History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 177

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

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The present two-story brick school-house in Morton was erected in 1875, at a cost of three thousand five hundred dollars. The lower part was built by the township, and the upper story by a stock company for public use, an agreement being made that if the township should require the whole building for school purposes the directors should take it, paying to the stockholders two thousand dollars. The lot on which it is built was donated by Alexander Young.

At the election on March 18, 1825, Joel Evans, George Lewis, and Samuel Rhoads were chosen school trustees. After the adoption of the school law of 1834, the court appointed Joel Evans and John Lewis in- spectors of public school until directors were elected. In 1835 the amount received by Springfield, from State and County appropriations, for school purposes was $103.47.

The following is a list of the school directors of Springfield, as appears of record :

1840, Sammel P. Harrison, Seth Pancoast; 1842, John C. Beatty, Sketch- ley Morton ; 1843, Ezra Levis, William Burns, William Ogden ; 1844, Randolph Bishop, Randolph Fimple; 1845, Seth Pancoaat, John O. Beatty ; 1846, Seth Pancoast, Joseph Gibbons, Jr .; 1847, Randall Bishop, Charles Shillingford ; 1848, William Carr, John C. Beatty ; 1849, Seth Pancoast, Randolph Fimple ; 1850, Randall Rishop, Ran- dolph Fimple; 1851, Charles I. Morton, Sketchley Morton ; 1852, Richard Fimple, William C. Longstreth ; 1853, John Bhoads, Ran- dall Bishop; 1854, Sketchley Morton, William Hill; 1855, William C. Longstreth, George B. Lownes; 1856, George Heath, William P. Beatty : 1857, Samuel C. Ogden, Moses Hey ; 1858, George P. Snyder, Sketchley Morton ; 1859, John M. Lawrence, James H. Ogden ; 1860, J. Reese Lewis, Moses Hey ; 1861, Owen Evans, James P. Maris; 1862, J. W. Lawrence, William B. Flounders ; 1863, Moses Hey, J. R. Lewis; 1864, Owen Evans, Sketchløy Morton; 1865, James H. Ogden, William H. Gibbons; 1866, J. W. Lawrence, James Bishop; 1867, Charles G. Ogden, Sketchley Morton ; 1868, Edgar T. Miller, Richard Young; 1869, Charles G. Ogden, Joseph Bishop; 1870, Sketchley Morton, Ambrose Wood ; 1871, Eager T. Miller, Richard Young: 1872, Joseph Bishop, C. G. Ogden ; 1873, Joseph P. Morris, Sketchley Morton ; 1874, George B. Lownes, Maggie Pancoast ; 1875, Charles Ogden, Joseph Bishop; 1876, Sketchley Morton, Joseph P. Maris; 1877, Samuel Evans, Richard Young ; 1878, Charles G. Og- den, Joseph Bishop; 1879, A. G. DeArmond, D. C. Shillingford: 1880, Samuel Evans, Joseph P. Maris ; 1881, Joseph Bishop, Richard Young; 1882, D. C. Shillingford, Thomas Carr: 1883, Joseph P. Maris, William M. Parker; 1884, Richard Young, J. Bishop.

Swarthmore College .- This admirable and ex- tensive educational institution, conceived and carried on by the Friends for the co-education of the sexes, had its inception in a meeting held in Baltimore, Oct. 2, 1860. It was there proposed to erect a new institution of learning, under the care of Friends, designed to equal the best colleges in the land. With this object in view the society purchased two hundred and forty acres of land on Crum Creek, in this town- ship, and distant about eleven miles from Philadel- phia, via the central division of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. Swarthmore Col- lege was incorporated by act of the Legislature, passed April 1, 1864. By this act James Martin, John M. Ogden, Ezra Michener, Mahlon K. Taylor, Thomas Ridgway, James Mott, Dillwyn Parrish, William W. Longstreth, William Dorsey, Edward Hoopes, Wil- liam C. Biddle, Joseph Powell, Joseph Wharton, John Sellers, Clement Biddle, P. P. Sharpless, Ed- ward Parrish, Levi K. Brown, Hugh McIlvain, Franklin Shoemaker, and their associates and suc- cessors were constituted the body corporate. The capital stock consisted of fifty thousand dollars, but an act approved April 14, 1870, granted authority to increase it to five hundred thousand dollars.

On May 10, 1866, the corner-stone of the college building was laid, and three and one-half years later (on Nov. 10, 1869) the college was inaugurated in its new home. The work was carried forward in spite of many disadvantageous circumstances, but brought to a very satisfactory conclusion a few days prior to the date we have mentioned. The buildings, of which the entire length was three hundred and forty-eight feet, with return wings of ninety-two feet each, con- sisted of a central structure, sixty feet wide by one

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

hundred and ten feet deep, on either side of which were fire-proof alcoves containing iron stairs and wings, extending from these each one hundred feet long, by forty feet wide. The building was con- structed of stone with inside walls of brick, was de- signed to be practically fire-proof, and was admirably adapted to the purpose for which it was built. Be- sides the necessary " collecting" and school-rooms, it contained a library, museum, and chemical labora- tory, parlors, dining-room, kitchen, dormitories, bath- rooms, and every convenience for the comfort and health of a large number of resident pupils. The great structure was reared under the management of a building committee, of which Hugh McIlvain was chairman, and Elwood Burdsall, Edward Hoopes, Gerard H. Reese, aud S. B. Worth were members.

On the occasion of the inauguration, Nov. 10, 1869, about eight hundred friends of the college were pres- ent. The exercises were quite interesting. The com- pany assembled at an elevated spot east of the build- ing which bad been selected for the planting of trees to commemorate the event. There the venerable Lucretia Mott, assisted by her son, Thomas, placed in the ground two oaks which had been raised from acorns by the late James, "contributed for the pur- pose and to serve as fitting memorials of his interest in the cause of education and the erection of this college." The other exercises were conducted in the hall of the college and presided over by Samuel Wil- lets, of New York. Hugh McIlvain, chairman of the building committee, laid the key of the front-door of the college upon the desk, thus formally handing the structure over to the corporation. He stated that though not in all respects completed, the building was fit for occupation, and that the sum expended upon it had been two hundred and five thousand four hundred and eighty dollars. Edward Parrish, who had been chosen as president of the college, then de- livered the inaugural address. Other speakers were John D. Hicks, of New York; William Dorsey, of Philadelphia; and Lucretia Mott.

The college opened with an attendance of one hun- dred and seventy students of both sexes, and the whole number in attendance during the year 1869-70 was one hundred and ninety-nine. The faculty con- sisted of Edward Parrish, president ; Helen G. Long- streth, matron; Edward H. Magill, principal; and Clement L. Smith, secretary. The resident instruc- tors were Edward Parrish, professor of Ethics and of Chemistry and Natural Science ; Edward H. Magill, professor of the Latin and French Languages and Literature ; Clement L. Smith, professor of Greek and German Languages and Literatures, and acting professor of Mathematics; Emily Hallowell, teacher of English branches; Susan J. Cunningham, teacher of Mathematics; Susan W. Janney, teacher of Pen- manship and Botany ; Maria L. Sandford, teacher of the English Language and Literature; Elizabeth G. Macy, teacher of Vocal Culture and Reading; Eliza-

beth W. Caheen, teacher of French and English Branches; Virginia L. Dolby and Annie C. Green, assistant teachers. The non-resident instructors were Ann Preston, M.D., lecturer on Physiology and Hy- giene; Adrian G. Ebell, Ph.B., M.D., lecturer on Natural History ; J. A. Congdon, professor of Pen- manship.

The board of managers during the first year con- sisted of William Dorsey, Isaac Stephens, Joseph Powell, Edward Hoopes, Hugh McIlvain, Clement M. Biddle, S. B. Worth, Samuel Willets, Daniel Under- hill, Edward Meritt, Elwood Burdsall, John D. Hicks, Charles T. Bunting, William H. Macy, B. Rush Rob- erts, Gerard H. Reese, Deborah F. Wharton, Rachel T. Jackson, Letitia S. Cadwallader, Martha G. Mc- Ilvain, Anna M. Hopper, Elizabeth Dorsey, Elizabeth S. Worth, Jane P. Downing, Elizabeth M. Booth, Hannah W. Haydock, Lydia A. Lockwood, Caroline Underhill, Eliza H. Bell, Margaret G. Corlies, Ellen Riley, Elizabeth B. Smith; Treasurer, Henry M. Laing; Clerks, Clement M. Biddle, Edith W. Atlee.

That the affairs of the college progressed smoothly may be inferred from the statement that in the second year, 1870-71, the number of pupils was two hundred and sixty-one, an increase of sixty-two over the attendance of the previous year. Of these, fifty- one were in the collegiate department and two hun- dred and ten in the preparatory department. Edward H. Magill succeeded Edward Parrish 1 as president of the institution, in 1871, and was duly inaugurated. Concerning the experiment of the co-education of the sexes tried by this college, we cannot do better than to quote from President Magill's inaugural address. He says that "it has been eminently successful here so far," and "not one of those connected with the management of this institution would for a moment entertain the idea of a change. Good, and only good, has resulted from this feature of our organization ; nor has the salutary influence been felt by one sex more than the other, but both have been mutually benefited even beyond the expectations of those who were most sanguine when we opened three years ago. That we have escaped censure or unfriendly criticism during these opening years we do not pretend; but it has been a source of great satisfaction that this censure comes invariably from those whose views have been formed on theoretical grounds, and who have never witnessed the practical workings of our system for themselves. That the public generally is becoming convinced that we are right we have grati- fying proofs on every side,-the various colleges are gradually opening their doors for the admission of women."

The affairs of Swarthmore were uniformly prosper-

1 Edward Parrish died Sept. 9, 1872, at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, whither he had been sent by the President to make pacific arrange- ments between the United States and the Indians. He had been one of the pioneers in the work of enlisting the Friends in the founding of the college.

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ous, and no disaster of any kind occurred to interfere with the usefulness of the institution until the fall of 1881, when a great loss was sustained and a temporary derangement of the school effected by a great fire. A few minutes before eleven o'clock on the night of September 25th an explosion occurred in the upper story of the main building, then used as a geological museum, and in a few minutes the roof of that por- tion of the college was in flames. The authorities were quickly on hand, and, with the aid of the stu- dents, efforts were made to confine the fire to the cen- tre building ; but the wind from the west soon drove it to the east wing, and then the attention of all was diverted from the building and devoted to the im- periled inmates of the dormitories in that wing. Very quickly all of the rooms were visited and their occupants aroused to their danger. There was no panic and little confusion, and the excellently ar- ranged stairways allowed a speedy exit of the sud- denly awakened sleepers. The safety of the students being assured, efforts were made to save as much of the contents of the college as possible. As the fire broke out in the museum, nothing in it was saved. The library, which was also inaccessible because of the intense heat, was also destroyed. In the west wing much of the property of the students was saved, as well as some belonging to the college ; but from the east wing, where the fire spread more rapidly, little could be removed. By four o'clock the building and its contents were destroyed. The gymnasium, the meeting-house, and the houses of the president and professors were saved. The neighbors came from miles around and offered their homes as places of shelter to those who were suddenly turned out of their quarters. Among others who performed kindly offices was Theodore Hyatt, of the Military Academy at Chester, who at seven o'clock in the morning served a breakfast to the large college family upon the lawn in front of the smoking ruins.

The managers were summoned by telegraph, and an informal meeting was held in the meeting-house before noon, at which it was resolved to continue the operation of the college with as little interruption as possible. A committee proceeded to Media and made arrangements to secure the Chestnut Grove House. The Gayley House was also secured as a lodging-place for the boys and young men, and in less than two weeks from the time of the fire the classes were as- sembled at Media, at their regular work. Of the two hundred and eighteen students at the college on the night of the fire, two hundred and fifteen returned and there were a few admissions, making the number larger than before. The loss on the building and con- tents was not less than one hundred and thirty thou- sand dollars. It was fully insured.

Preparations for rebuilding were almost imme- diately begun. The walls of the old building were for the most part in excellent condition, and the work of reconstructing the destroyed portions, the interior

and the roof, was pushed rapidly ahead. About two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars was re- quired, and of this sum sixty-five thousand dollars had to be raised by subscription. This was easily ac- complished, however, and at the meeting of the man- agers on Feb. 18, 1883, the Rebuilding Committee transferred the new building to them free from debt.

The new building was an improvement upon the old in appearance, and in many other ways. Archi- tecturally it is quite imposing. It is three hundred and forty-eight feet long. The centre building is four and the wings three stories high. The arrangement is similar to that of the old building, which has been described. In addition there was erected a scientific building, which alone cost twenty-five thousand dol- lars or thereabouts. Of this it is not out of place to give a more extended notice. It is a two-story build- ing, constructed of granite, trimmed with Leiperville granite, and was planned with particular reference to the scientific department of the college. The base- ment contains a blacksmith-shop, boiler-room, grind- ing- and polishing-room, brass foundry, store-room, laboratory for beginners, a metallurgical laboratory, and electric battery room. The elevator connects the basement with the other floors. The first floor con- tains in the front part of the central projection a phys- ical laboratory for experimentation, and is furnished, as well as all the other departments in the building, with a full supply of the best instruments and appli- ances. In the rear of this room are several smaller apartments,-one for quantitative analysis, a private laboratory for the professor of chemistry, and a chem- ical library. The western wing contains the large general or qualitative laboratory, and the eastern a complete mechanical laboratory and machine-shop, with power obtained by an engine driven by steam, either from the main college boilers or from the shop boiler, at pleasure. The second floor has an excel- lently constructed drawing-room, a lecture-room sup- plied with water, gas, electricity, oxygen, and hydro- gen, and the attic contains a photographic room, with north skylight and dark-room.

The loss of the library, which contained three thou- sand six hundred volumes, and of the museum was the most difficult to replace, as the work had, from obvious reasons, to be carried on slowly, but the lapse of only a few years more will witness an improvement in these departments fully in keeping with that which has been made in the institution as a whole since the disaster of 1881. Samuel Willets, of New York, presi- dent of the board of managers, and one of the stanchest friends and supporters of the college, one of whose last acts had been the signing of a check for twenty- five thousand dollars to complete the subscription for the sixty-five thousand dollars needed for rebuilding, died in 1883. In his will he bequeathed to the col- lege the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, the in- terest and income of which he directed should be ap- plied " to educate in part or in whole such poor and

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

deserving children as the committee on trusts, endow- ments, and scholarships ... may from time to time judge and determine to be entitled thereto." The col- lege has, since its splendid display of recuperative power following the fire, led a prosperous and progress- ive career. Material improvements have been kept apace with educational advancement, and the build- ings and grounds present an aspect of attractiveness which one finds but a few times excelled in the country. The original tract of land purchased by the managers has been added to until at present it contains about three hundred acres of charmingly diversified lawn and meadow and grove. Abont one-half of the area is set aside for farming and gardening purposes, pro- viding milk and vegetables for the college, and the remainder is a pleasure-ground. The portion of the property along Crum Creek, which forms the western boundary, is rich in picturesque beauty, and the stream is not only an element in the landscape very pleasing to the eye, but affords facilities for boating and other aquatic sports in summer, and for skating in winter. The college has had during the present year three hundred and four pupils. The condition of the school has been satisfactory in all respects, and notably has the system of co-education of the sexes, one of its features from the first, proved successful. Great as has been the usefulness of the institution in the past, a constantly enlarging sphere of beneficence will, without doubt, be filled during each successive year.

The present faculties are composed as follows :

Faculty of Government .- Edward H. Magill, presi- dent; Anna W. Frost Capp, matron ; Professor Eu- gène Paulin, Professor Arthur Beardsley, Professor William Hyde Appleton, Professor Susan J. Cunning- ham, Professor Samuel S. Green, Professor Joseph W. Teets, Assistant Professor Mary L. Austin, Assistant Professor Elizabeth C. Miller; Thomas S. Foulke, superintendent.

Faculty of Instruction .- Edward H. Magill, A.M., president ; Joseph Leidy, M.D., LL.D., Professor of Natural History ; Eugène Paulin, A.M., Professor of French and Latin, and of Mental and Moral Philoso- phy ; Arthur Beardsley, C.E., Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, and Librarian ; William Hyde Appleton, A.M., Professor of Greek and Ger- man ; Susan J. Cunningham, Professor of Mathe- matics; Joseph Thomas, M.D., LL.D., Professor of English Literature; Samuel S. Green, M.S., Professor of Physics and Chemistry ; Joseph W. Teets, Profes- sor of Elocution ; Mary L. Austin, Assistant Profes- sor of Latin ; Elizabeth Clarke Miller, A.B., Assistant Professor of Rhetoric ; Frederick A. Wyers, A.B., As- sistant Professor of French ; Charles C. Eames, C.E., Assistant Professor of German ; Ellen E. Osgood, In- structor in History ; Ellen M. Griscom, Instructor in Free-hand Drawing ; Amelia P. Butler, Instructor in Theory and Practice of Teaching; Olivia Rodham, Assistant Librarian, and Instructor in Botany.

The board of managers consists of the following gentlemen and ladies. Term expires Twelfth month, 1884: Joseph Willets, Trenton, N. J .; Eli M. Lamb, Baltimore, Md .; Clement M. Biddle, Abigail M. Woodnutt, Anna M. Hunt, Philadelphia; Susan W. Lippincott, Cinnaminson, N. J .; Sarah H. Merritt, Brooklyn, L. I .; Herman Hoopes, Philadelphia. Term expires Twelfth month, 1885 : John T. Willets, New York ; Edward H. Ogden, Philadelphia ; Daniel Underhill, Jericho, L. I .; Emmor Roberts, Fellow- ship, N. J .; Jane P. Downing, Philadelphia ; Mary W. Cocks, Old Westbury, L. I .; Sarah H. Powell, New York ; Edith D. Bentley, Sandy Spring, Md. Term expires Twelfth month, 1886: Isaac Stephens, Trenton, N. J. ; James V. Watson, Philadelphia ; Clement Biddle, Chad's Ford, Pa .; Martha G. Mc- Ilvain, Philadelphia ; Sophia U. Willets, Manhasset, L. I .; Sallie M. Ogden, Edmund Webster, Emma Mc- Ilvain, Philadelphia. Term expires Twelfth month, 1887 : John D. Hicks, Old Westbury, L. I .; Robert Willets, Flushing, L. I .; Joseph Wharton, Philadel- phia; M. Fisher Longstreth, Sharon Hill, Delaware Co., Pa .; Mary Willets, Trenton, N. J .; Anna M. Ferris, Wilmington, Del .; Mary T. Longstreth, Sharon Hill, Delaware Co., Pa .; Lydia H. Hall, West Chester, Pa.

Two brothers of the Magill family, William and Alexander, came from the North of Ireland about the year 1725. From William was descended Jacob, the grandfather of Edward H. He married Rebecca Paxson, and had children,-Mary, Jonathan P., Susan, Sarah, and Charles. Jonathan P. was born in Solebury, Bucks Co., Pa., and during his active life was engaged in farming. He married Mary Wat- son, daughter of David and Rachel Watson, of Falls township, Bucks Co., Pa., whose ancestors came to this country from England with William Penn. Both husband and wife were earnest members of the society of Friends, and well known for their anti- slavery proclivities. They were identified with the leaders of that movement, which received at their hands practical aid, their home having been one of the stations of the memorable Underground Railroad, and the safe abiding-place of many escaped and hunted slaves. Their children were Sarah (deceased), Edward H., Watson P., Rebecca (deceased), Cath- erine T. (wife of Henry C. Phillips), Rachel M. (wife of John S. Williams), and Matilda R. (wife of Charles S. Atkinson).

Edward H. was born Sept. 24, 1825, in Solebury, Bucks Co., and spent his youth until his fourteenth year at the home of his parents. He then became for two years a pupil of the Friends' school at West- town, Chester Co., and filled the interval from that period until his twenty-fifth year in teaching. En- tering the Freshman class of Yale College in 1850, he remained one year, and in 1851 became a student of Brown University, Providence, R. I., from which he received in 1852 the degree of A.B., and that of

Ceduto. Magill 1

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A.M. in 1855. He accepted, in 1852, the principalship of the classical department of the Providence High School, and acted in that capacity until 1859, when he was appointed sub-master of the Boston Latin School. During his sub-mastership he published a French Grammar and a series of French Readers which have been widely used in the schools and colleges of this country. In 1867, Mr. Magill, having resigned his position in the Latin School, devoted a year to foreign travel. In 1869 he was made prin- cipal of the Preparatory school of Swarthmore Col- lege, and two years later became president of the college, which office he still holds. Mr. Magill was, in 1852, married to Sarah W., daughter of Seneca Beans, of Lower Makefield, Bucks Co., Pa. To this marriage were born children,-Helen, Eudora, Bea- trice, Gertrude B., Francis G. (deceased), and Marian. Under the presidency of Mr. Magill, Swarthmore College has enjoyed a high degree of prosperity. Beginning chiefly as a preparatory school, the college department, which was gradually added, has increased in extent until it has become the rival in point of numbers of the preparatory department. President Magill's career as an educator has been attended by signal success, evincing in a high degree, as he does, all those characteristics which the teacher should possess. His own accurate scholarship has led him to require the same accuracy and thoroughness in his students. To this trait of his character is combined unwearied patience with a seriousness and earnest- ness which have won for him the confidence of those under his instruction. His chief work as an instruc- tor was done in Providence and Boston. At Swarth- more devolved upon him duties of another character, in which he has been equally successful. Exercising a general oversight of both teachers and taught, the skill which he has shown in this difficult work, as well as in the management of a large body of students, is proof that he possesses in a high degree those quali- ties which combine to make a successful college presi- dent.

Mills on Crum Creek-Wallingford Mills .- The first mention of the name of Lewis in Spring- field iu connection with mills occurs in the assessment- roll of 1779, when John Lewis was assessed on a grist-mill. In 1788 a saw-mill was added, and from that time until 1817 he appears as the owner of these mills. In 1811, John Lewis, Jr., was returned as the owner of a paper-mill, and in 1817, George Lewis was connected with him in the business. In 1835 the grist-mill was changed into a cotton-factory and rented to James Ogden, who continued in the business for a short time, when he was succeeded by John Reese and Mordecai Lewis, sons of George Lewis, who op- erated the mill, and also changed the old Wallingford paper-mill into a cotton-factory. On Sunday, Jan. 11, 1851, two children, daughters of Thomas Davis, aged respectively ten and eight years, were sliding on the ice on the dam, when the eldest venturing out too far,

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 177

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