USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time (Volume 1 and 2) > Part 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
What'er Thou wilt, our hearts to purify. Call us to Then to live. for Thee to die- But make us feel when "Jesus passeth by."
Digitized by Google
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 1 285.
Miss Hill wrote considerable poetry, during the Civil war, of a martial char- acter, which was much admired and copied into many newspapers. The follow- ing is an example.
"LET THEM REST."
BY OCTAVIA HILL. 25
"Let them rest, the fight is over, And the victory bravely won, Softly wrap their banner,'round them, Lay them low, their work is done. Rest in peace ! Rest in peace! Rest in peace-the fight is over, And the vict'ry all is won.
Never more the roar of battle E'er shall break on comrades' sleep, Safe the rest they've won and o'er it Angel-sentries' guardiance keep. Nevermore ! Nevermore ! Nevermore shall foe surprise them For the angels guardiance keep.
Many a flower this laughing May-time In a hero's heart hath root- Sweet thy slumber 'neath the blossoms, Till their deeds have borne the fruit. Slumber on! Slumber on!
Slumber on beneath the blossoms, Till your deeds have borne the fruit.
Let the flags float out above them, Let the music fill the air; In the hearts of those who love them It shall echo like a prayer. Free the flags! Free the flags! That the stars they died defending, Still may shine upon them there.
Leave we now, our martyr brothers, All to God and mem'ry then, Till within the great thereafter,
25 Written for the dedication of the 104th Regiment monument, Doylestown, and read on the occasion, May 30, 1868.
Digitized by Google
286
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Freedom's armies rise again. So farewell ! Ah, farewell ! Till within the Great Hereafter, Peace proclaimed, we meet again.
"LET THE BELLS BE TOLLED."
BY M. A. HESTON.26
«Upon hearing of the death of George Peabody, orders were given in many of the New England towns that the bells should be tolled.)
."Toll the bell loudly-a great man is dead, Ring out a requiem, let tears be shed; Noble and great to the end of his days, Toll the bell loudly, sound forth his praise.
Toll the bell sadly, a good man is gone, Earth cannot but miss him from out of her throng; Just to his fellow-man, good to the poor, Toll the bell sadly, lives he no more.
Toll the bell grandly, a noble man sleeps; Royalty honors him, poetry weeps; 'The poor ye have with you,' he remembered indeed, Toll the bell grandly, it is truly his meed.
Toll the bell gently, a kind man rests, Rests from his labors which thousands have blessed; For out of his bounty, how many have fed, Toll the bell gently, George Peabody's dead.
Toll ye bells softly, as over the sea, Borne 'mid the wild winds and waves that are free; The friend of humanity comes home to his clay, Toll ye bells softly, as loved ones would pray."
"SUBMISSION."
BY REV. J. C. HYDE.27
"Oh, God, Thou knowest best; And at Thy high behest, My soul shall sweetly rest, My soul shall rest.
26 Wife of George T. Heston, of Newtown.
27 The author of the above, Rev. J. C. Hyde, Bristol, was of New England birth, and a graduate of Colby University, Maine. Upon graduating he came to Bucks county,
Digitized by Google
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
287
A sinner saved by grace; I love Thy ways to trace, Thy saving truth to embrace, Thy truth to embrace.
Thy chastening rod I feel; Which wounds me but to heal, And only for my weal, But for my weal.
What e'er befalleth me; Though dark as night it be, By faith, my Lord I see, My Lord 1 see.
And falling at His feet, Claiming His promise sweet, In Him I am complete, In Him complete.
My heavenly. home I see; 'Tis waiting now for me; Oh! there I long to be, I long to be."
Bristol, October, 1883.
SONG OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
BY ELIZABETH LLOYD.
Christ in the heart, and his love in the nation, is the only cure for the ills which threaten us to-day .- [Ex-PRESIDENT HARRISON AT THE ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK.]
"Christ in the heart and his love in the nation !" Stronger are these than the gun or the sword; Dawns the new day of our country's salvation, Cleansed from her sins by the might of the Lord. Christ in the human heart, Teach us the better part, Save us from treachery, battle, and greed; Love be the nation's word, By every people heard, Love for humanity in its great need.
1848, and taught music some time and then a school. He was the first pastor of the Point Pleasant Baptist church, and afterward pastor of the Bristol church, which he resigned, 1871. He was a helpless invalid, several years before his death.
Digitized by Google
288
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Angeis of Bethlehem, sound your glad chorus, Thrilling our souls by its message divine; Warfare and carnage no more shall rule o'er us,. Brightly the star of our Saviour shall shine. Star of the Prince of Peace, Bring to us swift release,
Let not our brothers their brothers destroy ;: Lead us to truly pray, Show us the higher way, Teach us that living for others is joy.
Flag of our fathers, float on in thy glory !. Always thy red stand for justice and law Ever thy white tell the sweet gospel story. Never thy blue in its truth show a flaw. . And every lustrous star Shine from thy folds afar,
Over a people united and free; Guarding this flag above, Keep us, O God of Love, Loyal to country, to manhood, and Thec.
Had we space we could increase our chapter to a volume. There are many others whose effusions we would gladly insert, but want of space forbids. We have met with but one poet among our Germans, who do not seem inclined to court the muse. The one to whom we refer is Daniel Horne, son of Valentine and Sarah Horne, born near Flatland church, Richland. about 1800. He taught school a number of years, and died about 1836, unmarried. He had a poetical turn of mind, and wrote a number of ballads, some of a religious cast, in Ger- man and English. They were quite popular throughout the upper end of the county seventy-five years ago, but we have not been able to procure any of his productions.
.
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER XXI.
MANORS AND LARGE LAND GRANTS.
Reserved tracts of land .- Pennsbury manor .- The Indian owner .- Granted to Captain Hyde and others .- Manor of Grimstead .- Penn succeeded to it .- Area .- Biddle's island .- Free Society of Traders .- Privileges of the corporation .- Its location .- Manor of Richlands .- Its contents .- Opened to settlers .- Manor of Perkasie .- A Grant to University of Pennsylvania .- Manor of Highlands .- The London com- pany .- Their lands in Tinicum .- Their sale and purchase.
At the settlement of the colony William Penn reserved, within the limits of Bucks county, several large tracts he had laid off into Proprietary manors and for other purposes. These were the manors of Pennsbury, Highlands, Perkasie and Richlands, and the large tracts owned by the Free Society of Traders and the London Company. All these tracts were long since cut up and sold to numerous purchasers.
Pennsbury Manor, the home of William Penn, and the most important and interesting of the manors, was situated in Falls and embraced nearly half the township. It was once a royal domain, called Sepessin, or Sepessing, and pur- chased of an old Indian king, the reputed owner, but probably not until after Penn's arrival. There are several opinions as to the derivation of this name, the one coming nearest to it among the aborigines being "Nipissings," the name of a band of Algonquins living on the banks of Lake Nipissing, near Lake Huron, when Champlain first penetrated these wilds in 1615. The name is the same Lindstrom gives on his map, 1655, to the stream in Falls which Penn after- ward named Welcome creek. Robert Crozier remembered when small vessels came up this creek, and the tides are now kept out by embankments. The tract which formed the Manor of Pennsbury appears to have been granted at differ- ent times to others before it came into possession of Penn. The 10th of October, 1664, Sir Robert Carre, in consideration of services in conquering the Dutch on the Delaware, granted to Captains Thomas Hyde and Thomas Morley, of the frigates Guinea and William and Nicholas, and to their heirs and assigns forever, "all that tract of land known or called by the Indian name of Chipussen, and now called by the name of the mannour of Grimstead, situated near the head of the said river of Delaware in America." The grantees pledged them- selves to "plant and stock the said mannour," inside of six years, otherwise to be dispossessed. Captain Hyde was empowered to establish courts, and was clothed with all the rights and privileges of a Lord of the Manor. The grant, which covered the Manor of Pennsbury, was probably never confirmed by the
19-2
Digitized by Google
290
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
King. At that day the falls at Morrisville were known as "the head of the Delaware," and so spoken of in numerous documents. The 26th of January, 1672, Colonel Richard Nicolls granted to his nephew, Matthias Nicolls, by patent, a tract of land on the south side of the Delaware below the falls, called by the Indian name of "Chiepissing or "Sepessing,"1 which covered the Hyde and Morley grants, and what was afterward Pennsbury. In 1675 Nicolls con- yeyed it to John Barry and company, who were allowed three years to settle it, owing to its distance from other plantations. Nothing came of these grants, for the respective grantees neither planted a colonist nor cleared an acre, and it was included in the tract that Sir Edmund Andros located for the Duke of York, 1675. The journal of the journey of Danker and Sluyter, down the Delaware, 1679, speaks of a grant, on the west side of the river between the falls and Bur- lington, made by Andros to one M. Arnout de la Grange,2 shopkeeper of New York, which refers to the same tract of country, but we hear nothing more of it. As the terms of none of these conveyances had been carried out by the grantees, William Penn succeeded to all rights of the crown.
In 1684 the manor contained eight thousand four hundred and thirty-one acres, and some addition was made to it afterward. At different times in the next twenty years one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight acres were sold, including fourteen hundred acres to Arthur Cook, Philadelphia, about 1699. In 1703 William Penn, by deed of trust, settled the mansion-house, which he calls a "palace," with the land attached to it, on the elder branch of the family. According to the survey of Surveyor General Eastburn, the manor contained. in 1733, but five thousand eight hundred and thirty-two acres, exclusive of the six per centum reserved for roads. In 1764 John Hughes sued out a writ of common recovery against the manor, and was put in possession, but his title was not sustained. Three years after Edward Pennington, attorney for Ann Penn, advertised the manor for sale, when the provincial authorities laid claim to two thousand acres and tried to impeach her title. The quantity of land still varied. In 1764 we find it contained two gardens, two orchards, seven thous- and acres of land, five hundred of meadow and two hundred of pasture. In 1777, it contained six thousand five hundred and fifty-eight, except the mansion portion of three hundred acres-in possession of Joseph Kirkbride, Bordentown, and Thomas Riche, "by virtue of certain articles of agreement and a certain indenture of bargain and sale, or feofment." On the 19th of March it was divided between Kirkbride and Riche by virtue of a deed of partition. The island in the Delaware, now called Newbold's, or Biddle's, island, was let to William Biddle for two lives, who was in possession, 1708. It was included in the manor, and Penn said it always belonged to the Indians on this side the river, who lived at Sepessin, or Pennsbury, and that he would not part with it for a thousand pounds, English money.
In 1792 the manor house and three hundred acres, reserved in the sale to Kirkbride and Riche, were sold by the heirs of Penn to Robert Crozier. The deed recites "all that capital messuage or manor house, erected by William Penn, esquire, first proprietor and Governor-in-chief of the province of Penn- sylvania," etc. etc. The Crozier mansion was erected where the manor house had stood. The tract was divided between the two sons of Robert Crozier,
I William Penn said Chipussen was the Indian name of Pennsbury.
2 The father of De la Grange bought Tinicum island of Governor Printz's daugh- ter several years before, and the title was confirmed to the son by the court at Upland after the country had passed to William Penn.
Digitized by Google
291
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Robert and Thomas, the former getting the part belonging to the mansion. The northern boundary of the manor was the road leading from the north corner of Bristol township, by the way of Tyburn to the Delaware opposite the lower end of Biles's island. It is now divided into many farms among the most highly cultivated and productive in the county. Certain lands in this county were sold to be holden in "free and common socage, and of the manor of Penns- bury," paying to William Penn, his heirs and assigns, on the first day of March in every year, "at the town of Pennsbury," one English silver penny for every ·one hundred acres.
The oldest grant in the county was that to the "Free Society of Traders," made the 22d and 23d of March, 1682, covering twenty thousand acres. The .object of the company, mostly composed of gentlemen of London, of which Nicholas Moore was president, was to carry on trading operations on an ex- tensive scale. The charter, executed the 24th of March, conferred the most liberal privileges ever given to a corporation in this State. They were singular .and extraordinary, and made it imperium in imperio. The grant was erected into a manor by the name of the "Manor of Franks," with the right to hold "a court-baron, court-leet and view of frank-pledge;" to determine all pleas and controversies, civil and criminal, and other officers and justices were pro- hibited intermeddling in its affairs; it had power to hold two courts yearly ; to lay taxes and impose fines within the manor and to appoint its own officers. The corporation was to pay to William Penn the yearly sum of one shilling upon the day of the vernal equinox or within twenty days thereafter. The society was to send settlers and mechanics to the grant, to establish factories and to have a monopoly of peltries. Negro servants were to be free after four- teen years service, on condition that they gave the society two-thirds of the produce of the land allotted them. On the manor was to be erected a society house, where the officers were to live and the books and papers were to be kept under three locks and keys. The officers were to continue in office seven years. Such, in brief, were the provisions of this extraordinary corporation, which were probably never carried out, as the "Manor of Franks" has neither loca- tion nor history.
Nearly one-half of this grant was located in central Bucks county, in what are now the townships of New Britain, Doylestown and Warwick. It origin- ally contained eight thousand six hundred and twelve acres, its northeast boun- dary running along the line of Doylestown, Buckingham and Plumstead eleven hundred and sixty-eight perches, or nearly three and three-quarters miles, which would bring its northeast corner pretty well up to the line of Plumstead and Hilltown, and it probably included part of the latter township. The upper line from the northeast corner run southwest for the distance of four miles. The area was twice reduced while held by the company, first by twelve hundred and thirty-two acres being taken off on the northwest side, and afterward, 1706, another slice of two thousand three hundred and ninety acres was cut off on the northeastern and southeastern sides, leaving four thousand nine hundred and eighty-four acres. About 1726 the remainder of the tract was authorized, by an act of Assembly, to be sold by trustees. At the sale Jeremiah Langhorne bought two thousand acres, of which seven hundred lay in Warwick township, including all that part of the borough of Doylestown cast and south of Court -street.
The Penns caused a large tract to be laid off to them in the northwest part of the county, afterward called the Manor of Richlands, which embraced the greater part of the township of Richland and portions of neighboring townships.
Digitized by Google
292
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
The original survey was made by John Cutler and John Chapman, the date not known. It was afterward surveyed by Nicholas Scull, the 3d of September, 1735, by virtue of a warrant dated March 5, 1734, probably when the land was divided for sale and settlement. The contents, according to the original survey, were sixteen thousand seven hundred and forty-nine acres, but, when five thous- and seven hundred and thirty-six acres had been sold and ten thousand five hundred and seventy-seven returned as unsold, there appeared a deficit of four hundred and thirty-six acres, which was supposed to arise from too large surveys. There does not appear to have been any attempt, by the Penns, to hold and cultivate this tract, for it was only a manor in name, and was thrown open for settlement as soon as the condition of things warranted it. The first sale of this land was made December 10, 1738, to John Bright, of one hundred and seventy-four acres and eighty perches. It was gradually brought into market, and down to February 16, 1775, there were fifty-six purchasers in quan- tities ranging from three hundred and thirteen acres down to thirty-three acres. Four tracts were sold between 1785 and 1788, which make up all the transfers we can find of record. The heaviest purchaser was Hugh Foulke, three hundred and thirteen acres and eighty perches.
The manor of Perkasie, a tract of ten thousand acres, lying in the town- ships of Rockhill and Hilltown, was granted by William Penn, October 25, 1701, to Samuel Carpenter, Edward Pennington and Isaac Norris, in trust. The trustees granted it to John Penn, when it became known as "John Penn's manor of Perkasie in the county of Bucks." Afterward, by deed of partition, it was divided among the three sons and daughters of William Penn, each one getting the allotment of a fourth part, or twenty-five hundred acres. When an effort was made, 1759, to raise funds for the institution that has since grown to be the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Penn, besides a liberal donation in money, conveyed to the "trustees of the college, academy, and charitable school of Philadelphia," the whole of his one-fourth part of Perkasie. The deed con- tained several restrictions. The fee could not be disposed of, nor could the property be leased for a longer term than ninety-nine years, or three lives in being. The college was obliged to educate and clothe two students to be nominated by Penn or his assigns, as follows : To educate them when the income reached £50 annually, to clothe one of them with a fioo income, and to clothe both when it reached £200. The cost of clothing was not to exceed £25 each annually. In default of these conditions the land was to revert to Penn and his heirs. At the time of its conveyance the rental was but £45. When the institution received a new charter from the Legislature, 1806, under the name of the "University of Pennsylvania," John Penn, son of Thomas, was asked to release the new corporation of the restrictions in the deed, which he cheer- fully complied with, and a new conveyance, in fee simple, was executed to the university. The remainder of these manor lands was sold to settlers, and, in the course of a few years, passed out of the Penn family. Besides these Perkasie lands, the university owned real estate in Tinicum and Middletown, which was confiscated, 1779 and 1785, and granted to it by the Legislature. In all. it owned about three thousand acres in the county. We have seen no estimate of its value since 1835, when it was set down as being worth sixty-four thousand five hun- dred and ninety-four dollars.
About 1695, Thomas Holme, surveyor general, laid off for William Penn a tract of about seven thousand acres, more or less, in vacant territory north of Makefield, which fell principally in what is now Upper. Makefield, and extending into the edge of Solebury and the eastern part of Wrights-
Digitized by Google
.
293
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
town. This was called the Manor of Highlands. There is evidence that Penn intended to keep this for his children, and complained to James Logan that the greater part of this tract had been taken up by "encroachers," as he called them. This probably induced him to sell it, and thus get rid of the trouble of keeping squatters off of it. In 1709 he conveyed five thousand acres to three gentlemen of London, Tobias Collet, Daniel Quere and Henry Goldney, who were known as the "London Company," the survey being made the 19th of August by Thomas Fairman by virtue of a warrant dated April 17. When re- surveyed, 1756, by John Watson, the lines were found to run nearly with those of the first survey. The western line abutted on Wrightstown, the southern about the present boundary between the two Makefields, and the Delaware the eastern boundary. The map of these lands, taken from Fairman's survey of 1700, differs from that of 1756 in the names of land-owners. On the latter we have, outside the London Company's tract, within and immediately adjoining it, John Pidcock, five hundred and eight acres, and next, on the west, Thomas Ross two hundred and thirty, Jeffrey Burges and William Blackfan. William Smith owned a tract next the one marked for John Clark. Inside the London tract are marked J. H. forty-four acres, Matthias Harvey one hundred acres on the Delaware, Samuel Baker five'hundred and fifty-two acres, Henry Baker one hundred, and S. B. one hundred acres, all in the southwest corner. The manor lands, not included in the London Company's grant, were brought into the market and sold to settlers.
-
The London Company owned a large tract in Tinicum, besides grants elsewhere. In 1750 Parliament authorized the sale of all the company's land, and John Fothergill, Daniel Zachary, Thomas How, Devereaux Bowly, Luke' Hinde, Richard How, Jacob Hagen, Silvanus Grove and William Heron, Lon- don, were appointed trustees, who constituted Jacob Cooper, Samuel Shoemaker and Joshua Howell, Pennsylvania, their attorneys to sell. A good deal of their land in the Manor of Highlands had already been sold to individual purchasers, and, in several instances their descendants still own the whole or part, but the remainder of the land was sold by the company's attorneys. In November, 1761. two hundred and thirty-seven acres were bought at public sale, by William Smith, of Wrightstown, for f713. 15s. The company owned some twenty- five hundred acres in Tinicum, part of which had been already disposed of, and of the remainder, fifteen hundred and sixty-eight acres, were purchased by Arthur Erwin at the trustees' sale. It is impossible to determine the correct number of acres of the London Company in Tinicum, as the deed is not on record, but they were not fewer than we have given. Five thousand acres of the "Free Society of Traders" tract was in Durham township and came into pos- session of the Durham Company at its first purchase.
.
Digitized by
CHAPTER XXII.
NEGRO SLAVERY IN BUCKS COUNTY.
First slaves on the Delaware .- Penn a slave-holder .- Slaves in Bucks .- Slaves' grave- yard .- Mingo .- Friends favor their freedom .- Action of yearly meeting, and the council .- Practice to liberate slaves .- Samuel Hart .- Slavery abolished .- Number of slaves held and where .- Distribution of slaves .- All registered .- But few among Germans .- Age of slaves .- Matthew Hughes .- Slaves gradually decrease .- Priam .- Alice .- Jack .- Old slave-woman .- Margaret .- Fugitive slave law .- Underground railroad .- Big Ben .- The negro in politics .- Redemptioners .- Lord Altham -- Peter Williamson .- English indentured servants .- Apprenticeship.
Negro slavery was introduced into Pennsylvania by the early Holland set- tlers. We find negroes on the west bank of the Delaware as early as 1636, but neither their number nor location is given. In 1639 one Coinclisse was sen- tenced to serve "along with the blacks," besides paying a fine, for wounding a soldier. In 1657 Vice-director Alricks was complained of "for using the com- pany's oxen and negroes;" and five years after Vice-director Beekman wants Governor Stuyvesant to "accommodate him with a company of negroes," which he needs. These negroes were slaves, for at that time black men, everywhere, were in bondage.
Long before the arrival of William Penn the English and Dutch were actively engaged in the African slave-trade. which the demand for labor in this and adjoining colonies made profitable. It was under the protection of the English government and he had no control over it. A number of slaves came into the possession of the Quaker immigrants, and even the great founder him- self was a slaveholder, but we venture nothing in saying he was a kind master. Negro slavery in Pennsylvania was always of a mild type, and slaves were well- treated when they behaved themselves. Hector St. John, writing of negro slavery just before the Revolutionary war, says: "In Pennsylvania they enjoy as much liberty as their masters, are as well fed and as well clad, and in sick- ness are tenderly taken care of, for, living under the same roof, they are in effect a part of the family. Being the companions of their labors, and treated as such, they do not work more than ourselves, and think themselves happier than many of the lower class of whites." Nevertheless the police regulations were necessarily severe. When slaves were found abroad without passes they were taken up and imprisoned to await reclamation by their owners, but, if not claimed, they were sold at public sale to defray expenses.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.