USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > History of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the territory included within its limits to the present time > Part 53
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Up to about the year 1827 or '28, though industrious in the acquisition of knowledge, John Evans had not shown a great preference for any parti- cular branch of science. About this time he received a visit from his kins- man, Alan W. Corson, of Plymouth, Montgomery county, who was on his return home, with his daughter, from Westown boarding-school. The visitors remained over night, and had with them a copy of Dr. Darlington's Flor- ula Cestrica, then lately published, and used in Westown school. This was the
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first knowledge John Evans had of any work descriptive of our local flora. He had then some little practical acquaint- ance with plants and their culture, but it was the opportune visit of his relative, Corson, and this early publication of Dr. Darlington, that first opened the way for him to enter upon the study of botany systematically. From this time, until the close of his earthly career the study of that science and the cultivation of plants, especially of hardy ones, have been with him a primary occu -. pation.
The tastes of his visiting kinsman were congenial with his own. They often visited each other, and frequently made botanical excursions together. What one had acquired was freely com- municated to the other, till they both became familiar with all the plants in the neighborhood, with, perhaps, the exception of some of the most incon- spicuous. The culture of rare plants around his dwelling commenced and progressed with his study of botany. Annual, or more frequent visits, were at first paid to the old Bartram botanic garden-then in the possession of Colonel Carr-and to other gardens in the vicinity of Philadelphia. The sup- ply from this source was soon exhaust- ed, when he turned his attention to Europe, entered into a correspondence with Sir William J. Hooker, Director of the Gardens of Kew, near London, and by forwarding to that learned bo- tanist, annually, for many years, seeds and specimens of American plants, frequently obtained by long journeys and much labor, he received in return, new and often very rare plants from various parts of the world, scarcely obtainable from any other source by purchase. During part of the period occupied by this correspondence, Dr. Hooker, the son of Sir William J. Hooker, made a botanical tour to the Himalaya mountains, in Asia. Seeds from that almost unexplored region, many of them produced by unnamed plants, were forwarded to John Evans. It will be remembered by his botanical visitors at that time, the great amount of labor and care bestowed by him in the propagation of plants from these seeds. Besides Professor Hooker, he, for a time, had a correspondent in Germany. He also had a number of correspondents in different parts of the
United States, but most of his rare 'American plants were collected by him- self during his frequent botanical tours. These tours were generally made to mountainous regions.
The premises of John Evans afforded no suitable grounds for an extensive garden, specially designed for show and ornament, and yet it is doubtful whe- ther another spot of the same extent can be found so well adapted to the culture and growth of a great variety of plants. There is a place on these grounds for plants of every habit, and every plant is found in the best place for its propagation and growth. On the densely wooded hillside, north of the dwelling, we find magnificent Rho- dodendrons, and other mountain shrub- bery and herbaceous plants, natives of the Himalayas, the Rocky Mountains, the Adriondacks, the Catskills and the Alleghanies, growing side by side, and mingling their gaudy colors and rich perfumes in deep-shaded seclusion, moistened by the spray from the adja- cent cascade of the mill-pond. Below, upon a flat on the opposite side of the creek, is an arenaceous alluvial deposit. Here we find the well known " Sand Garden " of the late proprietor, and clustered within it almost countless species from New Jersey, and many strangers from similar soil in more re- mote regions. The arid rocky hills are covered with pines, and other Coniferæ, of the rarest species. The damp ravine has its miniature cane-brake ; the arti- ficial pond, its odoriferous Nymphœa, and other aquatics. Every border is crowded with its appropriate specimen of rare and curious productions of the vegetable kingdom, brought together from remote parts of the earth Every nook and corner has a fitting tenant, whose right of occupancy no horticul- turalist would dare to question. In his planting, John Evans observed no order but the order of nature. A large pro- portion of the labor required for the care and cultivation of this vast collec- tion of plants, was performed by the hands of their late owner. But time and labor were economized in every possible way consistent with proper culture. The saw-dust from his mill, was used extensively around the grow- ing plants to smother out weeds. This soon decayed into a rich vegetable mould that promoted the growth of the
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plant, and soon enabled it to take care of itself.
The extent of the " Evans collection " is not exactly known. Though urged, while in health, by more than one of his friends, to make out a complete ca- talogue of his plants, he postponed the task till declining health rendered it an impossibility. In the number of dis- tinct species of trees and shrubbery, this collection may, without doubt, be set down as the largest in this country, while in herbaceous plants it has very few equals. To many of the rare trees and shrubs, appropriate leaden labels have been appended by their late owner, but this is not the case with a vast number of the herbaceous plants.
With John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall, John Evans completes a trio of self-taught American botanists, all born within the limits of old Chester county, and the first and last within the bounds of the present county of Delaware. They were men of like tastes, and were alike in their indus- trious and frugal habits. They were all men of the strictest integrity and highest moral worth, and especially were they alike as devoted students of the vegetable kingdom. Each reared his own monument in the large collec- tion of growing plants he left behind him.
John Evans lived in an age when bo- tanical knowledge was more readily acquired, and rare specimens of plants more easily collected than in the times of his predecessors. Hence, the vastly greater extent of his collection, while it is so highly creditable to him, is no disparagement to them. But his atten- tion was not like theirs, confined to plants alone. He had acquired a good knowledge of Mineralogy, Geology and Zoology. On the 27th day of Decem- ber, 1834, John Evans became a mem- ber of the Delaware County Institute, and it is probable that the study of these sciences commenced about that period.
John Evans was eminently a think- ing man. His opinions were fully formed on every subject presented to his mind, and no one who knew him, however different his own sentiments might be, could, for a moment, enter- tain a doubt, that these opinions were honestly entertained.
He was liberal, almost to a fault, in
the distribution of plants among such of his friends, as he believed would properly care for them. All who held that relation to him, can be in no want of numerous floral mementoes around their dwellings, of this profuse libe- rality.
More than a year past, exposure in his garden, developed the consuming disease, which ended his days on earth. His sufferings were not great, a favor for which he expressed his thankful- ness. He fully understood the nature of his malady and the certainty of the result. For months he had predicted that he would not live many days be- yond the first of April ; and as the fatal period approached, he more clearly felt that his prediction would be realized. He retained his senses unimpaired to the last, and after having given specific directions for the preservation of his favorite trees and shrubbery against damage from the horses of those who might attend his funeral, he firmly met his fate, and quietly passed from time to eternity.
On the Sunday following his decease, being the 7th of April, his remains were interred in the family cemetery, under evergreen trees planted by him- self, and surrounded by choice shrub- bery and flowers that had been culti- vated with his own hands. Besides his neighbors who flocked around his grave, there were those present from a distance, who had known him long and well-who were familiar with his many virtues. They were there to pay a last homage to his sterling integrity and great moral worth.
[The foregoing notice of John Evans is chiefly extracted from a paper read before the Delaware County Institute of Science, by the author, May 3d, 1862.]
EVAN, STEPHEN, yeoman, with his wife, Elizabeth, and two children, John and Phebe, came from the parish of Llanbister, county of Radnor, Wales, in 1683, and settled in Radnor township, in that or the following year. They had several children born in this coun- try; one named "Stephen Stephens," another .' Evan Stephens," which naming was in accordance with the custom of many Welsh families at that time. He was a Friend, and, at the time of his emigration, had "owned the truth for
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twenty years." He was one of the very earliest settlers of Radnor. His daugh- ter, Sarah, born 5th mo. 25th, 1686, was the first female child born of Eu- ropean parents in that township. His wife died in 1697. The time of his de- cease is unknown, though he lived to an advanced age.
EYRE, ROBERT, was born in England January 30th, 1648, O. S., the same day upon which King Charles I. was executed. He served his apprentice- ship with William Rogers, a merchant of Bristow, a town of some note at that day, on the borders of Somerset and Gloucestershire. Here he acquired a ready use of the pen that fitted him for the duties he was subsequently called on to discharge. After the expiration of his apprenticeship he, for some time, followed the seas as a supercargo, but eventually migrated to Pennsylvania, where he married Ann, the daughter of Francis Smith, a gentleman of educa- tion and wealth, whose residence was Devizes, in the county of Wilts, and who was one of the original pur- chasers of land in England. On the authority of family tradition, Robert Eyre first settled in Jersey. Part of the land purchased by Francis Smith was located in Bethel township, and was conveyed at an early date to Robert Eyre and his wife. This, doubtless, caused Robert to change his place of residence. In 1683 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts of Chester County, which office he heid till 1690. His children were Robert, Ann, Jane, Wil- liam and Francis. Robert Eyre, the elder, was not a Quaker, but some of his descendants united themselves with that society. The time of his death is not exactly known, but he was alive in 1697. His son, William, who inter- married with Mary, the daughter of Lewis David, of Haverford, occupied the patrimonial estate in Bethel in 1722.
Francis Smith, the father-in-law of Robert Eyre, settled in Kennet, and, it is said, named the township after the place in which he was born.
FAIRMAN, THOMAS, with his wife Elizabeth, was one of the earliest of the Quaker settlers on the Delaware He was a member of Governor Mark- ham's Council, and was also a Justice of Upland Court before the arrival of
William Penn. He lived at Shacka- maxon in 1681, when meetings were held at his house. Thomas died in 1714, and his wife in 1720.
FAUCET, WALTER, with his wife Grace, arrived at Chester as early as 1684, and settled on the northeast side of Ridley Creek, near where the main road leading sonth then crossed that stream, his land extending to Crum Creek. He was a man of great indus- try and energy of character, for while he attended strictly to his religions duties as a preacher and member of the Society of Friends, he was equally dili- gent in the service of the community as a good citizen. In 1685 he was ap- pointed one of the Peace Makers for Chester County-then an office of con- siderable responsibility, and also serv- ed one year as a member of the Assembly. For many years Chester Monthly Meeting was held at his house, notwithstanding it was kept as a house of entertainment, or tavern, at least during part of the time. His wife Grace having died in 1686, he was married to Rebecca Fearne, of Darby, in 1694. He died in 1704, leaving two sons-John (who married Grace Crook) and Nathan, by his first wife; and three danghters, Rebecca, Mary and Sarah, by his second wife, to survive him. Walter Faucet was one of the signers of the testimony against George Keith. In 1698 he paid a religious visit to England.
FEARNE, ELIZABETH, (widow,) with her son Joshna, and daughters Eliza- beth, Sarah and Rebecca, emigrated from " Darby," in the County of "Dar- by," England, in 1682. They were all Friends, and her husband, who is not named in the certificate, had suffered imprisonment in England on account of his religion. She was a woman of excellent character, but was not very active in meeting affairs. In 1684 her daughter Elizabeth was married to Jolin Kay, and her daughter Sarah to Thomas Sharp, both of Newtown, N. J. Her younger daughter, Rebecca, mar- ried Walter Faucet, of Ridley, and after his death, John Wood, of Darby.
FEARNE, JOSHUA, who had resided in Ashoner, Derbyshire, England, immi- grated with his mother Elizabeth, and
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sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah, and settled in Darby township in 1682. His father, in his day, had borne "a good testi- mony against ye false prophets, by suffering imprisonment for tythes," and it may be truthfully said, that the re- maining members of the family, in their new home, maintained with con- sistency and propriety the doctrines and practices for which he had been a sufferer. Joshua Fearne was married to Abigail Bats, of Newtown, in West Jersey, in 1687, and died in 1693, leav- ing two children, Joshua and Mary, to survive him. He was a man of ability, and during the short period his life was spared, after his arrival in Penn- sylvania, his time was much occupied in public employments. He was Sheriff of the County, Clerk and also Justice of the Court, and upon two occasions was elected a member of the Provincial Assembly. He was one of those select- ed to testify against George Keith. Abigail died more than two years be- fore her husband.
FEARNE, JOSIAH, was a younger son of the immigrant Elizabeth Fearne, but he did not arrive in this country till some years after the elder members of the family. In 1700 he was married to Sarah, the daughter of John Blun- ston. Letitia Penn, the daughter of the Proprietary, was present at the marriage, and signed the certificate. Their children were Elizabeth, Sarah, Martha, Joseph, Mary, Rebecca and Josiah. They were all strictly in unity with Friends.
FEW, RICHARD, came from Levington, in the County of Wilts, England, and settled in the Upper part of Chester township before the first arrival of the Proprietary in 1682. He was advanced in years at the time of his arrival. In religion he was a Friend, and by trade a shoemaker. His son Isaac was mar- ried to Hannah Stanfield, of Marple, in 1697. Richard Few died in 1688. He was a purchaser of land in England in conjunction with his son Richard, who is not known to have migrated to this country. Isaac removed to the neigh- borhood of Kennet. His children were Richard, Isaac, James, Elizabeth, Dan- iel, Joseph, William, Francis and Samuel.
FISHBOURN, RALPH, a resident of Tal- bot County, Maryland, was married ac- cording to the usages of the Society of Friends, to Elizabeth, daughter of John Simcock, of Ridley, in 1692. After the death of his father-in-law, in 1703, Ralph removed to Chester, where he appears to have entered into business as an importing merchant. He died in 1708, and Elizabeth the year follow- ing, without children. He was a man of considerable wealth for the time in which he lived, for in his will he speaks of having given his son William, by a former wife, " two plantations and two negroes valued at 400 pounds sterling." This William was a citizen of Chester in 1722. Ralph Fishbourn was for some- time one of the Justices of Chester Court.
FLOWER, WILLIAM, settled in or ad- joining Marcus Hook as early as 1692, and probably not much earlier. He was then in membership with Friends, and was that year married to Elizabeth Morris, a member of Concord Meeting. He died in 1717, leaving a widow named Sarah, which shows that he had been married a second time. He had a son Enoch, and a daughter Mary, who intermarried with John Flower, to the latter of whom he devised all his real estate. Enoch Flower, the noted early schoolmaster of Philadelphia, came from a place in England called Brinkworte. William and John were doubtless re- latives of Enoch, and probably came from the same neighborhood. John Flower, who resided in Chichester till the time of his decease in 1738, left six children, viz., Richard, John, Thomas, William, Mary and Margaret. The Flower family of Delaware County, and many others, are descendants from John and Mary Flower.
Fox, THOMAS, from Sulton, on the Trent, County of Nottingham, England, settled in Darby in 1684. Died in 1699, having devised his plantation in Darby to his nephew, William Cook. It is not certain that he was a Friend.
FRED, JOHN, and family, emigrated from the neighborhood of Carlow, Ire- land, about the year 1712, and settled in Birmingham, on the Brandywine. They were in membership with Friends. He had two sons, Benjamin and Nicho-
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las. The former removed to New- garden, but the latter, after having married Ann, the daughter of Joseph Need, of Darby, became a large pro- perty holder, and resided on the Brandy- wine, above Chadd's Ford.
GABITAS, WILLIAM, one of the mill- wrights of our early colonists, came from East Markham in the County of Nottingham, England, and settled in or near the town of Darby in 1685. He was accompanied by his wife Abi- gail. Their children were Jeremiah, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Deborah, and per- haps others. They were Friends, and William had experienced a small share of persecntion in his native country on account of his religion. He removed to Philadelphia where his wife and son Jeremiah died in 1691.
GARRETT, WILLIAM, (webster,) with his wife Ann and several children, came from Leicestershire, England, in 1684, in company with Samuel Levis, John Smith, and Robert Cliffe, who brought with them a joint certificate which they presented to a meeting of Friends held at " the Governor's house" in Philadelphia the 4th of the 9th month (November) 1684. Immediately before leaving England, he, jointly with Sam- uel Levis, had purchased 1000 acres of land, and they were prepared to locate it immediately on their arrival. Early in 1685 William located his share in Darby, now Upper Darby, where he came to reside. Both William and his wife were consistent members of the Society of Friends, and were much confided in by the meeting. Their children were Mary, Samuel, Alice, Sarah, Thomas, William and John; all of whom were born in England ex- cept the last, who died young. Mary intermarried with Abel Noble, Samuel with Jane, the daughter of Robert Pennell of Middletown, Alice with Jo- seph, a son of Robert Pennell, Sarah with Randal Croxton of Providence, Thomas with Rebecca Vernon of the same township, and William with Mary Smith of Darby. The elder William Garrett was alive in 1703. Ann, the wife of William Garrett, lived till 1722, when she died, in Philadelphia.
GIBBONS, JOHN, and his wife Margery were among the early Quaker emigrants
to Pennsylvania from England, and had settled in Bethel as early as 1684. They came from Warminster in the County of Wilts. Owing to some theological notions promulgated by Margery, she was disowned by Friends, and John appears to have lost his in- terest in the society. They had two sons, John who married Sarah Howard of Philadelphia, and James who mar- ried Ann, the daughter of George Pearce of Thornbury. John died be- fore his father, leaving two children, John and Rebecca. James removed to Westtown, and had three children, Mary, James and Joseph. The elder John Gibbons died in 1721.
GIBBONS, HENRY, came from " Pari- vidge, Darbyshire, England," in 1682, with his wife Hellen and family. He was a Friend, and continued to reside in or near Darby till the time of his death in 1701. In his will he calls himself "Henry Gibbons of Darby Webster." He left three daughters but no son. His wife died in 1715. His daughter Anna intermarried with Samuel Sellers in 1684. Henry Gib- bons with forty others, had suffered one month's imprisonment in England, for no other offence than being present at a meeting in which Elizabeth Deane was making a prayer.
GILPIN, JOSEPH, the son of Thomas and Joan Gilpin of Warborough, Eng- land, was born in 1664. He was mar- ried to Hannah Glover in 1691, and went to reside in Dorchester, but it was not till about the year 1695 that they emigrated to America. They set- tled in Birmingham, their first dwell- ing being a cave on the side of a hill, the exact site of which can yet be pointed out on the farm late the pro- perty of John D. Gilpin, Esq., one mile south of Dilworthstown. How long this couple occupied their cave as a dwelling is not known. They were strict members of the Society of Friends, and maintained a good standing both in that society and in the community at large. Their children were fifteen in number, viz : Hannah, Samuel, Ra- chel, Ruth, Lydia, Thomas, Ann, Jo- seph, Sarah, George, Isaac, Moses, Alice, Mary and Esther, the two elder of whom were born in England. From the low habitation of a cave, Joseph
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Gilpin became possessed of a plentiful estate. He was a useful man in his neighborhood, and lived to see all his children grown up to be men and women, and all but two married, and married to his mind. He died in 1740 at an advanced age. The remote an- cestry of the Gilpin family is given in the " Lives of eminent Philadelphians," p. 389.
GLEAVE, GEORGE, was an early settler in Springfield. He was in member- ship with Friends, and in 1687 married Esther Powell, also a member. He died before 1690, leaving but one child, a son, named John, who as early as 1707 intermarried with Elizabeth Mil- ler, a circumstance that renders it pro- bable that he was the son of a former wife. John's children were George, Esther, Rachel, Isaac and John. Es- ther, the widow of George, was married to Joseph Ware in 1691. The ford on Crum Creek, at Lewis' mills, for nearly a century was known as Gleave's Ford. This ford was on the " great road from Marlborough to Philadelphia," and as early as 1754 a bridge was erected over the creek at that point by private con- tributions, the subscription paper for which is still preserved.
GOODSONN, JOHN, " Chirurgeon to the Society of Free Traders," came from London, and arrived at Upland a short time before the first visit of the Pro- prietary. He was a Friend, and brought a certificate from the monthly meeting at the Peel in London. He resided for a time at Upland, and subsequently re- moved to Philadelphia, where he con- tinued to reside. In 1694 he and Samuel Carpenter were commissioned by the Proprietary assistants to Lieu- tenant-Governor Markham. He was a man of ability, and was probably the first practising physician in Pennsyl- vania.
GRAHAM, HENRY HALE, emigrated from England and settled in Chester some time prior to the year 1755. From this date through a long course of years his name and his chirography, which is very peculiar, constantly ap- pear in the County records. For very many years he held the offices of Regis- ter, Recorder, Pothonotary, and also Clerk of the serveral Courts for the
large County of Chester; and what is remarkable, he executed nearly all the writing with his own hand, a fact that shows his great industry. In the act that established the County of Dela- ware, passed in 1789, he was named as one of the Justices of its Courts, but it was decided that the appoint- ment of justices by the Legislature was void. He died the same year.
GREGORY, WILLIAM, settled early in Edgmont township, and in 1685 mar- ried Rebecca, the daughter of John Houlston, who resided in the neighbor- hood. He lived in full membership with the Society of Friends till his death, which occurred about the year 1704. His children were John, Will- iam, Elizabeth, Mary, Simon, Sarah and Edmund.
GRIST, JOHN, had settled on the Del- aware prior to the first visit of the Proprietary. He was a Friend, and his marriage with Ann Butt in 1682 is one of the earliest marriages noticed in the Records of Chester Monthly Meeting. His residence, by the runuing of the circular line, was included in New- castle County.
GRUBB, JOHN, with his wife Frances, was a resident of Upland as early as 1679, but does not appear to have been settled there as early as 1677. In 1679, jointly with Richard Buffington, he purchased three hundred acres of land on the southwest side of Chester Creek above Chester, and may have resided there some time. His occupa- tion was that of a tanner. His chil- dren were Emanuel, John, Joseph, Henry, Samuel, Nathaniel, Peter, Cha- rity and Phebe, all of whom were living at the time of his death in 1708. His daughter Charity was married to Richard Beeson prior to his death. He does not appear to have been a Quaker, and probably was an Episcopalian. His age was about sixty years.
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