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 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
The Town Plot Staked Out .- By deed dated Decem- ber 20, 1695, part of the original tract owned by Samuel Clift, and including that now embraced within the cor- porate limits (extending from the mouth of Mill Creek up the Delaware), and containing one-half of a survey of twenty-two acres, was conveyed to Anthony Burton and Thomas Brock, and by deed from Peter White and Elizabeth, his wife, dated January 16, 1696, the other moiety of the above twenty-two acres was granted to the said Burton and Brock.
By deed of partition, dated 4th mo., 8th, 1696, the above was divided, in severalty, between Anthony Burton and Thomas Brock.
Under this partition deed, the town plot appears to have been originally staked out into streets and building lots, by the aforementioned Burton, Brock and White, the latter of whom either retained or purchased the north- western limits, or that portion now intersected by the Delaware. Division Pa. Canal. (Bache's History of Bristol.)
31
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
Phineas Pemberton and James Harrison .- Although not residents of Bristol, yet as the names of these two men appear so often in its history, it is thought that a brief biography of their lives will not be amiss. The former was a practical surveyor and being personally interested in the proposed scheme of a market town at Bristol, was very properly chosen to draft the plan and mark the dimensions of the town.
Phineas Pemberton occupied at least four offices in the county, by appointment, and for nearly a score of years was the central figure in all its local affairs. He does not appear to have possessed those brilliant gifts which make men facile princeps, but he was amply endowed with those solid qualities that made him a safe counselor, and a careful, painstaking man of affairs. Whether this multiplication of honors was occasioned by a scarcity of men capable and willing to discharge these duties, or by his eminent fitness to bear these responsibilities, is not clear, but it is probable that both considerations con- tributed to the result. In a community where not a few of those prominent in public affairs found it necessary to "make their mark" when their signature was required, his literary attainments were considerable, and several of his productions in prose and verse give indication of a mental capacity very much superior to that of the many by whom he was surrounded. His connection with the leading families of the new community, by ties of kin- dred and the associations of a common persecution, also served to emphasize this prominence. Born in the same year that witnessed the separation of the Society of Friends from the world, he was early "visited with religious impressions, to which, as he rendered obedience, he became confirmed." Apprenticed in his fifteenth year to John Abraham, a Friend and grocer at Manchester, he was soon called upon to suffer the penalties of his adher- ence to a maligned people. In a letter to his father in 1670, he describes the humiliating treatment he received from the officers of the law in language which bears the marks of a calmness and self-restraint characteristic of the cool blood of age rather than the impetuosity of a youth of twenty.
32
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
Prominent among the persecuted sect of that day was James Harrison, a shoemaker, of Stiall-Green, in Ches- hire. He was a minister, and in 1655, "traveled in the service of the gospel, in the north of England." In the same year he married Anne Heath, "who bore a daughter the seventh day of the twenty-fourth month, 1660, and called her name Phebe; and this was she," wrote Phineas Pemberton, "that fell to be mine, through the Lord's good providence." In this year Harrison, William Yardley, James Brown, and their associates, were thrown into prison at Burgas-Gate in Shrewsbury, "for their testi- mony." They were released in 1661, only to be again repeatedly incarcerated in various prisons. In 1668 Har- rison removed from Cheshire, and made his residence somewhere in the neighborhood of Phineas Pemberton, who, in the following year, notes his first meeting with the one who was destined to be his wife. Phoebe and her mother, in passing through Manchester, stopped at his master's shop, and with childish frankness the little girl proposed to share some cherries she had with one of the clerks that stood behind the counter. Her mother sug- gested a less partial distribution of her favors, but the little maiden insisted in giving only to one, and was rewarded with "a paper of brown candy," by the favored youth.
Phineas was at this time unacquainted with the family, but the little girl's marked preference for him made an impression that eventually ripened into a life-long affec- tion. On the expiration of his seven years' apprentice- ship, he went to Bolton, where he obtained a shop of his own, and in 1672 set up trade on his own account. Here he met Phoebe Harrison again, when an acquaintance was formed, which was consummated in marriage on the first of January, 1676. He continued attentive to his business, though frequently interrupted and insulted by the brutal persecutions of a bigotted populace and a vindictive law. But in all these trials and difficulties he commanded the respect of his friends and neighbors by the uprightness and integrity of his conduct, and was so far publicly honored as to be made overseer of the poor for
33
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
Bolton. At length Penn's "divine experiment" was pro- jected, and the persecuted sect very generally turned to the new world as an asylum where they might worship God in their own way, "with none to molest or make them afraid." Harrison was early interested in this movement, and became one of Penn's most trusted agents in England. It was not without some hesitation that he arrived at the decision to emigrate, and some further time elapsed before he could arrange his affairs to leave. His decision, however, had an important influence upon a considerable number of others who made their homes in Bucks County, and he may be properly called the founder of the early community settled here. On the fifth of September, 1682, he took passage in the ship "Submis- sion," then lying at Liverpool, and accompanied by Phineas Pemberton and some fifty others of his immedi- ate relatives, friends and their servants, came to the new province. On their arrival in Maryland, Harrison and Pemberton at once set out for Philadelphia, and from thence proceeded to the site where William Yardley had a few weeks before fixed his residence. Harrison was elected to the first assembly before his return to his family, and Pemberton was soon afterward appointed clerk of the court. From that period until disabled by a fatal illness, save an unimportant interval, the records of the county were written wholly by his hand, and in them he has left a memorial of himself that will not be lost so long as the history of the community which he helped to establish shall be read.
First Postal System .- A postal system was projected in conjunction with the early roads. In the fifth month, 1683, William Penn issued an order for the establishment of a postoffice, and granted to Henry Waldy, of "Tekoney," authority to hold it. The rates of postage were as follows. From the Falls to Philadelphia, via Bristol, three pence; to Chester, five pence ; to Newcastle, seven pence, and to Maryland, nine pence ; from Philadel- phia to Chester, two pence ; to Newcastle, four pence, and to Maryland, six pence. This post went only once a week, and the governor requested Phineas Pemberton to
34
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
carefully publish full information concerning it "on the meeting house door and other public places."
Among the duties enjoined upon Waldy was that of supplying passengers with horses from Philadelphia to Newcastle or to the Falls. It was this requirement of the post-rider that eventually caused his retirement. "Led horses" for the accommodation of travelers frequently accompanied the post, but this was found to interfere with the efficiency of the service, hence the introduction of the stage coach as soon as the condition of the roads permitted.
35
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
EPOCH II.
THE MARKET TOWN.
From 1697, the Chartering of the Market Town, to 1720, the Development Into a Borough.
Introduction-The influx of population into this locality must have been considerable, which is sufficiently indi- cated by the fact that a market town was considered necessary for the comfort and convenience of the com- munity not many years after its first settlement. At this time there were but two towns in the province. Phila- delphia and Chester. The propriety and feasibility of the third being laid out were considerations of greater importance than would enter into the calculations of the founder of a prospective town at the present time. The project was brought to the notice of prominent men in the colony, and being received with favor, a petition was presented to the provincial council at a meeting of that body June 10, 1695, at the house of Phineas Pemberton, in Falls, Governor Markham, Samuel Carpenter, Joseph Growdon, Caleb Pussey and Phineas Pemberton being present. It was shown that the county had as yet no market town; that for this purpose the ferry opposite Burlington was regarded as a good location; that ways and streets had been projected there, "having regard to the division of divers men's lands," and therefore request- ing the governor and council, if the proposed location should be approved, to alter or confirm the streets ; grant a weekly market; the liberty of wharfing and building to a convenient distance into the river and creek; that every street terminating at the banks should be a public land- ing; that the buildings on the bank might be so regulated as to leave sufficient space for a street at the water's
36
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
edge; that the major part of the inhabitants might have power to appoint two or more of their number to see that these regulations were observed; and that also a proper officer be appointed to seal liquid and dry measures. The authorities thus consulted were pleased to regard this as "verie reasonable," and graciously con- sented to the proposed action on the part of the "inhabi- tants and owners of land in the County of Bucks, but more especially in the Township of Buckingham (Bris- tol). Phineas Pemberton was directed to prepare a draft of the town, and John White appointed "sealer" agree- ably to the terms of the petition. The survey was prob- ably made the same year (1697) ; and with this date the chronological record of the oldest town in Bucks County may be said to begin.
Bristol Mills .- An old institution of Bristol were the mills on Mill street, the ruins of which are now owned by J. and A. Dorrance. They were built by Samuel Carpen- ter in 1701. The vessels from the river sailed up to the door to load and unload their cargoes. These mills came into the possession of the Dorrance family some time after the beginning of 1800. During the ownership of John Dorrance, the father of the present owners, there were associated with him as partners, Joseph Warner, Jesse W. Knight, H. M. Wright, Henry Forst, David Jones and Ellwood Doron, each of whom, with the excep- tion of Mr. Forst, who lived but seven months after enter- ing into partnership, laid the foundation of his fortune there. The interest of Joseph Warner in the property was purchased by Mr. Dorrance in 1836, and in 1840, the old mill was torn down and a new one erected. At that time, and for some years after, a large trade was done in shipping kiln-dried corn meal to the southern states, and West Indies. Many a large vessel has been fully freighted from the old mill with a heavy cargo for these places, the profits for the year's shipments amounting in one instance to $40,000. Upon the establishment of mills on the Brandywine and other available streams, this trade declined, until not a vestige of it was left, the business during the later years being mainly local. The mill was burned March 14, 1866, having a large stock of grain on
37
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
hand at that time. The loss to Messrs. Dorrance and Doron was estimated at $30,000, A new mill, three stories high, was then built and the loss soon retrieved. At the death of Mr. Dorrance, in 1869, his two sons, John and Arthur, came into possession, and it continued in their occupancy until April, 1874, when they sold the property to Rogers Brothers, sons of Wm. B. Rogers, of Bristol Township. The entire concern, including saw mill, lumber yard, canal stables, coal sheds, blacksmith shop, one store, two dwelling houses, mill race and pond,
[ AL & LOMBTRYAND
-
BRISTOL MILLS IN 1885.
were sold for $60,000; the mill and lumber yard having a front on Mill Street of about 400 feet. The purchasers were hard-working, enterprising young men, who had been engaged for several years in the cultivation of sage upon their farm near Bristol, having succeeded so well in proper drying and grinding of the herb, as to produce a demand which taxed their ability to supply. The sage business was still superintended by two of the firm, James and William, while the other two, Robert W. and Frank, devoted their time to the milling and lumber
38
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
trade. Under their careful management the business was gradually extended, until a want of better facilities was felt, and after much examination it was decided to intro- duce the "Jones system of gradual reduction." The alter- ation to the mill and the erection of the machinery was entrusted to Joseph Cartledge, the well-known mill- wright of Holmesburg, Pa. After the installation of the new system, the business apparently increased and it seemed as if the firm would be rewarded for its enter- prise. But in April, 1886, the town was startled by the announcement of the failure of Rogers Brothers, and the appointment of the late William H. Grundy as assignee. Mr. Grundy immediately assumed the duties of the posi- tion and in a few weeks sold the effects at public sale. The property was bought by the present owners, J. and A. Dorrance. Since the property has come into the pos- session of the present owners, the old saw mill and grist mill have been destroyed by fire. The office connected with the mills is at present occupied by Samuel Scott as a grocery store.
It is related that when a detachment of British cavalry from Philadelphia visited Bristol on Good Friday, 1778, during the Revolutionary War, their object being to arrest the officers of a small body of militia stationed in the borough, they threatened to burn the mills unless a certain amount of money was paid to them. Word was sent to Captain John Clark, who lived on the Fairview farm. He rode to Bristol and forbid the burning of the mills on the ground that he was a British officer and was interested in the ownership of the property. The cap- tain of the troop asked him where his regiment was sta- tioned. He replied : "In the West Indies." He wished to know why he was not with his regiment. Clark re- plied that he was on the sick list and was on furlough. The mills were not burned nor money paid for their ransom. In the meantime, word was sent to the row of galleys lying below Burlington, of the occupation of the town by the British troops. They immediately crossed the river to Bristol, but before they were landed the troops with their prisoners left town and returned to Philadelphia. Shortly after the British army left Phila-
39
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
delphia, Captain Clark resigned his commission and remained on the farm till his death. He was much respected by his neighbors and friends.
Samuel Carpenter .- Samuel Carpenter, born in Surry, England, who came to the. province from the island of Barbadoes, in 1683, and afterwards became a wealthy shipping merchant of Philadelphia, was the largest land- holder in Bristol Township at the close of the century. He purchased some two thousand acres contiguous to Bristol, and including the site of the borough. Among the tracts he bought were those of John Otter, Samuel Clift, Edward Bennet, and Griffith Jones, running down the Delaware nearly to the mouth of the Neshaminy, and afterward that of Thomas Holme, running back to the Middletown line, making about one thousand four hun- dred acres. He likewise owned two islands in the river. He probably built the Bristol mills, which stood on what was then Mill Creek, a quarter of a mile from the river, and up to whose doors small vessels came to load and unload freight. The saw mill was seventy feet long by thirty- two wide, and was able to cut about one thousand five hundred feet in twelve hours, while the flour mill had four run of stones, with an undershot wheel. We do not know at what time Mr. Carpenter built the mills, but in 1705 he speaks of them as being "newly built." They earned a clear profit of £400 a year. The mill pond then covered between two and three hundred acres. The pine timber sawed at the mill was brought from Timber Creek, New Jersey, and the oak cut from his own land near by. At that day the mills had about fifteen feet head and fall, and there was water enough to run about eight months in the year. About 1710 or 1712, Mr. Carpenter removed to Bristol, and made his summer residence on Burlington island, his dwelling standing as late as 1828. He was the richest man in the province in 1701, but lost heavily by the French and Indian War, of 1703, and in 1705 he offered to sell his Bristol property to his friend Jonathan Dickinson, of the island of Mamaica. He married Han- nah Hardman, an immigrant from Wales, in 1684, and died at Philadelphia in 1714. His wife died in 1728. His
40
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
son, Samuel, married a daughter of Samuel Preston, and a grand daughter of Thomas Lloyd. Samuel Carpenter was largely interested in public affairs ; was a member of the council and assembly, and treasurer of the province. He is spoken of in high terms by all his contemporaries. The Ellets, who distinguished themselves in the late civil war, were descendants of Samuel Carpenter, through the intermarriage of the youngest daughter of his son Samuel, with Charles Ellet.
Bristol Court House .- Bristol was the first seat of justice in Bucks County. In 1705 the Assembly author- ized the erection of a court house. It was a two-story brick building, 24 x 34 feet, and had whipping post attached. A beam extended from the gable to be used as a gallows in case an execution was ordered. The upper room was used as a court room, and the lower one as a prison. The building stood on Cedar street, on the lot now owned by William Booz, upon which his dwelling stands. The lot extended from Cedar Street to Radcliffe. After the removal of the courts, in 1725, from Bristol to Newtown, the building and lot were sold by the county to John De Normandie, who in 1772, sold it to Phineas Buckley, Chief Burgess, for the use of the borough upon the payment of certain quit rents. The council fitted the upper story of the building for a place in which to hold their meetings. The lower room was occupied as a school room and for the holding of the elections. In 1834 the Burgess and Council sold the property to William Kin- sey for $1,000; who pulled the old building down and - built the dwelling now occupied by William Booz.
A glance through ancient records, shows that at the meeting of the Borough Council, held on October 19, 1792, John Gosline, who was at that time Second Burgess, made application for the upper part of the old court house, where a "school is now kept," for a-lease for the term of twelve years, which was granted. At the meet- ing held on May 28, 1793, he informed the council that a lease had been executed to himself, Samuel and William Rodan, Jr., for the same, "for the purpose of the Free Masons Lodge, for the term of twelve years, commencing the first day of April last past."
4I
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
Cutler's Draft of Town (1715) .- The original draft of the "Market Town" plot, by Phineas Pemberton, has not been preserved among the records of the town. The old- est original draft believed now to be in preservation is that of John Cutler, made July 13, 1715, which is much defaced and obliterated from frequent handling. This draft by Cutler purports to be drawn "according to Phineas Pemberton's survey, with some amendments" (evidently meaning a further extension of the town plot), "by an agreement of the inhabitants." On this draft we find the town laid out into twelve blocks, or squares, and eleven suburbal parts or fractions. The names of the lot-holders, with their respective local places, as presented on Cutler's draft, are :
On west side of Mill Street, from the dock to Cedar Street, Joseph Growdon, I; Cedar to Wood, Phineas Pemberton, I; John White, 2; Wood to Pond, Robert Brown, I; John Smith, 2; Thomas Musgrove, 3; John Town, 4; Samuel Carpenter, 5. (Although not upon the draft, the compiler has reliable authority in saying that Samuel Carpenter's plot extended north of Pond Street, embracing all that valuable property long known as the "Bristol Mills.")
Mill Street, east side, from Water to Radcliffe Street, Thomas Brock, I; Radcliffe to Cedar, Thomas Brock, I ; Henry Baker, 2; Anthony Burton, 3; Cedar to Wood (and Mill to Market), Phineas Pemberton, I; Samuel Brown, 2; Wm. Croasdale, 3; Samuel Oldale, 4; Wood to Pond (and Mill to Market), John White, I; John Smith, 2; Thos. Musgrove, 3. Lands north of Pond, lying between Mill and Mulberry Streets, were owned by Thomas Brock, and northeast of Brock's, by John Town, Thomas Musgrove, John Smith and John White.
Market Street, west side, from Water to Radcliffe, Anthony Burton, I ; Radcliffe to Cedar, Anthony Burton, I; Thomas Brock, 2.
Market Street, east side, from Water to Cedar, Samuel Carpenter, I; Cedar to Wood, Phineas Pemberton, I; Samuel Carpenter, 2; Wood to Pond (east of Market to Walnut), lands of John White and John Town.
Mulberry Street, west side, from Water to Wood, Peter
42
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
White, I; east side of Mulberry, from Water to Rad- cliffe, Anthony Burton, I; Radcliffe to Cedar, Anthony Burton, I; Thomas Brock, 2; Cedar to Wood, Phineas Pemberton, I; Thomas Brock, 2.
Walnut Street, west side, from Water to Radcliffe, Thomas Brock, I; Radcliffe to Cedar, Thomas Brock, I ; Anthony Burton, 2; Cedar to Wood, Thomas Brock.
East side of Walnut (from Water Street north, 45° west to Cedar Street), lands of Robert Brown. (Bache's History.)
An Old Landmark .- At the corner of Pond and Mar- ket streets, formerly stood an old dwelling, which for years was occupied by J. Merrick Brown, ticket agent at the Bristol station. It was one of the oldest houses in the borough, having been erected prior to 1700. A few years ago the land was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the old building was demolished.
In the early settlement of Bristol this tract of land belonged to William Heaton, whose lands extended to Walnut Street. During his occupancy of the premises there was great excitement in the town on account of a man being found dead in the well. One of the family, in attempting to draw a bucket of water, could not succeed. In looking down the well she discovered something that looked like a large dog. She called her father, who got a grappling hook, and with the assistance of some of his neighbors drew it up, when lo and behold, it proved to be an Indian. The question arose among the citizens who had gathered around the corpse: How did he get in the well? Some thought he had been murdered for his money and thrown down the well ; others ridiculed the idea of an Indian being in possession of money enough to induce any person to murder him. A jury was summoned, and upon investigation it was found that he was one of a party of Indians who the day before had crossed over from New Jersey to sell their baskets, which they were in the habit of doing two or three times a year, and on such occasions would get generally intoxicated. It was in evidence that this man was seen late on the preceding day lying on the sidewalk in front of the lot where he
43
A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
was found, with two silver dollars in his hand, which gave rise to the suspicion that he had been murdered for his money, as the money was not found. The jury, find- ing no marks of violence on the body, rendered a verdict that he come to his death by falling down the well while intoxicated. His friends, missing him when they reached home, came back to look for him, and when made acquainted with the manner of his death, their theory was, that after sleeping off his drunk, having no more whiskey, he went to the well for a drink of water, and it being dark he had fallen in and was drowned. It was a long time before the family or neighbors would drink the water from that well, although it was considered the best in the borough.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.