History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 90

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

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Theodoric Porter, the third son, entered the regular army in 1838 as lieutenant in the Seventh United States Infantry, and was killed in a skirmish with the Mexicans, April 18, 1846, during Gen. Taylor's ad- vance previous to the battle of Palo Alto. It is stated by army officers that he stayed out of camp the night before the battle, and his body was found the next morning with several dead Mexicans lying around his corpse.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Fifty-two years ago, when David D. Porter and his younger brother, Theodoric, were living at the old mansion, the winter was very severe and the river Dela- ware was frozen over. The two venturesome men an- nounced their determination to sleigh to Philadelphia. Many of the residents of Chester tried to dissuade them from the attempt, but at nine o'clock in the morning they started from the foot of Welsh Street, David driving. The mouths of the creeks were piled with ice several feet in height, and they were com- pelled to take the inside channel. A goodly part of their journey was performed on enormous cakes of ice which were entirely loose from the shore. At noon they reached the navy-yard, and, returning, left that place at three o'clock. The cold had become so intense that the two men were compelled to stop and build a fire on the ice to warm themselves. Resum- ing their journey, they reached Chester at nine o'clock at night. They had traveled thirty miles on the frozen surface of the river, a feat never attempted before, or, if it had been, no record thereof has been made.

Henry Ogden Porter (or " Budd," as he was famil- iarly called), the fourth son, named for his uncle, Capt. Henry Ogden, was in the navy, and afterwards in the revenue service. During the Rebellion he was an acting lieutenant in the navy, and fought his ves- sel-the gunboat "Hatteras"-off Mobile, in an en- gagement with the "Alabama," until she sunk, her flag still flying proudly as she disappeared beneath the water. He died, about seventeen years ago, near Washington.

Hamilton Porter, the next brother, was a lieutenant in the navy (on the "Flirt"), and while in the ser- vice died of yellow fever, Aug. 10, 1844.

The old house, after Commodore Porter's family ceased to use it as a residence, was leased to a number of tenants, until at last the location of the gas-works in that neighborhood rendered it no longer a desira- ble dwelling, and it was leased, in 1862, to Professor Jackson, of Philadelphia, for a pyrotechnic manufac- tory. On Friday morning, Feb. 17, 1882, shortly after seven o'clock, fire was discovered in the kitchen of the old structure, and the alarm was responded to promptly by the fire department, although the entire force had been out late the preceding night battling with the flames which had laid the Pennsylvania Military Academy in ruins. The crowd which had gathered about the Porter house kept back because of the report which had been spread among them that gunpowder was stored in the establishment, but when they saw the chief of the fire department and the members of the various fire companies approach- ing near to the structure, they drew closer to the scene. Flames at this time were observed coming out of the windows on the west side, and in half an hour after the firemen had arrived and had gone into service a slight explosion occurred, which occasioned no injury. The men who had fled in alarm when

this explosion took place, being assured that all dan- ger was past, returned to the work of saving the building from absolute destruction. Hardly had the firemen again mounted the ladders and resumed their labors, when a second explosion took place, which leveled the walls of the old kitchen to the ground and tore huge gaps in the northern and southern walls of the main building. The air was filled with stones, which were hurled to great distances, killing in all eighteen persons and wounding fifty-seven, many of the latter still bearing upon their persons the disfiguring marks of their narrow escape from death. The houses in the neighborhood were in many instances damaged, and window-glasses were shattered at considerable distances from the scene of the explosion. Never before in our city's history was there such wide-spread horror and dismay as on that fatal morning.

Business was entirely suspended, and each person sought to learn if any of their family, friends, or ac- quaintances were among those who had been killed or injured. Every effort was immediately made to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded, and for the relief of those families wherein death from explosion had occurred. To that end a fund amounting to about ten thousand dollars was subscribed within a few weeks and distributed by a committee appointed for that purpose. The occurrence of this frightful calamity is too recent to require more than this brief mention now, but it will pass into our history as one of the most appalling events which has ever happened in Chester, and for many years to come will be nar- rated by those who witnessed it to succeeding gener- ations in all the vivid details that memory always lends to such an incident.

The Huertine House .- The brick building on the south side of Third Street, more than midway in the block toward Edgmont Avenue, which is now occu- pied by Browning & Co. as a clothing-house, was built by William Huertine subsequent to 1712 ; for August 12th of that year John Musgrove and Mary, his wife, sold to William Huertine the ground on which the house was afterwards erected, subject to a yearly quit-rent of two shillings to the heirs of James Sande- lands, the younger, and the same day Jonas Sande- lauds and Mary, his wife, confirmed the grant, re- serving to the heirs of the grantor a yearly quit-rent of two silver shillings. William Huertine, who was a silversmith, erected the house, but subsequently removed to New York, where he died. His widow, Elizabeth, and his children and heirs, March 2, 1724, conveyed the house and grounds-a larger tract of land-to Ruth Hoskins, who in her will, dated July 3, 1739, devised the house and lots to her son-in-law, John Mather, he paying fifty pounds to John, Ruth, and Mary Hoskins, the grandchildren of the testators, and children of her son, Stephen Hoskins.

It was generally believed by our local historian that John Mather was the landlord of the present City

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THE CITY OF CHESTER.

Hotel, which after the Revolution was known as the "Ship George Washington." A full investigation of the records establishes the fact that Mather never was a publican, but a practicing attorney of the courts of Chester County. He resided in this house, and by his will, June 28, 1768, devised it to his grandson, John Mather Jackson, who, on March 26, 1783, sold the premises to Edward Vernon. The latter had rented the dwelling in 1780, and had obtained license for the house, which he purchased at the date men- tioned. Iu 1784, Vernon sold the property to Fred- erick Engle, who devised it to his daughter, Sarah, wife of Thomas Killie, and in 1804 the latter sold it to Preston Eyre. In the fall of the year 1814 the Bank of Delaware County was established in this dwelling,-the home of the cashier, Preston Eyre. In 1844 the latter conveyed the premises to his son-in- law, Hon. Edward Darlington, who resided there until 1858, when he in turn sold it to Mrs. Jane Flavill. On March 25, 1863, Thomas Moore pur- chased the house and lot, and carried on therein a hardware-store with success. Mr. Moore retired from active business several years ago, since which time he has devoted himself to scientific studies, and to him more than all others the city is indebted for the estab- lishment of the Chester Institute of Science and Me- chanic Arts.

The Old Lloyd House (Second and Edgmont Av- enue) .- David Lloyd obtained title for the green, or the church land lying between the creek and Welsh Street, and south of Neeles Laerson's tract of ground to the river Delaware, Dec. 28, 1693, by deed from the church wardens to the Swedish congregation "at Wiccoco," which act on his part is criticised severely by Rev. Mr. Ross in his letter, June 21, 1714, to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. "Ye Glebe lands." he said, alluding to this tract, " was irreligiously sold by some Swedes under ye name of church-wardens, to a powerful Quaker, who now plows and sows it, and disposes of it at his pleasure, but 'tis hoped his precarious title will be one day inquired into, and the Church restored to her rights again." This tract, which had been given to the Swedes' church by Armgard Pappegoya, could not be wrenched out of the strong grasp of David Lloyd, and notwithstanding the determined opposi- tion of Jasper Yeates, he succeeded in having the land confirmed to him by the proprietary government.

That the house at the southeast corner of Edgmont Avenue and Second Street was built by David Lloyd seems absolutely certain, since in his deed to William Pickles, May 4, 1703, it is specifically set out in the indenture that the house was at that time erected. Its appearance supports the statement, for its archi- tecture marks it as contemporaneous with the Logan and Hoskins houses. The executors of the estate of William Pickles sold the premises to John Baldwin, and the estate passing to Baldwin's grandchildren, John Baldwin and John Pierce, they sold the house

to Jonas Preston. The latter built a wharf on the creek, part of the stone placed there for that purpose being removed when the present Second Street bridge was erected. Adjoining the wharf by the creek-side he erected a stone store-house, which stood until after the middle of this century, when it had degenerated into a place to keep swine. After the death of Jonas Preston the premises were purchased by John Wall, a merchant of Philadelphia, who had married Han- nah Grubb, widow of Richard Flower, of Chichester. The purchaser never lived in the house, but after May 16, 1777, John Flower (Wall's step-son), on his marriage to Elizabeth Beethom, at the Chester Meet- ing, resided in the old building. It is traditionally stated that Elizabeth Flower was so alarmed when the battle of Brandywine was fought-the noise of the distant cannonading could be heard in Chester -- that she was taken ill, and so serious were the effects of her fright that she lingered a long time on the eve of dissolution, and died in October of the following year. In 1782, John Wall sold the property to Wil- liam Siddons, who kept a tavern there in 1778-79.

A short time prior to the Revolutionary war Sid- dons was charged with the murder of a peddler of jewelry, who was found with his throat cut near Munday's Run, and the body robbed of all the money the dead man was supposed to have about him at the time of the homicide. When the crime was perpetrated, and Siddons was under suspicion, a rhymster of rude verse of that day composed a ballad, beginning,-

" At Munday's Run, near Chester town, Old Siddons knocked tbe peddler down, And robbed him of his golden store, And left him weltering in his gore."

Siddons was arrested, indicted, and tried, but on the hearing of the case he was enabled to prove a complete and uncontradicted alibi, while the prose- cution was predicated purely on circumstantial evi- dence, which failed to connect the accused in any direct way with the commission of the crime. The fact that he was charged by some of his neighbors with a felony of such hideous character embittered his entire after-life. William Siddons died June 22, 1820.

The dwelling subsequently was purchased by Lewis Ladomus, and in 1869 was occupied by John Hanley, a well-known citizen of Chester, from whom the Hanley Fire Company derived its name. "Jack" Hanley, in the latter ten years of his life, was totally blind. He died in 1874. The old Lloyd house is now owned by Jonathan Pennell.

The Barber House .- David Lloyd, under date of June 14, 1699, conveyed a lot on the northeast corner of Second Street and Edgmont Avenue to Robert Barber, and he it was who erected the dwelling ad- joining the present Edgmont House to the east. The house was an imposing one in its day. The pent-roof over the second-story window still remains, although

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the porch, which formerly projected out some dis- tance on the sidewalk, has been removed. It has two doors: the eastern one leading into the parlor, and the western door into the hall-way, a room of the same size as the one on the opposite side, and in this apart- ment the staircase ascended to the rooms above. Back of this was the sitting-room, while in the rear of the parlor was a dining-room. The fireplaces and hearths in the hall-room and the parlor were laid in blue tiles, presenting scenes from scriptural history, and in the chambers above, on each side of the fire- places, were large closets, similar to those in most dwellings built at that period.

John C. Beatty, of this city, states that in this house, in the northwest room on the first floor, the wound of Gen. Lafayette, after the battle of Brandy- wine, was dressed by Mrs. Mary (Gorman) Lyons.1 In support of this statement he narrates the following incident, which he recalls as having occurred when Lafayette was in Chester in 1824. Mr. Beatty's grand- father, John Caldwell, who did good service for the Continental cause, took him (Beatty) to see the "national guest," and when his grandfather had shaken hands with Lafayette he said, "You don't remember me, general?" "Yes, I do," replied the Frenchman; "you're John Caldwell; I remember you very well ; you stood by me when my wounded foot was dressed." That day Caldwell walked with his grandson to this house, and the former showed him (Beatty) where the table stood in the room on which Lafayette laid while his injuries were cared for. During the Revolution, Elisha Price owned and lived in this house. The house is now owned by Isaiah H. Mirkil.

The Delaware County Republican for Jan. 10, 1845, says that the citizens of Delaware County "tended upon and dressed the wounds of the beloved Lafay- ette, when he lay wounded in the Friends' Quaker meeting-house at Chester." John Hill Martin states,2 " Geu. Lafayette rode on horseback to Chester from the battle-field at Brandywine, where he was wounded, but remained there only one night, in the old 'La- domus House,' at the southeast corner of Third Street and Edgmont, now occupied by Bawer's clothing-

store." At present a public-house-the Lafayette Hotel-is kept there.

The Morgan (Terrill) House (Market below Fourth Street) .- The old building standing on the east side of Market Street, the second structure south of Fourth Street, was built by Evan Morgan. The land was part of the twenty acres patented May 31, 1686, to James Sandelands, the elder, and was con- veyed by John Crosby and wife, Jan. 20, 1723, to Thomas Griffing, subject to a yearly quit-rent of one shilling. This John Crosby was a son of Richard, the first of that name who came to Pennsylvania after Penn acquired title to the province. Griffing sold the house and lot to Evan Morgan in 1725, and his son, John Morgan, in 1783, conveyed the premises to Jemima Dasey, widow of the Baptist clergyman at Marcus Hook, and her sister, Mary Linard. Mrs. Dasey and her maiden sister carried on a dry-goods and trimming-store there until October, 1809, when the house and lot was sold to Dr. Job H. Terrill. Some of the old people of Chester can recall Mary Linard as an elderly woman, lame, and hobbling along, leaning on a cane when walking. The prop- erty is now owned by Mrs. Emeline Deshong, to whom it descended from her father, Dr. Terrill.

The Caldwell Mansion .- The handsome dwelling on the west side of Edgmont Avenue, north of Twelfth Street, since it was modernized by Col. Samuel A. Dyer during his ownership of the property, is never- theless au ancient building. The ground upon which it stands is part of a tract of one hundred and twenty acres which was patented April 2, 1688, to Eusta An- derson. June 21st of the same year Anderson con- veyed it to Charles Pickering, who, on Oct. 13, 1688, conveyed the property to David Lloyd, and he in turn sold twenty acres of it, subject to a yearly rent of one silver shilling, to John Hoskins, the elder, who, dying seized of the estate, it passed by descent to his son, John Hoskins, the younger. The latter dying intestate, his widow, Ruth, and his son, Ste- phen Hoskins, and his daughter, Mary Hoskins, and her husband, John Mather, in 1733, released their in- terest in the premises to Joseph Hoskins, another son of John Hoskins, the younger, and he in turn, April 9, 1741, conveyed the land to Stephen Cole. This latter deed, in 1744, and under a power of sale in his will, his executors, April 17-18, 1746, conveyed the premises to John Caldwell, who, shortly after he ac- quired possession of the estate, built the mansion- house still standing. He was a native of Dublin, and is said to have been the son of an Irish nobleman. He came to this country early in the last century, and seems to have acquired considerable property. He died subsequent to June 5, 1772, and in his will, which bears that date, he devised his real estate to his two sons,-two shares to the eldest, and the other share to the youngest. After the death of their father John purchased the one-third interest of his brother, George, in the homestead. John, known to the last

1 A letter written by Joseph Weaver, Jr., in 1843, alludes to the house where Lafayette's wound was dressed. The letter is as follows:

"CHESTER, DELAWARE COUNTY, April 3, 1843.

" HON. CALVIN BLYTHE.

" Dear Sir :- I take the freedom of recommending to your attention Mr. Crossman Lyons, of this place, as a suitable person for the situation of Collector of Customs at Marcus Hook. From & long acquaintance with Mr. Lyons I feel warranted in representing him as a man thet will well and efficiently execute his duties.

" It insy not be improper to add that Mr. Lyons is & son of & Revolu- tionary character who served his country during the whole of thet War, in sustaining our Independence, and his mother was the lady who waited upon and dressed the wounds of Lafayette, at Mrs. Withey's Tavern (now the Columhis House) in Chester, after the battle of Bren- dywine.

"I am very respectfully yours truly,

"JOSEPH WEAVER, JR."

2 History of Chester, p. 254.

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THE CITY OF CHESTER.

generation as Squire Caldwell, was a carpenter and builder by trade, and was born and died in the old dwelling. He is said to have been a private in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war, and the musket he carried-one captured from the Hes- sians at Trenton-is now owned by James Black. He is also said to have been a lieutenant in the American service, and fought against the Indians on the fron- tier, who were waging war on the colonists in the in- terest of the crown. When the royal forces were in possession of Philadelphia, and the English squadron lay off Chester, the squire was much troubled with foraging parties from the fleet. John Caldwell stood it for a time, but every fresh visit from the enemy aroused his indignation until he could remain quiet no longer, and in a small boat he rowed ont to the flag-ship, demanding an interview with the admiral, Earl Richard Howe. He was kindly received, and in the conference he informed the English com- mander that his men had taken from him all his pork, provisions, milk, and butter, until his family had been left in want of the necessaries of life. The ad- miral listened attentively, said that he would prevent any more depredations on the squire's property, and asked the latter to make out a bill for articles already taken, which was done, and the paymaster was or- dered to discharge his claim immediately. John Caldwell returned to his home, the unaccustomed clinking of broad gold pieces in his pocket making his heart lighter and mitigating his angry feelings until he almost wished the foraging parties would visit his farm once more, that a like cure for his in- juries could be again prescribed by the British officer.

Squire Caldwell acquired considerable estate. He purchased and added to the homestead plot the tri- angular lot at the intersection of Edgmont and Prov- idence Avennes, which was known in early times as " Hangman's Lot," because public executions had there formerly taken place. The culprits were sus- pended from a wild cherry-tree, on one of the. lower branches, which extended some distance almost at right angles to the trunk, and it is traditionally re- lated in the Caldwell family that on one occasion from the windows of the mansion across the street the inmates of the old dwelling saw pendent from that fatal branch a man who was executed for stealing a lady's work-box, which stood temporarily on the sill of an open window, so that he could filch it without difficulty. John Caldwell died Nov. 24, 1834, intes- tate, and on Feb. 23, 1835, Thomas Caldwell, his eldest son, elected to take the homestead at the val- uation placed on it in proceedings in partition. The latter was owner of the old house only for a brief season, for he died Ang. 20, 1835, and the estate was held in common by his heirs until May 22, 1864, when it was purchased by Henry B. Edwards. In the spring of 1870, Col. Samuel A. Dyer became the owner of the property, and the ancient dwelling was modernized. In November, 1872, Col. Dyer sold the

property to A. L. Bonaffon. It is now owned by God- frey Keebler, of Philadelphia, and occupied by Rev. Thomas McCauley, pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church.

The Ashbridge House .- The ancient dwelling standing on the east side of Edgmont Avenue, be- tween Second and Graham Streets, is partly built on the site of the House of Defense. The ground on which it stands was part of the estate of Jasper Yeates, who devised it to certain of his heirs, for July 13, 1728, George McCall and Ann, his wife (Jasper's eldest daughter), and John Yeates, by re- lease, granted this house and other lots to George Ashbridge. The latter was a Friend, who as early as 1688 emigrated, as a young man, to Pennsylvania and settled near Chester. Who it was built the house I fail to learn, but in all probability George McCall or John Yeates did, for the title to the ground was in these parties fully eight years after the death of Jas- per Yeates, before they parted with the premises. Ashbridge, by his will, March 1, 1747/8, devised the estate to his second son, George, who seems to have been an adroit politician, for, elected to the General Assembly in 1743, he managed to maintain the confi- dence of Friends (he being one of the society) until 1773. How for thirty consecutive years he contrived to avoid committing himself on many of the votes taken during the long French war, which appro- priated men and money to carry on that struggle, is incomprehensible, but in the latter year the society "report they have taken an oppty with one of the" representatives in Assembly and that he do not appre- hend culpable." That he was active in the Assembly, and must have been a man of more than the general average out of which representatives are made, is evidenced by the perusal of the journal of Samuel Foulke.1 On the death of the second George Ash- bridge the premises passed to his eldest son, George Ashbridge, the third of that name in the chain of title, who sold it, May 5, 1797, to Dorothy Smith and Zedekiah Wyatt Graham, sister and brother of Henry Hale Graham, as joint tenants. Dorothy, who had married John Smith, of Lower Chichester, Twelfth month 4, 1783, was a widow at this time. Zedekiah Graham was a wealthy bachelor, and the brother and sister lived together in this house. Of the brother, Deborah Logan writes : " He was a man of such in- tegrity and worth that I have heard him characterized as an Israelite, indeed, in whom there was no guile." The affection between them was so marked that in his will he gave to her the income of his whole estate during life, while she devised to her brother one- third of her property absolutely. Zedekiah Graham died of yellow fever in 1798, and his sister, who nursed him in his illness, was attacked by the scourge, and sent for her nephew, William Graham, who had abandoned his home and fled to the country

1 Penna, Mag. of Hist., vol. v. pp. 64, 65, 68, 71.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

to escape the pestilence. It is related that the latter sat on his horse in the street while the nurse from the second-story window informed him as to the dis- position his aunt wished to make of her estate; thus the will was written, attached to a string, and drawn up to the chamber of the dying woman, who refused to permit any of her kin to visit her, and thereby en- counter the risk of infection. By her will, Nov. 17, 1798 (the whole title to the house having vested in her by survivorship), she devised it to her nephew and four nieces in equal parts. Three of the nieces and the nephew conveyed their interests to Catharine G., the fourth niece, and wife of Capt. Thomas Rob- inson, in October, 1812.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 90

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