USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania > Part 179
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"On Tuesday last arrived here, after a passage of seven weeks, the schooner ' White Fish,' built last summer at Presque Isle, on Lake Erie. The tedionsness of the voyage was owing to the ioclemency of the weather. She is only seventeen and a half feet keel and five feet seven inches beam. This small vessel was built and navigated by two young meu, citizens of the United States, bern in the vicinity of this city. They had neither chart or compass. Her departure was from Presque Iele, along Lake Erie to Falle of Niagara, one hundred and teu milee, thence by land to the landing below the Falls of Niagara ten miles, then to the garrison of Niagara seven miles, then along the south coast of Lake Ontario to the river Oswego one hundred and forty miles, thence up the river Oswego to the Falls twenty miles, then by land round the Falls one mile, thence up the same river to Three Rivers Point twelve miles, thence up the straits leading to the Oneida Lake nineteen milee, thence through the Queida Lake twenty-eight milee, thence np Wood Creek thirty milee to the landing between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River, thence by land passing Fort Schuyler, for- merly Fort Stanwix, one mile into the Mohawk River, then down the Mohawk River sixty miles to the Little Falls, thence round the Falle by land one mile to the landing, thence down the same river sixty miles to Schenectady, theoce hy land sixteen miles to Albany, thence dewo the river Hudson one hundred and seventy miles to the city of New York, thence by sea one hundred and fifty miles to the Capes of Delaware River, thence np the Delaware to this city one hundred and twenty miles, making in all nine hundred and forty-seven milee.
" The design of thie voyage (the only one ever attempted in the game way) was a dieinterested experiment to prove some of the great advan- tages which may in future be derived to the United States from a speedy settlement in and shout the new Town of Erie, in this State. The ' White Fish' (eo nauied from a luxurious fich, io Ichthyology, peculiar to the lakes), cast anchor opposite Market Street wharf, and gave the city a Federal salute of fifteen ronods from a Blunderbuss, which was returned by three hearty cheers from a multitude of citizene, who crowded the wharves and vessele in thie port to receive them, for accom- pliehing this hitherto nnexperienced navigation. The two gentlemen certainly deserve well of their country.
"The writer, who is well known to the printers, was present at the
1 Rebecca Harding Davis, in Harper's Magazine for April, 1876.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
laying of the keel, the building, launching, and naming of the vessel, and has thought it his duty to maks it public, in justice to the merits of the enterprising adventurere."
John Thomson, after his return to his native county, was the leading spirit in the building of the Philadelphia, Brandywine and New London turn- pike, which road, now known as the Delaware County turnpike, passes the Pennsdale farm. This company was incorporated by act of Assembly March 24, 1808. The letters patent were issued Sept. 26th of the same year. The road was forty miles long, and during 1810 nine miles were constructed, at a cost of three thousand five hundred dollars per mile. The road was twenty-one feet wide, and was laid to the depth of fifteen inches in broken stone. John Thomson built the bridge on this turnpike, which spans the stream at Stony Creek, and in the wall on the north side of the road is a stone bearing this inscription : " Built Gratis by John Thomson, for the Philadelphia, Brandy- wine and New London Turnpike Company, 1811." In 1815, when the Legislature authorized the State road to be laid from the Market Street bridge, Philadel- phia, to McCall's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, John Thomson was one of the commissioners, and the chief engineer under whose direction the road was surveyed. In 1809 he laid and constructed the Leiper Railroad in Ridley, an account of which road will be found in the history of that township, and was employed as civil engineer in the building of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. John Thomson died in 1842. Pennsdale farm had passed to the ownership of Isaac Newton, the first commissioner of agriculture, who was appointed to the office by Presi- dent Taylor when that bureau was first created by act of Congress, and continued hy every administra- tion as its chief executive until his death. The property was subsequently purchased by J. Edgar Thomson. The latter, a son of John Thomson, was born on the Pennsdale farm, Feb. 10, 1808. The son, after the requisite preparation received from his father, commenced his professional career, in 1827, in the engineer corps employed upon the original surveys of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, having received his appointment from the secretary of the Board of Canal Commissioners of Pennsylva- nia. He continued in this service until 1830, when, the State failing to make the necessary appropriations for the continuance of the construction of the road, he entered the service of the Camden and Amboy Rail- road Company as principal assistant engineer of the Eastern Division. After leaving their service he vis- ited Europe to examine the public works of that continent, and shortly after his return, in 1832, was appointed chief engineer of the Georgia Railroad, extending from Augusta to Atlanta, in that State, with a branch to Athens, in all two hundred and thirteen miles of railway,-the longest amount of railway at that time "under the control of one com- pany in the United States. He continued in that
service, as chief engineer and general manager, until his unsolicited election to the position of chief engi- neer of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Mr. Thomson entered upon his duties as chief en- gineer of the road in the early part of 1847. The directors say, in their first annual report, that "in the selection of a chief engineer the board was fortunate in obtaining the services of Mr. John Edgar Thom- son, a gentleman of enlarged professional experience and sound judgment, who had obtained a well-earned reputation upon the Georgia road, and in whom the board place great confidence."
On the 2d of February, 1852, Mr. Thomson was elected president of the company, and it was in that capacity he saw completed many important enter- prises which he had inaugurated as chief engineer. He was continued in the position, without interrup- tion, up to the time of his death, devoting to the great enterprise twenty-seven years of his life, and bestowing upon it an amount of care and attention never given by any other American to a similar work.
His reputation was established South as well as North, and he confessedly stood at the head of his profession. He did more than any one man who ever lived to establish, create, and perfect the railway system of the American continent.
Occupying the important business position he did, it was natural that Mr. Thomson's influence should be sought for many enterprises. So far as these were for the general good, he cheerfully promoted them. One of his favorite objects was the thorough develop- ment of the mineral resources of Pennsylvania, in the value of which he had unlimited faith. Every coal and iron field was thoroughly understood and appre- ciated by him; and if the great corporation over which he presided could facilitate its development, the work was promptly done. The American Steam- ship Company of Philadelphia was largely indebted to his sagacity and unwavering interest in the busi- ness of the city for its existence. As a member of the Park Commission of Philadelphia, he gained the esteem of his associates, who, after his decease, placed on record a tribute to his high character as an engi- neer, a citizen, and a gentleman of many accomplish- ments.
Burdened as he was hy such a multitude of duties, and of so arduous and complex a character, it is not surprising that the strain of such labor, continued for nearly half a century, brought his life to a close before he had numbered the threescore and ten years allotted to mankind. While his intellectual faculties remained unclouded, and his strong will evinced no signs of re- laxing, yet the human machinery that for near fifty years they had propelled in the wearing grooves of railroad life faltered in its work, and, on the 27th of May, 1874, death came to release him from the tur- moil and exactions which had so long harassed him. Noticeable traits of Mr. Thomson's character were
Gagar Showsoup
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SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
reticence and taciturnity. Devoting all his life and his great natural abilities to the cultivation of one set of ideas, his accumulation of professional information was enormous. This vast knowledge made him ex- ceedingly cautious and careful,-conservative in his ideas, and generally slow to execute. But when his conclusions were reached, and the emergency required it, he became grandly enterprising, and permitted no obstacle to stand in the way of success. His thoughts and opinions were rarely made known, while he dis- played infinite patience in listening to the views, de- sires, hopes, fears, and plans of others. Actions spoke for him, not words. When convinced, he knew no hesitancy or doubt. His conception of the future of American railroads seems now almost supernatural. For twenty years he marked out and reiterated in his annual reports the plan of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and he never deviated from that plan. To such a man system was everything; and there can be no question that much of the success attending the Pennsylvania Railroad was owing to the almost military rigidity with which its workings were arranged and managed under his inspiration. He had that great faculty of a general,-a good judgment of character and capabilities. In this he was rarely mistaken ; and, his confidence once placed, he was loyal to its recipients, never abandoning or failing to sustain them. This friendship was undem- onstrative except in acts. He had few intimate as- sociates outside of his own family, and was utterly indifferent to popular applause. His affections seemed centred in the great corporation he controlled, and whatever conduced to the success of that, present or re- mote, was the thing to be done,-the end to be attained.
The peculiar bent of his mind is illustrated by the fact that the larger portion of his fortune was devised for the foundation of an institution for the benefit of a class of people connected with the railways he had been instrumental in creating. This charity, which was opened Dec. 4, 1882, is called St. John's Orphan- age. It has been started in two houses, Nos. 1720 and 1722 Rittenhouse Street, and in a modest way is doing active good. It is open to receive the daughters of employés who have died in the service,-first, of the Pennsylvania Railroad ; secondly, of the Georgia and Atlantic Railroad; and then of any railroad in the United States. The girls are taken from the age of six to ten, given free of charge a home in the orphan- age and a plain education, being taught household work and sewing until they are sixteen, when they will be put out to service or taught a trade. It is in- tended to open a boarding-house for those who have left the orphanage, that the girls may have protection while they are learning to support themselves. After his death various public bodies united in posthumous tributes to his sagacity and enterprise, leaving no room for doubt as to the respect and esteem his quiet, unobtrusive services had gained in the community where so many years of his laborious life were passed.
Licensed Houses .- The first petition of record for keeping a public-house in Springfield was presented to the court by Samuel Ogden, Sixth month (August) 29, 1727, in which he states "that have lately pur- chased a settlement, a place heretofore authorized by the Governor's License to keep Public Entertainment and Retailing of Liquors," he desired the same privi- lege as had been granted to his predecessor.
From this document it clearly appears that Ogden was not the first publican in the township. After this date I lose all further track of both Ogden and his tavern until August court, 1729. Joshua Thomson petitioned for license, stating that living " on a very public road, about half a quarter of a mile from a house which was licensed for a several years, but va- cant for considerable time past," and is " 4 or 5 miles from any public-house," which application met the approval of the justices. This abandoned inn was doubtless the house for which Ogden had had license in 1727. Yearly thereafter Joshua Thomson's name appears on the clerk's list until 1748, when we hear of his intentions to abandon the occupation. This house appears to have been located on the present Delaware County turnpike.
Blue Ball Inn .- The story of this ancient hos- telry can be traced far back in our colonial history. Under date of Aug. 31, 1743, Mordecai Taylor pre- sented his petition, in which he informed the court that he is located on the " great road from Darby to Springfield, and so into Conestoga Road." "No tav- ern," he states, " within four miles," and " sometimes twenty or thirty waggons passing in a Day." Al- though his petition was signed by Abraham Lincoln and eighteen other persons, his request was refused, inasmuch as at the same court John West, father of Benjamin West, who had presented his petition, set- ting forth that he had " Rented a Comoudyas house and all other the convenances there and to belonging for a house of Entertainment on the Roade Leading from Darby To Springfield & from thence to Conis- togo, which is of late much frequented by the Duch waggons to the number of 40 or 50 in a Day," was granted license. He was recommended by Richard and George Maris, Samuel Levis, John Davis, John Hall, John Maris, Robert Taylor, Robert Pearson, Quantia Moore, James Bartram, Richard Iverson, and Jonathan Maris.
The following year, Aug. 28, 1744, West having been granted license for a tavern in Newtown, Mor- decai Taylor again presented himself at the Novem- ber court with a petition setting forth that "Living on the public Road Leading from the Great Valley to Philadelphia [the Springfield road], and there be- ing Never a publick House within five miles either way on said road,"-between Newtown and Darby, -he asked that he be accorded license, which was granted to him, and he continued at that place until 1764, when his name disappears, and Ann Taylor was granted the license for that year. In 1765, Jesse
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Maris was the landlord, and continued yearly thereat until 1769, when Jesse Maris having died, the license was given to John Maris until 1774. In 1775, Thomas Moore had the privilege of keeping the public-house there, and the following year Michael Stadleman took his place, while in 1779 Edward Horne was sub- stituted in the latter's stead. In 1785, Matthias Tyson had the license, and was followed the next year by Rodger Stayner, and in 1787 by Charles Sankey, who continued annually to receive the favor of the court until and including the year 1789.
In 1790, immediately after the creation of Delaware County, Charles Sankey kept the tavern in Spring- field, followed, in 1793, by John Wright.
Iu 1797, Isaac Cochran received license for the inn of that name. In 1803 a remonstrance was lodged against the continuance of the house, but it appears not to have received much consideration, for in 1806, when Frederick James made application for the license at the house, although he had twice before (in 1804 and 1805) been recommended to the Governor for license, his petition was met with a remonstrance, calling attention to the fact that a like paper "was put into the hands of the clerk of the court in order to lay before the conrt in the 2d mo., 1803." That as the license is continued, "and as we-the remon- strants-have not been informed that the former re- monstrance ever came before the conrt," they attached a copy of the paper alluded to. The old remonstrance, thus resurrected after slumbering three years, set forth that the signers " apprehend there is very little occa- sion for the inn," that the direct roads from distant parts leading to Philadelphia "do very little com- municate therewith, and the surrounding ways, in almost every direction, appears to be sufficiently sup- plied with Public-houses within a moderate distance of each other," and as " the profits arising from such a situation" must be "inadequate to the expense, withont indulging neighboring unguarded people to the injury of themselves and grief of some of their families," they hope that the court after "being in- formed of the trne situation, so as to judge of the in- consistency of admitting license to any persons at said place," will refuse to recommend the petition to the Governor, and the court thereupon withdrew its approval. Frederick James, however, was not pre- pared to quietly submit to the loss of his special privi- lege, hence at the next Quarter Sessions he again ap- peared with a petition for license. The court's ap- probation thereof was attempted to be carried by a strong flank movement, as appears by the following remarkable documents :
" That your Petitioners have heard with regret that your Honors at the last Court of Quarter Sessions omitted or refused to grant the prayer of Frederick James, who petitioned tha said court to recommend him As herstofore to the Governor to obtain a license to keep the Tavern io Springfield he now occupies, called the ' Blue Bell Tavern.'
" Your Petitioners are fully persuaded (in their humble opinion) that a Pubilic House of entertainment is absolutely necessary for many rea-
"That this Tavern is about the centre of the hounds of the said Regt. and that the Regt, hath met to exercise near the same for upwards of Twenty years past, aod will meet there in future ; at which Tavern the officers hath been well accommodated, and is desirous of being so io future.
" That the Militia law enjoins the officers to meet four times in each year, exclusive of the days of their meeting iu Regt., and on adjouro- ments of the Board of officere, when this house (from its central situa- tion) hath been the usual place of meeting to transact bueinese.
" That if the said Taveru be abolished, and no house Licensed near to it, there will be no place for your Petitioners to take shelter from the inclemency of the weather, or get aoy refreshmant on days of exercise or business, for the Said Law prohibits any ardent spirite from being eold at tha parade by subtlety, and also the Regt. from exercising on any person's land without the permission of the owner.
" And that the License should be taken from this house, there will ba no placa of entertainment for strangers on the Spriogfield road from Darby to Fox's Tavern, a distance of about ten miles.
" For the foregoing reasons and many others that might be advanced, your Petitioners earnestly request the Court to recommend the said Frederick James to his Excellency the Governor as a suitable person to keep the Blue Ball Tavern in order to obtain a License for that purpose, or for the ensuing year at least, as at the expiration thereof our com- missione will expire and appointments by their own limitations.
" And your Petitioners will with pleasure acknowledge your attention to the public good.
"Wm. Litzenburg, Major; Joseph Dicks, Major ; Wm. Brooke, Bri- gade Inspector ; J. L. Pesrson, Lieut .- Colonel; Jonathan Worrall, Cap- tain; Michael Ketts, Captain ; Levi Garrett, Captain ; George Martin, Capt. ; John Deals, Capt .; James Morgan, Capt .; John Hull, Capt .; Those. Wall, Lieut. ; John Caldwell, Lieut .; Joshua Wood, Ensigo; James Hunter, Lieut. and Commanding officer of Company ; John Frothill, Quartermaster; Wm. Black, Adjt .; Samuel Pennell, Capt. of Troop ; Andrew Lindsay, let Lieut. of Troop; Wm. Moore, 2d Lieut. of Troop."
The court, notwithstanding this charge in column, manfully held its ground, and Frederick James was again repulsed.
The following year, 1807, Emmor Eachus stated to the court that he occupied the house where Isaac Cochran, and latterly Frederick James, formerly dwelled, which was known as the Blue Ball Tavern, and desired license therefor. A remonstrance was presented against the petition, stating that the house is one "which hath been repeatedly remonstrated against with good effect," and then the remonstrants followed word for word the form of the remonstrance which had such "good effect" in 1806. This time it had become an old story; at any rate the judges smiled benignly on Eachus and recommended him to the Governor as a fit man to keep a hotel.
Old Lamb Tavern .- On Ang. 26, 1740, Benjamin Maddock petitioned the court for license, stating that he " has lately built a house on the Cross Roads that leads from Darby to the Back Inhabitants where the Palintines has of Late much frequented with wagons, likewise to the Grate Road that leads from Chester to Schuylkill." Although thirty-five persons indorsed his petition,-among them Abraham Lincoln,-the court declined to grant the application of the petitioner.
" Petition of the Commissioned and staff officers of 65th Regt. Penna. Militia to the Court of Quarter Sessions for their recommending Fred- erick James to keep a Public-House.
" To the Judges of the Court of Quarter Sessione to be held at Cheeter for Del. Co. on Monday the - day July, A. D. 1806.
"The Petition of the Commissioned and Staff Officers of the 65th Regt. of Penna. Militia in the said county of Del. Respectfully shew- eth :-
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SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
In 1748, Benjamin Maddock again presented his peti- tion, in which he states that he " has built a new house at cross roads, and Joshua Thomas being about to de- cline on one of the roads," he renewed his application for leave to keep a house of public entertainment. What was done with the petition I have not learned, but I think it received the favorable notice of the court. We know that in 1761 Isaac Glease was granted license, and in 1762 and 1763 Richard Mall was also accorded that privilege, to be followed in 1764 and 1765 by John Wayten, in 1766, by Joseph Gibbons, Jr., and the license was granted until 1835, when it was discontinued. The old inn, now removed, stood in the front yard of the present Gib- bons mansion. The night of the battle of Brandy- wine, a straggling party of fleeing Americans, “ac- companied by a wagon-load of the wounded, with a surgeon, reached Gibbons' tavern in Springfield about ten o'clock in the night of the battle. Here their wounds were dressed and their wants supplied with everything the house could afford. They left early in the morning for fear of being overtaken by the enemy." 1
The Lamb Tavern. - The difficulties Emmor Eachus had at the Blue 'Ball Inn caused him to make a change in the house, for which he asked license, and in 1808 he appears to have removed to a dwelling a short distance above the Springfield meeting-house. To the new house he gave the name of the "Three Tuns." It was at this house that Capt. Morgan's company of drafted men assembled in October, 1814, previous to taking up the line of march for Marcus Hook. The license was continued to Emmor Eachus until 1820, when he was succeeded as landlord by John Jones, and five years thereafter John Fawkes kept the house for a brief season, for, dying in less than a year, his widow, Susan Fawkes, applied for license in 1826. The sage opinion of the late Tony Weller has convinced the world that there is a peculiar attraction about a widow that is fatal to the liberty of single gentlemen, but when the disconsolate relict has the additional recommendation of being the landlady of a public-house, she becomes absolutely irresistible. Hence, when Mr. Wayne Litzenberg saw Mrs. Fawkes, he was not exempt from the general fascination of the pleasing widow, and I was not surprised to find that in the application for license for the "Three Tuns," in 1829, Wayne Litzenberg figures as the petitioner, and informs the court that he has intermarried with Susan Fawkes.
In 1830, John Black followed as the landlord, to be succeeded in 1835 by Isaac Johnson, when, the old Lamb Tavern kept by Gibbons having ceased to be a licensed house, Johnson substituted for his tavern the name "The Lamb," instead of the "Three Tuns," by which it had formerly been known. The latter was greatly interested in military matters, and fre-
quently the militia under the old law assembled at his house for review and to be instructed in the art of war. In 1837, John Ford was mine host of the Lamb, and in 1847, Forrester Hoopes was the landlord, his first license being had under the first local option law, when he was granted leave by the court to keep a tem- perance house, which was not the sort of privilege he desired. Here he continued, receiving full license after the law which interdicted the sale of liquor in that township had been declared by the Supreme Court unconstitutional, until 1853, when the owner of the property, George Worrall, kept the house. The latter iu 1858 was followed by Joseph H. Black, who in the succeeding year retired, to be followed by George Worrall. In 1863, Peter H. Hill had license for the house, which he afterwards had transferred to Worrall. The next year, 1864, William F. Wood- ward kept the tavern, and remained there until 1868, when Malachi W. Sloan became the proprietor. He in 1869 gave place to Benjamin Rodgers, to be fol- lowed in 1873 by Mr. Sloan. In 1875 Leedom Kirk was the landlord, and James A. Serverson in 1878.
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