The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. III, Part 75

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 440

USA > Pennsylvania > The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. III > Part 75

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It being complained of as very inconvenient in the market place, that horses should be suffered to stand in the carts which bring pro- visions, during the time these provisions are selling-the Clerk of the market is to prevent a continuance of the practice.

Agreed to erect a number of additional stalls in the new market near South street, so as to fill up the vacancy between those already built, leaving out Lombard street, together with such a proper space of ground on each side that street, as the committee shall think conve- nient; and also so many single stalls to the southward and northward of those now stand_

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MISCELLANEOUS.

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ing, as shall make in the whole number now standing, not exceeding twenty.

1773. The Board being met agreeable to the re- June 29. quest of a number of the inhabitants of this city, of the Society of the people called Qua- kers; an address was read and presented to the Board earnestly requesting they would for the present suspend the carrying into execu- tion their resolution of building an additional number of stalls to the market in High street, representing that the minds of the people were much agitated and that such a, suspension would be the means of restoring peace to the City. After many debates and a full discus- sion of the subject it was agreed by a majority to suspend the work, and to bring actions for the trespasses already committed -- also resolv- ed to desist from building the stalls in the new warket andthat the meal market remain as it is.

EARLY HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Commission to the Council.

William Penn absolute proprietary of the Province of Pennsilvania and Countys annexed to his Trusty be- loved Friends the Provinciall Councill for ye Province of Pennsilvania &c. Greeting since the Providence of God hath disappoynted my reall Intentions and Ernest Inclinations of Coming to you for some Time longer, and to ye End ye Inhabitants thereof may be assured I have and seek no other Interest then what is agreable with theirs I doe Consent that you please yourselves & therefore doe hereby Impower you to Chuse Three persons within ye said Province or Countys annexed to present to me by ye very first opportunity out of which I shall chuse one for my deputy or Leiftenant Governor, and till my mind therein is knowne I doe hereby order that he that has ye most votes, or is first chosen by you shall from ye time of ye Choice act as my Deputy or Lieftenant Governor ever ye said Province & Territorys. according to ye Power and Limitation of former Com- inissions you takeing care to Support him in ye Capaci- ty Revoaking all former Commissions to any Else grant- ed and Requiring all persons concerned to give him that Respect due to his high Station given at London ye 25th day of ye 7th mo 1689. WILLIAM PENN.

William Penn Absolute Proprietary of the Province of l'ennsilvania and Counties Annexed to his Trusty and Beloved Friends the Provincial Councill for ye Province of Pennsilvania &c. Greeting Since ye Pro- vidence of God hath disappointed my reall Intentions and Earnest inclinations of Coming to you for some Time Longer and to the End ye Inhabitants thereof may be assured I have and seek no other Interest than what is agreable to theirs, I have thought fitt to appoynt you my Deputy and Lieftenant in Government and do accordingly hereby Constitute you my Deputy to act and doe in all things in my name and Stead, according to ye Power and Limitations of former Commissions. I Doe also Impower you to Elect ye President from time to time as you se, Cause so as he and you exactly an- swer ye Charter and Laws of ye Country Requiring all. persons Concerned to give you ye Respect due to your high station which Commission shall Continue so long as I shall see Convenient Giyen at London this 25th of ye 7th month 1689 .- Ibid.

PENNSYLVANIA CANAL.

The following communication was received from the Treasurer of the Board of Canal Commissioners. Treasury Office of Pennsylvania, ? April 21, 1829.

To the Honourable the Senate of Pennsylvania.

and rail road purposes, between the 1st day of April, 1828, and the 1st day of April 1829; also how much has been ‹rawn within the present month, and what the probable demand will be within the next month, I have the honor to transmit herewith a statement which exhib- its the amount paid for canal and rail road purposes, be- tween the 1st of April 1828, and the 1st of April 1829; as also the amount paid for-said purposes during the present month.

As it regards the "probable demand within the next montlı," I have to state to your honourable body, that I have no means whereby to form an estimate save that of comparison with the disbursements of the correspond- ing month of the last year, which will be found by the statement herewith transmitted, to be $201,784 13.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obe- dient servant, A. MAHON,

Treas. Board Canal Commissioners.

A STATEMENT exhibiting the amount of payments made by the Treasurer of the Board of Canal Commis- sioners for Canal and Rail Road purposes per month, between the 1st April 1828, and 1st April 1829, as also the aggregate amount of payments made within the present month.

1828 -- April, $70,105 82

May,

201,784 13

June,

235,362 28

July,

250,838 01

August,

211,867 64

September,

270,721 67

October,.

209,466 52

November,

229,872 11

December,

363,175 67

1829-January

340,085 40

February,

342,166 57

March,

273,576 67

$2,999,022 59

April,

94,256 66

$3,093,279 25

CHRIST CHURCH COMMUNION PLATE.

Christ Church, in this city, furnishes many interest- ing associations to the mind of the Antiquarian. The original building was a small one, standing in about the centre of the present scite-one story high; and it was left standing, while the present church was erected over it. The bell of the first church was hung near it, in the crotch of a tree. The present chime of bells was pur- chased in England, at a cost of £900, and were brought out by Captain Budden, of the good ship Matilda, and no freight charged. As often as he arrived from subse- quent voyages, the bells rang a merry peal of gratitude .for the favor. The whole weight of the bells is about 80001b, that of the tenor bell 18001b. One of the first ring- ers was killed, from unskilful management of the rope. We called the other day on a gentleman who has the communion plate in charge for safe keeping, and never having seen a description of it, or of its inscriptions pub- lished, we copied the latter. It consists of three silver plates, with the following inscription: "The Gift of Colln. Rhart Quarry, to Christ Church in Philadelphia, this 29th 8 br. 1712;" a Goblet the Gift of Queen Anne: "Annæ Anglicana apud Philadelphiam, A. D. 1708;" two tankards with same inscription; a goblet surrounded on the outside with figures of the Apostles,neatly engra- ved;another ancient goblet, with a veryantique look, "the Gift of Margaret Tresse Spinstor, to Christ Church in Philadelphia." and an elegant urn. of large size, with the following marks: "Mrs. Sarah Redman, to Christ Church Communion Table, 1825." The whole is in ex- cellent preservation, and is kept very clean and neat; we trust it may reach posterity through several coming

GENTLEMEN-In obedience to the direction of the res- olution of the senate, passed this day, requiring the Treasurer of the Board of Canal Commissioners to in- form the senate of the amount of money paid for canal | centuries-its value will increase in proportion to its an- tiquity .- Saturday Evening Bulletin.

THE

DEVOTED TO THE PRESERVATION OF EVERY KIND OF USEFUL INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STATE.

EDITED BY SAMUEL HAZARD.

VOL. III .- NO. 18. PHILADELPHIA, MAY 2, 1829. NO. 70.

HISTORY OF BYBERRY.

Extracted from "Sketches," by Isaac Comly, in the memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. vol. 2, p. 164. 1827.

Byberry Township lies in the north-east end of the county of Philadelphia, distant from the city between thirteen and sixteen miles. It is bounded by the Manor of Mooreland, and the Townships of Lower Dublin, Bensalem, and Southampton. 'Its length is about five miles, its breadth variable, at most about three miles. It contains five thousand nine hundred and sixty-six acres, one hundred and forty-six dwelling-houses, and- in 1820, eight hundred and sixty-eight inhabitants. In the census of 1810, the number of inhabitants was sta- ted to be seven hundred and sixty-seven, of whom three hundred and sixty were males, three hundred and sey- enty-four females, and thirty-three blacks.

We are told that the family of the Waltons, who were among the first settlers, gave it the name of By- berry, in reference to a place of that name where they dwelt in England.

The face of the country possesses an agreeable dis- tribution of inequalities, and there are some fine ri- sing grounds, particularly in the upper section of the Township. Edge hill crosses the northern corner, near to which is the source of Poquesink creek: this stream forms the line between the counties of Philadelphia and Bucks, and empties into the Delaware half a mile be- low White sheet bay. Poquesink and its western branches, water most of the farms in Byberry ..

The geological features of the township are not stri- king. Dr. Troost in his survey observes, "we are still here in the gneiss formation containing a subsoil of blue loam. The amphibolic rocks project above the ground to the west of Smithfield, and going more north we meet in the northern part of Byberry Township near the commencement of the Poquesink creek, the mica slate."

The soil for cultivation is a sandy loam from six to eight inches deep, lying on a stiff loamy subsoil, of from four to six feet deep.

In the neighbourhood of Townsend's mill, where the Poquesink winds between two stony ridges, there is the singular appearance of two natural abutments of rock opposite each other, as if Nature had intended to lend her aid in the construction of a bridge over the stream. Whether these rocks, so similar in all respects, and the apparent broken ends so nearly corresponding with each other, have ever been one solid body, and separated by some convulsion of nature, or the effect been gradually produced by the constant attrition of the water, we must leave others to conjecture.

About three quarters of a mile further down the creek near the road to Dunk's ferry, a point six or eight perches in breadth appears to have once projected from the western bank, twelve or fifteen perches into the valley. It is supposed that the Poquesink formerly passed round it; but that the current striking directly against its base, the forcible attacks of large freshets at length undermined the hill, and a passage from the creek was opened through it. This aperture is three or four perches in width, and the point of the hill near twenty feet in height, and of the dimensions of half an acre, detached from the adjacent promontory, is left standing in the valley alone.

VOL. III. 35

In a rock on Aaron Walton's land is a representation of the print of a man's foot. This and a similar appear- ance in a rock near the mouth of Poquesink, have long been considered as natural curiosities.

It is observable that the water-courses in Byberry are much inclined to the western side of the vallies-that the grounds on this side are most prominent-and generally found to contain the best stone for building. It is rare to find a good quarry on the eastern side of the vallies, or in any of the level lands.

The timber most natural to the soil, is-hickory, black, white, red, and Spanish oak; poplar, chestnut, máple, sassafras, beech, dog-wood, red cedar; gum, persimmon, wild cherry, and in one place, pine.

There are three grist-mills in the township, two saw- mills, several retail stores, and shops for mechanics of different kinds; but no factory, nor tavern. The inhab- itants generally are farmers, and a majority are members or professors with the Society of Friends. There are a few Episcopalians, Baptists, and Presbyterians, and some that make little profession with any religious de- nomination. The Friends' mecting house is near the centre of the township.

Byberry was settled early after the arrival of William Penn, in 1682. When the white people first came here, we are informed they found but few large trees stand- ing, though plenty of saplings and underbrush; and in some places, particularly in Mooreland, the ground was covered with coarse grass that grew as high as a man's head. Indian darts made of flint, have often been found, and sometimes stone axes and other curious im- plements of Indian manufacture.

A tradition says, that the first persons who settled here were Giles Knight and Josiah Ellis. By the ancient records of the meeting and other documents, it appears, the following named persons settled in and near Byber- ry, in 1683-84, and 85: Giles Knight, John Hart, John Carver, Nathaniel Walton, Walter Forrest, Daniel Wal- ton, William Walton, William Hibbs, Henry English, John Gilbert, Thomas Knight, William Nichols, Wil- liam Rush, Samuel Ellis, Thomas Walton; Richard Col- left, and Joseph English. Nearly all of them members of the Society of Friends.

In the 5th mo. 1683, at a Quarterly Meeting of Friends in Philadelphia, "it was then and there agreed and concluded, that there be established a first day mee- ting of Friends at Tookany and Poetquesink, and that these two make one monthily meeting, men and women, for the ordering of the affairs of the church." The monthly meeting was accordingly held first at Oxford, then at John Hart's house, and so alternately.

In temporal concerns, the first settlers had much dif- ficulty to encounter, particularly in regard to a supply of provisions. The Indians near them treated them with , kindness; they occasionally furnished such eatables as they could spare, and instructed the new comers to raise, corn, beans, and pumpkins. Giles Knight and Josiah Ellis, once went five miles to procure beans of the Indians, and obtained half a bushel. Bread and meat were very scarce. Some horses, cows, sheep, and hogs had been brought into the province, but the set- ters were not generally able to obtain a sufficient stock for several years. When they travelled, they had to go on foot; and as to meat, very little could be had, ex-

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cept a precarious supply of venison or bear meat, which with wild pigeons, fish, and beans, pumpkins or boiled corn, were thought good enough for a feast. The first wheat sowed in these parts, was brought from near Old Chester by two men on their shoulders-each carried about half a bushel. It is said one of these persons was John Carver: his wife, child, and a small boy were left at home, upon what he thought a sufficient supply of provision for their support till his return; but some un- foreseen hindrances kept him longer on the journey than was expected, and unfortunately the only cow they had, and upon whose milk they had made much calculation for sustenance, got into the swamp and died. The poor woman by this accident was reduced to great difficulty, and concluded she must apply to some Indians not far distant, for assistance; she accordingly took the children, and went to their settlement. The Indians treated her with much kindness, furnished her and the children with victuals, and taking off the little boy's trowsers, they filled them with corn for her to carry home for their further supply.

The dwelling houses first erected were small, rough, log buildings, and generally situated convenient to a spring of water. Giles Knight dwelt about six weeks by the side of an old log, near the banks of Poquesink. The Indians then instructed him in the erection of a wig- wam, in which he resided till he raised a small log house, about half a mile south-east of the present meet- ing house. William Nichols was so poor, that in 1684 the meeting at Poetquesink "allowed him four shillings per week," on account of his "being in penury."

Great hardships were endured by the first settlers for several years; but they were industrious and economi- cal, and kind and obliging one to another. Their situ- ation gradually improved, and brighter prospects were continually opening. 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 Wal- ton, and divers others in the southern part of the neigh- bourhood, adopted the Keithian profession and creed, and kept possession of the meeting .* John Carver, Giles Knight, Daniel Walton, Henry English, and some others, whose residence was near the centre of Byber- ry, withdrew from the Keithians, and held their meet- ings at Henry English's house, which stood in Walmsley old orchard, near half a mile south-east of the present meeting house.

The meeting of the Keithians soon vanished. Some of them turned Episcopalians, and are said to have been concerned in founding All Saints church in Lower Dub- lin. Others attached themselves to a Keithian meeting in Southampton. Most of these afterwards turned Bap- tists. John Hart was one of them.

Giles Knight, the patriarch of the Knight family in this neighborhood, was from Gloucestershire, and came with his wife Mary and son Joseph, in company with William Penn, in 1682. On the passage, Mary was ex- tremely sick, so that her survival to the end of the voy- age was very doubtful. On their arrival up the Dela- ware, she was carried ashore in a blanket and laid on the bank: she then observed that she had been fully persuaded in her mind she should not die till she saw America; but now she had landed here, she could not tell how it would go with her. She recovered, and af- terwards had twelve children. Giles was one of the heads of Byberry meeting. He died in 1726, in his seventy- fourth year, and Mary in 1732, in her seventy-seventh year.

John Carver, from Hertfordshire, malster, and Mary his wife, came over with William Penn, in 1682. Their daughter Mary, who married Isaac Knight, of Abington,

is stated to have been "one of the first children born of English parents in Pennsylvania." Her birth is dated 28 of 8 mo. 1682, which is four days after Penn's land- ing at Chester. In a printed memorial concerning hets it is said, "she was born in or near Philadelphia."

The children of the first settlers were generally on the stage of active life by the year 1720. They had been educated in habits of industry and rigid economy. But many of them had very little school learning, and some of them did not even know how to read, or write their own names. They were however possessed of health; strength, activity and vigor, and delighted in the exer- cises of chopping, grubbing, fencing, and farming- shooting wild turkies, and hunting bears and raccoons.

The land was productive, and large crops of wheat were raiscd. It was gathered with siekles, and common- ly put up in stalks till threshed. Barns were not then projected upon the commodious scale of modern times. Such as they had were of simple construction -two log pens of about eight or ten feet high, with a threshing floor between them and thatched roof over the whole. Wagons for hauling were difficult to obtain .- Sleds were first used to gather the grain from the fields, and when it was ready for the market, it was carried to Pennepac mills on horses. A tongue cart was after wards brought into use, and was considered a great con-" venience and improvement among the utensils of a farm. Harness for ploughing, hauling, &c. was gene- rally of home manufacture. Collars were made of straw, or the tops of calamus ingeniously plaited, and traces were tow or hemp ropes made sufficiently strong.

The timber by this time was grown to a good size, straight and handsome. We are told that Job Walton split 3600 rails in one week, the logs being cut off for him, and the wood of the best kind for working easy .- With such expedition and plenty of timber, the ground that was cleared might soon be sufficiently fenced. It nevertheless was customary to ditch and plant privet hedges for enclosures. These hedges were probably introduced carly on account of the scarcity of rail tim- ber. When well grown they made a good barrier against the encroachments of horses, cattle, hogs, and wild beasts. They made a pleasing appearance to the eye when in blossom. and the berries served through the dreary part of the winter for sustenance to multi- tudes of wild pigeons. These hedges nearly all died a few years before the revolution.

Old people used to tell us that the winters formerly were more remarkable for cold weather, and that there was more snow than of latter time. In the hard winter of 1740, the snow covered the fences; and the crust on the top of it was so firm that it would bear sleds and horses, so that people could travel in any direction, without reference to roads. We are told also of a very moderate winter, the ground being so little frozen that they could plough all winter with the exception of two or three days.

The extraordinary wet harvest in 1719 was long re- membered. A small quantity of wheat was secured be- fore the rains commenced-much of it was in shock, and was so damaged by the grain growing, that the shocks were all green with it. Even the heads of the standing wheat grew in like manner.

Joseph Knight was two years old when his parents, Giles and Mary Knight, brought him to this country. He married in 1717 and settled in Jersey, but return- ed to Byberry in 1729. He had two children, Giles and Mary. He and his wife Abigail were remarkable for their economical habits. We have frequently heard of a coat the old man wore, which had been so abundantly darned that it was difficult to ascertain its original tex- ture. We have heard of the pound of candles purcha- sed by the old woman for her winter's stock, and hav- ing one thrown into the bargain by a generous neigh- bor, the overplus candle was used all winter, and the pound complete was sold in the spring. Abigail, in the summer time, made cheese for sale, Joseph took them

*It is said the Friends had a meeting house near John Hart's; but of this the records give no account.

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HISTORY OF BYBERRY.

1829.]

sto Philadelphia: his practice was to go afoot, and carry his shoes till he came near the town; he put them on to go into it, but dispenscd with them when he got out again-he thus saved his shoe leather on the road, and supported his credit in the city. He owned a valuable farm, but does not appear to have accumulated a great deal of money. At the time of his decease, it is said, there was scarcely a whole rail in his fences; they were composed chiefly of broken pieces of old rails, assort- ed into pannels according to their length. He cut but little live timber; dead trees, broken branches, and old stuff picked up in the woods furnished his fire-wood .- Joseph died in 1762, aged eighty-two years. Abigail died two years after, at about the same age.

It is hoped the reader will have the charity to believe that Joseph Knight was not a miser. His uncommon disposition to suffer nothing to be wasted or lost, was probably the result of his situation in early life, and the circumstances of his education. For he was brought up under all the privations of a new settled country, and very likely was often pinched for the necessary provi- sions and clothing, and when more prosperous times ar- rived, his habits had become settled, so that he was con- tent with a little, and travelled comfortably through time in his old way, without hankering after expensive accommodations, or a style of living for which his re- sources were inadequate. His neighbors respected him as an honest, inoffensive man, and liis pilgrimage was closed in peace.

Joseph Gilbert endeavoured to maintain a strict moral discipline in his family; he was rigidly temperate, and bore such a faithful testimony against the slavery of the negroes, that Benjamin Lay could consider him as his intimate friend, and put up at his house when he came to this neighborhood .* He also protested against the use of spirituous liquors, especially by abstaining alto- gether from them himself. He diligently attended reli- gious meetings, and encouraged his family to a regular observance of the same practice. Even the workmen he occasionally employed, were left at liberty to go to meeting with him in the middle of the week: but in case they did not incline to do so, he enjoined them lo suspend their labours till he returned. His bodily and mental powers retained their strength and vigor to old age. He generally led his reapers in the harvest: he drank nothing but water, and that from the running brook, kept in a jug in the sunshine; but he provided beer for his workmen. He was one of the elders of By- berry meeting.

Notwithstanding there were some individuals of the second generation, who were men of tolerable informa- tion, there was much ignorance among the common people, and many superstitious notions were prevalent. Marvellous accounts of witchcraft, apparitions, ominous sights, and strange occurrences, were afloat; and often were made the subjects of conversation at the fire side in long winter evenings. At these and other times of leisure, when neighbors met to amuse themselves by so- cial conference, the cider mug went round freely; many a romantic adventure in pursuit of bears, raccoons, tur- kies, and wild pigeons, was related; and many an inter- esting detail given of prodigious performances achieved at manual labour.

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The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. III, Part 75

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870 Publication date: 1828 Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ; Number of Pages: 440

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 440