USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Blockley > Historic Lower Merion and Blockley; also the erection or establishment of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 7
USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lower Merion > Historic Lower Merion and Blockley; also the erection or establishment of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 7
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Dr. Thomas Wynne was a notable character in Colonial days. He was the first Speaker of the first House of Repre- sentatives in Pennsylvania; a Judge in the Provincial Courts; Magistrate of Sussex County, Delaware (where he moved). Was friend and physician to William Penn, a scholar and a Quaker preacher. A great number of famous characters, Revolutionary and otherwise, were descended from Dr. Wynne, among them being John Dick- 1
*Note .- Miss Wynne died August 29, 1921, aged 89 years.
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inson, author of the "Farmer's Letters," and Generals John and Lambert Cadwalader.
During the Revolutionary period the old Wynne house was occupied by the family of Lieutenant Thomas Wynn, of the "Pennsylvania Flying Camp," a great-grandson of the first Thomas Wynne. Lieutenant Wynn was taken prisoner by the British and detained on Long Island for more than four years.
While Blockley and Merion Townships were being ravaged by the British, and while Lieutenant Wynn was away from home in the service of his country, a number of British soldiers attacked the Wynn house. Mrs. Wynn, so the story goes, assisted only by her children and servants, bravely defended her home. But the English finally broke into the house and searched high and low for valuables. But the only things they found which they wanted were some freshly-baked loaves of bread and a barrel of liquor. The last vanquished them! They fell helpless under the influence of the liquor and were captured by a party of American soldiers who passed that way. (Mrs. Elizabeth Rees, wife of Lieutenant Wynn, is buried at Merion Meeting.)
The Five Points
At the Five Points, outside the Park, near Bala, two old roads, the Monument and the Ford Roads, cross each other, and a third, the Falls Road, starts out from the inter- section, thus forming five roads pointing in five different directions-to Hestonville, to West Manayunk, to Lower Merion, to the Ford, and to the Falls of Schuylkill. All these old roads resounded to the tramp of contending armies, Continental and British.
Near the Five Points stands an old schoolhouse, nearly seventy years old, built on ground presented by George Aston, of "Woodside." The building was named "Aston- ville School" in the expectation that a village would grow around it. This has never grown, but the fields surround- ing it are gradually being built upon.
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This little schoolhouse has a white marble tablet over the door giving its name, but recently the Board of Educa- tion (for the school is within the Philadelphia City limits) has placed a large sign, covering the little tablet, bearing the words "Joseph M. Bennett Public School."
It was in this locality, while reconnoitering in the spring of 1778, that Colonel Edward Heston, of the Penn- sylvania Militia, was captured by a party of British troopers. He was sent as a prisoner to Long Island, where he was detained for seven months.
Blockley Baptist Church
The Blockley Baptist Church was founded in 1804. It stands on ground given by John Suplee, a Revolutionary soldier, whose remains rest in a vault under the church. The Suplee (or Supplee) family is descended from Arnaud Souplis, one of the numerous Huguenots who settled in and about Philadelphia in 1683.
In the churchyard are buried a number of Revolu- tionary soldiers, among them being William Sheldrake, John Graham, John Little, William Donaldson, John Gamber, Peter Worrell, John Tyson, Benjamin Town, Benjamin Miller, Thomas Wyatt and William McClure.
For many years this was the only church of any denomination (except the Friends) in all Blockley Town- ship.
The church is situate on what is now Fifty-third Street, being a part of the old-time "Meeting House Lane," which extended from the Lancaster Pike to the West Chester Road (now Market Street). Meeting House Lane is "lost" in Fifty-second Street, where the trolley line runs ; only a portion of it from the church to Girard Avenue, between Fifty-second and Fifty-third Streets remains.
The "General Association" to spread the gospel in Pennsylvania was founded in Blockley Baptist Church on July 4, 1827. (See Scharf and Westcott's "History of Philadelphia, Vol. II, pages 1310-1311.)
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Old Roads
We have previously given the history of the Ford Road, the Old Lancaster Road, the Lancaster Turnpike and the Monument Road. Other old roads are:
The Darby Road, leaving Lancaster Road near the Middle Ferry and extending southward to Darby-1690.
West Chester Road (now Market Street) extending westward from the intersection of Darby and Lancaster Roads-1770.
Marshall Road, now West Walnut Street-1750. (On Scull and Heap's Map of 1750, we see a road "to Mar- shall's.")
Haverford Road, from Haverford Meeting House to Upper Ferry (near where the Spring Garden Street bridge stands), laid out in 1690.
Upper Darby Road, from Merion Meeting House, passing through Haddington (near Sixty-second-Sixty- fifth Streets) to Upper Darby Meeting House-1695.
These historic roads are shown upon the military charts of that day, both American and British; also on early maps.
Near the intersection of the Haverford Road and the Upper Darby Road, close to Ardmore Junction, stands one of the most beautiful of old Colonial houses, with stately columns supporting the piazza. It is on part of the Humphrey estate, and the oldest portion of the house was built long before Revolutionary days.
Other old roads in Lower Merion are Levering Mill Road, which led from Levering's Ferry near where the Manayunk bridge now stands (and is marked on Scull and Heap's map of 1750), up through Lower Merion to the Old Lancaster Road, near where the Ford Road joins the latter, at "Bowman's Bridge." The lower end of this road, near the river, was called since the early sixties, "Clegg's Lane," because a man named Clegg bought one of the old mills there and operated it for years. It was up this road from Levering's Ferry that Washington's army marched
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on September 14, 1777, after crossing from Old Roxborough Township to Lower Merion, on the way to Merion Meet- ing House, thus leaving the camp near the Falls of Schuyl- kill, three days after the Battle of the Brandywine. They turned from Levering Mill Road out Meeting House Lane, according to Lieutenant McMichael's Journal, where they reached the "great road to Lancaster."
Righter's Ferry was between Manayunk and Pencoyd on the Schuylkill, and Righter's Ferry Road ran from the Old Ford Road to this Ferry. One detachment of Con- tinentals marched up into Merion from Righter's Ferry, then out the Ford Road to Merion Meeting.
Levering Mill Road no longer runs to the river, but ends at Belmont Avenue. Righter's Ferry Road runs down the hill past West Laurel Hill Cemetery, but neither does it lead to the river. It turns to the right at Pencoyd and joins City Line at the bridge. (The Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pencoyd Iron Works have "acquired" the entire bank of the river between City Line, almost to Manayunk bridge, thus cutting off the west River Road, and closing the lower portions of Righter's Ferry Road and Levering Mill Road, two old historic highways.
Valley Forge
The principal part of the Camp Ground at Valley Forge, including Washington's headquarters, is in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. (Only a small portion of it extends into Chester County.) Just across the Valley Creek were the Artificers, in what was then Charlestown Township, now Schuylkill, the lower part of Charlestown having been cut off since the Revolu- tion. As Washington's army, in 1777, marched through Lower Merion and camped there, on its way to Valley Forge, I feel that this volume would be incomplete without a few words concerning this noted spot.
The fine old stone house used by Washington as his headquarters is still in an excellent state of preservation. At the time of the Revolution it was the home of Isaac
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Potts, a patriot Friend, or Quaker. He it was who came upon Washington while at prayer in the woods, as shown in the painting so familiar to us all.
The army went into camp at Valley Forge in Decem- ber, 1777, and spent a terrible winter of suffering from both cold and hunger. But the women and girls in that part of the country did what they could to help feed and clothe the soldiers. They knitted stockings, gloves and mufflers; they baked bread, carried flour and grain to them, and ministered to their necessities as well as lay in their power-just as our women and girls have done today, both at home and abroad. The army evacuated Valley Forge in June, 1778.
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WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, VALLEY FORGE
Every Pennsylvanian, and no doubt every American, is rejoiced that Valley Forge is saved to the nation. The fact that it has been preserved is largely due to the efforts of a woman, the late Anna M. Holstein, of Bridgeport, Pa. Mrs. Holstein had been since 1885 the "Lady Regent" for Pennsylvania, in the association of patriotic women formed for the purpose of preserving the home of Washington at Mt. Vernon. During the Civil War she went as an army
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nurse and rendered valuable aid to our country in that capacity, as also did Mrs. Rebecca McInnes, who was closely associated with her.
As the year 1878 drew near, the one hundredth anni- versary of the evacuation of Valley Forge, when the troops marched on to victory, Mrs. Holstein felt that its centennial ought to be fittingly observed. She and other kindred spirits, living in the neighborhood, with several patriotic societies, formed the "Valley Forge Centennial and Memo- rial Association." Among the first members were Major William Holstein, Dr. and Mrs. George Holstein, all of Bridgeport; General B. F. Fisher and Colonel I. Heston Todd, of Valley Forge; John O. K. Robarts, editor of the Phoenixville Messenger; Colonel N. Ellis, of Phoenixville ; Colonel and Mrs. Theadore W. Bean, and Charles Ramey, of Norristown, and others. Mrs. Holstein was elected Regent of this association, an office which she held until her death, December 31, 1900.
The Valley Forge Centennial and Memorial Associa- tion purchased the headquarters with adjoining orchard and garden, and celebrated June 19, 1878, with impressive ceremonies. It was then that the late Henry Armitt Brown, that eloquent young orator, delivered his famous address. This celebration called the attention of the whole nation to Valley Forge.
The Association had purchased the headquarters buoyed up by an abiding faith, but borne down by a heavy debt. The Patriotic Order Sons of America came to their aid, and by June 19, 1887, the property was free from all incumbrance. Another celebration was held, the date being the 109th anniversary of the evacuation of Valley Forge. Among those instrumental in bringing about this happy consummation were Henry J. Stager, editor of the Phila- delphia Camp News (the organ of the Patriotic Sons of America), and J. P. Hale Jenkins, Esq., of Norristown, Pa.
In 1894 the Valley Forge Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was organized, and Mrs. Holstein became its first Regent. This chapter assisted in the care
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of Washington's Headquarters and furnished, in Colonial style, the room in which Washington slept.
Chester County Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, followed, and furnished another room in similar style.
Merion Chapter has also furnished a room in Washing- ton's Headquarters, the upper room with the "round win- dow" (facing the Valley Hills), shown in so many pictures. Every piece of furniture is authentic, with a Revolutionary or Colonial history.
On the death of Mrs. Holstein, Mrs. Rebecca McInnes, of Norristown, who had been Vice-Regent of the Valley Forge Centennial and Memorial Association, succeeded her as Regent. (Mrs. McInnes had also been Vice-Regent of the Valley Forge Chapter, D. A. R., with Mrs. Charles Hunsicker as Regent.) Other Regents were Mrs. P. Y. Eisenberg and Mrs. N. Howland Brown. The present Regent of the Valley Forge Chapter is Miss Martha McInnes (1918). The retiring Regent, Mrs. Irwin Fisher.
Some years ago the State of Pennsylvania acquired several hundred acres of the Valley Forge Camp Ground, with the intention of gradually securing the whole and pre- serving it forever as a public park. Washington's Head- quarters, so long in the possession of the Valley Forge Cen- tennial and Memorial Association, became, in March, 1906, the property of the State. The Association then went out of existence, but it will long be remembered for the noble record it left behind it. One of its last acts was to join with other patriotic societies in celebrating the 125th anniversary of Washington's evacuation of Valley Forge, June 19, 1903.
In the morning there was held a Memorial Service, after which the corner-stone of the Washington Memorial Chapel was laid. (Colonel I. Heston Todd gave the ground for this church. The erection of the Memorial Chapel was the result of a sermon preached by Rev. W. Herbert Burk, then rector of All Saints' P. E. Church, Norristown, now of the Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge.) The usual rite for the laying of a corner-stone was carried out in full. A
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large metal box was placed within the ponderous block, and the contents included :
The holy Bible, prayer-book and hymnal; Journal of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, 1902 ; address of Bishop Whit- aker and other papers relating to the Diocesan Convention. 1903; Norristown Daily Herald, February 23, 1903, con- taining the sermon in which Rev. W. Herbert Burk, rector of All Saints' P. E. Church, Norristown, Pa., suggested the erection of the Memorial Chapel; various secular and church papers containing articles on the subject, and a poem, "The National Flower, or Valley Forge Arbutus," by Miss Margaret B. Harvey (Merion Chapter, D. A. R.) ; History of All Saints' Church, by the late Henry R. Brown ; pictures and papers relating to Norristown and Philadelphia churches, historic stones and woods; the daily papers for June 19, 1903, and an American flag.
In the afternoon a grand patriotic celebration was given. Addresses were made by Hon. Walter S. Logan, of the Empire State Society, S. A. R .; Mrs. Donald McLean, then Regent of the New York City Chapter, D. A. R., and later President General of the National Society, D. A. R. (both of whom have since been summoned "Over Beyond") ; Miss Adaline W. Sterling, of New Jersey, President D. R., and Hon. Charles Emory Smith, of Phila- delphia.
Two poems written for this occasion were read by Francis L. Lybarger; one was by Miss Margaret B. Har- vey and the other by Mrs. Mary E. Thropp Cone. Miss Harvey's poem was entitled "Ode for Valley Forge Day," and contains these lines :
O Valley Forge! O ringing name! The "Forge" suggests the deathless flame,
The glowing mass, the hammer strong. The sound of music, metal's song, By which our Nation rose to shine- The Vulcan-Maker all divine! O Ætna in the Valley Hill ! The wondrous fire is bursting still ;
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How trembled earth at Crater's glow In first eruption, years ago! O Valley Forge! What chains were wrought And over ocean boastful brought! But we had fires and hammers, too- Our Vulcans struck and shackles flew !
A prayer was made by the Rev. Henry A. F. Hoyt. D. D., Rector of St. John's P. E. Church, Lower Merion. The musical part of the program was under the direction of Mr. John O. K. Robarts, of Phoenixville.
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PART III The Erection of Montgomery County
N THE tenth day of September, 1784, the Legisla- ture of Pennsylvania passed an Act for the estab- lishment of the County of Montgomery, which reads as follows :
Section I. Whereas a great number of the inhabitants of the County of Philadelphia, by their petition, have humbly represented to the Assembly of this State the great inconvenience they labor under, by reason of their distance from the seat of judicature in said County; for remedy whereof,
Section II. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That all and singular the lands lying within that part of Philadelphia County, bounded as here- inafter described, beginning on the line of Byberry Town- ship, and the Township of the manor of Moreland, where it intersects the line of Bucks County, thence westward along the northern lines of Byberry, Lower Dublin and Oxford Townships, to the line dividing the Townships of Chelten- ham and Bristol; and thence along the said line, dividing Germantown Township from the Township of Springfield ; and thence along said line, to the line dividing the Town- ship of Springfield aforesaid from the Township of Rox- borough, to the River Schuylkill; thence down the said river, to the line dividing the Townships of Blockley and Lower Merion; and thence along said line to the line of the County of Chester; thence by the line of Chester County, to the line of Berks County; thence by the line of Berks County to the line of Northampton County; thence by part of the line of Northampton County, and the line of Bucks County; thence along the said line of Bucks County, to the place of beginning; be, and hereby are,
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erected into a County, named, and hereafter to be called, "Montgomery" County.
What is now Montgomery County, then part of Phila- delphia County, was settled by the Welsh, English and German-the Scotch-Irish and the Irish coming over at a later date. The Welsh (as told previously under the head of Lower Merion) have the honor of being first. The English, however, were a close second.
Edward Jones, who brought the Colonists over on the ship Lyon (John Compton, Master), landing at Pencoyd, August 14, 1682, wrote home to Wales on August 26th, saying : "The Indians brought venison to our door for six pence ye quarter. There are stones to be had enough at the Falls of Skoolkill-that is where we are to settle-and water power enough for mills; but thou must bring mill stones and the irons that belong to it, for smiths are dear."
Thomas Evans and William Jones purchased seven- thousand-eight-hundred-and-twenty acres in Gwynedd in 1698, and were soon joined by Cadwallader, Owen and Robert Evans, Hugh Griffith, Ellis David, Robert Jones, Edward Foulke, John Hugh and John Humphrey. The Welsh at Merion built their meeting-house in 1695, on the site of a still older log meeting-house.
In 1700 the Welsh of Gwynedd built a small log house for worship, and a larger one of stone was erected in 1712. The subscription paper was written in Welsh, to which sixty-six names were affixed. A petition of the residents of Gwynedd for a road to Philadelphia in 1704, states that they then numbered thirty families.
In 1729, Marmaduke Pardo, of Gwynedd, "School- master" was married at Merion. This Marmaduke Pardo came from Pembrokeshire. Wales, with the following quaint certificate, dated April 18, 1727: "We whose names are hereunto subscribed, being the Curate and others of the inhabitants of the Parish of St. David's, do hereby cer- tify whom it may concern, that ye bearer hereof, Marma- duke Pardo, of the citty of St. David's and County of Pem- brock, has to ye utmost of our knowledge & all appearances
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liv'd a very sober and pious life demeaning himself accord- ing to ye strictest Rules of his profession, viz., wt what we call Quakerism, & yt he hath for these several years past took upon himself ye keeping of a private school in this Citty, in which Station he acquitted himself with ye com- mon applause, and to ye general satisfaction of all of us who have committed our children to his care and tuition, etc." (Signed by Richard Roberts, Curate, and about 25 others.)
Before 1703, David Meredith, Thomas Owen, Isaac Price, Ellis Pugh and Hugh Jones, all from Wales, settled in Plymouth. The Rev. Malachi Jones from Wales, organ- ized the first Presbyterian Congregation at Abington in 1714.
Before 1720, John Evans, William James, Thomas James, Josiah James, James Lewis, Edward Williams and James Davis had settled in Montgomery Township, where they built a Baptist Church (1720) in which preaching in the Welsh language was maintained down to the Revolu- tion. The Welsh, as statistical records prove, during the first half of the Century were the principal settlers. In 1734 they formed nearly one-fourth the entire population. In that year fifty-two taxables are mentioned in Lower Merion, of which forty-four are Welsh, and four English. In Upper Merion, for the same date, of thirty-two, twenty- two are Welsh and one English ; in Gwynedd of forty-eight, thirty-nine are Welsh and six English; in Towamencin, eight are Welsh and three English; in Horsham, five are Welsh and four English ; in Plymouth, eight are Welsh and six English; in Montgomery, of twenty-nine, twenty-two are Welsh; in Norriton, seven Welsh and six English.
As the Welsh, English and German did not understand each other's language, they, at first, formed settlements by themselves.
After the Welsh came the English and their first settle- ment, according to Mr. William J. Buck, was probably made in Cheltenham. He said, "There is no doubt but what this township received its name through Toby Leech, one of the earliest landholders there." On his tombstone
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at Oxford Church is found this extract, that he "came from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, in 1682." From the records we learn that on the first of Seventh month, 1683, Thomas Fairman surveyed for Patrick Rob- inson, two-hundred acres adjoining Richard Wall, by Tacony Creek, which states that "this tract of land is in the parish of Cheltenham." From this we learn that Rich- ard Wall's purchase must have been made still earlier. Richard Wall was also from Gloucestershire.
Other early settlers from England were John Day, William Brown, Everard Bolton, John Ashmead, John Russell and Joseph Mather. John Hallowwell, John Barnes and Joseph Phipps settled Abington before 1697.
Nicholas More, a London physician, arrived soon after William Penn, and had conveyed to him, by patent, 7th of Sixth-month, 1684, the Manor of Moreland, containing nine- thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifteen acres. He called his place Green Spring, and built his home, where he lived for the balance of his life.
Joseph Farmer, by patent, January 31, 1683, took up five-thousand acres of land. His widow, Mary Farmer, settled there with her family in 1685. This was the first settlement in Whitemarsh. On the death of Mrs. Farmer, in the latter part of 1686, her son Edward Farmer, became the owner of three-fourths of the original purchase. He was noted as an interpreter to the Indians. He built a grist mill on the Wissahickon prior to 1713.
To the English belongs the honor of having burnt the first lime, from limestone in Pennsylvania. It was on the Farmer land. We know this from a letter written by Nicholas More, to William Penn, September 13, 1683, say- ing, "Madame Farmer has found as good limestone as any in the world, and is building with it. She offers to sell ten thousand bushels at six pence the bushel, upon her plantation." Thomas Fitzwater carried on the burning of lime before 1705, at what was called Fitzwatertown. (Lime was burned in Upper Merion prior to 1708.)
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John Barnes purchased two-hundred-and-fifty acres in Abington in 1684. In 1697, by will, he vested in the trustees of Abington Meeting one-hundred-and-twenty acres, for the use of same and for a schoolhouse.
Plymouth was originally purchased and settled about 1685, by James Fox, Richard Gove, Francis Rawle and John Chelson. As these men came from Plymouth, in Devon- shire, England, they called the place Plymouth.
Thomas Iredell and Thomas Palmer were among the earliest settlers of Horsham. In 1701, Joseph Richardson and Edward Lane settled in Providence. In 1708 Edward Lane built a mill near Collegeville. Henry Pawling came from Buckinghamshire and was also an early settler of Providence.
Previously the settlements in which the Welsh pre- dominated were given, so we will now take up those settled by the English. Statistics tell us that in 1734, Abington had twenty-four English and thirteen Welsh ; Cheltenham, eleven English and six Welsh; Moreland, forty-seven Eng- lish and seven Welsh: Whitemarsh, twenty-three English and nine Welsh; Upper Dublin, fifteen English and five Welsh; Springfield, nine English and no Welsh.
The English built Abington Friends' Meeting House in 1697 ; one at Horsham, 1721 ; at Providence, 1730; at Potts- town, 1753; Saint Thomas' Episcopal Church in White- marsh in 1710, and Saint James' in Providence in 1721.
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