History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 108

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150

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The hospital furnished accommodation for more than six thousand wounded soldiers, and many men to-day, North and South, remember with grateful hearts the kindness they received while inmates of the hospital at Chester. While located here, Dr. Ellwood Harvey was assistant surgeon from July, 1862, to September of the same year; Dr. F. Ridgely Graham, from October, 1862, to June, 1863 ; and Dr.

J. L. Forwood from July 21, 1863. Dr. Charles J. Morton was also assistant surgeon.

At the conclusion of the war, in 1865, the building was returned to its owner, and in December of the same year Col. Theodore Hyatt leased the property until the summer vacation of 1868. John P. Crozer having died March 11, 1866, as soon as the Pennsyl- vania Military Academy had vacated the building the Crozer family, as a memorial of their father, as before stated, determined to set it apart as a Baptist Theological Seminary, and it was formally dedicated to that object on Friday, Oct. 2, 1868.

The seminary has, beside the land and buildings, an endowment fund of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, so judiciously invested that the interest there- from meets fully the ordinary expenses of the institu- tion. There is also a lecture fund of ten thousand dollars, the interest of which is applied to defraying the cost of lectures on subjects not directly appertain- ing to the educational course. The Crozer family in 1882 gave fifty thousand dollars to endow a professor- ship as a memorial of their mother, the late Mrs. Sallie K. Crozer. Connected with the seminary and erected on the campus is "Pearl Hall," founded by William Bucknell, in memory of his late wife, Marga- ret, daughter of John P. Crozer, and the name it bears -Pearl-is the signification of Margaret in the Latin tongue. Mr. Bucknell's gift, including the sum ex- pended in the structure and books, amounted to fifty thousand dollars. Pearl Hall was formally opened on June 14, 1871, one of the conditions of the trust being that the library shall be free to the young men of Delaware County. The building, a Greek cross, is of serpentine stone, the floor of the main apartment laid in tiles, and is admirably arranged for the purposes of the library, which comprises about ten thousand volumes, a large number being works of reference, but in the collection are many early-printed and scarce books. In a few instances the only known copies of several theological treatises extant are to be found in this library. In 1881, Mr. Bucknell gave an additional sum of ten thousand dollars, the interest of which is to be applied yearly to the purchase of books for the library. One of the conditions is as follows:

" If at any time the inhabitants of Delaware County should be de- barred by any action of the Trustees or Faculty from the privilege of consulting the Library, or should the Library ever cease to hear the 'Bucknell' osme, I wish this ten thousand dollars to be taken as the foundation of a Public Library for Delaware County, that being my native county, by any corporate body of Christian men who will eecura with this fuod only pure, moral, aod religious literature, aud who will protect the Library by charter from any possibility of indebtedoess."

The seminary building is of brick stuccoed, two hundred feet in length, forty in width, and three stories in height, with basement. From the rear of the building is an addition, forty feet wide and fifty feet in length, at right angles to the main structure. The present faculty consist of Rev. Henry G. Weston, D.D., president and professor of Preaching and Pas-

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toral Duties; Rev. George R. Bliss, D.D., LL.D., professor of Biblical Interpretation; Rev. John C. Long, D.D., professor of Church History ; Rev. Elias H. Johnson, D.D., professor of Christian Theology ; Rev. James M. Stiffler, D.D., professor of New Testa- ment Exegesis; and Rev. Barnard C. Taylor, A.M., assistant professor of Biblical Interpretation.

Upland Lodge, No. 428, K. of P .- This lodge was instituted May 21, 1874, with twenty charter members, and at present contains one hundred and twenty-four members. The Past Chancellors are here given : George Booth, Mark W. Allen, Jefferson W. Chal- fant, James West, James Holme, John Gilston, B. F. Pretty, Samuel J. Lee, Lewis J. Smith, John W. Allen, George Phillips, John O. June, Thomas O. Bryan, William Hardman, William Miller, William Burns, Alexander McEwen, John Hepworth, John Nichols, Albert Chowish, George E. Forsythe, Henry O. Bryan, A. F. Alexander, Robert S. Bentley, G. A. McDaniel, and Bristol R. Lord. The present secre- tary is Lewis J. Smith.

CHAPTER XXXV.

SOUTH CHESTER BOROUGH.

THE whole of the territory now included within the municipal boundaries of South Chester was part of the enormous tract granted by Queen Christina, of Sweden, on Aug. 20, 1653, to Capt. Hans Ammund- son Besk, which extended from Marcus Hook Creek to Chester Creek. Besk, it seems, never entered into possession of this land, and after the British power acquired title to the province, and previous to Nov. 25, 1679, Albert Hendricks had received a patent from the English Governor for a tract containing five hundred acres, lying between Lamokin Run and Haeryck Kill (Hendricks' Run, and now known as Harwick Run). The land thus patented to Hendricks was known as " Lamoco," or, as now written, Lamo- kin. On this tract were located the farms of James Laws and John Jeffrey, along the river, while that part of the farm of John W. Ashmead west of Lamo- kin Run, all of Jeremiah W. Fleckwir, Jennie Carr, Crossman Lyons, the Taylor lands, and that part of the farm of Daniel Robinson lying east of his house on a line running northwest to intersect with High- land Avenue, a short distance above the Frick man- sion, were also included therein. The remainder of the territory was part of a patent of five hundred and fifty acres surveyed July 30, 1675, to John Johnston, James Justason, and Peter Hendrickson, " adjoining to the said River side between two creeks, the one called Marrity's Creek dividing this from ye land of Marityes Hook, and the other called Harwick's Creek, which at the mouth thereof divideth this from the

land Called Lamokey."1 Within this tract on the river were the farms of John J. Thurlow, Dr. Hayes, and Erasmus Morton, and above the post road was the Daniel Robinson farm, other lands of John J. Thurlow, and Erasmus Morton.

The eastern boundary of the present borough of South Chester, as it had been the western boundary of the old borough of Chester since the act of incor- poration, March 5, 1795, and is still that of the city of Chester, was Lamokin Run.

At the court held at Upland, on Tuesday, Nov. 25 and 26, 1679, occurs the first mention of record of the name Lamokin. Before the justices at the time stated :

" Albert Hendrix of Lamoco Apearing in Conrt, declared to Transport and make over unto John Test of Upland all his Right Tytle and In- terest to a Certayne small parcell of Land, Lying and being at ye head of Upland Creeke beginning att Robberd Waedes markt beetch tree standing att ye syda of the Creake, and soa up along the Creek ayda to a small gut or Run, and soe np along the sd run to a markt whyte oake tree and soe atricking downwarda againa wth a Lyua of markt Treas to the place of beginning, itt being a nerrow alipa alongst the run or Creeka syde and Contaynes about fourthy acres of Land ; This Land being part of a greater quantity Granted unto him ye ad Albert by Pat- tent from ye Governor and Called Lamoco; and haa ye ad albert declared to have Received full satisfaction for the same.

"John Teat of Upland, declared in Cort to Transport and make oner unto Richard Boveington and John Grub all and singular the alip of Land hera abovementioned, mada oner unto him tha ad John Test by albert Hendrix of Lamoco and declares to have Received full satisfac- tion of them ye ad Richard and John for ye same." 2

Although the land thus conveyed is in Chester township, being part of the Green and Carter farms lying along Chester Creek, the record is interesting, as therein occurs, as before stated, the first reference to Lamokin, which is traditionally asserted to be an Indian word signifying "the Kiss of the Waters." The accuracy of this derivation we have no means of ascertaining.

The country lying between Chester and Marcus Hook was, early in the last century, very thinly set- tled, and the public duty of maintaining the King's highway through that section pressed so heavily upon the people that at court held Aug. 28, 1707, was pre- sented an "application of the overseers and Inhabitants of the West side of Chester Creek, that the road there are very burdensom and chargable to them in regard to their small number, and requesting the Court would appoint the inhabitants on the East side of the sª creek to aid and assist them in mending and repair- ing the Bottoms and low grounds in the Road to Chi- chester, so far as their towuship goes, promising them to maintain and hereafter to keep all the sª road.

"Its Ordered by the Court that Jno. Hoskins, su- pervisor, do summon the inhabitants of his precinct to meet Guyan Stephenson, with the inhabitants on the West side, and repair the bottoms & low ground aforesaid, & that afterwards the inhabitants of the West side do always repair & support the sª Road."

1 Smith's " History of Delaware County," Appendix, Note C, p. 521.

2 Record of Upland Court, pp. 149 and 150.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

At the upper end of the present borough, on La- mokin Run, between the King's highway and the river, was the James Laws farm; the old mansion, owned by Samuel Eccles, Jr., is still standing at the foot of Edwards Street, surrounded by towering trees. The red-cedar pillars of the porch still remain, as they were when the dwelling was noted for the hospitable reception which awaited a guest under its roof-trees. Farther along on the sandy beach in front of this farm was a valuable shad and herring fishery, which was leased annually in the spring for a goodly rental, until the improvement along the river rendered it valueless. In the olden time, tradition relates, a pirate buried his treasure on this shore, and many were the stories told of the unsuccessful at- tempts made by daring money-diggers to recover the corsair's hoard. Above the post-road was the narrow strip of land following Lamokin Run, on the Ash- mead farm, where, on the north of the railroad, was the grove first used for a picnic-ground in 1844, when the Sunday-school of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia visited the ground. In after-years, under the name of Young's Grove, it became quite a resort for pleasure parties. Alongside of this property was the "Fairview farm," belonging to Jeremiah W. Flickwir. Tradition states that in the last century, when wagers at play were the rule, the then owner of the land being seated so that the cards he held could be seen in a mirror, his antagonist succeeded in win- ning this farm, because of the advantage the looking- glass gave him. Just below the Fairview farm was a tract of two or three acres, owned by Jennie Carr, who resided in a log house, with a pole-well near the door, located on the post-road, near where Morton Street is now. Flickwir purchased the land, tore down the old log building and the dividing fences, making the few acres an addition to a large field be- low the railroad and west of the lane now Flower Street. To the west of the Carr lot was a small prop- erty owned by Crossman Lyons, alongside of which was another small plot, owned by Taylor. To the west of the latter was the Daniel Robinson tract, noted forty years ago for an orchard of luscious peaches which grew thereon. Below this estate was part of the Thurlow farm, while to the west of the last-named property was part of the Erasmus Morton estate, which ex- tended to the Lower Chichester line. South of the post-road, to the west of the Laws farm, was the John Jeffreys property, the owner of which was a noted sportsman in his day, who was so expert a shot that often, with the fowling-piece reversed, the trig- ger instead of the hammer being uppermost, he would, for a small wager, shoot at pennies thrown into the air, and rarely did he fail to strike the coin before it fell to the earth. To the west of Jeffreys was the farm of John J. Thurlow, who, when he retired from hotel- keeping, purchased the estate at the present Thurlow Station, on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti- more Railroad, whereon he built a commodious house,

taken down about ten years ago, to which he gave the name of "Sporting Hall," and here for many years the annual " Harvest Homes" in the south west- ern part of the county were held, on which occasions the people for miles around would gather, and on the thrashing-floor the beaux and belles passed away the afternoon and evening in dancing, while the old folks enjoyed the hours in conversation and quiet pleasures. When the railroad company established a station in the immediate neighborhood of "Sporting Hall" the depot was named "Thurlow," in honor of the then owner of the real estate near by.

Mr. Thurlow is of English parentage, and the son of Thomas and Mary Thurlow. He was born in the county of Essex, England, on the 1st of February, 1795, and during his youth enjoyed but limited ad- vantages of education. He was, however, as a lad, industrious and quick of perception, which qualities rendered his services valuable at the early age of fif- teen to Thomas Barston, of Yorkshire, who made him general manager of his business, which included the charge of his real estate, together with the purchase and sale of property. Desiring a wider field than was offered at home to a young man of ambition, he sailed at the age of twenty-four for America, landing in the city of Philadelphia on the 12th of June, 1819. Mr. Thurlow at once repaired to Newport, Delaware Co., and after purchasing a farm opened a public- house. In 1823 he removed to Chester, and became the landlord of a hotel called "The Sign of the Ship," over which he presided for seven years, and in con- nection with it established a line of stages running from Philadelphia to Baltimore. At the expiration of the fourth year he sold this property and became the landlord of the "City Hotel," which he kept for ten years. Much of the responsibility in connection with the management of this hotel Mr. Thurlow left to the care of his efficient wife, while he engaged in the construction of various public works. He aided in the building of the Pennsylvania Canal, having the contract for the completion of a section, and sub- sequently constructed the Spruce Street tunnel for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He also built a tunnel on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, and eleven and a half miles of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. After an active business career Mr. Thurlow determined to enjoy the more quiet and congenial pursuits of the farm, and located upon land two miles from the city of Chester, where he has since been exclusively devoted to the employment of an ag- riculturist. He was first married in England, in 1819, to Miss Mary, daughter of Richard Shepherdson, of Yorkshire, whose two children are Thomas, a resident of Washington, D. C., and Emeline (Mrs. George McMullen), of San Francisco, who was lost on the ill- fated steamer "Golden Gate" when en route to her father's home. Mrs. Thurlow's death occurred in 1863, and he was again married on the 15th of June, 1867, to Miss Rachel Brewton, daughter of Capt. Wil-

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liam Brewton, of Charleston, S. C., and granddaugh- ter of Capt. Daniel Brewton, of the merchant service.

He has been identified with the public interests of Chester, and for years a director of the National Bank of Chester. Mr. Thurlow was formerly in poli- tics an Old-Line Whig, and subsequently became a Republican, but has taken no active part in the polit- ical campaigns of the day. He was educated in the tenets of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a worshiper at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, of Ches- ter. Mr. Thurlow is in his ninetieth year, and still enjoys exceptional health and mental vigor.

Six years before public attention was directed to the availability of South Chester as a manufacturing locality, William H. Green saw the opportunities which that section of Chester township presented as a business point. Hence in 1864 he purchased lands on Delaware Avenue and Reaney Street, and erected the Vulcan Works. To him above all other men is to be ascribed the credit of first giving direction to that locality, so far as an industrial centre is con- cerned. It was not the effort of combined capital, strong by incorporation and association, but the indi- vidual energy of one man, who fully comprehended the advantages which South Chester presented for manufacturing. At first the Vulcan Works were con- ducted in a building forty by one hundred and twenty feet, but so earnestly and understandingly did the proprietor labor, that success came because it was merited, not merely the result of large capital and concentration of other interests to maintain and sup- port the enterprise. The Vulcan Works have been enlarged by a handsome brick structure, one hundred and forty-four by one hundred and twenty feet, with other necessary buildings thirty feet square. The latter are used as a cupola-house and oven, and as a casting-, cleaning-, and boiler-house. The articles manufactured are of steel, iron, and brass. A specialty is made of brass and steel valves and cocks of all kinds, while a large amount of general machine-work is also done. In 1883 several valves were made at these works for the water department of Philadelphia, each of which weighed six tons, and were the largest valves ever made in the world. A practical mechanic, Wil- liam H. Green has earned his success by dint of hard work, unfaltering energy, and shrewd business judg- ment. As the pioneer of industrial works in South Chester, he has done much to bring about that mar- velous growth which has in a few years developed that borough from a rural suburb to a prosperous, busy town, now numbering its inhabitants by many thou- sands of active, industrious people.

James, Jane, Mary, Sarah, and Moses. Mr. Green emigrated to America in 1847, and engaged in the calling of an engineer until his death, which occurred in October, 1879. His son, William H., was born in Stockport, Aug. 3, 1831, and on completing an ordi- nary school education was apprenticed to the trade of a machinist and engineer. On attaining his six- teenth year he removed to Manchester, and in 1850 emigrated to America. His first location was Phila- delphia, where for three years he pursued his trade, and then removed to Richmond, Va., which city be- came his residence until September, 1857, while act- ing as superintendent of the machine and engineer department of the Tredegar Iron-Works. In 1857, Mr. Green married Miss Elizabeth Chalmers McKen- zie, of Richmond. Their children are William H., Margaret, Jane, Mary (deceased), Laura (deceased), Alfred Tennyson, Lillie Christina, and George Thomas Reed List. During the year of his marriage Mr. Green's skill was made available by the Bureau of Steam Engineering, at Washington, when he was assigned to the navy-yard in Boston, and acted as su- perintendent of the construction and repairing of the steam machinery of all vessels fitting out at that port. In 1861 he received from the government a commis- sion as chief engineer, and in 1863 resigned to assume the direction of the Globe Works in Boston, then doing much of the general machine-work for the gov- ernment. Here he remained until his removal to Chester in 1864, where he established in June of the same year the Vulcan Works, new buildings having been erected for the purpose, and an extensive and successful business in brass and iron instituted. In politics Mr. Green is a conservative Democrat, always seeking men of ability and character for office irre- spective of party. He was elected the first burgess of the borough of South Chester, has been a member of the Council, and also member and president of the Board of School Directors. He is active in the Ma- sonic fraternity, having attained the rank of a Knight Templar. He is a member and one of the wardens of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church of .Chester.

In 1868, Norris L. Yarnall located in Chester town- ship, at the foot of Flower Street, and erected the Auvergne Mills, the second manufacturing enterprise in the territory which was subsequently made South Chester. An account of this mill will be found here- after.

In 1863, John M. Broomall and William Ward purchased the farms of James Laws and John Jeffrey, and in 1863, Broomall & Ward, together with Seybert & McManus, of Reading, the farms of George Wil- lands were surveyed and laid out in building-lots and sold on advantageous terms, which resulted in the erection of a number of houses and giving direc- tion to the march of improvement tending westward along the river front.

George Green, the grandfather of William H. son, John J. Thurlow, and William Johnsou. These Green, resided in Stockport, county of Cheshire, Eng- land, where he was a professor of music. Among his twelve children was Moses, a native of Stockport, born in 1805, who married Miss Jane Campbell, daughter of Joseph and Mary Campbell, of the same town, and had children,-William H., Sarah, John, On April 15, 1869, the Legislature constituted the

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

territory between the following described boundaries, the district of Lamokin : "Beginning at a point on the Delaware River where the line dividing the town- ships of Chester and Lower Chichester meets the same ; thence a northwardly course, partly on the said line and partly on the line dividing the said township of Chester and Upper Chichester, to the north side of Chichester road ; thence along the north side of the said Chichester road an eastwardly course to a point opposite Highland Avenue; thence crossing the said Chichester road at right angles to a point on the south side of the same; thence along the south side of the said Chichester road an eastwardly course to the cor- ner of land belonging to the heirs of William G. Flower, deceased ; thence on the line dividing the lands of the said heirs of William G. Flower, de- ceased, Israel Maddock, heirs of Sydney Baker, de- ceased, and Stephen C. Hall, on one side, and lands of Samuel M. Felton, Daniel Robinson, lands late of Robert Taylor, and land late of James Garland, and land late of Dr. William Young, on the other side, to a point in the southern line of the said Flower's land and in Lamokin Run, where the northern line of the city of Chester meets the same; thence dowu the said run a north wardly course to the said Delaware River; thence down the same a west- wardly course to the place of beginning shall be and the same is hereby established, erected, and incor- porated into a separate and independent district from the remainder of the said township for road purposes, and shall be known by the name of the District of Lamokin.”

The act of March 12, 1870, provided, "That the District of Lamokin, in the County of Delaware, together with two certain tracts of land, each con- taining about twenty acres, lying adjacent to the said district, and now or formerly owned respectively by Stephen C. Hall and the heirs of Sidney F. Baker, deceased, be and the same is hereby constituted a Borough, under and subject to the general Borough laws of this Commonwealth, except as hereby changed, with the name, style, and title of the Borough of South Chester, in the County of Delaware."

The same act declared, "That the said Borough constitute a separate school and election district, and that the place for holding the first and all subsequent elections shall be at the brick public school-house in the said district."

Prior to the passage of the act changing the title from District of Lamokin to South Chester the act of March 3, 1870, had provided that the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Delaware County should adjust the indebtedness of Chester township and the District of Lamokin, while the act of Feb. 20, 1872, authorized the same court to make a division of the school-funds and property between Chester township and South Chester.

The officers of the borough of South Chester since its incorporation are as follows:

BURGESSES.

April, 1870, Thomas J. Clayton; October, 1870, William H. Green; Oc- tober, 1871, to 1873, Thomas J. Clayton ; February, 1874, Thomaa J. Clayton ; February, 1875, John P. Gartaide ; April, 1875, John P. Gartside (reorganization under Constitution of 1874); April, 1876, John P. Gartaide; April, 1877, to 1882, David F. Houston ; April, 1883, to 1884, Norris L. Yarnall.

CLERKS OF COUNCIL.

April, 1870, Christopher Blakeley : October, 1870, Solomon W. May ; 1875, Z. T. Bartleson ; 1877, Gasway O. Yarnall.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 108

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150