USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > New Hope > Coryell's Ferry (now New Hope, Bucks county, Pennsylvania) in the revolution; an address delivered before Fort Washington chapter, Daughters of the American revolution. May 21st, 1915 > Part 2
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This spot is easily known and recognized by the new hip roof house, which stands upon the foundations of "The Old Hip
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Roof House," which was termed "The Old Fort" at the time of the Revolution. General Alexander (Lord Stirling) was beloved and much trusted always by General Washington ; he had recently for his bravery been advanced to the rank of Major-General, and, as stated in "Washington and his Generals," Vol. I., page 175, in that capacity took part in the operations on the Delaware River, where he again signalized himself by the successful defence of "Coryell's Ferry." Lord Stirling was also at this period part of the time at Beaumont's farmhouse, next the Thompson (Neeley) place.
Immediately across the Old York Road from the Old Fort, in a field of the Paxsons, troops were encamped, as well as on the hillside south of the pond ; and also on the river front, below and above the ferry ; and a strong detail at "Malta Island" guarded the boats collected there. On the Old York Road, near the ferry landing, stood in 1776, and still stands, though enlarg- ed, "The Ferry Tavern," which appears to have been so named until 1829, when it was kept by a Mr. Steele, as the speaker's father was informed by William Murray, of New Hope, at that time an aged man, and its oldest citizen, Abraham D. Meyers, succeeded Mr. Steel as landlord, and gave it the name of the "Logan House," which it has ever since retained. Since 1829 it has had divers owners. Michael A. Van Hart, deceased, was owner and landlord for a long term, and until recently it was and may still be owned by his heirs. This old hostelry was much frequented in the days of the Revolution, and here, in December, 1776, the Continental soldiers made wassail, and drank to the the success of their cause and the downfall of King George the Third in his American Colonies.
At the corner of "The Old York Road" and the "Old Trenton or River Road " (severally called Ferry Street and
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Main Street within the borough limits), and, walking south- ward across the iron bridge, over the pond, we come to the "Town Hall," almost opposite which, on Mechanics Street, stands the "Old Vansant House," believed to be the oldest in New Hope. On the removal of a decayed roof years ago, it was found full of rifle marks and bullets shot into it by a party of British soldiers, who passed through the village and encamped at "Bowman's Hill," below town, and said to have been in charge of gold to pay the British soldiers. Be- ing surprised, they left hastily, and, burying the treasure on top of the hill, expected to return for it some time; but the chances of war or leaving the country prevented, and from that time to this natives dug all over the hill for the money, hoping, but never having found it. 1681189
The United States Government several years ago provided New Hope with cannon and cannon balls, which are set up in the Borough as memorials of the events which occurred there in the " days of '76." Perhaps, as a result of the 1907 pilgrimage of " The Sons of the Revolution," they or some other similar patriotic Society may also deem some other historic spots of ancient " Coryell Ferry" worthy of being marked by them with one or more memorial tablets.
Jericho Hill, below New Hope, joins Bowman's Hill, and, in addition to the interest given it from having had the quarters of the distinguished officers previously named located upon it, the crest of the hill was cleared and used as a signal station by our army ; and, being in winter and the trees leafless, the various generals easily communicated with each other, up and down the river, from this point.
And here, in connection with the Delaware River, [I might mention the interesting fact that further up, near Port Jervis,
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there is a rock standing on which you can, at one and the same time, be in the three States of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, with one foot or one hand covering the spot where the three States join and come together. Let us trust that these three States will ever remain as united in a, some day, com- prehensive plan to mark their joint historical spots.
I have endeavored to picture to you the situation at " Coryell's Ferry," in " the times which tried men's souls," and that they were most trying is evidenced in many ways ; the hardships and sufferings endured by our patriot sires in 1776 at "Coryell's Ferry," and along the banks of the Delaware River, being a fit preparatory school for their later and longer experience in 1777-78 at "Valley Forge."
The winter of 1776 was an exceptionally severe one, and the whole face of the country was covered with ice and snow ; the air was keen and biting, and the men insufficiently clothed and badly protected in their tents. Major Enion Williams, of the First Pennsylvania Rifles, stationed at the Neeley-Thompson farm, wrote, December 13th, 1776, that many of his men were barefooted, and General Washington wrote to Congress from his headquarters at Keith's, on December 16th, 1776, asking its help, and stating many of his troops were almost naked and most of them unfit for service. He also appealed to " The Bucks County Committee of Safety " for old clothes and blankets for the soldiers, which the Committee furnished, and received his written thanks.
Of all the actors in these stirring scenes, not one survives to- day ; but the Delaware (noble river, as the Founder Penn de- scribed it) and the beautiful Hudson, yonder, each still flows on in their tireless courses to the sea, as they did in Revolutionary days, mute reminders of the acts and deeds performed on their
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THE OLD WASHINGTON TREE, New Hope, Pa (Coryells Ferry of the Revolution.) It stood for $50 years ou the Paxson Estate nearby and to the north of the Old York Road. Cut down Nov. 28th, 1893. .
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banks, and which have made their names and their memories imperishable. In taking leave of my subject, I might add that History, dealing only with plain facts, sometimes becomes dull and prosy ; but the "Annals of the Revolution " breathe the very atmosphere of Poetry, Romance and History combined ; and, though their recital must ever be but the old, old story of a patriotism unsurpassed, yet to each succeeding generation it comes with an added freshness and interest, and into willing ears are poured those tales of long ago.
Let us, of this generation, then, appreciate those deeds of our sires ; that made possible this great United States of America, through the War of the Revolution, and later kept our country intact, through the Civil War, and, in turn, perform our patriotic duty, as well and as faithfully as they who have gone before us.
Each of us, in gratitude to our forbears and as a duty to our country, owe our best efforts to see that the Government of the United States of America and each of its historical States, pro- perly and adequately, preserve and mark the historical spots within its and their confines ; that the generations to follow may not lack for patriotic reminders to serve for all time as an incentive to equally great patriotism.
Such monuments of gratitude live forever as object lessons in patriotism, not alone to us of this generation, but to those to follow, and further serve to install that love of country our ancestors possessed and which history teaches us is so necessary for the unity and preservation of all nations.
Without detracting from the greatness of Valley Forge-the winter quarters of the Continental Army in my own State of Pennsylvania-the speaker remains sensible of the fact that there would have been no " Valley Forge;" nor "Battle of 2
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Trenton," nor other similar historical spots of later date-which were the trying points in the struggle of the Revolution-had not Washington with his Continental Army performed the remarkable and unexpected feat of crossing the Delaware and camping at " Coryell's Ferry" and adjacent sections, thus making possible the subsequent events that ultimately brought Victory.
"Coryell's Ferry" should have, in addition to the Government cannon, small parks or squares at the river bank ; where "the Old Fort" and " Washington's Chestnut Tree" stood, at " Malta Island," etc .; with special markings on each and every historical building and spot, whilst the Revolutionary grave- yard, a short distance down the river at Neeleys and "Knowles Cove," a short distance below, should with "Washington's Crossing," be turned into parks while land is still held at farm valuation.
In this connection it is of interest to recall, that our sister State of New Jersey, at a meeting held in Trenton to celebrate the first Columbus Day as a State legal holiday, called upon Governor Fort, then the Chief Executive of the State, to appoint a representative Committee to bring the matter of a national park at " Washington's Crossing," to the attention of the people of the State and of the nation, and that, subsequently, the com- mittee not having accomplished much in the way of results, the State Legislature of 1912, under Governor Wilson (now President Woodrow Wilson of the United States), passed a bill supersed- ing it and creating a much smaller commission, composed of the Governor, Controller, and Treasurer of the State, with Colonel William Libby, of Princeton, the Rev. Jesse Joralemon, of Jersey City, Mr. L. V. Silver, of Trenton, Mr. Charles Blackman, of Atlantic City, and Mr. William L. Doyle, of Trenton.
This Committee procured a plan for the erection of a monu-
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ment ; purchased the Blackwell farm of one hundred acres along the road upon which the Continental Troops marched from the the river bank to headquarters at "Bear Tavern," engaged a competent landscape engineer to prepare plans for the proposed park and its environments, entered into negotiations for other land, and applied to the State Legislature for an additional appropriation to the twenty-five thousand dollars originally granted. It is to be regretted that the Legislature did not see its way clear to pass this appropriation, and doubly so that the great State of Pennsylvania should not have found a way to overcome the "legal obstacles," and appoint a joint committee to act with the Committee from the State of New Jersey.
With the change in Governors and, I trust, an awakening to the importance of suitably marking this spot with a Park, equal to that contemplated for the New Jersey shore, and connecting both with a substantial and artistic memorial bridge, the State of Pennsylvania will also make a start, and thus, with evidence of earnestness, upon the part of both States, be united in a position to successfully call the National Government's attention to this need.
Starting, here, in New York, the movement of the Continental Troops, during the struggle for freedom, particularly the " Old York Road" connecting us with Philadelphia, and which was the direct stage-coach and shortest route between these two points, should be properly and adequately marked by archways, ornate bridges, tablets, milestones, etc., all of Colonial design. Likewise the entire roadway should reflect appreciation and be constructed of the very best and most lasting materials, and with the markings, reflect the true American patriotism of Nineteen Hundred and Fifteen. Let those who owe single allegiance to our country think. well and long, over the effect
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nationally upon the country at large, were our good citizens to rise and make possible this Colonial Roadway as an evidence of their patriotism.
You, ladies, whose maternal ancestors bore the patriots of "76," could well afford to devote a portion of your spare time to such a course as the marking of what was to many of your sires their graves and to others the scenes of their suffering. It would seem, to the speaker, as though the women patriots could best undertake this great movement for marking those scenes and incidents of the Revolutionary days ; now over one hundred and thirty-eight years ago.
I appeal to you, Daughters of the American Revolution, as a ' Patriotic Society, to require a pledge from those who may be candidates for future political offices, that they will use their in- fluences to pass any or all bills brought before their various Legislative bodies proposing to suitably mark the hallowed ground upon which trod " THE CONTINENTAL ARMY OF '76."
May we have other pilgrimages, similar to the recent one of of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, marking the route taken by General Washington from Philadelphia to Cambridge, Mass., to assume command of the CONTINENTAL ARMY, June 22d to July 2d, 1775. Perhaps you ladies might find fit to make such a pilgrimage over the Old York Road to Philadelphia, diverting your route at "Coryell's Ferry" to take in "Washington Crossing," before proceeding on to the " City of Brotherly Love."
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APPENDIX.
EDWARD F. RANDOLPH.
NOTE :- The Captain Randolph mentioned earlier in this paper as owner of an ancient stone house on the "Old York Road," marking a historic spot, was a brave and gallant officer in the Revolutionary War, about whom much might be said and written. As previously noted, as First Lieutenant in Colonel William Butler's Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Army, he commanded the outlying guard at "The Massacre of Paoli," where he was desperately wounded and left upon the field for dead. Doctor Stille's "Major-General Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line" mentions that Colonel William Butler's Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment received the attack of the enemy at Paoli, but, in speaking of the officer in command of the picket guard, omits to mention his name, although he places Lieuten- ant Randolph correctly in Colonel William Butler's Regiment. This omission I am glad to be able to supply now and to state that the officer was First Lieutenant Edward F. Randolph, who, later in life, dropped the use of the "F" in his name. These facts are well known to almost all old Philadelphians (including the late John Jordan, Jr., Esq., President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania), and are also recited in the " Lives of Eminent Philadelphians, Deceased," published fifty-six years ago (1859). Actuated only by patriotic motives, Captain Randolph gave his services to his country without pay ; and when Gover- nor Corwin, of Ohio (whose wife was Sarah Randolph Ross), became connected with the Randolph family, and during his term of office as Secretary of the United States Treasury under President Filmore, he, on divers occasions, informed Captain Randolph's children that they could readily obtain his back pay
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if they wished ; but they, of course, never would accept what their father, from high, patriotic motives, had declined to receive. Two of Captain Randolph's grandsons (General Wallace F. Randolph and Major Edward Randolph Parry), both officers of the regular army, served through the whole of the late Civil War, and both were breveted for gallantry.
One of Captain Randolph's swords is still in existence and among the treasured possessions of his great-grandson, Evan Randolph, of Philadelphia, and an old silver spoon used by him in camp and marked with his initial and crest, has come handed down to the speaker's father. In his full regimentals as a Con- tinental officer, he was married, March 16th, 1779, to Anna Juli- anna Steele, and the silk wedding gown she then wore has de- scended to the speaker's father and is still preserved. It was worn by a great-granddaughter at a " Kirmess" at the Phila- delphia Academy of Music, December 16, 1884, and attracted much attention, and was afterwards described in the newspapers.
Like Colonel Owen Biddle, another Revolutionary patriot, Captain Randolph later adopted the teachings and methods of the Friends (Quakers), and did not care to refer to his military life in his younger days. Though sitting at the head of the Friends meeting, as he did, it was always said he could never, in walking up the aisle, entirely divest himself of the stride and tread of the soldier. Joseph Kite, a Quaker poet, and author of the "Arm Chair," wrote verses upon the death of Edward Randolph, the first verse thus referring to his terrible wounds at Paoli :-
EDWARD RANDOLPH.
"Strong in thy will and purpose-earlier life, Saw thee a combatant in martial strife- Where drums and trumpets fired the angry mood With honors rife, and garments rolled in blood."
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In former times all the voting in Philadelphia was done in the State House, Sixth and Chestnut Streets, making a large crowd (and often disorderly), with a long wait for one's turn in the voting line. As Mr. Randolph was very tenacious of his voting privilege, he made it a point to always cast his vote, and was therefore well known at the polls; and when he became an old gentleman, it was customary to pass him ahead through the line to the voting window, as a matter of courtesy and out of respect for his age and military history, with which many persons were familiar. On one occasion, however, on stepping out of his car- riage at the polling place, when it was proposed passing him ahead as usual, a raw Irishman, not long in the country, object- ed, saying, " Where was the likes of you, anyhow, Old Quaker, when fighting was done, and this nation was made, that we should stand back for you." To which Mr. Randolph, turning his one eye upon the man, quietly replied, " Well, friend, I was where thee would not have dared to have shown thy naked nose." This was too much for the Irishman, who, amid the jeers and laughter of the crowd, made a hasty retreat, and Mr. Randolph was passed on and cast his vote.
Strange as it may seem to the younger generation of Philadel- phia, in these days of a great overgrown city, his town house was on Second Street, near Arch, and his country seat at what is now Eleventh and Master Streets ; and the writer's father, when a young lad, made many a short cut to it (over the open fields) from Ninth and Green Streets. For some years the old mansion stood high up in the air, near the corner of Eleventh and Master, when streets were opened and cut through the estate.
After the war, as a member of the firm of Coates and Ran- dolph, he became largely interested in the East India shipping
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trade, and, as was then the custom, the church bells of the city were rung when an East India vessel arrived safely in port, a voyage then, in the days of sailing vessels, often taking months to accomplish.
A portrait in oil of Captain Randolph, painted by Robert Street, hangs on the walls of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- vania, in Philadelphia. Judge Mitchell, of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, some years ago had an engraving made from this portrait, and one hundred impressions taken from it for private distribution only, and the plate was then destroyed. One of these the speaker's father has in his library.
From Captain Randolph have descended many of the most prominent citizens of Philadelphia and New York of to-day.
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