USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 41
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No general description of this rain, which caused the great inundation, will exactly apply to any two neighborhoods, much less to the whole extent of the County. In the time of its com- mencement and termination-in the quantity of rain which fell- in the violence and direction of the wind, there was a remarkable want of correspondence between different parts of the County. It may be observed, however, that comparatively little rain fell along its southern and southeastern borders.
Cobb's Creek, on the eastern margin of the County, and Brandywine on the west, were not flooded in any extraordinary degree. This conclusively shows that the greatest violence of the storm was expended on the district of country which is drained by Chester, Ridley, Crum, Darby, and the Gulf Creeks, and one or two tributaries of the Brandywine. This district will include a part of Chester County, and a very small part of Mont- gomery ; but including these, the whole extent of country that was inundated did not exceed in area the territory embraced within the County of Delaware. The extent of territory that was inundated was also much greater than that which was sub- jected to any very extraordinary fall of rain. The amount of rain which fell on that part of the County which borders on the river Delaware, and embraces the mouths and lower parts of the inundated creeks, was not sufficient to produce even an ordinary rise in the streams, and to this circumstance may in part be attributed the very unprepared state in which the inhabitants of this district were found for the mighty flood of waters which was approaching to overwhelm them. The very rapid rise in the water in the streams, without apparently any adequate cause, was also well calculated to increase the alarm in this district beyond what it would have been, had the quantity of water that fell there borne a comparison with that which fell in the upper parts of the County.
As a general rule, the heavy rain occurred later as we proceed
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from the sources of the streams towards their mouths. The quan- tity of rain which fell will decrease as we proceed in the same direction, particularly from the middle parts of the County down- wards.
In those sections of the County where its greatest violence was expended, the character of the storm more nearly accorded with that of a tropical hurricane than with anything which ap- pertained to this region of country. The clouds wore an un- usually dark and lowering appearance, of which the whole atmosphere seemed in some degree to partake, and this cir- cumstance, no doubt, gave that peculiarly vivid appearance to the incessant flashes of lightning, which was observed by every one. The peals of thunder were loud and almost continuous. The clouds appeared to approach from different directions, and to concentrate at a point not very distant from the zenith of the beholder. In many places there was but very little wind, the rain falling in nearly perpendicular streams ; at other places it blew a stiff breeze, first from the east or northeast, and sud- denly shifting to the southwest, while at a few points it blew in sudden gusts with great violence, accompanied with whirlwinds, which twisted off and prostrated large trees, and swept every- thing before it.
So varied was the character of the storm at different places, that the committee of the Institute, in order to present a satis- factory account of it, was obliged to embody the remarks of the different observers throughout the County. Brief extracts will be made from these remarks.
In Concord township the heavy rain commenced at about a quarter before three o'clock, P.M., the wind being E. S. E., but it veered so rapidly retrogade to the sun's motion, that the clouds appeared to verge to a centre over the western section of Delaware County, from several points of the compass at the same time-the rain falling in torrents resembling a water spout. At about a quarter before four o'clock the wind had nearly boxed the compass, and blew a gale from W. S. W., and about that hour, a tornado or whirlwind, passed across the southern part of Concord, about a quarter of a mile in width, prostrating forest and fruit trees, and scattering the fences in every direction. In the neighborhood of Concord the rain con- tinued about three hours, and the quantity that fell in that vicinity, as nearly as could be ascertained, was about sixteen inches. It is not probable that a greater quantity of rain fell in any other part of the County.
In Newtown township the heavy rain commenced about two o'clock, and terminated about five o'clock, P. M., the wind, during the rain, being nearly N. W. There was a heavy blow
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1843.
of wind, but it was not violent. The quantity of rain that fell was between eleven and thirteen inches. At Newtown Square, in forty minutes, immediately before five o'clock, it was ascer- tained that five inches and a half of rain fell. As observed in the north part of Radnor, the heavy rain commenced about four o'clock, P. M., and ceased about six o'clock. At the commence- ment the wind blew from the S. or S. W. but changed to the S. E. about four and a half or five o'clock, from which direction came the heaviest rain.
At Crozerville the storm appeared to have concentrated, and spent itself with awful violence. The morning had been lower- ing with occasional showers of rain, the air cool for the season. After noon the sky was thickly overcast, and clouds floated slowly in various directions, the wind as noted by a vane, N. E. After two o'clock, thunder was heard at a distance, which soon became louder and more frequent. About three o'clock, under an unusually dark sky, rain commenced falling in torrents, ac- companied with vivid lightning and almost continuous peals of thunder. The lightning was more vivid than ever had been witnessed by the observer in the day-time, nor had he ever before heard so much loud thunder at one time. The rain terminated a few minutes before six o'clock. Crozerville lies in a basin surrounded by steep acclivities. In every direction from these hills, sheets of water poured down, and mingling with the cur- rent below, presented, together with the rapid succession of forked lightning, a scene of awful sublimity.
In the northern part of Middletown the greatest violence of the storm lasted from three to five o'clock, P.M., the wind blow- ing from every quarter, but not with great violence.
In the northern part of Nether Providence the heavy rain commenced between four and five o'clock, and continued till a quarter past six o'clock. The wind blew from various directions, and at five o'clock with great violence from the W. N. W. In the northwest of Springfield township the heavy rain com- menced between two and three o'clock and continued till five. There was a strong current of air or whirlwind that passed over the high grounds near Beatty's mills, that uprooted and broke off trees. Lower down, on Crum Creek, " there appeared to be two storms of rain approaching one another, one from the S. E., the other from the N. W., which appeared to meet, and it could not be told for some minutes which would prevail, but eventually the one from the S. E. carried the sway," the rain being greatly increased during the struggle. At another point in Springfield the heaviest rain fell between five and six o'clock, the wind being variable, and blowing at one time with great violence, prostrating trees and fences in its course.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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In the middle part of Chester township the heaviest rain was late in the afternoon; there being no wind it fell in vertical streams. On the upper border of this township there was some wind. In the township of Bethel, not far from the Dela- ware state line, a hurricane of great violence occurred between four and five o'clock in the afternoon. The wind blew in oppo- site directions, as was proven by uprooted trees. Two miles further north the wind was still more violent, tearing up a large quantity of heavy timber in a very small space. A valley of woodland, bounded by high hills, had nearly all its timber pros- trated, not lengthwise with the valley, but across it, with the tops of the trees towards the N. E.
In the western part of Upper Darby the rain was very heavy, but the storm was not so violent as further N. W. The heavy rain, however, began about three o'clock, while in the more easterly parts of the same township but three-fourths of an inch of rain (accurately measured) fell during the day. In the neigh- borhood of Chester it rained moderately through the day, with one pretty heavy shower in the evening.
In Birmingham, heavy rains commenced about noon-the wind east or southeast. The clouds were dark and heavy, the lightning sharp, and the thunder very heavy, "accompanied with a rumbling noise in the air." The wind was changeable, and blew with great violence. The rain ceased about four o'clock.
The most remarkable circumstance connected with the rise in the waters of the several streams, was its extreme suddenness. In this particular, the flood in question has but few parallels on record ; occurring in a temperate climate, and being the result of rain alone. The description given by many persons of its approach in the lower district of the County, forcibly reminds one of the accounts he has read of the advance of the tides in the Bay of Fundy, and other places where they attain a great height. Some spoke of the water as coming down in a breast of several feet at a time; others described it as approaching in waves ; but all agree, that at one period of the flood, there was an almost instantaneous rise in the water of from five to eight feet. The time at which this extreme rapidity in the rise of the water occurred, was (in most places) after the streams had become so much swollen as to nearly or quite fill their ordinary channels. The quantity of water required to produce such a phenomenon, was therefore immensely greater, as the valleys of the streams in most places have a transverse section of several hundred feet. The breaking of mill-dams, and the yielding of bridges, and other obstructions, contributed in a degree to pro- duce such an extraordinary swell. but we must mainly look for the cause of this sudden rush of waters to the violence of the
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1843.
rain-if the term rain will apply to the torrents of water that fell in the northern and western sections of the County.
Cobb's Creek, on the eastern margin of the County, was not swollen much beyond an ordinary flood, although 5.82 inches of rain fell during the day at Haverford College within the drain- age of that stream.
Darby Creek, in a narrow valley above Heys' factory, at- tained a height of 17 feet; the greatest height of Crum Creek was about 20 feet, and that of Ridley Creek 21 feet. At Dut- ton's mill, Chester Creek rose to the height of 33 feet 6 inches.
To notice all the interesting details that are given in the re- port on the flood, from which the foregoing extracts have been taken, would occupy too much space in this volume. The sub- ject will be concluded by presenting a summary of the damages sustained by the freshet within the limits of the County, both public and private, together with a brief notice of the casualties that resulted in the loss of life, and the narrow escapes from imminent peril.
Thirty-two of the county bridges were either wholly destroyed or seriously injured. The following estimate of the damage sustained by the bridges on the several streams, was carefully made by competent persons :-
On Darby Creek,
$3,370
" Ithan
475
" Crum
6,875
" Ridley
5,400
" Chester 66
8,600
$24,700
Many of the townships also sustained heavy losses in the de- struction of small bridges and culverts.
The damage to private property will be given in the aggre- gate, only specifying the amount on each creek :-
On Darby Creek and tributaries, $20,000
On Crum Creek and
24,000
On Ridley Creek and
39,000
On Chester Creek and its branches,
104,000
On tributaries of the Brandywine, 2,600
Amount of private loss, . $190,375
It is also estimated that the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company sustained damage to the amount of $4,500.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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Nineteen human beings lost their lives by drowning. To persons who cannot bring their minds to realize the almost instantaneous rise in the water, this number may appear large, but it is really almost miraculous, that under the circumstances, so small a number should have perished. Hair-breadth escapes, and rescues from perilous situations, were numerous. Had the inundation occurred at midnight, when most persons are wrapped in slumber, the destruction of human life would have been dreadful indeed. Such a calamity can only be contemplated with feelings of horror.
Seven lives were lost on Darby Creek. When the stone bridge at Darby yielded to the torrent, two young men-Russell K. Flounders and Josiah Bunting, jr., were standing upon it. Both perished. At the cotton factory of D. & C. Kelly, on the Dela- ware County Turnpike five lives were lost. Michael Nolan and his family, consisting of his wife, five children and a young woman named Susan Dowlan, occupied a small frame tenement immediately below the western wall of the bridge. Before any immediate danger from the rise of water was apprehended, Michael and his eldest son had left the house with the view of making arrangements for the removal of the family. There was no water about the house when the father and son started, yet upon their attempt to return, after an absence of five minutes, it was not in the power of any one to reach the dwelling, much less to render the inmates any assistance. The wing-walls of the bridge soon gave way, and shortly after this the house was swept from its foundations, became a complete wreck, and all the inmates perished, except Susan Dowlan, who accidentally caught the branches of a tree, and at length obtained a foothold on a pro- jecting knot, where she supported herself till the water had suffi- ciently abated to allow her to be rescued. At Garrett's Factory three families, numbering sixteen individuals, were, for a long time, placed in the utmost jeopardy. Their retreat from land was wholly cut off by the sudden rise in the water-the houses they occupied were completely wrecked and large portions of them carried away, and they had nothing left to afford them the least security but the tottering remains of the ruins of their dwellings, which, fortunately, withstood the torrent.
No lives were lost on Crum Creek.
On Ridley Creek five individuals perished, a father and his four children. George Hargraves, his wife, four children and a brother, named William, occupied a central dwelling in a long stone building at Samuel Bancroft's factory, in Nether Provi- dence. The family delayed making their escape till it was too late, but retreated into the second story. The flood soon rushed through the building and carried away the two middle dwellings,
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1843.
and with it George Hargraves, his four older children and brother William ; his wife, with the youngest child in her arms, being in a corner of the room where the flooring was not entirely carried away. William was carried down the current half a mile, where he fortunately found a place of safety in the branches of a standing tree. Shortly after, George, with his children, floated by him on a bed, and, as he passed, cried out, "hold on to it, William." Scarcely had George given this admonition to his brother when he and his four children were swept from their position on the bed and engulfed beneath the turbulent waters of the flood, not to rise again. After Jane, the wife of George Hargraves, had sustained herself on a mere niche of projecting flooring, with her child in her arms, during five hours, she was rescued. Thomas Wardell Brown, his wife and child, occupied the other demolished dwelling, but were saved by taking a position on a portion of flooring corresponding to that on which Jane Hargraves stood, but of much less dimensions. This was the only portion of their dwelling not carried away.
A short distance above Sherman's upper factory, a double frame house, occupied by William Tooms and James Rigly and their families, was floated down the stream and lodged against the wheel-house of the factory, in a position opposite to a win- dow of the picker-house. Rigly, after placing his wife and child in the second story of the picker-house, discovered that Tooms, (who was sick) his wife and two children were in the garret of their dwelling, the roof of which was partly under water. He immediately broke a hole in the roof and rescued the inmates, one by one, and placed them in the picker-house. In half a minute after he returned the last time, their late dwelling was whirled over the wheel-house, dashed to pieces and carried down the stream.
Edward Lewis, Esq., and his son Edward, were placed in a situation of great peril. They were in the third story of the grist-mill when the building began to yield to the flood-their paper and saw-mill having previously been swept away, and a current of great depth and velocity was passing between the mill and their dwelling, across which was their only chance of retreat. A considerable part of the walls of the mill gave way, and the roof and timbers fell in confusion around them, but fortunately enough of the building remained firm till they were rescued by means of a rope.
On Chester Creek seven human beings were deprived of their lives by the flood, and many others were placed in situations of great jeopardy.
Mary Jackson, a colored woman, while assisting her husband to save floating wood, near Flower's mill, was overtaken by the
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1843.]
flood and drowned. Near the same place Mr. William G. Flower was subjected to imminent peril. Mr. F. was on the meadow when the flood came down in a wave, (represented by spectators as being from three to four feet high,) and swept him away. He was carried from his path into an old mill-race, where he suc- ceeded in reaching a grape vine, and by means of that, a tree. But the tree was soon uprooted and borne away. After a short period of extreme peril, during which he was several times over- whelmed with trees, timber, &c., carried along with frightful velocity, he succeeded in catching the branches of another trec, when, almost exhausted, he reached a place of safety.
No lives were lost at Chester, though numbers were placed in extreme danger by remaining in a dwelling adjoining the eastern abutment of the bridge-the western abutment and the bridge having been carried away, and a fearful current passing between the eastern abutment and the town. Mr. Jonathan Dutton was placed in a situation of great jeopardy. While en- deavoring to secure some property in his mill from being damaged by the flood, he was surprised by the sudden rise in the water to an alarming height. He retreated from story to story till he reached the upper one. His situation soon became more awfully perilous, for the mill began to yield to the force of the torrent. His position becoming desperate, he leaped from a window of the mill and with great exertion reached the shore.
John Rhoads, a resident of Pennsgrove, (now Glen Riddle) with his daughters, Hannah and Jane, and a granddaughter, were carried away in their dwelling and drowned. Mary Jane McGuigan, with her only child at her breast, in another dwelling at the same place, perished in the same manner.
The new stone cotton factory at Knowlton, 76 by 36 feet, ยท well stored with machinery, was carried away, but fortunately none of the operatives were in the building. There are many other interesting facts and circumstances connected with this unprecedented and disastrous flood, described in the report of the Committee of the Institute, but our allotted space will not permit us to notice them.
The County Commissioners stood aghast at the almost uni- versal damage or destruction of the County bridges, and scarcely knew where to commence the work of rebuilding and repairs. The Legislature was applied to for an exemption of the County from State tax for one year, which application was ungenerously refused. Loans were resorted to; and it became a matter of astonishment in what a short time both public and private da- mage was repaired, and almost everything restored to its former, or even to a better condition. The recuperative energies of no community were ever more severely taxed, and it was only by
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1845.
this test that the people of our County became fully acquainted with the vast extent of their own resources.
We have now arrived at a period in our narrative when the proceedings commenced which, after a protracted contest, re- sulted in the removal of the seat of justice of the County from Chester to a more central location, around which has grown up the town of Media. The author took an active part in these proceedings on the side favorable to removal, and on that ac- count he would gladly have passed over the subject with the mere notice of the time when the seat of justice was removed. But it is a matter of too much local importance to be passed by so slightly. An effort will therefore be made to narrate the transactions connected with it free from any improper feeling or bias.
On the 22d of November, 1845, agreeably to public notice, a meeting of citizens of the County was held at the Black Horse tavern in Middletown, "to take into consideration the propriety of removing the Seat of Justice to a more central po- sition." After adopting a preamble and resolutions favorable to a removal of the public buildings to a more central location, the meeting recommended meetings to be held in each township on the 5th of December following, " to elect two delegates in each, to meet on the 6th of December at the Black Horse tavern ; the delegates appointed to vote for the removal of the Seat of Justice or otherwise ; also, to decide upon those [the sites] de- signated by this meeting, which of them shall be adopted." The following places were named " as suitable locations for the pub- lic buildings :- County property in Providence ; Black Horse in Middletown ; Chester ; Rose Tree in Upper Providence, and Beaumont's Corner, Newtown."
Between the time of holding this meeting and the election of delegates, the November Court was held, at which the Grand Jury recommended the erection of a new jail. This was the second Grand Jury that had made the same recommendation, and it now rested with the County Commissioners to proceed with the work, a circumstance that rendered it important that the question of the location of the new prison should be decided as early as possible.
In some of the townships no delegates were elected; and owing to the very icy state of the roads, many who were elected did not attend the meeting appointed to be held on the 6th. Twelve townships were, however, represented as follows :
Birmingham-Dr. Elwood Harvey, J. D. Gilpin.
Chester-J. K. Zeilin, Y. S. Walter.
Upper Chichester-Robert R. Dutton.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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Concord-M. Stamp, E. Yarnall.
Edgmont-E. B. Green, George Baker. Marple-Abraham Pratt, Dr. J. M. Moore. Middletown-Joseph Edwards, Abram Pennell. Newtown-Eli Lewis, T. H. Speakman. N. Providence-R. T. Worrall, P. Worrall. Upper Providence-E. Bishop, Thos. Reese. Thornbury-Eli Baker, David Green. Tinicum-Joseph Weaver, Jr.
After various discussions, a vote was taken on the different sites that had been proposed, which resulted in giving the County property 8 votes ; the Black Horse, 6; Chester, 6, and Rose Tree, 2. Eventually, upon further ballotings, the County property received 12 votes, a majority of the whole. Both re- movalists and anti-removalists were very imperfectly represented by the Delegates assembled at this meeting, yet it was their ac- tion that determined the particular location of the future seat of justice of the County.
The anti-removalists were present at the meeting to defeat the question of removal altogether ; but should not have participated in a vote upon the different sites, if they did not intend to be bound by the result. Those removalists, who felt that they had not been represented at the meeting, (and they constituted a majority of the whole,) were generally opposed to fixing a site at all, but desired that the vote of the people should be taken, simply, for and against the removal. From this cause, and with the view of reconciling all differences, the committee appointed by the meeting held at the Black Horse, called a third meeting, to be held at the Hall of the Delaware County Institute of Sci- ence, on the 30th of the same month. This meeting was very largely attended. An address to the people of the County was adopted, and also the form of a petition to the Legislature in favor of a law giving the people a right to vote on the question of removal without fixing a site. This was not acquiesced in by a considerable number of removalists residing principally in the northwestern part of the County, and the result was a schism in the removal party, and the adoption of two forms of petition to the Legislature.
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