USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 18
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Darby township is crossed from east to west by the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania railroads. On the Baltimore & Ohio railroad are the stations of Darby, Collingdale, Llan- wellyn and Holmes, while on the Pennsylvania railroad are Darby, Academy, Sharon Hill, Folcroft and Glen Olden stations. Colling- dale is west of Darby borough and north of Sharon Hill. It has several streets and ave- nues, a postoffice and two churches-the Episcopal and First Baptist. It is a school district, has thirty-two pupils of school age, but no public school house yet. Llanwellyn has two or three streets, a postoffice, store and one church - the Darby Presbyterian. Sharon Hill has several streets, a postoffice, glass works, a manufacturing company, and two stations -Sharon Hill and Academy. Sharon
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Hill has a Catholic church and convent. It is a public school district, having one school and an enrollment of eighty-one pupils. Col- wyn is a suburb of Darby borough, and has been a school district for some time, having one school house and fifty-six pupils. Yeadon postoffice is in the northeast, opposite Fern- wood station.
Darby township is largely owned by im- provement companies, and seems destined to become a solid municipality of railway towns and boroughs.
Darby Presbyterian church was organized as a Congregationalist church in 1840, and two years later changed to the Presbyterian form of government.
The township has eight public schools, with eight teachers and an enrollment of three hundred and nineteen pupils.
DARBY BOROUGH.
Darby village is mentioned as early as 1773. By 1836 it had grown to be place of over sixty dwellings, and on May 3, 1853, was incorpor- ated as a borough.
The earliest mill at Darby was Darby mills, which were built about 1684 by William Wood, who then owned the site of Darby. They were burned in 1862. On their site in 1882 were erected the two large mills of the Gris- wold Worsted Company. The Oakford full- ing mill was one of the old Darby mills. The first Imperial cotton and woolen mills was erected in 1846, and burned down in 1880. The present mills were then built on the site of the old ones thus destroyed.
Darby has quite a number of streets, a good street car line, and a large gas works. It has a postoffice, library company (founded 1743), and good hotel accommodations. The bor- ough has a fire company whose organization dates back to 1775.
Darby Friends' meeting was organized be- tween 1682 and 1684. Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal church was founded in 1807, with twenty members. The Presbyterian church 9a
was organized about 1854. Baird Memorial church has been erected since 1884.
Orphans' Rest Lodge, No. 132, and General Taylor Encampment, No. 54, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, were instituted respec- tively in 1845 and 1847.
Darby has seven schools and eight teachers, with an enrollment of three hundred and thirty- five pupils.
The population of the borough since 1860 has been: 1860, 780: 1870, 1,205; 1880, 1,779; 1890, 2,972.
CHAPTER XXV.
EDGMONT AND HAVERFORD TOWNSHIPS.
EDGMONT TOWNSHIP.
Lying along the Chester county line is the township of Edgmont, whose other boundaries are formed by the townships of Newtown, Upper Providence, Middletown and Thorn- bury.
Edgmont township contains small areas of ferruginous conglomerate, trap, serpentine and enstatite, of which latter the noted "Cas- tle Rock" is a fine specimen. There are sev- eral areas of mica schists, and syenites occupy the greater part of the central and southern portions of the township. The minerals of Edgmont township are: rutile, enstatite, chrys- olite, orthoclase, and serpentine.
Edgmont derives its name from the royal manor of Edgmond, in England. The tax- ables of 1715 in the township were : John Worrall, Joseph Baker (of Edgmond, Eng- land), Philip Yarnall, Ephir Jackson, Joseph Pennell, John Broomall, David Register, Wil- liam Hiddings, John Golding, Rebecca Powell, John Gregory, Thomas Vernon, Thomas Daw- son, Simon Acres, Jacob Taylor, Edward and Caleb Thompson, John Clues, Nathan Evans, John Holston, William Willis, Robert Wil- liamson, Evan Howell, William Adams, Rich-
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BIOGRAPHIY AND HISTORY
ard Pritchard, and Evan Lewis. Freemen in 1715: William Clues, John Hiddings and Wil- liam Floud.
The manufacture of cotton yarn was com- menced in 1825 at the Crum creek grist mill, which extemporized factory was destroyed by fire in 1838. The factory was rebuilt about 1855, and the manufacture of cotton laps was commenced. Green's fulling mill was built in 1817 and burned in 1864. The Baker flouring mill was built about 1815.
The township contains two villages, Edg- mont and Gradyville. Edgmont is in the northwest, and contains a postoffice, two stores, and eight or ten houses. The cele- brated hotel known as the President tavern was opened at Edgmont in 1806, and ran for several years.
Gradyville, once called Howellville, after Israel Howell, who owned the site of the vil- lage, contains a store, postoffice, hotel, and about a dozen houses. One of Gradyville's early noted hotels was the old Rising Sun tav- ern, opened there about 1815.
Edgmont township has three public schools, with three teachers, and in which eighty-five pupils are enrolled.
HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP.
Haverford township is bounded by Mont- gomery county and Upper Darby, Marple, and Radner townships.
A small area of clay is in the northeastern part, a considerable area of ferruginous con- glomerate lies in the central and southern por- tions, while mica schists are found throughout the greater part of the township. A small area of serpentine is in the northeastern part of the township. The minerals of Haverford are: garnet, syenite, and staurolite.
Haverford township derives its name from Haverford-West, in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. It was settled by Welsh Friends, and was a part of the celebrated Welsh tract or barony described in a preceding chapter. These Welsh pioneer settlers were remarkably
charitable, and suffering humanity as far as New England received substantial donations at their hands. The taxables in the township in 1722 were : Richard Hayes, John Havard, Daniel Humphrey, David Llewellyn, Humph- rey Ellis, John Parry, Edward Jones, John Thomas, Rees Price, Thomas David, Walter Lloyd, Griffith Evan, Samuel and Daniel Rees, Henry and Thomas Lawrence, Samuel, Henry, and Joseph Lewis. Besides these taxables, Lewis David, William Howell, John, Abraham, and David Lewis, David Lawrence, Morris Llewellyn, John Richard, William Sharpus, William Lewis, Thomas Ellis, John Rees, Robert Wharton, and Evan Williams had settled between 1682 and 1700.
The Philadelphia and Lancaster turnpike, the oldest turnpike road in America, crossed the northeast corner of the township.
The Haverford grist mill was built as early as 1688 on Cobb's creek. A fulling mill was afterward added to it, and in 1826 Dennis Kelly purchased these mills and changed them into the Castle Hill woolen and cotton mills. The new Haverford mill was built in 1807, and near its site, in 1832, was erected the Leedom mill. The Ellis' fulling mill was built before 1700, and ran for several years. Brown's mill was in existencein 1800, and the Lawrence flour- ing mills, erected in 1832, are near the site of an old Lawrence fulling and saw mill built about 1700. Miller's gunpowder mills were built about 1810, and the Nitre Hall powder mills, erected about the same time, were changed in 1840 into a cotton and woolen fac- tory. The Clinton woolen and cotton mills were erected in 1814 by Dennis Kelly, and Boyle's cotton and woolen mills were built about 1870. From 1766 to 1830 numerous tanneries, grist mills, and one paper mill were built in the township. The paper mill was erected about 1821 by Edward Humphrey, and went down some years later.
The township contains one village, Coopers- town, which is a place of near a dozen houses, and lies one quarter of a mile from Coreze
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postoffice. At Manoa postoffice are three or four houses and a store.
Haverford Friends' meeting was organized before 1685, and William Penn preached in the meeting house which they built in 1688. Kelleyville, or St. Dennis' Catholic, was or- ganized about 1825, and the church structure, now enlarged and remodeled, was built by Dennis Kelley. Bethesda Methodist Episco- pal church was organized in 1831.
Haverford college, according to its cata- logue, was originated by a meeting of a few Friends in Philadelphia in the spring of 1830. The faculty is: Dr. Isaac Sharpless, presi- dent, and eighteen professors and instructors. The college has ninety-five students.
There are in the township six public schools, in which seven teachers are employed, and two hundred and twenty-four pupils are en- rolled.
CHAPTER XXVI.
LOWER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP AND ITS VILLAGES OF TRAINER'S AND LINWOOD AND MARCUS HOOK BOROUGH.
LOWER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP.
The township of Lower Chichester is bounded by the Delaware river, separating it from New Jersey, the State of Delaware, and Upper Chichester township and Chester township.
Alluvial deposits cover the township half way from the river to the Pennsylvania rail- road, and from there to the north boundary line gravel and clay deposits are abundant. There are a few exposures of syenitic rock, and clay is found in the northeast corner of the township.
The territory of Lower Chichester east of Hook creek was patented to Capt. John Am- mundson Besk by Queen Christina of Sweden, while the remainder of the township to the west was granted by Governor Andross, in 1679, to Charles Jansen, Olle Rawson, Olle
Nielson, Hans Hopman, John Hendrickson and Hans Olleson. In 1715 the following tax- ables were returned : Philip, Jonah and Rob- ert Roman, John Rawson, Richard Bezer, Philip Pedrick, Anthony Baldwin, William Flowers, Mordecai Howell, John Royley, Richard Edwards, Willlam Clayton, William Hews, William Hews, jr., John Hopton, Rich- ard Crosby and John Ross.
The Diamond or Hickman mills were erected over twelve years ago on the site of the old Pennell saw and grist mill on Naaman's creek. The other mills and the industrial establish- ments of the township are at Trainer's, Lin- wood and Marcus Hook, except Burton's shipyard and the Bear Creek and Pipe Line works.
Several celebrated duels have been fought just across the township line in the State of Delaware.
C. C. Cobourn is commissioner of highways in the Linwood district, and is making excel- lent macadamized roads from the railroad to the Delaware State line.
Lower Chichester has five public schools, with five teachers, and an enrollment of two hundred and nineteen pupils. The school buildings are fine brick structures, and John D. Goff is said to be the founder of public school improvement in the township.
TRAINER'S.
About 1750 a grist mill was erected on a part of the site of Trainer's. In 1811 a saw mill was built and the place was named Linwood Mills. The militia ordered to Marcus Hook in 1814 were largely encamped at Linwood Mills. David Trainer, sr., and Gideon Jacques owned the mills, which Mr. Trainer changed into a cotton factory in 1837. The next owner was David Trainer, jr., who with John Hastings operated the factory until 1851, when it burned. Mr. Trainer then rebuilt, and in 1865 he admitted his son, J. Newlin Trainer, into partnership with him, and in 1869 built Mill No. 2. In 1873 D. Trainer & Sons bought
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
the factory built near them by the South Ches- ter Improvement Company, and it became Mill No. 3. Mill No. 1 is ninety by two hun- dred and twenty feet ; No. 2, one hundred by three hundred ; and No. 3, one hundred by one hundred and seventy-five feet in dimen- sions. The first two mills are two stories in height, and the third is a three-story structure. A dye house is attached in which they do their own dyeing, as well as a large amount of work for other factories. Trainer's is one of the largest cotton manufacturing plants in the county, employing nearly four hundred hands, and a town of considerable size has grown up around it. There are nearly one hundred houses. The station building was erected in 1880, and on April 1, 1882, the postoffice was established. The present railroad agent and postmaster is George McCay. The electric street railway from Chester to Marcus Hook passes through the place. Trainer's Metho- dist Episcopal chapel was built by David Trainer.
LINWOOD.
Linwood proper is north of the railroad, and the entire place contains about sixty houses, and nearly four hundred population. It has a railroad station, postoffice and several business establishments, and is really a continuation of Marcus Hook. John R. Casey was post- master from 1850 to 1863, and since then Mary W. Casey has been postmistress.
MARCUS HOOK BOROUGH.
On the lower river front is Marcus Hook, the second borough in the county in order of age, and that possesses good advantages for manufacturing, together with excellent harbor and railroad facilities. On September 12, 1701, Penn granted a charter to Marcus Hook as a market town, and seven years later Marcus Hook rivaled Philadelphia in size. But that day of prosperity soon passed, yet in 1760 an effort was made to revive the charter but failed, and for one hundred and thirty-two years the town was charterless. On March 7, 1892,
Marcus Hook was reincorporated as a borough, and its officers in 1893 were : burgess, Job L. Green ; members of council, W. H. H. H. Heycock, John Downes, M. D. Marshall, Capt. John Richardson, Harry Lewis and David Syfrit ; treasurer, W. H. Priest ; clerk of council, R. W. Rennie ; solicitor, W. I. Schaffer ; surveyor, Walter Wood ; collector of taxes, James T. Martin ; committing magis- trate, Frank S. Vernon ; building inspector, Isaac B. Vernon ; chief of police, William O'Donnell. Marcus or Market is the main east and west street, with Green, Hughes and Blue Ball streets parallel to it, while the north and south streets from the river to the railroad are : Delaware avenue, Discord Lane, and from Third numbering up to Ninth street. A handsome town hall has been contracted for at a cost of eight thousand dollars.
Blackbeard, the pirate, is said to have stopped often at a house in Discord Lane. Shad fishing and ship building have always been carried on at Marcus Hook, where Bur- ton still has his ship yard. There are eight piers and two landings, and the last superin- tendent of them was Thomas G. Locke, jr. Some years ago a sugar refinery and shoe fac- tory was started, but they soon ceased opera- tions. The present enterprises of the borough are nearly all of late date. The Bear Creek oil refinery was erected in April, 1892, and the National Iron works were opened on Septem- ber 1, 1892, while the Wrightson hosiery mill is of recent date, and employs nearly two hun- dred hands. Two noted hotels of the past were the Blue Ball and Spread Eagle. The present hotel - the Union - has been kept since 1892 by Andrew J. McClure. The pres- ent postoffice was established in July, 1892, with Mrs. Anne Green as postmistress. For several years before that all mail for Marcus Hook was directed to Linwood postoffice. The borough is connected with Chester by an electric street railway. Linwood Library as- sociation was formed in 1885. The Odd Fel- lows, Red Men, Knights of Pythias, American
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Mechanics and American Legion of Honor have organizations in the borough and at Linwood, some meeting at one place and some at the other.
St. Martin's Episcopal church was organized in 1702, and its rector, since 1871, has been Rev. G. C. Bird. Marcus Hook Baptist church was organized May 3, 1789, and Rev. C. W. W. Bishop has been its pastor since 1879. Cokesbury Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1835 as St. George's church, and Rev. W. B. Chalfant has been pastor since 1891. Hebron African Methodist Episcopal church was formed in 1837 in Upper Chiches- ter township, and in 1844 built their old church structure at Marcus Hook, which was replaced by a new one in 1893.
Marcus Hook has a frame primary school house, and a handsome brick grammar school building with a principal and four assistants. The total enrollment of pupils is two hundred and eighteen.
The population of the borough in 1850 was four hundred and ninety-two, and 1880 num- bered eight hundred and sixteen. The census enumerator in 1890 was Jacob M. Wagoner.
CHAPTER XXVIL
MARPLE, MIDDLETOWN, NETHER PROVI- DENCE, AND NEWTOWN TOWNSHIPS
MARPLE TOWNSHIP.
Situated between the waters of Darby and Crum creeks, Marple township is bounded by Newtown, Radnor, Haverford, Springfield, Nether Providence, and Upper Providence townships.
Ferruginous conglomerate prevails in the central portion of the township, and serpen- tine and mica schist rocks are found respect- ively in the northwest and the southeast. Whetstone quarries have been worked in the southeastern part. The minerals of Marple
township are: menaccanite, magnetite, chro- mite, quartz, amethyst, chalcedony, carnelian, agate, enstatite, actinolite, antholite, asbestus, beryl, tourmaline, andalusite, talc, serpentine, and damourite.
The first mention of Marple occurs in the county records in 1684. The taxables in the township in 1715 were: David Morris, Henry and Evan Lewis, Thomas and Robert Pear- son, Joseph and Peter Worrall, Bartholomew Coppock, Joseph Roades, Joseph Powell, Mordecai Massey, Robert Taylor, and Rich- ard Marris. The freemen in that year were : Daniel Broom, Joshua Thompson, and Enoch Pearson.
During the eighteenth century several saw mills were built in the township, and Blinder's cotton factory, erected some time after 1820, was destroyed by fire in 1848. In 1841 Ben- jamin Jones erected a pottery that was run for several years.
On the West Chester pike is Broomall, a village of a dozen houses, named from the postoffice established there in 1868, and called in honor of Hon. John M. Broomall. The old Drove tavern was opened in 1800 on the site of Broomall. On the eastern boundary and on the State road is Marple postoffice, which was established in 1849, with E. R. Curtis as postmaster.
The Marple Presbyterian church was organ- ized September 27, 1835, with ten members.
The Union American Episcopal church was organized between 1830 and 1838.
Marple township has three public schools, with three teachers, and one hundred and thirty-five pupils.
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP.
The township of Middletown is bounded by Thornbury, Edgmont, Upper and Nether Providence, Chester, and Aston townships.
Middletown township contains several small areas of tertiary, and a large area in the cen- tral part of serpentine, with which is asso- ciated limonite and granite. Mica schists
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
and gneisses lie along Ridley and Chester creeks, and syenites are confined principally to the northern part of the township. The minerals are : corundum, menaccanite, mag- netite, rutile, limonite, quartz, tremolite, acti- nolite, asbestus, beryl, garnet, chrysolite, zir- con, biotite, muscovite, oliglocase, albite, orthoclase, tourmaline, fibrolite, staurolite, talc, serpentine, jefferisite, and hallite.
Middletown township was so named from its supposed central location in Chester county. The taxables in 1715 were as follows : George Grist, Caleb Harrison, Edward Woodward, Daniel Cookson, Joseph Jervis, William Pen- nell, John Edwards, Jacob and Peter Tregoe. Thomas Barns, John Chauley, John Turner, Joseph Sharpless, Alexander Hunter, Robert Baker, Thomas Barnsley, Edward Laurence, John Moses and Thomas Martin.
The Dutton mills are built on the site of the old Forest Dale mills, erected by Thomas Cobourn in 1687, against the protest of Caleb Pusey. The Knowlton mills were started by Elijah Tyson about 1807. In 1825 John D. Carter changed the rolling mill into a cotton factory that was burned in 1834. John P. Crozer erected the second factory that was swept away in the flood of 1843, and then built the present factory, that has been idle since 1888. It is said that Knowlton derives its name from Crozer's wife, whose maiden name was Knowles. The present postmaster and station agent is W T. Maxwell, who has served since 1888. The Bottomley woolen mill, which stood above the Presbyterian Ford, was built in 1810, and burned down in 1848. The old Sable nail works were erected at Rockdale in 1810. The Yearsley stone mill on Rocky run was built in 1792, and the old Hillsborough cotton mills on Ridley creek, that burned down about 1870, were erected in 1819. The Levis and Lewis paper, grist and saw mills date back to 1704, when Joseph Jarvis built the grist mill. Isaac Levis erected the saw mill and paper mills about 1794. Ed- ward Lewis became proprietor in 1825, and
the mills were sold in 1871 to the borough of Media, whose authorities fitted up a part of them as the Media water works. Mt. Alverno is a railroad station and has a starch factory, started by a Mr. Burnett.
A great manufacturing center of Delaware county is included in Glen Riddle, Parkmount and Lenni, the founding and growth of whose cotton and woolen mills is mainly due to the efforts of Samuel Riddle, one of the great manufacturers of Pennsylvania. It is but a question of time until the three villages will form one town. The Glen Riddle mills stand near where Nathan Sharpless in 1815 erected his woolen factory and fulling mill. The Glen Riddle mills are to-day among the largest and best equipped cotton mills in the United States. Mr. Riddle came in possession of the place about 1843, and built two of the five present large mills, which now employ a force of four hundred hands. The village, postoffice and station are named in honor of Mr. Riddle. The first Parkmount mills were built by Mr. Riddle in 1841, and afterwards burned. On their site the present mills were erected in 1866. Lenni is named for the Lenni Lenape Indians, and the Lenni mills manufacture plush and woolen goods. Joseph Watson is station agent and postmaster at Lenni, where a large railroad company is quarrying rock, which they ship to Jersey City. One-half mile west of Lenni is Wawa station, to which the Baltimore Junction station was removed June I, 1883. The postoffice was established in September, 1879, when the people chose the name of Wawaekas, which the postoffice de- partment shortened to Wawa to save time to all persons directing mail to the new office. Edward Jones was the first station agent and postmaster, and was succeeded on February 1, 1880, by Charles F. Borhek. Elwyn Sta- tion was named for Dr. Elwyn, its original name being Greenwood. L. F. Ritchie is the present agent and postmaster. Lima is at the old Middletown Cross Roads, where Philip Yarnall kept the old Pine Apple tavern in
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1806. The postoffice was established in 1832 by the name of Hamor's Store. Lima Tem- perance hall was erected in 1848, and after- ward became a dwelling house. The house of employment or county home is near Lima. and was erected in 1856. Since then a hos- pital has been built and an addition made to the department for the insane. The Darling- ton dairy farms are near Darlington Station. The Black Horse hotel, one of the most noted hotels of the county, was opened in 1739, and in 1845 it was urged as a fit place for the county capital. It stands on the highest ground in the county, from which the ships on the Delaware and the dome of the Phila- delphia city hall can be seen by the naked eye. At Elwyn Herbert Brinton has laid out a town named Elwynside, which is on the hill on the south side of the railroad.
Middletown Friends' meeting was organized previous to 1684, and in 1828 the Orthodox branch of the church withdrew, and some years later built a meeting house. The Mid- dletown Presbyterian church was organized about 1728, and its present pastor is Rev. W. T. Kruse. Glen Riddle Presbyterian church was organized in 1880 with twenty members, and its last pastor was Prof. S. R. Queen. Lima Methodist Episcopal church dates its organization back to 1833; and Honeycomb African Methodist Episcopal church was or- ganized in 1872.
In Middletown township are the " Pennsyl- vania Training School for Feeble - Minded Children," and the " Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades," which have been de- scribed in a preceding chapter of this work.
Middletown township has nine public schools which are taught by nine teachers, and have an enrollment of four hundred and thirteen pupils.
NETHER PROVIDENCE TOWNSHIP.
Nether Providence is bounded by the town- ships of Edgmont, Newtown, Marple, Nether Providence and Middletown.
Gravel occurs in the southern part of the township, a small area of steatite is found near Rose Valley mills, and mica schists are ex- posed along Crum and Ridley creeks, while hornblendic gneiss lies along Crum creek and the railroad. The only mineral reported from Nether Providence is orthoclase feldspar.
Nether Providence was formed about 1790 by the division of Providence township into Upper and Nether Providence townships. The taxables in the township in 1715 were : Isaac Minshall, Henry Hasting, Jacob Edge, William Swafer, John Powell, James and Jo- seph Sharpless, Jacob, Joseph, Thomas and John Vernon.
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