USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania > Part 46
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When resuscitated, to the surprise of all beholders the man's face was stamped with lines of age and the dark locks of youth had turned to snowy whiteness. Agony in a few moments had done the work of years.
The Pennsylvania Packet for Jan. 12, 1786, refers to the execution as follows :
"On Tuesday, the 3d inst., the woman who was tried and convicted at Chesler, of murdering her two bastard children, ten weeks after their birth, was hanged at that place pursuant to her sentence, the respite given by the Honorable Council having expired."
The sequel to this extraordinary case is peculiarly marked with dramatic features. When William Wil- son was restored to health, for he lingered for some time after his sister's execution with a low fever, in which he, in delirious dreams, re-enacted his remark- able efforts to save Elizabeth's life, he withdrew him- self from the haunts of men, and taking up his abode in the Hummelstown cave in the Swatara Mountains, Dauphin County, led a solitary life, employing him- self at his trade in making grindstones, which he sold to Mr. Wolfersberger, of Campbellstown. His cave was furnished with a table, a stove, a bed of straw, and a few cooking utensils. He was cleanly in his habits, and (a noticeable thing in these days) never shaved his face, but let his long, snowy heard sweep his breast, and he employed all his time when not at work with reading diligently his Bible and religious books. He was popularly known as the "Pennsyl- vania Hermit."
In the Harrisburg Intelligencer of Oct. 13, 1821, I find the following notice of his death :
" Died lately at his lonely hovel among the hills, twelve miles southeast from Harrisburg, Pa., Wilson, who for many years endeavored to be a soli- tary recluse from the society of men, excepting as far as was necessary for his support. His retirement was principally occasioned by the melancholy manner of the death of his sister, by which his reason was par- tially affected. She had been condemned to die near Philadelphia for murder, in the hope of concealing her shame from the world, and the day of execution was appointed. In the mean time her brother used his utmost means to obtain her pardon from the Governor. He had succeeded, and his horse foamed and hled as he spurred him homeward. But an un- propitious rain had swollen the stream, he was com- pelled to pace the bank with bursting brain and gaze upon the rushing waters that threatened to blast his
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
only hope. At the earliest moment that a ford was practicable he dashed through, and arrived at the place of execution just in time to see the last struggle of his sister. This was the fatal blow. He retired to the hills of Dauphin County, where he employed himself in making grindstones for a livelihood. He was very exact in his accounts, but was observed fre- quently to be estranged, and one morning was found dead by a few of his neighbors, who had left him the evening previously in good health."
Long years ago the residents of Chester would fre- quently relate the occasional appearance of a spectral white horse and rider which on stormy nights could be seen and heard clattering along Fourth Street at a headlong pace to the prison door, and that reached, the noise ceased and the apparition faded into the darkness. Many of the superstitious people of that day firmly believed that the phantom steed bore the unhappy William Wilson, whose fruitless ride to Philadelphia to obtain a respite for his sister that I have narrated still lingers in the traditions of our county.
Jan. 21, 1786, Robert Wilson, or Elliott (for the "Colonial Record" uses both names in referring to this prisoner), was under sentence of death in the old jail at Chester, but the Executive Council saw fit to defer the execution until February 11th of the same year. Before that date came the Council pardoned him, on condition that " he transport himself beyond the seas, not to return to the United States."
On June 5, 1786, from the proceedings of the Ex- ecutive Council we learn that at that date John Mc- Donough and Richard Shirtliffe were in jail at Ches- ter, under sentence of death for rape, and that the sheriff of the county was ordered to execute them on Saturday, June 17, 1786. Subsequently, with a re- finement of cruelty hardly to be looked for from the men at the head of the State government, Council ordered that Richard Shirtliffe should be reprieved until further orders, directing, however, that the wel- come intelligence should not be imparted to him until he had been taken under the gallows. What became of him subsequently I have not learned, but in less than four months there was a general jail de- livery from the old jail at Chester, when, under the act of Sept. 25, 1786, Sheriff Gibbons removed all the prisoners to the new jail in Goshen township (now West Chester), and the " black stage, the cross-beam, the rope, and all the hideous apparatus of death" was removed, not to be erected again in this locality for the third of a century.
Although no capital conviction was had in Dela- ware County for twenty-nine years after its creation in 1789, it must not be supposed that no trials for murder occurred during that interval, for such would be a serious error. At the Court of Oyer and Ter- miner held April 25, 1797, Jacob Rudolph, of Darby township, was tried for killing John Barr by striking him on the head witli an iron rake. The defendant
was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and sen- tenced to six months' imprisonment and costs. At a like court held in April, 1801, Samuel Black, Catha- rine Black, and Sarah Campbell, of Marple, were tried for having beaten a negro girl named Patt with sticks so severely that she died from the injuries sus- tained. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty as to all the defendants. Patrick Gallahoe, laborer, was tried Oct. 28, 1802, for the murder of Alexander Mc- Kettuck by striking him with a stick. The jury found the prisoner guilty of murder in the second de- gree, and he was sentenced to sixteen years' imprison- ment, four of which was to be solitary confinement and the remainder of the term at hard labor. On Jan. 30, 1806, Samuel Howard, a laborer, was tried for the murder of Abraham Stevenson. The accused had thrown the deceased into the river, where he was drowned. Howard was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the penitentiary at Philadelphia.
At the October sessions, 1806, Francis Patterson was indicted and convicted of challenging Curtis Lownes, of Ridley, to fight a duel. The accused was sentenced to pay costs of prosecution, a fine of five hundred dollars, and to undergo an imprisonment in the county jail at hard labor for one year. In addi- tion he was deprived of all rights of citizenship within the commonwealth for the term of seven years.
On April 14, 1818, John H. Craig was tried for the murder of Squire Hunter, of Newtown, an account of which crime will be found in the history of that town- ship.
At the January Oyer and Terminer, 1819, Charles Norton was convicted of rape, attended with aggra- vated circumstances. Judge Ross sentenced him to be confined "in the goal and penitentiary-house of Philadelphia for a period of twenty-one years from this day, and to be confined and kept at hard labour, fed and clothed, as the Act of Assembly directs, and be placed during one-fourth of the said term in the solitary cells, that he pay the costs of prosecution, and be committed till the whole sentence is complied with." Thomas Prevard, who was convicted at the same court of a similar offense, received a like sen- tence. Henry Duffey, at the January Oyer and Ter- miner, 1820, was convicted of rape, and sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen years.
At the April court, 1820, Benjamin Bevan was tried for the manslaughter of Ebenezer Cook by a blow on the head with a stick, causing death in three days thereafter. The jury by their verdict acquitted the accused.
At the October Court of Oyer and Terminer, 1824, Michael Munroe, alias James Wellington, was con- victed of the murder of William Bonsall, and Wash- ington Labbe of murder in the second degree. An account of this case will be found in the history of Upper Darby township.
On Jan. 16, 1827, James Fleming was tried for the
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murder of Patrick Gill. The prisoner had a knife in his hand when he was attacked by Gill, and in the quarrel Fleming struck the deceased with the weapon in the left side near the groin, causing the latter's death the same day. The defense was that the act was done in self-protection, and the jury acquitted Fleming.
On Oct. 23, 1829, Thomas Brooke was arraigned for the murder of William Brook, a Revolutionary sol- dier, the indictment setting forth that the accused had struck the deceased on the head with a stick, which killed him instantly. Hon. Edward Darling- ton, the then deputy attorney-general, abandoned the case after a few witnesses had been examined for the commonwealth, stating that " there was not a shadow of proof to support the accusation." The jury, with- out leaving the box, acquitted the defendant.
Charles Williams, a colored man, who had been convicted of burglary, on Oct. 24, 1829, was taken by Sheriff Broomhall, of Delaware County, to undergo a term of imprisonment at Cherry Hill. It is stated that Williams was the first prisoner from any part of the State ever confined in the present Eastern Peni- tentiary.
At November court, 1836, Richard Milner Martin, a colored man, was tried for killing William Patton by striking him on the head with a stick of wood. He was acquitted. On Nov. 29, 1838, Thomas Mc- Laughlin was tried for the murder of William Pierce. The defendant, November 16th of the same year, struck the deceased on the head with a handspike, and from the injury death ensued the same day. The jury convicted the accused of manslaughter, ac- companying their finding with a recommendation of the prisoner "to the most extended leniency of the court." Mclaughlin was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in the penitentiary.
May 28, 1841, Thomas Cropper was convicted of the murder of Martin Hollis, and executed Ang. 6, 1841, in the jail-yard at Chester. This was the last capital conviction in Delaware County. A full ac- count of this case will be given in the history of Birmingham.
On Nov. 23, 1841, Thomas Vanderslice, known to the detectives as "Old Tom Vanderslice," was tried for passing counterfeit money. He refused to employ or have counsel assigned to condnet his defense, but managed his own case, and made a speech to the court (Judge Bell was on the bench) which was remarkable for its boldness and impudence. He was convicted, and sentenced to three years' incarceration in the penitentiary. After his discharge, on March 24, 1848, he fell into the river at Dock Street wharf, Philadel- phia, and was drowned.
On May 27, 1845, Alexander Harris, alias Dobson, was tried for the murder of Ruth Harris, an infant. The accused was a colored man, and the child was the fruits of his criminal intimacy with a white woman. The body of the infant was found at " Decp Hole,"
in Darby Creek, at Calcoon Hook, in a bag, in which was a heavy stone to sink it in the water. The jury, after three hours' deliberation, found the prisoner not guilty.
Nov. 27, 1846, Isaiah Spencer, indicted for shooting William Davis in the left breast, from which wound the latter died instantly, was arraigned. Spencer plead guilty to manslaughter, and was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary.
May 28, 1862, Martha J. Long, of Chester, was tried for the murder of her bastard child. The pros- ecution strove to show how she had strangled it, but the jury acquitted her of murder, but found her guilty of concealing the death of a bastard child. The court sentenced her to three monthis' imprisonment.
On Feb. 23, 1864, George Wilkinson was indicted for the murder of Ellen Jones and John Blair, in Middletown. The particulars of this crime are nar- rated in the history of that township.
On Feb. 26, 1866, John Ward, charged with en- gaging in a prize-fight with Farrell, near Linwood, which brutal exhibition took place on February 3d of the same year, was tried and convicted. The court sentenced him to two years' imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary.
Jan. 6, 1869, James Weir, a lad thirteen years of age, living in Chester, was tried for the murder of John Thomas, a youth of sixteen. The boys were employed in Patterson Mill, had quarreled, and in the scuffle Weir, with his pocket-knife, stabbed Thomas, who died almost immediately. The jury convicted the prisoner of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. On Novem- ber 25th of the same year Thomas Bryson, a shoe- maker, of Marple, was tried for the murder of William Stinson. The deceased and the accused had a diffi- culty on September 22d, during which Bryson struck Stinson on the head with a stone, inflicting an injury from which death ensued the following day. The jury found a verdict of manslaughter, with a recom- mendation to the mercy of the court. Bryson was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
Ang. 22, 1870, Sarah Seaburn, a widow, was tried for the murder of her father, Geo. Clay, of Upper Darby. She had struck him with a hatchet on the head, producing almost instant death. The jury ac- quitted her on the ground of insanity, and she was committed to the county-house.
Nov. 25, 1872, Joseph Worrall, Jr., was tried for the murder, in August preceding, of David Neidig. The deceased, with a number of ladies and gentle- men, were walking near Lima, when all of the party, excepting the deceased, went into the yard of Mr. Stork's dwelling for a drink of water. One of the party in the yard cast a stone, striking the house, and Worrall, who was in the house, came out and threw a stone violently at the crowd, who were then in the road, which struck Neidig on the head. 'He died three days afterwards. The jury found the accused
12
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and he was sen- tenced to one year and nine months' imprisonment.
On Sept. 22, 1875, Charles McDevitt, a peddler, sixty years of age, living in Upper Darby, was tried for the murder of James Fletcher, of Haverford. On May 21st McDevitt was ordered away from Fletcher's honse, was put out of the gate, and his bundle was tossed over in the road to him. "Throw my stick over, too," he said to Fletcher. From this a quarrel resulted, and during the scuffle the peddler stabbed Fletcher near the heart, killing him almost imme- diately. The jury convicted McDevitt of man- slaughter, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for one year.
James Sheridan, a hired man on the farm of Samuel H. Hibberd, of Haverford, was killed Dec. 6, 1875, under the following circumstances : Six young men, accompanied with dogs, were gunning on Mr. Hib- berd's farm, where persons were interdicted from tres- passing. The owner of the place took a double-bar- reled gun, and, going to where the parties were, shot one of the dogs. This brought on a serious difficulty between the trespassers, Mr. Hibberd, and his hired men. In the struggle Sheridan grappled with John Baird, and the prosecution strove to show that Thomas Cromie, who had a gun, fired the shot killing Sheri- dan, or that Frederick Troup had deliberately shot him from a lot adjoining. The case was tried March 10, 1876, the jury retired on Saturday night, and on Monday afternoon returned a verdict of voluntary manslaughter. The court sentenced Frederick Troup, John Baird, and Thomas Cromie each to three years' imprisonment in the county jail.
On March 8, 1876, Josiah Porter, a colored man, was tried for the murder of Joseph Murray. The supervisors of Ridley were repairing the Lazaretto road, just above the Queen's Highway, and Porter, Murray, and a number of other men were there work- ing. Some difficulty occurred between the two men respecting a shovel, which Murray took from Porter and then threw it back. The latter seized the shovel, and as Murray turned to walk away struck him over the head with it. Murray died several hours after receiving the blow. The jury found the prisoner guilty of murder in the second degree, and he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the county jail.
On the night of July 29, 1876, Lewis Kershaw, a police officer of Chester, arrested three young men in South Ward, and while he was taking them to the lock-up several persons interfered, and James Mc- Ginley broke away and ran, pursued by the officer. The latter overtook his prisoner, a scuffle followed, during which the officer's pistol was discharged, the ball lodging in McGinley's side, wounding him so se- verely that he died before morning. The grand jury at the September court ignored the bills of indictment against Kershaw which were laid before them by the district attorney.
John Duffey, charged with the murder of Thomas Conner, at Rockdale, on the night of Aug. - , 1880, was tried Sept. 27, 1880. The commonwealth sought to show that Duffey and William Frame had had a dispute, and a short time afterwards, when at the Rockdale depot, where there were a number of per- sons, Duffey fired at Frame, the ball striking Conner, a young man in no wise party to the difficulty, killing him instantly. The defense alleged that in drawing his pistol it was accidentally discharged, and there was no intention on Duffey's part to injure any one. The jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, and he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment in the county jail.
On Sept. 23, 1881, Patrick Kilcorse was tried for the murder of his wife on the 4th of July previous. The prisoner had quarreled with his wife the night before, and she had sought shelter in an outhouse, where she remained all night. In the morning the neighbors heard a heavy blow, and going in found Mrs. Kilcorse lying on the floor, blood trickling from her head. It was proposed to send for a doctor, but the prisoner said, "No, d-n her, let her die." The jury convicted Kilcorse of murder in the second de- gree, and he was sentenced to twelve years' imprison- ment in the penitentiary.
On June 7, 1883, Dennis Green, a colored man of Chester, was tried for the murder of James Clark. The defendant struck the deceased on the head with a blackjack, on the night of the 23d of February. Clark, after receiving the blow, went home, and was found dead in his bed the following morning. The jury convicted Green of murder in the second degree, but recommended him to the mercy of the court. He was sentenced to ten years' solitary confinement in the penitentiary.
William H. Collins, on Sept. 26, 1883, was arraigned for the murder of his wife, near Lee's Dam, at Leip- erville. The prosecution sought to show that on June 5th the accused, an intemperate man, had beaten his wife, also of intemperate habits, and had stamped on her with his feet, inflicting such injuries that she died the same night. Collins was convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to twelve years' im- prisonment in the penitentiary.
CHAPTER XIX.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS-HOW INHABITANTS OF DELAWARE COUNTY LIVED IN FORMER YEARS.
Houses .- The progress of a nation is traced not in the life of an individual, who, from some personal or fortunate circumstance, was elevated for the time being above his fellows, but is found in the narrative of the daily lives of the people, whereby we learn how they were sheltered, fed, and clothed, and the
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manners and customs which marked them as a whole. Hence, believing as I do that civilization mneans nothing more than advanced cultivation, which brings as its results comforts and luxuries before un- known, as well as the general diffusion of knowledge in the arts and sciences, constituted the true annals of a people, I purpose, as briefly as I can, to present a sketch of how the inhabitants of Delaware County lived from the early settlement until within recent years.
We have little record of the Swedish settlers along the Delaware previous to the coming of Penn in 1682, but from these meagre accounts we learn that the houses of the early Swedish settlers were built of logs, and the doors were so low that a person of ordi- nary stature was compelled to stoop in entering or leaving the buildings, while the apartments within had low ceilings, hardly over six feet in the clear, and the roughly-hewed rafters supporting the roof were devoid of laths and plaster. The windows were small, mere frames set in the logs, and although the families who indulged in more costly luxuries than their neighbors had the openings glazed with isin- glass, in general only a rough board slide shut out the cold on extreme winter days, and was usually closed during the night. The chimneys, with huge fireplaces, were occasionally built of gray sandstone, but often the stacks were erected of turf on the out- side of the houses. In many of the early dwellings small rooms just large enough to spread a bed were partitioned off from the main lower apartments, and the floors were laid in stone, or, oftener, simply clay, which by constant use became very hard.
With the English settlers came many of the im- provements which the progressive age between 1640 and 1680 had introduced into general use, but so rapid was the influx of immigrants, mostly Friends, fleeing from the religious oppression they had been subjected to in the mother-country, that habitations could not be erected quickly enough to supply the demand, even where the simple form of building suggested by Penn1 was constructed, and many fam-
ilies sought shelter in great trees, while others of the new-comers were compelled, in many instances, to dig caves in the ground, near the river-bank and . those of the creeks, wherein they took up their abode until they could construct permanent habitations. These caves were mere excavations or cellars in the bank, and were about three feet in depth, while over these openings brush was placed so as to form an arched roof about six feet in the clear, which was covered with sods. In such a cave as this Emanuel Grubb was born, near Upland, in 1682. The suffer- ings of these settlers were great, for it should be re- membered that most of them were "not people of low circumstances, but substantial livers," and in the work of constructing these rude habitations women who had been used to all the refinements and com- forts of English life at that day were compelled to take part, and aided their husbands and fathers therein, for hired labor was scarce and could hardly be had at any price.
The log cabins of the early settlers were generally built on low ground for a twofold purpose, to be near a spring of water and for protection from the bleak and piercing winds of winter. In the construction of these habitations the logs were notched together at the corners, which after being raised were hewn down both inside and outside, while the spaces be- tween the logs were filled in or " chinked" with stones or wood, and then plastered over with mortar or clay. The roofs were covered with oak shingles. Locks in ordinary use were unknown; the doors were opened by strings, which on being pulled from the outside raised heavy wooden latches within, to which they were made fast, and intrusion was prevented when the inmates pulled the latch-strings in at the outer doors. From this common practice originated the ancient saying descriptive of generous hospitality, "The latch-string is always out." The chimneys of the English settlers, as well as those of the Swedish houses, were of immense size, frequently capable of receiving a cord-wood stick, in those days when wood was abundant and the cold intense. Frequently, too, benches would be placed at each side of the chimney so that persons could seat themselves near to and en- joy the blaze, particularly when the heat therefrom to a large percentage was drawn up the stack and dis- charged into the atmosphere outside.
As heretofore stated, a number of the English set- tlers were in good circumstances, and before many years brick and stone dwellings were erected. In the towns this was noticeably the case, and as bricks were made at Chester2 as early as 1684, and previous to
1 " To build there an House of thirty foot long and eighteen foot brosd, with a partition neer the middle, and an other to divide one end of the House into two small Rooms, there must be eight Tree of about sixteen Inches square, and cut off to Posts of about fifteen foot long, which the House must stand upon, and four pieces, two of thirty foot long and two of eighteen foot long, for Plates, which must lie upon the top of these Posts, the whole length and breadth of the House for the Gists to rest upon. There must be ten Gists of twenty foot long to bear the Lofts and two false Pintes of thirty foot long, to lie upon the ends of the Gists for the Rafters to be fixed upon, twelve pair of Rafters o! about twenty foot, to bear the Roof of the House, with several other small pieces, as Wiod-beams, Braces, Studs, etc., which are made out of the Waste Timber. For covering the House, Ends and Sides, and for the Loft, we use Clabbosrd which is Rived feather-edged of five foot and a half loug. that well Drawn, lyes close and smooth. The Lodging Room may be lined with the same and filld np between, which is very Warm. These houses usually endure ten years without Repair.
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