USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume I > Part 37
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During the summer of 1847 a number of articles appeared in the public papers on both sides of the question, of various degrees of merit. The remov- alists, through their committee of correspondence, went systematically to work and thoroughly organized their party. Perhaps no party in the county had ever before been organized so well. It can do no harm now to state, that long before the election, the committee had become so well acquainted with the sentiments of the people of the county, that they could count with certainty upon a majority in favor of removal of at least three hundred. Their efforts towards the close of the contest were not really for success, but to swell the majority which they knew they had, as well before, as after the election was held.
On August 30th, the removalists held a public meeting at the house of Peter Worrall, in Nether Providence. This meeting, which was very large and enthusiastic, adopted an address to the citizens of the county, placing the ques- tion of removal in the most favorable light. Committees of vigilance were also appointed in the several townships throughout the county-even in the borough of Chester.
Up to this time the opponents of removal had maintained an apathy on the subject that could only have arisen from a confidence in their supposed numerical strength. They now appear to have become suddenly aroused to the apprehension of a possibility of some danger. A committee of correspond- ence, composed of the following named gentlemen, was suddenly, and perhaps informally, appointed, viz .: John M. Broomall. John P. Crozer, F. J. Hink- son, G. W. Bartram, Jesse Young, George G. Leiper, J. P. Eyre, John K. Zeilin, John Larkin, Jr., Edward Darlington, Samuel Edwards, and George Serrill. This committee issued an elaborate address to the citizens of the coun- ty, reviewing the proceedings of the removal meeting, and pointing out gen- erally the evils that would result from a change in the location of the seat of justice of the county.
The committee of correspondence, on behalf of the Removalists, consisted of the following named gentlemen, viz. : Minshall Painter, David Lyons, Nath- an H. Baker, James J. Lewis, Joseph Edwards, William B. Lindsay, Dr. Jo- seph Wilson, James Ogden, John G. Henderson, George G. Baker, Thos. H. Speakman, Henry Haldeman, Jr., and Dr. George Smith. Soon after the publication of the anti-removal address, this committee published a reply, crit- icising without much leniency, every position that had been taken by their op- ponents. The anti-removal committee had been particularly unfortunate in over-estimating the cost of new public buildings, or rather the difference be-
276
DELAWARE COUNTY
tween the cost of a new jail at Chester, and a court-house and jail at the new site. The removal committee happened to be in possession of the exact cost of a large and well built court-house that had been recently erected at Holidays- burg, the facts connected with which were attested by one of our most re- spectable citizens. These facts could not be controverted, and consequently the appeal that had been made by the anti-removal committee to the pockets of the tax-payers of the county, proved an utter failure, and the affairs of the removalists were placed in a better position than before the controversy be- tween the two committees commenced. A public meeting was subsequently held by the anti-removalists at the Black Horse, and an effort made to organ- ize the party, but it was too late to make any headway against the regularly or- ganized forces of the removalists.
The election was held October 12, 1847, and resulted in a majority of 752 votes in favor of removal. The following table exhibits the vote in the several townships :
For
Against Removal. Removal.
For
Against Removal. Removal.
Aston,
89
129
Upper Providence,
129
2
Bethel.
IO
72
Nether Providence,
.
I13
30
Birmingham,
62
21
Radnor,
152
40
Chester,
50
319
Ridley,
19
152
Upper Chichester, .
4
72
Springfield,
II4
IO
Lower Chichester, .
12
92
Thornbury,
116
5
Concord. .
83
70
Tinicum,
2
19
Darby,
55
91
U'pper Darby,
I68
32
1942
1190
Edgmont,
150
0
Voted in favor of removal,
1942
Haverford,
147
3
Voted against removal, .
1190
Marple, .
124
I3
Middletown,
223
17
Majority in favor of removal,
752
Newtown,
118
I
When the result of the election became known, the majority being so large, no one then thought of making even an effort to defeat the will of the people thus emphatically expressed. A certain act, however, had been recently passed by the legislature, giving the citizens of each township a right to decide by bal- lot, whether spirituous liquors should be sold in their respective townships. This act had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and there being some similarity between that act and the Removal Act, its constitution- ality also became questionable. The commissioners felt unwilling to proceed with the erection of the new buildings until the constitutional question should be decided, or a confirmatory act should be passed. The friends of removal at once determined to ask the Legislature to pass a confirmatory act, not dream- ing that a proposition so reasonable and just would meet with the least resist- ance from any quarter. In this they were mistaken, for their application was met by a remonstrance from a large number of anti-removalists, and other means were resorted to by a few of them, to defeat the measure, which it may be proper at this time to forbear to mention.
277
DELAWARE COUNTY
The question had been decided, upon the plan that they had accepted as the proper one, and had the removalists been defeated, the erection of a new jail at Chester would have been acquiesced in by them without a murmur. Un- der such circumstances, Dr. Smith has never been able to see how the gentle- men who continued their opposition to removal, after a vote had been taken on the question, could reconcile their conduct to the injunction, "as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
The Hon. Sketchley Morton still represented the county in the House of Representatives, and acting in good faith, no difficulty was experienced in the passage of a confirmatory bill in that body. But in the Senate, it was soon dis- covered that our representative, Mr. Williamson, then speaker of that body, was hostile to the bill, and that the services of other members of the Senate from distant parts of the commonwealth had in some way been secured to make speeches against it, and to aid in its defeat. Among these was the late Governor Johnson. The bill was accordingly defeated in the Senate.
After this unfair and unjust treatment, the removalists at once resorted to the Supreme Court, to test the constitutionality of the Removal Act, under which the vote had been taken. Here they were met by counsel employed by the anti-removalists; but before any action had been taken by the court upon the main question, certain signs in the political horizon indicated that it might become a matter of some consequence to certain politicians, that so large a body of voters as the removalists of Delaware county should be pacified, after the treatment their fair and just bill had received in the Senate. A sudden change appears to have been effected in the views of certain Senators, on the grave question of the right of the majority to rule, and information was ac- cordingly conveyed to the leading removalists, that a confirmatory act could then be passed. One was passed; but as the anti-removalists had to be con- sulted, the action of the Senate of Pennsylvania resulted in the monstrosity that here follows, which was only concurred in by the House, because nothing better could be had :-
"An Act relative to the removal of the Seat of Justice in Delaware County.
"SECTION I. Be it enacted, &c. That the several provisions of an Act entitled 'An Act concerning the removal of the seat of justice in Delaware County,' approved March 3d, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, so far as they authorize the removal of the seat of justice from the borough of Chester, be, and the same are hereby confirmed and made of full force and effect, and when the public buildings referred to in said act shall have been completed, it shall be the duty of the Court, Sheriff, and other officers of said county, to do and perform the things mentioned and required to be done and performed in said act. Provided, That this act shall not go into effect until a decision shall be obtained from the Supreme Court on the validity of said act of March third, eighteen hundred and forty-seven. Provided, however, that said decision shall be obtained in one year from the date of the passage of this act.
WILLIAM F. PACKER, Speaker of the House of Representatives. WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, Speaker of the Senate.
"Approved the seventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
FRANCIS R. SHUNK."
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DELAWARE COUNTY
The Supreme Court soon closed their sitting in Philadelphia, and no further effort was made to comply with the ridiculous provisions of the confirmatory law till the winter term following. It was now apparent, from the various motions of the counsel of the anti-removalists, that delay was a main object with his clients; but eventually, with much perseverance, the question was argued by the late Joseph G. Clarkson, the counsel of the removalists, and the opinion of the Court delivered just before the close of the year specified in the act. This opinion was a full confirmation of the constitutionality of the Removal Law.
The commissioners, in pursuance of the Removal Act, very soon pur- chased a tract of forty-eight acres of land from Sarah Briggs, adjoining the county farm attached to the house for the support and employment of the poor, for the sum of $5,760. On this a town was laid out, and many lots were immediately sold, realizing a great profit to the county. It was at first intended to call the town Providence, but in consideration of the great number of places bearing that name, the name of Media, suggested by Minshall Painter as a proper one, was adopted, and inserted in the Act of Incorporation. The town was laid out by Joseph Fox, Esq.
The location of the public buildings increased the value of the adja- cent land. In this increase in value, the adjoining property belonging to the county, on which the old Alms-house was located, shared very fully ; so that it soon became evident, that by disposing of this property with the old buildings, (which were not well adapted to the purpose for which they had been erected.) the county could be provided with a better farm in an- other locality, and with new buildings, very much better calculated for the accommodation of the paupers. The old property was accordingly disposed of by the Directors of the Poor, at the price that has been mentioned. In the mean time, the present county farm in Middletown was purchased, and the present neat and substantial Alms-house erected.
Prior to the passage of the act authorizing a vote to be taken on the subject of the removal of the seat of justice, several routes had been experimentally surveyed through the county, for a railroad to West Ches- ter. In adopting the present location for the road, the site of the new county town doubtless had a material influence. On the other hand, the completion of the road. rendering access to Philadelphia easy and cheap, has aided in the rapid growth and improvement of Media.
Since 1845. up to the breaking out of the late disastrous Civil War, the improvement of the county, and the increase in the substantial means of its citizens, have been rapid beyond any former period. During that period. the Delaware County Turnpike, the Darby Plank Road, the West Chester Turnpike or Plank Road. the Darby and Chester Plank Road, and several less important artificial roads. were constructed ; a large propor- tion of the money necessary therefor being furnished by citizens of Dela- ware county. These improvements became necessary on account of the
279
DELAWARE COUNTY
improved condition of the farms throughout the county, and the increase in the number and extent of our manufacturing establishments. The com- pletion of the West Chester railroad, and the Baltimore Central road, through the county, to Oxford, in Chester county, gave a great impulse to business in the districts of the county through which they pass.
TOWNSHIPS AND BOROUGHS.
Tinicum Township .- The priority given to Tinicum in this chapter is not due to its greater prominence or importance, but from the fact that on the island, now the township of Tinicum, the first recorded European settlement in Pennsylvania was made by the Swedes.
Tinicum Island lies along the mainland, from which it is separated by the waters of Darby and Bow creeks, which with the Delaware form the water-courses encircling the island of Big Tinicum, so called to distinguish it from Little Tinicum, a long, low marshy strip nearly in the middle of the Delaware, extending nearly the whole length of Tinicum island proper. At its broadest part Tinicum is about one and one-half miles in width, its circum- ference about nine miles. It contains 2750 acres, 2000 of which are marsh or meadow land, all but 500 acres having been reclaimed by the construction of dykes. The Indian name was Tanakon, Tutacaenung and Teniko, which after the Swedish settlement was changed to Nya Gotheberg, later to Katten- berg. The English changed the old Indian name to its present form, Tini- cum. The first authenticated record of settlement on Tinicum, by the Swedish governor, John Printz, in 1643, is treated in the early pages of this work.
For almost a century Tinicum was a part of Ridley township, but at the May court, 1780, a petition was signed by twenty-three "inhabitants, owners and occupiers of land on the island of Tinicum" praying that they be set off into a separate township. On August 31, 1780, their prayer was granted, and from that date Tinicum became a separate district, having all the rights and obligations of other townships. Under the provisions of the act of the Pennsylvania legislature, passed September 25, 1786, Hog Island and all the islands in the Delaware facing Delaware county, ac- quired by Pennsylvania by the terms of the agreement with New Jersey, became part of Tinicum township. Hog Island has played an important part in local history, and by a system of banks and dykes has been con- verted into fertile farm land as has Tinicum. In 1799 a quarantine station was established on Tinicum, buildings erected and quarantine for the pro- tection of the health of Philadelphia, established in 1801. In later years, serious objection was made to its location and strenuous efforts made for its removal. These efforts were persistently defeated, and the station was continued until recent years, when the station was removed.
Tinicum contains two villages,-Essington and Corbindale, both lo- cated on the line of the Philadelphia & Reading railway that traverses the township. Connection is also made with Philadelphia and Chester by the cars of the Philadelphia & Chester railway. The population in 1910 was 1135. Churches and public schools have been erected, the schools of the township being noted in the chapter on education.
Aston Township .- Aston township as now constituted is separated on the north by Chester creek from Middletown, and part of Chester township. while on the west and south it joins Upper Chichester, Bethel and Concord. It
28I
DELAWARE COUNTY
is long and narrow in shape, containing in 1910 a population of 2135. Its schools, churches and mills are elsewhere noted in this work. Aston was first known as Northley, probably so named by Edward Carter, who owned a tract of 250 acres in the township, which assumed its present name in 1688, when John Neal (Neild) was appointed first constable of the township of Aston, this being the first recorded mention of that name as applied to the township. Carter was not the first settler, for Charles Ashicom, the surveyor, under date of October 8, 1682, returned 500 acres laid out to John Dutton on the west of Upland creek, beginning at Nathaniel Evans corner tree "and so unto the woods." Even before Dutton, William Woodmansey took up 100 acres at the southeastern end of the township on Chester creek, in 1680, naming his home in the forest "Harold," and there Friends meetings were held.
Among the early settlers was Thomas Mercer, who took up 100 acres on Chester creek, near Dutton's Mills; Nathaniel Evans in October, 1682, had surveyed to him 300 acres laid out so as to have the greatest possible front- age on the creek, but extending west across the entire township. Above the Dutton tract, John Neild in 1682 had surveyed to him 250 acres, which in- cluded the site of the present village of Rockdale. Other settlers came in, and in 1715 the taxables were : Robert Carter, John Pennell, Moses Key, John Dut- ton, Thomas Dutton, Thomas Woodward, John Neild, James Widdows, Wil- liam Rattew, Samuel Jones, Thomas Barnard, Abraham Darlington, John Hurford, Jonathan Monroe, Thomas Gale. The freemen were Thomas Dun- babin, Isaac Williams, Joseph Darlington, Edward Richards, Samuel Stroud.
The road from Chichester to Aston was laid out by the grand jury at a court hield 3 day, 10 mo., 1688, and on the same day they laid out the road from Aston to Edgemont.
The second day following the battle of Brandywine, Lord Cornwallis "with the 2nd Battalion Light Infantry and 2nd Grenadiers marched to join the body under Major General Grant." That evening "the troops reached Ashdown within four miles of Chester." Here Gen. Cornwallis established his headquarters, the encampment extending from Mount Hope to the lower part of Village Green. He sent out foraging parties to secure supplies for the army, seizing for that purpose the flour in all the mills within reach. The express orders of Howe and Cornwallis forbade all plundering of private houses, but these orders were freely disregarded. The plundering of the house of Jonathan Martin is narrated elsewhere in this work.
Manufacturing began in the township at an early date, and constitutes an important item in the township's wealth. All leading denominations are represented by places of worship, and many of the secret orders have lodges in the township, the oldest being Benevolent Lodge, No. 40, I. O. O. F. Chester Heights Camp Meeting Association, formed in 1872, purchased a farm in Aston, containing 162 acres on the line of the Baltimore Central railroad, and there hold annual camp meetings. The principal villages in the township are Village Green, four miles northwest from Chester ; Rock- dale ; Darlington, on the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore railroad,
282
DELAWARE COUNTY
cighteen miles from Philadelphia; Aston Mills. where large plush mills are located. Public schools are the Village Green, Aston Mills, Chester Heights, Crozerville and Brookside schools. At Village Green there is a Baptist church: at Rockdale, a Methodist Episcopal church; Catholic churches at Brookside and Chester Heights. The convent of the Sisters of St. Francis is located near the centre of the township. One railroad crosses the township, its castern line being traversed by the Philadelphia, Wilming- ton & Baltimore, with stations at Bridgewater, Morgan, Rockdale, Wawa, from whence the Baltimore Central crosses the township, passing through the grounds of the Chester Camp Meeting AAssociation, where they have a station of the same name. There are no incorporated boroughs in the town- ship.
Bethel Township .- Bethel, smallest of all the original townships of Ches- ter county, is triangular in shape, its southern line adjoining the state of Dela- ware, the northwestern boundary being Concord township, the eastern, Upper Chichester. The township is mentioned as early as 1683, and again at the court held 11 mo. 6, 1684. the inhabitants of "Concord, Bethell and Chichester were ordered to meet on the third day of the next weeke." The land is high and very productive; clay used for making fire bricks and Kaolin abound In the northwestern part of the township. Bethel hamlet was founded at an early date, the early settlers building together for the sake of safety. At the September court, 1686, Edward "Beaser" was appointed constable for "Bethel Liberty." In 1683, Edward "Bezer" and Edward Brown had 500 acres sur- veyed to them in the northeasterly end of the township. On this tract Bethel hamlet, afterwards known as "Corner Catch or Ketch," and the present vil- lage of Chelsea, is located. In 1686 the grand jury reported the laying out of the road from Bethel to Chichester (Marcus Hook). The list of taxables for Bethel township in 1693, shows nine tax payers: John Gibbons, Ralph Pile, John Bushel, Nicholas Pile, Edward Beaner, Robert Eyre, Thomas Garrett, John Howard, Thomas Cooper. In 1715, the list had doubled : Robert Pyle, John Grist, Robert Booth, Edward Beazer, John Canady, Benjamin Moulder, Joseph Pyle, John Hickman, Edward Griffith, John Hopton, Jolin Gibbons, Thomas Durnell, constituting the list. There are no railroads in the township, which contains but two villages-Chelsea, in the extreme northern corner of the township, and Booths Corner in the southern part. Public schools are maintained at both these villages. Another in the centre of the township is known as Central School. The Methodists maintain churches and ministers in the township. The population of Bethel in 1910 was 535.
Birmingham Township .- This township, lying in the extreme south- eastern corner of Delaware county, adjoins on the west and north the state of Delaware and Chester county, Pennsylvania, being separated from the latter by Brandywine creek ; on the east is bounded by Thornbury and Con- cord townships. Chester county : on the south by the state of Delaware. It is traversed from cast to west by the Philadelphia. Wilmington & Baltimore railroad (Central Division) which enters the township near Brandywine Sum
283
DELAWARE COUNTY
mit and leaves it at Chadd's Ford. The Baltimore turnpike also crosses the township. It was on this road that Washington and Lafayette had their headquarters during the battle of Brandywine, fought September II, 1777. The name of the township is believed to have been conferred by William Brinton, the first white settler known to have located in that section, in re- membrance of the town of like name in England, near which he resided prior to his coming to Pennsylvania in 1684. He had purchased 400 acres from Joseph Allison and William Morgan, and his patent was so located, in 1790, when Delaware was erected out of Chester county, the county lines being so run that the original tract laid about equal in both counties. William Brinton's daughter Ann married in England, John Bennett, who joined his father-in-law in 1685 and in 1686 was appointed constable. The next settlers were Peter and Sarah Dix, a name that in more recent years has become Dicks. Joseph Gilpin and his wife Hannah settled in Birming- ham not later than 1695. He inherited under the will of William Lamboll, of Reading, England, a part of the tract of land that had been surveyed and located in Birmingham in 1683 by Lamboll. Gilpin, glad to escape from the persecution to which his Quaker principles subjected him, came to the province and settled on his inheritance. On first coming he dug a cave at the side of a great rock, and therein thirteen of his fifteen children were born. It was on this farm that two valuable varieties of apples originated- the Gilpin, also called carthouse and winter redstreak, and the house apple, also called grayhouse apple. Several years after his settlement, Joseph Gilpin built a frame house, removing from the cave. In 1745, adjoining the frame, a brick house was built. On the evening of Thursday, September II, 1777, the house, then owned by George Gilpin, was occupied by Gen. Howe as his headquarters, remaining there until the following Tuesday.
Francis Chadsey or Chads and Chadds, as the name is now written, came from Wiltshire, England, early in 1689, his name first appearing in Birming- ham taxables in 1696. He served as a member of assembly from Chester county, 1706-07, and about that time erected his corn mill, for at his death in 1713 he willed one of his sons "a half share in my corn mill." John, eldest son of Francis Chads, inherited the larger part of his father's estate, married Elizabeth Richardson, and is believed to have built in 1729 the old stone house, close to the spring in the village of Chadds' Ford, opposite the then ford of the Brandywine. As travel increased, the ford often impassable, failed to meet the needs of travel. John Chads was urged to establish a ferry at that point, and to aid him, the county loaned him £30 to defray the expense he was put to in building a "flatt or Schowe." The ferry was placed in operation in 1717. In 1760, the ferry boat was repaired, Chads charging the county £44 3S. 6d., for "rebuilding the Flatt," one of the items in his bill being: "five weeks diet to boat builder at six shillings per week." The post planted on the west side of the Brandywine to fasten the ferry rope was standing in 1827, but rope, windlass and boat had disappeared. About that same date, Mary Brown, a colored woman, kept a small store at the ford, sold cakes and beer, and for
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