History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 152

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 152

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Sarah Fuller's patent for six hundred acres from Penn is dated 18th of Fifth Month, 1684, and extended from Jenkintown eastward beyond the meeting- house. John Barnes purchased two hundred and fifty aeres adjoining on the westward of the aforesaid tract, for which he received a patent Ist of Sixth Month of the said year. The latter not long after this purchased Sarah Fuller's tract, which gave him eight hundred and fifty aeres. By deed the 5th of Second Month, 1697, he vested in the trustees for the use of a Friends' meeting and school-house one hun- dred and twenty acres, which adjoins the eastern portion of the present borough of Jenkintown. It was thus that the meeting-house came to be built there as a substitute for the one that had been used at Oxford, three miles distant. To the Abington Friends' Minutes we are indebted for some ad- ditional information respecting several of the early settlers,-Sarah Fuller, iu Seventh Month, 1687, was married to William Dillwyn ; John Barnes, tailor, in Eighth Month, 1688, to Mary Arnold, probably of Germantown ; John Worrell, in Fourth Month, 1689, married Judith Dungworth, probably a daughter of Richard Dungworth ; Samuel Cart, in Twelfth Month, 1690, married Sarah Goodson.

William Jenkins, the founder of the family bearing the name in this section, is stated to have come from Wales, and must have resided in the township at least as late as 27th of Tenth Month, 1697, when he was appointed with Joseph Phipps to solicit subscrip- tions in Philadelphia towards the erection of the new meeting-house. He purchased of John Barnes, June 16, 1698, four hundred and thirty-seven aeres of the northwesterly portion of his tract. It is probable that he erected thereon the first improvements, for in his will, dated 11th of Twelfth Month, 1711, he be- queathed his dwelling-house and plantation, called " Spring Head," to his wife, Elizabeth. fact that the will was proven August 16, 1712, will de- note that he may have died but a short time before. He had two children, Stephen and Margaret, the latter married to a Paschall. The former married

Abigail, eldest daughter of Phineas Pemberton, of Falls township, Bucks Co., 14th of Second Month, 1704. He resided on the present property of Samnel W. Noble, on the York road, about half a mile north of Jenkin- town, and it appears in the summer of 1717 his buildings were burned ; in consequence the meeting ordered that they "raise something by way of sub- scription to help to supply his family with corn this year." His wife, who died 22d of Ninth Month, 1750, aged seventy years, was a minister in Abington Meeting. Phineas Jenkins, owner of one hundred acres in the list of 1734, was no doubt his son, called affer his grandfather, and who is mentioned in the asses- sor's list of 1780, at that time evidently well in years. On this list we also find the names of Jesse, Lydia, a widow, and William Jenkins, the latter rated a gentleman and holding one hundred and seventy- three acres of land.

Ryner Tyson came from Germany, near the bound- ary of Holland, and settled at Germantown, where he was a lot-holder in October, 1685, and was naturalized, with a number of other Germans, May 7, 1691. In 1709 one of this name was overseer of Abington Meeting, whether the aforesaid or his son we are un- able to state. In the list of 1734 five Tysons are men- tioned as being land-holders in the township, showing that they were already numerous. In the assessment. of 1780 we find the names of Joseph, Abraham, Sr., Thomas, Ryner, Sr., Abraham, Peter, Ryner, Isaac, Matthew, Samuel and Joseph Tyson, Jr. They have been a land-holding family, still retaining in their possession considerable real estate. The lime used in builling the State-House, from 1729 to 1735, was hauled from the kilns of Ryner Tyson, in this town- ship, fourteen miles from the city. Those kilns and quarries have ever since been in the family, and the business of lime-burning is still carried on by his descendants. Theoriginal seedling of the well-known Tyson pear was dug up from Friends' school property by Jonathan Tyson, and planted in the rear of Charles Harper's store, in Jenkintown, and by its quality the fruit attracted attention, and has been since widely disseminated by grafting. Its origin dates between the years 1790 and 1800.

Among the early settlers of Abington may be men- tioned John Hallowell, who came from Huckwell, Nottinghamshire, about the close of 1682, and first settled near Darby. In 1696, having purchased six hundred acres adjoining the line of Moreland and Upper Dublin, he came to settle there, and left numerous descendants. John Fletcher is mentioned in the Abington Minutes as a member of the meeting as early as 1688. Thomas Fletcher, on the list of 1734, probably his son, was commis- The sioned a justice of the County Courts in 1738, and continued until 1749. In the assessment of 1780 the names of Thomas and Robert Fletcher are mentioned as considerable land-holders. James Paul came from Yorkshire, England ; the tract on which he settled

680

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Jay near the present village of Fox Chase. Morris Morris, who, on the list of 1734, is represented as holding 400 acres of land, was probably the son of Evan Morris, who is stated to have settled at an early date about a mile west of the meeting-house, and from whom the Morrises of Whitemarsh are descended, long known as an influential family there, holding official positions and being owners of valuable real estate. John Kirk, mentioned on the list of 1734 as holding two hun- dred and fifty acres, was very probably the same that made a contract with Governor Keith, December 12, 1721, to do the mason-work of his mansion in Horsham which was completed the following year. In the assess- ment of 1780 we find the name of Jacob Kirk, holding two hundred acres and the owner of a " stage-wagon." Also on this list is mentioned the name of Isaac Knight, of a family that appears to have owned consid- erable land here in 1780. In 1779, for acts of disloy- alty the estates of Joshua and John Knight, Jr., con- taining two hundred and forty-one acres, were con- fiscated and applied to the support of the University of Pennsylvania, On what the charges were based we have not been able to ascertain. Jacob Taylor, who was surveyor-general of the province from 1706 to 1733, taught school for some time in Abington.

Benjamin Lay, the eccentric philanthropist, was long a resident in Abington. He was a native of Colchester, England, and on reaching man- hood followed for some time the life of a sailor. About 1710 he resided in Barbadoes, and thus came to witness the cruelties practiced on the slaves in the West Indies, which made a profound impression on him. He is stated to have been a member of the Society of Friends, and after the death of his wife sought out a retired spot about a quarter of a mile cast of Abington Meeting-house, belonging to John Phipps, now the estate of the late Joshua Francis Fisher. He improved a natural excavation on the hillside, so as to afford him a commodions apartment. Here he kept his library of books, which amounted to nearly two hundred volumes, and in this seclusion he devoted his time chiefly to meditation, reading and writing. It was here he wrote his treatise against negro slavery, entitled, " All Slave-Keepers that keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates." This he had printed by Franklin, in 1737, in a duodecimo of two hundred and eighty pages, which he circulated at his own expense. In the preface he states that it was written at Abington, and in the work he is pretty severe against slave-holding Friends, making therein numerous persoual charges. The style is coarse, and corroborates his eccentricity. Traditions respecting him are still current in the old families of the neigh- borhood. He was opposed to the introduction and use of tea and coffee as a beverage, and on this account broke to pieces, in the streets of Philadelphia, a set of China cups and saucers. He threw himself flat on the ground before the door of Abington Meeting, before its dismissal, that they might have to step

over him in coming out, as an example of humility. A small girl, the daughter of a slave-hohler in the neighborhood, was .le tained several days at his house, that they might realize the feelings of parents when their children were stolen from them and sold into slavery. On one occasion he was addressed as "your humble servant," when he replied to the person, "If you are my servant, I command you to tie my shoe- strings." Near the close of his life he attempted to fast forty days and nights, which brought on a siek- ness and probably hastened his death. He died in February, 1759, aged eighty-two years, at the residence of Joshua Morris, a well-to-do farmer in the vicinity, the place being now occupied by Rudolph J. Mitchell. He was interred in the Friends' burial-ground at Abington, and by a verbal will left the members of that Monthly Meeting the sum of forty pounds, to be appropriated to the education of poor children. An engraving was published many years ago from a painting of him, in which he is represented unshaven and holding in one hand a cane and his work against slavery. The expression of the countenance denotes him as a person of a sensitive nature and of a melan- choly temperament. The writer visited lately the spot where his cabin stood, the excavation yet remain- ing, being in a retired spot surrounded by woods. An interesting biographical sketch has been written of him by Dr. Benjamin Rush, which was first published in the Columbia Magazine of March, 1790. Accounts of his life have also been prepared and published by Robert Vaux and Thomas I. Wharton.

The York road, which extends through this town- ship upwards of three miles, was laid out from Phila- delphia in the fall of 1711, and was an important improvement Abington Meeting-house was made an early terminus for several roads. The road there- from to Byberry Meeting-house was laid out in 1712; to the present Fitzwatertown in 1725, in the report of which, remarkable to say, mention is made " of the mines at the Gap of Edge Hill," where iron-ore is now extensively procured; from the said meeting- house to Germantown in 1735, and now called Washington Lane; also to Jacob Leech's dwelling- house and mill on Tacony Creek, now Myers & Ervien's fork-factory, in 175f. The road from the Susquehanna Street road, at the northern part of Edge Hill, to Paul's Tavern, (now Willow Grove) was confirmed in 1768.

Mills no doubt were erected quite early in the township. Mention is made in the Abington Minutes, under date of 25th of Twelfth Month, 1711, of relief being furnished to Joseph Satterthwaite for " having had his mill burnt." We cannot locate it, but it was evidently in this vicinity. The mill, now the property of Daniel R. Rice, on the Tacony Creek, below Abing- ton Station, was built before 1725 by Isaac Knight, and carried on by Andrew Keyser in 1780. Lewis Roberts in 1780 owned a grist-mill where is now Smith Ilarper's hoe-factory. Robert Paul at said date owned a mill

681

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP.

near Huntingdon Valley. The saw-mills have some time since disappeared, two being mentioned in the township in 1785. Mention is made of wool-card- ing being carried on in 1808 at Israel Hallowell's mills, on the Pennypack.

Five houses of worship are in the township, two be- longing to Friends, two to Presbyterians and one to the Episcopalians. The early Friends' Meeting- house and Presbyterian Church will form articles by themselves. The Orthodox Friends' Meeting house is a small, one-story stone building, erected in 1832. It stands about half a mile south of the old meeting- house on the Cheltenham road. Carmel Presbyterian Church is a neat, one-story stone building, erected in 1876, located on a lot beside the Limekiln pike and Chel- tenham line, at Edge Hill village. St. Peter's Episco- palchurch, at Weldon, was consecrated June 17, 1883. Through a gift of the late Thomas Smith it was rebuilt of stone in the summer of 1884, and enlarged from a frame structure. A spire has since been added ; there is also in contemplation a rectory and a parish school- house. It possesses several handsome memorial windows and a pipe-organ. Its present rector is Rev. William S. Heaton.

The village of Abington is an old settlement; the intersection of the old York and Susquehanna Street roads here dates back to 1712. It contains one hotel, two stores, a post-office, several mechanic shops and about forty houses. Gordon, in his "Gazetteer," says it contained in 1832 "ten or twelve dwellings, a tannery, a boarding-school for boys, a tavern, two stores and a Presbyterian Church." The post-office was estab- An organization called the Abington and Chelten- ham Anti-Tramp Association was formed July 18, 1877. The object is stated to be " an association for the purpose of protecting their families and property against tramps and professional thieves." The first year it was supported by sixty-five subscribers, for which they secured the services of five constables, who were duly equipped to carry into effect their orders. They have been the means of arresting several thieves and burglars, who are now serving out long sentences, and who otherwise might have gone without punish- ment. At their meeting in the beginning of 1884 it was resolved. "That the Executive Committee be authorized to employ some suitable person whose duty it shall be to see that no one imprisoned by the knowledge. Also to advise the association of the discharge of any such person by reason of the expira- tion of his term of sentence." lished in 18321 and the elections have been held con- tinuously here at least since 1824. On Reading Howell's map of 1792 it is called " Shepherd's, " and " Abington" in Scott's "Gazetteer " of 1795. Mary Moore kept the tavern here with the sign of the " Square and Compass," at least from 1787 to 1808, and the village for this reason is still popularly known as Mooretown. It was probably where Thomas Dungan kept a public-house in 1779. The present black- smith-shop standing at the corner of York road and Susquehanna Street is an old stand, the business having been carried on here by John Brugh in 1807. The congregation of the Presbyterian Church was originally formed by the Rev. Malachi Jones in 1714, tombstones in the graveyard dating back to 1728. action of this association be pardoned without its John McNair, who was principal of the LoHler Academy from October, 1825, to December, 1828, subsequently kept a boarding and day school here for boys, with considerable success. He was afterwards elected county auditor, clerk of the courts and a member of Congress for two terms from this district. He afterwards moved to Prince William County, Va., where he died August 12, 1861.

Weklon, a thriving village on the Germantown

and Willow Grove turnpike, half a mile from Abington Station, dates its origin since the comple- tion of the North Pennsylvania Railroad. It con- tains a store, hotel, twenty-eight houses, a hall, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, a post-office and several mechanic shops. The hall was built in 1864, and the post-office established since 1877. A severe skirmish took place December 8, 1777, in this vicinity between the British army, under the command of General Howe, from Philadelphia, and several regiments of the American army at Whitemarsh, which resulted in more than one hundred being killed and wounded. The former in the night ingloriously hastened to the city, having come out with the evident intention of attacking Washington in his camp. Abington Station, at the intersection of the North Pennsylvania Rail- road and Germantown and Willow Grove turnpike, is situated on the Cheltenham line, contains six or seven houses, a public-house and a lumber and coal- yard. In this vicinity are several handsome country- seats. Harper Station is on the Newtown Railroad, in the eastern part of the township. The manufac- ture of hoes, garden-rakes, pump and water-engines is carried on here extensively by Smith Harper. In this vicinity the name of Harper is an early one, John Harper and his sons John and Charles being mentioned on the Oxford township tax-list for 1693. At Benezet, on the New York Railroad, a handsome new station-house was built in the summer of 1883. Several handsome country-seats have been lately built in this vicinity.

The Wharton Railroad Switch Company was originally established in 1868, and removed in 1873 to Washington Avenue, between Twenty- third and Twenty-fourth Streets, Philadelphia. In March, 1882, they purchased forty acres of land from the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company, formerly a portion of Edward Mather's farm, situ- ated at the junction of the North Pennsylvania and New York Railroads and approaching within

I By subsequent research ascertained that there was a post-office here in 1816, Jolin Nulter post-arister, but was discontinned in 1818

682

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

one-eighth of a mile of Jenkintown Station. Here they soon after commenced the erection of extensive buildings, with a view of ultimately transferring the whole business from Philadelphia. Iu the summer of 1884 a foundry and additional buildings were erected, and it is proposed, besides the manufacture of the patent switches, railroad crossings and frogs, to enter on the production of Wooten locomotives, of which they have secured the patent. They have given employment here to a considerable number of hands, and propose before long to greatly increase the force. The officers of the company are Abraham Barker, president ; William Wharton, Jr., superin- tendent; and Wharton Barker, treasurer.

Nearly a mile east of Jenkintown is situated the extensive nursery, fruit-growing and stock-raising farm of Edwin Satterthwaite, who has been in this business for a considerable time. As a success- ful fruit-grower he has probably not been sur- passed by any one in the State, having repeatedly secured therefor the highest premiums at State Fairs.

The Long-lost Oxford Meeting .- It has been known for a long time to those familiar with early Friends' records that there is mention made of a meet- ing-house in Oxford, in which for some time worship was held as well as Monthly Meetings. But the ques- tion would arise again and again, Where was this meeting-house? and, above all, what became of it, and why no further mention of it in the records? In confirmation the writer has received various letters on this matter from members of the Society of Friends within the past thirty years as to this mystery that remained unexplained. It is proper first to show authority that for some time such a meeting and house of worship had an actual exist- ance.

find again a " Monthly Meeting at ye new meeting- house near Tackeny, 8th of Eighth Month, 1684." On the 5th of Sixth Month, 1685, a " Monthly Meet- ing at Oxford" is mentioned again. "At Chelten- ham ye 30th of First Month, 1686," when it is agreed that meetings be held " at Byberry on ye 1st Fourth day in ye month, at Oxford ye 1st Third day of ye month, at Cheltenham ye 1st Fifth day of ye month, because it is ye weekly meeting at each respective place." At the Monthly Meeting 24th of Seventh Month, 1688, "Thomas Fairman desired to make a dleed of gift for ye land belonging to ye meeting-house against next Monthly Meeting, and to make it to Robert Addams, William Preston, John Fletcher and John Worral in behalf of ye meeting." With the aforesaid terminates all information to be found in the Minutes of Abington Monthly Meeting concern- ing the Oxford Meeting-house, but there is a suffi- ciency to offer in connection with other information to unfold what has hitherto remained so obscure.

It may be necessary to explain that Tookany or Tackeny and Oxford, as respects locality at this early date, mean all the same. The meeting-house, as is stated, was built in Oxford township, and the Tacony Creek approaching it within half a mile's distance will account for these several names. It is probable that Thomas Fairman gave the deed for the lot of ground for the meeting-house at the time specified. In consequence of letting William Penn have the use of his house at Shackamaxon soon after his arri- val, he removed, according to Friends' records, " near Frankford," where his son William was born the 3d of Seventh Month, 1683.

Isaac Comly, in his "History of Byberry," published in the " Memoirs of the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania," in speaking of the early Friends, states that "harmony prevailed among them and religious unity was maintained in general till 1691, when the disturbances raised by George Keith reached them. The controversy was carried on so sharply amongst the members of the meeting of Poetquesink that a division took place. John Hart, Nathaniel Walton and divers others in the southern part of the neigh- borhood adopted the Keithian profession and creed and kept possession of the meeting. Some of them turned Episcopalians, and are said to have been con- cerned in founding All Saints' Church, in Lower Dublin. Others attached themselves to a Keithian meeting in Southampton. Most of them turned Baptists. John Hart was one of them." Mr. Comly is in error respecting All Saints' ; he doubtless meant Trinity Church, in Oxford, as no other early place of worship existed in that section belonging to the Episcopalians.

In the records of Abington Monthly Meeting we find that "at a quarterly meeting of Friends in ye City of Philadelphia ye Sixth Month, 1683, it was then and there agreed and concluded that there be established a first-day meeting of ffriends at Tookany and Poetquesink, and that these two make one Monthly Meeting, and that there be at least six men and six women ffriends chosen out of ye said Monthly Meeting to have recourse to every Quarterly Meeting of friends in Philadelphia." At the Monthly Meet- ing held 3d of Seventh Month of said year "of Friends in Truth about Tookany and Poetquesink Creeks being met together for ye better ordering and governing ye affairs of ye church, It was agreed yt Thomas Fairman provide a book for this meeting, that ye next Monthly Meeting be at John Hart's, at Poetquesink, and a log house be built for a meeting- house upon a certain piece of land given for yt ser- viee by Thomas Fairman, in ye township of Oxford." George Keith was disowned on the 20th of Fourth Month, 1692, and on the 27th of that month the Abington Minutes state "a paper of condemnation given forth by a meeting of Public Friends at Phila- " At a Monthly Meeting held 5th of Third Month, 1684, at ye new meeting-house at Oxford, John Goodin and Sarah Kitchen, both belonging to this meeting, declare their intentions of marriage." We I delphia against George Keith and his separate com-

683

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP.

pany was this day read in our Monthly Meeting." Respecting this movement, Samuel Smith, a leading Friend, states, in his early account of the Society in Pennsylvania, published in the sixth vohime of Hazards' Register, that "George Keith and the party that had joined him now set up a separate meeting, but still called themselves Quakers, yet with thisdistine- tion : that they were Christian Quakers and Friends. We are next to consider him in the light of an open and acknowledged sect-master, for three months had not elapsed after being disowned before the party he had made were grown to a considerable people as to number. Several among them had been Friends of the ministry and well approved, which contributed not a little to strengthen the hands of their less important followers. They had meetings for worship at stated times at Philadelphia, Burlington and other places ; built a meeting-house in Burlington; set up a Monthly Meeting for business in Philadelphia ; and George Keith, George Hutchinson, Thomas Budd and others used to preach among them, but the weight of the whole seemed to lay chiefly upon these three, who all of them had been men of good esteen."

The causes that led to this dispute and the subse- qent troubles attending it we have no desire to enter on, but will confine ourselves as closely as possible to the subject under consideration. However, at that time it made a great commotion, that led to the issue of numerous controversial pamphlets filled with bitter animosity. A letter was sent from London, dated 21st of Fourth Month, 1693, signed by William Penn and nine others, directed to George Hutchinson, Robert Turner, Francis Rawle, John Hart and Charles Reed, in which says Samuel Smith, "they gave them and the others who had gone over much brotherly advice, calculated to reconcile the widening difference." As to the results in this connection, the Rev. D. C. Mil- let mentions, in his "History of St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh," that " it was about 1695 that a clergy- man of the Church of England, Rev. Mr. Clayton, first established the services of the church in Phila- delphia. He died, however, in 1698. Ile was fol- lowed by the Rev. Evan Evans, for many years rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, who came to this country in 1700, and within two years after his arrival more than five hundred of the followers of George Fox joined themselves to the Church of England."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 152

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534