USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > A history of the townships of Byberry and Moreland, in Philadelphia, Pa. : from their earliest settlements by the whites to the present time > Part 10
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17 Mahlon Carver laments the condition of the school during his boy- hood. Seth Trego was cruel to his children. Joshua Buckman, while teaching at Bristol, beat a child until it became unconscious. It was carried home and soon died. Joshua Gilbert seems to have been made the butt of a great deal of mischief. The boys of the school had an old army musket cut into sections. From these they made a kind of pistol. The boys fired these so often in the school that they became a nuisance and Joshua Gilbert threatened to throw the first one he found into the stove. The boys, accordingly, charged one to its capacity and allowed Joshua to find it. Upon throwing it into the stove, an explosion occurred which nearly demolished the stove.
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He was kind to his pupils, and in turn they loved and re- spected him. After leaving the Byberry school he started a boarding-school on the Bristol turnpike, near Andalusia, and after residing there a few years he went out West, where he was killed by the fall of his house, during one of the terrible hurricanes that sometimes sweep over those western plains. He was succeeded by Seth Trego, a man of violent temper, and one totally unfit to be an instructor of youth. The large pupils were permitted to do as they pleased, while the smaller ones were abused without mercy. He remained but a few months; yet his conduct toward us was so unkind that I never think of him but with feelings of regret that he ever was my teacher. While here, he, along with some others, sent up a balloon from the lot in front of the store. It went about a mile, then lodged in some tall trees, from which it was soon after obtained by those who sent it up. It created consid- erable excitement in the neighborhood at the time. The next teacher was William Wood, who lacked the neces- sary nerve to preserve good order. At that time many large boys attended the school; and it was no uncommon thing, in the winter season, to have upwards of seventy pupils in attendance, and twenty of these over sixteen years of age. On one occasion, one of the large boys got into trouble with the teacher, when a scuffle ensued, and the teacher, aided by one of the other pupils, gave the offender a "sound drubbing." Joshua Fell came about 1840, and continued to be our teacher for upwards of six years. He was a successful teacher, and advanced the pupils more rapidly than any of his predecessors. He kept excellent order, and was generally beloved by his
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pupils. But few pranks were played while he was there, for
"Full well the boding trembler learned to trace The day's disasters in his morning's face;"
and full well did we all know that his word was law, and that his dignity was not to be trifled with. After leav- ing the school, he commenced the mercantile business in Bucks County, where he still resides.
In 1848, this school was given up by the Controllers of Philadelphia, and it has since been under the charge of the meeting, and been supported by the school fund.
Connected with my school-boy days, at this place, are some reminiscences which I cannot neglect to chronicle here, for
"In my poor mind it is most sweet to muse Upon the days gone by-to act in thought Past seasons o'er, and be again a child."
As this school-house is on the meeting's property, the pupils have always been allowed the entire range of the grounds during their hour of recreation, and well have they used it for their enjoyment. In the winter-time and in rainy weather the long rows of sheds offered a most glorious place for playing ball : and during the sum- mer the large yard, so well filled with shade trees, fur- nished to all an opportunity for recreation and amuse- ment such as the pupils of other schools have seldom known. Fronting the house, and only a few yards from the door, stands a large white oak, which has endured the storms of many a winter; and at each end may still be seen a large willow tree, whose leaves have kept off the rays of the morning and evening sun for upwards of
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half a century. A little to the south is the pump, shaded by a smaller willow, which has grown from a small limb stuck there while I was a school-boy. In the northwest- ern part of the yard stands a noble old oak, under whose wide-spreading arms we have spent many an hour, some- times listening to the sweet songs of the birds in its branches, and at others stretched out upon the green- sward, and with half-closed eyes listlessly musing upon the events of our boyhood life. At the south end of the lot are two large buttonwoods, near which the old school- house formerly stood, and under which is the well, though now covered up, at which our fathers and grandfathers often slaked their thirst. 18 Some of the small trees, up which we often climbed and bent over till their tops touch- ed the earth, are now of such dimensions as would re- quire an hour's hard labor to fell them to the ground. The whole of this yard is covered with grass, and has been the playground for thousands of happy children who knew no sorrow. Well do I recollect those joyous hours, when in company with my playmates we leaped the cat- gallows, hid the handkerchief, played blind man's buff, chased the flitting butterfly, or whipped the humble-bee's nest-hours fraught with pleasure, unmarred by their usually accompanying pains; but those joyful moments, almost the only real happy ones of life, are past and gone, and many who were then participators, now sleep be- neath the little mounds of the silent graveyard, while others are still roaming o'er the wide world to seek a
18 This old well was near the site of the second meeting-house.
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fortune or a name. Yet, amid the turmoils and cares of this life, we often revert to the past, for
"How sweet to every feeling heart Is the mem'ry of the past ; To think of days when love and joy Around our hearts were cast ; To let our thoughts swift take their flight O'er days when life was new,
To roam through haunts of pleasant youth, And all those scenes again renew."
ASSESSMENTS, ETC.
The names of nearly all the early settlers of the town- ships have been lost, for want of some chronicler to hand them down to future generations ; but a man's necessities will sometimes compel him to do what he would other- wise have but little taste for, and such seems to have been the case with Thomas Knight, who kept a store in By- berry, in 1775. It was customary then as now for men to buy on credit, and Thomas was forced to enter their names on his books, together with the articles which each one purchased. These books contain over one hundred names, which is the earliest list that we have found. Among these we find the Waltons, Townsends, Parrys, Willards, Greens, Vankirks, Edwardses, Fosters, Rod- mans, Freemans, Woodingtons, Streets, Enochses, Stateses, Grooms, Walmsleys, Hibbses, Dungans, Vande- grifts, Gilberts, Tomlinsons, Randalls, Comlys, Hallo- wells, and Wilsons.
Prior to the Revolution, the population of Byberry was rather sparse, as there were but ninety persons registered as taxable in 1779. At the same time the real estate was assessed at £180,850, and the rate of taxation fixed at
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fifty shillings per £100. Money at interest was taxed at three pence per pound. In 1783, the assessment gave 5,618 acres, which was divided into fifty-three farms and lots. There were 122 horses taxed at $37.33 per head, I14 cows at $10 per head, and 230 sheep at ten shillings each. Two tan yards were assessed-one to Giles Knight at $140, and the other to Abel Kelley, at $160.19 John Jackson and John Britton had each one slave, and Dr. Edwards two, which were taxed at $133.33 per head. The number of slaves appears to have increased subse- quently, for, in 1786, eleven were assessed, seven of them to Dr. Edwards, at $200 each.
The people of Byberry, in common with their neigh- bors, felt the good effects of a peaceful country, and bask- ed in the sunshine of prosperity. Business of all kinds was much improved, and the population increased so rap- idly, that in 1814 the number of taxables was 183; in 1830 it was 225 ; and in 1863 it was 264. The enumera- tion of the inhabitants of Byberry, made under the direc- tion of Congress, resulted as follows: in 1800, 579 per- sons; in 1810, 767 persons; in 1820, 876 persons; in 1830, 1,018 persons; in 1840, 1,055 persons; in 1850, I,130 persons; and in 1860, 1,168 persons.
In 1840, there were three white persons over twenty- one years of age who could neither read nor write, and two in the township who were deaf and dumb. In 1860, out of the 1, 168 inhabitants, I, IOI were white and 67 colored; 114 were of foreign birth, one was blind, three idiotic, and six were paupers. There were but 214 houses, five of which were unoccupied. The live stock consisted
1º See account of Edward Duffield.
IO
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of 321 horses, 8 mules, 2 oxen, 395 cows, 173 sheep, and 359 swine. Of the crops raised, there were 16,063 bush- els of wheat, 707 of rye, 28,417 of Indian corn, 27,089 of oats, 15,883 of potatoes, 34 of barley, 446 of buck- wheat, 82 of clover seed, and 53 of timothy seed. Of the other products, there were 37,885 pounds of butter, 31 pounds of cheese, 30 gallons of molasses from sorghum, 105 pounds of honey, 5 pounds of bees-wax, and 550 pounds of wool.
EVENTS RELATING TO THE WAR OF 1812.
In the midst of the peace and prosperity which had smiled on the land since the dark days of the Revolution, the whole country was plunged into a war with Great Britain. Although armies were necessary then as now, yet few people in either township enlisted in their coun- try's cause, preferring to remain at their more agreeable vocations at home. People in other sections were equally unpatriotic; and the Government found it necessary to make a requisition upon the States for troops. Several in this section were drafted, and ordered to report at head- quarters, below Philadelphia. Most of these declined go- ing, and were afterward court-martialed, and fined sums varying from twenty to one hundred dollars each. Friends' discipline not only disapproved of wars, but of all connection with them; and members who had been drafted could neither go nor pay fines imposed upon them in lieu of service. Many, therefore, suffered distraints of their property, which were taken off and sold to meet the demand; the friends of others interfered, paid the demands, and had the property returned to the owners.
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As nearly all intercourse with other parts of the world was interrupted, many articles in daily use became scarce, and the prices high. Sugar was sold at thirty-three cents per pound, coffee at forty cents, and cotton and woolen goods at almost fabulous prices. In this state of affairs many expedients were suggested, either through motives of economy, necessity, or patriotism. Rye coffee came into general use, and sugar was almost entirely dispensed with. A short time after the commencement of the war the banks stopped specie payment, and soon all kinds of specie, from a cent upwards, passed out of circulation. In order to supply the want of small change, the banks issued notes of less denomination than one dollar; and private individuals, in many cases, issued small notes, payable in goods or in bank notes. In one instance some schoolboys set a number of these bills afloat, and they circulated as well as any until their character was discov- ered. The Legislature, at its next session, passed an act against issuing this kind of money, and most of the notes were called in; but considerable loss was sustained by the holders of them. As the whole country was flooded with paper money, things seemed to work well, and prices of real estate as well as other things were very high. This continued for some years after the war end- ed; so that, in 1816, we learn that wheat sold at $3 per bushel, corn $1.25, and oats 75 cents. But a reaction soon ensued, when depression followed depression, and every article of produce was so reduced in value that em- barrassment and ruin to hundreds was the result. The price of land fell nearly one-half, and wheat sold for seventy-five cents, corn for thirty, and oats for twenty
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cents per bushel. During the prosperous times, many persons who had saved a little money invested it in prop- erty, paying often less than one-half of the purchase price, and giving a mortgage for the remainder ; and others had in various ways contracted debts, with a fair prospect of being able to meet their engagements. But the re- action was too great for them, and they were forced to see the savings of many years of anxiety and toil swept away to satisfy the demands of urgent creditors, and now, having passed the meridian of life, to commence the world anew, without a single cent to call their own. But few persons in the townships became so reduced as this, yet all felt the effect of the change of times, and were to a greater or less extent sufferers. In order to obviate these difficulties, more attention was paid to the cultiva- tion and improvement of their farms, unnecessary ex- penses were curtailed, and habits of economy became the order of the day, so that, in a few years, they were once more in the old channels, moving along smoothly and prosperously.
AGRICULTURE.
We have already spoken of some of the more important improvements in agriculture, previous to the close of the Revolution, and now we desire briefly to sketch the his- tory since that period. Byberry and Moreland are agri- cultural districts, the whole surface being divided into farms of from thirty to one hundred acres each, and the population composed almost exclusively of farmers, or such mechanics as are necessary in a farming community.
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Such being the case, a short account of the agricultural changes is deserving of a place in these sketches.
In 1780 the Hessian fly20-that scourge of the wheat crop-first made its appearance in the vicinity. Previous to that time the crop had been good, and a failure of it was seldom if ever known; but now the ravages of this destructive insect were very great, whole fields were so injured as not to be worth harvesting, and many persons entertained apprehensions that the wheat crop was not to be depended upon again, and they accordingly stored up the crop on hand for future use. The rye crop entirely escaped from injury, and it was at once substituted for the wheat. It answered a very good purpose for bread, but the pies and cakes were not so palatable, and the peo- ple began to look anxiously for a remedy for the evil which had befallen them. One was soon found in the ap- plication of manure, for when that was judiciously ap- plied an average crop seldom failed, and farmers began to gather all the weeds, straw and rubbish that could be procured, in order to increase the amount of that neces- sary article. Previous to that time, large quantities of buckwheat were raised, but the straw was thought to be useless, and was, therefore, generally burned in the field. In 1786 one farmer had thirty-five acres of it, and in the spring following sold the whole lot to Dr. Edwards for two dollars, and it was thought to be well sold. Sev- eral experiments, in the way of farming, were tried about this time, and for the purpose of comparing notes, an
20 This fly is entirely different from the Russian fly or weavel which made its first appearance about ten years ago and which is supposed to have come from the grain elevator at Port Richmond.
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agricultural society was started in 1789, and several of the Byberry farmers became members. It is said to have done considerable good, and many of the most valuable changes which took place at this time were owing to ex- periments made by the members of this society. It is still in existence as the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.
Before the application of manure became common, the main dependence for hay was upon meadow bottoms, or low grounds, along streams. Water was frequently car- ried in ditches along the sides of the hills, and at proper intervals let out to irrigate the soil, so that these spots always produced heavy crops of hay. No grass-seed was sown, as is now done; but the white clover, which is na- tive to the soil, and which will always grow when not choked out by other plants, sprung up in the wheat fields, and furnished pasture for the next season. Meadows were then considered very valuable, and were the only parts of the farm which produced hay for winter use. In 1791, plaster of Paris (sulphate of lime) was first intro- duced here as a fertilizer.21 It was tried on Indian corn, and proved advantageous, but on the meadows it was of little use. A little red clover had previously been culti- vated, and upon this it acted almost like a charm, so that the next step was to procure clover-seed, and the upland fields were soon luxuriant with its growth. Seed was at first very scarce, and was bought and sold by the pound, rating at about fifty cents. Plaster was sold at $1.10 per bushel; but dear as were these articles
" Benjamin Franklin introduced the use of land plaster into France and his friend, Edward Duffield, was one of the first to use it in Byberry.
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the application was made, and the harvest exceeded all expectations. The custom of mowing the upland fields soon after this became general, and furnished much bet- ter hay than had been obtained from the meadows. Tim- othy was soon introduced, and, in time, it and clover were mixed together. By this course of farming the amount of produce was greatly increased, and farmers were necessitated to erect hay-houses, or enlarge their barns so as to hold all their crops. The meadows and low bot- toms soon ceased to be considered the most valuable por- tion of the farm, and were either turned into pasture- grounds or permitted to grow up with rushes and other worthless plants. About the same time lime began to be used, and this, together with the plaster, the timothy and the clover, and the increase in the price of all agricultural products, brought wealth into the community, and made them more prosperous than at any former period. As a result of this increase of wealth, there was an improve- ment in the farm buildings, and new houses and barns of an approved style soon began to occupy the places of the old ones. Shortly after this, the cultivation of potatoes, as an article of profit, was commenced. Previously, they had been cultivated only for home consumption. The first varieties raised were the cut-throats, Spanish potatoes and lady-fingers; these were followed by the Thompson po- tatoes, brought from England by Joseph Thompson, in 1793; Scotch grays, blue-skins, fox-eyes and mercers- each succeeding one being an improvement upon its pre- decessor. This last variety was introduced about 1820, and has been very generally cultivated ever since-a period of more than forty years-and they still retain
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many of their original good qualities. It is said that two hundred bushels per acre were considered an average crop fifty or sixty years ago; and that, when properly at- tended, they often raised more than less than that amount, and as they were never diseased, the crop was a profitable one. About the same time broom corn began to be raised, and brooms to be manufactured for market. Benjamin Atkinson was the first who made it a regular business, and he was induced to do so about 1790, through the in- fluence of James Simpson, a Quaker preacher, then re- siding in the neighborhood. He found it a profitable business, and, about 1805, he admitted Bezaleel Croas- dale as a partner, and they jointly monopolized the trade until 1816. The brooms were sold in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Lancaster, and Trenton. The brooms were made round, and with a horn on the neck, confined to its place by a wooden peg, instead of twine as now; the handle was of oak, roughly shaved with a drawing- knife. During the war of 1812, the brooms brought $4.20 per dozen, wholesale. From 1830 to 1840 an average of sixty thousand brooms were annually manufactured in Byberry alone, for the Philadelphia market. In 1819, Bezaleel Croasdale made some improvements in the man- ner of manufacture, for which he obtained a patent, and carried on the business successfully for several years. Charles B. Comly was the first person in Byberry who made broom handles for sale. For many years the an- ntial sales amounted to about 175,000 handles. Of later years, broom corn has not been grown so extensively, and
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the sales now do not amount to over 75,000 per annum.22 Oats were raised to a very limited extent, and several years elapsed before they were considered a profitable crop. Buckwheat was a staple production, and large quantities were raised by every farmer ; but as the opinion of its impoverishing the soil gained ground, its culture decreased, and comparatively little has been raised dur- ing the last twenty years. There was also much atten- tion paid to the improvement of the breed of horses, and the subject was a favorite topic of conversation among farmers and the young men generally. The old-fashion- ed breed was too small -- scarcely any being more than fourteen hands high-and in many other respects was defective; so that a change was deemed needful. Horses with more bottom, bone and sinew, were wanted; and in order to secure animals of this kind, men studied all the important marks of a good horse as well as those of a poor one, and a full knowledge of the diseases, etc., to which the animal was subject, was considered necessary.
Thomas Simmons, taking advantage of this change in opinion, spent a short time in study, and set himself up as a horse farrier-the first in the townships-and soon obtained a good practice. The result of all this was a larger and better breed of horses, and an improvement in the quality of the stock generally.
While the great changes which we have just narrated were going on, farmers had become more deeply interest- ed in their business; and in order to have as much land
32 Broom corn is scarcely grown at all in Byberry now. At one time, it was the custom for nearly every farmer to grow broom corn, make brooms and sell them in Philadelphia, along with his regular produce.
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under cultivation as possible, swamps and low grounds: were reclaimed, and timber cleared off. So much of the latter was sold that many men were much concerned for fear the next generation would not have sufficient wood for fencing and for domestic purposes. To economize, it was proposed to plant the Virginia corn (Crategus cordata) for hedges; and Joseph Comly, in particular, took much pains to obtain a supply of seed and raise the young plants for that purpose. Through his efforts many were induced to plant hedges, and for several years they answered an excellent purpose; but like every other liv- ing thing, their period of life drew to a close; and while they were in the last stages-which often lasted several years-they were worse than useless, and farmers have generally grubbed them up and set post-and-rail fences in their places. In the year 1816, the Long Island hay- rake was introduced, and found to be a labor-saving im- plement. Some years afterward the revolving rake was brought into notice as a great improvement, and has been in general use since. In 1817, the crop of Indian corn was much injured by the grub; and as this was believed to be the natural consequence of killing off so many of the insectivorous birds, several persons here entered into an agreement to prohibit gunning on their farms, which ar- rangement was enforced for many years, although much opposition was manifested on the part of some of the gun- ners. About the year 1820, a mowing machine was intro- duced into Byberry by Samuel Newbold; and soon after this James Thornton purchased a similar machine. They were drawn by four horses, but did not work well, and were soon thrown aside. James Thornton cut ten acres
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of grass in one day with his machine. In 1840, another pattern was introduced, much better than the first, but it did not answer, and, like its predecessor, was soon laid aside. After this we hear no more of mowing machines until the introduction of Ketchum's patent, in 1850, by James Thornton, Jr., since which time they have come into general use, and almost every farm is now supplied with one of them.23 In the year 1840 was the first ap- pearance of the potato disease here, and many farmers that season lost nearly their whole crop. Since that time they have been more or less affected with the rot; but as many have of late years been planting them much earlier than formerly was the custom, they have not suffered so much from the disease as they did at first. Threshing machines were introduced in 1830, by Edward Duffield. Previous to that time all the threshing had been done by the flail, and the sound of the threshers might be heard in the winter resounding from almost every barn. At first the four and five-horse powers were used, but these have generally been laid aside, and their places supplied by the railroad powers, which combine many advantages the others do not possess. The farmers of this section generally have kept pace with their neighbors in intro- ducing all the modern improvements in their vocation; and their farms at the present time are as well stocked with all that is necessary to their business, as are those in any other section of our country; and as a class they probably enjoy as much prosperity and happiness as usual- ly fall to the lot of mortals.
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