USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Vol. I > Part 16
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In 1794 Richard Bache, son-in-law of Doctor Franklin, and grandfather of William Duane, bought a plantation in Bensalem of Bartholomy Corvaisier, containing two hundred and sixty-eight acres and seventy-eight perches, which he called Settle, after the town, Yorkshire, England, whence the family came. It lay along the Delaware about the third of a mile, nearly opposite Beverly, extending back to the Bristol turnpike. It is said the land was bought with money received from Robert Morris, the last he paid before his failure. At the death of Mr. Bache, in 1811. the plantation fell into the hands of his young- est son, Lewis, who sold it to Charles Marquedant, and died at Bristol in 1819. The mansion, with a few acres, belonged to John Mathew Hummell twenty years ago, and the remainder of the traet was owned by Jonathan Thomas. Richard Bache, who carried Franklin's silver bull's eye watch, mislaid it in Philadelphia, and it turned up twenty years later in the possession of a Lewis Groff, of Lancaster county, who had obtained it by purchase.17
17 The Bristol turnpike was the western boundary of Mr. Bache's plantation, and one day while walking in that direction he saw a woman pulling down his fence for fire-
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NICHOLAS BIDDLE.
On the bank of the Delaware, three miles above Poquessing creek, is sit- uated Andalusia, the home of the late Nicholas Biddle, and is still owned by his descendants. The Biddles have long been settled in Pennsylvania. The first ancestor. William Biddle, one of the original proprietors of West Jersey, came from London in 1681. His grandson, William, settled in Pennsylvania and mar- ried the daughter of Nicholas Seull. Surveyor-General of the Province. The children of this marriage all became distinguished in the annals of our country. James, the eldest, was a judge ; Edward served as a Captain in the War of 1756. and was subsequently a member of Assembly and elected to the first Continental Congress : Nicholas was a Captain in the navy and perished with his vessel. the frigate Randolph, of thirty-two guns, in a battle with the British ship Yarmouth. of sixty-four guns ; and Charles, the father of Nicholas, was Vice-President of the State while Benjamin Franklin was President. The Bensalem property was purchased, 1795. by John Craig, one of Philadelphia's old merchants, who, in
wood. Naturally obiecting to this liberty he expostulated with her when she replied. "There's no friendship without freedom. Poor man! What will you do when you die? You'll not be able to take your fence with you to heaven." The author received this little anecdote from Mr. Duane in a letter dated November 23, 1879.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
memory of his successful ventures to Spain and her colonies, called his country- home Andalusia. In ISII Nicholas Biddle married the eldest daughter of this gentleman, and henceforth spent much of his time there. He removed to Andalusia, permanently, 1821, determined to devote his time to agricultural pursuits. At his marriage he was a member of the Legislature, to which he was returned for a number of years. In 1823 he was made president of the United States bank, which he held until its charter expired, 1830. On the bank being re-chartered by the Legislature, he was again elceted its president, but retired in 1839. The bank failed, 1841, and his own fortune, then very large, went in the general wreck. He died at Andalusia, February 26, 1844.
Mr. Biddle was an accomplished scholar, and of refined tastes. He courted the muse, and his "Ode to Bogle." the great Philadelphia waiter and undertaker, lives to the present day, having been republished again and again. As a farmer lie was the first to introduce Alderney cattle, and the cultivation of the grape, while to his efforts the country is indebted for one of the most beautiful structures of modern times, the Girard college. It was a saying of his, there were but two truths in the world, "the Bible, and Greek architec- ture." and his influence was generally exerted in favor of that order for public buildings. When it became necessary to enlarge his house at Andalusia, he added to it the beautiful Doric portico that now adorns it. The late Governor William F. Packer wrote: "Whatever may be said of Nicholas Biddle as a . politician, or a financier, all agree that on questions of internal improvement and commerce he was one of the most sagacious and far seeing statesmen of the Union. His fault was. if fault it be, that he was twenty years in advance of the age in which he lived. "1
EKM.DEL:
ANDALUSIA, RESIDENCE OF THE LATE NICHOLAS BIDDLE.
18 Judge Craig Biddle. Philadelphia, and the late Charles Biddle. a captain in the Mexican War, were son- of Nicholas Biddle.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Early in the settlement of the colony, a number of persons in Philadelphia made their home in Bensalem. and spent a part or more of their lives in the township. Some of these homesteads not mentioned elsewhere. are still in existence, most of them much improved or wholly rebuilt. Several are in the Valley of Neshaminy. The "Farley" estate, the ancestral home of the Shippen family, is northwest of Bridgewater, and now owned by James Moore, The old mansion was destroyed by fire, but the present owner has built a hand- some modern residence on the site. In the old cemetery many members of the family were buried. Margaret Shippen, who married Benedict Arnold, while he was yet a patriot, spent much of her young life there, was possibly born in the old house, and whose sad fate was so deplored. On a bluff to the east. is the handsome residence of Henry L. Gaw, a banker of Philadelphia : not far removed is Lansdowne, the country home of the Johnson family, the late Law- rence Johnson being the founder of the great type foundry that bore his name. and which intermarried with the Winders, Taylors, Morrises and other well- known familes. In the same neighborhood is the Grundy estate, the first owner an Englishman, who married Miss Hulme, Hulmeville; one of whose sons. Joseph, read law with Benjamin Harris Brewster, the same who was Attor- ney-General. United States, and another Joseph, grandson of the first. is the owner of the Bristol Woolen Mills. The Rodman homestead, of which more is said in another place, was famous in its day, but is now cut up into several farms. The present owner is Edward Palton, member of Select Council. Phila- delphia. The "Sunbury Farm," on the north side of Neshaminy, for three generations the home of the Taylors, is now occupied by a daughter of Captain Anthony Taylor and wife of Bromly Wharton. He is a descendant of Joseph Wharton, Philadelphia, on whose plantation below the city, the officers of the British army. 1778, held their famous Mischianza, of which Major Andre was the chief promoter. At other points in various parts of Bensalem wealth and a cultivated taste have built elegant homes. Among these is the hand- some residence of the late Dr. Schenck, now occupied by his son, near the Pennsylvania Railroad crossing of Neshaminy. It commands a fine view of the Delaware and the neighboring towns that line the New Jersey shore.
Four miles below Bristol is Dunk's ferry, a notable crossing of the Dela- ware. It was established by Duncan Williamson, one of the earliest settlers, and retains a corruption of his christian name. It was called the same on the New Jersey side until Beverly was founded. 1848. Ilis son, William William- son, died in Bensalem, 1721, leaving by will six hundred acres lying on the Delaware. Claus Jonson, who died, 1723, owned seven hundred acres. Daniel Bankson, an early settler, died 1727. At that day upland along the river was called "fast land."
Alice, a slave woman, who spent nearly the whole of her life in Bensalem, died there, 1802, at the age of one hundred and sixteen years. She was born at Philadelphia, of parents who came from Barbadoes, but removed with her master to near Dunk's ferry at the age of ten. At the age of ninety-five she rode on horseback to church ; her sight failed her at one hundred and two, and just before her death her hair turned white, and the teeth dropped out of her head, perfectly sound. She remembered seeing William Penn, at his second visit, and those who aided him in founding the Commonwealth, and would often interest her hearers by talking of them.
The township records go back only to 1760, when Peter Johnston and Francis Titus were supervisors, and the road-tax was £30. 38. 8d. The town- ship auditors were William Rodman, Thomas Barnsly, Ilenry Tomlinson and
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
John Vandegrift.19 In 1776 the amount of road-tax on the duplicate was £57, 18s. In 1,80, while the continental currency was at its greatest depression, the amount on the duplicate was 12.537. 17s od. but it fell to £45 the following year. The duplicate shows the following amount of road-tax, respectively, in the years mentioned : 1790, £35; 1800, $451 ; 1810. $865 ; 1820, $704.29 ; 1830, $776.52; 1840, $519.21 ; 1850, $758.43 : 1860, $934.74; 1809, $3.631.56. In one hundred years the road-tax increased forty-fold.
The Bensalem Presbyterian church is probably the oldest religious organ- ization in the County, if we except the society of Friends. Its germ was planted by the Swedes before the close of the 17th century. In 1697 the Swed- ish settlers south of Neshaminy were included in the bounds of the congrega- tion at Wicacoa,"" Philadelphia, while Reverend Andrew Rudman was the pastor, and he probably visited that section occasionally to minister to the spirit- ual wants of the people. In 1698 Reverend Jedediah Andrews, a Presbyterian minister from New England, rode from Philadelphia up to Bensalem to preach and baptise. In 1705 the "upper inhabitants," those living between the Schuyl- kill and Neshaminy, made application for occasional service in their neighbor- hoods in the winter season, because they were so far from the church at Wica- coa, and no doubt their wish was gratified.
It is impossible to tell the exact time a church organization was effected, but between 1705 and 1710. The church was opened for worship May 2, 1710, and Paulus Van Vleck was chosen the pastor on the 30th, who preached there the same day. The elders at Bensalem at this time were Hendrick Van Dyk, Leonard Van der Grift, now Vandegrift, Stoffel Vanzandt, and Nicholas Van der Grift. This was probably the first church built, but, before that time, services were held in private houses.21 The church was now Dutch Reformed. Van Vleck was a native of Holland, and nephew of Jacob Phoenix, New York. He was in that city. June, 1709, when he was ordered to be examined and or- dained, so as to accompany the expedition to Canada, but the Dutch ministers declined for want of power.
While Van Vleck was probably the first settled pastor at Bensalem, other ministers preached there at irregular periods. In 1710 Jan Banch, a Swedish missionary from Stockholm, came to this country and preached at various places. He was at Bensalem. January 21, 1710, where he baptised several, among them the names of Vansandt, Van Dyk, Van der Grift. Larue, and others, whose descendants are living in the township. Johan Blacker, a Dutch minister, preached there about the same time. A record in his hand, made January 10, 1710, declares that Sophia Grieson and Catrytje Browswef are members of "Sammany" church."" In December. 1710, there were nine- teen members at Bensalem : Hendrick Van Dyk and his wife. Lambert Van de Grift, Cristoffel Van Zand. Nicholas Van de Grift. Herman Van Zand. Johan- nis Van de Grift. Gerret Van Zand. Jacob Elfenstyn, Jonas Van Zand, Janette
19 A member of the same Vandegrift family was one of the township auditors, 1869. just a century from the time the first had served in the same capacity.
20 An Indian word, from H'iskling, dwelling. and Chao, a fir tree. Sce Clay's History of Swedes.
21 There are records of births and marriages before the church was built.
22 Was near the Buck, in Southampton, and now known as the North and South- ampton Reformed church, with one place if worship at Churchville and another at Rich- borough.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Remierse, Trintje Remierse, Geertje Gybert, Lea Griesbeck, and Catelyntje Van Densen. Van Vleck was likewise pastor at Sammany and Six Mile Run, a locality not now known."" September 21, 1710, a committee was appointed by the Philadelphia Presbytery to inquire into Mr. Morgan's and Paulus Van Vleck's affair, and prepare it for the Presbytery. In the afternoon the commit- tee reported on Mr. Morgan, and after some debate he was admitted. The case of Van Vleck gave them greater trouble and was more serious, for there "was serious debating" before he was received. In 1711 Van Vleek was rep- resented in the Presbytery by his elder, Leonard Vandegrift, of the Bensalem church, but he fell under a cloud and left, in 1712, and was not heard of after- ward. As himself and wife were witnesses to a baptism that took place at Sammany, January 1, 1712, he must have left after that time. His wife was Janet Van Dycke, daughter of Hendrick, above mentioned, and their daughter Susanna married Henry Van Horn, and has numerous descendants in the county. We find Jan Andriese, of Philadelphia, pastor at Bensalem, Sep- tember II, III ; but the exact time of his advent is not known, nor the reason of it. It is possible Van Vleck was dismissed about this time, or that he resigned at Bensalem to devote all his time to Sammany and Six Mile Run. It is not known how long Mr. Andriese continued pastor, but probably until the calling of Reverend Maligus Sims, who was there April, 1719, when the church had but twelve members.
Mr. Sims was probably succeeded by Reverend William Tennent, who took charge of the Bensalem church about 1721, The latter is said to have remained until he was called to the Neshaminy church, in Warwick township, 1726, but he must have left before that time, for we learn, from the church records, that Reverend Robert Lenig was the pastor at Bensalem in 1724. At a session, held July 12. that year, it was ordered that a book be kept for names of communicants, marriages, and christenings. The fee for marriages at the minister's quarters was fixed at ten shillings, and partes were to be published on four previous Sabbaths. The clerk was to receive two shillings for each marriage, and nine shillings for each child baptised. As there are no church records from 1726 to 1772. the names of the pastors who officiated during that period are not known. The latter year Reverend James Boyd was called, who preached there and at Newtown, until 1817. He left no record of his labors. In the next forty-five years there were but eleven, of pastoral labors, the church relying mainly on supplies. The Reverend Michael Burdett, D. D., was called. and installed, January. 1871. During his pastorate the church was in a pros- perous condition, a chapel built, and the church building repaired. Doctor Burdett preached in the new church below Schenck's station, Sunday after- noons. The church lot was the gift of Thomas Stevenson, August 24, 1711, and was conveyed in a deed of trust to Johannes Vandygrift, Herman Van- zandt, Johannes Vanzandt,“* and Jacob Weston, the first trustees. The old building was torn down about three quarters of a century ago.
23 The church at this place was finished November 15th, 1710. and the wardens elected were: Adrian Benniet. Charles Fontyn, Barent de Wit, and Abraham Bennet. When the missionary, Jan Banch, visited the church in August, 1712, it had twenty-seven members, and among them are found the names of Bennet, Van Dyk. Densen, Peterson, De Hart, Klein, etc.
24 We have spelled the names of these early settlers as they are written in the records, varying somewhat from present spelling; and they were spelled differently at different periods.
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I2I
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
The Bensalem Methodist Episcopal church is a flourishing organization. When the congregation was first organized we do not know, but down to 1810 the meetings were held at private houses. For several years previous they hield an annual camp-meeting in one of the pleasant groves of the township, holding it in Jacob Hellings' woods, 1804. The congregation was strong enough by 1810 to erect a church, and a house was built that year on a lot given by Joseph Rodman. The timber for the frame was the gift of General Willett, cut from his woods. At that early day there was no settled minister over the church and congregation, but the Reverends James Fisher and Richard Sneith, in charge of a circuit six hundred miles in extent, preached there at stated periods. Since then the church has been altered and repaired more than once. It is situated in about the middle of the township, on the Milford road.
Besides the churches named. Bensalem has two other places of religious worship. Christ Church. Eddington, and the chapel of the Redeemer, Anda- lusia, both Protestant Episcopal. The former is the elder of the two. A lot was purchased. 1842, and the following year, a neat stone chapel erected and consecrated by Bishop Onderdonk, March 7, 1844. For a time service was held every Sunday afternoon by the rector at Holmesburg. In 1845 a parsonage was built ; enlarged and improved, 1852, and a Sunday-school room fitted up in the basement. A new church building was erected, 1854-55. at a cost of $13.000, the congregation occupying it May 29. About the same period a new Sunday-school building was erected. A belfry was added to the church, 1880. and the bell first rung on Christmas day. After almost forty years of mission work, Christ chapel was constituted a parish, and from that time, has had its own rector, the first being the Rev. Edwin I. Hirmes, followed by Rev. George A. Hunt, now in charge. The chapel of the Redeemer was founded, 1861, and a stone building 51x25 crected, mainly by efforts of Mrs. Jane S. Biddle and her two sisters, S1.400 being the receipts from a fair, and $2.000 by individual subscriptions. The deed for the lot was executed to All Saints' Church. A parish school-house was built, 1867, and 1877 Dr. Charles R. King, at his own expense, enlarged and handsomely decorated the chapel. It was dedicated by Bishop Stevens, September 29, and given the name it bears. Dr. H. T. Wells, in charge of an Episcopal school at Andalusia, for some time, gave his services gratis to the chapel, and was followed as pastors, by the Revs. Thomas W. Martin, William M. Morsell. J. B. Bunck and others. Connected with the chapel is the "King Library," the gift of Dr. King." The building is 30x40 feet. built of fire-proof brick with red sand stone trimmings and faces
25 The King family, represented by Dr. Charles R. King, almost 50 years a resident of Bensalem, is distinguished in the country's annals. They settled in New England, but subsequently made New York their home. Rufus King, the grandfather, born 1755, was a conspicuous figure in the Revolutionary period and subsequently. He took his seat in the Continental Congress. 1784. was member of the convention that formed the Federal Constitution. 1787: twice minister to England. the first appointment by Washington ; served three terms in the United States Senate, and was candidate for President against Mr. Monroe. He died. 1826. John A. King, his sou, and father of Dr. Charles R., born 1788. died 1867, educated in England while his father was American minister there, was member of Congress and the first Governor of New York elected by the Republican party, 1856. Dr. King took deep interest in the public schools and the church, giving his leisure to literary pursuits, having recently written and published the "Life and Corre- spondence of Rufus King," his grandfather, covering a period from 1784 to 1826. Dr. King died April 5, 1901.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
the Bristol turnpke. The interior is a single room rising to the roof. It was opened December 28, 1886, with appropriate services by Bishop Stevens. It contains 3,000 volumes, and is free to all.
The only collections of dwelling, in the township that deserve the name of villages, are: Bridgewater, on the Neshaminy, at the crossing of the Bristol turnpike, Eildington, on the Philadelphia and Trenton railroad, Oak- ford, in the northeast corner of the township, and Andalusia, a straggling hamlet, on the turnpike, all post-villages. They contain but few dwellings each. Richelieu and Centreville are ambitious to reach the village state, and Brownsville is a small hamlet on the Southampton line, with a majority of the dwellings in that township. Anthony Taylor built a fulling-mill at Flushing. on the Neshaminy, and the following spring it was occupied by James Wilson. There is now a steam saw-mill at this place.26
The murder of Dr. Chapman, Bensalem, by his wife and a vagabond Spaniard, by poison, created a profound sensation. This occurred in the sum- mer of 1831. He was taken in for the night, but the wife, becoming infatuate I with him, had him remain and murder was the result. The trial, conviction and execution of the Spaniard attracted great attention at the time. Chapman was an Englishman, and his wife a Winslow, of New England. The following concerning the family of this woman from Hereditary Descent, published by O. S. Fowler, 1848. will no doubt interest the readers: The Barre ( Mass. ) Patriot says that a box containing one hundred and twenty-five dollars in coun- terfeit bills was discovered in the cellar wall of Thomas Winslow of that town, who was ordered to find bail in the sum of one thousand dollars. He had for many years been suspected of dealing in counterfeit money, and had been once or twice arrested for the offense, but escaped for want of sufficient evidence. The family with which he is connected is not a little notorious in the annals of crime. His brother, Mark Winslow, was a noted counterfeiter, and prob- ably the most ingenious one known in the state. About twelve years ago he was sentenced to the state prison for life, and, on the eve of removal, committed suicide by cutting his throat. Edward, another brother, was also a counterfeiter and for that and other offenses has been an inmate of the state prison, and of nearly half the jails of the state. Lucretia, sister, was connected with the same gang and signed the bills. She was wonderfully expert with the | en, and skillful in imitating signatures. She married a man by the name of Chapman, who was murdered in Pennsylvania some years since. She lived as the wife of a noted imposter, Mina, and they were both arrested and tried for the murder. Mina was hung, but she was acquitted, although not without very strong evidence of having prompted or connived at the death of Chapman. She subsequently wandered through the South, connected with a strolling theatrical company, and died a few years since. One of her children is now in Barre. She was a woman of great talent, if it had been honestly applied. and of singularly winning manners. Another sister of the Winslows married Robert Green, and still another married Jesse H. Jones, and both Green and Jones were connected with the gang of counterfeiters that used to infest that region." We have been told by good authority that at the time of her arrest for poisoning her husband, Mrs. Chapman was under the surveillance of the police, and would soon have been arrested for her connection with this gang of counterfeiters and forgers.
26 These villages and hamlets have felt the spirit of improvement the past twenty- five years and kept pace with their respective neighborhoods.
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 123
About 1859, Rev. H. T. Wells, of the Protestant Episcopal church, bought the Dr. Chapman property, Andalusia, where Dr. C. formerly kept a "stam- mering school," made some improvements and opened a boys' boarding school. A charter, authorizing the conferring of degrees, was obtained and the school called "Andalusia College." A new building called "Potter Hall" was subse- quently erected, in which a preparatory school was opened. At Dr. Wells' deatlı, 1871, A. H. Fetteroll, head master at Andalusia, now president of Girard College, reopened the school, but gave it up after a time. The property was then sold and a number of cottages built on part of it, the old school building being turned to other purposes.
In Bensalem. on Neshaminy, opposite Newportville, stands a colonial mansion, the ancestral home of the Barnsley family. It was built by Major Thomas Barnsley, an officer of the British army, who came from England with Lord Loudon, 1756, and served with him in the French and Indian war. At the close of the war, 1760, he resigned his commission and settled at Phila- delphia. In 1763 he purchased the estate of James Coulter, five hundred and thirty-seven acres, and built the mansion, importing the brick and other mate- rial from England. The house is still in a good state of preservation. Major Barnsley died, 1771, and was buried in the aisle of St. James Episcopal church, Bristol. He adopted his nephew. Jolin Barnsley, who, after his uncle's death. sold the estate and removed to Newtown, then the county seat. He married Elizabeth Van Court, purchased land adjoining the town, and built the house which, since that time, has been owned and continuously occupied by the Barnsley family, a period of nearly a century and a quarter. It was the home of the late John Barnsley, who died, 1880, and is owned by his children. John Barnsley married Mary, youngest child of Benjamin and Hannah Simpson Hough, Warrington township. The deed for the property, on record at Doyles- town, calls for six hundred and fifty-two acres, and is spoken of as the "Tatham Plantation," but Major Barnsley called it "Croydon," probably after his birth place. The original dwelling is said to have been erected by the Tremain family, but when we are not informed. Elegant grounds surrounded the house. andI boats and barges plied upon the water. Tradition says that Major Barnsley had a retinue of servants and followers, kept open house. dressed in scarlet coat, buff brecches, gold knee buckles, and wore a cocked hat and dress sword. all in keeping with retired army officers of the period.
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