History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 157

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

USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania > Part 157

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1 Penna, Mag. of Hist., vol. vi. p. 38.

2 Penna. Archives, Ist Series, vol. vi. p. 97.

3 Bulletin Historical Society of Pennsylvania, No. 10, March, 1847, pp. 22, 23.

637

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP.

tol, said, "Good-day, gentlemen !" and moved out of the door facing the people in the room as he retired. No one attempted to molest him in anywise.

An aged resident of Springfield, who died many years ago, would frequently relate the following inci- dent, which happened to him when a lad serving his apprenticeship in Newtown. One morning in the early spring of 1778, Mr. Shillingford stated, he (then a blacksmith's apprentice) had just arrived at the shop, which was located near the Fox Chase Tavern, on the West Chester road, and was employed in starting the fires preparatory to the appearance of the master smith and the journeymen. While thus engaged a fine-looking, athletic young man, with sandy hair and ruddy complexion, mounted on a horse that to a prac- ticed eye gave indications of strength, speed, and en- durance, drew rein at the door of the forge, and said,-

" Young man, my horse has cast a shoe, do you think you can put one on ?"

"I think I can."

" Well, I'll let you try," said the stranger, dismount- ing and hitching his horse.

The apprentice was much pleased at this opportu- nity to exhibit his skill, and taking hold of the horse's foot, began to trim and prepare the hoof.

" Young man," said the stranger, " just give me one of those aprons, and if you'll blow the bellows, I'll try my hand at the job just to see what sort of a blacksmith I'd make."

"It's a dangerous thing to drive a nail into a horse's foot," replied the lad. "You may lame him so that he will be ruined."

"I'll take the chances," was the reply of the stranger, as he tied the apron on. "If I lame him I'll be responsible for all damages."

He at once began his work, and the apprentice soon saw that the man was thoroughly master of his art. After the horse had been shod, the lad said,-

"You are well armed, sir, I see; are you in the army ?"

"It's dangerous traveling these roads alone, is it not ?" answered the stranger. "They tell me there is a Capt. Fritz or Fitch, who frequents this neighbor- bood, and the people are much afraid of him, I've heard."

"Many people are afraid of Fitzpatrick," was the youth's reply.

" Have you ever seen him ?"

" No, sir, but I've often heard him described."

"Do I answer the description you have heard of Fitzpatrick ?" asked the stranger.

" I don't know that you do," was the cautious an- swer.

you that Fitzpatrick happens to be my name." And the stranger rode rapidly away.

After Fitzpatrick was captured and was in irons at Chester, the apprentice, who chanced to be at the county-seat, pressed into the crowd to see the noted prisoner, when the latter recognized him, and, man- acled as he was, stretched out his hand and gave that of the lad a hearty shake, saying, "How are you, brother chip?"

On Hunter's Run, in Newtown township, and ex- tending to the line dividing Newtown from Marple, was a tract of one hundred and seventy two acres "strict measure," owned by Matthias Aspden, who was declared an attainted traitor to the colony by act of March 6, 1778, unless he surrendered himself and submitted to a legal trial " for such his treason" be- fore the 1st day of April, 1781. This Aspden failed to do, and the property was seized by the common- wealth authorities and sold to Edward Bartholomew, to whom the State issued letters patent Aug. 26, 1786. Aspden, who was one of the wealthiest mer- chants in Philadelphia, had fled to England, returned to America in 1785, but fearing that his life was in danger he again went to England. In April, 1786, Matthias Aspden was pardoned by the State, and much of his estate returned to him. His will subse- quently gave rise to the most extensive litigatiou ever had under the confiscation acts. In 1824 suit was brought to determine the rightful heir under his will, he having devised his estate, real and per- sonal, "to his heir-at-law." The claimants num- bered upwards of two hundred, and were divided into three classes. The first were the heirs of Mary Har- rison, a sister of the half-blood on the father's side, and the heirs of Roger Hartley, a half-brother on the mother's side; the second were the Parker family, cousins of the whole blood, which was a very large and constantly-increasing class of claimants, who had insti- tuted the suit ; and the third were the English Aspdens, relations of the whole blood of the father, and who would have been heirs at common law. Judge Grier decided that the issue of the brother and sister of the half-blood were lawful heirs, and the persons entitled to receive the estate, valued at over half a million of dollars. The Supreme Court of the United States subsequently affirmed this decree. The conclusion of the case was as notable as the entire contest, for March, 1853, a Philadelphia paper published this following local item :

" ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE .- John Aspden, whose sudden death on Mon- day was noticed in our columne, is to be buried this afternoon. Mr. Asp- den was one of the English claimants of the immense estate left by Mat- thias Aspden. Before the case was decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the American heirs, the latter proposed to the deceased to compromise the matter, and offered to pay him lhe eum of two hundred thousand dollars to relinquish bis claim; this he refused to da, and the decision of the court cut him off without a farthing. On Monday morning the estate was divided between the heirs-at-law, and almost at the same moment, John Aepden fell dead at a tavern iu Carter's Alley, of disease of the heart, eupposed to have been induced by disappointnieot and

The man mounted his horse, and throwing a coin to the apprentice, said, "Pay your master for the shoe and keep the rest for yourself. So, my young man, you have never seen Fitzpatrick, and don't know whether I answer the description you've heard of him. I'm going now, and I might just as well say to | mortification, At the time of hie death hie pockets contained a solitary

638

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

cent,-his entire fortune. To-day the man who might have been the possessor of a quarter of a million of dollars will be borne to his grave from an obscure part of the district of Southwark."

In 1835, Charles Cooper, a Revolutionary soldier, who entered the army in January, 1777, and was dis- charged in 1783, was a resident of Newtown, and was then in the seventy-fourth year of his age. In the great Whig procession at Chester, July 23, 1840, the delegation from Newtown bore in the ranks a tattered flag, bearing the motto " United We Stand," and the date 1776. The flag belonged to the old Pennsylvania line, and was carried in the fight at Brandywine.

Roads .- When the townstead of Newtown was laid out, in 1783, a straight road extending from the south to the north boundaries of the township was projected, and, with the exception of that part south of the present square which tends to the southwest into Marple and the variation from the direct course at the old square, the present road is the same as that then known as Newtown Street. At court held at Chester Tenth month, 1689, a highway was ordered to be laid out from Newtown, Marple, and Spring- field " to ye landing at Amosland." The grand jury on the 9th day of Twelfth month, 1687, made report of the present Springfield road.

" By virtue of an order from ye last County Court given to us, whose names are hereuoto subscribed, heing of ye Grand Jury for to lay out & roadway that should serve for Newtown, Marple, & Springfield, and ye Inhabitance that way to ye Landing Place att Amosland did opou ye day above written. Begio att s Road way on ye land of George Marie, which rosd goeth from Chester through Marple to Newtowne soe from that road through Bartholomew Coppocks land neer to his house, his House heing on ye left hand, soe on through Robert Taylor's land straight on through more of George Maris', his land leaving his Plan- tation on ye right baud, soe bearing on a little on ye right hand through George Simcock's land, soe on through Jacob Simcocke's land, leaving his Plantation on ye left haod, soe on straight forward through lands joyning to Amoslsod, soe ioto ye King's road that comes from Darby marking the trees as wee came, soe ou to ye landing Place by the maine creeke Side beyond Morten Morteusou's House.

" WILLIAM GARRETT,

THOMAS BRADSHAW,

" RICHARD PARKER,

THOMAS FFOX."

" EDMOND CARTLEIDOE.

At the court held on the 24th of Twelfth month, 1701/2, we learn that the people of the township had some difficulty respecting one of the highways therein. For on the date given " the Inhabitants of Newtown petitioned this Court against Morgan James for stop- ping a road laid out through his land. This Court orders that if the said Morgan James do not lay open the said Road as soon as his corn is off the Road ground the Sheriff shall levy the fine, according to law, on the state of the said Morgan James."

The following persons have been justices of the peace for Newtown township :

Edward Hunter. .Aug. 30, 1791.

John Lindeay. June 5, 1794.

Isaac Abrahams.

May 20,1800.

Luke Cassio March 27, 1809.

John Siter ....

Sept. 1, 1813.

Robert Green.

Feb.

23, 1816.

Nathan Gibson.

Nov.

26,1817.

George Brooke. .July

3. 1821.

Mackill Ewing.

June 10, 1822.

Benjamin Lobb.

Dec.

4, 1823.

Parke Shee.

Dec.

9, 1823.

David Abrahame.

Dec. 14, 1825.

Barosrd Flynn

.Nov. 18, 1835.

Abner Lewis.

.. May 27, 1836.

Thomse Sheldon .. .. Dec.

20,1836.

Thomas Catsin Nov.

1, 1838.

Homer Eachus. .May

11,1839.

Azariah L. Williamson

.April 13, 1853.

Nathan Shaw ..

April 24, 1861.

Isaiah Massey

.April 22, 1868.

Charles S. Heysham.

March 24, 1874.

Charles S. Heysham

March 27, 1879.

The Murder of Squire Hunter .- In March, 1817, Edward Hunter, a justice of the peace, residing in Newtown, was sent for by one Isaiah Worrall, of Upper Providence, a well-to-do farmer, who was then very ill, to put in form the latter's will. This Squire Hunter did, and when it was finished to the satisfac- tion of the testator, the former and Isaac Cochran, at that time landlord of the Rose Tree Tavern, witnessed Worrall's signature to the document. After the death of Worrall, the disposition he bad made of his prop- erty was highly distasteful to several of his children, and a caveat was lodged against the probate of the alleged will by two of his daughters, one of the ob- jectors being Martba, the wife of John H. Craig. The legal proceedings to test the validity of the alleged will had gone so far that the case was on the calendar for the August term, and both parties to the controversy were making preparations for the trial. On Thursday afternoon, July 19, 1817, Edward Hun- ter, while mounting his horse near his dwelling, was shot and fatally wounded. The person who fired the gun was concealed among some low-growing bushes near by, and the house and barn being on rolling ground, brought the figure of the squire into promi- nence by reason of the setting sun, which shone bril- liantly hack of where he then was. The report of the fire-arm was unusually loud, as though made by a heavy charge, and Hunter's daughters hearing it, hastened out of doors to ascertain why a shot had been fired so close to the dwelling. They then no- ticed that their father had fallen to the ground, and immediately ran to his assistance. The wounded man believed that he had been struck by lightning, as his back was towards the clump of bushes, because of the heavy report, the flash, and the sharpness of the stroke. He was then bleeding profusely from the wound in his body on the left side, a little above the left hip. They bore the unfortunate man to the house, medical aid was promptly summoned, and search made to discover the person who fired the fatal shot. Their investigation was rewarded hy finding an old musket, which the murderer in his alarm, after committing the act, had thrown away in his flight. Squire Hunter lingered until Sunday follow- ing, July 21, 1817, when he died of his injuries.

The gun directed suspicion to Craig, for it was iden- tified as his, and the motive for the deed was the fact that if the will of Isaiah Worrall was refused pro- bate, his wife would receive a very much larger share of her father's estate than came to her under its pro- visions. John H. Craig had also disappeared, and every effort to discover his whereabouts having failed, on Aug. 6, 1817, William and Edward Hunter, sons

639

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP.

of the murdered man, by handbills and advertise- ments in the newspapers of Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, and other counties, published the following notice :

"Stop the murderer! Whereas, John Craig, of Charlestown towo- ship, Chester County, Pa., did on the 19th of July, 1817, wilfully and maliciously shoot Edward Huoter, Esquire, of Newtowo, Delaware County. This is to give notice that the sum of $300 will be paid by the subscribers for apprehending and bringing to justice the said John Craig. He is a blacksmith by trade, about five feet teo inches high, stoop-shouldered, etoul build, a little knock-koeed, very much suo burnt, freckled, thick lips, sandy complexion, large whiskers; had on when he left home light naokeen pantaloons, snuff-colored cloth coat, green oil cloth on his hat and shoes, but it is most likely he has changed his dress, as he took a bundle with him."

The authorities through the country were on the alert to arrest the suspected man, and at one time it was reported that he had been apprehended at Jenk- intown, while a person answering his description ac- curately was detained at Danbury, Conn., under sus- picion, and Daniel Thompson and Mr. Maxwell, of this county, in the latter part of August, went there in consequence of the information received, only to learn that, while the general description was correct, it was not the man they sought. However, in the early part of September, Craig was arrested in Easton, he having been identified by a person engaged with him chopping wood, from the description given in the advertisement, and on Monday, Sept. 13, 1817, he was lodged in the prison at Philadelphia, when, after being identified, he was delivered to the custody of the sheriff of Delaware County, who removed him to the jail at Chester.

I have heard it frequently said that Judge Bird Wilson resigned from the bench because of his un- willingness to preside at the trial of Craig for murder, a statement that will not bear examination, inasmuch as on March 14, 1817, four months before the murder of Hunter, Bishop White had admitted Bird Wilson to holy orders.

On Monday, Oct. 20, 1817, the grand jury indicted John H. Craig for the murder of Edward Hunter. On Tuesday following he was arraigned and pleaded " not guilty." Judge Ross asked him if he had counsel, when the prisoner replied " that he was not able to pay lawyers," and the court thereupon assigned Samuel Edwards and Benjamin Tilghman, Esquires, to conduct his defense, while the commonwealth was represented by Deputy Attorney-General Henry G. Freeman, Robert Frazer, and Isaac Darlington, Es- quires. On Friday morning the counsel for the prosecution called the case for trial, when the prisoner made an affidavit setting forth that at least six wit- nesses material in his defense were absent. A discus- sion between the lawyers followed, and it is tradi- tionally stated that the appeal of Mr. Tilghman for a continuance of the case was the most animated and eloquent address that that lawyer and gifted advocate ever delivered in the old court-house in Chester. The trial was finally postponed to the next term.

The demeanor of the prisoner as he sat at the bar

made an unfavorable impression on the audience, for it was noticed that he appeared quite nnconcerned, sometimes smiling, while at other times he drummed audibly with his fingers on the railing in front of him.

The case was not finally tried until the April term, 1818. The hearing began Tuesday, April 14th ; the commonwealth examined forty-seven witnesses, and so admirably had the testimony been sifted that the prosecution succeeded in tracing Craig from the moment he took the gun in his hands until his final apprehension at Easton. The defense, notwithstand- ing the evidence was overwhelmingly conclusive as to the prisoner's guilt, was admirably conducted, and it was surprising to the audience that so much could be urged as was advanced by his counsel in his defense. The jury retired abont sunset on Saturday afternoon, April 18, 1818, and at 10 o'clock returned a verdict of "guilty." The apartment was densely crowded, and for fifteen minutes, while Judge Ross wrote his address to and sentence of the prisoner, the silence was so profound that the scratching of the quill-pen his honor was nsing conld be heard in every part of the room.

Governor Findlay signed the death warrant promptly on May 4th, and on May 9, 1818, Sheriff Robert Fairlamb read the document to the prisoner in his cell in the old jail at Chester. A gentleman present on that occasion has left it on record that Craig listened attentively, his countenance under- going no change, made no remark; "nor did a tear drop from his eyes" when the officer announced to him that he would be executed in exactly four weeks from that day.

Saturday, the 6th day of June, 1818, precisely at eleven o'clock in the morning, John H. Craig was taken from his cell, and when he reached the corner of the present Fourth and Market Streets, he was halted until a guard was formed. The cart contain- ing the coffin was in front, driven by the hangman. The prisoner followed immediately thereafter, dressed as usual, excepting it was noticed that he wore a white cap under his hat, but so placed as not to conceal his face, while his arms were pinioned to his body, but not so tightly as to prevent him raising his hands to his head. Fonr clergymen attended him, two on either side supporting him as he walked, for he pro- ceeded on foot to the place of execution. Next behind him followed four or five females, relations of the prisoner. Then came a number of constables who surrounded the accused, and the line of march was taken up finally, the sheriff on horseback, supported by a mounted guard composed of many of the lead- ing citizens of the county. Before the procession moved Craig stood for several minutes gazing at the unusual spectacle with an unaltered countenance and unflinching eye. It was abont mid-day when the column halted under the gallows on Caldwell's meadow, near Munday's Run, close to the post-road, near a clump of trees which then stood there-near

640

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the present Sunnyside Mills-and Craig ascended the cart accompanied by the Revs. Messrs. Goforth, Palmer, Aston, and Plumer. After prayers by the three last-named clergymen, Rev. Mr. Goforth made a lengthy address. At its conclusion Craig, kneeling on his coffin, offered a prayer aloud, his voice showing no indications of fear, then arising he spoke to the assemblage, and in an earnest manner warned his hearers to avoid the sins of lying, swearing, and steal- ing, but more especially to refrain from raising their hands against the life of a fellow-man. In conclusion, he acknowledged that he was guilty of the crime for which he was about to suffer. The clergymen then took leave of him, and the prisoner took off his hat, which he handed to a person near him. His face had now assumed a livid pallor, but he stood firmly and seemed to have nerved himself for the final scene. Craig himself drew the death-cap over his face, which the hangman firmly tied and the fatal noose was adjusted. At half-past one o'clock the cart was drawn from beneath his feet, and the condemned man fell with a bound that dislocated his neck, killing him almost instantly.

In his sworn confession, afterwards published, Craig declared that he had killed Hunter because he be- lieved that if the witnesses were dead, Worrall's will could not be proved, and the estate would be divided among his children under the intestate laws. He also stated that he had several times attempted to shoot Isaac Cochran, but that every time he raised his gun the person who was walking with Cochran always moved in such a way that his body was interposed between the murderer and his intended victim. At the February court, 1819, the Worrall will case was tried and the will set aside, the jury finding the testa- tor incompetent to make testamentary disposition of his estate, he being in extremis at the time the will was executed.

Nine Generations .- Susannah Smedley died at the residence of her son-in-law, Jonathan Hood, on Dec. 29, 1834, in the eighty-ninth year of her age. She had seen her great-great-grandfather and her great-great-grandchildren. She was the child alluded to when her great-grandfather, in the ninety-fifth year of his age, said to his daughter, “ Arise, daughter, go see thy daughter, for thy daughter's daughter has a daughter."

A Noticeable Incident,-During a severe thunder storm in July, 1835, a tree on the Ashland farm, owned by Isaac Thomas, was struck by lightning, and five horses standing under it were killed, while another horse in the same field which had sought shelter under another tree escaped unhurt.

Bishop Hunter .- One of the most prominent mem- bers of the church of the Latter-Day Saints who died at Salt Lake City, Tuesday Oct. 16, 1883, was Edward Hunter, a native of Newtown; his father, Edward Hunter, long prior to the Revolution owned a tract of land near Hunter's Run at the southwestern corner of

the township. On this plantation Edward Hunter was born June 22, 1793, and was ninety years and nearly four months old at the time of his death. He was baptized into the church of Latter-Day Saints in Chester County, Pa. At an early day he went to Nauvoo, Ill., and became an intimate friend and as- sociate of Prophet Joseph Smith, acting as one of his life-guards, and being one of the few who conveyed the martyred brothers, Joseph and Hiram, to their final resting-place. On Nov. 23, 1854, he was ordained under the hands of President Brigham Young. He crossed the plains in 1848, arriving soon after the pioneers, and returned to winter quarters in 1849, and brought over the first season's emigration to Utah in the fall of 1850. He assisted in laying the corner- stone of the temple in Salt Lake City April 6, 1853, and also delivered the oration. He visited his native State during the summer of 1876, and spent some time in Philadelphia attending the Centennial cele- bration.

Crimes .- On Wednesday, Aug. 30, 1876, the dwell- ing-house of Isaac A. Calvert, on the Locust Grove (formerly the Locust Hill) farm, on the Street road above old Newtown Square, was robbed by four men wearing veils, who, forcing their way into the bed- room of Mrs. Calvert,-the husband having gone to market,-one of the men put a pistol to her bead, demanding her money, accompanying the demand with a threat to kill her if she made the least noise. Failing to get any information from her, they searched the house for nearly an hour, and finally decamped with jewelry, silverware, and other articles amounting in value to about one hundred and fifty dollars. Mrs. Calvert, while lying all this time with a pistol pointed at her, did not lose her presence of mind, but employed the time in marking the personal peculiarities of the burglars, so that she might recognize them. The next day Joseph Ditman was arrested in Philadelphia on suspicion, he having been at Calvert's farm a few days before the burglary. He was identified by Mrs. Cal- vert as one of the robbers, and his arrest led to that of Joshua Mulley and John Martin. At the Septem- ber court the prisoners were tried and convicted. The court sentenced them each to ten years' imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary. On Tuesday night, March 4, 1884, the post-office at Newtown Square was broken into, and some goods and sixty dollars' worth of postage stamps stolen. The same night the tavern was entered, the burglars boring holes through the door of the bar-room. After gaining access to the room the thieves pried open a private closet, in which the landlord, William H. Davis, had placed a gold watch and chain, one hundred and twenty-five dollars in money, and other articles of value, which were taken. In a drawer immediately beneath that in which the one hundred and twenty-five dollars were found was over one thousand dollars, the amount received for the sale of cattle, which the owner pro- posed to deposit in bank, and fortunately this sum

641

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP.

was not disturbed. The burglars were not discov- ered.

Societies .- Okehocking Tribe, No. 159, Improved Order of Red Men, was instituted in November, 1871. The meetings of the tribe were first held in the base- ment of Newtown Hall, and later a wigwam was fur- nished in the second story of the hall which is now used for that purpose. The charter officers of the tribe were Dr. Charles S. Heysham, S .; William T. Davis, S. S .; John L. Hosmer, J. S .; J. J. Sproul, Sec. John J. Sproul is the present Sachem, and John L. Hosmer Secretary. The tribe has thirty-eight members at the present time.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 157

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