USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Historical sketches : a collection of papers prepared for the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1921-1925, Volume VII > Part 22
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In 1901, the Boyertown Ore Company, organized to carry on the mines, was capitalized at $300,000.00.
In January, 1902, William G. Rowe, of Reading, a prac- tical mine operator, identified with this iron ore plant for many years, became the purchaser for a syndicate of capi- talists. Mr. Rowe is since deceased.
You may, in these, my rambling remarks, conjecture as to the present condition of the mines, and the prospect of re-opening them. I am constrained to say that the entire excavations are completely flooded.
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In 1905-6, the Eastern Steel Company bored at three different places in yonder field, toward Second street, at a maximum depth of five hundred feet, and found extensive veins, yielding about fifty-seven per cent of magnetic ore; but evidently owing to the expense connected therewith, further negotiations were abandoned, although I will now spring a surprise upon you, and say that Schwab, at that time, was on the premises upon two occasions, and finally said, "Show me the ore, and I will buy the plant, giving you $1,000,000.00, of which I will pay you $275,000.00 cash, and the balance in Bethlehem Steel securities."
The old mine bosses were: James Ellis, Tom Gay, Wil- loughby Conner, Richard Richard, Jacob Schupp. The offi- cers at present are : Manager and Superintendent, Vincent Clarke; President, A. S. Ammerman, Trenton, N. J .; Secre- tary, George W. Lex, Philadelphia; Treasurer, Dr. Wilson.
The Boyertown mines built up and maintained our town until they ceased operations, when the cigar factories came, putting away the labor by men, and in lieu thereof using female help. The women in cigar factories earned more than the men did, who at that time worked for ninety cents a day, although contract mining, as in our coal regions, brought higher wages.
(Mr. Fegley then introduced Jonas Reitnauer, Boyer- town's oldest citizen, who was a blacksmith for the mines. He also introduced Dr. Joel Bower and Vincent Clarke, who later conducted a sight-seeing expedition through the buildings.)
History of Exeter Meeting*
By CHARLES LEE
One of the first questions you will ask, will be, when was this house built? I am unable to tell you, but it was before the year 1800, probably several years before that date. There is no mention of it on the minutes of the Meeting, and it was probably built by individual contributions.
There were two meeting-houses here, in what was then Oley township, before the present one was built. The first was built in 1726, of round logs; but this was found to be too small, and in 1736 a larger one was erected, also of round logs.
There was but one place of worship in this locality, erected before the Friends' Meeting, and that was by the Swedes, who built a house near where Douglassville1 now stands.
Many of the Friends, who first located in this vicinity, came from Gwynedd, Montgomery county, and Exeter Monthly Meeting was established by Gwynedd Friends in 1737. As early as 1723, Gwynedd Monthly Meeting ap- pointed George Boone, to keep a true account of births and burials occurring here. George Boone came from England in 1717, and in 1720 moved to Exeter.
He was the grandfather of Daniel Boone, the Kentucky pioneer; he erected a log cabin, in which he lived until his death in 1744.2
*Read at an outing of the Society, October 3, 1925.
1 Morlatton was the name given to this neighborhood; the Swedes' church referred to, is now known as St. Gabriel's .- Ed.
2 Daniel Boone was the son of Squire and Sarah (Morgan) Boone, who were married at Gwynedd Meeting-house, in Philadelphia (now Montgomery) county, 7-23-1720 .- Ed.
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One of the first Friends to settle in Oley was Anthony Lee, who located there, near where Pleasantville now stands, in 1713; he having come from England in 1700, when twenty-two years of age. He was my great-great- grandfather.
From here Friends moved to other localities, and meet- ings were established at Maidencreek, Reading, Pottstown, Robeson, Catawissa, Muncy, etc.
I have no record of the whole number of Friends who have been members of this Monthly Meeting, but in the year 1827, there were two hundred and seventy-six members.
The graveyard was covered all over; about 1818, one half of it was filled up, and since that time, there have been nearly two hundred interments. There is no record of those who were buried before it was filled up, but there were probably four hundred, making a total of six hundred.
Meetings are held here two or three times a year; the next one will be on the 18th of October, 1925, at 1.30 P.M. A cordial invitation to attend is extended to all.
Mr. Lee, the writer, and his sister, are the only remain- ing members of this Meeting.
Daniel Boone was born on a farm near here in 1733, and with his parents removed to North Carolina in 1750, when he was seventeen years of age. The Boones were very num- erous here for many years, and there are still a number of their descendants living in this vicinity. The early Lincolns were also members of this Meeting; the Lincoln homestead is but a few miles from here. It was here that John Lincoln, great-grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln, was born; he, with many others, migrated to Virginia, about 1760; thence to Kentucky, later.
EXETER MEETING-HOUSE (Photo by Gilbert Cope. Courtesy of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.)
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Conshohocken's Seventy-fifth Anniversary *
By the MISSES MARY T. and ELIZABETH S. COLLINS
Ringing out joyously tales of town gladness, tolling out sorrowfully events of borough sadness, through the seventy- five years of Conshohocken's history, the Old Bell of Con- shohocken rang out the most triumphant tale of its colorful career, on the days of the seventh, ninth and tenth of November, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, when its metallic tongue was again the voice of the community-this time the voice of a great community pageant, that cele- brated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the incorporation of the Borough of Conshohocken, and led up to a town-wide, all-day, dual celebration of the diamond anniversary of the borough, and the national holiday of Armistice Day, on November eleventh.
Two thousand persons witnessed the four performances of the magnificent pageant, the most ambitious of any amateur presentations ever attempted here, and held in the spacious auditorium of the Conshohocken High School. Two hundred persons of all nationalities, ages and creeds, representing virtually all of the town organizations, par- ticipated in the review of the history of the borough con- ceived by the Conshohocken Community Center. Miss Dorothy Elderdice, formerly of the Dramatic Department of the Western Maryland College and now director of the recreational activities of West Palm Beach, Florida, assem- bled the episodes from historical material furnished by a special committee, and directed the drama.
To the roll of the old, iron bell, placed in a frame set- ting at the right of the large stage, J. Burnett Holland, Esq., Assistant District Attorney of Montgomery County, lent his
*Read before the Society, November 21, 1925.
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sonorus voice. Little Claudia Fairbairn showed an intelli- gence beyond her scant eight years, as the Child of Con- shohocken, with little Helen Griffith as the alternate. To these small girls, asking for the early history of their town in child-like simplicity, did the Old Bell weave its story, indicating, in a prologue before each episode, its partic- ular part in the history of the Borough.
With the weird, expectant beating of the tom-toms, the first episode was dramatically opened with the marching of the Indian chiefs. Followed then the Indian squaws, whose colorful costume proclaimed them members of the Degree of Pocohontas, the wives of the chiefs, who were members of the Washita Tribe of Red Men. Lester Robin- son was "Shakhoppah," one of the early Indian chieftains of this region, who was instrumental in the treaty-making with William Penn's agent, well characterized by Spencer L. Jones. Swan Swanson, natively known as Sven Scoota, and his family, descendants of whom are still living in this vicinity, was portrayed by George Lynn Coane, of the Main Line, whose wife is a direct descendant of the old Swedish settler. Friends of 1683, Swedish, Irish and Welsh settlers, were seen in the persons of Plymouth Meeting Friends, and girls of the High School; a native Welsh song was sung by Mrs. John Quinn, who was in Welsh costume.
The bell now rings out the story of Washington's stay in Whitemarsh, but a few miles from what is now Consho- hocken, in that momentous winter of '77. Bertram L. Caine portrayed the majestic Washington, both in appearance and action; he is shown with his generals, Wayne, Sullivan and Greene, represented respectively by George Hause, Marvin Hoagland and James B. Ray, at his Whitemarsh headquarters. The Episode, written by Francis E. Collins, a member of the Historical Committee of the Pageant and a member of this Society, was a truthful reproduction of that episode in national history. William Mackenzie, as a Con- tinental soldier, tells of the crying needs of his comrades. T. J. Raser, Jr., is an orderly.
Contrasting forcefully with the cold seriousness of the Whitemarsh scene is the gay party which old Peter Legaux
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GROUP FROM HISTORICAL PAGEANT, CONSHOHOCKEN CENTENNIAL
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gave in honor of the Marquis de LaFayette, upon his visit to the Legaux home, now the Spring Mill Country Club, in Spring Mill. Mrs. Alan Jones, a direct descendant of the famous Frenchman, directed and wrote the Legaux episode, and took the part of the wife of the host. Alan W. Jones enacted the part of Peter, and Hamilton Smith made a striking figure as the beloved French general. Guests at the party were: Mrs. John Righter Wood, William Ewing, Polly Wood, Constance Griffith, Dorothy Griffith, Blanche Smith and Charlotte Jones; Oscar Wood served as butler. Little Katherine Wood, John Righter Wood, Jr., Eleanor Jones and Alan Wood Jones, Jr., all Legaux descendants, danced the charming French minuet; and Miss Eliza Hall, in the quaint, high-waisted gown of the period, sang de- lightfully.
With the casualness and bits of humor that character- ized the original scene, the naming of Conshohocken was an episode of appreciated information to all of the towns- people. Direct descendants of the original committee of five men, who were responsible for the difficult name they gave the borough, enacted the scene as closely to the actual scene, as records suggest; James Wood was personified by E. J. Morris Wood, 3rd; James Wood, Jr., was James Wells; A. Conrad Jones was Isaac Jones in a replica of the great- brimmed white hat with which tradition dresses Isaac's head; William Harry, of Philadelphia, was a mirthful David Harry, and Thomas A. Foulke portrayed his ancestor, Cad- wallader Foulke. The placing of various names, suggested by the committee, such as Woodville, Riverside and Con- shohocken, in a hat, and the chance drawing of the latter, proved highly interesting.
Townsfolk of 1850 drifted in at the end of this episode and gay dancing and singing concluded it. Mrs. Sara Taggert Dutill, in the bouffant gown of the "fifties," evoked treasured memories with her delightful songs of "Sweet Alice," and "Listen to the Mocking Bird."
An almost breathless silence greeted the drawing of the curtains on the fifth episode, a living reproduction of
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"Breaking Home Ties," one of the most famous pictures of that famous artist, Thomas Hovenden, of Plymouth Meet- ing. Paying a beautiful tribute to the sacrificial ending of the life of the world-renowned painter, who lost his life in saving that of a child at a railroad crossing near his home, the bell seemed to say: "Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friend."A truthful por- trayal of the humble scene, even to the great brown-and- white collie, was made by the Conshohocken Art League. Stewart Mackenzie was the youth whose ambitions for a larger life are limned in "Breaking Home Ties." Mrs. Mary Lukens Myers was the mother; Mrs. S. Gordon Smyth, Sr., the grandmother; Mrs. Stuart B. Molony, the young woman; Miss Margaret Forsythe, the small sister; Thomas I. Raser, Sr., and Oscar Freas were the men in the picture. Last, but not least, was "Max," the collie, owned by Miss Margaret Golden.
The development of community spirit, the great prog- ress of the town, its salient characteristics, were fused in a series of beautiful tableaux that formed the final episode. Thirty Years of Friendship was presented by the Girls' Friendly Society ; the Industries of Conshohocken were sum- med up by the Rotary Club; Welfare Work in Consho- hocken was a living picture showing the Red Cross, The Needlework Guild, Civilian Relief Workers and the Visiting Nurse Association. Polish girls of blonde beauty and in quaint native red-and-green trimmed white gowns, sang Polish folk-songs that were spirited in "Defiance of the Bolshevists." A first aid demonstration was given by the Boy Scouts; a tableaux, by the Girl Reserves; Quotations from the Presidents, by the Montgomery Peace Society ; and a beautiful living picture, "The Patriotism of Peace," by St. Matthew's School children.
Fifty voices of the combined choirs of Conshohocken, led by Lindsay Shaw, of Calvary Church, in Kipling's stir- ring "Recessional," made a brilliant ending to the pageant. The unseen thread woven all through the production is beautifully expressed in the epilogue, between the Bell and the Child, which follows:
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THE EPILOGUE
The Child: Oh Bell, I think I like the end Of the story the best of all!
The Bell: For after all, O Child, This is the end Which is the beginning-
The beginning of new age
In the history of mankind. The Age of Community Spirit.
The Child: That's a big word- Community. What does it mean?
The Bell: Just getting together, Learning how to understand each other better, Learning how to work in harmony, Learning how to love each other more. Do you remember how our great Lincoln said:
"With malice toward none, With charity for all With courage to do the right As God gives us to see the right Let us strive to finish The work we are in."
Red, white and blue bunting and countless fluttering flags lined the path of the parade under the auspices of the John F. De Haven Post, American Legion, which took place, on Wednesday, November 11th, the "big day" of Conshohocken's Seventy-fifth Birthday Party. The same inspiring spirit of harmony that enlivened the historical pageant marked this event also; all the people of the com- munity were united in a common effort to make this cele- bration uncommonly fine. Pupils of the public and parochial schools of both East and West Conshohocken, members of military, civic and fraternal organizations, Polish and Ital-
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ian societies, several thousand strong, formed the first four divisions of the great line. Local industries and organiza- tions were represented in beautifully decorated floats, which comprised the fifth and last division of the parade.
At ten o'clock A.M., the siren atop the Washington Fire House blew. The parade swung into line. Harry Atkinson and Calvin Riggs, officers of the American Legion, and Henry Harrold, of the George Smith Post, G.A.R., wearing the Union blue suit and bearing the colors which he de- fended in the "days of '61," headed the local military organ- izations. Detachments of visiting soldiers, sailors and marines made up the first division; directly following rode the few surviving veterans of the Civil and Spanish-Amer- ican Wars, in their faded uniforms.
The "borough fathers" of East and West Conshohocken, together with the fire companies of these boroughs, in splendid uniformed array and perfect swinging step, marched in the second division. Thomas Smith, of the Wash- ington Fire Company, headed this line, as marshal. The fire- fighting apparatus gleamed in the November sun, as the volunteer fire fighters swung down Fayette street.
Gaily attired Indians, with paint besmeared faces and vivid feathers stuck in flowing black locks, members of the local Washita Tribe, I.O.R.M., executed weird war-dances as they followed their pale-face brethren in the line of parade. With the "red skins" were their ladies, members of the Daughters of Pocohontas, wearing beautifully col- ored costumes copied from authentic Indian models. St. Matthew's Holy Name Society, five hundred strong and marching with perfect step, won the applause of the crowds as they came into view, with Rev. Father James Brogan, spiritual director, at their head. Polish and Italian Societies, and Knights of the Golden Eagle, all in attractive uniforms, were represented in the third division also. George Giles, great Mishinewa of the Red Men, acted as marshal.
Wearing red, white and blue hats and sashes, and wav- ing American flags, came the army of youth, with shining morning faces. Hundreds of boys and girls from the local schools, representing the Conshohocken Public Schools, St.
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Matthew's Parochial School, West Conshohocken Public School, St. Gertrude's Parochial School and St. Mary's Polish Parochial School, marched blithely to the spirited strains from three excellent bands. Charles Hottenstein, Superin- tendent of Schools, headed the fourth division.
Miss Bertha Saylor, who won first place in the contest conducted by the Recorder Publishing Company, regally gowned in pale pink satin, and cloak of royal ermine, rode in state on the first float in the fifth division, representing "Miss 1925." On the next flower-decorated float sat Miss Jean Burns, winner of second honors, beautifully dressed in quaint, old-fashioned costume and powdered hair, portray- ing "Miss 1850." Other attractively-draped floats, depicting episodes in the growth of the community, such as the nam- ing of Conshohocken; ball at the home of Peter Legaux; Washington at Whitemarsh, and other scenes representing local industries and their varied products, and borough organizations, followed the lead of the fair beauty-contest winners.
Moving down Fayette street, over the same hallowed ground trod by Washington and his brave troops in tattered buff and blue, on their march to the Gulph Hills on that far-off December day, 1777, the great procession crossed the imposing bridge, spanning the river Schuylkill at the site of Matson's ford, to the Memorial monument at the west approach. Here they counter-marched, and re-crossing the river, proceeded up Fayette street, and broke ranks at various avenues appointed.
Stirring strains played by the twelve bands in line; ex- cellent conduct; martial precision of step, and a general spirit of harmony and brotherhood were evidenced by those who took part in this parade, and the hundreds of persons that viewed it, made the demonstration a memorable civic epic.
At eleven o'clock of that exciting morning, the towns- people realized it was also Armistice Day. A day in memory of thousands who gave their lives for democracy on "the scarlet fields of Flanders." Sirens, steam whistles, church bells and motor horns, in weird and shrill cacophony, pro-
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claimed the hour. Men uncovered, and stood in the crisp morning air with bare heads; the parade halted; lips moved in prayer, and the town stood solemnly still for a few moments in commemoration of that fateful day and hour when peace came to gladden the heart of the world.
A mass meeting in the Conshohocken High School auditorium concluded the anniversary celebration in a fitting manner. Notable speakers at the exercises included : Hon. Henry W. Watson, M.C., Major-General Amos A. Fries, Chief of the Chemical Warfare Department of the United States, and Lucius Mckay Crumrine, State Commander of the American Legion. The presentation of the prizes in the essay contest on "Early Consho- hocken" was made at this meeting by S. Gordon Smyth, a director of the Chamber of Commerce, and well- known as an historian and writer. Fifteen dollars in cash was awarded to Miss Helen Griffin, a pupil of St. Matthew's High School; ten dollars to Miss Dorothy Davies, of the Conshohocken High School; third prize to Miss Doro- thy Derr, of St. Matthew's School, and fourth to Miss Edna Righter, of the Conshohocken High School. The essays re- ceiving the awards were carefully selected by a committee of local persons; the names of the contestants were not disclosed until after the judging was concluded.
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A Few Thoughts and Questions respecting The Purpose for which The Montgomery County Historical Society Was Formed
By H. W. KRIEBEL
The purpose for which the Historical Society of Montgom- ery County was formed, is defined thus by its Charter and By-Laws.
Charter. II. The purpose for which the corporation is formed is the study and preservation of the history of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
By-Laws, Article II. Object. The Society shall have for its object the preservation of the civil, political and religious history of the county, as well as the promotion of the study of history, local, national and universal.
The two great sub-divisions of history are: (A) Prehistoric Period, and (B) Historic Period.
(A) The Prehistoric Period covers the history of the soil, the rock formation, plant, animal, human life, of which there are no written records. These things have vitally influenced the lives and industries of the resi- dents of the county, and therefore must receive con- sideration by historians.
(B) The Historic Period covers the period of which written records are extant.
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The Materials of History are for
(A) The contour of the surface, the soil, rocks, fos- sils, still existing plant and animal life, the Indian relics.
(B) Books, manuscripts of all kinds, the tools, pro- ducts, by-products and waste of the industries, the buildings and ruins, the cemeteries, etc., etc., in the wide sense, what man is doing, and the foot-prints of what man has done.
These materials are found
(A) Within the county, and
(B) Outside the county, wherever Montgomery Countians, or the products of their hands and brains, have gone; mission, battle, industrial fields, trails, left by the children and children's children, as they went forth from the county to mingle and be lost in the great human family elsewhere, are legitimate places to look for material.
These materials again may be classed as
(1) Original.
(2) Secondary - embodying intelligent study of data, including original material.
(3) Literary hash - data, undigested, unintelligent, unreliable. (Even this has its value, if properly label- led.)
The acquisition of materials is implied in the study and pres- ervation of history-in fact, these three form an insep- arable trinity, neither can one exist without the others. In considering the acquisition of materials, one is struck at once by the well-known fact that society is contin- ually engaged in the destruction of the data of history- Indian-like, removing evidences of the way it has travel- - led-as fruitless search for data, the paper-mills, rub- bish dumps, and smoldering fires on back lots unmis-
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A FEW THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS
takably testify. To save all data is utterly impossible, and equally undesirable; to part infallibly the useful and the useless is equally impossible, however desirable. To save at least some flowers in the crannied wall from the wreck of time ought to be possible, and to be aimed at. Acquisition is of course limited by the funds avail- able. Few have the wherewithal to acquire and preserve historic houses by erecting protecting houses over them.
Among the materials of history of the county, some acces- sible, some inaccessible, some in print, some in manu- script, may be mentioned :
(A) Public and private collections abroad, notably in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy ;
(B) Collections in Washington, D.C., as the Congres- sional Library, the Census Reports, War and Navy and Treasury Records, etc.
(C) Public Records at Harrisburg, many of which have been published ;
(D) Collections of the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania ;
(E) The various other public and private collections in Philadelphia ;
(F) Public Records of Philadelphia County, prior to 1784;
(G) Public County Records-as settlement of estates, deeds, mortgages, tax lists, records of county commis- sioners, county controller, sheriff, prothonotary, school superintendent, etc., etc. ;
(H) Newspaper files, those printed or circulating in the county ;
(I) Church records, including cemetery inscriptions ;
(J) Private collections, museums, relics, books, papers, etc., stored at times in dusty boxes, chests, and trunks, unappreciated often, and unsuspected.
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