USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > A brief history of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with an accompanying map; > Part 2
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Although Montgomery county was thus acquired by William Penn, there is no evidence that any permanent settlements had been made in it before he became pro- prietor. The Schuylkill river was discovered in 1616. The Swedish colony on the Delaware, 1638, probably made explorations. The Pennypack was noted and named, 1654. Land on the west side of the Schuylkill was conveyed 1677. The same year Beaver Island, known later as Duck Island, received its name.
25
THE PIONEERS
In addition to zeal, vision, frame of govern- The Pioneers ment, wide-spreading acres, field, forest and stream, Penn needed men, brain and brawn, to make his Holy Experiment and these came. They came-at first singly, then in small groups, then by scores of shiploads, the stream of humanity swelling until the very floodgates of Europe seemed to have opened themselves. The Dutch, Swedes, English, Germans, Silesians, Welsh, French, Scotch-Irish, Afri- cans came. They came as Mennonite, Quaker, Schwenk- felder, Dunkard, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Deist, Atheist. They cautiously hugged the shores of the Delaware, they ventured into the adjoining counties, they scaled the mountains, forded the rivers, fought the wild beasts into interior - Pennsylvania and with their offspring overflowed state- bounds into Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, event- ually to radiate into the South and West and become part of the web and woof of the United States.
Causes The forerunners of William Penn, Dutch, of Migration Swede and English, who numbering a few thousands did nothing to affect the state, had come as explorers, traders, and advance guard of their home countries, to colonize and establish governments. After the founding of the colony other mo- tives compelled migration. Men in Europe combined church and state. Men sought then by might and power, by merciless slaughter of fellowmen and ruthless destruc- tion of property, as they do now, to further what they re- gardedas God's cause. In consequence, religio-political war- fare had rent Europe a full century before Penn's time. The pages of history of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands abound in heartrending stories of exclusion from all public func-
26
HOW THE COUNTY WAS ACQUIRED
tions, from the universities, and from engaging in com- merce or industry ; of worthiest citizens being abruptly exiled from their homelands; of hundreds of thousands fleeing from their homes to strange lands for safety; of intolerable tyranny; of executions closely following exe- cutions ; of cold-blooded murders; of parents with tiny babies fleeing to mountain fastnesses to perish of cold and hunger; of infants torn from the arms of their mothers ; of multitudes being consigned to loathsome dun- geons, racked with exquisite torture and treated with every kind of outrage; of thousands being beheaded or hanged or burned or buried alive; of the heartless butch- ering of husbands before the eyes of their wives and children; of ministers being broken on the wheel; of women aged and young being tied to stakes in the sea to be overwhelmed and drowned by the advancing tides ; of murder, rape, and incendiary conflagrations; of dragoons being quartered on the citizens who abandoned themselves to every kind of brutal violence and excess ; of men even making a study as to how to inflict all the pain the human body could endure short of death- countless cruelties committed in the name of religion. Can there be any wonder that earnest souls in these coun- tries were anxious to go to Pennsylvania, the land of re- ligious liberty ?
Other classes of immigrants were the redemptioners, the Hessians, the slaves. The redemptioners, poverty stricken at home, but of noblest soul, came to es- cape abject misery of the homeland, and thus bet- ter their temporal condition, and became nation builders. Unprincipled newlanders found gain in convincing these to migrate. Ship captains likewise found gain in transporting them or sinking their lifeless bodies in the deep sea and robbing their chests and purses, and, voyage ended, selling the survivors on
27
CAUSES OF MIGRATION
the auction block. Mittelberger, an eyewitness, thus de- scribes these sales : "Every day, Englishmen, Dutchmen, and high German people come from the city of Philadel- phia and other places, some from a great distance, say ninety, and one hundred and twenty miles away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought and offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable for their business, and bargain with them how long they will serve for their passage money, for which most of them are still in debt. When they have come to an agreement, it hap- pens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to serve three, four, five, or six years for the amount due by them according to their age and strength. * * * Many per- sons must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle as the parents often do not know where and to what people their children are going, it often happens that such parents and children, after leav- ing the ship do not see each other again for years, per- haps no more in all their lives." The Hessians, involuntary hirelings, came here as part of the British army to help prevent America winning its God-given rights. They re- mained as deserters from the army to become useful citi- zens, even though despised and maligned. Negroes were brought here against their wills to be bought and sold for gain as cattle, and to be made the involuntary toilers and burden-bearers for the enrichment of the white man in Penn's "free colony for all mankind."
Rocks such as these were the materials chosen by destiny to lay the foundations of our Montgomery county. How they were placed will be considered in the next chapter.
28
HOW THE COUNTY WAS ACQUIRED
MODERN HIGH SCHOOL BUILDINGS
Hatfield Township and Borough
Lower Merion Township
Worcester Township Abington Township
CHAPTER III SETTLING THE COUNTY
Conveying the Title In Chapter I it was shown that great changes have taken place within the limits of Montgomery county since the white man has taken possession and that it is desirable to know the history of the county. In Chapter II attention was directed to William Penn, the man and the founder of Pennsylvania, to the acquisition of Montgomery county, and to the first settlers and the reasons why they came. The next logical step is to learn how the settlers acquired possession of and gradually transformed and developed the county-the aim of this chapter.
The story of the conveying of title from the proprie- tor, William Penn, and his heirs to the pioneers, of the laying out of the roads, of the gradual acquisition, settle- ment, and development of the county, is interesting and instructive, but can be told only very briefly and in gen- eral terms. In the twilight decades of the county the toilers made rather than recorded history. On account of the primitive condition of people and land, surveys were not always accurate. Roads were used upon sufferance, twenty, thirty, and more years, without legal confirma- tion. In compiling the road dockets the transcriber seem- ingly did not put into his records all the road data and became confused in arranging the material chronologi- cally on account of the year, prior to 1752, beginning in March according to the Old Style and not in January ac- cording to the New Style. Affairs in general were in a more or less confused condition many years.
William Penn acquired title to his colony, not for him- self but for others; not to hold but to pass on; not to be-
30
SETTLING THE COUNTY
come rich but to make rich. He sold more than half a million acres of unlocated land in his province before even seeing it himself, some of which was located in Mont- gomery county. Subsequently to his arrival, many addi- tional tracts, varying greatly in size, were sold to indi- viduals and companies. Title was conveyed by a deed of grant in fee simple called patent, either by himself or through commissioners acting for him. The terms of sale varied, but usually included quit-rent, which meant that the purchaser was quit and free from all feudal ser- vice. The quit-rents occasioned a great deal of trouble later on.
To acquire a definite tract of land the intending pur- chaser would, upon application to the land office, receive a warrant addressed to the surveyor-general specifying approximately the location and acreage of the land which the applicant either wished to buy or to have sur- veyed in right of a previous purchase of unlocated land. The surveyor-general or his deputy thereupon made the survey, the return of which was delivered to the land office within six months. Title to such surveyed land began ordinarily with the issue of the warrant, but was not conveyed until the conditions of sale were complied with-often delayed fifty or more years during which period ownership was probably transferred a number of times. If conditions of sale were not complied with the grant of land was declared void, after which new appli- cations for the tract would be considered. Resurveys were for various reasons made and new patents issued based on these.
Title by improvement was a right acquired by one who, without observing established regulations, occu- pied land not already sold or appropriated by the proprie- taries. Through the acquiescence of the land officers and even of the Penns themselves, both as an inducement to
31
CONVEYING THE TITLE
settle and develop and as an offset to meet the competi- tion of other colonies, the practice of making allowance for improvements grew up at a very early period. It was estimated that by the year 1726 one hundred thou- sand persons had settled on land within the province without a shadow of right. These were the squatters of whom there were some within Montgomery county.
Locating the The first highways of the county were Indian trails and the Schuylkill river. Bridle Roads paths and cartways came into use as a mat- ter of necessity without legal process. As the need of a legally confirmed road became evident a petition would be submitted to the Court of Quarter Sessions, who, on favorable consideration of the peti- tion, would name six citizens as viewers of the proposed road. These, or any four of them, with the assistance of a surveyor, would view the desired road, lay it out, and submit their report, including a draft of the road, to the court who, if they approved, would confirm the report and instruct the overseers to cut and open the road. The running of boundary lines and the locating of roads through deep forests, matted underbrush, and treacherous marshes, particularly in the unsettled sec- tions of the county, and in the midst of the wild animal life, was a tedious and trying task. William Penn had planned to lay out main roads in advance of settlement. This could not be done. In consequence he donated for the use of roads six acres for every one hundred a man purchased. This allowance of six per cent has ever since been made in all patents.
In the laying out of roads the division lines between adjoining tracts were in many cases followed so that each contributed half of the road-bed for which no compensa- tion was allowed. Old roads are in consequence im- portant landmarks.
32
SETTLING THE COUNTY
People and. In the peopling of the county the Swedes be- came residents of Upper Merion; the Dutch of Perkiomen, Skippack, and Providence; Language the Welsh, of the Merions, Gwynedd, Whit- pain, Towamencin, Hatfield, Montgomery, Whitemarsh, and Plymouth townships. The English were first set- tlers of Cheltenham, Abington, Plymouth, Springfield, Whitemarsh, Upper Dublin, Moreland, and Horsham ; the Germans settled mostly in the upper end of the county, although a few families were located in town- ships near Germantown. In some sections English, Welsh, and German dwelt and prospered side by side. The German supplanted the Welshman and Dutchman in many instances; the latter soon outgrew their mother tongue, while the former has retained his in the familiar Pennsylvania-German dialect.
For the sake of brevity and preciseness, present-day geographical terms are used here and elsewhere regard- less of the time when names and places originated.
Such far-reaching changes were wrought in a few years that it seems best to study the settling of the county by decades.
The pupil in observing the onward progress of events must bear in mind the moulding influence of Philadelphia, for many years the great gateway from Europe to Penn's colony, and Germantown, the town of the Germans, the two centers from which the immi- grants radiated into the surrounding country. Philadel- phia and Montgomery counties have been interdependent from the very beginning of their existence. Either with- out the other would have found the struggle for life and its comforts much severer than was actually experi- enced.
33
PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE
" Diuny Sinx."
BENJAMIN LAY.
Levan to the Age of 80. in the Latter Potty Which, he Clrevit extreem Temperance in his Eating and Drinking. Aus Fendrekfor a Particularity in Drej andl witomsattemes Subjected him to the Radicale of the Ignorant buthis Fre Whoare Intensite with Hon Thought Him un Honest Religious inca.
BENJAMIN LAY (1677-1759)
"Lived to the Age of 80, in the Latter Part of Which, he Observed ex- treem Temperance in his Eating and Drinking, his Fondness for a Particu- larity in Dress and Custome at times Subjected him to the Ridicule of the Ignorant but his Freinds who were Intimate with Him thought Him an Honest Religious man."
34
SETTLING THE COUNTY
1682 During this period patents were issued for to land in Abington, Cheltenham, Horsham, Merion, Moreland, Springfield, Towamencin, 1690 Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh, and Whitpain. In addition warrants were issued for tracts in Fran- conia, Montgomery, Limerick, Providence, Salford, and Worcester. Homes were being established, at least, in Cheltenham, Lower Merion, Plymouth, Whitemarsh, and
Whitpain. Springfield was set aside for Penn's wife, and Norriton, under the name of Williamstaedt, for his son William. Some of these and many later transac- tions, involving each a thousand acres or more, were land speculations which rendered a distinct service to the infant colony even though at times undue advantage was taken of poor and unintelligent immigrants. Hunters and prospectors for rich ores probably penetrated the forests far beyond the tracts covered by patents and warrants.
It seemed for a while as if manors with manorial rights might become established in Moreland, Spring- field, and the Welsh tract; the name, and name only, Manor of Moreland, lingered almost if not quite a cen- tury.
The townships named above were of course not organ- ized; their boundaries were in consequence undefined. Abington, Cheltenham, Lower Merion, Moreland and Plymouth originated however. The three original counties, though redefined, were still vague and indefinite, and remained so for many years. In consequence some geographical terms designated much larger tracts than they do at present.
Plymouth road, which became a main thoroughfare to Germantown and Philadelphia and later was embodied in the Germantown and Perkiomen turnpike, was laid out as a cartroad. When it was granted the proviso was
35
1682 TO 1690
made that there must be no disturbance or molestation of the Indians in laying it out. The Schuylkill river be- ing a highway, conflicts arose between boatmen and fishermen, which later caused the passage of laws against the erection of racks, weirs, and dams in the river.
1691
In this period there was a natural lull in land transactions. Only a few patents were is-
to
1700 sued in Springfield and Upper Dublin. War- rants were granted for the Lane tract of 2500 acres in Providence and the Fairman tract of 1000
acres in Franconia. Gwynedd was acquired by the Welsh. The Pennsylvania Land Company bought 5000 acres in Lower Providence, the last of which was dis- posed of half a century later. The Welsh tract west of the Schuylkill, occupied by eighty families, was divided, part being thrown into Chester county, the residents thus early learning by practical experience what divid- ing and ruling means in politics.
Communities in Abington, Whitemarsh, Gwynedd, and Lower Merion were populous enough to make de- sirable the erection of meeting houses for religious wor- ship. These with the bridges and schoolhouses became landmarks by which to designate places and communi- ties.
During this time pioneers, following the Schuylkill river, penetrated beyond the present limits of the county. They soon began to clamor for road accommo- dations.
The Scotch-Irish who began to appear at the close of the period were encouraged to move to the frontier- and incidentally to live free lives and prepare to free others.
Roads demanded attention. Radnor in Chester county and Cheltenham sent in their applications. In
36
SETTLING THE COUNTY
a petition for the Limekiln road, from the Fitzwater limekilns to the city, the signers spoke of running the road into the Plymouth road "near Cresson where there is neither improved land, hill nor water to interfere."
The first lime used in Philadelphia was made of burnt oystershells, but competition by the Fitzwater lime soon drove the oystershell lime from the market. Roads were laid out to accommodate the lime carts. Horses tugged away in these, single file. This meant three ruts to be filled by rains in summer time and frozen hard in winter time. A law was therefore passed that not more than three horses could be hitched tandem. If there were more they had to be hitched two and two abreast.
1701
Patents were issued during this period for land in Douglass, Frederick, Gwynedd, Hat-
to field, Horsham. Limerick, Montgomery,
1710
Providence, Merion, New Hanover, Norri- ton, Plymouth, Salford, Towamencin, Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh, Whitpain, and Worcester. Among the larger tracts granted were: Manor of Mount Joy, 7800 acres, to Letitia, daughter of the proprietor; William- staedt, 7480 acres, to William, the son of the proprietor ; Manor of Douglass, 12,000 acres, to John, the son of the proprietor; the Frankfort Land Company tract, 22,377 acres; Van Bebber township, 6166 acres, to Martin Van Bebber; Horsham, 5062 acres, to Joseph Fisher, and 5088 acres to Samuel Carpenter; Plymouth, 5327 acres, to Francis Rawle and Elizabeth Fox; Limerick, 3600 acres, to the Pennsylvania Company; Providence, 2500 acres, to Edward Lane. Gwynedd township, acquired and occu- pied by 30 Welsh families, was resurveyed, 7820 acres be- coming thereby 11,000 acres. Williamstaedt, later known as Norriton, was sold, a few days after the patent was granted, to Edward Trent and Isaac Norris. Trent dis-
37
1701 TO 1710
posed of his interest and went to New Jersey to give his name to Trenton. John Penn in 1735 sold his tract to George McCall, when it became known as McCall Manor. John Henry Sprogell acquired by questionable means all of the Frankfort Land Company grant, reaching from the Schuylkill river nearly to the Bucks county line. Pas- torius, who was a financial loser through the crooked dealings of Sprogell, spoke of his (Sprogell's) "unheard- of villanies, perverseness," and his "diabolical lies, pride, bragging, and boasting." Among the patents issued were a few in Frederick township, not far from Schwenksville, where the patentees saw visions of wealth in the form of copper mines. One of these patents was allowed to be- come void; the other furnished business for the sheriff.
Roads called for increasing attention. Disputes were arising that had to be disposed of. Petitions clamored for new roads which were laid out, radiating from Philadel- phia towards Cheltenham, Chester county, Pennypack creek, Perkiomen creek, Maunitauny and on into Berks county. Opening roads meant the cutting and clearing of a sufficient cartway with ax, pick and shovel. Turn- pike roads were a full century away; concrete roads two centuries away.
Settlers were already beginning to get into each other's way as, for example, John Jones, a Philadelphia merchant, who was developing a plantation in the north- east section of Lower Moreland, complained that other settlers were interfering with his operations.
Farmar's mill on the Wissahickon, known later far and wide, began to rattle and chatter. Congregations still existing were organized in Whitemarsh and New Hanover. Some of the Welshmen beyond the Schuylkill must have regarded themselves as oldtimers, for in a pe- tition to the court they spoke of their being settled there many years.
38
SETTLING THE COUNTY
The following townships were established: Gwynedd, Whitemarsh and Whitpain.
1711 to Land grants were comparatively few in this period because of Penn's condition and ceased altogether at his death in 1718. The 1720 patents issued were located in Franconia, Providence, Salford, Springfield, and Worcester town- ships. The three largest grants were in Franconia : 810 acres to Thomas Wilson which was kept intact until 1789; 610 acres to James Dickinson, and 893 acres to Francis Daniel Pastorius; the latter two not being kept intact very long.
Roads, as usual, demanded attention. Many of them were used on sufferance and were liable to be closed at any time without notice by the landowners. Petitions for roads dwelt on the need of roads to mills, fulling mills and houses of worship. Inns had not yet come into promi- nence as landmarks. One petition calls for a road from the Perkiomen, through vacant land to the Frankfort tract and on to Amity, showing that settlements were being made in sections, leaving other sections unsettled. The roads confirmed were confined mainly to points within the lower half of the county and rather crosswise than lengthwise of the county, showing that there was a call for intercommunication between points within the county. The Old York road, the Bethlehem road, and the Welsh road were among those confirmed.
During this period Thomas Rutter began the manu- facture of iron along the Manatawny, not far from Potts- town; the first in the United States. Thomas Potts, Jr., also took up the same industry. These soon began to petition for roads. The iron industry naturally involved the development of other industries.
The Swedes took up their residence in the neighbor-
39
1711 TO 1720
hood of Bridgeport and Dutch and Germans began to ap- pear in the Perkiomen, Skippack, Providence section.
Van Bebber gave 100 acres upon which all inhabitants of his township might build a schoolhouse and bury their dead. Similar gifts were made by others.
THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE, VALLEY FORGE; BUILT, 1705, BY LETITIA AUBREY, THE SECOND DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM PENN. RESTORED BY PARK COMMISSION
Churches of various faiths were organized in White- marsh, Abington, Plymouth, Upper Salford, Horsham, and Montgomery townships, the erection of buildings following as soon as money and men made the step pos- sible.
Before the close of this period the population of the province had grown to 40,000, of whom the half were Friends, and a fourth lived in Philadelphia. Naturally a considerable portion of these had to travel through Montgomery county on their way to and from the city.
The following townships were established: Horsham, Montgomery, Upper Dublin, Upper Merion.
40
SETTLING THE COUNTY
1721 No patents were issued in this period until to the sons of William Penn, to whom the pro- 1730 prietor bequeathed his Pennsylvania inter- ests, had become of age. Grants were then made for a few tracts in Frederick, Salford, and Wor- cester. Among these were: 500 acres to James Steel in Frederick, 1300 to the same party, in Salford and Fran- conia, and 1052 acres to Derick Janson. The Salford patentees were Germans. Warrants were taken up for a few tracts in Upper Hanover.
It was during this period that the Reformed and Lutherans began to arrive in considerable numbers. These came in companies accompanied by pastors and teachers. As a result of the coming of the great num- bers of Germans, the Palatine immigrants were re- quired to subscribe an oath or promise to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the king and the proprietor, a pledge that meant perplexity when the Revolutionary war took place. In the petition for the establishment of Frederick township all the signers but one wrote their names in German. In another petition of 35 names only eight were signed in English.
The following townships were established : Frederick, Limerick, New Hanover, Norriton, Perkiomen-Skippack, Towamencin, and Providence. This showed a substantial increase of population, as did the erection of new mills along the Skippack and the organization of churches in Providence, Horsham, Methacton and New Goshenhop- pen, near East Greenville.
The road problems afford a glimpse of the life in the county. In the petitions schoolhouses are referred to, showing that they, like bridges and meetinghouses, were becoming well-recognized landmarks. Petitions for con- firmation of roads in use for more than thirty years on sufferance were presented to court. Disputes developed
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