The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Part 27

Author: Davis, W.W.H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910
Publication date: 1876
Publisher: Doylestown, Pa. : Democrat Book and Job Office Print
Number of Pages: 976

USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time > Part 27

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taught in turn, at the Mennonite meeting-house, Tinicum church, and at Quakertown. At the latter place he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Hampton Watson, now Judge Watson, of Kansas. In 1831 he graduated at the University of Pennsyl- vania; soon afterward married Sarah Lester, daughter of Thomas Lester, of Rich- land ; and removed to Buckingham, where he associated himself in the practice of of medicine with Doctor Wilson, an eminent and well-known physician. At the death of Doctor Wilson, a few years later, he continued the practice, removing to Centre- ville, a more convenient location. Here he lost his wife, a most estimable woman, and afterward married Sarah Taylor, daughter of William Taylor, a minister among Friends. Although no doubt of Catholic parentage, Doctor Cernea was naturally drawn to the Friends, from their great kindness to him in his troubles, and he joined this religious body, of which he is a useful and active member. During the busy years of an arduous practice, aside from being a diligent student in his own profession, he found time to devote to literature and the sciences, for which he had a natural fondness. He gave much attention to botany. He was an industrious contributor to the Buckingham lyceum, a literary society of some merit in its day. When the sub- ject of anti-slavery and temperance began to agitate the public mind, Doctor Cernea, a man of strong convictions, became an earnest advocate of these reforms. This was at a time when such advocacy was at the expense of personal interest. He has lived to see the principle he advocated recognized. In his retirement he can look back upon a well-spent and useful life, colored with enough romance to make it interesting to others.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

commanded the country between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. He held several positions of public trust, and died at New Mills, Burlington county, New Jersey, February 17th, 1814.

The county is more indebted to the late James Jamison, of Buck- ingham, than to any other one man, for the introduction of the present method of burning lime in fixed kilns. He found, by re- peated experiment, that, by putting lime and coal in the kiln in al- ternate layers from top to bottom, the whole supported by grates, with space underneath for wood to kindle the lower layer of coal, the manufacture of lime was much expedited and cheapened. Before this, wood had been exclusively used, but the cost of line was now reduced about one-half. The consequence was that it came into ex- tensive use as a fertilizing manure, and was hauled twelve or fifteen miles for that purpose. Of course, coal was more extensively used to burn lime after the Delaware Division canal was opened. While it was burned exclusively with wood, lime was too dear to be gene- rally used as a fertilizer, much to the detriment of agriculture.

There are seven villages in Buckingham, Centreville, Mechanics- ville, Lahaska, Greenville, Spring Valley, Bushington, and Concord, the first three being post villages. Centreville, at the intersection of the Durham and York roads, is the largest, containing an Episcopal church, founded nearly half a century ago, two taverns, a store, mechanics, the Hughesian free school, and about twenty dwellings. The tavern of Mr. Righter has been a famous road-side inn, in its day and generation, and it numbers considerably more than a century of years. Under its roof, the " Bucks county committee of safety" held one of its ealiest meetings in 1775, and in it General Greene, for a time, had his headquarters during one of the most trying periods of the Revolution. Buckingham post-office was established here in 1805, and Cornelius Vanhorne appointed postmaster. Three-quarters of a century ago Greenville was called "Grintown," which name we are told was given it in this wise : A flock of geese driven by a Jer- seyman down the York road to Philadelphia becoming unmanageable at this point, the people flocked to the doors to witness the poor man's discomfiture. On seeing these witnesses of his shame, he yelled out in his agony, "this is Grintown." The name stuck to the unfortunate village several years. About 1810 a number of young people were passing a social afternoon at the dwelling of Josiah Shaw, when the name was spoken of in not very respectful terms, and it was suggested that the state of society required a change.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Eliza Johnson, daughter of the late Samuel Johnson, was called upon for a new name, when she proposed "Greenville," which was adopted unanimously, and the company was pledged to support it. Forty years ago this hamlet was the seat of a female boarding-school of some local celebrity, but long since discontinued. The other vil- lages named are pleasant little hamlets of a few dwellings each, some with public houses, others without. At Lahaska is a Methodist Episcopal church, built in 1853, and re-built in 1868. The post- office at Mechanicsville was established in 1830, and Peter Lester appointed postmaster. The hamlet of Cross Keys, on the Easton pike, a mile from Doylestown, is partly in Buckingham. In 1804 Daniel Stradling kept store there in a house opposite James Dun- lap's tavern. He had formerly been partner of Joseph Morton at Willow Grove.

The township records do not extend back much over an hundred years. In 1722 the tax-rate was two-pence half-penny per pound, and seven shillings six-pence a head on single men. Thomas Brown, jr., was the collector.19 In 1767 a three-penny tax raised £22. 5s. 6d. in the township, and John Lacey, jr., was one of the auditors. About double the amount raised was expended on the roads. From 1776 to 1781, the Revolutionary period, there is no account of money spent for the township. The latter year, the period of greatest de- pression of Continental money, a tax of one penny raised £6, 767. 8s. 8d. in the township, which was also expended on the roads. The duplicate for 1797 amounted to £269. 13s. 6d., but to only £48.11s. 9d. the following year. Since 1800 there has been a gradual in- crease in the amount of tax levied and collected in Buckingham, being $179.50 for that year, and $455.90 for 1810. In 1820 the township expenses were $706.72 ; in 1830, $483.12 ; 1840, $925.68 ; 1850, $972; 1860, $957.26, and $741.56 in 1870. In 1722 there were fifty-three taxables in the township, of whom nine were single men. The heaviest tax-payer was Richard Humphrey Morris, £1. 3s. 9d., taxed for one thousand nine hundred acres of land. The tax- ables in 1761 were one hundred and fifty-five, and one hundred and seventy-eight in 1764. In 1771 the householders were one hun- dred and seventy-eight, showing considerable increase in population if the figures be correct. The population of the township at differ- ent periods since then was as follows : 1810, 1,715; 1820, 1,862;

19 In 1719 John Dawson bought a cow of John Bye for £3. 10s., the low price being in keeping with the times.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

1830, 2,193, and 467 taxables ; 1840, 2,482 ; 1850, 2,596 whites, 171 blacks; 1860, 2,960 whites, 128 blacks, and 1870, 2,910, of which 101 were foreign-born and 143 blacks.

Caves and sinks are common in limestone valleys, the former fre- quently of great magnitude, while depressions or basins, occasioned by subterranean water courses or other causes, are more frequent but limited in dimensions. Several of these sinks are found in the val- ley extending from Bushington in Buckingham to Limeport in Sole- bury, and two or three are worthy of especial notice. The easternmost one, known as Large's pond, near Centreville, was never known to go dry until within a few years. It was thought to be bottomless, and a young man named Gilbert was drowned in this pond some seventy years ago. The washings from the turnpike and the dimin- ished rainfall have exerted their influence in drying up this once beautiful little lake. On the line between the farms of Benjamin Smith and Amos Corson, a fourth of a mile south-east of Greenville, is a locally celebrated sink, which the Indians gave the name of "Holy cong," but known to the inhabitants of the township as the "Conky hole." It is a nearly circular, funnel-shaped basin, about forty yards in diameter, and from forty to sixty feet down to the water. The water rises and falls in this funnel ; formerly it at times was twenty feet across the surface, and then would fall until it appeared to be not more than two. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to fathom its depth, but the projecting limestone have proved insuperable barriers. Tradition tells us that chaff thrown into this hole has been known to come out at the Ingham spring. In former times it was considered a great natural curiosity, and many strangers visited it. It is well-known that the Indians fre- quently collected here to hold their councils and jollifications. "Grintown pond" is the name of a basin of water in the valley, nearly opposite Greenville. Sixty years ago it was the resort of all the boys of the neighborhood who were ambitious to have a swim. Here the young Elys, Larges, Gilberts, Beanses, Williamnses, Joneses, Parrys, Linburgs, Johnsons, Byes, Shaws, Fells, Hellyers, Watsons, and others, resorted on Saturday evenings, making the air ring with their hilarity. Many horses were likewise taken there to be washed, and every one that went into the water had a boy on his back and another hanging on to his caudal extremity. Two old men, now living in the neighborhood, between seventy and eighty years of age, were capering in the pond one Saturday, when one saved the other

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from a watery grave. He sank the last time, when his friend dove after him and brought him up. It is possible he thought to emulate Holme's oysterman, who exclaimed :

" Leander swam the Hellespont, And I will swim this here."

On the top of Buckingham mountain is the Mount Gilead African Methodist Episcopal church, built of logs, in 1835 and 1836, and re-built of stone in 1852. It is quite a snug edifice, and near by is a graveyard enclosed by a neat pale-fence. The Orthodox Friends' mecting-house of Buckingham was built in 1830. The date was cut by Joseph Fell on a stone and placed in the front wall.

Sometime before the Revolution William Simpson, from the northi of Ireland, came into Bucks county, and settled in Buckingham or Solebury. The year of his arrival is not known, but the 15th day of January, 1766, he made application to purchase one hundred acres in Buckingham, and the deed was executed by John Penn May 23d, 1767. He married a Hines, which was probably prior to that time. He had two sons and two daughters, Ann and Mary, John and Matthew. John lived and died in Bucks county, and was the father of Mrs. Ann Jamison, of Buckingham. Matthew removed to Ohio, near Zanesville, about 1810. Ann married John Davis about 1782, who moved to Maryland in 1795, and to Ohio in 1816, settling on the Sciota, near Columbus. William Simpson was a soldier in the Revolution, and was at the battle of Trenton. On one occasion when he came home to visit his family, his house was searched by his tory neighbors, who failed to find him, as lie was in the cellar with a hogshead turned over him. James, the son of John and Hannah, but not related to the foregoing so far as we know, who spent part of his life in Buckingham, became quite a celebrated preacher among Friends. He was born in Falls the 19th of May, 1743. He was full of eccentricities, and was widely known. He kept school for a while in Buckingham, but dreaming how to make brooms he commenced and followed that business. He removed to Hatborough in 1789, where he married Martlia Shoemaker, a widow, and died at Frankford, in 1811, over sixty-eight years of age. He left some sermons and other writings behind. There were other Simpsons in Bucks county. Among these was John Simpson, the son of James, born in Buckingham or Newtown about 1744. About 1767 he removed to Upper Paxton, then in Lancaster, now Dau- phin, county, where he married Margaret Murray in 1776. In 1793

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he went to Huntingdon county, where he died in 1807, in his sixty- third year. James Simpson had several children, among whom were John, James, Samuel and William. He went South, was living in North Carolina in 1783, and in Georgia in 1798, where he probably died. James Murray, whose daughter John Simpson married, was a relative of General Francis Murray, of Newtown, and an officer of the Revolutionary army. J. Simpson Africa, chief clerk of the Department of Internal Affairs, Harrisburg, is a grand- son of John Simpson.

In olden times Edmund Kinsey had a scythe and ax factory about two miles north-west of Lahaska, where he had a tilt or trip hammer operated by water-power. The remains of the race can still be traced. Kinsey, esteemed one of the first mechanics of the county, was born in Buckingham. There was also a saw-mill on the property of Paul Preston, near his study, where a part of the dam was to be seen a few days ago on the streamn that crosses the York road near Greenville. More than half a century ago Jacob Walton and Philip Parry, of Buckingham, were noted for their dexterity in catching pigeons. Walton was quite a famous hunter as well. He dressed in buckskin breeches and vest, tanned after the Indian fashion, from deer-skins his own trusty rifle had brought down. The garments were made up by himself and wife. Every fall the old man made a trip to the mountains, and returned loaded with game. Pigeons were formerly very numerous in Buckingham. Walton and Parry kept their stool pigeons and flyers in cages ready for the sport. When the time arrived they would erect their bough-houses, of cedar limbs, in the fields most frequented by these birds, set their nets in position, place the stool pigeons near the net on the ground, which was liberally sprinkled with buckwheat, fasten a long string to one or more pigeons called flyers, and then retire to their bough-house. When a flock of wild birds was seen the flyers were thrown into the air, keeping them on the wing until observed by the flock, which would always approach and settle down with the stool pigeons now in sight, when the net is sprung and hundreds of them captured. These old men were also as fond of fishing as Izaak Walton is re- ported to have been, frequently going to the Delaware and to places renowned for trout, and always returning heavily laden with their piscatory treasures. They were both Friends and belonged to Buck- ingham meeting, and have left numerous and respectable descendants in the township.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SOLEBURY.

1703.

Origin of name unknown .- Buckingham and Solebury one township .- Land taken up before 1703 .- Early settlers .- Henry Paxson .- The Pellars .- James Pellar Mal- colm .- Joseph Pike .- Gilt-edge butter .- Great Spring tract .- The Blackfans. --- Eastburns .- Inghams .- Jonathan Ingham .- Samuel D. secretary of the treas- ury .- Andrew Ellicott and his sons .- Richard Townsend .- John Schofield. -The Elys, Rices, Riches, Hutchinsons and Neeleys .- General Pike .- The Kenderdines .- Ruckmans .- Roads .- Lumberville .- Lumberton, formerly Hard Times .- Centre Bridge, originally Reading's ferry .- Carversville .- Milton in 1800 .- Post-office established .- Home of Ellicotts .- Coppernose .- Fine view from top .- The Cuttalossa .- Spring and fountain .- Kenderdine's verse .- Ruck- man's tavern .- Old mine at Neeley's .- Doctor John Wall .- Doctor Forst .- Friends' meeting school fund .- Ingham's spring .- Charles Smith .- Population.

SOLEBURY is washed on its eastern border by the Delaware, and joins the townships of Plumstead, Buckingham and Upper Make- field. The area is fourteen thousand and seventy-three acres. The origin of the name is unknown, and we have not been able to find it in any other part of the world. In 1703 it was written "Soul- bury." The surface is moderately hilly, with a variety of soil, has good building stone and an abundance of limestone, and is well sup- plied with small creeks and numerous springs of good water, the most celebrated of which is the Aquetong, three miles from New Hope. It abounds in well-cultivated and productive farms, and its

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

water-power is probably superior to that of any other township in the county. The great body of the inhabitants are descendants of English Friends, the first settlers, and in many respects they retain the leading traits of their ancestors.

We stated, in the previous chapter, that Solebury and Bucking- ham were originally one township, but were divided about 1700, the exact time not being known. The first mention of Solebury that we have met was in 1702, and it may or may not have been a sep- arate township at that time. These two townships were settled about the same period, the immigrants reaching the hills of Solebury through Wrightstown and Buckingham, and by coming up the Delaware.

The greater part of the land was taken up before its re-survey by John Cutler, generally in tracts of considerable size, but it is im- possible to say who was the first purchaser or settler in the township. One of the earliest was George White, who owned fifteen hundred acres lying on the Delaware, who, dying in 1687, left one thousand acres to his four sons in equal parts. The farms of William Kitchen and John Walton are on this tract. The 14th of April, 1683, Wil- liam Penn conveyed three hundred acres to one Sypke Ankes, or Sipke Ankey, or Aukey, a dyer of Haarlingin, in Friesland, who located it in the northern part of the township. The 16th of August, 1700, he sold to Renier Jansen, and he in turn conveyed it to Paul Wolf, a weaver of Germantown, September 1st, 1702. In April, 1700, one thousand acres were granted to Thomas Story. He sold it to Israel Pemberton, but it was surveyed by mistake to Robert Heath, and the same quantity was given to Pemberton, elsewhere. By warrant of 17th, 7th month, 1700, three hundred acres were surveyed to Edmund and Henry Hartly, part of John Rowland's five hundred acre tract granted by Penn. By virtue of a warrant dated 10th, 11th month, 1701, four hundred and fifty acres were surveyed to Thomas Carns, on the Street road, and the same quan- tity in Buckingham, and four hundred and ninety-two acres to John Scarborough.1 In 1702 five hundred acres were granted to James Logan, known as the Great spring2 tract, joining Scarborough on the north, and now owned in part by Andrew J. Beaumont, and five hundred acres to Randall Blackshaw, part of fifteen hundred acres which Richard Blackshaw bought of James Harrison's five thousand.

1 Died in 1727.

2 The Indians called it Acquetong.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

William Beaks had a grant of thirteen hundred acres from William Penn, five hundred and eighty of which were laid out in Solebury on both sides of the Cuttalossa.3 At his death, in 1702, it descended to his son Stephen, and by re-survey was found to contain six hun- dred and twenty-four acres. It joined the lands of Edmund Hartly, Paul Wolf, Randall Spakeman and William Croasdale. In 1702 Samuel Beaks bought three hundred acres, which he sold to William Chadwick, which next passed to his brother John, then to Oliver Balderson and down to the present owners, of whom W. J. Jewell and Natlian Ely are two. The remainder of the Beaks tract was conveyed to William Croasdale in 1703, a son of Thomas, who came from Yorkshire the same year and was sheriff of the county in 1707.

In 1704 Henry Paxson, son of William who settled in Middle- town in 1682 and ancestor of the Bucks county Paxsons, bought William Croasdale's two hundred and fifty acres in Solebury. Wil- liam Paxson lost his wife, two sons, and a brother on the passage over, and in 1684 he married Margaret, the widow of William Plumley of Northampton. In 1707 Henry Paxson bought Jere- miah Langhorne's tract in Solebury, some of which is still held by the family.+ Jacob Holcomb located five hunded acres in the eas- tern part of the township and settled near the Great spring,5 soon after or about 1700. The patent is dated April 12th, 1712. Thomas Canby was an original settler, whose eleven daughters, by two wives, left numerous descendants. Esther, who was born April 1st, 1700, and married John White, became an eminent minister among Friends. She traveled extensively in this country, and went to England in 1743. Tradition tells the story that on one occasion Lydia, the youngest daughter of Thomas Canby, a small but active child, mounted the black stallion of Thomas Watson, while he was on a visit to her father. A noise called them to the door, when they saw the girl astride the horse, with his head turned toward home. Mr. Watson exclaimed, "the poor child will be killed," to which Canby replied, "if thee will risk thy horse, I will risk my child." The horse and child reached Mr. Watson's, near Bushington, he white with foam, but gentle, when Lydia turned his head and rode back to her father's. She died at the age of one hundred and one

3 "At Quatielassy."

4 We have two accounts of the Paxsons, one that they came from Bycothouse, Ox- fordshire, the other that they came from Buckinghamshire.

5 There is a tradition that this is the birthplace of Tedyuscung.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

years. The old cedar tree in the lower part of the Buckingham graveyard was planted by her at the grave of one of her children.

James Pellar, whose family name is extinct in the county, of Bris- tol, England, was one of the earliest settlers in Solebury. Several hundred acres, included in the farms of John Ruckman, John Gilbert, Frederick Pearson, and John Betts, were surveyed to him on the upper York and Carversville roads, on which he built a dwelling in 1689. It was torn down in 1793. His son James was a conspicu- ous character in Bucks county. He was a great lover of poetry, had a wonderful memory, and was exceedingly entertaining. Frank- lin admired and esteemed him, and spoke of him as a " walking library." He was the friend and companion of John Watson, the surveyor, who said that he had never seen any other man that could " speak so well to a subject that he did not understand." He re- peated John Watson's poetry on all occasions. He was a large, slovenly man, in dress, habits, and about his farm. He carried Watson's chain, and died February 16th, 1806, at the age of seventy- seven. His father, who was born in 1700 and died in 1775, became an Episcopalian. On the female side the families of Betts, Reynolds and Wilkinson are among the descendants of James Pellar the first. James Pellar Malcolm, an English artist of celebrity, was a grandson of James Pellar. His father was a Scotchman who went to the West Indies, and then came to Philadelphia where he met and married Miss Pellar, and died. His son was born in August, 1767. His mother resided at Pottstown during the Revolutionary war, where her son was partially educated, but returned to Philadelphia in 1784. They went to England, where he studied three years at the Royal academy, and became distinguished. Malcolm visited his mother's relatives in this county about 1806, and was gratified to find numerous rich farmers among the Pellar descendants. He died at Somertown, England, April 15, 1815, at which time his mother was about seventy-two. John Letch, who had the reputation of being a most monstrous eater, was the friend and associate of the Pellars. Mince pies were his favorite diet. On one occason, when indulging his passion at Robert Eastburn's, near Centre Hill, whose wife was celebrated for her hospitality and turn-over minces, Mrs. East- burn expressed fear lest he should hurt himself, but the incorrigible feeder said if she would risk the pies he would risk the stomach. On another occasion, when eating a mince pie, baked in a milk-pan, at a Mrs. Large's, of Buckingham, he was overcome by the task and fell exhausted in the effort.

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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.

Joseph Pike settled in Solebury before 1703, and took up six hun- dred and twenty-four acres, which a re-survey increased to six hundred and sixty-five. It was not patented until 1705. The meeting-house and burial-ground are upon this tract. Daniel Smith, from Marlborough, England, located five hundred acres immediately north of the Pike tract, which his son John, of London, sold to Owen Roberts in 1702. It is now divided between William M. . Ely, one hundred and forty acres, Daniel Ely, one hundred and forty, Isaac Ely, one hundred and twenty-two, Charles Phillips and Joseph Balderson. William Penn had five hundred acres laid out to himself before 1703, of which one hundred acres were sold to Roger Hartly in 1737, and the remainder to Gysbert Bogart, which after- ward passed into the hands of Samuel Pickering, and James and Isaac Pellar. The Pike tract is now divided into the following farms : Oliver Paxson, one hundred acres, Joseph E. Reeder, one hundred and thirty, Merrick Reeder, one hundred, W. Wallace, one hundred and eighteen, Amos Clark, eighty-five, Rachel Ely, forty, Thomas H. Magill, sixty-two, William S. Worthington, sixteen, David Balderson, fourteen. In 1763 the attorney of Richard Pike sold the one hundred and thirty acres to Joseph Eastburn, junior, at public sale, for £414. 2s. 10d., who erected the first buildings upon it, and commenced its cultivation. It remained in the family until 1812, when it passed to Joseph S. Reeder, a descendant of the pur- chaser, who still owns it. It is now known as Rabbit run farm, and quite celebrated for herd-registered cattle, whose occupant, Eastburn Reeder, indulges his fancy for gilt-edge butter, an article that costs more than it comes to. The 26th of June, 1717, five hundred acres, extending from the Logan tract to the Delaware, were patented to John Wells. In 1721 Wells conveyed one hundred and fifty acres to William Kitchen, who died in 1727, and who was the first of the name in Solebury. John Wells left the land for the graveyard on Hutchin's hill, and his will provided for a wall around it.

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The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Part 27

Author: Davis, W.W.H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910 Publication date: 1876 Publisher: Doylestown, Pa. : Democrat Book and Job Office Print Number of Pages: 976

Author: Davis, W.W.H. (William Watts Hart), 1820-1910
Publication date: 1876
Publisher: Doylestown, Pa. : Democrat Book and Job Office Print
Number of Pages: 976