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 4
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After the death of Mr. Heaton the property came in possession of Henry Tomlinson, who married one of the family. "Uncle Henry," as he was called by the younger portion of the community, was a man of good sense, noted hospitality, and a very active mind, positive in his convictions and fond of controversy. He was a shoe- maker by trade and a school teacher by profession and kept school in his shop, combining both professions, that of teaching the young idea how to shoot and of making and mending shoes. His motto was: While you educate the head, take care of the feet.
He was a member, trustee and sexton of the M. E. Church, and entertained singular ideas of heating churches. One cold winter morning, one of the members arriving at the church early and finding the doors open, the cold wind blowing in the church, said: "Brother Tomlinson, why don't you close the doors?"
His reply was: "There is a good fire in the stove. I leave the doors open so that the wind may blow the heat around the house."
Some of our old citizens will remember him as a leader of the singing in the church. Standing in front of the pulpit, by the aid of the tuning fork he would start the tunes, and with his strong bass voice would make the church ring.
He had frequent controversies with one James Johnson . on matters of faith and practice. Jimmy, as he was gen-
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A HISTORY OF BRISTOL BOROUGH.
erally called, was a sharp, shrewd Irishman, with a super- abundance of mother-wit. He was also a member of the Catholic Church, a firm believer in her doctrines and usages. On one occasion their argument was on the Virgin Mary. Jimmy contended that as she was the mother of Christ she should be reverenced and wor- shipped. Uncle Henry, in reply, said that in her woman- hood she was no better than his own mother. "But I perceive," said Jimmy, "there is a great difference in their sons."
He was the inventor of the dipper, which superseded the scoop-net for catching fish, for which he was recog- nized by the boys as "Uncle Dipper."
At his death, the property went to his daughter, Ann Eliza, who built the frame house adjoining, and married Charles Pasco, who kept a shoe store in the building now occupied by Mr. Emil Erthel. After her death the prop- erty was purchased by J. M. Brown.
The De Normandies .- The De Normandies were a princely family of France, holding feudal tenures in Champagne from the earliest times, the heads of the house being the Lords de la Motte. In 1460 Guillaume De Normandie was made royal governor of Noyon in Picardy, and founded the chapel of St. Claire in the Church of St. Martin. He married a De Roye, princess in her own right, and daughter of the lord of De Mailly D'Aisely and Montescourt. From Giulliaume De Nor- mandie descended Laurent De Normandie, the warm friend and supporter of Calvin, and the executor of his will, who fled to Geneva, and, as did his sons after him, filled some of the highest offices in that republic. From Laurent came Jean De Normandie, one of the deputies sent in 1630 to conclude a treaty of peace with the Prince of Savoy, and from Jean came Joseph, named after his uncle and godfather, the celebrated Duc De La Tremouille. These were all counsellors of state and syndies of Geneva, as was Michael, the son of Joseph. From Michael came Andre De Normandie, the confiden- tial agent and lieutenant of Frederick the Great at Neufchatel. In his old age this Andre De Normandie,
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born at Geneva in 1651, came to America in 1706, with his two sons, John Abram and John Anthony, and'settled at Bristol, where he died in 1724. Of his sons, John Abram, in 1688, and John Anthony, in 1693, married Henrietta Elizabeth, and Mary, daughters of Doctor Francis Gandonet. The former died at Bristol in 1757, and the latter in 1748. The remains of father and sons repose in Saint James' Churchyard. The children of the two sons married into the families of Bard, of Burlington, and Anderson, whose whereabouts is not known. Some of the De Normandies sided with England in the Revo- lutionary struggle and got into trouble, while with others, Washington was on terms of warm friendship. The families were valuable citizens in the church and out of it. Some of them were physicians, and men of science and culture, and they owned considerable real estate in the county. Doctor James De Normandie, a physician with a large practice in Penn's manor, was the last of the family to leave the county, and settled in Ohio about sev- enty years ago. His son, James, was at one time a clergy- man of the Episcopal Church at Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire. The father married a sister of Samuel Yardley, formerly of Doylestown. Late in life Doctor John Abram went to Geneva to claim property left him and his cousin by an old nobleman. He there met Voltaire, who was so pleased with his society that he made some preparation to return with him and lay his bones here. The doctor brought home a miniature given him by Voltaire, which is yet owned by the descendants of the family. (Davis' History of Bucks County).
Old Records Lost .- William Bache, in his History of Bristol, published in 1853, says: "It is proper to notice that nearly all the early papers and records belonging to the corporation (say from about the year 1700 to 1749), and others of more recently intervening periods), have been lost, some destroyed by rats, and others scattered abroad, a fact to be regretted by many, as it involves much of our local history in obscurity.
"Some of the earliest records of the county appear also to have suffered a like fate; and we are told by that inde-
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fatigable annalist, J. F. Watson, that where the road from Philadelphia to Buckingham 'was across the Neshaminy, at Galloway's Ford, one mile from Hulmeville, through Langhorn's Park, thence by Attleborough-'
" 'Near that ford once stood Growdon's old fire-proof, in which were kept the records of Bucks County; and when Joseph Galloway went off with the British in 1778, the office was broken open and the records strewed about, to the use of any who might possess them.' The old fire- proof had not been entirely demolished in 1853; enough still existed to attest the fact of the attack made upon it, while its old door, perforated with bullet holes from the British musketry, was still preserved."
Bristol Society of Friends .- Nearly all the first settlers of Buckingham, now Bristol, as well as of other parts of the lower end of Bucks County, were members of the Society of Friends. Meetings for worship were established about the Falls of the Delaware, some time before the country had received the name of Pennsyl- vania, the members belonging to a Monthly Meeting, held at Burlington, dating from 1674. In 1683 a Monthly Meeting was established at the house of William Biles, in what is now known as The Manor, of which Friends living in Bristol and at Neshamine, now Middletown, be- came members. The Governor and his wife, while in Pennsylvania, were members of this Monthly Meeting, and Phineas Pemberton, whose name as clerk of the first Orphans' Court frequently appears upon our early county records, was its Recorder of Births and Deaths. The first Bucks Quarterly Meeting, composed of the original Falls Monthly Meeting and a new one set off therefrom called Neshamine, was held at the house of William Biles, on March 7, 1684.
For nearly twenty years Friends at Bristol were not allowed any regular meeting of their own, and growing weary of being thus deprived of religious privileges, they petitioned the Falls Monthly Meeting in 1704, that they might be allowed to hold a meeting sometimes among themselves, but this favor was not granted until 1707, when permission was given them to hold a meeting of
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worship bi-weekly, on First Days, and once a week on week days.
In 1706, Samuel Carpenter, a wealthy Friend, offered to give Falls Monthly Meeting "a piece of ground for a meeting house and burying place, and pasture, at Bristol, and the gift having been accepted by the Meeting the same was ordered to be deeded to Joseph Kirkbride and others for the uses aforesaid. The trustees appointed by the Monthly Meeting seem to have been most unac- countably derelict in their duties, for we find, in 1710, a minute of the Monthly Meeting stating that "Bristol
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FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE.
Friends renewed an application, first made in 1706, for the building of a meeting house. The following quaint minute of the Quarterly Meeting gives evidence that the request of Bristol Friends for a meeting house was soon granted. It is as follows: At a Quarterly Meeting, held at Middletown, ye 22nd of ye 12th Month, 1710. This meeting having under its consideration the building of a meeting house at Bristol, it's concluded there be a good, substantial house built, either of brick or stone, and the. Friends appointed to take the dimensions, and for the convenientest place is Joseph Kirkbride, Joshua Koupes,
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John Satcher, Thatcher, Thomas Stevenson and Adam Harker, together with such Bristol Friends as they think fit, who are likewise to compute the charge as near as may be, and to appoint whom they may think fit to man- age the work, and give an account of their proceeding to the next meeting." Three months later: "The Friends appointed to take care about the meeting house at Bristol report they have made some progress therein, having obtained a grant of a lot of land from Samuel Carpenter, to set the meeting house on, likewise has agreed for the dimensions, first ye carpenter work has computed the charge of ye whole, and thinks it will be about £200. The meeting appointed Joseph Kirkbride and others 'to undertake the first, and the rest of ye work belonging to it, and take care to see it well and carefully done, and with what expedition may be.' The meeting also urged Friends to make collections in their respective meetings for the new building, and appointed trustees to hold the title for the Quarterly Meeting to the ground given for the meeting place and burial ground, this being a rare instance of title to property held by other Monthly Meetings."
After seven years of delay the meeting house project was in a fair way to be accomplished, and in December, 1713, the Quarterly Meeting was informed that "the committee to settle Bristol meeting house, report they have completed the same," from which it would appear that this ancient landmark lacks but two years of being 200 years old. The bricks used in its construction were brought from England, and this doubtless added to the delay in its completion. In 1728, the building was partly taken down and rebuilt, it being in danger of falling. In 1735 or 1736, an addition was built, greatly enlarging its capacity, and in 1756 it was finished in the upper story. Previous to 1839-40, the entrance was in the Market Street end of the house, the galleries being at the east end, facing the entrance, and the aisle running length- wise of the building, probably passing through a doorway into the addition in the rear. During the Revolutionary war the house was occupied as a hospital, as appears from the following minute of September 15, 1778: "Joseph
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Church, William Bidgood, John Hutchinson and Phineas Buckley are appointed to get the meeting house cleared of the troops in the little end of the house so that it may be fit to meet in." A number of patients in this hospital are believed to have been buried in the lot now occupied by Mohican Hall, on Otter Street. In 1820 a school was kept in the upper story of the house, taught by Dr. Henry Lippincott, afterward many years in practice at Fallsing- ton, Mary Prosser, Letitia Swain and Hannah Coleman. In 1828 a split occurred in the Society and the Orthodox Friends withdrew and built a meeting house at the corner of Wood and Walnut Streets. This building is still standing, meetings being held therein on every First Day. In 1867 another separation took place, when those who accepted the Millerite doctrines erected a meeting house at the corner of Walnut and Wilson Streets. This build- ing was torn down about twenty-five years ago. These unfortunate divisions among the members of the Society have greatly reduced its numbers and influence.
St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church .- The St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church originated indirectly in a division among Friends, about the year 1696, when the more conservative party took the name of Keithians, from George Keith, their leader, who maintained that the "inner light" was not a sufficient guide, and that the only rule of life was the written word of God, at the same time strenuously advocating the sobriety and plainness of the sect. Keith promulgated these doctrines with such suc- cess that fifteen different meetings of the Friends were brought into full agreement with him during a stay of several years in America. Upon his return to England, Keith was again brought into contact with the Anglican Church, and the influence thus brought to bear upon his mind completed his separation from the Quakers ; he was ordained to the ministry by Compton, Bishop of London, and was at once commissioned the first missionary of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." There was at this time a single Episcopal clergy- man in the province, Mr. Evans, of Philadelphia. His arrival preceded that of Keith on his second voyage two
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or three years, during which period several hundred per- sons had been baptized. The presence of Keith gave a new impetus to the movement ; and during his brief stay, he baptized at least two hundred persons, some of whom were from Bristol. The Rev. John Talbot was chaplain on the man-of-war in which Keith came out on his mis-
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ST. JAMES' P. E. CHURCH.
sionary voyage, and became greatly interested in the plans of the society. When Keith visited this locality, he was accompanied by Talbot, who became the first rector of St. Mary's Parish, Burlington. Subsequent develop- ments with reference to this town are thus explained by Dr. Humphreys. "New Bristol lies opposite Burlington, on the other side of the Delaware. The people there for-
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sook Quakerism much about the same time the inhabi- tants of Burlington did. A church was soon erected there through the zeal of the people, especially through the means of two worthy gentlemen of the place, Mr. John Rowland and Mr. Anthony Burton, who were chiefly instrumental in this work. They had no missionary sent to reside among them constantly, but used to be visited by the minister of Burlington. Mr. Talbot, who was fixed at Burlington, used frequently to cross the water to them, and preach and perform all the ministerial offices. .. . The people were sensible that the society was not able to establish missionaries in every place, and were therefore content to be assisted by the minister of Burlington, and the society has always given directions that the minister of that place should take Bristol into his care"; so that the Rev. John Talbot was the first rector in charge of this parish.
The church site and burial grounds, comprising an acre and a half, were donated by Anthony Burton. It is thought that the donor first gave the lot upon which the church was to be erected, and afterward supplemented this with the wider limits now established. The church edifice was probably commenced in 17II. The founders of the parish had but little or no exterior aid. The title- page of the old record book says of the church that it was "built by subscription of several well-disposed per- sons, and being finished was dedicated to the honor of St. James the Greater, the festival of that apostle being ye 25th day of July, 1712." Queen Anne favored this parish in common with many others with the gift of a solid silver communion service, which must have been given soon after the opening of the church, as the queen died in 1714.
Mr. Talbot continued his connection with the parish until 1720, when he returned to England on a mission of great interest to the church in this country. When he came to America again, three years later, it was in the capacity of bishop, the first ecclesiastical dignitary of his church in the British colonies. During the three years of his absence, the parish was supplied by Reverend Thoroughgood Moore, and upon his death in 1727, the Rev. Robert Weyman took charge. The oldest records
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of the vestry begin in his incumbency, with Matthew Rue and Francis Gaudorett, church wardens; John Abram De Normandie, William Hope, John Anthony De Normandie, John Bessonett, William Gregory, William Silverstone, Evan Harris, John Underwood, Matthias Keene, John Williams, Jonathan Bourne and Thomas Worrell, vestrymen. It appears that at this time the parish owned a "Church House," bequeathed by John Rowland. Mr. Weyman received fro yearly salary from
Bristol. His successor, the Rev. William Lindsay, received £24. While he was in charge, an entry was made in the records respecting "ye hours given to ye church by Otter Atherson." This piece of property was sold for £37 IOS. The Rev. Carlin Campbell, the next rector, was in charge from 1741 to 1766, a period of twenty-five years, during all of which time the local contributions to his support did not exceed ten pounds a year. His successor, Mr. Odell, presided at a vestry meet- ing in 1768, beyond which fact nothing more is known of him. Reverend Mr. Lewis was the rector in 1776, and, with many others of the clergy throughout the country, continued his attachment to the English government. The odium which this course incurred was transferred in great measure to the church itself. Buildings consecrated to worship were visited with all the displeasure the uniform loyalty of the clergy inspired. Bristol was no exception. The parish church was not only desecrated, but wholly dismantled. Its chancel furniture disappeared. The doors and windows were carried away, and so it remained exposed to sunshine and storm; and when an American cavalry company was stationed here for a time, this venerable house of worship was used as a stable for their horses. After the war, it re- mained in this half-ruinous condition for a considerable period. It was for a time used as a barn, and the graves in the unfenced burial-ground were trodden under foot of man and beast with impunity. As late as 1806, a former member of the parish gave charge that he should not be buried in that neglected ground, but miles away in Bensalem where his grave would be less open to violation.
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Indeed, it seemed more difficult for the church to gain a footing when the country entered upon a period of pros- perity and independence than it had been a century previous. In this parish, it seemed as if the work of three score years and ten had been utterly lost. At the organization of the diocesan convention at Philadelphia in 1785, Christopher Merrick represented St. James', Bristol, and although an effort was made to secure a rector, no minister is reported as stationed here until 1809. Services had been held for three years previously by the Rev. Henry Waddell, D. D., of Trenton, who officiated once in two weeks, the stipulated
PARISH HOUSE OF ST. JAMES' P. E. CHURCH.
compensation for which was £50, or as much as the pew money should amount to. He appears to have dissolved his connection with St. James' in 1810. Reverend James Andrews, D. D., provost of the University of Pennsylvania, was the next rector. The record book makes no mention of this fact, but journals of the early Pennsylvania conventions make it evident. The ministry of the Rev. Richard Drason Hall began in February, 1813. His stipend, including pew rents, amounted to $500, the largest yet paid in the history
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of the church. The building of a new church was agitated in view of increased attendance under the ministry, but not effected. The bounds of the parish in 1815 are indicated by the appointment in that year of John Harrison, collector for Bensalem, Joseph King and James Wright for Bristol, and George Remson for Newport. The property outside of the church and graveyard, vested in the parish, consisted in 1816, of the house bequeathed by John Rowland in 1715, and a lot of half an acre in Attleboro, of which the donor is not known. Of the pews in the church as enlarged in that year, one was free and one was set apart for persons of color. The minstry of Mr. Hall was one of great zeal and in some respects of remarkable success. The membership was largely increased and the church property greatly improved.
Mr. Jacquette succeeded him in 1822, and the Rev. Al- bert .A. Muller, in 1823, but neither remained very long. The ministry of the next rector, the Rev. J. V. E. Thorn, was eminently evangelical, but too short to have effected much permanent good. He resigned February 27, 1828. The Rev. William H. Rue was elected and appointed rector April 7, 1828; George W. Ridgeley, in 1830; W. S. Per- kins, in June, 1833; Henry B. Barton, January 1, 1855; Jos- eph W. Pierson, July, 1857; W. W. Spear, D. D., in 1861 ; John H. Drumm, D. D., February, 1863; John C. Brooks, 1876; Joseph Lee, 1878; William Leggett Kolb, 1886; Wil- liam Bryce Morro, 1892; William H. Bown, 1903. Mr. Perkins thus speaks of things as they existed when he en- tered the parish: "The church was discouraging and unbe- coming to the character of the place and the people; the yard around was nearly destitute of trees, and even the old- fashioned spire on the roof seemed to sympathize in the general depression, for it had ceased to point directly heavenward." The decaying edifice was at length repaired, but the expense thus incurred absorbed all the property of the parish. The communion plate given by Queen Anne had long since disappeared; it was followed one by one, as all the other benefactions made to the parish were sold At length it became apparent that further repairs to the old
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church building were useless. Mr. Barton began the erec- tion of the present edifice, and it was completed by his successor, Mr. Pierson. The consecration occurred Wed- nesday, September 8, 1857. The Right Rev. Samuel Bow- man, D. D., Assistant Bishop of the Diocese, presiding. Mr. Barton pronounced the sentence of consecration. The edifice is of the Byzantine order of architecture, built of Trenton brown-stone with bead mouldings and corbels, in dimensions one hundred by forty-five feet, with a chancel sixteen feet deep and seventeen feet wide, and a seating capacity of 500. A handsome chapel for Sunday school purposes was erected in 1877, under the auspices of the Ladies' Aid Society. Since the retirement of the Rev. W. H. Bown, in 1908, the church has been without a stationed clergyman.
NOTE .- The author in his researches, discovered that the writer of the foregoing article, obtained his data from a comprehensive his- tory of the church written by a former clergyman, Dr. John H. Drumm, back in 1871. This history was read to the congregation by Dr. Drumm in July, 1871, and published in the "Bristol Observer" during the month of August in the same year. Should exception be taken to any of the statements made in the foregoing article, the author would suggest that permission can be obtained from Messrs. Gilkeson & James, who have in their possession the files of the "Bristol Observer," to read the copy of the original history as written by Dr. Drumm. The author has used the story from "Battle's History," because the fact of its having been written from data drawn from a history compiled by a former clergyman, seem- ingly vouches for its authenticity.
An Interesting Reminiscence .- Among the many pleas- ing reminiscences of G. M. Dorrance is the following : "After the completion of the present Episcopal Church edifice in 1857, a son of Robert Tyler, was the first child christened in the new church. The water used in the ser- vice was brought from the river Jordan in Palestine. The Tylers lived on Radcliffe street in the residence now occu- pied by Joseph R. Grundy, and in celebration of the chris- tening, Mrs. Tyler gave a dinner to a number of friends."
St. James' Graveyard .- South of the present church edifice lie the remains of the De Normandies. This family held feudal tenures in the province of Champagne, France, the title of the head of the house being Lord de la Motte. In
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1706, Andrew De Normandie and his two sons, John Abra- ham and John Anthony, came to America in the role of per- secuted Huguonots. The father died in 1724, and the head- stone raised over his mortal remains bears this inscription :
Andrew De Normandie, Dyed ye 12th of Dec'er, 1724. Aged 73 years.
The sons, who in succession occupied the office of church warden, are interred on either side of their father. Near by the graves of this princely family is the resting place of Sarah Bullock, on whose gravestone is cut the family coat- of-arms, and beneath which is the following :
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