USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county > Part 5
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Charles HI. of England, on March 4, 1681, signed the great charter which gave to Wil- liam Penn the province of Pennsylvania, now one of the most populous and important States of the Union. This grant was made to Penn in lieu of sixteen thousand pounds that the king owed to his father, the distinguished Admiral William Penn. Soon after receiving his charter Penn sent his first cousin, William Markham, to the colony as his depnty gov- ernor. Markham came to New York in June, 1681, and on August 3d of that year was at Upland, where he selected for his council, Robert Wade, Morgan Drewet, William Wood- manse, William Warner, Thomas Fairman, James Sandilands, William Clayton, Otto Ernst Cock and Lasse Cock, nearly all of
whom were residents of the present territory of Delaware county.
VOYAGE OF THE WELCOME.
On August 30, 1682, William Penn sailed from Deal, England, for Pennsylvania, on board the ship Welcome, in company with over one hundred passengers, most of whom were Quakers. While the Mayflower bore the Pilgrims to a rock-bound coast and the rigors of a winter which many never survived, yet the Welcome, although bearing the Quakers to fertile lands in a warmer climate, was scourged with smallpox, from whose ravages thirty of their number died.
No complete record of those who came with Penn on the " Welcome " has been preserved, but Edward Armstrong, several years ago pre- pared from various sources a tolerably complete list, the names of which are here given. It is likely that, including children, the number was over one hundred :
" The captain of the . Welcome ' was Robert Greenaway. He died April 14, 1685.
" The passengers were :
"John Barber and Elizabeth, his wife, a daughter of John Songhurst, of Shipley, county of Sussex, England. He is supposed to have died on the voyage.
" William Bradford, of Leicester, England, the earliest printer of the province. Among his earliest publications was an almanac, printed in Philadelphia in 1687. He subsequently re- moved to New York and established The New York Gazette, the first newspaper published in that city.
William Buckman, Mary, his wife, and chil- dren, Sarah and Mary, of the parish of Billing- hurst, Sussex.
" John Carver and Mary, his wife, of Hert- fordshire.
" Benjamin Chambers was sheriff of Phila- delphia in 1683.
" Thomas Croasdale and Agnes, his wife, and six children, of Yorkshire.
" Ellen Cowgill and ' family.'
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
"John Fisher, Margaret, his wife, and son John.
" Thomas Fitzwater and wife Mary, and chil- dren, Thomas, George. Josiah and Mary. His wife and children, Josiah and Mary, died on the passage.
" Thomas Gillett.
· Bartholomew Green.
·· Nathaniel Harrison.
"Cuthbert Hayhurst, his wife and family. He was from Yorkshire.
" Thomas Herriott, of Hurst-Pier-Point, Sussex. He is supposed to have died on the voyage.
" John Key.
" Richard Ingels, was clerk of the provin- cial council in 1685.
"Isaac Ingram, of Gatton, Surrey. He is supposed to have died on the voyage.
" Thomas Jones.
"Giles Knight, Mary, his wife, and son Joseph, of Gloucestershire.
" William Lushington.
" Jeane Matthews.
" Hannah Mogdridge.
" Joshua Morris.
" David Ogden, probably from London.
"Evan Oliver, with Jean, his wife, and chil- dren, David, Elizabeth, John, Hannah, Mary, Evan and Seaborn, of Radnorshire, Wales. The last named was a daughter born at sea, almost within sight of the Capes of Delaware. "' ___ Pearson. It was at his suggestion that the name of Upland was changed to Ches- ter. His first name is supposed to have been Robert.
"Dennis Rochford, of the county of Wex- ford, Ireland, and wife Mary, daughter of John Heriott, and daughters Grace and Mary. Both of the latter died at sea.
"John Rowland and Priscilla, his wife, of Billinghurst, Sussex.
. Thomas Rowland, of the same place.
". William Smith.
"John Songhurst, of Sussex. He was a member of the first assembly, a writer in de-
fense of the Quakers, and an eminent minister in his society.
"John Stackhouse and Margery, his wife, of Yorkshire.
" George Thompson.
" Richard Townsend, wife Anne, daughter Hannah, and son James, who was born on board the 'Welcome' in Delaware river.
" William Wade, of the parish of Hankton, Sussex ; probably died on the voyage.
"Thomas Walmesly, Elizabeth, his wife, and sons, Thomas and Henry, a daughter, and three other children. He was from Yorkshire.
"Nicholas Waln, wife and three children, of Yorkshire.
" Joseph Woodroofe.
" Thomas Wrightsworth and wife, from Yorkshire.
" Thomas Wynne, of Flintshire, Wales. He was speaker of the first two assemblies held in Philadelphia. Chestnut street in Phil- adelphia is said to have been originally named after him."
Ashmead takes exception to Pearson as coming over in the Welcome, and cites the early Quaker records to show that no member by the name of Pearson was here in 1682, and that the two Thomas Pearsons mentioned as early settlers came after 1682. Martin also claims that there was no one by the name of Pearson on board the Welcome.
On October 27, 1682, Penn landed at New Castle, and took formal possession of the three lower counties, and on the next day left New Castle and reached Upland, where he landed off the mouth of Chester creek, opposite the house of Robert Wade, with whom he resided for some time. He was the guest of Wade at the "Essex House" but for a short time, and then went to New York. On his return tradi- tion says that he took up his residence at Boar's Head Inn, where he lodged during the time that he remained at Chester, which was the greater part of the winter of 1682-83.
During his brief stay at Chester Penn changed the name of the town of Upland to
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
that of Chester, and determined upon a loca- tion for the capital of his province, two acts of his life the reasons for which have been the subject of much controversy upon the part of the different historians of Delaware county.
UPLAND NAMED CHESTER.
Clarkson, in his "Life of Penn," which, however, was not published for nearly a cen- tury after the death of William Penn, states that Penn, upon his arrival at Upland, turned to his friend Pearson and said : "Providence has brought us here safe. Thou hast been the companion of my perils. What wilt thou that I should call this place?" and that Pearson replied "Chester," in remembrance of the city in England from which he came. And Clarkson further states that Penn answered that Chester it should be called, and that when he came to divide the land into counties, one of them should be called by the same name. Smith does not question this statement of Clarkson, but Ashmead denies its authenticity upon the grounds that there was no Robert or any other Pearson that came in the Welcome with Penn, that none of the writers before Clarkson mentions such a change and that Penn three weeks after his arrival issued his proclamation for an election for a general as- sembly to convene at "Upland," showing at that time the name was not yet changed to Chester. Penn in all probability changed the name of the town from Upland to Chester within a few weeks after his arrival " in defer- ence to the desire of the English settlers who had 'overrun' the town, the major part of whom had come from that locality (Chester) in England."
While Penn deprived the Swedish county of a name recalling the pride and glory of an old city and a great seat of learning, he gave it one associated with memories of the early history of west England, where the ancient city of Chester was known in remote times by the Welsh name of Caerlleon Vawr, which meant the great camp of the legion on the Dee, and
indicated a Roman origin as old if not older than that of Upsala, in Sweden. Chester on the Dee, twenty miles from the open sea, stands where three Roman roads converged, and where the renowned XXth legion of Rome was en_ camped as early as the second century. It was fought over by Britons, Danes and Saxons ; was swept by the great plague of 1647, is mem- orable for its terrible siege, lasting from 1643 to 1646, and has often been honored by the presence of its monarchs. But not to the glory of its military record or to the proud distinction that it is the only city in England which still retains its walls perfect in their circuit, was the city of Chester indebted to the honor of hav- ing the first town of Pennsylvania named after it. It was the memories of many scenes of peace and hours of sweet communion with ab- sent friends passed within its walls, that caused the English Quakers to wish its name to be given to the forest-surrounded town of Upland, in the new world.
COUNTY OF CHESTER.
Chester county was created by William Penn in 1682, and tradition says on November 25 of that year. The present territory of Delaware county continued to be a part of Chester from 1682 to 1789, a period of one hundred and seven years.
The first record of the boundaries of Ches- ter county that we have is in the proceedings of the council held at Philadelphia on April 1, 1685, in which the boundaries of Chester county are officially prescribed as follows : " The county of Chester to begin at the month or entrance of Bough Creek upon the Delaware River, being the upper end of Tinicum Island, and soe up that creek dividing the said Island from ye Land of Andros Boone & Company; from thence along the several courses thereof to a Large Creek called Mill Creek ; from thence up the several courses of the said creek to a W. S. W. Line, which line divided the Lib- erty Lands of Philadelphia from Several Tracts of Land belonging to the Welsh and other In-
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
habitants; and from thence E. N. E. by a line of Marked Trees 120 perches, more or less ; from thence N. N. W. by the herford ( Haver- ford) Township 1000 perches, more or less ; from thence E. N. E. by ye Land belonging to Jno. Humphreys 110 perches, more or less ; from thence N. N. W. by ye Land of John Eckley 880 perches, more or less ; from thence continuing the said Course to the Scoolkill River, wch sd Scoolkill River afterwards to be the natural bounds."
Penn obtained ownership of the territory of Delaware county from the Indians by two pur- chases, the first before 1684 and the second in 1685. The first purchase was made from Se- cane and Icquoquehan Indian Shackamakers and owners of the land between Manaiunk, als Sculkill and Macopanachan, als Chester river. The lands bonght were between the " said river beginning on the west side of Man- aiunk, called Consohochan and from thence by a westerly line to ye said river Malopan- akhan." For this territory Penn gave 150 fathoms of wampum, 14 blankets, 65 yds. dnf- fills, 28 yds. strond watrs., 15 gunns, 3 great and 15 small kettles, 16 pr. stockings, 7 pr. shoes, 6 capps, 12 gimbletts, 6 drawing knives, 15 pr. cissors, 15 combs, 5 papers needles, 10 tobacco boxes, 15 tobacco tongs, 32 pound powder, 3 papers beads, 2 papers red lead, 15 coats, 15 shurts, 15 axes, 15 knives, 30 barrs of lead, 18 glasses and 15 hoes.
The second purchase was made by Penn in 1685 through his agent from Lare Packenah Tareekham Sickais Pettquessitt Tewis Esse- panaik Petkhoy Kekelappan Feomns Macka- lohr Melleonga Wissa Powey, Indian kings and owners of the lands from Quing Quingus, called Duck creek nnto Upland called Chester creek. They sold these lands back as far as a man could ride in two days with a horse for : 20 guns, 20 fathom match coat, 20 fathom stroud waters, 20 blankets, 20 kettles, 20 pounds powder, one hundred bars lead, 40 tomahawks, 100 knives, 40 pairs stockings, 1 barrel of beer, 20 pounds red lead, 100 fathom wampum, 30
glass bottles, 30 pewter spoons, 100 all blades, 300 tobacco pipes, 100 hands of tobacco, 20 tobacco tongs, 20 steels, 300 flints, 30 pair scissors, 30 combs, 60 looking glasses, 200 needles, 1 skipple salt, 30 pounds sugar, 5 gal- lon molasses, 20 tobacco boxes, 100 jewsharps, 20 hoes, 30 gimlets, 30 wooden screw borers, and 100 strings of beads.
PROVINCIAL CAPITAL.
Although some of the early historians can- not agree as to whether Penn originally con- templated to establish his capital at Upland or found it on the high ground where Phila- delphia now stands, just above the confluence of and between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, yet a careful examination of his instruc- tions to his commissioners, Crispin, Bezer and Allen, will show that he originally intended to found the proposed capital city of his province at Upland. He only abandoned his purpose when he learned of Lord Baltimore's persistent claim to the territory on which Upland was sit- uated, and then determined to build a city farther up the Delaware, The famous inter- view in the Sandilands' or old assembly house, between Penn and James Sandilands, could not have been in connection with the purchase of the latter's land at Upland to build a city on, as Penn had abandoned the idea of found- ing his capital at Upland before sailing from England, on account of it being in the debat- able territory between him and Lord Baltimore.
FIRST ASSEMBLY.
The first assembly of Pennsylvania was called by Penn on the 18th day of November, 1682, to meet at Upland on the 6th of De- cember. On that day the assembly met, and among its most important acts were the an- nexation of the "three lower counties (now the State of Delaware), and the provision for the naturalization of the inhabitants thereof, as well as the Swedes, Finns, and Dutch set- tlers in Pennsylvania." The assembly on the third day of its session received from Penn
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
the "Printed Laws" prepared by learned counsel and printed in England, and the "Written Laws or Constitutions" in shape of ninety bills, out of which were passed the sixty-one chapters of "the great body of the laws."
Among the earlier historians of the county and of the State the impression prevailed that the first general assembly of Pennsylvania, which convened at Upland, met in the court- house, or house of defense, as it was then called. Smith and Martin credited the court- house with being the meeting place of the first assembly, but Ashmead doubted the fact, and secured evidence from the " Travellers' Direc- tory," published in 1802, and other authentic sources, to show that the first general assembly of Pennsylvania met in the residence of James Sandilands, then known as the "double house." Watson and Day writing on the subject credited the first meeting house of the Friends as being where the first assembly met.
In August, 1893, some working men en- gaged in excavating for a building on the site of the old Sandilands house, came upon the old walls of that building, and in clearing them away found evidence of the size and adaptability of the house, which they sup- ported, for a place of meeting of such a body as the first assembly of Pennsylvania. The discovery is related in a leading newspaper as follows :
"The foundations of the old house were uncovered a few days ago when workmen were excavating for a block of stores on Edgmont avenue, just below Third street. The founda- tions were immediately identified by Historian Henry Graham Ashmead and a number of old residents, who recollected having been told of the exact location of the old building, which, when it was erected, was the largest structure in the colony. The foundations were in a good state of preservation, and showed that the building had a frontage of fifty feet on Edgmont avenue, with two entrances, the steps for which were found, and extended
back toward Chester creek, a distance of forty- two and a half feet. An addition, fourteen by thirty-four feet, was also shown. The bricks of the old structure, local history relates, were brought from a brickyard on the site of New Castle, Delaware, where an industry was maintained by the Swedes. The house was erected prior to 1675 by the Sandilands fam- ily, who were among the earliest settlers on the site of Chester. In 1675 James Sandi- lands kept a tavern in the house, and it was here that the first tragedy, of which there is an authentic record, occurred in the common- wealth. Sandilands was tried in 1675 for the murder of a drunken Indian whom he was ejecting from his premises and injured fatally. A special court was convened and Sandilands was acquitted. An old corner stone was found. In it was a number of paper documents which immediately upon being exposed to the air crumbled to dust, and nothing could be learned as to their identity. An old coin was also found, but it was so corroded that nothing could be seen of the mintage. The contractor will polish up the coin and try to discover the date. The old house fell down nearly a cen- tury ago, and the ground was afterward filled in, but the existence of the walls was not known until they were uncovered last week. As late as 1802 tlie walls were still above the ground; and a historian, writing in 1817, says that the house was built of oyster-shell lime, which became ruinous and the building gradu- ally crumbled away. Historians consider the excavation of these walls one of the most im- portant historical finds in Pennsylvania for a generation."
WELSH TRACT.
In 1684 Penn granted forty thousand acres of land on the west side of the Schuylkill riverto a number of Welsh, who afterwards claimed they had Penn's solemn promise that they were to constitute a barony or county of their own. A part of this tract when surveyed included the present townships of Haverford and Radnor. The Welsh, when called on for taxes and for
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
jury service in Chester county, refused to pay the one or render the other, appealing to the governor to make their territory an indepen- dent county, which they claimed had been promised them by Penn. There is nothing to show what disposition was made of their ap- peal, but the strong arm of the law was invoked, and they were compelled to pay taxes and do jury service in Chester county.
SWEDISH INHABITANTS IN 1693.
In Acrelius' " History of New Sweden," on page 190, is given a list of the Swedes living, in 1693, on the Delaware river, in Pennsyl- vania. There were one hundred and eighty- eight heads of families, with a total population of over eight hundred. The heads of families were : Hindrich and Joran Andersson and two Johan Anderssons, John Arian, Joran Bag- man, Anders and Bengt Bengtsson, Anders, Johan and Lven Bonde, Lars Bure, William Cabb, Christian and Jacob Classon, Jacob Clemson, Eric, Gabriel, Johan, Capt. Lasse, Mans and Otto Ernst Cock, Hindrich Coll- man, Conrad Constantine, Johan Von Culen, Otto and Peter Dahlbo, Hindric Danielsson, Thomas Dennis, Anders Didricsson, Olle Diricksson, Staphan Ekhorn, Eric, Goran and Matte Ericsson, Hindrich Faske, Casper. Fisk, Mathias De Foss, Anders and widow of Nils Frendes, Olle Fransson, Eric and Nils Gastenberg, Eric Goransson, Brita, Gos- taf, Hans, Jons and Mans Gostafsson, Johan Grantum, Lars Halling, Mans Hallton, Israel Helm, Johan Hindersson, jr .. Anders Hin- dricksson, David, Jacob and Johan Hindrics- son, Matts Hollsten, Anders Homman, An- ders, Frederick, Johan and Nicholas Hopp- man, Hindrich Iwarsson, Hindrich and Matts Jacob, Hindrich Jacobsson, Peter Joccom, Didrich, Lars and Simon Johansson, Anders, Jon, Mans, Nils and Thomas Jonsson, Chris- tiern, Hans, Joran and Staphan Joransson, Lasse Kemp, Frederick Konig, Marten Knuts- son, Olle Kuckow, Hans Kyn's widow, Jonas and Matts Kyn, Nils Laican, And Persson
Longaker, Hindrich, Lars and Lars (2) Lars- son, Anders and Mans Lock, Antony Long, Robert Longhorn, Hans, Lucas and Peter Luccasson, Johan and Peter Mansson, Mar- ten (senior), Marten ( junior), and Matts Mar- tenson, Johan and Nils Matsson, Christopher Meyer, Paul Mink, Eric Molica, Anders, Jonas and Michael Nilsson, Hans Olsson, Johan Ommerson, Lorentz Ostersson, Hin- drick Parchon, Bengt, Gostaf and Olle Pauls- son, Peter Palsson, Lars and Olle Pehrsson, Brita, Carl, Hans, Hans (2), Lars, Paul, Peter and Reiner Petersson, Peter Stake, alias Petersson, Anders, Gunnar, Johan, Peter (senior), and Peter (junior) Rambo, Matts and Nils Repott, Olle Resse, Anders Roberts- son, Paul Sahlunge, Isaac Savoy, Johan Schrage, Johan Scute. Anders and Boor Se- neca, Jonas Skagge's widow, Johan and Matts Skrika, Hindrich Slobey, Carl Springer, Mans Staake, Chierstin, Johan and Peter Stalcop, Israel and Matts Stark, Adam, Asmund, Ben- jamin, Lucas and Lyloff Stedham, Johan Stille, Johan, Jonas and Peter Stillman, Olle Stobey, Gunner and Johan Svenson, William Talley, Elias Tay, Christiern Thomo's widow, Olle Thomasson, Olle Thorsson, Hindrich, Johan, Lars and Matts Tossa, Cornelias, Ja- cob, Jacob (2), and William van der Weer, Jesper and Jonas Wallraven, Anders Weinom, and Anders Wihler. Many of these were resi- dents of what is now Delaware county.
CIRCULAR BOUNDARY LINE.
Long before Penn received his grant for Pennsylvania, Lord Baltimore had made de- mand upon the Dutch for all land lying south of the fortieth degree of north latitude, while the controversy between Penn and Baltimore over their boundary line was one that descended from father to son, covering nearly a century.
The boundary line between Upland and New Castle counties in 1678 was at Oele Francen's creeke, now Quarryville creek, in Brandywine hundred, New Castle county, Delaware. This line was superseded in Penn's charter, March
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OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
4, 1681, by a circular line as follows : " on the south by a circle drawn at twelve miles' dis- tance from New Castle northwards and west- wards into the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude and then by a straight line westwards to the limits of longitude above mentioned."
Penn desired Markham, who bore a letter from the king to Lord Baltimore about the latter's northern boundary line, to meet Lord Balti- more and settle the disputed boundary line be- tween Pennsylvania and Maryland. After sev- eral ineffectual attempts to meet, a final meet- ing occurred between Markham and Lord Baltimore at Upland on Sunday, September 24, 1682, when the instruments of both parties were set up to see how they would agree, when one of the Maryland party took an observation and reported that Upland was thirty-nine de- grees forty-five minutes north latitude. The next morning Lord Baltimore desired to go up the river to the beginning of the fortieth degree and run from there westward, which Markham declined on the ground that Baltimore could have no claim on the river twelve miles north- ward of New Castle, because Penn's charter fully covered all land on the Delaware above that point. Baltimore claimed his own grant, made prior to Penn's, and declared he would take his own wherever he found it. The gov- ernors then parted, and Baltimore, as he de- scended the river, landed at Marcus Hook and notified the inhabitants not to pay any more quit rents to Penn, as that place was within the boundaries of Maryland.
While Penn and Baltimore could not adjust their boundary line, the court at Chester, on March 14, 1683, declared Naman's creek to be the division line between Chester and New Castle counties. This division continued ten years. and then, on August 9, 1693, the provin- cial council of Pennsylvania declared in a reso- lution that " the bounds of New Castle county shall extend northward to the mouth of Naman's creek and upwards along the south- west side of the northmost branch ( excluding
the townships of Concord and Bethel ), and not to extend backwards of the said northmost branch above the said two townships."
Eight years after the division line was des- ignated by the council, the three lower connties petitioned Penn to have the circular boundary line run. Penn granted the petition, and December 4, 1701, Isaac Taylor, surveyor of Chester county, and Thomas Pierson, sur- veyor of New Castle county, met in the pres- ence of Caleb Pusey, Philip Roman and Rob- ert Pyle, justices of Chester county, and Cor- nelius Empson, Richard Halliwell and John Richardson, justices of New Castle county. and ran the circular division line. They be- gan "at the end of the horsedyke next to the town of New Castle" and measured due north twelve miles to a white oak marked with twelve notches, and standing on the lands of Samuel Helm, on the west side of the Brandywine creek. From this white oak they run east- wardly and circularly on a twelve mile radius until they reached the Delaware river on the upper side of Nathaniel Lampley's old house at Chichester. Returning then to the notched white oak, the surveyors ran the west part of the line westward and circulatory on the same radius until they came to a marked hickory standing near the western branch of Chris- tiana creek. The cost allowed by the grand jury of Chester county for this survey was twenty-six pounds and nine shillings.
Ashmead corrects an erroneous impression that Mason and Dixon afterward ran the cir- cular line, and in concluding his account of the circular boundary line between Delaware county and the State of Delaware says : " As stated before, no survey of the circular line be- tween Delaware and Pennsylvania has been made since that run by Isaac Taylor and Thomas Pierson, in 1701, and it may be asserted without fear of contradiction that no person at this time knows exactly where the line di- viding New Castle county, Delaware, and Delaware county, Pennsylvania, is, and where it enters the Delaware river."
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