USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Historical sketches : a collection of papers prepared for the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 4
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Before the Revolution, the voters of Philadelphia county were compelled to cast their votes at the public inn opposite the State House on Chestnut street. By the act of Assembly passed June 14, 1777, the electors of Whitemarsh and all adjoining townships were required to deposit their ballots at the public house of Jacob Coleman, in Germantown. The
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townships of Whitemarsh, Springfield, Cheltenham, Abington, Moreland, Horsham, Upper Dublin, Gwynedd, Montgomery, Towamencin, Hatfield, Franconia and Lower Salford, were, by an act of Assembly, passed September 13, 1785, immedi- ately after the erection of Montgomery county, required to hold their elections at the public house of George Eckhart, in the village of Whitemarsh, known then and until lately as the Blue House. By an act of the Legislature of March 31, 1797, Whitemarsh, Springfield, Upper Dublin and Horsham were constituted an election district, and all of them voted at the Blue House. When I cast my first vote in 1846, which was when I arrived at the age of twenty-one, it was at this place, and the only township voting with us at that time was Spring-
field. The following year we were separated from Springfield, and the voters of Whitemsrsh held their election at the public house of Samuel Culp, Barren Hill, in the western end of the township. Since the adoption of the Constitution of 1873, the township has been divided into two election districts, the East and West, the West still voting at the house of the late Sam- uel Culp, and the East at the Clifton House, formerly known as the Sandy Run Hotel.
A few years ago, when the Hon. William H. Witte became the owner of the Blue House, he had the sign post removed and converted the building into tenements, and so it remains to this day. This building stands opposite and somewhat above the lime kilns of T. and J. Wentz, on the Chestnut Hill and Springhouse turnpike. This place was the scene of quite a disturbance in 1804 or 1805, growing out of the widening of the old Bethlehem road and building the Chestnut Hill and Springhouse turnpike. . The company and their employes were prohibited by the land owners from entering upon their properties for widening and building the road. The feeling of the land owners became so intense that they resisted any invasion of their property with shot guns, muskets, and any- thing they could procure to effect their purpose; but after baffling the company some time, and probably becoming weary of watching, the company's employes entered in the
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night time, and by persevering and energetic work, tore down the fences and commenced operations, and by daylight had so far advanced that the land owners abandoned their hostil- ity, and the work went on to completion.
The Bethlehem road was the same public highway here- tofore noticed as the great road to North Wales. By an act of Assembly, passed March 5, 1804, the Chestnut Hill and Springhouse turnpike was incorporated, being eight miles in length, and was completed in the following year, wholly by subscription, at a cost of $70,000, or $8,750 per mile. It was the great stage route from Philadelphia to Bethlehem and Easton, and the outlet between the two points for the inhabit- ants living along it, and at the same time affording them a way of getting their produce to the city. Before the time of rail- roads, the travel on this road was very great, and required a number of public houses for the accommodation of the teams and travelers who crowded this thoroughfare. Many of the younger generation now using this road still wonder why so many hotels were built along its line. They would not had they seen the crowded condition of the hotels in those days, when one could scarcely pass many of them on account of the yard being filled and even the road in front of them, especially was this the case on market days. Many a jolly scene was enacted in those days antedating railroads; hotel keeping then was quite a different business from what it is now. This I have seen in my time. The landlord would devote his time and attention to marketmen and travelers, in making them comfortable and feel at home, and thus "mine host" was a power in the land. But to return to the Blue House. Among the landlords of this old hostelry were George Eckhart; a Mr. Bubing, who afterwards kept the Fountain Inn at Barren Hill at the commencement of this county; Philip Sellers, at one time sheriff of Montgomery county, and likewise owner of the farm of the late Henry Dickinson, on the Skippack road ; Jacob W. Haines, who owned and kept it many years; Joseph Bush, and others. Mr. Haines was postmaster at this place, it being the Whitemarsh post-office, but just before his
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death the office. was moved to the toll gate in the immediate vicinity ; it was changed to the village of Fort Washington about twelve years ago, and Abram H. Carn appointed post master, where it still remains. The Blue House is owned by Charles Otterson, of Philadelphia, at the present time, as well as the old Farmar mill property immediately above.
The comfortable residence of Franklin A. and Samuel W. Comly in Valley Green was built about the year 1804 or 5, at the time of making the turnpike; by Peter Dager for a hotel. When the Messrs. Comly purchased the property, the inn was removed, and the building changed into a large and beautiful residence. This property was part of the estate of the Hon. Morris Longstreth, deceased; and contains about 160 or 170 acres of the best land in the valley. Mr. Dager was a large owner of real estate in the township in his day. In 1801, Henry Daub built the Sandy run hotel, now owned by Charles Otterson, of Philadelphia. This is now known as the Clifton House, and did quite a large business in its day. Mr. Daub likewise owned the mill immediately opposite, now owned by Albert Conard, and changed into an auger factory. Imme- diately above, not 100 yards, is the old Sandy run bridge, built in 1792 by the Commissioners of Montgomery county, over which the turnpike road passes. Just above the bridge, at the junction of the Morris road and the turnpike, and upon the same spot now occupied by the Masonic hall, stood an old inn which was taken down by William Hirst, and in place of it erected the Fort Washington House, about 50 yards north of the old location. Fort Washington is an outgrowth of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, and is becoming quite an im- portant village.
In reference to the destruction of Plymouth meeting-house by fire, it is stated to have occurred in 1858; it should be 1868.
The Wissahickon creek rises near Lansdale, in Montgom- ery township, and flows in a generally southerly course and enters the township at the north corner, and runs in the same direction, entering Springfield township near the old German- town and Perkiomen turnpike road, and thence continuing in
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the same general course until it empties itself into the Schuyl- kill below Manayunk.
In the early days of the province, the Wissahickon was noted as a mill stream, and numerous mills were erected along its course, principally engaged in what was then known as merchant work. But since the age of canals and railroads, this is all changed, as the opening of the park road within the limits of Philadelphia has been the cause of the removal of the mills from the city limits, and driven the business elsewhere.
Flourtown, in the adjoining township of Springfield, de- rived its name from its being noted in the early times for its heavy transactions in the wheat trade. All the country north and westward would centre here, and the millers living along the Wissahickon would come here to procure their stock for business; lively transactions would be carried on at times as the market fluctuated, and frequently to the satisfaction of the farmers. On Holmes' Map of Original Surveys, it is called "Whitpain's Creek," in honor of Richard Whitpain, a Quaker, and a large land owner on the stream, in the present township of Whitpain, after whom the township was named, and the founder of the great house in Philadelphia, mentioned by Wat- son in his Annals, which endangered adjoining buildings so much that it had to be taken down.
Wissahickon is an Indian name, and according to Heck- ewelder, the Indian narrator, it signifies the "Catfish stream," or the stream of the " Yellow water."
Four mills had been built upon the Wissahickon in this township before the Revolution, as may be seen on old maps of the time. Daniel Morris owned the present Flues mill at the time of the Revolution, afterwards owned by Joseph Lukens, and now by Eberhard Flues, who changed it into a manufactory of woolen goods, etc., but it has not been in opera- tion for some time. The next is the old Farmar mill so well known in the olden time, and the oldest one in the township. In the petition to court for laying out the Skippack road, June 2, 1713; the mill was already built, as in the petition this mill is made the southern terminus at its junction with the Great 6
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road to North Wales, etc. This is the oldest date I have seen of the erection of this old mill, by six years; it was undoubt- edly erected before this time, but how long I am unable to say. After the death of Edward Farmar it passed to the Morris family-Samuel and Joshua Morris-and thence to Joshua Morris' son-in-law, Isaac Mather; his son, Joseph Mather, built the present structure. It was noted in its day as one of the finest mills in this section of the country. He likewise built the large mansion house, which still shows evi- dence of his taste and judgment in the matter of building both as to convenience and durability. After his death it passed to William Miller, who owned it only a short time, and then to Samuel W. Comly, who conducted milling for some time, and then sold it to William H. Witte, and from him to Charles Otterson, the present owner.
In the year 1837, this property was visited by a terrible tornado, unroofing the buildings, twisting off the tops of the fine trees about the place, and carrying them a great distance in the direction of Camp' Hill. Eye witnesses still living declare that the force of the whirlwind was so great that it carried the water out of the dam in a solid spiral column to a great height. I frequently heard persons, who were present, say they saw the bottom of the dam. The fish were scattered about the neighboring fields. Joseph Mather was the owner at this time; he was the only sufferer, as it did not extend any great length; its course was from west to east. What was strange about the tornado was that it spent all its violence in a measure upon this place.
The next mill below, now owned by Chalkley Ambler, was built about the time of the Revolution, as I well remember about forty-two or forty-three years ago the first mill was removed to make way for the present one. The old mill stood square to the creek, and was a long and low building, and pre- sented, at the time of its removal, quite an antiquated appear- ance. The present one was built by the late John Shafer. In the beginning of this century it was owned by Gen. Scheetz and Daniel Hitner, and then by Scheetz's son-in-law, Jonathan
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Wentz, who carried on quite an extensive business in milling and lime burning, he then owning the kilns now owned by Samuel Yeakle, of Norristown. At Wentz's death, John Shafer became the owner, as above mentioned; he sold to Isaac Yeakle, and he again to Jacob Day, of Springfield, from whose hands it passed to Joseph B. Comly, who owned it about thirty years, and then sold to William Ambler, at whose death it passed to his brother Chalkley.
The mill known at the time as the Robeson or Dewees mill, and now owned by Silas Cleaver, was built long before the Revolution. The first owner after Farmar was Peter Robeson, and then his son, Jonathan Robeson, who occu- pied the place many years, together with the farms of the late Peter Phipps and that of Thomas S. Phipps, when it passed into the hands of William Dewees. Both Jonathan Robe- son and William Dewees were Justices of the Peace in White- marsh in their time, and among the list of land-owners of the township in 1734. Nicholas Kline became owner about or before the commencement of this century. He built the pres- ent mill at this place, it being the second one erected at the location. Kline was a large owner of real estate in White- marsh and in Springfield, and died before 1820, and was buried in the I.ukens' burying ground, before noticed. After Kline came Daniel Morgan, followed by Daniel Bickel, and then Henry W. Schultz followed for a short time; his heirs sold the mill to Silas Cleaver, the present owner, thirty-four years ago, who has carried on the business quite successfully. This is probably the finest mill in the township at this time. Within the last year a steam engine has been added to its motive power, the first one in the township.
The Wissahickon has been the scene of many a law suit for nearly a century, but since the introduction of turbine wheels the contention has entirely ceased. Charges of raising the dams and creating back water, and interfering with the water marks, led to heavy litigation, and not unfrequently bringing whole neighborhoods into contention and bad feeling,
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and innuring to no ones benefit but to fill the pockets of the lawyers, who enjoyed the fun at the expense of the litigants.
The Sandy Run, the largest tributary of the Wissahickon, enters the township at the eastern corner, and runs in a north- westerly direction, and flows into the Wissahickon below Fort Washington. This stream is a very constant and at the same time an important tributary to the water power of the Wissa- hickon. The water is very clear, and consists principally of spring water. Two mills are propelled by it in Whitemarsh, and another immediately over the line in the township of Springfield. The mill now owned by Albert Conard and turned into an auger manufactory by the present owner, is an ancient mill, having been in existence at or before the Revolu- tion, as I find on military maps of that time that it is marked John Edge's mill. The name Edge occurs frequently among the records of Plymouth Meeting before the Revolution. I am unable to give the owners in regular order, but it is well known that Henry Daub, before mentioned, owned it for some length of time, and it then passed to George Kenderdine, and from him to William Ball, of Quakertown, who sold it to Albert Conard, the present owner. At this place the Conard auger is made, which has acquired an enviable reputation among mechanics of all classes.
In the first quarter of this century an exciting affair took place at Sandy Run, at the office of Henry Daub, who was a Justice of the Peace, and lived in the same house now the residence of Albert Conard. By the side of the race of the Detwiler mill, now Edward Plumley's, in Upper Dublin, stood a hut occupied by a negro named Black Bill, where a fugitive slave had secreted himself. It becoming known, the officers of the law arrested him and forthwith took him before 'Squire Daub for commitment to jail for safe keeping until his master could come for him and prove his property. It becoming noised about, quite a number of neighbors collected, and among them some Abolitionists. While the magistrate was preparing the commitment, the slave, who was lying on the bank outside of the house, was urged by the Abolitionists to
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run for his life. They pointed out the direction for him to take. He at once put off with all the effort he could make, toward the Wissahickon creek, which when reached he plunged into and soon was safe on the western side, and thus secured his liberty, as nothing was ever heard of him after- wards. Quite a forest existed at the Wissahickon on both sides in those days, which added much to his safety in gaining his freedom. There are persons still living in the neighbor- hood who can recall this incident.
Some thirty years ago an incident of a similar nature took place further down the creek, of which I have personal knowl- edge. J. Miller McKim, the distinguished abolitionist, sent a fugitive from labor to Peter Phipps (now John Cleaver's) for the purpose of putting him through to Canada, on the under- ground railroad. The slave arrived in the night at this place, and next day Mr. Phipps collected some fifteen or twenty dol- lars for the purpose of sending the slave on his way. This amount was easily obtained in the immediate vicinity. I had the pleasure to aid in this transaction. What appeared strange in this matter was that, among the contributors to this fund, were some who apparently opposed doing anything to aid the slave on his way to freedom, yet, as in this case, they would often willingly give financial assistance, though it would be done in a clandestine manner. That night Mr. Phipps had the slave taken from his barn and conveyed through the under- ground railroad by way of Reading.
The other mill on the Sandy Run, is situated in the east corner of the township, and upon what was known as Scull's in the quite early days of the province. The mill was built in the year 1769, by Henry Scheetz, for a paper mill, and oper- ated as such until comparatively recent times. He likewise built an addition to it shortly afterward for grinding grists and doing general country work, and for which both buildings are now used. The mill in Springfield, over the line, was likewise built for paper making by Mr. Scheetz, but it is supposed at a somewhat later date. This latter mill passed to his son Justice
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Scheetz, at one time sheriff of Montgomery county, and still remains in the family.
The Scheetzes of our county trace their descent from Dr. Johann Jacob Schut (since changed to Scheetz), a native and resident of Crefeld in Germany on the Rhine, near the borders of Holland. He was one of the original purchasers of the Frankford Company that settled "ye Germantown," which was organized in 1683. Dr. Schutz never came to America. Tradition has it that he was a minister, and that a son of his, named Henry, came over and settled first at Germantown and afterwards in Whitemarsh. It is not known, I believe, whether he settled on any part of the 428 acres of land his father had purchased in the German land company. At all events, this Henry had a son, Henry Scheetz, who became quite an active and useful citizen, and inherited his father's place on the Sandy Run, and built the mills as mentioned above, where he carried on paper making and milling. Before the Revolution he was appointed a justice of the peace by the Crown, and continued as such after the state government was established. Upon the organization of Montgomery county, September 10, 1784, Mr. Scheetz was appointed one of the associate judges of the new county, and one of the incorporators and director of the Union school at Whitemarsh. He died in the latter part of 1793 or beginning of 1794. He had two sons, Henry and Justice, the latter the sheriff, as previously stated. Henry, the eldest son, became quite a prominent citizen and took an active part in the affairs of the county. To those living in our township his life would be interesting, and will be given place here.
He was born in 1761, on the Sandy Run, at the old home- stead, and in his youth received a common school education. He married Elizabeth, daughter of George Hocker, of White- marsh. He had quite a taste for military life, and we find him commanding the Montgomery brigade in the Freas rebellion in Lehigh county in 1798, and ever afterwards retained a fond- ness for military affairs. When he arrived on the scene of ac- tion the " war" was over; he returned home with his troops and disbanded them.
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General Scheetz was one of the County Commissioners in 1799, when the fine stone bridge over the Perkiomen creek on the Reading road was built. He was elected one of the Rep- resentatives to the Assembly by Montgomery county in 1805, and in ISII was elected a Director of the Poor for the county. Governor Snyder, in 1812, commissioned him one of the Major Generals of the state militia. He entered the service at Marcus Hook, and with his command protected the DuPont powder works, at Wilmington, about the time the British General Ross was threatening Baltimore. After General Ross' failure at Fort McHenry, the militia were recalled and disbanded, and never afterwards called into service.
General Scheetz was a candidate for the State Senate in 1824, but was defeated by a few votes by Benjamin Reiff, his competitor. In 1830 he was appointed one of the commission- ers to view and lay out the State road from New Hope through Norristown to the Maryland state line. He was a member of the convention to revise the state constitution, in 1837, from Montgomery county. General Scheetz was a member of the Reformed Church, and always took an active part in the affairs of the congregation, and when the Union Church at White- march was organized, in 1818, no one took a more active part than he. He was engaged in the manufacture of paper and farming upon the property he inherited from his father. In the latter years of his life, after accumulating a competency, he retired from business and moved to the property now oc- cupied by Samuel Van Winkle, Jr., in Valley Green, where he died September 4, 1848, nearly eighty-fours years of age. He was buried in Union Church grave-yard, where a handsome monument is erected to his memory. In politics he was a Democrat, and wielded great influence in the county in his party.
General Scheetz was twice married. His first wife died in 1825, at the age of fifty-six. He married the second time, the widow of Peter Dager, of the same township, some years afterwards. He left nine children, all by his first wife. His
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descendants have become quite numerous. Among them are the names of Scheetz, Hitner, Sechler, Wentz, Acuff, etc.
M. Auge, in his " Lives of Eminent Men of Montgomery County" says of General Scheetz, which, as I remember, is correct : " In person the General was tall and stoutly built, of dark complexion, but not black hair ; dignified and manly in bearing, and wielding a marked influence in his party and on the general public till the time of his death."
The Friends' meeting-house, and dwelling attached, with two acres and eighty perches of land, situated on the east side of the Chestnut Hill and Springhouse turnpike road, below the Clifton House, were conveyed by Joshua Morris, of Abing- ton township, to Joseph Lukens, Isaac Mather, John Wilson, Thomas White Pryor, Joseph Jeanes, Thomas Lancaster, Jr., and Jesse Trump, of Whitemarsh, and Jesse Cleaver of Upper Dublin township, in trust, to Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, for a meeting-house and burial ground, forever. The meeting- house and dwelling were erected about twenty or twenty-five years ago for the purpose of retaining possession, as indicated in the deed. By the original title I find that the consideration was five shillings. The conveyance was executed Sixth-month 23d, 1791. Meetings are occasionally held at this place.
By a deed executed Second-month 25th, 1815, John Wil- son, Jesse Trump, Thomas White Pryor and Jesse Cleaver, surviving trustees, continued the trust to Joseph Mather, David Wilson, Knowles Lancaster, Isaac Williams, Jr., and Isaac Jeanes, of Whitemarsh, Charles Mather, of Whitpain, Jacob Albertson, of Plymouth, and Jonathan Thomas, of Upper Dublin ; and said trust was continued Second-month 23d, 1847, by Knowles Lancaster, sole surviving trustee, to William Longstreth, Charles Williams, Joseph Jeanes, Ellis Cleaver, Thomas Livezey, Daniel Foulke, John L. Jones and Henry Jones.
Joshua Morris, of Abington, was the oldest brother of Samuel Morris, of Whitemarsh, and upon the death of the latter, in 1772, who died intestate and without issue, all his es- tate in Whitemarsh, containing 350 acres of land, the greater
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part now owned by the heirs of the late Jacob Wentz, and other adjoining properties, descended to Joshua, according to law. Samuel Morris had left an instrument of writing, pur- porting to be a will, but not signed, by which he gave a piece of land for the use of the neighborhood for a Protestant school. The community to be benefited by his munificence was to em- brace one and a half miles around the school house. This takes in a large part of Whitemarsh, a portion of Springfield and a small part of Upper Dublin. The school house and dwelling attached were built shortly after the death of the donor, upon the east side of the then great road to North Wales, now the above named turnpike, and adjoining the pres- ent public school lot. The lot of ground upon which the school house is located contains 110 perches of land. The in- tention of the donor was fully carried out by his brother Joshua. This school, known as the Union school, continued to be used as such until the year 1869, when the directors of Whitemarsh built the present elegant building adjoining for school purpo- ses ; thus the old building became abandoned as a school, and the trustees remodeled the old edifice and dwelling in a sub- stantial manner, and is now known as Lyceum Hall, and prin- cipally used for lectures, concerts, etc.
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