USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume I > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 08181386 1
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofdelawar01jord
A HISTORY
OF
DELAWARE COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
AND ITS PEOPLE
4
UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF
JOHN W. JORDAN,' LL, .D.
Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
NEW YORK LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914
سی د
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
8726
ASTOR. LENOX AND
T' D N FO INDATIONS.
. R
1914
L
OPA.RIGHT
LEWIS . HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
19!4
Table of Contents
Hudson's Voyage; the West India Company; Swedish Occupation ; Dutch Settlement on the Delaware: Governor Stuyvesant ; New Amsterdam ; English Occupation ; arrival of Penn: first Courts: Friends' Meet- ings; Delaware county : Churches established ; Revolutionary scenes : Court-house at Chester ; Delaware County Institute of Science; Media the county seat. .Pages I-279
Townships and Boroughs-Tinicum, Aston, Bethel, Birmingham, Chester, Up- land, South Chester, North Chester, Upper Chichester, Lower Chiches- ter, Marcus Hook, Concord, Darby, Edgmont, Haverford, Marple, Me- dia-Court-house and jail, Middletown, Newtown, Nether Providence. Upper Providence, Radnor, Thornbury, Springfield, Ridley, Aldan, Clif- ton Heights, Collingdale, Colwyn, Eddystone, Glenolden, Landsdowne. Milbourne, Morton, Norwood. Prospect Park, Ridley Park, Rutledge, Sharon Hill, Swarthmore, Yeadon, City of Chester, Historic Houses, old Chester Hotels, Population Pages 280-330
Agriculture, Manufactures in various townships, Early Transportation, Rail- roads, River Navigation, Trolley Cines Pages 331-392 Churches-Friends' Meetings, Protestant; Episcopat Churches, Presbyterian Churches, Baptist Churches, Methodist Episcopal Churches, Catholic Churches, Undenominational Churches, Church Statistics. Pages 393-422 Education-Early Schools, Public School System, Schools in the various Townships, Chester City Schools, Borough Schools, Private Schools, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, Crozer Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania Military College, Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, Institute for Colored Youth, Convent of the Holy Child .. .
Pages 423-474
Courts and Lawyers-Early Courts, President Judges, Associate Judges, List of Lawyers from 1789 to 1913. Eminent Lawyers, New Court House Pages 475-499
Medical History-Early Physicians, Distinguished Practitioners, Delaware County Medical Society. Pages 500-513
Newspapers
Pages 514-517
Members of Congress, Assemblymen, County Officials Pages 518-521
Delaware County in the Civil War Pages 522-555
In the Spanish-American War. Pages 555-558 Family and Personal History Pages 561 to end
Foreword
It was the consensus of opinion of many native residents of Delaware county, Pennsylvania,-men deeply interested in its history and proud of the impress its people have ever made upon the character of the State and Nation- that the time had come when a comprehensive history of this remarkable region would prove an invaluable contribution to the literature not only of the county itself, but of the commonwealth, and of the country at large.
With this encouragement, and the assistance of unusually well informed antiquarians and annalists, the publishers undertook the present work, "A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Its People." This includes a comprehensive resumé of the history of the county, from its colonization down to the present day. The narrative down to 1862 is based upon the elaborate history of Dr. George Smith, published in that year. While not at all slight- ing the periods covered by that accomplished historian, due attention has been given in the present work, to the marvelous development of the county during the half century which has passed away since the appearance of his publication.
In each generation, and at every stage of progress, the people of Delaware county have had the services of men of the loftiest character and highest capa- bility-in the arts of peace, in statesmanship, in affairs, and in letters. Nor have their accomplishments been bounded by their native field. Crossing the mountains, her sons have pushed their way into the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, and to the Far West, building up new communities, creating new commonwealths, planting, wherever they went, the institutions of religion and education, leading into channels of thrift and enterprise all who gathered about them or into whose midst they came, and proving a power for ideal citizenship and good government.
The narrative, at once heroic and pathetic, is not only a noble heritage, but an inspiration to those of the present and of the future, giving emphasis to the pregnant words of Martineau: "To have had forefathers renowned for hon- orable deeds, to belong by nature to those who have bravely borne their part in life, and refreshed the world with mighty thoughts and healthy admiration. is a privilege which it were mean and self-willed to despise. It is as a security given for us of old, which it were falsehearted not to redeem; and in virtues bred of a noble stock, mellowed as they are by reverence, there is often a grace and ripeness wanting to self-made and brand-new excellence. Of like value to a people are heroic traditions, giving them a determinate character to sustain among the tribes of men, making them familiar with images of great and strenuous life, and kindling them with faith in glorious possibilities."
History proper, of necessity, is a narrative of what has been accomplished by people in the mass, and can take little note of individuals Here begins the mission of the annalist and investigator of the personal lives of those who have horne the heat and burden of the day, in tracing whence and from whom
vi
FOREWORD
they came, in portraying their deeds, showing the spirit by which they were actuated, and holding up their effort as an example to those who come after- ward. The story of such achievements is a sacred trust committed to the peo- ple of the present, upon whom devolves the perpetuation of the record. The custodian of records who places in preservable and accessible form his knowl- edge concerning the useful men of preceding generations, and of their descend- ants who have lived lives of honor and usefulness, performs a public service in rendering honor to whom honor is due, and thereby inculcating the most valua- ble lessons of patriotism and good citizenship. This fact finds recognition in the warm welcome given in recent years to family and personal histories. Such are in constant and general demand, and are sought for in the great libraries by book, magazine and newspaper writers and by lecturers, from foreign lands, as well as from all portions of our own country. Such a work as the present one will possess an especial value for those who, out of a laudable pride. seek to trace their descent from those who battled for the making of the United States, and aided in bringing the Nation to its present pre-eminent position.
The publishers desire to express their special obligations to all who have aided them in their undertaking, and especially Dr. John W. Jordan. LL.D., librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania : Mr. Benjamin H. Smith. who furnished the text of the famous Delaware County History of 1862, from the pen of his revered father. Dr. George Smith: Isaac Sharpless, S. D .. LL.D., president of Haverford College, for valuable services along educational lines : Mr. Morgan Bunting, of the Pennsylvania and Delaware County His- torical Societies ; Mr. V. Gilpin Robinson, for information as to the Bench and Bar: and to Dr. Daniel W. Jefferis for similar service with reference to the Medical profession.
In order to ensure greatest possible accuracy, all matter for the genealog- ical and personal pages of this work has been submitted in typewritten manu- script to the persons most interested, for correction. If in any case a sketch is incomplete or faulty, the shortcoming is ascribable to the paucity of data obtain- able, or neglect of the person to whom submittal was made. It is believed that the present work, in spite of the occasional fault which attaches to such undertakings, will prove a real addition to the mass of annals concerning the people of Delaware county, and that, without it, much valuable information would be inaccessible to the general reader, or irretrievably lost, owing to the passing away of custodians of family records, and the consequent disappearance of material in their possession. THE PUBLISHERS.
NOTE .- The old-time illustrations in the historical volumes are reproduced from Dr. George Smith's History, of 1862.
History of Delaware County
-
In giving an account of the first settlement by Europeans of any part of America, it has been customary with writers to precede their narratives by a detailed history not only of the events that were then transpiring in the Old World, but of every event that had occurred for a century or more previously, having the least possible bearing, upon the settlement in question. As the his- tory of a district of country so limited in extent as that of Delaware County must derive its chief value from the number of local facts it may present, the transatlantic events that led to its settlement in common with that of larger dis- tricts of our country, will only be briefly adverted to.
More than a century had elapsed, from the time of the discovery of the Western Continent by the Cabots, before the noble river that forms the south- eastern boundary of our county, became known to Europeans. The first set- tlement of Virginia was commenced at Jamestown in 1607. Two years later, the celebrated English navigator Henry Hudson, after having made two un- successful voyages in the employ of London merchants, in search of a north- ern passage to the East Indies, entered the service of the Dutch East India Company, and, with the same object in view, made his celebrated voyage that resulted in the discovery of the great New York river, that most justly bears his name. Sailing from Amsterdam April 4th, 1609, in the "Half-Moon," he doubled North Cape with the object of reaching Nova Zembla. In this he was foiled by reason of the dense fogs and the large bodies of ice he encountered, when, changing his original plan, he directed his course with the view of dis- covering a north-west passage to China. He arrived off the banks of New- foundland in July, and continuing his course westwardly, after some delay on account of dense fogs, entered Penobscot bay on the coast of Maine. Here Captain Hudson had friendly intercourse with the natives of the country, and after having repaired the damage his little vessel had sustained, he pursued his course southerly in search, it is said, of a passage to the Western Pacific ocean, which he had formerly learned from his friend, Captain John Smith, had an existence, "south of Virginia." Halting a second time at Cape Cod, he ob- served in possession of the Indians, who treated him kindly, "green tobacco and pipes, the bowls of which were niade of clay, and the stems of red copper."
The voyage of the "Half-Moon" was again continued southwest along the coast until August 18, she arrived at the mouth of Chesapeake bay. If there was any truth in the rather improbable story that Hudson pursued this south- west course in search of a passage to the Pacific, south of Virginia, he cer- tainly abandoned his plan; for, without much delay, he reversed his course,
2
DELAWARE COUNTY
making a more particular examination of the coast as he passed along. On August 28, 1609, in latitude 39° 5' north, Hudson discovered "a great bay," which, after having made a very careful examination of the shoals and sound- ings at its mouth. he entered ; but soon came to the over-cautious conclusion that "he that will thoroughly discover this great bay must have a small pinnace that must draw but four or five feet of water, to sound before him." To this great bay the name of Delaware has been given in honor of Lord De-la-ware, who is said to have entered it one year subsequently to the visit of Hudson.
The examination of the Delaware bay by Hudson was more after the man- ner of a careful navigator than that of a bold explorer in search of new lands, and scarcely extended beyond its mouth. It must have been very slight in- deed, as we find that in further retracing his steps, he had described the high lands of Navesink on September 2d, four days after his entrance into the Dela- ware bay; and on the 4th of that month, after having rounded a low "Sandy Hook," he discovered "The Great North River of New Netherland"-a dis- covery that will transmit his name to the latest posterity.
Though an Englishman, Hudson was in the employ of the Dutch, and his visit to the Delaware is rendered important from the fact that on it principally if not wholly rested the claim of that government to the bay and river, so far as it was based on the ground of prior discovery. This claim is now fully con- ceded; for although the bay was known in Virginia by its present name as early 1612, no evidence exists of its discovery by Lord Delaware or any other Englishman prior to 1610, when it is said that navigator "touched at Delaware bay on his passage to Virginia."
An official Dutch document drawn up in 1644 claims that New Nether- land "was visited by inhabitants of that country in 1598," and that "two little forts were built on the South and North rivers." Better authority is needed to support this claim, than the assertion of an interested party made nearly half a century subsequent to the event.
Though reasonable doubts may exist in respect to the visit of Lord Dela- ware to the Delaware bay, that bay in 1610 did actually receive a transient visit from Captain Samuel Argall, who probably was the first European that en- tered its waters after its discovery by Hudson.
The various names by which the Delaware river and bay have been known. are enumerated in Hazard's "Annals of Pennsylvania." By the Indians it was called, Pautaxat. Mariskitton and Makerish-kisken, Lenape Whittuck; by the Dutch, Zuyt or South river, Nassau river, Prince Hendrick river, and Charles river ; by the Swedes, New Swedeland stream; by the English, Delaware. Heylin in his "Cosmography" calls its Arasapha. The bay has also been known as New Port May and Godyn's bay.
Six years now intervene before we have any further accounts of discov- eries in "New Netherland," a country which, in the estimation of Their High Mightinesses, The States General of Holland, embraced the Delaware bay and river. On March 27, 1614, a general charter was granted securing the exclu- sive privilege of trade during four voyages, with "any new courses, havens,
3
DELAWARE COUNTY
countries or places," to the discoverer, and subjecting any persons who should act in violation thereof, to a forfeiture of their vessel, in addition to a heavy pecuniary penalty. Stimulated by this edict of the States General, the mer- chants of Amsterdam fitted out five vessels to engage in voyages, in pursuance of its provisions. Among them was the "Fortune," belonging to the city of Hoorn, commanded by Captain Cornelis Jacobson Mey. Captain Adrian Block commanded another vessel, which was unfortunately burnt upon his arrival at the mouth of the "Manhattan river." To repair this misfortune, Captain Block immediately engaged in the construction of a new vessel-a yacht, 441/2 feet long, and 111/2 feet wide. This craft was of but 16 tons burden, and was named the "Unrust" (Restless.) She was the first vessel built by Europeans in this country, and her construction, under the circumstance, savors more of a Yankee proceeding than any event in the history of New Netherland.
The "Fortune," commanded by Skipper Mey, alone proceeded southerly. The coast, with its numerous inlets and islands, was examined and mapped as he went along, until he reached the mouth of the Delaware bay, to the two proper capes of which he appropriated two of his names; calling the one Cor- nelis, the other Mey. To a cape still further south he gave the name of Hind- lopen, after a town of Friesland. All the vessels except the "Restless" now re- turned to Holland, to make report of their discoveries, and to claim the exclu- sive privileges of trade, to which, under the general charter granted by the States General, their owners would be entitled. By an edict dated October 14, 1614, this monopoly of trade was granted to the united company of merchants of the cities of Amsterdam and Hoorn, by whose means the expedition had been fitted out. It was limited, however, to "newly discovered lands, situate in America, between New France and Virginia, whereof the sea coasts lie be- tween the fortieth and forty-fifth degrees of latitude, now named New Neth- erland," and was to extend to four voyages, to be made within three years from January Ist. It will be seen that the Delaware bay is not included in this grant, a circumstance that would suggest that the discoveries in that quarter by Skipper Mey, had not been appreciated.
Captain Cornelis Hendrickson, who had been left in command of the Amer- ican built vessel "Restless," now proceeded to make further explorations, and especially on the Delaware bay. It has even been said that this expedition ex- plored the river as high up as the mouth of the Schuylkill, the discovery of which is credited to Captain Hendrickson. If this be correct, the crew of the "Restless" were the first civilized men who visited the territory now embraced within the limits of Delaware county.
It cannot be fairly inferred that the Schuylkill was one of the three rivers discoverer by Captain Hendrickson, and the original "Carte Figurative" found attached to the memorial of his employers, presented on the day before the re- port was made, furnishes almost conclusive evidence that the voyage of the "Restless" did not extend even to the mouth of the Delaware river. The re- fusal of the States General to grant the trading privileges to these applicants, which in justice could not be withheld from the discoverers of "any new
4
DELAWARE COUNTY
courses, havens, countries or places," furnishes additional proof that the dis- coveries made in the "Restless" did not go much beyond what had been pre- viously made. If any knowledge of the Delaware or Schuylkill rivers was ac- quired on this occasion, it was probably obtained from the three persons be- longing to the company, purchased from the Indians, or from the Indians themselves.
In anticipation of the formation of a Dutch West India Company, exclu- sive trading privileges were not again granted under the general charter of 1614, except in a few instances and to a very limited extent. The trade to New Netherland, regarded by the Dutch as extending beyond the Delaware, was thrown open, in a measure, to individual competition. This did not last long, for on June 3, 1621, the West India Company was incorporated. It did not, however, go into operation until 1623.
Thus far, trade, and new discoveries for the purpose of extending trade, appear to have wholly engrossed the attention of the Dutch. This year a proposition is made by the Directors of the New Netherland trading company, for the emigration to America of "a certain English preacher, versed in the Dutch language," then residing in Leyden, together with over four hundred families both out of Holland and England, whom he assured the petitioners, he had the means of inducing to accompany him thither. The petitioners also asked that two ships of war might be provisionally dispatched "for the preser- vation of the country's rights, and that the aforesaid minister and the four hundred families, might be taken under the protection of the government; al- ledging that his Majesty of Great Britain would be disposed to people the aforesaid lands with the English nation." After considerable delay this peti- tion was rejected.
On September 28 of this year, and during the time that elapsed between the incorporation of the Dutch West India Company and the time it commenced its commercial operations, the States General granted certain parties permis- ion to dispatch "two ships with all sorts of permitted merchandise, the one to the aforesaid New Netherland, and the other to the aforesaid New river, ly- ing in latitude between eight and thirty and forty degrees, and to the small rivers thereon depending, to trade away and dispose of their old stock, which they have there, and afterwards bring back into this country their goods, car- goes, clerks and seamen, on condition that they must be home before July I, 1622." The New river mentioned was undoubtedly the Delaware; and it might be inferred from the permission asked in respect to the old stock, &c., that a trading post had been established by the Dutch on the Delaware prior to this date. There are many facts to show that such a conclusion would be erron- eous, and that the Dutch had no trading establishment on that river at this time.
At the instance of the British Government, Sir Dudley Carleton, their am- bassador at the Hague, entered upon an investigation of certain charges made against the Hollanders of having left "a Colonie" at, and of "giving new names to several ports appertaining to that part of the countrie north of Vir-
5
DELAWARE COUNTY
ginia" called by them "New England." This preacher was the Rev. Mr. Rob- inson. Some of the families alluded to embarked at Delft in the "Mayflow- er" and "Speedwell," July 16, 1620, and though they were destined for the Hudson, they landed at Plymouth, and became the renowned Colony of Pil- grims.
In the prosecution of this investigation, which was rather of a private and informal character, the ambassador could not make "any more of the mat- ter but that about fower or five years since, two particular companies of Am- sterdam merchants began a trade into these parts between 40 and 45 de- grees, to wch after their manner they gave their own names New Netherlands, a South and a North sea, a Texel, a blieland and the like; whither they have ever since continued to send shipps of 30 and 40 lasts, at the most to fetch furres, wch is all their trade; for the providing of wch they have certain factors there continually residents trading, wth savages, and at this present there is a ship at Amsterdam, bound for those parts, but I cannot learn of anie Colonie eyther already planted there by these people, or so much as intended." The letter of the ambassador communicating this information to the British gov- ernment, is dated February 5, 1621. Sir Dudley gives as an additional reason why he arrived at the conclusion that the Dutch had not as yet planted a col- ony, that divers inhabitants of this country (Holland,) had been suiters to him to procure them "a place of habitation amongst his Maties subjects in those parts," suggesting the improbability of these people desiring to mingle among strangers, and to be under their government, if they had settlements of their own. He did not fail, however, to present to the States General, on behalf of his government, a remonstrance against further commerce by the Dutch with the country in question, and to lay before their High Mightinesses the British claim thereto by right of first occupation, (jurae primac occupationis.)
This proceeding of the British government was intended to prevent their rights from being lost, rather than to enforce any immediate claim. It was so regarded by the Dutch government, and particularly so by the West India Company, which now, after having secured an amplification of their privileges and completed their preliminary arrangements, proceeded at once to carry out the very measures that had been so recently protested against by the British ambassador. They extended the commerce of the country by building up es- tablishments with the view of securing its title to their government and its trade to themselves-the latter being always a paramount consideration with the company.
The West India Company having by virtue of their charter taken posses- sion of the country, they dispatched the ship New Netherland with a number of people thereto, under the direction of Captains Cornelis Jacobson Mey and Adriaen Joriz Tienpont. Mey proceeded to the Delaware or South river, on the eastern bank of which, fifteen leagues from its mouth, he erected Fort Nassau, at a place called by the natives Techaacho,-supposed to be near the mouth of little Timber creek, in Gloucester county, New Jersey, and a short distance below the present town of Gloucester. There is some discrepancy as
6
DELAWARE COUNTY
to the precise date of the erection of this fort, but 1624 is specified in an official report on the condition of the country, made in 1644, and may be regarded as the best authority on the subject. The distinction, at all events, belongs to Captain Mey, of being the first European to establish a settlement on the Dela- ware, if the erection of this fort,-a mere trading post, abandoned from time to time, as occasion required-can be regarded as a settlement.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.