USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania : from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time > Part 80
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Bucks county fully sustained her military reputation in the late civil war, and hundreds of her sons joined the armies of the repub- lic. The Doylestown guards, Captain W. W. H. Davis, was the first company to offer its services, in April, 1861, and served a three months' tour of duty on the upper Potomac, in the Twenty-fifth regiment. During the summer Henry C. Beatty, of Bristol, David V. Feaster, of Newtown, and Doctor Joseph Thomas, of Apple- bachsville, raised companies for the Third Pennsylvania Reserves, Beatty dying from wounds received in action. About the same time John H. Shelmire raised a company for the First New Jersey cavalry in this and Montgomery county, of which James H. Hart was first lieutenant. When Shelmire was killed Hart was made major of the regiment, and fell at Five Forks, Virginia, in April,
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
1865, at the close of the war. In the summer and fall of 1861 Captain Davis, by authority of the secretary of war, recruited and organized in the county a regiment of infantry, the One hundred and fourth, and a six-gun battery, which served three years in the field. During the summer of 1862, Samuel Croasdale, a young lawyer of Doylestown, and Christian K. Frankenfield, raised com- panies for the One hundred and twenty-eighth Pennsylvania, a nine months regiment, of which Croasdale was made colonel, and fell at Antietam. The same fall seven companies were drafted from this county by the state authorities, and formed part of the One hundred and seventy-fourth regiment, which served for nine months. A United States draft was made in 1864, but the county appropriated three hundred thousand dollars to fill the quota by substitution. At the end of the contest the county was left with a war-debt of a million dollars. Among the most efficient organizations, to relieve the sick and wounded soldiers, were the Aid societies, principally managed by the ladies, of which there were several in the county. They collected a large amount of money, distributed great quantities of goods among the troops, and did much to encourage enlistments. Their labors were greatly appreciated by the army.
The Bucks County Bible Society, one of the most useful religious organizations in the county, was formed and officers chosen in the Episcopal church, Bristol, the 24th of June, 1816.10 The leading object was announced to be "to assist in the circulation of the holy scriptures, without note or comment." At this meeting Reverend Robert B. Belville presided, and Reverend Doctor Janeway deliv- ered an instructive address. Local and township committees were appointed to co-operate with the board of managers, and the forma- tion of congregational societies was encouraged. At the annual meeting in 1817 an effort was made to have a committee appointed in each township in order to supply with a bible every destitute family in the county, but the idea was in advance of the times and was abandoned. In 1827 Reverend Samuel B. Howe, pastor of the Solebury Presbyterian church, introduced a resolution in favor of providing every destitute family in the county with a copy, and the same year the Philadelphia society resolved to supply every destitute family in the state. The county society immediately began to co-
10 Among the managers were the following prominent gentlemen : Reverends Uriah DuBois and Thomas B. Montanye, and Samuel D. Ingham, John Pugh, Enos Morris, and Samuel Moore.
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operate, but it was not until 1829 that the American Bible Society engaged in the work.
Our county society appointed committees in the several town- ships, and eight hundred bibles were ordered from the parent society .. Down to 1843 but little had been done, but often talked of. In 1847 two brothers Bernheim commenced a thorough canvass of the county, to supply destitute families, and their report at the annual meeting in 1849 showed their work had been well done. The work was again undertaken in 1856, by John C. Agin, assisted in some townships by Uriah Thomas, without pecuniary reward, and completed by the annual meeting in 1859. The supply of bibles. for this purpose was increased by contributions from the Female societies of New Hope, Bristol, Newtown, and Doylestown. From that time to the present there has been a new canvass about every seven years, the changing population calling for this repetition. The society has contributed to this work in other countries, and in 1836 gave one hundred dollars to the Sandwich Islands. In 1861 every soldier who went from this county was supplied with a bible, and in 1862-63 it gave two hundred dollars for a supply of bibles for the army. The semi-centennial of the society was celebrated in the church where it was organized, August 23d, 1866, when an historical discourse was delivered by Reverend Silas M. Andrews, D. D. The society is in a flourishing condition and active in its good work.
The first society in the county for "promoting agriculture and domestic manufactures" was organized in Buckingham township about 1812. The meetings were generally held in school-houses, and it probably died a natural death, but the date of its demise is not known. In 1819 a society was organized under the name of the " Bucks County Agricultural Society," to promote agriculture. The earliest exhibition we have note of was held in November, 1824, under the care of Enos Morris, Thomas Yardley, John Lin- ton, Doctor Phineas Jenks, and J. W. Wynkoop. The display was small and select, but creditable, including a plowing match. The six committees were, on plowing, implements of husbandry, horses and cattle, hogs, sheep and vegetables.12 Exhibitions were held annually for several years, the name, meanwhile, being changed to "The Agricultural Society of Bucks county," with a change of
12 A leading feature of the society appears to have been to improve the breed of horses and cattle by introducing pure, new blood.
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management, in which the ladies had no part. It promoted the discussion in the newspapers of many subjects of interest to farmers. At the annual exhibition in 1826, Jeremiah Bailey exhibited a model of his machine for mowing grass and grain, which had been in suc- cessfal operation in Philadelphia county, and was well endorsed by Edward Duffield and Samuel Newbold. James Worth, of New- town, had also used it the last season, and said it did better work than anything he had yet seen. Garret Brown is said to have made a mowing machine at his shop, on James Worth's farm, fifty years ago. A few ladies took interest in the society, and in 1827, Mr. Ingham delivered an address before it in the old court-house.13 At the exhibition November 10th, 1828, premiums were offered on horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, miscellaneous articles, and plowing. Some of the fine stock of John Hare Powell was brought to this last exhibition Among other leading men who encouraged this pioneer society, were Doctor John H. Gordon, Thomas G. Kennedy, Michael HI. Jenks, and James Worth. At the May meeting, 1829, Doctor Jenks introduced a strong temperance resolution, which was adopted. The minutes are silent as to what was said on the sub- ject, but instead of preparing for the November exhibition, at the next meeting, the society was adjourned until September, 1832. At the adjourned meeting arrangements were made to wind it up, which was done in October. The society was probably assisted to its untimely end by jealousy and rivalry among the members.
It was at this period that the ingenious first turned their attention to the want of machinery for cutting and gathering the hay and grain crops. About this time a skillful mechanic of this county, named Reading, announced the invention of a threshing machine, which was first exhibited and tried on the farm of Robert and Wil- liam Mearns, in Warwick township. It was worked by four horses and had ample power, but its structure was defective and objection- able. This machine was not successful, and years of improvement were necessary to bring this useful implement to its present per- fection. This pioneer agricultural society was not without good, but it was a little too early for the wants of the farmers.
Several years now elapsed before another effort was made to or- ganize a society in the county to promote and encourage the hus- bandman in his labors. The next attempt was more successful in
13 The court-house was purchased by James Phillips, who attempted to dig a cellar under it, but the walls began to give way, and soon after 1827, it was taken down.
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results. The Bucks County Agricultural Society had its origin in a "highly respectable meeting of farmers," as the record has it, held at Hough's hotel, Newtown, December 4th, 1843, Doctor Phineas Jenks in the chair, and Edward M. Paxson secretary. A constitution was submitted and signed by seventy-one persons. At the election of the first permanent officers, in February, 1844, Samuel D. Ing- ham was chosen president. The society devoted itself to the diffu- sion of agricultural knowledge by carefully prepared addresses and ctherwise. The first exhibition was held at Newtown, October 25th, same year, but no money premiums were offered, nor charge for ad- mittance. The display was made in one of the enclosures attached to the Brick hotel, and four committees did all the work, on plowing, stock, agricultural implements, and products. Mr. Ingham de- livered an address. The display was good, and at least a thousand persons were present. Subsequently a tract of several acres was purchased on the Yardleyville road, where the exhibition was held for about twenty years.
Mr. Ingham continued to serve as president until he moved out of the county, when he was succeeded by James C. Cornell, of North- ampton township, and he by William Stavely in 1855. In 1857 the term of office was limited to three consecutive years, and since then it has been filled by Hector C. Ivins, of Falls, Adrian Cornell, of Northampton, William Stavely, of Solebury, and Oliver H. Hol- comb, of Newtown. The society was incorporated by the court of common pleas in 1857, and in 1865 the grounds on the Yardleyville turnpike were sold, and thirty acres purchased south-east of the town, fronting the Bridgeton turnpike, whither the large building was re- moved, and the exhibitions held until the fall of 1872, when the last one took place. The grounds were sold in the spring of 1873. In 1871 they began holding quarterly meetings for the discussion of agricul- tural and domestic subjects. The society never offered large premiums for trotting horses, but sought rather to encourage the practical branches of agriculture. Beside the annual exhibitions, on numer- ons occasions there were held public trials of mowing, reaping, plow- ing, and threshing, with complimentary premiums. The money premiums given at the public exhibitions in different years were: in 1852, $303; 1856, $594; 1863, $726.85; 1872, the last held, $732.08, and $149.74 in plated ware.
In 1855 William Beek, of Doylestown, purchased a tract of twenty- five acres at the south-west edge of the borough, which he enclosed
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with a board fence and erected on it a handsome building for ex- hibition purposes. He also built extensive stabling for cattle and other stock. In August of that year a successful exhibition was held under his patronage, including a fine display of stock, agricultural implements and products, domestic handiwork, a baby show, and a competition among female equestrians. An address was delivered by Horace Greeley. The attendance of people was unusually great, and the exhibition was a successful affair. That fall the building was blown down by a gale of wind and was never re-built. It proved a total loss to the owner.
In 1865 a company, chartered under the name of the Doylestown Agricultural and Mechanics' Institute, purchased the Beek tract, and that fall held a successful exhibition under canvas. The following year a handsome and convenient brick building, in the shape of a cross, ninety-six feet each way, was erected on the ground. Since then other improvements have been erected. The trotting track is one of the best half-mile courses in the country. This has grown to be one of the most prosperous county societies in the state, and the annual display of stock, farm and domestic products, machinery, etc. is extensive and valuable. For some years the stock has paid a hand- some dividend, and several thousand dollars are given in premiums annually. Competition in trotting is an especial feature of the ex- hibition.
The passage of Lafayette throught the county in September, 1824, caused great sensation. His arrival at New York, as the nation's guest, was hailed with delight and his progress through New Eng- land and return were watched with deep interest. His visit to this county on his way to Philadelphia and the south was looked for- ward to as a great event, and the people made arrangements to give him a fitting reception. A large meeting of the inhabitants of the neighboring townships was held at Bristol the 3d of September, to make the needful preparations. A similar meeting was held at Tullytown. On the 4th, the officers of Colonel John Davis's regi- ment of volunteers, and a number of militia officers and citizens, met at Ann Hinkle's tavern, Newtown, and resolved to have a gene- ral turn-out to welcome Lafayette to Bucks county. This action was strengthened by an order from General Dungan, commanding the brigade, for the militia to turn out on the occasion. Colonel Davis's regiment resolved to meet him at the Trenton bridge, and the Centre rifle battalion, Major Stephen Brock, at Frankford, where they joined the escort to Philadelphia.
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. General Lafayette reached Trenton Saturday afternoon, Septem- ber 25th, and staid there over Sunday. That afternoon the gov- ernor of Pennsylvania passed through Bristol on his way to Morris- ville, to receive the distinguished stranger. On Monday morning an immense concourse of people gathered at Morrisville, together with Colonel Davis's regiment, mounted, six hundred strong, and several independent companies, to act as escort. Here a difficulty pre- sented itself. Philadelphia not knowing that Bucks had made arrangements to receive Lafayette, sent up a cavalry force to escort him down to the city. Both claimed the right to receive him at the bridge as he entered the state, but it was conceded to Bucks in the reception ceremony and in the escort through the county. As the procession entered Bristol the honored guest was received by the inhabitants of the town and their families drawn up on the turn- pike, and he passed under a triumphal arch erected over the bridge. Here he dined, and was introduced to many persons, including Mrs. Bessonett, his nurse when wounded in 1777. When Colonel Davis was presented, he said to the general that his father, John Davis, an ensign in the Pennsylvania line, and a private soldier, carried him off the field when wounded at Brandywine. Layfayette replied that he remembered the circumstance well, and said the two handled him like a child, and in remembrance he gave the colonel a good French hug. After dinner the procession moved on in the same order to the Philadelphia line, when the general was formally delivered to the committee from the city. The Bucks county escort now fell into the rear, but many of them continued to the city, and took part in the festivities that followed.
No local event of the century caused more excitement in the county than the poisoning of Doctor William Chapman, of Ben- salem, in May, 1831. He lived at Andalusia, where he kept a school to cure stammering, which had become quite famous. The 9th of May, a Spaniard, who called himself Mina, and represented that he was the son of the governor of California, claimed his hospitality. He wormed himself into the affections and confidence of the wife, in some mysterious manner, and she assisted the Spaniard to poison her husband. In a short time they were married, but suspicion was soon directed toward them, when they were arrested and lodged in jail at Doylestown. A long and tedious trial followed, which re- sulted in his conviction, and sentence to be hanged, but she was acquitted. He was executed on the alms-house farm, near Neshaminy
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creek, the 26th of June, 1832, in the presence of ten thousand per- sons, including fourteen companies of volunteer infantry, and six of cavalry, of this and adjoining counties. The culprit was brought from the jail at half-past nine o'clock, A. M., and with a priest and attendants, was conveyed to the place of execution in a Dearborn wagon, under the escort of the military. The troops formed around the gallows, when Mina, calm and collected, with Sheriff Morris and the priest ascended the platform. Having bidden adieu to his friends and thanked the sheriff for his kindness, the cap was drawn over luis face, the fatal noose adjusted, and a little before twelve he was launched into eternity. His body was buried in the timber near by, but was taken up by the physicians and resuscitation tried in vain. Shortly before his execution he made three attempts at suicide, twice by opening a vein in his arm, and once by swallowing glass. He broke jail once and came near escaping, but was arrested at the store of John O. James, in Hilltown, by Mr. James and the late Doctor William S. Hendrie, of Doylestown. It is only within a few years that the identity of Mina has been established. His true namne was Entrealgo, the son of Manuel Entrealgo, and was born at Cartla- gena, South America, about 1809. The father, with three sons and two daughters, removed to Trinidad, 14 in Cuba, about 1821-22, where he held the office of city-surveyor. He was an upright citi- zen, but the family was poor. Mina, the youngest son, was appointed constable of his district, but taking advantage of his office to rob the country people on their way to market, he was obliged to leave Cuba, and made his escape to the United States about 1824-25. He com- mitted several offenses in this country, and was sent to the peniten- tiary, whence he was pardoned out the 9th of May, and the same evening he reached the residence of Doctor Chapman, at Andalusia.
14 William Glasgow, of Warminster township, was acquainted with the family in Trinidad.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
CHAPTER LV.
RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT; MERINO SHEEP AND MULTICAULIS ; NAVIGATION OF THE DELAWARE; SHAD; ELECTIONS AND TAXES.
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Plummerites .- Church built .- Mr. Archambault .- Free church .- Religious awaken- ing .- The hedge-pulpit .- The Tabernacle .- Plumstead Presbyterian congregation. -Merino sheep .- Morus multicaulis .- High price of trees .- Money made and lost .- Floods of 1841 and 1862 .- Attempts to improve the navigation of the up- per Delaware .- Steamboat to Easton .- Shad fisheries .- First election .- Election districts .- Andrew Hamilton .- Change in provincial politics .- Vote polled .- Taxes .- County expenses .- Early education .- Public schools .- Agricultural pro- ducts .- Minerals .- Horse companies .- Physicians.
ABOUT 1830 considerable religious excitement was created in por- tions of the county by the preaching of Frederick Plummer, an eminent and eloquent minister. He had a large following wherever he went through the lower townships, and his followers, known as " Christians" and "Plummerites," were enthusiastic in the cause. In pleasant weather his meetings were generally held in the woods, but at other times they sought the shelter of some friendly roof. Newtown became one of Mr. Plummer's centres, and he was in the habit of occasionally preaching in the academy; but as that was under the control of the Presbyterians, they finally closed the doors against him. But this action only inflamed his followers the more, and aroused a new enthusiasm for their minister and free preaching. Joseph Archambault, the landlord of the Brick hotel, Newtown, and a great admirer of Mr. Plummer, invited him to have his meetings
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at his house, but as the house would not hold half the people who came to listen, he stood in the door and preached to the large crowd in the street. Mr. Archambault now proposed the building of a Free church, open to all ministers who came to preach without pay, and the proposition was enthusiastically responded to. The movement to build was immediately put on foot, and contributions of money came in freely. Mr. Archambault gave the lot, and in a short time the Free church, now known as Newtown hall, was erected and open for worship sometime in 1831. This movement led to the building of a Free church at Yardleyville soon afterward, but it was left with a heavy debt and had to be sold. It was bought for an Episcopal church, and as such is now occupied.
In the deed of the lot for the Newtown church, Mr. Archambault mentioned the object of the contributors to the building fund, and he stipulated in it, that if the house should not be opened to all ministers whose preaching was free, or if collections were permit- ted to be taken up in the house. to pay ministers, the property should revert back to his heirs. The enterprise was very successful for a time, but at the death of Mr. Plummer the enthusiasm cooled down, and gradually the sect of " Plummerites" passed into history. With the consent of Mr. Archambault the property was now trans- ferred to the borough of Newtown, but this occasioned trouble in the council, as some of the members wished to convert the building into a school-house, and others for purposes forbidden by the con- ditions in the deed. The matter was arranged by an act of assembly transferring the property back to the trustees, who were elected by the contributors for building the church and keeping it in repair, for the purposes provided in the deed. The house is now held as a free church. Collections to pay the expenses of opening the house for worship are now permitted, but a minister who receives pay for preaching is not allowed to hold regular services in it. During this period the religious excitement was further notable by the Methodists holding camp-meetings in various parts of the county, and a few were held by the Baptists. Several flourishing churches had their origin in these wood-meetings, among which is the Baptist church at Hatborough, in Montgomery county.
Twenty-five years afterward there was an awakening on the subject of religion in many parts of the country. It reached Bucks county in 1858, and there was excitement among various communi- ties. During this period there was considerable out-door preaching.
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HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY.
The Reverend Messrs. Long and Schultz, of Norristown, built what they denominated the " Portable Highway and Hedge Pulpit," which they transported from place to place and set up wherever they could find hearers. They met with marked success. This led to the "Tabernacle," a large canvas-tent capable of holding from two to three thousand persons. Twelve hundred dollars had been subscribed during the summer and fall of 1857, and on the 10th of October a meeting of Evangelical Christians was held in Norristown, in the First Presbyterian church, to organize an association to have charge of the Tabernacle. The organization was effected under the name of the " Union Tabernacle Association," with a constitution setting forth its object, and the Reverend E. M. Long was made its superintendent. The movement was under the general charge 01 the Young Men's Christian Association. The Tabernacle was capa- ble of being divided into several apartments, and when the sides were stretched in good weather it would accommodate more than three thousand persons. It was provided with benches. It was first erected on an open lot adjoining the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, where it was dedicated on the 1st day of May, 1858. The attendance was large, and the religious services very interest- ing, lasting until late in the evening. After the dedication, services were held in it daily for six months, in various locations in the city. On the opening of spring it was thought best to transport it into the country. In the summer of 1859 it was taken up the North Penn- sylvania railroad and erected on the lot of a Friend in Quakertown, where, without charge, it remained several weeks and was the ineans of doing much good. This led to the first awakening on the subject of religion that ever took place in that neighborhood. When it was removed a wooden tabernacle was built on or near its site, which has since been replaced by a handsome brick church, the only per- manent place of religious worship in the village at that time, except Friends' meeting-house. The tent was afterward removed to Plum- steadville, where meetings were held for a season. Since then a Presbyterian congregation has been organized there, and a handsome place of worship erected, but what influence the tabernacle exerted in their behalf we cannot say. The appearance of the big tent in the county created considerable excitement, and crowds attended service in it, wherever it was located.
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