USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time (Volume 1 and 2) > Part 51
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George A. Purdy, classes '79-'80; born Nockamixon.
Sereno Dewey Rice, classes 1890-'91 ; born Springfield, March 31, 1874. Lewis Sigafoos, classes 1879-'80; born Nockamixon.
Haney W. Sterner, classes 1875-76; Steinsburg.
J. A. Strunk, classes 1878-79; born Quakertown.
A. R. Trumbauer, classes 1879-'80; born Pleasant Valley.
James A. Wickert, class '68; Reformed minister ; born Spinnerstown.
Joseph L. Wismer, classes 1877-78; born Bedminster.
M. S. Young, classes 1877-'78; born Pleasant Valley.
Edward A. Zuck, class '80; born September 9. '63, Zions Hill; deceased.
A. R. Horne, D. D .; Lutheran minister; born Springfield '34; taught; graduated Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, 1858; principal Academic depart- ment, Muhlenberg, 1878-83.
GRADUATES WITH PASTORAL CHARGE IN BUCKS COUNTY.
James L. Becker, class '74; Lutheran minister ; born Penn township, Berks county, June 1, 1849; Theological Seminary, Philadelphia '77; pastor, Sellers- ville 1877-'78; Lansdale since 1888.
D. H. Reiter, class 1878; Lutheran minister ; born Upper Hanover town- ship, Montgomery county, December 22, 1853; Theological Seminary, Phila- delphia '81 ; pastor Richlandtown since 1881.
Robert B. Lynch, class '85: Lutheran minister ; born Pennsbury, Mont- gomery county, November 28, 1860; Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 1888; pastor Dublin since 1888.
John F. Nicholas, class '86: born Bethlehem township, Northampton county, January 16, '61 ; Yale Divinity school '89; Congregational pastor, Blue Rapids, Kansas, and Elizabeth, N. J .; Presbyterian pastor Bethayres.
John H. Waidelich, class '86: Lutheran minister ; born Steinsville, Lehigh county, March 17, '60; Theological Seminary, Philadelphia '89; pastor Sellers- ville since 1889.
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M. J. Kuehner, class '87; Lutheran minister; born Lehigh county, January I, 1865; Theological Seminary, rmnadelphia, 1891; pastor Jordan, Lehigh county, and Hilltown, Bucks county ; lives at Perkasie.
C. R. Fetter, class 1888; Lutheran minister; born Telford, Montgomery, county, February 22, 1868; Theological Seminary, Philadelphia 1891; pastor Pine Valley, Schuylkill county, and Tohickon, Bucks; lives at Telford.
Warren Nickel, class '94; Lutheran minister; born -; Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, '97; pastor Applebachville since 1897.
The summary of attendance at these three colleges, from Bucks county, in- cluding the graduates from Muhlenberg who had, or have, pastoral charge in the county, shows an aggregate of one hundred and eighty-one, as taken from the official records. From this we may estimate their influence on our religious, business and social life.
In the past decade three new institutions of learning were established in the county, and though differing in curriculum, have the same object in view, the spread of human intelligence, and aim to instruct their pupils how to live useful lives. These are the George School, Newtown township, Convent of St. Elizabeth, Bensalem, and the National Farm School, near Doylestown.
The George School is situated half a mile below Newtown, on the south side of the Durham, on a portion of the Worth tract purchased for the pur- pose. One hundred locations were offered for inspection, but this was selected as the most eligible, because of its beautiful southern exposure, abundant supply of pure water, and fine timber on the premises. The situation is all that could be desired, within twenty-three miles of Philadelphia, with which there is frequent daily communication by steam and electric cars, and in one of the most delightful sections of Bucks county. The school was founded on a bequest in the will of John M. George of Overbrook, Philadelphia, the last of his family, who died February 11, 1887. He left the bulk of his estate, $600,000, to the "Philadelphia Meeting of Friends," for the purpose of establishing and endowing a boarding school to be located in Eastern Pennsylvania. The Yearly Meeting, in May, 1888, appointed a committee of sixty-eight, to "take into consideration the provisions of Mr. George's will," which were accepted and immediate steps taken to carry them out. The choice of a site first claimed the attention of the committee. The school was named after the George fam- ily. The erection of the main building, two hundred and twenty-four feet by one hundred and forty feet, was begun in the fall of 1892 and completed the following year. The gymnasium and dormitory were built in 1894, the build- ings being designed for a school of one hundred and fifty pupils by the founder. The dormitory is forty-three by fifty-eight. The entire cost of the buildings, grounds, apparatus, furniture and other equipment for such an institution, was about $300,000. `The buildings are fitted up throughout with all modern ap- pliances. The land was paid for by separate fund, contributed by residents of Newtown and vicinity and interested friends elsewhere. There are also a. library and reading room, and suitable accommodations for physical training, required by the course. The school opened November 6, 1893, with George L. Maris, A. M., and a faculty of ten members, in charge. The institution is of a high school grade, and designed to prepare pupils for college, or fit them for the active duties of life. The curriculum is broad, embracing eight full year courses in English, eight in mathematics, four in Latin, three in German, two- in French, three in history, two in manual training, two in biology, two-
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in chemistry, two in physics, and shorter courses in astronomy, psychology and drawing. The productive funds of the school, in addition to the buildings, etc., at present, amount to $500,000, obtained mostly from the bequest of John M. George and accrued interest and about $90,000 left by will of Jacob Fretz, of Lumberville. The interests of the school are represented by a monthly paper, called George School Ides, appearing about the 15th of each month during the school year in an artistic cover. It principally circulates among the alumni and former pupils.
On the line of the Pennsylvania railroad, Bensalem township, near Corn- wells, is located the "Mother Home," of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, for Indians and colored people. The order is known as "St. Elizabeth's Convent and the Holy Providence House;" the Sisterhood was founded under the auspices of Miss Katharine M. Drexel, who took the veil as a nun of the Roman Catholic church under the name of Mother M. Katharine. The or- ganization dates from 1891. The object is to educate the American Indian and colored races, wherever located; training teachers for that purpose and especially for the youth of these races, without distinction of religion, to be- come self-sustaining men and women ; using such methods of instruction in the principles of religion and human knowledge as may be best adapted to the objects in view, to visit and administer to the sick and poor, and act as guardian to such of their orphans and minor children as may be committed to their ( care. The building was erected, 1892, of local granite with red tiled roof, de- signed after the old Spanish mission buildings of California, with the traditional court yards and cloister of the old time conventional buildings. Connected with the convent, is a home for colored children with a capacity for one hundred and fifty children, called Holy Providence House. The majority of the children are girls, whom the Sisters keep until their twenty-first year, when efforts are made to secure for them good places of livelihood according to each one's capacity. The boys are transferred at the age of thirteen to an industrial or trade school. The curriculum embraces a wide range. The girls receive a good common school education, and are also trained in habits of industry. Some take a course in scientific dressmaking; others are instructed in all the details of fine laundry work in Convent laundry attached to the school, where all kinds of outside work are taken in to enable the girls to become proficient in this industry. The bakery and cooking classes afford practical instruction to an equally large number. The aim is to give the girls a good, solid English education, and a thorough knowledge of all branches of domestic economy. One of the chief difficulties met with, among the negroes and the Indians, is an absence, that it to say, an utter want of appreciation, of good house-keeping. As a consequence, their surroundings lack that air of cheerfulness and order essential to home life and domestic thrift. To counteract this evil, the sisters lay much stress on domestic training. The examinations in these branches, at the end of the school year, are held in equal value with class work, and the results, thus far, have been very gratifying, and the display of the exhibits of the different branches of industrial work, is very interesting.
The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament have a school for Southern colored girls at Rock Castle, Va., opened in July, 1899, with a capacity for one hundred and seventy-five children, and another for the Indians at Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is a boarding school of about one hundred and twenty chil- dren. The Sisters also visit the surrounding Pueblos within a radius of eighty miles. These Indians are noted for their peaceful and docile disposition, as well as for their industrious habits.
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The third of the group of schools, under consideration, is the National Farm School near Doylestown, the only one of its kind in the United States. Quoting the words of Young Israel, this institution has for its object, "the training of capable lads, of the Jewish faith, for practical and scientific agricul- tural careers, and fitting them for superintendents of agricultural colonies to be organized from among the unemployed, or debilitated poor, of the over- crowded cities." It is national and non-sectarian; school and field work go hand in hand; it is a working school not a high school or collegiate institu- tion in any sense. One of the first lessons taught and never lost sight of is, that "all wealth comes from the earth." Though the school was started less than ten years ago without any endowment, it now represents a value of nearly $60,000, is free from debt, and satisfactorily equipped for its limited number of pupils. The Adjutant General of Pennsylvania recently furnished arms to the school, which enables the Dean to add military drill to the curri- culum. The course is designed to teach the sciences that underlie practical agriculture, with sufficient English, mathematics, literature, economics and such other supplementary studies as will make the graduates intelligent and useful farmers. At intervals memorial trees are planted on the premises which, in time, will develop into a shaded grove. The school is situated a mile west of the county seat, on the line of the Philadelphia and Reading railway. Its realty consists of a farm of one hundred and thirty acres, that belonged to the late Judge Richard Watson, on which have been erected a large main build- ing for school purposes proper, and several others adapted to their special uses. The location is a very eligible one, on an elevation that gives a fine outlook to the south-west taking in a beautiful scope of country. Rabbi Joseph Kraus- kopf, D. D., president of the board of trustees, was the active factor in found- ing the school and continues to take the same deep interest in it. The erection of the buildings was begun in 1896 and finished in the early summer of 1897, the dedication exercises being held in June. The occasion brought to the school a large number of persons interested in it, and others, a train of eight cars coming from Philadelphia. Addresses were made by ex-Governor Robert E. Pattison, Judge Harman Yerkes and others, and a lunch followed.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT; MERINO SHEEP AND MULTICAULIS; NAVIGA- TION OF THE DELAWARE; SHAD; ELECTIONS AND TAXES.
Plummerites .- Church built .- Joseph Archambault .- Free church .- Religious awakening. -Temperance revival .- The hedge and pulpit .- The tabernacle .- Plumstead Presby- terian congregation .- Merino sheep .- Morus multicaulis .- High price of trees .- Money made and lost .- Floods, 1841-1862 .- Attempts to improve navigation of Upper Delaware .- Steamboat to Easton .- Shad fisheries .- First election .- Election districts. Andrew Hamilton .- Change in Provincial politics .- Vote polled .- Taxes .- County expenses .- Bucks county contributionship .- Horse companies .- Physicians .- Rural poetic picture of Bucks county.
About 1830, considerable religious excitement was created in the county, by the preaching of Frederick Plummer, an eloquent and eminent minister of the gospel. He had a large following, wherever he appeared in the lower townships, and his converts, known as "Christians" and "Plummerites," were enthusiastic in the cause. In pleasant weather his meetings were generally held in a wood; at other times beneath a sheltering roof. Newtown became one of his centers where he occasionally preached in the academy, but, as that was under Presbyterian control, the doors were closed against him. This action only inflamed his followers the more, and aroused a new enthusiasm for their minister and free preaching. Joseph Archambault, landlord of the Brick Hotel, Newtown, a great admirer of Mr. Plummer, invited him to hold his meet- ings at his house, but as the house would not hold half the people who came to listen, he stood in the door and preached to the large crowd in the street. Mr. Archambault now proposed the building of a Free church, open to all ministers who came to preach without pay, and the proposition was enthus- iastically responded to. The movement to build was immediately put on foot and contributions of money came in freely. Mr. Archambault gave the lot, and in a short time the Free church, and subsequently known as "Newtown Hall," was erected and opened for worship sometime in 1831. This movement led to the building of a Free church at Yardleyville soon after, but it was left with a heavy debt and had to be sold. It was bought for an Episcopal church and as such was occupied.
In the deed of the lot for the Newtown church, Mr. Archambault men- tioned the object of the contributors to the building fund, and stipulated in it, that if the house should not be opened to all ministers whose preaching was free, or if collections were permitted to be taken up in the house, to
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pay ministers, the property should revert back to his heirs. The enterprise was very successful for a time, but at the death of Mr. Plummer the enthusiasm cooled down, and gradually the sect of "Plummerites" passed into history. With the consent of Mr. Archambault the property was now transferred to the borough of Newtown, but this occasioned trouble in the council, as some of the members wished to convert the building into a school-house, and others for purposes forbidden by the conditions in the deed. The matter was ar- ranged by an act of assembly transferring the property back to the trustees who were elected by the contributors for building the church and keeping it in repair, for the purposes provided in the deed. The house was then held as a free church. Collections to pay the expenses of opening the house for worship were permitted, but a minister, who receives pay for preaching, is not allowed to hold regular services in it. During this period the religious excitement was further notable by the Methodists holding camp-meetings in various parts of the county, and a few were held by the Baptists. Several flourishing churches had their origin in these wood-meetings, among them the Baptist church at Hatboro, in Montgomery county.
Twenty-five years after there was an awakening on the subject of religion in many parts of the country. It reached Bucks county, 1858, and there was excitement in various communities. During this period there was considerable out-door preaching. The Reverend Messrs. Long and Schultz, Norristown, built what they denominated the "Portable Highway and Hedge Pulpit," which they transported from place to place and set up wherever they could find hearers. They met with marked success. This led to the "Tabernacle," a large canvas- tent capable of holding three thousand persons. During the summer and fall of 1857, $1,200 were subscribed, and on October 10th a meeting of Evangelical Christians was held at Norristown, in the First Presbyterian church, to organize an association to have charge of the Tabernacle. The organization was effected under the name of the "Union Tabernacle Association," with a constitution. setting forth its object, and a Mr. Long was made its superintendent. The movement was under the general charge of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. The Tabernacle was capable of being divided into several apartments, and when the sides were stretched in good weather it would accommodate more than three thousand persons. It was provided with benches. It was first erected on an open lot adjoining the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, where it was dedicated on the Ist day of May, 1858. The attendance was large, and the religious services very interesting, lasting until late in the even- ing. After the dedication, services were held in it daily for six months, in various locations in the city. On the opening of spring it was thought best to transport it into the country. In the summer of 1859 it was taken up- the North Pennsylvania railroad and erected on the lot of a Friend in Quaker- town, where, without charge, it remained several weeks and was the means of doing much good. This led to the first awakening on the subject of religion that ever took place in that neighborhood. When it was removed a wooden tabernacle was built on or near its site, and afterward replaced by a hand- some brick church, the only permanent place of religious worship in the village at that time, except Friends' meeting-house. The tent was afterward removed to Plumsteadville, where meetings were held for a season. Since then a Pres- byterian congregation was organized there and a handsome place of worship- erected, but what influence the tabernacle exerted in their behalf we cannot say. The appearance of the big tent in the county created considerable ex- citement, and crowds attended the service wherever located.
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The year 1877 was noted for a strong effort in behalf of temperance, led by Francis Murphy. He had already visited several states, and, on coming to Pennsylvania, made Philadelphia his headquarters. Thousands signed the pledge. The excitement reached Bucks county in the spring and summer, and meetings were held at Doylestown, Bristol, Morrisville and elsewhere. In some parts of the county the interest was unusual. It differed from all previous movements, in that it did not antagonize the rum seller, or those opposed to the cause. Moral suasion was the main factor. The last public meeting, held in the old court house, before it was taken down, was in the interest of the Murphy cause. The wave soon subsided, however, but we hope it left a deposit for good in the county. The first organized effort, in this county, to promote the cause of temperance, was at Friends' meeting house, Newtown, Septem- ber 25, 1828, where a number of citizens assembled on public notice. At that time, intoxicating liquors were in general use on all occasions indoors and out. The name given to this parent organization was "The Bucks County Society for the Promotion of Temperance," the members being pledged to abstain from the use of ardent spirits "except for medical purposes." The officers elected, at the first meeting, were Aaron Feaster, president; Joseph Briggs, vice-president; John Lapley, corresponding secretary, and Jonathan Wynkoop, treasurer.
The few who are old enough, will remember the Merino sheep mania, or fever, which raged in the country, this county included, from 1810 to 1815. Full- blood merinoes sold as high as from three to five hundred dollars each, and in a few instances they even brought one thousand dollars. Half-blood sheep sold at from twenty-five to fifty dollars. A man in this county, whose name it is not necessary to mention, sold his wheat crop, two hundred bushels, at three dollars, and gave the whole of it for one sheep. When the fever subsided these same sheep dropped down to five and ten dollars. Many persons were ruined, and the Mss. of an old resident of the county says that one man lost sixteen thousand dollars. When the next generation came upon the stage a quarter of a century afterward, 1837-39, they were found just as ready and willing to be gulled as their ancestors, but this time it was the silk-produc- ing mulberry, and the excitement is known in history as the morus multicaulis fever. It attacked both male and female and spread generally through the country.
It planted itself early in New Jersey along the Delaware, and almost immed- iately leaped across the river and took root in the lower end of this county. The newspapers teemed with the most marvelous accounts, and the induce- ments to fortune held out were hardly second to the South sea scheme and the merino fever. One old lady sold her spectacles to buy mulberry trees to plant in her garden. An acre of trees near Camden, New Jersey, changed hands four times without being taken from the ground, going up from fifteen hundred to forty-five hundred dollars. The last purchaser was offered a thousand dol- lars advance but refused it. One man near Burlington is said to have sold $12,000 worth of trees from two acres of ground, and that Prince, of Long Island, sold $75,000 worth from his nursery. Multicaulis seed brought $16 per ounce, and sprouts of one summer's growth commanded from twelve and one-half to fifteen cents per foot, the limbs reserved and taken off and the buds sold at two cents each. In some instances the trees brought almost fabulous prices. One sale in Germantown amounted to $81,218.75, and $8,000 profit are said to have been realized from a single acre. Trees four feet in height were sold at from forty to fifty cents each, and in some parts of the
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county as high as a dollar. Thousands of acres of trees were planted in all parts of the county, and in every village were numerous gardens and out-lots filled with the multicaulis.
During the height of the excitement, some people in this county made a great deal of money, while others lost. Sharpers and speculators took ad- vantage of the excitement, and the frauds practiced were tremendous. In some instances farms were mortgaged to raise money to go into the speculation, and we are told that one farmer in Falls was offered a rent of nine hundred dollars for ten acres, to plant trees on one season, the tenant to clear the land in the spring. Considerable money was made and lost about Newtown, which with Doylestown, became multicaulis centres and where buildings were erected to rear silk-worms. The one at Doylestown stood on the lot afterward owned by Isaiah Closson, on the New Hope turnpike, just east of the Catholic church, and forms part of the present dwelling. . The bubble burst with a sudden ex- plosion, and left those who had a stock of trees on hand high and dry. Had the speculation lasted a year or two longer the panic would have been wide- spread. In 1843 the trees had become a worthless encumbrance to the ground and were dug up and cut out.
Among the floods in the Delaware, those in 1841 and 1862 were of probably the greatest since that of 1692 or 1731. That of 1841 was an ice flood and occurred January 8th. Houses, barns, fences, furniture, canal- boats, logs, etc., were borne down the swollen stream toward the ocean. Every bridge from Easton to Trenton, then five in number, was swept away. The guard lock of the feeder at Bool's island was torn away, and all the houses in the small hamlet of Johnston were carried down the stream. The destruction along the Delaware and Lehigh was very great. George B. Fell, who was standing on Centre bridge at the time it was swept away, was carried down with it. He was on a loose plank, as he passed New Hope, and had to lie down flat to prevent being swept off under the bridge. He was rescued by Joshua Nicholas, one of a crowd on the shore at Yardley looking at the flood, when a man was seen to go under the bridge a short time before it was swept away. Nicholas who was quite a waterman, remarked "I must save that man" and, against the protests of his friends, ran across the bridge, seized a batteau on the Jersey shore, and at the risk of his life rowed out into the torrent and took Mr. Fell to the shore. As long as Mr. Fell lived Mr. Nicholas was provided for, and after his death his widow continued to look after his welfare, until his decease, many years later. The freshet of 1862, almost equally severe, took place the 5th of June. An island in the Delaware was filled with drift-wood and other debris. A man bought what appeared to be a roof laying on the sand, but on attempting to remove it, it was found to belong to a dwelling that had lodged there entire. On a bed lay the body of a little child drowned by the freshet.
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