USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Blockley > Historic Lower Merion and Blockley; also the erection or establishment of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 3
USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lower Merion > Historic Lower Merion and Blockley; also the erection or establishment of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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The Old Lancaster and the Gulph Roads constituted the most direct route from Philadelphia to Valley Forge. It was by this route that the "Ladies' Association," under the direction of Mrs. Joseph Reed sent to Valley Forge, early in 1778, eight big Conestoga wagons filled with cloth- ing for the patriot soldiers. Each wagon required six mules to draw it. The drivers were all women.
The Conestoga wagons were first made in Lancaster County, and took their name from the fact that the horses
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
used to pull them were bred in the Conestoga Valley. The industry was built up by immigration and during the War of 1812 the wagons came into very general use.
Esther Reed, wife of Joseph Reed, though born in England, espoused with heart and soul the cause of her husband and her adopted country in the struggle for liberty. In 1780 when the destitution of the Continental Army was so great that even Washington had fears that it would be forced to disband, the women of Philadelphia organized for relief, and asked the women of other states to co- operate with them. Esther de Bert Reed was chosen presi- dent of the society and devoted herself unsparingly to the work. Material was purchased through the purses of the women ; jewels and trinkets were sacrificed to raise funds, and 2,200 shirts were made for the soldiers. When we remember that they were all sewed by hand we can imagine how hard these women worked.
On the 4th of July, 1780, Esther Reed wrote to Wash- ington that the subscription fund they had raised amounted to $200,580, or £625 6s. 8d. in specie, making the whole amount in paper money $300,634. Early in September of that year she died from the effects of her unremitting labor. When her death became known the Council and Assembly of Pennsylvania adjourned "to pay their last respects to her exalted virtues."
The Old Black Horse Tavern and Barn
The old Black Horse Tavern stood until recently on the Old Lancaster Road, at the corner of "County Line," or more properly speaking, City Avenue, just within the borders of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, and upon the historic acres settled by the early Welsh colonists who came from Wales in 1682.
The Black Horse, with its picturesque roof and chim- neys, its broad piazzas, its iron-bound shutters and huge brass knocker, was almost as ancient as the "General Wayne." This estate had been in the family of Jacob Stadelman since long before the Revolution.
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
The "Black Horse" was the scene of a skirmish during the exciting times of 1777. With the startling events of the Brandywine, Germantown and Paoli following each other in quick succession, many minor happenings have been lost sight of. Among these were the operations of
-
"BLACK HORSE TAVERN"
Old Lancaster Road and "County Line," Lower Merion, Montgomery County, Pa. Built before the Revolution. (Stood opposite to famous "Black Horse Barn")
General Potter on the west side of the Schuylkill. Blockley and Merion Townships suffered greatly from the ravages of British foraging parties, and General Potter was kept busy in protecting the inhabitants and annoying the enemy.
A letter written by General Potter is recorded in Vol. VI of the Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, page 97. It reads as follows :
Sir :- Last Thursday, the enemy march out of the City with a desire to Furridge; but it was necessary to drive
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
me out of the way ; my advanced picquet fired on them at the Bridge; another party of one Hundred attacked them at the Black Hors. I was encamped at Charles Thomson's place, where I stacconed two Regments who attacted the enemy with Viger. On the next hill I stacconed three Regments, letting the first line know that when they were over powered the must retreat and form behind the second line, and in that manner we formed and Retreated for four miles ; and on every Hill we disputed the matter with them. My people Behaved well, espeasly three Regments Com- manded by the Cols. Chambers, Murrey and Leacey. His Excellency Returned us thanks in public orders ;- But the cumplement would have been mutch more substantale had the Valant General Solovan Covered my Retreat with two Devisions of the Army, he had in my Reare: the front of them was about one-half mile in my Rear, but he gave orders for them to Retreat and join the army who were on the other side of the Schuylkill about one mile and a Half off from me : thus the enemy Got leave to Plunder the Countrey, which the have dun without parsiality or favour to any, leave none of Nesscereys of life Behind them that the conveniantly could carrey or destroy. My loss in this Action I am not able to Assartain as yet ; it is not so mutch as might be expected. The killed don't exceed 5 or 6; taken prisoners about 20; wounded about 20; with the enemy acknowledged the got the worst of this Action ; there light hors suffered mutch for they Charged us. I am your Excellency's
most obedant Humble Servant,
Ja. Potter.
P. S .- His Excellency was not with the Army when this unlucky neglect hapned ; the army was on there march and he had not come from his Quarters at Whitmarsh.
Chester County Camp at Head Quarters, Dec. 15, 1777. Directed-On Public service,
His Excellency Thomas Wharton, Esq.
at Lancaster.
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
Thomas Wharton, Jr., was then President of the Supreme Executive Council, that is, President of the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania, under the Constitution of 1776. General Potter, himself, became Vice-President in 1781.
During the skirmish the dead and wounded soldiers were carried into the Black Horse Barn and laid upon beds made from hay.
THE "BLACK HORSE" BARN On the old Lancaster Road, corner "County Line," where the Pennsylvania Militia under General Potter defeated a detachment of Cornwallis' army (during the Revolution). The dead and wounded were carried into this barn
From General Potter's letter we learn that the action, begun at the Black Horse, was continued throughout the greater part of Lower Merion as far as Conshohocken. "Charles Thomson's place" was "Harriton" near Bryn Mawr. In fact, this mansion was the original "Bryn
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Mawr" built by the Welsh scholar and preacher, Rowland Ellis, in 1704.
In 1776 Washington caused a bridge of boats to be erected over the Schuylkill in order to facilitate the passage of his army. It was built by General Israel Putnam. There were no bridges over the river at that time, and the people crossed by means of ferries, the principal being the "Middle Ferry," at the site of the present Market Street bridge ; the "Upper Ferry," where the Spring Garden Street bridge now stands, and the "Lower Ferry" was "Gray's Ferry." The first bridge was built at the "Middle Ferry." It was begun in 1801. Completed on January 1, 1805. An obelisk now so time-worn that the inscriptions are almost illegible, marked the spot where the old bridge stood. This bridge was destroyed by fire in 1875. A fine bridge now spans the river at this point.
Some members of Merion Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, have in their possession a number of bullets and grape shot which were plowed up in the fields surrounding the "Black Horse" barn. This building is of stone, in the old Colonial style, and the end facing the road is covered with ivy. On the north side of the barn are two massive double doors, with huge iron hinges and a heavy iron latch. These open into the barn where the threshing goes on in season, just as it did in the days of long ago, except that a fine improved thrashing machine takes the place of the flails that were formerly swung by the sturdy country lads. Behind the barn rises a beautiful field of pasture, and from the top of the hill a fine view of Philadelphia may be had. During the season of the year when the trees and bushes are bare of foliage, a silvery thread, winding in and out in the distance, shows where the Schuylkill lies-the river over which the enemy crossed on the way to Merion.
On Scull and Heap's map of 1750 appear the names of "Stradelman" (at the "Black Horse") and "Wenn" (at "Wynnstay").
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
On February 13, 1781, a company of Continentals, under Captain Joseph McClellan, encamped in the field near the Black Horse on the way to York, and went thence to take part in General Anthony Wayne's Campaign in the Southern States.
Michael Stadelman and William Stadelman are both mentioned in the "Colonial Records" as "dieting" American soldiers.
In the early days the word "tavern" meant simply a respectable family hotel, with entertainment for "man and beast." The taverns along the old roadways were like the railroad stations of today, with lunch counters. The tav- ern keeper in old times was a respected citizen. He often was the postmaster, or the County Squire, or the Captain of a Company of Militia.
Along all old roadways we find old taverns usually about a mile apart. The "Buck," at Haverford, the "Sorrel Horse," at Ithan, and the "Spread Eagle," were beyond Merion Meeting, and the "General Wayne." (The "Sorrel Horse" is now the home of George H. McFadden, but the old Tavern is "lost" with the new additions surrounding it. A tablet on a bridge crossing a small creek near the house bears the following inscription :
"During the encampment at Valley Forge in the darkest days of the Revolution, the nearby stone dwelling. then the Sorrel Horse Inn, with warm and patriotic wel- come, sheltered often as its guests Washington and Lafayette."
From the Journal of Lieutenant James McMichael we learn that the patriotic army on "September 15, 1777, marched out the Old Lancaster Road, past the Sorrel Horse and the Spread Eagle, to Paoli." They had en- camped, September 14, near Merion Meeting, and that night Washington slept in the old "General Wayne."
(Another noted old tavern was the "Red Lion," at Ardmore.)
Coming east, down the Old Lancaster Road, the "Black Horse" was at County Line, a little further down,
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
"Black Lodge" at the Trasell place, later the property of the Gerhard family (now included in Wynnefield.) At Hestonville the "White Horse"; at Forty-eighth and Lan- caster Avenue, where Girard Avenue crosses the "Pike," was the "Rising Sun"-now the Union Home for Old Ladies. Then Gheen's Tavern at Fortieth Street. Here Lancaster Avenue and Haverford Road cross each other. Two of the best-known taverns on the Haverford Road, perhaps, were Whiteside's at Haddington, and one at the "Upper Ferry," where it terminated, for many years called "Glass' Tavern." The "Wire" Bridge, a suspension bridge. crossed the river here. It was replaced by the present one, often called the "double-deck" bridge, or the Spring Garden Street bridge. The "Wire" bridge crossed where the lower span of the present bridge crosses.
On Market Street (West Chester Pike) the William Penn and the Lehman House (between Thirty-ninth and
THE BLUE BELL TAVERN. Built 1762
Fortieth Street). The William Penn deserves special mention, for the reason that from this antique hostelry
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
ran, until about twenty years ago, the last stage leaving Philadelphia. It traveled out Market Street to Newtown Square and back again, daily. (The last driver was a woman.) But the railroads, trolley and the "L" had to come, and the last Colonial stagecoach had to go. (The Blue Bell, near Kingsessing, not far from St. James' Church, at what is now Woodland Avenue, is another famous old tavern.)
"Lilac Grove"
A stone mansion, one of the best examples of Colonial architecture in Pennsylvania, for generations the home of the Harvey family, formerly stood on the Old Lancaster
"LILAC GROVE" The Harvey Homestead. Built 1700
Road, Lower Merion, immediately adjoining the Latch homesteads, just above the "Black Horse" and about a quarter of a mile above City Avenue.
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
The old house was in the midst of a beautiful profusion of lilacs which gave the place its name of "Lilac Grove." Majestic trees, many of them still standing, cast a bewilder- ing shade on every hand. They no longer screen the dear old stone house, but protect a modern Queen Anne mansion from the sun's rays. The western end of the house was built in 1700, on the site of a still older log house; the eastern end was added in 1762.
During the Revolutionary period it was occupied by a Revolutionary patriot, Richard Jones, a prominent Friend, or Quaker, and a member of Merion Meeting. (He is buried there.) He was a wealthy lumber merchant, and one of the ways in which he served his country was by presenting the Naval Board with lumber to build a boat for the armed fleet on the Delaware. As he left but one son, James, who died unmarried, the property came into the possession of his cousin, Margaret Boyle Harvey, descended from the same Jones family as James and Rich- ard. Margaret Boyle, daughter of a Revolutionary soldier, Captain James Boyle, of the Chester County Militia, was married to Edward Harvey at Merion Meeting, Sixth Month, 16th, 1808. (They are both buried there.) Edward Harvey was Squire of Lower Merion for 28 years, holding that office at the time of his death, in 1858.
Margaret Boyle Harvey's mother was Martha Wil- liams, of Charlestown, Chester County. During the Revo- lution, she with other young girls of that day, put in the crops while the men of their families were away fighting for their country. She also carried food and clothing to the patriot soldiers at Valley Forge. Her grandfather, John Williams, and her father, David Williams, were soldiers in Washington's Army. (Martha Williams mar- ried her teacher, known as "Schoolmaster Boyle." He taught in Charlestown before the Revolutionary period, and at the Old Eagle School, Treddyffrin Township. 1812-14. Henry Pleasants, Esq., in his History of the Old Eagle School, says on page 67-"Another of these 'old masters' was James Boyle, an Irishman of famed learning,
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
known as 'School Master Ehrens.' He is said to have had 'high descent' from the Earl of Cork and the Earl of Orrery, and to have had decidedly artistic talent. He also taught at Old Glassley School on Glassley Commons- now part of Devon-and at the Union School near Great Valley Baptist Church.")
The Harvey barn stood on the opposite side of the road, next to "Rose Hill," one of the Latch homesteads. It is said that at one time, during the Revolution, two soldiers, being pursued by a British foraging party, took refuge in this barn and hid beneath the hay. The British suspected their place of retreat, and slashed through the hay with their swords until they found the Americans, and then mercilessly hacked them to death. These were among the unnamed and unnumbered patriots of whom we can find no record, but who just as truly gave their lives that our nation might live, as any hero whose deeds are re- corded on tablets of marble or brass.
Highland Avenue, which runs parallel with Latch's Lane, to Merion Station, was formerly Harvey's Lane.
The Latch Homesteads
A short distance above the County Line, or City Ave- nue, and adjoining what was the Harvey property, stood for many years, two ancient houses. One was built before the days of the Revolution, the other early in the last century. They were the Latch homesteads.
Jacob Latch was a soldier in Washington's Army and encamped, when the patriots were in Merion, at Valley Forge. He obtained a furlough, came home and spent his holiday in making shoes for his destitute comrades. But tradition tells us he did more than that-he really carried dispatches for Washington. He was known as "Washing- ton's Runner."
The old Latch house on the left hand side of the road, going west, was torn down about six years ago and a fine group of houses has been built there. The other, "Rose Hill," on the right hand side of the Old Lancaster Road,
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
built in Colonial days, is still standing. (The first of the Latch ancestors came to America in 1699.)
The road leading from Merion Station to the Old Lan- caster Road is called "Latch's Lane" because it was orig- inally the lane leading to these two old-time houses. It is
THE LATCH HOMESTEAD
on Latch's Lane that Dr. Albert C. Barnes will erect his Art Gallery to contain his wonderful collection of paintings and other works of art.
Edward Biddle Latch, Chief Engineer, U. S. N. (rela- tive rank, Commander), and his two sisters were the last of the family to live in the Old Latch home. Mr. Latch died April 2, 1911. (Mr. Latch served on the U. S. S. Hartford, Rear Admiral Farragut's Flagship, during the Civil War.)
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
Seventh Battalion of Philadelphia Militia
From Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Vol. XIII, page 590, it is found that in the year 1777, the Seventh Bat- talion of Philadelphia Militia was raised in Upper Merion, Lower Merion, Blockley and Kingsessing. Following is the list of officers.
Colonel, Johnathan Paschall, Esq.
Lieutenant-Colonel, Isaac Warner, Esq.
Major, Matthew Jones, Esq. (page 590).
Colonel, Isaac Warner; Lieutenant-Colonel, Algernon Roberts; Major, Morton Garrett (page 592).
First Company-Captain Llewellyn Young; First Lieuten- ant, David Young ; Second Lieutenant, Isaac Williams ; Ensign, William Addihl.
Second Company-Captain, Israel Jones ; First Lieutenant, Joseph Grover; Second Lieutenant, Jacob Wynkoop; Ensign, Richard Thomas.
Third Company-Captain, John Young: First Lieutenant, Abraham Strieper; Second Lieutenant, Aaron Jolin- son; Ensign, Tunis Lee.
Fourth Company-Captain, Charles Robinson ; First Lieu- tenant, Nathan Gibson; Second Lieutenant, Charles Justice ; Ensign, Clement Smith.
Fifth Company-Captain, Samuel Houlston; First Lieu- tenant, Jesse Roberts ; Second Lieutenant, Ensign, Amos Sturgis.
Sixth Company-Captain, Edward Heston; First Lieuten- ant, Peter Ott; Second Lieutenant, Henry Alexander ; Ensign, Christian Miller.
Seventh Company-Captain, Benjamin Eastburn; First Lieutenant John Davis; Second Lieutenant. William George; Ensign, Moses Davis.
Eighth Company-Captain, Joseph Jones ; First Lieutenant, Peter Rose ; Second Lieutenant, William Rose ; Ensign, Isaac Kite.
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And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Lower Merion Academy
Lower Merion Academy was built in 1812. While this is not of the Revolutionary period it is one of the noted old landmarks of Lower Merion. It has a broad piazza with a
LOWER MERION ACADEMY
brick floor and flag-stone steps leading to it. The posts are supported at the base by iron pivots. The desks are clumsy and heavy while the windows have tiny square panes. All these show the age of the building, but the hollows in the steps, worn by the tramp of many feet, speak most eloquently of its antiquity.
The Academy was one of the first public schools in the United States. It was founded in 1810 by Jacob Jones, who left a farm of ten acres for the support of a school at which a certain number of pupils should be educated free of charge. The Academy was a genuine Academy with a
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
classical course. It was a boarding school with day scholars. The teacher was allowed the use of the dwelling and grounds in return for his tuition of the free scholars. From the beginning there was no distinction as to sex.
But the question of caste soon made trouble. The "free scholars" were looked down upon, so much so that it was at one time seriously proposed to erect a separate building for the "poor scholars." But the friends of the institution decided that this would defeat the intention of the founder's will, the first purpose of which was to provide free education. (The difficulty was adjusted by doing away with the paid scholars.)
The first teacher was Joshua Hoopes, a Friend, who resigned rather than contend with the strife between "paid" and "free" scholars. He afterwards went to West Chester where he successfully conducted a Friends' school for many years. He was a noted botanist, and a friend of Darling- ton's.
John Levering came next. He it was who made in 1851, a most admirable map of Lower Merion. As a local antiquarian he was quite remarkable.
Another early teacher was Miss Lydia Coggins. Miss Coggins lived to be 97 years old, dying in 1912. She is buried in West Laurel Hill within a few miles of where she spent her entire life.
But no one can speak or think of the Lower Merion Academy without calling to mind Mr. Israel Irwin, who was head master, or principal for twenty-five years.
Many scholoars from the Academy afterwards became known to the world, among them being Charles Naylor, Representative in Congress from Philadelphia, 1840; Joseph Fornance, Representative in Congress from Mont- gomery County, in the early 40's (this is the Congressman who sent Winfield Scott Hancock to West Point) ; Prof. James Rhoads, of the Boys' Central High School, Phila- delphia ; Rev. James Rush Anderson, D. D .; Dr. Richard Jones Harvey, who graduated from the University of Penn- sylvania in 1832, one of the California pioneers of 1849.
48
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Algernon Roberts, of the Pencoyd Iron Works, and George B. Roberts, who was President of the Pennsylvania Rail- road for many years before his death.
The ground upon which the Academy stands rises above the picturesque ravine known as Rock Hollow. It was up this road that the Americans passed out Meeting House Lane to reach the Old Lancaster Road to the place where they camped, near Merion Meeting House, Sep- tember 14, 1777.
THE OLD MILL Rock Hollow, Lower Merion, where the Continental money was destroyed
Down Rock Hollow, on the banks of the winding stream known as Rock Creek, stands an old ruined mill. This, during the Revolutionary period, was Lloyd Jones' paper mill. After the Continental paper money had so depreciated in value as to become utterly worthless, it was called in by our young Government and destroyed at this
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Historic Lower Merion and Blockley
mill. From this spot in Lower Merion, then, started the still popular phrase, "Not worth a Continental."
In 1914, a fine up-to-date school house was built on the Academy grounds, facing Levering Mill Road. But the old building still stands as it has for more than a Century. The new school was made necessary because the settlement of Cynwyd has grown to such proportions within the last few years, that the old school house was too small to accom- modate all the pupils. Howard M. Jenkins tells us in his "Historical Recollections of Gwynedd" that Joseph Foulke. of Gwynedd (b. 1786) a minister of the Quaker faith who taught at Friends' School at Plymouth, and later (1818) established a boarding school for young men and boys at Gwynedd, said, in referring to the small salaries paid, "The free school of Montgomery, however, was more popular. The salary paid there $160 a year, secured more competent teachers than any other school. I can remember when a teacher's pay was from a dollar to ten shillings per quarter for each scholar and he obtained his board by going about from house to house among his employers, and it was a remark that people would trust a teacher to instruct their children to whom they would not lend a horse." The "free school of Montgomery" was the Old Academy.
The Columbia Railroad
The Columbia Railroad, the precurser of the Pennsyl- vania system, was one of the first in the United States. (In 1823 John Stevens secured a charter from the Penn- sylvania Legislature to construct a railroad to Columbia, but he did not succeed in raising sufficient funds to build it. A new Charter for the road was granted in 1826, repealing the former one, but nothing came of this, and it was not until 1828 that the road was begun. In 1832 portions of it were completed, and cars ran. In 1834 the road was finished, and opened through to Columbia, and the "Black Hawk" was placed upon it.)
The Schuylkill Valley branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Bala runs on part of the old Columbia Rail-
52
And Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
road. The roadbed continued east, from what is now Bala, down Conshohocken Road, between the catalpa trees, past the Methodist Orphanage and Home, and through Fair- mount Park-the trolley running on part of it-to the Schuylkill, below Belmont Hill, at the site of the Old Columbia Bridge (opened in 1834-the new concrete bridge was built in 1919). The railroad started at Broad and Vine Streets and crossed the river at this point. Going in the other direction, from Bala, the Columbia Railroad continued from the deep cut along the Ford Road to "Bowman's Bridge"-named for a bridge over this rail- road-then out along the Old Lancaster Road past Merion Meeting House to Ardmore, where the roadbed became continuous with the present main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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