USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania : comprising a historical sketch of the county, by Samuel T. Wiley, together with more than five hundred biographical sketches of the prominent men and leading citizens of the county > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105
" In the spring of 1886 John Leslie dug up about five tons of corundum, which he sold for $60 per ton."
" Soon after that time the mineral was in great demand for certain purposes, being much harder than emery, and the price ad- vanced to fifty cents per pound.
" In 1872 John I. Smedley, while engaged in exploring for corundum, on the farm of Messrs. Pusey, Ball & Chandler, discovered a large mass of it, which weighed about two hundred tons. It was found on the margin of the serpentine bed."
Corundum is still mined to a small extent . in Newlin. Some portions of it are largely mixed with margarite, damourite lesleyite, albite, tourmaline and spinel.
Feldspar is another mineral often associ- ated with serpentine. It has also been mined near the corundum locality in Newlin township. It is accompanied largely with quartz, and sparingly with mica.
Asbestos and steatite, or soapstone, are also associates of serpentine.
Prof. J. P. Lesley says, "Serpentine is an exactly equal compound of silica (43.6) and magnesia (43.4) charged with about one-seventh (13.0) of water," and that "it is evident that the corundum in Newlin township is a metamorphosed part of the gneiss composed more exclusively of alu- mina than the rest."
" Among other minerals of less importance
found with the serpentine in Pennsylvania, I will mention brucite, pierolite, brouzite, enstatite, anthophyllite, actinolite, tale, and chlorite in many varieties, the most beauti- ful of which are elinochlore and ripidolite."
Brinton's serpentine quarry, at Avondale, three miles south of West Chester, was opened in 1730, and the estimated quantity of green serpentine quarried since that date has been 500,000 cubic yards. The largest block ever taken out was a three feet square section, sixteen feet in length.
Of the prominent structures built of this stone, is the university of Pennsylvania, the academy of natural sciences, and about twenty churches in Philadelphia; and the court house of Wilmington, Delaware.
The Carter and Reynold's serpentine quarry was opened in 1875, and produces a stratified, rhombic, fine-grained, homogen- ous building-stone, which is used in Phila- delphia and Baltimore.
Chester Valley .- This valley, which is often spoken of as the "Great Valley," and geo- locally as the "Downingtown Limestone Valley," if pictured on a map would resein- ble a slender gartish, fins and all, with its tapering jaws asunder. it is fifty-eight miles long, with an average width of two and a half miles. Prof. II. D. Rogers de- seribes it as follows : "Externally the tract. with its highly cultivated farms, numerous thriving villages, factories, furnaces, and mills full of prosperous industry, presents a scente unsurpassed in the United States. The soft, picturesque beauty of the plain or bed of the valley is much enhanced by the two ranges of slate hills, still clothed with the remnants of the natural forests. It lies between these like the deck of a slender, shallow boat between its sloping sides. It- surface is in almost every part irrigated
176
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
with running brooks of pure, transparent water, and it is crossed by several swift- flowing, sparkling streams, as large as the rivers of some countries. The grandest of these is the Schuylkill. It is here a broad current, and bears deservedly the title of river. The enclosing hills, or two edges of the general upland, between which this valley lies, at an average depression of nearly three hundred feet, are superbly carved into innumerable wooded ravines and narrow dells. This is especially true of the slope overlooking the valley on the south. From any point on the southern table-land near the head of one of its ra- vines, the view is truly enchanting; broad slopes of foliage and a shady dell fill the foreground of the picture; wheatfields and pastures, orchards and snug, tidy farm- houses, many of them of the dignity of country mansions, occupy for miles the middle distance; and the extended back- ground is a rich succession of fading hills and far-stretching mountains. Breaking what might otherwise approach to monot- ony in the curves of the landscape are here and there deeper gorges in the north and south barriers of the valley, furnishing waterway for the larger streams, the Schuyl- kill, the Wissahickon, the Brandywine in both its branches, and the Octoraro. The narrower parts of some of these are precip- itous, and so shut in and wild as to present a most graceful contrast in their tangled foliage, rough rocks, and mossy cliffs, with the neighboring scenes of open pastures and sunny corn fields."
Chester County Marbles .- The Chester county white marble is nearly a pure car- bonate of lime mixed with silex, and con- tains little or no earthy matter and no tale, hence it is hard and durable, will not disin-
tegrate, stain, or blemish ; finishes smoothly, retains its color, and is very valuable for carving and monumental purposes. Mar- bles of all shades, from pure white to gray, blue, dark blue, and pure black, are all found within the county.
These marbles are found principally in the Downingtown limestone valley. "Through- out this limestone basin the southern steeply upturned outerop exhibits a far higher de- gree of metamorphism by heat than the northern, and this alteration appears greater where the strata approach most nearly the vertical position, and is greater still where they are inverted, that is to say, between the Wissahickon and the Brandywine. It is chiefly within these limits that the else- where bluish and yellowish limestone is in a condition of crystalline and granular mar- ble, white, shaded or mottled, from the dis- persing and segregating action of a high temperature upon its changeable ingredients. An examination will show that all the mar- ble quarries hitherto opened are included within this steeply upturned or overturned outerop, the best of them lying within half a mile of the southern edge of the forma- tion, or of some sharp inverted antielinal like that of the Conshohocken ridge."
Roads .- The county contains numerous roads, which are kept in good condition.
Four turnpike roads traverse it ; all of them made by incorporated companies to facilitate the transport of the rich agricultural pro- ductions to the Philadelphia market.
The Gapand Newport turnpike crosses the sonthern part of the county from north- west to south-east, through Penningtonville and Cochranville.
The Philadelphia and Lancaster turnpike crosses the south valley hill to Downing- town, follows the valley to Coatesville, and
177
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
then to the top of the north valley hill west- ward.
The Harrisburg pike leaves the P. and L. pike at Downingtown, and follows the high divide, between the Brandywines, north- westward to Waynesburg.
The Conestoga pike leaves the P. and L. pike west of Paoli, crosses the valley and north valley hill, and runs through Spring field.
Bibliography .- Chester county is noted for the number of anthors which she has furnished. Over four hundred and fifty bound volumes, written by natives and res- dents of the county, have issued from the press. We have compiled the following list, which includes nearly all these authors, and opposite their names have placed the character of their works and the period of publication. In some cases, where there has been only one production, its name is given :
Author. Character of Work. of Publication.
Period
F. A. Allen. .Geographical ... 1852-1864
Eliz'th Ashbridge. Religious 1846
Samuel Alsop. .Surveying 1857
M. M. Auge Historical 1879
Rev. Sam'l Blair .. Religions 1752
Rev. John Blair ... Religious 1766-1770
John Bartram. Botanical 1751-1769
Wm. Bartram. Travels. 1791
Wm. Baldwin Botanical
Titus Bennett. Arithmetical ... 1824
Anthony Bolmar .. Educational .... 1838-1850
Robert Bailey. Autobiographical 1822
Jane Bettle. Memoir 1843
Thomas Baldwin .. Gazetteer 1845
Dr. D. G. Brinton .. Scientific. 1866-1878
Nelson P. Boyer .. Live Stock 1869
Rev. R. P. Dubois .. Genealogy 1858
Capt. W. II. Bell ... Travels. 1873
L. K. Brown. . Religious 1875
Period
Author. Character of Work. of Publication.
Jane W. Bruner .. " Free Prisoners" 1877
Mrs. D. Boyd ...... Romance .. 1857-1879 Fannie H. Bent ... Romance ... 1863-1881
W. E. Bailey
"Modern Rhymes" 1879
T. K. Brown Algebraical. .... 1879
E. A. Barber Scientific. 1877-1878
Gilbert Cope Historical 1881
Morris Cope. Religions 1858
John Churchman .. Religions 1779
John Churchman .. Atlas. 1794
John Comly. .Grammatical. 1803
Thos. Carrington .. Religious 1778
John Creswell ... .Essays 1820
Rev. J. Crowell ... Religious 1849
Dr. J.W. Cooper ... "Game Fowls" 1869
Gilbert Cope .. ... Genealogy 1861-1892
Rebecca Conard ... Poetry. 1875
Jesse Conard ..
... Romance.
1834-1848
Dr. W. Darlington. Botanical
1826-1862
Rev. R. P. DuBois.Genealogy
1860
W. W. Dewees ... "Westtown School" 1872 Fred'k S. Dickson. Legal. 1872-1875
Rev. David Evans . " Law and Gospel" 1746
Dr. Sam'l Emlin ... "Yellow Fever " 1819
Dr. E. C. Evans ... Chemistry 1854
J. B. Everhart .. .. Literary 1862-1874
J. Smith Futhey .. Historical 1881
John Gummere ... Surveying 1814
Prof. F. Glass ..... " Washington 1814
Dr. Wm. Gibbons .. Religious
1823-1832
Mrs. M.J. Guthrie." Silver Lining," 1872
II. W. Gilbert ..... " Aldornere." .. 1872
Prof. G. G. Groff ... Scientific. 1881-1892
Dr. W.D. Hartman Scientific. 1874-1892
Gen. J. Harlan .... Travels 1842
Rachel Hunt Poetry 1843
Noble Heath ..
Arithmetical .
1855
Mrs. G.M. Hoopes. Memoir 1862
Mrs. I. P. Huston .. Poetry. 1873
Dr. I. I. Hayes .... Travels 1860-1875
Hon. A.D. Harlan. Political
1873
12
178
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Period
Author. Character of Work.
Period of Publication.
W. P. Hazard Annals
1879
W. T. Haines Legal 1860
Hugh Judge Memoirs 1841
Dr. Sam'l Jackson. Medical 1827-1869
John Jones Religious 1829
Joshua Jones.
Grammatical ...
1833
Halliday Jackson. Religions 1830
Dr. Wm.Johnston. Medical. 1841
John M. Jenkins .. Journalistic 1881
Jesse Kersey Religious 1815
Dr. T. F. Kloz. Medical 1837
Susan'a Lightfoot. Religious 1844
Enoch Lewis. Educational ... 1810-1856
Joseph T. Lewis .. Historical 1824
Susan Lukens. ... Literary 1873
John E. Leonard .. Poetical 1871
Charlton T.Lewis. Literary 1866-1879
George Lippard ... Romance 1842-1854
Benj. Mason Religions 1790
John Millis. Farriery 1764
H. Marshall.
Botanical
1785-1786
Alex. Maitland ... Political. 1833
Charles Miner.
.Essays
1815
Dr. E. Michener ... Literary . 1860-1874
Jason W. Mahan .. Mathematical .. 1836
Rev. G. I. Miles ... Religious 1836
Dr. M. Matson .... Literary 1829-1845
Gen. G. A. McCall.Letters 1868 James Monaghan.Law 1880
Rev. W . E. Moore .. Religious. 1861
Mrs. H. F. Moore .. Religious 1868
Mary A. Moore ... Poetry. 1873 Benjamin Naylor.Scientific. 1850
Rev. Wm. Newton Religions 1859
Mrs. S. L. Oberholtzer .. Poetry 1873
Caleb Pusey Religious 1675-1706 John Pierce. Religions 1720 Henry B. Pearson. Educational 1837
Barclay Pennock .. Literary
1854
Issacher Price.
Poetry .
1856
Evan Pugh. Chemical 1861
Author. Character of Work. of Publication.
B. and J. Price. Literary 1867
Eli K. Price
Legal
1861-1878
Ann S. Paschall ... Religious 1875
Lewis Palmer.
Genealogy
..
1873
Howard Painter ... Mineralogy. ..
1875
Maj. Isaiah Price.Historical. 1875
S. W.Pennypack'r Historical 1872
Dr. Thos. Ruston. Medical 1768
John Rutter. Astronomical .. 1833
T. Buchanan Read. Poetical.
1847-1865
J. L. Ringwalt .... " Printing"
1871
Dr. J. T. Rothrock. Botanical.
1867-1893
John Rutter ."Peach Culture." 1880
Phebe Speakman. Travels
Joseph Sharpless .. Genealogy 1816
Dr. T. L. Smith .
. Romance.
1829
S. P. Sharpless. ... Chemistry 1866
Cyrus Sterne .
.Genealogy
John R. Sweeney .. Musical
1872-1882
Isaac Sharpless ... Geometrical.
....
1879
Hon. P. F. Smith .. Legal 1862-1876
Bayard Taylor .... Literary 1844-1878
Dr. I. P. Trimble. Horticulture ...
Esther J. Trimble. Literature.
1875-1882
John Vanderslice. Travels.
1876
Dr. H. Williamson Literary
1810-1820
Thos. Woodward.Literary 1819
Wm. Whitehead .. Historical
1859-1872
J. P. Wickersham . Educational
.1864-1891
E. H. Williamson . Romance
1859-1879
Dr. L. Woodward. Genealogy
1869
Dr. J. G. Young ... Genealogy 1869
J. Russell Young .. Travels . .1877-1879
Genealogies have been published of the Kirk, Phillips and Jackson families.
The most voluminous authors have been : Bayard Taylor, whose volumes number 50 ;. Mrs. M. D. R. Boyd, 32; George Lippard, 20; Enoch Lewis, 16; T. Buchanan Read, 15; Fannie H. Bent, 12; John R. Sweeney,
179
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
12; Daniel G. Brinton, 11; and William Darlington, 10.
Chester county authors who have achieved world-wide reputation are: Dr. Willaim Darlington, John Bartram, Humphry Mar- shall, Bayard Taylor, T. Buchanan Read, James P. Wickersham and Joseph T. Roth- rock.
Historical .- " The History of Chester county, Pennsylvania," by J. Smith Futhey and Gilbert Cope, was issued in 1881. The work is a large quarto volume of eight hun- dred and twenty-six double-colunm pages. It contains four hundred and sixty pages of carefully prepared history of the county, and three hundred and twenty-two pages of interesting biographical and genealogical sketches of prominent citizens and old fam- ilies, to which is attached an appendix giv- ing the roster of the Chester county soldiers in the civil war, from 1861 to 1865. To this work Dr. Ezra Michener, Dr. W. D. Hartman, Prof. G. G. Groff and Prof. E. D. Cope contributed valuable articles.
The "Annals of Phoenixville," by Samuel W. Pennypacker, is a large 8vo volume of two hundred and ninety-five pages. It not only gives a full and accurate history of Phoenixville, but contains mueh valuable information concerning the Schuylkill valley.
First Cotton Factory .- The first cotton fac- tory west of the Schuylkill river is said to have been built, at an early day, by Samuel Diekey, on his farm in West Nottingham township. This factory was a erude affair, whose motive power was furnished by horses. About the commencement of the present century Mr. Dickey removed to Hopewell, where he erected a cotton factory that was afterward destroyed by fire.
North Primal Rocks,-There are three principal areas of these primal or Potsdam
roeks north of the Chester valley. One of these, bounded by the gneiss on the north and the limestone on the south, stretches through Calu, East Calu, West Whiteland. East Whiteland, and Tredyffrin townships. Another, bounded by the gueiss, stretches from the southern part of Honeybrook to Coatesville. Here it borders the Valley limestone through Valley township to Pom- eroy, makes a high northern loop around Pomeroy and Sadsburyville and down to Parkesburg, whence it runs westward into Lancaster county, between the north and south boundary lines of Sadsbury township. A third crosses from Lancaster county into West Nantmeal near the town of Springfield in contact with the southern limit of the dolerite mass ocenrring there. Thence it enters and turns back from War- wiek, and passing through the northwestern part of West Nantmeal and Honey Brook. re-enters Lancaster county.
Banks .- During the last twelve years the following banks have been established in the county : Farmers' National bank of West Chester, National bank of West Grove; Dime and Savings bank of West Chester, Farmers' National bank of Oxford, Down- ingtown National bank, the National bank of Kennett Square, and National bank of Malvern.
Paoli Monument .- On the centennial an- niversary of the massaere of Paoli-Sep- tember 20, 1877-the present monument on the illfated field was dedicated with ap- propriate military exercises. The crowd present ou the occasion numbered nearly ten thousand. The monument is of Quiney granite, twenty-two and a half feet in height, chaste in design, and impressive in sin- plicity. Appropriate inscriptions are on its sides. It was erected by the citizens of
180
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Chester and Delaware counties, and the old monument, nine feet in height, which was dedicated September 11, 1817, still stands.
Sill: Culture .- In 1771 Chester county produced three hundred and thirty-five pounds of cocoons. In 1836 the "Chester County Silk Company" was organized, with a capital of $50,000. The company pur- chased sixteen acres of land at West Ches- ter, erected a large cocoonery, and set out five acres of white Italian mulberry trees. About this time the Chinese mulberry, morus multicaulus, was introduced, and such rash speculation was indulged in raising it that a loss of confidence in silk culture soon prevailed. This unfavorable change of public opinion led to the dissolution of the "Chester County Silk Company," before it had made a full test of the Italian trees.
Early Indian Traders .- From 1722 to 1726 the following persons, all of whom were recommended by the court of Chester county to the governor as proper persons to be licensed as Indian traders, received license to trade with the Indians : James Le Tort, James Patterson, Thomas Perrin, Jonah Davenport, Joseph Cloud and John Burt.
County Home .- On February 27, 1798, the legislature of Pennsylvania passed an act providing for the erection of poor houses in Chester and Lancaster counties, and the election of six directors in each county. The commissioners for Chester county were: Joshua Ashbridge, Edward Darlington, Moses Marshall, Robert Miller, John Davis, John Rinehart, James M. Gib- bons, Samuel Carter and James Johnson. They selected the present county home farm, in West Bradford township, on November 21, 1798, and purchased it from Stephen Harlan for £3,000. The farm contained three hundred and twenty-five and one-half
acres, from which forty-five and one-half acres were sold in 1801.
The first county home building erected was a brick structure, forty by one hundred feet in dimensions. It was succeeded in 1855 by the present structure.
Early Tarerns .- Of the early taverns we find the following account in Fnthey and Cope's "History of Chester County :"
"Our early inn-keepers, in giving names to their houses, adopted those to which they were accustomed in the old country. Dur- ing the war of the revolution, and for some time afterward, the names of the patriot generals who had figured prominently in that contest, became favorite appellations, and many of the old time-honored names gave place to them. In these latter days the names given to new houses are not so euphonious as those given by our fathers. Time has not made any improvement in this respect. With the decrease in the number of public houses many of the old names have disappeared, and are being rapidly for- gotten. In order to preserve them front oblivion, reference will be made to some of those which were borne by well-known hos- telries in former days.
"On the ' Old Lancaster road' there were the Buck, Plow, Admiral Vernon (after- ward the Warren), White Horse, Ship (now Dr. Eshleman's, west of Downingtown), Wagon (now Wagontown), and Mariner's Compass (now Compassville).
"On the Paxtang road, leading from Downingtown toward the settlements at and near Harrisburg, or its successor, the Horseshoe pike, were the Buck, Cross Keys (changed to Washington), Olive Branch, Spread Eagle (Rockville), Leopard, Bull's Head (afterward General Wayne), Black Horse, Rising Sun, Red Lion. From 1792
181
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
to 1800 there was a tavern kept in the house where Gen. Matthew Stanley long resided. The 'Brick' was opened in 1807, and was the first brick building erected in that sec- tion of the county.
"On the Lancaster turnpike were (among others) the Spread Eagle, Spring House, Bear, Paoli, Green Tree, Warren, General Wayne, Steamboat, Sheat of Wheat, Ship, General Washington, Swan, Prussian Eagle, Midway, States' Arms, Rainbow, Washing- ton, Black Horse, Cross Keys. The 'Ship' was originally west of Downingtown, at a point where the old Lancaster road, and the more modern Lancaster turnpike, occupied the same ground. The sign, after this house ceased to be kept as a tavern, was taken to the new house of the same name on the turnpike in West Whiteland. The . Ship tavern was one of the oldest as well as most noted publie houses in the county, being much frequented by persons on public business. During the revolution the host remained loyal to the crown, and on one occasion some Continentals, not liking the usage they had received of him, deliber- ately shot thirteen bullets through the effigy of the ship, and the old sign carried the marks as long as it swung at the old stand or at the new one in West Whiteland.
"The Downing hotel, or . stage-office.' the name it was generally known by, was at the east end of the village of Downingtown, and for many years a noted stopping-place. Its swinging sign bore the etligy of Wash- ington and a civilian standing side by side. llere presidents, governors, supreme judges, and all kinds of dignitaries ate and slept. It was kept by Hunt Downing until 1816, by William Frame and Jesse Evans until 1827, and by Isaac Downing until 1836.
"On the Strasburg road there were the
Sheaf of Wheat, Black Horse, Centre House ( Marshallton), General Wayne, Gol- den Eagle (Worth's), White Horse ( Young's), Dravo (Humphreyville), Fountain hin ( Parkesburg), Swan.
" About the beginning of the present cen- tury there was a house, known as the ' Peggy Baun Inn,' at the foot of the hill on the Strasburg road as you leave Youngs- burg, in East Fallowfield township, going east. It is still standing in a somewhat dilapidated condition, but not used as a pub- lic-house. According to tradition, the origin of the name of this house was in this wise : A son of Erin opened for the mutual benefit of the public and himself this wayside inn. When the sign came to be painted, which. by the way, was a most important part ot the tavern in those days, the proprietor had the artist portray the imaginary lineaments of the former's sweetheart. Peggy Bann, whom he had left in Ireland. Afterward the name of the house was changed to that of the 'Three Stripes,' and the new sign painted over the other. It was remarked by the residents of the neighborhood for many years subsequently that no matter how well the sign was kept painted the lineaments of Peggy would still peep through the stripes. It was kept for some years by James and Robert Young : but the latter erected a new public house a short distance west of it prior to 1820, and the old house was no longer used as a place whereat to cheer man and beast.
" Among other public houses were the Anvil, Unicorn, and Plow, in Kennett : Hammer and Trowel, in New Garden: Half-way House (now Chatham), and White Horse. in Londongrove : Stage and Leopard. in Easttown: Buck. in Coventry : Lamb. in Wallace ; Gum Tree, Sorrel Horse (formerly
182
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Spinning-wheel), and Mason's Arms, in West Fallowfield; General Green, Boot, and Three Tuns, in East Goshen; Cross Keys and Fox Chase and Drove, in East Marlborough; Globe, in West Notting- ham : Rising Sun, Washingtou, and Yellow Springs, in West Pikeland; Bull, Fountain Inn, Valley Forge, General Pike, and Gen- eral Lafayette, in Schuylkill; Red Lion and Eagle, in Uwchlan ; Seven Stars, Cap- tain Lawrence, and Poplar Tree, in Vin- cent; Indian King and Grove, in West Whiteland : Dolphin (now Dilworthtown), in Birmingham; White Horse and William Penn, in Willistown; and Eel's Foot, in East Bradford, near Jefferis' Ford. In West Chester were the Turk's Head, Wash- ington, Cross Keys (afterward White IIall), Black Bear, Green Tree, Eagle, and Trav- elver's Rest (afterward the Star). The present Mansion house was originally called the Chester County hotel. The name was not improved by the change."
Early Rouds .- The earliest highways were the Indian trails. The Swedish au- thorities provided for "good and passable ways" in 1678, and in the early days of provincial goverment the public roads were laid out by the grand jury. The " Old Street road" was laid out by William Penn, who named it " Marlborough street," and Ziba Darlington states that it ran nearly, if not quite, straight its whole distance, a stretch of some five miles, beginning in the Pennsbury line, cast of the Red Lion tav- ern, and ending at Marlborough Friends' meeting-honse premises. The Street road is now a name applied to the highway from Market street bridge, Philadelphia, to Mc- C'all's Ferry, on the Susquehanna.
Of other early public roads, Judge Futhey says :
"At a very early period a public road, familiarly known as the 'Old Lancaster,' or ' Provincial' road, was laid out from Phila- delphia to Lancaster. It passed (in Ches- ter county) the present Eagle station, on the Pennsylvania railroad, Paoli, Admiral Warren, White Horse, Moore's Mill ( Down- ingtown ), Ship (now Dr. Eshleman's ), Caln Friends' meeting, Wagon (now Wagon- town ), and Mariner's Compass. A part of the bed of this road is occupied by the Lan- caster turnpike, but the greater portion of it is still used as an ordinary publie road. The 'Swede's Ford' road ran from a ford- ing over the Schuylkill just below Norris- town westward, and joined the Old Lancas- ter road in East Whiteland township, near the present residence of Joseph A. Malin. The road known as the 'Boot road' ran from the ferry, at Philadelphia, by way of the 'Boot tavern,' in Goshen, to Moore's mill (Downingtown). The Great Chester road, running north from Chester, inter- sected this road at the 'Boot,' and is said to have been laid on an old Indian trail. A road ran from Moore's mill westward, being a continuation of the Boot road, erossing the west branch of the Brandywine near Coatesville, and Buck run at Pomeroy, and leaving the valley at the farm late of Cyrus Cooper, and running north of the valley to the 'Gap.' The 'Strasburg road' was laid out at different times, and, as at pres- ent used, in its entirety, it dates from 1794. It existed, however, as a highway, varying from its present course in places, long be- fore that year. Part of the original road is what is now known as the . Goshen street,' forming the northern line of the borough of West Chester, uniting in its westward course with the present Strasburg road at the foot of the Black Horse hill, in East
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.