USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume I > Part 37
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
The settlement of this township was very early. From such scat- tering records as can be obtained and which historians Bean and Wil- liam J. Buck relied chiefly upon in their writings, it must have been settled between 1686 and 1690. The first settlers after a time became tired of the routine of labors in the wild woodland in which they had settled, and "pulled up," as we say to-day, and moved into Philadelphia. The list of names that have from time to time been published, will in no way settle a dispute as to who the first settlers here were, hence are not inserted in this article. The first survey was about 1690, and the colony remained a few years and abandoned the township, and records say that a second survey of the land was made in 1701, when it was first designated as "Plymouth township." Also it states that said township then contained 5,327 acres. A large number of the first to locate here were of the Quaker religious faith. Some of these men who braved the dangers and privations of a wilderness to open up a country such as this has come to be, were men of sturdy, unflinching character. The list includes Zebulon Potts, who was a Whig, and the British in Philadel- phia hunted him down with spies as a traitor to their cause, but failed to capture him. He held numerous local offices, including that of sher- iff, he being the first one elected in this county. Another man of influ- ence was Jacob Ritter, a noted minister of Plymouth Meeting, born in
332
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Bucks county in 1757, and the history of his family from the way they left Germany till his death reads like romance. He was among the sec- ond generation of men who opened up this township to a Christian civilization.
The church records show that the pioneers here were Friends, and that William Penn conceived the plan of having a town to be laid out about one mile square, where is now the site of the present meeting house. It was in the summer of 1686 the township was purchased and settled by James Fox, Francis Rawle, Richard Gove, John Chelson and some other Friends, who for a time lived and held meetings at the house of John Fox. Then a few years later came the second set of settlers, to whom William Penn sent greetings from England as follows: "Salute me to the Welsh Friends and the Plimouth Friends-indeed to all of them."
The Seven Stars Inn ranks among the oldest stands in Montgomery county. It was licensed in 1754 to Benjamin Davis. Soldiers of the French and Indian War, and later those of the British army in Revolu- tionary war days, gazed at its peculiar sign-board as they marched through the township. William Lawrence kept this or another tavern here in 1767. The old Black Horse Tavern was another notable tavern, along with the Seven Stars.
The small but ancient villages of this township include Plymouth Meeting, Hickorytown and Harmansville. Plymouth Meeting House is situated at the junction of Perkiomen and Plymouth turnpikes, on the township line. A portion of the hamlet stands in Whitemarsh township. It was here the original settlement of Plymouth was effected and here the first Friends' meeting house was built. A post office was established in 1827. Much lime was burned here in early years; some was shipped by railroad after such highways had been built.
Hickorytown is on the Germantown and Perkiomen turnpike, three miles southeast of Norristown. A post office was established there in 1857, and elections held there. Robert Kennedy, a Revolutionary officer, kept an inn there in 1801. Early in the last century it was noted here as being the place where the 36th Regiment of Pennsylvania drilled; also the Montgomery cavalry practiced here. One of the more modern improvements in the village is its creamery, established in 1882.
Harmansville is situated on the line between this township and Whitemarsh. It has a few business places. It has grown up since 1850. The ore and marble industries have greatly enhanced its com- mercial interests. Fire clay is another mineral that has been profitably taken from the earth and converted into fire brick.
Whitemarsh-This township is bounded on the northeast by Upper Dublin, on the southeast by Springfield, southwest by Schuylkill and Conshohocken, west by Plymouth, and northwest by Whitpain town-
333
TOWNSHIPS
ship. It contains an area of 8,857 acres. It was reduced in 1850 by the incorporation of Conshohocken, taking from it three hundred and sixty acres. Again in 1876, one hundred and sixty acres were added from Springfield township, along the Schuylkill river. The soil is fertile, and generally an abundance of limestone is found beneath the surface. Edge Hill extends through this township, a distance of two miles and more, and crosses the Schuylkill river below Spring Mill. It is a singular cir- cumstance that no iron, limestone, marble or other valuable mineral deposit is found on the south side of this hill. There are several fine never-failing streams of pure water found within this part of the county. Nineteen miles of the Wissahickon creek flow through the township, and finally into the Schuylkill below Manayunk. Valley run and Sandy run are its chief tributaries. Sandy run has cold spring water, and originally had many trout, but of late years they are not plentiful. This township has had its present name at least since 1703. Forty years ago this township ranked sixth in population of any in Montgomery county. In 1800 it had 1,085 ; in 1840 it was 2,079; in 1880 it was 3,229; in 1900 it was 3,350; and in 1920 it was 3,436. In 1858 it contained ten hotels, fifteen stores, six gristmills, three furnaces, two marble mills, a paper factory and an auger factory. In 1875 it had five inns, five gristmills, three paper mills, and two large tanneries. With the passing of years many of these industries have been discontinued or relocated in some city where various inducements have drawn them hither. There is some milling here yet, but no such volume as formerly. The schools and churches will be noticed in general chapters on such topics. The villages found here are Barren Hill, Plymouth Meeting, Fort Washing- ton, Spring Hill, Marble Hall, Lafayette, Lancasterville and Valley Green or Whitemarsh. About one-half of these places had post offices before the advent of the rural free delivery system. The Pennsylvania railroad passes through a portion of the township, while pikes and excel- lent wagon roads gridiron the territory to-day. The Plymouth railroad passes through the central part, with a trackage of upwards of three miles, with stations on its line at Plymouth Meeting, Williams and Flourtown. The Schuylkill Valley railway, the coal road, was built in 1883-84.
The road petitions made in June, 1713, ask that a road may be "laid out from the upper end of the said township down to the wide marsh, or Farmer's Mill." It is well known that there was an extremely broad expanse of meadow land greatly subject to overflow, which doubtless was the "wide marsh," which needed but a slight change to make it "Whitemarsh," as we know it to-day. Lewis Evans noted it on his map in 1749 as Whitemarsh. The Farmar family were the earliest and larg- est purchasers of lands within this township. Major Jasper Farmar was an officer in the British army, and a resident of Cork, Ireland. Hearing of William Penn's success in America, he through a patent granted him,
334
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
purchased in 1683 five thousand acres along the Schuylkill river front. But after this man had made all necessary arrangements to ship to this country, he was taken ill and died, hence never saw the tract he had bought. But his widow and children, as well as other relatives, came on, arriving at Philadelphia, November 10, 1685. In the same ship also came Nicholas Scull and his numerous servants. These persons all soon located on this tract. John Scull was overseer for the Farmar family. It will be remembered that Indians were in goodly numbers in this town- ship at that date. Madame Farmar, as the widow of Major Farmar was called, had an eye to business, as will be discovered in this paragraph: "Madame Farmar has found out as good limestone on the Schuylkill river 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, where are several considerable hills, and near to your Manor of Springfield." Her lime, it is believed, was the first to be used in Pennsylvania. Her numerous kilns were located at Whitemarsh quarries. With such fine building stone and the limestone from which such excellent lime could be made, it is no wonder that this portion of Pennsylvania is filled with its hundreds of thousands of solid stone structures in both city and country.
This township, like so many in Montgomery county, had its full share of taverns or inns. Before railroad days in the thirties and for- ties the pikes were swarming with travel by stage coach and private teamsters. Everyone going to "the city," of course had to go by this means, and thus it was that the inn was in evidence at almost every crossroad and scattered along every pike. Among the earlier tavern licenses was one granted to James Stringer in 1773. In 1775 five public houses were licensed.
This township was a lively place in the days just prior, in and after the Revolutionary struggle. Here were four paper mills, grist and saw- mills, two liquor stills, then numerous smiths and artisans of almost every description. The first school house where later stood the William public school was built by a committee in 1816. It was eight-sided in form and styled "the eight square school building." The lime burning industry for years was great. In 1840 the United States census reports show near $60,000 worth shipped outside the township. Wine was also produced in large quantities. One vineyard contained five acres of large abundantly bearing wine grapes. In 1848 the iron furnace of Mr. Hit- ner turned out twelve thousand tons of iron. These works were at Spring Hill.
The villages as known many years ago in this township were Lan- casterville, Lafayette, Plymouth Meeting, Fort Washington, near Upper Dublin line, Spring Mill, Barren Hill, and Marble Hall, and have each and all been villages of more or less importance during the last two centuries.
CHAPTER XXVI. TOWNSHIPS: SPRINGFIELD-TOWAMENCIN-UPPER DUBLIN-UPPER MERION-UPPER AND LOWER SALFORD.
Springfield-This is one of the southeastern townships of Montgom. ery county, and is bounded on the north by Upper Dublin, west by Cheltenham, south by Philadelphia, and west by Whitemarsh. It is counted about seven miles out from the borough of Norristown. Its area is 4,013 acres. It is one of the smallest townships in the entire county, if not the smallest, and none in all the great commonwealth with so irregular a boundary. A glance at the county map will better explain the meaning of "irregular" in form. The topography is mixed hill and dale, with a fertile soil, and has an excellent quality of limestone. The highest elevation is Edge Hill, extending nearly through the center of the township for two miles. Wissahickon creek flows nearly through the center of Springfield, but for only a half mile in its course did it ever propel a gristmill. Sandy run is the next largest water course, and empties into the Wissahickon. These are wonderfully even streams as to volume of water. Nearly every farm house in the township has a spring house, with excellent never-failing, pure water.
This is a thickly settled portion of the county, especially in the vicinity of Chestnut Hill and Spring House turnpike. Here one sees numerous handsome country seats, built since the close of the Civil War, owned mostly by residents of Philadelphia, and these are their summer homes. In 1790 the population of the township was 446; in 1840, 695; in 1880 it was 1,535; in 1920 it is given by our last Federal census as 2,994. Internal improvements have been constantly going on here through the passing decades, until it is highly cultivated, and made graceful by its many handsome buildings, both in country and villages. There are two steam railroads, both operated by the Reading system. The assessors' list of 1776 shows Springfield to contain seventy-two tax- ables and thirty-seven landowners. As there was no passable road earlier, it is believed that the first settlement must have been made not earlier than 1703. In 1734 there were sixteen landowners. It will be remembered that the lands here were very largely taken up and reserved many years by the Penn family, and hence the ill-shape of the tract we know now as Springfield township. It has been suggested that Maria Penn requested that the long narrow strip of land on the southwest side of the township be reserved in order that none of the Penn family who might desire to get to the river Schuylkill, would not have land of their own to travel on that distance-hence the long, narrow strip.
The largest village in this township forty years ago, was known as
336
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Flourtown, situated on the Spring House turnpike, or Bethlehem road, twelve miles from Philadelphia. The railroad has a station there. The directory in 1882 stated, "it now has sixty houses, four hotels, three stores, a large Odd Fellows' hall, and a Presbyterian church." Here is an old settlement ; tradition says the settlers from Salford and Franconia came here to mill their grain, hence the name "Flourtown." A post office was established before 1810. This post office, in 1825, was removed up to Whitemarsh. This was a famous hotel place, and many conducted inns to accommodate the great numbers who passed this way en route to the city. There were a number of these hotels dating way back of the Revolution. One was named "Wagon and Horses," and its proprietor catered to the farm and teamster trade. The stagecoach also made up a large patronage for these hotels. They left Philadelphia daily and went hither and yon, and the passengers they carried all stopped at these stage stations to eat, and sometimes for lodging. It is related by actual count that two hundred and forty passengers went over this line through Springfield township daily. The Edge Hill furnace is located in the extreme eastern corner of the township, on the Abington and Cheltenham lines. It was built from 1868 on, and fully completed in 1872. Fifty men worked in the iron furnaces there in 1884. One-third of the iron ore used was mined right on the premises. About two hun- dred tons per week were produced here.
Towamencin-The township known as Towamencin is one of the central of the county. It is bounded on the northeast by Hatfield, south by Worcester, southeast by Gwynedd, southwest by Perkiomen, and west by Lower Salford. It is three by four miles in size, and contains about six thousand acres. It is watered by the Skippack and Towam- encin creeks. The last named has a good flow of water and produces excellent water power along its way through the township. The former is a branch of the latter, but furnishes no water power. On the banks of the Towamencin almost wholly within this township, there is water power for the two gristmills it propels. There are several smaller feeders to these main creeks. The main internal improvement in the township named in the early days was the construction of the Spring House and Sumneytown turnpike, finished in 1848. The township was organized in March, 1728, almost two hundred years ago. The records show that in 1734 there were thirty-two landowners, who were doubt- less the original settlers. Nearly all had lived in Germantown for a while, but soon left for this township, where they could better carve out homes for themselves. The first land taken in the township was a grant of one thousand acres from Penn's commissioners of property to Benja- min Furley, June 8, 1703. Abraham Tennis and Jan. Lucken bought part of this land and became the second settlers. Jan. Lucken, just referred to, was from Holland. This family multiplied and became immense landowners here.
337
TOWNSHIPS
Kulpsville is the only village within this township. It was always known as a purely agricultural section. It is near the center ; its location is high and sightly. In 1856 a three-story brick building was erected here, and within its walls were shops, stores, offices, and secret soci- ety offices and halls. A Methodist church was built in 1862, and in 1883 a splendid public school building. This place was named for the Kulp family who settled here in 1776. Other chapters of this work will give the various church histories. In 1830 the township was given as having 144 houses, 175 families, 132 farms. In 1800 its population was 413; in 1880, 1,232 ; in 1920 it was given as 1,166.
In the historic writings of that ever correct writer, William J. Buck, he has this :
The battle of Germantown was fought on the morning of October 4, 1777, and resulted disastrously to the American cause, when Washington immediately returned with the main body of the army up the Skippack road, beyond the Perkiomen, in the vicinity of the present Schwenks- ville, where they remained until the afternoon of the 8th, when he arrived and established his camp nearly a mile northwest of Kulpsville, near the Lower Salford line. The officers wounded in the battle were brought to a farmhouse on the Forty-Foot road, about a mile and a quarter south- west of the Mennonite meeting-house. General Nash, who had been wounded in the thigh by a cannon-ball which had killed his horse, we know from an eye-witness, was carried up hither on a litter made of poles. Washington may have come here on purpose to attend the funeral on the following day, for which he issued his orders that he should be interred at ten o'clock, and that all officers whose circum- stances will admit of it will attend and pay this respect to a brave man, who died in defense of his country.
Upper Dublin-This is one of the nearly square, regularly formed townships of the county, and is bounded northeast by Horsham, south by Springfield, southwest by Whitemarsh, east by Moreland, and south- east by Abington. It has an area of 8,840 acres. The surface is rolling, and soil is loam and limestone land. Camp Hill, of Revolutionary fame, is an elevation extending eastwardly across the township on the south side of Sandy run. The Wissahickon passes over the western corner for over a mile, propelling two gristmills, and receiving as tributaries Rose Valley, Pine and Sandy runs. These streams all furnish a fair stage of water and can be utilized for milling. The North Pennsylvania rail- road cuts the western corner of the territory and has a station called Ambler, fourteen miles from Philadelphia. The villages in Upper Dub- lin, as shown by maps forty years ago, were Ambler, Fitzwatertown, Jarrettown, Three Tons, and Dreshertown. These all had post offices except the last mentioned.
This township, according to the government reports, has had a pop- ulation as follows: In 1800 it was 744; in 1840, 1,322; in 1880, 1,856; in 1900 it was 1,933, and in 1920 was 3,045. In 1880 its population was 132 Mont-22
338
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
per square mile. In 1883 there were licenses issued for four hotels, nine general stores, one stove-store, one coal yard, one tobacco store and a restaurant.
The first landowners in the township were Samuel Clarrige, Pierce & Co., Richard Hill and Richards & Aubrey. Commencing on the Abing- ton line to the south of that line were William Salaway, Matthew Perrin, Henry Patrick, Mathias Seely, John Southworth, Richard Coates, Andrew Soule, Thomas Marle, with William and George Harmer. Now while these are by some historians looked upon as "settlers," as a mat- ter of fact there is every evidence that they were all land speculators, except possibly the last named families, the Harmers. By reason of this the township did not settle as early as other portions of the country. These persons took up the most valuable tracts, and hence settlers who looked over the remaining lands were not pleased and went to other parts to locate. Prior to 1719 there was little actual settlement here. The records disclose the names of thirty-eight persons who were known to be land-owners here in 1734. It should be understood, however, that there were here and there holders of tracts as early as 1698, when Edward Burk purchased from Nicholas Scull and others lands extending from the Susquehanna street road to the Whitemarsh line, including a part of present village of Ambler. Edward and John Burk were his sons, and John was a supervisor of roads from 1774 to 1777, and Edward Burk from that date on to 1786. He was also collector of taxes in the Revo- lutionary War period.
This township contains some landmarks of the great Revolutionary struggle, in way of the large stone building used by General Washing- ton as his headquarters from October to well into December, when he removed his army to Valley Forge. This stone farm house stands on the south side of Camp Hill, only a few yards from the Springfield town- ship line. In the early part of the nineteenth century it belonged to Caleb Emlin, but in 1810 it passed to other hands, the farm being sub- divided into smaller tracts. The last known of its ownership to the author was when it was in the hands of Charles T. Aimen, who was then still preserving it perfectly as a landmark of those long-ago days. It is a stone structure thirty-five by seventy-five feet and two stories high. The steps at the front entrance are of the finest quality of soapstone, neatly wrought; the general appearance of the entire building shows it to have been a well planned and finely executed building for the day in which it was erected. While Washington was here, the army was camped on the hill to the north of the mansion, which was certainly a strong military position. On the night of December 5, 1777, General Howe came hither from Philadelphia by way of Chestnut Hill, with a view of surprising the camp; but on seeing the position and unable to draw out the American army, returned by way of Abington and Jen- kintown, counting his attempt a dismal failure.
339
TOWNSHIPS
Villages found in this township include Ambler, already treated in the borough chapters; Fitzwatertown, in the southern part of the town- ship, along the Limerick turnpike, in the midst of the fertile valley ot Sandy run, which abounds in rich deposits of limestone and iron ore. This is a very old settlement, where Thomas Fitzpatrick followed lime burning in 1705, and had a gristmill there very early in the settlement period. A post office was there established in 1858. Twenty-five thou- sand dollars' worth of lime was burned here in 1840. Another place is Hill Station, of the North Pennsylvania railroad, only a mile from Fitz- watertown. The second largest village is Jarrettown, in the center of the township, on the Limekiln turnpike, which highway was made in 1851. A post office was established here in 1866. The name of the place was derived from Levi Jarrett, the owner of several farms thereabouts in 1815. A church of the Methodist Episcopal denomination was erected there in 1866. Dreshertown is situated at the junction of Limekiln turnpike and Susquehanna street road midway between Fitzwatertown and Jarrettown. The ancient appearance of these highways indicate that it was a very old settlement. Forty years ago the place had a store, a mill, eleven houses, a post office since 1832, and elections were held here from 1840 to 1856. Both were then moved to Jarrettown. The vil- lage of Three Tons is within a fertile section of country, at the inter- section of Horsham and Butler roads, the latter being turnpiked to Ambler, two and a half miles distant. A post office was established there in 1858, with T. G. Torbet as postmaster. A Union library has been sustained there many years; it was incorporated in 1840 and has many thousands of volumes of choice books. Another hamlet is Gil- kison's Corner, at the junction of the Spring House and Butler roads. There a large tannery was located, known as "the steam tannery," by Alvin D. Foust, established in the fifties. It was at this point that Andrew Gilkison kept a tavern in time of the Revolution. A post office was established as Upper Dublin post office before 1827, but later was removed to the larger place, now the borough of Ambler. These vil- lages one and all had their mission to fill, and many have gone down with the incoming tide of a higher mode of living, a faster mode of transportation, and the upbuilding of larger business and railway centers.
Upper Merion-This township is situated on the south side of the Schuylkill river and is bounded on the northwest, north and northeast by that stream, on the northeast by Bridgeport borough, on the south- east by West Conshohocken and Lower Merion township, on the south by the counties of Chester and Delaware, and on the southwest by Chester. Its area is 10,200 acres, as originally organized, but with the incorporation of the borough of Bridgeport 450 acres were taken from it. Again, in 1874 about 290 acres were taken from it by the borough
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.