USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume I > Part 3
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Minerals of the non-precious or profitable commercially type are found in great variety and abundance throughout the county. But few specimens are found in the new red sandstone except in those localities where metallic veins of copper have been found. Here are found not only copper, but ores of zinc and lead. At Henderson's marble quarry near Bridgeport, graphite and crystals of dolomite have been found, and occasionally small pieces of malachite. At Conshohocken, quartz, flint, chalcedony, chloritoid and cacoxenite have been found; at Bullock's quarry, fobrolite, calcite, and occasionally a small seam of iron pyrites have been found. At the iron mines near Conshohocken the hematite is sometimes coated with a manganese mineral called pyrolusite. Edge Hill furnishes specimens of hematite, braunite, pyrolusite, turgite and goethite. The soapstone quarries when they were operated at Lafayette, now Miquon, yielded many mineral specimens to the searcher for geo- logical trophies. On the other side of the river, at the abandoned soap- stone quarry, talc, asbestos and very fine octahedral crystals of magne- tite have been found.
Montgomery county excels in its production of excellent building stones and marbles, from which many of its homes and public buildings are constructed. The new red sandstone which covers the greatest por- tion of the county, is much used as a building stone, and nearly all the stone houses in the upper section of the county are built of it. The Potsdam sandstone, which is found in Moreland, Upper Dublin, Spring- field, Whitemarsh and Plymouth townships, is a fine grained, white or gray sandstone, with scales of a light colored mica. This stone, how- ever, is not in such general use locally, especially in the country dis- tricts, as the new red sandstone, quarries of which are worked in nearly every township in the northern and central portions of the county. In
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
some localities the stone is white and makes a beautiful building stone. The county's most important building stone, however, is marble, the many quarries throughout the district furnishing this building material not only to the county, but to Philadelphia and other sections. The magnificent court house at Norristown is constructed entirely of local marble, as is the United States post office building.
The soil of Montgomery county is regarded by agriculturists as being normally fertile throughout the county. The two chief constituents of the soil are limestone and sandstone. There are extensive and valuable clay beds in the county. They are found chiefly in the limestone belt, generally in the vicinity of the mica-slates and schists. The principal clay beds are found in Upper Merion, Plymouth, Whitemarsh and Springfield townships. The clay in all these townships is found in the limestone. There seems to be a depression in the limestone, which may have been the former bed of a stream, and the clay is found resting on the limestone and filling up this depression or bed. Most of the clay, however, had been derived from the mica-slates and schists, and the beds are parallel to the limestone and occupy the position of those rocks from which they have been derived. These are the old clays, while the clay which is found occupying the depressions in the limestone, and not parallel to it, is said to be a more recent clay.
Running across Montgomery county is a great limestone belt, referred to several times in the foregoing. It is this belt that has furnished such immense quantities of marble and lime for shipment both at home and abroad. It commences in Abington township, about a mile and a half north of Abington ; at this point it is quite a narrow belt, but it widens as it extends westward, entering the northern corner of Cheltenham township, and becoming a broad belt of limestone extends through Whitemarsh, Plymouth and Upper Merion townships. It extends as far south as Conshohocken and Spring Mill, and to within a short distance of the towns of Barren Hill and Edge Hill, continues along the Schuyl- kill from Conshohocken to Norristown, and crosses the river, extending into Chester county. The general structure of this main belt of lime- stone is that of a long slender basin or trough, the southern side of which is much steeper than the northern. From the neighborhood of Gulf Mills to a little west of the Schuylkill this formation prevails generally.
So far as rock of igneous origin is concerned, Montgomery county has replicas of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland and Fingal's Cave, Island of Staffa, with the exception that the formation instead of being colum- nar is in the shape of dykes and boulders. This rock is known as trap, which came to the surface in a melted state through a fissure in the earth's surface in' prehistoric days. When an opening was filled with this formation and cooled, it became what is called to-day by geologists, a dyke.
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Montgomery county has a trap dyke running through the limestone belt for several miles. This extensive trap dyke commences in Spring- field township, at Flourtown, in the limestone belt, and extends west- ward in a straight line through Whitemarsh township; it follows the southern end of the limestone belt through Conshohocken, where it crosses the river and can be seen in its bed. It outcrops again in West Conshohocken and extends through Upper Merion township, where it can be traced without interruption to the Chester county line, a short distance above the Gulph creek.
From the Chester county line to the Schuylkill at West Consho- hocken there is no difficulty whatever in finding excellent exposures of trap, especially along the river at West Conshohocken, where there is an abutment of trap and numerous weathered boulders along the rail- road. Between Conshohocken and Marble Hall the dyke can be traced easily. It passes directly through Conshohocken and crosses five of the county roads before it reaches Marble Hall; between these two points there are many loose boulders of rock. From Marble Hall to the Wissahickon creek the dike can not be seen, as it is covered with a deposit of clay ; but there is a fine exposure on the Wissahickon creek, where it cuts through the dike, and at one point, by contact with the formation, the creek is turned from its course.
There are numerous evidences of trap rock formations in various sections of the county, but none to approach this one in size, and none to approach in general popular interest that natural curiosity in Potts- grove township, known for miles around as "The Ringing Rocks," and around which for a decade or more has been maintained a summer park and picnic grounds known as Ringing Rocks Park. These rocks are widely known throughout the country, and are visited by thousands every year. In formation they resemble the débris cast up by a glacier. Some of the rocks are small, while many are of tremendous size. These boulders are scattered around the surface for a considerable area ; some are weathered, and many have fresh surfaces exposed. When these rocks are struck with a hammer or any metallic substance, they give forth a musical note. Different tones are produced by striking different rocks, the sound varying with the size of the rock. These rocks are trap rocks of the same formation as those which form the large dike. Near Pottstown can also be found two or three small trap dikes which extend through the new red sandstone, and the boulders which com- prise ringing rocks belong to one of these dikes.
There are two extensive belts of serpentine in the county. The longest belt commences on the northern brow of Chestnut Hill, between the two turnpikes, and extends westward across the Wissahickon creek. It passes through Springfield township. This belt crosses the Schuyl- kill near Lafayette, now Miquon. It extends through Lower Merion township to Bryn Mawr. Along the eastern and central parts of its
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
course the southern side of the belt consists chiefly of a talcose steatite, the northern side containing much serpentine in lumps dispersed through the steatite, but towards the western side this separation seems to dis- appear. The serpentine belt is plainly seen from Chestnut Hill to Wis- sahickon creek, where enormous blocks cover the surface of the bed.
Near the Schuylkill, the large blocks of serpentine and soapstone are again seen, and they choke the bed of the ravine north of the soap- stone quarry. On the west side of the Schuylkill this serpentine and steatite rock is still visible in large blocks a little above the soapstone of that bank of the river. Near Merion Square the exposure is promi- nent, the surface being strewn with large masses. These rocks may be distinguished from others by the enormous size of the loose blocks and by the coatings of lichens and mosses which flourish over them. The rock is visible in the Pennsylvania railroad cut south of Bryn Mawr.
Near the Schuylkill river, about one-fourth of a mile beyond Miquon, to the north, is found the next serpentine belt. It extends east to the brook which flows into the Schuylkill at Lafayette, and begins in White- marsh township, whence it extends westward across the Schuylkill through Lower Merion township to the Gulf road, about one-third of a mile north of Bryn Mawr. This deposit occurs along the northern edge of the mica-schists, and runs almost parallel to the first belt described, they being but about a mile apart. South of Gulf Mills is another outcrop of serpentine. This exposure has only a length of a few hundred feet, but it is at least three hundred feet wide.
As has been stated before, the Mesozoic, or new red sandstone, is the chief geological characteristic of the northern and central parts of the county. They extend from the Bucks county line to Norristown and Valley Forge, and the sandstone and red shale can be traced along the Schuylkill river from Norristown to Pottstown. In other words, all that portion of the county north of the limestone belt and north of the Pottsdam sandstone and syenite, is covered with new red sandstone and shale. The shales and sandstones are generally of a red color, which is due to the oxide of iron which they contain. Many varieties of sand- stone belonging to this formation are found in the county. In some localities much clay is mixed with the sandstone. Elsewhere the rock is chiefly composed of grains of sand, with scarcely any clay or oxide of iron in it. In the vicinity of Norristown and Bridgeport and in other nearby localities is found white sandstone containing feldspar and mica, and which makes an excellent building stone, extensively used locally.
The principal exposures of Pottsdam sandstone, which geologists call a primal sandstone, are found flanking the limestone region on the north between Valley Forge and the eastern extremity of the limestone basin east of Fitzwatertown. It encircles the eastern end of the lime- stone belt, and extends westward as a narrow belt south of the lime- stone to Spring Mill. At Henderson's Station, Bridgeport, Hickory-
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GEOLOGY, MINING, ETC.
town, Cold Point and Oreland, folds of this sandstone are found pen- etrating the limestone. Pottsdam limestone compose the historic hills of Valley Forge. The formation is well developed at Edge Hill, Rubicam Station and Willow Grove.
Near Chestnut Hill and Bryn Mawr there appear at the surface some curious patches of an ancient gravel, which has been named by geolo- gists, "Bryn Mawr Gravel." It is found at elevations of from 300 to 400 feet above the Schuylkill, and the theory of scientists is that these deposits are the remains of an ancient ocean beach and the remnants of a once continuous formation. The gravel consists of rounded or sharp pebbles of quartzite, or grains of sand cemented by iron. Sometimes the pebbles are coated with a brownish-black glaze. They are very hard. The gravel is ten feet deep, and rests upon the gneiss rock, which is decomposed. This is held by the scientists to be the oldest surface formation in Pennsylvania.
Mica schists and slates are found in the southern part of Upper Merion township. They cross the river at Conshohocken, and extend into Whitemarsh township. Near the Gulph Mills the hill divides into two spurs. The main deposits of clay in the county are found in the vicinity of the slates, and it is supposed that some of the clay beds are derived from the decomposition of the mica in the slates. The rocks of this formation rest on limestone and are of more recent age, according to the scientists, who assign them to the Hudson river age in the geo- logical development of this section of the country.
Syenite and granitic rocks extend from Moreland, at the Bucks county line, westward across the Schuylkill river to the Delaware county line. The hills at Spring Mills are syenite. The cuts in the Pennsylvania railroad at Spring Mill were made through this rock. The Schuylkill river between West Conshohocken and Spring Mill is turned from its course by the resistance offered by this extremely hard rock. It is the oldest formation in the county, and no fossils are ever found in it.
An interesting account of the early quarrying of limestone is given in Bean's history, and is reproduced here in part as follows :
* The earliest mention we have been enabled to find of lime- stone and of lime being made therefrom to be used for building purposes, is in a letter written by Robert Turner, of Philadelphia, dated 3rd of 6th month, 1685, addressed to William Penn in England, from which we learn that "Samuel Carpenter is our limeburner on his wharf. Brave limestone found here, as the workmen say, being proved."
The next mention found is in another letter to Penn, written by Nicholas More, dated "Green Spring, the 13th of September, 1686," wherein he states that "Madame Farmer has found out as good limestone on the Schuylkill as any in the world, and is building with it; she offers to sell ten thousand bushels at sixpence the bushel upon her plantation, where there are several considerable hills, and near to your manor of Springfield." The aforesaid was evidently the wife of Jaspar Farmer, who had arrived here in November, 1685, and had taken up in the pres-
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
ent Whitemarsh township a tract of five thousand acres of land, but died soon thereafter. His son, Edward Farmer, subsequently became the owner of about three-fourths of this purchase.
For building purposes, the Swedes and other early settlers first used lime prepared from oyster shells, of which we find mention made by several writers. Thomas Budd, in his account of Pennsylvania, printed in 1685, says: "We make lime of oyster shells which by the sea and bay- side are so plentiful that we may load ships with them." He further informs us that there is no limestone, "as we yet know of," from which we are led to infer that Samuel Carpenter and Madam Farmer, as has been mentioned, must have been among the earliest to convert limestone into lime. Even prior to the summer of 1685, considerable building had been done in Philadelphia and its vicinity, which required no small amount of the article as prepared from oyster shells.
William Penn, in a letter to the Marquis of Halifax, dated 9th of 12th month, 1683, mentions that "about one hundred and fifty very tol- erable houses for wooden ones" had been erected in Philadelphia. In his "Further Account of Pennsylvania," written in December, 1685, he states that the number had been increased to three hundred and fifty- seven houses, "divers of them large, well built, with good cellars, three stories, and some with balconies." He also mentions in the same of "divers brickeries going on, and some brick houses going up." Robert Turner in a letter from Philadelphia, 3rd of 6th month, 1685, states that "we are now laying the foundation of a plain meeting house, sixty by fourty feet," and that "Pastorius, the German Friend, with his people, are preparing to make brick next year." These statements show the necessity for lime, for which purpose no inconsiderable quantities must have been required, and that the discovery of limestone so near the city created at once a demand for its superior quality ranking, as has since been proven, among the best found in the country.
John Goodson wrote from Philadelphia, 24th of 6th month, 1690, "that six carters have teams daily employed to carry and fetch timber, bricks, stone and lime for building, which goeth on to admiration. We have rocks of limestone, where many hundreds, yea thousands of bush- els of lime are made in one year for this town." John Holme, one of the judges of the Philadelphia County Court, in his poem on "The Flourishing State of Pennsylvania," written in 1696, mentions therein that a few years previously lime had been burned from oyster shells, but since "a great store" of limestone had been discovered in the ground from which "now is made good stone lime," which was not only superior but cheaper than the former article. *
At a meeting of the Provincial Council, held May 19, 1698, a road was ordered to be laid out from White Marsh, for the purpose of hauling lime from the kilns there to the city, and to meet the Plymouth road near Cresheim, or the upper part of Germantown. In 1703, Nicholas Saul, and others, of "Sandy Run," in the "Manor of Springfield," peti- tion that they had formerly received the grant of a road from the lime- kilns to Philadelphia on the Germantown road, which the court now ordered should be speedily opened. This is evidently the road proposed by the council aforesaid, and the present highway leading from the vil- lage of Whitemarsh through Chestnut Hill. In 1713 the road was opened from the aforesaid kilns to Skippack, over which also consider- able lime was hauled.
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GEOLOGY, MINING, ETC.
The Plymouth highway was laid out as "a cart road" in the spring of 1687. This is the road leading from Plymouth to Philadelphia and now known as the Germantown and Perkiomen turnpike, which was laid on its bed and finished in 1804. It is likely that this is the first road opened for the transportation of lime to the city. What is now known as the Limekiln road was laid out from Germantown to Upper Dublin in 1693, and probably first opened for the purpose of obtaining lime from the vicinity of the present Fitzwatertown. The road from the latter place to Abington Meeting House was confirmed in 1724, and opened the following year. From the petition it is ascertained that Thomas Fitz- water carried on there the business of lime burning in 1705.
Gabriel Thomas, who arrived here in 1683, in his account of Pennsyl- vania, published in London in 1698, mentions that where "there is also very good limestone in great abundance, plenty and cheap, of great use, in buildings, also in manuring lands." The Manor of Mount Joy, con- taining seven thousand eight hundred acres, was granted by Penn to his daughter Letitia the 24th of 8th month, 1701. This tract was partly situated in Upper Merion, and we have the authority of Oldmixon's "British Empire in America," published in 1708, that it abounded in lime- stone, which had been made use of for some time. Edward Farmer, whose settlement in Whitemarsh was known in 1708 as "Farmer's Town," supplied lime at various times from there for the buildings of Springettsbury, erected by Thomas and Richard Penn, between the years 1732 to the time of his death in 1745. Francis Rawle, who had settled in Plymouth about 1685, in his "Ways and Means," printed by S. Keimer, of Philadelphia, in 1725, and written the previous year, states on page 54 that "of limestone we have a great plenty, of which stone lime is made, which gives the opportunity to the inhabitants to build good stone and brick houses in town and country."
The lime used in the building of the State House, from 1729 to 1735, was hauled from the kilns of Ryner Tyson, in Abington township, four- teen miles north of the city. Those kilns and quarries have ever since been in the family, and the business of lime burning is still carried on by the descendents.
The county commissioners in March, 1804, invite proposals for haul- ing by the bushel a quantity of lime from Plymouth to Pottstown suffi- cient to complete the bridge over the Manatawney, a distance of about twenty-three miles.
In 1810, if not earlier, the limestone burners of the county formed themselves into an association, of which Alexander Crawford was presi- dent and John Fitzwater secretary, meeting for several years, in Janu- ary, at the house of Philip Sellers, White Marsh. In February, 1824, they met in the house of Andrew Hart, Plymouth. The members at this time were George Tippen, Samuel Davis, John Shepherd, Daniel Fisher, Benjamin Marple, Eleazer Michener, Enoch Marple, John Hell- ings, George Egbert, George Lare, Henry Johnson, Abraham Marple, William Sands, Joseph Harmer, and Daniel Davis. It appears they soon afterwards dissolved, their proceedings being deemed unlawful, but we presume no more so than any other combination of a similar char- acter. Among their objects was to fix the price of lime and the wood they either purchased or received in exchange.
On so great a business as the production of lime, it is to be regretted that there are so few statistics. It should be interesting to possess a list
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
of the several manufacturers, the number of kilns operated, and the amount respectively made. The quantity sent off by water must be considerable, especially to the States of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, as also by railroad to adjoining counties, Philadelphia and other places, for building, manufacturing and agricultural purposes.
The townships of Montgomery that possess limestone are Abington, Upper Dublin, Springfield, Whitemarsh, Plymouth, and Upper Merion. The limestone surface here may probably compose about fifteen square miles. Plymouth no doubt is now the greatest producer; next Upper Merion, followed by Whitemarsh and Upper Dublin. Norristown, Swedesburg and Port Kennedy are extensive shipping points of this material. The lime of Montgomery county for all building purposes possesses a high reputation, and is regarded as the very best produced.
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CHAPTER III. THE ORIGINAL RESIDENTS AND OWNERS.
The first residents and owners of the land that comprises Montgom- ery county were, of course, like with all the remainder of North America, the Indians.
That section of territory now embraced within the geographical boun- daries of the county was purchased in sections by William Penn. The earliest recorded transaction by Penn for a section of what now con- stitutes the county was made the 26th of June, 1683, of Wingebone, a chief, for all his rights to lands lying on the west side of the Schuylkill, beginning at the lower falls of the same, and so on up and backwards of said stream as far as his right goes. The next purchase was made the 14th of July of the same year, from Secane and Idquoquehan and others for all the land lying between the Manayunk or Schuylkill river and Macopanackhan or Chester river, and up as far as Conshohocken Hill, which is opposite the present borough of the same name. On the same day another purchase was made of Neneshickan, Malebore, Nesh- anocke and Oscreneon for the lands lying between the Schuylkill and Pennypack streams, and extending as far northwest as Conshohocken, but now better known as Edge Hill. On the 3rd of June, 1684, all the right of Maughhongsink to the land along the Perkiomen creek was duly sold and conveyed. On the 7th of the same month and year, Met- tamicont relinquished all his right to lands on both sides of the Penny- pack. July 30, 1685, Shakhoppa, Secane, Malebore and Tangoras con- veyed all their rights to lands situated between Chester and Pennypack creeks, and extending up into the country in a northwest direction from the sources of those streams, two full days' journey.
These grants from the Indian chiefs as just set forth, comprise most of the territory now embraced within the confines of Montgomery county, excepting that portion lying east of the Pennypack creek. July 5, 1697, another purchase was made from Tamany, Weheeland, Wehe- queckhon, Yaqueekhon and Quenamockquid for all their right to lands lying between the Pennypack and Neshaminy creeks, and extending in a northwest direction from the Delaware as far as a horse could travel in two days. The last right and title of the Indians to any portion of Montgomery county, as now constituted, was thus finally extinguished by purchase.
By previous appointment, a council of the Indians and whites was held at the house of Edward Farmer, where is now the village of White- marsh, on May 19, 1712. The Governor, Charles Gookin, was present. with the sheriff, John Budd, Conrad Richard Walker, and others. The Indians were represented by a delegation of eleven Delaware aborigines
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
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