History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 148

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

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The views of the originators of the project having by this time become considerably enlarged and their enthusiasm growing rather waning, it was decided to increase the limit of cost to ten thousand dollars. Before the meeting adjourned the present site had been definitely fixed upon by D. T. Hawkins and William Apple, who were appointed a committee for that purpose.

John Eves was, on November 9th, awarded the con- tract for constructing the house and ontbuildings for the sum of nine thousand five hundred dollars, and pledged himself to have the work completed by Aug. 1, 1851. The corner-stone was laid November 18th, by Hon. Sketchley Morton. In it were placed the articles of association, with the names of members and subscribers to the fund; names of members of the Town Council and other officials, copies of the county newspaper and the Philadelphia Sun and Ledger, and several other printed and written documents. Work went rapidly forward from this time.

On Jan. 9, 1851, the "Charter House Association" and the Delaware County Convention met at Provi- dence Inn to commemorate by an anniversary dinner the adoption of the thirty-fourth section of the bor- ough charter. On this occasion John F. Vanleer was chosen president ; James Lewis, James T. Dannacker, John C. Beatty, and George G. Knowles, vice-presi- dents; D. T. Hawkins and J. F. Taylor, secretaries. A number of excellent toasts were offered, among them the following :

" Media-Our New County-Seat-redeemed from the traffic of intoxi- cating liquore by the common wish of the citizens of the county, its immediate residents, its storekeepers, its innkeepers, its horough officere, as well as by legislative enactment,-it shines forth 'a gem of the first WATER.'"

" The Charter House .- A noble monument, erected by a generous peo- ple, to commemorate the only constitutional legislation relative to the sale of intoxicating liquors-entire prohibition."

" Providence Inn .- The God of Providence can now amile upon it."

" The Temperance Reform .- Glorious In its origin and history, it rolls on to triumph through the legitimate channele of the pledged man, socially ; the citizen, politically ; and the Christian, ecclesiastically."

The fourth installment of subscriptions due to the Charter House Association was paid to Abram Pen- nell on March 24th. Up to that time but one indi- vidual had repudiated his subscription.

The house was pronounced finished by the 1st of May, and on June 18th it was rented to D. Reese Hawkins at six hundred dollars per year, lie to fur- nish the building. He moved in on Thursday, July 10th, and opened the hotel for the accommodation of the public on the following Monday. He retained possession of the premises, with the exception of two short intervals, until 1871, when Cheney Bittle, of Thornbury, became landlord. After Mr. Bittle's short term of occupation several other landlords came and went in rapid succession, and in 1876, Mr. Watrus assumed the management of the house. He was fol- lowed by Charles Martel, in 1877 ; he by T. L. Hawk- ins, in 1879; and he by the present proprietor, I. Ivison, in April, 1882. The Charter House has borne and now bears an excellent reputation, and it affords ample testimony that a hotel can be successfully maintained without the aid of liquor sales.

Municipal Improvements-The Streets .- We have shown, in the account of the early proceedings of the Town Council, that action was taken by that body looking towards the improvement of the streets within the borough, but the minutes contain no evidence that any work was actually performed prior to 1851. At the meeting of July 1st in that year, the clerk was requested to notify, within ten days, the lot-holders "within the limits of the streets" to pave and curb before their respective properties, and at the same time the president was anthorized to draw on the treasurer for the purpose of paying for the grading of South Avenue and State Street. At the next meeting an additional appropriation of fifty dollars was made for the grading of the streets mentioned. It was de- cided that the sidewalk flagging should be fifteen feet wide on South Avenue, ten feet on State Street, and the same width in front of unimproved lots. The street commissioners at this time were Isaac Halde- man and William T. Pierce. In the Republican Caleb J. Hoopes, John D. Gilpin, and Annesley Newlin, the county commissioners, advertised for sealed pro- posals for the paving of Court-House Square. A num- ber of bids were received, one of which (from a Phila- delphia firm) being accepted, the work was pushed ahead with vigor. Thus the county authorities were fully abreast of the borough officials in the matter of beautifying the town. In April, 1852, Mr. Hardcastle was elected as one of the street commissioners, in place of Mr. Haldeman, and served in that office with Mr. Pierce.

Important action concerning the improvement of the village was taken at the meeting of the Council on July 6, 1852, when it was resolved "that State, Front, Second, and Third Streets should be surveyed and laid out to Providence road on the east side, and on the west side to where the streets intersect with

599

THE BOROUGH OF MEDIA.

the road leading in front of A. T. Walker's house." Jacob Smedley was appointed as surveyor to carry out this project.

These improvements were not immediately carried ont, owing to the objection of a property-owner to having his lands entered upon, but in a few years even more than had originally been contemplated was realized in the way of opening, grading, paving, and curbing streets.

Another era of public improvement was entered upon in the sixties, when quite extensive work was performed. On Dec. 24, 1868, a committee reported to the Council that Old State Street had been paved, at a cost of $5403.63, New State Street, at a cost of $6935.21; and Washington Street, at a cost of $1663.98 ; making a total ontlay for the public good of $8599.20. William H. Tabler was the contractor.

Water-Works .- Almost simultaneously with the beginning of street improvements the Council exhib- ited its progressive character by taking steps to secure that great desideratum, an adequate supply of pure water. On Sept. 21, 1853, a special meeting was held to take into consideration immediate action in con- junction with the county commissioners for intro- ducing water into the borough. A committee of three members was appointed to confer with the com- missioners concerning the construction of water-works and a suitable basin. Nothing more was done during the year, except that the committee reported prog- ress from time to time ; but on the 7th of April, 1854, they stated that, "having viewed the ground, they had effected arrangements with the directors of the poor for one acre of ground suitable for a basin, and a grant of the right to build water-works to con- vey water to said basin." Isaac Haldeman, H. Jones Brooke, and Charles R. Williamson were then ap- pointed a committee to negotiate a loan of five thou- sand dollars for the purpose of carrying out the work. At a meeting on July 25th the proposal of R. D. Wood & Co., of Philadelphia, to furnish iron pipes was accepted. It was discovered by this time that the amount of the loan would not be sufficient, and it was determined, at a special meeting, August 29th, that the chief burgess should call a town-meeting to dis- cuss the propriety of extending it. This plan was duly carried out, and on October 4th the president laid before the Council the written consent of fifty-four citizens, being a majority of the tax-payers, author- izing an additional loan of five thousand dollars for the enterprise. On October 9th an improved ram, devised by Joseph Strond, for forcing water into the basin was adopted, and on November 2d the president was authorized to make arrangements with Mr. Stroud for the erection of the works. At the special meeting previous to this one the president was authorized to enter into contract with Wood & Co. for iron pipe, on condition that they should take not less than two thousand dollars in borough bonds, and it was subse- quently reported that the contract had been effected,

Wood & Co. taking two thousand five hundred dollars in bonds.

By June 15th the pipes were nearly all laid, and on July 9, 1855, the basin was completed. On Jan. 2, 1856, Samuel P. Rush was elected superintendent of the water-works. In February the Council made an ar- rangement with the commissioner whereby the public buildings were to be supplied with water for ten years, on condition that the county should pay three thou- sand dollars in aid of the construction of the water- works, which sum was to be paid back to the county at the end of the term specified withont interest. On May 10th of this year the citizens authorized the Council to make an additional loan of five thousand dollars, which was not long afterwards negotiated.

Although the water-works were practically com- pleted this season, many improvements were subse- quently found to be necessary, and extensions of the service-pipes were made from time to time. In No- vember, 1868, the pipes laid in Lemon Street from State to Eastman, at his own expense, by H. Jones Brooke, were purchased from him by a committee appointed for the purpose. In May of the following year Ralph Buckley was appointed superintendent of the works.

In May, 1871, a town-meeting was called for the purpose of obtaining the sentiment of the people as to the purchase of the water-power of Ridley Creek, and the water of that stream was analyzed by an expert chemist of Philadelphia, who found it to con- tain the exceedingly small proportion of impurity of 5.043 grains to the gallon. In August the president of the Council was authorized to purchase of Edward A. Price the Palmer mill property, with water-power for nineteen thousand five hundred dollars. At a later meeting in the same month a committee reported in favor of the construction of a new basin west of the old one, to be sixty feet in diameter and fourteen feet in depth, and they also recommended that the old one should be increased in depth.

The purchase of the mill property and water-power heretofore alluded to being confirmed by deed bearing date Dec. 30, 1871, money was raised for necessary improvements, and in May, 1872, we find that the president of the Council was authorized to contract with the Philadelphia Hydraulic Works Company for the erection of pumps for the water-works, at a cost of two thousand nine hundred and twenty-five dol- lars.

The new basin was commenced in the fall of 1872, on a lot purchased from Frederick Fairlamb for nine hundred dollars, the contract for excavating being awarded to Rebill & McLogue, and for those for the brick-laying to S. Morton & Son, Thomas M. Garrett, and William Worrall, for fifteen dollars per thousand.

The works were now operated by William P. Mancil, who had leased the grist-mill, and the water-power being found insufficient as the demand upon the works increased, a steam-pump was added in 1875.

600

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Gas-Works .- The Media Gas Company was incor- porated April 11, 1866, with twenty-seven corporators and a capital of ten thousand dollars, which it was their privilege to increase. The president was H. Jones Brooke. In 1868 the company purchased eighty-five perches of land from this gentleman, upon which, in the spring of 1871, they erected gas-works, at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. The works were completed and gas introduced into the houses of some of the citizens on September 10th.1 The company has been reasonably well sustained and is moderately prosperous. Its stock is now valued at twenty thou- sand dollars, and is divided into eight hundred shares. Isaac Worrall was elected president of the company in 1877, and holds that office at present; V. Gilpin Robinson is treasurer, and Jesse M. Baker, secretary.

The Post-Office and Postmasters .- During the first years of Media's existence her people as a rule obtained their mail-matter from the Rose Tree, but in the early part of 1852 this facility was afforded them by the Nether Providence post-office at the public- house of Peter Worrall. The list of advertised letters for the quarter ending March 31st, which numbered sixty four names, was the first that appeared in print either with or without Mr. Worrall's name, and it is therefore probable that the office was not officially recognized until the beginning of the year. A local item in one of the newspapers of the day stated that "the post-office at Nether Providence has been re- moved to Media, its name has been changed, and Ellis Smedley appointed deputy until the present postmas- ter removed to a more convenient location." Mr. Worrall, however, did not remove to Media. Early in May, 1853, Charles R. Williamson was appointed postmaster in place of Mr. Smedley, who resigned, and the office was removed from Smedley's store, on the northeast corner of State Street and South Avenue, to the residence and store of Mr. Williamson, on the southeast corner of Front and Orange Streets, where more recently Mr. Levis Miller made his home. Since Mr. Williamson's time the succession of the custo- dians of the office has been as follows : Thomas Wil- liamson, William T. Inness, Joseph G. Cummins, Samuel Dutton, and Mrs. Miranda Williamson. This lady, the present postmistress, was appointed April 4, 1877, and reappointed in December, 1881.

Educational Matters-The Public Schools .-- The earliest mention of the Media schools of which we have any knowledge occurs in one of the county newspapers under date of May 20, 1853, and is as fol- lows :

"COMMENDABLE,-The School Directors of Upper Providence have contracted to erect a suitable buildiog to be occupied as a public school io the borongh of Media. It is to be hoped that a house worthy of the place will be built."

A small brick school-house was erected during the year, which was the first in the new town. Media be- came a separate school district early in 1856. The direc- tors elected were H. Jones Brooke, William F. Pierce, D. R. Hawkins, Samuel P. Rush, Thomas F. Williams, and R. H. Smith, and they held their first meeting March 29th, at the brick school-house. Committees were appointed to effect a settlement with the direc- tors of Upper and Nether Providence, and also to confer with those of the latter township in regard to the school-house at Peter Worrall's. At a meeting held on April 11th, it was decided to use this house jointly, but subsequently, owing to a difficulty with the Nether Providence directors, the agreement was declared null and void.

On May 1, 1856, the directors resolved to erect a frame school-house on the lot which is now owned by Samuel Fields, and John G. Haddock was awarded the contract for two hundred and sixty-seven dollars. The building was finished in June.

Joseph Addison Thompson was appointed to take charge of the grammar school on May 23, 1857.

On Jan. 16, 1858, the eastern school-house and lot (Nether Providence) were sold to William L. Green for three hundred and eighty-five dollars, and on April 18, 1859, the committee appointed for the purpose re- ported that they had purchased a lot from James Barton for four hundred and twenty-five dollars. This was the property on which the present new building stands. The contract for building a school- house on this lot was awarded, Ang. 25, 1859, to Ste- phen D. Sager, for four thousand eight hundred and forty-five dollars. He gave up the contract, however, four days later, and the work was then awarded to Had- dock & Worrall, at five thousand three hundred and forty-seven dollars. They, in turn, abandoned it upon September 7th, and upon the 26th it was reawarded to them at three thousand one hundred and forty dol- lars, the board having determined in the mean time to build upon a less extensive scale than had been contemplated. The house was to be seventy-five by thirty-five feet, and one story high.

The corner stone was laid with significant ceremo- nies on October 31st. On that occasion Rev. J. W. Dale opened the exercises with prayer, after which a song, composed for the day, was sung by the children of the grammar school. The Hon. H. Jones Brooke deposited in the stone a tin box containing a roll of the pupils of the grammar school,-Joseph Addison Thompson, teacher, dated Oct. 1, 1859 (at that time there were sixty-nine in attendance) ; the roll of the primary school, Miss Sue Pearce, teacher, seventy- one scholars; a list of county and borough officers ; four newspapers,-the American, Chester Republican, Upland Union, and the Christian Advocate and Jour- nal, New York ; the Sixth Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Training School and Pennsylvania Common Schools Report for 1858. The school directors at this time were D. R. Hawkins, Charles

1 We may remark here that the first house in Delaware County illu- minated by gas was that of Christopher Fallon, of Upper Darby, in 1853. The gas was generated on his own premises and ignited ou De- cember 28th.

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THE BOROUGH OF MEDIA.

D. Manley, R. H. Smith, Ralph Buckley, H. Jones Brooke, and William T. Inness. Addresses appro- priate to the occasion were made by Joseph Addison Thompson, Rev. J. Pastorfield, and Rev. Henry S. Getz concluded the ceremonies by pronouncing the benediction.

The building was completed and accepted by the directors on April 25, 1860. In the mean time the old lot and the brick building upon it had been sold to Charles R. Williamson for five hundred and fifty dollars.

Mr. Smett succeeded Joseph Addison Thompson as principal of the grammar school, and was in turn succeeded by David W. Harlan in April, 1862.

The building completed in 1860 was in use until 1883, when the contract for erecting a new and more commodious structure was let to Isaac N. Flounders, and the old school-house was torn down to give place for the new. This building, which is seventy by eighty feet and two stories high, will, when com- pleted, cost about eighteen thousand dollars.

Following is a list of the school directors from 1856 to the present :

1856, H. Jones Brooke, D. R. Hawkins, William T. Peirce, R. H. Smith, T. T. Williams, Samuel P. Rush ; 1857, H. Jones Brooke, R. H. Smith ; 1858, Charles D. Manley, R. Buckley ; 1859, W. T. Ioness, D. R. Hawkins ; 1860, R. H. Smith, H. Jones Brooke, N. F. Walter; 1861, N. F. Walter, James R. Cummins; 1862, William T. Quins, D. R. Hawkins, Edward A. Price; 1863, H. J. Brooke, Edward A. Price ; 1864, Samuel P. Rush, R. H. Smith; 1865, Frederick Fair- lamh, O. F. Bullard; 1866, D. R. Hawkins, N. T. Walter; 1867, Samnel P. Rush, Dr. A. W. Matthues, Benjamin Crowthers; 1868, Lewis Kirk, James W. Baker; 1869, D. R. Hawkins, O. Flagg Bul- lard; 1870, S. P. Rush, Thomas J. Kitts; 1871, Samuel W. Hallo- well, Samuel Dutton ; 1872, O. F. Bullard, C. D. M. Broomall; 1873, S. P. Rush, Thomas J. Kitts, George Broomall ; 1874, Samuel Dut- ton, Melvina Fairlamb, Sallie J. Cummins; 1875, Charles D. M. Broomall, Mrs. Letitia Eves; 1876, Isaac Johnson, Thomas J. Kitts, Mrs. Clara B. Miller; 1877, Mrs. M. M. Fairlamh, Charles S. Welles; 1878, Charles P. Walter, John T. Reynolds ; 1879, Lewis Levis, Sam- uel P. Rush ; 1880, Jesse M. Baker, Mrs. Melvina Fairlamb; 1881, Mrs. F. N. Baker, John T. Reynolds; 1882, Lewis Levis, George E. Adams ; 1883, Jesse M. Baker, Milton Lewis ; 1884, John T. Reyo- olds, Francis N. Baker, Samuel Dinsmore.

Brooke Hall Female Seminary .- Brooke Hall was built by Hon. H. Jones Brooke, in whose honor it was named. On its completion, in the fall of 1856, it was opened as a seminary for young ladies by Miss M. L. Eastman, its present principal and owner. It has enjoyed continued prosperity, and its future is promising. A writer, upon its last commencement, June 15, 1884, says, "Few commencements of this flourishing seminary have exceeded this in the mani- fold attractions of its exercises." Another person says, "The history of this institution is written in the lives of its many pupils who have completed a course of study within its classic walls." An account of the only disaster which has ever occurred at this institu- tion, a fire, which destroyed the gas-house, on Dec. 17, 1859, has already been given in this chapter.

Media Academy .- In the fall of 1872, Miss Anna M. Walter, who had for several years been a teacher in the grammar school, established a private school in

a room over Haldeman's store. It was kept there for four or five years, and then removed to a brick build- ing, erected by Charles Walter, on Front Street, near Jefferson. Three rooms in two stories of this building were used, and two assistants were employed, Miss Fanny Walter and others. The school had from fifty to seventy-five pupils. In April, 1884, the school closed under Miss Fanny Walter, as Miss Anna M. Walter had accepted a position as teacher at the Friends' school at Fifteenth and Race Streets, Phila- delphia.

Shortlidge's Academy .- In 1874, Swithin C. Shortlidge's school for boys, which had been for some time in existence at West Chester, was removed to Media, and opened in the building which had been formerly known as the Haldeman House. This was enlarged and improved for its new use, and made an admirable home for the school. The school has since been carried on without interruption, except the reg- ular vacations, when (in the longer ones occurring in summer) the house is occupied as a summer hotel. The building is four stories high, with a basement, and contains fifty-five lodging-rooms, a large dining- hall, ample study-rooms, and five class-rooms. A large and well-equipped gymnasium building has been built near the main structure.

The corps of instructors is composed as follows :

Swithin C. Shortlidge, principal instructor (having constant charge of the school, classification, etc., and sole government at all times of the young men and boys) ; B. N. Lehman, teacher of Physics, Geography, and Engineering ; Nelson H. Strong, A.B., teacher in school-room ; James J. Greenough, teacher of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, etc .; Arthur B. Linsley, teacher of English Grammar, Rhetoric, and Compo- sition ; Linton Satterthwaite, A.B., teacher of Com- mercial Arithmetic and Book-keeping; A. E. Osborne, teacher of Physiology and Botany and Natural His- tory ; Professor S. K. Murdock, teacher of Elocution and Declamation ; Charles M. Hobbs, teacher of Arith- metic; Otto Mueller, teacher of Drawing, Gymnastics, and Military Drill (optional) ; W. F. Hughes, teacher of English Grammar, Reading, Spelling, and Litera- ture ; Walter E. Damon, teacher of Greek, Grecian History, and Literature; Messrs. Lingle and Mc- Knight, teachers of Short-hand and Telegraphy; A. B. Babbitt, teacher of Latin, Roman History, and Literature; Thomas J. Wynn, teacher of Piano and Vocal Music; H. M. Carpenter, teacher of Violin, Flute, etc .; William S. Porter, Secretary and Libra- rian ; Lewis S. Hough, teacher of English; M. E. Diefenderfer, teacher of Plain and Ornamental Pen- manship.

Delaware County Institute of Science .- This in- stitution was intended to be organized under the name of the Delaware County Cabinet of Science, but upon meeting and consideration it was decided to organize under the above name,-Delaware County Institute of Science. The first meeting was held in Upper

602

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Providence on the 21st of September, 1833, by five persons,-George Miller, Minshall Painter, John Mil- ler, George Smith, and John Cassin. An acre of land was purchased near Rose Tree, and in 1837 a two-story brick building was erected, which was formally opened in September of that year, upon which occa- sion an address was delivered by Dr. Robert M. Patter- son, theo director of the United States Mint. The society increased in numbers and was incorporated Feb. 8, 1836. Lectures were given in the hall and a museum was established, which received many speci- mens in every department of natural science. A library also was opened. In 1867 the present build- ing in Media was erected and the institute was re- moved to the new hall prepared for it. The library contains nearly three thousand volumes, besides many valuable and scarce pamphlets; and the museum is now extensive, and embraces many specimens of interest in science, history, Indian relics, zoological specimens, minerals, coins, birds, insects, etc. The society has a membership of about two hundred. Dr. George Smith was president from the first till his death, February, 1882. He was succeeded by John M. Broomall, who is the present incumbent.

The Methodist Episcopal Church .- The Meth- odists were the pioneers in religious movements in Media. In 1851 the Rev. John B. Maddux, who had charge of Village Green Church, preached in Tem- perance Hall in Media, and a class of five members was organized, of which John Hardcastle was leader. During the winter prayer-meetings and class-meetings were held in the house of Joseph Iliff. In August, 1851, a lot, eighty by one hundred and fifty feet, was purchased, with a view of erecting a house of worship upon it at some propitious time. A charter was ob- tained the same year. The Rev. Ignatius T. Cooper succeeded to the charge of the circuit, and services were held on the church lot under an apple-tree, and during the winter in the court-house. Mark Packard subsequently fitted up a room in the upper part of his barn, which was used as a meeting-place by the church and also for a Sunday-school, which was organized about that time under Mr. Packard's superintendence. A public appeal in behalf of the project of erecting a church appeared in the columns of the Delaware County Republican, April 8, 1853, and was from the able pen of Rev. Cooper. In his communication it was stated that there were at that time but about a dozen Meth- odists in Media, but he intimated that a large number of them resided in its immediate vicinity. He gave a number of forcible reasons why such a church edifice should be erected without delay, and urged his brethren to commence at once the final efforts that were needed to consummate the work. It was stated that about twelve hundred dollars had been subscribed of the amount required, three thousand five hundred dollars, and that ground would not be broken until two thou- sand dollars had been secured. The ministers named to receive the contributions were Rev. Mr .. Hobbs,

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 148

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