USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 16
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Chester Council, No. 36, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, was instituted in 1868, and Chester Council, No. 553, Royal Arcanum, in 1881.
Washington Camp, No. 43, Patriotic Order Sons of America, was chartered in 1882, and the State Camp met at Chester in 1893. The other camps in Chester are No. 281 and No. 486.
Chester Castle, No. 29, is the oldest castle of the Knights of the Golden Eagle in the county.
Several other orders have organizations in Chester, where there are lodges of colored Masons and Odd Fellows, the latter being of the Manchester Unity of England.
The Catholic Benevolent Legion, the Ger- man Benevolent Society, and various other benevolent organizations meet in Chester.
SCHOOLS.
The educational facilities of Chester are very good. Those desiring a military life can make ample preparation for the same at the Pennsylvania Military academy, an imposing stone structure, situated on the highest point of land in the city, and now in the thirty-first year of its existence. Of equal age with the military academy is the Chester academy, founded by Charles W. Dean, as an academy and normal school. The present principal employs several teachers, and there are over one hundred students in attendance.
The public schools are prosperous, and are
held in the following fine brick school build- ings : High, Harvey, Hoskins', Morton, Lar- kin, Lincoln, Gartside, Howell, Franklin, Patterson, Martin, Powell and Oak Grove. Chester city has seventy-five public schools, with four male and seventy-six female teachers, and an average attendance, during their annual ten month term, of two thousand four hundred and thirty-four pupils. Chester receives over eighteen thousand dollars of State appropria- tion, and expends over seventy-five thousand dollars yearly for her public schools. St. Michael and the Church of the Immaculate Heart have parochial schools, and there are several select and private schools in the city.
CHURCHES.
The Friends' meeting at Chester dates back to 1675, at the house of Robert Wade. The first church building became too small in 1735, and the next year they built the present stone and brick meeting house on Market street, which was repaired and modernized in 1883. Since 1827 the Hicksite branch of the church has held and occupied the building.
The first Protestant Episcopal church in Chester is St. Paul's, which was organized prior to 1802, in which year a small brick church building was erected. The present stone church structure is a beautiful building, and was erected in 1859. St. Paul's is a memorial church, erected to keep green the memory of James Sandelands, the famous Scotchman who would not sell his land at Chester to Penn in 1682. St. Luke's, the second Episcopal church, was organized Nov- ember 28, 1868, and the neat little Gothic stone sanctuary in which the congregation worships was built in 1869. Its first rector was Rev. Thomas R. List, who was succeeded by Rev. G. C. Moore.
Chester has two Catholic churches. St. Michael's and the Immaculate Heart. St. Michael's, the Archangel, is " the most mag- nificent and imposing church edifice in the city. The congregation was organized in
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1842, and the first small stone church building was dedicated in 1843. This building was replaced by the present beautiful sanctuary, at a cost of over one hundred thousand dol- lars. The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was organized in 1873 by the mem- bers of St. Michael's then residing in the old South ward. Their first small church build- ing was succeeded in 1874 by the present handsome brick edifice on Second street. The present pastors are : Rev. James Timmins, of St. Michael, and Rev. T. J. McGlynn, of the Immaculate Heart.
The first Baptist church of Chester, com- posed of members mostly from the Upland church, was constituted September 24, 1863. Through the liberality of John P. Crozer, ground was secured upon which Benjamin Gartside erected the lecture room fronting on Penn street. Afterward the present large and commodious meeting house was erected. The church, looking to the future, has secured a still more desirable lot in another part of the city. Its pastors have been : Rev. Levi G. Beck, 1863 ; Rev. A. F. Shanafelt, 1866; Rev. Z. T. Dowen, 1876; Rev. A. G. Thomas, 1877 ; G. H. McClelland, 1884 ; Charles Col- man, 1889 ; S. S. Woodward, 1890 ; J. E. Wills, 1891; and S. S. Woodward, 1893.
The meeting house for the North Chester church was completed during 1872, and first occupied in June of that year. The church was recognized with appropriate services May 8, 1873. James Irving erected the house at his own expense, and has largely contributed to the support of the church. Its pastors have been : Revs. Edward Wells, P. S. Vree- land, John Brooks, H. B. Harper and D. T. Firor.
Madison Street Methodist Episcopal church was organized at some time between 1818 and 1825. Three church buildings have been erected, and the present beautiful, green ser- pentine stone sanctuary was completed in 1874. Trinity church was organized in 1865 by mem- bers of Madison Street church, who resided
in the old South ward. Through the efforts of Trinity, the South Chester church was or- ganized about 1870. Chester was made a station in 1845, and Rev. Isaac R. Merrill was appointed as pastor. Among his successors were: Revs. Levi Storks, John Shields, New- ton Heston, S. G. Hare, John B. Maddux, William Mullin, J. W. Arthur, Allen Johns and John Ruth, all of whom served prior to the late war.
The Presbyterians of Chester organized the First Presbyterian Church in the year 1851. Its pastors have been : Rev. J. O. Stedman, 1852 ; Rev. George Van Wyck, 1854 : Rev. A. AV. Sproul, 1856; Rev. Philip H. Mowry, 1873 to 1893.
In 1865 the Presbyterians living in the old South ward organized Chester City Presby- terian church. Thomas Reaney built the church edifice at his own personal cost. The pastors have been :Rev. M. P. Jones, 1866; Rev. A. T. Dobson, 1869; Rev. T. J. Aitkin, 1881; Joseph Vance, D. D., 1884 to 1893. The Third Presbyterian church is a memorial church, commemorating the union of the old and new school Presbyterian churches. The church was organized in 1872, and its pastors have been: Rev. Dr. E. W. Bower, 1872 ; Rev. C. F. Thomas, 1873 ; Rev. Thomas F. McCauley, 1878 to 1892.
St. Paul's German Lutheran church was or- ganized in 1878, and in 1879 the old Metho- dist church on Fifth street was purchased for a house of worship. Rev. J. T. Boyer was the first pastor. being succeeded in 1880 by Rev. E. H. Gerhart, whose successor was E. H. Pohle.
The Union African Methodist Episcopal church was organized before 1832, through the efforts of Robert Morris, who had been a slave. The early pastors of the church were : Rev. Samuel Smith, Rev. Benjamin Jefferson (from 1837 to 1874), Rev. L. D. Blackston and Rev. Henry Modo. The present pastor is Rev. J. G. Green.
Asbury African Methodist Episcopal church
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was organized in 1845, and its first regular pastor was Rev. Henry Davis, who served in 1849.
PARKS.
The city has two parks; the Chester or Dickerson, secured through the efforts of Ed- ward S. Dickerson, and the North Chester park, opposite Upland.
POPULATION. '
The population of Chester from 1800 to 1890 has been as follows: 1800, 957; 1810, 1,056; 1820, 657; 1830, 817; 1840, 1,790; 1850, 1,667: 1860, 4,631 ; 1870, 9,485; 1880, 14,997 ; and 1890, 20,226. The population is largely native born, with English, Irish, Ger- man and Scotch-Irish in theorder given. The annexation of Upland, South Chester and Eddystone boroughs are predicted to take place before 1900, and if such a result is ac- complished, Chester city will cross the thresh- old of the twentieth century with a population of over fifty thousand.
CHAPTER XX.
SOUTH CHESTER, UPLAND AND EDDY- STONE BOROUGHS.
It is confidently expected that in the near future annexation will make Chester City, South Chester, Upland and Eddystone one great municipality.
SOUTH CHESTER BOROUGH.
The borough of South Chester lies on a part of Lamoco lands granted originally to Capt. Hans Ammundson Besk, and of a tract pat- ented to John Johnson, James Justason and Peter Hendrickson. Lamoco, now written Lamokin, is an Indian word, that, according to tradition, indicates " The Kiss of the Wa- ters."
South Chester was established as a borough on March 12, 1870, having been created in the
previous year as an independent road district by the name of the Lamokin district. The railroad station and postoffice are each named Thurlow, in honor of John J. Thurlow, who owned the land near them. The first burgess was Judge Thomas J. Clayton, and the pres- ent postinaster is John R. Nowland. Water, gas and electric light are received from Ches- ter. South Chester has a fine borough hall, several hotels, two newspapers, a fire com- pany, good churches and schools, and a num- ber of manufactories. William H. Green first saw that South Chester was destined to be an industrial center. Among its mills and large works are: the Auvergne, River, Wyoming, Centennial and Garfield cotton mills ; the Wellman iron works, Chester oil works, Pipe and Tube works, oil works, oil cloth works, and one ship and several brick yards. South Chester has one fire company, the Felton, which was organized in 1882.
The oldest newspaper is the South Chester News, a weekly republican sheet, that was established March 23, 1883. by W. Warren Webb. The next paper was the Plain Speaker, which was republican in politics, and was started by Olin T. Pancoast, August 1, 1883. The third paper is the Globe.
South Chester has several churches. The South Chester Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1870, and its early pastors were : Revs. S. W. Gehrett. David McKee, Dr. Matthew Sorin, J. B. Maddux, and D. M. Gordon. St. Daniel's Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1871. The Baptists have a chapel built by Samuel A. Crozer in 1872, and a church-the First Baptist of South Chester - erected in 1879, in a growing part of the borough. Bethany Mission was organized in 1884 by the Presbyterian churches of Chester city. The African Methodist Epis- copal Bethel church was organized in 1871, and its first pastor was Rev. G. T. Waters.
The north and south streets of South Ches- ter are but continuations of Chester city streets running in the same direction, and many think
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that South Chester will yet become a part of Chester city.
South Chester has twenty-six public schools, running nine months in the year, with thirty teachers, and an average attendance of nine hundred and twenty-one pupils. The school tax of the borough is nearly twenty thousand dollars.
The population increased from three thou- sand six hundred sixty-four in 1880, to seven thousand and seventy-six in 1890.
UPLAND BOROUGH.
The land on which Upland largely stands was patented under the name of "Landing Ford " in 1684, to Caleb Pusey, who the pre- ceding year had built a grist mill there, and erected the quaint old one-story stone and brick house which still stands, and has always been tenanted. The Pusey, or Chester mills, were the first mills in Pennsylvania after Penn came, and the Pusey house is the oldest build- ing in the State. Pusey had Penn and sev- eral others for partners in his milling enter- prise, which was unsuccessful, as his first mill and two dams in succession were swept away by floods for him. The land was sold at sheriff's sale, and after having different owners, came into the possession of Richard Flower, and as a part of his estate was bought in 1845 by John P. Crozer.
Mr. Crozer immediately named the place Upland, and commenced erecting the cotton factories, around which grew up the present prosperous borough. Mr. Crozer built mill No. 1 in 1846; mill No. 2 in 1852, and mill No. 3 in 1863.
The population increased rapidly from the building of the first cotton mill, and on May 24, 1869. the place was incorporated as a borough. On September 18, 1879, an addi- tion was made to the incorporated area of the borough. The first chief burgess was Samuel A. Crozer, and the present burgess is Thomas M. Seth. David Compton is justice of the peace : John Ardis. constable ; Garrett Pen-
dleton, solicitor, and Henry Carothers, tax collector. The main east and west streets are : Upland, Mulberry, Church, Woodland, and Main, while the principal north and south streets are numbered from First up to Eighth.
The manufacturing interests of Upland are : the Crozer cotton mills, and the Walworth mixed textile works. The Crozer Iron, and the Upland Coal & Coke companies have their offices here, although their works are outside of the county.
Upland has two churches, a Baptist and a Methodist. The Upland Baptist church was organized about 1850, and the stone church building, erected in 1851 has been twice re- paired and enlarged since then. The stone chapel was erected by S. A. Crozer in 1861. The pastors of the church have been : Revs. John Duncan, 1852; William Wilder, 1854 ; James M. Pendleton, 1865 ; C. C. Williams, 1883 to 1893. Upland Baptist church estab- lished chapels at Leiperville and Bridgewater, and was instrumental in organizing the Village Green and South Chester churches.
The present Upland Methodist Episcopal church was organized about 1872. The church building was erected in 1873, and en- larged in 1882. The brick parsonage was built in 1879, and both church and parsonage have been lately repaired and improved by the present pastor, Rev. Jacob P. Miller. The pastors have been : Revs. C. S. Daniels and J. H. Pike, in 1874 ; Elwood C. Yerkes, 1875: J. D. Fox, 1878; Nathaniel Turner, 1880; J. W. Rudolph, 1883 ; Henry Franklin, 1886 ; John Stringer, 1889, and Jacob P. Mil- ler, 1893.
Crozer Theological seminary, built in 1857, and used as an academy and as a hospital, lies just beyond the center of the borough and on a hill. The grounds embrace twenty acres of land, on which are erected nine splendid stone and brick buildings. The seminary has been in operation since 1868, being under charge of Rev. Henry G. Weston, D. D., as presi-
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
dent, and at the present time has about seventy students.
The Young Men's Christian Association of Upland was organized several years ago, and Upland Lodge, No. 428, Knights of Pythias, was instituted in 1874. Upland Castle, No. 180, Knights of the Golden Eagle, meet in the borough.
Upland is said to resemble Saltaire, Eng- land. It depends upon Chester City for its fire service, gas, water, and trade. It is on Ches- ter creek, and the Chester Creek railway, and has electric street car connection with Chester.
The borough has seven schools, eight teach- ers, and an enrollment of four hundred and one pupils. Its school tax is nearly six thou- sand dollars.
The population has increased from 1,341 in 1870, to 2,275 in 1890.
EDDYSTONE BOROUGH.
This pleasant and beautiful borough is sit- uated in Ridley township, on the Henry Effin- ger farm, a part of the old Olle Lille planta- tion, and just east of Chester. Eddystone borough, which was incorporated December 7, 1888, and has a population of over twelve hundred, grew up around the great Eddystone print works, established there in 1874.
The Eddystone Manufacturing Company, limited, manufacture William Simpson & Sons celebrated prints. The original works were started at Philadelphia, but were condemned in 1872 by the Fairmount Park Commissioners. They were then established at Eddystone, where they cover an area of twenty acres ex- tending along the river. They are the largest print works in America. The company employ nine hundred hands, produce seventy million yards of cloth yearly, and have an annual pay- roll of nearly half a million dollars. The mammoth plant of the company consists of over twenty substantial brick buildings, all one- story high except the printing house, which is three, and the finishing house, two stories in height. The main buildings are the engrav-
ing and color, bleaching, boiler, cloth, north dye, south dye, printing, engine, finishing and retort houses, the machine shop, planing mill, and offices. The motive power of the works is seventy-six steam engines, varying from two to two hundred and fifty horse power each.
The borough has a public hall and library, over one hundred brick dwellings, postoffice, brick and lumber yards, and the great print works.
Eddystone has two churches, a Methodist Episcopal and a Catholic, St. Rose of Lima, Rev. N. J. Rafferty.
The borough has three schools and three teachers, and an enrollment of one hundred and fifty-eight pupils.
CHAPTER XXI.
MEDIA BOROUGH.
Few are the inland towns, in the eastern part of the Keystone State, that can equal Media for beauty and healthfulness of location, and that quiet and conservative force of energy and stability which serves to push a town into the front rank. Media lies on a low and broad topped hill, between tributary streams of Rid- ley creek, and in the heart of a rich agricul- tural region. To east and west, to north and south, stretches out a beautiful country. Media borough was incorporated by an act of the legislature of March 7, 1850, which was ap- proved by the governor on the roth of the same month. Its charter contains a clause prohibiting the sale of liquor within its boun- daries. The first town councilmen elected were: Dr. George Smith, Dr. Joseph Row- land. Isaac Haldeman. Nathan Shaw, Thomas T. Williams and John C. Beatty. At the same election Thomas Richardson was elected town clerk : Charles Palmer, treasurer : and Robert Rowland, assessor ; The first chief burgess was William T. Peirce. The present ( 1893)
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
borough officers are : chief burgess, George J. Stiteler ; president of council, George E. Darlington ; solicitor, V. G. Robinson ; treas- urer, C. D. M. Broomall ; council. Frank 1. Taylor, C. B. Jobson, T. E. Rorer, E. H. Hall and T. D. Young ; clerk of council, W. H. Tricker : justices of the peace, N. T. Wal- ter and J. B. Dickeson ; assessor and tax col- lector, T. E. Levis. Media is very nicely laid out, the streets running north and south, and east and west. The first mentioned streets being named and enumerated each way from Front or First street, and the latter named each way from Jackson street.
Media owes its name to a meeting held Jan- uary 10, 1850, at the Providence inn, where Media was proposed, instead of Providence, for the new county seat. Some favored Penn- rith as the name, and others suggested Nu- media, but Media was finally adopted, a name indicative of a central location, and not in- tended in honor of the ancient kingdom of Media.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first to settle on the site of Media were Peter and William Taylor, two brothers, who came, in 1682, from the parish of Sutton, in Chester county, England. They purchased land from William Penn in 1681, at ten and one-half cents per acre. Seven hundred of their one thousand two hundred and fifty acres were taken up in the site of Media. William Taylor died in 1683, and Peter Taylor, from whom President Zachary Taylor was a de- scendant, died in 1720. In 1849, when the county buildings were commenced, there were twelve houses within the present limits of the borough, of which were the old almshouse, the Briggs, Way and Hill stone mansions, the Pierce and Haldeman residences, and Peter Worrall's tavern.
GROWTH OF THE BOROUGH.
The long and exciting county seat contest, which terminated in the selection of the site of Media, has been described in a preceding chap-
ter. After the sale of lots in 1849, the first build- ing erected was a fine brick store, by John C. Beatty. Three years later the new founded town contained nearly ninety buildings, and since then the growth of the borough has been steady and gradual, until to-day the place has hundreds of houses, and is one of the finest and healthiest residence boroughs in the State.
The streets of the town are well paved and shaded, and are lighted by gas and electric light. The Media gas works were erected in 1871, at a cost of twenty thousand dollars, by the Media Gas Company, and on September 7th gas was first introduced into dwelling houses.
Media has good water and fire departments. The present water works were commenced in 1854, and a second basin was constructed in 1871. Two hydraulic and one steam pump are used, and the water of Ridley creek is forced into the two basins, from which the borough is supplied. The Media Fire and Hook and Ladder Company was formed Sep- tember 16, 1890, at a meeting held in the council chamber, a preliminary meeting hav- ing been held at the residence of Dr. Burk, on August 26th of that year. The officers of the company are : Terrence Reilly, president ; James H. Sweeny, jr., vice president ; T. J. Dolphin and H. R. Greenfield, secretaries : and Ralph Buckley, treasurer. The company own a splendid La France steamer, and Sat- urday. May 13. 1893, will long be remembered in Media as " Firemen's Day," as on that day the company made fine street display at the dedication of the new town hall, and the hous- ing of their apparatus in that building.
BOROUGH HALL AND COURT HOUSE AND JAIL.
The new borough hall building is a very fine three story structure, of which Media may well be proud. It was dedicated with appropriate exercises, on May 13, 1893.
The present court-house, whose corner stone was laid September 24. 1849, and which has been described in a preceding chapter, was
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
commenced in 1849, and the central or main part of the building was completed in 1851. In 1870 it was found necessary to add two wings, each thirty-eight feet square and two stories high, and the structure as thus enlarged is ample in size for the transaction of all the county business for the next half century.
The jail, which, like the court-house, has been described in a preceding chapter, was commenced in 1849, and the old part of the building was completed in 1851. In 1868 an addition was built, and in 1877 the surround- ing wall of the prison was extended and raised. In 1878 the new building was erected.
POSTOFFICE.
The citizens at Media received their mail at Rose Tree until 1852, and then for a short time at Nether Providence, which office was ordered to be removed to Media and take the latter name. Peter Worrall, the postmaster at Nether Providence, never removed, and the Media office was conducted for a short time under his deputy, Ellis Smedley. Charles R. Williamson became the first postmaster in May, 1853, and his successors have been: Thomas Williamson, W. T. Inness, J. G. Cum- mins, Samuel Dutton, Mrs. Miranda William- son, James C. Henderson, Joseph Addison Thompson, Edgar F. Miller (acting), and Henry C. Snowden, jr., who was appointed January 6, 1893.
THE PRESS.
The initial newspaper of the borough bore the name of The Union and Delaware Country Democrat, issued by Charles B. Stowe, pre- vious to June,. 1852, and running until Decem- ber, 1854. The second paper was the Media Advertiser, issued by Thomas V. Cooper and D. A. Vernon. It came from the press March 1, 1855, and in 1856 changed its name to that of the Media Advertiser and Delaware County American. On March 2, 1859, the first part of the title was dropped. The Delaware County American is a republican paper, and its
editors keep it newsy, bright and crisp. The Upland Union, formerly of Chester, was in ex- istence at Media from 1858 to 1861. The Delaware County Record was established by C. D. Williamson and Joseph Chadwick, on March 23, 1878, as an independent local sheet. It is now owned and edited by Mr. Chadwick, who has made it one of the successful and pros- perous papers of the county. The youngest paper in the borough is the Delaware County Ledger, that was started in 1891 as a demo- cratic journal, with A. J. Merrill as editor. It did not receive sufficient patronage to live, and was bought at sheriff's sale by John B. Robinson, who has owned and controlled it ever since.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
The First National bank of Media was or- ganized February 22, 1864, chartered March 12th, and opened for business March 21st of that year. Its presidents have been : Isaac Halderman, until his death in 1878, and since then his son, Thomas J. Halderman. Jos- eph W. Hawley has been cashier since its or- ganization. The Charter National bank was opened for business in April, 1887, and has a capital of $100,000. Its president, George Drayton, is an able financier, and its cashier, Theodore P. Saulnier, was trained in a large New York city bank.
Besides these banks there are two title and trust companies : The Delaware County Trust, Safe Deposit and Title Insurance Company, and the Media Title and Trust Company, or- ganized January 15, 1891, with George Dray- ton as president, and H. W. Rhodes as sec- retary. The Second Media Loan and Saving Association was incorporated in 1869, and re- charted in 1889.
HOTELS, SUMMER RESORTS, AND MEDIA INSTI- TUTES.
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