USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 19
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Within the last century a large number of mills have been built in the township. The Waterville mills on Ridley creek were started in 1790 by the erection of a fulling mill by Daniel Sharpless. The dyewood works were moved to Chester in 1878, and the woolen factory burned in 1882. The Franklin iron works are mentioned on the assessment roll of 1811, and in 1855 were converted into an edge tool works. Todmorden mills, now Bancroft cotton mills, were commenced in 1791 by the erection of a snuff mill. In 1832 Samuel Bancroft built the first of the two present cot- ton mills. In 1789 a snuff mill was built on the site of Rose Valley mills. In 1826 the snuff mill became a paper mill, and in 1861 Antrim Osborne erected the present Rose Val- ley cotton mills. The Chestnut Grove cotton mill was built about 1845, and was destroyed by fire in 1884. Thomas Leiper built a snuff mill about 1779 at Avondale. In 1843 a pa- per mill was erected there, and shortly after- ward the cotton .factory just across the creek in Springfield township. A powder mill was erected on the site of Strath Haven in 1776, and a tilt or blade mill succeeded in 1826. The latter was changed to a paper mill in 1836. In 1843 there was erected a cotton factory, which burned. in 1865. The Lewis paper mills were erected in 1884 on the site of two former paper mills that were burned, one in
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1882, and the other a year later. The first paper mill was built in 1826 by John Pancoast. Hinkson's Corner, now a part of Wallingford, is on land that came into the possession of the Hinkson family in 1790.
South Media, formerly known as Briggs- ville, dates its history back to 1849, when Isaac Briggs opened a store on the site of the present town. Mr. Briggs erected a church for the use of all religious denominations, and built the first houses in the place. Wallingford has a station and postmaster, and the larger number of its houses are above the bridge. The present station agent and postmaster is D. B. Wetzel. Moylan is one-half mile from Media, and has a station and postoffice, which was established in 1890, with Miss Ida W. Quinn as postmistress. The station was first named Manchester, after the birth-place in England of Samuel Bancroft, who gave the station grounds to the railroad company. The present name is in honor of Moylan Lansdale. Moylan Park at the station has seven splendid houses, and is lit up with electric lights.
Providence Friends' meeting was organized about 1696. Union Methodist Episcopal church was formed about 1812, and South Media station was erected in 1877. The Pres- byterian church at Todmorden was formed about 1850, and the church edifice was built by William T. Crook, at a cost of ten thou- sand dollars. The church organization went down by 1884.
Nether Providence has five public schools and an enrollment of two hundred and sixty- eight pupils.
NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP.
The township of Newtown is bounded by Chester county and the townships of Radnor, Marple, Upper Providence and Edgmont.
The township contains several areas of ser- pentine and associated rocks and mica schists, while the Laurentian syenitic rocks are prin- cipally in the northern part. The minerals of Newtown are : chromite, limonite, quartz,
enstatite, tremolite, asbestus, steatite and ser- pentine.
Newtown township is first mentioned in 1684, and derives its name from having been laid out with a "townstead" in the center. Newtown was largely settled by Welsh, and its taxables in 1715 were: Reece Howell, William Bevan, John Fawkes, Morgan James, Lawrence Peirce, James Price, John Meredith, Daniel and John Williamson, Edward, William and David Thomas, Thomas, John and Lewis Reece, William Philips and John Reece, jr., Lewis, Evan and William Lewis.
In 1828 William Crossley built a woolen factory that was burned some years later. On the site of this factory, in 1861, the Union pa- per mill was erected. Moore's paper mills were built in 1835, and burned down after 1854.
Newtown, or Newtown Square, was really founded by Davis Beaumont, who kept a tav- ern on its site, and in 1820 secured the post- office. The village now contains a hotel, hall, postoffice, school house and fourteen dwell- ings. Okehocking Tribe, No 159, Red Men, and Newtown Square Lodge, No. 95, Odd Fellows, meet in the hall. Near Newtown Square is the Pennsylvania Hospital tract, on which are five buildings. Central Square con- tains five houses and a church edifice. Wyola has a store, postoffice and seven houses. On the old Sidney farm there was an American military out-post in 1777.
Newtown Friends' meeting was established about 1698, and their first meeting house was built in 1711.
The Seventh-day Baptist church was or- ganized about 1697, and went down about 1775. St. David's Episcopal church, often called Old Radnor, was organized about 1714, and the old ivy covered church, immortalized by Longfellow's poem, "Old St. David's at Radnor," was built in 1715. In the church yard attached is the grave of Mad Anthony Wayne. The Newtown Baptist church was instituted in 1832, with the following seven members :
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Rev. Richard Gardiner and his wife, Hannah, Eliza C. Cheyney, John Kinzey and his wife, Mary, Harriet Lewis, and Eli Baugs.
Newtown has two public schools with an enrollment of eighty-three pupils.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
RADNOR TOWNSHIP AND ITS SUBURBAN VILLAGE OF WAYNE.
RADNOR TOWNSHIP.
The township of Radnor is bounded by Chester and Montgomery counties and Haver- ford and Newtown townships.
Ferruginous conglomerate is in the south- eastern part of the township, while several areas of serpentine are within its boundary lines, and a narrow belt of white and gray crystalline limestone lies along the south side of Gulf creek. Mica schists and syenites are also found in different parts of the township. The minerals of Radnor township are: bhie quartz, enstatite, asbestus, garnet, talc, ser- pentine, marmolite, chrysotile, deweylite, and magnetite.
Radnor township is named for Radnorshire, Wales, of which its early settlers were natives. In 1722 the taxables of the township were : David Harry, Thomas Lewis, Richard Armes, David Pugh, Sarah Abraham, John Morgan, Richard Richards, John Jerman, Joseph Wil- liams, Hugh Wilson, John Samuel, Edward George, Evan Stephens, Gabriel Davis, Hugh, John, and Jenkin David, Arthur, David, John, Edward, Evan, and Joseph Jones, David and Howell Powell, William, John, Thomas, and David Thoms, Owen, Caleb, Evan, and David Evans.
In 1710 William Davis had a grist mill, and in 1782 William Bailey was the owner of a fulling mill. Several saw and grist mills have been erected from time to time in the town- ship, and in 1829 Eber James built a pottery kiln.
The four principal villages of the township are Wayne, Radnorville, St. David's and Rad- nor. Radnorville is near the center of the township, and contains a store, hall, hotel, and postoffice, which is named Ithan. The village has six unnamed streets and about thirty houses. St. David's adjoins Wayne, and has two main streets and a railroad sta- tion and postoffice. Radnor has four streets, a railroad station and postoffice, and contains nearly twenty houses.
Radnor Friends' meeting was established as early as 1686, and their first meeting house was built in 1693. Radnor Methodist Epis- copal church was organized about 1780, and Radnor Baptist church was instituted in 1841.
In the township are numerous beautiful places, among which are : Wooton, Edgwood, Lainshaw, Rockland, Richland, Woodstock, Wentworth; Ben Almond, Chetwynd, Carle- mont, Castle Finn, and Glen Brook.
Villanova college is beautifully situated, and has been in a very prosperous condition for the last ten years. Radnor township has eight public schools, in which are enrolled five hundred and eleven pupils.
VILLAGE OF WAYNE.
Wayne, which has been pronounced the model suburban village of the American con- tinent, is an enduring monument to the mem- ory of George W. Childs, the great philan- thropist. Mr. Childs, in connection with A. J. Drexel, purchased the site of the village of Wayne in September, 1880. They laid it out in avenues and lots, and spent over a million dollars in establishing a village on scientific principles, where rural homes could be pro- vided with all city comforts. Fine water works, a beautiful park and a splendid drain- age system were provided, and the new born village has grown rapidly in size and popula- tion, while handsome mansions and beautiful grounds extend in every direction from the railway station. The Louella and Bellevue hotels are magnificent buildings, costing over
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
fifty thousand dollars each, with the latest of modern city appointments. Wayne has electric lighting, and is really an "aggre- gation of delightful suburban residences." Nearly one hundred cottages and mansions have been erected, and the town was not laid out for speculative purposes by the founders.
Wayne is one of the most beautiful subur- ban towns of Philadelphia and the United States, and the old Lancaster pike from Phil- adelphia to Wayne, now improved at an ex- pense of nearly one hundred thousand dollars, is the finest driving road in America.
Wayne Presbyterian church was organized in 1870. The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd was organized in 1869, and the Wayne Memorial church edifice was erected by Rev. Thomas K. Conrad, D. D.
Near Wayne is Wooton, the country home of the late George W. Childs, and was named in honor of the Wooton house in England, which has been from time immemorial the family seat of the Greenvilles. At Wooton house Mr. Childs and his wife were the guests of the Duke of Buckingham, and there made their acquaintance with English country life. Mr. Childs built Wooton in 1880, and for beauty, elegance, and taste the house, lawn, and farm have not their equals in this country.
CHAPTER XXIX.
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, AND RUTLEDGE AND RIDLEY PARK BOROUGHS.
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP.
Ridley is one of the townships of Delaware county that is rapidly losing its farming area by the building up of numerous towns and boroughs. The township of Ridley is bounded by the Delaware river and the townships of Chester, Nether Providence, Springfield, Up- per Darby, Darby and Tinicum.
Alluvium deposits extend a short distance
north of Darby creek and the Delaware river, while the gravel deposits extend over every part of the township, and mica schists and gneisses are found in numerous places. The minerals of Ridley township are : beryl, gar- net, orthoclase, tourmaline, fibrolite, syenite, stilbite, damounite, apatite, and zoizite.
Ridley township derives its name from Rid- ley, Cheshire, England, and its taxables in 1715 were : Jacob, Jacob, jr., and John Sim- cock, Joseph Harvey, John Stedman, Thomas Dell, John Sharpless, Joseph Powell, John Crosby, Lawrence and Gabriel Friend, Amos Nicholas, Enoch Enochson, George Brown, Andrew and John Hendrick, Andrew and Hance Torton, Andrew and Andrew Morton, jr., John Orchard, George Vanculine, Israel Taylor, Jonathan Hood, and Obadiah Bonsall.
The earliest industry in the township, after farming, was the manufacture of iron, and the old Crosby forge, near Leiperville, was built some time prior to 1740. The forge was aban- doned before the commencement of the Revo- lutionary war. The Lapidea grist mill was built in 1816, on the site of a former mill, by Thomas Leiper. John P. Crozer rented the mill in 1821 and changed a part of it into a cotton factory. In 1826 the factory was changed from a cotton to a woolen mill, and afterward became a worsted factory. The Ridley stone quarries were opened about 1766, and in 1790 Thomas Leiper and John Wall attempted to secure an appropriation to cut a canal from these quarries to the Delaware river, but failed. In 1807 Mr. Leiper built a railroad from his quarries to Ridley creek, and in 1828 his son, George C. Leiper, built the canal, which is now abandoned. The canal was one mile in length.
Four railways pass through the township. On the West Chester branch is the borough of Rutledge, and the Reading road has no pas- senger stations, but along its line near Ridley creek are the Ridley and the Philadelphia brick works. On the Baltimore & Ohio rail- way are Leiperville, Milmont, Folsom and
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Holmes, while along the Pennsylvania are Eddystone borough, Crumlyne, Ridley Park borough, Prospect Park, Moore's and Nor- wood.
Leiperville is on the old Queen's Highway, and was named for the Leiper family. Moore's Station is on land that was in possession of the Moore family in 1800. John Cochran founded Norwood in 1872, buying one hun- dred and fifty acres of land from the estate of Rebecca Gessner, and laying it out into lots. Norwood takes its name from the title of Henry Ward Beecher's novel that was pub- lished about 1872.
The first attempt to lay out a suburban park in Delaware county was at Buenos Ayres, on the " Great Southern Road," in 1800, but the project failed and the prospective village never passed beyond the paper stage. Ridley Park was the first park laid out in the county, and three years later, in 1874, John Cochran laid ont Prospect Park, which now contains many handsome and costly houses.
Prospect Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1878 with a class of six members.
On May 28, 1876, a grand encampment of Knights Templar of Maryland, was held near Crum Lynne lake. The encampment contin- ued for ten days.
RIDLEY PARK BOROUGH.
Ridley Park, one of the most beautiful spots in suburban Philadelphia, was founded in 1872, and incorporated as a borough in 1887. It is laid out in walks, drives, parks and lakes, and in well macadamized streets and avenues. It has a fine hotel, a club house and many hand- some and elegant buildings. No manufac- tories of any kind are or can be erected, as the place was designed for suburban homes.
Ridley Park has three churches : the Bap- tist, organized in 1832; the Presbyterian, in 1877 ; and the Episcopal, in 1878.
The borough has a well organized fire com- pany. Ridley Park Cold Spring Water Com- pany supplies the place with water, and it is
furnished with electric light by the Ridley Electric Light and Power Company.
A fine public school house has been erected in which four departments have been organ- ized, with twelve grades, commencing with the primary and ending with the high school.
RUTLEDGE BOROUGH.
The village of Rutledge became a borough in March, 1887, and the postoffice was estab- lished July 1, 1889, with Alfred W. Palmer as postmaster, whose successors have been David G. Myers and Frank P. Corson. There are no manufactories or lodges in the place. The borough has one church, Calvary Pres- byterian, which was organized in 1891, with Rev. William W. Mckinney, D.D., as pastor. The population is about three hundred, being two hundred and sixty-nine in 1890.
CHAPTER XXX.
SPRINGFIELD AND THORNBURY TOWN- SHIPS.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
The township of Springfield is bounded by Marple, Upper Darby, Darby, Ridley, Haver- ford and Upper Providence townships.
Gravel and clay exposures occur in the south- ern part of the township, a small area of fer- ruginous conglomerate is on the east line, and trap is exposed on Stone creek and south of the Delaware county pike. There are mica schist exposures at numerous points. The minerals of Springfield township are : beryl, garnet, muscovite, tourmaline, andalusite, and apa- tite.
Springfield was mentioned as a separate municipality in 1686. Tradition says the name came from a large spring being in one of the first fields cleared by Thomas Pearson or George Maris. The taxables in 1715 were : Samuel Levis, Bartholomew, Jonathan and
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Barthow Coppock, John, George and Richard Maris, William West, Isaac, Thomas and Isaac Taylor, sr., Samuel Hall, James Barrot, Thomas Poe, George James, Richard Wood- ward, John Glere, George Lownes, Nicholas Smith, Thomas Kendall, Mordecai Maddock and William Miller.
The Wallingford or Lewis cotton mills are near the site of a grist mill erected before 1779, by John Lewis. A saw mill was added by Lewis in 1788, and in 1811 John Lewis, jr., was assessed with a paper mill. In 1835 the grist mill was changed into a cotton factory, and rented to James Ogden, who was soon succeeded by John R. and Mordecai Lewis, sons of George Lewis, who changed the paper mill into a cotton factory. After the death of John R. Lewis, his brother, Mordecai, oper- ated the mills until he died in 1870, when his sons, Isaac, Albert and Reese, became opera- tors of the plant. Afterward Albert Lewis purchased his partners' interest in the Wal- lingford mills, which received their name from Thomas Allen, who came from Wallingford, England. The plant contains seventeen acres, and Mr. Lewis has fully equipped the mills with all necessary improved machinery. One of the mills is a four-story building forty by sixty, and the other is a three-story, sixty by one hundred feet, while the dye house is a two- story structure. The mills run from raw stock to the finished product, and have a capacity of forty-five thousand yards per day. When run- ning full the mills employ a force of eighty hands, with a pay roll of one thousand dollars every fortnight. The dye house formerly was run to its full capacity in dyeing for outside mills besides its own.
Holtz mill was on the site of the old blade mill erected by George Lownes shortly before 1779. Some time after 1849 Oliver Holt erected the second cotton factory, which was destroyed by fire in 1882. Gibbons' cotton mill was built in 1832, and burned in 1882. Fell's edge tool mill was erected in 1843 on the site of a forge and grist mill swept away in the flood of that
year. The Keystone spinning mills were started in 1845 by Moses Hey, who changed an old paper mill into Mill No. 1, and built Mills Nos. 2 and 3. The bobbin and grist mills of J. Howard Lewis are at Beatty.
The township contains two villages, Morton and Swarthmore.
Morton, named after John Morton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, was laid out August 14, 1871. The postoffice was es- tablished in 1867, with Hon. Sketchley Mor- ton as postmaster. Mr. Morton was a grand- son of John Morton, and had a store and lum- ber and coal yards on the site of Morton for several years prior to the laying out of the town. Morton has four churches, twenty-six stores, three blacksmith shops, a livery stable and the Morton ice plant. The place con- tains about one thousand five hundred in- habitants, has its principal streets macadam- ized, and possesses a well organized fire com- pany, while the Faraday Heat, Power and Light Company furnish electricity for light, motive power and other purposes. There are two building associations-the Morton and Springfield.
The Morton Chronicle is a weekly paper ed- ited and published by E. W. Smith. The churches are : Kedron Methodist Episcopal, organized in 1859; Episcopal Church of Atone- ment, 1876; First Baptist; and Shorter Meth- odist Episcopal. The postmasters from 1867 to 1893 have been : Hon. Sketchley Morton, C. R. Dolbey (1876), C. A. Smith (1885), W. C. Timm (1889), and M. M. Justison (1893). Morton is on the Pennsylvania railroad and between two trolley roads. It has twenty daily trains each way, and its boundaries ex- tend to the borough of Rutledge in one direc- tion and to the village of Swarthmore in the other.
Swarthmore is a beautiful village, laid out in wide streets and avenues, and noted for its two advanced educational institutions, Swarth- more college and Tomlinson's grammar school. On the college grounds is the house in which
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Benjamin West and John P. Crozer were born.
Friends' Springfield meeting was established in 1686, and the Lownes Free church building was erected in 1832.
Springfield township has nine public schools and an enrollment of four hundred and thirty- six pupils.
THORNBURY TOWNSHIP.
Of peculiar shape is Thornbury township, which is bounded by Chester county and Edg- mont, Middletown, Aston, Concord, and Bir- mingham townships.
Several areas of trap and serpentine rock are in Thornbury township. Mica schists occupy the higher portions of the township, and the exposures of syenite are principally confined to the escarpments along Chester creek and its tributaries. The minerals of Thornbury township are: amethyst, albite and serpentine.
Thornbury was recognized as early as 1687, and is said to have been named for Thornbury in England. The taxables in the township in 1715 were as follows : Henry Nale, John Wil- lis, George Pearce, Isaac and Philip Taylor, William and Joseph Brinton, John Davis, Jonathan Thatcher, John Yeardsley, Thomas Everson, Richard Woodward, Jacob Vernor, Joseph Baker, Thomas Masser, William and John Pile, Richard Arnold, and John Stringer.
Sarum forge was built prior to 1746, and a slitting, a grist, and a rolling mill were after- ward added. In 1836 these were sold to Wil- cox, and are now known as Glen Mills paper mills. Thorndale flouring mills are over one hundred years old, and Brinton's flouring mills are near the site of an old grist mill and cotton factory.
The township contains three villages : Thornton, Cheyney, and Glen Mills. Thorn- ton has a postoffice, church, and eighteen houses. Cheyney has a railroad station, a postoffice, a church, and five houses, and Charles H. Cheney is the present postmaster and station agent. The postoffice was estab- lished in 1859. Glen Mills promises in the 10
future to become a place of some size. Its postoffice was established in 1859. The brick station building was erected in 1882. Nathaniel Pratt has a large store, and near it are the paper mills and House of Refuge. The Glen Mills Paper Company was organized in 1892, and manufacture writing, music, and patent medicine wrapping papers. The House of Refuge has been mentioned in another chap- ter, and the Glen Mills Quarrying Company employ one hundred and twenty-five hands, and quarry and crush stone for macadamizing and telfording streets and roads.
Stony Bank Methodist Episcopal church was organized about 1810, and Bethlehem church, of the same denomination, dates its organization back to 1845. The Wayside church, at Cheyney Station, was organized in 1871 of Protestants of different denominations, and the elegant church structure was erected in 1874. The African Methodist Episcopal church was instituted about 1870.
Thornbury township has three public schools, in which are enrolled one hundred and forty-one pupils.
CHAPTER XXXI.
TINICUM, THE ISLAND TOWNSHIP.
The original Tinicum township, or Big Tin- icum island, is bounded by the Delaware river, Philadelphia county, and the townships of Darby and Ridley. On August 31, 1780, Tinicum township was taken from Ridley township.
The entire island is formed of alluvium de- posits. The soil is usually sandy or loamy. The only exposure of rock on the island is found on the edge of Long Hook creek, near Darby creek, and north of Lazaretto postoffice. The exposures are limited to a small area sur- rounded by alluvium. The rock is a coarse feldspathic granetoid micaceous gneiss, some-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
what similar in appearance to the rock ex- posed along Crum creek, near Blue Bell, in Darby township.
In Tinicum township was made the first Eu- ropean settlement of Pennsylvania. of which we have any authentic record.
After the Revolutionary war the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey divided the islands in the Delaware river, that during the Colonial period had been the exclusive prop- erty of the crown, and gave to Tinicum town- ship Hog island, Martin's bar, Printz's island, Maiden island and Little Tinicum island.
The quarantine station at the Lazaretto was established in 1801. It was formerly on Provi- dence island, near Philadelphia, which city became so alarmed at the close proximity during the yellow fever scourge of the last decade of the eighteenth century, that it was removed to its present location. The citizens of Delaware county have twice petitioned for its removal from Big Tinicum island.
The Reading railroad passes through the island, on which there are three stations- Es- sington, North Essington, and Corbindale, which is the nucleus of what promises to be a considerable village. The early history of the township has been given in the history of the county, and needs no repetition in this chapter.
Tinicum township has one public school and an enrollment of forty-eight pupils.
CHAPTER XXXII.
UPPER CHICHESTER, UPPER PROVIDENCE, AND UPPER DARBY TOWNSHIPS, AND LANSDOWNE AND CLIFTON HEIGHTS BOROUGHS.
UPPER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP.
The township of Upper Chichester is bounded by the State of Delaware, and the townships of Bethel, Aston, Chester and Lower Chichester.
Gravel and syenitic rocks are found in dif- ferent parts of the township.
The county records are silent as to when the township was created. In 1715 the fol- lowing taxables were returned: Enoch Flower, William and Ruth Chandler, Walter Marten, Henry and Francis Reynolds, George Leon- ard, Francis Routh, Matthew Wood, John Bezer, John Kingsman, James Whitaker, Humphrey and Shadrack Scarlet, Thomas Linville, Thomas Withers, Jeremiah Collett, John Chambers, Richard Weaver, and Jere- miah Cloud.
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