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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
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http://www.archive.org/details/montgomerycounty01huns
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WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
A HISTORY
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BY
CLIFTON S. HUNSICKER
Member of the Montgomery County Historical Society; Journalist and Author of Letters of Travel; Ex-President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Press League of Bucks and Montgomery Counties; Chief of Newspaper Divi- sion of the United States Food Administration in Montgomery County during the World War.
WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
VOLUME I
LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CHICAGO
1923
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COPYRIGHT, 1923 LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK-CHICAGO
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1
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
HE Publishers of this "History of Montgomery County" desire to express their obligations to the officiary of the Montgomery County Historical Society for affording their representative all possible assistance through their valuable Library, and in point- ing to avenues of information; as well as to Mr. Clifton S. Hunsicker for his intelligent and continued effort. An additional interest attaches to the work for the exhaustive history of the Bench and Bar of the County by William F. Dannehower, Esq. In the general narrative, the History by the late Colonel Theodore H. Bean, and the name of his daughter, Mrs. A. Conrad Jones, most fittingly come into association through her valuable contributions covering Women's Activ- ities from the day in which he concluded his work. Under the Educa- tional head, particularly valuable assistance was rendered by the manage- ments of Bryn Mawr College, the Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo at Overbrook, Ursinus College, and the Hill School of Potts- town, besides other gentlemen in their various towns and boroughs, interested in school affairs. Dr. Herbert H. Bostock rendered efficient aid in the procurement of material which makes up the chapter of Medical History. The very full details of Newspaper History were procured in great part from Hon. D. Whitman Dambly, fittingly supplemented by the ready information afforded by the newspaper men of the County generally, and with few exceptions. A similar meed of appreciation is due Bank officials all over the County, who cheerfully furnished the information called for by our representative on questionnaire blanks. Rev. Father Wachter, of Pottstown, was most industrious in affording general information pertaining to Catholic Churches of the County; while individual ministers of all denominations were also intelligent contributors. To name all who afforded aid would make up a goodly roster of prominent names. Taken all in all, it is believed that this History will be received with favor, and will be a valuable book of reference in years to come. THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter I-Topography and Geography.
I
Chapter II-Geology, Mining, Etc.
Chapter III-The Original Residents and Owners. 25
Chapter IV-The First Settlements 29
Chapter V-William Penn and the Founding of His Colony 35
Chapter VI-The Colonial Era. 43
Chapter VII-Military Operations 47
Chapter VIII-County Organization and Government. 97 Chapter IX-Transportation . 107
Chapter X-Centennial Celebration 115
Chapter XI-Religious Denominations 119
Chapter XII-Educational Institutions I45
Chapter XIII-Agriculture and Agricultural Societies 157
Chapter XIV-Journalism
161
Chapter XV-Banks and Banking 179
Chapter XVI-Fraternal Orders of the County 193
Chapter XVII-The Work of Montgomery County Women 199 Chapter XVIII-The Medical Profession 223
Chapter XIX-Bench and Bar. 235
Chapter XX-Industries and Manufacturing. 283
Chapter XXI-State and County Institutions
289
Chapter XXII-Townships : Abington-Cheltenham-Douglas-Franconia-Fred- erick 293
Chapter XXIII-Townships : Hatfield-Horsham- Limerick-Lower Merion. 303
Chapter XXIV-Townships: Marlborough-Montgomery-Moreland-New Han- over-Upper Hanover-Norriton-Perkiomen 315
Chapter XXV-Townships: Pottsgrove, Upper, Lower and West-Providence, Upper and Lower-Plymouth-Whitemarsh. 325
Chapter XXVI-Townships : Springfield-Towamencin-Upper Dublin-Upper
Merion-Upper and Lower Salford. 335
Chapter XXVII-Townships : Upper and Lower Gwynedd-Worcester-Whitpain -Skippack . 347
Chapter XXVIII-Boroughs : Ambler-Bridgeport-Collegeville-Conshohocken- East Greenville-Hatboro-Hatfield-Greenlane-Schwenkville-Jenkintown 355
Chapter XXIX-Boroughs : Lansdale-North Wales-Narberth 367
Chapter XXX-Boroughs : Pottstown-Pennsburg-Royersford-Red Hill-Rock- ledge-Souderton-West Telford-Trappe-West Conshohocken. 375
Chapter XXXI-Norristown Borough 386
Appendix : Ursinus College, 395; Montgomery County Post Offices, 402; Principal Towns and Cities, 405; Burgesses Since 1812, 406; Presidential Vote Since 1860, 407; Miscellaneous Subjects, 409; Bench and Bar, 416.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
CHAPTER I. TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY.
September 10, 1784, marked the "birthday" of Montgomery county. On that date this now prosperous and enterprising district of Pennsyl- vania was carved out of Philadelphia county by an act of the General Assembly, which reads as follows :
An Act for erecting part of the County of Philadelphia into a separate county.
Sect. I. Whereas a great number of the inhabitants of the County of Philadelphia by their petition have humbly represented to the Assem- bly of this State the great inconvenience they labor under by reason of their distance from the seat of judicature in the said county : For remedy whereof,
Sect. II. Be it enacted and it is hereby enacted by the Representa- tives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and by authority of the same, That all and singular the lands lying within that part of Philadelphia County bounded as herein- after described, beginning on the line of Byberry township and the township of the Manor of Moreland, where it intersects the line of Bucks County ; thence westward along the northern lines of Byberry, Lower Dublin and Oxford Townships to the line dividing the townships of Cheltenham and Bristol; and thence along the same line dividing Germantown township from the township of Springfield; and thence along said line to the line dividing the township of Springfield, afore- said form the township of Roxbury to the river Schuylkill ; thence down the said river to the line dividing the townships of Blockley and Lower Merion; and thence along said line to the line of the County of Chester ; thence by the line of Chester County to the line of Berks County ; thence by the line of Berks County to the line of Northampton County ; thence by part of the line of Northampton County and the line of Bucks County ; thence along the said line of Bucks County to the place of beginning ; be and hereby are erected into a county, named and hereafter to be called Montgomery County.
Sect. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of said County of Montgomery shall, at all times here- after, have and enjoy all and singular the jurisdictions, powers, rights, liberties, and privileges whatsoever, which the inhabitants of any other county in this State do, may, or ought to enjoy by any charter of priv- ileges, or the laws of this State, or by any other ways or means what- soever.
Sect. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of each township or district within the said county qual- ified by law to elect shall meet at some convenient place within their respective townships or districts, at the same time the inhabitants of the several townships of the other counties within this state shall meet for like purposes, and choose inspectors; and at the time appointed by law the freemen of the said County of Montgomery shall meet at the house of Hannah Thompson, inn keeper, in the township of Norriton,
Mont-1
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
and there elect representatives ; and the freemen of the County of Phila- delphia shall meet at the State House, in the City of Philadelphia, and there elect representatives to serve them in Assembly (one counselor), two fit persons for sheriffs, two fit persons for coroners, and three com- missioners, as by the Constitution and the laws of this State are directed in respect to other counties, which representatives so chosen shall be members of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania, and shall sit and act as such, as fully and as freely as any of the other representatives of this State do, may, can, or ought to do; (and the said counselor, when so chosen, shall sit and act as fully and as freely as any of the other members of the Supreme Executive Council of this State do, may, can or ought to do.
Sect. V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the County of Montgomery shall, until otherwise altered by the Legisla- ture of the State, be represented in the General Assembly by four mem- bers and the County of Philadelphia shall be represented in the General Assembly by five members.
Sect. VII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the justices of the Supreme Court of this State shall have like powers, jurisdictions and authorities within the said County of Montgomery as by law they are vested with and entitled unto in the other counties within this State; and are hereby authorized and empowered from time to time to deliver the gaol of the said county of capital or other offenders, in like manner as they are authorized to do in other counties of this State.
Sect. X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for Henry Pawling, Jun., Jonathan Roberts, George Smith, Robert Shannon, and Henry Cunnard, of Whit- paine township, all of the aforesaid county, yeomen, or any three of them, to purchase and take assurance to them, and their heirs, in the name of the Commonwealth, of a piece of land situated in some conven- ient place in the neighborhood of Stoney-run, contiguous to the river Schuylkill, in Norriton township, in trust and for the use of the inhabi- tants of the said county, and thereon to erect and build a court house and prison sufficient to accommodate the public service of said county.
Sect. XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That such part of the money as shall arise from the sale of the old prison and workhouse, and lot of ground thereto belonging, in the City of Phila- delphia as directed by an act of General Assembly of this Common- wealth to be sold for the use of the City and County aforesaid, be appor- tioned for the defraying the charges of purchasing the land, building and erecting the court house and prison aforesaid, in the ratio or proportion of taxes as paid between the said County of Montgomery and the County of Philadelphia and this city; but in case the same should not be suffi- cient, it shall and may be lawful to and for the commissioners and assessors of the said county, or a majority of them, to assess and levy, in the same manner as is directed by the act for raising county rates and levies, so much money as the said trustees or any three of them shall judge necessary for purchasing the said land and finishing the said court house and prison.
Sect. XII. Provided always, That the sum of money so to be raised does not exceed three thousand pounds current money of this State.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY
Sect. XIII. Provided also, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no action or suit now commenced or depending in the County of Philadelphia against any person living within the bounds of the said County of Montgomery shall be stayed or discontinued, but that the same action or actions already commenced or depending may be prosecuted and judgment thereupon rendered, as if this act had not been made; and that it shall and may be lawful for the justices of the County of Philadelphia to issue any judicial process to be directed to the Sheriff or Coroner of Philadelphia County, for carrying on and obtaining the effect of the aforesaid suits, which Sheriff and Coroner shall and are hereby obliged to yield obedience in executing the said writs, and make due return thereof before the justices of the said court for the said County of Philadelphia, as if the parties were living and residing within the same.
Sect. XXI. And whereas it is represented by petition to the General Assembly, that by the lines hereinbefore mentioned a long narrow neck or point of land, being part of the manor of Moreland, and lying between the townships of Byberry and Lower Dublin, in the County of Phila- delphia, would be included in the County of Montgomery, to the great inconvenience and injury of the inhabitants of the said neck of land, who have prayed that they may remain within the County of Phila- delphia.
Sect. XXII. Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the boundary line of the said County of Montgomery shall be as follows, that is to say, beginning in the line of Bucks County where the same is intersected by the line which divides the townships of Byberry and the Manor of Moreland; thence southwesterly along the last mentioned line to the first corner or turning thereof; and thence on the same south- westerly course to the line of Lower Dublin ; and thence westwardly along the Northern line of Lower Dublin and so on, as the lines of the said County of Montgomery are hereinbefore described, to the place of beginning; anything hereinbefore contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding.
Passed Sept. 10, 1784.
Thus, in the more or less quaint phraseology of the time, was Mont- gomery county created. The boundaries thus erected cause it to be bounded on the southeast by the line of the City and County of Phil- adelphia ; on the northeast by Bucks; on the north and northwest by Lehigh and Berks; and on the west and southwest by Chester and Del- aware counties. Its greatest length is thirty miles, running from the southeast to the northwest lines. Its greatest breadth is about fifteen miles from the northeast to the southwest lines. The county has an approximate area of 473 square miles, or by the usual farm measurement. 303,080 acres.
Topographically, the entire county is a series of hills and valleys. Many of the hills attain the eminence of small mountains, chief among the latter being those which constitute the historic and sacred Valley Forge, the presence of which within the boundary lines draws to Mont- gomery county visitors from not only all parts of the United States, but from all over the civilized world. Also in the "mountain" class are
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
many which border upon the Perkiomen creek, and which have aided within the last decade to transform the Perkiomen region into a typical summer resort frequented during the vacation months by many thou- sands of visitors chiefly from Philadelphia, mostly of the working class, who here find means of recreation at a price within their modest means.
With the exception of the hilly country of the character just referred to, the entire rural territory is in a high state of cultivation, although the last twenty years has changed the county from chiefly a rural district of Pennsylvania to a manufacturing and high-class residential district. The many large towns have been built up around great manufacturing concerns, while the lower end is almost solidly built up with the great mansions of the extremely wealthy, interspersed with communities made up of the beautiful but less pretentious homes of the well-to-do but non- plutocratic class. Most of these residents of the county have their busi- ness places in Philadelphia, and commute daily.
The Schuylkill river forms the southwestern boundary line between Montgomery and Chester counties until it reaches the Merion town- ships; from thence it passes through the country in a southeasterly course until it reaches the Philadelphia line. The county is watered by many streams flowing into the Schuylkill-the Wissahickon, Plymouth, Sandy Run, Mill, Rock Hill, Gulf, Valley, Indian, Stoney, Skippack, Perkiomen and Manantawny creeks. The Pennypack and Neshaminy creeks rise in Montgomery county and pass through Bucks county to the Delaware river. The waterflow and fall of these streams and their tribu- taries, which form a network of irrigation, fed by thousands of perennial springs, rising in every part of the county, were early utilized by the settlers, who erected dams and built on the shores many primitive "manufacturies."
It was reported in a paper published in 1795 that there were within the confines of the county 96 gristmills, 61 sawmills, four forges, six fulling mills, and ten paper mills. Many of these gristmills existed prior to and during the Revolutionary War, doing active service for the con- tending armies while in occupancy of this section of the country.
Very early in its history as a political entity, Montgomery county was well traversed by public highways leading from Philadelphia to the interior settlements of the State. The Lancaster road, the Ridge Pike and similar highways, with many parallel cartways, opened up the country settlements at a very early period. These trunk thoroughfares were soon intersected by public roads running from the Delaware to the Schuylkill river, increasing in number and importance until the region was accessible from all points by well graded roads leading in the direction of Philadelphia, then the capital of the State, as late as 1799, and the capital city of the nation as late as 1800. Until the advent of the automobile these roads remained in the same general condition as when laid out by the early settlers, but now a number of the State highways
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TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY
run through this section, and the surfaces of the chief thoroughfares have either been macadamized or concreted by the State Highways Depart- ment. The county government has been equally assiduous in giving the traveling public good roads, and many of the county roads have been placed in the same high class condition as the State roads, and more mileage is being added to the class of "good roads" every year.
In miniature the general conformation of the surface of the county repeats that which has rendered the natural scenery of New York, Penn- sylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia so notable. The ranges of hills run uniformly northeast and southwest, as do the more distant lines of the Catskills, Blue Ridge, and Alleghenies. As the Hudson river forces itself through the Narrows, the Delaware at the Water Gap, the Sus- quehanna between Harrisburg and Port Deposit, the Potomac at Har- per's Ferry, so the Schuylkill river in finding its way to the Delaware, in the same direction, cuts its way through rock hills at Conshohocken and again at Fairmount, Philadelphia.
Originally the county was heavily timbered with oak, hickory and chestnut. The consumption of wood for fuel prior to the introduction of anthracite and bituminous coal, was very great in Eastern Pennsylvania. Large quantities were used in making charcoal for furnaces; lime was made by use of wood for fuel; every household had its woodpile, while the supply for Philadelphia constituted a profitable business for many owning and residing on lands within twenty or thirty miles of the city. There was a time, but it is not now within the memory of any one living in the county, when it was part of the work of each succeeding year to clear one or more acres of woodland, and the wood sold counted as part of the profits of the farm. This wealth of primitive forest was the foun- dation of many substantial fortunes, the purchase of woodland, its clear- age and sale of timber paying for the farm, and incidentally opening up the way for the growing of crops on rich ground that required no fertil- ization for years. It has been said by a writer of this period that this "new land" as it was called was a test of the character of the owner. If he was a provident, industrious man, his "new land" would soon blossom with crops. If he were thriftless, selling his wood to pay taxes and incidental expenses of his attendance upon militia training, horse races and other functions which made up the "sporting life" of the day, his new land would remain uncultivated and overgrown with briers and brush.
Seventy-five or more years ago farms denuded of woodland were exceptional, and their market value greatly depreciated. The old-time farmer of Montgomery county took a commendable pride in maintain- ing from ten to twenty acres of primitive forest. It was useful in many ways-for fuel, building and fencing, and probably had a charm for him aside from its utilitarian aspect. It was these patches of woodland that preserved for many years the haunts of game and made the county a
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
paradise for hunters. But these conditions disappeared a half century ago, and nowadays the owner of a farm or a country estate reverses the ancient process, and spends large sums of money to restore woodlands instead of making money by their sale.
In different parts of the county the surface soil varies greatly. In passing inland from tidewater levels, alluvial flats and submarine for- mations, rockfaced bluffs are found at Chestnut Hill, four hundred feet above tidewater mark. The northwestern slope of these hills descends to the basin of Plymouth Valley, through which runs a belt of limestone some two miles in width, with rich beds of menatite iron ore, white and blue marble, limestone, soapstone, and large masses of gray rock easily quarried and largely used in heavy masonry. This limestone belt crosses the Schuylkill river between Conshohocken and Swedes Ford, and extends in a westerly direction to Howeltown, in the Schuylkill Valley. The soil of this locality is very productive, and is considered by many the most valuable in the county for agricultural purposes. Contiguous to the Plymouth Valley are the Sandy Hills, a light luminous soil, easily worked and productive, but often seriously affected by drought.
The rolling lands northwest of the valley, drained by Indian, Skip- pack, Perkiomen, and Manatawney creeks and their tributaries, are principally of the red shales and sandstones of the "middle secondary formation," with many intervening areas of clay soil. The primitive condition of this soil was unproductive as compared with that of the Schuylkill and Plymouth valleys, but under the skillful treatment of long generations of practical and efficient farmers and a liberal use of fertilizers, this vast region of country yields abundant harvests and supports a prosperous farming population.
As a result of generations of successive ownership of the original territory, it has been pretty well subdivided, as the records of any title insurance company will show. In 1681 it consisted of manors and large tracts, or proprietary grants, held by comparatively few persons, who lived a frontier life in almost daily contact with members of various tribes of Indians. Since then its broad acres, due to the operation of American laws which forbid the descent of estates as a whole along a direct line beyond the second generation of the devisee, have been cut into comparatively infinitesimal bits, and now thousands own that which in the early days belonged to but one.
Macadamized highways from tidewater to the interior marked the first era of public improvements. So far as their routes are concerned, these highways still exist, monuments to the early engineers who graded them over hills and mountains. But only the lines of the roads remain as a memorial. The old-time surfaces would not last a day under the stress of modern motor car travel. In their early days, there were but few bridges, most of the highways being directed so as to cross rivers and creeks at shallow water. But the increase of traffic on these roads,
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TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY
particularly freight traffic in the old Conestoga wagons-the precursors of the modern motor truck-soon induced the bridging of all important streams on the main highways.
The Schuylkill river was next the subject of public improvement, and by a system of dams, locks and canals connected it with the Susque- hanna, by means of which lumber, coal and all manner of merchandise found its way through Montgomery county to Philadelphia. There were also passenger boats, known as the "fast packet line," now not even a memory in a human mind, although an occasional freight or coal boat may be seen. Many travelers used these packet boats, which were drawn by frequent changes of horses at a trot; and old letters reveal the fact that the tourists of those days considered this method of trans- portation a far more luxurious and pleasant way of going from point to point than by stage coach. This system of navigation now exists on the Schuylkill only in theory. Passenger travel was long ago abandoned, and even for freight it is non-existent, except that the canal company runs just enough boats in a year in order to maintain its charter rights and prevent its being seized by a corporation that would run freight boats in competition with the railroads, at a much lower tariff, as is the case in territory where such competition exists. The canal, so far as Montgomery county is concerned, is therefore no longer a rival of the railroad for mail, freight or passenger traffic, not to speak of motor traffic on the highways.
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