History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 155

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

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cal economy, and contributed largely to the press, re- views, and magazines with his able pen. His varied learning and versatile genius made him one of the most pointed and incisive of our educated men. The death of Dr. Elwyn occurred March 15, 1884.

Licensed Houses .- The first record respecting licenses in Middletown which I have seen is the peti- tion of Charles Crosley, Feb. 27, 1727, which states that living by the great road from Concord to Phila- delphia, he desires the privilege of keeping a public- house. His application was indorsed by William Pennell and eleven other signers. He was allowed license until August following, but it was continued annually to him until 1749, and in 1752 John Cros- ley, probably his son, received license for a public house of entertainment in Middletown.

Jonathan Hunter, May 25, 1731, made application for the privilege to keep a house of entertainment in Middletown, on the "Great road from Chester and the Valley, and no publick house on said road." His pe- tition met with the approval of the court, and the license was continued until his death, for Aug. 23, 1733, William Hill, in his application, sets forth that he " hath taken to ffarm the house with the appur- tenances, late of Jonathan Hunter, dec'd, in the town- ship of Middletown, where a house of Entertainment hath been for some Considerable time and now is kept." There Hill continued until his death, for in 1748 license was granted to his widow, Mary, who having been married to James Bennett, in 1749, the license was taken out in his name. In 1750, Joseph Talboth (Talbot) states in his petition that Mary, the widow of William Hill, "entended to decline at the expiration of the license," and asked that it be con- tinned to him, which was done. He kept the house until 1761, when license was granted to James Mas- sey for the years 1761 and 1762, and during 1763 the license was taken out by either Thomas Caldwell or Joshua Bean, who received approval that year. In 1764, John Hill, in all probabilities a son of the former owner, obtained license and continued in the business until 1778, when Bartholomew Sutton be- came the landlord. John Pitt had the right to sell liquor at this house in 1783, where he continued until 1786, when it ceased to be a public inn.

In 1731, the same year that Jonathan Hunter first obtained license in the township, William Surman made application for leave to sell " Beer & Cyder." He had lived, he stated, " for several years in Mid- dletown, and for the most of the time followed making Malt or brewing of Beer." Although he was strongly recommended by the signers, his petition bears the indorsement "not granted."

William Trego, of Middletown, presented his pe- tition, dated Aug. 28, 1733, in which he declared that " having but a small piece of land, he wants to sell beer and cider by small measure." His application seems to have been granted, or held under considera- tion, for on November 27th of the same year "a pe-

Alfred Langem Ehom

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tition" (remonstrance), signed by Robert Mcclellan, James Ewing, William Lindsay, and sixteen others, was presented, which stated that "Peter Trego," (doubtless an error in the first name) "had set up keeping a publick house or Ale House in Middletown, in which were already two Taverns,-one on Philada. road and the other on Chester road. Besides this is situated so very near that place which many of us have set appart in a peculiar manner for our meeting together to worship the Great Creator of Heaven and Earth, having our younger people to accompany us, &c." The court refused the license, for the petition is indorsed " not allowed."

William Noblit, in 1738, petitioned for license to keep tavern in Middletown, but on Aug. 29, 1738, a remonstrance was presented, signed by Elizabeth Jack, Mary Pennell, Mary Pilkinton, Rebecca Chance, Mary Grible, Ann Wills, Martha Blace, and Elizabeth Campbell, denying the necessity of the license, "since there are two taverns already in the township," and designate them as kept by William Hill, eight miles from Chester, on road to Valley, and Charles Crosley, on Concord and Philadelphia road, about one mile from Noblit's, and his application failed.

Black Horse Hotel .- William Noblit again, Nov. 27, 1739, presented his petition, in which he informed the justices that he " having newly built a Commodi- ous stone house upon the great road Leading from Chester to the Valley, about three-quarters of a mile from the Presbyterian meeting-house where Com- monly is a great resort of people, and as some having ten or fifteen miles to travel to the sd place of wor- ship," is necessary for the public generally. His petition is indorsed by one hundred and forty sig- natures. A remonstrance bearing date November 16th, signed by sixteen persons, set forth that his " house is not above one and a half miles from William Hill's tavern, and a mile from Charles Crosley's." The court, however, yielded to the majority and allowed the license desired, and thus was established the now ancient public-house, whose history is interwoven with so many noted incidents in our county annals, the " Black Horse Hotel."

William Noblit had license continuously from the date last given until the year 1763, although his name does not appear on the list of licenses from 1754 to 1758, both years inclusive ; but inasmuch as his name occurs again in 1759 to 1762, in all probabilities dur- ing the five years before mentioned he had license granted to him. In 1763, as stated in the account of Hill's tavern, one or other of the names there given- Thomas Caldwell or Joshua Bean-had charge of the old house, while in 1764, Thomas Carrell, or Carvell, was "mine host." In 1765, Nathan Edwards (who on Aug. 31, 1742, asked for license on the "Great Road from the Valley to Chester," and whose signers on that occasion represented that " the Publick houses near him on the sd road for a Considerable time have

been disorderly kept, as we are informed, to the Gen- eral disatisfaction of the neighbourhood," without, however, obtaining Edwards the license sought), became the landlord of the tavern and continued so until 1783, in which year Ezekiel Leonard assumed the business, and remained there until he became sheriff of Chester County, in the fall of 1786, when he was succeeded by Richard Cheyney, whose petition, in 1787, for the first time presents the now familiar name "Black Horse" as the title of the inn. Chey- ney was licensed the following year, and in 1789 Ben- jamin Johnson prayed for and was granted the right to keep there a public-house. Johnson continued there nntil 1792, when he gave place to Joseph Gib- bons. In 1793 James Pennell had license from the court of Delaware County for the " Black Horse," and again in the following year, 1794, when he died.

This James Pennell had previous to his removal to Middletown kept tavern in Chester, and respecting his death Mrs. Rebecca Brobson, of Chester, who died in 1863, at a very advanced age, used to relate the following particulars : While a resident of the latter place, as an attraction for the public, he kept a tiger, whom he had taught to perform a number of tricks, and as the creature was apparently very docile, he had no fears of the animal. This unusual spec- tacle, at a time when there were no monstrous travel- ing shows to entertain the masses, drew many persons to Pennell's tavern, and frequently the owner of the beast could be seen exhibiting to a crowd of gaping rustics how tractable it was and how promptly it obeyed his commands. Pennell, when he became the landlord of the Black Horse, took the animal with him and continued the exhibitions. One day, while showing the people his entire control of the tiger, he forced it to do many tricks over and over until it became enraged, and, springing upon Pennell, it tore him with its claws so badly before it could be driven back that the unfortunate man died in a few hours thereafter.

In 1795 his widow, Lydia Pennell, received the license, and annually thereafter until 1802, when she intermarried with David Esbin, who in that year be- came the landlord. The following year the honse was kept by Elizabeth Vernon, who remained there until 1806, when George Pearson was " mine host" of the Black Horse, to be succeeded in 1808 by James Fair- lamb, and he in the following years had the license transferred to Frederick James. In 1811, James Hansley was the landlord, and in 1813 John Clayton had the court's approval, while in the following year Jacob Pyle did the honors of the house, and in 1816 Reuben Taylor was his successor.

The Black Horse Tavern in 1817 was presided over by Sarah and George Hawkins, and they in 1820 gave place to George Irwin. The latter in 1822 was followed by George Malin. The central position the venerable inn occupied made it a point where frequent public assemblages were had to discuss important political

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and county topics, and it may be asserted that no tavern within the limits of Delaware County was better known than that in Middletown. In 1835, Hickman Myers became the landlord, and he, in 1839, gave place to George Russell, Jr. During the time that Russell was mine host of the Black Horse it was brought, if possible, into greater prominence, for here in November, 1845, a meeting was held " to take into consideration the propriety of removing the seat of justice to a more central position," and on the mooted point of selecting a proper location "the Black Horse, in Middletown," the highest elevation in the county, was strongly urged as the proper site of the local capital. Russell died in 1847, and the following year Martha Ann Russell, his widow, re- ceived license. In 1849, Malin Bishop kept the house and continued there until 1856, when Allen Chandler became the landlord, to be followed in 1858 by Samuel S. McCall. George W. Hill superseded McCall in 1864, and in 1866, when Mr. Lyons purchased the property, Hill transferred the license to Edgar C. Lyons. In 1867 the hotel was controlled by Lyons & Ford, Edgar C. Lyons having associated with him in the business James E. Ford, but in the latter part of the year 1870 Ford retired, since which time Edgar C. Lyons has been the landlord of the noted Black Horse Hotel.

The Pine-Apple .- In 1806, Philip Yarnall, who, the preceding year, had kept a tavern at Chester, was granted privilege to keep a public-house at Middle- town Cross-Roads, at the locality known to the pres- ent generation as Lima. The frequenters of the Pine- Apple, for so the inn was called, were either of the belligerent element of society, or the whiskey vended there was unusually exhilarating, for the character of the debates and the arguments employed soon earned for the locality the name of Wrangletown, aud so generally was it recognized by this appellation that the maps and charts of the day and for many years subsequently designated it under that title. The court the following year refused to continue the li- cense, and, although application was frequently made to that end, the judges seemed fixed in their deter- mination to discontinue a public-house in that neigh- borhood. With remarkable pertinacity, Joseph Yar- nall urged his suit until 1816, when he was gratified by a favorable response, and annually thereafter he appears as a successful aspirant for the judicial favor until 1819, when William Spear, who seems to be met with a remonstrance whenever he presented a petition for license, became the landlord, and the following year the court withdrew absolutely its approval of the house. In 1836, Abel Lodge, who had purchased the real estate of the late Jacob Yarnall, states in his petition that there were about eight acres of land, adjoining properties of Samuel Jobson, David Cum- mings, and others, "in the neighborhood of Lima Post-Office (formerly Wrangletown), upon which property is erected a good house, with six rooms on

the first floor, good stabling, and other conveniences well adapted for the accommodation of strangers and travelers," but the court rejected the application. Three years thereafter, in 1839, Lodge made another effort, but a lengthy remonstrance being presented protesting against the license it was refused. All endeavors to locate an inn at Lima thereafter ceased.

Lima .- In 1806, Philip Yarnall obtained license to keep a tavern at the Middletown Cross-Roads, which house was known as "The Pine-Apple." The sale of whiskey at this place was extensive, an elderly gen- tleman stating that at this place, at night and on rainy days, a number of men from the neighborhood would gather, and, as whiskey was cheap, there would soon be a noisy crowd, usually ending in a broil. The men, seated round a table with a dirty pack of cards, would sing a song composed by a local jingler of rude verses, one of which, for it had a dozen or more stanzas, was :

" Wrangletown we will pull down, The sign-board we will alter; And if we had Joe Yarnall here, We would hang him with a halter."

Joseph Yarnall was then the landlord of the hotel, and the name Wrangletown was popularly applied to the locality because of the quarrels, disputations, and disputes which took place there at that time. In 1829, Dr. Richard Gregg built a store at the cross- roads, and Nicholas Mendenhall established a lumber- yard there. The lumber was bought in Columbia, Lancaster Co., rafted to Chester, and drawn thence by wagons. The store was first occupied by Nicholas Mendenhall & Caleb D. West. In 1832 a post-office had been there, known as Hamor's Store, and Caleb D. West was postmaster. Prior to 1836 the locality was known as Lima Post-Office. In 1833, Walter J. Hooker as a boy was employed as a clerk by Nicholas Mendenhall, and in the spring of that year Menden- hall sold the store to John Van Leer & Isaac Chamel. This firm failed in 1836, and on August 24th of that year Walker F. Hooper rented the store and began business there, continuing it until 1868, when he was succeeded by his son, Homer Hooper, who associated Azariah Barnes with him in the business, and in 1872, William M. Thomas succeeded them there, and in 1882, - Ogden, the present. In 1842, Miss Ann Jobson had a millinery-store at Lima, and in 1845 she was succeeded by Miss E. Butler.

Lima Temperance Hall Association .- In 1847 an association of persons favorable to the temperance or Washingtonian movement of that period was char- tered, and in 1848 the organization purchased a lot at Lima and erected the two-story brick building known as Lima Temperance Hall. It was dedicated Dec. 25, 1848, by the Sons of Temperance. John F. Tay- lor, of Humane Division, made an address, as did also Mr. Paxson, of Philadelphia. The visitors on the day of the dedication of the hall were supplied with a sumptuous dinner, presented gratuitously by the

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friends of temperance living in the neighborhood. This association continued for a few years, when the organization was disbanded, and the hall was pur- chased by William M. Thomas, who changed it into dwellings, but subsequently he changed the building into one house, wherein he now resides.

The Village of Glen Riddle .- After the Sharpless Mills became the property of Isaac Sharpless and Gideon Hatton, the locality was known as "Penns- grove Mills," which title was retained until February, 1854, when, complaint being made to the Postal De-

partment that frequent mistakes were occasioned, in , erected, twenty-seven by eighteen feet, two stories in

that letters intended for that office would be sent to Pennsgrove, N. J., it was decided to change the name of the station to Glen Riddle. Soon after the pur- chase of the estate by Peter and George W. Hill, the latter erected a store in the village, and a post-office was established, George W. Hill being appointed the first postmaster. At a subsequent date the office was removed to Parkmount, and Samuel Riddle was ap- pointed postmaster. In 1843, when Mr. Riddle pur- chased the property, the post-office was re-established at Pennsgrove, and from that date to the present Samuel Riddle has been the postmaster, excepting in 1846, when he resigned, and in August of that year David B. Stacey, who at the time was keeping store at the village, was appointed, and continued to dis- charge the office for a period of two years, when Samuel Riddle was again appointed. On May 6, 1879, while a well was being sunk in the rear of the bleaching-house at the Glen Riddle Mills, and at a distance of eighteen feet from the surface of the earth, gold-dust was discovered in the dirt drawn from the well. Much excitement prevailed among the resi- dents of the locality at the discovery. Specimens of the precious dust were sent to Professor Foot, of the State Geological Survey, and James E. Brown, the druggist at Rockdale, tested the metal and found it gold. Six quarts of sand yield fifteen cents in pure gold, which it was stated at the time was five times purer than ordinary dust.

Lenni Tribe, No. 86, I. O. of R. M .- In the Plant Moon, 23d Sleep, G. S. D. 377, a delegation from the Great Council of Pennsylvania visited Lenni, and the lodge was instituted in Lima Hall. The following officers were chosen : Charles W. Mathues, Sachem ; Charles R. Yarnell, Senior Sagamore; William Car- son, Junior Sagamore; William Fogg, Chief of Rec- ords; William F. Mathues, Keeper of Wampum; Joseph Bully, Prophet. Twenty pale-faces were ad- mitted as members of the tribe at the first meeting. The tribe was later removed to Lenni, Aston town- ship, where it is now located.

The House of Employment .- In 1855 the direc- tors of the poor, William Trainer, Joseph B. Leedom, Jr., and Jacob Byre, were authorized to erect a house of employment near Lima, on the farm purchased from Abraham Pennell. The site for the building was on rising ground, from which the land sloped in all

directions. Plans of the building were prepared by David Taylor, of Chester County, and the contract for their erection was made with Dutton Ottley. The building was begun about the 1st of May, 1856, and completed in May of the following year. The paupers were removed from the old building at Media to the new house of employment in the first week in April in that year. The main building is ninety by forty- eight feet, with two wings, each forty-two by twenty- eight feet; and the main building is three stories in height, with an observatory. A hospital was also height. During 1883 an addition was made to the insane department, and a stone cook-house erected. The cost of the original buildings was twenty thousand dollars.

Agricultural and Industrial Society of Dela- ware County .- A meeting of the citizens of Dela- ware County was held at the court-house in Media on Aug. 8, 1878, for the purpose of establishing an agricultural society. After addresses the society was organized by the election of Dr. Ellwood Harvey, president; Richard Young and William P. Thomas, vice-presidents ; Henry C. Snowden, secretary ; J. Howard Lewis, treasurer. Other meetings were held, and stock subscribed to the amount of ten thou- sand dollars. The first exhibition was held at Chester Driving Park on Oct. 10, 11, 12, 1878. At this exhibition three hundred and seventy-five ex- hibits were displayed. In May, 1879, the directors purchased about fifty acres of land of the estate of John H. Fairlamb, about one mile from Media, and on the line of the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad. These grounds were graded, fenced, fitted up, and buildings erected during the summer of 1879, and a fair was held there for the first time Oct. 8, 9, 10, 11, in that year. The gross receipts were three thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars.

Fairs are held in October in each year. J. Newlin Trainer was elected president in 1881, and is the present incumbent. Henry C. Snowden has been secretary since the formation of the society.

Chester and Delaware Counties Agricultural Society .- On Saturday, May 12, 1835, a society under the above title was organized, with John D. Steele as president; William Painter, Richard Pemm, Henry Myers, Gen. Joshua Evans, vice-presidents ; William Jackson, corresponding secretary ; Dr. George Thomas, recording secretary ; Caspar W. Sharpless, assistant secretary ; George Brinton, Jr., treasurer. Directors, Abraham W. Sharpless, William N. Barber, John James, Thomas S. Woodward, Paschall Morris, Jo- seph T. Jackson, Isaac Newton, Dr. John T. Huddle- son, James S. Peters, and Hill Brinton.

The society held exhibitions for several years in Ches- ter and Delaware Counties, until 1845, when interest in it ceased. In 1855 a second agricultural society was organized. In 1857 its officers were : President, James Andrews ; Vice-Presidents, Chalkley Harvey, Nathan

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Garrett, William Eyre, Jr., George Sharpless ; Treas- urer, Adam C. Eckfeldt; Corresponding Secretary, Y. S. Walter; Recording Secretary, Ellis P. Mar- shall ; Assistant Secretary, D. R. Hawkins.

On September 17, 18, and 19, 1855, a fair was held at Chester. The public excitement preceding the civil war so absorbed the public mind that the or- ganization was compelled to disband.

The Darlington Dairies .- The farm of the Dar- lington Brothers is located at Darlington Station, on the West Chester and Philadelphia Railroad. The business was established by Jesse Darlington about ninety years ago. The original dairy consisted of fifteen or twenty cows, which had been increased to thirty or forty cows at the time of Jesse Darlington's death in 1842. He was the first person to introduce ice to the market of Philadelphia to keep butter fresh and hard. At first the prejudice was strong against its adoption, and it was slow to win its way to popular favor, and then only after a trial of the two systems side by side had demonstrated the superiority of the new over the old one. On the death of Jesse Dar- lington the business passed to his son, Jared, who continued to supply the same class of families in Philadelphia as did his father, no butter being sold in open market. He died in 1862, at which time the dairy consisted of sixty or seventy cows, the weekly production of butter being two hundred and fifty pounds. The Darlington butter was held in high repute, and commanded a much higher price than ordinary first-class butter. At Jared Darlington's death the business was continued by his sons, -Ed- ward, Albert, Jesse, and Jared. The dairy on the homestead farm was conducted by J. and J. Dar- lington, who are making about twelve hundred pounds of butter weekly from the milk of two bun- dred and seventy-five cows ; Albert Darlington, from the adjoining farm, about five hundred pounds from one hundred and fifty cows; and Edward Darling- ton's family, on another adjoining farm, about four hundred pounds per week from one hundred cows. The butter is now largely shipped to Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and other localities, where it is delivered to wealthy private families. These dairies are furnished with every modern im- provement known in the business. The cream is separated from the milk immediately after milking by centrifugal force, the machines used for that pur- pose being run by steam-power at a velocity of seven thousand revolutions per minute.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

EDWARD DARLINGTON, JR.

Jesse Darlington, the grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, married Amy Sharpless. Among their children was Jared, born Aug. 15, 1799,

in Middletown township, Delaware Co., who married Mary, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Jones Dutton. Their children. are Edward, Sarah J., Albert, Amy (Mrs. Henry Pratt), Frances (deceased), Jesse, Jared, Mary, and Ruth Anna. The death of Mr. Darling- ton occurred Dec. 7, 1862. His son, Edward, was born Jan. 22, 1832, near Darlington Station, Dela- ware Co., and spent his early years upon the farm of his father. He enjoyed moderate advantages of edu- cation, having first pursued his studies in Chester County, and subsequently at Andover, Mass. After a period spent in teaching he returned to the home- stead farm, which he cultivated until his marriage, when the farm upon which his family now reside was rented. He subsequently became the owner of this property, and during his lifetime followed the pursuits of an agriculturist. He married, in 1856, Miss Mary F., daughter of Charles and Deborah Pittman Palmer, of Concord. Their children are Frances (deceased), Charles P., Mary, Jared, Anna S., Beulah W., Edward, and three who died in in- fancy. Mr. Darlington was, in his political views, a Republican, and, though interested in the public measures of the day, was not active as a politician, nor ambitious for official distinction. As a business man be possessed remarkable energy and was thor- oughly in earnest and diligent in what he undertook, ever manifesting a keen sense of justice in all his business transactions. Integrity and honesty were prominent traits in his character. He was in his religious belief a Friend, and reared his family in that faith. Mr. Darlington's brief but useful life termi- nated on the 7th of October, 1876, in his forty-fifth year.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 155

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