History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 93

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

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In 1806 the license was granted to Rose Maddux, and the following year to Jesse Agnew, who appears to have named the tavern the "Hope Anchor." In 1817, Susan Dutton was the landlady of the Fountain Inn, and in 1818, Elizabeth Pennell had license for the "Hope Anchor." The following year John Ir- win leased the tavern. In 1824, having purchased the inn building, he changed the name to the "Swan," and removed the old sign, and replaced it with one representing a white swan swimming in blue water, which creaked on gusty days as it swung in the frame at the top of a heavy pole planted near the curbstone at the intersection of the streets. Old Chester Lodge, No. 69, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, met in the third story of the building until it surrendered its charter, in 1836, and after that date the lodge-room was used by the Odd-Fellows. In 1854, Irwin died, and his widow continued the busi-

ness until 1844, when Maurice W. Deshong leased it and changed the name to the Delaware County House. In 1852, John Cochran purchased the property, and converted the ancient inn into two stores and dwell- ings. The corner store is now owned by the heirs of Edward R. Minshall, and in 1879 was licensed as a hotel, at present kept by Edward Kelly. The ad- joining store and dwelling is now the property of Joseph Ladomus, in which he carries on the jewelry business.

The Stacey House, immediately adjoining the hotel to the south, which was never used as an inn, was de- vised by David Coupland to his daughter, Sarah, who, in 1783, married Benjamin Bartholomew. The latter was a member of the Assembly from Chester County, and when that body, June 30, 1775, ap- pointed a Committee of Safety, consisting of twenty- five members, Bartholomew was one named from this district. He was very active and efficient in discharg- ing the duties of the position. He died in 1784, and his wife, who survived her husband many years, re- sided in the house until near her death, and by will devised the premises to her niece, Tacey Ann (Bevan), who had married George Stacey. The house is now owned by the heirs of Sarah Van Dyke Stacey, wife of David B. Stacey, a well-known, highly-respected, and accomplished gentleman, whose memory is still cherished by those who were so fortunate as to have numbered him among their acquaintances.

The Steamboat Hotel .- Grace Lloyd, by her will, dated the 6th day of Fourth month, 1760, devised unto her cousin, Francis Richardson, of Philadelphia, after certain specific devises of lands and bequests of personal property to other parties named therein, "all the rest, residne, and remainder of my lands, planta- tions, lots of ground, rents, tenements, hereditaments, and real estate whatsoever and wheresoever." This Francis Richardson entered into possession of the real estate thus devised to him, and began very extensive improvements. He erected between the years 1761 and 1770, the substantial building at the northeast corner of Market and Front Streets, now the Steam- boat Hotel, as a dwelling for his family, built exten- sive warehouses and a wharf at the site of the present upper government pier, which wharf stood until the year 1816, and was known as " Richardson's wharf," and prepared for a large business as a shipper of grain. While he was making these improvements he was re- monstrated with by many of his friends for his outlay of money in the undertaking, and he was much in- censed at their short-sightedness. Unfortunately for his enterprise, the brewing troubles with the mother- country worked disastrously for his speculations, and resulted in entirely ruining him. His daughter, Deb- orah, was married at Chester, June 10, 1773, to Jo- seph Mifflin, and the same year Deborah, Hannah, and John, together with their father, became members of Chester Friends' Meeting. Hannah married Sam- uel Fairlamb, Grace married Isaac Potts, and Frances

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married Clement Biddle. The four daughters of Francis Richardson were much admired for their beauty, and the exquisite transparency of their complexion was so remarkable that the gallants of those days reported that, when they drank a glass of wine, "it might be seen trickling down their fair throats." An elder son, who was born in Philadel- phia, and named after his father, Francis, we are told by the annalist, Watson, " was a person of great per- sonal beauty," a statement Mrs. Deborah Logan fully corroborates. About 1770 this son went to London, having formed a passionate longing for military life from associating with the British officers in Philadel- phia, and secured a commission in the King's Life Guard, of which crack regiment he subsequently be- came colonel.1 His brother John, who was a Friend when the Revolutionary war broke out, was quite active in military movements, and for that cause was disowned by Chester Meeting in 1775. Francis Rich- ardson died subsequently to the year 1779, for in April of that year he was the lessee of a frame store-house on the east side of Market, south of Fourth Street, which afterwards became the property of Dr. Job Terrill, and now of Mrs. John O. Deshong. He died insolvent, and his real estate, dwelling, and ware- houses were sold after his death by Ezekiel Leonard,

1 It is related that Sir William Draper made a tour of the American colonies a short time after his newspaper eucounter with "Junius." " During his stay in Philadelphia no one was so assiduous in his atten- tions to him as Mr. Richardson, better kouwn at that time by the name of Frank Richardson, than from Europe, on a visit to his friends. This gentleman was one of the most singular and successful of American adventurers. The son of one of our plainest Quakers, he gave early in- dications of that cast of character which raised him to his presant sta- tion, that of a colonel in the British goards. At a time when such at- tainments formed no part of education in Pennsylvania, he sedulously employed himself in acquiring skill in the use of the small sword and the pistol, 98 if to shine as a duelist had been the first object of his ambi- tion. Either from a contempt for the dull pursuits of tha 'home keep- ing youth' of this day, or from the singularity of his propensities re- pelling association, he was solitary and rarely with companions. Fair and delicate to effeminancy, he paid great attention to his person, which he had the courage to invest in scarlet, in defiance of the sociaty to which he belonged, in whose mind's eye, perhaps, as to that of the blind man of Luke, this color from their marked aversion to it, resambles the sound of a trumpet ; and no less in deflanca of the plain manners of the city, in which, except on the back of a soldier, a red coat was a phenom- enon, and always indicated a Creole, or Carolinian, or a dancing mas- ter. With these qualifications, and these alone, perhaps, Mr. Richard- son at an early age shipped himself for England, where soon having the good fortune to establish a reputation for the theatre, he was received into the best company, and thence laid the foundation af his preferment. Such, at least, was the generally received account of his rise. But whether accurate or not, his intimate footing with Sir William is an evidence of the style of his company whilst abroad, as well as the pro- priety of his conclusion that his native land was not his sphere. As the story went, on Mr. Richardson's first going to England, he happened to be in the same lodgings with Foote, the comedian, with whom he became intimate. One day upon his coming out of his chamber, 'Richardson,' said Foote to him, 'a person has just been asking for you, who ex- pressed a strong desire to sse yon, and pretended to he an old Philadel- phia acquaintance. But I knew better, for he was s d-d ill-looking fellow, and I have no doubt the rascal was a bailiff; so I told him you were not at home.' But here either Foote's sagacity had been at fault, or he had been playing off a stroke of his humor, the visitor having really been no other than Mr. - , a respectable merchant of Philadel- phis, though not a figure the most debonair to be sure."-" Reminis- cenCes," Hazard's Register, vol. vi. p. 167.

high sheriff, July 2, 1787, to Robert Eaglesfield Grif- fith, a lawyer of Philadelphia, who, on May 4, 1789, conveyed the estate to Davis Bevan.

This Davis Bevan was of Welsh descent, and was one of the most conspicuous characters in our city's annals. He was married to Agnes Coupland, daugh- ter of David Coupland, and was thirty-seven years of age when the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. He is stated to have been an officer in the Continental army, and Martin2 relates the following incident in his career as a soldier :

" He was with Washington at the battle of Brandywine, in 1777, and after the defeat of the American farces he carried dispatches from Gen- aral Washington to the President of the Continental Congress, than sitting in Philadelphia, announcing the result of the engagement. A gentleman by the name of Sharp accompanied Capt. Bevan. Proceed- ing some distance from the army they observed they ware pursued by a party of British light horse. Mr. Sharp was not ao well mounted as Captain Bevan, who had a thoroughbred mare of great action and en- durance. Finding that the light horse ware gaining on them constantly, and that Mr. Sharp would persist in urging his nag up the hills in spite of his advice to the contrary, Capt. Bevan said, 'Sharp, if we keep to- gether our capture is certain, therefore I think you had batter take the next cross-road that we come to, and I will continue on. They will follow me, but I am confident they cannot capture me.' This proposal was agreed to, and as soon as Mr. Sharp had turned off, Capt. Bavan gave the rein to his mare, and his pursuers soon finding themselves dis- tanced gave up the chase. When Capt. Bevan reached the Schuylkill during the night, he found, owing to a heavy freshet, the ferry-boat was either unable to run, or had been carried down the river. A boatman, however, rowed him over while his mare swam by the side of the boat. He landed safely on the Philadelphia shore, and replacing his saddle, he hastened to deliver his dispatches. This officer had various adven- tures, and often ran great risks while the American army was at Valley Farge. On one occasion he went to visit his wife at the house of a Mr. Vernon, where she had come from Philadelphia, for the purpose of see- ing him. Mr. Vernon's house was but a short distance from the British lines, and it was therefore necessary that considerable caution should he exercisad to prevent captore by the numerous parties of British foragars scouring the country. Mr. Vardon's sons were posted around the house at convenient points for observation to give warning of the approach of enemies, and Capt. Bevan want to bed. About the middle of the night one of the boys came to his room, and informed him that a mounted party were approaching the house and he had better prepare to take his departure. Being rather an obstinate man he did not seem to believe the report, but presently another picket came in and told him that he would certainly he captured if he remained any longer. He sprang out of bed, hurried on bis regimentals, and reached the back door just as the British party knocked at the front. He got to the stable, where he found his mare already saddled, and laading her out, and mounting, he leaped the farm-yard inclosure, and, being perfectly familiar with the country, he had no difficulty in avading his enamies."

During the Revolutionary war the house, whose southern gable-end, as we know, stood near the river, which at that time was a bold, gravelly shore, was a conspicuous mark; and when the British frigate " Augusta," in 1777, sailed up the Delaware to be sunk afterwards in the attack on Fort Mifflin, her commander, in sheer wantonness, opened fire on the defenseless town. One of the shot shattered the wall in the gable-end towards the river, and the owner re- paired the breach by placing a circular window in the opening thus made. It still remains there.

The house for many years was unproductive; vari- ous tenants occupied it, but because of the tradition that shortly after the Revolution a negro named

2 History of Chester, pp. 42, 43.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Laban had been killed in the dwelling, being struck on the head with an axe, whose blood was said to have made an indelible stain behind the door where he fell, and whose spirit wandered around the place nf his untimely death, they were of a class that could not afford to pay remunerative rent for the premises.

After the death of David Bevan, his son, Matthew Lawler Bevan, sold the property to John Ford, who petitioned, in 1827, for license for "the Steamboat Hotel" stating that having lately purchased that cer- tain large brick message, situated on Market Street, at the upper pier, he is " desirous to keep the same as a public house of entertainment for the accommodation of watermen passing up and down the river Delaware, and also of travelers." This petition was accompa- nied by a recommendation from the masters, pilots, etc., of vessels of the port of Philadelphia, in which they " certify that if license was granted to keep a public house, situate at the Upper Pier in Chester, it would be a great convenience and accommodation to watermen passing up and down the river Delaware, more especially in the winter season, during the time of ice, etc." The business seems not to have been successful, for in June, 1831, Jehu Broomhall sold the property to Samuel Smith, who leased it to Henry T. Reese, who was succeeded the next year by Welcome D. Niles, for at the August court, 1833, the court directed that a rule should be entered against Niles, to appear on the first day of the November Court of Quarter Sessions to show cause "why the license hereinbefore granted to him should not be forfeited, on account of his suffering disorderly riots and im- proper conduct" in the house. In 1835, Nelson Wade was the landlord. He was followed by Crossman Lyons, a well-known citizen of Chester, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, who, when a young man, had joined Washington's army in its retreat through New Jersey, had followed the fortunes of the Continental troops through the war until its close, when he settled in Chester, and married Mary Gorman, a woman of extraordinary nerve, whose busy hands dressed many of those wounded at the battle of Brandywine, who were brought to this city for attention. She it was who waited on and dressed the wounds of Marquis de Lafayette, on the evening of that disastrous day. Crossman Lyons, Oct. 12, 1844, purchased the prop- erty, and a few years subsequent he leased it to How- ard Roberts, who, after keeping the hotel for about three years, declined to continue the business longer, and Mr. Lyons resumed the post of "mine host" until Nov. 12, 1851, wben John Goff, who had been the landlord the year previous, purchased the prop- erty. After his death, in 1857, his widow continued the hotel, and she having died in 1883, the old hostelry is presided over by her son, John Goff.

The Lafayette House .- The house at the south- west corner of Third Street and Edgmont Avenue is one of the oldest buildings in our city, and in a deed from James Sandelands, the younger, Sept. 10, 1700,

to Stephen Jackson, the property is described as a house and lot, thus showing that the structure ante- dates that instrument. Stephen Jackson, on June 17th of the following year, transferred the property to John Worrilow, and he in turn conveyed it, Aug. 29, 1704, to Philip Yarnall. The latter, after retain- ing title to the estate for twenty-nine years, sold the dwelling and lot to John Mather, Sept. 26, 1733, who in his will, May 28, 1768, devised it to his daughter, Jane. She first married Dr. Paul Jackson, who dying in 1767, the following year she married Dr. David Jackson. The latter and his wife, Feb. 27, 1775, conveyed the property to James Sparks, a mer- chant of Philadelphia. The probabilities are that Dr. David Jackson had lived in this dwelling, for in 1769 he was a resident of Chester. In 1784, William Kerlin owned and resided there until his death, in 1804, when the property descended to his son, John, subject to his mother's life estate. John dying in 1817, his executors sold the house to James Chadwick, who devised it to his son, John. The latter, while owning the property, purchased two frame buildings at Marens Hook, and placing them on scows, had them floated up to Chester, where he erected them on the eastern end of his property on Third Street. Both of these houses are now owned by the estate of Henry Abbott, Sr., deceased. This was considered a marvelous feat in those days.

The dwelling, in 1830, became the property of Charles Alexander Ledomus, whose heirs still own it. In 1875 it was leased to Caleb P. Clayton, who obtained license for the old house and gave it the name Lafayette House, tradition having credited the dressing of the wounds of the French general in that building.

Schanlan's Tavern .- In the historical introduc- tion to William Whitehead's "Directory of the Bor- ough of Chester," for the years 1859-60, it is stated, "In the second house from the corner of Work Street [now Fourth] on . the east side of Market, was a hotel kept by John Scantling, an Irishman, and the resort of all the sons of the Emerald Isle." That the house in which John Brooke now carries on the man- ufacture of harness was at one time an inn, the record's of the old county of Chester before the erec- tion of Delaware County fully establish. At that time only the dwelling, afterwards the residence of Dr. Terrill, was on the same square to the north of John Brooke's store. It was in the store-building Schanlan-for that was his name, not Scantling-kept public-house. It was erected by Thomas Morgan previous to 1756, for the building was there when it was sold in that year to William Eyre, of Bethel. The latter rented the premises to Davis Bevan, who kept tavern there from 1765 to 1771, when he was succeeded by John Schanlan. At first the court turned away from Schanlan, but he obtained the judi- cial favor and continued to receive it until 1783, when Dennis McCartney had the license there. The fol-

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THE CITY OF CHESTER.

lowing year (1784) Davis Bevan purchased it, and therein engaged in a general store, as mentioned else- where. The business was continued in this house by Isabella Bevan after the death of her father. It was subsequently occupied as a hat store and factory by Maj. Samuel A. Price, and while it was owned by Henry L. Powell, he had a boot and shoe store there. In 1846, Joseph Entwisle owned the property, and thereon he had the first bakery established in Chester for custom business, the old granary of Jasper Yeates being restricted to the manufacture of " hard tack" for ships' stores. When Entwisle built a bleaching- mill in South Ward, in 1851, he sold the house and lot to John Brooke, who has continued in one occu- pation and in one locality for a greater number of years than any person at present in Chester, and has gathered during that period a large business and a competency.

The Goeltz House (Edgmont Avenue above Third Street) .- The frame structure on the east side of Edgmont Avenue, south of Fourth Street, is not an ancient building. In all probability it was built about seventy years ago. It was formerly a stable, attached to the house which was subsequently erected on the lands donated previous to 1704, by Thomas Powell, to the parish of St. Paul, for the gift is mentioned in Rev. Mr. Nichol's letter to the London Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and in 1718, Rev. John Humphreys, under date of October 24th, alludes to it as containing the foundation of a par- sonage (the front on Third Street) which the con- gregation started to build, " but were not able to ac- complish in & it remains as it has been these 3 years, just about 4 feet above the ground as a reproach to them and an infamous mark of their Poverty." The parish did erect a building on the premises many years afterwards, certainly subsequently to 1762, which they leased previous to 1830, to William Kel- ley, as well as the stable on Edgmont Avenue. Kel- ley resided in the house ou Third Street, wherein he kept a restaurant, and in the stable he had a bottling establishment, the first business of that kind ever in Chester. The church wardens, however, were in- structed to sell the premises on ground-rent, and in compliance with that order George B. Lownes and Pierce Crosby, May 5, 1831, conveyed the premises to William McCafferty, subject to a ground-rent of ninety-seven dollars yearly. The latter, in 1839, sold the lot on Edgmont Avenue, on which was the stable, to Ehrenreich Goeltz. Goeltz changed the stable into a house, and on the rear of the lot erected a soap factory and chandlery, which business he carried on until his death. In the distribution of the latter's estate, the house and factory became the property of his son, George Goeltz, the present owner.

A peculiar circumstance connected with this build- ing is that, several years ago when the alterations were being made in the cellar, in excavating, at the depth of three feet below the then bottom, a perfect

rubble pavement, similar to those in the roadway of many of our streets, was found, respecting which no person had the slightest information as to the reason why it was there, when it was laid, or by whom.

The Old Johnson Tavern (on the west side of Edgmont Avenue) .- Adjoining the lumber and coal- yard of Jonathan Pennell, to the north, is an ancient building which is believed to have been built by Jacob Howell, subsequent to 1732, when he acquired title to a tract of land, on part of which the dwelling was erected previous to Dec. 10, 1748, at which date Isaac Howell, a son of Jacob, conveyed the lot and " messuage" to William Pennell. In 1784, Samuel Johnson purchased the property aud kept it as a public-house, but becoming involved, it was sold by Sheriff Ezekiel Leonard, July 5, 1787, to Robert Pennell. A brother of the then owner, James Pen- nell, kept it as an inn; and as an attraction for the public had a tame tiger, which he had taught to per- form a number of tricks. Pennell, when he removed to the Black Horse Hotel, in Middletown, took the animal thither, and one day, when angry, it attacked and killed its master. The building, after it ceased to be a public-house, had several owners, and is now part of the estate of Frederick J. Hinkson, Sr., de- ceased.

The Brown Hotel .- In 1875, Benjamin Morris, who had been landlord of a popular public-house- now Genther's Hotel-on Market Street above Third, purchased the old Cole House on Third Street below Market Square, where, about the beginning of this century, Jane Davis had an apothecary-shop, the first in Chester, and in more recent years the residence of Dr. J. L. Forwood. Morris removed the old struc- ture, and erected in its stead the present spacious hotel building. The property having been purchased by George W. Weaver, deceased, whose estate still owns it, Morris leased the Beale House, the old Sam- uel Edward mansion, at Sixth and Market Streets, and removed thither. After several tenants had oc- cupied the Morris House, Maj. Daniel Brown leased it, and is the present landlord of the hotel, now known by his name.

Banks and Bankers .- The Delaware County Na- tional Bank was chartered under the act of March 21, 1814, then popularly known as the "Omnibus Bank Act," which was passed by the Legislature over the veto of Governor Simon Snyder, and with the ex- ception of but one other similar institution incor- porated by the same law, has been the most success- ful bank created by that act, for although a number of corporations started under its provisions, the great majority of them failed within a few years. On Aug. 27, 1614, the meeting of the first board of directors was held, that body consisting of Jonas Eyre, Pierce Crosby, Joseph Engle, Preston Eyre, George G. Leiper, Peter Deshong, Samuel Anderson, Enos Sharpless, Charles Rogers, John G. Hoskins, and Jonas Preston. Thomas Robinson and John New-

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

bold, who were members, did not attend. At this meeting John Newbold was elected president pro tem- pore, and a committee, consisting of Engle, Hoskins, and Sharpless was appointed to ascertain what would be necessary, and the probable cost "of making Jonas Sharpless' house fit for the use of the bank and for the family of the cashier," and Hoskins and Eyre were appointed on behalf of the bank to enter into a contract for the purchase of Sharpless' house at a price not exceeding three thousand dollars. This house was located on one of the corners of Market Square. On Sept. 5, 1814, Preston Eyre, who at the time owned the house and kept a general country store in the building now the property of Thomas Moore, on Third Street, at present occupied by Brown- ing & Co. as a clothing store, was elected cashier pro tempore. The committee appointed to purchase Sharp- less' house on October 3d reported that a defect had been discovered in the title of that property, and they were instructed to ascertain whether such blur could be removed, but on the 31st of the same month they reported that " the defect in title cannot be rem- edied." Hence, on November 7th, it was ascertained that a dwelling and lot near the market-house, be- longing to Elizabeth Pedrick, could be bought for eighteen hundred dollars, and a committee was ap- pointed to contract for the purchase of the property and to have the title examined.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 93

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