History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 134

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

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ordinary remarks had been made one of the strangers, abruptly turning to Bonsall, demanded his money. The latter replied that he had only a dollar and a half in the house, which he said they might have. No an- swer was made to this remark, but one of the men, cutting a clothes-line which was stretched across the kitchen, threw the cord around Bonsall's neck, draw- ing it so tight that he was almost choked, and to pre- vent strangulation the latter raised his hand to his throat to loosen the rope. Wellington, for it subse- quently proved to be he, struck at Bonsall's raised arms with a razor, laying the flesh open to the bone from the shoulder to the elbow. The wounded man, bleeding profusely, was held in the chair by his assail- ant, while the other cut-throats compelled Mrs. War- ner, whose arms they had also bound with a piece of the clothes-line, to conduct them into the store, which was closed, as she supposed, until the following Monday.

While the store was being rifled Wellington sat in a chair immediately in front of Bonsall, and just as Mrs. Warner was coming out of the store with the burglars, Wellington said something in an angry tone, and then with a well-worn shoe-knife stabbed Bonsall several times in the abdomen, both the murderer and his victim being seated at the time. In attempting to withdraw the knife the last time the handle came off, leaving the blade in the wound. Mrs. Bonsall, who was shortly to become a mother, hearing the noise, came down-stairs, when the two men in the house, for the other two had retreated to the front door, threatened to inflict on her atrocious cruelties unless she informed them where her husband had secreted his money. She, not knowing that her hus- band had been mortally wounded, bade them take everything in the house but to spare the lives of the family. The ruffians took every article of clothing belonging to Bonsall excepting his military suit, and with the goods taken from the store they made two large packages, which they carried away when they left the house, but before leaving they brutally in- sulted the dying man. Bonsall lived until the next day, Sunday morning.

On Monday it was learned that at midnight on Saturday, after the deed was committed, the mur- derers crossed Gray's Ferry bridge, walking in the direction of Philadelphia. The same day, May 24th, Joseph Watson, mayor of that city, at the request of many citizens of Delaware County, offered a reward of three hundred dollars for the apprehension and conviction of the criminals. Nothing was learued until Friday, June 5th, when three men whose descrip- tion seemed to answer that set forth in the mayor's proclamation were noticed in the vicinity of Swedes- borough, N. J., walking in the direction of Wood- bury, and when it was known that they had attempted to pass a Mexican or Peruvian dollar, a hue and cry was instituted, the men were overtaken near Timber Creek bridge and conducted to Woodbury, when they

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

were subjected to a separate examination, Judge Hop- kins sitting in the court-room for that purpose. The first man examined gave his name as William Jones, stating that he was from Westmoreland County, and that in search of work he had gone to New Castle, Del., where, being unable to obtain employment, he had crossed the river on the morning of his arrest, and on the New Jersey shore had fallen in with the other men, whom he had never seen before, and that he was on his way to Philadelphia when apprehended. He was, he declared, never nearer Darby than the high bridge in Kingsessing ; but he was unable to tell exactly where he was on the night of the murder. On a second examination he stated that his name was Washington Labee, but could offer no reason why he had given a false name. He then said he remembered he had been on an oyster-boat with Abraham Boyce and others, and had sailed from Philadelphia on the morning of the day the murder was committed. Abraham Boyce stated that he was employed on an oyster-boat, and came from Cape May in a boat with Labee, but could not tell when he left the Cape ; he also called Labee Thomas, and stated he did not know his other name. He declared he was on board the oyster-boat the night of the murder. The au- thorities fonnd secreted on his person a number of keys, several other articles, and a small axe. On his second examination he said the scissors-chain he had picked up on the road in Jersey, and did not know where such a place as Darby was. He declared that he knew Labee, and until that day had never before seen Michael Monroe, or James Wellington, as he was called.

The latter asserted on his examination that he had never met the men until the day before his arrest ; that he did not remember where he was the night of the murder, but the following Sunday he was in West Chester. He stated on his second examination that he had been working at shoemaking in Philadelphia, under the name of James Wellington; that he had no reason for changing his name; that before he came to Philadelphia he had worked in New York, but declined to have his employer there written to. He declared he had never been to Darby, never heard of such a place before. A pair of blue pantaloons, a coat of the same color, and a shirt being shown him, he said they belonged to him, and that he had pur- chased them from a man he met on the West Chester road. The scissors-chain found on Boyce was recog- nized as the one stolen from Mrs. Warner, the panta- loons and coat found in Wellington's bundle were identified by the tailor who made them as belonging to Bonsall, and a counterfeit ten-dollar note stolen at the same time had been passed at Sculltown by one of the men.

Judge Hopkins committed the accused to jail at Woodbury to await a requisition from the Governor of Pennsylvania, and, to prevent an escape therefrom, a guard of citizens was stationed around the prison.

On Tuesday night, the 7th of June, the prisoners were brought to Chester by Sheriff Weaver and lodged in the county jail. On Thursday and Friday they were separately examined in the court-house, before Justices Luke Cassin and George W. Bartram. The men in their examinations told substantially the same story they had related to Judge Hopkins, ex- cepting that Labee stated he had received the ten- dollar note from Wellington, who told him if he passed it he might buy a pair of shoes, giving him, Wellington, the change, and that he, Boyce, and Wellington had been in prison in Philadelphia, and that all three had been discharged from the jail be- tween the 7th and 20th of May of that year. Wel- lington also acknowledged that he had been convicted of a store robbery in New York, had been sentenced for life to the penitentiary, had served five years, when he was pardoned by the Governor on condition that he would depart from and never return to that State. Mrs. Warner and Mrs. Bonsall, who were present at the examination, identified the men, and testified that the scissors-chain belonged to Mrs. War- ner, the Peruvian dollar was similar to that carried by the murdered man, and the clothing taken from Bonsall, which Sheriff Weaver found thrust into a stove-pipe hole in Wellington's cell at Woodbury, was identified by both the witnesses as property taken from their house. The prisoners were held to await the action of the grand jury.

In the mean while, the fourth man had been appre- hended at Baltimore, the cause of his arrest being the possession of a volume of poems written by Mrs. Gardner, of Darby, the owner's name having been carefully cut from the title-page. Among the articles taken from Bonsall's trunk was a volume of these poems, and he had written his name at the top of the title-page. The man then arrested as John Thomp- son was surrendered to the State of Pennsylvania on requisition, and shortly after lodged in the Delaware County jail.

On Saturday, Oct. 20, 1824, the grand jury having indicted the four men for the murder of Bonsall, Dep- uty Attorney-General Edward Darlington called the case of Michael Monroe, alias James Wellington, who being without counsel, Judge Darlington assigned John Edwards, Jr., Matthias Richards Sayres, and Benjamin Tilghman to manage his defense. Edwards and Sayres were residents of this county-seat, the first named being afterwards member of Congress from this district, and the latter, who was a promising member of the bar, popularly known as "Dick Sayres," died at Chester early in 1826, in the thirtieth year of his age. The case having been opened, it continued over into the following day,-Sunday,- and the court-room was crowded with spectators dur- ing all that October Sabbath, who had come from the every section of the county to hear the trial. The circumstances as heretofore related were established by the evidence, and on Tuesday-for the trial con-

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UPPER DARBY TOWNSHIP.

sumed nearly four days-the jury rendered a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. The prose- cution of Washington Labee had preceded that of Wellington, the jury, on Saturday, October 20th, re- turning a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. John Thompson and Abraham Boyce, who were tried on Thursday, the 25th, were both acquitted on the indictments of murder, they being the two men who had gone out at the front door when Bon- sall was killed, and, as no other charge was made against them, they were discharged. The court sen- tenced Labee to eight years' hard labor in the Peni- tentiary at Philadelphia, and on Wednesday, October 30th, pronounced the sentence of death as to Wel- lington. Governor Shulze, November 10th, promptly signed the warrant, designating the execution of the sentence to be enforced on Dec. 17, 1824.

The Upland Union, published at Chester, on Decem- ber 21st, contains the following account of the execu- tion of Wellington : "On Friday morning, Dec. 17, 1824, Michael Monroe, alias James Wellington, was executed. At an early hour the borough of Chester was crowded with strangers. At eleven o'clock he was conducted from the jail to the place of execution, a, distance of one and a half miles" (on the tract now known as the Forty Acres), "accompanied by the sheriff and all the police-officers of the county. He was attended by Rev. John Woolson, William Palmer, R. W. Morgan, and John Smith. At half-past eleven o'clock, when the procession reached the gallows, the Rev. William Palmer delivered a solemn and appro- priate prayer, after which he was followed by Rev. John Woolson. The prisoner ascended the scaffold about half-past twelve o'clock, and there addressed the spectators in the following words, which were spoken with a firmness that astonished all who were present:

""' I have heard it said that no innocent man was ever executed in this county, but it will lose that honor to-day.'

" After he had concluded the above sentence, he sang a hymn with the greatest ease and composure of mind. He then told the sheriff that he had no more to say. It wanted seventeen minutes of one when the drop fell, and the prisoner was no more."

An autopsy of Wellington's body was made that evening by Drs. William Gray, Ellis Harlan, and other physicians in the house still standing on the north side of Third Street, below Franklin, Chester, which was at that time known as the poll-well house. When the ancient borough began its long-delayed improvement, the then owner of the house modern- ized it.

Washington Labee, as before stated, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the penitentiary. It is said that five years after Wellington's execution a convict, dying in Sing Sing prison, stated under oath that he and three other men were the real murderers of Bonsall. The sworn confession being presented to

the State authorities, Labee, who had undergone more than half of his term of imprisonment, was pardoned, but his long incarceration had so undermined his health that he died shortly after his release.

The Clay Murder .- On May 21, 1870, near the factory of Oborn Levis, George Clay, an Englishman, was murdered by his daughter, Sarah Ann Seaburn. The latter, a woman of thirty-five, was the widow of a soldier who had died in the war, and after her hus- band's death she had become addicted to drink. On many occasions she had exhibited symptoms of in- sanity, which caused her several times to be dis- charged from employment. In 1869 the father and daughter were both in the Delaware County House of Employment, and in the spring of 1870, when the father was discharged, he obtained the release of his daughter, alleging that she was not insane or had re- covered from whatever derangement of mind she had labored under. Sarah Seaburn was a pensioner, and with the money received from the government the father and daughter purchased liquor in Philadel- phia and became intoxicated. On Saturday, May 21, 1870, the woman, then in Upper Darby, borrowed a hatchet from a resident near the factory of Oborn Levis, stating that she wanted it to split some wood for kindling. Two hours after midnight, on May 21st, the woman came to the watchman at the mill and in- quired the road to Media. At five o'clock the same morning Sarah Seaburn reached the almshouse, stat- ing that she had murdered her father, who had abused her, and she wanted to be hanged for the crime. The body of Clay was found about nine o'clock, in a field near the house of Oborn Levis, and beside it was the hatchet with which the deed had been done. The head of the corpse had five large wounds, one of which, cutting through the left ear and crushing the skull, must have caused instant death. The woman was in- dicted and tried for the murder on Aug. 22, 1870. The prisoner seeming not to comprehend the serious nature of the charge, Judge Butler ordered the plea of not guilty to be entered, and assigned William Ward to conduct her defense. A clear case of mental derangement was established, the jury acquitted the prisoner because of insanity, and the court directed her detention in the insane department of the House of Employment.

Mills on Darby Creek .- In presenting the history of the manufacturing industries in Upper Darby, it is the purpose to follow the mode adopted in the ac- count of Birmingham township : to trace the creeks, - Darby and Cobb's,-and moving northward, to nar- rate the story of those streams, the waters of which have furnished and are furnishing power to many of the busy factories and works which have been located along their banks.

Upper Darby Paper-Mills .- Just above the town- ship-line dividing Upper from Lower Darby, on the west side of Darby Creek, these works are located. In 1747, Joseph Bonsall sold the Darby Mills (the

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

site of the present Griswold Worsted Company's mills in the borough of Darby) to Richard Lloyd. Bonsall had erected a saw-mill at the site of the pres- ent paper-mills, about the middle of the last century, and in 1766, his son, Joseph Bonsall, was assessed on the saw-mill at that location. Joseph Bonsall, the elder, lived until 1803, at which date a grist- as well as a saw-mill had been erected, the former operated by his son James, and the latter by his son Joseph. On April 17, 1809, under proceedings in partition, fifteen and a half acres of land, the dwelling, grist- and saw-mills were allotted to James Bonsall, who, on December 26th of the same year, conveyed a half- interest in the property to his brother Joseph, and the mills were operated by the Bonsall brothers until 1840, when James died. His interest in the mills was devised to his wife, Elizabeth, during life, and with the remainder, at her death, to Joseph Palmer, a nephew of the decedent. Mrs. Bonsall died prior to Nov. 24, 1852, for on that date Joseph Palmer pur- chased the half-interest of Joseph Bonsall in the mills, thus perfecting his title to the whole real estate. On March 31, 1866, Christopher Palmer bought the mills, and by his will, dated May 25, 1868, devised it to his son, Robert Palmer. The latter, in 1872, sold the property to Edwin T. Garrett, who changed the grist-mill to a paper-mill, since which date it has been used as such, daily making an aver- age of one thousand pounds of paper manufactured.

Morris Truman's Paper-Mills .- In the bend of Darby Creek, south of Kellyville, are located the Mathews Paper-Mills, or in later times known as the Beehive Mills. The history of these mills is in- teresting. During the Revolution, on March 31, 1777, Morris Trueman and Joseph Cruikshank purchased six acres of land from Joseph Bonsall, which plot ad- joined other lands owned by Bonsall. The deed con- ferred on the purchasers the right to erect such mills as they saw fit ; to build on the creek a dam abutting on Bonsall's land, as also to raise the water sufficient to attaiu the power necessary to carry on the proposed mills. In the next year a low two-story, stone paper- mill and two stoue dwellings were erected. An old log house, which still stands on the premises, is said to have been built prior to the sale to Trueman & Cruikshank. The paper-mills were operated by this firm until May 16, 1785, when Trueman purchased Cruikshank's interest in the property, and continued to operate the mills until 1788, when he associated Evan Trueman in the business. On April 6, 1799, True- man sold the estate to John Mathews, who conducted the business until his death, and was succeeded by his two sons, one of whom, Thomas, is still living, re- siding on the estate. In 1859, Thomas Mathews sold the property to J. Howard Lewis, who conveyed it the next year to his brother Samuel. The latter changed the mill into a cotton-factory. In 1868 a new building, forty-five by ninety-five feet, two stories in height, was erected on the site of the old paper-

mills. In April, 1876, the new building was destroyed by fire. At that time the mill was not in use, the stock had been removed, and the machinery would also have been taken out during the following week. The mills were rebuilt, and cotton-manufacturing re- sumed therein. In March, 1884, the buildings were again destroyed by fire, and have been again rebuilt. The walls of the buildings were used, and asbestos is manufactured there at the present time by George D. Lewis. The two houses built in 1778 are still standing.

Kellyville Mills .- The land whereon Kellyville is located, and extending up the creek, so as to in- clude the Union Mills, was the tract of six hundred and fifty-five acres surveyed to George Wood, Nov. 6, 1682, as heretofore stated. Two hundred acres of that estate were conveyed to Richard Bonsall, March 6, 1697/8. A century later, in 1799, Isaac Lobb owned three hundred and eighty acres of land at that local- ity, and on May 6, 1812, he sold to Asher Lobb the right to build a dam across Darby Creek, which the latter did, and shortly after built a saw-mill. Between the years 1822 and 1826 Lobb erected a stone cotton- factory, seventy-two by forty-two feet, four stories in height, which in the last-mentioned year was oper- ated by Bernard McCready. At that time the ma- chinery consisted of thirty carding-engines, thirty- two looms, three thousand and fifty-six spindles, and three thousand three hundred pounds of cotton-yarn was spun weekly. McCready continued at this mill until Nov. 28, 1836, when Lobb leased the factory to Dennis & Charles Kelly for a period of ten years. The following year Lobb died, and by will directed that at the expiration of the lease to Kelly the mill property should be sold. Under this clause in Asher Lobb's will, on March 5, 1845, Charles Kelly pur- chased the mill property. In 1847 the main building of the Kellyville Mills was one hundred and sixty by fifty-two feet, and five stories in height. The ma- chinery, consisting of eight thousand spindles, ten self-acting mules, seven hand-mules, seventeen live spindle-throstles, and one hundred power-looms, was driven by two overshot wheels fifteen feet in diameter and sixteen feet wide, assisted, when the water was low, with a fifty horse-power engine, three boilers forty feet long and thirty-six inches in diameter. Two hundred operatives were then employed. The weekly production of the mills was thirty-five thou- sand yards of ticking, canton flannel, and plantation goods, while forty thousand pounds of cotton were required per month. The village at that time con- tained fifty dwelling-houses, mostly of stone, and the population consisted of over five hundred persons. Dennis & Charles Kelly and their heirs operated the mills until 1877. On September 21st of that year the mills were purchased by George Campbell. The lat- ter, on March 2, 1878, sold the estate to Sellers Hoff- man, who now owns the property. The Hoffman Mills contain three thousand five hundred spindles,

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two hundred and thirty-four looms, thirty-nine cards, and sixty inch sets of woolen cards. Three thou- sand six hundred pounds of cotton yarn is produced weekly, and sixty operatives are employed.

Modoc Mills .- On Darby Creek, a short distance above the Kellyville Mills, in 1873, Daniel Sharkey and William Weidbey erected a stone cotton-mill, ninety by forty-two feet, two stories in height. The machinery consists of four mules and five cards. Four- teen operatives are employed, and about three thou- sand six hundred pounds of cotton yarn are produced weekly.

Garrett Mills .- William Garrett emigrated to the province of Pennsylvania in 1683. On March 5, 1688, there was surveyed to him two hundred and three acres from a tract of three hundred and three acres, which had been located by Luke Hanck, Nov. 8, 1682. It was a long tract, which extended nearly across the township, with the south end resting on Darby Creek, opposite the present Heyville Mills, in Springfield township. William Garrett was assessed in 1766 on a leather-mill and a blade-mill, in 1774 on a fulling- mill and blade-mill. In 1782, Oborn Garrett was as- sessed on a fulling-mill, and in 1788 on "a skin-mill out of repair," and also a plaster-mill. After that date the name of Garrett does not appear on the as- sessment-roll of Upper Darby in connection with mills until 1798, when Thomas Garrett owned a tilt-mill at the site of the present Union Mills, owned by Thomas Kent, and there Thomas & Samuel Garrett con- ducted the tilt-mill, oil-mill, and cotton-factory at that locality for many years after that date. In 1848, just below Garrettsford, on the Thornfield estate, belong- ing to William Garrett, on Dr. Ash's map a tannery is located. Possibly this may have been the leather or bark-mill for which William Garrett, in 1766, was assessed.

Union Mills .- Thomas Garrett, in 1805, built at this mill-site a tilt-mill, and on July 27, 1808, he pur- chased of Samuel Levis the right to place the abutment of a dam across Darby Creek for any purpose, except- ing for a grist- or paper-mill. After securing this privilege a new dam was built, the works at that loca- tion enlarged, and, as mentioned in the account of the Garrett Mills, was conducted by Thomas & Samuel Garrett. The latter, as an individual enterprise, had operated an oil-mill at the same locality, which was continued until about 1830, and was washed away in the flood in 1843. In 1822, Thomas Garrett erected a stone cotton-factory, fifty-four by forty feet, three stories in height, which, in 1826, was rented to John Mitchell. It was known as the Union Mill, and at that time contained seven carding-engines, one draw- ing-frame, one stretcher of one hundred and twenty spindles, four hundred and forty-four throstle-spindles, six hundred and sixty mule-spindles, and made weekly one thousand pounds of cotton-yarn. Twenty-four operatives were employed, and stone tenement-houses had been erected to accommodate five families. Io

1830, James Robinson succeeded Mitchell, and carried on manufacturing there for several years. Charles Kelly leased it in 1839, and continued to operate it until April 1, 1845, when the property was purchased by James Wilde, the locality at that time known as Wildeville. On Nov. 16, 1846, Wilde sold the mills to his brother-in-law, Thomas Kent, who now owns and has continued to operate the Union Mills since that date. In 1850, Mr. Kent built an addition of fifty by forty feet, three stories in height, to the orig- inal mill on the south end, and in 1852 to the north end he built an addition fifty by forty feet, three stories and an attic. Fifteen years afterwards, in 1867, Thomas Kent had the walls of the main building removed to the floor of the second story, and on the remaining walls rebuilt the mill four stories and an attic, thus giving a total length of two hundred feet, forty feet in width, and erected also a dye-house eighty by forty feet, a fire-proof picker-house thirty by thirty-four feet, two stories iu height. The machinery in the Union Mills comprises ten sets of forty-eight inch cards, eleven self-acting mules of four hundred spindles each, one hundred narrow and sixteen broad looms, having capacity of manufacturing four thou- sand yards of goods weekly. "

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 134

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