History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 169

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

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Schools .- Prior to the adoption of the school law enacted in 1834, schools of more or less excellence had been maintained in the township from its first settlement. Of their history, however, but little is known and never will be. They were subscription schools, chiefly taught in the winter, during periods irregular in their duration. Yet in them the descend- ants of the pioneers, through several generations, mastered the rudiments and the essential principles of education with a facility equal to that displayed by the students of to-day.

The first authentic references to schools in Radnor are found in the court records, where it is shown that, in 1825, in accordance with an order issued, Abram Lewis, Benjamin Maule, and Benjamin Davis were elected school trustees for the township. They were then called "school men," and were elected to serve for one, two, and three years respectively. Again turning to the records, we learn that, on the 14th of May, 1827, the "school men" purchased from Mor- decai Lewis land " on which to erect a Union school."

In 1834, at the inauguration of the free-school sys- tem, the court appointed as inspectors of schools for Radnor, to act until directors "be elected," John Evans and Jesse Brooke, Jr. The following year, through its treasurer, the township received for school | purposes, from State and county, the sum of $1010.45.

1 On the 30th of May, 1812, Benjamin Smith and William H. Shaw published the following notice: "The subscribers respectfully iuform their customers and the public in general that the machines at William Siter's clover-mill, Radnor township, Delaware County, will be carried on for the future by Smith & Shaw, where, in addition to the former ma- chinery, they propose adding a Spinning Machine, which will work for customers at the following rates: All wool epun, 12 cuts or under to the lb, 1 cent & a half per cut, & all over 12 cute to the 1h, 2 cents per cut. Carding into rolls 10 cents per lb (Near Spread Eagle Tavern) at Siter's 83W-mill."

2 John Evane, miller, was born in Radnor in 1790, and died in the same township in 1862. At the time of his death, and for years pre- ceeding that event, he was the possessor of grounde containing the finest botanical collection ever seen in this latitnde, all being the result of his own researches and labor.

686

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

On the 1st of January, 1837, John Evans sold to the directors of schools a school-house site of eighty square perches, adjoining the lands of John Matthews. In 1855 the school directors purchased another lot (comprising two acres) for school purposes from Anna Loudon. Since that year other grounds have been purchased, suitable buildings have been erected thereon, old buildings have been rebuilt, and other needed improvements made from time to time, until the seven school buildings now standing in Radnor will compare favorably with any in the rural districts of the State.

Following is a list of the school directors elected in the township since 1840, as found of record at the county-seat :

1840, William Morgan, John Mather,1 and John Pugh; 1842, Jeasa Brooke and Mark Bartleson; 1843, Enoch Matlock and Williem Morgan; 1844, Jonathan P. Abrahams and H. Jones Brooke; 1845, Mark Bartleson and Hiram Cleaver ; 1846, Mark Brooke and Edward B. Wetherall ; 1847, Jesse Gygar and William Pugh; 1848, William Siter and John Pechin ; 1849, Mark Brooke and William W. Earey ; 1850, Alexander Brooks and Jesse Gyger; 1851, Stephen S. Davis and Edward B. Wetherell ; 1852, Samuel P. Abrahama and Alexan- der Johnson ; 1853, Alexander Brooke and Mark Brooke; 1854, Sam- uel Jones and Lewia Garrett ; 1855, Jesse Gyger and Samuel P. Abra- hama; 1856, Alexander Brooke and Charles Pugh; 1857, Mark Brooke and Robert Paiata; 1858, George P. Hughes and Robert Paiate ; 1859, Hiram Cleaver and Daniel C. Abrahama; 1860, Virgil T. Eachua and Lewis T. Brooke; 1861, James Roberts and J. S. Park ; 1862, Enoch Matlock and T. R. Petty ; 1863, Benjamin Brooke and John G. Henderson ; 1864, Anderson Kirk aod Samuel P. Abra- bama; 1865, Thomas B. Jones and Thomas R. Petty ; 1866, John G. Henderson and Beojamin Brooke; 1867, Anderson Kirk and Samuel P. Abrahama; 1868, Frank Fenimore and Tryon Lewia; 1869, Jaaaa Gyger and Benjamin Brooke; 1870, Anderson Kirk and John R. Whitney; 1871, no report ; 1872, Tryon Lewis and John Cornog; 1873, Jessa Gygar and Benjamin Brooke ; 1874, Barclay Hall and Joseph H. Childa; 1875, Tryon Lewia and Mrs. David Paxon; 1876, A. R. Montgomery and Benjamin Brooke; 1877, Barclay Hall and Tryon Lewis; 1878, Archibald Montgomery and Joseph Croll ; 1879, J. H. Ewing and Elwood Carr; 1880, Barclay Hall and Tryon Lewis; 1881, Jesaa Gyger and A. Montgomery ; 1882, A. R. Mont- gomary and James Callahan ; 1883, Barclay Hall and Tryon Lawia; 1884, Jessa Gyger and William A. Parke.

Villanova College .- In the upper part of our county (Delaware), in the township of Radnor, lie the extensive grounds known as Villanova College, belonging to the Catholic brotherhood of St. Augus- tine. These established themselves here, as a branch of the parent house in Philadelphia, in 1842. Having purchased the estate belonging to the deceased Mr. John Rudolf in the previous year, they now set about to erect buildings on a large scale for a com- plete monastic and educational foundation, namely, a convent, with novitiate and study-house for the members of their order, and a college for the educa- tion of the laity in the classics, arts, sciences, and polite literature.

This order, founded by St. Augustine (of Hippo), in 387 of our era, consists of three classes : (1) of re- ligious men whose present mission is to preach and teach; (2) of religious women called nuns; and (3)

of persons of either sex, known as Tertiaries, living in the world, who seek to lead a Christian life in the service of God and their neighbor, under the patron- age of the same St. Augustine.

In 1796 their founder in this country, the Rev. Mat- thew Carr, D.D., O.S.A., came from Ireland to estab- lish a province of his order, and with faculties from the then reigning pontiff, Pope Pius VI., and with the advice and aid of the Rt. Rev. John Carroll, the first and that time the only Catholic prelate in the United States, fixed on Philadelphia as his abode. Here he built the church of St. Augustine, on Fourth Street, near Race, but circumstances prevented him from realizing all he had designed.

The Augustinian College at Villanova is properly the chief offshoot of St. Augustine's of Philadelphia. It was founded, as we have said, in 1842, by Rev. John Possidius O'Dwyer, O.S.A., who, under the direction of the celebrated Dr. Moriarty, O.S.A., then superior-general of the order in the United States, was its first president.

The title of this college recalls the memory of the great archbishop of Valencia, in Spain, in the six- teenth century, St. Thomas of Villanova, under whose superiorship the Augustinian missionaries to the New World founded in Mexico, with leave from the Em- peror Charles V., the University of Mexico, the first school on a grand scale in the Americas. The date of the emperor's decree is Sept. 21, 1551, though the solemn opening of the university was put off until the 25th of January, 1553. Villanova thus commemo- rates the great scholar and saint and, we may add, the first patron of learning in the Western Hemi- sphere.

The first college buildings at Villanova comprised merely one stone house of two and a half stories, the former residence of Mr. Rudolf. The upper stories, consisting of six rooms, were devoted to the uses of the students, and the lower to the professors.

In September, 1844, was dedicated the chapel, the first place of Catholic worship in the neighborhood ; in 1849 was opened the new college hall, a large stone edifice, eighty-eight feet long and fifty-five feet wide, now the east wing of the college building. This, the main college building, was erected in 1873, by the su- perior-general, Rev. Thomas Galberry, O.S.A., at the time president of the college, and subsequently bishop of the diocese of Hartford, Conn., and was opened Feb. 3, 1874. It is one hundred and seventy-four feet in front, facing the Pennsylvania Railroad, and contains all the halls and rooms needed for the instruction and residence of the students. There are eleven class- rooms, besides apartments for professors and prefects, two large dormitories, a clothes-room, study and music halls, a dramatic ball, and play-room.

The buildings are well supplied with water, con- ducted from a spring fourteen hundred feet distant, lighted with gas manufactured on the premises, and all are heated with steam.

1 John Mather was a soldier of the war of 1812-15, and died in Radnor, Jan. 29, 1880, in the eighty-fifth year of his aga.

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RADNOR TOWNSHIP.

The studies in the collegiate department embrace a course of seven years in philosophy, rhetoric, poetry, the languages ancient and modern, physics, and the arts, and in the ecclesiastical branch, of philosophy, ecclesiastical history, theology, canon law, and the sacred Scriptures.

The college was empowered by the Legislature of the State, in 1848, to confer degrees, the same as is done in other colleges and universities of the United States, and to enjoy the privileges of the same.

From 1842 down to the present scholars have been entered from nearly every State and Territory of the Union, from Mexico, the West Indies, South Amer- ica, and from several countries in Europe.

The collegiate year just ended of 1883-84 closed with sixty-six students in the collegiate department and seventeen in the ecclesiastical.

The presidents of the institution have been : 1842- 47, Rev. John Possidius O'Dwyer, O.S.A .; 1847-48, Rev. William Harnett, O.S.A .; 1848-50, Rev. John Possidius O'Dwyer, O.S.A. (second term) ; 1850-51, Rev. William Harnett, O.S.A. (second term); 1851- 55, Rev. Patrick Eugene Moriarty, D.D., O.S.A .; 1855-57, Rev. William Harnett, O.S.A. (third term). The college closed in this year (1857) until 1865-69, Rev. Ambrose Augustine Mullen, O.S.A .; 1869-72, Rev. Patrick Augustine Stanton, O.S.A .; 1872-76, Rev. Thomas Galberry, O.S.A .; 1876-78, Rev. Thomas Cooke Middleton, D.D., O.S.A .; 1878-80, Rev. John Joseph Fedigan, O.S.A .; 1880, Rev. Joseph Augus- tine Coleman, O.S.A.

In pursuance of the original plan the authorities at Villanova are now erecting a church to take the place of the frame building used since 1872, but which for some years has proved wholly inadequate to meet the requirements of Catholic worship.

Since 1842, when the first to assist at the divine services numbered seven, the congregation has in- creased far more than a hundredfold. The present parish counts eight hundred souls and upwards, which during the summer months is increased by outside attendance to perhaps twice that number. Three masses on Sundays are unable to satisfy the needs of the people.

The new church, now being roofed, will seat about eight hundred persons. It is designed to have seven altars, and at the rear of the chancel and high altar a conventual choir, with stalls for the religious, who will thus be enabled to carry out fully the ritual and ceremonial of the church for divine worship.

The new building faces Lancaster Avenue, and measures, externally, one hundred and forty-three feet in length by a width of fifty-nine feet, not including the projecting sacristy and the baptistery. The three front door-ways are entered by seven steps. The façade is sixty feet wide, with a central gable having a corbeled niche with a pedestal for the statue of the patron saint.

On either side are two towers, eighteen feet square

at the hase by sixty-three feet high, to be surmounted by spires, making the total height one hundred and twenty-six feet. The outer work is faced with gray stone laid in promiscuous rubble-work and dressings of granite. The ground-plan consists of a nave with side aisles with deep sanctuary, terminating in an apsidal choir for the religious,-a feature in architec- ture rarely to be met with in the United States, and the only one in this part of Pennsylvania. The style of architecture is Gothic, and when completed will add greatly to the already stately pile of buildings at Villanova.1

Radnor Friends' Meeting-Houses .- As early as 1686 a sufficient number of Friends had made settle- ments in Radnor to establish an independent meeting for worship in the township. David Meredith's name was the first to appear in the Haverford records as belonging to Radnor Meeting, though, doubtless, there were a few others who became identified with it equally as early. The early meetings in Radnor were generally held in the dwelling-houses of John Jerman (who was a Quaker preacher of considerable ability, and who visited England and Wales in 1712) and John Evans. The first marriage in Radnor was solemnized in the house of the latter, on the 2d of the Third month (May), 1686, between Richard Ormes, of Philadelphia, and Mary Tyder, of Raduor.

In 1693 the Radnor Friends built their first meet- ing-house. A new Friends' meeting-house, however, was commenced in 1718. The minutes of the Monthly Meeting that relate to the erection of this edifice are given, to show the cautions manner in which such en- terprises were entered upon in the early days. The first proceedings regarding this matter took place at a meeting held in Haverford, Eighth month 10, 1717, and were made a subject of record, as follows :

" A letter from our Friend Benjamin Holm to this meeting, recom- mending to their consideration the stirring up of frde io ye building of Their meeting-house att Radnor, and with desires yt we should be con- cerned for ye prosperity of Truth, was reed in this meeting, and ap- proved off. Likewise thie meeting, pursuant to Radnor frde, desire ac- quiees wth ym in building a new meeting-house, and this meeting appoints David Morris, David Lewis, Edd Rees, Robert Jones, Richard Hayes, and Samuel Lewis to assist ym Iu ye contrivance [and] ye build- ing Thereof, and they meet together alt it oo ye 21at of this instant, [and report] to ye next meeting."

The members of the committee all belonged to the meetings of Haverford and Merion. The next meet- ing was held in Merion, and one of its minutes em- braces the report of the committee, wherein they say, "Some friends of those appointed to assist Radnor friends In ye Contrivance of a new meeting-house, then having acct yt they have accordingly mett, and given y™ Their thoughts as to ye bigness and form thereof. To web Radnor frde Then there present seemed generally to agree wth." The west end of the present meeting-house was the building then erected, but it was not finished until two or three

1 Contributed by Rev. J. A. Coleman, O.S.A., president of Villanova College.

688

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

years later, for, in 1721, committees were appointed in Haverford and Merion for raising funds for the completion of Radnor meeting-house.

During the winter passed by the American army at Valley Forge, an outpost of the patriot army was maintained in Radnor, on property which is owned by Tryon Lewis. About seven acres of heavy timber, near the middle of a large tract of woodland, was cleared by the troops while stationed here. This was afterwards cultivated, and was well known in the neighborhood for many years thereafter as "the camp- field." Radnor Friends' meeting-house, which is a little more than half a mile distant from this camp- ground, was occupied in connection with it, probably as officers' quarters and for hospital purposes. The records of the society show that they were deprived of the use of their meeting-house early in the year 1778, "in consideration of its being occupied by sol- diers," and that it required considerable repairs before it was put in a condition for holding a Monthly Meet- ing, which was not till near the middle of 1780. Says Dr. Smith, "It is probable that during the winter and spring most of the scouting parties that served to re- strain, in a measure, the foraging of the enemy within our limits, and at the same time to prevent disloyal farmers from carrying their produce to the city, were detached from the outpost at Radnor."

The meeting-house is still in a fair state of repair, and, with an addition (built in later years at the east end for school purposes), is used for holding occa- sional meetings of the society. The first body interred in the graveyard attached to this meeting-house was that of Gwenllian, the wife of Howell James, who was buried Eleventh month 31, 1686.

Radnor Methodist Episcopal Church. - About ten miles west from Philadelphia, on what is called " the Old Lancaster road," stands an old, time-honored building, which has been known for several genera- tions past as the Radnor Methodist Episcopal Church. Standing on the summit of one of the most beau- tiful hills of Radnor, it commands a fine view of the surrounding country ; and so long has the church been associated with the hill that the latter is generally termed " Methodist Hill."

The history of this church goes back to the primi- tive days of Methodism. Indeed, many of the illus- trious pioneers of Methodism in this country have officiated on this ground, among them such men as Bishop Coke, Richard Whatcoat, and Francis Asbury. Dr. James1 has stated that the first Methodists who

visited Radnor were two local preachers named Adam Cloud and Matthew Greentree. They preached Sun- day afternoons in Haverford, alternately at Hughes' and Effenger's. This was during the Revolutionary war. Soon after, or about 1780, Radnor became a regular preaching-place, and was supplied by circuit preachers. The place of worship was a house occupied by the James family, known then as the " Mansion House." This house is still standing.

It appears that the first class was organized about the year 1780, and that George Gyger was appointed first class-leader. Radnor was then embraced in the Philadelphia Circuit. The preachers officiating in this circuit in 1780 were John Cooper and George Main. In 1781 the name of the circuit was changed to Pennsylvania Circuit, and the preachers appointed were William Glendenning, Samuel Rowe, and Isaac Rollins. In 1782 the circuit and preachers remained the same, with the exception of Samuel Rowe, whose place was filled by John Coleman. In 1783 the name of the circuit was again changed and called "Chester," -Reuben Ellis, John Hagerty, and Thomas Haskins becoming the preachers. On the 20th day of October of the same year, Evan Jones and his wife, Margaret, appeared before Justice Thomas Lewis, and acknowl- edged to have sold for seven shillings a half-acre of land " on which a meeting-house was to be built for Francis Asbury and his assistants, in which the doc- trines of John Wesley, as set forth in his four volumes of 'Sermons,' and in his 'Notes on the New Testa- ment,' were to be preached and no other."

The church was immediately commenced, and ere the expiration of many months was completed, though under many difficulties. Dr. James relates that " one day while Aquilla MeVaugh was at work hauling stones for the new meeting-house, one of his acquaintances passing along called to him, saying, 'What are you doing there, Aquilla?' He replied, ' I am helping to build a meeting-house for the Meth- odists.' 'Well, there is no use of you doing so, for they will all soon be as cold as cucumbers; there will soon be no more Methodists.'" Jacob Gyger, David and Isaac James hauled the water from the creek by means of a barrel on a sled with which to mix the mortar. However, despite the many disadvantages under which they labored, its builders had the church edifice completed and dedicated in 1784. The first trustees were Isaac Hughes, Sr., Edward Hughes, Michael Cline, Griffith James, Abram Hughes, Mark Evans, Jesse Yocum, and William Jennings.

The circuit this year (1784) was called Philadel- phia, the preachers being Le Roy Cole, Joseph Crom- well, and Jeremiah Lambert. Under the various names already mentioned, the territory embraced in the circuit was the same.

In 1785, the church having been formally organ- ized, the circuits were placed under the charge of elders, although they were not then called districts. The first presiding elder under whose supervision

1 Dr. Isaac Jemes was born in Radnor, Jan: 28, 1777, in a dwelling that had been occupied by three generations of his ancestry. His father's house was the first preaching-place of the Methodiete in Radnor. He (Isaac) joined the church in 1790. In 1799 he was licensed to exhort, and in 1801 wes appointed steward of the Chester and Jonesburg Circuit. Five years later he was ordained deacon by Bishop Asbury, and io 1819 was ordained elder by Bishop Main. The great want of good medical advice in his day induced him to study medicine. He attended one course of lectures et the University of Pennsylvania, hut graduated at the Colum- hia College, New York. He died Jan. 22, 1874.

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RADNOR TOWNSHIP.

Radnor came, was Thomas Vasey. They were not then called presiding elders, simply elders. The preachers for 1785 were Ira Ellis and James Thomas. Succeeding elders, preachers, etc., are mentioned in manner as follows :

1786. Henry Ogburn and Peter Moriarty, preachers; Caleb Boyer, elder.

1787. Samuel Dudley and William Thomas, preachers ; John Hagerty and William Gill, elders.

1788. Philadelphia made a station, and the country part of the circuit called Chester, in which circuit Radnor fell. Robert Carr and John Milburn, preachers .; Richard Whatcoat, elder.

1789. William Dougherty and James Campbell, preachers; Henry Willis and Lemuel Green, pre- siding elders.

1790. Sylvester Hutchinson and John Cooper, preachers ; Richard Whatcoat, presiding elder.

1791. J. McCloskey, J. Robinson, and S. Miller, preachers ; Lemuel Green, elder.

1792. Joseph Lovell and Joseph Wainwright, preachers ; John McCloskey, presiding elder.

1793. Robert Cloud, William Hunter, and Evan Rogers, preachers; Freeborn Garrettson, presiding elder.

1794. William Early and James Smith, preachers ; Valentine Cook, presiding elder.

1795. This year Chester and Lancaster comprised one circuit ; Radnor one of the appointments. John Jarrell, Thomas F. Sargent, and John Robinson, preachers ; John Merrick, presiding elder.

1796. Circuit called Chester. Thomas Bell and Samuel Welch, preachers ; Thomas Ware, presiding elder.

1797. William Colbert, in place of Thomas Bell ; no other change.

1798. Name of circuit changed to Strasburg. Wil- liam P. Chandler and Daniel Higby, preachers ; Thomas Ware, presiding elder.

1799. William Colbert, James Herron, Edward Larkins, and Robert Bonham, preachers; Thomas Ware, presiding elder.

1800. Stephen Timmons, Richard Sneath, Thomas Jones, Robert McCoy, preachers ; Joseph Everett, presiding elder. The district first called Philadel- phia.

1801. William Hunter and Stephen Timmons, preachers ; Joseph Everett, presiding elder.

1802. William Hunter and John Bethell, preachers; Thomas Ware, presiding elder. About this year re- vivals were held in many places in Delaware County, and as a result societies were formed and new meet- ing-houses commenced at various points. Radnor Church also was greatly revived at a series of meet- ings held in the woods in front of the meeting-house.

1803. Name of circuit changed to Chesapeake. A. Owen and William Brandon, preachers ; Christopher Spry, presiding elder.

1804. Name of circuit changed to Chester. Wil- 44

liam Hunter, Joseph Osborn, and J. Stephens, preach- ers ; William Colbert, presiding elder. Camp-meet- ings originated this year.

1805. William Hunter, D. James, and James Moore, preachers; Solomon Sharp, presiding elder.

1806. John Walker and William Early, preachers ; Solomon Sharp, presiding elder.

1807. Daniel Ireland and Peter Beaver, preachers ; Solomon Sharp, presiding elder.

1808. Asa Smith, John Bethel, and William Finney, preachers ; William P. Chandler, presiding elder.

1809. Name of district changed to Schuylkill. John Walker and Thomas Miller, preachers ; William Hun- ter, presiding elder, who continued as such to 1813.

1810. Richard Sneath and John Fox, preachers.

1811. Richard Sneath and James Laws, preachers.

1812. Thomas Dunn and William S. Fisher, preach- ers.

1813. William S. Fisher and Joseph Sampson, preachers; Henry Boem, presiding elder.

1814. Circuit styled Chester and Wilmington. George Sheets, Thomas Miller, and Samuel P. Levis, preachers ; Henry Boem, presiding elder.

1815. Circuit known as Chester. Asa Smith and Joseph Sampson, preachers; Robert R. Roberts, presiding elder.

1816. William Torbert and Charles Reed, preach- ers ; Daniel Hilt, presiding elder, who continued till 1820.

1817. William Hunter aud William Torbert, preachers.

1818. John Goforth and Samuel Budd, preachers.

1819. John Robertson and Phineas Price, preachers.

1820. William Leonard and Thomas Davis, preach- ers ; James Bateman, presiding elder, who continued as such till 1824.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 169

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