USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Gwynedd > Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, a township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, settled, 1696, by immigrants from Wales, with some data referring to the adjoining township, of Montgomery, also settled by Welsh > Part 32
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appropriations to the school district were piling up. They had begun in 1835, under the Act of '34. By special acts and reso- lutions passed from year to year by the Legislature, it had been provided that such appropriations should still be open to the ac- ceptance of the districts, up to a date in the future,-this date being in each act moved a year ahead. And in 1837 there had come from the national treasury to that of the State that large sum (nearly three millions of dollars) which was Pennsylvania's share of the Surplus distributed under the Act of Congress of 1836. This money was largely applied to the public schools,' and the effect it had on the Gwynedd appropriation will be seen by the following statement :
State Appropriations to Gwynedd School District :
For year beginning June, 1835 $ 83.37
1836
228.27
1837 799.80
1838 353.00
I839 326.00
When the vote came to be taken, once more, at the township election in March, 1840, there was, therefore, nearly eighteen hundred dollars to the credit of the school district, and open to its use in the event of a vote for accepting the system, but to be covered into the general fund of the State, in the event of a fresh rejection. With this aid, the friends of the schools triumphed. On March 20th of that year, the vote stood :
For Acceptance, 86 ; for Rejection, 80.
The Directors in 1840 were Charles Greger, John Boileau, John Jenkins, Samuel Linton, Samuel B. Davis, Charles F.
1 The enormous influence exercised by this large expenditure, under the practical and effective amendments of 1836, can hardly be overestimated. The school system of Pennsylvania sprang at once into vigorous life. Within three years, the permanent State appropriation rose from $75,000 to $400,000 ; and whereas there were but 762 public schools open at the end of 1835, there were, only three years later, no less than 5,000.
-
400
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GWYNEDD.
Jenkins. The adoption of the system made necessary the laying of a tax, and this was fixed at $228.26. The following statement shows. the district's share of the State appropriation, and its amount of tax, from 1840 to 1845 inclusive :
1840. State Appropriation, $326 ; Tax, $228.26
1841.
326 ;
225.42
1842.
410;
320.65
1843.
410;
266.83
1844.
245 ;
296.87
1845.
192 ;
301.80
The report of the State Superintendent for 1844 showed the progress which Gwynedd had by that time made. There were 4 schools, 4 teachers (all males) ; 255 male and 197 female pu- pils. The average compensation of teachers per month was $20. The schools were open 9 months in the year. 13 pupils were instructed in the German language. It is interesting to note that in that year, 19 townships of the county, a majority of the whole number, still rejected the State system. . Gwynedd and Mont- gomery were the only two in this section accepting ; Hatfield, . Horsham, Towamencin, Worcester, Whitpain, and Upper Dub- lin were among those which had so far refused.
The four schools open, in 1844, were the " upper eight- square," on the Allentown road ; one on the Sumneytown road opposite Frederick Beaver's ; one at Gwynedd meeting-house, partly supported by the meeting fund ; one at the " lower eight- square," on the turnpike below Spring-House. The two " eight- square " were actually octagonal in shape, a plan then thought to be a very good one.
The first hotel in the township was no doubt that of Thomas Evans, on what is now the turnpike, a mile below Acuff's. On which side of the road it stood may be somewhat uncertain, but probably on the south-west side, where there used to be
:
401
HOTELS AND STORES.
traces of an old building, a well, etc. Rowland Roberts's hotel, in Montgomery, must have been on the Bethlehem road, below Montgomery Square. It existed in 1749, as we know by his will. The hotel at Spring-House was established about 1763, probably by Martin Shoemaker, who came from Lower Salford. Christian Dull bought this property of Philip Bahl, and contin- ued to keep it for many years, probably until his death in 1820. He was the landlord when Alexander Wilson, afterward the famous ornithologist, stayed over night there in his pedestrian tour to Niagara Falls, in October, 1804, and " wrote up" the place in a not particularly complimentary manner.1
Another hotel was established at Spring-House in the house across the road, owned by the Scarletts ; this was in the build- ing now occupied as a store by Isaac Hallowell. For many years there were two, until the railroad cut off the stream of the market-folks whom Wilson encountered, and one became quite sufficient for public accommodation.
Before buying the Maris property, by the meeting-house, and establishing his hotel there, David Acuff kept tavern at Spring-House (perhaps in the Scarlett building) for a number of years. I have seen his licenses for years from 1811 to 1816.
1 Wilson's poem, "The Foresters," describing his trip, says : Mile after mile passed unperceived away, Till in the west the day began to close, And Spring-House tavern furnished us repose. Here two long rows of market folks were seen, Ranged front to front, the table placed between, Where bags of meat, and bones, and crusts of bread, And hunks of bacon all around were spread ; One pint of beer from lip to lip went 'round, And scarce a bone the hungry house-dog found ; Torrents of Dutch from every quarter came, Pigs, calves, and sour-kraut the important theme ; While we, on future plans revolving deep, Discharged our bill, and straight retired to sleep.
402
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GWYNEDD.
He bought the Maris property of Jesse J. Maris, in 1818, and at the August Term, 1819, petitioned the court for a license. This, however, was not granted him until 1827. The petition of 1819 recites that his place is "where the great road leading from Doylestown to Plymouth Meeting crosses the great road leading from Philadelphia to Kutztown," and that there are no hotels between Spring-House and George Heist's, on the latter road, or "between Montgomery Square and Pigeontown " (Blue Bell) on the other.
The tavern at Kneedler's was long known as Heisler's. (Reading Howell's map, 1792, shows it by that name,-though mis-spelled Heister's.) When it was established is not certain. In 1776, Jacob Heisler had 147 acres of land, according to the assessor's list, but he is not marked as having a tavern. Henry Kneedler, who had married his granddaughter, Margaret Heis- ler (daughter of Jacob, jun.), acquired the property in 1840, and the hotel was long kept by his son, Jacob Heisler Kneedler.
George Heist's tavern, on the turnpike, below the old St. Peter's churchyard, was a famous place in its time. The large buildings, now used for a dwelling (Cardell's), were put up to accommodate the public, and there used to be large stone sheds and stabling, which were torn down during the ownership of Silas H. Land, in the '60s.
As has been already stated, the central part of the present store-building and residence of Walter H. Jenkins was a hotel during the Revolution. Jesse Evans, the tailor, when he sold most of his property to George Maris,' in 1755, retained this, (now W. H. J.'s), but as he became insolvent, the sheriff sold it for him, in November, 1764, to Jacob Wentz, of Worcester. He,
' See Jesse Evans, p. 173. It is there stated that when he sold to Geo. Maris, the W. H. Jenkins lot was included, but this is an error. In the garden behind the wagon- house there is an old well, and beside it, in Jesse Evans's time, stood a log house.
403
HOTELS AND STORES.
in 1769, built the middle part of the house, and rented it out for a tavern. Who was the landlord is not known. Owen Ferris, " of Towamencin, gentleman," bought the property of Wentz, in 1778, and in 1782 sold it to John Martin, who in 1794 sold to Edward Jenkins. The last named built the present store end of the building, and kept store there until his death in 1829, when the property descended to his son, Charles F. Jenkins.
Earlier than Edward Jenkins's store at this place was that of Owen Evans, in the Meredith housc. (He calls himself "storc- keeper " in a deed to his son Samuel.) This store Samuel Evans probably continued ; in his deed for the sale of 8812 acres' to Amos Roberts, in 1765, he calls himself " store-keeper," also.2
'Squire John Roberts was doubtless the most important merchant in Gwynedd, for many years. His store was at the Spring-House, a particularly good place for business in the old times. He began there soon after the close of the Revolution, some of his accounts that I have scen being of so early a date as 1786. His papers show that he dealt largely in flaxseed and linen, buying the former of the farmers and exporting it, from Philadelphia, to the Irish ports,-Belfast, Dublin, Newry, and Cork. In return he received the linens. His operations were sometimes directly with the Irish commission houses, but more frequently he conducted them through Caleb and Owen Foulke, of Philadelphia. The shipments each way were quite large : whether they were ultimately at a profit to John may be doubted. Months were required for returns, each way, and the various charges for insurance, freight, storage, commissions, etc., were about 30 per cent. of the prices realized on the flaxseed.3 John
1 The Meredith place ; now Est. of J. Lukens.
? He is the same mentioned previously in this chapter as a school teacher, in 1793.
3 An "account sales " of William and Samuel Hanna, of Newry, 30th July, 1787, shows the sales " in course of the season," of 107 hogsheads of flaxseed, for £310 75. 21/2d. ; on which the various charges, under ten different headings, were £84 4s. Id.
404
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GWYNEDD.
closed his business at the Spring-House, in 1794, by selling out to John Hubbs, for whom his brother-in-law, Amos Lewis, of Upper Dublin, became security. John Hubbs did not prove to be a successful store-keeper, and did not long continue.
The first grist-mill in the township was doubtless that on the Wissahickon, at Penllyn, built by William Foulke. Its date of erection is uncertain, but it was some years before the Revolu- tion. Pretty nearly contemporary with it, but rather later, was the mill north of North Wales, formerly John L. Heist's. In the 1776 list it is entered as Barnaby Beaver's.
At Mumbower's, there was a saw and fulling-mill set up about 1744. In that year Evan' Evans conveyed 29 acres to his son Abraham Evans, including a strip 2 perches wide and 98 long, " for the purpose of digging a race to lead the water to a saw and fulling mill."
According to Gordon's Gasetteer, there were in Gwynedd, in 1832, two grist-mills and three saw-mills. (There were returned to the assessor 307 houses, and 776 cattle.)
The construction of the turnpike from Spring-House upward by Montgomery Square was set on foot in 1813, a charter having been granted by the Legislature, and approved by the Governor, on January 16 of that year. The name of the corporation, " The Spring-House, Northampton Town and Bethlehem Turnpike Company," showed the ambitious design which was entertained, and which, compared with the actual progress of the work, was altogether too large for the means at command. The commis- sioners named in the charter were William Tilghman and Peter Kneplay, of Philadelphia ; John Roberts, Evan Jones, Silas Hough, and John Weaver, of Montgomery township; Samuel Sellers, Andrew Schlicher, and William Green, of Bucks county ; James Greenleaf, Abraham Rinker, Jacob Hartzel, and Peter
405
TURNPIKE BUILDING.
Wint, of Lehigh county ; and George Huber and Owen Rice, of Northampton county.
The road was to begin at Spring-House, and go by Mont- gomery Square, Trewig's tavern, Sellers' tavern, Swamp Meet- ing-House [Quakertown], to Fry's tavern, and from there to the borough of Northampton,1 in Lehigh county, " with a conveni- ent section to the town of Bethlehem." The roadway was not to be less than 50 nor more than 60 feet wide, of which at least 21 feet was to be made an artificial road, " bedded with wood, stone, gravel, or any other hard substance, well compacted to- gether, and of sufficient depth to secure a solid foundation to the the same ; and the said road shall be faced with gravel or stone pounded, or other small hard substance, in such manner as to secure a firm, and as near as the materials will admit, an even surface," etc., etc.
The stockholders organized by a meeting "at the public- house of Philip Shellenberger," May 24, 1813, electing Evan Jones, President ; George Weaver, Treasurer ; and Owen Rice, Hugh Foulke, Edward Ambler, John Roberts, Benjamin Rosen- berger, Thomas Lester, James Wilson, John Gordon, Henry Leidy, John Todd, Benjamin Foulke, and Isaac Morris, managers.
The managers met first, August 23, 1813, at John Weaver's hotel, and elected Cadwallader Foulke and John Houston sur- veyors. Next day they met at David Acuff's hotel, Spring- House, and remained for further meetings on the two following days. £ There was some controversy over the route. Onc proposition, negatived by a vote of 6 to 3, was to run " in a straight line from Spring-House to George Weaver's ;" another (yeas 4, nays 8), that it " be carried along the North Wales road until where the [Treweryn] creek intersects the same, from thence
1 The present borough of Allentown.
406
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GWYNEDD.
through the lands of Messrs. Foulke, Sheive, and Evans, in an oblique direction to the Swedes' Ford road, thence along it to George Weaver's." Some other propositions were made, and finally, 9 to 3, the road as now located was fixed on.
The subsequent construction of the road was very slow. It never got to " Northampton Town," or even to Quakertown, but stopped at Hilltown, and the corporate title was changed finally to the Spring-House and Hilltown Turnpike Company. The State granted aid to a considerable amount : by an act in 1816, the Governor was authorized to subscribe to 200 shares of stock ($10,000) ; by another, in 1821, he was required to sub- scribe for 300 shares more; in 1824, he was directed to pay Patrick Logan, a contractor who had been at work on the road, $1,593, a balance due him, and the balance due under the Act of 1816 (and a supplement, 1817), stated to be $7,157, when the road was completed to Trewig's tavern. In 1833, an act of the Legislature recited that " owing to the embarrassed situation of their funds," the Company had no prospect of complying with the conditions of the Act of 1821, and the Governor was ordered to pay the whole $15,000 State aid, as soon as they should com- plete not less than 212 miles more road.
The turnpike from Spring-House to Sumneytown,1 17 miles, was made in 1847-48. A general meeting to organize the com-
1 Sumneytown is a village directly " up country " (n. w.) in Marlborough town- ship. This road was the route of travel for the people of a large section of country to the markets in Philadelphia, and until the construction of the railroad, hundreds of wagons,-two, four, and six-horse teams,-passed each week through Gwynedd on their way to and from the city. Flour from the mills on Perkiomen, farm produce of all kinds, linseed oil, and blasting powder, formed their main freightage. It was usual for many of these to go down on Monday and Thursday afternoons, reaching the city in time for the Tuesday and Friday markets, completing their sales, and returning on Wednesday and Saturday. It formed an extensive traffic, and the hotels along the road were busy places on the days when the " hucksters," mill-teams, hay-teams, and market farmers passed up or down. But after 1856, the railroad having been completed, this was broken up.
407
TURNPIKE BUILDING.
pany was held at Jonas Boorse's hotel, in Lower Salford, May 20, 1847, and Charles F. Jenkins was elected president, Isaac W. Wampole treasurer, and Ellis Cleaver, Henry Kneedler, Seth Lukens, Jonas Boorse, Jonas C. Godshalk, Solomon Artman, Nathaniel Jacoby, and George Snyder managers. The Presi- dent and committees of the managers, with Jacob Pruner, jr., as surveyor, located the route (varying very little from the bed of the old road), starting from the Spring-House on May 27th, and reaching " the upper end of Sumneytown on the morning of June 3d." This work fixed the width of the road (50 feet), and its angles ; subsequently Lawrence E. Corson, of Norristown,
fixed the grades. The road was divided into half-mile sections,
for construction.
All bridges with a span of over six feet were to be separately contracted for. The first nine sections, from Spring- House upward, were contracted for by Robert Scarlett and David Acuff, at $2,700 each ; two more, above, were taken by John Boileau, at $2,600 each,-this covering all of the road in Gwynedd.' The bridge over the run at Spring-House, and that over Evans run (between Gwynedd m. h. and North Wales), were built by Robert Scarlett, and he also raised the walls of the bridge over Treweryn. The work of construction was so far advanced that the lower nine miles were inspected by the Governor's com- mittee in June, 1848, and the remainder in September,2 and upon favorable report, the Governor issued his certificate, September 8, 1848, authorizing the erecting of toll-gates and the collection of tolls.
Charles F. Jenkins, to whose energy the rapid construction of this important work was largely due, continued to be the
1 In consideration of the relief of the township in its road supervision, Gwynedd subscribed $3,000 to the capital stock of the company.
2 John E. Gross, John Shearer, and John S. Missimer were the Governor's com- mittee.
408
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GWYNEDD.
president of the company until January, 1859, when he resigned, and Algernon S. Jenkins was elected, continuing to his death, July 9, 1890.
Besides the details given in Chapter XVI. about the early roads, some other facts concerning the highways may be noted. In 1722, the monthly meeting records that several Friends were " under streight for want of a convenient road to ye meeting- house." In 1749, the meeting paid Richard Jacobs £1 16s. " for laying out a road from New Providence meeting-house to Gwyn- edd meeting-house "-a curious sharing of the functions of the Court !
There was formerly an old road up by Jacob B. Bowman's house, leaving the Swedes' Ford road by the corner of the woods recently cleared off, and entering the Lansdale road up by J. Schlemme's. This was a " private road," 24 feet wide, laid out by order of the Court, in 1758. It started from the township line, about where Lansdale is, and came by lands (among others) of George Howell, Thomas Shoemaker, Robert Roberts, John Thompson, Hugh Evans, and Jesse Evans, " into Montgomery road." Its length was 312 miles, 33 perches.
" John Humphrey's bridge," mentioned in the Welsh Road proceedings of 1709, was unquestionably the first bridge in the township, and it seems to have been a well-known landmark. The bridge over the Treweryn, on the turnpike, a mile above Spring-House, is an important one. Before it was built the stream had to be forded, and Henry Jones says his mother told him she got through with difficulty when it was swollen by a freshet. The bridge over Wissahickon, near Kneedler's, was built in 1819. That on the State Road, over the Wissahickon, was built by the county, in 1833. William Hamill, S. E. Leach, and Benjamin B. Yost were the county commissioners. Samuel
409
THE OLD BRIDGES.
Houpt was the contractor for building, and was paid $2,557.30. This probably included the materials, except sand, for which $189 was paid, as appears by the county account, published in January, 1834.
The bridge over the Wissahickon, on the Plymouth road, at the mouth of Treweryn, was built in 1839, by the county, John Schaffer, Abel Thomas, and Silas Yerkes being in that year the county commissioners. I have seen among Franklin Foulke's papers duplicates of three of the contracts made for its erection. In one, Henry H. Rile contracted " to find the stone for bridge or quarry leave, for which said quarry leave the commissioners doth agree to pay to the said Rile the sum of 1212 cents per perch, to be measured in the wall, after the completion of said bridge, the rim stone excepted." In another, Rile contracted " to furnish sufficient boarding and lodging for all the labourers that is employed to work at said bridge, except those that wish to board themselves, for the sum of 15 cents per meal ; the commissioners is not to pay the board for any of the labourers when they are not at work at said bridge." In the third, Col- lom Clime and Charles Cox contracted " to furnish lime of the best quality sufficient to build said bridge, for which said lime said commissioners doth agree to pay 1312 cents per bushel," measured at the bridge, if required.
The " State Road " was laid out by commissioners, under an Act of General Assembly of 1830. It was, however, only a fragmentary construction, so far as the route through Gwynedd was concerned. The old road-beds were in part used, and new pieces were made, of which the most important was that from the intersection of the Plymouth road, below Acuff's, down to the Wissahickon and up the hill to the Whitpain township line, at or near which the bed of the old Swedes' Ford road was reached.
XXVI. Genealogical Details Concerning Early Families.
MORGAN.
The first settler in Gwynedd or its vicinity, named Morgan, was Edward. He seems to have been here as early as 1704, as the road upward through Gwynedd, made in that year, was to go as far as his place. He was a tailor by trade, a Welshman by birth, no doubt, and was probably advanced in years when he came. He had lived, previously, near Philadelphia. In Feb- ruary, 1708, he bought 300 acres of land in what is now Towa- mencin, of Griffith Jones, merchant, Philadelphia. The tract lay along William John's land, and was therefore on the township line. In 1714 he bought 500 acres more, near by, of George Claypoole, of Philadelphia, who, like Griffith Jones, was a spec- ulative holder of the Towamencin lands. By 1713 he had ap- parently moved to Montgomery ; in the deed from Claypoole he is described as "yeoman, of Montgomery."
Edward Morgan no doubt had several children. His sons probably received and held his Towamencin lands. In the list of 1734, for that township, there appear : Joseph Morgan, 200 acres ; Daniel Morgan, 200 ; John Morgan, 100. In 1727, Mor- gan Morgan, of Towamencin, died, leaving a will, in which he mentions his wife Dorothy, his brothers Joseph, John, and Wil- liam, his two sons Edward and Jesse (both minors), and his niece Elizabeth, John's daughter.
411
EARLY FAMILIES.
In the marriage lists previously given will be found the fol- lowing marriages of probable sons and daughters of Edward Morgan :
1710. Elizabeth Morgan m. Cadwallader Morris.
1713. Margaret Morgan m. Samuel Thomas.
1713. William Morgan m. Elizabeth Roberts.
1721. John Morgan m. Sarah Lloyd.
1718. Daniel Morgan m. Elizabeth Roberts.
1720. Sarah Morgan m. Squire Boone.
1728. Joseph Morgan m. Elizabeth Lloyd.
I731. William Morgan, widower, m. Cath. Robeson.
That all these were children of the first Edward Morgan is not certain, but probable. (Several of them are designated as son, or daughter, " of Edward," as will be seen by reference to the list).
Daniel Morgan, named above, who m. Elizabeth Roberts, was a minister among the Friends. He d. 7th mo. 6, 1773, having had a stroke of paralysis some time before. A memorial concerning him says he was born in the district of Moyamensing (Philadel- phia) in 1691, but that " while still young his parents removed to Gwynedd, then just being settled." His wife was also a preacher ; her memorial says she was born in Wales, came over while young, appeared in the ministry after her marriage, went to Eng- land, in 1743, on a religious visit, in company with Susanna Morris, and remained two years, visiting most of the meetings in Great Britain. In her old age she was injured by a fall from her horse. Shed. IIth mo. 14th, 1777, in her 88th year. (Her children, Benjamin and Ruth, are named in the Roberts Gene- alogy.)
CLEAVER.
The Cleaver Family of Gwynedd and Montgomery are the descendants of Peter Klever, one of the early German settlers at
412
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF GWYNEDD.
Germantown. He was, no doubt, one of the company that in- cluded the Shoemakers, the Lukenses, the Conrads, and others of the Quaker immigrants, who came from the lower Rhine, after the arrival of Pastorius and the earliest of the settlers. He is on the record as having been naturalized, as of Germantown, in 1691, and he died in Bristol (adjoining Germantown) in 1727, leaving children : Isaac, John, Peter, jr., Derrick, and Agnes, besides two married daughters, Christiana Melchior and Eve Adams. Isaac, the eldest son, had land in Cheltenham, and probably removed there; John received his father's place in Bristol township, and had a family, including Elizabeth, Peter, William, Sarah, John, and Hannah ; while Peter Cleaver, jr., re- moved to Upper Dublin, and was there before 1734, as he is returned in the list of that year as the owner of 100 acres of land.
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