History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 255

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 255

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" For the acceptance of such offices he was reproved by his friend and correspondent Jefferson, who wrote to him in 1778 as follows :

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1734

DAVID RITTENHOUSE CHIMENT ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN. DIREN APRIL 2. 1732

RITTENHOUSE MERIDIAN STONE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

settlement of an alarming boundary dispute, between the States of Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania, and also in determining the dividing line he- tween the States of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

the machinery and successfully organized that institution.

"Ilis was, therefore, a busy life apart from the pursuits of pure science. What he might further have accomplished for astronomy, if his genius had been afforded exclusive and untrammeled scope in the sphere of bis favorite science, none can tell. But a man so admirably equipped for practical life, and so ready and conscientious in the discharge of every duty, could hardly escape his share of the extraordinary re- sponsiblities of citizenship in Revolutionary times, and in the organi- zation of n new nation, struggling through its transition state from co- lonial to independent government.

" At such times the public services of the greatest and the best are in demand. As the result, therefore, of the public confidence in the exalted character of David Rittenbouse as a man, as well as the fame of his attainments, official employments of high civil trust, although unsought, were tbrust upon him, And so, for long years, science lost the undivided de- votion of his transcendent genius.

" As an astronomer and mathematician, amid all his other multifarions employments, he retained the foremost position in his own country, and as such was recognized in Europe. lle succeeded Dr. Fraoklin as President of the American Philosophical Society, and was a fellow of the Royal Society in London. He died eighty-eight years ago, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.

"Such is a brief sketch of the citizen we bonor by the simple memorial inscription which marks this granite monulith. It is not intended as his monument. It is erec- ted, primarily, for another practical and useful purpose, but of a nature kindred with his pursuits in life. As a monu- ment to his memory, merely, it would be too insignificant. But the memorial inscription is especially significant and appropriate when we consider the practical uses of the stone. To this monolith, firmly planted in its immovable foundation, our county surveyors will make their annual visitations, to compare and correct the variations of their instruments by the true meridian ; and the dedication, re- corded by the inscription it bears, will ever testify to them and to all, our grateful remembrance of David Rittenhouse, once the chief among surveyors; and the honorable pride we feel in counting him, the illustrions astronomer and artisan, among those who have distinguished and adorned the history of our county ; and in thus honoring him, we honor ourselves."

" Your time, for two years past, has, I believe, been principally em- ployed in the civil government of your country, Though I have been aware of the authority our canse would acquire from its being known that yourself and Dr. Franklin were zealous friends of it, and I am my self duly impressed with a sense of the arduousness of government and the obligations of those who are able to conduct it, yet I am also satis- fied that there is an order of geniuses above that obligation, and there- fore ought to be exempted from it. Nobody can conceive that nature ever intended to throw away a Newton on the occupations of a crown. * I do not doubt there are in your country many persons equal to * * the task of conducting government, but you should consider that the world bas but one Rittenhouse.'

" Nevertheless, for more than ten years afterwards, he continued to serve in the office of State Treasurer. Recognized as the first among scientific surveyors, he was successfully employed as commissioner in the

At the conclusion Rev. Isaac Gibson pronounced the following,

BENEDICTION,

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all, evermore, Amen.

Music by the Norristown band followed, which concluded the exer- vises of that day.

The meridian stone thus unveiled contains the following inscriptions :

On the east face : DAVID HITTENHOUSE, EMINENT ASTRONOMER

On the north face :

AND MATHEMATICIAN. BORN APRIL 8, 1732. DIED JUNE 26, 1796. HE CALCULATED AND OBSERVED THE TRANSIT OF VENU'S AT HIS HOME IN NORRITON, 1706.

vii

APPENDIX.

On the west face .

FRECTEO HY THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY CENTENNIAL ASSOCIATION

On the south fare .

1784. | 18>4.

SECOND DAY.

MEMORIAL EXERCISES.

The exercises of Wednesday, September 10, were held in Music Hall. Before ten o'clock, the time of opening, every available seat in the auditorium and gallery was filled, while great numbers crowded all the aisles and other spaces.

In the rear of the stage, arranged upon elevated seats, were the vocal- ists, who, with the orchestra, were under the leadership of Prof. J V. Bean.

The exercises commenced with the rendition of an overture by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Norristown, after which the hymn, " Before Jehovah's Awful Throne," to the tune of "Migdol," was effectively rendered by the t'entendial chorus and the orchestra.

Rev. H. S. Rodenbough, pastur of the Providence Presbyterian Church of Lower Providence, the oldest pastor in continnous service in the county, offered the following

P&ALER.

" Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, the whole earth is full of Thy glory. Great Creator, we magnify Thine infinite wisdom. All Power- ful Supporter and Preserver, we rest in Thy strength. Sovereign Ruler, we own Thine authority. We bow before Thy throne, Omniscient Judge, we stand at Thy righteous bar. Kind, loving Heavenly Father, through Christ, Thine only begotten Son, our elder brother, we, Thy children, seek Thy tender care. According to Thy good pleasure, Thou settest up and Thou puttest down. Thou hast highly exalted this nation, and we would exalt the glory of Thy great name. Thou hast bounti- fully blessed this Commonwealth, and we would sincerely honor Thee. This county, whose centennial we now celebrate, Thon hast richly blessed in every spiritual, moral, intellectual and material interest. For 80 great favors we would must devontly bless Thee, while we would humbly ask for grave, rightly to use, diligently to cultivate, and haod down in undimmed brightness to those who shall follow after We thank Thee for the excellent men and women raised np and employed by Thee in the great work Thou hast done for us. Help us to honor their memory, by cultivating their spirit, copying their example, and faith- fully carrying forward the work they have left in our care. And now, kindly vouchsafe to favor all the exercises of this memorial occasion. Let nothing mar ; make everything contribute to the desired success. May impressions be made, healthful and lasting, a perennial fountain, sending forth an unfailing stream to gladden and refresh this, our heri- tage, not only throughont another century, but until time itself shall be no more. These favors, with every other needed blessing, grant for Jesus' sake, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he all glory, honor, might and dominion, now and evermore. Amen."

At the conclusion of the prayer, Joseph Fornance, Esq., President of the Centennial Association, said :

" The idea of celebrating the Montgomery County centennial started in the Historical Society of Montgomery County. They appointed a com- mittee for that purpose, composed of citizens from the various districts of the county. That committee met, organized, called itself the Centennial Association of Montgomery County, and got to work. I am here as President of that committee, and it is my duty to call this assemblage to order, and to preside over its exercises. In working up the cause, at first

we met with little encouragement; but as the anniversary day ap- proached, interest was aroused, and the people of the county responded nobly. They needed but a little stirring up to show that they were full of patriotism.

"Yesterday, on behalf of the Centennial Association of Montgomery County, I sent a telegram to Franklin County, congratulating it on reach- ing its one hundredth birthday. I have received this telegram in answer to it.

"' CHAMBERSBURG, PA., Sept. 9, 1881-1.23 P. M. "' To the Centennial Association of Montgomery County :

""" Franklin County returns the salutation of her twin sister, Mont- gomery County. Recalls with pride the triumphs of the past. Rejoices in the present prosperity of all, and enters npon a second century with gratitude and hope.

" " BENJ. CHAMREAS, Chairman."" The "Centennial Hylun," written by John G. Whittier, was sung by the chorna, accompanied by the orchestra.

Mr Wm. J. Buck delivered the following

HISTORICAL, ORATION.

"It is well in the flight of time to have occasion to pause and review the events that have transpired around us; to know whether, on the whole, we have advanced or retrograded as concerns the general welfare ; in what respect, if any, we have really progressed ; and that the changes going ou be pointed out, that comparisons may be instituted and deduc- tions drawn as to the results. This is the philosophical ann of history, and, if justly carried ont, when made known to a thinking people, cannot fail but exert a beneficial influence. Time will not pause a single moment, and no people can remain stationary. Change, greater or less, is a law in nature to which all that has life must submit. It behooves ns theo to guard that it be for the better. This gathering is no ordinary one-a centennial, because one hundred years ago this county was formed : a bi-centennial, because two hundred years have elapsed since its first settlement. Io less than half an hour's time allotted, where shall I begin, and what shall be omitted? Hence, forbearance is ex- pected on much that cannot even be alluded to, relating to the long period that has elapsed.

"The first knowledge of our territory by Enrojeans must have been gained through the prosecution of the beaver trade on the Schuylkill, and along which they had erected several forts, The Upland Court Re- cords mention, in 1677, Beaver island, on this river, which may have been the present Barbadoes island, or one of those in Lower Merioo. In the pursuit of this trafhe, either by the Indians, Dutch and Swedes, the canoe must have heen their chief dependence in travel and conveying freight. But in this project they were only actuated by a love for gain, and but little for the progress or development of the country ; hence their easy conquest by the English. A map was published in London in 1698, which has been faithfully reproduced, and will appear in the forth- coming history of the county, that represents, at that early date, the Schuylkill from its mouth up as far as about the present city of Reading, or fully one-third its entire length, with the Wissabickon, Perkiomen, and the Manatawny, and all their leading tributaries, with accuracy, clearly demonstrating that at that time the present territory of Mont- gomery must have been pretty well explored.

" The date of settlement by the Welsh, English and Germans was very close in this county ; indeed, so close with the two former, that the mat- ter by further research may be contested. Hence the important question, Who was the first European that permanently settled on our soil, sus- tained by original records ? As the case now stands, that honor belongs to the Welsh. These people, before the arrival of Penn, had purchased from him forty thousand acres of land, which was subsequently located in Merion, Haverford, Goshen, und several adjoining townships. How

viii

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

much of it was located in the present Upper and Lower Merion is not known, hut no doubt it embraced considerably over half their aren. Under this encouragement, the ship 'Lyon,' Joho Compton, master, arrived with forty passengers in the Schuylkill river Angust 13, 1682, almost two months preceding Penn'a arrival, ou board of which was Ed- ward Jones, with his family, who, on the following 26th, sent a letter to Wales, wherein he states : 'The Indians brought venison to our floor for sixpence ye quarter. There are stones to be had enough at the Falls of Skoolkill-that is where we are to settle, and water power enough for mills ; but thon must bring mill stones and the irons that belong to it, for smiths are dear.' We have the authority of John Hill's map of the environs of Philadelphia, published in 1800, that the aforesaid made "the first British settlement, 18th of Sixth-month, 1682,' which is only five days after his arrival in the Schuylkill. The place designated thereon is now the estate of his descendant, the late Col. Owen Jones, near the present Libertyville ; and is certainly an early claim, for Philadelphia had not then beeu founded.

"This will now direct ns to the Welsh, a people descended from the ancient Britons, possessing their own laognage aod peculiar character- istics. Dr. Thomas Wynne arrived with his family in the following No- vember on the 'Welcome,' with William Penn. He settled heside his son-in-law, Edward Jones, whence has originated the name Wynnewood. Juhn Ruberts came in 1683, and settled near the present Pencoyd, which has received its name from the place of his nativity. In the list of 1731, fifty-two taxables are mentioned in Lower Merion, of which forty-four are Welsh and four English ; in Upper Merion, for said date, of thirty- two, twenty-two are Welsh and one English ; in Gwynedd, of forty-eight, thirty-nine are Welsh and six English ; in Towamencin, eight are Welsh aod three English ; in Horsham, five are Welsh and four English ; in Plymouth, eight are Welsh and six English ; in Montgomery, of twenty- nine, twenty-two are Welsh ; in Norriton, seven are Welsh and six Eng- Jish. Thomas Evans and William Jones purchased seven thousand eight hundred and twenty acres in Gwynedd, in the beginning of 1698, and were soon joined hy Cadwallader, Owen and Robert Evans, IIngh Grif- fith, Ellis David, Robert Jones, Edward Foulke, John Hugh, and John Humphrey. In 1700 they erected a small log builling for worship. Owing to an influx of settlers, a large stone building was erected in 1712. The subscription paper was written in Welsh, to which was affixed sixty- six names. A petition from the residents of Gwynedd for a road to Phila- delphia, in June, 1704, states that they then numbered thirty families.

" Before 1720, John Evans, William James, Thomas James, Jusiah James, .James Lewis, Elward Williams, and James Davis, had settled io Montgomery township, in which year they built there a Baptist church, in which preaching in the Welsh language was maintained down to the Bevolution. According to a well-known tradition, the early Welsh set- tlers bought ont in preference, the lands in Gwynedd And Montgomery, because they were not near so heavily timbered as in the townships below, and would, therefore, in its removal, require so much less labor to bring the same under cultivation ; not imagining, in consequence, its much greater productiveness. Before 1703, David Meredith, Thomas Owco, Isaac Price, Ellis Pugh, and Hugh Jones, all from Wales, settled in Ply- mouth. The Welsh Frienda built in Lower Merion, in 1695, the first house of worship erected in the county. The Rev. Malachi Jones, from Wales, organized the first Presbyterian congregation at Abington, in 1711. According to the list of 1731, the Welsh at that date exceeded the English decidedly in population. Out of a total of seven hundred and sixty names, the former numbered one hundred and eighty-one and the latter one hundred and sixty-three. Necessity at first compelled the Welsh, the English and the Germans to form settlements by themselves, owing to a general ignorance of each other'a languages, which, of course for A long time, muat have greatly interfered in their social intercourse.

The Welsh, for the first half century, came in and settled here pretty ex- tensively, for in 1734 they formed nearly one-fourth ot the entire popula- tion ; hut with the cessation of religions persecution at home, ceased coming, which is one reason of their having aince so diminished.

" The next settlement most probably was made by the English in Chel- tenham. There is no doubt hnt what this township received its name through Toby Leech, one of the earliest settlers and land-holders there. On his tomb-stone, at Oxford Church, is found this extract, that he 'came from cheltenham, Gloncestershire, England, in 1682,' which is a matter of confirmation. There is reason to believe that there is no district in the county that was named earlier than this, or had earlier surveys made to purchasers. In evidence, we know from the records that Thomas Fairman, on the Ist of Seventh Month, 1683, surveyed, for Patrick Robinson, two hundred acres, adjoining Richard Wall, by Tacony Creek, which states that 'this tract of land is in the parish of Cheltenham.' From the aforesaid we learn that Richard Wall's pur- chase had been made still earlier, and was located in the vicinity of the present Shoemakertown. The latter was also from Gloucestershire, and we know .John Day, William Brown, Everard Bolton, John Ashmead, John Russell, and Joseph Mather, were also early settlers here from England. John Ilallowell, John Barnes and Joseph Phipps had set- tled in Abington before 1697. Nicholas More, a physician from Lun- Jon, arrived soon after William Penn, io 1682, and had conveyed to him hy patent, 7th of Sixth Month, 1684, the manor of Moreland, contain- ing mine thousand eight hundred and fifteen acres. About 1685 he commenced thereon the erection of buildings, where he lived aod died, calling the place Green Spring. Jasper Farmar, by patent, January 31, 1683, took up, in two tracts, five thousand acres of land. His widow, Mary Farmar, settled thereon, with the family, in the fall of 1685, and it was the first settlement in Whitemarsh. Edward Farmar, on the death of his mother, about the close of 1686, became the owner, of three- fourths of the original purchase. He became a noted man, interpreter of the Indians, and hefore 1713 built a grist-mill on the Wisenhickon. Ahont 1685 Plymouth was originally purchased aod settled by James Fox, Richard Grove, Francis Bawle and John Chelson, all from Ply- month, in Devonshire, but who afterwards removed to Philadelphia, John Barnes, who had purchased in 1684, two hundred and fifty acres in Alington, and settled there, by will, in 1607, vested in the trustres of Abington Meeting, one hundred and twenty acres, for the use of the same and for a school house. This was, no doubt, the first donation for lucational purposes within the present limits of the county, if not among the first in Pennsylvania. Thomas Pahuer and Thomas Iredell were among the carliest settlers in Horsham. Edward Lane and Joseph Richardson settled in Providence in 1701, and the former built a mill in the vicinity of Collegeville in 1708. Henry Pawling came from Buck- inghamshire, and was also an early settler in Providence. To the Eng- lish belongs the honor of having burnt the first lime from lime-stone, in Pennsylvania.

"Nicholas More, in a letter to William Penn, in England, dated Sep- tember 13, 1686, states that ' Madame Farmar has found as good Time- stone as any in the world, and is building with it. She offers to sell ten thousand bushels at six pence the bushel, upon her plantation.' Thomas Fitzwater carried on the burning of lime before 1705, at the present Fitzwatertown. Oldmixon mentions lime burning in Upper Merion before 1708.

" We will now take up the most English townships, as settled in 1731, to compare with the Welsh. Abington had twenty-four English and thirteco Welsh ; Cheltenham, eleven English and six Welsh ; Moreland, forty-seven English and seven Welsh ; Whitemarsh, twenty-three Eng- lish und nine Welsh ; Upper Dublin, fifteen English and five Welsh ; Springfield, nine English and no Welsh. It will be perceived that even

APPENDIX.

in the most English settled townships, with one exception, the Welsh possessed some strength. The English built Abington Friends' Meeting- house in 1697 ; at Horsham, 1721 ; at Providence, 1730, and at Potts- town, 1753 ; St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, in Whitemarsh, about 1710, and St. James', in Providence, in 1721.

" According to the list of 1734, out of a total of seven hundred and sixty names, three hundred and ninety-five were already Germane, and can be regarded as the original settlers of over half the territory in the county. In less than a year from the landing of Penn, a colony of Germans, chiefly from Creyfelt, arrived in October, 1G83, and shortly afterwards founded the village of Germantown. The Proprietary lind heen among them in their native land, and encouraged them to come. Here, liberty of conscience had been proclaimed, and an exemption from tithes; though neither was tolerated in Great Britain, or, even to a very limited extent, along the valley of the Rhine, where also were the frontier lines of powerful France, and the frequent wars of Ger- many ; the results of which combined, were strong incentives to emigra- tion to those more peacefully and liberally disposed. To facilitate this, a company was organized at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and numerous pamphlets circulated throughout Germany, in the language of its peo- ple, setting forth the peculiar advantages of the distaot colony. Hence, it need not be a wonder that the weaker of the persecuted sects were disposed to come first, for no matter how strong the attachments of nativity, the fatherland presented, from their experience in the past, no bright or sanguine future. The doctrines of the Reformation had now heen established almost a century and a half ; yet, through the connec- tion of church and state, progress to toleration was very slow.

"A majority of the earliest Germans were members of the Society of Friends, and they had not been in Pennsylvania five years, before they were shocked at the system of negro slavery that prevailed, and was maintained and continued by the English colonists. The result was a protest on the subject, dated at Germantown, 18th of Second-month, 1688. As this was the first document ever issued in English-America against the iniquitons system, it demands for these people some credit. Concerning themselves as a body, and to whom it was alone directed, the Friends did not approach it until the long period of three-quarters of a century had elapsed, through the excitement brought about at the dawn of the Revolution by the passage of the Stamp Act, as to the rights of mankind. The start, however, made by these Germans, was so powerful in its effects on their conntrymen, the Mennonites, Dunkards, and all of their other sects, as to cnuse them to abstain almost entirely from hold- ing negroesor Indians in bondage : and hence the great exemption, from an early period, of the present territory of Montgomery County from the evils arising from African slavery.

" Mathias Van Bebber purchased a tract of six thousand one hundred and sixty-six acres of land, which, by patent dated February 22, 1702, was located on the Skippack creek, constituting about one-half of the southern portion of what is now Perkiomen township He began thus early, for 80 remote a distance from the city, to invite settlement by selling it off in parcels. Among the settlers prior to the close of 1703 were Henry Penne- packer, John Kuster, John Umstat, Claus Jansen, and John Frey ; John Jacobs in 1704 ; Edward Beer, Gerhard and Herman Indehoffin, and Dirck and William Renberg before the close of 1707. In 1708 we find here William and Cornelius Dewees, Herman Kuster, Christopher Zim- merman, John Scholl, and Daniel Desmond, followed, in 1709, by Jacob, John and Martin Kolb and John Strayer. The settlement so increased that Van Bebber gave one hundred acres towards a Mennonite meeting- house, which was built prior to 1726. Ilenry Frey, or Fry, who settled in this vicinity, is stated to have arrived in the colony two years before the landing of Penn. But even prior to the Skippack settlement, it is known that some of the German settlers located themselves in some of the 1 tions up or along the Schuylkill. Indeed, they do not appear to have been

lower townships, as, for instance, Cheltenham, Springfield, Whitemarsh, Abington, Moreland, Upper Dublin, and Horsham. For the Shoemakers, Tysons, Snyders, Clines, Ottingers, Cleavers, Redwitzers, Rinkers, Bartie- stalls, Melchers, Leverings, Reiffs, Conrads, Lukenses, and Yerkeses, were located pretty early there, as substantial land-holders. The Germans were the original settlers of Perkiomen, Towamencin, Upper Salford, Lower Salford, Hatfield, Franconia, Frederick, Marlborough, New Hanover, Upper Hanover, and Douglass, and contend alorost with the English in the settlement of Cheltenham, Springfield, and Upper Dublin.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 255

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