USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time > Part 63
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Benjamin Snodgrass, the ancestor of those bearing the name in this county, and whose descendants are found in many parts of the country, immigrated from Ireland to America previous to 1730. During a long voyage his whole family perished of hunger except himself and daughter Mary. He settled in what is now Doyles- town township, but then included in New Britain. Some time after his arrival he married Jane Borland, a widow, and by her had five children, Benjamin, born 1731, James, born 1734, Rebecca, Mar- garet,1 and Jane. Mary Snodgrass, the daughter who survived the voyage, married Robert Stewart, and had one daughter, Jane, who married John Grier, the father of the late John Stewart Grier.
1 One account calls her Martha.
667
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Benjamin Snodgrass died in 1778, his will being proved the 13th of October. He left numerous legacies to his children, and his farm was sold by his executors in January, 1779. The oldest son of Benjamin Snodgrass, by his second wife, married Mary McFar- land, born 1731, died 1818, and had three sons and one daughter. While on his way to visit his son James, a Presbyterian minister settled at New Hanover, Dauphin county, he was thrown from his gig the 1st of July, 1804, and so badly injured that he died in a few days. Of the other children of Benjamin the elder, James married Ann Wilson, and died 1809, Rebecca, a Watson, Margaret, a Law, and Jane a Harvey. Benjamin, son of the second Benjamin, was a soldier of the Revolution, was present at the battle of Trenton, and died a bachelor. His youngest sister, Mary, born in 1772, married John Mann, and died in 1803. James, the youngest son of Benja- min Snodgrass the elder, had one son and six daughters. James, his son and youngest child, born October 21st, 1780, married Mary Mckinstry, and died at Doylestown in April, 1870. The daughters married into the families of Pool, Harrar, Todd, Rich, Grier, and Armstrong. Benjamin S. Rich, of Buckingham, is a descendant of James the elder, and Jefferson Grier a descendant of Sarah Snod- grass. The Reverend William D. Snodgrass, of Goshen, New York, is a son of Reverend James Snodgrass, of New Hanover, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, who deceased in 1846. The late Doctor James S. Rich, of Churchville. was the son of Mary Snodgrass, the granddaughter of James the second.
David Johnson was among the early settler in that part of New Britain, now Doylestown township. He was born in Ireland about 1732, came to Bucks county in early life, and died the 21st of April, 1819, in his eighty-seventh year. One of the earliest German settlers in the township was Gabriel Swartzlander, ancestor of all who bear the name in the county, who immigrated from Germany about 1760, settled on Pine run, and died in 1808, at the age of sixty. He married Salome Stout, and at his death left four sons and two daughters, John, who died young, Jacob, the grandfather of Doctor F. Swartzlander, of Doylestown, David, and Joseph who died March 7th, 1875. Gabriel Swartzlander was the grandfather of Joseph Swartzlander, of Lower Makefield. We have no record of the daughters.
A considerable part of Doylestown township was embraced in the lands which William Penn conveyed to the Free Society of
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Traders in 1681. In this section lay a tract of over eight thousand acres, whose north-eastern boundary was the Swamp road, and which extended into the townships of Warwick, New Britain and Hilltown. When the Society lands were sold by trustees, Jeremiah Langhorne bought seven hundred acres in Warwick, bounded on the north-west by the line of New Britain, and this purchase embraced all the site of Doylestown borough lying south-east of Court street. At his death he divided three hundred and ten acres of this tract that was unsold, between two of his negro men, for life-Cudjo and Joe. Cudjo's title was extinguished by the executors in 1751, and his portion sold to Isabella Crawford. Joseph Kirkbride, of Falls, was an early land-holder in Doylestown, and probably after- ward a settler, but this we do not positively know, although some of his descendants lived there. His tract lay north-west of the borough and came down to the line of Warwick, now Court street. On the 30th of March, 1730, he conveyed one hundred and fifty acres to Edward Doyle, originally Doyl, who was then a resident of New Britain, but how long he had been there is not known. Joseph Fell took up a tract north-east of the town extending out to Pool's corner. One hundred years ago the land-owners immediately around the borough of Doylestown were Edward and William Doyle, Joseph Kirkbride, William and Robert Scott, and Joseph and Samuel Flack. Jonathan Mason was an early proprietor of a large tract of land in the vicinity of New Britain church, and probably purchased from the Free Society of Traders.
The Doyles, as we have already seen, were among the early settlers in Doylestown township, and from whom the county-seat takes its name. Edward was here in 1730, residing in New Britain, and was probably a late arrival, as he purchased land that March of Joseph Kirkbride. William Doyle immigrated from the north of Ireland about 1735, and yet he and Edward may have been father and son, or brothers. It is not known whether William Doyle was accompanied by his parents, or a family of his own. He and Edward were still living in the neighborhood in 1775, and William died at an advanced age. He was twice married, and among his children were a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Elizabeth. Jona- than must have been a son of the second marriage, for he was not born until 1762, died in 1843 at the age of eighty-one years, and was buried at New Britain. He became possessed of the greater part of his father's real estate at his death, and built Hiestand's mill,
1775.
VICINITY
AND
DOYLESTOWN
MAP
SWEED'S FORD ROAD
NEW
EDWARD DOYLE BRITAIN
N
ROAD
AND WARWICK LINE
W4 DOYLE
WELL'S
*
JOSEPH & SAMUEL FLACK.
FERRY ROAD
WILLIAM SCOTT. DYER'S
ROBERT SCOTT.
ISABELLA CRAWFORD.
OF
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
then a grist and carding-mill, which he carried on for several years. He married Mary Stephens, of Welsh parentage, and had three children, William, Thomas, and Eliza. Elizabeth, the sister of William Doyle the elder, married a McBurney. Of the children of Jonathan Doyle, William married Eliza Hough, Thomas married Fannie Tucker, and had several children, one daughter of whom is the wife of Robert Smith, of Doylestown, and another of Samuel J. John- son of Philadelphia. William Doyle read law with the late Abraham Chapman, and died at the age of forty For many years the cross- roads at Doylestown was known as "William Doyle's tavern," and during the Revolutionary war it was first dignified with the name of " Doyle's town," from which it was afterward changed to the present spelling.
The removal of the county-seat to the hamlet of Doylestown, through which the dividing line of Warwick and New Britain ran, in 1812, called for the formation of a new township around the pub- lic buildings. In August, 1818, a number of the inhabitants of these townships petitioned the court, setting forth that "they re- side on the extremity of the townships of Buckingham, Warwick, New Britain, and Plumstead, and that it would be to the interest and advantage of the said petitioners to have a new township, mak- ing the court-house the centre thereof, or as nearly so as may be convenient." The court was asked to appoint three impartial men "to view and lay out the township agreeably to law," and in accord- ance with their prayer Thomas G. Kennedy, Thomas Yardley, and Thomas Story were selected to perform this duty. They reported to the November term following in favor of a new township, to be called Doylestown, to be formed out of the territory of the three contiguous townships, as follows : From New Britain five thousand three hundred and fifty acres, reducing her territory more than one- third, from Warwick three thousand five hundred and fifteen acres, and one thousand one hundred and eighty-five acres from Bucking- ham. The south-eastern corner of the new township, reaching down to Bushington, was the part cut off from Buckingham. The report was confirmed, and the municipal government of the new township was duly put into running order, the late John D. James, many years crier of the courts, being the first elected constable. The area was ten thousand and fifty acres, or about fifteen and a lialf square miles. It was enlarged a few years ago by taking in the north-west corner of Warwick, containing the alms house farm and
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
buildings. The report of the jury was accompanied by an elaborate map, including several of the surrounding townships, drawn by Thomas G. Kennedy, one of the jurors.
The Manns of Doylestown, and adjoining townships and counties, are descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. John Mann, the son of James and Mary Mann, of county Donegal, Ireland, immigrated to America at the age of twenty, landing at Bristol in the fall of 1732, or 1733. He was a fellow-immigrant with the McNairs and others who bear well-known names in the county. He settled in War- minster or Warwick, in the vicinity of Hartsville, and owned land at his death in both townships. In 1736 he married Margaret Mitchel, of Warwick, born in 1707, and had seven children, William, born 1738, Mary, 1740, John, 1742, Ann, 1745, James first, 1747, James second, 1749, and Samuel Mitchel, 1755. In 1748 he pur- chased one hundred and sixty-two acres in Horsham, which became the homestead of the family, and on it erected a good dwelling in 1754, which is still standing and owned by his descendants. Here his wife died in 1769, and he in 1779, at the age of sixty-seven. His estate was divided among his children and grandchildren. The sons and daughters of John Mann married into the families of MeLaugh- lin, McNair, Keith, and others, and had large families of children, and their descendants are numerous and scattered. With scarce an exception they are Presbyterian in faith, and some of them have occupied positions of prominence. Joel K. Mann, of Mont- gomery county, represented that district in Congress, and died in 1857, at the age of seventy-six. John G. and James S. Mann, of Doylestown, are the grandsons of John Mann the elder. The de- scendants of John Mann's children intermarried with the Hustons, Snodgrasses, Griers, Fentons, Cravens, Shelmires, Manns, Vanarts- dalens, Longs, Kirks, Stuckerts, Duffields, etc. Isaac K. Mann, the great-grandson of John Mann, served three years during the late civil war in the One hundred and fourth Pennsylvania regiment.
Christian Brower, who lived at the Bridge Point farm many years, purchased the property and moved there in 1848. His grandfather, Henry Brower, was born in 1720, and came to New York from Holland, probably in 1726. In 1746 he bought lands at " Schuyl- kill," Chester county. He had children by his first wife, De Frain, Abraham, Salome, and Elizabeth, and by a second wife, Barbara High, Isaac, Jacob, John, and Daniel. The last, Daniel was born in 1757. Christian Brower, born in 1784, was a son of Daniel, and
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
was married to Catharine Price (Bruys), daughter of Daniel Price, of Chester county, March 13th, 1814. He had children, Amelia, Daniel, Nathan, Elizabeth, Davis, Anna, George, Sarah, Margaretta, and Adelaide. Of these at this date (1875) Daniel, George, and Margaretta are deceased, Amelia, Nathan, Davis, and Adelaide re- side in Doylestown, Elizabeth (Ketchum) in Illinois, Anna (Darst) in Ohio, and Sarah (Wyckoff) in Brooklyn.
In the olden time Christopher Day gave a lot for a school-house for what was then New Britain, on the Swamp road just above Cross Keys. A log school-house was erected upon it, but it dis- appeared many years ago. The lot has since then been taken into the farm of John Smith, without title, which is probably in the Commonwealth in the absence of Day's heirs to claim it.
Bridge Point has borne its present name so long that the "mem- ory of man runneth not to the contrary," and it was probably so called from the point of land between the two creeks on which the mill, store, and shops are built, and the bridge spanning the stream below. A bridge was built across the Neshaminy at this point, by contract, in 1764, but probably not the first one, at a cost of £210, of which amount the inhabitants raised £152. 6s. by subscription. Henry Crossley agreed to build this bridge by contract for £210, but after it was completed he asked the court for an extra allowance of £35, but whether it was granted we do not know. It is supposed to have spanned the stream where its successor, of masonry, resting on seven arches, was built in 1800, which stands the admiration of all beholders. A bridge was likewise built across the small creek in 1764. At that day the method of building bridges was different from now. When the inhabitants of a locality wished to bridge a stream, they raised all the money they could, and went to work and built the bridge. When done, a petition was presented to the court stating that they had built a bridge, and asked that it might be viewed by persons appointed, and that the county pay the balance of the cost. The viewers not only inspected the bridge, but ex- amined the account of the managers. Their report had to be ap- proved by the grand jury and confirmed by the court before the county assumed any of the cost. Another method was likewise re- sorted to: the people of the neighborhood first raised all the money they could, and then asked enough from the county to finish the work.
Doctor Samuel Moore, a physician of West Jersey, and son-in-law
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
of Doctor Robert Patterson, the first director of the United States mint at Philadelphia, settled at Bridge Point three-quarters of a century ago, where he made valuable improvements and carried on an extensive business. Soon after graduating and marriage, in 1798, Doctor Moore located at the village of Dublin, in Bedminster, but afterward removed to Trenton. Failing health drove him from his profession, and he spent the next nine years trading to the East Indies. In 1808 he returned to Bucks county and purchased the grist and oil-mills at Bridge Point. There he erected a saw-mill, with shops and dwellings, store and school-house, and afterward a woolen factory. On an elevated and beautiful site he built a large mansion for himself-the same dwelling now owned by Aaron Fries-and where he resided several years, but it has been consider- ably improved. Doctor Moore was one of the most active in the erection of the first Presbyterian church, Doylestown, toward which he gave two hundred dollars. In 1818 he was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Ingham, and was twice re-elected. In 1824 he was appointed director of the mint at Philadelphia, to succeed Doctor Patterson. He retired from office in 1835, and the remainder of his life was devoted to private affairs.
Robert Patterson, the father-in-law of Doctor Moore, was suffi- ciently identified with this county to be mentioned in these pages. Born in Ulster, Ireland, May 30th, 1743, he immigrated to America in 1768, arriving at Philadelphia in October. A week afterward he set out, on foot, for Bucks county to obtain a school. He was first employed between Hinkletown and the Delaware, but afterward took charge of a school in what was known as the Low Dutch set- tlement in Northampton township. Here he boarded in the family of Dominie Jonathan DuBois, and among his pupils were the daughters of Judge Wynkoop. The rest of his family came to America in 1773 and 1774. He was an assistant surgeon in the Revolutionary army, and was appointed director of the mint at Philadelphia, by President Jefferson, in 1805, which he filled until just before his death in 1824. He was thirty-five years professor of mathematics in the University of Pennsylvania, and the honorary degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him in 1816, by that institu- tion. His son, Doctor Robert Patterson, afterward professor of natural philosophy in the University of Virginia, assisted the Rev- erend Uriah DuBois in his school at Doylestown, immediately after graduating in 1804.
673
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
When Doctor Moore carried on the woolen factory at Bridge Point, there were four other machines in the county for breaking and carding wool, one at Jacob Stover's on the Tohickon, near Piper's tavern, one at the Milford mill, Middletown, and two at the Great springs mill, near New Hope.
John Fitzinger, sometimes called Fritzinger, who owned the farm where Thomas W. Trego lately lived, a mile west of Doylestown, in the recollection of many now living, was a Hessian soldier cap- tured at Trenton in 1776. He refused to be exchanged, but wished to remain in the country. On being taken before Washington, he was asked what he could do, as he declined to enlist in the American army, and he replied that he could make powder. He was sent up to Sumneytown, to be out of reach of the enemy, where he worked in the powder-mills. At that time the army had a large quantity of damaged powder on hand, which Fitzinger was employed to make into a good article. He is said to have made the first glazed powder manufactured in America. At the close of the war he bought the farm referred to, and became a useful citizen. Cap- tain William McHenry, of Pike county, has the short sword that Fitzinger wore when captured at Trenton. The mounting is solid silver, and pricked on the silver plate at the hilt are the figures, 1776.
Fifty years ago one Bering came from South Carolina to Bucks county, in order to liberate his slaves, thought to have been his own children. He purchased the farm on the Neshaminy, two miles west of Doylestown, late Monroe Backinan's, where he lived several years. An island in the creek was called by his name, on which a celebration was held July 4th, 1824, and participated in by the citizens and military. Two beautiful arbors were erected, one for the ladies and the other for the gentlemen. The Berings removed many years ago to parts unknown.
This township contains but one village worthy the name, Doyles- town, the county-seat, but it has several hamlets. A mile below Doylestown is the Turk, of a dozen dwellings, and a tavern that swung the head of a Turk on its signboard for many years. As long ago as 1814, when John Brunner was the landlord, it was called Turk's Head. An attempt was made many years ago to change the name of this hamlet to Houghville, but the public would not consent to it, and it is still called by its old name. When, in 1810, it was decided that the county-seat should be removed from
43
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
Newtown, John Hough, who owned a considerable tract of land about the Turk, laid out the plan of a town, and offered it for the seat of justice. The plat extended north from the Turk tavern to the head of the mill-pond, with squares laid out on each side of the Easton road, with intersecting streets every few hundred feet, one crossing the mill-race just below the breast of the dam and running toward Newtown. Sites for the "court," "office," and "gaol" are marked on the ridge near Thomas Doyle's house, the first two on the west side of the Easton road and the other on east, with a broad street in their front. The other hamlets are, New Britain, the seat of the Baptist church of that name, on the south-western border, Bushington, on the York road, on the east, and Cross Keys, on the Easton road, on the north, each partly in Doylestown and partly in the adjoining township. The New Britain Baptist church, grave- yard and grounds lie wholly in Doylestown. The village of Doyles- town, the seat of justice of the county, is situated in the eastern part of the township, a mile from the Buckingham line. The bridge that spans the Neshaminy at Castle valley was built in 1835. The first stone house in that vicinity, torn down over half a century ago, is said to have stood on the farm now owned by Ezra Smith, and was a story and a half high, with steep pitch-roof, oaken doors in two folds, and windows with shutters, but no glass. A mile west of Doylestown is an old-fashioned stone Mennonite church, built many years ago. Among the ministers who have officiated there we find the names of Kephart, Jacob Kulb, Abraham Godshall, John Gross, Isaac Godshall, Isaac Richert, Jacob Hiestand, and Samuel Gross, and of deacons, Yoder, John Haldeman, and Daniel Gross. It is the oldest church edifice standing in middle Bucks county.
The surface of Doylestown is rolling and diversified, with the spurs of Iron hill breaking it along its north-west boundary, the soil fertile and well-cultivated, and its whole area in view from the top of the court-house cupola. It is well-watered by the winding west branch of the Neshaminy and its tributaries which afford several fine mill seats. On an old title-paper Cook's run is written "Scooke's run." The township is intersected by numerous roads, some of which have been turnpiked. The two oldest, which are still main high- ways, are the Easton road laid out in 1723 from the county line to Dyerstown, and that from the York road at Centreville to the Schuyl- kill at Norristown. The former was called the Dyer's mill, and the
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
latter the North Wales, road for many years, and they intersect each other nearly at right angles in the heart of the village of Doyles- town. The road from Doylestown to the York road above Bridge Valley was laid out in 1764, the signers to the petition being Na- than Mckinstry, Henry Miller, John Robinson, William Corbit, Archibald Crawford, Charles Janney, William Doyle, John White, and Andrew McMicken. In 1752 Won Doye a road was laid out through what is now Doylestown, but tlien War- wick, beginning in the Bristol road at a corner between John Ewers and Joseph Hough, crossing the township and coming out into the Newtown or Swamp road just below Pool's corner. This road crosses the turnpike at the Turk, and Neshaminy at Deep ford. It was surveyed by John Watson August 13th, the day the viewers met.
The Swamp road, which forms the north-east boundary of Doylestown, and runs through Quakertown into Milford township, was laid out in 1737, and was then called the Newtown road. In 1752 a road was laid out from the Easton road, just above the Turk, to the lower state road, and was surveyed by John Watson.
On the morning of January 30th, 1809, the house of Jacob Kirk- bride, now Judge Chapman's farm-house, half a mile north-west of Doylestown, took fire from an ashpan in the cellarway, and was burned to the ground. Mr. and Mrs. K. were absent, on a visit to friends in Falls, leaving in the house two servants and five children between the ages of three and twelve, who escaped in their night- clothes. We have no means of telling the population of Doyles- town township when it was organized, as it is not in the report of the jury that laid it out. At the first census afterward, 1820, it contained 1,420 inhabitants; in 1830, 1,781, and 362 taxables, which included the village of Doylestown, for that had not yet been incor- porated; in 1840, 1,221; in 1850, 1,307 ; 1860, the population is put down at 287 in the census report, which is an error, and in 1870 it was 1,954, of which 186 were of foreign birth.
676
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
1
CHAPTER XLIV.
NEW HOPE.
- 1837.
Site of borough .- Important point .- John Wells .- Sir George Wilkinson .- Old medal .- Coat-of-arms .- Settlement of Lambertville .- Emanuel Coryell .- First mill in New Hope .- Canby's forge .- Henry Dennis .- Joseph Todd .- Origin of name .- Parry family .- Benjamin Parry .- He settles in New Hope .- Parry mansion .- Bridge across Delaware .- Heavy freshet .- Oliver Parry .- Major Parry .- Thomas F. Parry .- Lewis S. Coryell .- His character and life .- William Maris .- Redwood Fisher .- Garret Meldrum .- New Hope in 1784 .- Joseph D. Murray .- He settles in New Hope .- The oldest house .- Paxson homestead .- Village incorporated .- Mills and factories .- The situation .- Population.
THE site of New Hope was covered by the grant of one thousand acres to Robert Heath in 1700. The surveys were dated 1703 and 1704, and the patent the 11th of April, 1710. This purchase in- cluded the Great spring tract, on the stream of which he agreed to erect a "grist or corn-support mill," in consideration of having the exclusive right to use the water. The mill was built in 1707, the first in that part of the county.
677
HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
The crossing of the Delaware at this point became an important place at an early day in the history of the county. After the York and North Wales roads were opened, in 1730, the ferry at New Hope was on the great route of travel from East Jersey to the Schuylkill. Who was the first actual settler on the site of the bor- ough is not known, but a fulling-mill was built on the Heath tract about 1712. John Wells was the first ferryman that we have an account of, who probably settled there about 1715. About 1719 the assembly passed an act granting him the ferry for seven years, and at its expiration the lieutenant-governor renewed his license to keep the ferry seven years longer. When this had expired, in 1733, John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, Proprietaries and governors of the province, granted the ferry to Wells for an additional seven years, to him and his heirs, excluding and prohibiting all other ferries for four miles above and four miles below. He was to pay an annual rent of forty shillings on the first day of March, at Penns- bury. In 1734 Wells bought one hundred acres of what had been the Heath tract, lying on the river, and on which the fulling-mill had already been erected. The will of John Wells is dated July 16th, 1748, in which he left his farm of one hundred and five acres to William Kitchen, probably his son-in-law.
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