avondale  Presbyterian 
Churches  were  severed,  and  West  Grove  and  Unionville  were 
united,  at  a  congregational  meeting  held  July  18,  1894.  October 
24,  1894,  Rev.  J.  Calvin  Ki'ause  was  installed  pastor  of  the  two 
churches,  and  so  remained  until  March  27,  1895,  and  he  was  called 
to  West  Grove  exclusively  April  23,  1895.  At  an  adjourned  meet- 
ing  of  the  Presbytery  held  at  Oxford  September  19, 1895,  a  call  was 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  783 

extended  from  the  Avoudale  Church  to  the  Eev.  J.  Calvin  Krause, 
wliich  tall  he  accepted  and  he  has  since  been  pastor  of  the  two 
churches.  The  church  building  in  West  Grove  stands  on  Evergi"een 
Street,  and  v^'ill  seat  250  people  The  church  membership  is  now 
118,  and  that  of  the  Sunday-school  is  203. 

The  first  Baptist  Church  in  Pennsylvania  was  established  at 
Cold  Spring',  in  1684,  Eev.  Thomas  Dungan  of  Rhode  Island  being 
the  pastor.  Tliis  church  Avas  dissolved  in  1702.  About  two  years 
after  the  organization  of  this  Cold  Spring  Church  a  young  man  by 
the  name  of  Elias  Keech  arrived  from  England,  dressed  like  a  min- 
ister, and  began  to  preach,  but  in  his  first  sermon  while  he  pro- 
gressed fairly  well  for  a  time,  he  at  length  became  confused  and 
confessed  that  he  was  an  impostor,  becoming  greatly  distressed. 
Hearing  of  the  church  at  Cold  Spring  he  sought  the  i^astor'  of  it, 
.sought  his  counsel  and  was  by  this  pastor  baptized  and  ordained. 
In  1688  Jie  organized  tlie  Pennypack  or  Lower  Dublin  Baptist 
Church,  which  is  now  the  oldest  Baptist  Church  in  the  State.  Four 
years  later  liev.  Mr.  Keech  returned  to  England. 

In  Chester  County  the  Baptist  Churches,  classified  according 
to  the  associations  to  which  tliey  belong  are  as  follows: 

Philadelphia  Association.^ — Great  Valley,  organized  in  1711; 
Brandy  wine,  1715;   Bethesda,  1812. 

Central  Union  Association. — Vincent,  1771;  Beulah,  1823; 
Hephzibah,  1810;  Goshen,  1827;  Phrenixville,  1830;  Glen  Run, 
1832;  Windsor,  1833;  West  Chestei*,  1831;  East  Nantmeal,  1812; 
East  Brandywine,  1843;  Pughtown,  1856,  and  Coatesville,  1867; 
Lawrenceville,  1858;  Oxford,  1881,  and  Green  Valley,  a  branch  of 
Hephzibah. 

North  Philadelphia  Association. — Willistown,  1833;  West 
Cain,  1842;   Berean,  1878. 

Other  Churches. — London  Tract,  1780. 

The  Great  Valley  Baptist  Church  was  constituted  April  22, 
1711,  Hugh  Davis  being  chosen  minister;    Alexander  Owen  and 
46 


784  CHESTER     COUNTY 

William  Eees,  elders.  The  fonuer  officiated  uutil  Febniary,  1812,. 
when  Griffith  Jones  from  IJydwilim,  Wales,  arrived  in  the  foiinty, 
and  was  appointed  to  the  station.  The  meetings  of  this  congrega- 
tion were  for  the  most  part  held  at  the  lionse  of  Richard  Miles  in 
Radnor,  until  1722,  a  log  church  building  being  erected  in  the  mean- 
time in  Tredvffrin  Township,  28  feet  square.  This  little  log  church 
stood  on  high  ground  by  the  highway,  near  a  small  stream,  called 
Nant  yr  Ewig.  There  was  also  a  branch  church  at  Yellow  S^pring* 
and  also  a  school-house,  and  in  1770  both  churches  had  a  member- 
ship of  ninety-two  families.  Of  these  two  churches  Rev.  Hugh 
Davis  was  the  minister  until  his  death,  which  occurred  October  13, 
1753.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Davis,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  assistant  to  Rev.  Hugh  Davis,  and  who  from  1753  until 
1775  had  sole  charge  of  the  church,  and  remained  pastor  until  his 
death  in  1778.  In  1775  Rev.  David  Jones  became  assistant  to  Rev. 
John  Davis,  but  during  the  Revolutionaiy  War  he  was  absent 
much  of  the  time  as  chaplain  in  the  American  Army. 

In  1805  a  new  meeting-house  was  erected  and  in  1810  a  new 
parsonage.  In  1820  the  privilege  of  voting  on  all  (juestious  that 
might  arise  was  conferred  upon  the  women  members  of  the  congre- 
gation on  equal  tenns  with  the  men.  In  1821  tlie  pastor.  Rev. 
Thomas  Roberts,  and  Isaac  Cleaver,  John  Farrier,  Elizabeth  Rob- 
erts, Elizabeth  Jones  and  Rachel  Cleaver,  were  dismissed  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  mission  among  the  Indians  in  Tennessee, 
Evan  Jones  also  accompanying  them  to  the  mission  ground,  where 
his  son,  Rev.  John  B.  Jones,  was  born,  and  where  he  became  a 
translator  of  the  Bible  into  the  Cherokee  language. 

This  church  also  planted  otlier  churches  in  its  own  immediate 
vicinity,  as  the  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Church,  at  French  Creek,  in 
172G;  Vincent  Baptist  Church,  1771;  Phtenixville  Baptist 
Church,  in  1830;  Xorristown  Baptist  Church,  in  1832;  West  Ches- 
ter Baptist  Church,  in  1834;  Willistown  Baptist  Church,  in  1833, 
and  Radnor  Baptist  Church,  in  1841. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  J^S 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  pastors  of  the  Great  Valley  Baptist 
Church  from  the  beginning  of  its  history: 

Hugh  Davis,  1711-53;  John  Davis,  1732-78;  David  Jones,  177."'.- 
76,  1792-1820;  Thomas  Jones,  1776-83;  Nicholas  Cox,  1783;  John 
Boggs,  1791-1801;  Jenkin  David,  1795-98;  Thomas  Roberts,  1811- 
21;  Thomas  J.  Kitts,  1822;  John  >?.  Jenkins,  1823-27;  Thomns 
Brown,  1828-31;  Leonard  Fletcher,  1832-10;  Charles  B.  Keyes, 
1841-45;  James  F.  Brown,  1846-54;  George  Spratt,  1854-58;  Will- 
iam M.  Whitehead,  1858-61;  James  E.  Wilson,  1863-65;  B.  C. 
Morse,  1867-70;  James  H.  Hyatt,  1870  to  1874;  George  Pierce,  1874 
to  1883;  J.  M.  Guthrie,  1883  to  1886;  H.  B.  Garner,  1887  to  1893; 
J.  G.  Booker,  1893  to  1896;  E.  M.  Levy,  D.  D.Jsupply),  January-  to 
September,  1897;  and  James  Craighead,  from  November,  1897,  to 
the  present  time.  Isaac  A.  Cleaver  has  been  clerk  of  this  church 
since  1875. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1886,  a  chapel  was  opened  at 
Berwyn  in  Tredyffrin  Township,  for  public  worship.  The  cost  of 
the  ground  and  the  building  furnished  was  .|7,000.  July  26,  1895, 
the  interior  of  this  chapel  was  seriously  damaged  by  fire.  Having 
been  repaired  and  improved  it  was  reopened  December  15,  1895, 
the  cost  of  the  repairs  and  other  improvements  having  been  .f3,000. 
The  parsonage  farm  of  fifty  acres  was  sold  in  1892  for  |10,000,  and 
the  proceeds  invested  in  first  mortgage  on  Chester  County  real 
estate.  The  present  value  of  church  and  chapel  properties  is  |15,- 
000,  and  the  investments  of  the  church  society  amount  to  .'S10,800. 
The  present  membership  is  130.  There  are  two  Sunday-schools, 
the  superintendents  being  Isaac  A.  Cleaver  and  Dr.  W.  B.  Farley, 
and  the  officers,  teachers  and  scholars  number  200. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1896,  fifty  members  of  this 
church  severed  their  membership  therewith  and  formed  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Berwyn. 

Goshen  Baptist  Church  is  situated  in  West  Gosheu  Townshix>, 
at  the  junction  of  the  old  Philadelphia  and  Strasburg  Koads.     A 


786  CHESTER     COUNTY 

few  Baptists  living  iu  tlie  vicinity  of  tliis  place  worshiped  in  an 
old  frame  school-honse  for  some  years  before  a  church  building- 
was  erected,  which  was  in  1809,  and  in  which  any  evangelical  min- 
ister might  preach,  the  understanding  being  that  whenever  the 
Baptists  were  strong  enough  to  establish  a  church  the  property 
should  be  transferred  to  tliem.  The  building  was  opened  for  wor- 
ship on  Saturday  and  Sunday,  December  16  and  17,  1826.  Early 
in  the  year  1827,  nine  persons  were  dismissed  from  the  Brandywine 
Church  to  form  this  church,  and  the^'  were  constituted  a  church  on 
January  20,  1827.  From  that  time  until  August  they  were  without 
a  pastor,  and  then  Eev.  Simeon  Seigfried  was  called,  remaining 
with  them  until  Febniary  20,  1830,  when  he  resigned,  and  was  dis- 
missed to  Bethesda  Church.  After  a  couple  of  years  of  supplies 
Bev.  Robert  Comptou  became  pastor  January  14,  1832,  serving  two 
years.  Rev.  Mr.  Seigfried  then  returned  and  served  from  April, 
1834,  until  July,  1835,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Compton  again  became  pastor, 
remaining  this  time  six  months.  Rev.  Charles  E  Moore  then  be- 
came pastor  July  16,  1836,  and  remained  until  September,  1838; 
Rev.  Enos  Barker  served  from  September,  1838,  until  1839,  and 
then  Rev.  Mr.  Moore  returned  and  served  six  months.  Rev.  Mr. 
Compton  then  returned  and  served  until  Januai-y,  1841,  and  iu 
1842  Rev.  Thomas  Griflith  was  tlie  pastor.  Rev.  George  W.  Mitch- 
ell became  pastor  in  1846,  and  preached  two  years.  Rev.  F.  Jasin- 
sky  served  from  April  1,  1848,  until  January  20,  1851,  when  Rev. 
Mr.  Compton  returned  once  more  and  remained  until  1856.  Rev. 
John  Reece  served  from  1857  until  1860,  in  which  latter  year  Rev. 
J.  W.  WarAvick  became  pastor  aud  served  until  April  1,  1861. 
Joseph  S.  Evans  was  licensed  to  preach  November  17,  1860,  and 
was  ordained  jjastor  of  this  church  November  4,  1861,  serviug  the 
church  from  this  time  until  the  present 

In  Februaiw,  1874,  the  church  building  was  badly  damaged  by 
tire,  and  a  new  one  was  erected  on  the  old  site,  the  new  one  being 
dedicated  November  25,  1S74.     In  1894  a  two-story  stone  annex 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  1^7 

was  added  to  the  obiircli  for  the  uses  of  the  Suudaj-school.  Tlie 
total  value  of  the  church  property  is  now  |G,000,  aud  the  member- 
ship of  the  church  is  24:5,  that  of  the  Sunday-school  being  130. 

Tlie  Brandywine  Baptist  Church  was  estxiblished  June  14, 
1715,  at  tlie  house  of  John  I*owell  of  Pi'ovidence,  the  first  name 
given  to  it  being  the  Baptized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  had  four- 
teen original  members,  seven  men  iind  seven  women.  It  was  origi- 
nally in  Birmingham  Township,  Delaware  County,  and  the  meet- 
ings were  held  for  a  time  at  the  house  of  John  Powell  in  Upper 
Providence.  In  1717  the  meetings  were  removed  to  Birmingham. 
A  division  occurred  in  this  church,  but  at  what  precise  time  does 
not  appear,  over  the  question  of  the  Sabbath  day,  thovse  preferring 
Sunday  to  Saturday  fonning  the  Brandywine  Church.  In  1741  a 
new  meeting  appeared  to  be  necessary  in  Newlin  Township,  and  a 
building  was  erected  on  land  given  for  that  purpose  by  Jeffrey 
Bentley. 

In  1770  there  were  about  twenty-six  families  in  the  two 
branches.  Kev.  William  Butcher  was  the  first  pastor,  remaining 
until  1721,  and  from  that  on  until  1761  there  was  no  regular  pas- 
tor, l\ev.  Abel  Grrifliths  coming  in  that  year  and  remaining  until 
17G7.  The  church  at  Birmingham  was  erected  in  1718  on  land 
given  by  Eduiuud  Butcher,  one  of  the  original  members  of  the 
church. 

The  Hephzibah  Baptist  Church,  though  not  organized  so  early 
as  1710,  was  yet  in  a  certain  sense  in  existence  then,  and  has  since 
been  a  power  for  good.  The  people  of  religious  instincts  in  the 
neighborhood  of  its  locatiou  were  ministered  to  until  in  the  early 
day  by  Eev.  Owen  Thomas,  who  settled  in  Vincent  in  1707,  and  was 
the  first  regular  Baptist  minister  in  ^'ewlin  Township.  On  Janu- 
ary 7,  1747-48,  Richard  Buffington  of  Bradford  in  his  will  gave  £5 
to  IJev.  O-^en  Thomas,  minister  of '  the  Anabaptist  Society, 
which  then  held  its  meetings  at  John  Bentley's  house,  in  ^'ewlin, 
and  to  the  societv  itself  he  gave  £20.       After  the  death  of  Joha 


788  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Bentley,  the  meetings  were  held  at  the  house  of  his  son,  Jef 
frey  Bentley,  who  in  1752  gave  a  piece  of  land  upon  which 
with  the  assistance  of  others  he  erected  a  meeting-house. 
Rev.  Owen  Thomas,  who  first  preached  for  this  church, 
continued  to  do  so  until  1759,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  Abel  Griffith,  who  remained  until  17«i7,  and  who  came 
again  in  1775,  remaining  this  second  time  until  1791,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Joshua  Vaughau,  who  remained  until 
1808.  During  his  pastorate  the  meeting-house  became  too  small 
and  a  new  (me  was  erected  where  the  Hephzibah  Church  now 
stands.  It  was  finished  by  May,  1793,  and  was  dedicated  on  the 
18th  of  tliat  month  by  Rev.  David  Jones.  At  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr. 
^'auglian,  August  2,  1808,  the  number  of  members  of  this  church 
was  140.  For  a  short  time  afterward  Rev.  Jethro  Johnson  supplied 
the  pulpit,  and  in  March,  1810,  Brandywine  Church  granted  a  letter 
of  dismissal  to  its  members  living  in  East  Fallowfield  in  order  that 
they  might  form  a  separate  organization,  the  result  of  which  was 
that  on  May  20, 1810,  the  Hephzibah  was  constituted,  the  first  busi- 
ness meeting  of  this  new  chui'ch  being  held  on  Saturday,  June  16, 
1810.  In  182.3  about  twenty  members  were  dismissed  to  form 
Beulah  Baptist  Cliurch,  for  which  Rev.  Jethro  Johnson  preached  as 
well  as  at  Hephzibah,  until  his  death,  July  15,  1838. 

Rev.  Silas  C.  James  was  ordained  pastor  December  3,  1S38,  re- 
maining until  April  1,  1840.  Rev.  .John  S.  Jenkins  became  pastor 
in  June,  1840,  and  remained  until  February,  1842,  when  twenty- 
six  members  were  dismissed  to  form  the  West  Cain  Baptist 
Church.  Rev.  D.  A.  Nichols  supplied  the  pulpit  from  April,  1844, 
until  April,  184G,  and  Rev.  George  H.  Mitchell  from  April  8,  1S4G, 
until  September,  1852.  During  the  latter  pastorate  the  present 
church  edifice  was  erected,  being  finished  and  ready  for  worship  In 
January,  1848.  Rev.  Leonard  Frescoln  became  pastor  in  January, 
1855,  and  remained  until  April,  1857,  when  Rev.  David  W.  Hunter 
began  his  pastorate  in  May,  1857,  remaining  until  June,  1872. 


AXD     ITii     PEOPLE.  789 

Betliesda  Baptist  Church  is  situated  in  the  northwest  part  (if 
the  county,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  Berlcs  County  line.  It  was 
organized  December  8,  1827,  and  the  first  pastor,  Rev.  Simeon  Seig- 
fried,  served  it  from  that  time  until  about  1830.  The  other  pastors 
of  this  church  have  been  Rev.  John  Booth,  Rev.  Andrew  Collins, 
Rev.  Enoch  M.  Barker,  Rev.  Dieres  A.  Nichols,  Rev.  Leonard 
Freshcoln,  Rev.  William  H.  H.  Marsh,  Rev.  John  G.  Peri'y,  Rev. 
John  Eberle,  Rev.  William  Barrows. 

Glen  Run  Baptist  Church  was  established  in  1832,  being  con- 
stituted December  8,  that  year.  The  name  was  derived  from  a 
small  stream  which  has  its  rise  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
church  building  first  erected.  The  original  membership  consisted 
of  nine  persons,  from  the  Ilephzibah  Church,  they  being  gathered 
together  through  the  labors  of  Rev.  Enos  M.  Philips,  who  was  then 
performing  missionary  labors  in  tlie  west  part  of  Chester  County. 
Almost  immediately  after  the  organization  eleven  more  united 
Avith  the  nine,  and  the  church  building  was  dedicated  December  9, 
1832.  Before  tlie  end  of  that  month  forty  more  joined,  and  when 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Philips  resigned  his  pastorate  in  1810  the  membership 
wasilS.  In  January-,  1811,  Rev.  Robert  Comptou  accepted  the  call 
to  the  pastorate,  and  remained  until  1812,  when  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Philips  returned,  and  in  1813  sixteen  members  were  dismissed  to 
form  the  Coleraine  Baptist  Church  in  Lancaster  County.  In  1810 
a  church  building  was  erected  in  Parkesburg,  services  being  held  in 
both  houses  for  some  time.  Rev.  Mr.  Philips  remained  until  1810, 
when  he  resigned  to  go  to  Wisconsin  as  a  missionary  for  the  Home 
Missionary  Society.  Rev.  Allen  J.  Hires,  pastor  of  the  Vincent 
Church,  became  pastor  of  this  church  in  1850,  and  in  1853  twenty- 
eight  of  the  members  were  dismissed  to  fonn  a  new  church  organi- 
zation at  Parkesburg,  Rev.  Mr.  Hires  filling  both  pulpits  until  1855, 
when  he  resigned.  In  this  latter  year  Rev.  Joseph  CuiTan  became 
pastor,  and  remained  until  185(i,  about  which  time  most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  I'arlvesburg  Church  returued  to  the  Glen  Run  Church. 


790  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  location  of  the  church  building  having?  now  become  nnsat- 
isfactoi-y,  a  new  building  was  erected  at  Penningtonville,  in  1858, 
the  basement  of  which  was  ready  for  occupancy  next  year,  in 
which  year  Hev.  Leonard  Fletcher  became  the  pastor,  serving  from 
April  1  to  August  IG,  when  he  died.  Hex.  William  T.  Bunker  be- 
came pastor  in  November,  1800,  and  remained  until  1802,  the  new 
church  building  being  completed  and  dedicated  in  the  meantime. 
In  1803  Rev.  A.  H.  Bliss  became  pastor,  resigned  in  August,  1804, 
to  enter  the  Union  Anny  as  a  private  soldier,  and  was  succeeded 
in  the  church  by  Eev.  Joseph  Sharp,  who  remained  until  1800, 
when  he  was  followed  by  Rev.  W.  W.  Dalbey,  who  remained  from 
1870  until  September,  1871.  In  1872  he  was  followed  by  Rev. 
James  Walden,  wlio  remained  until  1877,  and  in  September  of  that 
year  Rev.  T.  S.  Snow  became  and  remained  until  1885,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Whitmarsh,  wlio  remained  until  1887. 
Rev.  J.  B.  Soule  was  pastor  from  1887  to  1890;  Rev.  Y.  S.  Marsh 
from  1890  to  1802;  Rev.  F.  H.  Buffum  from  1892  to  1894;  and 
Rev.  R.  J.  Holmes  from  1895  to  1898.  The  present  membership  of 
the  church  is  150,  and  of  the  Sunday-school,  90;  the  cliurch  prop- 
erty being  valued  at  .1«10,000. 

Vincent  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1737  as  a  branch  of 
the  Great  Valley  Baptist  Church,  which  built  a  church  edifice 
within  200  yards  of  the  present  church  building.  The  new  organi- 
zation was  supplied  for  some  years  by  the  Rev.  William  Davis  and 
the  Rev.  John  Davis,  the  latter  being  pastor  of  the  Great  Valley 
Church.  In  1748,  Vincent  Cliurch  was  granted  by  the  Great  Val- 
ley Church  independent  action.  Rev.  Owen  Thomas  was  minister 
"  here  some  time,  and  died  November  12,  1700.  For  about  ten  years 
afterward  Vincent  Church  was  supplied  more  or  less  by  the  Great 
Valley  Church  pastors,  but  on  October  12,  1771,  the  Vincent 
brethren  were  constituted  a  separate  and  independent  church, 
forty-eight  members  of  the  Great  Vallej'  being  dismissed  to  aid  in 
forming  the  new  organization.     On  April  0,  1791,  it  was  incor- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  79  r 

porated  by  the  Legislature.  At  this  time  Rev.  John  Blaelcwell  was 
the  minister,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Abel  Gi-iffith,  and  he 
by  Rev.  Thomas  Fleeson,  these  three  ministers  serving-  up  to  ISOO. 
Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  Revs.  Joshua  Vaughan,  H.  G. 
Jones,  Daniel  James,  Charles  Moore,  the  latter  resigning  in  1842, 
having  been  pastor  twenty -two  years  and  eight  months;  J.  Y. 
Allison,  A.  J.  Hires,  J.  N.  Tucker,  J.  W.  Griffith,  A.  J.  Hay,  George 
Sleeper,  S.  F.  Forgues,  J.  S.  L.  Sagebeer,  D.  W.  Shepperd,  A.  J. 
Grej',  C.  D.  Parker,  D.  M.  Lennox,  and  the  present  pa.stor,  W.  C. 
Leinback.  The  membership  of  this  church  is  now  190,  and  the 
property  is  valued  at  |15,000. 

The  Sunday-school  was  opened  in  May,  1829,  a  tract  society 
was  formed  in  1833,  a  missionary  society  was  organized  the  same 
year,  and  in  February  of  this  year,  thirty-nine  members  were  dis- 
missed to  form  Windsor  Chui'ch.  In  May,  1833,  the  Vincent 
Church  became  a  member  of  the  Central  Baptist  Association.  The 
property  of  the  church  contains  7.79  acres  which  was  deeded  to 
the  society  August  23,  1797.  This  is  one  of  the  endowed  churches 
of  the  county,  the  Legislature  about  1780  authorizing  the  sale  of 
a  farm  which  in  1775  had  been  so  left  in  his  will  by  Daniel  Evans 
that  two-thirds  of  its  income  should  go  toward  the  support  of  the 
pastor,  and  after  sale  two-thirds  of  the  proceeds  thereof  were  put 
at  interest,  the  interest  to  go  toward  paying  the  annual  salary  of 
the  pastor.  The  share  of  the  church  in  the  property  amounted  to 
|4,39(3.9L  In  May,  1862,  Phebe  Christman  died,  leaving  a  bequest 
of  .f  300,  the  interest  of  which  is  to  go  to  the  same  end. 

Beulah  Baptist  Church  was  constituted  June  3,  1823,  with 
nineteen  members.  The  meeting-house  was  built  that  year,  and 
Rev.  Jethro  Johnson  was  the  iirst  pastor,  remaining  in  this  rela- 
tion, and  also  of  Hephzibah  Church,  until  his  death,  July  15,  1838. 
The  next  pastor  was  Rev.  Enos  M.  Philips,  who  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Robert  Compton.  Rev.  William  Rudy  became  pas- 
tor    April     23,     1842,     remaining     until     March,     1845,     when 


792  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Rev.  Mr.  Compton  returned,  remaining  this  time  until 
18-19.  IJev.  William  M.  Wliitehead  was  pastor  eighteen 
mouths  from  October  17,  1850,  aud  was  succeeded  By  Rev. 
J.  Perry  Hall,  who  remained  iiutil  185!).  The  pastors  subse- 
quent to  this  have  been:  Revs.  M.  K.  Williams,  J.  M.  Perry,  J. 
D.  R.  Strayer,  J.  M.  Lyons,  James  P.  Hunter,  J.  M.  Lyons  again, 
Samuel  Godshall,  W.  R.  McNeil. 

Windsor  Baptist  Church  Avas  organized  April  12,  1833,  the 
first  meetings  for  worship  being  held  in  the  house  of  Rev.  Josiah 
Philips.  During  that  summer  a  church  building  was  erected  and 
in  the  fall  liev.  Thomas  C.  Teasdale  agi*eed  to  preach  for  them  once 
each  month  during  the  year  for  $100.  October  11,  1831,  Rev.  Enos 
M.  Philips  made  a  similar  agreement.  From  this  time  on  until 
1835  there  was  preaching  also  by  Rev.  Josiah  Philips,  Rev.  William 
Stedman  and  Rev.  O.  I.  Miles.  Rev.  T.  S.  (jrithth,  who  preacheil 
once  each  month  from  1837  to  1840,  began  in  this  latter  year  to  give 
his  whole  time  to  the  church  and  remained  until  January  1.  1815, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  H.  S.  Haven,  who  died  December 
28,  that  year.  Rev.  J.  M.  Ivichards  came  next,  remaining  until  Oc- 
tober 1, 1850.  The  pastors  who  have  since  preached  for  this  church 
have  been  as  follows:  Revs.  J.  »^.  Eisenbray,  Uriah  Coffmau,  J.  W. 
Griffith,  Jacob  Lawrence,  E.  A'.  King,  John  Owen,  during  whose 
pastorate  a  union  with  East  Nantmeal  Church  was  effected  and 
Rev.  D.  J.  R.  Strayor  became  pastor;  then  followed  Rev.  J.  M, 
Guthrie,  who  remained  pastor  some  years  and  resigned  to  become 
pastor  of  the  Berean  Baptist  Church  in  West  Chester,  in  187!l. 
Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  as  follows:  Ivevs.  William  Bai-- 
rows,  E.  B.  Waltz,  R.  R.  Albin,  and  J.  E.  Keylor,  the  present  pastor. 
Repairs  have  been  recently  made  to  the  property  which  add  much 
to  its  appearance.  The  church  building  is  valued  at  |5,000  and  the 
parsonage  at  |2,000.  The  membership  of  the  church  is  now  121, 
and  that  of  the  Sunday-school  00. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  West  Chester  was  organized  in 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  793 

1834,  meetings  having  been  lielil  for  some  time  previonsl^y  at  tlie 
lionse  of  Kobert  Ferguson  to  talie  into  consideration  the  question 
of  effecting  such  an  organization.  On  January  23, 1834,  this  church 
was  constituted  with  twenty  five  members,  Rev.  Thoma.s  C.  Teas- 
dale  being  the  first  pastor.  A  lot  was  purchased  on  Church  Street, 
between  Market  and  Miuer  Streets,  for  -1400,  and  a  new  building 
erected  thereon  by  Samuel  Bart,  at  a  cost  of  |l,065,Uhe  cupola  cost- 
ing f  100.  In  1842  the  tower  and  steeple  were  added  at  a  cost  cf 
J)f575,  including  the  belfry.  The  church  was  chartered  by  the  Legi: 
lature  in  1844,  and  in  1855  the  property  was  sold  to  George  Fitz- 
simmous  for  |1,800,  a.  lot  having  been  purchased  on  South  Hign 
Street  upon  which  a  new  building  was  aftei'ward  erected,  the  cor- 
ner-stone being  laid  JuIa'  4,  1854,  the  lecture  room  being  occupied 
for  the  first  time  January  7,  1855,  and  the  completed  building  dedi- 
cated August  28  and  29,  1857.  This  church,  including  the  lot  on 
which  it  stands,  cost  110,81  l.r»7. 

Tlie  pastors  of  this  churcli,  since  the  retirement  of  Rev. 
^Ir.  Teasdale,  been  as  follows:  Rev.  George  I.  Miles, 
Lemuel  Covell,  H.  R.  Green,  Silas  W.  Palmer,  Emerson 
Andrews,  Thomas  S.  (Jriffith,  ^Yilliam  A.  Roy,  Alfred  S. 
I'attou,  Levi  Parmley,  Ivobert  Lowrey,  AVilliam  E.  Watkin- 
son,  James  Trickett,  Alfred  Harris,  William  E.  Cornwell, 
George  H.  Trapp,  William  E.  Needham,  J.  H.  Chambers, 
Joshua  E.  Wills.  The  church  property  is  wortli  iiS12,000,  seating 
capacity  of  church  being  600. 

The  buildiug  was  re-modeled  in  188G,  chairs  taking  the  place 
of  pews.  A  new  pipe  organ  Avas  put  in  in  1897,  at  a  cost  of  |1,500, 
-and  was  heard  for  the  first  time  on  Thursday  evening,  November 
25,  Thanksgiving  evening.  The  church  membership  is  now  413, 
and  the  Sunday-school  has  a  membership  of  about  303.  The  pres- 
ent pastor.  Rev.  Joshua  E.  Wills,  came  to  West  Chester  from 
Swarthmore,  Delaware  County.  He  is  a  literary  gentleman  as  well 
-as  pastor,  having  published  several  books,  among  his  most  recent 


794  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ones  being  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Satan,"  in  which  he  argues  in  fa- 
vor of  the  doctrine  of  the  personality-  of  the  arch  adversary  of 
man. 

Phoenixville  Baptist  Church  was  organized  May  28,  1830,  witli 
eight  members,  public  services  being  held  next  day  in  the  Metho- 
dist Church.  A  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1833,  which  was  su- 
perseded in  1853  by  a  commodious  structure  at  the  corner  of 
Church  and  Gay  Streets,  and  was  dedicated  in  July,  1834.  The 
pastors  here  have  been  Eevs.  Jonathan  G.  Collon,  William  Smith, 
Thomas  Larcombe,  Dyer  A.  Nichols,  Andrew  Collins,  William  S. 
Hall,  John  P.  Hall,  Joseph  Currin,  William  S.  Hall,  Joel  E.  Brad- 
ley, I.  I).  King,  G.  G.  Craft,  William  H.  Stenger,  Jonathan  Nichols, 
J.  Madison  Hare,  and  A.  J.  Hughes,  the  present  pastor.  The  mem- 
bership of  this  church  is  512,  and  the  church  property  is  valued 
at  $23,500. 

East  Nantmeal  Baptist  Church  was  organized  November  5, 
1811,  with  twenty-six  members.  Meetings  were  held  for  a  couple 
of  years  in  a  school-house,  but  in  1813  a  church  building  was  dedi- 
cated, which  cost  1800.  In  1880  a  neAV  chiirch  building  was  erected 
wliich  cost  .|3,500.  Tlie  pastors  here  have  been  Kevs.  A.  Collins,  D. 
A.  Nichols,  John  Duer,  William  H.  Ellis,  F.  Wilson,  J.  W.  Plannett, 
C.  H.  Mellotte,  and  A\'alter  Whitley,  the  present  pastor.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  church  is  1G3,  and  the  property  is  valued  at  $5,000. 

East  BrandyAvine  Baptist  Church  was  organized  February  21, 
1843,  with  fifty-three  members,  a  church  building  having  been 
erected  the  previous  year.  This  building  was  burned  down  in  185G, 
and  rebuilt  the  same  year.  The  church  was  incorporated  Aiigust 
0,  1804,  and  the  parsonage,  which  was  purchased  in  1870,  is  sit- 
uated in  Guthrieville.  The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  Eevs. 
Thomas  S.  Griffith,  H.  S.  Haven,  William  J.  Nice,  John  S.  Christine,', 
John  M.  Richards,  George  H.  Mitchell,  Jesse  B.  Williams,  B.  H. 
Fish,  George  H.  Mitchell,  S.  Livermore,  E.  W.  Eing,  C.  E.  Young, 
T.  G.  Guessford,  Maris  Gibson,  T.  A.  Lloyd,  William  Marlow,  James 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  795 

JM.  Guthi'ie,  Morris  Gibson,  A.  M.  McCurdy,  Walter  Mayo,  F.  ^^'. 
Eandall  and  G.  W.  Rensliaw,  tlie  present  pastor.  The  membersliip 
of  the  church  is  twenty-five,  and  the  property  is  valued  at  .|4,500. 

Pughtown  Baptist  Church  wasi  organized  January*  10,  185G, 
with  twenty-five  members.  Two  days  previousl.y  it  was  resolved 
to  abstain  from  the  use  of  intoxicants  for  sacramental  purposes. 
The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  Eevs.  Theophilus 
Jones,  John  Perry,  John  Entriken,  J.  G.  Walker,  E.  P.  Barker,  S. 
Belsey,  William  Barrows,  David  Landis,  J.  H.  Hyatt,  AV.  O.  Owen, 
and  is  now  supi:»lied  by  Kev.  William  T.  Johnscm.  The  membei*shiii 
of  the  church  is  now  eighty-one,  and  the  property  is  valued  at 
f2,S00. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Coatesville  was  organized  Sep- 
tember 3,  1867,  Avith  forty-nine  members,  a  building  having  been 
secured  on  April  3,  pre^  iously,  from  the  school  board,  and  then 
fitted  up  for  a  place  of  worship.  In  1869  most  of  this  building  was 
torn  do-nn  and  a  new  one  erected  in  its  place  on  the  southwest  cor- 
ner of  Third  Avenue  and  Main  Street,  w.hich  was  opened  for  wor- 
ship Januaiw  1,  1870,  and  dedicated  November  10,  following.  The 
liastors  of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  Eevs.  A.  C.  Whear, 
<\  M.  Deitz,  E.  Wildman,  E.  Edwards,  from  December  5,  1880,  to 
July  9,  1882;  E.  E.  Jones,  November  1,  1882,  to  April  1,  1887; 
Joseph  L.  Sagebeer,  September  1,  1887,  until  his  death  in  1890; 
Benjamin  C.  Needham,  October  1,  1890,  to  1896,  when  owing  to  fail- 
ing healtii  he  ^^as  compelled  to  cease  from  labor  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Eev.  William  E.  Needham.  The  membership  of  the 
church  is  about  -150,  and  the  church  property  is  valued  at  |25,000. 

Willistown  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1833,  as  a  branch 
of  the  Great  Valley  Baptist  Church.  A  church  building  was 
erected  in  1875  at  Malvern  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  building  and 
the  parsonage  was  erected  in  1877.  In  1881  the  membership  was 
319,  Kev.  E.  W.  Bliss  being  pastor  at  that  time.  Since  then  there 
has  been  but  one  pastor,  Rev.  W.  W.  Dalbey,  who  came  to  the 


796  CHESTER     COUNTY 

church  June,  1893,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bliss  having  ck)sed  his  pastorate 
December  2,  1892.  The  church  buikling  is  now  valued  at  |15,000, 
and  the  parsonage  at  |1,000,  total  $19,000.  The  church  society  i:-; 
entirely  free  from  debt.  The  church  membership  is  now  281,  and 
that  of  the  Sunday-school,  150.  t^ince  1880  a  fine  double  shed  ca- 
Ijable  of  holding  28  teams  has  been  erected,  and  a  bell  has  been  put 
on  the  church  weighing  700  pounds. 

West  Cain  Baptist  Church  was  organized  as  a  branch  of  the 
Hephzibah  Baptist  Church  in  1842  with  twenty-six  members,  their 
petition  for  a  separate  church  organization  being  granted  upon 
condition  that  they  pay  all  arrearages  due  the  Hephzibah  Church. 
Rev.  Mr.  Jenkins  was  permitted  to  devote  one-fourth  of  his  time  to 
the  new  church.  Subsequent  to  his  pastorate  the  following  have 
been  the  pastors  of  this  chuixh:  Rev.  David  Jefferis,  Rev.  George 
H.  Mitchell,  liev.  A.  G.  Compton,  Rev.  W.  H.  H.  Marsh,  and  Rev. 
George  Coulter.  At  the  present  time  no  stated  meetings  are  held 
by  this  church,  which  as  an  organization  has  ceased  to  exist,  but 
preaching  is  supfjlied  occasionally  from  Coatesville,  as  the  pastors 
there  may  arrange. 

Lawrenceville  Baptist  Church  was  organized  April  14,  1858, 
and  the  church  building  erected  that  year  was  dedicated  December 
12,  1858,  the  cost  of  the  building  having  been  |1,700.  The  pastors 
of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  Revs.  W.  H.  H.  Marsh,  John 
M.  Perry,  A.  B.  Still,  Robert  Dunlap,  David  Philips,  A.  H.  Emmons, 
J.  W.  Griffith,  C.  W.  O.  Nyce,  J.  B.  Soule,  and  the  present  pastor, 
Rev.  W.  T.  Johnson.  The  membershii)  of  this  church,  now  named 
Parkerford  instead  of  Lawrenceville,  is  186,  and  the  property  is 
valued  at  |5,000. 

The  Berean  Baptist  Church  of  West  Chester  was  organized  as 
the  Mount  Olive  Baptist  Church  of  West  Chester,  February  10, 
1874.  On  April  2,  the  name  Avas  changed  to  the  West  Chester 
Baptist  Church,  and  on  the  10th  of  the  same  month  the  name  was 
again  changed  to  the  Berean  Baptist  Church.    The  first  sermon  was 


AyO     JTS     PEOPLE.  797 

preached  by  I{ev.  W.  li.  McNeil.  November  2,  1874,  the  corner- 
stone of  a  church  biiihling  was  hiid  by  tlie  Kev.  Edward  McMiiin. 
pastor,  on  a  lot  ou  the  west  side  of  Walnut  Street,  between  Miner 
and  Barnard  Streets,  the  building  being  completed  and  dedicated 
in  1875.  The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  Rev. 
Edward  McMinu,  William  K.  McNeil,  T.  A.  Lloyd,  James  M. 
Guthrie,  and  David  II.  Laudis,  the  last  pastor.  In  1889  this  church 
property  was  ]nirchased  by  H.  .J.  Clouser,  who  lives  adjoining  it  on 
the  south,  and  in  1892  he  sold  it  to  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  (colored),  which  has  since  occupied  it.  The  building  was 
erected  in  1874. 

The  Loudon  Tract  Baptist  Church,  so  named  because  it  was 
located  on  a  tract  of  land  purchased  by  the  London  Company,  in 
Chester  County,  Avas  made  an  independent  church  November  21, 
1780.  Previous  to  tJiis  date  its  history  is  involved  in  that  of  the 
Welsh  Tract,  which  etends  back  tO'  the  beginning  of  the  Eight- 
eenth century.  At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  this  church 
there  were  dismissed  from  the  Welsh  Tract  church  eighteen  per- 
sons to  aid  in  its  formation.  The  Evans  family  were  among  the 
most  prominent  of  the  original  members,  and  the  church  building 
stood  upon  their  land.  The  first  pastor  appears  to  have  been  Ilev. 
Thomas  Fleeson,  appointed  November  22,  1780.  In  1808,  Kev. 
Jethro  Johnson  Avas  pastor,  preaching  two  vSundays  each  month, 
one  at  BrandyAvine  and  one  at  Hephzibah.  Kev.  Thomas  Barton 
was  pastor  of  this  church  for  a  period  of  fifty  years,  dying  March 
23,  1870.  Bev.  George  W.  Stator  became  pastor  in  March,  1873, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Bev.  Joseph  L.  Stator  in  March,  1880. 

Early  in  the  histoi";^'  of  this  organization  a  new  stone  building 
was  erected  Avith  the  entrance  on  the  south  side;  but  in  1863,  when 
this  building  Avas  remodeled,  the  entrance  was  placed  on  the  east 
side.  The  only  pastor  since  the  retirement  of  Bev.  Joseph  L.  Stator, 
who  died  in  1892,  has  been  Elder  A.  B.  Francis.  The  membership  of 
the  church  is  noAV  ten,  and  the  property  is  worth  |3,000.    There  is 


798  CHESTER     COUNTY 

no  Sunday-school  connected  with  this  cliurcli,  as  the  members  do 
not  believe  in  them  or  in  missions.  This  is  an  old-school  Baptist 
Church,  and  thej  firmly  believe  in  the  doctrine  that  only  the  elect 
will  be  saved,  hence  Sunday-schools  and  missions  are  useless.  In 
their  view  tlie  Lord  does  all,  and  as  a  consequence  of  this  belief 
their  church  seems  doomed  to  continued  decay  and  early  extinc- 
tion. 

Green  Valley  Baptist  Church  was  organized  June  19,  1834, 
when  a  considerable  number  of  members  was  dismissed  from 
Hephzibah  Church  for  that  purpose.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  a 
church  building  was  erected  for  them  until  1868,  the  question  as 
to  ^\hether  a  building  was  needed  in  Newlin  being  investigated  in 
180(1  by  J.  G.  Powell,  John  Y.  Woodwai'd,  and  Job  Keech  from 
Hephzibah  Churcli.  In  August,  1867,  a  "harvest  home"  was  held 
in  Daniel  Pennock's  woods,  which  brought  in  |320,  and  in  June, 
1868,  a  location  was  selected  for  the  meeting-house,  the  corner- 
stone of  which  was  laid  July  30  that  year.  Tlie  basement  of  the 
building  was  opened  for  worshii)  December  3,  1S69,  the  sermon  be- 
ing preached  by  llev.  D.  W.  Hunter,  and  on  October  9,  1870,  the 
main  audience  room  was  opened  for  worshij),  the  building  being 
dedicated  September  9  and  10,  1871.  The  sermon  on  this  occasion 
was  preached  by  the  venerable  Simeon  Seigfried,  and  there  was 
one  preached  also  by  the  Rev.  James  Trickett. 

The  Oxford  Baptist  Cliurch  was  constituted  May  12,  1881, 
services  having  been  held  in  that  place  then  about  two  years  by 
Eev.  William  R.  McNeil. 

Rev.  William  Barrows  is  pastor  at  the  present  time.  At  first 
Brinton's  Hall  was  used  as  a  place  of  worship,  but  in  1886  the  so- 
ciety purchased  tlie  church  building  which  had  been  formerly  used 
by  the  Methodists  and  still  own  the  building. 

The  Seventh  Day  Baptists  of  Pennsylvania  first  became  known 
in  the  Province  in  1697,  when  Abel  Noble,  who  is  claimed  to  have 
been  the  first  Seventh  Day  Baptist  to  come  to  the  Province  (in  1684), 


AND     ITS'   PEOPLE.  799 

baptized  Thomas  Martin,  a  frieud,  in  IJidley  Creek.  Aftenvard  Mr. 
Martin  baptized  otlier  Quakers  imtil  nineteen  had  left  their  own 
society  to  become  Baptists.  On  October  12,  1C07,  they  were  incor- 
porated into  a  church  with  Thomas  Martin  as  their  minister.  From 
tliat  day  no  other  Keithian  Qiialcers  were  baptized.  In  1700  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  arose  among  them  as  to  the  Sabbatli  day,  some 
claiming  it  to  be  Saturday,  others,  to  be  Sunday,  and  this  differ- 
ence of  opinion  broke  up  the  church,  those  adhering  to  the  Seventh 
day  remaining  together  in  Xewtown. 

This  Newtown  societj^  held  its  meetings  at  the  house  of  David 
Thomas,  and  after  Thomas  Martin  had  for  ministers  two  named 
Buckingham  and  Budd.  After  the  death  of  these  two  the  society 
did  not  flourish  to  any  great  extent.  The  dead  members  of  the 
church  lie  buried  in  the  cemeterj'  now  owned  by  the  Newtown  Bap- 
tist Church. 

Another  society  of  Seventh  Day  Baptists  was  organized  at  Not- 
tingham, Chester  County,  their  meetings  being  held  sometimes  at 
the  liouse  of  Abigail  Price,  but  chiefly  at  the  house  of  Samuel  Bond 
of  Cecil  County,  Maryland.  The}'  originated  witli  the  Keithians  in 
Upper  Providence,  but,  having  no  minister,  .they  could  not  expect  to 
grow. 

There  was  still  another  society  of  this  denomination  at  French 
Creek  in  Ea.st  Nantmeal  Township,  which  originated  in  1726,  a  few 
members  withdraAving  from  the  Great  ^'alley  Baptist  Church  in 
Chester  Countj-.  They  had  a  meeting-house  built  in  1672  on  a  lot 
containing  one  acre  of  ground.  There  were  six  families  belonging 
to  this  society,  which  had  no  regular  minister.  Their  meeting- 
house, a  frame  one,  was  destroyed  many  years  ago. 

The  German  Baptists,  or  Dunkers,  living  in  Coventiy  Town- 
ship, organized  themselves  into  a  church  in  1724,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Bishop  Peter  Becker  of  Germantown.  They  celebrated  a 
"love  feast"  and  the  Lord's  Supper  for  the  first  time  November  7, 
1721,  with  eight  communicants.  Martin  Umer  was  their  first  min- 
47 


800  CHESTER     COUNTY 

ister,  he  beiug  forniiill.y  ordaiued  in  1729  aud  serving-  the  eluin-li 
until  his  death,  in  1755.  Mr.  Urner's  assistant,  Casper  Ingles, 
served  also  until  Mr.  Urner's  death.  The  next  regular  minister  was 
Martin  Trner,  a  nephew  of  the  tii'st,  who  was  ordained  in  1750.  Cp 
to  this  time  they  had  met  in  private  houses,  but  under  the  super- 
vision of  I{ev.  John  Price,  familiarly  known  as  "Johnny  Price, 
the  boy  pastor,"  the  present  church  building,  known  as  "Price's 
Meeting-house,"  was  erected.  The  Sunday-school  was  organized 
with  about  110  members,  some  little  time  after  the  establishment  of 
the  church.  Other  noted  ministers  of  the  church,  besides  those 
already  mentioned,  have  been  Eev.  George  Price,  the  first  bishop), 
and  Rev.  John  Baugh.  It  has  been  found  impracticable  to  secure 
later  data  in  connection  with  this  structure. 

The  Parkesburg  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1888  with 
48  members,  after  having  been  a  branch  of  Glen  Run  Church  for 
manyiyears.  In  1873  a  lot  was  purchased  on  Rumford  Street,  near 
Gay,  and  a  church  building  erected  that  year,  whicdi  has  a  seating- 
capacity  of  about  200,  the  cost  of  the  building  being  |1,400.  The 
pastors  have  been  as  follows:  Revs.  O.  O.  Owen,  S.  Y.  Marsh,  F. 
H.  Buffum,  Harrjf  S.  Allen  of  Philadelphia,  for  about  a  year  aud 
a  half;  supplies  then  from  Crozier;  S.  McGinnis  about  sixteen 
montlisj  and  at  the  present  time  William  C.  Stiver,  who  has  been 
supplying  the  pulpit  since  December  1,  1897.  The  present  mem- 
bership of  the  church  is  50,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  30.  The 
church  property  is  valued  at  about  |1,200. 

Olivet  Baptist  Church  of  West  Chester  was  organized  April 
1,  1897,  with  113  members,  of  whom  112  were  regularly  dismissed 
by  letter  from  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Rev.  J.  H.  Chambers, 
who  had  been  for  several  years  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church, 
became  pastor  of  the  new  organization.  The  Sunday-school  Avas 
organized  Ai^ril  1,  1897,  with  111  members.  For  some  time  the 
congregation  occupied  the  Opera  House  and  later  the  Armory,  but 
at  lengtli  a  lot  was  i^urchased  on  the  corner  of  Union  and  New 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  80 1 

Streets,  on  which  a  comiii odious  chapel  was  erected  earl}'  in  1808 
at  a  cost  of  ii^S.OOO,  the  lot  haviug  cost  |2,000.  This  chapel  is  con- 
structed of  blue  stone,  and  contains  COO  sittings.  A  church  edifice 
is  hereafter  to  be  erected  on  Union  Street  front.  The  location  of 
this  church  building-  is  in  a  new  and  thriving  part  of  West  Chester, 
and  it  has  made  rapid  strides  in  progress  and  prosperity.  The 
pastor,  Ixev.  J.  H.  Chambers,  is  an  alumnus  of  Bucknell  University 
and  of  Crozier  Theological  Seminary,  and  is  an  active,  earnest  man. 

St.  Paul's  Baptist  Church  (colored)  of  West  Chester,  was  organ- 
ized in  1888,  and  a  church  building  erected  between  Miner  and 
Barnard  Streets  and  between  Penn  aud  Adams  Streets.  Rev. 
Asbury  Smallwood  was  the  first  pastoi',  remaining  until  1893,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  the  present  pastor.  Rev.  J.  C.  King.  The 
building  belonging  to  this  organization  was  destroyed  by  fire  on 
Sunday,  February  6,  1898,  while  church  services  were  in  progress 
in  the  other  churches,  St.  Paul's  congregation  being  driven  out  by 
the  fire.  They,  however,  immediately  rented  Sisters'  Hall  aud 
continued  their  seiTices  therein  while  the  old  building  was  still 
burning.  The  building  destroyed  was  worth  about  .'jf.jOO,  on  which 
there  was  no  insui'ance,  and  the  contents  of  the  building,  which 
were  destroyed,  were  worth  about  |200. 

A  new  building  is  now  (July,  1898)  in  process  of  erection,  the 
cornerstone  to  be  laid  August  7.  When  completed,  the  new 
building  will  be  worth  .|3,000,  and  as  the  lots  owned  by  the  con- 
gregation cost  fSOO,  the  entire  property,  including  the  furniture 
and  organ,  will  be  worth  |4,000. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Kennett  Square  was  organized 
December  20,  1882,  at  a  council  held  for  the  purpose,  seventeen 
churches  being  represented  in  the  council.  The  first  meeting  held 
with  this  object  in  view  was  at  the  house  of  D.  Duer  Philips,  and 
was  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  W.  C.  Naylor.  Then  came  the 
evangelist,  E.  C.  Romine,  aud  after  the  organization  of  the  church 
Eev.  J.  M.  Lyons  was  sent  as  pastor,  remaining  from  January  o, 


8o2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1S83,  to  January  24,  1884.  Kev.  Clarence  Larkin  became  pastor 
October  12,  1884,  and  remained  until  June,  1898. 

A  lot  at  the  comer  of  South  Union  and  Cypress  Streets  was 
purchased  October  22,  1883,  and  ou  May  12,  1885,  ground  was 
broken  for  the  erection  of  a  church.  October  4,  1885,  the  building 
was  opened  for  public  services,  llev.  W.  H.  Conard  of  Philadelphia 
preaching  the  sermon.  Up  to  this  time  tbe -services  had  been  held 
in  the  second  story  of  Taylor's  Hall.  The  total  cost  of  the  new 
church  was  |5,649.25,  and  it  was  improved  in  1892  at  a  cost  of 
1280.  On  October  4,  1894,  it  was  dedicated  free  from  debt.  The 
membership  of  the  church  is  160,  and  of  the  Snnday-school,  150. 
A  mission  of  tliis  church  was  organized  at  Unionville  in  March, 
1897.  Since  the  dedication  of  the  church  a  lot  has  been  pui-chased 
on  the  north  for  |1,100  and  an  annex  built  thereon  at  a  cost  (.f 
|1,300.  There  are  several  societies  connected  with  the  church,  all 
of  which  are  doing  good  work.  The  present  pastor  of  this  church, 
Eev.  J.  Kyland  Murdoch,  entered  upon  his  duties  on  Sunday,  July 
3,  1898. 

Metliodism  was  introduced  into  Chester  County,  it  is  believed, 
by  Eev.  Isaac  Eollins  about  1772,  he  reacliing  the  center  of  the 
county  in  1773.  Shortly  afterward  Francis  Asbury  came  iuto  the 
county,  as,  according  to  liis  journal,  he  reached  Marlborough, 
where  there  was  "a  large  congregation  waiting,"  March  21,  1773. 
Isaac  Eollins  preached  there  that  night  aud  on  the  23d  Asbury 
was  at  \Yoodward's,  on  the  Brandywine.  In  1783,  when  not  far 
from  Yellow  Springs,  Isaac  Eollins  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and 
killed  on  the  spot.  Between  these  dates,  1773  and  1783,  there  was 
preaching  at  several  places  in  Avhat  is  now  Chester  County.  In 
1774  Daniel  Euff  and  William  Watters  preached  in  this  county, 
and  it  is  thought  that  Eev  Joseph  Pilmore,  one  of  the  first  Meth- 
odist missionaries  to  America,  preached  in  the  township  of  Uwch- 
lan  in  1772.  In  1774  an  appointment  was  made  by  several 
preachers  in  Uwchlan,  near  the  Little  Eagle  Tavern,  where  Ben- 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  803 

sou's  Chapel  was  built  iu  1781,  -where  Beujauiiu  Abbott  preached 
in  1780.  From  this  meeting  came  Hopewell  Methodist  Church,  and 
the  lot  on  which  it  stood,  still  having  on  it  a  few  graves,  is  still  in 
possession  of  the  Methodists. 

Grove  Methodist  Church  was  founded  in  1774,  and  is  at  the 
present  time  the  oldest  Metho<list  Church  organization  in  the 
county,  those  formed  previously  having  ceased  to  exist.  The  pres- 
ent church  edilice  was  erected  in  18-44.  The  church  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1808.  In  connection  with  this  church  there  was  what 
was  called  the  "Smith  Shop,"  which  was  located  a  short  distance 
from  Boot  Tavern.  It  became  a  preaching  place  in  1834,  being  put 
in  condition  therefor  by  John  S.  Inskip.  This  was  not  a  separate 
church,  but  was  a  kind  of  mission  iu  connection  with  Grove 
Church.  John  S.  Inskip  was  admitted  on  trial  in  183(!,  and  con- 
tinued to  preach  for  about  fifty  years. 

The  West  Chester  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  started  iu 
1815,  when  the  first  class  was  formed  in  that  place.  IJev.  William 
Hunted  had  preached  there,  howevei*,  in  February,  1810,  in  the  old 
court-house,  he  being  presiding  elder  on  the  Schuylkill  Circuit  that 
year.  The  first  church  building  was  erected  on  Gay  Street,  east 
of  Daidingtou,  in  1810,  and  a  new  church  was  erected  in  1840-42 
on  the  corner  of  Market  and  Darlington.  Under  the  pastorate  of 
Rev.  John  B.  McCullough  in  1800-68  this  building  was  remodeled 
and  improved.  The  first  preacher  after  West  Chester  was  set 
apart  from  Chester  Circuit  was  Whitefield  Hughes,  and  since  then 
the  following  have  been  pastors  here:  Eevs.  Daniel  Parish,  Jesse 
Thompson,  Levi  Scott,  Thomas  Sovereign,  Josiah  F.  Canfield,  James 
H.  McFarland,  Bartholomew  Weed,  John  Lednum,  Dallas  D.  Lore, 
AVilliam  Urie,  Matthew  Sorin,  John  Nicholson,  Thomas  MuUer,  who 
filled  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Nicholson;  Elijah 
Muller,  David  E.  Gardner,  David  Shields,  James  L.  Houston,  Alfred 
Cookman,  Charles  Karsner,  Peter  J.  Cox,  Michael  D.  Kurtz,  James 
M.  McCarter,  James  R.  Anderson,  Curtis  F.  Turner,  John  B.  McCul- 


804  CHESTER     COUXTT 

lough,  William  Major,  Wesley  0.  Best,  George  Cnmiiiins,  Sylvester 
X.  Chew,  Robert  J.  Carsou,  J.  T  Swindells,  1884-8G;  W.  H.  Schaffer, 
18S7-90;  William  J.  Mills,  1891-92;  T.  M.  Jackson,  1893-96;  and  D. 
M.  Gordon,  1897  to  the  present  time. 

The  church  property  is  valued  at  about  120,000,  and  the  parson- 
age at  $3,000.  The  membership  at  the  present  time  is  about  480, 
and  the  number  of  probationers  is  somewhat  more  than  fifty. 

riKjenixville  Methodist  Church  was  formed  in  1820,  the  first 
Methodist  sermon  being  preached  there  by  Rev.  Samuel  P.  Levis. 
The  first  building  used  by  this  church  congregation  was  a  paint- 
shop,  and  their  first  cluirch  building  was  erected  in  1828.  The 
present  building  was  erected  in  1854,  during  the  pastorate  of  Kev. 
C  J.  Crouch.  The  regular  pastors  of  the  church  have  been  as 
follows:  Revs.  David  Shields,  1839-40;  William  W.  McMichael, 
Thomas  S.  Johnson,  Isaac  R.  Merrill,  Joseph  H.  Wythes,  Nicholas 
Ridgely,  Henry  R.  Calloway,  James  Y.  Ashtou,  Stearns  Patterson ; 
in  1853  Salem,  Charlestown  and  Valley  Forge  were  associated  with 
Phoenixville  and  made  a  circuit,  the  preachers  being  C.  J.  Crouch 
and  John  F.  Meredith;  1854,  C.  J.  Crouch,  and  one  to  be  supplied; 
1855,  Samuel  R.  Gillingham,  Wesley  Reynolds;  185G,  S.  R.  Gil- 
lingham,  Charles  M'.  Ayars;  1857,  John  Shields,  Horace  A  Cleve- 
land; 1858,  John  Shields,  George  D.  Miles;  1859-00,  Phcjenixville,  a 
station,  Allen  John;  William  Major,  Jeremiah  Pastorfield,  Allen 
John,  James  Flanneiy,  George  Heacock,  Henry  R.  Calloway,  John 
Dyson,  Henry  E.  Gilroy,  Goldsmith  D.  Oarrow,  T.  C.  Murphey, 
1882-84;  J.  J.  Timanus,  1885-87;  H.  Wheeler,  1888-92;  H.  T.  Quigg, 
1893-94;  Theodore  Stevens,  1895-97,  and  J.  E.  Diverty,  1898. 

Anderson's  Methodist  Church,  near  ^'alley  Forge,  was  organ- 
ized soon  after  1780,  and  was  in  existence  until  about  1825,  about 
which  time  a  class  was  organized  at  Daniel  McCurdy's  in  the  Val- 
ley. Anderson's  Church  was  named  after  Isaac  Anderson,  a  very 
prominent  man  in  his  day,  at  whose  house  the  meetings  of  this 
class  were  held.     Mr.  Anderson  had  been  a  member  of  the  Legis- 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  805 

latiire  of  the  State,  aud  also  a  member  of  Congress.  Francis  As- 
bury  preached  at  his  house  in  1812.  Eev.  Jacob  Gruber  was  the 
preacher  here  in  1828.  Isaac  Anderson  was  for  some  time  a  local 
preacher  among  the  Methodists.  His  grandson,  Eev.  James  Rush 
Anderson,  was  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  died  November  8,  1863.  This  church  be- 
longs in  Cochranville  Circuit,  Coehranville  being  in  Lancaster 
County. 

Laurel  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1800,  meet- 
ings being  held  for  several  years  at  the  house  of  William  Ball,  who 
moved  to  the  neighborhood  of  Laurel  in  1T9S.  Rev.  Richard 
Sneath  was  here  as  preacher  about  1800,  the  church  being  then  in 
Chester  Circuit.  He  came  again  to  this  circuit  about  1810.  In 
1812  a  lot  was  purchased  for  a  church  building,  for  |1,  the  size 
of  the  lot  being  thirty-eight  perches.  The  church  building  was 
erected  on  this  lot  in  1813.  John  McCarroll,  father  of  Rev.  Thomas 
McCarroll,  was  the  first  class  at  Laurel  after  the  revival  of  the 
.society.  This  church  belongs  to  Thorndale  Circuit,  and  is  sup- 
plied from  that  place. 

Romanville  Methodist  Church,  in  West  Bradford  Township, 
was  established  early  in  the  present  century.  A  cemetery  was 
purchased  here  in  1811,  upon  which  a  church  was  to  be  erected. 
The  land  was  conveyed  by  deed  to  Richard  Webster,  Isaa^c  Rollins 
and  John  King,  all  of  whom  became  famous  in  the  ministry.  One  of 
the  most  noted  Methodist  divines  that  ever  preached  in  (/hester 
County  was  Rev.  Thomas  McCarroll,  who  was  admitted  on  trial 
in  1829,  and  who  died  May  9,  1860.  The  church  building  was  im- 
proved in  1868  by  Rev.  John  C.  Gregg,  at  a  cost  of  $500,  and  an 
addition  of  twelve  and  three-fourths  perches  was  made  to  the  lot 
in  1871.  The  ministers  of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  The 
same  as  in  the  Grove  Methodist  Church  up  to  1833;  in  this  year 
Laurel  became  a  part  of  a  new  circuit,  called  Soudersburg,  on 
which  were  Revs.  Thomas  Miller  and  William  Kyder;  1831,  Revs. 


8o6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

John  Leduum,  Eobert  E.  Mori-ison,  Thomas  Sumption ;  1S35,  John 
Ledunm,  John  Edwards;  1836,  John  Edwards,  John  A.  Watson; 
1837,  Eobert  Anderson,  Dallas  D.  Lore;  1838,  Enos  K.  Williams, 
John  A.  Boyle;  1839,  Enos  K.  Williams,  Araos  Griner;  1810, 
Brandywine  Circuit  formed,  including  Laurel,  David  E.  Gardiner, 
Charles  Wilson;  1811  to  1859,  pastors  same  as  in  Marshalltou 
Methodist  Church;  1859,  with  Kennett  Square;  1860,  with  Guthrie- 
ville  Circuit,  Thomas  Newman;  1861,  Thomas  Newman,  who  left, 
and  John  A.  Watson  was  appointed  to  take  the  place;  1862-63,  Ne- 
hemiah  W.  Benham;  then  followed  John  C.  Greog,  James  Carroll 
and  Alfred  A.  Fisher.  In  1867  J.  Pastorfield  served  this  church 
and  Marshalltou;  1868,  John  C.  Gregg;  then  followed  William  ColT- 
man,  J.  W.  Kuapp,  Frederick  lUman,  Thomas  Montgomery,  John 
O'Neill,  William  W.  Wisegarver,  John  T.  Gray. 

Springfield  Methodist  Church  was  fonned  in  1801,  Elijah  Bull 
being  appointed  to  take  charge  of  iit.  Regular  services  were  held 
in  various  dwelliug-houses  until  1816,  when  the  first  church  build- 
ing was  erected  in  Springfield,  West  Nantmeal  Township,  at  a  cost 
of  |800.  The  present  building  was  erected  in  1868,  just  across  the 
street  from  the  old  one,  at  a  cost  of  |10,000,  the  parsonage  being- 
erected  in  1879,  at  a  cost  of  |1,150.  The  name  of  the  circuit  has 
been  changed  six  times,  and  the  following  have  been  the  pastors: 

Strasburg  and  Chester  Circuits. — 1798,  William  P.  Chandler, 
Daniel  Higby;  1799,  William  Colbert,  Edward  Larkins,  Kobert 
Bonham  (sup.);  1800,  Stej^hen  Tiramons,  Richard  Sneath,  Thomas 
Jones;  1801,  William  Hunter,  Stephen  Timmons,  Robert  McCoy; 
1802,  William  Hunter,  John  Bethel;  1803,  Anniug  Owen,  William 
Brandon;  1804,  William  Hunter,  Joseph  Osborn,  Joseph  Stephens; 
1805,  William  Hunter,  David  James,  James  Moore;  1806,  John 
W^alker,  William  Early;  1807,  Daniel  Ireland,  Peter  Beaver;  1808, 
Asa  Smith,  John  Betliel,  Thomas  Miller;  1809  (Lancaster),  James 
Smith,  Thomas  Burch;  1810  (Chester),  Richard  Sneath,  John  Fox; 
1811,  Richard  Sneath,  James  Laws;  1812  (Lancaster),  William  Tor- 


AXU     ITS     PEOPLE.  80.7 

belt,  Joliu  Fernou;  1813,  Kiohard  Sueath,  William  Torbert,  Joseph 
Samson;  1S14,  Asa  Smitli,  James  Mitchell,  J.  Samsou;  1815, 
Thomas  Miller,  Phinehas  Price;  1816,  David  Best,  Thomas  Miller; 
1817,  I\obert  Burch,  John  Woolsou;  1818,  Robert  Biirch,  Phinehas 
Price;  1819,  William  Leonard,  John  Tally;  1820,  John  Woolson, 
William  Eoss;  1821,  John  Woolson,  Henry  G.  King;  1822,  IT.  Boehm, 
Wesley  W.  Wallace;  1824,  Jacob  Gruber,  Thomas  Miller,  James 
Moore;  1825,  Thomas  Neal,  George  Wiltshire;  1826,  Thomas  Neal, 
Pharoah  A.  Ogden ;  1827,  Samuel  Grace,  George  G.  Cookman;  1828, 
Samuel  Grace,  David  Best,  John  Lednum;  1829,  (Reading), 
David  Best,  Manlove  Hazel;  1830,  (Waynesburg),  John 
Lednum,  Daniel  Fidler;  1831-32,  George  Woolley,  Jacob  Gru- 
ber; 1833,  David  Best,  Richard  W.  Thomas;  1834,  Thomas  Miller, 
John  Spear;  1835,  William  Torbert,  Allen  John,  John  S.  Inskip; 
1836  (Springtield),  William  Torbert,  Allen  John;  1837,  John  Ed- 
wards, Henry  Sutton;  1838,  John  Edwards,  Henry  Sutton;  1839-40, 
Jonas  Bissey,  Thomas  Sumption;  1841,  James  Hand,  William  L. 
Gray;  1842,  James  B.  Ayars,  Arthur  W.  Milby;  1843,  James  B. 
Ayars,  Peter  J.  Cox;  1844,  James  Hand,  George  D.  Bowen;  1845, 
Richard  M.  Greeubauk,  Samuel  Pancoast;  1846,  Richard  M.  Green- 
bank,  Henry  B.  Manger;  1847,  John  Edwards,  John  W^alsh;  1848, 
John  Edwards,  Samuel  R.  Gillingham;  1849-50,  Enos  R.  Williams, 
John  Cummins;  1851,  Eliphalet  Reed,  Peter  Hallowell;  1852, 
Joseph  Carlisle,  Abi-aham  Freed,  John  T.  Gracey;  1853,  Abraham 
Freed;  1854,  .Joshua  H.  Turner,  Henry  R.  Bodine;  1855,  Joshua  H. 
Turner,  Jerome  Lindamuth;  1856,  Lewis  C.  Pettit,  William  T. 
Magee;  1857,  Lewis  C.  Pettit,  William  Smith;  1858,  Elijah  Miller; 
1859,  John  Shields,  E.  Elliott;  1860-61,  Valentine  Gray,  then 
follow:  John  A.  Watson,  William  M.  Ridgway,  James  F.  Mc- 
Clelland, Charles  J.  Little,  Joseph  S.  Lane,  Thomas  C.  Pearsou, 
John  Dyson,  John  W.  Knapp,  Benjamin  T.  String,  Adam  L.  Wil- 
son, James  I.  Boswell,  Samuel  Howell,  Maris  Graves,  J.  O'Neill, 
1882-84;    R.  A.  Mcllwaine,  1885-87;    W.  Powick,  1888-90;    G.  W. 


ao8  CHESTER     COUNTY 

North,  1891-03;  A.  L.  Hood,  1891-05;  T.  A.  Hess,  1896;  John  Priesl. 
1897-98. 

Hopewell  Methodist  Church  was  kuowu  originally  as  Batten's 
Meetiug-honse.  In  this  locality  there  there  was  a  society  as  early 
at  least  as  1805.  The  second  building  occupied  as  a  church  was 
erected  in  1823,  the  first  one  having  been  a  log  building.  The 
name  became  Hopewell  probably  about  1828.  The  third  church 
edifice  erected  was  in  1872,  during  the  pastorates  of  Eevs.  Allen 
John  and  George  S.  Quigley.  The  present  edifice  was  erected  in 
1867.  The  pastors  haA'e  been  as  follows:  From  1805  to  1820,  the 
same  as  those  with  Grove  Church;  1829  to  1840,  the  same  as  those 
of  the  Waynesburg  Cbui'ch;  1840  to  1857,  the  same  as  those  of  the 
Coatesville  Church;  1857  to  1880,  the  same  as  those  of  the  Hibernia 
Church;  in  1881  this  was  a  separate  charge,  with  Rev.  John  W. 
Geiger,  jiastor.  Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  as  follows:  Revs. 
A.  I.  Collom,  1884-86;  G.  Alcorn,  1887-90;  J.  S.  McKinlay,  1891-92; 
G.  S.  Kerr,  1893-97;  R.  C.  Wood,  1898. 

Coatesville  Methodist  Church  was  formed  about  1824, 
though  there  had  been  preaching  by  Methodists  in  this 
vicinity  as  early  as  1817.  During  the.  year  1827  Rev. 
William  Cooper  preached  at  Coatesville  in  a  school- 
house.  In  1830,  as  a  result  of  a  camp-meeting  at  Frendship  in 
Highland  Townshp,  a  number  of  persons  were  couA'erted,  and 
united  with  the  church,  and  in  tlie  fall  and  succeeding  winter  a 
school-house  Avas  used  for  meetings,  held  every  alternate  Saturday 
night.  As  the  society  increased  in  numbers  meetings  were  occa- 
sionally held  in  the  Union  Meeting-house,  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  Coatesville  Presbyterian  Church.  During  1839  the  Union 
Meeting-house  became  too  small  and  a  building  Avhich  had  been 
used  as  a  blacksmith  shop  was  secured.  This  building,  popularly 
known  as  the  "turtle-shell,"  was  occupied  as  a  church  until  May, 
1845,  when  the  fir.st  Methodist  Church  within  the  limits  of  Coates- 
ville was  erected,  and  dedicated  by  the  Rev.  William  Urie.     In 


A^W     ITS     PEOPLE.  S09 

1856  a  new  cliiirch  was  built.  Prom  1S40  to  the  present  time  the 
preachers  have  been  as  follows: 

Brandywine  Circuit. — 1840,  David  E.  Gardiner,  Charles  Wil- 
son; 1841,  Henry  Sutton,  Wesley  Henderson;  1842,  Allen  John, 
George  S.  Quigley;  1843,  Allen  John,  Henry  S.  Atmore;  1844,  James 
Harmer,  George  W.  Lybrand;  1845,  James  Harmer,  Stearns  Patter- 
son; 184fi,  John  Bayne,  AVilliam  Ivobb;  1847,  John  Bayne,  Jacob 
Dickerson;  1848,  Joseph  Carlisle;  1849,  Joseph  Carlisle,  Joseph  S. 
Cook;  1850,  Henry  Sanderson,  Joseph  S.  Cook;  1851,  Henry  Sander- 
son, T.  B.  Miller;  1852,  John  Shields,  Abel  Howard;  1853,  John 
Shields,  James  N.  King;  1854,  George  W.  livbrand,  E.  S.  Wells  (six 
months),  Edward  T.  Kenney  (six  months);  1855,  George  W.  Lybrand, 
Edward  T.  Kenney;  1856,  T.  S.  Thomas,  A.  M.  Wiggins;  1857, 
Coatesville  made  a  station  and  the  pastors  since  then  have  been 
as  follows:  Revs.  T.  S.  Thomas,  William  J.  Faxon,  William  Kink, 
Isaac  E.  Merrill,  Sylvester  N.  Chew,  Wilmer  Coffman,  William  S. 
Pugh,  Wesley  C.  Johnson,  John  E.  Kessler,  Silas  B.  Best,  Heubeu 
Owen,  Charles  C.  McLean,  Samuel  W.  Gehrett,  A.  L.  Wilson,  E.  C. 
Yerkes ;  1891-96,  H.  Wheeler,  D.  D. ;  1897-98, . 

The  church  membership  is  about  475,  and  the  church  building, 
erected  in  1883,  standing  on  the  corner  of  Chestnut  Street  and  Third 
Avenue,  cost  |16,000,  and  will  seat  900  persons. 

Andrews'  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1828,  meet- 
ings being  at  first  held  in  the  house  of  Henry  Andrews.  The 
meeting-house  was  built  in  1831,  on  a  lot  of  one  acre  given  by  Mr. 
Andrews  on  one  corner  of  his  farm.  The  building  was  sold  in  1856 
to  James  Smith,  and  by  him  converted  into  a  dwelling.  The  pas- 
tors from  1831  to  1856  were  as  follows:  1831,  Strasburg  and  Colum- 
bia circuit— Thomas  Miller,  Eliphalet  Beed,  B.  W.  Thomas;  1832, 
Thomas  Miller,  Eliphalet  Eeed,  John  Edwards,  Robert  E.  Morrison; 
1833  (Soudersburg  circuit),  Thomas  Miller,  W.  Ryder;  1834,  John 
Lednum,  Robert  E.  Morrison,  Thomas  Sumption;  1835,  John  Led- 
uum,  John  Edwards;  1836,  John  Edwards,  John  A.  Watson;  1837, 


Sio  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Robert  Anderson,  Dallas  D.  Lore;  1838,  Enos  E.  Williams,  John  A. 
Boyle;  1839,  Enos  R.  Williams,  Amos  Griner;  1840,  Samuel  Grace,, 
Thomas  S.Johnson;  1841,  8amuel  Grace,  John  D.  Long;  1842,  Gas- 
way  Oram,  John  C.  Owens;  1843,  Gasway  Oram,  G.  D.  Carrow; 

1844,  William  K.  Goentuer,  David  Titus;  1845,  William  K.  Goent- 
ner,  Henry  Sanderson;  184G,  Allen  John,  John  A.  Whitaker;  1847, 
Allen  John;  1848,  James  Harmer;  1849,  John  Bayne,  George  W. 
Brindle;  1850,  John  Bayne,  John  Thompson;  1851,  William  L. 
Gray,  John  J.  Jones;  1852,  Samuel  G.  Ilare,  Francis  B.  Harvey; 
1853,  Samuel  G.  Hare,  John  O'Neill ;  1854,  Thomas  Newman,  James 
L.  Killgore;  1855,  Thomas  Newman,  Abel  Howard;  1856,  John  B. 
Dennison. 

Elk  Ridge  Methodist  Church,  in  East  Nottingham  Township, 
was  organized  about  1825,  a  class  meeting  being  held  that  year 
in  the  house  of  Abraham  Buckalew.  The  church  building  was 
completed  in  1832,  at  a  cost  of  |1,300.  The  pastors  here  have  been  as 
follows:  1830  (with  Port  Deposit  Circuit),  George  Woolley,  William 
Bloomer;  1831,  Thomas  McCarroll,  Robert  E.  Kemp;  1832,  Thomas 
McCarroll,  J.  B.  Hagany;  1833,  Jacob  Gruber,  John  Spear;  1834, 
Levi  Storks,  Edward  Kenuard;  1835  (with  Northeast  Circuit), 
P.  E.  Coombe,  C.  J.  Crouch;  .183(;  (with  West  Nottingham  Circuit), 
Samuel  Grace,  John  S.  Inskip;  1839,  W.  Torbert,  M.  D.  Kurtz; 
1840,  W.  Torbert,  Charles  Schock;  1841,  William  C.  Thomas,  H.  S. 
Atmore;  1842,  Edward  Kenuard,  James  M.  McCarter;  1843,  George 
Barton,  D.  L.  Patterson;  1844,  George  Barton,  Abraham  Freed; 

1845,  Eliphalet  Reed,  Henry  B.  Manger;  1846,  Leeds  K.  Berridge, 
Th(mias  Miller;  1847,  J(din  D.  Long,  J.  A.  Whitaker;  1848,  C. 
Schock,  W.  Ifobb;  1849,  C.  Scheuck;  1850,  Jonas  Bissey;  1851  (Ox- 
ford Circuit),  Jonas  Bissey,  John  Thompson;  1852,  John  F.  Boone, 
Reuben  Owen;  1853,  John  Cummins,  A.  Howard;  1854,  John  Cum- 
mins, John  Byson;  1855,  John  Edwards;  1856,  T.  B.  Miller,  E.  T. 
Keuney;  1857,  T.  B.  Miller,  II.  H.  Bodine;  1858,  John  B.  Dennison,. 
John  France;   1859,  John  B.  Dennison,   T.   F.  Plummer;   1860-01 


AND     /7^'     PEOPLE.  8ii 

(New  London  and  Elk  Ridge),  John  France;  1803,  C.  J.  Crouch; 
1864,  G.  L.  Scbaffer;  1865,  H.  II.  Bodine;  1866-67,  W.  P.  Howell; 
1868,  H.  B.  Manger,  Levi  B.  Hoffman;  1869-70,  John  C.  Gregg, 
J.  C.  Wood;  1871,  John  Shields,  Eobert  C.  Wood,  F.  B.  Harvey; 
1872,  John  Shields,  F.  B.  Harvey,  A.  H.  Maryott;  1873,  John 
Shields;  1874-75,  George  W.  Lybrand;  1876-77,  Thomas  Mont- 
gomery; 1878-79,  Matthias  Barnhill;  1880-81,  Alden  W.  Quimby. 

Flint  Hill  Methodist  Church  in  Franklin  Township  was  or- 
ganized shortly  prior  to  1829,  the  first  class  meetings  being  held 
in  Daughterty's  paper  mill.  Tlie  first  church  building  erected  was 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1850,  and  was  rebuilt  in  1861.  For  list  of  pas- 
tors the  reader  is  referred  to  the  sketch  of  the  New  London  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church. 

Marshallton  Methodist  Church  was  organized  about  1828,  the 
first  preaching  place  being  a  wheelwright  shop,  and  there  was  also 
preaching  by  Rev.  William  Hodgson  in  the  dwelling-house  of 
Daniel  Davis.  The  first  church  building  was  erected  in  1829,  and 
the  appointments  for  this  church  appear  in  the  West  Chester  list 
until  1811,  since  which  time  the  pastors  have  been  as  follows: 
1811,  Henry  Sutton,  Wesley  Henderson;  1812,  Allen  John, 
George  S.  Quimby;  1813,  Allen  John,  H.  S.  Atmore;  1811,  James 
Harmer,  George  AY.  Lybrand;  1815,  James  Harmer,  Stearns  Pat- 
terson; 1846,  John  Bayne,  William  Robb;  1847,  John  Jayne,  Jacob 
Dickerson;  1848,  Joseph  Carlisle;  1849,  Joseph  S.  Carlisle,  Joseph  C. 
Cook;  1850,  Henry  Sanderson,  Joseph  S.  Cook;  1851,  Henry  San- 
derson, T.  B.  Miller;  1852,  John  Shields,  Abel  Howard;  1853,  John 
Shields,  James  X.  King;  1854,  George  W.  Lybrand,  E.  S.  Wells, 
E.  T.  Kenney,  the  latter  two  six  months  each;  1855,  George  W. 
Lybrand,  E.  T.  Kenney;  1856,  T.  S.  Thomas,  A.  M.  Wiggins; 
1857,  John  Cummins,  John  France;  1858,  John  Edwards, 
J.  O.  Sypherd;  1859,  made  a  station  since  when  the  pastors  have 
been:  1859-60,  Joseph  Smith;  1861,  Joseph  S.  Cook,  then  followed 
S.  K.  Kurtz,  William  H.  Price,  Alfred  A.  Fisher,  John  Edwards, 


8i2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Jereiiiiali  Pastorfield,  Frederick  Illmau,  Thomas  Montgomery^ 
John  O'Neil,  William  W.  Wisegarver,  Jolm  T.  Gray,  1882-83;  J. 
Diingan,  1884-86;  J.  H.  Smith,  1887;  L.  B.  Hughes,  1888-89;  II.  C 
Boudwiu,  1890-03;  L.  Eisenbeis,  1894;  Edward  Towuseml,  1895-98. 

A'alley  Forge  Methodist  Cliiu'ch  was  established  about  1832, 
itineraut  ministers  having  made  their  appearance  here  the  year 
before,  and  the  church  building  being  begun  in  1833.  In  the  mean- 
time Jacob  Gruber  and  George  Wooley  preached  in  an  old  red 
frame  school-house,  known  sometimes  as  the  ''synagogue."  When 
the  new  church  was  nearly  completed  a  fierce  wind  carried  off  tlie 
roof,  and  the  congregation  was  compelled  to  worship  in  the  base- 
ment for  a  time,  and  was  unable  to  complete  their  building  until 
1837.  This  church  has  had  a  checkered  history,  sometimes  being 
weak,  at  other  times  strong,  but  it  has  always  held  its  ground  in 
some  way.  About  1839  and  1840  Rev.  Dayid  Shields  and  his  broth- 
ers, John  and  Eichard,  were  quite  regular  in  their  attendance,  and 
among  those  who  have  since  ministered  to  the  spiritual  necessities 
of  this  church  have  been  Rev.  George  Haj^cock,  Rev.  C.  I.  Thomp- 
son, Rev.  Robert  A.  Mcllwaiu,  Rev.  L.  Taylor  Dugan,  Rev.  Joseph 
H.  Boyd,  Rev.  William  Powick,  and  Rev.  John  Bell.  Since  1880 
the  preachers  liere  have  been  as  follows:  T.  K.  Peterson,  1884; 
J.  J.  Tim  anus,  1885-86;  John  Flint,  1887-89;  Samuel  Gracey,  1890- 
94;  J.  M.  Tomlinson,  1895-96,  and  D.  C.  Kauffman,  1897-98. 

Good-Will  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1832,  de- 
riving its  name,  some  say,  from  the  Good-Will  School-house,  and 
as  others  say,  from  a  dream  of  Thomas  Millard,  who  had  donated 
the  land,  and  in  his  dream  he  heard  the  passage:  "On  earth  peace, 
good-will  toward  men."  The  Church  is  on  Good-Will  Road,  in 
West  Nautmeal  Township.  The  building  was  erected  in  1832,  at 
a  cost  of  .|1,600,  was  remodeled  in  1877,  and  is  valued  now  at 
about  •'if3,000.  The  pastors  from  1831  to  the  present  time  have 
been  as  follows:  From  1831  to  1853,  same  as  those  of  the  Waynes- 
burg  Church;  1853  to  1871,  with  Springfield  Circuit  and  same  as. 


AxYD     ITS    PEOPLE.  813 

those  of  the  Spriugfiehl  Chiircli;  1871  to  1S77,  associated  witli 
Springton  Circuit,  ministers,  William  K.  Maoneal,  Maris  Graves, 
David  M.  Gordon,  William  W.  Wisegarver;  187S,  made  a  separate 
charge,  ministers  since  then,  George  Mack,  William  Kedheffer,  C. 
Lee  Gaul,  George  E.  Kleinheim,  J.  S.  McKinlay,  E.  Townsend,  N. 
B.  Masters,  and  Jethro  B.  Coleman,  the  ])resent  pastor.  During 
the  pastorate  of  Eev.  Mr.  Gaul  1881-87,  a  beautiful  and  substantial 
stone  parsonage  was  erected,  and  while  Kev.  Mr.  Masters  was  pas- 
tor, 1895-97,  the  church  building  Avas  enlarged  and  improved  at 
a  cost  of  12,000.  The  cliurch  property  is  worth  f  (5,500;  the  church 
membership  is  113,  and  the  Sunday-school  has  200  scholars. 

Dowuingtown  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1825, 
preaching  being  had  first  at  the  house  of  William  Wiggins,  the 
first  member.  Meetings  were  held  sometimes  in  a  wheel-wriglit 
shop  and  sometimes  in  the  house  of  Shepherd  Ayres,  who  was  the 
first  classdeader.  The  church  was  built  in  1833,  on  a  lot  pur- 
chased of  Thomas  Webster,  the  material  being  of  stone,  and  the 
cost  .|(318.  The  Sunday-school  was  established  June  28,  1835. 
The  old  church  having  become  too  small  for  the  congregation,  in 
18G0  a  lot  was  purchased  across  the  street,  on  which  a  new  churrh 
building  was  erected,  and  dedicated  in  18(i8.  This  church  has  be- 
longed to  Chester  Circuit,  to  Badnor,  Brandy  wine,  and  Grove, 
becoming  a  separate  charge  in  1807.  The  pastors  have  been  from 
1821  as  follows:  From  1824  to  1840  same  as  those  of  Grove 
Church;  1840  to  1853,  same  as  those  of  Coatesville  Church;  1853 
to  1867,  same  as  those  of  Grove  Church;  since  1807  as  follows: 
David  W.  Gordon,  William  ^^^  McMichael,  George  T.  Ilurlock, 
George  S.  Broadbent,  John  Stringer,  George  G.  Rakestraw,  1881  to 
1884;  George  T.  Ilurlock,  1884  to  1887;  Dr.  Thomas  Kelly,  1887  to 
1889;  A.  L.  Wilson,  1889  to  1894;  George  M.  Brodher,  1894  to  1895; 
John  Walker  Jackson,  D.  D.,  1895  to  1897,  and  William  H.  Pickop, 
1897  to  the  pi-esent  time.  The  present  church  building,  located  on 
Brandywine  Avenue,  at    the    head  of  Washington    Avenue,  was 


8 14  CHESTER     COUNTY 

erected  in  1889-90,  and  dedicated  on  the  third  Sunday  in  May,  1890. 
It  is  of  stone,  will  seat,  together  with  the  Sunday-school  room,700, 
and  the  church  property  is  Aalued  at  |18,000.  The  membership  is 
282,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  210. 

Sadsbury  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1833,  in 
which  year  aud  the  next  the  church  edifice  was  erected.  The  pas- 
tors have  been  as  follows:  1832,  Thomas  Miller,  Eliphalet  Reed, 
Johu  Edwards;  1833  (Soudersburg-  Circuit),  Thomas  A.  Miller, 
William  Hyder;  1834,  John  Lednum,  Kobert  E.  Moii'ison;  1835, 
John  Lednum,  John  Edwards;  1836,  John  Edwards,  John  A.  Wat- 
son; 1837,  Robert  Anderson,  Dallas  D.  Lore;  1838,  Enos  R.  Will- 
iams; 1839,  Enos  R.  Williams;  1810,  Samuel  Grace,  Thomas  S. 
Johnson;  1841,  Samuel  Grace,  Thomas  S.  Johnson;  1842,  Gasway 
Oram,  John  C.  Owens;  1843,  Gasway  Oram,  G.  D.  Carrow;  1844, 
William  K.  Goentner,  Da^id  Titus;  1845,  William  K.  Goentner, 
Heni-y  Sanderson;  1846,  Allen  John,  J.  A.  Whitaker;  1847,  Allen 
John;  1848,  James  Harmer;  1849  (Cochranville  Circuit),  Johu 
Bayne;  1850,  Johu  Bayne,  John  Thompson;  1851,  William  L.  Gray, 
Johu  J.  Jones;  1852,  Samuel  G.  Hare,  Francis  B.  Harvey;  1853 
Samuel  G.  Hare,  John  O'Neill;  1854  (Brandy wine  Circuit),  George 
W.  Lybrand,  E.  S.  Wells,  E.  T.  Kenney,  the  latter  two  six  months 
each;  1855,  George  W.  Lybraud,  E.  T.  Kenney;  1856,  T.  S.  Thomas, 
A,  M.  Higgins;  1857  to  1S80,  same  as  those  of  Coatesville  Church; 
1881,  with  Hibernia  and  Thorndale,  S.  O.  Garrison. 

Unionville  Methodist  Church  was  organized  about  1835, 
though  there  had  been  preaching  in  this  vicinity  from  about  1774,  at 
Thomas  Preston's  house,  and  from  that  time  on  up  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  church.  Rev.  John  Lednum  preached  in  the  summer 
time  from  1835  to  1836  in  Preston's  woods,  having  quite  a  revival. 
An  old  log  school-house  was  first  used,  then  the  academy  building 
until  the  new  church  was  erected  in  1839-40,  at  a  cost  of  about  |500. 
The  pastors  here  have  been  as  follows:  1835  (Soudersburg  Circuit), 
John  Lednum,  John  Edwards;  1836,  John  Edwards,  John  A.  Wat- 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  .815 

sou;  1837,  Robert  Audersou,  Dallas  D.  Lore;  183S,  Enos  R.  Will- 
iams, John  A.  Boyle;  1839,  Enos  R.  Williams,  Amos  Griner;  1840 
to  1858  (Brandy wine  Circuit),  same  as  those  of  Marshallton  Church; 
1859  (Keunett  Square),  Lewis  Chambers;  1861  (Marshallton  and 
LTnionville),  Joseph  Cook;  lS(!2-03  (ilarshallton  and  Keunett 
Square),  S.  W.  Kurtz;  18(34,  William  II.  Fries;  1SG5,  Alfred  A. 
Fisher;  186G,  John  Edwards;  ISGT  (Kennett  Square  and  Unionville), 
John  Edwards;  18G9-7(I  (Chatham  and  Kennett  Square),  Robert  C. 
Wood;  1872,  George  Alcorn;  1873,  A.  L.  Hood;  and  from  that  time 
on  until  1881,  the  folloAviug:  E.  C.  Yerkes,  Edward  L.  McKeever, 
Elim  Kirk,  W.  K.  Galloway,  W.  F.  Sheppard,  aud  S.  T.  Horner. 
About  this  time,  1880,  the  society  was  disbanded  and  the  church 
was  closed'. 

Hibernia  Methodist  Church  Avas  established  about  1840,  a 
church  building  being  erected  that  year  or  the  next.  The  pastors, 
here  have  been  as  follows:  1840  to  1857,  the  same  as  those  at 
Coatesville  Church;  1857  to  1860,  part  of  Brandy  wine  Circuit,  John 
Cummins,  John  France,  John  Edwards,  John  B.  Quigg;  18G0-61 
(Guthrieville  Circuit),  preachers  since  then:  Thomas  Newman, 
X.  W.  Bennum,  John  C.  Gregg,  James  Carroll,  Alfred  A.  Fisher, 
William  Coffman,  George  A.  Wolfe,  Wesley  C.  Johnson,  Edward 
Townsend,  Henry  F.  Isett,  Israel  M.  Gable,  S.  O.  Garrison,  W. 
Powick,  1882-83;  A.  I.  Collom,  1884-8G;  G.  Calloway,  1887-90;  J.  S. 
McKiulay,  1891-92;  G.  S.  Kerr,  1893-97;  R.  C.  Wood,  1898. 

Charlestown  Methodist  Church  was  started  about  1830,  Method- 
ism having  been  introduced  into  this  neighborhood  by  Rev.  David 
Best.  The  church  was  erected  in  1840  at  a  cost  of  f  1,200.  From 
1830  to  1852  the  pastors  were  the  same  as  those  at  Grove  Church; 
1853  to  1858,  same  as  at  Phoenix ville;  and  since  then  as  follows: 
Lewis  C.  Pettit,  John  O'Xeill,  James  Hand,  John  Edwards, 
William  Hammond,  Thomas  Sumption,  Daniel  L.  Patterson,  Will- 
iam T.  Magee,  George  A.  Wolfe,  John  D.  Fox,  Richard  Kaines, 
Frederick  M.  Brady,  1881-82;  A.  W.  (iuimby,  1884-86;  J.  A. 
48 


8i6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Cooper,  1887;  W.  H.  Zweizio^,  1888;  F.  B.  Harvey,  1889-91;  A.  A, 
Thompson,  1892-94;  Frederick  Illman,  1895-96;  Allen  Judd, 
1897-98. 

Temple  Methodist  Chnrch,  in  Xorth  Co^'eutry  Township,  was 
established  abont  1810,  in  A\hich  year  a  class  was  formed  by  Rev. 
James  Harmer.  In  1813  a  "slab  shanty"  was  erected  for  a 
meeting-honse  on  the  site  of  the  present  church,  and  in  1811  a 
stone  church  building  was  erected,  30x10  feet,  by  Revs.  Peter  J, 
Cox  and  David  R.  Thomas,  they  calling  it  the  Temple,  hence  the 
name  of  the  church.  The  pastors  have  been  as  follows:  James 
Harmer,  James  Flannery,  Henry  B.  Manger,  D.  Titus,  Peter  J. 
Cox,  David  R.  Thomas,  up  to  1811.  From  this  year  to  1859,  same 
as  with  the  Bethel  Church.  Then  followed  John  O'Neill,  Silas  B. 
Root,  Jerome  Lindemuth,  Samuel  T.  Kemble,  Valentine  Gray, 
Samuel  Lucas,  Thomas  Sumption,  George  S.  Conoway,  John  T. 
Swindells,  William  M.  Dalrymple,  Thomas  C.  Pearson,  John 
Shields,  up  to  1870,  in  which  year  this  church  became  a  separate 
charge,  and  since  then:  John  A.  Cooper,  John  Edwards,  Joseph  J. 
Sleeper,  Hiram  U.  Sebring,  George  W.  Lybraud,  J.  Ramford,  H.  H. 
Bodine,  W.  Bamford,  and  the  following  as  sup])lies:  Amos  Crowell, 
R.  Cooper,  A.  E.  Piper,  J.  E.  McVeigh  and  W.  11.  Stewart. 

In  1871  the  church  building  was  rebuilt,  the  size  being  made 
37x55  feet,  with  end  gallery  and  two  class-rooms,  the  cost  being 
$2,300.     It  was  dedicated  October  11,  1871. 

Washington  Methodist  Church  was  formed  in  1819,  the  mem- 
bership springing  up  to  seventy-five  within  eighteen  months.  A 
school-house  was  used  as  a  hou.se  of  wor,ship  until  the  church  was 
erected  in  1811,  at  a  cost  of  about  |100.  It  was  rejjaired  and  im- 
proved in  1867  or  1868.  The  pastors  here  have  been  as  follows:  1821 
to  1832,  same  as  those  with  Grove  Church;  1832,  Thomas  Miller, 
Eliphalet  Reed,  John  Edwards,  Robert  E.  Morrison,  being  then 
connected  with  Strasburg  and  Columbia  Circuits;  1833  (Souders- 
burg  Circuit),  Thomas  Miller,  William  Ryder;  1831,  John  Lednum, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  817 

Eobert  E.  Morrison;  1835,  John  Lednum,  John  Edwards;  1830,  John 
Edwards,  John  A.  Watson;  1837,  Eobert  Anderson,  Dallas  D.  Lore; 
1838,  Enos  R.  Williams,  John  A.  Boyle;  1839,  Enos  E.  Williams, 
Amos  Griner;  1840  (Brandywine  Circuit),  and  ministers  from  that 
time  to  1S81,  same  as  those  with  Laurel  Church.  Since  then  the 
ministers  and  supplies  have  been  as  follows:  C.  L.  Gaul,  W.  C.  Graff, 
W.  E.  Smith,  G.  J.  Schall,  H.  E.  Bozorth,  J.  E.  McVeigh,  J.  P.  Bur- 
dette,  S.  McWilliams  and  F.  Mack,  the  latter  in  1898. 

Bethel  Methodist  Church,  in  South  Coventry  Township,  was 
organized  about  1844,  the  church  building  having  been  erected  that 
year,  although  services  according  to  Methodist  forms  had  been 
held  for  several  years.  When  the  church  was  dedicated  the  mem- 
bership was  about  twenty.  In  1875  this  church  was  associated 
with  Temple  and  St.  James'  churches  and  made  a  separate  charge. 
The  following  have  been  the  pastors  in  connection  with  the  Potts- 
town  Circuit:  1844,  Peter  J.  Cox,  David  E.  Thomas;  1845,  Peter  J. 
Cox,  John  Shields;  1846,  John  W.  Arthur;  1847,  John  W.  Arthur; 
1848,  John  C.  Thomas;  1849,  John  C.  Thomas,  James  E.  Meredith; 
1850,  George  E.  Crooks;  1851,  Allen  John,  Joshua  H.  Turner;  1852, 
James  Hand,  Levi  B.  Beckley;  1853,  James  Hand,  William  E. 
Manlove;  1854,  Abraham  Freed,  John  F.  Meredith;  1855,  Abraham 
Freed,  Noble  Frame;  1856,  John  Edwards;  1857,  John  Edwards, 
William  T.  Magee;  1858,  Daniel  L.  Patterson,  Lewis  C.  Pettit;  1859, 
Daniel  L.  Patterson,  John  Brandreth;  1860,  John  B.  Dennison, 
Isaac  Last;  1861,  John  B.  Dennison,  John  A.  Watson;  1862,  Val- 
entine Gray,  Lorenzo  D.  McClintock;  1863,  Joseph  Aspril,  D.  W. 
Gordon;  1864,  Samuel  G.  Hare,  Samuel  H.  Eeisuer;  1805,  Samuel 
G.  Hare;  1866,  John  Allen,  Adam  L.  Wilson;  1867,  John  Allen; 
1808-09,  J.  P.  Miller;  1870-71,  Eichard  Turner;  1872-73,  John  H. 
Wood;  1874,  John  Eaymond;  1875-77,  Hiram  U.  Sebring;  1878-80, 
George  W.  Lybrand;  1881,  J.  Bamford;  1881-83,  G.  L.  Schaffer; 
1883,  T.  M.  Mutchler;  1884,  C.  M.  Simpson;  1885-80,  W.  MuUin; 
1887,  L.  D.  McClintock;  1888,  A.  M.  Wiggins;  1890,  E.  W.  Burke; 
1891-92,  N.  H.  Beyer;  1893-90,  J.  F.  Kingsley;  1897-98. 


8 1 8  CHESTER     CO  UNT  Y 

i^pring  City  Methodist  Cliuri-li,  in  East  Vinoeut  Townshij), 
Avas  establislied  about  1845,  tbe  tirst  meetings  being  lield  in  what 
Avas  known  as  the  Lyceum  Building,  on  Main  Street.  The 
tirst  cliurch  building,  built  as  a  union  building  in  IS-IG,  was  pur- 
chased by  the  Methodists  in  184S.  Its  cost  was  |1,120.  The  pres- 
ent editice,  which  was  begun  in  ls72  and  coni])leted  in  1880,  cost 
18,000.  The  pastors  here  have  been  as  follows:  In  connection 
with  Pottstown  Circuit,  1811,  Peter  J.  Cox,  David  \l.  Thomas;  1845, 
Peter  J.  Cox  and  John  Shields;  1846-47,  J.  W.  Arthur;  1848,  John 

C.  Thomas;  1849,  John  C.  Thomas,  James  E.  Meredith;  1850, 
George  R.  Crooli;  1851,  Allen  John,  Joshua  11.  Turner;  1852,  James 
Hand,  Levi  H.  Beokley;  1853,  James  Hand,  William  E.  Manlove; 
1854,  Abraham  Freed,  John  F.  Meredith;  1855,  Abraham  Freed, 
IS'oble  Frame;  1856,  John  Edwards;  connected  with  Evansburg 
mission .  in  1857,  Joseph  Dare;  1858  (with  Perkiomen  Circuit), 
William  T.  Magee;  1859-60,  Jacob  Slicher;  1861,  William  M.  Kidg- 
way;  1862,  William  M.  Kidgway,  D.  W.  Gordon;  1863,  IJeuben 
Owen;  1864,  Eeuben  Owen,  Henry  F.  Isett;  1865-66,  James  Hand; 
1867,  Edward  Townsend,  Thomas  B.  Neely;  1868-69  (Springville, 
associated  with  Betliel),  Jacob  P.  ililler;  and  since  then  as  follows: 
Kichard  Turner,  John  H.  Wood,  Eli  Pickersgill,  David  H.  Shields, 
Joseph  P.  Graff,  N.  D.  McComas,  1882-84;  J.  O'Xeil,  1884;  H.  B. 
Cassavaut,   1885-87;  J.   Bawdeu,  1888-90;   L.   B.   Brown,   1891-94; 

D.  M.  Gordon,  1895-96,  and  S.  H.  Evans,  1897-98. 

Glen  Moore  Methodist  Cluirch,  In  ^Vallace  Townshiii,  was  es- 
tablished about  1832,  a  class  being  formed  in  1831,  near  Glen 
Moore  Station.  In  1844  a  church  was  built  near  Brandywiue 
Creek,  and  named  Springton  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
cost  of  the  building  was  -lljlOU.  In  1873  a  new  church  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  |10,500.  When  organized  this  church  was  included 
in  the  W^aynesburg  Circuit,  called,  in  1836,  Springfield.  The  pas- 
tors here  from  1831  to  1871  were  the  same  as  those  with  Spring- 
field Church;  in  1871-72,  ^^'illianl  K.  MacXeal,  and  since  then,  Maris 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  819 


(•- 


Graves,  D.  M.  (lordoii,  AVilliam  ^^'.  Wiseoarver,  Robert  A.  M 
Ilwain,  George  Gaul,  Edward  Devine,  William  H.  Pickop,  William 
F.  Shepard,  Edward  Townseiid,  Charles  W.  Green,  C.  M.  Hadda- 
way,  Franc-is  B.  Harvej,  and  Henry  S.  Beales,  the  present  pastor, 
who  came  to  this  church  in  the  spring  of  1897.  The  value  of  the 
church  property  is  |14,000,  the  church  membership,  147,  and  that 
of  the  i-^unday-school,  12!t. 

Landenburg  Methodist  Ghnrch  was  established  about  1848, 
a  chui'ch  building  being-erected  that  year  at  a  cost  of  SSOO.  From 
1869  to  1881  the  pastors  were  the  same  as  those  with  Elk  Ridge 
Church. 

Xew  London  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  18.",0, 
the  first  class-leader  being  William  liudolph,  and  the  fii"st  preach- 
ing in  New  London  Academy.  The  church  was  erected  in  1850, 
and  leased  by  the  Odd  Fellows  to  the  church  society  for  ninety- 
nine  years.  On  Sunday,  August  17,  1851,  Rev.  Jimas  Bissey  was 
killed  by  lightning  in  the  church.  The  pastors  have  been  the  same 
as  those  with  Elk  Ridge  ('hurch,  but  since  1880  they  have  been 
here  as  follows:  A.  W.  Quiniby,  1881-83;  E.  Potts,  1884-8G;  F.  M. 
Brady,  1887;  H.  C.  Boudwin,  1888-89;  C.  W.  Langley,  1890-94;  ii. 
Barnhill,  1895-9G;  R.  J.  McBeth,  1897,  and  J.  G.  Cornwell,  1898. 

Peuuing-tonville  Methodist  Church  was  started  about  1845, 
the  first  Methodist  preaching  being  in  the  slioi)  of  Charles  Reese. 
Afterward  Independence  Hall  was  rented,  and  services  held 
therein  once  in  two  weeks.  In  1853  a  church  edifice  was  begun, 
the  basement  of  which  was  first  used  for  worship  in  1854,  and  the 
upper  room  was  dedicated  June  3  and  4,  1800,  the  cost  of  the 
building  being  f:4,000.  The  pastors  here  have  been  as  follows: 
1845,  William  K.  Goentner,  Henry  Sanderson;  1840,  Allen  John, 
J.  A.  Whitaker;  1847,  Allen  .Tolin;  1848,  James  Harmer;  1849 
(Cochranville  Circuit),  John  Bayne,  George  W.  Brindle;  1850,  John 
Bayne,  John  Thompson;  1851,  ^Villiam  L.  Gray,  John  J.  Jones; 
1852,  Samuel  G.  Hare,  Francis  B.  Harvey;  1853,  Samuel  G.  Hare, 


820  CHESTER     COUNTY 

John  O'Neill;  1854,  Thomas  Newman,  James  L.  Killgore;  1855, 
Thoma.s  Newman,  Abel  Howard;  185G,  John  B.  Dennison,  John 
Hersej;  1857,  John  B.  Dennison,  John  E.  Kessler;  1858,  John  Cum- 
mins; 1S59,  John  Cummins,  Nathan  B.  Durrell;  1800-61,  William 
H.  Burrell;  1862,  Joseph  Dare,  Kobert  W.  Jones;  1863,  Henry  B. 
Manger,  Eobert  W.  Jones;  186-4,  Henry  B.  Manger,  Wil- 
mer  Coffman;  1865,  Valentine  Gray,  Wesley  C.  Johnson; 
1866,  Valentine  Gray,  Levi  B.  Hoifman;  1867,  Samuel  Pan- 
coast,  John  D.  Kigg;  1868,  Samuel  Paneoast,  Thomas  Morris;  1869, 
Joseph  Aspril,  John  W.  Wright;  1870,  Joseph  Aspril,  William 
Downey;  since  then,  Joseph  Aspril,  William  W.  McMichael,  Isaac 
E.  Merrill,  Ephraim  Potts  and  Francis  B.  Harvey;  Israel  M.  Gable 
and  Francis  B.  Harvey;  , Israel  M.  Gable,  William  P.  Howell 
David  H.  Shields,  Hiram  U.  Sebring,  David  T.  Smythe,  Arthur 
Oakes,  G.  W.  Beatty,  Eichard  Bayliss,  I.  C.  Kirkesleger,  A.  E.  Piper, 
Thomas  Price,  Urban  E.  Sargent,  Charles  Burns,  Francis  B.  Har- 
vey, A.  M.  Strayhorn,  Joseph  L.  Gensemer,  and  the  present  pastor, 
Eev.  Bertram  Shay.  The  church  property  is  valued  at  about 
|!5,000. 

Salem  Methodist  Church  was  established  in  1833,  about  which 
time  a  church  was  erected  which  lasted  the  congregation  until 
1874,  when  a  new  church  was  erected,  which  was  dedicated  May 
1,  1875,  and  the  cost  of  which  was  $6,000.  The  pastore  of  this 
church  have  been  as  follows:  1833  (Chester  Circuit),  James  B. 
Ayars,  Eobert  E.  Morrison,  John  Edwards;  1834  (Eadnor  Circuit), 
David  Best,  Eichard  W.  Thomas;  1835,  Eichard  W.  Thomas,  John 
Perry;  1836,  William  Cooper,  Jesse  Ford;  1837,  William  Cooper, 
James  Hand;  1838,  James  B.  Ayars,  Charles  W.  Jackson;  1839, 
James  B.  Ayars,  Frederick  Gram;  1840,  Henry  G.  King,  James 
Neill;  1841,  Henry  G.  King,  Levin  M.  Prettyman;  1842,  George 
Lacey,  C.  J.  Couch;  1843  (Grove  Circuit),  Thomas  Sumption,  Thomas 
C  Murphey;  1844,  Thomas  Sumption,  James  E.  Anderson;  1845, 
David  Dailey,  John  W.  Mecaskey;  1846,  David  Dailey,  George  W. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  821 

Lvbrantl;  1848,  H.  S.  Atmore  aucl  local  preachers;  184<J,  James 
Harmer,  Stearus  Patterson;  1850,  James  Harmer,  William  C.  Eob- 
inson;  1851,  Joseph  H.  Wythes,  John  H.  Boyd;  1852,  John  U. 
Wythes,  John  J.  Jones;  1853  (Phoenixville  Circuit),  C.  J.  Crouch, 
John  F.  Meredith;  1854,  C.  J.  Crouch;  1855,  Samuel  R.  Gillingham, 
Wesley  Reynolds;  1850,  Samuel  R.  Gillingham,  Charles  AY.  Avars; 
1857,  John  Shields,  Horace  A.  Cleveland;  1858,  John  Shields, 
George  D.  Mills;  1859  (Salem  Circuit),  Levi'is  C.  Pettit;  and  since 
then,  John  O'Neill,  James  Hand,  John  Edwards,  William 
Hammond,  Thomas  Sumption,  Daniel  L.  Patterson,  William  T. 
Magee,  Ravel  Smitli,  Samuel  W.  Smith,  whose  unexpired  term  was 
filled  by  Andrew  Gather;  William  H.  Aspril,  Ephraim  Potts,  An- 
drew L.  Amthor,  1881;  J.  McQuoid,  1882-83;  E.  Towusend,  1884; 
Thomas  Montgomery,  1885-87;  J.  W.  Hudson,  1888-89;  Richard 
Morelly,  1890;  Lewis  A.  Pascells,  1891-96;  T.  N.  Hyde,  1897-98. 

The  Berwj'n  Methodist  Ejjiscopal  Church  grew  out  of  a  Sun- 
day-school organized  in  1881,  in  the  house  of  Peter  W.  Ziegler, 
living  near  Devon,  who  was  its  first  superintendent.  The  move- 
ment was  inaugurated  by  the  Rev.  Andrew  Gather,  and  shortly 
afterward  an  inexpensive  frame  chapel  was  erected,  in  which 
Enoch  S.  Wells,  William  A.  Fisher,  G.  Wilde  Linn,  M.  D.,  and  other 
local  preachers  officiated.  This  building  collapsed  in  the  winter 
of  1883,  owing  to  an  accumulation  of  snow  on  the  roof,  and  then, 
as  some  of  the  members  lived  at  Berwyn,  the  services  were  trans- 
ferred to  that  place,  but  the  charge  was  knowu  in  the  minutes  of 
the  conference  of  that  year  as  the  Devon  Church.  In  March,  1884, 
the  societA'  was  connected  with  Salem  charge.  Rev.  Edward  Town- 
send,  pastor,  aud  a  church  lot  was  purchased.  In  March,  1885, 
Berwyn  was  made  a  separate  charge,  with  Rev.  Daniel  Hartman, 
-after  Avhom  Governor  Hastings  was  named,  as  pastor.  In  March, 
1886,  Rev.  Alexander  M.  Wiggins  Avas  ai)poiuted  pastor,  and  in 
that  year  the  erection  of  a  tasteful  stone  church  was  begun.  In 
March,  1888,  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Carter  became  pastor,  and  prosecuted 


82  2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  work  of  biiikling  the  church,  completing-  it,  and  dedicating  it 
on  December  30.  In  March,  1889,  Hex.  Charles  W.  Straw  became 
pastor,  and  remained  until  March,  1894,  when  Hey.  Franklin  F. 
Bond  succeeded  him,  and  remained  until  Marcli,  189<>,  when  the 
present  pastor,  Kev.  Alden  W.  Quimby,  became  pastor.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  churcli  is  now  seventy,  and  the  value  of  the  clnuch 
property,  including  tlie  parsonage,  is  |13,000. 

The  Pomeroy  Methodist  Church  has  had  the  fidlowing  pas- 
tors: Eev.  J.  T.  Gray,  1884-86;  «ev.  E.  Devine,  1887-88;  Rev.  J.  M. 
Wheeler,  1889-90;  Kev.  B.  F  Miller,  1891-92;  Rev.  Matthias  Barn- 
hill,  1893-94  Rev.  Delaplain  Gollie,  1895-96;  Revs.  J.  W.  Williams 
and  Albert  Clegg,  1897,  and  Rev.  J.  W.  Miles,  1898.  Under  the 
pastorate  of  Rev.  B.  F.  Miller,  the  church  building  was  remodeled 
and  greatly  improved,  and  the  church  itself  is  now  h  separate 
charge. 

Oxford  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1828,  services 
being  conducted  from  that  year  to  1851  in  Hopewill  Mill.  In  the 
latter  year  a  church  edifice  was  erected  and  dedicated  bj-  Revs, 
Francis  Hodgson  and  Andrew  Manship.  The  delay  in  erecting  a 
church  building  here  was  in  the  opposition  to  Methodism,  which 
led  everyone  to  refuse  to  sell  ground  upon  which  to  erect  a  church. 
At  length  this  difficulty  was  overcome  by  a  stranger  purchasing  the 
land  on  which  the  present  Baptist  Church  building  stands.  The 
first  parsonage  was  built  in  1877  or  1878,  and  the  present  one  in 
1886.  The  pastors  here  have  been  as  follows:  1828  (Strasburg  Cir- 
cuit), George  Woolley,  John  Nicholson;  1829,  George  Woolley, 
Thomas  McCarroU;  1830  (Port  Deposit  Circuit),  George  Woolley, 
AVilliam  Bloomer;  1831  (Cecil  Circuit),  William  Torbert,  James 
Nichols;  1832,  William  Torbert,  William  Spry;  1833,  Eliphalet 
Reed,  George  M.  Yard;  1834,  Levi  Stork,  Edward  Kennard,  John  A. 
Roach;  1835  (Northeast  Circuit),  Peunell  Coombe,  C.  J.  Crouch; 
1836  (West  Nottingham),  William  Ryder,  C.  J.  Crouch;  1837-38 
(Nottingham),    Samuel    Grace,    John    S.    Inskip;     1839,    William 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  823 

Torbert,  M.  D.  Kurtz;  1S40,  William  Torbert,  Charles  Scboek;  1841, 
William  C.  Thomas,  H.  S.  Atmore;  1842,  Edward  Kenmird,  James 
McCarter;  1843,  George  Bartou,  D.  L.  Patterson;  1844,  George  Bar- 
ton, A.  Freed;  1845,  Eliphalet  Eeed,  H.  B.  Manger;  1840,  Leeds  K. 
Beuidge,  Thomas  Miller;  1847,  John  D.  Long,  J.  A.  Whitaker; 
1848,  Charles  Schoek,  "William  Kobb;  1849,  Charles  Schock;  1850, 
Jonas  Bissey;  1851  (Oxford  Circuit),  Jonas  Bissej^  John  Thomp- 
son; 1852,  John  F.  Boone,  Reuben  Owen;  1853,  John  Cummins, 
Abel  Howard;  1854,  John  Cummins,  John  Dyson;  1855,  John 
Edwards;  1856,  T.  B.  Miller,  E.  T.  Kenney;  1857,  T.  B.  Miller, 
Henry  H.  Bodiue;  1858,  John  B.  Dennison,  Nathan  B.  Durell; 
1859,  John  B.  Dennison,  Thomas  F.  Plummer;  1860,  Joseph  Car- 
lisle; 1861,  James  Hand;  1863-64,  Thomas  Sumption;  1865-66, 
Francis  B.  Harvey;  1867,  IL  B.  Manger,  W.  M.  Gilbert;  1868,  made 
a  separate  station,  and  since  then  the  ministers  have  been:  John 
Stringer,  A.  M.  Wiggins,  Levi  B.  Hoffman,  Samuel  G.  Hare,  Benja- 
min T.  Strong,  George  A.  Wolfe,  Matthew  Sorin,  James  C.  W^ood, 
Bichard  Kaines,  1880-83;  W.  Bamford,  1884-87;  A.  G.  Kynett,  1888; 
T.  Kelly,  1889;  J.  P.  Miller,  1890-91;  W.  W.  Cookman,  1892-94; 
George  Cummins,  1895;  D.  S.  Sherry,  1896;  W.  J.  Mills  and  A.  D. 
Mink,  1897-98. 

The  membership  of  the  church  is  400;  Sabbath-school,  250; 
value  of  property,  |20,000. 

Kennett  Square  Methodist  Church  appears  first  as  a  mission 
in  1853,  and  in  1854  there  were  eighteen  members  and  forty-five 
probationers.  The  pastors  have  been  as  follows:  1854  (Mount 
Salem  and  Kennett  Square  Mission),  Thomas  W.  Simpers,  William 
M.  Dalrymple;  1855-56  (Kennett  Square  Mission),  Francis  B.  Har- 
vey; 1857-58,  John  Dyson;  1859,  L.  Chambers;  1860,  Joseph  Cook; 
1861  (with  Marshallton  and  Union ville),  Joseph  Cook;  1862-63 
(Marshalltou  and  Kennett  Square),  Samuel  W.  Kurtz;  18()4, 
William  H.  Fries;  186.5,  Alfred  A.  Fisher;  1866,  John  Edwards; 
1867  (Kennett  Square  and  Union  ville),  John  Edwards;  1868  (Ken- 


8-4  CUESTER     COUNTY 

nett  Square),  1809-70  (Chatham  and  Keunett  Square),  Francis  B. 
Harvey-,  William  W.  Barlow;  and  since  then  at  Kennett  Square, 
Kobert  C.  Wood,  George  Alcorn,  A.  L.  Hood,  E.  C.  Yerkes,  E.  J. 
McKeever,  Elim  Kirk,  W.  F.  Sheppard,  S.  T.  Horner,  H.  E.  Robin- 
son, J.  S.  McKinlay,  1884;  J.  E.  Grauley,  1885-8G;  H.  C.  Boudwin, 
1887;  A.  F.  Taylor,  1888-89;  O.  C.  Burt,  1890-91;  George  Alcorn, 
1892-94 ;  T.  N.  Hyde,  1896,  and  J.  H.  Earp,  1897-98.  In  1854  a  frame 
church  building  was  erected,  which  lasted  until  1884,  when  it  was 
superseded  by  a  substantial  brick  edifice  erected  on  the  same  site, 
which  was  dedicated  in  1885,  free  of  debt.  Since  then  a  neat  par- 
sonage has  been  erected.  In  1891  an  Epworth  League  was  organ- 
ized in  connection  with  the  church. 

St.  JamcKs'  Methodist  Chiirch  was  organized  first  as  a  class 
at  Cedarville  in  1871.  In  1872  John  EdAvards  was  pastor,  and  in 
1873-74  Joseph  J.  Sleeper.  During  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Sleeper  George  Wagner  gave  the  organization  a  piece  of  ground 
on  which  to  erect  a  churcli,  which  was  37x60  feet  in  size,  and  the 
basement  of  which  was  dedicated  June  27,  3874,  and  the  main 
audience  room  dedicated  in  1877.  The  pastors  here  have  been 
Revs.  Thomas  A.  Feruley,  Joseph  J.  Sleeper,  H.  W.  Sebring, 
George  W.  Lybrand,  J.  Bamford,  and  Curtis  T.  Turner  being  the 
supply  at  the  present  time. 

The  Parkesburg  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized 
in  1875,  but  there  had  previously  been  services  there  by  Methodist 
ministers.  A  stone  church  building  erected  by  the  Baptists, 
but  afterward  owned  by  the  Episcopalians,  became  their  place  of 
worship,  they  renting  it  until  1879,  when  they  purchased  it.  This 
building  was  occupied  until  1890,  when  it  was  sold  to  the  Odd 
Fellows,  and  a  fine  new  brick  church  building  erected  on  Main 
Street,  at  a  cost  of  |8,000.  This  new  building  involved  the  society 
in  financial  difficulties,  but  under  the  i^astorate  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Jack- 
son the  debt  was  reduced  to  •1f2,400;  and  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev. 
F.  A.  Gacks  this  indebtedness  was  paid,  and  the  church  is  now  free 


AND     ITfi     PEOPLE.  825 

from  debt.  The  church  was  connected  with  Atglen  Circuit  until 
1882,  when  it  became  a  separate  charge.  The  present  membership 
is  235,  with  a  membership  in  the  Sunday-school  of  250. 

The  ministers  have  been  as  follows:  Ephraim  Polk,  I.  M. 
Gable,  William  P.  Howell,  David  Shields,  H.  N.  Sebring,  John  F. 
Oray,  Edward  Devine,  John  M.  Wheeler,  J.  W.  Jackson,  J.  E. 
Diverty  and  F.  A.  Gacks,  the  latter  of  whom  came  to  the  church 
in  March,  1896,  and  is  pastor  at  the  present  time. 

Hamt)rton  Methodist  Church  was  started  in  1872,  when  a  h.i 
was  donated  on  which  to  erect  a  building,  and  on  which  a  near, 
frame  building  was  erected  in  1873  at  a  cost  of  $3,000.  Tlie  pan- 
tors  have  been  the  same  as  those  at  Kennett  Square,  up  to  1881 ; 
since  then  they  have  been  as  follows:  J.  S.  McKinlay,  J.  E.  Grau 
ley,  H.  C.  Boudwin,  A.  F.  Taylor,  O.  C.  Burt,  George  Alcorn,  T.  X. 
Hyde  and  J.  P.  Earp. 

Thorndale  Methodist  Church  was  started  in  1875,  by  Kev. 
George  S.  Broadbent,  while  he  was  pastor  at  DoAvingt()wn.  The 
services  were  continued  through  1875  and  1877  by  hiin,  and  by 
liev.  John  Stringer  tlirough  1878-79-80,  and  during  this  latter  year 
a  ueat  chapel  Avas  erected  and  dedicated.  In  1881  it  was  associ- 
ated with  Hibernia  and  Sadsbury  Methodist  Churches,  Rev.  S.  O. 
Garrison  being  the  pastor.  Since  then  the  pastors  have  been  as 
follows:  W.  Powick,  1882-83;  John  Bell,  1S81-8G;  I.  C.  Kirk, 
1888;  A.  F.  Greenig,  1890;  L.  B.  McCliutock,  1891-96;  John  Boehm, 
1897,  and  J.  W.  Fryer,  1898. 

Avondale  Methodist  Church  had  its  origin  during  the  summer 
of  1868,  a  meeting  being  held  at  the  house  of  J.  B.  Steward,  Oc- 
tober 28,  seven  persons  being  present.  The  Sunday-school  was  or- 
ganized May  23,  1869,  and  on  June  7,  1869,  the  hall  of  Tiba  Lam- 
born  was  used  for  the  first  time,  the  attendance  having  largely  in- 
creased. In  1870  a  two-story  building  was  erected  for  church  pur- 
poses at  a  cost  of  .f  1,100.90.  This  building  was  destoyed  by  fire  iu 
1880,  and  in  1881  a  new  one  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  |2,000  and 


826  CHESTER     COUNTY 

<leilicatecl  in  February  that  jear.  The  pastors  here  have  been  as 
folhjws:  Kev.  J.  B.  Steward,  May,  186(5,  to  March,  1873;  and  since 
then  John  D.  Fox,  T.  L.  Nelson,  W.  B.  Chalfaut,  S.  H.  Evans,  Will- 
iam H.  Aspril,  L.  T.  Dugau,  Reuben  Johnson,  James  Sampson, 
John  W.  Rudolph,  S.  W.  Smith,  C.  W.  Langley,  1S8G-87;  S.  Tan- 
coast,  1888-89;  J.  G.  Wilson,  1890-91;  J.  W.  Bradley,  1892-94;  ('.  B. 
Johnston,  1895-97;    R.  E.  Johnson,  1898. 

The  African  Methodist  Church  at  Oxford  was  established  in 
1881,  in  which  year  the  present  church  buildino'  was  erected.  Rev. 
Robert  Murray  was  pastor  in  1894. 

The  Union  American  Methodist  Episcojial  Cliurch  at  Coates- 
ville  was  organized  by  Rev.  William  Hutchings,  in  1864,  Rev.  Mr. 
Hutchings  becoming  its  first  pastor.  During  the  same  year  a  sub- 
stantial brick  church  edilice  was  erected  at  the  corner  of  Sixth 
Avenue  and  Merchant  Street,  which  is  still  in  use,  though  it  has 
undergone  extensive  improvements  within  recent  years.  At  the 
present  time  the  church  membership  is  about  100,  and  Rev.  L.  A. 
Pui'nell  is  the  jtastor.    The  <hurcli  property  is  worth  about  |4,000. 

St.  Luke's  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized 
in  1860,  by  Rev.  Luke  Smith,  assisted  by  Rev.  Jcdin  C.  Ramsey,  Rev. 
L.  P.  Hood,  and  Rev.  William  Dorsey.  It  is  located  on  South  Frank- 
lin Street,  West  Chester.  The  first  place  of  worship  was  a  small 
one-story  frame  building  on  East  Union  Street,  which  was  used 
until  1864,  when  the  present  location  on  South  Franklin  Street 
Avas  purchased.  The  first  church  on  this  site  was  a  one-story 
brick,  30x40  feet  in  size,  and  together  with  the  site  valued  at 
.fl,500,  and  this  church  was  used  until  1881,  Avhen  the  present  edi- 
fice Avas  erected.  The  ministers  in  charge  since  the  organization 
have  been  as  folloAvs:  Revs.  Luke  Smith,  William  Hutchings,  John 
Clements,  B.  T.  Ruby,  Perry  Gibbs,  Benjamin  Jeffers,  Isaac  WMll- 
iams,  Lewis  Roberts,  Asbury  Smith,  Lewis  Jones,  William  II. 
Eley,  John  L.  Hood,  L.  A.  Purnell,  R.  S.  Acctni,  William  H.  Guy 
and  Jacob  F.  Ramsey.    The  present  membership  of  the  church  is 


AiVD     ITS     PEOPLE.  827 

about  200,  and  of  the  Simday-schoul   about  170.    The  ihureh  prop- 
ert.y  is  valtied  at  §G,000. 

Prior  to  1SS2  the  colored  Methodists  of  CoatesviUe  woi-shiixMl 
a.t  the  little  church  at  "Buzzard's  Glorv,"  near  Atfilcn,  in  accorrl- 
auce  with  the  forms  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Cliurch, 
but  at  this  time  they  oroanized  a  church  in  Coatesville,  erected  a 
frame  building,  which  Avas  dedicated  in  1883.  Kev.  ^yilliam 
Grimes  was  the  first  minister,  and  the  membership  was  about 
thirty.  The  building  is  on  Seventh  Avenue  and  Merchant  Street, 
East  Coatesville.  The  church  is  now  in  a  jjrosperous  condition, 
with  about  70  members,  and  there  is  also  a  flourishing  Sunday 
school. 

The  Union  American  Episcopal  Church  (colored)  is  located  at 
Sixth  Avenue  and  Merchant  Street,  Coatesville,  the  building  hav- 
ing been  dedicated  in  October,  1869.  Rev.  William  Hutchings  was 
the  first  pastor.    The  church  has  a  membership  of  about  200. 

Bethel  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized 
about  1833  at  the  residence  of  James  Berry,  who  then  lived  at  the 
lower  end  of  West  Market  Street,  West  Chester.  The  corner-stone 
of  a  proposed  church  building  was  laid  by  Eev.  Joseph  Corr,  of 
Philadelphia,  but  the  building  was  never  completed.  Later  the 
congregation  erected  a  building,  called  Zion  Church,  in  which  tlie\ 
worshiped  until  ISGl,  when  they  removed  to  the  school-house  at 
the  corner  of  Barnard  and  Adams  Streets,  but  soon  aftei-ward  they 
purchased  the  present  site  on  East  Miner  Street,  and  in  1868  be- 
gan the  erection  of  a  new  building,  which  lasted  until  1880,  Avhen 
it  was  enlarged  to  meet  the  necessities  of  a  larger  congregation, 
and  thus  enlarged  it  is  still  iu  use. 

The  pastors  of  this  church  since  ISi.")  have  been  as  follows: 
Eevs.  William  II.  Jones,  John  L.  Armstrong,  John  Butler,  Abram 
C.  Crippen,  Isaac  B.  Parker,  Israel  Scott,  Bichard  Barney,  George 
Greenly,  Peter  Gardiner,  Henry  Davis,  James  Hollon,  Kichard 
Barney,  Stephen  Smith,  William  U.  Xorris,  J.  P.  Campbell,  John 


828  CHESTER     COUXTY 

W.  Stevenson,  Johu  R.  V.  Morgan,  Jevemiali  Young,  Elislia  Weaver, 
Edward  Laws,  Peter  Gardiner,  James  Y.  Pierce,  John  C.  Coruisli, 
Henry  J.  Rhodes,  Henry  Davis,  Isaiah  S.  Taylor,  William  R.  Xf»r- 
ris,  Amor  ^Vilson,  Leonard  Patterson,  L.  C.  Chambers,  Lewis  Hood, 
L.  C.  Chambers,  John  C.  Brock,  John  B.  Stansbuiy,  A.  A.  Cromartie, 
Theodore  Gould,  and  M.  C.  Brooks,  from  1894  to  the  present  time. 

In  1S9-1  a  parsonage  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  |2,100.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  church  in  1897  was  193,  and  the  membership  of  the 
Sunday-school  388.  The  church  propei-ty  is  valued  at  about  |10,- 
000. 

>St.  Paul's  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Chnrcli,  at  Coatesville, 
located  at  the  corner  of  Seventh  Avenue  and  Merchant  Street,  was 
presented  to  the  church  society  by  Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  an<l 
w^as  moved  in  sections  to  its  present  site  in  1883.  The  first  minis- 
ter here  was  Rev.  William  Grimes,  and  the  present  minister  is  Rev. 
W.  B.  Peai'son.  The  church  membership  is  twenty-two,  and  the 
Sunday-school  scholars,  about  twenty-five.  The  property  is  valued 
at  about  .|5,000. 

Waynesburg  Methodist  Church  was  established  about  1821, 
in  which  year  the  old  church  was  erected,  and  a  church  building 
•R-as  erected  about  the  same  time  at  Cambridtre.  The  present 
Waynesburg  Church  was  erected  in  1843,  and  w^as  dedicated  in  a 
sermon  by  Rev.  Matthew  Sorin.  Since  1830  the  preachers  have 
been  as  follows:  1831-32,  George  Woolley,  Jacob  Gruber;  1833, 
David  Best,  Richard  W.  Thomas;  1834,  Thomas  Miller,  John  Spear; 
1835-36,  William  Torbert,  Allen  John;  1837,  -lohu  Edwards,  Henry 
Sutton;  1838,  same  and  John  A.  Watson;  1839-40,  Jonas  Bissey, 
Thomas  Sumption;  1841,  .James  Hand,  William  L.  Gray;  1842, 
James  B.  Ayars,  Peter  J.  Cox;  1844,  James  Hand,  George  D. 
Bowen;  1845,  Richard  M.  Greenbank,  Samuel  Pancoast;  -1840, 
Richard  M.  Greenbank,  Henry  B.  Manger;  1847,  Johu  Edwards, 
John  Walsh;  1848,  John  Edwards,  Samuel  R.  Gillingham;  1840- 
50,  Enos  R.  Williams,  -John  Cummins;   1851,  Eliphalet  Reed,  Peter 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  829 

Hallowell;  1852,  Joseph  Carlisle,  Abraham  K.  Freed,  John  T. 
Gracey;  1853,  circuit  divided,  and  a  part  called  Wayuesburg-,  Jo- 
seph Carlisle,  A.  Longacre;  1851,  t^.  G.  Hare;  1855,  S.  G.  Hai-c, 
Xeheuiiuli  W.  Reunnm;  185(5,  William  H.  Burrell,  Levi  B.  Hughes; 
1857,  ^^•ill^alu  II.  Burrell;  1858,  Johu  F.  Meredith,  Charles  ^^'. 
Avars;  1859,  John  F.  Meredith;  18G0-G1,  John  J.  Jones;  lS(;2-(;::;, 
James  Y.  Ashton;  then  in  regular  order,  E.  I.  D.  Pepper,  John  Al- 
len, George  Cummins,  S.  W.  Kurtz,  Johu  J.  Pearce,  Andrew  Cather, 
Jacob  M.  Hinson,  George  Heacock,  George  W.  F.  Graff  Henry  K. 
Calloway,  J.  i^.  I.aue,  H.  T.  Quigg,  William  P.  Howell,  S.  W.  Smith, 
N.  D.  MoComas,  Josiah  Bawden,  John  T.  Gray,  and  William  <2nig- 
ley  Bennett,  the  present  pastor,  who  came  to  the  church  in  18!)8. 
The  church  building,  erected  iu  18G9,  has  been  improved,  will  seat 
about  500,  and  is  worth,  together  with  the  other  property  belonging- 
to  the  church,  .'?22,000.  The  membership  is  380,  and  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  including  those  of  Cambridge,  the  White  School  and  Poplar 
Grove  School,  about  250. 

St.  Peter's  Episcopal  Church  is  iu  the  northeast  corner  of  East 
Whiteland  Township.  The  building  was  erected  in  1744,  and  in 
1752  the  minister  was  Kev.  William  Currie,  who  had  previously 
been  a  lay  reader  for  the  congregation.  The  church  was  incorpo- 
rated in  178t),  the  Rev.  Mr.  CuiTie  remaining  rector  until  178.'J, 
preaching,  however,  only  by  request,  as  he  had  not  sun-endered  his 
original  vows,  which  required  him  to  pray  for  Kiusi  George.  Kev. 
Slaytor  Clay  became  rector  in  1788,  I'ernaining  until  his  death,  in 
1821.  Fi'om  about  1824  for  three  years  the  Eev.  Samuel  C.  Brinkle 
was  rector,  followed  by  the  Itevs.  William  H.  TJees,  Simon  Wilmer, 
William  Hilton,  William  Peck,  William  H.  Woodward,  William  L. 
Suddalls,  Thomas  W.  Winchester,  who  died  in  February,  18.5S: 
Samuel  Hazlehurst,  A.  E.  Tortat,  W.  K.  Stockton,  De  Witt  C.  Loup, 
Thomas  J.  Taylor,  and  H.  J.  W.  Allen,  until  the  closng  up  of  the 
church  in  1894,  since  which  time  the  vestry  have  preferred  to  ex- 
pend the  proceeds  of  the  endowment  fund  for  general  repairs  in- 


830  CHESTER     COUNTY 

stead  of  for  the  eniijloyrdent  (»f  a  rertor.  The  property  is  worth 
about  !?12,000. 

St.  John's  Episeoi)al  Church  io  the  timnshij)  of  New  LoiKhui 
was  organized  about  1744.  The  rectors  have  been  a.s  foUows: 
]{evs.  John  Gordon,  Israel  Acrelius,  John  Abram  Lideuius,  Elisha 
Kijigs,  George  Handy,  Jacob  M.  Douglass,  George  Kirk,  from  1S2U 
to  1869;  J.  H.  MacElroy,  J.  L.  Heysinger,  George  Vail,  William 
A.  ^Vhite,  who  died  June  1,  181)8;  G.  L.  Bishop,  Thomas  Burrows, 
J.  J.  Creigh  and  Frank  P.  Clark,  present  pastor.  The  church  mem- 
bership is  now  thirty-five  as  is  also  that  of  the  Sundaj'-school,  and 
the  churih  property  is  valued  at  f(>,000. 

St  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  West  Whiteland,  was  organized 
Februarj'  23,  1828,  the  church  edifice  being  erected  the  same  year 
and  consecrated  May  28,  1829.  The  rectors  of  this  church  have 
been  as  follows:  Kev.  Samuel  C  Brinkle,  through  whose  efforts 
the  members  were  gathered  together;  Revs.  R.  N.  Morgan,  Cyrus  Tl. 
Jacobs,  William  Hilton,  William  Henry  Rees,  William  IT.  Wood- 
ward, William  L.  Suddards,  H.  Hastings  Weld,  Tliomas  W.  ^^■in- 
chester,  Thomas  L.  Green,  Samuel  Hazlehurst,  Joseph  W.  Cook,  A. 
E.  Tortat,  Robert  F.  Innes,  (1.  Livingston  Bishop,  De  Witt  C.  Loup, 
Thomas  J.  Taylor,  and  Henry  J.  W.  Allen,  who  assumed  charge  of 
this  church  in  1882.  The  communicants  number  fifty,  and  the  Sun- 
day-school 25.    The  church  property  is  valued  at  $12,000. 

The  Episcopalians  have  the  following  churches  in  Chester 
County  as  it  is  to-day:  St.  John's  in  West  Cain,  St.  Peter's  in  East 
"S^'hiteland,  St.  John's  in  Penn,  St.  Mary's  in  Warwick,  St.  Andrew's 
in  West  Vincent,  St.  Peter's  in  Phcenixville,  St.  Mai'k's  in  Honey- 
brook,  St.  Paul's  in  W'est  Whiteland,  St.  James'  in  Downingtown, 
Trinitj'  at  Coatesville,  The  Church  of  the  Good  Samaritan  in  Paoli, 
and  the  Churc  h  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  West  Chester. 

There  were,  of  course.  Episcopal  churches  in  what  is  now  Dela- 
ware Countj'  before  any  of  the  above-named  were  established.  It 
is  claimed  that  St.  Paul's  at  Chester    and  St.  Martin's  at  ilarcus 


A.VD     IT^     PEOPLE.  831 

Hook  were  built  iu  1702.  St.  John's  at  Coucord  was  built  iu  1722, 
and  >St.  David's  Episcopal  Church,  which  is  about  one  and  a  half 
miles  southw  est  of  IJadnor  Station  on  the  Pennsylvania  Eailroad, 
at  the  junction  of  NeAvtown  Township,  Delaware  County,  and  East- 
town  Township,  Chester  County,  was  established  by  a.  colony  of 
Welshmen  about  1685.  While  but  little  is  known  as  to  the  early  his- 
tory of  this  church  yet  it  appears  clear  that  services  were  held 
from  1700  to  1704  at  the  house  of  William  Davis,  by 
Eev!  Evan  Evans,  who  preached  in  Welsh  once  a  fort- 
night for  four  years.  In  1714  John  Chubb  was  formally 
appointed  as  missionary  to  this  church  at  Oxford,  and 
subscriptions  had  been  raised  for  the  building  of  a  stone 
church.  On  May  9,  1715,  the  foundations  of  Radnor  Episcopal 
Church  were  laid.  After  Mr.  Chubb's  death  in  December,  1715, 
Rev.  Evan  Evans  was  appointed  missionary  to  Radnor  and  Oxford, 
remaining  from^he  summer  of  1710  to  1718.  The  next  rector  was 
Rev.  John  Humphrey,  who  supplied  the  pulpit  until  the  appoint- 
ment of  Rev.  Robert  Weyraan,  who  began  his  duties  here  in  De- 
cember, 1710,  and  remained  until  1731.  Rev.  John  Hughes  was  rec- 
tor from  1733  until  1737.  Re^'.  ^Villiam  Currie,  the  last  missionary 
to  Radnor.  During  tJie  Revolutionary  War  this  church  was  closed 
to  religious  services,  for  the  reason  that  Rev.  Mr.  Currie  remained 
loyal  to  England.  In  1783  Mr.  Currie  again  took  charge  of  the 
church  and  was  succeeded  in  1788  by  Rev.  Slaytor  Clay,  who  was 
the  first  American  minister  of  the  church.  The  church  was  incor- 
porated in  1792.  In  181S  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Briukle  began  preaching 
here  once  in  each  two  weeks,  continuing  until  Rev.  Mr.  Clay's 
death,  when  he  became  the  regular  pastor.  Since  then  the  pastors 
to  this  time  have  been  as  follows:  Revs.  Simon  Wilmer,  William 
Heniy  Rees,  William  Peck,  William  W.  Spear,  Breed  Batchelor, 
Thomas  G.  Allen,  John  A.  Childs,  Henry  G.  Brown,  Richardson 
Graham,  Thomas  G.  Clemson,  William  F.  Halsey,  and  Rev.  George 
A.  Keller,  the  present  rector,  Avho  assumed  charge  in  1883. 
49 


832  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Various  repairs  were  made  to  tlie  old  cbureli  building,  and  in 
1830  a  new  vestrj-  room  was  built,  and  in  1871  the  present  churcli 
was  erected  on  and  beyond  the  site  of  the  former  house.  The  pres- 
ent parsonage  was  built  in  1841.  About  189.5  the  old  church  was 
restored  and  it  is  uow  as  it  was  of  old.  In  the  cemetery  belonging 
to  this  church  lies  the  body  of  General  Antliony  Wayne. 

St.  John's  Pequra  Episcopal  Church  in  the  village  of  Compass- 
ville  is  one  of  the  oldest  churches  of  this  denomination  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  first  buildiug  here  was  erected  in  1720.  Kev.  Kichard 
Backhouse  conducted  services  here  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  each 
month  for  ten  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time^ 
in  1739,  Eev.  John  Blackhall  became  rector.  Rev.  Mr. 
Backhouse  returned  to  this  church  in  a  short  time  after 
leaving  it  and  remained  until  his  death  in  1750.  In  1751 
Eev.  George  Craig  began  to  ofiiciate  here,  being  with  the 
church  at  least  eight  Sundays  each  year,  and  was  succeeded  in 
1759  by  Rev.  Thomas  Barton,  who  remained  until  1776.  During 
the  Revolutionary  War  there  was  no  regular  rector,  but  in  1784 
Rev.  J.  Fred  Illing,  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  became  rector,  remain- 
ing until  1788.  Rev.  Elisha,  Biggs  was  installed  this  year  and  re- 
mained until  1793,  when  came  Rev.  Levi  Heath.  Rev.  Joseph 
Clarkson  came  in  1799  and  remained  until  his  death,  in  1830.  Eev. 
Richard  Umstead  Morgan  became  rector  iu  1831,  remaining  three 
years.  Eev.  Edward  Young  Buchanan  was  rector  from  1835  to 
1845;  Eev.  Henry  Tullidge  from  1846  to  1854;  Eev.  E.  P.  Wright 
from  1854  to  1856;  Eev.  George  G.  Hepburn  from  1856  to  1860; 
Eev.  Henry  E.  Smith  from  1862  to  1872;  Rev.  Thomas  Mee  from 
1874  to  1875;  Eev.  Henry  E.  Tullidge  from  1875  to  188  ,  and  since 
then  tlie  rectors  have  been  as  follows:  Eev.  J.  W.  Geiger  about 
one  year,  and  Eev.  S.  K.  Boyer,  who  has  been  rector  about  thirteen 
years.  A  new  rectory  was  built  in  1891  the  value  of  tlie  property 
is  |6,000,  the  church  membership  284,  and  the  Sunday-school  has 
about  150  members. 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  833 

The  present  clmroh  building  was  erected  in  1830,  a  stone  struc- 
ture 40x55  feet  in  size  and  a  very  imposing  bouse. 

Tlie  Churcb  of  tbe  Good  Samaritan  was  establisbed  about  1848, 
at  Paoli,  Cbester  County.  From  tbat  time  to  1877  services  were 
held  from  time  to  time  in  the  Paoli  Inn,  and  for  several  years  prior 
to  1877  the  church  and  Sunday-school  met  in  Masonic  Hall.  On 
October  31,  1876,  the  cornerstone  of  a  church  building,  named  the 
Church  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  was  laid  by  the  Rt.  Kev.  William 
Bacon  Stevens,  bishop  of  the  diocese,  addresses  being  made  by  the 
bishop,  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Currie,  of  St.  Luke'.s,  Philadelphia;  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Frost,  of  Trinity  Church,  Wilmington,  Delaware;  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Hay;  by  the  Eev  G.  L.  Bishop;  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Eumney, 
and  the  Eev.  B.  E.  Phelps.  The  unfinished  church  edifice  was  oc- 
cupied for  the  first  time  for  divine  service  on  Sunday,  July  15, 
1877,  the  Eev.  G.  L.  Bishop,  rector  of  St.  Paul's,  West  Whitelaml, 
ta,king  charge  of  the  new  enterprise  at  the  request  of  the  bishop 
and  the  desire  of  Edmund  G.  Dutille,  by  whom,  with  the  assistance 
of  a  few  friends,  the  church  was  built  in  memorv  of  Mrs.  E.  S. 
Dutille. 

The  new  building  was  presented  to  the  bishop  for  consecration 
September  28,  1877,  the  semion  being  j^reached  by  the  bishop. 
Numerous  notable  ministers  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
were  present,  the  Holy  Communion  being  celebrated  by  the  bishop, 
assisted  by  the  Eev.  G.  L.  Bishop.  Since  1880  the  rectors  have  been 
as  follows:  Eev.  M.  J.  Meigs,  Eev.  James  C.  Craven,  Eev.  Thomas 
J.  Taylor,  Eev.  H.  P.  Hay,  Eev.  George  A.  Keller,  Eev.  Charles  A. 
Eicksecker,  Eev.  G.  Livingston  Bishop,  and  Eev.  Edward  T.  Mab- 
ley,  who  by  request  furnished  the  data  for  this  brief  sketch  of  the 
church.  Since  1880  there  has  been  built  a  large  rectory,  the  inte- 
rior of  the  church  has  been  improved,  and  a  beautiful  memorial 
window  of  cathedral  glass  has  been  put  in.  The  present  value  of 
the  property  is  about  .$5,000,  the  membership  of  the  church  is  twen- 
ty-nine families,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  sixty-five  scholars. 


834  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Holy  Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  of  West  Chester,  was  organ- 
ized November  23,  1835,  Rev.  George  W.  Cole  being  chosen  rector. 
The  church  was  incorporated  April  28,  1838,  and  the  church  edi- 
fice was  erected  on  the  north  side  of  Gay  Street.  This  Gay  Street 
edifice  was  used  for  many  years  as  a  chapel  and  Sunday-school 
after  it  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  church,  which  was  about  186S.  The 
cornerstone  of  the  present  church  building  was  laid  July  3,  18GS, 
by  Kev.  Heniy  J.  Morton,  the  building  standing  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  South  High  and  Union  Streets.  The  property  here  is 
valued  at  .f  70,000,  and  consists  of  the  church,  parish  house,  rectory 
and  Sunday-school.  The  rectors  of  this  church  have  been  Revs. 
Edward  W.  Willbank,  Richard  Newton,  Rt.  Rev.  G.  T.  Bedell,  John 
B.  Clemson,  Lewis  P.  Balch,  William  Newton,  John  Bolton,  who 
came  to  West  Chester  in  1803,  and  remained  rector  until  January 
1,  1891,  when  he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  G. 
Heathcote  Hills.  Rev.  Mr.  Bolton  secured  the  erection  of  the  fine 
buildings  referred  to  above,  and  died  in  Philadelphia  May  18,  1898. 
He  was  rector  emeritus  from  the  time  of  his  resignation  until  his 
death.  Rev.  Mr.  Hills,  on  May  IS,  1898,  resigned  as  rector,  the 
resignation  to  take  effect  October  1,  1898.  The  membership  of  this 
church  at  the  present  time  is  about  500,  and  of  the  Sunday-school, 
275.  The  parochial  societies  are  the  Vested  Choir,  Brotherhood 
of  St.  Andrew,  ^^'oman^s  Auxiliary,  Girls"  Friendly  Society, 
Mothers'  Meeting,  Sewing  School,  Working  Guild,  St.  Ursula's 
Guild,  Altar  Society,  and  Junior  Auxiliary. 

St  Peter's  Episcopal  Church,  ot  Pha-uixville,  was  organized 
in  1838,  the  present  church  edifice  being  erected  in  1810  on  land 
given  by  Reeves,  Buck  &  Co.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  by  Rt.  Rev. 
Bishop  Onderdouk,  D.  D.,  April  25,  1810,  the  building  being  com- 
pleted in  December,  1852,  when  it  was  dedicated  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop 
Alonzo  Potter,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  The  rectors  of  this  church  have  been 
as  follows:  Revs.  Oliver  C.  ShaAV,  Marmaduke  Hirst,  I.  P.  Nash, 
Samuel  Durburrow,  Thomas  W.  Winchester,  W.  R.  Stockton,  who 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  835 

remained  until  1894,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  rector,  Eev. 
Edgar  Campbell.  Improvements  have  recently  been  made  to  the 
property  to  the  extent  of  |1,S00,  and  the  church  property  is  worth 
about  120,000.  The  communicants  number  130,  and  the  member- 
ship of  the  Ir^unday-school  is  125. 

St.  James'  Episco])al  ("luircli,  Downingtown,  was  organized  in 
1842  through  the  instrumentality  of  Rev.  G.  T.  Bedell,  services  be- 
ing held  for  some  time  at-  the  house  of  Dr.  Andrew  Wills.  After- 
ward they  were  held  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  which  was  later  pur- 
chased and  converted  into  a  chapel.  The  cornerstone  of  the  pres- 
ent church  building  was  laid  June  20,  184.3,  and  the  church  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Onderdonk,  October  26,  the  same  year.  The 
name  St.  James'  was  given  to  it  for  the  reason  that  St.  James' 
Church  in  Philadelphia  offered  |400  per  year  for  two  years  toward 
the  support  of  a  resident  minister.  Kev.  William  A.  White,  of 
Boston  was  the  first  rector,  beginning  here  in  November,  1843,  re- 
maining until  1845.  He  has  been  followed  by  Revs.  Samuel  Hazle- 
hurst,  II.  Hastings  Weld,  William  P.  Ray  T.  Browne  Morrison 
John  B.  Henry,  Benjamin  A.  Rogers,  Jesse  Y.  Burk.  William 
White  Montgomery,  Robert  F.  Innes,  W.  G.  Ware,  H.  Allen  Grif- 
fith, John  C.  Fair,  whose  rectorship  came  to  a  close  June  1,  1897. 
The  church  membership  at  present  is  125,  and  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  140,  and  the  value  of  the  church  property  is  now  |15,000. 

During  the  rectorship  of  Rev.  Mr.  Innes,  which  lasted  from 
1871  to  1880,  a  parish  building  was  erected  for  Sunday-school  and 
other  purposes,  and  an  addition  was  made  to  the  rectory.  The 
seating  capacity  of  the  church  is  250. 

The  Church  of  the  Trinity,  at  Coatesville,  was  organized  in 
1868,  though  Episcopal  services  had  been  held  there  as  early  as 
1859.  In  1871  a  lot  on  Main  Street  was  presented  to  the  congre- 
gation by  Benjamin  Miller,  and  on  it  a  spacious  chapel  was  erected. 
Rev.  George  G.  Field  was  the  first  rector,  and  has  been  followed 
by  the  following:     Rev.  Thomas  T.  Garland,  in  1894;    and  Rev. 


836  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Arthur  Wilson  Wilde,  in  189S;  Eev.  Mr.  Field  being  made  rector 
emeritus  in  1894,  and  still  being  in  that  relation.  A  handsome 
stone  chiirch  has  recently  been  erected,  the  property  is  worth  about 
1-12,000;  the  membership  is  145,  and  that  of  the  Sunday-school 
about  100. 

St.  Mary's  Episcopal  Church,  at  Warwick,  was  founded  about 
1804,  by  Kev.  Levi  Bull,  D.  D.,  who  remained  rector  thereof  for 
about  forty  years.  The  house  of  worship  was  built  in  1806,  and  re- 
built and  enlarged  in  1843.  It  was  repaired  in  1880  by  using  the 
sum  of  f  1,000  left  for  that  purpose  by  Eev.  John  Starrett  in  his 
will. 

St.  Mark's  Episcopal  Church,  at  Honeybrook,  was  organized 
in  1835.  The  rectors  during  recent  years  have  been  Rev.  Francis 
E.  Arnold,  during  whose  rectorship  three  acres  were  added  to  the 
cemetery;  Rev.  Wiufield  S.  Baer,  lay  reader  for  a  year,  1889,  dur- 
ing which  time  a  rectory  was  built  worth  |2,S00  and  labor;  Rev. 
L.  R.  F.  Davis,  Rev.  Edward  F.  Mabley  and  Rev.  John  Henry  Bur- 
ton. In  1891  the  church  Avas  greatly  improved  inside  and  stained 
windows  put  in.  The  property  is  now  valued  at  |8,000,  and  the 
endoAvment  fund  is  #203.  The  baptized  membei's  number  100,  and 
the  communicants  53.    The  Sunday-school  has  a  membership  of  50. 

St.  Mary's  Episcopal  Church,  since  1880,  has  had  the  same  rec- 
tors as  St,  Mark's.  The  property  is  now  valued  at  |6,000,  and  the 
endowment  fund  is  at  present  |2,450.  The  number  of  baptized 
members  is  85,  and  the  communicants  number  25.  The  Sunday- 
school  has  a  membership  of  70.  In  1880  extensive  repairs  were 
made  to  the  church,  both  inside  and  outside;  in  1888  a  Avail  A\'as 
built  about  the  cemetery  and  a  shed  built;  and  in  1892  the  old 
public  school-house  was  I'epaired  for  use  as  a  rectory. 

The  Church  of  the  Advent  Avas  chartered  during  the  winter  of 
1881-82,  and  the  coi'uerstone  of  the  church  building  was  laid  with 
impressive  ceremonies  May  17,  1885,  by  Rt.  Rev.  William  Bacon 
Stevens,  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia.    In  1880  Iiev.  John 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  837 

Long  began  holding  services  here  as  a  missionary,  remaining  two 
years,  and  was  succeeded  by  Kev.  J.  H.  McElroy,  and  he  by  the 
Rev.  J.  n.  Ileysinger.  During  the  missionary  services  of  these 
three  clergymen  funds  were  collected  for  the  pui'chase  of  a  lot  on 
Broad  Street,  upon  which  the  present  neat  Gothic  church  edifice 
was  erected.  Within  one  year  after  1he  laying  of  the  cornerstone 
as  above  narrated,  the  building  was  completed,  and  it  was  con- 
secrated according  to  the  established  form  May  14,  1886,  by  the 
Et.  Eev.  William  Bacon  Stevens.  At  that  time  tlie  rector  in  charge 
was  Rev.  G.  Livingston  Bishop.  In  the  address  of. Bishop  Stevens 
he  alluded  to  the  beautiful  memorial  window  of  Bayard  Taylor, 
the  funds  for  which  were  collected  by  Mrs.  William  J.  Baird,  of 
New  York  City,  and  contributed  to  by  such  eminent  men  as  the 
A'ery  Rev.  Deau  Farrar,  George  W.  Childs,  J.  G.  Whittier,  Bishop 
Brooks,  George  W.  Curtis,  James  Russell  Lowell,  O.  W.  Holmes, 
Mrs.  James  Fields,  Hon.  G.  H.  Boker,  Hon.  S.  L.  Clemens,  Will 
Carleton,  Mrs.  M.  Mapes  Dodge,  and  others,  literary  friends  of  Bay- 
ard Taylor.  Following  Rev.  G.  L.  Bishop  came  Rev.  Thomas  Bur- 
rows, in  1888;  Rev.  Thomas  Dickinson,  Rev.  Guy  L.  Wallis,  in  1895; 
Rev.  William  Wirt  Mills,  189(;,  and  the  present  rector,  Eev.  Stan- 
ley F.  W.  Symonds,  in  1897.  In  1895  a  new  high  altar  was  added. 
It  is  finished  in  white  and  gold,  is  of  wood,  and  has  all  the  proper 
appointments.  The  number  of  communicants  is  now  16,  and  the 
number  of  the  baptized  communicants  27. 

The  present  Episcopal  Mission,  in  Parkesburg,  was  established 
in  1890  as  the  successor  of  a  similar  mission  started  in  1870,  under 
the  name  of  Grace  Mission,  which  was  continued  until  the  death 
of  Rev.  Henry  E.  Smith,  about  1872.  The  present  mission,  named 
Ascension,  was  started  by  Rev.  Mr.  Boyer,  present  rector  of  St. 
John's  Church,  at  Compassville.  In  1,892  it  became  a  mission  of 
Trinity  Church,  at  Coatesville,  and  up  to  January  1,  1898,  it  was 
served  by  various  ministers,  and  since  then  up  to  June  1,  1898,  by 
Eev.  Mr.  Mabley,  of  the  Church  of  the  Good  Samaritan.    It  is  now 


838  CHESTER     COUNTY 

iu  charge  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Bullitt,  The  membership  is  about  35,  and 
of  the  Sunday-school  15.  It  is  held  iu  a  routed  buildiug  ou 
Maiu  Street,  near  Gay.  A  lot  for  the  ei*ection  of  a  new  church 
building  was  purchased  in  1897  on  Gay  Street,  near  Highland 
Avenue. 

The  Church  of  the  Sure  Foundation,  Rev.  Sydney  Neville  Us- 
sher,  B.  D.,  rector,  is  an  old-f«shioued  Evangelical  Episcopal 
Church.  It  is  located  on  Union  Street,  between  South  High  and 
South  Church  Streets,  West  Chester.  As  stated  by  the  Assistant 
Bishop  of  Kentucky,  Rev.  George  David  Cummins,  D.  D.,  "It  is  the 
old  and  true  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  days  immediately 
succeeding  the  American  Revolution.'' 

The  founder  of  the  present  parish  was  the  scholarly  and  dis- 
tinguished divine  and  hymnologist,  Rev.  William  Newton,  D.  D.,  a 
brother  of  the  celebrated  Rev.  Richard  Newton,  D.  D.,  and  uncle  of 
Rev.  Heber  Newton,  of  NeAv  York.  The  Rev.  Di-.  William  Newton, 
D.  D.,  was  for  many  years  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
of  West  Chester,  and  of  the  Church  of  the  Nativity,  Philadelphia. 

The  Church  of  the  Sure  Foundation  was  the  gift  of  Miss  Pal- 
mera  C.  Evans,  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Newton.  It  was  or- 
ganized April  15,  1884,  with  seventeen  charter  members,  and  was 
incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania.  The  first  service  wa» 
held  May  13,  ISSl.  The  Sunday-school  was  organized  and  held  its 
first  meeting  June  10,  1881,  with  but  four  scholars.  Dr.  Newton 
labored  long  and  faithfully  in  spite  of  failing  health  and  eyesight. 
He  was  the  autlior  and  publisher  of  "Lectures  on  the  Book  of 
Daniel,"  "The  Morning  Star,"  "Gleanings  froiii  a  Busy  Life,"  and 
a  number  of  well-known  hymns.  Dr.  Newton  died  February  IG, 
1893,  and  his  devoted  wife,  Sarah  Evans  Newton,  died  February  17, 
1897.  A  remarkable  coincidence  as  to  date,  both  being  intei-red 
in  Oakland  Cemetery,  February  20,  1893  and  1897,  respectively. 

The  Church  of  the  Sure  Foundation  has  had  but  two  rectors, 
the  successor  to  the  Rev.  AYilliam  Newton,  D.  D.,  being  the  Rev. 
Sydney  Neville  Ussher,  B.  D.,  under  whose    administration    the 


A^'D     ITS    PEOPLE.  839 

church  has  greatly  prospered.  The  present  rector  was  called  to 
this  parish  Jime  29,  1S93,  having  at  the  time  five  calls  from  as 
many  other  parishes;  but  he  decided  to  accept  the  Church  of  the 
Sure  Foundation  be<'ause,  though  the  weakest  of  all,  it  was  ap- 
parently the  most  spiritual. 

The  Kev.  Mr.  Ussher,  in  ISOS,  celebrated  his  fifth  anniversary. 
Since  his  advent  the  parish,  which  is  his  first  charge,  has  become 
for  the  first  time  self-sustaining.  Its  membershi])  has  increased 
from  30  to  123,  and  the  membership  of  the  Sunday-school  from 
20  to  175.  The  income  has  increased  from  fl50  to  -11,500  per- 
annum.  The  church  building,  both  the  main  auditorium  and  the 
Sunday-school  room,  have  been  remodeled  and  enlarged.  The 
church  building,  property  and  grounds  are  valued  at  $10,000. 

The  present  rector,  Eev.  Sydney  Neville  Ussher,  B.  D.,  is  the 
eldest  son  of  the  l^ight  Rev.  B.  B.  Ussher,  M.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Ke- 
foi'med  EpiscoiJal  Church  in  tlie  Dominion  of  Canada  and  Island 
of  Newfoundland,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  Aurora,  Illinois, 
November  27,  IStiS,  where  his  father  was  licensed  as  a  candidate 
for  orders  under  Bishop  Whitehouse.  His  parents  early  removed 
to  Canada,  residing  in  Toronto  and  Montreal.  In  the  latter  city  Mr. 
Ussher  received  his  education  in  the  public  schools,  graduating 
with  high  honors  one  of  the  senior  four  of  the  Boys'  High  School. 
He  became  Associate  in  Arts  at  Magill  University,  after  which  he 
engaged  for  six  years  in  mercantile  pursuits,  in  which  he  rose  step 
by  step.  IJeraoving  with  his  parents  to  Kansas  City,  success  was 
his  and  he  was  tinallj'  made  a  traveling  salesman  for  the  lax-gest 
wholesale  dry  goods  house  outside  of  Chicago,  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  Messrs.  Burnham,  Hanna,  Munger  &  Co.,  of  Kansas 
City.  A  consecrated  business  life  was  his  ideal,  but  he  was  divine- 
ly called  to  the  ministry,  without  any  previous  love  for  the  ])rofes- 
sion;  and  the  way  opening  a  four  years'  course  of  study  was  en- 
tered upon  in  the  Divinity  School,  West  Philadelphia.  For  three 
years  from  June  to  September,  Mr.  Ussher  spent  his  vacations  a;i 
summer  clerk  in  the  Central  National  Bank,  Philadelphia. 


S40  CHESTER     COUNTY 

From  the  seminai*y  Mr.  Ussher  was  called  to  the  West  Chester 
Church,  and  has  resided  there  for  the  past  five  years,  an  honored 
and  respected  citizen,  beloved  by  his  parish.  In  addition  to  his 
parochial  work  he  is  pursuing  his  studies,  a  post-graduate  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Kev.  Sydney  Neville  Ussher,  B.  D.,  is  a  direct  descendant 
of  a  long  line  of  distinguished  ancestors  on  both  his  father's  and 
mother's  side,  his  ancestry  being  one  of  the  few  tracing  their 
genealogy  back  without  a  break  for  six  hundred  years.  The  family 
name  was  originally  Neville.  The  Nevilles  (vide  Burke's  Extinct 
Peerage,  and  W.  Ball  Wright,  M.  A.,  "Genealogical  Memoirs  of  the 
Ussher  Families  in  Ireland,"  page  E),  were  descended  from  Gil- 
bert de  Neville,  Admiral  of  William  the  Conqueror's  fleet,  in  1000, 
and  the  Nevilles  of  Baby  Castle,  Yorkshire,  marked  this  by  a  galley 
in  their  arms.  The  above  works,  to  which  the  writer  has  had  ac- 
cess, show  that  Eev.  Mr.  Ussher's  family-  is  descended  from  Richard 
Neville,  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick,  known  in  history  as  the  "King 
Maker,"  one  of  whose  descendants,  for  political  reasons,  took  the 
name  of  the  oifice  which  he  bore,  viz:  Ussher  of  the  Black  Rod, 
thus  retaining  his  influential  and  lucrative  position  when  the  name 
of  Neville  had  become  unpopular  and  the  King  Maker's  influence 
had  waned.  To  distinguish  the  family  name  from  the  office,  the 
second  letter,  "S,"  was  added  manj-  years  ago. 

The  first  recorded  as  bearing  the  name  in  Ireland  was  Arlantor 
or  Arland  Uscher,  or  Ussher,  who  appears  to  have  been  settled  in 
Dublin  as  a  leading  merchant  in  and  before  1439,  and  who  was 
bailiff  of  that  city  in  1101,  mayor  in  1409,  and  died  in  1479.  A 
tradition  as  old  as  Archbishop  James  Ussher's  time  states  that 
Arland  Ussher  was  descended  from  a  John  Nevil  of  the  Northern 
Nevils,  who  accompanied  Prince  John,  in  1185,  to  Ireland  as  usher 
of  the  court,  and  adopted  the  surname  of  Usher  or  Ussher  from  his 
oifice. 
Many  of  Mr.  Ussher's  ancestors  have  distinguished  themselves  in 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  841 

Church,  Law,  and  Court,  as  well  as  Army  and  Navy.  His  great- 
great-grandfather  was  Adam  Ussher,  archdeacon  of  Clonfert  and 
rector  of  the  parish  of  Clontarf  near  Dublin.  This  parish  was  held 
in  the  family  from  father  to  son  for  over  150  years. 

Arland  Ussher,  founder  of  the  Ussher  family  in  Ireland,  above 
mentioned,  was  the  father  of  Thomas  Ussher,  whose  eldest  daughter 
was  wife  to  John  Garvey,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  Thomas  Ussher, 
his  son,  was  father  of  Henrj-  Ussher,  Archdeacon  of  Dublin,  who 
procured  the  charter  and  was  made  first  Fellow  of  Ti'inity  College, 
Dublin,  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  His  youngest  son,  Robert  Ussher, 
was  provost  of  Trinity  College  and  Bishop  of  Kildare. 

Henry  Ussher,  on  account  of  his  connection  with  Trinity  Col- 
lege, was  made  archbishop  of  Armagh,  in  1613.  James  Ussher,  a 
celebrated  Homan  Catholic  priest  in  Kensington,  died  in  1771, 
author  of  "Clio,  an  Essay  on  Taste,"  was  a  famous  schoolmaster 
and  partner  with  John  Walker,  author  of  the  Pronouncing  Diction- 
ary. 

Arland  Ussher,  third  of  the  name,  was  father  of  James 
Ussher,  according  to  records  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Trinity's 
first  student,  Ireland's  greatest  scholar,  antiquary,  and  divine, 
the  most  wonderful  genius  in  the  Episcopal  Church  since  the 
Eeformation,  equally  holy,  humble,  and  innocent,  as  he  was  of 
commanding  intellect  and  almost  miraculous  attainments.  He 
was  successively  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Dublin  University,  Bishop 
of  Meath,  and  Archbishop  of  Armagh.  Appointed  by  Charles  I. 
to  hold  the  Bishopric  of  Carlisle,  Author  of  Ussher's  Chronology, 
the  basis  of  all  present  chronologies,  he  lies  buried  in  Henry 
VII.  chapel  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Christopher  Ussher,  son  of  the  first  Arland,  who  married  into 
the  great  feudal  family  of  Fitzwilliams,  now  represented  by 
Earl  Fitzwilliams  and  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  was  father  of 
John  Ussher,  alderman  and  collector  of  customs,  Dublin.  In  his 
house,  Bridgefoot,  Dublin,  was  printed,  at  his  expense,  the  first 
book  in  the  Irish  language.     His  son,  Sir  William  Ussher,  married 


§42  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  daughter  of  Archbishop  Loftus  and  was  clerk  of  Privy  Council 
from  1593  to  the  fall  of  Charles  I.  In  his  house  and  at  his  ex- 
pense was  printed  the  first  version  of  the  Irish  New  Testament. 
His  daughter,  Mary  Ussher,  married  Henry  Colley  of  Castle  Carbery, 
whose  son,  Richard  Colley,  assumed  the  name  of  Wesley,  and 
was  created  Baron  Mornington.  His  son.  Garret,  Earl  of  Morning- 
ton,  married  Anne,  daughter  of  Arthur,  Lord  Dunganuon,  and 
was  father  of  Eichard,  Marquis  Wellesley;  William,  Baron  Mary- 
borough, the  Earl  of  Mornington;  Arthur  Wellesley,  the  great 
Duke  of  Wellington,  called  the  "Iron  Duke;"  and  Very  Rev.  Gerakl 
Valerian  Wellesley,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  Windsor. 

Mr.  Ussher's  great-great-grandfather,  Archdeacon  Ussher,  rec- 
tor of  Cloutarf,  previously  mentioned,  was  father  of  Rev.  John  Uss- 
her, afterward  first  Astronomer  Royal  of  Ireland,  and  the  last  of  the 
family  to  hold  the  incumbency.  8ir  William  Ussher,  mentioned 
above,  was  father  of  Rev.  Henry  Ussher,  D.  D.,  Astronomer  Royal  of 
Ireland,  and  held  the  Andrews  Professorship  of  Astronomy  in 
Trinity  College.  His  sons  were  Rear  Admiral  Sir  Thomas  Ussher, 
K.  C.  B.,  K.  C.  II.,  wlio  entered  the  Royal  Navy  January  27,  1791, 
as  midshipman.  His  naval  career  and  exploits  are  detailed  in 
O'Byrne's  Naval  Biographical  Dictionary,  1849.  On  the  evening 
of  April  28,  1811,  he  embarked  tlie  first  Napoleon  on  H.  M.  S. 
Undaunted,  and  landed  him  at  8  p.  m.,  April  30,  at  Porto  Ferajo, 
in  Elba.  King  William  the  IV.  was  a  warm  friend  of  Sir  Tiiomas 
Ussher,  having  served  under  him  as  a.  midshipman.  He  died 
naval  commander-in-chief,  at  Cork,  Ireland,  18G2,  and  lies  buried 
in  one  of  the  vaults  of  Monkstown  Church,  County  Dublin. 

Another  interesting  fact  is  that  '"three  hundred  years  ago  two 
brothers  of  name  of  Ussher  were  driven  from  Ireland  during  one 
of  the  troubles,  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Melrcse  iu 
Scotland,  wliere  they  acquired  considerable  lands,  and  among 
them  the  property  of  Huntley-burn,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
siJots  on  the  borders."     "The  grandfather  of  the  present  Thomas 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  843 

Ussher  of  Edinburgh,  for  seventeen  vears  secretary  of  the  Boi"- 
ders'  County  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Education,  out 
of  which  arose  the  celebration  of  tlie  Centenary  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  sold  to  Sir  Walter  Scott  the  chief  part  of  the  estate  of 
Abbotsford  (vide  Lockhart's  Life  of  AYalter  Scott)."  By  un- 
broken tradition  this  branch  claims  kinship  with  Archbishop 
Ussher,  and  the  liev.  W.  Neville  Ussher,  cousin  of  the  above- 
named  Thomas  Ussher,  is  a  canon  of  the  Cathedral  in  Edinburgh. 

On  his  mother's  side  the  Kev.  Sydney  N.  Ussher's  family  is 
even  more  interesting,  leading  back  on  the  male  side  to  tlie 
famous  Thomas  Carter,  who  took  so  active  a  part  in  the  Irish 
Revolution,  ending  with  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  1G90.  In  the 
family  tree  appear  the  Countess  of  Roscommon,  widow  of  Weut- 
worth  Dillon,  the  poet,  who  was  publicly  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey;  Dr.  Philip  Twysden,  bishop  of  Raphoe  and  son  of  Sir 
William  Twysden,  baronet  of  Royden  Hall,  Kent;  George  Bussey, 
fourth  Earl  of  Jersey,  first  cousin  to  Anna  Maria  Carter,  Mr. 
Ussher's  great-grandmother,  whose  eldest  son  was  George,  fifth 
Earl  of  Jersey,  and  whose  daughters  became  Ladies  William  Rus- 
sell, Ann  Lambton,  Sarah  Bailey,  Lady  Ponsonby,  Lady  Hen- 
rietta, who  married  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  Lady  Auglesea, 
wife  of  the  Marquis  Wellesley,  the  hero  of  Waterloo,  and  for  her 
second  husband  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  which  Duchess  of  Argyle 
was  cousin  germaiu  to  Mrs.  Skiffington  Thompson,  Mrs.  Ussher's 
paternal  grandmother. 

The  Right  Honorable  Thomas  Carter's  second  daughter, 
Susan,  married  Thomas  Carter  of  Duleek  Park  and  Castle,  County 
Louth,  and  her  granddaughter,  Elizabeth,  became  Marchioness  of 
Thomond  by  entering  the  family  of  William  O'Bryen,  decendant 
from  Brien  Boroimbe,  King  of  Ireland,  and  whose  line  was  con- 
tinued by  the  King  of  Munster  and  of  Thomond,  to  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIIL,  King  of  England  (vide  Sharpe's  Peerage).  On  the 
female  side  Mrs.  Ussher's  grandmother  was  Elizabeth  Margaret, 


844  CHESTER     COUNTY 

eldest  daughter  of  the  Eev.  Joshua  D'Arcy,  TJector  of  Laca, 
County  Kildare.  The  D'Arcy  family  came  to  Ireland,  settlinji-  in 
Flatten,  County  Meath,  in  the  Fourteenth  century.  In  a  book 
written  by  the  present  Duke  of  Leinster,  when  Marquis  of  Kil- 
dare, called  "Maynooth  Castle,"  page  5,  we  read:  "Sir  John  D'Arcy, 
Lord  Justice  of  Ireland,  married  the  Countess  Johanna  de  Burgh, 
daughter  to  the  lied  Earl  of  Ulster,  and  sister  to  Ellen,  wife  of 
Eobert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland.  They  had  a  son,  William,  born 
at  Maynooth,  in  1330,  from  whom  the  present  family  of  D'Arcy 
are  lineally  descended  and  are  represented  by  George  James 
Norman  D'Arcy  of  Hyde  Park,  County  Westmeath  (vide  Burke's 
London  Gentry,  also  Walford's  County  Families),"  the  worthy 
head  of  both  English  and  Irish  families  and  representatives  of 
twenty-eight  peerages  of  Great  Britain. 

It  is  quite  impossible  in  this  sketch  to  give  a  full  history  of  a 
family  dating  back  to  tJieir  ancient  seat  in  Arques,  in  Normandy, 
when  they  came  to  England  withWilliam  the  Conqueror,  into  whose 
family  they  had  previously  married,  then  settled  in  Lincolnshire 
and  given  in  extenso  in  Burke's  Extinct  Peerages. 

The  ancestry  of  Mr.  Ussher's  grandmother,  on  his  father's 
side,  Henrietta  Boileau,  can  be  traced  back  without  a  break  for 
more  than  600  years.  The  present  Baron  Boileau  de  Castleneau 
being  the  seventeeutli  in  descent  from  Etienne  Boileau,  appointed 
by  Louis  IX.,  in  the  year  1255,  Grand  Provost  of  Paris,  at  that 
period  the  highest  office  of  state.  Another  interesting  fact  is  that 
"Eichard  Ussher  of  Cappagh,  with  Elizabeth  Ussher,  his  mother, 
and  his  wife,  Mjirtha,  and  all  his  sisters,  joined  the  Society  of 
Friends,  who  carried  on  an  intense  religious  movement  in  the 
South  of  Ireland,  the  church  being  then  in  a  very  dead  state. 
Three  editions  of  memoirs  of  Elizabeth  Ussher  the  elder,  and  also 
letters  of  Elizabeth,  Lucy,  Judith,  and  Susanna  Ussher  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  were  published  in  1812,  1815,  in  Dublin,  and 
the  third,  1845,  in  London,  by    J.  Jones,  South    Great    Georges 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  845 

Street,  Dublin.  Richard  Usslier,  who  was  chief  magistrate  of 
County  Waterford,  though  he  did  not  conform  to  the  Society  of 
Friends,  imbibed  their  conscientious  objections  to  taking  or  ad- 
ministering oaths,  and  accordingly  ceased  to  act  as  a  magistrate." 
He  died  at  Cappagh,  M.  2,  25,  1854. 

The  Rev.  Sydnej'  N.  Ussher  is  a  facile  and  forceful  writer,  and 
has  earned  the  reputationj  of  being  an  eloquent  speaker.  His 
alma  mater  recently  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  bachelor 
of  divinity,  in  recogniti()n  of  his  scholarly  attainments.  Mr.  Us- 
sher has  four  brothers  and  one  sister,  his  second  brother.  Rev. 
Clarence  D.  Ussher,  M.  D.,  having  just  been  appointed  professor 
in  Euphrates  College,  Harpoot,  Turkey,  in  Asia,  under  the  A.  B. 
C.  F.  M.,  whither  he  has  gone  as  medical  missionary. 

Zion  Lutheran  Church  was  establshed  about  1770,  its  church 
building  being  begun  in  1771  and  completed  in  1774.  It  was  used 
as  a  hospital  while  Washington's  forces  were  at  Chester  Springs. 
The  church  was  incorporated  September  30,  1789,  under  the  name 
of  "The  German  Lutheran  congregation,  worshiping  at  the 
church  called  Zion,  in  Pikeland  Township."  While  this  church 
is  in  Pikeland  TownshiiJ,  the  line  of  the  propertj-  joins  the  Vin- 
cent Township  line.  Previous  to  the  erection  of  the  church 
building  the  German  Lutherans  and  the  Reformed  Calvinists 
jointly  obtained  about  ten  aci*es  of  ground,  and  each  society  had 
its  own  minister,  the  first  Lutheran  minister  being  Rev.  Henry 
Muhlenberg,  Sr.,  of  Philadelphia.  When  the  question  arose  as 
to  the  erection  of  a  new  house  the  members  could  not  agree  upon 
a  location,  some  wanting  it  nearer  French  Creek,  but  those  who 
would  not  agree  to  this  satisfied  the  others  for  their  share.  Those 
who  desired  it  uearer  French  Creek  subsequently  erected  St. 
Peter's  Church.  The  Reformed  members  also  erected  a  new 
church.  Their  present  building,  Avhich  was  then  erected,  front- 
ing on  the  Schuylkill  Road,  composed  of  red  sandstone,  about 
two  miles  from  the  French  Creek  bridge  and  a  half  mile  from 


846  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  general  pike.  The  site  commands  a  view  of  a  considerable 
portion  of  Berks  and  Montgomery  Counties. 

In  1787  this  church  and  St.  Peter's  jointly  purchased  a  place 
for  the  minister  to  reside  at  in  their  midst,  a  lot  containing  fifty 
acres,  a  mile  above  Zion  Church.  For  some  time  before  these  two 
churches  were  erected  the  preacher  was  Ludwik  Voigt,  and  after 
Lis  death  the  IJev.  Mr.  Revenach  preached  a  short  time,  and  was 
followed  by  Uev.  Frederick  Jasinsky,  who  preached  for  both 
churches  and  was  very  much  liked.  During  his  life  he  occupied 
the  parsonage,  and  a  new  stone  house  and  barn  were  erected  by 
the  congregations.  Next  came  Eevs.  Frederick  Geisenheimer, 
father  and  son,  and  Jacob  Wampole,  and  during  the  time  of  the 
Geisenheimers  preaching  in  English  in  the  afternoon  in  both 
churches  was  admitted.  In  183G  Eev.  Mr.  Kuthrauff  .became  the 
preacher,  having  possession  of  the  jiarsonage;  but  in  1842  he  was 
dismissed  by  the  Vincent  Consistory  and  ordered  to  leave  the  par- 
sonage removing  then  near  to  Lionville  and  retaining  the  St. 
Peter's  and  Lionville  congregations  and  also  St.  Matthew's  on 
the  Conestoga  Pike,  which  was  a  new  church  a  mile  above  that 
at  what  was  formerly  Ludwig's  Tavern.  Next  came  Eev.  Joseph 
Miller,  and  still  later  Eev.  Mr.  Weldon,  who  became  the  regular 
preacher  at  Zion's  and  St.  Paul's,  using  the  German  language  in 
the  morning  and  English  in  the  afternoon.  Eev.  Mr.  Weldon  pur- 
chased the  parsonage. 

St.  Peter's  Church  originated  in  the  manner  related  in  the 
sketch  of  Zion  Lutheran  Church.  A  lot  was  purchased  contain- 
ing about  one  and  a  half  acres  of  ground  for  a  church  and  ceme- 
tery, deeded  to  the  church  May  IG,  1771.  The  church  was 
completed  and  consecrated  in  November,  1772,  Eev.  Henry  Muhl- 
enberg, the  pioneer  of  Lutheranism  in  this  vicinity,  being  invited 
by  tlie  pastor,  Ludwig,  to  preach  on  the  occasion.  Services  began 
on  Sunday,  November  8,  1772,  and  continued  until  the  evening 
of    the    following  Tuesday.     During  this   time   Mr.   Muhlenberg 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  S47 

spoke  iu  Germau,  and  IJev.  Mr.  (Toeransson,  the  Swedish  minister, 
in  English.  Tlie  first  buikling,  built  of  logs,  was  used  by  both 
congregations,  Zion  and  St.  Peter's,  until  1811,  when  it  was  de- 
termined to  build  a  new  one,  the  cornerstone  of  which  was  laid 
August  13,  and  the  completed  edifice,  which  cost  .f2,836.45|,  was 
dedicated  under  the  name  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  October  1,  1812. 
There  was  put  into  it  a  pipe  organ,  and  the  building  was  used 
on  alternate  Sundays  by  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  congrega- 
tions until  January  20,  1835,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The 
cornerstone  of  a  new  edifice  was  laid  April  24,  1835,  and  this 
building  was  dedicated  April  12,  1830.  By  this  time  the  demand 
for  preaching  in  English  had  become  so  strong  that  it  took  the  place 
of  German  altogether.  When  the  East  Pennsylvania  Synod  was 
formed,  this  church  united  therewith,  and  thereupon  some  of  the 
members,  dissatisfied  because  the  English  language  prevailed, 
withdrew  and  formed  a  separate  church,  erecting  a  new  church 
edifice  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  cemetery.  The  Sunday-school 
was  organized  September  28,  1828. 

The  pastors  here  have  been  as  follows:  From  1811  to  1815, 
J^udwig  Voigt,  J.  F.  Weinland,  Frederick  Plitt,  J.  Rowenauch, 
Frederick  W.  Jasinsky;  1815-19,  F.  W.  Geisenheimer,  Sr.,  sei'ving 
with  his  son  of  the  same  name,  1819-23;  Jacob  Wampole,  1827-36; 
Frederick  Ruthrauff,  1836-43;  John  McCi-on,  1843-47;  Daniel  Mil- 
ler, 1847-49;  Peter  Raby,  1849-58;  Samuel  Aughey,  1858-59;  Cor- 
nelius Reimensnyder,  1859-63;  X.  H.  Cornell,  1863-74;  S.  S.  Palmer, 
1874-75;  J.  F.  Hartman,  1876-80;  J.  R.  Dimm,  1880-82;  J.  A.  Hack- 
enberg,  1882-92;  Rev.  J.  W.  Henderson,  1892-98. 

The  cornerstone  of  the  present  church  building  was  laid 
August  27,  1889,  and  the  church  was  dedicated  free  from  debt 
May  7,  1890,  having  cost  about  |7,000. 

St.  Peter's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Chui'ch,  located  in  Pikeland 
Township,  was  established  by  members  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  the 
history  of  which  is  given  briefly  above.  From  twelve  to  fifteen 
50 


848  •  CHESTER     COUNTY 

members  of  St.  Peter's  Chnreh  withdrew  therefrom  and  erected 
a  new  building  for  themselves,  about  the  year  1840,  on  act'ouut 
of  the  introduction  of  certain  new  measures  into  the  old  church.  Of 
this  new  church  the  cornerstone  was  laid  May,  1843,  the  services 
on  the  occasion  being  in  both  German  and  English.  The  reasons 
given  for  the  formation  of  this  new  church  were  substantially 
that  the  members  forming  it  had  been  deprived  of  their  rights 
and  privileges  of  membership  in  the  old  church  by  the  pastor 
and  vestry  therof,  because  they  ailhered  steadfastly  to  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Evangelical  Church,  as  thej'  had  been  taught  them 
by  their  fathers  and  former  pastors.  And  they  solemnly  en- 
joined and  made  it  incumbent  on  their  successors  forever  to  main- 
tain the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
as  set  forth  in  the  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith,  to  preserve  pure 
doctrine  and  undefiled  religion  against  all  influences  and  changes 
of  the  times  and  manners  of  the  world;  and  that  so  long  as  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  shall  continue  in  its 
atlherence  to  the  Augsburg  Confession  and  remain  an  independent 
body  as  then  constituted,  "that  you  aud  your  pastors  be  and  ever 
remain  in  connection  therewith." 

The  church  edifice  was  dedicated  October  4,  1843.  The  pas- 
tors have  been  as  follows:  1842-50,  C.  F.  Weldon;  1850-54,  J.  C. 
Miller;  1855-64,  William  Weaver;  1864-74,  H.  S.  Miller;  1875,  B. 
C.  Snyder. 

The  two  Liitheran  Churches  constituting  the  Lionville  charge 
are  St.  Matthew's  and  St  Paul's,  and  the  direct  outgrowth  of 
Zion's  and  St.  Peter's  congregations.  St.  Matthew's  Church,  lo- 
cated in  Upper  Uwchlan  Township,  was  organized  in  1833,  by 
Rev.  Jacob  Wampole.  A  piece  of  ground  was  purchased  on  the 
Conestoga  Pike  for  $50,  upon  which  a  two-story  stone  church, 
35x45  feet  in  size,  with  galleries  on  three  sides,  was  erected  at 
a  cost  of  $1,700.  This  church  became  a  pai't  of  Zion's  charge. 
Eev.  Mr.  Wampole  remained  as  pastor  until  1836,  when  he  was 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  849 

succeeded  by  Eev.  Frederick  Rnthrauff,  during  whose  pastorate 
Zion's  Church  withdrew,  on  account  of  what  were  known  as  "new 
measures"  in  church  work. 

At  the  time  of  this  division  Kev.  Mr.  Rutlirauff  became  pas- 
tor of  three  churches,  St.  Peter's,  St.  Matthew's  and  St.  Paul's, 
which  formed  the  Pikeland  cliarge,  and  lie  remained  in  this  field 
until  1843,  and  on  December  17,  followinc;,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Eev.  John  McCron,  D.  D.,  who  remained  until  1847,  when  he  and 
Kev.  Daniel  Miller  exchanged  pastorates,  the  latter  being  suc- 
ceeded by  Eev.  Peter  Eaby,  September  27,  1819.  Eev.  Mr.  Eaby 
remained  until  1858,  and  was  followed  by  Eev.  Samuel  Aughey, 
who  remained  until  1861,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Eev.  Chris- 
tian D.  Ulery,  who  soon  aftenvard  enlisted  in  the  Union  army, 
and  died  from  pneumonia  November  7,  1862.  In  1863  Eev.  S.  Sent- 
man  became  pastor,  remaining  until  1870,  and  Eev.  J.  E.  Shoffner 
became  pastor  in  1871.  In  1876  he  was  succeeded  by  Eev.  H.  S. 
Cook,  who  remained  until  1882.  In  this  year  Eev.  W.  F.  Eentz 
became  pastor  and  remained  until  1888,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Eev.  M.  S.  Cresman,  who  remained  until  December  31,  1894. 
The  present  pastor,  Eev.  Frederick  Klinefelter,  assumed  charge 
of  the  church  February  1,  1895.  The  membership  of  St.  Paul's 
Church  is  now  112,  and  tliat  of  St.  Matthew's  160.  The  value  of 
the  former  is  |9,000,  and  of  the  latter  |8,000. 

St.  John's  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  of  Phoenixville,  was  or. 
ganized  in  1860,  but  there  appears  to  be  little  definite  knowledge  as 
to  the  pastor  or  people.  The  first  pastor  who  was  called,  that  kept 
a  record,  was  Eev.  Henry  Seiple  Miller,  he  being  called  to  Zion's 
and  new  St.  Peter's  in  Chester  County.  The  same  year,  while 
residing  in  Phcenixville,  he  gathered  together  about  half  a  dozen' 
Lutherans,  and  they  worshipped  in  the  Mennonite  Meeting-house. 
Tavo  years  later  he  relinquished  St.  Peter's,  September  29,  he  re- 
linquished Zion's,  and  two  years  later,  in  November,  he  also  re- 
linquished St.  Peter's,  confining  his  labors  to  Phoenixville.     The 


850  CHESTER     COUNTY 

first  church  edifice  was  erected  on  <  'hurch  Street,  between  Jaclv- 
son  and  Starr  Streets,  in  1872-73,  the  cornerstone  being  laid  in 
July,  1S72,  and  the  new  building  being  consecrated  July  20,  1873, 
by  Drs.  Greenwald   and  Spaetli,  and  Eev.  J.  Xeff. 

The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  Rev.  Henry 
S.  Miller,  1864-75;  Eev.  F.  C.  C.  Kaehler,  1875-82;  Eev.  E.  H.  Ger- 
hai-t,  1882-88;  Eev.  S.  B.  Stupp,  1888-89;  Eev.  K.  L.  Walters, 
1889-93,  and  Eev.  N.  E.  Miller,  1893-98. 

In  1895  the  congregation,  feeling  the  need  of  a  new  building, 
decided  to  erect  a  new  edifice  on  a  lot  more  pleasantly  situated, 
the  site  selected  being  on  the  corner  of  Jackson  and  Church 
Streets.  A  spacious  two-story  edifice  was  erected,  the  corner- 
stone being  laid  .June  1,  1896,  and  the  church  consecrated  June 
20,  1897.  This  building  is  of  beautiful  blue  stone,  with  a  seating 
capacity^  of  400.  This  neAv  edifice  is  one  of  the  most  imposing 
and  beautiful  in  the  Schuylkill  Valley,  and  the  church  property 
is  worth  140,000.  The  present  membership  is  200,  and  the  Sunday- 
school  has  225  children  enrolled.  Luther  League  has  75  members, 
the  Mite  Society  80  and  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society  60. 

St.  Paul's  Lutheran  Church  of  Lionville  was  organized  Febru- 
ary 9,  1838,  the  land  on  which  the  building  Avas  afterward  erected 
being  donated  by  Peter  Stitely,  and  being  situated  near  the  "White 
School-house."  The  building  erected  here  was  of  stone,  one  story 
high,  38x45  feet  in  size,  and  cost  |1,483.  The  building  was  dedi- 
cated November  6  and  7,  1838.  The  original  membership  of  this 
church  was  sixteen,  from  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Matthew's  Churches, 
and  the  church  became  a  part  of  Zion's  charge.  In  1880  the  church 
building  was  remodeled  at  a  cost  of  |2,300,  and  it  was  re-dedicated 
January  2,  1881.  The  Lionville  pastorate  has  two  churches,  tlie 
ministers  having  been  the  same  in  each. 

The  Centennial  Lutheran  Church  of  Kimberton  Avas  orgauized 
in  1870  by  Eev.  J.  F.  Hartman.  The  church  purchased  a  Quaker 
meeting-house  and  fitted  it  up  for  a  place  of  Avorship,  dedicating  it 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  851 

in  1877,  and  during  the  suminer  of  188-1:  the  building  was  frescoed 
and  otherwise  improA'ed.  Since  its  organization  this  church  has 
been  connected  with  St.  Peter's,  forming  the  Pikeland  charge. 
Rev.  J.  A.  Hackenberg  resigned  this  charge  April  1,  1807,  and 
Rev.  J.  ^Y.  Henderson  became  pastor  August  20,  1897. 

The  Central  Lutheran  Church  of  Phopuixville  was  organized 
December  5, 1875,  by  Rev.  S.  S.  Palmer,  with  eleven  members.  Suc- 
ceeding Rev.  Mr.  Palmer  have  been  tJie  following  pastors:  Rev, 
W.  M.  Bauui,  .Jr.,  1880  to  1883;  Rev.  Philip  S.  Hooper,  1883  to  18SG; 
Rev.  H.  C.  Grossman,  1886  to  1890;  Rev.  John  Kling,  1891-91,  and 
Rev.  George  E.  Faber,  1894-98. 

The  following  quotation  is  from  a  history  of  the  church  writ- 
ten in  1892  by  Rev.  -John  Kling: 

"At  a  regulaj'ly  called  meeting  held  on  December  25,  1875,  the 
Mennonite  congregation  (being  about  to  abandon  their  work  in  the 
town)  unanimously  agreed  to  convey  their  church  property  to  the 
Lutherans  upon  the  following  conditions,  viz.:  That  the  latter 
should  assume  the  indebtedness  upon  the  property,  and  that  they 
should  hold  the  property  for  divine  worship.  These  conditions  were 
unanimously  accepted  by  the  Lutherans.  In  accordance  with  an 
act  of  the  State  Legislature  passed  in  1873,  and  by  action  of  the 
courts  of  Chester  County,  on  May  17,  1878,  the  church  became  an 
incorporate  body.  The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  organiza- 
tion were  such  as  are  common  in  nearly  all  growing  towns,  viz.: 
Lutherans  were  coming  in  from  tlie  surrounding  country,  locat- 
ing in  the  town,  and  going  into  churches  of  other  denominations." 

The  building,  which  is  of  stone,  was  erected  by  the  Mennonites 
in  1789,  and  it  was  repaired  by  them  in  1873,  and  again  repaired, 
by  the  Lutherans,  in  1890. 

The  following  historical  facts  with  reference  to  this  church 
property  were  supplied  at  the  request  of  the  compiler  of  this  work, 
by  Col.  Hamilton  H.  Gilkyson: 

"One  of  the  most  valuable  tracts  of  land  in  the  borough  of 


852  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Pha?nixville  is  without  a  le^al  owner.  Tliis  tract  is  situated  on 
the  southwest  corner  of  Main  and  Church  Streets  in  said  borough, 
and  originally  belongeil  to  the  Society  of  Meunonites  at  Phoenix- 
ville,  a  corporation  chartered  by  the  court  of  common  pleas  of 
Chester  County,  on  January  25,  1847,  the  charter  being  recorded 
in  the  IJecorder's  office  of  Chester  County,  in  corjjoration  book  No. 
1,  page  33.  It  is  now  occupied  by  the  Centi-al  Lutheran  Church 
of  Phoenixville. 

"Jacob  BuckAvalter  and  wife,  by  their  deed  dated  December 
31,  1798,  and  recorded  in  the  Recorder's  office  of  Chester  County, 
in  Deed  Book  I\,  2,  page  206,  granted  and  conveyed  to  Abraham 
Eeiff  and  David  BuckAvalter  the  above  ti"act  of  land,  and  upon 
the  same  date  (Deceiuber  31,  171)8)  David  Buckwalter  and  Abra- 
ham Eeiff  executed  a  declaration  of  tiiist  which  will  be  found 
recorded  in  the  Kecoi'der's  office,  of  Chester  County,  in  Deed  Book 
E,  2,  page  208,  by  which  deed  of  trust  the  tract  of  laud  is  held  for 
church  purposes  as  therein  set  fortli  (see  record). 

"The  Mennonite  Society  occupied  the  tract  of  land  for  many 
years  for  church  purjjoses  and  used  a  portion  of  the  ground  as  a 
place  of  burial,  until  the  congregation  became  extinct. 

"On  October  23,  1873,  a  deed  was  executed  by  Israel  Beidler 
and  IIeur\'  A.  Hunsicker,  trustees,  appointed  by  the  court  for  that 
purpose,  to  Gates  John  for  a  portion  of  the  premises  above  de- 
scribed, which  deed  is  recorded  in  the  Recorder's  Office  of  Chester 
County  in  Deed  Book  K,  8,  YiA.  182,  page  322,  and  on  July  31, 
1877,  a  deetl  of  contirmation  was  made  by  Henry  A.  Hunsicker, 
surviving  trustee,  to  Gates  John,  which  deed  of  confirmation  is 
recorded  in  Miscellaneous  Deed  Book  No.  17,  page  168.  Shortly 
after  the  year  1877  a  new  stone  church  was  erected  on  the  remain- 
ing portion  of  the  grounds,  mainly  fr(mi  the  iiroceeds  of  tlie  sale 
of  that  portion  to  Gates  John. 

"Mr.  Beidler,  one  of  the  trustees,  is  long  since  dead,  and  Mr. 
Hunsicker  is  the  only  remaining  trustee,  and  the  Mennonite  con- 
gregation has  long  since  ceased  to  exist. 


AND     ITFi     PEOPLE.  853 

"By  a  verbal  agreement  made  with  a  few  of  the  .siirviving 
members  of  the  Congregation  of  Mennonites  the  Lutheran  Con- 
gregation organized  a  chnn-h  and  toolv  possession  of  the  building 
and  grounds,  and  liave  continued  to  occupy  them  fur  the  past 
twenty  years. 

"This  congregation,  known  as  the  Central  Lutheran  Church, 
are  neither  the  owners  nor  tlie  lessees  of  the  oi'iginal  owners,  and 
therefore  have  no  legal  title,  except  that  which  possession  gives 
to  them. 

"An  examination  of  the  deed  of  Jacob  Buckwalter  and  wife 
in  1798  will,  I  think,  disclose  the  fact  that  when  the  property 
ceased  to  be  used  by  the  Mennonite  Society  for  church  purposes  it 
returns  to  the  legal  heirs  of  the  original  grantor.  (This  state- 
ment should  be  confirmed  by  examination  of  the  deed.)" 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  above  sketch  it  is  stated  by  Col. 
Gilkyson  that  the  Lutherans  took  possession  of  the  property  by  a 
verbal  agreement.  The  present  pastor  of  the  church,  however, 
Rev.  George  E.  Faber,  states  in  a  communication  to  the  writer 
that  by  a  written  agreement  made  March  25,  187G,  between  John 
II.  Buckwalter,  Amos  Detwiler  and  M.  C.  Pennypacker,  on  the 
part  of  the  Mennonite  congregation,  and  the  trustees  of  the  Eng- 
lish Lutheran  congregation,  the  church  property  w'as,  on  almost 
nominal  conditions,  transferred  to  the  Lutherans  for  church  pur- 
jjoses,  indefinitely. 

Tlie  question  as  to  the  legal  ownership  of  this  property  is  one 
that  may  sometime  be  settled  by  the  courts. 

The  Trinity  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  of  Coatesville  w'as 
organized  June  19,  1890.  The  organization  was  an  outgroAvth  of 
Blessing  Sunday-school,  a  union  Sunday-school,  which  had  been 
started  some  years  previous  with  the  special  view  of  gathering  in 
the  children  of  some  families  who  did  not  attend  any  other  Sun- 
day-school. The  Blessing  family  and  family  of  Mr.  John  S.  Hope 
were  the  ])rime  movers  in  this  foundation  work,  which  grew  into 


854  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  present  Lutheran  Church.  The  organization  numbered  at 
first  only  seventeen  communicant  members.  Gradually,  but 
surely  and  steadily,  the  number  grew,  until  now,  after  nearly 
seven  years  of  persistent,  tireless  effort,  the  congregation  numbers 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  communicants. 

The  following  figures  and  statistics,  taken  from  the  recent  an- 
nual report  of  the  treasurer,  Mr.  H.  K.  Kurtz,  indicates  in  part 
the  financial  growth,  and  success  of  the  entei*prise.  Cost  of  the 
church  property  to  date,  .1fl3,730.9G.  There  has  been  paid  of  this 
amount  before  and  since  the  dedication  of  the  church  building, 
Sunday,  Junie  19,  1882,  .f9,730.23.  The  pastor  of  this  church 
from  the  time  of  its  organization  has  been  Rev.  W.  H.  Steck,  who 
has  ever  been  faithful  and  eiiicient.  The  membership  of  the  church 
is  about  200,  and  of  the  Sunday-school  150. 

The  First  Reformed  Church  of  Coventry  had  its  origin  many 
years  ago,  the  earliest  record  bearing  the  date  of  1743.  Fifty 
people  of  this  faith  on  April  10,  1743,  issued  a  cfill  to  the  Rev. 
Jacob  Lischey  to  become  their  pastor,  they  having  then  recently 
heard  him  preach  a  sermon,  which  he  had  done  at  their  request, 
and  they  were  satisfied  with  his  earnestness  and  his  doctrines. 
The  church  was  organized  in  Philadelphia  May  19,  1743,  by  the 
signing  of  the  discipline,  and  this  organization  remained  in  force 
until  June  11,  1837.  The  first  log  church  edifice  was  erected 
about  1750,  it  being  of  hewn  logs,  one  and  a  half  stories  high, 
with  twelve  light  windows  in  the  lower  story.  The  Rev.  Chris- 
topher Munz  was  the  next  preacher,  and  the  third  was  Rev.  J, 
Philip  Leydick.  In  1784  the  preacher  was  the  Rev.  Frederick 
Dallicker,  who  remained  until  1799.  The  present  church  building 
was  erected  in  1800,  and  from  the  time  of  its  dedication  which 
must  have  been  soon  aftei*ward,  Rev.  Frederick  Hennan  was  the 
pastor,  remaining  until  1821.  Then  came  the  Rev.  John  C. 
Guldin,  and  then  followed  several  who  remained  each  only  a  short 
time,  as  Revs.  Hough,  Andrew  Young,  J.  S.  Foulke,  L.  D.  Leber- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  85  5 

man  and  David  Heffelfiuger.  In  1855  Eev.  William  Sorber  ac- 
cepted a  call,  entering  upon  bis  duties  June  22.  He  appears  to 
haA'e  remained  until  his  death,  in  1878,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Eev.  George  S.  Sorber,  who  remained  until  January 
31,  188G,  and  was  followed  by  Eev.  J.  W.  Meminger,  who  began 
his  labors  June  1,  1886.  Eemainiug  but  one  year,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Eev.  A.  D.  Wolfinger,  who  remained  until  May,  1890. 
On  March  19,  1891,  Eev.  H.  Hilbish  became  pastor  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Eev.  Frank  N.  Bleiler,  who  remained  until  1898,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Eev.  Mr.  Eoyer,  the  present  pastor. 

"The  Eeformed  Congregation  of  A'incent  Township  beyond 
the  Schuylkil,"  in  East  Vincent,  was  formed  about  1758,  llev. 
John  Philip  Leydick  being  the  first  pastor,  and  the  first  church 
building,  a  log  one,  being  dedicated  in  May  of  that  year.  From 
1758  to  1833  there  were  baptized  into  thisi  church  735  persons. 
In  1781  Eev.  Frederick  Dallicker  became  pastor,  and  since  then 
the  following  have  been  pastors  of  this  church:  Eevs.  Frederick 
Herman,  1799  to  1821;  John  C.  Guldin,  1821  to  1810;  Mr.  Honger, 
John  E.  Kooken  and  Mr.  Hoffman  each  a  short  time;  Alfred  B. 
Shenkle,  to  October  1,  1808;  Maxwell  S.  Eoland,  from  1869  to  1881; 
D.  W.  Ebbert,  1881  to  1887;  Leighton  G.  Kremer,  1887  to  1890; 
I.  Calvin  Fisher,  1891  to  1892;  Edward  Weist,  1892  to  1896,  and 
H.  H.  Hartman,  1897  to  the  present  time. 

St.  Vincent  Eeformed  Church,  in  East  Vincent  Township, 
was  organized  about  1848,  by  members  that  had  Avithdrawn  from 
the  Eeformed  Congregation  of  Vincent  Township,  on  account  of 
certain  doctrinal  points  of  church  discipline.  The  church  edifice 
was  erected  in  1852,  and  was  dedicated  September  4,  that  year. 
The  building  is  42x60  feet,  is  two  stories  high,  and  cost  |1,099.86. 
Following  are  the  names  of  the  pastors  of  this  church:  Eev. 
Samuel  Seifert,  a  short  time;  1853-54,  Eev.  E.  W.  Reincke;  1854-56, 
George  D.  Wolfe;  1857-58,  Henry-  Weisler;  1859  to  1882,  Jesse  B. 
Knipe,  who  Avas  born  in  1805  and  died  in  1884.     Since  then  the 


856  CHESTER     COUNTY 

following-  have  officiated  here:  Eev.  S.  P.  Manger,  1882  to  188fi; 
Key.  J.  A.  Mertz,  1887  to  1897,  and  Eev.  Mr.  Long,  who  was  in- 
stalled in  June,  1898. 

St.  Peter's  (Pikeland)  Reformed  Church  was  organized  in 
1811,  and  from  that  time  up  to  1830  was  served  by  the  following 
pastors:  Eevs.  Frederick  A.  Herman,  Jr.,  D.  D.,  Jacob  W.  Dechant, 
and  Casper  Wach,  and  possibly  by  others.  On  September  30, 
1830,  Eev.  Jesse  B.  Knipe  was  ordained  jjastor  of  the  church,  and 
continued  to  preach  for  it  until  January  1,  1881,  when  he  resigned. 
Since  that  time  the  following  have  been  the  pastors:  Eev.  S.  P. 
Manger,  1882  to  1888;  Eev.  James  E.  Lewis,  supply,  1888  to  1889; 
Eev.  F.  C.  Yost,  1889  to  1890;  Eev.  I.  Calvin  Fisher,  1891  to  1892; 
Eev.  Edward  Weist,  1892  to  1893;  Eev.  W.  A.  Korn,  1893  to  the 
present  time,  assisted  by  Eev.  J.  L.  Fluck. 

St.  Matthew's  Eeformed  Church  was  organized  in  the  summer 
of  1833,  and  they,  in  connection  with  the  Lutheran  congregation 
of  the  same  township.  West  Vincent,  during  that  summer  erected 
a  church  edifice  which  was  dedicated  December  23,  1833,  Eev. 
Jesse  B.  Knipe  being  the  first  pastor.  Both  congregations  con- 
tinued to  use  it  for  worship  on  alternate  Sundays  until  the  spring 
of  1879,  when  the  Eefornie<l  Church  purchased  the  interests  of 
the  Lutherans  in  the  property.  The  Eeformed  congregation 
adopted  a  constitution  March  18,  1831,  and  on  May  25,  1834, 
thirty-two  persons  were  present  at  the  first  communion  sen'ice, 
the  pastor  being  Eev.  John  C.  (Juldiu,  who  remained  until  1837. 
In  1838  Eev.  Jacob  Zeigler  was  pastor,  and  was  followed  by  Eev.s. 
J.  S.  Wolf,  1839-40;  Edward  D.  Smith,  1840-42;  Jacob  Hangen, 
1842-43;  Andrew  S.  Young,  1843-44;  John  C.  Fulk,  1844-4.5; 
Jesse  B.  Knipe,  1850-09;  Maxwell  S.  Eoland,  1869-79;  L.  D. 
Stambaugh,  1879-83;  E.  D.  Wettach,  1884-90;  J.  L.  Fluck,  1891-95, 
and  E.  C.  Suit,  1895  to  the  present  time.  In  1880  a  new  church 
building  was  erected  which  is  05x42  feet  in  size,  and  two  stories 
high,  is  in  the  Gothic  style  and  cost  $7,000. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  857 

St.  Paul's  Eeformed  Cluirch  of  Liouville  was  organized  about 
1838,  a  cliurcli  building  having  been  erected  that  year,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  the  two  congregations  using 
it  for  religious  purposes  on.  altei'nate  Sundays  until  1851,  the 
Reformed  Church  then  purchasing  the  interests  of  the  Lutherans. 
From  the  time  of  organization  to  Jauuaiy  16,  1881,  Rev.  Jesse  B. 
Knipe  was  the  pastor,  he  resigning  on  the  latter  date.  Since 
then  the  pastors  have  been  as  follows:  Rev.  A.  R.  Thompson,  1881 
to  1883;  Rev.  L.  D.  Stambaugh,  1883  to  1884;  Rev.  E.  D.  Wettacii, 
supply,  a  short  time,  and  was  installed  June  15,  1881  to  18S1); 
Rev.  J.  Lewis  Fluck,  1891  to  1895,  and  Rev.  E.  C.  Suit  to  present 
time. 

The  Second  Reformed  Church  of  Coventry  was  organized 
about  1837,  for  in  that  year  a  church  building  was  erected  under 
the  pastorate  of  Rev.  John  C.  Gulden,  Avho  was  then  pastor  of  the 
First  Reformed  Church  of  Coventry,  otherwise  known  as  "Brown- 
back's."  It  was  for  many  years  supplied  by  the  ministers  of  the 
First  Reformed  Church.  This  church  has  been  generally  known 
as  "Shenkle's,"  there  having  been  for  sevei*al  years,  before  the 
church  was  erected,  a  cemetery  there  by  that  name. 

The  pastors  of  this  church  have  been  as  follows:  Revs.  John 
C.  Gulden,  1835-37;  Jacob  W.  Hongeu,  Andrew  S.  Young,  John 
C.  Fulk,  ^V.  R.  Work,  and  David  Heffelfinger  up  to  1855;  William 
Sorbin,  1855  to  1878;  George  S.  Sorber,  1879-86;  James  W. 
Meminger,  1886-87;  A.  D.  Wolflnger,  1887-91;  W.  11.  Stubblebiue, 
1891-93;  Frank  N.  Bleiler,  1893-98,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Royer,  the  pres- 
ent pastor. 

The  North  Phoenixville  German  Reformed  Church  was  estab- 
lished about  1860,  but  it  was  not  long  maintained. 

The  First  Reformed  Church  of  Spring  City  was  organized 
April  25,  1882,  with  forty-seven  members.  Rev.  D.  W.  Ebbert 
being  the  first  pastor.  Services  were  held  in  a  hall  until  the 
lecture  room  of  the  neat  stone  church  edifice  was  completed,  and 


8s8  CHESTER     COUXTY 

services  were  held  in  the  lecture  room  for  the  first  time  December 
25,  18S4.  The  building  itself  was  conijjleted  in  March,  1885,  and 
dedicated  April  2,  1885.  Rev.  Mr.  Ebbert  i*emained  pastor  of 
this  church  until  July,  1887,  and  was  succeeded  by  Ivev.  L.  <j. 
Kremer,  who  began  his  pastoral  duties  January  1,  1888.  Eev. 
Calvin  Derr  became  pastor  in  January,  1891,  remained  until  1890, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  pastor,  Eev.  S.  H.  Eisenberg,  in 
1896. 

The  Mennonite  Church,  it  is  believed,  had  missions  or  pei'haps 
regular  church  organizations  in  Chester  County  at  a  very  early 
day,  as  early  as  1725,  and  from  that  time  on  up  to  1785  there 
were  three  Mennonite  Churches  on  the  Schuylkill  Elver,  all  of 
which  are  believed  to  have  been  in  Chester  County.  There  was 
a  little  church  building  in  East  Coventry  Township  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill road  about  three  miles  from  Pottstown,  which  had  in  its  wall 
the  date,  1728,  a  one-story  building.  The  first  Mennonite  Churcii 
in  the  vicinity  of  Phoenixville  was  located  near  the  Heckel 
family  residence.  The  Mennonite  Meeting-house  in  Phoenixville 
was  erected  in  1772,  on  Main  Street,  near  Nutt's  Eoad,  designed 
at  first  as  a  church  and  school  building.  The  first  preacher  was 
Matthias  Pennypacker,  and  upon  his  death  he  was  followed  by 
John  Buckwalter,  Daniel  Showalter,  George  Hellerman,  Jacob 
Halderman,  Jesse  Beitler,  Joseph  Halderman,  John  Showalter 
and  Isaac  Beitler.  The  members  of  this  sect  are  gradually 
diminishing  in  numbers  everywhere,  and  do  not  now  maintain  a 
church  organization  in  Chester  County. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ  came  into  Chester  County  about  1839, 
in  which  year  a  minister  of  theirs  by  the  name  of  George  Austiu 
began  preaching  in  a  barn.  In  1811  the  members  of  this  society 
resolved  to  erect  a  meeting-house,  building  a  small  stone  church 
at  Chestnut  Grove,  in  Penn  Township,  about  half  a  mile  from 
New  London.  In  1880  they  began  the  erection  of  a  large  frame 
building  which  was  completed  in  .     Up  to  1881  they  had 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  859 

had  but  two  preachers,  Edward  Orvis  aud  a  Mr.  Soniers,  eaeli 
remaining  only  a  few  years,  aud  otherwise  services  were  con- 
ducted by  the  members  of  the  church.  At  other  times  a  preacher 
came  up  from  Baltimore,  preaching  daily  for  a  week  or  two. 

The  Christian  Church  was  established  in  Chester  County  iu 
1845,  in  which  year  Elder  Frederick  Plummer  began  preaching 
in  a  grove  near  Kimbleville.  t^ome  time  afterward  the  member- 
ship having  sufficiently  increased,  a  brick  church  edifice  was 
erected  in  Franklin  Township,  which  was  named  Mount  Olivet, 
Elder  Plummer  remaining  until  1850.  His  nephew,  Charles  II. 
Plummer,  succeeded  him,  and  there  was  also  a  preacher  there  by 
the  name  of  William  H.  Pittmau,  ftnd  another  named  Parvin. 
Still  later  Kev.  David  Somers,  of  the  Church  of  the  Disciples, 
preached  for  them,  and  conducted  a  Sunday-school.  Aften\'ard 
the  church  was  unoccupied,  the  membership  being  small,  aud  at 
the  present  time  it  is  . 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

TOWNS  AND  TOWNSHIPS, 


CHAPTEE    XIX. 

TOWNS  AND  TOWNSHIPS — ORIGIN  OF  NAMES — FORMATION  OF  EACH  TOWNSHIP 

■     SUBDIVISIONS NAMES  OF  FIRST  SETTLERS — TRACTS  OWNED  BY  THEM — THE 

COUNTV-SEAT        CONTROVERSY  COUNTY        BUILDINGS  MUNICIPAL 

AFFAIRS     AND     OFFICERS WATER     WORKS      AND      OTHER      PUBLIC 

ENTERPRISES PLANS  OF  THE  TOWNS SQUARES  AND  PARKS 

SOCIETIES —  FIRE      COMPANIES  BOARDS      OF      TRADE 

LIBRARIES- — ELEEMOSYNARY     INSTITUTIONS BUSI- 
NESS   ENTERPRISES — HEALTH — CHARTER    PRIVI- 
LEGES— OTHER      INTERESTING      EVENTS. 

FOLLOWING  is  a  sketch  of  the  formation  of  each  township 
and  a  historical  mention  of  each  borough  in  Chester  County.  The 
number  of  the  townships  is  fifty-six  and  the  number  of  boroughs 
is  ten.  The  borough  sketches  will  be  found  in  connection  with 
the  townships  in  which  they  are  located. 

Birmiugham  Township  is  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
county,  and  is  bordered  bj-  a  township  of  the  same  name  in  Dela- 
ware County  on  the  southeast,  and  by  the  Brandywine  River  on 
the  southwest.  It  is  believetl  to  have  been  named  by  William 
Brinton,  one  of  the  first  settlers  therein,  who  came  from  the  vi- 
cinity of  Birmiugham,  England.  It  was  surveyed  about  the  year 
1684,  to  various  persons,  on  account  of  purchases  they  had  made 
while  yet  in  Englaud,  and  was  organized  as  a  municipal  district 
in  16S6  by  the  appointment  of  John  Bennett  as  constable.  On 
Holmes'  map  of  the  early  settlements  of  Pennsylvania  the  name  is 
spelled  Brummagen,  and  it  was  originally  so  pronounced,  this  pro- 
nunciation, according  to  Judge  Futhey,  having  been  brought  from 
England  by  the  early  settlers.  Judge  Futhey  also  says  that  the 
name  Brummagen  is  derived  from  Brumwycheham,  the  ancient 
name  of  Birmingham,  and  that  it  signifies  the  name  of  a  Beorm, 
or  Saxon  chief. 

51  863 


864  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  name  Brintoii  was  for  many  years  pronounced  Branton, 
and  it  is  believed  that  all  bearing  the  name  Brintou  are  descended 
from  William  Bi'inton,  AA^ho  named  the  township.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  historic  townships  in  the  county,  that  part  of  the  battle  of 
Brandj'wine,  fought  in  the  vicinity  of  Birmingham  Meeting-house^ 
being  fought  within  its  limits,  the  site  of  operations  near  Chadd's 
Ford  being  in  Delaware  County,  as  the  lines  now  run. 

Bradford  Township,  now  divided  into  East  and  West  Brad- 
ford ToAvnships,  lies  to  the  northAvest  of  Birmingham  ToAvnship. 
The  division  into  two  toAvnships  was  made  in  1731.  In  this,  as 
in  other  townships,  the  first  surveys  were  made  for  those  who  had 
made  purchases  of  the  land  before  leaving  England,  and  it  was 
also  true  that  many  of  the  first  settlers  had  purchased  the  land 
of  these  first  purchasers.  An  unbroken  wilderness  existed  here 
in  all  its  primeval  beauty  up  to  lOSG,  about  which  time  surveys 
were  made  of  most  of  the  land  south  of  the  Strasburg  Road  Sti-eet 
Koad,  forming  the  southern  limits  of  the  township  until  about  the 
year  1870. 

The  first  settler  of  this  township  is  believed  to  have  been  Rich- 
ard Buffington,  Avho  was  appointed  constable  in  1705,  from  which 
year  the  "organization"  of  the  county  dates.  Richard  Butfiugton 
had  settled  at  Upland  previous  to  the  arrival  of  William  Penn, 
and  indeed  before  Penn  had  obtained  his  grant.  Richard  Bufiing- 
ton  was  the  ancestor  of  the  numerous  Buftington  family  in  Chester 
County.  As  constable  he  was  succeeded  in  1706  by  Robert  Jef- 
feris,  and  he  in  1707  by  Abiah  Tayloi\  It  was  in  1096  that  Mi". 
Buffington,  in  connection  Avith  William  Vestal,  purchased  218 
acres  of  land  from  the  executors  of  John  Loftus,  and  in  1701  they 
obtained  the  remaining  218  acres  of  the  Loftus  tract,  which  ex- 
tended from  the  Brandywine,  below  the  forks,  nearly  to  Strode's 
Mill.  In  1708  Mr.  Buffington  purchased  from  Thomas  Martin  of 
Middletown  210  acres,  Avhich  extended  northward  from  his  first 
purchase  to  the  east  branch  of  the  Creek. 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  86$ 

Abiah  Taylor,  above  mentioned,  settled  on  the  Brandywine  in 
1702,  built  a  mill  on  a  creek  emptying  into  it,  and  in  1724  erected 
a  brick  house,  the  bricks  having  been  imported  from  England. 
This  statement  is  made  on  the  authority  of  Futhey  &  Cope's  short 
historical  sketch  of  Chester  County,  published  in  Dr.  Egle's  "His- 
tory of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,"  published  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1883.  But  in  the  large  "History  of  Chester  County," 
written  by  the  same  gentleman,  and  published  in  1881, the  following 
statement  is  made:  "It  has  been  frequently  said  that  the  bricks  were 
brought  from  England,  but  this  is  not  correct.  They  were  made 
on  the  farm,  from  clay  procured  a  short  distance  south  of  the 
house."  The  statement  tbat  they  were  brought  from  England 
contains  nothing  improbable,  for  previous  to  the  Kevolution,  at 
least,  it  was  the  firm  policy  of  England  that  the  mother  country 
should  supply  the  colonies  with  all  their  manufactured  goods,  of 
whatever  kind. 

Brandywine  Township  was  formed  in  1790,  from  the  northern 
part  of  East  Cain  Township.  It  was  named  from  the  two  branches 
of  the  Brandywine,  which  bounded  it  on  the  east  and  west  sides. 
It  was  divided  into  East  and  West  BrandyAvine  Townships  in  1814. 
In  1853  a  small  portion  of  the  southern  end  of  West  Brandywine 
Township  was  taken  in  the  formation  of  Valley  Township,  and  in 
1859  the  line  running  between  East  and  West  Brandywine  was 
so  changed  in  its  location  as  to  take  into  West  Brandywine  a  por- 
tion of  East  Brandywine.  In  1860  an  addition  was  made  to  West 
Brandywine  from  the  southeast  corner  of  Honeybrook  and  the 
western  part  of  Wallace.  In  this  addition  was  located  the  Brandy- 
wine Manor  Presbyterian  Church,  which  had  previously  been  in 
Honeybrook  Township,  and  which  is  situated  on  what  was  at  one 
time  Springton  Manor,  whicli  embraced  the  larger  part  of  the  pres- 
ent Wallace  Township.    There  never  was  any  Brandywine  Manor. 

Charlestown  Township  is  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county 
next  west  of  Schuylkill.     It  was  named  after  Charles  Pickering 


866  CHESTER     COUNTY 

of  Asmore,  Chester  County,  England,  as  was  also  Pickering  Creek. 
Charles  Pickering  crossed  the  ocean  with  William  Penn,  and  when 
wandering  up  tlie  Schuylkill  Kiver,  in  search  of  treasure,  thought 
he  discovered  traces  of  silver  on  the  banks  of  the  stream  which 
now  bears  his  name,  and  afterward  obtained  from  William  Penn 
a  grant  of  a  large  tract  of  land  bordering  on  the  stream.  In  1863 
he  was  tried  for  setting  up  a  private  mint  for  the  "Quoining  of 
Spanish  bitts  and  Boston  money,"  an  account  of  the  trial  being 
presented  on  other  pages  of  this  work.  According  to  Judge  Fu- 
they,  Pickering  was  subsequently  drowned  while  crossing  the 
ocean,  and  his  land  in  Chester  County  divided  among  sixteen  of 
his  friends,  to  whom  he  had  devised  it.  In  1718  ''Pickering  Letts," 
4,640  acres,  were  included  in  the  non-resident  land  of  AVhiteland 
assessment,  and  in  1722  the  names  of  the  actual  settlers  are  ob- 
tained for  the  first  time,  in  the  "Charles  Town  Hates."  Follo^^ 
ing  are  their  names:  Francis  Buckholder  and  his  sons;  Samuel 
Richardson,  John  Humphreys,  James  Jones,  Philip  Jones,  David 
Jones,  Llewellyn  David,  Griffith  Pritchard,  Mathias  Martin,  Alex- 
ander Owen,  John  Rees,  Manuel  Jones,  Thomas,  John, 
Stephen  David,  James  Anderson,  Hari'y  Griffith,  and  Lewis 
Martyn.  The  non-resident  laud  owners  were  as  follows:  Cocks 
&  Co.,  20,000  acres;  London  Tract,  John  Moore,  Joshua  Carpenter, 
John  Bud,  Samuel  Buckley,  and  there  was  a  tract  called  Pike's 
Land.  The  aggregate  value  of  laud  o^^  ned  then  by  these  non- 
residents was  £2,397. 

In  1722  the  first  constable  in  the  township  was  appointed,  in 
the  person  of  Thomas  John,  and  in  1724  there  were  the  following 
settlers  there,  besides  those  whose  names  have  been  given:  Will- 
iam Moore,  John  David,  David  Gilby,  John  Powell,  David,  James 
and  Philip  John,  Thomas  David,  John,  Joseph  and  Jacob  Buck- 
walder,  Benjamin  Villauer,  John  Evan,  Griffith  and  Azariah 
Thomas  and  John  Jones. 

Pickering  Creek  for  many  years  ran  many  mills,  of  which  the 


AND     /7W     PEOPLE.  867 

most  uoted  was  that  erected  by  Judge  William  Moore,  above 
named. 

The  Manor  of  Bilton  may  be  here  appropriately  mentioned. 
In  1681  William  Penn  conveyed  to  his  sister,  Margaret  Lowther, 
10,000  acres  of  laud,  in  right  of  which  a  tract  called  the  Manor 
of  Bilton  was  laid  out  on  the  west  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  and 
separated  from  the  "Manor  of  Mount  Joy,"  by  the  Valley  Creek. 
When  this  Manor  of  Bilton  was  resurveyed  in  1733  it  was  found  to 
contain  2,850  acres,  being  the  southeastern  part  of  Charlestown 
Township.  In  1737  William  Allen  of  Philadelphia  became  the 
owner  of  the  manor,  selling  it  in  1739  to  John  Parry  of  Haverford. 
Afterward  the  land  was  divided  up  among  the  following  persons: 
AVilliam  .John  Adam,  .500  acres;  Widow  Mathias,  203  acres;  John 
Jones,  500  acres;  William  Griffith,  171  acres;  Cadwalader  Hugh, 
176  acres;  Griffith  Thomas,  235  acres;  Thomas  James,  George  Rees 
and  William  Lloyd,  430  acres;  Thomas  Howell,  366  acres;  Jenkin 
David,  200  acres,  and  Catharine  Pees,  151  acres. 

In  1826  the  township  was  divided,  the  eastern  division  lying 
along  the  Schuylkill  Piver,  being  named  after  that  stream,  and 
the  name  Charlestown  being  retained  by  the  western  j)ortion.  In 
1827  the  lines  between  the  southwestern  jiart  of  Charlestown  and 
the  townships  of  East  and  West  Whiteland  and  Uwchlan  were 
so  altered  as  to  correct  defectiveness  in  former  surveys. 

Cain  Township  was  originally  very  large,  including  within 
its  limits  what  is  now  embraced  in  Cain,  East  and  West  Cain, 
East  and  West  BrandyAvino,  and  a  part  of  Valley  Townships.  It 
was  named  from  a  town  named  Calne,  in  Wiltshire,  England, 
whence  some  of  the  eai"ly  settlers  came.  In  1702  surveys  were 
made  from  the  west  line  of  Whiteland  to  tlie  west  brauch  of  the 
Brandywine,  confined  mostly  to  the  valley;  but  which  afterward 
extended  to  the  northward  and  to  the  southward.  It  was  first 
settled  by  the  Baldwins,  Moores,  Parkeses,  Mendenhalls  Pims, 
Coateses,  Millers  and  others.     Downingtowu  now  stands  on  land 


868  CHESTER     COUNTY 

formerly  owned  by  the  Baldwins  and  Moores.  On  April  0,  1709, 
Joseph  Cloud,  Richard  Cloud,  and  George  Mendeuhall,  all  of  Cain, 
were  indicted  for  an  assault  on  Joseph  Hickman  in  his  house  in 
Cain,  and  in  1714  Peter  Taylor  was  constable  for  the  township, 
but  it  does  not  appear  to  be  now  known  whether  or  not  he  was  the 
first  officer  of  that  kind. 

On  November  26,  1728,  a  petition,  signed  by  thirty-one  citi- 
zens, was  presented  to  the  court  asking  that,  inasmuch  as  the 
township  was  so  large,  extending  in  length  above  fourteen  miles 
and  in  breadth  nearly  fourteen  miles,  it  might  be  divided  into 
two  townships,  one  of  which  should  continue  to  be  called  Cain, 
and  the  other  to  be  called  SpefEorth,  or  Spofforth,  probably  the 
latter,  as  it  is  often  difficult  to  distinguish  between  an  "e"  and  an 
"o"  iu  the  ancient  manuscripts;  but  while  the  petition  is  indorsed 
"allowed,"  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  township  by 
the  name  of  Spefforth  anywhere  to  be  found.  But  West  Cain  was 
organized  at  that  time,  the  Brandywine  being  the  boundary  line 
between  the  townships.  On  May  29,  1739,  the  boundaries  of  East 
Cain  were  definitely  determined,  and  on  May  29,  1714,  the  bound- 
aries of  West  Cain  were  likewise  determined.  In  1790  the  limits 
of  East  Cain  were  reduced  and  the  township  of  Brandywine  erected, 
taken  from  the  northern  part  of  East  Cain.  In  1853  it  was 
again  reduced  in  size  by  the  creation  of  Valley  Township,  and  in 
1859  it  was  again  reduced  by  the  formation  of  the  borough  of 
Downingtown.  In  1868  it  was  once  more  reduced,  that  portion 
lying  east  of  the  east  branch  of  the  Brandywine  being  made  a 
separate  township  by  the  name  of  East  Cain,  and  that  part  lying 
west  of  this  east  branch,  together  with  a  part  of  Valley  Town- 
ship, being  erected  into  a  township  by  the  name  of  Cain.  When 
Valley  Township  was  created  in  1853  West  Cain  was  slightly  re- 
duced in  size.  The  greater  portion  of  Cain  and  East  Cain  lies 
within  the  Great  Valley,  and  contains  many  beautiful  farms,  while 
West  Cain  is  somewhat  more  hillv  than  the  others. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  869 

Downingtown  is  ou  the  east  branch  of  the  Brandj'wiue,  in  the 
midst  of  the  Great  Valley.  It  was  incorporated  by  a  decree  of 
the  court  May  12,  1859,  and  at  an  election  held  at  the  Swan  Hotel 
on  the  2Sth  of  the  same  month,  James  Lockhart  was  chosen  bur- 
gess. This  place  was  originally  called  Milltown,  but  more  recently 
the  name  it  now  bears  was  given  to  it,  in  honor  of  the  Downing 
family,  that  lived,  and  which  still  lives,  in  that  neighborhood. 
One  remarkable  fact  connected  with  the  history  of  this  cannot 
be  omitted,  and  that  is  that  during  the  early  years  of  its  existence 
it  so  strenuously  resisted  the  attempt  to  make  it  the  county-seat, 
that  the  county-seat  had  to  be  located  elsewhere,  and  went  to  West 
Chester.  It  is  pi'obable  that  no  similar  instance  can  be  found  in 
the  history  of  the  country,  and  it  is  well  known  that  in  many  cases, 
especiallj-  in  western  counties,  there  have  been  numerous  "county- 
seat  wars,"  rival  towns  making  a  most  determined  struggle  to 
possess  the  county-seat,  instead  of  driving  it  away.  But  in  the 
case  of  Downingtown  not  a  lot  could  be  purchased  upon  which  to 
erect  the  county  buildings. 

Downingtown  is  now  an  enterprising  place,  and  a  prominent 
station  on  the  Pennsylvania  Kailroad.  Its  borough  ofticei's  have 
been  as  follows: 

Burgess— James  Lockhart,  1859  and  1860;  A.  W.  Wills,  1861; 
Charles  Downing,  1862;  Morgan  L.  Reece,  1863;  J.  Stuart  Leech, 
1864;  David  Shelmire,  1865;  John  S.  Mullin,  1866;  William  Edge, 
1867;  Temple  Jones,  1868;  Eber  Garrett,  1869;  John  S.  Mullin, 
1870;  William  B.  Torbert,  1871;  David  M.  Cox,  1872;  G.  C.  M.  Eich- 
oltz,  1873-71;  William  B.  Torbert,  1875;  J.  T.  Carpenter,  1876;  J. 
Stuart  Leech,  1877-79;  Thomas  E.  Parke,  1880-83;  J.  Stuart  Leech, 
1884;  Thomas  E.  Parke,  1885;  John  McGraw,  1886;  L.  T.  Bremer- 
man,  1887-90;  Joseph  R.  Downing,  1891-92;  James  K.  Gordon,  1893- 
96,  and  A.  P.  Ringwalt,  1897-98. 

Secretaries — J.  Stuart  Leech,  1859;  Charles  Downing,  1860; 
J.  Stuart  Leech,  1861;  Isaac  Webster,  1862;  John  S.  Mullin,  1863; 


870  CHESTER     COUNTY 

John  Webster,  18G4;  Charles  Downing,  ISGo;  John  Webster,  1866- 
G9;  J.  E.  Parke,  1870;  George  E,  Wills,  1871-73;  John  Webster, 
1871;  J.  E.  Parke,  1875;  Harry  L.  Skeen,  187G;  Samuel  Liueiuger, 
1877-80;  Eber  Garrett,  1881;  J.  H.  Koberts,  1882-84;  Isaac  Y.  Ash, 
1885-86;  Thomas  Holliday,  1887-96,  and  E.  A.  Swank,  1897-98. 

Treasurers— William  Edge,  1859-62;  E.  D.  Wells,  1863-61;  Eber 
Garrett,  1865;  Temple  Jones,  18GG-G7;  Isaac  Webster,  1868;  G.  C. 
M.  Eicholtz,  1869-70;  David  M.  Cox,  1871;  William  Edge,  1872; 
John  S.  Mullin,  1873;  W.  "F.  McCaughey,  1874;  George  A.  Cobb, 
1875-76;  W.  F.  McCaughey,  1877;  Francis  O'Neal,  1878;  Nathan 
Wilson,  1879-81;  W.  F.  McCaughey,  1882;  Jacob  Shelmire,  1883; 
William  McFarlan,  1884-86;  F.  Dunleavy  Long,  1887;  Nathan 
Wilson,  1888-90;  F.  Dunleavy  Long,  1891-92;  Downingtown  Na- 
tional Bank,  1893-98. 

The  members  of  the  council  at  the  present  time  are  as  follows: 
S.  Austin  Bicking,  James  E.  Gordon,  Gayon  Miller,  W.  I.  Pollock, 
Frank  McGraw  and  Mai-k  Connell.  The  borough  of  Downingtown 
put  in  a  gravity  system  of  water  works  in  1895,  bringing  the 
water  from  springs  three  miles  to  the  south,  which  furnish  a 
pressure  of  45  pounds,  sufficient  to  throw  the  water  over  the 
tops  of  the  highest  buildings  in  the  place.  The  water  has  been 
placed  in  most  of  the  residences  and  business  houses  and  manu- 
factories, and  the  reservoir  has  a  capacity  of  2,500,000  gallons. 

There  is  also  an  electric  light,  heat  and  power  company,  of 
which  John  T.  Fox  is  president,  Joseph  E.  Downing,  treasurer,  and 
Thomas  E.  Parke,  secretary.  The  company  was  organized  in  the 
spring  of  1898,  and  is  composed  of  the  citizens  of  Dowuington, 
the  shares  of  stock  being  |10  each.  The  works  are  located  on  the 
"Y"  branch  of  the  Downingtown  and  Lancaster  Eailroad,  and  have 
two  dynamos,  two  high  speed  engines,  and  two  boilers,  the  latter 
being  procured  from  tlie  Coatesville  Boiler  Works.  While  it  is  the 
design  to  supply  both  arc  and  incandescent  lights,  yet  up  to  the 
present  writing  (May  14,  1898)  there  is  but  one  arc  light,  and 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  871 

that  is  over  the  bridge  on  Lancaster  Avenue  where  this  avenue 
crosses  the  Brandywine. 

North,  East  and  South  Coventn'  lie  in  the  extreme  north  of 
the  county,  extending  from  the  Schuylkill  River  westward.  The 
original  township,  it  is  believed,  was  named  by  Samuel  Nutt,  who 
came  from  Coventi-y,  War^-ickshire,  England.  The  first  list  of 
settlers  obtainable  is  from  the  assessment  of  171S,  and  included 
the  following  names:  Israel  Robinson,  John  Sinclair,  John  Rum- 
ford,  Thomas  Miller,  Richard  Duncley,  Marcus  Overhult,  John 
Oburne,  Henry  Castle,  Hubert  Castle,  Henry  Parker,  Garrett 
Prompter,  Simon  Meredith,  David  Evans,  James  Pugh,  William 
Philips,  Owen  Roberts,  and  John  Blare. 

In  1841  the  township  was  divided  into  North  and  Soutli 
Coventry,  and  in  1841  East  Coventrj-  was  formed  by  dividing- 
North  Coventry.  In  this  same  year  the  line  between  South  Cov- 
entry and  East  Vincent  was  established,  as  it  was  supposed  to 
have  been  originally  ran. 

Easttown  Township  lies  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  county, 
and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Tredyffrin,  and  on  the  east  by 
Tredyffriu  and  Radnor,  the  latter  township  being  in  Delaware. 
Its  territory'  was  included  in  the  original  survey  made  for  the 
Welsh  and  was  settled  by  them.  It  was  "organized"  as  early  as 
1704,  as  its  constable,  William  Thomas,  appeared  at  court 
December  27,  1704-05.  In  1800  the  town  of  Glassley  was  laid 
out  by  Robert  McClenachan,  near  what  is  now  Berwyn.  This 
township  is  most  noted  as  being  the  home  of  the  Wayne  family, 
the  founder  of  which,  Anthony  Wajme,  first  appears  in  the  assess- 
ment roll  in  1724.  It  is  also  noted  for  containing  the  summer 
residence,  which  finally  became  the  permanent  residence  of  Julius 
F.  A.  Sachse^  in  1877,  formerly  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia  and 
also  a  noted  horticulturist.  The  name  given  to  this  place  is 
"Sachseustein,"  after  the  old  family-seat  near  Erfurt  in  Germany, 
the  ruins  of  which  still  exist. 


8/2  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Goshen  Township,  formerly  a  part  of  Westtown  Township, was 
organized  at  least  as  early  as  1704.  It  was  included  within  the 
orijj;inal  sui"\ey  for  the  Welsh,  but  owing  to  the  delay  of  the 
Welsh  to  settle  therein  many  surveys  were  made  within  its  limits 
for  other  purchasers.  The  first  settlers  of  Goshen  Township  in 
the  eastern  part  were  the  Ashbridge  family,  which  was  for  many 
years  very  prominent  in  coinity  and  State  affairs,  George  Ash- 
bridge serving  in  the  General  Assembly  for  twenty  successive 
years.  David  Jones  was  also  one  of  the  early  settlers.  The  first 
constable,  appearing  at  court,  in  1704,  was  Cadwalader  Ellis. 
There  were  two  large  tracts  of  land,  each  of  a  mile  square,  adjoin- 
ing (ray  Street,  West  Chester,  one  of  which  was  owned  by  Richard 
Thomas,  the  owner  of  the  otlier  not  having  been  ascertained.  The 
southwest  part  of  Goslien  Townsliip  was  taken  up  in  the  right  of 
Thomas  Lloyd,  whose  executors  in  1706  sold  two  tracts  of  land, 
<'ontaining  respectively  797  and  850  acres,  to  William  Crouch  of 
London.  In  1702  they  had  sold  to  John  Haines  of  New  Jersey 
905  acres,  which  now  includes  that  part,  of  the  borough  of  West 
Chester  south  of  Gay  Street.  North  of  this  and  west  of  High 
Street  a  tract  of  (530  acres  was  patented  to  Nathaniel  Puckle,  and 
later  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Hoopes  family.  Richard 
Thomas,  mentioned  above,  lived  in  Whiteland,  and  sold  his  1,100 
acres  of  land  which  lay  east  of  High  Street,  in  allotments  or 
divisions  running  from  north  to  south,  beginning  at  the  west  side, 
to  different  persons  as  follows:  Edward  Jones,  200  acres;  Robert 
Eachus,  200;  Joseph  Collins,  125;  Thomas  Evans,  175;  Mordecai 
Bane,  200,  and  Alexander  Bane,  200. 

East  of  the  tract  owned  by  Richard  Thomas  was  one  of  316 
acres  owned  by  Evan  Jones  &  Co.,  and  beyond  this  was  one  of 
about  equal  size  owned  by  Ellis  David.  Then  came  a  tract  of 
635  acres  owned  by  Thomas  Jones  &  Co.  Perhaps  the  most  inter- 
esting fact  connected  with  the  early  settlement  of  Goshen  Town- 
ship is  this:  That  John  aj)  Thomas  of  Llaithgwm,   Commott  of 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  873 

Pennllyn,  Merioneth  Countv',  and  Edward  Jones  of  Bala,  in  the 
same  county  in  Wales,  ehiriirjieon,  purchased  from  William  Peun, 
l>v  lease  and  release  of  September  10  and  IT,  1681,  5,000  acres  of 
laud,  as  agents  or  trustees  for  themselves  and  othei-s.  They  exe- 
cuted deeds  to  the  other  purchasers  before  coming  to  this  country. 
One-half  of  each  person's  share  was  located  in  Goshen  Towuship, 
b}^  direction  of  a  warrant  for  the  subdivision  of  the  Welsh  Tract. 
John  ap  Thomas  died  in  Wales  in  1(183,  but  his  children,  who  ar- 
rived in  Pennsylvania  in  Xovember  of  the  same  year,  and  who 
bore  the  uame  of  Jones,  took  up  half  his  purchase  in  Goshen 
Township.  Edward  Jones,  Edward  Eees,  William  a])  Edward 
and  others  arrived  in  1682.  Cadwalader  Morgan  and  Hugh  John 
sold  what  they  owned  in  Goshen  to  John  Roberts,  who  nmrried 
Gaiuor  Roberts,  another  purchaser,  and  thus  came  into  possession 
of  262  acres  in  Goshen.  In  1749  Robert  Roberts,  the  only  son  of 
John  Roberts,  sold  230  acres  of  this  262  acres  to  Thomas  Goodwin. 
The  Goodwin  homestead  remained  in  the  family  for  many  years, 
having  descended  to  Mary  Goodwin,  who  married  Samuel  R. 
Downing.  Griffith  Owen  had  a  house  in  Goshen  at  which  Friends' 
meetings  were  held  as  early  as  1702.  lu  1788  the  size  of  the 
towuship  was  re<luced  by  the  erection  of  the  borough  of  West 
Chester,  and  in  1817  the  division  into  East  and  West  Goshen  was' 
made. 

West  Chester,  the  county  seat  of  Chester  County,  is  situated  in 
West  Goshen  Township,  the  southwest  boundary  line  of  the  latter 
being  the  southwest  boundary  of  the  borough  of  West  Chester. 
The  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  city  were  determined  in  1813  by 
E.  W.  Bean  and  Walter  Hibbard,  the  former  being  at  the  time 
principal  of  the  public  schools  in  West  Chester,  and  the  latter  a 
surveyor  and  conveyancer  of  the  same  place.  The  latitude  was 
then  determined  as  being  39  57  31.3  and  the  longitude  as  being 
1  24  51  east  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia.  Its  location  is 
on  the  watershed  between  Brandywine  Creek  and  Chester  Creek, 


874  CHESTER     COUNTY 

being  about  two  miles  from  the  Brandvwiiie  and  quite  near  the 
head  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Chester  Creek.  It  is  five  miles 
south  of  the  great  limestone  valley,  twenty-three  miles  west  of 
the  original  city  of  Philadelphia  and  sixteen  miles  north  of  Wil- 
mington, Delaware.  Its  elevation  is  about  4G0  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea. 

Until  after  the  close  of  the  Kevolutionary  War  the  county- 
seat  remained  at  Chester,  on  the  Delaware  River,  the  county  grow- 
ing more  populous  in  the  meantime,  even  in  the  northern  and 
western  portions.  About  1779  an  effort  was  made  to  secure  its 
removal  to  a  more  central  location;  yet,  notwithstanding  the  ad- 
mitted incouveuience  to  the  great  majority  of  the  people  in  the 
location  of  the  county-seat  in  the  extreme  southeastern  corner  of 
the  county,  there  was,  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village 
of  Chester,  strenuous  opposition  made  to  its  removal,  as  was  quite 
natural  to  expect.  The  controversy  was  maintained  several  years, 
even  after  such  removal  was  determined  upon  by  law,  with  con- 
siderable bitterness  and  with  varving  success. 

The  result  of  the  agitation  thus  persisted  in  was  the  passage 
by  the  Legislature  of  an  act  on  March  20,  17S0,  authorizing  Will- 
iam Clingan,  Thomas  Bull,  John  Kinkead,  Roger  Kirk,  John  Sel- 
lars,  John  Wilson  and  Joseph  Davis,  or  any  four  or  more  of  them, 
to  build  a  new  court-house  and  prison  in  the  county  of  Chester, 
and  to  sell  the  old  court-house  and  prison  in  the  borough  of  Ches- 
ter. No  time  was  specified  within  which  these  commissioners 
should  purchase  laud  and  erect  the  mentioned  buildings,  nor  was 
there  any  restriction  as  to  location,  except  what  was  expressed 
in  the  preamble  against  the  inconvenience  of  the  location  then 
maintained. 

But  for  some  reason,  either  opposition  to  the  removal  itself,  or 
mere  negligence,  the  above-named  gentlemen  failed  to  act,  except 
in  so  far  as  to  purchase  land  for  a  site  in  the  township  of  East 
Cain,  which  location  seems  to  ha^e  been  unsatisfactory  to  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  875 

most  prominent  gentlemen  favoring  the  removal  of  the  county- 
seat,  and  it  was  probably  this  dissatisfaction  with  the  projjosed 
location  that  led  to  the  passage,  on  March  22,  J  784,  of  an  act  sup- 
plementary to  the  original  act,  by  which  the  names  of  John  Han- 
num,  Isaac  Taylor  and  John  Jacobs  were  substituted  for  those  of 
of  the  original  commissioners.  The  authority  granted  to  the  three 
gentlemen  last  named  was  similar  to  that  granted  to  the  original 
seven,  but  they  were  not  authorized  to  erect  the  proposed  new  court- 
house and  prison  "at  a  greater  distance  than  one  mile  and  a  half 
from  tlie  Turk's  Head  Tavern,  in  the  township  of  Goshen,  and  to 
the  west  or  southwest  of  said  Turk's  Head  Taverii,  and  on  or  near 
a  straight  line  from  the  feri'y,  called  the  Corporation  Ferry,  on 
the  Schuylkill  to  the  village  of  Strasburg." 

Historians  all  appear  to  agree  that  this  peculiar  restriction 
was  introduced  into  the  supplementary  act  at  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Hannum,  then  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  under  the  belief 
that  it  would  permit  the  buildings  to  be  erected  on  his  lands  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Brandy  wine;  but  actual  measurement  demon- 
strated the  fact  that  his  lands  lay  more  than  two  miles  from  the 
Turk's  Head  Tavern,  hence  Mr.  Hannum  must  have  been  grievously 
disappointed. 

Being  all  active  removalists,  the  committee  at  once  contracted 
for  the  purchase  of  land  near  the  Turk's  Head  Tavern,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1784  began  the  erection  of  the  buildings,  a  court-house 
and  a  prison  adjacent  to  each  other.  It  is  said  that  Col.  John 
Hannum  was  the  real  founder  of  West  Chester,  and  that  in  an- 
ticipation of  its  location  he  took  care  to  become  an  extensive  owner 
of  lauds  and  lots  within  the  limits  of  the  borough. 

In  an  historical  sketch  of  the  borough  of  West  Chester  by 
'■The  oldest  inhabitant,"  published  in  1857,  it  is  stated  that: 

"The  colonel  was  a  sort  of  County  Autocrat,  and,  for  a  long 
time,  managed  matters  pretty  much  in  his  own  way.  He  built 
the  old  Washington  Hotel,  on  High  Street,  with  only  a  narrow 


S76  CHESTER     COUNTY 

alley  between  it  and  the  court-house;  and  with  a  view  to  secure 
the  patronage  of  the  judges  to  the  hotel,  he  projected  a  kind  of 
gallerj'  or  passageway  from  the  second  story  across  the  alley  into 
the  hall  of  justice,  for  the  accommodation  of  their  Ilonors;  and 
even  went  so  far  toward  effecting  an  opening  as  to  remove  some 
stones  from  the  court-house  wall,  when  the  county  commissioners 
mustei'ed  courage  enough  to  forbid  further  operations.  The  gaps 
made  in  the  wall  testified  to  the  liberty  thus  taken  for  many  years,, 
until  the  exterior  of  the  old  building  was  renovated  by  a  rough 
coat  of  plastering  and  pebble-dashing. 

"While  these  proceedings  were  in  train  at  the  Turk's  Head 
the  worthy  burgers  of  ancient  Upland  were  concocting  a  violent 
opposition  to  what  they  naturally  regai'ded  as  an  injurious  if  not 
ruinous  project.  The  operations  of  the  workmen  at  the  new  pub- 
lic buildings  were  suspended  by  the  ensuing  winter  before  the 
walls  were  quite  completed;  and  the  functions  of  the  commission- 
ei's  themselves  were  interrupted  by  an  act  of  Assembly  obtained  <iu 
the  30th  of  March,  1785,  to  suspend  the  supplement,"  etc. 

Now,  turning  to  a  History  of  Chester  County,  written  by 
Joseph  J.  Lewis,  and  published  in  the  Tillage  Record  in  1824, 
the  folloAving  account  of  the  high-handed  proceedings  taken  by 
those  citizens  who  preferred  that  the  county-seat  should  still  re- 
main in  Chester  may  be  found:  "The  people  generally  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Chester  had  been  violently  opposed  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  projected  removal,  and  a  number  now  resolved  to 
demolish  the  walls  already  erected.  Accordingly  a  company  as- 
sembled, armed  and  accoutered,  and  having  procured  a  field  piece, 
appointed  Major  Harper  commander,  and  proceeded  to  accomplish 
their  design.  A  few  days  before  this  expedition  left  Chester  notice 
of  its  object  was  communicated  by  some  of  the  leaders  to  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Turk's  Head,  and  preparations  were  imme- 
diately made  for  its  reception.  In  this  business  Col.  Hanuum  was 
particularly  active.     He  directly  requested  Col.  Isaac  Taylor  and 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  -  S77 

Mr.  Marshall  to  bring  in  what  men  they  could  collect,  and  began 
himself  to  prepare  cartridges  and  to  procure  arms.  Grog  and 
rations  were  freely  distributed,  and  a  pretty  respectable  force  was 
soon  upon  the  ground.  The  windows  of  the  court-house  were 
boarded  up  on  each  side,  and  the  space  between  filled  with  stones; 
loopholes  were  left  for  the  musketry.  Each  man  had  his  sta- 
tion assigned  him.  Marshall  and  Taylor  commanded  in  the  upper 
story — Underwood  and  Patton  below,  while  Col.  Hannum  had  the 
direction  of  the  whole.  All  things  were  arranged  for  a  stout  re- 
sistance. 

"The  non-removalists,  having  passed  the  night  at  the  Green 
Tree  (hotel),  made  their  appearance  near  the  Turk's  Head  early  in 
the  morning,  and  took  their  ground  about  two  hundred  yards 
southeast  of  the  Quaker  Meeting-house.  Here  they  planted  their 
cannon  and  made  preparations  for  the  attack.  They  seemed,  how- 
ever, when  everything  was  ready,  still  reluctant  to  proceed  to  ex- 
tremities, and  having  remained  several  hours  in  a  hostile  position, 
an  accommodation  was  effected  between  the  parties,  by  the  in- 
tervention of  some  pacific  people,  who  used  their  endeavors  to  pre- 
vent the  effusion  of  blood.  To  the  non-removalists  was  conceded 
the  liberty  of  inspecting  the  defenses  of  their  opponents,  on  con- 
dition that  they  should  do  them  no  injury,  and  they  on  their  part 
agreed  to  abandon  their  design  and  to  return  i^eaceably  to  their 
homes.  The  cannon  which  had  been  pointed  against  the  walls  was 
turned  in  another  direction,  and  fired  in  celebi'ation  of  the  ti'eaty. 
Col.  Hannum  then  directed  his  men  to  leave  the  court-house,  and 
having  formed  in  line  a  short  distance  on  the  the  right,  to  ground 
their  arms  and  wait  till  the  other  party  should  have  finished  their 
visit  to  the  building.  Here  an  act  of  indiscretion  had  nearly 
brought  on  a  renewal  of  hostilities.  For  one  of  Major  Harper's 
men,  having  entered  the  fort,  struck  down  the  fiag  which  their 
opponents  had  raised  upon  the  walls.  Highly  incensed  at  this 
treatment  of  their  standard    the    removalists  snatched  up  their 


878  CHESTER     COUNTY 

arms  and  were  with  difficulty  prevented  from  firing  on  the  Major 
and  his  companions.  Some  exertion,  however,  on  the  part  of  the 
leaders  allayed  the  irritation  of  the  men  and  the  parties  separated 
at  last,  without  loss  of  life  or  limb." 

It  is  now  pertinent  to  inquire  as  to  why  this  attack  was 
made  or  threatened.  Why  did  the  people  in  the  lower  end  of  Ches- 
ter County  attempt  to  i^revent  the  completion  of  the  public 
buildings  in  West  Chester?  For  they  must  have  had  some  ac- 
tuating motive.  Probably  the  best  answer  to  this  question  is  that 
given  by  Dr.  Smith  that  the  removalists,  Col.  Hannum  and  his 
compatriots,  had  proceeded  with  the  work  on  these  buildings  after 
the  suspension  of  the  supplementarj'  act,  mentioned  above,  which 
was  suspended  March  30,  1785;  and  if  this  is  the  case  it  of  course 
appeared  to  the  Chester  people  that  the  West  Chester  people  cared 
nothing  for  the  acts  of  the  Assembly.  And  if  a  promise  to  de- 
sist from  work  on  the  public  buildings  was  a  portion  of  the  treaty 
of  peace,  as  is  also  stated,  this  promise  was  kept  only  while 
non-removalists  were  within  hearing  and  sight  of  the  place.  Then 
again  on  the  other  hand  it  is  said  that  the  suspension  act  itself 
was  procured  by  some  sort  of  underhand  work,  or  misrepresenta- 
tion as  to  the  temper  of  the  people  of  the  county  toward  removal, 
and  if  so,  then  the  removalists  were  not  so  much  to  blame  for 
proceeding  with  the  construction  of  the  buildings. 

The  next  step  on  the  part  i)f  the  Legislature  of  the  State  was 
taken  on  March  18,  1786,  when  an  act  was  passed  repealing  the 
susi>ension  act,  and  thus  the  work  was  permitted  to  go  on.  By 
this  act  the  vexed  question  was  finally  put  to  rest,  though  not 
until  after  a  bitter  fight  had  been  made  on  both  sides  of  the 
question.  The  removalists  were  naturally  jubilant  over  their  hard 
won  victory,  and  expressed  themselves  in  sundry  songs  and  dit- 
ties, couched  in  language  not  the  most  complimentary  of  their 
vanquished  foes.  One  of  these,  entitled,  "Lament  Over  Chester's 
Mother,"  was  originally  published  in  the  West  Chester  Directory 


LE\'I  G.  McCAULEY 


AIS'D     ITS     PEOPLE.  879 

for  1857,  and  is  reiiroduced  in  Fntlier  and  Cope's  History  of  Ches- 
ter County.     Its  length  precludes  its  insertion  in  this  history. 

On  the  other  hand  the  people  of  Chester  were  equally  com- 
plimentaiy  toward  their  friends  in  West  Chester,  their  new  town 
being  thus  described  in  an  address  to  the  Legislature:  "That  ele- 
gant and  notorious  place  vulgarly  called  the  Turk's  Head  (by  some 
called  West  Chester),  a  place  as  unfit  for  the  general  convenience 
and  much  more  so  than  any  one  spot  that  might  be  pointed  out 
within  ten  miles  square,  of  the  above-described  place  (except  to- 
ward the  New  Castle  line)." 

The  new  countj'  building  having  been  completed  and  made 
ready  for  occupancy,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Assembly  Sep- 
tember 25,  1786,  authorizing  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  William 
Gibbons,  to  remove  the  prisoners  from  the  old  jail  in  Chester  to 
the  new  jail  in  West  Chester,  or  in  Goshen  Township,  and  to  in- 
demnify him  for  the  removal.  The  old  public  buildings  at  Chester 
were  finally  sold  to  William  Kerlin  on  March  18,  1788;  but  after 
the  organization  of  Delaware  County,  which  followed  as  a  result 
of  this  removal  of  the  county-seat,  the  same  public  buildings  were 
repurchased  by  that  new  county  from  Mr.  Kerlin. 

The  seat  of  justice  having  thus  been  secured,  the  people  de- 
termined that  Turk's  Head  should  be  dignified  by  a  title  becoming 
its  newly  acquired  importance,  and  on  March  3,  1788,  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  converted  a  certain  disti'ict  of  country  into  a 
county  town.  This  town  was  about  one  and  one-quarter  miles 
square,  and  included  six  or  eight  small  farms.  The  name  West 
Chester  was  then  given  to  it.  The  iieople  of  old  Chester,  down 
by  the  river  Delaware,  now  themselves  became  dissatisfied  be- 
cause the  county-seat  by  its  removal  had  become  so  distant  from 
them;  and,  as  a  consequence  of  this  dissatisfaction,  the  Legisla- 
ture, upon  their  petition,  in  which  they  stated  their  desire  to  be 
relieved  of  the  great  inconvenience  of  having  to  go  so  far  to  the 
county-seat,  erected  the  borough  of  Chester  and  the  southeastern 
52 


880  CHESTER     COUNTY 

part  of  the  county  into  a  new  county,  the  act  which  accomplished 
this  purpose  being  passed  September  26,  1789,  this  new  county 
being  called  Delaware,  and  by  its  erection  revenge  had  been  fully 
wreaked  on  the  people  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county. 

While  the  question  as  to  whether  it  was  wise  to  so  divide 
the  ancient  county  of  Chester  in  this  way,  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  state  that  after  all  there  was  but  little  gained  in  the  way  of 
saving  distance  in  going  to  the  county-seat  on  the  part,  of  the 
people  of  Delaware  County,  as  a  glance  at  the  map  will  at  once 
reveal;  and  as  the  county  at  that  time  had  a  population  of  only 
9,483  the  burdens  of  supporting  the  organization  of  the  new 
county  made  it  for  a  time  at  least  somewhat  of  an  expensive  lux- 
ury, particularly  as  the  people  were  then  quite  poor,  not  having 
recovered  from  the  losses  and  destruction  of  the  (then)  late  Rev- 
olutionary War. 

The  people  of  West  Chester,  having  accomplished  their  design 
of  securing  the  county-seat,  began  in  greater  earnest  than  ever 
to  improve  their  town,  and  not  long  afterward  began  to  aspire  to 
corporate  privileges.  On  March  28,  1789,  the  town  was  erected 
into  a  borough  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature.  From  this  time  on. 
however,  the  place  seemed  to  grow  very  slowly,  perhaps  because 
of  the  slow  development  of  the  surrounding  country,  and  during 
the  succeeding  twelve  years  of  the  town's  histoi'y  the  population 
increased  scarcely  more  than  a  hundred.     In  1800  it  was  374. 

Following  are  the  names  of  the  burgesses  of  West  Chester 
from  the  time  of  the  first  election  in  1799  down  to  the  present 
time:  William  Sharpless,  elected  in  1799;  Jacob  Ehrenzeller,  in 
1800;  Philip  Derrick,  in  1801;  Jacob  Ehrenzeller,  1802;  Richard 
M.  Hannum,  1803;  Joshua  Weaver,  1804  and  1805;  William  Ben- 
nett, 1806;  William  Sharpless,  1807;  Emmor  Bradley,  1808; 
George  Worth,  1809;  Joshua  Weaver,  1810;  William  Sharpless, 
1811;  Jacob  Ehrenzeller,  1812  and  1813;  Joseph  McClellan,  1814; 
Daniel  Hiester,  1815,  1816  and  1817;  Jacob  Ehrenzeller,  1818  to 
1824;  Ziba  Pyle,  1825;  Jacob  Ehrenzeller,  1826;  Ziba  Pyle,  1827 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  88 1 

to  1830;  Thomas  S.  Bell,  1831  to  1833;  William  Williamson,  1831 
and  1835;  William  Everhart,  1836  and  1837;  Thomas  S.  Bel!, 
1838;  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  1839  to  1813;  William  Williamson,  1811; 
Uriah  V.  Pennypacker,  1815  and  1846;  William  Darlini>ton,  1847; 
Uriah  V.  Peunvpacker,  1848  and  1849;  Francis  James,  1850; 
James  H.  Bull,  1851;  Townsend  Eaohus,  1852  to  1854;  Joseph  P. 
WMlsou,  1855  to  1858;  William  B.  Waddell,  1859-60;  Henry  S. 
Evans,  1861;  William  Darliujiton,  18()2-65;  Wayne  MacVeagh, 
1866;  Jefferson  Shaner,  1867-77;  S.  G.  Williams,  1878;  Dr.  J.  B. 
Wood,  1879-86;  Marshall  S.  Way,  1887-97;  C.  Wesley  Talbot,  1897. 

Clerks— Joshua  Weaver,  1799-1801;  Isaac  Darlington,  1802; 
Nathan  Sharpless,  1803-04;  Emmor  Bradley,  1805-07;  Joshua 
Weaver,  1808-09;  Reuben  Eachus,  1810;  David  Townsend,  Jr., 
1811;  John  AY.  Townsend,  1812;  John  Wooley,  1813;  David  Towns- 
end,  1814;  Harper  Pearson,  1815-16;  Joshua  Weaver,  1817-27; 
David  Townsend,  1828-35;  John  Marshall,  1836-38;  William  Will- 
iamson, 1839-41;  Walter  Hibbard,  1842-44;  E.  D.  Haines,  1845-51; 
J.  B.  Jeffries,  1852-54;  William  kS.  Kirk,  1855;  John  J.  Piukertou, 
1856-61;  William  V.  Husted,  1862-65;  George  M.  Bupert,  1866-83; 
Frank  P.  Darlington,  1884;  Charles  B.  Lear,  1885;  Walter  A. 
McDonald,  1886-87;  William  S.  Underwood,  1888-98. 

Treasurers — Down  to  1840  the  clerks  and  treasurers  appear 
to  have  been  the  same  person;  John  Marshall,  1840-43;  John  But- 
ter, 1844;  W.  Townsend,  1845-49;  J.  Smith  Futhey,  1850-53;  A.  Mar- 
shall, 1854;  James  H.  Bull,  1855;  Clement  Darlington,  1856;  Will- 
iam .S.  Kirk,  1857-58;  John  J.  Pinkertou,  1859-63;  William  V. 
Husted,  1864-66;  George  M.  Rupert,  1867-84;  Alfred  P.  Smith, 
1884-87;  W.  D.  Groff,  1887-88;  William  S.  Underwood,  1888-98. 

A  system  of  waterAvorks  was  established  by  the  borough  of 
West  Chester  in  1841,  a  repoi-t  of  the  entire  matter  being  made 
to  the  borough  council  in  Jauuarj^,  1842,  which  showed  that  lots 
had  been  purchased  of  Anthony  Bolmar  and  Joshua  Hoopes,  the 
former  receiving  .|!2,344.28,  and  the  latter  .f 200.     The  entire  cost  of 


882  CHESTER     COUXTY 

the  water  system  was  125,019.50.  The  committee  Diaking  this  report 
consisted  of  John  Marshall,  Isaac  Thomas  and  William  Apple. 
In  1843  the  water  committee,  composed  of  the  first  two  of  the 
above-named  gentlemen  and  W.  Townsend,  expressed  their  grati- 
fication at  the  successful  introduction  of  water  into  the  borough, 
saying  that  it  was  generally  admitted  by  the  citizens  and  strangers 
that  the  water  was  as  good  and  pure  as  could  be  anywhere  found, 
and  that  the  safety  from  fires  was  much  greater  than  had  been 
the  case  befoi'e. 

This  pumping  station  was  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Marshall 
Square,  where  the  monument  to  the  Ninety-seventh  Eegiment  now 
stands.  In  1854  a  pumping  station  was  erected  at  Fern  Hill,  on 
the  Frazer  branch  of  the  railroad,  a  power  pump,  run  by  a  sta- 
tionary engine,  being  i)ut  in,  and  the  water  pumped  into  the  res- 
ervoir in  Marshall  Square.  In  1881-82  a  distributing  reservoir 
was  constructed  near  Fern  Hill  Station,  having  a  capacity  of  2,000,- 
000  gallons,  and  at  this  time  the  reservoir  in  Marshall  Square  was 
abandoned,  as  was  also  the  old  jtumping  station  in  the  square. 
A  new  Worthington  1,000,000  gallon  Cross  compound  engine  was 
put  in  at  Fern  Hill  at  this  time.  The  reservoir  at  Fern  Hill  Sta- 
tion is  102  feet  above  the  pumping  station,  the  distance  between 
the  two  points  being  31,000  feet,  and  the  main  leading  from  the 
pumping  station  to  the  reservoir  being  ten  inches  in  diameter.  In 
1891  an  extra  fifty  horse  power  boiler  was  put  in  at  Fern  Hill, 
and  in  1894  a  new  Barr  tandem  compound  engine,  capable  of  rais- 
ing 1,500,000  gallons  in  tAveuty-four  hours,  was  set  up.  The  two 
reservoii's  at  Fern  Hill  are  capable  of  holding  2,000,000  gallons 
of  water. 

About  one  mile  above  Fern  Hill  pumping  station  is  a  dam 
across  Chester  Ci'eek,  where  the  borough  owns  twenty-five  acres 
of  land,  the  lake  caused  by  this  dam  holding  about  7,000,000  gal- 
lons, and  being  for  use  in  emergencies.  It  was  formed  in  the 
spring  of  1893. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  S83 

The  Milltowu  Pumping  Station,  on  tlie  West  Cliester  and  Phil- 
adelphia Eoad,  is  three  miles  east  of  West  Chester.  The  settling- 
dam  here  is  fed  from  Chester  Creek,  by  a  race  600  feet  long.  The 
pumping  station  is  of  stone,  44x67|  feet  in  size,  the  double  engine  be- 
ing a  high  duty  Corliss  Cross  compound,  capable  of  raising  into  the 
reservoir,  which  is  13,000  feet  distant  and  elevated  above  the 
pumping  station  175  feet,  2,000,000  gallons  iu  twenty-four  hours. 
This  engine  was  put  in  in  1S97  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  station 
about  three  miles  above  this  plant  on  Chester  Creek.  The  settling 
pond  at  the  ililltown  Station  holds  3,500,000  gallons.  The  cost 
of  this  station,  together  with  its  equipment,  was  |41,000,  and  the 
main  connecting  this  station  with  the  reservoir,  which  is  about 
fifty  feet  above  the  average  level  of  the  city  of  West  Chester,  is 
twelve  inches  in  diameter,  and  there  is  a  main  leading  directly  to 
West  Chester  from  the  Milltown  Station,  fourteen  inches  in  diam- 
eter. 

The  original  plan  of  the  village  of  West  Chester  consisted  of 
four  squares,  with  two  principal  streets  crossing  in  the  center. 
Yet,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  these  streets  were  not  made  to 
cross  each  other  at  right  angles.  That  the  streets  should  run  at 
an  angle  with  the  meridian  of  longitude  and  pai'allel  of  latitude 
on  which  the  town  is  located  is  not  strange,  since  all  the  boundary 
lines  within  the  original  Chester  County,  including  Delaware,  run 
thus  obliquely,  the  same  remark  applying  to  the  boundary  lines 
of  farms  and  estates.  This  is  probably  to  be  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  the  Delaware  Eivei*,  along  the  front  of  William  Penn's 
province  of  Pennsylvania,  flows  iu  a  southwesterly  direction,  and 
the  lines  separating  the  several  Indian  purchases,  so  far  as  they 
were  thus  separated,  run  back  into  the  interior  generally  at  nearly 
right  angles  with  the  river.  Still,  it  would  seem  more  consonant 
with  all  ideas  of  taste  and  convenience  in  building  fences  and 
houses  to  have  the  main  streets  of  the  village  run  at  right  angles 
rather  than  at  obtuse  and  acute  angles. 


S84  CHESTER     COUNTY 

At  first  the  houses  were  built  close  to  the  street,  and  of  course 
those  so  built  iu  the  central  part  of  the  village  still  remain;  but 
in  1829  several  additional  streets  were  opened  up  and  new  squares 
formed,  and  it  was  then  that  those  building  houses  began  to  set 
them  back  from  the  street,  leaving  room  in  front  of  them  for  front 
yards  and  lawns.  This  was  a  great  imjirovement,  not  only  to  the 
appearance  of  the  village  itself,  but  also  to  the  convenience  and 
comfort  of  the  inhabitants,  for  it  gave  opportunity  to  plf^nt  trees 
iu  such  way  as  to  shade  pedestrians  from  the  scorching  rays  of 
the  summer  sun,  and  it  also  furnishes  opportunity  to  beautify  the 
streets  and  lawns  in  front  of  residences,  as  coiild  not  be  done  before. 

In  1838  a  second  enlargement  of  the  town  plat  was  made  from 
the  Matlock  property  on  the  northward  side,  the  addition  amount- 
ing to  several  streets  and  squares.  Not  long  afterward  a  similar 
addition  was  made  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  place,  on  the  old  Turk's 
Head  or  Patton  estate;  and  still  later  a  fourth  addition  was  made 
on  the  northwest  side  by  John  Rutter. 

In  1841  a  most  important  improvement  was  made,  though  of 
a  different  kind.  This  improvement  consisted  in  the  introduction 
of  good  water,  by  means  of  steam  power,  through  the  streets  of 
the  village,  from  the  fine  old  Bath  Spring  to  the  northward,  and 
in  order  to  secure  a  further  supply  of  A\ater,  works  were  established 
on  Chester  Creek  in  1854. 

In  the  way  of  recapitulating  early  events  in  the  history  of 
West  Chester  it  may  be  stated  that  the  municipality,  iu  1802,  es- 
tablished a  small  market-house  in  the  rear  of  the  public  offices, 
but  it  was  little  used,  owing  to  the  market  people  preferring  to 
call  upon  their  respective  customers  rather  than  to  wait  for  cus- 
tomers to  call  on  them.  In  1831  this  small  market-house  was  su- 
perseded by  a  larger  building  on  Market  Street,  which  was  about 
100  feet  long,  and  which  was  enlarged  from  time  to  time  during 
the  next  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  to  meet  the  increasing  de- 
mands of  trade. 


AXD     ['1\S     PEOPLE.  885 

The  first  foot  pavement  in  West  Chester  was  put  down  in 
1S09,  in  front  of  the  property  of  Dr.  William  Darlington,  rough 
flagstones  being  used,  bricks  not  having  then  made  their  appear- 
ance in  the  borough  or  its  vicinity.  Ephraim  Buffingtou  imme- 
diately followed  the  example  thus  set,  and  he  in  turn  was  followed 
by  William  Hemphill,  who  procui'ed  bricks  for  his  pavement  from 
abroad,  and  was  thus  the  first  to  put  down  a  brick  foot  pavement  of 
any  in  the  town.  Mr.  Hemphill's  dwelling  was  on  High  Street, 
where  afterward  was  erected  the  Bank  of  Chester  County.  Few 
followed  these  examples  until  the  corporation,  in  1823,  began  to 
build  sidewalks,  bricks  being  used  generally,  if  not  wholly.  In 
1S29  and  1830  the  two  principal  streets  were  macadamized.  Gay 
and  Church  Streets,  and  good  crossings  provided.  By  1857  almost 
all  the  sidewalks  were  well  paved  with  brick,  and  the  streets 
greatly  improved. 

Marshall  Square. — A  valuable  improvement  was  begun  in 
1818,  in  the  addition  of  a  park  to  the  city's  attractions.  This  im- 
provement was  made  in  pursiuxuce  of  the  following  ordinance 
I)assed  b.y  the  borough  autliorities: 

Whereas,  It  has  been  deemed  expedient  and  proper  to  im- 
prove tlie  public  square,  on  which  the  upper  reservoir  connected 
with  the  waterworks  of  the  borough  is  situated,  by  laying  out 
the  same  in  suitable  walks,  and  introducing  various  oi*namental 
trees  and  shrubben';  and,  whereas,  it  will  be  convenient  and 
necessary  to  designate  the  said  square  by  some  appropriate  name; 
and,  whereas,  the  late  Humphrey  Marshall,  of  Chester  County, 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  horticulturists  and  botanists 
of  onr  county,  having  established  the  second  botanic  garden  in 
this  Eepublic,  and  also  prepared  and  published  the  first  treatise 
on  the  forest  trees  and  shrubs  of  the  United  States,  and  diffused 
a  taste  for  botanical  science,  which  entitles  his  memory  to  the 
lasting  respect  of  his  countrymen;  therefore 

"Resolved,  By  the  Burgesses  and  Assistant  Burgesses  of  the 
Borough  of  West  Chester,  in  council  assembled,  That  the  Public 


886  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Square,  aforesaid,  shall  forever  hereafter  be  desiouated  aud 
known  by  the  name  of  'The  Marshall  Square,'  in  commemoration 
of  the  exemplary  character  and  scientific  labors  of  our  dis- 
tinguished fellow-citizen,  the  late  Humphrey  Marshall,  of  West 
Bradford  Township,  Chester  County. 

"Passed  March  13,  1848." 

Marshall  Square  contains  about  five  and  a  half  acres  of 
ground,  and  is  well  filled  with  ornamental  trees  of  many  kinds, 
around  and  among  which  are  fine  gravel  walks  and  drives.  It 
was  opened  to  the  public  in  1857,  and  at  once  became  a  popular 
pleasure  resort  for  the  people  of  the  place,  and  a  most  interesting 
and  attractive  feature  of  the  outskirts  of  the  town. 

In  18.52  a  company  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  introducing 
gas  into  the  city,  and  from  that  time  on  to  the  present  time  this 
pleasant  light  has  been  in  constant  use. 

On  the  northwest  corner  of  Marshall  Square  stands  a  fine 
monument  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Ninety-seventh  Pennsylvania 
Regiment,  which  was  dedicated  October  29,  1887.  A  large  num- 
ber of  persons  wa.s  present  on  this  occasion,  as  was  also  a  large 
number  of  military  and  other  organizations  from  Chester  aud 
surrounding  counties.  The  monument  itself  is  fifty  feet  high 
from  the  bottom  of  the  first  base  stone  to  the  top  of  the  soldier's 
head.  It  is  of  Eyegate  granite,  from  South  Kj'egate,  Vermont. 
Its  construction  is  as  follows: 

Bases — 1st.     12  feet  square  by  1  foot  thick. 

2nd.     10  feet  4  inches  square,  by  1  foot  thick. 
3rd.       8  feet  8  inches  square,  by  1  foot  thick. 
4th.       7  feet  2  inches  square,  by  1  foot  thick. 

Plinths — 1st.     0  feet  square  with  molding  on  top,  2  feet  thick. 
2nd.     5  feet  4  inches    square,  by  1  foot   thick,  cut 
with  bases  to  relieve  the  columns. 

The  die  is  a  polished  stone  3  feet  4  inches  square  and  4  feet 
high,  with  columns  at  the  four  corners,  and  on  the  four  sides  of 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  887 

the  die  are  appropriate  iuscriptions,  the  east  side  bearing  the 
names  of  the  field  aud  staff  officers  at  the  time  of  the  organization 
of  tlie  regiment,  as  follows: 

Colonel,  Henry  E.  Gnss;  Lieut.-Col.,  Augustus  P.  Duer;  Major, 
Galusha  Pennvpaoker;  t<urgeon,  John  R.  Everhart,  M.  D.;  Asst. 
Sur.,  George  ^V.  Miller,  M.  D.;  Adjutant,  Henry  W.  Carruthers; 
Quartermaster,  David  Jones;  Chaplain,  IJev.  'William  E.  White- 
head. 

The  following  statistics  of  the  regiment  are  interesting  in 
this  connection: 


Total  number  of  volunteers  in  1861 1,089 

Total  number  of  drafted  men  and  substitutes 995 


Total  number  of  men  that  belonged  to  the  regiment . .  2,084 

Number  killed  in  action 09 

Xumber  that  died  of  wounds 71 

Number  that  died  of  disease 160 


Total  number  of  deaths 306 

Number  that  resigned   32 

Number  discharged  during  period  of  service 502 

Number  discharged  at  expiration  of  service 267 

Number  transferred 98 

Number  that  deserted 151 

Number  not  on  muster  roll 15 

Total    1,065 

Number  mustered    713 

Total 2,084 

The  money  with  which  this  monument  was  erected  was  raised 
entirely  within  the  members  of  the  regiment,  the  fund  being  com- 
menced while  the  men  were  yet  in  the  service,  and  accrued  from 


888  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  percentage  leA-ied  upon  the  sutler  for  the  benefit  of  the  regi- 
ment. On  June  23,  1SG4,  this  fund  amounted  to  |1,(S00,  and  a 
committee  appointed  to  complete  the  fund,  on  April  7,  1867,  con- 
tinued their  labors  until  3  88(5,  when  it  amounted  to  .|5,000,  and  it 
was  then  decided  to  erect  the  monument.  In  this  year  the 
borough  council  of  West  Chester  gave  the  association  the  north- 
west corner  of  Marshall  Square,  upon  which  to  erect  the  monu- 
ment, and  there  it  was  erected,  and  dedicated  as  above  narrated. 
In  1852  a  company  was  formed  with  the  view  of  establishing 
a  convenient  and  beautiful  place  for  the  repose  of  the  dead.  The 
location  selected  is  about  a.  mile  and  a  half  north  of  the  village, 
and  is  known  as  Oaklands  Cemetery.  Drives  and  walks  were  laid 
out  through  the  ground  and  graded,  and  other  improvements  were 
made  by  an  engineer  of  taste  and  skill,  and  the  cemetery  was 
dedicated  December  10,  18.j3.  A  considerable  company  was  in 
attendance,  and  the  services  were  both  impressive  and  interesting, 
the  principal  address  being  made  by  the  Honorable  Samuel  Rush. 
The  dedication  ode  was  written  by  George  W.  Pearce,  and  was 
as  folloAvs: 

DEDICATION  ODE. 

"Solemn  and  slow,  with  measured  tread, 
We  come  to  hallow  for  the  dead, 

A  calm  and  holy  fame; 
Where  sweet  and  undisturbed  repose 
;  Shall  o'er  the  weary  pilgrim  close. 

When  DeatJi  shall  round  him  reign. 

"Those  arching  trees  and  shadowy  dells. 
Where  nature's  purest  beauty  dwells, 

A  scene  of  tranquil  bliss, 
We  consecrate  by  rite  and  prayer, 
To  human  love,  affection's  tear. 

The  last,  the  parting  kiss. 


AND     IT8     PEOPLE.  889 

"O  sacred  be  this  spot  of  earth! 
From  foot  profane  and  idle  mirth, 

We  ask  it  to  be  pure; 
For  here  shall  molder  into  dust 
The  good,  the  brave,  the  meek,  the  just. 

The  noble,  the  obscure. 

"When  death  has  beat  his  signal  drum. 
Hither  the  sable  train  shall  come. 

To  giA'e  the  sleeper  rest; 
While  out  from  yonder  village  towers 
The  knell  shall  float,  like  passing  hours. 

And  die  amid  the  West. 

"Here  shall  the  living  heart  repair. 
When  the  full  tide  of  woe  is  there, 

To  pour  its  note  of  wail;  , 

And  chasten'd  and  subdued  by  grief, 
Bhall  drink  those  draughts  of  sweet  relief. 

From  streams  that  never  fail. 

"Amid  the  Winter's  blighting  breath, . 
With  Faith's  uplifted  eye,  in  Death, 

These  sylvan  shades  we  give. 
And  wait  the  summons  that  shall  call 
From  forth  its  dark  and  gloomy  pall 

The  prisoned  clay  to  live." 

Like  all  wide-awake  villages  and  towns,  West  Chester  very 
early  appreciated  the  fact  that  there  was  danger  of  loss  by  fire, 
and  so,  in  1797,  organized  the  West  Chester  Fire  Company,  which 
had  its  engine  house  at  No.  26  North  Church  Street,  and  held  its 
meetings  on  the  last  Satux'dayj)f  each  month.  This  one  company 
appeared  to  be  sufflcieut  until  1833,  when  the  Good  Will  Fire  Com- 
pany  was  organized,  and  was  incorporated  in  1846.     In  1857  it  had 


890  CHESTER     COUNTY 

its  engine  house  at  No.  44  North  Church  Street,  aud  held  its  meet- 
ings on  the  last  Saturday  evening  of  January,  March  and  May,  each 
year. 

In  1838  the  Fame  Fire  Company  was  organized,  aud  incorpo- 
rated July  29,  1852,  the  date  of  organization  being  February  22, 
1838.  In  1857  the  engine-house  of  this  company  was  at  No.  49  East 
Market  Street,  and  its  meetings  were  held  on  the  second  Saturday 
evening  of  each  month.  This  company  celebrated  the  sixtieth 
anniversary  of  its  organization  Februai'y  22,  1898,  the  committee 
on  banquet  being  John  C.  Heed,  Edward  Briuton,  O.  F.  Grolf, 
Harry  G.  Johnson  and  William  Cudlipp. 

The  West  Chester  Board  of  Trade  was  organized  as  a  result 
of  several  meetings  held  in  November,  1887,  the  first  of  these 
meetings  being  held  ou  the  16th  of  the  month.  The  president 
of  these  preliminarj-  meetings  was  Marshall  S.  Way;  the  vice-pi'esi- 
deuts,  Herbert  P.  Woi"th  and  George  Achelis,  and  the  secretary 
Eobert  G.  Dock.  The  organization  of  the  Board  was  effected  No- 
vember 30,  with  the  following  officers:  Thomas  Hoopes,  presi- 
dent; Joseph  W.  Barnard  and  Marshall  S.  Way,  vice-presidents; 
David  E.  Allen,  secretary^,  and  L.  Cary  Carver,  treasurer.  The  di- 
rectors were  Frank  P.  Darlington,  A.  D.  Sharpless,  Plummer  E. 
Jefferis,  Abner  Hoopes,  D.  M.  McFarland,  Herbert  P.  Worth, 
V\'illiam  P.  Sharpless,  Charles  W^.  ISoberts  and  Marshall  B.  Matlack. 

For  some  time  meetings  were  held  in  the  council  chamber, 
then  in  the  Moore  building  ou  Market  Street.  In  its  earlier  years 
the  organization  held  its  meetings  regularly  each  month,  that  is, 
the  directors  of  tlie  board,  but  the  entire  body  came  together  only 
on  special  occasions.  In  recent  years  the  directors  have  held  their 
meetings  only  on  special  occasions.  During  the  existence  of  the 
board  it  has,  in  an  indirect  Avaj',  aided  several  industries  to  locate 
in  West  Chester,  but  its  principal  function  has  been  to  investigate 
the  financial  standing  of  such  industries  as  might  appear  to  desire 
to  locate  in  this  citv,  and  to  recommend  to  the  business  men  and 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  891 

capitalists  those  that  were,  after  such  iuvestigatiou,  considered 
wortJiy  of  encouragemeut.  It  lias  published  pamphlets,  setting 
forth  the  advantages  of  West  Chester  as  an  industrial  center,  and 
as  a  place  of  residence,  and  on  one  occasion  brought  a  large  num- 
ber of  people  from  Philadelphia  to  make  an  investigation  of  these 
advantages.  It  originated  the  movement  that  led  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  manual  training  in  the  public  schools  of  the  town,  and 
raised  a  fund  bv  subscription  to  aid  in  macadamizing  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  road  from  West  Chester  to  Paoli,  called  the 
Paoli  Eoad.  On  several  occasions  it  has  carried  advertisements  of 
the  city  in  such  publications  as  the  North  American  Beview. 

While  of  recent  years  it  canuot  be  said  to  have  been  as  active 
as  when  first  organized,  which  is  in  part  owing  to  the  discourage- 
ments to  all  classes  of  business  caused  by  the  depression  of  1893- 
97,  yet  it  continues,  whenever  occasion  presents  itself,  to  aid  in 
the  establishment  of  such  industries  as  possess  merit,  and  to  pro- 
mote their  prosperity,  though  not  to  the  extent  of  advancing  fuxids 
to  any  great  extent. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Board  of  Trade  are  as  follows: 
Marshall  B.  Way,  president;  Frank  P.  Darlington  and  Jerome  B. 
Gray,  vice-presidents;  Herbert  P.  Worth,  secretary,  and  I.  Gary 
Carver,  treasurer. 

The  West  Chester  Library  Association  was  organized  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1873,  and  was  incorporated  about  the  same  time.  Dur- 
ing the  first  year  there  were  101  stockholders,  representing  |1,160, 
which  sum  was  invested  in  books,  and  on  February  22,  1898,  when 
the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  was  held,  there  were  272  stockholders. 
At  first  the  annual  dues  of  stockholders  were  |3  per  year,  and  of 
subscribers,  |5  per  annum ;  but  there  was  only  one  small  room  used 
and  no  employe  except  the  librarian,  so  that  the  expenses  were 
light.  Later  tbe  dues  were  reduced,  of  stockholders  to  |1  per  an- 
num, and  of  subscribers  to  |3  per  year.  When  the  room  at  first 
occupied  was  needed  by  its  owner,  the  lot  on  which  the  present 


892  CHESTER     COUNTY 

building  stands  was  presented  to  the  association  by  Mrs.  Hannah 
M.  Darlington,  the  deed  being  dated  September  15,  1886.  The 
building  was  almost  immediately  afterward  erected,  and  cost 
$6,000. 

As  to  the  usefulness  of  the  library,  the  following  facts  are 
indicative:  In  1887,  the  first  year  of  the  occupancy  of  the  present 
building,  the  number  of  books  taken  out  was  5,970,  while  in  1895 
the  number  had  increased  to  12,380.  The  niimber  of  I'eaders  in 
1887  was  896,  while  in  1895  this  number  had' increased  to  6,011. 
There  are  now  somewhat  more  than  3,000  volumes  in  the  library, 
and  the  association  subscribes  for  from  fifteen  to  twenty  periodi- 
cals. The  expense  of  running  the  library  is  now  about  .$1,200  per 
annum. 

At  the  time  of  the  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  the  organization  of  the  association,  a  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Capt.  R.  T.  Cornwell,  Frank  P.  Darlington  and  John 
J.  Piukerton,  whose  special  duty  it  was  to  consult  with  the  board 
of  managers  as  to  the  future  of  the  association  and  the  library. 

A  few  weeks  later  the  borough  council  of  West  Chester  offered 
to  appropriate  $1,500  per  annum  toward  the  maintenance  of  the 
library,  provided  the  library  were  made  free  to  all  residents  of 
\Ye.st  Chester,  and  on  June  0,  1898,  at  a  meeting  held  to  consider 
the  matter  the  offer  of  the  council  was  accepted  in  such  a  way  as 
to  preserve  the  identity  of  the  management.  At  this  meeting  the 
following  officers  were  elected:  President,  Mrs.  liachel  L.  Price; 
vice-president.  Miss  Margaret  G.  Townsend;  secretary,  Miss  Han- 
nah A.  Marshall;  treasurer,  Mrs.  William  P.  Darlington.  Six  di- 
rectors were  elected  as  follows:  Mrs.  Thomas  Baird,  Mrs.  John 
R.  Gilpin,  Miss  Sallie  D.  House,  Mrs.  William  S.  Kirk,  Mrs.  Richard 
G.  Park,  and  Mrs.  Joseph  T.  Rothrock. 

The  West  Chester  Philosophical  Society  was  organized  about 
1878,  through  the  active  efforts  of  Dr.  John  R.  McClure,  Joseph  J. 
Lewis  and  Charles  H.  Pennj-packer.     In    its    membership  it  has 


AAW     ITS     PEOPLE.  893 

numbered  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  bar,  the  judges  of  the 
cour-ts,  and  the  ministers  of  the  various  churches,  and  many  elo- 
quent and  able  lectures  have  been  delivered  before  it,  by  various 
gentlemen  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Each  lecture  has  been 
followed  by  a  discussion,  because  it  has  a  free  platform,  open  for 
the  discussion  of  every  phase  of  every  subject.  Both  men  and 
women  are  admitted  to  membership,  and  its  meetings  are  held 
on  every  Thursday  evening,  during  nine  months  of  the  year. 

Marshall  S.  Way,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  popular  citi- 
zens of  West  Chester,  is  a  lifelong  resident  of  the  borough,  being 
bom  in  the  house  in  which  he  now  resides.  He  is  one  of  the  citi- 
zens who  has  always  been  proud  of  his  native  town,  and  has  striven 
for  its  welfare,  always  being  identified  with  any  step  toward  its 
progress  and  further  development.  He  started  business  as  a  clerk 
in  the  hardware  and  groceiw  store  of  Wood  &  Fairlamb,  in  the  old 
Townsend  property,  corner  of  Gay  and  High  Streets,  and  in  a  few 
years,  with  T.  Elwood  Townsend,  bought  out  the  business.  From 
the  grocery  business  Mr.  AVay  turned  his  attention  to  the  coal  and 
lumber  business,  and  in  1867  was  one  of  the  partners  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  coal  and  lumber  yard  of  Shoemaker  &  liobisou,  in 
which  business  he  later  became  associated  with  his  brother,  Sam- 
uel E.  Way,  under  the  name  of  Way  Brothers. 

In  1877  Mr.  Way  started  his  real  estate  and  loan  business, 
which,  together  with  insurance,  he  has  followed  to  this  time,  and 
the  success  attained  in  these  lines  has  made  him  well  known 
throughout  Chester  County  as  one  of  its  successful  business  men. 

A  Republican  in  politics,  he  was  admitted  to  the  borough 
council  in  1885,  and  in  the  following  year  was  elected  Chief  Burgess 
of  West  Chester,  a  position  which  he  held  by  successive  yearly 
elections  until  the  spring  of  1897,  when  an  Act  of  Legislature  went 
into  effect  electing  the  Chief  Burgess  for  a  term  of  three  years  and 
not  allowing  him  to  succeed  himself.  Mr.  Way  is  justly  recog- 
nized as  having  been  one  of  the  best  and  most  progressive  chief 


894  CHESTER     COUNTY 

officials  of  West  Chester,  and  perhaps  there  never  was  a  more 
popular  candidate  to  run  for  the  office,  and  in  his  party  no  opposi- 
tion was  ever  presented  against  him  for  the  office  of  chief  executive 
of  the  borough. 

December  25,  1867,  he  married  Miss  Anna  E.  Smedley,  and  to 
them  have  been  born  two  sous,  viz.,  Marshall  Warren  and  Chan- 
ning. 

Mr.  Way  is  a  busy  man,  for,  in  addition  to  the  care  and  over- 
sight of  his  large  office  business,  he  is  vice-president  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  West  Chester,  a  director  and  member  of  the 
adjusting  committee  of  the  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
Chester  County,  a  trustee  of  the  State  Normal  School  of  West 
Chester,  and  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Assembly  Association  of 
West  Chester. 

The  Jacobs  family,  of  which  Mr.  Francis  Jacobs  is  a  member, 
and  of  whose  father  a  portrait  is  herewith  presented,  is  one  of  the 
most  ancient  and  distinguished  of  Chester  County.  The  founder 
of  this  family  in  America  was  John  Jacobs  of  Perkiomen,  who, 
together  with  his  brother,  Richard,  came  to  America  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  II  and  settled  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  in 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year  in  which  William  Penn  obtained  his 
grant,  1681.  John  and  Eichard  Jacobs  were  young  Quakers,  and 
came  from  England  near  the  border  of  Wales,  and  may  have  been 
in  fact  Welshmen.  Upon  arriving  in  the  proviuce  they  held 
patents  for  land  from  William  Penn,  which  land  they  located  in 
what  is  now  Montgomery  County.  John  settled  on  the  Perkiomen, 
and  Richard  on  the  Schuylkill.  John  had  six  children,  four  sons 
and  two  daug'hters. 

One  of  these  four  sons  Avas  named  John.  He  married  Mary 
Hayes,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children,  as  follows:  John,  Richard, 
Israel,  Joseph,  Benjamin,  Elizabeth,  Hannah,  Mary,  Isaac  and 
Jesse.  Of  these,  John,  born  in  1722,  died  in  1782,  was  in  the 
direct  line  of  descent  to  Francis  Jacobs.     He  maiTied  Elizabeth 


AXD     /7'.S'     PEOPLE.  895 

Havanl.  Hannah,  the  seventh  of  the  above  family,  niarried  David 
Eittenhoiise,  the  famous  mathematician  of  the  early  history  of  this 
country.  Israel,  the  third  of  the  family,  was  a  member  of  Con- 
gress in  1778.  Jesse,  the  youngest,  was  a  soldier  during  the  Eevo- 
lutionary  War,  was  at  the  battle  of  <Vdars,  the  taking  of  Bur- 
goyne,  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  at  the  battle  of  Braudywine, 
joined  the  Maryland  brigade,  was  at  the  battle  of  Camden,  at  the 
battle  of  Guilford  Court-house,  at  the  battle  of  Cowpens,  at  the 
battle  of  Eutaw  Spnngs,  and  would  have  been  at  the  siirrender 
of  Oornwallis  but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  taken  ill  on  the  march. 
He  held  a  captain's  commission  and  died  a  bachelor.  Isaac  was 
a  Quaker  preacher. 

The  children  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Havard)  Jacobs  were 
four  in  number,  viz.,  Benjamin,  Hannah,  John  and  Sarah.  John 
and  Elizabeth  Jacobs  lived  on  what  was  known  as  "Solitude 
Farm,"  in  the  Great  Valley.  John  was  a  member  of  Council  under 
the  British  Government  for  sixteen  years  in  succession,  and  was 
the  representative  of  his  county.  When  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion broke  out  he  became  a  violent  Whig,  and  this  drew  upon  him 
the  vengeance  of  the  Tories,  his  house  becoming  a  target  for 
British  cannon  under  General  Knyphausen,  whose  soldiers  were 
encamped  on  South  Valley  Hill.  The  light-horse  tried  to  capture 
him,  but  he  fled  to  the  woods,  where  they  dared  not  follow  for  fear 
of  ambush. 

His  son,  John  Jacobs,  from  whom  these  notes  are  taken,  drew 
for  General  Washington  a  draft  of  the  surrounding  country,  when 
encamped  at  Valley  Forge.  He  procured  commissions  for  several 
young  men  in  the  army,  for  his  brother,  Jesse  Jacobs,  for  John 
McClellan,  Benjamin  Bartliolomew,  John  Davis  and  Colonel  Hum- 
phreys. He  was  speaker  of  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  which  began  its  sittings  in  Phila- 
delphia, November  28,  1776.  AVhile  in  the  performance  of  his 
duties  his  health  failed,  and  he  was  taken  home  by  his  son,  John 
53 


896  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Jacobs,  and  died  in  1782.     He  bad  four  obiklren,  two  sons  and 
two  daniibters,  Jobn,  Benjamin,  Hannab  and  Sarab. 

Jobn  Jacobs,  eklest  son  of  tbe  above,  married  Mary  Brinton, 
daugbter  of  Tlioma.s  Hill  Brinton  of  Dilwortbtown,  Cbester 
County.  During  tbe  Revolutionary  War  be  bauled  wounded  sol- 
diers to  Lancaster  Hospital,  and  also  Continental  money.  His 
brotber  Benjamin  was  one  of  tbe  signers  of  tbe  (Continental  money. 
He  was  born  in  1757  and  died  in  1846,  bis  wife,  Mary  Brinton,  being 
born  in  1767  and  died  in  1848.  Tbey  were  tbe  parents  of  nine  cbil- 
dren,  viz.:  Pbebe  B.,Elizabetb,  Sarab,  Tbomas  Hill  Brinton,  Cbristi- 
ana,  George,  Jobn,  Josepb  Brinton  and  Brinton.  Of  tbese  cbildren 
Josepb  Brinton  Jacobs  married  Ann  Bowen.  He  was  born  in  179S 
and  died  in  1861,  and  sbe  died  in  1870. 

Josepb  Brinton  Jacobs  and  Ann,  bis  wife,  bad  live  cbildren, 
viz.:  Mary  B.;  Jane  Bowen,  Francis,  Emily  and  Kicbard  Brinton. 
Josepb  Brinton  Jacobs  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  bis  county,  was 
a  stancb  Wbig  and  was  always  identified  witli  tbe  old  Wliig  and 
modem  Republican  party.  He  was  bigbly  bonored  by  bis  fellow- 
citizens,  took  part  in  all  public  movements  desianed  to  benefit 
tbe  community  at  large  and  was  elected  to  several  of  tbe  town- 
sbip  offices.  In  1835  be  was  elected  county  treasurer,  and  served 
two  years.  He  lived  in  Cbester  Valley,  and  during  bis  life  was 
esteemed  for  bis  public  spirit  and  bigb-toued  moral  cbarcter. 
Wben  he  died  be  was  mourned  by  a  large  circle  of  relatives  and 
friends. 

Francis  Jacobs,  of  West  Cbester,  Pa.,  is  tbe  tbird  cbild  of  Josepb 
Brinton  and  Ann  (Bowen)  Jacobs.  Previous  to  bis  removal  to  West 
Cbester  be  was  engaged  in  the  iron  commission  business  in  Pbila- 
deli^bia.  He  is  one  of  tbe  directors  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
-West  Cbester.  •  During  tbe  Civil  War  be  was  actively  engaged  in 
filling  the  different  drafts  made  by  tbe  military  authorities  for 
tbe  Union  army,  on  his  township.  East  Wbiteland,  from  which 
township  numerous  young  men  had  volunteered,  and  which  had 


AXD     ITS    PEOPLE.  897 

the  credit  of  being  the  first  township  in  the  county  to  fill  its 
quotas.  Mr.  Jacobs  is  at  present  residing  in  the  city  of  West 
Chester. 

He  married  Jane  Brinton  .Johnson,  daughter  of  Edward  and 
Ruth  P.  .Johnson,  of  Philadelphia.  Francis  Jacobs  and  his  wife 
have  tlie  following  children:  Carrol  Brinton  Jacobs,  an  attorney 
at  law  of  West  Chester;  Florence  Bowen  .Jacobs,  living  at  home, 
and  Francis  Brinton  Jacobs,  a  medical  student. 

The  Chester  County  Hospital  was  incorporated  in  1892  as  the 
West  Chester  Hospital,  under  an  act  of  Assembly,  approved  April 
29,  1874,  the  name  being  changed  to  the  Chester  County  Hospital, 
under  a  decree  of  tlie  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  made  August  7, 1893. 
The  corporation  has  no  capital  stock,  and  its  yearly  income,  other 
than  from  real  estate,  was  limited  to  |100,000.  The  board  of  man- 
agers consists  of  fifteen  members,  those  for  the  first  year  having 
been  William  P.  Sharpless,  Dr.  J.  T.  Bothrock,  Miss  M.  G.  Town- 
send,  William  Seattergood,  Dr.  George  M.  Philips,  George  B, 
Thomas,  Lydia  W.  House,  E.  T.  Cornwell,  Miss  Mary  H.  Hartshorne 
and  Thomas  B.  Taylor,  all  of  West  ('hester;  J.  Preston  Thomas, 
^^'hitford;  Mrs.  Bichard  Darlington,  East  Bradford;  Mrs.  C.  W. 
Eoberts,  East  Bradford;  Bichard  G.  Parke,  Wesr  Goshen,  and  Dr. 
T.  E.  Parke,  Downingtowu.  On  .June  2,  1898,  an  act  was  passed  by 
the  Assembly,  making  an  appropriation  of  .f  5,000,  or  so  much  there- 
of as  might  be  necessary,  for  the  completion  of  the  building,  and  of 
f2,000,  or  s<j  much  thereof  as  might  be  necessary,  for  the  furnish- 
ing of  the  building.  This  hospital  is  open  to  all  classes  of  patients 
without  regard  t(j  pecuniarj-  conditions,  color  or  creed,  so  long  as 
there  is  accommodation  for  the  applicant.  The  coi-poration  is  com- 
posed of  three  classes  of  membei's: 

First — Life  members,  or  those  who  pay  in  cash  to  the  treas- 
urer flOO  or  more. 

Second — Perpetual  members,  or  suth  institutions  or  com- 
panies incorporated  or  organized  under  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania, 


898  CHESTER     COUNTY 

and  iiniucorporated  companies  or  firms,  as  pay  to  the  treasurer 
flOO;  and 

Third — Annual  members,  or  such  institutions  or  comjjanies 
incorporated  or  unincorporated,  firn\s  and  persons,  as  pay  annually 
to  the  treasurer  the  sum  of  tive  dollars. 

A  contribution  of  |2,500  constitutes  the  endowment  of  a  per- 
petual bed. 

The  property  purchased  upon  which  to  erect  the  hospital 
buildings  was  located  on  the  northwest  side  of  Marshall  Square, 
375  feet  front,  and  175  feet  deep.  It  had  belonoed  to  Mr.  T.  P. 
Apple,  and  the  purchase  price  was  |4,000,  of  which  Mr.  Apple 
donated  |200.  The  erection  of  the  building  was  commenced  im- 
mediately after  the  purchase  was  made,  the  contract  having  been 
given  to  Mr.  William  Burns,  and  ground  was  broken  October  1, 
1892.  On  February  28,  1893,  the  board  of  managers  held  their 
first  meeting  in  the  building.  On  March  1,  1893,  Miss  Mary  (i. 
Marshall,  head  nurse  and  superintendent,  took  charge  of  the  hos- 
pital, and  on  the  same  day  the  first  patient  was  received.  l»ui- 
ing  the  first  three  months  there  were  received  twenty-three 
patients.  Numerous  donations  were  made  to  the  hospital  during 
its  first  year,  in  money  and  necessary  articles,  the  largest  one 
being  .i?G,000  in  money  by  Mrs.  Henry  P.  Morris,  for  the  endowment 
in  perpetuity  of  a  ijrivate  room  as  a  memorial  of  her  husband. 

The  main  building  was  completed  in  December,  1893,  and  oc- 
cupied during  the  month,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  twenty  beds  in 
the  wards  and  four  private  rooms  were  in  readiness.  Miss  Mary  G. 
Marshall  resigned  her  position  on  March  1,  1893,  as  also  did  Miss 
Marian  Pusey,  assistant  nurse.  Mrs.  Tola  L.  Car))euter,  a  gradu- 
ate of  tlie  Philadelphia  Hosi^ital,  succeeded  to  the  position  of  head 
nurse  and  superintendent.  During  the  first  A'ear  there  were  en- 
dowed four  beds,  by  Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Bull,  Miss  Anne  Bull,  Mrs. 
Mary  T.  .Jones,  and  Mrs.  James  C.  Smith,  respectively.  The  build- 
ing fund  was  increased  through  the  efforts  of  the  Dailv  Local 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  899 

News,  whirl]  tliroiigh  an  advertisement  iu  its  columns  raised  the 
sum  of  •'if  1,400,  iu  recognitiou  of  which,  assistance  a  bed  received 
the  name  of  the  Daily  Local  News  bed.  The  average  expense  of 
maintaining  the  hospital  diirlng'  its  first  year  was  |250  per  month. 

During  the  year  ending  June  1,  1895,  there  were  received  273 
patients,  122  operations  were  performed,  and  sixteen  deaths 
occuri'ed.  St.  Agnes'  Catholic  Church  contributed  •'ii!729.55,  a  single 
(Sunday's  offering,  and  the  Fame  Fire  Company  of  ^Yest  Chester 
provided  an  ambulance,  which  made  its  first  trip  iu  September, 
1894,  and  during  the  i*emainder  of  the  year  ending  June  1,  1895, 
conveyed  sixty-four  patients.  In  April,  1895,  IVfrs.  lola  T.  Carpen- 
ter resigned  her  position,  and  was  succeeded  by  Miss  Marion 
Forde,  a  graduate  of  Johns  Hopkins  Training  School.  During  the 
year  tlie  Women's  Auxiliary  raised  for  the  use  of  the  hospital 
11,950.72. 

During  the  year  ending  June  1,  1890,  Mrs.  Sarah  T.  Johnson 
of  Philadelphia  endowed  and  furnished  a  ]n'ivate  room  in  memory 
of  her  husband,  and  a  legacy  of  |1,000  was  left  by  Miss  Sarah  S. 
Scattergood.  Many  other  donations  were  made,  and  the  endow- 
ment fund  then  invested  in  the  name  of  the  hospital  amounted  to 
123,000.  In  August,  1895,  Miss  Marion  Forde  resigned  her  posi- 
tion, and  was  succeeded  by  Miss  Julie  King.  In  July,  1895,  Mrs. 
Sarah  11.  Bull  and  Ifev.  William  L.  Bull  of  Whitford,  Cliester 
County,  offered  to  erect  an  annex  ward  to  the  hos])ital  in  memory 
of  their  daughter  and  sister.  Miss  Anne  Bull,  which  offer  was  ac- 
cepted, and  in  October  of  tlie  same  year  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bull  made 
the  gift  of  a  secoud  annex,  similar  to  the  first,  to  be  erected  as  a 
memorial  to  Mrs.  Bull's  sister.  Miss  Jane  Thomas.  By  the  gift  of 
•112,000  the  board  of  managers  found  themselves  in  a  position  to 
carry  out  the  original  plan  of  finishing  the  hospital,  witli  a  large 
central  building,  and  a  wing  at  each  side.  The  average  sum  neces- 
sary to  maintain  the  hospital  had  increased  to  between  .f600  and 
•1700  per  month,  toward  whicli  the  state  granted  .f270  per  month. 


900  CHESTER     COUXTY 

And  the  Women's  Auxiliarj-  continued  to  be  of  <ireat  assistance  to 
the  institution,  particularly  in  the  way  of  securing  the  means  of 
support. 

Tlie  increase  in  the  usefulness  of  the  hospital  is  seen  by  the 
statement  that  during  the  first  year  there  were  received  139  pa- 
tients; the  second  year,  232;  the  third  year,  292,  and  the  fourth 
year,  445.  In  April,  1897,  a  clinical  and  bacteriological  laboratory 
was  established  through  the  generosity  of  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Dunn, 
who  was  in  fact  the  originator  of  the  hospital,  and  a  small  build- 
ing was  erected  for  the  reception  of  such  cases  as  required  isola- 
tion. 

During  the  year  ending  June  1,  1898,  there  were  received  into 
the  hospital  wards  557  cases,  and  besides  these  60  occupied  private 
rooms,  nmking  a  total  of  (!17  i>ersous  received  in  the  hospital.  In 
April,  1898,  Kev.  William  L.  Bull  offered  tO'  present  to  the  hospital 
a  building  for  a  nurses'  home,  and  as  a  memorial  to  his  mother, 
Mrs.  Sarah  E.  Bull,  deceased,  who  had  intended  to  make  the  dona- 
tion herself.  This  generous  offer  was  accepted,  and  ground  was 
purchased  bade  of  the  property  on  which  to  erect  the  building. 
The  Women's  Auxiliai'y  contributed  to  the  treasury  f3,624  during 
the  year.  Mrs.  H.  P.  Xorris  offered  to  endow  a  bed  in  memory  of 
Miss  Virginia  Norwood,  which  offer  was  gratefully  accepted. 

After  the  declaration  of  war  with  Spain  the  board  of  man- 
agers offered  to  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  the  resources  of 
the  hospital  for  use  in  caring  for  such  sick  or  wounded  soldiers  as 
might  be  in  need  of  aid. 

The  treasurer's  report  for  the  year  ending  June  15,  189S, 
showed  that  the  expenses  of  the  institution  had  been  |18,555.42. 

The  officers  of  the  hospital  have  been  from  the  first,  Mr.  R.  T. 
Cornwell,  president;  Miss  M.  G.  Townseud,  secretary,  and  William 
P.  Sharpless,  treasui'er. 

This  institution  is  one  in  Avhich  all  the  people  of  Chester 
County  take  great  pride,  as  it  is  of  increasing  usefulness,  and  i.s 


AND     /^/VV     PLOPLE.  901 

well  appoiuted  in  every  respect,  and  most  excellently  managed. 
The  one  necessity  remaining  to  be  supplied  is  a  comfortable  annex 
or  ward  for  those  afflicted  with  contagious  diseases,  who  noAV 
have  to  be  taken  to  the  county  almshouse. 

During  the  year  1892-93  a  Women's  Hospital  Auxiliary  Soci- 
ety was  formed,  the  membership  of  which  extends  over  the  county. 
Local  branches  were  organized  in  different  parts  of  the  county, 
that  at  Kennett  Square  being  the  first  of  the  county  auxiliary. 
Mary  Bacon  Parke  was  the  first  president^  and  Martha  G.  Thomas, 
first  secretary.  In  the  year  189.S-94  there  were  eight  branches;  in 
1894-95,  there  were  eleven;  and  in  1895-96,  twelve. 

In  connection  with,  the  hospital  is  a  training  school  for  nurses, 
established  in  1898.  During  the  first  year  there  were  seven  nurses 
in  training,  and  during  tJie  seccmd  year  ten,  of  whom  two  grad- 
uated in  1895,  viz.:  Miss  Lilj-  North  and  Miss  Nellie  Schwarder. 
In  1896  there  wei'e  four  graduates;  in  1897,  four,  and  in  1898, 
eight. 

The  first  Masonic  lodge  originally  chartered  in  Chester  County 
was  No.  50,  which  was  permitted  to  hold  meetings  within  five  miles 
of  the  sign  of  the  "White  Horse."  The  petition  to  thus  hold  meet- 
ings was  granted  December  6,  1790,  and  there  were  twelve  charter 
7n embers.  There  had,  however,  been  a  lodge  of  this  fraternity  pre- 
viously organized  in  Chester,  but  it  was  practically  a  branch  of  No. 
11,  Newtown,  Bucks  County,  which  was  constituted  August  17, 
1768,  and  surrendered  its  charter  December  24,  1781.  A  new  war- 
rant was  issued  to  branch  No. ,  and  this  branch  held  meetings 

at  a  place  called  "Halfway  House,"  Londongrove  Township,  Chester 
County,  February  16,  1782.  This  was  surrendered  and  renewed 
March  7,  1791. 

West  Chester  Lodge,  No.  322,  was  the  first  chartered  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  lodge  No.  50,  after  this  lodge  was  dissolved,  its 
charter  being  dated  March  1,  1858.  It  had  eight  charter  members, 
of  whom  four  had  been  members  of  No.  50. 


902  CHESTER     COUNTY 

West  Chester  Lodge,  No.  42,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows, was  chartered  September  26,  1831.  On  the  2Sth  of  March, 
1832,  this  lodge  erected  a  building  on  a  lot  it  had  purchased  on 
Church  Street,  but  the  enterprise  was  not  prosperous,  the  property 
was  sold  by  the  sheriff,  and  the  lodge  soon  afterward  was  dissolved. 

Pocahontas  Lodge,  No.  316,  was  instituted  June  19,  1848,  and 
in  1871  this  lodge  purchased  Cabinet  Hall  on  Church  Street,  re- 
modeled the  building,  and  in  the  third  story  of  this  building  holds 
its  meetings  weekly  on  Thursday  evenings. 

Canton  Bi'audywiue,  No.  27,  Patriarchs  Militant,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
meets  on  the  first  and  fourth  Friday's  of  each  month. 

Florentina  Lodge,  No.  203,  D.  of  K.,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  meets  every 
Friday  evening   in  the  postoffice  building. 

General  Marion  Encampment,  No.  91,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  meets  alter- 
nate Fridays  at  No.  20  West  Gay  Street. 

Benjamin  Banuaker  Lodge,  No.  14,  Knights  of  Pythias,  meets 
in  Masonic  Hall,  on  the  second  and  fourth  Thursdays  of  each 
month. 

Brandywine  Council,  No.  758,  Jr.  O.  U.  A.  M.,  meets  every 
Monday  evening  at  No.  Ill  North  High  Street. 

Kenehha  Council,  No.  248,  O.  U.  A.  M.,  meets  every  Thursday 
evening  at  No.  20  East  Market  Street. 

West  Chester  Council,  No.  632,  Jr.  O.  U.  A.  M.,  meets  every 
Friday  evening  at  No.  21  North  Church  Street. 

Court  No.  4,  Heroines  of  Jericho,  meets  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  each  month  at  Masonic  Hall. 

Encampment  No.  25,  U.  Y.  L.,  meets  over  the  postoffice  on  the 
first  Thursday  of  each  month. 

.Junior  O.  U.  A.  M.,  Funeral  Benefit  Association  of  (_'hester 
County,  meets  at  No.  28  West  Market  Street. 

Orpheus  Court  of  Chlanthe,  No.  5,  A.  C.  C.  K.  of  P.,  meets  on 
the  first  and  third  Thursdays  of  each  month  in  Masonic  Hall. 

Peace  and  Plenty  Lodge,  No.  2581,  G.  U.  O.  O.  F.,  meets  every 
first  and  third  Mondavs  of  each  month  in  Masonic  Hall. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  905 

Pilgrim  ('hapter,  No.  11,  E.  A.  M.,  meets  on  the  last  Saturday 
of  each  mouth  iu  Masouic-  Hall. 

Harmony  Lodge,  No.  21,  F.  &  A.  M.,  meets  on  the  first  Satur- 
day iu  each  month  iu  Masonic  Hall. 

Howell  (Chapter,  Xo.  202,  F.  i*c  A.  M.,  meets  every  Monday 
after  the  full  moon  in  the  Farmers'  National  Bank  building. 

Stella  Lodge,  No.  131,  K.  of  I*.,  meets  every  Monday  evening 
at  No.  21  North  High  Street. 

Uppowac  Tribe,  No.  17,  I.  O.  II.  M.,  meets  every  Wednesday 
evening  at  No.  Ill  AVest  Market  Street. 

Washington  Camp,  No.  ()73,  P.  O.  S.  of  A.,  meets  iu  Postottiee 
building  every  Mondaj'. 

West  Chester  Castle,  No.  22(»,  K.  <i.  E.,  meets  every  Friday 
evening  in  the  Assembly  building. 

AVest  Chester  Conclave,  No.  Gl,  I.  O.  H.,  meets  at  No.  21  North 
High    Street. 

West  Chester  Council,  No.  1003,  E.  A.,  meets  at  No.  Ill  West 
Market  Street  every  second  and  fourth  Thursday  of  each  month. 

West  Chester  Lodge  No.  322,  F.  &  A.  M.,  meets  in  the  Farmers' 
National  Bank  building  every  Monday  on  or  before  the  full  moou. 

West  Chester  Lodge,  No.  42,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  meets  every  Tuesday 
evening  at  No.  24   West  Gay  Street. 

General  George  A.  McCall  Post,  No.  31,  G.  A.  Iv.,  meets  every 
Friday  evening  in  the  Postoffice  building. 

George  F.  Smith  I'ost,  No.  330,  G.  A.  P.,  meets  evei\y  Tuesday 
evening  at  No.  345   East  Miner  Street. 

The  J.  C.  Smith  Memorial  Home,  at  Oakbourne,  Chester 
County,  consists  of  property  bequeathed  by  the  late  Mrs.  Heloiese 
Drexel  Smith  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  as  a  retreat  for 
white  women  tAventy-oue  years  of  age  and  upward,  who  are  ill 
and  convalesient,  "free  aud  without  charge."  The  funds  for  its 
maintenance  were  also  bequeathed  by  Mrs.  Smith.  The  house, 
which  is  a  three-story  stone  building,  is   oue  aud  a  half  miles 


904  CHESTER     COUXTT 

from  West  Chester,  on  the  road  to  Media,  aud  is  surrounded  by 
thirty-six  acres  of  ground,  twenty-four  of  whioli  are  woodland, 
and  the  remainder  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  On  these  grounds, 
which  are  well  laid  out,  is  a  lookout  tower  commanding  a  A'iew 
of  the  surrounding  country  to  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles. 

The  house  is  so  arranged  that  it  will  accommodate  twenty- 
one  women,  and  another  building  has  been  fitted  up  to  accommo- 
date six  women,  so  that  there  are  now  accommodations  for  twenty- 
seven.  The  convalescents  are  allowed  to  remain  two  weeks,  and 
in  special  cases  four  weeks.  Up  to  March  31,  1897,  there  had 
been  admitted  118  patients,  and  to  June  8,  1898,  there  had  been 
admitted  290.  The  Home  was  opened  with  appropriate  ceremo- 
nies May  9,  1896,  and  religious  services  held  for  the  first  time 
May  24,  189r).  Tliese  services  have  since  been  held  regularly 
every  Sunday  morning,  according  to  the  rites  and  forms  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  The  institution  opened  Avith  Mrs. 
Matilda  B.  Steven.son,  formerly  of  St.  Stephen's  Parish,  Philadel- 
phia, as  matron,  and  Mrs.  Martha  Merchant  as  assistant  matron, 
both  of  wliom  still  retain  their  respective  positions.  The  health 
of  the  patients  is  attended  to  by  physicians  from  West  Chester, 
Dr.  I'.  C.  Iloskins  and  Dr.  Dunn  being  the  physicians  in  charge 
until  the  death  of  the  latter,  and  since  Dr.  Hoskins  alone. 

The  Pennsylvania  Epileptic  Hospital  and  Colony  Farm,  lo- 
cated one  mile  from  Oakbourue  Station,  on  the  Philadelphia,  Media 
and  West  Chester  Eailway,  sprang  from  the  Hospital  of  St.  Clem- 
ent's Church,  which  was  organized  in  1880,  and  located  on  Cherry 
Street,  Philadelphia,  between  Twentieth  and  Twenty-first  Streets. 
In  1892  this  hospital  became  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the 
the  treatment  of  epileptics,  and  its  accommodations  were  soon 
taxed  beyond  their  limits.  The  management  therefore  decided  to 
found  a  colony  of  epileptics,  and  purchased  tlie  land  near  Oak- 
bourne  Station  for  a  little  more  than  |1 4,000,  the  amount  neces- 
sary being  contributed  by  Miss  Eebecca  Coxe  and  Eckley  B.  Coxe, 


AXD     IT^     PEOPLE.  905 

Jr.  For  the  erection  of  the  buildiugs  Henry  C.  Lea  donated  |50,000 
and  money  for  other  necessary  work  was  contributed  by  James 
Dnndas  Lii^jjincott,  William  Garrett  and  others. 

Dr.  Wharton  Sinkler  is  president  of  this  corporation,  Charles 
M.  Lea  vice-pi*esident,  J.  Howard  ('limenson  treasurer,  and  Dr. 
Samuel  W.  Morton  secretary,  and  J.  F.  Edgerly,  M.  D.,  superin- 
tendent. 

There  are  110  acres  in  the  farm,  and  there  are  now  thi-ee 
buildings,  an  administration  building  with  a  cottage  on  each  side. 
Besides  these  there  is  one  tenement  house  and  other  buildings 
needed  for  the  successful  management  of  a  model  farm.  The 
demand  for  accommodations  such  as  supplied  by  this  hospital  are 
greatly  in  e.xcess  of  its  capacity,  each  cottage  being  capable  of 
holding  from  twelve  to  eighteen  patients,  the  number  now  being 
cared  for  being  forty-three. 

Fallowfleld  Township  was  originally  a  very  large  one.  It  lay 
in  the  middle  west  part  of  the  county.  It  is  believed  to  have 
been  named  after  Lancelot  Fallowfleld,  of  Great  Strickland,  West- 
moreland County,  England,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  purchase 
land  froua  William  Penn.  John  Salkeld,  a  noted  preacher  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  came  from  the  same  part  of  England  in  which 
Fallowfleld  lived,  bought  the  land  from  him,  and  took  it  up  in  1714. 
In  1718  there  were  only  three  taxables  in  the  township,  viz.: 
Thomas  ^^'()(Mldell,  George  Lenard  and  Kobert  Holly.  From  this 
time  on  until  1728  Fallowfleld  and  Sadsbury  formed  one  assess- 
ment district,  and  then  the  boundaries  were  defined  by  order  of 
the  coui-t,  as  follows:  Northward  with  East  Sadsbury,  eastward 
with  the  settled  limits  of  Bradford,  southward  with  Marlborough, 
to  the  northeast  corner  of  Penn's  Manor,  thence  west  800  perches, 
and  northwest  to  Octoraro  Creek,  and  thence  up  the  same  to  Sads- 
bury.  In  1743  the  township  was  divided  by  the  north  branch  of 
Doe  Eun,  since  called  Buck  Run,  and  in  1841  the  line  between 
West  Fallowfleld  and  Upper  Oxford  Township  was  run  by  order 


9o6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

of  the  court,  in  order  to  ascertain  its  exact  location.  As  a  result 
some  farms  which  had  previously  been  supposed  to  be  in  Upper 
Oxford  were  found  to  be  in  West  Fallo^^'field. 

In  1853  West  Pallowtield  was  divided  and  the  eastern  division 
called  Highland  Township,  the  western  division  retaining  the  old 
name.  Thus  Highland  Township  comes  in  between  East  and  West 
Fiillowfield,  which  is  not  tlie  case  with  any  other  townsbips  in 
tlie  county  bearing  the  same  general  iiauie. 

Honeybrook  Township  was  formed  in  1789  from  the  western 
part  of  West  Nantmeal  Township,  settlements  having  been  made 
there  as  early  as  1718  or  1720,  when  surveys  were  made  at  the 
head  of  the  western  branch  of  the  Brandywine  for  Jeremy  Piersol, 
James  Gibbons,  John  Adams,  William  Cloud,  Henrj'  Batterton, 
William  Buffiugton,  Thomas  Baldwin,  Kichard  Parker,  William 
and  Jeremiah  Dean,  Matthew  Wilson  and  Edward  Harris. 

The  borough  of  Honeybrook  was  incorporated  August  17, 1891, 
and  the  first  council  was  as  follows:  Stephen  Long,  D.H.Buchanan, 
James  Buyers,  John  E.  Finger  and  W.  W.  McConnell.  The  bur- 
gesses have  been  as  follows:  John  H.  De  Haven,  1891-94;  John  W. 
Morton,  1894-97;  John  E.  Finger,  1897-1900. 

Secretaries — A.  M.  Anderson,  1891-97;  S.  Marple  Lemmon, 
1897-1900. 

Treasurers— John  W.  Morton,  1891-94;  Stephen  Long,  1895; 
John  E.  Finger,  1895-97;  John  W.  Morton,  1897-1900. 

The  members  of  the  council  at  the  present  time  (1898)  are  as 
follows:  John  II.  De  Haven,  L.  R.  Guiney,  Thomas  J.  Hughes, 
JaV'ob  Lemmon,  William  Lemmon,  James  McConnell  and  G.  W. 
Piersol. 

On  May  11,  1890,  the  borough  of  Houeybrook  accepted  a  prop- 
osition with  regard  to  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  water- 
works, the  cost  of  which  was  to  be  |12,500,  and  purchased  a  small 
property  on  the  side  of  Welsh  Mountain,  on  which  there  was  a 
spring  having  a  flow  of  seveutj'-six  gallons  per  minute.     A  reser- 


/ 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  907 

voir  was  coustructed  capable  of  holdiui;-  1,200,0(10  gallons  of  water 
and  from  this  reservoir  the  borough  is  bountifull}-  supplied  with 
the  best  of  spring  water,  all  of  the  inhabitants,  except  eight  fami- 
lies, having  put  water  in  their  houses.  The  pressure  is  thirty- 
seven  i^ounds  and  gives  force  sufficient  to  throw  the  water  over 
the  tops  of  the  highest  buildings,  so  that  now  a  lire  department 
is  not  needed.  The  charge  is  five  dollars  per  sj^igot  and  the  pay- 
ments on  the  bonds  amount  to  ftiOO  per  annum. 

A  fire  company  was  organized  about  18S7,  which  did  good 
work  until  the  introduction  of  the  water  into  the  village,  as  above 
recorded,  but  at  present  it  is  practically  out  of  date. 

The  tillage  of  Hamorton  is  in  the  northeast  part  of  Kennett 
Township.  In  the  early  days  of  the  county  it  was  known  by  the 
name  of  Logtowu.  Pi^evious  to  1830  it  contained  less  than  half 
a  dozen  houses,  the  name  Hamorton  having  been  given  to  the 
place  when  the  post  office  was  established  in  1829.  About  1814 
a  stock  company  built  a  hall  which  has  since  been  used  for  various 
purposes,  lectures  by  eminent  men,  concerts,  etc.  There  are  nearly 
fifty  houses  in  Hamorton,  and  its  people  have  always  been  noted 
for  patriotism,  morality  and  temperance.  This  village  is  undoubt- 
edly one  of  the  pleasantest  spots  in  Chester  County. 

Kennett  Township  lies  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county, 
bordering  on  the  circular  line  and  being  between  the  townships 
of  New  Garden  and  Pennsbury.  It  originally  included  all  of  the 
latter  township  and  a  part  of  Pocopson.  It  is  thought  that  the 
name  was  suggested  by  Francis  Smith,  who  came  from  Devizes, 
Wiltshire,  England,  in  wliich  county  there  is  a  t()wn  by  the  name 
of  Kennett.  Francis  Smith,  in  1(>8C>,  took  up  200  acres  of  land 
within  the  original  limits  of  the  township  at  the  mouth  of  Pocop- 
son Creek.  Smith's  original  purchase  amounted  to  500  acres,  and 
300  acres  were  surveyed  to  him  afterward  at  a  rate  of  one  penny 
per  acre  per  annum.  The  settlement  of  this  territory  appears  to 
have  proceeded  slowly,  for  in  1703  tlie  following  amount  of  land 


908  CHESTER     COUNTY 

was  returned  by  Isaac  Taylor  as  having  been  surveyed:  Francis 
Smith,  140  acres;  Heni-y  Pierce,  100  acres;  Robert  Way,  425  acres; 
Thomas  Hope,  310  acres;  George  Harian,  Israel  Helm,  and  the 
Chandlers,  850  aci*es;  total,  2,215  acres.  Afterward  Isaac  Taylor,  in 
addition  to  the  above  resuiweys,  made  new  surveys  for  the  follow- 
ing persons:  Peter  Dicks,  554  acres;  John  lIoi)e,  200;  George  Har- 
lan, 500;  total,  1,254  acres,  in  1702;  Isaac  Few,  000,  and  William 
Huntley,  200,  in  1703,  all  of  which  was  near  the  Bi'andywiue. 

An  account  of  Letitia's  Manor,  which  lay  in  part  in  tliis  town- 
ship, maj^  be  found  on  anotlier  page  in  this  work. 

Kennett  Square  was  incorporated  in  1855.  It  is  on  the  line  of 
the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Central  Bailroad  in  the  midst  of 
an  exceedingly  fertile  section  of  the  country.  The  village  which 
had  been  known  as  Kennett  Square  from  before  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  borough,  the  name  first  appear- 
ing about  1709,  when  William  Dixson  conveyed  a  piece  of  land 
to  Joseph  Musgrave,  "near  a  place  called  Kennett  Square."  The 
scene  of  Bayard  Taylor's  "Stoi'y  of  Kennett  is  laid  in  Kennett  and 
adjoining  townships. 

Kennett  Lodge,  No.  475,  F.  and  A.  M.,  liolds  its  meetings  eacli 
Thursday  evening  on  or  before  the  full  moon,  in  Chalfant  Block. 

Kennett  Chapter,  No.  275,  K.  A.  M.,  meets  in  Chalfant  Block, 
on  the  first  ^^'ednesday  after  the  full  moon. 

Kennett  Castle,  No.  243,  K.  G.  E.,  meets  every  Tuesday  night, 
in  Unicorn  Hall. 

Kennett  Council,  No.  182,  U.  O.  A.  M.,  meets  in  Unicorn  Hall 
every  Thursday  evening. 

Kennett  Conclave,  No.  207,  I.  O.  H.,  meets  in  Swayue  Block, 
on  the  second  and  fourth  Monday  evenings  of  each  month. 

Division  No.  2,  A.  O.  H.,  meets  in  Unicorn  Hall  on  the  second 
Saturday  evening  of  each  month. 

Kennett  Grange,  No.  19,  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  meets  in  Uni- 
corn Hall,  on  Wednesday  evening  on  or  before  the  full  moon. 


AND     77',s'     PEOPLE.  509 

Keuuett  Fii-e  Company  meets  in  the  borouoh  hall  on  tlie  last 
Friday  nijiht  of  each  month. 

Kennett  Square  is  well  supplied  with  water,  derived  froin 
springs  about  a  mile  north  of  the  borough.  A  great  deal  of 
money  has  been  spent  in  procuring  water,  changes  in  the  source 
of  supply  having  been  made  from  time  to  time,  the  present 
springs,  the  east  branch  of  Ked  Clay  Creek,  and  of  the  west 
branch  of  Ked  Clay  Creek,  having  been  at  different  times  the 
source.  The  pumping  station  is  half  a  mile  north  of  the  borough, 
or  half  way  betAveen  the  borough  and  the  springs  which  siip- 
ply  the  water,  and  there  are  two  standpipes  on  the  borough  lot, 
which  cost  almost  f20,000.  Nearly  every  inhabitant  in  the  borough 
takes  water  from  the  system,  and  the  revenue  that  is  derived  by 
the  borough  treasury  is  about  f4,000  per  annum. 

The  Kennett  Electric  Light,  Heat  and  Power  Company  was 
incorporated  in  1893,  with  W.  W.  Gawthrop  president,  John  C. 
Yeatman  treasurer,  and  X.  P.  Yeatmau  secretary.  The  capital 
at  first  was  $25,000,  but  it  was  increased  to  |oO,000  in  1896.  The 
plant  of  this  company  is  situated  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
borough,  and  consists  of  a  one-story  brick  building,  40x60  feet  in 
size,  Avith  an  equipment  of  tw(»  100-horse  poAver  boilers,  a  150-horse 
power  engine,  and  two  dynamos  sufficient  to  maintain  800  incan- 
descent lights  each,  each  light  of  16-candle  poAver,  and  one  dynamo 
of  300  incandescent  lights  of  the  same  power.  At  present  there 
are  four  arc  lights  on  the  streets,  and  about  TO  incandescent  lights, 
Avhile  in  stores,  churches  and  private  lumses  there  are  about 
2,000.  From  this  plant  goes  out  to  Toughkennamon,  AA'ondale  and 
West  Grove,  electricity  for  lighting  these  villages,  and  other  vil- 
lages are  constantly  calling  for  the  same  kind  of  light,  but  as  yet 
the  company  has  not  the  means  to  wire  these  other  towns. 

The  present  council  of  Kennett  Square  is  as  follows:  George 
E.   Bowman,   president;    Dr.   C.   S.   Reynolds,   John    Duncannou, 


9IO  CHESTER     COUNTY 

George  W.  Taft,  F.  T.  MacDonald,  H.  D.  Eutrilcen,  and  H.  Willis 
Taylor. 

The  Bavard  Taylor  Memorial  Library  was  established  Feb- 
ruary 10,  1894,  several  preliuiinary  meetings  having  been  previ- 
ously held.  On  the  date  given  a  board  of  trustees  was  elected,  cuii- 
sisting  of  the  following  persons:  William  W.  Polk,  Joseph  S. 
Heald,  William  F.  Wiekersham,  D.  Duer  Philips,  Charles  J.  Pen- 
nock,  and  Edward  Swayne.  A  lot  was  purchased  on  the  corner  of 
Broad  Street  and  Apple  Alley,  upon  which  the  building  was 
erected,  at  a  cost  of  .fGjTDl.oO,  and  it  was  dedicated  September  12, 
1S9G.  Alice  W.  Swayne  is  the  librarian,  and  5,39r)  persons  attend 
the  reading  department  during  the  year  1897.  The  success  of  this 
library  is  assured. 

London  Britain  Township  lies  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
county,  and  contains  the  triangle  which  extends  down  between 
Maryland  and  Delaware.  A  considerable  portion  of  this  township 
was  originally  included  in  the  survej"  of  the  lands  for  the  Lon- 
don Company,  an  east  and  west  line  crossing  the  township  about 
the  latitude  of  Kimbleville,  being  the  southern  boundary  of  this 
tract.  The  township  was  at  one  time  enlarged  bj-  taking  a  por- 
tion off  from  the  west  side  of  New  Garden.  The  first  settlers  are 
believed  to  have  been  Welsh  Baptists,  who  established  a  church. 
John  Evans  came  from  Radnorshire,  in  Wales,  about  1700,  and 
was  one  of  the  prominent  men  in  his  day.  His  son,  John  Evans, 
who  died  in  1738,  held  large  tracts  of  land,  and  also  fulling  and 
grist  mills  on  White  Clay  Creek,  and  there  was  formerly  an  In- 
dian village  on  this  creek,  near  Yeatman's  Mill. 

A  petition  for  the  organization  of  the  township  was  presented 
to  court  in  1725,  which  was  granted,  Bichard  Whiting  being  the 
constable,  John  Devonald  supervisor  of  highways,  and  John 
Evans  and  Thomas  Mon-is  overseers  of  the  poor.  And  in  177.3 
the  court  appointed  Thomas  Woodward,  Levis  Pennock  and 
Joseph  Musgrove  to  make  a  survey  and  ascertain  the  line  of  Lon- 
don Britain  and  New  Garden  Townships. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  9" 

Loudonderry  ToAvnsliip  was  set.  up  in  1734,  beino;  separated 
from  Xottiugham,  and  then  included  the  territory  from  London- 
grove  to  the  Octoraro  River.  About  one-third  of  the  township,  as 
it  is  at  the  present  time,  was  included  in  Fagg's  Manor,  elsewhere 
described.  In  1754:  Oxford  ToAvnship  was  taken  from  the  west 
side  of  Londonderry,  and  in  1819  it  was  again  reduced  in  size,  by 
the  organization  of  Penu  Township,  taken  from  its  southern  side. 
A  small  part  was  added  to  it  in  ISOG,  taken  from  Londongrove  and 
West  Marlborough.  The  settlers  came  originally  and  mainly  from 
Ireland,  which  explains  its  name. 

Londongrove  Township  lies  west  of  Xew  Garden  and  East 
Marlborough  Townships,  and  was  settled  as  early  as  1714  by 
Francis  Swain,  John  Smith,  Joseph  Pennock,  William  Pusey  and 
a  few  others.     On  August  12,  1099,  William  Penn  sold  to  Tobias 
Collet,  Daniel  Quare,  Henry  Godney  and  Michael  Russell,  all  of 
London,  England,  a  large  tract  of  land  and  granted  a  warrant 
for  the  location  thereof  August  17,  1699.     The  above-named  per- 
sons admitted  others  into  partnership  with  them  and  formed  the 
London  Company,  the  number  of  shares  reaching  ultimately  8,800 
and  the  shareholders  numbering  several  hundred.     This  grant  in- 
cluded a  considerable  portion  of  the  present  townships  of  New 
London,  London    Britain,  East   Nottingham,  Penn  and    London- 
grove, the  entire  amount  of  land  taken  up  by  the  company  being 
65,000  acres,  17,200  acres  of  which  were  in  Chester  County,  the 
rest  being  in  Lancaster,  Delaware  and  Bucks  Counties.     The  pat- 
ent for  the  17,218  acres  in  Chester  County  was  granted  June  25, 
1718.     As  in  the  case  of  lands  in  other  townships,  much  of  this 
land  was  leased  for  a  term  of  years  to  early  settlers,  with  stip- 
ulations that  a  certain  number  of  acres  should  be  cultivated  or 
cleared  and  plowed  each  year.     According  to  Joseph  J.  Lewis 
the  rents  usually  charged  were  40s.  per  100  acres,  but  there  were 
a  few  tracts  of  land  sold  by  the  company  itself  to  different  pur- 
chasers, from  1718  to  1720.     The  rest  remained  in  the  possession 
54 


912  CHESTER     COUNTY 

of  the  company  until  about  1762,  by  which  time  the  heirs  of  those 
who  originally  constituted  the  company  had  become  so  scattered, 
many  of  them  being  entirely  unknown,  that  an  act  of  Parliament 
was  procured  authorizing  the  sale  of  the  land,  and  Dr.  Fothergill,. 
Daniel  Zachary,  Thoas  How,  Devereaux  Bowly,  Luke  Hinde,  Kich- 
ard  Howe,  Jacob  Hagan,  Sylvanus  Grove  and  William  Heron 
were  the  agents  appointed  to  superintend  the  sale,  their  attorneys 
in  this  sale  being  Samuel  Shoemaker,  Jacob  Cooper  and  Joshua 
Howell,  and  each  settler  purchased  the  land  on  which  he  was  then 
living. 

A  large  part  of  the  settlers  in  Londongrove  were  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  among  their  names  appearing  the  names 
of  Allen,  Chandler,  Jackson,  Lamborn,  Lindley,  Morton,  Pusey, 
Scarlett,  Starr  and  Underwood. 

In  1866  the  line  separating  Londongrove  and  West  Marl- 
borough was  so  altered  that  a  small  part  of  the  northwest  corner 
of  Londongrove  and  the  southwest  corner  of  West  Marlborough 
were  attached  to  Londonderry  Township,  the  territory  thus  an- 
nexed to  the  latter  township  including  within  its  limits  the  famous 
old  White  Horse  Tavern,  in  order  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
township  might  have  a  convenient  place  to  hold  elections. 

West  Grove  Avas  incorporated  as  a  borough  January  29,  1894, 
the  following  oflicers  being  elected:  Chief  Burgess,  John  P.  Chev- 
ney;  Councilmen,  John  H.  Turner,  president;  T.  C.  Moore,  Hick- 
man W.  Sparks,  James  A.  Wilson,  I.  C.  Jefferis  and  Isaac  Martin. 
The  secretary  was  John  II.  Strode,  and  treasurer,  Walter  W. 
Brown.  Dr.  C.  F.  Quimby  was  elected  chief  burgess  in  1897 
for  three  years,  the  secretary  and  treasurer  being  re-elected  then 
for  the  same  period.  The  council  elected  in  1897  was  as  folloAvs: 
John  H.  Turner,  T.  C.  Moore,  I.  C.  Jefferis,  Chester  Reynolds,  Eber 
HestoUj  John  P.  Cheyney  and  E.  C.  Austin. 

The  streets  and  business  houses,  as  also  many  private  resi- 
dences, are  lighted  by  means  of  the  incandescent  light,  received 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  9' 3 

from  Kennett  .Square.  On  the  streets  there  are  forty  lights  aud 
iu  business  and  private  houses  about  125.  This  light  was  intro- 
duced in  1894,  the  same  year  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town. 

West  Grove  is  indebted  to  Joseph  Pyle  and  his  father-in-law, 
Milton  Conard,  for  its  water  system,  Mr.  Pyle  beginning  this  enter- 
prise in  1802,  when  he  constructed  a  reservoir  holding  (5,000  gallons 
of  water.  His  second  reservoir,  built  in  1875,  had  a  capacity  of 
25,000  gallons.  People  gradually  got  into  the  habit  of  taking 
water  from  this  system,  and  at  length  when  new  houses  were 
erected  they  were  so  built  that  water  was  taken  into  them  from 
the  reservoir  system.  Mr.  Pyle  \nit  in  a  hydraulic  ram  in  1878, 
and  a  second  one  in  1881.  Later  he  put  in  two  wind  mills,  and 
in  1881  he  leased  the  water  privilege  on  the  farm  adjoining  that 
of  his  father-in-law  on  the  north  side  of  the  town,  bored  a  well 
213  feet  deep,  from  which  there  was  a  flow  of  twenty'  gallons 
per  minute.  In  1885  he  put  in  a  Dean  steam  pump,  which  was  used 
until  February,  1897,  when  he  put  in  a  gasoline  engine,  which 
pumps  fifty  gallons  per  minute.  At  the  present  time  eighty-five 
families  take  water  from  this  system  and  seventeen  business 
houses. 

The  borough  of  Avondale  was  incoroprated  in  February,  1894, 
and  the  following  officers  elected:  Chief  Burgess,  W.  R.  Shelniire; 
Councilmen,  W.  J.  Pusey,  president;  Kobert  K.  Mackey,  Morris 
Watson,  William  Miller,  John  L.  Hood  and  B.  H.  Chambers;  Sec- 
retary, E.  Pusey  Passmore,  and  Treasurer,  Edward  Pusey.  In 
1897  the  following  officers  were  elected:  Burgess,  August  Brosius; 
Councilmen,  W.  J.  Pusey,  president;  Dr.  J.  L.  Paiste,  Kobert  K. 
Mackey,  Joshua  Thomas,  Charles  Y.  Wilson,  Morris  Watson  and 
Eber  H.  Greenfield;  Secretary,  Fred.  Glenn,  and  Treasurer,  E. 
Pusey  Passmore. 

Avondale,  like  West  Grove,  receives  its  electric  light  from 
Kennett  Square.  This  light  was  introduced  here  iu  1893,  and 
now  there  are  on  the  streets  about  forty  lights,  and  in  stores, 


914  CHESTER     COUNTY 

churches,  private  residences,  etc.,  there  are  about  500  others,  mak- 
ing nearly  550  incandescent  lights  in  all,  ranging  from  16  to  32  can- 
dle power. 

In  Avondale  there  are  two  societies,  viz.:  One  of  the  Patriotic 
Order  of  Sons  of  America,  and  a  social  club,  the  latter  organized 
in  1893,  and  which  maintains  a  lecture  coux'se.  Its  work  is  highly 
appreciated  and  forms  one  of  the  most  useful  and  delightful  feat- 
ures of  the  social  life  of  the  place. 

W.  J.  Pusey  &  Co.,  the  "Co."  being  James  C.  Pusey,  built  their 
flouring  mill  in  1893.  It  stands  on  the  railroad  about  600  feet 
west  of  the  railway  station.  The  building  is  76x56  feet  in  size 
and  three  stories  high  and  contains  machinery  of  the  most  modern 
pattern,  the  roller  process  being  used,  and  tlie  capacity  of  the 
mill  being  150  barrels  of  flour  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Avondale  Ice  aud  Cold  Storage  Company  was  incorporated 
in  1891,  its  first  olficers  being  William  F.  Dowdall,  president; 
Joel  B.  Pusey,  vice-president;  H.  M.  Carpenter,  secretary,  and  E. 
Pusey  Passmore,  treasurer.  The  same  persons  have  held  these 
offices  ever  since.  The  plant  is  located  on  Pennsylvania,  and  con- 
sists of  an  ice  plant  capable  of  manufacturing  fifteen  tons  per  day, 
and  of  a  storage  house  with  a  capacity  of  500  tons.  This  com- 
pany has  its  own  electric  light  plant. 

Marlborough  Township  lay  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county, 
north  of  Kennett,  New  Garden  and  Londongrove.  It  was  named 
from  Marlborough,  Wiltshire,  England.  It  was  laid  out  in  part  in 
1700,  in  right  of  jiui-chases  made  in  England.  It  was  organized  as  a 
township  in  1704,  Thomas  W^ickersham  being  the  first  constable. 
Among  the  fir«t  settlers  were  Joel  Baily,  Thomas  Jackson,  Caleb 
Pusey,  Francis  Swayne,  John  Smith  and  Henry  Hayes.  Joseph 
Pennock  was  one  of  the  first  in  what  is  now  West  Marlborough, 
where  he  built  Primitive  Hall,  wliich  is  still  standing.  In  1729 
the  toAvnship  was  divided  into  East  and  West  Mai'lborough.  In 
East  Marlborough  he  obtained  a  patent  for  land  which  included 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  915 

the  present  Peirce's  Park,  or  Evergreen  Glade,  and  the  famed 
home  of  Bayard  Taylor,  Cedar  Croft,  is  in  East  Marlborough,  less 
than  a  mile  north  of  Kennett  Square.  A  farm  formerly  owned  by 
William  Chalfont  in  East  Marlborough  Township,  near  TJnionville, 
was  named  by  him  Clermont.  In  1849  a  part  of  this  township  was 
taken  off  in  the  formation  of  Pocopson,  and  in  1875  the  line  between 
West  Marlborough  on  one  side  and  Londonderry  and  Highland  on 
the  other  was  re-established  by  the  court. 

Nautmeal  Township  lay  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county, 
northeast  of  Houeybrook  and  bordering  on  Berks  County.  The 
name  is  derived  from  Nantmel,  Radnorshire,  Wales,  whence  came 
some  of  the  early  settlers,  and  this  is  the  proper  spelling.  The 
meaning  of  the  Welsh  word  is  sweet  stream,  or  honey  brook. 
Surveys  were  made  in  1717-19  at  the  head  of  the  north  branch  of 
tlie  Brandywiue  for  Tliomas  Callowhill,  Howell  Powell,  Edward 
Thomas,  William  Iddiugs,  Thomas  Kees,  John  Broomall,  David 
Thomas,  Daniel  Moor,  William  Trego,  John  Moore,  and  Kichard 
and  John  Peirsol,  and  the  tirst  assessment  was  made  in  1720.  lu 
1722  the  name  Nantmeal  first  axjpears,  when  it  contained  eighteen 
taxables,  among  them  being  Samuel  Nutt,  noted  as  being  one  of 
the  very  first  ironmakers  in  the  country. 

In  1710  the  township  was  divided  into  East  and  West  Nant- 
meal, in  which  year  there  were  83  taxables  in  East  Xantmeal,  and 
123  in  West  Nantmeal.  Originally  the  settlers  were  for  the  most 
part  Welsh,  but  later  the  Scotch-Irish  came  up  from  the  southern 
part  of  the  county  and  settled  in  the  western  township. 

In  17S9  West  Nantmeal  Township  was  divided  by  the  erection 
of  Houeybrook  Township,  taken  from  the  western  part.  In  18.'i2 
it  was  again  divided  by  the  erection  of  Wallace  Township,  and 
East  Nantmeal  was  divided  in  1812  by  the  erection  of  Warwick 
Township. 

New  London  Township  lies  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county 
north  of  Elk,  and  like  Londongrove  and  London  Britain,  is  be- 


91 6  CHESTER     COUNTY 

lieved  to  have  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  of  its  including  a 
portion  of  the  London  Company's  tract.  In  1704  Abraham  Emmitt 
purchased  a  square  mile  of  land  and  had  a  mill  on  Elk  Creek,  one 
of  the  first  in  the  neighborhood.  Eobert  Assheton  had  500  acres 
of  land  to  the  north  of  Enimit's  land,  and  Michael  Harlan,  in  171  i, 
had  a  tract  of  900  acres  surveyed.  In  1720  several  surveys  were 
made  in  the  northeastern  part  of  this  township — for  Jeremiali 
Htarr,  for  Francis,  Alexander,  James  and  Patrick  Moore,  for  S^u- 
sanna  McCane,  for  William  Reynolds,  and  for  Gabriel  Alexander. 
In  1721  there  Avere  surveys  made  for  Thomas,  Jolin  and  Samuel 
Steel.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  township  Avere  Samuel  Camp- 
bell, James  Shaw,  Robert  Mackey,  Robert  Finney,  John  Morrison 
and  others.  The  land  owned  by  Susanna  McCane  lay  on  the  road 
leading  from  New  London  to  Kinibleville,  near  the  line  of  Frank- 
lin Township.  She  was  the  grandmother  of  Governor  Thomas  Mc- 
Keau,  a  brief  sketch  of  whom  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

In  1725  the  township  Avas  divided  and  London  Britain  Town- 
ship erected,  and  in  1852  the  township  of  Franklin  was  taken  from 
New  London,  since  which  time  the  latter  township  has  contained 
none  of  the  land  belonging  to  the  London  Company. 

New  Garden  ToAvushij)  lies  in  the  southern  part  of  Chester 
County  and  borders  on  DelaAvare  and  is  w^est  of  Kennett  ToAvnship. 
It  was  named  from  New  Garden  County  CarloA\-,  Ireland.  It  Avas 
included  in  the  survey  of  30,000  acres,  made  in  1700,  to  Henry 
Hollingsworth,  of  which  30,000  acres,  15,500  acres  were  patented 
to  Letitia  Penn,  as  has  been  elsewhere  related.  The_  remainder 
of  14,500  acres  Avas  patented  to  William  Penn,  Jr.,  May  24,  170(!, 
by  the  commissioners  of  property,  Edward  Shippen,  Griffith,  Owen, 
and  Thomas  Story,  and  like  the  tract  of  Letitia  Penn,  received 
the  name  of  Stenning.  The  boundaries  of  the  manor  liaA'e  been 
elsewhere  described,  and  it  is  (»nly  necessary  to  say  here  further 
that  the  toAvnship  as  it  was  before  losing  a  corner  to  London 
Britain,  embraced  that  part  of  the  manor  lying  north  of  the  cir- 


AND     /rs     PEOPLE.  917 

oiilar  Hue,  or  act-ordiug  to  an  early  estimate,  8,l)lo  acres.  Before 
obtaining  Lis  patent  William  Peun,  Jr.,  had  appointed  as  his  at- 
torneys, Griffith  Owen,  James  Logan  and  Robert  Ashton,  and  after 
a  few  years  several  families  of  Friends  arrived  from  Ireland,  and 
settled  there,  giving  the  name  of  New  Garden  to  their  new  home 
in  remembrance  of  their  old  home  in  Ireland.  Among  those  who 
first  settled  in  this  township  were  John  Lowdou,  Jolin  Miller, 
Michael  Lightfoot,  James  Starr,  William  Halliday,  Joseph  Hutton, 
Thomas  Jackson,  and  Abraham  Marshall,  as  early  as  1712,  and  in 
1714  Thomas  Garnett  and  Joseph  Sharp.  The  whole  amount  of 
land  purchased  by  the  above  named  settlers  and  a  few  others  was 
5,413  acres,  at  the  price  of  £20  per  hundred  acres,  or  about  |1  per 
acre.  In  1715  William  Penn,  Jr.,  sold  the  remainder  of  his  manor, 
except  500  acres,  to  Colonel  John  Evans,  from  which  circumstance 
it  was  frequently  referred  to  as  Colonel  Evans'  Manor.  It  is  said 
that  John  Lowdon  or  Lowden  (the  name  is  spelled  both  ways  by 
local  historians),  who  was  a  noted  minister  in  the  Society  of 
Friends,  suggested  New  (harden  as  the  name  of  the  township,  he 
having  been  a  member  of  the  New  Garden  meeting.  County  Car- 
low.  Ireland.  He  traveled  much  in  the  service  of  the  ministry,  and 
died  in  1714.  John  Miller  owned  the  land  afterward  ow-ned  by  Mr. 
Ellicott,  of  Baltimore,  and  upon  White  Clay  Creek,  which  passed 
through  his  farm,  erected  a  mill,  long  known  as  the  Old  Mill,  which 
did  the  grinding  for  the  farmers  for  many  miles  around,  even 
as  far  aw^ay  as  Lan(  tister.  This  was  the  second  mill  of  the  kind 
within  the  limits  of  the  county-,  Towusend's  Mill  having  been  the 
first.  The  early  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the  county  Avere  in  the 
habit  of  separating  their  farms  by  ditches  to  prevent  the  ravages 
of  fire,  to  which  they  were  exposed  in  the  fall,  that  being  the  sea- 
son of  the  year  when  the  Indians  were  accustomed  to  burn  the 
woods  in  order  to  facilitate  hunting. 

Newlin  Township  lies  south  of  West  Bradford,  and  was  named 
after  Nathaniel   Newlin,  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 


91 8  CHESTER     COUXTY 

the  early  day.  On  tlie  22cl  and  23d  of  March,  1(381,  William  Venn 
granted  20,000  acres  of  land  in  Pennsylvania,  and  some  lots  in 
Philadelphia,  to  certain  trustees  for  the  Free  Society  of  Traders, 
these  trustees  being  Nicholas  Moore,  James  Claypoole,  Philip  Ford, 
William  Sharloe,  Edward  Pierce,  John  Simcock,  Thomas  Bracey, 
Thomas  Barker  and  Edward  Brooks.  On  September  20,  1G8S, 
there  was  surveyed  unto  Benjamin  Chambers,  president  of  the  Free 
Society  of  Traders,  for  that  society's  use,  7,100  acres  of  land,  in 
Chester  County,  a  part  of  the  said  20,000  acres,  and  on  the  10th 
of  June,  1721,  the  Free  Society  of  Traders,  by  its  ti'ustees,  Charles 
Read,  Job  Goodsonn,  Evan  Owen,  George  Fitzwater,  and  Joseph 
Pidgeon,  conveyed  this  tract  of  7,100  acres  to  Nathaniel  Newlin, 
in  consideration  of  £800,  current  money  of  Pennsylvania.  Tlius 
Nathaniel  Newlin,  who  was  an  Irishman,  became  the  owner  of  the 
tract  of  land  which  afterward  became  the  township  bearing  his 
name.  After  its  purchase  by  Mr.  Newlin  it  Avas  resurveyed  and 
found  to  contain  7,700  acres,  and  Mr.  Newlin  made  arrangements 
for  the  sale  of  portions  of  his  purchase.  Followine  are  the  names 
of  some  of  the  purchasers,  and  the  amounts  of  their  several  pur- 
chases, together  with  the  prices  paid: 

George  Harlan,  169  acres,  for  £50  lis;  Stephen  Harlan,  20 J^ 
acres,  £20  10s;  Joseph  English,  200  acres,  £30;  Mordecai  Cloud, 
326  acres,  £97  16s;  Abraham  Marshall,  120  acres,  £36;  Joel  Baily^ 
228  acres,  £68  8s;  William  Dean,  121  acres,  £37  Is;  George  Lashly, 
75  acres,  £22  10s;  Ralph  Thompson,  75  acres,  £19  9s  9d,  a  total  of 
1,337  acres  for  £383,  or  very  nearly  5s  9d  per  acre. 

Nathaniel  Newlin  died  in  1729,  owning  7,813  acres  of  laud,  of 
which  533  acres  were  in  Concord  Township,  Delaware  County,  and 
the  rest  in  Chester  County.  It  was  in  this  towusliip  that  a  difil- 
culty  arose  with  the  Indians,  who  had  beeu  allotted  lands  therein, 
but  as  this  matter  is  treated  of  in  another  chapter  iu  this  work, 
it  is  merely  referred  to  here.  In  the  formation  of  Pocopson  Town- 
ship something  more  than   300   acres   were  taken   from   Newlin 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  9i9 

Township  auil  iuohuled  tbereiu.  Up  to  1738  the  settlers  here  were 
assessed  as  of  Marlborough  or  Bradford,  accordius  as  they  were 
on  the  north  or  south  side  of  the  Brandywine,_but  about  this  time 
the  inhabitants  petitioned  for  the  formation  of  a  new  township, 
which  petition  was  granted,  and  the  toAvnship  named  Newlin.  For 
some  time  the  name  was  frequently  written  Newlintou. 

Nottingham  Township  was  laid  in  the  extreme  southeastern 
part  of  the  county.  At  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners  of  prop- 
erty, at  which  all  were  present,  held  January  14,  1701,  Cornelius 
Empson,  for  himself  and  several  others  to  the  number  of  twenty 
families,  proposed  to  make  a  settlement  on  a  tract  of  land  about 
halfway  between  the  Delaware  and  Susquehanna  Rivers,  or  nearer 
to  the  Susquehanna,  on  the  Octoraro  Creek,  provided  they  could 
have  a  grant  of  about  20,000  acres  at  a  certain  rental.  To  this 
proposition  the  commissioners  of  property  agreed,  and  issued  a 
warrant,  in  pursuance  of  which  a  tract  of  18,000  acres  of  land 
was  laid  out  in  May,  1702,  commencing  at  a  point  about  seven 
and  a  half  miles  west  of  the  northeast  corner  of  Maryland,  and 
extending  thence  to  tlie  Octoraro,  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles. 
The  south  liue  of  this  tract  corresponded  with  or  nearly  with  the 
jn-esent  southern  boundary  of  the  county,  and  was  nearly  straight, 
but  the  northern  line  was  crooked,  in  order  to  take  in  good  lands 
and  leave  out  jioorer  tract-s,  and  in  width  this  tract  was  about 
three  miles.  A  road  was  laid  out  east  and  west  through  the  mid- 
dle of  the  tract,  and  dividing  lines  were  run  north  and  south  at 
sufficient  distances  from  each  other,  so  as  to  make  thirty-seven 
divisions,  each  division  containing  about  500  acres  of  laud.  This 
large  tract  was  c^alled  Nottingham  when  first  laid  out,  probably 
in  remembrance  of  Nottingham  County  or  shire  in  England.  It 
was  supposed  to  be  in  Pennsylvania,  but  when  the  boundary  line 
was  at  last  determined  it  was  found  to  be  largely  in  Maryland. 
In  the  survey,  although  the  lines  were  intended  to  be  parallel  to 
the  Maryland  line,  yet,  owing  probably  to  the  variation  of  the 


920  CHESTER     COUNTY 

compass,  not  so  well  understood  then  as  now,  they  run  a  little  to 
the  south  of  west  as  they  proceed  to  the  west.  The  north  line  of 
lots  Nos.  5  to  10  crosses  the  Htate  line  between  the  fourteenrli 
and  fifteenth  milestones.  Lots  Nos.  11  to  16  were  liouuded  on 
the  north  by  a  straight  line,  which  at  its  eastern  end  is  a  little 
more  than  three-quarters  of  a,  mile,  and  at  its  western  end  less 
than  half  a  mile  north  of  the  State  line. 

Northward  of  these  lots  the  territory  was  described  as  being- 
"back  of  Nottingham,"  but  at  length  having  been  taken  up  by 
.settlers,  was  included  in  tiie  townsliip  of  Nottingham.  In  ITIS 
both  East  and  West  Nottingham  appear,  and  in  1731-35  London- 
derry was  separated  from  Nottingliam.  Previous  to  the  erection 
of  Lancaster  ('ouuty  in  May,  1729,  this  township  extended  beyond 
Octoraro  CVeek.  In  1833  a  portion  of  East  Nottingham  was  taken 
off  to  form  Oxford  Borough,  and  in  1S53  Hopewell  Borough  was 
taken  from  it  in  part.  In  1S57  it  was  still  further  reduced  by  the 
erection  of  Elk  Township. 

Oxford  Township  lies  in  tlie  southwestern  part  of  the  count}', 
north  of  Nottingham.  It  was  established  in  1754,  being  taken 
from  the  township  of  LondondeiTV.  It  is  not  now  known  whether 
the  name  was  given  in  honor  of  Oxford,  England,  or  of  Oxford 
Township  in  rhi]adel])hia  County,  whicli  is  now  a.  part  of  Phila- 
delphia. In  17117  it  was  divide<l  into  Upper  and  Lower  Oxford. 
In  1841  the  line  between  Upper  Oxford  and  West  Fallowfield  was 
established.  William  Peuu's  Manor  embraced  all  the  eastern  part 
of  Upper  Oxford  and  a  small  ]iart  of  Lower  Oxford,  and  the  set- 
tlers on  these  lands  secured  their  titles  after  1747. 

Hopewell  Borough  was  incorjxirated  May  2,  1853,  the  terri- 
tory being  taken  froui  Lower  Oxford  and  P^ast  Nottingham  Town- 
ships. 

Oxford  Borough  was  incnrporated  by  an  act  of  Assembly  April 
8,  1833,  and  was  taken  from  Lower  Oxford  and  East  Nottingham, 
principally  from  the  latter.     Still  later  its  area  was  enlarged  by  a 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  921 

tlecree  of  the  court.  It  was  not  until  about  1870  that  the  phiee 
began  to  assume  the  importauce  to  which  it  has  now  attained. 
Tlie  first  material  improvement  made  by  the  borough  was  the 
establishment  of  water- works,  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems 
problems  for  solution  in  country  towns.  The  Oxford  Gas  and 
Water  Company  was  incorporated  in  18()8,  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  works  to  supply  the  borough  with  water.  These  works 
were  built  by  the  company  in  1809,  and  were  purchased  by  the 
borough  in  1870  for  |30,000.  The  supply  was  taken  at  first  from 
Elk  Creek,  which  had  an  available  drainage  area  of  three  square 
miles;  but  later  the  source  of  supply  was  changed  to  artesian  wells 
sunk  to  a  great  depth,  the  water  thus  procured  being  determined 
by  chemical  analysis  to  be  the  purest  for  drinking  purposes,  and 
iilso  for  manufacturing,  causing  but  little  rust  in  boilers.  Inas- 
much as  the  sources  of  supply  are  practically  inexhaustible,  fears 
of  a  water  famine  can  never  be  felt  in  Oxford. 

The  water  is  pumped  from  two  drilled  wells  into  a  reservoir, 
which  is  80  feet  square  at  the  top,  2.5  feet  square  a.t  the  bottom,  and 
is  18  feet  deep,  having  a  capacity  of  500,000  gallons.  The  wells 
are  each  eight  inches  in  diameter  and  have  a  depth  respectively 
of  189  1-3  feet  and  543  feet.  The  entire  cost  of  the  works  up  to 
1894  was  f50,808.9().  The  borough  being  the  sole  owner  of  the 
Avorks,  the  result  is  that  while  a  comfortable  revenue  is  derived 
from  them,  yet  citizens  and  industries  are  supplied  at  a  fairly 
reasonable  figure. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  water-works  were  established 
an  efficient  fire  company  was  also  established,  named  the  Union 
Fire  Company,  which  has  always  deserved  well  of  the  community. 
It  was  chartered  in  1872,  erected  a  substantial  frame  building  in 
1874,  which  was  remodeled  in  1880.  The  building  is  two  stories 
high,  27x55  feet  in  dimensions,  and  has  a  stable  in  the  rear  16x27 
feet  in  size.  It  has  a  Silsby  steam  fire  engine,  a  hose  wagon 
carrying  500  feet  of  cotton  hose,  one  hand-hose  carriage  also  car- 


922  CHESTER     COUNTY 

rying  500  feet  of  hose,  and  a  hook  and  ladder  truck.  One  of  the 
most  useful  ordinances  of  the  village,  that  establishing  fire 
limits,  was  prociired  by  the  Union  Fire  Company. 

Oxford  is  lighted  by  electricity,  J.  W.  Bowman  being  the 
founder  of  the  system,  and  the  current  being  furnished  by  the 
Oxford  Electric  Light  and  Power  Company.  This  company  has  a 
well-equipj»ed  plant,  the  streets,  stores  and  churches  being  lighted, 
both  arc  and  incandescent  lights  being  used. 

The  Oxford  Agricultural  Society  was  established  in  1870,  its 
grounds  are  located  in  the  northern  part  of  the  borough,  and  con- 
sist of  twenty  acres,  well  laid  out.  This  has  been  since  its  estab- 
lishment one  of  the  greatest  advertising  features  of  the  place. 

The  Oxford  Board  of  Trade  was  incorporated  December  19, 
1892,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  domestic  commerce,  and  in- 
creasing commerce,  manufactures  and  general  industries.  It  has 
been  largely  instrumental  in  laying  the  foundations  for  a  broad 
and  liberal  policy,  which  has  awakened  a  spirit  of  progress,  and 
has  attracted  the  attention  of  railroads  and  manufacturers  to  the 
many  advantages  of  the  place. 

At  the  election  for  borough  officers  in  1838,  Thomas  Alex- 
ander was  chosen  chief  burgess,  and  L.  K.  Brown  clerk  and  treas- 
urer. The  council  was  composed  of  the  following  gentlemen: 
Alexander  Irwin,  Levi  K.  Brown,  John  M.  Dickey,  Kobert  Mur- 
dagh,  and  Ebenezer  Speer.  The  present  officers  and  councilmen 
are  as  follows:  Burgess,  Thomas  F.  Green,  elected  in  1897;  Coun- 
ciliueu,  William  T.  Fulton,  Joseph  M.  Showalter  and  Milton 
Walker,  all  elected  in  189G  for  three  years;  Samuel  McDowell 
and  David  A.  Caldwell,  elected  in  1897  for  three  years,  and  Samuel 
L.  Martindale  and  Branson  Slack,  elected  in  1898  for  three  years. 
The  secretary,  J.  C^'rus  Kerr,  has  held  his  office  since  1877,  and 
the  treasurer,  Jackson  A.  Watt,  has  been  in  his  office  since  1877, 
with  the  exception  of  the  years  of  1893-1-5. 

INjcojIson  Township  was  formed  in  1819,  from  parts  of  Penns- 
bury,  East   Mailborough,   Newlin   and   West  Bradford,   and   was 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  923 

named  from  the  creek  that  fiows  through  it.  It  is  bounded  (ui 
the  east  by  the  Brandywine.  Benjamiu  Chambers  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  the  early  days  of  the  Province,  took  a  large  quantity 
of  land  on  the  Brandywine,  which  he  sold  to  settlers,  Joseph 
Taylor  purchasing  several  hundred  acres  of  him  in  1711,  and 
afterward  building-  a  mill  on  Pocopson  Creek.  The  Marshalls 
settled  the  northern  part  and  were  succeeded  by  the  Bakers. 

Penn  Township  Avas  formed  in  1817,  by  dividing  up  London- 
derry Township.  The  settlers  were  largely  from  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, among  them  being  John  McKee,  Daniel  McClane,  George 
Miller,  Henry  Charlton,  Samuel  Fleming,  Hugh  Luckey,  Eobert 
Brown,  James  Strawbridge,  John  McGrew,  Matthew  Harbeson, 
Kichard  Carson,  Thomas  Province,  John  Hayes,  William  Young, 
William  Finney,  and  ^^'illiam  Graham  The  southern  line  of  this 
toAvnship,  separating  it  from  New  London,  was  the  southern  line 
of  Fagg's  Manor. 

In  1703  and  1701  surveys  were  made  for  William  Bradford, 
Thomas  Wickersham,  Hannah  Hammond,  and  Susanna  Cadman, 
the  surveys  being  made  in  right  of  old  purchases,  no  one  of  these 
four  persons  settling  on  the  laud. 

In  1857  the  line  between  Penn  and  Londonderry  was  so  altered 
as  to  include  in  the  latter  township  a  small  portion  of  the  former, 
this  being  done  for  the  accommodation  of  school  districts. 

Jennerville,  in  this  township,  was  so  named  by  Dr.  Josiah 
Ankrim  in  honor  of  Dr.  Edward  Jenner,  the  discoverer  of  vac- 
cination. 

Brook  Haven  is  the  name  given  by  John  I).  Nelson  to  liis  line 
farm,  which  is  situated  just  east  of  Penn  Station  on  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Baltimore  Central  Railroad.  The  location  is  unusually 
pleasant  and  beautiful. 

Pennsbuiy  Township  was  created  in  1770,  from  the  eastern 
part  of  Kennett  Township,  and  comprised  the  earliest  settled  part 
thereof.    The  first  surveys  were  made  about  168G,  but  there  were 


924  CHESTER    COUNTY 

few  settlements  made  before  1700.  Among  the  names  of  those 
who  first  took  up  land  in  this  township,  were  those  of  Francis 
Smitli,  lIeni*T  Peirce,  Robert  Way,  Thomas  Hope,  George  Harlan, 
Isaac  Few  and  William  Huntley.  Later  came  the  Harveys,  Tem- 
ples, Mendenhalls,  and  Webbs.  John  Parker,  who  was  located 
therein  during  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  was  an  eminent  minis- 
ter among  the  Friends,  and  it  was  after  him  that  the  village  of 
Parkersville  was  named.  In  1849  Pocopson  Township  was  taken 
from  the  northern  part  of  Pennsbury. 

Pikeland  Township  lies  northwest  of  Schuylkill  and  Charles- 
town  Townships.  In  1705  this  township  was  granted  by  William 
Penn  to  Joseph  Pike,  merchant  of  Cork,  Ireland,  the  patent  being 
dated  December  3.  This  was  done  in  order  to  induce  Mr.  Pike  to 
emigrate  to  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  It  embraced  the  terri- 
toi'y  now  contained  in  the  townships  of  East  and  West  Pikeland, 
equal  to  10,116  acres.  Joseph  Pike  died  in  1727,  seized  of  this 
tract  and  also  of  about  1,400  acres  in  Cain  Township,  on  the 
southern  part  of  which  now  stands  Cain  Friend's  Meeting-house. 
All  his  lands  in  America,  Joseph  Pike  devised  in  fee  to  his  wife 
Elizabeth,  who  held  them  until  her  death,  in  1733,  devising  them 
likewise  in  fee  to  her  sou  Richard  Pike.  Richard  Pike  died  in  1752, 
having  devised  in  his  will  all  his  estates  in  Pennsylvania  to  his 
kinsmen,  Samuel  Hoare  and  Nathaniel  Newberiw,  merchants  in 
London,  England,  subject  to  the  payment  of  certain  legacies.  In 
1756  Samuel  Hoare,  having  purchased  the  interest  of  Mr.  New- 
berry, became  sole  owner.  On  December  3,  1773,  Samuel  Hoare, 
by  his  attorney,  Amos  Strettle,  sold  and  conveyed  "the  lands 
known  bj-  the  name  of  Pikeland,"  to  Andrew  Allen,  taking  from 
him  a  mortgage  thereon  for  £16,000,  part  of  the  purchase  money. 
Andrew  Allen  sold  the  lands  in  parcels  to  115  persons,  receiv- 
ing fr(jm  them  the  purchase  money;  but  failed  to  pay  oft'  his  in- 
debtedness to  Samuel  Hoare,  and  hence  the  mortgage  was  sued 
out  against  Allen  and  the  115  purchasers  from  him;    and  the  en- 


AND     /7'.S'     PEOPLE.  925 

tire  towusliip  was  sold  as  one  tract  to  Ezekiel  Leonard,  sheriff 
of  Chester  County,  and  was  repurchased  by  Samuel  Hoare,  hold- 
ing the  mortgage,  and  was  reconveyed  to  him  by  deed  dated 
August  20,  1TS9.  As  those  who  had  purchased  from  Allen 
failed  to  procure  from  him  releases  from  the  mortgage,  the 
sheriffs  sale  to  Samuel  Hoare  divested  their  titles,  but  they 
generally  compromised  with  Hoare,  and  bj'  making  additional 
payments  received  deeds  of  confirmation  from  him;  though  some 
were  unable  to  make  any  agreements,  and  so  lost  not  only  their 
lands,  but  also  the  improvements  they  had  made  thereon. 
Samuel  Hoare  thus  again  becoming  owner  of  Pikeland,  ap- 
pointed Benjamin  Chew,  Alexander  Wilcoxe,  and  Benjamin 
Chew,  the  younger,  all  of  Philadelphia,  his  attorneys  to  make 
sale  of  his  lands,  which  they  proceeded  to  do,  and  the  titles  to  all 
the  lauds  in  the  two  Pikelands  are  derived  from  him,  either 
through  the  agents  named  above,  or  through  other  agents  sub- 
sequently appointed. 

When  the  title  to  Pikeland  was  vested  in  Samuel  Hoare  it 
was  largely  leased  in  small  tracts  to  settlers,  with  the  right  to 
purchase  after  twenty  years'  possession,  at  a  vahuttion  then  to 
be  made.  Among  those  who  first  settled  in  this  township  were 
Samuel  Lightfoot,  Michael  Lightfoot  and  Thomas  Millhouse,  the 
first  of  whom  built  the  first  mill  in  the  vicinity,  and  Michael  Light- 
foot was  a  tenant  on  the  place  afterward  held  by  Mr.  Penny- 
packer,  living  for  some  years  in  a  cave. 

The  Yellow  Springs,  now  known  as  Chester  Springs,  are  lo- 
cated in  West  Pikeland  To^  nship,  the  mineral  properties  of  the 
waters  having  been  discovered  as  early  as  1722.  For  many  years 
these  springs  were  a  fashionable  resort,  but  a  length  their  pop- 
ularity waned,  owing  in  part,  at  least,  to  their  distance  from  rail- 
road facilities.  They  ceased  to  be  kept  up  in  1S6S.  Mr.  Snyder 
and  his  wife  conveying  the  property  in  this  latter  year  to  Charles 
W.  Deans  and  others,  who  in  1809  conveyed  it  to  the  Chester 


926  CHESTER     COUXTY 

Spriuiis  Solfliers'  Orphans'  School  and  Literary  Institute.  The 
old  frame-house  which  stood  on  the  hill-side  in  the  rear  of  the 
former  hotel  buildings  was  erected  by  the  direction  of  General 
Washington,  during  the  Kevolutionary  War,  and  Avas  used  as  a 
hospital  for  his  sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  For  a  long  time  it  was 
known  as  Washington  Hall. 

In  1810  James  Ross,  a  native  of  Chester  County,  wrote,  a  Latin 
poem  on  the  Yellow  Springs.     The  first  stanza  Is  as  follows: 

"Quereret  si  quis,  socios,  amicos, 
Unde  sanaret,  vacuos  salute, — 
Flavulor  fontes  adeant  salubres  ' 

Fontis  ad  undas." 

In  1S38  the  township  was  divided  into  East  and  West  Pike- 
land 

Sadsbury  Township),  formcn'ly  written  Sudbury,  possibly  after 
Sudbury,  Suffolk  County,  England,  lies  in  the  middle  western  part 
of  the  county,  bordering  on  Lancaster  County.  The  township  was 
organized  in  1717,  though  the  name  Sadsbury  appears  as  early 
as  1708.  This  township  lies  in  the  Great  Valley  and  to  the  nortli- 
ward  thereof,  that  part  lying  in  the  valley  being  taken  up  at  an 
early  day,  in  right  of  purchases  made  In  England,  and  that  north 
of  it  at  a  somewhat  later  period.  In  1718  the  taxables  were  nine 
in  number,  \A'illiam  Grimson,  James  Hamer,  Thomas  Hayward, 
John  Musgrave,  William  Smith,  John  Whltesides,  and  John  Moore. 
The  first  township  officer  mentioned  was  William  Marsh,  Novem- 
ber 26,  1717.  In  1728  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  court,  asking 
for  the  definite  location  of  the  boundaries  of  the  township,  which 
on  November  27  of  that  year  was  granted.  In  1813  the  line  be- 
tween Sadsbury  and  West  Cain  Townships,  was  relocated  and  set- 
tled. In  1852  Sadsbury  was  reduced  in  size  by  the  formation  of 
Valley  Township,  previous  to  which  time  it  extended  eastward  to 
the  Brandywine  at  Coatesville.     By  an  act  of  Assembly  passed 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  927 

March  1,  1S72,  the  borougk  of  Parkesburj*-  was  erected,  thus  re- 
ducing the  township  in  size,  and  by  a  decree  of  the  court  of  Decem- 
ber, 20,  1875,  the  borougli  of  Atglen  was  established,  thus  further 
reducing  the  size  of  Sadsbury.  In  1878  the  township  was  divided 
into  East  and  West  Sadsbury.  The  early  settlers  of  this  or  these 
toAvnships  were  Friends  from  England  and  Scotch-Irish  Presbyte- 
rians 

Among  the  noted  citizens  of  this  part  of  the  county  in  the 
olden  time  was  Colonel  Andrew  Boyd,  son  of  Kev.  Adam  Boyd,  who 
was  lieutenant  of  Chester  County  during  a  jiart  of  the  Kevolution- 
ary  War.  John  Fleming,  Si*.,  another  pi*ominent  citizen  of  this 
part  of  tlie  county,  was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  framed 
the  State  Constitution  in  177fi,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  As- 
sembly in  1778.  Dr.  Joseph  Gardner  was  an  active  Eevolutionary 
patriot,  was  three  years  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1784-85,  and  John  Gardner, 
sou  of  the  former,  was  sheriff  of  Chester  County  from  1781  to  1783. 

Atglen,  formerly  Penningtonville,  was  incorporated  by  a  de- 
cree of  the  court,  December  20,  1875.  It  is  in  the  Great  Valley,  on 
the  Pennsylvania,  about  one  mile  from  Octoraro  Creek,  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  the  county. 

The  borough  ofiicers  of  Atglen  have  been  as  follows: 

Burgesses— Robert  Futhey,  1876-77;  Charles  Reese,  1878;  E. 
T.  Good,  1879;  Hibbert  Chalfant,  1880;  Andrew  J.  Irwin,  1881; 
Isaac  Acker,  1882;  Hibbert  Chalfant,  1883-90;  A.  J.  Hennis,  1891; 
Hibbert  Chalfant,  1892-93;  H.  C.  Yerkes,  1891-96;  A.  J.  Hennis, 
1897-1900. 

Secretaries — Aaron  Sill,  Jr.,  1876;  Robert  Holsin,  1877-78; 
William  J.  McKim,  1879;  Jacob  Airgood,  1880;  William  Wilde, 
1881;  P.  Goodman,  1883;  Frank  Cowan,  1883;  R.  C.  Cowan,  Jr., 
1896-98. 

The  council  at  the  present  time  is  composed  of  the  following 
gentlemen:     Robert  Futhey,   John   Miller,   John    Hoover,   Jacob 

55 


928  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Heyberger,  Samuel  Whitson,  and  Samuel  Ehoads,  the  terms  of  the 
first  three  expiring  in  1899,  and  of  the  last  three  in  1900. 

During  the  year  1898  the  electric  light  was  introduced  inlo 
Atglen  from  Christiana,  Lancaster  County,  only  the  incandescent 
lights  being  used.  These  vary  in  strength  from  sixteen  to  thirty- 
two  caudle  power,  the  larger  ones  being  in  use  to  light  the  streets, 
the  twenty-four  candle  power  lights  being  used  in  cliurches  and 
stores,  and  the  sixteen  candle  power  lights  being  in  use  in  jjrivate 
houses.    In  all  there  are  nearly  1,000  lights  in  the  village. 

Atglen  prides  herself  on  her  public  school  building,  erected 
in  1895.  It  stands  on  East  Main  Street  and  Newport  Avenue.  It 
is  of  brick,  witli  green  stone  foundation,  is  one-story  high,  and 
contains  two  school-rooms,  each  room  capable  of  accommodating 
eighty  pupils.  It  cost  |7,000,  and  is  provided  with  the  Smead  sys- 
tem of  heating  and  ventilating.  The  size  of  the  building  is  80x50 
feet. 

Parkesburg  Borough  was  incorporated  March  1,  1872.  It  is 
located  on  the  Pennsylvania  Eailroad,  and  when  the  railroad  Avas 
constructed  from  Philadelphia  to  Columbia  the  State  shops  were 
located  here,  remaining  until  18(51,  when  they  were  removed  to 
Harrisburg,  and  the  buildings  thus  vacated, were  afterward  owned 
by  Horace  A.  Beale,  and  used  for  a  rolling-mill.  The  place  re- 
ceived its  name  from  an  uld  and  intluential  family  by  the  name  of 
Parke.  Three  generations  of  this  family  have  occupied  seats  in 
the  Legislature  of  the  States  Joseph  Parke,  John  G.  Parke  and 
Kobert  Parke,  the  latter  having  also  been  an  associate  judge  of 
the  county. 

The  first  officers  of  this  borough  consisted  of  the  followiug 
persons:  Samuel  I\.  Parke,  burgess;  J.  M.  liawlius,  secretary-;  J. 
W.  Wright,  treasurer.  Since  then  the  brugesses  have  been  as  fol- 
lows: John  Gilfillan,  1873;  Amos  Michener,  1871;  J.  Xevin  Pome- 
roy,  1875;  William  B.  Bassett,  1876;  P.  U.  B.  Stroud,  1877;  Thomas 
Boyd,  1878;  A.  G.  Wilson,  1882-83;  Philip  D.  Handwork,   1884; 


A^W     ITS    PEOPLE.  929 

Amos  Miclieuer,  1S85-8G;  Thomas  C.  Youn^',  1887;  A.  C.  Ferree, 
1888-89;  S.  Cromleigb,  1890;  T.  J.  Keuuedy,  1891;  William  C.  Mich- 
ener,  1892;  T.  .].  Kennedy,  1893-95;  S.  Cromleioh,  1896;  Amos 
Strickland,  1897-98. 

Secretaries— J.  M.  Kawlins,  1873-71;  John  M.  Dean,  1875-70; 
John  D.  Wilson,  1877-78;  John  D.  AVilson,  1882;  J.  F.  Matlack, 
1883;  M.  F.  Hamill,  1881-85;  E.  H.  Brodhead,  1886;  W.  C.  Michener, 
1887-90;  H.  G.  Book,  1891-93;  M.  F.  Hamill,  1894-95;  A.  P.  Reid, 
1896;  M.  F.  Hamill,  1897;  Maris  C.  Mullin,  1898. 

Treasurers — R.  Agnew  Futhej,  1873;  Thomas  Boyd,  1874-76; 
C.  C.  Owens,  1878;  William  B.  Haslett,  1882;  Samuel  Jackson,  1883; 
A.  J.  Williams,  1884-85;  J.  Y.  Rice,  1886;  A.  G.  Wilson,  1887;  M.  F. 
Hamill,  1888-93;  A.  P.  Reid,  1894-95;  M.  F.  Hamill,  1896-98. 

The  Parkesburg  Water  Company  has  its  plant  on  the  hills 
north  of  the  town,  and  by  means  of  wells  and  a  wind  engine 
pumps  water  into  the  mains,  and  thus  supplies  the  inhabitants  of 
the  place  with  excellent  water. 

The  Parkesburg  Blecti'ic  Light  Company  was  established  in 
1893,  and  at  the  present  time  has  eighteen  arc  lights  for  street 
lighting  and  numerous  incandescent  lights  in  stores,  churches  and 
private  residences. 

The  borough  erected  a  lock-up  in  1885. 

The  borough  of  Coatesville  was  incorporated  by  a  decree  of  the 
court,  August  5,  1867,  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  electors  should 
meet  on  the  second  Friday  of  March,  each  year,  to  elect  borough 
officers,  except  for  the  j-ear  1S67,  the  election  being  that  year  held 
October  8,  resulting  in  the  choice  of  Abram  Gibbons,  ('raig  Ridg- 
way,  Richard  Strode,  William  T.  Hunt  and  Joseph  Suydam,  coun- 
cilmen,  and  William  B.  Mdrrison,  burgess.  Joseph  L.  Suydam  was 
elected  secretary  and  Abrani  Gibbons,  treasurer.  The  burgesses 
since  then  have  been  as  follows:  (Jeorge  W.  Price,  Horace  A. 
Beale,  R.  E.  Smith,  Joseph  Doun,  J.  N.  Woodward,  J.  T.  Pierce, 
Moses  Rambo,  George  G.  Myer,  N.  H.  Stone,  T.  H.  Windle,  John 
Speakman,  and  J.  H.  Dunlap,  present  burgess. 


930  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Secretaries — Joseph  L.  Suydaiii,  William  K.  Ash,  H.  D.  Har- 
lan, Benjamiu  T.  Lewis,  H.  C  Wilson,  Caleb  Brown,  B.  F.  Wicker- 
sham,  Isaac  Spackman,  W.  S.  Harlan,  and  J.  W.  Wingard. 

Treasurers — Abram  Gibbons,  O.  H.  Branson,  E.  D.  Baldwin, 
F.  B.  Speakman,  W.  S.  Harlan,  J.  B.  Van  Ormer,  and  C.  N.  Speak- 
man. 

The  council  at  the  present  time  is  as  follows:  C.  P.  Green- 
wood, president;  J.  W.  Doan,  Joseph  Graham,  Albert  Pawling, 
Eobert  Yochum,  (Jrier  M.  Hoskins  and  S.  V.  Hughes. 

Not  long  after  the  incorporation  of  the  borough  it  became  evi- 
dent that  Avater-works  were  a  necessity,  and  in  1871  the  present 
system  was  introduced.  The  system  is  owned  by  the  borough,  and 
the  capacity  of  the  reservoir  is  3,000,000  gallons.  The  original 
cost  of  the  works  was  |80,000,  and  in  1897  money  was  borrowed 
to  the  amount  of  |23,000  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  supply 
of  Waaler.  The  reservoir  was  repaired,  a  new  puni])  and  engine  in- 
stalled, and  the  system  otherwise  improved  and  repaired. 

The  Coatesville  Gas  Company  Avas  organized  June  28,  1871, 
with  Dr.  Charles  Huston,  president,  and  A.  D.  Harlan,  secretary. 
On  August  8,  1871,  a  permanent  organization  was  effected  by  the 
election  of  Abram  Gibbons,  president;  John  L.  Martin,  secretary, 
and  the  following  board  of  directors:  Dr.  Charles  Hustcm,  Richard 
Strode,  S.  B.  Worth,  W.  B.  Mendenhall,  and  Washington  Miller. 
The  capital  stock  originally  was  |20,000,  but  on  November  28, 
1871,  it  was  increased  to  |30,000,  and  on  December  30,  following, 
the  plant  was  completed,  the  first  gas  being  manufactured  that 
day.  There  was  manufactured  nearly  2,000,000  feet  the  first  year, 
the  price  being  $3.50  per  1,000  cubic  feet.  February  G,  1877,  the 
price  was  reduced  to  $3,  and  on  June  5,  1881,  the  price  was  re- 
duced to  12.50,  at  Avhich  it  remained  until  December  6,  18P2.  At 
this  time  the  price  was  reduced  to  |1.70  per  1,000  feet  for  lighting 
purposes,  and  to  -fl  for  heating  purposes,  and  in  1893  a  contract 
was  made  with  the  United  Gas  Improvement  Company,  of  Phil- 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  93 1 

adelpliia,  to  furuisli  a  uew  plant  complete,  bj  which  the  "Lowe 
system"  of  water  <>'as  Avould  be  iiitt'oduced.  Under  this  arrange- 
ment each  gas  light  was  eqiml  to  20-candle  power,  whereas  before 
each   light  was  only  18-candle  power. 

The  Coatesville  Board  of  Trade  Avas  organized  about  March 
25,  1890,  with  C  W.  Ash,  president;  M.  W.  Pownall,  secretary,  and 
John  W.  Thompson,  treasurer.  In  a  very  short  time  nearly  every 
business  man  of  the  jjlace  had  become  a  member  of  the  organiza- 
tion, and  it  Avas  thought  that  a  new  era  of  prosperity  had  dawned 
upon  the  town.  The  influence  of  this  board  was  soon  felt  in  vari- 
ous ways.  The  Western  Union  telegraph  poles  were  remoA-ed  from 
Main  Street,  better  train  accommodations  were  secured  from  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  and  sanitary  measures  received 
proper  attention.  A  board  of  health  was  soon  esttiblished,  an  agita- 
tion was  begun  for  a  better  water  supply,  and  various  committees 
were  appointed  to  look  after  the  various  interests  of  the  place. 

Lewis  B.  Henson  was  elected  president  of  the  board  January 
12,  1891,  and  was  later  succeeded  by  William  H.  Gibbons,  the  lat- 
ter being  succeeded  by  Hugh  Kenworthy. 

The  Youug  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Coatesville  was 
organized  in  the  fall  of  1891,  with  the  following  officers:  Charles 
L.  Huston,  president;  Lewis  B.  Henson  and  William  H.  Gibbonw, 
vice-presidents;  William  H.  Eidgway,  secretary,  and  John  W. 
Thompson,  treasurer.  A  site  on  the  south  side  of  Main  Street  was 
purchased  on  which  a  building  was  erected,  which  cost  nearly  |30,- 
000,  is  three  stories  high,  the  front  being  of  Indiana  limestone,  and 
the  building  itself  mainly  of  brick.  To  become  a  member  of  this 
association  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  either  a  Christian  or  a  church 
member,  any  man  of  good  moral  character  being  eligible  to  mem- 
bership. 

The  fact  that  Coatesville  has  a  public  libi'aiw  is  due  to  the  late 
Mrs.  Isabella  Huston,  who  fitted  up  a  building  at  her  own  expense  ■ 
for  its  use,  and  purchased  many  books  for  its  shelves.     The  first 


932  CHESTER     COUNTY 

officers  of  the  Library  Association  ^^'ere  as  follows:  Dr.  Charles 
Huston,  president;  Abram  Gibbons,  treasurer,  and  John  S.  Hope, 
secretary.  The  first  board  o{  directors  was  as  follows:  Kev.  G.  G. 
Field,  Mrs.  Isabella  Huston,  Clara  Huston,  S.  B.  Worth,  Eev.  Dr. 
Eoberts,  Benjamin  Miller,  and  Mrs.  Morris,  and  Col.  Evart  was  the 
first  librarian.  People  of  wealth  and  liberality  became  interested 
in  the  cause,  and  the  enterprise  ^\as  a  success  from  the  first. 

The  ^Vashington  Fire  Company  of  Coatesville  was  organized 
June  12,  1S71,  and  it  was  incorporated  August  17,  1871,  the  first 
meeting  being  held  September  1  of  that  yeai'.  The  borough  council 
then  purchased  the  old  Kingsessing  hose  carriage,  a  hook  and  lad- 
der truck,  gum-buckets,  aud  500  feet  of  leather  hose,  and  pre- 
sented all  to  the  new  company.  April  1,  1873,  the  company  pur- 
chased the  site  of  their  present  quarters  at  the  corner  of  Chestnut 
Street  and  Third  Avenue  for  |3,000,  erected  thereon  a  house  worth 
|5,000,  aud  moved  into  it  November  15,  1873.  In  December,  1875, 
a  Clapj)  &  Jones  steam  fire  engine,  a  hose  carriage  and  500  feet  of 
rubber  hose  were  purchased  for  |3,S50  by  the  borough,  and  pre- 
sented TO  the  company,  and  the  company  is  now  one  of  the  best 
equipped  and  most  efficient  of  any  in  any  inlaud  town  in  the  State. 

The  Coatesville  Electric  Light  Compauy  was  chartered  March 
28,  1892,  with  a  capital  of  |25,000,  aud  the  borough  entered  into 
a  contract  with  the  new  compauy  to  light  the  towu  with  arc  lights 
at  a  cost  per  annum  of  |93.33  for  each  light,  the  contract  to  remain 
in  force  for  five  years.  A  substantial  brick  building  was  erected  nt 
the  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue  and  liailroad  Street,  and  on  January 
2, 1893,  the  town  was  redeemed  from  darkness  by  the  electric  light, 
for  the  first  time.  The  incandescent  system  is  in  general  use  by 
business  and  private  houses. 

The  Coatesville  Board  of  Health  was  organized  in  April,  1891, 
with  Dr.  E.  V.  Swing,  president,  and  Dr.  Ida  Vriel,  secretary,  she 
being  the  first  lady  to  ser\'e  on  a  boai'd  of  health  in  the  State. 
As  a  result  of  the  labors  of  this  board,  Coatesville  is  one  of  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  933 

liealthie.st  places  in  the  i^tate,  as  well  as  one  of  llie  most  beautiful. 
The  Itoard  holds  nieetiuns  once  each  month,  and  is  ever  ready  to 
take  notice  of  any  matter  pertainiuj;  to  the  imprdvement  of  the 
sanitary  condition  of  the  corporation. 

The  poi)nlatioii  of  Coatesville  in  1870  was  2,025;  in  1880,  2,7G(;; 
in  1890,  3,080,  and  at  the  present  time  (1898)   is  estimated  at  5,000. 

The  fraternal  organizations  of  Coatesville  are  numerous  an<l 
pros]»erous.  (Joddard  Lodge,  No.  383,  F.  ^:  A.  M.,  was  chartere<l 
March  5,  18(i7,  and  at  tiie  jn-esent  time  has  a  membership  of  about 
100.  Its  meetings  are  held  in  Goddard  Hall,  on  the  Tuesday  even- 
ing which  occurs  on  or  first  after  the  full  moon. 

Coatesville  Lodge,  No.  oOl,  F.  i^t  A.  M.,  was  constituted  Oc- 
tober 22,  188(),  and  chartered  with  nineteen  members.  At  present 
it  has  about  100  members  and  its  career  has  been  one  of  uuinter- 
rupted  success. 

(^'oatesville  Koyal  Arch  Chapter,  No.  207,  was  constituted.  De- 
cember 28,  1887,  and  its  officers  fonually  installed.  The  member- 
ship at  the  present  time  is  about  sixty. 

Centennial  Commandery,  No.  55,  Knights  Templar,  was  con- 
.stituted  October  18,  187(!,  with  nine  charter  members.  The  com- 
mandery has  always  been  successful  in  its  work,  and  is  in  a 
Houiishiug  condition. 

Lilly  of  the  Valley  Lodge,  No.  59,  F.  iV:  .V.  M.  (colored),  Avas  con- 
stituted in  1875,  and  has  a  membership  of  about  thirty.  It  meets 
on  the  second  and  fourth  A>'e(lnesday  evenings  of  each  niontli  in 
Masonic  Hall  Building,  on  Coates  Street. 

vStar  of  Hope  Lodge,  No.  199,  I.  O.  ().  F.,  was  established  Au- 
gust 17,  1816,  at  Youngsburg.  Being  removed  to  Coatesville  its 
place  of  meeting  was  for  many  years  in  West  Coatesville,  but  in 
1890  it  sold  its  building  and  removed  to  the  Opera  House,  where 
its  meetings  were  held  until  Api-il  1,  1892,  when  it  moved  into  a 
new  building,  which  had  been  erected  for  its  use  by  its  trustees, 
on  the  corner  of  Third  Avenue  and  Main  Street,  and  here  it  hold-i 


934  CHESTER    COUNTY 

meetings  each  week,  on  Saturday  evenings,  and  pays  to  those  in 
need  |4  per  week. 

Chosen  Friends  Encampment,  No.  88,  I.  O.  O.  V.,  was  insti- 
tuted April  9,  1849,  and  meets  on  Wednesday  evening  of  eacii 
week. 

Huklah  Lodge,  No.  37,  Daughters  of  Rebecca,  was  instituted 
September  27,  1892,  Avith  76  charter  members.  It  meets  on  the  sec- 
on<l  and  fourth  Monday  evenings  of  each  mouth. 

Sober  Retreat  Lodge,  No.  27;5(i,  (Iraud  Uuited  Order,  was  '-s- 
tablished  in  Coatesville  about  1885,  is  distinct  from  the  indepen- 
dent order,  is  composed  of  colored  people,  and  holds  meetings  on 
the  first  Weduesday  and  third  Saturday  of  each  month,  in  Samari- 
tan Hall,  on  Merchant  Street. 

The  Household  of  Ruth  Lodge,  No.  514,  was  organized  by  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  members  of  Sober  Retreat  Lodge,  Avitli 
twenty  charter  members,  the  organization  being  effected  in  1888. 

Coatesville  Castle,  No.  91,  Knights  of  the  Golden  Eagle,  was 
instituted  April  26,  1886,  with  twenty-six  charter  members.  This 
is  a  semi-military  order,  and  paj's  |4  per  week  benefits  for  dis- 
ability, |100  death  benefit,  and  |75  beuefit  at  the  death  of  a  mem- 
ber's wife. 

Wayne  Lodge,  No.  266,  K.  P.,  was  instituted  September  20, 
1870,  with  eighteen  charter  members.  It  has  now  about  60  mem- 
bers. 

Charles  Sumner  Lodge,  No.  IS  (colored),  was  established  June 
14,  1890,  with  sixty-eight  charter  members.  Uniformed  Rank,  No. 
16,  is  a  branch  of  this  order,  and  the  Coui-t  of  Calauthe,  No.  8 
(ladies),  is  attached  to  Charles  Sumner  Lodge. 

Ouondago  Tribe,  No.  83,  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  was 
organized  February  10,  1868,  with  fifteen  charter  members. 

Onondago  Haymakers'  Association,  No.  83^,  was  instituted 
June  21,  1886,  and  holds  its  meetings  on  the  last  Monday  of  each 
mouth. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  935 

Unoas  Chieftau's  League  was  organized  20th  Snu,  Stiirgeou 
Moon,  G.  S.  D.,  398,  and  meets  on  the  third  Monday  of  each  month. 

Coatesville  Council,  No.  421,  Junior  Order  United  American 
Mechanics,  was  organized  July  1,  1891,  and  was  instituted  on  the 
14th  of  the  same  mouth,  Avith  sixty-thi*ee  charter  members.  The 
council  ]iays  fS  weekly  for  sickness  or  disability,  $2.50  in  case  of 
deatJi,  and  -fSO  on  the  death  of  the  wife  of  a  member. 

White  Star  Council,  Xo.  730,  was  instituted  in  NoA'ember, 
1891,  with  twenty  charter  members,  and  at  the  ]n'eseut  time  has 
about  tlfty  members.  This  council  pays  |4  weekly  benefits,  and 
has  the  optional  benefit  fund  of  |250. 

Coatesville  Lodge,  No.  l(i,  ludeiJendent  Order  of  Good  Temp- 
lars, was  instituted  July  27,  1889,  and  meets  each  Saturday  even- 
ing in  G.  A.  1\.  Hall,  (»n  ilain  Street. 

Washington  Camp,  Xo.  549,  Patriotic  Order  Sons  of  America, 
Avas  instituted  August  5,  1890,  and  has  now  a  membership  of  about 
fifty.  This  cam]i  ])ays  -14  weekly  benefits  in  case  of  sickness  or 
accident. 

St.  Paul's  Lodge,  Xo.  19,  Sous  and  Daughters  of  Samaria  (col- 
ored), is  a  beneficial  and  charitable  organizatiim,  and  has  been  in 
existence  since  about  1880.  It  owns  Samaritan  Hall,  on  Merchant 
Street,  in  avIucIi  several  otlier  organizations  of  colored  people  hold 
their  meetings. 

Brandy  wine  Post,  G.  A.  P.,  Xo.  54,  was  organized  June  20, 
1878,  Avith  thirteen  charter  members.  This  post  meets  every  Fri- 
day evening. 

Brandywiue  W.  P.  C.,  Xo.  149,  is  an  auxiliary  to  the  above,  and 
Avas  organized  September  4,  1891,  with  thirty-six  charter  members. 

Daniel  C.  Reed  Post,  Xo.  599,  G.  A.  P.,  Avas  organized  October 
20, 1890,  with  sixteen  members.    It  is  composed  of  colored  members. 

Schuylkill  ToAvnship  lies  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county 
on  the  Schuylkill  Piver,  east  of  CharlestoAvn,  from  which  it  Avas 
taken  in  1820.     Among  the  early  settlers  of  this  toAvnship  were 


936  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  families  of  Andersou,  IJnxzard,  Hover,  Buckwalter,  Kodlev, 
Baitbolomew,  Coates,  Coxe,  Davis,  Deluiven,  Eat-li,  Fussell,  Grif- 
fith, James,  Kennedy,  Lon<istreth,  Maris,  Miller,  Moore,  Roberts, 
Pennypaoker,  Kapp,  Robinson,  Rossiter,  Starr,  Steward,  Schofleld, 
Wagoner,  and  Wersler.  Moore  Hall  in  tliis  towuslii]),  more  tlian  a 
hundred  years  ago,  one  of  tlic  most  aristocrati<-  mansions  iii  the 
county. 

The  borough  of  Phu-uixvilJe  was  taken  from  the  east  part  of 
Schuylkill  Township,  and  incorporated  by  a  decree  of  the  court 
March  (I,  1849.  The  first  election  for  borough  officers  was  held 
April  13,  following,  it  being  a  contest  between  those  favorable  to 
and  those  opposed  to  incorporation.  The  vote  was  as  follows:  For 
burgess,  Isaac  A.  Peunypacker,  225;  Samuel  A.  Whitaker,  156;  for 
the  councilmen  that  were  elected:  George  Walters,  361;  John 
Vanderslice,  271;  Major  MacVeagh,  256;  William  King,  248; 
Francis  Bonner,  229,  and  John  Mullen,  214. 

Following  are  the  names  of  (he  Burgesses  of  Pha^nixville  since 
its  incorporation:  Isaac  A.  Pennypacker,  1849,  1851  and  1853; 
Joseph  B.  McAllister,  1850;  N.  M.  Ellis,  1852  and  1856;  John  Mor- 
gan, 1854;  Isaac  Z.  Coffman,  1855;  John  Griff  en,  1857;  John  R. 
Dobson,  1858;  Isaac  Phillips,  1859  and  1860,  and  Joseph  Dobson  to 
fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of  Isaac  Phillips,  deceased;  Benjamin 
Hallman,  1861,  1865  and  1866;  Levi  Oberholtzer.  1862  and  1863; 
Harman  Yerkes,  1864;  Nathan  Wagoner,  1867;  Aaron  B.  Thom- 
son, 1868;  Jacob  Baugh,  1869;  Jacob  B.  Morgan,  1870,  1871,  1872 
and  1873;  Levi  B.  Kaler,  1874;  J.  B.  Morgan,  1875;  Benjamin  G. 
Essick,  1876-77;  N.  B.  Broomall,  1878-79;  B.  G.  Essick,  1880;  Frank 
L.  Kreamer,  1881;  Levi  Oberholtzer,  1882;  P.  G.  Carey,  1883;  Z.  S. 
Ccdehouer,  1884;  N.  M.  Ellis,  1885;  N.  B.  Broomall,  1886;  N.  C.  Van- 
derslice, 1887;  Daniel  F.  Moore,  1888;  John  Denithorne,  1889;  S. 
Robert  March,  1890-92;  \\'.  11.  Mosteller,  1893;  John  Denithorne, 
1894-96;  William  H.  Bitting,  1897-98. 

Clerks   of  tlie  Council- Jacob   B.   Morgan,   1849-1851;   O.   E. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  937 

Strickland,  part  of  1852;  J.  B.  Morgau,  1802-1854;  P.  G.  Carey, 
1855-50;  David  P.ouuer,  1857-58;  P.  G.  Carey,  1850-(i2;  Benjamin 
Hallman,  18()3-(;i;  P.  G.  Carey,  18(')5-T2;  Josiali  P.  Eacluis,  1873-98. 

Treasurers — Samuel  Moses,  1849-77;   Horace  Lloyd,  1878-98. 

The  present  council  of  Phcenixville  is  as  follows:  K.  J.  Hen- 
derson, J.  1{.  Eyricb,  E.  L.  Biickwalter,  A.  Y.  Coffnian,  N.  J.  Wait- 
neigbt,  W.  J.  Hodge,  E.  J.  McGettigau,  M.  J.  O'Donuell,  Noali 
Buck,  S.  il.  Fitzgerald,  C.  G.  Barth,  William  LaPorte. 

The  president  of  the  council  is  E.  L.  Buckwalter,  and  the  clerk, 
■Josiah  P.  Eachus. 

The  Phoenixville  Board  of  Health  is  as  follows:  M.  G.  IJppert, 
president;  J.  G.  Shoemaker,  M.  D.,  vice-president;  I.  E.  Miller, 
secretary;  Joseph  Moore,  health  officer;  E.  M.  Massinger,  Y.  S., 
milk  inspector;  Jesse  Hall,  Eugene  McCabe,  James  O'Neill. 

In  1859  an  amendment  to  the  charter  of  the  borough  was  ob- 
tained from  the  Legislature,  providing  for  <a  council  of  nine  per- 
sons, thi'ee  to  be  elected  each  year  to  serve  three  yeai's,  and  au- 
thorizing the  burgess  and  town  council  to  borrow  |10,000  for  the 
erection  of  a  town-hall  and  market-house.  Previous  to  the  secur- 
ing of  this  amendment  the  burgess  had  not  only  presided  over 
the  meetings  of  the  council,  but  he  had  also  been  an  active  partic- 
ipant in  borough  legislation,  and  the  question  then  arose  as  to 
whether  his  authority  had  been  supei'seded  by  the  amendment, 
as  was  intended.  This  construction  was  put  upon  the  amend- 
ment, and  Isaac  Phillips,  who  was  burgess  during  1859  and  a  part 
of  1860,  quietly  acquiesed  in  this  construction;  but  Benjamin  Hall- 
man,  elected  in  1861,  insisted  on  his  right  to  preside,  which  was  re- 
fused, and  a  motion  to  enter  his  objection  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
council  was  voted,  down,  by  a  vote  of  4  to  5.  The  solicitor  of  the 
borough  coincided  in  opinion  with  Burgess  Hallman,  and  as  soon 
as  this  was  ascertained  some  of  the  active  members  of  the  council 
hastened  to  Harrisburg,  and  almost  immediately  returned  with  an 
act  of  Assembly  so  amending  the  charter  that  the  burgess  was  de- 


938  CHESTER     COUNTY 

piived  of  all  legislative  powex'  aud  made  a  mere  executive  offioev. 
.Since  that  time  the  burgess  has  not  presided  over  the  council. 

In  18(11  the  coiincil  purchased  a  lot  of  ground  on  the  east  side 
of  Main  Street,  beloAV  Bridge  Street,  upon  which  they  erected  a 
tine  brick  market-house,  wliich  has  since  been  a  great  convenience 
to  tlie  people  of  the  place.  In  JS72  arrangements  were  perfected 
to  supply  the  town  with  water. 

The  construction  of  water-works  in  Plioeuixville  was  coni- 
meuced  in  1S72,  and  completed  in  1873.  Water  is  obtained  from 
the  Schuylkill  Iviver  to  the  north  of  the  borough  and  .just  aboA'e 
the  tunnel  bridge.  It  is  pumped  into  a  reservoir  located  about  500 
feet  from  the  pumping  station,  aud  elevated  185  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  ri^er.  The  reservoir  has  a  capacity  of  2,(i00,000  gal- 
lons, and  from  this  reservoir  it  is  jjiped  through  the  town.  The 
pressure  is  from  00  to  70  pounds,  aud  almost  every  resident  of  the 
borough  takes  water  from  the  system,  those  that  do  not  paying  a 
protection  tax.  The  minimum  water  rate  is  |6  per  year,  and  it 
may,  according  to  circumstances,  run  up  to  |50  per  year.  There 
are  two  A\'ortliiugton  pumps,  one  having  a  capacity  of  1,000,000 
gallons,  tlie  other  of  1,500,000  gallons  per  day,  and  the  cost  of  the 
system  as  it  stands  today  was  |225,000.  B.  H.  Willauer  is  water 
superintendent. 

The  Phtenix  Military  Baud  was  organized  June  5,  1847,  in 
the  home  of  ^^'.  ^^'.  Waitneigh,  on  Bridge  Street,  Phoenixville. 
There  were  at  first  seventeen  members,  all  of  whom  are  uow  dead 
except  Philomeu  Kichards,  of  Germantowu,  who  is  now  over 
eighty  years  of  age.  The  first  leader  of  this  baud  was  Samuel  T. 
IJeeves,  aud  the  first  set  of  iustruments  which  were  manufactured 
in  New  Hampshire  cost  .*>500.  One  of  those  instruments  is  still  in 
existence,  but  is  out  of  date.  The  band  has  had  in  all  six  sets  of  in- 
struments, the  aggregate  cost  has  been  |5,500. 

Since  Samuel  T.  BeeA'es,  the  leaders  of  this  band  have  been 
Lawrence  S.  Fox,  li(tbert  B.  Williamson,  John  G.  Moses,  from  1855 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  939 

to  ISTS,  aud  L.  B.  Vanderslice,  nephew  of  Mr.  Moses.  Mr.  Vander- 
sliie  having  been  elected  April  29,  1876.  The  professional  teach- 
ers of  the  band  have  been  James  V.  Giffen,  Philip  Nenber,  and 
John  r.  Kowbothani.  This  organization  has  had  three  band 
wagons,  the  present  one  having  been  purchased  in  1868,  costing 
|1,100,  and  being  now  as  good  as  when  new.  The  band  lias  had 
three  names — first  the  Military  Brass  Band  of  Phwnixville;  sec- 
ond, the  Phoenix  Brass  Band,  and  third,  the  Phoenix  Military  Band, 
being  organized  under  this  name  July  27,  1867,  and  incorporated 
August  9,  1880.  it  has  held  the  position  since  its  organization  of 
the  best  band  in  Chester  County,  and  most  of  the  time  it  has  com- 
pared favorably  with  tlie  leading  bands  in  the  kState. 

The  Phceuixville  Hospital  was  iucorpoi'ated  June  12,  1898, 
as  the  Stratford  Castle  Hospital,  and  re-chartered  May  25,  1895, 
as  the  Phoenixville  Hospital.  The  first  year's  work  under  its 
present  name,  showed  433  cases  treated,  317  of  which  were  sur- 
gical aud  116  medical.  The  second  year's  work  ending  in  June, 
1897,  showed  485  surgical  cases  and  245  medical,  a  total  of  730, 
and  a  total  for  the  two  years  of  1,163.  Tlie  dispensary  work  of 
the  hospital  from  the  first  grew  rapidly,  and  was  of  great  benefit 
to  the  sick  and  afflicted  who  were  without  the  necessary  means  to 
purchase  needed  remedies  or  to  employ  a  physician.  The  building- 
occupied  hj  this  valuable  institution  stands  near  the  Cray  Street 
Viaduct  and  French  CVeek,  but  the  work  so  rapidly  increases 
that  a  new  building  is  essential  to  its  success,  and  a  plot  of 
ground  on  Xutts  Avenue,  in  the  southern  jiart  of  the  borougli, 
was  purchase<l  about  the  beginning  of  1897,  on  which  the  neces- 
sary buildings  will  be  erected  as  soon  as  the  funds  can  be  secured. 
A  building  committee  was  appointed  consisting  of  Samuel  Wynne, 
Harry  Sloyer,  Paul  S.  Beeves,  D.  F.  Moore,  Clarence  Keely,  and  L. 
B.  Kaler,  and  this  excellent  committee  will  secure  the  erection 
of  buildings  as  soon  as  practicable.  The  officers  of  the  hospital 
are  Levi  B.  Kaler,  president;  C.  M.  Vanderslice,  vice-president; 


940  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Samuel  Wynne,  secretary,  and  Harry  Sloyer,  treasurer.  Mrs. 
Alice  Evans,  matron;  Miss  Katberine  X.  Miller,  chief  nurse; 
Thomas  Leidy  Ehoads,  chief  surgeon;  and  Myron  W.  Snell,  M.  D., 
resident  physician.  The  expense  of  conducting  the  hospital  for 
The  year  ending  .lune  1,  18!)S,  was  ^3,200.25.  For  the  year  ending 
•Tune  1,  1898,  the  number  of  jjatieuts  treated  was  942,  making 
a  total  since  the  opening  of  the  hospital,  December  IG,  1893,  2,203. 
The  number  of  deaths  occuring  in  the  hospital  has  been  21.  Plans 
for  the  new  building  reached  Phoeuixville  in  August,  1S98.  It  is 
to  be  a  three-st(U-y  stone  building  above  a  basement,  and  is  ex- 
pected to  co*!t  115,000. 

The  Phopnixville  Park  is  one  of  the  beauty  spots  of  the 
county.  It  is  situated  on  South  Main  Street,  and  occupies  a 
full  square  of  ground.  It  was  donated  to  the  city  about  187-1, 
and  was  opened  to  the  public  in  July,  1878,  with  a  grand 
demonstration  of  bonfires,  music,  and  speeches.  It  will  long  re- 
main an  evidence  of  the  generosity  of  its  donor,  David  Reeves,  of 
whom  there  is  a  fine  bronze  monument  within  its  limits. 

The  secret  societies  of  PlHPnixville  are  as  follows: 

Ph(enix  Lodge,  No.  7.'i.  F.  iS;  A.  M.,  organized  March  12,  1798, 
at  Pughtown. 

PhoMiix  Chapter,  No.  198,  If.  A.  M.,  organized  September  13, 
1861,  anil  liolds  its  meetings  every  Saturday  next  after  the  full 
moon. 

Pho'uix  Lodge,  Xo.  212,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  organized  January  20, 
1847,  and  meets  every  Wednesday  at  Temperance  Hall. 

Adelaide  Lodge  of  Kebekahs,  I.  O.  <).  F.,  which  meets  in  the 
](ostottice  building,  on  the  third  and  fifth  Tuesda.ys  of  the  month. 

Wayne  Council  No.  27,  Sr.,  O.  U.  A.  M.,  which  meets  every 
Wednesday  evening  at  Temperance  Hall. 

Wayne  Council,  No.  KJ,  Jr.,  O.  U.  A.  M.,  which  meets  every 
Friday  evening  at  Temperance  Hall. 

Lieut.  Josiah  White  Post,  No.  15,  G.  A.  E.,  which  meets  every 
Friday  evening  in  CasAvell  &;  Moore's  building. 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  941 

Audiew  <i.  ('intiu  Cuiiip,  No.  10(1,  !»l()U8  of  Yeteraus,  meets 
every  Monday  eveninj;-  in  Caswell  ^:  Moore's  buiklinff. 

Division  No.  1,  A.  O.  H.,  meets  on  the  second  Sunday  of  each 
month  at  Hibernia  Hall. 

The  German  Beneficial  Society,  No.  1,  meets  Thursday  even- 
injis  after  pay-day  in  the  postofflce  building. 

Jerusalem  Commandery,  No.  15,  K.  T.,  meets  at  Masonic  Hall 
on  the  Tuesday  on  or  before  the  full  moon. 

ManarvKU  (  (nincil,  No.  1,010,  Koyal  Arcanum,  meets  in  the 
postoffice  building  on  the  second  and  fourth  Tuesday  of  each 
month. 

I'alestine  Council,  No.  8,  R.  &  S.  M.,  meets  even'  Tuesday  even- 
ing on  or  before  the  full  moon,  in  Masonic  Hall. 

Phoenix  Council,  No.  1G4,  P.  of  L.,  meets  each  Wednesday 
evening  in  the  postoffice  building. 

Sanakac  J^odge,  No.  58,  K.  of  P.,  meets  every  Monday  evening 
at  Temperance  Hall. 

Stratford  Castle,  No.  67,  K.  G.  E.,  meets  even-  Monday  even- 
ing in  the  Whitaker  building. 

Washington  Castle,  No.  45,  K.  (J.  E.,  meets  every  Monda\ 
evening  in  the  Postoffice  building. 

Spring  City,  formerly  Spriugville,  is  on  the  Schuylkill  Kiver, 
and  was  taken  from  the  east  part  of  East  Vincent  Township,  in 
1867,  being  then  incorporated  by  a  decree  of  the  court.  The  name 
became  Spring  City  in  1872,  in  order  that  the  name  of  the  village 
and  the  postoffice  might  be  the  same.  The  villaae  is  located  op- 
jjosite  Koyer's  Ford,  on  the  Reading  Railroad. 

The  Phoenixville  Gas  Light  &  Fuel  Company  was  a  corporation 
chartered  by  letters  patent  issued  by  the  governor  of  Pennsylvania 
on  the  18th  day  of  November,  A.  I).,  1873.  Prof.  S.  C.  Lowe,  now 
of  Los  Angeles,  California,  was  the  principal  incorporator  of  the 
company,  and  it  was  through  his  energy  and  largely  by  his  capi- 
tal that  the  first  works  were  built  in  the  borough  of  Phoenixville. 


943  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Prof.  Lowe  was  the  inveutor  of  what  is  known  as  the  water-gas 
process  of  making  gas,  and  these  works  were  built  by  him  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  his  invention  into  practice.  Phoenixville,  there- 
fore, has  the  honor  of  having  the  first  water-gas  works  erected  in 
the  United  States. 

The  old  works  were  built  on  Prospect  Street,  east  of  Main 
Street  in  the  boi"ough  of  Phoenixville,  and  were  very  small  and 
crude. 

Among  the  incorpoi'ators  were  J.  P.  Morgan,  cashier  of  the 
National  Bank  of  Phoenixville,  Ellis  Beeves,  of  the  firm  of  Reeves 
&  Starkey,  and  John  Griffon,  superintendent  of  the  Phoenix  Iron 
Company,  all  of  whom  are  deceased. 

The  United  Gas  Improvement  Company  purchased  all  the  pat- 
ents of  Prof.  Lowe,  and  upon  these  patents  and  improvements 
thereon  all  the  water-gas  works  were  oi)erated  in  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  in  foreign  countries. 

In  1887  the  works  were  sold  at  the  suit  of  the  bondholders  to 
the  trustee  named  in  a  mortgage,  and  were  purchased  by  a  syn- 
dicate of  bondholders,  who  reorganized  the  company  and  procured 
from  the  State  a  charter  for  the  new  company,  under  the  name 
and  title  of  the  Phoenix  Gas  Light  &  Fuel  Company. 

This  charter  is  dated  March  15,  A.  D.,  1888.  The  first  presi- 
dent of  the  new  company  was  George  K.  Griffon,  and  the  first 
secretary  was  Henry  R.  Griffon.  The  new  company  continued  to 
operate  the  old  works  until  the  year  1895,  Avhen  they  purchased 
a  tract  of  ground  along  the  Schuylkill  River,  abutting  on  the  Phila- 
delphia &  Reading  Railroad,  where  they  erected  new  and  improved 
works,  at  a  cost  of  $30,000.  The  works  were  erected  under  contract 
with  the  Western  Gas  &  Improyement  Company  of  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  and  the  company  relaid  a  large  number  of  the  old  mains, 
and  have  materially  increased  their  business  by  the  change.  The 
annual  output  of  gas  from  the  present  works  is  about  seven  million 
cubic  feet. 


"^(?,  i 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  943 

The  present  officers  of  the  company  are  as  follows:  President, 
II.  11.  Gilkysou;  secretary,  E.  X.  Peuuypacker;  treasurer,  I.  J. 
Krower.  The  board  of  directors  are  H.  H.  Gilkysou,  N.  H.  Benja- 
min, lion.  L.  B.  Kaler,  I.  J.  Brower,  J.  M.  Reeves,  Harry  Sloyer 
and  A.  E.  Eaclins;  the  superintendent  of  the  works  is  David  Buck. 

Thorubury  Township  lies  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
county,  and  was  divided  into  two  townships,  each  retaining  the 
name,  when  Delaware  County  was  created  in  1789.  It  was  named 
from  Thornbury,  Gloucestershire,  England,  being  named  in  honor 
of  the  wife  of  George  Peirce,  she  being  a  native  of  Thornbury, 
England.  The  township  was  organized  in  1687  by  the  appointment 
of  Hugh  Durburrow  as  constable,  when  there  were  not  more  than 
live  or  six  families  within  its  limits.  Thornbury,  Birmingham  and 
Westtown  Townships  are  the  only  ones  within  the  present  limits 
of  Chester  County  organized  prior  to  1704.  That  part  of  Thorn- 
bury which  fell  into  Chester  County  was  about  one-fourth  of  the 
original  township,  and  it  is  one  of  the  smallest  townships  in  Ches- 
ter Count}-. 

Tredyffrin  Township  is  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
county  and  mostly  in  the  Great  Valley.  It  is  a  portion  of  the 
famous  Welsh  Tract,  and  was  settled  largely  by  the  Welsh.  In 
Welsh  the  word  or  prefix  Tro  means  town  or  township,  and  Dyffrin 
means  valley,  hence  the  meaning  of  TredyfCrin  is  the  valley  town- 
ship. The  township  was  organized  as  early  as  1707,  for  in  that 
year  Tliomas  David  was  constable.  Following  are  the  names  of 
the  resident  landowners  in  1722,  showing  that  the  inhabitants  were 
nearly  all  Welsh: 

James  Abraham,  Morris  David,  Hugh  David,  James  David, 
8r.,  John  David,  Heniy  David,  James  Davies,  William  Davies, 
Timothy  Davies,  Stephen  Evans,  Lewis  Evans,  William  Evans, 
Thomas  Godfrey,  John  Howell,  Mark  Hubbert,  Thomas  Hubbert, 
Grififith  Jones,  Sr.  and  Jr.,  Thomas  Jerman,  Thomas  James,  Jeukin 


56 


944  CHESTER     COUNTY 

Lewis,  James  Parry,  John  Robert,  Owen  Roblyn,  Thomas  Martin, 
Samuel  Richard,  John  Ricliard,  Daniel  Walker,  and  Lewis  Walker. 

The  population  since  tlien  has  <iTadually  chanjied,  so  that  at 
the  present  time  other  nationalities  are  largely  represented  in  tlie 
township. 

Uwchlan  Township  was  settled  principally  by  the  Welsh,  as 
its  name  implies,  Uwchland   meaning  higher  than   or  above  the 
yalley.     These  first  settlere  came  in  under  the  auspices  of  David 
Lloyd,  who  was  more  than  ordinarily  able  and  prominent  ^among 
them.       David   Lloyd   took  up  large  tracts   of  land  within   this 
original  township,  selling  it  off  in  smaller  divisions  to  settlers. 
The  settlement  was  made  about  1712.     The  first  settlers  are  said 
to  have  been  Samuel  and  Griffith  Jolin,  l)rothers  and  sons  of  John 
Philips,  taking  their  fatlier's  Christian   name  for  tlieir  surname 
as  was  then  customary  among  the  Welsh.     They  were  both  min- 
isters in  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  neither  of  them  could  ever 
speak  English  without  a  strong  tincture  of  their  native  tongue. 
Other  early  settlers  were  Morris  Reese,  Oadwalader  John,  David 
Evans,  Humphrey  Lloyd,  David  Lloyd,  a  family  of  Philipses  and 
o.ther  Welshmen.     John  Cadwalader  purchased  250  acres  of  land 
from  David  Lloyd,  June  2,  1715,  and  on  January  10,  171(1,  sold  it 
to  Thomas  Fell,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  piece  of  ground  by 
the  side  of  the  King's  road,  which    he    allotted    for  a  burying- 
ground,  and  on  which  a  meeting-house  was  to  be  built  for  the 
use  of  the  Quakers.     This  piece  of  ground  is  now  occuiued  by  the 
Friends'  Meeting-house  at  Lionville.     Evan    Evans,    who    came 
from  Treeglws,  in  Montgomeryshire,  Wales,  in  1722,  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  this  township,  and    his    descendants  are 
among  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  Uwchlan  Townships  at  the 
present  time.     His  grandson,  Evan  Evans,  was  a  member  of  the 
assembly  from  Chester  County  from  1780  to  1783. 

Among  the  early  settlers  not  mentioned  above  were  the  fol- 
lowing: John  Evans,  James  Pugh,  Robert  Benson,  John  David, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  945 

James  Eeese,  Joseph  Pliipps,  Noble  Butler,  Reese  Joues,  David 
Davies,  Thomas  John,  and  several  others. 

This  original  township  v\as  divided  in  1858,  and  a  new  town- 
shiji  fonncd  by  the  name  of  Ujiper  Uwchlan,  the  sonthern  jiart 
being-  named  Lower  Uwchlan.  From  the  northeastern  pai't  iif 
Upper  Uwehlan  there  is  an  extension  into  West  A^ineent  Town- 
ship, this  extension  originally  forming  a  part  of  the  lands  of  8ir 
Mathias  A'iucent,  Dr.  Daniel  Cox,  and  others,  and  was  known  as 
Cox  &  Company's  30,000  acres.  The  taxes  on  this  land  remained 
unpaid  from  September  29,  1687,  until  September  20,  171.">,  a 
period  of  twenty-eight  years,  on  which  latter  date  suit  was  brought 
for  their  recovery  by  John  Simcock,  clerk  of  the  county  courts,  in 
the  name  of  William  Penn,  and  a  writ  of  execution  was  granted 
by  the  court  August  30,  1717,  imder  which  407  acres  of  the  30,000 
acres  were  seized  and  sold  by  the  sheriff,  Nicholas  Faii'lamb,  to 
David  Lloj-d  of  Chester,  for  £50,  and  confirmed  to  him  by  deed 
dated  February  2-1,  1717-18.  In  1728  David  Lloyd  sohl  a  part  uf 
this  land,  200  acres,  to  John  A'aughan,  and  tliis  200  acres  after- 
ward became  the  piioperty  of  his  son,  Jonathan  Vaughan,  who, 
together  with  his  wife,  Ann,  conveyed  the  same,  together  with  the 
brick  house  thereon,  knoAvn  as  the  "Red  Lion,"  to  Dennis  Wheleu. 

Dennis  ^Vhelcn  also  jiurchased  other  lands  adjoining,  and 
had  in  contemplation  the  selling  of  lots  and  the  building  up  of  a 
town  upon  his  lands,  "where  the  conveniences  are  so  large  that 
several  Hundreds  of  Builders  or  Tenants  may  be  served  with  dry 
and  wholes(mie  lots.  Those  of  them  now  laid  (mt  are  GO  feet  wide 
and  250  feet  deep,  proposed  to  be  lett  at  thi-ee  dollars  per  annum 
yearly  Rent,  or  the  Value  thereof,  with  a  condition  that  the 
Tenants  may  purchase  when  they  please  upou  ])aying  20  years' 

Rent.     The  said  Town  to  be  uamed after  a  place  in 

Wales,  from  whence  the  late  Judge  David  Lloyd  came,  who  had 
been  formerly  owner  of  this  place."  But  Mr.  AV'helen's  hopes  and 
plans  failed  of  realization,  and  the  little  village  of  Lionville  is 


946  CHESTER     COUXTY 

now  standing  on  the  tract  where  it  Avas  fondly  liopcd  tliat  a.  hirgc? 
and  flourishing'  town  would  j^i-ow  up  under  the  nauic  of  Welsh- 
pool. 

Valley  Township  lies  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  be- 
tween Cain  and  Sadsbury.  It  Was  formed  in  1852  by  decree  of 
the  court  from  parts  of  the  townships  of  West  Cain,  AVest  Brandy- 
wine,  East  Cain  and  Sadsbury,  and  it  includes  the  village  of 
Coatesville,  which  borough  was  established  in  1867,  reducing 
Valley  Township  in  size,  and  its  area  was  again  reduced  in  1868 
by  the  erection  of  Cain  Township.  The  township  is  now  about 
one-half  its  original  size. 

Coatesville  wa.s  incorporated  by  the  ('ourt  of  Quarter  Ses- 
sions in  1867,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  the  Coates  family.  It 
embraces  territory  on  both  sides  of  the  Brandy  wine.  The  I*enn- 
sylvauia  Eailroad  and  the  Wilmington  liailroad  both  pass  through 
this  town,  and  contribute  much  to  its  prosperity,  which,  however, 
dei^ends  more  upon  the  manufacturing  establishments  located 
there.  A  village  known  as  Midway,  situated  on  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  west  of  the  Brandywine,  was  included  in  the  limits 
of  Coatesville  at  the  time  of  its  incorporation,  and  is  frequently 
referred  to  as  West  Coatesville. 

Vincent  Township  lies  northwest  of  East  and  West  Pikeland. 
On  the  earliest  map  of  the  Province  the  territory  now  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  East  and  West  Vincent  Townships  is  given 
in  the  names  of  Sir  Mathias  Vincent,  Adrian  Vrouzeu,  Benjoluui 
Furl 03^  and  Dr.  Daniel  Cox.  French  Creek,  which  passes  through 
the  township,  was  at  one  time  called  Vincent  Eiver,  and  the  tract 
of  land  was  fre<iuently  Cox  &  Company's  20,000  acres. 

The  history  of  the  early  settlement  of  this  township  is  un- 
usually interesting.  Benjohan  Furloy,  named  above,  as  agent  for 
William  Penn,  conveyed  on  March  7,  1682,  5,000  acres  of  land  in 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  to  Burgomaster  Adrian  A'rouzen,  of 
Rotterdam,  Holland,  who,  on  June  10,  1704,  conveyed  the  same 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  947 

lands  to  Beujuliau  Fiirloy,  son  of  tlie  first  named  Dr.  Daniel  dx, 
or  Coxe,  the  name  being  spelled  both  ways,  was  seized  of  a  tract 
of  laud  containino-  10,000  acres,  Iviu.u  between  the  Schuylkill  and 
Vincent  Rivers,  wliich  in  1()82  he  ordered  to  be  divided  into  two 
equal  parts,  on  one  of  Avhich  several  families  were  then  already 
settled.  Of  the  other  part  he  "ranted  on  November  22,  1082,  1,000 
acres  to  John  Clapp  of  the  Province  of  Carolina,  100  acres  of 
Avliich  were  to  lie  on  the  ^^chuylkill,  and  Clapp  Avas  to  pay  to  Dr. 
Coxe  a  yearly  rental  of  one  grain  of  corn  per  year  for  the  first 
six  years,  and  afterward  the  yearly  rent  of  £4  Os. 

William  Penu  also  sold  to  Major  Robert  Thompson  of  New- 
iugton  (Ireeu,  Middh^sex  County,  England,  10,000  acres  of  land  in 
Pennsylvania,  April  20,  1G8G,  which  lands  lay  in  this  township, 
and  which  at  length  became  the  property  of  Joseph  Reed,  Thomas 
Willing  and  Robert  Morris,  all  of  Philadel])hia,  the  ]n-ice  paid  Oy 
them  for  the  10,000  acres  being  £5,500.  Joseph  Reed  sold  his 
interest  to  the  other  jiarties  December  10,  1783,  for  £2,000,  and  a 
]tatent  was  granted  to  Morris  and  Willing  June  28,  1787,  for 
10,098  acres  in  Vincent,  called  Westover.  On  December  1,  1789, 
Morris  sold  his  interest  tct  Willing  for  £12,000.  This  land  covered 
the  parts  of  East  and  West  A'inceut  adjoining  Coventry,  and  a 
patent  was  granted  for  the  lemainder  of  the  land  in  Vincent  to 
the  West  New  Jersey  Society,  the  number  of  acres  being  10,008^ 
acres,  December  5,  1791. 

This  Township  was  settled  much  in  the  same  manner  as  Pike- 
land,  leases  being  taken  with  the  right  to  purchase  reserved,  And 
it  was  only  when  the  tenants  became  the  owners  of  their  lands 
that  marked  and  steady  improvement  became  the  order  of  the 
day.  Among  the  early  settlers  were  such  men  as  the  Ralstons, 
Jenkinses,  Davises,  John  and  Michael  Paul,  Gordon,  Dennis  Whelen 
and  Garret  Brombac.  The  latter  gentleman  established  the  first 
tavern  north  of  the  Lancaster  route.  It  was  in  a  little  house  of 
rude  construction,  but  in  it  he  performed  the  duties  of  host  for 


948  CHESTER     COUNTY 

many  years,  eventually  becoming  a  rich  man.     The  name  Brom- 
bac  lias  since  his  day  been  changed  to  Brownback. 

A'incent  Township  was  divided  into  East  and  West  Vincent 
in  1832,  and  the  borough  of  t^priugfield  was  taken  from  the  eastern 
part  of  East  Vincent  in  1867,  the  name  being  changed  to  Spring 
City  in  1872. 

Wallace  Township  lies  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county, 
and  was  formed  in  1852  by  the  division  of  West  Nantmeal.  It 
includes  very  nearly  the  same  territory  as  the  ancient  manor  of 
Si»rington.  The  name  of  Springton  was  first  given  to  this  town- 
ship, but  the  next  year,  upon  application  to  the  Legislature, 
the  name  was  changed  to  Wallace,  in  honor  of  Eobert  Wallace, 
the  settlers  therein  being  mainly  at  that  time  of  Scotch-Irish 
origin.  According  to  some  of  the  early  settlers  tlie  land  was 
promised  to  them  at  the  rate  of  £45  per  hundred  acres.  Among 
the  early  settlers  in  this  township  were  the  families  of  Mackelduff, 
McFeeterr,  Alexander,  Henderson,  Starrett,  Mackey  and  Kennedy. 
Tlie  elevation  of  this  township  above  the  level  of  the  sea  has  always 
made  it  a  I'emarkably  healthy  place,  and  up  to  1880,  according  to 
Judge  Futhey,  only  four  physicians  had  resided  within  its  limits, 
tliese  four  being  Drs.  Thomas  Harris,  Thomas  Kennedy,  Benjamin 
Griffith  and  Joseph  T.  Gi'ier. 

In  1853  a  small  portion  of  'Wallace  was  added  to  Uwchlan, 
and  in  1800  the  line  next  to  East  and  West  Nantmeal  was  slightly 
changed. 

Warwick  Township  lies  in  the  northern  part  of  tiie  county, 
bordering  on  Berks  County  and  between  North  Coventry  and  West 
Nantmeal.  It  was  formed  in  1812  from  East  Nantmeal,  and  de- 
rived its  name  from  Warwick  Furnace,  within  its  limits.  The  cast- 
ing of  the  Franklin  stoves,  an  invention  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
was  done  at  this  furnace,  the  making  of  which  was  in  charge  of  Rob- 
ert Grace,  who  married  the  widow  of  Samuel  Nutt,  Jr.,  and  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  "found  the  casting  of  the  plates  for 
these  stoves  a  profitable  thing,  as  they  were  growing  in  demand." 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  949 

In  18(J0  the  line  between  East  and  West  Xantmeal  was  slightly 
thanged,  and  East  Xantmeal  was  altered  at  its  western  end,  a  por- 
rion  of  Warwick  being  added  thereto.  For  many  years  were  de- 
void of  railroad  facilities,  bnt  now  the  Wilmington  and  Northern 
and  the  East  Brandywine  Kailroads  supply  this  deticiency  in  an 
admirable  manner.  The  French  Creek  Branch  of  the  Wilmington 
and  Northern  Railroad,  opened  up  about  1879,  to  the  Warwick  Fur- 
nace, is  another  valuable  addition  to  the  facilities  of  travel  and 
transportation. 

Westtown  Township  lies  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
county,  and  is  a  long  and  narrow  rectangular  parallelogram,  five 
and  a  half  miles  long  by  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  width.  The 
longer  axis  of  this  tract  runs  east-northeast.  Tt  is  worthy  of  note 
in  this  connection  that  in  most  of  the  early  surveys  east  of  the 
Brandywine  and  south  of  the  Great  Valley,  the  lines  were  run 
east-northeast  or  north-northwest,  to  conform  to  the  general  course 
<^)f  the  Delaware  River;  while  those  in  the  southwestern  ])art  of  the 
county  were  run  in  the  main  to  correspond  with  the  cardinal  points. 
In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  county  the  lines  were  run  at  right 
angles  with  or  parallel  to  the  general  direction  of  the  Schuylkill 
River.  It  is  said  that  Westtown  was  so  named  because  of  its  lo- 
cation relatively  to  Easttown,  and  was  probably  laid  out  as  early 
as  1685,  succeeding  Thornbury  as  to  date  of  survey. 

Among  those  who  owned  land  early  in  this  township,  some 
of  whom  were  pei'haps  among  the  early  settlers,  were  the  following: 
Richard  Collett,  Richard  Whitpaine,  Barnabas  Wilcox,  Mathias 
Evans,  John  Eluny,  John  Bond,  Thomas  Coeburn,  Thomas  Rous, 
Benjamin  Furlory,  John  Brazo,  John  Waite,  Joshua  Hastings, 
John  Marsh,  Mary  Finch  and  Richard  Sneed. 

Others  whft  came  in  about  1700  were  Daniel  Hoopes,  who  was 
the  first  constable  in  the  township.  Aaron  James  became  a  land- 
owner in  1700,  as  also  did  Benjamin  Hickman.  John  Bowater  pur- 
chased land  in  this  township  in  1701,  and    was    probably    living 


950  CHESTER     COUNTY 

there  for  some  time  prior  to  his  death  in  1705.  The  laud  owned  by 
Barnabas  Wilcox,  mentioned  above  as  probably  among  the  early 
settlers,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Gibbons  family,  and  at  length 
was  purchased  by  the  Friends  for  the  Westtown  Boarding  School. 

Willistown  Township,  which  lies  between  Easttown  and  East 
Goshen,  was  organized  as  a  township  about  1704.  Thomas  Gar- 
ret was  its  first  constable  in  1705.  While  a  large  part  of  this 
townshij}  was  within  the  limits  of  the  Welsh  Tract,  yet  numerous 
surveys  were  made  for  other  parties.  Among  the  earliest  settlers, 
according  to  Hon.  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  were  Griffith  Jones,  Thomas 
Brassey,  Thomas  Bowman,  William  Garrett,  Samuel  Lewis  and 
Joseph  Barker  &  Co.,  the  latter  belonging  to  or  being  connected 
in  some  way  with  the  Free  Trade  Society.  Above  them  lay  the 
Welsh  Tract,  including  the  lands  of  James  Stanfleld,  eTohn  Hort, 
Anthony  Sturdges,  James  Claypool,  William  Wood  and  ^Villiam 
Sharlow.  In  addition  to  the  above,  according  to  Judge  Futhey, 
were  the  families  of  Hibberd,  Massey,  Smedle^',  Thomas,  Gan-ett 
and  Yarnall,  and  many  of  their  descendants  inhabit  the  township 
even  down  to  the  present  day. 

It  was  in  this  township  that  a  tribe  of  Indians,  known  as  the 
Okehockings,  held  lauds  by  special  grant  from  the  commissioner 
of  property,  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  Indian  occupation. 

Whiteland  Township  was  organized  aboiit  1701,  its  first  set- 
tler being  probably  Richard  Thomas,  mentioned  in  the  sketch  of 
Goshen  Townshi]>,  in  right  of  Richard  ap  Thomas  of  Whitford 
Garden,  Flintshire,  North  Wales.  From  this  shire  it  is  presumed 
that  the  name  Whiteland  Avas  derived.  The  house  of  Richard 
Thomas,  built  upon  his  allotment,  was  near  the  Valley  Creek,  and 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  some  Indian  liuts,  the  reason  for  the 
selection  of  this  location  being  that  the  dogs  in  the  Indian  village 
Avould  be  of  service  in  keeping  away  wild  beasts,  which  were  then 
numerous  in  the  woods.  This  little  Indian  village  was  named 
in  the  Indian  language,  Katamoonchinck,  which  in  English  means 
Hazel-nut  gi'ove. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  951 

Whitelaiid  Township  is  iu  tlie  uortbwest  part  of  tlie  ori,t;iual 
Welsh  Tract  of  40,000  acres,  which  were  laid  out  to  them  in  1684, 
with  the  expectation,  both  on  their  part  and  on  that  of  William 
Penn,  that  they  should  be  a  separate  barony,  managino-  tlieir  own 
municipal  affairs  in  their  own  way.  They  also,  of  course,  desired 
and  expected  to  retain  the  use  of  their  own  lanjjuage,  but  subse- 
<iuent  events  rendered  the  entire  scheme  impracticable.  The  north- 
and  west  lines  of  this  survey  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  retained 
as  township  lines,  but  on  the  south  other  surveys  so  encroached 
that  the  original  boundaries  of  this  tract  have  become  obliterated. 
The  northern  line  of  the  original  Welsh  Tract  is  distinctly  visible 
on  the  ma]i  of  Cliester  County,  running  from  the  southeastern  cor- 
ner of  Schuylkill  Townshij)  toward  the  west  until  it  reaches  tiie 
northwestern  corner  of  what  is  now  West  Whiteland  Township, 
and  from  this  point  southward  between  West  Whiteland  and  West 
Goshen  Townships  on  the  east,  and  East  Cain  and  East  Bradford 
on  the  west,  until  it  reaches  Westtown  Township. 

The  constables  of  Whiteland  Township,  prior  to  1726,  Avere 
as  follow^s:  In  1710,  Isaac  Maliu,  then  in  succession,  James 
Thoms,  Edward  Kinneson,  Lewis  Williams,  David  Meredith,  Sr., 
Evan  Lewis,  Eees  Pritchard,  Thonuxs  Owen,  .James  Rowland,  James 
David,  Richard  Anderson,  Isaac  Richardson^  Thomas  James,  John 
Spruce,  Owen  Thomas  and  Evan  IMiilips.  The  first  supervisor  was 
James  Thomas,  in  1714,  and  the  first  overseers  of  the  poor  were 
George  Aston  and  John  Spruce,  in  1730.  This  township  was  di- 
vided into  East  and  West  ^^■hiteland  in  1765,  and  is  situated  wholly 
within  the  choicest  part  of  the  Great  Valley. 

A'^alley  Forge,  one  of  the  most  liistoric  s]»ots  in  tlic  I'liilcd 
States,  lies  ])avtly  in  Chcstei-  County  and  jtartly  in  MoiirgoiiH'iy 
County,  Valley  Creek  being  the  c-ounty  line  It  is  on  the  IMiihi- 
del])liia  and  Reading  Railway,  four  miles  from  riioMiixvillc  and 
twenty-two  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and  on  the  a\  est  side  of  r'lc 
classic  Schuylkill.  That  iiortion  lying  in  Chester  County  contains 
about  l."()  inhabitants,  one  general  store  ke])t  by  .Inlm  .Mnlvam-y,  a 


952  CIIEtiTER     COUNTY 

hotel  kept  by  Jaines  Tloy  and  a  hall  iu  Avhioh  the  lodge  of  P.  S.  O.  A, 
hold  their  meetiugs.  On  the  Moutgomerv  side  of  the  line  Mrs. 
Sarah  Shaw  keeps  the  Washington  Hotel,  where  travelers  and 
tonrists,  of  Avhicli  tliei'e  are  in  certain  seasons  of  the  year  con- 
siderable numbers,  niostlv  stop.  The  population  of  the  jdace  as  a 
whole  is  not  so  large  as  fornunly,  for  the  reason  thai  such  indus- 
trial establishments  as  once  existed  there  luiA-e  now  ceased  to  be. 

In  the  early  jiart  of  the  lU'esent  century  there  Avas  a  hirge 
cotton  factory  here,  a  grist-mill  and  numerous  other  buildings^, 
which  were  operated  by  water  jiower  derived  from  Valley  Creek, 
A\  hich  at  one  time  ^^  as  said  to  be  the  tinest  in  Pennsylvania,  the 
stream  passing  between  t'wo  abrujjt  hills  distant  more  than  a  mile 
from  the  village.  Near  the  base  of  these  hills,  named  Mount  Joy 
and  M(nint  Misery,  and  their  northern  termination,  there  was  con- 
sti-ncted  a  large  dam  more  tlian  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  in  cou- 
sefjueuce  even  in  tiie  dryest  season  there  was  an  abundance  of 
water  power  to  kee])  manufacturing  business  in  full  operation. 

Jiut  it  is  of  the  burning  of  the  N'alley  Forge,  or  rather  of  the 
buildings  connected  thei-eMith,  that  it  is  desired  here  more  par- 
ticularly to  mention.  This  wa.s  by  a  detachment  of  British  soldiers 
under  command  of  Colonel  Grey.  It  was  previcms  to  the  American 
army  encani]iiug  at  this  ]>lace  and  while  the  ])ossession  of  the  city 
of  Philadelphia  during  the  ensuing  winter  Avas  still  a  nuitter  of 
uncertainty,  that  A'alley  Forge  was  selected  as  a  place  suitable 
for  the  de])ositiiig  of  military  st(U-es,  arms  and  ammunition  and 
])ro\isions  belonging  to  the  (Vrntinenlal  army,  the  selection  being 
made  because  of  its  secluded  situation  ami  distance  from  the  sup- 
l)osed  route  of  the  army  under  (jeneral  HoAA'e  on  its  march  from 
the  ('hesa])eake  to  foi-m  a  junction  Avith  (Jeneral  Burgoyne,  aa'Iio 
Avas  on  his  Avay  fi-oiu  Canada  to  take  ])ossession  of  Philadelphia. 
Among  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country  were  some  Avho 
sympathized  Avith  British  interests,  jind  it  Avas  one  of  those  Avho 
piloted  the  detachment  of  British  soldiers  to  Valley  I-'orge,  Avho 
destroyeil  the  buildings,  the  stores,  arms,  ammunition  and   pro- 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE. 


953 


visious  wliicii  bud  beeu  tlfpossitt'd  in  fancied  security  near  the 
banks  of  the  Schuylkill. 

Iron  was  then  being  manufactured  at  Valle.y  Forge  by  a  Mr. 
William  Dewees,  in  connection  witli  some  of  the  members  of  the 
Potts  family,  and  Mr.  Dewees,  in  part  because  of  his  marx'iage  into 
this  family,  founded  a  claim  against  the  American  Government  for 
damages  and  losses  sustained  by  thf  burning  of  the  buildings  at 
the  Forge.  This  claim  about  nine  years  after  his  death  was  suc- 
cessfully prosecuted  by  bis  widow  and  heirs,  and  it  is  proper  here 
to  note  that  tlie  main  reason  of  the  burning  of  the  Forge  was  that 
Col.  Dewees  was  well  known  to  be  a  sympathizer  with  and  strung 
.sujiporter  of  the  American  cause. 

Following  is  a  most  interesting  statement  of  the  headquarters 
of  the  several  officers  in  General  Washington's  army  during  the 
famous  winter  of  1777-78,  together  with  the  then  owners  or  lessees 
of  the  places  and  the  names  of  the  present  owners: 

lieadcpiarters  of  General  Officers  at  Valley  Forge  Encamp- 
ment during  1777-78: 

78. 


Officers'  Names. 
Gi'iieral  AVashiugtou. 
Gfiieral  Knox. 
Conut   Pulaski  aud  Gen- 
eral I'our. 
I.oi-d  Sterling. 
General  Huntington. 

General  Mifflin. 

\  General  Woodford. 
'l  Connt   Diiportail. 
MnrQuis  de  Lafayette. 
•  ieueral   Scott. 
General  Mclntosli. 
General  Morgan. 
General  Mulileuberg. 
General  Sullivan. 
General  Green. 
General  Potter. 
General  Wayne. 
\  General     W'eedon 
"/  Baron  De  Kalb. 
(ieneral  Varnum. 
General  Lee. 


and 


Owner  or  Lessee  171 
Issac  Potts,  Owner. 
Samuel  Brown,  Owner. 

Jolm  Reaver's  Estate. 
Rev.  \\'illiaui  Currie. 
/acliary  Davis.  Lessee  of 

.Maurice  Stepliens. 
A\'illiani  Godfrey,  Tenant, 

Thomas  Waters, Owner. 

.Idbn  Llavard. 

Samuel  llavard.  Owner. 
Samuel  .Tones,  Owner. 
.Tosejili    .Mann.    (Colored). 
Mordecai   Jloore,   Owner. 
.Tolin  Moore.  Owner. 
Thomas  W'aters,  Owner. 
Isaac  Walker,   Tenant. 
Jacob  W'alker,  Owner. 
•Joseph  Walker,  Owner. 

.Vbijah  Stephens, 

David  Stephens. 
L)avid  llavard. 


Owner,  1898. 
Valley  Forge  Cen.  Ass'n. 
Matthews. 

Francis  Wood. 
Henry  S.   Evans. 

Ileston  Todd.  * 


Davi<l  llavard's  Estate. 

Edward  Wilson's  Estate. 
Abram  Latch. 

.T.  W.  .\ndrews. 
Edwin  .Aloore's  Estate. 
-Mordecai  Davis. 
Matthe^v  Walker. 
Havard  Walker. 
W.  H.  Walker. 

Abram  Fisher. 

W'illiam  Stephens. 
A.  J.  Cassatt.  f 


*Hut  of  Baron  Steuben  was  located  on  this  farm. 

-i-Thomas  Bradford,  deputy  commissary  officer  to  the  prisoners,  was  quartered 
here.  General  Lee  remaining  only  a  short  time. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

AGRICULTURE.  &C. 


('HA]'TE1{  XX. 

AGRICULTURE     AND     DAIRYING — EARLY     METHODS THE      SliIL — PRODUCTS 

REAPERS    AND     MOWERS — THRESHING     MACHINES — AGRICULTURAL     EXHIBI- 
TIONS— HORTICULTURE SHEEP — PATRONS     OF     HUSBANDRY DAIRY 

INTERESTS — MILLING — CARNATIONS — GENERAL    CROPS NURSERIES 

AND     GREEN     HOUSES BOTANICAL      GARDENS STATISTICS. 

IX  couuectioii  with  sucli  remarks  as  may  be  made  on  tlie 
subject  of  agriculture  in  this  work,  it  is  proper  at  the  outset  to 
note  the  fact  that  on  this,  as  (m  most  other  subjects,  the  men 
selected  to  represent  the  people  in  the  Legislatures  of  the  several 
States  are  better  informed  than  are  the  people  themselves,  and 
have  higher  and  more  comprehensive  views  of  the  necessities  and 
possibilities  of  the  calling.  This  fact  has  a  deep  and  wide  mean- 
ing to  those  capable  of  appre<-iating  it,  it  being  a  solemn  and  per- 
sistent tribute  of  the  people  to  intelligence,  and  a  sure  guarantee 
of  the  perjietuity  of  the  Republic  so  long  as  the  people  have 
sufficient  intelligence  to  ])ay  this  tribute  to  intelligence. 

Tlial  tlic  \aluc  of  agiiciiltnrc  to  tlic  community  at  large  was 
early  appreciated  in  Pennsylvania  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  a 
message  Avas  laid  before  the  Assembly  by  the  President  and 
( 'ouncil  of  the  Province  on  January  19,  1TS4,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  extract: 

"It  is  our  most  earnest  wish  that  the  General  Assembly  may 
always  cherish  and  patronize  in  a  very  distinguished  manner  tliat 
basis  of  Pennsylvania's  commerce,  agriculture,  by  their  assistance 
of  the  useful  discoveries  that  have  been  or  shall  be  made  in  coun- 
tries longer  settled  may  soon  be  introduced  and  be  generally 
communicated,  that  otherwise  might  remain  little  known  here  for 
ages  to  come.     The  ingenious  and  learned  gentlemen  that  coin- 

957 


95  S  CHESTER     COUNTY 

pose  the  Philosoplik-al  Hociety,  we  are  assured,  would  rejoice  to 
execute  the  generous  desijius  of  the  Legislature,  aud  would  faith- 
fully apply  and  account  for  any  sums  of  money  that  should,  be 
comuiitted  to  their  management  for  this  purpose. 

"Another  great  encouragement  of  agriculture  would  be  af- 
forded by  rendering-  purchases  of  land  more  safe.  This  might,  in 
a  measure,  be  abolished  by  quieting-  possessions  after  a  reasonable 
term  of  years,  and  by  having  the  records  in  all  the  public  offices 
kept  in  a  manner  easy  to  be  prescribed,  so  that  a  title  could  l)e 
readily  traced  through  them,"  etc. 

That  the  early  inhabitants  of  Chester  County  looked  to  agri- 
culture mainly  as  a  means  of  support  is  evident,  from  the  fact  that 
they,  in  1683,  adopted  a.  seal,  or,  in  other  words,  that  a  seal  was 
adopted  by  the  Council  which  met  at  Chester  that  year,  on  which 
the  main  device  was  a.  plow.  In  an  eai'ly  stage  of  civilization,  and 
in  the  early  settlement  of  a  new  counti-y,  agriculture  gradually 
sui)plants  hunting-  and  fishing  as  a  means  of  livelihood  for  the  iu- 
habitants.  Commerce  and  manufactures,  and  a  varied  industry 
come  in  process  of  time,  and  mark  the  advance  of  civilization. 

As  has  been  elsewhere  remarked  in  this  history,  the  trees  that 
covered  the  country  when  it  was  first  visited  by  Europeans  were 
very  large,  and  stood  at  considerable  distances  from  each  other, 
for  which  reason  the  early  settlers,  instead  of  cutting  down  large 
quantities  of  timber,  nmking  log  and  brush  heaps,  and  then  burn- 
ing it  all  to  ashes,  were  in  the  habit  of  girdling  the  trees  so  as 
to  kill  them,  and  let  them  stand,  burning  the  branches  as  they  fell 
to  the  ground.  The  progress  made  in  clearing  up  the  land  was 
necessarily  slow,  as  it  was  well  that  it  should  be,  for  the  clearing 
of  a  country  has  an  appreciable  effect  upon  its  climate.  In  1784, 
the  year  in  which  the  action  recommended  above  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  Council  of  the  Province  was  made,  the  farms  averaged 
in  size  from  aboiit  100  to  200  acres  of  land,  and  there  was  in  culti- 
vation from  four  to  nine  per  cent. 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  959 

The  laud  iu  Chester  Coimty  is  unusually  fertile.  ludian  corn, 
of  which  there  then  were  fewer  varieties  than  now,  was  much  cul- 
tivated in  comparison  with  other  cereal  crops.  Barley,  oats,  rye 
and  wheat  were  all  early  cultivated,  barley  beins  used  mainly  in 
the  manufacture  of  malt,  and  sold  up  to  about  1822  to  Phila- 
delphia brewers.  But  about  that  time  the  farmers  of  Chester 
and  Delaware  Counties,  laboring  under  the  impression  that  the 
brewA's  were  combined  to  keep  the  price  of  barley  down  as  low 
as  possible,  formed  the  Farmers'  Brewing  Company,  and  them- 
selves erected  a  brewery  at  Filbert  and  Tenth  Streets,  Phila- 
delphia. This  venture,  however,  was  a  failure,  and  the  brewery 
was  eventually  sold  at  a  considerable  loss  to  the  stockholders,  and 
from  that  time  the  cultivation  of  barley  gradually  diminished 
until  about  1840,  when  it  practically  ceased. 

In  the  earlier  days  rye  was  much  depended  upon  for  a  bread 
cereal,  some  of  the  patriots  during  the  Revolutionary  War  saying 
they  would  rather  eat  rye  bread  during  their  entire  lives  than 
surrender  their  liberty  and  sell  posterity.  Buckwheat  and  flax 
were  also  generally  raised  during  the  eighteenth  century,  but 
ueithey  is  now  raised  to  any  considerable  extent.  With  regard  to 
clover  seed  it  may  be  said  that  while  it  was  early  introduced  into 
the  county,  probably  from  Lancaster  County,  yet  its  use  did  not 
keep  pace  with  its  value  as  a  feed  crop  or  as  a  fertilizing  crop. 
Yet  about  1840  there  were  numbers  of  clover  hullers  in  Chester 
County,  which  have  since  then  gradually  gone  out  of  use,  and  the 
clover  seed  now  used  comes  in  from  the  West. 

The  method  of  reaping  grain  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  re- 
cital of  the  incident  below,  by  a  farmer  of  Chester  County,  pub- 
lished in  the  papers  of  the  time,  about  1818:  "Being  called  upon 
to  assist  a  neighbor  near  the  close  of  harvest  in  reaping  his 
grain,  an  ancient  and  respectable  woman  came  out  of  the  house  to 
show  us  her  dexterity  at  reaping.  I,  being  on  the  leading  laud, 
of  what  are  called  double  lands,  she  chose  to  be  a  partner  for  me. 
57 


96o  CHESTER     COUNTY 

We  sat  in — she  reaped  as  fast  as  anyone,  bandied  and  laid  hei* 
Crain  to  admiration.  She  reaped  a  considerable  distance  witb 
us.  Eut  what  is  most  remarkable,  she  iut'ornied  us  she  was  one 
hundred  years  old,  which  we  were  well  assured  she  was." 

That  men  in  those  days  were  not  satisfied  with  the  slow 
processes  then  in  vo<;ue  in  cutting  hay  and  grain  by  means  of  the 
sickle  and  scythe,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  tliat  at  least  as  early 
as  1824  a  successful  moAviug-machine  was  invented  by  two  of 
Chester  County's  citizens.  A  certain  writer,  presumably  the 
editor  of  the  Village  liecord,  under  date  of  July  10,  1824,  re- 
lates an  incident  connected  with  such  an  invention,  Avhich  took 
place  a  short  time  before.  He  says:  "On  Fi-iday,  the  2nd  of  this 
month,  I  went  to  view  a  new  mowing-machine,  formed  by  Messrs. 
Ezra  Cope  and  Thomas  Hoopes,  Jr.  It  is  in  some  respects  like 
that  of  Mr.  Baily,  but  whether  considered  as  an  improvement  on 
his,  or  a  new  invention,  I  am  not  able  to  say.  But  of  this  I  am 
satisfied,  that  it  cannot  fail  to  prove  eminently  useful  to  the 
farmer.  It  has  cut  this  season  two  acres  in  two  liours.  And  it 
can  cut  a  field  of  eleven  acres  in  nine  hours,  calculating  the  time 
the  horses  were  hitched  to  it  (not  including  the  time  of  rest),  -so 
that  it  may  be  safely  said  that  it  will  now  mow  neatly  an  acre  of 
stoiit  grass  an  hour."  Mr.  Baily's  machine,  referred  to  in  this 
extract,  was  patented  by  him  in  1822 — Jeremiah  Baily  of  East 
Marlborough.  The  machine  invented  by  Cope  &  Hoopes,  the 
working  of  which  has  just  been  described,  was  patented  by  them 
in  1825,  and  there  were  fifty  or  more  of  them  made.  It  was  in 
use  for  several  years  with  tolerable  success,  but  it  was  succeeded 
by  what  was  known  as  the  Allen  machine,  made  by  Caleb  Pierce 
and  his  partners,  Lee  and  Thompson,  at  Ercildoun,  in  East  Fal- 
lowfleld,  in  1854,  about  which  time  the  Pennock  mowing-machine 
appeared.  For  some  years  E.  T.  Cope  &  Son  were  engaged  in 
making  mowing-machines,  building  a  large  number  of  what  they 
called  the  "Buckeve  Mowing-machine." 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  961 

Mr.  Baily's  mowing-machiue,  mentioned  above,  was  first  ex- 
hibited in  West  Chester,  August  17,  1821,  being  on  that  day  put  in 
operation  in  a  field  belonging  to  John  Jefteris,  in  the  presence  of 
the  Agricultural  Society,  the  vice-president  and  several  other  mem- 
bers. This  machine  was  described  as  having  a  circular  scythe, 
about  five  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  was  put  in  motion  by 
horses,  one  or  two,  harnessed  to  it  as  to  a  cart.  It  cut  grass  at 
the  rate  of  an  acre  in  thirty-six  minutes.  The  next  Saturday,  Au- 
gust 18,  it  cut  the  grass  in  the  meadow  of  Joseph  Taylor. 

Attention  was  given  early  to  the  raking  of  hay  in  other  ways 
than  by  hand,  always  laborious  and  slow.  The  first  hay-rake  in 
Chester  County,  of  which  any  information  could  be  obtained,  was 
made  by  a  farmer  visited  by  Ilalliday  Jackson,  whose  name  Mr. 
Jackson,  for  some  reason,  failed  to  communicate  with  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  rake  he  saw  at  work.  This  rake  was  in  operation  in 
1820,  and  the  next  year  Mr.  Jackson  made  one  for  his  own  use, 
which  he  described  as  consisting  of  a  piece  of  white  oak  scantling, 
ten  feet  long  and  about  three  and  a  half  by  two  inches  in  size.  The 
holes  for  the  teeth  were  bored  with  an  inch  auger,  three  and  a 
half  inches  apart,  the  teeth  being  of  dry,  tough  hickory,  and  eight- 
een inches  long,  the  under  sides  dubbed  off  at  the  points,  so  as 
to  prevent  them  sticking  in  the  ground.  For  the  handles  two 
holes  were  made  with  the  same  auger,  the  handles  slanting  up- 
ward like  the  handles  of  a  plow.  A  staple  was  fixed  at  a  distance 
of  two  feet  from  each  end,  to  which  the  horse  was  hitched  by 
chains  long  enough  to  prevent  his  heels  coming  in  contact  with 
the  teeth,  and  when  the  rake  was  full  of  hay  it  had  to  be  lifted  up 
and  carried  over  the  windrow.  While  this  was  an  awkward  pat- 
tern of  a  machine,  yet  Mr.  Jackson  said  that,  with  a  boy  to  ride  the 
horse,  he  could  gather  as  much  hay  as  five  common  men  could  with 
the  hand  rake.  Afterward  Moses  Pennock,  aided  by  his  neigh- 
bor, Samuel  Pierce,  added  teeth  to  the  other  side  of  the  head  and 
found  means  to  so  make  it  that,  when  it  was  full  of  hay,  or  upon 


962  CHESTER     COUNTY 

comiuji"  to  the  windrow,  it  fonld  be  emptied  by  revolving  it,  so 
that  to  stop  and  lift  it  over  the  windrow  was  no  longer  necessary. 
Since  that  time  great  improvements  have  been  made  in  hay  ralies, 
the  steel  toothed,  wheel  rake  having  long  since  superseded  almost 
every  other  kind. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  method  of  reaping  wheat 
with  the  sickle,  which  women  handled  with  almost  equal  skill  with 
the  men.  While  farmei's  were  generally  slow  to  give  up  the 
sickle,  yet  the  cradling  scythe  began  as  early  as  1800  to  take  its 
place,  but  this  kind  of  a  cradle  the  women  could  not  rock,  as  it 
"^"  cut  so  much  more  grain  at  a  swing  that  only  the  strongest  men 
could  handle  it  throughout  the  entire  day,  cutting  from  two  to 
four,  or  perhaps  five  acres  in  a  day,  under  favorable  conditions. 
Cradles  were  manufactured  by  Joseph  Smith  of  Newlin  Township, 
and  also  by  James  Embree  of  Marshallton,  the  latter  of  whom  in- 
vented a  machine  for  turning  scythe  poles,  which  was  patented  in 
1S44. 

In  the  early  days  thrashing  Avas  mostly  done  by  means  of  the 
^  flail,  though  occasionally  the  Bible  method  of  treading  it  out  with 
horses  was  employed.  In  1770  mention  is  made  of  an  "Act  to 
invest  John  Clayton  with  an  exclusive  privilege  and  benefit  of 
making  and  selling  a  machine  for  thrashing  wheat  on  a  model 
invented  by  him."  But  this  machine,  while  it  indicates  the  fact 
that  the  necessity  of  some  other  method  of  thrashing  than  by 
the  flail  cannot  have  met  with  much  success.  The  first  thrashing 
machine  which  attracted  much  attention  iii  Chester  County,  so  far 
as  could  be  ascertained  by  the  writer  of  this  chapter,  was  one  manu- 
factured by  Thomas  Fenn,  and  was  called  Ballon  &  McDonald's 
thrashing  machine.  It  was  in  operation  at  the  barn  of  Richard 
Strode  early  in  the  summer  of  1826,  and  thrashed  "forty  dozen  of 
wheat  an  hour,  large  growth  and  bound  with  double  bands."  The 
expense  of  erecting  a  durable  machine  complete  was  $15;  the  horse 
power  cost  |25,  and  for  varying  the  consti'uction  of  the  boxes,  |5; 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  963 

total  cost,  |45.  The  thrashing  machine  proper  was  in  this  case 
designed  to  be  stationarj-,  and  each  farmer  was  expected  to  have 
one  of  his  own. 

On  January  15,  1830,  Warren's  thrashing-machine  was  pat- 
ented, and  in  the  following  July  Joseph  P.  Sharpless  advertised 
that  he  had  purchased  the  right  to  sell  this  machine  in  East  and 
West  Bradford  Townships,  East  and  West  Goshen  Townships,  and 
in  Brandywine  Township.  He  also  offered  patent  i-ights  for  sale 
in  those  townships,  single  patents,  flO.  The  machines,  ready- 
made,  sold  for  the  following  prices:  Two-horse  power  machines, 
$40;  one-horse  power  machines,  |30,  and  those  operated  by  hand, 
•f25.  The  two-horse  power  machine  would  thrash,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  two  men  and  a  boy,  120  bushels  of  wlieat  i>er  day. 

Since  that  time  great  progress  has  been  made  in  the  nature 
and  style  of  thrashing  machines,  as  well  as  in  the  motive  power, 
horses  having  given  way  to  steam,  and  the  portable  steam-engine 
in  part  to  the  powerful  and  somewhat  cumbrous  traction-engine. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  better  class  of  mowing-ma- 
chines, such  as  the  Ketchum,  made  in  Baltimore,  the  McCormicii, 
made  in  Chicago,  the  Manny,  and  the  Buckeye,  made  in  Akron, 
Ohio,  were  brought  into  Chester  County  from  1850  to  1865.  The 
precise  date  when  each  or  any  of  them  first  appeared  here  would 
be  difficult  to  determine.  The  self-binder  reaping-machine  was 
introduced  about  1883,  and  the  steam  thrashing  machine  came  in 
about  1888,  the  steam  traction-engine  coming  in  about  the  same 
time. 

As  showing  what  was  thought  at  an  early  day  of  the  possible 
value  of  the  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society  to  the  farming 
community,  it  may  be  stated  that  a  certain  devout  writer,  in  a 
communication  to  the  daily  press,  in  1821,  made  use  of  the  follow- 
ing language: 

"Had  it  not  been  for  the  original  transgression  (of  Adam  and 
Eve  in  the  Garden  of  Eden),  all  knowledge  necessary  would  have 


964  CHESTER     COUNTY 

beeu  iutiiitive.  Distinct  professorshiiis  of  phj-sic,  law,  divinity, 
etc.,  would  have  beeu  unkuoAvn.  Knowledge  now  attainable  by 
the  few  would  then  have  beeu  accessible  to  all,  nor  would  the 
Ayricultiual  Society,  gentlemen,  have  been  of  any  utility,  had  not 
this  amonji  many  other  lamentable  denunciations  been  issued 
against  our  tirst  parents: 

"Cursed  is  the  ground  for  their  sake,"  etc. 

It  Avas  in  1821  that  John  Cox,  on  the  French  Creek  farm,  raised 
a  hog  which  was  very  large  and  which  he  sold  for  .$50.  He  was 
eight  and  a  half  feet  long,  seven  and  a  half  feet  girth,  and  was 
estimated  to  weigh  800  pounds. 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  agricultural  exhibition  held  in 
Chester  County  was  that  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  at  Pa- 
oli,  October  22,  23,  and  24,  1823,  which  was  the  tirst  held  by  that 
society. 

In  1838  au  agricultural  society  for  Chester  and  Delaware  Coun- 
ties was  organized,  which  held  exhibitions  for  several  years,  one 
of  them  being  held  at  West  Chester  in  1845. 

About  this  time  Chester  County  Horticultural  Society  was 
organized,  and,  after  holding  a  few  exhibitions,  erected  a  hall, 
called  horticultural  hall,  in  1848,  for  an  annual  disjjlay  of  fruits, 
tlowers  and  vegetables,  and  this  was  continued  for  several  years, 
the  building  being  afterward  used  for  the  accommodation  of  teach- 
ers' institutes,  lectures  and  other  entertainments. 

For  the  purpose  of  sliowing  tlie  si2e  of  sheep  raised  in  the  early 
days  in  Chester  CountA^,  the  following  facts  are  taken  from  the 
"Kegister  of  Pennsylvania,''  for  March  12,  1831:  John  Bradley  of 
"\Mllistown  had  twelve  sheep  in  nmrket  for  the  22d  of  February 
of  the  following  weights:  105,  108i,  123^,  105i,  125|,  121,  121,  110, 
123,  115,  128  and  124.  Joseph  Gheen  of  Goshen  had  four  Aveighing 
as  follows:  125,  113|,  112  and  103.  These  Avere  the  Aveights  of 
the  carcasses  dressed.  John  James  of  East  Bradford  sent  to  the 
I'hiladelphia  market  ten  sheep  of  the  folloAving  weights:     153,  142, 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  965 

Uli,  135i,  121,  117,  lO^i,  1254-,  llSi  and  125;  total,  1282,  or  a  trifle 
over  128  pounds  each,  dressed. 

Jesse  McCall  sent  to  market  a  fine  fat  ox,  weighing  1,125^ 
pounds,  and  T.  S.  Woodward  of  East  Bradford  had  two  slaughtered, 
weighing  respectively  1,389  and  1,221  pounds.  Samuel  Worth  of 
East  Bradford  slaughtered  one  that  weighed  1,488  pounds,  and  T. 
Hickman,  two,  weighing  1,289  and  1,151  pounds. 

The  Chester  County  Agricultural  Society  was  organized  in 
Horticultural  Hall  April  25,  1853,  John  J.  Parker  being  president 
of  the  meeting,  Jacob  Massey  and  John  Baldwin,  vice-presidents, 
and  James  Pierce  and  Alexander  MarshalP  secretaries.  A  com- 
mittee consisting  of  Dr.  J.  E.  Wajker  and  John  S.  Bowen  prepared 
a  constitution  for  the  society,  which  provided  for  a  president,  four 
vice-i^resideuts,  a  corresponding  secretary,  two  recording  secre- 
taries and  one  treasurer,  and  also  a  committee  of  ten  on  agri- 
cultural matters,  all  to  be  elected  annually.  Semi-annual  meetings 
were  provided  for,  to  be  held  on  tlie  last  Mondays  in  April  and 
October,  and  there  were  to  be  annual  meetings  to  provide  for  such 
exhibitions  as  the  society  might  determine  to  give. 

At  a  meeting  held  June  18,  1853,  the  following  officers  were 
*hosen : 

President,  Isaac  W.  \an  Leer;  vice-presidents,  Paschall 
Worth,  John  D.  Evans,  Dr.  Ebenezer  V.  Dickey  and  Lewis  Bi-inton; 
corresponding  secretary,  J.  Lacey  Darlington;  recording  secreta- 
ries, Alexander  Marshall  and  James  H.  Bull,  and  treasurer,  Dr. 
George  Thomas.  The  executive  committee  elected  was  composd 
of  the  following  gentlemen:  Abraham  R.  Mcllvaine,  Dr.  Isaac 
B.  Walker,  Joseph  Dowdall,  Gen.  Geoi'ge  Hartman,  Nathan  Wal- 
ton, Jacob  Massey,  William  E.  Dripps,  John  Parker,  Abner  Gar- 
rett and  John  J.  Monaghan. 

Committees  wei'e  appointed  to  report  on  the  prevalence  and  in- 
jurious effects  of  the  fly  in  wheat;  on  the  subject  of  deep  plowing; 
on  the  i>otato  plant  and  the  best  varieties  and  modes  of  culture;  on 
the  culture  of  barley,  and  on  the  utility  of  guano  as  a  fertilizer. 


966  CHESTER     COUNTY 

An  exhibition  was  held  September  16  and  17,  1853,  which  was 
highly  successful  and  gave  gr.eat  satisfaction  to  the  agricultural 
community  especially,  the  committee  of  arrangements  being  James 
Powell,  Emmor  Elton,  Oliver  T.  Jefferis,  George  D.  Ashbridge  and 
Henry  D.  Sharp. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  the  court-house  in  West  Chester  January 
21, 1854,  J.  Lacey  Darlington,  M.  B.  Hickman  and  Benjamin  J.  Pass- 
more  were  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  gentlemen  who 
purposed  buying  a  lot,  with  a  view  of  leasing  it  to  the  society  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  annual  fairs,  and  a  committee  was  also 
appointed  to  procure  a  charter  for  the  society. 

Emmor  Brinton  was  awarded  a  special  prize  or  premium  of 
|5  for  having  raised  170  bushels  of  wheat  on  four  and  three-fourths 
acres  of  land. 

The  officers  for  1854  were  as  follows:  Isaac  Van  Leer,  presi- 
dent; corresponding  secretary  and  treasurer,  J.  Lacey  Darlington; 
recording  secretaries,  J.  H.  Bull  and  William  Torbet  Ingram. 
They  were  the  same  for  1855,  1856,  and  1857,  except  that  William 

D.  Suger  was  one  of  the  recording  secretaries. 

During  the  year  1856,  the  society  purchased  ten  acres  of  land 
in  the  borough  of  West  Chester,  with  a  view  to  the  erection  of 
permanent  fixtures  thereon,  in  Avhich  to  hold  the  future  exhibitions 
of  the  society,  and  a  trotting  course  of  one-fourth  of  a  mile  in  cir- 
cumference was  laid  out  and  graded,  and  included  by  a  strong 
post  and  one-rail  fence.  The  cost  of  the  ground  was  |4,000  and  the 
expense  of  fitting  it  up  was  |2,150. 

The  officers  remained  the  same  as  last  given  for  1858  and  1859. 
In  1S60  D.  B.  Hinmau  was  elected  president;  J.  Lacey  Darlington, 
corresi^onding  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  William  D.  Siiger  and 

E.  H.  Townsend,  recording  secretaries.  In  1861  and  1862  the  offi- 
cers remained  the  same.  In  1863  Charles  E.  Heister  was  elected 
president;  J.  Lacey  Darlington,  corresponding  secretary,  and  E.'H. 
Townsend    and   William    Sharpless,    recording    secretaries.     The 


AXD     TTS     PEOPLE.  967 

same  officers  served  iu  180-t  and  lS(io,  and  iu  ISGG,  except  that  C. 
H.  Kinnard  became  one  of  the  recording  secretaries,  in  place  of 
E.  H.  Townsend. 

In  1867  the  president  elected  was  J.  Lacey  Darlington;  ti'eas- 
urer,  E.  H.  Townsend;  William  Sharpless,  corresi^onding  secretaiy, 
and  C.  H.  Kinnard  and  Charles  Fairlamb,  recording  secretaries. 
During  ISGS  and  1SG9  the  officers  were  the  same  as  in  1SG7.  In 
1868  the  "Model  and  Experimental  Farm  for  the  Eastern  District 
of  Pennsylvania"  was  located  in  Londongrove  Township,  Chester 
County,  the  farm  of  Thomas  Harvey  being  purchased  for  this  pur- 
pose for  about  $3,000. 

In  1870  Evans  Rogers  was  elected  president;  George  M.  Ru- 
pert, corresponding  secretary;  Fred  D.  Reid  and  John  F.  Ingram, 
recording  secretaries,  and  Thomas  U.  Marshall,  treasurer.  In  1871- 
Evans  Rogers  was  again  elected  president;  Joseph  T.  Murtagh,  cor- 
responding secretary;  John  F.  Ingram  and  William  H.  Morgan,  re- 
cording secretaries,  and  Fred  D.  Reid,  treasurer.  In  1872  and  1873 
the  officers  remained  the  same.  In  1874  the  only  changes  made  were 
that  Josiah  Hoopes  became  corre.sijonding  secretary  and  W.  H. 
Morgan,  treasurer.  In  1875,  1876,  1877  they  remained  the  same 
and  also  in  1878,  except  that  A.  M.  Eachus  became  treasurer,  and 
A.  M.  Eachus  and  John  F.  Ingram  recox'ding  secretaries.  In  1879, 
1880  and  ISSl  the  officers  remained  the  same,  and  in  1882  also,  with 
the  exception  that  Jefferson  Shaner  was  elected  president.  There 
was  no  change  then  in  officers  until  1888,  when  they  were  as  fol- 
lov>'s:  Fred  D.  Reid,  treasurer;  Joseph  Kilt,  Jr.,  corresponding  sec- 
retary, and  A.  M.  Eachus  and  Tliomas  J.  Edge,  recording  secre- 
taries.    In  1889  they  remained  as  in  1888. 

In  1800  Henrj'  Durnall  became  recording  secretary  in  place 
of  A.  M.  Sharpless,  and  J.  Preston  Thomas  became  treasurer.  In 
1891  Barclay  Lear  became  recording  seci'etary  in  place  of  Henry 
Durliall.  In  1892  R.  E.  Monaghan  became  president,  the  other 
officers  remaining  the  same.     In  1893  the  officers  remained  as  in 


968  CHESTER     COUNTY 

1S!)2.  This  was  the  case  also  iu  1894,  except  that  Marshall  H. 
Matlack  became  treasurer.  In  1895  the  changes  made  were  in 
1he  recording-  secretaries,  Fred  D.  Reid  and  Thomas  J.  Edge  tak- 
ing tlicse  offices.  In  ISIMI  Jesse  J.  Hickman  became  president, 
i-nccecding  II.  E.  Monaghan,  who  died  about  July  1,  1895.  In 
1S97  tlie  officers  were  Jesse  J.  Hitdiuian,  ]iresident;  Fred  D.  Keid, 
c(UTesi»onding  secretary;  Barclay  Lear,  recording  secretary,  and 
Marshall  II.  Matlack,  treasurer. 

These  were  the  last  officers  elected,  Tor  the  society  then  be- 
came extinct.  In  the  fall  of  1S!»5  the  last  annual  fair  was  held, 
for  in  ►September  of  that  year  under  foreclosure  of  mortage  the 
lu-operty  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  West  Chester  State  Normal 
{School.  In  1897  the  officers  of  the  society  would  have  held  a  fair, 
hut  for  the  fact  that  the  State  Normal  School  asked  |500  for  the 
use  of  the  old  grounds,  the  society  offering  .fl50,  and,  as  no  agree- 
ment could  be  reached,  no  fair  was  held. 

The  first  grange  of  Patrons  of  llusbandry  was  I'ioneei' 
<irange.  No.  9,  at  West  tJritve,  July  30,  1873,  with  nineteen 
charter  members.  Since  then  there  liave  been  scmiewhat  more 
than  tAventy  granges  organized,  among  them  the  fcdlowing: 

Kennett  (irange.  No.  19,  September  11,  1873,  with  nineteen 
cliarter  members;  Schuylkill  Grange,  No.  23,  September  15,  1873, 
with  twenty-five  cliarter  members;  Upper  Uwchlan  (rrange.  No. 
53,  December  29,  1873,  with  eighteen  charter  members;  Urandy- 
wine  (xrange.  No.  (Id,  December  39,  1S73,  with  twenty  cliarter 
members;  Londongrove  (Irange,  No.  03,  January  1,  1871,  witli 
thirty  charter  members;  Oxford  Orange,  No.  ()7,  January  2,  1871, 
with  twenty-seven  charter  members;  Chester  \'alley  Orange,  No. 
77,  January  14,  1874,  with  twenty  charter  members;  Kussellville 
Orange,  No.  91,  January  31,  1874,  Avith  twenty-tive  charter  mem- 
bers; Willistowu  Orange,  No.  114,  February  17,  1874,  with  eighteen 
'charter  members;  Ooshen  (irange.  No.  121,  February  21,  1871, 
Avith  cliarter  members  not  known;  New  London  Orange,  No.  123, 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  969 

February  23,  1874,  with  tliii-ty-!six  charti'i-  ineiiibcr.s;  Liucoln 
Grange,  Xc*.  130,  February  24,  1874,  Avitli  twenty-two  charter 
members;  Franklin  (irange,  No.  141,  March  2,  1874,  with  tliirty 
cliarter  members;  J.ewisville  Grange,  No.  180,  Marcli  28,  1874, 
with  twenty-eight  cliarter  members;  East  Lynn  Grange,  No.  271, 
May  27,  1874,  with  thirty  charter  members;  Pomona  District 
Grange,  No.  2,  June  3,  1875,  with  nineteen  charter  members. 

The  granges  have  been  and  are  of  great  benefit  to  Chester 
C\)unty,  for  they  serve  to  bring  fanners  togetlun,  for  the  purpose 
of  exchanging  ideas  about  tlieir  calling,  and  increasing  th;4r 
sociability.  There  is  a  county  committee,  a  State  committee,  and 
a  national  committee,  each  of  Avhich  has  its  peculiar  function  to 
perform.  Supplies  for  the  farm  are  purchased  much  cheaper  than 
formerly,  wholesale  prices  being  now  obtained  where  formerly  re- 
tail prices  had  to  be  paid.  Tlie  secrecy  attending  the  workings 
of  the  granges  in  their  meetings,  are  no  more  objectionable  than 
is  secrecy  in  Masonic  lodges,  or  in  Grand  Army  posts,  it  being 
used  only  for  the  protection  of  the  members  of  the  grange. 

The  dairy  interests  of  Chester  Count}'  are  large  and  impctrtant. 
Previous  to  the  war  of  the  Kebellion,  and  perhaps  for  some  years 
thereafter,  the  business  of  dairying  was  carried  on  in  a  far  more 
primitive  style  and  manntn"  than  since  that  jiericxl.  In  the  earlier 
days  each  farmer  carried  on  his  own  dairying  in  his  own  way, 
milking  his  cows,  making  butter  and  cheese  at  home,  and  feeding 
the  refuse  to  his  pigs,  all  with  the  a.ssistance  of  the  female  mem- 
bers of  his  family,  or  with  the  aid  of  hired  men  and  women. 
The  farmers  were  accustomed  to  do  all  their  own  marketing  in 
Philadelphia,  going  to  that  city  often  in  droves,  there  selling  tlieir 
products  and  making-  their  purchases,  often,  if  not  generally,  re- 
ceiving a  smaller  price  for  what  they  had  to  sell  and  paying  more 
for  what  they  had  to  buy  than  now.  Butter  then  sold  for  what 
was  called  a  "levy"  per  pound,  Avhile  now  it  seldom  or  perhaps  never 
gets  so  low  in  the  market,  except,  possibly,  the  very  poorest  quali- 


97  o  CUE8TER    COUNTY 

ties  of  liome-niaile  biitter,  which  caiinot  compete  with  that  made 
by  the  most  improved  methods  now  in  voiiue.  Much  of  the  hard 
labor  connected  with  early  bntter-makiu"^  devolved  on  the  women, 
and  it  was  in  ]iart  for  this  reason  that  farmers  gladly  drove  into 
Philadelphia  when  livinj;-  snfficiently  near,  and  sold  their  milk  to 
the  city  dealers.  This  chanj;e,  which,  tlion<ih  for  some  years  seen 
to  be  comino',  was  fen"  some  time  opposed  by  the  farmer,  because 
he  did  not  fa^'or  selling  his  products  off  the  farm  any  more  than 
seemed  to  him  absolutely  necessary;  but  when  it  was  once  begun, 
and  especially  Avhen  it  was  realized  that  milk  thus  sold  brought 
seven  cents  ]K>r  quart,  farmers  made  a  great  effort  to  secure 
profits  from  their  dairies  that  could  be  secured  in  no  other  way; 
and  by  thus  rushing  to  the  front  soon  caused  the  price  of  milk  to 
fall  in  jjroportion,  or  nearly  so,  with  the  quantit.y  shipped. 

Among  those  who  first  sold  milk  in  Philadelphia  in  the  man- 
ner just  described  were  the  following:  Edward  t^eale  of  Birming- 
ham Township,  Samuel  Bailey  and  Mitchell  Baker  of  the  same 
townshij>,  .John  ('.  Iluey  and  (leorge  B.  Temple  of  Pennsbury. 
As  intimated  above  many  others  followed  their  example,  until 
another  change  had  to  be  made  in  the  manner  of  disposing  of 
dairy  products.  But  while  milk  was  l>eing  tlius  shii)ped  from  the 
ditt'erent  parts  of  the  county  to  Philadelphia,  it  was  necessary 
for  the  railway  companies  not  onlj'  to  put  on  extra  cars  but  also 
to  run  special  milk  trains,  so  extensive  did  the  business  become, 
tliough  as  the  distance  into  Philadelphia  is  so  short,  it  was  never 
found  necessary  to  use  refrigerator  cars.. 

The  change  which  next  occurred  in  the  dairy  business  was 
the  establishment  of  creameries  in  which  the  cream  was  converted 
into  butter  by  means  of  water  or  otlier  power,  thus  effecting  a 
great  saving  of  labor.  One  of  the  first  to  establish  a  creamery  was 
Isaac  Morgan  of  Parkerville  in  1870.  He  was  a  farmer  who  had 
a  fine  private  trade  in  butter,  shipping  to  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  mainly.     His  milk  was  set  in  large  flat    Dewitt    pans,  the 


AND     ITS     PEOPLE.  9/1 

skimiiiiug  being  done  by  baud  and  tbe  cburuiug  by  water  power, 
because  that  ijower  was  easily  obtained  and  inexpensive.     He  made 
a  remarkably  fine  article  of  butter,  and  obtained  very  high  prices, 
from  35  to  45  cents  per  pound  in  the  summer  season,  and  as  high 
as  65  cents  in  the  winter  season.     But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  then  it  required  nearly,  if  not  quite,  one-third  more  milk  to 
make  a  pound  of  butter  than  is  now  required.     Others  to  go  into 
the  creamery  business   early   were   as   follows:     John  I.  Carter, 
Chatham;  Milton  Darlington,  Doe  Run;  Joseph  Brosius,  Oxford; 
Pennock  Sharpless,  Edward  Brinton  in  the  vicinity  of  West  Ches- 
ter; William  Sharpless,  George  Faucett    &    Sons;  John  Gray  of 
Union ville;  Henry  Taylor,  and  many  others.     One  of  the  features 
of  the  creamery  business,  now  almost  extinct,  was  the  cooperative 
creamery,  in  which  each  farmer  selling  milk  to  the  creamery  had 
to  become  a  stockholder  in  the  concern,  and  depend  upon  his  profits 
on,  the  success  of  the  business,  which  was  managed  by  a  board 
made  up  of  a  few  of  themselves.     Among  the  creameries  thus  es- 
tablished and  conducted  were  the  Pikeland  Creamery,  the  Fair- 
mount  Creamery,  and  there  was  one  at  Whitford,  besides  about 
three  others,  only  about  half  a  dozen  of  them  ever  having  been  es- 
tablished, and  all  of  them  having  now  been  abandoned,  except  the 
two  first  named.  One  of  the  alleged  reasons  for  the  failure  of  the  co- 
operative creamery,  as  furnished  the  writer  by  men  who  have  been 
engaged  in  the  creamery  business,  was  that,  inasmuch  as  the 
farmer's  profit  depended  altogether  on  the  quality  of  milk  deliv- 
ered to  the  creamery,  some  of  the  farmers  were  tempted  to  pour 
Avater  in  their  milk  in  order  to  derive  an  unfair  advantage  over  their 
more  honest  neighbors.     These  cooperatives  started  up  from  about 
1876  to  1880,  and  gradually  went  out  of  existence  for  the  reason 
named. 

Two  methods  of  setting  the  milk  were  in  vogue  in  the  earlier 
days  of  butter  making,  and  down  to  the  introduction  of  the  cream 
separator,  which  has,  in  recent  years,  so  completely  revolutionized 


972  CHESTER     COUNTY 

the  making  of  butter.  One  of  these  methods  was  called  the  shal- 
low setting  and  the  other  the  deep  setting  process.  Both  depended 
on  the  greater  specific  gravity  of  the  milk  than  of  the  cream,  by 
reason  of  which  the  milk  settled  to  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  the 
cream  thus  being  forced  to  tlie  top.  In  the  deep  setting  method 
tliere  was  usually  a  means  of  drawing  off  the  milk  from  the  bottom 
of  the  can,  thus  leaving  the  cream  in  the  can  alone.  When  the 
West  Chester  Dairy  was  established  it  was  a  deep  setting  estab- 
lishment. This  dairy  at  the  present  time  receives  the  milk  from 
about  1,300  cows,  about  22,000  pounds  per  day. 

At  the  present  time  much  of  the  milk  delivered  at  the  cream- 
ery is  tested  as  to  its  quality,  and  the  price  paid  is  governed  thereby. 
The  cream  separator  was  introduced  about  1880  or  perhaps  a  few 
years  later.  One  of  the  first  to  thus  introduce  this  revolutionary 
method  of  making  butter  was  Mr.  Edward  Brinton,  who  established 
his  creamery  in  1882,  and  set  up  his  separator  in  1885.  This  was 
the  Danish  Weston  Separator,  manufactured  in  Philadelphia. 
Afterward  came  in  the  De  Laval  Separator,  and  still  later  the  P. 
M.  Sharpless  Separator,  many  thousands  of  which  are  sold  in  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  world.  John  I.  Carter  was  also  among  the 
first  to  appreciate  the  value  of  tliis  new  method,  by  which  very 
nearly  all  the  cream  is  obtained  from  the  milk,  by  which  means  it 
is  possible  to  sell  butter  clieaper,  but  yet,  on  account  of  the  su- 
perior quality,  and  still  more  by  the  more  uniform  quality  the  price 
is,  the  price  does  not  fall  so  much  as  might  otherwise  be  the  case. 
All  the  creameries  in  the  county  at  the  present  time  are  in  the 
hands  of  individuals  but  two,  the  Pikeland  and  the  Fairmount,  and 
all  use  the  separator,  and  besides  this  many  individual  farmers 
find  it  profitable  to  own  a  separator,  and  thus  remain  independent 
of  the  creamery,  selling  their  butter  instead  of  their  milk. 

An  industry  that  was  once  extensive  and  profitable  to  those 
engaged  therein  and  of  use  to  all  the  inhabitants,  but  which  has 
of  recent  years  gone  largely  to  decay,  is  the  milling  business.     In 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  975 

precediut;-  pages  of  this  chapter  meution  has  beeu  made  of  several 
grist  or  flouring  mills,  owned  and  operated  by  individuals,  but  it 
would  be  impracticable  and  unnecessary  to  mention  and  locate 
tliem  all.     According  to  the  best  opinion,  there  were,  when  tliis 
industry  was  at  its  height,  from  two  to  tliree  of  these  mills  in  each 
township  of  the  county,  in  which  the  flour  was  manufactured  by 
means  of  buhrs,  propelled  by  water  power  mainly,  though  occa- 
si(»nally  a  mill  was  fitted  up  with  steam  power.     By  means  of  these 
millstones  flour  was  not  ground  so  fine  as  it  has  been  since  the  in- 
troduction of  the  roller  process,  and  when  this  process  was  intro- 
duced extensively  throughout  the  Western  States,  where  wheat 
has  long  been  raised  in  comparatively  large  quantities,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  at  much  less  cost  than  has  so  far  been  f(tund  prac- 
ticable in  the  Eastern  States,  Western  flour  began  to  take  the 
place  of  Eastern  flour,  even  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  thus  the 
milling  industry  in  Chester  Count}',  as  well  as  in  other  counties  in 
this  and  in  other  states  in  the  East,  began  to  decline,  and  the  mills 
in  Chester  County,  many  of  them,  gave  up  the  grinding  of  wheat 
and  contented  themselves  with    I'unning  _merely    as    feed    mills. 
Other  mills  in  Chester  County  determined  to  do  what  they  could 
to  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  events,  introduced  the  roller  pro- 
cess, and  still  continue  to  manufacture  flour.     It  is  now  estimated 
that  there  are  in  existence  about  one-half  as  many  mills  as  before 
Western  competition  began  to  be  felt,  which  was  about  1880.     In 
some  townships  there  are  not  more  than  one-third  as  many  mills 
as  formerly.     In  some  cases  the  mill  buildings  have  been  converted 
into  barns,  aud  in  other  cases  the  buildings  have  gone  to  decay  or 
have  been  taken  down. 

In  The  early  day  there  were  perhaps  half  a  dozen  linseed  oil 
mills,  which  have  also  gone  out  of  use  because  farmers  have 
ceased  to  raise  flax. 

The  general  destruction  of  the  timber  of  the  county  caused 
the  saw-mill  industry  to  decline  even  to  a  larger  extent  than  tlie 


974  CHESTER     COUNTY 

milliuy  iudustry,  for  now  there  is  but  little  timber  to  spare. 
Clover  hulling  has  also  gone  to  decay,  for  the  reason  that  clover 
seed  can  be  shipped  into  the  county  cheaper  than  it  can  be  raised. 

One  of  the  noted  industries  of  Chester  County  is  the  growing 
of  carnations  for  the  markets  of  the  large  Eastern  cities.  This 
industry  is  carried  on  in  what  is  known,  from  the  nature  of  the 
flowers  raised  therein,  as  the  Carnation  Belt,  which  extends  from 
Concord  on  the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Central  Eailway  to 
the  Chester  County  line  bordering  on  Maryland,  a  distance  of 
about  twenty  miles,  its  average  width  being  about  five  miles. 

The  carnation  is  a  member  of  the  pink  family,  which  is  not 
indigenous  to  Chester  County,  but  which  is  iudigenous  to  the 
southern  part  of  Europe.  It  has  been  cultivated  there  for  many 
centuries,  even  from  ancient  times,  for  its  fragrance  and  its  beauty. 
In  its  wild  state  it  is  of  a  lilac  purple  tint,  but  under  cultivation 
it  has  assumed  a  wide  variety  of  colors,  and  numberless  combina- 
tions of  these  colors.  Florists  group  these  varieties  into  three 
classes,  viz.:  bizarres,  flukes  and  picotees. 

The  name  carnation  is  the  common  name  of  the  Pink  Diau- 
thus  Caryophyllus,  there  being  seven  different  varieties  of  the 
Dianthus. 

The  business  carried  on  within  the  limits  of  the  belt  above 
outlined  is  the  growing  of  carnations,  and  other  plants,  and  was 
first  begun  by  Charles  T.  Starr,  about  one  mile  below  Avondale, 
in  18G5  or  1866.  Mr.  Starr  began  in  a  small  way,  having  but  one 
greenhouse,  which  was  only  forty  feet  long.  He  continued  the 
business  until  his  death  in  1888,  at  which  time  it  had  assumed 
very  large  proportions,  not  only  in  his  own  hands  but  also  in  the 
number  of  others  therein  engaged.  It  is  now  an  important  in- 
dustry, and  furnishes  a  large  amount  of  business  to  express  com- 
panies. 

Mr.  Starr  was  followed  in  the  raising  of  carnations  by  Mr. 
William  Swayne  at  Keunett  Square,  and  by  Joseph  T.  Philips  at 


AXD     ITS     PEOPLE.  975 

West  Grove,  Warren  Shelmire  at  Avoudale,  and  Thomas  F.  Seale  of 
Uuionville.  From  that  time  on  others  established  themselves  in 
the  business,  and  there  now  are  several  hundreds  of  different 
establishments  thus  engaged.  The  entire  output  of  the  belt  is 
very  large,  being  shipjied  to  Xew  York,  Philadelphia  and  AYash- 
ingtou  maiulj-.  Besides  carnations  there  are  grown  within  this 
belt  tomatoes  and  mushrooms,  the  latter  under  the  benches  on 
which  the  carnations  and  tomatoes  are  grown.  The  growing  of 
tomatoes  and  mushrooms  has  also  become  a  large  and  important 
industry.'  The  wholesale  prices  of  carnations  vary  from  one  cent 
to  five  cents  each,  according  to  the  season  and  the  size  and  beauty 
of  the  flowers.  Florists  are  continually  increasing  the  variega- 
tion of  color  by  the  use  of  seedlings. 

Among  those  engaged  in  this  pleasant  and  profitable  business 
are  the  following: 

At  Oxford,  Mrs.  Dickey  and  Mrs.  McCowan;  at  West  Grove, 
Benjamin  Connell,  Dingee  &  Conard,  the  Conard  &  Jones  Com- 
pany, and  Joseph  T.  Philii>s;  at  Avondale,  Warren  Shelmire  and 
Search;  at  Toughkennamon,  Chambers  Bros,  and  Isaac  Larkin; 
at  Kennett  Square,  Edward  Swayne,  William  Swayne,  Theodore 
Peunock,  William  Davis,  Thompson  Eichards  and  Joshua  Ladley 
•&  Sons;  at  Longwood,  Wesley  Flowers;  at  Unionville,  Thomas  F. 
Seale  and  G.  Love;  at  Willow  Dale,  Eakestraw  &  Pyle;  at  Concord, 
Pennock  Sharpless  and  Styer  Bros. 

As  to  the  general  farm  crops,  such  as  the  cereals,  potatoes,  it 
can  be  scarcely  said  that  any  one  part  of  the  county  is  better 
adapted  to  their  growth  than  another.  The  entire  county  is  ex- 
cellently adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain  and  to  dairying.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  the  raising  of  potatoes,  both  Irish  and 
sweet,  and  also  to  the  cultivation  of  fruit  and  berries.  The  rais- 
ing of  tobacco,  however,  was  in  years  gone  by  largely  can-ied  on  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  county,  but  of  late  years,  on  account  of 
the  reduction  of  the  price,  this  crop  has  been  to  a  considerable 
"58 


976  CHESTER     COUNTY 

extent  abandoned.  The  sheep  industry  has  also  declined  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  which  can  hardly  be  said  of  the  raising  of  cattle. 
The  agricultural  report  of  1S9G  states  that  the  raising  of  horses 
was  then  entirely  abandoned;  but  this  remark  cannot  now  truth- 
fully be  made,  for  farmers  say  that  the  spring  of  1898  saw  more 
colts  in  Chester  County  than  liad  been  seen  for  many  a  year.  The 
farmers  of  Chester  County  prefer  the  fast  trotting  horses  as  a 
general  thing  to  the  heavy  draft  horse,  the  latter  being  preferred 
more  generally  by  the  sturdy  German  fanner  of  Lancaster  County. 
The  I'aising  of  flowers  appears  to  be  confined  more  to  the  southern 
part  of  the  county,  notably  to  the  famous  carnation  belt,  though 
this  industry  also  flourishes  in  and  around  West  Chester  to  a  large 
extent. 

John  A.  M.  Passmore,  a  native  of  Chester  County,  and  a  man  of 
State  as  well  as  local  reputation,  was  born  June  30,  183(),  in  West 
jSJottingham,  a  sou  of  John  W.  and  Deborali  (Brown)  Passmore.  He 
was  reared  in  the  moral  and  refining  influence  of  the  Friends'  So- 
ciety, as  a  farmer's  boy,  and  at  the  youthful  age  of  sixteen  years, 
began  teaching  public  school.  His  proficiency  in  this  line  of  en- 
deavor was  so  encouraging  as  to  induce  him  to  take  a  four-years 
course  in  the  State  Normal  School,  at  Millersville,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  ISGO.  He  subsequently  taught  school  at  Potts- 
ville  for  a  number  of  years  and  became  widely  known  as  an  able 
aiid  successful  educator.  Since  1886,  Mr.  Passmore  has  resided  in 
Philadelphia,  having  been  connected  with  D.  Appleton  &  Com- 
pany, and  is  at  present  the  representative  of  the  American  Book 
Company.  An  ardent  Republican  in  politics,  he  was  twice  nom- 
inated for  Auditor-General  of  the  State,  but  was  defeated  in  elec- 
tion through  no  fault  of  his.  At  various  other  times  he  has  been 
nominated  and  served  in  public  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  in  all 
of  which  he  has  displayed  signal  fidelity  and  ability.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Historical  Society,  State  Teachers'  Association, 
National  Teachers'  Educational  Association,  is  a  Knights  Templar 


AND     ITf^     PEOPLE.  977 

of  the  Masonic  Fraternity,  an  Odd  Fellow,  a  Knight  of  Pythias,  a 
member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Eepublie,  a  member  of  the 
Union  Leagne  Club,  of  Philadelphia,  and  various  other  organiza- 
tions. In  18S4  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Republican  Con- 
vention, at  Chicago.  Reared  as  a  Friend,  his  religious  convictions 
are  in  sympathy  with  the  tenets  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Mr. 
Passmore  was  married  March  23,  1854,  to  Harriet,  daughter  of 
-James  and  Ann  (Taylor)  Woodrow,  by  whom  he  is  the  father  of  one 
daughter,  Harriet  H. 

An  attempt  was  made  by  the  writer  of  this  work  to  obtain 
from  the  State  Agricultural  Department  statistics  regarding 
daii-jing  and  farming  interests  for  some  year  later  than  1890,  but 
without  avail,  as  the  following  letter  will  show: 

"Harrisburg,  Pa.,  July  19,  1898. 

Dear  Sir: — In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  ISth  I  would  state 
that,  realizing  their  utter  unreliability,  we  have  not  for  several 
years  past  collected  and  statistics  in  relation  to  crops;  the  latest 
that  I  can  dii'ect  you  to  are  those  of  the  last  census. 

"Respectfully  yours, 

"THOMAS  J.  EDGE." 

Josiah  Hoopes,  in  October,  1858,  first  conceived  the  idea  of  a 
nursery  and  green-house  business,  and  began  with  one  small  green- 
house and  one  acre  of  ground.  This  land  and  green-house  were 
located  where  now  stands  the  residence  of  Mr.  Montgomery,  ad- 
joining the  present  nursery.  In  1857  Abner  Hoopes,  brother  of 
Josiah,  became  a  partner,  and  the  firm  took  the  name  of  Hoopes 
&  Bro.,  and  it  thus  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, when  George  B.  Thomas  was  taken  into  the  firm,  the  name 
of  which  was  then  changed  to  Hoopes,  Bro.  &  Thomas,  as  it  still 
remains.  From  the  commencement  down  to  the  present  time,  the 
object  of  this  firm  has  been  to  keep  on  hand  a  full  assortment  of 


978  CHESTER     COUNTY 

stock,  both  in  the  fruit  departmeut  ami  the  ornameutal.  Formerly 
the  business  took  a  wide  range,  a  large  mail  business  being  carried 
on,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  and  it  gradually  drifted  into 
a  wholesale  trade,  with  traveling  salesmen  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  At  the  present  time  this  firm  is  carrying  on  an  extensive 
Southern  business,  having  an  office  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  which  is  in 
charge  of  a  superintendent.  From  one  acre  at  the  beginning  the 
firm  has  now  in  cultivation  GOO  acres,  and  special  attention  is  given 
to  growing  fruit  trees,  of  all  kinds  and  qualities;  but  still  more 
particular  attention  is  given  to  the  ornamental  department,  such 
as  trees  for  shade  and  especially  for  lawns,  and  to  shrubbery,  to 
which  many  acres  are  devoted.  Roses  are  also  cultivated  for  the 
wholesale  trade,  and  in  the  packing  seasons,  spring  and  fall,  about 
100  hands,  men  and  boys,  are  employed. 

The  Conrad  &  Jones  Company,  owning  the  West  Grove  Floral 
Xursery,  was  organized  July  1,  1897,  with  Alfred  F.  Conrad,  presi- 
dent; S.  Morris  Jones,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  Antoine  Wint- 
zer,  vice-president  and  general  superintendent.  Mr.  Wintzer  has 
had  many  years'  experience  in  the  floral  business,  and  is  thoroughly 
competent.  Here  are  thirty-six  acres  of  land,  but  little  of  which 
is  under  glass,  the  number  of  feet  of  glass  being  25,000.  The  most 
improved  facilities  for  growing  roses  are  here  enjoyed,  the  com- 
pany being  growers  of  roses  and  the  originators  of  a  species  of 
Amei'ican  pedigree  cannas. 

John  Bartram  opened  the  first  botanical  garden  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill River  within  the  present  limits  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
about  1834,  the  next  being  that  of  Humphrey  Marshall,  at  Mar- 
shalltou.  The  third  was  that  of  John  Evans  of  Radnor,  Delaware 
County,  and  the  fourth  and  last  was  that  founded  by  George  Pierce, 
in  the  corner  of  East  Marlborough,  just  south  of  Red  Lion  Tavern. 
This  was  about  seventy-five  years  ago,  or  probably  in  1823.  Since 
the  death  of  Mr.  Pierce  it  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  sister, 
the  Avidow  of  Di".  Sumner  Stebbins,  and  his  children.     Some  thirty 


AND     ITS    PEOPLE.  979 

01-  forty  years  ago  it  began  to  be  called  Pierce's  Park,  as  it  is  still 
known;  but  the  condition  of  the  park  itself  has  greatly  changed, 
the  park  being  much  less  beautiful  than  it  formerly  was, 
which  is  the  case  with  all  the  others.  Enthusiasm  and  a  love  for 
nature  are  required  to  keep  up  a  place  of  this  kind,  and  in  all 
probability  public  parks  are  the  only  ones  that  will  retain  their 
beauty  and  freshness. 

The  Botanic  Garden  at  Marshallton,  the  first  in  Chester  County, 
was  established  by  Humphrey  Marshall  in  1773.  Humphrey  Mar- 
shall was  the  eighth  child  of  Abraham  and  Mary  (Hunt)  Marshall, 
both  natives  of  England,  and  was  born  in  West  Bradford,  Chester 
County,  October  10,  1722.  After  his  marriage  to  Sarah  Pennock, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Pennock,  of  West  Marlborough,  he  began  to 
turn  his  attention  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  preferring 
astronomy  and  natural  history  to  all  other  branches.  He  also  then 
began  the  collection  and  culture  of  the  moi*e  curious  and  interesting 
indigenous  plants.  In  17G4  he  enlarged  the  dwelling  in  which 
he  lived,  and  added  thereto  a  green-house,  which  is  thought  to  have 
been  the  first  ever  seen  or  thought  of  in  Chester  County.  In  1774 
he  removed  to  a  dwelling  newly  erected  by  him  near  the  Bradford 
Meeting-house,  and  adjoining  the  ijresent  village  of  Marshallton, 
having  commenced  the  garden  the  year  before. 

This  botanical  garden  soon  began  to  receive  some  of  the  most 
interesting  trees  and  shrubs  of  the  county,  together  with  many 
curious  exotics,  as  well  as  a  numerous  collection  of  native  herba- 
ceous plants.  In  this  garden  Mr.  Marshall  planted  a  large  num- 
ber of  oaks,  pines  and  magnolias,  which  remain  standing  and  which 
are  of  majestic  size,  though  the  garden  itself,  from  neglect,  has 
become  a  wilderness. 

"For  several  years  prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Marshall- 
ton  Garden  Humphrey  had  been  much  engaged  in  collecting  native 
plants  and  seeds  and  shipping  them  to  Europe;  but  after  that  event, 
being  aided  by  his  nephew.  Dr.  Moses  Marshall,  he  greatly  extended 


980  CHESTER     COUNTY 

his  operations,  and  directed  his  attention  with  enhanced  zeal  and 
energy  to  the  business  of  exploring  and  making  known  abroad  the 
vegetable  treasures  of  the  United  States.  The  present  generation 
of  botanists  has  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  services  rendered  to 
science  by  the  skill  and  laborious  industry  of  these  faithful  pio- 
neers."* 

In  ITSO  Humphrey  Marshall  began  to  prepare  an  account  of 
the  forest  trees  and  shrubs  of  this  country,  which  was  completed 
and  printed  in  1785,  under  the  title  of  "Arbustum  Americanum 
and  the  American  Grove,  with  an  Alphabetical  Catalogue  of 
Forest  Trees  and  Shrubs,  Natives  of  the  American  United  States." 
This  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  truly  indigenous  botanical 
essay  published  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

Humphrey  Marshall  died  August  G,  1823,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two,  and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Bradford  Meeting-house; 
but  as  no  stone  marks  the  precise  spot  where  his  remains  lie,  it 
is  difficult  to  be  ascertained,  and  in  process  of  time,  if  no  more 
care  shall  be  taken  of  it  than  has  been  heretofoi'e,  it  will  become 
impossible. 

The  excellent  products  of  the  farm,  the  dairy,  the  orchard  and 
the  garden  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  every  borough  and  village 
and  hamlet  in  Chester  County  render  those  places  most  desirable 
for  residences  to  wealthy  business  men  of  Philadelphia,  as  well 
as  delightful  places  of  retirement  for  the  older  and  more  success- 
ful class  of  farmers  and  others  belonging  to  the  county  itself.  The 
numerous  suburban  sites  of  West  Chester,  Phoinixville,  Berwyn, 
Malvern,  Downingtown  and  Coatesville  are  most  attractive  and 
are  fit  for  the  mansions  of  any  of  the  wealthier  citizens  of  the 
country,  and  for  all  that  like  the  quiet  and  retirement  of  a  country 
home.  Every  wayside  and  field  are  ornamented  with  tree,  shrub, 
and  in  the  summer  time  flower,  all  supported  by  a  luxurious  and 
fertile  soil.     In  Chester  County  there  is  no  low,  swampy,  marshy 


*From  a  biographical  sketch  of  Humphrey  Marshall  bj'  William  Darlington. 


AND    ITS    PEOPLE.  981 

land,  but  on  the  contrary,  the  surface  of  the  county  is  unusually 
undulating,  giving  perfect  drainage,  and  extensive,  unrestricted 
and  picturesque  views  from  almost  every  home  for  miles  around. 

But  notwithstanding  the  county  has  all  these  advantages  for 
suburban  life  within  its  limits,  yet  it  would  appear  that  so  far  but 
little  determined  effort  has  been  made  to  utilize  these  advantages 
to  the  greatest  possible  extent.  This  might  be  done,  to  the  benefit 
of  all  farmers,  tradesmen  and  merchants.  Even  in  the  largest 
towns  in  the  county  pi'ices  of  real  estate  are  remarkably  low  and 
the  conveniences  connected  with  country  homes  are  numerous  and 
great.  Every  town  has  excellent  water,  fire  hydrants,  and  a  fire 
department,  and  many  of  them  have  electric  lights,  gas  and  tele- 
phone exchange.  No  town  of  any  size  in  the  countj',  except  Oxford, 
is  more  than  an  hour's  ride  from  Philadelphia,  and  hence  the  time 
spent  in  traveling  to  and  from  business,  by  those  doing  business 
in  the  city,  is  not  great. 

Schools  in  the  suburban  towns  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  good 
as  those  in  the  city,  and  the  superior  healthfuless  of  the  country 
is  well  known.  Building  is  cheaper  and  rents  are  lower  than  in 
Philadeljjhia,  and  the  streets  are  wider  and  houses  further  apart. 
Taxes  are  lower  and  water  rates  are  lower,  and  the  borough  author- 
ities are  constantly  giving  more  and  more  attention  to  sanitary 
measures,  thus  increasing,  as  the  years  go  by,  the  desirability  of 
living  in  the  country  town.  Market  facilities  are  both  numerous 
and  excellent,  much  of  what  is  consumed  being  produced  at  the 
very  doors  of  the  people,  and  hence  the  supplies  are  both  fresh  and 
good.  So  well  supplied  are  many  of  the  stores  that  numerous 
families  derive  from  them  their  daily  sui^plies.  Creameries  are 
scattered  throughout  the  county,  and  butter  is  as  good  as  can  any- 
where be  found.  Vegetables  and  fruit  of  all  kinds  are  produced  in 
great  abundance,  and  taken  all  in  all,  there  is  scarcely  a  better 
county  in  the  entire  United  States  for  everything  that  constitutes 
desirability  of  a  place  to  live. 


982  CHESTER     COUNTY 

The  following  statistics,  taken  from  the  United  States  Census 
of  1890,  show  the  condition  of  the  agricultural  industry  for  that 
year: 

The  total  number  of  farms  Avas  6,119,  of  which  4,4GG  were 
cultivated  by  their  owners;  1,094  were  rented  for  a  fixed  money 
value  and  559  were  rented  on  shares. 

The  number  of  acres  in  farms  Avas  5,863,800.  The  value  of 
farm  products  for  1889  was  $80,683,210;  of  improA'ements  and 
machinery,  .$1,706,380,  and  of  live  stock,  |3,S94,500. 

The  number  of  sheep  in  the  county  was  11,157;  the  number  of 
fleeces  clipped,  6,862,  and  the  number  of  pounds  of  wool,  38,363. 

The  number  of  neat  cattle  was  61,311,  of  which  there  were  of 
pure  bred  record,  1,502;  of  one-half  blood,  6,948,  and  less  than 
half  blood,  52,801. 

The  number  of  gallons  of  millc  produced  on  farms  Avas  10,- 
945,366;  pounds  of  butter,  1,628,235;  of  cheese,  6,127.*^"^ 

There  were  19,264  horses,  1,104  mules,  7  asses,  35^77  swine. 

The  number  of  dozens  of  eggs  produced  was  1,601,308;  the 
l^ounds  of  honey,  15,567;  bushels  of  barley,  190  from  five  acres;  of 
buckwheat,  837  from  56  acres;  of  Indian  corn,  1,958,962  from 
45,206  acres;  oats,  868,304  from  34,070  acres;  rye,  19,415  from 
1,158  acres;  wheat,  882,383  from  42,639  acres;  hay,  161,823  tons 
from  109,507  acres;  tobacco,  679,265  pounds  from  718  acres;  pulse, 

30  bushels;  broom  corn,  2,100  pounds  from  two  acres;  potatoes — 
Irish,  452,460  bushels  from  5,545  acres;  sweet,  2,587  bushels,  from 

31  acres.     Apples,  124,919  bushels;  peaches,  4,449  bushels;  pears, 
2,667  bushels,  and  of  market  garden  products,  f  25,092  worth. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  real  estate  Avas  $61,378,178,  and 
the  true  valuation,  $67,620,336. 


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