USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > Bristol > A history of Bristol borough in the county of Bucks, state of Pennsylvania, anciently known as "Buckingham"; being the third oldest town and second chartered borough in Pennsylvania, from its earliest times to the present year 1911 > Part 2
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little grass was raised for years, and then red and white clover were propagated to the exclusion of all other kinds. All their domestic animals were so badly housed and fed in winter that by spring they were almost in a starving condition. In the summer they lived in the woods, and in the spring were not infrequently lost in the bogs, hunting for early pasture. Cows were scarce and high for a number of years, selling for thirty or forty dollars a head when wheat was only thirty cents a bushel. The horses used for all purposes were of the "Wood" breed, raised from those brought originally from New England, gentle, hardy and easy keepers. The English horse introduced at a later day, was larger and more elegant in carriage.
The Early Settlers Lived Well .- The early settlers lived well in their log cabins, as soon as the era of neces- sity had passed. They were both well-fed and well- clothed, but not in fine garments. The women manufac- tured the clothing of the family from wool and flax, and milk, butter and cheese became plenty for domestic use when fodder could be procured to keep stock through the winter. Hogs were raised and fattened, and the forest furnished game. Mush and milk were an universal dish. Pancakes, made of thin batter of flour and eggs and other ingredients, baked in a pan over the fire, were in every house. The housewife, or maid, prided herself on the dexterity with which she could turn the cake, by tossing it up the wide chimney and catching it in the pan again as it came down. But little tea and coffee were drunk for the first seventy years, and they did not come into common use until between 1750 and 1760. At first they were only used by the wealthy, and that on Sunday. In their stead a tea was made of garden herbs, and a coffee of rye and wheat burned to a brown. Children went barefooted half the year, and farmers through the summer. Indian meal was first exported to the West Indies, and wheat to France, about 1767, which stimu- lated their production. About this period potatoes began to be raised in quantities, and were fed to both cattle and hogs. The destructive Hessian fly made its appearance
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about 1780, previous to which the wheat crop was seldom, if ever, known to fail.
The Homes of the First Settlers .- The homes of the first settlers, upon the arrival of William Penn, while still plain, exhibited the mark of thrift. The Swedes still retained their log houses, with doors low and wide and chimneys placed in the corner of the structure, but here and there a planked ceiling and a glass window served to mark the improvement in taste and circumstances. The dwellings of the English were generally framed struc- tures covered with clapboards. A part of the material was brought from the "old country" by many emigrants, but the clapboards were the product of the new land, either riven out by hand or sawed at the mills already erected in the New Jersey settlements. These were com- monly put on green and subsequently shrunk, leaving openings a half inch wide. In the case of the "best people," a liberal application of clay served to keep the wind away, but added rather to the comfort than to the beauty of the building. Dutch coins and measures. were still used in the common expression of values, social cus- toms bore the same stamp of conservatism, and the mixed population, slowly progressive, viewed innovations as an infringement of their privileges.
The Site of Bristol .- In 1681 Samuel Clift, a recent emigrant to New Jersey, obtained from Sir Edmond Andros, Provincial Governor of New York, a grant for two hundred and sixty-two acres, covering the site of. Bristol, and soon after became a resident here. The granting of the warrant for this tract of land, was con- tiguous with the date of the Proprietory Charter of Charles II, to the Founder of Pennsylvania (4th of March, 1681) ; and about four months prior to the condi- tions and agreements entered into between William Penn and the "adventurers and purchasers in the same , province," July 1681). The brief recital of this grant of Governor Andros is for "a large tract of land lying on the Delaware river, at the mouth of . Mill creek, and extending up said river and creek," etc., under which title the warrantee seated and improved the land. By deed
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dated September 23, 1682, Samuel Clift devises this tract in fee simple to Joseph English. Clift died in 1684.
The "Ferry Against Burlington."-Shortly after Samuel Clift became a resident of Pennsylvania (1681), he established the ferry between Bristol and Burlington. Upon his death in April, 1684, his executor, William Biles, leased the ferry-house for two years to Michael Hurst. The ferry was recognized by the provincial coun- cil in 1709, upon petition of John Sotcher, who owned the
FERRY-BOAT, WILLIAM E. DORON, (19II).
landing on the Pennsylvania side. The assembly of New Jersey passed a similar act in 1714. The first mention concerning it in the town records occurs in the minutes of a meeting held May 28, 1750, when a complaint was made that the public suffered "great inconvenience, and that, therefore, some measures for regulating the said ferry and preventing those inconveniences is of absolute necessity." It appeared that the sense of the meeting "without a dissenting voice," was that the ferry was the undoubted right of the corporation, which should there- fore receive possession from the tenant. The records
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further state: "Patrick O'Hanlan being called in and required to hold the same as a tenant under this corpora- tion has consented thereto and has agreed with this present town's meeting for the use thereof for one year commencing the first day of April past, at the rent of twelve pounds per annum." It would seem, from subse- quent developments that this arrangement was not advantageous to Mr. O'Hanlan. It appears that in Sep- tember, 1753, he was in debt for the rent of nearly two years. Ennion Williams, the borough treasurer, was directed to call upon him and compel payment, if neces- sary. O'Hanlan appeared before the council in person, and stated that his profits did not amount to six pounds in the past year. He was allowed an abatement; and that the business might be made more remunerative, the following schedule of rates was adopted: "Single foot passengers, six pence ; two persons at the same time, four pence, and three or more, three pence each ; a single horse and rider, one shilling, and any greater number, nine pence; a single ox, one shilling three pence, and any greater number, one shilling; sheep, two pence each, hogs (alive), six pence; dead, three pence; four-wheeled car- riages, with two horses and one person, five shillings; two-wheeled carriages with a single horse and one per- son, two shillings and six pence"; and in every case the rates were increased one-half after ten o'clock at night. This code of regulations remained in force under suc- cesive lessees for many years.
[The writer asked Mr. Wm. E. Doron, the present owner, for some supplemental history, but was informed that all the old records were destroyed in a fire, which occurred a few years ago.]
Development of Roads .- The "King's Path," authorized by an order of the early court in 1675, extended across the county, and subsequently the various settlements were probably connected with it by local ways of travel. In May, 1685, a road was ordered to be laid out "from Wrightstown to the ferry-house over against Burling- ton," and in 1688 the grand jury called attention to the necessity of a road "from the upper plantation above the
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Falls of the Delaware to the landing over against Bur- lington." In the winter of 1691, "the necessity of a way from Newton to Burlington ferry," was suggested, but it was not until 1693 that it was laid out. Two years later the return of a road "from the upper plantations above Falls of the Delaware to the landing over against Bur- lington," was made. It was projected in 1688, but the unsettled character of the country delayed its completion, and when finally laid out was indicated by marked trees. In 1696 a road was laid out from the "mill dam in Buck- ingham (Bristol), to the common landing by the ferry house, in a straight line." These roads were scarcely more than bridal-paths, and it was not until 1695 that the term "cartways" was used in reference to the county roads, which probably indicates the period when wheeled vehicles were introduced in the county. The location of the ferry here at that early day was a prominent consider- ation in determining the terminal points of the various "ways."
Thus will be seen the methods by which the roadways leading into Bristol were laid out. The ferry had much to do with the attraction of travel in this direction, in those early days, and a few years later was an important factor in the consideration of a site for the market town of Bristol.
The King's Highway .- The road from Philadelphia to Morrisville, via Bristol, was ordered to be laid out by the Provincial Council, at a meeting held in Philadelphia, November 19, 1686. It was called the King's Highway, and was the first public road laid out that ran through Bucks County. Upon the bed of this road was built the Bristol and Frankford Turnpike, incorporated in 1803. The turnpike was commenced in 1804 and finished to Bristol in 1810, and completed to Morrisville in 1812, at a cost of $209,300. During the time the stage line from Philadelphia to New York ran over the road, it paid a ten per cent. dividend.
The mile stones placed along the road had in addition to the figures placed upon them, the letter "T," so that travelers might know how many turnpike miles they
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had traveled. In General Davis' History of Bucks County, it is stated that the milestones were set up by an insurance company at a cost of thirty-three pounds. The distance by the King's Highway from Bristol to Market Street, Philadelphia, was twenty miles.
It was originally intended to run the road on a straight line through the borough from Otter Creek bridge to the Bloomsdale ferry house, situate on the river bank, now owned by the heirs of David Landreth, opposite their seed farm.
The proprietors of the "General Brown," "King of Prussia," "George the Second" and the "Cross Keys" hotels, whose public houses were located east of the pro- posed pike road, petitioned the borough council to appoint a committee to wait upon the directors of the road and request that a change in the line be made at the intersection of Otter and Mill Streets, so that the pike would run down Mill to Radcliffe street, thence to Hollow Creek, the hotels and principal business houses being located on these streets.
The directors agreed to make the change, providing the borough would pay them $5,000, and build and keep in repair the culverts needed on the line through the borough. The borough council accepted the proposal and the council was charged to accommodate the owners of property on Mill and Radcliffe streets.
Within the last year the Society of Colonial Dames has undertaken the task of preserving the old mile stones, which still remain along the course of the King's High- way. The only stone in Bristol stands at the corner of Radcliffe and Walnut streets, on the property now owned by Bristol Lodge, No. 970, B. P. O. E., and will be pro- tected and preserved by that society.
Social Progress .- There is little upon which to base any estimate of the social progress of the county at this time, and especially so of that part east of the Poquessing Creek, but there is evidence which indicates the presence of the Swedish schoolmaster even among the most ad- vanced settlements, and a disposition on the part of the pioneers to avail themselves of his services. The com-
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munity east of the Poquessing, which included the site of Bristol, was not yet able to support a place of worship in its midst. Those who preferred the established church, were obliged to resort to Wicaso, where a log fort had been fitted up as a place of worship, in 1677, for the Swedish congregation, over which the Rev. Jacob Fabrituis presided. The Falls settlement was generally composed of members of the Society of Friends. Their church business was conducted at Burlington, and they often went there to attend religious services, but they doubtless also had services in their private houses until a regular meeting was established some two years later.
A History of Burlington Island .- Many persons in passing up the River Delaware, when opposite Burling- ton Island, express their admiration of its beauty, and wonder that it has never been built up with handsome villas.
Perhaps a short history of the occupancy and settle- ment of the island in "ye olden times," may be interesting to our readers who have lived within sight of it for many years, but have never learned its history. An interesting account of the early settlement of the island by the whites, can be found in the Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. IO; also in Davis' History of Bucks County.
The Island was in possession of the Indians previous to 1616, when we find from the history of the Delaware River, that in that year three Dutch traders started from Fort Nassau, Albany, to explore the Delaware, down which they traveled to the mouth of the Schuylkill, stop- ping at the islands to establish trading posts with the Indians. They were made prisoners by the Minquas, but were afterward ransomed by Captain Hendrickson, who gave in exchange for them, blankets, beads and kettles. The Indians held possession of the island until 1677, when Governor Andros, of New York, authorized Sheriff Cantwell to purchase all the land below the Falls, including the islands. The Indians refused to sell until they were paid the balance due them for lands sold at the Falls. The governor ordered an investigation to be made, when it was found that the balance due was five
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guns, thirty hoes and one anchor of rum. He ordered the claim settled at once, and there was no further trouble.
These same Indians were part of the tribe that was settled near Crosswicks, among whom were many of the Delawares. They sold all their lands in New Jersey to the governor, and removed to Northern New York. Some time about the year 1823, a delegation of these Indians visited Trenton and waited on the governor. They informed him that when their fathers sold all their lands to the state, they did not include the right to gun and fish in the waters of the state, and they had come to dispose of that right. The governor inquired how much they wanted for their right and they replied $3,000. The matter was submitted to the Legislature, and upon investigation it was found that the statement of the Indians was true. An appropriation was made and the Indians went home rejoicing. A grand old state is New Jersey !
"The Indian hunter here his shelter found; Here cut his bow, and shaped his arrows true; Here built his wigwam and his bark canoe; Spear'd the salmon, leaping up the stream, And slew the deer without the rifle ball. Here the young squaw, her cradling tree would choose; Sing her chant, to hush her swart pappoose; Here stain her quills, and string her trickets rude, And weave her warrior's wampum in the wood. No more shall they thy welcome waters bless; No more their forms, thy moonlit banks shall press; No more be heard, from mountain or from grove His whoops of slaughter, or her songs of love. A mighty Chief, whose hundred bands Ranged freely over these shaded lands; But now there's scarcely left a trace, To mind one of that friendly race."
Davis, in his history, says: "Burlington Island, in the Delaware opposite Bristol, came early into notice. It was recognized as belonging to the West Shore from its discovery, and was included in Markham's first purchase. The Indians called it Matiniconk, after the name of their chief. It was known by that name down to the time of Penn's arrival. It is so named in Lindstrom's map, pub- lished in 1654. When the English took possession of the
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Delaware, it was in the possession of one Peter Alricks, a German, and was confiscated by the English Govern- ment with all his property, when in 1668, it was again restored to Alricks by order of Governor Lovelace. Dur- ing the time it was in confiscation it was taken possession of by Captain John Carre, and for a time was called Carre's Island-said to be in consideration of his brave conduct in capturing Fort Delaware. There was a frontier military and trading post established on the lower point of the island. Governor Lovelace wrote to Captain William Tom, October 6, 1671, who was in charge of affairs on the Delaware, to have the Matiniconk House put in good order, and to increase the guard, so it would make a strong defense in case of attack.
"It was on this island that Peter Alricks' two servants were murdered in 1672. It was said that the expense of burying the two Dutchmen was one hundred and six guilders, and was paid by Jonas Neilson; but the Upland Court refused to reimburse him.
"In 1678, Sir Edmund Andros, who succeeded Governor Lovelace, leased the island to Robert Stacy for seven years, and Sheriff Cantwell put him in possession. Stacy and George Hutchinson, who were interested in the lease, conveyed the island to the Town of Burlington.
"Thater and Lanker, explorers, who passed down the Delaware in 1679, in their report, say the island formerly belonged to the Dutch Governor, who made it a pleasure garden, built good houses on it, dyked and rowed and planted a large piece of meadow, from which he gathered more grain than from any other cleared land on the island.
"It was rented to the Quakers, and during their occu- pancy George Fox, the distinguished Quaker, with some friends visited the island. They left Middletown Harbor, N. J., having reached there on a sloop from Long Island. They traveled through the woods piloted by the Indians, and reached the Delaware at Leasy's Point, N. J., oppo- site the upper end of the island, stopped at the house of one Peter Jegou, and the next morning crossed over to Burlington Island, and then to the mainland, just above
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Bristol. He says he and his friends were taken over in Indian canoes and the horses swam over.
"Among the earliest acts of the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania was one to confirm this island to Burlington, the rents and proceeds to be applied to maintain a free school for the education of the youth in said town.
"In 1711 the Legislative Council of New Jersey passed an act authorizing Lewis Morris to take up the island for the Hon. Robert Hunter, who purchased it the same year. It was surveyed, and found to contain 400 acres. The inhabitants of Burlington brought suit against Hunter to recover possession, and he was dispossessed in 1729.
"In 1722, when Governor Burnett, of New York, occu- pied the island as a country seat, he had vistas cut through the woods, up and down the river and across from the creek to the river. In the olden times the people of Burlington and Bristol made it a place of resort for recreation.
"In 1830, Colonel William R. Johnson, of Petersburg, Va., the Napoleon of the Turf, visited the island with a view of purchasing it for the purpose of establishing a race course and a stud farm. Upon examination it was found the authorities of Burlington could not sell without an act of the Legislature when the project was abandoned.
"Some years after, the Lehigh Coal Company wanted to purchase the lower end for a coal depot. Some of the wealthy men of Burlington, fearing it might be a detri- ment to their general plans for improvement in the city, formed a syndicate, of which George W. South was at the head, obtained an act from the Legislature authoriz- ing the authorities of Burlington to sell to them one-half of the island for $20,000, the money to be invested for the support of the free school. It was a good thing for Burlington, but a bad investment for the syndicate, as they sold it after holding it over thirty years and laying out considerable money in improvements, for $11,000 to a company who accidentally discovered a bed of mould- ing sand, said to be the very best for heavy castings that had been found in any part of the country. Judging from the number of vessels and barges seen loading there
3
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during the boating season, we infer that the purchase turned out to be a profitable investment. There was for many years a valuable shad fishery on the west shore, which the freshet of 1841 destroyed.
"The river Delaware has had many names. The Indians called it Marisquiton, Pautuxat, Lenape, Whihi- tuck. The Dutch called it Zyndt, or South River, Nassau, Prince Hendricks and Charles River. The Swedes named it New Swedland Stream; it was also called New River. The English named it Delaware, after Lord De La Ware.
The Coming of William Penn .- Penn landed in America in 1682. The manor of Pennsbury was laid out in 1683, on the Delaware River, in the southeastern part of Falls Township, and consisted of 8,431 acres. Penn designed this for his country seat, and spared neither pains nor expense in fitting it up; but he was destined to be disappointed in his plans, and after a short occupancy, he left it in the care of his agent, not to return to it. Three hundred acres were reserved for the grounds of the "palace," but the rest was sold from time to time in parcels varying from fifty to more than 6,000 acres. In 1703, the manor house, with its ground was settled upon the elder branch of the family, and remained in the pos- session of Penn's heirs until 1792, when it was sold to Robert Crozier. Bache's History, published in 1853, gives the following interesting account of Pennsbury :
"Fading remembrances of Pennsbury! Now quiet, changed and neglected; where once the forest sires of a noble race oft had met in friendly covenant, with the solemnity of worship and the joyfulness of dancing, unit- ing in council and in sacred compact with the white faces who have supplanted them, I cannot pass unnoticed thy almost renowned retreat.
"The old mansion-house, which was by some called 'Penn's Palace,' in those early days, was built in 1682-3, at a cost of £7,000. A large portion of the materials, especially for the ornamental parts, were sent from England by William Penn. The letters of instruction to his friends having charge of the buildings and in laying
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out and improving the grounds, bespeak the deep interest he felt in having everything about his manor done in close conformity with his taste and wishes. But, alas, few and troubled were the days he was permitted there to spend. Not until after an almost compulsory absence of fifteen years in England, did he reside at Pennsbury, where he remained less than two years (1700-1), during which period he was much absent at Philadelphia and New Castle, with his Council.
"All that has escaped the decay of years and the ever shaping hand of man, to mark the original aspect of the spot, is that familiarly remembered as the 'malt house.' At Pennsbury, in 1701, on the eve of the second departure of the Proprietor, for England (a memorable departure, for he was never again enabled to return), Governor Penn, with a number of his Council, held one of the largest Indian councils that had been convened in the Province; which we find recorded as having closed with 'music, worship and dancing.' But now, how changed ! And these Lenni (original) Lenape (people), where are they? We are told that the last of the 'Delawares' (as we have named them), went off from Buckingham in a body, in the year 1775.
"Forced from the land that gave them birth, They dwindle from the face of earth."
"Yes, they have disappeared, and Pennsbury too, is almost forgotten. None have placed a monumental stone to record its name and remembrance; and while at later times our beautiful Delaware is becoming studded with its young and rising towns, none have seconded the early wished for hopes, which had marked out Pennsbury among the first.
"Tamanend, the king or chief of the Delawares, who was an Indian much beloved and confided in by William Penn, for his integrity and many virtues, was buried near a spring, south of what is now Prospect Hill School, in Buckingham Township, about four miles from Doyles- town. He died in a cabin in the woods, and was buried by the kindness of a neighbor. His grave was for many years marked by a pile of stones thrown there to keep animals from disinterring the body."
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Islands in the Delaware Below Bristol .- General Davis, in his history of Bucks County, claims that the rich meadows on the Delaware, below Bristol, were originally two islands, and were separated from the mainland by a narrow channel that drained a swamp that extended up the creek. The smaller of these islands was granted to Peter Alricks, a native of Groningen, Holland, who was the first known landholder in this county, but never lived here, by Governor Nicholls, in 1667; by Alricks to Samuel Borden, in 1682, and to Samuel Carpenter in 1688. The last conveyance includes both islands on the west side of the Delaware, "about southwest from Matiniconk (Burlington) Island," the largest, once known as Kipp's Island and by the Indian name of Kaomenakinckanck, was a mile long by half a mile wide; and the smaller, known as Alricks' Island, to the north of the larger, half a mile long by a quarter wide. These islands have both since been joined to the mainland by draining the swamp, and now form the valuable meadows below Bristol.
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