USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. I > Part 14
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815 Probably the son of Christian Minnick, owner of the ferry on the Delaware, of that name, who died 1787.
834 The "Bath Springs" have been closed many years, the house torn down and none built to replace the old buildings. A street has been opened between the site of the hot ... and springs, the springs filled up, and the mill pond not used since 1888. The property belongs to a private estate. The mill site is one of the oldest in the county.
9 This spelling is probably not correct.
IOI
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Taylor built a boarding-house near by, at a cost of $13.000 and, for a time, there was some demand for the water, at fifty cents per bottle, and a few visitors came to the well. In 1869 the water was subjected to chemical analy- sis by Doctor Gaunt, of Philadelphia, and one gallon was found to contain the following: Carbonate of the protoxide of iron, 3.60, sulphate of the protoxide of iron. . 25. carbonate of lime. 1.40, sulphate of lime. 75, carbonate of mag- nesia, .57, sulphate of magnesia. . 51, sulphate of potassia, .46. hydrated silica, .80, organic matter, a trace : total 8.40. Several parties certified that the water had benefited them, and one old lady went so far as to say that it seemed to be "both meat and drink" to her.
The Dilworths were early settlers in Bristol township, where James Di !- worth died. 1699. He came from Thornby, Yorkshire, with his wife Anna, a sister of Nicholas Waln. Some of the descendants drifted over to Chester county and gave name to Dilworthtown.
The Taylors, of Bristol township, are descended from Samuel Taylor, husbandman, of the parish of Dore, county Derbyshire, England. In the sum- mer of 1677 he immigrated to America, and landed where Burlington. New Jersey. now stands. He was one of the proprietors of West New Jersey, and owned one thirty-second of seven undivided ninetieth parts. In the spring of 1678 he settled upon twelve hundred acres in Chesterfield township, Burlington county, the whole of which remains in the family. To his second son, Robert, he gave five hundred acres of the tract, now known as Brookdale. From him it came to his son Anthony, an ardent patriot during the Revolution, who died. 1785, and from Anthony to his eldest son, Michael. Our Taylors are immedi- ately descended from Anthony, the third son of AAnthony, who was born at Brookdale farm, 1772. In 1789 he was apprenticed to John Thompson. an extensive shipping-merchant. Philadelphia, and 1793, entered into the same business with Thomas Newbold. under the firm name of Taylor & Newboldl. In 1802 he married Mary, daughter and tenth child of Caleb Newbold, Spring- field, New Jersey. He retired from business, 1810. to Sunbury farm. Bristol township, which he had purchased, ISO8, where he resided to his death, 1837. The family from Samuel Taylor down have been Friends. He took great interest in farming, and was the largest land-owner in the county. Upon the failure of the Farmers' bank of Bucks county. Hulmeville, he, with others, restored its capital and caused its removal to Bristol. He was elected president, and continued such to his death. Anthony Taylor had eleven children. all vi whom grew up, nine surviving him: Robert. Sarah. William, Edward L .. Michael. Caleb N .. Thomas N., Emma L., and Franklin. Caleb N. Taylor. the sixth son of his father, was born at Sunbury, where he resided nearly all his life. He was an active politician of the Whig and Republican schools, and elected to Congress, 1866 and 1868, having been defeated" at three prev- ions elections. He was succeeded as president of the Bristol bank by his nephew. Benjamin F. Taylor. Michael Newbold, the ancestor of Caleb New- bold, whose daughter Anthony Taylor married, and likewise an English Friend. immigrated from Newbold manor, county Derbyshire, 1680. He settled near the Taylors. Springfield township. Burlington county, where he bought a thousand acres of land, still hekl by the family. Thomas N., the sixth son, died in Philadelphia.
10 Caleb N. Taylor labored hard, for years. to divide Bucks county, and the question was sometime in doubt, but his efforts were finally defeated. 1855. when he seemed on the point of success. This ended the fight
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
About 1830-3t, Anthony Morris, Philadelphia, founded an agricultor !! school at the Bolton farm. on the road from Oxford Valley to Tullytown, . mile and a half from the former place. It was placed under the superinten .:- ency of F. A. Ismar, a pupil of the celebrated school of Hofwyl, Prussia, to I. conducted on the Fellenberg system. The school did not prove a success an !! was soon abandoned. On the same farm is the "Morris graveyard," a roun: plat of ground, surrounded by a stone wall and shaded by a grove of fine trees. Several of the Morris and Pemberton families have been buried in the oli yard. This farm was originally the Pemberton homestead, and is yet in the family. The farm adjoining is called Wigan, and both that and Bolton were named by the original proprietors, after towns of the same names they came from in Lancashire, England.11
Bela Badger, for thirty years a prominent citizen of Bristol, came from Connecticut, 1807. He bought the Hewson farm in the township, just over the borough line, the Island farm, opposite Burlington, and the Marsh farm adjoining. He owned eight hundred aeres, in all, fronting on the Delaware. He spent several thousand dollars in banking out the river from part of his land, and recovered three hundred and fifty acres of very fine meadow-land. and also spent a large sum to improve his fishery, known a- the Badger fishery, which he made one of the best on the river. Mr. Badger was a breeder of blooded horses, and dealt largely in fast stock. He made the first match against Eclipse with Sir Walter, and was beaten. He was con- nected with Colonel William R. Johnson, Virginia, in the famous match of Henry against Eclipse. for $20,000 a side, run on Long Island, in May. 1823. and others of equal note. He was the owner of Hickory, the sire of some of the finest colts since Messenger's day. He imported the celebrated hor- Valentine, and was interested in the ownership of some of the best blooded horses of that day. Mr. Badger stood high in the sporting-world, and was considered by all as a man of integrity. He was a brother of Samuel Badger. of Philadelphia, and died. 1835, without family.
The only village in the township, except the incorporated borough of Bristol, is Newportville. a mile and a half below Hulmeville where the Dur- ham road strikes the Neshaminy. The creek is spanned by a wooden bridge. one hundred and ninety feet long, resting on three stone piers. The site of the village was laid off into town-lots as early as 1808, but it has not grown to great proportions. It was called "Newport" at first, but somebody, with the American genius for naming places, added the syllable "ville." and the post- office, when established. 1836, was given this name, which it bears to this day and is likely to bear to the end of time. There is properly an upper and lower town. a portion of the houses being built along the creek, and others on the high ground above. It has a large saw and grist-mill, extensive carriage- works, a hall that will seat about three hundred persons, a public library, fire company, two stores, and a tavern. The population is about two hundred. In the early days of the county, the crossing of Neshaminy at this place wa- Known as Barnsley's ford. A little cluster of houses, in the south-east corner of Middletown. on a road running from the Delaware to Newtown, lying partly in Bristol township. is called Centerville.
Bristol. like all the lower townships, has little broken land, neither is it level, but has the gentle undulating surface, after you leave the river bottom.
Bolton farm is still in the family, belonging to Effingham B. Morris, Philadelphia, to whom it came by inheritance.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
best suited to farming. It is watered by a few small tributaries of the Nesham- iny, and Mill ereck and its branches, the main stream taking its rise at the base of the primary formation in Middletown. The farmers of the lower part of Bristol turned their attention to raising tobacco, and there and in Falls a large erop was produced yearly. According to the government return, made in 1871, Bucks county had within its limits four hundred and seventy manufac- tories of cigars and one snuff-mill, the latter being at Bristol. These factor -. ies employed from thirty to fifty hands each and paid a duty of $180,000 a year to the government. Since that period the cultivation of tobacco has been very much reduced. For a number of years, and until one was established in the borough of Bristol, the Friends of this township went to the Falls meet- ing, which many of them still attend.
So far as we have been able to learn, the area of Bristol township has neither been enlarged nor decreased since its organization, in 1692, and con- tains now. as then, nine thousand four hundred and fifty-nine acres. The earliest enumeration of taxables. we have met with, was 1742, when they num- bered eighty-three. of whom fifteen were single men. By 1763, a period of twenty-one years, they had increased to one hundred and four. At the same time the heaviest assessment against any one man was that of Lawrence Growden, who was taxed on f130. The average- valuation was from five to ten pounds, evidence there was but little wealth in the township. In 1784 Bristol had a population of seven hundred and sixteen whites and forty-one blacks, and one hundred and fourteen dwellings. In 1810 it was 1,008; 1820, 1.6671112: 1830. 1.532. and two hundred and two taxables : 1840, 1.450; 1850, I,SI0; 1860, 2, 187 : 1870. 2.040, of which two hundred and four were of foreign birth, and one hundred and twenty-seven colored; the population of Bristol borough has largely increased of late years, and extensive manufactories erected.
Bristol township, Bloomsdale farm, has one of the most valuable shad- fisheries in the county, that known as the Badger fishery. It was established as early as 1790, and was rented for a number of years at SI.Soo for the season. As high as seventeen hundred shad and twenty thousand herring, beside a large number of smaller fish, have been caught in one day. On one or two occasions sharks, of the shovel-nosed species, have been caught. The rent for some years past has not exceeded $800. Anthony Burton's fishery has rented for $1.ooo the season. but of late years, for not over $400. Cash Point fishery. later Doctor Sallman's, adjoining Burton's rents for $300 a year, Barclay Ivins's, in Falls. $500. Betty's Point. owned by C. Ellis, $300, Birch fishery, S. Collins, $300. John Thompson's. $200. David Moon's fishery, where the largest shad have been taken. is known to have been caught in the Delaware, weighing fourteen pounds, rents for $400.12
1132 Probably an error.
12 Probably the oldest ash tree in the county, a venerable many-ringed patriarch of the forest, was on the Andrew Schaffer farm. Bristol township, and recently cut down. Many historic memories clustered about its ancient bows, and its age is known to have bien over one hundred years. Just before the company of Bristol Reserves marched to the battle field of the Civil war, a picnic and banquet, a good-bye offering, was held in its shade, but only four of the one hundred composing the company lived to see the old patriarch laid low. It was twenty feet in circumference and six feet in diameter. The tree produced ten cords of wood.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
No sketch of Bristol township would be complete without proper mention of Bloomsdale Farm, the seed-growing plant of David Landreth and Sons, one of the most extensive industries of its kinds in the world. The reputation 1s international. It is on the Delaware, a short distance above Bristol, stretching nearly two miles along the river. The tract, originally containing 1,000 acres, was conveyed to Andrew Robinson, 1685, by Penn's Commissioners of Prop- erty. In 1752 it belonged to Colonel Alexander Graydon, father of Captain Alexander Graydon, who erected the Bloomsdale house that year at the north end of the tract. The son was an officer in Colonel Shea's continental regi- mient, and was made prisoner at the fall of Fort Washington, 1776. A sub- sequent owner was Leopold Notnagle, son of the head forester of the King of Bavaria, who, taking part as an officer in one of the German Revolution-, was compelled to flee the country and settled on the Delaware. In 1807 he erected a stone barn on the premi- ises, one of the largest in the State, and still in good preserva- tion. Stephen Girard was in- terested in the settlement of his estate. In the thirties. during the Morus Multi- caulus craze, the farm was largely BLOOMSDALE FARM. planted with mul- berry trees, the
big stone barn turned into a cocoonery, and some silk produced, but to no profit. When the Merino sheep fad struck Bucks county, the owner went into that spec- ulation.
David Landreth, the 2d, purchased the Bloomsdale Farm. 1847. and began the seed raising industry. He was brought up amid the plantations of the Landreth nursery. established 1784. and was well equipped by taste and knowledge for the business. He improved the estate in every particular. Hle planted an arboretum that was not excelled in varicty and developement of its rare conifera and deciduous trees, the most noted being the gigantic growth of Rhododendrons. Kahnias and Azaleas. The system of culture for vegetable crops for seed production was interesting. the area broad, the expanse great : while the trial grounds, for the annual testing of 6,000 to 7,000 samples of seud of vegetables, and grasses, to determine their relative purity and merit. afforded an interesting school of botanical and physiological research. In 18;2. steam plowing, by direct traction, was inaugurated at Bloomsdale, and steam digging and steam chopping experimented with in 1888, but were not found profitable.
In 1889-02 interesting experiments were conducted in the cultivation of the Chinese fibre plant, Ramie, but without success. David Landreth died at
4
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Bloomsdale, February 22, 18So, having passed a long life in developing and improving .one of the most useful branches of practical agriculture. He was the son of an Englishman, who settled at Philadelphia, near the close of the eighteenth century, and was born there, 1802. At the father's death, 1836, the son succeeded to the business and made it his life-long occupation. Since David Landreth's death his sons have conducted the extensive business with success, and are recognized among the most extensive seed producers in the world. Burnet Landreth, one of the surviving sons, makes his home in the Bloomsdale homestead. He served as a captain in the civil war. and has re- ceived many recognitions from foreign societies, for his services to Agricul- ture, Horticulture and Forestry, and possesses several diplomas and decora- tions.
Bloomsdale farm has interesting historic associations apart from its in- dustrial repute. On December 25. the day previous to Washington's attack on the Hessians at Trenton, General Cadwallader made an attempt to eross the river with his division, probably at the Bloomsdale farm, but was obliged to abandon the design by reason of the floating ice. That evening about 8 o'clock all the troops in and about Bristol marched down to Dunk's ferry three miles below. " On May 9. 1778, while the British occupied Philadelphia, their flotilla returned from an attack on Bordentown, fired several shot at Bloomsdale house, but without injuring it. On July 4. 1804, Aaron Burr, who had recently killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, crossed the Delaware at the ferry on the Bloomsdale farm to avoid arrest. Joseph Bonaparte made two attempts to buy this estate, before purchasing at Bordentown, the first in 1816. The ferry here was one of the earliest on the river above Philadelphia. and wagons and horses were set across in flat boats, propelled by poles and oars, signaling between the two shores by a system of flags.1+
On the banks of the Delaware, below Bloomsdale, are extensive estab- lishiments for the preservation of fruits. recently owned by Nathan Hellings. The main building. 50x80 feet, with thick walls, is so constructed as to avoid outside change of temperature, and is maintained at from 30 degrees to 60 degrees within, while a current of dry air passes constantly through the build- ing to prevent moisture. A large ice bed, under the center of the building. cools the atmosphere in summer. Here great quantities of foreign and domes- tic fruits, in season, are stored for preservation.' The storage capacity of the establishment is 10.000 barrels.
13 There is some uncertainty as to the military operations at the Bloomsdale farm at this eventful period in our Revolutionary history. Our reference in the text is from General Stryker's exhaustive history of the "Battles of Trenton and Princeton." excellent authority in such case. Another authority, which we have forgotten, says "Cadwallader's division here ( Bloomsdale ferry) crossed the Delaware into New Jersey. December 27, 1776, and being ignorant of Washington's reaching there that evening, marched his force to Burlington, reaching there that evening. Here he received a letter from Washington, informing him of his victory at Trenton on the 26th." Burnet Landreth, writing to the anthor on the subject, says "General Cadwallader's crossing was the ferry one mile above Bristol. called "Minnick's ferry,' " and cited letter of Colonel Rodney, aid to Cadwallader.
14 The Bloomsdale ferry, over a century ago, was called Minnick's ferry. after Christian Minnick, its owner, and the name was changed, 1795. Christian Minnick was a member of the Bucks County Committee of Safety, 1774-75-76, and the ferry was prob- ably named after him.
1
CHAPTER X.
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BENSALEM.
1692.
Bensalem the fourth township .- Origin of name .- Bacon's fiction .- "Manor of Ben- salem." -- Original land-owners .- "Tatham's House."-Growden's tract .- Joseph Grow- den .- Trevose .- Grace Growden .- Nathaniel Allen .- Samuel Allen .- The Vande- grifts .- Old graveyard .- The Vanhornes, Vansants. et al .- The Tomlinsons .- The Rodmans .- Rodmanda .- Large tree .- Joseph Galloway .- Joined the British army .- Confiscation of estate, etc .- Richard Gibbs .- James Benezet .- The Willetts .- Richard Bache .- The Sickel family .- Nicholas Biddle .- Dunk's ferry .- Slave Alice .- Town- ship tax .- Presbyterian church .- Methodist and other churches .- The Kings .- Majer Barnsley .- Bridgewater .- Andalusia college .- Death of Doctor Chapman .- Roads .- Oldest taverns .- Population .- Fisheries.
Bensalem, the fourth township of the group of 1692, and the last that bordered the Delaware, was to include "all the lands between Neshaminah and Poquessin, and so to the upper side of Joseph Growden's land." On three sides these boundaries have never been disturbed, and the line with Southamp- ton is doubtless the same as when the township was erected.
The origin of the name this township bears has given rise to some dis- cussion. but, like such questions generally, remains unsettled. Some profess to find the solution in Lord Bacon's ingenious fiction of the New Atlantis. wherein he calls an imaginary island in the ocean by the name of "Bensalem." and the word itself is said to be a Hebrew compound, but as there is no such Hebrew compound. the Baconian origin of the name is, doubtless, without foundation. It will be remembered that the jury that laid it out said, in their report, the name of this township was "Salem," meaning peace, or peaceful. The word Bensalem is found in our county records as early as November o. 16861 six years before the township was laid off, and in 1688 the Growdens called their five thousand acres the "manor of Bensalem."" From this it would! appear the name was first applied to the manor and not to the township, and. that when the township was erected it was called "Salem" instead of Bensa-
I George Martin to Joseph Growden.
2 Deed of Joseph Growden to Steplien Noll, for two hundred and two acres, "part of the Manor of Bensalem." February 12, 1688.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
lem. We are, therefore, left much to conjecture as to the origin of the name, but there is no question the township borrowed it from the manor. Joseph Growden fixed the site of his homestead near the northwest line of his manor and the township, whence he could overlook a wide scope of wilderness country falling to the Delaware and Neshaminy. Being a Friend and prone to peace, the word Bensalem fitly expressed his thoughts and feelings. We believe the name' was first applied to the spot he had chosen for his residence-the Hill of Peace, or Peaceful Mount -- and then to the manor : and when. in the course of time, it was given to the township, he changed the name of his homestead to. Trevose, which it bears to this day. It was an easy matter for this cultivated Friend, by the union of a Gaelic with a Hebrew word, to form a new word that conveyed to mind the delightful tranquility he enjoyed in his new home in the wilderness along the Neshaminy. After all, this is only a theory, but is quite as plausible as the one that borrows the name from Bacon's fiction, and invents a Hebrew compound.
There were twelve original land-owners in the township, according to the map of Thomas Holme. 1684.+ of whom one. at least. Lawrence Growden, was never an inhabitant of the county. The Growdens owned nearly one-half the township and Gray or Tatham was the next largest land-owner. On or near the Neshaminy, above Rodman's creek. then called Mill creek. was "Tatham's house," the residence of Tatham. a dwelling of some preten- sion, no doubt. He owned a large tract running from the Neshaminy back to the center of the township.3 Walter Forest owned the point between the Poquessing and the Delaware, and Jolin Bowen the point formed by Neshaminy and the river. The Growden tract embraced all the upper part of the township to the Southampton boundary, above a line drawn across it from Newportville to the Poquessing. Joseph Growden also owned a considerable tract extending across from the river to the Poquessing, above and adjoining Walter Forest.
Joseph Growden, a Friend, was not only the most influential man who settled in the township, but one of the first men in the county and Province. He wielded a large influence, and filled several important positions. Soon after his arrival he built himself a beautiful residence on the northern part of his manor in Bensalem, near the Neshaminy, and opposite Hulmeville, which
3 The word is composed of Ben, Gaelic, meaning a licad, a hill, and Salem, Hebrew, peace.
4 Lawrence and Joseph Growden, John Gilbert, Walter Forest, John Bowen. Na- thaniel Allen, Duncan Williamson, Nathaniel Hardin, Samuel Allen, Samuel Walker, Claus Jonson, and John Gray, alias Tatham.
5 Subsequent investigation satisfies us John Gray, spelled "Grey" in the meeting records, and "Als Tatham" were one and the same person. "Als," a prefix to Tatham's name, as given on Holme's map, 1624. being an abbreviation of the word "alias." An entry in the Middletown Meeting records. 7. 4 mo. 1688, mentions a controversie between John Grey (alias Tatham) and Joseph Growden. Both were called before the meeting: Growden declined to respond because he belonged to another meeting. Gray afterward removed to New Jersey and appears as John Tatham, living at Burlington, in what the- early records term a "lordly and princely style." William Penn, in a letter written to his commissioners, 1687, throws light on his character by instructing them "to put a stop to ye irregular grants made to John Gray, alias Tatham. now discovered to be a Bene- dietine Monk of St. James Convent, as they call it, commanded over by ye King."
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
he named Trevose, after the homestead, in England. It was rather baronia !- looking for a country dwelling of that period. An engraving of 1687 represent- a large two-story stone house. with attic, divided by a hall through the middk. portico at the front door, pointed stone, pitchi roof, and nine windows and door in front. At either end was a wing containing dining-room, kitchen. ·servant's quarters, office, etc. The lawn in front was adorned with a few trees of large growth, while the background appears to have been an unbroken forest. A small fireproof office to the right contained the public records of the county for many years, and its iron door still bears marks of British bullets fired by a plundering party, in 1778. The walls of the main building remain, but it has been greatly changed by its recent owners. The interior has been remodeled by removing the heavy banisters, wainscoting, corner-cupboards, etc., while the out-
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