History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 184

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

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Ridley Park Presbyterian Church .- The first at- tempt to establish a Presbyterian Church at Ridley Park began in 1873, when the Rev. Mr. Ewing, then of the Ridley Presbyterian Church, preached in the depot

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

on Sunday afternoons, but the movement failed. A second effort was made in 1874, by Rev. J. E. Alexan- der, which also failed. Towards the end of that year a Sabbath-school was established. Mr. Smith, super- intendent of Ridley Park, offered the use of the hotel dining-room for the purpose during the winter. The first session of the Sabbath-school was held on the first Sunday in January, 1875, and have been held every Sunday since. Occasional services were had in the hotel and in the store building, in a room which had been secured for Sabbath-school purposes. In August, 1875, at the request of Henry Holcombe, Dr. Grier consented to hold regular services for two months at Ridley Park. A committee subsequently waited on the doctor and invited him to statedly sup- ply the pulpit for one year, which he consented to do. Immediately a movement to build a church was or- ganized. The Ridley Park Association gave two lots on the northwest corner of Ridley and Swarthmore Avenues as a site, and plans were furnished by A. W. Dilks, of Philadelphia, who also supervised the build- ing of the church edifice. Work was commenced on Dec. 13, 1875, H. F. Kinney and D. R. B. Nevin being the building committee. The church is of stone, in the Gothic style of architecture, and is thirty by fifty feet, with porch and vestibule. It was completed in the summer of 1876, and dedicated September 10th in that year, the Rev. Dr. M. Greer and the Rev. Mr. Mowry, of Chester, conducting the services. The edifice cost when completed about seven thousand dollars, and the church was incorporated to the trus- tees Sept. 8, 1876.

A communion of the Presbytery of Chester, Nov. 9, 1876, approved the movement to establish a church, and in February, 1877, met in the new building, and organized a church with twelve mem- bers, in connection with and under the care of the Presbytery of Chester. John Craig was subsequently elected elder. The Rev. Dr. M. B. Greer, of Philadel- phia, editor of the Presbyterian, was chosen pastor of the new church, and it is still under his charge. The present membership of the church is thirty-five.

Christ Protestant Episcopal Church .- An effort was made to establish a church of this denomination at Ridley Park in 1873. Two lots were donated by the Ridley Park Association on which to erect a church, and on May 7, 1873, the corner-stone of a chapel was laid. Through want of funds the move- ment languished, and work on the edifice ceased. In the summer of 1878 an effort to establish an Episco- pal Church was again revived, and regular services were held at the depot by the Rev. Dr. Bushnell, of Philadelphia, and the Rev. Henry Brown, of Chester. Subscriptions for a chapel were obtained, and in 1879 the present edifice was erected. It is of the English type, built of Port Deposit stone, and has a bell-tower and a spire. The pulpit is now occupied by the Rev. William Marilla, under whose ministratious the con- gregation is steadily increasing.

Ridley Park Seminary .- In September, 1882, Miss C. J. Taylor, of Ridley Park, opened a private school for instruction in the common branches, and also preparing students for college. A school-room was fitted in her father's residence, with the intention eventually of using the house as a boarding-school. Lectures are delivered once a week at the seminary by W. Curtis Taylor on astronomy and geology, and occasionally by Dr. J. Gibbons Hunt on common things, illustrated with a microscope. During the past year there have been in attendance twenty-five pupils. It is the intention of the principal in 1885 to establish a boarding-school at Ridley Park.

The Knights Templar Encampment .- On May 28, 1876, a grand encampment of Knights Templar of Maryland was held on the rolling ground west of Crum Lynne Lake, at a point equal distant from Crum Lynne and Ridley Park Station. A number of knights from the Western States, as well as com- manderies from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, joined with the Maryland commanderies in the grand encampment. A pavilion, two hundred feet long, was erected, and the camp proper was of canvas tents, fronting on avenues running north and south, with main avenues crossing them east and west. The arrangement and perfecting of the camp at Ridley Park were in charge of Maj. Nevin. The encampment continued for ten days, and while the knights were present was a scene of activity, which attracted a large number of visitors.

Prospect Park .- In 1874, John Cochran, of Ches- ter, purchased one hundred and three acres of land of the estate of Joshua Pierson, and in that year laid it out in villa lots. Early in September of that year Cochran sold an interest to John Shedwick & Son, then of Philadelphia, but formerly of Chester, where they had erected a number of houses and other build- ings. On Sept. 10, 1874, the first public sale of lots was held, and after that sales were made two or three times a year until most of the land was sold, when the remaining interest of Cochran was purchased by Shedwick & Son, who now own all of the original tract which has not been sold for lots. There are now twenty-five houses in the park, many of them handsome and costly villas.

Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church .- In April, 1878, a class was formed of six members, and a lot of land, one hundred by one hundred and four feet, on the road from Moore's Station to the Laza- retto, was purchased of James C. Shedwick. A char- ter was obtained for the church Aug. 1, 1878. A neat brick structure was erected the same year, at a cost of four thousand four hundred dollars, and dedi- cated June 1, 1879, by Bishop Matthew Simpson. The Rev. J. H. Pike was the first pastor, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, the Rev. G. M. Brodhead. The membership is at present about seventy persons.

The Plow Tavern .- On Aug. 26, 1740, Israel

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Hendrickson, of Amosland, stated in his petition that he having built a new house "upon the great road from Philadelphia to Chester," desired to keep public- house therein. His petition was recommended by a number of the "Inhabitants of Ridley who have known him from his infancy," but the court refused to grant him a license. In 1767 William Smith had license, and in 1771 he gave place to Benjamin Richards, and the following year, 1772, Henry Shivers was the landlord. In 1780, Isaac Culin had license, and in 1782, William Price, and in 1796, Abijah Price succeeded to the privilege. In 1800 license was re- fused to the Plow, and after that date the dwelling ceased to be a public inn, doubtless because it came in competition with the " White Horse," both houses being then owned by Joseph Pearson. About 1765, John Morton, the signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, purchased the property, which at his death passed to his son, Sketchley Morton, and the latter, in 1785, sold it to Joseph Pearson, who, in 1803, be- queathed it to John L. Pearson. It has been stated that it continued a tavern until 1820, when John L. Pearson moved into it and took down the sign, an assertion which is not sustained by the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Delaware County.

Leiperville Mills .- Prior to 1764 a grist-mill had been built on Crum Creek, near the site where subse- quently the locks of thre Leiper Canal were located. In that year John McIlvain owned and was operating a grist-mill at that place, which was situated about two hundred yards below the present cotton-mill. The grist-mill was used until 1794, when a saw-mill was erected, and continued until it was sold about 1827 to George G. Leiper. A tan-yard was established by Jeremiah McIlvain in 1794, which was continued by him until his death, and by his sons, John and Jere- miah McIlvain, until some time subsequent to 1835, at which time a bark-mill was on the property, when it was purchased from them by George G. Leiper. The tannery had forty vats and four leaches. In 1837, George G. Leiper enlarged the bark-mill by erecting one and one-half stories to the old stone structure, which he leased to James Campbell. The old mill extended along the post-road. So successfully did Campbell operate the factory that in the fall of 1846 Leiper erected a three-story stone factory in addition to the old one, which extended along the canal. In the Delaware County Republican of Aug. 6, 1847, is the following description of the mills :

" The factory is owned by Judge Leiper and occupied by Mr. James Campbell, one of the most industrious and enterprising men engaged in the bneiness in this county. We found the factory in full operation, and the hende busily at work on the different branches connected with the business. The building is of etone, three stories high, and filled closely with machinery from the ground-floor to the attic, some of which is of the most approved character. There are in the mill one thoneend and eight spindlee, eleven hundred and four throetles, and seventy-two looms. We observed a mule of four hundred and fifty-six (a eelf-acting mule) spindles, which was an entire new piece of machinery to ue, and, we believe, the only one of the kind in this country. It is similar to those ueed in the large manufacturing cetablishments in England. the pattern

of which wee recently brought here by Mr. Campbell. One of the loome was et work on a beautiful and substantial article for tehle-cloths, which needs only to he seen to be admired. The principal articles manufac- tured are ticking, table-clothe, and bagging, or tent-cloth, of which sixty thousand yarde are turned out monthly. There are sixty-five persone employed in the different departmente, and the whole moves with the precision of clock-work. The wages spinners receive is thirty dollars per month, weavere, eighteen dollars. The females appear happy and contented, and exhibit bright and pleasant countenances. Mr. Campbell ie a practical manufacturer, etndies the wants and comforts of those about him, and his presence in the mill, lending a helping hand when required, endears him to those in his employment. The various depart- ments of the mill are superintended with skill and judgment. Samuel Turner has charge of the cloth-room; J. W. Dobbine, of the loome; William Price, of the throstles; and Jonathan Taylor, of the card-room."

At this time the saw-mill was operated by Thomas M. Smith, and was then employed in cutting ship- timber for the United States government. On Dec. 8, 1848, the dry-house at Campbell's mill was de- stroyed by fire. A young son of Richard Garsed, of Frankford, was then visiting his aunt, Mrs. Campbell, and the child was so alarmed and excited by the fire that it caused brain-fever, which terminated fatally in a short time thereafter. The dry-house was rebuilt, and was again destroyed by fire Oct. 23, 1850. After Campbell purchased the old jail in Chester and changed it to a cotton-mill, he continued to operate the mill until 1855, when he removed the machinery.

About 1848, George G. Leiper erected an axe-factory below the saw-mill, which was operated by William Beatty for some time, the tilt-mill being supplied by the water from the canal. The demand, however, for power was so great at the cotton-factory that Campbell finally rented the tilt-mill, which was abandoned, the water being used for the cotton-mill. After Campbell removed to Chester, Michael Buggy became the ten- ant of the mill, and conducted the factory until it was purchased by Daniel Lees, Aug. 2, 1869, from the ex- ecutors of George G. Leiper. It was conducted by him until July 21, 1883, when the two-thirds interest was sold to Frank J. Taylor and Oliver Holt, who operate it at present. This mill was destroyed by fire Feb. 19, 1878, at which time it was employed in spin- ning yaru, occasioning a loss of thirty-five thousand dollars. It was rebuilt in 1880. The new mill, which was a stone structure, one hundred and four by fifty feet, and two stories in height, was again destroyed by fire in the fall of 1881, and for the third time rebuilt.

Peter Hill's or Hickman's Grist-Mill .- About a mile north of Leiperville, near the Springfield road and Little Crum Creek, in 1774 Isaac Davis had a grist-mill, which prior to the battle of Brandywine had become the property of Peter Hill, for subsequent to that date the flour at the mill and the teams of the miller were impressed for the use of the army, but afterward the United States government made full compensation by a patent for five thousand acres of laud near Clarksburg, Lee Co., Va. It is probable that the mill was burned at the time when some of the foraging parties of the enemy swept through Rid- ley township. Certain it is that in 1795 Hill was as- sessed only on a saw-mill, and in 1799 he was assessed

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

on three hundred and thirty acres of land, a grist- and saw-mill. The saw-mill was discontinued in 1808, and was permitted to fall into ruins. The grist- mill was built of stone, was forty-eight by thirty-six feet, and was changed into a cotton-factory in 1826, but was not used as such for several years. Prior to and in 1842 it was occupied by Henry Burt, and at that time was part stone and frame, three and a half stories in height, and was fifty by thirty-eight feet. It contained seven carding-engines, one drawing- frame, four hundred and eighty wadding-frames, ninety cards, twenty-one Patterson speeders, and other machinery. In 1844 it was rented from Henry Ef- finger, the then owner, by James Campbell, who used it as a spinning-mill until 1846, when it was rented to Charles F. and Joseph W. Kenworthy, who put steam-power in the mills. In 1847 there were in operation at this mill four hundred and sixty-eight throstle-spindles, three hundred mule-spindles, and thirty looms; thirty hands were employed, who manu- factured four thousand five hundred yards per week. Ten of the looms were employed on Canton flannel, and the remainder on bagging. On Dec. 19, 1848, the engine-house was burned, and the mill itself saved from destruction with the greatest difficulty. After the Kenworthys removed to Bridgewater the mill was idle for a time, and subsequently was changed into a grist-mill, and is now owned by Samuel Hickman.

The Eddystone Manufacturing Company. - The extensive works of this company are located on the Olle Lille plantation, one of the noted localities during the early Swedish settlement, known by the Indians as Techrassi (the laud belonging to the man with the black beard). Ridley Creek was at that time known as Olof Stille's Kill, and subsequently after the estate was purchased by the Swedish clergyman, Laurentius Carlus Lock, the stream was termed Preest's Creek. The property afterwards passed to John Crosby, and later was divided into smaller plan- tations, and in 1779 Isaac Eyre seems to have had a grist-mill in this locality, and near by Joseph Trim- ble had a saw-mill. Henry Effinger, who acquired title by purchasing the interests of Isaac Eyre, John Crosby, and Susannah Duly in 1782, devised the plan- tation to his sons, Jacob and Henry Effinger, and in 1831 Henry Effinger became the owner of the entire tract. He was a peculiar man, very parsimo- nious in his habits, and was so opposed to the public school law that he would never pay the taxes levied for the support of public instruction, but yearly com- pelled the collector to levy on his personal property to liquidate the charges.

In 1871 the executors of Henry Effinger sold to John Roach, who subsequently conveyed the estate to William Simpson & Sons. The same purchaser afterwards bought a large part of the George G. Leiper estate to the north of the Effinger farm, as well as the Grantham farm, which adjoined the Effinger property on the east. The name was shortened frequently to

Grant, hence the "Grant Rocks" on the Delaware should be really "Grantham Rocks." The old man- sion is situated about two hundred yards from the river, and the walls being over two feet six inches thick, it is still a substantial structure. The Grantham family subsequently erected a new dwelling near the Southern post-road, which Lewis Trimble afterwards took down and built a house which subsequently be- came the property of Richard Risley Carlisle, better known as " Professor Risley," the noted acrobat, who with his two sons were favorite performers a quarter of a century ago. The Risley house is now owned by the widow of N. F. H. Dennis. On the Effinger farm, as stated, the extensive Eddystone Print-Works have been erected.

The Eddystone Manufacturing Company (Lim- ited) was founded in 1844 by William Simpson, at the Falls of Schuylkill, Philadelphia. In 1860, Mr. Simpson's sons were admitted to the firm, which became William Simpson & Sons. The works were removed to Eddystone in 1874, and in 1877 the Eddy- stone Manufacturing Company (Limited) was formed, of which company the old firm were the principal owners of stock. At that time the works were en- larged and the finest machinery obtained to make prints of all colors. The noted Eddystone prints and cotton-prints, as well as William Simpson & Sons' mourning prints, for which the old firm had acquired a high reputation, are still manufactured, and are favor- ite goods in the market. The works comprise fifteen buildings, consisting of engraving- and color-rooms, two hundred and two by eighty-two feet, one story in height; bleaching-room, two hundred and forty-four by ninety feet, one story ; boiler-house, one hundred and twelve by seventy-two feet, one story ; cloth store- house, one hundred and twelve by fifty feet, one story ; white-rooms, one hundred and seven by eighty-four feet, one story, with boiler-house, two hundred and two by seventy-two feet, one story ; south dye-house, two hundred and two by ninety-two feet, one story ; north dye-house, two hundred and twenty-three by ninety-three feet, one story ; finishing-house, three hundred by sixty feet, two stories ; print-works, three hundred by eighty-five feet, three stories ; retort-house, ninety by ninety feet, one story ; machine-shop, one hundred and fifty by sixty feet, one story ; planing- mill, one hundred by ninety feet, one story ; pump- house, sixty by thirty-five feet, one story ; stable, one hundred and fourteen by ninety-two feet, one story. The fifteen buildings mentioned cover nearly five acres of ground. There are fifty-four engines, with thirty-seven boilers, requiring twenty-five thousand tons of coal annually. Five hundred and three men, sixty-one women and girls, and one hundred and sixty boys are employed, and the weekly production is thirty thousand pieces of cloth of forty-eight yards each. Such an industry has built up about it a thriving village. The liberality of the company and Mr. Simpson has made this an attractive locality.

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There are eighty-five brick tenant-houses on the property, and in 1880 the company erected a library building, known as " Eddystone Light-house," for the use of its employés. It is of brick, fifty-five feet front by thirty-three feet wide, and built after the old English Chester style of architecture, with a tower thirty-six feet high from the base of the building, running up twenty-six feet above the roof. The first story contains the library-room, adjoining which and on the same floor there is a retiring-room. The second story has a seating capacity for over two hun- dred persons, and is furnished with comfortable benches and a stage and dressing-room, which indi- cate that it will be used for amateur dramatic per- formances and for lectures. The floors are laid with yellow-pine, and are deadened by being filled between with mortar. The furniture and book-cases are of hard wood, white-walnut and ash, no paint or varnish being used. The rooms are heated from the basement or cellar by means of an improved heating apparatus, and, taken altogether, there are but few, if any, struc- tures in city or country more substantial or better or- dered in every respect. The library contains six hundred volumes on almost every subject,-scien- tific, mechanical, medical, and literary. In front of the building there is an extensive lawn of two acres, planted with shade and ornamental trees, which is intended as a play-ground for the children. The admirable system of water-supply, the comfortable houses for the operatives, together with the natural beauties of the location, make Eddystone one of the pleasantest manufacturing centres in the Middle States.

The following mills in Ridley township we have not been able to locate: In 1766, John Lewis was assessed on a saw-mill ; in 1779, James Hannum was assessed on a grist-mill; and in 1817, Caleb Church- man on a saw-mill.

Leiper's Railroad .- In 1809 and 1810, Thomas Leiper constructed the first railroad in Pennsylvania and the second in the United States. Strictly it was a tramway and not a railroad. It was three-quarters of a mile in length, and used in transporting stone for his quarries in Springfield to tide-water of Ridley Creek, near the mill of Pierce Crosby (the present Irvington Mill, North Chester borough). In May, 1809, Leiper made an estimate of the railroad, but the project was not completed until January or February of the suc- ceeding year. The estimate of the cost of the road was, including the survey, $1592.47. The survey and draft of the road was made by John Thomson, and in 1873 the original map drawn by Thomson was pre- sented by Dr. Joshua Ash to the Delaware County Institute of Science. In September, 1809, under the supervision of Thomson, the experimental track was built, the construction being done by Summerville, a Scotch millwright. The road "was sixty yards in length, and graded an inch and a half to the yard. The gauge was four feet and the sleepers eight feet

apart. The experiment with a loaded car was so suc- cessful that Leiper had the first practical railroad built in the United States."1 The rails of Leiper's road in Ridley were of wood, and of course soon yielded to the heavy friction of the car-wheels, which were of cast iron with flanges, and were not renewed, Leiper designing to lay a stone track. As it was, it continued in use for nineteen years. In 1852 both the railroad and canal were superseded by the present road laid with iron rails.

The experimental track spoken of was laid in 1809, and made on land adjoining the Bull Head Tavern, in Philadelphia. "When the day of trial came a large concourse of people assembled to witness the experiment. After having loaded the car with all the weights that could be procured from the neigh- boring hay-scales, wagers were offered to any amount that no horse could move it to the summit; but when the word was given the horse moved off with ease, amid the plaudits of the assembled multitude."2

Thomas Leiper was the son of Thomas Leiper, of Strathhaven, Scotland ; his mother, Helen Hamilton Leiper, is said to have belonged to the family of Hamil- ton of Kipe.3 He came to America in 1764, when nine- teen years of age, having first settled in Virginia, when he removed to Philadelphia, where he accumulated a fortune as a tobacconist prior to the Revolution. He was an ardent Whig during the struggle, and " was the first man in Pennsylvania to advocate a rupture with the mother-country. While the Declaration of Inde- pendence was still only heard of in whispers, Leiper had raised a fund for open resistance to the crown. It was also his fortune to be one of the last to lay down his arms. As treasurer of the First Troop he bore the last subsidies of the French to the Americans at York- town."+ He was orderly sergeant, treasurer, and sec- retary of the First City Troop, and subsequently president of the Common Council of Philadelphia. He was frequently a Presidential elector, and was termed the patriarch of the Democratic party, and an intimate personal friend of Thomas Jefferson. "Mr. Jefferson was heard to say that the tables of Dr. Rush, Maj. Butler, of South Carolina, and Mr. Leiper, were the only ones in Philadelphia to whom he was ever invited during those days of Federal persecution, and that the Federalists used to cross the streets to avoid him." 5 He had made it a rule of life never to accept an office of pay or profit ; hence while he served as director of the Bank of Pennsylvania and of the Bank of the United States, and was commissioner for the defense of Philadelphia during the war of 1812, he refused to permit his name to be used for any elec- tive office to which emoluments or pay was attached. During the darkest hour of the American Revolution

1 " The Pennsylvania Railroad," by William B. Sipes, p. 4 (note).

2 Smith's " History of Delaware County," p. 389 (note).

3 Penna. Mag. of Hist., vol. i. p. 226.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 184

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