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Go 974.801 D37a 1148909
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01151 1232
27,50
HISTORY
OF
DELAWARE COUNTY,
PENNSYLVANIA.
BY
HENRY GRAHAM ASHMEAD.
ILLUSTRATED.
PHILADELPHIA : L. H. EVERTS & CO. 1884.
Copyright, 1884, by L. H. EVERTS & Co.
PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA.
1148909
TO
JOHN HOSKINS, OF PHILADELPHIA, THIS WORK
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
Q
PREFACE.
SINCE the publication of the admirable History of Delaware County, written by Dr. George Smith, nearly a quarter of a century ago, the interest awakened in the National Centennial re- sulted in directing general attention in almost every locality through the country to its early annals, and as a consequence in Delaware County, at least, much historical material was reclaimed from the past of which Dr. Smith could have had no information while preparing his work for the press. The present history has been written with the purpose of presenting, as far as could be done in a single volume, an authentic, exhaustive, and unbiased narrative of the events which have occurred in Delaware County from the period of the early settlements within its territory to the present time; and in so doing care has been taken to avoid any reference to in- cidents happening without its boundaries, excepting in those cases where it became necessary to give a brief account of the movements elsewhere in order to render the incidents related in the present work intelligible. It will be noticed that very little attention has been given to the re- cital of political contests which have taken place in the county. The effervescent nature of such public incidents is such that after the reasons which have produced them have ceased to be poten- tial, very little substance remains for the annalist to deal with in relating the story of the times that have passed.
In that part of the work devoted to the histories of the several townships, the author has received the assistance of Mr. Austin N. Hungerford, a gentleman whose accuracy of research and comprehensive examination of documentary authorities has made his labors of the utmost value to the writer in the preparation of this history. To Mr. Hungerford's unwearying industry and quick appreciation of the data necessary to that end is largely due the full history given of the industrial establishments in the county. The pressure of time rendered it necessary that several of the township histories should be prepared by other writers. To Mr. Alfred Mathews was assigned Media borough, and Haverford and Radnor to Mr. John S. Schenck. Mr. Mathews' narrative of the history of Media is very full and accurate, and must commend itself to the reader, not only for those features, but because of the graceful style in which the narrative is presented. The histories of Haverford and Radnor, written by Mr. Schenck, are also admirable presenta- tions of the annals of those localities.
The author, in the preparation of this work, has been met with the utmost kindness by the residents of Delaware County, who responded promptly to his application for data and access to
V
vi
PREFACE.
documents of a historical character. From William B. Broomall, Edward A. Price, David M. Johnson, John B. Hinkson, George M. Booth, and others, he has received many favors. The intro- ductory chapter of the General History was prepared by Dr. Ellwood Harvey, and that relating to the ten-hour movement was contributed by James Webb. These articles must commend themselves to the reader, as to style, comprehensiveness, and accuracy of statement. To the Historical Society of Pennsylvania the author desires to return his especial acknowledgments for favors shown, and also to Gilbert Cope, of West Chester, for like kindnesses. The atlas of Early Grants and Patents in Delaware County, prepared by Benjamin H. Smith, is the authority on which the author has based in most cases his references to the lands taken up by the early settlers.
The rupture of a blood-vessel in one of the eyes of the author rendered it impossible for him to read much of the proof of the General History, and possibly errors may occur therein which might have been avoided under other circumstances.
CHESTER, Sept. 9, 1884.
H. G. A.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Physical Geography and Geology of Delaware County.
1
CHAPTER II.
The Early Settlement of Delaware County to the Grant of the
Province to William Peoo ..
2
CHAPTER III.
The Circular Boundary Line between Delaware County and the
State of Delaware ..
15
CHAPTER IV.
William Peon's First Voyage to hie Province in 1682-The Change
of the Name Upland to Chester, and the Reason it was Made .....
20
CHAPTER V.
The First Assembly of Peoosylvania, and the House wherein it
met.
22
CHAPTER VI.
The Colonial History to the War of the Revolution. 24
CHAPTER VII.
The Revolutionary Struggle to the Battle of Brandywine ...
40
CHAPTER VIII.
The Battle of Brandywine.
55
CHAPTER IX.
From the Defeat at Brandywine to the Conclusion of the Revolu-
tionary War.
65
CHAPTER X.
From the Revolutionary War to the Erection of Delaware County .. 77
CHAPTER XI.
From the Erection of the Conoty of Delaware to the Second War
with Great Britain.
83
CHAPTER XII.
The Second War with England ..
86
CHAPTER XIII.
From the Second War with England to 1850.
91
CHAPTER XIV.
Storma, Freshete, aod Earthquakee.
99
CHAPTER XV.
The Ten-Hour Movement.
108
CHAPTER XVI.
The Removal of the County-seat to Media,
112
CHAPTER XVII.
The Civil War.
114
CHAPTER XVIII.
Crimes and Punishmente
157
CHAPTER XIX.
PAGE
Manoers and Customs-How Inhabitants of Delaware Conoty lived
in former Yeare.
178
CHAPTER XX.
Traveling aud Transportation, with an Account of the Railroads
in the County
192
CHAPTER XXI.
Redemptioners and Slavery in Delaware County.
.............
........
200
CHAPTER XXII.
Agriculture, with a brief Mention of our Domestic Animals.
207
CHAPTER XXIII.
Wild Animals, Fish, etc., of Delaware County.
211
CHAPTER XXIV.
Delaware County Climate, together with Notices of Remarkable
Weather
215
CHAPTER XXV.
. The Court, Bench, and Bar of Delaware County
217
CHAPTER XXVI.
Physiciane and Medical Societies
.....
.....
253
CHAPTER XXVII.
Civil Lists ....
267
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Township of Tioicum ..
274
CHAPTER XXIX.
Aston Towochip.
290
CHAPTER XXX.
Bethel Towoship.
905
CHAPTER XXXI.
Birmingham Township.
311
CHAPTER XXXII.
City of Chester.
327
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Chester Township.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Borough of Upland ..
427
CHAPTER XXXV.
435
South Chester Borough
CHAPTER XXXVI.
North Cheeter Borough.
......
443
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Upper Chichester Township ..
448
vii
424
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CHAPTER XLVII.
PAGE
Lower Chichester Township ..
CHAPTER XXXIX.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Concord Township.
CHAPTER XL.
Newtown Township
634
CHAPTER XLIX.
Nether Providence Township ..
652
CHAPTER L.
Darby Borough
515
Upper Providence Towoehip.
666
CHAPTER XLII.
CHAPTER LI.
Upper Darby Township ..
531
Radnor Township
678
CHAPTER XLIII.
CHAPTER LII.
Edgmont Township.
553
Thornbury Township ..
702
CHAPTER XLIV.
CHAPTER LIII.
Haverford Township
CHAPTER XLV.
Springfield Township.
713
CHAPTER LIV.
Marple Township.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Ridley Township.
734
APPENDIX
756
INDEX
759
Borough of Media
...... 587
PAGE
455
Middletown Township
611
482
Darby Township.
CHAPTER XLI.
505
563
579
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PAGE
Abraham, D. C ..
700
Irving, James ..
444
Adams, George B.
676
James, Daniel.
710
Andrews, James.
515
Johnson, Charles.
633
Austin, Obdyke & Co.
55I
Kent, Thomas. 544
Bancroft, Samuel.
660
Keystone Paper-Mills.
550
Bartram, Thomas P
650
Kirk, Benjamin
702
Beaumont, Davis.
650
Landing-Place of William Penn.
415
Bishop, Jeremiah.
677
Larkin, John, Jr. 379
Bishop, Randal.
732
Leedom, Jesse 652
579
Blakeley, Abraham
400
Lewis, J. Howard, Paper-Mille
663
Booth, Thomas, Sr.
3II
Lewis, Milton ..
609
Brintoo, John
711
Lewis, William, Birthplace of.
561
Brinton, Joseph E ..
712
Magill, Edward H.
722
Brinton, Joseph E., residence of.
712
Manley, Charles D.
608
Brooke, H. Jones
608
Mathues, C. W
500 310
Burnley, George.
545
Mellvain, Spencer.
407
Burnley, John
623
Mendenhall, John.
563
Campbell, James
397
Middletown Presbyterian Church.
614
Cassin, Isaac S
675
Milbourne Mills
547
Cheyney, Charles M
311
" Millbourne"
549
Childs, George W
697
Moore, James A
578
Childs, George W., residence of.
695
Moore, John M.
586
Converse, John H., residence of.
678
Mural Tablet in St. Paul's Church, Chester.
338
County House, Media
595
Outline Map.
I 50I
Crozer, John P.
430
Palmer, Lewis.
601
Darlington, Edward, Jr
632
Palmer, Samuel.
423
Deshong, J. O.
376
Pancoast, Samuel
585 698
Dunwoody, John
686
Peace, Edward, residence of.
699
Eachus, Eber
562
PenDell, Edmund
378
Eckfeldt. A. C
447
Penn Memorial Stode.
416
Edgmont Central Seminary
557
Peterman, David ..
587 552
Ellis. Rudulph, residence of.
684
Porter House, the.
356
Elwyo, A. L.
628
Powel, T. P.
500 632
Eerey, D. R.
447
Pratt, Thomas
Etting, Frank M., residence of.
482
Ramey, Lawrence ..
701 699
Eureka Cast-Steel Company ..
404
Rawle, James, residence of.
Friends' Meeting-House, Middletown.
613
Reece, Thomas
607
Forwood, J. L ..
262
Rhodes, John B
294
Rhodes, John B., residence of.
295
Rhoads, William
651
Roach, Jolin
390
Garteide, James
398, 399
Gartside, John.
40I
Gest, Joseph.
602
Gest, Rebekab.
602
Sellers, John. 648
633
Gibbous, Joseph, residence of.
724
Shaw, Hugh.
446
Green, William H
437
Shaw, Esrey & Co.
445
Haldeman, Isaac.
604
Smedley. Samuel L. 560
Hibberd, John 251
377
Swarthmore College.
719
Holmes' Map of the Province of Pennsylvania.
26
Tasker, Thomas T
764
Hoskins (Graham) House ..
354
Taylor, Joseph.
124
Hunter, J. Morgan
676 Thatcher, Garrett
713
ix
486 634
Seal, William
Seal, Jane T 635
Gibbons, Joseph
732
Sharpless, Joel,
Gartside, Amos
between 398, 399
Garteide, B. & Sons
= 398, 399
Gartside, Benjamio.
398, 399
Edwards, Samuel.
248
Plumstead, Robert
Court-House and Jail
334
Palmier, Charles.
Peace, Edward.
Dunwoody, James
651
McCall, Robert.
Burnley, Charles
624
Leedom, Joseph B
Black, Henry B.
403
St. David's Church 644
HioksoD, F. J.
Scott, Alexander, residence of ..
X
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PAGE
Thomas, Jonathan, reaidance of.
618
West, Banjamin, birthplace of
726
Thomson, J. Edgar ..
728
Watharill, Robert & Co.
405
Thurlow, John J ..
436
Williams, Edward H., residenca of.
680
Trainer, David
470
Willcox, James M. 494
Trainar, J. Nawlin, residanca of.
468
Willcox Papar Mills
492
Trainer, William.
481
Wilson, Dr. EllIwood, residanca of ..
292
Tyler, Hugh L
677
Worrall, Jacob ...
755
Ward, William
422
Worrall, David
733
Walter, Y. S
383
Worth, Edward, residence of.
298
Webstar, Josaph
713
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OUTLINE MAP OF DELAWARE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA Engraved Expressly for this Work.
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7
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF DELA- WARE COUNTY.1
THE surface of the county is hilly with very little exception in its western part, but somewhat level in its eastern portion. Its drainage is by several small streams, called creeks, that flow in'a southerly direc- tion and empty into the Delaware River. These and their tributary branches make Delaware a well-watered county. Almost every country house is supplied from a never-failing spring of pure, soft water, and nearly all the fields of every farm have running streams through them.
The flowing of these creeks down a surface inclined to the Delaware River, which is the southeastern boundary of the county, gives an abundance of water- power, which is used for various manufacturing pur- poses. The rapid flow of these streams and their numerous branches have cut deeply into the surface of the land, making it beautifully diversified by wood- crowned hills and fertile valleys and hill-sides. No one who has ever seen the charming scenery of this part of our State can exclude from the recollection of it the well-tilled farms, with their tastefully-planned homes, capacious barns, fields of waving grain, and the herds of cows that supply milk and butter of the very best quality to the Philadelphia market. Here grow luxuriantly all the fruits, grains, grasses, and vege- tables of the temperate zone. The declension of the surface of the land toward the south brings it near to a right angle with the rays of the sun, which has an effect on its temperature that is equivalent to being a degree or more farther south. The lower altitude of lands touching tide-water also favors the mildness of the climate as compared with higher surfaces. Grass is ready for pasturing about ten days earlier in the spring than on the higher and more horizontal lands of similar quality a few miles farther north. The river has a considerable influence on the tempera- ture of that part of the county bordering immediately on it. In winter the air may be for a long time at a freezing temperature before the river has ice on it, for the reason that the whole depth of water must be very
near to the freezing-point before its surface can be- come ice, though the surface of the ground will be frozeu by a single night of coldness.
Under such circumstances, and they occur every year, the two miles of width of water that is several degrees warmer than the general atmosphere has a very perceptible modifying influence. Fruits and flowers remain untouched by frost for several weeks after hard freezing has occurred in other parts of the county. In summer, evaporation keeps the river cooler than the surface of the land, which, becoming heated by the sun's rays, radiates the heat into the air above it. The air expanding by the heat becomes lighter, and rises, and is replaced by the heavier air from the river, which flows with refreshing coolness and moisture over the parched land. These river breezes are of daily occurrence whenever the surface of the land is warm and dry, and their visits are delightfully acceptable.
The geology of the county is somewhat peculiar. Our rocks belong to the earliest formation known to geologists. They were formed by the first process of hardening, which occurred when the surface of the great red-hot drop of molten matter which now con- stitutes the earth had cooled to the hardening-point. Having been formed by cooling from a melted condi- tion, they are crystalline in structure. It appears that they have not been submerged in the water of seas or lakes, where, if they had been, deposits of mud, sand, and gravel might have been washed upon them, to afterwards be hardened into rocks, but that since rocks have existed on the earth these have been a part of the dry land. They contain no traces of the remains of organic beings, such as are found in the stratified rocks that are formed under water.
Iu many parts of the county great fissures have opened, in the remote past, into which the liquid rock of the earth's interior has been injected, form- ing what are known as dikes. Into these different kinds of rock have been forced, some being trap-rock and others serpentine. Coming from the earth's in- terior, this liquid matter was intensely hot, and heated the rocks on both sides the dikes so much as to change their texture by semi-liquefying them, and thereby favoring a recrystallization into different forms.
1 Contributed by Ellwood Harvey, M.D., Chester.
1
2
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Overlying the rocks of the country are deposits of gravel, sand, and clay. Some of these are results of the decomposition of the rocks themselves, but the greater part of them appear to have been brought from some other region, and the opinion is generally accepted that they were pushed from the country north of us by immense glaciers, that appear to have at one time covered all the northeastern parts of this country. The minerals of the county are very nu- merous. There are very few places in the whole country that offer such an extensive field for scien- tific research in this direction as the small county of Delaware.
CHAPTER II.
THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF DELAWARE COUNTY TO THE GRANT OF THE PROVINCE TO WILLIAM PENN.
THE first vessel under the control of white men whose prow ever ruffled the bosom of the great sheet of water now known to the world as Delaware Bay was the " Half Moon" (" Halvemann"), of eighty tons burden, an exploring vessel belonging to the Dutch East India Company, commanded by Henry Hudson. The log-book of Robert Jewett, the mate, records that about noon of Friday, Aug. 28, 1609, a warm, clear day, " we found the land to tend away N. W. with a great bay and river." The lead line, however, dis- closing many shoal places, the vessel, next morning, was put about and steered on a southeast course, the officers being convinced that "he that will thoroughly explore this great bay must have a small pinnace that must draw but four or five feet water, to sound before him."
The following year Sir Samuel Argall is said to have entered the bay ; and in honor of Thomas West, Lord De La War, the then Governor of Virginia, he named it Delaware Bay. In 1610, Lord Delaware, it is stated, himself visited it, and again in 1618, when he died on his vessel when off the Capes. In 1614, Capt. Cornelius Jacobsz Mey, in the "Fortune," a vessel owned by the city of Hoorn, entered the bay, and in commemoration of his visit Cape Cornelius aud Cape May between them still bear his name. Two years subsequent to Mey's voyage, Capt. Cornelius Hendrickson, in a small yacht, the "Restless," is positively asserted by some historians-and the state- ment is almost as positively deuied by others-to have explored the Delaware as far as where the Schuylkill empties into the former river. If it be true that Capt. Hendrickson did actually sail up the stream to the place named, he was the first European of whom we have record that saw any part of the land now com- prising the county of Delaware, for his vessel moved along the river the entire length of our southeastern boundary, and he must have noticed the localities
where afterwards was planted that germ of civiliza- tion from which has evolved the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The history of the varions attempts of the Dutch and Swedish powers to establish permanent lodgment on the Delaware is a most interesting theme to the student of our colonial annals. Especially is this true since the indefatigable labors of the members of the Historical Societies of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey have unearthed in recent years a number of authentic documents and historical papers whose very existence was unknown, which now shed much light on those early days of adventurous colonization. But the scope of this work forbids other than a brief narrative of these events excepting where, happening wholly within the territory now comprising Delaware County, they become part of the immediate story of this locality.
In 1621, in Holland, was incorporated the great West India Company, which while its object was a monopoly of the trade of the territory where it might locate posts simply for barter with the savages, the practical result of its efforts was the establishment of a permanent colony in New York and, in a measure, the settlement of the Delaware. Under the auspices of this company, in 1624, Capt. Mey located a garri- son 1 near the mouth of Timher Creek, Gloucester Co., N. J., and built Fort Nassau, which post was aban- doned the year following. Nevertheless the Dutch company did not relinquish its purpose of making a permanent lodgment on the Delaware, and with that end in view, Samuel Goodyn and Samnel Bloemmaert in 1631 purchased from three of the chiefs of the resi- dent tribe of Indians a large tract of land, sixteen miles square, extending from Cape Henlopen north- ward towards the mouth of the river. To this pur- chase-although it was not made until after the arri- val of the vessel in the winter of 1630-31, which was remarkably mild-Capt. Peter Heyes, in the ship " Walrus," conveyed a small colony, which he located on Lewes Creek, designing to establish a whale- and seal-fishery station there, as well as plantations for
1 Dr. Smith (" History of Delaware County," page 9) states that from the deposition of Catelina Tricho, said to have been the first white woman at Albany, the colonists who located at and built Fort Nassau iD 1624 were accompanied by females. The curious document (see "Documentary History of New York," vol. iii. page 49) is as follows:
"NEW YORK, February 14, 1684-5.
"The depositiou of Catelina Tricho, aged fouer score yeares or there- aboute, taken before the right honoble Collo. Thomas, Leut and Governour under his Royll high&s James, Duke of York and Albany, etc., of N. York and its Dependencyes in America, who saith and declares in the pr'eens of God as followeth :
" That she came to this Province either in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-three or twenty-fouer, to the best of her remember- ance, an that fouer women came along with her in the same ehipp, io which the Goveruor, Arien Jorissen, came also over, which fouer women were married at Ses, and that they and their husbande stayed about three weeks at this place, and then they with eight seameo more weot in a vessel hy ordre of the Dutch Governor to Delaware river and there settled. This f Certifie under my hand and ye Seale of this province.
" THO. DONGAN."
3
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
the cultivation of tobacco and grain. The settlement was called Swanendale, or "Valley of Swans," be- cause of the great number of those birds in the neigh- borhood. After the erection of Fort Oplandt, and surrounding it with palisades, Capt. Peter Heyes sailed for Holland, leaving Gillis Hossett, commissary of the ship, in command of the territory.
Early in 1632 it was determined that David Pieter- sen De Vries, one of the patroons of the company and an experienced navigator, should repair to the colony on the Delaware with a number of emigrants, to join those already there; but before the expedition sailed from the Texel, May 24th of that year, the rumor was received that the little colony at Swanendale had been massacred by the Indians. The truth of this intelli- gence was established when De Vries entered the Delaware, after a circuitous passage, on the 5th of December following, and a careful exploration was made in a boat the next day. The fort was found a charred ruin, while the bones of the settlers and those of the horses and cows were discovered here and there bleaching in the sun. The adroit De Vries, however, managed to secure the confidence of the Indians, and induced one of the natives to remain all night on his vessel, from whom he learned the cir- cumstances connected with the massacre. The par- ticulars, as so related by the Indian, are thus recorded by De Vries : 1
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