USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 42
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The County was represented by William Williamson of Chester County in the Senate, and by John Larkin, Jr., in the House- both gentlemen being opposed to removal, but both understood to be favorable to the passage of a law that would afford the people of the County a fair vote on the question.
The dispute among the removalists in respect to fixing or not fixing a site in advance, grew warm, and as a majority of them 24
.
370
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1847.
favored a law that would authorize the vote to be taken on the broad question of removal, the anti-removalists were led into the belief that this course was adopted because it was impossible for their opponents to unite on any one location, and consequently that they would run no risk in submitting the question of re- moval to a vote of the people, provided, that it should be taken between Chester and any one of the sites that had been men- tioned. Under this erroneous impression their opposition was directed almost wholly against the party who opposed deciding upon any site till after the question of removal had been decided, and they ventured to say in their remonstrance to the Legisla- ture that they "do not believe it is fair and equal justice to array the friends of all the locations suggested (six in number) against the present Seat of Justice, for were any one place se- lected by the petitioners, we [they ] are confident that two-thirds of the votes of the people would be found against it."
Though every reasonable effort was made to induce our repre- sentatives to go for a bill authorizing a general vote on the question, it was soon discovered that they would not favor any plan that did not fix upon a site in advance. The bill that had been prepared by the committee of correspondence was called up by Mr. Larkin, and being opposed by him, it was of course defeated by a large majority.
The conduct of our representatives was very unsatisfactory to the removalists, and had the effect of exciting them to greater efforts for carrying their favorite measure. The removal com- mittee of correspondence, in a published address to the citizens of the County favorable to removal, denounced the treatment their bill had received at the hands of the Legislature, and ex- horted their friends to a steady and unyielding persistence in their efforts, until the present untoward circumstances that sur- rounded the subject should be removed, and the clearest rights appertaining to citizens of a republican government should have been yielded to them.
During the autumn of 1846 various efforts were made to secure the election of a strong removalist to the House of Rep- resentatives, but these efforts failed, and Sketchley Morton, Esq., a lukewarm anti-removalist, was elected, pledged, however, to advocate the passage of a law that would fairly submit the question of removal to a vote of the people of the County.
The removalists who had opposed fixing a site for the pro- posed new seat of justice, finding that under existing circum- stances no bill could be passed in that shape, gradually yielded the point, and the result was the passage of the act of 1847, entitled " An act concerning the removal of the Seat of Justice of Delaware County." This act provided that at the next
-
371
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1847.]
general election, "those voters in favor of removal shall each vote a written or printed ticket, labelled on the outside, Seat of Justice, and containing the words County property in Upper Providence, and those opposed to removal, shall each vote a written or printed ticket, labelled on the outside as aforesaid, and containing the word Chester." In case a majority voted for " Chester," the Commissioners were required to erect a new jail at the existing seat of justice, while on the other hand, if a majority voted for the " County property in Upper Providence," the Commissioners were required " to definitely fix and deter- mine on the exact location for new public buildings for the ac- commodation of the County," not more distant "than one-half of a mile from the farm attached to the House for the support and employment of the poor" of Delaware County, and not more than one-half mile from the state road leading from Philadelphia to Baltimore.
The question was now fairly at issue, and on terms that the anti-removalists could not object to, for they had proclaimed in their remonstrance to the Legislature their conviction, in case these terms should be adopted, that "two-thirds of the votes of the people" would be found against the proposed new site. They had, however, committed a fatal mistake in allowing a site for the new buildings to be selected so low down in the County, when it was within their power to have had one higher up and more distant from Chester selected. It was this that reconciled the great body of removalists to the proposed site ; for while it was not regarded by many of them as the most eligible, its se- lection greatly increased the number of voters who felt that their convenience would be promoted by a change.
During the summer of 1847 a number of articles appeared in the public papers on both sides of the question, of various de- grees of merit. The removalists, through their committee of correspondence, went systematically to work and thoroughly or- ganized their party. Perhaps no party in the County had ever before been organized so well. It can do no harm now to state, that long before the election, the committee had become so well acquainted with the sentiments of the people of the County, that they could count with certainty upon a majority in favor of re- moval of at least three hundred. Their efforts towards the close of the contest were not really for success, but to swell the majority which they knew they had, as well before, as after the election was held.
On the 30th of August, the removalists held a public meeting at the house of Peter Worrall, in Nether Providence. This meeting, which was very large and enthusiastic, adopted an address to the citizens of the County, placing the question of
372
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. [1847.
removal in the most favorable light. Committees of vigilance were also appointed in the several townships throughout the County-even in the borough of Chester.
Up to this time the opponents of removal had maintained an apathy on the subject that could only have arisen from a con- fidence in their supposed numerical strength. They now appear to have become suddenly aroused to the apprehension of a pos- sibility of some danger. A committee of correspondence, com- posed of the following named gentlemen, was suddenly, and perhaps informally, appointed, viz. : John M. Broomall, John P. Crozer, F. J. Hinkson, G. W. Bartram, Jesse Young, George G. Leiper, J. P. Eyre, John K. Zeilin, John Larkin, Jr., Edward Darlington, Samuel Edwards, and George Serrill. This com- mittee issued an elaborate address to the citizens of the county, re- viewing the proceedings of the removal meeting, and pointing out generally the evils that would result from a change in the location of the seat of justice of the county.
The committee of correspondence, on behalf of the' Re- movalists, consisted of the following named gentlemen, viz .: Minshall Painter, David Lyons, Nathan H. Baker, James J. Lewis, Joseph Edwards, William B. Lindsay, Dr. Joseph Wilson, James Ogden, John G. Henderson, George G. Baker, Thos. H. Speakman, Henry Haldeman, Jr., and Dr. George Smith. Soon after the publication of the anti-removal address, this commitee published a reply, criticising without much leniency, every position that had been taken by their opponents. The anti-removal committee had been particularly unfortunate in over-estimating the cost of new public buildings, or rather the difference between the cost of a new jail at Chester, and a court-house and jail at the new site. The removal committee happened to be in possession of the exact cost of a large and well built court-house that had been recently erected at Holi- daysburg, the facts connected with which were attested by one of our most respectable citizens. These facts could not be con- troverted, and consequently the appeal that had been made by the anti-removal committee to the pockets of the tax-payers of the County, proved an utter failure, and the affairs of the re- movalists were placed in a better position than before the con- troversy between the two committees commenced. A public meeting was subsequently held by the anti-removalists at the Black Horse, and an effort made to organize the party, but it was too late to make any headway against the regularly organ- ized forces of the removalists.
The election was held on the 12th of October, 1847, and re- sulted in a majority of 752 votes in favor of removal. The following table exhibits the vote in the several townships:
1847.]
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. -
373
Aston,
89
129
Bethel,
10
72
Birmingham,
62
21
Chester,
50
319
Upper Chichester,
4
72
Lower Chichester,
12
92
Concord,
83
70
Darby,
55
91
Upper Darby,
168
32
Edgmont,
150
0
Haverford,
147
3
Marple,
124
13
Middletown,
223
17
Newtown,
118
1
Upper Providence,
129
2
Nether Providence,
113
30
Radnor,
152
40
Ridley,
19
152
Springfield,
114
10
Thornbury,
116
5
Tinicum,
2
19
1942
1190
Voted in favor of removal,
1942
Voted against removal,
1190
Majority in favor of removal 752
When the result of the election became known, the majority being so large, no one then thought of making even an effort to de- feat the will of the people thus emphatically expressed. A cer- tain act, however, had been recently passed by the Legislature, giving the citizens of each township a right to decide by ballot, whether spirituous liquors should be sold in their respective townships. This act had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and their being some similarity between that act and the Removal Act, its constitutionality also became questionable. The Commissioners felt unwilling to proceed with the erection of the new buildings until the constitutional ques- tion should be decided, or a confirmatory act should be passed. The friends of removal at once determined to ask the Legis- lature to pass a confirmatory act, not dreaming that a propo- sition so reasonable and just would meet with the least resistance from any quarter. In this they were mistaken, for their appli- cation was met by a remonstrance from a large number of anti-
For Removal.
Against Removal.
374
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1848.
removalists, and other means were resorted to by a few of them, to defeat the measure, which it may be proper at this time to forbear to mention.
The question had been decided, upon the plan that they had accepted as the proper one, and had the removalists been de- feated, the erection of a new jail at Chester would have been acquiesced in by them without a murmur. Under such circum- stances, the author has never been able to see how the gentle- men who continued their opposition to removal, after a vote had been taken on the question, could reconcile their conduct to the injunction, "as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
The Hon. Sketchley Morton still represented the County in the House of Representatives, and acting in good faith, no diffi- culty was experienced in the passage of a confirmatory bill in that body. But in the Senate, it was soon discovered that our representative, Mr. Williamson, then Speaker of that body, was hostile to the bill, and that the services of other members of the Senate from distant parts of the Commonwealth had in some way been secured to make speeches against it, and to aid in its defeat. Among these was the late Governor Johnson. The bill was accordingly defeated in the Senate.
After this unfair and unjust treatment, the removalists at once resorted to the Supreme Court, to test the constitutionality of the Removal Act, under which the vote had been taken. Here they were met by counsel employed by the anti-removalists ; but before any action had been taken by the Court upon the main question, certain signs in the political horizon indicated that it might become a matter of some consequence to certain politicians, that so large a body of voters as the removalists of Delaware County should be pacified, after the treatment their fair and just bill had received in the Senate. A sudden change appears to have been effected in the views of certain Senators, on the grave question of the right of the majority to rule, and information was accordingly conveyed to the leading removalists, that a confirmatory act could then be passed. One was passed; but as the anti-removalists had to be consulted, the action of the Senate of Pennsylvania resulted in the monstrosity that here follows, which was only concurred in by the House, because nothing better could be had :-
" An Act relative to the removal of the Seat of Justice in Dela- ware County.
" SECTION 1. Be it enacted, &c. That the several provisions of an Act entitled ' An Act concerning the removal of the seat of justice in Delaware County,' approved March 3d, eighteen hun-
Drawn by C P Tholey.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS AT MEDIA.
Bowen & Co.hth Philada
375
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
1849.]
dred and forty-seven, so far as they authorize the removal of the seat of justice from the borough of Chester, be, and the same are hereby confirmed and made of full force and effect, and when the public buildings referred to in said act shall have been com- pleted, it shall be the duty of the Court, Sheriff, and other officers of said county, to do and perform the things mentioned and required to be done and performed in said act. Provided, That this act shall not go into effect until a decision shall be obtained from the Supreme Court on the validity of said act of March third, eighteen hundred and forty-seven. Provided, how- ever, that said decision shall be obtained in one year from the date of the passage of this act.
WILLIAM F. PACKER, Speaker of the House of Representatives. WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, Speaker of the Senate.
Approved the seventh day of April, one thousand eight hun- dred and forty-eight.
FRANCIS R. SHUNK."
The Supreme Court soon closed their sitting in Philadelphia, and no further effort was made to comply with the ridiculous provisions of the confirmatory law till the winter term following. It was now apparent, from the various motions of the counsel of the anti-removalists, that delay was a main object with his clients; but eventually, with much perseverance, the question was argued by the late Joseph G. Clarkson, the counsel of the removalists, and the opinion of the Court delivered just before the close of the year specified in the act. This opinion was a full confirmation of the constitutionality of the Removal Law.
The Commissioners, in pursuance of the Removal Act, very soon purchased a tract of forty-eight acres of land from Sarah Briggs, adjoining the County farm attached to the house for the support and employment of the poor, for the sum of $5760. On this a town was laid out, and many lots were immediately sold, realizing a great profit to the County. It was at first intended to call the town Providence, but in consideration of the great number of places bearing that name, the name of Media, sug- gested by Minshall Painter as a proper one, was adopted, and inserted in the Act of Incorporation. The town was laid out by Joseph Fox, Esq.
The location of the public buildings increased the value of the adjacent land. In this increase in value, the adjoining property belonging to the county, on which the old Alms-house was located, shared very fully; so that it soon became evident, that by dis- posing of this property with the old buildings, (which were not
376
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
[1850.
well adapted to the purpose for which they had been erected,) the County could be provided with a better farm in another local- ity, and with new buildings, very much better calculated for the accommodation of the paupers. The old property was accord- ingly disposed of by the Directors of the Poor, at the price that has been mentioned. In the mean time, the present County farm in Middletown was purchased, and the present neat and sub- stantial Alms-house erected.
Prior to the passage of the act authorizing a vote to be taken on the subject of the removal of the seat of justice, several routes had been experimentally surveyed through the County, for a railroad to West Chester. In adopting the present loca- tion for the road, the site of the new County town doubtless had a material influence. On the other hand, the completion of the road, rendering access to Philadelphia easy and cheap, has aided in the rapid growth and improvement of Media.
Since 1845, up to the breaking out of the present disastrous civil war, the improvement of the County, and the increase in the substantial means of its citizens, have been rapid beyond any former period. During that period, the Delaware County Turn- pike, the Darby Plank Road, the West Chester Turnpike or Plank Road, the Darby and Chester Plank Road, and several less important artificial roads, were constructed ; a large propor- tion of the money necessary therefor being furnished by citizens of Delaware County. These improvements became necessary on account of the improved condition of the farms throughout the County, and the increase in the number and extent of our manu- facturing establishments. The completion of the West Chester Railroad, and the Baltimore Central Road, through the county, to Oxford, in Chester County, has given a great impulse to business in the districts of the County through which they pass, and even now, in this period of our great calamity, the trans- portation on these roads is highly encouraging, as affording evidence of the improvement of the northern and western parts of the County.
It had been the intention of the author to conclude his narra- tive with a notice of the part that has been taken by citizens of this County in suppressing the present rebellion; but he finds it impossible to obtain sufficient data to enable him to make out anything like a full and fair account of all that has been done. He has, therefore, been obliged to abandon the task; but he regrets this less, because he was obliged to put the work in press while the great struggle was still in progress. He will venture to affirm, however, that in the number of men furnished to the army of the Union; in the amount of money provided for the support of the families of those enlisted and in service; and in
Bowen & Co. Lith. Philada
DELAWARE COUNTY ALMS HOUSE.
1
5
>
Drawn by CP Tholey
377
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
the quantity of clothing and provisions supplied gratuitously for the comfort of the soldiers, and particularly for the sick and wounded, (the latter principally by the ladies), Delaware County has not been surpassed by any community of the same extent in any part of the Union.
Our narrative will close with a notice of the several townships, and other municipal districts into which the County has been divided.
CHESTER.
The minuteness of the details already given, both in respect to the borough and township of Chester, leaves but little to be added. Though the change of the name from Upland to Chester was uncalled for and in bad taste, it is in one respect appropriate -this town bears the same character of venerable antiquity to all other towns in Pennsylvania which the city of Chester bears to other towns in England. That city occupies the site of an old Roman military post, and has its name from castra, the Latin for camp ; a circumstance that probably did not occur to Friend Pearson when he selected a new name for our venerable town, "in remembrance of the city from whence he came."
Numerous memorials can be yet pointed out within the borough and township of Chester. An attempt has been made to pre- serve the appearance of old St. Paul's Church, by a lithograph from a rather imperfect daguerreotype, taken while the edifice was still standing. It was a small building, and originally the belfry, built of brick, stood some twelve feet from the church building. This was removed in 1835 and a belfry erected on the old church.
St. Paul's Church is still in possession of two chalices with their salvers, one of which was presented by Queen Anne, and bears the inscription, " Annæ Regina." It is probable that this royal present to the church was received by the hands of the missionaries first sent to Pennsylvania by the "Society for pro- pagating the Gospel in foreign parts."
The obituary mementoes in the churchyard do not go back to so carly a date as might have been expected. The stone erected to the memory of Charles and Francis Brooks, bears this inscrip- tion :
" Here lyeth ye Body of Charles Brooks1 Who Dyed Also Francis Brooks who Dyed August ye 9th 1704 Aged 50."
The next oldest stone is thus dedicated to
" Robert French obt. Sept. the 9th 1713."
1 Charles Brooks was alive in 1684.
378
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
The massive and unique stone that commemorates the death of James Sandelandes, and his wife Ann, a beautiful engraving of which forms the frontispiece of the published Record of Upland Court, was not set up in the churchyard, but in early times formed the front of the pew of the Sandelandes' family in the old church, from whence it was removed to the exterior of the church many years since, where it was defaced and broken in two pieces. It is now carefully preserved in the vestibule of the new St. Paul's Church. The border of the stone is in relief and bears this inscription :
"HERE LIES INTERR-D THE BODIE OF JAMES SANDELANDES MARCHANT JN UPLAND JN PENSILVANIA WHO DEPARTED THIS MORTAIL LIFE APRIL THE 12 1692 AGED 56 YEARS. AND HIS WIFE ANN SANDELANDS."
The space inside of the margin is divided into two equal parts. One of these is occupied with the initials of the deceased, coat of arms, and an ornamental space for a motto, while the other bears rather a profusion of the emblems of mortality; all elaborately executed in relief. The dividing space bears the following words :
" VIVE MEMOR LETHI HFUGIT HORA."
The tomb of JOHN MORTON has a place within the old church- yard of St. Paul. It is a plain marble obelisk about nine feet in height. The east side bears the following inscription :
" Dedicated to the memory of JOHN MORTON, a member of the first American Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, assembled in New York 1765, and of the next Congress assem- bled in Philadelphia in 1774, and various other public stations,
Born A. D. 1724. Died April 1777."
On the north side of the obelisk the inscription runs as fol- lows :
"John Morton being censured by some of his friends for his boldness in giving the casting vote for the Declaration of Inde- pendence, his prophetic spirit dictated from his death-bed the following message to them :
"Tell them they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I have ever rendered to my country.' "
The other sides are occupied with historical events connected with the Declaration of Independence.
A few years since a number of very ancient buildings stood
379
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
on Front street, and some still remain there and on Filbert street. The Friends' Meeting-house, which, during several generations, was known as " the Old Assembly House," was, doubtless, among the oldest. The time and the manner of its erection has already been given. It was taken down a few years since, and its site has since been used as a coal yard. The "Bake House " and granaries erected by Jasper Yeates, about the year 1700, or perhaps earlier, stood a little lower down on the creek. There are still standing in that vicinity several dwellings, and other buildings, that bear evident marks of great antiquity. Some of these were doubtless built prior to the year 1700. The Yates, or Logan House, on Filbert street fronting the Delaware, is said to have been built that year. It is a substantial two-storied brick house, and though divested of some of its ancient embel- lishments, still makes a very comfortable dwelling. The dwell- ing of the late Commodore Porter was erected by David Lloyd about the year 1721. It was occupied by him, and after his death by his widow, many years.
The Court-house, built in 1724, is a very substantial building, and now serves as a town hall for the borough. Tradition has handed down to us the following as having happened during the building of this Court-house, or some other public building at Chester :
During the progress of the work a young lady was observed to pass and repass the building daily, dressed in very gay attire. After this promenade had been continued for some time, one of the workmen, less mannerly than his associates, upon the appear- ance of the lady, called out :
" In silk and scarlet walks many a harlot."
The young lady feeling indignant at the insult, promptly re- plied :
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